USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 6
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The remainder of the soils in this county belong to one or the other of the soils already described. In the extreme northwest corner is a little tri- angle of Miami sandy loam, and just east of this there is a small belt of up- land clay loain. Along the larger streams there occur little strips of bottom ground (mapped as Waverley ) which differ little from the surrounding slopes, and are of such little extent as to need no extended description. These bottoms are usually not more than one-fourth mile in width, and are con- posed of material washed from the neighboring uplands. As a rule, they are pretty wet and require tiling, but when drained they are valuable little fields.
There are few counties in the state which are any better farmed than Decatur, especially on the sandier portions. In the southeast corner the heavy clay soil limits farming practically to the grasses and sinall grain, but in at least eighth-tenths of the county any crop suitable to the latitude can
68
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
be grown successfully. On the typical corn lands corn yields as well, year by year, as anywhere in the state, and the sanie farm which yields a "bumper" corn crop may, the same year, yield a good wheat crop on the more clayey knolls. Grasses thrive in the wet bottom grounds, and good water is easily obtained. All conditions are favorable to stock raising, and much of the corn of this county goes to market as fat hogs and cattle. Such a method, of course, cannot be otherwise than good farming, since practically every- thing is returned to the soil, and in Decatur county most of the farm lands are continually increasing in value. The excellence of transportation has a great deal to do with farm values here. There is scarcely a farm in the county farther than six miles from a railway, and the vast majority are within three miles. An excellent system of macadamized and gravelled roads connects almost every community with the railway.
MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF DECATUR COUNTY SOILS.
Miami Clay Loam.
Imm+ Gravel.
.16mm+
Sand.
Very fine sand.
.08mm+ .04mm+ Silt.
.0017mm+ Clay.
Soil
0.7%
11.8%
6.3%
61.3%
20.2%
Subsoil
.6%
16.3%
8.8%
56.6%
17.6%
Miami Sandy Loam.
Imm+
.16mm+
.08mm+
.o.4mm+
.0017mm+
Gravel.
Sand.
Very fine sand.
Silt.
Clay.
Soil
1.6%
18.3%
18.8%
32.590
26.1%
Subsoil
5.8%
19.8%
16.6%
33.8%
24.2%
CHAPTER III.
COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
Early in the spring of 1820 the Federal government sent out several squads of surveyors to lay out the "New Purchase," lands acquired from the Delaware Indians by the treaty of St Mary's ( 1819), embracing all of the eastern and central part of the present state of Indiana. Mose of these surveyors were young men, some of whom were inexperienced; but they were all well endowed with high animal spirits and bodily vigor.
They worked their way through the wilderness, much of which had never before been traversed by white men, cutting their way through thickets with axes, wading swamps and fording rivers, sleeping out at nights, wher- ever they happened to be when the sun sank, and enduring much keen dis- comfort in order that the land might be surveyed and opened for settlement.
Farms and towns are still laid out in accordance with this original survey, and whenever a section is large by a few acres or small by a hundred or so, the cause can be directly traced to mistakes made by these pioneer engineers, the men who ran their blind lines through the forests. In one section of the "New Purchase" there is a point toward which all lines in that part of the country tend to veer. It is said that in 1820 a distillery stood at this place, and that, thinking of it, the surveyors unconsciously let their instruments veer in its direction.
Decatur county was surveyed by men who lived here and who later became leaders in the community, which grew up rapidly after the "New Purchase" was thrown open for settlement. The survey of what later be- came Decatur county was made by Thomas Hendricks and Samuel Hueston, with four assistants. Hendricks was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and it is presumed he got the job of surveying this section of the "New Purchase" through his brother, William Hendricks, who was then governor of Indiana. His assistants were neighbors whom he brought from Pennsylvania with him.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
In October of the year 1820, a government land office opened at Brook- ville; the surveyed land was ready for settlement and the tide of immigra-
70
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
tion began. The first land patent issued in what is now: Decatur county was to John Shellhorn, for what has since been known as the Shellhorn farm, between the Big and Little Flatrock, on the Moscow road. The Shell- horn family still retains this property for which its ancestor received a patent from the United States government, October 3, 1820.
Shellhorn took his claim near the junction of the Big and Little Flat- rock, thinking that it would probably be but a short time until that place would be chosen for a county seat. He laid out the town of Rockville and then waited for his visions of towering spires to materialize. But the legis- lature, in fixing the boundaries of Decatur county, threw Rockville into one corner of the county and Shellhorn's dreams were gone forever. He died a few months later. Rockville has never appeared upon a map of the county.
Two of John Shellhorn's neighbors, James Hobbs and James Wise, took out land patents six days later, Hobbs locating one mile east of the present site of Clarksburg, and Wise one mile south of where that town is now lo- cated. Although Shellhorn was the first to enter land in Decatur county, he was by no means the first settler. No sooner was the ink on the treaty of St. Mary's dry, than the tide of immigration to the "New Purchase" be- gan. All along the border were bold spirits waiting for this unknown country to become the property of the government. No sooner had the Indians renounced all claims to it than the settlers flocked into it.
By the treaty of St. Mary's, all land located between the Whitewater on the east and White river on the west, north of the old boundary line, was made the property of the national government. All along the borders of this territory were pioneers waiting for the Indians to be shoved out. No sooner was the treaty made than the movement of the pioneers began.
Probably the first to reach Decatur county was John Fugit and his sol, John. Griffy Griffiths, with his wife and son, Ishmael, came next. Then came the remainder of the Fugit family ; the wife, four sons, a daugh- ter. and a Mrs. Garrison. Later in the spring Cornelius and Jesse Cain, Elias Garrard, William McCoy and their families arrived settling in the vi- cinity of Clarksburg.
About the same time a settlement was made on Little Flatrock, east of Milroy, which has produced a number of men of high distinction, among them being Dr. Raymond T. Brown, William J. Brown, three times a mem- ber of Congress, and Admiral George W. Brown, of the United States navy. Early in the spring of 1820, a number of families settled in the Clarksburg and Springhill neighborhoods, among them Dr. Andrew Rankin. David
71
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Martin, Cornelius Cain and Andrew Rankin. About the same time Seth Lowe and William Custer settled in the Kingston neighborhood.
From the date of the first entry to the end of the year there were eighty-nine land entries. Some of these were for as much as half a sec- tion, but most of them were eighty-acre tracts. The entries this year, by township, follow :
Fugit township-John Hicklin, Nathan Lewis, John Schultz, Robert Lochridge, John Lochridge, William Henderson, George Kline, George Bry- son, Edward Jackman, Jesse Robinson, William Penny, Griffe Griffiths, Cor- nelius Cain, George Craig, John Short, Jesse Cain, John Davison, Moses Wyley, Richard Tyner, James Henderson, George Cowan, Joseph Hender- son, David Martin, William Lindsey, Joseph K. Rankin, Thomas Martin, Thomas Thorp, Adam Rankin, Martin Logan, Alex Logan, James Logan, Robert Imlay, Daniel Swem, Elias Jarrard, Thomas E. Hall, Charles Collett, William Payden, James Hobbs, David Stout, James Saunders and Joseph Hopkins.
Washington township-Benjamin Drake, William Ross, Joshua Cobb, John Marrs, Thomas Hendricks, James Wooley, James Elder, Robert Elder, Andrew Elder, Adam R. Meek, Joseph Pryor, Allen Pryor and William Parks.
Sand Creek township-Elijah Davis.
Adams township-John Shellhorn, John M. Robinson, Jonathan Paul, Isaac Sandford, Jonathan McCarty, Joseph Owens, David Jewitt, Thomas Price, Manley Kimble, John G. Dawson, Abraham Heaton, George Evans, William Copeland, Abner Leland, William Pearce, Edward Sweet, James H. Brown, Jacob Sidner, Peter Zeizler, Philip Isley, John Wood, McCoy McCarty, John Hizer and Peter Weathers.
The entries of this year were nearly all along the northern line of the county, but ten being near the center and two south of it. The entries the following year were mostly in the same section, the early settlers endeavoring to get closer to the larger water-courses, as the latter afforded drainage. The more level sections, now the best land in the county, were then worth- less, as no system, other than natural drainage, was then known.
THOSE WHO CAME THE NEXT YEAR.
Newcomers in 1821 were as follow :
Fugit township-James Moss, Samuel Martin, George Marlow, Daniel Robertson, James Oliver, Seth Lowe, Nathan Smith, George Underwood.
72
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
George Kendall, George Donner, Gideon Jenks, William Braden, Robert E. Donnell, Edgar Poe, Jacob Blackledge, Nathan Underwood, Thomas Cross, Sam Githens, Robert Hall, Charles Swearingin, John Wilcoxin, John Hop- kins, Samuel Donnell, Ralph Williams, Sampson Alley, William Smith, Nathan Lewis, Isaac Darnell, Daniel Caldwell. J. J. Stites, Henry Roberts, Henry McDonald, Samuel Donner. Robert Wilson, Edward Davis, Cyrus Hamilton, Zenas Darnell, Lewis Hendricks, John Chanslow, Thomas I. Glass, Daniel Bell, William W. Marlow, Peter Miller, Jacob Miller and Benjamin Snelling.
Adams township-William Harbard. Edward Tanner, William Peter- son. Robert McCarty, Enoch McCarty, Martin Adkins, Jacob Johnson, Rich- ard Guthrie, Henry Gullion, Sarah Smith, Lewis Owens, Peter Smith, Austin Clark and William Brown.
Clay township-Doddridge Alley, Josiah, Dayton, M. H. Williams, George Craig, William I. Lowrey, Elijah Craig, Daniel Pike and Eli Pike.
Clinton township-Jesse Womack, John Montgomery, Joseph Weihart. Daniel Crume, Thomas Craig, Joseph Jones, Jacob Underwood, Israel Har- ris, John Logan, Nathan Sidwell, James Carter, John Thomson, Robert Montgomery, Henry Glass. Moses Vanlew, Matthew Campbell, George Donner, Robert Wilson, Nathan Thorp, Joseph Chambers, Joseph Clark, William Hamilton. Robert Drake, Michael Swope and William Ryan.
Washington township-John Davis, John Moore, John Walker, Benja- min Walker, Alvah H. Graves, Joseph Rutherford, Hugh Montgomery, Henry Montgomery. Andrew Horsely, Elijah Tremain, Samuel Logan, Erastus Lathrop, James Richardson, David Williamson, John House, J. P. Richardson, Otha White. Eli Eggleston. Philip Dayton, John Nelson, David Dalrymple, Charles D. Misner, William Hendrickson, Samuel Hamilton, Rob- ert Hamilton, Nathaniel Patton, James E. Hamilton, John Logan, William Elder, William Floyd, Robert Retherford, Joseph Retherford, James Sefton, Barlow Aldrich and Zachariah Townsend.
Sand Creek township-Daniel Herron, Nat Robbins and William Rob- bins.
Marion township-Dudley Taylor and John Robbins.
Save for a very few exceptions these entries were made for actual settlement purposes, and within a year most of the owners had taken pos- session of their property. At a special election in 1821 there were one hun- dred and forty votes cast, and as the law required a residence in the state of a year before a man could vote, it is probable that this did not number more than half the male citizens of the county.
73
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
CREATION OF DECATUR COUNTY.
Decatur county originally formed a part of Delaware county, an in- mense tract of land ranging east to the Ohio line and north to, and including, the present county of Delaware. But in 1821 the state Legislature provided for breaking up this territory into smaller units, and appointed commissioners to locate county seats for Decatur, Shelby and Rush counties.
In the days when Decatur county was a part of Delaware, there was no law to govern the community; for Delaware county was a civic organi- zation without entity-a great stretch of territory extending from the ague- cursed Driftwood bottoms until lost in the swamps of the Mississinnewa and Wabash rivers. There were no courts of justice ; no vested police powers, each man being a law unto himself. There is a tradition, however, that the elder Fugit had been a justice of the peace in Franklin county and that he brought his commission and docket with him, performing marriages and dispensing justice to all coming of their own accord to seek it. Those wishing to enter the matrimonial state were compelled to go to Brookville to secure the marriage license.
In the legislative act creating Decatur county, its boundaries were fixed as follows : "Beginning at the southwest corner of section 18, in township 8, north of range 9, cast of the principal meridian ; thence north fifteen miles to the southwest corner of section 6, in township 10, north of range 8, east ; thence east three miles to the southeast corner of section 33, in township II, north of range 8, east; thence north seven miles to the northwest corner of section 34, in township 12, north of range 8, east : thence east eighteen miles to the west boundary of Franklin county; thence south with said boundary to the north line of Ripley county; thence with the old boun- dary line to the north line of Jennings county, thence west with the Jen- nings county line to the place of beginning."
Commissioners appointed to select sites for the county seats of the three counties named were Edward Ballinger, Henry Ristine, Green P. Webster, and Abraham Dumont. This commission decided to meet on May 7, 1822. to select a county seat for this county, but, for some unexplained reason, only Ballenger reached Greensburg, which had been selected as the meeting place. Another meeting was fixed for June 12, on which date Greensburg was se- lected as the county seat ; parts of tracts of land offered by Thomas Hen- dricks and John Walker being accepted. The tract accepted contained one hundred acres.
74
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Four donations of land were offered for the county seat, although the records show only two. The first was the Hendricks donation of sixty acres, bounded by Lincoln street, Main street, and Central avenue, in Greens- burg. The Walker donation lay just south of this and contained one hun- dred acres, extending from. Broadway to Lincoln street. In addition, Joseph English offered a site two miles southwest of the present county seat and Richard Hall offered land three miles northeast of the city.
There was considerable bad blood existent for a time on account of the selection of the county seat. Charges were freely made that Hendricks and Walker had been guilty of log-rolling at Shelbyville and Rushville. Prob- ably the most satisfactory location, from the viewpoint of the present day would have been the English site, but no one in that day had the slightest notion that eastern Sand Creek, and southern Marion and Salt Creek town- ships ever would be settled.
The site having then been fixed, the board of commissioners proceeded to lay off the city of Greensburg, and fixed Monday, September 1, 1822, for the first sale of lots.
FIRST COUNTY ELECTION.
Upon approval by the governor of the special act of the Legislature creating the county, Henry H. Talbott was appointed temporary clerk and William Ross, sheriff, until an election could be held. The sheriff was charged with the duty of dividing the county into three commissioner dis- tricts, calling an election and seeing that the same was properly conducted. As Ross decided that he would be a candidate for the sheriff's office, it was deemed improper that this office should be filled by an election at a time when he was, by necessity, in charge of the polls. Accordingly, selec- tion of the sheriff was deferred until the regular election in the following August, when Ross was badly worsted by Doddridge Alley, who was just then entering upon his office-holding career.
Complete returns of this first county election, held May 14, 1822, fol- lows :
Clerk of circuit court -- John B. Potter, 38; Henry H. Talbott, 49: James H. Brown, 34; John B. Fugit, 31.
Recorder-John B. Potter, 34; Henry H. Talbott, 46; James II. Brown, 14: John B. Fugit, 22.
Associate judge-Martin Atkins. 47; Joshua Cobb, 31: John Lin-
75
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
ville, 45; John Fugit, 48; James C. Dayton, 19; Daniel Crume, 7; John Driver, II ; Enoch James, 32.
County commissioner, eastern district-Seth Lowe, 96; William Hender- son, 45; George Marlow, 21. Central district-William Parks, 45; Will- iam Courtney, 14: John Parks, 1. Western district-William Harbord, 69: Green McCarty, 37; Doddridge Alley, 19; Paul Brown, 39; Jonathan Mc- Carty, I.
At the first meeting of the county commissioners the following offi- cials were appointed : Overseers of the poor-Fugit township, William Cus- ter and Joseph Henderson ; Washington township, Robert Ross and William Floyd; Adams township, Jonathan McCarty and David Jewitt. Fence view- ers-William Leopold, Robert Imlay and George Marlow, Fugit township: Abraham Miller, Jonathan Davis and Andrew Horsley, Washington town- ship, and David Johnson, David Forester and Joseph Bennett for Adams township.
The board then appointed John Hopkins as county treasurer for one year, and Enoch McCarty was appointed lister of taxables. At the next meeting the names of Thomas Hendricks and David Montague were certified to the governor for his selection of a county surveyor. The appointment was given to Hendricks. The next appointment to be made was that of county agent, which was given to John B. Potter. His first work was to lay off the town of Greensburg, after which he turned his attention to the erection of a jail.
BEGINNING OF LAW AND ORDER.
The following grand jury was empanelled and charged on Monday, October 7, 1822: John Hopkins, foreman; Alley Pryor, Joseph Henderson, Nathaniel Robbins, Fielding Lamasters, Lewis Pleakenstalver, Isaac Dar- nell, Robert Harbord, John M. Robinson, Griffe Griffiths, John House, Will- iam M. Smith, Tobis Donner, Joseph Rankin, John Forsyth and Andrew Horsley.
This jury was in session only one day, its members receiving seventy- five cents each for their services ; and returned eight indictments, all of which were for assault and battery. Those indicted were Patrick Hudson, William Thorp, Abraham Miller, Madison Redding, Isaac Parnell, Lodwick Cook, David Stout and McCoy McCarty.
Says the record further: "This day appeared in open court, Madison Redding, who entered a plea of guilty;" and their honors, after due delib-
76
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
eration and taking into consideration the magnitude of the offense, "made his fine in the sum of six and one-fourth cents."
When Talbott appeared at the first session of court to file his bond as clerk, objection was raised on the grounds that he was not of the legal age, and that he was not a resident of Decatur county. Says the record. "Joseph A. Hopkins moved to reject the bond, which the court, after mature delibera- tion, overruled." It seems appropriate in this connection to say a word concerning Talbott. It has fallen to few men to serve the public so long or in so creditable a manner as was given to Henry H. Talbott. He so thoroughly won the esteem of his fellow citizens that it was impossible for anyone to defeat him when it came election time. He served as clerk con- tinuously until the new constitution was adopted in 1852. He was a patriot in the truest sense of the word, and although he was sixty-one years old when the call was issued for volunteers in 1861, he proffered his services. They were declined, on account of his years; so he accompanied the troops as a sutler. During the battle of Phillipi he seized a gun and followed his com- rades into the fray. He died July 21, 1872.
At the first annual election, AAugust 5. 1822, electors voted for a governor. lieutenant governor, a representative for the seventeenth Congress, to fill a vacancy, a congressman for the third district, a sheriff and a coroner. The following vote was cast :
For Governor-
Fugit.
Washington.
Adams. 48
Total. 168
William Hendricks
68
52
Julius Howe
3
-
--
3
For Lieutenant Governor-
Ratliffe Boone
36
27
33
96
Erasmus Powell
34
27
--
51
William Polk
13
27
David Maxwell
I IO
I
I [
For Congress (vancancy )-
Jonathan Jennings
49
13
12
IO.1
Davis Floyd
5
28
5
38
For Congress (third district )-
John Test
28
39
18
85
Ezra Ferris
7
II
29
47
Samuel C. Vance
31
I2
43
1 1
1
1 I 1
1
I 1
77
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
For Sheriff-
Fugit.
Washington. Adams.
Total.
Doddridge Alley
7
18
24
49
William Ross
28
5
4
37
James Saunders
5
2.4
I
30
William Loyd.
2I
I
22
For Coroner-
William Custer
18
63
9
90
Robert Shields
32
32
Jonah C. Dayton
I2
2
37
51
1
1
1
1
t
I
I
I 1
1
1
1
There was at this time but one party in the state, the National Republican, and voters cast their ballots according to their individual preferences. Two years later this party split, part going with Andrew Jackson and part with Henry Clay.
COURT HOUSE HISTORY.
The first board of county commissioners met on the 14th day of May, 1822, at the house of Thomas Hendricks, a double log building, one story in height, on what is now known as Taylor avenue, Greensburg, near where East street crosses the avenue. Hendricks' house was used as a court house until 1825. In that year it was proposed to build a court house, and the following transcript of page 121 of the first book of the record of the com- missioners' court shows the specifications that were drawn up for it : "The State of Indiana
"Decatur County
"At a special meeting of the board of Justices of Decatur County on Saturday the 15th day of January. 1825. for the purpose of drafting a plan for a Court House.
"The Hon. George W. Hopkins, Zachariah Garton, Robert Church and Dillard Drake, Justices.
"This day the board proceeded to draft a plan for a Court house for the said County of Decatur upon the following plan, Towit. The founda- tion to be built three feet high and to be one foot above the ground at thie highest part of the ground, to be laid in a workmanlike manner with good stone and lime mortar, three feet thick at the bottom and twenty-two inches thick at the top to be battered on each side equally-forty foot square. The walls of the first story twenty-two inches thick forty feet square of good brick fifteen feet in the clear, laid in a workmanlike manner, the front a flemish bond and good sand brick. One double pannel door in front lined
1
1
78
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
with inch plank on the back, with good and suffecient lock, and a bolt at the bottoni on each door, the door sill cut out of stone to extend at each end six inches in the wall twenty four inches wide of a suitable thickness. the door to be eiglit feet high in the clear & five feet wide in the clear, and a circular glass top, the front of the house to be to the east, two windows on each side of the door, of 24 lites each eight by ten. The North and South sides of the house, to be a door in the center of each wall eight feet high and five feet wide in the clear a double batten door. with good locks & bolts at the bottom of each door. One window on each side of the doors of 24 lites. 8 by ios-A stone sill at the bottom of each door of the same descrip- tion as the sill of the front door. On the West side to be a window in the Centre six feet from the floor to the bottom of the window of 30 lites 8. by 10. with a circular glass top. One window on each side of 24 lites 8. by los. of the same heighth as the other windows.
"The second story of good brick 13 feet high in the clear. The walls eighteen inches thick the front of good sand brick and laid a flemish bond, One 36 lite window in front 8. by ros with a circular glass top. And one 24 lite window on each side of it. And 3 windows on each of the other sides of the house of 24 lites each, eight by Ios. four fire places in the sec- ond story one in each corner of the house. A plain Cornice. The roof nine feet pitch, to be covered with good joint shingles five inches to the weather, shingles eighteen inches long. Cupelo twelve feet in diameter- eiglit square, sixteen feet high, and a circular top, a circular window in each square with Venetian shutters and necessary arrangements to receive the Spere.
"Four posts 15 inches diameter eight square, to be set on pillars of Stone in the first story, the pillars to be sunk three feet in the ground, three feet and a half square at the bottom to be equally battered to the top to a square of 22 inches to be 12 feet apart in the Center of the house; two gird- ers to extend across the house 12 feet apart from the center of each and rest on the posts named, the girders to be 15 inches wide and 12 inches deep and the joists to be 12 inches deep by 3 inches thick, to be framed in the girders two feet apart from the Centre of each joist. The frame of the Second Story to be similar to the frame of the First Story.
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