USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families > Part 28
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The order was given to put in the crossing. Flagmen were sent out on the Michigan Central track each way. A force of the Baltimore & Ohio track men, in charge of supervisor John Marion, soon cleared the way, and the Michigan Central track was cut, the crossing frogs put in place, and every- thing coupled up in good condition in two hours' time. This being accom- plished, gave the Baltimore & Ohio the right-of-way into Chicago.
LAND BUYING.
When the construction of the road was about finished, in 1874, six of the Baltimore & Ohio officials organized a company in Baltimore and it was in- corporated as the Baltimore Land and Improvement Company. John King, first vice-president, and William Keyser, second vice-president of the railway, were the principal members. Washington Cowen, father of John J. Cowen, who was chief attorney for the railroad, was a retired farmer of Holmes county, Ohio. He was selected as agent for the Baltimore Land and Im- provement Company, to locate the division point on the Chicago division.
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In September, 1874, the road was not yet opened up for travel. Cowen went to Kendallville on the Lake Shore road and drove through the country to a point on the Chicago division of the new railroad, four miles east of Albion, known as Wash Easter's crossing. Mr. Cowen selected this place for the division point. Every movement of the Baltimore & Ohio officials at this period was being critically observed by enthusiastic speculators ready to buy up the land where the division shops were to be located. Mr. Cowen, being aware of this state of affairs, was compelled to use the greatest caution in all of his movements so as not to create the impression that there would be a town located here, and that the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company would make this point a division of the road and erect shops. Cowen, on arrival at this place, immediately commenced contracting with the farmers for their farms, saying that he had two sons and two sons-in-law back. East, whom he desired to locate together as near as possible, and that he had a little daughter . twelve years old, and he wanted about thirty acres as a home for this young daughter and himself. After he had contracted with two or three farmers, and had advanced some money on the contracts, the other farmers with whom he had not contracted, raised the price of their land so high that Mr. Cowen was compelled to abandon the enterprise at this place. So he settled up with those with whom he had contracts, which cost him about four hundred dollars. I obtained part of this information from Mr. Cowen and part from the fariners who were interested.
Mr. Cowen then went to Kendallville, from there to Waterloo and then to Auburn Junction. Here the section men took him on a hand-car to the present site of Garrett. Mr. Cowen very quietly commenced negotiating with the farmers, using the same tactics that he had used at Easter's crossing in Noble county, and on the 8th and Ioth of October, in 1874, he closed the deal with the owners of the land where Garrett is situated, and the deeds were executed October 22 and 24, 1874, to Washington Cowen, in trust as agent for the Baltimore Land and Improvement Company, as follows: John Kitchen, forty acres ; C. Hoick, fifty-five acres ; Mrs. W. J. Anthrop, forty-four and a half acres; J. L. Smith, one hundred acres; Holmes Link, eighty acres; Samuel and S. Link, thirty acres; Jacob and Catherine Link, ten acres ; Christ Long, forty acres; F. C. and M. Bartles, forty-five acres; Joseph Leason, forty acres ; G. E. Matthews, forty acres ; G. Rodenbaugh, eighty acres. The total was six hundred and four and a half acres.
Each of these twelve farms had log cabins for dwelling houses. Mr. Cowen had considerable trouble with Christ Long, as I stated in a former
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article, Long being mentally unbalanced. Cowen purchased his forty acres for one thousand six hundred dollars, and Long would not accept anything but gold as pay. Cowen finally paid him in gold. Long lived in a deplorable condition, all alone in his log hut, and he refused to move out, claiming that he had lost five hundred dollars of the money. He did not vacate until crowded out by the improvements. Long's wife had eloped with another man a few years previous, taking with them Long's ox team and wagon. Mr. Cowen could not locate her for about two years. After tracing her by writing to the postmasters in Michigan, Illinois, Kansas and other states, he finally located her in Nebraska, and then had to pay her fifteen dollars to get her to sign the deed.
While the Chicago division was under construction there were several enthusiastic speculators on the alert, ready to buy up the land where the shops would be located. Riggs D. Thomas and a Mr. Toland arrived here from London, Ohio, about the same time that Cowen did, and were quietly watching Mr. Cowen's movements. Thomas was sent as agent for the London Bank- ing Company. Cowen, being aware of the situation, very quietly secured the twelve farms at forty dollars per acre, while these two gentlemen were at their hotel in Auburn. Then came the excitement-the division point was estab- lished. Up went the price of land, from forty to eighty-five and one hundred dollars per acre. These two gentlemen then bought several farms adjoining those purchased by Cowen, hence the names of Thomas' south and east addi- tions and Toland's addition. Thomas' south addition was laid out by Engineer T. G. Baylor, under the supervision of Engineer W. A. Pratt, and agent R. D. Thomas, in the fall of 187'5, and the plat was filed at Auburn November 19, 1875. The plat of Toland's east addition was entered for record at Auburn November 30, 1875, and the sale of lots began. Engineer W. A. Pratt at this time was engineering the construction of the Baltimore & Ohio shops.
Of the twelve parcels of land purchased by Mr. Cowen, eight were in Butler township and four in Richland township. Therefore the town was located in two townships, and the shops were built on the line. About two- thirds of the round house, machine and blacksmith shops were in Richland township, and about one-third in Butler township, and also on the center line extending north and south, through the two townships, public roads having been established on these lands. The township line was about where the Baltimore & Ohio freight house is located. Randolph street is on the original section line from the north to where it intersected the township line at the freight house. Here there are one hundred and thirty feet of an offset to
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the west, where the section line extended south through the center of Butler township. The alley on the west of the postoffice is about on the line of the old wagon road. There was a log house owned by one of the Links where Dr. Thompson's brick stable now stands. When the county commissioners ac- cepted and approved the town plat in the spring of 1885 this vacated these public roads.
FIRST TRAINS:
As soon as the division point was located in Garrett in 1874, the railroad at once erected a frame engine house forty by two hundred feet, on the north side of the main track directly north of the present round house, with two tracks running lengthwise through it, provided with engine pits. A "Y" was constructed at each end of the engine house for machine and blacksmith shops. These two buildings were destroyed by fire in November, 1875. Commencing with the running of trains in November, 1874, freight trains were run from Chicago Junction to Defiance, from Defiance to Bremen and from Bremen to South Chicago. Passenger trains were run through from Chicago Junction to Chicago by running eight miles on the Illinois Central tracks from Balti- more Junction, which is now known as Brookdale.
F. H. Sembower and R. Lantz were the first two engineers to pull passenger trains into Chicago. Sembower had run a construction engine con- structing the Chicago division and on the 7th day of November, 1874, with William Lane as conductor, he pulled the first Baltimore & Ohio passenger train into Chicago. Train dispatcher G. W. Fordyce gave the order. R. Lantz, who had been running a passenger train on the Lake Erie division be- tween Sandusky and Newark from 1870 until this time, was transferred to the new division, and on November 8, 1874, he pulled the second passenger train into Chicago, arriving there at eight o'clock p. m. He had engine No. five hundred and nine, which had the name "David Lee" lettered on the side of the cab, as it was customary in those days to name the engines in honor of the officials of the road. F. H. Sembower is still a passenger engineer here. R. Lantz retired from actual service in 1908, after forty years of continual service as passenger engineer with the Baltimore & Ohio.
In reflecting back to January, 1875, we see the new engine house, the machine and blacksmith shops, the "Y" all ready for operation, a small shanty with boards up and down ready for a telegraph office, two passenger coaches and a baggage coach set out on the north side of the main track north of the present blacksmith shop, to be used as a dining and lunch car, and the baggage
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coach for a kitchen. A Mr. Tubbs was put in charge of the culinary depart- ment.
George M. Hoffman was the first supervisor of trains, or trainmaster, in Garrett. He was the first to come and the last to go of the officials here, so he remained until the first of March, 1876, when he was superseded by H. S. Morse. The first master mechanic was Mr. Hibbard, and the first dispatchers were George W. Fordyce, W. T. Backus and W. F. Perdue.
The town was not yet platted or the new shops selected in January, 1875, when this temporary arrangement was made for the accommodation of trains. The trainmen were all notified that Garrett was the only division point on the Chicago division and to make arrangements to lay over here in place of at Defiance and Bremen, but some of them were so blinded with invincible prejudice that they resigned from the service rather than obey the order.
RAILROAD BOARDING HOUSES.
In 1875 there were no accommodations for the men required for the construction of the roundhouse, machine shop and blacksmith shops. There were a few log cabins which the land owners had occupied, and a few rude shanties and tents hastily established, but these were all packed brimful, in some four men occupying one bed. So arrangements had to be made for the accommodation of the men, and for that purpose a large boarding house was built on the southeast corner of Cowen and Keyser streets, which still stands as one of the old landmarks, east of the Baptist church. This was called the "Chicago House." Later a second house was built on the south side of it.
In September, 1875, there were eighty-five men boarding and lodging in these two houses and they were a lively, jolly set of fellows. They did not appear to have any grievance with the situation and cheerfully co-operated with each other. The dining room was on the first floor of the corner build- ing, but there were not beds enough to accommodate half of the boarders.
THE "GRAND MARCH."
In the evenings the first in would take possession of the beds and those who came in later were forced to take lodging on the floor, bunks or any place they could find to stretch their wearied bodies out to rest, with a block of tamarack wood for a pillow and their coats for a covering. They had a mutual agreement that at twelve o'clock each night, they were to have the
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"Grand March," in which all agreed to participate. So every night at twelve o'clock, the signal trumpet was sounded. Each and every one was compelled to report for duty, and if anybody failed to vacate his bed at the call, he was quickly pulled out. At the close of the "Grand March," would come the grand rush for the beds. The agreement was that the first man was to take possession on a pre-emption right, and the other fellow was to look out for himself. People who lived in the neighborhood, complained that it was not only the boarders in the Chicago House who were awakened by the "Grand March."
BUILDING OF THE SHOPS.
The brick laying of the shops was not commenced until in September, 1875, commencing with the round house, which was formally put into service on Christmas day, but not completed until about the first of March, 1876, when the new machine and blacksmith shops were all opened. The weather was very favorable for outside work that winter, as it was the most open winter ever known in northern Indiana. There were four or five days of cold weather, with a light fall of snow in November. After that the frogs were out and croaking all winter till in March, 1876, when there was another fall of snow on the mud. There was no ice put up that winter, and the snakes and frogs were out on the first day of 1876.
A SINK HOLE.
When the Air Line road was first built through this county, a portion of the track, three miles west of Waterloo, and some forty rods in length, sunk through into a subterranean lake. It was then for some time known as the sink hole. Immediately after the track fell through, a new track was constructed around the edge of the marsh under which the lake lay, and efforts were made to fill in the sunken tract by carting earth from the surrounding bluff. After laboring several months, however, the project was given up, as the water was found to be from forty to sixty feet in depth. Various plans were proposed for overcoming this ugly crook in the Air Line, until the latter part of 1865, when it was proposed to place all the old ties that could be gathered along the line into the sunken space, and the work was commenced early in the sum- mer of 1866. The ties were put down in layers, cobbled at right angles, and interlaced with long timbers, so knit together as to form a continuous bridge, or network. The result was highly satisfactory, and in a few months a track
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was laid across the old break, and the work, though slow in accomplishment, was not so very extensive as feared at one time.
WHAT THEY DID.
The Air Line created Corunna, Waterloo and Butler, but killed Sedan, already arrested by the growth of Auburn and Newville, and made Union- town an isolated suburb of Waterloo. The Fort Wayne, Jackson & Saginaw boomed Auburn. The Detroit & Eel River helped Auburn and Butler. The Baltimore & Ohio helped Auburn and Auburn Junction, and created St. Joe and Garrett. The Wabash created Ashley.
EARLY GARRETT.
Trains stopped at Garrett City for refreshments, but the city was yet to be, and the view to the visitor was wild and discouraging. Several cars had been placed alongside the track and served for a dining hall.
During the latter part of November, 1874, a freight train drawn by engine number five hundred and nineteen, left Defiance, Ohio, bound for South Chicago. The crew had no pilot, but had heard that the division headquarters were to be at Garrett. It was night when they approached the place, through which they passed at the rate of forty miles per hour. On their return, by daylight, they saw a large, barn-like structure and a "Y" track. On the right was a spur track, upon which stood a construction train. They slackened speed, learned that it was Garrett, and in disgust, put on steam and sped away at a lively rate. Another trip, and there were two long sidetracks, a track from the shed, a coal track, a temporary frame boarding-house, several log cabins and two hundred people there.
CHAPTER XVI.
BANKS AND BANKING.
Although DeKalb county has not been entirely free from banking troubles during her seventy-five years or more of life, no lasting weakness has been imposed upon the county by poor banking, such as will be found in some terri- tories. What misfortunes there were may be traced to the fact that the old- time banking system allowed anyone, irrespective of nationality or occupa- tion, to start a bank, in consideration that he won the confidence of the peo- ple and could persuade them to trust him with their funds. No strict quali- fications were necessary, such as exist today, and no examinations of the ap- plicant for banking privileges were necessary. Under such a state of affairs, it is not singular that trouble arose, and it did arise, in some sources. This was aptly called the free-for-all banking system. The issue of paper currency for circulation as money was free and open. Any banker had the privilege of issuing such currency, which would be as valuable as his bank was well known. Bills of practically all banks would be current somewhere, at some price, but largely they were taken only at a discount, the discount depending, as men- tioned before, upon the general reputation of the bank. Thus, many unde- serving institutions would issue a quantity of currency, which would float at a fluctuating valuation, and then die in the hands of the holders, to the loss of everybody except the original issuers, who obtained face value when they issued the same. Again, strong institutions would issue currency in their own locality, which would be accepted readily by the people at face value, but in adjacent communities would be subjected to a slight discount, this discount increasing the farther away from home the currency traveled. The incon- venience of this is obvious.
Counterfeiters were also plentiful in the early day. It was an easy matter to counterfeit, apparently, and a much harder matter to distinguish between good and bad money. A man one thousand miles from home would stand small chance of being able to pass a bill upon his home bank, no matter how stanch and reliable he knew the institution to be. The paper money was redeemable only over the counter of the issuing bank.
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The first steps taken to remedy this palpable evil was the establishment of the "state banks," in the early thirties. This was a material improvement over the "wild cat" system formerly in vogue. Of course, the system of state control and supervision was in a crude and primitive state, but it had the merit of securing reputable people as the responsible heads of these banks and branches.
FIRST BANK IN DEKALB COUNTY.
In the matter of banking, the town of Waterloo became the pioneer in DeKalb county.
In May, 1873, W. C. Langan, of Lima, Ohio, became formally associated with O. T. Clark, J. I. Best, and C. A. O. McClellan, of Waterloo, for the purpose of doing a general banking business in that place, under the name of the DeKalb County Bank. On July 24th, their safe, weighing fourteen thou- sand pounds, arrived from the manufactory of Diebold, Kiengle & Company, of Canton, Ohio, and was placed in the office, located in the south side of what was known as the Clark building, north of the Lake Shore railroad crossing. The capital of this early bank was placed at fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Langan became the cashier and business manager of the bank, and the enter- prise gave much satisfaction to the general public.
BEGINNINGS IN AUBURN.
In the beginning of the year 1874 there was no bank in Auburn, but the time had arrived when such an institution was a necessity. There were citi- zens who were willing and had enough capital to engage in banking, but they had no experience and, distrusting their own ability, they invited the coming of someone to take the initiative.
On March 2nd, two men named Riley and Mots, from Wabash, visited Auburn, to look over the ground preparatory to establishing a bank. The need was evident for a medium to facilitate business transactions and by secured deposits to find employment for otherwise idle currency. These men met several citizens at the Swineford House, to whom they expressed them- selves well pleased with the location and their proposals met unqualified encouragement.
All seemed favorable and the front part of the Cool building was en- gaged for an office. It was intended to commence business within a month, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, of which sum the people of Auburn
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were to have supplied two-fifths. Nothing was done and, save several futile assurances, the subject lapsed until near the close of the year, when George Hazzard, a stranger from Newcastle, this state, made his appearance, and re- newing the subject of a bank, won the confidence of the people. He pro- posed to open a bank in Auburn with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, to which sum he asked the citizens to subscribe fifteen thousand dollars. This offer was taken, and arrangements made for a speedy organization. There was a question in the minds of the people as to whether a state or a national bank would be the best. The national bank was supposed to be the most profitable to the stockholders, but the general trend was in favor of the state institution. However, the decision was in favor of a national bank, and on December 19, 1874, the First National of Auburn, Indiana, was organized, by electing a board of directors, consisting of Nicholas Ensley, William McIntyre and Orrin C. Clark, of Auburn, and George and James Hazzard, of Newcastle.
A small frame building on Seventh street, just west of the later Farmers' Bank building, was occupied, a strong safe was procured and put in place, and James V. Hazzard, the youngest of the brothers, was made cashier. Deposits were at once received; United States bonds were purchased and deposited in the national treasury. Sheets of crisp, new national bank notes in denominations of fives, were received from Washington, and being signed, their issue commenced, and business opened auspiciously, the date being April I, 1875.
This bank was afterward involved in many difficulties, and was threat- ened with insolvency. Faulty investments and misuse of moneys caused no end of trouble for the institution.
In 1878 it was discovered that George Hazard, heaviest stockholder, had hypothecated his stock with other banks; drawn heavily from the bank on worthless notes, accepted by his brother, the cashier; sold the bonds of that bank and replaced them with ones drawing a lower rate of interest, and, to cap the climax, replaced the worthless notes with others of leading citizens. Seventeen out of twenty-one thousand dollars was recovered.
PRESENT DAY BANKS.
In Auburn there are three banks: The Auburn State bank, the City National bank, and the Savings, Loan and Trust Company.
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AUBURN STATE BANK.
The Auburn State bank was organized in the year of 1904, with a first capital of $50,000. The present capital of the bank is $75,000. The surplus is $12,000, and the amount of money on deposit is $450,000. In the report of the condition of the bank, published on October 21, 1913, the following re- sources are shown : Loans and discounts, $372,653.50; overdrafts, $610.10; other bonds and securities, $526.26; banking house, $20,000; furniture and fixtures, $3,384.90; due from banks and trust companies, $54,398.12; cash on hand, $20,760; cash items, $20; all making a total of $472,352.88. Lia- bilities, besides capital stock and surplus already mentioned, were: Undi- vided profits, 663.37; exchange, discounts and interest, $2,053.97; demand deposits, $169,464.24 ; demand certificates, $213,671.30; making a total of lia- bilities, same as the resources.
The present officers of the Auburn State bank are: President, J. Schloss; vice-president, I. D. Straus ; cashier, C. B. Weaver.
CITY NATIONAL BANK.
The City National Bank of Auburn was organized in 1902. F. M. Hines is president ; Charles M. Brown, vice-president ; Willis Rhoads, cashier; F. W. Knott, assistant cashier. The capital stock is $50,000 ; the surplus, $20,000, and the deposits total $325,000.
SAVINGS, LOAN AND TRUST COMPANY.
The Savings, Loan and Trust Company of Auburn was organized in the vear 1903. The present capital is $50,000; the surplus is $10,000; and the amount of deposits is $260,000. P. D. West is president; W. M. Swaysgood, vice-president : W. C. Henderson, cashier.
GARRETT STATE BANK.
The Garrett State bank is located at Garrett, Keyser township, DeKalb county. Indiana. This bank was originally named the Garrett Banking Com- pany. This first bank was organized on January 3, 1893, with a capital of $25,000. In 1907 the capital stock was increased $35,000 and a surplus of (20)
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$15,000 was created. The late H. N. Coffinberry and the Kniselys, of Butler, this county, started the bank and Coffinberry was the first president. Thomas Mitchell was the first cashier. He was succeeded in a couple of years by Charles W. Camp, and the latter has been actively connected with the institu- tion ever since.
The new charter of the bank, wherein the name was changed to the Gar- rett State bank, was issued on November 25, 1912. This reorganization was necessary on account of a provision of the constitution of the state of Indiana that the charters of banking corporations shall expire in twenty years from the date they are issued.
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