USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families > Part 3
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Up to this time the sixth article of the Ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery, had been somewhat neglected and many French settlers held slaves; many slaves had been removed to slave-holding states. A session of dele- gates elected by popular vote in the new territory, petitioned Congress to revoke the sixth article of the old ordinance. Congress failed to grant this as well as many other similar petitions. When it appeared from a popular vote in the territory that a majority of one hundred and thirty-eight were in favor of organizing a General Assembly, Governor Harrison, on September II, 1804, issued a proclamation, and called for an election to be held in the several counties of the territory January 3, 1805, to choose members of the House of Representatives, who should meet at Vincennes, February Ist. The delegates were duly elected and assembled as ordered, and they perfected
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plans for territorial organization and selected five men who should constitute the legislative council of the territory. The first General Assembly or Legisla- ture of the territory met at Vincennes July 29, 1805.
July 30th the governor delivered his first message to the council and House of Representatives. Benjamin Park, who came from New Jersey in 1801, was the first delegate elected to Congress.
The first newspaper published within the territory of Indiana was the Western Sun, first issued at Vincennes in 1803, by Elihu Stout, of Kentucky, and first named the Indiana Gazette, but changed to the Sun July 4, 1804.
In 1810 the total population of Indiana was 24,520. There were then reported 33 grist mills, 14 saw mills, 3 horse mills, 18 tanneries, 28 distilleries, 3 powder mills, 1,256 looms, 1,300 spinning wheels; value of woolen, cotton, hemp. and flax cloth, $150,059; of nails, 30,000 pounds ; of wine from grapes, 96 barrels, and 50,000 pounds of maple sugar.
The territory of Indiana was divided in 1809, when the territory of Illi- nois was erected to comprise all that part of Indiana territory west of the Wabash river and a direct line drawn from that river and Vincennes due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada. For the first half century after the settlement Vincennes grew slowly.
The commandants and priests governed with almost absolute power; the whites lived in peace with the Indians. The necessaries of life were easily procured ; there was nothing to stimulate energy or progress. In such a state of society there was no demand for learning and science. Few could read and fewer still could write their own names; they were void of public spirit, enterprise or ingenuity. Not until the close of the war of 1812 and 1814 did Indiana take on her vigorous growth, and since then she has kept pace with her sister states. In 1815 the total white population was sixty-three thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven. February 13, 1813, the Legisla- ture in session at Vincennes changed the seat of government to Corydon. The same year Governor Posey was appointed to take Governor Harrison's place, for he was engaged in subduing the enemies of this country.
Up to 1811 a man must own at least fifty acres of land before he was entitled to cast his vote. To become a member of the council he must pos- sess five hundred acres of land, and each member of the Legislature must needs own two hundred acres.
In 1814 the territory was divided into three judicial districts. The governor appointed the judges and the compensation was fixed at seven hundred dollars per annum. The same year two banks were authorized: the
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Mechanics Bank of Madison, with seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the Bank of Vincennes, with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars.
STATE ORGANIZATION-1816.
The last territorial Legislature convened at Corydon in December, 1815, and petitioned Congress for authority to adopt a state constitution and main- tain a state government. The President approved the bill, and Indiana was made a state. The following May an election was held for the selection of delegates to a constitutional convention. That body met at Corydon, June 15th to 29th, John Jennings presiding, and William Hendricks acting as secretary.
The representatives in the constitutional convention were able men. The constitution they there formed for Indiana in 1816 was in no wise in- ferior to that of any other commonwealth in the Union to that date.
The first state election was held the first Monday in August, 1816, and Jonathan Jennings was elected governor, Christopher Harrison, lieutenant governor, and William Hendricks, representative to Congress.
The close of the war of 1812 and 1814 was followed by a great rush of immigrants to the new state, and in 1820 the state had more than doubled its population, having at this time one hundred forty-seven thousand one hun- dred and seventy-eight. From 1825 to 1830 was one of prosperity in In- diana. Immigration continued to come in rapidly, the crops were excellent, and the hopes of the people raised higher than ever before.
THE LAST OF THE INDIANS.
In 1830 there still remained on Indiana soil two tribes of Indians, the Miamis and Pottawatomies. These were much opposed to moving to territory farther west. This condition of unrest was used by the celebrated warrior, Black Hawk, who, hoping to receive aid from the discontented tribes, in- vaded the frontier and slaughtered the settlers. Others fled from their homes and a vast amount of property was destroyed. This was in 1832 and was known as the Black Hawk war. The invaders were driven away with severe punishment and when those who had abandoned their homes were assured that the Miamis and Pottawatomies did not contemplate joining the invaders, they returned and again took up their peaceful vocations. In 1837-8 the Indians were all removed to a country west of the Mississippi, and very soon land speculations assumed large proportions.
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
The matter of making public improvements in Indiana began to be freely talked of as early as 1818, and continued in favor until 1830, when the people became much excited over the question of railroads.
In 1832 work on public roads and canals was really commenced, the Wabash and Erie canal being the greatest of such undertakings. Thirty-two miles of this canal were completed during that year.
During 1836 many other projected works were started, and in 1837, when the governor took the executive chair, he found a reaction among the people in regard to the gigantic plans for public improvements. The fear that a state debt was being settled on their shoulders took hold of the people from which they could never free themselves. The state had borrowed $3.820,000 for internal works, of which $1,300,000 was for the construction of the Wabash and Erie canal, the state to pay annually $200,000 interest on her public debt, and the revenue derived which could be thus be applied amounted to only $45,000 in 1838.
In 1839 all work ceased on these improvements with one or two excep- tions, and the contract surrendered to the state in consequence of the act of the Legislature providing for the compensation of contractors by the issue of treasury notes.
In 1840 the system of improvements embraced ten different works, the most important of which was the Wabash and Erie canal. The aggregate length of this system was one thousand two hundred and eighty-nine miles. Of this only one hundred and forty were completed. In 1840 the state debt amounted to eighteen and one-half million dollars. In 1850 the state, having abandoned public improvement, private capital and enterprise pushed forward public work, and although the canal served its day and age, it was finally superseded by the railroads, which now form a network over the state. When water transportation was in vogue Indiana had one of the most extensive and complete systems in the Union.
CHAPTER II.
GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY AND ZOOLOGY.
LOCATION.
The county of DeKalb is situated directly south of Steuben county, the northeastern corner county of the state of Indiana. DeKalb county is bounded on the east by Defiance county, Ohio; on the south by Allen county, Indiana; on the west by Noble county, Indiana ; and on the north, as mentioned before, by Steuben county. The county is located in the basin drained by the tributaries of Lake Erie and the Mississippi river and is also drained by the St. Joseph river, of the Maumee, including Cedar. Wells to twenty-five feet, reach a second stratum of clear, cold, and in some cases, chalybeate water. Tube wells forty-five feet deep, strike a thin stratum of clear and highly chalybeate water. Near Auburn the water of this stratum rises nearly to the surface and in cases becomes artesian. Typical of the section of the country, the surface of the county is rolling and undulating. The land was originally covered with the hard woods of northern Indiana, but has been cleared, and now is of great value for various agricultural pursuits.
THE GEOLOGY.
The history of DeKalb county, as read in the rock formation underlying the soil, proves conclusively that the county, or the land on which the county now rests, was raised out of the sea by the earth shrinkage some time imme- diately after the Devonian period. The carboniferous, the reptilian, and the tertiary rocks are not present in the underlying strata; the Devonian is the last, and it is in the short description of this strata that the geological history of DeKalb county may be related.
The English scientists, Murchison and Sedgwick, named the rock forma- tion known as the Devonian. In this formation are found fossils of the first known fishes. The largest outcropping of this rock is in the region of Devonshire, England, but in Indiana, in DeKalb county, the rock is com-
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pletely hidden from view, covered with drift, or disintegrated rocks. This soil was transported to this locality from other fields by the great glacier which swept down from the north ages ago. The soil is a mixture of clay, sand, gravel, pebbles, and all sorts and species of stones and boulders. These rocks have no sharp edges, but round ones, due to the wearing process of the glacial action. The scratches on their surfaces are from the same source. Rocks of foreign species are scattered over the county, from widely different localities, having been brought here by the glacier. The gently rolling mounds here and there over the surface of the county are deposits of glacial drift, formed the same as if one were rubbing a damp powdery substance over a surface. On the top of this drift there is a thin vegetable mould, which composes the rich soil of the county.
PEAT DEPOSITS.
DeKalb county ranks as one of the medium peat counties of Indiana in its amount of material, and among the first in its quality. The deposits are largely of the moss variety.
Township 33 north, ranges 12, 13, 14 and part of 15 east, have little or no place left for the development of peat beds, due to the draining of the glacial lakes by the St. Joseph river and its tributaries. Jackson and Concord townships have a ten-acre peat deposit in the southwest quarter of section 3 and the same of 4; the bed is comparatively shallow and of fair quality. On the place of S. Franks, in the southeast quarter of section I (33 north, 13 east), and the southwest of section 6 (33 north, 14 east), is a ten-acre bed of peat, which is shallow, but of good quality. Deposits of this extent are too small for a peat plant, being suitable for fuel only, where it is spaded out, stacked up to dry and used in the crude condition.
In Jackson township, in the northwest quarters of section 22, the south- east of 15, and the northeast of 21, is located a peat bed one mile long and one-sixth of a mile wide. Five different soundings showed an excellent thickness and a stripping of about one and one-half feet. It is a dark choco- late brown in color, and the substratum is composed largely of clay. More or less high ground is scattered through this district and deposit. In an old glacial lake basin in the northeast quarter of section 4 and the northwest of 3, is a fair bed of peat of twenty or twenty-five acres. It has a stripping of about one foot, and is a dark brown in color. In the northwest and north- east quarters of section 4 are seventy acres of peat, on the Weimer and Barnhart farms. This is of fair quality, brown color, one foot stripping, and
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a sub-soil of clay. A deposit, similar in quality to this one, is in the south central part of section 4. This is a bed of forty acres, with a thickness varying between six and twenty feet. This is an excellent location for a peat plant, as there are three deposits in this section, totaling about one hundred and forty acres, with the Baltimore & Ohio railroad bisecting it. On the Buchanan and Weaver places, in the northeast and northwest quarters of section 8, is a thirty-five-acre peat deposit, of good quality, being derived from the Sphagnum mosses. The bed is from five to twenty-five feet in depth, and the stripping is very light. Almost all of the material is below the ground-water level, and consequently has not been oxidized in the presence of the air. The surface is largely covered from one-half to two feet with green mosses, which would be very valuable to nurserymen. Immediately beneath these mosses are several feet of a, good quality of peat moss litter, of a light and dark brown color. Under this is medium brown peat.
In Jackson and Butler townships peat heds, varying greatly in thick- ness and extent, are found in pockets in the muck area, which extends east and west, with a length of about two and three-quarter miles and a width of one-fifth of a mile. They are located in the northeast and northwest quarters of section 29, the northeast and northwest of 30, and the northeast and north- west of 25. The area covered by these beds will probably be more than one hundred and twenty-five acres. In the eastern portion of this area, just north of the center of section 29, is a fifteen-acre bed, which contains a good quality of peat, being derived from the sphagnum mosses. The stripping is about one-half foot, and the underlying formation is clay. The thickness of this deposit is from ten to twenty-five feet, with about one-sixth of its mate- rial above the level of the ground-water. Advancing westward from this bed, in the muck area, there are numerous patches of two or four acres, where the peat is five or more feet in depth and of good quality.
Around Duncan lake, in the southeast quarter of section 31 and the southwest of 32, are about twenty acres of peat, derived from the sphagnum mosses, and of good quality. The peat bed forms a belt about one hundred yards wide around the lake, occurring between it and the higher ground. It is almost all beneath the water level, and thus is in a very loose condition, and would shrink greatly if drained. The sub-soil is clay, and the stripping al- most nothing.
On the land owned by J. Paulin and M. A. Carnahan, in the southeast quarter of section 36, is a peat bed ranging in thickness from six to twenty- five feet. Twenty acres of clayey peat occur in the north central part of section 14. The thickness of the bed is low and the stripping heavy. It is
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suitable for use only in the crude condition. A deposit similar in size, quality and thickness is located in the south central part of section 10 and the north central part of 15.
In the southwest quarter of section 10 are fifteen acres of peat, of vary- ing quality, derived from sphagnum mosses. A little more than one mile south of Garrett, in the northeast quarter of section 9, is a peat bed of about seventy acres, where peat moss litter is taken out on a commercial scale. Ten or more acres of this deposit have been carefully sounded and are judged to have an average thickness of about forty-five feet. Several sound- ings in the remainder of the deposit show a thickness of two to twenty feet. This moss is spaded out for the market; after being dried and baled it is shipped to different points in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois, where it is used as a litter for stables, fowl-houses, kennels, etc. It will absorb eight to twelve times its own weight of water, while ordinary straw cannot absorb more than three times its own weight. The state geologist in his report for 1906 on the peat deposits says: "In determining the value of peat as a ferti- lizer it is doubtful whether any of the analyses are of value, as the benefit derived from peat depends not so much on the chemical composition as on the mechanical effect of the peat on the soil, its effect in promoting disin- tegration and solution of mineral matters, and its property of absorbing ammonia. The value of peat as a direct fertilizer depends on the nitrogenous organic matter present and particularly upon the ammonia, potash, phosphoric acid and lime. As these direct fertilizing ingredients rarely form two per cent. of the mass free from water, it can not be a significant source of min- eral fertilizer. The quantity of potash (KO) in the ash of the peats examined varies from 0.96 to 1.56% : the quantity of phosporic acid ( P2O5) from 1.17 to 1.90%." Further description of peat as a product will be given later.
Beginning at the west side of Garrett and extending west and north- west for one and one-half miles, is a peat bed of one hundred acres. The thickness ranges from four to twenty-five feet, and the stripping will average about one foot. Probably twenty acres of peat can be found around the small lakes in the southeast quarter of section 7. The topographical position is that of an old glacial lake basin. A peat bed extends east and west through or near the centers of sections 13, 14, 15 and IS, and has a length of three miles and a width of from one-ninth to one-third of a mile. This deposit is below the ground-water level, consequently has not been affected by oxidation in the air. The thickness varies greatly.
In Union township there is an old glacial lake basin, which contains several acres of peat of varying quality. It occurs in the southeast quarter of
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section 33 and the southwest of 34. From about two and one-half miles northeast of Auburn to a point near Mooresville is a chain of peat beds, which will comprise several hundred acres of fair to good peat, found in the northeast quarter of section 27, the southwest and southeast of 23, and the southwest and southeast of 24. Individual deposits are from two to thirty- five acres in extent, with the thickness ranging from ten to twenty-five feet.
In Wilmington township a bed of muck, one mile long and one-third of a mile wide, containing numerous pockets of peat, appears in the southeast quarter of section 20, the southwest and southeast of 21 and the northwest of 28. The peat beds, from two to twenty acres in area, will likely aggregate two hundred acres, and have a thickness varying between four and twenty- five feet. The quality of the material is from fair to good, being partly from the sphagnum mosses and partly from the grasses and sedges. The stripping is from one-half to two feet. On the Gender farms, in an old glacial lake basin, in the southwest quarter of section 22 and the southeast of 21, are forty acres of peat, underlain by a clay sub-soil. The thickness of the bed will average five feet, and the. stripping about one and one-half feet. In a twenty-five-acre muck bed in the northeast quarter of section 8 and the north- west of 7, are about forty acres of peat, more or less scattered in pockets of ten acres or less. It has clay underneath, and is derived from the sphagnum mosses. The stripping is one and one-half feet.
Ten or fifteen acres of a fair quality of peat are found in the muck bed in the northwest quarter of section 7, and the northeast quarter of section 12. Another small deposit of ten acres occurs just west of the central part of section 2. An area similar in size and quality is found in the southwest quarter of section 4.
In Troy township there is a peat deposit in the northeast and southeast quarters of section 8 and in parts of each of the quarters of section 9, which has a length of one-half of a mile and a width of one-quarter of a mile. It is of good quality. Near the top it is very fibrous and bladed, while deeper it becomes less fibrous and more compact. - The very fibrous portion is a good quality of peat moss litter and occurs here in large quantities. An old glacial lake once occupied the same place that this peat bed now covers. About twenty-five acres of peat occur in the west central part of section 30, of poor quality and fair, and shallow thickness. A deposit of fifteen acres similar in quality and thickness, is found in the east central part of section 26, and the west central of 25. Another shallow bed of a rather poor quality is located in the northwest quarter of section IO.
In Franklin and Smithfield townships, in an old lake basin in the north-
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east, southwest and southeast quarters of section 12, Smithfield, and the southwest, northwest and northeast quarters of 7, Franklin, are about two hundred and fifty acres of peat, in several large beds, separated by the higher ground and muck. The quality ranges between poor and fair, the derivation being, to a considerable extent, from the sphagnum mosses. About one-third of the material is above the ground-water level. Fair crops of onions and corn are raised on the more decomposed portions.
Forty acres of a shallow deposit of peat are found along the Lake Shore railroad in the northeast and, southeast quarters of section 3, Smithfield township. Another shallow deposit of fifteen acres is in the west central part of section 8 and the east central of 7. About four acres of fairly good peat is found around Cedar lake; another around Indian lake.
Other smaller deposits are found in divers places in the county, but are of little importance.
DEFINITON OF PEAT.
Arthur E. Taylor, in the State Geological Report, describes peat thusly : "Peat is a moist, spongy and partially carbonized vegetable matter, ranging in color from a light chocolate brown to a black. When it has remained, for some time, in a state of imperfect decomposition in the presence of water, it forms a soft, slimy mass, which is sufficiently tenacious to be molded into almost any form. When dried this mass becomes hard and somewhat dark- ened on the surface, from oxidation. It shows an earthy fracture, and re- minds one of a black, carbonaceous clay. Where the peat has only been in this state of partial decay for a brief period it is very fibrous, incompact and often contains the roots of the plants which afford the material from which it is derived. It is lighter in color and has a lower specific gravity than the first variety. In any marsh where the process of peat formation is going on, we find these two varieties, the former comprising the lower and medium portions of the bed, while the latter lies near the surface. Between these two varieties the peat is found in various intermediate stages of incomplete pre- servation. Peat in many localities is commonly known by the terms 'muck,' ‘turf,' and 'bog.'"
Peat is formed by the decaying of vegetable matter in the presence of water. Owing to the numerous lakes in the northern part of Indiana, the many peat beds are there found. Gradually, through the ages of time, lakes have been gradually filled up by vegetation. The mosses form around the edges of the lake, then spread out upon the surface. It slowly thickens, and the decayed matter falls from the sides and accumulates on the bottom of the
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lake. First this covering is very thin, but later becomes of sufficient srength for a man to place his weight thereon. Then it is called by the familiar term of "quaking bog." If the accumulation continues for a long period the lake becomes filled completely, and if sufficient decomposition beneath the ground- water level had ensued, would become a "peat bed."
The water, however, for the forming of peat beds does not have to be in the form of a lake. In Indiana there are examples of peat having been formed above the ground-water level. In an ordinary dry forest the vegetation soon becomes blackened and decomposed, the carbon passing off as carbon-dioxide and the inorganic matter being left as a residue. Near water the vegetation decays more slowly and the accumulation gains on the decomposition. This is the result of the fact that where water is present the air cannot come into free contact with the carbon, and this element is largely retained, while much of the inflammable substance is given off, thus improving the fuel quality of the vegetation.
ECONOMIC VALUE OF PEAT.
As a fuel, peat has served its purpose since a time prior to the Christian era. Pliny, in his natural history, speaks of it. In America the exhaustion of coal fields and other causes has caused peat to be used very largely as fuel. Briquettes are oblong blocks of compressed peat, and are excellent sources of heat. The value of peat as a fertilizer is discussed fully elsewhere in this work. Peat charcoal is a valuable filtering agent. Peat coke is also widely used, and the by-products from the coke are worth as much or more than the coke. As a source of producer gas, peat is of great economic worth. Peat gas is valued above coal gas in the steel industry on account of its greater freedom from sulphur and phosphorus.
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