History of Elkhart County, Indiana; together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history: portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 49

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, C. C. Chapman & co.
Number of Pages: 1192


USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > History of Elkhart County, Indiana; together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history: portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 49


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(575)


576


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


1869, the sum accounted ' as received by the treasurer was $258,- 330.64, and that disbursed $118,710.09, showing a surplus of $139,620.55. This large revenue was doubtless due to the sale of bonds or debentures to meet the outlay occasioned by the public improvements then inaugurated. The value of such bonds passed into the hands of the county treasurer in the ordinary form, and moneys so received were disbursed in payment for the labor expended on such public improvements and in the administration of county affairs, leaving the huge surplus to the credit of subsequent years. It was a wise provision on the whole, and though the taxation was high, it passed by unnoticed, and prepared the way for paying off at once the large sum of money voted for the erection of the beautiful county building which now rises a monument to the tax-payers of the period. Provision had also to be inade for many radical reforms in other works pertaining to the people, and this precaution tended to the prompt payment of the public accounts within a very few years, together with leaving a surplus fund of over $20,000.


In 1879 the amount received was $155,216.44, of which $118,- 475.58 were expended, leaving a balance of $36,740.86 to be carried forward to the first year of the next decennial period. The county auditor's statement for 1880 shows that on May 31 a sum of $27,700.SS was in the treasury to the credit of the county, with all bonds redeemed, all public works paid for, the county free from all liabilities, and a magnificent property valued at $190,000. The progress has been most remarkable, though by no means strange. It is the result of an enterprise which seems to be inherent in the people; a peculiar enterprise which places their investments gen- erally above the calculations of the speculator, and leads back wealthı to the men who engaged in it. It has been said by Gold- smith in his philosophical poem on the Deserted Village, that where wealth accumulates men decay; but it does not apply here. That fortunes have been won by many of our people is a fact; but that wealth has accumulated here in the sense of the poet, and as the European phase of the case lead him rightly to conjecture, is a question; because here it is made the main spring of industry, keeps a hundred mill wheels rolling, and offers to the people em- ployment and convenience.


577


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES.


Year.


Receipts. '


Expenditures.


Year.


Receipts.


Expenditures.


1830


198 803


S 183 433


1856 .... $


40,910 17


37,927 60


1831. .


..


206 873


535 811


1857.


31,589 52


26,618 64


1832. .


426 10


789 123


1858. . ..


29,097 62


29,784 93


1833.


612 59


814 99


1859. . ..


33,020 58


29,777 11


1834.


797 23}


840 81


1860 ....


64,880 87


58,377 29


1835.


1,248 23


1,119 883


1861 ....


33,264 76


25,971 76


1836 ..


1,420 78


1,207 16


1862 ....


44,754 49


42,951 90


1837.


2,225 21


1,966 20


1863 ....


48,378 52


48,242 28


1838. .


2,856 81


1,772 43


1864 ...


51,689 88


43,844 59


1839 )


3,438 53


5,198 72


1866 ....


147,100 36


120,499 34


1841 ....


2,539 95


3,059 97


1867 ....


118,010 27


60,525 23


1842. ...


2,768 94


2,777 78


1868 ....


165,991 85


101,012 63


1843. ...


3,979 19


3,140'87


1869


258,330 64


118,710 09


1844 ....


4,761 35


2,994 00


1870. ...


299,799 92


230,020 46


1845 ....


4,807 03


3,961 18


1871. ...


241,988 25


221,260 78


1846. ...


5,657 56


5,624 47


1872 ... .


219,983 83


141,175 82


1847 ....


5,113 88


5,323 73


1873. .. .


237,358 81


110,218 16


1848. . . .


5,405 97


5,175 26


1874. ...


244,727 94


224,567 94


1849 ....


6,162 15


5,545 18


1875. .. .


149,182 96


135,077 09


1850 .. ..


7,329 75


6,296 28


1876 .. ..


142,087 97


135,250 43


1851 ....


5,845 63


5,425 15


1877 ....


121,525 27


106,092 48


1852 ....


11,914 59


9,926 21


1878. . . .


147,693 97


132,261 18


1853 ....


30,624 26


28,933 46


1879. ...


155,216 44


118,475 58


1854. . ..


20,873 63


22,374 90


1880. ...


153,498 89


125,798 01


1855 ....


28,649 49


24,983 74


1865. . . .


70,033 30


69,819 36


1840 )


..


In the foregoing exhibits the balances are carried forward and added to the receipts of the subsequent year. The expenditures comprise the special school tax, which is received by the treasurer and disbursed for school purposes only. In the following balance sheet for the fiscal year ending May 31, 1880, issued by Auditor Henkel, is given a detailed statement of the sources from which this large revenue is derived, and the varied channels through which it is partially returned to the people. It is a financial history in itself, showing almost a dollar to the credit of each member of the population, together with a county property at once extensive and valuable.


578


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


Receipts.


Expenditures


Balance on hand May 31st, 1879


$ 36,702 02


....


County revenue. ..


51,937 06


Special school tax.


27,034 51


$ 27,034 51


Township tuition tax


13,412 86


13,412 86


Road


12,539 23


12,539 23


Dog


2,124 75


2,124 75


Township


4,036 63


4,036 63


Corporation


343 07


343 07


Redemption of land.


1,170 11


1,118 36


Shows ... ..


85 00


1,163 21


Docket fees circuit court


374 00


374 00


Jail.


2,497 69


15,587 65


Ditches.


1,111 81


1,626 42


County officers.


3 00


10,556 31


Poor.


22 00


10,284 29


Prisoners


1,641 09


Insane. .


1,556 27


School fund.


23 45


Books and stationery.


3,252 02


Printing and advertising.


102 90


972 50


Roads and highways.


2 25


2,329 25


Poor farm.


2,218 98


Juror fees ..


2,236 10


Refunded taxes.


80 01


Fox scalp bounty


12 50


Balance on hand May 31, 1880.


27,700 88


Total.


$153,498 89


$153,498 89


To render the foregoing statistics more complete a statement, compiled with much attention, is taken from the county records, showing the value of taxable property from which revenue is derivable, together with a tabulated table dealing with the property of great corporations within the county.


Total county tax levied in 1830, 8198.802


COUNTY STATISTICS.


No. Acres.


Value of Lands.


Value of Improvements.


Total.


Value of Lots. 116,426


Value of Improvements.


1839.


429,999


1841.


160,129


1849 ..


234,194


663,085


$ 304,217


967,302


121,172


1859.


288 383


2,489,565


684,001


3,173,566


181,870


236,859


1869.


200,677


4,751.731


1,142,705


5,894,436


649,229


780,178


1879.


289,893


7,027,750


1,306,856


8,334,606


1,157,452


1,267,214


Value of Per-


Year.


sonal Property.


Total Value of Taxables.


No. of Polls.


State Tax.


County Tax.


School Tax.


Road Tax.


1839


175,308


1,077


1,152


$ 3,903


3,206


1,127


1849 ..


288,960


1,377,434


1,844


5,517


4,807


1,127


1,705


1859.


1,729,318


5,881,613


3,262


11,599


11,599


7,422


6,396


1869.


3,658,479


11,285,772


4,662


19,702


78,891


20,363


11,372


1879


3,058,435


13,817,707


5,426


19,260


45,507


24,776


11,287


.....


$ 3,730


1841.


92,909


751,602


73,000


413 80


Public buildings


State benevolent institutions


10,860 75


Bridges.


Year.


Jonas, H, Myers


581


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


Total Tax, in -


Year


Township Tax.


Sinking


Special Corporation


Total Am't


cluding De


Fund Tax. School Tax.


Taxea.


of Taxea.


linquenta.


1839


$ 3,785


...


1841.


8,238


1849


797


13,758


$ 17,966


1859


1,457


$ 1,144


$10,838


$ 2,333


52,789


55,765


1869


5,416


11,270


23 803


12,058


247,065


1879


3,345


19,909


23,283


143,384


151,906


In 1839 the tax on unoccupied lands and lots was $54.70.


In 1849 the State tax of $5,517, was the sum of 30 cents on the $100.


In 1869 the tax on male dogs was $1,948, and on female, $161; surveyors' fees, $50.35; county sinking fund tax, $22,540; interest tax, $11,270; township tuition tax, $12,539. The large " dupli- cate" of this year was deemed necessary at the time, because the erection of the new court-house and a general improvement of county property were undertaken this and the next year. The Michigan Southern, then the only railroad in the county, yielded half the tax levied.


In 1879 the tax on male dogs was $2,190, and on female dogs, $83. The total of corporation dog tax was $2,368. The additional special school tax was $282.50; State-house tax, $2,757.82; tuition tax $13,458; railroad and telegraph tax, $10,621.


The foregoing is certainly a progressive record. The primitive tax duplicate book of 1830 has given place to large, elaborate books, and the official work in this connection, which the years 1830 down to 1840 entailed on the clerk of the circuit court, is now performed by a county auditor and a county treasurer. The old court-house has passed away and therefore cannot be placed near the new; but the old records remain to be seen, and they bear precisely the same comparison with the county books now in use as did that old court-house with the beautiful county buildings now rising from its ruins. The duplicate of 1830 presented a few items, summing up a total of $198.802; the duplicate of 1880 gives two large folios, showing the township statistics arranged under twenty- six headings, and the total of taxation, $162,527.75. The trans- formation scene is complete.


For the purpose of comparing the census returns, we will take some one article of a class. Of animals, we will accept horses; of grain, wheat. The first census taken after the organization of the county placed the number of horses at 1,206; the second, in 1850, at 3,154; the third, in 1860, at 5,476; and the fourth, in 1870, at 7,004. The first ten years, from 1840 to 1850, the increase in the number of horses was 1,948; from 1840 to 1860 it equaled


582


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


2,322; and for the ten years ending in 1870, 1,528, or a total in- crease of 7,004 within a period of forty years. A statement fur- nished by the auditor of Elkhart county to the Department of Statistics in 1879 places the horse population at 9,529, but as the returns were not considered very precise, these figures may only be considered as an approximate to the true number.


The returns for 1840 give 44,504 bushels of wheat; for 1850, 174,716 bushels; for 1860, 370,776 bushels; for 1870, 542,000 bushels, and the county returns for 1879 place the yield at 732,240 bushels. These statistics are evidences of uncommon progress. Within ten years the old settlers must have 2,225 acres of their rich prairie under wheat alone, i. e., if we may accept twenty bushels per acre as an average product. Presuming that the productiveness of' the soil still continued, and conceding that each acre yielded twenty bushels, there must be no less than 8,736 acres under wheat in 1850. In 1860 the acreage computed on the same basis would mount up to 18,539; in 1870 to 27,100, and in 1879 to 36,612 acres, all under wheat, producing an average of twenty bushels per acre. Presum- ing that the average rates below twenty, which there is no reason to suppose, unless the season was adverse to the growth of cereals, the acreage must exceed these figures, and so far prove more favorable testimony to the farmer's industry. The fact of the cultivators being able to place so many acres under wheat, and still more under other cereals, corn and grasses, is a standard index to the wealth of the agriculturists of the county, and may be also taken as a proof of prevailing prosperity.


POPULATION OF THE COUNTY BY TOWNSHIPS.


1830


1840


1850


1860


1870


1880


Baugo.


587


702


749


740


Benton.


100


1,385


1,188


1,593


Cleveland.


419


533


549


545


Clinton.


804


1.575


2,099


2,199


Concord.


150


1,390


1,324


1,460


1,463


Elkhart.


175


1,815


1,433


1,477


1,556


Harrison.


840


1,528


1,655


1,854


Jackson


991


1,360


1,289


1,590


Jefferson ..


707


1,072


982


1,231


Locke.


171


488


882


1,361


Middlebury


1,135


1,529


1,709


1,907


Olive.


337


991


1,149


1,346


Osol


35


763


922


730


Union.


110


1,193


1,221


1,784


Washington


808


1,124


1,391


1.404


York.


453


599


906


1,000


Goshen City


600


1,200


2,042


3,133


3,968


Elkhart City


300


800


2,000


3,265


6,939


Total.


325


6.600


12,690


20,966


26,026


33,209


Indians.


600


583


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


Within a period of 50 years, the population has increased 32,884. The greatest addition was made between 1850 and 1860, equaling 8,270, and the least addition between 1860 and 1870.


MARRIAGE STATISTICS.


Another means of judging the progress of the county is to look over the record of nuptial engagements, and make note of the advances in this department. In the case of Elkhart county the task is a congenial one, because it presents to us facts and figures which prove the extent of happy unions effected, and the subse- quent benefits falling like manna over the country. To give a full list of marriages is beyond the limits of a historical work; but it is just to notice the brave men and ladies who inaugurated such alliances each year, thereby setting a salutary example for others to follow.


Regarding the first marriage and birth which took place within this county, Mrs. Samuel Rensberger stated that her sister, Mary E. Hess, married Jacob Weybright early in 1830, and that the first white male child born here was Jacob Hess, who appeared upon the world's stage June 30, 1830. A Mrs. Wogoman, nee Mrs. Susan Nickerson, stated that Mrs. Mary Rush, who lived at the southwest corner of Pleasant Plain, gave birth to a son and daughter May 16, 1828, and that to Mrs. Betsy Skinner was born a son Nov. 9, 1828. This latter and valuable settler lived near Mrs. Wogoman, on the eastern portion of Elkhart Plain. Now, since marriages and births are so closely allied, this introductory reference is in place, and may be considered the preface to the following:


Number of matrimonial transactions in Elkhart county from 1830 to 1860, with names of those who annually inaugurated that business.


Date. First nuptials of each year.


Total No. for year. 1


Nov. 11, 1830, Elizabeth Leeper and Samuel Fish.


March 30, 1831, Mary Jones and Job Odle, 14


March 30, 1831, Christiana Robertson and Sam. Reynolds §


Feb'y 20, 1832, Melinda Milage and Daniel Williams


17


Jan'y 2, 1834, Maria Ellis and Timothy Woodbridge.


Jan'y 3, 1835, Julia Ann Danner and A. H. Tumbleson.


38


Jan'y 19, 1836, Hester Kelly and William Lightfoot. 54


Jan'y 6, 1837, M. J. Defrees and Jeremiah Simmons. 50


Jan'y 4, 1838, Diann Mills and John Connolly 47


Jan'y 6, 1839, Eliza Ann Cropper and Jackson Gray.


50*


"Barbara Price and David Butts were united in the bonds of matrimony by Justice Joseph Cowan on Nov. 7, 1839. The first old record contains many quaint remarks of the clerk of the first Circuit Court, and also of his deputy, W. C. Graves. On the occasion of the marriage of Lou. Wilson and Obadiah Cooley, Graves presented the bride with a poetical couplet, and also subscribed beneath, the lines :


" Till Hymen brought his love-delighted hour There dwelt no joy in Eden's rosy bower."


27


Jan'y 15, 1833, Juliana Lowderman and Enoch Bouner 36


584


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


Jan'y 1, 1840, Lucy W. Clarke and Charles S. Dunbar. 64


Jan'y 3, 1841, Clementine Brodrick and John Davenport. 66


Jan'y 13, 1842, Phehe Larimer and John Eldridge. .. 71


Jan'y 8, 1843, Catharine Beckner and Wm. Miller. 56


Jan'y 9, 1844, Margaret Moore and S. S. Huyler .. 83


Jan'y


1, 1845, Irena Spencer and J. R. Tallerday. 77


Jan'y 11, 1846, Rebecca J. Corpe and Ben. Phillips 98


Jan'y 1, 1847, N. J. Wilson and James Frizzle. 104


Jan'y 2, 1848, Lucinda Ebbert and S. Young. 98


Jan'y


7, 1849, Susan Miller and J. Stutsman. 105


Jan'y


3, 1850, Agnes Vail and W. B. Weddell } Cynthia Smith and John Martin S


100


Jan'y


9, 1851, Rebecca Cormauy and Lewis Winters. 138


Jan'y


6. =


Jan'y


4, 1853, Sylvia McCaun and Jonathan Wagner


108


Jan'y


2, 1854, E. J. Wolfkell and James H. Mills.


160-161


Jan'y


1, 1855, Helen E. Barrow and T. O. Burnhous.


285


Jan'y


1, 1857, Lydia Stutsman and Win. Berkey


66 Catherine James and Barney Marker


198


=


Rebecca Barringer and D. Rodehaugh


Jan'y 1, 1858, Laura A. Tillapaugh and R. W. Cook. 170


Jan'y


1, 1859, Marion Marchland and F. Walter.


153


Jan'y


1860, M. A. Griffith and Evan Hoop


200


Jan'y


3, 1861, L. E. Robinson and James Bienz. 178


Feb.


27, 1862, Barbara Mast and J. L. G. Glick. 102


Jan'y


1, 1863, Alice Ruple and Abram Nushaum. .168


Jan'y 3, 1864, H. F. Weybright and Wm. H. Gay 206


Jan'y 1, 1865, Anna Brown and Daniel Shembarger


240


Jan'y 1, 1866, Eliza Lint and David Overhalser.


274


Jan'y


1, 1867, Harriet Karn and H. W. Watters. 240


Jan'y


1, 1868, Lavinia M. Julian and J. W. Moody 274


Jan'y


3, 1869, Caroline R. Randall aud Eldorado Verselius.


250


Jan'y 2, 1870, Christiana Freed and Jos. Landis.


214


Jan'y 2, 1871, Harriet Bowen and Smiley Smith


240


Jan'y 2, 1872, Frances Herchebode and Solomon Furtney


.232


Jan'y


1, 1874, Ellen Wert and Frank E. Zinn


66


66 M. A. Lonzo and Jacob Sager 249


66


Anna Winnegar and D. Christophel )


Jan'y


3, 1875, Jennie Hess and R. Davenport. 268


Jan'y


1, 1876, Nettie E. Watson and William Ecker 264


Jan'y


2, 1877, Mary Butler and David Brundage. 250


Jan'y


1, 1878, Kate Newell aud James Harvey


Alice C. Deardoff and T. F. Poorbaugh 264


..


Hattie Butterfield and Geo. Leer


Jan'y


2, 1879, Sarah Hoover and B. L. Weaver.


230


Jan'y


1, 1880, Emma Butler and H. G. Winters.


NUMBER OF DEATHS INDICATED BY THE APPOINTMENT


OF ADMINISTRATORS.


1870, 38; 1871, 46; 1872, 56; 1873, 50; 1874, 46; 1875, 47; 1876, 45; 1877, 48; 1878, 49; 1879, 55 .- Total, 480. This total forms but a small proportion of the deaths for the decennial period.


Jan'y 1, 1873, Mattie Martin and J. H. Virgil.


224


L. J. Brown and John Burridge


46


1, 1852, Caroline A. Hubbell and S. G. Clark) 121


W. A. Foster and Aaron Pratt


Jan'y 1, 1856, Sarah E. Judsou and C. W. Wilcox.


156


Mariette Skinner and L. P. Williams


585


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


Many died without leaving anything to administer, and therefore are not numbered in the table. This, however, is the most pleasing manner in which to regard the relinquishing of the goods of this world by a man of the world. He parted with old and young friends, and died in the consciousness that he left them sufficient means to pursue a quiet and peaceful life in a happy home.


CHAPTER XIII. TOPOGRAPHICAL AND INDUSTRIAL.


Come, come to the lovely luxuriant far West, Come recline with me under my bower, Where wild pigeon coo, and the dove builds her nest In this land of the shade and the flower.


MRS. REED, St. Joseph Co.


A few words on the topography of the county and its industrial establishments will suffice to show the advantages which surrounded the early settlers, and the rapidity with which they built up the many hives of industry that now afford labor to thousands of hardy sons of toil.


ELKHART COUNTY


is sitnate in the heart of the territory, once known as the St. Joseph country. From the Michigan State line to its southern limits is a fraction over 23 miles, and its breadth, from Noble county on the east to St. Joseph county on the west, 21 miles. Its total area is 483 square miles, or about 309,000 acres,-almost all capable of a high state of cultivation. In the records dealing with the trans- actions of the Board of Justices and Board of Commissioners, the dates affecting the organization of the county are given; but for the purposes of this topographical sketch, the names assigned to the townships by those ancient county governors are here given: Elkhart, Concord, Jackson, Benton, Middlebury, Harrison, Jeffer- son, Union, Clinton, York, Washington, Osolo, Locke, Olive, Baugo and Cleveland.


The principal agricultural products of the county are wheat, corn, flax, potatoes, oats, clover seed, with all the garden and orchard products known in this latitude. The Inxuriant grasses insure large returns under the head of dairy products, sheep- farming is extensive, while cattle and hogs sum up a large item in the wealth of the people. The county is not totally deficient in minerals, as iron ore has been discovered in many districts, and it is considered that a portion of the great coal field of Indiana stretches so far as its western boundaries.


(586)


587


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


THE RIVERS AND STREAMS


comprise the St. Joseph and Elkhart rivers; Christiana, Yellow, Pine, and Turkey creeks: Little Elkhart, Rock Run, and Bango streams.


The St. Joseph river enters the county in York township, and · flows in a southwesterly course through Washington, Concord and Bango. The advantages it confers npon this portion of the State, and particularly on this county, can not be questioned. The St. Joseph and its tributaries have had a share in building up the city of Elkhart, and perhaps many years will not elapse until the prosperous village of Bristol will advance itself to the importance of a large and populous town.


The Elkhart river enters the county in Benton township, and taking a northwesterly course pursues its tortuous way through the townships of Jackson, Elkhart, Jefferson and Concord, making a confluence with the St. Joseph at the city of Elkhart. Along its route it furnishes a complete water-power, more particularly at Goshen, where, drawn by man from its original channel, it sets the machinery of many mills in motion and thus contributes vastly to the prosperity of the city and county.


The Christiana creek enters the county in Osolo township, and flowing south through Concord unites its swift waters with those of the St. Joseph. By this stream the first mill wheels ever set in motion here were turned, but the original structure has long ago disappeared to give place to another and more extensive enter- prise, known as Beardsley, Davenport & Cook's Paper Mills.


This little stream has acted its part well, and still continues to flow on with undiminished vigor, reminding the passing traveler of other days, when Missionary Carey had the hardihood to com- pare its swift current to his wife's loquacity, and call it Christiana in her honor.


Yellow creek is purely Elkhartian. It begins in Harrison town- ship and ends in Concord, where it empties into the Elkhart river. It, too, fulfills a part in the economy of nature.


Turkey creek enters the county in Jackson township, and forms a confluence with the Elkhart river near the village of Waterford, within a few miles of Goshen.


The Little Elkhart stream flows from the northeast and unites with the St. Joseph river at Bristol. At Middlebury the waters of


588


HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


the Little Elkhart are devoted to the use of local industries, and in its course are many good mill sites.


Stoney, Soloman's and Puterbaugh creeks are all. diminutive streams, but capable of conferring many benefits upon the districts through which they flow, and might with little trouble be made to afford a water-power.


Pine creek confers many advantages on Jefferson township. A few mills are worked by its power, and it is of inestimable value to the farming interests.


Rock Run is another Elkhartian stream; it has its source in the eastern township of Clinton, flows through Goshen, and forms a junction with the Elkhart river a few miles northwest of the city, near the Chalybeate springs. The ruins of John Carpenter's corn- mill, near the confluence, are still visible.


There are numerous springs and streams throughout the county, each one filling its place unostentatiously and well. Every conven- ience that a people can derive from rivers and streams is within their reach, so that in this respect the connty is all that can be desired.


The height of land occurs in the southern portion of the county, where the parting of the waters may be witnessed,-one set of streams flowing toward the sunny South, and the other toward the icy North. Jefferson, Elkhart, Washington and Middlebury town- ships contain some hilly tracts; but they are all capable of cultiva- tion and are highly productive. The northern townships comprise very rich lands, both timber and prairie; the southern districts were covered with heavy forests of oak, maple, beech, walnut and other species of trees when first seen by the old settlers; but the labors of 50 years have stripped the grand old woods of their primeval majesty, and now only enough remain to ornament the country and give promise of fuel and lumber for the uses of home industries. Elk- hart and Goshen are the two centers of wealth and civilization. All the conveniences of the West and luxuries of the East may be found in these little cities, so that where, a little over a half century ago, the wild Miami or Pottawatomie held his war-dance or dog feast, are to-day seen thrifty and beautiful towns and vil- lages, inhabited by a people in a high state of civilization.


A SKETCH OF OLD AND NEW INDUSTRIES.


That the manufacturing resources of Elkhart county are unsur- passed. is conceded. Forests of valuable timber, rivers of large


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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.


volume, soil of unexcelled fertility, and a people of remarkable business enterprise were all crowded into one small county. The enterprising saw at a glance the wealth which surrounded them,- the natural resources of the land,-and grasping the situation entered without delay on that career of prosperity which placed Elkhart county among the first and wealthiest divisions in this State.


RAILROADS.


The measures taken by the early settlers to open up this country to immigrants and commerce deserve a notice in these pages. Though they did not succeed in carrying the work through to completion, they were the first to inaugurate it, and so claim the honors which usually pertain to first reformers.




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