USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 14
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June 14, 1782-Today and for several days all sorts of rumors have been flying about; and many preparations made for war. In the ship "San- dusky," the Conners came here [Detroit] with their children. They had to come on account of the unrest caused by war.
July II, 1782-We did not fail to give our Indian brethren news of us, as often as we have had a chance; and a week before, by some white prisoners who went there, we had again sent them word; and yesterday Conner also was dispatched there on business by the commandant.
April 25, 1783-Brother Conner arrived [at Clinton river] from the fort [Detroit] to build himself a house, and soon to bring his family. For the sake of his maintenance he has had to stay there till now.
April 28, 1783 -- (Clinton River.) We got back home again, having been much hindered in the lake by head winds, and having had much trouble
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to row against them. But the Indians had to lie still. Both of their canoes were filled by the waves. We brought us in our boat Brother Conner and his wife, with provisions which now they get as we do, but which before they did not draw, so long as they were in Detroit.
July 22, 1783-Brother Conner came back from Detroit, where he got supplies, when we last got provisions there, and he at the same time went with us. Colonel De Peyster refused to let him have them longer, and so he had to provide himself with them by buying them.
April 2, 1786 -. . . none of us remained behind, save Conner's family, who himself knew not whither to go, or what to do. In the evening we camped at the mouth of the River Huron. . . It is just four years today that we landed in Detroit and in truth we could not do otherwise than give the Savior to recognize our thankful hearts for all the kindnesses He had shown us and that He has done everything so well with 11S. . We left Conners' family behind.
August 14, 1788-Four Chippewas came visiting here [Canada], re- maining a couple of days. One of them was from the Huron river, and told us, for he spoke very good Delaware, that he lived in Brother Zeisber- ger's house, that the houses were all occupied by Chippewas; and that no white people lived there except Conner, to whom they had given leave [to stay there].
Mr. Heinemann's comments on the above excerpts from the Zeisberger diary follow :
It will be seen from these entries that the Moravians, with whom the original Conner family was in touch, moved from American territory into Canada in 1786; consequently that there was no opportunity for Richard Conner to put his son John into Moravian mission schools at Detroit.
That John Conner had the benefit of school training is evident from his career-his public services have left many evidences of it-but there are several good reasons for holding that his education was in fact received in the school attached to the old Catholic church built by the French in 1701, which school, about the time in question, was rejuvenated by the new church authorities from Baltimore. This was just after the War of Independence, the Baltimore priests superseding the French and English priests from Quebec.
A large chapter of Detroit history, partly of an educational character, was inaugurated in 1798 with the arrival of Father Gabriel Richard for the purpose stated above. Even Ann Arbor owes its origin largely to this man's
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interest in school work. He was one of the founders of the University of Michigan in 1817, vice-president, and in the beginning was professor of six of the thirteen departments composing its curriculum.
This remarkable man began his career in Detroit in 1798 as parish priest of old St. Ann's, the church of the days of French occupation; and in giving his first attention to the restoration of the ruin wrought by sieges and wars, he left an imperishable monument in a career notable in many ways. His life was closed as a victim of the cholera scourge of 1832. So active were his resourceful efforts in the beginning, that within three years, between 1798 and 1802, he built a second church for the neighborhood and opened six primary schools and two academies.
This is the period to which the youth of John Conner belongs; and it would be passing strange, indeed, if any other source be ever found and proven as the fountain whence were taken the rudiments of knowledge and the fair penmanship belonging to Connersville's founder.
A SKETCH OF CONNER BY BAYNARD R. HALL.
An interesting and delightful picture of John Conner in his home at Connersville is given by Baynard Rush Hall in his book entitled "The New Purchase." Hall was the first professor of the seminary at Bloomington, which was later to become Indiana College and still later Indiana University. Hall was also a Presbyterian clergyman and it was while on a ministerial trip that he paid a visit to Connersville and partook of the hospitality of the trader. It should be said, however. that as a matter of historical accur- acy, there is some doubt that Hall was actually ever at Connersville. But the fact remains that he left the state before the end of the twenties and that he must have either been at Conner's house or else well acquainted with some one who knew that Conner disported the silver plate which seems to have made such a marked impression on the eye of the preacher. It is well known that Conner collected a large quantity of silver and sent it East to be made into dishes.
As much of the volume as deals with Hall's sojourn with Conner is here reproduced verbatim. It may be found on pages 247-249 of the cen- tennial edition of Hall's "New Purchase," edited by James Albert Wood- burn, professor of history in Indiana University.
Hall calls Conner "Redwhite," while himself he designates as "Carl- ton." It must be admitted that the author gets out of the region of facts into the field of fiction when he attempts to discuss the domestic life of
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Conner, although it is certain that Conner did have an Indian wife. The extract follows :
Today the evening service was in the neighborhood of Mr. Redwhite, for many years a trader among the Indians. He being present insisted on our passing the night at his house. We consented. For forty years he had lived among the aborigines, and was master of five or six Indian languages; having adopted also many of their opin- ions on political and religious points, and believing with the natives themselves and not a few civilized folks, that the Indians have had abundant provocations for most of their misdeeds. Hence, Mr. Redwhite and Mr. Carlton soon became powerful thick'-i. e., very intimate friends.
The most interesting thing in Mr. Redwhite's establishment was his Christian or white wife. She, in infancy, had escaped the tomahawk at the massacre of Wyom- ing, and afterwards had been adopted as a child of the Indian tribe. Our friend's heathen or red wife was a full-blooded savagess-(the belle and the surage) ; and had deserted her husband to live with her exiled people; and so Redwhite, poor fellow, was a widower with one wife-viz, this Miss Wyoming. Much of this lady's life had passed among the Canadian French ! and she was, therefore, mistress of the Indian, the French, and the English; and also of the most elegant cookery, either as regards substantial dishes or nienacry. And of this you may judge, when we set on supper.
But first be it said, our host was rich, not only for that country, but for this, and though he lived in a cabin, or rather a dozen cabins, he owned tracts of very valuable land presented to him by his red lady's tribe-territory enough in fact to form a darling little state of his own, nearly as small as Rhode Island or Delaware. Beside, he owned more real silver-silver done into plate, and some elaborately and tastefully graved and chased, than could be found in a pet bank when dear old Uncle Sam seut some of his cronies to look for it.
Well, now the eatables and drinkables. We had tea, black and green, and coffee --- all first chop and superbly made, regaling with fragrance, and their delicacy aided hy the just admixture of appropriate sugars, together with richest cream :- the addita- menta being handed on a silver waiter and in silver bowls and cups. The decoctions and infusions themselves were poured from silver spouts curving gracefully from mas- sive silver pots and urns. Wheat bread of choice flour and raised with yeast, formed, some into loaves and some into rolls, was present, to be spread with delicious butter rising in unctuous pyramids, fretted from base to apex into a kind of a butyrial shell work-this resting on silver and to be cut with silver. Corn, too, figured in pone and pudding, and vapoured away in little clouds of steam; while at judicious intervals were handed silver plates of rich and warm flannel or blanket cakes, with so soft and melting an expression as to win our most tender regards. There stood a plate of planked venison, there one of dried beef, while at becoming distances were large china dishes partly hidden under steaks of ham and venison done on gridirons, and sending forth most fragrant odors-so that the very hounds, and mastiffs and wolf dogs of the colony were enticed to the door of our supper cabin by the witchery of the floating essence !
But time would fail to tell of the bunns-and jumbles and sponge cake-and fruit ditto-and pound also-and silver baskets-and all these on cloth as white as snow !
Reader! Was ever such a contrast as between the untutored world around and the array, and splendor, and richness of our sumptuous banquet? And all this in an Indian country ! and prepared by almost a sole survivor from a massacre that exting- uished a whole Christian village! How like a dream this!
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And thou wast saved at Wyoming! Do ] look on thee ?- upon whose innocent face of infancy years ago gushed the warm blood of the mother falling with her babe locked to her bosom! Didst thou really hear the fiendish yells of that night ?- when the flames of a father's house revealed the forms of infuriate ones dancing in triumph among the mangled corpses of their victims! Who washed the congealed gore from thy cheeks? And what barbarian nurse gave strange nourishment from a breast so responsive to the bloody call of the warwhoop that made thee motherless ?- and now so tenderly melting at the crys of the orphan! And she tied thee to a barken cradle and bore thee far, far away to her dark forest haunts !- and there swinging thee to the bending branebes bade the wild winds rock thee !- and she became thy mother and there was thy . home! Oh !. what different destiny . thine in the sweet village of thy birth-but for that night!
And yet. reader, this hostess was not so wholly Indian and Canadian that when she talked of Wyoming it was without emotion !-- while I was repressing tears! alas ! she had not one faint desire to see the land of her ancestors! Could this be Cantp- bell's Gertrude?"
AN INTERESTING OLD LETTER.
Mrs. Sarah Conner Christian, a granddaughter of John Conner, has a letter written by James Backhouse to her grandfather; bearing the date of July 25, 1824. The letter was written from "Beach Near Brookville," but just where this place was is not definitely known. It is certain, however, that Conner had a store at Cedar Grove, south of Brookville, and another store either at or in the immediate vicinity of Brookville. The letter is writ- ten in a fairly legible hand although there are some words in it which are not readily deciphered. The whole purport of the letter is to the effect that Backhouse was engaged in transporting merchandise for Conner and that one of the loads was lost, or partly so, in crossing Taylor's creek. The letter with its lack of punctuation, excessive capitalization and misspelled words is here reproduced verbatim.
Beach Near Brookville
Mr. John Connor I set down to try to inform you. of the most Singular Circumstance or more properly speaking the Act of God on Saturday morning the seventeenth day of July my Wagon Started from Fenton's Old Stand beyond Miame Town Early in ordere to Cross the River before it would Rise as there was an Appearance of Heavy Rain they went on Will Crost Taylor's Creek twiste which had not Raised or Swolon any Came opposide to Jacob's Old Stand Storehouse 3 or 2 of a mile below Orys Mill the Water by that Time began to Swell very fast as it Raind in Torrents but my Oldest Son very Cantious for fear of any accident Took out one of the Horses and Rode Through in Presents of four Persons besides my other Son, and finding the Water not more than Belly deep he rode back claped [?] in the horse and went on Well within a very small distance of dry Land and it appeared as though the water Riss over the waggon and Horses in an Instant swep of the Body through out Some of the goods and With the most exertions Imaginable Saved the waggon and chaned it fast there is Some of the goods Lost I have had a very Considerable deal of Trouble with the goods and find them Less Injured then I expected I wish you not be displeased with my
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Conduct Nor be ay ways Prejudiced untill you See or hear from them that was Present and no ways Interested I want to see you here and there is no doubt but you and myself can make things right if not; I am disposed to do everything that is right I have it not in my power to Say what is Lost as they have given my boys no meno- randum of thy Load but no doubt there is an Invoice in the Letters this I will Say if my boys had not had poles as big as needfool all would have been Lost but that here after if you have any Loading to this place and disposed to send it by them do so and it will be Remembrd by yours &
John Connor Esqr July 25th 1824
James Backhouse
The above letter is written on "fool's-cap" folio paper and covers the first and half of the second page of the same. The mark of the original fold would indicate that the letter had become wet in transit, suggesting that the bearer may have been caught in a drenching rain. It later had been refolded, in a more convenient shape for pigeon-holing or file preservation, and the page on which the address, "Mr. John Connor, Indianapolis," is writ- ten bears the indorsement, in another hand (probably that of Mr. Conner) and in different ink: "Backhouse business." It is worthy of note that Con- ner's name is spelled throughout "Connor."
CHAPTER V.
COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
The first mention of Fayette county by name is to be found in the legis- lative act of December 28, 1818, which defined its limits and provided for its formal organization on the ist of the following month, that is, four days later. The fact that such a short time was to elapse between the passage of the act creating the county and the time for its actual organization would seem to indicate that the politicians of the proposed county had their plans well in hand for the disposal of the few offices which it would be necessary to establish in order to get the county started. Most of the first officials had had some connection with Franklin county affairs and some of them had held positions in that county. Jonathan McCarty and John Conner were undoubtedly the men most responsible for the creation of the new county, Conner being a member of the Senate at the time the act was passed creating the county.
Nearly one hundred years have passed since Fayette county came into existence and it is impossible at this date to determine the motives of the men who were behind the movement which resulted in the organization of the county with the limits as defined in the act of 1818. When Franklin and Wayne counties were organized in 1810, the dividing line between these two counties was an extension of the present boundary line between the town- ships of Connersville and Harrison in Fayette county. There can be no question but that it was the original intention (that is, when Wayne and Franklin were created in 1810) to organize one county-and only one-at some future date from parts of these two counties. The best evidence pointing to this conclusion is the fact that the village of Waterloo was laid out with a public square, the proprietor very evidently having the idea that when the new county was created his town would be in a geographical posi- tion to be considered as the county seat.
However, for some reason lost in the ninety-eight years which have elapsed since the Legislature. of . 1818-19 created Fayette county, the original idea of one county made from parts of Wayne and Franklin counties was set aside and, instead, there appeared two-Fayette and Union. The first
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limits of Fayette county did, nevertheless, include a part of the present Union county -- that part between the Indian treaty line of 1795 and the present eastern boundary line of Waterloo and Jennings townships. The boundary of the original Fayette county as defined by the act of December 28, 1818, was set forth in the following language :
FIRST LIMITS OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, that from and after the first day of January next ( January 1, 1819) all that tract
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The first meeting of the Fayette county commissioners was held February 8, 1819, and at that time the county was divided into five townships as Indicated on map.
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THESE SIX (6) SECTIONS
WERE ADDED '
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JAN. 16, 1826.
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FAYETTE COUNTY ON FEBRUARY 8, 1819.
INDIAN BOUNDARY LINE OF 1795.
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EASTERN BOUNDARY - JAN. 5 1824
THIS LINE BECAME
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The limits of the county as defined by the legislative act of December 28. 1818, included all of county as at present except six sections in extreme southeastern part of the county- the same being added January 16, 1826. Up to that time it had been a part of Franklin county.
In addition the county included several sections which were later made a part of Union county. When Union county was organized January 5, 1821. that part of Fayette east of its present limits became a part of Union.
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or parcel of country which is enclosed within the following boundaries shall constitute and form a new county to be known and designated by the name and style of Fayette, to-wit, beginning at the southeast corner of section 33, township 13, range 13: thence north three miles; thence east three miles to the old boundary line ( the Greenville Indian treaty line of 1795) ; thence north (really east of north, that is, following the above mentioned treaty line) to fractions 28 and 33 (rather the line between these two sections), in town- ship 15, range 14, east of the second principal meridian; thence west on said line to a line dividing sections 27 and 28 (that is, to the northwest corner of section 34), in township 15, range 12, east of the second principal meri- dian : thence north on said line to a line dividing townships 15 and 16 ( the present line) : thence west six miles; thence south eighteen miles; thence east so far as to intersect the line dividing townships 12 and 13; thence along said line to the place of beginning."
The above description is not clear in all its particulars and has been emended parenthetically to make the limits more definite. However, there is one line described which baffles explanation. It will be noticed that the next to the last line described above reads, "thence east so far as to intersect the line dividing townships 12 and 13." The previous line-"thence south eighteen miles" -- clearly defines the present eighteen-mile line dividing the counties of Rush and Fayette, beginning as it does at the northwest corner of section 3 in Posey township and continuing due south to the southwest corner of section 34 in Columbia township, that is, to the "line dividing townships 12 and 13." Hence there is no apparent reason why the framers of the act should have inserted the description "thence east so far as to intersect the line dividing township 12 and 13." since the eighteen-mile line reaches the point thus defined.
As will be seen from the map, the six sections (22, 23, 26, 27, 34 and 35) in the southeastern part of Jackson township were not included in the limits of the county in 1818, being left a part of Franklin county until an act of the Legislature, January 16, 1826, attached them to Fayette county. The part of Fayette lying between the treaty line of 1795 and the present eastern boundary line of Waterloo and Jennings townships remained a part of Fayette county until Union county was created on January 5, 1821, at which time the territory in question was detached from Fayette and made a part of the newly created Union.
As has been stated, the act creating Fayette county provided that it should be formally organized on January 1, 1819, four days after the passage of the act. However, it was not until February 8, 1819. that the county
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commissioners held their first meeting and divided the county into townships, so, as a matter of fact, the county cannot be said to have been a separate political entity until that date. It is not known just where the commis- sioners met for this first meeting, hut it was evidently at one of the half dozen houses in Connersville. Conner's hotel, the present Buckley House, was not yet erected, although it was built in the summer of 1819. Since the commissioners appointed by the Legislature to select the county seat were to meet at the house of John McCormick, it may be supposed that the county commissioners convened at the same place for their first meeting. The loca- tion of McCormick's house is not definitely known, hut it must have been either within or near the present limits of the county seat.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT AND EARLY PROCEEDINGS.
The first commissioners of the county of Fayette were Basil Roberts, Herod Newland and John Tyner. Their first meeting was held in Conners- ville, on Monday, February 8, 1819, at which the above named commission- ers were present. However, no business was transacted, for "it appearing to the board that no clerk had been appointed for the county, and there being a probability of the clerk elected for the county being commissioned shortly. it is ordered that this board adjourn until tomorrow morning at nine o'clock."
In pursuance to the above the board again assembled on the following day with all of the members present and also Jonathan McCarty, who pro- duced his commission, dated February 2, 1819, as clerk of the Fayette county circuit court, and the following business was transacted: On motion it was ordered that the county of Fayette be divided into five townships, namely : Columbia, Connersville, Harrison, Brownsville and Jennings.
It was ordered that the following named persons be appointed inspectors of elections in and for the different townships: Connersville township, Marks Crume: Columbia, Morgan Vardiman; Harrison, Joseph Dale; Brownsville, Richard George Paris: Jennings, Hugh Bell.
It was next ordered that there should be two justices of the peace alloted to each township, to be elected in the respective townships on the first Mon- day in March; the sheriff to give notice of the same. It was also ordered that the following persons be appointed constables in their respective town- ships : Abraham Bays, Columbia township, one year; Joel White, Jennings township; John McCormick, Connersville township one year; Reason Davis, Harrison township: Joseph Gassett, Brownsville township. With these appointments the business of the day was complete.
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The board having convened the following day, Adariah Morgan was appointed lister of the county for the year 1819, he being required to give bond to the amount of one thousand five hundred dollars. Newton Clay- pool was appointed treasurer of the county and required to give a bond of two thousand dollars, with two good freeholders as security. John McCor- mick, Sr., and John Tyner were appointed overseers of the poor in Harrison township for one year; Abiather Hathaway and Nicholas Reagen, for Con- nersville township; Noah Pomphrey and John Conner, for Columbia town- ship; James Haughan and Athariel Sims, for Brownsville township; Joseph Vanmeter and Samuel Bell. Sr., for Jennings township. Jonathan McCarty was authorized to contract for and procure a seal, to be made of copper or bronze, with the following words and letters engraved thereon: "Indiana, Fayette County, B. C."; which was to be known and used as the common seal of the board of commissioners.
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