USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 25
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From the beginning of the history of the state the Legislature has passed acts to encourage road making. Every able-bodied citizen from the beginning of the history of Fayette county has been compelled by law to work a certain number of days on the road or pay an equivalent in taxes. This law still prevails in the state. The early commissioners' records are largely taken up with petitions for new roads or changes in roads already established. In fact, at least half of the minutes of their meetings are devoted to the question of roads. While the county itself was busy in lay- ing out roads, the state was also interested in providing what were known as "state roads." Two so-called state roads passed through Fayette county. One came up the White Water valley from Lawrenceburg by way of Brook- ville, passed through Connersville and Waterloo, and thence on north through Centerville. in Wayne county, to Winchester, in Randolph county. The other road started from Liberty, in Union county, passed through Fay- ette county and thence west, through Rush county, to Indianapolis.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
THE ERA OF TOLL ROADS.
The contour of the county does not readily lend itself to the making of good roads. It is very rolling over a considerable portion of its extent and this necessitates a much heavier outlay to construct roads. The era of toll roads began about the middle of the fifties, following the legis- lative act of May 1, 1852, which made it possible for counties to have a larger road fund. This act furnished the basis for the thousands of toll roads which were built throughout the state. It seems queer in the year 1917 to think of a private company, oftentimes of less than a half dozen citizens, building a road-a public highway-and then charging as much per mile for citizens to travel on it as we of today have to pay for the best service on the railroads. Such, however, was the case and it was not until the nineties that the taxpayers of Fayette county saw the last toll-gate disappear.
It is not profitable to follow the history of the many private toll roads constructed through Fayette county during the fifties and sixties. By 1856, there were no less than thirteen of these pay-as-you-drive roads in Fayette county, aggregating a total of seventy-five miles. The longest road was from Connersville to Fairview, a distance of eleven miles; the shortest was the Bentonville-Milton road of two miles. The average length of these roads was between six and seven miles. As late as 1885, seven of these roads were still privately owned, or rather maintained, by private parties.
ROADS UNDER THE THREE-MILE LAW.
The old toll roads were gradually acquired by the county and placed under the supervision of the township road supervisors and all disappeared before the close of the nineties. The history of highway legislation within the past few years has been one of confusion ; in fact, so many laws affecting roads have been passed that it is difficult to follow the vagaries of some of them. At the present time there is a three-mile law which permits a county to build a road of such a length under certain stipulated conditions. There are sixteen three-mile roads already constructed in the county. These roads are named after the person who was instrumental in having them constructed and are as follow : George A. Looney, Orange township; Charles H. Elwell, Posey township; Charles H. Elwell, Fairview township : James H. De Armond, Orange : William M. Gregg, Connersville township; D. W. Moore, Jackson
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
township; Lewis Matney, Orange township; Albert Rees, Connersville town- ship; George Lambertson. Posey township: C. W. Martin, Connersville township: James McCann, Connersville township; Will Beeson, Posey town- ship: Falmouth-Glenwood, Fairview township: C. A. Ryman, Posey town- ship: Jesse Chrisman, Harrison township; Albert Collins, Connersville town- ship. There are in 1917 about four hundred miles of improved roads in the county ; in January, 1917, there were thirteen miles in the course of con- struction.
The law prorates a certain amount of the automobile tax to the various counties of the state in proportion to the number of miles of "improved highways", the definition of such a road being somewhat confusing. The 1917 Legislature is considering several radical changes in the road laws of the state, the chief desire of the Legislature being to frame some kind of a statute which would put the state in a position to share the federal appro- priation provided for in the Bankhead act of 1913. The interest in good roads has never been more prominently before the people of the state than it is at the present time and it is safe to say that within the next few years Fayette county will have roads which can be used at all times of the year to the best advantage.
BRIDGES IN FAYETTE COUNTY.
The question of bridges is and always has been a very expensive con- sideration ,in the county , owing, to the presence of the. White Water river and the many streams which have to be bridged. The first bridge over the river in the county was built at Connersville between the years 1838 and 1842, by Minor Meeker, H. B. Woodcock and James Veatch. This bridge stood until 1887, when it was replaced by the present structure, an attractive, substantial frame covered bridge with an arched ceiling and lighted by elec- tricity. The first and only bridge across the river between Connersville and the northern line of the county is still standing. It is located at Waterloo and was built by the Canton ( Ohio) Wrought Iron Company between the years 1881 and 1884 at a cost of $16,637.37. One span had to be replaced after complete destruction hy a cyclone. The third bridge across the river is just below Nulltown and the first bridge there was constructed by the Canton firm two years prior to the building of the Waterloo bridge. The Nulltown bridge was destroyed in the spring of 1913 by the most destructive flood which has occurred since the county was organized. The county commissioners at once took steps to replace it and a four-span steel
276
FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
bridge was constructed the same year, During the past three years the county has had to build a number of bridges which were swept out in the spring of 1913, and this has necessitated a heavy outlay. Likewise many of the highways suffered severely on account of the high waters at that time.
THE WHITE WATER CANAL.
The history of Fayette county prior to the beginning of the Civil War is replete with references to the White Water canal, and it is not too much to say that the building of this canal through the county and its subsequent use meant as much to the early prosperity of the county as any other single factor. While actual work on the construction of the canal did not begin until 1836, the agitation for an artificial waterway down White Water to the Ohio river began as early as 1822. In that year a convention of delegates from Randolph, Wayne, Fayette, Union, Franklin and Dearborn counties met at Harrison, Ohio, to consider the practicability of constructing a canal down the White Water valley. The newspapers were enthusiastic in favor of the canal, Augustus Jocelyn, the editor of the Brookville Western Agri- culturist, being the most active champion of the proposition. The con- sensus of opinion among the delegates at the convention was heartily in favor of taking steps toward a preliminary survey, and the beginning of actual work as soon as possible.
Shortly after this meeting was held, Colonel Shriver, an engineer of the United States army, began a survey for the canal, but died before he had it completed. After a short suspension of the survey, the work was resumed by Colonel Standbury, also an engineer of the regular army, and within a short time he completed the survey. His estimates of the cost somewhat dampened the ardor of the advocates of the canal, and as a result the ques- tion lay dormant until 1832, in which year the citizens of the valley peti- tioned the Legislature for another survey, and the following year that body authorized a preliminary survey. It was made in the summer of 1834 by competent surveyors and their report was submitted to the Legislature by William Goodwin on December 23, 1834. The survey began at Nettle Creek, near Cambridge City, followed the west fork of White Water to Brookville, thence down the river to Harrison, and from there to Lawrence- burg on the Ohio river. The total length of the canal was seventy-six miles, the fall of four hundred and ninety-one feet necessitating seven dams and fifty-six locks. The estimated cost was $14,908 per mile, or a total cost of $1,142,126 for the entire canal.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
OPPOSITION TO THE CANAL.
As might have been expected there was much opposition to the canal, and it was only by the niost ingenious arguments that the construction of the waterway was finally ordered. The discussion in the Legislature, in the press and among the citizens of the state culminated in the act of January 27, 1836, known as the mammoth internal-improvement bill. The White Water canal was only one of a number of canals, highways and railroads which were provided for by this act, but it is the only one with which this chapter is concerned. The White Water canal was at last ordered constructed and the sum of $1,400,000 was appropriated for its completion.
The actual work on the canal began on September 13, 1836, at which time a big celebration was held at Brookville. Gov. Noah Noble, former Gov. James B. Ray, David Wallace, George H. Dunn and other speakers were present, and the occasion was one which must have brought great joy to the - assembled -thousands. . A pick, shovel and wheelbarrow had been provided, and at-the close of the speaking- one of-the- orators-seized a- pick, loosened the dirt for a few feet, another trundled the wheelbarrow along the site of the future canal, another took the shovel and filled the wheelbarrow, and Wallace wheeled it off-and in this fashion the "ground was broken" for a canal which was to cost considerably more than a million dollars. a sum out of all proportion to the returns from it before it was discontinued forever.
A SERIOUS FINANCIAL PROBLEM.
It is not profitable in this connection to follow the construction of the canal from year to year. The work proceeded rapidly and by December 15, 1837, the superintendent of construction reported that . the section from Brookville to Lawrenceburg was under way and about half completed. He further reported that nine hundred and seventy-five men were employed and that with the same number of men the canal could be completed in two more seasons. The laborers received eighteen dollars a month. On December 20, 1838, Superintendent Long reported the canal finished to Brookville, but it was not until June 8, 1839, that the first boat arrived in Brookville from Lawrenceburg. The cost of the canal to Brookville had been $664,665 and it was easy to be seen that it would be impossible for the state to complete the canal within the original appropriation. In fact the state was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the canal commissioners reported on August 19,
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
1839, that the state was unable to expend another cent on any of its canals, highways or railroads.
What was to be done? The canal was only partially completed ; money was needed to keep in repair that portion that was completed; the hopes of the people of the valley for an easy outlet to the Ohio seemed doomed. The people could not realize that the state was bankrupt, but the truth was soon forced upon them as month after month went by and nothing was done toward a resumption of work on the canal. No work was done from the fall of 1839 until the summer of 1842, when the state sold the canal to a Cincinnati company headed by Henry S. Vallette, a wealthy man of that city. There had been some work done between Brookville and Connersville before the suspension in the fall of 1839, and within two years the canal was opened to Connersville, the first boat from Lawrenceburg reaching the city in June, 1845. In the following October the canal reached Cambridge City, and a year later it was opened through to Hagerstown. The new company had expended $473,000 on the canal between Brookville and Cambridge City, part of this amount, however, being used for repairs on the portion com- pleted when it assumed the ownership of the canal. The total cost of the canal as reported in .1848 was $1,920,175.13.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
The canal was hardly completed before it began to fall into ruin. The character of the valley made the canal suffer from the floods which swept down it every year, and to the present generation it seems queer that this fact had not been considered before the canal was built. In January, 1847, a flood destroyed the aqueduct at Laurel and, the one immediately south of Cambridge City, at the same time cutting channels around the feeder dams at Cases, Brookville, Laurel, Connersville and Cambridge City. The damage was estimated at $90,000 and during the summer of 1847 the com- pany spent $70,000 in repairs. In November of the same year another flood destroyed all the repairs that had been made in the summer and an additional $80,000 was spent before the canal was again ready for use. During the summer of 1848, through traffic was impossible, and it was not until September of that year that it was again opened.' The following year another flood rendered the canal useless and the people began to despair of the canal ever being of any value in the future. The agitation for a rail- road down the valley in the fifties and the assurance that it would be built as soon as the right of way could be secured, kept the canal company from
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
expending any more money on the canal, although it was still used for local traffic.
CANAL SOLD TO RAILROAD COMPANY.
The canal was finally sold on July 22, 1863, at the court house door at Brookville by the United States marshal to H. C. Lord, president of the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Railroad Company, for the sum of $63,000. The railroad had been trying to secure the canal for several years, so that it could_use, the tow-path for its track. This sale, for some reason, was set aside, although the railroad had started to build its track, and the canal was sold to the White Water Valley Railroad Company for the sum of $137,- 348.12. Thus passed out of use a canal which had cost nearly two million dollars and had never been in operation throughout its entire length more than four months at any one time. But it was the means of bringing thon- sands of settlers into Indiana; it did furnish a cheap means of transporting produce to the Ohio and, even if it did cost such a staggering amount, it was worth much more to the state than it ever cost. Some values are not entirely computed in dollars and cents and such is the case with the White Water canal.
After the canal passed into private hands the headquarters of the com- pany was established at Connersville and remained there until the canal passed out of existence. The company erected a substantial brick building on the south side of Fourth street between Central and Eastern avenues, and the building is still standing immediately east of the Palace Hotel. It has imposing pillars facing the front and is the best type of colonial architecture to be found in the city. The building is now used as a private residence.
PRESENT USE OF THE WHITE WATER CANAL IN FAYETTE COUNTY.
The abandonment of the canal as a means of transportation was fol- lowed by the employment of portions of it for power purposes.
The canal furnishes power at Connersville. Metamora and Brookville, the power at all three places being of the feeder-dam type. The power from the canal at Connersville is utilized by four different companies, the following table exhibiting the extent of the use made by them :
Horse-
Name of Company
Head in feet 18
Water used Portion
Wheel power
Hydro-Electric Company .
35
80
McCann Milling Company
9
All
35
60
P. H. & F. M. Roots Manufacturing Co. 23
Portion
21
90
Uhl & Snider Flour-mill 26
Portion
2I 100
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
The water from the river is diverted into the canal by a dam constructed across the river seven miles north of Connersville. The total fall of the water from the intake to the tail race at Uhl & Snider's mill is eighty feet, but of this total only fifty-three feet are used. The water is first used by the Hydro-Electric Light and Power Company. At this point the Conners- ville Furniture Company also formerly used a 30-inch wheel developing 50 horse-power, but has recently discontinued it, and now uses the water from the canal only in its boilers and condensers. A few blocks further south thie full stream in the canal is used by the McCann Milling Company. The stream is divided at the southern end of the town, where a portion of it is used by the P. H. & F. M. Roots Manufacturing Company and the remainder by the Uhl & Snider flour-mill.
The total horse-power developed at Connersville from the canal amounts to 388 horse-power, and yet experts have estimated that there could easily be produced an additional 210 horse-power. This is figured on the basis that six inches per mile is sufficient fall for a hydraulic canal; that the canal has an available head of 76.5 feet ; and that it has a discharge of from 85 to 90 cubic feet per second. The whole hydraulic system is owned and con- trolled by the Connersville Hydraulic Company.
RAILROADS.
The first railroad to Connersville was built by the Cincinnati & Indi- anapolis Junction Railroad Company, later thie Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day- ton Railroad Company and now the Cincinnati, Indianapolis & Western Rail- road Company. It was completed in 1862. As early as 1848 steps were taken toward the construction of a road from Rushville, Indiana, by the way of Connersville and Oxford, to connect with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day- ton road at Hamilton, Ohio. In March, 1849, the state Legislature of Ohio granted the right to the railroad company to extend its road from the state line to Hamilton. The company was organized in 1849, and surveys were made preparatory to the location of the road from Rushville to Hamilton. However, the company could not agree on a route and a temporary suspen- sion of operations followed. Early in the spring of 1852 the company was reorganized and after electing a set of officers, adopted measures to construct the road upon the route originally agreed upon. The construction of the road was commenced the same year but was not completed to Connersville until twelve years later. S. W. Parker and William Tindall were Conners- ville men connected with the company in official capacities. Joshua Leach,
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
the secretary and financial agent of the road, later moved to Connersville, liv- ing here at the time of his death.
The need of a direct route from Indianapolis to Cincinnati led to the organization of the Ohio & Indianapolis Railroad Company in February, 1853, for the purpose of constructing a road from Rushville to Indianapolis. In April. 1853, the company was consolidated with the Junction Railroad Company. In 1866 an effort was made to complete the construction of the road from Connersville to Rushville, but because of financial reasons the work was suspended. At the beginning of the next spring the controlling interest in the company was purchased by a company of twelve men who took up the work, and completed the line to Indianapolis. In June, 1868, trains were running between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. The estimated cost of the road per mile from Indianapolis to Hamilton was twenty-one thousand five hundred and sixteen dollars and seventy-five cents. The road has a main track mileage of 16.5 mileage in Fayette county and a side- track mileage of 9.28 miles, all of which has an assessed valuation of $355.300.
BIG FOUR ( WHITE WATER DIVISION ).
It was not until after it was seen that the canal had outlived its useful- ness that the building of a railroad along the course of the canal took on a serious aspect. The floods of the latter fifties damaged the canal so that it was little used after the beginning of the Civil War. In 1863 the Indi- anapolis & Cincinnati Railroad Company secured the right to use the tow- path of the canal for the building of the railroad. The road was completed to Connersville in the spring of 1867 and soon thereafter to Cambridge City, from which place the road passed to Hagerstown on the Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central line. The road has a track mileage of 14.16 miles : a side track mileage of 2.38 miles, and an assessed valuation of $70,000. This road has passed through several hands and has never been a paying proposition, due not only to the limited territory which it serves, but also the heavy expense entailed by the frequent floods which sweep down from the White Water valley.
THE LAKE ERIE & WESTERN RAILROAD.
The Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville railroad, now the Lake Erie & Western, was originally a branch of the Cincinnati & Indianapolis June- tion railroad, extending from Connersville through Cambridge City to New
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
Castle and known as the Connersville & New Castle Junction railroad. The road was built directly after the completion of the Cincinnati & Indianapolis Junction railroad. It was subsequently extended and became known as the Ft. Wayne, Muncie & Cincinnati railroad. The mileage of the road in this county is 4.87 miles ; a side track mileage of .41 miles and an assessed valua- tion of $48,600.
The railroad crossing the northwestern part of the county was origin- ally a part of the Lake Erie & Louisville railroad, extending from Fremont. Ohio to Rushville, Indiana, and was completed on July 4, 1867. Subse- quently it became a branch of the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis railroad, but is now known as the Cambridge. City branch of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis railroad. The main track mileage of this road within the county is 7.75 miles ; the side-track mileage .39 miles. The total assessed valuation is $79,437. It was at one time known as the "Calico road." because of the method used by its construction in paying for work in merchandise.
The assessment values already mentioned cover only the main tracks of the railroads. The total assessment on the side tracks, rolling stock, and improvements on right of way bring the total assessment for the railroads of the county up to $688,560.
ELECTRIC LINES OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
There is only one electric line in Fayette county-Indianapolis & Cin- cinnati Traction Company -- and its 9.28 miles of main track and .39 miles of side track in Fayette county, together with its rolling stock and improve- ments on right of way, bring its total assessment up to $60,942.
CHAPTER IX.
AGRICULTURE.
Fayette county lies largely in the valley of White Water river and the land in the valley is very productive. The soil is fertile and with scientific rotation of crops yields abundantly year after year with little artificial ferti- lizing. The different soils of the county are discussed in detail in the chapter on Geology. The land area of the county is approximately 138,240 acres and the census of 1910 reported 134,200 acres in farms, or 97.1 per cent. of the total area. The average size of the 1, 126 farms was 119.2 acres, and the total value of all farm property was $11,443,825.
Methods of farming have undergone radical changes within the past few years, and as a result farmers are getting better returns than ever before. The work done by the agricultural experiment station of Purdue University has been of incalculable benefit to the farming interests of the state. The Legislature in 1913 provided a means whereby each county could employ what was known as a county agent, whose duties were to co-operate with the farmers in advancing their interests. The creation of the office was an outgrowth of the demand on the part of the farmer to be kept in con- stant touch with the latest and best agricultural thought, and the subsequent development of the work as outlined in the act establishing the office has shown the value of the county agent.
Never before has there been' the interest shown which is now being manifested in scientific agriculture. Industrial trains under the direction of Purdue University are sent up and down the state; the university also has an educational exhibit at the county fairs: frequent farmers' institutes are held: short courses in subjects of interest to the farmers are held, not only at Purdue, but also in many counties of the state ; corn shows, horse shows, apple shows and exhibitions of all kinds of farming products are being held with increasing frequency : the federal government distributes an enormous amount of literature bearing on agricultural topics and Purdue University is doing the same thing, and more magazines and papers devoted to the interests of the farmer are being read than ever before. The net result of all this constructive work means better farming, larger returns, and improved conditions in social, educational and economic life.
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