History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 2

Author: Stormont, Gil R
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F.Bowen
Number of Pages: 1284

USA > Indiana > Gibson County > History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 2

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Holcomb, Albert G. 832

Hollis, Bartlett B. 760

Hollis, John J. 496

Hopkins, Ezekiel T. 547

Hopkins, W. G., M. D. 596

Howe, Calvin R. 619

Hudelson, John F. 448

Hudelson, William C. 1030

Hulfish, Ewin D. 855

Hull, David W. 1048

Hussey, Joseph D.

795

Hussey, R. L. 1038

Hyneman, William

1011

Ingle, David, Sr. 416

Irwin, Elizabeth 720

720

Irwin, Isabella

Jenkins, Robert A. 702

Johnson, Benjamin F. 779

Johnson, George W. 834

Johnson, Warrick D. 749

Jones, Franklin

774

Jones, John W. 1061

Kell, Landon 441

Keneipp, George T. 709

Kendle, Joseph R. 949

Kendle, William D. 918

Kennedy, Michael M. 634

Kern, Lycurgus. L.

592

Key, James W.

912

Kightly, Charles

772

Kightly, Francis J.

907

Kightly, Josiah 907, 1019

770

Kilmartin, James

608

Kimball, J. C.

King, John K. 527

Knowles, Mrs. Mary Ann 1025

Knowles, Nathan B. 645

Knowles, Samuel N. 1074

Kuester, Fred C. 930

Kurtz, J. W. 600

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.

Land, William M. 412

Lawrence, Samuel H. 1003

LeGrange, Jonah G. 736

Leister, William L. 860

Lemme, Victor 712

Lewis, James W.

467

Lincoln, Elijah L. 688

Lockhart, R. P. 830

Lockwood, Isaac A. 512

Lockwood, S. R. 606

Lowe, William J. 609

Lowery, W. H. 732

Luhring, Fred D. 605

McCleary, Zadok M. 777

McClure, A. D. 745

McClure, William M. 450

McElderry, William E. 1055

McEllhiney, Cunacum 926

McEllhiney, Moses

935

McEllhiney, Thomas J.

932

McGary, Hugh D.

738

McGary, Joseph K.

944

McGowan, J. W., M. D.

896

McGowan, Michael

537

McGregor, Andrew

444

McGregor, John K.

871

McKedy, John N.

940

McRoberts, Milton

1006

McRoberts, Rev. William L.

1008

Mahan, John 454

Maier, Paul 643

Makemson, Anderson G. 456

Malone, Hugh 1033

Mangrum, John

593

Mangrum, Thomas A. 679

Marvel, Samuel O. 853

Mason, George C., M. D. 752

Mauck, Alfred 961

Mauck, Edgar 960

Mauck, Jacob W. 574

Maxam, Franklin H., M. D. 628

Maxam, Rollin

630

Maxam, Thomas M. 986

Meade, John F. 1001

Milburn, H. A. 741

Milburn, Harvey 415

Milburn, Preston 730

Miller, Andrew J. 475

Miller, Charles A., M. D. 633

Miller, John H. 947

Mills, Albert 520

Mills Family 1027

Montgomery, David B. 565

Montgomery, James R., M. D. 588

Montgomery, Martin A., M. D. 564

Montgomery, Richard 460

Montgomery, William

968

Moore, Abram T. 632

Morris, John L., M. D.

491

Morris, W. F., M. D. 696

Morrow, James R. 996

Morton, Robert M. 505

Mounts, Isaac L. 716

Mowrer, Henry 807

Mowry, James S.

851

Munford, Robert M. 617

Munford, Samuel E.

488

Noble, Simeon

1068

Ohning, Fred H.

1053

Palmer, Thomas M ..

1004

Parrett, Charles K. 1045

Parrett, Richard M. 723

Patten, J. C., M. D. 664

Pauley, Willis 1010

Peoples, John K. 463

Phillips, Henry P. 849

Phillips, Reuben 550

Pritchett, Alfred 802

Pritchett, William H.

590

Providence Spring

976

Reavis, Frank

889

Reed, Samuel S.

700

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.

Reinhart, Philip J. 1059

Rembe, Henry 982

Rickard, Edward 894

Thurston, William 529

Tichenor, Daniel N. 533

Tichenor, Henry 535

Tichenor, James A. 493

Tichenor, William N. 656

Tichenor, Willis H.

571

Trippet, Aaron 973

Trippet, Sanford 627

Trippett, V. W. S. 440

Turnage, John W. 809

Turpin, Franklin

530

Twineham, Arthur P. 584

Vandeveer, Simon L.

402

Vickers, Henry C.

707

Walters, Thomas A.

824

Wark, Thomas

720

Waters, William A. 747

Watson, Rev. Morris 487

Watson, William T.

878

Watt, George M.

756

Weber, George 951

Weisgerber, Edward 887

Welborn, Francis M. 681

Welborn, George R. 663

Welborn, Oscar M.

385

Welborn, William P.

899

West, Samuel Hamilton 603

West, William L. 397

Westfall, Felix N. 937

Westfall, James A. 971

Westfall, Lowell R. 980

Wheeler, William A. 999

White, Harrison

654

White, Henry

576

White, John 904

Suhling, Henry 1044

Sumners, Richey 557

Swan, D. H., M. D. 989

Swinney, Charles B.

495

Thomas, Theodore F.

842

Thompson, Francis M.

477

Thompson, Samuel B. 827

Thorne, William H. 848

Ritchie, John W. 660

Ritterskamp, W. J. 611

Robb, Eli J. 763

Robbins, W. L. 838

Robinson, Sylvester B.

1015

Roby, James P. 641

Rutter, George A.

646

Sasse, Theodore

661

Scantlin, James M. 625

Schafer, George

993

Schumacher, Albert

812

Scull, Charles S.

425

Sebastian, Joseph 952

Seitz, George D.

601

Shipp, John H.

994

Shubart, C. A.

943

Shull, George W.

672

Siegert, Herman

637

Sisson, Joshua S.

428

Sloan, John

704

Smith, Claude A. 837

Smith, George W.

816

Smith, James A.

805

Smith, John D.

840

Smith, John W.

862

Smith, Leander

876

Smith, W. H., M. D.

735

Spain, Byron S.

1047

Spence, John A.

721

Sprow1, James A.

408

Stewart, James L.

714

Stewart, Samuel A.

544

Stormont, David 675

Stormont, David Riley

480

Stormont Family

882

Stormont, Gilbert R.

394

Strain, George 791

Whitsitt, William A.

726

Wildeman, Charles

1064

Wildeman, Henry

946

Wildemann, Andrew J.

956

Wilder, Benjamin O. 874

Williams, John M. 914

Willis, Cleve E.

690

Wilm, Matthew

587

BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.

Wilson, Alvin 658

Wirth, Louis 5.24

Witherspoon, George 924

Witherspoon, Stanford 967

Witherspoon, William P.

891

Woodburn, Samuel 485

Woods, Arthur B.

814

Woods, Samuel Hamilton 432

Woods, William L.

819

Yeager, Absalom 733

Yochum, Joseph P. 406

Youngman, Jacob C. 529

Youngman, Mrs. Sarah A. 528

Zwissler, John A.

1013

HISTORICAL

CHAPTER I.

GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY.

Professors Cox and Collett made state geological reports which, in substance, contain the following facts :

"The surface of Gibson county, in the western part, is level or mildly undulating. Nearly half is the bottom land and a small portion of barrens. East from the center and along the eastern and northeastern boundary are to be seen elevated plateaus, pierced by deep valleys, and covered with excellent timber, as late as the nineties. The soil is generally an alluvial loam and is everywhere very fertile. The alluvial bottoms along the streams, originating from the ordinary floods, are made up of sands and clays spread out by overflow, and rest upon or against the sides of the gravel terraces. The terraces are consequently next in age and rest upon or against the sides of more ancient alluvium or sand hills, which, in turn, are more recent than the loess clays, which superimpose the true boulder or glacial drift. From the terminus of the conglomerate spur which pierces the county like a promon- tory from the east, a ridge of yellow loam sets in and continues westward, forming the present, as it probably formed the ancient, line of demarkation between the waters of the Patoka and White rivers. This ridge was clothed with a magnificent growth of oak, poplar and other valuable timber and, from the quality of the soil, was formed at a time when the headwaters of the rivers were rapidly cutting their channels in the sub-carboniferous lime- stones to the east, constituting a rich loam. This ridge, with like character- istics as to soil and timber, is continued from northeast to southwest across the county, constituting a broad belt of agricultural country about Prince- ton and Owensville. Outliers of this poplar soil are seen even west of the Wabash, at and southwest of Mt. Carmel, which indicate the wayward course of the river currents then flowing through a broad, lake-like sheet of water at an elevation from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and

GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA.

fifty feet above their present channels. At Buena Vista, on White river, extensive mounds surround the village. Outcrops of the rash coals were observed in the vicinity, and the companion limestones develop a thickness of from two to five feet. The high ridge and tableland south of town has a rocky skeleton, covered with lacustral loams. But above and against the bluffs of loess are extensive bars of beds of fluvatile sand, some of which obtain in different localities at an elevation of two hundred and thirty-five feet above the present bed of White river. These indicate the high water level of the ancient river. On the sides of the bluffs are occasionally found small beds of gravel containing a few specimens of the harder stone sorted from the glacial drift, surviving on account of the obduracy of material, but notably containing geodes and cherts from the mountain limestone at the headwaters of the river. The last mentioned mark the bars of low water line and plainly indicate the former presence of the river at these points. South of the Patoka powerful erosive forces have swept across the eastern part of the county, leaving isolated mounds, knobs and hills, monumental tokens of the ancient surface; but, generally, excavating the rocks to the depth of from fifty to one hundred and sixty feet and creating broad valleys or valley plains now waterless or used by insignificant brooks. This epoch is dated back to the time of the glacial river and the soil to the lacustral, for we find that on the hillsides an ash gray soil prevails, very sensitive to draught or moisture, the modified or washed residual sands of the latter epoch."

"It was written of this county thirty years and more ago that, owing to the peculiar formations, the surface deposits endow the county with a variety of fertile soils and insure a variety of pursuits so necessary for the social and pecuniary development of the community. Stone suitable for building purposes is not very common. The 'Merom rock' is usually friable, and will soon distintegrate on exposure. Fair quarry stone is found at a point east of Hazelton, at Severns' Bridge, on Patoka, and near the county line. Stone of a much superior grade is found in the vicinity of Oakland."

Coal of an excellent quality in abundance sufficient to supply any pos- sible demand occurs along the line which separates Gibson from Pike county.

Clay, bricks and tile of a good quality can be made from material found in almost all parts of Gibson county. All the coals are underlaid and the places of the barren seams occupied by fire clays, which in the future will equal the coals in value. These clays are suitable for the manufacture of tiles, terra-cotta and potter's ware, fire-brick, etc.

GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA.

A recent soil survey of this county states that the county has a large variety of soil types, with a wide range of adaptability. All the ordinary crops are grown, many special crops, truck farming and fruit growing, and each finds a soil especially suited to its needs, corn along the streams and river flats, the uplands for wheat, the sand hills for melons, etc. These soils all have a good degree of fertility and fertilizers are little needed, save where some special crop is raised.

The following table will show the area of the various types of soil :

Common loess (loam)

302 square miles

Marl loess IO square miles

Lake plain 27 square miles

Sand dunes and ridges 30 square miles

Alluvial -- Upper flood plains

75 square miles

Lower flood plains 42 square miles

Swamp deposits.

4 square miles

SUMMARY.

Under the above caption, the state geologist's report on soil survey in Gibson county in 1909, has the following :

"Gibson county is in a prosperous condition agriculturally. The county is large, has great wealth, and the farming population for the most part are a progressive people, as is evinced by the appearance of the homes, farms and general conditions throughout the county. All crops are grown suc- cessfully. The melon industry, however, has made the county famous. A superior quality of melons are grown on the soils and they find a ready market in St. Louis, Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago, Pittsburgh and other large markets. The sand areas were formerly considered of little value, but at the present time little can be bought at less than a hundred dollars an acre, and there is little desire to sell at any price. Three varieties of cantaloupes are grown, chiefly nutmegs, netted Rockyfords and large netted. There is a good sale for all these varieties. They are marketed in baskets which hold on the average about eighteen melons and the yield is from two to four hundreds baskets per acre. The cantaloupe season begins about July 15th and they bring about fifty cents per basket to the grower; later in the season the price drops to from twenty to twenty-five cents per basket. The baskets cost the growers about four or five cents each. Some shipments are made loose in the car, also hauled loose in wagons to surrounding markets, but the

GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA.

price obtained is usually lower. In drawing to the cars the growers take from eighty-five to one hundred and fifty baskets at a load. Cantaloupes average about sixty dollars per acre to the grower.

"Watermelons begin about August Ist. They are hauled in wagons to the market and about one hundred and twenty-five is a usual load. The first cars shipped bring the grower about twenty-two cents each. Watermelons average about two to three hundred melons per acre, but many fields run as high as seven hundred to one thousand to the acre. The principal fertilizer used is well rotted stable manure. The melon crop is generally plowed four times in cultivation and additional care is used to keep all grass out."

"The county was formerly covered with a heavy forest growth. Some good timber yet remains and considerable tracts of small timber are found in parts of the county. Practically all of the trees of this section are of value and those which usually indicate a good quality of soil. Fifty or more species may be found in any wooded tract and in some parts one class of trees will predominate and in other locations different species will take the lead.

"The soil condition in this county should be carefully studied and a series of investigations made as to their needs. The soil is naturally pro- ductive, but by the continual cropping the soil is depleted unless proper attention is given to the rotation of crops and the methods of cultivation."

THE BITUMINOUS COAL OF GIBSON COUNTY.

Of the thirteen coal-producing counties in this state, Gibson is within two of the bottom of the list, Daviess and Perry counties only producing less tons than Gibson, while the greatest coal-producing county in Indiana is Vigo, which produced in 1908, 3,490,349 tons. The same year the output in Gibson was only 208,654 tons.

The 1909 state reports show that Gibson county mines employed 172 miners, at an average wage of $769 per year. The Oswald mines employed 137 men inside and twelve men outside; Fort Branch mines worked twenty- seven men inside and a total of forty-three; Francisco mine employed a total of thirteen men.

The output of coal in the county during the last named year was: From the Oswald mine (now the Princeton Coal Company), 176,403 tons; from the Fort Branch mine, 28,926 tons; from the Francisco mine, 3,325 tons, making a grand total of 208,654 tons.

GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA.

NATURAL GAS.

At one time the natural gas industry was one of considerable import- ance in Gibson county, but with the passing years the supply here, as well as in most Indiana points, has greatly diminished. In and near Oakland City, in 1909, a number of wells were sunk for gas. There are numerous gas . wells in the northern half of the county, but none of great force, hence it is no longer spoken of as among the notable industries in the county.

PETROLEUM OIL FIELDS.

The state geological reports for 1907 contain much concerning the Gibson county oil fields, a portion of which the writer draws from in writing this chapter. The first discovery of oil in this county was in 1903, at least that was the first of any commercial value. It was struck in a sand- stone varying from eight hundred and twenty to nine hundred and twenty feet below the surface. The history of this industry, however, goes back to 1891, when a subsidy was voted by Patoka township to the Southern Railway Company, inducing that company to locate their central shops at Princeton. A little before that time William R. Wright, of Princeton, while in search of coal and gas, had completed a well known as "Evans' Well," on the eastern edge of the city. A considerable pressure of gas was found, which induced him to pipe it to the court house yard and burn it, so attracting public interest to his well. This event, along with the voting of the subsidy, created some excitement and in a short time afterward four wells were completed. These, however, were unsuccessful in producing any quantity of gas, although the presence of heavy strata of coal and shale was shown. Three of these wells were near the Evans well and one located in the yards of the Southern railway shops. Then another well was located on the J. B. Hall tract on the western edge of Princeton, directly south of the Evansville & Terre Haute railroad depot. It was carried down to a depth of 1,274 feet, and at 355 feet a vein of coal strata measuring six feet in thickness was passed through; at 470 feet another six-foot vein was found and still another at the depth of 670 feet. The largest vein was struck at 730 feet, being seven feet in thick- ness, and finally, at the depth of 1,020 feet, three feet of coal was encountered, showing five strata of coal in this one location. But a small amount of gas ever emitted from this well. In fact none of the 1891 gas wells ever pro-

GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA.

duced a commercial natural gas. Ten years rolled by and nothing of import- ance was done in the way of sinking more wells. But in January, 1902, a company composed of business men in Princeton was organized and incor- porated as The Inter-State Oil and Gas Company. These men were the pioneers in the Princeton oil field and were as follows: Seth Ward, Sr., S. T. Heston, Eugene Criswell. G. E. Bryant, Harry Kurtz and J. W. Archer. The capital stock was $500,000, in one dollar shares. They leased three thousand acres of land in the vicinity of Princeton, and early in the spring of 1902 let a contract to drill two thousand feet, with the understand- ing that Trenton rock was to be reached. A bore was put down on the Charles Brownlee farm, south half of the southwest quarter of section 6, township 2, range II west, a half mile north of the limits of the city. Indi- cations of oil appeared at the depth of 869 feet, but on the workmen went until 1,026 feet was reached, when another showing of oil was discovered, but this, too, was not a paying oil find and so more work was done, and on a day in February, 1903, after expending $5,000, the discouraged operators abandoned the enterprise and some time elapsed before another entry was made in the field. But capital and enterprise kept steadily pressing forward, and by the close of 1906 there were one hundred and twenty-two gas-pro- ducing wells, forty-four dry holes, eleven abandoned pay wells and one well drilling, making a total of one hundred and seventy-six wells, eighty-two of which yielded gas. None of these wells are large producers, but they have been the source of much wealth in the county in the few years they have been in operation. In 1904 there were shipped from Gibson county 32,000 barrels of oil; in 1905 there were 65,000 barrels shipped and in 1906 there were 103,843 barrels shipped. These wells are largely to the north and west of Princeton scattered over quite a territory.

The output of the wells are largely under the control of the Standard Oil Company, known here as the Indiana Pipe Line Company, who change the prices here in harmony with the oil markets everywhere in the country, hence. some months the wells are more profitable than in others of the same year.

This oil field extends over an area of about twelve square miles and lies in section 35, township I, range II west, and in sections 2, 3, 10 and II, in township 2, range II west. They are mostly all in Patoka civil township. The eastern limit of the field is about one and a half miles from the north- west corner of the corporate limits of the city of Princeton.

GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA.

ELEVATIONS ABOVE SEA LEVEL.

The following are the elevations at various points within Gibson county : Yeager's Hill, 642 feet; Bald Hill, 634 feet; Francisco, 430 feet; Fort Branch, 440 feet; Gordon Hills, 500 feet; Haubstadt. 473 feet; Hazelton, 422 feet ; King's Station, 463 feet; Lyles, 400 feet; Owensville, 507 feet; Patoka, 429 feet; Princeton, at the Evansville & Terre Haute railroad sta- tion, 478 feet ; Southern station in Princeton, 429 feet ; court house, 501 feet.

CHAPTER II.

INDIAN OCCUPANCY-OTHER RACES.

Before the pioneer white settlers invaded the green glad solitude of what is now known as Gibson county, the red man inhabited this territory. The Indians who roamed at will over the hills and valleys of this region were made up from remnants of several tribes, including the Shawnee, Sacs, Fox, Kickapoo, Miami and Pottawatomies. Of the Shawnee, old "Track- well" was a noted chief. He had a village of several wigwams located on Indian creek, about two miles northeast of where Princeton is located. The Miamis had a fort on the Patoka river and claimed ownership to a por- tion of the territory. As civilization approached from the south and east, the Indians gradually disappeared, moving westward. The forest wilds yielded to the axe of the sturdy pioneer and were transformed into fields of waving grain and corn. Long decades since the foundations of industry were established on the ruins of the Indian wigwam and the noise and din of the trades of civilized artisans have been heard where once the stillness of the dark, dense forests was unbroken, save by the whoop of the savage Indian tribes, warring one with the other.

The Indiana Legislature requested the Congress of the United States in the early thirties to quiet all the Indian titles in this state. This request was granted and by treaty the Pottawatomies ceded to the government of the United States six million acres of land, all they possessed. A little later the Miamis, through the labors of Col. A. C. Pepper, Indian agent, sold a con- siderable portion of their most desirable reserves to the United States.

In 1838 Colonel Pepper and General Tipton, with an escort of United States soldiers, conducted about one thousand. Pottawatomies to the west of the Mississippi river, western Iowa getting many of the tribe, and later these were induced to move on to the southwestern territories. A few, how- ever, of both tribes lingered around their old haunts and hunting grounds, refusing to be consoled at their loss. But after white men commenced gath- ering in thicker settlements, they, too, sought the sinking sun and joined their brethren in the western country above named.

While we cannot stop here to discuss a question of ethics, we may

GIBSON COUNTY, INDIANA.

sympathize with the Indian in what he has suffered at the hand of the white man; yet we may recollect that he, too, was a despoiler. A civilization of no small pretensions antedated his advent, or at least his savage condition. Whether this civilization was that of a distinct race, or something which the Indians had lost, cannot be certainly told. Certain it is, however, that what is now Gibson county was inhabited by a pre-historic race. Evidences of its existence and civilization are numerous. Specimens of pottery, of fair workmanship and artistic adornments, are found in the mounds which these ancient people, for reasons best known to themselves, threw up In some parts of the state various implements of copper have been found, the work of these aborigines. Copper blades have been discovered, tempered so highly as to defy the efforts of modern art. The Indians who roamed and hunted over the wooded hills and vales of Gibson county were chiefly rem- nants of the Kickapoos, Shawnees, Sacs, Foxes, Pottawatomies and the Miamis. They were generally friendly, seldom committing any depredations beyond occasionally stealing poultry, hogs and sheep. Old "Trackwell," a chief of the Shawnee tribe, had a town of several wigwams. The town was here when the first settlers came in and was located on Indian creek, two miles northeast of Princeton, on section 4, township 2, range 10. The old chief and his tribe were very friendly with the whites. The Miamis claimed ownership to a part of this locality. They had a fort. on the south side of the river a short distance from the present site of the Patoka bridge.

BURNING OF AN INDIAN VILLAGE NEAR OWENSVILLE.

Cockrun's Pioneer History of Indiana says of this event :

"The last village inhabited by the Indians in the southwestern part of Gibson county was located in the northeast corner of section 9, township 3, range 12, and in section 4, township 3, range 12, two miles west of Owens- ville. It was a straggling village, extending westward from the northeast corner of section 9, for about a mile, composed of wigwams and built along the springs coming out of the foot of the sand hills.

"The Indians were driven away late in the summer or early in the fall of 1807, and the wigwams burned all except a few which were still there in 1809. The village was destroyed by Capt. Jacob Warrick and others. If there was any fighting done or Indians killed it was never known except by those engaged in it. There were very good reasons for their silence, as the government did not allow such acts when at peace with the Indians.

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History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 2

Author: Stormont, Gil R Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F.Bowen Number of Pages: 1284

Author: Stormont, Gil R
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F.Bowen
Number of Pages: 1284