History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 35

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 35

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It created a terrible excitement and the soldiers who were implicated were hurried to Evansville and gotten out of the way. It looked like brutal mur- der, but the man would give no account of himself and those were days when it was not safe to be so reticent. The name the stranger gave was Wor- rell and he was buried in the Francisco cemetery. I remember how, as a child, I was afraid to go into the old cemetery for fear I would see "Wor- rell's Ghost." The man who shot him was a Tennessee soldier by the name of Wells.

I have spoken of the loyalty of the men and boys of Francisco and how every able-bodied man at one time was out in defense of his country, but it can be said that not all who stayed at home were loyal to the cause of the Union. In and around Francisco were a few men whose sympathies were all with the South and they were known as "Copperheads," or "Butternuts," and, while I suspect they were brave enough when they met in their secret conclaves, the gatherings of the "Knights of the Golden Circle," one thing is very sure even among the women of that town, it was not safe for them to boast of their disloyalty. Some of them had a little experience in that line and it taught them that while the men of Francisco could fight on the battle fields, it was also regrettably true-for their part-that the loyal women of Francisco could fight too, when treasonable words were uttered in their pres- ence. Over the vale of years there arises between fifty years ago and the present the angel of charity and forgiveness has spread her wings and we now try to believe that these men believed they were right in what they did, but even then it is hard for many of us to entirely forget the acts of some of those days.

Incidentally, I want to say also that not all of the women by any means were loyal to the Union and, unwomanly as it may now seem, many were the hair pullings indulged in by the women of the town. Among the militant women of Francisco who fought as they prayed in those days-for the Union-I will mention Mrs. Susanna Skelton and Mrs. Julia Dill, both wives of soldiers then in the field; Mrs. Edna Bilderback, another soldier's wife; Mrs. Aurelia Shanner, an aged widow whose father and eleven uncles were in the Revolutionary war and who had two brothers and four brothers-in-law in the war of 1812, and who still hated with a holy hatred any man or woman who advocated the dissolution of that Union for which they had offered their lives. Some of the girls were disposed to favor the cause of the South, but they were few and generally wise enough to keep a still tongue. But of all those to whom my mind reverts there are none now alive.

FRANCISCO HIGH SCHOOL.

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GETTING THE NEWS.

During the war everyone was anxious to hear the news from the seat of war and, as Francisco liad but one mail each week, it was arranged that each evening someone would go from that place to Princeton and get the mail out of the Francisco box and the home papers and the Evansville Journal and the Cincinnati Gazette or Enquirer. To meet the expenses incident to all this, clubs were formed and then at night the club would meet at some member's house and all would listent to the reports of the war. Many amusing things incident to those days could be related.

I have referred to the method of getting the daily news, but an addi- tional fact might be mentioned. It was understood whenever the church bell rang outside the regular devotional hours there was some important news from the front and all gathered to hear it. Many who had husbands, sons, brothers or sweethearts went in fear and trembling and many indeed were justified in that dread, as it was not an uncommon thing to hear when the news was read that some brave home man or boy had laid down his life in defense of his country. Some who left their homes in the flush of vigorous manhood came home physical wrecks from starvation and exposure in South- ern prisons. But it was the fate of war and in nearly every case the be- reaved ones patriotically looked upon the taking of loved ones as but their tribute to their country in its danger and loyally bore their burden of grief in tearless silence.

A great many of the women who were left at home to make, as it were, an "Adamless Eden" could not read or write. My mother, Mrs. Mary A. Anderson, would write regularly for a number of the women who were un- able to do their own letter-writing, and as she generally had to read to them the replies to the letters she was thus made the confidant of many amusing as well as serious matters. I remember one instance of a girl who could neither read or write and she would always want my mother to write a great many love expressions in her letter. This correspondence was kept up for some time and burning messages of love were passing between them all the time. Some of the home boys came home on furlough and what was my mother's astonishment when the girl for whom she had been writing such undying love to her soldier sweetheart came to her and said, "Aunt Mary, I am going to be married right away." Mother was astonished, as she knew the soldier with whom the girl had been corresponding was still in the field. "Yes," said

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the girl, "Jim (with whom she had been corresponding) may get killed and Mack (naming a Francisco boy then at home on furlough) looked so purty in his sojer clothes that I jist could not refuse him." And sure enough, they were married before he returned to the army, thus proving, in her case at least, that absence did not "make the heart grow fonder."

Of all those who have made Francisco their home since 1855, Mrs. Lizzie Perkins Ireland is the only one who has had a continuous residence there. It has been her abiding place all these years. Francisco has a very warm place in my heart. It was my home for about twenty years of my life and a happy home it was to me.

CHAPTER XXX.

WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP.

This township is in the northern portion of the county, and when first organized contained all that part of the county north of the Patoka river. The present boundaries of the township are: On the north by White river, on the east by Washington township, on the south by Patoka and Montgom- ery townships and on the west by the Wabash and White rivers. The land, although broken in places, is very suitable for agriculture, all varieties of grain being raised in full quantities. The Wabash, White and Patoka rivers both drain and water the land throughout. Heavy timber originally covered the township, but agriculture has compelled the clearing of nearly all of it.

The advantage of river operation caused several grist-mills and saw- mills to be built here in early times. The logs were floated to these mills from other parts of the township and county, and the lumber afterward loaded on flat boats and shipped down to Southern ports. Other inills were in the interior of the township The water in these rivers was at times very sluggish, and consequently frequent malarial trouble occurred among the settlers. In 1813 and 1814 there was a pestilence known as the "black plague," which resulted disastrously for the people of this portion of the county. It was equal to the cholera in its fatality. Wild game was plentiful in this portion and bears, panthers, wolves, wild cats, elk, deer and wild turkey were all hunted by the frontiersmen. Fish in the streams was a source of much of the meat supply. Potter's clay was found and was a source of great profit in early times.

The first grist-mill constructed in White River township was of round logs and was built by Keen Fields. It was run by horse power and was pro- vided with one set of buhrs. Each customer furnished his own power during those days and provided his own bolt. The first style of bolt was a box-shaped invention, with straight handle and wire bottom, and was termed a "sarch." The ground grist was placed in this sarch and was pushed by hand back and forth across the top of an open trough, a hollowed log, which held the flour after being sifted out.

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The town of Smithfield, now Patoka, probably had the first church and cemetery. The "Forty-Gallon Baptists" held meetings here in log houses. John Severns, Sr., was one of the first settlers in this township, and was fol- lowed by such men as Gervas Hazelton, Keen Fields, Major David Robb, James Robb, Abraham Spain, B. K. Ashcraft, Joseph Milburn, John Mil- burn, David Milburn, Robert and William Milburn, Robert Mosely, Abra- ham Bruner, Patrick Payne, Charles Routt, the Gordons, John Adams, Joseph Adams, Samuel Adams, James Crow, Sr. and Jr., Andrew Cunningham, William Price. Eli Hawkins, Jonathan Gulick, John W. Grisam, Simon and Thomas Key, Thomas H. Martin, Armstead Bennett, William Hardy, Fred- erick Bruner, John Hyndman, William French, James Sproule, Robert and William Philips, Robert and Stephen Falls, C. and Joseph Hudspeth, John Robinson, James Favis, James Skidmore, Andrew Harvey, William Maxi- dent, Stephen Lewis, Edmund Hogan.

Severns' ferry on the Patoka river was the first in the township. The second was on White river, where Hazelton is now located, and was called the Hazelton ferry. The first bridge in White River township was built in 1813 by Edward Hogan and Thomas Neely. It was a toll bridge, built of logs.

Azariah Ayres was the first blacksmith; John and Joseph Adams were the first merchants. Distilleries were scattered around on most of the farms. It was an universal custom among the settlers to manufacture apple and peach brandy.

PATOKA.

The town of Patoka is three miles north of Princeton and twenty-one miles south of Vincennes. It is located on sections 24 and 25, township I south, range 10 west, on the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad and the Patoka river. Patoka is an Indian name, and means "log on the bottom," applying to the many logs that had settled in the mud at the bottom of the Patoka river. The town, which was platted and recorded as early as 1813, was first called Smithfield, then Columbia; and then by its present name. There is no doubt that it is the oldest town of the county, many having lived there before it was platted. For years it was a stage station between Evans- ville, "Stringtown" and Vincennes.

Thomas H. Martin is believed to have been the first hotel keeper and ininister in the town.

In the early eighties the following was written of Patoka:

"Patoka has a population of eight hundred and has seen better days. Dis-

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tilleries first made her prosperous, then crooked whisky sheared her golden locks, nipped her pristine vigor, made her prematurely gray and hurled her on the down grade of the stream of time from which she is not likely to soon recover; and also this disgraced and bankrupted several of her own citizens and made criminals of other residents of the county, only a few of whom were made to feel the power of the law which they had violated. Whisky has ever been one of the staples of this town; two saloons are here now and the time was when merchants and hotels all kept it on sale. A business man here today says that on looking over his grandfather's old bills of purchase he found the average about thus: One barrel of molasses, two barrels of whisky, showing a double demand for the 'necessary tangle-foot' over luxur- ious treacle. Patoka has three churches, Baptist, Presbyterian and Metho- dist. The school facilities are excellent, having the graded system.

"The manufacturing interests of Patoka are represented by two steam saw-mills, with a combined capacity of from three thousand five hundred to four thousand five hundred feet of lumber per day; one steam planing-mill, capacity from three thousand to four thousand feet per day; two flouring- mills, one steam and one water, with a combined capacity one hundred bar- rels per day, and three blacksmith shops and three large wagon and carriage repair shops. The steam flouring-mill has attachments for making the 'pat- ent process' flour. The water mill has a combination of buhrs and rollers, being the 'gradual reduction process' of making flour and is said to be the best system yet discovered."

In a great many respects the Patoka of today is very much different from the Patoka as described in the publication from which the foregoing is quoted. A great many of the business industries noted have disappeared, some of them for the town's betterment, but there are still a goodly number of substantial business men in the town and there has been a great improve- ment in the character and conduct of its citizens since the days of its un- savory record.

The following was written for the centennial issue of the Clarion-News, in March, 1913, concerning this place :

. "Patoka, the oldest town in Gibson county, was formerly called Smith- ville. The town was in existence a number of years prior to the organization of the county. In fact, when John Severns, the first white settler in Gibson county, settled, in 1789, on the south bank of the Patoka river, at a place now known as Severns' bridge, the town of Patoka sprang into being. Other settlers naturally followed the path made by Severns through the wilderness

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and when he pitched tent they did likewise. Severns was the recognized leader and explorer. His business was not that of founding towns and vil- lages. He left this work to others and at this particular time, 1789, one John Smith conceived the idea of inducing the handful of settlers to join him in establishing a permanent village to be called Smithville.

"However, in 1813, when the town of Smithville was platted, the name was changed to Columbia, in honor of the discoverer of America.

"The records concerning this remarkable town shed no light as to the causes which contributed to the desire to change the name of Smithville for that of Columbia, nor why at the last moment the name of Patoka was finally agreed upon as having more charm than either Smithville or Columbia. All we know is that the oldest inhabitant of the county cannot remember when Patoka was known by any other name than Patoka. And this same Patoka might have been the first if not the only county seat of Gibson county had not a 'black plague' swooped down upon it in 1813-14 and carried off many of its citizens. The epidemic appeared about the same time steps were taken to organize the county and when Patoka manifested a strong inclination to bid for county seat honors. However, the 'black plague' wrought such havoc as to completely preclude anything of this sort. Patoka was a long time recov- ering from her serious losses. Despite this hindrance, Patoka became an important and probably the principal stage line station between Vincennes and Evansville. This line carried many passengers in its day and Patoka gained much prestige and fanie as the result of being the only relay station along the route. And in the days of early steamboating Patoka became a town of much note. Patoka river, though not now a navigable stream, was at an early day the scene of much traffic by boats of small tonnage, especially during high waters which made it possible for boats to run up as far as the town of Patoka. Two small boats were built on the river above Patoka, one for steam trade, the other for moving flats and barges. They operated sev- eral years. This river traffic, although quite limited, brought the town into renown among river men far and wide.

"The portion of the land near Patoka was divided by the general gov- ernment into Militia Donations, locations and surveys. These surveys were made between the years 1794 and 1802. Buckingham, a surveyor in 1804, in his field notes running certain boundaries, states that the blazes and marls on the trees indicated that the last locations were made about two years pre- viously. These donations were originally made to a company of one hundred and twenty-eight militiamen, of a hundred acres each to a man and were laid

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off in lots of a hundred acres. These lands were given for services rendered in the Indian wars. The persons who received the warrants were allowed to either locate or dispose of the same.

"Patoka being the oldest town in the county, was, as a matter of course, first in everything pertaining to the needs and requirements of an advancing civilization, such as schools, churches, mills, etc. The first grist-mill was erected near Patoka by Keen Fields. The first school house in Gibson county was built in Patoka in 1815 and for several years was used as a house of worship. The first minister to preach there was Rev. Thomas Martin, of the Baptist faith, and it is claimed by one writer that he was the first in the county. The first two-story log house in this county was built in Patoka by James Robb. The first merchant was John Smith, in whose honor the town was first known as Smithville. Patoka was incorporated in the early nineties.

"It was David Robb, of Patoka, who organized a company of soldiers and participated in the famous battle of Tippecanoe. His volunteers com- prised a number of Patoka merchants."

PRESENT PATOKA.

The town of Patoka, at present, has a population close to eight hun- dred. The town officers are as follows: Trustees, L. F. Alvis, G. B. Bing- ham, W. W. Witherspoon, C. C. Jones; treasurer, L. F. Riley, and clerk, C. W. Stermer.

The general stores are owned by J. W. Myrick, W. P. Casey, Preston Milburn, the Field brothers and J. T. Boerke ; F. O. Milburn runs a drug store ; Wilkerson & Martin have a dray line; Paul Kuhn & Company and A. Waller & Company deal in grain; John Duncan has a livery ; L. F. Alvis operates a blacksmith shop; Colonel Lynn and Thomas Patterson are the barbers; the hotel is conducted by I. F. Alvis and is named the Alvis House; hardware and implements are sold by Stermer & Jones; harness is kept by C. Reneer; lumber by R. P. Lockhart; Henry Watson manages a mill. There are 110 resident attorneys in Patoka. The physicians are M. L. and S. I. Arthur. Earl Turpin and Fred Boerke keep restaurants and confectionaries combined; Whiting & Hollis deal in live stock.

The Patoka National Bank was organized in 1909 and chartered the same year. There were thirty-three charter members and the first officers were: Alex D. Milburn, president; David W. Hull, vice-president, and William F. Parrett, cashier. The present officers are: D. W. Hull, presi- dent; J. W. Adams, vice-president; W. F. Parrett, cashier, and Eldon E.

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Field, assistant cashier. The capital stock is now the same as in the begin- ning, $25,000; the surplus is $7,000, and the deposits amount to $90,000. The bank building was erected in 1908, at a total cost of $3,088.

DEFUNCT VILLAGE OF PORT GIBSON.

This place was situated on section 3, township 2 south, range 10 west. on the south bank of the old canal. It was surveyed in the spring of 1852 for proprietors Elisha Embree and Samuel Shannon. It has long since been numbered among the defunct places of this county. J. R. Strickland, of Owensville, a local historian, has described its rise and fall in the following language :

"The history of the rise and fall of Port Gibson is closely interwoven with that of the Wabash and Erie canal, a water-way project born in 1827. In that year the United States government granted to the state of Indiana every alternate section of land along a proposed canal route from Fort Wayne to Evansville, through Lafayette and Terre Haute. In 1830-32 the Indiana Legislature offered these government land grants for sale. The land sold from one dollar and fifty cents to two dollars per acre, the money to be used in digging the canal. The only stipulation was that the government boats and agents be allowed to travel along the canal free of cost.

In 1832 work began on the canal at Fort Wayne. The canal was com- pleted to Evansville in 1852. The entire length of the canal was four hun- dred and sixty miles, eighty-seven of which were in Ohio. The total cost of the Wabash and Erie canal was six million dollars. Along with the comple- tion of the canal came the railroad as a means of transportation, with the result that the canal became useless before many years. From Evansville to Terre Haute, the canal followed a route that afterward became the right-of- way of the Evansville & Indianapolis railroad.

The Wabash & Erie canal extended through the eastern part of Gibson county and furnished a highway for the transportation of much of the pro- ducts of this county. The little town of Port Gibson, on the southeast bank of the canal, thrived and waxed strong. There were also two reservoirs at Port Gibson, built as feeders to the canal. One of these covered an area of two thousand four hundred acres, the other being much smaller. The canal also built locks at Port Gibson and altogether the little settlement became an important station, in fact, the principal canal point in Gibson county.

In 1851-52 Elisha Embree, an attorney of Princeton, and Samuel Shan-

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non platted the town of Port. Gibson and otherwise prepared for a perma- nent village. By that time Port Gibson boasted of having a store, a black- smith shop and a flouring mill, the latter being promoted by Mr. Iglehardt of Evansville. Later on "Dud" Campbell started a saloon. For a time after the completion of the canal passenger traffic was quite heavy and the boats always stopped for an hour or twe at Port Gibson.

Had the railroads been a few years later in coming into the county, the town of Port Gibson would have blossomed into a small city. The arrival of the railroad sounded the death knell of the Wabash and Erie canal and Port Gibson.

HAZELTON.

This is the second oldest town in Gibson county. It was named in honor of Gervas Hazelton, the second white settler in the county to permanently locate. Gervas Hazelton first lived in a "camp," the back of which was an immense walnut log and sides of poles covered with bark, the front open to admit the heat and light of large log fires. Hazelton was famed far and wide as an entertainer and his camp was always open to the struggling settlers.

The town of Hazelton was surveyed and platted by Lucius French in 1856. T. S. Fuller erected the first frame building in Hazelton. In about John Breedlove built a blacksmith shop. Being located on the south bank of White river, the town became a very important port in the days of flat and keel-boats. Numerous cargoes of corn, wheat and pork were shipped from Hazelton every week. New Orleans was then the best market for farm pro- ducts raised, at that date, around Hazelton. The highway of travel was via the Patoka, Wabash, Ohio and Mississippi rivers and five or six weeks were required to make the round trip .. A complement of five men was the usual number required with each boat. And it was no trouble to get hands, as many young men were anxious to make the trip and would do it for little pay. Imagine men shoving a keel-boat loaded with merchandise from New Orleans to Hazelton or Patoka and you will get a better idea of Gibson county's situa- tion in its infancy. The first steamboat of any note to pass up White river was the "Cleopatria"; she made fast at the ferry where Hazelton stands and attracted big crowds of people.

THE TOWN IN 1913.

The present town of Hazelton is a very substantial one, considering the misfortunes that befell the town in earlier years. The town was incorporated

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about twenty-five years ago and the present officers are: Trustees, James M. Phillips, Henry Thorne and John D. Milburn; treasurer, H. N. Weer; clerk, B. I. Rumble; marshal, Elijah Gilbert. The physicians are H. D. Gudgel, H. M. Arthur and U. B. Loudin. There is a town water company, the plant being owned by the city and supplying water from White river. This plant was erected in 1909 at a cost of six thousand eight hundred dollars. Other business interests are as follows : Blacksmiths, L. H. Ferguson & Son, T. F. Thomas & Son; barbers, T. T. Phillips, F. D. Steelman ; general stores, C. J. Snyder & Company, D. L. Bonner, John H. Briner and T. T. Thorne; drugs, A. C. Sisson, H. C. DePriest; livery, William Morrison; furniture, H. Clem- ent ; groceries, C. H. Peppers, C. Y. Henderson ; grain, Paul Kuhn, Prince- ton Milling Company, A. C. Heise; hotels, F. Knight, Marcus Wellman, and the Westfall House; hardware and harness, Wolff & Shawhan; lumber, H. P. Phillips; millinery, Mrs. T. T. Thorne; meat, Adam Kline; restaurants, H. N. Johnson, Frank Purkiser, J. H. Bryant; live stock, John W. Ford; veterinary, W. F. Thorne ; coal, James M. Phillips, J. A. McFetridge ; poultry, Ivy Triplett ; photographer ; ferry, M. O. Decker; oil, John Knaube.

There are three congregations in Hazelton, the Presbyterian, the Meth- odist and the Baptist, but none of the denominations have a resident pastor. They are composed of about a hundred members each and have existed since the early fifties. There are three main lodges, the Masonic, the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, besides numerous insurance and beneficiary lodges.

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History of Gibson County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 35

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