History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana, Part 33

Author: Goodspeed Bros. & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 901

USA > Indiana > Greene County > History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana > Part 33
USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana > Part 33

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).

COMPANY OF TOWNSHIP MILITIA.

In 1825, Josiah Buskirk, as a Captain in the Forty-seventh Indiana Militia, made the following report of the condition of his company from this locality, and it will be noticed by the reader that the amount of fire- arms and munitions of war in possession of this company would, on sight, have stricken terror to an enemy's heart: 8 rifles, 6 pouches, 22 cartridges, 20 flints, and 14 pounds of powder. The members composing this company were: Josiah Buskirk, Captain; Peyton Owen, Ensign; Sandford Gowan, Allan Kelley, Bailey Mccutcheon and John Staloup, First, Second, Third and Fourth Sergeants respectively, and David Deem, John H. Owen, Evan Owen, Joseph McIntosh, William Bryant, Benja- min Stalcup, Francis Bland, William Bland, William Wilkie, Hiram Martin, Reuben Martin, George Martin, Eli Martin, Richard Pope, Joshua Hunter, Alexander Hunter, Richard Buckner, John Dodd, Rob- ert Dodd and Amos Owen, privates. It is not recorded how many battles were fought, or how much blood was shed, but it is related by old settlers that on muster day a fisticuff was no uncommon occurence. Blood, on Buch occasions, would flow freely from sundry noses, and eyes that in the morning had been a heavenly blue, a sparkling brown or a determined gray, assumed the hue of the raven's wing before the day had passed.

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EARLY MARRIAGES.

Courtships and weddings have, at all ages of the world, received con- siderable attention, and from the early marriages recorded from High- land Township one would infer that the fair sex was not by any means deficient in the art of captivating the hearts of the opposite sex. Among the first to undertake the responsibility of wedded felicity were Bailey Mccutcheon and Anna Baber, Aaron Bland and Lavina Bryant, Isaac Stalcup and Mourning Martin, and Reuben Martin and Jennie Beasley. George Baber, aged forty, and Margaret Hunter, aged fifteen, was another couple that took upon themselves the matrimonial yoke, and notwith- standing the disparity in their ages, they lived happily together many years, and reared a large family. The citizens of Highland Township, as a rule, are comfortably fixed, although it is to be regretted that they have not taken a more active interest in the development of its resources and its general improvement. Portions of the township are underlaid with rich coal and ore deposits, and especially is this noticeable of the former mineral, by its outcroppings on the farm of Reuben Smith and others. An excellent quality of sandstone also abounds, and is to be had in almost any portion of the township. Stock-raising seems to be the most profitable business in which the citizens are engaged, and among those who make it a success, as they also do farming, are John J. Ballard, Simon Bland, Henry Booze, Jacob Bucher and John H. Dizson. Under many years' service as Township Trustee, Simon Bland has advanced the educational interests of his township until it ranks among the best in the county.

SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.

Up to 1840, only five small log and badly used schoolhouses were within its borders, but at present they have nine fraine houses which, in 1882, averaged about five months' teaching to each district, and these nine districts paid their teachers, in 1882, about $1,400. There are, at present, three churches in the township, two Baptist and one Methodist Episcopal. The latter is located on Section 30, and the two former on Sections 16 and 19. James H. Oliphant, grandson of the old pioneer preacher, is pastor for the one on Section 16, Martin Faulk for the one on Section 19, and Rev. Mr. Rogers for the Methodist Episcopal Church.

THE BIG TREE

One of the noted features of Greene County is the giant sycamore tree on the farm of Uncle John Dixson. This monster of the forest is perhaps a thousand years old, nearly a hundred feet high, and measures about sixteen feet in diameter. We repeat from Baber's brief history, with a postscript of our own, that the tall sycamore of the White River Valley rather beats the tall sycamore of the Wabash Valley by at least ninety four feet in height, twelve feet in circumference, and nine hun- dred and forty years in experience.

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AN APPALLING ACCIDENT.

In March, 1876, an appalling accident occurred on Section 21, which, from its number of deaths, is unparalleled in the history of Greene County. This was the explosion of the boiler of the steam saw mill owned by Hunter Brothers. The boiler had run dry and was red hot when cold water was pumped into it. No sooner had this occurred, than with a report that was heard miles away, the boiler burst, causing death and destruction on every hand. Nineteen persons were present at the time of the explosion, and of these twelve were killed outright, one was mortally wounded, and six were more or less seriously injured. The fol. lowing is a list of the killed: James Hunter, John Hunter, John Spelts, Absalom Vandeventer, John Wilkie, two little sons of David Hunter, a son of John Hamilton, son of George Rea, son of Henry Sarver, son of George Bender and a son of Jacob Brubaker. James Hunter, the first named, had a son present who received injuries that resulted in his death shortly thereafter. It was not long until hundreds of people were on the scene, drawn thither by the report that the boiler of Hunter's saw mill had burst. Mothers, daughters and sisters were there, bewailing the loss of loved ones with tears and lamentations, while the horrified glances and pale faces of men who were busily at work in search of the remains of the dead added to the sorrow of the scene. May Highland Township never be visited with another such disaster, but, on the contra- ry, may it thrive and flourish, its citizens prosper, its abundant resources be developed, and then Highland Township will be second to none in Greene County.

CHAPTER XXI.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP-OFFICERS-LAND ENTRIES-THE ARRIVAL OF THE SETTLERS-THE FIRST RESIDENT-THE HOMELY STRANGER AND THE KETTLE-OTHER FACTS CONCERNING THE FIRST SETTLEMENT- HUNTING, ANECDOTES-THE INDIAN AND THE WHISKY-OTHER ITEMS OF VALUE-PIONEER INDUSTRIES-EDUCATION AND RELIGION-VIL- LAGE OF LYONS-THE MERCHANTS-RESIDENTS-INDUSTRI S.

A S will be learned more fully from the chapter on Stafford Township, the township of Washington, prior to 1830, was part and parcel of the former named township. The first officers who presided over its af- fairs will be found named in that chapter. Several of them lived within the present boundaries of Washington Township, and were in after years its most prominent and valued citizens. In November, 1830, upon peti- tion of the residents, the County Board ordered that all of Stafford Town- ship east of the line dividing Ranges 6 and 7 should constitute a new township, to be known and designated as Washington Township, and

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elections were ordered held at the residence of Thomas Morris. Thomas Bradford was appointed Inspector of Elections.

LAND ENTRIES, SETTLEMENT, ETC.

The first tracts of land entered in the present Washington Township were as follows: John Haddon, on Section 30, in October, 1816; Joseph Dixon, on Section 30, in 1817; Thomas Plummer, on Section 4, in the east- ern part in 1817, and also on Sections 8 and 9, near there, in the same year; Jesse Stafford, on Section 19, in the western part in August, 1818; Joseph Ingersoll, on Section 18, in the eastern part in 1818; George and Elijah Chinn, on Section 19, in 1818; Benjamin Stafford, on Sections 20 and 8, in 1819; Gamson Evans, on Section 29, in 1819; Joel Collins, on Section 29, in 1818; William Harrison, on Section 30, in 1820; Simon Camp, on Section 7, in 1821; George Hoke, on Section 10, in 1822, and also, on Section 28; W. D. Lester, on Section 24, in 1823; Moses Ritter, on Section 24, in 1825; Thomas Stafford, on Section 28, in 1823; Peter Herington, on Section 8, in 1819, on the river ; John O'Neall, on Sec- tion 19, in 1820. These were all the earliest entries in the present township of Washington. But the entries of land do not really exhibit the earliest settlement, as land was often entered several years after being occupied and also very often by speculators who never resided thereon.

THE FIRST SETTLER.

No doubt John Haddon was the first settler, as his land was entered in October, 1816. He came to the township either that fall or early the next spring, as he raised a crop of corn on Section 30 in 1817. He located on what is known as the Morgan Prairie, and built a small log cabin, which afterward became the first schoolhouse of the township. Joseph Dixon settled on Section 30 (the same one on which Haddon lo- cated) in 1817. His early affairs are noticed in the chapter on Stafford Township. The Staffords, who were early in the township, have been noticed in the same chapter. Henry and Madison Collins were in the township by 1819, and James and William Harrison came about the same time. John Seaman was an early settler in the neighborhood. William Pomroy was in before 1822.

A HOMELY STORY.

Peter Herington was early and prominent. He owned and operated a ferry on White River. It is said that one day a well-dressed stranger crossed on the ferry and had such a remarkably homely face as to attract general attention. After he had reached the bank and paid his fare, he took from his wagon a very fine copper kettle, a very valuable piece of domestic houseware in that day, and handing it to Mr. Ingersoll, told him to give it to the homeliest man who should cross the river at the ferry within the next year. With that parting instruction, he resumed

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his journey. Mr. Ingersoll was an honest man, and resolved to follow the stranger's instructions implicitly. He watched for many months. but could not find a face among the many he saw to induce him to part with the kettle. At last, near the close of the year of probation, a man ap- peared so very homely-with such singular disproportion of size and form of features that the ferryman concluded after one glance, and with- out further hesitation, to give him the kettle, which he accordingly did, telling him why and how he came to do so. The stranger, with a homely grin on his homely face, took the vessel in a homely way, without any hesitation and without feeling in the least aggrieved or insulted by the judgment or words of the ferryman. His ox team moved on like snails, and after a time disappeared behind a neighboring clump of timber. He was scarcely lost to sight, ere another stranger drove up and called for passage across the river, going the same way as the former traveler had. The newly arrived man, who for the sake of his descendants, some of whom yet live in the county, shall be nameless here, became a permanent citizen of the county, and was well-to-do and prominent. Mr. Hering. ton had no sooner caught sight of his face than he stopped and stared at the man in utter astonishment. He saw before him a face so remark. able in its deformity of nature and its hideous disproportion of feature- such an absolute chaos of size, form and color-such a frightful and un- , pardonable abuse of the permission men have to be ugly-that without an instant's hesitation, and before he had taken a step toward ferrying the man across the river, he called to an assistant and dispatched him with the greatest haste after the man who had taken the kettle with in- structions to bring the vessel back to be given to the new arrival. This was done, and the man was so amused at the occurrence that he con- cluded to locate in Greene County, which he accordingly did. Charge the homeliness of this story to the characters mentioned and not to the writer. The facts given are said to be true.

SETTLEMENT CONTINUED.

John and Edward Goldsberry came to the township early and en- gaged in clearing and improving farms. George Hoke was another early settler. . Jonathan and Solomon Pitzer came early in the twenties, as did also Jacob Pitzer, the man with one leg. How he lost his leg was a mystery. When asked, he would turn the matter off with a joke. It was generally supposed that he lost it in the war of 1812, though there is no evidence to show that he did. He had been in several battles with Indians, which could only have occurred during the war of 1812, or the bloody Indian border wars immediately preceding it. It is related of. him, though this is probably a modern story re-applied, that on one occa- sion a lady of his acquaintance asked him how he lost his limb, and, upon his avoidance of a reply, insisted upon knowing. At last, Mr.

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Pitzer told her he would tell her if she would promise not to ask him any more questions. This she did, whereupon he replied, " It was bitten off." Then the lady -begged to ask just one more question, but Mr. Pitzer was inexorable and refused. By the year 1820, about eight fami- lies were living in the township, but within the next five years not less than fifteen more arrived, and by 1830 there were probably fifty families living within the township limits.

HUNTING ANECDOTES.

John Haddon was an experienced hunter and trapper. He is said to have caught some half dozen or more otter on the creeks near his cabin. He was a noted deer hunter, and but three men in the county are said to have killed more than he in the first few years after his arrival. He was one of the very first settlers in the county, if not the first, as his date of settlement may have been as early as 1815, for aught any one now living knows to the contrary. He killed as high as ten deor in one day, and is said to have confessed that though he often tried to exceed that number, he could not do it. In one winter he is said to have killed 120 deer. The hides were worth from 50 cents to $1. He caught large numbers of mink, coon, possum, etc., and always had on hand many valuable furs, which were regularly purchased by traders from Vincennes, who visited his cabin for that purpose. One day he killed two deer at one shot, and without leaving his tracks loaded and shot another. He killed both pan- thers and bears in the county. He went out near his cabin one morning, so the story goes, long before daylight, to watch at a deer lick, and while there, just as daylight was breaking, saw a panther approaching, which he shot dead at the first fire. One of its paws hung in his cabin for many years, and was remarkably large, with claws two inches in length. The Indians were very numerous when he first came to the township, and often visited his cabin for warmth, or to beg food or tobacco and ammunition. He secured many valuable furs from them for a comparative trifle, for which he received a handsome sum from the French traders. He hunted with the Indians, and could beat them shooting at a mark.

THE INDIAN CHIEF AND THE WHISKY.

It is related that on one occasion an old chief named Met-a-quah came to his cabin just at meal time, and was invited to eat with the family, which invitation was accepted. He had no sooner sat down to the rude table upon which was wild turkey, potatoes, corn bread, etc., than he took from his clothing a bottle about half full of whisky, and placing the nozzle to his mouth took a long swig, smacked his lips, and passed the vessel to Mr. Haddon. The latter was nothing loth, and followed the example set by his guest. The bottle passed around and returned to the owner empty. The Indian then took from his cloth- ing a deer bladder containing a fresh supply of the liquor, and filling his

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mouth squirted the contents into the bottle to the intense amusement of all present, and repeated this act until the bottle was again full, when he handed it out to be again passed around, but this was refused. All had had enough. Henry Collins was also a hunter of skill and courage. He could bring down all kinds of aquatic fowls on the wing, off-hand, with his rifle. In one day he is said to have killed forty wild geese in and around the Goose Pond in Stafford Township. While hunting in the woods one day, he found two bear cubs in a hollow tree, which he took home and kept until they were large enough to be troublesome, when they were killed One of the Collinses had at his house & pet deer which had been captured when a fawn, and had grown up with the family. It wore a bell on its neck, and would pasture with the domestic cattle. At last it became missing, and after a few weeks it was learned that the truant animal had been killed for a wild one by a hunter. Many other incidents similar to the above might be related.

OTHER INTERESTING EVENTS.

Buck Creek is said to have received its name from a circumstance which occurred on its banks at a very early day. A large buck frequented the neighborhood, and was seen there on several successive seasons, and was an enormous old fellow with a remarkable spread of antlers, and was so shy and so alert that no hunter could approach within shooting dis- tance of him. Emanuel Hatfield and others from the eastern part of the county came there to hunt, and succeeded in heading the old fellow and killing him. He is said to have weighed 260 pounds. This creek was a famous resort for the deer, as there were numerous brackish springs, and a succession of dense undergrowths which favored their escape when pursued. Alexander Plummer was another famous deer hunter. He is said to have killed more deer than any other hunter in Greene County except Emanuel Hatfield. He had as high as a dozen dead ones lying in his door yard in cold weather at one time. The skins and hams were usually saved, but the remainder, except the tenderloin, was fed to the hogs. In later years, the wolves became so troublesome that a small crowd of citizens surrounded a portion of the township, and moved in toward a common center to hem those inclosed in the circle to smaller limits, so as to shoot them. Not a single wolf was killed.

PRIMITIVE INDUSTRIES.

At an early day, the citizens of the township, or rather those in the western part, engaged quite extensively in the raising of cotton, which they took, when picked, to the old cotton-gin of Hugh Massey, in Stafford Township, and had it torn into shreds ready for carding, and the seeds taken from it. A detailed account of this interesting enterprise will be found in the chapter on Stafford Township. Another interesting early enterprise was the distillery built by John Stafford and Joseph Dixon.

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It was a rude concern, with a small copper still, but furnished a fair article of corn whisky. It is said that men stood around with cups ready to take the liquor as fast as it came from the still. It ran a few years and was then abandoned. The first physicians were John W. Davis, Dr. O'Haver, Dr. Dean and old Mrs. Dixon, who in her way was a superior nurse. She knew how to use all the roots and herbs possessing medi- cinal properties, which grew in the woods or on the prairie, and always kept a supply on hand. She presided at the entry into the world of many of the children born in the township. In the vicinity of Marco was an old Indian Village which had disappeared before the appearance of the Whites. They raised corn there as the stalks were to be seen, as well as the hills of earth heaped around them, when the first settlers arrived. Even to this day an occasional arrow or spear-head, or flint or jasper is found on or near the town site. The first birth was that of Chancey Col- linder, son of Henry Collinder, which occurred in 1819.

EDUCATION.

The first school in the township and one of the first in the county, if not the first, was taught in the old cabin of Haddon, which had been erected in the year 1816. It was taught as early as 1820, by James Harvey, who afterward taught many terms in the same neighborhood, and in surrounding schoolhouses. This house stood east of Marco on Section 30, where Haddon first settled, and was used two or three times and then abandoned. At this first term, the scholars were from the fam- ilies of Stafford, Hodgin, Joseph Dixon, Wm. Harrison, James Harrison, William Reaves and others. Two full-grown men came from Daviess County and boarded in the neighborhood to go to school. What common people wanted in that day was to be able to read writing and print, to be able to write and to cast accounts. When that was accomplished, nothing more was wanted, as it was thought unnecessary to learn more. They looked upon a longer course at school as time and money thrown away, and as in. that day schools were wholly by subscription, cost to poor people was an important item. Many a poor boy with bright intellect and noble heart, but with no means at his command, was obliged to stifle his ambition and bend his energies of mind to the humble pursuits of pioneer life. How true are Gray's words in this connection:

" Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid Some heart once pregnant with celestial tire; Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre. * * " Full many a gem of purest ray serene, The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

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As nearly as can be learned, the second schoolhouse in the township, or rather the second building used as a schoolhouse, stood north of New- berry, about a mile and a half. School was taught there as early as 1825, by one of the Plummers, it is said. The Hawkinses were very prominent people in this neighborhood. Another early school was taught by a Mr. Cartright in the eastern part of the township. It is said that James Fin- ney was the second teacher in the township, and that he succeeded Har- vey in the old Haddon building. He had a school of over twenty schol- ars, many of whom came two, three and even four miles. They had a lively time, no doubt. In .1836, there were five school districts in the township. Vincent Lester was Treasurer, and reported that during the year $63.50 of the school fund from the sale of the sixteenth section had been expended in conducting the schools. In 1846, there were six school districts. Washington has good schools.

RELIGION.

The first meetings were held in the western part by the Baptists. A full account of this old class will be found in the Stafford history. Many of the early settlers in all that vicinity, and many that were not early, were members of this class. A Methodist class was organized in a school- house in the central part in the forties, and another in the eastern part, both of which flourished in a small fashion for a number of years. There were representatives of all the leading denominations in the town- ship-the Methodists, the Baptists, the Christians or Campbellites, the Presbyterians and perhaps others. In later years, a Christian class was organized in the southwestern part, and a neat frame church was erected at a cost of about $800. The Methodists also, in the eastern part, united means and numbers a comparative few years ago, and built a small frame church, which has endured until the present. Both of the last-named classes are rather weak numerically, and are so changeable that attempts will not be made to name the members.

LYONS.

This town, like several others in the county, owes its existence to the Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad. On the town site, a house owned and occupied by Samuel Simons was standing when the railroad was built, and had been standing for several years previously. Jonas Slinkard probably built the first building when it became known that a station was to be located there. This was a log house, in which he put a small stock of general merchandise. This building was built, it is said, in 1868. The next year, A. J. Clark built a frame house, and placed therein a general stock of goods. Isaac Halstead moved into the old Simons build- ing soon afterward, and William Owens moved in town about the same time. William Wills erected one of the first dwellings. Buzan & Wills

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built a boarding house for the railroad hands when the grading and iron- ing of the road were occurring. Humphreys' also built an early building. Owens & Mitchell erected the Galbreath House for a saloon, and at the same time put up a dwelling on the same lot. They also erected the Kaufman House. Thomas Craft put up a dwelling, as did J. M. Vails. E. S. Stephens built his present storehouse in 1872, and Mr. Bynum erected his drug store in the fall of the same year. He also built a dwelling a little later. The leading merchants from the founding of the town to the present, in nearly the chronological order, are as follows: Jonas Slinkard, Clark & Wagoner, Joseph Newsom, Devalt Keller, Stal- cup & Keller, Moses Kaufman, David Halstead, E. S. Stephens, Daniel Bynum, Aaron Swords, Thomas J. East, John M. Ross, Gilbert & Car- penter, Emil Stein, James Carpenter, J. H. Quillen, Abe Halstead, Frank Hornbeck, E. S. Stephens, Jonas Fortner and Carpenter & Bull. Of these, the following are yet in business: Moses Kaufman, Emil Stein, Frank Hornbeck, E. S. Stephens, J. H. Quillen, Jonas Fortner and Car- penter & Bull. Thomas Craft was the first blacksmith. Among the resident physicans have been Aydelotte, Rose, Arnold, Wilson, McKissick and Mullane. Ed Hall was the first Postmaster, and Mr. Mayhood is Uncle Sam's present servant. The first schoolhouse was built in about 1871, and was a small frame structure. The first teacher was Ed Liv- ingston, and the second was Charles Bull. Others were Frank Hornbeck, Miller Ross and Miss Zeppie Hornbeck. The second schoolhouse was built in town in 1879, and is a one-storied frame structure, about three times as large as the other. It was found necessary, in 1882-83, to have two teachers. The village has good schools, and will the coming year (1884) very probably erect a two-storied brick schoolhouse. The Chris- tians, Methodists and Cumberland Presbyterians have had organizations in the village The Christians had an organization in the vicinity before the town started up. Among the leading members are the families of Wagoners, McIndoos, Carpenters, Mckees, Jarvises and others. The Methodists organized in the winter of 1873-74, in a big revival conduct- ed by a minister from Pleasantville. Among the members are the Halls, Wilsons, Meeses and Wells, These two classes yet maintain their organ- izations. The Presbyterian class has gone down. Mr. Halstead was the leading member. There is no church building in the town.

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History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana, Part 33

Author: Goodspeed Bros. & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 901

Author: Goodspeed Bros. & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 901