USA > Indiana > Greene County > History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana > Part 53
USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana > Part 53
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
ANALYSIS OF CHAMBERS' COAL.
Specific gravity, 1.206; one cubic foot weighs, 75.87 pounds.
Coke. 50.50 . Ash, light brown.
2.00
¿ Fixed carbon.
48.50
Water
4.50
Volatile matter
49.50
Gas
±5.00
100.00 100.00
The coke has a metallic luster, and is so much swollen that the original shape of the coal is quite lost.
B. & L. BURK'S COAL.
Specific gravity, 1.210; one cubic foot weighs 75.62 pounds.
Coke. 52.50 Ash, white. 1.50
Fixed carbon
51.00
Water.
3.50
Volatile matter
47.50
Gas. 44.00
100.00 100.00
The coke is puffed, brilliant and porous. This is a good white ash coal, contains a large amount of gas and will make fair coke.
DICK'S OOAL.
Specific gravity, 1.252; one cubic foot weighs 78.25 pounds.
Coke
55 80
Ash, white ..
0.50
Fixeu carbon
55.80
Volatile matter.
44.70
Gas 39.30
€ 0.00 100.00
The coke is slightly swollen, amorphous, compact and glossy.
PIGG'S COAL.
Section 86, Township 8, Range 8; specific gravity, 1.271; one cubic foot weighs 79.48 pounds.
Coke. 51.50 Asb, red brown. 2.50
Fixed carbon.
49.00
Water.
6.00
Volatile matter.
Gas.
42.50
The coke is very much swollen, amorphous and lusterless. This seam is five feet two inches thick; the quality of the coal, as shown by the analysis, is very good.
ST. JOHN'S COAL.
Specific gravity, 1.287; one cubic foot weighs 80.48 pounds.
Coke 51.50 ) Ash, white. 2.50
Fixed carbon.
49.00
Water
3.50
Volatile matter.
48.50 3
Gas.
45.00
100.00 100.00
The coke is puffed and vitreous. This coal is very similar to the above, but probably contains less sulphur.
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Water.
4.50
John W.Spencer
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
HON. HENRY K. WILSON'S COAL.
Section 33, Township 9, Range 8. Specific gravity, '1.228; one cubic foot weighs 76.75 pounds.
- Ash, white .. 0.80
Coke.
52.40
Fixed carbon. 51.60
Water
2.85
Volitile matter 47.60
Gas
45.25
100.00
100.00
The coke is puffed, somewhat porous, and has a brilliant metallic luster. This is one of the best coking coals that has come under my notice in the State. In appearance it is of a glossy, jet black color, vitreous fracture, and will soil the hands little more than cannel coal. The ash is white, and does not amount to one per cent. The coke is of fair quality, and the gas siz and one-tenth per cent greater than I found in a sample of the best gas coal from Pittsburgh.
MR. H. WILSON'S COAL, CASS TOWNSHIP.
Section 15, Township 8, Range 8. Specific gravity, 1.249; one cubic foot weighs 78.06 pounds.
Coke 54.00 -
Ash, bluish white. 2.00
Fixed carbon 52.00
Water 8.00
Volatile matter 46.00 .
Gas 43.00
100.00 100.00
The coke is puffed, glossy and amorphous. This coal is from the same seam as the above; is of very good quality, but contains considera- ble more ash, though not more than is commonly found in coking coal.
PIONEER SHAFT, CURRYSVILLE.
Section 84, Township 9, Range 9, seam four feet thick; analysis of upper part. Specific gravity, 1.282; one cubic foot weighs 80.12 pounds.
- Ash, rust color, 1.00
Coke 52.50
Fixed carbon 51.50
Water 4.00
Volatile matter.
47.50
Gas 48.50
100.00
100.00
The coke is much swollen, amorphous, and has a metallic laster. This is a good, strong coal, and is referred to L, of the vertical section. Has a bright black color; breaks into cubes more or less coated with thin scales of semi-transparent calc spar. A cubic foot of this coal will weigh as much as a cubic foot of Pittsburgh coal, and gives a very fair coke and large quantity of gas.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
STANDARD SHAFT.
Sunk by Judge J. M. Hanna, Section 36, Township 8, Range 8; seam five feet thick; lower seam, L. Specific gravity, 1.883; one cubic foot weighs 88.81 pounds.
Coke.
58.10 - Ash, white 8.90
Fixed carbon 55.20
Water 1.80
Volatile matter. 41.90
Gas 40.10
The coke is dense, of a dull color, and but slightly changed. This is the same coal worked at the Pioneer shaft, and the two analyses correspond closely. The ash is white, but the quantity is rather greater than in the former, and the quantity of coke is also somewhat greater. Altogether, this is a most valuable seam of coking coal, and is well adapted for household and steam purposes. Another sample of coal taken from the upper seam, M, in the Standard shaft, was subjected to analysis, and the following result obtained:
HANNA'S COAL.
Specific gravity, 1.281; one cubic foot weighs 80.06 pounds.
Ash, gray. 8.50
Coke
56.50
- Fixed carbon 54.00
,
Water. 5.00
Volatile matter 48.50
Gas 88.50
100.00 100.00
The coke is slightly swollen with the form of the coal unchanged, and has a metallic lustre.
CHAPTER II.
BY PROF. JOHN W. SPENCER.
THE INDIAN OCCUPANCY-THE DUDLEY MACK MASSACRE-NARRATIVE OF MR. TURMAN-SAVED BY PRAYER-LIEUT. FAIRBANK'S DEFEAT-LIEUT. MORRISON'S DEFEAT-CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS-ADDITIONAL INCIDENTS -BLOCK-HOUSES-PRE-HISTORIC EARTHWORKS-SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS -FORT AZATLAN-DETAILED DESCRIPTION-ADVANTAGE OF LOCATION -THE DEPRESSIONS-CONTENTS OF THE MOUNDS INTRUSIVE SKELE TONS OTHER EVIDENCES.
T THE Indians that occupied Sullivan County previous to its settle- ment, were nomadic parties from various tribes. The tribal district on the north was that of the Miamis; on the east, the Delawares and Shaw- anese; on the south, the Pecankees and Piankeshaws; and on the west, Mosquitans, in Illinois. There were no permanent villages, as this lo- cality was a common hunting ground for various tribes. The early set-
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
tlers found game in abundance for their subsistence, and so much so that sometimes venison hams with other produce were taken from Busseron Creek by flat-boats to New Orleans There were various moving parties of other tribes passing through this section on their way to the Indian Territory. The war of 1812 and the early treaties with the Indians took place about the period of the early settlement of this county. It is very difficult now to obtain the full particulars and dates of noted events, in: cidents or encounters that took place between the early pioneers and the red men of that period. What tribes were engaged in those affrays in this county are not now certainly known.
THE DUDLEY MACK MASSACRE. *
There was a block house on Gill's Prairie, three or four miles from New Lebanon, and nearly the same distance from Carlisle, built on the Webb farm; north of that house, one day in 1813 or in 1814, two men, Dudley Mack and Collins, were watching to kill wolves that would come to eat of a dead horse, a quarter or a half mile north of that house. The Indians came upon them. Dudley Mack was shot and killed, and was the first person buried in the Webb Cemetery. There were two boys, Edwards and Campbell, that were also taken from Gill's Prairie and never heard of more. Madison Collins was shot and fell from his horse, badly wounded, but managed to get on again and make his escape. This happened west of Carlisle, at the Lis- man ford on Busseron Creek, about a mile below the iron bridge. There are various legends or traditions in regard to their encounters and con- tests with the Indians handed down to us from the early pioneers, but lack in the particulars mentioned. Mr. James B. Mann, son of Josiah Mann, says there was a fort or block-house in 1810, built on Section 26, Township 8, Range 11, and this was the only fort till Fort Harrison, and that Mr. Benjamin Turman was the first settler in this township, and the township was named after him.
NARRATIVE OF MR. TURMAN.
Mr. William H. Turman says that, "The Indians would sometimes come to the house, and Grandmother Turman would give them bread and meat, or anything to eat. One time they came and were very much dis- satisfied, and this was just before the war of 1812. Among them was one Indian that was distinguished in some way, as he wore a silver band on his forehead. He was more impudent or saucy than any of them. He stepped up to my Aunt Mary Bryant, and took her by her left hand and raised it up over her head and brandished a war club with his other hand, doing this twice before Grandfather Benjamin Turman did anything. At the second time he raised her hand, then Mr. Turman jerked the club
.Accounts concerning this incident are somewhat conflicting. The one usually accepted and probably correct is fully detailed in the chapter on Haddon Township.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
out of the Indian's hand, and struck him so hard over the head that he mashed the silver band into his forehead, and the Indian fell down ap- parently dead. Grandfather then took him up by one of his hands and feet, and pitched him out of the door, and he was bleeding very much. The other Indians ran off to their camps and gave the news to the rest, and in a short time a number of them, probably forty or fifty, came with their faces painted red, and hallooing at the top of their voices at every step they made. The old man then told the boys that they would have to prepare to fight them. Besides grandfather, there were four boys, a Methodist preacher, and grandmother. They set the table out in the middle of the house, and each boy placed a pile of bullets on it and had his gun loaded also. They gave the preacher a broadax, and grand- mother took the foot-adz. Grandfather stood at the door with a mus- ket having a bayonet on it, and said that none of them must shoot till he . did. When they came up they came with a rush against the door, but did not get it open. After a little while they pressed the door open eight or ten inches; then grandfather put the muzzle of the musket al- most against an Indian's breast, and then they gave back a little; and at that time the Indian that had been struck and was supposed to have been dead began to show signs of life. The Indians then all turned their at- tention to him, and he soon got revived so that he could sit up. Then they all got in a better humor, and proposed as a compromise that if grandfather would give them a fat hog and something else that was pro- visions, they would go away, which he did, and that ended the difficulty at that time, without any more bloodshed."
SAVED BY PRAYER.
A friendly Indian, a few years afterward, told the friends of Grand- father Truman that on the night before the massacre of the Hutson family, the party that killed them went close to the house in which the Turman family lived with the intention of killing them, but when they had cautiously crept up to the house, they listened and heard some one, as they thought, talking to the Good Spirit ! "Big medicine man talk- ing heap big talk to Good Spirit !" They then went away without dis. turbing them, and that night crossed the river, and the next day killed the Hutson family and burned their house. The person they heard talk- ing to the Good Spirit was the Methodist preacher, who was related to Mr. Turman, engaged in prayer, as is customary with that society, and no doubt they were kept from harm that time by an All-wise Providence, wbo protects those that trust in Him.
LIEUT. FAIRBANKS' DEFEAT.
" The traditions in regard to the massacre of Lieut. Fairbanks, from whom that township and the village of Fairbanks is named, and also the stream named Wagoner's Defeat, are substantially as follows: About the
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
close of the siege of Fort Harrison in 1812, Capt. Taylor sent two men to Vincennes for supplies, and to inform Gen. Harrison of that eventful crisis. Lieut. Fairbanks, with a squad of soldiers, was sent to guard a wagon drawn by a four-horse team, and loaded with flour and meat, driven by a wagoner named John Black. On their way up, at a place not far from the narrows of the Wabash River, and about three miles west of the village of Fairbanks, in this county, they were suddenly at- tacked by the Indians, and all killed but three, who managed to escape. One soldier by the name of Ingram, who was detailed from Capt. Al- bright's company at Fort Knox, fought bravely, and with desperation stood his ground and hallooed to his companions to stand and fight, but could not rally them. At last, after having killed two or three Indians, he fell a victim to savage fury, being overpowered by numbers Lieut. Fairbanks was killed, and he, too, is supposed to have fought with despera- tion. His sword was found a few years ago, stuck in the ground by a log. It was richly ornamented with silver mountings on the handle, and a fine silver chain attached to it, but the wood was rotted off the handle. This relic was sent to the State museum at the city of Indianapolis. Mr. Purdue, another soldier, one of the guarda when the fray began, shot at the Indians and ran off, loading his gun as he was running. Three In- dians started after him, and he shot at them, and one less came after him every time he fired. At last there came only one Indian, and running till he came to a bank, while he was loading his gun or fixing to shoot, the Indian ran away and left him. Purdue was shot several times, but only slightly wounded. He escaped, and the wounds healed without the bullets being taken out. He came back and lived in this county several years afterward. When the firing began, John Black, who was driving the team, tried to stop the horses, but the leaders broke loose and ran off. He then went to get his gun out of the wagon, and by the time he got it out the Indians had unhitched the wheel-horses, and had mounted them and were riding off. He shot at them, and then ran away and hid between two logs covered with grape vines. The Indians came down to where he was concealed, and sat on the horses and talked, but hearing squalling and hallooing, they went back to the wagon. When they were gone a short time, they came back again, but did not find him, and after talking a little while, they went away again. He afterward said he thought he could hear his heart beat when they were looking for him. He laid there till after dark, and then slipped out and disguised himself with mud, and then started back, and reached Fort Knox in safety. There was another bloody massacre in Sullivan County that was called Morrison's Defeat.
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MORRISON'S DEFEAT.
This took place about four miles north of Sullivan, and about two miles southwest of Shelburn, on a point of land about seventy rods south
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
of the corner of Sections 3 and 4, Township 8 north, Range 9 west. Lieut. Morrison and a squad of men were marching on foot on their way to Fort Knox from the battle of Tippecanoe," guided by a friendly In- dian, whose name was Little Eyes. Some one of the party had shot a deer that day, in the evening, a little before sundown, and the guide told them they would be attacked by Indians, and when they camped he would not stop with them, but hid in a hollow. log awhile, and then went on that night to Fort Knox, getting into the fort a little before sunrise. When the Indians came to them that night, they came making a grunt- ing noise, in imitation of hogs, and when they got close enough to Mor- rison's men, they fired upon them, and four men fell instantly dead, and one who was also shot ran some distance and fell dead in a hazel thicket, and was found shortly afterward.
An old man by the name of Ledgerwood came to this county in the year 1860, and visited that place where this incident mentioned occurred, and as he came out into the county road he met Mr. Lewis Grigsby, and told him he was one of the survivors of that massacre, and had just been looking at the place where that disastrous affray took place, and gave him the above account of the attack. Mr. Levi Maxwell says he remem- bers when he was a boy of seeing two of the men who escaped from this bloody affray, late in the afternoon the next day after it took place. Bus- seron Creek was very high, and they had swum it and came to their house very wet. They were given something to eat, and after drying awhile they went on to Fort Knox, and the next day two or three wagons came, and they all moved into or near the block-house at John Ingles, about half a mile east of the old Fort Ledgerwood, near where Carlisle is now. He says the Indians that attacked Morrison's camp were Pottawat- omies. When his folks first came to Sullivan County, they forted at the block-house, not far from Carlisle, at the Ledgerwood Mill, which was then Morgan Eaton's mill; after they had stayed there a few months, they moved onto land that George Boon entered, and after the Morrison defeat his father hired two men to help in his clearing, and also to help guard his family. Among the early pioneers to this county were Richard Davidson, Christian Canary and John Robbins.
OTHER INCIDENTS.
Richard Davidson says that he and old man Corban once saw a camp of Delaware and Pottawatomie Indians about where the court house now stands in Sullivan; he smoked the pipe with them, but Corban was afraid of them. There were other block-houses built at different places in the county. Those houses were built of heavy logs, with the top rounds built three or four feet out from the rest, so that an opening would be left to shoot down upon an enemy coming to enter them. Mr. William
* There are conflicting accounts as to the date when this incident occurred. The most reliable fixes it in May, 1815.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
Crow, in Turman Township, says there was a block-house built on his land in the fall of 1813, and the parties that wintered in' it were the families of Johnson. John White, McGill and Henderson and Thomy Lester.
The ground where Morrison's camp was made is now inside a culti- vated field, and should be bought by the State, and properly fenced, and a monument erected thereon, and also the ground where the Fairbanks massacre took place should be carefully designated in the same way.
In a few more years, if nothing is done, these places as well as these circumstances will only be preserved in conflicting traditions, and the names of those heroes of that eventful period will become unknown, and they will be unhonored, unwept and unsung. The early pioneers and heroes of those times deserve the grateful remembrance of succeeding generations for their arduous toils and self-denying sacrifices. May it ever be awarded to them! Peace to their ashes.
PRE . HISTORIC KARTHWORKA.
The following is an extract from Indiana Geological Survey, 1870, page 237:
" When first explored by the white race, this county was occupied by savage Indians, without fixed habitations, averse to labor, and delighting only in war and the chase. Their misty traditions did not reach back to a previous people or age. But numerous earthworks are found in this region of such extent as to require for their construction time and the persistent labor of many people. Situated on the river bluffs, their loca- tion combines picturesque scenery, susceptibility for defense, and con- venience to transportation, water and productive lands. These are not requisites in the nomadic life of the red men, and identifies the Mound- Builders as a partially civilized, agricultural people.
SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS.
"On the Hunt farm, Sections 6 and 7, Township 9, Range 10, conical knolls of loess have been artificially rounded, and used for sepulchral purposes. One of these contained at the summit, seventy feet above its base, a burial vault ' three stories high;' on each floor from five to seven human skeletons were found. On M. Drake's land, Section 19, same township, are two large mounds, one 200 feet in diameter, and eighteen feet high; the other twenty-eight feet high, covering an elliptic base 180 feet wide, and 350 feet long. The contents of the two mounds amount to nearly 30,000 cubic yards, and at present contract prices for earth work, their erection would cost $5,000. Another group on Tur- man's farm, Section 15, Township ,8, Range 11, has been 'partially ex- plored, exposing human and animal remains, pottery variously orna- mented, flints, and stone implements. The 'pit-holes' accompanying these mounds and a rectangular excavation will reward future explorers.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
FORT AZATLAN.
" The ancient works near Merom, I have, with the citizens of that town, christened 'Fort Azatlan,' in honor of the kind memories with which the people of Montezuma reverted to their old home in 'the val- ley of great lakes and rivers.' On three sides, the fort is defended by the precipitous banks of the river and of ravines, in front by an earth (or adobe) wall, and incloses an area of about three acres. Explorations made by a cut traversing the largest mound from northeast to southwest, discovered relics of stone and flint, shells of the Unio, Helix and Polu- dina, and of the river turtle, bones of many other animals, and twelve human skeletons. These last present anomalous forms of high interest to the anthropologist, and the section across the mound developed the fol- lowing arrangement: At the base, ashes and mineralized bones of the Mound-Builders; near the surface, remains of the savage Indians; and, between these two, intrusive graves of an intermediate race-fishermen, who prepared vaults for their dead. The degree of civilization attained by the latter may be inferred from the faith in immortality exhibited by the deposit of food for the departed; from the careful preparation of their sepulchers, and especially from the respectful burial of children- not the habit of Mound-Builders. In illustration of the last fact, a small stone vault near the brow of the hill was opened. It contained the bones of two babes who had been tenderly laid to rest, ornamented with a child's treasure of shell beads. All the mounds which have come under my notice are located so as to secure an outlook toward sunrise, confirm- ing the belief that the fires of the sun-worshipers have blazed upon every mound-capped eminence in the great valley of the continent." The fol- lowing sketch was written by Prof. F. W. Putnam in 1871:
PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION.
"The 'fort' is situated on a plateau of loess, about 170 feet in height above low water, on the east bank of the river. On the river side, the bank, which principally consists of an outcrop of sandstone, is very steep, and forms the western line of the fortification, while deep ravines add to its strength on the other sides; the weak points being strength- ened by earthworks. The general course of the work is from the north, where it is very narrow (not over fifty feet), owing to the formation of the plateau, south along the river bank about 725 feet to its widest portion, which is here about 375 feet east and west. From this point it follows a deep ravine southerly about 460 feet to the entrance end of the fort. The bank traversed by the entrance road is here much wider than at other portions, and along its outer wall, running eastward, are the remains of · what was evidently once a deep ditch. The outer wall is about thirty feet wide, and is now about a foot and a half high; a depressed portion of the bank, or walk way, then runs parallel with the outer wall, and the
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY.
bank is then continued'for about twenty feet further into the fort, but of slightly less height than the front. Through the center of these banks there are the remains of a distinct roadway about ten feet in width.
" From the northeastern corner of this wide wall the line continues northwesterly about 350 feet along the western ravine to a point where there is a spring, and the ravine makes an indenture of nearly 100 feet to the southwest. The mouth of the indenture is about seventy five feet in width, and the work is here strengthened by a double embankment. The natural line of the work follows this indenture, and then continues in about the same northerly course along the banks of the ravine, to the narrow portion of the plateau, about 550 feet to the starting point. There is thus sa continued line, in part natural and in part artificial, which, if measured in all its little ins and outs, would not be far from 2,450 feet. Besides the spring mentioned as in the indenture of the eastern ravine, there is another spring in the same ravine about 175 feet to the north of the first, and a third in the southwestern ravine about 125 feet to the west of the southwestern corner of the work.
ADVANTAGE OF LOCATION.
"Looking at all the natural advantages offered by this location, it is the one spot of the region, for several miles along the river, that would be selected to-day for the erection of a fortification in the vicinity, with the addition of the possession of a small eminence to the north, which in these days of artillery would command this fort. Having this view in mind, a careful examination was made of the eminence mentioned, to see if there had ever been an opposing or protective work there, but not the slightest indication of earthwork fortification or of mounds of habitation was discovered, though some five or six miles up the river on the Illinois side, at Hutsonville, a large group of some fifty-nine mounds of habitation were investigated. The interior of this fortification contains much of interest, and its history may yet be in part made out by a more extended examination than it was possible to make during the few days given to its exploration. On crossing the outer wall, a few low mounds are at once noticed, and all around are seen large circular depressions. At the southern portion of the fort, these depressions, of which there are forty- five in all, are most numerous, thirty-seven of them being located near together.
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