USA > Indiana > Greene County > History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana > Part 54
USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana > Part 54
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" These depressions vary in width from ten to twenty-five or thirty feet, and are irregularly arranged. One of the six depressions opposite the indenture of the eastern ravine is oval in shape, and is the only one that is not nearly circular; the others vary but a foot or two in their diameters.
THE DEPRESSIONS.
" Two of these depressions were dug into, and it was found that they were evidently once large pits that had gradually been filled by the
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hand of time with the accumulation of vegetable matter and soil, which had been deposited by natural action alone. In some instances, large trees are now growing in the pits, and their many roots make digging difficult. A trench was dug across one pit, throwing out the soil careful- ly until the former bottom of the pit was reached at a depth of about five feet. On this bottom, ashes and burnt clay gave evidence of an an- cient fire, and at a few feet on one side several pieces of pottery, a few bones of animals and one stone arrow-head were found. A spot had evidently been struck where food had been cooked and eaten, and though there was not time to open other pits, there is no doubt but that they would tell a similar story, and the legitmate conclusion to be drawn from the facts is that these pits were the houses of the inhabitants or de- fenders of the fort, who were, probably further protected from the elements and the arrows of assailants by a roof of logs and bark or boughs. The great number of the pits will show that they were for a definite and general purpose, and their irregular arrangement would in- dicate that they were not laid out with the sole idea of acting as places of defense, though those near the walls might answer as covers from which to fire on an opposing force beyond, and the six pits near the eastern indenture, in front of three of which there are traces of two small earth walls, and the two commanding the entrance of the fort, would strengthen this view of the use of those near the embankment.
"In many of the ancient fortifications that have been described by Mr. Squier and others, pits have been noticed, but they have been only vety few in number, and have been considered as places for the storage of food or water. The great number in this small earthwork, with the finding that one at least was used for the purpose of cooking and eating food, is evidence that they were for some other purpose here, though some of the smaller ones may have answered for storehouses.
CONTENTS OF THE MOUNDS.
" The five small mounds were situated in various parts of the inclosure. The largest was nearly fifty feet in diameter, and was probably original- ly not over ten feet in height. It had been very nearly dug away in places, but about one-fifth of the lower portion had not been disturbed. From this was exhumed one nearly perfect human skeleton, and parts of several others that had been left by former excavators. This mound also contained several bones of animals, principally of deer, bear, opossum and turtles; fragments of pottery, one arrow-head, a few flint chips and a number of thick shells of unios, two of which had been bored near the binge. From this mound a number of human bones have been taken by Dr. H. Frank Harper.
"The second mound, which was partly opened, was some twenty . five feet in diameter and a few feet in height, though probably once much
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higher. In this a number of bones of deer and other animals were found, Several pieces of pottery, a number of shells and 'a few human bones. The other three mounds, one of which is not over ten or twelve feet in diameter and situated the furthest to the north, were not examined in- ternally.
INTRUSIVE GRAVES.
"The position of all the mounds within the inclosure is such as to suggest that they were used as observatories, and it may yet be questioned whether the human and other remains found in them were placed there by the occupants of the fort, or are to be considered under the head of intrusive burials by a later race. Perhaps a further study of the bones may settle the point. That two races have buried their dead within the inclosure is made probable by the finding of an entirely different class of burials, at the extreme western point of the fortification. At this point, Dr. Harper, the year previous, had discovered three stone graves, in which he found portions of the skeletons of two adults and one child. These graves, the stones of one being still in place, were found to be made by placing thin slabs of stone on end, forming the sides and ends, the tops being covered by other slabs, making a rough stone coffin in which the bodies had been placed. There was no indication of any mound having been erected, and they were placed slightly on the slope of the bank. This kind of burial is so distinct from that of the burials in the mound, that it is possible that the acts may be referred to two distinct races, who have occupied the territory successively, though they may prove to be of the same time, and simply indicate a special mode adopted for distinctive purposes."
OTHER EVIDENCES OF PRE-HISTORIC OCCUPANOY.
In this county, are frequently found other evidences of the existence of a now extinct race of people, viz., stone axes, flint arrow and spear heads, and other stone implements of various forms and sizes. Having sent some of these to the Smithsonian Institution at Washington City, I was requested to make some explorations in the mounds of this county, by the Secretary, Prof. Joseph Henry, but only examined a few; went to those on the Hunt farm, but was not permitted by the owner to open them; and those on the Drake farm I found to be too large, and thought best to obtain some assistance. Ex- amined one on Turman's farm, but did not complete the excavation of a ditch across the largest one. A thorough examination of one of the ‘ pit- holes' resulted in finding a wonderful bank of ashes, in which were a great quantity of fish bones, broken bones of various animals, such as . deer, buffalo; the teeth, claws and bones of the bear; the bones of the rac- coon, opossum, turkey bones in abundance; the bones of the squirrel and .
a few of the skulls of squirrels were found whole, but were generally
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broken; the bones and teeth of the beaver; many pieces of the bones and shells of turtles. There was a quantity of mussel shells of various kinds, some varieties of which were not found in several miles' travel along the Wabash or any other streams in this county, but were found in abund- ance on White River, in Greene County. Fish bones seemed to be in the greatest abundance, particularly in certain places. A great many pieces of pottery were found, and seemed to have been made of clay, sand and mussel shells pounded fine, and forming a cement that had been dried in the sun or baked. The most of the pieces found showed that the heat applied in their preparation was not sufficient to effect the sand, or in any manner injure the shells, or the original condition of the vessels. No glazing appeared on the pottery, and yet it was a very hard, firin and durable substance, impervious to water. Some pieces were four or five inches long, and two or three inches wide, and some were of an irregular shape; at one point they seemed to show that they were parts of a wide- mouthed vessel, and evidently about two inches less in diameter at the neck than at the top. Judging from the arc described by some of those pieces, the neck of those vessels must have been at least eighteen inches in diameter, though the curvature of many pieces showed that they were parts of vessels of much smaller diameter. Several pieces showed a nice little ear, with a hole through it, about a quarter or half inch in diameter, and the edges being notched, showed that they were pieces of the rim of the vessels to which they belonged. There were also parallel lines run- ning about in an oblique direction to their curvature; but in some of the pieces, the lines were horizontal or parallel with the tops of the vessels, when' whole, which had, evidently, been made by some blunt instrument pressed into the clay, leaving little ridges between each impression of the instrument, probably about the eighth or sixteenth of an inch thick. In some of those pieces the little ridges seemned to have been crossed at right angles, with a sharper or smaller instrument.
POTTERY.
Some pieces showed that the rim above was quite flaring, and the rim was ornamented by diamond shaped figures, made by those lines or ridges crossing each other obliquely. From the smoked and blacked appearance of the curved or concave sides of those pieces, and the fact that no signs of fire.marks were to be seen on the outside or convex sides, it may be readily inferred that those vessels were used for holding fire for some pur- pose, or little fires were made in them for a purpose which will be pre- sented shortly. Those ' pit-holes' and the rectilinear excavation were, probably, shallow excavations, with a bank around their edges and cov- ered, by standing poles around them fastened in the center, and then covering those frames thus made with the bark of trees or the skins of animals, such as the deer or buffalo. It is a well-known fact that gnats
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and mosquitoes are very troublesome on the streams, especially the Wabash, in the spring at the fishing time; and that those insects are easily driven away by smoke. I only give it as my opinion, that those people, probably, lived in those 'pit holes' and had those vessels of pot- tery to make fires in, and thus smoking or driving those insect pests away. Why should those vessels be ornamented on the outside ? How else came those fire marks on the inside and not on the outside, evidently, of those vessels ?
SANITARY CONSIDERATIONS.
Another peculiarity of these pit-holes, the refuse or shell heaps as described above, were generally found on the southeast side. The infer- ence may be made that those heaps were thus placed on account of a . sanitary regulation, as those people did not wear boots or shoes as we do. Those pit-holes when I saw them, were nearly plowed level with the field. Mr. L. Turman says: "There were thirty of those " pit holes" and one large pit hole about thirty feet long and twelve feet wide."
There were, at first, nine mounds, but in 1858, some parties, he had forgotten their names, came with teams, plowed and scraped down nearly . to the bottom the highest, largest, and most eastern mound, 'searching for treasure,' which they supposed it contained. When they had plowed and scraped off about three feet in depth, they came to a layer of human bones, mostly skulls; after they were moved out of the way, and they had taken down about eighteen inches more of dirt, they came to another layer of bones, but they did not move them all away; they quit and went away without finding any treasure. Bones have since been found where they were at work on that mound. A few years ago, some young men and boys came one Sunday and dug into the top of the most southern mound, and came to a large flate stone and, breaking it, they found that it was the cover of a stone vault, in which they found human bones, and they became so frightened on their discovery of the contents, that they went away. Shortly after they left, Mr. Turman went to the mound and found it as they had described; he took out a shin bone (tibia) and stand- ing it up by him, as seated on a chair, it reached from the floor above his knee. He found another vault on the south side of that vault, but it has not been opened.
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CHAPTER III.
ORGANIZATION OF SULLIVAN COUNTY-FULL TEXT OF THE ACT OF CREA. TION-FIRST OFFICERS-FORMATION OF TOWNSHIPS-CREATION OF VIGO COUNTY-LIMITATION OF TERRITORY-THE FIRST COUNTY SEAT-THE RE-LOCATION-THE TRANSFER TO SULLIVAN-THE FIRST LAND EN- TRIES-THE INDIAN CESSION TREATIES-THE FIRST SURVEYORS-CANAL AND SWAMP LANDS-THE DESTRUCTION OF COUNTY RECORDS-THE NEW COURT HOUSE-MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS-NEW COUNTIES-THE COURT HOUSE REMODELED, ETC.
TT has been erroneously supposed, and has often been repeated through mistake, that the county of Sullivan upon its first creation extended northward to the Lake of Michigan. As a matter of fact, its northern boundary was the Indian line separating Harrison's purchase of 1809 from the new purchase of 1818, the line being established in 1809 at the time Harrison's purchase was made. This line extended from near Brownstown, through Gosport to the boundary between Indiana and Illinois, at a point about west of Hillsdale, in Vermillion County; and Sullivan County, upon its creation, comprised all the country southwest of this line (except a small portion attached to Orange County) and west of the West Fork of White River and north of the present boundary of Knox County; or, it comprised the greater portions of Owen and Clay Counties, parts of Parke, Greene, Putnam and Vermillion, and all of Vigo and the present Sullivan. The following is the full text of the act creating the county, from which the above statements may be verified:
AN ACT FOR THE FORMATION OF A NEW COUNTY OUT OF THE COUNTY OF KNOX.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That from and after the 15th day of January next, all that part of the county of Knox contained within the following boundary shall constitute and form a separate county, viz .: Beginning on the Wabash River where the line dividing Townships 5 and 6 crosses the same, thence running east with said line until it strikes the West Fork of White River, thence up the said fork to the Orange County line, thence with said line to the Indian boundary line, thence with the said boundary line crossing the Wabash River to the line dividing the State of Indiana and the Territory of Illinois, thence with said line south to the Wabash River, thence down the said river with the meanders thereof to the place of beginning.
SEC. 2. The said new county shall be known and designated by the name and style of the county of Sullivan, and shall enjoy all the rights,
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privileges and jurisdictions which to separate counties do or may propor- ly belong or appertain: Provided always, That all suits, pleas, plaints, actions and proceedings in law or equity which may have been commenced or instituted before the said 15th day of January next and shall be pend- ing in the county of Knox shall be prosecuted and determined in the same manner as if this act had not passed: Provided, also, That all taxes which may on the said 15th of January next remain due and unpaid within the bounds of the said new county. of Sullivan shall be collected and paid in the same manner and by the same officers as if the said new county had not been erected.
Szo. 3. Isaac Montgomery and William Harrington, of Gibson County, John B. Drennen and Andrew Purcell, of Knox County, and James G. Reed, of Daviess County, be and they are hereby appointed Commissioners agreeably to an act entitled "An act for fixing the seats of justice in all new counties hereafter laid off," whose duty it shall be on receiving notice of their appointment as hereinafter provided to repair to the house of James Sproule in the said new county of Sullivan on the 20th day of February next and proceed to fix the seat of justice for the said county of Sullivan agreeably to the true intent and meaning of the above recited act, and it shall be the duty of the Sheriff of the county of Knox to notify the said Commissioners either in person or by written notification of their said appointments at least five days previous to the time appointed for the meeting of said Commissioners, and the said Sheriff shall be allowed a reasonable compensation for his services out of the first moneys in the treasury of said county of Sullivan, to be al- lowed and paid as other county claims usually are.
Szo. 4. The Circuit and other courts of the said county of Sullivan shall be holden at the house of James Sproule until the public buildings are in such state of forwardness that the Circuit Court of said county shall deem it expedient to adjourn said court to the place established for the seat of justice of said county, after which time the said courts shall be holden at the seat of justice established as aforesaid.
Szo. 5. The said county of Sullivan shall be attached to and form & part of the First Circuit, and the Circuit Courts for said county of Sul- livan shall commence and be held at the place aforesaid for holding said courts on the Mondays next succeeding the week in which the Circuit Courts are directed by law to be held in the county of Daviess; Pro- vided, That the agent to be appointed for said county of Sullivan, shall reserve in his hands ten per centum out of the proceeds of the sale of the town lots at the seat of justice for said county, and shall pay the same over to such person as may hereafter be appointed by law to re- ceive the same, for the use of a library for said county; And provided also, That the said county of Sullivan shall form a part of the Representa- tive and Senatorial districts for the county of Knox, until altered by law.
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This act shall be in force from and after the 15th day of January next. Approved December 30, 1816. LA BLACKFORD,
JONATHAN JENNINGS. Speaker of the House of Representatives. CHRISTOPHER HARRISON, President of the Senate.
FIRST OFFICERS, CREATION OF TOWNSHIPS, ETC.
Under the supervision of Morgan Eaton, the Sheriff appointed by the Governor, to announce and inspect an election held for the necessary officers, the first three County Commissioners met at the house of James Sproule, and proceeded to set the county wheels in motion. So far as can be learned, the county was at first divided into five townships-Had- don, Gill, Fairbanks, Turman and Curry-and to these, or to some of them, was attached all the territory on the north and east, now portions of other counties. It is possible that Jackson was one of the first town- ships created, though this is not known with sufficient certainty to be considered true. The first Justices of the Peace, who soon afterward as a body assumed the duties and jurisdictions of the County Commission- ers' Court, were as follows: John Creager, George Boon, E. W. Brown, Joseph Dickson, Abe Elliott, William Burnett, David Harber, Henry Anderson, John F. Johnson and William Winters. These were the only Justices of the Peace in the county in 1817; but the following men were commissioned as such in 1818: Joseph Liston, Joseph Ransford, John Waydon and Anthony Bennett, and the following in 1819: James O. Black, Robert Preebles, Matthew Spurlock, George Shroyer, John Lan- ders and James Wason; and the following in 1820: Joseph Miller, Samuel Whittlesey, Benjamin Stafford, Sr., and William Eldridge. Mr. Stafford, it will be seen, was an early Justice, but of course resided in the present Stafford Township or Washington Township, Greene County, which ter- ritory was then part of Sullivan County.
FORMATION OF VIGO COUNTY.
On the 21st of January, 1818, the following territory was stricken from Sullivan County, and erected into the new county of Vigo: Be- ginning on the Wabash River, where the line dividing Sections 14 and 23, Township 10 north, Range 11 west, crosses the same; thence east to where said line intersects the line dividing Ranges 6 and 7 west, Town- ship 10 north; thence north to the Indian boundary; thence with said boundary to the western line of the State; thence south to the Wabash River; thence down the same to the place of beginning. From this it will be seen that the three southern tiers of sections of the present Vigo County were left a part of Sullivan County. Sullivan yet comprised the . western part of Greene, a portion of Clay, and the western part of the present Owen County, but in December, 1818, the latter was created.
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LIMITATION OF TERRITORY.
On the 1st of January, 1819, it was enacted "That from and after the 10th of January next, all that part of the county of Sullivan lying within the following bounds, to wit: Beginning on the Wabash River, at the southwest corner of the said Vigo County on the said Wabash River; thence with the meanders of the same to where the line dividing Townships 9 and 10 intersects the Wabash River; thence east with the said line to the line_dividing Ranges 6 and 7 west, thence north with said line to the southeast corner of Vigo County, thence west to the Wa. bash River, shall be and the same is hereby attached to and shall form a part of the said county of Vigo; and the part so taken from the county of Sullivan shall from, and after the 10th of January next, at all times, in law and in fact be held, decided and considered to all intents and pur- poses, a part of the county of Vigo: Provided, all suits, pleas, plaints, actions and proceedings which shall have been commenced, instituted and pending within the said county of Sullivan, previous to the 10th of January next, shall be prosecuted to final effect in the same manner as if this act had not passed; And provided further, that the State and county tax which will be due on the 10th of January next, shall be col- lected and paid in the same manner, and by the same officers as if this act had not passed." This act took effect on the 10th of January, 1819.
SEPARATION OF OWEN, GREENE AND CLAY COUNTIES.
By an act of the Legislature approved December 21, 1818, the county of Owen was created, thus taking another large tract of land from Sullivan County; also, by an act approved January 5, 1821, Greene County was created; and by an act approved February 12, 1825, Clay County was created, both the latter acts taking land from Sullivan and reducing it to its present limits. The southern boundary of the county, owing to a discrepancy in the description, or perhaps to the peculiarities of the survey of the old French or Shaker claims in the southern part of the county, was not clearly defined until many years afterward, and re- quired a special act of the Legislature. The bill was drawn up by Sew- ell Coulson, who forwarded it to the Representative then in the Legisla- ture, and its passage was secured. This bill definitely fixed the southern boundary of the county.
THE FIRST COUNTY SEAT.
The first county seat was at Carlisle. It is stated that it was changed to Merom in 1819, but although the writer had access to all the State enactments prior to 1840, the law making the change of location could not be found, though every act was carefully scrutinize.i. At all events, by some means the county seat was changed to Merom, then probably the most important place in the county, not even excepting Carlisle, owing to the location of the town on the Wabash River, and on an important
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and well traveled State road. Here it remained until 1830 (that date is correct) without serious molestation, though much dissatisfaction was ex- pressed owing to its remoteness from the center of the county. This dissatisfaction finally led to the passage of the following enactment:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That Jesse Emmison, of Gibson County, John Decker, of Knox County, Seth Rodeck, of Daviess County, John Jackson, Sr., of Vigo County, and Ju- lius Johnson, of Martin County, be and they are hereby appointed Com- missioners to re-locate and establish the county seat of Sullivan County. The Commissioners aforesaid, or a majority of them, shall meet at David Dodds', in Merom, on the second Monday of July next, or on some day thereafter that a majority of them may agree upon, all of said Commis- sioners being notified of the time of meeting by the Sheriff of Sullivan County; and when so met, and being duly sworn faithfully and impar- tially to discharge the duties assigned them by this act, shall examine into the situation of said county, and if a donation can be procured, which in the opinion of said Commissioners with the probable amount arising from the sale of lots at such new county seat, will be sufficient to defray the expenses of erecting good and sufficient public buildings suitable for said county, to remove said county seat, than to continue it at Merom, all circumstances considered; and if in their opinion it will be more to the advantage and interest of the people of said county, they shall pro- cure said donation to be made, and shall then proceed to re-locate the seat of justice of said county.
SEC. 2. If the Commissioners aforesaid shall re-locate the said county seat, it shall be ' the duty of the agent of said county to lay off said town on a plan as near as may be with the town of Merom, and with a corresponding number of lots, and any and every person who shall or may have purchased of said county or the authorized agent thereof, and have paid for any lot or lots, in whole or in part, on completing the pay- ment of the same in the town of Merom, shall have the privilege .of changing the same, for other lot or lots, correspondingly situated and numbered in the new town that may be laid off by said Commissioners, by filing and acknowledging before the Recorder of said county an ap- plication for such exchange, and the same shall be entered on record by the said Recorder at the expense of the said county, which persons shall pay to the Recorder therefor the sum of 50 cents, and the same shall have the effect of an absolute release of all the right, title and interest of such applicant in and to such lot or lots, and it shall be the duty of the agent, on being presented with the Recorder's certificate of such relin- quishment, on application to give to the applicant a good and sufficient general warranty deed for the lot or lots in the new town, which shall be in a corresponding number with the lot or lots relinquished in Merom; Provided, That the application for such exchange be made before the agent
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