History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana, Part 71

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 71
USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana > Part 71

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).

12. Owen's survey to Sullivan, August 21, 1860-twelve lots.

13. Sherman's Addition, made September 14, 1858, of the south- west quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 27, Town 8, Range 9- nine lots.

14. B. C. Sherman's Subdivision of Outlots 30 and 31 into twelve lots, February 23, 1860.

15. S. T. Roache's survey of part of the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 34, Town 8, Range 9, made December 29, 1866, into five lots.

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16. J. W. Wolfe's Addition of part of the north half of Section 27, Town 8, Range 9, made February 8, 1870-forty-five lots ..

17. A. M. Murphy's Addition of part of the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 34, Town 8, Range 9, made May 1, 1873-twenty-six lots.

18. Murray Briggs' survey of part of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 33, Town 8, Range 9, August 21, 1874- five lots.

19. Wolfe's Subdivision of Lots 62 and 63 into seven lots, July 23 1881.

20. Wilkey & Allen's Addition of part of the south half of the northeast quarter of Section 34, Town 8, Range 9, November 7, 1881, into twenty-two lots.

21, Garretson tract of part of the northeast quarter of the north- east quarter of Section 33, Town 8, Range 9, lies west of the seminary lot and south of Washington street-divided into seven lots of about one acre each. And an addition designated as Plat A adjoining the original plat on the south west-the lands owned by a number of individuals and platted into forty-four lots.

There have been twenty-two additions and subdivisions to the town of Sullivan, since the original survey and plat of 136 lots and twenty-two outlots, the additions and subdivisions making an increase of 449 lots, using ten out-lots in subdivisions; making the present number 585 lots and twelve out-lots, besides a very considerable amount of territory built upon, within the present corporate limits and not yet platted.

For the chain of title to the lands upon which Sullivan is situated, the additions to the original plat, etc., we are under obligations to Mr. John N. Fordyce and J. W. Billman, who are so thoroughly equipped with abstract, books, and who are doing a very extensive business in abstracts, conveyances, etc., in their nice office, first door south of the Farmers' State Bank.

STREETS AND SIDEWALKS.

Within the last year the streets around the square in Sullivan, and thence to the E. & T. H. depot, have been greatly improved by grading and a heavy coating of slag from the Terre Haute Iron Foundries, which is about as far as this improvement has progressed, there being neither stone nor gravel convenient of access for this purpose.

The sidewalks of the town also have been greatly improved during the past year, good brick or heavy plank walks having been constructed six feet wide on most of the more public streets, and four feet wide on those less public, contributing very greatly to the convenience and comfort of the place.

The historical sketch of Hamilton Township and of the town of Sullivan for Goodspeed Bros'. History of Greene and Sullivan Counties

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being written for said publishers by James W. Hinkle, he deems it ap- propriate to say in reference thereto that he has found it no easy matter to collect incidents and facts in the history of the township which have been unwritten for seventy years, and of the town which have been but partially written for forty-two years. Doubtless many are yet not ob. tained or overlooked and not written, which it is very desirable should pass into a permanent history. We flatter ourselves that we are gathering into this history very much which, if it had not been written very soon, would bave been entirely lost. We desire to say that we have used our best endeavors to collect into this sketch such incidents and facts as it is most desirable to perpetuate. So far as we have been able to procure information, either ancient or modern facts, we have endeavored to give a fair and impartial history of the same. In the collection of informa- tion we acknowledge our obligations to Dr. Bartlett, M. Briggs, U. Coul. son, J. N. Fordyce and others.

CHAPTER XII.

BY J. E. NORRIS.

HADDON TOWNSHIP-ORIGINAL SETTLERS-THE FIRST BORN-LEDGERWOOD. HADDON, HOLDER, LISMAN-FOUR LEADING NAMES-INDIAN DEPREDA- TIONS-DUDLEY MACK MASSACRE-CAPTURE OF CAMPBELL AND EO- WARDS-GOOD MARKSMANSHIP-A SAD INCIDENT-NARROW ESCAPE- A HOG STORY-LAYING OUT CARLISLE-SOME FIRST THINGS-PIONEER PASTIMES - THE OLD SCHOOLMASTER -COL. HADDON'S SQUIRT-GUN - THE PIONEER PREACHER-THE SHAKERS-SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES- CARLISLE-DR. J. W. DAVIS-TWO NOTED CHARACTERS-THE PRESS, SOCIETIES. BUSINESS INTERESTS, ETC., ETC.

H ADDON TOWNSHIP is the central of the three forming the southern tier of townships. The land was surveyed and laid off by the early settlers in an extremely peculiar manner, having its origin, we believe, in a French method. A large portion of the land in the center of the township lies at an angle of forty- five degrees, magnetic course from magnetic meridian. The soil is very productive and considerably diversi- fied, being finely adapted to the production of fruit, whilst in the matter of the growing of cereals it has few equals, and scarcely a superior. Stock also, particularly hogs, are raised in large numbers, the shipment of that product, as well as wheat, affording a large annual revenue to the thrifty farmer. Fifty or sixty years ago considerable cotton was raised in this section-enough, at least, to supply the wants of the settlers.

THE ORIGINAL SETTLERS.

The shape of the township is extremely odd, as it at present stands, but it has been so repeatedly reduced from its original size that it is a

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wonder that it has any shape at all. Haddon, at an early day, was really the county, in point of settlement, numbers, progress and business, and within its borders occurred more that is genuinely historical than in all the balance of the county combined, for here came the first settlers, bring- ing with them their love of adventure, their hardy habits, their laudable ambitions, their bravery, their love of the true, and that sturdiness of character that has made the appellation, "pioneer," the synonym for all that is noble, self-sacrificing, courageous and progressive. Here, when the century was in its swaddling clothes, lived and died those old heroes who made possible this grand constellation of stars; here they im- proved the land and carried their lives in their hands that we, of to-day, might live in peace and plenty, and look forth upon the smiling landscape so generously gained and granted by the life-blood of many a martyr who fell at the deadly stroke of the savage tomahawk, or whose life went out amidst the cruel fires of the howling red demons as they danced in glee at their midnight orgies. All those who came here as men in the early part of the century, of course, have passed to their long homes, but their descendants are in our midst, many of them, too, who passed through scenes similar to those through which their sires passed, and it is due them that a record of some of the stirring events of their lives be placed upon the historic page.

THE FIRST BORN OF HADDON.

In the year 1803, James Ledgerwood, with his wife and several chil- dren, started from Kentucky and landed in what was then the county of Knox, Territory of Indiana, at a point on the Wabash not many miles from where he settled, and where be afterward died, and within a mile of where his son, Col. Samuel Ledgerwood, afterward settled and lived for many years, a highly respected and prominent citizen. He pur- chased a considerable tract of land and built his cabin on what is now known as the Curry farm. The year following his advent here, a daugh- ter was born to him, and that child, now a lady of over eighty years of age, and in the possession of most of her faculties, is Mrs. Sallie Cart- wright, from whom many of the facts found in this history have been obtained. James Ledgerwood was not only the first settler of this township, and his daughter the first child, but they were of the county as well.

SOME PROMINENT NAMES.

In 1806, John Haddon came from Virginia, bringing his wife and wix sturdy sons-John, Jesse, David, Richard, Ellett and William R. They also settled in the vicinity of what afterward became Carlisle, and for their better protection built a block-house, as did Ledgerwood. In this same year came Joel Collins from Kentucky, a local Methodist preacher, one of that fearless class who, for the sake of his God and

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humanity, willingly braved the hardships of the wilderness and the scalping knife of the savage. He brought with him a family of colored people, one of whom, Violet, married Jim Calloway, quite a noted char- acter in his way, and of whom more hereafter. Jim died many years ago and Violet two years since in this township. Others came in this year, but their names have slipped the memory of the "oldest inhabi- tant."

In 1807, Thomas Holder came from Virginia with his wife and sev- eral children. Then came the Lismans, who were of German descent. In this year, also, came Mrs. Jenkins, mother of "Uncle Johnny" Jen- kins, who was then one year old, having been born in 1806. The hus- band of Mrs. Jenkins died on the road from Kentucky, but the widow pushed her sorrowful way and reached here, where she found many friends in her new home. She afterward joined the Shakers, and her son, John, was brought up in the same faith, remaining with them until he was eighteen years of age

FOUR LEADING NAMES.

These four families-the Ledgerwoods, the Haddons, the Holders and the Lismans-seem to have been the leaders of the early settlers of this section, as a fort, or block-house, bearing their respective names, was established, and some portions cf them are still standing.

In the next few years after 1807, quite a number of settlers came in from various sections, among whom were Franklin Williams, John Mc- Connell, James Black, Edward Purcell, Thomas Anderson, Joel Price, John Ingle, and many others. The community now began to grow in earnest, but supplies were so hard to obtain and the Indians were so treacherous that the settlers were afraid to leave the vicinity of their homes for fear that upon their return they might find their cabins burned to the ground, and, worse still, to find their wives and children either killed or carried into captivity. And to make matters worse, the Indian war came on in connection with the war of 1812, when many of the settlers had to flee from their homes, leaving all behind them of their hard-earned property. But at the close of the war a " boom, " as it were, struck this section, and we tind such men coming into it as the Helms, the Wassons, and the Pauls, of New York; the Whittleseys, of Connecti- cut; the Davises, the Hoovers, the Shannons, Clippingers and Briggses, of Pennsylvania; the O'Havers, of Tennessee, and the Davidsons, the Riggses and the Triggees, of Kentucky.

INDIAN DEPREDATIONS.

Even after the close of the war the Indians continued to commit a great many depredations, stealing horses and other stock, and in fact anything they could lay their hands upon, without being actually seen by the whites. They added murder, also, occasionally, to their many crimes,

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and from amongst that class of outrages the killing of Dudley Mack and the wounding of his companion, Madison Collins, stand out conspicuously in the bloody annals of those perilous times. This crime, known as the " Dudley Mack Massacre," has so often been told, and so variously told, that the writer hereof has taken extraordinary pains to hunt down the real facts in the case, as well as the facts in the capture of the two boys, Edwards and Campbell, which occurred on the same day as the murder and wounding, and to Dr. H. N. Helms we are specially indebted for documents and information bearing upon the matter. There are two or three persons yet living who were almost within sight of the scene of the crime when it occurred, and heard the firing of the guns.

THE DUDLEY MACK MASSACRE.

On Sunday afternoon, February 12, 1815, Dudley Mack and Madison Collins were on their way home from Shaker Town, and had reached the east side of Busseron Creek, near Lisman's Ford, on Survey 20, now owned by Oliver Piper, when they were surprised by four Indians, who commenced firing upon them, killing Mack instantly and wounding Col- lins very severely. Thinking they were friendly, or "tame Injuns, " as they called them, the two unfortunate men had approached very closely to the savages. When Collins was struck he fell from his horse, and, although bleeding profusely from several bullet wounds, he ran for a wagon road near by, and just as he had reached it, and was partly resting on a stump, his frightened horse came dashing up to him, and although extremely weak, yet with the desperation of the drowning man, he grasped . his faithful animal and swung his body across his back, with the face downward. Just at this instant one of the Indians ran up and threw his tomahawk at Collins, which saved his life, for it struck the horse on the ear and caused him to dash off at full speed. The blockhouse was fully three-fourths of a mile away, but toward it the animal ran, and at every plunge the blood spouted from the numerous ghastly bullet wounds in the body of the rider. What a ride for life was that of Collins! Arriv. ing at the blockhouse, the wounded man was well taken care of, but there being no surgeon nearer than Vincennes, one of the Haddons was posted off. to that point, and hours had to elapse before the wounds could be properly attended to. Collins recovered after a time, and one can imagine what chance a sneaking redskin would have if he fell into the hands of the old ranger in the solitude of the woods or the lonely stretches of the prairie. The body of Mack was recovered the next day, Monday, and buried in the Jonathan Webb graveyard, on the edge of Gill's prairie. Two scalps were taken from Mack.

CAPTURE OF CAMPBELL AND EDWARDS.

On the same afternoon of the above occurrence, two boys, named Campbell and Edwards, took their guns along with them when they went

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for the cows, for the purpose of killing a wolf or two, which they sus- pected would be led to the body of a colt that was killed in a late storm, and which lay on the edge of a marsh not far off from their homes. These lads, about fourteen years of age, went out into the woods, but were never afterward heard of again. They were captured, doubtless, by the same band of marauders that killed Mack. and if the boys were not shortly afterward killed, they were taken so far away that they never could escape and return to their homes. It has been asserted that Campbell was seen some years subsequently. far to the north of this, and again that he made his appearance at St. Joseph, Mo., at the head of his tribe, he having be- come a chief. Whether these assertions are true or not cannot now be affirmed, but it is very singular that he should have not had a desire to visit the scenes of his youth and to search out his relatives, for he was a weil-grown hoy and could not have forgotten them.

Mrs. Sally Cartwright, who was eleven yearsold at the time of the Dud- ley Mack massacre, and is consequently eighty-one years of age, says she heard the firing of the guns and remembers the day distinctly, as she was on her way with her mother to the house of a sick woman, and carried in her hand a small basket of sauerkraut for the sick (?) woman.

Mrs. Violet Calloway, who died two years ago, said she was a young woman when the killing occurred and lived about half a mile from the blockhouse. She said the boys, Edwards and Campbell, had set a steel trap near the body of the colt, and they had gone to look after it when they were carried off. This colt, by the way, had been killed in the first cyclone of which we have any record as visiting this section. A man had seen the colt lifted fifty feet into the air, but his relation of that fact was never believed until late years, when such small articles as a house and lot became as ethereal as gossamer in the gales that blew so terrifically in the spring and summer of 1883.

Mr. Nancy Clark, widow of G. D. Clark, and daughter of Peter Lis- man, says she remembers the day of the Mack massacre, in consequence of a showman exhibiting a babboon at her father's house the night be- fore. Also, that a noted character known as Woolly Neck Brown, an In- dian hater and fighter, was in the company at her father's house. Brown, surnamed " Woolly Neck," from the fact that his neck was covered with long, black hair, had been a soldier at the battle of Tippecanoe, and had been condemned to be shot for sleeping at his post, but was pardoned by Gen. Harrison a few minutes before his time to be executed arrived, came to this section some time before the massacre and left shortly afterward. It is said that Brown killed an Indian about this time, and that that was the immediate cause of the attack on Mack and Collins and the capture of the two boys. He turned up finally in Louisiana, where he became an overseer, and for cruelty to one of the negroes under his charge was shot in revenga.

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GOOD MARKSMANSHIP.

After the occurrences of that fatal Sunday, for several mornings those in the Ledgerwood fort and near by heard the gobbling of a turkey, but John Haddon told them it was an Indian and not a turkey; so he and a young man named Tom Lackey started out pretty early, going in different directions, to where the gobbling came from, and after they had walked some distance they both, unknown to the other, espied the "turkey," which proved to be a redskin, in a tree, and both firing at the same time, a powerful Indian fell nearly at their feet, the balls from their trusty rifles entering his body almost at the same instant.

AN UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT.

About this time, 1815, a sad affair occurred. Joseph Ledgerwood, in sport, had gone outside of the blockhouse where he was stationed, and contrary to orders, and was throwing shelled corn at the house in order to frighten the inmates, who thought it was shot from the guns of Indians. John Ingle, who was on guard at the time, not knowing that any of his friends were outside, saw a moving figure, and raising his rifle drew a bead and brought to the ground his companion, Ledgerwood. His hor- ror at the mistake, and the sorrow of his friends, can better be imagined than described.

A NARROW ESCAPE.

Jesse, the second son of John Haddon, made a narrow escape on one occasion. He had gone into or near a camp of Indians, when they seized him and were going to kill him, thinking that he was John Had- don, his brother, who had killed one of their tribe. He convinced them that he was not the fellow they were after, but they only released him after he made over to them a patch-of corn, a patch of tobacco, and all the furs he had on hand. Jesse, in conjunction with Jim Calloway, was engaged to supply the forts with meat and they had many advent- ures. They were caught one night in the woods roasting a turkey, but, before the Indians were within shooting distance, they put out their fire and crawled away on their bellies through the underbrush, the savages in the meantime setting up a wild yell at their disappointment.

THE WILY HOG.

Of course game was plentiful in those early times. Bears were oc- casionally seen, but deer and turkeys were plentiful; wolves entirely too numerous, and the stealthy panther was seen in every thickly wooded section. Many hogs ran wild, and even the tame ones were extremely fierce. Thomas Holder, Sr., had a large lot of hogs, and one day & powerful panther attacked some of the pigs, when the older hogs, in- cluding several fierce boars, treed the "varmint" onto a large log, where he thought he was safely out of the reach of his porcine foes, but he had made no calculations for his tail, which being, like old Grimes' coat,

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was very long and hung down upon the ground, so one of the old and experienced porkers just closed bis mouth on the beautiful caudal ap. pendage, and snaked Mr. Panther off that log in Jay - Eye-See time, after which he was cut into mince meat so quickly that it made his head swim. The hog, parenthetically, permit us to say -- the much abused hog. sneered at by Jew and Mahomedan-tabooed by the French and insulted by Bis- marck -- the hog is the only animal that will rush to the rescue of his fellow-will band themselves together and attack the common enemy. Man will do this sometimes; the hog always.

LAYING OUT CARLISLE.

Up to 1815-16 there were no nuclei in the township, save the block- houses, around which could cluster the business of the community, but in 1816, two men by the names of McFarland and Sproule purchased from James Ledigerwood 100 acres of land for the purpose of laying out s town. After the arrangements for the purchase bad been completed, Ledgerwood, seeing the advantages of sharing in the speculation, gave two-thirds of the property for a one- third interest in the same, and the three, becoming partners, laid out Carlisle, donating the Central Block, 330 feet each way, to the public, and which is to-day the Public Square. Whether the new town had any officers or not is not now known, but it is altogether probable they were not very numerous. The date of the laying out of the town is usually set down as 1816, but Mr. Smith Green- field informed the writer that he had in his possession for many years two canceled notes dated 1815, which were given for the purchase of two lots in Carlisle. Mr. Greenfield obtained them from his father-in-law, Adam Ligman. From the laying out of Carlisle, or rather from the organization of the township a year or two later, the history of one is the history of the other. After these dates many settlers came in, and among them several whose names became famous and even national. The settlement began to grow very perceptibly, and greater comfort was sought in better buildings. In 1818, the first church in the township, as well as in the county, was built, and which yet stands in Carlisle, as a dilapidated cooper shop. The Methodists, the usual pioneers in the work of the Lord in the wilderness, put up this building, and the first preacher who preached in it was Rev. Mr. Fisher.

ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP.

The exact date of the organization of the township, as well as the first officers, are not now known, the records having been destroyed in the fire of 1850. The organization of the township, it is presumable, occurred at the organization of the county, as we find that the first court was held in Carlisle, with Judge Call presiding; G. R. C. Sullivan, Prosecuting Attorney; Robert Buntin, Clerk; Bailey Johnson, Sheriff. In 1819-20, the county seat was moved to Merom.

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SOME FIRST THINGS.

The name of the township, Haddon, was given in honor of John Had- don. The first Justice of the Peace was Samuel Whittlesey, and the first physician to locate here was his son, Dr. Chauncey Whittlesey. Thomas Holder, Sr., built the first house, after the forts or block houses, in the township, and it stood about three-fourths of a mile northwest of Car. lisle. He also, owned the first wagon in the township. The first stock of goods brought to the township arrived in Carlisle in 1815.

PIONEER PASTIMES.

In those early days the pioneers had their sports as well as their labors, and the log rollings, cabin raisings, bee hunts and frolics of all kinds, where the jug went round as freely as the laughter, would often break the monotony of their toilsome lives. The big days, however, were the muster days, when everybody came into Carlisle. Several of the old citizens say that upon those days the boys would form a ring around the old Revolutionary soldiers, six or seven of whom lived in the township, and listen, awe-stricken, to their tales of hard-fighting and hard march- ing in that grand old struggle that gave to us this beautiful land of peace and plenty. All honor to those old heroes-the immortals !- one of. whom, Handy Handly, lies in the cemetery at Carlisle. He was one of the guard selected by Washington to watch and keep up the fires during the night before the battle of Trenton, in order to deceive the British commander'as to the real movements of the Americans.

INCIDENTS OF THE TIMES.

As illustrative of the manners and customs of the dwellers in these parts along about 1820, the following two or three instances may be not inappropriate: A man named McGee, a tailor, living in Carlisle, was charged with having stolen some clothes from a clothes' line, and although there was no positive evidence against him, he was taken by a mob to the branch near where the bridge now crosses it above,the depot, and so repeatedly ducked in the water that he died from the effects of it. The man was innocent, as the real thief was afterward discovered. The affair was a sad one, and it is said that justice reached the perpetrators in various ways before they died.

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History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana, Part 71

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

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