History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 12

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 12

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At the March session, 1850, of the board of county commissioners, citizens of Delaware and Clay townships presented a petition for a "new township, to be named Carmel township, west of White river, and two miles off the east side of Clay township." The petition was signed by about ninety citizens of the two townships.

The petition was granted, boundaries were established, and elections or- dered held on the first Monday in April, 1850, to elect justices of the peace. But at the June, 1850, session "the board ordered that the township of Car- mel, heretofore laid off, be rescinded and that Delaware and Clay townships be re-located as they were before."

In June, 1866, a petition was presented on behalf of the citizens of Delaware and Fall Creek townships, asking for a new township, to be called "East Delaware." The matter was continued until the September session, when a strong remonstrance was presented and the case was dismissed. Not satisfied with this disposition of the case, in March, 1875, a number of citizens of Delaware township presented a petition asking for a division of their township, the territory east of White river to be attached to Fall Creek town- ship, and the territory west of White river to Clay township. The case was again continued and at the June session following was dismissed.

Again, at the August term, 1913, the matter of dividing Delaware town- ship was taken up. The division was to be the same as that proposed in the petition of 1875. An election was ordered and held the 26th day of August, 1913, at which election the proposition was overwhelmingly defeated.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

The first public building for which provision was made was the county jail. At the May session of the county board of justices, 1824, it was ordered that the sheriff sell to the lowest bidder on June 1, 1824 ( Tuesday), at the house of Josiah Polk, the clearing of a site selected by the board, and the building of a jail on the fraction of a lot donated for the purpose of erecting public buildings thereon, the fraction in question being located in the south- west corner of the town. The following is a description of the proposed

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building, taken from the early records: "The size, from out to out, to be twenty-one by fourteen feet; the timber to be twelve inches square, and of good, durable quality; foundation to be solid on the ground, of good white oak logs, at least twelve inches in diameter at the top end; to be close and tight, lengthwise of the same; floor to be laid crosswise of the foundation, of good white oak timber twelve inches square, laid close and tight; the walls to be built on said floor, to be dovetailed at each corner and well pinned with two-inch pins of good, substantial wood, and fastened well to the floor, so as to prevent any part of same from being moved or slipped; the walls to be tight and close. The same to be divided into two separate apartments of equal size, the partition to be of same sized timber as the walls; the joist or upper floors to be of good timber of same size, to be let down four inches so as to prevent them from slipping, and substantially fastened; to be built one log above said joist or floor, and topped off and covered with a good clapboard roof; to be nine feet in the clear. The door to be made of good seasoned white oak plank one and a half inches thick, doubled and crossed; to be well spiked so that no auger can be introduced; to be hung with good strap hinges to reach across the same, well riveted and hung with good substantial stock- locks, well put on with good rivets. The door to be two and one-half feet wide by five feet high, with good staples for fastening the lock; to have two windows in the dungeon part six inches wide by twenty-four long, a plate of iron four inches wide by one thick, let into the logs above, and below, even with the surface, to be well spiked; iron grates one inch square to be set in these plates not more than three inches apart. To have two windows in the other room twenty-four inches long and twelve inches wide; plates to be fixed in windows same as the other, with at least four cross grates, one to run lengthwise, to be well and substantially put in and fastened. The outer door to enter into the debtor room, and the other door from that room to the dungeon. To be completed within six months from date of sale; provided, however, if the same cannot be built for three hundred dollars, the sheriff is directed not to let the same."

At a special session in June. 1824. further orders were given to make the jail a veritable bastile for security, special provisions being given for spik- ing the door and "ironing" the windows. "That the door (of the jail) be nailed on both sides with six-penny nails, so that a half-inch auger cannot be introduced, and yet must be spiked, to go through and clinch; plates of iron for the windows not to be less than half an inch by four wide. The timber may be any width up and down, not less than twelve inches; the cor- ners to be halved instead of dovetailed. A hole to be dug under the floor of

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sufficient depth for a necessary, with a small passage of three or four inches in diameter leading to it through the floor." For this building the contract was let to Josiah F. Polk, and ordered to be erected on a part of block 18, between lots 7 and 8 and White river. However, the completion of the task was not for Mr. Polk. At the November session he was appointed one of the justices, in consequence of which he resigned his position as county agent, and Snyder Dale was appointed agent in his place, but for the work done on the building up to that time the board ordered "that the agent of the county pay over to J. F. Polk, the undertaker of the jail, the sum of seventy dollars and ten cents out of the cash donated for county buildings, as soon as the amount may be collected."

The erection of the building seems to have moved on smoothly, for at a special session of the board, March 17, 1825, held at the home of the clerk, J. D. Stephenson, it was ordered "that the jail be received, and that the sheriff take possession of the same, and that the agent pay over any moneys he may have in his hands unappropriated collected from donations," etc.

For some reason not given in the early records the first site of the jail was not satisfactory. So, in a year and a half after its completion, Septem- ber, 1826, the board ordered its removal to the public square. The removal of the building was sold to Isaac Cottingham as the lowest bidder. He received fifty-two dollars for his services. The jail remained in that place until it was succeeded by a more pretentious structure in later years. The old building proved to be insufficient for the purpose. At the September session. 1852, a new jail was ordered to be built on the public square and to be completed on or before December, 1853. The jailer's residence was included in the plans, five hundred dollars being allowed for that purpose. The bids were opened and considered by the board at the March session, 1853. The contract was awarded to A. B. Davidson and J. R. Davidson, John McNutt and A. M. McNutt for $5,584.43. The jailer's residence was twenty feet by forty feet and two stories high. The brick jail building was to be seventeen feet by twenty-six feet. At the December session, 1853, the building was paid for. This building was used for sixteen years, when a new jail was again con- sidered. The board went to different towns to view the jails with the idea of building another jail in Hamilton county. Among the towns visited was Newcastle. The old building was used until 1875, when, at a special session in February, 1875, the board agreed to build a new jail within the year, the cost not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars.

The plans of the building were not determined upon at the regular ses- sion in March. But on March 22, 1875, at a special session, the board ordered

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that a new jail should be located on the southwest corner of the public square, near the location of the old building. The contract was let to W. R. Parsons, of Terre Haute, with the provision that Thomas & Richter's improved jail locks should be used by them. W. R. Parsons was the architect and super- intendent, with a salary of three per cent. of gross cost of the construction. On May 28, 1875, the bids were opened and the contract was awarded to William Gigger & Company, Noblesville, their bid being twenty-eight thou- sand four hundred and seventy-four dollars. With the awarding of the con- tract the work was begun on the new building, which progressed satisfactorily to all concerned. On April 19, 1876, it was ordered "that the jail is com- pleted, and that the board accept the same; and the auditor is ordered to pay the balance due the contractors, twenty-eight thousand four hundred and seventy-four dollars, less the sum before paid, the work having been approved by the architect appointed to superintend the same.". The building is now forty years old and is a very substantial structure, the south part being the sheriff's residence. With few improvements it has stood the test of time well. Many persons regretted its being situated on the public square, be- lieving it destroyed the beauties of the otherwise harmonious perspective of the court house, which occupies the central area of the public square.

COURT HOUSES.

On the 25th of September, 1824, at the first session of the board of county justices, the sheriff was ordered to sell the clearing of lot number 3 in square 4, to the lowest bidder, in contemplation of the erection of a tem- porary court house, the sale to take place at the house of Josiah F. Polk. Nothing further was done toward the building except the clearing of the lots of timber and brush, etc., preparatory to the erection of the building, until early in the next spring, 1826. At the March session of the board it was ordered "that William S. Goe be appointed to superintend the building of a temporary court house, in the town of Noblesville, of the following dimen- sions, to-wit : To be a round-log cabin, twenty-two feet square, a story and a half high, the lower to be not less than seven feet high; to have five windows in the same, three in the lower story of twelve lights each, one to be in each side, and one in the end; to be a partition in the center of the upper story, carried up with logs, and one window in each end, of six lights each. To be one door in the same, and a good chimney ; to be hewed down inside and out; to be good flooring : the same to be covered with a good clapboard roof." The

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foregoing is the description as it appears of record, and embraced the leading features as at first proposed. When, however, the notice was given Sheriff Warwick that the contract to build the same would be sold at public outcry to the lowest responsible bidder, the following dimensions appeared to have been considered : "To be a double cabin, with one entry, ten feet wide; one room to be twenty-four by twenty feet ; the other twenty feet by sixteen feet- nine-feet story. Foundation to be of good lasting timber; balance to be of any kinds of logs excepting buckeye; well hewed down the inside; well chinked with wood, and well daubed with clay and mortar; two windows in · each room with fifteen lights; glass eight by ten inches, well cased and well put in; one door in each room fronting the passage : good batten doors, well cased; good locks and latched ; good floor in each room, of plank ; loft in each room to be laid with loose plank. The chimneys to be built of cat and clay ; back wall and hearth to be of brick ; corners of house to be well sawed down."

The first court house served the purpose for a few years, when, the needs of the court being greater, it was found in four years ( 1830) that more commodious quarters were necessary. When the board, called at this time "board of commissioners," met in August, 1830, the following records are found: "Ordered, that the commissioners of the county proceed to build a frame house on lot number I, block number 11, in the town of Noblesville, in the county of Hamilton, for the purpose of holding courts in, for said county, until a permanent court house can be built on the public square. The said house is to be thirty-two by eighteen feet, one story and one-half high; and that the building of said house to be sold to the lowest bidder on the 15th day of September next, at the house of George Shirts, in Noblesville. and the clerk of this court advertise the said sale at three of the most public places in the county." At the November session following, further legislation was had upon the subject, which is thus indicated: "Or- dered, that the commissioners of the county proceed to build a frame house on lot 1, square 11, in the town of Noblesville, for the purpose of holding courts in, for said county, until a more permanent court house can be built on the public square ; the said house to be thirty-two by eighteen feet, post and bent seventeen feet high, ten feet between the lower floors, a fire-place below and above in each end of the house: two doors in front, six feet apart : two fifteen-light windows in the front below ; one fifteen-light window in the center of the back. on the south side of the house, and one twelve-light on each side of the center window ; two nine-light windows in front, above, and the same number back; the bar in the center of the south side of the house, and a parti- tion above, dividing the upper part of the house into two rooms, suitable for

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the grand and petit juries. It is also ordered, that the building of said house be sold to the lowest bidder, on Saturday, the 11th day of December next." The terms of payment for the construction of this building were prescribed as follows: "Twenty-five dollars in cash and twenty-five dollars in county orders, in advance; twenty-five dollars in cash and twenty-five dollars in orders when the house is raised ; twentyfive dollars in cash and twenty-five dollars in orders when the house is covered and inclosed; twenty-five dollars in cash and twenty-five dollars in orders when the windows are glazed, doors hung and floors laid, and fifty dollars in cash and fifty dollars in orders when the mason work is completed; * the whole to be completed by the sec- ond Monday in November next." As indicated in the foregoing statement, the first payment was due the contractor in advance; this was made, as shown by the following: "Ordered, That Francis B. Cogswell be allowed twenty-five dollars, first payment for building the court house, and, also, twenty-five dollars in part of his second payment." -- Made at this January session, 1831.

PUBLIC SQUARE.

In the meantime, before the construction had greatly progressed, it was determined that the building, instead of being erected on the site proposed in the original order, should be on the public square as the more suitable place ; hence, the board, at its May session, 1831, ordered "that Francis B. Cogswell be authorized to erect the court house on the public square, instead of on lot one, in square eleven." During the same session the contractor was allowed twenty-five dollars, in part payment of the third installment on the new court house, and at the August session following, he was allowed twenty-five dol- lars, in part of the fourth payment on the court house contract. The build- ing was, no doubt, built and completed in accordance with the terms of the contract, since the record shows that the November session of the board was held in the court house, the contract requiring that it should be completed by the second Monday in November. It was further shown, also, that during the term "he reported to the board that the house was completed, and asked . them to accept the same." Upon the presentation of the report, the board enter- tained some doubts whether the contract had been literally complied with, which doubts, and their action in regard thereto, are sufficiently defined in the following extract from the record in the case: "And the board, after view- ing and examining said house, are of the opinion that the work in and about said house has not been done and performed agreeably to contract and un- dertaking of said Cogswell; we, therefore, refuse to accept the same, and to

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make full payment for the same. Whereupon the commissioners of the county and the said Cogswell agreed to submit the matter of difference in controversy to the award of Charles W. West, Curtis Mallory and John Shryock, whose award shall be final." The referees made the following re- port : "We, the arbitrators, after being sworn by B. F. Cogswell, and having made a careful examination and inspection of said building, now return the following award:

Deductions for weather-boarding $1.50

Deductions for under floor 1.00

Deductions for window blinds .50

Deductions for partition doors .25

Total deductions -$3.25

"And, thereupon, the board received and accepted said house, and ordered the same to be paid for, as per contract price, except said sum of $3.25. All parties were satisfied."

The current expense account for this year shows, among other things, the following: For erecting the court house, $180; deducting $3.25, makes the total sum of $176.75. At the same term it was ordered "that F. B. Cogs- well be allowed $135.871/2 in county orders, in full payment for erecting a court house. William S. Goe was allowed $1.75 for summoning arbitrators for court house." A further order was made at the January session, 1832, allowing F. B. Cogswell $172.643/4 "in full of all demands."

About the time the present jail was built the question began to be agitated whether it was proper or necessary to erect a new court house. As the views of the people seemed to be pretty equally divided, the county commissioners did not like to undertake a work of such magnitude without obtaining the direct views of the voters. The board ordered an election to be held the first Monday in April, 1875, when a vote should be taken "for a court house" or "against a court house." The result of the election was against the proposed construction of a court house, one thousand two hundred fiye against seven hundred twenty-five for. This decisive vote quieted the agitation for a time, but in a year or two the necessity for more commodious quarters for the temple of justice became more apparent. Accordingly, at the March session, 1877, the board, having determined to erect a new building, ordered the old court house sold. Adjourning on March 28, the board agreed to meet at an early date at Indianapolis, for the purpose of visiting a number of court

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houses, examining plans, etc. The auditor was to accompany them on this trip. The board met as agreed and on April 21, 1877, after examining plans, accepted those submitted by Edwin May, of Indianapolis. The plans not being completed at that date, Mr. May was directed to complete same. On September 29 Mr. May was allowed two thousand nine hundred dollars for plans and specifications submitted and accepted.

The notice for bids was advertised in the Noblesville Ledger and, these advertisements found defective, the bids were re-advertised. As the notice specified, the following bids were received and opened on September 29, 1877: A. G. Campfield, $99,950; Farmer & Pierce, $103,780; Durfee & Company, $108,136.14; M. Baltes, $113,920; Crummins & Morse, $124,500; R. M. Matchett, $127,886; J. W. Kinkley, $132,500; A. S. Phillips, $150,- 900.

The contract was then awarded to A. G. Campfield, as the lowest bidder, at $99,950.

In order to create a fund to be applied on the building fund for the new court house, the board met December, 1877, and "ordered that bonds be issued for a loan to raise funds for the building of the court house, in the sum of seventy-seven thousand five hundred dollars, an amount not exceed- ing one per centum of the assessed valuation of real and personal property of the county."

As the building of the court house progressed there was some dissatis- faction expressed concerning the management of the superintendent, Mr. May. The frequent complaints finally resulted in the dismissal of Mr. May by the county board and the appointment of J. C. Johnson, of Fremont, Ohio, in his place. Mr. May was not satisfied with this action of the board and brought suit against the board. But the difficulty was finally settled by the board allowing him one thousand two hundred dollars in full of all demands, for all services rendered by him as superintendent.

Philadelphia brick was to be used for the outer finish. Daniel Gasho and E. S. Phillips were appointed on April II as a committee to proceed to Phila- delphia and to make selection of the brick as before determined upon. Phila- delphia "Peerless Brick" was the kind selected by the board one week later.

On December 23 bids for the court house sewer were opened and awarded to J. W. Durflinger as the lowest bidder, his bid being $992.50.

The work on the building progressed with a fair degree of rapidity. On July 2, 1879, Mr. Campfield claimed the building was completed. The board ordered an examination of the building prior to its acceptance by them. The examination did not prove satisfactory to the board. Accordingly it was

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agreed to submit the matter to four arbitrators who, in the event they could not agree, were to choose an umpire, whose decision in the premises should be final. The building in the meantime was formally accepted and the county officers directed to occupy it. The arbitrators chosen were, for the board, Ingraham Fletcher, of Indianapolis; T. J. Folan, of Fort Wayne; for the con- tractors, D. B. Harris, of Greensburg, Indiana, D. P. Hopping, of Spring- field, Illinois. These gentlemen having canvassed the matter thoroughly, de- cided in favor of the contractors. Certain sums were then paid in settlement of the contractor's claims and the new court house was formally accepted July 28, 1879.

When the new building was accepted and occupied by the county officials the board appointed Isaac Hiatt, engineer and superintendent of the heating department and janitor of the building at a salary of seven hundred dollars a year. When the court house was built it was considered one of the best in the state outside of Marion county. After nearly forty years of service the court house is still a credit to the county. Repairs have been made on the various parts at different times in recent years. In 1904 the interior was refrescoed and the floors relaid with marble tiling in the corridors and a new system of heating installed in the entire building. The bid for the general specifications accepted was $11,900. The following was the actual cost of the entire work done: Marble, $11,241 ; heating plant, $7,714; inter- ior decorations, $1,895. When the work was completed the interior of the court house was indeed "a thing of beauty," and some of the work done will last as long as the building itself.

ASYLUM FOR THE POOR.

The care given to the poor of a community largely indicates the spirit and civilization of that community. In Hamilton county there has at all times been ample provision made for the poor within its borders. Prior to a regular county poor house, each township had among its first, if not the first, officers an "overseer" of the poor. Provision must be made for the dependent ones, for "the poor we have always with us." It was the duty of these town- ship "overseers" to "hear and examine into the nature of all complaints in behalf of the poor, in each civil township of the county, and to see that their wants were sufficiently provided for; that they should not suffer for the com- mon necessaries of life, nor allow them to be ill treated. It was also the duty of the overseer to keep a record in which they should record the names of all persons in their respective townships who were unable to take care of them-

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selves and who, in their opinion, were entitled to the benefits prescribed by law for maintenance of those unfortunates. A further provision made it their duty to put out, as apprentices, all poor children whose parents were dead or were found to be unable to maintain them-males until the age of twenty-one and females until the age of eighteen years."

Nothing further seems to have been done in the county for the main- tenance of the poor, no provision made for a poor house of any description until 1846. At the March session of the county board, that year, Jesse Fisher was appointed superintendent of the institution for the poor. This poor house was built in township 19 north, range 5 east, containing eighty acres. Log cabins were to be built and provided and furnished for the poor, allowing Superintendent Fisher three hundred dollars per annum for seven paupers, and in proportion to the number a greater or less amount. The superintendent was to provide for all the necessities of life for the in- mates. Under this arrangement all the overseers of the poor in the various townships were to remove all charges under their care to this county poor farm in May of the year 1846. The following is Superintendent Fisher's re- . port for the first year: "The undersigned superintendent of the asylum for the poor of said county submits, respectfully, to your body, the following report, showing the number of paupers that he has taken under his charge since his appointment to the superintendency of this asylum by your said board, together with the time and manner of the reception of each, their health, fitness to labor, etc., to-wit : He has, in all, eight paupers, of whom he received from overseers of the poor of Clay township, to-wit: On the 21st day of April. 1846, they consisted of an old lady, to-wit, Mary Wall, with four young children. The mother is not capable of performing any labor, she being old and not of sound mind. The oldest children, aged about nine and seven years, are capable of performing some services, and might be bound out with advantage: the two youngest are probably too young to put out with any advantage. The sixth order he received from the overseer of White River township, on the 4th of May, 1846, is Leonard Dick, and is supposed to be about seventy-four years old, and incapable of performing any labor, he being confined to his bed continually. Thomas Geering, the seventh pauper, was received on the day last mentioned, from the overseer of the poor of Wayne township. This pauper is also incapable of doing work, he being a complete idiot. Mrs. Barclay, the last, was received from the over- seer of Noblesville township on the same day. She is also entirely unfit to do any labor, being very old and infirm.

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History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions, Part 12

Author: John F. Haines Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: John F. Haines
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051