USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 23
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In March, 1884, the Westfield State Bank was organized with Louis Estes, Robert Estes, Elem Conklin, Able Doan and J. N. Parr directors. Louis Estes was cashier. ' In September, 1898, the bank building burned and the following year the present building was erected. M. E. Cox is now cashier.
A man of the name of Rose began the printing of a newspaper in the town in 1884. Westfield has not been without a newspaper since then. A. E. Pinkham is now the editor.
About the same time a co-operative creamery was started but ended in financial failure. The R. W. Furnas Ice Cream Company purchased the creamery and is now successfully operating it.
In 1885 Binford, Talbott & Company moved the present saw mill here from Spiceland, Henry county. I. B. Anderson was connected with it for some time. Then Mr. Talbott became sole owner and has held this ownership ever since. Recently he erected new sheds and has established a builders' hardware department.
Westfield has always been well supplied with merchants and mechanics. In a list of dry goods merchants appear the names of L. R. Bowman, Isaac Williams, Hoxie Kenyon, William Pfaff, Hugh Hetherington, J. M. Chapple and William McAvoy. The more prominent grocery men have been Edmund Black, T. T. Bray, Henry Boyd. Funderburgh & Son, and Clyde Johns.
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Mechanics always have found good business here, as attested by the number supported. T. P. Pfaff & Sons were among the first smiths and wagon makers. Calvin Hunt a little later was a smith and plow maker. Also Jacob and Gastoy Stout were smiths and plow makers. O. F. Brown has been manufacturing saddles and harness for the last sixty years and is still at his old stand. The Hess brothers were shoemakers here for several years. A. E. Funderburgh and Milton Stanley operated a tannery for some time.
Even the best of village people sometime become ill and require the at- tention of a physician. Westfield always has been well supplied with efficient doctors. Dr. Albertson and Dr. Hunt were here before 1850. Dr. Pfaff came here in 1852; Dr. Benson, 1860: Pettijohn, 1865; Coffin, 1860; Kane, 1873; Baker, 1875; Harold, 1885 and Dove in 1863. At the present time the town has three efficient physicians-Drs. Fodera, Baldwin and Bond.
During Mr. Milton Bray's administration as trustee of Washington township, the township took charge of the schools. The high school then was at Union high and the grades at the town school building. A V. Hodgen was superintendent. This was the first public high school in Westfield. In September, 1898, the township high school began with W. C. Day, superin- tendent. In January, 1904, the high school was destroyed by fire. A few years later the present splendid building was erected.
WESTFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Westfield always has held the distinction of including among its citizens some very well read men and women. A community as a whole cannot be a reading community without libraries. We have no account of the libraries earlier than 1902, though there were probably some reading rooms prior to that date. Sometime in 1901 the literary clubs of Westfield started a move- ment which resulted in the opening of the Westfield public library January II, 1902. This library contained about seven hundred books. Miss Mercia Hoagland, state library organizer assisted in classifying the books and sys- tematizing the work. This library was maintained for eight years by gifts and subscriptions from people living in the township.
In 1910 Andrew Carnegie gave the sum of five thousand dollars for the erection of a Carnegie library. The lot cost four hundred dollars. West- field was the first town in Hamilton county to obtain a Carnegie library. At present there are about twenty-four hundred books on the library shelves with a branch library of fifty books at Jolietville. The library is open daily, ex- cept Sunday, from twelve to seven-thirty o'clock. On Saturday it is open
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from one-thirty to seven-thirty o'clock. The present librarian is Miss Louis Benson. Her predecessor was Miss Elizabeth Horton. There is also an assistant librarian. About eight hundred and thirty persons are enrolled as patrons of the Westfield library. The present library board consists of the following : Mrs. Alma Bray, president; Mrs. Anna F. Pinkham, treasurer ; W. C. McAvoy, secretary : R. A. Funderburg, Dr. Z. H. Fodrea, Mrs. Lena Sherrick, Mrs. Martha Horton, Mrs. Lela Carey and the trustee of Washing- ton township.
CARMEL.
The town of Carmel, formerly known as Bethlehem, is situated on the dividing line between Clay and Delaware townships, a part of the town lying in each township. It is ten miles southwest of Noblesville, with which it is connected by the Indiana Union Traction interurban railway line. It also is connected with other towns of the county, viz., Westfield and Sheridan, by the Monon railroad. The original plat of the town consisted of fourteen lots and was laid out on April 13, 1837, by Daniel Warren, Alexander Mills, John Phelps and Seth Green. Z. Warren, son of Daniel Warren, gives the follow- ing account of "Starting a Town":
"In 1837, my father set about starting a town here, being the intersection of the roads and where four farms cornered, the southwest being his own. Two others. Alexander Mills, on the northeast and John Phelps on the south- east, were willing to have land platted and sell lots, but on the northwest the owner was unwilling. My father offered him one hundred dollars for an acre, enough for four lots. That being such a big price he accepted it. Then the grounds were platted and recorded under the name of Bethlehem.
"There were a plenty of tadpoles then, and my father meeting a neigh- bor who was opposed to having a town, told him that we had a town and its name was Bethlehem, and his answer was, 'Yes, Tadpoles' Glory.'
"My father sold lots at whatever he could get for them in order to start the town. One he sold for five yards of home-made jeans of indifferent quality, and the purchaser was to build a house on it and did of small round logs, the cracks filled with clay, and about large enough for a poultry house; but it filled the contract.
"The postoffice was named Carmel, because there was one in the state by the name of Bethlehem. In the early sixties when the town was incor- porated the name was changed to Carmel to accord with the name of the post- office."
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Additions were made to the original fourteen lots at various times. Amon gthe first were those by Samuel Carey, 1849; by Nathan Hawkins, eight lots, 1857 ; eight lots by Isaac J. Bales and J. H. Davis and others.
On January 20, 1846, a postoffice was granted to the town under the name of Carmel the name being suggested by Levi Haines, Sr. The new town received mail once a week by mounted carrier. Joseph W. Macy was the first postmaster. He served in this capacity for only one year. Levi Haines, Sr., then was appointed and held the post till 1858. His successors were Isaac W. Stanton, Alfred. T. Jessup, John H. Kenyon, Jonathan J. Griffin and Alfred W. Brown. Then Z. Warren took charge of the office a few months as assistant and in July, 1864, took full charge. He held the office until November 28, 1885 and was then superseded by Eli G. Binford during Cleveland's administration. Postoffice boxes were installed June 10, 1864. The same year a bi-weekly and later a tri-weekly mail system was petitioned for and granted by way of Noblesville. At the same time a hack was run for the accommodation of passengers. . Later the mail came via Indianapolis and then changed back to Noblesville till 1883. In that year the Monon rail- road went through northward bound. The present postmaster of Carmel is Everet Stroud. The town is the center of a network of rural mail routes extending for several miles in all directions.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES.
The first grist mill and saw mill in Carmel we are told by Z. Warren was built by Benjamin Mendenhall on the creek east of town and it is said that later the Wise boys had a steam circle mill near there. William Wilkinson had a saw mill in the Mattsville settlement, which he later turned into a grist mill. There were saw mills at Gray, Poplar Ridge and Mulberry Corner, the latter with a grist-mill attachment; one at Pleasant Grove and one south of there. There also was a mill north of here run by the Jeffries brothers, and at one time there was a mill on Old Town Run. A band-saw mill was operated here by Charles Wilkinson. Buck and Crago bought this mill and changed it to a circle mill. Later it was destroyed by fire. John E. Buck then built another mill which finally was removed from here. A mill operated by the Laycock Manufacturing Company also burned down, after which the present mill was erected. There was a grist mill in the Mattsville settlement known as the Macy Bond mill, which was run by water power.
The first steam saw mill in Carmel was built by Samuel Carey, Joseph Macy and Bohan Harvey in 1847. This was a sash mill, the logs being
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hauled up into the second story on an inclined plane, and stood near where the present school building stands. This mill was later known as the Gideon Newby mill. Newby changed it into a circle mill on the ground story. Later, in partnership with Silas Beeson, he added a grist mill. When this saw mill was first started clear poplar lumber sold at thirty-seven and one-half cents per hundred but later was raised to fifty cents.
In operating this saw mill when first built sometimes there was insuffici- ent power, the safety valve rising and letting steam off. On these occasions, Mr. Harvey, one of the firm, was wont to climb on top of the boiler and sit on the end of the lever to hold down the valve. One of the mill men visited the machine shop at the city where the engine was made and related the incident. The answer he received was: "Jeff Davis is a liar! . He said the Indiana soldiers would not stand battle. Anyone who would sit on that lever would face the cannon's mouth."
This was in the time of the Mexican War. After the Monon railroad came, T. E. Carey and W. P. Dixon erected the present flour mill now oper- ated by R. J. Follett & Company.
The first dry goods store was opened by Boggs & Boggs, the store room being a log cabin. This opening of the first store was a great event in a little town. Even before the floor was laid or shelves had been placed in the log cabin the young men gathered there one Sunday afternoon to discuss the "great event." Some of the staple articles kept in this first store were Orleans sugar and molasses, mackerel, blacksmith's iron, dog irons, odd lids for skil- lets and ovens, calico, coarse muslin, called "factory," bandana handkerchiefs, jew's-harps, bonnet boards and wires, iron lamps, etc.
Boggs & Boggs did not remain longer than about a year. Then at differ- ent times other persons kept a store for short periods of time, with a period in between when there was no store in Carmel. But after a time Levi Haines, Sr., opened a store in the original log store building and later went into part- nership with Caleb Harvey. From that time on Carmel never was without a store. Later merchants included Little, Drum and Anderson of Indian- apolis, Elijah King, Sylvanus Carey, Josiah E. King, Frank H. King, Pucket and Stanley, T. H. Burkhart and T. A. Painter. Other early merchants where Elam & Brown, Mendenhall & Stanton and John Kenyon. In 1860 the Griffin brothers were succeeded by Alfred Brown, who in turn was suc- ceeded by Randall, who sold out the stock. James Stanley opened a drug store in the room vacated by Stanley. Carey & Simons were the successors of Stanley in the drug business. Then Warren & Kinzer were followed by L. J. Small. David Kinzer opened the first variety store at an early date.
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The first blacksmith shop in the community was that of Barnaby Newby whose shop was one-half mile west, the second being that of John Hunt, an equal dis- tance east of the town. Franklin Hunt and Martin Phelps opened the first blacksmith shop in the town. When this shop was all ready for operation, Mr. Hunt said, "Now let's make a jew's-harp so we can say that was the first thing made on an anvil in Bethlehem," and it was done accordingly. Suc- cessors in the smithy business were Moses Puckett, Enos Haines, Joseph P. Cook, Richard George, John Patty, Sr., John A. Haines, David Stewart, Albert A. Haines, and others.
The first shoemaker was George Gibson, and Joseph Wilson was the pio- neer harnessmaker while Asaph Hiatt began the window sash business. Will- iam Frost who was a tailor in the forties later took up the practice of dentistry. Jacob Green, Sr., & Sons, and Joseph, John and Nathan Hawkins were the first coopers. The first carpenters were Thomas Mills, John West and Joseph W. Macy. The first house painter and paper hanger was William S. Warren. In 1857 Simeon Hawkins operated a tile factory in Carmel. The men who made wagon-wood work were Mahlon Haines, the Patty and Kane brothers, and Henry Harvey, Sr. The first cabinet work was done by George Davis. Among the early regular physicians are found the names .of Drs. Woodyard, the two Vickrys, L. S. Campbell, S. C. Dove, J. S. Losey, J. L. McShane, Daniel Carey, C. W. Cook, George Kane, Zenas Carey, Milton Carey, N. G. Harold, C. W. Mendenhall; K. C. Hershey, 1892; F. C. Hershey, 1894, and Dr. Cooper, 1910.
The first newspaper, called the Carmel Signal, issued its initial number October 13, 1889. L. J. Patty and L. J. Small were the publishers and pro- prietors. Later editors of this paper were Ed E. Small, Vern Patty, George Bowen and Hall Small. but the paper was discontinued August 10, 1893. Later papers which also were short lived were the Carmel Register and the Carmel Star. The Carmel Standard, which at present represents the village, is published by Roberts & Patty.
Soon after the town was established, a tanyard was started by Caleb Harvey. Cowhides, calf, sheep, dog or any other kinds of skins were tanned and made into shoe soles and upper leather, the latter being colored black. This yard later was owned by Isaac W. Stanton and Bohan Harvey. In 1855 Isaac Wright owned and operated it. Sometime after that the home product was superseded by factory-made goods and the tan yard became a thing of the past. In 1842. Caleb Harvey also ventured into the pork-packing busi- ness but this venture was a failure and he lost by the enterprise.
Mr. Z. Warren tells thus of the first house that was painted in Carmel :
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"The Crago residence building on the northeast corner of south Main street and Vine alley, originally standing further north on that lot, with the side to the street, and which has since been reweatherboarded, was the first house painted. It was occupied at the time by the builder's widow, who kept a boarding house. It was much weatherbeaten and it cost her forty dollars to paint it nice and white. With the chimney tops painted red it made quite an appearance. The widow-owner's name was Bathsheba Harvey. The painter's name was William S. Warren."
SERIOUS LOSSES BY FIRE.
There have been several destructive fires in Carmel at different times. The first building thus to go was Terry Templin's little grocery. The second was John W. Crew's shoe shop. Others were the saw mill of John E. Buck, the Laycock Company's saw mill and drying house, the residence of Mrs. Kesiah Roberts in 1898 and the millinery store and nearby law office of L. J. Patty. John Jeffries' livery barn burned July 26, 1905, and before this fire could be checked the rest of the block south of the interurban railroad track also went up in the flames. As there is no regular fire department in Carmel a fire is a very serious affair. In March, 1913, fire was discovered early one Sunday morning in the rear of the old post office building. A west wind was blowing, carrying the flames eastward. This fire quickly spread till it seemed the whole eastern part of the town would go. The news was sent to Nobles- ville at six in the morning that "all Carmel was burning up." Happily the blaze did not prove as disastrous as that, though the rest of that block to the corner of Main street and north including Kinzer's store and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows' building was totally destroyed before the flames could be checked.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The first house in Carmel was the Phelps's log farm house which was built prior to the laying out of the town. The first frame house completed was erected on lot thirteen by Thomas Mills. It has been since torn down. There were several attempts at building frame houses previous to this, but the skeleton of the house. sometimes partially roofed, would stand just a "frame" until it rotted and. becoming unsafe, would be pulled down. The reason for this was the hard times, the owner not being able to go on with that which he had begun.
Carmel always has been largely a settlement of Quakers. It is thus men-
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tioned in the Indiana Gazetteer ( 1850) : "Bethlehem, a small village inhabited mostly by Friends, in the southwest corner of Hamilton county."
The first meeting for divine worship ever held in the county was con- ducted by the Society of Friends in 1830 at a point a little north and west of Carmel, in the south part of what is now the cemetery. About three years later a church building was erected and called Richland. Benjamin Menden- hall named the house, taking the name from his former home meeting in Ohio.
The following is an account of Richland from Shirts' history: "Rich- land belonged to the Fairfield Monthly Meeting, which was located in Hen- dricks county. It was at first an Indulged Meeting, but in 1833 a Preparative Meeting was established by the Fairfield Monthly Meeting. In 1835, Rich- land Preparative joined with Westfield Preparative, and the Westfield Monthly Meeting was established by the White Lick Quarterly Meeting, held in Morgan county. The committee appointed to attend this monthly meeting was Eleazer Beales, Robert W. Hudson, John Carte, Jr., Richard Day, Eliza- beth Mendenhall, Ann Beales, Esther Newlin and Asenath Moore. These persons were all present with the exception of Richard Day and Elizabeth Mendenhall. The Westfield Quarterly Meeting was held alternately at Rich- land and Westfield. In 1840 the Richland Monthly Meeting was set off from Westfield by the White Lick Quarterly Meeting. Those appointed to attend the opening of the Richland Monthly Meeting were Samuel Spray, Robert W. Hudson, William Whitson, James Kersey, Samuel Millhouse, Ester Spray, Rhoda Carey, Asenath Moore, Margaret Coffin and Lydia Tomlinson. The first clerks of the Richland Monthly Meeting were Levi Haines and Lydia P. Cook. In 1868 the Richland Quarterly Meeting was established. It was composed of Richland, Poplar Ridge and East Branch Monthly Meetings. Later the name of both Monthly and Quarterly Meeting was changed from Richland to Carmel."
Elizabeth Ann Stanton daughter of Benjamin Mendenhall was the first child born among the Friends. The first marriage according to the customs of the Friends was that of William Hiatt and Mary Moon. In accordance with the belief of the church a Sabbath school was organized and here youth of the Meeting received proper instruction along religious lines. The first preacher who belonged to this Meeting was Samuel Stafford, 1836, while Asaph Hiatt was the first recorded minister, 1841. The first church was of logs and was replaced by a frame structure commenced in 1843 and finished in 1845.
The Methodist Episcopal church was organized in Carmel in 1848 with
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a membership of about twelve. The first meetings were in a log house formerly used as a blacksmith shop. In 1850 a frame building was erected, was used until the completion of the present church which was dedicated March 4, 1906.
In 1874 at a session of the county commissioners a petition was pre- sented by the citizens of Bethlehem asking to have the name of the town changed to Carmel, that being already the name of the post office, and that the town be authorized to hold an election for incorporation. The petition was granted and the election was held March 21, 1874, resulting in a vote of thirty-three for incorporation and twelve against.
Early in the history of Carmel, education, the best the pioneers could provide for their children, was provided. Education always claimed the first interest of the Friends. The schools of Carmel were for some time connected with Union High at Westfield and the latter received many students and financial aid from Carmel and Poplar Ridge.
The first school was opened in the old Friends' church built in 1833. At first a sheet was used as a door till sufficient lumber could be procured for the door. An addition was built to this house in 1835, which doubled its seating capacity. For stoves the early worshipers had boxes of clay and mortar in which they burned charcoal. Later they put in plain box stoves.
Upon the site of this early log church and school in later years the Carmel Academy, a brick building, was erected. Previous to this there was a frame school building which was used in the fifties. The present school building is in the south part of Carmel. Some of the early school teachers were Thomas Charles, Jonathan Evans, Cyrus Cook and Charles Lane.
Carmel today is a prosperous town with a steady, healthy growth. Especially has Carmel increased in size and importance since the Indiana Union Traction interurban railroad was built through the town. Among the present merchants are L. J. Small, druggist : William Kinzer, general mer- chandise and groceries : O. W. Nutt, hardware and undertaking. Carmel is a fine residence town, having many beautiful modern homes within its borders.
THE CARMEL CORNET BAND.
The Carmel Cornet Band was organized in 1872 with R. L. Carlin as teacher. Some of the members were Frank King. George Scott, the Nutt boys, John A. Haines, Elain Comer. The instruments were what were called "over-shoulder" horns, even the E-flat cornets being of this type. These instruments had rotary valves and the players always carried a supply of fish-
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ing line to repair the strings that worked the valves. Each player bought a blank music book and the teacher wrote the music in these books. Selections were called by number. Two favorite numbers in this band were "48" and "49."
In 1883 the Carmel Band was reorganized and new instruments were purchased. The instruments were of the "upright" style and the cornets of the modern style. Instead of the rotary valve, the piston valve was used. Uniforms were also purchased and an almost entirely new set of musical selections were used. At this time there were twelve members. eight of whom belonged to the Haines family. The writer was the director, or "leader." as he was called, for four years. During these years, in addition to the marches and quicksteps, the band played overtures, selections and waltzes. It played for fairs, old settlers' meetings, political gatherings, and. gave concerts. At some of these meetings. rival bands would attempt to "play each other down." It was not unusual for these bands to play for almost an hour trying to out-wind each other.
The fun the band boys had in the seventies and eighties can not be told. It had to be experienced. The boys were the heroes of the occasion and were treated as such. They were the pride of the village and though the music was not always equal to that of the modern band, it was perhaps better appreciated. The Carmel Band, as an organization, ceased to exist in 1887.
FISHERS.
Fishers Station or Fishers, as it is now generally called, is a small town on the Lake Erie & Western railroad between Noblesville and Indianapolis. It is the center of a farming community and has a few good stores, good schools and churches. The town was laid out by Salathiel Fisher, the original owner of the land upon which the town is now situated. It was divided into town lots by him in June, 1872.
The Fishers flour mill was built and fitted up as a grist and saw mill in 1873 by George Hamilton and W. H. Mock. It was located east of the Lake Erie & Western railroad. Soon after the mill was opened Mr. Mock retired, leaving Mr. Hamilton sole proprietor. He removed the saws and sold them and thereafter the mill was operated solely as a flour mill. In 1879 Mr. Hamilton sold the mill to W. G. Lowe, who continued as owner for some years. The mill ran two burrs, one for wheat and one for corn, and had a capacity of ten bushels per hour. It was a custom mill. This mill has not been in operation for some time.
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