USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 44
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ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
This regiment was organized and mustered into the service of the United States at Indianapolis, Indiana, April 18, 1865, with John M. Wilson as colonel. On the 26th of April, the regiment left Indianapolis for Washing- ton, and, upon its arrival there, was ordered to Alexandria, Virginia, and was assigned to the Provisional brigade of the Ninth Army Corps. On the 3rd of May it was transferred to Dover. Delaware, at which place companies were detached, and sent to Centerville and Wilmington, Delaware and Salisbury, Maryland. On the return to the regiment of two of the companies a railroad accident occurred, by which a large number of men were severely injured. The regiment was concentrated again at Dover, and mustered out of the ser- vice August 4, 1865, and left there soon after for Indianapolis, where it arrived on the 10th, and was finally discharged.
TWENTIETHI BATTERY, LIGHT ARTILLERY.
This organization was organized at Indianapolis and mustered into the service of the United States September 19, 1862, with Frank A. Rose as
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captain, and was ordered to Henderson, Kentucky, on the following 17th of December. The stay at Henderson was short, as the battery was soon ordered to Nashville, Tennessee. In January, 1863, the Twentieth turned its guns over to the Eleventh battery, in pursuance of orders, and was assigned to duty in the fortifications of Nashville, having charge of the siege guns. It remained there until the 6th of October, when, having received a new field battery of guns and full equipments, it was ordered to the front, and was assigned to duty on the line of the Nashville and Chattanooga railroad. The battery remained on this duty until March 5, 1864, when it was assigned to the Fourteenth Army Corps, and was stationed at Bridgeport, Alabama, as part of the garrison of that post. On July 20th, when it joined its command in the field, before Atlanta, it took an active part in the siege of that place, participating in the battles and skirmishes that occurred. After the passage of the Chattahoochie river, and after the battle of Jonesboro, it returned to Atlanta. The battery remained at that place until the 5th of November, when it was ordered to Chattanooga, and assigned to the command of Gen. J. B. Steadman. Soon after, it moved with other troops, composing that command, to Nashville, Tennessee, and took an active part in the battle. fought at that place on the 15th and 16th of December. It marched in pur- suit of Hood's demoralized and flying battalions as far as Courtland, Ala- bama, and then was ordered to Chattanooga, where. upon its arrival it was assigned to the Reserved Artillery Corps. It remained in Chattanooga, on duty in the fortifications at that place, until June 19, 1865, when it was ordered to Indianapolis, where it arrived on the 23rd, and on the 28th was finally mustered out of the service of the United States and the men dis- charged.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
The following posts of the Grand Army of the Republic have been organized in Hamilton county: At Sheridan, organized October 5, 1882, the first in the county; at Noblesville, February, 1883; at Cicero, in July, 1883; at Westfield, in 1883: at Arcadia, in December, 1883; at Boxley, February, 1883 ; at Fisher's Switch, in 1884; at Shielsville, in 1884: at Hor- tonville in 1886. With the passing of years the ranks of the old comrades of the Civil War have one by one dropped away and the posts to which they belonged gradually have had to surrender their charters, until the following only remain in existence : Sheridan. Noblesville, Cicero, Westfield and Arcadia. The following were the live posts and the officers thereof in the year 1914:
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William Smith Post No. 103 at Sheridan, with a membership of sixty- six, organized October 5, 1882, had as officers : Commander, John S. Kerche- val; senior vice-commander, George Hamilton; junior vice-commander, M. Blessing; adjutant, A. Steffey ; quartermaster, M. D. Griffith; surgeon, Dr. T. J. McMurty; chaplain, R. M. S. Hutchins; officer of the day, W. M. Evans; officer of the guard, F. M. Cobb; sergeant-major, John H. Cox; quartermaster-sergeant, E. P. Worley; patriotic instructor, L. S. Kercheval.
Cicero Post No. 207, at Cicero, has a membership of nineteen. It was organized July 5, 1883, and now has officers as follows: Commander, T. H. C. Beall; senior vice-commander, Samuel C. Gilkey; junior vice-commander, O. H. Cottingham; adjutant, N. B. Dewey ; quartermaster, J. Y. Case; chap- lain, Andrew Berg; officer of the day, John Foster; officer of the guard, Elvin Reese; sergeant-major, Allen Turner; quartermaster-sergeant, Michael Kreag; patriotic instructor, T. J. Brown.
Fairfax Post No. 240, at Westfield has only eight members left. The date of its organization was September 22, 1883, and its present officers are : Commander, B. F. Hershey; senior vice-commander, James A. Williams; junior vice-commander, James A. Owen; adjutant, O. F. Brown; quarter- master, Calvin Keister; surgeon, W. C. Conklin; chaplain, R. F. Lenfester ; officer of the day, W. H. Emery ; officer of the guard, John Gaspar ; patriotic instructor, W. H. Conklin.
Hambright Post No. 270, at Arcadia, was organized December 19, 1883, and now has a membership of sixteen, its present officers being: Com- mander, W. H. Hartley; senior vice-commander, John Smith; adjutant, A. Guy ; quartermaster, Samuel Devaney ; officer of the day, T. J. Bishop. The remainder of the offices are not filled.
Lookout Post No. 133, at Noblesville, was organized February 10, 1883, with the following charter members, including officers: James H. Harris, commander ; C. B. Williams, senior vice-commander; J. R. Fisher, junior vice-commander ; F. M. Householder, adjutant ; Isaac Booth, quarter-master ; Adam Miesse, surgeon; A. H. Morris, chaplain; William Vance, officer of the day; Mark Davis, officer of the guard; William A. Fisher, sergeant- major; John R. Metsker, quartermaster-sergeant; Cyrus J. McCole, John McClain. George Dempsey, P. Boren, John Boren, David W. Shock, Thomas J. Ross, O. P. Rooker, Harvey Reedy, John Harris, Joseph Mckinsey, D. F. Hedges, Andrew Vogler. J. M. Gray, J. Messie, W. H. Bartholomew, John Hord, J. L. Colborn, J. R. Harris, J. J. Kelley and Thomas J. Reed .. There are now seventy-seven members in this Grand Army of the Republic post and it is by far the largest in the county. The probate court room at Nobles-
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ville has been the meeting place for this post for many years, and it is neatly furnished and its walls are decorated with pictures of gallant generals of the Civil War period, together with the post charter and pictures of Libby and Andersonville prison pens, as well as a copy of the famous picture of Custer's last charge. There is working in conjunction with this post a well organized Woman's Relief Corps, organized September 12, 1887, known as No. 72. The present officers of the post are as follows: Commander, Philip Rhoades; senior vice-commander, William H. Cook; junior vice-commander, Benjamin F. Wise; adjutant, C. B. Williams; quartermaster, John E. Lake; surgeon, William H. Barker ; chaplain, T. J. Burton ; officer of the day, Jesse Venable; officer of the guard, Nathan Kiste; sergeant-major, John W. Pfaff ; quarter- master sergeant, William E. Craig ; patriotic instructor, A. J. Fryberger.
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
The cause of the Spanish-American War was the ill treatment accorded the Cubans by the Spanish government. The island had been in the possession of Spain since 1496, when Columbus first landed upon its shores and during the centuries of Spanish rule there had been many uprisings on the part of the inhabitants of the island. The revolt of 1897-98 was handled by Spain with merciless severity and finally the United States felt compelled to inter- vene. It is not true that the sinking of the Maine was the cause of the war, although it may have hastened the conflict.
Public sentiment in the United States undoubtedly forced Congress to action and there can be no question that the resolution of April 19, 1898, was heartily indorsed by the country at large. Four days later, April 23, Presi- dent Mckinley issued a proclamation calling for one hundred and twenty-five thousand volunteers to serve in the army of the United States for two years, unless sooner discharged. The formal declaration of war was approved by the president on April 25, 1898. The text of the Act is given here in full :
"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled : First. That war be, and the same is hereby declared to exist, and that the war has existed since the twenty-first day of April, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, including said day, between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain.
"Second. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval force of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the United States, the militia of
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the several states, to such extent as may be necessary to carry this act into effect. Approved April 25, 1898."
On April 25, 1898, Secretary of War, R. A. Alger, sent the following telegram to Governor Mount of Indiana :
"The number of troops from your state under the call of the President, dated April 23, 1898, will be four regiments of infantry and two light batteries of artillery. It is the wish of the President that the regiments of the National Guard or State militia shall be used as far as their number will permit, for the reason that they are armed, equipped and drilled. Please wire as early as possible what equipments, ammunition, arms, blankets, tents, etc., you will require.
"Please also state when troops will be ready for muster into United States service. Details to follow by mail."
As soon as the above message was received Governor Mount issued a proclamation to the people of Indiana asking for volunteers for the four regi- ments and the two batteries which was Indiana's quota. In that proclama- tion the governor announced that any member of the National Guard would not be compelled to go into active service "except upon his own free will and accord." Any member whose business or domestic relations were such as to prevent his active service "will be permitted to stand aside honorably and without prejudice."
In numbering the regiments after being mustered into the United States service it was determined to begin the numbers where the War of the Rebellion left off. The Third Regiment being the first ready was designated as the One Hundred Fifty-seventh. The Second Regiment was next and was the One Hundred Fifty-eighth. It was to the latter, the One Hundred Fifty- eighth, that Company I, organized at Sheridan, May 18, 1895, was attached. Orlando Cox, of Sheridan, was the captain of this company. Company I of Sheridan with three companies from Indianapolis, one each from Rochester, Frankfort. Franklin, Winchester, Covington, Martinsville, Kokomo and Crawfordsville composed the One Hundred Fifty-eighth Regiment of Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry. This regiment formed the Second Infantry Regi- ment of the Indiana National Guard. The regiment arrived at Camp Mount, April 26, 1898. under orders from the governor, for the purpose of being mustered into the service of the United States. After the physical examina- tion of officers and men, the regiment was mustered into the volunteer service of the United States on May 10, 1898, and left for Camp Thomas, Chicka- mauga Park, Georgia, on May 16, arriving there on May 18, and went into camp. Broke camp at Camp Thomas, August 25, under orders to proceed
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to Camp Poland, Knoxville, Tennessee, where it arrived August 26. Having been ordered home for muster out, the regiment left Camp Poland on Septem- ber 12, and arrived at Camp Mount on September 14. The regiment was furloughed for thirty days from September 17th and was finally mustered out and discharged November 4, 1898.
This company formed the main body of soldiers from Hamilton county. · One or two volunteers entered regiments at different points in the state, and served as officers or privates. In the record of these volunteers from Hamil- ton county one thing is notable. Not one deserter is to be found in the whole list of Hamilton county boys. The list of the volunteers from Hamilton county in the Spanish-American War here given is taken from the "Record of the Indiana Volunteers in the Spanish-American War," which was issued (1900) by the Sixty-first General Assembly of Indiana. They were all en- rolled in Company I on April 26, 1898, and mustered out November 4, 1898.
Captain, Orlando A. Cox; first lieutenant, Charles E. Scott; second lieutenant, Everett E. Newby: first sergeant, Charles L. Carter; quarter- master sergeant, Fred J. Stotler ; sergeants, Arthur R. Palmer, Andrew J. Morris, Fred Alexander and Oscar Mace; corporals, Albert J. Lowell, Hayes Remsen, Commodore R. Spencer and James W. Kercheval; artificer, Andrew M. Eberwein; wagoner, Oscar McKinzie; privates, Frank Allee, Noah D. Barrett, Fred Boardman, Leslie Brown, Daniel L. Christian, Gerald Cox, Albert H. Dillon, George Foutch, Otis Hasket, George H. Kerr, Charles Lee, Bus McKinzie, Ernest Malin, Charles A. Meyers, Walter Pritsch, Benjamin Rambo, Jesse Ross, Edward Scott, Theodore Spencer, Orin Stanley, Dallas Stephens, Charles Thompson, William Woods, Laurence L. Spencer, Walter Barron, Charles F. Burton, John A. Beall, Otis Brattain, Harry Cotting- ham, Leslie A. Cox, Harvey Gasper, Amos Hall, Curtis O. Hiner, Cecil John- son, Homer B. Johnson, David Jump, Walter Lowell, Howard Mikels, Rob- ert Miesse, James E. McDonald, Lon Oberlease, John H. Osborn, Arthur O. Small and Albert Schlichter.
ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
This regiment was organized June 12, 1882 and was mustered out November 23, 1898.
Company C was organized at New Albany, Floyd county, June 13, 1889, assigned as Company C. First Regiment Indiana National Guard. Richard L. Hines, musician, Noblesville, April 26, died August 12, 1898.
Company K organized at Princeton, Gibson county, December 24, 1888,
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assigned as Company K, First Regiment Indiana National Guard. Joseph I. Ellis, musician, Fishers, April 26, mustered out November 23, 1898.
Company L organized at Vincennes, Knox county, for Spanish-Amer- ican War, composed principally of students at Vincennes University. Walter Shirts, musician, Noblesville, April 26, mustered out November 23, 1898.
Company I organized at Tipton, Tipton county, April 25, 1898, assigned as Company I, Fourth Regiment Indiana National Guard. Harry Bues, private, Atlanta, April 26, appointed corporal July 13, 1898, appointed ser- geant December 13, 1898, discharged March 14, 1899. William Phillips, private, Atlanta, April 26, mustered out April 25, 1899. Benjamin Gorbit, private, Sheridan, June 27, mustered out April 25, 1899. William Rhoades, private, Atlanta, June 26, mustered out April 25, 1899. Gussie Paul, private, Sheridan, June 27, mustered out April 25, 1899.
Company K organized at Columbus, Bartholomew county for Spanish- American War. Wilfred Oliphant, corporal, Noblesville, June 27, mustered out April 30, 1899.
Second United States Volunteer Engineers, Herbert L. Finley, first- class private, Noblesville, June 20, mustered out May 16, 1899.
Company M organized at Plymouth, Marshall county for Spanish- American War. Charles A. Turner, private, Noblesville, April 26, mustered out November 1, 1898. Herbert Turner, private, Noblesville, April 26, mustered out November 1, 1898.
Company B organized at Rochester, Fulton county. David Horn, arti- ficer, Cicero, April 26, 1898, mustered out November 4, 1898.
Company D organized at Indianapolis, Marion county. George W. McPherson, private, Noblesville, June 15, 1898, mustered out November 4, 1898.
Company H organized at Indianapolis, Marion county. Leo C. Wilson, private, Noblesville, April 26, mustered out November 4, 1898.
There were a few soldiers from this county who were in the Philippine service for some time, among whom were Fred Alexander, Harry Heiny and Frank Tucker.
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CHAPTER XXVI.
REMINISCENCES.
STORIES AND INCIDENTS FROM THE RECOLLECTIONS OF ZIRA WARREN.
Mr. Z. Warren, now deceased, who wrote "Reminiscences of the Long Ago," the same being written, as he says, "by one who is seventy-nine years old and has voted for president fifteen times, scoring eleven, and lived with the history of our country through three wars and five panics," gives the following account of his father's family when they emigrated from North Carolina to Indiana :
My parents emigrated from North Carolina in 1831, when Andrew Jackson was president, and Napoleon was sleeping on St. Helena. They loaded their wagon for the new country, Indiana, the then "Far West," putting in amongst other things a box of ginger cakes of home manufacture, and a little tin trunk filled with "hard money" with which to buy land; noth- ing but gold or silver would be received by the government for land.
They left their married daughter, Ruth, never expecting to see her again, the distance being almost as far as around the world now. But in a few years a wagon arrived at our house, and the occupants sent some one in who asked mother if she would like to see Ruth. She said "Yes, but I never ex- pect to." He told her to go out to the wagon if she wanted to see her- they had emigrated.
Emigrants from North Carolina and other parts came occasionally. One day a covered wagon drove up to our house; they were folks from North Carolina, and some relation to my mother. After a little while their little flaxen haired girl approached rather shyly and handed me a large red- streaked apple, and I expect the very stem was chewed up. Apples were not often seen, there being but one orchard in the vicinity of seedling trees, planted by the Indians. What became of the little girl? Long since de- parted, but one of her sons is now a prominent business man on west Main street, Carmel.
The little tin trunk, spoken of before, had a little padlock, so no one
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could steal their cash, and when camping it would sometimes be left un- guarded in the wagon, not thinking anyone would be hog enough to carry off the whole trunk bodily. Nowadays there might be some persons that unscrupulous.
A little incident happened at the ferry over the Ohio river at Gallipolis. Two ferries were running in opposition; one offered to take us over for a little less, then the other underbid him, and so on until one said, "Come on with me and I will take you over for nothing." Then the other, not to be outdone, said, "Come with me and I will take you over for nothing and treat to a pint of whisky." I do not remember hearing my father say which one he went with. We passed through Chillicothe, Ohio, and at Richmond, Indi- ana, called upon David Hoover, my mother's relative, who laid out the city and gave it its name.
My father, Daniel Warren, entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, cornering where now is the southwest corner of Main and Main Cross streets of Carmel. The patent deed had the signature of Andrew Jackson, then president.
There were yet some Indians, bears, panthers and wolves and deer galore, wild turkeys, pheasants, rattle snakes, and squirrels in great abund- ance. When burning brush at night, droves of deer, attracted by the light, would come near enough for their eyes to be seen. About where Edmund Graves' house now stands, my brother saw one lying in a fallen tree top. and when he threw a stick at it, fifteen jumped up and ran, flopping their tails. When a dog got after one he would often be thwarted by a fence, the deer making it at one bound.
A PRIMITIVE HOME.
The first thing to do after landing in the then solid wilderness, on the quarter section now the farm of Jonathan Johnson, was to cut down an oak tree and split enough rails to make a pen, and boards to cover it. A fire- place was left on one side and a "back-log" rolled in place, and a door on another side, to which a sheet was hanged up for a shutter. This was the first house! Look at it-and it was about the second day of blustery March.
They lived in this house for about six weeks, three of which mother and the children were left alone while father was on the hunt of his horses, which had estrayed, and there were the Indians and wild animals, and no white neighbors near. Droves of hungry wolves would come up at nights with their dismal howling. My father later kept dry brush heaps in stock,
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so that when the wolves got too fresh he could set fire to one, and the light would scare them away for that night.
They had to have pens and shut the sheep and hogs up of nights to secure them from the wolves. One night the wolves were howling and they had forgotten to shut the hogs up, and my elder brothers went in the dark to shut them up. Another time they neglected to put the sheep in the fold, and in the morning "A field of the dead rushed red on their sight, and the lambs and sheep were scattered in the fight." A long pasture field was strewn with dead sheep from one end to the other, the wolves only sucking the blood from their throats.
We found aborigines, called Indians. Perhaps they and the mound builders were one and the same. The author of the "Prehistoric World," after canvassing the subject, finally concluded that they and the mound build- ers, cliff dwellers, and the builders of the magnificent ruins of Mexico, Yucatan and Bolivia, the Aztecs, the Taltecs and Eskimos were one and the same race, but in different states of advancement.
WHO CAN TELL US.
God is in history which no man can unravel. Who can tell us who, without iron tools, sculptured the statues of Chaas Mol and Huitzilopochtil? The latter was unearthed in the city of Mexico. Ghosts of Tenoclititlan, can'st thou tell? The Indian women strapped their papooses on a board and carried it on their backs. There was one case in. which the squaw, before entering a white neighbor's house left her papoose leaning against the outside of the house and an old sow came along and ate it. The poor woman mourned and cried, "Oh, my poor papoose, my poor papoose !"
There was one family of Indians by the name of Ketcham that lived a little southwest of Mahlon Day's residence, on the west of the little stream, and there was a good sulphur spring on a little solid spot, but the ground around it was soft and shaky. There was an ever-ready gourd hanging near out of which to drink. The marsh has been drained and the spring is no more. A few trees of the Indians' orchard are yet standing. Pieces of bright lead ore and flint darts were found in the cabin. .
The Indian's given name was Charley. He made a sale preparatory to going beyond the Mississippi to the Indian Territory. After going there one of his sons became a Methodist preacher. While living here my father traded him a silver watch for furs, and did not explain to him about its hav- ing to be wound up and when it stopped running, he came back with it and
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said, "Watch no good; white man no good." Upon being shown that it had to be wound, he said, "Watch all right; white man all right."
The Indians were friendly; my mother was kind to them and would give them things and talk to the squaws. My mother was called "Polly" and it happened that two other white women's names were the same, and after that old Charley called all white women "Polly."
At the time of his sale he was jolly, having imbibed too much "fire water." His squaw's name was Nancy, and he wanted to sell everything, and went around saying: "I sells my dog, I sells my Nancy, I sells my papoose. Will you buy, Poll?" My father bought a few articles at the sale and went and paid for them on the day due, and the Indian said, "Good white man." He did not understand English as well as his squaw, and mother told him that people said the Indians would kill white folks, and said to him, "You won't, will you?" and he quickly ejaculated with emphasis, "Yes!" But his squaw said that he did not understand, and that he was all right.
The Ketchams, in some way, became rich after going to the Indian Territory, and drove in their coach. Not very many years ago John F. Carey, when in the territory, ran across and interviewed old Charley. Mr. Carey told him he was from here in Indiana, and he said, "Indiana?" and asked whose son he was, and when told said, "O, yes, Sammy Carey, good white man. Stay for dinner."
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