USA > Indiana > Hancock County > History of Hancock county, Indiana; its people, industries and institutions > Part 9
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The suggestion originated with Mrs. A. N. Rhue, and the thought of the club is pretty well shown by the following excerpts taken from their com- mittee's report :
"The tendency to avoid the poor house has been in a measure gratified since the township trustees are authorized to provide for the poor of each town- ship. * Most of the poor. especially the children, are better cared for.
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very nicely, kindly and quietly at their own homes, avoiding the publicity, shame, and disgrace, and breaking up of family ties by being dragged away to the poor house.
"As a matter of business economy and common humanity, we recommend that this worn-out issue, this miserable pauper prison, be changed to a more modern, more charitable, more profitable institution. * * * We hope that some day the big, empty poorhouse shall swarm like a beehive with a goodly number of sturdy, ambitious farmers' boys, each one learning his individual trade, whereby he can made his living, provide a home for himself and fan- ily, and that when he is old he may sit under his own vine and fig tree, hav- ing proven himself worthy of all the cost and trouble of establishing the Han- cock Industrial School.
"MRS. ADA NEW, "MRS. IONE REASNER. "MIRS. MATTIE THOMAS, "MRS. ROSA B. RHUE, "Committee."
After the subject had been presented to the institute a general discus- sion followed, in which both men and women participated. A number who expressed themselves, commended the plan; others were in doubt as to the results of the proposition.
CHAPTER V.
GENERAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTY.
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EARLIER PEOPLE.
That there were people in the county before the first white settlers ar- rived, is, of course, well known. Spearheads, arrow points, stone axes, etc., may still be found in all parts of the county, especially on the hills and bluffs bordering the creeks and rivers. Skeletons have been found in gravel pits in different parts of the county. In the pit on the north side of the National road, just west of Sugar creek, a well-preserved skeleton was unearthed a few years ago, with relics, such as beads, arrow heads and implements of war buried beside it.
The county offers very little evidence of the presence of the Mound Builders. The following excerpt taken from the report of the state geologist. for the year of 1885, sets forth about all of the evidence that we have :
"There is, in section II, township 16, range 7, some curious earthworks that probably belong to the age of the Mound Builders. These are located on the farm of Freeman H. Braddock, and lie on the south side of Brandy- wine, at the extreme point of a very abrupt bend of that creek. A ridge of clay land some ten feet above the creek bottom, and covered with oak timber, projects sharply into a piece of marshy land to within three hundred feet of the creek. From this point a levee, three feet high and ten feet wide, has been constructed to the ancient bed of the stream. The excavation which furnished the earth for this embankment is distinctly seen in the projecting point of high ground, and immediately back of this are three pits about eight feet in diameter and six feet deep. and east of these, about ten feet, are two other pits of the same dimensions, but not quite so deep. These works are evidently artificial and ancient, for large trees are now growing on the sides of these pits and on the embankment. About fifty yards east of these pits was formerly a small lake or pond, which may have been an excavation, but probably was natural. It is now drained. When, by what people, or for what purpose these works were made, we venture no conjecture."
WHITE SETTLERS.
The first white people came into the county in 1818, and established their homes in Blue River township. From that date the increase in the population
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lias been rapid. During the first twelve years it increased at the rate of about 150 per year ; during the next decade, 1830-1840, at the rate of over 600 per year ; from 18440-1850, at the rate of about 200 per year; from 1850-1860, at the rate of over 300 per year. It continued to increase steadily until 1900, since which time it has decreased a little. The following is the population of the county as shown by the United States census reports, since 1830: 1830, 1.436; 1840, 7,535: 1850, 9.698: 1890, 12.802: 1870, 15,123; 1880, 17,123; 1890, 17,829; 1900, 19,189; 1910, 19,030.
TASKS BEFORE EARLY SETTLERS.
When the first settlers came into the county, they were confronted with three distinct lines of work. The forests had to be cleared away, the land had to be drained, and highways for intercommunication had to be constructed.
CLEARING AWAY THE FORESTS.
The first and most obvious task was to clear away the forest. To appre- ciate the rate at which it disappeared, we should bear in mind that our county contains 196.480 acres. In 1850, 48,600 acres of this land were reported as improved. At the close of each decade following, the acreage of improved land was reported as follows by the United States census: 1850, 48,600 acres : 1860, 80,880 acres: 1870, 98,883 acres; 1880, 122,539 acres: 1890, 139.776 acres ; 1900, 157. 114 acres : 1910. 163.307 acres.
From the above reports it appears that the forest in Hancock county was cut down at the following rate per year :
1840-1850 3.000 acres per year ( estimated) 1850-1860 3.228 acres per year 1 860-1870 I.Soo acres per year 1870-1880 . 2,365 acres per year
1 880-1890 1,723 acres per year
1 890-1900 I.733 acres per year
1900-1910 600 acres per year
DRAINAGE.
The first homes were established on knolls, where small patches of ground were cleared for cultivation. There were creeks and rivers in the county that carried away much of the surface water, yet there were great areas that were not reached by the streams or their tributaries. The great problem was to get outlets. In the early history of the county a few outlets were estab- lished with which arms could be connected. These arms, when covered, were
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at first constructed of wood. Several methods were employed : one was to cut a channel from a foot to eighteen inches wide, and to the proper depth. Slabs of timber. eighteen or twenty inches long, were then placed along one edge of the bottom of the channel and made to lean against the other side of the channel. The ditch when filled left a passage for the water under the slanting timber. In the construction of the larger covered drains, wider channels were cut to the required depth. Shoulders four or five inches wide were left along each side of the bottom of this channel, then a second channel cut to a depth of ten or twelve inches. Timbers were split like those used in making puncheon floors and laid from shoulder to shoulder covering the lower channel. When the ditch was filled a large open passage was left under the timber to carry away the water. These first methods of constructing covered drains are illustrated in figures 1 and 2.
0
0
No. 1
No. 2
No. 3
After saw-mills were established, covered drains were frequently con- structed of boards. Boards were set on edge along the sides of the bottom of the channel and covered with a third board. as indicated by figure 3.
Clay tile were not used in the county until just before the Civil War. In 1858 Isaac Beeson, who then conducted a potter's shop at the southwest corner of section 12-15-7. where the Western Grove Friends church now stands. made the first clay tile. They were round tile. turned by hand on a potter's lathe. After being used for a half century they were taken up and found in good condition. Some of them may now be seen in the geological museum at the State House at Indianapolis. In 1863. Jacob Schramm built a tile factory
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GENERAL DEVELOPMENT.
on his farm in the German Settlement, in Sugar Creek township, and manufac- tured what were known as "horseshoe" tile. It had no bottom, but was con- structed with two sides and a top, on the principle of the board drains described above. About this time, or a year or two later, James Thomas, of Jackson township, also brought in some clay tile from a factory in Rush county. Just about the close of the Civil War the "horseshoe" tile were replaced by flat- bottomed tile, which were continued in use for a period of fifteen or twenty years. They are familiar to most people of the county, and may still be exca- vated in repairing the older ditches. During the eighties round tile came into general use and since that time have been used almost exclusively in our cov- ered ditches.
In 1852 a law was passed providing for the incorporation of drainage companies for the construction of the larger outlets. Under this law, people interested in the establishment of a drain associated themselves together in a drainage company. They adopted articles of incorporation, which were placed on record in the county recorder's office, and, after some preliminary steps, were ready to begin work. It is not the intention here to go into the details of incorporation, but the extent of the drainage work that was under- taken by these companies can be indicated to a degree by an enumeration of the articles of incorporation that were recorded btween 1866 and 1879. The names of the greater number of the companies will also indicate the localities in which they operated.
Incorporated
Hancock Big Slash Draining Company 1861
Little Sugar Creek Draining Company 1866
Little Buck Creek Draining Company 1866
Jackson Township Draining Company 1866
Hancock and Madison Ditch Company 1866
Indian Creek Draining Company 1867
Crumb Branch Draining Company 1867
Raccoon Slash Draining Company 1868
Black Swamp Draining Company 1868
Brandywine Ditch Company 1868
Black Hawk Draining Company 1869
Little Brandywine Draining Company 1869
Nameless Creek Draining Company 1 869
Fox Draining Company 1869
Cranberry Marsh Draining Company 1869
Wildcat Draining Company 1870
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Nathan Creek Draining Company 1870
Lake Erie Draining Company 1871
Flatfork Ditch Company 1874
Hancock Draining Association 1875
Cory and Bridges Ditch Company .1879
In connection with the construction of these large drains, the name of James H. Carr, who was drainage commissioner of the county for many years after the Civil War. should be mentioned.
While these larger outlets were being constructed by the drainage com- panies, smaller drains were also being constructed by individuals. Where smaller outlets were necessary across the lands of others, a method was pro- vided by law by petition before the board of county commissioners, or before the circuit courts of the various counties. This method has been preserved to the present.
The largest work of drainage in the county was the opening of Buck creek, by dredging it. The work was begun about 1888, but was not com- pleted for several years. Much of the bottom land along Buck creek was marshy and it was necessary to deepen and straighten the stream in order to reclaim the land. It was an expensive work and aroused much opposition. Legal proceedings were carried to the highest courts in the state before it was settled. When the work was finally accomplished, many acres of marshy land were reclaimed and converted into the most fertile fields of the county. Ed- win P. Thayer, Jr., was the contractor on this work.
Another drain of similar dimensions that has been attempted several times is the dredging of Brandywine. A petition to dredge Brandywine creek was filed in the Hancock circuit court, in 1899, and another in 1905. Several petitions have been filed for the same purpose since that time, and such a petition is pending at present. This work has always aroused such opposition that the petitioners have never succeeded in getting an order of court for the establishment of the proposed work. There is no other work of drainage left in the county that can reclaim so much land as the dredging of Brandywine creek.
During the past fifteen or twenty years the tendency has been to cover all ditches wherever possible. thus overcoming the inconvenience of cultiva- tion, and reclaiming acres of land. In all parts of the county, public and pri- vate ditches have been tiled, and this work continues at this time. The larg- est covered ditch in the county is the Hollis ditch, in the northern and eastern part of Center township. Over seven miles of tile are laid in the system.
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The main ditch is over three miles in length. It drains one thousand five hun- dred fifty-seven acres, and the water gathered up by its arms is finally carried through a thirty-inch tile for a distance of a half mile. The Briney ditch, in the eastern part of Center township, is also one of the largest in the county. It has a number of thirty-inch tile approaching its outlet, but not so many as the Hollis ditch.
ROADS.
. In the very early history of the county the state aided in the construction of highways connecting important points. Hancock county profited by this aid in the construction of the following roads, all of which can be located by their names. These roads were under construction at the dates indicated : Centerville state road ; Brookville state road; Greenfield and Rushville state road, 1832; Morristown, Greenfield and Noblesville road, 1832; Greenfield and Shelbyville state road, 1834; Knightstown and Pendleton state road, 1834; Greenfield and Lebanon, 1836; Indianapolis and Pendleton state road, 1837.
In the construction of these roads, the Legislature appointed viewers to view and mark the proposed highways and make report thereon. The man- ner in which this was done, the method of describing the course of the pro- posed highway, and of marking the same, is rather interesting at this time, and the following report made by the viewers appointed on the Greenfield and Rushville state road, taken from commissioners' record "A", page 107, is inserted :
"The undersigned Commissioners appointed under an Act of the Legis- lature of the State of Indiana for viewing and making a State Road from Rushville in Rush County to Greenfield in Hancock County, did after being duly qualified according to the requisition of the Act aforesaid, proceed on Monday the 23d day of October instant to view and mark said Road, and to report as follows :-- Commencing on the Brookville State Road, near the bridge across Hodge's Creek and leave said State Road in front of Hodge's House at a sugar tree 18 inches in diameter thence north 60 degrees west pass- ing south of old Mr. Havens' house then continuing said course to the cross- ing of the line between Section 35 and 36, Township 14 North, Range 8 East, thence North 58 degrees west, south of a random line, on the south of a small deadening and south of a small stream, the waters of Mud Creek, intersect- ing the random line at a camp meeting ground, thence on said line to the bank of said Branch to a bench, Tree marked 18 North, thence on the south side of said Creek to where the true line crosses said Creek, thence North 50 de- grees west through the farm of Wallingford and William Cassaday, passing
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HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA.
between said Cassaday's Barn and Spring House. keeping said course 50 degrees west of North to the crossing of Mud Creek thence North 58 degrees west to the crossing of little Blue River and to escape the crossing of said River three times run from the crossing 38 degrees west 160 poles to a branch of said stream near the house of Henry Clendening, thence North 78 degrees west 160 poles to the fence of William Clendening near his northwest corner of improvements thence north 58 degrees west through the land of said Clendening. Henry Birt and others to the crossing of Beaver Meadow Creek near the northwest corner of William Zorn's land and a county road on the east side of said Zorn's land then to escape the crossing of a large swamp tributary of Beaver Meadow North 75 degrees west 60 poles to a large poplar in the field of John Walker north 41 degrees west 60 poles to the crossing of said swamp where the old Connersville road crosses the same, thence north 59 degrees west through the lands of Snider Phelps and Bentley to the crossing of Big Blue River at Bentley's ford, passing the southeast corner of Micajah Binford's land on the bluffs of Blue River thence after crossing the river north 58 degrees west through the lands of said Binford and Henry B. Hill north of the north side of said Hill's house to the crossing of Six Mile Creek on the land of Samuel Moore near said Hill's corner on the bank of said creek thence north 59 degrees west to the north of Samuel Bundy's house. The entering is marked on a sugar tree 18 inches in diameter on Bundy's improve- ment pursuing North 59 degrees west to the crossing of a creek called Name- less on the lands of Abram Miller, Esq .. thence after crossing said stream north 60 degrees west to where it intersects the random line of said swamp on the lands of Glandon, thence on said random line 54 degrees west to where said line intersects the National road on the east bank of little Brandywine. Your commissioners would further state that the above loca- tion embraces, perhaps, the most suitable ground for a road of the same extent that they have any knowledge of in the counties of Rush and Hancock, that the ground is generally of good quality and that a very small proportion of wet land presents itself on said line, and that the best of crossing of streams are nearly on a a line and that the several persons through whose lands the aforesaid location runs seem well pleased. The Commissioners aforesaid would further state that said Road could not possibly be properly located with- out a surveyor and chain carriers and that they employed Henry B. Hill, surveyor and Reuben Bentley and Bazil Meek acted as chain carriers and hereby requests a reasonable compensation for said extra services. The whole distance of said line from Greenfield to Rushville as measured is twenty-one
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miles nearly, but by sections is only twenty miles and twenty-five poles. Given under our hands and seals this 12th day of October, 1831.
"NATHANIAL SMITH ( Scal)
"BAZIL MEEK (Scal )"
Similar methods were employed and similar reports were, of course, made on all of the above state roads.
THE NATIONAL ROAD.
The National road was constructed through Hancock county in 1835. Some work was probably done on it in 1834. The road was built through an unbroken forest. One gang of men started the work by cutting the trees and clearing the right of way. Another removed the stumps and a third graded the road bed.
Originally it was a "dirt road." Its culverts and bridges, however, were all constructed in the most substantial manner. Small streams were arched with stone and the larger streams, such as Sugar creek, Six Mile and Brandy- wine, were spanned by bridges. Enclosed wooden bridges were constructed over Brandywine and Sugar creek. Each had two drive ways, each about twelve feet wide. The bridge over Sugar creek stood until July, 1892, when some one evidently threw a lighted match into a load of wheat that had been left there. Before the burning straw could be taken out the entire structure was consumed by the flames.
By virtue of an act of the General Assembly of the state of Indiana, approved January 31, 1842, it was made the duty of the boards of county com- missioners of the several counties through which the National road extended. to place the road under the charge and supervision of the road supervisors through whose districts any portion of the road passed. That act also made it the duty of such supervisors to keep the road in repair.
By an act of the Congress of the United States, approved . August 11. 1848, all that portion of the National road lying between the east and west boundary lines of the state of Indiana was transferred to the state of Indiana.
By virtue of a special act of the General Assembly of the state of Indiana the Central Plank Road Company was incorporated and was given control of all that portion of the National road lying between the eastern line of Han- cock county and the western line of Putnam county within the state of Indiana. Section 18 of this act required that the track of said road be constructed of timber, plank, gravel or other hard material. The act also specified that the track of said road should not be less than sixteen feet wide.
The Central Plank Road Company improved the road by planking it.
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HANCOCK COUNTY, INDIANA.
This work was done about 1850 or 1851 through Hancock county. The work began at Indianapolis and proceeded eastward. General John Milroy had the contract for the construction of a large portion of the work through Han- cock county. Milroy, by the way, was a "General" in the same sense that our present auctioneers are "Colonels."
In the construction of the plank road, stringers four inches by six inches were laid along the highway at such a distance as to lie under the wheels of wagons that traveled over the road. The stringers were laid so that the top was about level with the ground; planks three inches thick and eight feet long were then laid over them and earth was filled in along the sides to level the road. The planks were laid along the north side of the grade. Wagons kept to the right, and hence, teams going west had the right of way; wagons going east had to get off the plank when meeting other conveyances. The planks were not nailed to the stringers and in many places they turned up at the ends and became a nuisance to travelers. Within a few years after they had been laid the road was covered with gravel. In most places the gravel was put over the planks; in some places the planks were removed.
The National road became a toll road when it passed to the control of the Central Plank Road Company. It then remained a toll road until 1889. when it was purchased by the county.
A few references are made to the National road on the records in the office of the county recorder of Hancock county. Deed Record "U" at page 13, shows that on January 11, 1861, the Central Plank Road Company con- veyed to Barney B. Gray all the part of the National road lying between the east line of Hancock county and the west bank of Sugar creek, including the west abuttment of the bridge over said creek.
Deed Record "U." at page 14, shows that on November 18, 1861. Barney B. Gray and Eliza Ann Gray, his wife, deeded the above described portion of the National road. lying in Hancock county. to James P. Foley.
Miscellaneous Record "A," at page 104, shows that after James P. Foley bought the road he, with others, on November 19, 1861, organized the "Foley's Charlottesville, Greenfield and Philadelphia Turn Pike Company," for the purpose of improving the road.
Just at this juncture the Civil War broke out and the new corporation found it impossible to raise money to make the improvements contemplated. In 1864 the Hancock Gravel Road Company was incorporated for the purpose of improving the same portion of the National road.
It seems that some question was raised as to the right of the new com- pany to take charge of the road, but the county commissioners seemed to take
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the view that the road had been abandoned for several years, and made a find- ing at their March session, 1865, that the statutes had been. complied with and therefore gave their consent to and granted the right of way of the above described portion of the National road to said company. This company then had charge of the road until it was purchased by the county, in 1889.
Just at present efforts are being made to have the National road paved with brick. Several meetings of prominent citizens have been held, but as yet nothing definite has been done.
COUNTY ROADS.
While the state was giving assistance in the construction of roads con- necting important points, and while the National road was being constructed. the county also busied itself with road building within its own contines. In 1830 the population was sparse and the entire county was still covered with forest. There were few farms and only a few towns and mills. It is inter- esting to observe that the first roads constructed under the supervision of the board of county commissioners were constructed to connect different parts of the county with the towns, or for the purpose of providing a way to reach mills. Possibly as many or more highways were at first constructed to give access to mills that had been built along the streams of the county, than to con- nect localities with the towns. Two mills that are mentioned quite often in the petitions for highways are Pierson's mill, which was located on Sugar creek, five or six miles northwest of Greenfield, and Bellus' mill, which was located on Sugar creek about two miles north of New Palestine. The high- ways that were petitioned for in that early day did not follow section lines, but generally followed the most direct road to the mill or to the town or to some highway that had previously been built connecting with a mill or a town. One can hardly get a correct idea of the methods that were pursued or the manner in which the roads were constructed in the carly history of the county, without reading some of the petitions that were filed with the board of county commissioners. The first petition was presented to the board, August 11, 1828. It requested the board to construct a road from a point in Brandywine township to the town of Greenfield. The petition is as follows :
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