USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 2
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804
Martin, Theodore T.
560
Masten, Cyrus H.
520
Masten, Jesse
610
Masten, Lincoln A.
258
Mattern, John Q. A.
558
Miles, John R. 834
Milhon, Ethor V. 716
Mills, Charles W. 837
Mills, William A.
547
Mitchell, Amos L.
442
Mitchell, Thomas H. 447
Montgomery, George 670
Montgomery, James 614
Montgomery, Tyra 672
Moran, John P. 360
Moran, Thomas 508
Morgan, Joseph C.
597
Murphy, Elbert M.
475
N
Nash, Edward F. 404
Nash, Thomas J. 382
Nash, William J. 373
Neal, Charles W.
606
Neal, Tavner 188
Newby, Eliel 539
Newlin, Joel
554
Nichols, William H. 242
Noland, Stephen D.
266
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
O
Rose, William M. 640
Ross, Alva A. 538
Ross, Eli H. 530
Royer, E. Ray 320
Rudd, Gabriel N. 504
Ruse, James W. 500
Rushton, W. A. 589
Rynerson, John C. 450
S
Sanders, Harry E. 720
Sandusky, Thomas J. 581
Sawyer, E. W. 608
Sawyer, William W. 419
Scearce, George W. 200
Sears, Herbert C. 822
Sellars, Clark H. 767
Shields, Charles E. 724
Shields, William H. 512
Shirley, Edgar W. 182
Shirley, Fred G. 627
Short, Mark M. 444
Showalter, John A.
225
Smith, Elmer 522
Smith, John M.
786
Smith, Sanders
417
Soper, Fred B. 216
Spears, Arthur 487
Stafford, James C. 591
Stevenson, John F. 482
Stevenson, William H. 719
Steward, Cunning H. 567
Storm, Hiram T.
234
Stout, Calvin
817
R
Ragan, John S., M. D. 741
Ragland, Edward V. 227
Raidabaugh, Rev. Peter W. 688
Ramsey, Alexander 740
Reed, Charles R.
832
542
Tinder, John W. 304
Trotter, John W. 184
Trotter, Oliver W.
811
Rice, John U. 356
Trotter, Silas B. 223
Trotter, William W. 220
Tucker, Dandridge 656
Tucker, David L. 658
Tucker, John 549
Rose, Thomas C. 293
T
Tansel, Charles 365
Tharp, Joshua S. 592
Thomas, Clarkson B. 583
Thomas, Erasmus D. 550
Reeve, Horace
Relander, Charles 634
Reynolds, D. Monroe, M. D.
430
Roark, Charles 533
Robards, Everett R. 192
Robbins, William H. 809
Rodney, Henry C. 677
O'Brien, Bertrand M., M. D 675
Ogden, James M. 380
Ogden, Jesse S. 426
O'Neal, Jacob E. 416
Orf, George
479
Osborn, Alpheus
536
Osborne, William C.
552
Owen, Eleazar B.
285
Owen, J. A.
285
Owen, Leslie D. 287
Owen, Oliver P.
793
P
Page, Jacob J. 312
Page, Jeremiah J. 282
Page, William F. 808
Parker, Robert E. 702
Pattison, George T.
460
Pearson, Silas M. 262
Pebworth, Aubrey C., M. D. 631
Pennington, William 397
Phillips, James W. 371
Phillips, John N. 207
Phillips, Jonathan F.
456
Plummer, Richard D. 595
Portwood, John L.
840
Prebster, Cecil F. 346
Q
Quinn, William W.
728
Tucker, Nathan A. 650
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
U
Weaver, Amos C. 586
Weaver, Chester A. 709
Underwood, Marshall
315
Webb, Albert L. 498
Underwood, Obed
648
Wehr, M. H. 323
West, John A. 612
V
Westerfield, Robert
679
Whicker, Allen
472
Vestal, John E. 484
Whicker, Clarence C.
466
Vestal, William B. 835
Whicker, Franz F.
474
White, Bert A. 759
White, Charles A., M. D.
280
Whyte, John W. 177
Williams, Dennis B. 333
Wills, David B. 452
Wilson, Joseph L. 744
Wise, George W. 694
Warren, Calvin W. 349
Wiseheart, Oscar H., M. D. 815
Warrick, Calvin
710
Woody, Hugh J. 565
Waters, Samuel S. 757
Worrell, Toliver 746
Watson, Virgil S.
471
Wright, Frederick N., M. D. 295
W
Walker, John C. 624
Walsh, John 495
Walter, Joseph G. 518
Warner, Fred E. 328
HISTORICAL
CHAPTER I.
GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF HENDRICKS COUNTY.
Hendricks county has a central position in the state, the county seat being nearly in the exact center from north to south and twenty miles west of the center on an east and west line. Its geographical position is between parallels 39 and 40 degrees north latitude and meridians 86 and 87 west longi- tude. The exact position of Danville is 39 degrees 40 minutes north latitude and 86 degrees 30 minutes west longitude. In extent, the county was in- tended to be twenty miles square, but the surveyors' correction line, which passes through the northern part of the county, destroys its quadrilateral shape, and makes it more than half a mile wider at the north than the south. However, owing to irregularities in the surveys, which were caused by the passage through the county of both the second principal meridian and a cor- rection line of the government surveys, the county averaged just twenty miles square until the year 1868, when a strip two miles in width, extending from the meridian line west to Mill creek and containing twenty square miles, was added to the county from Morgan county, which makes the area of the county four hundred and twenty square miles. The county is bounded on the north by Boone county, on the east by Marion county, on the south by Morgan county and on the west by the counties of Putnam and Montgomery.
The general elevation of the surface of Hendricks county is much higher than the surrounding country, except portions of Boone and Putnam counties. Passing through the county from south to north, from near Clayton to Lebanon, in Boone county, is a natural water-shed, which divides the waters of Eel river and Sugar creek from the waters of White river, and at a point three miles northwest of Danville, at Mount Pleasant church, it attains an elevation of more than one thousand feet.
The general surface of the county is level or gently undulating. Though the streams in many places have eroded deep, narrow valleys, there are but few acres in the county which, on this account, cannot be cultivated and not one which cannot be made useful for grazing purposes.
26
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
The streams which make the natural drainage of Hendricks county are the White Licks, Big, Little, East and West forks, Abner's creek, Mill creek, School branch and Eel river .. The east and north parts of the county are drained by the White Licks, the southwest by Mill creek and the northwest by Eel river. Owing to the elevation of the land, but few springs are found in the county, though pure water in great abundance is obtained at no great depth by digging through sand and clay. Originally the county was covered by a dense forest, composed of every variety of timber, trees and under- growth found in this latitude, with an extraordinary amount of the more valuable kinds, popular, walnut and the oaks. After the Indians were gone and the annual burning of the woods ceased, there grew up a dense under- growth, and the highways of the early settlers consisted of narrow trails through the woods, the thickness of which may be illustrated by the state- ment of a pioneer that when driving cattle from place to place they often tied handspikes across their foreheads, which prevented them from leaving the trail.
In all parts of the county the soil is productive for cereals, grasses and fruits.
GEOLOGY.
No official survey has ever been made of Hendricks county until the spring of 1914, but the publication of this report, having been delayed by the United States government printing department, will not be issued in time for this work. However, good information is at hand.
The entire county is covered by a glacial drift formation from ten to three hundred feet in depth. This formation is composed of sand, clay and calcareous substances, boulders, fragments of crystalline rocks, remains of ancient animals and vegetable life and extensive moraines of gravel.
The drift in Hendricks county rests upon a stratum of Devonian sand- stone, known to geologists as the Marshall or knob sandstone. It is soft, brittle and shaly and unfit for economic uses. This sandstone ceases to ap- pear near the eastern line of the county and it is probable that in the south- east corner of the county, the black slate of the Hamilton group, which under- lies the Marshall sandstone, may be found. Near the western border of the county sub-carboniferous limestone overlaps the sandstone. The drift forma- tion is composed of a disintegration and decomposition of almost every variety of rocks, soils, the remains of animal and vegetable life and various mineral elements.
CHAPTER II.
RELATED STATE HISTORY.
EARLY EXPLORERS.
As an introduction to the history of Hendricks county it is fitting that a brief survey of the history of the state of Indiana should be given, not for the purpose of teaching the reader the course of events which make up Hoosier history, but for the subordinate purpose of building a foundation for the county history, a preparatory word to lead the reader to a better understand- ing of this work.
Not until the years 1670-2 did the first white travelers venture so far into the great Northwest as Indiana or Lake Michigan. Claude Dablon and Claude Allouez, two intrepid Frenchmen, then visited what is now the eastern part of Wisconsin, the northeastern portion of Illinois, and probably the portion of this state north of the Kankakee river. In the year following M. Joliet, an agent of the French colonial government, and James Marquette, a missionary stationed at Mackinaw, explored the country around Green bay, and along Fox and Wisconsin rivers as far westward as the Mississippi river, the banks of which they reached on June 17, 1673. They descended this river a short distance and returned by way of the Illinois river. At a village among the Illinois Indians, Marquette and his followers were received with friendly hospitality and made guests at a great feast of hominy. fish, dog meat and roast buffalo. In 1682 LaSalle explored the West, but it is not known certainly whether or not he entered the territory now embraced in Indiana. He took possession, however, of the whole Mississippi region in the name of France, and, in honor of the king, he named it Louisiana. Spain at the same time claimed the region around the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently the two nations clashed.
FIRST INDIAN INHABITANTS.
At this time the country now comprising the state of Indiana was held by the Miami confederacy of Indians, the Miamis proper, originally the
.
28
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Twightwees, being the eastern and most powerful tribe. Their villages were few and scattering. These Indian settlements were occasionally visited by Christian missionaries, fur traders and adventurers, but no permanent settle- ment was risked by the whites. The Five Nations farther to the east, in the New England states, comprised the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas and Senecas. In 1677 the number of warriors in this confederation was two thousand one hundred and fifty. About 1711 the Tuscaroras retired from Carolina and joined the Iroquois, and the organization then became known as the Six Nations. In 1689 hostilities broke out between the Indian tribes and the French colonists of Canada, and the following series of wars served to check the purpose of Louis XIV and to retard the planting of French colonies in the Mississippi valley. Missionary efforts, however, continued with more failure than success, the Jesuits allying themselves with the Indians in habits and customs, even encouraging inter-marriage between them and their white followers.
NATIONAL POLICIES.
The English, who were envious of the French, resorted to every method to extend their territory westward. Both nations secured aid from various Indian tribes, and a bloody and merciless warfare continued for many years. France continued in her effort to connect the Canadian country with the gulf of Mexico by a chain of trading posts and colonies, which further in- creased the jealousy of England and really laid the foundation for the French and Indian war, which terminated in the treaty of 1763 at Paris, and by which France ceded to Great Britain all of North America east of the Mississippi river, except New Orleans and some contiguous territory. The British policy, after getting control of the Indian territory, was still unfavorable to its growth in population, In 1765 the number of French families within the limits of the Northwestern territory did not exceed six hundred. These were in settlements around Detroit, along the Wabash river, and in the neighbor- hood of Fort Chartres. Cahokia and Kaskaskia on the Mississippi river. Of these families, eighty-five resided at Post Vincennes, fourteen at Fort Ouiate- non on the Wabash and in the neighborhood of the confluence of the St. Mary and St. Joseph rivers. The colonial policy of the British government opposed any measures which might strengthen the settlements in the interior of this country, lest they become self-supporting and independent of the mother country. Thomas Jefferson, the wise statesman and governor of Virginia, saw from the first that actual occupation of western lands was the only way to keep them out of the hands of foreigners and Indians. Accordingly he
29
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
engaged a corps of scientific men and sent them to the Mississippi river to ascertain the point on that stream intersected by latitude thirty-six degrees thirty minutes and to measure its distance north to the Ohio. In that quarter he intrusted the military operations to General Clark, with instructions to select a strong position near the named point and erect a fort and garrison the same for protecting the settlers, and then to extend his conquest toward the great lakes on the north. Conforming to his instructions, General Clark erected Fort Jefferson on the Mississippi, a few miles above the southern limit. The result of these operations was the addition to Virginia of the vast Northwest territory. The fact that a chain of forts was established by the Americans in this region convinced the British commissioners that we had entitled our- selves to the land. During this time minor events were transpiring outside the territory in question which later promoted the settlement in what is now known as Indiana.
THE GEORGE ROGERS CLARK EXPEDITION.
George Rogers Clark, a resident of Kentucky, but a native of Virginia, some time in the spring of 1776 formulated a scheme of more rapid settle- ment in the Northwest territory. That part of Kentucky was occupied by Henderson and Company, who pretended to own the land and set a high price on the same. Clark doubted the validity of their claim, and wished to make a test of it, and adjust the control of the country so that settlements might be fostered. He called a meeting of the citizens at Harrodstown, to assemble June 6, 1776, and consider the claims of the company, and consult with refer- ence to the interests of the country.
This meeting was held on the day appointed and delegates elected to confer with the state of Virginia as to the propriety of attaching the new country as a county to that state. Many causes prevented a consummation of this object until the year 1778. Virginia was favorable to the enterprise, but would not take action as a state. Governor Henry and a few others, however, assisted Colonel Clark all they could. Clark organized an expedi- tion and took in stores at Pittsburgh and Wheeling, and proceeded down the Ohio to the falls, where he built some light fortifications.
Clark's original plan was to take Vincennes, but he changed it on account of an erroneous idea as to the strength of the garrison at that place. He left the Falls of the Ohio on June 24, 1878, and, with one hundred and fifty- three men, floated down the Ohio, reaching the mouth of the Tennessee river four days later. He then landed his men and marched them to Kaskaskia,
30
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
reaching the quaint little French village on the night of July 4th. Clark had no difficulty in winning the French inhabitants to the American cause and a few days later the people of Cahokia also took the oath of allegiance to the Americans. Clark now had Kaskaskia and Cahokia and only Vincennes re- mained to be secured. Clark wanted some of the people of Kaskaskia to go to Vincennes and win over the inhabitants of the village and finally Doctor Lafont and Father Gibault, a Catholic priest who had charge of the Wabash mission, undertook the task. On July 14. 1778, these two emissaries left Kaskaskia with a small retinue and within a few days were at Vincennes. Two days after their arrival they had won the people to the American cause and had the deep satisfaction of gathering all of the French inhabitants in the church, where they took the oath of allegiance. An officer was elected ; the fort was garrisoned; and for the first time an American flag was raised on Indiana soil.
Father Gibault returned to Kaskaskia about the first of August and brought the glad news to Clark, but just at this time a new trouble was threatening Clark. His men were leaving him because their enlistment had expired and, since he had no authority to extend it, he was in grave danger of losing the larger part of his force. But Clark was not to be dismayed. He made some liberal promises and finally succeeded in getting one hundred of them to re-enlist, filling the vacancies with French volunteers. Clark now placed Capt. Leonard Helm in command of Vincennes and made him superin- tendent of Indian affairs on the Wabash. As the summer and fall of 1778 wore away the British were planning to capture Vincennes and late in the fall Gen. Henry Hamilton moved down the Wabash with a force of thirty regulars, fifty Canadian volunteers and four hundred Indians. He reached Vincennes December 15th and found Captain Helm and one other man in the fort. Captain Helm stood by a loaded cannon with a lighted match in his hand as the envoys of General Hamilton approached the fort and shouted out that 110 one should enter the fort until he knew what terms would be given. General Hamilton assured him that he could march out with all the honors of war- and Vincennes became a British post.
On January 29, 1779, Clark, who was still at Kaskaskia, heard of the fall of Vincennes and determined to retake the place. He gathered together about one hundred and seventy men, and on February 5th started from Kaskaskia, crossing the stream of the same name. The weather was wet and the low- lands covered with water. He had to subsist on such game as he could kill en route. The men underwent great privations, wading through acres of water to their hips, and suffering intensely with the cold. However, Colonel
. 31
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Clark shared all of the hardships of the men and asked nothing of them which he would not undergo himself. They reached the little Wabash on the 13th, and two days were occupied in crossing the swollen stream. They found the roads no better, but marched down and reached the Embarrass on the 17th of the month. The next two days were consumed in attempting to cross the angry stream. Finally canoes were constructed and the entire force crossed the main stream, and then found the lowlands entirely under water and ice which had formed recently. His men refused to proceed. All of Clark's persuasions had no effeet upon the half starved men. In one company was a small drummer-boy and also a sergeant who stood six feet and two inches high. Clark ordered him, the sergeant, to mount the boy on his shoulders and plunge into the water. He did so, and the small drum- mer beat the charge from his position, while Clark, sword in hand, followed. This maneuver was electrical, and the men, with a cheer, followed their leader. On arriving within two miles of the fort Clark halted his men and sent in a letter demanding surrender, to which he received no reply. He next ordered Lieutenant Bayley, with fourteen men, to advance and fire on the fort, while the main body of men·moved in another direction and took po- session of the strongest portion of the town. Clark then demanded Hamil- ton's immediate surrender, on penalty of being treated as a murderer. Hamil- ton refused indignantly. Fighting began and continued for over an hour, when Hamilton proposed a three days' truce. Clark, characteristically, sent word that nothing but unconditional surrender was satisfactory. In less than an hour the surrender was dictated by General Clark. This was on February 24, 1779.
Of this expedition, of its results, of its importance, as well as of the skill and bravery of those engaged, a volume could well be written. The expedition has never been surpassed in modern warfare, when we consider that by it the whole territory now included in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and a part of Minnesota was added to the Union, and so admitted by the British commissioners in the treaty of peace in 1783. Clark rein- stated Captain Helm in command at Vincennes, with instruction to subdue the marauding Indians, which he did, and soon comparative quiet prevailed on Indiana soil. The whole eredit of this conquest belongs to Colonel Clark and Franeis Vigo.
32
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA,
NORTHWEST GOVERNMENT.
By the conquest of Colonel Clark, Indiana came within the territory be- longing to Virginia. In January, 1783, the General Assembly of the Old Dominion resolved to cede this territory to the general government of the United States. The proposition made by Virginia was accepted by the gov- ernment and the transfer made early in 1784. The terms were that Virginia was to be reimbursed for all expenses incurred in exploring and protecting settlers in the territory; also that one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land should be granted to the soldiers who, with Colonel Clark, had made the famous expedition. After all these matters had been attended to, in the spring of 1784. the matter of governing this section of the west was referred to a committee of Messrs. Jefferson, of Virginia, Chase, of Maryland, and Howell, of Rhode Island, which committee, among other things, reported an ordinance prohibiting slavery in the territory after 1800, but this article of the ordinance was rejected. The Ordinance of 1784 was passed April 23d and remained the fundamental law of the Northwest territory until July 13, 1787. The ordinance of 1787 has an interesting history. Much controversy has been indulged in as to who is really entitled to the credit of framing it. The honor was held by several men jointly, among them being Nathan Dane, Rufus King, Timothy Pickering, Thomas Jefferson and Manasseh Cutler. Mr. Jefferson had vainly tried to secure a system of government for the Northwest territory excluding slavery therefrom. The South, however, in- variably voted him down.
In July, 1787, an organizing act without the slavery clause was pending, which was supposed to secure its passage. Congress went into session in New York City. July 5th, Dr. Manasseh Cutler, of Massachusetts, came to New York in the interests of some land or speculators in the Northwest territory. He was a courtly gentleman of the old-school type and had won the confidence of the Southern leaders. He wished to purchase five million, five hundred thousand acres of land in the new territory. Jefferson and his administration desired to make a record on the reduction of the public debt, and this was a rare opportunity. Massachusetts' representatives could not vote against Cutler's scheme, as many of their constituents were interested in the measure personally; Southern members were almost committed. Thus, Cutler held the key to the situation, and dictated terms, which were as follows :
I. The exclusion of slavery from the territory forever.
33
HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
.2. Providing one thirty-sixth of all lands for public schools.
3. Be it forever remembered that this compact declares that religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happi- ness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall always be en- couraged.
Dr. Cutler planted himself on this platform and would not yield, stating that unless they could procure these lands under desirable conditions and surroundings, that they did not care to purchase. On July 13, 1787, the bill became a law. Thus the great states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were consecrated to freedom, intelligence and morality. On October 5, 1787, Congress elected General Arthur St. Clair governor of the Northwest territory. He assumed his official duties at Marietta and at once proceeded to treat with the Indians and organize a territorial government. He first organized a court at Marietta, consisting of three judges appointed by Congress, himself being president of the court.
The Governor, with his judges, then visited Kaskaskia for the purpose of organizing a civil government, having previously instructed Major Ham- tramck at Vincennes to present the policy of the new administration to the several Indian tribes and learn their feelings. They received the messenger with a cool indifference, which, when reported to the governor, convinced him that nothing short of military force would command compliance with the civil government. He at once proceeded to Fort Washington to consult with General Harmar as to future action. In the meantime he intrusted to the secretary of the territory, Winthrop Sargent, the settlement of the disputed land claims, who found it a hard task, and in his reports states that he found the records so falsified, vouchers destroyed, and other crookedness as to make it impossible to get at a just settlement, which but again proves that the "graft" of the twentieth century existed decades before this word had been coined.
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