USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 3
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The general court in 1790 passed stringent laws against the sale of intoxicating liquors to Indians and also to soldiers within ten miles of any military post; also prohibiting any games of chance within the territory.
The consultation between St. Clair and General Harmar ended by a de- cision to raise a large military force and thoroughly chastise the Indians about the head of the Wabash river. Accordingly, Virginia and Pennsyl- vania were called upon to muster eighteen hundred men at Fort Steuben, and, with the garrison of that fort, join the forces at Vincennes under Major Hamtramck, who proceeded up the Wabash as far as the Vermillion river,
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destroying villages, but without finding an enemy to oppose him. General Harmar, with one thousand four hundred and fifty men, marched from Fort Washington to the Maumee, and began punishing the Indians, but with little success. The expedition left Fort Washington September 30th, and returned to that place November 4th, having lost during that period one hundred and eighty-three men killed and thirty-one wounded. General Harmar's defeat alarmed as well as aroused the citizens in the frontier counties of Virginia, thinking the Indians might invade that state.
The governor of Virginia called out the militia along the upper borders of that state; at the same time Charles Scott was appointed brigadier-general of the Kentucky militia now preparing to defend the frontiers of that state. This excited Congress and a war board was appointed, consisting of five members. On March 9, 1971, General Knox, secretary of war, wrote to General Scott recommending an expedition against the Indians on the Wabash. On March 3, 1791, Congress invested Governor St. Clair with the command of three thousand troops, and he was instructed by the secretary of war to march to the Miami village and establish a strong and permanent mili- tary post. After that was accomplished he was to seek the enemy with all his available forces and make them feel the effect of the superiority of the whites.
THE ST. CLAIR AND WAYNE EXPEDITIONS.
Although seriously damaged, the Indians were far from subdued. The Canadians and English along the border gave them much encouragement. In September, 1791, St. Clair moved from Fort Washington with a force of two thousand men and a number of pieces of artillery. November 3d he reached the headwaters of the Wabash, where Fort Recovery was later built, and here the army camped, consisting of one thousand four hundred effective men. The following morning the army advanced and engaged a force of twelve hundred Indians. Here the American army was disastrously defeated, having thirty-nine officers and five hundred and thirty-nine men killed and missing, twenty-two officers and two hundred and thirty-two men wounded. Several pieces of artillery and all their provisions were taken from them. The property loss was estimated at thirty-two thousand dollars. There has always been some disposition to blame General St. Clair for this awful de- feat, but his recent biographer, John Newton Boucher, of Greensburg, Penn- sylvania, proves conclusively that he was not to blame. Be that as it may, he resigned his commission after that battle and the work was taken up by General Anthony Wayne, of Revolutionary fame, who organized his forces
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at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in October, 1793, moved westward at the head of an army of three thousand six hundred men. He proposed an of- fensive campaign. The Indians still held that the Ohio river should be the boundary line between the United States and their lands.
·Major-General Scott, with about sixteen hundred volunteers from Ken- tucky, joined the regular troops under General Wayne on July 26, 1794, and . on the 28th the united force began their march for the Indian towns on the Maumee river. Arriving at the mouth of the Auglaize, they erected Fort Defiance and on August 15th the army advanced toward the British fort at the foot of the rapids of the Maumee, where, on the 20th, almost within reach of the British, the American army gained a decisive victory over the combined forces of the hostile Indians and a considerable number of Detroit militia at the battle of Fallen Timbers. The number of the enemy was esti- mated at two thousand, against about nine hundred American troops actually engaged. As soon as the action began this horde of savages abandoned them- selves to flight and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving Wayne's victori- ous army in full possession of the field. The Americans lost thirty-three killed and one hundred wounded; the loss of the enemy more than doubled this number.
The army remained three days and nights on the banks of the Maumee, in front of the field of battle, during which time all the houses and corn- fields were consumed and destroyed for a considerable distance both above and below Fort Miami, as well as within pistol shot of the British garrison, who were compelled to remain idle spectators to this general devastation and conflagration among which were the houses, stores and property of Colonel McKee, the British Indian agent, and general stimulator of the war then existing between the United States and the savages. On the return march to Fort Defiance the villages and corn fields for about fifty miles on each side of the Maumee were destroyed as well as those for a considerable distance around the post.
ORIGIN OF FORT WAYNE.
On September 14, 1794, the army under General Wayne commenced its march toward the deserted Miami villages at the confluence of St. Joseph and St. Mary's rivers, arriving October 17th, and on the following day the site of Fort Wayne was selected. The fort was completed November 22d and garrisoned by a strong detachment of infantry and artillery under the com- mand of Colonel John F. Hamtramck, who gave to the new fort the name of "Fort Wayne." The Kentucky volunteers now returned to Fort Washing-
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ton, and were mustered out of service. General Wayne, with the federal troops, marched to Greenville and took up his headquarters for the winter. Here, on August 5, 1795, after several months of active negotiation, this gal- lant officer succeeded in concluding a general treaty of peace with all the hostile tribes of the Northwest territory. This treaty opened the way for the flood of immigration for many years, and ultimately made the states and territories now constituting the mighty Northwest.
Up to the organization of the Indiana territory there is but little history to record aside from those events connected with military affairs. In July, 1796, after a treaty was concluded between the United States and Spain, the British garrison, with their arms, artillery and stores, were withdrawn from the posts within the boundaries of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, and a detachment of American troops consisting of sixty-five men under the command of Captain Moses Porter took possession of the evac- uated post of Detroit in the same month.
ORGANIZATION OF INDIANA TERRITORY, JULY 4, 1800.
On the final victory of the American army in 1796 the principal town within what is now the state of Indiana was Vincennes, which comprised only fifty houses, but presented a thrifty appearance. There was also a small settlement where Lawrenceburg now stands, and several smaller settlements around trading posts, and the total number of civilized inhabitants in the territory was estimated at four thousand eight hundred seventy-five.
Indiana territory was organized by act of Congress May 7, 1800, the material features of the Ordinance of 1787 remaining in force and the people being invested with all the rights and advantages granted and secured by that ordinance.
The seat of government was fixed at Vincennes. On May 13, 1800, William Henry Harrison, a native of Virginia, was appointed governor. John Gibson, of Pennsylvania, was made secretary of the territory. The government for Indiana territory went into active operation on July 4, 1800, and General Harrison called together the first territorial Legislature or Council January 12, 1801. From this time to 1810 the chief questions under dis- cussion were land speculators, African slavery and the hostile views of the Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, and his brother, the wily Prophet.
Up to this time the sixth article of the Ordinance of 1787, prohibiting slavery, had been somewhat neglected and many French settlers held slaves; many slaves had been removed to slave-holding states. A session of dele-
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gates elected by popular vote in the new territory met December 20, 1802, and petitioned Congress to revoke the sixth article of the old ordinance. Congress failed to grant this, as well as many other similar petitions. When it appeared from a popular vote in the territory that a majority of one hundred and thirty- eight were in favor of organizing a General Assembly, Governor Harrison, on September II, 1804, issued a proclamation, and called for an election to be held in the several counties of the territory January 3, 1805, to choose mem- bers of the House of Representatives, who should meet at Vincennes, February Ist. The delegates were duly elected and assembled as ordered, and they per- fected plans for territorial organization and selected ten men whose names were sent to President Jefferson and the President chose five of the number to act as members of the Council. The first General Assembly or Legislature of the territory met at Vincennes July 29, 1805.
On July 30th the Governor delivered his first message to the Council and House of Representatives. Benjamin Parke, who came from New Jer- sey in 1801, was the first delegate elected to Congress.
The first newspaper published within the territory of Indiana was the Western Sun, first issued at Vincennes in 1803, by Elihu Stout, of Kentucky, and first named the Indiana Gazette, but changed to the Sun July 4, 1804.
In 1810 the total population of Indiana was 24,520. There were then reported 33 grist mills, 14 saw mills, 3 horse mills, 18 tanneries, 28 distiller- ies, 3 powder mills, 1,256 looms, 1,300 spinning wheels; value of woolen, cotton, hemp and flax cloth, $150,059; of nails. 30,000 pounds; of wine from grapes, 96 barrels, and 50,000 pounds of maple sugar.
The territory of Indiana was divided in 1805, when the territory of Michigan was established to comprise practically the same territory which it has today. In' 1809 Illinois was set off and Indiana was left with practically its present limits. For the first half century after the settlement Vincennes grew slowly.
The commandants and priests governed with absolute power ; the whites lived in peace with the Indians. The necessaries of life were easily procured; there was nothing to stimulate energy or progress. In such a state of society there was no demand for learning and science. Few could read and fewer still could write their own names; they were void of public spirit, enterprise or ingenuity. Not until the close of the war of 1812 and 1814 did Indiana take on her vigorous growth, and since then she has kept pace with her sister states. In 1815 the total white population was sixty-three thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven. On February 13, 1813, the Legis- lature in session at Vincennes changed the seat of government to Corydon.
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Governor Posey took Governor Harrison's place May 25, 1813, for the latter was engaged in subduing the enemies of this country.
Up to 1811 a man must own at least fifty acres of land before he was entitled to cast his vote. To become a member of the Council he must pos- sess five hundred acres of land, and each member of the Legislature must needs own two hundred acres.
In 1814 the territory was divided into three judicial districts. The Governor appointed the judges and the compensation was fixed at seven hundred dollars per annum. The same year two banks were authorized, the Mechanics Bank of Madison, with seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and the Bank of Vincennes, with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars.
STATE ORGANIZATION IN 1816.
The last territorial Legislature convened at Corydon December 14, 1815, and petitioned Congress for authority to adopt a state constitution and main- tain a state government. Congress enacted the proper legislation and Indiana was made a state. On May 13, 1816, an election was held for forty-three delegates to a constitutional convention. That body met at Corydon, June Ioth to 29th, Jonathan Jennings presiding, and William Hendricks acting as secretary.
The representatives in the constitutional convention were able men. The constitution they there formed for Indiana in 1816 was in no wise in- ferior to that of any other commonwealth in the Union at that date.
The first state election was held the first Monday in August, 1816, and Jonathan Jennings was elected governor, Christopher Harrison, lieutenant governor, and William Hendricks, representative to Congress.
The close of the war of 1812 and 1814 was followed by a great rush of immigrants to the new state and in 1820 the state had more than doubled its population, having at this time one hundred and forty-seven thousand one hundred and seventy-eight inhabitants. This date was the beginning of pros- perity for Indiana, and at this time begins our history of the county of Hen- dricks.
CHAPTER III.
EARLY SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION.
The history of the early settlement of Hendricks county would be worthy of treatment in a separate volume were the records and other sources of information in regard to those days in existence. At that time the im- portance of keeping such things was not realized, and consequently few can be obtained. The settlement of Hendricks county occurred early in 1820, within six years of one hundred years ago. Many of the people in the county today remember of hearing their fathers and mothers recount the thrilling tales of pioneer life in the early period of log rollings, husking bees, barbe- cues, cabin raisings, hunts and the thousand and one other incidents which were a part of the early life. Settlements were miles apart and social inter- course was difficult, so these entertainments afforded the only opportunities for the people to congregate, and these periods were generally months apart. So the pioneer lived alone with his family in the silent and mighty forest, sallying out before dawn to shoot the game or to cast a line in the stream nearby for the day's food supply. The meat of the wild game and the rough cereals raised in the patch of cleared ground provided the principal sustenance for the family; the clothes were manufactured by the women, who sat for days before the loom; linsey-woolsey and homespun, adorned with the skins of small animals, were the popular weaves. The good mother was the teacher of the children also; meager teaching it was, but thorough.
Relative to the early settlement, it is well to quote a few paragraphs from the writings of Logan Esarey, an authority on Indiana history. He writes : "The attempt to better their economic condition was no doubt the cause that led a great majority of the immigrants to come to Indiana in the early period of its statehood. They were encouraged and many of them grossly deceived by the advertisements in the Indiana papers. The Western Sun and the Sentinel of Vincennes, the Indiana Republican of Madison, the Intelligencer and the Ledger of Richmond, from which the following data has been col- lected, are full of the most glowing accounts of the prosperity of this west- ern world. Judged from these papers, there was bustle and activity every- where. Cotton gins, ox mills, grist mills, salt wells, rich mines of silver and
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gold, steam saw mills, card mills, breweries were in need of laborers every- where. Dozens of towns, each sure to be a metropolis, were springing up and in which lots could be bought for a trifle and on credit. A steamer one hundred and sixty-six feet long was on the ways at Jeffersonville. Another would soon be launched at Bono to ply on the branches of White river. In- diana seemed to be a bee-hive of industry, glowing with opportunity for the poor and industrious.
"The period from 1816 to 1825, while the capital was at Corydon, was one of unprecedented immigration into Indiana. The settlers crowded up the waterways beyond the middle of the state. The number of counties in the state rose from thirteen to fifty-two. Almost all of the territory south of White river was organized and the line of settlement was pushed well to the north of the National road. The latter had not yet been opened and practically all of the settlers came by way of or across the Ohio river."
The long, weary journey in a covered wagon, over rough hills, through tangled valleys, fording streams, slow, tortuous miles traveled, made the final stopping point inviting to the settler, even if it consisted of but a con- venient nook in the forest or a sequestered spot on the banks of a stream, for it meant home wherever it was. The first nights were spent under the wagon-canopy or in a lean-to hastily erected of branches and grasses. The pioneer immediately began the erection of his cabin, hewing the logs and notching them into place. A fireplace was constructed in one end of the small hut, made of sticks and mud, and the fire therein afterward served the purpose of light, heat and as a cook-stove. The furniture of the interior was as rough as the cabin itself ; three-legged stools, puncheon floor, a bed built against the wall, and a small table generally comprised the interior of the shack. The walls, through which numerous breezes penetrated, were hung on the inside with animal skins, that is, if such skins were procurable. However crude these homes might have been, the health and sturdiness of the occupants was mighty, and many of those who live today in luxury and idleness would swap their all for this strength of body and mind.
A great part of the land in central Indiana in those days was swampy. Sloughs were scattered through the forests and were far from healthy. Ague among the settlers was an established illness, and the best remedy was quinine and whiskey, the latter in quantities. Fevers, the intermittent kind which attend malaria, were frequent too. The people believed many peculiar things about these ailments and the fear of miasma and germ-laden atmos- phere was wholesome.
OLD HENDRICKS COUNTY COURT HOUSE
Clarence Martindale Architect
PRESENT COURT HOUSE
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Much more could be narrated in this chapter of the first days in the life .of Hendricks county, but for the sake of unity these other facts are assigned to the other parts of the book, following closely their respective subjects.
SURVEYS AND INDIAN TREATIES.
At St. Mary's, Ohio, in 1818, a treaty was negotiated by Governor Jen- nings, General Cass and Judge Benjamin Parke, men who acted as govern- ment commissioners, with the Indians. The red men gave up all title to their unceded land south of the Wabash river, except reservations, which in- cluded the territory in central Indiana, out of which thirty counties have been laid off, among them Hendricks county. This was the largest of the fifty-two purchases which were required to obtain from the Indians all of the land in the state of Indiana. In the terms of this treaty it was stated that the Indians should have possession of their improvements and reside in the country for a period of three years, after which time a portion of them would have to go upon reservations, but the majority of them were to be transported beyond the great Mississippi river. The government surveys were stipulated to begin immediately, and the ceded lands to be opened to settlers. Prior to this time the land now forming Hendricks county had been occupied by the tribe of Delaware Indians, but, not being located on any of the great war trails or fighting grounds, there were no large Indian vil- lages or Indian improvements in this district. Hendricks county land was used principally as a hunting ground.
The government plans were carried out and the survey started at once. Hendricks county was on the meridian line from which the beginning was made, and accordingly it was surveyed first in 1819. This survey started a great flood of immigration to every corner of the new purchase. In wagons, on foot, horseback, the sturdy men came to build their homes here. Loca- tions were indefinite and the settlers merely contented themselves with find- ing a convenient spot and then starting a clearing wherein to build their log homes. The Indians were not hostile; in fact, they were very friendly and assisted the home-seeker in many ways. Their knowledge of the hunt- ing and fishing grounds was often a great help to the stranger.
Although the year specified for the removal of the Indians beyond the Mississippi was 1821, it was not until 1826 that the last of them departed. When the first white men came to this county a large band of Indians was found camping on White Lick and Eel rivers. The former they called Wa-
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pe-ke-way, meaning "white salt;" and the latter they termed Sho-a-mack, which meant"slippery fish."
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT.
In the territory now known and designated as Hendricks county the first settlement was made in the spring of the year 1820 on White Lick creek. The band of settlers who made this initial location, a few miles south of Plainfield, was composed of Bartholomew Ramsey, Samuel Herriman, Harris Bray, John W. Bryant, James Dunn, George Dunn and Ezekiel Moore.
The nearest settlements to this location were along the Wabash river, and in order to establish communication and a road for the transportation of supplies, these men cut a trail through the woods and bushes, and gave it the name of the Terre Haute trail. It passed through Hendricks county about a mile south of what was later the National road, and in this same year of 1820 Nathan Kirk, one of the settlers, afterwards one of the associate judges of the county, located on this trail in the southwest corner of the county and kept a public tavern. He later transported his goods to Clinton county and became the founder of the town of Kirklin. Kirk's prairie was also named after this man.
In the spring months of 1821 Thomas Lockhart, Noah Kellum and Felix Belzer made settlement on the East fork of White Lick, in the south- east corner of what is now Guilford township. Belzer was the most notable of these three men, due to his reputation as a hunter. The tradition is that he killed one hundred and twenty-five deer within a year after he settled in this county. It was in this year, 1821, that the first death occurred in the county, that of Uriah Carson, who had come from Ohio and entered land from the government. He died at the home of Felix Belzer. In the autumn of 1821 William and Thomas Hinton, James Thompson and Robert Mc- Crackin settled on the West fork of White Lick, in the territory now com- prising Liberty township. Quite a number of other families settled in the territory now comprising Guilford and Washington townships in the follow- ing year of 1822, among them being Jeremiah Hadley, David Carter and Jonathan Hadley, who took the three adjoining farms on the hill immediate- ly east of Plainfield.
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SETTLEMENT IN 1824.
In the year 1824 the population of the county was estimated to be one thousand people, settled mostly in the regions in the southeast, with a few settlers near the present site of Danville, Nathan Kirk and Jere Stiles in the southwest corner, and Noah Bateman and a few others along Eel river. The portion of the county now occupied by Union, Middle, Brown and Lin- coln townships was then a mosquito-infested swamp, and no settler had the boldness to risk his health by settling there. As late as 1830 there were not more than thirty settlers within this locality. The more rapid and thicker settlement of the other portions of the county was due in a large measure to the better drainage facilities. The northeastern portion of the county was also settled slowly. The building of the Cumberland or National road through the south part of the county in 1830 gave a great advantage to the southern part, this road being a highway for the tide of immigration to the far West. Many of these transcontinental travelers found reason to stop in this locality and remained and became permanent residents. Prac- tically every farmer kept open house; every home was a hotel, and many of the settlers became moderately wealthy by their hospitality.
FIRST IMPROVEMENTS.
The first mill constructed in the county was a horse-mill on East fork of White Lick. It was built and owned by James Tomlinson. The first. water-mill was built by John P. Benson on Rock branch in Eel River town- ship in 1826. The first merchandise was sold in Danville by James L. Given. The first resident attorneys were Judge Marvin and Colonel Nave, the latter locating in Danville in 1832, where he was engaged in the practice of law for more than fifty years, until his death, in 1884. In the summer of 1823 the two first school houses were built in the county, one in Liberty township, below Cartersburg, and the other on Thomas Lockhart's land in Guilford township, and in them W. H. Hinton and Abijah Pierson taught the first schools in the county. ' In this paragraph it is well to mention that the first birth in the county was that of Silas J. Bryant, who was born in Guilford township in 1820, the son of J. W. Bryant.
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