USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 6
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DANVILLE HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING
HENDRICKS ENTEN JOIN DRAILE IND.
HENDRICKS COUNTY JAIL
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CHAPTER VI.
CLAY TOWNSHIP.
TOPOGRAPHY.
The land surface of Clay township is in most respects similar to the rest of the county. The township is one of the smaller ones and is drained by the three forks of Mill creek. The land is practically level, with slight valleys made by the streams, and the drainage, now aided by artificial means, is adequate. The quality of the land in this township is good. The farni- ers have managed, by skillful cultivation and intelligent study, to derive large profits from the soil and are to be commended, especially for this work and progress. The St. Louis division of the Big Four railroad, the Vandalia. and the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern interurban line traverse the township and, supplemented with an excellent system of gravel and macadam roads, make the township strictly a modern one and a pleasurable location in which to live.
ORGANIZATION.
The township was formed by separating from the north end of Frank- lin township three tiers of sections of land and taking three sections off the southeast corner of Marion township, thereby giving Clay township an area of twenty-four square miles. This organization was executed by the board of county commissioners in the year 1845.
The poll book of the first election, held at Springfield, in Clay town- ship, August 3, 1846, gives the names of one hundred and one voters. They were Peter Long, Wesley Hardwick, Joshua F. Huckings, Mordecai Samuels, Abraham West, Benjamin Pickett, Caleb Hunt, Thomas J. Hadley, Eras- mus Nichols, Milton Asher, Phineas Moon, Eli Hodson, Job Hadley, Henry Bland, Robert Harvey, Mencher Coe. John Candiff, John Harlan, John Ganı- bold, Phineas Tomilson, Ransom Estes, Edward B. Estes, John Johnson, Mathias Alaster, Carver Benboel, Timothy Swain, Clark Hill, David Mastin, Henry Coats, James Wright, William Talbot, Hiram D. Jones, Elijah An- derson, Isaac Miracle, William H. Dalton, Harvey Stanley, Samuel Stanley,
(5)
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
Francis Huckings, Edward Tomilson, Miles T. Richardson, Allen Pearson, James Pearson, George Tincher, Henry B. Goolman, Winson Yates, Jesse Turbeville, Jonathan Mendenhall, Hugh McKee, Harvey Richardson, Tandy Scott, Elijah Wright, Solomon Rushton, Benjamin Gaeres, Joel Haggins, Eleazer Hunt, Jabez Watson, John Wright, Thomas C. Parker, Milton White, John Stanley, William S. Benbow, Charles Green, Robert Walker, Edward Newham, Jacob Workrider, Jesse Watson, Albert Hunt, John New- ham, William Mann, A. Edwards, Jesse M. Hackett, James Acres, Alfred Hunt, Ellis King, Henry Wise, Asahel Mann, William Tancher, Alexander Adams, Robert B. Stanley, Nathan Harvey, Blake Swain, William Hay- worth, John Harrison, Silas Dixon, William Benbow, Nathaniel Hadley, Jeremiah Smith, Eli Phillips, John Edwards, Samuel Phillips, Joseph Mor- ris, Wesley Pearson, Elihu Dixon, Elam Benbow, Price F. Hall, James Hay- worth, John Hancock, William Cosner, Joel W. Hodson and William Beech- ardson.
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
The first settlement in Clay township was made near the year 1825. The exact identity of the first settler is not known, but among the families which came prior to 1832 were those of Obadiah, George and John Tincher, John Hadley, Joel and Jesse Hodson, William Benbow, Doctor Kersey, Newbry Hunt, Abraham West, Nicholas Osburn and George Hancock.
PECKSBURG.
The village of Pecksburg was named in honor of the first president of the Vandalia railroad. The village is located near the east line of Clay township on section 31. The plat of Pecksburg was officially recorded on May 24, 1853. Some of the earliest settlers in the neighborhood of Pecks- burg were David Wreitzel, John Sheerer and Daniel Wreitzel. They settled two miles south of the present village in a very early day and constructed a log church of the Lutheran denomination. This afterwards was abandoned and a frame built in Pecksburg, which still stands, about sixty years old. It is not used at present, however. Abraham West had a grist mill near here in the early days, but sold out to John Sheerer. When the Vandalia was built, through the village, Sheerer opened the first store, having a general assortment of goods.
The village at present is very small, comprising but one general store, in charge of Mr. Wreitzel, a descendant of David and Daniel Wreitzel, and
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
a few houses. The Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern interurban line, Brazil division, and the Vandalia railroad pass through here.
AMO.
Two miles west of Pecksburg, on sections 2, 3, 34 and 35, is the town of Amo, one of the voting places of the township. This village was laid out in 1850 by Joseph Morris and was originally Morristown. The first house in this village was constructed by William Tomlinson. The present town has a population of about three hundred people and is incorporated, this having been voted in 1913. The board of trustees is composed of G. G. Hunter, J. S. Carter, H. C. Summers; C. C. Burch is clerk and W. A. Barker is marshal. The town of Amo bears the appearance of prosperity and will in all probabilities have a marked growth in the next few years. The incorporation has been a good thing for the town and the business men have planned to make the most of it.
The First National Bank, of Amo, was organized on January 20, 1906, by John Kendall and others. J. N. Phillips was the first president of the bank ; H. C. Summers, the first vice-president; John Kendall, cashier; W. H. White and E. B. Owen, second and third vice-presidents. The capital stock is $25,000, the deposits amounted to $88,168 and the surplus is $5,000. The present officers are as follows: E. B. Owen, president; George W. Christie, vice-president ; J. N. Phillips, cashier ; Milber Kendall, assistant cashier. This bank opened for business on July 23, 1906.
Amo Lodge No. 701, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has a present membership of over one hundred. The lodge was instituted in 1899. Amo Tribe No. 503, Improved Order of Red Men, has seventy-five members.
RENO.
Reno is a small village located in Clay township on section 30. The village originated with the building of the Indiana & St. Louis railroad, now the Big Four, in 1870. The official plat of the village was recorded on December 10, 1870. The town in 1914 is exceedingly small and with no industrial activity.
HADLEY.
23.
The village of Hadley, in Clay township, is a railroad station on section The official plat was recorded March 28, 1872.
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
COATESVILLE.
It is unfortunate that more of the early history of the town of Coates- ville is not obtainable. Even the official plat of the town has been lost. The town, however, was orginated sometime in the late sixties and quickly be- came a prosperous community. The town, by the census of 1910, had a population of four hundred and seventy-two people, but this is conceded to have grown to nearly six hundred in 1914.
The town was incorporated in the year 1909 and the present officers are : Trustees, Marvin Hunt, R. C. Knight and James Davidson; clerk, Clarence Shortridge; marshal, O. E. McCammick. The town is supplied with elec- tricity from the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction Company.
The business houses and residences of the town of Coatesville are at- tractive and orderly, in fact, to the visitor the town presents an aspect of civic pride and a progressive community. Everything is modern, the streets are well cared for and trade is excellent. The citizens claim that there is not a poor merchant in the town. A new high school was constructed in 19II and is a model of its kind.
The Coatesville Bank was organized in May, 1902, by Messrs. Beck, Moffet and Reeds. It was reorganized in 1906 as the First National Bank, commencing business on January 1, 1907. The first officers were: W. T. Beck, president ; F. P. Moffett, vice-president and James M. Reeds, cashier. The first capital stock was $6,000, the present capital is $25,000, with $125,000 in deposits and $8,500 surplus. W. T. Beck is the president in 1914; Jesse Masten, vice-president, and C. D. Knight, cashier. The bank was chartered in 1906.
Coatesville Lodge No. 357, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was or- ganized November 27, 1870, with the following first members: Joel T. Tin- der, Wallace Snowden, William Lakin, William Newkirk, Alva W. San- ders. There are now one hundred and twenty-five members.
Coatesville Lodge No. 391, Knights of Pythias, has one hundred and twenty members.
Coatesville Lodge No. 695, Free and Accepted Masons, has fifty-three members.
CHAPTER VII.
EEL RIVER TOWNSHIP.
TOPOGRAPHY.
Eel River township is in the extreme northwest corner of Hendricks county. It is bounded on the north by Boone county, on the east by Union and Center townships, on the south by Marion township, on the west by Putnam and Montgomery counties. The natural drainage of the most of this township is excellent; the east and west sides are rather flat and not adequately drained by the streams, although the farmers have at this time pro- vided artificial means which remedy this deficiency. In the southwest corner of this township are found many high elevations, some of the hills below the juncture of Rock Branch and Eel River rising one hundred feet above the bed of the stream and now covered with a luxuriant second growth of tim- ber. Five good-sized streams enter the township near the southwest corner, merging into Eel river. The picturesqueness of these stream valleys, the rich, wooded banks rising from them and the well-arranged farm lands lying behind, supplies beauty of landscape unequaled in the county. It is the garden sport of Hendricks. The land in this locality is uniformly good and is well adapted to any kind of cultivation.
The Ben-Hur division of the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern line crosses the northeast corner of this township.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
In the spring of 1824 the first white settlers came to Eel River town- ship. They were Noah Bateman and Reuben Claypool and they located a mile south of North Salem. They were followed in the fall of that year by John Claypool and John S. Woodward. Among the others who located in this township, previous to 1830, were James Trotter, Henry Bales, J. and Martha Page, John P. Benson, Robert Covey. Enoch Davis and his sons, William, Frank and Jesse, William Dewitt, Dr. Collins, Andrew Clifton,
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
James Campbell, Mr. Crum and the Penningtons. John Benson built the first mill in the county on Rock Branch in the year 1826. This structure lasted but a few years when Mr. Crum built a mill on Eel River, not far from the site of the former mill. About the year 1830 a distillery was started near Crum's mill. This was the first in the county.
The date of the organization was somewhere near the year 1828, four years after the organization of the county.
THE BOULDER CLUB.
The citizens of Eel River, at an early date, passed what was known as a "stay law," in defense of their property, which was often taken and sold by the constable. Whenever the constable advertised any property for sale the club would meet on the night before and carry a number of boulders which they piled on the ground as a notice to the constable not to offer the property for sale.
FIRST ELECTION.
The first general election held in Eel River township was on August 7, 1826. The men who voted at this election were Abel Pennington, Lewis Benson, Jacob Shoemaker, William Turner, Jacob Crum, A. Jones, James. Fowler, Jesse Turner, John Warker, Hampton Pennington, Daniel Turner, John Woodward, John Turner, David Evans, Edward Turner, William Hin- ton, David Claypool, WV. Jones, Christian Hartman, John Fowler, Noah Bateman, Y. L. Huggs, John Claypool, Alva Benson, Little Huggs and Will- iam Fowler.
THE TOWNSHIP TODAY.
To describe Eel River township of today the same words used in the account of the other civil divisions might be used. The township has no large settlements, but has developed in agricultural lines during the past score of years until now it occupies a marked position in the county. The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton railroad traverses the township, east and west, near the center and the Peoria division of the Big Four and the Ben-Hur interurban line cross near the north part of the township, providing direct intercourse with the chief markets of the state. The schools have grown and become modern in every respect, following the new thought of consolidation. The people of the township have directed a large part of their efforts to the betterment of the roads. The old dirt road, with its sloughs and dangerous
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
holes, has been replaced by excellent gravel and macadam highways. The farms are cultivated according to the latest practices employed over the country and along with care for proper cultivation has become a pride in the appearance of the field, the equipment and the residence. Many a farm home viewed by the traveler in Eel River township is impressive and suitable for the largest cities.
NORTH SALEM.
North Salem is the only village in Eel River township. It was laid out in 1835 by John and David Claypool and John S. Woodward. The town has always been a prosperous one, even from the beginning, a new life having been given by the building of the railroad, now the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad. The United States census report for 1910 gives the popu- lation of North Salem as five hundred and sixty-nine, which number had grown proportionately larger in the past five years.
The place was incorporated as a town in May, 1899, and town officers elected. The offices in 1914 are filled as follows : Trustees, J. H. Page, Harry Seaton and Harry Dean: clerk, Smith Davis; marshal, Virgil Robbins. About ten years ago the town installed an acetylene plant, for residence and street lighting. This public utility was recently improved and enlarged and is now worth four thousand dollars.
The North Salem Bank was organized in 1891 by Pritchard & Son, of Illinois, and in 1893 the business was purchased by the present owners and has since been controlled by home people. C. W. Davis is president of the bank, G. B. Davis, cashier, and J. B. Fleece, assistant cashier. The average deposits amount to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
North Salem Lodge No. 142, Free and Accepted Masons, was chartered on May 25, 1853, and was the first secret order in the town. This lodge is in good condition now and has a membership of ninety.
North Salem Lodge No. 158, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was chartered on April 15, 1865, with the following first members: William Adair, John S. Woodward, James White, John M. Hensley, James Shakles and H. W. Hackley. This lodge today has a membership of one hundred and fifty-eight.
North Salem Lodge No. 291, Knights of Pythias, has at present sixty- five members. This lodge was organized about ten years ago.
Joe Fleece Post No. 383, Grand Army of the Republic, at North Salem, was mustered, in September, 1884, with ten charter members. This post is not active at the present time.
CHAPTER VIII.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
- -
TOPOGRAPHY.
In the extreme southwest corner of the county is located Franklin town- ship, containing parts of township 14 north, ranges 1 and 2 west. It is bounded on the north by Clay township, on the east by Liberty, on the south by Morgan and Putnam counties, and on the west by Putnam county. The soil level is comparatively flat in the northwestern and southeastern portions. but in the central part it assumes a rolling character. Mill creek and its tribu- taries drain the township in the central and west and Mud creek drains the southeastern part. These streams are small but of great value to the land. For cultivation the soil of Franklin township is unsurpassed in Hendricks county, especially for corn. It has a rich, alluvial quality, free from sand and alkali, and is of high productiveness.
EARLY SETTLEMENT AND EVENTS.
Judge Nathan Kirk was the first settler in the township of Franklin. In 1820 he located on Mill creek, where it was crossed by the old Terre Haute trail, and in this place he kept a sort of tavern, a resting place for the weary traveler. Jeremiah Stiles, the founder of Stilesville, was the next settler of whom there is any account. He came in 1823. He was followed shortly by the following: John Swart, John and Isaac Wilcox, John Eslin- ger, David Orsborn and Jacob Reese.
The date of the organization of the township is in doubt, but it is certain that it was very shortly after the organization of the county. Jere Stiles was the first justice of the peace. Samuel Wicks was the first merchant in the township, in Stilesville, which had been laid off in 1830, and Doctor Mahan was the first physician.
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
FIRST ELECTION.
At Stilesville, on August 1, 1831, was held the first general election of the township. Forty voters were registered on the poll books. Their names follow : William Shipley, Jonathan Sparks, Joseph Petty, Jacob Reese, Jere- miah Stiles, James Kelly, John Brown, George H. Keller, George Morris, George Hancock, Henry Reese, William Thomas, Peter Pearson, Thomas Wood, Edward Shipley, Samuel Wick, Daniel Austin, Lorenzo D. Cleghorn, James Walls, Isaac Odle, William Scott, Charles Smith, Silas Rustin, Will- iam Wilcox, Absalom Snoddy, Samuel Gerber, Monroe Cleghorn, Joseph Cleghorn, William Snoddy, James Pritchett, Eli Lee. Frederick Cosner, William Becknell, Joshua Rustin, James Bray, James Wiece, John Hancock, Silas Bryant, Nicholas Osborn and Garry Morris.
The vote at this election was counted by James Walls and Silas Bryant, as judges, with Thomas Wood and John Hancock as clerks, and Jeremiah Stiles as inspector.
Until the election of 1856 Franklin township was very strongly Whig in sentiment, then became Republican. The Democrats have recently be- come the strongest party in the township.
THE TOWNSHIP IN 1914.
To give a proper description of the present Franklin township would require much more space than is available here. In a word, the township has become one of the best in the county and her institutions, schools, churches, commercial activities, etc., have grown rapidly in the past twenty years or so. Railroad facilities are poor in this township and the chief town, Stilesville, is entirely removed from the steel lines of transit. Noth- withstanding this deficiency, the excellent roads and the automobile have en- abled the farmer and business man to maintain adequate communication with the rest of the county. And, too, the telephone, both local and long distance, have been a great factor in the growth of Franklin township.
STILESVILLE.
Stilesville was laid off as a village in 1828 and a small settlement start- ed. The opening of the national road through this county, in 1830, passing directly through Stilesville, made the town of some importance in the early day, but now the place has been forced to the rear by the absence of either
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
railroad or interurban line. Passengers are transferred to Amo, four miles northeast, in order to reach the steel lines.
At first, Stilesville was a stopping place for emigrants bound for the West and it became quite popular. The town has since kept pace with modern progress and now presents a neat and attractive appearance. It is not an incorporated town. Among the new features of the town is the new high school building, constructed in 1912 at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. Good accommodations may be secured in Stilesville ; in fact, in most respects it has overcome the handicap of being without railroad facilities.
The Citizens State Bank was organized in the year 1913 by a stock com- pany. It succeeded the bank owned by E. R. Robards. The first officers were John E. Hicks, president; B. W. Anderson, vice-president; Chester G. Pike, cashier. These officers are the same now, except the office of vice-presi- dent, which is filled by Charles W. Robards. The bank was chartered May 27, 1913. The capital stock is $25,000; the deposits, $65,000 and surplus, $2,200.
Larabee Lodge No. 131, Free and Accepted Masons, was organized at Stilesville in May, 1852. This lodge is still in existence and has good sup- port, having sixty-five members.
Stilesville Lodge No. 538, Independent Order of Odd. Fellows, was organized fifteen years ago, and now has one hundred and twenty-five members.
Enoch Alexander Post No. 265, Grand Army of the Republic, at Stiles- ville, was mustered in the fall of 1833 with thirteen charter members. This post is not active at the present time, many of the comrades having passed away.
CHAPTER IX.
GUILFORD TOWNSHIP.
TOPOGRAPHY.
Guilford township is situated in the southeast corner of Hendricks county ; is bounded on the north by Washington township, on the east by Marion county, on the south by Morgan county and on the west by Liberty township. White Lick creek flows through the central portion, the East fork thereof and Clark's creek through the east side, and the West fork of White Lick, with a small tributary, across the west side. This network of streams supplies perhaps the best natural drainage system of any township in the county. The water adds greatly to the value of the land also; the uplands are rolling and the stream valleys are fertile and of high productive quality. Walnut, poplar and maple timber was at one time thick over this township, but this has been reduced by the encroachments of agriculture to a very small per cent. of the original.
SETTLEMENT.
Guilford township was the first in the county to be entered by white settlers. This was in the year 1820. In that year Samuel Herriman, James Dunn, Bat Ramsey, Harris Bay, John W. Bryant and George Moore settled on White Lick, south of Plainfield, near the Morgan county line. Here they set up their cabins, cleared ground and raised a few small crops of corn and potatoes. In the spring of 1821 Noah Kellum, Thomas Lockhart, Mr. Plummer and Felix Balzer settled on the East fork, and Matthew Lowder, Jesse Hockett and Robert Tomlinson on White Lick, south of Plainfield. In the spring of . 1822 Jeremiah Hadley, Jonathan Hadley and David Carter settled on adjoining lands on the hills immediately east of the present town of Plainfield and were the first to locate in that neighborhood. In the same year James Downard settled on the state farm. In 1824 Guilford township contained more people than all the other townships combined. The Friends were the majority of the early settlers and to this day this religious denom-
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HENDRICKS COUNTY, INDIANA.
ination is strong in the township. The civil division was named in honor of Guilford county, North Carolina, by Samuel Jessup, due to the fact, doubt- less, that a large number of the emigrants came from that place.
FIRST ELECTIONS.
Samuel Jessup was the first justice of the peace in Guilford township and in Hendricks county. He was elected in the autumn of 1822, under the jurisdiction of Morgan county, to which Hendricks county was attached for two years for judicial purposes before its organization. Mr. Jessup was elected by the first political campaign in the county. John and Samuel Jessup, on East fork, were also candidates, and Gideon Wilson, near Shiloh. There were fifteen voters below and eight in Wilson's vicinity. A caucus was held in the Fairfield neighborhood, and it was found that there would be no election if all the candidates remained in the field, and as Samuel had the most votes it was decided that John should withdraw from the race, which he did, and Samuel was chosen.
The poll book of the first general election held in Guilford township, on August 7, 1826, at the house of John Jessup, gives a list of forty-two voters, which is manifestly incomplete, namely: Timothy Jessup, Thomas Lock- hart, James McClure, John White, Noah Kellum, Isaac Sanders, Harmon Hiatt, Adin Ballard, Benjamin Sanders, Henry Bland, Robert Tomlinson, Joseph Chandler, John Hiatt, Elihu Jackson, Joseph Ballard, Charles Rey- nolds, Pratt W. Jessup, Joseph Jessup, Joel Jessup, John Hawkins, Lee Jessup, Abijah Pinson, John Jessup, Joseph P. Jessup, Levi Cook, Henry Reynolds, Timothy H. Jessup, James C. Tomlinson, Joseph Cloud. John Lemon, John Carson, David Stutesman, James Ritter, William Merritt, Solomon Edmundson, John Ballard, David Ballard, Robert Lemon, Joseph Hiatt, Jesse Kellum, Thomas R. Ballard and John Harris. Guilford town- ship has always been Republican in politics, following from the support of the Whig party.
GUILFORD IN 1914.
Because of the location of Plainfield, the second town in the county, Guilford township is perhaps next to the leading, if not the leading, civil division in the county. It has the advantage in not only having a good population, but in having exceptional land, rich and fertile, and capable of producing record crops. The farmers are of the best class in the state and are all in a prosperous condition. The appearance of the farms, the buildings
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