USA > Indiana > Hendricks County > History of Hendricks County, Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 7
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and the residences is the strongest testimony to this fact. Much attention has been given to the roads of the township. Gravel highways, and many macadamized, form a network over the division. Two railroads and two interurban lines cross the county, all going into Indianapolis.
PLAINFIELD.
The town of Plainfield is the second town in the county in size. It was laid out by Elias Hadley and Levi Jessup in the year of 1839. Thomas Worth built the first frame house in the town and Worth & Brothers were the first merchants.
In 1839 Plainfield was incorporated as a town, and the officers of the election made the following report :
"We, the undersigned president and clerk chosen and qualified accord- ing to law, do hereby certify that we did, on the morning of the 25th of May, 1839, lay off the said town into five districts, to-wit: That the town lots lying east of Center street and north of the national road shall be known as the first district ; that the lots lying east of Center street south of the national road shall be known as the second district; that the lots lying between Center and Mills street south of the national road, shall be known as the third district ; that the town lots lying between Center and Mills streets, north of the national road, shall be known as the fourth district; and that the town lots lying west of Mills street shall be known as the fifth district.
"And we do further certify that David G. Worth, Eli K. Caviness, James M. Long, Andrew Prather and James M. Blair were duly elected trustees of the town of Plainfield according to law.
"DAVID G. WORTH, President.
"Attest : ISAAC OSBORN, Clerk."
At this election the following twenty-three persons voted: Daniel Bar- ker, David G. Worth, M. G. Taylor, David Barker, Jesse Hocket, James M. Blair, A. C. Logan, A. Prather, Luther Sikes, James M. Long, James T. Downard, Eli K. Caviness, M. G. Corlew, Joel Hodgin, Muling Miller, Thomas J. Worth, Benjamin Lawrence, David Phillips, V. C. Gitchens, John Shelley, Isaac Osborn, Isaac Holton and William Osborn. These were among the prominent first settlers of the town of Plainfield. This incorporation charter was later given up, due to unsuccessful attempts at town government. Township rule was considered to be the best. However, on June 25, 1904, the town of Plainfield was again incorporated as a town. In the second in-
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corporation the first officers were: M. M. Fraser, J. A. Johnson and John L. Gunn, trustees; Charles R. Harvey, clerk; Jacob Wickliff, marshal. The present town officers are as follows: Joseph Pruitt. Charles Harvey and E. E. Watson, trustees; R. M. Hadley, clerk and treasurer; Frank Fields, marshal.
The Plainfield water works is a municipally-owned plant, built in 1913, at a cost of eighteen thousand dollars. Electricity is supplied by the Danville Light, Heat and Power Company.
THE PRESENT TOWN.
The town of Plainfield had a population in 1910 of one thousand three hundred and three. The town has the appearance of a much larger city; the residences are commodious and of pleasing architecture and the business section has the air of prosperity and civic excellence. The town is reached by the Vandalia and the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern lines and much commercial and social intercourse is held with the city of Indianapolis and other towns on the lines.
The Citizens' State Bank of Plainfield was organized in 1889 by George W. Bell. It was chartered in that year and in 1909 this charter was renewed. The first officers of the bank were: Harlan Hadley, president; John A. Miles, vice-president ; George W. Bell, cashier. William Lewis, Ezra H. Cox, T. F. Roberts, David Hadley and John R. Weer were associated with the institution. The present officers are: John L. Gunn, president; John M. Brown, vice-president; Emil B. Mills, cashier; Ralph B. Hornaday, assistant cashier. The capital stock is $25,000; deposits, $145,000; surplus and un- divided profits, $30,000.
Plainfield Lodge No. 286, Free and Accepted Masons, was organized October 21, 1862, with the following officers: Amos Easterling, worshipful master; Caleb Easterling, senior warden; Amos Alderson, junior warden; Madison Osborn, secretary; Carey Regan, treasurer; N. Y. Parsons, senior deacon; William D. Cooper, junior deacon; Thomas Powell, tyler. This lodge is now Plainfield Lodge No. 653, and has a good membership.
McCarty Lodge No. 233, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Plain- field, is over forty years old. They now have a membership of one hundred and sixty.
Plainfield Lodge No. 50. Knights of Pythias, has a membership of two hundred and is very prosperous.
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There is also a tribe of the Improved Order of Red Men and a camp of the Modern Woodmen of America in the town.
Virgil H. Lyon Post No. 186, Grand Army of the Republic, at Plain- field, was chartered June 11, 1883, with forty members. This post is not active at the present time, due to the decease of so many members.
PLAINFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The Plainfield library is a partial realization of the dreams and desires of some of the women of Plainfield. Feeling the need of such an institution in the town and believing an honest effort to establish such a means of direct- ing and cultivating the literary tastes of the young and satisfying the de- mands of the old would be rewarded by success, the Woman's Reading Club asked the local Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Friday Club to enter into an association for the above purpose. A corporation was formed and a board of trustees appointed. With these organizations as charter mem- bers, the association membership was increased by adding the name of any person in the township who gave a dollar or more in money or books. Dona- tions in both were solicited, with the result that in a short time the library opened with about four hundred volumes and money to buy more.
The opening took place in June, 1901, and work began in a front room of a private residence on Main street, with Mrs. Edward Lawrence as librar- ian. She served until the fall of 1903, when failing health compelled her to resign, and she was succeeded by Miss Melissa Carter.
THE INDIANA BOYS' SCHOOL.
Just a mile from Plainfield is located the Indiana Boys' School. It is a beautiful place, well kept, and an admirable home for the class of boys sent within its grounds. This school was established by the Legislature of Indiana in 1867, under the name of "The House of Refuge for Juvenile Offenders." In 1883 this name was changed to "The Indiana Reform School for Boys," and in 1903 to the present title, "The Indiana Boys' School." The institution is governed by a bi-partisan board of control of four members appointed by the governor for a term of four years. The present board is: Harry T. Schloss, president; Joseph B. Homan, of Danville, vice-president; Guy H. Humphreys, treasurer, and George Webster, Jr., secretary. Guy C. Hanna is superintendent of the institution.
Boys are received on commitments from the courts of the state between
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the ages of eight and seventeen. On a general charge of incorrigibility or delinquency, boys are received between ten and seventeen and on a criminal charge between eight and sixteen. All boys are retained here until they reach the age of twenty-one years, unless sooner released by the board of control under general rules. At present these rules are such that with good conduct a boy may gain his release on parole in eighteen months. The aver- age time is a little under two years. Boys may be returned to the institution at any time for the violation of their parole while under twenty-one years of age. A statute proposed by the executive officers of the institution was enacted by the Legislature of 1913, giving the board of control the right to finally discharge any boy over the age of eighteen years. Under this law six hundred and one boys already on parole have been discharged.
The present number of inmates, which has remained nearly stationary for the past year, is about five hundred and sixty. One hundred of these are colored boys. The institution had, four years ago, six hundred and ninety- nine boys. The falling off has been due to the overcrowded condition of the school and the pressure exerted on the courts to hold boys out as long as possible.
The ordinary capacity of the institution is four hundred and twenty- six. A new building for housing purposes, Washington Barracks, is now under construction and will accommodate eighty boys. It will replace an old building. A new school house is being constructed also, named Charlton school, in honor of Major T. J. Charlton, superintendent of the school for twenty-one years. The institution is supported entirely by direct appropria- tion from the Legislature. In 1910 the total maintenance cost was $113,- 284.74; in 1911, $107, 164.81 ; in 1912, $102,224.63 ; in 1913, $100,583.66.
The purpose of the institution is the reformation of criminal and incorri- gible boys. School is maintained the year round. The course covers the eight grades of the common school system. Two graduations are held each year, spring and fall. Sixteen boys were graduated in September, 1913. During the twelve months each grade is given a two-weeks vacation out of doors. A director of music and a physical director are included in the teach- ing force. The schools are in charge of a school principal, who is an exper- ienced school man.
The institution maintains the following shops and trades: Manual training, printing, carpenter, blacksmith, shoe shop, plumbing, tinshop, bak- ery, laundry, barber, tailor, paint shop, florist, farm and garden and tele- graphy. All the furniture of the institution is built at the manual training
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shop. The printing office does all of the job work for the institution and issues monthly and weekly publications. The ordinary repairs of the institu- tion are kept up by the carpenter, painting, plumbing, blacksmith and tin- smith forces. The garden produces a large variety of vegetables for the in- stitution's use. An orchard of twenty-five acres produces five thousand bushels of apples yearly. These are all consumed by the boys. The farm, of three hundred acres, produces all the feed used by the institution and a large quantity of wheat per year, which is milled into flour. This year's crop of wheat amounted to over eighteen hundred bushels and last year's corn crop to five thousand bushels.
The institution owns five hundred and twenty-seven acres of land and has fifty-four buildings. The place is heated by steam and is lighted by elec- tricity produced at the institution's central power plant. It has its own water works system, equipped with fine, pure water wells pumped by electric pumps. The power plant also supplies steam for cooking and for the steam laundry. It has a capacity for nine hundred horse power.
The officers, including everybody employed, number sixty. These are all appointed by the superintendent and are subject to dismissal at his pleas- ure. The present board of control started two years ago, with the erection of the new chapel, to gradually rebuild the entire institution. The plan of housing in the future will include barracks, cottages and buildings, with single rooms for the boys.
CENTRAL ACADEMY.
The first school taught in the Central Academy at Plainfield was in 1881-2. This school was originated and supported by four quarterly meet- ings of the Friends' church, Plainfield, Fairfield, White Lick and Danville, until the year 1912, when the support of the school was transferred to the Plainfield quarterly meeting alone. It is a commissioned high school with a four-year course, having now thirty pupils and three teachers, including Simon N. Hester, the principal. The old building was burned in 1905 and in the next year a new one was constructed at a cost of ten thousand dollars. The first building was a two-story brick, with four rooms above and one below; the new one is the same, with the addition of a basement.
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CHAPTER X.
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP.
TOPOGRAPHY.
Liberty township is the middle division of the three southern townships, being bounded on the north by Center and Washington townships, on the east by Guilford, on the south by Morgan county and on the west by Franklin and Clay. There are nearly forty-nine square miles within the area, in townships 14 and 15 north, range I east and I west. It is the largest of the twelve townships in the county.
The ground level in the north and east parts is high and rolling, while the southwestern part at one time was low and swamp, but is now made into valuable land by the judicious system of drainage established. West fork of White Lick crosses the northeast corner of the township and Mud creek rises in the north central part and passes out near the southwestern corner, thus affording adequate outlots for successful drainage of the township.
EARLY LIFE.
About two miles east of the present town of Belleville, on the West fork of White Lick, in October, 1822, the first settlement was made in the town- ship by William and Thomas Hinton, James Thompson and Robert Mc- Cracken. William Pope and his son, James N., who was then sixteen years old, came in the spring of 1823, which year also brought into the township George Matlock, James R. Barlow, Samuel Hopkins, William Brown, Will- iam Ballard, David Demoss, John Cook, Moses Crawford, John Hanna, Thomas Cooper, George Coble and Jonathan Pitts. William Hinton was the first teacher in the township and county, in the fall of 1823, in a school house which had been built that fall, one-half mile south of Cartersburg. Thomas Hinton was the first justice of the peace and William Pope, a Baptist minis- ter, did the first preaching. He organized the first Baptist church in Hen- dricks county, in his own home, in the late months of the year 1823.
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The first brick dwelling house in the county was built in 1830 for Jesse Cook, just south of Belleville, by Joseph V. Pope and William Hinton. The act authorizing the organization of Hendricks county designated the house of William Ballard, which was on the old Terre Haute trail, south of Belle- ville, as the place of holding the courts, but William Ballard died before the county was formally organized and George Matlock, who kept tavern on this trail a mile east of Ballard's, laid off a town which he called Hillsboro, and made a strong effort to get the county seat located there. He failed in this and met his death in 1825 as the result of a combat with his brother-in-law. Consequently, the Hillsboro project was a failure.
A PIONEER'S VIEW.
Joshua Marshall, one of the earlier settlers of Liberty township, wrote the following prior to his death, of his experience in coming to this new country :
"In the autumn of 1826 my father, William Marshall, of Surrey county, North Carolina, emigrated to Indiana and settled in the south part of Hen- dricks county, I being then in my nineteenth year. Evan Davis, my brother- in-law, with his family, came at the same time and settled nearby. At that time most of the land belonged to the government and settlements were scattering. We frequently went as far as five miles to help each other raise our log cabins and stables. A few settlers had preceded us, Edward and Joseph Hobson, William Rushton, John Cook, and sons, Levi, Jesse and Stephen, with their families, Edmond Cooper, Jefferson Matlock, Rev. Will- iam Pope, Thomas Irons, Judge Little, William Herron, William Townsend, Joshua Hadley, Bowater Bales and others.
"Not having saw mills, we felled a tall gray ash and cut it into four by six lengths, split out puncheons, dressed the ends to a uniform thickness and then laid them on sleepers. They were jointed with saw and ax and made a good floor. We split out clapboards for roofing and door shutters. We had plenty of elbow room and were anxious for our neighbors to help build our cabins and roll logs so as to get them out of the way, in order to raise a little corn for our bread and to feed our stock. We were mostly poor, yet con- tented, and looked forward to better days and more conveniences. We were all neighborly and kind to each other.
"Danville had been laid out into lots and a few cabins were being built. David Matlock and others had settled nearby and were opening farms. Religious privileges were scarce, not a church or school house, to my knowl-
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edge, being then in the county. The Friends had formed a society and wor- shipped in a log house near Mooresville, in Morgan county. Rev. Pope, a Baptist minister, then living near where Cartersburg now is, preached fre- quently in his own house to attentive, though small, audiences; and we were glad thus to meet, hear preaching, and form each other's acquaintance. In the spring of 1829 Joseph Tarkington, a Methodist minister, established a preaching place at the house of Edmond Cooper, then residing on Mud creek, at the crossing of the Indianapolis and Terre Haute road (Terre Haute trail), and there a class was formed of six members, Evan and Rebecca Davis, Mother Cooper and two daughters and Hannah Snodgrass. Shortly after this, in June, 1829, at a two-days' meeting held in Putnam county, I joined the church and invited Rev. John Murser to come to Hendricks county and preach at my house. At the appointed time he came, and seven joined the church. Three weeks later he came again, and seven more joined. Thus a society was formed in the settlement where Salem church now stands. In August of the same year Evan Davis, Father Crutchfield, Bowater Bales, myself and others commenced work on a hewed-log church, which was raised in the presence of an 'assembled multitude.' About this time Evan Davis built a saw mill on White Lick and there we had our lumber sawed out for flooring and seating. Evan Davis was class leader and I was assistant. By Christmas there were seventy-five members. In the summer of 1884 I visited Salem church and found the old log church had been removed and in its stead was a beautiful frame building, nicely painted and finished inside and out. Nearby stood a handsome brick school house. Surely this wilderness has 'budded and blossomed like the rose.'"
Could Mr. Marshall view the Liberty township of today, thirty years after his visit, he would learn that this was but the beginning of the prosperity and beauty of the community.
EARLY ELECTIONS.
There were thirty-nine voters in the general election held in Liberty township on August 2, 1830. The names follow: Evan Davis, Joshua Marshall, Jacob Harper, Abraham Woodward, Lewis Cooper, Samuel Gwin, Thomas Cooper, Edmond Cooper, Cornelius Cooper, George Dawes, William Rushton, George Rushton, John Cook, Jonathan Mills, William Allen, James Hewett, Michael Kirkum, Jesse Allen, William Marshall, William Korby, Nathan Snodgrass, Joshua Rushton, Joel Wilson, Silas Gregory, Bowater
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Bales, Cornelius Johnson, Jesse Rushton, Joshua B. Hadley, Robert Cooper, John Mills, Thomas Harper, William Townsend, Nathan Cook, Robert H. Irvin, Silas Rushton, Martin Cooper, Eli Moon and Jesse Whippo.
The Whig and Republican tickets have always been predominant in Liberty township.
CLAYTON.
On sections 33 and 34, in the northwestern part of Liberty township, the town of Clayton is located. It was platted in the year 1851 by George W. Wills and contains about eleven acres, which tract was purchased from Elizabeth Wills. The first name of the town was Claysville, in honor of Henry Clay, the Kentucky statesman. However, the name was changed to Clayton because there was another town in Indiana having the former name.
The first house in Clayton was constructed by Thomas Potts and the second by Lewis T. Pounds, both of them being frame structures. The first store was opened by Parker & Foote, the second by Richard and James Wor- rel and the third by Morrison & Thomas, near the year 1852. The first hotel was built by George W. Wills and operated by Ephraim Hartsuck. The first justice of the peace was Amos S. Wills, elected in 1852. The first flouring mill was built in 1852 by John Miles and James Worrel.
THE PRESENT TOWN.
The population of Clayton in 1910 was four hundred and ninety-seven, which has grown to six hundred since. On March 16, 1909, the town was incorporated as a town. The present town officers are: R. L. Ader, W. A. Coble and S. E. Edmondson, trustees; Alvin Woodward, clerk; Lorenzo D. Johnson, treasurer; Lee H. Smiley, marshal.
Electric service is supplied Clayton by the Danville Light, Heat and Power Company, and includes street and residence lighting. Lorenzo Mabe has control of the water system, under contract whereby under certain condi- tions the city will get the ownership in a number of years. Fire plugs are placed at advantageous points in the town.
The Clayton of today is a prosperous, progressive and beautiful little city. Trade is excellent among the business houses and the social life of the town is of high standard. Good communication is available by way of the railroad or interurban to the capital city and other towns in the southern part of the county.
The People's Bank and Trust Company was organized in June, 1912,
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by the citizens of Liberty township. R. A. Edmondson was the first presi- dent; C. E. Kelly, secretary; Amos L. Mitchell, vice-president; R. A. Ed- mondson, Amos L. Mitchell, Charles B. Worrell, William Peck, W. F. Mar- tin and Charles West, directors. The present officers are the same. The capital stock is $25,000. The bank was chartered on June 11, 1912.
The Clayton State Bank was organized in 1912 by Albert Johnson & Company. Albert Johnson was the first president; J. C. Walker, the first vice-president, and L. D. Johnson, the first cashier. The office of vice-presi- dent at present has no incumbent. The bank was chartered in 1912.
Clayton Lodge No. 463, Free and Accepted Masons, was organized on May 29, 1873, with the following charter members: John Harrison, James H. Rynearson, William E. Howland, Thomas F. Dryden, Nelson Sowder, Amos S. Wills, John N. Wills and W. C. Mitchell. The first officers, ap- pointed by the grand lodge at Indianapolis, were: Amos S. Wills, worship- ful master; James H. Rynearson, senior warden, and Thomas F. Dryden, junior warden. The lodge at present is in good condition and has a mem- bership of over a hundred.
Clayton Lodge No. 205, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was or- ganized in 1859 at Belleville and in recent years moved to this town. The lodge is in good condition and has one hundred and twenty-five members.
BELLEVILLE.
Next to Danville and Stilesville, Belleville is the oldest town in the county. It was laid out by William H. Hinton, Lazarus B. Wilson and Obadiah Harris in 1829. The construction of the national road through the village, which soon followed, greatly stimulated its growth and it increased rapidly in population. It soon became the social and educational center of the county. But, with the completion of the Indianapolis & Terre Haute railroad, in 1850, passing more than a mile north of the village, the town of Belleville began to retrograde and now is but a very small village of one hundred and fifty people.
The first house was built by William H. Hinton, who also kept the first store.
Belleville Lodge No. 205, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized in April, 1859, by John O. Gilliland, Dr. L. H. Kennedy, James T. McCurdy, Z. S. Reagan and Dr. R. C. Moore. This lodge has since been moved to Clayton, a mile north.
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CARTERSBURG.
On section 31, in the northeast corner of Liberty township, is situated the village of Cartersburg. The village owes its existence to the Vandalia railroad, the construction of which caused the village to be laid out in 1850 by John Carter, after whom it was named. The first lots were sold on January 1, 1850. Van Matlock and Simon Hornaday started the first store and soon established Cartersburg as a good trading point for produce. John Biddle later bought land and set up a store. In 1854 William H. Oliver bought land of Biddle, which lay north of the railroad, and laid the tract out in lots, which he offered for sale. He donated certain lots to the Methodist Episcopal church. Land was also bought on the south of the railroad in the John Carter farm and west of gravel road was laid off in lots. This gravel road is now the main street of Cartersburg.
The village of Cartersburg is perhaps one of the most beautiful spots in Hendricks county, due in no small measure to the orderly rows of stately trees which line the streets. Great care was exercised in the sixties to plant these trees and now the village is enjoying the benefits.
Belleville Lodge No. 65, Free and Accepted Masons, has a membership of forty in Cartersburg. Although small, the lodge is in good condition.
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