USA > Indiana > Huntington County > History of Huntington County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 18
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One of the first industries of the town was a sawmill built by a man named Savage for the purpose of sawing timber for the Wabash Railroad. Among the early settlers was Monroe Mahon, a brother of the proprietor, who built a fine residenee-at least fine for that day-in the grove on the north side of Main Street. He also established a grist mill and a distillery. At the distillery a great number of hogs were fattened and then shipped to market. The farmers in the neighborhood furnished the hogs, the distiller did the feeding and the profits were equally divided. Two men named Yahne and Smith were probably the first merehants. Their stock consisted largely of boat supplies. Mr. Neff was another early tradesman.
Roanoke and Mahon were rival towns for some years. The latter had an advantage in being located near a loek, which was always eon- sidered almost indispensable to the suceess of canal towns. It was more fortunate in securing industrial establishments and the old seminary, which brought quite a number of young men to the town as students. It is said that the detour of the Wabash Railroad around Roanoke was brought about by the influence of Mr. Mahon and the refusal of the Roanoke people to subsidize the road. Mahon was made a railroad station and for several years the people of Jackson Township were compelled to go there for goods shipped or to take passage on the trains. After the road was completed a large warehouse was built at Mahon by the railroad company and was conducted for some time by Samuel Mahon. With the decline of traffie on the canal, Mahon also deelined, and when the railroad company established a station for Roanoke the town received the final blow that put an end to its existence. The last residents of Mahon were a few seetion hands employed on the Wabash Railroad.
Elam Mahon, a son of Samuel and nephew of the founder of the town, was the last of the family to remain in Mahon. For some time after the eanal ceased to be adapted to heavy freighting, he owned and . operated a eanal boat that could be used only for light eargoes and for
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short hauls. He was somewhat fastidious in the matter of dress and always wore a "stove-pipe" hat, which was the admiration of the com- munity. His home was the center of hospitality and frequent were the entertainments there. It was in his house that the first piano ever brought to Jackson Township was seen, and anyone who could "get music" out of the instrument was a welcome visitor. The last business in which Elam Mahon was engaged here was in cutting the timber from his land and boating the logs to Fort Wayne, and in furnishing wood to the Huntington lime kilns. He finally went East and died soon after his departure from Huntington County.
MAKIN
Makin is a small hamlet in the eastern part of Warren Township, on the highway running from Huntington to North Manchester. Its begin- ning was a shoemaker's shop, which was established there soon after the first settlements were made in that locality. It has never been officially platted and at the present time its chief importance is as a neighborhood trading center. Mail is received by rural delivery from the postoffice at Bippus.
MARDENIS
About three miles east of Huntington, in Union Township, is a small station on the Wabash Railroad called Mardenis. It was first known as "Miner's Switch," and later as "Union Station." William Mardenis was appointed agent for the railroad company and put in a stock of goods in connection with his duties as agent, after which the place took his name. Mardenis has two grain elevators and considerable stock, hay and grain are shipped from that point. Rural routes supply the place with daily mail.
MARKLE
This is one of the old towns of Huntington County. It was laid out by Elias Murray, acting under power of attorney for Levi Beardsley and his wife Elizabeth, of Cherry Valley, Otsego County, New York, and the plat was filed for record on June 25, 1836, under the name of "Tracy." Some three years before that time a man named Tracy opened a store where the Town of Markle now stands, and, according to some authorities, divided his land into town lots, conferring upon the place his own name. His venture was evidently unsuccessful and the
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actual history of the town begins with the filing of the plat made by Mr. Murray. This plat shows ninety-two lots, each 5 by 10 perches, five streets running north and south and a like number running east and west. The north and south streets are Wabash, Wilts, Morse, Sparks and Curry, and those running back from the river are Sayler, Draper, Miller, Clark and Lee.
Although the town was laid out in 1836, it did not get beyond the paper stage for nearly fifteen years. Dr. Joseph Scott is credited with having built the first residence in the town in 1850. He was the first physician. A man named Haswell came in shortly after Doctor Scott and erected a large frame building-afterward occupied by Buffington & Casper-in which he opened a general store. Robert Allen started a blacksmith shop; John Nave was the first wagon maker; J. A. Michaels was the proprietor of the first shoe shop, and John Zimro the first carpenter.
William Chapman erected a three-story frame flour mill some time in the '50s. It was run by water power and was for several years considered one of the best mills of its kind in the county. It was purchased about 1885 by a man named King, who converted it into a roller mill. About 1855 or 1856 Amos Curry started a tanyard, and several sawmills have been operated at Markle at different times. When the Chicago & Erie Railroad was completed John Stults established a saw and planing mill and carried on a successful lumber business for a number of years.
With the completion of the railroad, Markle experienced a boom. Several additions were made to the town, the most important ones being North, Souers', Roush's, Allen's, Stults' and Seibold's. New merchants came in, a hotel, restaurants, livery stables, barber shops, an undertaker, a photograph gallery and other enterprises were added to the business community, and the population was about doubled within two years. It was about this time the town was incorporated under the name of Markle, the stone and lime industry began to be a prominent factor, a feed mill was established by Henry Mygrant, and Justice & Patterson engaged in the business of baling hay.
The Markle of today is one of the active towns of Huntington County. It has a bank, a creamery, a cement block factory, a telephone exchange of the Majenica Telephone Company, large stone and lime interests, a grain elevator, a wagon shop, a number of well stocked mercantile houses that handle all lines of goods, a money order post- office with three rural routes, three churches, well kept street, good side- walks, a $20,000 public school building, in which eight teachers are employed, and a number of neat residences. The population in 1910
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was 670. It is one of the best shipping points on the Erie Railway between Huntington and Geneva.
MILO
Milo is a small post-village in the extreme southern part of Jefferson Township, not far from the Grant County line. It is a station on the Clover Leaf Railroad and during the oil boom was a place of considerable activity. It has a general store and some minor business interests. No official plat of the town was ever filed in the county recorder's office.
MONUMENT CITY
In 1869 the people of Polk Township decided to erect a monument to the memory of the soldiers who enlisted from that township for service in the Civil war and sacrificed their lives upon their country's altar. The sum of $500 was raised by subscription and a neat marble shaft was erected near the north bank of the Salamonie River, not far from the center of the township. On this monument was inscribed the names of twenty-seven Polk Township boys, in whose honor the monu- ment was erected. About five or six years later Jacob Leedy, James Q. Pilcher and others laid out a town in Section 23, Township 27, Range 8, and Indian reservation No. 30, and as the new town is near the soldiers' monument it was given the name of Monument City. The plat shows eighteen lots, with Oak Street running east and west, and River Street running north and south as the principal thoroughfares. It was filed in the recorder's office on March 8, 1876.
The first business enterprise in Monument City was the sawmill of Weeks & Slyter, who also operated a general store for awhile. After a few years they disposed of the store, but continued to operate the sawmill for several years. G. W. Byram, Noah and Isaac Hildebrand, the Hallett Brothers and Jonas Calvert also sold goods at various times. William Armstrong started a blacksmith shop a year or two after the town was founded, and there have been a few other business concerns. Monument City is located in the heart of a fine agricultural region and is a good local trading point.
MOUNT ETNA
On November 12, 1839, William Delvin, surveyor, laid out for John Hefner the Town of Mount Etna in the southwest quarter of Section 31, Township 27, Range 9, in what is now the extreme southwest corner of Vol. 1-11
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Lancaster Township. In his survey Mr. Delvin delineated seventy-five lots, with Madison, Main and Huntington streets running north and south, and Warren, Charleston and South streets running east and west. There were also public square and a five acre out lot. Additions have since been made which extend the limits of the town into Polk, Wayne and Jefferson townships.
Mr. Hefner opened a hotel soon after the town was laid out, and the next business enterprise was probably the cabinet shop of William Watson, which was established in the early '40s. Michael Minnich, a carpenter and millwright, was among the early residents and assisted in building many of the first houses and Jacob Epley's mill, which was erected in 1848. The first store was opened by Clark Cubberly, about 1845, in a little log building fronting the public square. He was suc- ceeded by a man named Dorch, who put in a large and well selected stock of goods and did a thriving business for several years.
Other early business men were Samuel Swayzee, Henry Hildebrand, Frank Calvert, Samuel Brelsford, John Jeffrey, Thomas A. Gibb and Conrad Plasterer. Doctors Kersey, Mills, Wickersham, Beckford, Pal- mer and Bigelow were among the physicians who practiced in Mount Etna at an early date. Later Doctors Chenoweth and Mitchell were located there. For a number of years during the early history of the county, Mount Etna was an important trading point, but with the building of railroads much of its trade was attracted to other towns and some of its best professional men sought other fields.
About ten years after the close of the Civil war, the people of Mount Etna began to agitate the subject of street and other improvements, and a majority of the citizens voted to incorporate the town. The first board of trustees was composed of A. R. Large, Elam Purviance and John Bowman. John S. Martin was elected clerk and Samuel Fisher treasurer. After the incorporation the streets were graded, sidewalks laid and other improvements made, which placed Mount Etna among the desirable residence towns of the county. Although an incorporated town, the schools are a part of the Wayne Township school system.
At the present time Mount Etna is the principal trading point for a large district in the four townships in which it is situated. It has a telephone exchange, two churches, a money order postoffice, a public school building, a cement block factory, Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges, and the usual industries found in inland villages of its class. The population in 1910 was 148.
PLEASANT PLAIN
In the latter part of June, 1875, Levin and Mark R. Wright, Eli J. Scott, Samuel Satterthwaite and others employed James W. Gussman
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to lay out a town in the eastern part of sections 18 and 19, Township 26, Range 9, in the western part of Jefferson Township. On the original plat, which was filed for record on January 20, 1875, the north and south streets shown are Water, Church, Center and Oak, and the east and west streets are High, Scott, Main and Locust. The town was first known as Nixville, but the postoffice was named Pleasant Plain and in time the village came to be known by that name. Eli and Stephen Scott opened the first store and soon afterward Joseph Custer became a competitor. Much of the early prosperity of the village has departed, but it still has some local trade. The postoffice was discontinued some years ago and a rural route from Warren now supplies the people with mail every day. Rand & McNally give the population as 80 in 1910.
PLUM TREE -
Plum Tree, also once known as Yankee Town, is situated on the line between Rock Creek and Salamonie townships, three miles from the Wells County line. It is the outgrowth of a settlement formed there at an early day and takes its name from a large, wild plum tree. It was never officially platted. A postoffice was maintained here for many years, but it has been discontinued and the people now receive mail by rural carrier from Warren. The Methodists and Disciples established churches at Plum Tree at an early date. At the present time a general store and a blacksmith shop represent the business interests of the hamlet.
RACCOON VILLAGE
While the Wabash & Erie Canal was under construction in the early '30s, the State of Indiana gave a strip of ground twenty-four rods in width along the northwest side of the canal for a town. It was stipu- lated that each lot should contain two acres, laid off at right angles to the canal. Seventy-two lots were laid off, half of which were in Allen County and the other half in Huntington, hence, that part of the village in the latter county was in the northeast corner of Jackson Township. A number of lots were sold and the purchasers built upon them, but after the canal traffic ceased the town gradually died for want of adequate support. In June, 1897, Thomas Ruggles, then county surveyor of Huntington County, obtained the original plat from the state and reestab- lished the lines between the lots. Very few people in the county have any recollection of Raccoon Village, which took its name from an Indian village in the vicinity.
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ROANOKE
In 1845 Lemuel G. Jones built a sawmill on land leased from the state where Roanoke now stands. Two years later he added a grist mill. The records show that Jones sold the "Roanoke Mills" and his lease to Chapman & Horton on November 26, 1849, and that on February 1, 1850, George A. Chapman sold his interest to his partner, Theo. V. Horton, who became sole proprietor. Some years later Mr. Horton erected a large woolen mill, which for years was one of the leading industries of the county. A description of this mill may be found in the chapter on Finance and Industry.
COMMERCIAL ROW, ROANOKE, 1870
In the meantime Captain Columbia had erected a residence within the present limits of the town and a man named Bilby had opened a small store. After disposing of his interest in the mills, Mr. Chapman, who owned the land near the Dickey lock, decided to lay out a town there. Securing the services of S. C. Putnam, then county surveyor, he laid out a town of forty lots on the "south half of the southwest quarter of Section 14, Township 29, Range 10," and conferred upon it the name of Roanoke. Within a few years the original plat was occupied by buildings and several additions were made to the town. Foremost among these were Chapman & Horton's standard addition of sixty-four lots, Chapman's second addition, Viberg's, Dinius', Corkin's, T. V. Hor- ton's and Wilkerson's additions.
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Among the early industries of the town were Chading's blacksmith shop, Van Becker's dry dock and boat yard, Horton's woolen mill, Meech's flour mill at the old lock, the steam mill of Michael Minnich & Sons, Dinius Brothers' tannery and several woodworking establish- ments which gave employment to a considerable number of men. Among the early merchants were William Bilby, William Payton, Horton & Chapman, Martin, Henry and Solomon Bash. Later camc Bash & Grim, Hall & Windle, Windle & Wasmuth, R. C. Ebersole, Blount Brothers, Jacob Brown, R. D. Olds, E. C. Olds, Tarrance & McCombs and a few others. Dr. C. B. Richart located in the town about the time the survey was made and is credited with being the first physician and proprietor of the first drug store. Benjamin Nave, S. H. Grim, William Vannerder and A. P. Koontz were early cabinet makers. The first shoemakers were "Hank" Row and Samuel Taylor. Samuel Werts- baugher was the first tailor.
C. H. Viberg kept a hotel near the town for some time before the plat of Roanoke was filed on September 11, 1850, and his house was a favorite stopping place for travelers. The first hotel in the town was built by William Payton in 1852. It was located at the corner of Third and Commercial streets. After about a year Mr. Payton was succeeded by D. H. Rose, who in turn was succeeded by Doctor Irwin. After some years the building was converted into a dwelling. Thorp & Ream then sold their store building to Samuel Dougherty, who refitted it as the St. James Hotel and conducted it for several years. The Kahn House was erected in 1886.
Late in the year 1873 John H. Barr circulated a petition and ob- tained a large number of signatures, asking the county commissioners to order a special election to decide whether or not the Town of Roanoke should be incorporated. The election was held on May 4, 1874, when a majority of the citizens expressed themselves in favor of the proposi- tion and the town was duly incorporated. The first officers of the town government were as follows: William H. Meech, William B. Thorp and Samuel Stump, trustees; E. C. Olds, clerk; C. B. Richart, treasurer ; N. P. Mowry, assessor, and Samuel Wertsbaugher, marshal. The officers for 1914 were: Henry E. Smith, Alvin O. Smith and William Koonts, councilmen; Charles Fausz, clerk and treasurer, and George Fields, marshal. Henry E. Smith is president of the council.
One institution that was the pride of Roanoke for many years was the old "Roanoke Classical Seminary," in which quite a number of Huntington County's prominent business and professional men were equipped for the great battle of life. A more complete account of this seminary will be found in the chapter on Educational Development.
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Among the early inhabitants of Roanoke were quite a number who possessed both taste and talent for music, and the town became widely known as a musical center. One of the best bands in Northern Indiana was the old Roanoke Silver Cornet Band, the members of which were led by a Professor Struby, a talented German musician, though somewhat irritable at times. This band filled engagements at various cities, for which it frequently received as much as one hundred and fifty dollars per day. A musical organization called the Beethoven Society was another Roanoke institution. It made a special study of classic music, held musical institutes, gave concerts, etc., and its services were occasion- ally demanded in Fort Wayne and other cities in the northeastern part of the state. A quartet from this society furnished the music for Gen. James R. Slack's funeral. Some of the members of the Beethoven Society are still living in Roanoke.
The first newspaper published in the town was the Roanoke Register, which was founded by H. D. Carroll in 1871. At the present time the town has two newspapers-the Review and the Clipper. The history of these papers is given in Chapter XIII.
When the Town of Mahon was laid out in 1853 a spirited rivalry immediately began between that place and Roanoke. Mahon was for- tunate enough to secure a station on the Wabash Railroad and for a time the Roanoke people had to go to Mahon to "take a train." The cholera scare of 1854, when a few deaths occurred in Roanoke, also gave the town a backset for a little while, but it soon recovered, and after a depot was established by the railroad company Roanoke's supremacy over Mahon became a settled fact.
At least one man of genius lived in Roanoke, and that was Horace Rockwell, an artist of far more than ordinary ability. He lived a secluded sort of life, seldom being seen upon the streets, though his wife and daughters were rather prominent in social circles. Occasionally Mr. Rockwell would quietly make a trip to New York or Cincinnati, where he would exhibit his oil paintings, win prizes in competition with other artists, and dispose of his pictures at good prices. When not engaged with his brush and palette he devoted a good portion of his time to the construction of a flying machine. At last his machine was finished and he gave it a trial. But he learned, like Darius Green in the old poem, that the trouble was in alighting, for he came down with such force that he suffered some severe contusions and a few broken bones. To the surgeon who attended him he stoutly maintained that the accident was in no wise due to any fault in his machine, but merely that he "forgot to flap his wings." The accident, however, put an end to his experiments.
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In 1913 an arrangement was made between the Town of Roanoke and the National Company, of South Bend, Indiana, by which that com- pany installed a system of waterworks at a cost of $15,000. The supply of water comes from deep wells and is pumped to all parts of the town. The agreement with the company is of such a character that the sum paid annually for the street hydrants will in time pay for the plant, when the entire system is to become the property of the town.
Shortly after the Fort Wayne & Northern Indiana Electric Railway was completed, a contract was made between the town authorities and the traction company, by which the latter furnished electric light to Roanoke. In addition to the waterworks and electric lighting systems, Roanoke has one of the finest public school buildings in the county, in which nine teachers are employed, four of them in the commissioned high school grades. It also has a bank, a knitting mill that employs about eighty people. A large tile factory, some paved streets, good cement sidewalks on all the principal streets, a number of well-stocked stores, a public library, five churches, several lodges, two weekly news- papers, telephone connection with the surrounding towns, a money order postoffice with four rural routes, a peaceful and cultured popu- lation and a number of comfortable residences. According to the United States census for 1910 the population was then 532.
ROCK CREEK CENTER
As the name of this hamlet indicates, it is located in the exact geo- graphical center of Rock Creek Township. A postoffice was once main- tained here, but it has been discontinued and mail is now delivered by rural carrier from Huntington. It consists of a few dwellings and a general store.
SILVERTON
About 1844 a Friends Church was built near the north line of Section 11, in Dallas Township. A little later Joseph Silver opened a store a short distance south of the church and the settlement which gradually grew up there became known as Silverton. No plat of the village was ever made and the population never numbered more than four or five families. No postoffice was ever established there, but Sil- ver's store was a mail distributing point for the neighborhood. After Mr. Silver moved away the settlement declined and Silverton is now nothing more than a memory.
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SIMPSON
Four miles east of Huntington, on the Chicago & Erie Railway, is the little Village of Simpson, formerly known as Roche's Station. The plat of Simpson was made by Henry H. Wagoner, county surveyor, on May 1, 1885, for George J. Bippus, trustee, and was filed for record on the 23d of the same month. It shows seventeen lots, in the northeast corner of Section 29, Township 28, Range 10. These lots are all north of the Erie Railroad and west of the county road running north and south on the section line. A general store is the only business enter- prise.
TOLEDO
This village, situated at the junction of Sections 4, 5, 8 and 9, Township 27, Range 10, was laid out by William and Mary A. Daniels and the plat was filed on April 10, 1875. In its early days it was also known as "Brownsville" and "Brown's Corners." For awhile it pros- pered, but with the building of the Erie Railroad much of its business and trade was diverted to Markle and Simpson, and Toledo is now a typical crossroads settlement.
WARREN
The incorporated Town of Warren, situated in the southwestern part of Salamonie Township, on the Salamonie River, is the largest town in the county. The land upon which it is located was entered by Samuel Jones in 1833. Being near the old Indianapolis and Fort Wayne state road, Mr. Jones came to the conclusion that it would pay to divide his land into town lots. Hosea Powers, deputy county surveyor, was there- fore employed to make the plat, which was filed in the recorder's office on December 11, 1836. At first, the intention was to call the new town Jonesboro, in honor of the founder, but it was learned that a postoffice by that name was already in existence in Grant County, so the name Warren was adopted, in order to have the town and postoffice uniformly designated. Several additions have been made to the original plat, the most important of which is East Warren, which was surveyed by S. H. Swaim for Silas Jones in September, 1879. Finkle's addition was platted in 1882.
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