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 26
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The State Bank of Roanoke was chartered in 1908, though it had been doing business for years as a private bank organized by the firm of Windle & Wasmuth. The capital stock is $25,000, and in May, 1914, the surplus and undivided profits amounted to $5,000. Over two hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars are carried in deposits. The officers at the present time are : A. Wasmuth, president ; E. E. Richards, vice president ; D. A. Wasmuth, cashier, and the board of directors is composed of A. Wasmuth, John S. Crabbs, S. B. Dinius, E. M. Wasmuth, D. A. Kline, E. E. Richards, A. D. Wasmuth, M. B. Thompson and D. A. Wasmuth.
On July 22, 1911, the Bippus State Bank opened its doors for busi- ness, with M. N. Knight president; Dr. Ira E. Perry, vice president ; J. F. Stephenson, cashier. Mr. Knight and Mr. Stephenson still continue to hold their offices, but Doctor Perry removed from Bippus and S. E. Stults was elected vice president in his stead. Soon after the bank was established it purchased a building on the southeast corner of two of the principal streets and remodeled it for banking purposes. Here it has a home equal to many of the banks found in the larger towns. The capital stock is $25,000 and the deposits amount to about fifty thousand dollars.
With the banks and trust companies in the City of Huntington and the banks in other towns, Huntington County is well supplied with bank- ing facilities. Practically all the stock in these various concerns is owned by residents of the county, the men in charge are all Huntington County men, whose personal interests are identical with those of other citizens, hence each bank official and director is interested in the maintenance of a policy that, by promoting the general financial welfare of the commun- ity, will enhance the profits of his bank. Satisfied with reasonable re- turns from a banking business conducted along well established legitimate lines, the general policy of the local banks is to be conservative without being nonprogressive. Most of the men in charge of these banks are men of experience, whose judgment in financial matters can be safely trusted, so that the institutions with which they are connected command local con- fidence and credit abroad.
During the early years of Huntington County's history, farming was
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
almost the sole occupation of the people. With the coming of the rail- roads some manufacturing establishments were founded, but agriculture is still the principal industry and greatest source of wealth. "Corn is King," applies to Huntington County today as well as in the years gone by. Concerning the agricultural conditions in the county, the biennial report of the State Bureau of Statistics published in 1912 (the latest available) says :
"Because of the fertility of the glacial and sedimentary soils, farming, stock raising and fruit growing are the chief occupations of the people. It is an especially fine corn-producing area. Wheat and oats are also staple farm products; but the raising of wheat is becoming less and less extensive, because the timber area is too small to offer much protection to this cereal during the winter, and many times the crop is entirely destroyed by the cold winters. Much of the corn is used for fattening hogs for the market. To a much less extent is it fed to cattle for the same purpose. The apple is the chief fruit grown, although an abundance of peaches, cherries, grapes, pears, plums and berries of all kinds is grown. With but few exceptions the farms have in them from forty to one hundred and sixty acres."
The following table shows the acreage and quantity of some of the leading crops for the year 1911, the last year included in the statistical report above quoted :
Acres
Bushels
Corn
46,749
1,850,633
Wheat
24,500
429,660
Oats
. 32,557
1,271,010
Rye
1,465
25,784
Potatoes
210
12,811
Tons
Timothy hay
19,124
20,505
Alfalfa
265
511
Clover
6,666
7,397
Evidently the Huntington County farmer believes in the rotation of crops, as may be seen in the statistics regarding the clover hay. In 1910 the acreage of this crop was 23,139 acres and the product was 22,819 tons of hay. This indicates that more than sixteen thousand acres of clover was turned under by the plow in 1911 to make other crops. In 1910 the county produced 3,196 bushels of clover seed, while a year later the crop was but 1,662 bushels. In the former year the county stood sixth in the state in the production of clover seed, but in 1911 it fell to the thirty- fifth place.
The potato crop given in the table is only a little more than one-third
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
that of the preceding year, though the quantity of corn raised was greater by over one hundred thousand bushels. There was also a marked increase in the wheat and oats crops. In the total production of corn, the county stood fortieth of the ninety-two counties of the state, but in the average yield per acre it was exceeded by only twenty-one counties. It was the thirty-second county in the total production of wheat, but occupied the tenth place in the average yield per acre. Only nine counties raised more oats, and in the average yield per acre Huntington stood fifth. It was also the fifth county in the state in the production of rye.
Although a number of the early settlers planted orchards, it is only in comparatively recent years that the farmers have begun to realize the possibilities of fruit raising on a commercial scale. In 1910 the county produced for the market 3,552 bushels of apples, peaches, pears and plums. This was increased to 27,811 bushels in 1911. Part of this increase was no doubt due to the fact that 1911 was a better fruit year than its predecessor, but much of it was due to new orchards coming of bearing age. More trees are being planted every year, and it is only a question of time until Huntington will occupy a leading place among the fruit growing counties of the state.
As a stock raising county, Huntington is above the average. Follow- ing is a table showing the number of animals sold during the year 1911, with the amount received for each class :
Horses and colts 1,276
$171,905
Mules
104
13,553
Cattle
6,556
196,907
Hogs
50,501
620,146
Sheep
7,863
35,260
Only in the number of mules sold did Huntington County fall below the average. In the sale of horses it stood twenty-third; sixteenth in the sale of cattle ; thirteenth in the sale of hogs, and twenty-fourth in the sale of sheep. The number and estimated value of animals on hand at the beginning of the year 1912 was as follows :
Horses and colts
6,397
$797,230
Mules
301
35,415
Cattle
15,988
355,062
Hogs
. 44,354
370,682
Sheep
9,537
53,489
From these figures it would appear that the Huntington County farmer does not sell off his animals closely every year, but keeps enough on hand to insure an increase in his flocks and herds. In the number of animals on hand, the county stood seventh in hogs, eleventh in cattle and sheep, and thirteenth in the number of horses and colts.
241
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
Within the last twenty-five years several Huntington County mnen have given considerable attention to and won distinction in the improve- ment of live stock, not only locally, but also in the surrounding counties and even in other states. Probably foremost among these is the firm of George W. Souers & Sons, importers of Percheron and Belgian horses. Mr. Souers began dealing in high grade horses about twenty years ago, buying from other importers. In 1906 he made a trip to Europe and found out that he could do better by purchasing direct from the breeders in Belgium and France. Since that time some member of the firm makes two or three trips across the Atlantic annually, and being expert judges they select only the best horses. Some of the horses were brought over by
this firm have sold as high as four thousand five hundred dollars. At
CEO. W SOUERS & SONS IMPORTE .....
ON BELCIAN & COACH HORSES."
SOUERS' HORSE BARN, HUNTINGTON
first, Mr. Souers held a few auction sales, which brought horsemen from a distance to Huntington, but in later years the firm depends chiefly upon advertising and in mailing circular letters to more than forty thousand horsemen in all parts of the United States and Canada.
Henry King, of Warren, is one of the best known horse breeders of the Middle West. He is a graduate of the Kansas City Breeding School, an excellent judge of horses, has a large and well equipped barn and breeds according to the most modern scientific methods. Others who are interested in improving the quality of horses in general use are Henry Miller, of Clear Creek Township, who recently paid $1,200 for one imported brood mare; L. E. Wren, whose farm is near Goblesville, and R. F. Bricker, all of whom are recognized as among the best horse Vol. I-16
242
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
breeders in Indiana. Through the efforts of these men the farmers of Huntington County have been taught that it costs no more to have good horses than poor ones, and it is quite likely that the county can show more standard bred horses than any other county in the state of similar population.
In cattle breeding, Orlando W. Whitelock, ex-judge of the Circuit Court, of Huntington, J. L. Priddy, of Warren, and Henry C. Clapp are among the leaders and have won honorable mention in some of the leading live stock journals as being scientific and up-to-date cattlemen.
There is probably a greater number of persons interested in hogs than in any other species of live stock, as Huntington is pre-eminently a hog county. John Stephen's Poland-China hogs have done more, as one Huntington County man expresses it, "to put the town of Andrews on the map" than any other one business connected with that town. Other prominent hog breeders and raisers are F. M. Smith, of Rock Creek Township ; Mahoney Brothers, of Wayne Township ; Johnson & Hodgden, of Huntington Township; D. R. Rupert, of Roanoke; Guy L. Brookover, of Bippus ; J. M. Eads and Simon Summers, each of whom have shipped hogs to various parts of the country for breeding purposes.
In addition to these horse, cattle and hog importers and breeders, M. R. Purviance and G. W. Kapp have won considerable distinction as raisers of fine sheep, so that as a whole Huntington County ranks high as a community that believes "the best is none too good," especially in the character of the live stock raised by the farmers of the county.
Besides the general farming and live stock interests of the county, there are other sources of income to the farmer that are by no means insignificant. Considerable attention is given to dairying and poultry raising, both of which have proved to be very remunerative. To quote again from the last report of the Bureau of Statistics, the amount and value of products in these lines of business sold during the year 1911 were as follows :
Butter (pounds)
592,878 $121,417
Milk (gallons) 2,705,417 305,733
Eggs (dozens)
1,118,813 217,548
Poultry (dozens) 7,732
42,526
These figures show that the "Great American Hen" was very much in evidence in Huntington County during the year, as the county stood seventh in the state in the production of eggs. It was ninth in the pro- duction of milk, fourteenth in the production of butter and twenty- fourth in the quantity of poultry sold. In the quantity and value of the wool clip for the same year it stood eighteenth.
The traveler through Huntington County can hardly fail to be im-
243
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
pressed by the general evidences of prosperity seen on every hand. Good dwelling houses, large barns, bountiful crops, an abundance of high grade live stock, all bear out the statement that the farmer is still the industrial potentate. Banks may fail, manufactories be consumed by fire or hurt by industrial depressions, merchants may suffer for similar reasons, but the sunshine, rain and fertility of the soil still exercise their beneficent influences to fill the coffers of the skillful and energetic agriculturist.
The earliest manufacturing concerns of Huntington County were of the most primitive character, intended to produce only such commodities as were demanded by the frugal settlers of a new country. They included saw and grist mills, an occasional tanyard, wagon and blacksmith shops, with here and there a carding machine or woolen mill. In the chapters on Township History will be found mention of a number of early saw and grist mills, of more or less note, hence it is not necessary to repeat their history in this chapter, in which the object is to give some account of those industries whose business extended to a larger territory than a mere local neighborhood.
The City of Huntington is naturally the manufacturing center of the county, being centrally located, the county seat and greatest railroad center. Here the principal manufacturing industries of the county are located, and from here the products of these factories are shipped to all parts of the country.
One of the first factories to be established was the foundry of William G. Johnson. Mr. Johnson began by starting a blacksmith shop in 1835 on the bank of Flint Creek, not far from the old county jail. A little later he added a small foundry consisting of a charcoal fire and a blast supplied by two ordinary blacksmiths' bellows, so arranged that as one inflated the other exhausted, thus keeping up a constant draft. By this primitive system from two hundred to three hundred pounds of ore could be melted at a heat. The castings made were of the simplest character, such as would be most needed in a frontier settlement.
The Drummond Brothers, Morris and Avery, established a foundry in 1858, but after running it a short time sold out to P. W. Moffitt, who con- ducted the business until 1869, when he formed a partnership with James McCurdy and M. V. B. Gottschall and enlarged the plant, erected new brick buildings, etc. Not long after this Thomas Roche acquired the interests of McCurdy and Gottschall and the firm of Moffitt & Roche en- gaged extensively in the manufacture of stoves and machine castings. In 1883 this establishment was sold to E. K. Clayton, who carried on a successful business for some time, after which he turned his attention to other lines of activity and the foundry was allowed to lapse into inactivity.
244
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
The Drummonds, after selling their foundry to Moffitt, established a new one at the junction of Warren Street and the canal, where they built up a good patronage, but in 1872 they were succeeded by the firm of Cook & Speaker, who gave their attention principally to the manufacture of plows. In 1881 the plant was sold to Dorn & Gemmer, who operated it for some time, but it finally wound up its business and closed perma- nently.
About 1847 or 1848 John Lewis began exporting lumber via the Wabash & Erie Canal to eastern markets. Some four or five years later John Kenower engaged in the same line of business, giving especial attention to black walnut lumber, which was just then coming into general popularity in the manufacture of furniture. He continued in this line until 1875, his exports sometimes exceeding one million feet of lumber in the course of a year. In 1865 Mr. Kenower formed a partnership with George S. Brinkerhoff and erected a sawmill, to which a planing mill was added three years later. In 1880 the mill was thoroughly overhauled and the firm became John Kenower & Sons, which is still doing business in Huntington, though the sawmill has long since ceased operations and no lumber has been exported for years. .
In 1870 Col. C. E. Briant established a stave and heading factory in the eastern part of the city. About forty thousand dollars were invested in the plant, which employed from seventy-five to one hundred men, with an annual output of some six million staves and heading for one million barrels. In 1882 a sawmill was erected in connection with the stave fac- tory. From fifteen to twenty men were employed in this part of the business and about two million five hundred thousand feet of lumber were turned out each year. Two years later a bending factory was added for the manufacture of felloes for wagons and buggies and about twenty-five men were employed in this department.
Another large wood-working establishment was the plow handle fac- tory of G. V. Griffith & Son, which was established about 1869. Some five years later it was removed to the eastern part of town, immediately south of the Wabash Railroad, where better buildings were erected and a band sawmill was added to the equipment. This concern for several years turned out about one million five hundred thousand barrel hoops and from two hundred and fifty thousand to three hundred thousand plow handles. With the exception of the band sawmill all the machinery used in the factory was the invention of G. V. Griffith.
Going backward a little, it is appropriate to mention the furniture factory established by John Kenower in 1846. It was a modest affair at first, the intention being to manufacture for local trade only, but in 1863 Mr. Kenower took his brother, A. Q. Kenower, into partnership and
245
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
a larger plant was built. The product of the factory was then shipped to other parts of the country. In 1869 A. Q. Kenower became the sole proprietor and some new and improved machinery was added to the factory.
It can readily be seen that such large wood-working establishments as those mentined, in connection with the sawmills scattered through the county, were destined to exhaust the timber supply. As the valuable timber was used up the factories gradually lessened the extent of their product, and finally ceased operations altogether.
Other wood-working establishments during the early years of the city's history were the pump factory of Jacob Binkley, Robert Black's cooper shop and the spoke and bentwood works on the south side of the Little River. Mr. Binkley made pumps for the local trade chiefly, Robert Black's cooper shop was located in the western part of town and gave employment to several men, pork barrels being the principal product. The spoke and bentwood works were first operated by Henry Drover, who sold to John J. Young. About forty thousand dollars' worth of spokes, felloes, etc., were turned out by this concern annually.
William G. Johnson, who has already been spoken of as the first black- smith and proprietor of the first foundry, was also the founder of the first grist mill in Huntington. It was a small run of corn buhrs and was located in the rear of his blacksmith shop on Flint Creek, which was dammed for the purpose of obtaining power to run the mill. The loca- tion of Johnson's shop and mill was not far from where the First National Bank now stands, at the corner of Jefferson and Market streets. After a short time the mill was equipped with machinery for grinding wheat. In 1849 the old mill was torn away and Mr. Johnson erected a good flour inill on the site. It was fitted up with three runs of buhrs, modern bolting machinery, etc., and was one of the best mills in the county at that time. It was operated by different parties until 1861, when it was destroyed by fire.
In that year the Huntington Mills were built by James Taylor, at a. cost of some fifteen thousand dollars. After passing through several hands these mills were acquired by Arnold, Thomas & Company in 1870, and the new proprietors converted the mills into a roller mill for the manufacture of the "New Process" flour. These mills, located on South Jefferson Street, are still running.
Uriah Fink erected the City Mills on West Washington Street in 1869, for custom work. After several years they passed into the hands: of John Minnich, who put in the new process machinery and carried on a large business for several years, when the machinery was sold and re- moved. The old building is now used as a cement block factory.
246
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
The flax and jute bagging factory was started in the summer of 1876 by John Niblock, who built and equipped a plant at a cost of some fifteen thousand dollars. At first flax straw was used extensively, about one thou- sand tons being purchased annually from the Huntington County farm- ers. Four years later the factory became the property of William Mc- Grew and William H. Hessin. In 1886 the plant was destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt and machinery installed for the manufacture of jute bagging, then extensively used by the cotton growers of the South as a covering for their cotton bales. The capacity of the new mill was about two thousand five hundred yards of bagging per day and about fifty peo- ple were constantly employed. Mr. McGrew disposed of his interest in the factory, and on December 12, 1889, the Huntington Bagging Com- pany was incorporated by William Hessin, John E. Hessin and Effie C. Hessin, with a capital stock of $50,000. On October 23, 1890, the plant was again seriously damaged by fire. Jute bagging was one of the articles affected by the tariff bill passed by Congress a short time before the fire, and this fact, together with the introduction of the cotton com- press, rendered the business unprofitable and the mills in Huntington closed their career, much to the regret of the employees and the citizens generally.
The shoe factory of Barker, Brown & Company is one of the sub- stantial manufacturing concerns of Huntington. In February, 1890, J. S. Davis and E. K. Alpaugh, two Huntington men, were appointed a com- mittee by the board of trade to go to Chicago and investigate the shoe business, and if possible make arrangements for marketing the output of a factory at Huntington. They found a jobbing. firm in Chicago ready and willing to handle all that could be manufactured and upon making their report to the board of trade a movement was immediately started for the establishment of the factory, which was removed from Lafayette to Huntington and began operations a few years later. The factory is located in the extreme southern part of the city, employs a large number of people and makes a specialty of misses', boys' and children's shoes, which are now shipped to all parts of the country. A new addition to the factory was made recently for the purpose of enabling the firm to meet the constantly increasing demand for the Barker Brown shoe. One feature of this factory is the pure water provided for the use of the employees, as well as the excellent sanitary conditions that prevail.
After G. V. Griffith & Sons removed to Albany, Indiana, in order to get nearer a timber supply, the buildings occupied by them stood idle for a time. They are now occupied by Adams Brothers, manufacturers of staves and heading, spokes, rims, etc. The firm employs about twenty- five men and also operates a plant at Bluffton, Wells County.
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
The Schaff Brothers Company started in the manufacture of pianos in Chicago in 1868. In 1900 the factory was removed to Huntington, the people of that city agreeing to donate a site and a fund of $12,000 to erect suitable factory buildings. Ground adjoining the fair grounds on the west was selected for the location, the buildings were pushed forward as rapidly as possible, and late in the year the factory began business. The company is incorporated and the officers in 1914 were: Jacob Dick, presi- dent ; J. F. Bippus, vice president ; Julius Dick, treasurer ; F. C. Adsit, secretary and manager. About seventy-five skilled workmen are em- ployed in this factory, a salesroom is maintained on Jefferson Street, and the company also has an office in Chicago.
One of the early manufacturing concerns that deserves mention be- cause such establishments are exceedingly rare now was the potash fac- tory started by Frederick Lushing in 1873 and run successfully for sev- eral years. He obtained his raw material from wood ashes and turned out about one hundred barrels of high grade potash every year.
Within recent years a number of new factories have been brought to Huntington through the efforts of the Factory Fund Association, which was organized in 1907. The first meeting to organize an association of this nature was held at the Knights of Pythias home on February 22, 1907, when a committee of five was appointed to consider "ways and means." That committee, which was composed of J. F. Bippus, Julius Dick, H. E. Rosebrough, John Kenower, Jr., and J. C. Altman, was afterward increased to twelve by the addition of E. T. Taylor, J. W. Ford, Jacob Boos, J. M. Barker, I. H. Heaston, H. W. Hoch and W. A. Jones.
The plan adopted was that of raising a fund of $50,000, with which to secure the location of new factories. Work along that line immediately commenced and on April 24, 1907, the fund amounted to $50,180. Peter Scheiber, S. M. Sayler and O. W. Whitelock, were then added to the committee of twelve and the fifteen men were made managers of the factory fund. The association was incorporated on the last day of April with the fifteen as directors; Peter Scheiber was chosen president; S. M. Sayler, secretary; J. F. Bippus, assistant secretary ; O. W. Whitelock, treasurer, and Julius Dick, trustee of the fund.
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