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 27
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The first factory secured by the association was the Caswell-Runyan Company, located in the eastern part of the city. The only bonus given this company amounted to $368.50, which was used in the construction of a sewer necessary for the factory. This company makes cedar chests, matting covered boxes for clothing, bolster rolls for beds, burlap and decorated screens for interiors, hall trees and some other novelties in furniture and decorative articles. The association was criticized by
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some for locating such a concern and the company also came in for a share of this criticism in erecting such large buildings "for so foolish a line of business." Work on the buildings was commenced in May, 1907, and in 1912 over four hundred carloads of red cedar lumber from East Tennessee were used by the company. The buildings have been enlarged until they now have more than one hundred thousand square feet of floor space, and the original capital stock of $75,000 has been increased to $200,000. Winfred Runyan is president of the company ; John A. Snyder, vice president, and James W. Caswell, secretary and treasurer.
In September, 1907, negotiations were begun with the Chappel Fur- nace Company, of Morenci, Michigan, and ended the removal of the com- pany's works to Huntington in October, receiving a bonus of $5,000 from the factory fund. Upon removing the concern was reorganized as the Majestic Furnace and Foundry Company. It is now known simply as the Majestic Company, which manufactures furnaces for heating houses, coal chutes, and a number of other products of similar character. J. M. Triggs, who is probably the leading man of the concern, is an inventor of more than ordinary ability and through his ingenuity the Majestic Company has exclusive control of several of the articles it turns out.
In October, 1910, the association, by selling $40,000 worth of the preferred stock of the company, secured the location of the plant of the Orton & Steinbrenner Company, manufacturers of steam shovels, grab buckets, coal crushing machinery, locomotive cranes, and machinery used by steam and traction roads and power companies. This concern was formerly located in Chicago and sub-contracted its work, but on May 1, 1911, the Huntington shops opened with a force of sixty men, a large majority of them skilled mechanics. Since then cranes have been built for the Illinois Central, the Lehigh Valley and other companies and the shops have been running to their full capacity. H. G. Steinbrenner, the general manager, visits Huntington frequently, and the shops here are under the management of C. W. Higgins.
The Huntington Machine and Foundry Company is another recent addition to the city's large manufacturing establishments that was located through the influence of the Factory Fund Association. This concern, located in the east end of the city, makes large castings and heavy machinery of all kinds. June 2, 1914, was "Booster Day" in Hunting- ton, a celebration gotten up under the auspices of the Commercial' Asso- ciation for the purpose of advertising the products and possibilities of Huntington to the rest of the country. In the industrial parade on that occasion the various factories of the city participated with "floats"
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bearing specimens of the goods and wares turned out by them. The Huntington Machine and Foundry Company exhibited a large punch and shear machine, weighing several tons, which had just been com- pleted for the United States Government, for use on the battleship "'Prometheus." The machine was a revelation to many, both on account of its character and the fact that the Government would go so far inland for appurtenances to be used in the navy.
The Schact Rubber Company, of which William F. Schact is the active executive head, is located at the corner of Polk and Canal streets, in the western part of the city. It manufactures mechanical rubber goods, shoe-heels, corks for bottles, insulators, etc., and employs a num- ber of people. It is one of the recent additions to the manufacturing interests.
In 1866 George Pfaler and Jacob Boos started the first brewery in Huntington. The first beer was made on December 15, 1866. Three years later Mr. Pfaler disposed of his interest to his partner, who con- tinued to operate the plant for several years. The Huntington Brewing Company was established about 1902. Its buildings cover three acres of ground and the brewery has a capacity of 10,000 barrels of beer annually. About twenty people are employed in the brewery and the adjoining bottling department.
Among the smaller manufacturing concerns of the city are two candy factories, three cigar factories, the Waring Glove Company, two ice cream factories, a carpet weaving establishment, a carriage shop, two concrete block factories, three harness shops and a silo sales office oper- ated by the National Fire Proofing Company.
Before the timber of the county was used up, there were a number of wood working establishments in other towns. Roanoke had a large saw-mill and spoke factory, established by Slusser and Richart, and after it was destroyed by fire, a saw-mill and wagon gearing factory was erected on the site by Richart & Bryson. It also was destroyed by fire in 1883. Colton & Jones had a stair factory at Roanoke, to which they added a shingle mill, and carried on a successful business until the buildings were burned in 1872.
Early in the '60s Theo. V. Horton erected a large woolen mill at Roanoke. It was a large three story building, that stood near the old Wabash & Erie Canal, and for several years was one of the leading in- dustries of the county. Along the side of the building was the sign "T. V. Horton's Woolen Mill," in large letters, and passengers on the canal boats looked upon it with wonder and admiration as one of the biggest things of the kind on the old, historic waterway. Nearly every canal boat that went east carried flannels and blankets of Horton manu-
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facture, but with the discontinuance of the canal traffic the woolen mill ceased operations and later was removed to Warsaw. A number of people who had been employed in the mill were thereby forced to seek other occupations.
The principal manufacturing concerns of Roanoke at the present time are the tile factory, the Wayne knitting mills, a branch of a Fort Wayne establishment, and a cement block factory.
Besides the Wabash railway shops at Andrews, mentioned in another chapter, that town once had several prosperous wood working shops, including the basket factory of Gardner & Blish, which was later con- verted into a stave factory by Morgan & Davenport; the Antioch Manu- facturing Company, which was established about 1867, for making furniture trimmings, plow handles, etc .; the saw-mill and stave factory of Morris & .Bell, and the carriage and wagon shop of Lessel Long. The town once had a cob pipe factory that did a successful business for several years.
The Andrews Cabinet Company was established at a later date and built up a large trade in kitchen cabinets, which were the principal article of manufacture. Industrial conditions finally forced the com- pany into the hands of a receiver and in 1911 the plant was purchased by the Wasmuth-Endicott Company, which installed new machinery, added to the buildings and continued in the same line of business. In the spring of 1914 the company had under contemplation still further extension of the buildings in order to increase the capacity. About eighty people are constantly employed. The company now makes kitchen cabinets exclusively and its product goes to all parts of the country.
Huntington rejoices in the sobriquet of "The Lime City." About 1843 or 1844 Michael Houseman built a small lime kiln, upon the site later occupied by the Hawley Brothers, and burned a small quantity of lime for local use. So far as known this was the first attempt to burn lime in the county. In 1847 Houseman sold his outfit to John Lewis and Thomas Dillon. Two or three years later some new kilns were constructed west of town, near the canal, and stone was quarried and shipped to Fort Wayne to be burned into lime.
In 1858 Henry Drover opened a quarry and constructed a kiln on his farm, and a little later James Fulton bought a small tract of land from a man named Thompson, east of Huntington, and opened a quarry there. In 1860 he built two kilns and later in the same year shipped some of his lime down the canal. This was really the beginning of the Huntington lime business, which in recent years has grown to large proportions.
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When Professor Cox made his geological survey of the county in 1875, he found thirty-one kilns in operation, with a total annual capac- ity of 617,000 bushels. As to the quality of the output, he says: "This lime is held in high estimation and meets with a ready market, not only in Indiana, but in Ohio and Illinois, as well." Perhaps the favor- able comment of the state geologist had something to do with widening the field of demand for Huntington lime, which now goes to all parts of the United States.
In December, 1879, the Huntington White Lime Association was formed with Adam Beck, president, and W. W. Hawley, general agent. Within two years the association controlled twenty-one kilns, with a
OLD STONE QUARRY, HUNTINGTON
capacity of forty-five carloads per week. There were also outside oper- ators who controlled about a dozen kilns. In 1880 over three hundred and twenty-five thousand bushels of lime were shipped from Huntington.
The Western Lime Company was incorporated in May, 1898, with Peter Martin as president, treasurer and general manager; A. L. Beck, vice president; and W. W. Hawley, secretary. These three officers, with Jacob Martin, Michael Baltes, D. M. Hawley, Adam Beck, Enos T. Taylor, H. M. Purviance and C. E. Hawley, constituted the board of directors. By the organization of this company, which included all the principal lime men of the city, the business was consolidated and the manner of production greatly improved.
In 1906 the Ohio & Western Lime Company was organized and suc- ceeded to the business of the Western Lime Company. Peter Martin,
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of Huntington, remains in the office of president, treasurer and general manager; George D. Copeland, of Marion, Ohio, is vice president, and F. S. Whitcomb, of Cleveland, Ohio, is secretary. The company oper- ates five plants in Ohio, one at Huntington and one at Bedford, Indiana. About one hundred men are employed at the Huntington works. In addition to the large lime business carried on, the company ships about ten thousand carloads of stone from the various plants annually. This stone is used in the construction of highways and for ballast on railroads.
Natural gas was first struck in Indiana early in 1886. On May 29, 1886, the Huntington Oil and Gas Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $50,000 and the following board of directors: Samuel F. Day, D. Yingling, J. G. Price, P. W. Zent and Thomas L. Lucas. Very little interest was aroused until after a large gas well "blew in" at Marion on January 15, 1887. The Huntington company was then reorganized with Dr. D. S. Leyman, president and E. T. Taylor, treas- urer. By the 3d of February enough stock had been subscribed to insure the drilling of a well, and the Taylor farm, immediately south of the city, was selected as the place where the well should be sunk. Drilling commenced about the 1st of March and Trenton rock was struck on the 18th. After penetrating the Trenton formation about thirty-five feet and finding no signs of gas, the well was abandoned.
A second well was commenced soon afterward, but the drill struck a bed of quicksand and again the effort to secure natural gas ended in failure. No further attempts were made at Huntington.
In the meantime a company had been organized at Warren with a capital stock of $45,000; Jonas Good, president; Adam Foust, vice president ; L. L. Simons, secretary, and Howard Thompson, treasurer. A well was sunk by this company and at a depth of sixty-seven feet a strong vein of water was struck and in a little while the water flowed over the top of the pipe. No gas was found, but some oil of good quality appeared soon after the drill pierced the Trenton rock. The well was then shot with fifty quarts of nitro glycerine, the explosion causing the artesian water to rise to the top of the derrick, but no gas could be brought forth. The flow of oil increased after the well was abandoned, but what the company wanted was gas, hence no attention was paid to saving the oil. Another well was commenced on April 7, 1887, on the south side of the Salamonie River, but no better results were obtained than in the former experiment.
On October 17, 1890, the Huntington Electric Light, Gas, Fuel and Power Company was incorporated by Frederick Dick, Julius Dick, Jacob Dick, and others, and on November 3, 1890, the Warren Natural Gas Company was incorporated by George J. Bippus, of Huntington, and
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James B. Townsend and John K. Brice, of Ohio, "to drill gas and oil wells and lease lands in Huntington, Grant, Wells and Blackford coun- ties." The latter company made a success of its undertaking and in time acquired the franchise of the other company, under which natural gas was piped to the City of Huntington. Most of the gas supplying the city came from wells in Grant County, though the company drilled several wells in Jefferson and Wayne townships of Huntington County, some of them fair producers.
After it was ascertained that Huntington County would not furnish gas in paying quantities, it was recalled that the first well drilled at Warren showed oil of fine quality and the work of prospecting for oil was commenced. The Ohio Oil Company entered the field and leased several tracts of land in the three southern townships. State Geologist W. S. Blatchley, in several of his reports, touches on the Huntington County oil field. In his report for 1903 (p. 112) he sums up the situa- tion as follows: "The area of Huntington county producing oil in com- mercial quantities is practically limited to the southern halves of Sala- monie, Jefferson and Wayne townships, along the southern border of the county. Some of the sections in this area rank high as producers, the average initial production and length of life of the wells equalling any similar area in the petroleum field of the state. It is not probable that the area of productive territory in the county will ever be found to extend any distance north of the townships mentioned, though it may, in time, cover the greater portion of their northern halves."
In Salamonie Township the best paying wells were found in Sec- tions 12 and 13, along the eastern border of the county directly north of Buckeye; Sections 19 and 20, near the Town of Warren, and Sections 25 and 36, in the extreme southeast corner of the county. A field was opened up west and southwest of Warren in 1900 and in Sections 30, 31, 32 and 33 a number of paying wells were drilled.
In Jefferson Township, which proved to be the best in the county, good wells were found in practically all the southern part. One of these wells, located in the northeast quarter of Section 28, about a mile and a half north of Milo, produced 200 barrels per day. In this township the Pike Oil Company and the Troy Oil Company were the principal operators. Blatchley states that Section 33 was probably the best in the township, having forty-eight wells producing on December 1, 1903, seven barrels each. The wells in Jefferson ranged from 1,000 to 1,065 feet in depth. In nearly every instance gas was usually struck before the oil appeared and the gas thus obtained was used as fuel in operating the field.
Wayne Township, being located at some distance from railway facil-
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ities, could not be operated profitably for more than seven months in the year. Most of the townships proved to be fair gas territory and some strong flowing wells were drilled. On the Biliter farm, near Mount Etna, a well was drilled that showed at first a heavy flow of gas and afterward made a good showing of oil. It was the most northern well in the Huntington County field. In August, 1903, it was pumping fifteen barrels of oil daily. Some of the wells in this township were more than one thousand one hundred feet in depth. There is still some oil produced in the county and many people believe that the industry will again become a profitable one.
CHAPTER XIII
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FIRST SCHOOLS IN INDIANA-CONGRESSIONAL SCHOOL FUND-STATE EN- DOWMENT FUND-THE PIONEER SCHOOLHOUSE-CHARACTER OF THE EARLY TEACHERS-COURSE OF STUDY-WILLIAM DELVIN'S SCHOOL- OTHER EARLY TEACHERS IN THE COUNTY-FIRST BOARD OF TRUSTEES- THE OLD "ROCK HOUSE"-DEVELOPMENT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYS- TEM-VALUE OF SCHOOL PROPERTY-COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS -- PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS-HUNTINGTON BUSINESS UNIVERSITY-CENTRAL COLLEGE-ROANOKE SEMINARY-THE PRESS-BRIEF HISTORIES OF THE VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS-PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
The first instruction given to the scattering white inhabitants along the Wabash River was by Catholic missionaries, who were among the first to penetrate the western wilds in their efforts to civilize and convert the Indians. As early as 1719 Father Marest, one of these missionaries, wrote to his superior as follows :
"As these people have no books and are naturally indolent, they would shortly forget the principles of religion if the remembrance of them was not recalled by these continued instructions. We collect the whole community in the chapel, and after answering the questions put by the missionary to each one, without distinction of rank and age, prayers are heard and hymns are sung."
No doubt much of the instruction thus imparted was based on the catechism of the Catholic church. After resident priests came they en- deavored to teach the children to read and write, but the progress was slow owing to the scarcity of books and the many other obstacles to be overcome. Perhaps the first regular school in the State of Indiana was that taught by Father Rivet at Vincennes in 1793.
The act of Congress under which Indiana was admitted into the Union as a state donated Section 16 in each congressional township as the basis for the establishment of a permanent school fund. This land, or the proceeds arising from its sale, was placed in charge of three trustees in each civil township up to the year 1859, since which time there has been but one trustee. For many years the value of the school lands was
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so small that the growth of the permanent fund was slow and the people were compelled to pay a portion of the cost of maintaining the schools out of their private means.
Congress also gave to the state certain swamp and saline lands, and two entire congressional townships-76,080 acres-were donated for the support of a state seminary or university. In 1836 the general govern- ment distributed to the states the surplus in the United States treasury, when Indiana received $860,254, of which $573,502.96 went into the per- manent school fund. In addition to these donations from the United States, the state, by its constitution and various acts of the legislature, has provided a permanent endowment fund for the public schools, which fund is derived from different sources. In 1913 the congressional fund was about $2,500,000, in round numbers, and the state endowment fund was approximately $9,000,000. By a wise provision of the founders of the state's public school system this fund may be increased, but it can never be diminished, only the income being available for the current expenses of the schools.
The pioneer schoolhouses in the rural districts were nearly always built of round logs, with a clapboard roof and a rough door hung on wooden hinges. Sometimes a puncheon floor was laid, but in many of them the only floor was "mother earth." At one end was a huge fire- place and a chimney constructed of stones or of sticks and clay. In really cold weather, although a roaring fire was maintained, those near the fireplace would get too warm, while those in the rear of the room would be suffering with cold, hence the pupils were constantly asking permission to change seats in order to overcome this unequal distribution of warmth. On each side of the house, about four feet above the floor, one log would be left out and the opening covered with oiled paper to admit light. If the school district was opulent enough to afford real win- dow glass, usually eight by ten inches in size, the aperture would be filled with sure enough sash and glass. The furniture consisted of benches made of split saplings about eight inches in diameter, smoothed with the drawknife and supported by wooden pins driven into the half- round side. Under the window was a wide board, resting upon large pins driven into the wall, which constituted the writing desk for the entire school. Here the children would take turns at writing, using goose quill pens and ink made of pokeberry juice or a solution of maple bark and copperas. The copy books were homemade, consisting of a few sheets of foolscap paper covered with a sheet of heavy wrapping paper. At the head of the page the teacher would write the "copy," which was usually some motto or proverb intended to convey a moral lesson as well as to afford an example of penmanship-such as "Honesty is the best policy,"
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"A penny saved is a penny earned," etc. As a teacher rarely taught more than one term in a place and each had a different style of hand- writing, it is a wonder that the children of the early settlers learned to write as well as they did, but in looking over old records and account books one must almost express astonishment at the legibility of the pen- manship.
Compared with the teachers of the present day, the old-time school- master would be regarded as illiterate and incompetent. If he could "do all the sums" in Pike's arithmetic as far as the "rule of three," read and spell fairly well, and write well enough to set copies for the children to follow, he was equipped for his work. Reading, writing and arith- metic were the only branches taught, and, as these were generally cor- rupted or shortened into "Readin', Ritin' and 'Rithmetic," the cur- riculum of the early schools gave rise to the expression "the three Rs," which were considered all the elements of a practical education. Prior to 1859 there was not much money to be had from the public school fund, and the schools before that time were generally of the class known as "subscription schools," the teacher receiving from one dollar to two dollars for each pupil for a term of three months.
Most of the teachers were adventurous Yankees from the East, or Irishmen, who would teach one term in a neighborhood to acquire the means to get them to another. As a rule they were unmarried men, who "boarded round" among the patrons of the school, thus giving the par- ents an opportunity to pay at least a part of their children's tuition by boarding a teacher. There was one qualification in the teacher that could not be overlooked, and that was the physical ability to "lick" the big boys into submission in case they showed a disposition to be unruly or disobedient. Consequently, in every early schoolhouse could be seen a bundle of beech, willow or hazel rods, waiting for the youngster who had the temerity to break one of the rules laid down by the pedagogue.
In the summer months school would open at 7 o'clock in the morning and continue in session until 5 in the afternoon, with the exception of the noon hour and two short recesses-one in the forenoon and the other in the afternoon. The first thing the child was required to learn was his "A, B, C's." When he knew all the letters by sight he was taught to spell simple words, and when his vocabulary had increased to a certain point he was given a First Reader. This process has passed out of vogue. It was "slow but sure," and many of the country's great men received the rudiments of their education in the old log schoolhouse by this primitive method.
But times have changed. The old log schoolhouse has gone, never to return, and in its place has come the stately edifice of brick or stone, Vol. I-17
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with plate glass windows-and scientific methods of heating and ventila- tion. The rude, backless benches have been supplanted by factory-made desks, the goose quill pen and homemade copy book have disappeared, the itinerant schoolmaster has given way to the well-educated, resident teacher, and corporal punishment is only a dim recollection. Almost every school has its reference library, and hundreds of dollars are annu- ally expended for globes, maps, charts or other apparatus to aid the teacher in imparting instruction.
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