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 41
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387
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
A destructive fire occurred at Andrews on Thursday, March 10, 1899. It started in an old warehouse facing the Wabash Railroad tracks oppo- site the depot. This building was erected in 1862 by Elijah Snowden for a flour mill and later was used as a grain elevator and storage warehouse. The volunteer fire department responded promptly to the call for its serv- ices and worked manfully to stay the ravages of the flames. But the building had been standing for nearly forty years, the lumber in it was thoroughly dry, and, to use a somewhat hackneyed expression, "it burned like tinder." A brisk wind was blowing and it was with great difficulty that the buildings near the warehouse were saved from destruction. As it was, a few of them were severely scorched. Some of the people wanted to send to Huntington for assistance, fearing the whole town would be destroyed, but after a hard fight of several hours' duration the fire was extinguished.
One of the greatest fires in the history of the county occurred at Markle on Saturday, April 27, 1907. It originated in the livery barn of James Dumbauld, starting where a chimney passed through the roof, and soon passed beyond control. The men about the barn gave more attention to saving the horses than to extinguishing the flames, and though the animals were saved, about one thousand dollars' worth of other property in the barn was totally destroyed, together with the building, which was valued at $2,500. A barber shop immediately east of the barn caught fire and the breeze carried the flames to Harvey & Roush's hardware store, Maxwell's meat market, Thomas Redden's gro- cery, Penfold's hardware store, the Odd Fellows' Building, and the Boyd and Yoos blocks in quick succession, and it looked at one time as though the entire town was doomed. A message to Huntington brought part of that city's fire fighting apparatus and a number of men, who worked from half-past 2 o'clock in the afternoon until 6 o'clock before the fire was checked sufficiently to permit them to return to Huntington. About 3 o'clock the Yoos Block, the largest in the town, fell and carried with it a number of the telephone wires. The total loss was estimated at from sixty thousand to seventy-five thousand dollars. With commendable enterprise the people of Markle went to work to rebuild and a twelve month later no traces of the fire remained.
About noon on August 2, 1913, a fire broke out in the roof of Charles Spath's cement block factory at Bippus. It was discovered by students on their way home from school. A slight breeze was blowing, the build- ings were dry, as no rain had fallen for several days, and fear was expressed for the adjoining buildings. Prompt work on the part of the volunteer firemen with their hand engine, assisted by the populace, finally succeeded in extinguishing what threatened to be a bad fire.
388
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
The summer of 1901 was one of excitement for the Town of Andrews. Hardly had the citizens recovered from the bank failure and the arrest of Banker Key, when the safe in the postoffice was blown. The burglary occurred about half-past 1 o'clock on the morning of August 21 and was committed by three men, who took tools from the Wabash section house to force an entrance into Snowden's store, in which the postoffice was kept. Nitroglycerin was used to blow the safe door from its fastenings and the explosion was of such force as to throw a part of the door across the room and imbed it in a brick wall. Riley Aldrich, night watchman at the novelty works, heard the explosion and started to investigate. As he approached the store he was stopped by two men and held until a third man came out of the store and ordered him released. This man struck Aldrich in the face with a revolver, inflicting an ugly wound. The robbers then hurried off.
Word of the robbery was telephoned to Huntington. Sheriff Crandal and his deputy, Bert Nevius, started at once for Andrews, as did police- men Slater and Ross. The officers arrived soon after the cracksmen had disappeared and tracked them to Huntington. Early next morning two men were arrested at the Klondike Restaurant, taken to police head- quarters and given the "third degree," but both gave a good account of themselves and were released.
A few days after the robbery the postmistress at Brookfield, Shelby County, wrote to Sheriff Crandal for a description of the burglars, stating that she believed they might be the same men who had recently robbed the postoffice at that placc. The sheriff sent the description, as it had been given to him by Mr. Aldrich, but they were never apprehended. The result of the robbery was the loss of $270 in money and $100 in stamps. Seventy dollars of the money was the property of Mr. Snowden and the rest belonged to the postoffice.
President Mckinley died on September 14, 1901, and the next day, which was Sunday, a minister named Joseph A. Wildman occupied the pulpit at the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Huntington, in the absence of the regular pastor. In the course of his sermon he made some remarks about Mr. Mckinley that aroused the indignation of some of his hearers. On Monday evening, about 10 o'clock, some two hundred men went to Mr. Wildman's house in College Park to demand a retraction. A few of them approached the house and asked the minister to come to the door. He was somewhat dilatory in complying with the request and as soon as the door was opened he was seized and dragged into the yard. He refused to apologize for his utterances of the preceding day and added that he regarded Mr. Mckinley as a political demagogue. Wildman was then stripped, rolled in a pool of tar, after which a coat of feathers was applied and the men then returned to the city.
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389
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
Sheriff Crandal received notice that something of the kind was to be done, and in company with Deputy Sheriff Bert Nevius started for Col- lege Park to prevent the outrage. It was a dark night and the sheriff, not knowing exactly where Wildman lived, arrived too late. He found Mr. Wildman in a bathtub, with his wife trying to scrub the tar from his body, and seeing that nothing could be done he took his departure.
Wildman went to work next morning and showed a disposition to treat the whole affair as a joke. He was a minister of the radical branch of the United Brethren denomination and came from Michigan about three years before the incident above narrated. His name appeared in the city directory as a painter and he preached as opportunity offered, never holding a regular charge in the city nor county. Although the action of the men who administered the tar and feathers is not to be commended, the affair shows that the people of Huntington County are not inclined to sit tamely by and hear disparaging remarks made about the nation's chief magistrate. It is said that the crowd that took part in rebuking Wildman was composed of men of both the leading political parties, though no serious effort was ever made to ascertain just who they were, and the excitement over the affair was short-lived.
Among the multitudes who daily come and go over the much traveled Goshen road, few will fail to observe a unique hitching post in front of the Harmon W. Stults homestead, in Clear Creek Township. It consists of an oddly shaped casting of iron mounted on a block of wood. A large opening at the top serves as a convenient place through which a hitch- strap can be passed and tied in the usual way. It is of interest to note that the strange looking device has a history. In 1864 a log house, which stood on East State Street, a few rods east of the street now known as Broadway, in the City of Huntington, was torn down by Harmon Stults, administrator of the estate to which the old log cabin belonged. Buried under the house was the peculiar casting outfit and it was soon recognized as a die or stamp for making counterfeit money. A great deal of spurious coin was in circulation in Huntington and vicinity, both before and during the Civil war, and detectives made a fruitless search for months and years to locate the den where the "queer stuff" was turned out. The trail finally became so hot that certain suspects absconded, putting an end to further investigations. The old cabin was built by the Helveys, but later passed into possession of other parties and there was no proof as to identity of the culprits who "made the money." As late as 1904 Mr. Stults was called before the Federal officers at Indianapolis to account for having in his possession the coin outfit referred to. When facts were learned, the officials issued in his behalf, a special permit, authorizing him to retain the old relic for use as a hitching rack.
CHAPTER XX
STATISTICAL REVIEW
VALUE OF STATISTICS IN HISTORY-INCREASE IN POPULATION AND WEALTH -INCREASE IN FARM PRODUCTS-VOTE IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS --- CHRONOLOGY-EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY-PRINCIPAL EVENTS SINCE THE ORGANIZATION-OFFICIAL ROSTER-LIST OF COUNTY OFFICIALS FROM 1834 TO 1914-RE- FLECTIONS.
On May 5, 1914, exactly eighty years had elapsed since the first board of county commissioners of Huntington County met in a log house, in the little Town of Huntington, and took the preliminary steps for the organization of the county under the provisions of the act of February 1, 1834. Statistics are neither romantic nor poetical and are not always interesting reading, but they frequently tell the story of a nation's progress better than anything else. So it is to statistics that the historian must look for an accurate account of Huntington County 's development.
At the first election in August, 1834, for county officers, only 147 votes were cast. It must be remembered that the present county of Wabash then comprised part of Huntington for political purposes and that some of the voters lived in that territory. The number of people then living within the present limits of Huntington County probably did not exceed eight hundred. Between 1834 and 1840 Wabash County was organized as a separate jurisdiction and at the presidential election on November 4, 1840, Huntington County cast 134 votes for president. Since that time, as shown by the United States census reports, the popu- lation has steadily increased. Although a few townships show a decrease in population since the year 1890, the county at large, the City of Huntington and a majority of the townships have made gains. The following table shows the increase in population since 1840-the first United States census taken after the organization of the county :
1840
1,579
1850
7,850
1860
14,867
390
391
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
1870
19,036
1880
21,805
1890
27,644
1900.
28,901
1910.
28,932
The greatest increase in the number of inhabitants was in the decade between the years 1840 and 1850, when it was nearly 500 per cent. During this period all parts of the county were settled and the last of the present twelve civil townships was organized. Between 1850 and 1860 the population nearly doubled, the first improved roads were built, the free public school system was inaugurated in all parts of the county, the first railroad was constructed through the county and public build- ings were erected.
The increase in wealth has fully kept pace with the growth of popula- tion. The earliest figures available on this subject are those of 1840, when the total value of taxable property was $109,050. In 1913 the tax duplicate of the county showed taxable property valued at more than twenty-one million dollars, which was distributed among the several townships and incorporated towns as follows:
Clear Creek.
$1,414,940
Dallas
825,060
Huntington
1,809,040
Jackson
1,437,530
Jefferson
1,160,920
Lancaster
1,220,300
Polk
631,130
Rock Creek.
1,244,690
Salamonie
1,487,880
Union
1,679,210
Warren
1,117,200
Wayne
795,920
City of Huntington
5,309,480
Andrews
253,300
College Park
39,910
Markle
310,820
Mount Etna.
36,690
Roanoke
287,110
Warren
679,950
Total $21,741,080
According to the last published report of the Indiana Department of Statistics, at the beginning of the year 1911 there were 302 mortgages
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
on Huntington County farms and lands aggregating $611,218. During the year 288 mortgages amounting to $390,968 were satisfied by pay- ment in full.
A further evidence of the development of the county's resources is seen in a comparative statement of the principal crops in 1850 (the earliest reliable statistics that can be found) and 1911. In 1850 the corn crop was 216,173 bushels, and in 1911 it was 1,850,633 bushels. During the same period the wheat crop increased from 76,750 bushels to 429,660 bushels, and the oats crop from 82,764 bushels to 1,271,010 bushels. The value of live stock in 1850 was $42,611 and in 1912 it was $1,631,878.
Even a casual study of the election returns shows that Huntington County has always been what is known as a close county in political matters. At no time in its history has any party been sufficiently strong to justify the old saying that "a nomination is equivalent to an election." While the great mass of voters has been about equally divided between the two dominant parties, there has always been enough of the independent element to sway the result to whichever side that vote inclined. No returns can be found for the presidential election of 1836, the first in which the citizens of Huntington County partici- pated. In 1840 a total of 134 votes were cast for the presidential candidates, but it cannot be ascertained how they were distributed. The following table shows the vote for the leading presidential candi- dates since 1844. In this table the democratic candidates come first, followed by the whig candidates until 1856, when that party was sup- planted by the republicans.
1844-Polk and Dallas. 317
Clay and Frelinghuysen. 277
1848-Cass and Butler. 354
Taylor and Fillmore 327
1852-Pierce and King.
676
Scott and Graham.
584
1856-Buchanan and Breckenridge. 1,181
Fremont and Dayton
1,232
1860-Douglas and Johnson. 1,402
Lincoln and Hamlin. 1,604
1864-McClellan and Pendleton 1,685
Lincoln and Johnson 1,597
1868-Seymour and Blair. 1,984
Grant and Colfax. 2,359
1872-Greeley and Brown 1,900
Grant and Wilson. 2,190
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
1876-Tilden and Hendricks 2,453
Hayes and Wheeler. 2,451
1880-Hancock and English. 2,657
Garfield and Arthur. 2,638
1884-Cleveland and Hendricks
Blaine and Logan. . 3,111
. 3,092
1888-Cleveland and Thurman. 3,481
Harrison and Morton. 3,559
1892-Cleveland and Stevenson 3,444
Harrison and Reid. 3,693
. 3,372
1896-Bryan and Sewall.
Mckinley and Hobart. 4,117
1900-Bryan and Stevenson. 3,691
McKinley and Roosevelt 4,122
1904-Parker and Davis. . 3,290
Roosevelt and Fairbanks 4,485
1908-Bryan and Kern 3,684
Taft and Sherman. 3,973
1912-Wilson and Marshall 3,119
Taft and Sherman. 2,108
Several times in presidential elections a few votes have been cast for the candidates of some third party. In 1844 Birney and Morris, the candidates of the liberty party, received 8 votes. Four years later Van Buren and Adams, the free soil candidates, received 31 votes, and in 1856 Fillmore and Donelson, of the American or know nothing party, received 56 votes. The Breckenridge and Lane democratic ticket in 1860 polled 54 votes. In 1875 the Greenback vote for Cooper and Cary was 19, and four years later Weaver and Chambers, the Greenback candi- dates, received 125 votes. That was practically the end of the Greenback party in the county. The prohibition vote for President was 186 in 1888; in 1892 it was 263; in 1896 it dwindled to 54 votes; in 1900 it was 248; in 1904 it was 435; in 1908 it was 405, and in 1912 it was 399.
The disruption of the republican party in 1912 led to the organiza- tion of the progressives (sometimes called the bull moose) party, with Roosevelt and Johnson as the candidates for President and vice president, respectively. This ticket polled 1,586 votes in Huntington County, and in the same year Eugene V. Debs, the socialist candidate for President, received 252 votes.
Political divisions, such as states and counties, are the outgrowth of a series of events, the beginning of which is often many years before and at some point far distant from the state or county itself. This is true of Huntington County. While the actual organization of the county
394
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
dates from 1834, the foundation for that organization was laid more than a century and a half before that time. Following is a list of the principal events that had an influence in leading up to the creation of the county, as well as the chief events that have occurred within the county since it was established, each of which is treated in detail in the appropriate place. At first glance it may seem that, in some instances at least, these occurrences are somewhat remote from the direct history of the county, yet each one formed a link in the chain. Had any one of these events terminated differently, subsequent events might have been materially influenced thereby, so that the history of the region now in- cluded in Huntington County would have to be recorded in quite a different manner.
-, 1673, Marquette and Joliet, Catholic missionaries, visited the Indians at the portage between the Maumee and Wabash rivers.
April 9, 1682, La Salle claimed all the Mississippi Valley as a domain of France, under the name of Louisiana. By this act the territory now comprising Huntington County became a French possession.
July, 1701, Cadillac founded the post of Detroit, from which a line of French posts extended westward up the Maumee and down the Wabash valleys.
July 3, 1748, Miami Indians first appear in history, when some of their chiefs signed a treaty of peace at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, though they were mentioned by French writers as early as 1658.
February 10, 1763, Treaty of Paris, by which Huntington County be- came subject to British domination.
-, 1763, Pontiac's war-Fort Wayne captured by the Indians. -
1778-79, George Rogers Clark captured the British posts in Indiana and Illinois. Huntington County claimed by the colony of Virginia as a result of the conquest.
-, 1780, La Balme's expedition marched through Huntington County against the British post at Fort Wayne.
September 3, 1783, Treaty of Paris concluding the Revolutionary war. By this treaty the western boundary of the United States was fixed at the Mississippi River.
March 1, 1784, the present site of Indiana ceded to the United States by the Virginia Legislature.
July 13, 1787, the Northwest Territory established by act of Congress. This territory included the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan.
October 19, 1787, Colonel Hardin defeated by the Indians near the northeast corner of Huntington County.
395
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
November 4, 1791, General St. Clair defeated by the Indians under Little Turtle.
August 20, 1794, Little Turtle signally defeated by Gen. Anthony Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers, thus paving the way for the acquisition of Indian lands in Indiana.
August 3, 1795, treaty of Greenville.
May 7, 1800, Indiana Territory created by act of Congress and Gen. William H. Harrison appointed territorial governor.
June 7, 1803, treaty concluded by General Harrison with the Indians at Fort Wayne.
1805, a Quaker mission established near the forks of the Wabash, within the present limits of Huntington County.
September 30, 1809, General Harrison concluded another treaty at Fort Wayne, by which the Indians cede to the United States two large tracts of land in Indiana.
November 7, 1811, battle of Tippecanoe, in which some of the Miami Indians participated.
July 12, 1812, the Miami chicf, Little Turtle, died at Fort Wayne and was buried by the white people with military honors.
December 18, 1812, battle of the Mississinewa, in which some of the Huntington County Indians took part.
August 1, 1816, first state officers of Indiana elected.
December 11, 1816, Indiana admitted into the Union as a state.
October 6, 1818, treaty of St. Mary's, Ohio, by which the Miami Indians ceded all their lands south of the Wabash in Indiana to the United States, except the "Big Reserve."
October 16, 1826, the Pottawatomi Indians ceded to the United States all their claims to certain lands north of the Wabash. Ten days later the Miami tribe relinquished all claim to the same lands and Hunting- ton County became part of the unorganized territory of Indiana.
March 2, 1827, Congress granted a large tract of land to the State of Indiana to aid in the construction of the Wabash & Erie Canal.
August, 1828, Artemus D. Woodworth, the first white man to settle in Huntington County, located in what is now Dallas Township.
-, 1830, Marcia Murray, the first white child born in Huntington - County, was born in the spring of this year at "The Bluffs," in Dallas Township.
, 1831, Joel and Champion Helvey, the first white men to settle within the present limits of the City of Huntington, built the "Flint Springs Hotel."
February 2, 1832, Huntington County created by act of the State
396
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
Legislature. Work on the Wabash & Erie Canal was commenced in this month at Fort Wayne.
---- , 1832, the first sawmill in Huntington County was built in what is now Rock Creek Township by the United States Government, for the benefit of the Miami Indians.
February 1, 1834, Gov. Noah Noble approved an act authorizing the organization of Huntington County.
May 5, 1834, first meeting of the board of county commissioners to perfect the county organization.
May, 1834, marriage of Champion Helvey to Mary Barrett-the first wedding in Huntington County.
August, 1834, first election for county officers; 147 votes cast.
October 23, 1834, treaty with the Miami Indians concluded at the "Forks of the Wabash."
March 2, 1835, first term of the Huntington Circuit Court began in Jonathan Keller's tavern.
July 3, 1835, the first canal boat arrived at Huntington.
August 1835, the first grand jury met. It was composed of Elias Murray, Joel Grover, John F. Merrill, John Burk, Paul Burk, Thomas Brackenridge, George A. Fate, Obadiah Ward, John Thompson, Chan- ning Madison, Edwin Madison and William Delvin.
-, 1835, first grist mill in the county built by the United States Government, for the use of the Miami Indians. It was located in Rock Creek Township, near the sawmill erected in 1832.
May 15, 1837, a board of justices, composed of Jesse Cleveland, John S. Merrill and Leander Morrison, elected to manage the county business.
, 1838, first church in the county built by the Catholics at Huntington.
November 3, 1840, presidential election, 134 votes cast.
November 28, 1840, last treaty with the Miami Indians in Indiana negotiated at the "Forks of the Wabash."
August 13, 1841, John B. Richardville, principal chief of the Miami Indians, died near Fort Wayne.
-, 1846, in the fall of this year the Miami Indians left Indiana for their new reservation in Kansas.
April 13, 1847, Chief La Fontaine died at Lafayette while on his way home from Kansas. His remains were brought to Huntington and buried in the Catholic cemetery.
--- , 1847, the first newspaper in the county, The Republican Bugle, founded by Thomas Smith, at Huntington.
February 16, 1848, the Town of Huntington incorporated by a spe- cial act of the State Legislature.
397
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
June 23, 1852, the Wabash Railroad Company organized at a meeting held at Logansport, Indiana.
July, 1852, the first county medical society organized.
-, 1852, in the fall of this year the first agricultural fair in the county was held in the old courthouse.
January 1, 1853, the first agricultural society organized.
, 1853, a plank road from Huntington to Liberty Mills, Wabash County, completed-the first toll road in the county.
---- , 1854, Huntington County Bank opened in the Town of Hunt- ington-the first bank ever established in the county.
November 13, 1855, first railroad train on the Wabash arrived at Huntington.
April 5, 1858, corner-stone of the first courthouse built by the county laid under the auspices of Mystic Lodge, No. 110, F. & A. M., of Huntington.
November 6, 1860, presidential election. Lincoln and Hamlin, the republican candidates, carry the county by a plurality of 202, after one of the hottest political campaigns in the history of the county.
June 19, 1861, the first Huntington County company mustered into the United States service for the War of the Rebellion.
September 17, 1873, Huntington organized as a city.
, 1875, first official geological survey of Huntington County made by Prof. E. T. Cox, state geologist.
October 11, 1878, first railroad train arrived at Warren on the Delphos, Bluffton & Frankfort (now the Clover Leaf) Railroad.
July 28, 1881, Gen. James R. Slack stricken with paralysis in Chicago and died within a few hours.
April 19, 1882, a contract for the erection of a new county jail and sheriff's residence awarded to J. W. Hinckley by the county com- missioners.
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