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 9
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Although this battle occurred 'in Grant County, it is a part of Hunt- ington County history, for the reason that some of the Indians that took part in the attack on Campbell's camp lived in the latter county. Accord- ing to Indian tradition, Little Thunder, a nephew of Little Turtle, was in command of the Indians.
Early in the summer of 1909 a movement was started in Grant County to set apart the old battle ground as a national park. Wabash and Miami counties joined in the project, and on Sunday, August 29, 1909, a picnic was held on the site of the battle, with more than ten thousand people participating. At the close of the exercises a perma- nent battle ground association was organized, with Maj. George W. Steele, formerly a member of Congress, as president.
Vol. I-5
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John T. Strange, of Grant County, was elected to the state senate in 1910 and secured the passage of an act "To perpetuate battlegrounds and other historic sites." This act, which was approved by the gov- ernor on March 6, 1911, provides that the common council of any city, the board of trustees of any incorporated town, or any association organ- ized for such purpose, and not for profit, shall have the power to acquire and hold such sites, exercising the right of eminent domain if need be to acquire title.
The association was then incorporated and was enlarged to include the counties of Grant, Howard, Miami, Wabash, Huntington, Cass and Blackford. The business of the organization is conducted by a board of directors, consisting of one from each county. In 1914 this board was made up of the following gentlemen : Grant County, John T. Strange; Howard, Conrad Wolf; Miami, Charles A. Cole; Wabash, Frederick King; Cass, Dr. J. Z. Powell; Blackford, E. E. Cox; Hunt- ington, Israel H. Heaston, who is also the treasurer of the association.
So far nothing has been done in the way of establishing a park, but the object of the association is to acquire, by purchase or condemna- tion proceedings, a tract of fifty acres, including the site of Colonel Campbell's camp, and set it apart as a reservation, that the valor of Colonel Campbell and his men may not be forgotten, and the historic importance of the battle they fought there in the winter of 1812 may be preserved to future generations.
The memorial of December, 1811, having failed to accomplish the purpose for which it was submitted to Congress, a second one was ad- dressed to that body by the people of Indiana Territory under date of December 14, 1815. This time their efforts were crowned with success. On April 19, 1816, President Madison approved the bill for the ad- mission of Indiana into the Union as a state. On May 13, 1816, delegates to a constitutional convention were elected. The convention assembled at Corydon, the territorial capital, on the 10th of June and completed its work on the 29th of the same month. The first state offcers were elected on August 1, 1816; the Legislature then chosen mnet on the 4th of November; Gov. Jonathan Jennings was inaugurated on the 7th, and on December 11, 1816, Congress, by joint resolution, approved the admission of the new state.
When the Territory of Indiana was established in 1800, the seat of government was located at Vincennes and remained there until on March 11, 1812, when the Legislature passed an act providing that "from and after the first day of May next, the seat of Corydon, Harrison county." At the time the state was admitted there were but thirteen organized counties within its limits. The greater part of the land, in-
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cluding Huntington County, was still in the hands of the Indians, but the Legislature of 1820, foreseeing that the time would come when the Indians would be dispossessed, passed an act, approved January 11, 1820, providing for the appointment of ten commissioners "to select and locate a tract of land, not exceeding four sections, for a permanent capital." The act also provided that such tract should be somewhere near the geographical center of the state. After visiting several locali- ties, the commissioners selected the site of the west fork of the White River, where Indianapolis now stands, which was confirmed by the General Assembly on January 6, 1821. The establishment of the capital so near the center of the state encouraged the settlement of the central and northern portions and wielded an influence in the negotiation of the Indian treaties mentioned in the preceding chapter.
While many of the facts related in this chapter are of a broad, general nature, they have been introduced to show the evolution of Huntington County. First, the territory now comprising the county was claimed by England, France and Spain. Second, through the explorations of La Salle it became a part of the Province of Louisiana and a dependency of France. Third, by the Treaty of 1763 it became a British possession. Fourth, through the conquest of the Northwest by George Rogers Clark, it was made a part of the territory claimed by the colony of Virginia. Fifth, by the cession of the country northwest of the Ohio to Congress in 1784, by Virginia, Huntington County became territory of the United States. Sixth, it was made a part of the Northwest Territory by the Ordinance of 1787. Seventh, from 1800 to 1832 it was part of the un- organized Territory of Indiana. Eighth, it was erected as a county by the act of February 2, 1832, and was organized as a county by the act of February 1, 1834, since which time it has been a separate subordinate political division of the state.
CHAPTER V
SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
EXPLORERS AND MISSIONARIES-EARLY TRADERS-A QUAKER MISSION- FIRST LAND ENTRIES-FLINT SPRINGS HOTEL-PIONEER CITIZENS- FRONTIER LIFE AND CUSTOMS-HOUSE-RAISINGS-LOG-ROLLINGS- HARVESTING -- AMUSEMENTS AND PASTIMES-A BEAR STORY-INFLU- ENCE OF THE WABASH & ERIE CANAL-HUNTINGTON COUNTY ERECTED -THE ORGANIC ACT-EARLY TAXES AND EXPENDITURES-THE COUNTY SEAT -- PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
More than a century before any attempt was made to found a per- manent settlement in what is now Huntington County, the Wabash Valley was visited by white men. In the latter part of the seventeenth century, when France claimed dominion over all the Mississippi Valley, French explorers and Jesuit missionaries penetrated far into the interior and in their letters and journals told of the Maumee and Wabash rivers, predicting that along these streams would be found the principal route of communication between the French settlements in Canada and the "'Father of Waters." Among those who thus referred to the Maumee and Wabash in their correspondence with and reports to the French authorities at Quebec were Father Hennepin, La Salle and the mis- sionaries Allouez and Dablon.
Some of the first white men to visit the Wabash Valley, after the explorers and missionaries, were the fur traders Drouet de Richardville and Jacques Godfroy ; Hyacinth La Salle, who was the first white child born at Fort Wayne; Captain Wells, who was killed in the massacre at Fort Dearborn, and Joseph Barron. The last named acted as inter- preter in the negotiation of several of the early treaties with the Indians and was General Harrison's messenger to the Shawnee prophet in 1810, before the Battle of Tippecanoe, to warn him against making further efforts to incite the Indians to hostility.
At several places along the Wabash, trading posts were established. The pirogues-large canoes hollowed out of logs-went up and down the river, carrying such goods as flour, bacon, whisky, trinkets and other articles to exchange with the Indians for their furs. As a rule, the
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trader made no effort to establish a permanent settlement or to attract a colony to his post.
About 1805 a small colony of Friends or Quakers came to the forks of the Wabash, about two miles west of the present City of Huntington, and established a mission, under the charge of William McKinney. At that time, and for a number of years later, the "Forks" was a favorite place for the Indians to assemble in council. The object of the mission was to convert the Indians to the Christian faith and teach them habits of industry. The Quakers were kindly received by the natives, cleared twenty-five or more acres of ground and built a double row of lob cabins. The mission was well supported financially and for a few years pros- pered. Then came the War of 1812, during which the cabins were burned, the fields laid waste and the mission destroyed. Thomas Roche, an old resident of Huntington County, says the Quakers were warned of what was coming by some friendly Indians and made their escape, but the mission was never rebuilt. There seems to be some question as to whether it was destroyed by Indians or white troops, but whichever was responsible the settlement of the missionaries failed to become a permanent institution.
The early records of the land office show that on October 12, 1830, Elias Murray and Isaac Bedsall obtained patents to tracts of land in Section 13, Township 28, Range 8, near the Wabash River in what is now the eastern part of Dallas Township. These were perhaps the earliest land entries in the county. William Huston, Newton Silsby and Samuel Hanna also entered lands in the county about the same time; but it does not appear that they established homes thereon, and it is probable the lands were taken for speculation.
On 1831 two brothers, Joel and Champion Helvey, natives of Ten- nessee, came to "Flint Springs," where the City of Huntington now stands, and built a large double log cabin, which became known as the "Flint Springs Hotel." It was a popular stopping place for years for the travelers up and down the Little River Valley.
As a matter of fact, but few attempts were made to found perma- nent settlements in the Wabash Valley until after the location of the Wabash & Erie canal. Work on the canal was commenced at Fort Wayne in February, 1832, and in that year Albert Draper located upon the Richardville reservation, not far from the present Town of Markle. In September, 1833, Samuel Jones brought his family from Highland County, Ohio, and entered a tract of land where the Town of Warren, in Salamonie Township, now stands. He built his cabin near the old Indianapolis & Fort Wayne State Road and before he had it completed Fleming Mitchell settled in the same locality.
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Michael Doyle, a contractor on the Wabash & Erie canal, settled on the southeast quarter of Section 33, in the southern part of what is now Clear Creek Township, in 1834, but about a year later went to Carroll County. John R. Emley selected and entered land in Clear Creek Township in that year and became a permanent resident. Others who located in the county in this year were Michael Kennedy, in Hunt- ington Township; George W. Helms, in Jefferson; Isaac Branson, in Wayne; Joseph Sprowl, in Lancaster; John Lewis, in Union, and some others, who selected sites in various portions of the county.
People of the present generation can hardly understand or appre- ciate the toil and hardships of the men who boldly marched into the wilds of the Wabash Valley, robbed them of their terrors and paved the way for the comforts and luxuries of our modern civilization. The pioneer from one of the older states, who wended his way westward until he found a location that suited him, was immediately confronted by the necessity of providing shelter for himself and family. This shelter was almost invariably a log cabin, rarely more than 16 by 20 feet in dimensions, and generally of one room, which was at once living-room, bedroom, dining-room and kitchen, though when the weather would permit the cooking was often done out of doors. When several families came together and located near each other, one cabin would be built, in which all would live until others could be erected. Money was practically unknown on the frontier and hired labor was scarce. To overcome these conditions the settlers would "swap work" by helping each other to do the things that one man could not do by himself. Hence, when a settler wanted to build a cabin he would cut the logs, drag them to the site selected, and then invite all the settlers within reach to a "raising."
When the men were assembled at the place, four of their number were chosen to "carry up the corners." These men were always skilled in the use of the ax, which was the principal working tool in the early days of every frontier settlement. They would take their places at the four corners of the cabin and, as the logs were pushed up to them on poles or "skids," would cut a notch in the under side of each log to fit upon a "saddle" shaped upon the one below. The man who could carry up a corner, keeping the walls fairly plumb by his eye alone, was regarded as an artist-or it might be more correct to say an architect.
The house-raising was a social as well as an industrial event. While the men were engaged in the erection of the new dwelling, the "women folks" would gather to prepare a dinner, each one bringing from her own store such articles of food as she thought the others might not be able to supply, or some delicacy in which she was especially skillful in
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preparing. If the weather was fair the dinner would be served out of doors, upon an improvised table under the shade of the trees; if too cold for that, it would be served at the cabin of the nearest settler. And that dinner! While it boasted no terrapin nor canvass back duck, nor foreign wines or delicacies with high-sounding names, it consisted of wholesome, nutritious food, with appetite as the principal sauce, and was always accompanied by mirth and good-natured badinage.
At the time the cabin was raised no openings were left for the doors and windows, these being cut out after the walls were up. At one end an opening would be made for a fireplace, which was generally wide enough to take in sticks of wood four or five feet in length. If stone was convenient, a stone chimney would be built outside the cabin at this opening, but in many instances the chimney was built of sticks and daubed with clay.
The roof of the cabin was made of oak clapboards, split or rived out with an instrument called a frow. These boards were usually three or four feet long and would be held in place by poles running lengthwise of the cabin and fastened to the logs at each end by wooden pins. If nails could be obtained the boards would be nailed to the poles arranged for their support, but many of the early cabins were finished without a single article of iron being used in their construction. The door would be made of boards fastened to the cross battens with small wooden pins, hung on wooden hinges and provided with a wooden latch, which could be lifted from the outside by pulling a thong of deerskin that passed through a small hole in the door. At night the string would be drawn inside and the door was locked. This custom gave rise to the expression "The latch-string is always out," signifying that the visitor to whom such an invitation was extended would be welcome at any time.
Many frontier cabins had no floor except "mother earth." .In those of the better class, a puncheon floor would be found. Puncheons were slabs of timber, split as nearly the same thickness as possible, and after they were laid the upper surface of the floor would be smoothed with an adz.
Lumber was hard to obtain and was considered a luxury in the pioneer settlement. Often the first lumber in a neighborhood would be made with a whip-saw. By this method the log, which was first hewn on two sides with a broad-ax, would be placed upon a scaffold high enough for a man to stand upright under it. The scaffold was nearly always placed on a hillside, so that the log could be rolled or slid upon it from above. When it was in position lines would be stricken upon the upper surface showing the thickness of the boards. One man would then take his place on the top of the log to guide the saw and pull it
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upward, while the man below would pull the saw downward, giving it the cutting stroke. It was a slow and tedious process, but it was often the only one in use until some enterprising settler would build a saw- mill on some stream that was capable of furnishing water-power to run it.
Very little factory-made furniture ever found its way to a settle- ment on the frontier, so the pioneer furnished his cabin with furniture of his own manufacture. A few clapboards, smoothed with a draw- knife, were supported on pins driven into holes bored in the logs of the cabin walls to form shelves for the family china. If it could be afforded, this home-made "china closet" would be provided with a curtain of cotton cloth, but in many instances the curtain was lacking. Tables were made by nailing or pinning a few clapboards or whip-sawed boards to battens and the top thus formed would be supported on trestles. When not in use the top could be stood on edge against the wall and the trestles stacked in one corner to make more room in the cabin. Chairs were not always to be had and their place was taken by benches or stools made of puncheons supported on pins driven into holes bored with a large auger, at an angle that would permit the legs to flare out- ward, thus giving the bench or stool greater stability. Two hooks, mnade from the forks of small branches, were fastened to the wall to support the long-barreled rifle, from the muzzle of which hung the bullet pouch and powder-horn, while from the corners of the cabin dangled bunches of boneset, pennyroyal and other herbs, with which the mother was wont to treat all the ordinary ailments of childhood without the expense of summoning a physician.
As matches were rare the fire in the huge fireplace was not allowed to become extinguished. If such an unfortunate event should occur, some member of the family would be dispatched to the nearest neigh- bor's to "borrow" a burning brand or a shovelful of coals to replenish the supply. Through the fall and winter seasons the light of the open fire was the principal source of illumination for the cabin. When the weather was so warm that a fire in the house would be uncomfortable, the home-made lamp was brought into requisition. This lamp was made by partially filling a shallow dish with lard or bear's grease, in which was immersed a rag wick, one end of which projected over the edge of the dish. The projecting end was then lighted, and while this primitive lamp emitted both smoke and the odor of burning grease, it afforded sufficient light for the housewife to attend to her duties. Later came the "tallow dip" a crude sort of candle made by dipping a loosely- twisted cotton wick in molten tallow and then exposing it to the cold air, repeating the operation until a sufficient amount of tallow adhered to the wick to make it stand upright, when it would be placed in a
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candlestick. This was some improvement over the bear's grease lamp, but it was in time succeeded by the moulded candle. Candle moulds of tin usually consisted of six or eight tubes, soldered together. Through the center of each tube would be drawn a cotton wick, after which molten tallow would be poured in until the moulds were filled, when the whole would be set in a cool place for the tallow to harden. Often there would be but one set of candle moulds in a settlement and they passed from house to house.
The cooking was done at the fireplace, a long-handled skillet, with an iron lid, and an iron kettle being the principal cooking utensils. The skillet was used for frying meats and baking biscuits and the kettle for the preparation of the "boiled dinner." Game was plentiful when the first white men came to Huntington County, the pioneer was an expert in the use of the rifle and the forest was depended upon to furnish the supply of meat. To secure breadstuffs was a more difficult problem. Settlers were often compelled to go for miles to some mill run by water-power for a "turn of cornmeal or a grist of wheat." Corn was chiefly depended on and various methods were devised for convert- ing it into meal at home. In the early autumn, before the grains became too hard, the grater was used. This was an implement made by punching holes in a sheet of tin closely together and then fastening the edges of the tin to a board somewhat narrower than the sheet, so that the latter would curve upward. Over the rough surface the ears of corn would be rubbed back and forth, the meal passing through the holes in the tin and sliding down the board into a vessel. Sometimes a mortar would be made by burning out the top of a hardwood stump near the cabin until a depression was formed, then cleaning out the charred wood the corn would be crushed in the mortar with a pestle of hard wood or a smooth stone. Or the grain would be rubbed between two flat stones until it was reduced to the proper consistency for making bread. Some people of the present day would probably "turn up their noses" were such bread set before them, but the pioneers ate it-and it not only sustained life, it also gave them bone and brawn to cope with the hardships of the wilderness.
Salt was a luxury among the first settlers and, before the completion of the Wabash & Erie canal, sold as high as ten dollars per barrel. Settlers would, therefore, organize parties and go to some salt spring or "lick," where several weeks would be spent in evaporating a year's supply. The salt thus obtained might not successfully pass the inspec- tion of the pure food officials, but it gave savor to the food and no doubt aided in keeping the members of the family in good health. After
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the canal was finished the price of salt went down to four dollars per barrel, when the "salt boiling" parties were discontinued.
Other instances of "swapping work" were in the log-rollings and in harvest time. When the first actual settlers came into Huntington County the greater part of the land was covered with a heavy growth of timber. . When a pioneer undertook to clear a piece of ground for the purpose of cultivating it, he felled the trees and cut or burned the logs into lengths convenient for handling and then invited his neighbors to "rolling," when the logs would be piled in' heaps so they could be burned. Log-rollings were tests of physical strength. The men were paired off according to their physical ability and each pair was provided with a stick of strong, tough wood called a "hand-spike." Two of the men who considered themselves the strongest would volunteer to "make daylight" under the log by placing their hand-spike under one end and raising it sufficiently for the other to get their spikes in place. Then all would come up together, and woe to the unfortunate individual who allowed his fingers "to take mud" by his inability to lift his share of the load. The laugh would be on him for the rest of the day unless he could redeem his reputation by causing his partner "to take mud."
Wheat was harvested in the carly days with a reaping hook-a crooked steel blade with a serrated edge and a wooden handle at one end. As the wheat crop grew in proportions and a better method of harvesting was needed, some wise man invented the cradle, which was considered the acme of perfection. It consisted of a framework of four or five fingers of tough wood, bent to conform to the curvature of the scythe. As the grain was cut off by the scythe it fell upon the fingers and was thrown in a straight swath for the binder. It was no unusual sight to see half a dozen or more cradlers in a wheat field, each followed by a binder, while behind came a party that stacked the sheaves into shocks. When one man's wheat was thus cared for the men would repair to the field where the wheat was ripest, going in this manner from farm to farm until the wheat crop of the entire neighboorhood was made ready for the flail, which was the primitive threshing machine. In time the flail gave way to the "ground hog" thresher, which separated the wheat from the straw, but did not clean it from the chaff. Then the fanning mill came into use, and many a boy who wanted to spend the afternoon in fishing for "shiners" has been disappointed by having to turn the crank of the fanning mill while his father fed the wheat and chaff into the hopper. At last an inventor combined the ground hog and the fanning mill into one machine and the separator was the result. - The house-raising, the log-rolling and the harvesting bee were nearly always followed by a frolic. On these occasions whisky was provided
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for the men, and while sometimes one would take a "drop too much," it was not the custom to become intoxicated. While the men were at work the women would join hands in preparing the meals, and the affair would often wind up with a dance. In every settlement there was at least one fiddler, as the pioneer violinist was called, and his services would be called into requisition at the "house-warming," when the new cabin would be properly dedicated, or to celebrate the completion of the log-rolling or the harvest season. At these social dances there were no waltzes, two steps or the tango, but their places were fully supplied by the Virginia reel, the minuet, or even the "break-down," in which main strength and physical endurance were the important elements. In the light of modern development the music furnished by the "one-man orchestra" could hardly be considered classic, but such tunes as "Jim Along Josie," "Money Musk," "Turkey in the Straw," "The Irish Washerwoman" and "Is There Anybody Here That Loves Old Jackson," offered splendid opportunities for tripping the light, fantastic toe, and it is doubtful whether the attendants at the President's inaugural ball ever get more real enjoyment out of the function than did the early settlers of Huntington County at a "house-warming."
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