USA > Indiana > Marshall County > History of Indiana : containing a history of Indiana and biographical sketches of governors and other leading men. Also a statement of the growth and prosperity of Marshall County, together with a personal and family histry of many of its citizens, Vol. II > Part 11
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Resolved, That the members of the Pioneer club stand pledged not to support any candidates for office who are not pledged against all railroad monopolies.
The club has been holding annual fairs up to 1889, with but moderate success. The compiler of this chapter has been una- ble to get any reliable information from the parties concerned, as to what the financial condition of the club is.
Maxinkuckee Agricultural Association .- The farmers of Union and adjoining townships have organized themselves into an as- sociation for the furtherance of the interests of agricultural and social intercourse. The society was first mutually formed in 1882, under the auspices of the grangers, and legally organized under the statutes of the state, in 1884. After organization the
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association leased four acres of ground from David R. Voreis for a term of six years. Their first exhibition was held in Mr. Voreis' barn, which was large enough to hold all their articles on exhibition, but the interest in the society has grown so that even the four acres was not large enough to accommodate the association and its patrons, and in the spring of the present year, 1890, the society re-leased the four acres and had added to it eight more acres, the lease to run six years more. This shows the growth of the association and the high esteem it is held in by the surrounding community.
The association has good buildings and improvements gener- ally, all of which are paid for, the society being entirely out of debt. The first officers were - President, John Lowry; vice president, Barnet Adamson; secretary, James L. Mosher; treas- urer, William Dinsmore. The present officers are - President, Martin Lowry; vice president, Eli Parker; secretary, Lewis C. Zechiel; treasurer, Jacob Zumbaugh. No games of any kind nor intoxicants are allowed on the grounds. The association has been agriculturally, socially and intellectually an entire success, so far.
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MARSHALL COUNTY.
CHAPTER III.
BY A. C. THOMPSON.
PLYMOUTH, IND .- ORIGINAL PLAT OF ITS ORGANIZATION - FIRST STORE, SAW-MILL AND GRIST-MILL - PROMINENT BUSINESS MEN OF EARLY AND LATER DAYS - DOCTORS, LAWYERS AND PREACHERS - CITY GOVERNMENT - PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS - FIRE COMPANIES AND DISASTROUS FIRES - POSTOFFICE, POSTMASTERS AND BANKS - PERSONAL SKETCHES - RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW - WATER-WORKS.
HAT now constitutes the city of Plymouth was laid off and platted as a town by John Sering, James Blair and William Polk, and filed for record in the recorder's office of St. Joseph county, on the 20th day of October, 1834, the records of what is now Marshall county being then kept at South Bend, which was the seat of justice of Saint Joseph county at that time, and as it is a matter of some import- ance, as a starting point for a chapter on Plymouth, the "refer- ence" or description of the plat, together with the acknowledg- ments to the same, are copied in full, and are as follows:
Reference .- (Plymouth is), surveyed at right angles with the Michigan road, which (runs) through the town of Plymouth 5º W. variation 6° 10'. Platted by a scale of eight rods to an inch. Michi- gan street is 100 feet wide, each of the other streets are sixty-six feet wide, and the alleys twelve feet in width, all the lots except fractional ones, are eighty-eight feet in front, by 126 feet in length, containing one-fourth of an acre. The square marked "Court House Square," is donated by the proprietors for public buildings necessary for county purposes. Lot No. 131 on Plumb street is donated for a school-house. One acre and (a) half ad- joining Plumb street on the west is given for a county seminary, and one acre and (a) half adjoining Plumb street on the west is given for a public burying ground -end of lots numbered 49, 50 and 51 and twenty feet off the east end of lots numbered 75, 76 and 77, is added to the width of Center street for a market house. October 12, 1834. JOHN SERING, JAMES BLAIR, WILLIAM POLK, ) Proprietors.
STATE OF INDIANA, 1 St. Joseph County, §
Personally appeared before the undersigned, the recorder of said county, John Sering, one of the proprietors of the within
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
town plat, and acknowledged the within to be his free act and deed for the uses and purposes expressed on its face.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 11th day of October, 1834.
LATHROP M. TAYLOR, Recorder. [SEAL]
STATE OF INDIANA, St. Joseph County. §
Personally appeared before the undersigned, the recorder of said county, James Blair, one of the proprietors of the within town plat, and acknowledged the within instrument to be his free act and deed for the purposes and uses expressed on its face.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of October, 1834.
LATHROP M. TAYLOR, Recorder. [SEAL]
STATE OF INDIANA, St. Joseph County. S SS.
Personally appeared before the undersigned, recorder of said county, William Polk, one of the proprietors of the within town plat and acknowledged the within instrument to be his free act and deed for the uses and purposes expressed on the face of said plat.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 20th day of October, 1834.
LATHROP M. TAYLOR, Recorder. [SEAL]
STATE OF INDIANA, St. Joseph County, SS ss.
I, Lot Day, Jr., recorder of St. Joseph county, Indiana, do hereby certify the foregoing to be a full and complete copy of the record of the above plat, " Reference," and of the several ac- knowledgments of the proprietors, as found upon record in book " B". between pages 134 and 135, which said records are legally in my possession and on file in my office in said county.
Given under my hand and the seal of my office this 13th day of February, 1854.
LOT DAY, JR., Recorder. [SEAL]
From the above it appears that the record of the platting, ac- knowledging and recording of the plat of Plymouth, was not properly certified to for about twenty years after it was laid out, and eighteen years after the organization of Marshall county.
The following are the names of the additions to Plymouth, but they are too numerous to describe in detail. Suffice it to say that the city, with all its additions, is about one and one-fourth miles square, the main or business portion of it being in the west half of section thirteen (13), Michigan road lands:
Brownlee's addition, Brownlee's subdivision of out lot 5, Wheeler's addition, Brownlee's continued addition, Brownlee's
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subdivision of out lot 118, Wheeler's addition, Brownlee's sec- ond addition, Blain's addition, Brink's addition, Bailey and Wheeler's continued addition to Wheeler's addition, Becker's addition, Cobbell's addition, Cobbell's corrected and amended addition, out lots, Cougle's Independence, Cleaveland's ad- dition, Cressner's subdivision of out lots 119 and 79 of Wheel- er's addition, East Plymouth, Ewing's addition, Ewing's, Geo. W., subdivision of out lot 2, Ewing's addition, Frank's subdivi- sion of northwest corner of out lot 61 of Cobbell's addition, Houghton's addition, Huggin's subdivision of out lots 11 and 16, Ewing's addition, Independence, Merrill's addition, Moore & Westervelt's addition, McFarlin's subdivision of out lot 42, orig- inal plat, Niles' addition, Niles' addition (2nd), Niles & Sering's partition, Osborne's subdivision of out lot 6, Wheeler's addition, Osborne's subdivision of out lots 34 and 35, Cobbell's addition, Rose's addition, Van Pelt's addition, Van Pelt & Place's addition, Wilson's addition, Work's (Elizabeth's) subdivision of out lots 36, 37, and 60, of Cobbell's addition, Work's (Henry's) addition, subdivision of out lots 37 and 60 of Cobbell's addition, Wheeler's addition, Wheeler's continuation, Plymouth Improvement com- pany's addition, Speisshofer's subdivision of out lot 58, Cobbell's addition, and Corbin's continuation of Cougle's addition.
In the winter or spring of 1835, Oliver Rose opened the first store in Plymouth. His store room was a log building which stood upon the lot now occupied by Charles Palmer and the law office of Charles H. Reeve, on La Porte street, between Michigan and Center streets. Mr. Rose also commenced farming operations on quite an extensive scale for those days, on what is known as the Goodsell place, just north of town. When he came to the county he was accompanied by our worthy and esteemed fellow- citizen, Gilson S. Cleaveland, who still abides with us.
During the summer or fall of 1835, Uri Metcalf and Milburn Cole became residents of Plymouth. The latter gentleman after- ward erected a saw-mill which stood a little to the north of the site now occupied by the Plymouth flouring mills. During the same year Judge Grove Pomeroy erected a frame building of respectable size, on the southwest corner of La Porte and Mich- igan streets, which was known at that time and for a number of years afterward as the " Plymouth Hotel." Mr. Pomeroy was the landlord and carried on an extensive business in entertaining travelers, as the general land sales, which commenced about this time, brought many persons into the county from different parts of the United States. This hotel was considered the half-way house for the stage line from Logansport, Ind., to Niles, Mich. Ten years later, after the opening of the Michigan road, the stage line through this place, from south to north, was considered one of the main thoroughfares of the state, and many who read
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this will remember how Old Jake Rhinehart, who is still living in West township, would blow his tin horn, crack his whip, and come dashing into town on his four-horse rock-away coach. The whole town would be out to greet him and to see who the new arrivals were. A hack also made regular trips between Plymouth and La Porte, and both of these lines furnished the only means of transportation until the completion of the rail- roads, in 1857-58.
Among those who were prominent citizens of Plymouth from 1836 on, for many years, the writer calls to mind James Bannon, who kept a boot and shoe shop and the postoffice, in a small wooden building on the east side of Michigan street, on the space now occupied by H. Humrichhouser's brick building. He went to California during the gold excitement of 1849, and if still liv- ing his whereabouts are unknown. John Cougle kept a saloon in an adjoining building, but later erected a large frame building on the corner north of Packard's new bank building, which he occupied as a dry goods and notion store until his death occurred, thirty or more years ago. He drank to excess, which perhaps was the cause of his taking off. He was strictly honest and straightforward in his business transactions, but entertained some very peculiar notions. Before his death he purchased a coffin and stored it in one of his rooms, so that it might be on hand when wanted. He owned a fine bass drum, and almost every pleasant evening gave an exhibition of his skill on that detest- able instrument, in front of his place of business. Later he was re-enforced by Lorenzo D. Matteson, with his snare drum. Mr. Matteson was an artist on his instrument, and the two made a full band, with some to spare. Robert Rusk, an eccentric genius, ran a tin shop on the east side of Michigan street. His estab- lishment was destroyed by the disastrous conflagration that occurred March 22, 1857. He died long ago. Joseph Griffith was another early settler well known in his day. He was prose- cuting attorney at one time, also postmaster. He met death by the accidental discharge of his gun, while out hunting, more than a quarter of a century ago. He was always ready to offer him- self as a living sacrifice for the amusement of the people. At a circus once on a time, the clown was going to perform the diffi- cult act of balancing a chair containing a man in it, on his chin. Joseph offered himself as the victim. The clown turned the chair upside down, and Joseph inserted his legs between the rounds in good shape, and after being adjusted in front of the au- dience, the clown left him to his fate. The uproar was terrific, and became greater when the victim had to throw himself down on the ground, backward, to extricate himself.
Some time during the year 1836, a store was opened by Hob- son & Gregory in a log building, on the grounds now occupied
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by the Centennial opera house. Mr. A. L. Wheeler settled n Plymouth in the fall of 1836, and immediately erected a large store building on lot No. 1, which he filled with an extensive as- sortment of goods. A man by the name of Benjamin Kress was selling goods in the north part of town, near the court house square. Chester Rose and David Steel were also merchandising on a small scale.
In 1838, five persons in Plymouth were engaged in the prac- tice of medicine, viz., Drs. Crum, Griffin, Alvord, Jones and Jeroloman. The latter, however, who was sent out as a physi- cian for the Indians, remained in the county but a short time. Dr. Crum had been practicing in the county for some time prior to this date.
The summer and fall of 1838 will long be remembered as the "sickly season," and these doctors, poor and inexperienced as they were in the practice, had more than they could properly attend to. The spring of that year was very wet, cold and back- ward. About the first of June, when the marshes were filled, the weather became dry and oppressively hot. Cases of sickness began to appear about the Ist of July, and the number of these rapidly increased as the season advanced. Entire families were prostrated. Not more than one person out of fifty was perfectly well, and many suffered for want of proper attention. The most common disease was fever and ague, but other and more violent forms of fever and malarial diseases were also prevalent. Sev- eral of the early settlers died during this season, among whom were E. B. Hobson, Oliver Rose, Julius Hutchinson, Hugh Gal- braith, Simeon Taylor, Jacob Shoemaker, and many others. This sickness seriously retarded the growth of the town and county for many years. Many became discouraged, and left for other parts as soon as their health and circumstances would per- mit. But a great change has taken place since then, and no more healthy place can anywhere be found, thanks to drainage and driven wells.
The legal fraternity began to be represented here in 1838. William Lumis settled in Plymouth in that year, and engaged in the practice of law. Some two years afterward he was elected recorder, but died shortly after his election. In the fall of that year, R. L. Farnsworth opened a law office in Plymouth, where he followed his profession for something like a year. Subsequently he removed to South Bend. William G. Tevalt and Jonathan S. Harvy, attorneys, came here not far from 1840, and practiced law for near two years. But space will not permit special mention of half the original geniuses that figured in Plymouth in an early day, and the writer hastens on to matter of more importance.
Plymouth was organized under a charter granted by the legis- lature, under an act approved February 11, 1851. In 1853, the
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
population of Plymouth was 670. In the fire of 1857, all the books and records in relation to the corporate organization were destroyed, and therefore the particulars cannot be obtained. It seems, from the proceedings of the board of corporation trustees, held January 30, 1855, that a proposition to surrender the charter had been presented. After considerable discussion, the follow- ing resolution was adopted:
Resolved, That surrendering the charter granted by the legis- lature of this state, on the 11th of February, 1851, incorporating the town of Plymouth, this corporation will and does hereby become incorporated under the general law of the state of Indi- ana, for the incorporation of towns, defining their powers, etc., approved June 11, 1852, as provided by the fifty-sixth section of said act.
Rufus Brown was president of the board at that time, and Miles W. Smith, clerk, both of whom are dead long since. April 7, 1857, the following resolution appears on record:
Resolved, That, whereas, on the 22d day of March, 1857, the office of A. C. Capron, the clerk of this corporation, was de- stroyed by fire, and all the books, records, tax duplicates, assess- ment rolls, maps, orders, vouchers, receipts, etc., of the corpora- tion were entirely destroyed, the clerk is ordered to replace the same as far as possible.
At this meeting, Mark Cummings, teacher of the school, was ordered to be discharged after the Ioth of April, owing to the small number of pupils in attendance.
The law creating incorporated towns was. loose and unsatis- factory in its workings, and the population of Plymouth being sufficient to organize under the city law, in April, 1873, a petition to the board of corporation trustees, requesting them to order an election of the voters of the town, for the purpose of taking the sense of the people as to the expediency of changing the government of the town from a corporation to a city, was cir- culated. The requisite names were procured and presented to the board, who ordered an election to be held on the 25th day of April, 1873. The election resulted nearly three to one in favor of "city." There were 327 votes cast, of which 244 were in favor of a city government, and 83 against it. The proper steps were then taken, and the old corporation was dissolved and the city government set in motion. In May, 1873, an election was held for city officers, in which politics was left out of the question, there being but one ticket voted for, which was composed of about an equal number of democrats and republicans, Horace Corbin having the honor of being the first mayor. The annual exhibit of the first year under the new arrangement proved to be entirely satisfactory. The old corporation was in debt about $1,000, with only $156 in the treasury to pay it with. The total
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receipts during the year ending May, 1874, were $10,579.22, of which about $2,000 were for fines and licenses. After paying all expenses incurred by reason of the new order of things, salary of mayor, two policemen, printing of ordinances, street work, $2,490.06, the redemption of about one-half of the outstanding orders, issued prior to the city organization, there remained in the hands of the treasurer $3,086.42. The financial condition of the city at that time was: total liabilities, $772.95; balance in treasury, $3,809.42; balance over liabilities, $2,936.47.
During that time and since valuable and permanent improve- ments have been made equal to any city of its size in the state. Streets have been graded; an engine house, equal to any in northern Indiana, has been built at a cost of about $5,000, and a school-house, second to none in the state, has taken the place of the old seminary building.
Fire Companies .- Protection hook and ladder company No I, was organized by the filing of its constitution in the clerk's office February 24, 1858, thirty-three years ago. The following were the original members as they appeared signed to the con- stitution: J. B. N. Klinger, D. McDonald, A. Vinnedge, Stephen A. Francis, H. B. Pershing, D. Lindsey, T. J. Patterson, R. M. Brown, J. E. Houghton, J. C. Leonard, L. D. Lamson, Julius Tacke, David How, E. R. Shook, H. Humrichouser, J. H. Beeber, N. B. Klinger, D. Vinnedge, Samuel Freese, J. S. Woodward, M. Becker, Adolph Meyers, H. M. Logan, W. W. Hill, William S. Vinnedge, Matt Boyd, John M. Shoemaker, George Anderson, Charles G. Tibbits, John Noll, Henry Kuntz, Horatio B. Sellon, W. M. Kendall, Henry Botset, Christopher Seitel, Charles Ebal, J. Alexander M. La Pierre, H. Sluyter, G. H. Wilbur, Thomas K. Houghton, A. Johnson, John W. Patterson, Henry McFarlin, J. W. Houghton, Jerry Blain, D. B. Armstrong, J. L. Cleaveland, Joseph Lauer, Henry M. Hilligas, J. N. Freese, F. Mullen, D. R. Davidson, William Babington and Michael Stoll. The first offi- cers were J. B. N. Klinger, foreman; Stephen A. Francis, assist- ant foreman; William C. Shirley, treasurer; D. McDonald, secretary; E. R. Shook, steward. Although the company met with considerable opposition, as all new enterprises do, yet it has served and acted well its part when occasion required.
Adriatic engine company was organized about December 8, 1865. On January 3, 1866, a fire broke out on the west side of Michigan street, which consumed the whole block. The books and papers of the company were in the law office of Amasa John- son and were destroyed. Nothing in regard to its organization appears on the present record. Torrent hose company, in con- nection with the engine company, was organized December 8, 1865. R. W. Comfort was the first foreman, and Sigmund Mayer, secretary. These three companies were organized into what is
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
called a fire department, under the direction and control of the city council.
City Hall .- The city hall and engine house was completed in the fall of 1875, by R. McCance and W. P. Beaton, contract- ors, at a cost of $4,200. The construction of the building was under the immediate supervision of Alfred Morrison, Platt McDonald and W. D. Thompson, at that time members of the city council. The building is thirty-four feet wide by fifty feet in length; the walls are thirty-five feet high, eighteen inches thick to the second story, and twelve inches from there to the top. The tower is nine feet square and fifty-nine feet high. The first story is in one large room, in which are kept the implements of the fire department, consisting of one hand engine, hose cart, hook and ladder, etc. The upper story is divided into two rooms, one for the fire department and one for council's chamber and May- or's office. The building is large enough for the use of the city for many years to come. The building is the best of its kind in northern Indiana, and is one of which the citizens of Plymouth are justly proud.
Fires .- Plymouth has had its full quota of fires since its or- ganization. The most destructive conflagration of record oc- curred on Sunday morning, March 22, 1857. The fire was first discovered in the rear of the building, occupied and formerly owned by Robert Rusk, on the east side of Michigan street, on the lot now occupied by Nussbaum & Mayer. The alarm was sounded about I o'clock in the morning. The buildings were all of wood, and there being no fire department in those days, and not even so much as a "bucket brigade," the citizens betook themselves to removing the contents into the street, knowing that any effort they might make to save the buildings would prove entirely fruitless. The intense heat occasioned by the burning of an entire block of buildings, aided by a brisk northeast wind, carried the fire to the west side of the street, and the goods in the street and the entire block on the west side of Michigan street, with the exception of Mr. Corbin's residence, on the north part of the block, was entirely consumed. The loss in property and business was immense and was variously estimated at from $75,000 to $125,000. Fully four-fifths of the business establish- ments were destroyed, upon which was an insurance of but $5,000. A careful estimate of the actual cash losses at the time footed up $62,050.
Another disastrous fire occurred January 3, 1866, consuming the entire block on the west side of Michigan street, between La Porte and Garro streets, and resulting in losses amounting to from $50,000 to $75,000, with but little insurance.
August 1, 1872, Hoham's block, containing eleven business rooms, situated on what is known as the bank lot on the river,
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fronting on La Porte street, was entirely consumed by fire. The entire row of buildings was owned by John Hoham, who sustained a loss of about $12,000. The total loss sustained by the business men occupying the rooms was about $32,000, on which there was an insurance of only $3,000. The sufferers were J. C. Kern, O. H. P. Bailey, John Gartner, Dr. J. J. Vinall, Nicoles & Maxey, Col. Poe, A. O. Shultz, P. Stegman, C. Bergmann, B. Nussbaum, J. W. Cleaveland, Wilcox & Leonard, M. Ruge & Co. With characteristic energy, Mr. Hoham at once commenced cleaning away the rubbish, and now fine brick buildings have taken the place of the old wooden structures.
Plymouth Postoffice .- The postoffice is the most important branch of the public service, and is entitled to a passing notice in this connection. It ought to be an easy matter to sketch its history, as a record is made of all matters connected with it, but like everything else, the attempt to arrive at anything tangible from the early records, has been an entire failure. From those who ought to know, however, the following facts are gleaned, from 1835 up to the present time:
William G. Pomeroy was postmaster from 1835 to 1837, under Andrew Jackson. Mr. Pomeroy was a whig. Amzi L. Wheeler settled in Plymouth in December, 1836, and being a democrat, and believing that "to the victors belong the spoils," relieved Mr. Pomeroy, under Martin Van Buren, from 1837 to 1841. In 1840, Harrison was elected, and Mr. Pomeroy again took the office from 1841 to 1845. James K. Polk was elected in 1844, and James Bannon took charge of the postoffice as a democrat. Under Taylor, in 1849, Joseph Griffiths served until some time in 1850, when he accidentally shot himself, from the effects of which he died. Levi C. Barber was then appointed to fill the vacancy. Taylor died July 9, 1850, and Mr. Barber served out the remain- der of the term under Fillmore. The administration changed again upon the election of Franklin Pierce, and D. McDonald was appointed, and relieved Mr. Barber in the spring of 1853. He held the office a portion of the term and resigned, when John K. Brooke was appointed to fill the vacancy. On the in- auguration of James Buchanan, James F. Van Valkenburgh was appointed. William C. Edwards also served a portion of the time under Buchanan. President Lincoln appointed O. H. P. Bailey, who assumed control of the office in 1861, and served un- til the death of Lincoln, in 1865, when President Johnson relieved him and appointed Gideon Blain. Mr. Blain served but a short time when Mr. Bailey was again re-appointed and served until the election of President Grant. John M. Moore then received the appointment, but was taken sick and died before he assumed the duties of the office. William M. Kendall was then appointed and served out Grant's first term, was continued under his second 8-B.
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