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 2
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
the meridian. These lines measure land into six-mile squares, which are called congressional townships. These in turn are subdivided into thirty-six squares or sections, containing 640 acres. The numbering of sections begins always at the north- east corner of the township and proceeds from right to left until six sections are numbered and the northwest corner of the town- ship is reached, then dropping down or south one tier or mile, and then numbering each from left to right, so continuing the operation till the entire thirty-six sections are numbered.
Marshall county was named in honor of Chief Justice Marshall. It was part of the territory belonging to the Menomonee tribe of Pottawatamie Indians, and included in the government pur- chase under the treaty of Tippecanoe river, made in 1832. It was, at the time of its organization, a timbered region, inter- spersed with prairies which were formerly regarded as worthless marsh lands, but they are now looked upon as being the most valuable lands in the county since they have been reclaimed by drainage. The timbered lands lie in the shape of a reversed letter A, the open part to the west, the upright body of the letter represented by a tract fifteen by twenty-one miles on the west side of the county; the cross line by a tract six to eight miles wide across the south end, with some smaller tracts in the center of the west side, representing the cross in the middle of the let- ter. The remainder is made up of the prairies above spoken of, and "barrens"; not barren land but light timbered and prairie lands, some of these tracts being the most productive and desir- able lands to be found in the state of Indiana; for instance, the burr oak barrens that lie from two to three miles north of Mar- mont, in Union township.
The heavy timbered consisted of all the hard and soft timbers, except the resinous oak, ash, hickory, maple, beech, elm, walnut, butternut, linn, poplar, etc. The "barrens," or more open lands, are variously timbered with white burr, yellow and black oak, and also hickory. The face of the land is gently undulating, with no abrupt elevations or declivities. These "barrens" are made up of every variety of soil, the greater portion. however, being the deep, rich, black loam of the heavy timbered lands. The burr oak barrens have rich, sandy loam. The white oak barrens, clay and sand. The black and yellow oak, light sand soil with clay bottom. The marshes, the richest and finest of alluvium, producing heavy growths of the best hay and also other crops. All kinds of farm products are raised in abun- dance- crops are certain and the yield remunerative.
Yellow river rises north and east of the northeastern portion of the county -the north branch in St. Joseph and the cen- tral and southern branches in Kosciusko county, and flows in a southwesterly course through the county.
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MARSHALL COUNTY.
From fifteen to eighteen miles from the county seat, through the southeast corner of Tippecanoe township, flows the Tippe- canoe river, entering about four miles north, and passing out about the same distance west of the southeast corner of the county.
W. H. Thompson, assistant state geologist, in the geological report of the state for the years 1885-86, pays the following handsome compliment to our county, and coming from the able, scientific and reliable source it does, the compiler hereot cannot do better than insert it here, so it will become a permanent rec- ord of Marshall county, as to her topography and natural re- sources at the time the legal and scientific investigations were made and published:
MARSHALL COUNTY.
Marshall county is one of the most interesting of all the counties of Indiana, especially as regards its topography, its sur- face geology, and its agricultural importance. It is extremely well situated with regard to all the facilities for production and shipment, having excellent and varied soil, good public roads, superior drainage, and railroads running to almost every point of the compass.
Marshall county is bounded on the north by St. Joseph county, east by Elkhart and Kosciusko counties, west by Stark and St. Joseph counties, and south by Fulton and Kosciusko counties. It is about twenty-one miles square, and was named in honor of Chief Justice Marshall.
In order that the reader may fix in his mind the relative geo- graphical position of this county, let it be remembered that it lies a little more than forty miles southeast from Lake Michigan, and holds in its extreme southwestern corner that loveliest of lakelets, the far-famed Maxinkuckee.
The county was first permanently settled by the whites in the spring of the year 1832; but it was not until the year 1835 that a great movement began by a public sale of the lands at the land office in La Porte, from which time to the present there has been a remarkable growth in wealth and population, and a cor- responding increase of energy, education and culture.
No county in Indiana, all the circumstances considered, has excelled Marshall in matter of educational progress. Her pub- lic schools are of the best, and her citizens have taken the high- est pride in advancing every literary and scientific impulse or enterprise brought to their attention. As might be expected of such a population, business in all its branches has flourished in this county from the start, and Plymouth, the beautiful county seat, has long been one of the most enterprising and wealthy
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
little cities of northern Indiana -a center of culture and social refinements, charming to all who come within its influence. Plymouth was made the county seat in 1836, and the organiza- tion of the county into townships, for civil purposes, was begun in the spring of the same year.
In the early part of its history, Marshall county, in common with most of Indiana, was troubled with malaria, but an excel- lent system of drainage, the cultivation of soil and cleaning of the forests, have obviated this difficulty so that now it is a re- markably healthful part of our commonwealth; indeed, its beauti- ful, clear lakes have become summer resorts for invalids and those seeking recreation and refreshment.
Plymouth is situated very near the center of the county, on both banks of Yellow river (a beautiful stream which flows across the county from northeast to southwest) and is a city peculiarly attractive to the visitor on account of its well-kept streets, its handsome public buildings, and its many picturesque and home-like residences. From all points the views are lovely, embracing bright glimpses of fertile country and .shaded city lawns, with the river shining between.
The natural drainage of Marshall county is excellent, and it has been supplemented by a great deal of intelligent labor in the direction of systematic ditching. Lands which were noted formerly for their impassable bogs are now under a high order of cultivation, and are extremely fertile. I have seen no finer farm lands in Indiana than a large part of this county, which was once far too wet for the plow.
As has been said already, Yellow river is the principal stream, flowing midway through the county with a brisk current, and a clear, bright volume, receiving, during its course, a great num- ber of tributaries, large and small, the majority of them east or northeast of Plymouth.
The Tippecanoe river flows in a short "elbow" across the extreme southeastern corner of the county, receiving Deep creek as its principal tributary, a stream flowing southeast across Walnut township, and a part of Tippecanoe.
Forge creek, rising among some small lakes three miles south- west of Plymouth, runs into Stark county, as does Pine creek, in the extreme northwestern corner of the county.
These streams afford the basis of ample drainage, while at the same time they furnish water power of a high value. Extens- ive ditches have been constructed in various parts of the county, and farmers have exhibited great enterprise and intelligence in the use of underground tiles, but the work of artificial drainage is yet in its incipiency as compared with possible results, or even with what will probably be accomplished before many years have passed.
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MARSHALL COUNTY.
Parts of Marshall county, even now, after years of most destructive abuse of economy, are well and heavily timbered with hard woods. Saw mills have been doing a thriving busi- ness, however, and, as is the case over most of our state's area, the glory of the forests is in the past. Much of the county is prairie, and there are large tracts of what is called "barren land"; but this phrase does not signify a thin soil, for the " barrens" often are choice land for tilling and grazing purposes. Indeed, with the exception of that covered by the many small lakes, there is scarcely any waste land in Marshall county, though much of it needs further ditching to make it properly tillable.
Geology .- The entire area of Marshall county is covered, to a great depth, with the deposits of the Drift period. No stratified rocks are outcropping, nor have they been reached by any of the many borings. The surface is, for the most part, a dark or black sandy loam, varying from a muck to a very light, warm soil. Underlying this are gravels, sands and bowlder clays.
The beds of the streams are usually in the grey or bluish till common to our glacial deposits, and are covered with a stratum of washed gravel, sand and bowlders. The terraces of the Yel- low river are very interesting in this county and Stark, espe- cially those composed of a fine yellowish sand which appears to be identical with that of Lake Michigan. This sand is most prev- alent in the southwestern part of Marshall county, while it runs in great waves and ridges entirely across Stark to the bank of the Kankakee.
Between the Yellow river and the Tippecanoe there is a low divide in the form of a heavy swell of the Drift deposits. From near the southern line of Bourbon township the drainage is into the Yellow, while from that line southward it goes into the Tip- pecanoe. Again, in the townships of North and Polk, Pine Creek and Yellowbank river flow northwestward, while in the southern part of Polk township the drainage is southward into the Yellow river. The above conditions are due to the undula- tions in the grand mass of the Drift, probably caused by reces- sions of the glacier, or whatever power was urging southward this vast silicious conglomeration known as bowlder till. No- where in Indiana is this slow, as it were, and jerking process of recession better exemplified. The valley of the Yellow river is simply a great furrow between well-defined waves of this glacial mass in which the immediate bed of the stream is cut, and from side to side of which it has shifted through the long series of years since the melting of the ice. Whenever the fine sand of which I have spoken prevails, it rests as a rule, immediately upon the blue or gray bowlder till, no soil or sedimentary deposit in- tervening. I gave careful attention to all the features of the
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Drift in this county, and have submitted my observations in the form of a classified statement of facts to the chief of the depart- ment to be used in his studies of the glacial deposits of Indiana. It may be well to remark just here, however, that very little red clay, saving certain ferruginous deposits, is found in this county.
In many parts of the county the surface of the ground is thickly strewn with bowlders of various kinds, chiefly granite, gneiss and other metamorphic rocks, fragmentary, and often worn into symmetrical shapes, or fancifully truncated and grooved, cumbering the fertile fields with their indestructible bulks. Upon these interesting but unprofitable relics of glacial power the farmers have waged relentless war, bursting them with fire and with dynamite, and hauling them into heaps or using them for building rough stone fences. This superficial deposit of bowlders appears to be the result of some agency acting subse- quent to the force which urged the great mass of glacial matter down upon Indiana. No doubt this post-glacial, or rather this secondary agency, was dual, being a combination of water cur- rents and floating ice-bergs; for water currents, unaided by the transporting agency of floating ice, could not move bowlders weighing many tons each, without also washing away at the same time, the whole drift deposit down to the stratified rocks. Action of water alone, if of sufficient power to drive along before it these immense fragments, would be equaled by nothing short of a sea under the influence of a long-continued hurricane blowing steadily in one direction.
The wells and borings in Indiana, and especially in the north- ern half of the state, support the assumption that bowlders are much more numerous upon the surface of the Drift than through- out its mass. I have seen wells dug forty feet through Drift clay without encountering a bowlder in a region where the surface was literally cumbered with immense ones. My studies, sound- ings and surveys of the lakes of the county are to be incor- porated in a separate paper under an appropriate head, but it is well to say here that all the ponds and lakes that I have exam- ined in northern Indiana are mere basins, more or less symmet- rical, scooped in the clays of the Drift. Many of them have huge bowlders scattered over their bottoms, and some of them have rims of whitish lime marl. This lime marl is reported upon in another paper in detail, and it is sufficient to remark that very considerable deposits of it are found in Marshall county in the beds of old ponds, or in marshy tracts favorable to its precipita- tion from the water bearing it in solution. To soils poor in lime this marl would prove an excellent fertilizer. When burned it makes a crude lime suitable for domestic purposes, but not of marketable quality. No doubt the time will come when these
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MARSHALL COUNTY.
deposits will be utilized for the manufacture of the commercial fertilizers so much used in southern states.
Iron Ores .- The only iron-ore I observed in Marshall county is a rather inferior bog ore. Many years ago in West township, at the lower end of Twin lakes, an iron furnace was erected and the ore found near there was mined and manufactured, but of course the experiment failed after a time and the old forge is no more to be seen. Indeed scarcely a vestige of it remains.
Clays .- Good brick and ditch tile clays are plentiful where- ever the grayish Drift deposits are near the surface.
The Lakes .- By far the most interesting geological features of Marshall county are its lake basins. The consideration of these will appear in detail in another paper. What is given here must be merely a description of the most important ones from a topographical point of view. Lake of the Woods, or Wood lake, Pretty lake, Twin lakes, and Maxinkuckee may be taken as the four most interesting.
Wood lake is about one and three-fourths miles long by an average of a half mile in width, and is situated on the dividing line between German and North townships, about six miles north- east of Plymouth, and some four miles southwest of Bremen.
Pretty lake is nearly three miles southwest of Plymouth, and is all its name implies - a beautiful, silvery clear lakelet and is a great resort for pleasure parties.
Twin lakes, two lovely sheets of water south by southwest from Plymouth about three miles, are also much resorted to in summer.
Maxinkuckee, a lake three miles long by nearly two miles wide, in places, lies in nearly the extreme southwestern corner of the county, distant from Plymouth about nine miles. Nowhere in the United States is there a lovelier body of pure cold water. It has become a famous summer resort, and deserves all the great praise it has received. In their main topographical features all these lakes are alike, being set in bowls sunk in almost imper- vious bowlder clay and partly surrounded by more or less abrupt shore lines. They are well stocked with pan-fish of various kinds, but the bass are becoming scarce.
Springs, Borings and Flowing Wells .- The mineral springs and flowing wells of Marshall county must be studied in connec- tion with the rivers and lakes, especially the latter. Impervious blue clay always overlies the mass of gravel or sand out of which these springs rise and these wells flow. This same impervious clay underlies the water of the lakes. It will not follow from this, however, that the water of the lakes will rise as high as that of the flowing wells, for the lakes are controlled by their possi- ble or actual outlets, or they may be supplied from a different reservoir. But it is true, nevertheless, that all the deep, clear
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
lakes of this county are fed chiefly from springs rising out of the bottom clay or flowing from the strata of sand in the sides of the basin. The water of the flowing wells comes from the same or similar sources, that is, it rises from beneath an impervious stratum of bowlder clay. These wells have been successfully operated in many parts of the county, but the most notable ex- ample is the famous one at Plymouth, which sends up a constant stream of water thirteen inches in diameter to the height of fif- teen feet above low water mark of Yellow river. At most places in the county wells, when properly tubed, will either flow above the surface of the ground or the water will rise to within a few feet of the top of the bore.
It is difficult to over-estimate the value to farmers, manufac- turers and to a community in general, of flowing wells that are easily made as those of Marshall county. How infinitely su- perior to a hand-pump or a wind-pump is a gushing fountain, that never ceases or tires, but day and night pours out its wealth of pure water for man and beast !
Borings in this county have not reached the stratified rock, nor have they disclosed any new feature of the Drift mass into which they have been projected. As is nearly always the case else- where, the waters from these bores are often more or less im- pregnated with the salts of iron and are called "sulphur" waters and "magnetic" waters. No doubt the iron renders them valu- able as a tonic in certain cases. Many beautiful springs rise in the county and some of these, too, are sufficiently charged with iron salts to color with brown or reddish oxide whatever the water flows over. No doubt this feature is due to its rising through ferruginous sand or other iron-bearing deposits.
We now return to the first meeting of the board of county commissioners, the adoption of a county seal and the dividing of the county into three districts and also three townships, the three districts and the three townships being identical when they were first formed.
"The first meeting of the board of commissioners was held at the house of Grove Pomeroy, on the 2d day of May, 1836. Mr. Pomeroy was then a resident of Plymouth, and resided in a log house situated on lot No. 42, corner of La Porte and Michi- gan streets, or what is now known as 'Corbin's corner.'
The commissioners were Robert Blair, Abraham Johnson and Charles Ousterhout. Mr. Ousterhout was perhaps the best known to the people of the county at that time, of any who par- ticipated in the preliminary organization. He resided on the farm known as the "Orr farm," one mile south of the now city of Plymouth. He was a robust, athletic man, a Canadian by birth, and had seen a great deal of the world in his time. He spoke fluently the languages of the Pottawattamie and Miami
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MARSHALL COUNTY.
tribes of Indians, also French and English. He was engaged in the war of 1812, serving his country as a spy.
He was a sort of dare-devil, and was never satisfied unless he was at the "head of the procession." He figured extensively in the politics of his time, and was partially successful. He died many years ago of gangrene.
Abraham Johnson served two terms as commissioner, and was a resident of what is now Polk township during his citizen- ship in the county. He died on his farm about two miles south- east of Tyner City, some thirty years ago. He was a robust type of the pioneers of the then northwest. He was a man of more than average scholarship for those days-a man who did his own thinking, and in politics was an uncompromising whig. He raised a large family of boys, many of whom are prominent citi- zens of the county.
The writer of this knows nothing of the life and characteris- tics of Robert Blair, nor where or when he died, but, for the fact that he was chosen as county commissioner, it is fair to presume that he was a representative man of those days, and one in whom his neighbors and acquaintances had confidence.
After appointing Jeremiah Muncy clerk during the term, the board adjourned to meet at the house of Charles Ousterhout, at I o'clock P. M. of the same day. The first business trans- acted was:
"Ordered by the board, that the seal of said commissioners shall be a wafer with a paper placed on it in the shape of a dia- mond, sealed with a seal in the shape of a heart."
The board then divided the county into three districts, bounded and described as follows:
"Beginning at the northwest corner of said county and run- ning a due south course with the county line seven miles to the corner of sections 19 and 30, in congressional township No. 34 north; thence east with said line to the eastern boundary of said county. Said district to be known as District No. 1.
"Ordered, that District No. 2 begin on the western boundary line of said county, at the corner of District No. 1, and running with the said county line seven miles to the corner of sections 30 and 31, in congressional township No. 33'north; thence east on the line of said section twenty-one miles to the eastern boundary line of said county. Said district to be known as District No. 2. " Ordered, that District No. 3 begin at the western boundary line of said county, commencing at the south corner of District No. 2, thence south with said county line seven miles to the south- ern boundary line of said county, thence east with the line of said county twenty-one miles to the eastern boundary line of said county. Said district to be known as District No. 3."
It was also ordered that District No. I be known by the name
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HISTORY OF INDIANA.
of North township, District No. 2 by the name of Center town- ship, and District No. 3 by the name of Green township.
The elections in said townships were ordered to be held at the house of Adam Vinnedge, in North township; at the house of Charles Ousterhout, in Center township; and at the house of Sidney Williams, in Green township.
It will be observed, by reference to the county map, that the territory embraced in North township was what is now German, North and Polk townships; Center embraces what is now Bour- bon, Center and West; and Green township embraced what is now Tippecanoe, Walnut, Green and Union.
The residence of Adam Vinnedge, the place designated for holding the elections in North township, was on the Michigan road, about six miles north of Plymouth. Mr. Vinnedge was the father of Adam Vinnedge, now residing in Plymouth. He was a man of energy, and took an active part in the affairs of the county in the early days.
The election in Green township was held at the house of Sidney Williams, which was at or near where Argos now stands.
The first election after the organization of the county, was held on the fifth day, first Monday of August, 1836, for the pur- pose of electing a senator, representative, sheriff, probate judge, county commissioner, school commissioner, coroner, and justices of the peace. In the North township there were thirty-seven votes cast. John Johnson, James Palmer and Adam Snider were judges of said election, and James Jones and Abraham Johnson, clerks. Thomas Packard and Robert Johnson were elected justices of the peace for North township.
In Center township there were eighty-three votes cast. Of these, so far as is known, but John Greer, Joseph Evans, Gilson S Cleaveland, David R. Voreis and James Voreis, are living at this writing (1890). John Greer resides three and a half miles south- easterly on the farm he has owned for over fifty years. Mr. Greer, although over eighty years of age, recognizes his old time friends especially, and enjoys a visit with them as much as he used to in years long gone by, and he will, from all appearances, live several years yet. Uncle Joseph Evans still resides two miles west of Plymouth. He is about eighty-five years of age, and although he had the misfortune to have one of his arms ampu- tated some two years ago, on account of cancer in his hand, he is still in good health and spirits and did not miss a meal even the day that his arm was amputated, and as was said of him ten years ago, in a work similar to this, he " is the same polite gentle- man" he has been ever since his residence in this county, which has been over fifty years. Mr. Gilson S. Cleaveland, at about eighty years of age, is still enjoying good health and bids fair to yet live many years. He came to Marshall county in 1835, and
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