History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 117

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942

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It is said by some who know Mr. Beeler that, though naturally rather slow to act, he is fully in earnest when aroused, and that opinion was. fully verified in this case, for he acted with such prompt- ness and energy that in less than twenty-four hours, he, with the assistance of the city police, had secured the arrest of two of the robbers, while the other (a property-owner in Indianapolis) had fled from the county. In less than a week the robber who had held the horse's head had been tried and sentenced to eight years in the penitentiary. A friend and accomplice (though not one of the three who robbed. Mr. Beeler) had falsely sworn an alibi for the one convicted, and in less than another week he was himself on the way to the penitentiary under an eight-years' sentence for perjury. The other arrested robber had a father who was possessed of considera- ble property, and it was supposed that the criminal fraternity also contributed largely towards his de- fense. When his trial came on (the prosecuting

attorney who conducted the proceedings against the other robber having resigned his office) the prosecu- tion of the case devolved on a young lawyer of good talents, but little experience, and thereupon Mr. Beeler, being determined that the villain should not escape from justice, employed at his own expense au eminent and experienced lawyer to assist the prosecu- tion. After a protracted trial, in which there was a great amount of false swearing, and money freely used to save the prisoner, he was convicted, and sen- teneed to the penitentiary for three years (the verdict being a compromise one, some of the jury holding out for eight years and others being for acquittal). This ruffian, after serving out his term, returned to Indian- apolis, and a short time afterwards was engaged in the attempted robbery of a farm-house, in which he received several severe wounds, was captured, tried, and sentenced to the southern prison for eight years. Shortly after his incarceration there he became the leader in an attempt by a number of convicts to escape, in which attempt he killed one of the guards, for which he received sentence of death, but suc- ceeded in obtaining a new trial, which resulted in a sentence of imprisonment for life in the penitentiary.

The village of Mount Jackson, situated on the east line of the township, had its origin in a public-house built by W. C. Holmes and others, about 1837, on the National road, at that point. Adjoining the place were the lands of Obadiah Harris and Nathaniel Bolton. The village was laid out by Harris and Muir in 1838, and the plat recorded October 27th of that year. A store was opened by Daniel Hoover, and another by Moore & Kempton. The buildings of the Asylum for the Insane, which have been erceted just north of the hamlet of Mount Jackson, are more fully mentioned in the history of Indianapolis, though not within the city limits.

Clermont village is situated in the northwest cor- ner of Wayne township, on both sides of the old Crawfordsville road, and on the line of the Indiana, Bloomingtou and Western Railway, which runs along the south side of the town. The west line of the county is the western boundary of the village. The town plat-recorded April 6, 1849-shows

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HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

that it was laid out, as " Mechanicsburg," by Percy Hosbrook, on land owned by William Speer. The plat embraced about seven acres, divided into nine- teen lots, most of them being sixty-four by two hun- dred and thirty-one feet in size, fronting on the one street of the village,-the Crawfordsville road. The name of the town was soon afterwards changed from Mechanicsburg to the present one of Clermont, and two additions to it were laid out, one by Mr. Mar- tindale (recorded April 2, 1855) and one by Ezekiel Dill (recorded June 30, in the same year).

There was a little settlement at this place before the laying out of the village of Mechanicsburg, and that name was given to the new town because several of those who first located there were engaged in mechanical vocations. The first building erected on the site was built for a cooper-shop by Charles W. Murray. John Larimore, a wagon-maker, was also located there, and there was a blacksmith-shop, owned by Ezekiel Dill and John W. Smith. The earliest dwelling-houses in the place were those of Larimore, Ezekiel Dill, John W. Smith, Squire Smith, William R. Smith, George Ballard, James D. Thompson, G. G. Minnefec, John Ross, James P. Graham, and Charles W. Murray,-before mentioned as the first cooper. He was the owner of the shop and business at the time of his deathı, though in the mean time it had passed through several other hands. It now belongs to Alfred Parker. The Dill black- smith-shop is now owned by John Goldsborough, and the business carried on by Robert H. Miller. Another (started by John M. Foreman about 1870) is now owned by J. N. Johnson and carried on by Mr. Erhart.

The first stores in the village were those of John Larimore (where the post-office was kept) and Sam- son Barbe, whose partner in the business was James C. Ross. The next was opened by - Yohn, whose partner was Robert Taylor. Yohn sold out his interest to Taylor, with whom Frank Kennell became partner and afterwards sole owner. Another store was opened by John T. Turpin and Isaac S. Long about 1852. This went . through several changes of proprietorship, but was owned by Tur- pin at the time of his death. A grocery is now

kept in the Turpin store-house by William L. McCray.

A saw-mill was put in operation in Clermont in 1860 by James P. Graham, who removed the ma- chinery not long afterwards, but brought it back to the village. It was never very successful, however, and was again and finally removed in or about 1875. Another saw-mill, started and owned by Henry Cal- vin, is still in successful operation.

At present Clermont is a village of two hundred and thirty inhabitants, containing two school-houses, one graded school, three churches, viz. : the Chris- tian (L. H. Jameson, pastor), Presbyterian (Joseph Patton, pastor), and the Methodist (G. H. Vought, pastor), a post-office (J. N. Johnson, postmaster), an Odd-Fellows' lodge, three general stores (dry- goods and groceries combined), kept, respectively, hy J. N. Johnson & Bro., E. V. Johnson, and W. T. McCray, one drug-store, by Dr. W. M. Brown, one saw-mill, by Henry Calvin (before mentioned), and several mechanic shops. It has no liquor-saloon or drinking-place of any kind. A dram-shop was opened in the place some twenty years ago, but the citizens suppressed the traffic and forced its abandonment. Clermont is, and has ever been, noted for the orderly conduct and sobriety of its people.

Foster Lodge, No. 372, I. O. O. F., was insti- tuted June 22, 1871. It is located at Clermont, where a hall has been erected for its use, valued at fifteen hundred dollars. The lodge has twelve Past Grands, and an active membership of eighteen, with the following officers: John B. Miller, N. G .; M. V. Norris, V. G .; R. H. Miller, Sec .; David Wall, Treas .; A. F. Smith, Per. Sec.

Churches .- A church building was erected by the .people of Clermont and vicinity at an early day for the free occupancy of any and all denominations for religious worship, and it was so used for a number of years. A cemetery was laid out about 1850 on land of Isaac S. Long, donated to the public use. It is on the north side of the town, and includes ahout one acre.

The first church organized at "Old Union" was what was then called " New Lights, or Christian

663

WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

Body," about the year 1826, under the labor of Jesse Frazier and Henry Logan. The organiza- tion took place before there was any house of wor- ship erected. Meetings were held from house to house until for want of room they erected a large shelter covered with boards put ou cabin-fashion, with knees and weight-poles, so that the boards might be used in covering the house when it could be built. In the course of a year a hewed-log house was erected, about thirty feet square, with a gallery above.

About this time the question of the Reformation was agitated, and most of the members fell in with the new idea without schism or division. Hence the Christian Church was established, with the following members : Martin and Elizabeth Martindale, Jordan and Barbara Wright, David and Jemima Varner, John and Maria Barnhill, William and Nancy Dodd, Joel and Catharine Conarroe, Sarah Barnhill, George Cossell, Jesse and Margaret Frazier, Caleb and Nancy Railsback, Matthew and Sarah Railsback, Jesse and Jane Johnson, Dorcas Pugh, and Sarah Jones.

Elder Jesse Frazier was the preacher in charge, with other preachers from time to time, viz .: Henry Logan, James McVey, Andrew Prater, T. Lockhart, J. Matlock, and George W. Snoddy, under whose labors the church lived together in harmony, many being added thereto from time to time.

About the year 1850 or 1851 a new frame house, thirty by forty feet, was built on the same ground ocenpied by the former log structure, in which the church prospered under the labors of Thomas Lock- hart, L. H. Jameson, J. L. Rude, and others, until the division took place on account of the agitation of the soul-sleeping doctrine introduced by J. W. By- waters, J. C. Stephenson, Nathan Horniday, and other of its adherents, they remaining in the house, while those opposed to that doctrine moved their membership to Clermont, and were instrumental in building a free church-house in which all denomina- tions might worship, and in which the Christian Church was again organized, Aug. 1, 1853, having been dedicated by Oliver P. Badger.

The church was organized by the members sub- scribing to the following: " We, whose names are

hereunto subscribed, in order to form a congregation for the worship of Almighty God, and for our mutual edification in the Christian religion, do agree to unite together in church-fellowship, taking the Bible and the Bible alone for our rule of faith and practice."

J. P. Martindale and William P. Long were ap- pointed to take the oversight of the following charter members : Joel and Catharine Conarroe, Mary J. Martindale, Squire and Sarah Smith, Arnold and Nancy Call, V. J. and Susan Brown, Isaac S. and Saralı V. Long, Mercy Murry, Sarah D. Long, Re- becca David, Gaten and Zerelda Menifee, Rodney and Sarah Gibbons, Isaac and Eliza Wiler, John and Maria Barnhill.

In the years 1865 and 1866 there was erected a new house of worship by the Christian Church, a substantial brick, thirty-six by fifty-six by sixteen feet story, well finished, and costing about three thousand dollars. The church was dedicated Aug. 20, 1866, by Love H. Jameson, who has done more preaching at Clermont than any other man. He had been preaching for the church the past year, up to the time of his leaving on his Eastern voyage, as he had been more or less ever since the first organization at Clermont, though there have been many others that have preached for the church, among whom we might mention the names of O. A. Burgess, Prof. S. K. Hoshour, W. R. Jewell, J. C. Canfield, James Conner, and many others.

The first Sunday-school in Clermont was superin- tended by Joseph Patton, a Presbyterian, and was conducted as a union school, in which all denomina- tions took part. After the erection of the free church in Clermont the Christian Church organized a Sunday-school in the year 1852, and ever since that time there has been a school under the super- vision of the Christian Church.

At present the school numbers about seventy-five pupils, and is in a flourishing condition. There are other schools in the village, under the supervision of the Methedist and Presbyterian Churches.

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Clermont was organized about 1849, with eight or ten members, among whom were J. W. Larimore, William K. Johnson, James D. Johnson, John Ross, William R.

664

HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

Smith, Jonathan Bratton, - Owens, and William Speer. The first meeting was held at the house of Dr. John Ross. Subsequent meetings were held at private dwellings until the erection of the church (frame) building about 1850. The first preacher was the Rev. - Heath, among whose successors were the Revs. McDonald, Davy, Mashaun, Baker, Webster, Lewis, Ricker, Demott, McMannie, Mahan, Hazelton, and G. J. Vought, the present minister. The church has now a membership of between forty and fifty, and there is connected with it a Sabbath- school, which was started by Mr. McDaniel, at about the time when the church building was erected. The present superintendent is J. T. Jones, and the school is attended by nearly one hundred pupils.

The Presbyterian Church at Clermont was organ- ized under charge of the Rev. George Long, and among the small band of original members were John Moore, Martin Warfel, William B. McClelland, and Joseph Patton. The church edifice (a frame building) erected about 1858 is the present house of worship of the congregation. The church has now between twenty-five and thirty members, under pas- toral charge of Mr. Patton.

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Bridgeport was organized as a class about the year 1832. The first meetings were held at the houses of Aaron Homan, Robert Speer, and other members, and after- wards in the school-house, until the erection (about 1850) of their meeting-house, which was a frame structure, about thirty by forty feet in size. One of the earliest preachers to this church was the Rev. Asa Beck, who was exceedingly earnest and enthu- siastic (and, as some said, violent) in his preaching. After him 'came the circuit preachers Dorsey and Smith. The present pastor of the church is the Rev. Mr. Switzer. About 1844 a burial-ground was laid out in connection with this church, but after a very few interments had been made the ground was abandoned for that use.

The Maywood Methodist Episcopal Church dates' its class organization back about fifty years, at which time their place of meeting was in a log church building, which was erected on land of Samuel Dar- nell, one of the most prominent of the members.

After a time this old building was given up, and a new frame church was built, about three hundred yards north of the old site, on the Darnell land (which had in the mean time passed to the owner- ship of Charles Robinson). This frame church, which was sometimes called the Robinson Church, was lo- cated about two miles north of Maywood, at the crossing of Morris Street and the Maywood road, on the southwest corner. This church building was destroyed by fire some fifteen years ago, and about the year 1875 the present church at Maywood was erected for the use of the congregation. The re- moval to Maywood, and the erection of the new church building there, was largely due to the enthu- siastic energy and perseverance of a young circuit preacher, the Rev. Mr. Kelsey. The church now numbers about fifty members, among whom are Charles Robinson, James H. Porter, C. S. Hoover, Henry Johnson, David Robinson, Jesse Wright, and others of prominence.

An old Baptist Church building, erected more than half a century ago (one of the first frame churches in Marion County), is still standing near Mount Jack- son, a little west of the Insane Asylum. The first church organization that worshiped here included among its prominent members Israel, Samuel, and Ede Harding, with others of the pioneer settlers of that vicinity. The organization ceased to exist many years ago, and the church building was abandoned as a house of worship.

The Friends' meeting-house of Bridgeport is a good brick building, standing about a half-mile out from the village. John Furnas, the original owner of the land which forms the town site, was a Quaker, and most of the first inhabitants of Bridgeport and its vicinity were members of the same sect. Samuel Spray, James Mills, John Johnson, John Owens, David Mills, Samuel Starbuck, Joseph, Isaac, and Robert Furnas, and Asa, Joel, John, and David Bal- lard were all prominent men in the Friends' Meeting. The first meeting-house of the society at this place was a frame building, which, after some years' use, gave place to the present brick house. A burial- ground, in connection with the church, embraces about a half-acre, donated to the society for that pur-

JAMES JOHNSON.

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WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

pose by Samuel Spray at about the time of the crec- tion of the old meeting-house. The principal min- ister of the Friends at this place at the present time is Wilson Spray.

Schools .- One of the carliest (and said to be the first) of the school-houses in Wayne township was on the Daniel Barnhill farm, near the farm of Asa B. Strong. Another was on the farm of William Gladden. Both these, as also all the others of the earliest school-houses, were merely log cabins, built by the people of their respective neighborhoods, without the aid of any publie funds cither in build- ing the houses or supporting the schools. The Barn- hill school-house, above mentioned, was built in the fall of 1823, and in it the first teacher was George L. ·Kinnard (afterwards a member of Congress), who taught two terms. Following him were several teachers, among whom were Hugh Wells and John Tomlinson. This old school-house went to decay many years ago.

There is an old log building still standing cast of Eagle Creek and about a half-mile north of the Crawfordsville road, which was erected for a school- honse in 1824 by Isaac Pugh and others, and which was the only place of education in that part of the township. One of the earliest teachers in it (and believed to be the first) was a man named Barker. A few years later a school was taught there by George Sanders. The old building was used as a school-house until about 1847, and then abandoned for that use.

Another log school-house, built by the people of the neighborhood in the same manner and at about the same time as that above mentioned, was located on the John T. Presley farm. Like the other early school-houses, it had logs cut out for window-spaces and these covered with greased paper. The floor, scats, and writing-bench for pupils were made of puncheons,-that is, split logs hewed tolerably smooth on the split side. Mr. Barker also taught in this house, and Robert G. Hanna was a teacher there about 1826-27. It was used as a school-house for nearly a quarter of a century, and was abandoned about 1847.

A school-house, built about 1834, was situated on 43

the turnpike near the Crawfordsville road. It was a log building, of the same style outside and inside as the others mentioned. The first teacher in this building was Freeborn Garretson, who was followed by Joseph Darby, who taught from about 1838 till 1841, when the building was abandoned and demol- ished.

In Bridgeport a school-house was built at about the time of the laying out of the town by S. K. Barlow. This was used for school purposes until 1842, when a brick house was built by subscription, and schools were maintained in it also by subserip- tion until the inauguration of the county system of schools.

Wayne township has now eighteen school districts and the same number of school-houses, ten frame and eight brick. The schools taught in these include four graded and two colored schools. The number of teachers employed in 1883 was twenty-two white (thirteen male and nine female) and two colored teachers. The average length of school terms was one hundred and forty days. Total average attend- ance, five hundred. Six teachers' institutes were held in the township during the year. Value of school-houses and sites in the township, twenty-two thousand dollars ; value of school apparatus, three hundred dollars; number of children admitted to schools in Wayne in 1883: white male, four hundred and twenty-three; white females, three hundred and forty-one ; colored males, thirty-one; colored females, forty-two; total, eight hundred and thirty-seven.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

JAMES JOHNSON.

Mr. Johnson was a native of Grayson County, Va., from whence he early removed to Butler County, Ohio, and to Indianapolis on the 11th of March, 1823, his first home being a hewed log house on the present Market Street. Mr. Johnson's own account of his experience as a pioneer conveys a graphic idea of the privations and hardships of the early settler :

" I then made another wheelbarrow trip to an old

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HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.

frame on the corner of Washington and New Jersey Streets. In this old shell I wintered and served a regular apprenticeship to the chills and fever, shaking sometimes three times a day, and sometimes only once in three days. I moved to a cabin I built on the farm [which was his home during his life, five miles from the city on the Crawfordsville road] on the 15th of March, 1824, without its being chinked or daubed, or loft or floor being in it, having only a door, but no shutter, and fireplace cut out and built up of wood as high as the mantel log. In this situation I com- menced trying to make a farm, ague still visiting me now and then. I was there in the woods, and not very well situated, without a horse or anything of consequence, except a very good cow with horns, and a dog which had a disease called the sloes. But I succeeded that spring in clearing out about three acres of ground and feocing it, cutting and splitting the rails and carrying them on my shoulder to make my fence. I got my corn planted on the 15th of June, 1824. I succeeded, with the help of a neigh- bor and his horse to do the plowing, in raising a crop of fodder and some sound corn, of which I used a part for bread. In the mean time I had to carry my meal from Indianapolis on my shoulder, having made a small crop of corn the year before on the donation land, and what is now known as Blackwood's addi- tion to Indianapolis. Whenever we wanted a grist of meal I would go over to town, shell the corn, and take it to old Mr. Isaac Wilson's mill on Fall Creek, get it ground, shoulder it up and start for home, wade White River, and make the trip with about one bushel of meal, which would generally last us about four weeks."

And he adds: " In the fall of the year 1824 my father died, and at the sale of his personal property I bought an old horse and his blacksmith tools. Being rather handy with tools, I soon learned the blacksmithing business, so as to do the work of some of my neighbors. In fact, I was not very particular whether it was iron- or wood-work they wanted, I could turn my hand to anything. I did dress out the

guns, mend the locks, shoe the horses, sharpen the plows, repair the old wagons, and make and men'd shoes for the neighbors, and so in this way I have been able to get along a part of my time, always ready to take hold of any work that was proper to be done, and if I could not get the largest price for my work I would take what I could get."

Mr. Johnson for fifty years was identified with the advancement and prosperity of Indianapolis and the county adjacent. He began life without the usual aids to success, but developed in his business career those qualities which made prosperity almost a cer- tainty, and enabled him to acquire a competence. He possessed untiring energy, and believed that one of the aids not only to affluence but to happiness was constant employment. He was, therefore, never. idle, and always profitably employed. He was in his political faith a Democrat, and during his life identi- fied with that party, always manifesting great intel- ligence and decided convictions on questions of public policy. He was a man of strict probity in all business and social relations, and faithful to every trust con- fided in him. He was honored with many official posi- tions during his lifetime, being for eleven years justice of the peace for Wayne township, one of the superintendents appointed by the government for the construction of the National pike, sheriff of the Supreme Court, deputy marshal under Hon. Jesse D. Bright, member of the State Legislature for the years 1838 and 1839, and Presidential elector. His home relations were always foremost in his thoughts. Whether as son, husband, or father, he was equally tender and affectionate. Mr. Johnson was married at the ago of nineteen to Miss Hannalı, daughter of Samuel and Catherine Snively. Their children are Catherine (Mrs. W. C. Holmes), Mary E. (Mrs. W. R. Hogshire), John, James, Jesse, and Isaac, now living, and Samuel, Sarah, and Henry, de- ceased. He was a second time married, to Annie Heath Branham, of Madison, Ind. The death of Mr. Johnson occurred on the 16th of May, 1882, in his eighty-first year.

14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. RENEWALS ONLY-TEL. NO. 642-3405 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.

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History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, Part 117

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 942

Author: Sulgrove, Berry R. (Berry Robinson), 1828-1890
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 942