USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana > Part 95
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
THOMAS SCHOOLEY.
John Schooley, the grandfather of Thomas, was of English extraction and a resident of Massachusetts. His children were James, William, Sewell, and David. James, the first named, was born during the year
1792, in Massachusetts, and early removed to Dela- ware, where he married Ruth Hobson, a native of Philadelphia, Pa. To this marriage were born chil- dren,-John, James, Thomas, Daniel, and Andrew. Mr. Schooley removed later to the State of Mary- land, where he became a successful merchant. His son Thomas was born Feb. 22, 1830, in Cecil County, Md., and in early youth removed to Zanesville, Ohio, and in 1840 to Indianapolis, where his father died soon after the arrival of the family. Thomas re- mained until fifteen with his mother, and then sought employment as assistant to various farmers of Marion County, being meanwhile, for a brief time, a pupil of the Indianapolis Seminary. In 1851 he married Miss Rachel Blue, of the same county, whose only son, Frank, died July 15, 1869, at the age of fifteen. In 1852, Mr. Schooley having left· his wife at the home of her father, crossed the plains en route to California (where he remained three years), in Placer County, engaged in mining and the profita- ble business of hotel-keeping. Returning in 1855, he purchased a farm north of Indianapolis, and his wife having meanwhile died, he, in June, 1855, married Miss Esther, daughter of Madison Hume, one of the earliest Baptist clergymen in the county. Their children are Flora (Mrs. H. J. Brown) and Minnie. Mr. Schooley, in 1862, sold his farm and removed to Indianapolis, where he engaged in com- mercial pursuits. Having determined to return again to country life, he, in 1869, purchased his present home in Franklin township, and has since engaged in general farming and speculating. In politics he is a Republican, but not an active worker in the political field. The cause of education has ever found in him an carnest advocate and friend, and all measures for the promotion of education receive his cordial en- couragement. He is in religion a supporter of both the Methodist Episcopal and the Baptist Churches, Mrs. Schooley being a member of the latter church.
MARTIN S. TOON.
Henry Toon, the grandfather of Martin S., and a German by birth, resided in Kentucky. He was united in marriage to a Miss Bryant, and had children, among
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HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.
whom was John, a soldier of the war of 1812, and a native of Delaware, who removed with his parents to Kentucky when a youth, and during his lifetime en- gaged in the labor incident to a farmer's life. He married Malinda Stafford, of Kentucky, and had chil- dren, eleven in number, as follows : Letitia, Martin S., Drusilla, Henry, William G., Charity, Wesley, Lewis, Josiah, Elizabeth, and Dorcas, the latter of whom died in childhood ; seven of this number are still liv- ing. Martin S. was born on the 12th of June, 1815, in Owen County, Ky. His youth was, like that of most farmers' sons, passed in labor, with such opportu- nities of education as were afforded by the subscription schools of the period. Mr. Toon married Miss Mary Jane, daughter of James Davis, to whom were born two sons,-William H., who died while a soldier in . the war of the Rebellion, and John J., who served with credit during the whole conflict. He was again mar- ried in November, 1842, to Miss Mary Jane, daughter of John Ross, of Marion County, and has children, ---- Lewis C., Martin, Dorcas, Mary Anice, Melinda Alice, George G., Charles W., Richard O., William S., and Lydia Jane. Mr. Toon during a short period resided in Indianapolis, and assisted in drawing the brick for the State-House, and at twenty-seven he rented a farm in Franklin township which for ten years he continued to cultivate. He then purchased his present home, embracing eighty acres, which has since been increased to two hundred and twenty acres, and which his son George G. assists in cultivating. He has, aside from his labors as a farmer, engaged in threshing wheat by machine, his own thresher having been the first in the township. Mr. Toon is in politics a Republican, but not active in the political field, preferring his daily routine of labor to the excitements of a public career. Both he and Mrs. Toon are members of the Baptist Church, in which he is a deacon.
1 CHAPTER XXIII.
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP.
THIS township is situated in the extreme north- eastern portion of the county, and is seven miles square, containing forty-nine square miles, or thirty
thousand eight hundred and nineteen acres of land. It is bounded on the north by Hamilton County, on the east by Hancock County, on the south by Warren township, and on the west by Washington township. The surface of the country is generally level, except along the streams, where it is somewhat broken, and in some localities hilly. The soil is well adapted to the culture of wheat, corn, rye, barley, and most vegetables, but the culture of fruit has proved to be unprofitable during the past few years, though in a few localities this branch of agriculture has yielded a good revenne. About thirty-five years ago immense crops of peaches were raised, but the peach crop has been almost an entire failure during the last twenty years. The soil is principally clay, but consists of four grades, viz. : white clay, or beech flats ; black loam of the flats ; limestone or clay hills ; and bottom- land, or dark chocolate loam intermixed with sand. Originally the township was covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting principally of walnut, sugar, poplar, ash, beech, hickory, sycamore, lime, buckeye, oak, and hackberry. In the lowlands, the primitive forest abounded with grape-vines, frequently growing to an enormous height. Beneath the forest and the net-work of vines grew pawpaws, leather- wood, prickly-ash, hlack haw, and other underbrush. At the Lawrence district fair, September, 1883, John Johnson exhibited fifty-four natural varieties of tim- ber of the township. Nearly all the valuable timber was recklessly destroyed in the clearing of the land, or has since been sold in the market. In an early day the level lands were covered with immense sheets of water, quagmires, and ponds.
From its first settlement the township has con- stantly increased in wealth, as the wilderness disap- peared before the march of civilization. The taxable wealth of the township in 1883 was as follows :
Farming and wild lands. $1,041,196
Improvements 83,075
Lots ..
13,858
Improvements
20,885
Personal property
544,995
Total valuation. .. $1,704,009
In 1883 there were in the township two hundred
Martin
& Loon
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1
535
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP.
and twelve miles of drainage (mostly tile), and the value of its manufactured goods in the year 1882 was twenty thousand eight hundred and seventy-five dol- lars. In the year 1883 there were cultivated five thousand four hundred and fifteen acres in wheat, five thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven acres in corn, and one thousand and sixty-eight acres in other staple grains and in vegetables. There were two thousand two hundred and seventy-one acres in timothy meadow, and two thousand and eleven aeres in clover.
The following is the number of head of live-stock in the township in the year 1883 :
Horses. 934
Milch-cows 723
Other cattle. 879
Mules 49
Sheep 2184
Hogs (fatted in 1882).
3340
The lands bordering on the creeks and rivulets are well supplied with springs, which afford a plentiful supply of water for stock, and the lands produce a luxuriant growth of blue-grass, and thus the town- ship contains quite a number of valuable stock farms, not excelled elsewhere in the county.
In many portions of the township is found lime- stone, and in the peat swamps stratified rocks are found. Deposits of gravel and sand are found along the bluffs of Fall Creek, and in numerous mounds scattered promiscuously throughout the township. Probably the most peculiar rock in the township is upon the farm of Mr. Jonah F. Lemon. It is about four feet in length by two fect each in width and height. The rock is composed entirely of very small stones, of almost every imaginable shape and color, and of adamantine hardness. Mr. Lemon prizes it very highly, and has refused an offer of one hundred dollars for it. A most peculiar limestone rock is found in the edge of a peat swamp on the farm of Mr. Robert Johnson. The stone rises above the ground to the height of ten feet, and in length ex- tends thirty feet ; the width is unknown, as the rock extends back into a hill fifty feet in perpendicular height. The stone contains many curious holes or
crevices, no two of the same size or shape, while out of many water oozes continually.
Fall Creek, Mud Creek, Indian Creek, and the tributary brooks afford thorough drainage for the lands embraced in the township. Fall Creek is so named from the falls at Pendleton. Mud Creek was so named by Elisha Reddick, from the fact that in the first settlement of the country the water at its mouth was always muddy. Subsequently the name was changed, and it was called Walnut Creek, and was so recorded, but it is called by the original name. Indian Creek at first was called Indian Branch by Elisha Reddick, because Indians were found en- camped at various points along the stream. After- wards it gained the name of Indian Creek, and was so recorded. Fall Creek, the principal stream, enters the township one half-mile west of the northeast cor- ner, flows about a mile in a semicircle, and leaves the township. It re-enters about one and three-fourths miles west of the northeast corner, and flows in a southwesterly direction through the township, and leaving it at a point one and three-fourths miles north of the southwest corner. Mud Creek flows into the township at a point three and one-half miles west of the northeast corner, and flows in a direction bearing west of south, and empties into Fall Creek about three-fourths of a mile west of the centre of the town- ship. The source of Indian Creek is in the swamps in Hancock County, and it enters the township one mile north of the southeast corner, and flows in a ser- pentine course, with a general direction towards the northwest for a distance of several miles, and empties into Fall Creek about three-fourths of a mile north- northeast of the centre of the township. Three fine covered wooden bridges, costing eight thousand seven hundred and ten dollars each, span Fall Creck at convenient points; and Mud Creek is supplied with one covered wooden and one iron bridge, all built by the county. Since the country has become mostly cleared and drained these streams have become sub- ject to frequent damaging freshets, causing great de- struction to crops and property in the valleys almost annually. The freshets of June and August, 1875, were the most damaging in the history of the town- ship, although the one of January, 1847, was much
536
HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.
the highest. The freshet of November, 1883, did a great amount of damage.
Lawrence township was erected April 16, 1822, by order of the board of county commissioners, and on the same day and by the same authority it was joined to Washington for purposes of township organization (neither township being sufficiently populous to be organized separately). This nnion of the two town- ships as one continned until Sept. 4, 1826, when the board of justices ordered that Lawrence be taken from Washington and separately organized, and that an election be held on the first Saturday in the fol- lowing October at the house of John Johnson for choice of a justice of the peace for Lawrence, Alex- ander Wilson to be inspector of said election. The election was held as ordered, and resulted in the choice of Peter Casteller as justice of the peace. The fol- lowing is a list of officers of the township from its erection to the present time, viz. :
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
William D. Rooker, June 22, 1822, to Dec. 2, 1826. Joel Wright, June 22, 1822, to Sept. 5, 1825; resigned. Hiram Bacon, Oct. 15, 1825, to Dec. 2, 1826.
(The three preceding served for Washington and Lawrence while they were joined as one township.)
Peter Castetter, Dec. 15, 1826, to Dec. 15, 1831.
Jehn Bolander, Feb. 19, 1831, to October. 1832; resigned.
William J. McIntosh, April 17, 1832, te January, 1835; re- signed.
Joseph Johnston, Dec. 13, 1832, to Dec. 13, 1837. Daniel Sharts, April 18, 1835, to April 18, 1840.
Joseph Johnston, Jan. 3, 1838, to Aug. 4, 1838; resigned. Madison Webb, April 20, 1840, to April 20, 1845. John Emcry, Feb. 1, 1843, to Feb. 1, 1848. Madison Webb, April 26, 1845, te April 26, 1850. Travis Silvey, July 14, 1848, to July 11, 1853. James W. Perry, April 26, 1850, to March 9, 1852; resigned. Milford H. Vert, April 19, 1852, to April 19, 1856. Levi A. Hardesty, April 20, 1852, to April 20, 1856. Charles Faussett, July 16, 1853, to Nov. 24, 1854; resigned. Cornelius B. Wadsworth, April 23, 1856, to April 18, 1860. Moses Craig, May 1, 1856, to April 18, 1860.
John Thomas, May 5, 1856, to April 18, 1860. John W. Combs, April 18, 1860, to April 18, 1868. John G. Downing, April 18, 1860, to April 18, 1868. Jobn Thomas, April 20, 1860, te April 18, 1864. John Themas, May 21, 1864, to March S, 1867; resigned. Ozro Bates, April 22, 1865, to April 17, 1869. Thomas M. Elliott, April 20, 1867, to April 13, 1875.
John W. Combs, April 21, 1868, to Sept. 7, 1875; resigned. Cornelins B. Wadsworth, April 17, 1869, to April 16, 1873. Charles Faussett, Sept. 15, 1875, to April 21, 1876. Robert Johnson, Oct. 2, 1875, to Oct. 2, 1879. John A. Chapman, Oct. 30, 1876, to Oct. 25, 1880. Cornelius B. Wadsworth, Oct. 25, 1876, to Oct. 25, 1880. William Roberts, Nov. 19, 1880, to Oct. 30, 1884. Meses C. llamilton, April 15, 1882, to April 15, 1886.
TRUSTEES.
William F. Combs, April 9, 1859, to April 14, 1860. Samuel Cory, April 14, 1860, to Oct. 24, 1874.
George W. Stanley, Oct. 24, 1874, to April 14, 1880. William B. Flick, April 14, 1880, to April 15, 1884.
ASSESSOR8.
William Mclivain, Jan. 1, 1827, to Jan. 7, 1828. Peter Castetter, Jan. 7, 1828, to Jan. 4, 1830. Daniel R. Smith, Jan. 4, 1830, to Jan. 2, 1832. Peter Castetter, Jan. 2, 1832, to Jan. 7, 1833. Jacob Schenkle, Jan. 7, 1833, to Jan. 7, 1839. Robert Wells, Jan. 7, 1839, to Jan. 6, 1840. Jacob Sehenkle, Jan. 6, 1840, to Dec. 6, 1841. James llinds, Jr., Dec. 17, 1852, to June 5, 1854. Jacob McCord, June 5, 1854, to Nov. 29, 1856. Joseph Badgley, Nov. 29, 1856, to Nov. 24, 1860. George W. Teal, Nov. 24, 1860, to Nov. 28, 1862. Moses Craig, Nev. 28, 1862, to Nov. 21, 1866.
Cicero Vanlaningham, Nov. 21, 1866, to Oct. 29, 1868. Abel M. Wheeler, Oct. 29, 1868, to Aug. 1, 1873. Abel M. Wheeler, March 27, 1875, te April 11, 1878. John W. Combs, April 11, 1878, to April 14, 1880. George W. Church, April 14, 1880, to April 10, 1882. George N. Kesselring, April 10, 1882, to April 10, 1884.
When the fisrt settlers came into the township large numbers of Indians were encamped here, prin- cipally on Indian Creek. They were of the Delaware and Miami tribes, with a few Pottawatomies, and were in charge of three chiefs named Big Otter Skin and Old Buckwheat and a nearly deaf Indian (name unknown) aged about one hundred years. The Indians were very friendly to the new settlers, and made frequent visits to their eabios. There were three Indians living near the cabin of Elisha Reddiek, and they always expressed the warmest friendship for him, visiting him often, and in divers ways showing great attaebment towards him. About the time Hudson, Sawyer, and Bridges were hung at Pendleton for the murder of Indians the redskins in this township became furiously enraged at the whites, and the latter became much alarmed. However, soon
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LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP.
537
afterwards (about the year 1826) the Indians departed from their hunting-grounds here never to return. Many Indian relics have been found in the township, principally upon the lands adjacent to the streams. These curious and interesting stones consist of darts, axes, hoes, pestles, etc.
Many of the early settlers in this township came from Brown and Clermont Counties, Ohio. The families of Plummer, Hess, Chapman, Johnson, and John Bolander came from Brown County; those of Cory, Apple, Peter Bolander, Emry, Perkins, Helt- man, Smith, Lewis, Bragdon, Marshall, McCord, Wilmington, White, Reddick, Collous, Fred, and Brown (James P. and William), from Clermont. Other settlers emigrated from various localities, as hereafter mentioned.
Following is a list of resident tax-payers in Law- rence in 1829, as shown by the assessment-roll of that year, viz. :
Christopher Beaver.
George Long.
William Beaver.
Robert Large.
James Ballenger.
Samuel Morrow.
Isaac Ballenger. John McCounel.
Peter Castetter.
Alexander McClaren.
John Clark.
William McClaren.
Samuel Con.
Ephraim Morrison.
Andrew Clark.
John Negley.
Leonard Eller.
Samuel Nerth.
David Eller.
William North.
Adam Eller.
Joseph North.
Andrew Eller.
John North.
Nathan Essary.
Heirs of Thomas North. James Nerth.
Robert Ellis.
John Flannigan.
Jeremiah Plummer.
James Flannigan. James Giles.
Joshua Reddick.
William Graves.
Alexis Riley.
Robert Hewstin.
Conrad Ringer.
Samuel Harrison.
David Ringer.
James Hines.
Abraham Sellers.
Henry Hardin.
Jacob Shinkle.
Jehn Johnson.
Danicl Speece.
Fountain Kimberlin. 35
John Shinkle.
Alexander Smith.
John A. Tuttle.
Daniel Shurts. Jeremiah Vanlaningham. Robert Warren.
John Setter.
Christopher Sellers.
Elisha Reddick was the first settler in the town- ship. He is a son of William and Margaret Reddick, and was born Jan. 9, 1797, in Pennsylvania. At an early age he went with his parents to Kentucky, and remained there until sixteen years of age, when he went to Clermont County, Ohio, where he married Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of John Johnson, in the year 1821. He came from there to this town- ship with his wife and son, James Milton, and settled near the " correction line," one-half mile east of Fall Creek, on the 18th day of October, 1823. He entered one hundred and thirty-two acres of land and subsequently purchased one hundred and eighty acres more. He lived on that farm fifty-one years, and has been absent from the township (in Boone County, Ind.) only three years from 1873 since 1823. Mr. Reddick came here in an old Pennsyl- vania wagon, the bed of which would hold seventy- five bushels of corn. He brought with him two yoke of oxen, two horses, twenty-five hogs, two milch-cows, and twelve sheep. The wagon was loaded with provisions and household goods. The last four miles of his journey was accomplished with great difficulty, as he was compelled to cut his way through the timber and thick underbrush. For several months after his arrival at his new home Mr. Reddick did little but protect his stock from the wolves, wild cats, and other wild animals. Soon after his arrival at his new home he had a desperate encounter with a large catamount weighing not far from one hundred pounds. The reception was not a pleasant onc, but after a fierce struggle he succeeded in dispatching it with his axe, but not until it had nearly killed his two dogs and severely injured him- self. Mr. Reddick states that it was the most dangerous encounter he ever experienced. . He killed no less than fifty wild-cats on his farm in the early years of his settlement, and with the assistance of his brother Joshua succeeded in killing three black bears. He says that when he first came to his new home the
William Reddick.
538
HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MARION COUNTY.
bottom-lands were exceedingly wet, and abounded in bayous and swamps and dense thickets, into which it was almost impossible to penetrate. Mr. Reddick was on the most intimate terms with the Indians ; he received them as visitors at his cabin, went hunt- ing, ran races and shot at marks with them, and in perfect contentment lived in their midst for three years,-until their departure.
The first cabio raised in the township was that of Elisha Reddick, on the tract of land entered by him. He raised it in November, 1823. After he had his logs prepared he called upon the Indians in camp on Indian Creek to assist him. Their chief, " Big Otter Skin," promised the required help, and many of the Indians were ready to offer their assistance and help Mr. Reddick raise his wigwam, as they called it. Not an Indian came at the appointed time ; however, but they sent three squaws, who came riding up to the selected site for the cabin at the time fixed for the raising. Mr. Reddick told them to remain and help his squaw get dinner. They did so, and remained until evening. Mr. Reddick then, with the assistance of Alexander Smith, John McConnel, and John John- son, who were in the township prospecting for a location, and Charles Johnson, a boy seventeen years of age who had helped him move to the township, raised the cabin in two days' time.
As an incident of pioneer life we will relate that Mr. Reddick once upon a time carried on horseback a grist of two and one-half bushels of corn sixty miles before he could get it ground. He first went to William Conners', near Noblesville, and got the corn. He took it to the falls of Fall Creek, and, being unable to get it ground there, he took it to Linton's Mill, on White River, near Indianapolis, then operated by Seth Bacon. He left it there and returned for it in one week. In time of high waters the early settlers used the " hominy-block" to make their meal. They would cook the coarsest of the meal for the grown folks and the finest for the children. Mr. Reddick states that for some time after he came into the towoship he was compelled to work all day and hunt raccoons nearly every night; would frequently have three or four skins stretched before breakfast. They brought twenty-five cents
each, and were considered a cash article, while corn, wheat, pork, chickens, etc., were exchangeable for dry-goods and groceries only.
Mr. Reddick endured all the hardships and trials of a pioneer life, and witnessed the new country in which he so many years ago cast his fortune emerge from a wilderness to its present state of civilization. He is a member of the Universalist Church at Oak- land, and has been for twenty-five years. In his early settlement the latch-string was always hung out at his door, and the weary pilgrim cordially wel- comed within. He never refused the hungry food, the weary shelter, or the oppressed assistance. He has always been ready to nurse the sick, comfort the dying, and help bury the dead. His memory is good, his health fair, though his age is nearly eighty- seven years. He is a ready thinker, and delights to relate the incidents of his early pioneer life. He has been a farmer all his life, and cleared a large farm. His wife was also a member of the Univer- salist Church, and died in that faith a few years ago. Since her death Mr. Reddick has been living with his children. In all he had fourteen children, six of whom died in their infancy.
James Milton, his eldest son, was born in Ohio, and came into Lawrence township with his parents. He served in the Fiftieth Indiana Regiment, aud died in Louisville, Ky., in 1862, of typhoid fever.
William Perry and John Newton (twins), the next eldest, were the first white children born in the town- ship. The former served in the Twenty-fifth Indiana Regiment, and was killed in 1862 at the battle of Prairie Grove, Ark. The latter is a farmer, and lives on his farm one mile northeast of Lawrence.
Margaret Ellen lives in Augusta, Ind., is the widow of Michael Day, and has two children.
Charles was born in 1831, left the township in 1872, and has since lived near Sheridan, Ind.
Lucinda died of spotted fever in this township in 1862. Her husband, Jesse Herrin, and two sons, Aldus and Fernando, both of age, all live in this township.
Augustus Harrison served nearly four years in the Union army (in 1861 to 1865) ; was severely wounded at Munfordsville, Ky. He is a resident of this town-
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LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP.
ship, and has lived here since his birth, except one year in Missouri and three years in Boone County, Ind.
Elisha Taylor, the youngest son of Elisha Reddick, has been a resident of this county all his life except two years. He now lives in Indianapolis. .
William Reddick was born in Ireland about 1762, came to America with his parents when eleven years of age. While in Ireland he was bound to an older brother to work at the weaver's trade, and when they arrived in America he was rebound to a weaver in Pennsylvania. At the age of thirteen years he ran away and enlisted in Wayne's division, and served in the Revolutionary war six years and seven months. At the close of the war he returned to near Lebanon, Pa., where he married Margaret Trump. He lived in Pennsylvania nineteen years after his marriage, and then went to what was called the " back woods" in Virginia. In one year he returned to Penusylva- nia. In 1805 he went to Bracken County, Ky., where he lived ten years. He then went to Ohio, and lived there until the latter part of November, 1823. During the war of 1812 he kept ferry at the mouth of Bull Skin, forty miles above Cincinnati, in Clermont County. He came to this township in the fall of 1824. He entered for bis son Joshua one hundred and sixty acres of land just northwest of the mouth of Mud Creek. He lived on that farm until his death, in October, 1831, at the age of sixty-nine years. He laid out and set apart the first graveyard in the township. He was a Methodist nearly all his life, and was a moral and strictly honest man. Circuit preaching was held at his house for years, and minis- ters were always welcome at his abode; in fact, no person ever failed to receive hospitable treatment at his hands. He was a class-leader in the church and a true Christian. The first sermon ever delivered in the township was at his cabin. His wife lived nearly forty years after his death, and died in Clinton County, Ill., of milk siekness, at the age of ninety- three years. She also was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church from childhood.
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