USA > Indiana > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Indiana > Part 5
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The following tables taken from the report of the census of 1910, show in condensed form the principal crops raised, the acreage, and the yield per acre; and the number and valuation of the principal kinds of domestic ani- · mals and poultry :
PRINCIPAL CROPS.
Acres.
Bushels
Tons.
Corn
58,615
2,982,253
Oats
3,480
91,522
Wheat
38,862
640,831
Timothy hay
6,532
9,418
Clover alone
10,275
13,549
Timothy and clover mixed
3,416
4,807
Clover seed
6,645
Potatoes
339
33,842
DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND POULTRY ON FARMS.
Number.
Value.
Cattle
16,079
$512,923
Horses
9,577
996,243
Mules
1,124
135,430
Swine
41,335
288,881
Sheep
11,596
51,997
Poultry
126,381
82,381
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CHAPTER III.
TOWNSHIPS AND THEIR OFFICERS.
The civil township and the school township are separate and distinct legal entities, although the township trustee is the responsible head of each corporation. Each may make contracts, sue and be sued, as any other cor- porate body. We shall confine the present account to the civil township, the other being left to the chapter on schools.
The origin of the township is quite remote and finds its beginnings in the prehistoric days of the Anglo-Saxon race. Originally, it was quite demo- cratic in character, the town meeting being the center of its political activity. The Indiana township, however, is not modeled after the form which found expression in the early English township, and which was later imitated by the New England settlers.
The Indiana township was modeled after the Pennsylvania form, in this, the county was the distinctive unit of local self-government and was the unit of representation in the Legislature. The township became a mere sub- division of the county, entrusted with certain local duties and powers. Under the Constitution of 1816 and the laws enacted thereunder the county had authority to divide its territory into townships. The officers of the town- ship were an inspector of elections, two fence viewers, two overseers of the poor, a supervisor of each road district, not more than two justices of the peace, and as many constables as there were justices.
Up to 1831 these various places (other than the office of justice, which was elective) were filled annually by the county board. After that year the township officers named were elected annually at a township election held in April. At the beginning there were also appointed superintendents of the several school sections and "listers," or township assessors. The functions of officers pertaining to the civil township above named were con- tinued in the inspectors of elections, fence viewers and overseers of the poor until the revision of the Constitution in 1851, when they were all com- bined in the township trustee's office, and this plan still obtains.
The officers of the civil township are a township trustee, three members of the advisory board, an assessor, justices of the peace, constables and a supervisor for each road district
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JOHNSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE.
By the act of February 18, 1859, the General Assembly created the office of township trustee, vesting in him the powers theretofore entrusted to three township trustees and those formerly held by the inspector of elec- tions, the overseers of the poor and the fence viewers. The trustee under the terms of the act was to be elected annually on the first Monday in April. By the act in force September 19, 1881, the office was made a two-year office, and the term was again extended by the act approved March II, 1889, to a four-year term. Acts of 1893, page 192, changed the date of holding the election from April to the general election in November, 1894, and every four years thereafter ; the trustee to take office on the first Monday in August following his election. By the act of 1901 (Acts 1901. page 415), the trus- tee and assessor to be elected in November, 1904, should take office January Ist following, and thereafter the terms of such officers should date from January Ist. By a previous statute (Acts 1897, page 64) the election of trustees and assessors to have been held in 1898, was changed to the gen- eral election in 1900 and every fourth year thereafter. Again, by the act approved March 2, 1911, the time of election of trustees and assessors was changed from the general election in 1912 to the general election in 1914, and every four years thereafter. Thus have these important offices been made the football of partisan politics and brought the office into more or less disrepute.
The trustee receives two dollars per day for the time actually employed by him in the transaction of business.
The trustee, under present laws, now has charge of the pecuniary af- fairs of his township, subject to certain checks on his power to be exercised by the advisory board and the county board. The county treasurer collects all taxes due the townships and twice a year, in June and December, makes settlement with the trustee, except as to the poor fund, which remains in the custody of the county officers. In the handling of the poor fund the trustee has authority under the law to extend relief to the poor in his township by issuing an order for the provisions or medical service rendered, but he makes no payments in cash. If the relief needed is greater than the sum of fifteen dollars quarterly will furnish, he must have authority from the county board to expend an amount in excess thereof. These orders become the basis for claims filed with the county board, who audit and allow the same and account is kept with the township of such expenditure.
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JOHNSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
In times past many abuses crept into the administration of the poor laws, calling for legislative action. But even yet in the hands of an official who is using his office for personal or political ends, the system is fraught with evil results. The board of county commissioners at their March ses- sion, 1869, passed the following resolution, which ought yet to guide the county board in auditing these poor accounts :
"Whereas, irregularities in the administration of the poor laws are found to exist in almost every township in the county and large sums of money in consequence thereof are at each term of the board drawn from the county treasury requiring heavy taxation of the people, much of which the board is satisfied is improperly and illegally allowed by the various trustees and by their action placed beyond the control of the commissioners: Now to remedy these evils, no claim shall be allowed for services or relief to any pauper except at the proper poor asylum of the county unless it shall be shown :
"I. That the pauper or persons for whom such relief is furnished could not be taken to the poor asylum.
"2. That such services or relief were ordered by the proper trustee after his personal examination of the party demanding relief and service, and his or her personal pecuniary condition.
"3. That such services were rendered or relief granted.
"4. That the amount charged for such service is reasonable and in accordance with contract made therefor by such trustee at the time or before they were rendered."
Conditions in this respect have vastly improved in our county in recent years, but examples are not wanting within the past twenty years to call attention to the possible evils existing under our present system of poor re- lief, and to emphasize the need of a more careful examination of these claims at the hands of the county board.
Of the "outside" poor relief extended by the trustees in Johnson county in 1912 the following facts are obtained from the Indiana Bulletin of Chari- ties and Correction of date June, 1913: The total number receiving aid in the several townships is as follows: Blue River, 54; Clark, 8; Franklin, 244; Hensley, 24; Needham, 17; Nineveh, 10; Pleasant, 48; Union, 8; White River, 15. Total in county, 428, among 109 different families. The reasons assigned as necessitating aid are: Lack of employment, 3; sickness and burial, 89; old age, 6; widowhood or non-support, 42; insanity, 2; and blind, deaf or crippled, 8. Of the occupations in which those aided were engaged
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JOHNSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
all but four were laborers. The total value of the aid given was: Blue River, $408.66; Clark, $215.00; Franklin, $1,972.22 ; Hensley, $224.03; Need- ham, $420.11; Nineveh, $264.95; Pleasant, $831.03; Union, 195.36; White River, $176.20; a total for the county of $4,779.76.
For the next year two townships, Pleasant and White River, make no "poor levy." The others will collect the following rates: Franklin, 2 cents; Nineveh, I cent; Blue River, 4 cents; Hensley, 10 cents; Clark, 2 cents; Union, 2 cents; and Needham, 2 cents.
The aid given to the poor in this county is large as compared with many other counties of the same population: Jefferson county, with a popu- lation of 20,483, gives $1,489.26; Huntington county, population 28,982, gives $1,831.03; Hendricks county, population 20,840, gives $2,592.56; Har- rison county, population 20,232, gives $1,129.31 ; even Delaware county, with a population of over 51,000, gives $600 less than our county ; the same is true of Elkhart county. Indeed, only two counties in the state pay as much per capita for poor aid as does Johnson.
Township trustees are ex officio inspectors of elections in the precinct in which they reside; they are required to see that public drains are kept open; they have general oversight of the work of the road supervisors, and many important duties as trustees of the school township.
ADVISORY BOARD.
The advisory board was created by the General Assembly of 1899 (Acts of 1899, page 150). It consists of three members and bears the same relation to the office of the township trustee that the county council does to the board of commissioners. The annual meeting of the advisory board is held in September, at which time estimates of township expenditure are sub- mitted by the trustee and appropriations made to cover the same. Upon the basis of these appropriations, the tax levy is made. The trustee may not incur a debt not included in these estimates and appropriations without the authority of the advisory board. This board also has the duty of auditing the annual report of the trustee submitted in January. Its members are al- lowed only nominal pay, five dollars per year. Members of the advisory board are usually men of high character, who, like members of the county council and of the school board, give their time and attention to the discharge of important public duties without compensation whenever the good of the community demands them.
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JOHNSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
TOWNSHIP ASSESSOR.
The township assessor is elected for a term of four years. Each year he lists all personal property of his township for the purposes of taxation, and every four years he lists and values all real estate. These returns are filed with the county auditor and are later verified and corrected by the board of review. The assessor begins his work on March Ist and concludes the same May 15th, making returns to the auditor of personal lists by May 18th and of real lists by the first Monday in June. He is allowed pay at the rate of two dollars and fifty cents per day for the time actually em- ployed, his deputies two dollars per day. The county council is given the right to limit the time, but the restriction is difficult of enforcement and the assessors usually find it necessary to put in all the time allowed.
ROAD SUPERVISORS.
The supervisor of each road district is elected by the voters thereof at an election on the second Saturday after the first Monday in December, and serves two years. He has power to call out all able-bodied male persons (except the insane, idiotic, deaf, dumb and blind) between the ages of twenty- one and fifty, during not less than two days nor more than four days of each year, between the first days of May and December. Under his direc- tion the land owner may work out his road tax and get credit therefor in his first installment.
Under the provisions of the new law (Acts 1913, page 862), road su- pervisors are to be elected at the general election in November, 1914, and serve two years. He is to take charge of, work and keep in good repair the roads of his district under the supervision of the trustee. All road taxes up to twenty dollars are worked out, all in excess of twenty dollars must be paid in cash.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
Justices of the peace are judicial officers, whose powers and duties have remained much the same throughout the history of our county. Their juris- diction is limited both as to territory and as to subject matter. In civil ac- tions founded on tort or contract where the debt or demand does not exceed two hundred dollars, they have jurisdiction over persons residing in the township. In actions for slander, for malicious prosecution, for breach of
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JOHNSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
marriage contract and in cases involving the title to real estate, they have no jurisdiction whatever. In criminal cases he has jurisdiction to try mis- demeanors and may punish by fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars, but may not inflict jail sentence. In the case of a fine the prisoner may be com- mitted to jail until the fine is paid or stayed. In other criminal cases he has authority to hold "preliminary trials" and require the defendant to give bond for his appearance to answer the charge in the circuit court. He may issue search warrants, writs of attachment and writs of ne exeat and of capias ad respondendum in certain cases. He presides at examinations in insanity cases. He has authority to solemnize marriages.
In his court civil cases are tried by a jury of six, which number may be lessened by agreement of parties. Appeals in civil cases must be perfected in thirty days and in criminal cases in ten days. Certain fees are prescribed by statute as emoluments of his office.
CONSTABLES.
The constable is the sheriff of the justice's court, serving all writs and processes issuing therefrom, and acting as a conservator of the public peace. Like the "squire," he receives fees fixed by statute.
TOWNSHIP BOUNDARIES.
From the August election returns of the year 1823 it appears that three townships have been organized: Blue River, Nineveh and White River. Blue River seems to have been confined to so much of congressional town- ship 11, in range 5, as is in Johnson county. White River extended over all the territory now included in White River, Pleasant and Clark. All the remainder of the county constituted Nineveh or Nineve township.
Hensley township was formed March 5, 1827, and its boundaries in- cluded not only the present territory of that township, but in addition one row of sections off the west side of what is now Nineveh. Franklin township was recognized in 1826, but its boundaries are not defined; it probably in- cluded the territory now occupied by Franklin, Needham and Union, and one additional row of sections to the north thereof.
At the May term, 1829, of the county board it is ordered "that there be a new township struck off White River bounded as follows: Beginning at the northwest corner of section 25, township 14 north, range 3 east, thence
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JOHNSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
east on county line to the northeast corner of Johnson county ; thence south on the county line to southeast corner of section 27, township 13 north, range 5 east; thence on section line west to southwest corner of section 25, town- ship 13 north, range 3 east; thence north on section line to place of beginning, which is called Pleasant township." At the same term, it is ordered that one mile off the south side of Franklin township to Young's creek be attached to Nineveh township.
Union township was first formed and given a name at the July session, 1830. The bounds were as follows: Commencing at the county line at the northwest corner of section 31, township 13, range 3, thence east on section line to range line dividing ranges 3 and 4; thence north one mile; thence east two miles; thence south to the southeast corner of section 32, in township 12, range 4; thence west to the county line, thence north of beginning. This made the east line of the township coincident with the line of the Hopewell and Whiteland road.
All the township boundaries were changed at the March term, 1832. Blue River township was bounded as follows: Beginning at the southeast corner of the county, thence north on the county line to Sugar creek, thence down Sugar creek and the "east fork of White river" to the county line, thence east to beginning. Nineveh was bounded by a line beginning at its present southwest corner, thence east to "White river," thence up said river to the mouth of Sugar creek, thence up Sugar creek to the mouth of Young's creek, thence up Young's creek to the line dividing sections 8 and 17, thence west to the range line dividing ranges 4 and 5, thence with its present bound- ary lines to the beginning. Hensley township was given its present limits. Union was bounded as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of sec- tion 31 (its present northwest corner), thence east eight miles, thence south six miles, thence west to the county line and north to the beginning. White river began at the northwest corner of the county, ran thence east five miles, thence south seven miles, thence east one mile, thence south one mile, thence with the north line of Union to the county line, and north to the place of beginning. Pleasant township extended from White River township east to the county line, seven miles north and south and eleven miles east and west. All the remainder of the county formed Franklin township.
At the May term, 1838, Clark was formed out of Pleasant and given its present boundaries, the line between Pleasant and White River having been changed in 1833 to the range line dividing ranges 3 and 4. As bridges were built over the streams so that voters could easily reach their places of
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JOHNSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
voting, the townships became more regular in shape. On the 13th day of September, 1877, the present boundary line of Blue River was established, Sugar Creek and Young's creek being no longer a barrier. Needham town- ship was formed with its present boundaries on March 16, 1881, and the boundary lines as now established have remained unchanged for more than thirty years.
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
We have space only to give the names of those who have served the various townships as trustee since the law of 1859, giving the office its pres- ent name and character.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
G. W. Branham, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863; Thomas Williams, 1864; Will- iam McCaslin, 1865; Nathan M. Schofield, 1866; Jacob Peggs, 1867; A. D. Whitesides, 1868-1873; S. C. Dunn, 1873-1879; S. C. Brown, 1879-1881 ; S. C. Dunn, 1881 (resigned Nov. 10, 1881) ; Charles Byfield, 1881-1883; William S. Young, 1883-1885; W. T. Pritchard, 1885-1890; Robert A. Brown, 1890-1894; Frank McCollough, 1894-1900; Walter B. Farmer, 1900-1905; William T. Anderson, resigned at once and his son, Homer . Anderson, was appointed in January, 1905, and served until January 1, 1909. Gilbert Henderson, 1909-1915.
BLUE RIVER TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
H. N. Pinney, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863; Adam Mutz, 1864; E. K. Hos- ford, 1865; John C. Kelly, 1866; I. M. Thompson, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870; Adam Mutz, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874; John Ward, 1875, 1876; A. W. Winter- berg, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880; James M. Carvin, 1880-1882; A. W. Winter- berg, 1882-1884; T. E. Valentine, 1884-1886; Dillard L. Deming, 1886- 1890; Thomas Stine, 1890-1894; James M. Carvin, 1894-1900; William M. Perry, 1900-1905; Samuel Haslam, 1905-1909; Thomas A. Gooden, 1909- 1915.
NINEVEH TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
Ambrose Hibbs, 1860, 1861 ; Josiah Ralston, 1862, resigned October 10; W. J. Mathes, 1862, 1863, 1864; James H. Pudney, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868; E. B. Graves, 1869, 1870; G. N. Hughes, 1871, 1872; E. B. Graves, 1873,
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JOHNSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
1874; D. D. Elliott, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879, 1880; Abner Hardin, 1880-1884; John Calvin, 1884-1888; Joseph Hughes, 1888-1890; Silas A. White, 1890-1894; Joseph Hughes, 1894-1899 (died September 18, 1899) ; Abner Hardin, 1899-1900; John B. Foxworthy, 1900-1905; Thomas W. Cravens, 1905-1909; Edward E. Cobb, 1909-1915.
HENSLEY TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
George W. Musselman was elected in 1860 and annually thereafter for eighteen succeeding years, except the years 1874 and 1875 when E. W. Morgan was elected. He was elected again in 1888 and served until 1894; an altogether remarkable record of twenty-five years of service. Other trustees were: William H. Jeffries, 1878-1880; Wm. C. H. Coleman, 1880- 1882 ; J. K. P. Musselman, 1882-1886; Alonzo M. Ragsdale, 1886-1888; John T. Paskins, 1895-1900; Henry A. Shank, 1900-1905; George W. Cole- man, 1905-1909; Sanford A. Richardson, 1909-1915.
UNION TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
John Harris, 1860, 1861 ; John Kerlin, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1870; John Harris, 1866; Willis Deer, 1871-1877; Jesse T. Harris, 1877, 1878; Lewis T. Deer, 1878-1882; T. C. M. Perry, 1882-1886; Jefferson Vandivier, 1886-1890; Lewis T. Deer, 1890-1895; Eli P. Hay- maker, 1895-1900; John W. Rivers, 1900-1905; James W. Brown, 1905- 1909 ; Otis M. Vandivier, 1909-1915.
WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
John Fullen, 1860, 1861, 1862; E. W. Wyrick, 1863; Henry Presser, 1864 ; A. J. Secrest, 1865; E. W. Wyrick, 1866-1869; Jacob B. Dresslar, 1869-1877; James Collins, 1877-1881 ; Gardner Wilks, 1881-1884; William H. Paddock, 1884-1886; Jesse T. Harris, 1886-1890; John J. Rush, 1890- 1895 ; John R. Brickert, 1895-1898 (resigned Feb. 12, 1898) ; John Hardin, 1898-1900; James Collins, 1900-1904 (died July, 1904) ; John W. Richard- son, 1904-1909; Jacob J. Clary, 1909-1915.
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
John Tracy, 1860-1881 ; Daulton Wilson, 1881-1884; William H. Bass, 1884-1888; James B. Lyster, 1888-1890; M. J. Duggan, June 6, 1890-1895;
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JOHNSON COUNTY, INDIANA.
Willian: D. McCartney, 1895-1900; I. Newt Brown, 1900-1905; John C. McClain, 1905-1909; John T. Speas, 1909-1911 (died in May, 1911) ; James W. Whitaker, May 27, 1911-1915.
CLARK TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
James Williams, 1860-1861 ; John McNutt, 1862; George Cutsinger, 1862-1866; John McNutt, 1867; Socrates Carver, 1868-1869-1870; James Williams, 1871-1881 ; Henry Williams, 1881-1884; James H. Banta, 1884- 1886; Andrew J. Huffman, 1886-1888; Samuel Billingsley, 1888-1890; Presley R. Griffith, 18890-1895; Henry G. Williams, 1895-1900; George Wilde, 1900-1905; Charles Boone, 1905-1909; John T. Overstreet, 1909- 1915.
NEEDHAM TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES.
William Clark, 1881-1883; W. T. Hougham, 1883; Joseph Kerlin, 1884: James Owens, 1884-1886; William B. Smiley, 1886-1890; David H. Keay, 1890-1895; Jared V. Salisbury, 1895-1900; James H. Pottenger, 1900-1901 (died July 31, 1901) ; . Claborne Scott, 1901-1905; Barney Vaught, 1905-1909; William .M. Fisher, Sr., 1909-1915.
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS R
L
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VAWTER MEMORIAL, FRANKLIN
JOHNSON COUNTY COURT HOUSE
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CHAPTER IV.
COUNTY BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS.
Of the first court house Judge Banta says (Historical Sketch of John- son County, page 32) : "It is uncertain when the contract for building a court house was let, but it is certain that the house was not ready for oc- cupancy in March, 1824, but was ready in October of the same year. Will- iam Shaffer, the county recorder, who was by occupation a carpenter, un- dertook the work, and it is safe to assume that it was begun in the spring of 1824, but for what price is now unknown. The late Thomas Williams, however, who was the owner of the only yoke of oxen then in or about the new town, drew the logs to the building site for one dollar. The new court house was in keeping with the poverty of the county. It was two stories high, was built of hewed logs, and a broad wooden outside stair led from the ground up to the second floor, which was the court room. This was furnished with a table, two splint-bottomed chairs, one for the judge and one other for the clerk, with wooden benches without backs for the accommoda- tion of lawyers, jurymen, litigants and spectators."
The "daubing" of the court house by Adam Lash and Henry Burk- hart in 1826 was improved upon by "sealing and weatherboarding" the same the following year.
John. L. Jones, who first came to Franklin in 1832 to attend "muster," says that the railing surrounding the bench was made of ironwood saplings with the bark peeled off. The building stood on the north end of lot 36 of the original plat north of the present site of the Citizens National Bank.
No court was held in this court house until the March term, 1825; one term having been held at the house of John Smiley, near "Smiley's Mill," on October 16, 1823, and one term at the house of George King, in Franklin, in March, 1824. After 1825 the court met regularly at the court house on the third Mondays of March and September, and lasted six days if the business demanded. The board of county justices met at the same place on the first Monday in January, and of each alternate month thereafter. But Judge Banta is authority for the statement that the county officers never had rooms in the old log court house.
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