USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > History of La Porte County, Indiana > Part 46
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Edward Veil, born in Rahway, New Jersey, in 1817; a jeweler, and settled in February, 1845.
Daniel P. Closser, born in Indianapolis, Ind., in 1834; a farmer, and settled in June, 1834.
William M. Hood, born. in Jefferson Co., Ind., in 1837; a farmer, and settled in October, 1846.
Charrilla M. Hood, born in La Porte Co., Ind., in 1836; a farmer, and a life resident.
L. T. Logan, born in La Porte Co., Ind., in 1838; a farmer, and settled in October, 133S.
D. E. Coplin, born in La Porte Co., Ind., in December, 1838; a farmer, and a life resident.
W. K. Wellam, born in Erie Co., Penn., in 1836; a farmer, and settled in November, 1837.
George M. Boyd, born in Lewis Co., Ky., March 9, 1814; a min- ister and came to the county in 1836.
James W. Payne, born in Genesee Co., N. Y .; a farmer, and set- tled in 1836.
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Charles W. Woods, born in La Porte Co., Ind., May 28, 1836; a manufacturer, and a life resident.
A. Burner, born in La Porte Co., Ind .; a life resident.
Minerva Travis, born in Jackson Co., Ohio, October 22, 1824; settled in May, 1837.
Nahum Cross, born in Brookfield, Trumbull Co., Ohio, May 24, 1819; date of settlement not given.
B. W. Myers, born in New York, May 16, 1815; a farmer, and settled in November, 1836.
Mrs. Cecelia Messenger, born in Michigan, December 29, 1852; date of settlement not given.
Bradford T. Messenger, born in Indiana, May 19, 1847; date of settlement not given.
Eliza A. Moore, born in La Porte Co., Ind., in 1833; a life resi- dent.
Robert Moore, born in Ohio in 1832; a farmer; date of settlement not given.
A. T. Rice, born in Northumberland Co., Penn .; a harness-maker, and settled in 1844.
Elizabeth Rice, born in Lycoming Co., Penn .; settled in 1844.
W. D. Farnesworth, born in Rutland Co., Vermont, October 21, 1801; settled in 1837.
Almira Farnesworth, born in Vermont, in May, 1803; settled in 1837.
Margaret A. Closser, born in Pennsylvania in June, 1830; settled in 1844.
Dexter A. Buck, born in Massachusetts in 1835; date of settle- ment not given.
T. W. Butterworth, born in La Porte Co., Ind., in 1837; a life resident.
CHAPTER X.
THRILLING ACCOUNTS AND PERSONAL INCIDENTS.
In this chapter it is proposed to group together a few of the incidents which have occurred in the history of the county and which may be called from their nature thrilling, and yet there is no intention to make them sensational. It may be said, however, that to produce the result intended by their narration it will be necessary to give them, as nearly as may be, with the same feeling which was elicited by them when they occurred. The little threads of influence which have gone out from them may have, and no doubt have, produced results which to the most observing have been unnoticed, and which have escaped the attention of the sagest,- results which have been attributed to other causes, and which can now be judged of only as they are brought under the focus of a second consideration in connection with the true cause as it may be connected with the incidents which we are about to relate.
It may be that the force of this latter statement will not be felt by all if left as it has been stated. If not, an illustration will make it apparent.
Accidents and thrilling personal adventures are somehow con- nected in the public mind with a personal oversight and supervision of a divine agency. The few of men who do not, are only an exception to a general law, and will not affect the conclusion which we shall draw from this fact. Under the influence of this sense, accidents and thrilling personal incidents have become the pivotal elements in many men's lives; from these, men have become factors in producing other effects which it is legitimate to conclude would not have been produced without these. For instance: A man may have been, in current terms, "a very bad man," causing by his perversity neighborbood broils and community disturbances, thus very perceptibly affecting the industrial interests of the community, by loss of time and clandestine destruction of property. Now, let this man be the subject of a thrilling personal incident, and let him understand, with all the thrilling interest which an incident of this kind will inspire, that it is a providential interference in his behalf, and let him, under the influence of this thrilling inspiration, realize the former morbidity of his life, -now to this man this incident will prove the pivotal point in his life, and from that time his energies and powers will be used in the production of results entirely differ- ent from that which they did before the incident. In this way adventures and personal incidents are fruitful in the production of results, not only to those who are the subjects of them, but to others
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who may be similarly affected by them. So, whether true or false, the sense which men have of a divine supervision in the affairs of humanity has been fruitful in the accomplishment of that which has been done through the agency of men. Some of the results attained in La Porte county are directly attributable to this influ- ence. These incidents are therefore legitimate items for record, - not that it is expected that their influences, as indicated above, will be traced to the results which they produce, but that they will be given as the canses from which certain results have come.
A CASE OF ACCIDENTAL DROWNING.
In the early years of the settlements, the wells were not as well protected as they are at present. The method of reaching the water was with a rope and bucket; or with a "well-sweep," a lift- ing machine made of a long pole suspended near the middle upon a fork by means of a pin fastened in the pole and passing through the arms of the fork which served as an axis upon which the ends of the pole could be moved up and down. This was so placed that a rope or smaller pole attached to one end of the sweep, to which was fastened a bucket, would dip into the well. The other end of the sweep, being larger and weighted, corresponded with the weight of the bucket when it was filled with water, so that a very little effort was necessary to lift the water from the well. This method of drawing water necessarily left the top of the well open. Around" one of these wells, a little child of Mr. Bunee was walking, when by some chance it fell in and was drowned. This is said to have been the first death in the settlement. The influences of this death told on more than one in that neighborhood.
MARY GARROUTTB.
In the western border of St. Joseph county is the little village of Hamilton. Where it now is situated, in 1831, a man by the name of Garwood lived. In the month of February his wife was sick. Living over in Wills township of La Porte county at the same time, was another family, who were their friends, by the name of Gar- routte. Hearing of the sickness of Mrs. Garwood, Mrs. Mary Garroutte went over to visit her, riding on horseback, which was very customary in those days. Good Samaritan-like, or good pioneer-like, for in ministrations of kindness and mercy these two terms seem to be almost synonyms, she waited on her friend and ministered to her wants as a friend. She did this nutil it was time for her to go home. Her horse was brought to her and she mounted for the ride. The weather was quite cold, but she made the trip all right until she came to the house of Mr. John Wills, where she dismounted, went in and warmed and rested herself. After chat- ting pleasantly with the family, and feeling that she could make the trip home, she mounted her horse again and started. The
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
ground was covered with a light, dry snow. In the meantime the wind had arisen, and was blowing furiously. The light snow was driven before it in fierce sheets. The intensity of the cold of the storm began to overcome Mrs. Garroutte, and she felt the blood to chill in her veins. The country was so sparsely settled that she could not find a stopping place. Brave of heart, she dismounted from her horse and sought by walking and active exercise. it is thought, to keep up proper warmth and beat back the inevitable, but she was overcome by the cold, and the next morning she was found by a mail carrier dead, stark and cold. Glad to minister to the wants of her friend who was sick, yet she was called upon to perish alone. This sad incident had its effect upon the pioneers, and was long remembered by them.
WAS FREEDOM DEAD? OR WAS IT ONLY SLEEPING ?
In looking over the records of the county, gathering items for this narrative, the author was struck with astonishment when he ran across the following item of record, which was made at the May term of the Commissioners' Court, 1834. The author, a " Hoosier" by birth, who never had a citizenship only in Indiana, felt his face mantle with shame that a record like it must be made in order to comply with her laws. And then he remembered that progression is the watchword of the universe, and that Indiana had made some progress in the matter of human freedom, for no one, no difference what his political creed, can be found, it is believed, in all her 2,000,000 people who would endorse that law as a political principle now,-who would make the odious discrimination which it made. Two centuries back is a more fitting place for it-in the " dark ages" even-than now.
The record was a compliance with that law which, and its kindred statutes, have disgraced the statute book of Indiana, in which any colored person was required to furnish security that he would not become a public charge on immigrating into any county of the State. It seems that one colored man was ambitious to become a citizen of Kankakee township, and through him La Porte fur- nishes one example of fact in the disgraceful history of Indiana in relation to this discriminating law.
On May 5, 1834, the following record was made in the Commis- sioners' Court:
" Now come Alexander Blackburn and Israel Markham, Overseers of the Poor, and make report: We, the undersigned Overseers of the Poor for Kankakee township, La Porte county, respectfully report that we have taken bond and security of William Greenwood, alias Randall, a free black man, immigrated into this county, as required by law; and that we have acted on no other business.
(Signed,)
A. BLACKBURN, ISRAEL MARKHAM, Overseers of the Poor."
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Some potent power has been at work and important results have been worked out since the enactment of that law under which this record was made. The day-dawn of universal freedom has burst upon the world since that day.
A SCHOOL-HOUSE ON A RAMPAGE.
The old pioneers of Pleasant township will remember the "Old Charity School-house." It was the first school-house built in the township. We have been induced by some means to look on the past as the "good old days of auld lang syne," and to think that the present is not as good as the long ago; but a few incidents like the following will show that notwithstanding the many good qualities of the " fathers " there was a good share of the " old man, Adam " in them as well as in the later progeny.
This house would have been better named had it been called the " Old Migratory School-house," it appears. When it was first built, the location did not suit every one equally well. After it was completed, the disaffected portion of the neighborhood put it on wheels or rollers, and by some power seen or unseen it moved to a place which was more acceptable to them. But this did not suit the other portion of the neighborhood; and again it is on rollers, and in the darkness of the night it would seem to be traveling by its own inherent power, but it stops at its former location. This was evidence to the other party that it did not do it itself; and so it migrates a second time. It was thought that by anchoring it fast to a stump it would take no more journeys. But such calculations were not well founded; for, when a habit is formed of doing a thing, it seems very easy to do it. At least it seems easy for this house to suddenly move from place to place; and we find that it took two or three more jaunts before it found a settled place. If the reader will let his imagination out, he may see a very ridiculous state of affairs in this migratory school-house, while it was on the move; but, from its subsequent name, we judge that a different condition of affairs prevailed in the neighborhood, and " Old Charity School house " expressed that condition.
A DISTRESSING CASE OF POISONING.
In the year 1835, Mr. A. G. Webster settled in Noble township, and with him came also his brother-in-law, Mr. William T. Hard- ing, who took a claim in Clinton township not far away. These two men worked together and cropped in partnership this year. As Mr. Harding had not yet brought his family, he lived with his brother-in-law while they were raising their crops. After their corn had come up, the ground-squirrels became very troublesome, and destroyed much of it by digging it up. To take a flank move- ment on the squirrels and thus save their crop, they bought some
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HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
arsenic and put it as a tempting morsel for them. In accomplish- ing their design upon the squirrels, however, they used only a part of the poison. The rest was put away in the usual receptacle for such things in the farm house, the receptacle among the pioneers I mean, the clock. During the summer following, Mr. Harding, becoming sick, procured some calomel. A part was used, and the remainder went into the same receptacle, the clock, and nothing more was thought of it. Afterward Mr. Harding returned to his hume in Ohio, his former place of residence, and in the latter part of September returned with his family, consisting of his wife, two sons, and three daughters. The Webster family, glad of the arrival of their friends and relatives, the next day after their arrival went to visit them and, probably, to help them in getting ready for housekeeping. While they were all thus away from home, Mr. Hard- ing went to their house and, his oldest daughter being unwell, he went to the clock to get the calomel which he had formerly procured, to administer to her. He then went home; and, as the Websters were still there, he related to Mrs. Webster what he had done in their absence. As was his custom, at the usual time Mr. Webster went to the clock to wind it; and, missing the arsenic, he men- tioned it to his wife. In a moment it flashed upon her where the missing poison was, and she related what Mr. Harding had told her. Alarmed for the safety of their friends, Mr. Webster ran all the way to the house of their newly arrived relatives, but was too late. The fatal poison had been administered to the daughter but a quarter of an hour before, the father had just the moment before swallowed a dose of it. No antidote being at hand, and no remedy which could be administered only lamp oil, it was promptly given. The father was saved; but the danghter, before the morning came, having passed through all the terrible suffering of poison by arsenic,-"its violent gastro-intestinal irritation, its proportionate depression of the circulation, intense burning pain of the stomach, obstinate vomiting, and extreme depression,"-was relieved by death only. This is said to have been the first death which occurred in Clinton township.
THE MISSING LAWYER.
Among the first lawyers who came to Michigan City was Thomas Tyrrell. After a short residence he mysteriously disappeared one day and has never been heard from since. This is one of those cases of unsolved mysteries which sometimes occur.
THE DANGERS OF THE FOREST.
As they who go down to the sea in ships and do business on the great waters see the wonders of the Lord and envelop themselves , in dangers, so do they also who go into the depths of the woods and carve out of the deep forests life and fortune. In the year
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1836, Mr. Purdy Smith and others were engaged in felling trees in Cool Spring township. His little son, a lad of about 10 years of age, was employed in carrying water for the men. He had just returned from one of his trips with his vessel of water, and was standing near by when a tree started to fall. The tree in falling fell upon the top of a high stub of another tree, and springing back, as the result of the resisted momentum, it struck the boy in its fall and killed him instantly. One young life swept under the falling forests of Cool Spring township.
DANIEL WEBSTER'S ESTIMATE OF CHILDREN.
Daniel Webster, the eminent statesman, has fixed himself in a niche of his country's history by the eloquence of his tongue. This honored man, in the year 1836, was making a tour of the West, and was in La Porte on the Fourth of July. A Sunday- school had been previously organized, and was out on procession on this day. A very large concourse of people had gathered around the carriage of the eminent Massachusetts statesman, who was pouring ont to them a stream of his wisdom and eloquence. The procession of Sunday- school children, bearing their banners and their faces wreathed in smiles, came filing around the corner of the public square. The eye of the great orator caught the procession, and with that quick in- spiration for which he was noted exclaimed, with the index finger pointing in the direction of the procession, and the eyes of the as- semblage quickly turning in that way also, with the full force of his magnetic power wrapped around each word like halos of light, "There, fellow citizens, is the hope of our country." Never was there a truer sentiment ever uttered by this gifted man, either on the stump, or on the forum, or on the floor of the Senate, than this which was born of the inspiration given him by the sight of the Sunday-school procession in the city of La Porte. His other well known aphorism, " We must educate, we must educate, or we must perish," is closely akin to it; and when put together, they will read, " Educate the children, and the Republic is safe; neglect the educa- tion of the children, and it will perish."
THE SPIRIT OF THE DEVIL IN POLITICS.
Politics ought to be as pure a science as any which men reduce to an art, but somehow a vast deal of devilishness gets into it. A case of this kind occurred in the political campaign of 1840, the campaign of " log cabins," barbecues, and wild excitement. The La Porte papers walked into the vortex of excitement and were car- ried away with it, if they did not even produce the terrible ebulli- tions which characterized it. The Whig secured a " log-cabin " wood cut, and illustrated its subsequent issues with it. The inge- nuity of Dr. Fosdick was called into requisition, not only to illus- trate the newspaper, but to illustrate the campaign as well.
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It is not surprising that some bitterness ensued, even between individuals of the different political parties. It was so. On Satur- day, July 2, 1840, Hon. Henry S. Lane made a speech on the polit- ical topics of the times in La Porte. This speech gave the Herald occasion to make some statements of a personal nature which was characterized by the Whig as personal reflections upon the ladies who attended the speech. The reflections so aroused one of the prominent members of the Whig party that, on the morning of the Fourth, while the audience was dispersing from the court-honse after listening to the oration, he attacked Mr. Joseph Lomax, the publisher of the Herald, with a cane, and attempted to give him a caning and public castigation on account of the alleged insult to the ladies who were at the Lane speech on the Saturday before, which insult was published in the Herald. Mr. Lomax quickly drew a knife and returned the attack with two thrusts of the knife. At this juncture the friends of the parties interfered, and they were separated without serious injury to either party. This is but an illustration of the spirit which will prevail in the political cam- paigns in which high party spirit is fostered. It is quite probable that no such event as this would have occurred between these par- ties had there not been such a high party spirit and rancor.
PERSONAL INTEREST IMPELS TO MURDER, FOLLOWED BY REPENTANCE.
In 1841, or about that time, Charles Egbert had a tavern stand on the road which ran along the south line of Hudson township, and did an excellent business. James F. Smith had made efforts, and succeeded, to get a direct road from the town of Hudson to La Porte. This took all the travel away from Mr. Egbert's place of business, and, of course, destroyed it. This enraged him against Smith. They had numerons disputes afterward at different times. Brooding over the ruin of his business, and attributing it all to Smith, who had been instrumental in taking the travel from his place, and this, connected with the disputes which he had had with Smith, he was finally led to a most desperate determination. On the 5th of December, 1841, he went to the store of John Reynolds and bought a dirk-knife. Armed with this he went to the bar room of Smith, and taking a seat by the door, he sat there for a long time. At last, arising as if to go out, but turning around really to open his knife and prepare to carry out his purpose, he wheeled around and advanced upon his victim with desperation in his countenance. Smith, seeing his purpose, seized a chair and raised it to defend himself. At this moment Andrew Foster canght the chair, and while he prevented Smith from defending himself, Egbert suc- ceeded in inflicting two wounds on the body of Smith, one in the left arm, the other piercing his heart, from which he died in a few minutes. It is right to say in this connection that Mr. Foster after- ward explained his part in the affray by saying that when he caught the chair with which Smith sought to defend himself he did
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not see the knife in the hand of Egbert, and was therefore ignorant of Egbert's real purpose, and sought to do his duty as an officer of the peace. He, immediately after the event, issued a State warrant for the arrest of Egbert, which was returned, together with the prisoner, before R. Munday, Justice of the Peace, by John C. Hale, Constable. The result of the preliminary trial was, after several sessions of the court, that Egbert was bound over to court in the sum of $5,000. He gave bail in the sum required by Elisha Egbert, Paul Egbert and Jacob Egbert going on his bail bond. He was then released. But he never appeared in court. He escaped to Texas, then a part of Mexico, where he lived until after the Rebellion closed. Hisrash act was a source of untold regret to him. He finally became a religious man and a Methodist class- leader.
THE LEGITIMATE WAY OF MAKING MONEY WAS TOO SLOW.
During the years between 1836 and 1844 Springfield township had more money than it wanted,-of the kind of course. The surrounding country shared with it also in its flush of money. It at last transpired that there was a cabin about a mile northwest of Springville, which was situated on a dry knoll in the midst of a marsh and surrounded by willows and other shrubbery, from which issued this flow of money. This cabin was the headquarters of a most industrious band of counterfeiters,-a mint for coinage. The thing was finally found out; two men, named Van Velser and Stroud, were found to be at the head of it. Van Velser was con- victed and sent to the State's prison, in which he died. Strond escaped to find a still more ignominions death at the hand of an enraged Illinois community, who, it is said, lynched him for horse stealing.
HE DIED THAT HIS BOY MIGHT LIVE.
It is said that love is stronger than death. This is exemplified in an incident which occurred in Galena township about 1844 or 1845. There came a man from Missouri and settled in the town- ship, named William Mathews. While he was a strong and powerful man, yet he was noted for his quiet and unobtrusive manners. He had a little boy about six years of age. The devotion of his attach- ment for this boy was remarked by everyone. There are but few fathers who equal him in his devotion to his boy. He lived in the vicinity of Lamb's Chapel, and the following incident took place not far away. He was out in the woods chopping timber, and as usual his boy was with him. The wind was blowing a gale, and swayed the trees hither and thither. He chopped at the body of a tree as much as he thought was prudent, and stepped away a little to take in the situation; suddenly hearing the snapping noise of the tree giving way, he looked up and saw his danger. His boy was by
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him. There was no time for parley; it was save himself and lose the boy, or save the boy and die himself. There seems to have been no hesitation on his part. With a strength, nerved to desper- ation, he seized the boy and landed him beyond danger; but he at the same time was caught by the falling tree and crushed to death. Such devotion to another deserves to be celebrated in immortal verse. The world has seen but one example which excels it. Men may die for the good and their friends and loved ones, but for their enemies, never. " Peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die; but God commended His love to us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us."
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