History of Lawrence, Orange, and Washington counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, together with interesting biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc, Part 44

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 199-?]
Publisher: [Salem, Mass. : Higginson Book Co.]
Number of Pages: 954

USA > Indiana > Orange County > History of Lawrence, Orange, and Washington counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, together with interesting biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc > Part 44
USA > Indiana > Washington County > History of Lawrence, Orange, and Washington counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, together with interesting biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc > Part 44
USA > Indiana > Lawrence County > History of Lawrence, Orange, and Washington counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, together with interesting biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc > Part 44

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

chimedes, Atharis. Pentremites, Spirijer and Producti ....... 15

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY. 363

Coarse sandstone (No. 5) 35

Coarse grit (No. 3). 20

Massive sandstone ( No. 5). 40

Blue Shale (No. 5) .. 12

Middle ( 'hester limestone (No. 6). 18

Sandstones and blue shales

Total .216

THE CHESTER GRIT.

Here is shown the Chester sandstone (upper) of good depth and devel- opment. In it is found the true grindstone grits and valuable building stone. Commercially, next to the whetstone grit, it is the most valuable stratum of stone in the county. Locally it is of sufficient firmness and fine- ness to be manufactured. Quarries have been opened by T. N. Braxtan, J. Lane, H. Lashbrook. W. Lashbrook and J. Bledsoe, all in Township 1 north, Range 2 west. The stone is quarried in large blocks, and cut with a saw into slabs of the required thickness. These are then cut into smaller pieces and polished. Owing to the coarseness of the stone it is manufactured into scythe-stones, etc.

THE CONGLOMERATE OR MILLSTONE GRIT.

This stone is found in the north and west parts of the county. In the north it is well developed and is thus a mass of weather-worn rock, composed of quartz-ore pebbles, cemented together with coarse sand. In the central and southern part it loses its pudding-stone appearance, and can only be distinguished from the other sandstones by its position above the upper Che-ter limestone. Locally it becomes a fine-grained, compact grit stone. The following is the section at Brastan's quarry, taken from the east side of the hill:

Friable sandstone (No. 31 .. Feet

Coal. probably coal A

Coarse sandstone. with Stigmarin leaves and iron ore near the

base . 30

Whetstone grit with Lepidodendra, Culamites, Stigmaria, Sphe-

nopteris, Neuropteria and near the base Paoli Vetusta (No. 3) ... 21 C'oal. a trace Coarse sandstone. locally glass sand (No. 3). 40

Upper Chester limestone with chert partly covered. 15

Sandstone and shale (No. 51 .. 90

Middle Chester limestone iNo. 61. 20

Shales and sandstones. 40

Lower Chester limestone, with a shaly parting near the top to

the level of French Lick Spring. 20

Total. 327

Quarries have been opened by T. N. Braxtan, William Able, George Reily, Lynch & Wolfington, E. Pinnick, J. A. Moore, S. Wolfington and others. Specimens of ferns and other plants are taken out of the lower

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

member of the grit, and are often very fine and of uncommon size. Excellent specimens have been sent to various geological collections. Dishman and Lewis have quarries on Section 23, Township 3 north, Range 2 west. At the latter's quarry the coal seam is said to be two feet thick. The fine grits are evenly stratified and may be split with great ease. Two colored stones are quarried, white and buff. The first is called "Hindostan " and the second " Orange " stone. The Hepido. dendra of these beds are remarkable for size. A tree uncovered for twelve feet was four feet eleven inches in diameter. The fossiliferous beds are not worked as the stone will not split. The thin shaly partings that come out in large plates are ripple-marked and covered with tracks of crustaceans or other animals. Dendrites are found of remarkable size and beauty, and run through the substance of tho solid stone.

LACUSTRAL OR ALLUVIUM.

The fine impalpable lacustral sands and clays are found in Northeast and Stampers Creek Townships in the "flat woods." Their thickness is from five to twenty-five feet, and they cover an area of about twenty square miles. Wherever gum and persimmon trees are indigenous to the soil. the fine sands of this epoch may be found. The damp. impervions soils of Patoka River and near French Lick are lacustral. Along the creeks and rivers of the northern and central parts of the county the alluvium is found well developed. Beds of gravel of unusual size are found in the valley of Lost River and are traceable to the lacustral epoch.

LOST RIVER, STAMPERS CREEK, CAVES, ETC.

Lost River makes its first sink on Section 4, Township 3 north, Range 1 cast, upon reaching the eastern exposttre of the concretionary limestone. It makes its second on Section 8. its third on Section 13. Town- ship 3 north, Range 1 west, and its fourth on Section 11. In dry weather the first sink takes all the water, which is not seen again until it reaches Orangeville. Light rains will overflow the first sink and the surplus enters the second sink. Heavy and continuons rains will fill the dry bed from the second sink to Orangeville, as the subterranean passages are not of suf- ficient size. These passages are a complex system of mains and leads, and not a single channel through which the water rushes. They do not follow the course of the surface bed. On Sections 33 and 34, whenever the water is of sufficient quantity to enter the fourth sink, it rises through three openings and flows on through the dry bed. This dry bed is not an open channel and is unlike the valley of the usual streams. Large upland forest trees grow along the bank showing that for a long time the river bas been lost in the concretionary limestone. The underground stream may be reached at the fourth sink, where the cavernons opening is about eight feet wide and four feet high. the descent being gradual and 590 feet. The river comes to the surface on Section 9, Township 3 north. Range 1

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

west. Here the subterranean stream may also be reached through a cave. At Orangeville is said to be the rise of Lost River, though it is probable that the true rise is on the Higgins farm, about a mile further down the stream. Stampers Creek, in a small way, is a counterpart of Lost River. lacking the dry bed. It sinks and is thought to rise again at Spring Mills, and forms the source of Lick Creek. It is said that sawdust and other fine material has been passed through, thus proving the theory. There are in the county ten or twelve caves, several of which are deep and beautiful. New ones are being discovered yearly, and doubtless many others will come to light in the future. In several are stalactites and stalagmites of great purity and beauty. Doubtless the foundation of Orange County is honey-combed, and future generations will make surprising discoveries. It is said that a cave a quarter of a mile deep underlies Paoli. In the caves and subterranean streams are found several varieties of blind fish, blind crawfishes, etc.

FRENCH LICK AND WEST BADEN SPRINGS.

These springs in the valley of French Lick Creek break out through the fissures of the Lower Chester limestone, and doubtless get their min- eral constituents and gases from the shales, clays and stones through which they originate and flow. Many break out, but in only two places are they fully utilized-French Lick and West Baden. These places have become popular resorts for recreation and for invalids, and accom- modations are furnished pleasure and health-seekers. In the hands of persons of greater public enterprise and less parsimony the springs could he made of much greater benefit to the public. The analysis of .. Pluto Well." by Prof. E. T. Cox, State Geologist in 1869-70, gave the follow- ing results: The gaseous contents of one imperial gallon were. in cubic inches, carbonic acid, 7,337; sulphydric acid, 6,717; oxygen. 5,407; nitrogen. 18.504; total, 35.045. Total solid matter in one gallon. 381.85 grains:

Parts in 1,000,- (@) or rounds in 100,000 Kal- Ions.

Girain+ in one gallon.

Siliric acid ..

9.42

6534

Oxide of iron

1.90

.1330

Linn ...

675.92

47.3144

Suda ..

1140.20

79.8140)

Pota-h ..

41.72

2.9204

Magnesia.

723.26

50.02-2

Alumina

48.10

3.3670

Chlorine ..

11:5.96

83.0172

Carbonic acid ..

690.55

49.3325

sulphurle acid ..

$45.35

59.1×45

[adides and bromide,

trace.

---

Totals.

.5362.58

375.3-06

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

The analysis of the principal spring at West Baden by Prof. Cox gave the following result: The gaseons contents of one imperial gallon in cubic inches-carbonic acid, 6.198; sulphydrie acid. 3.931; oxygen, 2,093: nitrogen, 6,572; total. 20,794. Total solid matter in one gallon, 381. S5 grains:

l'arts in 1,00,- (m), or pounds in 100,00) gal- luDs.

Grains in one gallon.

Silicic acid.

1.50

5250

Oxide of iron.

1.50

.1050

Lime

539.11

37.7877

Soda

765.26

53.5692

Potash.

19.3

1.3559

Magnesia

610.76

42.7532

Alumina.

43.50

3.0450

Chlorine

179.26

54.5492

Carbonic acid.

675 21

47.2647

Sulphydric acid .

601.30

42 0910

Iodides and bromides.

trace.

trace

Totals.

4042.77

282.9939

A few springs of more or less value are found in other parts of the county. One on the farm of Hon. D. S. Huffstutter, near Orleans, is chalybeate in character, and has quite a local reputation. Another is on the Higgins farm, near Orangeville.

THE COAL OF THE COUNTY.

As but little has been done to expose the seams of coal, such as there are, their full nature, extent and value cannot be set out in these pages. Two seams are known to exist, of which the upper, Coal A, possesses some economic value. This coal is found in all the higher hills in the western part of the county overlying, the heavy conglomerate sandstone which is above the whetstone grit. The outcrop of this coal may be seen on Section 32, Township 2 north, Range 2 west. It is a dry, semi-block coal, and burns too loosely for good smithing purposes. It would be well to work this coal for local use. A true block, sub-conglomerate coal thirty inches thick has been found and mined ou Section 8, Township 1 north, Range 2 west. This coal is found a few feet below the whetstone grit. Farther north it thins out and becomes worthless. Just above the Lower Chester limestone is another coal from one to four inches thick. It will not pay to work this seam, though some money has thus been spent. One mile north of Paoli, on the farm of Mr. Gassaway, this coal outcrops. In the central and eastern parts of the county, in the St. Louis limestone, is found a thin seam of cannel coal, which will not pay to work. The two seams first mentioned above will pay to work in locali- ties.

IRON ORES.

In all the hills in the western part of the county, in the conglomerate

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

above the whetstone grit, is found a considerable quantity of the hydrated brown oxide of iron. An analysis made by Prof. Cox, developed the important fact that the ore contained over fifty per cent of metallic iron. The ore is from three to ten feet thick. and will justify the erection of blast furnace, at many places in the western part of the county when proper railroad facilities are secured. The same ore is smelted at the blast furnace in Shoals, and when combined with Missouri ores furnishes an excellent neutral iron.

WHETSTONES AND GRINDSTONES.

The excellence of the grit of Orange County is well known, and is not surpassed by any other in existence. Ax stones, carpenter stones, " slips," etc .. of the best quality are readily manufactured. The past has been more fruitful in the number and extent of manufacturing estab- lishments of this character than the present. Steam was employed as well as horses. and many stones were sent to England and elsewhere. The Hindostan grit is celebrated for its uniform texture and keen bite, and its solidity under high revolving speed. Many grindstones have been manufactured from the grindstone grit of the Chester group. Beds of whetstone and grindstone grit are inexhaustable, and will eventually he a source of great revenue to the conuty when shipping facilities are quicker and better.

LIME. CLAY. BUILDING STONE, ETC.

Several members of the St. Lonis limestone in the eastern and central portions of the county furnish good lime. though the best comes from the Lower Che-ter. In early years this stone was thus burned in Lost River. near West Baden. and the lime shipped on flat-boats to Southern markets. It has been burned for local nse in the county ever since. The fine lacustral clay in the northeast part of the county is excellent for stone ware, and was thus used at Lancaster for a time. Kaolin is found in the county. Specimens of Indianite have been found on Section 20, Township 3 north, Range I west. A three- foot stratum of fine yellow ocher is exposed on Section 7. Township 1 north, Range 2 west. Lime. stone and sandstone suitable for building are found in great abundance. One member of the Lower Chester limestone furnishes, in many parts of the county. a good. fine-grained and easily worked stone, which is white a- alabaster. It is qmarried at the sand hill, near Orleans, is exposed on the Orleans and Paoli road. two miles from Orleans, and found on Section 5. Township 2 north. Range I east. The Lower Chester sand. stour is often good for building purposes. It is obtained thus on Sec- tion 25. Township 2 north. Range 1 west. It is light tea-colored, and the upper members make good flagging -tone and the lower good build- ing stone.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

CHAPTER II.

BY SELWYN A. BRANT.

INDIAN. AND MOUND BUILDERS-THE FIRST AND SUBSEQUENT TRENTIE -- THE INDIANS WHO OCCUPIED THE COUNTY-THE PIANKESHIAW .- BLOCK HOUSES-INDIAN MASSACRES-THE DEATH OF CHARLE -- TRAILS AND VILLAGES-ORIGIN OF THE MOUND BUILDER -- THE PAOLI FORTIFI- CATION-THE EARTHWORK. AT VALEENE-REFLECTIONS.

TN the early struggles for supremacy on the Western Continent between the nations of the Old World, nearly all of the Mississippi Valley gradually came under the dominion of France. This was acquired through the influence of the large number of ardent and zealous mis- sionaries whom that country sent out in the latter part of the seventeenth and fore part of the eighteenth centuries. A number of trading posts were established throughout the whole of this vast tract of country from along the shores of the Iskes and banks of important streams to the mouth of the Mississippi River, and from these places the peltry of the Indians was received in exchange for whatever gaudy and trifling orna- ments would most attract the savages' fancy. This, in connection with the religious influence of devout Catholics, won the heart and confidence of the red man toward the French. Almost without opposition France had thus secured control of all the land from the Alleghany Mountains to the Mississippi River. Near the middle of the eighteenth century England began to arouse herself to the situation. Her supremacy along the Atlantic was not questioned, and she had rested in contentment, sat- isfied with claiming the Pacific Ocean as the western boundary of her colonies. When her traders began to push beyond the mountains. they found themselves forestalled by the French, and thus the conflict began, which only ended with the French and Indian war in 1703, and with which the student of American history is familiar. In February of that year a treaty of Peace was signed at Paris in which France gave up all claims to any territory lying east of the Mississippi River, excepting the town of New Orleans and the island on which it is situated. Thus matters remained until the Revolution necessitated a new map of the American Continent.

The policy of the British Government seems to have retarded com. merce with the Indians, who in turn despised the haughty and domineer- ing spirit of the English. No doubt the foundation of Indian hostility to later pioneers of the West was laid in this early antipathy for the

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

English. and which when once conceived was craftily nourished by the proud and unrelenting natives. Immediately prior to the war for Inde- pendence several large tracts of land were purchased, by companies organized for that purpose, in the territory northwest of the Ohio River.

ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF INDIANA.

The most reliable information that can be obtained seems to estab. lish the fact that nearly the whole of Indiana was originally inhabited by three different tribes of Indians, called the Twigtwees or Miamis, the Weas and the Piankeshaws. The last of these occupied nearly all of the Wabash Valley, and was a powerful factor in the celebrated Miami Confederacy. As the tide of immigration poured its throng of Europeans upon the Atlantic shore, and civilization began its westward march across the New World, the sullen savage disdaining the enlightenment of white men, retired constantly to the gloom and solitude of his native forests. Thus, in time, different tribes of Indians came to occupy the same terri- tory. These later tribes were called " Permitted," and throughout the whole of Indiana these stranger Indians were early found. Some of them were the Delawares, Pottawattomies, Shawnees, Kickapoos, Wyan- dots and Senecas.

THE PIANKESHAWS. ..

The Piankeshaws were one of the Algonquin tribes, and it was people of this nation that occupied the present county of Orange, al- though at a later date a few Wyandottes and Shawnees were settled here, and the Delawares had strong claim to the land through a treaty with the Piankeshaws in 1767. The boundary lines, as described in several Indian treaties, center in and cross Orange County. One of these is a line running from the mouth of Turtle Creek, on the Wabash River, in what is now Sullivan County, to a point about one mile north of the town of Orleans, and thence in a southwesterly course to a place near the present site of the village of Branchville, Perry County, and thence in a straight line to the mouth of White River. North of this line. it is said, the Piankeshaw Indians never ceded any land to the United States, although their allies, the Delawares, Twightwees and Weas did.

THE INDIAN CESSION TREATIES.

At Vincennes, in Angust, 1804, the Delawares and Piankeshaws relin . quished their claims to all land lying south of this tract, and south of a line beginning about four miles southwest from Paoli, on Section 21, run- ning from that place to the Ohio Falls, at Jeffersonville. Beginning at a point fifty-seven miles east from Vincennes, a line was run to the old Indian boundary line, running from the Ohio River, at the mouth of the Kentucky River, to Fort Recovery. This starting point was about one mile north of the town of Orleans and the line connected with the other

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

boundary at that place just mentioned, and intersected the old boundary where it crosses White Water River, in the extreme eastern part of the State, fifty miles north of the Ohio. South of this to the Obio River all the land was ceded to the United States by certain chiefs and warriors of the Pottawattomie, Miami, Eel River, Delaware and Wea tribes. This treaty was made at Grouceland, near Vincennes, in August, 1805. Thus there is found to be no less than four separate treaties or deeds from the Indians to the United States, conveying in different tracts the land now embraced in Orange County. These were made as follows: At Fort Wayne, June 7, 1803; at Vincennes, August 18 and 27, 1804 : at Grouceland, August 21, 1805; at Fort Wayne, September 30, 1809. In nearly all of these Gen. William H. Harrison was Commissioner. acting on the part of the Government.

LOCAL INDIAN VILLAGES.

Concerning the more direct Indian occupants of this county. there is but little of reliable information to be found. It seems that the red men in the earliest times did not occupy much of the county as a permanent habitation, but lived at a distance along the larger streams and resorted hither in quest of game. A few small villages were established at ran- dom, one of which was Shawnee, and stood on the banks of Lost River, not far from where that stream sinks in the northeastern part of the county. The chief of this village was known as "King Billy." and is said to have had a red-headed white woman for a wife. After white men began to arrive there were but few Indians in the conuty, and these only in straggling and roving bands. sometimes for hunting. sometimes for pillage and plunder, and occasionally for bloodshed. Throughout the whole of the Wabash Valley great discontent and hatred was instilled into the Indians against the white settlers who were rapidly destroying their forest hunting grounds. Foremost among those who entertained this bitter hatred for the whites were the renowned Shawnee warrior, Tecumseh, and his brother, called the Prophet. Under their lead an Indian war was begun and only ended with the battle of Tippecanoe, in November 1811. Frequently during these years of terror and strife were the few inhabitants of Orange County compelled to fly to one of the early forts or block houses that were then built for protection of the pioneers.

THE LOG HOUSES.

Probably the first house of this kind in the county was built on the farin now owned by Mr. Samuel Mahan, in the northwestern part of Stampers Creek Township. This was known as the Moore Fort, and in his youth Mr. Edward Moore, now living at Orleans, lived there with his parents. The house was of the regular block style, and a few yards away a trench or deep ditch was dug entirely around it just inside of which was a row

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

of split posts set into the ground slanting out over the ditch. This ef. fectually prevented an approach from the outside to the house where the settlers were congregated. Farther north in the county was another on Lost River, in Orleans Township. on the farm now owned by George Wolfe. This was near the site of the old Shawnee village before spoken of. In Northeast Township, on the farm of Preston Tegarden, stood what was known in early times as the Maxwell Fort, and in its day was the one more frequently resorted to than any other in this part of the county. In the western part a fort was established at French Lick, and during the years when Tecumseh had stirred the Indians into frequent acts of hostility. a company of rangers was stationed at this place for the purpose of protecting the whites in this section. As a Government sta. tion this was maintained until about the year 1815.

MURDERS COMMITTED BY INDIANS.

Orange County has been fortunate in the scarcity of its Indian mur- ders. After the coming of white men the red natives were seldom seen except in small roving bands. Before this time nearly all of them had moved from this territory in accordance with the various treaties, and only returned at intervals, usnally, perhaps in the ardor of the chase. sometimes with the object of wreaking a deep and merciless revenge np- on the innocent frontier settlers. There is said to have been three white men killed in the county by the Indians. Concerning one of these there is much doubt and but little reliability. However, on the author. ity of Unele Thomas Bedster. of Northwest Township, who is one of the oldest meu and earliest settlers now living in the county. it seems that a man named Samuel Wilson was killed in Orangeville Township on the farm now owned by William C. Shirley, at a very early time. Mr. Bed- ster affirms the truth of this in an emphatic way, and no one was found to dispute it. but several had heard of the matter. although it had nearly escaped their memory. Nothing of the particulars could be learned. and this statement is given for whatever value it may bear in itself. About the year 1814 a man named Vest was shot and killed near where the present town of Orleans is situated. The particulars seem to be about as follows : Some horses were missing in the neighborhood of the Lost River settlement. and a party of men were out searching for them. It was supposed that they had been stolen by a band of Indians that was at the time hovering in that part of the county, although this supposition provedl to be erroneous. When at a place one-half mile northeast of the present town limits, the mon were firedupon by Indians in ambush and Vest was instantly killed. The savages made gool their escape, and the victim was buried upon the spot where he fell. and his grave is still pointed out by the citizens of Orleans as a monument of the only savage treachery that ever occurred to stain with blood the settlement of their prosperous community.

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HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY.

THE KILLING OF CHARLES.

The murder of William Charles at or near the French Lick Fort, in the spring of 1813, is perhaps the best known of any deed ever committed in the county by the Indians, although many conflicting accounts are told of it. The one most reliable and trustworthy seems to be about as follows, given by Mr. Edward Moore, of Orleans, who, although not present at the time, was often with several members of the Charles family after its occurrence : The victim was a married man and father of one child at the time of the killing, and lived in the fort with his father, Joel Charles and the company of rangers. Charles was plowing in a field near the fort and the Indians crept close to him from the adjoining woods and shot him from their ambush behind a stump. They at once ran to him for the purpose of tomahawking and scalping him. When the kill- ing was done the rangers were some distance away from the fort shooting at a mark, and were unable to reach Charles in time to render him any assistance. He was found with an arrow through one arm, and there were three tomahawk holes in his hat, probably made in their first hasty attempts to obtain the scalp. It is said that his wife was at the time on guard. or rather watching for Indians. . This would indicate some appre. hension of danger from that source, and if reports be true this was most likely the case. The canse was somewhat of a personal nature between the Indians. and the occupants of the fort, and a narration of them would be both tedious and useless. The wife of Charles died in a few months after this of a broken heart and was always lamenting in mani- acal tones the loss of her husband, and wore the hat which he had on at the time of his death.

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History of Lawrence, Orange, and Washington counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, together with interesting biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc, Part 44

Author: Goodspeed Brothers Publication date: 199-?] Publisher: [Salem, Mass. : Higginson Book Co.] Number of Pages: 954

Author: Goodspeed Brothers
Publication date: 199-?]
Publisher: [Salem, Mass. : Higginson Book Co.]
Number of Pages: 954