USA > Indiana > Lawrence County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 4
USA > Indiana > Monroe County > History of Lawrence and Monroe counties, Indiana : their people, industries, and institutions > Part 4
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BANKING INTERESTS.
In 1884 the Bank of Mitchell (private), with a capital of $50,000, was being successfully conducted, and it was doubtless the pioneer bank of the town. It was organized in September, 1882, by Milton N. Moore, with a cash capital of $25,000, which it still carries. It now has deposits amounting to $350,000. Their building was erected in 1896. The first officers were : Milton N. Moore, president : \V. T. Moore, cashier. The property was, how- ever, all owned by Milton N. Moore. The officers at this date (1913) are: Edward P. Moore, president; W. T. Moore, cashier. It was chartered in 1905.
The First National Bank was organized in 1903 by William .A. Holland, president : Henry C. Trueblood, vice-president ; Walter W. Burton, cashier.
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Its first capital was $25,000, same as today. They now have a surplus of $3,500, with deposits amounting to $180,000. In 1903 a banking house was erected, at a cost of $5,000. The present officers are: W. H. Burton, presi- dent; A. B. Hall. vice-president : Walter W. Burton, cashier: Edward M. Keane, assistant cashier.
These two banks afford ample banking facilities for one of the best of the smaller cities in all southern Indiana. The officers and directors of these banks are well known and highly respected in their enterprising city and county. The financial affairs are well cared for and depositors never question the integrity of the banks. The deposits in both banks, today, show a good business and a well settled financial policy in the community in which they are situated.
LEHIGH PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY.
At Mitchell, Indiana, are two branch factories of the Lehigh Portland Cement Company, employing a thousand men, and under the active manage- ment of William H. Weitknecht. The daily production of these two fac- tories is six thousand five hundred barrels. The raw products used in the manufacture of the cement are limestone and shale, which, after being pulver- ized to a fineness of ninety-five and ninety-six per cent. on standard of one hundred-mesh silk, is burned into a clinker at two thousand five hundred de- grees Fahrenheit, and the resulting clinker is again ground into the pulverized condition. The cement from these factories is shipped to various states be- tween the Alleghany mountains and the Mississippi river. All the exporta- tion is done by the Eastern mills.
The Lehigh Portland Cement Company is capitalized at twelve million dollars, and the general offices are situated in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The main sales office is at Chicago. The officers of the company are: Col. H. C. Trexler, president : E. M. Young, George Ormrod and \. Y. Gowan, vice- presidents. Gowan resides at Cleveland, Ohio, and the others at Allentown. Pennsylvania. There are eleven mills in the company, located as follows : . Five at Allentown. two at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, one at Wellston, Ohio, two at Mitchell, Indiana, and one at Mason City, Iowa.
Mill No. I, at Mitchell, was built in 1001 and 1902, and mill No. 2 was constructed in 1905 and 1906. The limestone quarry which supplies these two mil's is located at Mitchell, but the two shale quarries are in Jackson county. Twelve hundred acres of land are detached for factory purposes. The factories manufacture their own steam and electric power.
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LAWRENCE AND MONROE COUNTIES, INDIANA.
GUTHRIE TOWNSHIP.
Guthrie township was the last to be formed in the county, and was named for one of the most prominent families of the early days. The township was formed in the early sixties, and is bounded on the south by the East fork of White river, on the north by Shawswick and Flinn townships, and on the east by Jackson county. When the county was organized in 1818, all of the present Guthrie township was included in Shawswick township, but on the formation of the new township land was taken from Shawswick, Flinn and Bono.
Although some portions of Guthrie township were settled very early, the record of land entries until 1820 is surprisingly small. As is the case of many others of the Lawrence county townships, Guthrie is too hilly to be valuable as an agricultural region.
Land entries until 1820 included : Israel Hind, 1819: Ambrose Carlton, 1817: Edward Johnston, 1820: William Barnhill, 1819; John Kerns, 1820; Solomon Bowers, 1817: Robert Millsap, 1820; Conrad Hoopingarner, 1818; Thomas Butler, 1820; Daniel Guthrie, 1816; J. Edwards, 1820; Preston Beck. 1820: Elisha Simpson, 1820: George W. Mullis, 1817: Cuthbert and Thomas Bullitt, 1820. Others included in this early list were Thomas Dixon, William Shadrach. William Holland. Sr., John Allen, Robert Millsap and his sons, William and James, Abner Walters. Samuel and William Foster. Benjamin and Isaac Newkirk, Jacob Mullis and John Dowland.
Probably the first settler of Guthrie township was James Connelly, a squatter. and a native of North Carolina, from whence he came to Orange county, Indiana, shortly afterward settling here. The year was about 1815. Connelly brought his family with him, and for their home he built a double log cabin. Ambrose Carlton, with his large family, came after Connelly, and in 1816 also Pleasant and Ambrose Parks came from North Carolina to this township, after a short sojourn in Bono township. Edward Johnston came in 1816, raised a crop, and the next year brought his family. One of the first mills of this section was that built by James Connelly in 1817. James Heron later had a mill on Guthrie's creek, and Robert and Thomas Carlton also con- structed mills. In 1840, the latter mill burned, but was rebuilt by the owners. Distilleries were scattered over the township, and were of varying ownership. Wild hogs were abundant along the streams, and every year large quantities of the pork was loaded into flatboats and started for New Orleans and the South. Wild hog hunting was one of the popular sports of the day, the animal being a dangerous foe. much different from his domesticated brother.
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DIXONVILLE.
William and Thomas Dixon platted this village in the northeast corner of the township on April 8. 1853. It comprised twenty-four lots. The first merchant of the village was Thomas Dixon, and he was followed by Elder T. N. Robertson.
TUNNELTON.
On the north part of section 19, township 4 north, range 2 east, on the 28th of April, 1859. the town of Tunnelton was platted. An addition was added in 1863. The first merchant of this thriving little village was Alfred Guthrie, who began in 1859 with a stock of merchandise. The first drug store was owned by T. L. Linder, who was succeeded in this line by L. A. Crim & Bros. The first physician was Hugh L. Kimberlin. Henry Kipp operated the first mill, which was. of the steam circular saw type. Alfred Guthrie be- came the first postmaster in 1860.
The town of Tunnelton at present has an advantageous position on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. The country surrounding the village is valuable, part of it being the most productive of Guthrie township. In the commercial side of the village, Reed & Huddleston and Malott Brothers own general stores, and carry a large and varied line of merchandise. H. E. Flinn has a blacksmith shop. There is one saw mill, operated by the Tunnelton Milling Company. Dr. H. J. Matlock is the resident physician.
The Knights of Pythias have a lodge in Tunnelton, and in religious mat- ters the interest is divided between the Methodist and Christian churches.
The present population of Tunnelton is about two hundred.
FORT RITNER.
The town of Fort Ritner was named in honor of Michael Ritner, a fore- man in the construction of a tunnel on the old Ohio & Mississippi railroad . nearby. Ritner was also the first merchant. having started a store while en- gaged in the construction work. Later merchants included the firm of Reed & Waters. Moses Wortham and one Brosika, John and William A. Holland. Gabriel Brock was the first postmaster, the office having been established in 1858.
BONO TOWNSHIP.
Bono township is situated on the southeast corner of the county, and is bounded on the north by the East fork of White river, and on the west by
LAWRENCE AND MONROE COUNTIES, INDIANA.
Marion township. Due to its location, being near to the older settlements in the southern part of the state, and on the early roads to the north, also its place on the river which was a much traveled highway. the township has always claimed the first white settlement of the county. William Wright made the first land entry in the county on September 22, 1813. The entry consisted of one hundred and forty-two acres in the northeast quarter of section 5, township 3 north, range 2 east.
The other entries up to and including the year 1820 were by the following persons : Henry Fulton, September, 1817: Cuthbert and Thomas Bullitt, September. 1820: J. Hikes, 1820; Richard C. Anderson. 1820: John Edwards, 1820: Edward Johnson, 1820: Clark Hoggatt and Kitchell. 1818: Thomas Blank. 1810: Samuel Brown, 1816: John Brown. 1820; John Hammersly, 1818; Thomas Jolly, 1820 : David Green, 1818: Conrad Grass, 1818: So'omon Fitzpatrick, 1819: David Hummel. 1818: Asher Wilson, 1820; Elisha Simp- son. 1817: William Hoggatt, 1818.
Bono township originally included a part of what is now Marion and Guthrie townships, being one of the five original townships of the county. The first elections were held at the town of Bono, and were under the super- vision of Inspector Elisha Simpson. In 1819 David Green became inspector of elections, but the voting place remained the same. Moses Lee and Thomas Jolly were the first overseers of the poor and were elected to the office in 1810. Robert Henderson was the first constable.
There is no doubt that Bono township was the scene of the second settle- ment in the county. Roderick Rawlins and his two nephews. James and Joseph, settled in the spring of 1812. on a farm in section 22. later owned by William Turley, and near the village of Scottvil'e. These men were very prominent in the early development of the county, and took active part in the ranger warfare along the frontier.
Beck's mill, on Blue river, in Washington county, was the place the early pioneers did most of their milling. The building of Hamar's mill in Marion township was an advantage later, and there the Bono settlers took their grain. However, mills began to spring up in numerous places, and the task of going to the mill was lessened. John Hammersly made a business of build- ing these mills and then selling them to others. In the river at Bono Ham- mersly constructed a grist mill out of the ordinary. He built a cone-shaped dam, permitting the water to go through an opening in the center. at a point where a large undershot wheel was placed between the flat-boats. The buhrs were on these boats and the grinding was done in midstream. This mill
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LAWRENCE AND MONROE COUNTIES, INDIANA.
worked well until a flood washed the whole construction away. The buhrs were later used in a mill in Indian Creek township.
BONO.
Bono has the distinction of being the oldest town in Lawrence county, having been settled in 1816. The town was laid out on April 4th and the proprietors were William Hoggatt, Marston G. Clark and Joseph Kitchell. The first merchant to settle in Bono was William Holland, about 1818. Other early merchants, mostly "Down-East Yankees," drifted in during the later years, some of the more prominent being John Kelly. Charles Miller, Thomas Lemon, James W. Prow, James Batman. Asher Wilcox, Ephraim Brock. Uriah Dilly. Albert Johnson. John Shade. Thomas W. Stevens and Gabriel Harvey. Walker Kelso is known to have been the first physician to settle in Bono, and Williamson D. Dunn was another early doctor. James Oldham built the first grist mill here sometime during the fifties. Patrick Callan was probably the first postmaster. the office having been established about the year 1820.
Bono was one of the most flourishing towns in the county in agriculture and commercialism until the building of the Louisville, New Albany & Chi- cago, now the Monon railroad. At that time, the trade was drawn to the west, and Bono suffered immeasurably by the change.
LAWRENCEPORT.
The village of Lawrenceport was laid out on May 17, 1837, and consisted at that time of one hundred and seventy-nine lots. The village is situated at the mouth of Fishing creek on White river. S. P. Moore has the honor of being the pioneer merchant of this town, who also ow ned a mill there. S. B. Barnes and Henry Harmyer were future owners of the mill. \ few of the early merchants and store keepers of Lawrenceport were William Turley. J. T. Andrews and Brice Newkirk. Dr. Knight was probably the first physi -. cian of the town.
MARSHALL TOWNSHIP.
Of the three townships which form the northern end of the county. Marshall is the center. and is next to the smallest in the county. The town- ship was named for John Marshall, the eminent chief justice of the United States. Land entries were made in this township as early as 1816. and this
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LAWRENCE AND MONROE COUNTIES, INDIAN.1.
is hard to account for, as the agricultural facilities in the greater part of the county are poor, the land being broken and hilly. The southern portion, how- ever, contains some excellent soil, and has been the scene of stone quarrying on a large scale, the stone being shipped to all parts of the country.
Until the year 1820 the land entries were as follows: Jacob Hatta- baugh, 1816: William Curl. 1816; Hamilton Reddick, 1817; John Fairley, 1819: John Goodwin, 1818; Robert Anderson, 1819: John Hargis, 1816; Will- iam Sackey, 1817: Jesse Brown, 1816; James Culley, 1816; Michael Hatta- baugh, 1816; Jacob Bruner, 1818; Henry Brown, 1818; John Zumwald, 1818; Henry Leonard. 1818: Patrick Tyler, 1817; Nicholas Bruner, 1816: Will- iam Quillen, 1818: John Dryden, 1817; Joshua Gullett, 1816: Adam House, 1816; Thomas Reynolds, 1817; and Absalom Sargeant, 1817.
The first mill of the county was built at Avoca about the year 1819, by a man named Fitzpatrick. The next owner of this mill was Absalom Hart, an experienced miller, having owned a mill on Indian creek. After fifteen years of success, Hart sold the mill to the Hammer brothers, who owned the mill for ten years, and then sold out to Levi Mitchell, who in turn disposed of the prop- erty to Dr. Bridwell. The Doctor sold out to George Thornton, of Bedford. Short & Judah were the next owners, and while in their possession the mill burned down. Samuel Short rebuilt the structure soon after, and in 1865 Hayden Bridwell obtained a half interest in it, holding the same until 1868, when he became the sole owner. The mill was operated by a turbine water wheel, and had three sets of buhrs, one each for corn, wheat and chop feed.
About 1830 the Humpston mill was built. It was on the farm later ow ned by Ephraim Decker, and was operated by an undershot wheel and the current of Salt creek. There was but one set of buhrs. The plant was abandoned in the late forties. Kinser & Whisman erected a steam grist and saw mill in 1870 near the present site of Guthrie. This plant was successful from the first, and in 1880 the necessary machinery for making spokes was added at a large cost.
The first merchant in Marshall township was Eliphalet Pearson, the father of Judge E. D. Pearson of Bedford. His former occupation had been as a keeper of the ferry on the Ohio river, at Jeffersonville, but he traded that business for a stock of merchandise valued then at about five thousand dollars. After this he moved to the McCrea farm, in section 5, in the northwestern part of the township. This spot was on the old stage line from Leavenworth, on the Ohio river. to Indianapolis. stopping at Springville, Bedford and Orleans and Paoli in Orange county. Pearson's ideal location made his ven- ture a profitable one, and for three years he conducted a thriving business.
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LAWRENCE AND MONROE COUNTIES, INDIANA.
He also owned an oil mill there, and manufactured quantities of linseed oil, as flax was grown then in this locality in large quantity. The method of making the oil, of course, would seem primitive in this day of labor-saving machinery ; the seed was ground by a large stone operated by horse-power, and the oil was pressed out by a common bean press. Later Pearson moved his mercantile business to Springville, in Perry township, where he continued until 1840. In that year he constructed a wool carding machine, operating the same for eight years. He also started a tan yard in 1846, but a few years later resumed the merchandise business, and followed the same until his death, in January, 1863.
In the town of Avoca, while operating the grist mill, Doctor Bridwell opened a general merchandise store. He also established the first postoffice there, and acted in the capacity of postmaster. This office was abandoned after a few years, but was taken up again by O. A. Owens in 1866. Owens began to keep articles of merchandise, and built up a good trade. The suc- cessor to Owens in the merchandise line was John Heaton, and he continued for two years, at the end of which time he removed to Newberry, in Greene county, the business at Avoca being conducted by the Blackburn brothers. Heaton, however, soon returned.
AVOCA.
One mile and a half northwest of Oolitic, in Marshall township. is the little village of Avoca. There are about two hundred and fifty people in this village. There are no officers, not even a constable. Two churches provide places of worship for the people, the Baptist and the Missionary Baptist. L. S. Stout conducts a general store, and P. H. Bedwell owns a grocery. Earl Martindale is the barber, and the physicians are Claude Dollins and O. M. Stout. T. A. Hudson is the postmaster.
GUTHRIE.
Winepark Judah was responsible for the laying out of Guthrie on Decem- ber 10. 1865. The first merchant was undoubtedly W. W. Owens, and he located in Guthrie about 1854. at the time of the building of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago railroad, now the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville railway. Wesley Brown, James Bryant. George Bascomb and James Tincher were later merchants. W. W. Owens was the first postmaster, the office hav- ing been established during the time he was engaged in the merchandise busi- (4)
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ness. This town has never grown to any considerable extent, but is still a small hamlet. In roto it had a population of one hundred and fifty.
SPICE VALLEY TOWNSHIP.
Another of the five original townships in the southwest portion of the county is Spice Valley township. The present area of this locality is approxi- mately fifty-two miles square. Beaver creek flows through the southwestern part, on the west and south it is bounded by Martin and Orange counties, on the north the East fork of White river is situated, and on the east is Marion township. For the most part. the land in this township is too broken to be of much value for agriculture, but is well suited for grazing. The ground along the river is an exception, and it is to this that the early settlement of the county is indebted. To the year 1820 there were thirty-four purchases of land, while in Indian Creek township there were fifty-eight during the same time, thus indicating the relative value of the land. These entries were Simon Gilbert, William Lindley, C. and T. Bullitt. Ezekiel Blackwell. Jonathan Lindley. Aquilla Gilbert. Henry Speed. Absalom Field. Thomas Lindley, Joseph Hastings, Abraham Holaday, Thomas Coulter. Josiah Trueblood. Joel Connelly. Josiah Connelly in 1816: Josiah Connelly, Joel Connelly. Robert Fields, John Chapman, Gideon Coulter, Henry Cosner, John Connelly in 1817; Jesse Beazley, Nichols Koon. John Quinn, David Bruner, William Cochran, John Luttrell. Roger McKnight, and John Swaim in 1818: William Maxwell, Francis Tincher, in 1819: John Sanders, William Hoard, in 1820.
Absalom Fields was the first inspector of elections in the township, and the elections were held first at his home, but were later changed to the home of Richard Beazley. Josiah Connelly was the first constable, and Absalom Fields and Joel Connelly the first overseers of the poor. These latter offices have long since passed out of existence.
The milling industry of Spice Valley township in the early days was mostly confined to Hamer's mill in Marion township, in the eastern part. Until 1840 or later the people of this locality patronized this mill. because the mills in this township were small and inadequate. Josiah Trueblood owned a very primitive horsemill. Near 1830 a horse mill was in operation near Bryants- ville, owned by Henry Weathers, but has since disappeared. Distilleries were an important feature in the early industrial life, and many things have been attributed to the large practice of making liquor. The flowing springs and various features of the land, also the early training of the settlers, contributed to the occupation. Joshua Barnes owned the most important of these dis- tilleries about 1850, and he also did a great deal of fruit distilling.
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The following interesting items are from the pen of T. M. Brinkworth : "William Hoard, at the time of his death, in 1853. owned about six hun- dred acres of land and out of this farm the town of Huron was platted in 1859 by his heirs and descendants. No one of the earlier settlers has left so many direct descendants, in this and neighboring townships as William Hoard. They furnished twelve or fifteen soldiers to the Union army during the Civil war.
"This township was settled very slowly until about the year 1850, when the land entries became frequent ; a large per cent. of these entries in the west end of the township bear dates between 1850 and 1858.
"Owing to the lateness of her settlement Spice Valley cannot boast of any Revolutionary or 1812 veterans and only two Mexican veterans ( known to the writer ) sleep within her borders. Joseph Bosler and George Brinkworth.
"But it was in the Civil war that Spice Valley made a record that is unequaled by any of her sister townships in Lawrence county and doubtless by few in the entire state. Her quota was always full and the draft was never resorted to. I feel safe in saying that this was true of no other township in Lawrence or the neighboring counties of Orange and Martin. I dare say that there are more old soldiers residing in the vicinity of Huron in propor- tion to the population than any community in the state, barring a soldier's home.
"This township was heavily timbered with oak, poplar, walnut. hickory, beech and ash. but less maple than the eastern townships. The working of this timber was the chief industry from the time of the building of the Ohio & Mississippi railroad. which was completed about 1855, until these fine forests were almost entirely exhausted some twenty years ago, since when more attention has been given to the cultivation and fertilization of the soil, and, while the improvement in the methods of farming from year to year is slow, yet it is steady and perceptible.
"The schools of Spice Valley were few and the teachers indifferent until about the year 1857, when the Legislature created the office of township trustee, giving the system some head, and a marked improvement both in the number of school houses and in the character of teachers is noted. John Mc- Ginness, one of the old teachers, far above the average of that time, was elected as the first trustee at the April election, 1857, reelected in 1858 and 1859 ( the last time for a term of two years ) and served till 1861, at the April election of which year Jesse Connerly was elected trustee and served continuously until 1868. He bears the unique distinction of being the only Democrat elected to that office during the entire history of the township. He was not of much
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LAWRENCE AND MONROE COUNTIES, INDIANA.
education, but possessed a remarkable personality that drew men to him. The writer regards it one of the greatest fortunes of his life to have known Jesse Connerly. He lived at the old Connerly Switch, on the farm his father bought in 1823, and he lived in that same spot until his death in 1891. His home was. a rendezvous for the neighbors for miles around and the traveler never asked in vain for a rest at his place. To him and George W. Jones must largely be ascribed the credit for the good showing of the township during the Civil war. They saw to it that the families of the absent soldiers did not want and this assurance induced many a man to go to the front. Mr. Jones still lives, at the advanced age of eighty-six. His grandfather, Thomas Jones, settled a mile east of Huron in the early twenties and on this farm he was reared and later owned it and collected together a farm of over one thousand two hundred acres. He is the last of the early settlers and soon will sleep with the stalwart pioneers, by whose side he struggled so faithfully to build up a community.
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