USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County Indiana (Volume 1) > Part 20
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A most interesting feature of this publishing-plant is that the em- ployees, or "workers," as they call themselves, are not paid regular salaries. They donate their services, receiving only their board, cloth- ing, and actual expenses. This applies to all, from the common laborers to the officers of the company. This plan, it is reported, has worked well for over thirty years. The workers and the church prefer that devotion to the cause, rather than desire for remuneration, be the motive for engaging in this publishing-work. A considerable number remain for eight, ten, or fifteen years, but most of them for a shorter time. In procuring the necessary funds as well as the labor, not even the mildest form of coercion is employed. Only free-will offerings are received. All profits and donations above the amount needed to oper- ate the plant are used in sending out literature free, or in enlarging the plant and in extending the circulation of the publication. The com- pany maintains a Free Literature Fund to which donations, large and small, are constantly being made by interested persons. Many thou- sands of dollars' worth of free literature is sent out each year to mis- sionaries and ministers, and to inquirers in all parts of the world.
The Gospel Trumpet Home is a large, three-story cement-block struct- ure situated near the publishing-house. It contains, besides kitchen, dining-room, laundry, etc., nearly one hundred living-rooms comfort- ably, though economically, furnished. Most of the married employees live in private cottages. The workers come from many different parts of the country, almost every state in the Union being represented. Aside from the object of donating their time and talents to the publication of the literature, many come to receive training and qualification for min- isterial work. A number of classes for the study of different branches of knowledge are organized from time to time. Bible study and devo- tional exercises are given prominence. In the chapel of the Trumpet Home devotional services are held every day, and other public meetings at appointed times. A high standard of Christian conduct and exper- ience is demanded of those who are regarded as permanent workers.
The Gospel Trumpet, the main periodical of the Gospel Trumpet Company, started on its career January 1, 1881, at Rome City, Indiana. Later the publishing-office was moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, and after several other moves, was located for thirteen years in Grand Junction, Mich. Here D. S. Warner, the former editor, died, and the present editor, E. E. Byrum, took charge. In 1898 another move was made to Moundsville, W. Va., and in 1906 the company located per- manently in Anderson, Ind.
While the Gospel Trumpet office is not the headquarters of the. church, a great deal of correspondence and other business for the Church of God is handled here. The Mission Board, both home and foreign, has its office in the publishing-house. The general camp-meeting, at- tended by several hundred ministers and workers and by several thou- sand laymen, is held here each year in June. This meeting is not an official or legislative body; but as it is the largest gathering of the church, ministers, and foreign missionaries, and others make it a point to attend as frequently as possible. Many visitors from all parts of the United States and from foreign lands visit The Trumpet office with the
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GOSPEL TRUMPET PUBLISHING PLANT
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object of obtaining spiritual help and instruction. Many also come for physical healing. Several hundred requests for prayer are received each week-cablegrams, telegrams, telephone messages, and letters.
The prominent doctrines taught by the Gospel Trumpet literature are : Conversion, or the new birth; sanctification, or the baptism of the Holy Spirit; baptism by immersion; the Lord's Supper; feet-washing; divine healing, and the unity of all believers. Special emphasis is laid on the doctrine of church unity. The church of God here represented is not an ecclesiastical organization as are other churches; it is not incorporated, has no church discipline but the Bible, has no roll of members, nor does it license its ministers. After feeling the divine call and meeting certain Biblical requirements, they are ordained by the laying on of hands of the elders. All the ministers are recognized as equal in authority; they have no bishops or presiding minister. Min- isters preach where they feel led to go; they are not appointed to any particular circuit or district. The membership of the Church of God includes, according to their doctrine, all who have an experimental knowledge of conversion, or the new birth (St. John 3:3), and are living true Christian lives. The doctrine of divine healing, which is given much prominence, is they claim, quite different from Christian Science. The doctrine is founded on the example of Jesus Christ and on several texts of Scripture, the chief one among which, probably, is St. James 5: 14, 15: "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church ; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be for- given him." Numerous instances of notable healings are published in The Gospel Trumpet literature.
As already stated, the first gas well in Madison county was on the farm of Samuel Cassell, near the eastern terminus of Washington street, Alexandria. It was sunk by the Alexandria Mining and Exploring Company and "came in" on March 27, 1887, only four days before gas was struck at Anderson. The people of Alexandria were not slow to take advantage of the discovery as a means of advertising their town, though the first well was comparatively weak-about 2,000,000 cubic feet per day-owing to the fact that the drillers were afraid to go too deep into the Trenton rock, for fear of striking salt water. A second well drilled by the same company went deeper into the gas-bearing rock and showed a flow of 6,000,000 cubic feet per day. Soon after that a Mr. Davis, of Indianapolis, located a large brick plant north of the town; Harper & Cruzen brought a window glass factory to Alexandria, the first to locate in Madison county ; next came the Lippincott Glass Chimney Works, which at one time employed over 600 men, and which is still one of the large manufacturing concerns of Madison county ; following the Lippincott Company came the Indiana Brick Company ; the DePauw Plate Glass Company and the DePauw Window Glass Com- pany were the next concerns to locate in Alexandria; then came the Kelly Ax Manufacturing Company and the Union Steel Company. With the introduction of these manufacturing concerns and their army of employees, Alexandria jumped from a little village of 800 to a city of
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some 7,000 population within two years. In common with other places in the gas belt, the town suffered a period of comparative stagnation after the failure of the gas supply, but there are still a number of prosperous factories in or about the city, as may be seen from the following list taken from the report of the State Bureau of Inspection for 1912, show- ing the number of employees :
Alexandria Creamery Company, butter and dairy products; Alexan- dria Crushed Stone Company, crushed stone for paving, 26; Alexandria Paper Company, print and wrapping papers, 100; American Insulating Company, rock products, mineral wool, etc., 25; Art Printing Company, 5; Banner Rock Products Company, cold storage insulation, 26; Brown- ing Milling Company, 4; Empire Mirror and Beveling Company, mirrors and beveled plate glass, 20; Hoosier Rock Wool Company, mineral wool, etc .; Imbler Fence Manufacturing Company, woven wire fencing, 10; Indiana Ice and Dairy Company, 26; Lippincott Glass Company, lamp chimneys, etc., 500; Penn-American Plate Glass Company, 470; Wells & Davis Boiler Shop, 5.
Although the loss of the DePauw Glass Works, the Kelly Ax Works and the Union Steel Company threw about 3,000 people out of employ- ment, many of whom left the city, the factories of Alexandria still em- ploy regularly from 1,200 to 1,500 persons at good wages. The products of the glass factories and the large refrigerators built by the American Insulating Company and the Banner Products Company are shipped to all parts of the country. The materials used by these factories in the preparation of mineral wool, packing, insulating, etc., come from the stone in the Pipe creek quarries. This line is comparatively new, but the business is growing in a satisfactory manner to all concerned.
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Among the factories that closed when the gas gave out, the Kelly Ax Company was one of the best known. W. C. Kelly, the patentee of the ax manufactured, was president of the company, which employed at one time about 400 men, the axes being shipped in large quantities to the lumbering districts all over the civilized world. Another factory that is closed at present is the Steel Wheel Works. It is not abandoned entirely but merely suspended, awaiting developments. It is the hope of Alexandrians that some day soon it will open its doors and resume business.
Elwood was not far behind Alexandria and Anderson in boring for gas, and was as fortunate in striking it in large quantities. Within a short time a number of manufacturing plants were located in the city. Among them were the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Works, the Macbeth- Evans Glass Company, the McCloy Glass Works, the Elwood Furniture Company, the Elwood, Boiler and Engine Works, Crystal Ice Manufac- turing Company, Superior Radiator Company, Elwood Window Glass Company, Nivisen & Weiskolp Bottle Works, Phil Hamm Boiler Works, Akron Steam Forge Works, Heffner Planing Mill Company. American Tin Plate Works, Elwood Box Factory, Elwood Iron Works and the Excelsior Works.
On the night of June 25, 1891, a destructive fire broke out in the Plate Glass Works. The Elwood fire department at that time was rather limited and word was sent to Anderson, Logansport and Kokomo ask-
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ing for help. Logansport sent a fire engine, Kokomo two hose carts, and Anderson sent the hose wagon and hook and ladder truck by special train. Before any of the outside help arrived the fire was under control, but the plant was damaged about $60,000. The burned portions were quickly rebuilt in a more substantial manner.
The Excelsior Works burned on December 20, 1888, the fire originat- ing by the ignition of gas while making repairs., Adam Miller and Michael Glaspy, who were at work on the repairs in the engine room, were severely burned. The loss was about $4,000.
A list of Elwood factories reporting to the State Bureau of Inspec- tion in 1912, with the number of employees in each, is as follows: Ameri- can Sheet and Tin Plate Company, 1,800; Ames Shovel and Tool Com- pany, 141; Dawson Machine Works, foundry and machine work, 5; L. J. Diamond, plate, sheet and structural iron work, 15; J. P. Downs, abattoir, 7; Elwood Call-Leader, printing, 10; A. D. Moffett, printing, 6; Elwood Iron Works, tin plate machinery, 30; Elwood Lawn Mower Manufacturing Company, 50; Frazier Packing Company, catsup, chili sauce, canned vegetables, etc., 100; Home Storage and Manufacturing
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TIN PLATE WORKS, ELWOOD
Company, ice and soft drinks, etc., 20; Indiana Box Company, wooden packing cases, 61 (This plant was partially destroyed by fire in August, 1913, but was immediately rebuilt) ; Irwin & Turner Canning Company ; Macbeth-Evans Glass Company, pearl top chimneys, globes, flues and shades, 400; Ohio Oil Company, pumping station, 40; Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (pot works), glass pots, 25; G. I. Sellers & Sons Com- pany, kitchen cabinets, 68; J. L. Small, gloves, 7; Tipton-Berry Cigar Company, 38; Hoosier Stogie Manufacturing Company, 23.
A comparison of this list with the one given above, of the factories that located in Elwood soon after the discovery of gas, will show that some of the early factories have been discontinued and that new ones have been established. Of the 11,028 inhabitants of Elwood, approxi. inately 3,000 are employed in her factories-a larger proportion than any other city or town in the county.
Elwood also has the largest single plant of any kind in the county- The American Sheet and Tin Plate Company. This factory was opened on September 13, 1892, when William Mckinley, chairman of the ways. and means committee of Congress that reported the Mckinley tariff bill and afterward president of the United States, visited Elwood and made a speech, in which he maintained that the increase in duty imposed by the new tariff made the establishment of tin plate mills in this country
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possible. As at first established the plant consisted of four hot mills and a tinning department of six stacks, employing in all about 300 men, nearly all of whom had been brought from England and Wales. The original directors of the company were D. G. Reid, W. M. Leeds, J. M. Overshiner, P. G. Darlington, A. L. Conger, John F. Hazen and W. P. Hutton. For some time the plant worked under disadvantages, but in 1898 the American Tin Plate Company was formed, and with the absorp- tion of the Elwood works by this company a new era was begun. Six more hot mills were brought to Elwood from Montpelier, making the plant one of the largest factories in Indiana.
On September 13, 1912, the works celebrated their twentieth anni- versary. By that time the tin plate factory had grown to twenty-eight hot mills, the entire works covering thirty-four acres of ground and employing 1,800 men, many of whom own homes in the city.
Frankton, Lapel, Pendleton and Summitville also benefited by the discovery of natural gas, wells having been sunk in those towns soon after Alexandria, Anderson and Elwood were enjoying the benefits of nature's bounty in the way of cheap fuel.
At Frankton the Clyde Window Glass Company erected two fac- tories. The Frankton Window Glass Company quickly followed. Then came the Wetherald Rolling Mill, the Hoosier Fence Company, the Frankton Brick Works, the Dwiggins Fence Company, the Bradrick and Lineburg Fence Works, the Quick City Novelty Works and a few other concerns. Most of these factories have been discontinued, the only one reporting to the state bureau of inspection in 1912 being the Hoosier Fence Company, which employed 20 men, and the Frankton Canning Company, also employing 20 persons.
Two large flour mills, a bottle factory, a tile mill, a pump and gas regulator works, and some minor concerns were located at Lapel. The bottle factory is still running and in 1912 employed 120 people, and there is also a large canning factory at Lapel.
The Pendleton Window Glass Company was organized soon after gas was struck there, with B. F. Aiman at its head. This factory was situated on the north side of Fall creek and at one time employed a large number of men. On the south side of town was the Indiana Window Glass and Bottle Factory, and the Guptill Glass Works, which made a specialty of glass tubing for drains, conduits, etc., was located in the northern part of town, near the Big Four Railroad. There were also a wire fence factory, tile mill and brick factory. The buildings once occupied by the Pendleton Window Glass Company are now used as a canning factory. For a while the Motsinger Device Company, man- ufacturers of automobile accessories, was located in Pendleton. Among the present business concerns of the town is the Hardy Manufacturing Company, which makes sheet metal ware, conduits for silos, etc.
Soon after gas was struck at Alexandria and Anderson a successful well was sunk at Summitville. Within a short time Central Glass Com- pany, the Crystal Window Glass Company, the Rothschild Glass Com- pany, the Summitville Brick Factory and the Summitville Tile Works
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were all in active operation. Other factories that located here about that time were the Madison Brick Company and a stave and hoop factory. The American Flint Bottle Company also established a plant here, but it was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt. The Central Glass Company is still running as the Model Glass Works and is engaged in the manufacture of bottles, employing about 250 men and boys. The Summitville Tile Works were started by S. C. Cowgill and at one time manufactured more drain tile than any similar concern in the United States. It is now a part of the National Drain Tile Company, which owns several tile mills in the state. About sixty men are constantly em- ployed at this factory. There is also another tile works here, now called the Summitville Tile Works, operated by Berry & Morris. The old flour mill, from which Mill street took its name, was sold some years ago by Joseph Daniels to J. M. Gordon and now forms part of the grain elevator on Main street. About the time this sale was made a model flour mill was erected by S. B. Gilman & Company and is still running. To Lemuel Webb, however, belongs the credit of having erected the first modern flour mill in Summitville. After his death the mill was suc- cessfully operated for a number of years by his daughter, but shortly after her marriage she disposed of the property.
Ingalls, in Green township, was laid out during the gas boom and several factories were projected at that place. Among them were the Zinc Works, which at one time employed a large number of people, and a glass factory for the manufacture of fruit jars was erected by Henry Wagner and others in 1895. It employed a number of opera- tives and had a successful career for a while, but, like most of the factories in the smaller towns, all those at Ingalls were closed when the gas failed.
As an evidence that the manufacturers of Madison county, especially those of Anderson, are wide awake to their interests and ready to promote their material progress, a "Made in Anderson" exhibit was held the first week in June, 1913. Eighth street from Meridian to Morton was lined with booths, under a mammoth tent, in which the various manufacturing establishments of the city arranged their ex- hibits. The exhibit opened on Saturday, May 31, 1913, by a great auto- mobile parade, at the head of which rode Governor Samuel M. Ralston and the managers of the exhibit in a nickel-plated Lambert automobile built especially for the occasion. Following the line of automobiles were a number of manufacturers' floats. In this part of the parade were represented the American Steel and Wire Company, the American Rotary Valve Company, the Anderson Mattress Company, the Public Schools of the city, the Pennsylvania Glass Company, the Indiana Brick Company, the Dwiggins Fence Company, the National Tile Company, the Hill-Tripp Company, the Nyberg Automobile Company and a number of others, all presenting some feature of their particular indus- tries in an attractive manner. After the parade the governor formally opened the exhibit in an appropriate address. Hundreds of people from other cities were in attendance. Among the distinguished visitors during the succeeding week was James Whitcomb Riley, the "Hoosier
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Poet," who was a special guest of honor on Tuesday, June 3d, which date was set apart by the managers as "Riley Day." It was generally remarked by those who attended the exhibit that it was a credit to a city the size of Anderson, and the immediate result was seen in increased orders by the factories participating.
Notwithstanding the great progress made in manufacturing during the last quarter of a century, agriculture is still the chief source of wealth and the tiller of the soil is still king. According to statistics for the year 1910, Madison county stood far above the average of the ninety- two counties of the state in the production of the staple crops. It was the thirtieth county in the state in the production of wheat, ninth in corn, twenty-fourth in oats, twenty-second in rye, twelfth in potatoes, sixteenth in tomatoes, twenty-eighth in timothy hay, sixteenth in clover hay, fifth in clover seed, eighteenth in the value of horses on hand, fifth in milk sold, nineteenth in butter, the value of dairy products being over $450,000, tenth in the value of cattle sold, tenth in the value of hogs sold, and fifteenth in the production of eggs, over 1,000,000 dozen being sold, bringing $178,500. During the year over $500,000
MADISON COUNTY WHEATFIELD
of the mortgage indebtedness on farms in the county was paid. These statistics indicate that the farmers of Madison county are, as a rule, prosperous, and the visitor to the county sees evidence of this pros- perity on every hand. Good dwelling houses and barns, bountiful crops and an abundance of live stock bear out the statement that the farmer is still the industrial king in the county.
In connection with the agricultural and stock breeding industry, it is worthy of note that the large business of importing and breeding English and Belgian horses by James Donnelly & Sons, of Chesterfield, occupies a high place among the business enterprises of the county. Mr. Donnelly and his two sons cross the ocean twice each year, bringing back with them herds of fine horses for sale, or for breeding purposes. They claim to have the largest horse breeding farm in the State of Indiana, dealing exclusively in imported stock.
At one time Madison county promised to become a paying oil field. Many wells were sunk in various parts of the county, some of which were producers in paying quantities, especially those in Monroe town-
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ship. It has already been stated that the first gas well in the county was sunk in this township, and it is equally true that the first oil well in the county was drilled on the form of Nimrod Carver, in Monroe township. Some experts in the oil industry predict that a profitable petroleum field will yet be developed in Madison county.
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CHAPTER X INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
OLD TRAILS-FIRST HIGHWAYS-STATE ROADS-TURNPIKE COMPANIES AND TOLL ROADS-THE ERA OF CANALS-LAND GRANTS-STATE LEGIS- LATION FOR INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS-ACT OF 1836-INDIANA CEN- TRAL CANAL-ITS COLLAPSE-THE HYDRAULIC PROJECT-RAILROADS- EARLY IDEAS REGARDING THEM-THE BIG FOUR-FIRST TRAIN TO ANDERSON-THE PAN HANDLE-CINCINNATI, WABASH & MICHIGAN- LAKE ERIE & WESTERN-THE CENTRAL INDIANA-DITCHES-UNION TRACTION COMPANY
One of the first necessities in the way of internal improvements in a new country is the construction of public highways. When the first white men came to what is now Madison county there was not "a stick of timber amiss." In going from one place to another the most direct route was followed, a small compass often being used to keep the traveler in his course. The first roads were merely marked by "blazes" on the trees, without regard to section lines, no matter how much they might later interfere with some pioneer's farming operations. Where an old Indian trail existed it was used by the settlers until better roads could be constructed. In after years all these early "traces" were straightened and altered to conform to the lines of the official survey running east and west and north and south.
Surveys were made for state roads at an early date. Some of these roads were afterward opened and improved, but in a majority of in- stances they were simply "cut out" by the settlers living along the route, very little expenditure being made by the state beyond the cost of the survey. One of the first roads of this character to be surveyed through Madison county was the Indianapolis & Fort Wayne state road, which was laid out about 1825 and passed through Jackson, Pipe Creek, Monroe and Van Buren townships. The Shelbyville & Fort Wayne state road, which was laid out about 1830, ran northward through Anderson and Alexandria and formed a junction with the Indianapolis road near the northern line of what is now Monroe township.
The Newcastle & Lafayette state road was established about the same time as the Shelbyville road, or perhaps a year or two sooner. Morgan Shortridge and Zenas Beckwith were appointed by the state legislature to locate this road and report to the board of justices in each of the counties through which it was to pass. Their report was dated December 13, 1828, and the road was opened for the greater part of the Vol. 1 -11
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distance the following year. It entered Madison county about a mile and a half north of the southeast corner, ran thence a northwesterly direction through Pendleton and across Green township into Hamilton county.
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