USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County Indiana (Volume 1) > Part 22
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The second railroad to enter Madison county was the Cincinnati & Chicago Air Line-now a branch of the Pennsylvania System and usually called the Pan Handle. It enters the county about eight miles north of the southeast corner and follows a northwesterly direction through Anderson, Florida, Frankton and Elwood, leaving the county on the west at the northwest corner of Pipe Creek township. This road was projected about the same time as the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine, but was not completed through Madison county until about three years later. Soon after the Columbus, Piqua & Indianapolis railroad was finished the company, seeing that Chicago was rapidly becoming a city
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of importance to the commercial world, decided upon a line from Rich- mond to Chicago. During the years 1850-51 the road was built from Richmond to Hagerstown, a distance of sixteen miles, and the next year it was finished as far as Newcastle. Little progress was made during the next three years, but early in the summer of 1855 the line was completed as far as Anderson. On July 4, 1855-just four years after the first train came into that town over the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine-an excursion train of four coaches came up from Richmond.
Again the town of Anderson was in gala attire, the people coming from all directions to join in the celebration. Perhaps the curiosity was not so great as on the former occasion, but there were still citizens of Madison county who had not yet seen a railroad train and they were
PENNSYLVANIA R. R. STATION
very much in evidence. Speech-making, wrestling matches and other athletic contests constituted the principal features of the celebration that followed the arrival of the excursion, music being furnished by a "sheepskin band," composed of a bass drum, snare drum and a fife. The engine that drew the excursion train was not much larger than one of the sixteen horse-power traction engines of the present day used for running threshing machines. In the early days of railroading in Indi- ana the locomotives were named instead of being numbered, and nearly every town or city through which the Cincinnati & Chicago Air Line passed was anxious to have an engine named after it. The officials of the road, glad to please the people, named several of their locomotives after the county seats along the line. Old residents still recall the "Logansport," the "Anderson," the "Newcastle," the "Chicago" and other engines that in their day were considered magnificent pieces of machinery. Then there were the "Swinett," a rather diminutive affair, the first engine on the road, with John Smock as the first engineer, her
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twin, the "Julia Dean" the "S. Fosdick," which was named after one of the officials of the railroad company, and last but not least the "Hoosier," whose whistle could be heard for miles. It used to be said that when Mark Smith, the engineer of the IIoosier, would make that whistle do its best he could shake the beech nuts off the trees in the woods along the road.
The first depot and passenger station of the Cincinnati & Chicago Air Line in Anderson stood at the north end of Main street, near the river. It was near this old station that the locomotive "Anderson" came to grief in the year 1860. While the engineer was eating a lunch in Dehority's restaurant opposite the depot, the boiler exploded with ter- rific force, throwing fragments in every direction. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the explosion ended the career of one of the favorite engines on the road. .
Shortly after the close of the Civil war the Grand Rapids, Wabash & Cincinnati Railroad Company was organized and in 1869 made a prop- osition to the citizens of Anderson, Monroe and Van Buren township, of Madison county, that if certain aid was extended a road would be built from White Pigeon, Michigan, to Anderson. About the same time the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington Railroad Company made a similar proposition and at a special session on October 12, 1869, the county commissioners accepted a petition relating to the matter and ordered "that an election be held on Monday, November 15, 1869, for the pur- pose of taking a vote upon the question of appropriating $147,000, by Madison county, to aid in the construction of the roads above named."
At the election the proposition was carried by a substantial majority, the commissioners levied a tax in accordance with the vote, and prepara- tions were made to begin work on the roads. Before anything was done, however, a number of citizens of the county joined in bringing a suit to enjoin the collection of the tax and after several years of litigation the supreme court decided against the appropriation. The money already collected under the levy was returned to the taxpayers by the county treasurer.
Five years later, in 1874, the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Rail- road Company-the successor of the Grand Rapids, Wabash & Cincin- nati-came forward with a proposition to complete the road to Ander- son, provided sufficient encouragement was offered. At the March term in 1874, the commissioners ordered an election in Anderson township for May 2nd (the first Saturday) for the purpose of taking a vote upon the question of donating $28,000 to aid in the construction of the road. At the same time elections were held in the townships of Monroe, Boone and Van Buren, the donations asked for in these townships being $24,000 in Monroe, $7,500 in Boone, and $8,000 in Van Buren. Monroe township voted in favor of the proposition, but in Van Buren it was defeated by a vote of 120 to 90. In Boone township the first returns indicated that the proposition had carried, but, upon complaint that a number of illegal votes had been cast, a recount was ordered and the donation was defeated. Another election was ordered to be held in Van Buren township on December 15, 1874, and as a special inducement to the voters it was "Provided that the said Cincinnati, Wabash & Mich-
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igan Railroad makes a station within one-fourth of a mile of Lot No. 1, in the town or village of Summitville, in said Van Buren township." Again the proposition was defeated in that township, which reconsidered at a later date, however, and work was commenced upon the road be- tween' Wabash and Anderson. It was completed to the latter city in the spring of 1876, giving Anderson three railroad lines.
It was the orginal intention of the railroad company to complete the road to Louisville, Kentucky, but after Anderson was reached nearly fifteen years elapsed before anything was done toward the building of the southern extension. Work on that portion of the road was begun in 1890 and was pushed with such despatch that in May, 1891, the com- pany published the announcement that the road was open for business from Benton Harbor, Michigan, to Louisville, Kentucky. From North Vernon, Indiana, this road uses the tracks of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern to Louisville. Soon after the line was finished it passed to the control of the Big Four Railroad System and is now known as, the Michigan division of the Big Four. Over thirty miles of the main track are in Madison county and the stations in the county are Summitville, Alexandria, Linwood, Anderson, Alliance, Emporia and Markleville. The first station in Anderson erected by this company stood on the east side of the track between Fifth and Sixth streets. It was destroyed by fire and was never rebuilt, the road having in the meantime been taken over by the Big Four.
The history of the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington Railroad is not materially different from that of the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan. After several futile efforts, aid was finally extended to the company and the road was completed through Madison county in 1875-76. Soon after it went into operation it became a part of the Lake Erie & Western Rail- road System, of which Calvin S. Brice, of Ohio, was then president. Mr. Brice was a good financier, understood railroad building, was ambi- tious and anxious to build up a great system of transportation. A good story is told of a bout between him and the late Commodore Vanderbilt, and while it is not directly connected with Madison county history it shows the character of the man who at one time dominated one of the county's leading lines of railway. Brice and his coterie built a line of railroad through northern Indiana to parallel the Lake Shore & Michi- gan Southern, which was controlled by the Vanderbilt interests. After the road was finished it was offered to Vanderbilt, in order that he might prevent competition. When the price was named it seemed to the great railroad king to be prohibitive and he replied : "Why, Brice, I wouldn't pay that for your old road if it was nickel plated." Notwithstanding this positive refusal, Brice soon made competition so keen that the old commodore was glad to purchase the road at the figure named. It was in this way that the "Nickel Plate" got its name. After Mr. Brice's death the Lake Erie & Western became a part of the New York Central System.
A little over fifteen miles of the main track of this road is in Madison county. The line crosses the eastern boundary about ten miles south of the northeast corner and runs west through Alexandria, Orestes, Dundee and Elwood into Tipton county.
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The last railroad to be constructed through Madison county, even though it be considered of less importance than the others, has a more tumultuous history than any of them. In the spring of 1871 seven men met in Lebanon, Indiana, and started a movement for the construction of the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad. At the September term of the commissioners' court of Madison county, Colonel Thomas N. Stil- well, the president of the company, came forward with a petition signed by many prominent citizens and taxpayers of the county, asking the board to order an election in Anderson township for October 21, 1871, for the purpose of allowing the voters an opportunity to express their views upon the question of appropriating money to aid in the construc- tion of the road. At the same session a petition was also presented to the board by the people of Stony Creek township, asking that an elec- tion be held in that township to vote on the proposition of levying a tax of 20 per cent on the property of the township for the benefit of the enterprise. Both elections were held on the same day and in each town- ship a majority of the voters expressed themselves as being in favor of extending the assistance asked for, though many of the citizens after- ward refused to pay the tax.
This refusal embarrassed the railroad company and meetings were held at various points along the line of the proposed road to arouse in- terest and secure individual subscriptions. Stock was also sold at $50 a share and some money was realized by this method. On April 17, 1873, the first shovelful of earth was cast at Anderson by President Stilwell and the construction of the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad was begun. Work proceeded slowly and it was not until December 11, 1875, that the first spike was driven at Anderson at 2:30 p. m. President Zion, who had succeeded Colonel Stilwell, made a speech congratulating the people upon the prospects of a speedy com- pletion of the road. Mayor Brown made a brief response to Mr. Zion's address, after which the first rail was laid in place and Mr. Zion drove the first spike, remarking at the time that it gave him intense pleasure.
At the time the road was commenced the country was in the throes of the hard times resulting from the panic of 1873, and nearly two years passed between the time the first rail was laid at Anderson and the com- pletion of the road to Noblesville, about twenty miles west. Then the company advertised the "First Grand Sunday School Picnic and excur- sion from Noblesville to Anderson, over the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad, Thursday, June 14, 1877." In the meantime the road had been thrown into the hands of a receiver and was sold by the United States marshal at Indianapolis on April 10, 1877, when it was purchased by Thomas Platt, president of the American Express Com- pany, for $40,000. At that time the bonded indebtedness of the company was nearly $300,000, and preferred claims, receiver's certificates, etc., aggregated about $40,000 more.
Mr. Platt, soon after his purchase, turned the road over to Harry Crawford, of Chicago, who reorganized the company, changed the name of the road to the Cleveland, Indiana & St. Louis Railroad, and began the work of extending the line westward from Noblesville, the objective point being Paris, Illinois, where connections could be made to St. Louis
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and other western cities. When Lebanon was reached there was another delay for want of ready money, but in course of time the track was com- pleted to Waveland, in the southwest corner of Montgomery county. From Waveland the trains of the new company used the tracks of the Vandalia to Sand Creek (twenty-two miles) and from Sand Creek the road was completed to Brazil, a distance of twelve miles. About the same time the road was extended eastward from Anderson to Muncie, the present eastern terminal.
For many years the old Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad was a standing joke among the newspaper humorists of the state. It is now known as the Central Indiana, and since the failure of natural gas in the cities near its eastern terminus is earning dividends in the transporta- tion of coal to supply fuel to many of the factories established in that region during the period when natural gas was abundant.
Just before the receiver's sale of the road in April, 1877, the com- pany owned two locomotives, both of which were attached by the sheriff of Madison county and chained to the track to satisfy a judgment. The present company owns eleven locomotives and sufficient other rolling stock to handle the traffic. The only stations on this road in Madison county are Anderson and Lapel, though at one time Johnson's Crossing and Graber's Station were stopping points.
In 1892 the Anderson belt railroad was built by a number of local capitalists and manufacturers for the purpose of providing better ship- ping facilities for the various manufacturing concerns of the city. This road connects with each of the main lines and makes Anderson one of the best shipping points in the state.
An improvement of purely local interest, but one that might be classed as internal improvements, is the ditches that have been con- structed in the county for the purpose of reclaiming the swamp lands and bringing them under cultivation. The first drains in the county were constructed by voluntary associations formed by those whose inter- ests in the draining of a certain district were mutual. This method was found to be unsatisfactory, for the reason that it often happened some land owner, whose farm would be benefited by the ditch, would refuse to pay anything toward its construction, and there was no way by which he could be forced to pay a just share, in proportion to benefits received.
On March 10, 1873, Governor Hendricks approved an act providing for the organization of ditch associations, defining their duties and powers, etc. This law, while an improvement over the old voluntary association method, was unsatisfactory, as it provided no way to prevent any one opposed to the construction of a ditch from carrying out his opposition effectively and interposing an obstacle that could not be over- come by those in favor of it. A supplementary act gave the county com- missioners power to order the construction of a ditch, upon petition of a given number of those whose lands would be benefited thereby, and to levy assessments in proportion to the benefits derived. This system was better than any that had preceded it and many of the ditches in Madison county were constructed under its provisions. As mile after mile of drain was built, the objectors began to see the advantages arising from such a course and the opposition gradually became weaker, until today
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it would be almost impossible to find a land owner in the county who is not in favor of a thorough going drainage system.
By the act of April 8, 1881, the appointment of a drainage commis- sioner for each county was authorized, and provisions made for the hearing of petitions by the circuit court. This shortened the process somewhat, as in the former method, when the commissioners ordered a ditch, an appeal could be taken to the circuit court, thus delaying the construction of a needed improvement. By presenting the petition directly to the court the appeal and delay are forestalled. Recent legis- latures have passed numerous acts regarding the drainage and reclama- tion of swamp lands, and since the beginning of the present century many of the old ditches of Madison county have been reopened and new ones built, until at the present time it is estimated that there are eight hundred miles of main ditch in the county. The expense has been enor-
UNION BUILDING, ANDERSON
mous but has been more than offset by the increase in the output of the farms and the value of agricultural lands.
One internal improvement that has been an important factor in add- ing to the prestige of Madison county as a commercial and industrial center is the system of electric railways now operated by the Union Traction Company. The first dream of an interurban railroad in this section of the country originated in the mind of Samuel T. Bronnenberg, of Anderson, about 1890. At that time the industrial activity due to natural gas was at its height and Anderson and Alexandria were both spreading out over new territory. When the Anderson street car lines were extended across the river to North Anderson, Mr. Bronnenberg conceived the idea of connecting the two cities with a line of electric railway. His idea was to secure a strip of land four hundred feet in width, extending from Anderson to Alexandria, through the center of
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which was to be a boulevard one hundred feet in width, over which the railway would run. On either side the lands were to be beautified and divided into residence lots, making an ideal suburban locality. He obtained the greater portion of the right of way and had interested some outside capital in the project, when the hard times of 1893 set in, which put an end to the undertaking.
About this time Noah Clodfelter, of Crawfordsville, Indiana, began the construction of an electric line from Marion to Indianapolis. A con- siderable portion of the road bed was graded and power houses built along the line, when the enterprise was overtaken by financial disaster and abandoned.
Charles L. Henry, one of the large stockholders in the Anderson Street Railway Company, then undertook the construction of a line from Anderson to Alexandria. This was the beginning of the Union Traction Company, which was incorporated on Septembr 3, 1897, by Charles L. Henry, Philip Matter, John L. Forkner, Ellis C. Carpenter and James A. Van Osdol. The line running from Anderson to Alex- andria was continued north to Summitville; a line was built from Alexandria to Elwood; the street railway properties in Anderson and Elwood were purchased by the company, and a little later the Marion street railway property was purchased, including an interurban line from Marion to Summitville. On June 27, 1899, the company, with all its holdings, was consolidated with the Muncie, Anderson & Indianap- olis Street Railroad Company, which owned the local street railway lines in Muncie and the right of way for an electric line from Muncie to Indianapolis.
The corporation formed by that consolidation took the name of the Union Traction Company of Indiana. The line from Muncie to Indi- anapolis, via Anderson, was constructed, and since then the company has acquired, by construction, consolidation and leases, enough lines to bring the total up to 370 miles of interurban railway, connecting the leading cities of what was formerly the gas belt with the city of Indianapolis, and fifty miles of city railway in the various cities where the company operates. Lines radiating from Indianapolis run to Ander- son, Muncie, Winchester, Union City, Hartford City, Bluffton, Elwood, Alexandria, Marion, Wabash, Peru, Logansport, Kokomo, Tipton, Noblesville and Newcastle, and the intervening towns and villages.
The principal offices of the company, as well as the main power gen- erating plant and car shops, are located in Anderson, where, according to the last report of the state bureau of inspection, 210 people are em- ployed in various capacities connected with the company. The principal officers of the company are as follows: Arthur W. Brady, president; William II. Forse, secretary and treasurer; H. A. Nicholl, general manager ; Walter Shroyer, auditor; J. A. Van Osdol, general attorney ; C. A. Baldwin, superintendent of transportation; F. D. Norviel, general passenger and freight agent. The company has recently purchased ground at the corner of Twelfth and Meridian streets, in the city of Anderson, where it is intended to erect a new passenger and freight station in the near future.
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CHAPTER XI EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
COUNTY SEMINARY-PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF ANDERSON-SCHOOLS OF OTHER CITIES AND TOWNS-VALUE OF SCHOOL PROPERTY-STATISTICS- COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS-FIRST GRADED SCHOOL-FRANKLIN'S PRIVATE SCHOOL-ANDERSON NORMAL UNIVERSITY-BUSINESS COL- LEGE-PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS-THE PRESS-STRUGGLES OF THE EARLY NEWSPAPER-THE FIRST DAILY-HARDESTY'S WINDOW SHUTTER CAMPAIGN-PRESENT DAY NEWSPAPERS-PUBLIC LIBRARIES-SCHOOL LIBRARIES
In the chapters on Township History will be found accounts of the early schools in the rural districts, with statistics showing the condition of the public schools in each township at the present time. The legisla- ture of 1828 passed an act providing for the establishment of county seminaries in the several counties of the state at public expense, but nearly twenty years elapsed before such an institution was founded in Madison county. In 1849 a two-story brick building was erected on the northeast corner of Main and Twelfth streets, in the town of Anderson, for a county seminary. This building was forty feet square, with a hall running east and west through the center. The lot upon which it stood was donated "for school purposes" by Andrew Jackson and Robert N. Williams, two citizens who believed in education. School was taught in this building until it was destroyed by fire in 1856.
Soon after the burning of the old seminary, a public school building was erected upon the site. It was used for more than thirty years, but was torn down in 1888 to make room for the present Main Street school. The second public school building in Anderson (known as the Second Ward school) was erected in 1868 at the corner of Seventh and Milton streets, but was torn down in 1895 to make way for the present commodi- ous building that occupies the site. In the meantime Anderson had been incorporated as a city in 1865 and a high school had been organized in 1873. After the erection of the Main street building in 1888 it was used for the high school until the Lincoln building was erected in 1890, at a cost of $39,000, when the high school was removed to the new building.
Two buildings were erected in 1891-the Park place building, which cost $9,000, and the Central Avenue school, located on Central avenue between Twentieth and Twenty-first streets, which cost $20,000. In 1892 the Hazelwood building was erected at a cost of $20,000, and the next year the Columbia school, at the corner of Ninth and Madison, was erected at a cost of $22,500. In 1894 the building at the corner of Vol. 1-12
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Seventh and Delaware streets was erected at a cost of $24,000. . The Washington school, situated on Columbus avenue, between Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth streets, was established in 1896 by the erection of a building that cost $37,000, and in 1897 the Shadeland school, a frame building of five rooms, was built at a cost of $3,000. The first high school building was erected in 1898. It is situated immediately south of the Lincoln building and is now called the grammar school.
Just after noon on December 18, 1901, fire was discovered in the basement of the Lincoln building. Through the ventilating ducts the flames soon found their way to all parts of the structure. The fire de- partment responded promptly, but the fire was not under control until eleven o'clock that night, when the building was reduced to ashes. It was immediately rebuilt.
The present high school building was erected in 1910 at a cost of
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