USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County Indiana (Volume 1) > Part 42
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Charles T. Doxey was born in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, July 13, 1841. A few years later his father died and when fourteen years old the boy persuaded his mother to go to Minnesota. There he worked on a farm for about a year, giving most of his earnings to his mother, and later went to Fairbury, Illinois, where he worked for his board while attending school. In 1861 he was employed in a warehouse in Anderson and in July of that year entered the volunteer service as first
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sergeant of Company A, Nineteenth Indiana Infantry. Later he was made second lieutenant, but resigned and became captain of Company K, Sixteenth Indiana Infantry. At the close of the war he had saved about $3,000, with which he embarked in the manufacture of staves and heading. In 1876 he was elected to the state senate. He built the opera house in Meridian street, Anderson, and after it was destroyed by fire rebuilt it, and he was one of the directors of the first natural gas com- pany at Anderson. In many other ways Major Doxey was intimately associated with the industrial and financial affairs of his adopted city. He died on April 30, 1898.
Thomas N. Stilwell was for many years a prominent figure in Anderson. At the time of the Civil war he was active in raising and equipping troops, especially the Thirty-fourth and the One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Infantry Regiments, and a camp at Anderson was named in his honor. In June, 1864, the officers of the One Hundred and Thirtieth and One Hundred and Thirty-first regiments, while in camp at Kokomo, Indiana, presented Colonel Stilwell with a fine gold watch as a token of their appreciation of what he had done for the soldiers. In 1856 Mr. Stilwell was elected to the lower house of the legislature and in 1864 was elected to Congress. Before the expiration of his term in Congress he was appointed minister to Venezuela by President Johnson. Colonel Stilwell built the well known hotel, now the Doxey House, on the corner of Main and Ninth streets, in Anderson, and he was one of the chief promoters of the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad, now the Central Indiana.
William R. Myers, familiarly known to the people of Madison county as "Cap." Myers, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, June 12, 1836, of Huguenot ancestry. In 1848 his parents settled in Madison county, where he received a common school education. In 1856 he started for California, but owing to the filibustering expedition of Gen- eral Walker passengers from the states were not permitted to cross the Isthmus of Panama. Young Myers then went to Newton, Iowa, where he clerked in the postoffice for a while, and then returned to his home in Madison county. In 1858 he was elected county surveyor, which marked the beginning of his political career. He enlisted as a private in the Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry and by successive promotions came to be captain of his company. After the war he studied law and in 1870 was admitted to the bar. In 1878 he was elected to Congress as a Demo- crat. In 1882 and 1884 he was elected to the office of secretary of state of Indiana, and in 1892 was again elected to this office, having been the only man in the history of the state to serve three terms in this important position. Captain Myers was a prominent Odd Fellow, and as a campaign orator was considered one of the best vote-getters in the state. His death occurred on April 18, 1907.
Winfield T. Durbin, capitalist and ex-governor, was born at Law- renceburg, Indiana, May 4, 1847. He served as a private in the Union army during the closing years of the Civil war, then taught school for a few terms, and in 1869 went to Indianapolis to become a traveling salesman for a wholesale dry-goods house. In 1875 he married Bertha
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Mccullough, of Anderson, and in 1879 he became a resident of that city, where he engaged in the banking business. He was one of the mem- bers of the first natural gas company of Anderson and at the begin- ning of the Spanish-American war was commissioned colonel of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Indiana Regiment. In 1900 he was elected governor of Indiana and served the full term of four years. He was again the Republican candidate for governor in 1912, when the entire Democratic ticket was elected. Colonel Durbin is now practically retired from active business affairs, though he still holds an interest in several large manufacturing concerns.
Charles L. Henry was born in Hancock county, Indiana, July 1, 1849, a son of George and Leah (Lewis) Henry, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Virginia. In 1852 the family removed to Pen- dleton, where Charles attended school until he was fifteen years old, when he entered Asbury (now DePauw) University, at Greencastle, Indiana, but did not complete the course. In 1870 he began the study of law with Harvey Craven, of Pendleton, and in 1872 was graduated in the law department of the Indiana State University. He immediately formed a partnership with his old preceptor, which was dissolved by the election of the senior member of the firm to the circuit bench in October, 1873. Mr. Henry was then in partnership with Joseph T. Smith until the latter removed to Kansas in 1877, when the law firm of Henry & Diven was organized. He was elected state senator in 1880 for the counties of Grant and Madison. In 1894 and again in 1896 he was elected to Congress. He was one of the incorporators of the Indiana Union Traction Company in September, 1897, and in recent years has given most of his attention to his railway interests and other invest- ments.
John Q. Van Winkle, one of the best known railroad men in the Middle West, is a Madison county boy. He was born on January 16, 1851, and during his boyhood attended the Anderson public schools. At the age of ten years he began his railroad career as an employee of the old Indianapolis, Pittsburg & Cleveland Railroad Company, with which he held various positions. In 1888 he became superintendent of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad, which position he held until 1892. He was then for about a year the superin- tendent of the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, and from 1893 to 1906 was general superintendent of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad. Since 1906 he has held the position of general manager of the same railway system, commonly called the Big Four.
Two young men, who afterward became famous, one as a poet and the other as a painter, were residents of Anderson for a time in the lat- ter '70s. One was James Whitcomb Riley and the other was Samuel Richards.
James Whitcomb Riley was born in Greenfield, Indiana, in 1853. His father was a lawyer who journeyed from one court to another and on these trips was frequently accompanied by his son. In this way the boy acquired a taste for roving and as a sign painter he went from
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town to town. Next he joined a theatrical troupe and played in the smaller cities of the country for a spell. In the summer of 1877 he became a reporter on the Anderson Democrat and each week contrib- uted a poem to its columns. At that time Samuel Richards was running a photograph gallery in Anderson and illustrated Riley's poems with engravings carved upon blocks of wood with an ordinary pocket knife. These poems and illustrations were afterward collected and produced in book form by Dory Biddle, under the title of "Riley's First Poems." When the "Made in Anderson" exhibit was held in that city in June, 1913, Mr. Riley was a guest of honor and was given a rousing reception by many of his old friends who remembered his work as a reporter thirty-six years before.
Samuel Richards was born at Spencer, Indiana, April 22, 1853, and was educated in the academy of his native town. He began his busi- ness career as clerk in a general store, but, having a liking for art, soon abandoned that calling to study under Theodore Lietz, of Indianapolis, under whose instruction he became a fairly good portrait painter. He next went to Franklin, Indiana, where he married Louise Parks, daugh- ter of a Baptist minister, and while there formed the acquaintance of Mr. Riley, the Hoosier poet. In 1877 he went to Anderson and opened a photograph gallery, but it is said he paid more attention to the brush than to the camera. In 1880 he went to Europe and spent seven years in the art schools of Munich. The story of Evangeline, by Longfellow,. possessed a peculiar attraction for the artist, and in 1887 he began work on the painting of "Evangeline," upon which he worked for the greater part of two years, when his health failed. He completed the picture, however, and it was exhibited in various American and Euro- pean cities. In 1891 the painting was bought by Bela Hubbard for $6,000 and presented to the Detroit Art Museum. Mr. Richards then went to Denver, in the hope of recovering his health, and died there on November 30, 1893. His widow now resides in Anderson.
It may not be generally known that Madison county contributed a number of soldiers to what was known as the "Fenian Raid," in 1866, but such is the case. Several men from Anderson and the immediate vicinity, most of whom had served in the Civil war and acquired a taste for adventure, enlisted in the Fenian cause and participated in the raid into Canada. They were captured soon after crossing the line and were held as prisoners until President Johnson interfered in their behalf. He issued a proclamation against holding American citizens and the men were brought across to Buffalo, New York, where they were released. They returned to their homes somewhat crestfallen at the failure of their expedition. Jeremiah O'Sullivan is the only Ander- son survivor of that famous "army" and may yet be seen daily upon the streets of that city.
In the spring of 1899 George Osborne, agent for the United States Express Company at Elwood, was arrested for the robbery of the office safe, some $700 having been taken, and the company officials declared that Osborne was the only man who could have done the work. He was indicted by the grand jury and thrown into jail, but was afterward
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admitted to bail pending his trial. About this time Joseph Hollis and William Murphy were arrested in Henry county for robbing a store at Middletown on the night of April 4, 1899, and after their conviction confessed to the robbery of the express office at Elwood. Murphy even offered to go to Anderson to testify in Osborne's behalf, provided he was guaranteed immunity from arrest. Most people who knew Osborne were confident of his innocence and were rejoiced at the turn of affairs that showed their judgment of his character was correct.
In September, 1899, Barney Maynard and others, while working in a gravel pit on the farm of Jacob Maynard, a short distance east of the Wesley Chapel, in Richland township, unearthed a human skeleton. Old settlers recalled the fact that some forty years before that time a peddler named Smith had mysteriously disappeared in that neighbor- hood. It was Smith's custom to ship his goods to the nearest point on the railroad and then hire some farmer to haul him around to the homes of the settlers. It was also recalled that a family living near the gravel pit left the country soon after the peddler's disappearance. Naturally the theory was formed that some of the members of this family had murdered Smith for his money and buried the body in the gravel bank, where bones were found forty years afterward.
An incident in Madison county history that deserves more than passing mention was the reception given by the people of Anderson to Company L, One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana Infantry, at the close of the Spanish-American war. When it was learned that the company would soon be discharged from service, a meeting was called at the court-house on the evening of April 5, 1899, by Mayor Dunlap, to make arrangements for welcoming the "boys" home. Charles L. Henry, Mayor Dunlap, James Wellington and George Lilly were appointed a finance committee to solicit funds and arrangements were made for decorating the buildings. At the meeting it was learned that Major May Post, Grand Army of the Republic, was taking steps to give the company a reception, and the members of the post and the citizens worked together. At a subsequent meeting the following chairmen of committees were appointed: Arrangements, Dale J. Crittenberger; reception, M. M. Dunlap; decoration, Alexander P. McKee; music, Mrs. Lee Newsom; banquet, George E. Springer ; invitation, B. B. Campbell. The ladies who took an active part in the preparation of the reception were Mesdames Louis Loeb, J. L. Forkner, Lafe J. Burr, Lee Newsom, H. E. Jones, Volney Hunt, John B. Collins, M. A. Chipman, Henry Bolinger, L. M. Schwinn, H. J. Stein, and Misses Myrtle Ellis and Jennie Ross.
The company arrived at Anderson about 1 o'clock p. m., April 27, 1899, and was escorted to the court-house by a procession. Captain A. I. Makepeace, a veteran of the Civil war, was grand marshal and his aides were B. B. Campbell, Dr. M. V. Hunt, Captain J. J. Musser and Robert Schenck. At the circuit court-room Mayor Dunlap delivered an address of welcome; Charles L. Henry spoke on the Spanish-Ameri- can war; J. J. Netterville, on the American Soldier; John L. Forkner, on Company L; V. T. Morgan, on the Soldiers of '61 and '98; and Captain
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Burr, Lieutenants Sausser and Collins, and Corporal Pattie gave short talks.
At the banquet at the Doxey Hotel, Mayor Dunlap acted as toast- master. The responses were as follows: Company L, Captain Ken- neth M. Burr; Officers' Call, Lieutenant Collins; Reveille, Lieutenant Sausser; The Oracle, William Williams; Men's Call, Enoch J. Dobson; Church Call, Sergeant Towell; Fatigue Call, Corporal Pattie; Drill Call, John Ross; Sick Call, E. M. Inclenrock; Taps, Elmo Kellar and Louis Radway; Soldiers of 1861 and 1898, F. M. Van Pelt; Anderson in Porto Rico, Delbert Musser. Lieutenant Sausser brought home with him a young Cuban-San Donelo-who made a few remarks. He was afterward employed as coachman by James M. Donnelly and attracted much attention for a time. Sergeant Lee Newsom, who had charge of the hospital arrangement for the company, brought a young colored man, named James Colchen, whom he picked up in Georgia, and who accompanied the company to the close of its service. The banquet was enlivened by patriotic airs played by a band at intervals, and the recep- tion of Company L will linger as a pleasant memory with those who participated in the ceremonies.
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CHRONOLOGY OF THE COUNTY
Following is a list of the principal events that have occurred in the history of Madison county from the time the first white men came to the region now included in its boundaries :
May, 1801-Moravian mission established near Anderson.
October 3, 1818-Treaty of St. Mary's, by which the Delaware Indians ceded the land now included in Madison county to the United States.
December 29, 1818-John Rogers, the first actual white settler, locates near Pendleton.
November 7, 1820-E. P. Hollingsworth, the first white child born in the county, born near Pendleton.
September, 1821-Last of the Indians depart from Madison county for a new home beyond the Mississippi.
January 4, 1823-Governor Hendricks approves the act organizing Madison county and fixing its boundaries.
November 10, 1823-The county formally organized at Pendleton. March, 1824-Murder of the Indians in what is now Adams town- ship. The murderers were afterward executed.
1825-Indianapolis and Fort Wayne state road surveyed through Madison county.
March 27, 1827-Commission appointed by the general assembly selects the site where Anderson now stands as a location for the perma- nent county seat.
January 13, 1830-The town of Pendleton laid out.
January, 1832-First court-house at Anderson completed and accepted by the county commissioners.
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April 7, 1834-Contract for the erection of the first county poor- house awarded to John Shaul, whose bid was twenty dollars.
1834-First newspaper in the county, the Federal Union, started at Anderson by T. J. Langdon.
June 3, 1836-The town of Alexandria laid out.
, 1837-First Catholic priests visit Anderson.
1838-Work on the Indiana Central canal commenced in Madison county, but was discontinued a year later.
January 21, 1839-Anderson incorporated.
November 25, 1839-Second court-house accepted by. the commis- sioners.
August 15, 1840-Thomas Carlton, the first foreign-born citizen, received his naturalization papers. The first papers were taken out on July 7, 1839.
February 10, 1841-First Masonic ladge in the county instituted at Pendleton.
September 11, 1850-First Odd Fellows' lodge instituted at Pendleton.
July 4, 1851-First train on the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine Rail- road reaches Anderson.
March 1, 1853-Elwood (then called Quincy) laid out.
June 9, 1853-Anderson incorporated a second time.
June 20, 1853-First telegraph line reaches Anderson.
July 4, 1855-First train on the Pan Handle Railroad reaches Ander- son.
March 3, 1856-The town of Frankton laid out.
March 11, 1858-Chesterfield incorporated.
1858-First turnpike road in the county began, from Ander- son to Alexandria.
December 25, 1858-First anti-saloon crusade in Anderson. Liquor poured out in the streets by the mob.
April 17, 1861-First company of volunteers from Madison county tendered the governor for service in the Civil war. This company after- ward became Company E, Eighth Indiana Infantry.
November 1, 1862-First county medical society organized.
August 28, 1865-The citizens of Anderson vote in favor of incor- porating as a city.
November 1, 1867-Milton White hanged for the murder of Daniel Hoppis. This was the last legal execution in the county.
April 17, 1873-Ground broken at Anderson for the Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Railroad (now the Central Indiana).
July 5, 1876-First meeting of the town board of Alexandria after the town was incorporated.
July, 1876-First city directory of Anderson, written with a pen by Eli P. Brown and called the "Centennial Census."
December 10, 1880-Madison county court-house destroyed by fire and many of the valuable records lost.
August 17, 1882-Corner-stone of the present court-house laid with appropriate ceremonies.
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August 13, 1886-Anderson's volunteer fire department organized. March 27, 1887-First gas well in Madison county "comes in" near Alexandria.
March 31, 1887-First gas well at Anderson.
September 6, 1888-First street car (drawn by mules) in the city of Anderson.
June 9, 1891-First city officers of Elwood elected.
March 12, 1892-First electric car in Madison county makes its appearance upon the streets of Anderson.
April 1, 1892-Elwood fire department organized.
January, 1893-The town of Lapel incorporated.
May 1, 1896-First election of town officers in Ingalls.
For a number of years John L. Forkner has kept a diary of events, which has been published in some of the Anderson newspapers at the close of the year. The following events have been taken from these pub- lished lists since 1897 :
1897
January 2-Gas pumping station at Frankton explodes and does considerable damage.
January 16-Part of the North Anderson glass works destroyed by a cyclone.
February 12-W. W. Barton's packing house at Alexandria destroyed by fire.
March 4-John Evans, of Elwood, has his arm blown off by a can- non while celebrating the inauguration of President Mckinley.
March 15-Mrs. Harmon Wilkie makes application to be admitted to the Madison county bar-the first application from a woman in the county. She was later admitted.
April 20-First oil well in the county opened on the Nimrod Carver farm at Alexandria.
April 21-Grand Commandery, Indiana Knights Templar, meets in Anderson.
April 23-James H. Snell, the sheriff who hanged Milton White, died in Anderson.
July 2-Cold storage plant at Elwood burned.
September 3-Union Traction Company organized at Anderson.
1898
January 8-Big Four freight train held up by robbers near Ander- son.
January 25-Mrs. Seneca Chambers burned to death by an explo- sion of petroleum in Richland township.
February 22-Richland Lake, ex-judge of the court of common pleas court, died at Anderson.
March 14-The three-story building occupied as a hotel and bar by Gus Quertermont destroyed by a gas explosion.
April 26-Company L, One hundred and Sixtieth Indiana Infantry,
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left Anderson for the Spanish-American war and was escorted to the train by a large concourse of citizens.
April 30-Major Charles T. Doxey, a veteran of the Civil war and prominent capitalist of Anderson, died at his home in that city.
May 11-H. C. Crowell, while watching workmen engaged in blow- ing stumps from the right of way of the interurban railway, near Sum- mitville, was accidentally killed.
August 1-N. W. Klepfer, postmaster at Lapel, found dead in his bed-supposed to have been due to heart trouble.
August 7-William R. West, ex-judge of the common pleas court, died at Anderson.
November 14-Death of Captain L. D. McCallister, captain of of Company K, Eighth Indiana Infantry, in the Civil war.
1899
January 9-George Welker, chief of the Anderson police force, died. January 20-Hayes & Crider's planing mill at Alexandria destroyed by fire.
January 28-Norton's brewery at Anderson burned.
April 11-The boilers in Lewis & Fatic's elevators at Markleville exploded, doing considerable damage.
April 18-E. H. Peters, former county commissioner, had his arms blown off while blasting out stumps on his farm in Boone township.
May 5-Citizens of Elwood gave a reception to the members of Company L, One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana Infantry.
May 27-First interurban car runs into Elwood.
September 9-Colonel Winfield T. Durbin presented with a sword by members of the One Hundred and Sixty-first Regiment, which he commanded in the Spanish-American war.
October 6-Death of B. F. Alford, the first foundryman who made the first castings in Anderson, which were also the first made in Madi- son county.
December 14-William Morris, engineer at the Weatherall rolling mill, Frankton, killed.
December 25-Hunter block at Elwood burned, resulting in the death of Benjamin Jordan.
1900
January 1-Corner-stone of the Methodist Episcopal church, corner of Eleventh and Jackson streets, Anderson, laid.
February 7-O. M. Cook, marshal of the town of Pendleton, shot and killed Joel Richardson, while the latter was resisting arrest.
April 10-Warren Copper, last city marshal of Anderson, died. May 8 First private newspaper telegraph service in the county established by the Anderson Daily Bulletin.
May 23-Oscar Wynn Camp, Spanish War Veterans, organized at Anderson.
May 28-William Fulton, ex-city treasurer, died at Anderson.
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June 30-Shoemaker's warehouse at Frankton burned.
July 14-Mrs. Caroline Hilligoss, a prominent lecturer of Anderson, died.
July 18-First interurban car runs into Chesterfield.
July 26-John Zeublin, formerly of Pendleton, died on the train. He was an expert telegraph operator and was one of the first to read by sound.
August 19-Kelly Ax Works, at Alexandria, destroyed by fire.
August 29-Death of J. H. Lewis, formerly editor of the Anderson Herald.
September 4-First fair on the new fair grounds on East Eighth street, Anderson, opens.
September 17-Fred Littlefield and Clarissa Thompson killed in a railroad collision at Alexandria.
September 29-Elijah Radebaugh, a well known railroad engineer, killed near Anderson.
October 30-Dr. Pryor Rigdon, for whom the village of Rigdon was named, died at his home there.
December 2-Central Christian church at the corner of Tenth and Jackson streets, Anderson, dedicated.
December 4 John Ellis, member of Company L, One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana Infantry, died at Anderson.
December 6-Anderson lodge of Elks dedicated their new home at the corner of Main and Eleventh streets.
December 26-Death of S. E. Young, a prominent banker, miller and grain dealer, of Alexandria.
1901
January 3-First interurban car on the Union Traction Company's . lines run from Anderson to Indianapolis-Hon. Charles L. Henry in charge.
January 5-John Critz, an engineer on the Michigan division of the Big Four, killed in a wreck at North Anderson.
January 6-Death of Grover Allen, eight years old and weighing 250 pounds. He was known as the Madison county fat boy.
January 18-W. J. Hilligoss, former editor of the Anderson Demo- crat, died at Muncie, but the body was brought to Anderson for burial. January 18-Collision between interurban cars on the White river bridge near Chesterfield. Seven people hurt.
January 18-Joseph Burk died in Anderson. He was the man who built the first street in Anderson on an established grade. That was Water street-now Central avenue.
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