USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County Indiana (Volume 1) > Part 8
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"Section 2. The circuit and all courts of said county shall be held at the house of the said Moses Pearson, until suitable accommodations can be had at the county seat, when all the courts of said county shall be removed thereunto.
"Section 6. All proceedings had as to the donation made by John Berry and others to said county, at Andersontown, in said county, are hereby annulled and revoked, and the said donation is hereby returned to the respective original proprietor or proprietors, as if the same had never been granted; and all sales made by the agent of said county, of whatever nature or kind, in the disposal of lots or lands donated to the said county heretofore, shall be so far considered annulled that the purchase money paid and the obligations given by the respective pur- chasers, shall be returned to them or their legal representatives, with interest on the amount paid, on application; and thereupon, the respective bond or obligation which may have been given to said pur- chaser, relative to said sale, shall be returned to the said agent.
"Section 7. If any money, collected by said agent, arising from said donations to the county, has been so disposed of that it cannot be returned, the Board of Justices of said county shall direct the payment of the same to be made out of the treasury of the county."
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
No record has been found to show that these commissioners ever made any effort to discharge their duties under the provisions of the act appointing them. It is probable that no action was taken, for on January 26, 1827, the governor approved an act, Section 1 of which provided :
"That William Shannon, Jeremiah K. Lemon and William C. Black- more, of Hamilton county ; Moses Prewitt, of Shelby county, and John Thompson, of Marion county, be, and they are hereby, appointed com- missioners to relocate the seat of justice of Madison county. The commis- sioners above named shall meet at the house of John Perry (Berry), in said county, on the third Monday in May next, and proceed to locate the seat of justice of said county, agreeably to the provisions of an act entitled 'An act to establish seats of justice in new counties,' approved January 14, 1824, and the act amendatory of the same, approved December 19, 1825."
On May 21, 1827, the time appointed by law, the commissioners met at the house of John Berry and entered upon the performance of their duties. There is no evidence to show that they considered any propo- sition except the one submitted by John Berry, the terms of which were reported to be satisfactory and the proposition was accepted. Pursuant to this arrangement, John Berry and his wife, Sally Berry, on November 7, 1827, executed a deed to William Curtis, who had in the meantime been appointed county agent, for the following described tract of land : "Commencing at the southeast corner of Lot No. 16, in the southwest square in the town of Andersontown; thence north, with Meridian street, to the northeast corner of Lot No. 1 in the northwest square of said town; thence east to White river; thence up said river, at low- water mark, until a line running a due south course till it comes parallel with the south end of Meridian street, will contain thirty acres, being part of the southeast quarter of Section 12, Town 19 north, of Range 7 east," etc.
The tract of land thus conveyed was to remain the property of the county "so long as the town aforesaid continues to be the permanent seat of justice of Madison county," and as a consideration Berry received Lot No. 7, "in the north front of Anderson, in said county, receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged." Thus, after nearly four years, the county seat question was settled. In the meantime justice had been administered at Pendleton, though that place was never officially recog- nized as the county seat.
COURT-HOUSES
The next step in the county's progress was the erection of public buildings in accordance with Section 6 of the organic act, which pro- vided that the county commissioners should "proceed to erect the neces- sary public buildings within twelve months after the permanent seat of justice shall have been selected." More than twelve months elapsed, however, before any definite steps were taken for the erection of a court- house. The location of the county seat was settled in May, 1827, and it was not until September 1. 1828, that the county board directed the agent of Madison county to "sell the building of a court-house to the
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
lowest bidder, said sale to take place on the last Friday in October next, the said house to be twenty-six feet one way and twenty-two feet the other way on the ground, two stories high, the lower story to be nine ยท feet between floors and the upper story to be eight feet between floors, divided into two rooms with two twelve-light windows in each of the upper rooms and four twelve-light windows in the lower room, the last mentioned room to be ceiled and a stove put therein, with all other necessary conveniences, the aforesaid building to be well finished on or before the first day of September next."
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MADISON COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Septimus Smith, publisher of a weekly newspaper at Centerville, Wayne county, was allowed the sum of $2.25 by the county board at the January session in 1839 for advertising "the sale of a contract to build a court-house," which notice had been published five times in his paper. This court-house was never built. For some reason not explained in the records, the order authorizing the county agent to sell the con- tract was revoked at the July session in 1829, as was also the order Vol. 1-4
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allowing William Curtis, the county agent, the sum of thirty dollars "for the purpose of building a court-house."
In January, 1831, it was ordered by the board in regular session, "That the agent of the county of Madison sell to the lowest bidder the building of a court-house, to be built on lot No. 17, in the N. E. square, in Andersontown, to be built on the following plan, to-wit: One story high, thirty-six feet long and twenty feet wide, to be elevated one foot from the ground and underpinned with stone, the story to be ten feet between floors, the building to be well weather-boarded and covered with good joint shingles, to have a good brick chimney in the west end, with a large fireplace therein, ten feet of the end to the partitioned off and the room so to be partitioned off as to make two ten-feet jury rooms, all the partitions to be run of good, seasoned plank. Each of the said jury rooms to have a door to open into the large room; the said house to have three twelve-light windows in the south side and three in north side, the windows to be so placed that the large room shall have four windows and each of the jury rooms one. The under floor to be laid in good workmanlike manner, the upper floor to be laid of loose planks; (the) house to have one door in the front, to open near the partition; then windows to be in, the outside door hung and the house inclosed on or before the second Monday in May next, and the whole work completed according to the above plan on or before the second Monday in November next. The sale to take place at Anderson- town on the third Saturday in January, inst., the said agent taking bond and security in double the amount for which is taken, on condi- tion for the completion of the work against the 15th day of November, 1831."
When the day arrived for opening the bids, Daniel Harpold was found to be the lowest bidder and was awarded the contract for the erection of the building. He evidently completed the court-house some- where near the time specified by the board, as in January, 1832, John Drewry and Nathaniel Chapman were appointed by the board "to examine the new court-house and report if it had been built according to contract."
In these days, when charges of corruption or "graft" in connection with the erection of public buildings are so common, it is refreshing to read the itemized list of deductions recommended by Drewry and Chapman, because the contract had not been "fully complied with." These deductions were as follows :
Lack of studding in frame. $ 5.00
Lack of work at windows. 2.00
Lack of joists 2.50
Lack of plank in upper floor. 3.00
Lack of rafters 3.00
Deficiency in doors 1.50
Deficiency in weather-boards 6.00
Faulty material in chimney. 4.00
Deficiency in floors and partitions 3.00
Total
$30.00
1
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The recommendation was adopted by the board and the contractor was discharged. This first court-house stood on East Eighth street, between Main street and Central avenue. It was used for county pur- poses until after the erection of a new court-house upon the public square, when it was sold by order of the county board and was used as a dwelling until torn down to make way for the business block that now occupies the site. While it was in use several appropriations were made by the board for changes or improvements in the building. In May, 1832, a platform sixteen inches high, three and a half by seven feet in size, was ordered for the judge, three plank benches were ordered at the same time, as well as a railing or partition, four feet high, to separate the bar from the general public. In September, 1834, a new partition and shutters for the windows were ordered. The first session of court held in this court-house was the May term of the Madison circuit court in 1833.
Early in the year 1837 it became apparent that the business of the county had outgrown the little, one-story court-house, and at the March term in that year the board of county commissioners ordered the publi- cation of notices in the Indiana Journal and the Indiana Democrat, both published in Indianapolis, advertising for bids for the erection of a new court-house for Madison county, the notices appearing for three succes- sive weeks. The contract was let on April 5, 1837 (the first Wednesday), to Crawford & Meek, of Hancock county, for $5,770. The contract called for a structure "of brick, forty-four feet square, two stories high, all to be like the court-house at Noblesville, except the court- room, which is to be on the lower floor; the tower to be like that on the court-house at Indianapolis, and the cupola, which is to be like that on the court-house at Centerville."
It was also specified that the court-house was to be erected on the public square in Andersontown and was to be inclosed on or before November 1, 1837. Crawford & Meek completed the building within the time designated in the contract and on November 25, 1839, a special session of the county board was called "for the purpose of receiving and accepting the court-house as being fully completed according to the contract existing between the Board and Nathan Crawford and Joshua Meek, embracing subsequent alterations." At that time the contractors were allowed sixty-three dollars for extra work, and on January 9, 1840, the board ordered the payment of $2,770 to Nathan Crawford "in full of amount due for the court-house." The first term of the circuit court in the new court-house was held in October, 1839, with William W. Wick as the presiding judge.
Not only was the court-house used for the transaction of the public business, but rooms in it were also rented to individuals and societies. At the May session of the board in 1841, it was "ordered that Nineveh Berry pay $3 per month rent for the room which he now occupies in the court-house for the postoffice, so long as he remains in the same." In March, 1846, it was "ordered that the southeast room of the court- house, up stairs, be assigned to Mount Moriah Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, and to be kept in good order by said lodge." In December, 1849, Anderson Division, No. 227, Sons of Temperance, pre-
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
sented a petition asking permission to remove the partition between the grand jury room and the southwest room, and to occupy the same as a meeting place when so altered. The request was granted, with the understanding that the said Anderson Division, No. 227, was to keep the room in repair. Rooms were also rented to attorneys and justices of the peace, this custom continuing until about 1860, when the entire building was devoted to the use of the county. Some ten or twelve years before that time a small one-story brick building was erected on the southeast corner of the public square for the offices of the auditor, treasurer and recorder. This building was torn down in 1882, when work upon the present court-house was commenced.
The court-house built by Crawford & Meek stood for more than forty years, or until it was destroyed by fire early on the morning of December 10, 1880. The county suffered more through the loss of the public records than in the destruction of the building. It was a com- paratively easy matter to erect a new court-house, but the valuable records can never be replaced.
On the day following the fire, the commissioners met in special session, rented quarters in the Westerfield block on North Main street for the clerk and sheriff, and appointed Edwin P. Schlater special com- missioner to look after the damaged records. Mr. Schlater was familiar with the records of the court and the clerk's office and through his labors a large number of valuable documents were saved. For a time the sessions of the court were held in the hall in the Westerfield block, but later were removed, with the offices of the clerk and sheriff, to the Hannah & Boring building, on the north side of the public square. Not long after the fire the commissioners ordered the levy of a light tax upon the taxable property of the county, the proceeds of which were to be used in the erection of a new court-house, and advertised for plans and specifications. On February 8, 1882, the plans submitted by George W. Bunting, an architect of Indianapolis, were accepted and on March 27, 1882, the contract for the erection was awarded to McCormack & Sweeney, of Columbus, Indiana, for $152,000.
August 17, 1882, was a red-letter day in Madison county's calendar. On that day the corner-stone of the present court-house was laid with impressive and appropriate ceremonies. Prior to that date the com- missioners ordered "that the honor of laying the corner-stone be ten- dered to Mount Moriah Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons." The invi- tation was accepted by the lodge, which secured the services of Bruce Carr, at that time the grand master of the Indiana grand lodge. Invi- tations were likewise extended to various social and fraternal societies and the Masonic lodges in other counties to participate in the cere- monies. A reception committee of sixteen members was appointed from the Masons, Odd Fellows and Red Men to welcome the visiting societies. On this committee the Masons were represented by John P. Barnes, J. M. Dickson, T. J. Stephens, Nineveh Berry and C. K. Mccullough; the Odd Fellows by W. R. Myers, Joseph Fulton, M. A. Chipman, Samuel Myers, W. W. Williams and W. S. Diven; and the Red Men by C. D. Thompson, James Mohan, J. S. Carr, Thomas Gee and Peter Fromlet.
In the great civic parade that preceded the laying of the corner-
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stone Major John F. Wildman was grand marshal. His aids were J. P. Barnes, C. K. Mccullough and L. J. Burr, for the Masons; C. B. Cooper, C. T. Doxey and W. S. Diven, for the Odd Fellows; and for the Red Men the members of that order who served on the reception committee. After the parade the vast throng assembled about the public square to witness the ceremony of placing the stone in position. McCor- mack & Sweeney, the contractors, had erected a large stand over the northeast corner of the foundation to accommodate the speakers, the officers of the day, the musicians and the invited guests. Thomas B. Orr, of Anderson, delivered the address of welcome, at the conclusion of which Grand Master Bruce Carr took charge of the exercises and after the stone was laid according to the Masonic ritual delivered an appropriate address. He was followed by Nineveh Berry, one of the oldest residents of Madison county, and Colonel James B. Maynard, editor of the Indianapolis Sentinel.
The corner-stone is Berea sandstone from the quarries near Cleve- land, Ohio. It is six feet three and a half inches long, three feet eleven inches wide, two feet six inches thick and weighs five tons. Within the stone was deposited a copper casket containing historical sketches of the Masonic bodies of Madison county; also histories of the Odd Fel- lows, Red Men, Knights of Honor, Royal Arcanum and other fraternal organizations in the county; proceedings of the Indiana Masonic and Odd Fellows grand lodges for 1882; proceedings of the Indiana Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons for 1881; copies of the Anderson, Indian- apolis, Cincinnati and Chicago papers of recent date; condensed his- tory of the church societies of Anderson; names of county officials and the officials of the city of Anderson, past and present; specifications of the court-house; roll of names of contractors, superintendents and employees, and list of public works constructed by McCormack & Sweeney; photographs of Colonel Nineveh Berry and William Roach, the latter being at that time the oldest Mason in Madison county; a group photograph of the county commissioners; a picture of the old court-house that was burned on December 10, 1880; photographic group of eighty-one old settlers of Madison county, taken in 1877; samples of grain raised in the county; a copy of Hardin's History of Madison county ; a history of the Madison county schools; the bar docket for the June term, 1882; reports of various public officials and institutions, and a number of other interesting relics.
On the face of the stone is a panel, in each corner of which is carved a cluster of fruit or grain, and within the panel is the inscription :
A. D. 1882
LAID BY
BRUCE CARR, G. M. of F. and A. M.
B. F. Aimen,
J. Bronnenberg, {Commissioners.
J. F. Thurston,
McCormack & Sweeney,
Contractors.
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
J. L. Forkner, Auditor.
J. E. Redmond, Superintendent.
G. W. Bunting, Architect.
N. C. Mccullough, Local Superintendent.
In the records of a special session of the board of county commis- sioners, held in February, 1885, is the following entry : "By agreement with McCormack & Sweeney, contractors for the court-house, the com- missioners are to take possession of such rooms and parts of the court- house as they may desire, and such possession is not to be an acceptance of the building or work thereon. And the board orders that the Madison circuit court hold its sessions in the new court-house and that the auditor, clerk, treasurer, recorder and sheriff be instructed to remove their offices and all records and papers thereto belonging into the proper rooms in the new court-house by Saturday evening, February 21, 1885."
Pursuant to this order the officers named removed their records, etc., to the rooms designated by the commissioners and a little later the building was pronounced complete and was accepted by the commis- sioners. Subsequently a raised roof was placed on the building, but with this exception the court-house stands just as it left the hands of the contractors in 1885. As the picture shows, it is one of the most imposing court-houses in the state and is ample in every particular for the needs of the county for years to come.
JAILS
On July 6, 1829, the county board "ordered that the agent of Madi- son county sell to the lowest bidder the building of a jail in Anderson- town, according to a plan adopted at the present session, on the 10th or 11th day of this instant, to be finished within six months, requiring bond and security for the performance of the building in a workman- like manner, the bond to be taken in the penalty of double the amount contracted for, towards the erecting of which building the board agrees to appropriate the sum of $200, according to the considerations of a subscription signed at the January session of this board for 1829."
From this order it would appear that the citizens of Anderson sub- scribed certain sums of money to aid in the erection of the public buildings, but who the subscribers were, or what amounts they con- tributed cannot be ascertained. Prior to the issuance of this order, the prisoners of Madison county had been kept in the jails of the adjoining counties. In March, 1830, an allowance of $4.81 was made to John Rogers, the jailer of Henry county, for caring for four Madison county prisoners. The jail erected under this order stood on the west side of the public square, about where the west steps of the court-house are now located. It was a log structure, sixteen feet square, a story and a half high. The only entrance to the lower story was through a trap door in ceiling, prisoners being let down from above by means of a ladder and after they were safely lodged in the lower room the ladder was withdrawn. It was torn down when the court-house was erected
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
in the public square, and from 1837 to 1842 all prisoners that were to be confined for any length of time were taken to the Marion county jail at Indianapolis.
Soon after the second court-house was completed, the board gave notice that "sealed proposals will be received until the first Monday in December next (1841) for the erection of a jail in Andersontown." It was also stipulated that the jail should be constructed of hewed oak timber, twelve inches square, eighteen by twenty-two feet in dimensions and two stories in height, the stories to be eight feet between floors, and that it was to be built "on the public square west of the court-house, the north side of the jail to be on a line with the north side of the court-house." It was therefore on nearly the same spot as the former jail. The cost of this second jail was $149; it was accepted by the com- missioners at the June term in 1842, and served the county for about ten years, though it was never a very safe depository for a desperate criminal and several persons confined within its walls succeeded with- out much difficulty in making their escape. Accordingly, on March 24, 1852, the commissioners took the following action relative to a new jail :
"Whereas, it having been made known to the board of commissioners of Madison county, that the jail house in said county has twice been condemned by the grand jury of said county, that the same is unsafe and in no way sufficient to answer the purposes intended, Therefore, it is ordered by the board that it is actually necessary to build a new house and also a dwelling house attached to said jail house; therefore, John Davis, George Millspaugh and William Roach be, and they are hereby appointed a building committee, and said building committee are hereby authorized to draw a draft or drafts such as in their opinion will be suitable and proper in every respect, both for the jail house and wall and dwelling house thereunto belonging, for the inspection of builders or contractors, and also said committee shall have power to advertise in any way they may think best, giving notice that proposals will be received for materials and construction of the same. Walls to be built of good brick, the whole to be done under the superintendence of the said building committee. And said building committee shall have power to contract for the furnishing materials and constructing the said building, giving the contract or contracts to the lowest responsible bidder, and as soon as this is done the auditor shall be authorized to convene the board of commissioners to confirm the same."
The committee decided upon a two-story, brick building, which was erected at the northwest corner of Ninth and Jackson streets. It is stated that they made their final report at the December session of the com- missioners in 1852, but the records of that term make no mention of the jail. Records are sometimes defective, however, and it is probable that the building was completed within the year. This jail, like its predecessors, in time became inadequate to the needs of the county and the question of erecting a new one came before the commissioners.
Accordingly, in 1880, the old jail was sold and the board purchased the lot at the northeast corner of Eighth street and Central avenue as a site for a new county prison. Notice was given to architects, inviting them to submit plans and specifications for the proposed new jail build-
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ing. At a special session of the board in October, 1880, the proposition of T. J. Tolin & Son, architects, was accepted. Bids for the erection of the jail were then advertised for, the opportunity to submit proposals remaining open until February 11, 1881, when the contract was awarded to W. H. Myers & Son for $17,989. The building was completed in 1882, giving to Madison county a prison of modern character, one from which but few escapes have ever been made, and they were due rather to the carelessness of the jailer than to any defect in the con- struction.
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