History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 16

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926
Publication date: 1970
Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc.
Number of Pages: 918

USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 16

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The first hotel in the town was opened by David L. Pickard in 1838, in a log house weather-boarded on the outside, located at the corner of Harrison and Berry streets, where it remained standing for fifty years or more as one of Alexandria's landmarks. In that day there were no railroads, and, as most of the travel was on horseback, the frontier hotels were generally prepared to furnish "entertainment for both man and beast." For this service Mr. Pickard's rates were sixty cents per day.

Connor and Stephenson had judged rightly when they anticipated that the canal would pass Alexandria, and when it was located in 1838 the town enjoyed an era of prosperity that lasted until the canal project was abandoned about two years later. For the twenty years from 1840 to 1860 the growth of Alexandria was rather slow. Among the enter- prises established during this period were the mercantile houses of William Calloway (1845) and William T. Scott (1847), and the fan- ning mill factory of Wolfe & Sherman in 1850. At the beginning of the Civil war in 1861 the population of Alexandria was about 350.

In 1875 two railroads-the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan and the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington-were completed through Alexandria. The former of these roads is now the Michigan division of the Big Four, and the latter is the Lake Erie & Western. With the advent of the rail- roads Alexandria experienced a marked increase in both population and business activity. So much so, indeed, that early in the summer of 1876 the town was incorporated with the following officers: Nathan E. Tomlinson, E. B. Chamness and Gideon Kiefer, trustees; J. M. Tomlin- son, clerk; Seth B. Henshaw, treasurer; Marion Tuttle, marshal. The first meeting of the town board was held on July 5, 1876.

Attracted to the enterprising little town, Joseph Fenimore started the publication of the Alexandria Bee in 1877, but he "reckoned with- out his host," for the patronage was not equal to his expectations and after a somewhat precarious career of a few months the Bee was forced to suspend.

On March 27, 1887, the first natural gas well in Madison county, near the end of East Washington street came in with a strong pressure and for the third time Alexandria was due for a boom. The population was then about 800. The enterprising citizens were not slow to recog- nize the possibilities and offered flattering inducements to manufac-

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turers to locate in Alexandria. The first window glass factory in the county was started by Harper & Cruzen in 1888. Within the next three years two large brick factories, four glass works, the Kelly Ax Works and the Union Steel Company, established themselves in Alexandria. The 3,500 men employed by these concerns, as well as a number employed by several smaller concerns, added materially to the population and it soon became evident that the old town government was too antiquated in form for a municipality that was going forward by leaps and bounds like Alexandria. Consequently Alexandria was incorporated as a city in 1893, with the following officers: John E. Sherman, mayor; L. J. Hernly, clerk; E. C. Robinson, treasurer; W. W. Fenimore, marshal; C. F. Heritage and John Reese, councilmen for the First ward; Joseph Brannum and Henry Herr, Second ward; T. W. Mullen and Peter Hartman, Third ward.

In 1913 the city government was administered by James H. Edwards, mayor; Bernard M. Madden, city clerk; Horace J. Inlow, treasurer; D.

Harrison Street Alexandria, Ind

ALEXANDRIA VIEW

A. Allman and John M. Walker, councilmen at large; George C. Har- man, First ward; Charles F. Meyer, Second ward; John F. Kelly, Third ward; D. R. Jones, city attorney ; S. E. Donahoo, chief of police; John ' F. Merker, chief of the fire department; Emmet N. Hollowell, assistant chief ; Dr. E. J. Beardsley, health officer.

On the night of December 6, 1891, fire was discovered in Pauly's jew- elry store about midnight and every building in that square was de- stroyed before the flames could be checked. All the buildings were frame except the one occupied by H. P. Williams' saloon. A few days after the fire the walls of this structure fell and buried John Fink and William Morley, the latter a boy about fifteen years old, in the ruins. Both were unconscious when rescued and died soon afterward. Another disastrous fire occurred on the night of January 21, 1893, starting in Clayton's grocery on the west side of Harrison street, between Church and Wood streets. Although the citizens rendered such aid as they could on both these occasions, it was apparent that the city needed some systematic protection against conflagrations. The city council was

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appealed to by the citizens to establish a fire department, but the state of the public finances was such that nothing could be done by the munic- ipal authorities.

In this emergency R. H. Hannah, A. E. Harlan, S. E. Young, Anthony Bertsche and J. P. Condo, five of the public spirited citizens, came forward with a proposition to furnish the money to purchase a hook and ladder truck, a two-horse chemical engine and a small fire extinguisher if the people would undertake to man them. The appa- ratus was purchased in Chicago and upon its arrival in Alexandria a meeting was held at the office of Mayor Sherman to organize a fire com- pany. Forty men volunteered and Pink Varble, Joseph Brannum, Joseph Fulton and T. W. Mullen were elected a board of directors. This was the beginning of Alexandria's fire department. As the city pos- sessed no suitable building for the chemical engine and hook and lad- der truck, they were kept in a livery stable until more adequate quar- ters could be provided.

After the completion of the water works the chemical engine was dispensed with, and the department at the present time consists of a chief, assistant chief and four men, all paid by the city. The apparatus consists of a hook and ladder truck and a hose wagon, stationed in a building on Wayne street, just south of the city building.

On September 2, 1895, bonds to the amount of $40,000 were issued for the purpose of constructing a water works system for the city. Mains were laid through all the principal streets, both in the business and residence districts, a large steel stand-pipe and pumping station were erected and a number of deep wells were sunk to furnish the water supply. All the bonds have been paid except $4,000, which are not due until 1915. Alexandria has a modern water works system and a bountiful supply of good water and the entire plant is owned by the city.

In 1893 the Alexandria Electric Lighting Company was organized and within a comparatively short time had its plant in operation. This plant is now operated by the Indiana Service Company.

For more than ten years after the city was incorporated, the munic- ipal officers occupied rented quarters, but in 1905 a lot was purchased at the southeast corner of Church and Wayne streets and James McGuire was employed to make plans for a city building. From the inscrip- tion on the corner stone it is learned that J. H. Edwards was then mayor; H. J. Inlow, city clerk; J. S. Wales, treasurer ; J. W. Mountain, marshal; A. H. Jones, attorney ; M. Miller, F. C. Jones, N. Booth, A. Schilling, J. F. Kelly and J. H. Frank, councilmen; O'Hara & Good- win, contractors. The cost of the administration building was $7,679 and the contract provided that it should be completed by May 1, 1906. Just south of this building is the city prison, or jail, which was erected about the same time at a cost of $950, and south of the jail is a brick building for the use of the fire department, erected in 1905 at a cost of about $3,000. With these buildings Alexandria is as well provided with municipal accommodations as any city of its size in the state. Immediately across Wayne street from the administration building is the Carnegie Library.

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The citizens of Alexandria have always been alert to any and every- thing that would conduce to the material welfare and progress of their city. To this end the Alexandria Business Men's Association was organ- ized on January 24, 1911, and now numbers seventy-five members, with the following officers : F. C. Jones, druggist, president; L. S. Mahony, shoe merchant, vice-president; William P. Snethen, tailoring, secre- tary ; S. G. Phillips, banker, treasurer. This association assumes charge of celebrations, advertising, etc., and in other ways endeavors to pro- mote the interests of the city and its people.

According to the United States census of 1910, the population of Alexandria was then 5,096. In 1912 the property of the city was assessed for taxes at $1,159,275, or about $225 for each man, woman and child living within the corporate limits. The city has four modern pub- lic school buildings, two banks, two newspapers, one of which issues a daily edition, fourteen religious organizations, adequate fire and police departments, a number of well stocked mercantile establishments, well paved streets over a large part of the city, good hotels, and although the industries of the city suffered great inconvenience through the failure of natural gas, there are still several large manufactories at Alexan- dria. The United States postoffice employs six persons in the office, four city and eight rural carriers and annually handles a large amount of mail. John C. Brattain was postmaster in 1913. The first lawyer to locate in Alexandria was Peter H. Lemon, who opened an office there in 1842. The first resident physician was a Dr. Spence, who established himself in the village soon after it was laid out and built the first brick house in the town. The city now has its full quota of lawyers and doc- tors.

PENDLETON

This town has the distinction of being one of the oldest in the county. It is situated near the center of Fall Creek township, on the main line of the Big Four Railway, eight miles southwest of Anderson. In the early settle- ment of Fall Creek township a majority of the pioneers located along Fall creek, near the falls, and their houses were so near to each other that the settlement had the appearance of a town without ever having been laid out as such. Thomas M. Pendleton, who owned the land upon which the major portion of the town now stands, and for whom the place was named, seeing the desirability of the location, decided to found a town in the regular way. Accordingly, he employed a surveyor and on January 13, 1830, had his farm divided into lots and a copy of the plat filed with the county recorder.

When the county of Madison was erected in 1823, the seat of jus- tice was established at Pendleton, the organic act providing that the sessions of the court should be held at the house of William McCartney, which stood near the falls of Fall Creek. Oliver H. Smith, in his "Early Reminiscences of Indiana," in giving an account of the famous trials of the white men for the Indian murders, says: "A new log building was erected at the north part of Pendleton, with two rooms, one for the court and one for the grand jury. The court room was about

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twenty by thirty feet with a heavy 'puncheon' floor, a platform at one end, three feet high, a bench for the judges, a plain table for the clerk, in front, a long bench for the counsel, a little pen for the prisoners, a side bench for the witnesses, and a long pole in front, substantially sup- ported, to separate the crowd from the bar."

This was doubtless the first courthouse ever erected in the county. The business of the county was transacted at Pendleton until after the passage of the act of January 26, 1827, which appointed a commission to select a location for a permanent county seat. A full account of the work of this commission, and the establishment of the seat of justice at Anderson, will be found in Chapter IV.

Thomas Silver had opened a store a year or two before the town was surveyed. He was the pioneer merchant and the brick building erected by him on the corner of State and Main streets was the first business building of that kind in Pendleton. Other early merchants were Palmer Patrick, James Gray, Joseph Bowman and William Silver. Palmer Patrick was associated for a time with Thomas Silver. James Gray came in 1833 and at the time of his death in 1850 was considered the leading merchant of the town. Joseph Bowman remained but a short time, when he removed to Middletown, where he finally died. William Silver came in 1838 and engaged in business alone. Ten years later he transferred his store to his son, J. R. Silver, who conducted it for many years.

The first tavern was a frame building on the south side of State street, a short distance west of Main. It was built by Jacob Mingle for a residence, but, the town being without a hotel, he opened it for the accommodation of travelers, chiefly immigrants seeking homes in "the new country."

James Bell, who came to Pendleton in 1833, conducted a hotel for awhile at the corner of State and Main streets, but later converted the building into a mercantile establishment. The "Madison House," a two-story frame building on the south side of Main street, west of State, was erected and opened as a hotel by Jesse Boston about 1835. He died two years later, but his widow continued to conduct the hotel until her death some years afterward, when the house was closed. The building occupied by James Gray's residence and store, at the northeast corner of State and Main streets, was converted into a hotel about 1852 and was first conducted by James H. Smithers, under the name of the Pen- dleton House. After several changes in ownership it passed into the hands of F. E. Ireland, who changed the name to the Commercial Hotel. This building was destroyed by fire on July 7, 1897.

During the first twenty years of its career, the growth of Pendle- ton was "slow but sure." In 1850 the Indianapolis & Bellefontaine Railroad (now the Big Four) was completed to Pendleton and proved a great stimulus to the town. On October 12, 1850, Nineveh Berry made a new survey of Pendleton and about the same time two or three addi- tions were made to the original plat. A year or so later a movement was started for the incorporation of the town, and after the usual pre- liminaries in the way of circulating petitions, etc., an election was ordered for December 24, 1853, to determine the question. Nathaniel

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Richmond, T. G. Mitchell and G. M. Rogers were the election inspectors, and upon canvassing the returns they found thirty-seven votes for the incorporation and only four against it. The first officers were as fol- lows: Nathaniel Richmond, William Silver, Joseph Stephenson, M. Chapman and R. Clark, trustees; T. G. Mitchell, clerk; John Huston (or Houston), treasurer; David Bousman, marshal. The first meeting of the town board was held on March 31, 1854, when Nathaniel Rich- mond was elected president of the board.

The present town government is composed of William Swain, Fred Lantz, Stephen Hair, T. A. Baker and J. W. Linder, trustees; D. B. Cole, clerk and treasurer; Edward Burdette, marshal. The school board is made up of J. J. Rodger, president; Dr. L. E. Alexander, secretary ; George P. Longnecker, treasurer.

In Harden's "Pioneer," published in 1895, is an article from the pen of Mrs. Caroline E. Russell, giving her early recollections of Pendle- ton. Mrs. Russell says that about 1831 the citizens decided to have a pub- lic well and a man by the name of Adam Anderson was employed to dig it. At the brick store, where many of. the inhabitants were in the habit of loafing of evenings, a collection would be taken up each evening to pay Anderson for his day's work. If there was not enough to satisfy his demand he would cover up the well and wait until he received his wages before proceeding with the work. In time, however, the well was completed and was the principal source of water supply for the greater part of the town. Before it was dug the people carried water for some distance from two springs-one known as the "Spout Spring," which was located south of the central part of the town near the right of way of the Big Four Railroad, and the other north of Fall creek, not far from the Fishersburg pike.

"In common with other Madison county towns, Pendleton enjoyed a prosperous career for a few years following the discovery of natural gas. Several new manufacturing establishments were located and for a time the town wore an atmosphere of industrial activity. With the failure of the gas supply most of the factories were discontinued or removed to other points, though there are still some industries of this nature in operation, mention of which is made in the chapter on Finance and Industries. Pendleton has a commercial club, of which A. B. Tay- lor is president and Charles Goodrich is secretary, the purpose of which is similar to that of such organizations in other towns-to adver- tise Pendleton and its advantages and by cooperating secure favor- able freight rates, etc. The Big Four Railroad and one of the principal lines of the Indiana Union Traction Company afford excellent transpor- tation and shipping facilities.

The Pendleton of the present day has a modern school building, four churches, a weekly newspaper, well paved streets, two banks, several well equipped mercantile establishments and a number of handsome residences. The population in 1910 was 1,293.

SUMMITVILLE

This town was laid out in 1867 by Aaron M. Williams, who was one of the pioneers in that section of the county. He established a tanyard,

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which he operated in connection with his farm, kept a general store and also entertained travelers at his residence. A settlement grew up about the store and tannery and Mr. Williams sold several lots by metes and bounds before any regular plat of the town was made and recorded.

Summitville is located a little west of the center of Van Buren town- ship, seventeen miles north of Anderson. It was first called "Skipper- ville," but when the surveyors marked the line of the old Indianapolis & Fort Wayne state road, some years before any settlement was made where Summitville now stands, they marked that point as the highest ground between Fort Wayne and Indianapolis. The name of Skipper- ville not being very dignified or euphonious, it was changed to Summit- ville, which name was adopted to correspond to the report of the sur- veyors. A short distance north of the town is the watershed that divides the valleys of the Wabash and the White river.

Among the early settlers in the vicinity of Summitville were Thomas Cartwright and his son, William T., who came from Wayne county, Indiana, early in the fall of 1835. Seven years before that the family had come from North Carolina and settled at Milton, Wayne county. Thomas Cartwright kept a tavern on the canal, just south of Summit- ville. He was one of the three trustees that ordered the erection of the second public schoolhouse in Van Buren township. His grandson, T. E. Cartwright, of Summitville, still has in possession the old clock brought to the settlement by his grandfather in 1835.

Other pioneers who located near where Summitville now stands were John Thurston, Sr., Asbury Chaplin, George M. and Henry Vinson, James Oldfield, Harrison Mclain, Lemuel Jones, James M. . Hundley, Isaac Woods, John M. Harris, John Allman, Aquila Moore, Aaron M. Williams and John Beck.

In November, 1867, Henry Roby opened a store-the first business enterprise to be established after the town was laid out-but soon after- ward sold out to Aquila Moore & Son. Some time before that a post- office had been established about two miles north of the town and Wil- liam Knowland was the first postmaster. About the time Moore & Son purchased Mr. Roby's interests, the postoffice was removed to the store and Aquila Moore was appointed postmaster. The first mails were car- ried on horseback from Strawtown, Hamilton county, over "blazed" roads through the woods. Daniel Dwiggins was the first mail rider. Then Caleb May and Kuhn Slagle began running a stage line between Anderson and Marion and they carried the mails-north one day and south the next. Thomas Cranfill was the last man to carry the mails by vehicle prior to the completion of the railroad.

Dr. Cyrus Graul located at Summitville soon after the town was laid out, though Drs. S. B. Harriman, C. V. Garrett, John Wright, W. V. McMahan, S. T. Brunt, T. J. Clark and M. L. Cranfill had all prac- ticed in the neighborhood before that time.

In 1876 the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railroad (now the Big Four) was completed to Summitville and a station was established there with J. P. Smith as agent. James H. Wooden erected a grain warehouse, several new business enterprises came in and Summitville experienced its first real boom. Such was the growth during the next few years that

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on December 31, 1881, Summitville was incorporated by order of the board of county commissioners, though the town officers were not elected until May 1, 1882, when Joseph A. Allen, Moses Stone and George W. Fear were chosen trustees; Frank Hernley, clerk; W. H. Williams, treasurer; and J. M. Williams, marshal. In 1913 the officers were as follows: Isaac F. Wilbanks, William W. Bryson and Oscar A. Vinson, trustees ; John M. Kaufman, clerk; Maurice Warner, treasurer; Lytle Bair, marshal.

The town's second boom came with the discovery of natural gas. In a short time after the first gas well was sunk Summitville became one of the thriftiest and most enterprising towns in the county. Among the industries established there during the gas era were three glass fac- tories, a large brick factory and the Summitville Tile Works, as well as several smaller concerns. Some of these industries are still running. About 1890 or 1891 a question was raised as to the legality of the town's incorporation. Through the influence of J. M. Hundley, the legislature of 1895 passed an act legalizing the incorporation and all the acts of the town board.

The first water works in Summitville were put in by the Summit- ville Mining Company, which in reality was a natural gas company. Gas pressure was used to pump water from a deep well bored for gas, and after the pressure became too low to force the water through the pipes the water works were abandoned. The present electric light and water company was organized in 1903 by William Warner & Sons and R. C. Howard. About a year later the plants were sold to.the town on a rental basis and were operated by the municipality until in 1911, when, the town deciding that it was unable to make the payments, they were turned back to the original company, which is now furnishing an ample water supply from deep wells, but the electric lighting plant is idle, the company purchasing its current from the Union Traction Com- pany.

Summitville has a bank, a flour mill, a handsome public school build- ing, five churches, several good mercantile establishments, about two and a half miles of paved streets, concrete sidewalks over the greater part of the town, first class transportation facilities through the Big Four Railroad and one of the Union Traction Company's lines, a good hotel, a weekly newspaper, and in 1910 reported a population of 1,387. North Summitville, formerly known as "Wrinkle," is the site of a large drain tile works, a general store, etc. It is located about three quarters of a mile north of the main town.

FRANKTON

Situated on the Pan Handle Railroad about ten miles northwest of Anderson, and on the boundary line between Lafayette and Pipe Creek townships, is the town of Frankton. It was laid out on March 3. 1853, by Alfred Makepeace and Francis Sigler. The first building had been erected there some five years before by John Hardy and was occu- pied as soon as completed by Alfred Makepeace with a stock of goods, brought in wagons from Cincinnati. As early as 1837 or 1838 a post-

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office had been established at the house of William Taylor, about a mile east of Frankton, with Mr. Taylor as the postmaster. In 1855 it was removed to the village and the name of the office changed to Frank- ton.

The town was incorporated in 1871 with Dr. Stanley W. Edwins, William Cochran and Dr. R. Harvey as the first board of trustees. Three years before the incorporation the town had erected a two-story brick schoolhouse at a cost of about $2,500. At the present time Frankton has a commissioned high school and employs seven teachers in the pub- lic schools. The first bank was started in 1876 by Cornelius Quick & Company.

Prior to 1887 the principal industries of Frankton were a sawmill and flour mill. With the discovery of natural gas in 1887 the town immediately began to look up. A number of new industrial concerns located there, among them being two brick manufacturing companies, two window glass companies, one of which erected two factories, three fence companies, a rolling mill and a novelty works. In a short time after the introduction of gas the population was estimated at 2,000. Three additions were made to the town by Joseph M. Watkins, and other additions were made by different persons until the town spread over a considerable territory. Several of the factories closed when the natural gas failed and there was a decline in population. Notwithstand- ing these losses, Frankton is still one of the active towns of the county. It has a number of well stocked mercantile houses, a bank, several fac- tories, a fine public school building, neat church edifices representing the houses of worship of different denominations, lodges of some of the principal fraternal societies, and in 1910 reported a population of 936. Being located in the midst of a rich agricultural district, it is an important shipping point.

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History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 16

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926 Publication date: 1970 Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc. Number of Pages: 918

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926
Publication date: 1970
Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc.
Number of Pages: 918