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 20
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As already stated, the first gas well in Madison county was on the farm of Samuel Cassell, near the eastern terminus of Washington street, Alexandria. It was sunk by the Alexandria Mining and Exploring Company and "came in" on March 27, 1887, only four days before gas was struck at Anderson. The people of Alexandria were not slow to take advantage of the discovery as a means of advertising their town, though the first well was comparatively weak-about 2,000,000 cubic fcet per day-owing to the fact that the drillers were afraid to go too deep into the Trenton rock, for fear of striking salt water. A second well drilled by the same company went deeper into the gas-bearing rock and showed a flow of 6,000,000 cubic feet per day. Soon after that a Mr. Davis, of Indianapolis, located a large brick plant north of the town; Harper & Cruzen brought a window glass factory to Alexandria, the first to locate in Madison county; next came the Lippincott Glass Chimney Works, which at one time employed over 600 men, and which is still one of the large manufacturing concerns of Madison county; following the Lippincott Company came the Indiana Briek Company; the DePauw Plate Glass Company and the DePauw Window Glass Com- pany were the next concerns to locate in Alexandria; then came the Kelly Ax Manufacturing Company and the Union Steel Company. With the introduction of these manufacturing concerns and their army of employees, Alexandria jumped from a little village of 800 to a city of
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some 7,000 population within two years. In common with other places in the gas belt, the town suffered a period of comparative stagnation after the failure of the gas supply, but there are still a number of prosperous factories in or about the city, as may be seen from the following list taken from the report of the State Bureau of Inspection for 1912, show- ing the number of employees :
Alexandria Creamery Company, butter and dairy products; Alexan- dria Crushed Stone Company, crushed stone for paving, 26; Alexandria Paper Company, print and wrapping papers, 100; American Insulating Company, rock products, mineral wool, etc., 25; Art Printing Company, 5; Banner Rock Products Company, cold storage insulation, 26; Brown- ing Milling Company, 4; Empire Mirror and Beveling Company, mirrors and beveled plate glass, 20; Hoosier Rock Wool Company, mineral wool, etc .; Imbler Fence Manufacturing Company, woven wire fencing, 10; Indiana Ice and Dairy Company, 26; Lippincott Glass Company, lamp chimneys, etc., 500; Penn-American Plate Glass Company, 470; Wells & Davis Boiler Shop, 5.
Although the loss of the DePauw Glass Works, the Kelly Ax Works and the Union Steel Company threw about 3,000 people out of employ- ment, many of whom left the city, the factories of Alexandria still em- ploy regularly from 1,200 to 1,500 persons at good wages. The products of the glass factories and the large refrigerators built by the American Insulating Company and the Banner Products Company are shipped to all parts of the country. The materials used by these factories in the preparation of mineral wool, packing, insulating, etc., come from the stone in the Pipe creek quarries. This line is comparatively new, but the business is growing in a satisfactory manner to all concerned.
Among the factories that closed when the gas gave out, the Kelly Ax Company was one of the best known. W. C. Kelly, the patentee of the ax manufactured, was president of the company, which employed at one time about 400 men, the axes being shipped in large quantities to the lumbering districts all over the civilized world. Another factory that is closed at present is the Steel Wheel Works. It is not abandoned entirely but merely suspended, awaiting developments. It is the hope of Alexandrians that some day soon it will open its doors and resume business.
Elwood was not far behind Alexandria and Anderson in boring for gas, and was as fortunate in striking it in large quantities. Within a short time a number of manufacturing plants were located in the city. Among them were the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Works, the Macbeth- Evans Glass Company, the McCloy Glass Works, the Elwood Furniture Company, the Elwood Boiler and Engine Works, Crystal Ice Manufac- turing Company, Superior Radiator Company, Elwood Window Glass Company, Nivisen & Weiskolp Bottle Works, Phil Hamm Boiler Works, Akron Steam Forge Works, Heffner Planing Mill Company, American Tin Plate Works, Elwood Box Factory, Elwood Iron Works and the Excelsior Works.
On the night of June 25, 1891, a destructive fire broke out in the Plate Glass Works. The Elwood fire department at that time was rather limited and word was sent to Anderson, Logansport and Kokomo ask-
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ing for help. Logansport sent a fire engine, Kokomo two hose carts, and Anderson sent the hose wagon and hook and ladder truck by special train. Before any of the outside help arrived the fire was under control, but the plant was damaged about $60,000. The burned portions were quickly rebuilt in a more substantial manner.
The Excelsior Works burned on December 20, 1888, the fire originat- ing by the ignition of gas while making repairs. Adam Miller and Michael Glaspy, who were at work on the repairs in the engine room, were severely burned. The loss was about $4,000.
A list of Elwood factories reporting to the State Bureau of Inspec- tion in 1912, with the number of employees in each, is as follows: Ameri- can Sheet and Tin Plate Company, 1,800; Ames Shovel and Tool Com- pany, 141; Dawson Machine Works, foundry and machine work, 5; L. J. Diamond, plate, sheet and structural iron work, 15; J. P. Downs, abattoir, 7; Elwood Call-Leader, printing, 10; A. D. Moffett, printing, 6; Elwood Iron Works, tin plate machinery, 30; Elwood Lawn Mower Manufacturing Company, 50; Frazier Packing Company, catsup, chili sauce, canned vegetables, etc., 100; Home Storage and Manufacturing
TIN PLATE WORKS, ELWOOD
Company, ice and soft drinks, etc., 20; Indiana Box Company, wooden packing cases, 61 (This plant was partially destroyed by fire in August, 1913, but was immediately rebuilt) ; Irwin & Turner Canning Company ; Macbeth-Evans Glass Company, pearl top chimneys, globes, flues and shades, 400; Ohio Oil Company, pumping station, 40; Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company (pot works), glass pots, 25; G. I. Sellers & Sons Com- pany, kitchen cabinets, 68; J. L. Small, gloves, 7; Tipton-Berry Cigar Company, 38; Hoosier Stogie Manufacturing Company, 23.
A comparison of this list with the one given above, of the factories that located in Elwood soon after the discovery of gas, will show that some of the early factories have been discontinued and that new ones have been established. Of the 11,028 inhabitants of Elwood, approxi. inately 3,000 are employed in her factories-a larger proportion than any other city or town in the county.
Elwood also has the largest single plant of any kind in the county- The American Sheet and Tin Plate Company. This factory was opened on September 13, 1892, when William MeKinley, chairman of the ways and means committee of Congress that reported the Mckinley tariff bill and afterward president of the United States, visited Elwood and made a speech, in which he maintained that the increase in duty imposed by the new tariff made the establishment of tin plate mills in this country
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possible. As at first established the plant consisted of four hot mills and a tinning department of six stacks, employing in all about 300 men, nearly all of whom had been brought from England and Wales. The original directors of the company were D. G. Reid, W. M. Leeds, J. M. Overshiner, P. G. Darlington, A. L. Conger, John F. Hazen and W. P. Hutton. For some time the plant worked under disadvantages, but in 1898 the American Tin Plate Company was formed, and with the absorp- tion of the Elwood works by this company a new era was begun. Six more hot mills were brought to Elwood from Montpelier, making the plant one of the largest factories in Indiana.
On September 13, 1912, the works celebrated their twentieth anni- versary. By that time the tin plate factory had grown to twenty-eight hot mills, the entire works covering thirty-four acres of ground and employing 1,800 men, many of whom own homes in the city.
Frankton, Lapel, Pendleton and Summitville also benefited by the discovery of natural gas, wells having been sunk in those towns soon after Alexandria, Anderson and Elwood were enjoying the benefits of nature's bounty in the way of cheap fuel.
At Frankton the Clyde Window . Glass Company erected two fac- tories. The Frankton Window Glass Company quickly followed. Then came the Wetherald Rolling Mill, the Hoosier Fence Company, the Frankton Brick Works, the Dwiggins Fence Company, the Bradrick and Lineburg Fence Works, the Quick City Novelty Works and a few other concerns. Most of these factories have been discontinued, the only one reporting to the state bureau of inspection in 1912 being the Hoosier Fence Company, which employed 20 men, and the Frankton Canning Company, also employing 20 persons.
Two large flour mills, a bottle factory, a tile mill, a pump and gas regulator works, and some minor concerns were located at Lapel. The bottle factory is still running and in 1912 employed 120 people, and there is also a large canning factory at Lapel.
The Pendleton Window Glass Company was organized soon after gas was struck there, with B. F. Aiman at its head. This factory was situated on the north side of Fall creek and at one time employed a large number of men. On the south side of town was the Indiana Window Glass and Bottle Factory, and the Guptill Glass Works, which made a specialty of glass tubing for drains, conduits, etc., was located in the northern part of town, near the Big Four Railroad. There were also a wire fence factory, tile mill and brick factory. The buildings once occupied by the Pendleton Window Glass Company are now used as a canning factory. For a while the Motsinger Device Company, man- ufacturers of automobile accessories, was located in Pendleton. Among the present business concerns of the town is the Hardy Manufacturing Company, which makes sheet metal ware, conduits for silos, etc.
Soon after gas was struck at Alexandria and Anderson a successful well was sunk at Summitville. Within a short time Central Glass Com- pany, the Crystal Window Glass Company, the Rothschild Glass Com- pany, the Summitville Brick Factory and the Summitville Tile Works
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were all in active operation. Other factories that located here abont that time were the Madison Brick Company and a stave and hoop factory. The American Flint Bottle Company also established a plant here, but it was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt: The Central Glass Company is still running as the Model Glass Works and is engaged in the manufacture of bottles, employing about 250 men and boys. The Summitville Tile Works were started by S. C. Cowgill and at one time manufactured more drain tile than any similar concern in the United States. It is now a part of the National Drain Tile Company, which owns several tile mills in the state. About sixty men are constantly em- ployed at this factory. There is also another tile works here, now called the Summitville Tile Works, operated by Berry & Morris. The old flour mill, from which Mill street took its name, was sold some years ago by Joseph Daniels to J. M. Gordon and now forms part of the grain elevator on Main street. About the time this sale was made a model flour mill was erected by S. B. Gilman & Company and is still running. To Lemuel Webb, however, belongs the credit of having erected the first inodern flour mill in Summitville. After his death the mill was suc- cessfully operated for a number of years by his daughter, but shortly after her marriage she disposed of the property.
Ingalls, in Green township, was laid out during the gas boom and several factories were projected at that place. Among them were the Zinc Works, which at one time employed a large number of people, and a glass factory for the manufacture of fruit jars was erected by Henry Wagner and others in 1895. It employed a number of opera- tives and had a successful career for a while, but, like most of the factories in the smaller towns, all those at Ingalls were closed when the gas failed.
As an evidence that the manufacturers of Madison county, especially those of Anderson, are wide awake to their interests and ready to promote their material progress, a "Made in Anderson" exhibit was held the first week in June, 1913. Eighth street from Meridian to Morton was lined with booths, under a mammoth tent, in which the various manufacturing establishments of the city arranged their ex- hibits. The exhibit opened on Saturday, May 31, 1913, by a great auto- mobile parade, at the head of which rode Governor Samuel M. Ralston and the managers of the exhibit in a nickel-plated Lambert automobile built especially for the occasion. Following the line of automobiles were a number of manufacturers' floats. In this part of the parade were represented the American Steel and Wire Company, the American Rotary Valve Company, the Anderson Mattress Company, the Public Schools of the city, the Pennsylvania Glass Company, the Indiana Brick Company, the Dwiggins Fence Company, the National Tile Company, the Hill-Tripp Company, the Nyberg Automobile Company and a number of others, all presenting some feature of their particular indus- tries in an attractive manner. After the parade the governor formally opened the exhibit in an appropriate address. Hundreds of people from other cities were in attendance. Among the distinguished visitors during the succeeding week was James Whitcomb Riley, the "Hoosier
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Poet," who was a special guest of honor on Tuesday, June 3d, which date was set apart by the managers as "Riley Day." It was generally remarked by those who attended the exhibit that it was a credit to a city the size of Anderson, and the immediate result was seen in increased orders by the factories participating.
Notwithstanding the great progress made in manufacturing during the last quarter of a century, agriculture is still the chief source of wealth and the tiller of the soil is still king. According to statistics for the year 1910, Madison county stood far above the average of the ninety- two counties of the state in the production of the staple crops. It was the thirtieth county in the state in the production of wheat, ninth in corn, twenty-fourth in oats, twenty-second in rye, twelfth in potatoes, sixteenth in tomatoes, twenty-eighth in timothy hay, sixteenth in clover hay, fifth in clover seed, eighteenth in the value of horses on hand, fifth in milk sold, nineteenth in butter, the value of dairy products being over $450,000, tenth in the value of cattle sold, tenth in the value of hogs sold, and fifteenth in the production of eggs, over 1,000,000 dozen being sold, bringing $178,500. During the year over $500,000
MADISON COUNTY WHEATFIELD
of the mortgage indebtedness on farms in the county was paid. These statisties indicate that the farmers of Madison county are, as a rule, prosperous, and the visitor to the county sces evidence of this pros- perity on every hand. Good dwelling houses and barns, bountiful crops and an abundance of live stock bear out the statement that the farmer is still the industrial king in the county.
In connection with the agricultural and stock breeding industry, it is worthy of note that the large business of importing and breeding English and Belgian horses by James Donnelly & Sons, of Chesterfield. occupies a high place among the business enterprises of the county. Mr. Donnelly and his two sons cross the ocean twice each year, bringing back with them herds of fine horses for sale, or for breeding purposes. They claim to have the largest horse breeding farm in the State of Indiana, dealing exclusively in imported stock.
At one time Madison county promised to become a paying oil field. Many wells were sunk in various parts of the county, some of which were producers in paying quantities, especially those in Monroe town-
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ship. It has already been stated that the first gas well in the county was sunk in this township, and it is equally true that the first oil well in the county was drilled on the form of Nimrod Carver, in Monroe township. Some experts in the oil industry predict that a profitable petroleum field will vet be developed in Madison county.
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CHAPTER X INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
OLD TRAILS-FIRST HIGHWAYS-STATE ROADS-TURNPIKE COMPANIES AND TOLL ROADS-THE ERA OF CANALS-LAND GRANTS-STATE LEGIS- LATION FOR INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS-ACT OF 1836-INDIANA CEN- TRAL CANAL-ITS COLLAPSE-THE HYDRAULIC PROJECT-RAILROADS- EARLY IDEAS REGARDING THEM-THE BIG FOUR-FIRST TRAIN TO ANDERSON-THE PAN HANDLE-CINCINNATI, WABASH & MICHIGAN- LAKE ERIE & WESTERN-THE CENTRAL INDIANA-DITCHES-UNION TRACTION COMPANY
One of the first necessities in the way of internal improvements in a new country is the construction of public highways. When the first white men came to what is now Madison county there was not "a stick of timber amiss." In going from one place to another the most direct route was followed, a small compass often being used to keep the traveler in his course. The first roads were merely marked by "blazes" on the trees, without regard to section lines, no matter how much they might later interfere with some pioneer's farming operations. Where an old Indian trail existed it was used by the settlers until better roads could be constructed. In after years all these early "traces" were straightened and altered to conform to the lines of the official survey running east and west and north and south.
Surveys were made for state roads at an early date. Some of these roads were afterward opened and improved, but in a majority of in- stances they were simply "eut out" by the settlers living along the route, very little expenditure being made by the state beyond the cost of the survey. One of the first roads of this character to be surveyed through Madison county was the Indianapolis & Fort Wayne state road, which was laid ont about 1825 and passed through Jackson, Pipe Creek, Monroe and Van Buren townships. The Shelbyville & Fort Wayne state road, which was laid out about 1830, ran northward through Anderson and Alexandria and formed a junction with the Indianapolis road near the northern line of what is now Monroe township.
The Newcastle & Lafayette state road was established about the same time as the Shelbyville road, or perhaps a year or two sooner. Morgan Shortridge and Zenas Beckwith were appointed by the state legislature to locate this road and report to the board of justices in each of the counties through which it was to pass. Their report was dated December 13, 1828, and the road was opened for the greater part of the Vol. 1 -11
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distance the following year. It entered Madison county about a mile and a half north of the southeast corner, ran thence a northwesterly direction through Pendleton and across Green township into Hamilton county.
Another state road projected in the early '30s was the one running from Newcastle to Logansport. It followed closely the route over which the Pan Handle railroad now runs. When the legislature granted the railroad company the right of way over this line the act contained a provision that a good wagon road should be constructed by the railroad company parallel to its tracks, but the charter once obtained the company paid no attention to the stipulation regarding the construction of a public highway.
In the spring of 1832 a road between Pendleton and Strawtown was laid out and before the close of that year it was made passable. That portion of this road in Madison county was afterward made the Pendle- ton & Fishersburg pike.
Another old highway was the one running west from Anderson to Strawtown via Hamilton (now Halford) and Perkinsville. It is a con- tinuation of West Eighth street in Anderson. Along in the latter '30s and during the '40s, when there was a heavy tide of immigration to the western states, this road acquired almost a national reputation. Old settlers living as far east as the Ohio state line can recall the covered wagons bound westward, the drivers of which would eagerly inquire the best way to reach the Strawtown road, and many a western pioneer has traveled over this old pathway to fortune or to failure.
For thirty-five years after Madison county was erected the only high- ways were of that variety known as "dirt roads." During this period the county was divided into road districts, in each of which was an offi- cial called a supervisor, whose duty it was to "call out" every able- bodied man between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years to work for two, three or four days in each year upon the public highway. In these cases the supervisor would designate what tools each man should bring. Engineering, as applied to the construction and maintenance of high- ways, was unknown, each supervisor exercising his own fancy as to what work was essential. Low places were filled with soil or clay and shallow ditches were plowed along the roadside, to be filled up again when the rainy season came. Every spring, when the ground thawed out, the condition of these roads can be better imagined than described.
Then came the era of turnpikes-toll roads constructed by private corporations. After laws were passed by the state legislature, authoriz- ing the organization of companies to build improved roads, Dr. John Hunt was the pioneer of the movement in Madison county. Through his efforts and influence a company was organized in 1858 to build what was long known as the Anderson & Alexandria pike. The first officers of the company were William Crim, president; Joseph Fulton, secretary ; Neal C. Mccullough, treasurer. The directors were W. A. Hunt, George Nichol, Curran Beall and Frederick Black. The officers of the company were never changed, except that upon the death of Mr. Mccullough, his son, C. K. Mccullough, was elected treasurer. Work was commenced soon after the company received its charter and the road was completed
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from Anderson to within two miles of Alexandria, when work was sus- pended for some reason and the north end of the line was never finished. This road was the first turnpike in the county.
In 1859 the Pendleton & Newcastle Turnpike Company was organ- ized with Neal Hardy as president ; J. T. Wall, secretary ; L. W. Thomas, treasurer ; C. G. Mauzy, Ralph Williams and Elwood Brown, directors. This pike was constructed on the line of the Newcastle & Lafayette state road. Work was commenced in the fall of 1859, but it was not com- pleted to the Henry county line-a distance of nine miles from Pendle- ton-until 1867. The total cost of this pike was about $13,500, and the county built two bridges, one over the Spring branch and the other over Liek creek, at a cost of $1,415. For many years this road was recognized as one of the best in the county. The portion of the Newcastle & Lafay- ette state road running west from Pendleton was subsequently improved and was known as the Pendleton & Noblesville pike.
The third turnpike built in the county was the one known as the Pendleton & Eden pike, which ran southward from Pendleton for a dis- tance of eight miles, passing the old village of Menden. Its total cost was about $12,000 and it was completed in 1862.
During the Civil war-from 1861 to 1865-little attention was given to road building, the preservation of the Union overshadowing every- thing else. In 1865 the Anderson & Fishersburg Turnpike Company was organized with the following officers and directors: David Conrad, president; C. D. Thompson, secretary ; Samuel Moss, treasurer; Elias Brown, William Woodward and John Cunningham, directors. This road is a little over nine miles in length and was completed after several delays at a cost of $2,000 per mile. It was one of the best paying turn- pikes in the county.
Two turnpike companies were formed in 1866-one for the purpose of constructing the Anderson & New Columbus short line and the other to build the Lick Creek pike. The officers of the former were N. C. Mccullough, president; A. D. Williams, secretary ; George Nichol, treas- urer; Peter Fesler, Stephen Carr and Samuel Walden, directors. Work was commenced soon after the company organization was perfected and the road was completed to New Columbus (Ovid) at a cost of $1,200 per mile. In 1872 the pike was extended two miles south of New Columbus and this extension is sometimes called the Anderson & Knightstown pike.
The officers of the Lick Creek Turnpike Company were Jacob Ken- nard, president; J. L. Thomas, secretary, and these two officers, with J. P. James, constituted the board of directors. No work was done on the road until in 1867, after which time the construction was pushed vigorously, and the three and a half miles from Pendleton to the county line were completed at a total cost of a little over $5,000.
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