USA > Indiana > Miami County > History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
The man who wore "store clothing" in those days was looked upon as an aristocrat. After the wolves were driven out, nearly every set- tler kept a few sheep, and in every neighborhood there were one 'or more sets of hand cards-broad backed brushes with short wire teeth, all bent slightly in one direction-which were used for converting the wool into rolls. These rolls were then spun into wool on the old-fash- ioned spinning wheel, which was turned with a stick having a small knob at one end, the housewife walking back and forth as the rapidly revolving spindle reduced the roll into yarn. The young woman who could spin her "six cuts" a day was looked upon as eligible to be the wife of some thrifty young farmer, but how many of the young ladies who graduated in the Indiana high schools in 1913 know what "six cuts" means ? After the yarn was spun it was colored with indigo or the bark of some tree-most frequently the walnut-and then woven into flannel, jeans or linsey on the old hand loom. Girls wore flannel or linsey dresses, generally made by themselves as soon as they were old enough to learn how to handle a needle. Boys were clad in jeans or
93
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
other homespun material, their suits being made by their mothers or sisters by hand, as the sewing machine had not yet been invented. The husband and father often wore buckskin clothing, for the reason that it was more durable and would stand the rough usage clothing was bound to undergo, and the principal headgear of both father and sons was the home-made coonskin cap, with the ringed tail often left to hang down the back of the neck.
Salt was a luxury that before the completion of the Wabash & Erie Canal sold as high as ten dollars per barrel. Settlers would therefore organize themselves into parties and go to the salt springs or "licks," where each one would evaporate a year's supply. After the completion of the canal the price came down to four dollars per barrel.
Other instances of "swapping work" were in the log-rollings and in harvest time. When a settler undertook to clear a piece of ground for cultivation, he felled the trees and cut or burned the logs into lengths convenient for handling, after which he would invite the neigh- bors to assist him in piling them in heaps so that they could be burned. Log-rollings were tests of physical strength. The men were divided into pairs, according to their muscular ability, and each pair was pro- vided with a stick of tough wood called a "hand-spike." Two of the strongest men would "make daylight" under the log by placing their hand-spike under one end and raising it high enough for the others to get their spikes in place. When all were ready they came up together, and woe to the unfortunate individual who allowed his fingers "to take mud" by his inability to lift his share of the load, for the laugh would be on him for the rest of the day, unless he could redeem himself by causing his partner "to take mud."
In the early harvests the wheat was cut with a reaping hook-a crooked steel blade with a serrated edge and a wooden handle at one end. As more land was cleared and the acreage of the wheat crop correspondingly increased, conditions demanded a better method of harvesting grain and the cradle was invented. This implement con- sisted of four or five fingers of tough wood, bent to conform to the curva- ture of the scythe, over which they were mounted in a light framework. As the grain was cut off by the scythe it fell upon the fingers and could be thrown in a straight swath for the binder. A good cradler could cut from four to five acres a day. It was not unusual to see half a dozen or more cradlers in a field, each followed by a binder, and behind came a shocking party which stacked the sheaves into shocks. When one man's wheat was taken care of the entire party would move to the field where the wheat was the ripest, and so on until the wheat crop of the whole neighborhood would be made ready for the flail, which was the
94
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
primitive threshing machine. After a while the flail gave way to the old "ground hog" thresher, which separated the grain from the straw, but did not clean it from the chaff. Then the fanning-mill was in- vented and many a boy who wanted to spend the afternoon along some creek fishing for "shiners" has been compelled to turn the crank of the fanning-mill while his father fed the wheat and chaff into the machine. In time some one became wise enough to combine the ground hog and the fanning-mill into one machine and the separator was the result.
The "house-raising," the "log-rolling" and the "harvesting bee" were nearly always followed by a frolic. On these occasions whisky was provided for the men and sometimes a few of them would drink enough to become intoxicated. As a rule, however, good order pre- vailed. While the men were at work the women would join hands in preparing the meals, and the affair would generally wind up with a dance. In every settlement there was at least one fiddler, as the pioneer violinist was called, and his services would be called into requisition at the "house-warming," when the new cabin would be properly dedi- cated, or to celebrate the completion of the harvest or the log-rolling. The waltz, the two-step and the tango were unknown, but their places were well supplied with the minuet and the old Virginia reel, or even the "breakdown," in which main strength and physical endurance took the place of the "poetry of motion." The music furnished by the "one-man orchestra" was probably not classic, in the light of modern development, but such tunes as "Old Zip Coon," "Turkey in the Straw," "Money Musk," "The Irish Washerwoman" and "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" offered splendid opportunities for "tripping the light fantastic toe," and it is doubtful whether the society people who attend a president's inaugural ball ever get more pleasure out of the function than did the early settlers in the wilds of Miami county in the dedication of some new cabin.
Other amusements were the shooting matches, that were generally held about the holiday season, the husking bees, pitching horseshoes, wrestling, foot racing, and, after the orchards were old enough to bear fruit, the apple cuttings. Then there were the quiltings and sheep- shearing contests, in which profit and pleasure were both considered. At the shooting match the prize for the best marksman was a turkey or a quarter of a deer or beef. In the husking bee those present were divided into two parties, each under the direction of a captain; the corn to be husked was divided into two piles, as nearly equal as possible, and the captain who "won the toss" took his choice of the piles. Then the contest began to see which party would first finish the pile of corn. In
95
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
this match both men and women took part and the fellow who found a red ear of corn was entitled to the privilege of kissing the lassie next to him. Sometimes the young men played the game in an under- hand way by covertly passing the red ear from one to another.
No survey of lands had been made when the first white men came to the Wabash valley. The settler marked out his claim by deadening a few trees near a spring, or other suitable site for a dwelling, and mark- ing a number of trees along the boundary with his initials. This method of establishing lines was known as the "Tomahawk Right," and some- times had to be verified or paid for, but such claims were bought and sold for several years before the official survey was completed.
Wild beasts were plentiful and often as the family sat around the fireplace, cracking nuts or popping corn, the howling of wolves could be distinctly heard in the woods near the humble dwelling. Cockrum, in his "Pioneer History of Indiana," tells the following story of two boys who came from the East to visit an uncle in Indiana :
"A neighbor, who was wise in the lore of wild animals, took the boys out on a longed-for hunting trip. They had gone five or six miles from the village, when they spied a large bear running away from them. Mr. Johnson instructed them to tie their horse to a tree, go to a place he pointed out, and not move from there, on any account, until he re- turned. On walking around, after waiting a long time, they saw two little animals wrestling much as boys do, rolling and tumbling over each other. They did not have the least idea what they were, but slipped up as closely as they could and made a rush to catch them, which they found hard to do, as the little cubs were much more nimble than they looked. They chased them round over chunks and brush. Finally one of them ran into a hollow log and the younger boy crawled in after it. The older boy finally caught the other little bear, when it set up a whining noise and at the same time scratched and bit him. In a few minutes he heard the brush crackling, and looking up, he saw the old bear coming at him with full force. He let the cub go and climbed up a little tree, fortunately too small for the bear to climb. She would rear up on the tree as though she intended to climb it, and snarl and snort at the boy, who was dreadfully scared. About this time the little boy in the log had squeezed himself through so that he could reach the other cub, whereupon it set up another cry. The old bear left the treed boy and ran to the log, and over and around it, uncertain where the noise came from. She commenced to tear away the wood, so she could get to the cub, for she was too large to get more than her head in the hollow of the log. They boys were thus imprisoned for more than two hours, when a shot was fired not far way. The boy up the tree set
96
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
up a terrible hallooing, and Mr. Johnson soon came in sight. A second shot soon killed the old bear. The young bear was caught and tied; and the little boy came out of the log dragging the other cub, which they also took home for a pet."
Cockrum does not give the exact location where this incident oc- curred, but in the early days it could have happened almost anywhere in the state of Indiana. But times have changed. The log cabin has given way to the modern residence, the tallow candle to the electric light, and the old grain cradle to the twine binder. Meals are no longer prepared in front of a blazing fire, where the cook was compelled to wear a deep sunbonnet to shield her face from the fierce heat. The great packing companies, with their refrigerating cars, supply the peo- ple of the cities with fresh meats. The spinning wheel and the old hand loom are now looked upon with curiosity as relics of a bygone civilization, and everybody wears "store clothes." Yes, great progress has been made since the first white men came to Miami county. The people of the present generation boast of the accomplishments of the last. century, but are they any happier, or any more unselfish, than the pioneers who wore homespun and "swapped work" while they brought the wilderness under subjection ?"
Work on the Wabash & Erie Canal was commenced at Fort Wayne in February, 1832, and the legislature of Indiana, in anticipation of a rush of immigration to the territory through which the canal was to pass, established several new counties. More than three years before, December 18, 1828, the general assembly passed an act organizing Cass county, which included all the territory now embraced in the counties of Miami, Wabash, Fulton, Marshall, Kosciusko, Elkhart and St. Jo- seph, and portions of some of the adjoining counties. On February 2, 1832, Governor Noah Noble approved an act entitled "An act establish- ing the counties of Huntington, Wabash and Miami," Section 3 of which provided :
"That from and after the first Monday in April next, all the ter- ritory included within the following bounds, to wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of section five (5), town twenty-nine (29), range five (5), being the northwest corner of Wabash county; thence south with the western boundary line of said county, twenty-four (24) miles ; thence east five (5) miles to the northwest corner of Grant county ; thence south six (6) miles; thence west, to a point due south of range line divid- ing townships three (3) and four (4), east of the second principal meri- dian line; thence north with said range line to a point due west of the place of beginning; thence east to the place of beginning, shall form
97
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
and constitute a county to be known and designated by the name of the county of Miami."
No provision was made for the organization of the new counties, and,, in fact, Section 4 of the act expressly set forth that "The several parts of said new counties shall remain as they are now attached, for repre- sentative, senatorial and judicial purposes."
Within a few months after the passage of the above act, it was dis- covered that it did not clearly define the boundaries of the county, and on January 30, 1833, Governor Noble approved an act, the preamble of which was as follows: "Whereas, there is an ambiguity in the de- scription of the boundaries of the counties of Wabash and Miami, as designated in an act entitled, 'An act establishing the counties of Hunt- ington, Wabash and Miami,' approved February 2, 1832, to remedy which, therefore,
"Be it enacted," etc. Section 1 of the act following this preamble defined the boundaries of Wabash county, and Section 2 provided :
"That the boundaries of the county of Miami, as described in the act referred to in the foregoing section, be and they are hereby changed as follows: Beginning at the northeast corner of Section three, Town- ship twenty-nine, of Range five, being the northwest corner of Wabash county ; running thence south with the western boundary of said county twenty-four miles; thence from the southwest corner of the county of Wabash, east four miles to the northwest corner of Grant county ; thence south six miles ; thence west fourteen miles ; thence north with the range line dividing ranges three and four east of the second principal meridian, thirty miles: thence east ten miles, on the township line dividing town- ships twenty-nine and thirty, to the place of beginning."
The northern, eastern and southern boundaries as established by this act form the boundary lines at the present day, but the western boundary was changed by the act of January 2, 1834, which made pro- visions for the location of the permanent county seat and the organi- zation of the county. Following are the principal provisions of this organic act :
"Section 1. Be it Enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That from and after the first day of March next, the county of Miami shall enjoy the rights and jurisdiction which to separate and independent counties do or may properly belong.
"Section 2. That Daniel Harrow, of the county of Putnam, Small- wood Noel, of the county of Allen, Joseph Tatman, of the county of Tip- pecanoe, and Henry Chase and John Barr, of the county of Carroll, ยท be, and are hereby, appointed commissioners for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice of said county of Miami, agreeably to the Vol. I-7
98
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
provisions of an act to establish the seats of justice in new counties, ap- proved January 14, 1824. The commissioners, or a majority of them, shall convene at the house of Benjamin H. Scott, in said county, on the first Monday in June next, or as soon thereafter as a majority shall agree."
Section 3 provided that the sheriff of Cass county should notify the commissioners of their appointment and the time and place of meeting, as designated by Section 2.
"Section 4. The circuit and other courts of said county shall be held at the house of Benjamin H. Scott, or at any other place in said county to which said court may adjourn, until suitable accommodations can be had at the seat of justice thereof, after which the court shall be held at the county seat.
"Section 5. The agent who shall be appointed to superintend the sale of lots at the county seat of said Miami county, shall reserve ten per centum out of the proceeds thereof, and also ten per centum out of all donations to said county, and pay the same over to such person or persons as may be lawfully appointed to receive the same, for the use of a county library for said county.
"Section 6. The Board doing county business, when elected and qualified, may hold special sessions, not exceeding three during the first year after the organization of said county, and shall appoint a lister and make out all other necessary appointments, and do and perform all other business which might have been necessary to be performed at any other regular session, and take all necessary steps to collect the state and county revenue.
"Section 7. The territory included in the following boundary, to wit: Beginning at the southwest corner of the county of Miami; run- ning thence west two miles; thence north, with the section lines, thirty miles to the northeast corner of section three (3), in township twenty- nine (29), range three (3) ; thence east two miles, on the line dividing townships twenty-nine (29) and thirty (30), to the northwest corner of the county of Miami (being a portion of the territory now belong- ing to the county of Cass), shall be and is hereby attached to the county of Miami, and shall hereafter constitute and form a part and portion of the territory of the said county of Miami."
The county was attached to the eighth judicial circuit for judicial purposes, and to the county of Cass for representative purposes.
No record of the proceedings of the commissioners appointed to lo- cate the seat of justice has been found, and if their report was filed it was probably destroyed in the courthouse fire of 1843. It is known, however, that they met at the house of Benjamin H. Scott, in accord-
99
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
ance with the provisions of the act, and decided upon a location for the county seat. Stephen says : "Some time during the summer of 1834, the commissioners appointed by the legislature, for the purpose of changing the county seat from Miamisport to Peru, met in the former place and ordered the change. The proprietors of the site of Peru, in consideration of the change of the county seat, donated the public square and built the court-house and jail."
John Crudson, John W. Miller and Alexander Jameson were ap- pointed commissioners of the new county and held their first session at the house of John McGregor on Wednesday, June 4, 1834. Benjamin H. Scott was appointed clerk pro tem, and John McGregor sheriff. The first business transacted by the board was the appointment of William M. Reyburn as county agent and Abner Overman as county treasurer. Louis Drouillard made application for the right to operate a ferry across the Wabash river, which was taken under advisement by the board until the next term, when his petition was granted upon payment of five dol- lars for the privilege. The first money paid into the county was for grocers' licenses issued by the board at the first session to Nathaniel McGuire and William Thompson, each of whom paid the sum of $12.50 therefor.
On the second day of this first session the board met at the house of Benjamin H. Scott, who opened the court in the absence of the sher- iff. The bond of William M. Reyburn for $1,500 as county agent was approved. His principal duty was to attend to the sale of lots, receive any funds donated for the use of the county and disburse the county revenues as directed by the commissioners. Two civil townships were formed, the northern one to be known as Jefferson and the southern as Peru, and an election was ordered in each township for justice of the peace on Saturday, June 21, 1834, the voting place in Peru township to be at Miamisport and in Jefferson at the house of the Widow Wilkin- son, in the village of Mexico. For Jefferson township William Bain was appointed inspector of election and John Plaster constable, and for Peru township William Coats was appointed inspector and James Petty constable.
At a special session of the commissioners held on June 19, 1834, the clerk was ordered to make out a poll book for an election to be held on the first Monday in August, and the first grand and petit jurors were appointed. The grand jury was composed of Zephaniah Wade, George W. Holman, John Plaster, William N. Hood, John M. Jackson, Jacob Linzee, Abner Overman, John Hoover, Joseph Clymer, Aaron Rhein- berger, Ira Evans and William Coats. The persons designated as petit jurors were: George Townsend, Jesse Wilkinson, Nathaniel McGuire,
100
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
John Wiseman, James T. Liston, William M. Reyburn, John Saunders, Ratliff Wilkinson, Richard Ransford, Walter D. Nesbit, Robert Wade, Isaac Marquiss, John Ray, William M. Wilkinson, Isaac Stewart, John Smith, William Cannon, Alexander Jameson, Joseph B. Campbell, Stew- art Forgy and James C. Taylor.
On August 4, 1834, the first election for county officers was held at the house of Louis Drouillard, in Miamisport. Sixty votes were cast. Benjamin H. Scott was elected clerk; Jacob Linzee, sheriff; John W. Miller, Alexander Jameson and John Crudson were continued as county commissioners, and Jacob Wilkinson and Stephen G. Shanks were elected associate judges.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Early in the spring of 1835 the county offices were removed from Miamisport to Peru and at the March term of the commissioners' court it was ordered that a county jail be erected upon the northeast corner of the public square, and a courthouse in the center of the square. Plans and specifications for the courthouse adopted by the board at this ses- sion provided for a brick building, forty feet square and two stories in height, which was to be erected by the proprietors of the town, in con- sideration of the seat of justice being removed to Peru. San:uel Mc- Clure was awarded the contract for the erection of the building and it was completed and accepted by the commissioners early in the year 1843. It was a substantial edifice, conveniently arranged, and at the time it was regarded as one of the model courthouses of the state. But the county did not long enjoy its use, for on the night of March 16, 1843, the building, with all its contents, was destroyed by fire.
On April 7, 1843, the board of commissioners issued an order for the erection of a brick building, 16 by 45 feet, with stone foundation, to be made as nearly fire-proof as possible and to be divided into three rooms for the offices of clerk, auditor and treasurer. George W. Good- rich was awarded the contract for the construction of this building, which was to be located upon the public square, for the sum of $769.00, one-half of which was to be paid on June 1, 1844, and the remainder in one year from that date. In June, 1848, Mr. Goodrich was employed to erect another building on the public square for the recorder's office. It was to be 16 by 20 feet in dimensions and was located near the clerk's office. These temporary buildings served as the executive offices of Miami county for nearly ten years, when the commissioners decided to erect a new courthouse upon the public square.
The corner-stone of the building was laid with appropriate cere-
101
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
monies on July 14, 1856, by A. C. Downey, grand master of the Free and Accepted Masons of Indiana. Nathan Crawford was the contractor and the original contract price of the courthouse was $29,600, but some changes and additions were made that increased the cost to some extent. The building was 60 by 80 feet in dimensions, with the principal county offices on the first floor, the court rooms on the second, jury rooms on the third, and a portion of the large basement was used for a jail. Four large fire-proof vaults were provided for the safekeeping of the rec- ords. The building, which was of brick and constructed in the "Nor- man castle" style of architecture, was completed in 1858. Some time in the seventies a mansard roof and clock were added and some other nec-
MIAMI COUNTY COURT HOUSE
essary repairs were made, with which the structure was used by the county until the erection of the present courthouse.
In the summer of 1905 a petition, bearing the requisite number of names, was presented to the board of county commissioners, praying for the erection of a new courthouse. The matter was presented to the county council and on September 7, 1905, the council, in regular ses- sion, appropriated $280,000 for a new building. On October 6, 1905, the council met in special session and made an additional appropriation of $14,000, with which to employ an architect, and at the same time authorized the issue of bonds to the amount of $280,000. These bonds were to be of the denomination of $1,000 each and were to be divided into twenty installments of $14,000 each, the first installment to be duc
102
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
and payable on January 1, 1907, and one installment on the first day of January annually thereafter until 1926, the bonds to bear four per cent interest.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.