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 13
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On October 19, 1905, the board of commissioners-John E. Davis, James S. Bair and Alfred Ramsey-met in special session to consider the plans submitted by various architects. After some time spent in this work the board, on December 18, 1905, entered into an agreement with the firm of Lehman & Schmitt, of Cleveland, Ohio, to furnish plans and do all other necessary work appertaining to an architect in the erection of the new courthouse.
The old Presbyterian church on West Third street was leased as temporary quarters for the county officers, and on February 13, 1906, the clerk, auditor, treasurer, recorder and sheriff were ordered to be- gin the removal of their offices by the 15th of March. In the meantime Jacob Casper had become a member of the board of commissioners. He protested against the action of the board in thus securing temporary quarters and his protest was made a matter of record, but the majority of the board voted to proceed according to the original designs.
On April 10, 1906, proposals for the construction of the new court- house were ordered to be advertised for, the competition to be open until two o'clock p. m., June 7, 1906. The proposal of P. H. McCor- mick & Company, of Columbus, Indiana, was accepted, and on July 5, 1906, the board entered into a contract with that firm to complete the building within twenty-six months from August 1, 1906, for the sum of $237,000. Owing to injunction proceedings, which went through the supreme court of the state before a final adjustment was reached, some delay was experienced and the building was not completed until December 31, 1910.
The litigation which delayed the construction of the building grew out of a difference between the county auditor and the board of com- missioners at the time of the selection of an architect, the board choos- ing one firm while the auditor was actively favoring another. The dif- ference grew more pronounced and spread to the people, among whom two factions rapidly developed. Each side was supported by prominent men and taxpayers, intent upon exhibiting their confidence in the hon- esty and fidelity of their favorites among the contending officials. The following county campaign found the contest waging bitterly in the canvass for county commissioners and many ugly charges were made by each side. The usual issues in such an election were also involved and no one can say positively what decided the matter, but the result was that the candidates favored by the auditor's faction were elected. Mr. Casper was one of those elected and his protest mentioned above was
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made to voice the sentiments of the opposition to the old board. But in all the suits, grand jury investigations, appeals, etc., the original action of the county board which began the proceedings was not dis- turbed and it is believed that nothing was developed at any time to descredit either of the rival factions. Thus, though all ended happily, there was a tense feeling and bitter controversy for many months.
At the September term in 1908 the board of commissioners adopted a series of resolutions relative to the laying of the corner-stone, the date for which was fixed for October 7, 1908. The principal features of the resolutions were as follows: 1. That the corner-stone be laid at the southwest corner of the building. 2. That the only inscription on the stone should be the date "October 7, A. D. 1908." 3. That the cere- monies should be in charge of the grand lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Indiana. 4. That the arrangement of a program for the occasion should be delegated to the Peru Commercial Club. 5. That the board, through the auditor, invite all organized lodges and societies in Miami county to attend. 6. That each church and lodge in the county prepare a list of members for deposit in the corner-stone and file the same with the auditor at least ten days before October 7th. In addition to these lists the board decided that the corner-stone should contain all the documents, etc., taken from the corner-stone of the old courthouse ; a copy of each newspaper published in Miami county ; the names of the members of the Miami county bar; the names of the county officers, and such other documents or articles as might be agreed upon by the board and the committee of arrangements.
October 7, 1908, was a red-letter day in the calendar of Miami county. It was estimated that twenty thousand people were present to wit- ness the ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the new temple of justice. Charles R. Hughes, as chairman of the Commercial Club's committee of arrangements, had provided for a procession prior to the laying of the corner-stone. Of this procession F. M. Stutesman was grand mar- shal. Following him came a detachment of the city police. Then in the order named came the Third Regiment band, the carriages containing the county commissioners, the contractors and architects, the speakers for the occasion, the county and city officials. After the carriages came the Peru Fire Department, fifty mounted members of the Horse Thief Detective Association, forty automobiles driven by their owners, the Macy band, Company L, of the Indiana National Guard, the Denver band, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, the various trades unions and labor organiza- tions of the county, the Amboy band, the manufacturers of Peru, the Bunker Hill band, the Miami County Medical Society, the Red Men's
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band, the several fraternal societies, including the Grand Army of the Republic, the Elks' band of Logansport, the Masonic bodies and the grand lodge officers.
When the procession arrived at the public square, Mr. Hughes mounted the platform that had been prepared by the contractor at the corner-stone and reported to President Arthur L. Bodurtha of the Commercial Club, that his committee had completed all arrangements for the ceremonies. Mr. Bodurtha, acting in the capacity of chairman of the civic exercises, then introduced Hon. Charles A. Cole, who de- livered a masterly oration suitable to the occasion, reviewing the growth
THE OLD COURT HOUSE
and development of the county since the first courthouse had been erected more than sixty-five years before. Columbus H. Hall, of Frank- lin, spoke for the Masonic fraternity, and Grand Master Charles N. Mikels made a short address, after which the stone was placed in posi- tion according to the Masonic rites.
Besides the articles designated by the commissioners at the Septem- ber term, the stone contained a directory of the city of Peru, a list of the officers and members of the Peru Commercial Club, a roster of the Miami county Medical Society, a list of the rural mail routes from the Peru postoffice, four five-dollar national bank bills from the First Na- tional Bank of Peru, a ten-dollar national bank bill issued by the Citi- zens National Bank of Peru, an envelope from the contractors contain-
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ing the names of the members of the firm, their foreman, etc., the busi- ness card of the architects, by-laws of the various Masonic bodies in the county, samples of grain furnished by the Canal Elevator Company, the official program and badges used during the ceremony, and a photo- graph of the Peru base ball club of 1908.
The courthouse was formally dedicated on April 6, 1911. Several weeks before that date preparations for the event were commenced by the appointment of various committees. The executive committee was composed of Charles R. Hughes, active chairman, Charles H. Brown- ell, honorary chairman, James W. Hurst, Benjamin Wilson, William A. Sutton, Frank C. Phelps, Alfred Ramsey, John C. Davis, Ezekiel V. Robbins, Frank Daniels, William Allen, Peter C. Stineman, Frank Bearss, Edgar P. Kling, Noah Miller, James S. Bair, Frank Isler, L. D. Lamm, Omer Holman and John Tomey.
In the following list of committees the first named in each instance was chairman of the committee: Finance, Charles Simons, John Tomey and James Bair; Reception, T. M. Busby, T. M. Ginney, Charles Ward, Joseph N. Tillett, B. E. Wallace, R. A. Edwards, John J. Kreutzer, R. H. Bouslog, George C. Miller, Hugh McCaffrey, Frank M. Stutesman and all the members of the executive committee; Invitation, Frank D. Butler, T. M. Busby, T. M. Ginney, Charles Ward, W. A. Hammond, W. H. Zimmerman, E. T. Reasoner, Omer Holman; Decoration, Alsa Vance, Henry Kittner, Bernard L. Wallace and the county officials ; Entertainment, Omer Holman, Henry Bailey and Harvey Cole; Music W. H. Augur, Charles M. Charters and T. G. Stewart; Speakers, E. P. Kling, L. D. Lamm and John Tomey; Press, W. H. Zimmerman, W. A. Woodring, A. L. Bodurtha, Charles Winter, Henry Myers, William McDowell, Louis Dice, D. O. Melton, E. E. Miller, Omer Holman, Arthur Petty and Thomas Walsh.
Beginning at 9 o'clock A. M. on the day of the ceremonies, con- certs were given by the Third Regiment band and the Peru City band, and at 1:30 P. M. came the dedication proper. After music by the Third Regiment band and an invocation by Rev. Harry Nyce, the Miller Brothers quartette rendered a selection. Then Judge J. T. Cox, in a short address, introduced Hon. Thomas R. Marshall, governor of Indi- ana, who was the principal speaker of the occasion. Following Governor Marshall were vocal solos by Mrs. Mary Elliott-Henness and Fred DeBolt, music by the Third Regiment band and the Peru City Orches- tra, and addresses by Judge Joseph N. Tillett and P. H. McCormack, the builder of the courthouse.
At 7:30 that evening was held another meeting, at which addresses were made by Ethan T. Reasoner, Frank D. Butler, N. N. Antrim and
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Harvey Cole. At 9 o'clock the members of the various committees and the invited guests repaired to the Bearss Hotel, where a banquet was given by the contractors, P. H. McCormack & Company. Frank D. Butler acted as toastmaster and responded to the toast "The Occa- sion." Other toasts and responses were as follows: "The Designer of Our New Courthouse," Theodore Schmitt; "The Constructor of Our New Courthouse," P. H. McCormack; "The Press of Our City and County," A. L. Bodurtha ; "The Best City on the Banks of the Wabash, Its People, Buildings and Grounds," C. Y. Andrews; "Justice Old and New from a Lawyer's Standpoint," Ethan T. Reasoner; "Mine Host," John F. Lawrence.
At the evening meeting there was both vocal and instrumental music and the program at the banquet was interspersed by appropriate selec- tions rendered by the orchestra.
The new courthouse is constructed of Indiana oolitic limestone, is, three stories in height, and is of neat and attractive design. On the first and second floors are the various county offices and the third floor is occupied by the court room, witness and jury rooms, etc. As one enters the building from Broadway he will notice on the left a large marble tablet giving the names of the county officers during the erec- tion of the building, the names of the contractors and architects and the date of completion, while on the right is another tablet giving the location of the different county offices. Altogether, Miami county has one of the model courthouses of the state.
The first county jail was a small log structure erected by Matthew Fenimore on the northeast corner of the public square. It would not be considered much of a prison in the present age, but at the time it was built it was ample for the county's needs. It contained no massive iron doors or cells, but it was strong enough to hold the prisoners committed to its keeping until it was destroyed by fire in 1852. The county was then without a regular jail until the completion of the courthouse in 1858, when the basement of that building was fitted up with cells for the detention of prisoners. Here the jail remained until the erection of the present building at the northwest corner of . Fifth and Wabash streets.
On June 16, 1898, the commissioners purchased the lot on that cor- ner (Lot No. ,225, original plat of the town of Peru) from Salome Koerner for $1,425, as a site for a new jail, and the following day the purchase was approved by Jabez T. Cox, then judge of the circuit court.
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A special session of the commissioners was called to meet on Janu- ary 10, 1899, to consider the question of erecting a new jail and the minutes of that special session contain the following entry :
"The board, after due consideration of the matter, are of the opin- ion that a public necessity exists for the building of a sheriff's resi- dence and jail, and that the same ought to be built during the present year," and made the following order :
"It is ordered that a sheriff's residence and jail be built the pres- ent year of 1899 on Lot 225 in the original plat of the town (now city)
L
L
MIAMI COUNTY JAIL
of Peru, Miami county, in the State of Indiana, owned by Miami county and purchased for that purpose, that the same shall not exceed in cost thirty thousand dollars."
At the same session an invitation was extended to architects to sub- mit plans, the board reserving the right to reject any or all such de- signs. On January 13, 1899, the board adopted the plans submitted by the Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company, of St. Louis, Mis- souri, the plans to be submitted to and approved by the State Board of Charities. This board recommended some alterations in the plans, which were made by the Pauly Company, and the county attorney was
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directed to serve notice upon Mrs. Salome Koerner that the county wanted possession of the lot by the 1st day of March.
On February 23, 1899, the county attorney was instructed to ad- vertise for bids for the erection of the building and on April 22, 1899. the contract was awarded to Clifton & Andres for the general construc- tion of the residence and jail for $14,197.70; the contract for the steam heating, plumbing, gas fitting, etc., was at the same time given to Michael Reilly for $2,100.56, and the contract for the iron and steel cell work to the Pauly Company for $8,577.50, making the total cost of the build- ing $24,875.76, though some slight changes were made that increased the cost a little beyond this amount. The corner-stone of the building bears the inscription : "Erected in 1899. Jesse W. Miller, Daniel King, A. W. Clending, County Commissioners. Clifton & Andres, Builders." The building was completed early in the year 1900 and since that time Miami county's jail compares favorably with those in other counties of the state of similar size and population.
An account of the early courts of the county may be found in the chapter on Bench and Bar, and a history of the county infirmary or asylum is included in Chapter XVIII.
CHAPTER VII
TOWNSHIP HISTORY
FORMATION OF THE FIRST TWO CIVIL TOWNSHIPS-NOW FOURTEEN IN THE COUNTY-ALLEN-BUTLER-CLAY-DEER GREEK-ERIE-HARRI- SON-JACKSON-PIONEER SETTLERS IN EACH-FIRST BIRTHS, MAR- RIAGES AND DEATHS-MILLS AND OTHER EARLY INDUSTRIES-SCHOOLS -EARLY RELIGIOUS SERVICES-TOWNS AND VILLAGES-RAILROADS- MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS.
As stated in the chapter on Settlement and Organization, the first civil townships in Miami county were erected by the board of county commissioners at the first session in June, 1834. The county was then divided into the two townships called Jefferson and Peru, but authori- ties differ as to their boundaries and extent. Stephens, in his History of Miami County (p. 57), says: "The land in the south part of the county had not yet been sold by the Indians. That north of the Wabash was ordered to be divided into two townships, to be known as Peru and Jefferson. "
A History of Miami County published by Brant & Fuller, in 1887, says on page 276: "During the first term of commissioners' court, which was held at Miamisport, June, 1834, the county was divided into two townships by commencing at the east line of the county and run- ning on the line dividing Sections 22 and 15 to the west line of the county, the township north of said line to be known and designated as Jefferson township, the one south to be known and designated by the name of Peru township."
There is something lacking in both these descriptions. Stephens fails to give the dividing line between the townships and the latter account fails to take into consideration the fact that there are five places in the county where lines could be run dividing Sections 22 and 15-one in each tier of Congressional townships. If only that portion of the county lying north of the Wabash was included in the two town- ships first created, and the dividing line was between Sections 22 and 15, it was probably the line dividing those sections in Township 28. which line passes through Denver and now forms the northern boundary
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
of Jefferson township. The line dividing Sections 22 and 15 in Township 27 is half a mile south of the present southern boundary of Jefferson township. It is equally distant from the northern and southern bound- aries of the county. If the commissioners anticipated the acquisition of the Indian lands south of the Wabash, and included the entire county in the two townships of Peru and Jefferson, this line was probably the one designated. The destruction of the early records makes it impos- sible to consult the official act of the board in the erection of these first two townships.
As the population of the county increased new townships were cre- ated from time to time, until now there are fourteen in the county, viz. : Allen, Butler, Clay, Deer Creek, Erie, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, Peru, Pipe Creek, Richland, Union and Washington.
ALLEN TOWNSHIP
This township occupies the northwest corner of the county. It is bounded on the north by Fulton county ; on the east by Perry township ; on the south by Union township, and on the west by the county of Ful- ton. Its area is about 14,600 acres, or nearly twenty-three square miles. The surface is generally level, though in the southern and southeastern portions there are some irregular undulations. When the first white men came to this part of the county they found a dense forest of beech, ash, walnut, poplar, maple, several species of oak, elm and maple trees. Much of the land was then so swampy that it was unfit for cultivation, but a thorough system of artificial drainage was completed in time, and now some of the best crops in the northern part of the county are raised in Allen township. Among the early settlers the marshes were allowed to grow up in cranberries and whortleberries, but since the land has been reclaimed by drainage these crops have given way to others yield- ing greater profit. Agriculture and stock raising are the principal occu- pations. Wheat, oats, corn, hay and potatoes are the leading agricul- tural products.
John Horton is credited with being the first actual white settler in Allen township. Late in the year 1834 he selected a claim in the north- western part of the township, where he built a cabin and began the work of clearing a patch of ground for a crop the next year. With him came T. J. Holcomb and T. N. Wheatley, who located their claims just over the line, in Fulton county. In March, 1835, Mr. Horton brought his family to the new home in the wilderness and for a whole year was the only resident in the township. In 1836 George Neece settled about half a mile north of the present town of Macy and his brother William came a little later and settled about a mile farther north. The former
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remained only a short time, when he sold his claim and removed to one of the western states. The same year Jonathan Williams located about two and a half miles north of the present town of Macy. His brother, Isaac Williams, purchased the Neece place and became a resident of the township.
The records of the land office show that the first entry of land within the limits of Allen township was made by Charles W. Cathcart in 1835, when he obtained a patent for the north half of the southwest quarter of Section 4, in the northeast corner of the township, and soon after- ward Alexander B. Morrison entered a tract near by.
During the year 1836 there was a large immigration to the township and a number of land entries were recorded. Among those who came in this year were David and Samuel Hoover, Asa and Nathaniel Leon- ard, William Smith, Samuel A. Mann, Alexander Wilson, James and Newberry Wheeldon, John G. Gibson, Elias Beard, David and Samuel Harp, George Harkins, William Cannon, Jeremiah E. Cary, Eli Pugh, Joseph Cary and Jesse Yost. The entries made by these men and a few others covered practically every portion of the township.
In 1837 a number of inhabitants were added to the population. John Wilkinson and his four sons-George, Anderson, James and Bald- win-came from Jefferson township, where they had settled in 1835, when the family first came from Ohio. The father and sons entered land in the immediate vicinity of Macy, George Wilkinson taking up the tract upon which the town was afterward laid out. John Reiker entered a tract in the eastern part of the township; David Kinder located on Section 6, near the Fulton county line; Alexander Jameson, Gartin Cal- away, W. T. Squires and T. J. Holcomb entered Section 7 directly south of Kinder; A. M. Campbell and Peter Harshman settled on Section 9; Daniel Mendenhall, Thomas Clemens and Sullivan Waite on Section 17, about a mile east of Macy. Others who came in this year were Andrew Highland, Ebenezer Fenimore, Stephen Brewer, Elias Bills, Charles. Lowe, Townsend Evans and Daniel Lee. William R. Mowbray entered land, but did not remain long in the township.
By 1842 all the government land in the township, with the exception of a few small tracts, was taken up, by far the larger part of it by actual settlers, who were rapidly converting the wilderness into a land of hus- bandry. Among those who settled in the township between the years 1837 and 1842 were George Hakins, John McCree, Nathaniel and George Bryant, Samuel Carr, Frederick Foor, William Boggs, Henry Stude- baker, Richard and Joseph Endsley, the Baileys and the Carveys.
Allen township remained a part of Union until September 6, 1859, when the board of county commissioners ordered the erection of a new
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township from the northern part of Union, to be named in honor of United States Senator William Allen, of Ohio. A few weeks after this order was issued, an election for township officers was held at the house of Anderson Wilkinson, who acted as inspector of the election. At that time Frederick Huffman was elected justice of the peace and James Wilkinson was elected township trustee. At the next regular election William Fenimore was chosen trustee, but before the expiration of his term he resigned to enter the Union army at the beginning of the Civil war and Anderson Wilkinson was appointed to serve for the remainder of the term
The first white child born in the township was probably Delilah Hatch, daughter of William and Margaret Hatch, who was born in December, 1838. John Wilkinson died on December 24, 1838, and his death was the first in the township. The first marriage is believed to have been that of Elijah Ogle and Catharine Wilkinson, which was sol- emnized in 1838, short time before the death of the bride's father.
The first school in Allen township was taught by Miss Sarah Bryant in 1839, in a cabin that had been built for a residence on the farm of Matthias Carvey. The next year Miss Betty Bailey taught a term in the same place, and in that year the first schoolhouse was erected upon the farm that had been entered by George Neece in 1836. Here the first school was taught by George Wilkinson in the fall and winter of 1840. The next year two schoolhouses were erected-one in the eastern part of the township and the other at the old village of Five Corners, near the southwest corner. In 1913 there were five schoolhouses in the town- ship, two of which were brick and the other three were frame. The esti- mated value of these buildings was $7,200. During the school year of 1912-13 there were 292 pupils enrolled in the public schools and ten teachers were employed, two of whom were in the high school at Macy. The amount paid for teachers' salaries during the year was $4,390.
One of the earliest industries was the "ashery" started by William Squires in 1840. For a number of years this concern supplied much of the soda used by the pioneers of Allen township. In 1842 Stewart Bai- ley began the manufacture of brick on the Sullivan Waite farm, but the first brick house in the township was not built until 1856, when George Harkins erected a brick dwelling. In that year Runkle & Woodring began the operation of a steam saw mill, with a run of small corn buhrs attached. This was a great accommodation to the settlers and proved a good investment for the proprietors. After a successful career of about three years the boiler of this mill exploded and killed three men -a Mr. Hart and his son William and a man named Whipple.
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