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 22
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
A Methodist church was organized in this locality some twelve years before the town of Macy was laid out. The Christian church was formed in 1868. These two congregations are the principal religious societies in the town, though meetings are occasionally held by other denomina- tions.
While Macy has never grown to be a large town, each succeeding census since its establishment has shown a slight increase. In 1910 the population was three hundred and twenty. The town has a bank with a capital stock of $10,000, a local telephone company, several gen- eral stores, three hardware and implement stores, a hotel, a weekly newspaper, a grain elevator, a money order postoffice with three rural routes, telegraph and express offices, lodges of several of the leading secret and benevolent organizations, and is the trading center and ship- ping point for a large and rich agricultural district in Allen and Perry townships. At the beginning of the year 1914, Macy was out of debt and had a surplus of $1,400 in the town treasury.
MEXICO
Near the center of Jefferson township, beautifully situated on the Eel river, is the town of Mexico, one of the oldest towns in Miami
195
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
county. When the first settlers came into the Eel river valley, one of their great needs was a trading post of some kind. As inducement to some adventurous trader to locate in that part of the county the town of Mexico was laid out in August, 1834, by John B. and Simeon Wilkin- son. The original plat included one hundred and twenty-six lots, which would indicate that the proprietors were actuated somewhat by a spirit of speculation. Soon after the town was laid out a trading post was established by Bearss & Ewing, who carried on successful business for several years. The following year Asa Leonard built a large two-story log house and engaged in merchandising at Mexico. Washington Osborne was another pioneer merchant; Noah Sinks and John Hart- pence also sold goods in the town during its early years, and the firm of Train, Mason & Spencer operated a large store in the '50s.
Other early industries were the tailor shop of Samuel Brown; the shops of James Mason and a man named Leslie, blacksmiths; the wheel- right shop of a Mr. Beel, who was also a cabinet maker; the fanning mill factory of Frank Edwards; Joseph Oldham's tannery, and the ashery of John Griswold. The first hotel was the River House, which was opened by Jacob Wilkinson shortly after the town began to show signs of growth. By 1850 all the original lots were improved and the talk of a railroad created some interest in the future of the town, hence in August, 1854, the railroad additions of forty-five lots were platted and placed on the market. Other additions have since been made to Mexico, which has succeeded in "holding its own."
The Mexico Methodist church was founded in 1835; the German Baptist, or Dunkard church was established about two years later; the Baptist church was organized in 1861, and other denominations have held meetings in the town at various periods in its history.
When the Eel River Railroad was built through the county in the early '70s, the town of Mexico experienced a revival. The Mexico Man- ufacturing Company was incorporated in May, 1876, for the purpose of making furniture, bank and office fixtures, etc. Several new enter- prises were projected about the same time, some of which are still doing business. According to the census of 1910, the population of Mexico was then five hundred and twenty-one. The town has a good public school building, a large woolen mill, established in 1913, a bank organized in 1913, and there are several general stores, hardware and implement houses, so that Mexico is the supply point for a considerable portion of the rich Eel river valley.
MIAMI
In August, 1849, the original plat of Miami was laid out by James Herrell and soon after the first house was built by Alexander Blake.
196
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
It was a log structure and was used as a store by the owner, who was the first merchant in the village. The first plat included forty-five lots and five streets-Fulton and Cherry, running east and west, and Main, Elm and Walnut, running north and south. In the spring of 1851, William H. Cox made an addition of fifty-one lots, and the next year Richard Miller and Isaac Herrell platted an addition of seventy- two lots. Austin Herrell opened a store in 1851 and was closely con- nected with the business affairs of the town for more than twenty years. In 1870 he built a mill, which he conducted for several years. Another mill built about the same time was that of Ebenezer Humrickhouse, which was removed to Walton, Indiana, in 1880. The first sawmill was built by Alexander Blake, about 1852. A sawmill was in operation here as late as about 1894, when it was abandoned by the owners, Pomeroy & Keyes, who removed the machinery elsewhere.
A Methodist church society was organized in this neighborhood about the time the village of Miami was laid out, perhaps a little before that date, and this congregation built the first house of worship in the town. A Masonic lodge was organized in 1854 and an Odd Fellows' lodge in 1866. The latter was disbanded some years later. In 1910 the population of Miami was reported as three hundred. The principal business interests of the town at that time were a tile factory, two general stores, a grain elevator, and some minor concerns. Miami has a money order postoffice with one rural route, and a bank was organized in the summer of 1913. Miami has been noted for more than a quarter of a centry for its annual meetings of the Tri-County Old Settlers Asso- ciation.
NEAD
Nead is a small hamlet in Pipe Creek township. No regular plat of the place has ever been filed in the office of the county recorder, but the latest maps of Miami county locate it upon the southeast quarter of section 12, about one mile north of Big Pipe creek and four miles southwest of the city of Peru. Nead has a good public school and a general store and the population, according to Rand, McNally, was forty in the year 1910.
NICONZA
An old map of Miami county shows the village of Niconza on the southeast quarter of section 15, township 29, range 5, a short dis- tance north of Squirrel creek, in the eastern part of Perry township. Little can be learned of the place, farther than that it was an early
197
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
trading post that a postoffice was maintained there for some time during the early history of Perry township.
NORTH GROVE
The original plat of this town was filed for record on March 16, 1854, by William North, and was recorded under the name of Moore- field. It consisted of twenty-nine lots. In the fall of 1867, when the Pan Handle railroad was completed to the town, two additions were made to the town-Colaw's, consisting of fifteen lots, and Parks', con- sisting of thirteen lots. About that time the name was changed to North Grove. The first business house was erected by Abraham Colaw, on the corner afterward occupied by the firm of Stitt & Lee, and Solo- mon Younce opened a blacksmith shop soon after the town was laid out.
Early in the year 1912 Leonard G. Stitt and a number of other residents of North Grove presented a petition to the county commis- sioners asking for the incorporation of the town. On February 6, 1912, the board issued an order for an election to be held on the 27th of the same month, when the citizens living within the territory it was proposed to incorporate should vote on the question. At that election fifty-six votes were cast-thirty-nine in favor of incorporation and seventeen against it-and on March 6, 1912, the board of commis- sioners ordered that North Grove be made an incorporated town. In 1910 the population of North Grove was reported as three hundred and fifty. The town has several stores, particularly the grocery and drug store of L. G. Stitt and the general store of Claude Jones, two grain elevators, large lumber interests, a Masonic lodge, a good public school building, a money order postoffice with one rural route, and the usual number of small shops found in towns of its size.
PAW PAW
About 1840 Richard Miller established a trading post on the tract of land entered by him just north of Bachelor creek, in the eastern part. of Richland township. A settlement grew up about his store and in April, 1847, the town of Paw Paw was regularly platted and recorded. Among the early mechanics and industries were James Wright, black- smith ; Alvin Kite and George King, wagon makers; George Brown and Lawson Humphreys, cabinet makers; Richard Miller, tannery; a hat factory; and a Dr. Jones was the first physician. When the Eel River Railroad was built trade was diverted from Paw Paw to other towns and it is now one of the deserted villages of Miami county. Paw Paw
198
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
was the home of the late Hon. Robert Miller, at one time state senator, and his son, Rev. S. C. Miller, still lives in the vicinity.
PEORIA
Situated on the picturesque Mississinewa river, in the eastern part of Butler township, is the old town of Peoria, which was laid out by Isaac Litzenberger in October, 1845. The first house was built by Joseph Younce and the first store was opened by Mr. Litzenberger, soon after he had the plat surveyed. Moses Falk was an early trader here and Dr. John C. Helm was the first physician. A postoffice called "Reserve" was maintained here for several years, deriving its name from the reservation granted to Ozahshinquah, which lay just above the village. Peoria was at one time a trading point of considerable import- ance, but its greatness waned with the building of the railroads and the diversion of trade to other towns. James Long, postmaster and general merchant, has been a prominent figure in Peoria for many years.
PERRYSBURG
Early in the year 1837 John R. Wilkinson and Matthew Fenimore purchased a tract of land in the southern part of sections 1 and 2, in the western part of what is now Union township, and there laid out the town of Perrysburg in June of that year. The original plat consisted of thirty-six lots. Matthew Fenimore established a trading post there about the time the town was laid out, and two years later Perrysburg contained about half a dozen residences, a tavern, the store, a black- smith shop and a church. William Burnett was one of the early hotel keepers and Dr. Henry Howe was one of the pioneer physicians, per- haps very first to practice his profession in the village. Before the Lake Erie & Western Railroad was built, Perrysburg was the center of trade for a large district of the surrounding country, but after that much of its trade went to the new towns that grew up along the railroad. At the present time the principal business interests are the brick and tile factory, two general stores and a blacksmith shop. The population in 1910 was one hundred.
PETTYSVILLE
In the eastern part of Richland township, on the Eel river and the Vandalia Railroad, is the village and postoffice of Pettysville. It was platted by Daniel Petty, who opened a store at that point when the railroad was built in 1872. A postoffice was established a little later
199
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
and is still in existence, one route from it supplying mail to the adjacent rural districts. G. T. Grimes is the present postmaster. Pettysville reported a population of sixty in 1910. It has a general store, a grain elevator and ships considerable quantities of grain, live stock and other farm products.
PIERCEBURG
The old town of Pierceburg was platted in the spring of 1853 by John H. Miller, Simon Snavely, F. W. White and Daniel Mendenhall. The original plat consisted of forty-eight lots, about one-half of which lay in Wabash county and the others were in sections 10 and 15, in the eastern part of Erie township. Little can be learned regarding this old village, but it does not appear that it ever became a place of much importance as a trading point.
RIDGEVIEW
Although this town is incorporated and has a government of its own, it is practically a part of the city of Peru. It occupies the tract of land once owned by Daniel R. Bearss, just north of and adjoining the city limits and the history of its industries, schools, etc., is given in the chapter devoted to the city of Peru.
SANTA FE
In the spring of 1845 Ebenezer Fenimore laid out the town of Santa Fe, on the southeast quarter of section 32, in the extreme southern part of Butler township. Soon after it was platted William S. White opened a general store and when the town was two years old it boasted a saw- mill, the store, a schoolhouse and perhaps half a dozen residences. In 1850 an addition of twenty-six lots was made to the town. Fenimore & Britton built a mill on Pipe Creek, near the town, and operated it until it was destroyed by fire in 1869. Santa Fe was a thriving lit- tle place until the Pan Handle Railroad was built, when much of its trade went to Amboy and McGrawsville. Upon the completion of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, a station called New Santa Fe was estab- lished on that line about three-fourths of a mile north of the old town. There is a grain elevator at the station and since the building of this railroad there has been a slight revival of business in Santa Fe. The population in 1910 was 150.
SNOW HILL
Snow Hill, once a village of promise in the northeast corner of Har- rison township, was laid out some time in the early '50s by Jacob Miller
200
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
and Elijah Lieurance, on section 3, township 25, range 5. The pro- prietors of the town established a large steam saw mill there about the time the plat was filed and soon after a blacksmith shop was opened near the mill. A little later a man named Lawson started a general store, which became an important trading house for the surrounding country. Mr. Lawson was killed by a falling limb striking him on the head, while he was on his way from Peru with a wagon load of goods, and his successor in the mercantile business at Snow Hill was Parker Hollingsworth. Jesse Miller started a cabinet shop about 1854 and a number of the articles of furniture he made are still to be seen in the homes of some of the old settlers. After the completion of the Pan Handle Railroad Snow Hill began to decline. Jesse and George Bower bought the lots as they were offered for sale and finally succeeded in having the plat vacated.
SOUTH PERU
The plat of South Peru was filed for record on September 12, 1873, by Laban, Elizabeth, Maria and Rachel Armstrong, and William Erwin, whose wife was Elizabeth A. Armstrong. It consisted of thirty-eight lots, but several additions have since been made, the most notable ones being the additions of Cole and Armstrong. The town is situated in the northern part of Washington township and is separated from the city of Peru by the Wabash river. A wheel factory was started on the south side of the river two years before the town of South Peru was laid out. It was afterward converted into a furniture factory and was burned in 1876. Other industries were a packing house and a brewery. The population in 1910 was 866. In January, 1914, a movement was started by the citizens of the town to secure the annexation of the suburb to the city of Peru. The ordinance of annexation was passed on March 10, 1914. (See the chapter on the City of Peru.)
STOCKDALE
The old town of Stockdale was located on the line that divides Miami and Wabash counties. The larger part of the plat was in Wabash county, but a portion of the town was in the extreme south- east corner of Perry township. Stockdale was laid out by Thomas Goudy in 1837 and for a number of years it was the principal trading point for the early settlers of that region. When the Eel River (now the Vandalia) Railroad was built and the town of Roann .grew up only a short distance away, the village of Stockdale ceased to grow and after a few years began to decline. A decade after the completion of the
201
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
railroad the grist mill and a few dwellings were all that remained of the once active, thriving village.
STRINGTOWN
About two and a half miles southeast of Mexico was once a settle- ment called Stringtown, from the fact that there were a number of houses "strung" along both sides of the Peru and Mexico road. Evans Bean had a general store here at one time and there was a grist mill operated by John S. Winters. The mill was finally destroyed by fire, the store was removed to some other locality, and the last business con- cern in Stringtown was the cabinet shop of a man named Ireland. After his removal to Mexico the other residents one by one departed and nothing of the old settlement remains.
UNION CITY
The town of Union City was laid out by George Hill in April, 1861, on the southwest quarter of section 31, township 29, range 4, about two miles west of present village of Deedsville. The original plat consisted of seventeen lots. On some of the old maps of Miami county this place appears as "Union," but little can be learned regard- ing its growth or the cause of its decay. It probably succumbed to the inevitable when the railroad was built and the towns of Macy and Deedsville came into prominence as trading centers.
URBANA
On April 21, 1854, Andrew Wolpert filed with the county recorder a plat of a town to be known as Urbana, located in the northeast quarter of section 12, township 25, range 4, a short distance north of the present village of McGrawsville. The plat shows eighteen lots, but the town never became a place of much importance, owing chiefly to the fact that McGrawsville had the advantage of the railroad and drew the trade of the neighborhood.
WAGONER
This village is a station on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad in the extreme northwest corner of the county. It is the outgrowth of the railroad and in 1910 reported a population of 105. Wagoner has a saw mill, two general stores, a money order postoffice with one rural route, and is the shipping and supply point for a large farming district in the northwestern part of Miami and the southern part of Fulton county.
202
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
WAUPECONG
Waupecong is the largest town in Clay township. It is situated within one mile of the Howard county line and about four miles east of Bennett's Switch. When the plat of the town was filed on April 20, 1849, by James Highland, Jacob Hight and Andrew Petty, it was given the name of White Hall. Andrew Petty established a trading post and was also interested in the lumber business. Otto P. Webb put in a large stock of goods soon after the town was laid out and carried on successful business for several years. Other early merchants were H. D. Hattery, Andrew Cable, George W. Lawver and Joseph and Henry Mygrant. The first physician was a Dr. Morehead. A man named Miller established a sawmill at an early day and a steam flour mill was erected some years later by John Smucker, who sold out to Jacob Shrock. Although some distance from a railroad, Waupecong has continued to be the principal trading point for a large and rich agricultural district in the southern part of Miami and the northern part of Howard county. The population of the village in 1910 was 205
WHEATVILLE
An old map of Miami county shows the village of Wheatville as being situated on section 36, in the southern part of Perry township. The writer has been unable to learn anything concerning its founders or the date when it was established. It was evidently a place of some importance. at the beginning of the Civil war, in 1861, as the adjutant- general's reports contain the names of a number of Miami county volunteers who gave their address as Wheatville, and one of the companies of the Indiana Legion was known as the "Wheatville Guards."
WOOLEYTOWN
Amos Wooley and his three sons came to Miami county in 1846 and settled in the northwest corner of Richland township. The young men were mechanics and soon after their arrival they started a black- smith and wagon shop on their father's farm in section three. A few years later William Harp, a son-in-law of the elder Mr. Wooley, opened a general store. A settlement grew up about the store and shop, which in time became known as Wooleytown. Peter Hand & Son engaged in the manufacture of grain cradles, which were sold through- out Miami and the adjoining counties, and J. M. Hoffman had a shop from which he turned out looms for weaving rag carpet and all sorts
203
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
of woolen fabrics. After a few years Mr. Hand removed his store to Five Corners and Abraham Leedy became the merchant at Wooleytown. After the building of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad and the found- ing of Denver, only two miles away, Wooleytown began to decline and within a few years all its former greatness and prosperity had departed, never to return.
POSTOFFICES
The following list of postoffices in Miami county is taken from the Official Postal Guide for July, 1913. The figures after the name of each indicate the number of rural free delivery routes emanating from that office. Amboy, 2; Bennett's Switch, 1; Bunker Hill, 1; Chili, 1; Converse, 3; Deedsville, 1; Denver, 2; Gilead; Loree, 1; McGraws- ville, 1; Macy, 3; Mexico, 1; Miami, 1; North Grove, 1; Peru, 12; Pettysville, 1; Wagoner, 1. All are money order postoffices and the offices at Converse and Peru are authorized to issue international money orders, good in foreign countries.
CHAPTER XI MILITARY HISTORY
EARLY MILITIA SYSTEM-THE PERU BLUES-THE CHIPANUE WAR-WAR WITH MEXICO-THE CIVIL WAR-MIAMI COUNTY PROMPT TO RESPOND -THIRTEENTH REGIMENT-OTHER REGIMENTS IN WHICH MIAMI COUNTY WAS REPRESENTED-FOURTEENTH BATTERY-MISCELLANE- OUS ENLISTMENTS-THE INDIANA LEGION-THE ROLL OF HONOR- RELIEF WORK AT HOME-SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
Soon after the government of the United States was established, Con- gress passed an act providing for the enrollment of all able-bodied male citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except in cer- tain cases, as the nation's militia. The men thus enrolled were to be formed into companies, regiments, brigades and divisions, with the proper commanding officers, in accordance with such regulations as the legis- latures of the several states might provide. In the constitution of Indiana, adopted in 1816, it was provided that the governor should be commander-in-chief of the militia of the state, and that all military offi- cers should be appointed and commissioned by him.
In 1836 a military company was organized at Peru, with Alvin M. Higgins as captain and Vincent O'Donald at first lieutenant. In cele- brating the Fourth of July that year, Lieutenant O'Donald was injured in an accident and died soon afterward. The company adopted the name of the "Peru Blues," and it is a matter of regret that the muster rolls cannot be found, so that the names of this pioneer military organiza- tion might be given. One of the principal duties of the company was to aid in protecting Col. Abel C. Pepper, the agent of the United States, as he passed through the Wabash country paying the Indians their annuities.
So far as can now be learned, the only time this company was ever called into actual service was in the fall of 1836. George W. Ewing, of the trading firm of W. G. & G. W. Ewing, was a commissioned officer in the state militia, and about the time that Colonel Pepper was engaged in making the Indian payments in the early fall of 1836, Colonel Ewing despatched Daniel R. Bearss to Peru with the information that the Pot-
204
,
205
HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
tawatomi Indians had risen against the government and with orders to Captain Higgins to march with his company to the scene of the trou- ble in Fulton county. Within a short time the forty or fifty members of the "Blues" assembled, fully armed and equipped for the march. A number of citizens joined the company as volunteers and the expedi- tion set out over the Mexico road. Some of the men were mounted and as a "war measure" Captain Higgins ordered those on foot to press into service any horses along the line of march. The order was obeyed and a number of horses were impressed, but not without some resistance on the part of the owners.
Near Rochester the Blues were joined by Captain Fitch's company from Logansport, when the real cause of the uprising was learned. It seems that Colonel Ewing, acting in the interest of his firm, had secured possession, in some way, of the money with which Colonel Pep- per was to make the Indian payment and refused to return it, claiming the Indians were in debt to his firm the full amount of their payment. When Captains Higgins and Fitch were informed of the true state of affairs, they refused to obey the orders of Colonel Ewing and placed their companies at the disposal of Colonel Pepper. Ewing then returned the money to the paymaster and the militia remained with him until the Indians had been paid. The troops were called out by Colonel Ewing on September 25, 1836, and returned to their homes on October 1st. The place where the payment was made was called Chipanue, and the affair was afterward humorously alluded to as the "Chipanue War."
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.