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 31
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At noon on the day oil was first struck, there were 150 feet of oil in the tube and at two o'clock it had risen to a height of 400 feet. Next morning, when the first visitors arrived at the oil well they found the oil flowing out at the top of the pipe, at the rate of about fifteen barrels per day. The next day the well was capped until tanks could be constructed to take care of the oil, which was pronounced by experts to be of fine quality. The People's Company was then regu- larly incorporated and an assessment levied upon the stockholders for funds to purchase tanks and pumping machinery. A committee, consisting of David Strouse, A. T. Reed, A. L. Bodurtha, Charles A. Cole, Frank Bearss, Lewis Baker, George Rettig, James H. Fetter and Dr. E. H. Griswold, was appointed to take charge of the well with full power to care for and market the oil.
Well No. 2 was drilled by the People's Company before the end of August and came in with 150 barrels per day. Then the excite- ment began to be made manifest. Oil men from all over the country flocked to Peru, some of them to drill wells, but the majority of them to lease lands and hold them for speculation. Probably a score of oil companies were organized and incorporated within sixty days from the time the first oil was struck. Hotels and restaurants were crowded with visitors to the new oil field and livery men reaped a rich harvest in taking prospectors to see land owners with a view to obtaining leases. Newspaper correspondents from many of the metropolitan dailies came and saw, and write glowing accounts of the Peru oil field, which added to the excitement and increased the number of prospectors.
Among the oil companies organized were the Peru Oil Company, with a capital stock of $200,000; C. H. Brownell, president; R. A. Edwards, vice-president; R. H. Bouslog, secretary and treasurer.
The Miami Oil and Gas Company was incorporated on September 13, with seventy-five stockholders; Michael Burke, president; W. H. Zimmerman, vice-president; Leroy Shauman, secretary and treasurer.
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This company was organized to drill wells on the property of Frank Kelly.
The Klondike Oil Company was organized with C. S. Jackson as president; W. S. Lentz, vice-president; John O'Hara, secretary ; V. S. Jackson, treasurer, and Joseph Bergman, manager. The first wells drilled by this company, which was purely a home institution, were on the Reilly land east of the old fair ground and along the Wabash river.
The Mercer-Kier Oil Company was composed of women, with Mrs. W. S. Mercer, president; Miss Ida Kier, secretary and treasurer; Mrs. Mattie Mercer, Mrs. Avery Tudor and Mrs. Walter Emswiler as stock- holders and directors. The first well was drilled on the Mercer prop- erty and later this company struck the largest well in the field on the Charters farm, flowing 800 barrels.
The Oil City Oil and Gas Company was officered by J. S. Lenhart, president; Roscoe Kimple, vice-president; P. M. Crume, secretary, and Andrew Wey, treasurer.
Judge J. T. Cox was president of the Indiana Oil Company ; W. S. Mortin, of Montpelier, was vice-president; W. B. McClintic, secretary, and W. H. Zimmerman, treasurer.
The Valley Oil Company was first organized by A. T. Reed, A. L. Bodurtha, Harry and David Strouse. These men leased land and did the first "wildcatting," but drilled only one well.
The Equality Oil Company was organized for the purpose of drill- ing wells on some vacant lots on Eighth street. John Skinner was president of the company; F. H. Watkins, vice-president; John Spurgeon, secretary; Harry Young, treasurer.
Then there were the Farmers' Oil Company, in which the Tillets were conspicuous, the Eureka Oil Company, the Trenton Rock Oil, Gas and Mineral Company, the Home Oil and Gas Company, the United States Oil Company, the Funke Oil Company, the Runyan Company, the Cover Company and several others. Three large oil supply stores were opened in Peru and did a thriving business.
On September 10, 1897, there were three producing wells-two of the People's and one of the Runyan Company-that yielded a little over 500 barrels daily. The Runyan well was on the outlot of James M. Brown, just east of Grant street, and its daily outflow was about 215 barrels. At that time several companies were drilling in the immediate vicinity and on the 15th there were more than twenty-five derricks within sight of the first well. The People's Company then had three wells in action, producing 700 barrels daily. Oil was the universal topic of conversation. Nearly every owner of a lot adjacent to the
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oil field was anxious to have a well drilled on his premises. Several injunction suits were filed to prevent the drilling of wells too close to others, or to enjoin the owner of a well from shooting it to increase the flow at the expense of near-by wells, but most of these suits came to naught. By the middle of November the field contained 160 wells, of which 137 were producers, and the daily output was over 5,000 barrels. A month later it was estimated that ninety per cent of the oil produced in Indiana came from the Peru field.
At the opening of the year 1898 there were 230 wells, the average cost of which was about $1,200. Hence, more than $275,000 had been expended in the quest for oil. A majority of the wells were pro- ducers, but in a number of instances the supply of oil obtained did not pay the cost of drilling the well. During the year 1898 a large number of town lot wells were drilled, the average production of such wells being less than eight barrels per day. From the first there was considerable speculation as to whether the Peru oil field was really a field or just a pocket. Some believed that the supply was inexhaust- ible and proceeded on that theory to make their oil investments and conduct their operations. Others, who held to the pocket theory, pro- ceeded with more caution and in the end these were the ones who came out of the oil excitement with more money than when they started in. By the spring of 1899 none of the wells was producing as much oil as at first and it became apparent that the field was really a pocket, although a large one. In 1899, according to the report of the state geologist, only four wells were drilled, while on the other hand thirty- seven that had been producing oil grew so weak that they were aban- doned. That was the beginning of the end. Gradually the pressure diminished until the expense of pumping the oil became so great that the business was unprofitable and the people turned their attention to other lines of business as bringing better results.
OUTSIDE INDUSTRIES
Outside of the city of Peru there are or have been but few manu- facturing establishments. About 1869 E. S. Lee built a planing mill and stave factory at Converse and later added machinery for making tow from flax, but the mill was burned in 1874 and never rebuilt. Another stave factory was started in that town by A. B. Fisher in 1870. It was removed to Union City a few years later. John Coyle established a tow and flax mill at Converse about the same time he opened his mill at Peru. When he was succeeded by Lehman, Rosenthal & Kraus the Converse mill was operated by the new firm for a few years, when the
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machinery was taken to Peru. The flour mill at Converse was built by Wright & McFeely in 1868. It was rebuilt and greatly enlarged by Draper, Long & Barger in 1882. When gas was discovered in 1887 a number of new factories were located at Converse. Among them were the Hoosier Canning Company, the Malleable Steel Works, the Peerless Glass Works, the Converse Carriage Company, a large pressed brick works, a vise factory and a factory for the manufacture of gas fixtures, but all were discontinued or removed elsewhere when the supply of gas gave out.
On May 2, 1876, the Mexico Manufacturing Company was incor- porated with a capital stock of $10,000 and the following officers: Daniel ' Griswold, president; C. H. Kline, secretary; J. L. Wilson, treasurer. These officers, with Benjamin Graft and Joseph Brower, constituted the board of directors. The company was organized for the purpose of 'making all kinds of furniture, including church furniture and bank fixtures. A good building was erected on the bank of the Eel river, in the northern part of town, and equipped with the best machinery known in that day and business was commenced under favorable conditions. Traveling salesmen extended the business of the company over a large field, but after several years the company found itself handicapped by a lack of adequate shipping facilities and confronted with other adverse conditions and the factory was discontinued.
In 1910 J. H. Thompson, proprietor of the roller mills at Mexico, engaged C. H. Black to build a new dam across the Eel river to furnish water power to the mill and other enterprises, such as the light and power plant. This dam withstood the great flood of 1913 without the slightest injury. It is built of reinforced concrete and is said to be one of the best dams in the state. After this dam was completed it was found that the power furnished was sufficient to supply other factories and in 1912 the Mexico Woolen Mills were incorporated with Charles H. Black as president; Webster Edwards, vice-president; Leroy Graft, secretary; George D. Wilson, treasurer, and these officers with John Kramer form the board of directors. The better part of the machinery in the old woolen mills at Peru was purchased and taken to Mexico, and on April 28, 1913, ground was broken on the west bank of the Eel river near the dam for a concrete building 60 by 150 feet, cast upon the site, the first building of the kind in Miami county. Quoting from a state- ment issued by the company, these mills will make a "specialty of fancy yarns, blankets, automobile robes and any novelty the trade demands ; the equipment is the best in its line and the prospects of the company are most excellent."
Some thirty or thirty-five years ago Orlando Mosely established a Vol. I-19
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machine shop in Washington township, on the Strawtown pike, for the manufacture of an improved picket wire fence, fence machines, and to do a general repair business. This factory is not now in existence. Henry Mosely located in the same neighborhood and started a hydraulic cider mill and jelly factory and in the early '90s added a large sorghum mill to his equipment.
The principal manufacturing industries in the towns of Amboy, Bunker Hill and Macy have been saw and flour mills, brick and tile factories. A brewery was built in South Peru by George Rettig before the Civil war. Later it passed into the hands of Omer Cole and was conducted by him for many years. Its equipment was equal to that of any brewery in the state and it is said the quality of its beer was * unexcelled. After the passage of the local option law so many of the counties in Indiana "went dry" that the brewery was closed.
CHAPTER XIV
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FIRST SCHOOLS IN INDIANA-CONGRESSIONAL SCHOOL FUND-STATE ENDOWMENT FUND-PIONEER SCHOOL HOUSES-CHARACTER OF THE EARLY TEACHERS-THE THREE R'S-COUNTY SEMINARIES- PERU COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE-WILLIAM SMITH'S SCHOOL-DENVER COLLEGE -FIRST HIGH SCHOOL IN PERU-PRESENT HIGH SCHOOL-VALUE OF SCHOOL PROPERTY IN THE COUNTY-VOCATIONAL EDUCATION-COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS - DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOL FUNDS - PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS-THE PRESS-BRIEF HISTORIES OF THE VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS -JOHN A. GRAHAM-EARLY LIBRARY PROJECTS-PERU PUBLIC LIBRARY-SCHOOL LIBRARIES.
As in the case of the industrial progress and social structure of Indiana and Miami county, the educational development has been a gradual evolution. The first instruction given to the scattering white inhabitants along the Wabash river came from the Catholic missionaries, who were among the first to penetrate the western wilds in their efforts to convert and civilize the natives. As early as 1719 Father Marest wrote from one of the French posts to his superior :
"As these people have no books and are naturally indolent, they would shortly forget the principles of religion, if the remembrance of them was not recalled by these continued instructions. We collect the whole community in the chapel and after answering the questions put by the missionary to each one, without distinction of rank and age, prayers are heard and hymns are sung."
After resident priests came they made efforts to instruct the children to read and write, but the progress was slow for some time, owing to the many obstacles to be overcome. Probably the first regular school in the state was that taught by Father Rivet at Vincennes in 1793.
The act of congress, under which Indiana was admitted to the union as a state, donated Section 16 in each Congressional township as the basis for the establishment of a permanent school fund. This land, or the proceeds arising from its sale, was placed in charge of three trustees in each civil township, up to 1859, since which time there has been but
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one trustee. For many years the value of the school lands was so small that the growth of the permanent fund was slow and the people were compelled to pay a portion of the cost of maintaining the schools out of their private means. Congress also gave to the state certain swamp and saline lands, and two entire Congressional townships-76,080 acres- were donated for the support of state seminary or university. In 1836 the general government distributed to the states the surplus in the United States treasury, when Indiana received $860,254, of which $573,502.96 went into the permanent school fund. In addition to these donations from the United States, the state, by its constitution and various acts of the legislature, has provided a permanent endowment fund for the schools, which fund is derived from several different sources. At the present time the Congressional fund is, in round numbers, about $2,500,000, and the state endowment fund is approximately $9,000,000. By a wise provision of the founders of the public school system, this fund may be increased, but it can never be diminished, only the income being available for the current expenses of the schools.
The pioneer school house was nearly always a building of round logs, with a clapboard roof and a rough door hung on wooden hinges. Sometimes a puncheon floor was provided, but in many cases the only floor was "mother earth." At one end was a huge fireplace and a chimney constructed of stones, sticks and clay. In real cold weather, when a roaring fire was maintained, those near the fireplace would get too warm, while those in the rear of the room would be suffering with cold, hence the pupils were constantly asking permission to change seats in order to overcome this unequal distribution of warmth. On each side of the house, about four feet above the floor, one log would be left out and. the opening covered with oiled paper to admit light. If the school dis- trict was fortunate enough to afford some window glass, eight by ten inches in size, the school house could boast the luxury of real windows. The "furniture" consisted of benches made of split saplings, smoothed with the draw-knife and supported by wooden pins. Under the window was a wide board resting upon large pins driven into the wall, which constituted the writing desk for the entire school. Here the children would take turns at writing, using a goose quill pen and ink made of pokeberry juice or a solution of maple bark and copperas. The "copy- books" were generally home-made, consisting of a few sheets of foolscap paper covered with a piece of heavy wrapping paper. At the head of the page the teacher would write the "copy," which was usually some proverb intended to convey a moral lesson as well as a knowledge of penman- ship-such as "Evil communications corrupt good manners" ''; " What- ever is worth doing is worth doing well," etc.
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Compared with the teachers of the present day, the schoolmaster of three-quarters of a century ago would be considered illiterate and incom- petent. If he could "do all the sums" in Pike's arithmetic as far as the "rule of three," read and spell fairly well, and write well enough to set copies for the children to follow he was equipped for his work. As reading, writing and arithmetic were the only branches taught, and as these were referred to as "Readin', Ritin' and Rithmetic," the curri- culum of the early schools gave rise to the expression-the three R's- which were considered all the necessary elements of a practical educa- tion. As there was not much money to be had from the public funds prior to 1859, the schools before that date were known as "subscription" schools, the teacher receiving from one dollar to two dollars for each
PERU HIGH SCHOOL
pupil for a term of three months. Most of the teachers were adventurous Yankees from the East, or Irishmen, who would teach one term in a neighborhood to provide means to get them to another. As a rule they were unmarried men, who "boarded round" among the patrons of the school, thus giving the parents an opportunity to pay at least a part of their children's tuition by boarding the teacher. There was one qualifi- cation in the teacher that could not be overlooked, and that was he must be able to "lick" the big boys into submission in case they became unruly. Consequently, in every early schoolhouse could be seen a bundle of beech, willow or hazel rods, waiting for some youngster to break one of the rules laid down by the pedagogue.
In summer time school opened at seven o'clock in the morning and continued in session for ten hours, with the exception of the noon hour,
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and two short recesses-one in the forenoon and the other in the after- noon. The first thing the child was required to learn was his "A B C's." When he knew all the letters by sight he was taught to spell simple words, and when his vocabulary had increased to a certain point he was given a First Reader. This process was slow but sure and many of the great men of the nation received the rudiments of their education in this old-fashioned manner.
But times have changed. The old log schoolhouse has gone, never to return, and in its place has come the stately edifice of stone or brick, with plate glass windows, steam heat and scientific methods of ventila- tion. The rude, backless benches have been supplanted by varnished desks, the goose quill pén and home-made copy-book have disappeared, and corporal punishment is only a dim recollection. Almost every school has its reference library and hundreds of dollars are annually expended for globes, maps, charts, or other paraphernalia to aid the teacher in imparting instruction.
In the historical sketches of the several townships in Chapters VII and VIII will be found accounts of the early schools in the rural dis- tricts, as well as statistical information showing the condition of the public schools of each township at the present day.
The Indiana legislature of 1828 passed an act providing for the build- ing and maintenance of county seminaries in the several counties of the state at the public expense. These seminaries were to be supported, in part at least, by the fines levied against offenders for violation of the penal laws and commutations for military service. It was further pro- vided that the county commissioners in each county should appoint a trustee, whose duty it shoud be to invest the money properly and in all other ways act as custodian of the "seminary fund." This law had been in effect about seven years before Miami county was organized. Not long after the county government was placed in operation, the commis- sioners appointed William N. Hood, one of the proprietors of the town of Peru, as trustee. Other citizens who served in this capacity during the next eight years, or up to 1845, were Daniel R. Bearss, Eli Pugh, William Cole, E. P. Loveland, Albert Cole, I. R. Leonard and G. W Goodrich.
There were not many fines collected in the county during the first few years of its history, nor were there many receipts from military commutations. Consequently the accumulation of a fund for the estab- lishment and support of the seminary was necessarily slow. To supple- ment the workings of the law and hasten the day when the seminary could be built, it was proposed to solicit private contributions. It was plain that there was a demand for some institution in which some of the
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higher branches of learning should be taught and it was believed that the people would cheerfully donate toward its establishment. The citi- zens of Peru promised to contribute, in money and building materials, something over $200. At that time Mexico was a rather ambitious town and the people there agreed to give real estate and building materials to the value of $1,000 to secure the seminary. The offer of Mexico was accepted, a selection of a site was made, and the contract for the erec- tion of a brick building, 35 by 45 feet and two stories in height, was let at public auction. When the walls were completed to the top of the first story, the people of Mexico failed to provide the necessary material for the completion of the building, and the work was suspended. The seminary fund amounted to about $1,700 and when the seminary project failed what was left of that sum was merged into the common school fund.
In the meantime the Peru Collegiate Institute had been chartered by the state legislature. Rev. John Stocker, a Presbyterian clergyman, was the first principal and his wife, who was an accomplished woman, was associate principal. The school opened about 1837, with a good patronage and promise of a bright future. Among those who served on the board of directors were James B. Fulwiler, William N. Hood, Richard L. Brit- ton and A. S. Keiser. After a time financial difficulties arose and the school was discontinued, much to the regret of many of the citizens, who had hoped that it might become a permanent institution.
There had been a school taught in Peru, however, before the opening of the Collegiate Institute. In the fall of 1834 William Smith erected at his own expense a log house, 18x24 feet, and upon its completion taught a subscription school, the tuition charge for each pupil for a term of three months being $2.50. The average attendance was about ten scholars, which paid Mr. Smith the princely sum of $25.00 for his three months' work, and in addition to his labors he furnished the house and the fuel. This might be considered the beginning of the city's school system. The second schoolhouse was built on the north side of Third street, between Cass and Miami streets, and the third was erected on Broadway, but it was used only a short time.
The seminary established in 1849 or 1850 by Rev. Milton Starr, pastor of the Presbyterian church, was quite a pretentious institution of learning for Peru. Mrs. Starr, who was the principal, was an educated woman from the famous seminary at Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts, and her sister was also one of the teachers. The seminary was located on the north side of West Third street, between Broadway and Miami streets. Its exact location was on the middle lot between the alley and Miami street. The school was continued for a short time under the
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direction of Rev. F. S. McCabe after he became pastor of the church. For many years after the school was discontinued the building was used as a double tenement house and one-half of it is still standing.
In 1876 a joint stock company was organized at Denver for the purpose of establishing a private school to be known as Denver College. A good brick building was erected at a cost of $3,500 and the school was opened in the fall of that year with Professor J. A. Reubelt in charge. Although the institution started off under promising circumstances, the anticipations of the founders were not realized. After teaching two terms Mr. Reubelt resigned and Professors Hershey and McGinley took control of the school. They failed to make it a success and the company was disbanded. The building was then turned over to the proper authorities and became the Denver public school.
The first exclusive high school building in the city of Peru was located at the southwest corner of Sixth and Broadway. This building had for- merly been occupied as a livery barn, but after it was acquired by the city it was thoroughly renovated and remodeled for school purposes. Here the high school was located until the erection of the present magnifi- cent building on the northwest corner of Sixth and Miami streets, where the old central schoolhouse formerly stood and which was used both as a graded and high school. The school board that erected the present high school structure was composed of Charles R. Hughes, president ; Joseph A. Faust, secretary ; Lorenzo Hoffman, treasurer, and John F. Unger. The building was designed by Griffith & Fair, a firm of Fort Wayne architects, and the contractor was Frederick J. Rump, also of that city. The total cost was about $100,000 and it was opened for school at the beginning of the fall term in 1911. In this building Peru has one of the model high schools of the state and the course of study is in keeping with the best schools of that nature in Indiana. It is an institution of which the people of Peru and Miami county may justly feel proud. In addition to the high school the city has four other public school build- ings, the total value of school property being over $200,000. During the school year of 1912-13 there were fifty teachers employed in the city schools, nine of whom were in the high school, and the amount paid these instructors in salaries was $33,334.50.
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