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 32
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The estimated value of all the school property in the county at the close of the school year that ended in the spring of 1913 was $445,225; the number of teachers employed in all the schools was 207, and the amount paid in salaries to teachers was $101,479.41. The total number of pupils enrolled during that school year was 5,732.
In his report for the year 1913, County Superintendent Edd B. Wetherow says: "The trustees of Miami county are making an honest
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effort to enforce the new vocational education law. Agriculture is taught to all boys in the eighth year in the township schools, and in most of the high schools. Sewing is taught to all girls in the seventh and eighth years and in some high schools. Cooking is taught in grade buildings at Bunker Hill and Deedsville. Manual training is taught to seventh and eighth year boys at Waupecong, North Grove, Denver, Mexico, Gilead, Ridgeview, Bunker Hill, Nead, Chili and Deedsville-and in some of these schools it is taught in the high school. We are attempting to use the same outline of work in these subjects in the township schools. By visiting the schools the parents and taxpayers may learn what is being accomplished in these subjects."
The township schools referred to in the report include all the public schools in the county except those in the city of Peru and the towns of Amboy and Converse. The school at Amboy is a joint school between the town and Jackson township.
In 1873 the Indiana legislature passed an act establishing the office of county superintendent and defining his duties. The law became effective in June of that year and the first incumbent of the office in Miami county was W. Steele Ewing, who served for six years. He was succeeded by N. W. Trissal, who held the office but a single term. Since then the superintendents have been A. J. Dipboye, W. A. Woodring, John F. Lawrence, John H. Runkle, E. H. Andrews, P. S. Sullivan and E. B. Wetherow. The last named was elected in June, 1907, for a term of four years and at the close of that term was reelected. His present term expires in June, 1915.
The total amount of money collected on the common school fund men- tioned in the opening of this chapter is apportioned to the different counties of the state, according to the number of children between the ages of six and twenty-one years living in the county. In January, 1914, the auditor of Miami county made the following distribution of school funds to the townships, towns and cities.
Allen township $ 637.37
Butler township
622.59
Clay township
711.24
Deer Creek township 599.38
Erie township 297.58
Harrison township 576.16
Jackson township
451.65
Jefferson township 964.49
Perry township
795.66
Peru township
966.61
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Pipe Creek township
901.18
Richland township 605.71
Union township 502.30
Washington township
1,010.92
Town of Amboy
308.13
Town of Converse
506.52
City of Peru
5,797.52
Total for the county $16,255.01
Some time during the pastorate of Rev. M. J. Clark, of St. Charles Catholic church a school was established in connection with the parish. The attendance was not confined to the children of Catholic families. People of other denominations recognized the ability of Father Clark and sent their children to his school. When he left Peru the school was discontinued and was not revived for a long time. Father Bernard Force came to the parish in April, 1860, and just before that a term of school had been taught by a Badinese student named Volkert. Father Force opened a school in the church building, Franz Edtler being the first teacher. When the new church was built the old one was converted into a schoolhouse. Prior to 1870 the boys and girls were taught together, but in that year Father Kroeger induced the Ursuline nuns of Louisville, Kentucky, to send some of their order to teach the girls' school. Four years later they were succeeded by the Sisters of Providence, who also took charge of the boys' school in September, 1881.
The Lutheran parochial school was established in 1865, with F. Kohrs as the first teacher. When the new church at the corner of Main and Fremont was completed in 1876 the old church on West Second street was taken for school purposes. With the growth of the congregation and increase in population of the city of Peru, there came a greater demand for better educational facilities and in 1905 the present school building on West Second street, just west of Hood street, was erected. It is a large brick building, of modern design, two stories in height and will doubtless be of sufficient capacity to meet all the needs of the parish for several years to come.
THE PRESS
As a factor in the educational development of any community the newspaper plays an important part. It disseminates information of gen- eral character, keeping its readers in touch with what is going on in the world and giving them a broader view of life. Numerous short articles
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in the columns of the newspaper have been of great benefit to the reader, who, it might be said, almost unconsciously absorbs new ideas that prove valuable to him in his daily vocation. Hints to farmers on planting and harvesting in these latter days supplement the work of the agricultural college, and many a housewife has read with profit some well written item on domestic economy.
ยท The first printing press in Miami county was brought to Peru in 1837. It had been used at Richmond for the publication of the Richmond Palladium. Three years before the outfit was brought to Peru Samuel Pike came from Leesburg, Ohio, with a stock of merchandise for James B. Fulwiler. He had been engaged in the newspaper business in Ohio and persuaded some of the citizens that what the town needed was a newspaper to advertise its merits and advantages abroad. Accordingly, an association was formed; the press and other materials were brought from Richmond; Pike was put in charge as editor, and on July 22, 1837, the first number of the Peru Forester made its appearance. It was sus- pended in January, 1839, and from that time to 1848 no less than six papers were printed on the old press.
First came the Peru Gazette, which was started by James B. Scott and Augustus Banks as a Whig organ, the first number making its appearance on July 20, 1839. John H. Scott bought a half interest in the paper on April 16, 1842, and, as he desired to conduct his part of the paper in the interests of the Democratic party, the paper, which was called the Peru Gazette-Peru Democrat, was half Whig and half Demo- crat. The last issue of this peculiar publication was dated October 15, 1842. Then came the Cork Screw, a humorous publication, the editors of which announced themselves as "Nehemiah, Hezekiah and Obadiah." It lasted but a few months, when James B. Scott again acquired the plant and started the Peru Observer. It was a Whig paper and continued until June 28, 1845. Next John H. Scott published a Democratic paper called the Peru Herald from November 28, 1846, to some time in May, 1848. About a month later John A. Graham bought the press and type and on June 28, 1848, published the first number of the Miami County Sentinel.
As Mr. Graham founded the first newspaper to endure for any length of time, he might be termed the Nestor of Miami county journalism. He was born at Baltimore, Maryland, January 8, 1817, his parents having come from Ireland two years before. After residing for a short time in Pittsburgh and Wheeling, the family returned to Baltimore and in 1830 removed to Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Two years later the parents came to Indiana, but the son remained in Harper's Ferry as a clerk in a store until the spring of 1835. Taking passage on a steamboat
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
at Wheeling, he descended the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash, where he was put ashore at midnight. Not finding a town, as he had expected, he sat on the bank of the river until daylight, when he climbed to the top of the bluff and discovered a house not far away. He was fortunate enough to find a steamboat about to ascend the Wabash and took passage as far as Clinton. From that point he took the stage to Lafayette and from there walked to Peru. He entered the employ of Alexander Wilson and was sent to Logansport, where he worked in a store until 1838, when he returned to Peru. In the fall of 1839 he became a partner of Mr. Wilson. In 1841 he was elected sheriff of Miami county and in February,
SENTINEL-OF
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GRAND
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GAUNT
OLD SENTINEL OFFICE, SOUTHWEST CORNER OF MAIN AND BROADWAY, 1867
1846, he was appointed as a clerk in the canal land office, where he remained until the office was removed to Logansport the succeeding year. He then bought the printing outfit and began the publication of the Sentinel, as above stated. Mr. Graham was a representative delegate to the constitutional convention of 1850; was a special agent of the United States to pay the Miami Indians their annuities in 1858, 1859 and 1860; was elected county clerk in 1866; was mayor of Peru from 1882 to 1888, and in 1877 wrote the first published history of Miami county.
The Miami County Sentinel was continued under Mr. Graham's man- agement until August 16, 1861, when it was suspended for a time. In
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
1850 the office was refitted, with the exception of the press, and on June 19, 1854, Mr. Graham began the issue of a daily edition-the first daily to be published in the county. He soon learned, however, that the town was not yet large enough to support a daily and on July 25th it was suspended. Wilson B. Loughridge suc- ceeded Mr. Graham, but soon sold out to T. J. McDowell. In 1867 Loughridge again became the owner and in 1874 J. C. Foley became his partner. A year later the firm was composed of Foley, Jameson & Con- ner. J. A. Miller bought the interests of Jameson and Conner, and a little later Foley sold his interest to J. C. Maxey. While these changes were taking place, the daily and weekly Times, which was started by T. J. McDowell & Sons in 1874, was consolidated with the Sentinel, under the name of the Times-Sentinel, and conducted about a year by the firm of Maxey & McDowell, when the latter withdrew and resumed the publication of the Times as a separate paper. The Sentinel was then continued by Ewing & Maxey for a short time, when they were succeeded by Samuel F. Winter, who published the paper until about 1879. Then Louis B. Fulwiler and Richard A. Cole purchased the plant and con- ducted the Sentinel until 1889.
C. N. Kenton succeeded Fulwiler & Cole and published the paper from April to November, 1889, when he sold out to F. D. & F. A. Haim- baugh. About eighteen months later F. D. Haimbaugh sold his interest to his partner and T. J. Finch. The latter's interest was represented by R. J. Conner until his death on July 21, 1895.
In the political campaign of 1896 the Sentinel, which had always been a Democratic paper, refused to support the platform and candi- dates of the Democratic party, on account of the "free silver" doctrine espoused by the national convention at Chicago, and advocated the elec- tion of Palmer and Buckner. This departure from established party traditions resulted in the loss of patronage from the regular Democrats and soon after that campaign the paper passed into the hands of W. H. Zimmerman, who incorporated a company for its publication. Associated with Mr. Zimmerman was Frank K. McElheny, the present county auditor. Mr. Zimmerman was fatally injured in an automobile accident on November 2, 1913, and since his death the paper has been conducted by Mr. McElheny. For several years it has been published as a semi- weekly.
Two attempts were made by the publishers of the Sentinel to establish a daily paper. The first continued from September, 1890, to April, 1891, and the second from December, 1892, to July, 1893. Some years before this time (in 1887) Edward Cox started the Daily Herald, which ran for about three months, when it was suspended and the plant was removed to Marion, Indiana.
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
The Peru Republican, the second oldest paper in Miami county and the oldest, if the suspension of the Sentinel in 1861 be considered, was founded by E. P. Loveland, a prominent member of the Miami county bar. The first number appeared on October 9, 1856, as the organ of the newly organized Republican party. It was not long, however, until Mr. Loveland sold out to W. S. Benham and S. C. Chapin, who published the paper until March, 1868, when G. I. Reed and James M. Brown became the proprietors. After about a year Mr. Brown sold his interest to his partner, who conducted the paper until May, 1873, when he sold a half interest to M. R. Sinks. In March, 1878, W. W. Lockwood purchased the interest of Mr. Sinks and the publication firm became Reed & Lockwood. Mr. Reed removed to Kansas City in 1886, but retained his interest in the paper until the following year, when he sold the major part of his holdings to his partner. In 1890 Mr. Lockwood bought the remainder of Mr. Reed's interest and became sole proprietor.
One evening in November, 1905, while driving to his home in Ridge- view, Mr. Lockwood's buggy was struck by a cab and he was seriously injured. He managed to continue the publication of the Republican, however, until January 6, 1906, when he employed Omer Holman, for- merly connected with the Peru Journal, as manager. Mr. Lockwood's death occurred on February 14, 1906, as a result of his injuries, and Mr. Holman continued to publish the paper for the Lockwood estate until January' 1, 1912, when he leased the plant for a period of five years.
In connection with the history of the Peru Republican, it is worthy of note that the original paper was printed upon the second press ever brought to Miami county. After the Miami County Sentinel, under Mr. Graham's editorial management, became the mouthpiece of the Democracy, the Whigs decided to start an organ of their own. Accord- ingly, an outfit was purchased and brought to Peru in 1852 and the first paper published as a Whig paper was the Free Press, with J. H. Smith as editor. The following year E. & E. R. Trask bought the plant and established the Wabash Olio. A year later the Republican Argus, published by J. H. Shirk & Company, succeeded the Olio, and in turn was succeeded by the Peru News in 1855, published by H. & E. Holder- man. The News lived but a short time, when the press and materials were purchased by Mr. Loveland for the publication of the Republican.
The Peru Evening Journal was founded as a neutral afternoon daily by Crowder & Miller, in 1884, and was the first successful daily paper ever established in Peru. Mr. Miller soon afterward sold his interest to Ezra Roe. Subsequently Richard Kilgore bought the paper and con- ducted it for about a year. On January 1, 1887, Crowder & Brenton
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
bought the Journal. The senior member of the firm was one of the origi- nal founders of the paper. In January, 1891, W. A. Woodring pur- chased the interest of Mr. Brenton and the following April Arthur L. Bodurtha acquired a half interest, Mr. Crowder at that time retiring, and the firm became Woodring & Bodurtha. Under this firm's management the Journal became an independent Republican paper and continued so until the split in that party in 1912, when it resumed its neutrality. Early in November, 1913, Mr. Bodurtha sold his interest to J. Ross Woodring and in December W. A. Woodring died leaving J. Ross Wood- ring as sole manager. The Journal is published every week day in its own building at Nos. 19 and 21 West Third street and is one of the leading newspapers of the county.
In 1906 Woodring & Bodurtha established the Peru Morning Journal for circulation in the country towns and on the rural delivery routes. It proved to be a successful venture and the paper now has a daily circulation of 1,500 or more. It is published every morning except Sunday.
The Miami County Record, the first number of which was issued on July 3, 1894, at Peru, was the outgrowth of the Bunker Hill Press. In January, 1892, John H. Stephens bought the Bunker Hill paper and about two years later removed the plant to Peru, where the Record was started as a Democratic paper. Dr. H. V. Passage was connected with the paper for a time in an editorial capacity and when the Sentinel declined to support the Democratic national ticket in 1896, the Record built up a considerable subscription list. It was merged with the Sentinel after that paper was acquired by Mr. Zimmerman's company.
On June 28, 1894, the first number of the Peru Daily Chronicle, was issued by J. H. Moore and Charles Winter, two practical printers em- ployed on the Journal. About 1880 the same two men had started a paper called the Peru Daily Enterprise, but after a variable career of a few months it was forced to suspend. The Chronicle, however, has proved to be a profitable newspaper venture. Its quarters on East Third street are well equipped, it has a good circulation, and in appearance is a neat and attractive paper. Mr. Moore retired from the firm soon after the paper was started and the Chronicle is now issued every afternoon except Sunday by Charles H. Winter.
From the foregoing it will be seen that at the present time the city of Peru has five newspapers-three dailies and two weeklies. In addi- tion to those mentioned that lived for a time, other newspapers have been published in the city at different times, none of which is now in existence. When Samuel F. Winter retired from the Sentinel in 1879 he established the Wabash Valley Blade. Mr. Winter is one of the veteran
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
journalists of the Wabash valley and during the political campaign of 1880 acquired considerable prominence. Soon after that campaign its publication was discontinued.
The Daily Bulletin, an independent morning paper, was published for some time in 1893 by Brenton & Holman. It was the successor of the Comet, a small, unpretentious, non-political weekly, which was started by John Diehl and Omer Holman. The Bulletin is said to have been a good paper, but the field was not large enough to support a morning daily and it gave up the ghost.
About 1898 or 1899 a paper called the Peru News was started as a weekly, but afterward became a daily. During its existence of about two years it changed owners a number of times. Among those who served as editors of the paper were Arthur Kling and Charles Griswold. When the supply of natural gas began to decline and the question of charging consumers by meter for their gas the News espoused the meter system, which caused it to lose prestige. Before this time the paper had passed into the hands of a man named Ray-a non-resident-and a little later its publication was brought to a close.
Outside of the city of Peru, the first newspaper in the county was the Xenia Gazette, which was started by Charles P. Thew in 1868 and published by him for about two years. Mr. Thew then sold out to R. K. Robinson, who published the paper for about four years, or until the plant was destroyed by fire some time in the year 1874. At the time of this disaster the Gazette had a fair circulation and was doing a good work for the interests of Xenia and the vicinity.
The next paper to be established at Xenia (now Converse) was the Times, which was started by Cleveland J. Reynolds in 1879. About eighteen months later the paper was leased by Ward & Frank, who conducted it for one year, when Mr. Reynolds resumed control and a little later removed the outfit away from Xenia. Just about that time the Wabash Valley Blade, which had been published at Peru by Samuel F. Winter, was suspended. J. O. Frame, of Xenia, induced Mr. Winter to remove his printing outfit to that town and continue the publication of the Times. A partnership was accordingly formed and the firm of Frame & Winter issued the paper every week until September 8, 1886, when it was finally discontinued.
In the meantime A. L. Lawshe and Roscoe Kimple had formed a partnership for the publication of a paper called the Xenia Journal, a Republican weekly, the first number of which was issued on December 12, 1883. The proprietors of this paper were two energetic young men, who secured a guaranteed subscription of 400 and a good advertising patronage before the first issue of the paper came from the press. At
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the end of one year Mr. Lawshe purchased his partner's interest and soon won the distinction of being one of the most able and successful news- paper men in Miami county. In 1896 he was a delegate to the Republican national convention and not long after President McKinley's inaug- uration the next year he appointed Mr. Lawshe to an important position in the United States treasury department. Subsequently he held a posi- tion of great trust and responsibility as auditor of the Philippine Islands. When the name of the town was changed to Converse the paper became the Converse Journal, which is now issued every Friday by Charles B. & L. H. Ryder.
About 1872 the Village News was started at Bunker Hill by Jasper H. Keyes, who conducted it for about a year, when the plant was turned over to a stock company. In 1874 E. M. Howard, one of the stockhold- ers, assumed the management, enlarged the paper to an eight page sheet and changed the name to the Bunker Hill News. A little later John F. Busby bought the office and changed the name to the Independent Press, with George T. Metzger as editor. During the next few years the paper changed owners several times, but in 1880 it came into the hands of Oliver A. and Joseph Larimer, who adopted the name of the Bunker Hill Press. The following decade witnessed a number of changes in the ownership and management, the editors being successively Charles Jerrel, John W. O'Hara, C. W. Jones, J. E. Smith and Thomas J. O'Hara. On January 26, 1890, the printing office was destroyed by fire, but it was immediately rebuilt by C. W. Jones, who was at that time the proprietor, only a few issues being missed. In January, 1892, John H. Stephens leased the plant and soon afterward purchased it outright. In August, 1893, Mr. Stephens began the publication of an agricultural paper called Stock and Farm in connection with the Press, which was continued until the removal of the office to Peru in June, 1894.
About two months after Mr. Stephens took the outfit to Peru, D. D. Spangler issued a small four-page paper called The Sword at Bunker Hill. This publication survived for about three months, when C. A. Knepper purchased the press and type and on February 28, 1895, issued the first number of the new Bunker Hill Press. W. O. Oden soon after- ward became associated with Mr. Knepper and the Press forged rapidly to the front as one of the best newspapers in the county outside of the county seat. Since ,that time the paper has changed hands several times. It is now issued every Thursday by Fred S. Freeman, editor and proprietor.
On May 16, 1885, the first number of the Macy Monitor was issued by M. Lew Enyart. About three years later Mr. Enyart leased a half interest to A. J. Wertz, but this arrangement lasted but a short time,
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when Mr. Wertz withdrew. In 1892 the paper was sold to Benjamin G. Whitehead, who became financially embarrassed and made an assignment for the benefit of his creditors. Dr. M. M. Boggs then published the Monitor for about four months, when the plant and good will were sold to the original founder, M. L. Enyart, who continued in control for some time. The Monitor is now published every Thursday by W. H. Myers.
The Denver Tribune was founded in 1897 and is still published every Thursday by L. H. & Mrs. Della Lacy Dice. It is a neat, newsy paper well edited and has a good circulation through the northern part of the county.
The Amboy Independent, the youngest newspaper in Miami county, began its career in 1902. As its name indicates, it is an independent weekly paper and is published every Friday by J. F. Melton & Son.
In connection with the history of journalism and literature in Miami county, it is apropos to observe that in 1902 George Browning Lock- wood, a son of the late W. W. Lockwood, for many years editor of the Peru Republican, published a book entitled "The New Harmony Com- munities," of which he was the author, and which has been accepted as a classic on the subject of socialistic communities. Shortly after it appeared it was adopted as one of the books of the Indiana Teachers' Reading Circle and the work has received a large circulation, both in this country and Europe.
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
In 1837 the "Peru Lyceum" was organized and in connection with it a library was established. Among those who belonged to this society during the ten years or more of its existence, the old records show the names of N. O. Ross, John A. Graham, L. D. Adkinson, J. B. Fulwiler and J. S. Fenimore. It is said that no subject was too weighty for the Lyceum to discuss, and that its library consisted of a good selection of standard books. After the society disbanded the books became scattered, but in 1881 a few of the good ones and a large number of public docu- ments were collected and placed in the high school at Peru, where they remained for several years, some of them becoming so badly worn that they were useless and those that were worth preserving were turned over to the Peru public library.
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