USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > Michigan City > History of Michigan City, Indiana > Part 19
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
In 1847 the deposits and business in- creased, a ten per cent dividend was de- clared, and the president's salary raised to $1000.00. Thus this branch contin- ued its course, weathering the financial storms of the nation and doing good to the neighborhood. The usual dividend was around 10 per cent. In 1850 Uriel Follet was elected teller and book-keeper on a salary of $800.00.
The time was approaching when, ac- cording to the charter, the State Bank must cease by limitation. Profits had increased even to 17 per cent in 1855,
outstanding a balance of circulation amounting to $1494, for the redemption of which it filed a bond with the auditor of state. This balance was never claim- ed and the item was reported annually by the auditor until 1883, when it was dropped and the old bank lost its place in current records a quarter of a century after it fell out of sight in the financial life of Michigan City.
On November 20, 1858, a voluntary liquidation was accomplished, and on January 7, 1857, all affairs were cleared away, the capital stock was repaid at par
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
to 19 per cent in 1856, but no more busi- ness could be done after 1857. On Jan- uary 29, 1857, the report showed the di- rectorate of the Michigan City Branch of the State Bank to consist of Sylvanus Evarts, Thomas D. Phelps, Herbert Williams, George Ames, Charles Palmer, A. Case, O. Leeds, E. B. Woodson, U. C. Follett, F. Ames ; Edmund B. Wood- son was president at $1500.00 and Uriel C. Follett cashier at $1500.00 a year.
The Bank of Indiana at Michigan City, after winding up its business on the expiration of the law in 1857, had left
and each share obtained $3.75 surplus, and the bank itself disappeared.
Meanwhile other interests within or without the state had aroused a feeling that this monopoly so long existent should be abrogated by the state. There was influence enough in 1852 so the state legislature of that year authorized the incorporation of so-called free banks. In LaPorte the Indiana State Bank was so incorporated at once.
In 1853 the Bank of Indiana was es- tablished at Michigan City, with C. B. Blair as president, W. W. Higgins as
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
cashier, with John Barker and Aurora Case the other stockholders. This was the twenty-first in the state under the new law. Its capital stock was $50,000 .- 00, the securities deposited were $50, - 000.00, and the notes issued were $40,- 798.00. The report for the six months ending the first Monday of July, 1854, reads thus :
Capital stock
$50,000.00
Notes discounted.
42,424.56
Remittances
1,338.00
Notes of other banks
II,096.00
Amount due banks.
3,953.18
Gold.
8,068.83
Silver and copper.
14.67
Outfit, furniture, etc.
2,618.07
$119,513.31
Amount deposited
$50,000.00
Due depositors
17,835 93
Notes issued
48,798.00
Amount divided
2,879 36
$119,513.31
In 1856 the name of John Barker was no longer among the stockholders of this bank; its deposits were $15,222.82, and business was decreasing. In 1858, when the crisis of the civil war was felt to be approaching, this bank voluntarily de- cided to go out of existence, and by No- vember 1, 1860, the liquidation was fin- ished.
The Bank of Thomas Wadsworth sprang into existence in 1854, with a capital of $50,000.00. This was a so- called 'wild cat' bank, founded upon credit and paper money, backed by the good nature of the state; so long as the notes kept in circulation without protest, the bank lived, but when, in 1855, these notes sank below par and went to pro- test, it was obliged to sink and did so, paying 91 cents on the dollar as it dis- appeared.
The Bank of Indiana was succeeded by C. B. Blair's Banking house, which was founded in 1860 and continued until the organization of the First National. C. B. Blair was also president in 1861 of the State Bank of Indiana at LaPorte.
On April 12, 1872, Mr. Walter Vail came to Michigan City from LaPorte to open a bank under the new United States law which allowed the establish- ment of National Banks. To secure his charter he had the encouragement of Morrison of LaPorte, and the aid of Schuyler Colfax in congress. The char- ter called for the First National Bank of Michigan City, with a capital of $25,- 000.00. In 1882 Mr. Vail relinquished the early charter and acquired another the capital for which was $250,000.00. In 1902 the capital was reduced to $125,- 000.00. The report of Aug. 22, 1907, shows the bank to be in a most prosper- ous condition with a surplus of $25,000 and total resources of $940,067.15. The individual deposits at the present time amount to $736,133.53. J. F. Kreidler is the efficient cashier.
The Citizens' Bank of Michigan City was incorporated May 1, 1888, under the Indiana law of 1873 authorizing the or- ganization of state banks, and is the only bank ever formed under that law in the city. The first mention of it in the state reports, that of the auditor for 1888. named as its cashier C. E. Arrett, by which was meant Charles E. Arnt, the first and only incumbent of that office the bank has had. W. B. Hutchinson has been president from the beginning, and to these men, with their associates, is due the success of the institution. Starting with a paid capital of $25.750 and total resources of $80,067.83 at the date of its first report, Oct. 31, 1888, it stood on August 22, 1907, as the largest and strongest state bank in Indiana, with a paid capital of $50.000, surplus of $95,- 000, and total resources of $1.476,514.14. Its individual deposits grew in that pe- riod from $51,671.34 to $1,317.009.08.
The third financial institution in Mich- igan City is the Michigan City Trust and Savings Company, incorporated May 20, 1903, and authorized to begin business
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
March 14, 1904, with Walter Vail as president and G. T. Vail secretary, and a capital stock of $50,000. Its third and latest annual report exhibits a flourish- ing business with total resources of $304,662.97 and a surplus of $2,361.30. The deposits aggregated $251,195.10.
The newest concern in the financial line is the Citizens' Building, Loan and Savings' association, which was incor- porated Sept. 4, 1907, with a capital stock of $100,000. The directors for the
first year are W. J. Feallock, A. C. Tawse, M. J. Kenefick, J. W. Meyers, Robert Retseck, August Opperman, C. R. Collins, Paul E. Ritter, James M. Garrettson, George Gruse, W. H. Mel- lor, F. J. Herrold and John Harbert.
The Michigan City Loan and Building Association, of which E. F. Behan is president and I. I. Spiro secretary, has been in successful operation some years. The assets aggregate about $250,000.
15I
HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
CHAPTER XIV.
Schools, Libraries, Churches, Cemeteries and Parks.
SCHOOLS.
Gallatin Ashton was the first regular teacher in Michigan City. This is a matter of fact as well as of record, and should be so understood. There is no need to deny that previously to his ap- pearance teaching was attempted; we know that it was one of the unique phases of the history of pioneer life that our western world was peopled by men and women to whom education was a matter as vital as planting crops. Throughout Kentucky and Ohio, later also in Indiana, the intrepid settler of these wilds pushed forward with a rifle in one hand and a spelling book in the other. No other migration in history. unless it be the Jewish exodus under Moses, showed such devotion to the in- tellectual-the educational-side of life, as did that which spread across the Alle- ghenies. The Franciscans or the Jesuits, in their wanderings about the great lakes or in their more systematic attack upon the Indians of California, Mexico and South America, had for their educational purpose the spread of the gospel accord- ing to the Roman Catholic church, and they accomplished miracles of conver- sion, but our pioneers were not propa- gandists ; though they had a deep-seated natural religion, their material struggle left small room for other effort, but they craved knowledge, not only for the sake of improving their physical well being, but also and essentially for its own sake.
Education was an Anglo-Saxon inherit- ance, and they were determined not to lose it.
Thus it was that when they had no school-teacher the tired fathers and mothers at the end of the day would drill into the children the rudiments of the three R's, or they would gladly welcome and encourage any itinerant stranger who might, for a very small recompense, offer to take this burden off their hands. No sooner was a modest settlement made in the West, than some young man who taught as a profession, or more usually as a mere means of earning a living until he could find a quicker way to prosperity. would solicit patronage among the neigh- bors to start a school. The beginnings of many young men are to be found in such activities. But they soon abandoned school teaching to enter business or to practice some profession. As evidence of such condition of society, it is interest- ing to quote Peck's Guide for Emigrants in 1835. "It may be well to observe here, that a great and increasing demand exists in all the western states for teach- ers of primary schools. Hundreds and thousands of moral, intellectual and pious persons, male and female, would meet with encouragement and success in this department of labor." After saying that there is no need for preliminary correspondence, the chief thing being to get ready and to go, to any quarter, it adds, "There is not a county in Missouri,
152
HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
Arkansas, Illinois or Indiana where per- sons would not meet with constant em- ployment at teaching, and especially where teachers in Sabbath schools are needed. Persons desirous of such a field of humble yet useful labor, should come here with the fixed purpose to mix with and conform to the usages of the western population, to avoid fastidiousness, and to submit to the plain, frank, sociable and hospitable manners of the people."
Many a village or town began its edu- cational existence in these conditions, and it is not improbable that wage earners of this type were to be found within the township earlier than 1833, but Michigan City, as has been emphasized, began not by accident but by design, and one of the first acts of the founders was to ar- range for public school instruction on a systematic plan.
Gallatin Ashton was therefore called formally and officially to Michigan City to take charge of a school, and he taught in the first school house erected in Mich- igan City, at the corner of Pine and Fourth streets, on a lot donated for that purpose by Major Elston. He was fol- lowed within three or four years by Mr. Kennedy, Miss Bell, Dr. Waldo and Mr. Appleton. The late Polaski King in his later years mentioned his attend- ance at "the old wooden schoolhouse," where, he said, he "had the honor of being instructed, but did not learn as much as he might have done had he ap- plied himself more diligently." Mr. Kennedy taught writing and Mr. Apple- ton was the first who gave formal in- struction in bookkeeping in the town. The names of other pioneer teachers are hopelessly lost, but some are vet remem- bered.
After Gallatin Ashton Mr. Hubert Williams came, in 1839, assisted by his daughter, Amelia, till 1841. Then there was a young ladies' school under Miss Lucy Fuller at first in the original school
building, but later in the old Washington House at the corner of Pine and Fourth streets. A select school was kept in the "old chapel," the third story of the build- ing on Washington street owned by Mr. John H. Barker. Still later a kinder- garten was held there. Among the early teachers were Messrs. Warren, Choates, Kent and Phelia Wells, and Mrs. Lamp- son, Mrs. Susan Low and Harriet Low.
In 1838 there was established the first private school, known by the name of the Michigan City Institute ; its trustees were Samuel Miller, Jabez R. Wells, Schuyler Pulford, Abram W. Harrison, Jacob G. Sleight, Samuel Mower, and Gilbert Hathaway, the last being the secretary. Its advertisement for one term (the sec- ond quarter of 1839) ran as follows :
For a quarter of eleven weeks,
All branches in the juvenile department, $2.50 Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, English Grammar and Geography. 3.40
Use of Globes .50
Algebra, Geometry, History, Natural
History, Botany and Chemistry. 5.00
Latin and English Languages, Mental and Moral Philosophy, and the high- er branches of Mathematics 6.00
Drawing and French Language 7.00
Tuition strictly in advance. Students not received for less time than one-half a quarter. No deduction for absence except for sickness. Male students board at the institute $2.50 a week. Female students are accommodated in private families.
The principal of the Institute was the Reverend James Towner, and the teach- ers were Miss Ward, who afterwards became Mrs. Willys Peck, and Miss Coit, the sister of Mrs. Towner. The school continued its sessions till 1841 when, owing to lack of financial support, its career ended.
In the early years of the city, the state had no uniform law governing public in- struction, and each county, township or city acted much on its own discretion in the establishment of a public school. A county would have school commissioners whose duty it was to see that localities
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
populated sufficiently to demand primary instruction should have schools, which might be supported in part by general taxation, in part by contributions from those whose children profited thereby. Michigan City from the very first took what advantage it could from this sys- tem. LaPorte county had a school com- missioner from the beginning, the first holder of this office being William Clark, who, in the September term of 1833, was ordered to give additional bond ; he re- mained in his position to the May term of 1837, when Daniel M. Leaming was ap- pointed. Leaming evidently did not keep his books very legibly, but from them it is learned that Michigan township (out- side of Michigan City) had been allotted for school purposes $157.75 from the sale of non-resident lands, certainly a small sum to apply to education, and a proof that, prosperous and ambitious as Michigan City was at that time, and with a number of children at school age -- however small it might have been in pro- portion to the rapid increase of aduit population-public instruction was large- ly supported by individual contribution.
In 1838 County School Commissioner Arthur McClure reported a fund of $149.82 as belonging to Town 38 north of Range 4. west ( Michigan township). but Michigan City did not profit by this, so that the school within the corporate limits was maintained by payments from the private purses of the parents and others interested in any way.
In this old school house on Pine street political meetings were held for many years, and thus the citizens received an education quite as valuable to them as was the more elementary knowledge in- parted to the children.
From 1848 to 1850 there was a private school for young ladies conducted by Miss Mary Brown (afterwards Mrs. Lord), a graduate of St. Mary's Acad- emy in Canada; with her were Miss
Baldwin, Mrs. Sears, Miss Folsom and Miss Clemens. Among the early instruc- tors recalled with gratitude by older resi- dents are Mrs. Lydia Evarts, Mrs. Mary Griffiths, Miss Ann Hartwell and Miss Mary VanDeusen.
Other schools and individual teachers who gave instruction of more or less value and credit, have left no mark be- hind. Through the odds and ends of personal narrative, or in indirect refer- ence to early life in the city, may occa- sionally be discovered references to schooling or to teachers, but all precise information is lost. The same remark applies to the official documents into which should have been entered the re- ports of school commissioners ; no formal mention of original school transactions has been entered, and whatever records of school affairs may have been made are either destroyed or lost by the de- structiveness of fire or time itself. This is not an unusual cricumstance through- out Indiana : probably in most cities the beginnings of school life can never be accurately and systematically written be- cause original documents have disappear- ed, and the city government had no defi- nite department for a school report.
This was the condition of school affairs until the year 1853, when the uniform educational system became operative. The state university had by that time been founded, but the county academy was abolished, the district schools were replaced by the organized high school, and the common school, on the basis of population, was established.
This marked the date of advance into the present satisfactory plan of public in- struction, and from that date it is possi- ble to sketch the growth of schools as the city grew. Under wise supervision the city schools kept pace with the de- mands of the population except for an occasional brief interval of dereliction. In September, 1867, a reorganization was
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
effected with S. E. Miller as superin- tendent of city schools and broader plans were adopted. Mr. Miller was in office when the high school was established as a separate department in 1869; when the first class, consisting of only three pupils, was graduated in 1871 after completing the full course of two years; when the old Central school building was erected in 1876, and when the Canada (1885), Garfield (1889) and Eastport (1890) schools were built and the Park school established in 1885, at first in a rented building. He was succeeded in 1890 by
The attendance has steadily increased with the growth of the city and of the schools. In 1880 there were 2000 pupils, in 1888, 2,250 and in 1903 it had reached 2,455. At the beginning of the school year, 1907, on an estimated population of 20,000, the attendance at the public schools may be conservatively stated to be 3,000.
This does not include those in attend- ance at the parochial schools of which three must be mentioned, St. Mary's High School with 500 pupils, St. Stanis- laus with 300 and St. Paul's, a Lutheran
THE OLD LIGHTHOUSE
J. C. Block, who gave way in 1893 10 Edward Boyle, in whose term the Cen- tral building was burnt in January, 1896, and replaced by the present handsome edifice. J. G. Monroe was appointed in 1899, P. A. Cowgill in 1901 and L. W. Keeler, the present incumbent, in 1904. The Marsh school was built in 1894 and the Park in 1896. The Elston school occupies the oldest building used for public school purposes in the city and it stands on the lot donated to the city for educational uses by Major Elston in 1833.
school.
The modern public schools have added kindergartens and today there are six rooms with eight teachers for the chil- dren of this early age.
A unique phase of the public schools of Michigan City was the interest taken in all that pertained to education by one of her first citizens, Mr. George Ames. He was always active in school work, he gave prizes, he used his time and his tal- ents to see that nothing was lacking to bring his home abreast of other cities and he planted with his own hand or out
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
of his own purse hundreds of trees to give shade and to encourage the children to have due love for nature.
LIBRARIES.
The Michigan City Public Library, of which the citizens are so justly proud, because, with other reasons it is so com- pletely the outgrowth of local initiative and energy, had its origin in the last will and testament of George Ames, who had always been much interested in educa- tional matters in general and in the schools in particular. In his will he pro- vided a legacy of five thousand dollars, as a fund to be used for the purchase of books for a public library, in case a library organization should exist within a stated time. The needs of the public and the knowledge of this bequest from Mr. Ames encouraged the members of a literary society known as the Fortnightly Club to secure a library. A committee was appointed to look into the provision of the will and to report on what plan of organization would be necessary to se- cure the benefits of the bequest.
This committee submitted the names of fifteen prominent men and women in the city who consented to form the board of incorporators and to take necessary legal steps, according to the Indiana State library law of 1881, to organize a public library.
The committee was composed of the following :
Mrs. J. Grenville Mott.
Mrs. John H. Barker. Mrs. Fannie E. Orr. Mrs. William C. Gordon. Mrs. Minnie Leeds.
Mr. Otto Klopsch. Mr. Albert Knack. Miss Angela Donnelly. Mr. Walter Vail. Mr. N. P. Rogers.
Mr. Samuel E. Miller. Mr. Edward Boyle.
Mrs. A. R. Colborn. Mr. J. H. Orr.
The organization was effected in May. 1896, and the next step in the develop- ment was the offer, by John H. Barker, of a contribution of one-third of the entire cost of a library building to be erected by means of the subscriptions of the citizens. Such an interest had been aroused that the committee appointed to solicit funds soon raised $30,000.00. A site was chosen on the corner of Spring and Eighth streets, opposite the city High school. The building erected is a beautiful one of Indiana blue Bedford stone: it is two stories in height and classic in style, with a combination of the composite and Doric orders of archi- tecture.
The interior is finished in marble and quarter-sawed oak. Special care was taken to fit the building throughout with the best library furniture and appliances. The first floor has the reading and refer- ence room, the children's room, the de -- livery room and the stack room. On the second floor are the trustees' room, the Woman's Study Club room and the as- sembly room ; this last is used for meet- ings, exhibits and other similar purposes. The basement is finished off and used for packing and store rooms. The library was opened to the public in October, 1897.
Miss Marilla Freeman organized the library in 1897 and was librarian until 1902. Miss Grace Edwards then took the position for one year and was suc- ceeded by Miss Lillian Arnold, who held the position until December, 1905.
The present staff consists of Miss Inez Pierce, Librarian, and Miss Amalia Aicher, assistant.
The Dewey decimal classification is used and the public has free access to the shelves. During the winter months the reading room is open from 9:30 a. m. to 9 p. m., the loan department from 9:30
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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN CITY
a. m. to 8 p. m. During the summer the reading room closes at 8 p. m. Sundays the reading room is open from 2 to 5 p. m.
It has always been and still is the pol- icy of the library to cooperate with and to further in every possible way thc edu- cational and industrial interests of the people of Michigan City, and to give them the best it can in the way of recrea- tive reading.
The library is supported by a township tax of six mills. Besides this the income from the following funds is used for the purchase of books: The George Ames fund, an endowment fund of $12,000.00 which was raised by subscription, and a gift of $5,000.00 from Mr. John H. Barker.
The statistics for the year ending April 30, 1907, will give an idea as to the work and progress of the library.
Books in the library, about. 10,000
Books circulated during year 37,936
Juvenile books issued during year 14.665
Adult fiction books issued during year. .19,000
German books issued during year. 1,721
Non-fiction books issued during year. 2,544
Largest day's issue. 334
Smallest day's issue 45
Average day's issue. 124
The present library board is composed of the following members :
Mrs. John H. Barker, President.
Mrs. Jared H. Orr, Vice-President. Miss Geneva DeWolfe, Secretary.
Mr. Walter Vail, Treasurer.
J. J. Riley.
F. C. Carson.
D. H. Cornell.
Fannie E. Orr. William Blinks.
R. W. Street.
J. G. Hoch.
Minnie Leeds.
W. B. Hutchinson.
H. W. Johnson.
Under the township library law prior to the present law little cffort was made
at Michigan City and whatever was done in that direction then has disappearcd from human knowledge, leaving no rem- nant behind.
CHURCHES.
Michigan City's earliest settlers would have violated all traditions of the pio- neers if they had not welcomed from the outset the itinerant preacher, and un- doubtedly the years 1833, 1834 and 1835 heard exhortations delivered at the foot of Hoosier Slide. Many of these men came on their own accord, urged on by the zeal within them and determined to carry the gospel as they interpreted it wherever there might be a soul in need of it. But occasionally the pioneers themselves solicited the appearance of preachers, and extended an invitation when they heard of a minister in the neighborhood. Thus we know that the Reverend James Armstrong preached a fcrvid methodism in Michigan City in 1833, although he did not reside there but had headquarters at Door Village, and in 1835 the first issue of the Michigan City Gazette announces that "the Rev. Mr. St. Clair will deliver a sermon in this village next Sabbath at 2 p. m. in the school house." July 8, 1835. the Gazette described the ecclesiastical situa- tion in Michigan City as follows: "1 Congregational church has been formed here with a permanent pastor. A Bap- tist minister of distinction resides here and there is prospect of a Baptist church. A Methodist society has been formed, supplied by circuit preachers."
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