USA > Indiana > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, together with historic notes on the Wabash Valley; gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic sources > Part 81
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 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
The physical features of the land in Franklin township are not so varied, and therefore do not present as many points of interest to the superficial explorer, as some other townships in Montgomery county, but to the agricnlturist it is not surpassed in its attractions. The land is level, but gently rolling, so as to give the best drainage in most of the township, especially in the eastern part. There is a tendency in places to flat, marshy ground. There is a water divide extending across the township, dividing the waters of the Walnut fork from those of Sugar creek, and running parallel with the latter stream. It arises in the eastern portion of the township to the north, and crosses sonth of the middle of the western border to the junction of these waters north of Crawfordsville. On either side of this ridge springs abound, whose waters on the north flow to Sugar creek and those on the sonth to Wal- nut fork. This part of the township presents attractions to the agri- culturist. The banks of Sugar creek and Walnut fork present irregu- larities, from rugged and steep cliffs to gentle declivities. The regular undulations of the land in some sections breaks the monotony of the more level portions of the country, adding beauty and attraction as well as condition of land with proper ingredients of soil capable of the high- est degree of cultivation. Under the surface soil is a subsoil of sand, gravel, shales, and clays, intermixed with every variety of fertilizing material. This is found in places reaching down to the depth of 100 or 200 feet, making an inexhaustible store-house of the most reliable soil.
523
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
The surface soil of Franklin is of dark or black fertile quality, and differs but little in its composition from that of Sugar Creek township on the north, or Walnut on the south. The soil is strong, and well adapted to the growth of most products of the land. Wheat is success- fully grown, although it is not what wheat growers estimate as a special soil for that grain, and may not be regarded as reliable as the more ele- vated lands. It is, however, well adapted to the production of eorn, but not so strong as the prairies of the west. The same may be said of rye, oats, barley, and buckwheat. Garden and all root products are raised in an average crop. The general adaptation of the soil offers special inducements to the husbandman.
The grass and clover yield is sufficient to induce heavy stock grow- ing, especially in cattle. Fruit growing is sufficiently successful to se- cure a supply for the home demand, and compares favorably with other parts of the country of the same latitude. There are but few sections but what present locations that are favorable to fruit growing. The numerous brooks and creeks with a north and northwestern elevation or grove to break the cold, bleak winds of winter, while the water be- low protects from the frosts of spring, that, if well selected, a fruit or- chard may be successfully cultivated. And if fruit growers would appropriate the natural advantages of the situation selected, they would find many localities favorable to horticultural products which other- wise would fail. Many a young fruit orchard has been sacrificed in this vicinity because the farmer has thought more of convenience of its locality to his dwelling than to consult the comfort of growing fruit. The reader will pardon us for the interpolation of suggestions into a work purporting to be purely historical, for history is useless without its practical adaptation to life, and we write not to amuse but to profit.
The drainage in this township is good, and the supply of water abundant, through Sugar creek and its tributaries. The former bounds the township from the northeast corner running southwest to the town- ship line, dividing townships 19 and 20, where it enters the township, crossing the northwest corner, and emerges into Union township one and a half miles west of Darlington, a distance.of eight miles from the point where it reaches the township on the northeast. This stream furnishes abundant water-power for all manufacturing purposes in the state, and on its banks are found some of the finest mill sites. At an early day in the history of the township the water supply was much greater than in modern days, since the forest has been cut away and the land cultivated. The main tributaries to Sugar creek in Franklin township are Hazel creek, Honey creek, and Middle fork. The former enters the township on the east at the third section line north, two
524
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
miles north of Shannondale ; thence northward two miles along the east- ern border to Sec. 1; thence northwest three miles, where it empties into Sugar creek at its junction with the Congressional, between town- ships 19 and 20. The numerous brooks that empty into this branch on its course through the township give drainage and water supply to the fertile farms on the east and northeast. Honey creek is a short stream which arises in the central sections of the township, flows to the northwest, passing Darlington on the northeast, and empties its waters into Sugar creek fifty or sixty rods north of this village, while the west- ern sections are drained by smaller branches running to the same stream. Middle fork Sugar creek enters the township by two branches in the southeast, the south branch half a mile west of the corner, and the north branch one mile north at the village of Shannondale. These branches meet as they meander westward through the southern sections, receiv- ing the waters of Big Run at the central section line, which flow down from the north draining the eastern center, then westward to the town- ship line, passing out one mile north of the southwest corner of the township.
Along the waters and in the timber lands were found the loathsome reptile. The turtles, of two or three kinds, are found in the marshes and in the timber. Two or three species of rattlesnakes ; the large rattlesnake of the woods was once very common; the copperhead was the most formidable, but is now rarely met with. The hoop and whip snakes were among the native pests to the pioneer.
Timber of almost every species was represented in the wilderness forest which covered this township half a century ago. Pine (white), cedar, poplar, beech, sugar, maple and black walnut, oak of several va- rieties - white, red, black, jack, chestnut, burr and shingle; hickory of four or five species ; elm - white, red, slippery and swamp; dogwood, willow, alder, crabapple, thornapple, etc. When these stood in their native grandeur formed the hunting grounds for the red sons of the forest, where he found the bear, the wolf, the buffalo and the deer, which have disappeared at the approach of the white man, who swept away their haunts of safety, and left the fox, wild cat, lynx, raccoon, opossuin, rabbit, polecat, woodchuck, mink, squirrel, martin and weasel. The birds of game may be mentioned as the wild turkey, wild geese and ducks, the partridge and the quail. To the more useful we may add the bluebird, the robin, the martin, the swallow, the woodcock, the mocking-bird, the buzzard, the crow, the hawk, and occasionally an eagle. Of the plants and flowers mentioned as indigenous to the soil there are over 900 species, and 110 families. These bloom on the banks of the streams and along the margin of the forest, in the fields and morasses of the lowlands.
525
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP.
The constitution of Franklin township dates from May 1831, be- ing a half century the coming May. In the May term of the commis- sioners' court of 1831 it was ordered that the above township should be constituted ; and at the same session it was ordered that the first election for township officers should be held at the house of Aaron Stewarts, in said township, in the month of September, at which time two justices of the peace and two constables should be elected. The sheriff of the county was ordered to give public notice of said election. J. R. Robbins and Aaron S. Stewart were chosen overseers of the poor for the said township.
The fall election resulted in the choice of William Stewart and Isaac Sutton as the first justices elected in Franklin township, and Fielding Betts as constable, who presented bonds to the board of com- missioners at the September term, and entered upon the duties of the office. Whether an associate constable was elected at this election does not appear from the records. At the September term of commis- sioners' court, of the same year, there being a change in the boundary of Franklin township, the board ordered the place of holding elections to be at the house of Joseph Stewart. The judiciary elected as above served a term of four years, at the expiration of which Mr. William Stewart was reëlected to serve the second term, and Mr. Nathan Mor- gan was elected successor to Mr. Isaac Sutton. These were followed in office by William H. Endicott, John Test (two terms), and J. B. Low- man, who served three terms. These men were among the early citizens of the township, and were elected to the office before 1850, two of them continuing their office beyond that date. Still more re- cently we find elected to this office Henry Huffman, Ambrose Droll- inger, Alaxander Hoover, Jacob Thompson, and Alexander Harper. The present board of justices are Samuel T. Miller, Jesse Riggins, and William Armstrong. Constable for Franklin township, F. M. Betts.
In the time the township was constituted there was but one town- ship trustee, in whom was imposed all the trust of the office, to which office William H. Endicott was first elected. About twenty years later the townships were organized under an act of the legislature by electing three trustees, who were organized with president, treasurer and secretary. The first board of trustees under the above act were Thomas H. Mikles, James McClaskey and Nathaniel Booker. This act, however, was repealed after a few years, and the original order was restored, when Nathaniel Booker was elected to the office. The pres- ent incumbent of the office is Mr. John M. Hollingsworth. There are
526
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
twelve school directors: No. 1, L. Cooper; No. 2, Thomas H. Mc- Donnel ; No. 3, S. T. Miller; No. 4, Thomas J. Nicely; No. 5, H. Trout ; No. 6, George LaFollett; No. 7, J. Stewart; No. 8, J. F. Harris; No. 9, Dr. T. J. Griffeth ; No. 10, William Decker; No. 11, William Lynch ; No. 12, James Remley.
EARLY HISTORY.
Franklin township was occupied by a people in a time so remote in past ages that the memory of man or history " runneth not to the con- trary." A people commonly called a " prehistoric race" held a primi- tive right to these fertile lands. Of them there is no written history found in ancient manuscripts or books, and but little, if any, engraven on tablets of stone and clay, or handed down to us by tradition. They have, however, left their " footprints in the sands of time," and of their existence and habits there is abundant evidence. They are studded in their mounds as tombs and temples of worship, as well as in their im- plements of art and warfare. Two of those ancient mounds are found in the southeast part of the township. One in Sec. 23 is located in the neighborhood of an ancient lake bed, which is now but a pond, but, doubtless, in the days of the builders furnished abundant water and fishery supplies. When and how these people came to this vicinity we will not attempt to say at this writing. They have not only left their mounds as monuments of their occupation of the land in the ter- ritory of this township, but have left their stone implements scattered over most of the soil. These have been accumulated by some of the citizens in interesting varieties and numbers, among whom may be mentioned Dr. T. J. Griffeth, of Darlington.
The American Indians, who succeeded the mound builders, being an unlettered and uncivilized people, have left but little to their memory in this part of the county, although half a century has not passed since they wandered through the wilds of Franklin township. Here and there may be found an old burying-ground, where they laid away their dead to rest until summoned to the groves of "the happy hunting ground." One of those old burying-grounds is found near Sugar creek, some distance northeast of Darlington, on the Logansport, Crawfords- ville & Southwestern railroad, located in a gravel bank, from which large quantities of gravel have been removed for purposes of public im- provements until the remains, which have rested undisturbed for cen- turies, have been exhumed. The presence of the red men, however, has been recognized in Franklin township as late as 1832, for up to this date they held Thorntown in the adjoining neighborhood. The citizens have recollections of their frequent visits to the neighborhood
527
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
of Franklin, but suffered no inconvenience or injury from them worthy of note, as after the treaty of peace in 1818 they were peaceable, when the whites had settled in other parts of the state, and at the beginning of the settlement of this township, in 1823, there were no fears of hos- tility from them.
FIRST LAND SALES.
The first land sold by the government in Franklin township was entered by Luis L. Cooper March 7, 1822, in Sec. 33. In the fol- lowing fall, on November 7, there were four purchases made: Samuel Flanigan, in Sec. 3; Abner Crane, in Sec. 8 ; James Ventioner, in Sec. 32; and James Scott, in Sec. 32. On the following day, Novem- ber 8, 1822, James Abernathy entered a tract in Sec. 4. On the fol- lowing day, the 9th, Louis L. Cooper, who made the first purchase, en- tered another tract in Sec. 33, where he made the first purchase. These were followed by Wm. B. Guthrie, who entered in Sec. 8 on the 16th of the same month, and two days later, November 18, 1822, John Aber- nathy made the last purchase for the year, in Sec. 8. In 1823 there were six purchases made: William Pickett, Nathen Pickett, James Abernathy, Joseph Cox, Abner Crane, and Thomas Pottenger. The largest sale of public lands in Franklin township was on June 2, 1832, when Sec. 16 was sold to Solomon Bigler, Daniel Willis, William Cox, and Anthony Bowon. Mr. S. Bigler purchased 400 acres of the above in the above sale, the largest traet entered by one individual in the township. Prior to 1830 there were 109 purchases made from the gov- ernment, and after that date, and up to 1837, there were 186 records made of government land sales, which included all the publie lands in the township. The first purchase, as has been stated, was on March 7, 1822, and the last on October 3, 1837, by Thomas Gray, in Sec. 24.
In the year 1823 the first settlements were opened in Franklin township. The homes, however, of 1823 and 1824 were few, among whom were Henry Wiseheart, John Harland, Samuel Flannigan, and . John Brewer. Henry Wiseheart came to the township in the first part. of the year 1823, and settled in the vicinity of Darlington and built him a cabin house for his family, and cleared up a small lot on which he raised his first crop. He was the first settler in this part of the township. His only neighbors were the native Indians, who were peaceable and inoffensive. Later in the season of the same year John Abernathy settled in the limits of the present town, and built a small cabin east of where the Christian church now stands. He soon ex- perienced the saddest of pioneer life, in the death of his wife and one child, whose remains he laid away in the early graveyard of the lonely wilderness and returned home the same year. On October 7, 1824,
528
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
John Harland came with his family, and occupied the cabin vacated by Mr. Abernathy until he built on his own land, a short distance east of Darlington, and became neighbor to Mr. Wiseheart. At this time Mr. Wm. Harland, now of Darlington, was a child of five or six years, and used to play with the red children of the woods, learned much of their language, and can tell many interesting anecdotes of those primitive days.
The same year (1824) Mr. John Brewer, an old bachelor, came to the settlement and took a government lease and built a hut of rails, in which he built his bed by driving stakes in the ground on which he laid one end of the beams of his bedstead and the other end in the crack of the building, then covered it with sticks, on which he laid his pallet of straw. His fire was built upon the ground at the door of his hut to afford him protection from wild beasts, at night, who might be prowl- ing around for a morsel of food that might be thrown from the door of his humble home. A more befitting manner of life could not have been chosen by a man of bachelor habits than that in which this hermit spent one winter of his life. During the following summer he sold his lease to Mr. Brewer Blalock, who cleared up the land. In this year (1825) Ruben Nickelson bought the farm vacated by John Aber- nathy in 1823, and Samuel Flannigan entered and settled one mile northeast of where Darlington now stands. There was a settlement. opening up in the south part of what is now Franklin township, on the waters of Middle fork, Sugar creek. To these were added, before the year 1830, Atwell Mount, Aaron Stewart, Samuel Flannigan, Joseph Cox, Henry Wisehart, James Tribbett, Elisha Cox, Jacob Booker, James Hopper, James McClaskey, Robert Craig, Enoch Peacock, Sol- omon Bond, J. C. Remley, and a few others. The occupation of the township was not as active as other portions of the county, and it was not until 1831 constituted a township, while land was entered as late as 1837. Since 1840 great changes have been wrought on the face of the country, while growth and enterprise have become characteristic of Franklin. Many have sold farms in other parts of the county and purchased within her borders, being attracted by the fertility of her soil and other natural advantages.
EARLY IMPROVEMENTS.
In this township, as in most parts of the country, the first improve- ments for the general interests of society consisted in the building of mills, the first of which was built by Enoch and Benjamin Cox about 1833, on Sugar creek, one mile west of where Darlington now stands. They erected a saw-mill the previous year (1832), in which they
529
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
prepared the lumber for the building of the flour-mill,-an important enterprise to the community, and was patronized by farmers from the adjacent townships as well as a large home custom. The next flour- mill was built by Enoch Cox on Honey creek, about half a mile below Darlington, in 1844. This was not a lasting enterprise, as the water supply was not sufficient to make it a success and profitable in its re- turns for the investments made, and has been abandoned.
The first woolen-mill in the township was built by Robert Cox. This factory was located on Sugar creek, one and a half miles above Darlington, and was run by water-power drawn from that creek. In . an early day an oil-mill was built by Benjamin Cox one mile below Darlington. To this he afterward built a carding-mill, which was suc- cessfully run for a number of years. The building is now occupied as a farm barn. The present flouring-mills of the township are the Frank- lin mills, one mile west of the village of Darlington, on the site of the first mill by Benjamin and Enoch Cox. This mill building is a three-story frame structure, built by Silas Kenworth in 1847.
The first hotel opened in the limits of Franklin was in the year 1830, before the township was constituted. This was located where Darlington now stands, and consisted of a hewed log house, built by Ruben Nickerson, who sold to other parties some time after. The building was occupied for public entertainment until 1837, when Mr. Preston Beck moved his family into the neighborhood, and on the 15th of April of the above year occupied it as a dwelling. This was the first village hotel, as it was occupied as such when the village was plat- ted, on February 1, 1836.
The first store in the bounds of the township was opened by Robert Cox in a frame building within the present limits of the town of Dar- lington. The building is yet standing on one of the back streets, and is occupied as a dwelling-honse. This brings us down to the time of the platting of the village of Darlington, in the beginning of 1836, to which we refer the reader in the following pages.
DARLINGTON.
This village is situated in the northwestern quarter of the town- ship, within half a mile of Sugar creek, and on the Honey creek branch, which bounds it on the northeast; an appropriate situa- tion for "Darlingtown." It is a station on the Logansport, Craw- fordsville & Southwestern railroad, nine miles northeast of Crawfords- ville and ten miles southwest of Thorntown, the northern terminus of the Darlington & Thorntown Pike. It lies about forty-five miles west of Indianapolis, the capital of the state, and is surrounded by a fertile
34
530
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
soil well adapted to agriculture. The farmers adjacent to the town are an industrious and successful people, with beautiful farms and pleasant homes. It was platted by Enoch Cox on February 1, 1836. At the first survey of the village there were but few buildings within the limits ; the old hewed log hotel built by Ruben Nickelson, and a notion store owned by Robert Cox in a small frame building, which was afterward removed to a back street, and is now occupied as a dwelling house. The same year in which the village was laid out Mr. Robert Cox sold his store to William Andrews. The next store was opened · by Mr. James Morrison, who afterward sold to Enoch and Robert Cox, who sold out the stock some time before 1840.
The year following the survey of the town (1837) Preston Beck moved to Darlington and occupied the old hotel building, and in con- nection with Enoch Cox established a tannery, in which they continued until 1844. Mr. Beck then started a factory for himself, which he op- erated until 1858. The manufacture of leather was then discontinued in Darlington. At the time Mr. P. Beck took possession of the hotel building, in 1837, Mr. William Andrew kept a house of public enter- tainment. in the same building in which he sold goods, and up to the time he built the Central House, now kept by Robert C. Jackman. Mr. P. Beck discontinued his 'connection with the tannery, and on April 15, 1858, he bought this building of Mr. Andrews and called it the Beck House, in which he gave public entertainment for twenty years.
The first postmaster was William Armstrong, about 1842. This gentleman held the office for a succession of years. During the adminis- tration of President Buchanan Miss Caroline Beck held the office, was assisted in the duties of the place by her sister, Margaret Beck. The profits were about $100 per annum. After the establishment of the daily mail Jacob Harnsbeck was appointed postmaster; was succeeded by D. D. Dyson, then J. M. Hollingsworth, and T. B. McCune, and lastly by R. C. Jackman, who is the present incumbent of the office.
The village has within its limits four church buildings, namely, Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal, Christian, and Unitarian Christian. The first church edifice was built between 1844 and 1850, a frame . building put up under the direction of the Presbyterians, with the un- derstanding that members of other denominations should have the use of said church when not occupied by the former. From this considera- tion all contributed to the erection of this house of worship, and for many years enjoyed the use of the same for their denominational meetings. In 1860 the Christian church, in the east part of the town, built a commodious frame structure. Some years later the Methodist
531
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
Episcopal society erected their present house of worship. It is an at- tractive modern frame edifice. In the same year the Unitarian Chris- tian members raised and dedicated their place of worship according to the usages of their society. Following them, in 1872, the Presbyte- rians fabricated a new brick, to take the place of the old frame used in the earlier years. The old building was moved down on main street and refitted for a store-room, and is now occupied by Dr. Naylor for drugs. These facts will indicate to the reader that the society of this vicinity is not without restraining religious influences, which are so very essen- tial for the cultivation of a well regulated community.
Towering above all is the academy, which stands on an eminence on the south of the village. The Darlington Academy was built in 1866, at a cost of over $7,000. The appropriation was from the township, and private citizens who formed themselves into a stock company for the purpose of instituting and perfecting the enterprise. The township appropriated $2,200; the greater portion of the amount was secured by the members of the association. Although it is called Darlington Academy, it was designed for, and is occupied by, a graded school. There are four school apartments. It is a three-story building ; the first and second floors are occupied by the school, third floor is oc- cupied as a Masonic hall. The building committee were Dr. John Nevens, Archabold Johnson, Alexander Harper, and James Carson. The first principal employed was Prof. Orear. He was followed by Prof. Abernanthy ; then the place was filled by Prof. J. M. Wright, who continued in charge of the youth of that section for a number of years. Prof. A. B. Buckley is at present occupying the position, assisted by Miss Mary Barker and Miss Ella McNichol.
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.