USA > Indiana > Knox County > Vincennes > History of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 46
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And, when it comes to melons, the growers of this luscious fruit have the "pumpkin growers" decidedly outclassed. The industry of melon grow- ing in Knox county has attained gigantic proportions. The quantity of watermelons and cantaloupes-all of which are of superior quality-pro- duced in this county is so great that when the crops are gathered the ship- pers frequently find it difficult to secure cars sufficient for their transporta- tion. The Rocky Ford melons of this vicinity are prime favorites with the epicures of New York City, and the swell clubs and cafes of the East-
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ern metropolis have acquired the habit of underlining on their menu cards "Knox county nutmegs," for which they receive handsome prices. The North and East are large consumers of the melons grown in this locality, and the railway stations at Vincennes, Decker, Purcell, Oaktown, Emison, Bicknell, Edwardsport and Wheatland are scenes of unusual activity when the melon season is on. The profits which accrue from the cultivation of melons are said to be enormous, amounting in the aggregate to more money in proportion to the time and labor expended, and the extent of acreage cultivated, than can be realized from the yield of any other product. And the industry, it might be said, is still in its infancy.
Knox county has almost as many varieties of soil as the products thereof. The high lands are abundantly rich and mellow, adapted to the culture of any crop, and conform admirably to every kind of farm uses. The vast expanse of bottom lands which skirt the Wabash, White and Duchee rivers, is especially adapted to corn, wheat and hay, which yield large crops dur- ing seasons of severest drought, when vegetation in other localities withers and dies from lack of moisture. There is really nothing which grows to sustain life of man or beast that can not be raised in abundance in this section, with less labor and less cost than the same can be produced else- where. The unexcelled railway facilities, which enable the farmer to get to any market he desires, without having to see a middle man; the ex- cellent system of gravel roads that penetrate the very heart of the farm- ing country, maintained in fine condition the year around, are advantages which are not to be given secondary consideration in summing up the many conveniences of living "down on the farm." The rural free delivery of the mail to all sections, and the services of two complete telephone systems, one of which is the product of home capital and enterprise, are other es- sentials not to be lightly considered in contemplating the advantages en- joyed by the farming community.
The unrivalled agricultural resources of the county of which Vincennes is the seat of government, have not only sustained but have builded up the thriving city. Some of the wealthiest citizens, in fact many are, or have been, owners of farms from which they derived their wealth. These men have kept pace with every advanced step made in the direction of progres- sive agriculture. While none of them are farmers in a literal sense, nearly all of them own farms and personally look after the cultivation of them, for the reason that the industry of farming, in this locality especially, is considered a science as well as a profession, besides an interesting study, an inviting avocation, and has been to them the royal road to wealth.
The major portion of all farming land in the county (with the excep- tion of localities where mounds and hills occur) is generally level or gently rolling, with sufficient slope to afford first-class drainage, and so smooth that it will admit the passage of automobiles over its surface with compara- tive ease. It has few waste places to be made green for the reason that nearly every acre of it is in cultivation or covered with a growth of valu-
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able forest trees. Farm life here is made pleasant as well as profitable by congenial surroundings which unite a people in bonds of mutual interest and make a community of happy homes. The progress of the farming communities in this section has kept pace with the progress of the world. The farmers hereabout know what constitutes scientific farming, and evi- dently possessed this knowledge before the study of agriculture was taught as a science in the advanced institutions of learning, for fortunes, large and small, have long since been gathered by them from the fruits of the soil. And yet there are no wild speculations here, growing out of the sale of desirable farms, like there are in localities where undesirable farms are sold, in the so-called virile and growing west, where land values, as well as the land itself, are fictitious. The best farms are bought and sold here for the best prices, and the purchasers hail principally from the west, while not a few are from the east and north. The unsurpassed fertility of the soil; a climate adapted to the highest crop production, and comfortable for human habitation; social, religious and educational advantages, such as are afforded by up-to-date schools and churches; the number of good- sized towns in proximity to the farms, and the splendid markets furnished by Vincennes for everything raised on the farms; a pleasing rural land- scape, the beauties of which never become monotonous, but are always pleasing and refreshing, are a few of the manifold features having mag- netic power to bring to this locality people who are seeking agricultural districts for agreeable homes and a comfortable competence. Good farms can be had as low as thirty and as high as three hundred dollars per acre.
In proportion to the area of territory she occupies, Knox county raises a greater quantity of wheat and corn than any other county in the state, the average yield of the acres in actual cultivation being greater than that of any other county. It is not a very uncommon thing in favorable seasons to gather eighty-five, ninety-five, and even one hundred and ten, bushels of corn from one acre of ground. On a farm two seasons ago, a sixty acre farm within two miles of Vincennes, totaled over a hundred bushels of corn to the acre. Conditions of climate and soil are very favorable to wheat raising, and from forty-five to fifty-three bushels of this cereal to the acre is not considered as a very extraordinary yield when the harvest days have been preceded by a season of winter weather conducive to health and growth of the tender plant. Other crops fare as well and yield as abundantly here as hay, corn and wheat. The atmospheric conditions of the locality, and the chemical formations in the soil arising from alluvial deposits of the streams, and from other causes, characteristic of this region, are responsible for the wonderful productiveness of the soil. Notwith- standing the ground in nearly all of the farming districts has been worked more or less for years, there are evidences of unanalyzed agents in the air and earth which impart to cultivated lands elements of fertility and pro- ductiveness equal to that possessed by virgin soil in the less favored local- ities. Hence, all products yield here abundantly, and the time and cost of
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fertilizing the lands for cultivation are materially lessened on account of these natural favorable conditions.
The soil of Knox county is adapted to horticulture as well as agricul- ture. An impressive illustration of this can be had in a visit to the beauti- ful nursery farms of either Mr. Simpson or Mr. Reed, both of which ad- join each other and are located about three and a half miles southeast of the city, where flowers, trees and shrubs, natives of almost every clime un- der the sun, grow profusely, and are attractive features of two of the hand- somest country homes any one having a taste for the beauties of landscape gardening or artistie architecture could wish for. The adaptability of the soil for flower culture has been demonstrated by W. A. Reiman, florist, who grows every year from 300,000 to 500,000 effusions of white, pink and crimson peonies from an open field of 121/2 acres in one of the rich agri- cultural localities of the county. This wilderness of floral beauty is lo- cated about four miles northeast of Vincennes, and all lovers of nature as developed in flowers who have never seen it can form no adequate con- ception of its rarity and loveliness.
BUSSERON TOWNSHIP.
The township of Busseron, named in honor of Francois Busseron, lies in the northwestern corner of the county. It is bounded on the north by Sullivan county, on the east by Widner township, from which it is sepa- rated by Maria Creek, on the south by Washington township, with Maria Creek as the dividing line, and on the west by the Wabash river. It con- tains about 33,000 acres of rich farm lands, nearly all of which are under cultivation. The Wabash river and the Evansville & Terre Haute rail- roads are the avenues over which merchants, manufacturers and farmers receive and ship products and merchandise. The soil is fertile, and large quantities of corn and wheat, melons and tomatoes are raised in the town- ship. The lands along the Wabash are generally low and level, subject to overflows, and produce big yields of corn. The elevated lands consist largely of prairies, of which Shaker Prairie is vaster in area and more noted than any other rural section in the county.
THE SHAKERS-A QUEER SECT.
The name Shaker Prairie was given the tract because of the fact that the Shakers-a queer sect of Christians-were its original owners. They were called Shakers on account of a peculiar agitation, or movement, dis- played in dancing, which was a characteristic phase of their religious exer- cises. The proper name of the order, however, was the "United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing." The denomination had its origin about the year 1770 in England, after which date it was confined to the United States. Originally the Shakers were an off-shoot from the Friends, or Quakers, and held about the same ideas in common with these
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religionists ; but subsequently they completely changed their spiritual views, both as to their theological creed, their modes of living and their methods of worship, all of which were at once peculiar and greatly at variance with their former practices. What few Shakers remain orthodox to the faith, hold that there is an eternal Father and Mother in the Deity, the heavenly parents of all angelical hosts and human beings; that Christ also is dual (Jesus being the male and Mother Anna Lee, founder of the sect, the fe- male Christ). They believe that there are four cycles of human religious progress, and, therefore, four heavens and four hells, the first three of which are places of probation; that non-resistance, no participation in any earthly government, a community of property, and a life of celibacy and virgin purity, are of prime obligation to every true believer. The advent of the first disciples in the west occurred towards the close of the eight- eenth century, when Archibald Meacham and Issachar Bates, from the mother church at Lebanon, Mass., visited Ohio and founded a church. About the year 1808, they came into Knox county, followed by some of of their converts, and, after purchasing 1,300 acres of land from Robert Huston and Joseph Worthington, proceeded to establish a church. Among the more prominent of the first arrivals were William Brazleton, Henry Miller and Robert Gill, the latter having been a minister of the Methodist church in South Carolina. The converts who came with the first mission- aries to this locality were George Liger, Joseph Johnson, Daniel Redman, William Davis and William Douglass, who joined the fold in Ohio, and who were members of the first board of trustees. The Kentuckians among the colony were James Hopkins, John McCombs and John Hancock. Among the prominent men of the county who identified themselves with the faithful immediately upon the establishment of the colony were Will- iam Price, Sr., James, Benjamin, and William Price, Jr., Robt. Huston, Jos. Worthington, John Edington, Daniel Rankin, John Knox, David Low- ell and John Jenkins. The latter was the last survivor of the faith which was imparted on Shaker Prairie and died at Carlisle in 1890. At one time the Shaker colony is said to have consisted of 400 members. The first houses of worship and for living purposes were constructed of hewn logs, and built double, in order that the women, who lived and toiled and wor- shiped separately from the men, could occupy the ends of each building re- spectively. The first house dedicated to Sunday worship was a log struc- ture about 50x50 feet square, built in 1809 on land owned by Robert Gill, on the upper end of Shaker Prairie, which is now a part of Sullivan county. The Indian troubles, which grew alarming in 1811, put the Shakers to flight, and they proceeded overland to Kentucky with their stock and a hun- dred and fifty wagons, leaving their lands and property unprotected. After reaching Kentucky soil, which was accomplished by crossing the Ohio river at Henderson, hundreds of the flock renounced the faith and returned. The remainder divided, some going to South Union, in Logan county, Ky., some taking up their abode at Pleasant Hill, Mercer county, while others pro-
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ceeded up the river, crossed the Ohio at Cincinnati and formed a colony at Union village, in Warren county, Ohio, while a smaller contingent went to Brown county, Ohio, and established a church. In 1813 they returned, and removed their church building to a new tract of land, which was entered by William Davis, Adam Gallagher and Nathan Pegg, trustees, being the same which was purchased in 1837 by the grandfather of Wythe Sprinkle, of Vincennes, and Dr. Welcome Sprinkle, Oaktown, and which for many years was the country seat of their father, the late John H. E. Sprinkle. In 1820 the Shakers erected a two-story frame building, fifty feet long by forty feet wide, the upper part of which was occupied by the elders, and the lower floors which, by means of swinging doors, could be thrown into one apart- ment, used for religious worship, or dancing, which was the chief part of the ceremony. A few years later a brick building, for residence purposes, was constructed. The bricks entering into its construction were molded on the ground, and the sandstone used for foundations was quarried from the banks of the Wabash river. The dimensions of the building were fifty feet long by fifty feet wide, three stories high, with a basement. The arrange- ment of the first story was such that the hall and two of the larger rooms, by swinging back the doors to the walls, could be thrown into one room, which was used for the evening dance of devotion. The first floor was also arranged with sleeping apartments for twenty-four people. Similar ar- rangements on the second floor provided bedrooms for the accommodation of twenty-eight people, and the third story was supplied with sleeping com- partments for eight persons-the house being ample to accommodate sixty people with a residence and still permit the men to live separate from the women. This novel house was razed in 1875, by the late John H. E. Sprinkle. who made use of the material in constructing a new home on the site of the old land-mark, which was found to be in a good state of preservation. The framework of the old house was black walnut-except the joists, which were burr oak. The streamers were 12x12 inches, fifty feet long and dove- tailed. The studdings were 3x5 inches, 18 feet long, and the spaces between them were filled with brick and mortar. Burr oak planks, which had been cracked on the surface to retain plaster, were used instead of laths on the walls and ceilings. The Shakers lived as a commune, with a male and fe- male overseer. They tilled the soil, cultivated orchards, made wine, dis- tilled whiskey, manufactured all their wearing apparel, and were apparently satisfied with their lot. With the disposal of their property, in 1837, nearly all of the colony removed to either Kentucky or Ohio. No effort was made by the few who remained to revive the society, and Shakertown, which they founded, like the religion they established on Shaker Prairie, soon became a thing of the past.
OAKTOWN.
Oaktown, on the E. & T. H. (Frisco) Railroad is the most important settlement in Busseron township. It was originally laid out for George
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Bond by Samuel E. Smith, surveyor, in May, 1876. A month later Shep- ard's addition of fifty lots was added, and in October of the same year Watts Bond's parcels were made part of its domains. Mr. Bond built the first grist mill in the town, and is one of the pioneer merchants of the place. The town was duly incorporated December 6, 1909. It is a prosperous and growing community, and has quite a number of first-class business houses and up-to-date merchants, prominent among whom are: The Oaktown Mer- cantile Co., Latshaw & Co., hardware dealers; Rush L. Bond, grain dealer, who operates two big elevators, and is also engaged in general merchandis- ing on a large scale; W. B. Wolfe, Jr., commission merchant and coal dealer ; William Hollingsworth, D. S. Phillipps, meat market; H. F. Hoff- man, queensware and stationery; Blackburn Bros., poultry; Joe Wallace, John Benefiel, Bert Blann, barbers; D. D. Shepard, M. A. Rockett & Co., restauranteurs and confectioners ; Polk Bros., H. J. Shepard, live stock deal- ers : J. B. Sartor, Oaktown Elevator Co., grain and coal; F. M. Summers, J. P. Polk, livery ; J. H. Snapp, Jr., hardware and implements, stoves and furniture; Sullenger Bros., tinners ; M. R. Jones, manager Klemeyer Lum- ber Co .; Stolting Bros., blacksmiths and woodworkers; C. J. Polk, General repair shop; W. Bond Bratton, general merchandise; Mrs. Ida M. Sprinkle, millinery ; W. A. Taylor, lawyer and insurance; William Collins, druggist ; Dr. W. B. Sprinkle, Dr. J. S. Lisman, Dr. M. A. Johnson, Dr. Ashby, Dr. Jones, Dr. R. E. Trout, physicians and surgeons; Dr. C. A. Lambdin, dentist.
Oaktown has a splendid high school building, and three churches, viz: First Christian church, Rev. D. A. Hanna, pastor; Church of Christ, of which Elder O. M. Davis has charge, and the Methodist Episcopal church, Rev. T. M. Brimlow, pastor. Rev. Brimlow also officiates at the M. E. church at Emison. The Oaktown Christian church was organized in 1886, under the ministry of B. C. Sherman. The first elders were Roman Salters, Hampton Orndorf and Wm. Bifer. Geo. H. Bond and wife and B. C. Bond are the only surviving charter members. The present church, which cost more than ten thousand dollars, has a membership of over three hundred.
The Oaktown bank is an institution that is an index to the thrift of the people of that community. It was established in November, 1902, as a pri- vate concern, with a capital stock of $12,000. On February 10, 1908, it was reorganized as a state bank, with a capital of $40,000. Its resources and liabilities are $161,485.70, and the total deposits at last report amounted to $117,434.28. The present corps of officers, practically the same who were installed when the bank first came into existence, are: W. A. Polk, Presi- dent ; W. W. Osborne, Vice President; L. L. Blann, Cashier ; Theo. W. Osborn, Assistant Cashier ; C. F. Polk, Second Assistant Cashier.
Oaktown Lodge, No. 474. F. and A. M., was organized under dispensa- tion June 14, 1873, and chartered October 17, 1874. The first officers of the order were T. F. Townsley, W. M .; W. H. Wise, S. W .; A. B. Pike, J. W .; W. H. Bell. Treas .; J. W. Pugh, Secy .; David Williams, S. D .; J. M.
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Shepard, J. D .; James Williams, Tyler. The present officers are C. C. Sproatt, W. M .; HI. T. Sartor, S. W .; Robt. J. Crawford, J. W .; C. H. Schulze, Treas .; J. T. Stalcup, Secy .; J. B. Sartor, S. D .; C. J. Polk, J. D .; L. E. Jordon, Tyler. The membership is forty-eight. Caldwell Lodge, No. 271, I. O. O. F., was instituted November 21, 1866, on petition of J. H. E. Sprinkle, H. J. Smith, W. R. Miller and J. W. Benefield. The order is in a flourishing condition and has a membership of fifty-five. The Ura Camp of Royal Neighbors, instituted December, 1898, is another thriving fraternal society. Its present officers are Georgia Snyder, P. O .; Mary Wolfe, O .; Minnie Blackburn, V. O .; Amanda Wolfe, Recorder ; Mattie Bond, Receiver ; Maud Smith, Marshal; Emma Miller, Chancellor; Ethel Duggins, Inner Sentinel ; Flo Miller, Outer Sentinel ; Junita Bond, J. H. Asher, Ida Sprinkle, Managers.
The town board is composed of the same gentlemen who took official charge of Oaktown when the charter was granted, and consists of the fol- lowing members : I. N. Townsly, J. P. Polk and Granville Blackburn.
BUSSERON.
This hamlet had an existence before Oaktown. It is about twelve miles north of Vincennes, on the E. & T. H. railroad, about the centre of Busseron township, and was laid out in 1854 by Geo. Calhoun, for T. P. Emison, J. A. McClure and W. W. Harper, and contains twenty lots cach 100 feet square. While it has improved but slowly in recent years, it is nevertheless to-day an important shipping point for live stock and farm products.
EMISON.
The site for this village was laid out by Samuel A. Emison in May, 1867, and the original plat (made by C. S. Kabler, surveyor) provides for twenty- six lots of 120 feet square. It is also on the E. & T. H. railroad, has several shops and stores, church and graded school, and one very large general store, conducted by S. Winkler & Co. Large quantities of grain and other farm products are shipped from Emison.
DECKER TOWNSHIP.
This township, which is noted for the fertility of its soil, and which pro- duces immense crops of corn, wheat, clover and hay, to say nothing of melons, comprises between forty-five and fifty square miles. It is located in the southern extremity of the county, and occupies a point between the Wabash and White rivers, being bounded on the north by River Duchee and Johnson township. It was named in honor of Luke Decker, who was a member of the first territorial grand jury and who came from Virginia to Knox county with his family about 1781. The township, which is not without a number of swamps and bayous, has three large bodies of water known as Cypress, Dan and Claypool lakes (ponds), the two last named being very attractive
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fishing places. Dick's Hills and Claypool Hills are also among its extraor- dinary formations. On a farm of I. Ward Frey, about two miles west of Decker Station, the side of a hill, adjoining Dick's Hills, affords an entrance to Worth's cave. This cave is two stories high, having two rooms, side by side, the floors of which are ten feet above the surface of the entrance floor. Lately but few explorers have entered the cavern, which in years gone by was made an objective point by many visitors, who came from abroad and left indestructible evidence of their visits in the names they carved on the walls.
Red Cloud, Orville and Little Rock are among the more important settle- ments of the township. None of these have as yet attained the dignity of a town, although all of them can boast of having had, or having, postoffices.
Among the pioneers of the township who came after the advent of the Decker family were James A. Dick, for whom Dick's Hills were named, and Thomas Dick, founder of Dicksburg. Prominent among the older residents were Henry Crow, Jacob and Robert Jacobus, David Jennings, Robert Warth, David Crack, John Ramsey, Thomas Washburn, Jeremiah McNeeley, Jacob Anthis, Aquilla Ramsey.
DICKSBURG.
Dicksburg, which is now extinct, was the first town established in Decker township. The land on which it was located was conveyed by Thomas Dick to Andy Purcell in December, 1836, and consisted of ninety-three lots, of which less than one-half were sold. The town lay on the west bank of White river and the streets, which were numbered First, Second and Third, par- alleled the stream, while Purcell, Hill and Coddington streets respectively, ran at right angles. The encroachments of White river by which nearly all of the town was swept away at one time, caused its subsequent disappear- ance. During the freshet in the early autumn of 1875, a graveyard located near the former site of the town was engulfed by the angry floods.
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
This township-one of the largest in the county-was laid out in 1801, and was named in honor of General William Henry Harrison. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, bound on the north hy Palmyra and Steen townships, on the east and south by White river and on the west by Johnson township. The draining of Montour's pond about twenty years ago, added thousands of acres to the township's farming lands, which are very fertile. There are a few extensive ponds remaining, however, notably Long. Half Moon and Hitt's. Leonard R. Snyder was among the first set- tlers, and settled on a donation owned by Chas. Thorn in 1804. In 1817 he built the first horse mill in the county. He was the father of John, David, James, Samuel, Martin, Solomon and Andrew. Among the other early settlers whose descendants became prominent in the affairs of the commu-
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