USA > Indiana > Vermillion County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 19
USA > Indiana > Parke County > History of Parke and Vermillion Counties, Indiana : with historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 19
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EARLY SETTLEMENT.
Ohio furnished many of the first settlers for this section of Indiana, who, having been pioneers in that state, knew full well how to subdue another wilderness and cause it to blossom like the rose. North Carolina also fur- nished many more, a greater portion of whom were of the Society of Friends, and this people left their moral and Christian impress upon the township. The Indians, knowing full well what sort of men and women they had to cope with, made the pioneers their friends. The first to come into what is Reserve township to make a permanent settlement were the Linebargers, in 1822, the next being John 'Beard, who erected the first mill on Sugar creek in that year, the Browns, Mellikins and Jorias Horgar, immigrating at the same time. In
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the southeastern part, in 1825, came Puett and Charles Burton. In 1826 Solomon Allen arrived, the other early settlers being Warren Davis, Daniel Wickersham, the Morris family, Isaac Pemberton, Peyton Wilson, Abraham Halliday, Jeremiah Siler and others. Another settlement was that at Monte- zuma, those in the van being Whitlock, Majors, Joseph Hayes, Webster and Feeney, who arrived about 1823 or 1824. William and Thomas Cook, James and Samuel Hill, Aquilla Justin, John Shook and Chatsworth also arrived at an early day. Immigration soon rapidly increased and poured a steady, strong current into the heart of the wild forests, which soon heard the sound of the woodsman's axe and the land where for centuries had stood the stately trees was turned into grain and corn fields. The leveling of the forests also created another paying industry, that of lumbering and milling: John Beard erected the first mill, the simple corn-cracker of which was put in operation in 1822. It stood at what is now known as West Union. It was a log structure and the grinding arrangement consisted principally of nigger-head burrs, which, if sharp and newly dressed, would grind grain to the amount of about three bushels per hour. When the pioneer wanted wheat flour he had to go to Roseville, where the nearest flouring mill was situated. In 1826 Solomon Lusk erected a mill at the Narrows, and in 1827 Simon Rubbottom built one on Leatherwood creek, and in the same year another mill was put up near Armiesburg, after which the settlers had milling nearer home. The implements used at an early day were of rude construction, and the following description, written many years since, will give the reader an idea of their character in general: Of course the axe was first in importance and was used for many mechanical purposes. It was designed for practical every- day use, more for what it would do than for its beauty or ornamentation. The Carey plow, the most generally in use, was a rude affair, having a wrought iron share and a wooden mould-board. This was succeeded in 1839 by the cast-iron plow made by W. G. Coffin at his foundry, two or three miles northwest of Bloomingdale. This implement was, however, so clumsy and heavy that it never amounted to much for practical use. Then came the Peacock plow, which had a cast mould-board and a wrought iron share. It was made at Cincinnati and superseded all others. Five years later the Rich- mond steel plow appeared on the markets and came into favor among the farmers. The fields of the pioneer were not large, hence the crops were not heavy to plant or cultivate. There being no markets for several years there was no incentive to grow much more than home consumption demanded. The flail was the implement first used in threshing out the grain harvested, but was soon exchanged for that better method of securing the wheat, that
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of treading out by horses or oxen tramping the grain, after which the chaff was blown out by means of the wind, or by a sheet in the hands of two per- sons, making an improvised "fan." The earliest threshing machine in Re- serve township was about 1840, owned by Elsberry Jinnet, and was a very incomplete affair, threshing from fifty to one hundred bushels per day, and delivering the grain and chaff together, later to be separated with a fan. A two-horse tread-power was employed to run this machine. Soon the four- horse Ground Hog machine came into use, and as the years went by improved machines were invented.
The mowing scythe, hand-rake and wooden pitchfork were the imple- ments of hay and harvest, the latter often being a forked sapling with its rough prongs sharpened. The grain scoop was not known for several years. In cribbing corn it was either thrown with the hands or pushed out of the end of the wagon with the feet. The first scoop made in the township was made of wood, and owned by John Fortner. In about 1838 iron scoops came into common use.
On account of this township being reserve land, it was not opened up to the public as soon as that in other parts of the county. Game of all kinds remained here some time after the animals had been driven from other set- tlements. Black bear could be found occasionally after the arrival of the first settlers; in fact, in 1827 Solomon Allen killed one in his door yard. Deer were seen in large droves and furnished the settlers with an abundance of good meat, while their skins were used for a number of practical purposes. Wild turkeys were formerly very abundant, while ducks and geese were num- berless. The raccoon, opossom, fox, mink, otter, wolf, muskrat, weasels and other fur-bearing animals were found in large numbers.
Flat-boating was largely carried on from this part of the county, such vessels being the only means of conveyance and transportation of produce to markets, and the building and manning of these crude crafts gave employ- ment to many men. A boat-yard was situated near the mouth of Rush creek at a very early date, and at several points on Sugar creek, as noted in the his- tory of Penn township.
The first school in this township was in the Linebarger settlement in 1824. The first birth was that of Joseph Allen, in 1827, and the first recorded death was Solomon Allen's infant, about the year 1827. The first wedding was that uniting Jeremiah Morris and Mary Ann Lewis. The arrival of Mr. Allen in the country was quite a help to the settlement, as he was a wheelwright and cabinet-maker, and made coffins, for which he received from twenty-five cents to three dollars each. After paying for his land, after
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coming in, he had eighty-seven cents left to begin home-building with. On finishing his cabin he immediately seasoned lumber, from which he con- structed tubs, buckets and other articles of domestic use, the proceeds from the sale of which enabled him to live until he got a few acres cleared up, and then raised a crop. The second season of his residence here he spent seventy- two days assisting his neighbors in log rolling and raising cabins and barns.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
Montezuma and Coloma are the two town plattings within this township around which clusters some of the interesting history of this subdivision of Parke county. Montezuma is situated in the southwest corner of Reserve township, on the east bank of the Wabash river, and was a place of early- day importance in this section of Indiana, when the Wabash river and the old Wabash & Erie canal were the great water-ways and outlets to the outside markets. The town was laid off by Whitlock and Majors about 1824, and a larger platting effected in canal days by Ambrose Whitlock, July 20, 1849, on sections 25, 26, 35 and 36, township 16, range 9. The first store was opened by Joseph M. Hayes ; the next by Nesmith, whose stock, it is related, consisted of two bolts of calico and a barrel of whisky. The third store was Feeney's. The first justice of the peace was Mr. Chatsworth, and the first physician was Dr. Samuel Hill, who arrived at an early day. The first frame house, and which was standing about thirty years ago, or possibly later, was built by Mr. Webster. It should be remembered that the Wabash river towns of that long ago day consisted of Montezuma, Covington, Portland, Attica, Williamsport, LaGrange and Lafayette, and a spirited rivalry was on between these points for the supremacy. As river towns they all were equally situ- ated as to commercial importance and for years it was hard to tell which would finally terminate in a city of goodly proportions. Keel-boats and pirogues touched all of these landings and the same pioneer steamboats did carrying trade for each. Eventually, Lafayette obtained and kept the prize, it having secured a railroad before the other towns. However, upon the com- pletion of the Wabash & Erie canal in 1850, Montezuma took on a new life and up to 1860 was the most prosperous period it had ever experienced. Business of all kinds, for all this section of country on both sides the river, was carried forward in good and enterprising shape. The business of clos- ing the canal, effected about 1873, sounded a death knell to many. industries at Montezuma, but the building of the Decatur, Indianapolis & Springfield railroad, in that year, brought new hope to the citizens of the river town,
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for here a station was established and the company erected their shops there. Since then the town has gone along in its quiet manner, ebbing and falling like the ocean's tide, some decades being better than others, but never reaching the once fancied greatness it hoped to attain to. In 1880 the town had a large flouring-mill, four grain warehouses, two saw-mills, one planing-mill, a pack- ing and slaughter house, two dry goods stores, two drug stores, six groceries, one clothing store, one hotel, a livery, agricultural implement warehouse and two saloons. Its population then numbered about 700, and that of the town- ship was 1,550. The 1910 census gave Montezuma a population of 1,537, and Reserve township was given as 2,224. In 1880 the assessed valuation of Montezuma corporation was in personal property, $105,075, and of real estate, $123,060, while the township had $456,466. Today (1912) the valua- tion of real and personal property in. Montezuma is $420,888, and in the town- ship a total of $718,235.
In 1880, the railroad repair shops were burned and many men thrown out of employment, which tended to injure the growth of the place.
Disastrous fires, too, have played their part in hindering the growth of Montezuma. Among these was that of 1907, which destroyed the newly built Sanitarium hotel, a mineral water resort of modern type, with more than forty elegant rooms and all modern fixtures. The artesian well furnished a superior water to many of the well-known and successful health resorts of the country. The property on which flows the artesian water is owned by, at least controlled, by William Montgomery.
The old flouring-mill, after many years, was converted into a cob- grinding mill, which when it was doing a good business, in 1909, was also burned and never rebuilt. To the east of town a few miles is located one of the largest brick-making plants in the state. It is known as the Marion Brick Works.
BUSINESS INTERESTS OF 1912.
At present Montezuma has the following interests :
The First National Bank, Citizens Bank.
Montezuma Enterprise, C. S. Overman.
Postmistress, Emma Powell.
Hotel, D. I. Dunlap.
General stores-J. E. Johnson & Co., William H. King, Kemp Bros., W. B. Pawley, M. Watson.
Hardware-Cornwell & Spencer
Drugs-A. B. Powell, F. S. Stebbins.
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Harness-Charles Fortner.
Clothing-Harry Reeder. Elevator-Rohm Bros. Feed mill-George Mathas.
Cement blocks-William Carty and Wallace Dietz, contractors. Lumber-Montezuma Lumber Company.
Furniture-Hugh Montgomery & Company. Restaurants-Alexander Leslie, John Gilmore.
Tin Shop and Sheet Metals-I. A. Sharp.
Livery-Cheesewright & Machin, D. M. Scott.
Blacksmiths-Richard McIntosh, H. Webster, H. Welchans.
Meats-A. B. Jones, W. P. Pawley, H. Aikman. Physicians-Mrs. R. L. Dooley, J. C. Reeder, O. A. Newhouse. Veterinary Surgeon-Dr. Back.
Carpet factory-S. Case.
Automobile Garage-Pitman & Co. Gravel companies-Three in number.
Saloons-Four in number.
Barbershops-Three in number. Transfer company-H. Reirdan.
Dental Surgeon-One. Photograph gallery-One. Jewelry-One. Machine shop-A. E. Higbee. Newspaper-The Enterprisc.
VILLAGE CORPORATION.
The history of the corporations here dates back to a very early date. The 1912 officers are: President, William Whitson; members, H. D. Coffin, Fred Dicken, Dr. B. F. Hudson, George Mathas; treasurer, Joseph Taylor ; clerk, O. N. Henderson ; marshal, N. S. Wheeler.
In 1906 an electric light plant was installed, the power coming from and furnished by the Burns & Hancock brick plant on the west side of the Wabash river. It has been a success and the forty street lights are now no expense to the town. as the plant is more than self-sustaining, and it is designed, as soon as possible, to erect new works in the town proper and add water works, making a combined plant.
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The churches of Montezuma are: The Methodist, Presbyterian, Chris- tian, United Brethren, Holiness and the Catholic.
The lodges are Masonic, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.
COLOMA.
Coloma is a small hamlet situated on sections 33 and 34, of Reserve township. Its population is about two hundred. It is located on Rocky run. and was laid out in 1876, but was located in 1864, when William Lewis opened a store there. M. Morris purchased this store, and was appointed the first postmaster. For many years William P. Musgrave conducted the only store of the place. Rocky Run Friends church was located at this point many years since. This village serves well the surrounding community in which it is pleasantly situated.
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CHAPTER XXV.
RACCOON TOWNSHIP.
The Indians called the two streams now known as Big and Little Rac- coon creeks, "Big and Little Coon." These streams both cross this township and hence its name. The township, which is six miles square and contains twenty thousand and forty acres, is situated in the southern tier of townships. The land was once densely covered by a forest of giant trees, which had to be cut down before the surface was suited for farming; this was a great task, but was finally accomplished by the sturdy pioneers' axe. In the Raccoon bot- toms the land is composed of a rich alluvial soil, yielding large crops of corn and wheat. Other parts of this township are not so fertile and productive, but since draining has been made, and several marshes reclaimed, there is much good land outside the bottoms. What is known as the "Ten O'Clock Line," which divides the old and new purchases, crosses this township from sections 6 to 36.
EARLY DAYS.
Just who was the first person to actually settle in this township is not fully established. James Kerr and Dempsey Seybold came into the township and selected lands in 1816, but there seems no authority showing that any permanent settlement was effected until 1818, when Dempsey Seybold came with his family from Kentucky, and settled on section 20, later known as the Jeffries property. Mr. Seybold brought his wife and at least one child, Thomas K., born in 1816, who afterwards married and became the father of a family, among whom were W. H. H. Dempsey, C. John and James H., all well known settlers of Raccoon township in later years. It is certain that Mr. Seybold was the second settler in this township north of the Big Raccoon creek, there being only one other in the vicinity at the time, and only three families in Parke county north of the Big Raccoon. Mr. Seybold became influential and was one of the men who helped to locate the county seat and court house square of Vigo county, in Terre Haute. He later served as judge of the court as an associate judge. He died on June 3, 1835, leaving at least two sons, Thomas K. and Dempsey. Thomas K. was murdered at Terre Haute, April 9, 1850, and the hand that perpetrated the crime was not known
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for several years, when at last a man from Illinois, on his death-bed, con- fessed the deed. Before the Seybolds could reach the sick man death had removed the criminal, so that the mystery was never fully understood. About the time last mentioned, came in the Mitchells. William D. Mitchell was born in Raccoon township February 22, 1818. The Millers settled here either 1818 or 1819, for John B. Miller was born here August 25, 1819. It is said that the first log cabin built in the township was by one Richardson. Other settlers in 1818-19 were the Adamses, Samuel, Sr., William, Andrew, James, John and Samuel Adams, also William Nevins and possibly a few more. In 1819 Nathaniel Bliss Kalley, then nineteen years of age, came from Ohio to Raccoon township and leased a farm from David Hansel. There were not enough men in the community to raise Dickson's mill, so Indians were pressed into such work. With Indian Bill, Nathaniel Kalley used to sport in wrestling matches. He raised a crop of corn and then returned to Ohio and in 1821 or 1822 returned with his father and mother, and family of wife and one child, Ruth, he having been married to Rebecca Hansel in Ohio. He rented till 1831, when he entered the west half of the northeast quarter of section II, township 14, range 7. His patent was signed by Andrew Jackson, President of the United States. He was one of the township's best and most stirring men. His father, David, entered one hundred and twenty acres east of Nathaniel's, where he spent the remainder of his years. At about this time, and very soon thereafter, came in Jacob Bell. John Blue, John Morrow, James Barnes, John Robinson, Joseph Ralston, John Prince and Vincent Jack- man.
In 1820 William Rea, father of the first clerk of Parke county, came, in company with James Boyd and James Fannin, from Chillicothe, Ohio, and settled on the southwest quarter of section 7, in Raccoon township, and there erected a log cabin, which still stood thirty years ago, having always served as a comfortable dwelling house. He was the first to locate on the Little Rac- coon. Either in the autumn of 1821 or the spring of 1822, John Sunderland, Sr., and son, Jolin, Jr., came from Ohio and located on the northeast quarter of section 6, and a son-in-law of Mr. Sunderland. Henry Green, settled on the east half of the northwest quarter of section 5. In the fall of 1820 Thomas Gilkinson, in company with James Buchanan, came to what is now Raccoon township and entered their land. In the spring of 1821 Thomas Gilkinson came in and took land in the southwest quarter of section 5, built a cabin, cleared off a few acres and tended his crop of corn, and in the fall of that year brought his wife and five children from Kentucky and settled in what
(14)
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was then a wilderness of wood and wild animals. In 1821 Jeptha Garrigus moved to Raccoon township, bringing his family in a boat down the Ohio river, up the Wabash and Big Raccoon, into the southwest part of Raccoon township, where he settled. Jeptha is supposed to have brought the first rats to this region among his articles of freight. He had thirteen children, and had served as a colonel in the war of 1812. When he was married, at his request the following marriage ceremony took place: "I, Tobias Miller, jus- tice of the peace for the county of Parke, do hereby certify that Jeptha Gar- rigus and Polly Kratdzer are joined together in marriage as long as they could agree, by me this October 24, 1834. John G. Danis, clerk."
About this time there were three separate settlements in Raccoon town- ship: The Bell and Garrigus settlement, in the southern part; the settlement around "Sodom," so called on account of its distillery and the general wicked- ness of the place; it is now Bridgeton; and the settlement in the northwestern port, known as the Pleasant Valley settlement.
From 1820 to 1830 prominent among the newcomers were. James Hop- per, the Hartmans, Charles Beacham, Samuel Crooks, William Rea and Robert Martin. These early settlers were men of sturdy, honest yeomanry of the Eastern and Southern states, who desired free and independent homes of their own. Indeed, through all those long years of hardships, they were building far better than they knew, and their children and children's children are now reaping the reward of those pioneer years on the part of those early- day toilers and builders.
MILLING.
The Lock wood mills, later known as the Bridgeton mills, were built by Lockwood and Ailliman about 1823, but owned by Oniel and Wasson. Daniel Kalley later owned the mill site. It changed hands several times and finally burned down. The next fall the records runs that "the people got up a frolic, got out logs and built a new mill." It was rin till 1869 and burned again, but replaced by a large frame structure, four stories high, costing fourteen thousand dollars.
The first saw-mill on Little Raccoon was built by Thomas Gilkinson in
VILLAGES OF THE TOWNSHIP.
Catlin, Bridgeton and Diamond are the three platted villages within Rac- coon township. Away back in the early years, when the surrounding country was little else than a wilderness, and the old stage routes connected the prin-
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cipal points of civilization, there began on the banks of the Big Raccoon what is now the sprightly prosperous town of Bridgeton. The start was the erec- tion of a mill that cracked corn. This was about 1821. Nathaniel Smock opened a store, and later a distillery started up and was operated many years. This made a bad neighborhood which many years ago reformed and is no longer known as it was once, as "Sodom." Mulligan & Ketchum also handled general merchandise at this point, and sold to Mr. Searing. The town was then platted and Smock & McFarland were the leading merchants. In 1856 Dr. James Crooks settled in Bridgeton. His father was William B. Crooks, the first physician in Raccoon township. Milk-sickness was an awfully dreaded disorder of early days, and Dr. Crooks seemed to have a fair specific for it and was very successful in treating his scores of patients.
The location of Bridgeton is section 22, township 14, range 7 west. It was platted by James and Mary Searing, March 27, 1857, and was named from the bridge across the Big Raccoon at that paint. In 1880 it liad one hundred and twenty population, but now has two hundred and twenty-five.
Catlin is a station point on the Vandalia railroad. It took its origin from the fact that the railroad ran through that part of the township and in the early years of the Civil war, Hiram Catlin, a Mr. Montgomery and Henry Miller owning the land, it was thought best to start a town and shipping point. Hence Mr. Catlin erected a grain warehouse there, he having for a partner in his enterprise Thomas Harshman. They bought grain and carried a small stock of general merchandise. In 1861 a blacksmith shop was built by James Sanderson, and Joseph Terry built a wagon shop. The early growth of Cat- lin was due largely to the enterprise of James Ray, who came from Ohio to Vigo county in 1820, and to Catlin in 1861. In 1862 he erected his saw-mill, and in 1865 a good grist-mill. He also built a store room, with a public hall above. In all he built seven of the best early-day buildings in the hamlet. A postoffice was secured in 1862, and Thomas Catlin was appointed postmaster by President Lincoln. For many years Catlin was the chief depot for the extensive stave trade of this community, and the material was supplied by two saw-mills near by, Hamilton's and Wakefield's.
Today Catlin is a good town, with many excellent business houses and tasty residences. Its population is less than two hundred. The schools, churches and lodges of this town, as well as all others in the county, are treated under separate headings.
The population of the township in 1910 was 1.702. The total assessed valuation of property in Raccoon township in 1912 is $958,720.
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At Catlin is the great Standard oil pumping station, with its large tanks. This company pays taxes on $100,000 worth of property in Parke county.
The village of Diamond, in this township, was the outgrowth of the large coal mining interests of that section of Parke county. It was platted on section 34, township 14, range 7, December 10, 1893, by the Brazil Block Coal Company. It became a prosperous town and all the common branches of business were carried on successfully so long as the mines were running in full blast, but because of decline in the mining interests, trouble with labor and capital and other causes, the town is not as good as formerly. Its popu- lation in 1910 was placed by the census bureau at 1,007, which has materially decreased and the corporation of the town has applied to be annulled and it will be assessed and cared for under the old township government after 1912.
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