USA > Indiana > Porter County > History of Porter County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests > Part 12
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see, December 31, 1862; James MeNally and Charles Stincheomb, also" killed at Stone's River; Robert Jackson, Day's Gap, Alabama, April 30, 1863. Ninety-ninth infantry-James Foster. Atlanta, Georgia, date not given. Fifth cavalry-Leander Lightfoot. Marrowbone, May 26, 1863; Lewis Walters, Resaca, Georgia, May 15, 1861. Sereuth cavalry-John Marsh, Guntown, Mississippi, June 10, 1564.
While the "Boys in Blue" were battling for the nation upon the field, those who remained at home were not idle. On May 1, 1862, a meeting was held at the residence of Rev. S. C. Logan. in Valparaiso, to decide upon some means of sending relief to the sick and wounded in the vari- ons hospitals that marked the army's line of march. At a meeting held at the court-house a little later a sanitary commission was appointed. This commision consisted of Elias Axe, A. J. Buel, Joseph Pierce, S. W. Smith, M. A. Salisbury, R. Bell, Jr., and E. J. Jones. An address to the people of northwestern Indiana was issued by the commission, and the work of relief was kept up until the elose of the war. Altogether, the county paid for the work of the sanitary and Christian commissions and for the support of soldiers' families nearly $55,000. Even more than this was paid for bonnties. When the order of August 4, 1862, was issued, calling for a draft of 300,000 men to serve for nine months, there was also a call issued for 300,000 volunteers. The issue was promptly met by the people of Porter county. On August 10, a meeting was held at the court-house for the purpose of raising money to pay bounties to those who would enlist. At that meeting Dr. L. A. Cass presided and Thomas Jewell acted as secretary. It was decided to pay a bounty of at least twenty-five dollars to each and every man enlisting from the county, and the subseriptions were both numerous and liberal, some men giving as much as $100. During the war the county paid for bounties the sum of $65,227.50. Referring again to the number of troops fur- nished by the county, Battey's History of Porter county, published in 1882, says: "The total credits by enrollment and draft to July 18, 1864, were 686. Total to be furnished by the second draft, sixty-nine. Under the draft ordered for December 19, 1864, there were 145 recruits;
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drafted men, seventy; total, 215. The revised enrollment, according to the Adjutant General's report, showed a total enrollment of 1,136 from Porter county."
But, as stated in a preceding paragraph, this enrollment does not show the enlistments in companies credited to other counties, or even other states, and it is doubtful if the exact number of volunteers from Porter county will ever be learned.
When the Civil war began the South was much better prepared for the conflict than was the North. In the early history of Indiana, as in most of the Northern states, considerable attention was paid to the organ- ization and maintenance of the militia. This was necessary, as Indian outbreaks were liable to come at any time, and an organized and well drilled militia was a safeguard for the settler along the frontier. But with the treaties of eession and the removal of the Indian tribes to reser- vations west of the Mississippi river, the people no longer felt the need of organized military companies, and about 1835 the militia system was practically abandoned. In 1852, when the new constitution of Indiana was adopted, the system was revived by an act of the legislature, and each Congressional district was required to organize its militia. North- · ern Indiana was required to organize the Ninth brigade, the Second regiment of which was apportioned to Porter county. Of this regiment L. A. Cass was colonel; II. E. Woodruff, lieutenant-colonel, and a man named Freeman was major. About half the townships formed com- panies and for a few years meetings for drill and instruction were held regularly. Then the interest began to wane, and by 1859 the militia had again sunk into a state of inaetivity. The same condition prevailed in nearly every Northern state. Not so with the South. In the states whieli seeeded the militia was kept up to a high standard of perfection in drill and military_taeties, and in addition to this the national admin- istration for several years prior to the war had favored the South by storing large quantities of arms and ammunition in the arsenals in that section of the country. These supplies and munitions of war were promptly seized by the state governments as soon as ordinances of seces-
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sion had been passed by the state conventions called for that purpose. In the North volunteers were called from the ranks of citizenship. The lessons learned while members of the old militia companies proved of great advantage to some, but the majority of the volunteers were liter- ally "raw" reeruits. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the people of the North proved themselves equal to the emergency. Quick to learn and willing to submit to army regulations and discipline, they soon formed one of the greatest armies of citizen soldiery kno n to the his- tory of the world. If they laeked in technical military skill, they were not deficient in courage, and after a four years struggle they returned to their shops, fields and firesides to resume their peaceful occupations, conseious in the fact that they had done their whole duty and bequeathed to their posterity a reunited country.
About 1880 there was a revival of interest in the state militia, which took the name of the Indiana National Guard. In the fall of 1881 a company was organized in Porter county, with A. W. Lytle as captain ; William E. Brown, first lieutenant; William C. Wells, second lieutenant, and sixty non-commissioned officers and enlisted men. The company was assigned to the Third regiment, Col. E. I. Kirk commanding. In 1882 George S. Haste was elected captain; William C. Wells, first lieu- tenant, and L. T. White, second lieutenant, these officers receiving their commissions from Governor Porter. The company attended the eamp of instruction at Peru in 1884, and not long after that Captain Haste was promoted to battalion major and commissioned as such by Governor Gray. Subsequently he was promoted to major, and still later to colonel, in which capacity he served until 1892, when he resigned from the ser- vice. . The last record that can be found of the company was on January 19, 1887, when an election for officers was held at the armory. At that time S. L. Finney was chosen captain; L. T. White, first lieutenant; and E. C. Wood, second lieutenant. The company disbanded about 1889 or 1890.
At the time President MeKinley was inaugurated in March, 1897, there was a strong sentiment in the United States in favor of recognizing
HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
the belligerent rights of Cuba, and several state legislatures had passed resolutions to that effect, some of them even going farther and demand- ing that this government take steps to secure the independence of the people of that island. The press of the country was practically a unit in denunciation of the methods used by Spain's agents and officers in dealing with the Cubans, but it was not until the United States battle- ship Maine was blown up on the evening of February 15, 1898, while lying peacefully in the harbor of Havana, that sufficient pressure was brought to bear to induce Congress to take definite action. On March 29 a resolution was introduced in the United States senate recommend- ing the recognition of Cuba's independence. The president sent a special message to Congress on April 11, asking for authority to inter- vene in behalf of the Cubans. Nine days later he signed the resolutions declaring Cuba free and independent, and directing the president "to nse the land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolu- tions into effect." An immediate withdrawal of diplomatic relations between the United States and Spain followed this action, and on April 22 Congress passed an act "to provide for temporarily increasing the military establishment of the United States." On the 23rd the presi- dent called for 125,000 men from the National Guard of the several states. Under that call the State of Indiana was required to furnish four regi- ments of infantry and two light batteries. A formal declaration of war was made on April 25.
Soon after the call for 125,000 men was made, Capt. Charles F. Griffin, who was in command of a company at Hammond, Indiana, wrote to Capt. Stephen L. Finney, of Valparaiso, suggesting the reorganiza- tion of the Porter county company and outlining a plan for the organiza- tion of a regiment in Northern Indiana, to be ready in case a second call for volunteers came. On April 27, 1898, a meeting was held at the ar- mory on Franklin street to organize a company. Col. George S. Haste presided, communications from Adjutant-general Gore were read, and after some discussion it was decided to form a volunteer company. So many men responded that two companies were formed. One known as
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the "Hill Company" was commanded by Capt. Wallace L. Wright, and the "Down Town Company," was commanded by Capt. Stephen L. Fin- ney. The former was not completed until May 30, when an organiza- tion was effected with the following company officers: Captain, Wallace L. Wright ; first lieutenant, C. H. Merritt, of Elkhart ; second lieutenant, P. W. Mitchell, of Greenville, Illinois. The muster roll of this company bore about fifty names, most of whom were students in the Northern In- diana Normal School. The "Down Town Company" effected its organi- zation of April 29, with S. L. Finney, captain ; R. C. Jones, first lieu- tenant ; E. E. Small, second lieutenant, and a muster roll of forty-five members.
The second call for volunteers-75,000 men-was made by President MeKinley on May 25, 1898, and on June 6 Mayor Suman, of Valpa- raiso, went to Indianapolis for a conference with Governor Mount. Col- onel Suman formally tendered the services of the company to the gov- ernor and filed the completed roster of the company-105 names-with the adjutant-general. In furnishing the full quota of men required by both calls, the State of Indiana sent five regiments of infantry, two com- panies of colored infantry, two light batteries, and there were about 400 men from the state in the regular army. As there were but sixty-two companies of infantry enrolled from the ninety-two counties of the state, it was impossible that every county could be represented by an organized company, and Porter county was one of the thirty which failed to secure such recognition. The young men of the county had shown their wil- lingness, however, to answer their country's call, and had the war lasted long enough to make another call for troops necessary, there is little doubt that Porter county would have made as enviable a record in the Spanish-American war as she did in the War of 1861-65.
On Tuesday evening, July, 1898, there was a meeting at the mayor's office in Valparaiso for the purpose of organizing a local United States sanitary commission to look after the welfare of the siek and wounded. I. C. B. Suman was chosen president of the commission; E. E. Small, secretary; Claus Specht, treasurer, and the other members
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were: William Freeman, W. L. Wright, Mrs. N. L. Agnew, Mrs. II. B. Brown, Mrs. J. E. Hall, Mrs. E. Ball, Mrs. II. M. Beer, Mrs. II. M. Buel, Mrs. J. S. Louderback, Mrs. J. W. Elam, Mrs. Aaron Parks and Mrs. David Turner. The newspapers of the city urged the people to make liberal donations to aid the commission in its work, but not long after it was organized peace negotiations were commenced and it never had an opportunity to do much active work.
Some years after the Civil war, the Indiana legislature passed an aet giving boards of county commissioners in the several counties of the state authority to appropriate money for the erection of soldiers' monu- ments. About 1891 the Grand Army posts in various sections of the state petitioned the legislature to change the law so as to permit of the erection of memorial halls as well as monuments. In this work Chaplain Brown Post, of Valparaiso, was a pioneer, some of the members going to Indianapolis and devoting some time to securing the change. The law was amended, and in February, 1893, the members of Chaplain Brown Post started a subscription list to secure money with which to ereet a me- morial hall in Valparaiso. The county commissioners had purchased the lot fronting on Indiana avenue, immediately south of the county jail, in November, 1881, for $1,750. The board now offered it to the Grand Army post for a site for the hall. An association was organized and a charter ob- tained from the state giving it authority to raise money and build a hall. Of this asociation E. M. Burns was president; John W. Elam, secretary, and Aaron Parks, treasurer. Several thousand dollars were subscribed and the asociation employed an architect to make plans for the building. "When these plans were submitted to the commissioners they decided in favor of a larger and more pretentious building, and new plans were ac- cordingly made in conformity with their views on the subjeet. Upon the adoption of the plans, the board of commissioners appropriated about $2,000, which, added to the fund raised by the old soldiers, was thought to be sufficient for the completion of the hall. Some indebted- ness was incurred, however, and in 1901 this indebtedness was assumed by the county, the commissioners issuing bonds for its liquidation, The
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
building was then turned over to the county, the Grand Army post re- serving one room on the ground floor for the use of the Woman's Relief Corps, a room on the second floor for a post hall, and the privilege of us- ing the main hall onee a year for memorial services. By this means the old veterans of the great Civil war are assured of a home for their meet- ings, and after they have answered the last roll call the building will remain as a monument to their valiant deeds during the dark days when the Union was threatened with disruption
Porter county is an agricultural county, and as a rule the military spirit is never so manifest, in times of peace, in agricultural communities as in the larger towns and eities, where most of the militia companies- have their existence. But the farmer boys are not lacking in any of the qualifications that go to make good soldiers-courage, a ready sub- mission to discipline, hardihood and patriotism-and when the occasion requires they are ready to eease their labors upon their farms and take their places among the country's defenders. This was demonstrated in 1861, when Porter county was one of the first in the state to raise a company for the preservation of the Union, and the record her gallant sons made during that great interneeine conflict forms one of the bright- est pages in the county's history.
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CHAPTER VII
TOWNSHIP HISTORY
FIRST TOWNSHIPS-CHANGES IN BOUNDARIES-NEW TOWNSHIPS CREATED AND OLD ONES DISORGANIZED-BOONE TOWNSHIP-SETTLEMENT OF -- FIRST ELECTION-EARLY AND MODERN SCHOOLS-HEBRON- SETTLEMENT AND INCORPORATION OF - RAILROADS - HIGHWAYS - CENTER TOWNSHIP PHYSICAL FEATURES-CHIQUA'S TOWN-FIRST SETTLERS-ELECTIONS- EARLY EVENTS-SCHOOLS-TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES-HIGHWAYS -- JACKSON TOWNSHIP - OF GLACIAL ORIGIN - NAME - FIRST .SETTLERS - EARLY ELECTIONS-MILLS-VILLAGES-SCHOOLS-RAILROADS - POPUL.1- TION-LIBERTY TOWNSHIP- LAND TROUBLES-SETTLEMENTS-DEATII OF MRS. HUGHART-EARLY WEDDING FESTIVITIES-ELECTIONS-IIIGHIWAYS- FIRST STEAMBOAT -- RAILROADS AND VILLAGES - MORGAN TOWNSHIP ORGANIZED, 1843-FIRST SETTLERS- INDIAN TRADITION-GAME AND BEE TREES-PRAIRIE FIRES-AGNEW'S TRAGIC DEATII-TASSINONG-MALDEN- LIBERTY VIEW-SCHOOLS-RAILROADS AND IHIGHWAYS-CENSUS.
In the chapter relating to Settlement and Organization, will be found The order of the board of county commissioners, issued in April, 1836, dividing the county into the ten townships of Lake, Jackson, Washing- ton, Pleasant, Boone, Center, Liberty, Waverly, Portage and Union. In the years following numerous changes were made in the boundary lines; some of the original townships have disappeared; new ones were created and again disorganized, until 1880, when the present twelve townships were established.
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
At the May meeting of the board in 1836, only one month after the erection of the first townships, the northern boundary of Pleasant town- ship "was extended west to the center of the great marsh dividing Horse and Morgan prairies," and the western boundary extended from that point "south with the center of the marsh to the Kankakee river." The eastern boundary of Boone township was fixed "at the west side of said marsh." In June, 1836, the citizens of Lake and Waverly townships presented a petition to the board asking that the iwo townships be united. The commissioners granted the petition, Lake and Waverly dis- appeared from the map of Porter county, and the territory comprising them was erected intc the township of Westchester. ¥
The following year the west half of section 29, township 35, range 5, was taken from Washington and attached to Center. In March 1839, the west half of sections 17 and 20 in the same township and range was likewise taken from Washington and added to Center, but in May 1840, all this territory was restored to Washington township.
By an order of the board in March, 1838, "all the territory of Por- ter county west of the marsh dividing Morgan and Horse prairies, and between the line dividing townships 33 and 34 and the line divid- ing townships 34 and 35" was organized as Fish Lake township. The name of this township was changed to Porter in June, 1841. In March, 1841, township 37, and fractional township 38, in range 5, were taken from Westchester township and erected into a new township called Berry. This arrangement did not please the people of Westchester, and at the June term they presented a petition to the board setting forth that the division of the township was "injudicious and uncalled for, and is incon- venient for the citizens of your township generally," and asking that the order be revoked. This petition was signed by Enos Thomas, W. P. Ward, Guffin Hulbert, William Knapp, Jolm Millard , William Coleman, David Price, William P. Jacobs, Brazilla Millard, Rufus Pierce, Joseph Clark, Daniel Hulbert, Henry Hageman, William Thomas, John Thomas, Allen Blair, James Thomas, Samuel Wheeler, Thomas Frazier, Vincent Thomas and Edmund Tratebas. After hearing the petition, the board
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ordered "That the above petition be granted, and that the order for the division of Westehester township, and for the establishment of Berry township, made at the March term of this board, 1841, be reseinded, and that the elections hereafter be held at former place."
It was at that term that the name of Fish Lake township was changed to Porter, and the boundary line between Pleasant, Boone and Porter was fixed as follows: "Commencing at the northwest corner of section 2, township 34, range 6; thenee south to the southwest corner of section 14, township 33, range 6; thence west one mile, and thenee south to the Kankakee river."
Several changes were made at the February term in 1847. Section 1 to 6, inelusive, in township 36, all of township 37, and fractional town- ship 38, range 5, were taken to form a new township to be known as Cahimet. This ineluded all of the present township of Pine, a strip two miles wide off the east side of Westchester, and two square miles in the northern part of Jackson. At the same time Westehester township was defined as including all of township 37, range 6, and the east half of township 37, range 7. Liberty township was given its present form and dimensions, except that sections 1, 2, 3 and 4, township 36, range 6, then belonged to that township. These four seetions were given to Westchester in December, 1852. In June, 1847, Westehester township was reduced in size, "all that part lying west of the line dividing ranges 6 and 7, and seetions 29 and 32, township 37, range 6," being attached to Portage township.
A petition was presented to the board of commissioners in August, 1848, asking for the erection of a new township to be composed of ter- ritory taken from Jackson, Liberty, Westchester and Pine, but a deter- mined opposition developed and the board refused to grant the petition and issue an order for the formation of the township. No more changes were made until in February, 1850, when sections 29, 30, 31 and 32, township 37, range 6, and seetions 25, 26, 27, 34, 35 and 36, township 37, range 7, were added to the township of Portage. These sections con- stitute a strip two miles in width across the southern part of the present
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township. At the same session of the board Essex township was created by taking a strip one and a half miles wide off the east side of Morgan township. Essex was so named for the vessel commanded by Commodore David Porter in the War of 1812. As originally ereated it contained but nine square miles, being a mile and a half wide from cast to west and six miles long from north to south. Subsequently the western boun- dary was extended to a line marking the center of township 34, thus giving it an area of eighteen square miles.
Pine township was established in June, 1852, when Westchester was divided "by a line commencing at the southwest corner of section 5, township 36, range 5, thence running north on the section line to Lake Michigan," all the territory east of that line being attached to Pine township and that west of it remaining as Westchester.
Sections 23, 26 and 35, township 36, range 6, were added to Porter township by order of the board in March, 1855, and no further alterations were made in township lines until in March, 1864, when for some reason a strip a quarter of a mile wide and a mile long-the east. half of the east half of seetion 30, township 35, range 5- was taken from Center and added to Washington. This strip was restored to Center in December, 1868. In September, 1864, sections 3 and 4, township 36, range 5, were taken from Pine and added to Jackson. In 1880 a petition signed by sixty-seven citizens of Essex and Morgan townships was pre- sented to the board asking for the consolidation of the two townships. Essex was accordingly abolished, the territory attached to Morgan, and since that time there has been no change in township lines. The twelve townships of Porter county are Boone, Center, Jackson, Liberty, Morgan, Pine, Pleasant, Portage, Porter, Union, Washington and Westchester.
BOONE TOWNSHIP
Boone township, situated in the southwest corner of the county, was created by the county commissioners at their first meeting in April, 1836. though the boundary lines were changed several times before the
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township assumed its present form. It is bounded on the north by Por- ter township; on the east by Pleasant; south by the Kankakee river, which separates it from Jasper county, and on the west by Lake county. Its area is approximately thirty-six square miles. The surface slopes gently toward the Kankakee river on the south. At first, the township was a fine prairie, with fine groves of timber scattered here and there, soft maple, elm, hiekory and black walnut being the principal varieties of forest trees. Some of the land lies in the Kankakee swamp region, but by scientific and systematic ditching much of this land has been reclaimed, and practically the entire township is under cultivation. There are no mineral deposits worthy of mention, hence agriculture is the principal occupation of the inhabitants. The soil is above the aver- age in fertility and large erops of hay, cereals, potatoes and other vege- tables are raised.
. The first permanent settlers in the township were Jesse Johnston, Isaae Cornell and Simeon Bryant, all of whom came in the year 1836 in the order named. The next year Thomas Dinwiddie, Absalom Morris, Orris Jewett, Solomon and James Dilley brought their families and set- tled near those who had come the preceding year. Other early settlers were John Prin, Thomas Johnson, Jennings Johnson, Frederiek Wine- inger, William Bissell, George Eisley, William Johnson, A. D. MeCord, John Moore, John W. Dinwiddie, John Oliver, Amos Andrews, Joseph Laird, T. C. Sweeney, E. W. Palmer and a man named Bricer, all of whom had located in the township by the close of the year 1837.
When the board of county commissioners established the first town- ships, an election was ordered in Boone for the last day of April for one justice of the peace. This election was held at the house of Jesse Johnston and seven votes were cast, of which Mr. Johnston received six and Aschel Neal, one. Another election was held at the same place on September 24, 1836, for one justice of the peace, when John W. Dinwiddie was elected without opposition, receiving the seven votes cast. At this election Jesse Johnston was inspector; Joseph Laird and William Bissel were judges; John W. Dinwiddie and Isaac Cornell, elerks.
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