USA > Indiana > Porter County > History of Porter County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests > Part 16
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The first birth is not known. The first marriage is believed to have been that of Henry Herold to a Miss Dorr, and the first, death was that of a man named Ashton in 1837. In that year a man named Carley opened a tavern at Willow creek, on the old stage line running from Chicago to Detroit. Two women, whose names seem to have been forgotten, later opened a house of entertainment for travelers at the same place. The first school house was built in 1840 on section 20, about a mile and a half southeast of the present village of MeCool, and not long afterward a second school house was ereeted in the southwest par. of the township. Among the early teachers were N. E. Yost, M. D. Ferris, W. E. Haw-
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thorne, Lottie Hewitt, Minnie Spencer, Rose Mitchell. Cyrus Sales, Christina Fry, Emily Gerhart, Chancey Gaylord and a Baptist minister named Bartlett. In the school year of 1911-12 there was a certified high school at Crisman and four district schools. The teachers in the high school were W. A. Briggs, Minnie I. ILyde, Glen Kine, Mary Rice and Camilla Babeoek. In the distriet schools the teachers were: No. 1 (Peak), Goldie Johnson; No. 6 (Dombey), L. Clyde Bay ; No. 8 (Me- Cool), Bertha Sweet; No. 9 (Wolfe), Rudolph Mahns. The absence of numbers 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 is owing to the consolidation of districts or the absorption of some of them by the Crisman high school.
Portage township has three postoffices, located at Crisman, Dune Park and McCool. The first two are money order offices. Crisman was laid out by B. G. Crisman, after which it was named. It is located on the Michigan Central railroad in the eastern part. The postoffice was es- tablished 'there in 1871 and the first postmaster was Isaae Crisman, who was also the proprietor of the first store in the place. After a short time he sold out to Charles Seydel, who in turn was succeeded by Joseph Bender and Joseph White. For many years this was the only store in the township. The town has never grown to any considerable propor- tions and in 1910 had a population of about 75. MeCool, named after the pioneer family, is located in the triangle between the Baltimore & Ohio, the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern, and the Wabash railways, and appar- ently, like Topsy in Unele Tom's Cabin, it "just growed." The railroad junetion attracted a few small business enterprises, whose proprietors built dwellings in the immediate neighborhood, others followed, and in 1910 MeCool and Crisman were about the same size. Dune Park is a small station on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern rairoad, about a mile and a half south of Lake Michigan. It takes its name from the sand dunes in the vieinity. In October, 1891, Frank A. Turner, of Valparaiso, filed in the recorder's office a plat of a town named Fairview, located on see- tion 34, township 37, range 7, in the extreme northwest corner of the . county. ' The plat is rather pretentious in character, showing some six
HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY 169
hundred lots, with streets and alleys, but there was never a house built upon the site.
About thirty-five years ago a few Swedes settled in the northern part. They were soon followed by others of their countrymen until a large number of them came. These people are industrial and generally make good citizens. One. of their first acts was to establish a church, which is still in existence. Presbyterian and Methodist churches had been founded in the township many years before.
Portage township is a network of railroads. In the northern part are the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, and the Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend, the latter an electric line. Through the central part, radiating in various directions, are the Michigan Central, the Wabash, the Elgiu, Joliet & Eastern, and the Baltimore & Ohio, and the Pitts- burgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago crosses the extreme southwest corner. The great manufacturing enterprises of Chicago have worked their way gradually southward and eastward around the head of Lake Michigan, building up successively the cities of Hammond, South Chicago, Easi Chicago, Gary and Hobart, and the excellent transportation facilities offered in Portage township lead many to believe that this portion of Porter county will in the near future become a great manufacturing district.
Probably no township in the county, unless it be Center, can show a better system of publie highways than Portage. More than thirty miles of fine macadamized roads traverse all portions of the township, and good bridges span the streams. . Like some of the other townships of Porter county, the population of Portage has been rather variable during the last twenty years. In 1890 it was 954. Ten years later it had in- creased to 1,014, but in 1910 it was but 959.
PORTER TOWNSHIP
Lying southwest of Valparaiso is the township of Porter, which is the second largest in the county, containing forty-five square miles. It is
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bounded on the north by Union and Center townships; on the e by Morgan ; on the south by Boone, and on the west by Lake county. When the original division of the county into ten townships was made by the county commissioners on April 12, 1836, the territory now included in Porter township was made a part of Boone. In March. 1838, the north- ern part of Boone-that portion lying north of the line dividing town- ships 33 and 34-was erected into a township called Fish Lake, from the little body of water known as Lake Eliza, but then called Fish Lake. In June, 1841, in response to a petition of the inhabitants, who did not like the name of Fish Lake, the commissioners changed the name of the township to Porter. The first settlements in what is now Porter town- ship were made during the years 1834-35, when Samuel and Isane Camp- bell, Newton Frame, David Huribart, Isaac Edwards, and a few others located in that part of Porter county. Others who came during the next few years were the Sheffields, William MeCoy, Ezra Reeves, Morris Car- man, Dr. L. A. Cass, William A. Nichols, J. C. Hathaway, William Frakes, Alpheus French, Ilenry M. Wilson, A. M. Bartel, Jonathan Hough, William C. Shreve, Edmund Hatch, David Dinwiddie, Moses and Horatio Gates, William Robinson, Richard Jones, Asa Cobb, and a few others who became prominently identified with the township's industries and affairs. Alphens French was a Baptist minister and preached the first sermon in the township.
Owing to the fact that most of Porter township is prairie land, the early settlers were not annoyed as much by Indians as those who settled in the timbered parts of the county. Occasionally an Indian hunting party would pass through the settlement, but the members of it were nearly always friendly, and there were always a few who would main- tain peace and order among their fellows. Game was plentiful and the pioneer who was a good marksman was never in fear of a meat famine until the encroachment of civilization drove off the deer and other game animals, and by that time the farms were so well developed that the settler could depend upon domestic animals for his supply. For several years after the first settlement was made, Michigan City was the nearest
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
point where supplies could be obtained, and occasional trips were made to that port for salt, sugar and other things that could not be grown or manufactured at home. Matches were scarce and commanded a price much higher than at the present time, hence the fire was never allowed to go out, a little being kept at all times "for seed." Wolves roamed over the prairie and carried off lambs and pigs occasionally, but aside from this the losses and hardships of the early settlers were not great.
Children belonging to the families that settled in the western part of the township attended a school on Eagle creek, just across the line in Lake county. The first school in the township is believed to be the one taught by Mrs. Humphrey at her home about 1837 or 1838. This school was patronized by the Sheffields, the Stauntons, and a few other families. One by one school houses were erected as the population increased until there were ten districts in the township. Two of these-Numbers 3 and 6-have been consolidated with other schools, and in the school year 1911-12 there were eight district schools and a three years' high school at Boone Grove. The teachers in the high school were J. E. Worthing- ton, C. Marguerite De Marehus and Lillie Dorsey. In the district schools the teachers were as follows : No. 1 (the Cobb school), Miss Myra E. Jones; No. 2 (Gates Corners), Grace Mains; No. 4 (Kenworthy), Mand Williams; No. 5 (Merriman), Bessie Love; No. 7 (Porter Cross- roads), Marie Benedict; No. 8 (the Beach school), Neva Doyle; No. 9 (Hurlburt), Rhoda Bates; No. 10 (the Skinner school), Gertrude Al- bertson. The schools of Porter township have always maintained a high reputation for their efficiency.
"In 1844 a postoffice was established at Porter Cross-roads, and was known by that nanre. It was probably the first postoffice in the township. The next year a postoffice was established at Ilickory Point, just aeross the line in Lake county, and the inhabitants of the western part of the township received their mail at that office. Jeremy Hickson, the post- master, carried the mail from Crown Point. He was succeeded by Henry Nichols and his father, William A. Nichols, who between them kept the office for about six years, when it was moved across the line into Porter
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
township and.a man named Porter became postmaster. At his death a few years later the office was discontinued. The Porter Cross roads office continued in existence until about the close of the Civil war. The post offices in the township at the present time (1912) are Boone Grove and Hurlbart. Boone Grove is an old settlement, and the postoffice there was established a few years before the war. About 1857 Joseph Jane's opened a store at Boone Grove, with a small stock of goods, and continued in busi- ness for several years, when he closed out his stock. With the building of the Chicago & Erie railroad, which passes through Boone Grove, the village began to grow, and in 1910 had a population of about 150. There is a local telephone exchange, and in 1912 the principal business enterprises were the general stores of Dye Brothers, F. Wittenberg, and J. B. Woods, the last named being the postmaster. For a time Boone Grove was known as Baltimore. Hurlburt is a comparatively new place, having been made a postoffice after the completion of the Chicago & Erie rail- road, on which it is a station about two and a half miles northwest of Boone Grove. It was named for one of the pioneer settlers who located in that part of the township, and in 1910 had a population of over 100. It has two general stores, kept by S. H. Adams and W. F. French, and is a shipping point for a rich agricultural distriet. The Hickory Point above mentioned was on the line between Lake and Porter counties, and was once a trading point and social eenter of some importance. Shortly after the postoffice was started there in 1844 Alfred Nichols opened a store on the Porter county side, but some years later removed to Crown Point. A man named Wallace then conducted a store there for several years, and when he went out of business a Mr. Carson, who had recently come from Ohio, engaged in the mercantile business there. The discontinuance of the postoffice, and the competition of Boone Grove, in- fluenced Mr. Carson to elose out his stock, and with the building of the railroad Hickory Point sunk into insignificance. It is now little more more than a memory. .
About two miles northwest of Hurlburt, and a short distance north of the Erie railroad, the old Salem church was erected at an early date.
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Before the church was built the members of the congregation held their meetings in the homes of the settlers. Just about a mile north of this church the Old School Presbyterians, or Scotch Covenanters, built a church. Christian and Methodist churches were later established at Boone Grove. A more complete account of these pioneer religious or- ganizations will be found in the chapter relating to Religious History.
Owing to a lack of vital statistics, it is impossible to learn at this
COUNTRY SCENE, PORTER COUNTY
late date of the first birth, the first marriage or the first death in the town- ship. One of the early deaths was that of a young man named Robinson, a son of John Robinson, his death resulting from a eut in the thigh with an axe.
Porter township has been from the first an agricultural community. No manufacturing establishments of consequence have ever been lo- cated within its borders. About the time the Civil war commeneed a Mr. Sheffield started a sawmill in the northern part of the township,
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HISTORY OF PO
COUNTY
where there was some timber, but ne o The people are progressive, and sour county are to be found in Porter town of macadamized road and a mumbo, which is crossed by two lines of ranit. no the township abont two and a half 1 us to know what became of it. best improved farms in the There are about sixteen miles · ge ditches in the township, The Chicago & Erie enters rest of the southeast corner, runs northwest throught Boone Grove sam Hurlburt, and crosses the western boundary of the county not far Loan Salem church. About four miles north of this road and almost parallel to it runs the Chesapeake & Ohio (formerly the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville) railroad. Beatrice, in the extreme northwest corner of th Ownship, is the only "station on this road within the limits of Porter Beatrice is a small place and has grown up since the railroad was built
The population of the township in 199my was 1,121; in 1900 it was 1,075, and in 1910 it had decreased # 1,000. Notwithstanding this slight decrease in population, the fowind g has increased in wealth, and in 1911 the property of the township ar assessed for tax purposes at $1,439,590.
UNION TOWNSHIP
This township, one of the western tit was created by order of the board of county commissioners on April 12, 1836. In extent it is five miles from east to west and six miles from north to south, and contains thirty square miles. It was named Union to commemorate the federation of states in the American Republic, and 1 . been called the "Peaceful Township," on account of its natural Fenty. Being located chiefly in the morainic belt of the county, 1h . fare is rolling, and, next to Jackson township, presents a greater diversity of physical features than any other township in Porter county. The entire area, however, can be cultivated, and agrienlture is the principal cecupation of the inhabitants. Salt ereek crosses the northeast corner, and branch of that stream flows northward through the eastern tier of so tions, uniting with the main
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
stream about half a mile south of the northern boundary. Taylor creek rises in Hollister's lake, in the southern part, and flows northwesterly course into Lake county. Hollister's lake is about six or seven aeres in extent and is the only lake in the township worthy of the name. Origi- nally there was some marsh land, but the greater portion of this has been drained and brought under cultivation. Twenty -mile prairie extends into the northern part. Charles S. Hyde says: "This was so named because, as an old settler facetiously said, it was 'twenty miles from any- where'-meaning of course, that it was twenty miles (or some multiple of twenty) from the nearest trading post, being twenty miles from Michigan City and Laporte, and forty miles from Chicago."
In the central portion the soil is generally sandy, though there is some loam. The hard clay found in all parts of the township makes it unprofitable to try corn growing, but wheat, oats and rye are raised in large quantities, and the township is well adapted to grazing. The hills, ravines and forests combined to render this part of the county an ideal hannt for game animals, when the first white men located there they found plenty of deer, a few bear, the lynx, the badger, the otter and other fur-bearing animals, and a horde of prairie and gray wolves, the latter speeies being by far the most numerous.
There is some question as to who was the first settler. William B. Blachly, Benjamin McCarty, James Walton, JJohn G. Forbes, Sylvester Forbes, Andrew and Joseph Wilson, Joseph Willey, George W. Turner, E. W. and Noah Fowts, Lewis Walton and a few others had settled in the township by the spring of 1836. . At the election for justice of the peaee on April 30, of that year, James Walton was inspector; George W. Turner and B. Bunnell, judges; E. W. Fowts and JJoseph Willey, elerks. Fifteen votes were cast, Joseph Willey receiving the unanimous vote for the office of justice of the peace. The election was held at the residence of George W. Turner. "Squire" Willey was evidently not a highly edu- cated individual, as may be seen by the grammar and orthography in the following entry from his docket in December after his eleetion :
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HHISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
"State of Indiana,
Union Township.
Porter county, S
"John Burge, James Burge and Orson Strong was brought before me, Joseph Willey, a Justice of the Peace, for trial for Lillen sum hogs, on or about the first day of December, 1836, and I proceeded on the 8th day aforesaid to hear the proofs and allegations, and the defendants was acquitted for the above offense. Nicholas Mount, tried for profane swearing, eommitted, and paid his fine.
JOSEPH WILLEY, J. P."
In the pioneer days Union township was farther fron the institutions of eivilization than the settlements farther north and east. It was thirty miles to the nearest grist mill, and it was a eustom for one of the settlers to make up a wagon load of grain among the neighbors and make the three day trip with an ox-team, distributing the flour or corn meal among the owners of the grain upon his return. When this supply ran out an- other man would take his turn in going to the mill. The miller's toll was heavy, and some of the settlers overcame the difficulty by burning a hol- low in the top of a large stump for a mortar, and pounding their eorn therein with a hard-wood pestle. The meal produced by this method was coarse, but it was wholesome, and frequently the only supper served was a bowl of mush made of this meal and a generous portion of fresh milk. The implements used by the pioneer farmers were of the most primitive character. The first plow used in the township was of the old "bull- tongue" pattern, and harrows were made by selecting a V-shaped fork of a tree, boring holes at regular distances through each branch of the fork and driving into them hard wood pegs for teeth. Wheat was out with the eradle and bound by hand. In some cases the sickle, or "reap-hook," was used, especially if the grain was rank and tangled by the wind. The grain was threshed with the flail, tramped out by driving horses or cattle over it on a piece of ground smoothed off for the prpose. or in some in- stanees the "ground-hog" threshing machine was un d. This would
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loosen the grain from the chaff, but did not separate them. The farmer must accomplish that by winnowing the grain-that is by tossing it into the air-the wind blowing the chaff away and the grain falling upon a sheet. Occasionally there was a farmer who was the proud possessor of a "fanning mill," in which the wheat and chaff were poured into a hop- per at the top, and by turning a erank were shaken down through the mill, a revolving fan blowing the ehaff out at the rear end while the wheat poured out of a spout at the bottom of the machine. Many a boy has blistered his hands while turning one of these fans, no doubt muttering meanwhile mental maledietions upon the inventor. Now, the farmer frequently rides as he plows, his grain is harvested with the twine binder, the hum of the steam thresher is heard instead of the "thud, thud" of the old-fashioned flail, and the fanning mill has gone, never to return.
Not far from the western boundary, on the old Sauk trail, James or Thomas Snow (authorities differ as to the name), in 1833, erected the first frame house in the township. The lumber was hauled from Laporte, and when the building was completed Mr. Snow put in a small stoek of goods, thus becoming Union township's first merehant. Two years later he sold out to Oliver Shepard, a Yankee, who put up a sign bear- ing the legend "The Hoosier's Nest," and in a short time the place be- came known far and wide. The fame of this place has been perpetuated in verse by John Finley, and as his poem is really a part of Porter county's history, it is here reproduced.
THE HOOSIER'S NEST
I'm told, in riding somewhere West, A stranger found a Hoosier's Nest ; In other words, a Buekeye cabin Just big enough to hold Queen Mab in. Its situation low, but airy, Was on the borders of a prairie ; And fearing he might be benighted, IIe hailed the house, and then alighted.
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The Hoosier met him at the door; Their salutations soon were o'er. Ile took the stranger's horse aside, And to a sturdy sapling tied; Then, having stripped the saddle off, IIe fed him in a sugar trough.
The stranger stooped to enter in, The entranee elosing with a pin; And manifested strong desire To sit down by the log-heap fire, Where half a dozen IIoosieroons, With mush and milk, tin-eups and spoons, White heads, bare feet, and dirty faees,
Seemed mueh inelined to keep their places; But madam, anxious to display Her rough but undisputed sway, Her offspring to the ladder led And cuffed the youngsters up to bed.
Invited shortly to partake Of venison, milk and Johnny-cake, The stranger made a hearty meal, And glanees round the room would steal. One side was lined with divers garments, The other spread with skins of varmints; Dried pumpkins overhead were strung, Where venison hams in plenty hung.
Two rifles hung above the door, Three dogs lay stretched upon the floor- In short, the domicile was rife With speeimens of Hoosier life. The host, who eentered his affections
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On game, and range and quarter sections. Discoursed his weary guest for hours 'Till Somnus' all composing powers, Of subInnary cares bereft 'em An then I came away and left 'em.
It is claimed by some that this poem first called attention to the use of the word "Hoosier" to designate an inhabitant of the state of Indiana. The first school house in Union township was a log structure, 18 by 20 feet, located near the "Hoosier's Nest," but the date of its erection is uncertain, and the name of the first teacher cannot be learned. In Oc- tober, 1883, when the corner-stone of the court house was laid, Isaiah B. McGinley, at that time trustee of the township, prepared a historical sketch, in which he stated that there were 417 children of sehool age and ten school districts in the township. Since then a commissioned high school has been established at Wheeler, and the number of distriets has been reduced to seven. The teachers in the Wheeler high school for the year 1911-12 were: Thurman B. Rice, Helen Whitlock, Ruth R. Matthews, Vera S. Bradley, Flora Cobb, Ethel O. Ruth and Irene Paddock. The teachers in the district sehools were as follows: No. 2 (the Blachly school), Frank Peregrine; No. 4 (the Peck school), Mary Conriek; No. 5 (Graves), Martha Marquart; No. 6 (Foster), Mary Cronaean; No. 7 (Gordon), Elsie Ditlow; No. 8 (Cherry Glen), Lura Conrick; No. 10 (Spafford), Anna Ehlers.
A Sunday school was started in Portage township, just across the fine, in 1838, Benson and Ira G. Harris, two residents of Union, being active participants in its organization, and a majority of the attendants came from Union township. Alpheus Freuch, a Baptist minister, held services in a grove at Blachly's Corners in the spring of 1836, and this was probably the first sermon preached in the township. Rev. Jacob Colelasier, a Methodist missionary, also held services in the township at an early date, and condueted the first quarterly meeting in January, 1810. (See the chapter on Religious History.)
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HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
In the matter of public highways Union township is among the most prog sive in the county, having nearly thirty miles of for. macadam- ized . ad. Several lines of railroad cross the township 1. varions di- reetions. The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago (? bo northeast corner, passing through Wheeler; the Grand Trunk u st and west through the central portion, and the Chesapeake & Ohio not ars the south- west corner. Wheeler is the only village of importance ip the township. It was laid out in 1858, when the railroad went through, by Thomas A. E. Campbell, who owned the land upon which the ville . is situated. The first business building was that afterward occupied ta Siglar Bros. with a stock of goods, the second was the hotel called the Wireler House, and the third was used as a saloon by Carroll and !I:vorr. George Longshore was the first postmaster. At the present time. Wheeler has a population of about 200, three general stores, a felepher exchange, a . Methodist church, lodges of Odd Fellows and Foresters, a · d mill, and a money order postoffice, the only postoffice in the town ip. On the Grand Trunk is a small station called Sedley, which was formerly a post- office, but which was discontinued upon the introduction of .He free rural delivery system. Some of the maps show a place called Spriggsboro on the line between Union and Center townships, but the name does not appear on the railroad time-tables nor in the United States postoffice guide, and no official plat of the town was ever recorded.
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