History of Posey County, Indiana, Part 6

Author: Leffel, John C., b. 1850. cn
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Standard Publ. Co.
Number of Pages: 456


USA > Indiana > Posey County > History of Posey County, Indiana > Part 6


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ZACHARIAH WADE, Commanding Twenty-sixth Regiment.


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Some of the other commanders were Gen. William Twigg, Gen. James P. Drake, Col. Jesse Nash, Col. Clement Whiting, Capt. W. J. Lowery, Lieut. John F. Allison, Adjutant Allen and others. The officers wore gorgeous uniforms when they held musters. A blue coat cut swallow tailed with red stripes on the breast, and adorned with double rows of large brass buttons and tinsel epaulets, buckskin trousers, a large three- cornered hat with waving plume, moccasins and a sword. The rank and file were in ordinary homespun clothing of the frontier, and had rifles or muskets, and those who had no firearms held the drill with cornstalks. Each section had its place of drill. At Mt. Vernon the field east of Milton Black's place was the favorite rendezvous; Blairsville was an- other point, and general musters were held at the farm of Lewis Wilson in the vicinity of Springfield.


Not the least of the difficulties of pioneer life comes from lack of transportation facilities. Posey county was better equipped in this par- ticular than most new localities, having river transportation on two sides, giving an outlet to a market, if only a far distant one. Many of the early settlers found their way into the county traveling by water. But by far the greater majority came in the more common pioneer style by driving in a wagon. These trips made as they were to Posey county from Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky were dangerous as well as arduous, requiring many weeks, sometimes months, to complete, on account of unavoidable delays caused by weather conditions, sickness or accidents. Sometimes there were trails blazoned by those gone be- fore and sometimes the pioneer had to blazon a new trail for others who would follow him. It took stout hearts to bid their home and friends farewell and set out with only the members of their own family, with little dependent children to provide for and protect, and go west into unknown dangers and hardships, but it seems that the fever of emigra- tion and colonization attacks mankind at intervals, for we have other in- stances in history when whole races of people would begin a general migration into another land in spite of seemingly insurmountable hard- ships and difficulties. In reading the records of the trips made by Posey county pioneers we find where occasionally a mother, a father or a child succumbed to the hardships of the journey and had to be lowered into the grave by the hands of their own family, and left in the heart of the wilderness "where the foe and the stranger shall over them tread" and while those who loved them would be far away. Often there were injuries sustained through exposure and hardship that did not result in death, but left the heroic sufferer still continuing the strug- gle for existence handicapped. One remarkable case was that of An- drew Gudgel (the great-grandfather of Dr. James Edward Gudgel, of Cynthiana, Ind.), who came to this county from Kentucky in 18II. He had been a pioneer in Kentucky and while there lost the use of his lower


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limbs through exposure. However, he would sit in a chair and chop and clear up brush around his cabin for hours at a time. At the time of an Indian raid, when the whole neighborhood took refuge in the stronghold at Fort Branch, he would not go along, but insisted in re- maining behind to take care of things. Here the Indians found him and they were so pleased with his courage that they did him no injury, but instead made frequent visits to his place, walking around his chair, patting him on the head and in their Indian fashion complimenting his bravery.


The wedding customs of those days are interesting. Marriages were made young, as there was no long continued course of education, and no complex standards of life to deter them. All the people were on the same social plane, so that there was no objection of relatives or friends on that score. No hindrances in the way of the first impression of love generally resulted in marriage, and these marriages were universally successful, the young people learning each other's ways as they molded their own, and living long and happily together. Whenever there was a wedding the whole settlement, old and young, attended, and the occa- sion was looked forward to with the greatest delight. The friends of the bride assembled at her home and assisted in the preparations and the friends of the groom came to his home, and together they proceeded enmasse to the bride's home. Here the whole neighborhood gathered, some coming on foot, some on horseback, and others in carts or wagons. Everybody was there, from grandmothers to babes in arms. The trip there was always one of merrymaking, the bottle being taken along. When the groom arrived the ceremony took place, after which the din- ner or supper was served. After this the dancing began and lasted until the following morning. They usually commenced with a square-four, which was followed by a jig, that is two of the four would single out for a jig and were followed by the remaining couples. When anyone of the jigging party became tired the place was supplied on intimation of the one wishing to retire by someone present without interrupting the dance. In this way the jig continued until the musician was ex- hausted. It was the custom to see who could keep the floor continuously for the longest time. About 9 or 10 o'clock in the evening a deputation of young ladies stole away the bride and proceeded to put her to bed. In order to do this they had to take her to the "loft" overhead by way of a ladder from the kitchen. Here in the rude bridal chamber the frightened and simple-hearted girl was tucked away by her enthusiastic friends. This done the friends of the groom took him to the same cham- ber and tucked him in bed beside his bride. The dancing went on unin- terruptedly. There were few benches or chairs, and the young men when not dancing were expected to offer their laps for seats for the girls. In the course of the festivities spirits were freely used, but seldom


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to excess, and as the liquors of those days were from the home distil- lery they were not nearly so dangerous as those on the markets today. The celebration was carried over to the following evening, when the same order of exercises was observed. A spot was then selected for the cabin of the new family and a day appointed for the beginning of the building. The fatigue party, consisting of the choppers, felled the trees and cut the logs in proper lengths. A man with a team hauled them to the site. Another party selected the materials for the roof, and still another prepared the puncheons for the floor. When these things were done the raising took place. Four corner men were selected, whose business it was to notch the logs and place them. The rest of the com- pany lifted the logs into position. When the cabin was finished a house- warming was held and a good breakdown or dance was indulged in, ac- companied by spirits in liberal quantities.


Many of the early settlers lived to reap large financial rewards for their efforts. One of the wealthiest flatboat owners was Richard Bar- ter, who began life in Posey county as a blacksmith. For several months after arriving he was prostrated with ague and could not do any manual labor, and in this time he not only was out of money, but when his health began to improve his clothing was reduced to rage, and he bought a suit that had belonged to a dead man, one of his friends going security for him. He then began to work at his trade. He said that he worked oftentimes nineteen or twenty hours per day, but that he was happier at that time in the anticipation of making money than he ever was in the possession of wealth.


It was customary upon the death of one or more parents for children to be "bound out" to strangers. Instead of adopting the child and mak- ing it a joint heir with the other children of their family the person tak- ing a child expected service from it until twenty-one and did not expect to give anything in return. In other words, instead of taking the child with the idea of helping it, the family took the child with the idea of making it work for them. A "bound out" child was often very little better off than a slave until it reached its majority. Such a child was seldom educated. It was obliged to give its services to the family it was bound to until twenty-one years of age. If such a child should work for other parties the wages could not legally be paid to it, but were the property of the foster parent. Often a boy having both parents living was bound out to a man to learn a trade. In that case he worked for the man until twenty-one years of age in return for his board and the trade.


There were not many negroes in Posey county before the Civil war, a few having been brought here were later taken back south by their owners or were kidnaped by slave dealers. Occasionally runaway slaves, after finding their way this far, were kidnaped and taken back


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to slavery. There was one instance of kidnaping which was surrounded by peculiar circumstances. A man by the name of Goddard was immi- grating to this county with his wife in 1815, when the latter took sick and her husband deserted her. She had smallpox, and as this was such a deadly disease in those days it is not to be wondered at that he was alarmed for his own safety, and being of a dissipated and dissolute char- acter it is quite natural that he should not care for her when ill. The woman was picked up by a negro, who had one small hut on the river, and was cared for here until the return of her health, when she returned to her husband and soon afterward gave birth to twin boys, one bright mulatto, the other of darker complexion. Mr. Goddard was a believer in psychological impressions and accounted for the complexion of the twins on the theory that it was a birthmark. In 1882, when the boys were about six years of age, they were kidnaped by Aquilla Ford and Jack Lynn, members of a gang of adventurous and desperate men who had a rendezvous at Diamond Island, later known as West Franklin. The news of this dastardly act roused the whole township and a number of men, namely, Patrick Calvert, William Rodgers and Joe Cater, organ- ized a rescuing party of twenty-seven men, armed with flintlock guns, horse pistols, clubs and knives, and went in pursuit of the kidnapers. The gang at West Franklin, hearing of the movement, made prepara- tions to defend themselves. The rescuing party, upon arriving at the village, demanded that a search be made. At this the citizens were highly incensed, declaring that the boys were not there, and a heated discussion followed, which ended in a conflict. The citizens rallied to the defense of the gang. The rescuers, being greatly outnumbered, re- treated to a near-by corn field, the worthless Goddard being the first to run away. This left Calvert, Cater and Rodgers to repell the attack. Guns and clubs were freely in play and two of the Ford gang were wounded, while only Calvert, of the other side, was hurt. By this time Dan Lynn appeared as arbitrator, and the hostilities came to an end. Calvert was picked up and found to be very severely hurt. Indeed he had been beaten so severely that he had been left for dead. The gang was merciless in their treatment of Calvert after they had taken his gun away from him. They beat him up and asked him if he were not sorry he came, and on his reply that he was not, they endeavored by cruelty to make him say that he was sorry. His steadfast refusal resulted in his nearly losing his life. After this Joe Cater organized another searching party of forty picked men, who made a thorough search of West Frank- lin without opposition, as the boys had been taken away before they could get there. They crossed over to the Kentucky side and searced the near-by neighborhood there without results. Two years later Pat- rick Calvert visited the Red river district in Arkansas on a prospecting tour in company with a number of Posey county farmers. On their re-


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turn they camped near Fulton, Ark., and in swapping yarns with the citizens about the camp fire Calvert related the story of the stolen boys. This reminded one of the citizens that two boys answering the descrip- tion had been brought to that neighborhood and sold to a certain party still living there. The next morning Calvert went to see the boys and tested their memory on the incidents of the kidnaping. The matter was taken to the courts and the boys were turned over to Calvert, who returned them to their overjoyed mother. In gratitude for his services in rescuing the children from slavery the boys were bound out to Cal- vert and gave him devoted service long after the had become of age.


In the early days justice was meted out by the judge according to his own ideas, as there was not much law or precedent to be guided by. When Jacob Weinmiller was justice of the peace at West Franklin, a man sued another on a note, the payment of which was for one milch cow. The note was twelve months past due and a verdict was rendered for the plaintiff. The judgment called for the payment of one milch cow and calf, the court holding that had the debt been paid at the time the note matured the cow would have had a calf, and therefore the calf was due the holder of the note. At Blackford, court was held in the open, the clerk using the stump of a tree for a desk and the jury being seated on logs. A man was found guilty of stealing a hog and was pun- ised by receiving thirty-nine lashes. When John Williams was justice of the peace at West Franklin a crowd of men got into a fight. Wil- liams rushed out and cried, "I command the peace," and upon finding the order disregarded he proceeded to enforce it by jumping in and thrashing the whole bunch. James Lafferty was another officer with original ideas in administering justice. Two men, Nathan Overton and Allen Moutry, were in a hand-to-hand combat one day when he rushed out and cried, "I command the peace! Give him h-, Nathan, I will fine you only $1.00 and pay half of it myself ! I command the peace !"


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CHAPTER IV.


ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY.


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LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT-EARLY COURTS-ELECTIONS-COUNTY OFFICERS.


In the month of September, 1814, by an act of the legislature, Posey county was formed from parts of Gibson and Warrick.


In December, 1818, Vanderburgh was formed from parts of Gibson, Warrick and Posey, thereby reducing Posey county to her present bound- aries, with an area of 420 square miles, or 268,800 acres.


In the year 1800, when the Territory of Indiana was formed, it con- tained only the four counties of Knox, Harrison, Clark and Dearborn, but when Indiana was admitted as a State, it was composed of thirteen counties, viz .: Wayne, Franklin, Dearborn, Switzerland, Jefferson, Clark, Harrison, Washington, Knox, Gibson, Warrick, Perry and Posey. At that time Posey county was so thinly settled that she commanded very little attention. The official returns of the population of Indiana on December 4, 1815, showed the inhabitants of Posey county to be 1,619, but, as may be seen from the following records of her growth in popu- lation, Posey county was destined to have a steady natural growth, viz. : 1816, 2,240; 1820, 4,061 ; 1830, 6,540 ; 1840, 9,583 ; 1850, 12,549; 1860, 16,147; 1870, 19,185 ; 1880, 22,057; 1890,21,529; 1900,22,333; 1910, 21,670.


The first session of court was held at the house of Absalom Duck- worth, about five miles north of the present site of Mt. Vernon. It was convened Monday, January 6, 1815. In the record it is called the Court of Claims. It was really a court to do the business of the county, sim- ilar in nature to our present board of county commissioners. It was presided over by Isaac Blackford, with Thomas E. Casselberry and Dann Lynn, associate judges of the county.


William Prince, on the day court was convened, was appointed pros- ecuting attorney, which position he held until 1817, when he was elected judge. He was succeeded by David Floyd as prosecutor.


Other business coming before the court was the report of the commis- sioners appointed to fix the seat of justice as follows :


"We, the commissioners appointed by a special act of the General As- sembly of the Indiana Territory, for to fix on the permanent seat of justice in Posey county, do certify that we, the undersigned, have


POSEY COUNTY JAIL


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selected 320 acres of land, to-wit: The northeast quarter of section Number 30, in township Number 6 south of range Number 12 west, also the southeast quarter of section Number 19 in township south of range Number 12 west, a beautiful situation and excellent soil. We do certify to the honorable judges of Posey county that the above named is land selected for your permanent seat of justice of Posey county.


"Given from under our hands and seals this 14th day of January, 1816. "ADAM YOUNG, "JOSEPH INGLISH, "WILLIAM BRISCOE, "SAMUEL SMYTH, "GEORGE W. TEVAULT."


This was to be the county seat of Posey county. Its location was about a mile north of Caborn Station, now a station on the Louisville & Nashville railroad, in Marrs township.


Samuel R. Marrs, after whom Marrs township was named, was ap- pointed county agent. It was the duty of the county agent to receive the lands and to perform such other business as was the custom in those days.


The court ordered that this seat of justice for Posey county be called Blackford, and instructed the county agent to lay out the town into town lots in a certain manner. Then came the advertisement for the sale of the lots on the first Monday in March following. Eight lots adjoining the public square were to be sold at $40.00 each, those on Main street at $20.00 each, and the others at $12.00 each. Twelve months' time was given in which to make final payment on the lots.


The county agent was ordered to receive on the same day, at the house of Absalom Duckworth, proposals for the building of a court house and jail, plans for same having been adopted at this same session.


The first orders for money to be paid out of the Posey county treasury were in favor of Thomas E. Casselberry for $102, and Jacob Landers for $60, money loaned to the county.


The second session opened Monday, the first of May, 1815, at the house of Absalom Duckworth, the same judges presiding.


It adjourned at once to meet at the town of Blackford, the new county seat, as William Hutchinson had offered the use of his house free of rent.


The contract for building the county jail was given to Samuel Jones for $565, and the contract for the court house to Jacob Weinmiller for $125, each giving bond for the fulfillment of his engagement.


Another sale of town lots was held on the first Wednesday after the third Monday in June, 1815. The out-lots were to be sold at $12 per acre. Thomas E. Casselberry was appointed to survey the lots and the county agent was ordered to advertise for bids for the clearing of the lots.


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In November William Hutchinson was allowed $6.00 for whiskey fur- nished at the auction sale of town lots. Considering the fact that whiskey was quite cheap in those days, twenty-five cents per gallon, we would imagine that $6.00 would purchase enough to make them all feel rich, or liberal at least.


William E. Stewart, county clerk, was allowed $63.00 for his services for the year ; Thomas E. Casselberry, associate judge, $46.00; Dan Lynn, associate judge, $35.00, and William Prince, prosecuting attorney, $45.00.


In May, 1816, Jacob Weinmiller, having completed the court house building, offered it to the court for acceptance, which was refused, and John Stapleton and Elsberry Alexander were appointed to inspect the building. They reported that it had not been built according to con- tract.


Finally, in July, it was accepted by deducting $10 from the contract price, so the cost of Posey county's first court house was $115.


The jail building was accepted after deducting $100 from the original contract price. So that the cost of both jail and court house amounted to $582. It goes without saying that the buildings were constructed of logs in the style of the times.


On the twenty-first of October, 1816, the first session of court under the State law was held at the town of Blackford.


Under the new State law the county business was to be done by three county commissioners. These commissioners were Samuel R. Marrs, Thomas Robb and Abner Coates. Their first act was to fix upon a county seal, which had the words, "Commissioners' Seal of Posey County."


Samuel Jones was appointed treasurer of Posey county for one year ; David Love was allowed $42.50 for assessing the taxable property of Posey county for the year 1816. William E. Stewart, the first clerk of Posey county, was allowed $23.50 "for ex-officio services for the year 1816, and for the rent of his office eight months," showing that our first county officials were compelled to provide themselves with offices and serve the county at very small salaries.


In March, 1817, the places for holding elections were fixed and the inspectors appointed as follows: For Marrs township, at the house of William Hutchinson, with Elsberry Armstrong, inspector; for Black township, at the house of Thomas Givens in Mt. Vernon, with Samuel Jones, inspector ; for Lynn township, at Harmonie, with Elias Allitzer, inspector ; for Robb township, at the house of Langston Drew, with Thomas Robb, inspector; for Smith township, at the house of George Smith, with Miles Armstrong, inspector; for Wayne township, at the house of Mr. Johnson, formerly the house of Mr. Long, at the fork of the Cony branch of the stream, in said township, with Daniel Miller, inspector. In May of this year Samuel Jones was appointed county treasurer, which office he held until 1822.


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The people soon became dissatisfied with the location of the county seat at Blackford, and demanded that it be moved to a more central place. In order to change the location an act of the legislature was passed, appointing a committee for that purpose. At a session of the board of commissioners, held on the twelfth day of May, 1817, the fol- lowing report of the commissioners appointed to change the location of the county seat was received :


"We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, being appointed by the legislature of the State of Indiana, to fix the permanent seat of justice for Posey county in the said State, did meet at the house of Elias Allitzer on the day appointed by law, and after being first sworn have proceeded to examine and explore the said county in different directions; have received proposals of donation in land from different persons; have maturely considered their several advantages and situations, together with the extent of the county, the advantages of the soil, the weight of the present as well as the prospect of the future population and future divisions : have selected 100 acres of land, a donation given by Fred- erick Rapp, on which to fix the permanent seat of justice for said county, it being the southeast quarter of section 33, in township 5 south, in range 13 west, and to lie on the south side of said quarter section from corner to corner of the same, it being near the center (of the county) and an eligible situation for a town, do make this our report of the same to the county commissioners of Posey. Given under our hands and seals this 22d day of February, 1817.


"ISAAC MONTGOMERY, "HUGH McGARY, "ADAM HOPE, "JOHN BRAZELTON."


The board met on the twenty-fourth day of May and approved the plan of the new town, and ordered that it be known and designated as Springfield. Frederick Rapp was appointed county agent and or- dered to lay out the town and advertise a sale of lots to be held on the fifteenth of July, also at the same time to receive bids for the building of a court house and jail.


Lots facing the public square were to be sold at $100, and back lots at $12 each. This was the beginning of Springfield. The new town immediately began to experience quite a boom on account of being the county seat. Another sale of lots was held in October following, and a large number of lots were sold, the buyers being among the best citizens of the county. The agent was ordered to keep up the clearing of the land until November. Samuel Jones, treasurer of Posey county, took out a license to keep a tavern in the new town and everything seemed flourishing. At this sale of lots Thomas E. Casselberry furnished $7.00 worth of whiskey.


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For some unknown reason the contracts for the building of the court house and jail were not let at the appointed time.


In November the county board met for the first time in Springfield, although there was no public building in which to hold court. How- ever, it is likely that there was a building of some kind that was used by the officers for a court house, as an order for $16.50 appears in the record in favor of Alexander Hindman for laying a floor in the court house in Springfield. The contract for building the county jail was given to Abner Coates for $458. It was built on the same plan as the old one at Blackford-a two-story structure of hewn logs, the first story of double log walls and the top story of single log walls. The first story was called the dungeon, and the top story the debtors' prison. Imprisonment for debt was then lawful in Indiana.




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