History of Randolph County, Indiana with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers : to which are appended maps of its several townships, Part 10

Author: Tucker, Ebenezer
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : A.L. Klingman
Number of Pages: 664

USA > Indiana > Randolph County > History of Randolph County, Indiana with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers : to which are appended maps of its several townships > Part 10

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Under this ordinance, that part of Ohio called "The Seven Ranges," was surveyed into ranges of townships extending north- ward from the Ohio River, and numbered toward the north.

The sections were not surveyed, but "mile corners" were established in the exterior lines of the townships, and the " mile lots " were numbered from one to thirty-six, beginning with the southeast corner of the township.

The area of the " Seven Ranges " was 1,641,724 acres. By act of Congress, May 18, 1796, a Surveyor General was ap- pointed (the year after Wayne's treaty at Greenville had been made with the Indians).

Under this act, one-half the townships were divided by " run- ning" lines each way, two miles apart, through the townships, and making "mile marks " on these lines. The sections were numbered from one to thirty-six, beginning at the northeast corner of each township, and proceeding west and east alternately, ending with thirty-six in the southeast corner. Fractional town- ships were numbered exactly as though they had been full size. This method of numbering is still employed and bas been used ever since its adoption. The act of May 10, 1800, directed the subdivision of townships into half-sections of 320 acres. The act of February 11, 1803, directed the subdivisions into quarter- sections (160 acres). The act of April 24, 1820, subdivided into balf-quarter sections (eighty acres). The act of April 5, 1832, directed the survey of quarter-quarters, i. e., forty acres.

No further reduction has ever been made. The price of the public lands also has varied somewhat as follows :

At first not less than a section could be "entered," and the price was $2 per acre, the purchaser paying in four equal annual pay- ments. Afterward, "floating claims" were allowed, i. e., if a man failed to complete his payments he might have a patent for as much as the money he had paid would cover, and let the rest go.

After awhile the price was set at $1.25 cash, with the privi- lege of buying 160 acres, and then of eighty, and by and by forty acres. In (about) 1840, the right of pre-emption was se- cured by act of Congress; and in 1862, the " Homestead " act was passed.

In 1872, an act was passed for " soldiers' homesteads," allow- ing their term of service to count on their homestead time. At some time a provision was made, graduating the price of the public lands according to the time they had remained unsoll in market, coming down at the lowest point to 12} cents per acre. And it is a noteworthy instance of the public benefit of a judi- cious railroad system, that, while millions of acres had been stand- ing for years unsold at the minimum price in Central and Southern Illinois, in the route of the Central Railroad ; after the road had been built under a grant of immense quantities of land to the railroad, the part retained by the Government was sold by it at $2.50 per acre (twenty times the former price), yielding a net in- come of over $9.000,000.

The land in Indiana east of the " old boundary " was sur- veyed from 1799 to 1802. The "twelve-mile strip " was sur- veyed in 1811. The land west of the " twelve-mile strip " was surveyed from 1820 onward.

The following statement concerning meridians and base lines, is condensed from the report of the Commissioner of the Land Office for 1875 ; pages 37-38.

MERIDIANS-BASE LINES.

Certain north-and-south lines, called meridians are established as initial lines of reckoning. Certain other lines extending east

and west are designated, called base lines, crossing the meridians at right angles.

From the meridians the ranges are numbered cast or west, or both, as may happen. From the base lines the townships are numbered north or south, or both. as the case may be.

MERIDIANS.

During the course of ninety-six years (May, 1785), the fol- lowing meridians have been designated :

The first meridian is the west line of Ohio, commencing at the Ohio River, at the mouth of the Miami River, being 84º 51' west from Greenwich (or about 7º 49' from Washington).

The lands in Ohio and those in Indiana east of the " old boundary," are numbered east and west from the first meridian. The base in this case is the Ohio River.

The second meridian is located ninety miles west of the west- ern Ohio line, and extends northward to the Indiana State line. [86° 28' west].

All the lands in Indiana west of the " Old Boundary," are controlled by this meridian, and also that part of Illinois included by fifteen ranges west ; and the ranges are numbered eastward fifteen ranges, or ninety miles, to the State line (or a less distance to the " old boundary "), and westward fifteen ranges, or ninety miles, extending some distance into Eastern Illinois. The base line is an cast and west line crossing the meridian twenty-four miles north of the Ohio River.

The third meridian extends northward from the mouth of the Ohio River to the northern boundary of Illinois .. This meridian regulates the land between it and those subject to the second me- ridian, and westward to the Illinois River. It is the line of 89º 10' 30" west from Greenwich.

The fourth meridian extends from the mouth of the Illinois northward from latitude 38° 58' 12" through Illinois, Wiscon- sin and Minnesota.

'This meridian controls all the lands in Illinois, west of the Illinois River, or of this meridian north of its intersection there- with ; all the lands in Wisconsin, and all in Minnesota lying east of the Mississippi and of the third guide meridian (west of the fifth principal meridian) and north of the river.

The fifth meridian extends northward from the mouth of the Arkansas River, with a base line westward from the mouth of the St. Francis River. It controls Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi and the third guide meridian, and Dakota east of the Missouri. [90º 58' west].

The sixth meridian [97º 22' west] extends from latitude 37' to the Missouri River. Its base line is the 40th degree of lati- tude.

This meridian controls Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota south and west of the Missouri, Wyoming and Colorado (except the Rio Grande Valley).

These are the six principal Meridians. Besides these there are others, as follows :

The Michigan meridian for Michigan, the Tallahassee meri- dian for Florida, the St. Stephens meridian for parts of Alabama and Mississippi, the Huntsville meridian for Northern Alabama, the Choctaw meridian for Northern Mississippi, the Washington meridian for Southwestern Mississippi, the Louisiana meridian for Louisiana west of the Mississippi, the St. Helena meridian for Southeastern Louisiana (east of the Mississippi), the New Mexico meridian for New Mexico and Colorado in the Rio Grande Val- ley, the grent Salt Lake meridian for Utah, the Boise meridian for Idaho, the Mount Diablo meridian for Central and Northeast- ern California and all of Nevada, the San Bernardino meridian for Southern California east of the meridian and some west of it, the Humboldt meridian for northwestern California, the Willa- mette meridian for Oregon and Washington, the Montana meridian for Montana, the Gila and Salt River meridian for Arizona, the Indian meridian for Indian Territory.

[NorE. It may be remarked that the Texas Lands are not

HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.

mentioned. They were left in the ownership of the State, and hence, are not included in the United States Surveys. Thus it is seen that twenty-four meridians of survey have been designa. ted by the Government.]

Randolph County land is numbered from two meridians, first and second.

The first meridian is the line between Indiana and Ohio. The second meridian is ninety miles west of the first.

The land east of the old (Wayne's) boundary is surveyed and numbered westward from the first meridian.

The second meridian begins at a point on the Ohio River in Perry County, Ind., ninety miles west of the Ohio line. It ex- tends north between Perry and Crawford, through Crawford, Orange, Lawrence, Monroe, Morgan, Hendricks, Boone, Clin. ton, Carroll and Cass, between Pulaski and Fulton, between Stark and Marshall, and through St. Joseph to the north line of Indiana.

The land west of the old boundary and to the second meri- dian, is surveyed and numbered eastward from the second meri- dian.

One range in Randolph County (fractional), and four ranges in all, are counted from the first meridian, and fifteen ranges in all are reckoned eastward of the second meridian to the Ohio line.

Randolph County embraces Range 1 west of the first princi- pal meridian (east of the old boundary), and Ranges 12, 13, 14 and 15 east of second principal meridian.

It embraces townships 16, 17, 18 and (south half of ) 19 west of first meridian, and townships (north half of ) 18, and (the whole of ) 19, 20 and 21, east of the second principal meridian, in Ranges 12, 13, 14 and 15 aforesaid.

The base of the survey on the east side of the old boundary would seem to be the point where the boundary touches the Ohio River. At any rate the townships number thence toward the north. Hence the south line of Randolph County is about ninety miles north of the point where the old boundary strikes the Ohio.

[It is however only about sixty miles from the nearest point on the Ohio.]

The base line of the survey on the west side of the old boun- dary crosses the second meridian about 24 miles north of the point at which that meridian touches the Ohio River, there being four townships south of the base line to the Ohio on the east side of the second meridian.

On the west side there are fourteen townships in Indiana south of that base line.

The whole of Indiana west of the second meridian is surveyed and numbered westward from that second meridian and also more or less of Illinois.

There are "jogs " on both sides of the " old boundary," the surveys on the two sides of that boundary having no connection with each other. There are no "jogs" at the "twelve-mile boundary." The surveys west of the "old boundary," and on both sides of the " new boundary " were all made from the sec- ond meridian eastward, although the land east of that second boundary contiguous thereto was surveyed before the land on the west side.

One thing may be of interest, and not universally known, as to the survey of the public lands, viz : The townships are square, six miles on a side, while the meridians are not parallel (of course). This disagreement causes fractional sections, which are made to occur at the side which is at the close of the survey. The range lines were first established six iniles apart, and then the townships, six miles square, were measured off, and afterward the section lines were run each way, one mile apart. The section corners were established by corner trees, as also by witness trees, all marked with descriptions of size, measurements, distances from corner, etc.

By these section-corners the section is afterward divided into halves, quarters, eigliths, sixteenths. The original surveys are described as they were taken, in the " field notes," which are de-

posited in the office of the County Auditor, and are accessible to all who wish to consult them. Owing to various obstacles and diffi- culties and possibly sometimes to carelessness, the original surveys were not always accurate and sometimes seriously wrong. The corners, however, established in such survey, when they can be determined, must stand. It is true, indeed, that some sections contain more than other .. and the lines between corners are not always regular ; but certainty and stability are of paramount im- portance, and far more so than mere quantity. Legal methods have been established by the State for completing the survey of a section, and for ascertaining and fixing any desired corner, line or boundary ; and when done according to law, the work of the " lawful surveyor " has to stand.

It may or may not be known by all although it is neverthe- less a certain fact, that surveying is for many reasons a most deli- cate and difficult operation ; and the fewest number, even of pro- fessional surveyors, are able to execute an extensive survey with even approximate accuracy. It is true also that " disputed bound- aries " are a fruitful source of quarrels between neighbors, and not seldom fierce enmity and permanent and bitter personal hatred, will grow from such a dispute.

A very curious instance, showing both the difficulty in the subject matter, the fierceness of strifes arising from such sources, and the need of accurate knowledge and superior practical skill in execution, as also the advantage, nay, the absolute necessity of possessing the confidence of the contending parties, occurred many years ago ; and, as the case has never been in print, so far as we are aware, it may be well to preserve a statement of the case for the advantage of posterity.

A certain large landed estate with many heirs was to be divided. The attempt was made by different surveyors, but no two came out alike, and none was satisfactory. At last a survey- or was sent for a hundred miles away. He came, knowing noth- ing beforehand of the trouble in the matter. He found, perhaps, a hundred men on hand, and saw that he had a doubly-difficult task to perform-to make a survey difficult in itself, and to satisfy the parties concerned of the correctness of his work. He soon found that the chief trouble grew from the fact that a line had to be ascertained that extended through an impassable swamp. He felt that the essential thing to be done was, to satisfy that crowd of men that he could measure a line exactly without going near it; so, ordering two stakes to be set at an unknown distance apart, he, without himself going near either one of them or up- on the line between thein, by measurements and calculations of triangles, found the distance between those stakes, and an- nounced it to an inch. " Now," said he, " go measure it." They did, and to their aruazement found that he was right, " to a shaving.' " There," said he, " are you satisfied that I can tell the exact length of a line without passing over it or being upon it!" " We are," was the universal reply. " Well then, don't you see that I can tell how far it is across that swamp without crossing it?" " Yes, we do," was the answer. He then went on with his work, and completed the survey ; and, though his results were unlike all the rest (which was natural enough), all were satisfied, and the bitter controversy was forever at an end. They felt that he was " master of his business," and that if the survey could be made at all, he could do it, and that he had done it. The other sur- veyors might have been near enough correct, but they had not secured the confidence of the parties concerned in advance.

Another actual case equally curious, though of another sort, we state, both of the instances showing, among other things, how matters that occur in actual life are more difficult than any prob- lems found in textbooks.

A man died leaving a widow with ten children, all minors, and also a considerable estate. A final division could not be made till the youngest came of age. Before that time, seven of the children had died, one by one, so that the final distribution of the estate had to be made to the widow and the three surviving children. The law was this : The widow was entitled by statute

HISTORY OF RANDOLPHI COUNTY.

to one-third, and the children, collectively, to the other two-thirds. If & child died, half its portion went to the mether, and the other half in equal shares to the surviving children. How much is the final share of the widow, and of each surviving child? This problem in fractions the court had to solve, and "seas of figures " were made by experts in attempts to make the calcula- tien and to determine the result.

SURFACE.

There are no mountains nor even high hills in Randolph County. The center between the Mississinewa and White Rivers is largely low and mostly level, much of the land needing draining. Far- ther from the seurces of the streams the surface becomes more rolling. And in the southern part of the county it is still more so. On Nolan's and Green's Forks, Martindale's Creek, West River and Little White River, the gentle hills and sloping val- leys present a very picturesque appearance. In early times much of the level portions were difficult of occupation, but, of late years, extensive ditching has been done and the low portions make the very best farms.

VEGETATION.

Occasionally, when the settlers first came, a low, wet prairie would be found; but, for the most part, a thick, heavy woods covered the soil, and they were filled mostly with an abundant underbrush. Jere Smith, in his " Reminiscences," says :

" The country was thickly timbered with a tall, heavy forest, having a wonderful undergrowth of shrubs and wild grass and weeds. The trees were beech, sugar tree, ash (gray, blue and swamp), oak (white, red, burr, pin and river), poplar, walnut (white and black), elm (red or slippery, and white er hickory), hickory (black or pignut, and shell bark), buckeye, linn, wild maple, hackberry, coffeenut, honey locust, cottonwood. The undergrewth was spice-bush, irenwoed, water-bcech and horn- beam, prickly-ash, degwood, kunnekanic (Indian name, now ex- tinct), red-bud, paw-paw, wild plum, red and black haw, sassa- fras ; in swamps, black alder, willow, theru, crab-apple, young cotton weed.

WEEDS AND GRASSES.

" Nettles, peavines, may apple, ginseng, ferns (two kinds), snake-roet (black and seneca), silkweed, ramps (soon extinct), bear-grass, file-grass, skunk-cabbage, cat's tail. In clearings, butter-weed, thistles, mullein, dog-fennel (may-weed) ; in tilled lands, spanish needles and touch-me-nets."

ANIMALS.

The same authority says: " The game were deer, squirrels (gray, black and red), turkeys, pheasants and bears. Other wild animals were wolves, raccoons, ground-hegs, possums, porcupines, wild cats, foxes, panthers, otter, minks and pole cats."

There were, in many parts, especially after the country had been partially settled, great numbers of wild hogs, the offspring of animals which had been tame, but that were grown wild by rang- ing in the woods. These wild hegs were often very fierce and savage, and considerably dangerous. And it is curious how quickly the tame swine themselves would become wild by running in the forest. These droves of hogs would sometimes remain uninelested for two or three years, since they would fatten only in the "mast years," and the mast would occasionally fail for a year or two, or even more, and the herds of swine would greatly increase during those years, and become vastly formidable to persons passing through the forest. In some places autumnal fires had killed the undergrowth and left the forest beautifully open. In a few cases, also, hurricanes had passed and prestrated the timber, leaving the ground covered with trunks of trees lying in every direction. One such tract existed near Spartan- burg. Another was caused a few years later by a terrific storm that tore through the southern part of the county. A history of it will be found in " Reminiscences by Jere. Smith," in another

part of this work. Mr. Smith was a terrified witness of the fearful scene.

DRAINAGE.

The surface of Randolph County rises to a considerable height. The land en which Union City stands, is said to be, with one ex- ception, the highest land in the State, being net far from 1,000 feet above the level of the Gulf of Mexico. Of the State itself, the northeastern part slopes to the northeast, the water passing through the Maumee to Lake Erie. The center slopes te the west and southwest, being drained by the White, the Wabash, etc., inte the Ohio. The southeast and south portions slepe directly to the Ohio, and the regiens ef the northwest and north are drained into Lake Michigan. A small portion of the east drains eastward te the Miami. The chief valleys in the State are the Maumee (and its affluents) in the northeast, the Wabash in the center, the Whitewater in the east and southeast, the Kankakee in the north- west, the St. Joseph in the north, the Ohio in the south, the Miami in the east. The county itself embraces parts of the Wabash, the Whitewater and the Miami Valleys, as will be more fully seen hereafter. There were originally a few swamps or marshes, mostly at the head of the streams, as the swamp bc- tween Nolan's Fork and Greenville Creek, in Greensfork Town- ship, and some others. These two creeks run in epposite direc- tions from the same marsh. Nolan's Fork flows south into White- water, and Greenville north and then east toward the Miami. But these old-time swamps, by the clearing of the forests and the draining of their surface, are mostly changed to dry land.

During late years, and especially at the present time, an immense amount of ditching has been, and is being done by the farmers of the county. It is considered that the high and rolling greund, even, is vastly improved by thorough draining ; and, while the low marshy land, utterly useless otherwise, has been, by a thorough system of ditching, transformed into excellent farins, the mere rolling land has in many cases been ditched alse and greatly improved thereby. Many of the artificial drains are immense ditches, deep and wide, and extending for miles through scores and hundreds of farms. Their construction is regulated by law, and, though costly, they are of immense benefit, and, in fact, indispensable to the prosperity of the farming interest. Though it is regretted by many, that the legal regulations require so great an amount of attending cost, causing the ditching of the country to be exceedingly expensive ; still, the owners of low lands cannet do without the ditches. Yet, a system is greatly to be desired that shall result in the construction of the largest and most serviceable ditches at the lowest practicable cost.

MINERALS, ROCKS, ETC.

Gravel is somewhat abundant, being found in drift heaps like knolls, covered in most cases with surface earth several feet deep. Often these gravel depesits are very large. Some of them are in the bluffs of the creeks, but many also are at a distance from any stream. Sand is found in many places but is not se plentiful as gravel. Lime is burned en the banks of the Mississinewa River near Ridgeville, and on the White River near Macksville, and also near Farmland. There are two kilns near Maxville and one near Farmland. The proprieters of the two kilns near Maxville burn, en an average, twelve times a year, 400 bushels at a time. The demand is large and rapid, the whole of a kiln being sold often as fast as it can be loaded. The lime is said to be of an excellent quality. These quarries furnish also rock for founda- tiens, etc., and experts say that, by digging deeper, excellent building stone might be obtained in abundance. In some places within the county, rock-boulders are found quite plentifully. Across the southern part of Randolph occurs a remarkable deposit ef loose rocks on the surface. The tract is, perhaps, a mile wide, and is supposed to extend eastward over mest of the county. In some parts of the tract the stenes lie se thick as nearly te cover the ground. Sometimes iminense rocks weighing many tens are met with, boulders also, some of them very large, are found in

HISTORY OF RANDOLPH COUNTY.

various parts of the county. In some cases farmers take pains to gather the rocks from their lands, and utilize them by walling a well or. by laying them into the foundations of a barn. In some places also the huge rocks have been blasted by powder, so as to become available for walling purposes.

MAXVILLE REGION.

The following sketch contains some facts furnished by I. M. Branson, Esq., of Maxville, Randolph County. His article has been somewhat condensed to correspond to the narrow limits of the space available for its insertion : A tract of land containing eighty to one hundred acres lying north of Maxville, and extend- ing both eastward and westward from that town, constituting at the present time a portion of the valley of White River, seems to present striking evidences of the action thereon of the forces of the Glacial Epoch, during which, after the prevalence for un- known ages of fire and water, ice became for a season monarch of the world-wide waste, producing, as the result of its power, a con- dition of things described as the Drift Period, such as loose, un- stratified deposits of clay, sand, gravel, and stones or rocks famil- iar to the sight of every man in the Northern States, which, by the way; are said not to be found much south of forty degrees north latitude. In some places, the drift deposits form only a slight covering above the solid rock while elsewhere the deposits are piled up in hills and ridges. This latter state of things exists in the locality mentioned. Apparently the drift or ava- lanehe came southwest, leveling by its mighty power hills and ridges, filling ravines and hollows in its onward course. The melting of the ice has left these vast deposits of boulders, gravel, fossils, etc., scattered everywhere.

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History of Randolph County, Indiana with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers : to which are appended maps of its several townships, Part 10

Author: Tucker, Ebenezer Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago : A.L. Klingman Number of Pages: 664

Author: Tucker, Ebenezer
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago : A.L. Klingman
Number of Pages: 664