USA > Indiana > Shelby County > History of Shelby County, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, notes, etc., together with a short history of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana > Part 37
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James B. McFadden, of the old firm of Peaslee & McFadden, at- torneys, still lives here and practices his profession; Daniel M. Barns, silversmith, resides at Indianapolis; James Harrison lives here and is the oldest practitioner in the law at our bar; Mr. New- ton Johnson, of the old firm of Johnson & Letherman, lives at Morristown, this county, engaged in the carpenter and builder busi- ness: Jasper H. Sprague lives here, an old gentleman whose great age and invalid condition has compelled his retirement from all active business pursuits; he was formerly a railroad surveyor and civil engineer. The old clothing firm of Streng & Frankel were charged with shipping arms, principally revolvers, into the seced- ing states during the war, and had to skip out in hot haste. They went to Louisville, Ky., where they engaged in business, and toward the close of the war Streng returned to Shelbyville and very quietly made collections and accounts due the firm; he then re- turned to Louisville, Ky.
Incorporation .- For a long time the growth of Shelbyville was very slow. Not until January 21, 1850, was the town incorpo- rated by a special act of the Legislature. George Caruthers, Sr., was elected Mayor, and J. S. Campbell, James M. Randall, Will- iam H. Coats, James H. Elliott, and Eden H. Davis, Councilmen. Only 156 votes were cast. The second election under this charter was held April 3rd, 1852, and resulted in the choice of John Mor- rison, Sr., for Mayor, and Woodville Browning, James M. Randall, S. Midkiff, Joseph Cummins and J. T. Bullock, for Councilmen. Two hundred and forty-one votes were cast. Population, white, 1,407; colored, 17; total, 1,424. July 25, 1853, the office of Mayor was discontinued, and the present city organization dates from May 16, 1860. The first settlers of Shelbyville, were: Joseph Campbell, James Davison, Henry Gatewood, William Goodrich, Nathan Good- rich, George Goodrich, William Hawkins, John Hendricks, James Lee. William Little, Ezra McCabe, Elisha Mayhew, Sr., Elisha Mayhew, Jr., Royal Mayhew. Sylvan B. Morris, John Walker, Francis Walker, Isaac H. Wilson, Smith Wingate, Benjamin Will- iams and John M. Young.
Original Town Plat .- Laid out for the County Commissioners of Shelby County, by Eber Lucas, surveyor, September Ist, 1822. The original town plat was acknowledged by Abel Cole, who had been appointed County Agent, before John Kennedy, Justice of the Peace, September 23d, 1822. Said town plat is recorded in the First Deed Record of the county, designated as Deed Record A, page 5. It is headed A MAP OF SHELBYVILLE, variation 6º (de- grees) east. The lots were all laid out of uniform size, that is, eight rods-132, feet east and west-by six rods-99 feet, north
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and south. The original town plat extended north of the Public: Square to the alley running east and west between Franklin and Mechanics Streets; south to the north line of Broadway Street; east to the alley running north and south midway between Pike and Noble Streets, now occupied by the big stone covered ditch; and west one tier of lots beyond Tompkins Street. Washington and Harrison Streets were each laid out ninety feet in width, crossing each other in the centre of the Public Square, which was laid out near the centre of the plat, in such manner by the intersection of the two principal streets, as to give it twelve corners, that is four inside corners and eight street corners; or three corners to each quarter, that is one inside corner and two street corners. All streets except Washington and Harrison were laid out three rods or forty- nine and one-half feet in width.
The Public Square is 288 feet north and south, by 354 feet east and west. Thus it will be seen that the Public Square contains 101,952 square feet, equivalent to 2.34 acres. This note appears at the foot of said page 5, in Deed Record A, just below the acknowledgment of the original town plat: "Sold to Abel Sum- mers and William H. Sleeth, Lot number seven (7) on Washington Street in the Town of Shelbyville at $99, which when paid for according to the conditions of the sale will entitle them to a deed for the same.
Shelbyville, 23d September, 1822.
WILLIAM H. SLEETH,
A. COLE,
Recorder. Agent for Shelby County.
Additions to Shelbyville .- The prosperity of Shelbyville has been remarkably steady and uniform, as is attested by the numerous additions that have been made to the town, now city, from time to time, there being twenty-five additions in all. The first addition to Shelbyville was made by Abel Cole, the aforesaid County Agent, July 2nd, 1823. It extended east from the Big Ditch Alley, here- tofore described, to Hamilton Street. It was surveyed by Major John Hendricks, who was County Surveyor at that time; variation, 6° 2'. The original town, with the first addition attached on the east end or side thereof, was platted July 2nd, 1823, and re- corded the same day, in Major Hendricks' hand writing, on page 23, of said Deed Record A, by order of said Abel Cole, County Agent. The second addition consisted of thirty lots, fifteen on each side of Mechanics Street, and on the north of the original town plats, made by Abel Cole, County Agent. It extended east to the first alley east of Noble Street, which in said plat is called Madison Street. In this plat, Tompkins, Pike and Madison (now Noble), are each recorded 50 feet wide, instead of 4912, and Mechanics
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Street is for the first time laid out and recorded 66 feet wide. This addition was made by John Walker, one of the original donors, De- cember 5, 1823, and recorded the next day, December 6, 1823. It is also known as Walker's addition. Davison's donation con- sisted of twenty acres, donated by James Davison, one of the orig- inal donors of the town site, which lay between Township line No. 12, running east and west, a short distance north of Franklin Street, and nearly parallel with the same, it being 20 feet north at Harrison Street, 32 feet north at Hamilton, and 33 feet north at Vine Street, as determined by an accurate survey, made December Ist, 1862, the township line being run twice with J. M. Elliott's transit. Said survey was made for the city of Shelbyville by J. Marshall Elliott, City Civil Engineer, conjointly with William R. Norris, County Surveyor at that time. Said donation extended north from said township line to Big Blue River. It was platted and surveyed by John Hendricks, County Surveyor, June 12, 1827; variation 6°. Acknowledged by Abel Cole, County Agent, July 2nd, 1827, and recorded the same day. This plat includes the ground subsequently donated for the purpose of a burial place, by Arthur Major, now known as the Old Cemetery. In this plat Grave Street, long since vacated, appears 66 feet wide, running east and west through the middle portion of the old cemetery; also, West Street is marked thereon as New York Street, which name has become obsolete; it was abolished by an ordinance of the City Council.
Kent & Hendrick's Addition was made April 10, 1833, by the Rev. Eliphalet Kent and Major John Hendricks. It consisted of one tier of town lots, ten in number, on the south side of Broadway Street, east of Harrison, each lot 132 feet east and west, by ninety-nine north and south. On this plat, Broadway Street, is represented eighty-four feet in width, adjoining an alley on the north, sixteen and one-half feet wide running parallel with it on the north side, thus making East Broadway 10012 feet wide, as a matter of rec- ord. In the laying off of this addition, the proprietors failed to plat a strip thirty-three feet in width on the south, extending the entire distance, east of Harrison Street to the stock yards, on the J., M. & I. R. R., and this unplatted strip, thirty-three feet wide, appears on the Shelby County Atlas, published in 1880, as a vacant white strip in the city map of Shelbyville, gotten up by Mr. Gus- tavus Murmann, the German map draughtsman for the publishers of that work. He platted Shelbyville as he found it, by the rec- ords, and did not trouble himself to supply any defects or omissions in the plats of the city. See Deed Record D, page I. This defect in the original plat was subsequently rectified by extending the lots
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each thirty-three feet south to Major John Hendrick's south line, which was the middle line, east and west of the north half of Sec- tion 5, Township 12. Range 7, thus making all the lots in said addi- tion 132 feet deep. This statement is verified by the deeds made to said lots by the proprietors themselves. It furthermore appears that Mr. Kent owned but one lot, out of all laid off in said addition, and that was Lot No. I, at the southeast corner of Harrison and Broadway streets.
Fletcher & McCarty's Addition. This addition comprised 125 lots lying east of Harrison Street and north of Pennsylvania, ex- tending east to East Street a north-end prolongation of Hamilton Street: except that it is three rods further west than Hamilton Street: its east side coinciding with the middle line north and south of Section 32, Township 13 north, Range 7 east. Its northern boundary being the Mill Race lands, belonging to the Shelby Water Mills Company. This addition was made September 28, 1848, by Calvin Fletcher and Nicholas McCarty, both residents of Indianapolis.
Western Addition to the Town of Shelbyville, comprised eight lots lying west of the original town plat, extending from the Township Line No. 12 south to Broadway Street. This addition was made by William Little, James M. Randall, Talitha Capp, Benedict Worland and Andrew H. McNeely. Recorded April 23, IS49.
Toner & Bennett's Addition. From Depot Street, now Hen- dricks Street, south to and including one tier of lots, south of South Street, and extending west from Harrison Street to the alley on the Section line west of Tompkins Street. The court house and jail are situate on this addition, immediately west of Harrison Street and between Polk Street on the north and Tayler Street on the south. Made by Edward Toner and Jeremiah Bennett, Sr., October 3, 1849.
Samuel Hamilton's First Addition. From a point eight rods north of Hendricks Street, south to the middle line of Section 5, Township 12, Range 7, and lying between Harrison and Pike Streets. Made September 12, 1850, town plat including all addi- tions was made by order of the Town Council of Shelbyville, February 3, 1851. Samuel Hamilton's Eastern Addition. Made by Samuel Hamilton May 9, 1853. This included all that part of the city lying east of Hamilton Street and between Franklin and Broad- way, it was afterward extended, to include one tier of lots between Broadway and the northeasterly extension of Hendricks Street.
Ray & McFarland's Addition, made by Martin M. Ray and Thomas A. McFarland, April 11, 1860. This addition consisted
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of all that part of the city lying east of Hamilton and East Streets and north of Township line No. 12 north, contained in the south- west quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 32, in Township 13 north, of Range 7 east, amounting to nearly forty acres, all of said forty acre tract being platted that could be laid off in square lots at that time. It extended twenty-one rods east of Vine Street, embracing Blocks seven, eight and nine, from said Township line No. 12 north, to 100 feet north of Walker Street, as is shown by the city plat before mentioned in the Recorder's office, also the same thing in the City Engineer's plat book in the City Engineer's office of Shelbyville. At that time the channel of Little Blue River ran about twenty rods east of the present channel. A great por- tion of the lots lying east of Vine Street in the low grounds are now and have been for many years nothing but waste land, only available for dirt, sand and gravel. This addition left a narrow strip of land unplatted lying between Township line No. 12, the south boundary of said addition, and the north line of Franklin Street, in Samuel Hamilton's eastern addition heretofore described, belonging to said Samuel Hamilton. This narrow strip of land is thirty-two feet wide at Hamilton Street and thirty-three feet wide at the intersection of Vine Street. The intervening location of this narrow strip of ground between the two additions, rendered it necessary for each purchaser of a lot fronting on the north side of Franklin Street, to procure two deeds each; one from Rav & McFarland for their lot, the other from Samuel Hamilton for the strip fronting immediately on the street. Such double deeded lots on Vine Street are composed of two parts, 108 feet from Ray & McFarland. and thirty-three feet from Samuel Hamilton, making I4I feet in depth, in all, by forty-nine and a half fect in width, fronting on Franklin Street.
Miller & McFarland's Addition or western addition made by William C. Miller and Thomas A. McFarland, March 8, 1858. This addition comprised all that part west of the section line be- tween Sections 5 and 6 in Township 12 north, Range 7 east, lying between Washington and Broadway Streets, and extending west from said section line to Miller Street. It is commonly known and designated on our maps as Miller's Addition. William C. Miller's subdivision, made September 24, 1877. This includes Lots num- bers 6 and 7 in Block 3 in Miller's addition. subdivided into six lots, lying between Broadway and Hendricks Streets, and lying east of Miller Street, which was formerly the northern terminus of the Shelbyville and Columbus Turnpike.
Montgomery's First Addition, made by John L. Montgomery, April 15, 1868. Fourteen lots in the west part of town, all lying
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north of Washington Street. Montgomery's Second Addition, made by Mrs. Mary Montgomery, widow of John L. Montgomery, deceased, as guardian of the Montgomery heirs; June 23, 1873, twenty-five lots in the west end of town, adjoining Montgomery's first addition on the west and southwest, and all lying north of Hendricks Street. Montgomery's Third Addition, made by Mary R. Sluter, wife of Rev. George Sluter, former widow of John L. Montgomery, as guardian of the Montgomery heirs; April 9, 1883, thirty-nine lots in the west part of town, all lying south of Broad- way Street, and the southwestern extension of Washington Street, commonly called Washington Avenue. Dorsey's Addition, made by Sylvester L. Dorsey, October 26, 1870. Fifty-four lots lying between Broadway and Hendrick's Streets, and all situate west of South Harrison Street. Bone & Major's Addition, made by Alfred P. Bone and Alfred Major, January 25, 1878. Fifteen large lots lying south of Hendricks Street and east of Miller Street.
The Martz Addition made by Joseph L. Martz, Mary Martz, Richard M. Clark, Malinda J. Clark, Edward .L. Davisson, and Mary Davisson, October 15, 1883. Ten large lots between Hendricks Street and Taylor Street, and situate west of West Street. Colescott's Addition made by Ralph Colescott, February Sth, 1873. Twenty-four lots lying between the middle line east and west of Section 5, Township 12, Range 7 and Colescott Street and extending west from Elm Street eight lotsin width. Teal's Ad- dition, made by William E. Teal, April 28th, 1884. Forty-two lots lying south of Locust Street, west of Tompkins Street and Cole- scott's Addition; and extemding on the south side of Colescott Street to the Columbus Pike or Miller Street. The western ex- tension of this addition on Colescott Street, lying immediately south of Noah Milleson's nursery. Bishop Administrator's Addition, made by Cyrenius Bishop, administrator of Fountain G. Robert- son's estate; Rehuesina Robertson, widow of said Fountain G. Rob- ertson, deceased, Harry C. Morrison, Laura L. Morrison, M. G. Murdock and Ellen J. Murdock. July 8th, 1882, ten large lots ly- ing between the middle line east and west of the west half of Sec- tion 5, Township 12, Range 7, and Locust Street: bounded on the west by Harrison Street, and on the west by Pike Street. Maria A. Robertson's Addition, made by Maria A. Robertson, wife of Samuel B. Robertson, January 29th, 1872. Ten large lots lying east of South Pike Street and south of the eastern extension of South Street, also, bounded on the east by the I., M. & I. R. R. Mc Gavin Murdock's Addition, made June 24, ISS4, nineteen lots lving on each side of the south end of Pike Street, terminating at the I., M. & I. R. R. The Elliott farm Additions, or Westernmost Additions,
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Love, Major and Morrison's Addition, made by Ben F. Love, Martha J. Love, Alfred Major, Helen T. Major, Harry C. Morri- son, Laura L. Morrison, John A Young and Hester A. Young, November 6th, ISS3, twenty-five large lots lying north of Wash- ington Avenue, it being the southwestern extension of Washington Street. Eleaser B. Amden's Addition, made June 17th, 1884, ten lots lying immediately west of Love, Major and Morrison's Addi- tion, all north of said Washington Avenue, heretofore described; the same being virtually an extension of said addition, as shown by the streets, alleys and numbering of the lots. Teal's Second Addi- tion, made by William E. Teal. October 6th, 1886, forty-five lots lying south of Teal's First Addition.
Plats of Presbyterian Church property. First plat made by Elisha Baker, proprietor, December 30th, 1839, including Lots IO and 12 on Harrison Street; Lot No. 10 on Jackson Street, and Lot No. 3, south of and adjoining Lot No. 10. Second plat. Replatted January 24th, 1853, by John Hendricks, Aaron Bennett, and Zaccheus Bennett, Trustees of the Presbyterian Church.
Small Tracts Not Platted. - In addition to the numerous addi- tions, and subdivisions of town lots platted as herein described, there are a very large number of small tracts of land about the usual size of town lots, that have from time to time been sold to citizens, by the owners of adjacent farming lands; such tracts have usually been described by metes and bounds, in feet, or in rods and feet, the same as little farms, and recorded as such; so that the transition from platted and numbered town lots, to lots described by metes and bounds, often occurs in such close proximity, that only a street or an alley separates the platted lots from the unplatted. Such unplatted lots are especially numerous on South Harrison Street, below South Street, extending not only to the corporation line at the intersection of the J., M. & I. R. R., but for a full quarter of a mile further on the Shelbyville and Norristown Turnpike, where quite a village subsists, out of the city, and beyond the present cor- poration lines. A similar state of affairs exists on all the principal roads leading into the city, notably so on the road leading to the fair grounds by way of the Rushville Pike. A plat of the City by the Town Council, including all additions up to the year I851, was recorded February 3, IS51, in Deed Record R, on pages 418 and 419. Said plat was made by J. M. Elliott, City Civil Engineer, by order of the City Council. In this plat he included considerable ground previously unplatted, and in doing so, he platted it to con- form to the adjoining additions then on record. The grounds lying at and near the north end of North Harrison Street, on both sides thereof, were platted by him to correspond with the adjacent lots
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and streets already platted and on record, and in accordance with the facts at that time existing. This work although done without strict technical legal authority, was so well done, and bears on its face, such indubitable evidence of care and correctness, that it was adopted by common consent and is now firmly established by thirty- six years' acquiescence and peaceable possession. The statute of limitations only requires twenty years peaceable adverse possession in order to establish and quiet title; hence the owners of any such lots need have no apprehensions whatever about the validity of their titles.
Shelbyville in 1836 .- The following is extracted from the recol- lections of a gentleman who resided in our city for a few months in 1836, or fifty-one years ago. They were originally published in a little paper edited by Reuben Spicer in 1876. He says:
" At the period I refer to, Shelbyville was a mere village of probably six or seven hundred inhabitants. The buildings were chiefly one-story frames-a few log cabins were still remaining -- and the brick houses did not number over a dozen to the best of my recollection. It contained some five or six stores, which em- braced, in addition to dry goods, groceries. hardware, queensware, drugs, medicines and dye stuffs; no separate stores for the last named articles were then thought of in so small a place. There were two 'taverns' on a small scale, and at least two licensed saloons, known in those days as 'doggeries.' The population was chiefly made up of the merchants alluded to, county officials, law- vers, doctors, no preachers, except one local Methodist, and quite a number of mechanics in a small way. The only church building in the place was a weather-beaten frame of small dimensions, innocent of paint outside or in, where some thirty or forty Methodists wor- shipped when the two ' circuit-riders' made their calls alternately once in two weeks. I remember that year one of the itinerants died, leaving only one in charge, and of course the congregation then fasted longer between their spiritual meals. The salaries paid then to pastors were very diminutive compared to the present time. This preacher, I was credibly informed, received for his salary only $120 during the whole year, and he with a family to support: and what was particularly hard on him, he lost, in the meantime, a horse worth some $50 or $60. The Presbyterians, some twenty or thirty in number, had meeting at the court house once a month, and Rev. Mr. Monfort, of Greensburg, supplied them with preach- ing. There was nothing in the shape of a market house in those days; the citizens depended on the vegetables raised on the ample sized lots of rich soil, which every citizen carefully cultivated, and the produce occasionally brought in by country people. As yet
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there were no butchers to furnish fresh meats, and the only supplies to be obtained in the summer were on each Saturday afternoon, when a number of .shootists' would assemble on the commons east of the mill, and having procured a live beef, often a miser- able, scrawny-looking bovine; and having divided the costs into a certain number of 'shoots' corresponding to the number who desired to participate, they would take shares and shoot for the beef. When it was decided who had won the prize, the beef was slaughtered and cut up before it was cold; the citi- zens standing around, each waiting for a piece, and fortunate was he who could secure any part of the animal that was digestible. I have gone there and found such a scramble for pieces of the coveted 'fresh meat' that I would retire in disgust without any. There was no newspaper published in the place while I was a resident; the people obtained their news mostly through Indianapolis papers. I can call to mind only a few of the more prominent citizens: Dr. S. B. Morris, County Clerk, and Dr. M. Robbins, Recorder, two excellent men; David Thacher, merchant, and a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church: Messrs. Kennerly & Mayhew, merchants, the former also probate judge, both first-class citizens; Royal Mayhew and William J. Peaslee, lawyers of good standing; Cummings & McCoy, lead- ing physicians of the old school, and Drs. Homberg, brothers, from Germany, homeopathic. That mode of practice just being intro- duced into this country, it was subjected to much ridicule, and it was but natural that the people should slightly change the pronun- ciation of their name, calling it Humbug, which was freely done, and sometimes to their great annoyance by rude boys in the steeets hollooing to them. One of the brothers, a bachelor, reputed to have been well educated in his own country, became so sensitive on the subject that he actually applied to the Legislature and had his name changed.
The standard of morality, and particularly temperance, was far below the present, bad as it is supposed to be now. Perhaps four- fifths of the people then drank intoxicating liquors, the almost uni- versal beverage being whisky. At gatherings of every kind, such as log-rollings, house-raisings, harvesting, and especially at elec- tions, the whisky bottle was one invariable accompaniment. Those candidates who provided most liberally the beverage on election day were most likely to succeed, as one who would not treat was regarded illiberable and mean, or what was worse, a temperance man. To show the influence that whisky had in election results, I will mention two incidents: The year previous to my sojourn in Shelbyville, a gentleman was elected Senator, he being a decided
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Whig, when the county was largely Democratic. I inquired how this came about, and was informed, that the Senator elect being wealthy, had furnished each poll with liquor, far beyond the ability of his opponent to do, and thus he prevailed. The next year, among the candidates for the Legislature was John Hendricks, father, I believe, of our late Vice President. He was an intelli- gent, religious and temperate man, and everybody acknowledged his qualifications for the office, but he had declared in advance that he would not ' treat.' Soon he was denounced all over the county as a 'temperance man,' and he was defeated by a large vote. While such was the prevailing sentiment of the people throughout the county, yet in the town of Shelbyville there seemed to be a strong current of opposition to the traffic, as one circumstance will show: A doggery keeper, wishing to renew his license, and it be- ing required that he present to the Commissioners, a petition, with a certain number of freeholders, twenty, I think, he sought the town over and failed in getting the requisite number. But this did not defeat him. He resorted to the trick well known among liquor sellers at that day of deeding a foot square of ground off the rear of his lot to the number of persons required, who thus became free- holders (?) and signed his petition. Although it was evidently a great fraud, it was decided good by the Commissioners."
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