USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Indiana > Part 28
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Maryland-Was named after Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I. of England. It has a Latin motto, Crescite et multiplica- mini, meaning "Increase and Multiply." It was settled in 1634, and was one of the original thirteen States. It has an area of 11,- 124 square miles. Population in 1860 was 687,049; in 1870, 780,- 806. This State furnished 46,053 soldiers. Capital, Annapolis. Has 6 Representatives, and 8 Presidential electors. J. H. Carroll, Democrat, Governor; salary, $4,500; term, 4 years.
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Massachusetts-Is the Indian for " The country around the great hills." It is called the " Bay State," from its numerous bays. Its motto is Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem, " By the sword she seeks placid rest in liberty." It was settled in 1620 at Plymouth by English Puritans. It was one of the original thirteen States, and was the first to take up arms against the English during the Revolution. Area 7,800 square miles. Population in 1860, 1,231,- 066; in 1870, 1,457,351. She gave to the Union army 146,467 sol- diers. Boston is the capital. Has 11 Representatives in Con- gress, and 13 Presidential electors. Thomas Talbot, Republican, is Governor; salary, $5,000; term, 1 year.
Michigan-Latin motto, Tuebor, and Si quæris peninsulan amænam circumspice, " I will defend "-" If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you." The name is a contraction of two Indian words meaning "Great Lake." It was early explored by Jesuit missionaries, and in 1837 was admitted into the Union. It is known as the " Wolverine State." It contains 56,243 square miles. In 1860 it had a population of 749,173; in 1870, 1,184,059. She furnished 88,111 soldiers. Capital, Lansing. Has 9 Repre- sentatives and 11 Presidential electors. C. M. Croswell is Gov- ernor; politics, Republican; salary, $1,000; term, 2 years.
Minnesota-Is an Indian name, meaning " Cloudy Water." It has a French motto, L'Etoile du Nord-" The Star of the North." It was visited in 1680 by La Salle, settled in 1846, and admitted into the Union in 1858. It contains 83,531 square miles. In 1860 had a population of 172,023; in 1870, 439,511. She gave to tlie Union army 24;002 soldiers. St. Paul is the capital. Has 3 mem- bers in Congress, 5 Presidential electors. Governor, J. S. Pills- bury, Republican; salary, $3,000; term, 2 years.
Mississippi-Is an Indian name, meaning " Long River," and the State is named from the "Father of Waters." The State was first explored by De Sota in 1541; settled by the French at Natchez in 1716, and was admitted into the Union in 1817. It has an area of 47,156 square miles. Population in 1860, 791,305; in 1870, 827,- 922. She gave to suppress the Rebellion 545 soldiers. Jackson is the capital. Has 6 representatives in Congress, and 8 Presidential electors. J. M. Stone is Governor, Democrat; salary, $4,000; term, 4 years.
Missouri-Is derived from the Indian word "muddy," which
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more properly applies to the river that flows through it. Its motto is Salus populi suprema lex esto, " Let the welfare of the people be the supreme law." The State was first settled by the French near Jefferson City in 1719, and in 1821 was admitted into the Union. It has an area of 67,380 square miles, equal to 43,123,200
acres. It had a population in 1860 of 1,182,012; in 1870, 1,721,- 000. She gave to defend the Union 108,162 soldiers. Capital, Jefferson City. Its inhabitants are known by the offensive cogno- men of " Pukes." Has 13 representatives in Congress, and 15 Presidential electors. J. S. Phelps is Governor; politics, Demo- cratic; salary, $5,000; term, + years.
Nebraska-Has for its motto, "Equality before the law." Its name is derived from one of its rivers, meaning " broad and shal- low, or low." It was admitted into the Union in 1867. Its capital is Lincoln. It had a population in 1860 of 28,841, and in 1870, 123,993, and in 1875, 246,280. It has an area of 75,995 square miles. She furnished to defend the Union 3,157 soldiers. Has but 1 Representative and 3 Presidential electors. A. Nance, Repub- lican, is Governor; salary, $2,500; term, 2 years.
Nevada-" The Snowy Land" derived its name from the Span- ish. Its motto is Latin, Volens et potens, and means "willing and able." It was settled in 1850, and admitted into the Union in 1864. Capital, Carson City. Its population in 1860 was 6,857; in 1870 it was 42,491. It has an area of 112,090 square miles. She furnished 1,080 soldiers to suppress the Rebellion. Has 1 Rep- resentative and 3 Electors. Governor, J. H. Kinkhead, Republican; salary, $6,000; term, 4 years.
New Hampshire-Was first settled at Dover by the English in 1623. Was one of the original States. Has no motto. It is named from Hampshire county in England. It also bears the name of "The Old Granite State." It has an area of 9,280 miles, which equals 9,239,200 acres. It had a population in 1860 of 326,- 073, and in 1870 of 318,300. She increased the Union army with 33,913 soldiers. Concord is the capital. Has 3 Representatives and 5 Presidential electors. N. Head, Republican, Governor; salary, $1,000; term, 1 year.
New Jersey-Was named in honor of the Island of Jersey in the British channel. Its motto is "Liberty and Independence." It was first settled at Bergen by the Swedes in 1624. It is one of the orig-
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inal thirteen States. It has an area of 8,320 square miles, or 5,324,- 800 acres. Population in 1860 was 672,035; in 1870 it was 906,096. She put into the Federal army 75,315 soldiers. Capital, Trenton. Has 7 Representatives and 9 Presidential electors. Governor, George B. McClelland, Democrat; salary, $5,000; term, 3 years.
New York .- The " Empire State" was named by the Duke of York, afterward King James II. of England. It has a Latin motto, Excelsior, which means "Still Higher." It was first settled by the Dutch in 1614 at Manhattan. It has an area of 47,000 square miles, or 30,080,000 acres. The population in 1860 was 3,880,735; in 1870 it was 4,332,759. It is one of the original thirteen States. Capital is Albany. It gave to defend our Government 445,959 men. Has 33 members in Congress, and 35 Presidential electors. Governor, L. Robinson, Democrat; salary, $10,000; term, 3 years.
North Carolina-Was named after Charles IX., King of France. It is called " The Old North," or " The Turpentine State." It was first visited in 1524 by a Florentine navigator, sent out by Francis I., King of France. It was settled at Albemarle in 1663. It was one of the original thirteen States. It has an area of 50,704 square miles, equal to 32,450,560 acres. It had in 1860 a population of 992,622, and in 1870, 1,071,361. Raleigh is the capital. She furnished 3,156 soldiers to put down the Rebellion. Has 8 mem- bers in Congress, and is entitled to 10 Presidential electors. Z. B. Vance, Democrat, is Governor; salary, $5,000; term, 4 years.
Ohio-Took its name from the river on its Southern boundary, and means " Beautiful." Its motto is Imperium in Imperio- " An Empire in an Empire." It was first permanently settled in 1788 at Marietta by New Englanders. It was admitted as a State in 1803. Its capital is Columbus. It contains 39,964 square miles, or 25,576, 960 acres. Population in 1860, 2,339,511; in 1870 it had 2.665,260. She sent to the front during the Rebellion 310,- 654 soldiers. Has 20 Representatives, and 22 Presidential electors. Governor, R. M. Bishop, Democrat; salary, $4,000; term, 2 years.
Oregon-Owes its Indian name to its principal river. Its motto is Alis volat propriis-"She flies with her own wings." It was first visited by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. It was set- tled by the English in 1813, and admitted into the Union in 1859. Its capital is Salem. It has an area of 95,274 square miles, equal to 60,975,360 acres. It had in 1860 a population of 52,465; in
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1870, 90,922. She furnished 1,810 soldiers. She is entitled to 1 member in Congress, and 3 Presidential electors. W. W. Thayer, Republican, is Governor; salary, $1,500; term, 4 years.
Pennsylvania .- This is the "Keystone State," and means "Penn's Woods," and was so called after William Penn, its original owner. Its motto is, " Virtue, liberty and independence." A colony was established by Penn in 1682. The State was one of the original thirteen. It has an area of 46,000 square miles, equaling 29,440,- 000 acres. It had in 1860 a population of 2,906,215; and in 1870, 3,515,993. She gave to suppress the Rebellion; 338,155. Harris- burg is the capital. Has 27 Representatives and 29 electors. H. M. Hoyt, is Governor; salary, $10,000; politics, Republican; term of office, 3 years.
Rhode Island .- This, the smallest of the States, owes its name to the Island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean, which domain it is said to greatly resemble. Its motto is "Hope," and it is familiarly called, " Little Rhody." It was settled by Roger Williams in 1636. It was one of the original thirteen States. It has an area of 1,306 square miles, or 835,840 acres. Its population in 1860 numbered 174,620; in 1870, 217,356. She gave to defend the Union, 23,248. Its capitals are Providence and Newport. Has 2 Representatives, and 4 Presidential electors. C. Vanzandt is Governor; politics, Republican; salary, $1,000; term, 1 year.
South Carolina .- The Palmetto State wears the Latin name of Charles IX., of France (Carolus). Its motto is Latin, Animis opibusque parati, " Ready in will and deed." The first permanent settlement was made at Port Royal in 1670, where the French Huguenots had failed three-quarters of a century before to found a settlement. It is one of the original thirteen States. Its capital is Columbia. It has an area of 29,385 square miles, or 18,806,400 acres, with a population in 1860 of 703,708; in 1870, 728,000. Has 5 Representatives in Congress, and is entitled to 7 Presidential electors. Salary of Governor, $3,500; term, 2 years.
Tennessee-Is the Indian name for the " River of the Bend," i. e. the Mississippi, which forms its western boundary. She is called "The Big Bend State." Her motto is, " Agriculture, Commerce." It was settled in 1757, and admitted into the Union in 1796, mak- ing the sixteenth State, or the third admitted after the Revolution- ary War-Vermont being the first, and Kentucky the second. It
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has an area of 45,600 square miles, or 29,184,000 acres. In 1860 its population numbered 1,109,801, and in 1870, 1,257,983. She furnished 31,092 soldiers to suppress the Rebellion. Nashville is the capital. Has 10 Representatives, and 12 Presidential electors. Governor, A. S. Marks, Democrat; salary, $4,000; term, 2 years.
Texas-Is the American word for the Mexican name by which all that section of the country was known before it was ceded to the United States. It is known as "The Lone Star State." The first set- tlement was made by LaSalle in 1685. After the independence of Mexico in 1822, it remained a Mexican Province until 1836, when it gained its independence, and in 1845 was admitted into the Union. It has an area of 237,504 square miles, equal to 152,002,- 560 acres. Its population in 1860 was 604,215; in 1870, 818,579. She gave to put down the Rebelion 1,965 soldiers. Capital, Austin. Has 6 Representatives, and 8 Presidential electors. Governor, O. M. Roberts, Democrat; salary, $5,000; term, 2 years.
Vermont-Bears the French name of her mountains Verde Mont, "Green Mountains." Its motto is " Freedom and Unity." It was settled in 1731, and admitted into the Union in 1791. Area 10,212 square miles. Population in 1860, 315,098; in 1870, 330,551. She gave to defend the Government, 33,272 soldiers. Capital, Mont- pelier. Has 3 Representatives, and 5 electors. Governor, H. Fair- banks, Republican; term, 2 years; salary, $1,000.
Virginia .- The Old Dominion, as this State is called, is the oldest of the States. It was named in honor of Queen Elizabeth, the " Virgin Queen," in whose reign Sir Walter Raleighi made his first attempt to colonize that region. Its motto is Sic semper tyrannis, " So always with tyrants." It was first settled at James- town, in 1607, by the English, being the first settlement in the United States. It is one of original thirteen States, and had before its division in 1862, 61,352 square miles, but at present contains but 38,352 square miles, equal to 24,545,280 acres. The population in 1860 amounted to 1,596,318, and in 1870 it was 1,224,830. Riclı- mond is the capital. Has 9 Representatives, and 11 electors. Gov- ernor, F. W. M. Halliday, Democrat; salary, $5,500; term, 4 years.
West Virginia .- Motto, Montani semper liberi, " Mountaineers are always free." This is the only State ever formed, under the Constitution, by the division of an organized State. This was done in 1862, and in 1863 was admitted into the Union. It has an area of
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23,000 square miles, or 14,720,000 acres. The population in 1860 was 376,000; in 1870 it numbered 445,616. She furnished 32,003. Capital, Wheeling. Has 3 Representatives in Congress, and is entitled to 5 Presidential electors. The Governor is H. M. Mathews, Democrat; term, 4 years; salary, $2,700.
Wisconsin-Is an Indian name, and means "Wild-rushing channel." Its motto, Civitatus successit barbarum, "The civilized man succeeds the barbarous." It is called " The Badger State." The State was visited by the French explorers in 1665, and a settle- ment was made in 1669 at Green Bay. It was admitted into the Union in 1848. It has an area of 52,924 square miles, equal to 34,511,360 acres. In 1860 its population numbered 775,881; in 1870, 1,055,167. Madison is the capital. She furnished for the Union army 91,021 soldiers. Has 8 members in Congress, and is entitled to 10 Presidential electors. The Governor is W. E. Smith; politics, Republican; salary, $5,000; term, 2 years.
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STJOSEPH COUNTY COURT HOUSE
1
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
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FIRST WHITE MEN IN THE COUNTY .- ORIGINAL INHABITANTS .- AREA OF THE COUNTY .- TOPOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTY .- THE WATER-SHED .- RIVERS OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY .- FIRST ENTRIES OF LAND. - FIRST ROAD.
Father Marquette was doubtless the first European ever to visit this section of the country. In 1673 he passed up the Illinois and Kan- kakee rivers and across the portage to the "St. Joseph of the Lakes," and tradition tells ns that he reached the river and first gazed upon its beauties at a point about two miles from where the city of South Bend now stands. The mouth of the St. Joseph river was discov- ered by La Salle in 1679. At that time and for a century and a half afterward, the Miami and Pottawatomie tribes of Indians were the principal occupants of the country, and interspersed among them were French traders who adopted many of the habits and cus- toms of the aborigines. It thus becomes impossible to determine to whom really belongs the honor of being the first white settler of what is now known as St. Joseph county. It is also doubtless the fact that during the century and a half following the visit of Father Marquette and LaSalle, that many Catholic priests, in the fulfill- ment of their work, labored among the Indians in this vicinity. In the neighborhood of Niles, Michigan, about three miles from the county and State line, are yet to be seen the ruins of an old mission, the one doubtless referred to by Father Hennepin, a quotation from whose narrative is given elsewhere.
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In 1820 Pierre F. Navarre, in the employ of the American Fur Company, came here, and in the vicinity of the present city of South Bend married a squaw of the Pottawatomie tribe of Indians, and here made a permanent home, raising a family of some half dozen children, who are now scattered throughout the West, one of whom became a preacher of the Morman faith. Pierre F. Navarre was a man about six feet in height, slimly built, dark complexion, with a very intelligent countenance. He was as well educated as
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
the majority of frontiersmen, and gave his children as good an education as the country afforded at that early day. No one ever impeached his honesty, and he was always regarded as an upright man. Shortly after the Pottawatomie Indians were removed to their reservation in the West, Navarre followed them, remaining but a short time, and then returning to South Bend, where he died at the residence of one of his daughters, on the 27th day of December, 1864.
The second white man to effect a settlement was Alexis Coquil- lard, who, in the employ of the American Fur Company, established an agency here in 1823, and with his wife, made it his home the following year. Mr. Coquillard at this time was a young man of fine personal appearance, energetic, and the right kind of a man to build up a new place. To him, more than any other one man, is dne the excellent start made by the county, and especially the city of South Bend. Coquillard was of French parentage and born in Detroit. He spent much of his time among the Indians, and being a man of large frame and powerful muscle, weighing about two hundred and fifty pounds, he was held in high esteem, and was greatly feared by them. Many incidents are yet remembered by the early settlers of the remarkable influence wielded by him over these people. They talked, at one time, of electing him chief, and his trading post on the banks of the St. Joseph river was a favorite resort for all the tribes in Northern Indiana and Southern Michi- gan. (For a sketch of the life of Coquillard, the reader's attention is directed to the chapter entitled " Some of the Illustrious Dead of St. Joseph County.")
Lathrop M. Taylor came next, in September, 1827. He was likewise an Indian trader and agent for a Fort Wayne firm. He was elected the first Clerk and Recorder, and has held various important positions in the business and civil concerns of the county for a half century. He was appointed the first postmaster, June 6, 1829, and held the office for about ten years, being removed in 1839 on account of his failure to indorse the administration then in power.
Lewis San Comb, Job Brookfield, Timothy Smith and family, settled near the trading posts of Coquillard and Taylor, in 1827, and William Brookfield, about two miles down the river, in what is now German township. It was on the farm of William Brookfield that the village of St. Joseph was laid out, and where the county seat was first located by the Commissioners appointed for the pur- pose.
In 1828 came Samuel L. Cottrell, and settled at the trading post. Mr. Cottrell afterward became quite influential in the affairs of the county, serving as Sheriff for several terms, besides holding other important offices. During the same year came Henry Painter and Eli Sinith, who settled in or near South Bend, while William and Timothy Moat settled in what is now known as Penn township, and Jacob Cripe, Daniel Eiler, and Samnel Cannon took up their residence in Clay township.
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In 1529 Benjamin Potter, John Hague, Mr. McCombs, and others settled in Clay township; John Smith, David and Aaron Miller, in German; and William Holt and S. I. H. Ireland in Penn.
In 1830 emigrants began to pour into the county in large num- bers, among whom were Messrs. Rush, Druliner, Vail, Garwood, Nickerson, Egbert, White, Boyd, Rupel, Antrim, Whitmer, Bird, Rndduck, Haller, Ritter, Cripe, Longley, Millings, Peckover, Palmer, Rose, Skinner, Cottrell, West, Smith, Enstler, Harris, Bell, Miller, Ringle, Baldwin and others, the naines of inany of whom will be found in the histories of the various townships.
ORIGINAL INHABITANTS.
The original inhabitants of that tract of country which now con- stitutes the county of St. Joseph, as well as the entire St. Joseph Valley, were various tribes of Indians, more particularly the Miamis and Pottawatomies, the first named being in possession when the Catholics established their missions here in the latter part or the seventeenth century. The principal station of the mis- sion, for the instrnetion of the Miamis, was established on the borders of the St. Joseph river, then known as the "river of the Miamis," but which was changed by the missionaries somewhat later to " the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan."
The Missionary Hennepin gives the following account of the building of the first French post within the territory of the Miamis. "Just at the mouth of the river Miami there was an eminence with a kind of platform naturally fortified. It was pretty high and steep, of a triangular form, defended on two sides by the river, and on the other by a deep ditch, which the fall of the water had made. We fell the trees that were on the top of the hill, and having eleared the same from bushes for abont two inusket shot, we began to build a redoubt of about 80 feet long and 40 feet broad, with great square pieces of timber laid one upon another, and prepared a great num- ber of stakes of about 25 feet long, to drive into the ground, to make our fort the more inaccessible on the river side. We employed the whole month of November (1679) about that work, which was very hard, though we had no other food but the bear's flesh our savage (Indian) killed. These beasts are very common in that place, because of the great quantity of grapes that they find there; but their flesh being too fat and luseious, our men began to be weary of it, and desired leave to go a hunting to kill some wild goats. M. LaSalle denied them that liberty, which caused some murmurs among them, and it was but unwillingly that they continued their work. This, together with the approach of winter, and the appre- hension M. LaSalle had that his vessel (the Griffin) was lost, made hit very melancholy, though he concealed it as much as he could. We had made a cabin wherein we performed divine service every Sunday, and Father Gabriel and I, who preached alternately, took care to take snch texts as were suitable to our present circumstances,
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and fit to inspire us with courage, concord and brotherly love. * * * The fort was at last perfected and called Fort Miamis."
In the year 1711, the Missionary Chardon, who, it is said, " was full of zeal, and had a rare talent for acquiring languages," had his station on the St. Joseph river, about 60 miles above its month. In 1721, about half a century after the year in which Allonez and Dablon traversed the country lying on the southern shores of Lake Michigan, Charlevoix, a distinguished missionary from France, vis- ited a small fort, or trading post, on the St. Joseph river, where there was a missionary station. In a letter dated " River St. Joseph, Aug. 16, 1721," Charlevoix says: " It was eight days yesterday since I arrived at this post, where we have a mission, and where there is a commandant with a small garrison. The commandant's house, which is but a very sorry one, is called the fort, from its being surrounded with an indifferent palisado, which is pretty near the case in all the rest. We have here two villages of Indians, one of the Miamis and the other of the Pottawatomies, both of them mostly Christians; but as they have been for a long time without any pastor, the missionary who has been lately sent to them will have no small difficulty in bringing them back to the exercise of their religion. The river St. Joseph comes from the southeast and discharges itself into Lake Michigan, the eastern shore of which is a hundred leagues in length, and which you are obliged to sail along. before you come to the entry of this river. You afterward sail up 20 leagues in it before you reach the fort, which navigation requires great precaution. Several Indians of the two nations (Miamis and Pottawatomies) settled upon this river are just returned from the English colonies, whither they have been to sell their furs, and whence they have brought back, in return, a great quantity of spirituous liquors. The distribution of it is made in the usual manner; that is to say, a certain number of persons have, daily, delivered to each of them a quantity sufficient to get drunk with; so that the whole has been drunk np in eight days. They began to drink in the villages as soon as the sun was down; and every night the fields echoed with the most hideous howling."
As has already been stated, this vicinity was then the home of the Miami and Pottawatomie tribes of Indians, many of whom, espe- cially of the latter tribe, soon became converts to the Christian religion as proclaimed by the self-sacrificing priests who cheerfully bore the cross into the wilderness. Through the influence of these God-fearing men, the latter tribe of Indians became fast friends of the whites. Though surrounded by other hostile tribes, and every influence brought to bear upon them to compel them to nnite in an insurrection, they never wavered. In 1792, while other tribes, in small war parties, continued to lurk about the white settlements on the borders of the Ohio river, way-laying the paths, capturing horses and cattle, killing some of the settlers, and carrying others into captivity, the Pottawatomies remained trne. In response to an invitation to visit the capital of the country, Lagesse, the principal
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