USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Indiana > Part 32
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The undersigned, Commissioners appointed by an act of the Legislature of the State of Indiana at their session in the year A. D. 1831, entitled "An act to re-locate the county seat of St. Joseph county," met at the house of William Brook- field in the said county of St. Joseph, on the second Monday of May, A. D. 1831; and after being duly sworn as the law directs, proceeded immediately to examine the present seat of justice for said county of St. Joseph, and are of opinion that public interest requires a removal of said seat of justice, and immediately pro- ceeded to select a suitable site for the county seat of said county of St. Joseph, and after making all the examinations required by law, have selected the town of South Bend as laid out and recorded on the records of said county, and have hereby established the same, and have received from the persons hereinafter men- tioned the following donations in lands, lots and obligations for the payment of the sums of money stipulated in the following bonds, to-wit: The bonds of Lathrop M. Taylor and Alexis Coquillard, guaranteed by Samuel Hanna, Joseph Rorer, Samuel Studebaker and D. H. Coldrick, for the conveyance to the use of the county, the following distinguished lots in the town of South Bend; Lots Nos. 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 400, 401, 403, 296, 299, 302, 344, 323 and 257. And also the lots specified in said bond to religious societies, school purposes, and four acres of land described in said bond for a public grave yard. In addition to the lots and grounds set apart and marked on the plat of said town for a public square, religious and school purposes, and also the joint bond and obligation of the above mentioned Lathrop M. Taylor, Alexis Coquillard, Joseph Rorer, Samuel Studebaker, Samuel Hanna and David Coldrick, for the payment of $3,000 to the Commissioners of said county, payable in the annual installments of $1,000 each, which said several bonds and obligations are hereby particularly referred to and made a part of this report; all of which bears date herewith. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands, this twelfth day of May, A. D. 1831.
ABSALOM HOLCOMB, WILLIAM N. WOOD, CHESTER SAGE, JOHN JACKSON, Commissioners.
The bonds and obligations referred to are given below:
Know all men by these presents :- That we, Lathrop M. Taylor, Alexis Coquil- lard, Joseph Rorer, Samuel Studebaker, Samuel Hanna and David H. Coldrick, do hereby bind and obligate ourselves and our heirs and representatives to well and truly pay, or cause to be paid unto the Commissioners of the county of St. Joseph, in the State of Indiana, or their successors in office, in the full and just sum of three thousand dollars, to be paid as follows: One thousand in one year from the signing and ensealing this bond, and one thousand in two years; and the residuary one thousand in three years; in consideration that the county seat of St. Joseph county, in the State aforesaid, shall be permanently located at South Bend, in said county. In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and
363
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
seals on this, the twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one.
LATHROP M. TAYLOR, [SKAL.]
ALEXIS COQUILLARD, TSEAL.
JOSEPH RORER, SEAL. SAMUEL STUDEBAKER, [SKAL.]
SAMUEL HANNA, SEAL.
D. H. COLDRICK,
[SEAL.]
Attest :
HORACE WOOD,
HIRAM DAYTON.
Know all men by these presents :- That we, Lathrop M. Taylor and Alexis Co- quillard, do by these presents obligate ourselves and representatives to well and truly convey and donate by an indisputable title to the county whom the Com- missioners shall appoint Agent of the county of St. Joseph, in the State of Indi- ana, for the use of said county, fifteen in lots, situated in the town of South Bend, and designated on the plat of said town by being numbered 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 400, 401, 402,296, 299, 302, 344, 323 and 257, and to give and donate and con- vey in lot number 341, in said town plat, to and for the use of a religious denomi- nation of people, called the United Brethren, to build thereon a church for worship; also in lot No. 403, in said town plat, for the same purpose for the Ger- man Baptist congregation ; also in lot number 234, in said town plat, for a church for the denomination commonly called the Presbyterians; also to give and to donate to and for the use and convenience of said town, four acres on the east half of the southwest quarter of section No. 12, in township No. 37, of range No. 2 east, to be dedicated and used for a public grave yard; all of which said several donations are to be legally conveyed in a reasonable time after the patents shall have been issued to the said Coquillard and Taylor, in consideration that the county seat shall be permanently located at South Bend, in said county. Witness our hands and seals on this twelfth day of May, 1831. LATHROP M. TAYLOR, [SKAL.] ALEXIS COQUILLARD, [SKAL.]
Attest :
HORACE WOOD, HIRAM DAYTON.
Know all men by these presents :- That we, Samuel Hanna, Joseph Rorer, Sam- uel Studebaker and David Coldrick, do bind and obligate ourselves and our representatives, under a penalty of two thousand dollars, to secure and guarantee the stipulations and obligations of the said Coquillard and Taylor, in the above bond, according to the true spirit and equitable meaning thereof, waiving all legal technicalities or inaccuracies, if any there be. Witness our hands and seals thia 12th day of May, 1831.
SAMUEL HANNA, [SEAL.]
JOSEPH RORER, ISEAL.]
SAMUEL STUDEBAKER, [SEAL
D. H. COLDRICK, [SEAL.]
Attest : HORACE WOOD, HIRAM DAYTON.
John Egbert was appointed county agent to carry out the pro- visions of the bonds and obligations given. 6 He gave bond under the penal sum of six thousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of his duties, with William McCartney and Jacob Egbert as bondsmen.
The Board of Commissioners at this session repcaled the order of the Board of Justices in regard to the political divisions of the county, and fixed the boundary lines and named the several town- ships as follows: Ranges two and three east of the second principal meridian, or so much of it as lay in this county, was to be known as Portage township. This township was to form the first County
24
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
Commissioners' district. Ranges No. 1 east and No. 1 west of the second principal meridian was to be known as Centre township, and the second Commissioners' district; all the territory lying west of the range line dividing ranges No. 1 and No. 2, west of the sec- ond principal meridian, Highland township, and the third Com- missioners' district. The Sheriff was ordered to notify the electors of the several townships as organized to meet and elect officers on the fourth Saturday in September.
The next meeting of the Board was held at the house of Alexis Coquillard, on the 31st day of October, 1831. A jail was ordered built, and William Clark was appointed County Surveyor, which was about the only business transacted.
At the November (1831) term of the Board of Commissioners, Calvin Lilly, Joseph Cissna, Barzilla Druliner, and John Garrard were appointed Constables. At this time Benjamin McCarty was Sheriff, and was allowed forty dollars for assessing the nnassessed property in the county, a service which the owners would just as soon he had neglected altogether. William Clark was appointed County Surveyor, and was ordered to procure certified copies from the Registers of different land offices where land had been sold; field notes of townships, ranges, sections, fractional sections, as originally surveyed, and deposit them in the Recorder's office of St. Joseph county, according to law. With reference to a county jail, which had previously been determined upon, the following order was made:
"Ordered by the Board of County Commissioners, that the County Agent be required to sell out to the lowest bidder on the eighth of this month, at the hour of one o'clock on said day, the building of a county jail of the following dimensions, to-wit: The gaol to be 30 feet long and 16 feet wide, with a partition wall through the center of the building; all the timber of the walls to be good white-oak timber, and to be hewed at least one foot square, as also both the under and upper floor to be of like timber of one foot square; the foundation of the building to be laid one foot and a half below the surface of the ground, and to be raised six inches above the ground; the sills to be fifteen inches wide, and the logs for the floor to be let in onto the sills six inches, and the logs to be rabbeted ont that goes on the top floor, and let down over so as to completely cover the ends of the logs and prevent the floor from being raised; the building to be raised with a half dovetailed notch in each of the corners as well as the partition wall; the story to be eight feet between the under and upper floors; the upper floor to be the ends of the logs cut off about six inches at each end, and the under side of the ends to be cnt ont or blocked off about four inchies, and let down on the logs so as to prevent them from slip- ping out; the plates to be rabbeted ont and let down over the ends of the floor logs, and onto thein, the roof to be put on with good white-oak rafters covered with good sheeting, and good joint pine shingles; the gable ends to be done up with good poplar weather
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
boarding; the corners of the building to be raised up plumb, and the corners to be sawed down smooth; the ontside door to be cut one foot from the partition wall, and to be two feet wide and four feet high in the clear when finished. There shall be an iron rod run up through the ends of the logs on the side of the door oppo- site the partition-wall of one inch bolt and to extend six inches into the log below those cut out and six inches up into the log above those cnt out, and running through the same. The door shall be made of white oak plank of two inches thick, and to be made double with said planks; the door shall be hung on the strap-hinges, the straps to be three inches broad and a half inch thick, and the door shall also be lined with iron straps to be put on within four inches of each other, and on each side of the door, and all straps as well as the hinges shall be riveted through the door within four inches of each other; the straps other than the hinges shall be at least one-eighth of an inch thick; the door to be hung on hooks to be in proportional size to the straps, and two of the hooks to be set upward, and one turned downward; the lock of the door to be set on the inside by the contractor, the lock to be furnished by the Agent. The hooks on which the door is to be hung is to be entered into the timber well, and the cheeks of said door shall be lined with good white oak plank one and a half inches thick, to be well spiked on. There shall also be another door made in the center of the partition wall to be two feet wide and four feet high in the clear of said door, after being finished ; the cheeks of said door shall be faced with good oak planks one and a half inches thick and well pinned on; the door shall be made of two-inch white- oak plank; the door shall be hung on two strap hinges to extend across the door and hung on two sufficient hooks drove into the wall; the whole of the door to be drove with spikes within four inches of each other; the contractor shall put the lock on furnished by the Agent. There shall be a window ent ont in each end of the house two feet wide and one foot high, and there shall be bars of iron put in each of said windows of one and a quarter inches square, and shall be placed up and down in the windows within two inches of each other, and the ends of such bars shall be sunk in the lower and upper logs at least three inches. And the jail shall be put in the southwest corner of the public square in the town of South Bend, and shall be set lengthways north and south on the line of said lot, and the door shall be on the east side of said house. The undertaker shall be required to give bond and security, to be approved of by the Agent, in the penal sum of one thousand dollars, the contract to be completed by the last Monday in April next ensuing the date hereof. The contractor shall be entitled to receive a county order on the county treasury as soon as the contract is completed for the building of said gaol. All the work to be done in a good workmanlike and substantial manner."
The contract was awarded to Andrew Woods and Dennis Mc- Cormick. It was completed and accepted by the Board on the
366
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
28th day of April, 1832, Messrs. Woods and McCormick each receiving an order for the sum of two hundred and six dollars and ninety cents.
In January, 1835, the County Agent was instructed to receive proposals for building an additional story to the jail.
At a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners held Jan- uary, 1832, it was resolved to build a court-house, and the County Agent was instructed to advertise in the Northwestern Pioneer for sealed proposals for building the same. On the 6th day of Feb- rnary, 1832, the Board again met to receive the proposals, but declined to accept any that were made. On the next day, however, they met, received and acted favorably upon the proposals of Peter Johnson. letting the contract to him for building a court-house according to the following agreement.
Know all men by these presents: That we, Peter Johnson, Alexis Coquillard, L. M. Taylor, Pleasant Harris and Samuel Martin, all of the county of St. Joseph, in the state of Indiana, are held and firmly bound unto Aaron Stanton, David Mil- ler an ! Joseph Rorer, a Board doing county business in and for the county of St. Joseph, and their successors in office, in the penal sum of $6,000 lawful money of the United States, for the payment whereof well and truly to be made, we hereby bind ourselves and our representatives firmly by these presents sealed with our seals and dated this 7th day of February, A. D. 1832. The condition of the above obligation is such that if the said Peter Johnson, the above bounden, shall well and truly build a court-house in and for the said county of St. Joseph, of the following description, to-wit: The building to be 40 feet square and made of good merchantable brick. The foundation shall be made of good durable arch brick and gunk one foot below the surface of the ground, and the said wall shall be raised three feet high above said foundation, and the wall that high shall be 22 inches thick, and there shall also be a foundation wall run through said house north and south in the center of said building and raised so high that when a sill of 18 inches square, with the joists raised in said wall, shall raise the floor of the first-story only three feet from the foundation. The walls of the first-story of the building shall be raised so high as to leave 12 feet between the first floor and the ceiling. The walls of the first-story shall be 18 inches thick. The walls of the second-story shall be raised ten feet above the second floor, and be made 13 inches thick. There shall be a plate of yellow poplar timber of 13 inches square placed on the top of the wall all around said building. There shall be four stacks of chimneys carr ed up in said building, one in each corner of the house, and there shall be a fire-place made in each of said chimneys in the lower story, of three and a, half feet wide in the back and five feet in the flare or front of the jamba except the southeast, which may only be three feet in the back of the fire-place and four feet in the front; and there shall be also a fire-place made in each of aaid chimneys in the second story of said building, except the southeast, of three feet wide in the back and four in the flare or front of the fireplaces. The east half of the under room shall be filled up with earth nearly to the top of the afore- mentioned sill, and then well laid over with good hard brick. There shall be good substantial iron bars placed under the arch of each of said fire-places. And in the north end of said under room there shall be joists placed east and weat across in said sill and wall, and within two feet of each other, of good white-oak timber of 14 inches wide and three inches thick, and placed so that when the floor is laid on that the floor shall be only three feet from the foundation. The floor of said end shall be laid of good white-oak boards ot one and a quarter inches thick and aix inches wide on an average, There shall be l'our air holes left in the west side of said building of nine inches deep and four inches wide to let the air in under the floor. There shall be two columns set up on said sill, running through the cent r of said building, one twelve feet from the north side of said building, and the other twelve feet from the south side of said building. The columns shall be turord by a beliction with a handsome mold on each end of the same, and there shall be a hole bored through the center of each of said columns with a common
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
pump augur. There shall be a poplar girder of 14 inches square, running acroas said building north and south, placed on said columns. And the joists for the second floor shall be laid into said girder on the walls east and west. The said joists shall be three inches thick and 14 inches wide, and placed within two feet of each other; and the second floor shall be made or laid on said joists of poplar boards one and a quarter inches thick, and to average six inches wide. There shall be a door made on the east side of said house, and in the center, and in the lower story, of at least four feet wide, and shall be prepared for a tranaom hight aash above the door, and made so high as to correspond with the height of the windows; and also another door of the same description to be placed in the cen- ter of the north side of the building, in the lower story. The door shall be made with eight panels and lined and braced on the inside of the door ; said doors shall be three inches thick and hung on three good strong butts, and have each a good wrought thumb latch with a 12-inch stock lock placed thereon. There shall be three 24-lights windows of glass, 10 by 12 inches square, placed in on the west side of said building, and placed so in the walls as to have the columns even on each side; and also two windows of like description on the north side of said building, and the door, and also two windows on the east side of said building of the aforesaid description to be placed half way between the corners of the building and the door; and also two windows on the south side of said building of the aforesaid description, to be placed in the wall a proper distance apart so the columns on each side shall be even of a width; and in the second story there shall be three windows, of the aforesaid description, put in on the north side of said building to be placed parallel over the door and windows in the lower story; and on the west aide two windows placed over the two windows in the lower story nearest to the corners; and on the south side of the building two windows to be placed parallel over those in the lower story; and on the east side of the building three windows to be placed parallel over the windows and door in the lower story, all of the afore- said description. There is no glass nor sash to be put in said windows or any of them, but only the window frames to be made and put in ready to receive the sash; but there shall be Venetian shutters made and hung to each of the afore- said. There shall be Venetian shutter-blinds fastened into the stiles and hung with good strap hinges, put on with screws; and there shall be shutter-holders put into the wall to hold the shutters open, and have bolts put on for fastening said shutters. And said shutters shall be painted green. In the third story there shall be two poplar or oak girders running across north and south through said building, of ten by twelve inches square, and placed in the center of the building and 13 feet from each other to start the cupola on, and all further necessary work for the foundation of the cupola. The building shall be covered with a hip roof drawn from each corner, and covered with good joint pine shingles. There shall be a cornice put on each side of said building of 18 inches wide, with a bed mold thereon. The tubes shall be fixed in said cornices to receive the conductors. The cornice is to be put up with good screw bolts of three-quarter inches square, and five feet to each cornice. There shall be a temporary rough pair of stairs run from the lower story up into the second. The cornice to be painted with three good coats of white lead and oil. The door frames shall be made the width of the walls, and the door frames as well as the window frames shall be painted with two coats of white lead and oil. The doors shall be painted with a mahogany color. There shall be pieces of timber of four inches square and four feet long framed on the ends of the principal girders and joists for the better support of the walls, at auitable distance from the corners. All of the aforesaid materials for the afore- said building to be of the best and most durable kind that the country affords; and all and every part thereof of said building to be done off and finished in good workmanlike order, according to the particulars aforesaid. And the said court- house shall be set and placed on the northeast corner of the public square in the town of South Bend, and county and State aforesaid; and all of said work to be done for the consideration that the aforesaid boundens, or Commissioners, shall pay unto the said bounden on the 15th day of May, 1832, the sum of $400; on the 1st of December, 1832, the sum of $400; on the 15th of May, 1833, the sum of $900; and on the 15th day of May, 1834, the sum of $1,300. Now, therefore, should the said Peter Johnson, the above bounden, have the aforesaid court-house fully completed and finished off according to the true spirit and equitable mean- ing of the aforesaid particulars, on or before the 1st of December next ensuing the date hereof, then the aforesaid obligation of the said Peter Johnson, Alexia
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
Coquillard, L. M. Taylor, Pleasant Harris and Samuel Martin to be null and void ; else to be and remain in full force and virtue in law and equity.
PETER JOHNSON, [SEAL.
ALEXIS COQUILLARD, TSEAL.
L. M. TAYLOR, SEAL-
PLEASANT HARRIS, SEAL.
SAMUEL MARTIN,
[SEAL.]
Signed and sealed in the presence of JOHN EGBERT.
Mr. Johnson, on the second day of September, 1833, reported to the Board the fulfillment of his contract. After inspection the work was received. Although in an unfinished condition, the house was used for some years. In May, 1837, Lathrop M. Taylor was appointed to superintend the work of completing the building, and in September, 1837, a contract was made with William Keeley and Samuel C. Russ to build a Clerk and Recorder's office 40x20 feet "one story, of sufficient height." Lot Day was appointed to superintend the work.
At the same session in which it was determined to build the court-house, the Board established the following rate of taxation:
Horses, mules or asses, over three years old. .371% cents.
Each work ox ... 1837
Brass clocks, each .50
Gold watches, each 50
Silver and composition watches 25
16
Pleasure carriages, four wheels.
50
Pleasure carriages, two wheels.
.25
Each poll
50
Those interested may note the comparison at the present day.
Among the dealers in South Bend, John McClellan was licensed to retail foreign and domestic groceries. The number of stores and taverns at that time it would seem was amply sufficient to meet all demands.
At this session, the Clerk was required to publish a statement of county expenses, which was published and placed on file, and it only needs comparison with the present county expenses to show the growth of the county in wealth and material prosperity.
Calls were ordered for the election of School Commissioners for the county, and three School Trustees, and the county was divided into two school districts, numbered one and two.
At the March term the Board appointed Aaron Miller County Treasurer, and laid off Penn township, naming the house of Joseph Pemberton as the place of holding the elections; also laid off Olive township, and appointed the place of holding the elections at the house of Jacob Egbert. They also divided the county into four road districts. At this time Benjamin McCarty was Sheriff, and R. West Scott Deputy Sheriff. The State road, as surveyed by George Crawford from Fort Wayne to South Bend, with field notes, was ordered recorded May 15, 1832.
At the September term Anthony Defrees was appointed County Agent, giving bonds in the sum of six thousand dollars.
369
HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
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