USA > Indiana > Tipton County > History of Tipton County Indiana > Part 23
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The next Fourth of July celebration was in 1846. The county was fill- ing up with people from Ohio, Kentucky and southern Indiana and the cele- bration was held in the court house yard. Silas Blount, Joseph Goar and William Garver were the speakers. On this occasion the usual custom of shooting at marks was one of the events and a man who had not been in the county very long, by the name of Bishop Carleton, was a crack marks- man. He had plumped the center several times and was about to shoot again, when his musket bursted and he was so badly injured that he died the next day. This broke up the Fourth of July business, but in 1850 Judge John Green had located in Tipton. and, like John D. Smith, this was no country at all without a Fourth of July celebration. Every man, woman and child in the county turned out and Judge Green was the orator of the day.
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There were four or five flags displayed and they had a great parade. The procession was made up of footmen, men on horseback, in wagons with ox teams and mud boats. They marched through the woods and around the court house square. When night came, they had turpentine balls that they threw at one another for hours. They also had a big bonfire made of brush heaps.
From thence on to this day, Fourth of July celebrations put on more modern ways and today celebrations are as unlike the celebrations of fifty years ago as day is of night. There was a great celebration in 1855, another in 1859 and then, owing to the high political tension, no more celebrations were held until 1862, but there was a great war on and differences of opinion caused many a man to go home with a peeled head or a bloody nose. In 1865 another celebration was held, but the war had ended and the soldiers were at home and one of the best celebrations ever held in the county was ob- served.
Fourth of July attractions had again lost their charm until 1876, when an- other celebration was held. Noah Parker read the Declaration of Independ- ence and Judge Overman and Judge Waugh were the speakers.
In 1894. the Red Men gave a celebration that brought a good many people to Tipton, but the most exciting and most unique celebration ever held was under the auspices of the Orient in 1896. An industrial parade was one of the principal features. Tom Kinder was the "Grand Padashaw," and . he looked like an oriental god, doubled up on a pedestal erected on a big wagon. A few years ago, the Woodmen gave a great celebration and it was one of the biggest and best ever held in the county, but no celebration ever held meant so much as the first celebration held at the log cabin of John D. Smith.
MURDERERS AND MURDER TRIALS.
The record shows that Tipton county was organized in 1845, seventy years ago, and the first indictment that appears on the records is a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill by one Colburn Burch. The record is so dim and so imperfect that it is impossible to tell upon whom he made the assault. However. he was arrested, locked up in the little log jail and after a jury heard the case, returned a verdict of not guilty.
The first murder committed in Tipton county was on October 1, 1851. six years after the organization of the county. A man by the name of Har- vey Moon made an assault upon Andrew Hornbeck with a knife and stabbed him to death. Public sentiment was very bitter toward him and he was taken
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to Indianapolis, where he was confined until his trial. It was impossible to get a jury in Tipton county and a change of venue was taken to Marion county. He was sentenced to the penitentiary for five years, but escaped at the end of about eighteen months, since when nothing was ever heard of him.
The records show more than one hundred indictments for murder, man- slaughter and assault and battery with intent to kill. The greatest majority of them were acquittals or dismissals by the prosecutor. Three-fourths of the indictments where assault and battery with intent to kill were found are prior to 1890. There are a number of acquittals where death actually fol- lowed an assault, but most of them were justifiable and the public was satis- fied with the verdicts.
There was one case that never got onto the court docket, though an in- dictment was found. On July 5, 1881, Tom Fox murdered Erastus Nor- dyke in a wheat field near Nevada. Fox made his escape, and while a re- ward was offered for his arrest, no clue was ever found by the authorities as to his whereabouts. He disappeared as though he had been swallowed up in the earth.
Several important murder cases have been tried in the Tipton court upon changes of venue from other counties. One of the most important was the trial of Dr. H. C. Cole, of Kokomo. He was charged with the murder of a man by the name of Allen and at the trial he escaped conviction on the plea of insanity. He afterward became mayor of Kokomo and while acting in that capacity was killed while assisting parties in stealing flour from a mill. The next important trial was another case from Kokomo, where Lieut. William W. Daugherty, who was an officer in the regular army, murdered a man by the name of Joseph VanHorn, the case being venued to this county. The best legal talent in the state was employed in this case. Thomas A. Hen- dricks, Joseph E. McDonald, Gen. Ben Harrison, Daniel W. Voorhees and John W. Kern represented one side or the other. It was one of the hardest fought murder trials ever held in the county. It took several weeks to try the case and after it was given to the jury and they being out several hours, returned a verdict of "not guilty as charged in the indictment."
The following is a brief statement of murder trials in Tipton county, since its organization, where convictions were made :
March 22, 1862, Joel Powers murdered Harrison Bess, and was con- victed on a charge of manslaughter and sentenced to the penitentiary for five years. A new trial was granted and in the second trial the jury failed to agree, after which the case was dismissed.
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December 8, 1863, David W. Whelchell and Lewis Elliston were in- dicted for the murder of William W. Echelman. Elliston was sentenced to the penitentiary for life, but was pardoned after a few years and it is re- ported that he went to Missouri, where he was finally hung for murder. Whetchell was also sentenced for life, but he secured a new trial and the next jury failed to agree and he finally escaped for want of prosecution. He then went west, where he lived a miserable life."
March 19, 1864, John Wilson was indicted on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill William Stroup. He was arrested, sent to Nobles- ville and placed in jail and a change of venue taken to Delaware county. There is no record showing what disposition was made of the case.
July 12, 1865, Samuel F. Armstrong was indicted for intent to kill Henry H. Thomas. A change of venue was taken to Delaware county and no record showing what became of the case.
December 7, 1865, Joel R. Harvey and Jane Goff were indicted for mur- der in the first degree of. Aaron F. Goff. Jane Goff was sentenced to the penitentiary for two years, while Joel Harvey escaped trial by the negli- gence of the prosecution. He afterward went west.
January 30, 1866, William Jones made an assault and battery with in- tent to kill James A. Franklin. He was convicted and sentenced to the peni- tentiary for ten years, a fine of five hundred dollars and costs of trial.
December 29, 1867, James B. Stewart assaulted Perry Gifford with in- tent to kill. He was twice tried, each jury failing to agree. The case was then venued to Howard county. No record of what became of the case.
January 15, 1876. Wright Smith committed an assault on Henry Young, with intent to kill. Upon an indictment being returned, there were a number of continuances and the case was finally dismissed, owing to the death of the accused.
September 12. 1876. Daniel C. Snyder was charged with the murder of his wife and at the first trial he was sentenced to the penitentiary for twenty-one years, but a new trial was granted. At the second trial a change of venue was taken from Judge Pollard and Judge E. C. Buskirk, of In- dianapolis, was appointed to try the case, but owing to the possible relation- ship existing between him and interested parties, he refused to try the case and John B. Elam, of Indianapolis, was appointed to try it. The result of this trial was a conviction and sentence to the penitentiary for life. The case was again reversed and a change of venue taken to Delaware county, where for the third time, he was convicted and sentenced for twenty-one years. After a number of years, he was pardoned.
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February 8, 1882, George Doles murdered James P. White. He was sentenced to the penitentiary for twenty-one years.
July 23, 1891, John Bonecutter was charged with the murder of Fred C. Hobbs. He was tried and sentenced to the penitentiary for ten years.
July 23, 1891, William S. Jones was charged with aiding and abetting with John Bonecutter in the murder of Fred C. Hobbs and he was sen- tenced to the penitentiary for two years.
August 3, 1900, William Christy made an assault and battery on Abe Straley with intent to kill and he was sentenced to the reformatory at Jef- fersonville for from two to fourteen years.
March 9, 1902, Fred Oberlease was indicted for assault and battery with intent to kill Alpheus Orr. He was found guilty and sentenced to the reformatory at Jeffersonville for from two to fourteen years.
October 25, 1903, Thomas J. McClure killed his two children, James O. McClure and George Dee McClure and was sentenced to the penitentiary for life.
September 3, 1908, Martin Gleason killed Charles Woods. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to the penitentiary for life.
May 4, 1900. Henry Yarling killed Charles Smith. He was arrested and lodged in jail, but the case was continued from time to time until in May, 1910, when he was tried before a jury and was acquitted on a plea of self-defense.
MARKET PRICES.
It is interesting to note the different prices that have been paid for commodities in the past, and compare them with the present. Such method leads one to appreciate the high cost of living, which theory, or imposition, is today a world-wide topic.
The markets quoted in Tipton on November 3, 1859, were as follows: Wheat, 90 cents ; corn, 25 cents; flour, $5; ham, 15 cents; sidemeat, 13 cents; salt, $2.25 ; coffee, 15 cents; sugar, 10 cents; wood, $1.
In February. 1879, hogs ranged from $3.25 to $3.40; butter, 14 cents per pound; eggs, 121/2 cents a dozen; potatoes, 45 cents a bushel; apples, 40 cents per bushel; chickens, $2.00 per dozen; ducks, $1.75 per dozen; geese, 35 cents each; turkeys, 41/2 cents per pound ; corn, 25 cents per bushel.
In 1887, wheat. 73 cents per bushel; corn, 30 cents; oats, 25 cents; rye. 45 cents; eggs per dozen, 22 cents; hens per pound, 5c; roosters, 21/2 cents: turkeys, 6 cents ; ducks, 51/2 cents ; butter per pound, 15 cents ; potatoes, $1.00 per bushel; apples per bushel, 90 cents.
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In comparison and contrast to these scales of prices, note the following, which list prevails on January 24, 1914: Hogs, $8.50; coffee, 15 cents to 35 cents; meat, 12 cents to 25 cents; wheat. 95 cents; corn, 66 cents; eggs, 30 cents; butter, 30 cents to 35 cents; sugar, 4.05 cents per pound; potatoes, 58 cents to 63 cents; apples, $4.00 per barrel; lumber, $10 to $70 per thou- sand feet.
LIBRARIES.
By a law of the state it was provided that ten per cent. of the proceeds of the sale of county lots should be used to purchase and maintain a county library. A special law of 1845 constituted the county board the library trustees, and soon after this J. S. Ressler was elected librarian, A. P. Cassler, clerk, and N. J. Jackson, treasurer. In 1846 forty-five volumes of miscellany were bought, and each volume was rented for ten cents per quarter. The library was added to from time to time as the funds admitted.
The township libraries were first distributed in 1855, and finally amount- ed to an aggregate of several thousand volumes.
VITAL STATISTICS.
The vital statistics of a county, or any section of country, are valuable from many standpoints. Such figures enter largely in determining the char- acter of a county or city, and are not to be disregarded and treated as a mere interesting bit of news.
In the year 1886, in Tipton county, there were one hundred and fifty- eight marriages. There were two hundred and twenty-six male children born, and two hundred and twenty-five females. There were eight twin births. In that year there were one hundred and eight deaths from different causes. It will be noticed that there was one more male birth than female, and that the births exceeded the deaths by three hundred and sixty-two, which fact indicates an exceedingly healthy condition of the county. Contrast this table with the one compiled at the end of the year 1913; the situation is one that leads to serious consideration, and the establishment of some remedy for the apparent race suicide.
During the year 1913 there were born in Tipton county, outside of Tipton and Windfall. one hundred and thirty-four boys and one hundred and twenty-two girls, making a total of two hundred and fifty-six births. Against this there were sixty-nine male and seventy-four female deaths, outside of Tipton and Windfall, making a total of one hundred and forty-three. Dur-
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ing the year 1913, the birth rate in Tipton county, including Windfall and Tipton, was two hundred and thirty-nine male and one hundred and eighty- eight female births, making a total in the county of four hundred and twen- ty-seven. During the year there were one hundred and twenty-eight male deaths and two hundred and three female deaths, a total of two hundred and thirty-one, making one hundred and ninety-six more births than deaths in the county. This rate shows too high a death number for births, and as such, will decrease, rather than increase, the population.
GAS.
Tipton county is a part of the Indiana natural gas field, which lies in the eastern central part of the state. The gas field extends about one hundred miles north and south and seventy miles east and west. The gas rock, or "sand," which means rock wherein gas is stored or generated, is Trenton limestone. This is an universal formation in the state, though not an uni- versal gas rock. This Trenton limestone is porous, and is covered with a heavy layer of Utica shale, which serves to keep the gas imprisoned. The porous condition is due to chemical composition. The carbonate of lime in the upper beds of Trenton rock has given away, in part, to carbonate of mag- nesia. The result is a highly crystalline limestone of sufficient porosity to contain a large quantity of gas. This condition is more marked in the center of the field, for toward the outer edges the rock becomes absolutely solid.
The first gas well driven in Indiana was on March 14, 1886.
In the years 1885 to 1888 there was a genuine gas boom in Tipton county. Today there is little or no gas available, but for many years the city of Tipton, and other points in the county, were supplied with natural gas. One after the other the wells failed, until the available supply had been used.
In 1886 borings were made into the strata of Trenton rock, and in sev- eral places a flow of natural gas was forthcoming, often succeeded by the all-destroying salt water. The first boring made was in the north part of the city of Tipton. The county of Tipton lies in a wide gas belt, or what was a gas belt, and drillings in almost any portion of the territory would result in a varying flow of gas and occasionally oil. Tipton, Hobbs, Kempton, Sharpsville, Jackson Station and other towns had gas wells, and when the gas was not sufficiently strong to supply a large community it was utilized by a number of farmers for their homes.
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In 1887 a city gas ordinance was passed and immediately a company was formed under the name of the Tipton Light, Heat and Power Company, with sufficient capital to prospect for more gas. The first directors of this com- pany were M. E. Williams, R. L. Carlin, E. M. Johnson, G. S. Russell, P. L. Golden, L. C. Wilson, J. P. Kemp, E. H. Shirk, M. V. B. Newcomer. Under the management of this company several wells were driven, and were suc- cessful. Tipton county at this time had an abundance of gas, and for a cheaper rate than any other town in northern Indiana. Newspapers were enthusiastic over the gas prospects and forecasted a future Tipton of grand proportions and unlimited wealth. Prices of land soared-but fell. It is needless to say that people failed to realize that the gas was a natural product, and an unknown one, and consequently they wasted the supply. Gradually it weakened, one by one the wells went into disuse, and the company organ- ized was forced to give up their service, after twenty-five years of prosperity.
In January, 1914, an attempt was made to revive the "Jumbo" well, located at Hobbs. For some time in the past years this well had been oper- ated by the Tipton Light, Heat and Power Company, and supplied the peo- ple of Tipton with all their gas. After the company went out of the field, this well was sold to a number of farmers living east of the city, and their homes were piped. It afforded all the gas needed for a number of years, but several months ago the supply failed. An expert was employed, a charge of nitro-glycerine was lowered and the floor of the well blown up. This gave new life to Jumbo, and the flow mounted to a degree attained only in her prime. The extent of the new pressure is a matter of conjecture at this time. It may survive, and again, it may fail, as all gas wells do.
Although the natural gas in Tipton county began to fail in the year 1906. there is still a large amount being taken from the ground here. The city of Chicago is drilling continually through Liberty, Prairie and Jefferson townships, and is getting gas. One well lasts but a few months, but by the time this one has failed others are ready. The Chicago company follows a gas belt line across these townships.
COUNTY TOWNSHIP POPULATION.
The population of each of the six townships for the last three decades is as follows :
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1890.
1900.
1910
Cicero Township
3,313
2,991
2,007
Jefferson Township
2,665
2,660
2,394
Liberty Township
2,205
2,274
2,035
Madison Township
2,703
2,814
2,361
Prairie Township
2,191
1,942
1,614
Wildcat Township
2,383
2.671
2,253
Tipton City
2,697
3,764
4.075
RAILROADS.
The Peru & Indianapolis railroad, now the Lake Erie & Western, was built through Tipton county in 1854. The county donated certain lands for depots and freight houses and the citizens gave willingly the right of way. In addition to this, the county took ten thousand dollars' worth of stock in the company. In 1869 the county cast a vote on levying a tax of sixty thou- sand dollars to aid the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington railroad, also a part of the Lake Erie today. There were cast one thousand and twenty-six .votes for the levy and five hundred and fifteen against it. Half of this ap- propriation was to be levied in June, 1870, and half a year later. The pres- ent Lake Erie & Western railroad has a junction at Tipton, with lines run- ning east, west, north and south. The freight houses, round houses and shops are located here, and several hundred men are employed. Negotia- tions are under way in May, 1914, by which a large tract of ground will be added to the railroad yards, to permit the more convenient handling of freight. The main line of the Lake Erie & Western was constructed in 1875.
The Great Eastern railway, now the Pittsburg, Cincinnati,- Chicago & St. Louis road was constructed through the northeast part of the county in 1858.
INTERURBAN LINES.
The Indiana Union Traction Company has two lines running through Tipton county, Tipton being a division point. The road was constructed through this county about 1902. The north and south, or Logansport and Indianapolis division, connects Indianapolis, Tipton, Kokomo, Peru and Logansport; the east and west line runs from Tipton to Elwood and Alex- andria. Sharpsville is on the north line, and also Atlanta and several other small places: Hobbs is on the east and west division. Tipton is a meeting point of all cars, and their movements are controlled from here. Train dis-
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patcher's offices, electrical superintendent's office, car barns and sub-station are all located at Tipton. The cars maintain an hourly schedule, with an hour and a half run into Indianapolis. Elegant steel cars have recently been placed on the road.
STATE AND COUNTY ROADS.
During the interval between 1830 and 1840 state roads were laid out across Tipton county. One was from Indianapolis north to the Wabash river and another was from "Muncietown" to Lafayette. Records show that the first county road had the following limits: "Beginning on the line of Hamilton county, on the east side of section 28, township 21 north, range 4 east, thence by the best route to King's mill on Cicero creek." Over twelve of the residents of Hamilton county petitioned the board of that county, to which Tipton was then attached, for this road. Prior to 1844 over a dozen other roads were extended across the county. The first road petitioned for and built after the organization of the county was to extend as follows : From near Michael Mitchell's residence to Zimri Brown's; thence to Charles Griffith's, thence to near William Goings' and James Jack's, thence north to the Miami reserve. Charles Thurman, Carter T. Jackson and Samuel Townsend were viewers. The "three per cent. fund" supplied by the state of Indiana for the construction of roads was a fortunate thing for Tipton county in the improving and constructing of the highways. The need of good roads was so great, however, that a special road tax was levied on the citizens of the county. By September, 1852, there had been planned a total of seventy-five county roads, the greater number of which had been built. This number increased year by year, and in 1882 there were over five hundred roads projected. Today there are six hundred and forty-six miles of improved gravel roads in the county, thus ranking Tipton near the top of the list of Indiana counties in this respect.
The up-keep of the improved roads in Tipton county is liberally pro- vided by the county taxpayers, and every effort is being made to make the highways even better. Tipton has caught the spirit of the whole country, the demand for better roads. The introduction of the automobile first drew the people's attention to this need, and it is no idle prophecy to state that within another decade there will be nothing but macadamized roads in the county. Enormous sums are to be spent to this end, and the work has already started. The public road system is sectionized:
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ROAD FACTS.
In Tipton county there are two hundred and sixty square miles. There are five hundred and sixty miles of public roads; four hundred and ten miles of improved roads; three hundred and ninety-five miles improved with gravel; fifteen miles improved with crushed stone; making seventy-three and two-tenths per cent. of the roads of the county improved. The gravel roads averaged in the original cost $2,200 per mile; the stone roads cost $3,500. The total original cost of the improved roads was $921,500.
GRAVEL.
For the amount and quality of gravel Tipton county is one of the poor- est of central Indiana. The average sizes of the material are seven per cent. clay, twenty-three per cent. fine medium sand, twenty-three per cent. medium sand, twenty per cent. coarse sand, seventeen per cent. roofing pebble, and ten per cent. gravel. The average rock percentages are eighty-three limestone, ten crystallines, four shale, two slate, and one chert. The deposits of economic importance in Tipton county are, with the exception of two or three in hills along Mud creek and one on the southeast corner, all below the ground water level, and are operated by exhausting the water with a pump and the hauling the material out of the pits with teams. The main locations are along Shanty, Wildcat, Cicero and Prairie creeks, and old filled-up valleys in the civil township of Madison.
NAVIGATION OF CICERO CREEK.
In June, 1858, the board received a petition with thirty-six names at- tached, asking that, after proper investigation, so much of Cicero creek as · lay within the limits of Tipton county was suitable, might be declared navigable. Sylvester Turpen, who had presented the petition, was appointed to examine the creek and report its length in the county, depth, width, etc., and upon receipt of his report, and after due deliberation, the board formally declared that fifteen miles of the twenty miles of the creek in the county were to be considered a navigable water-course, and the various road super- visors along the stream were ordered to take charge of the highway.
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