USA > Indiana > Vanderburgh County > History of Vanderburgh County, Indiana, from the earliest times to the present, with biographical sketches, reminiscences, etc. > Part 12
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certainty the question of priority), raised in this immediate vicinity, was a log cabin, which stood on the west bank of Pigeon creek, on land long since swept away by the ever encroaching waters of the Ohio river. The names of the pioneers who felled the first trees on the site of the city and raised the first log cabins must forever remain in obscurity. While their acts were 'a part of the beginning of the great develop- ment whose culmination the citizen to-day enjoys, they had no thought of building a town, and took no steps in that direction.
Col. McGary was the first permanent settler; the first man whose mind grasped the .unusual and almost immeasurable advantages of this location; and to his good sense and unyielding determination were due more than to those of any other indi- vidual the successful early growth of the village. He belonged to the "rough and tumble " element of the new West. The qualities that gained for him a prominence among men were not the accomplishments and pleasing manners that attract the atten- tion of polite society, but rather the sterling traits of character that unflinchingly endured the hardships of frontier experience, and enabled their possessor to deal with his fellow-men fearlessly and with moderate fairness. He was without extraordinary ability; his equals could be found without difficulty among his neighbors, and before the town of his creation was far out upon the road of prosperity his intellectual super- iors towered above him on all sides. His education was limited, though for some years he served acceptably as an associate judge of the Warrick county court. A man of great spirit, he was pugnacious enough to be known as " a fighter," and this was no discredit to him when manhood was often measured by one's ability to maintain his equilibrium against the unsteadying influ-
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THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE.
ences of strong drinks, and by personal skill and valor in the fights resorted to by men of all classes to settle even the most trivial disputes. Morally, measured by the stand- ards of to-day, he was not of a high order. He was aggressive, and by his strong will and keen foresight fitted for leadership. In personal appearance he was of medium height, stoutly built, brawny; and in his movements agile and athletic. His com- plexion was swarthy, his eyes dark and piercing, and his countenance broad. His wife was a daughter of Jonathan Anthony, an early settler on Pigeon creek, who built the old water mill, first known by the own- er's name and later as Negley's mill. was a plain woman, with the simple, unaf- fected manners and industrious habits of her time. Her parents, at her christening, had called her Mary, but she was known by her associates only as " Polly " McGary. Of their several descendants none are left near the scenes of their early struggles and triumphs.
Whether Hugh McGary designed the founding of a town when he left Gibson county to locate on the banks of the river; or the advantages of his situation, at first selected for no other than the purposes of a home and a farm, forced upon him the thought, is a matter of speculation. In sup- port of the latter view it may be said that when he came the vast measures of wealth hidden in the bosom of the earth were un- discovered, no attempts had been made to reckon the true value of the boundless for- ests; commerce, of rich meaning now, was then a word seldom passing the lips of the pioneer; the county of Warrick was not then organized, and existing conditions gave little favor to the entertainment of a design of founding a town. It is certain that he did not come with a colony and the means requi- site for forcing development and growth. į duty, but no such appointment was embraced
On the other hand the vast extent of Knox county, then having jurisdiction over this territory, and the constantly growing tide of immigration argued to a shrewd observer of the times that new counties must soon be formed and new towns established as their seats of government. Then and for many years later villages hung all their hopes for growth and greatness upon the one fact of possessing the court-house and having the public business transacted within their limits. The formation of a new county out of the southern portion of Knox, may have been talked of seriously before McGary left his home in Gibson county. As a matter of She fact a new county was formed within a year after he entered the lands on which the town was subsequently laid out. How soon he took possession after making the entry, it is not possible to say.
Immigrants came in almost exclusively from Kentucky, and McGary's was soon recognized as a convenient place for cross- ing the river. He provided a ferry which gave to this point the name of McGary's Ferry. At length the time arrived for Mc- Gary to take the first step in the prosecu- tion of a work which later he pursued with great zeal and energy. The territorial legislature, in an act approved March 9th, 1813, authorized the organization of Gibson and Warrick counties, the latter to include all that territory lying west of Harrison county and south of " Rector's base line," embracing the present counties of Perry, Spencer, Warrick, Vanderburgh and Posey. A general law passed at the same session of the legislature prescribed methods by which seats of justice for new counties should be selected. It provided for the appointment by the legislature at the time of authoriz- ing the formation of any new county, of five disinterested commissioners to perform this
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A BRIEF REIGN.
in the act forming the two new counties, and the legislature adjourned without cor- recting the important defect. During the next session of the law-makers, on December 14, 1813, the matter received attention. Commissioners were appointed, directed to meet at the mill of Jonathan Anthony, and select a favorable site for the county town. No place in the extensive territory of the new county was especially convenient to the settlers scattered from Harrison county to the Wabash. McGary's place was far from being central, but the men in whose hands lay the power of selection were to conduct their deliberations at the mill of his father-in-law, and he was shrewd enough to seize upon this opportunity of placing before them the advantages of his location. By offering to donate 100 acres of land to the new county he secured a favorable report, and the choice of his lands for the location of the county town. The report was submitted on June 13th, 1814, and was signed by the following commissioners, Wm. Prince, Daniel Putnam, Alexander Deven, John Milburn and Wm. Hargrove. With reference to the subject the records of the Warrick county court bear this entry:
"TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 1814.
"Ordered by the courts that the donation of one hundred acres of land for the perma- nent seat of justice for Warrick county be called the town of Evansville and known in law by that name. The agent for Warrick county is ordered to proceed immediately to lay off Evansville into town lots making the streets on the bank of the river one hun- dred feet wide and all other streets sixty feet wide. * *
" AENEAS MCALLISTER,
"JAMES MARRS,
" DANIEL GRASS.
Judges Esquires."
soldier and citizen of Gibson county, who at that time was in no way identified with the place. Col. McGary and Gen. Evans had been neighbors in earlier times. Recogniz- ing the General's worth and the advantages to be gained through the weight of his in- fluence, McGary doubtless took this means of enlisting his interest in the welfare of the town. The belief has been current that the town was first called McGaryton, but instead of being supported by any trustworthy evi- dence this idea is positively refuted by the public records, as indicated above. From the outset, in all deeds of conveyance and papers of a legal character the town was designated as Evansville. For obvious rea- sons, during the early part of its career the village was very generally spoken of by set- tlers on both sides of the river as McGary's Ferry or McGary's town.
As directed by the court, the agent for the county, Nathaniel Claypool, proceeded without delay to lay out the town, and before the month of June was passed his work was finished. The town as then platted does not appear upon any of the maps to-day. Indeed, by subsequent legislative enactments that town was virtually blotted out of existence, and after a lapse of time another or second Evansville rose on its site. In this first town the public square was the second block from the river in the extreme eastern portion of the town. Including this square there were 100 lots. From memoranda on the records it is learned that owners of lots in the place were Hugh McGary, Nathaniel Claypool, R. M. Evans, J. Talbot, Wm. Wagnon, R. Fitzgarratt, J. B. Stinson, E. Stinson, T. E. Alsop, George Linxweiler, J. Wheatstone, F. Wheatstone, Ashbel Ander- son, Daniel Miller, R. McGary, M. McClain, L. Tackett, J. Miller, W. M. Gilligen, E. Hill, James Marrs, Henry Webster, and
The embryonic city was named in honor of Gen. Robert M. Evans, a distinguished | Wm. G. Buckler. Many of these lot owners
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THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE.
were non-residents. The town then con- sisted of less than half a dozen small log cabins, rudely constructed and located to suit the convenience of settlers, with little or no regard to the arrangement of streets.
In compliance with his offer made to the commissioners to secure the location of the county town on his lands, Hugh McGary joined by Polly, his wife, on July 15, 1814, executed a deed of conveyance by which 100 acres of land were conveyed to Nathaniel Claypool as the agent of Warrick county.
Notwithstanding the evident insignificance of the place the objects of McGary's ambi- tion seemed destined to be achieved. Thoroughly absorbed in the prospects of handsome realizations, he little suspected that his hopes even then rested on a bending reed, soon to be broken. But he and those whom he had induced to take an interest in his town were soon made to taste the bitter- ness of disappointment. Before the town was three months old the legislature appar- ently had fixed its doom. The formation of Posey county in the southwestern corner of the territory so altered the boundaries of Warrick county as to place Evansville at one extremity of the river border, still more than fifty miles in length. Because of this a law was enacted, providing for the removal of the seat of justice of Warrick county from Evansville to a point some thirteen miles eastward, on fractional section No. 7, in township 7 south, of range 8 west, which was referred to in the act directing the change as "the place at first selected by the commissioners appointed for the purpose by an act of the legislature at its previous ses- sion." There is no ready explanation in the public records of these significant words. They indicate beyond doubt that McGary's town was not first choice with the locating commissioners, and was decided upon only after some effort on the part of McGary.
The act was approved by Thomas Posey, governor, September 1, 1814. The new town, established by its provisions, was called Darlington, and after a brief and uneventful career passed out of existence, its decadence being due to the removal of the seat of justice for Warrick county to the town of Boonville. This legislation seemed disastrous to Evansville. As if anticipating an entire abandonment of the place, the legislature provided a means of escape to those who had risked money on its future growth by investing in its lots, by authorizing a return of all purchase moneys and a cancellation of deeds, etc. Thus Evansville was practically legislated out of existence; the town, as the work of a sur- veyor was left, but its soul was taken away.
McGary, fearful lest he might be unable to stem the tide setting in against him, and seeking to save himself to some extent, be- came a purchaser of lots in the new town of Darlington. This was but the placing of an anchor, not a removal from a sinking ship to one that seemed starting with favorable winds upon a promising mission. Instead of surrendering and abandoning hope, he busied his brain to discover some means of avoid- ing disaster.
In the summer of 1815, Hugh McGary & Co. were granted a license to vend mer- chandise, by the board of commissioners of Warrick county, and at that time opened the first store in the village of Evansville. Near the mouth of Pigeon creek, at an early day, probably as early as 1811, a Frenchman, whose name is unknown, estab- lished a trading post where he exchanged trinkets and ammunition for the furs col- lected by the Indians. But the hostilities incident upon the war of 1812 drove him from these parts, and when McGary com- menced merchandising he had no competitors
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AGAIN A CAPITAL.
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near at hand. In the following year Indiana was admitted to the Union; immigration, receiving fresh impulses from this fact, was largely increased; good health generally prevailed, and an era of prosperity was be- gun. Nevertheless, Evansville continued to go down. Town lots decreased in value until they were worth little more than neigh- boring wild lands. The late William Linx- weiler said, "as an evidence of the value of real estate in the infancy days of Evansville, I may mention the fact that Hugh McGary offered my father an acre of ground on the corner of the block where the First National Bank now stands, for thirty hogs which had been fatted on mast. At the time dressed pork was selling for one dollar and a quar- ter per hundred weight, payable in trade or labor. This was just before McGary sold the whole of that part of the town site lying above Main street to James W. Jones and Gen. Evans."
In the meantime McGary was not idle. He retained his residence in Evansville, and made his hospitable home a favorite resort for all classes of citizens. Two years had elapsed since what seemed to be the death warrant of his town had been signed, and it still kept up at least the appearance of life. During this time McGary was on the bench as an associate judge, and made himself and his house so popular with the president judge and attorneys, that regardless of the law's directions, courts were frequently held at his home instead of at that of Daniel ] workers became immediately evident. The Rhoads, or in the court-house at Darlington. Indeed, the validity of judgments rendered under these circumstances was afterward questioned, and it became necessary to have the legislature pass a special act confirming and legalizing them.
The formation of a new county, with Evansville as the central point, was the idea which suggested itself as a means of relief
from the deplorable condition into which the town was rapidly sinking, and from the death which was visibly near at hand. This McGary set about to accomplish with char- acteristic determination. Had the choice of a town been left to a popular vote, or had it been possible for the court, as was done in much earlier times, to establish the lines of a new county, his designs in that respect might have been readily gratified. To have the plan favorably acted on by the legisla- ture was not so free from difficulty. A reformation in the world's affairs, or an important step in the advancement or civilization of mankind, is seldom the result solely of individual effort. Conditions slowly ripen, circumstances gradually associate themselves into proper relations, when, at the right juncture, some sagacious agent of the times enlists the aid of others, perhaps more able than himself in many respects, and, by shaping forces and directing events, accomplishes a good for the world and a name for himself. But he who sets this train in motion, and then so governs its movements as to reap a reward, is not so much a mere "creature of circumstances " as a skilled workman knowing the art of mould- ing the frangible and stubborn clay of events.
The county had within its borders some discreet politicians, who were not willing to permit their welfare, political as well as financial, to be put in jeopardy. To carry out his plan the necessity for influential co- active interest of Gen. Robert M. Evans and James W. Jones was obtained by a transfer to them, from Hugh McGary and Polly, his wife, for $1,300, on June 20, 1817, of all that part of the fractional section on which Evansville was laid out lying above Main street, except thirty acres pre- viously conveyed to Carter Beaman, contain- ing about 130 acres.
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THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE.
On the 17th of July following, Evansville, it may be said, was born again. On that day Evans, Jones and McGary prepared a plan for a town ignoring the streets and lots as previously laid out. What they then platted is known on the maps of to-day as the " original plan," and reaches, north and south, from Third to Water streets, and east and west, from Chestnut to Division streets. One-half of the public square as shown in the plat lay above Third street. There were 144 lots, eight of which constitute a block, and the following statement as to the plan of the town was signed by the propri- etors.
"This town is laid out in squares of eighteen poles by eighteen poles and eighteen links: there is an alley of twenty feet wide through the center of each square, and at the rear of each lot; the lots contain one- fourth of an acre and one-half pole; Water street is about 100 feet wide, Main street is seventy-six feet wide, all other streets are sixty feet wide throughout; the block through which Main street and Third passes is re- served as a public square."
The men whom McGary associated with him in his final effort to put new life and vigor into his town were able, by reason of their large acquaintance and influence, and their knowledge of men and affairs, to ren- der him valuable aid. Gen. Robert Morgan Evans, whose name was perpetuated in christening the town, was born in 1783, in Frederick county, Va .; and at Paris, Ky., in 1803, was married to Miss Jane Trimble, a sister of Judge Robert Trimble of the su- preme court of the United States. When twenty-two years of age he came to Indiana territory, his richest possessions being youth, health and intellect. He settled in the wil- derness about two miles north of where Princeton now is, and at the first sale of public lands, in 1807, bought the place which
his fancy had selected for a home. After four years of pioneer life in the woods he went to Vincennes, where he kept a tavern for two years, returning at the end of this time to his home in the woods. When the war of IS12 with Great Britain was begun, he offered his services to his country, and in the campaigns of that period gained distinc- tion, serving with such gallantry and signal ability that he rose to the rank of brigadier general. At the close of the war he re- turned to Gibson county and resumed the arduous work of improving his homestead. His fellow citizens soon elected him to the office of county clerk, in which capacity he rendered satisfactory service. It was not until 1824 that he moved to Evansville, and there remained but one year, during which time he resided on his farm near the strug- gling village. Moving then to New Har- mony, at that time a prosperous village un- der the control of German socialists, he occupied himself as the landlord of a hotel, at the same time engaging in agricultural pursuits on lands near that place. After an absence of about four years he returned to Evansville, where he remained until his death in 1844, living an honorable life and holding a high place in the esteem of the people. In personal appearance he was tall and commanding, of dignified bearing, with a smooth face and open countenance, always attracting attention and admiration. On all occasions he was agreeable and entertaining, and in business transactions a man of sterling integrity. In the combination between him- self, McGary and Jones for the betterment of their fortunes and the building up of the town of Evansville, he was the man of power and influence.
James W. Jones, as an adventurous pioneer, had pushed his way into the forests of Indi- ana territory soon after the organization of a territorial government, and settled near the
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OPPOSING ELEMENTS.
town of Princeton, where, as a neighbor, he enjoyed the acquaintance of Gen. Evans and Col. McGary. He was a man of pleasing address, a clever talker, and possessed some means. He, however, lacked that enter pris- ing, persisting spirit and sharp business ability essential to a successful competition with the men who came upon the stage of action in the business life of Evansville be- fore his career was ended. For a time he succeeded in business and public life. His popularity and his hold upon the confidence of the people were shown by the fact that for several years he was selected to perform the duties of clerk of the circuit court. At the same time he prosecuted his business in- terests with profit, but in the latter part of his career he sustained losses and at length returned to Gibson county, where he died. He was eminently respectable, always, and his sons became in their day prominent and useful citizens.
Having thus glanced at the characters of the men who were endeavoring to save the young town from abandonment, it may be of interest to know something of those who made up the opposition. These were chiefly Col. Ratliff Boon and Judge Daniel Grass, men of large attainments and influence. Some facts as to their personality and the manner in which those interested in the suc- cess of Evansville at length obtained the formation of a new county so bounded as to make Evansville a central point are recited elsewhere in these pages, in the chapter concerning the organization of the county.
A short time before his death, in 1881, Gen. Joseph Lane, whose name occupies an honorable place in the annals of this county and in the history of the nation, wrote a letter concerning the formation of Vanderburgh county from which the following quotations are made:
(to the steam saw-mill of J. J. Audubon at Red Banks in 1816) and rowing back in our skiff that I got acquainted with every one living on the bank of the river, and especi- ally did I get well acquainted with Col. Hugh McGary, and was rather pleased with him. He talked well on the subject of his town site and of the ultimate greatness of his prospective city. With him I walked over a portion of the land. A portion of it I had walked over the year before, solitary and alone. I found him quite in earnest about his town. Not long after this he put up his hewed log house, not far from Mitchell's corner; I think near the spot where, some time after, James Lewis built his dwelling house. Upon this occasion we camped near his house, and he spent most of the night with us, and talked much and complained bitterly of Col. Ratliff Boon, who was, as he held, the only obstacle to his success; that he, Boon, was opposed to the formation of a new county out of Warrick, Posey and Gibson, and so arranging the boundaries as to make his town site central. I was fond of Boon and did not like to hear him abused, but said nothing until after I had obtained em- ployment in the clerk's office (at Darlington ). Then the first time I saw Boon I took the liberty of saying to him that, perhaps he had it in his power, or if he wished he could have a new county formed out of the coun- ties above named and still have them large enough, and by so doing he would make many friends. A few months after I hap- pened to be present at a conversation held in the clerk's office while our circuit court, was in session, between Boon, McGary, Gen. Evans and Judge Daniel Grass, all leading men, in which the whole programme of a new county was fully discussed. Boon mentioned that such chipping of Warrick county would necessitate the re-location of
" It was while engaged in delivering logs the county seat, and the probable point
6
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THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE.
would be at or near Settee Down's vil- lage, where he, a Shawnee chief, had lived with his little band until ISII, and who, be- fore he left to join his nation, had killed some white people in the French Island neighbor- hood. He was followed and killed by a party of citizens, among whom Boon figured conspicuously.
" The county seat was re-located and located as above mentioned, or suggested, and Boon's name is, and rightly should be, perpetuated. Boonville is still the county seat of Warrick county. The boundaries of Spencer county were so fixed as to insure the location of the county seat at Rockport, a good location. Vanderburgh county was formed so as to make McGary's town site fit in exactly. Gen. Evans had now become part owner. The county seat was located and the name of the new proprietor was perpetuated in the now famous city of Evansville. * * * I have endeavored to give the little I know of the influence of the men who shaped and formed boundaries of counties and location of county seats, all of which was understood by the actors a year or two before the great work was accomplished, all of them more or less interested; and still all they did resulted in great public good. Ratliff Boon, Daniel Grass and Gen. Robert M. Evans were more than ordinary men in their day, and deserve a place in the history of Indiana."
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