USA > Indiana > Vigo County > History of Vigo county, Indiana, with biographical selections > Part 44
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Nothing was now in the way of assured prosperity to the town except the " fever'nager." Men would collect between shakes and compare notes. One man had "shuck his teeth out; " another had his toe-nails "loosed," and the children seemed to live, not on pound cake, but on "ager cake," till some of them looked like monstrous one-sided tadpoles. But the tide had then set in that would never stop. People armed themselves with jugs of new whisky-best, as remarked by an early settler, when it lacked just six days of being a week old-and adding tansey, dog-wood bark and wild cherries to this family medicine they braved all, and came and "shuck and fit it out."
The young town had reached and successfully passed its first crisis. And still there were but meager vestiges of civilization for more than fifty miles around it. This part of Indiana was still comparatively unknown; the beautiful and fertile prairies were still the blooming meadows, and the rich coal beds beneath the entire surface of the county were yet not only unworked, but unknown. The present splendid city that now crowns the whole plateau and teeming with the vitalities of industry, wealth, smoking factories and whirring wheels, steeples and the steam whistles of the hives of human industry, as well as the beauty, intelligence and thrift of this great mart, were as yet undreamed of by the wildest schemers of that age. Standing upon the banks of the Wabash river, there one could see opposite him on the beautiful high ground a massive, dense, green forest, with its tall trees gracefully swaying in the breeze, clothed in shiny green in the spring and summer, and in its
421
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
silent snowy shroud in winter-there was not much then to long hold the spectator.
But could he at that time have stood there and been imbued with the gift of piercing futurity for the space of seventy-four years, then indeed would he have found much to claim his attention. At the moment a straggling cabin or two; a little longer and more of them-the rude "tavern," the little all-around log-cabin store, with its low clapboard eves and its smell of green hides and New Or- leans molassas-a few sounds of ax and saw and hammer are the first faint indications of the travail of labor-birth. Years speed along as they are ticked off by the vast clock of God; and a frame house takes its place by the side of the log cabin-a " hotel " sup- plants the tavern, other and even better stores have come and thrown open their inviting doors-a real puffing, smoking steam- boat has come, and pushes its nose to the bank lined with keel- boats, skiffs and pirogues; the forests are invaded, and surveyors and stakes mark the lines of the future busy streets of the " city." But a little longer and the cabins are gone, and lines of brick blocks take their places-tall warehouses and church steeples are raised high, and a draw-bridge takes the place of the pole-ferry. The seventy-four years' vision ends; but as it fades away the tall mas- sive carved stone steeples of the splendid court-house, forty churches, great schools that are the pride of the whole State, rolling-mills, with their tall, black chimneys filled with eager fires, lifting high their pinnacles-the long line of magnificent residences that line the wide streets of hard and smooth bottom, fringed with their stately maples that arch them over in their entire length, the spacious yards and boulevards clean and smooth as rich velvet, and upon all this fairy view the electric white light flares out in splendor, cast- ing its deep shadows here and there, and playing amid the leafy bowers like millions of pendant crystals. As the sounds of this vision fades there comes to his ear the pulsating of the great steam engines, the clang of thousands of hammers, the hoarse scream-sig- nals, and the rumbling far-off thunders of the railroad trains, and the hum of a moving populace, each and all busily evolving the problem of progress-the voices, the hum, the murmur and roar of a great city. This is the transformation of a few years, the short allotment of human life-three-score years and ten-the magical operations of the genius of our civilization. That pest of the beginning, the malarial fevers, have swarmed out their last broods from the disturbed soils, and the bloom of health and hap- piness have come to all the people-the work of two generations- the founding and building of the beautiful city.
The money secured to the county from the town company enabled it to at once commence the erection of a court-house on the public square as well as a log jail just south of the present jail.
422
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
The first Terre Haute merchant was William Earle, father of the William Earle who became a great sailor, and whose interest- ing accounts of early Terre Haute, and its people is given else- where. The first lawyer who came and located here immediately upon the location of the county seat was Nathaniel Huntington, and probably the next was Judge Thomas H. Blake, the first pres- ident judge of the court. James H. Hanna was the first painter. Alvin Hovey, the carpenter; John Davy, the cabinet-maker; Enoch Dole, plasterer; Stephen G. Dexter, blacksmith; William Mars, gunsmith; Tompkins, shoemaker; Thomas Clayton, carriage-maker; James M. Random, wagon-maker; Ross brothers, brickyard; George Almey, baker; John Britton, tailor; James Moore, barber; William Mars, marshal; John Brott, brick mason; Robert McCabe, hatter; Henry Redford, tavern; James Thayer, school teacher; Fredrick Markle, miller; Charles B. Modesitt, doctor; "Old Louis " (colored) boot black and town chores.
The following were residents of Terre Haute in 1818: Curtis Gilbert, Demas Deming, Chauncey Rose, Thomas Houghton, Will- iam Ramage, Henry Redford, John Jenckes, George Hussey, Mrs. Macom McFadden, William Mars, M. M. Hickox, W. M. Modesitt, Dr. Charles B. Modesitt, and about that time or soon after were Chauncey Warren, James Farrington, B. M. Harrison, E. M. Hun- tington, Mrs. Matilda Taylor. These are in addition to some of the "firsts " mentioned above.
The first frame house was that of Curtis Gilbert on Lot 206, corner of Ohio and Water street, in 1818. The store rooms owned by David Linton, on the west side of the public square were the first brick buildings in the place, except the court-house. The first steamboat to arrive, which was an era in the history of the town was the "Florence," Capt. Donne, in the spring of 1822. The proprietors of the town had offered him a premium of a town lot to make the trip. The general rejoicing of the people on the occasion when all went down to the river bank, and the firing of the anvil and the ringing of dinner and cow bells, were the evi- dences of happiness and noisy welcome that met the gallant captain and crew.
The first church was erected on the " church lot " donated by the town company in their plat for church purposes, on the corner of Fourth and Poplar streets. It was for general church purposes and opened its doors and welcomed every denomination, though it became a Methodist Church when the other denominations had provided for themselves. The first market-house was in the center of Market street, just south of its intersection with Ohio street. The first ferry was the Modesitt ferry-afterward operated by Modesitt & Farrington. The first located preacher was Rev. Isaac Monfort-Presbyterian.
423
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
There is still some doubt as to whether William Earle or Mathew Redford was the first male white child born in Terre Haute, but the general conclusion arrived at was that it was Earle.
Census of Terre Haute October 9, 1829, taken by Charles T. Noble:
Whole No. Males. Females.
Daniel H. Johnson.
7
4
3
Wm. B. Linton
12
5
7
James Masson.
17
13
4
Britain M. Harrison
2
1
1
James Boyd.
3
2
1
Joseph Haynes
5
4
1
Salmon Wright.
5
2
3
Ezekiel Baxton.
9
6
3
Henry Allen.
7
3
4
Mrs. Barnett.
8
5
3
Wm. Hogue.
7
3
4
Thomas Rogers
5
3
2
Mrs. Jacques
5
1
4
Mrs. Angier.
5
1
4
C. Patrick.
6
3
3
Thomas Parsons
4
3
1
Mrs. M. Hodge.
9
5
4
E Tillotson.
5
3
2
William Haynes
9
6
3
John Gosnel.
4
2
2
John Gosnel.
4
3
1
Willis Gosnel.
4
3
1
Henry Brasher
4
2
2
S. Edmonds.
5
3
2
William Femimore
4
2
G. W. Welman.
3
2
1
Lewis Redford.
3
2
1
Price Cousins.
4
3
1
D. Bryant.
3
2
1
Josiah C. Shinn
4
3
1
George W. Ruble
9
6
3
C. B. Modesitt.
7
4
3
R. S. McCabe.
8
6
2
John Britton
7
5
2
R. Redford.
11
4
7
R. Brasher.
5
3
2
Francis Cunningham
16
10
6
L. H. Scott.
5
3
2
William W. Sullivan.
5
2
3
Hannah Austil.
1
1
James Bradt.
4
2
2
E. V. Ball ..
7
4
3
J. W. Osborn and A. Kinney
11
7
4
S. McQuilkin.
10
6
4
Matthew Stewart
9
6
2
Asa S. Smith. .
5
2
3
Ambrose S. Hovey
2
1
1
William McConnell.
9
6
2
Gershom Jacques
3
2
1
F. J. King
7
5
2
A. A. Fuer.
5
1
2
William Mars.
8
5
3
Benjamin Van Aergriff.
4
1
3
Joseph East. .
Q
1
1
Mrs. Desbrough
1
. .
1
4
2
William Coltrin
·
2
424
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
Whole No. Males. Females.
R. Montgomery.
12
7
5
Rebecca Lewis.
3
1
2
Macom McFadden
11
4
7
John Davey.
4
2
2
G. Osborn.
7
3
4
G. Ellison.
5
2
3
John Sibley and S. Sibley
13
11
Thomas Mounts
5
2
3
John Peters
6
4
2
A. A. Markle.
S
3
5
John Reeves.
6
1
5
Samuel McIntire.
3
2
1
T. C. Cone.
5
3
2
Eph. Ross
-7
3
4
Ranson Miller
12
9
3
L. Tillotson.
5
1
4
I.V. Haner.
6
5
1
T. Almy.
4
2
2
Russell Ross ..
7
4
3
Joseph Sulton.
4
3
1
Mrs. Sniffin.
3
2
1
Ziba H. Molcott.
8
5
3
C. Scranton.
4
1
3
J. Hannah.
6
3
3
Abner Lewis.
3
.
William Herring.
4
1
3
Enock Dole.
14
8
4
David D. Bass
3
2
2
Wm. Probst
5
3
2
C. Crawford.
12
6
6
J. B. McCall.
7
5
2
Moody Chamberlin and Mrs. Riddle.
11
7
4
J. F. Cruft ..
10
6
4
Mr. I. Farrington.
3
1
2
Joseph Thayer
1
1
Total number
579
Mr. Noble explains that this was a voluntary act, but that it is correct. Also that there are the names of prominent men not given, because he gives only heads of families, and many men, like Chaun- cey Rose, were boarding, and they would therefore simply be counted as a part of the household.
Dr. J. W. Hitchcock, writing from Mount Vernon, Ill., in 1878 to a local paper, gave many interesting reminiscences of Vigo:
I will tell you something. Many items of no great interest to the general reader, except so far as the present is concerned, recall to me similar or diverse facts that occurred at Terre Haute in its good young days. For instance, in a late number you mention that recently a house on First street, perhaps, was struck by lightning, and it reminded me of a like incident forty years ago, almost out of town. The damage in each case was comparatively light, though in the older instance, injury to children led to a professional visit. I was living at that time, 1834, and had my office in the only build- ing then standing on the east side of the public square, said house
Wm. Taylor.
4
425
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
being composed of what are now two houses, one a two-story frame on Fifth street, back of Hulman's store, whither I had it moved, having purchased of William C. Linton on a quarter (northwest quarter) of the square between Main, Fifth, Sixth and Cherry streets -- the other is the old one-story frame dwelling on Ohio, south side, between Third and Fourth streets-and I was sitting after dinner with my wife (we were young and alone then) watching a storm, which, though of short duration, was unusually severe-the rain- fall immense, the lightning terrific, when a simultaneous flash and crash blinded and startled us, and in a short time a messenger, out of breath, came, saying, Mr. Harrington's house had been struck by lightning, and asked that I would go and see his children, who were hurt. Mr. Harrington, a blacksmith, a good man, who worked in town, lived in Mr. Gilbert's house, a building then of one story, standing on the corner of Sixth and Ohio streets, names rarely mentioned in those days. It was the only house on the large out- lot of Mr. G.'s, now so well occupied, between Sixth and Seventh, Ohio and Main streets; and it was the only house directly east of my residence-I had almost written between my house and the vil- lage of Indianapolis -- made for the capital, that was down at Cory- don, on the Ohio; but I recollect that Joseph S. Jenckes, the Dick- insons and others, lived a few miles out on the road, east. And I ran out of the back gate, east side of my premises; ran across the prairie, open and unbroken; ran through water in the grass over my shoes, water not having had time to flow away; I ran directly to Mr. H.'s dwelling-now that of Mr. Beach, back of the post- office-and found everything in disorder. Scattered bricks and mortar sprinkled the floor and furniture, and the family was sadly deranged by brickbats and fright. The lightning had struck the chimney on the west side of the building, and the debris, thrown everywhere in the room occupied by the family, had fallen upon the bed upon which the children were huddled, bruising some of them severely. I soon succeeded in restoring quiet and in a few days the bruises were healed.
The times and conditions, illustrated in a degree by the com- paratively trivial facts of which I write, contrast singularly with things existing at present in and about Terre Haute. But we were very happy. Peace and quiet ruled. Civilization had not in our early days made necessary a band of policemen to sometimes re- mind us of the pagan aphorism, quis custodiet ipsos custodes (who shall hold the guards?). The town was very small, the inhabitants good; the majority were intelligent, well-informed people from New York and New England. Our opportunities for enjoyment were mostly such as primitive things supplied in the "far west," yet they appeared sufficient; nobody complained. Our social associa-
4:26
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
tions and our intellectual intercourses were pure and instructive, aud we could only be, as we were, content. If we had not the fine buildings so numerous there now; if we had not so much improved prairie, etc., we could contemplate with pleasure the grounds for improvement. We viewed the flowers of the wilds of nature, if not as Linnæus would, at least as Burns regarded the daisy :
Wee, modest, crimson tipped flower, Thou bonnie gem.
We could fancy, and we did imagine, that time and patience and labor would bring cultivation of the country, growth of the town, etc., but our imagination fell short of extravagance and of the facts. We did not then foresee such remarkable improvement and growth as has come to Terre Haute and Vigo county. The slow work on the National road promised something and we were pleased. In 1830 I walked with Mr. Rose upon his recently purchased 640 acres of prairie adjoining the original town plat, when beautiful prairie in a state of nature, stretching widely, was all one could behold, except, perhaps, the mowers-not machines, but men with scythes-cutting the wild grass. We considered the richness of the soil, its peculiar'fitness for all agricultural purposes, etc. Mr. Rose understood such things well, but he did not say anything of a canal that would some time traverse it, nor did he speak of the railroads that would later mark it with iron tracks. He considered chiefly its productiveness iu suitable crops. He accordingly fenced his magnificent property, and employing William Miller to super- intend it, raised corn upon it before he thought of raising a city there. And his first step, at the proper time, toward making a city was building the Prairie House, now the Terre Haute House, and some then wondered that he would build so large a house so far in the country. And now forsooth everybody recognizes the wisdom that guided Mr. Rose's first and also his subsequent steps. Look- ing back to Vigo county, as some of us can, nearly half a century, we can see with the "mind's eye" a picture that I think would interest the people of Terre Haute, if they could behold it; it would at least strikingly illustrate the newness, so to speak, of the country. A crowd of men was gathered on the unfenced court-house square, drawn there by a magnetism peculiar to the force of certain first principles in uncultivated nature. The men were on horseback, and their designs, and the results of their action that day were such as an abundance of deer, wolves, foxes, etc., would invite. We-Judge Downey of the supreme court, Judge Huntington, and Col. Blake were of the number-were fixed for hunting, having the hounds with us, and we rode out of town and caught a wolf where now are streets and dwellings of the city. Farther out we captured
427
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
other game. The time was 1831. The next year there was a large assemblage about the same old square, and the men there gathered were armed for another kind of a hunt. There was then a fence about the court-house, and horses were tied all around to it. Black Hawks were to be the game this time, and Capt. Backus was the leader of the hunters. I will tell you of another Black Hawk gathering some time. But the game near us was an interesting feature of the time and locality. I have bought a dozen prairie chickens for 50 cents. One day I was riding north from town, when I came across nine deer standing a short distance west of the road, and they remained very quiet while I passed on. I had no gun and did not scare them. Tom Parsons said that on account of the low price of venison they felt cheap and would not run unless a shot urged them.
One of the most singular citizens of Vigo county was Tom Puckett, living about four miles south of Terre Haute. With all his oddities, Tom was a good man, and remarkable for his courage and endurance. In those gamey times of old it was commonly said that a deer could be started any day in Ham- ilton's field, on the east side of Harrison prairie (since Early's field), but hunters had to go to Eel river for bears. Wild turkeys sold for a bit (122 cents) apiece. The fact is we lived on game and dodgers, though we had pork, good pork, not such as has in it trichinæ, so common nowadays.
Recent articles in The Mail about a very earnest capture, a bandit surrounded and taken, etc., brought to my recollection a queer instance of early days that I may be permitted to mention, and I trust if anyone is disposed to find fault with my story, or with me, he will bear in mind that I was born in 1808, when things were not as they are now. I was riding into town one day. I was in my buggy, and had two or three of my little children with me. It was later than the periods I have mentioned above, but the space now so well occupied (built over) between Third street and all the world east of it was still quite bare, and I met the sheriff near where the church is, corner of Fifth and Ohio, and he was excited and out of breath. He had a pistol in his hand-not a Colt's revolver, but a full-grown horse pistol-and it surprised me to see him look so distressed, so forlorn. He was all alone, and I said: "Sheriff, what is the matter?" He asked me if I did not see a man running toward the prairie. I had not seen him, as perhaps a fence hid him when I passed near him. I turned my horse, drove rapidly eastward, and soon saw the fellow running with the earnestness of a "modern bandit" southeast, inclining somewhat toward the Bloom- ington road. I got upon his track and tried to run him down, but going zigzag he escaped me, reached the fence to Mr. Rose's field
27
428
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
of grass and corn and jumped over-the fence was on the line where the old canal was afterward dug-and I drove into a fence corner, climbed over (not slowly ) and overtook Mr. Gilliland before he reached the corn. The large field was meadow and corn ground. He did not want to stop, but having surrounded him, I persuaded him to halt, by holding him, till the sheriff came to us, flourishing his horse pistol, and bringing with him eight or ten men. It was quite a crowd. As the officer approached, the prisoner, who, I believe, was charged with stealing a horse or a saddle, called out: "Don't make a fool of yourself. Put up your pistol. You don't need to shoot. Don't you see, the doctor alone has me ?" The man was tried, and I believe, was sent to Jeffersonville. This runaway happened thus: The sheriff had Gilliland at Lange's office, and making some excuse to get out of the back door, the fellow leaped the fence and went with some speed till arrested, as above stated. Squire Lange's office was in the brick row Mr. Linton built on the ground upon which, as above related, I resided and had my garden. Sometimes when I have passed the corner of Third and Main, I have thought of the potatoes, onions, and green things I had cul- tivated upon soil which now sustains three-storied stores. It affects us strangely sometimes to consider the small things of the past, since they raise thoughts of large things sometimes. I don't mean to have it understood that I would imagine that brick stores and the like were grown on potato vines or pea sticks, but I recollect as if it were yesterday when I raised tomatoes and cabbages (at least let them grow ) where the Buntin house stands, and lettuce, onions and beans where the market house is. I lived in the old cottage house aforesaid on Ohio street, and owned all the lots where the market now stands. On the Buntin house lot (which I. pur- chased of Vigo county ) I had my stable, as well as a "truck patch." The little old original market house stood in the street, nearly in front of where the Buntin House stands.
James Boord settled in Terre Haute in 1823, and in the latter part of his life returned to Corydon. He often returned here to see his old friends. In 1885, he was then eighty-three years of age, he visited Terre Haute, and was interviewed by a reporter. Among other things he said of the laying out of Terre Haute, he was closely connected for several years with the men composing the " Terre Haute Land Company," and the civil engineer who laid out the town. Mr. Boord says the "Terre Haute Land Company " was composed of Cuthbert and Thomas Bullitt, of Kentucky; Abraham Markle, of Fort Harrison; Jonathan Lindley, of Orange county, Ind., and Hyacinth LeSalle, of Vincennes. The town Was laid out in the fall of 1816. William Hoggatt selected the town site. Hoggatt was county clerk of Orange county, Ind. He was the
429
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
engineer who laid out the town for the company, and Mr. Boord lived with him at the time. He recollects the conversation between Hoggatt, the engineer, and the Bullitts and Lindley, of the land company.
The land company purchased the land with the expectation of securing the county seat. In 1818 Vigo county was organized, and the land company offered, as an inducement to secure the county seat, $4,000 and eighty lots. The offer was accepted, the money paid over, and the deeds to the lots made out. The site of the Fourth street school-house is a portion of the land deeded to the city. Jonathan Lindley was a great school man, and was always working in the interest of education. Mr. Boord was acquainted with the members of the land company, and it was through the glowing descriptions given of Terre Haute by Uncle Jonathan Lindley that he determined to leave Orange county and come to Terre Haute. He arrived here in 1823. The town was very scat- tering. Beyond Third and Main streets there were very few build- ings. Lots could be bought on Main street, east of Third, for $25 or $40, and were a drug at that price.
Some of those who settled in Terre Haute, when the town was first formed, have descendants here. Among those early settlers were Curtis Gilbert, John Dickson, Abraham Markle, Joseph Liston, Thomas Pucket and Peter Allen. Peter Allen was a general in the war of 1812. Joseph Gilbert was the first county clerk. Joseph Liston has many descendants, among whom are the Listons of Cole county, Ill., and the Goodmans of Sugar Creek township. After the battle of Fort Harrison many of the soldiers settled on the prairie around the fort, and never returned home to Kentucky. Dr. Modesitt was the first physician here. He built a two-story log house on the corner of Third and Poplar. James Lee received the first marriage license issued in the county. The old court-house was built in 1822-23. The county did not have the money to pay the carpenter, and he took a mechanic's lien on it. It was sold at sheriff's sale, and the county bid it in.
When the town was first laid out, the country west was very wild. The whole territory was covered with a growth of timber. About 1822 settlements were made in that section. John Sheets, James Bennett, John Ray, Micajah Goodman, and John Cruse were the first settlers. They are all dead. Uncle Johnny Cruse lived till within a few years ago. He was a tall, active old man, his hair and beard as white as snow, and his eyes as black and bright as an Indian's. He settled deep in the forest, about eight miles west of Terre Haute. He retained his useful vigor till within a few years before his death. When at that age when most men would be very feeble, he was attacked in bed by two robbers, with a club. Uncle
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