USA > Indiana > Vigo County > History of Vigo county, Indiana, with biographical selections > Part 66
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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
education-there have been perhaps two men who have exceeded Mr. Rose in the amounts thus appropriated, but it is the manner, the conditions and the ultimate aims and results that may follow his bequest in the line that must for all time distinguish his be- neficences from all others. The character of education, the system itself, that he worked out in his mind, this is really more im- portant than the amount. This portion of his bequest was not to charity, but purely to the cause of true education. To all these others-the charitable side-he had and did give most munificently, and while these in their aggregate exceed the amount devoted to the schools, yet it is plain that it was to the institution-to educa- tion -- that he really anticipated the important and permanent ef- fects.
The Rose Polytechnic Institute is his fitting and immortal mon- ument. There is the school, separated alike from the domination of church or State, there it stands the exponent of the true and practical training of the rising generation, where the hand, the eye and the brain are co-educated. In the recitation rooms, in the shops, in the fields and with the stars, the bright youths of the country may go without money and without price, and arm them- selves from head to foot to meet the struggles for life that await all of us. The whole man, physically, morally and mentally, is trained and developed. This is the mother house. It is the em- bodied thought of Chauncey Rose that bears within itself the seeds of its own immortal life. When he has been dead a thousand years, the great historians who then will tell of the movements of the human mind, the great march of civilization, will turn to this man as the central figure of the incomparable panorama.
From this side let the light fall upon the great work of this man, and something of him and of his labors in behalf of mankind will begin to dawn upon your mind. He would do good to his fel- low-men-a good to which there would come no after taste of bitter or doubt. He would injure neither the church, school nor State by the old fashion of trying to mingle them together-apparently set- ting them to work in mutual aid, when, in fact, the struggle would merge into one of serious conflict and final ruin.
His vast fortune was devoted to the good of his fellow-men. The bulk of it to the relief of immediate distress and to the welfare of the unfortunate, such as the Rose Orphans' Home, that is one of the most prominent eleemosynary institutions of Indiana, the News- boys' Home in New York, or the many other charities wherein his most intimate friends were as the left hand that knoweth not what the right hand doeth. Of his millions thus given he founded the Polytechnic, and endowed it with altogether but little over half a
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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
million of dollars, a tithe of his estate perhaps, but there is little doubt that he fully realized that it was really far greater than all in lasting and ever growing benefits to the race. He understood the great fact well; that it is not in the amount of the charity, but in the mode of its bestowal that is the essence of its value.
In this view of the subject, now that he, the last of his imme- diate family, is gone, why need we hesitate in declaring the fact that, as a benefactor, Chauncey Rose was a pre-eminent American, if not the most distinctive character in history.
He was never married, and had lived to be the last of a large family. He left only lateral kin. There is, then, no reason why the biographer should over or under-estimate his life and character through a mistaken regard for the feelings of the living.
Chauncey Rose was born at Wethersfield, Conn., December 24, 1794, and died August 13, 1877. He was a son of John Rose, a farmer and an influential and prominent citizen, a man of moderate means, and of a quiet and evenly poised life. In the family of John Rose were seven sons and one daughter, Mrs. Israel Williams, esteemed by all as a noble and true woman. Three sons, Roswell, William and Samuel, died early. George and John Rose were strong, virile men, and had, while young men, acquired considerable property ; neither one married. Henry, the youngest son, came to Terre Haute and was recognized as a valuable acquisition to the business men of the place, but lost his health, returned to his old home and died childless. Chauncey had survived his brothers and sister, all of whom died without issue.
He grew to manhood in the family home, and in the common schools acquired the fundamentals of a sound English education. In the records of the Old Settlers Society of Vigo county, at a meeting held October 5, 1875, in Terre Haute, he was unable to be present, and sent a written statement, which was read and placed upon the records. In this he informs us that he came in the fall of 1817 to the Wabash valley, and traveled through Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama, looking for a desira- ble place to locate; he spent several days at Terre Haute, then consisting of two log cabins, but the natural surroundings decided him, and he returned to his home, and the next year (1818) came and located in Terre Haute, where he spent his long, useful and honorable life, excepting five years, from 1819 to 1824, during which he was milling and merchandising at Roseville, now in Parke county. In 1824 he opened a store in Terre Haute, and soon became one of the town's leading, popular merchants. When he came and located he brought with him $2,000. This was more than the average start in life of the pioneers of that time. The
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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
five years he spent in Roseville were years of hard and untiring labor; chopping timber, driving oxen, and an old lady, who went to Roseville with her husband to help build Mr. Rose's mill, informed me that she has seen him working at his mill-dam time after time in water waist deep. His strong physical system was taxed to its utmost.
His financial successes were great, but so was his industry. His fortune was not clutched as the miser does his gold-not struggled for simply for itself alone, that he might hoard and count it over and over. His industry and well-known integrity would have given him fortune, but these were guided by an intelligence, by an under- standing of the future, that led to the most fortunate investments.
The difference between Mr. Rose and the average man is illus- trated in his building of the Terre Haute house. This great host- elry was completed in 1840, and instead of erecting it on First, Second or Third streets, then the supposed central portion of the city, yet but a struggling village at best, he built "away out in the prairie." The village quidnunes smiled, but never was, there a more palpable case of "the last laugh is the best laugh." His strong mind anticipated the future, and he built accordingly. This circumstance may illustrate his whole life, and not only that, but his final disposition of the vast estate that his thrift and foresight had given him.
A distinguishing mark of the man's character was his public spirit and liberality. That he always responded liberally to every worthy application to him-nay, that in his old age he had his agents to hunt out want, and that he fed the hungry and clothed the naked by stealth, the recipients being in utter ignorance of the source of the bounty-is but a mere nothing in this remarkable man's career. Perhaps no man ever lived who more dreaded all publicity in regard to his acts, and no doubt he contrived to carry with him to his grave the secret of most of his charities.
From Chauncey Rose, the benefactor, let us turn a moment to the other side of his character-as a business man. Here are lessons of importance to the oncoming generations. It is not say- ing too much, in a material point of view, when it is asserted that the most important day in the history of Terre Haute was that of his coming here to remain a citizen. Without question he is en- titled to the place of father to the great public improvements, espe- cially the railroads and the vast industries that they have brought. Almost alone he was the means of the inception and final building of the old Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad. When it came to his mind a practical thing, he had exhausted the possibilities of the Wabash & Erie Canal, and he knew that the age was ripe for a
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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
change from the canal boat to the railroad car. When you seat yourself in one of the modern elegant coaches, and in the royal train go flying away to the capital, you may easily realize that you are riding on one of the embodied ideas of the late Chauncey Rose. In the railroads, in the factories, as well as in all the magnificence of the beautiful city, the foremost man, without the saying (and it is not to the discredit of the other strong and helpful public-spirited men), was Chauncey Rose. The Terre Haute & Indianapolis rail- road built to Richmond in 1851-52, the Evansville & Terre Haute road, resulting in the Chicago extension, are enterprises of supreme importance to Terre Haute, that owe him so much. When he had retired from business life he carried on his farm. Here he was a valuable instructor to the farmers in the community; even here he has left valuable and lasting lessons.
Mr. Rose endowed sundry charitable institutions of Charleston, S. C. His friends learned of this through others. None knew why his attention was given to this particular city. All that was ever known in explanation was that his two brothers, John and Henry, had lived in that city. His provision for the New York News Boys' Home was learned of after his death by his friends in Terre Haute. He had provided another New York institution, one to succor the crippled and ruptured. His bounty built and endowed the New York Home for the Aged and Poor. It is, in other words, estimated, by those who know best, that he gave to New York institutions over a million of dollars.
He established and endowed the "Ladies' Aid Society " of Terre Haute. He provided for the valuable library of the State Normal Institute of Terre Haute, and secretly educated every year, paying the bills of a large number of students. He gave largely to Providence Hospital, and to the support of Wabash College, Providence Hospital was changed after the receipt of his donation to an orphans' home.
He provided in his will for the maintenance in Terre Haute of a dispensary, where medicine is furnished to the poor and free advice to the sick. This is the "Rose Dispensary," endowed with $100,000.
It is impossible to enumerate even his entire list of large boun- ties. It is only those where the act itself carried its own notoriety that we can speak of with any certainty. The poor widows and orphans everywhere, the most of them ignorant of the source, were the constant recipients of his bounty. When he could give by hundreds of thousands in secret, we can have no hope of writing a balance sheet, and in dollars and cents estimate the great ben- efactor's like-work. Let us say it was altogether five millions more
40
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HISTORY OF VIGO, COUNTY.
or less-the amount even then is far less material than the wisdom and sound judgment that guided his actions.
Mr. Rose was a great strong man, but his entire power was expanded as the helpful friend of his race. That is he wanted to help men to help themselves. Every one of his long, faithful servants, those beginning in his employ even in the humblest capac- ity, in the course of the years became wealthy. But if you will investigate these cases you will find that their wealth came to them comparatively slow. In no case of the many did he ever make the horrible mistake of oppressing them through the years and then, dying suddenly, thrust upon them fortune they could not intelli- gently use, and that often has hurt and seldom benefited. He had trained and educated them; largesses came and they were prepared for it, without shock, without surprise, without even knowing when it came and hardly from whence.
The application of this idea to the faithful servant was the cen- tralizing idea of the millions that he gave to the permanent good of mankind. He shrank from the cheap notoriety of the parvenu who would advertise himself, though the money he lavished would be but a blight upon whomsoever it was showered.
647
HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
CHAPTER XL.
CIVIL TOWNSHIPS.
THE original townships in Vigo county were laid off by the board of commissioners March 11, 1819, and were four in number. The first one defined in the record is Honey Creek township, bounded as follows: "Commencing and running with the south line of the county from the river to the east line of the county to the line dividing Townships 11 and 12 north, thence with the said line to where the main branch of the Honey creek crosses the same, thence down said creek, where it empties into the Wabash river, and down the stream to the place of beginning."
Wabash township, on the north part of the county was formed as follows: " A line commencing at the mouth of Otter creek, follow- ing up said creek to where the middle or main branch crosses the line dividing Ranges 6 and 7, thence north on said line to the 'Indian Boundary Line,' then following this boundary line to the Wabash river, and thence down said stream to the place of begin- ning."
Harrison was all that territory in Vigo county lying east of the Wabash river, and bounded on the north by Wabash township, and on the south by Honey Creek township.
Independence Township was all that portion of the county lying west of the Wabash river.
Elections in Honey Creek township were to be held at the house of Stephen Campbell; in Harrison township, at Henry Red- ford's; in Wabash township, at Samuel Adams'; in Independence, at John Durkee's. John Britton was appointed constable of Har- rison; John Harris, Honey Creek; James Cunningham, Wabash, and Solomon Lusk, Independence.
May 15, 1819, Prairie Creek township was formed " Out of that portion of Sullivan county that had been added to Vigo county." This was on the south line of the county. See preceding chapter giving account of the formation of county lines.] Elections in this new township were to be held at the house of Joseph Liston, who was appointed election inspector, and Thomas Pounds was ap- pointed road inspector.
May 9, 1820, the new lines of Honey Creek township were made
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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
as follows: " All that part of the county included in Township 11 north, and lying east of the Wabash river, shall hereafter form Honey Creek township. Elections were to be held at the house of Joseph Lockwood, near Lambert & Dickson's mill."
At the same time Harrison was newly defined as " All that part of the county lying east of the Wabash river, and bounded as fol- lows: On the west by the Wabash river; on the north by Otter creek as far up the main branch as Section 27, where the same forks; thence with the south fork to the east line of the county; thence south to the line dividing Townships 11 and 12; thence west with said township line to the Wabash river."
At the same time Otter Creek township was reformed in its boundaries as follows: "Commencing at the mouth of Otter creek; thence north with the Wabash river to the line dividing Sections 22 and 27, Township 11 north, Range 9 west; thence east to the northwest corner of Section 28, Township 11, Range 8 west; thence to the southwest corner of Section 4, Township 13, Range 8; thence east to the eastern line of the county; thence south to the main branch of Otter creek; thence down said creek to the place of beginning." Gersham Tuttle was appointed inspector of elections.
On the same date Raccoon township was created as follows: " Commencing at the Indian boundary line at the dividing line between Sections 20 and 21, Township 15 north, Range 8 west; thence south to the southwest corner of Section 5, Township 13, Range 8; thence east to Indian boundary line; thence northerly to the place of beginning." All of this, except the north tier of sec- tions of what is now Vigo county was taken off Vigo county and given to the new county of Parke.
Wabash Township was reorganized at the same time as follows : "Commencing at the southeast corner of Section 20 [no township or range given in the record-Ed. ]; thence north to the Indian boundary line; thence northerly with said line to the Wabash river to the line dividing Sections 22 and 27, Township 14 north; thence to the place of beginning." John Blair's house was the place for holding elections.
Paris Township was formed at the May term, 1820, by the county commissioners as follows: " All that part of the county north of the line dividing Townships 12 and 13, and west of the Wabash river." Elections were held at the house of Isaac Chambers. John Durkee was appointed inspector of elections.
The commissioners in February, 1824, changed the name of Paris to Fayette, its present name. Thus the name of that part of the county now in its civil divisions, is known as Fayette was first called Independence, then Paris and, as now, Fayette township.
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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
Sugar Creek Township was formed at the May term (1820) of the commissioners' court, as follows: "All that part of Vigo county bounded on the north by the line dividing Townships 13 and 12 on the west side of the river, and bounded on the west side by the State line and on the south and east by the Wabash river." Elections to be held at the house of William Rays, who was ap- pointed inspector of elections.
Nevins Township was formed at the May term, 1822, at the peti- tion of the citizens of Otter Creek township, for the formation of a new township on the east side of Otter Creek township, as follows: " All that part of Otter Creek township lying east of the center of Range 8 to be Nevins township."
Riley Township was formed at the May term, 1822, as follows: " All that part of Vigo county lying east of Range nine (9) in Town- ship 11." Elections to be held at the house of John Jackson.
Lost Creek Township was formed in September, 1831, as fol- lows: " Congressional Township 12 north, of Range 8 west, shall be and constitute Lost Creek township." Elections to be at the house of Abraham Greene; John Jenckes inspector of elections.
Pierson Township was formed at the May term, 1829, as fol- lows: " All that part of the county of Vigo lying in Township 10, east of the center of Range 9, shall hereafter be designated and known as Pierson township."
Linton Township was formed March 2, 1841, as follows: " All that part of the county of Vigo known and designated as Congres- sional Township No. 10 north, 8 west." William L. Weeks ap- pointed inspector of elections; elections at the house of Philip Ran- dolph.
Prairieton Township was formed June 7, 1857. One hundred and twenty-five citizens of Honey Creek township petitioned for a new township. It was ordered laid off, called Prairieton and de- fined as follows: "That portion of Honey Creek township lying in Congressional Township 11 north, Range 10 west" be separated and called Prairieton. Lindley Durham, Jacob Hess and Moses Reynolds were appointed trustees.
May 31, 1855, the county commissioners ordered " that that por- tion of Township 10 north, Range 8 west, in Vigo county, which lies north and east of the Wabash and Erie canal, and has heretofore constituted a part of the civil township of Pierson, be divided from the same and attached to the civil township of Riley."
This order has never been changed so far as the records show. The old canal line cuts through Sections 1 and 2 diagonally and transfers nearly 250 acres. There is a farm improvement on it, and the man, probably, has been paying taxes for years, in the wrong. township.
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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
CHAPTER XLI.
CONCLUSION.
T THE population in the territory of what is now Vigo county was in 1810, 10 white persons; 1820, 2,000; 1830, 5,735; 1840, 12,076; 1850, 15,298; 1860, 24,241; 1880, 45,650; 1890, 50,814 (estimated).
The following is the detailed statement furnished by Mr. W. H. Soule, supervisor of census, Fourth district, Ind. It may be stated that the official will vary but little, if any, from these figures: City of Terre Haute, 31,175; Harrison township (outside city), 988; Pierson, 1,427; Lost Creek, 1,734; Riley, 1,662; Nevins, 3,037; Otter Creek, 1,470; Fayette, 1,779; Sugar Creek, 2,245; Prairieton, 938; Honey Creek, 1,405; Linton, 1,484; Prairie Creek, 1,544.
A steady healthy growth where the whole grew together in the healthiest proportions is the distinguishing mark of the community. Over 58,000 people to-day, and the numbers behind rather than in ad- vance of the general improvement and advances of things industrial and educational that mark the best types of civilization. Farms, factories, schools, social societies, literature, arts and the sciences are advancing all along the line, hand in hand. What better thing can be said of any community ? Of the 58,000 people here there is not a surplus man, woman or child-not one but that is wanted in some of the avenues of life to contribute to the general weal. Here we have wealth and with it a boundless charity-industry and a healthy demand for it all.
Land in the county 250,168.5 acres, valued at $5,664,845; value of improvements, $966,050; value of lands and improvements, $6,630,895.
Value of town lots, $5,940,070; value of improvements on the same, $5,427,660; value of lots and improvements, $11,367,730. Total value of real estate and improvements in the county, $24,- 367,225. These values are from the assessor's estimates, and prob- ably to add twenty-five per cent give nearly the accurate figures. Total assessment in the city of Terre Haute is $15,501,275.
Harrison Township (outside Terre Haute) has 9,717.22 acres, and in 1889 this was divided as follows: 1,467 acres of wheat, 3,129 acres of corn, 964 acres of oats, 20 acres of barley, 152 acres of
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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
Irish potatoes, 25 acres of sweet potatoes, 12 acres of melons, 6 acres of cabbage, 7 acres of beans, 2 acres of onions, 9 acres of strawberries, 502 acres of timothy, 267 acres of clover and the re- mainder in pasture, etc.
Honey Creek Township has 21,629.22 acres, valued at $704,565. Had wheat 2,701 acres, corn 6,307, oats, 1,307, rye 215, buckwheat 2, Irish potatoes 217, sweet potatoes 87, melons 157, cabbage 28, beans 10, onions 3, strawberries 6, timothy 1,769, clover 1,090.
Prairieton Township has 11,103.01 acres: Wheat 1,784 acres, corn 4,423, oats 659, rye 18, Irish potatoes 52, sweet potatoes 10, melons 74, timothy 237, clover 489.
Prairie Creek Township has 23,915.91 acres, value $363,215. In wheat 1,784 acres, corn 4,423, oats 1,174, rye 36, Irish potatoes 35, sweet potatoes 5, melons 14, timothy 855, clover 935.
Linton Township has 22,426.18 acres, value $381,060. Wheat 1,261, corn 5,083, oats 2,248, rye 13, Irish potatoes 64, sweet potatoes 7, timothy 3,696, clover 3,219.
Riley Township has 22,668.46 acres, value $410,705. Wheat 1,583, corn 4,213, oats 2,085, barley 11, rye 87, timothy 2,895, clover 1,776.
Lost Creek Township has 22,505.55 acres, value $548,500. Wheat 1,485, corn 3,190, oats 1,377, barley 89, rye -, Irish pota- toes 81, melons 24, strawberries 48, timothy 2,511, clover 1,366.
Nevins has 19,423.49 acres, value $268,607: Wheat 904, corn 2,808, oats 1,185, rye 54, Irish potatoes 70, timothy 874, clover 861.
Otter Creek has 21,845.51 acres, value $451,600: Wheat 2,515, corn 4,920, oats 1,181, rye 69, flax 3, Irish potatoes 65, melons 84, timothy 993, clover 1,011.
Fayette has 25,256.93 acres, value $434,225: Wheat 2,980, corn 5,315, oats 1,179, barley 108, rye 200, buckwheat 11, Irish potatoes 46, timothy 1,393, clover 2,075.
Sugar Creek has 27,756.36 acres, value $488,105: Wheat 1,931 acres, corn 4,708, oats 1,046, barley 10, Irish potatoes 47, tobacco 19, cabbage 5, onions 127, strawberries 3, timothy 1,330, clover 795.
Totals in the county: Wheat, 22,106 acres; corn, 52,866; oats, 16,260; barley, 174; rye, 939; buckwheat, 19; flax, 4; Irish potatoes, 955; sweet potatoes, 139; melons, 367; tobacco, 19; cabbage, 41; beans, 35; onions, 132; strawberries, 135; Timothy, 19,274; clover, 15,852; bluegrass, 26,170.
Rail fence made in 1889, 21,715 rods ; board fence, 26,761; wire fence, 27,144; drains, 11,310.
Timothy seed, 109 bushels; clover, 748; blue grass, 6; dried
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HISTORY OF VIGO COUNTY.
apples, 376; dried pears, 5; dried peaches, 219; canned peaches, 9,650 quarts; cherries, 847 gallons; canned fruit, 22,069; cider, 28,960; wine, 528; sorghum, 15,594; maple, 1,155; maple sugar, 8,249 pounds; milk, 1,644,471 gallons ; butter, 368,847 pounds.
French draft horses, 15; Clydesdales, 42; Englishires, 16; all other horses, 6,695; horses died, 1889, 311; mules (total number), 892; Jersey cattle, 347; Holsteins, 60; shorthorns, 461; other cattle, 12,307; milch cows, 6,044; hogs (fatted), 22,631; Cotswold sheep, 820; merino, 400; Southdowns, 351 ; wool, 10,158 pounds ; sheep, killed by dogs, 1,540; chickens (sold), 8,167 dozen; turkeys, 938; geese, 157; ducks, 470; eggs, 212,427; feathers sold, 1,533 pounds; num- ber of stands of bees, 1,657; number of coal miners, 589; cattle slaughtered, 1889, 1,393; hogs slaughtered, 1889, 7,065; apples saved, 35,071 bushels; winter apples, 34,987.
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