History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume I, Part 18

Author: Weesner, Clarkson W., 1841-1924
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1020


USA > Indiana > Wabash County > History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 18


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"Section 3. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of Huntington County to notify the commissioners above named, either in person or in writing, of their appointment and the place appointed for them to convene; and the board doing county business shall allow a reasonable compensation for services out of the moneys in the treasury of the said county of Wabash.


"Section 4. Cireuit and other courts of said county shall be held at the house of David Burr, or at any other place in said county where said courts may adjourn, until suitable accommodations can be furnished at the seat of justice thereof, after which the courts shall be held at the county seat.


"Section 5. The agent who shall be appointed to superintend the sale of lots at the county seat of said county of Wabash shall reserve 10 per cent out of all donations to said county, and shall pay the same over to such person or persons as shall be authorized to receive the same for the use of a county library for said county.


"Section 6. The board doing county business of said county, when elected and qualified, may hold special sessions not exceeding three the first year after the organization of said county, and shall appoint a lister and make all other necessary appointments, and do and perform all other business which might have been necessary to be performed at any


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regular session, and take all necessary steps to collect the state and county revenue.


"Section 7. The county of Wabash shall be attached to the Eighth Judicial Circuit of the State for Judicial purposes, to the county of Hunt- ington for Representative purposes, and be included in the Fifth Con- gressional District. This act to take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the Indiana JJournal. The county boundaries heretofore established by the amendatory act of January 30, 1833, were recognized as prescribing the correct limits of Wabash County, though not in the final act expressly mentioned."


FIRST COUNTY OFFICERS


As the Legislature had proclaimed that after March 1, 1835, the county of Wabash should enjoy all the rights common to other counties its citi- zens at once proceeded to elect officers. The result of the vote was the choice of the following: Daniel Jackson and Daniel Ballinger, associate judges of the Wabash Circuit Court; William Steele, elerk; Stearns Fisher, Levi Bean and Alpheus Blackman, county commissioners. Wil- liam Johnson, the acting sheriff, had been previously commissioned by the governor to hold that office until his successor should be chosen at the gen- eral election in the following August.


ESTABLISHING THE SEAT OF JUSTICE


To carry out Section 2 of the organic act, the commissioners named to locate the county seat met at the house of David Burr, on May 18, 1836. After they had organized they proceeded to business under these provisions of the 1824 act for establishing "seats of justice in new counties": "It shall be the duty of said commissioners, or any three or more of them, to convene at such time and place in such new county as the General Assembly shall appoint, and being first sworn to discharge the duties assigned them by this act, they shall proceed to fix on the most eligible and convenient place for the permanent seat of justice of such new county, taking into view the extent thereof, the quality of the land and the prospect of future, as well as present population, to- gether with the probability of future divisions; and it shall be the fur- ther duty of the said commissioners to receive donations in land from any person or persons owning land in such county and offering donations for the use of the same-and to fix on such place for the seat of justice in such new county as near as may be to that position which is likely to be central and permanent, after future divisions, as may best sub-


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serve the interests of such county. The said commissioners shall inquire and ascertain whether any land on which they may be inclined to fix the seat of justice can be obtained by donation or by purchase at a suit- able price, sufficient in quantity and suitable in quality and situation for the site of a town; and if such quantity of land cannot be obtained by donation or by purchase at a reasonable price, then they shall fix on the next most eligible place where such land can be procured as afore- said ; and the said commissioners shall take a bond or bonds of any person or persons proposing to give or sell any such land, payable to the Board of County Commissioners and their successors in office, and conditioned for the conveyance of such traet or tracts of land so given or sold, to such persons as the county commissioners shall appoint as agent to re- ceive the same, which bond or bonds the said commissioners shall deliver to the county commissioners together with a plan and correct report of their proceedings, containing a particular description of the land so selected, which shall be considered the permanent seat of justice for such county."


PROPOSITION FROM COLONELS BURR AND HANNA


About a year previous to this meeting of the county seat commissioners Colonel Burr and Colonel Hanna had laid out the Town of Wabash, and now submitted the following proposition, which appeared to have been the only one seriously considered :


" We, the undersigned, David Burr and Hugh Hanna, of the county of Wabash, in the State of Indiana, for and in consideration of the seat of justice of the county aforesaid being established in the town of Wa- bash, in said county, hereby covenant and agree to build and erect a suitable brick courthouse in the public square of said town, forty feet square, furnished throughout in good, plain, workmanlike manner, with bench and bar for court and jury, steeple, ball and spire; the building to be completed, except plastering, within four years from and after the 1st of November next, and be of value not less than three thousand dol- lars; to give, also, for a county library, the sum of three hundred dollars, payable in annual instalments of one hundred dollars each, the first instal ment to be paid on the 1st day of March, 1837; also one and a half acres of land in some suitable place for a graveyard on Section II, on which the town of Wabash stands, to be selected by said Burr and Hanna ; also two lots in the town plat for seminary purposes; and also two other lots to be granted, one to each of any two religious denominations which shall within three years erect a frame or briek building on the same of not less dimensions than thirty by twenty feet; also the accompanying


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subscription for the same purpose, amounting to $545, is offered in addi- tion to our proposal, which will be sufficient to complete the publie buildings.


"DAVID BURR "HUGH HANNA"


The cash bonus mentioned was raised by subscriptions from Jonathan Keller, Jesse Vermilyea, Alphens Blackman, Isaac Finley, S. M. Lemans, A. Murphy, William S. Edsall, W. G. & G. W. Ewing, and Ewing, Walker & Company, who guaranteed $50 each; J. S. Hanna, Stearns Fisher and Daniel Jackson, $25 each, and Jacob D. Cassatt, $20. Most of the subscriptions were paid in cash, and those which were not were guaranteed by Messrs. Burr and Hanna.


FIRST MEETING OF THE COUNTY BOARD


The first meeting of the Board of County Commissioners was held at Colonel Burr's house, June 15, 1835. The commissioners were sworn in by the special sheriff, William Johnson-Stearns Fisher, for the three-year term; Levi Bean, two years, and Alpheus Blackman, one year. Sheriff Johnson also presented his commission from the governor. William Steele appeared before the board and presented his commission as clerk of the Circuit Court of Wabash County for the term of seven years from May 28, 1835; also his bond, with sureties, with a certificate showing that it had been approved by the associate judges and that he had been duly sworn into office June 11th.


WABASH, THE COUNTY SEAT


The board then appointed Isaac Thomas county agent, and Hugh Hanna treasurer of Wabash County, and accepted the report of the county-seat commission of May 23d fixing the seat of justice at the Town of Wabash in accord with the proposals submitted by Colonel Burr and Colonel Hanna.


LA GRO AND NOBLE TOWNSHIPS FORMED


A second session of the Board of County Commissioners was held in the afternoon of June 15th, at the house of Commissioner Blackman, Stearns Fisher presiding. The county was divided into three commis- sioners' districts and into the townships of La Gro and Noble, the latter being named in honor of "James Noble, late senator of the United


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States." The division was the range line dividing Ranges 6 and 7, all of the county east being La Gro Township and that lying west, Noble Township.


Isaac Fowler was appointed assessor of the county for the current year, and the following officers were named for the two townships :


La Gro Township-Constables, Robert Hurley and James Wiley ; overseers of the poor, J. Galahan and A. II. Keller ; inspector of elections, A. H. Keller; fence viewers, William B. Cadwell and John Harter ; super- visors, James Darrow (District No. 1) and Daniel Ballinger (No. 2). An election was directed to be held at the house of Jacob Shappell, July 8, 1835, for two justices of the peace, Sheriff Johnson to give the neces- sary notice.


Noble Township-Constables, Thomas Burton and Vineent IIooten; inspector of elections, Daniel Jackson; overseers of the poor, D. Burr and II. IIanna; supervisors, S. F. MeLane (District No. 3) and James II. Keller (No. 4) ; fence viewers, Jonas Carter and Bradley Williams. An election was ordered to be held in Noble Township, at the house of David Burr, on the 8th of July, 1835, for the purpose of electing three justices of the peace-two for Noble Township and one for the Town of Wabash.


THE OLD COURTHOUSE


Colonels Burr and Hanna lived up to their contract with the Board of County Commissioners and the brick courthouse, as proposed by them to the county seat commissioners, was substantially ready for occupancy in the fall of 1839. The upper story was appropriated to the use of a court room. At first the lower story was divided into rooms for the county offices, but were afterward abandoned for a time and remodeled. The old courthouse was occupied until April 14, 1870, when it was de- stroyed by fire. This was five years after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. The courts were afterward held in the Presbyterian Church on the opposite side of the street, east of the Publie Square.


HISTORIC LINCOLN CALENDAR


On Saturday morning April 15, 1865, as Elijah Hackleman, then clerk of the Wabash Cirenit Court, was changing the card in his calendar hanging on the wall, a caller made the startling announcement that Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated the day before. Mr. Hackleman was just in the act of taking from its place the card bearing the date April 14th, but the announcement was so appalling that the card dropped


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from his trembling fingers back into place, and the calendar was left unchanged, bearing on its face, "Friday, April 14, 1865." Upon recov- ering from the shock Mr. Haekleman mentally determined that the cal- endar should remain as a momento of that dire historie event. HIe there- fore immediately procured another for the office, and made the follow- ing note upon the calendar which had, in a way, become sacred: ("April -Saturday, 15, 1865, 9:30 A. M.) I have just this moment received the news that President Lineoln was shot last night at Washington, and died this morning."


The old calendar remained as Mr. Hackleman had left it on the sorrowful morning until April 14, 1870, when the court house was destroyed by fire. The precious calendar was given up for lost, but was found in the ruins intact. Sand to the depth of a foot had been placed on the second floor, as a safeguard from fire, but the flames had burned off the ends of the sleepers that supported the sanded Hoor, and the whole mass had been precipitated into a common ruin. The calendar, however, had been buried and protected by the sand, and there was scarcely a mark of fire upon it.


When the present court house was completed, the notable calen- dar was placed in position on the south side of the middle door of clerk's office, the first object likely to attract the eye upon entering it from the east. This calendar commemorates the two important events.


COURTHOUSE OF TODAY


The decade after the Civil war was a period of hard times for Wabash County, and it was not until 1877 that its citizens really took a decisive step in the matter. A. P. Ferry, editor of the Plain Dealer, well described the situation leading up to the building of the new courthouse and the difficulties attending its completion in his Fourth of July address of 1879, after the Rubicon had been crossed. He put it thus: "After the county had paid her war and railroad debts, it was thought best by some that the tax-payers should have a rest, although the need of a courthouse was universally acknowledged. This reasoning commended itself to well to the judgment of our County Board that the initiatory steps were postponed from time to time until a special meeting of the board held in April, 1877, although the inconvenience of the old offices and court room, and above all the danger of the destruction of valuable records, made the question of action or non-action one of great gravity. On one side was some financial exhaustion and alleged but overestimated public distress; on. the other hand, the danger of loss to the owners of real estate, which, if sustained, could scarcely be repaired. Finally, the


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commissioners became convinced that longer delay involved a possible loss greater than the expense of a courthouse, and they decided to build one. It soon became apparent that it was the public wish that, while a very expensive building would not be tolerated, a house should be built of respectable appearance and ample dimensions, combining all the mod- ern improvements and conveniences; one that would do no diseredit to a county confessedly as wealthy and intelligent as ours.


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PRESENT COURTHOUSE, WABASH


"The county board is entitled to great credit for the careful atten- tion, patient labor and deliberation bestowed upon this important mat- ter. Some persons were for a considerable time unable to see any merit in the plan adopted. But it is characteristic of American citizens to submit to what they cannot legally change, and soon there was very general acquiescence. There were some, however, inclined to make gen- eral war, and the commissioners were for a time made the subject of censorious remark and satirical criticism. The architecture was made


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the theme of more than one merry jibe and the whole structure was called a Sweat Box. But the board and the architect seemed content to bide their time, and long before the completion of the work the solid and substantial character of the material, the excellent taste manifested more and more as new members were added to the structure, and their adapt- ability to each other and to the use intended, soon disarmed all opposition and put an end to unfriendly comment. From being a subject of merri- ment and editorial sarcasm, if any fault could be found with the sub- stance of popular remark the praise was too fulsome; for, though the building is a beautiful one and creditable as a work of art, it does not, as some seem to believe, stand at the head of architectural excellence; yet, doubtless, few courthouses combining so much that is beautiful and use- fnl have been built anywhere for so little money."


The courthouse, the merits of which have been so fairly described by Mr. Ferry, is still in use, and serves its purposes well. It was not entirely completed until in the summer of 1880. The contractors, Messrs. L. & J. Gable, finished the building at the specified price of $75,400, its general dimensions on the ground being 94 by 114 feet. The superin- tending architects were B. V. Enos & Son. When the bills of the archi- tects, plumbers, furniture men, fixture firms and those engaged in the improvement of the grounds were added to the first cost, they brought the total up to nearly $95,000.


THE OLD COUNTY JAIL


As is customary in every new community-and perhaps in every old -provision had to be made for the confinement of offenders against the law before accommodations could be provided for their trial in an official building called a courthouse. At a meeting of the County Board held July 8, 1835, notice was given calling for proposals to construct a county jail. This was to be of logs, with a foundation stone wall three feet thick and three feet high, one foot above the ground, "that portion above the surface to be hammer-dressed." The plan also provided for two stories, the one immediately above the foundation to be of timber squaring one foot, the corners dovetailed; the upper story also to be of timber one foot thick and twelve inches wide or over, making one room eighteen feet square inside, with ceiling of timber of the same dimensions as the outer walls.


The order required that the work be commenced on the 20th of August, 1835, and completed on or before the 20th of December of the same year. On these conditions the contract was let to Samuel MeClure, then of Grant County, Colonel Hugh Hanna, county agent, acting as Vol. 1-11


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superintendent of construction. Both the Colonel and Mr. MeClure saw that the jail was completed according to contract, and it "held tight" until 1851, when it was destroyed by fire. An insane man started the blaze, and came very near being consumed in it, as while the flames were lapping it up he was raging around inside, striking his fists to- gether and swearing he would thrash any man who said he did not start the fire.


PRESENT JAIL AND SHERIFF'S RESIDENCE


A second jail was built in 1853, which served its purposes for over a quarter of a century, when the citizens considered the time had come that the sheriff should reside at his official headquarters. Toward the close of 1879 the County Board prepared plans for a combined jail and sheriff's residence and invited proposals for the construction of such a building. On the 27th of January, 1880, the contract was awarded to L. S. Wilson, his bid being $18,415. This sum included the material of the old jail, valued at $218.50. As in the case of the courthouse, the preparation for construction was immediately commenced, building material procured, and the foundation laid on the site selected opposite the courthouse on the south side of the street. The jail is of stone, "with interior finish of iron," and the adjoining sheriff's residence of substantial brick. Total cost, $20,436.


EARLY CARE OF THE POOR


The provisions for the care of the poor of Wabash County are com- mensurate with the intelligence and advancement of its citizens. In the earlier years such matters were mainly managed by overseers of the poor, the Board of County Commissioners appointing two for each township. Various state statutes, notably those passed by the Legislatures of 1831, 1843 and 1852, defined their duties. They were to keep records of those to their respective townships who were unable to care for themselves and were worthy subjects of relief. They were further authorized to appren- tice all poor children whose parents were dead or unable to support them. Males could be thus "bound out" to the age of twenty-one, females until they reached the age of eighteen.


The general provisions governing the duties of these overseers were as follows: "It shall be the duty of the overseers of the poor, every year, to cause all poor persons who have been or shall become a public charge, to be farmed out on contracts to be made on the first Monday


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in May annually, in such manner as the said overseers of the poor shall deem best calculated to promote the publie good.


"Provided, nothing herein contained shall prohibit any overseers of the poor from receiving and accepting propositions at any time for the keeping of such poor and others who may at any time thereafter become a eounty eharge.


"Provided, however, that the Board of County Commissioners of the several counties in this State may, in their discretion, allow and pay to poor persons who may become chargeable as paupers, who are of mature years and of sound mind and who, from their general character will probably be benefitted thereby, such annual allowance as will be equal to the charge of their maintenance, by employing the lowest bidder to keep them, the said commissioners taking the usual amount of charges in like cases, as the rule in making such allowance.


"Provided, however, that the overseers of the poor, in no ease, shall farm out any pauper under the age of twenty-one years, if a male, or, if a female, under the age of eighteen years, if such overseers of the poor can possibly bind out as apprentices any such paupers."


For many years succeeding the organization of the county the farm- ing-out system was generally adopted by the commissioners of Wabash County. Eventually, this necessitated the purchase of a county farm and the erection of buildings thereon.


PRESENT SUPPORT OF THE POOR


The farm seleeted for this purpose, being the southeast quarter of Section 36, Township 28 North and of Range 6 east, containing 152 aeres, was leased in 1853 for five years. At the expiration of the lease, August 3d, 1858, it was purchased from George E. Gordon. Both the farm and buildings have been enlarged to keep pace with the increasing demands. Since 1853 the Asylum for the Poor has been under the management of superintendents, a list of whom is as follows: George A. Wellman, John Enyeart, John L. Gamble, William Asher Gray, William A. Richards, Joseph II. Bantham and Erwin Thompson.


As the population of Wabash County has not inereased more than two thousand in the last thirty years, it is but natural that the cost of maintaining its poor has varied but little. In 1879 the expenditures on that account amounted to $5,771 and in 1881 to $5,254. The report of the county auditor for 1913 shows the following items: Township poor expense, $3,405.93; superintendent poor farm, salary and mainte- nance, $3,682.97. Total $7,088.90. For 1913, the poor farm receipts


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amounted to $204.78; receipts on account of poor relief, $3,405.93. Total receipts for support of the poor, $3,610.71.


CREATION OF THE TOWNSHIPS


The townships of Wabash County are offshoots or divisions of the original Noble and La Gro, created as we have seen, at the second ses- sion of the first meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, June 15, 1835. From Noble were created Pleasant, Waltz and Paw Paw, and from La Gro, Chester and Liberty.


Pleasant Township was formed in May, 1836, by the Board of County Commissioners who struck off from the north end of Noble Township a tract of country nine miles north and south, and eight miles east and west. Township officers were appointed and in the following June a justice of the peace elected. Thus Pleasant Township perfected its eivil organization.


In May, 1841, the board ordered that another block of territory, eight miles east and west by six north and south, should be lopped from the south end of Noble. To this was given the name of Waltz, in memory of the gallant soldier, Lieut. Frederick Waltz, who was killed at the battle of the Mississinewa, just over the line, in 1812.


But Noble Township was still considered much too large and Pleasant Township somewhat bulky. Consequently at the December term of the Board of County Commissioners in 1872, the three southern tiers of sections were taken from Pleasant Township and the three northern, from Noble Township, to form Paw Paw. The township thus created was eight miles long east and west, and six miles wide, north and south. But this decision did not satisfy the Southerners, and in June, 1873, the southern tier of sections comprising eight square miles was reunited to Noble, leaving Paw Paw to consist of forty square miles, the smallest township in the county.


With this readjustment, Noble Township also assumed its present area-nine miles north and south and eight east and west, or seventy- two square miles; besides about twelve sections over the line between Ranges 6 and 7, south of the Wabash.


The final movement of 1872 by which Paw Paw Township was created was the tardy outcome of a proposition advanced as early as 1856. At the December term of the board in that year a petition was presented by Elihu Garrison and others for a new township to be taken from Pleasant and Noble. But so many petitions for the creation of new townships eame in at about the same time that the county commissioners


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