History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume I, Part 19

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 19


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settled all these matters by smothering them in wholesale. Thus Paw Paw Township sank out of sight for a quarter of a century.


The various changes through which the eastern part of the county, comprising the townships of La Gro, Chester and Liberty, assumed their present forms, is thus explained : In June, 1835, when the county was divided into Noble and La Gro townships, the latter had a straight east- ern line twenty-four miles in length. The corner now shown as having been taken out of the northeastern part of Chester Township was so taken after the creation of Wabash County. It belongs (two square miles) to Whitley County and, it is to be presumed, was added to the latter at its formation, which took place after the erecting of Chester Township in 1836.


In May, 1836, Chester Township was created by taking a northern tract from La Gro Township, eight miles square, and Liberty was formed from a southern block of the same area, leaving La Gro eleven miles from north to south and eight miles from east to west.


At the June term, 1846, the County Board directed that the line of Liberty and La Gro townships should be the line between townships 26 and 27, thus cutting off two miles from the north of Liberty and attaching them to La Gro. Thereby, Liberty Township assumed its present form-eight miles, east and west, and six miles, north and south.


Later, the line between Noble and La Gro townships was changed, to the advantage of the former, and a mile was sliced from Northern La Gro and attached to Southern Chester. Still later, Noble secured another portion of La Gro's territory, making between twelve and thir- teen sections altogether.


La Gro is thus left with about eighty-five sections, containing not far from the same area as Noble and nineteen sections more than Chester.


The detailed history of the townships, political and otherwise, will be found in succeeding chapters, the present purpose being to show the order and manner of their creation as civil units of the county.


COUNTY CLERKS


Since the creation of Wabash County in 1835, its officers have been as follows :


Clerks: William Steele, 1835-41; Joseph Hopkins, 1842-48; John C. Sivey, 1849-58; Elijah IIaekleman, 1859-66; James M. Amoss, 1867-74; James P. Ross, 1875-79; Clark W. Weesner, 1880-87; Thompson R. Brady, 1888-91 ; Levi Patterson, 1892-95; Capt. William M. IIenley, 1896- 99; John II. Lefforge, 1900-03; Charles S. Rose, 1904-07; James C. Reynolds, 1908-11 ; Ellis Bloomer, 1912-


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TREASURERS


Treasurers: Ilugh Hanna, 1835-46; Erastus Bingham, 1846-50; Archibald Stitt, 1850-54; Calvin Cowgill, 1854-58; David Thompson, 1858-62; Elias Hubbard, 1862-66; Charles S. Ellis, 1866-70; Elias B. McPherson, 1870-74; Robert M. Donaldson, 1874-78; Hezekiah Caldwell, 1878-82; Mordecai W. Coate, 1882-87; John S. Chinworth, 1887-91 ; John C. Summerland, 1891-95; Frank Lynn, 1895-1900; Henry Dufton, 1900- 04 (Mr. Dufton held office until January 1, 1905, on account of the death of Treasurer-elect Elias Scott) ; John II. Morrow, 1905-09; William G. Gardner, 1909-12; N. P. Lavengood, 1912-


AUDITORS


Auditors: Some of the duties of this office were for several years after the organization of the county discharged by the clerk, county agent and other officers; Ira Burr, 1841-45; William Steele, Jr., 1845-54; Thomas B. MeCarty, 1854-62; Alanson P. Ferry, 1862-66; Col. John R. Polk, 1866-74; William S. Stitt, 1874-83; William Hazen, 1883-91; Capt. Benjamin F. Williams, 1891-99; Capt. Benjamin F. Clemans, 1899- 03; Winfield Scott Davis, 1903-07; Jehiel P. Notzger, 1907-11; Daniel Showalter, 1911-


SHERIFFS


Sheriff's: William Johnston (appointed by the governor to assist in organization of the county), served until general election, August, 1835; Josiah L. Wynes elected, but resigned and Jacob D. Cassatt ap- pointed to fill vacancy; Mr. Cassatt elected in 1836, but resigned and Alpheus Blackman appointed; Jonathan R. Cox, elected in 1837-left the county, and William Dickerson appointed; Mr. Dickerson, 1839-41; William Steele, Jr., 1841-45; William Caldwell, 1845, died in office, and Oliver P. Murphy appointed ; Hugh M. Stephenson, 1848-51; Benjamin Pauling; 1851-55; Moses Scott, 1855-59; Mason I. Thomas, 1859-63; James M. Furrow, 1863-67; Capt. John M. MeKahan, 1867-71 ; George J. Stephenson, 1871-75; Harvey F. Woods, 1875-79; Asa S. Ross, 1879-83; Bossler Walter, 1883-87; Howard Squires, 1887-91; William T. Williams, 1891-95; Daniel B. MeKahan, 1895-99; Charles E. Stewart, 1899-04; Sanford C. Martin, 1904-07; George W. Freeman, 1908-11 ; JJolin Niceum, 1912-13; William H. Coble, 1914-


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SURVEYORS


Surveyors: Isaac Fowler, appointed in 1835 and died in office; Elmer Cox (appointed), 1837-39 ; John Shellenberger, 1839-50; Henry Meritan (appointed), 1850-51; William McKimmey, 1851-52; Elijah IIackleman, 1852-59; Alanson P. Ferry, 1859-63; Samuel S. Ewing, 1863-71; Samuel C. Thralls, 1871-72; Samuel S. Ewing, 1872-76; Orlando Ewing, 1876- 78; James Shea, 1878-80; Samuel S. Ewing, 1880-82; W. S. Herrick, 1882-86; Franklin Knight, 1886-90; William Fowler, 1890-91; Ovid W. Conner, 1891-93; J. Keyes Conner, 1893-98; William Fowler, 1898-1904; Charles II. Brett, 1904-06 (drain commissioner, 1905-06) ; Ora White- neck, 1906-08; Blondell Berry, 1909-12; William D. Gochenour, 1913-


RECORDERS


Recorders: William Steele, 1835-54; Lewis Sheets, 1854-58; Moses Scott. 1858-62; John Piper, 1862-64; Jonathan R. Wilson, 1864-68; James M. Hann, 1868-76; John II. Dicken, 1876-84; Christian C. Mikesell, 1884-92: George A. Wellman, 1892-1900; Alonzo M. Gibson, 1900-04; George F. Ogden, 1904-08; Alvin W. Schuler, 1908-12; Alvah A. Garber, 1912-


CORONERS


Coroners (for the past thirty-five years) : R. E. Flinn, 1878-84; John C. Zimmerman, 1884-86; Levi S. Thomas, 1886-88; William W. Woods, 1888-90; Alonzo M. Gibson, 1890-98; Jesse B. Williams, 1898- 1902; TIomer M. Jones, 1902-04; Leroy Dennis, 1904-10; Howard R. Alt- doerffer, 1910-12; John W. Wilson, 1912-


BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS


Commissioners: 1835, Stearns Fisher, Levi Burr. Alpheus Black- man ; 1836, Jonathan Keller, Levi Burr, Ira Burr; 1837, Jonathan Keller, William T. Ross, Ira Burr; 1838, JJ. H. Ray, William T. Ross, Ira Burr; 1839-40, M. Knoop, William T. Ross, Ira Burr; 1841, M. Knoop, William T. Ross, William Johnston; 1842-44, Jesse D. Scott, William T. Ross and William Johnston; 1845, Thomas Ruble, William T. Ross, William Johnston ; 1846-47, Thomas Ruble, J. J. Shaubhutt, J. H. Keller; 1848, James Storps, J. J. Shaubhutt, J. H. Keller; 1849, James Storps, Jacob Vandegrift, Henry Lutz; 1850, James Storps, Jacob Vandegrift, Michael Kircher; 1851, M. R. Crabill, Jacob Vandegrift, M. Kircher; 1852, M. R.


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Crabill, Isaac Wamsley, M. Kircher; 1853, Josiah Bowles, Isaac Wamsley, M. Kircher; 1854, John Wherrett, Isaac Wamsley, M. Kircher; 1855, John Wherrett, Isaac Wamsley, James Comstock; 1856, James Wherrett. Isaae Wamsley, leh Comstock; 1857, Jacob L. Sailors, Isaae Wamsley, Ralph G. Arnold; 1858, J. L. Sailors, Mark Stratton, R. G. Arnold ; 1859, J. L. Sailors, Mark Stratton, R. G. Arnold; 1860, Elihu Weesner, Mark Stratton, R. G. Arnold; 1861, Elihu Weesner, Mark Stratton, R. G. Arnold; 1862, Elihu Weesner, Mark Stratton, M. Kircher; 1863, W. B. Thompson, Mark Stratton, M. Kircher; 1864, W. B. Thompson, Isaae Wamsley, M. Kircher; 1865, W. B. Thompson, Isaac Wamsley, M. Kircher ; 1866, Dillard Ross, Isaae Wamsley, M. Kircher; 1867, Dillard Ross, Isaac Wamsley, M. Kircher; 1868, Dillard Ross, John Dufton, R. G. Arnold; 1869, Elihu Weesner, John Dufton, R. G. Arnold; 1870, Robert Stewart, John Dufton, R. G. Arnold; 1871-73, Robert Stewart, Alonzo Mason, R. G. Arnold; 1874, Robert Stewart, John Dufton, Wiley S. Jordon ; 1875, Robert Stewart, John Dufton, Wiley S. Jordon ; 1876-80, John HI. Ferree, John Dufton, Wiley S. Jordon; 1881, John H. Ferree, John Dufton, Samuel L. Gamble; 1882, John H. Ferree, John Dufton, Samuel L. Gamble; 1883, Tobias HI. Miller, John Dufton, Samuel L. Gamble; 1884-85, Tobias HI. Miller, W. W. Stewart, Samuel L. Gamble.


Commissioners of the Middle District : William W. Stewart, 1883-89; Judson J. Lukens, 1889-95; S. Michael, 1895-1901; Aaram T. Gidley, 1901-07; Thomas Berry, 1908-11; Daniel Urshel, 1911-


Commissioners of the Middle Distriet : William W. Stewart, 1883-89; James D). Starbuck, 1889-95; Joseph W. Busiek, 1895-97 (died March 8) ; Wallace W. Ford, 1897-1902; Albert Tweedy, 1903-09; Andrew C. Iluff, 1909-


Commissioners of the Southern District: John V. Oyler, 1885-91; Charles P. Sailors, 1891-97; George Pressler, 1897-1903; John C. F. Martin, 1904-09; Jerome Martin, 1910; Clarence 1. Knee, 1910-13; Mer- Mitt Banister, 1913-


PRESENT COUNTY OFFICERS


The complete roster of officers serving the county in 1913-14 was as follows :


Commissioners : Northern District-Dan Urshel, North Manchester ; Middle District-A. C. Huff, Wabash, R. F. D. 5; Southern District- Merritt Banister, Lafontaine.


County Council : E. S. Rittenhouse, Liberty Mills: Robert Crunkle- ton, Lagro: Thomas MeNamee, Wabash; T. II. Miller, Lafontaine; A.


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H. Bruckhart, Laketon; Lee Weimer, Wabash; C. Schmalzried, North Manchester.


County Officers: Hon. Alfred HI. Plummer, Judge Wabash Circuit Court, Wabash; Aaron Mandelbaum, prosecuting attorney, Wabash ; L. A. Baber, joint senator, Wabash and Fulton counties, Roann; John Isenbarger, representative, North Manchester; Daniel Showalter, auditor, Wabash; James Showalter, deputy auditor, Wabash; N. P. Lavengood, treasurer, Wabash; Elsie Oberg, deputy treasurer, Wabash; Ellis Bloomer, clerk, Wabash; William Zeller, deputy clerk, Wabash ; William Coble, sheriff, Wabash; Allen Swihart, deputy sheriff, Wabash; Alvah A. Garber, recorder, Wabash; Mona Edwards, deputy recorder, Wabash ; Robert K. Devricks, superintendent of schools, Wabash; William Goch- enour, surveyor, Wabash; John W. Wilson, coroner, Laketon; Homer Hoover, deputy coroner, Wabash; A. N. McCraeken, county attorney, Wabash; Joe Cowgill, county assessor, Wabash; Geo. A. Yopst, court reporter, Wabash; Jesse Parke, custodian of courthouse, Wabash; Ervin Thompson, superintendent poor farm, Wabash; Dr. G. M. LaSelle, health commissioner, Wabash ; Isaac Hoover, county road superintendent, North Manchester.


Township Trustees: Chester Township, E. J. Singer, North Man- chester; La Gro Township, D. E. Purviance, La Gro; Liberty Township, Jacob Sailors, Lafontaine; Noble Township, B. F. Hubbard, Wabash ; Pleasant Township, Frank Ireland, Laketon; Paw Paw Township, Jacob Wagoner, Roann ; Waltz Township, II. L. Emerick, Wabash, R. R. 8.


Township Assessors: Chester Township, Henry T. Tilman, North Manchester: La Gro Township, Warren Williams, Dora; Liberty Town- ship, Ollie Banister, Lafontaine ; Noble Township, D. W. Oswalt, Wabash ; Pleasant Township, A. C. Leffel, North Manchester, R. R. 5; Paw Paw Township, Quincy Carver, Roann; Waltz Township, P. S. Stout, Con- verse, R. R. 2.


School Boards: City of Wabash-V. A. Mattern, president of board ; Samuel R. Craig, secretary ; W. A. Elward, treasurer.


North Manchester-Oliver II. Fox, president of board; Charles F. Smith, secretary; Calvin Ulrey, treasurer.


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CHAPTER XI


MISCELLANEOUS AND STATISTICAL


CORN, THE POOR MAN'S CROP -- EARLY PLOWS-PRIMITIVE PLANTING, SOWING AND REAPING-FLAILING AND WINNOWING-FIRST INDIANA THRESHING MACHINE-FIRST HAY PRESS-EARLY RAISING OF HOGS -MARKETS AND PRICES-OTHER LIVE STOCK, FEW-HARD JOURNEYS TO MILL-CANAL BRINGS FARMER BETTER DAYS -- THE USEFUL ELLS- WORTHS-DRAWBACKS TO SETTLING THE UPPER WABASHI -- STATUS OF THE WABASH & ERIE CANAL-A CONVERT TO PRAIRIE LAND-RAIS- ING OF HIOGS FOR MARKET (1838)-REARING FINE CATTLE-MANU- FACTURE OF BEET SUGAR-AN OVERDONE PROPHECY-IT SEEMED LOGICAL THEN-FARMERS OF WABASH COUNTY ORGANIZE-FIRST FAIR, WITH OUTCOME-IMPROVEMENTS NOTED IN 1854-WABASHI AS A PACKING CENTER-CORN AND WHEAT IN 1857-PROGRESS OF THIE SOCIETY-PRESENT STATUS-CORN, OATS AND WHEAT (1914)-FOR- AGE CROPS-LIVE STOCK-FARMS AND LANDS CLASSIFIED-TAX PAYERS AND THEIR PROPERTY-SOME COMPARISONS FROM THE PAST-POPU- LATION OF COUNTY BY DECADES.


In the first chapter of this history, which deals with the physical features of the county. it has been shown how the soil of the Upper Wabash Valley is well adapted to the raising of grains and, especially this section of it, admirably fitted for the raising of live stock. But when the settlers from the East had overcome their preconceived notion that prairie soils were weak and valueless, as compared to those which bore heavy growths of timber, the great tide of migration commenced to flow into such states as Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. The result has been that within the memory of the later generation of residents, the manufactures of Wabash County have developed with much more rapid- ity than the agricultural or the pastoral, but, although its interests con- nected with the raising of corn, wheat and oats, or horses and cattle, are no longer of national moment, they are still important sources of revenue and decided sources of satisfaction to the home communities.


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CORN, THE POOR MAN'S CROP


For many years in the early times Indiana was the banner state in the raising of corn, the poor man's crop, but Illinois now raises twice as many bushels. Its erop of that cereal is still enormous, and of its 200,000,000 bushels annually drawn from the soil Wabash County con- tributes about two million bushels.


Corn was always its largest, as it was its first crop. At first the means for successful cultivation of the soil were few compared with the appliances of the present, yet they were apparently well adapted to the wants and the means of the period, being simple and inexpensive in their character.


EARLY PLOWS


A picture of these times, closely applicable to the pioneer farmer of Wabash County, is thus drawn by William Henry Smith in his "History of Indiana": "To plow the hill sides the farmer plowed so as to throw the furrow down the hill, and to do this the plow had to be dragged back to the starting point after every furrow. Contrast that slow and laborious method with the revolving plow now in use. The harrow was V shaped, with wooden teeth, the whole made by the farmer himself. The wheat had to be harvested with a sickle, with which an expert eut- ter would go over about three-quarters of an acre per day. About 1840 an improved plow known as the Peacock, taking its name from its inventor, was introduced. This created a revolution in the work of the farm, enabling the farmer to plow about twice the amount of land in a day.


PRIMITIVE PLANTING, SOWING AND REAPING


"The methods of planting and sowing were also of the primitive kind. The corn ground was 'laid off' both ways; the wife, or the boy or the girl, would drop the corn at the intersections, while the farmer would follow and cover with a hoe. Wheat, oats and barley were sown 'broad- cast,' the sower carrying his grain in a sack swung around his neck. Help was almost impossible to be obtained, and all the work devolved upon the farmer and his family. When there did come a surplus of population and men were seeking farm work, about the only time they could find employment was when the harvest was ready to be gathered. Then the bands of the sieklers came into play. Usually from five to ten persons would form these bands of reapers, one man following another


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across the field, cutting about half an aere each day. These bands would begin their work in the southern part of the state where the grain ripened first, and reap fields northward until they would reach the verge of civilized life in the territory. The best reapers would receive 3712 cents per day, or a bushel of wheat. It was not until 1840 that the grain cradle came into general use in the state. With that new implement, a good eradler and two binders could harvest and shock about two aeres per day.


FLAILING AND WINNOWING


"Previous to 1840 the grain was threshed either with a flail or trampled out with horses. Two men could flail out and winnow about twelve bushels per day, and two men and a boy, with horses, could tramp out and winnow about twenty bushels a day. The winnowing, or separ- ating the grain from the chaff, was done by the hand sieve. The mixed chaff and grain was poured from above on the bed-sheet, while two men would so vibrate the sheet as to create a current of air, which would blow the chaff to one side, while the heavier grain would fall in a pile at their feet.


FIRST INDIANA THRESHING MACHINE


"The first threshing machine was introduced into the southern part of the state in 1839. With four horses and eight or nine men 200 bushels of wheat could be threshed in a day. The wheat so threshed had to be cleaned afterward. It required three men two days to clean and saek what would be threshed in one. This was thought to be a wonderful improvement over the old way, and it was, but when com- pared with the steam threshers and separators of the present day it was very primitive.


"The seythe was the only implement for mowing the meadows. A good, strong man could only eut from one to two aeres in a day, working from sun-up until dark. The hand-rake was then used to rake up the hay preparatory to stacking it with the wooden fork. With a mowing machine a man now cuts ten aeres a day, and with a steel-toothed horse rake another easily prepares it for the stack, and a steel fork operated by a man and a horse stacks it.


FIRST HAY PRESS


"The first hay press in use was made of a long wooden screw about a foot in diameter, with ten or twelve feet of thread to the screw. A stick


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of timber twenty-six inches square, with a hole through the center, served as a nut, with threads eut to receive the wooden serew. The nut was framed into the top of two great posts, twenty-six by eighteen inches in size, and twenty-one feet long, standing four and a half feet apart. Six of these posts were planted in the ground. A space eleven feet high was left to receive the hay to be pressed. To the top of the great wooden screw was fastened a sweep thirty feet long, bent downward. To this horses were hitched. To complete a bail two feet square and four feet long, the horses operating the screw would have to travel about a mile and a half.


"Prior to the introduction of improved implements, about 1840, it took one farm hand twenty-four days to plow, seed and harvest ten acres of corn. At first only enough grain was grown for the use of the family and for stock feeding, as there was no market for it. The corn was ground or pounded into a coarse meal, or made into hominy. To these succeeded hand mills.


EARLY RAISING OF HIOGS


"As the farmer would get more land cleared, he would cultivate more corn and feed hogs, they transporting themselves to market. The breed was rough, and the hogs when fattened for market would only weigh about two hundred pounds gross, and prior to 1843 the price never reached two cents per pound gross. Cincinnati and Lawrenceburg were the two great markets for hogs, and in the winter to those two places the drovers would wend their slow way, driving several hundred hogs. During the summer and fall months the hogs were permitted to run at large in the forests, eating great quantities of mast with which the for- ests abounded. Later, they would be gathered and fed for a few weeks on corn, thus making their meat marketable. Running at large they became very wild, and often it would be the work of days and weeks to gather them together for fattening.


MARKETS AND PRICES


"As farming stretched farther into the interior, the difficulty of getting to market increased. Roads were few and of the worst char- acter. What surplus was raised had to find a market at Cincinnati, Louis- ville or New Orleans. To reach New Orleans, flat boats were used, and the farms near the interior streams were more profitable, for the farm- ers would combine, build one or more flat boats, load them with grain or baled hay, then float them out to the Ohio and thence down to New


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Orleans. Wheat and corn were frequently hauled to these waterways from a distance of seventy-five and a hundred miles, and when thus delivered over roads which much of the time were almost impassable, the priees obtained prior to 1840 was from thirty to fifty cents a bushel for wheat and from ten to twelve cents for corn.


OTHER LIVE STOCK FEW


"But few cattle were raised, only enough to furnish milk and butter for the family, and a yoke or two for farm work. A few sheep were also kept of mongrel breeds to supply wool for clothing. The wool was carded by hand, made into yarn on the hand spinning wheel and woven into jeans and linsy on hand looms, every farm house being supplied with these necessary articles to the pioneer. Milk cows were sold for eight dollars, and the best of them only produced three pounds of butter per week. Horses were only raised for farm purposes and the breed was very indifferent.


HIARD JOURNEYS TO MILL


"After some years water mills began to appear, here and there along the streams, but they were only caleulated to grind for home consump- tion, and the farmer, when he wanted flour or meal would fill a saek with wheat or corn and, throwing it over his horse, go several miles to mill, where, perhaps, he would have to wait half a day for his 'turn.'


"The first flour mill of any consequence erected in the state was built in Lawrenceburg, twenty miles west of Cincinnati on the Indiana side of the line, in 1839. To this mill grain was transported over the bad roads from all of Central Indiana. The trips would require from eight to ten days, and from seven hundred to nine hundred pounds were a good load for two horses or a yoke of oxen. Once at the mill the farmer would sell his wheat and take his pay in iron, salt, dye stuffs and other necessities. The wheat, when made into flour, would be shipped to New Orleans by boat.


CANAL BRINGS FARMER BETTER DAYS


"But a better day was coming for the Indiana farmer. New and better facilities for reaching markets were to be opened up. The first of these was the Wabash and Erie Canal which was opened in 1841. This waterway connected with the lakes and reached far into the interior of the state, thus affording ready and cheap transportation to the mar-


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kets of the East and even with Europe. This gave a great impetus to. the agricultural interests of the State, and the area of farming was wid- ened. IIogs were no longer the best paying products to be raised on the farm. Wheat, oats and other cereals began to be profitable, and the work of the farmer was greatly diversified. Railroad building was soon to. take its place in the work of furnishing markets for the surplus of the farmer. This brought a rotation of crops. Railroads were followed by manufacturing establishments, and a greater home demand. The in- crease in foreign and home demand brought with it a better breed of live stock and better varieties of grain. The farm acreage increased rapidly, and the new and improved implements and farm machinery made it possible for the agriculturist to keep up with the increased demand for his products."


THE USEFUL ELLSWORTHS


But the most interesting work of the historian is to place before his: readers the words of some authority who is living in the times of which he writes. Those of the present thereby get not only the atmosphere and coloring of the past, but may indulge in that comfortable, if rather unfair mental process of comparing the prophecies of the past with those developments which have brought the actual history up to the pres- ent. While the Wabash & Erie Canal was in process of building there was no publie man who more thoroughly investigated the agricultural possibilities of the country between the Ohio and the Mississippi, espe- cially of the Wabash Valley, than Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, commissioner- of patents, Washington, D. C. His relative, Henry W. Ellsworth, was a resident of Lafayette, and soon after the completion of the Wabash & Erie Canal to Wabash, published a very interesting book on the "Valley of the Upper Wabash, with Hints on its Agricultural AAdvantages; Estimates of Cultivation and Notices of Labor-saving Machines." The two Ellsworths co-operated both in the exchange of information and in the introduction of improved agricultural machinery into the valley of the Upper Wabash. Many of the pioneer farmers of Wabash County had cause to thank them both.


In a letter from the Commissioner to the author of the "Valley of the Upper Wabash," dated September, 1838, occurs the following: "I hope you will extend agricultural improvements, as far as your means. will allow. I shall cheerfully communicate, from time to time, such information on that subject as I can collect. In addition to the ma- chines already ordered for Lafayette, I shall soon send others, calculated for ditching, sowing, reaping, raking, flax pulling, ete .; all of which ..




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