USA > Indiana > Wabash County > History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 4
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Wagoner, Jacob MI., 217
Wagoner, J. M .. 440
Walker, James, 772
Walker, John, 771
Walker, Lyman, 200 Wallace, Charles N., 539
Wallace, John M., 193. 198, 200
Wallace, John R., 392
Wallace, William, 539
Walter, Bossler, 166, 536
Walter, Christian, 845
Walter, Fred B., 538
Walter, John, 902
Walter, John, 845 Waltz, Frederick, 164, 462
Waltz Township. 86, 164, 458-67
Waltz, Lieutenant, 45, 50
Wampler. Mary, 112
Warner, David, 455 Warner, Jacob, 455
INDEX
Warner, O. D., 869 Wasem, Charles, 656
Water Works, Wabash, 309
Watkins, John, 419 Watson, Thomas, 154
Wan-sa-augh (Governor Ray), 58
Weas (Quiatenons), 14, 39
Webb, Thomas, 104, 109 Weber, Erhart, 723
Weekly Intelligencer, Wabash, 332 Weesner, Allen, 463
Weesner, Clarkson W., 113, 119, 120, 121, 123, 205, 306, 328, 896
Weesner, Elihu, 102, 103, 136, 461, 463
Weesner, Jonathan, 197, 329, 465, 896
Weesner, Johiel, 461
Weesner, Martha, 110
Weesner, Nathan, 461
Weesner, Robert E., 936
Wellman, George A., 163
Wellman, Jerome, 118
Wellman, Moses F., 209
Wells, A. G., 428
Wells, IIngh, 397
Wells, O. B., 397
Wells, P., 397
Wells, Presley, 455
Wells, S. K., 397
Wells, S. W., 455
Wesleyan Methodist Church, Laketon, 456
Western House, La Gro, 418
Westlake. Burroughs, 346
Wharton, Benjamin, 348
Wheeler, Henry, 293
Wheeler, Isaae, 74, 293
Wheeler, Milton, 74, 293
Wheeler, John M., 183, 197, 204 Wheeler, John, 271
Wheeler, W. F., 346
Whiteraft, L. H., 217
Whiteneck, John, 466 White, F. W., 106, 108
White. Josiah, 298
White's Institute (view), 297 White's Manual Labor Institute, 296-300
Whiteside, D. M., 361
Whiteside, Thomas C., 201
Whiteside, Thomas E., 875
Whitinger, D., 211
Whitmore, James, 257
Wiechmann, F. C., 350 Wilbur, F. A., 321 Wilcox, Malinda, 123
"Wild Cat" Banking, 100
Wiley, Samuel, 404, 408 Wilfley, Earle, 349 Wilkerson, R. HI., 322
Wilkinson, C. W., 419
Willcox, John I., 662 Williams, Allena F., 111 Williams, Avery, 217
Williams, Benjamin F., 52, 111, 113, 119, 124, 203
Williams, B. F., 99, 115, 116, 122, 166, 205, 278, 279, 280, 281, 362, 363 Williams, Howard, 217 Williams. Jesse D., 306
Williams, Jesse L., 235
Williams, John W., 384
Williams, W. S., 807
Williamson, F. IL., 453
Willis, William E., 249
Willman, Samuel, 441
Wilson, Absalom, 969
Wilson, D. W., 419
Wilson, G. W., 397
Wilson, James, 194, 490
Wilson, James W., 304, 306
Wilson, Jesse, 299
Wilson, John M., 197
Wilson, J. Wood, 52
Wilson, L. S., 162
Wilson, Robert, 72, 291
Wimmer, John R., 286
Wines, Josiah L., 192, 407
Wines, J. Leonard, 410
Wines, J. L., 402, 404
Winfield, W. S., 349
Winger, Otho, 389, 874
Winton, William R., 248
Wohlgamuth, Jacob, 121
Wohlgamuth, William, 299
Wolf, Benjamin, 576
Wolf, Emma, 577
Wolf, Harmon, 515
Wolf, Louis, 364
Wolford, H. H., 440
Woman's Library Association, Wabash, 324
Woman's Relief Corps No. 8, Wabash, 285
Woods, Harvey F., 166
Woods, W. W., 285
Woolpert, H., 432
Working, William, 841
Worrall, William, 421
Worth, Alexander, 77, 293
Worth, David, 467 Worth, Daniel, 154 Wright, I. B., 396
Wright, James M., 441
Wright, John W., 200
Wright, Peter, 122
Wynes, Josiah L., 78, 466
Yarnelle, Will, 328
Yeagley, J. B., 322 Yeomans, C. G., 432 Young, E. S., 389
Young, John, 419
Zahm, George J., 793 Zeigler, Annie M., 579 Zeigler, Nelson, 578 Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, North Manchester, 397
History of Wabash County
CHAPTER I
PHYSICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
BELONG TO THE UPPER SILURIAN AGE-LIMESTONE DEPOSITS, BUILDING AND HYDRAULIC-PAVING STONE-ANALYSIS OF CEMENT STONES- STRONG SOIL-GOOD TIMBER LAND-HARD WOOD INDUSTRIES -- DRAIN- AGE-TOPOGRAPHY-ALONG THE WABASH AND EEL RIVERS-THE LAKE COUNTRY-TIMBER LANDS REPLACED BY FARMS-UNSANITARY REPUTA- TION OF THE EARLY WABASH COUNTRY-SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL IN- VESTIGATIONS-" WHERE TO BUILD AND NOT TO BUILD"-NOW IN THE LIST OF HEALTHFUL PLACES-ARCHEOLOGICAL REMAINS-MASTODON GIGANTEUS OF WABASH COUNTY ( PLEASANT TOWNSHIP).
The only logical way to write history is to follow Nature. This truth holds whether one is writing a universal history or the story of a locality. The introduction to the chapter dealing with mankind, his works, his failures and his accomplishments, should always be a narrative of how kind Nature has prepared a home for him on this earth-a habitation which he has sometimes improved, swept and garnished, and at other times sadly neglected.
In the case of Wabash County Nature was very kind, for it nestles in the lap of one of the most beautiful and fertile valleys in the world, and one of the great natural passages for the primitive races of men be- fore ownership in land was even a dream. It would be stretching the subject beyond reasonable proportions to revert to the dim period when that part of the world was "without form and void;" so the story com- mences with the laying down of the great limestone beds of Central and Northwestern Indiana. Then by glacial action and the slower scouring of the receding waters, the graceful grooves which we call the valleys of the Wabash, the White and the Kankakee, were worn in the limestone beds, and finally clad with soil, verdure and forests. Vol. 1-1
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HISTORY OF WABASHI COUNTY
BELONG TO THE UPPER SILURIAN AGE
Geologically speaking, Wabash County and the Upper Wabash Valley belong to the Upper Silurian age, the more solid beds of limestone hav- ing usually a thick blanket of shales, in places fifteen feet through. The soils derived from the disintegration of the rocks of this age are, as a rule, rather heavy clays, although in many parts of the county the sur- face rocks are limestones in thin layers (as in the southern parts of Wabash City ), which materially changes the character of the soil. In the northern portion of the county, the soil is quite sandy. These mix- tures of clays, sand and disintegrated limestone give a variety of soil, which, with artificial stimulants, modern drainage and other improve- ments, produces good crops of grain, grasses, vegetables and fruits-al- though horticulture has found more favorable habitats along the Eastern shore of Southern Lake Michigan.
LIMESTONE DEPOSITS, BUILDING AND HYDRAULIC
Various geologists connected with the State Survey have reported the results of their examinations. Theoretically, they have sliced down through the several layers of soil and rock embraced by the upper strata of the geological division assigned to Wabash County. One of the ex- aminations conducted in the bluffs of the Wabash River near the city results as follows :
Loose and thin limestones, 15 to 20 feet ; chert and flag-stones, 8 to 10 feet ; aluminous shales, 15 feet; silico-calcareous rock, 15 to 20 feet ; good building roek, 20 to 25 feet ; hydraulic limestone, 5 to 8 feet ; good building stone, thickness of stratum unknown.
Another expert deduces the following, his table illustrating how the various layers of soil and stone vary in thickness :
· Soil and drift, 5 to 90 feet ; porous limestone for burning, 0 to 40 feet ; paving stones, 0 to 8 feet ; compact argillaceous limestone, 0 to 20 feet ; hydraulie limestone and mud-stones, 10 to 50 feet.
PAVING STONES
The gray limestone, seen at Logansport and a few localities in Miami County, first becomes laminated and then cherty (flint-like), while at Wabash it is thin-bedded and furnishes an unlimited amount of the best paving stone. The bed of paving stone crowns the higher hills along the river at Wabash, and is found underlying all the adjacent tablelands when not eroded. It is generally about eight feet thick,
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HISTORY OF WABASHI COUNTY
and composed of a hard, pure, gray limestone, sheeted down in layers from two to four inches thick, separated by thin partings of clay. This deposit is a source of decided income to various citizens of the county. At a few localities the paving stone is interrupted by heavy bedded lime- stone, but at Wabash it rests directly on the hydraulic limestone. This is an exception to the general rule, although not infrequently the ease in the southern part of the city.
Below these paving stones, and sometimes interchanging, oceurs a deposit of thick bedded quarry stones. Sometimes it is found thrown down from its legitimate position by the interlocation of the clay sand- stones.
ANALYSIS OF CEMENT STONES
Experiments on the hydraulie limestone of Wabash County have been progressing for more than forty years, and some good cement has been produced. An analysis of the stone in comparison with that of standard hydraulie limestone seems to show a disproportion in certain essential elements, the chemical combination of which under water, forms the well known cement of commerce.
" For hydraulic purposes, " says Professor Cox, former Indiana state geologist, "the essential constituents of a cement stone are carbonate of lime and siliea. The hardening under water is mainly due to the chemical combination of these constituents through the agency of water, producing hydrated silica of lime; where other bases are present, such as alumnina and magnesia, double silicates are formed that become very hard and strong. In order to bring about this chemical change, the silica must be brought to that condition which will enable it to form a gelatinous paste with acids. A portion of the silica may be in this condition naturally, but by far the larger portion remains unaeted upon by acids until brought to a white heat in the presence of carbonate of lime.
"There is a very wide difference noticeable in the relation of the silicic acid and the earth bases with which it combines-Inne, magnesia and alumina. I mention these earths, since they alone are serviceable in connection with the silieic acid to form a good hydraulic mortar. If these substances are present in combining proportions, the ratio of silicic acid to bases may be 100 of the former to 366 of the latter. If line and magnesia form the base, the ratio should be about 100 to 277. If lime alone constitutes the base, the silieie acid should be 100 to 200, and when of lime and alumina, 100 to 398. When foreign substances are present, which we find always to be the case, then these ratios will, of course, have to be varied."
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IIISTORY OF WABASHI COUNTY
For purposes of comparison the proportion of these essentials in the composition of cement stones quarried from several of the famous deposits of the world is given, with the showing of the Wabash County hydraulie limestone :
Rosendale, New York . 100 silicates to 149 carbonates
Cumberland, Maryland . 100 silicates to 186 carbonates
Vassey, France 100 silicates to 465 carbonates
Bologne, Italy 100 silicates to 311 carbonates
England 100 silicates to 341 carbonates
Wabash County 100 silicates to 124 carbonates
STRONG SOIL
The prevailing strong soil of Wabash County made it a good timber land. There was comparatively a small area of prairie in the north- western part, north of Eel River, known as the Barrens. When the first farmers commenced to take up land to cultivate, there was virtually no convenient market for the hard woods which prevailed, such as oak, hickory, walnut, beech, sugar, ash and sycamore. Their pressing object was to clear the timber from their lands, which they accomplished gen- erally by burning. Thus a wholesale destruction of timber was inaug- urated, and by the early '70s, residents of the county were voicing their regret through the publie prints. For instance, a writer of that day says: "A fine quality of timber has now become scarce and valuable. Black walnut, a species of timber once quite abundant and often burned in log-heaps, has reached such a price in the markets that if one were fortunate enough to own a quarter section covered with this kind of timber he would be ranked among the wealthiest citizens.
"The demand for nearly every kind of timber is increasing, from the fact that in the older states most of the forests have been cut away, while many of the states and territories lying west of Indiana being practically destitute of timber are depending on Western Ohio and Indiana for their supplies of hard wood.
"The number and variety of manufactures from the products of the forest are constantly increasing and bid fair to become a leading in- dustry. Among the most important of the articles made are furniture, wagons and carriages, and parts of them staves, agricultural imple- ments, etc. At present the price of timber is such that a tract of tim- bered land is about equal in value to a tract that is eleared off. If there is much good timber, or the facilities for shipment, good by reason of being near to a town or railroad, it is more valuable, but if the timber is poor and back from the railroad it is worth less than cleared land."
5.
HISTORY OF WABASHI COUNTY
DRAINAGE
A most valuable supplement to the richness and variety of the soil, is the free drainage of the surface of the country and the abundant supply of water through running streams and living springs. These features give it a solid standing as a live stock country.
The northern portion of the county is watered by Eel River and its tributaries. The Wabash River passes through the South-Central portions from southwest to northeast, and is intersected by the Sal- amonie four miles from the county line on the east, and the Mississinewa River drains the southern townships.
TOPOGRAPHY
Wabash County has an area of 426 square miles, the surface of which is generally level. There are no very high hills, notwithstanding the land is rolling or undulating near all the water-courses, except at the head of them, which is usually level. Taken as a whole, the county is pleasantly diversified.
Along and near the Wabash River, are found rocky bluffs of con- siderable altitude. Along the margin of that stream to the northward the ridges extend to the southward, the slopes fronting to the southeast and the northwest, while on the opposite side of the river they run toward the northwest with less gentle undulations to the right and left, affording good drainage in the direction of the water-courses that traverse the country at no great distances from each other.
THE LAKE COUNTRY
That portion of the country north of Eel River was originally com- posed of sandy prairies, or oak openings, interspersed with many small lakes varying in area from two to one hundred acres. Pleasant Town- ship, in the northwestern part of the county, is the favored locality. Long Lake, the largest of the score of pretty little bodies of water, is about a mile long and one-third in width. Lukens, the next in size, is perhaps two-thirds as large, and situated half a mile east of the Miami County line. Then there are Round, Flora, Bull, Mud, Bear, Flat and Twin lakes, others too small for names, but all contributing to make the country cheerful and pleasant. Their outlets are generally into tribu- taries of Eel River. Several of the prettiest of them cluster around the little Town of Laketon, which has some reasonable ambitions to become a lively summer resort.
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IHISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
TIMBER LANDS REPLACED BY FARMS
With the exception of this country of lakes, prairies and oak openings, the lands of Wabash County were originally covered with a vigorous growth of timber of varieties which indicated, as noted, both a strong and fertile soil. The most abundant of these forest growths were white and black walnut, hickory, ash and oak. In the northern portion of the timber area, where the soil became lighter, appeared the beech, sugar and maple trees, with lesser growths of black walnut, burr oak, ash and hickory, white and yellow poplar, linn or basswood, hackberry, cherry and elm.
Of course, the first growths of timber have long since disappeared, the largest areas having been replaced by rich fields of corn, oats and wheat, while the lake country and other tracts widely scattered, produce luxuriantly of clover and timothy. Horses, cattle and milch cows, swine and poultry are large sources of wealth to the people of Wabash County, Nature, with the energetic assistance of man, having provided them with the proper conditions for their support and increase.
UNSANITARY REPUTATION OF THE EARLY WABASH COUNTRY
Before settlement had long progressed in Wabash County, it was feared that its comparatively level surface and rather slow-moving waters were unfavorable conditions to healthful residence. Malaria, typhoid fevers, diphtheria and like diseases gave the country such a bad reputation that the settlers commenced to doubt whether it would ever be fit for habitation; but, with the study and practice of public sanitation, the introduction of scientific drainage to city and country and the establishment of pure water supplies in every community, how- ever small, Wabash County fell into line with the other healthful spots of God's country. It has been many a long day since any of its resi- dents has dared breathe a hint that there is any drawback to long-life from residence in any section of Indiana, least of all to any locality in the Upper Wabash Valley. "That very faet is one of the wonders of my day," remarked a Wabash City pioneer not many weeks ago. "If I had been told even forty years ago that the Wabash Valley would be free of malaria, as healthful a place in which to live as Northern New York or any of the highlands of New England, I would have scorned such a prophet. But it is but another illustration of what modern science is doing for the comfort, happiness, and longevity of man."
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IHISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL INVESTIGATIONS
In the light of that remark, it is of interest to note some of the con- clusions reached by a sanitary expert of forty years ago-Dr. James Ford (U. S. Surgeon), who made a thorough examination of the Wabash Valley in this county, for the very purpose of suggesting precautions against the diseases peculiar to the locality. The doctor was both seien- tific and practical, as is evident from the brief extracts which we take from his extended treatment of the subject. He says: "The object of the following pages is to make known an original discovery in sanitary science of great value to the people.
"Local currents of air are governed by law and always move under similar ciremstanees in the same direction.
"The air, in dry valleys in summer and fall seasons is warmer, hence lighter, than that of adjacent highlands and that immediately over the valley.
"The cool air of the highlands underruns the warmer higher at- mosphere of the valley ; the lighter flows up over the cooler on the elevated lands, cools off, settles down and runs back into the valley; thus form- ing a revolving elliptical ring, which carries and distributes the heat, malaria and germs of disease of the valley on the dry lands. These movements take place alike and at the same time on both sides of the valley, and continue at this place ( Wabash ) until 11 o'clock P. M.
"The air in the valley by the loss of heat shrinks in volume, caus- ing a sag in the upper air, which by its dynamic force continues with an accelerated motion, subtending both the other currents. It settles down in a wedge-shaped body, with its apex over the center of the valley, reverses both the lateral currents, and when its point is heated by the soil it parts in the middle and runs upon the hillside on the elevated lands. These movements continue until the sun's rays in the morning change them.
"All these air currents described above form a great pneumatie engine to carry the heat and vapor from the heated lowlands and to dis- tribute them over the high grounds and hills. If it be in a valley, the machine moves up at the rate of from one to four miles per hour. Malaria and the germs of disease are carried and distributed over the country wherever these air currents move.
"The question of health or disease in any locality may be deter- mined within 100 feet (a priori) by understanding the topography of the locality, as well in prairies as among the hills and valleys.
"The place for orchards, vineyards and tender plants may be as
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IIISTORY OF WABASHI COUNTY
easily settled as the questions of health or disease. They should not usually be placed near the dwelling house.
"These observations and experiments were always made of still nights. During the day time the sun's rays render the atmosphere so unsteady that accurate observations cannot be made in this diree- tion."
WHERE NOT TO BUILD
"In selecting a site for a dwelling house, shun ground in which the water level is high and the soil is wet or very damp, and in which there may be a large amount of humus or decaying animal or vegetable mat- ter and where thorough drainage cannot be obtained. Test the water supply first. If much vegetable or animal matter is found in it seleet another site. Mists and fogs are always unhealthy.
"Never locate at the mouth of a valley that empties into a larger one, nor upon the banks if the fogs settle there. These valleys aet as venti-ducts or chimneys to carry air loaded with moisture and the germs of disease to the high lands along the banks for great distances. If the prevailing winds pass over marshy lands or water where mists or fogs abound, avoid their track. Avoid damp, dark valleys and low places surrounded by hills. Avoid locations where the air passing up running streams will strike the residence. In mountainous countries shun places where the cold winds, after a hot day, run down their slopes and cover the dwelling. The variation in temperature in winter on slopes facing to the northwest is too great for health and comfort if it can be avoided. Neither the top nor the bottom of high hills is eligible for a dwelling place; the former is too changeable, the latter too damp.
"Houses should not be erected on what is called 'made-up ground,' unless thoroughly under-drained before the fill is made, especially if it was a hollow through which the water flowed after wet spells. Rains and melting snow fill the interstices of the ground for many feet beneath its surface. This water percolates through the earth into these hollows and carries out particle by particle of the finer constituents of the soil until a natural conduit or waterway is formed. Through this, the land above is relieved of its surplus water, so far as the trend is in this direction. The places are usually filled up with ashes, street eleanings, dirt from cellars, and every variety of garbage from the town or city. When this ground is filled with water, the natural outlet being blocked up, the hydraulic pressure above forces this water through the interstices of the made-up ground, carrying out its carbonie acid and other noxious
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HISTORY OF WABASII COUNTY
gases, filling the air in its locality with dampness and malaria. These are dangerous locations and should never be occupied by living beings until thoroughly drained below the filling. I will venture the opinion that such places may be traced out in cities today which have not been completely under-drained by the cases of sickness that occur alone. These negative observations are written for the rural population; in cities and towns, it is only the privileged few who have the advantage of selecting sites for new houses."
WHERE TO BUILD A HOUSE
Having told "Where Not to Build a House," Dr. Ford directs "Where to Build a House," as follows: "Select an elevated situation where the water is pure, where it does not rise and fall by accessions of surface water after hard rains and where its level does not range above fifteen feet below the surface; where the drainage is or may be made perfect ; where the air is fine and pure and not contaminated by emanations from the soil; where the sun's rays are not obstructed by high hills or forest trees. Fear not his rays, for by them all animated nature lives, moves and grows. Select a soil, if possible, not too reten- tive of moisture, but a dry, gravelly, sandy loam or limestone forma- tion, compact clay or clay with gravel; and a low water level with thorough drainage makes a commendable site. A bench, part way up the hill near a break or a hollow in it, facing the southeast, south or south- west, other things being equal, makes a very pleasant plaee for a dwelling house on such formations.
"On level lands it is needful to proceed with more circumspection. It is necessary, not only to make accurate observations on air currents, but the thermometer must be used to settle these important questions. Dig or bore down from one to three feet in several places, on dry as well as damp grounds; take the temperature at the bottom and top of all the excavations, and then compare them. The soil that will carry the largest amount of heat the lowest down, in a given time is, in the main, the dryest. A soil that will not conduet the sun's heat downward is unfit to live upon; it is too damp or too wet."
"Dampness is the exciting cause of colds, bronchitis, rheumatism, consumption and doubtless many other diseases. Polluted air and water give rise to a large class of maladies known as 'filth diseases,' too nu- merons to name, but typhoid fever and diphtheria are specimens of them.
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