USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Logan's History of Indianapolis from 1818. Giving a carefully compiled record of events of the city from the organization of the state government > Part 19
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20
In August 1864, it was discovered that large quantities of arms and ammunition were being secretly imported into the State, and a seizure of four hundred navy revolvers and many boxes of fixed ammu- nition was made in II. H. Dodal's office in the old Sentinel building. Papers also were found disclosing the existence of & secret military organization opposed to the Government, and implicating prominent parties in the movement. Arrests of a number of them followed shortly afterward, and a military commission was convened here for their trial. After full investiga- tion they were found guilty of tresson and sentenced to be hung. The finding was approved and the day fixed for execution, but President Lincoln reprieved them. President Johnson afterward ordered their execution, but subsequently commuted the punishment to imprisonment in the Ohio Penitentiary, from which they were after- terward discharged under a decision of the Supreme Court. During the pendency of the trial H. H. Dodd, one of the leaders in the scheme, made his escape from the third story of the post-office building and suc- ceeded in reaching Canada.
The political canvass of 1864 was earn- estly and enthusiastically conducted by the republicans, and the vote for Mr. Lin- coln-about twelve thousand-was the heaviest ever cast in this township, prob- ably over ten thousand five hundred vo- ters being residents of the city and sub- urbs. The meetings were held in the tab- ernacle, a large frame structure erected on the Washington street front of Court Square, and capable of accommodating several thousand persons. This building remained there for a year or more, and was frequently used for meetings, concerts, lectures, etc. A similar tabernacle had been built for the campaign of 1860, in the south-west corner of the square, and used in the canvass of that year. It, also,
92
HISTORY OF
remained standing about a year before its removal. Both buildings were used after the elections for shows and concerts.
The threatened political troubles had se- riously contracted business enterprizes here for several months before the war be- gan,and except the temporary activity im- parted at intervals by the arrival and equipment of the different regiments, no general improvement took place until late in the winter of 1862-3. Until that time many men were out of work, and from that cause volunteering was steady and re- cruits easily obtained. After the city was made a prison depot and garrisoned post, the government demand for articles and labor steadily increased, and as ope- rations in the south grew in magnitude, the advantageous position of the city as a supply depot became more evident. This fact attracted general attention and caused a rapid emigration hither, not only from all parts of the north, but thousands of southern refugees also made this their temporary home. The current constantly augmented during 1863-4. Houses could not be provided fast enough for the in- creasing throng, and cellars, garrets, and stables were crowded. Several families
often shared the same tenement, and many persons who came here to settle were compelled to leave, for want of shelter for their families. Rents increased enormous. ly for business houses and dwellings, pri- ces being limited only by the landlord's conscience, or the bonus a former tenant would accept for his lease. House hunting became a serious business, and any tene- ment was gladly accepted. Many shanties paid fifty per cent. per annum on their prime cost, and the same remark could be truthfully made of some business rooms. Work was found however for all comers .- Business in all lines was brisk. Every one had money, and fortunes were made! in two or three years, apparently without effort or skill. The influx of parties from abroad continued till the close of the war, and counting all persons, permanent resi- dents, soldiers, prisoners, and the miscel- laneous floating population in and around the city, it would be safe, perhaps, to es- timate the population in March, 1865, at eighty thousand.
Building though vigorously prosecuted during 1853-1 and 5, was greatly limited by the scareity and high price of materi- als, and the good wages asked and receiv- el by workmeu. Little material was on hand when the war began, and the demand being very limited for the first two years, only a small amount of it was collected, and it was not till the early spring of 1863 that the mannfacture and importation
of lumber and other materials began on a large scale. Prices then rapidly advanced, doubling within the year. The demand grew faster than the price. Heavy im- portations of pine lumber from the lakes to this point, were first made in 1563, aud for nearly a year the stock was compara- tively unsaleable, from the high price ask- ed, and the ignorance of our people with regard to the lumber. It had never been used here to any extent before that year, except in doors and sash brought from Dayton. Brick, stone and lime, also quick- ly rose in price, and with the rapid in- crease in wages, contractors lost money on the houses they erected Many persons de- sirous of building were prevented from doing so by the fear that the improvement when finished would not be worth half what it cost ; at least that was the excuse given by capitalists when urged to aid in the improvement of the city, and by building houses, afford homes, work, and business positions to those who were anx- ious to come here.
The settled limits of the city were large- ly extended in 1862-6, but the greatest im- provement was effected in filling up vacant lots with houses, and crowding population more closely on the original plat. A rapid change also occurred in business localities. Washington street had thus far been the choice location for the heavier houses, the small retail groceries being thinly scatter- ed elsewhere over the city, but with the rapid increase and concentration of popu- lation, came the concentration of this re- tail trade at subordinate centers, a half- mile from the street. Meat store, tin and shoe shops, drug stores, and doctors offices, collected in such centers, and the retail trade was so far diverted from Washington street that most of the grocery men left it. The wholesale trade also generally went to Meridian street, leaving Washington to the dry goods, boot and shoe and clothing houses, nearly a score of the latter being located along two or three squares.
The sudden and unexpected termination of the war closed many lines of business connected with it, and thousands were at once deprived of their usual employment. To these were soon added the discharged soldiers. Many of those thus left adrift were anxious to remain here, and would have done so had any chance been opened to them, but the general distrust regarding . the future caused a rapid contraction in business, and the great mass were com- pelled to go elsewhere in search of em- ployment. In a few months the unaccus- tomed sight of vacant dwellings greeted the eye, and shortly after, store rooms were to let. Rents grew less firm, then shaky,
93
INDIANAPOLIS FROM 1818.
then hada downward tendency, and finally reached a living point; averaging at pres- ent about half the war rates.
All parties were inepressibly shocked by the assassination of President Lincoln, the news being first made known at market on the morning of the 15th of April, and immediately afterward by the tolling of the central alarm bell, calling out the fire department and citizens. Business, which had begun for the day, at once ceased; manufactories closed, stores were shut, and without any concerted ac- tion, the people began draping their houses. Men with grief stricken faces gathered on the street, discussing the event. A notice calling a meeting at the State House was at once posted, and by nine o'clock thousands were assembled there. The troops stationed here were paraded, and marched with muffled drums and draped colors to the spot. The assas- sination and death of the President were officially made known, by the Governor, to the excited throng. Speeches were made in eulogy of the dead President by lead- ers of both parties, and resolutions adopted, pledging the support of the peo- ple to the government and incoming ad- ministration. The effect of the shock was so great that business did not recover its former tone and volume for several days afterward.
which the remains were to lie in state, was profusely and tastefully decorated, being wreathed with black and white, trimmed with evergreens and flowers, in- side and out. The halt was lined with black, relieved by stars, flower wreaths, pictures, busts and flags. The gate en- trance was occupied by a beautiful quad- ruple arch, profusely draped and covered with mottoes. The fence all round the square was covered with festoons of ever- greens and flowers. It was said by par- ties accompanying the cortege, that the decorations here were more extensive and beautiful than those at any other place on the route.
The arrangements were completed late at night on the 20th of April, and the fu- neral cortege arrived by special train early on the 30th. A great civic and mil- itary funeral procession had been ar- ranged, and extensive preparations made for the visitors from other parts of the State, who were to come by special trains. These arrangements were defeated, and the crowd greatly lessened, by a cold, heavy rain, beginning on the night of the 29th and lasting all the next day. The President's remains, removed from the train early in the morning, and placed on a large funeral car built for the purpose, were taken under military escort to the State House, where, during this and a part of the next day, they were visited by mauy thousand persons, who, regardless of the driving storm, patiently waited their turn for hours, in long lines before the building.
Toward the middle of April it was an- nouneed that the President's body would be brought through this eity on its way to Springfield. Meetings were held, and ar- rangements made to give a suitable ex- pression of the respect entertained by the The decorations, though badly injured by the rain, were allowed to remain stand- ing for nearly a month, when they were removed, and the materials sold by order of the Council. people for his memory. The city Council endorsed the movement on the 17th of April, invited the authorities of Cinein- nati and Louisville, and voted to defray the expenses. Many arches, beautifully The war having closed the people de- sired the great commanders who had be- come prominent in it to visit the place, and decorated and draped, were thrown across the streets on the line of the contemplated precession. Festoons of black, bound | in response to their invitations Generais with wreaths of evergreens and immor- | Sherman and Grant visited the city in telles, were stretched at regular intervals | 1805. General Sherman arrived on the across the streets, and from house to 25th of July, and was conducted through the principal streets by a great civic and military procession to the State House yard, where he made an able speech to the people counselling peace, and earnest ef- forts to repair the damages caused by the war. He held a reception and attended a banquet at Military Hall given by the former officers and soldiers of his com- mand. General Grant arrived in Septem- house. Many thousand yards of black and white fabrics, and car loads of ever- greens, were thus used on the streets, and en the State House and other public build- ings. All business houses and nearly all the dwellings in the city were more or less draped and ornamented, many of the decorations being very beautiful. Pic- tures and busts of the dead President, furled and draped flags, wreaths of ever- | ber, and was received by the State and greens, mottoes and shields, were dis- city authorities and military forces with the honors accorded to the Commander-in- Chief of the American army. A great military and civic procession conducted Playel everywhere, until the appearance of the city was startlingly transformed, The Sinte House, under the rotunda of
94
HISTORY OF
him to the State House yard, where he was welcomed in fitting terms by the Governor, and bowed his acknowledgments with a few well chosen words to the public. Hle held a reception in the evening and atten- ded the banquet at the Bates House at night.
Amusements were numerous and con- stant in the period intervening from 1861 to 1866. Nearly all the leading actors of the country appeared at the theater, which was open the greater part of each year, and constantly crowded by soldiers and strangers sojourning in the city. From 1804 to 1866 a museum was kept by Mad- ame English in the Kinder building on east Washington street, and largely pat- ronized by the rural population and sol- diers. Shows and circuses appeared regu- larly each summer to reap a full harvest, and negro minstrel bands and panoramas drew crowded houses. Sleight of hand and ledgerdemain were illustrated at Masonic Hall, by Herman and Heller, the great masters in the art, exciting the wonder and adding to the enjoyment of their audi- ences. Concerts, operas and lectures hal their full share of votaries, and fairs were revived for church and charitable pur- poses. A great fair was held in Septem- ber, 1864, on the military grounds for the benefit of the Sanitary Commission, lasting one week, and realizing a large sum of money. Since the war ended amusements have been fewer and less well patronized, the hard times telling seriously upon them.
The leading event in the musical line since the war was the annual German Sængerfest, held about the middle of Sep- tember, 1867, lasting three or four days. The programme included processions, ad- dresses, vocal and instrumental concerts, a ball, displays of fireworks, etc. The ar- rangements were made by a committee under direction of the Mannerchor of this city. A two story frame building, ninety or one hundred feet wide and one hundred and eighty feet long, was erected on the south east corner of Court Square. The floor was closely seated and wide galleries ran round three sides of the house, the whole affording accommodations for three or four thousand spectators. The north end was occupied by a wide raised plat- form for the orchestra and singers, and the whole interior was profusely decorated with pictures, wreaths, flags, mottoes, gas jets, etc. The exterior was also fully decorated and the roof surmounted with the flags of all nations. Many buildings in the city were finely decorated with flags and evergreens. The expenses were met by individual subscriptions, and an appro- priation of $1,500 from the city treasury.
The Fest was very successful pecuniarily and otherwise, a considerable sum being left on hand, and devored afterwar l to charitable purposes. Thousands of visit- ors were in attendance.
It has been stated heretofere that the four acre tract on the river bank south- west of the town, set aside for burial pur- poses by Judge Harrison, in 1821, was for years the only cemetery, and that at sub- sequent periods two or three adjoining tracts were platted as cemeteries by differ- ent parties. These were rapidly filling up as the city increased in size, and it became evident that some further provision must be made for cemeteries at a greater dis- tance from the city. With this object in view, a number of gentlemen held a pre- liminary meeting on the 12th of Septem- ber, 1863, to consult regarding the matter, and on the 25th of September, an associa- tion was formed, with James MI. Ray, President, Theodore P. Haughey, Secre- tary, S. A. Fletcher, Jr., Treasurer, and with seven directors. S. A. Fletcher, Sr., offerel to loan the necessary funds to purchase grounds, and a committee being appointed to select a site, soon after re- ported in favor of purchasing the farm and nursery of Martin Williams, three miles north-west of the city, on the Michi- gan road, together with several smaller adjoining tracts. The report was accepted, and the purchases made in the fall of 1863, and January, 1804, at prices ranging from $125 to $300 per acre, two hundred and fifty acres in all being secured at a cost of about $51,500. The money was loaned to the association by Mr. Fletcher, with addi- tional amounts to begin the improvements. A survey was ordered and plats made in October and November, and Mr. F. W. Chislett selected as Superintendent. He began the improvements in the spring of 1864. The large trees were cut into logs, which were sawed by a portable mill on the grounds, into lumber and fencing, with which the tract was enclosed. A gate lodge was built at the western entrance near the Michigan road, and in 1867, a large cottage residence for the Superintend- ent, was erected on the southern part of the grounds. The improvement of the car- riage ways and footpaths began in the spring of 1834, lots, irregular in plan and of various sizes, ranging from a few square feet to half an acre or more, were laid out. The grounds were dedicated in May or June, 1864, Albert S. White, delivering the oration. The first lot sale took place June 8, by auction, the price of lots being fixed at twenty-five cents per square foot as a minimum. The price has been advanced several times at subsequent dates.
95
INDIANAPOLIS FROM 1818.
Rules and regulations were adopted for the government of the association and cem - etery, June 4, 1864. Each lot-holder is in- terested in the capital of the association to the value of his lot. The lot-holders choose the officers. No profits or dividends are allowed, and after payment for the ground, (which has been fully made, the loan being repaid to Mr. Fletcher, ) all receipts are expended in the care and improvement of the cemetery. No fences or enclosures of lots are permitted, and the erection of great monuments is very properly discouraged. Notwithstanding this rule, the cemetery already shows too much marble for a strictly pleasing effect.
The improvements, consisting of gate lodges, superintendent's cottage, enclosing fences, carriage and foot ways, grading, sodding, grubbing, &c., have been rapidly forwarded since the spring of 1864, cover- ing forty or fifty acres near the hill, and already the cemetery compares well with older ones near other cities. The hill itself- formerly ealled Sand hill, and now known as Crown hill, giving name to the ceme- tery-eovers a base of twelve or fifteen aeres, and is over one hundred feet high. It is yet unimproved, and it is proposed to use it as the site for the receiving reser- voir in the contemplated system of water- works. Water is an excellent absorbent of gases arising from the decomposition of decaying bodies, and water consumers would be constantly reminded of their de- parted ancestors, by the taste and smell of their daily beverage.
A line of omnibuses was established to the grounds in 1864, but the facilities for reaching the spot were not thought suffi- cient, and in the spring of 1866, proposi- tions were made to extend the street rail- road from the terminus at the north end of Illinois street, to the cemetery. The resi- dents in the neighborhood, the cemetery board of directors, and the street railroad company finally made the necessary ar- rangements, and the line was completed during the fall of 1806 and spring of 1867, and opened for travel in April or May.
In May, 1866, the board dedicated a traet of ground to the government, for the inter- ment of the Union soldiers buried in the vicinity of the city. The grant was ac- cepted, and during the fall and following spring, the transfer of the bodies was effected under the direction of the govern- ment authorities, and the spot dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. On the 30th of May, 1868, under a general order issued hy Gen. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republie, a grand ovation was paid to the memory of the Union dead. Arrangements had been made by appro-
priate committees. The ladies labored zealously in preparing the floral tributes. A procession marched to the grounds, which were thronged by several thousand specta- tors, and after an address, singing and other preliminary exercises. each grave was wreathed and strewed with flowers by young ladies, and orphans of deceased sol- diers. The demonstration was a grand success, the only drawback being the diffi- eulty experienced by many in reaching and returning from the grounds. Business was generally suspended, and the day ob- served as a holiday. It is probable that the ceremony will be continued annually hereafter.
This article may close with a rapid and brief mention of the more important acts of the city government from 1801 to 1867.
The mayor, in May 1862, called the at- tention of the Council to the number of abandoned women incarcerated iu the jail, and the bad results arising from such a course toward them. He recommended the erection of a house of refuge to which they could be sent, and in which a reform- atory treatment could be pursued. Noth- ing, however, was done at the time with the project. On the 27th of July, 1868, S. A. Fletcher, Sr., submitted a proposition to the Council, offering to give seven or eight acres of ground south of the city as a site, provided the city would agree to ereet the buildings. Estimates, by D. A. Bohlen, architect, were also fled, fixing the cost of the house at $8,000, and a Citi- zens Committee, at the same time, asked that the proposed enterprise should be committed to the care of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd. The donation was ac- cepted by the Council August 10th ; $5,000 were appropriated toward the house, which was to be used partly as a house of refuge for abandoned and drunken women. and partly as a city prison for females. Plans were submitted and adopted on the 24th of August. The house was put in charge of the building committee, and a board of three trustees provided for. Con - tracts were let in the fall, and during the next year the basement story was finished in good style. The rapid advance in ma- terial and labor caused great loss to the contractor, and difficulty ensued between him and the city. The work stopped and has ever since been suspended. The en- tire cost thus far being about $5,000. Good faith to the generous donor of the site, and charity to the class provided for by the en- terprise demand the speedy completion of the buildings.
A society for the amelioration of the condition of fallen women was formed in 1866, with a board of trustees and diree-
96
HISTORY OF
tors and a list of officers. Aid was also to
walks paved; three miles were lighted. be extended to worthy and friendless fe- | In 1867 one hundred and ninety- five houses, males. A house was rented in the north part of the second ward as a home for the | | costing $770,470, were built, and five hun- dred and fifty-two permits for repairs, friendless, ani a home for those wishing ! costing $132,050 were issued; four and to escape the life of infamy to which they one-half miles of streets and nine of side- walks were graded and graveled; four squares were bouldered, and twenty-two squares of side-walks paved ; four and one- half miles of streets were lighted. The members of the board receive pay for the time actually employed, and the clerk re- ceives fees for the permits issued. seemed condemned. It was placed in charge of Mrs. Sarah Smith as matron, and has since sheltered many of this unfortu- nate class. Some have been entirely reclaimed, and the institution seems des- tined to effect much good. Material aid has recently been asked from the Council, and it is not improbable that to the society will be given the charge of the house of refuge when that building is completed.
Under the provisions of the incopora- tion act, the council, on the 1st of October, 1864, nominated L. Vanlandingham, A. Naltner, James Sulgrove, D. S. Beatty and D. V. Culley as a board of city commission- ers, to assess damages and benefits from the opening of new streets or alleys, or the cutting of sewers or new channels for streams. The nominations were confirmed soon after by the common pleas court, and applications of that nature have since been referred to that board.
The city ordinance required parties building houses to obtain special permis- sion before obstructing the streets with materials. These applications consumed much time in the council, and to avoid further trouble from this source, an ordi- nance establishing a board of public im- ! provements was introduced in the fall of 1863. It remained pending for several months, and on the 10th of April, 1864, another ordinance was substituted and pas- sed, creating a board of public improve- meuts, to be composed of three members annually selected from the council. They were to choose one of their number presi- dent, and the city clerk was to be their secretary. All projects connected with the
The many troops and prisoners stationed here had caused uneasiness among medical men for fear of sudden epidemies. The prevalence of measles, small pox and cholera had been prevented by care and prompt attention-small pox cases being treated in a small building on the hospital grounds. In January, 1864, however, cases public buildings, market houses, bridges, i of small pox became quite numerous not culverts, sewers, drains, cisterns, street improvements, parks, gas lighting, water- works, &c., were to be referred to them for examination, and all work was to be exe- cuted under their direction. They were to report their action in all cases to the council. Persons intending to build, re- pair or remove houses, were to get permits from the board, giving the location, cost, &c., of the proposed work, and a register was to be kept and reported of the permits. only among the troops, but in different parts of the city; and in February, the government and city authorities rented ground and built a pest house on the river, two miles north-west of town. Further cases were promptly sent there, and the spread of the disease was soon checked. After the war the government turned the house over to the city, and the ground was afterward bought and deeded to the city, December 23d, 1865.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.