USA > Indiana > Northwestern Indiana from 1800 to 1900; or, A view of our region through the nineteenth century > Part 28
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County, and this seems to have been an organization for the two counties. An examination of the list of signatures shows that the men signed first in the order of their dates of residence, and then the women in the same order.
5. The Porter County Association was planned May 26, 1881, at a gathering of old settlers to cele- brate, at the home of George C. Buel of Valparaiso, the seventieth anniversary of his birthday. It was there decided that persons over forty-five years of age, residents for twenty-five years of Porter County, should be considered "old settlers."
The organization was still further perfected by a committee of thirteen citizens who met June 25th, and adopted five articles of association, restricting membership to those who had been residents twenty- five years before July 1, 1881, and that all such who were over forty-five years of age, should by signing the articles of the association be entitled to all its benefits along with their children. September 17th was appointed for the first public meeting .. On that day some five hundred met on the public square, where there were large forest trees to give shade, and then completed their organization by the election of officers. The public exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. W. J. Forbes. An address of welcome was given by Hon. J. N. Skinner, and singing and short addresses, eighteen in number, followed.
At the second meeting, September, 1882, the open- ing prayer was by Rev. Robert Beer, the address of welcome by Mayor T. G. Lytle, many short addresses were made, the list of old settlers who had died was read by H. Hunt, and the officers were re-elected. "A large crowd was present," much interest was mani-
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fested ; but, for some reason, the organization has not flourished.
6. An Association was organized in Pulaski Coun- ty, September 15, 1879, but it was not kept up.
7. A separate organization, an Association for Newton County, was organized at Mount Ayr, July 25, 1899. It is likely to prosper and to live.
A more extended notice of the La Porte County Old Settlers' Association, the oldest, the largest, the most complete of all, as a social organization, has been reserved for this page.
A call. for a meeting of "old settlers" was issued in 1869, to which fifty-five names were attached, names of well known, reliable, substantial citizens of the county, requesting old settlers to meet November 20, 1869. One hundred and eight met that day in Hunts- man Hall, in the city of La Porte, registered their names, place and date of birth, and date of settlement in the county, in a book which had been prepared for that purpose, perfected an organization, and elected officers for the coming year. Thirty-three years resi- dence in the county was required for membership, 110 restriction as to age being made. Not only was men- bership restricted to this term of residence in the county, but also attendance at all the annual gather- ings, except that husbands might bring their wives, and also wives their husbands, and at length the priv- ilege of attending the annual meetings was extended to ministers and editors and a few invited guests. It was designed and carried on very exclusively by old settlers and for old settlers. General Josephı Orr and Hon. C. W. Cathcart were, among others, very active and earnest in making the association a true success. The latter was the first president and the former the
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first treasurer. The organization took place forty years after the first settlement. At the meeting in 1870, which was on the 22d of June, five hundred were present.
Their "second annual re-union," some one knew how to count-was June 22, 1871, about seven hun- dred were present. Those who arrange for the meet- ings endeavor usually to meet on the longest day of the year, either June 2Ist or 22d. Besides singing, prayer, short addresses, and sometimes orations, the list is read by some one, of those who have died during the year. In June, 1875, sixty names were read from the death roll, a few of them, however, not having been reported the year before. In 1876 only thirty were reported. In 1877 the record is: "The Hon. C. W. Cathcart and General Joseph Orr, who had been for so long filling the offices of President and Treas- urer, respectively, declined a re-election." In 1874 eight pioneers had appeared upon the platform, all of whom were over eighty years of age. Among these was General Orr. His death was reported in 1878.
The Lake County Old Settlers' Association differs in one respect from all the others. Besides the officers which the others have, President, Secretary, Treasurer, it has another called Historical Secretary, who is ex- pected to keep a record of all events during the year, supposed to be of interest to the members of the asso- ciation, and these he reports each year. Then, every five years, these reports are printed for the members, and thus Lake County history is recorded as well as made, year by year. It is believed that Lake County now has in print the most complete local history of any county in Indiana.
There is an organization, belonging to Porter and
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Lake Counties, that is, perhaps, unique. It is known as the Dinwiddie Clan. It is composed of members of the Dinwiddie families, some of whom were pioneer settlers in La Porte, in Porter, and in Lake Counties, who trace their descent up, through four David Din- widdies-in some of the lines there are six in succes- sion-to an ancestor known as David Dinwiddie the first. Then through him they trace, but without the historic records, back to John Din of Scotland, who received from his king for a meritorious act one hun- dred pounds in money and the addition to his name of woodie, so that his name became John Dinwoodie, written afterwards in various forms .* Or, if not surely to him, then they trace to Allen Dinwithie of Scotland, the chief of whose clan, Thomas, was slain in Dinwiddie's tower in 1503 by the Jardins, by whom also it is supposed, the Laird of Dinwiddie was assas- sinated in Edinburgh in 1512.
Further facts in regard to this organization can be sufficiently obtained from the following published no- tice, with only this additional statement that the "Clan" in Lake and Porter Counties owes its existence as an organization to efforts and researches of Oscar Dinwiddie of Plum Grove; and that the members of the organization have made arrangements for the pre- paration of a book giving the Dinwiddie family records.
"THE DINWIDDIE REUNION.
On Saturday, September 4, 1897, the members of the Dinwiddie Clan met at Plum Grove for their
* I have seen a list of forms of this name, one hundred and thirty in number, which list was sent by Thomas Dinwiddy, an T. H. B. architect of Greenwich, London, to Oscar Dinwiddie of Plum Grove.
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fourth annual reunion. The grove in which they met between the home of Mr. E. W. Dinwiddie and the home of Mr. I. Bryant, is a delightful place for such a gathering. The shade is abundant, and yet the grove is quite open and airy, the trees, many of them hick- ory, are quite tall and thrifty, and the ground was clean and neat in its appearance. There were nice places for hammocks, for swings, and smooth and open places for croquet grounds. The table for the dinner was one hundred and twenty-five feet in length and provided on each side with seats, seating com- fortably one hundred and twenty persons. There were present this year one hundred and forty, among them those who may be called the chaplains of the Clan, Rev. J. N. Buchanan, of Hebron, and Rev. T. H. Ball, of Crown Point, with their wives, also, as an invited guest, Mrs. Crawford, of South East Grove. The members had beautiful badges, green and golden, from Newark, New Jersey, furnished with a golden pin and a center piece representing a log cabin in a wood. The weather was delightful, although the roads were quite dusty. The sun shone warm and bright, yet under the shade of the trees the air was cool and com- fortable. It was a day for the enjoyment of nature, just as autumn is beginning, and for those who live on farms as well as for those whose homes are in the towns it is well, it is more than well, to go at times into the groves, which "were God's first temples" and "in the darkling wood, amid the cool and silence," to rest, enjoy, commune with nature, and to worship.
In social intercourse, in resting and enjoying, greeting kindred, and in the sports of children, this day was mostly spent. Some business was transacted, officers for the coming year were elected. Mr. L. W. Vilmer was present with his camera and took a fine picture of the assembled group, and as the evening hours drew near the families left the delightful retreat to return to their duties and their homes. It is need- less to say how abundant and excellent was the dinner, how delightful the social enjoyment of all."
THE KANKAKEE REGION.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A paper on the Kankakee River, its marsh lands and islands, was prepared by Mr. John Brown, then Auditor of Lake County for the semi-centennial cele- bration of 1884. As not many are better acquainted with that region than is he, and not many have a larger interest in it than he has, no better service can be done for the Kankakee history up to 1884 than to reprint that paper here. It is taken from "Lake County, 1884." Pages 185, 186, 187.
The source of the Kankakee River is in St. Joseph County, this State, and from its source to where it crosses the State line at the southwest corner of our county, is about seventy-five miles. It is a slow slug- gish stream with a fall of from one to one and one half feet to the mile in this State. It being very crooked and the land on either side being low and marshy, the water moves on very slowly, and these low lands, forming what is familiarly known as the Kankakee Marsh, are for quite a period of time each year covered with from one to three feet of water. About six sections of this marsh land in the southeast corner of our county are covered with timber, com- posed mostly of ash and elm with some sycamore and gum trees. The balance of these wet lands, running west to the State line, is open marsh, covered with a luxuriant growth of wild grasses, wild rice and flags. It is the home of the water fowl and musk-rat, and a paradise for hunters. The number of acres of this wet land in Kankakee valley in Lake County is about sixty
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thousand, and in the seven counties through which the Kankakee river flows in this State is about six hundred thousand. Various projects have been pro- posed for draining this vast body of rich land, but up to this time but little has been accomplished. Messrs. Cass and Singleton now have two large steam dredges at work in this county on these lands, and it is expected that much good will result from their work. It is only a question of time when these lands will all be drained, as the Kankakee valley has a main elevation of ninety feet above Lake Michigan and onc hundred and sixty feet above the waters of the Wabash River, and lying as they do at the very doors of Chi- cago, the greatest stock and grain market in the world, it would be strange if they long remain in their present almost worthless condition. Some portions of these lands are high dry ground, like an island in the ocean, and as they are often entirely surrounded with water they are called islands. The most prominent of these in Lake county are Beach Ridge, Red Oak, Warner, Fuller, Ridge, Brownell, Lalley, Curve, Skunk, Long White Oak, Round White Oak, South Island, Wheeler Island, and many smaller ones. These islands have all once been covered with a heavy growth of timber ; but the farmers living on the prairies north of the marsh have stripped most of them of all that is desir- able. This hauling timber from these islands and from the ash swamp further east, a few years ago was the farmers' winter harvest, and was called swamping. I think the lives of many of the early settlers were short- ened by exposure and overwork in some of our bitter cold winters on these marshes. Cheap lumber and barbed wire now almost entirely take the place of the swamp timber for fencing, etc., and but little swamp- ing has been done for a number of years. Many of the islands where the timber has been cut off are now excellent grazing land and nearly all of the larger islands have one or more families living on them who keep stock, and some good farms are already under cultivation. Many old landmarks go to show that
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these lands bordering on the Kankakee River were, before the white man came, the favorite stamping grounds of the Indians. Many of the islands have their mounds and burying grounds, and on some of them are plats of ground which still hold the name of the Indians' gardens. I have never seen larger or finer grapes grown anywhere than some which I have gathered on these islands and which were planted by the Indians. On Curve Island on the west half of the northeast quarter, section 21, township 32, range 8, is the old Indian Battle Ground (so called). The entrenchments or breastworks cover a space of from three to four acres and are almost a perfect circle, with many deep holes inside the same. All this can be plainly seen to-day ; but when it was made or who did the work the oldest settler has not even a tradition.
In a high sand mound a few rods southwest from the Battle Ground can be found by digging a few feet down plenty of human bones, old pottery, clam shells, flints, etc. Could these old mounds and relics of the past speak, they would no doubt tell a story well worth hearing. Fifty years from now, when the citi- zens of Lake County meet to celebrate our county centennial, these old land marks will be all obliterated, and the Red Man who once was the only human here will be forgotten except in history. And we too, who meet here to-day to celebrate this our semi-centennial, will then have left the shores touched by that myste- rious sea that never yet has borne on any wave the image of a returning sail.
CHAPTER XXIX.
DRAINING MARSHES.
In May, 1852, the Legislature of Indiana passed an act to provide for draining "Swamp Lands." In this part of the State it was mainly for draining the Kankakee Valley.
In Pulaski County, not on the the Kankakee, ditch- ing began in 1854, and at about the same time in Lake County.
The work of developing the Kankakee Region has been a very different process from that which was needful in opening farms in the woodlands and on the prairies. Before the large areas of grass land could be made very useful, before the abodes of muskrats and of mink could be made into cornfields a large amount of ditching for drainage was needful. And when this all was done by spades in human hands it was slow work. But when steam dredge boats were put into operation, in Lake County in 1884, the pro- cess of ditch-making was vastly different. There are now, north of the river, many large ditches. About 1870 draining quite extensively began in White County. And south of the river are now many large ditches. Of these the big Monon ditch in Jasper and White Counties has a channel, cut through a layer of solid rock for a mile and a quarter, thirty feet wide and said to be from ten to twenty feet in depth. It
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was not a light undertaking. In Starke county sev- eral enterprising men have had ditches cut leading into Cedar Lake, now called Bass Lake, and into the river, so that now sugar-beet culture is taking the attention largely of the owners of the low lands. For raising beets that land is said to be excellent. One of these ditches in Starke is called Craigmile, and one the Kankakee River ditch.
One of the large owners of Jasper County, of whom quite an extended notice will be given, has him- self laid out in improvements of various kinds more than six hundred thousand dollars. He has used his own dredge boat very successfully.
Another large land holder south of the Kankakee river, of that land which was a part of the wild region of the large Jasper County, is Nelson Morris of Chi- cago. He holds about 23,000 acres; but, as he is a cattle man, he leaves his land for pasturage instead of draining and cultivating and building, and thus pro- ducing wealth by means of the dredge boat and loco- motive.
Newton County has not received as much atten- tion in respect to internal improvements as some of the other counties, yet in the north part, some ditch- ing has been done, especially in draining Beaver Lake.
In the north part of Newton County are large cat- tle ranches kept in the interest of cattle men of Chi- cago.
Mrs. Conrad, an intelligent and enterprising wo- man, is successfully carrying on a large establishment, a farm or ranche, near Lake Village. Not far from Thayer is what is called the Adams ranch of about five thousand acres.
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In Newton vegetables are raised and fruit and stock.
In Lake County there are more than sixty, per- haps seventy miles, of dredge ditches in the Kankakee marsh lands; but these were not made by the indi- vidual owners of the land as such. They were paid for by a general assessment of the cost on all the lands supposed to be benefitted by the drainage. The main ditches are known as the Singleton ditch, named from W. F. Singleton, agent of the Lake Agricultural Com- pany, the Ackerman ditch, the Griesel ditch, and the Brown ditch. As a result of this draining large quan- tities of vegetables and of grain have already been produced.
ROCK AT MOMENCE.
Among other efforts made for draining the Kan- kakee Valley in Indiana, it was suggested and pro- posed to remove a ledge of limestone rock at a place in Illinois about seven miles below the State line, a place called by the early settlers the Rapids, after- wards named Momence. The matter was at length brought before the Indiana Legislature and an appro- priation of $40,000 was made in 1889 for the work proposed. Various objections and difficulties were disposed of, James B. Kimball, Franklin Sanders, and John Brown becoming commissioners, who organized as a board November 12, 1891, with W. M. Whitten as Chief Engineer. A contract for performing the required work was entered into by the board of com- missioners and David Sisk of Westville, La Porte County, Indiana, for the removal of the stone in the ledge at the rate of "83 cents per cubic yard." A bond was executed by David Sisk with William R. Shelby of
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Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the Lake Agricultural Company as securities, the sureties on the bond "be- ing worth," says the report to the Governor made in 1893, "more than a million dollars." It was found that it would be "necessary to remove 68,819 cubic yards of the rock," and that some further appropria- tion would be needful. An additional appropriation of $20,000 was made, but by some means a change of contractors took place, and in 1893 J. D. Moran & Co., performed the work of removing the rock.
This outlay of sixty thousand dollars appropriated by the General Assembly of Indiana. although ex- pended in Illinois, has been a large help to the drain- age of the Indiana part of the valley.
Many of the citizens of Jasper County, both pio- neers and later settlers, have, done much in develop- ing the resources of the county and adding value to its once wild lands ; but no one, in some lines, has done so much as Mr. B. J. Gifford, a resident at present in Kankakee, Illinois. Before detailing what he has accomplished and designs yet to do, some notice of his earlier life will be of interest.
He was born on a farm in Kendall County, Illinois, in the poineer days of that part of the state; was left motherless at six years of age; at eleven he arranged to obtain some prairie Government land which he thought was valuable, but "his father thought it worth- less," and so he gave up that first land arrangement land which afterward sold for one hundred and twen- ty-five dollars an acre, as many dollars as the price from the Government would have been in cents; and at the early age of thirteen, "small in stature, without
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any money, or clothes beyond what he wore," he started out to make his own way in life. Seeing the necessity of obtaining an education, he set resolutely about that, and at the age of seventeen commenced teaching winters, and attending school summers, but when ready to enter college, designing to go into the sophomore class, the war of 1861 commenced and he enlisted in the Union Army as a private soldier, be- came captain, improved his leisure time in reading law books, served in the army through the war, was after- ward admitted to practice as a lawyer, and settled in Rantoul, Champaign County. Here he organized the Havana, Rantoul, and Eastern railroad Company, built the road, seventy-five miles in length, from Le Roy, Illinois, to West Lebanon, Indiana, sold his stock at a premium .to Jay Gould, then became a member of a New York syndicate of which Cyrus W. Field was one, was made President of the company, bought the Cleveland and Marietta road for one mill- ion of dollars, July 2, 1881, managed the road for about one year when the syndicate sold out "at a small profit," and he left "the railroad field."
He had gained some experience and made some money and now gave his attention to the draining of wet lands. In 1884 he had secured of such lands, in Champaign County, seven thousand and five hundred acres. This he drained successfully, built dwelling houses for tenants, and went to Vermillion Swamp and purchased there a large tract of wet land which he also drained and upon which he built houses for tenants who cultivated the land on shares, and in 1891 he was nearly out of employment. He learned that in Jasper County there was a marsh that had no value "except to trade to some one who never saw it." As
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that, for him, was quite a recommendation, he con- cluded to look at it. In July, 1891, he purchased, for four and a half dollars per acre, of Thompson Broth- ers of Rensselaer, 6,700 acres in the Pinkamink marsh, and continued to purchase, as opportunity offered, till he now owns 33,000 acres in Jasper and about 1,000 acres in Lake County. This land extends, with some small breaks, from a point about two miles north of the Kankakee River, "near the southeast corner of Lake County, to a point one mile south and five miles west of Francisville, embracing the bulk of 'Pinka- mink Marsh,' "Stump Slough,' 'Coppens Creek Marsh,' 'Buckhorn Marsh,' 'Mud Creek Marsh,' and a considerable section of the Kankakee Marsh."
In the spring of 1892 a dredge boat was built and a second in October, and, for two years, these were kept at work, by day and by night, when one "was laid off," but the other is still kept at work.
Mr. Gifford has constructed, in these years, about one hundred miles of dredge ditch, besides many smaller ditches.
It is evident that he has had some experience in this line and he says : "The Pinkamink Marsh was, probably, the most difficult marsh to drain, in north- ern Indiana. It consisted, mainly, of a vast 'muck' bed, probably the largest in the world, and while ditches were easily made" the frequent passage of the dredge boat was needful until the banks settled and to some extent hardened. "The waters of this swamp are now under complete control." This muck land, in a few years, produces large crops of grass and grain, but at once will produce large crops of vegetables and especially of onions, from five hundred to seven and even eight hundred bushels, having been raised on
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an acre. The expense of raising a crop of onions is placed at "fifty dollars per acre." Land so well adapted as this is for gardening will be too valuable soon for grain and grass. About one half of these drained marshes are already under cultivation, more than two hundred houses and barns for tenants have been built, the foundations of all the buildings being boulders found on the land; water being obtained from wells which reach the bed rock at a depth of about one hundred feet.
An oil field has lately been discovered in Jasper County.
Says Mr. Gifford: "It is now known to extend over this entire tract of land and doubtless much be- sides, probably covering an area of 40 miles or more north and south and 20 miles or more east and west."
As these tenant-farm houses were, many of them, from twelve to fifteen miles from a shipping point, "when the present annual crop [1899] made its appear- ance, now embracing about 300,000 bushels of corn, 200,000 bushels of oats, 150,000 bushels of onions, and 50,000 bushels of potatoes, and the certain pros- pect of more than doubling in the near future. a rail- road became a necessity." And so Mr. Gifford's former experience in railroad construction became valuable. He very quietly planned the "Chicago and Wabash Valley" railroad, "eighteen miles of which are now completed and in operation."
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