USA > Indiana > Northwestern Indiana from 1800 to 1900; or, A view of our region through the nineteenth century > Part 9
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To one interested in studying human nature and in observing the workings of character, the effects of the change of surroundings which the railroad era brought were sometimes surprising and sometimes amusing. Those who in their log buildings had been hospitable and courteous, refined and polished in manners, continued the same kindly attentions to the needs or wishes of others. But some who in their log cabins had been hospitable, although unrefined, when occupying their well built mansions with plas- tered walls and painted surfaces and gilded furniture, seemed to forget that ever they were inside of logs and mud, and were warmed by the fire connected with stick chimneys. But good, common sense character-
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ized the majority of those who had known pioneer life, and only some of their young people could be charged with "putting on airs."
Bringing comforts, conveniences, luxuries, rail- roads also brought some undesirable new features into both country and town life. They tended to in- crease the number of saloons, to enlarge the bounds of Sabbath desecration, to encourage the escape of criminals ; and they opened the way for "tramps," a class of men unknown in the early days; and con- nected with them, if not of them, came "strikes." Some actual history of the years 1893 and 1894 will show their great convenience in facilitating transport- ation, in aiding travel; and also show them in con- nection with the conduct of a great strike.
In the year 1893, while the Columbian Exposi- tion was open, the citizens of Lake, Porter and La Porte counties, enjoyed great facilities for attending that remarkable World's Fair, at Jackson Park, and witnessing the wealth of beauty and magnificence that could be seen that summer in the White City. It was estimated that fully two thousand school children of Lake County spent some little time in that great exposition. A part only of the public schools re- ported an attendance of nine hundred and seventy- three. Probably never again will so many people pass over Lake County in one month on the railroad lines which enter Chicago, as passed in September of 1893. The opportunities of that year, the enjoyment of the rich life of that summer, can never by thousands in northwestern Indiana be forgotten, as for six months, so near to their own borders, the great interest was concentrated of the civilized world.
The year of 1894 was vastly different. The fol-
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lowing quoted paragraph is from the Historical Sec- retary's report at the Old Settlers' Association of Lake County, read in August, 1894:
This year has been no ordinary year although vastly unlike the last. Over all our land it has been a year of uncertainty, of unrest, of some conflict ; and, to some extent, in all these we of Lake County have shared. There have been the remarkable inactivity of the American Congress, the great stagnation in min- ing and manufactures, the Pullman boycott, the Debs' strikes, the miners' strikes, the assassination of the French president, and a war commenced between the two great powers of Eastern Asia, China and Japan. In our narrow limits we have felt but little change from these events which have made this year mem- orable; but in the north part of the county for a time the civil officers were unable to maintain law and order, and United States troops and some eight hun- dred state militia upheld the law and secured railroad transportation and the passage of the mails in tlie city of Hammond, quelling disturbances also in East Chi- cago and Whiting. For a time in Crown Point, on both roads, no trains could go through to Chicago, and passenger trains lay by here for many hours, re- minding us of the scenes during our great snow block- ade. The tents of the soldiers, the soldiers them- selves on guard duty, the presence of the soldiers with their arms in various places, the guard around the Erie station, the gatling gun on the platform, caused Hammond to appear for a number of days as a city under martial law. It was in our county a new expe- rience to have almost a regiment of soldiers under arms to preserve order, and to be able to reach the Erie station passenger room only as one passed the sentry and the corporal of the guard. We may well hope that such times will not often come. No mail, 10 travel, no daily papers, no intercourse with Chi- cago. Some of the Crown Point grocerymen had supplies brought out from Chicago by teams as was customary before railroads were built. Happily this
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condition of things did not last long. The President of the United States exercised his authority, the gov- ernors of Indiana and Illinois asserted theirs, troops poured into Chicago, and the gathering of mobs, the lawlessness, the destruction of property, the impossi- bility of moving trains in or out of the city ceased.
Historical truth and justice to a part of the citizens of Hammond seem to require some further record here. In one of the city papers, the heading of the article, "To maintain Law," a notice appeared of a meeting of citizens of Hammond, in the hall of the Sons of Veterans, from which notice some extracts and statements are taken. "The first speaker was ex-Secretary of State, Charles F. Griffin, who, in a speech that was full of patriotism and loyalty, paid a graceful compliment to President Cleveland and Gov- ernor Matthews."
He spoke for half an hour, and said, when closing :
"The law-abiding citizens of this city have been outraged and their rights trampled upon. The fair name of Hammond and Lake County has been black- ened by the work of rioters." "The methods em- ployed by the mob that had possession of Hammond last week forcibly remind one of the days of bush- whacking. It is high time the citizens take action."
He then read some resolutions, which after dis- cussion were adopted, which strongly condemned the action of the rioters, their upholders, and of some local officials, and which approved heartily the ac- tion of the President and of the Governor "in furnish- ing military protection to life and property."
The names of others given as taking an active part in this meeting of citizens who pledged themselves to the enforcement of law, are the following: Pro- fessor W. C. Belman, Rev. F. W. Herzberger, G. P.
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C. Newman, J. B. Woods, Rev. August Peter, Colonel Le Grand T. Meyer, one of the Governor's staff, W. G. Friendly, and E. E. Beck, who was chairman of the meeting.
It was a time of no little excitement; the results in Chicago were then uncertain; Hammond was the same as a part of Chicago in its locality ; and some who were called Hammond citizens had held a meet- ing not long before, heartily endorsing "the conduct" of the officials whose action the citizens at this meet- ing condemned, and denouncing the sending of troops by the President to quell the disturbances .. One of the resolutions, therefore, as read by Hon. C. F. Griffin, contained this strong language: "Resolved, That the business men and law abiding citizens of Hammond repudiate with disgust and alarm the disloyal senti- inents expressed by the resolutions of the so-called citizens meeting of last Tuesday, and assert that they are not indorsed by the masses of Hammond citizens."
Quiet was at length restored, the soldiers were removed from Hammond, and trains could pass and re-pass without molestation.
In this record of an experience as a part of modern railroad life, that life which in its different aspects and different stages it is the design of this chapter to de- pict, it is not strange that in Hammond at this time there should have been two very different positions taken ; for, unlike Michigan City and La Porte, which were early settled localities, unlike Winamac, Rennse- laer, Monticello, and Valparaiso, early settled locali- ties all, Hammond, a city so recently having become populous, separated from a part of Chicago and so from Illinois only by an air line, partakes very little in the characteristics of Lake County and of Indiana.
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Geographically in Lake County and in Indiana, few of its thousands of inhabitants have a share in the traditions and associations, as they had no share in the trials and privations and successes, of the earlier inhabitants of Northern Indiana, and so, in what is called the nature of things, they cannot be expected to be identified, to much extent, with the interests of Lake County. They form a community of their own, and must be expected to have the characteristics of the manufacturing portions of Chicago, a part of which, locally, Hammond is. But a few descendants of quite early settlers, as Charles F. Griffin, A. Murray Turner, and others from Crown Point and from old settled parts of the county, have homes now in that rapidly growing and enterprising city, while the thou- sands are, for Lake County and for Indiana, "new comers." And this same fact has its bearings in mak- ing not only Hammond, but East Chicago and Whit- ing with their gathered thousands, quite different from the other towns in North-Western Indiana. It should receive due consideration from those living in those three contiguous cities as well as from those out- side, especially as more than one half of the popu- lation of Lake County, as claimed, will no doubt this year be found inside of those three corporations and all living within about three miles of the city limits of Chicago.
It is sufficiently easy to see how natural it was, at the time of the great Chicago strike, that two very different positions should be taken in Hammond.
Leaving that not pleasant picture of the railroad troubles of 1894, other features of this modern life claim attention, especially first, the change in social life manifested in our various organizations, of which mention will be made in another chapter.
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Year by year we have been adding to our organ- izations until the contrast has become very great be- tween what some would call the delightful pioneer times and this advanced, progressive present. To take as an illustration the medium sized town of Crown Point. In the earlier days, when it was the only town in Lake County, there was at first a resi- dent Baptist minister, and then, as he soon left, a resi- dent Methodist and Presbyterian minister. And the Methodist and Presbyterian preachers and Sunday schools seemed quite sufficient for the needs of the people. The same congregation for a time listened to the different ministers, for their services were not held at the same hour. There was one temperance organization the meetings of which all attended. To a great extent all attended the same social gather- ings. The people were not divided into classes then as they are now. There were some dances which all did not attend, but there was a freedom of intercourse among all the families and the young people then, which would seem strange to the exclusive sets of this modern period. And the same free mingling of families and of young people extended over the en- tire region of all these counties.
Now, besides nine religious gatherings in Crown Point at the same hour, and eight Sunday schools, and two Protestant missionary societies and two or three Roman Catholic church societies, and a Chris- tian Endeavor Society and an Epworth League Chap- ter, and a fire company, there are some twenty other social or secret orders and clubs and societies ; some for men alone, some only for women, some for young people, some exclusively for girls of one set, some for girls of another set, some for boys or children; and
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so into about forty-five different groups or clusters, the children, the young people, the middle-aged men and women of the two thousand or more in Crown Point are divided up. And many of these meet every week. Calls, fashionable, afternoon calls are made, but for the style of family visiting once known in the vil- lage life there can be no time. The social life of the present, where the clubs and societies demand so much time, where some have wealth and leisure, and others poverty and toil, where into many circles some can never enter, must be a life for the whole com- munity of some dissatisfaction and unrest. But this is modern life; for some almost ceaseless toil, for others select parties and club meetings and attention to dress and manners and the requirements of what is called "society." Some are, and many are not, "so- ciety people."
To produce in the large cities millionaires is one of the attendants if not a direct result of railroad life, and in connection with millionaires select society, inclusive and exclusive ; and the same "society" classi- fication goes into the smaller railroad cities and towns where wealth is accumulating and organizations for pleasure abound. On a smaller scale than New York they also have their "400." Perhaps some should not be blamed for thinking "the pioneer life was better than this !"
Leaving social life in the form of society so-called, it will be pleasant to look now upon the modern as- semblies called the institutes, as they enter into the social life of these later years in a form quite dif- ferent from the clubs and orders and circles.
1. Teachers' Institutes.
The first Teachers' Institute, as connected with the
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public schools in Lake County, was held in 1866 by School Examiner W. W. Cheshire. But fourteen years before that time, in November, 1852, the real first teachers' institute in Lake County was held by Rev. W. Townley, and Superintendent Jewel, and Mr. Hawkins, of La Porte, assisted by Dr. Boynton, who gave lectures illustrated by a manikin. This in- stitute was in connection with a private school under the management of Rev. W. Townley, was held for a week in the Presbyterian church building, and the subject of Normal schools as they then existed in the East was presented; and besides the other branches of study to which attention was given, instruction was imparted in vocal music and how to teach it in schools. Of course the morning exercises were opened by prayer.
In other counties, indeed in all the counties now, as one of the requirements of the Indiana school laws, during one week of each year, these institutes are held.
2. Farmers' Institutes.
About 1890, probably in 1889, the first farmers' institute was held in Indiana. They have been com- menced in county after county until now they have spread over the State.
In North-Western Indiana the first was held about 1894, and February "15, 16, and 17." 1900, was held at Valparaiso what was called on the programme "the closing Farmers' Institute of the State of Indiana for the Season of 1899-1900." On the programme for the morning of each day is given the name of some minister of the town for an "Invocation." Each day is thus opened with prayer. It seems to be quite a prevailing custom for farmers' institutes and for
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teachers' institutes, as for old settlers' associations, and for many other organizations, to recognize in their public exercises the Creator and Preserver of all, whom we call God. Sometimes an assembly, with- out designing to be atheistic, forgets this quite well- established custom.
In regard to the large good accomplished by this institute work for the farming communities those who have attended these schools of instruction, much of that instruction conveyed in the details of personal experience, could readily testify. The growing in- terest manifested in these gatherings, and the class of men attending as lecturers, such as Professor Latta, of Purdue, Mr. Billingsley, of Indianapolis, in the tile department, and Mr. C. Husselman, general lecturer, show that applications of science to dairying, agricul- ture, and stock raising, are becoming well appreciated.
3. Sunday-School Institutes.
A Sunday-school convention is quite different from a Sunday-school institute, although some Sunday- school workers do not seem to recognize the differ- ence. The institutes proper, like those for teachers and for farmers, are gatherings designed especially for imparting and receiving instruction, instruction, of course, in regard to Sunday-school work. Between the years 1865 and 1890 institutes were held in many parts of Lake County, besides the annual and some- times quarterly conventions. These institutes were conducted to a large extent by the county Sunday- school secretary who was aided by teachers and others in the county; but a few were denominational and were conducted by some workers from other coun- ties. In Porter and La Porte counties, the Sunday-
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school centers being mainly Valparaiso and Hebron, and Michigan City and La Porte, institutes and also conventions have been held; but not so frequently and regularly as in Lake County. In Starke County much good Sunday-school work has been thus done, the popular and efficient public school superin- tendent for several years, W. B. Sinclair, being also an active Sunday-school worker. And in the counties of Pulaski and White, of Newton and Jasper, a good amount of Sunday-school work, and surely of good, has been accomplished. Sunday-schools were com- menced in pioneer times, but these conventions and institutes belong to our modern life.
4. Temperance Institutes.
Of the four classes of institutes held in our coun- ties, this one may well be called moral, the object of these institutes being to promote the cause of tem- perance and the cause of purity. They help to en- courage the great need of watchfulness in providing for the young a pure literature and pure displays in art. It is recognized that impurity and intemperance go together. As a good authority has said, "As a common curse they are one and inseparable." So while the Sunday-school institutes are held in the cause of religion, the teachers, in the cause of educa- tion, and the farmers, for the material good and pros- perity of the country on the welfare of which cities and towns depend, the temperance institutes and con- ventions are held in the interests of private and public virtue. In every clime the motto of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union is, for God and Home and Native Land. These unions are not so numerous as might be desirable, but each one is a power for
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good. They are now, in Lake County, at Crown Point, Hammond, Hobart, and Lowell; in Porter, at Valparaiso, Hebron, perhaps Chesterton ; in La Porte County, at La Porte, Michigan City, Westville; in Starke, not any; in Pulaski, at Star City; in White, at Monon, Chalmers, probably Reynolds; in Jasper, not any; in Newton, at Kentland, Morocco, Good- land.
The members of these unions, who conduct the institutes and conventions, are quite largely, perhaps entirely, the more active, devoted, and earnest mem- bers of the churches ; and so, in some towns, they take higher ground than do the churches themselves, as organized bodies, on Sabbath observance, and on the great moral questions of the day. They have no in- terests of politics or of policy to keep them silent. They are a kind of advance guard of the great Chris- tian army in the conflict against immoral practices and habits and tendencies.
Institutes this year have been held in La Porte County at Michigan City, a silver medal contest hav- ing been held, the first ever held at Michigan City. There were eight contestants and "Miss Maud Staiger won the medal." In March one was held at Good- land in Newton County. "Six girls contested for a silver medal, which was awarded to Bessie Perkins." In White County, at Reynolds, an institute was held March 8, 1900.
In other counties where previously held, they have accomplished good.
The three northern counties began temperance work quite early, as they began improving in other lines, even in their early pioneer days, and when the "Crusade" movement started in Ohio, in Valparaiso
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were found some noble and brave women who took up the same line of work. It was then February, 1874, when in Valparaiso there were eight saloons. The following proclamation issued by the city mayor, February 23, 1874, will show the course, in part, pur- sued by the women :
"Whereas, for several days last past, large num- bers of persons have been engaged in assembling on and about the premises of citizens pursuing a lawful business, and remaining on said premises against the will of the owners thereof, and for the avowed pur- pose of interfering with their business; * * *
now, therefore, all such persons so assembling and re- maining, are hereby notified that such conduct is un- lawful * and they are admonished as good citizens to desist from the same," and they were warned that it was a duty of the authorities to "dis- perse such assemblages." Singing and prayer in the saloons was not to be tolerated in Valparaiso.
The women in a few hours had their reply pub- lished and distributed over the city.
It commenced with a quotation from the Scrip- tures, "Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?" with all of Psalm 2:1-4, adding a quotation from Acts 4:18, 19, and 5:29; and then it declared that the women had no purpose to violate the laws of the State but that they believed they had the right to do what they were thien trying to do, and that it was their solemn purpose to go forward in the work they had undertaken; and they close by saying, "if the hand of violence be laid upon us, we make our humble and confident appeal to the God whom we serve, and to the laws of the State whose faithful citizens we are." This reply was signed by
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Mrs. A. V. Bartholomew, Mrs. L. C. Buckles, Mrs. E. Skinner, Mrs. A. Gurney, Mrs. E. Ball, executive committee, in behalf of the ladies engaged in the tem- perance movement."
It was a grand uprising of the temperance women of Valparaiso, and meekly and nobly did they pass unharmed through the excitement of the time.
Out of the Crusade movement of 1873 and 1874 grew the unions, and for twenty-six years these have been living, growing, spreading over the world, and doing for suffering humanity a large work .* The World's W. C. T. U. was founded in 1883.
The grand convention in Lake County was held in the Commissioner's room of the Court House, April 27, 1880, as the published records say, "the first con- vention in the county held under the auspices of women." Men and women were present as represen- tatives from West Creek, Cedar Creek, Eagle Creek townships, also from Winfield, Center, and Ross, and letters from Hanover and Hobart expressing hearty sympathy in the work. The records say, "Mrs. M. C. C. Ball, president of the W. C. T. U., presided. Miss Annie McWilliams was secretary. The morning session was opened by the reading of part of the Sermon on the Mount and prayer by Rev. T. H. Ball. 'Only an Armor Bearer' was then sung." The record is added: "These are supposed to have been the first religious exercises publicly held in the new Court House."
The first address was given by Mrs. Susan G. Wood, twenty years younger then than she is now, in
*Fredonia, N. Y., Dec. 19, 1873, Washington Court House, Ohio, presents second claim, and Hillsboro, though called the "cradle," is said to be the third.
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the course of which she said, "Steadily and slowly we have been gaining ground. Twenty, fifteen, nay five years ago we could not have rallied such a force as presents itself before us today." Among those tak- ing part in the exercises are the names of J. Q. Ben- jamin, O. G. Taylor, Dr. J. A. Wood, F. Dickerson. H. Ward (then a county commissioner), J. Harrison, C. Baugh; and Mrs. J. Skinner, Mrs. Farfield, and Mrs. Young, visiting sisters from Valparaiso. Before the convention elosed devotional exercises were con- ducted by Rev. O. C. Haskell and Rev. E. H. Brooks.
Since that day, along the twenty years that have passed, conventions and temperance institutes have been held in the different counties, and some good has surely been done, although the two amendments which were that year proposed to be added to our State Constitution, the one in favor of prohibition and the other in favor of woman suffrage, never were permitted by the General Assembly of Indiana to come for adoption or rejection before the voters of the State. And the number of saloons, since the Porter County Crusade, has largely increased. But the thou- sand saloons of North-Western Indiana, kept as some of them are by well-meaning men, and by fine-appear- ing young men, must some day yield to the moral power along the line of the temperance unions. "Lawful" as the strong drink traffic is, as the mayor of Valparaiso well and truly said, made lawful by our county commissioners, our State Legislature, and our Congress, all the legislation in the world can never make it noble, can never make it good; and when that promised time comes, when nations shall learn war no more, when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth as do the waters the sea,
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