USA > Indiana > Fountain County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 1 > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Warren County > Past and present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana, Volume 1 > Part 20
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Now it is the fall of the year. The poison of the undrained swamps has made all to shake with fever and ague, or lay for weeks with a burning fever, without well ones enough in the household to wait on the ill ones. There comes the old family doctor trudging along, picking his way through log heaps and stumps, on his trusty horse, on the old Indian trail, his saddle-bags dangling at either side of his horse. Think of the awful doses of sickening medicines he required the sick ones to take. Calomel, jalap, ipecac, Dover's powders, Peruvian bark, snake root, and pills as large as cow peas grown in Canada! The patient must be bled and purged, and after weeks of shaking and burning fever, he pulls through a skeleton, ready to go through the same tussle for life the following season. Such was the fate of many of the first pioneers in Warren county in the long ago days when the country was being developed.
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
EARLY MILLS.
A mill was counted a blessing to the new comers of Warren and adjoin- ing counties four score years ago. It was fortunate in having numerous never- failing streams, on whose grassy banks were erected mills in which the corn and wheat of the pioneer band could be converted into breadstuffs. Prior to 1828, however, the settler was obliged to load up his grain and drive to Fountain county. Henry Stump started his saw-mill in 1828, and Isaac Rains one a little later. The former was on Big Pine creek and the latter at Rainsville, where a small corn cracker was attached to the saw-mill. Francis Boggs commenced sawing lumber near Williamsport, on Big Pine creck, as did Peter Christman on the same stream. Other early mills of the county were erected by William Fincher, Isaac Waymire, William Boggs, Jonathan Cox, Levi Douthert and Frederick Waymire, all building along the Kickapoo creek. Isaac Waymire started a good flouring-mill as early as 1833. S. and O. Munson built a saw- and grist-mill on Little Pine creek as early as 1831, and Christopher Henry had one constructed for sawing lumber and a Mr. Burch- ren erected a grist-mill. Henry Stewart and John Talbert were each early saw-mill men on the last named stream. Stewart also conducted a small card- ing-mill, as did also Brier on Big Pine creek, These mills and factories did an extensive business and were much appreciated by the settlers ..
WILD ANIMALS.
One traveling over the well tilled townships of present Warren county would scarcely believe that there once roamed at will, over this fair and fertile domain, such wild beasts as the bear, the wolf and the nimble-footed deer, but such was the case. But few bears, however, were ever captured or killed by the white settlers, and none later than the thirties. Wolves were very com- mon for many years, and at times when the deep snows mantled the earth, so that the animals could not secure proper food, they became very troublesome and desperate. They entered doors and stable yards and attacked domestic animals, and once in a while attacked men, but only in extreme cases of hunger did this occur. Cattle in the woods were sometimes mired in the mud of a swamp, when these wolves would devour them before they could be extricated. These wolves went in packs or droves and worked like a banded army of men, each seeming to know, by instinct, just where and when to take hold that suc- cess might come from the united attack. The county commissioners offered a heavy bounty, and this had the effect of reducing the number of wolves in the
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
county to a great extent. However, long after the country had been fairly well settled, these animals did much damage to stock, especially calves and sheep. It was about the first years in the forties, possibly 1842, that a grand circular hunt was organized to exterminate as many of these savage pests as possible. The time came, and the night before a large pole was erected on the big mound at Walnut Grove, from the top of which four wagon covers were sewed together and spread to the breeze. Eighty acres of this place were staked off, the flag pole being in the center, where the ganie was to be driven, and upon which none of the hunters were to advance without orders from the captains of the organization. Bright and early the next morning the set- tlers started from Benton county, Vermilion county, Illinois, and Tippecanoe county on the east and the Wabash river on the south, and as they moved along they were joined by hundreds of men, until the great circular line was almost solid. They made loud and constant noise to scare up all game. The big flag could easily be seen for ten miles, and steadily the lines drew toward the center. Animals could be seen running ahead of the pursuing army of wolf hunters. Fun now commenced in dead earnest. Herds of deer, led by some proud defiant old stag, would dash madly round and round the circle, and were instantly met by volleys from the well aimed rifles. Sometimes, when made desperate by the terrible noise of the pursuers, they would dash at the line, and, jumping over the heads of the hunters, or breaking through the line, would go rapidly and wildly off and escape. Notwithstanding the care that had been used, nearly all the game except deer managed to escape through the lines during the march. A few wolves were hemmed in and shot, and a few foxes were seen and killed. Several herds of deer also had managed to escape during the advance, but there were about three hundred in the circle when the lines reached the limit of the march. Many of these escaped by breaking through the lines, or leaping over the heads of the hunters. Many men were so excited that they scarcely knew what they did, and the line was sometimes irreg- ular and broken, thus permitting the escape of the animals. About one hun- · dred and sixty deer were killed ; also six or eight wolves. It had been expected that not less than twenty-five wolves would be hemmed in and killed, so that the hunt, as a whole, did not come up to expectations. Fortunately, no man was injured by a stray bullet. This was by all odds the most extensive hunting expedition ever had in Warren county. The above facts were furnished by David Moffit, one of the most successful hunters of this county, and who re- lated this in the seventies, and hence it is a correct statement, for he was in- capable of telling a falsehood.
CHAPTER III.
ORGANIZATION OF WARREN COUNTY.
The territory now comprising Warren county, Indiana, as well as that of the remainder of a large portion of northwestern Indiana, including Benton, Jasper and Newton, was formerly attached to the county of Wabash, but the Legislature of 1825-26 passed an act creating Fountain county, and in that act the following proceedings was had relative to what afterwards became Warren county, the same being in section 7 of that enactment :
"Section 7. All that part of the county of Wabash lying north and west of said Fountain county shall be here and hereafter attached to the said county for the purposes of civil and criminal jurisdiction."
(Approved December 30, 1825.)
No further change was effected until the session of 1826-27, when the following act was passed :
"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, that from and after the first day of March next all that part of the county of Wabash contained within the following boundaries shall form and constitute a new county to be designated the county of Warren, to-wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of Vermillion county, on the Wabash river, thence west to the state line, thence north to the line dividing townships 23 and 24 north, thence east with said line to the western line of Tippecanoe county, thence south on the said western line of Tippecanoe county to the Wabash river, and thence with the meanders of said river to place of beginning.
"Section 2. The said new county shall, from and after the said first day of March next, enjoy all the rights and privileges and jurisdictions which to a separate and independent county properly belongs.
"Section 3. Daniel Sigler, of Putnam county, James Strange, of Parke county, Thomas Lampson, of Montgomery county, James Paige, of Tippe- canoe county, and Robert Wilson, of Vigo county, are hereby appointed com- missioners for the purpose of fixing a permanent seat of justice of said new county, agreeable to the provisions of an act entitled: 'An act for the fixing the seats of justice in all the new counties hereafter to be laid off.' The com- missioners above named, or a majority of them, shall convene at the house of Enoch Farmer in the said new county on the first Monday in June next, and proceed to the discharge of the duties assigned them by law.
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"Section 4. It shall be the duty of the sheriff of Fountain county to notify the commissioners herein above named, either in person or by written notification, of their appointment on or before the toth day of April next, and for such services the board of justices of the said new county shall allow hiin a reasonable compensation, payable out of the county treasury thereof.
"Section 5. The circuit and o.her courts of the said new county of War- ren shall be held at the house of Enoch Farmer, in said county, or any other place therein the said courts may adjourn to, until a suitable accommodation can be had at the seat of justice of the said county, when the courts shall ad- journ to meet there.
"Section 6. The agent who shall be appointed to superintend the sale of lots at the county seat of the said new county of Warren shall reserve ten per centum out of the proceeds thereof, and also ten per centum out of the dona- tions to said county, and shall pay the same over to such person or persons as may be appointed according to law to receive the same for the use of a county library.
"Section 7. It shall be the duty of the qualified voters of the said new county of Warren at the time of electing a clerk, recorder and associate judges for the said county to elect five justices of the peace, within and for said county, who shall constitute a board for transacting as well the duties hereto- fore devolving on the board of commissioners as other regular county business.
"Section 8. The said new county of Warren is hereby attached to the county of Fountain until otherwise provided for all judicial purposes except what may be within the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace. This act to take effect and to be in force from and after the first day of March next."
(Approved January 19, 1827.)
LOCATING THE COUNTY SEAT.
The county having been formed, the next question was where its seat of justice should be located. The above mentioned locating committee that had been provided by the Legislature, except Mr. Wilson, met and after viewing the eligible sites and taking into consideration the liberal donations of land and money, together with services tendered the county, it finally located the county seat on the east fraction of the southwest quarter of section 31, township 22 north of range 7 west; receiving from George Hollingsworth and Enoch Far- mer, in consideration of the location of the county seat upon such tract of land, certain obligations to donate to the county specified lands named within the papers, after the county seat had been permanently located on such lands,
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
and receiving also, from certain citizens of Warren and Fountain counties, for the same consideration, two obligations, conditioned that certain sums of money would be paid the county of Warren when the stake for the county seat had been permanently fixed. This report of the locating committee was presented to the board of justices, in March. 1828, and formally accepted, and the commissioners were ordered paid and discharged. Immediately after this, the county seat was laid off on the land above described, and name "Warren- ton."
RE-LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT.
January 22, 1829, the act for the re-location of the county seat of War- ren county was passed, with Commissioners Ezekiel McConnell, of Montgom- ery county, Peyton Wilson, of Parke county, John Porter, of Vermillion county, S. M. George, of Tippecanoe county, and Jonathan Birch, of Fountain county. The many reasons why the seat of justice needed to be, or at least was, moved from Warrenton cannot here be given, and it is unnecessary at this late time to uncover what has long years been settled. It may be stated, in passing, that the site was soon found not to be as good as the one finally selected, Williamsport. The donations did not prove to be forthcoming as had been promised by the subscribers. Excellent donations were tendered by William Harrison and Thomas Gilbert, the first of which gentlemen had laid out Williamsport, in November, 1828, and this, of course, made the citizens in that part of the county want the county seat located there. Still many be- lieved that Warrenton was a suitable place, providing the donations could be made to equal those offered at the proposed new county seat. Anyhow, the locating commissioners appointed were to meet at the clerk's office in June, 1829, and examine into the most eligible site, and if they believed, after a thorough inves gation, that Warrenton and her subscriptions would, with the sale of town lots, be sufficient to erect the necessary public buildings, then it was expected they would decide to let it remain at Warrenton. The commis- sioners met on the day fixed, and after receiving valuable offers of money and lands from the proprietors of Williamsport, and others interested, established the seat of justice permanently at Williamsport.
The act of re-location provided that the lots in Williamsport should be numbered as nearly as possibly as those in Warrenton, and that persons who had purchased lots in the latter town should have the right to exchange them for lots similarly located in the new county seat, provided the exchange was made within twelve months after the re-location. It was also provided that the depreciation in the value of buildings at Warrenton, owing to the change of
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the county seat, should be made good by the county. As soon as suitable build- ings could be prepared at Williamsport, the county officials were ordered to remove to that point. The provisions in the enactment creating the county, regarding the reservation of ten per centum of the proceeds of the county lots for the establishment of a county library, was reaffirmed and made bind- ing. William Harrison, Jr., proprietor of the new county seat, deeded the county eighty acres of land, where Williamsport had been platted. reserving for his own use the greater portion of the original plat of 1828, consisting of four blocks of eight lots each, besides one-fifth of the lots that should be sub- sequently laid out from additions from the donation of eighty acres. The first addition was laid out along the river's bank, in July, 1829, by Thomas Gilbert. In August, 1829, Isaac Rains, county agent, laid out the celebrated West addition to Williamsport from a portion of the Harrison donation. On the day of the sale of the town lots free whisky was furnished at the expense of the county, as that was supposed to (and likely did) give the bidder a spirit of enthusiasm and augmented his bright visions and hopes of seeing here reared a good sized city !
PRESENT BOUNDARY OF COUNTY FIXED.
January 3, 1830, the Legislature ordered that the southern tier of town- ships in Benton county should be attached to Warren county, for civil and criminal jurisdiction. February 3, 1832, an another act was passed by the Legis- lature, ordering that a commissioner from each of the counties of Warren and Vermillion should be appointed, "to more fully establish the boundaries" be- tween those two counties. The record is not quite clear what became of this order, but be that as it may, on a day in January, 1833, the following enact- ment was passed, and the present boundaries of Warren county were thus legally fixed :
"Be it enacted, etc., That the following shall form and constitute the dividing line between the counties of Vermillion and Warren, to-wit: Be- ginning on the east bank of the Wabash river where the township line dividing the townships number 19 and 20 intersects the same, thence west with said township line to the range line, dividing ranges 9 and 10 west, thence north with said range line to the township line dividing townships 19 and 20 in range 10 west, thence west with said township line to the line dividing the states of Indiana and Illinois.".
(Approved January 15, 1833.)
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FOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
The county was named in honor of Gen. Joseph Warren, who was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill, in Revolutionary days, of whom it has been re- lated by American historians, that a "braver man never lived."
PERFECTING THE COUNTY ORGANIZATION.
June 23, 1827, was really the day when the wheels of county government in Warren county commenced to revolve, for it was on that date that the first election took place, giving to the newly formed sub-division of the state its first officials, by vote of the people. At this election there were elected the following officers :
County Clerk .- The candidates were James Cunningham, who received fifty-eight votes and was elected over Marshal Billings, fifty- votes.
Recorder .- The candidates were James Cunningham (same as clerk), having fifty-two votes over Marshall Billings, forty-eight ; elected by four ma- jority.
For associate judges there were Samuel B. Clark, sixty-two votes; Will- iam Jolly, twenty-nine votes; Nathaniel Butterfield, forty-one votes, and Humphrey Becket, forty-five votes, the office going to Messrs. Clark and But- terfield.
The five justices of the peace voted on and elected were Edward Mace, Thomas Kearns, William Harrington, Thomas Boyd and Thomas Cunning- ham.
CHAPTER IV.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT-ACTS OF EARLY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
Upon being duly sworn into office, about the first work of importance performed by the county commissioners was to divide Warren county into civil townships and commissioner's districts, together with the appointment of certain local officers. Elections were ordered and a simple "scroll" was adopted as the temporary seal of the county board. Next came the establish- ment of both county and state roads. Then looking to the finances and the erection of county buildings soon took up much of the time allotted to the board of commissioners, who sought to well found the newly organized county. Then there was much difficulty over the numerous petitions and remonstrances for and against the changing of township lines, to meet the demand of the county as its settlement increased. In the thirties, the court house and jail were erected. It is noted in the records that in 1830 John Seaman was census taker. The first pound in the county was built in 1831, at Williamsport. A set of standard weights and measures were purchased by the board in about 1832, and these instruments were ordered kept in the county seat. One dollar per scalp was given by the board as a bounty on all wolves killed. The commission- ers also had to attend to the selection of young men suited for the Indiana University ; also to look into the matter of issuing permits to construct and operate ferries within the county. Among the early improvements in way of wagon bridges, in the thirties and forties, were those erected over the waters of the Big Pine creek, near Brier's Mill, costing one thousand dollars, and other wooden structures over lesser streams in the county. It was in 1850 that the question of licensing the sale of intoxicating liquors in this county came up at an election in the various townships. Pike township cast thirty-five votes against the license, and two for it, while Washington cast sixty for it and twenty-four against it. In 1852 the board ordered three hundred dollars paid from the funds of the county to aid in the survey of the Lake Erie, Wa- bash & St. Louis railroad, and it was stipulated that such amount be issued the county in stock, should the road be completed. A reward of four hundred dollars was offered in 1871 for the arrest of the parties who broke into the county building and entered the treasurer's safe, but which persons failed to obtain what they were looking for. Fifteen hundred dollars were allowed by
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MOUNTAIN AND WARREN COUNTIES, INDIANA.
the board to Charles Seldon, of Cincinnati, for the right to use his system of keeping the public accounts of the county. The amount of money expended for county iron bridges for the year ending June, 1875, was $20,856. Thus commenced, the work of carrying forward the government in Warren county has gone along with the passing of more than three-quarters of a century.
FINANCES OF THE COUNTY.
Vast have been the changes since 1827 in the finances in Warren county. Money was then scarce and barter was usually used in many of the important transactions. Whisky also bore a striking part in carrying forward the work of county development, for it is seen by record, that when the county sold its lots off, in order to establish the present county seat, that it used whisky freely. It was then low priced and it is shown that the county paid for ten gallons. It is related that the use of whisky "loosened the tongue of the auc- tioneer, opened the hearts and pockets of the bidders, assembled large crowds, and oiled the occasion with satisfactory success."
The county began business without capital and when it purchased, had to issue "county orders," which passed about as readily as did the paper money issued in that period-from one to ten per cent. discount. These orders bore no interest and were transferable. When once these orders had left the county's hands they depreciated many times in being exchanged with indi- viduals. It was just how badly a person wanted to sell, and how much faith he had in the future financial ability of the county. The first county order was paid to James Page in 1828; it was for the amount of twenty-eight dol- lars, and was to pay for the services of Mr. Page as one of the county seat locating commissioners. Order No. 3 was for the sheriff, Luther Tillotson. In 1828 there were only twenty-eight orders issued by the county. These orders only amounted in the aggregate to $337.00. That same year the total receipts in the county treasury were only $185.34. At the end of the year just named, there was left a balance on hand of $11.78, while it had floating orders out to the amount of $203.06. The total expense of the county for the years 1827 and 1828 was $392.18, a wonderful record for so large a county as Warren. Less than $12.00 had been received for the sale of lots and seventy-five cents had been expended for whisky, given out on the day when the lots were auc- tioned off. The county revenue was indeed low at that day. In 1829, the county orders amounted to $353, of which $196 worth were paid off. Up to January 30, fifty-six orders had been issued, amounting to $556, of which $220.68 worth had been liquidated, leaving the county debt $335-37, which
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was then looked upon as a large county debt, and perplexed the commission- ers. In 1831 the debt had increased to $677. During that year orders were issued to the amount of $1,084, making the total indebtedness $1, 136. Up to May, 1833, the county had issued orders to the number of two hundred and fifty-six, but by January 1, 1843, the treasury had on hand $1,024. Running
on down to the year 1870, it is found that the treasury had on hand a balance
of $24.377.18. That year there was about $10,000 expended, too, for bridges.
Before the war of the Rebellion the county finances stood dormant, but with that fierce struggle on hand the demand for bounty and relief came on so great that heavier levies had to be made, and the amounts collected and paid out ran materially higher than before the war period. For the year ending June, 1874, the total receipts, including that which was left over, were $91,804, and the expenditures $66,000. The county offices cost $5,118; the geological sur- vey of the county, $638; the poor, $3,714. and fox scalps, $154.00.
In 1882, the total receipts in the county was $134.531. The total expen-
ditures amounted to $94,922.18, leaving a net balance on hand in the treasury of $42,512.75.
Thirty years ago-1882-the records show the valuation and taxation
in Warren county, by townships, to be as follows :
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Townships.
Washington
Pine
Mound
Steuben
Pike
Medina
Warren
Liberty
Adams
Jordan
Williamsport
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