Pastime sketches : scenes and events at "The Mouth of Eel" on the historic Wabash with papers read before the Cass County Indiana, Historical Society at its spring meetings, 1907, Part 2

Author: Wright, W. Swift (Williamson Swift), 1857-1923; Cass County Historical Society (Ind.)
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: [s.l. : s.n.]
Number of Pages: 236


USA > Indiana > Cass County > Pastime sketches : scenes and events at "The Mouth of Eel" on the historic Wabash with papers read before the Cass County Indiana, Historical Society at its spring meetings, 1907 > Part 2


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


"Two or three weeks afterwards over a dozen yokes of large oxen were brought down from Lo- gansport, and the Republican was hauled over rip- ples and sandbars to Logansport, and the citizens of that place and the surrounding country had the luxury of a steamboat arrival on the Fourth of July, and Captain Towne had the (doubtful) honor of being the commander of the first steamboat that visited Logansport; for it cost him his boat, which bilged soon after its arrival in port, and its hull, years afterward, might be seen lying sunk to the


21


PASTIME SKETCHES


bottom of the Wabash near its confluence with the waters of Eel river.


"During the next summer there was another June freshet in the Wabash, and the steamboat Science was advertised for a trip to Logansport, Peru and Chief Godfrey's Village above the mouth of the Mississinewa. The unusually high stage of the river gave fine promise of a successful trip up the Wabash. At Delphi and other points along the river, considerable accessions were made to our company. The boat reached Logansport without any difficulty. There was a large increase of pas- sengers from this point. The Tiptons, Laselles, Durets, Polks, Johnsons and many others of the old settlers of the town turned out, many of them with their entire families, for a steamboat excursion, to visit the neighboring town of Peru and their abo- riginal neighbors and valuable customers at God- frey's Village.


"The boat left the wharf at Logansport under a full head of steam, which was considered necessary to carry her over the rapids a short distance above town. Our gallant boat failed to make the ripple, and after puffing and snorting for about two hours without gaining over forty feet, she dropped back to the foot of the rapids, where several hundred of the passengers went ashore to walk around the rapids. Rosin, tar and sides of bacon were freely cast into the fire, to create more steam, and another longer and stronger effort was made to get over the rapids, but in vain.


"After narrowly escaping the destruction of his boat, the captain deemed it prudent to drop down to Logansport again and lighten the boat. Over two hundred barrels of flour and salt were taken off the


22


PASTIME SKETCHES


boat, which laid that night at the landing at Lo- gansport and one hundred or more of the citizens of Lafayette and Delphi shared the hospitality of their ยท neighbors at Logansport. After all the hotels and boarding houses were filled to overflowing, private houses were thrown open to accommodate those who could not get lodging on the boat, and next morning scores were willing to bear witness to the kindness and hospitality of the citizens of Logans- port.


"After breakfast the most of the passengers walked around the rapids, and the steamer passed over them the first effort. All joined in congratu- lations for the success of the morning, which was considered a favorable omen for a successful and pleasant trip. We soon reached Miamisburg and Peru, two little rival towns on the west bank of the Wabash."


-


23


1


PASTIME SKETCHES


CHAPTER IV.


THREE GENERALS IN INDIAN WARS.


In addition to General Tipton, a hero of Tippe- canoe, and General Crooks, who commanded Penn- sylvania troops at Ft. Meigs, in Ohio, Logansport had another general conspicuous in Indian warfare.


General Walter Wilson was born in Kentucky in 1782. His father soon afterwards settled at "old Post Vincennes," in Knox county. In 1811, when 29 years of age he was sent by Gov. Harrison on a mission to Prophets Town on the Wabash. On his return from this, a successful trip, he was sent to meet Tecumseh to express Governor Harrison's dis- approval of the warrior violating his agreement. He met Tecumseh about twenty miles above Post Vincennes, where he had no right to be. An expedi- tion of which he was in command was soon after- wards fitted out to punish the Indians for numerous acts of hostility. They reached Prophets Town No- vember 6th and took part in the battle of Tippecanoe the day following. Wilson was promoted to the posi- tion of colonel for bravery in that fight, and in the attack on the Mississinewa towns, July, 1813, com- manded the left flank. He continued in the suc- ceeding campaigns against the Indians, acquitting himself with credit and earning the title of general. He was a member of the legislative council of the territory in 1810, and continued a member through several sessions. He was also a member of the first legislature after the organization of the State in


24


PASTIME SKETCHES


1816. In 1828 he moved to Cass county and pur- chased the farm on the north bank of Eel river opposite Riverside Park. In 1831 and 1832 he rep- resented Cass and Carroll counties in the legisla- ture. He died in 1838 and was buried with Masonic honors. His grave on his old farm, the Spry Sunny- side farm, is marked by a monument and a small inclosure. His son, William Wilson, was postmas- ter just after the war, and grandsons, W. W. Wil- son and Byron Wilson, were mail carriers for sev- eral years. Mrs. Anna Chandler of this city is a granddaughter and Walter W. Chandler a great- grandson.


-


25


PASTIME SKETCHES


CHAPTER V.


YE OLDE INNS.


The early taverns of our town could many a tale unfold were some one living to tell them. There were gathered the pioneer and patriot who knew no fear, and often with them the redskin, gradually being driven out by the pale face. The earliest Cass county hostelry had no name. The rude home-made sign bore the words, "Entertain- ment by A. Chamberlain." The hotel was a small . log cabin, located on the south bank of the Wabash, opposite the mouth of Eel river.


Mr. Chamberlain was the first settler, and, strange to say, at once started a hotel. He came in August, 1826, and began to look around for a business opening. The hotel business caught his fancy. He knew that all great enterprises had small beginnings and as he was sure of at least one guest all the year round, himself, he put his money into this enterprise. He no doubt was a little lonesome at first, playing the part of proprietor, clerk, bellboy, cook, chambermaid and guest, but he became used to it. However, Indian agents, traders and pio- neers were soon on hand as guests, and the hotel prospered. No doubt many blood-curdling tales were told about its fireside. The schedule of rates fixed later by the commissioners read as follows : "For keeping a horse one night, hay and grain, 50 cents ; for victualling, per meal, 25 cents ; lodging, 121/2 cents ; brandy, per half pint, 50 cents ; wines,


26


PASTIME SKETCHES


per half pint, 50 cents ; rum, per half pint, 50 cents ; Holland gin, 50 cents; whisky, per half pint, 25 cents."


The schedule is rather long on liquors and short on foods. Quail on toast and saddlerocks on the half shell were not available, probably. The mo- tive of the commissioners in making the rates is not disclosed. It will probably never be known whether Mr. Chamberlain was overcharging, and had to be held down, or whether the guests were remonstrat- ing, and had to be held up. Neither does history say whether or not Mr. Chamberlain wore a dia- mond scarf-pin and said "Front" in a stern tone of voice.


The second hotel, and the first one in Logans- port proper, was built by Israel Johnson, who came to Logansport in 1826. It was also the first two- story building in the county. It is still standing, on Market street, between second and Third, oppo- site the Catholic church. Mr. Johnson was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1803, and came to Richmond, Ind., at the age of 17. Four years later he moved to Logansport. He was a member of the town council and later a prominent business man. He died in 1866.


The hotel had no particular name, but was the best hotel in town at that time. An old ford crossed the Wabash river at Second street, and, as there were no bridges, expected guests frequently slept in the woods on the south bank of the river when the water was high. Indians often camped at "The Point" just below. There was a wide porch at the back of the house, the roof extending over it, and parties of Indians once in a while asked permission to sleep on the porch. They were allowed to do


27


PASTIME SKETCHES


this, as they were friendly and harmless. Mr. John- son soon engaged in commercial business, and made quite a fortune for those days. At the time of his death he was one of Logansport's leading business men.


After the building of the Michigan road and the Wabash and Erie canal in the middle "thirties" many taverns sprung up in town and county. The Ashland House, corner Third and Market streets, was probably the next hotel in Logansport. It was a frame and was later the Cullen House. It stood where the Catholic school now stands. In it was the office of the stage coaches, which ran north to South Bend, south to Indianapolis and east and west. Jo- seph Cullen was the proprietor, and about 1852 was appointed an Indian agent and went west. Job Eldridge moved the house across the street for a residence, where it is still standing, when Cullen built the brick Cullen House on the site. It was continued as a hotel for several years. The Leamy House, afterwards the Layton House and Panhan- dle Station, about the site of the Western Union Telegraph office, was built prior to 1838, and was a hotel for many years. The old Barnett was built by Colonel Vigus prior to 1838. It was kept by Mr. Humbert and was called the Washington Hotel. Colonel Vigus had to move in from his farm and run it. Alexander Barnett, "Alec," as he was called, was a famous host of the Wabash Valley. He bought and enlarged the hotel in the early fifties and made it an attractive place for visitors for many years. The block alongside down to Second street was filled with frame business houses and was known as "Commercial Row." He afterwards built and managed the present Barnett Hotel. Of the


1


28


PASTIME SKETCHES


present hotels the Gehring House, now the Johnston Hotel, the New Barnett and the Murdock come within the memory of those now living. Both the New Barnett and the Murdock have had disastrous fires, but with no loss of life.


One of the older hotels was the Bliss House on the Southside, but it was built comparatively re- cently. The Panhandle Station was near it, the road not crossing the river then, and it was on the new line of the Michigan road, which originally crossed the Wabash river at a ford below Uhl's mill and came up the north bank of Eel river to a point above Sixth street, where it continued north. The Klopp House was a well known hotel facing Eel river just above Sixth street, on the Northside, and the building, a frame, is still standing. It gained some notoriety in the early days by reason of a murder on the Michigan road near there, the murderer hanging himself in jail.


The Keystone House, northwest corner Sixth and Broadway, and the Larimore House, just be- low it, were considered hotels in the earlier days.


Along the Michigan road, north of town, taverns sprung up to meet the needs of travelers along that highway. There was a "Four Mile House," on the McDowell farm, owned by Clay Metzger; a "Seven Mile House," built before 1837, and managed by James Troutman until 1853; a "Nine Mile House" on the farm owned by Joseph Penrose and which was kept by a man named Demoss, and later, from 1856 to 1860, by Wilson Booth. The "Twelve Mile House" was just over the Fulton county line on a farm afterwards owned by Williamson Wright, and there was one at the town of Fulton, and others De-


29


PASTIME SKETCHES


tween that and Rochester. Those were the thrill- ing days of the stage coach.


The canal was also a great thoroughfare and every town had its tavern. There was a hotel at Lewisburg, built in the forties by David Miller and afterwards managed by the father of Samuel Pan- nel. It was used as a boarding house later by a Mr. Smott, killed in a runaway. His widow con- ducted it for several years, and for a time at least part of it was used as a grocery. The hotel at Georgetown, which was to be the head of naviga- tion on the Wabash, was a log building, and stood where the John T. Wiley store stands now. Dr. J. B. Shultz, who was born at Lockport, three miles


below, remembers as one of his boyhood experi- ences a guest there hastily coming to their house on horseback at 3 o'clock in the morning with the story that he had overheard some men in the next room planning to kill and rob him, and had made his escape. Mr. Strowbridge, a Philadelphia mil- lionaire, of the dry goods firm of Strowbridge & Clothiers, corner Eight and Market streets, Phila- delphia, began his career there, clerking in the coun- try store, and afterwards for Pollard & Wilson in Logansport.


Besides these there was a hotel built of brick in 1843 at the corner of Fourth and Market streets, where the dry goods store now stands. It was painted yellow and was quite pretentious in its day. It was kept by Mr. Guiger, and J. C. Merriam first found there a home when he came to Logansport to make his fortune. The old Nash House, corner Sixth and High streets, was for many years a popu- lar stopping place, and the Larimore House, on North street, between Fifth and Sixth, was fre-


30


PASTIME SKETCHES


quented by farmers. Perhaps there were many others, but interest centers more around those of the early days when guests went armed and In- dians dropped in for a chat, looking for a Delmonico in that wilderness.


31


PASTIME SKETCHES


CHAPTER VI.


EARLY METHODS OF TRANSPORTATION.


A few years ago two small books were found in a collection of old relics dating back to the stage coach days. The first was dated in 1838 and the later in 1847, and showed the stage routes. They were copies of "Indiana Delineated and Stage Guide for Travelers to the West." In the stage days Philadelphia was the center of trade, and the guide books carefully told tourists how to get there. In those days a man who had been to New York and back was a seven day wonder.


The average charge in Indiana for stage coach transportation was 5 cents a mile and the rate of travel in fair weather about eight miles an hour. Many of the coaches stopped at night after making sixty miles in the daytime, but on the National road, east and west through Indianapolis, the coaches did not stop at night, and made 150 miles every twenty- four hours, the horses being changed often, the tourist sleeping but little. The trip from Evansville to Logansport took a week in good weather. In bad weather all schedules were abandoned, and a speed of over two miles an hour was often impos- sible.


An old map of stage coach routes in Indiana in 1838 is remarkable in that it shows with what uni- formity railroads succeeded stage coach routes. Lo- gansport then, as now, was a commercial center and "the capital" of northern Indiana, being situ-


32


PASTIME SKETCHES


ated in the center of all that part of the State north of Indianapolis. Stage coaches ran from Logans- port to Indianapolis, to Delphi and Lafayette, to Peru, Wabash and Ft. Wayne, to Marion by way of Peru, to Kokomo and Muncie, to North Man- chester, to Monticello, to Plymouth and South Bend and to other points by changes. There was no di- rect line to Chicago and none to Frankfort and Crawfordsville. The Wabash and Erie canal boat followed the stage coach a few years later.


Twenty years after this map was made the rail- roads were destroying the usefulness of the stage coach. The first railroad into Logansport was opened in 1857. It was an extension of the Rich- mond and Newcastle road, and finally became the Cincinnati branch of the Panhandle. It came into Logansport on the Southside, and the station, water tank and turntable were just west of the turnpike, a few rods south of the Wabash river. The hole dug for the turntable is all that is left to mark the spot. The first engine used on the road was a rather small affair. It was brought on a canal boat from the east and dragged to the track on the Southside. Travel was not very brisk in those days. When the Taber dam was built in the Wabash above Eighteenth street in 1859 the lumber was sawed at a mill owned by Williamson Wright at Lincoln. A car load was brought in at a time, the car being atttached to the passenger train and left standing on the main track, near the dam, until the next day. It was unloaded in the meantime, and the passenger train took the empty car back the next day. The trains were not very rapid nor the road very smooth, but it was quite a step in ad- vance of the old stage coach. The ulterior purpose


33


PASTIME SKETCHES


of the projectors was not disclosed, probably through fear of competition, but it was announced that the road would be extended southward along the line of the present Wabash road to Lafayette, and the line was surveyed and graded for some dis- tance. The probability is that this later line was intended as a branch, both lines uniting at Logans- port, with an extension north to Lake Michigan. The proposition of a railroad coming up one side of the State and going down the other was, how- ever, the one presented to the public.


The history of this road is interesting. On the 6th of February, 1848, a charter was issued to the Newcastle and Richmond Railroad Company, and in 1851 the charter was amended to permit the road to extend north to some undetermined point on the Wabash river. The name at that time was changed to the Cincinnati, Logansport & Chicago Railway Company. Actual work was commenced in 1851, but it was not completed until later. The extension to Logansport was completed in the years fol- lowing, and the road was formally opened for busi- ness in 1857. William Lincoln, after whom the town of Lincoln was named, was the constructing engineer, and he afterwards built the Taber dam in the Wabash. In later years he was connected with the Wabash railroad, and lived at Logansport. Williamson Wright was president of the road.


Following the Columbus division of the Panhan- dle, the Columbus & Piqua Railway Company was incorporated under the laws of Ohio, and was to be built to the Indiana State line. In 1852 the Marion and Mississinewa Valley Railway Company was incorporated to construct a road from Marion to Union City on the Ohio State line, and in 1853


34


PASTIME SKETCHES


the Marion and Logansport Railway Company was incorporated to build from Logansport to Marion to connect at Anoka Junction with the Richmond road and enter Logansport on its tracks. The two were consolidated in 1854, and were afterwards sold to the Union & Logansport Railroad Company, which was incorporated in 1863. The road was opened up for business March 15th, 1868.


The State Line road, as it is called, was incor- porated in 1853 under the name of the Logansport & Pacific Railway Company. William Chase of Logansport was president, and David M. Dunn of Logansport one of the directors. September 12th, 1854, the name was changed to the Logansport, Peoria & Burlington Railroad Company, and work was commenced, but soon abandoned. The first named company executed a mortgage for one million dollars in 1853 to raise money to build the road, and T. H. Wilson and E. S. Rice signed as witnesses to the same, which was acknowledged before Charles B. Laselle, notary public. The road was changed to the Toledo, Logansport & Burlington Railway Company in 1858, and was formally opened for business July 1st, 1860. September 25th, 1857, the Chicago & Cincinnati Railroad Company was incorporated to build a road from Logansport to Valparaiso. The name was changed to the Chicago & Great Eastern Railway Company in 1863, and the terminus was changed to the eastern boundary of Illinois at Chicago. This consolidated with the Galena & Illinois River Railroad Company the same year, retaining the Great Eastern company name. A similar consolidation was made with the Chicago & Galena Railroad Company in 1867. The Cincin- nati & Chicago Air Line, incorporated in 1860, was


35


PASTIME SKETCHES


also absorbed in 1865, and these all went to form the Great Eastern. Work was commenced north of Logansport in 1858 by the Cincinnati & Chicago Railroad Company, and the road to Chicago was formally opened in 1861.


The Columbus, Chicago & Indiana Central Rail- road Company in 1868 was formed by a consolida- tion of the Columbus & Indiana Central, the Chi- cago & Great Eastern and the Toledo, Logansport & Burlington. By foreclosure of a mortgage and sale, the Chicago, St. Louis & Pittsburg Railroad Company, just formed, came into possession of this property in 1883. The result of a consolidation of the Jeffersonville, Madison & Indianapolis, this company and the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. Louis from Pittsburg to Columbus, in 1892, was the pres- ent great system known as the Pittsburg, Cincin- nati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company.


The Wabash Valley railroad was the second line into Logansport. In later years the Eel River, the Logansport, Crawfordsville & Southwestern and the Vandalia north were built.


1 -


36


PASTIME SKETCHES


CHAPTER VII.


LOGANSPORT'S FIRST BOOM.


Logansport had its first boom when the Michi- gan road was built. There were no railroads, and the canal was not dug, so that a through wagon road was a great enterprise. One of the great projects of early days was a wagon road from Lake Michigan to the Ohio river, and it received both national and State aid. Governor James B. Ray was an earnest advocate of the road. In 1826 con- gress authorized a treaty with the Miami and Pot- towatomie Indians, which was entered into October 16th. James B. Ray, General John Tipton of this city, and General Lewis Cass of Michigan, after whom Cass county was named, were the commis- sioners for the United States. By this treaty the Indians ceded a tract of land one hundred feet wide for a road and also one section of land for each mile of the road. The treaty also ceded a strip of land on Lake Michigan ten miles wide and several miles long for a suitable terminus for the road. For this concession, amounting to 171,414 acres, the Indians were to receive $2,000 in silver for twenty-two years, annually, a government blacksmith shop, a grist mill and 160 bushels of salt annually. In 1827 congress passed an act authorizing the road, and January 24th, 1828, the State legislature provided for a survey. The first 36 miles were in the Terri- `tory of Michigan, admitted as a State ten years later. At the thirty-six mile post, where the road


37


PASTIME SKETCHES


entered Indiana, was afterwards located South Bend.


Most of the country was dense forest, and trees had to be cut and stumps left not more than one foot above the level ground, grubbed thirty feet wide in the center of the road. In the swamps trees were rolled in to make a corduroy road. Lands were sold at public auction to pay for the road, and at South Bend on the first Monday in June, 1832, a sale of 13,709 acres brought in $18,134. A later sale in October of the same year of 15,113 acres brought in $26,635. At the close of October, 1832, there had been sold 58,432 acres at $90,141. Some of the lands in the central part of the State brought as high as $5.00 per acre. All but 1,840 acres had been sold up to 1836, and the money had gone into the construction. By February, 1832, the road had been opened from the Ohio river through Indianapolis to Logansport. By 1834 the road was completed and opened, though improve- ments continued for two or three years. Work ceased on it in 1837, and it was turned over to local authorities to keep in repair. It was 264 miles long and cut quite a figure in the early development of Indiana. The expenditures were $242,000 and the receipts from the sale of lands $241,331. In Cass county it followed the line of the present Burling- ton turnpike, except that it followed a line west of the Judge Chase residence south of town and crossed the Wabash just below Uhl's Mill. North it followed the line of the present road to Metea and Fulton. The road was not as smooth as as- phalt by any means, and those who traveled over it in the old-fashioned stage coaches never forgot the experience. Still, it was the main road north


38


PASTIME SKETCHES


and south through the State, and it made Logans- port quite a business center. This was especially so when the Wabash and Erie canal crossed it in 1838.


In 1836 Indiana borrowed $12,000,000 for inter- nal improvements. Besides the Wabash and Erie canal, the State projected the White River canal, the Central canal, the Crosscut canal, the Madison & Lafayette railroad and the New Albany & Vin- cennes railroad. Up to 1838 fifty miles of the canal were in operation, and in that year the State re- ceived $1,398.37 in tolls. From October 1st, 1839, to November 1st, 1840, the State earned $14,561.11 in tolls. Thousands of acres of canal lands were sold, and a great boom was started in the towns along the route. The canal was in operation from Ft. Wayne to Logansport in 1838, and was extended westward in 1839. Logansport at the intersection of the canal and the Michigan road, had the greatest opportunity of any to become a great business cen- ter, but some of the other cities outgrew it. Ground for the canal was first broken at Ft. Wayne on February 22, Washington's birthday, and the event was made the occasion of a great celebration. Canal Commissioner Vigus turned the first spadeful of earth. July 4th, 1843, the first packet, "Indiana," arrived from Ft. Wayne at Huntington, and Hugh McCulloch, twice secretary of the national treasury, delivered an oration.




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.