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 4
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accepted it at a heavy discount. They could use it in paying their bills by accepting a similar discount. At the same time the merchants and millers issued bills redeemable in merchandise at the store of the merchant or miller issuing the same. Naturally these were of no value far from home. Then the temptation to issue unlimited quantities became irresistible and the banks became bankrupt with thousands of dollars outstanding.
In 1834 the State Bank of Indiana was chartered. The State was divided into ten districts for branches and on November 20th, 1834, the bank opened. It became involved in the financial policies of Presi- dent Jackson and the panic of 1837 which followed. Its bills were redeemable in specie and remained good. They were therefore hoarded and depre- ciated currency only found its way into circulation. The people had no money for the needs of com- merce and the State had none and could get none in the east. As a means of relief State script to the amount of a million and a half was authorized, to bear six per cent interest and be receivable in taxes. This script was called "Red Dog" from the color of the paper it was printed on. It did not restore public confidence and fell to forty cents on the dollar. It was however all redeemed by the State.
At the session of the Legislature in 1853 a-free bank law was passed over the governor's veto and a charter given to the Bank of the State of Indiana. Hon. Hugh McCulloch afterwards secretary of the treasury became president of the bank, and not- withstanding the governor's fears it became a suc- cess. Two years afterward a panic swept over the country. Every bank in the east except the Chemi-
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cal of New York, supended. And in the west only the Bank of the State of Indiana and the Bank of Kentucky weathered the storm. Every private bank in the State except two at Indianapolis and one at Fort Wayne closed.
After the passage of the National banking law most of the banks became national banks and in 1865 the legislature authorized the winding up of the affairs of the State Bank.
The constitution of 1851 authorizing a free banking law, and the law passed by the general assembly under that authority caused great dis- aster. Banks were still floundering in financial troubles, local communities were in worse difficul- ties. The merchants issued bills to an unlimited extent, payable in goods, and failed because they could not buy goods without gold. Others were purposely taking advantage of the condition of af- fairs. Bills which would not circulate in a com- munity because of lack of confidence in the persons issuing them were sent to other communities, where they were unknown, in exchange for bills equally unknown thirty miles from their home office. Thus bills from Ohio no one knew anything about were in circulation in Indiana, while the equally obscure Indiana bills circulated in Ohio. A publication known as the Bank Note Detector attempted to keep the public advised as to the value of bills but it was not possible to print reports as rapidly as bills were printed and the publication was always considerably behind the times.
The money of the times was called "Wildcat" money, probably because of its wild and uncertain character. Much of it, good or bad, was known by the color of paper, or ink, used and so there was
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"White Dog," "Blue Pup" and other kinds accord- ing to the name the printing or color suggested to the pioneer.
Logansport was an important center of com- merce in the early days. It was a village on the trail of the Indians, a town on the Michigan Road, almost a city in the canal days and considered very much a city when the railroads were begun. It handled in its commerce and construction work all the known kinds of money in circulation in those days and probably no city in the State had more experience with the fluctuating, uncertain, unreli- able currency of the years between the admission of the State to the Union and the Civil war. To the credit of the pioneers of Logansport be it said that while, owing to the limited travel, its money was not known and was therefore discounted a short distance from home, it was in most instances redeemed and the holders lost nothing. The vicis- situdes of travel were great in those days. In ad- dition to undergoing the hardships of almost im- passable roads, dangers from Indians and frontier bandits, the pioneer was liable to find no bill among his varied collection acceptable to the landlord for his lodging and breakfast a few miles from home.
As far as can be learned the first Logansport bank was a private bank and was situated on Mar- ket street, on the north side, sixty feet below Fourth street. This was in 1837, or 1838. James Warren was president of it and and the business was conducted in one small room. There was a table in it, and president, cashier and customers sat around it.
The second bank was started some years later. It was organized in 1847 or 1848, with George B.
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Walker president, and Col. William Brown, after- wards killed in the Civil war, as cashier. It trans- acted business on Third street, East Side, sixty feet or more from Market street. It was known as the "Logansport Insurance Bank." James E. Cheney started a bank in 1850 on Fourth street, opposite the court house, and John Ingram was cashier. Mr. Cheney was afterward a great finan- cier, a director in the Wabash railroad and a mil- lionaire. Mr. Ingram organized later the State Bank, now the State National, of which John Gray is president.
The "Hoosier Bank" was also opposite the court house and Philip Pollard was president in 1848. It was in the stone building occupied by Senator D. D. Pratt as a law office and later by W. T. Wilson. W. E. Haney and John W. Wright had a bank on Sixth street, between Broadway and North, west side of the street, on the south side of the alley, in the early fifties. Of this there is not much information to be had. Mr. Kendrick, who built the home now occupied by Judge D. P. Bald- win, had a bank on Market street along in the fifties, in the room across the alley from Snider's.
With the passage of the National banking law and more stringent state bank laws came the first National Bank, still in existence, the Peoples' Bank, and the City State Bank, now the State National. The Peoples' Bank failed, with many law suits, and the City State Bank went through a panic and was reorganized as the State National. The Logansport State Bank sprung into existence under sound state laws and since then two other banks, the Bowen Bank and the Loan & Trust Company
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have added to the banking facilities of Logans- port.
The days of wildcat money have gone by, State and national laws have safe-guarded the public against the lack of judgment of bank officials and the era of bank failures has passed. Logansport has sound banking institutions and their bills are good anywhere in the United States, Europe, Asia, Africa, or South America. It is a wonderful con- trast over conditions fifty years ago.
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CHAPTER XII.
YE OLDE MARKETS.
Logansport in its early days had two markets. The first one stood in the middle of the otherwise vacant square bounded by Fourth and Fifth streets, and Broadway and North streets. It was just a roof, resting on pillars of brick, the pillars ten or twelve feet apart. A cyclone in 1845 carried the roof away and ended the usefulness of the market house.
According to best authorities, market days were Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. There were no stalls of fancy dry goods and the bon bon stand and peanut roaster were conspicious for their ab- sence. Fruits, vegetables, meats, hay, feed, wood, butter, eggs and other farm products were the prin- cipal articles for sale. The money used was prin- cipally foreign coin, and a "fip and a bit" the pre- vailing price for many things. A "fip" was an English 614 cent piece, while a "bit" was 1212 cents. Two bits made a quarter, or the shilling of those days.
This Broadway market was just back of the present Wiler & Wise store. The building was 150 feet long and 25 feet wide, with a shingle roof. It fronted on the Wabash and Erie canal, which ran along Fifth street, and which was com- pleted from Fort Wayne as far as Eel river along about 1837. Mr. E. S. Rice, president of the First
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National Bank, came to Logansport on a canal boat in 1838 and remembers the old market well. The aqueduct over Eel river was completed in 1839 and Logansport became only a way station instead of a terminal.
The second market was built six or seven years after the old one blew away-about 1851. It was of brick and much more pretentious than the old market. It was 150 feet long and 30 feet wide, with shingled roof, and stood in the middle of Market street between Second and Third streets, where the street was widened to form "Market Square." The street has never been narrowed to conform to the rest of Market street and for many years the spot was known as Market Square. The com- modities on sale were about the same as at the old market and the money was the same, English coin and "Wildcat" bank paper money.
This latter money fluctuated a good deal, as no one knew at night whether or not the banks would open the next morning. On this account the money was not good far from home. Many are the tales of sales of farms and horses wherein the receiver of the Wild- cat money arrived in town to find the bank closed and the money worthless.
The new market was not used much and gradu- ally fell into decay. The children of the day played "I spy" about its nooks and corners and finally it was torn away. After that the wood and hay wagons stood about the court house and later at Sixth street and Broadway, the vegetables and fruits were sold by grocers and Logansport had no general market. No doubt many interesting stories could have been told by the older residents about these markets if any attempt had been made to
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gather them. Mr. E. S. Rice tells of having been sent as a boy to the old Broadway market to get some steak. There were several others there on the same errand but the supply was exhausted. In reply to repeated calls for steaks and no other kind of meat, a German farmer vender said testily, "What you tinks, I grow my cows all steaks?"
The old market days were days of gossip, of political argument and exchange of news. Horses were traded and farms swapped. Busy candidates shook hands and sought votes and the fate of the country was decided every market day. The Lightning Express Packet on the old canal brought news of the outside world several weeks late and its arrival, days after a presidential election, brought out a crowd to get the election returns. The man who took a New York Tribune and got it via the Lightning Express on the canal was the most popular man in town until everybody read his paper, and perhaps afterwards. Today the farmer sits in his home with his telephone near him and talks with New York, if he wants to, after reading his morning paper, brought to him by Rural Route or Interurban. Such is the growth of the country and its progress in a little over half a century.
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CHAPTER XIII.
SOME THOUGHTS OF HISTORY.
In these sketches of early days it was not my purpose to write a history. The complete and ex- haustive history written by Thomas B. Helm in ` 1878 leaves little for later workers in that field. Nor had I in mind anything more than a few sketches of early conditions within the memory of some still living, for possible use in a historical scrap-book. For this reason I have avoided details, and statistics already collated in other forms and confined myself more to description. There are many subjects that will perhaps not be referred to, owing to the completeness of the historical data already published, and no doubt much that would be interesting will be overlooked. Mr. Helm has given a detail history of church and fraternal or- ganization in the city and county and several of the churches have published historical sketches. These are interesting and complete and need no repetition. There are other publications of a simi- lar character in the historical field so that it is pos- sible to gather together quite a library, of which these may be an humble part. Be that as it may, they are only sketches, not comprehensive history. And since Mr. Helm has so ably filled the broader field they must of necessity be somewhat limited in scope. There is a vast amount of interesting detail that might be gathered and it is by no means
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my thought to try to exhaust the field not covered by Mr. Helm, but rather to add my small contribu- tion to the general fund of historical knowledge. The story of manufacture is itself an interesting one, beginning with the ginseng factory of 1829 when that root was an extensive article of com- mence and Logansport had a factory for refining the product. A pottery works was another important interest in its day, and a tannery came later. The wealth of splendid timber caused numerous wood- working shops to spring up and there was a distill- ery or two. The subject of manufacture is partic- ularly interesting because of the lessons it teaches of changed conditions of civic growth.
The value of history lies in the fact that it is an unerring guide to future welfare and progress, the charm of it is rather in the little details that go to make up the daily life of a community, in an era of the past, or a country so foreign as to possess dis- similar customs and novel characteristics. The philosophy of it is inseparably allied with the ro- mance that makes it attractive. These short sketches are nothing more than they pretend to be and to the reader is left the task of discovering the philosophy, or finding the romance of the history they contain.
It is not difficult to imagine the lone log cabin in the forest on the south bank of the Wabash river, opposite the mouth of Eel river, the first tav- ern, nor the two-story log cabin near, later the tavern. Nor does it require much flight of the im- agination to picture the small trading house and the one or two other scattered cabins along the south bank of the river, all of Logansport prior to 1827. Nor will it be so very difficult to see in the
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mind's eye the little log cabin of Daniel Bell, in the forest near the present Wabash Station, the first, and for a time, the only house between the rivers. There were no roads, no canal, no im- provements. An uneven, wooded hill with steep declines and valleys was Market street hill, after- wards graded, cleared and cut out of all semblance to its original shape by the hand of man. It was virgin soil, unvisited, except by wild beasts, for generations. Not a hundred years ago, it is hard to realize! Add a log house here and there in a clearing in the forest and a picture is formed of Logansport for the next few years. The canal came in 1838 and the Michigan Road shortly before. Logansport was then a struggling village and its appearance year by year can be followed with lit- tle effort of the imagination. Settlements were miles apart.
The cabins of those days were made of round logs. The cracks were chunked and daubed, and there was usually only one door. The one or two windows were cut through the logs, half in an up- per log and the other half in the lower. The fire- place was hewn through the logs and about the hole was built the chimney. It was made of small split sticks packed with clay. The back of the fireplace sides and bottom were made of clay or mud, mois- tened to make them pack readily. The floors were made of heavy hewn timbers and the roofs were covered with clapboards. There was seldom more than one room, with a shed, and a loft for the ac- commodation of visitors. The cooking was done in the fire-place and the smoke did not always find its way up the chimney.
The pioneer home had no luxuries and was con-
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siderably deficient in the comforts of life. Blocks of wood, or roughly hewn benches answered for chairs while the dinner table was the family chest, the receptacle for all that was supposed to be val- uable about the house. The bedsteads were built with poles, the logs of the cabins supporting two sides and an upright pole forming the other corner of the square. The same sort of a clapboard used on the roof made the bed slats, and leaves were often used to fill the ticks.
Thus with humble home and humbler fare the pioneer began his conquest of the forest. Before the first crop matured supplies were brought in ca- noes, or dug-outs from the most convenient older settlement. After that there was a husbanding of resources and the supply of staples was carefully guarded. The forests were rich in game, the streams abounded in fish and thus the pioneer sat- isfied his hunger and paved the way for greater agriculture and larger commerce. As communities grew the total of food reserve naturally increased, and, without any system of keeping books and with no breach of confidence and rare dishonesty, the pioneers moved forward to a more advanced civili- zation.
The use of money brought with it dishonesty, credit brought breach of trust, and while the pio- neer system of exchange was sometimes- incon- venient it was remarkably sound. The era of money was the era of "wildcat" money and the whole state floundered through a period of uncer- tain currency for many years. Confidence and mu- tual aid did not dignify the small local community alone for settlers voluntarily came from other vil- lages to aid in houseraising.
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The same flood of progress swept on to the westward, in which direction the course of empire is said to take its way. Then humanity settled down to acquire and enjoy the luxuries of life the pioneers had made possible. Manufacturing natur- ally followed agriculture and New England, the pioneer in the latter, became the work-shop of the west. Mining became a leading industry and the railroads annihilated the barriers of distance and made the nation as it is. Characteristics of communities are less marked, in fact, there is little by which to distinguish a New Englander from his western brother, but the restless spirit of progress still exists with the American people, still pioneers in paths of progress.
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CHAPTER XIV.
LOGANSPORT IN RETROSPECT.
A stroll through the streets of ancient Logans- port discloses much that is interesting. It does not take a great imagination to see the city in the early thirties, for it was not a great city. There were a few log, or frame buildings below Fifth street and three or four east of it. The postoffice was in a log cabin just east of the new Barnett Hotel. Streets were mere roads and native forest trees were plentiful. Indians mingled with the pale faces at the village store and coon-skins were used as money. The daughters of the pioneers mnet at the only well to discuss the latest styles from New York via pack-mule. All around were dense forests and the stillness was only broken by the song of the birds, the cry of some wild animal or the dull thud of the wood-choppers' axe, as he hewed out a clearing in the wilderness.
But those were days of rapid progress. Lo- gansport acquired the Michigan Road and the Wa- bash and Erie Canal and became a city. It had a town marshal, a newspaper that tried to come out several times a year, and a fire department. Prom- inent citizens began putting "Esq." after their names. Meetings were called "at early candle- light" to discuss the city's future greatness. A poster, still inexistence, called upon the citizens to wake up, as Chicago was almost as large as Lo-
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gansport and would become the great city of the west if Logansport did not show more enterprise. Thus was organized the first Industrial Associa- tion, but somehow Chicago got ahead.
The early Fire Department was like most of those of pioneer days. Every citizen kept a bucket at home to take with him to fires. Then came a "Fire House" where the buckets were stored. The first duty of every good and loyal citizen at the cry of "fire" was to rush to the "Fire House" and get a bucket. At the fire two lines were formed to the nearest water supply. One line passed up the full buckets and the other returned them when empty. When the early Barnett House at the corner of Third and Market streets caught fire it took the entire population of Logansport to extin- guish the blaze. A ladder was found somewhere and the line ran up the ladder to the fire. The man in front emptied the buckets judiciously, and as the buildings were small and the material heavy the fire was easily conquered.
The old Barnett House afterwards burned to the ground under a better system of fire-fighting but it was not the fault of the fire-fighters. That was in the days of the hand-engines when every able-bodied man took his place at the brakes and pumped till the fire was out, sometimes because there was nothing left to burn. It was an efficient system for the times and the volunteers often took great risks. Not nearly as many as are taken now with high buildings and large compact blocks, but the element of danger was, and is, always pres- ent.
What a great man was the Chief in the early days as he rushed about giving orders through a trumpet. "How many men on that roof? Five?
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Half of yez come down." There are probably no relics of the old "bucket brigade." S. B. Boyer has the minutes of the old Tipton volunteer company and George W. Fender the trumpet presented by admiring citizens to the chief of the Tipton com- pany.
What a story could be written about the coun- ty fairs! The old fair ground on the Northside, up on the hill in "Jobtown" was a center of early interest. There prize pumpkins and prize beauties contested for the honors of the day and people gathered for miles around to gaze at the fatted calf and the four-minute trotter. There matches were made and many a marriage had its beginning in a glance of the eye over the exhibits of "the best corn grown in the county."
The old fair grounds went into a decline, the high board fence rotted away, and the stalls grad- ually disappeared. A new association had its day at the grounds now known as Spencer Park, but for many years the "county fair" has been un- known in Logansport. The Trotting Association has occupied the grounds, or part of them, but the old-fashioned fair has long been a thing of the past. The English people, perhaps more conserva- tive, cling to their Donnybrook fairs but the pro- gressive American is only content with an "Expo- sition.".
Progress has been rapid. Town pumps suc- ceeded the early wells, then came water works, railroads dried up the canal, and a paid fire de- partment followed the hand engines and the bucket brigade. Street railways occupy the streets and the toot of the automobile has taken the place of the Indian war-whoop in the once peaceful valley of the Wabash.
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CHAPTER XV.
THE "CITY OF BRIDGES. "-AN OLD HANDBILL.
Logansport was early given the name "The City of Bridges." Those new to the city hardly realize how appropriate the title was. With the canal passing along what is now Erie avenue and across Fifth street, over Eel river, and along the West-side where the Vandalia station now is, many bridges were needed. The canal bridges were at first high bridges and the boats passed underneath. After that came turn bridges, one at every street. The two rivers made bridges nec- essary and there were five tail-races, some crossed by bridges. There were races on each side of the river at the two Eel river dams and one on the South Side leading from the Wabash dam. The railroads crossed the streams, and on Biddle's Island the Wabash road bridged over the street. Thus there were at one time twenty-eight bridges in the city limits as follows: Four Wabash rail- road bridges, six Panhandle railroad bridges, eight wagon bridges over the rivers and races and ten bridges over the canal. The number was reduced by the abandonment of the canal, and some of the races, but one or two new river wagon bridges have been added and the in- terurbans have increased the number. This list does not include some of the headgates of the races over which teams passed.
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The city is still, however, entitled to the name. There are now twenty-three bridges, eight wagon, five interurban and eight steam railroad, not count- ing any of the bridges over the races. So that the number is not materially reduced. The canal, pass- ing as it did through the heart of the city, made the bridge question a serious one. The high bridges were the first to be adopted. After them came turn bridges, and, at Market street a re- markable bridge that was lifted high in the air by weights and which often refused to come down. It finally broke in two under a heavy load and was cast aside. The frequent passage of canal boats seriously interfered with travel and there was a hurrying to get over when a bridge was about to be turned. The bridges were popular with April 1st jokers and the citizen who forgot the day and made a dive for a pocketbook only to find it nailed down was greeted with a shout from a crowd gathered nearby, apparently discussing politics.
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