USA > Indiana > Marion County > Indianapolis > Polk's Indianapolis (Marion County, Ind.) city directory, 1857 > Part 5
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A brief summary, only of the principal local events occurring in the period above spoken of, will be given.
During the spring of 1830, a new paper, called the Indiana Demo- crat, devoted to the interests of the administration, was issued by A. F. Morrison. In the fall the Gazette was discontinued, and the Indiana Democrat was published in its stead ; the Democrat was published until 1841, from an office in a little one story brick house, where "Temperance Hall now stands. In that year the establish- ment was purchased by G. A. and J. P. Chapman, who opened an office in a one story frame house, where Blake's Commercial row now stands, and commenced the publication of the Indiana State Sentinel. It has ever since borne that name, and has been regular- ly issued, until the recent ruin of the office by the explosion of the boiler. The first daily published in the town was issued from the Sentinel office, by the Messrs. Chapman, in 1842. It was an ex- periment merely, and was soon discontinued. In 1844, Messrs. Chapman removed the Sentinel establishment to a new brick build- ing on Illinois St., where it was published for several years. In 1849 or 1850 the paper was sold to Wm. J. Brown, who edited and pub- blished it from an office at No. 8 W. Wash. St., until 1853, when the office was moved to 32, E. Washington. The establishment was sold in 1854 to Walker & Cottam. The establishment has since been owned by Larrabee and Cottam, by Larrabee, Bingham & Co., and by Bingham and Doughty ,its present owners and publishers. The present daily edition was first issued in 1843-4, and has been issued regularly until April 9, 1857. The office had just been removed to the old Capitol House building. and the engine putin mo- tion for the first time, when at 15 minutes after 10 p. m., the boiler exploded, utterly demolishing the east wall of the building, ruining the job office, killing a boy, and wounding several persons in different parts of the house. The paper was discontinued in consequence of this disaster until the 23d of April, when it again made its appear- ance before the public.
At the August election in 1830, Center township polled 1,068 votes, and in October following, the population of the town, as shown by the census, amounted to 1094. The voters constituted a
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relatively large proportion, however, of this number. The settled portion of the town was still mainly along Washington, Market, and South Meridian streets. The place had improved but little, and few additional houses had been erected. The trees had been cleared off the donation as far north as New York street, and south to the valley of Pógue's Run. A beautiful walnut grove covered many acres in the north part of the 1st and 2d wards until 1836-7, and in places it remained until 1845.
In March, 1823, Harvey Gregg and Douglass Maguire published the first number of the " Western Censor and Emigrant's Guide," from an office on Washington street. Mr. Gregg was nominally connected with the paper till November 2d, 1824, when he retired from the firm, and on the 16th John Douglass assumed his place. On the 11th of January, 1825, when the seat of government was removed to this point, the paper was enlarged to super-royal size, and called the "Indiana Journal," a name it has ever since retained. Its publication continued weekly, by Douglass & Maguire (with a brief interval as to the latter) until October 13, 1835, when Mr. Maguire sold his interest to S. V. B. Noel, by whom and Mr. Doug- lass the paper was published till 1843, when Mr. Noel became sole proprietor, and Mr. T. J. Barnett, Editor. In 1845, Mr. Noel sold the paper to J. D. Defrees, who edited and published it till October 20, 1854. It then passed into the hands of a company, who have since published it. The first semi-weekly edition was issued on the 10th of December, 1828. The second on Dec., 1829. The first tri-weekly edition of the Journal was published in 1838. Daily editions were issued for several years, during the sessions of the Legislature, the first beginning on the 12th of December, 1842, and ending February 15, 1833. The present daily began on the 7th of October, 1850, and has been published regularly till the present time. On the 20th of October, 1854, its name was changed to the " Indianapolis Journal." The paper is now issued from an office on Pennsylvania street, opposite the Bank, and is the leading jour- nal in the State.
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The winter of 1830-1 passed without any occurrences of interest. The season at times was severe, but the weather was generally milder than of late years. It rained very frequently, however, and by the combined action of frost and water, the roads became almost impas- sable.
On the 6th of January, 1831, an act was passed, allowing further time to purchasers of out-lots to pay for them. On the same day, the Steam Mill Company were authorized to delay the erection of the mill for another year, and on the 7th of January authority was given them to cut any timber they needed on the lots held by the State.
On the 2d and 3d of February, the Lawrenceburgh and Indiana- polis, the Madison and Indianapolis, the Lafayette and Indi- anapolis, the Harrison and Indianapolis, the New Albany, Salem
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and Indianapolis, and the Ohio and Indianapolis Railroad Compa- nies were chartered. Several of these roads received State aid a num- ber of years after, and thousands of dollars were spent, but all were abadoned except the Madison and Indianapolis.
On the 9th of February, the Agent was directed to lay off the dona- tion land around the town plat into lots, and to have the same ap- praised and a minimum price fixed upon them. On the first Monday in May he was to offer the lots at public auction, receiving one-fourth of the purchase-money in hand, and the remainder in three annual instalments. In pursuance of the act, the Agent offered 1,900 acres of land at auction, a part of which only was sold, the average mini- mum price being fixed at $10 per acre.
On the 10th of February, the Legislature appointed James Blake commissioner to superintend the commencement of a State House on the State Square. He was to procure before the second Monday of May, 1832, 360 perches of stone, and $3,000 were appropriated for that object. He was to offer $150 for the best plan of a build- ing, and report the same to the next Legislature. The building was not to cost over $45,000. The building was to contain a Rpresen- tatives' Hall large enough for one hundred members, and a Senate hall large enough for fifty, with twelve committee rooms, a Supreme Court, and a State Library room. The commissioner went forward with the work, and procured a part of the material subsequently used in the building.
At the August election the whole vote of the county was 1,046. In the preceding March, the vote of Center township was 774.
On the 26th of January, 1832, the Agent was instructed to lease square 25 to the Trustees of the Marion County Seminary for the term of thirty years, on condition that they should fence it, and return it in good order at the expiration of that time. They were authorized to erect Seminary buildings upon it, but if the State wished to use it before the expiration of the term, one-half acre, containing the improvements, was to be sold or set aside for the Trustees. The Trustees took possession, and a year or two after- ward erected the old Marion County Seminary, which is yet stand- ing on the south-west corner of the Square, and now used as the City Central High School building. This Seminary was for many years the leading school in the central part of the State, and when under the care of Messrs. Kemper, Safford and Lang, from 1842 to 1852, was deservedly celebrated. Many of the present active busi- ness men of the city were wholly or partially educated within its time-honored walls, and they look back to that period with peculiar emotions. It would be well for " the old Seminary boys " to have annual reunions, and review in the present some of the sports, joys and recollections of the past.
On the 20th of January, 1832, James Blake, the commissioner appointed to receive plans and obtain materials for a State House, reported a plan submitted by Ithiel Town and S. J. Davis, of New
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York city. The plan was approved by the Legislature, and the prize of $150 ordered to be paid to them.
On the 2d of February, 1832, Noah Noble, Morris Morris, and Samuel Merrill were appointed commissioners to superintend the erection of the building according to the plan. They were instructed to employ an architect as superintendent, and to make use of the materials accepted by the former commissioners, in the new build- ing. The house was to be completed before the 1st of November, 1838, and was to be examined and approved by a committee of five members of each branch of the Legislature, before its acceptance by the State. 1358737
Thus instructed, the commissioners went actively to work. The construction of the building began in the summer of 1832, and rap- idly approached completion. It was completed in December, 1836, and received from the contractors and occupied by the Legislature of that year. The house was built on the square designed for it, on the lower end of Washington street, The ground at that point was quite low, and after the house was finished, the lot was filled up around it as much as nine feet. The large trees now growing on the square were planted on this made ground a year or two after the completion of the house. The style of the house is Doric, a large dome rising over the rotunda, supports a cap ornament, modeled after the tomb of Lycidas. The building is of brick, covered with stucco in imitation of sandstone. Its cost was about $60,000, and at the time, it was proudly regarded by the people of the State as a monument of taste and munificence. It, as well as the Governor's Circle and the Court House, was built from the fund derived from lot sales in the town. It has rapidly gone to decay, however, on account of its situation, materials, and negligence in its preserva- tion, and at present is a disgrace to the State. It is time a State House was built, one that the citizens will take pride in showing, and one whose materials and solidity will enable it to withstand bad treatment from the people or from time.
No very important events occurred in the place during the years 1833-4 and 5. It advanced very slowly in population, wealth and trade until the excitement of 1835 and 6 wholly changed the current of affairs. The excitement began in 1834-5. The Indianapolis and Montezuma railroads, occupying the same general line now occupied by the Illinois and Indiana Central railroad, was chartered on the 7th of February, 1835. The surveys were made, but nothing of consequence was effected by the Company, and the project drop- ped after the crash of 1839.
On the 7th of February, in view of the near completion of the State House and the risk of fire on the State property, a joint reso- lution was adopted, directing the Treasurer of State to procure 20 fire buckets and ladders sufficiently long to reach the top of the State House. He was also directed, in case the citizens subscribed one- half the purchase-money for a fire engine, to subscribe the other half
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on the part of the State. During the summer the citizens held meetings on the subject. Great efforts were made, and at last the requisite amount was subscribed. The honored " old Marion " en- gine, still in good plight and ready for efficient and instant service, was purchased in 1836, and on the 20th of February, 1838, Nicho- las McCarty, Benjamin J. Blythe, Calvin Fletcher, and their asso- ciates and successors, to the number of 300, were incorporated as " the Marion Fire Engine Company." The register of the Company contains the names of almost all the old and prominent citizens, who, in the early settlement, turned out and " run with the machine " with equal, if not greater alacrity than that displayed by newer comers. Prior to the purchase of the engine, the citizens supplied themselves with leather buckets, and ran to the fire on the call of the church bells.
At present there are five well organized fire companies in the city, possessing six very handsome and effective engines, and each com- pany having a two-story brick engine house, well furnished, and surmounted by bell towers. There are also five hose companies attached to the respective fire companies, and one hook and ladder company, which possesses a house and full set of apparatus. Cis- terns have been placed at the intersection of a number of the streets in different parts of the city. There are, perhaps, twenty-five cis- terns, each holding 300 to 500 barrels of water. They were built by a tax, authorized by a vote of the people in 1853. The tax was ordered by a majority of three only, and the cistern plan experienced much opposition at the start. Its benefits are now universally admitted.
In the year 1834, a census of the place proved that it then con- tained 1,600 inhabitants. The settled parts of the town were but little more extensive than in 1830, and the timber yet stood on much the larger part of the town plat.
During the years 1834 and 1835, the attention of the community was being turned to the internal improvement scheme, and by the winter of 1835 they were advocating many enterprises of the most doubtful expediency.
The bill providing for an extended system of internal improve- ments, passed on the 27th of January, 1836, and was hailed with de- light by the citizens ; congratulations where every where extended, bonfires were built, rockets fired, and the town illuminated. The bill provided for the construction of several important channels of trade and travel in different directions from the town, and if they had been completed, the joy of the citizens would have been well founded. The whole system was abandoned howyer in 1839, after large sums had been spent or squandered on different lines. Among the im- provements thus abandoned, the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, and the Central Canal were the most important and advanced to- ward completion. The first was surrendered to a company in 1843, and completed to the city in 1847. The latter, after an expendi-
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ture of $1,600,000, and its near completion to the Wabash, was abandoned and suffered to go to ruin. It was commenced in 1837, and work suspended on it in 1839. Large camps of Irish laborers were placed along its lines, and at one of them near town, a terrible fight occurred in 1838, between the Corkonians and the Fardowners. The highest anticipations prevailed among the citizens concerning the Central Canal, and much preparation was made for the business to be done upon it. Lots along the canal and around the two ba- sins, on opposite sides of Washington street, sold for fabulous prices. A number of boats were built, and placed on the completed section of the canal, from Broadripple to the town, and wood, flour and other articles were boated down in considerable quantities. The mill sites on the line of the canal were improved, and two paper mills, two grist mills, one woolen mill, one cotton mill and two saw mills erected upon the canal, in the western, and north western part of the town. The power however was not as great as the engineer of the canal had predicted; he had not gievn the canal fall enough to in- duce a sufficient current of water; still the mills went to work, and have since vastly benefitted the town. For a number of years the millers complained every summer that the State did not keep the canal free from grass and other obstructions, and supply them with water. The Commissioner would then let the water out of the canal to clean it; this always created great complaints among the neighboring people, who sickened in great numbers. Thus beggered by the millers and people, and finding the canal far more expensive than profitable, the Legislature on the 19th of January, 1850, or- dered its sale, It passed into the hands of a company, who kept it in indifferent repair, and at present it is owned by a single indi- vidual. Propositions have been made at various times in the City Council, for fiilling it up, and abating it as a nuisance, and it is pro- bable that this course will ultimately be adopted.
On the 9th of February, 1836, the Legislatare by joint resolution memorialized Congress on the subject of the location and construc- tion of the Central Canal, and prayed the assistance of the general government øn its construction, and instructing our Senators and Representatives to urge its passage in Congress.
The White River Bridge Company, with a capital stock of $15,000, in $25 shares, was incorporated in February, 1834, for sixty years. The Company was organized shortly afterwards, but nothing was effected under its charter. The national government built a bridge over the river several years afterwards, near the con- templated sight of the Company's bridge, and the latter enterprise was surrendered.
On the 5th of February, the town of Indianapolis was incorpo- rated. Prior to that time, and since 1830, it had been governed by a Board of five Trustees, elected by the citizens. The incorporated limits were those of the donation, but no power was given to raise taxes outside of the old town plat. The election for five Trustees
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was ordered to take place on the first Monday of April. Upon their election the trustees were to meet and organize, and elect a President from their own number, and a lister, a collector, a clerk, and a marshal to transact the business of the corporation, and aid in preserving the public peace. The town continued under this government until February, 1838.
During the years 1837 and 1838 many persons came to the town ; the spirit of speculation engrossed the whole community, and public works of real or imagined utility were projected to different points. Property rapidly advanced, and soon reached extravagant figures ; the work on the Central Canal was rapidly pushed forward ; the section between Broadripple and the town was put into operation ; a number of boats were built, and a thriving trade began, The mer- chants sold a great many goods ; merchants were busy in erecting houses, and all rendered trades prosperous.
During the year 1836, the Washington Hall, now the Wright House, was built on the ground formerly occupid by the old Wash- ington Hall, a frame building which was removed to the adjoining lot. The new Washington Hall was built by a company, and cost about $30,000. At the time of the erection it was thought to be one of the largest and finest Hotels in the western country. It was controlled for many years by Edmond Browning ; R. F. Browning succeeded him, Henry Achey succeeded Browning, and at present Burgess & Townley are the lessees. For several years past it has been known as the Wright House.
During the year 1837 an accurate survey of the town proved that there was a mistake in the original survey, by which the general government still held the title to a part of the donation and town plat. This part embraced about eight acres of the ground which had been laid off, appraised and sold in 1831. At the succeeding session, the Legislature memorialized Congress on the subject, ask- ing a donation of the eight acres ; this was afterwards done, and the title secured.
At the August election in 1837, 1473 votes were polled in centre township ; the rapid increase, was to some extent, owing to the pre- sence of many Irishmen who were working on the canal. The vote in 1834 was 1134 ; in the following year, 1839, it was 1405, and in 1840 it was 1232.
On the 14th of February, 1838, the Marion Guards were incor- porated. This Company, commanded by Captain S. A. Morris, was for a long time a very excellent disciplined, efficient corps, and when on parade attracted universal admiration. It included many of our best citizens ; its organization was continued for many years.
On the 17th of February the town was incorporated by the Legis- lature, and its Trustees were made Councilmen. An election was ordered to be held the last Saturday of March for a President and six Trustees, one Trustee to be elected for each ward. The Trustees
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were given full power for the government of the town, but the an- nual income of the corporation was limited to the sum of $4000. The town was divided into seven wards. The Council was authorized to borrow money for the improvement of the town. The power to raise revenue, extended only to the territory within the old town plat. North, South, East and West streets were made public high- ways, and the Council was ordered to open them. The Council was empowered to appoint a collector and marshal, a clerk, a lister, a treasurer, a supervisor of streets and a clerk of the markets, who should serve until the election of the regular officers in March.
On the 13th of February, 1839, the State officers were directed to purchase a house for the Governor's residence. In the following spring they accordingly purchased the house and lot where the Gov- ernor now resides, on the corner of Illinois and Market streets, which has since been the executive mansion.
On the 15 of February, 1837, the town council was prohibited from spending the tax collected in West Indianapolis, east of the river. On the 22d of February 1840, the act of incorporation was so amended that Councilmen were to be elected for two years, and were to have $24 salary ; house holders only were eligible for councilmen. On the 3d of February, 1841, the office of Marshal was made elective. On the 13th of February, the portion of town west of the river was cut off and exempted from the act of incorpo- ration, and on the 15th of January, 1844, all town officers were made elective.
In this year, the financial difficulties of the country occurred, causing the abandonment and ultimate stoppage of the public works. The monetary pressure and the general stagnation of busi- ness produced their full effect here. Property fell more rapidly than it had advanced, building ceased, many persons left the town, and for several years afterward but little improvement was visible in the place.
The bitter political contest of 1839-40, and the visits of two prominent political leaders, varied the monotonous period. In the summer of 1840, Col. R. M. Johnson, of Kentucky, arrived, and was warmly welcomed by a large assemblage of his friends. He made a speech to the crowd in a walnut grove, just north of the pre- sent 'blind Institute. In the summer of 1842, Henry Clay visited the place, and was greeted by from thirty to fifty thousand persons. A Barbacue was prepared on Gov. Noble's farm-a stand was erected, and he addressed the multitude for two hours. The crowd nearly equalled the crowds gathered here during the last canvass, and when the facilities of travel are compared, it was pro- portionally much larger.
At the session of 1842-3, the first legislative attempt to alleviate the condition of the insane of the State was made. It was the pi- oneer effort to establish our present State charitable institutions Charities the more honorable, that they were bestowed when the
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State was oppressed with debt, and the community yet laboring under the effects of a great financial revolution.
On the 13th of February, 1843, a tax of two mills on the dollar,S was levied by the Legislature, to support and educate the deaf and dumb of the State, and building an asylum. In the spring of 1843, William Willard, a mute teacher from Ohio, came here to begin a school. This school began in October, 1844, and sixteen pupils . attended during the first year. At the beginning of the second session, in 1844, this school became a State Institution. On the the 15th of January, 1844, the Governor, Treasurer, and Secretary of State, H. W. Bucher, P. D. Gurley, P. H. Jamison, L. Dunlap, James Morrison, and Matthew Simpson, were appointed Trustees. They were instructed to rent a room, and employ teachers for the school. The Governor was instructed to receive proposals for the location of the Asylum Building at any point in the state. On the 13th of January, 1845, the Governor was authorized to appoint five Trustees in place of those previously appointed.
In the summer of 1845, the Commissioners rented the Kinder building on east Washington street, and the Asylum remained there untill the present permanent building east of the city was com- pleted. On the 19th of January, 1846, the Asylum was located permanently at Indianapolis, and the Trustees were directed to pur- chase thirty acres of ground near the city as a site for the building. Three thousand dollars were appropriated for the purchase of the site. On the 5th of December, 1848, the tuition in the asylum was made free all citizens of Indiana. The deaf and dumb asylum was the pioneer asylum of the State, and as the political tenets of the Superintendants have been less regarded than their competency, the institution has been better conducted than the other asylums.
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