USA > Indiana > Carroll County > Recollections of the early settlement of Carroll County, Indiana > Part 5
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THE MILROY FARM, August 24, 1861.
This being the day appointed for the annual meet- ing of the "Old Settlers'" Society, the following mem- bers answered to their names : Abner Robinson, Wm. M'Cord, Thomas Stirlin, William Hughes, Aaron Gregg, John W. Gillam, Isaac Jackson, Isaac Robbins, James H. Stewart, Andrew Burntrager, John Wilson, Isaac Wilson, Fanny Stirlin, John R. Ballard, William A. Barns, Sarah Robinson, Austin Williamson, Samuel M'Cain, Mirinda Dugan, Sarah Odell, Martha Beck, James W. Milroy, Dan. Williamson, Anna William- son, Magdalena M'Cain, Susanna Ballard, George Mal-
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CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
com, Robert Davidson, George S. Fouts, Elizabeth Gregg, Mary Burntrager, Ann Caroline Robinson, Lydia J. Robinson, Abigail Lyon, James H. Barns, Mary A. M'Donald, Abigail M'Cain, Edward M. Barns.
The meeting was opened with prayer, and Abner Robinson, the president, called for new members, and the following persons recorded as such :
Names.
Where Born.
Age.
Date of Settlement.
John W. Penn
Kentucky
52
Nov. 14, 1833.
Elizabeth Graham
Virginia
39
Huldah Penn.
Kentucky
48
Nov. 14, 1833.
Abraham Deal
Pennsylvania ..
57
May 10, 1830.
Elizabeth Deal
Indiana
49
May 10, 1830.
James G. Malcom
Indiana
46 Dec. 30, 1831.
Charles Martin
Tennessee
58 1834.
George Byers.
57 October, 1827.
Robert Fisher
Indiana
41 October, 1827.
Abner H. Bennett
Ohio
52 August 11, 1836.
Martin Wagoner
Pennsylvania .. Ohio
62
May, 1832.
Johnson Earnest.
56 March 1830.
David Harter ...
Ohio
41
November, 1827.
Thomas Meneaugh.
Indiana
42 October, 1835.
Arthur Compton.
Ireland
.. Oct. 1829, Clint. co.
Alex. Sanderson.
Ohio
51 Sept. 20, 1836.
Adam Rohrbaugh.
Virginia
41
October 4, 1828.
Anna Sanderson
43
1827.
JOHN W. PENN made some remarks, in which he said that the men who helped to raise his cabin when he settled in Carroll County, were John Shanks, Abner Shanks, Levi Cline, John Lenon, Daniel Lenon, Jacob Slusser, Joseph Neff, and William Armstrong. These men were now nearly all gone. Mr. P. said he had en- joyed himself, and had general good health since his arrival in the county. The people in the early settle- ment were remarkably clever.
George Byers and Isaac Jackson also made some interesting remarks, and the meeting adjourned, after having spent a very pleasant day.
James H. Johnson
Tennessee. Ohio
36 October 1, 1834.
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EARLY SETTLEMENT OF
OLD SETTLERS' NINTH MEETING.
MILROY'S FARM, August 23, 1862.
THE Society met at the usual place; Abner Robin- son, the president, presiding.
To the roll-call, the following members answered to their names : Abner Robinson, William M'Cord, James Odell, Thomas Stirlin, Isaac Robbins, William Hughes, John B. Milroy, Joseph Cox, Andrew Burntrager, John Wilson, Isaac Wilson, Enoch Cox, Hamilton Thompson, William M. Young, Phenia Royster, Fanny Stirlin, Nancy M. Coble, Magdalena M'Cain, Robert Davidson, Elizabeth Smith, Harvey Wilson, John W. Penn, Huldah Penn, Abraham Deal, Elizabeth Deal.
By request of the president, the following per- sons came forward, and had their names recorded as members of the Society :
Names.
Where Born.
Age.
Date of Settlement.
Sam. Thompson Hugh Manary
Kentucky Ohio
55
50
October 10, 1826. October 4, 1825.
The president stated, with much feeling, that he missed the faces of many. Old Mr. R- had gone to " that bourne from whence no traveler returns." He referred to the many happy reminiscenses of old times, when the people met together in the log-cabins. He said that there was not a person present who assisted him to build his cabin, but Mr. Stirlin came soon afterward. He referred to some of the trials of the first settlers, among which were, having to go fifty miles to mill, and cut out the road before you ; having no neighbors; having to go fifty miles to the nearest post-office, and fifty miles to procure marriage- lieense, and seventy-five miles to obtain a minister to solemnize the same.
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CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
Colonel JOHN B. MILROY said he was glad to see so many people here in good health. We can meet here on a common platform. He looked upon his first years spent in the wilderness of Carroll County as the happiest of his life.
Colonel Milroy referred to the death of Dr. John M. Ewing, one of the early pioneers of the county, and the first physician. Dr. Ewing had, for several years past, resided in Illinois. He joined the Ninth Indiana Regiment a short time prior to the battle of Pitts- burg Landing, and was appointed hospital steward, in which position he died. Dr. Ewing was a true patriot, and died alike honored and respected.
The colonel spoke of the present unhappy condi- tion of the country, and said that Carroll County had no cause to blush. The colonel's old company (A, Ninth Regiment) had been in six fights, and in the last, four were killed and fourteen wounded.
After having spent a few hours very pleasantly, and partaking of a picnic dinner, the mecting ad- journed.
On account of the War, no records are found of the years 1863, 1864, and 1865.
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EARLY SETTLEMENT OF
CHAPTER VII.
OLD SETTLERS' TENTH, ELEVENTH, TWELFTH, THIR- TEENTH, FOURTEENTH, AND FIFTEENTH MEETINGS.
Saturday, August 4, 1866.
0 N this day the " old settlers" of Carroll County met at the usual place of meeting (" Milroy Farm"), Abner Robinson, the president, presiding.
All the members of the Committee of Arrangements were also present, to wit: Thomas Stirlin, James Odell, John B. Milroy, Abner Robinson, and James H. Stewart.
Rev. John W. Gillam addressed the Throne of Grace; after which the meeting was opened for business.
The Minutes of the last meeting were read, and adopted.
Rev. Williamson Wright, who had previously been selected by the Committee of Arrangements (Execu- tive Committee), delivered a most excellent address.
After which the venerable JAMES BLAKE, of Indian- apolis, aged seventy-four years, proceeded to address the people. Mr. B. gave a history of the first settle- ment of Indianapolis; of the clearing of the heavy timbers on the town plot; the employment of niggers in burning off logs, etc. He detailed his operations in the purchase of ginseng in Carroll County ; told a great many anecdotes, particularly about the bear and the man with the jug of whisky. Mr. B. was in Delphi at the first sale of lots, and started the subscrip- tion paper for the erection of the school-house, and the house for Rev. James Crawford, Presbyterian minister.
71
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
Mr. B. spent three months of the year (while curing ginseng) in this county ; was always superintendent of Sunday-school while here. He spoke of his intimacy with General Milroy, and eulogized the firmness of his wife. Said that on one occasion (while he, Mr. B., was present), two of the boys, General Robert H., and Colonel John B., were taken with spasms at the same moment ; that Mrs. B., calmly as an old physician, tied up their arms and bled them, thus saving their lives ! Mr. B. continued to interest the audience with inci- dents connected with the early settlement of this county, and anecdotes connected with his long and eventful life ; and when he proposed to close, his old friends, so anxious were they to hear him, would scarcely permit him to do so.
At this stage of the proceeding, it was announced that soup was ready ; and the crowd, numbering ten or twelve hundred, proceeded by the old Indian trail down the bluff to the bank of Deer Creek, at the mouth of M'Cain Run, where that old settler, Joel H. Dewey, had prepared a soup never surpassed ; and besides this, citizens had furnished provisions of every kind, together with the barrel of buttermilk cooled with the running brook and ice ; and we must not forget the fixtures for the tea preparation, all con- structed and arranged under the management of the inimitable Jocl. It is scarcely necessary to add that the old and young settlers did ample justice to the soup and other good things. After which the people quietly took their departure for their various homes, after, as was universally said, spending one of the most pleasant days of their whole lives.
And the meeting adjourned.
JAMES H. STEWART, Secretary.
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EARLY SETTLEMENT OF
OLD SETTLERS' ELEVENTH MEETING.
August 10, 1867.
THE "Old Settlers"" Society met at the farm of Sam- uel S. Milroy, and organized. Prayer was offered ; after which the meeting adjourned for dinner.
At half past one the meeting assembled again at the stand. Rev. A. Jones delivered the regular address ; after which General Robert Milroy, Judge Orth, Col- onel John B. Milroy, Isaae Jackson, John W. Gillman, and others, addressed the meeting.
The following persons connected themselves with the Society : Jacob Humerickhouse, John Burr, John Clark, John Humerickhouse, Daniel H. Leven, Lewis Martin, Robert Fisher, Isaac H. Lake, Jonathan L. Knight, J. R. Saxton.
The meeting adjourned at 5 P. M., after having spent a delightful day.
The 4th of July, 1868, the Executive Committee held a meeting at the office of Sims & Stewart, and Captain George Bowman was selected to deliver the address at the next meeting of the " old settlers," to be held, August 8, 1868.
OLD SETTLERS' TWELFTH MEETING.
August 8, 1868.
A VERY large meeting of "old settlers," and others assembled on the Milroy farm at the time appointed. Abner Robinson, the president of the Society, being absent on account of sickness, the Hon. James Odell was chosen president pro tem. The meeting was opened with prayer by the Rev. Wilson Beckner.
Captain George Bowman came forward and spoke to the audience in a very eloquent manner.
After which, General Robert H. Milroy, Henry C.
73
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
Dibble, Austin Williamson, Isaae Jackson, Colonel J. B. Milroy, and others, were called upon for speeches.
Grandmother Baum was present, bringing with her a coffee-mill that had been used in the Revolutionary War.
A much larger number than usual were present on this occasion, and the day was spent in a most agreea- ble manner.
Mr. George Bowman was presented to the audience, and interested those present in a well-timed address of about forty minutes. He showed the difference be- tween the education of the children of our pioneer parents and "Young America" of to-day. His re- marks upon the benefit of a correct education were excellent, and if carried out would instill into the minds of children loftier and better ideas than they are in the habit of possessing themselves with, in the fast age in which we live.
General Milroy was called on to relate a few of the incidents that occurred in the early settlement of the county. He told about the early settlers having to haul their grain from this county to Michigan City and Chicago, their nearest market, and they would bring back store-goods in return for the merchants. At that time, the ground upon which stands the Garden City of the West, was a wet, marshy prairie, with but a few small frame buildings. At that time there was a United States fort there; and it was here that the gen- eral, for the first time in his life, heard the strains of martial music and saw the first of Uncle Samuel's Boys in Blue,-'all of which was a great curiosity to him then. At that time the general little dreamed of the future that awaited him in the service of his country. Where he saw but a handful of the brave sol- diery of our country then, he lived to witness the mar- shaling of a million Boys in Blue to defend the Repub- lic in the hour of danger; and at the head of legions he
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EARLY SETTLEMENT OF
rode foremost in the fight. The general spoke of Uncle Billy Hughes, who was present, being known as the great hunter among the early settlers; and he be- lieved Mr. Hughes had killed a deer on every fifty feet of square ground for ten miles round and about Delphi. He spoke of Mr. John Ballard, who was present, making the first coffin manufactured in the county, which was made to contain the remains of the father of Dr. Angell, who was the first white man that died in the county. The general recited other incidents of the early settlers, which were interesting and amusing to those who listened.
H. C. Dibble, Esq., formerly of Carroll County, now a resident of New Orleans, being present, was called upon and made a few happy remarks. It gave him great pleasure to be present at the meeting of the " old settlers." Though he, perhaps, was a stranger to many of the "old settlers" present, yet they would remember his father, Milo Dibble, who was one of the early pioneers, and at one time treasurer of the county. Mr. Dibble closed his remarks by promising to come from New Orleans to be present at the next meeting of the pioneers of Carroll County.
Rev. Mr. Beckner was then called on. He showed the march of progress from the first settlement of the county until the present time. Then no railroads, no canals, no modern modes of travel-none of the ad- vantages for farming that are in use to-day. It was hard work then, compared with the means used to do the labor of the farm to-day. Mr. Beckner stated that he was among the first children born in the county, and that his mother was the first white person who died in the county, in the region south of Deer Creek. ITis entire remarks were very appropriate.
Isaac Jackson was next called on. Though perhaps his appearance would not indicate him to be one of the
75
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
early pioneers, yet he claimed to be one of that num- ber. He had seen the county an unbroken wilderness, and lived to see it blossom as the rose. He had seen it when the only mode of travel was in wagons and on horseback through the dense forest and along the red man's trail; and he had lived to see it with its canal, yea, with its railroad, along which the iron horse speeds his way as with the wings of lightning. Mr. Jackson, in common with all our pioneer fathers and mothers, can see the change since then and now, and can realize how thankful the late settlers should be for the ad- vantages they now enjoy.
Major John B. Milroy was next called on, and re- lated a number of interesting incidents, among which was the plentifulness of rattlesnakes during early times. He had seen as many as three or four hundred in one gang. His father had an old sow that had a systematic way of killing them ; she would motion, and get the snake to strike, then pounce upon it with her fore-feet, and tear it in pieces. He had seen deer kill them in the same manner.
Austin Williamson, of Rock Creek, was called on, and related a few incidents of the "early settlers." He contrasted the difference between boys in his day and "fast young men" of the present age. Then it was considered a happy privilege to ask the permission of parents to go to church, or to any little gathering that might be going on in the neighborhood, even though they had to go bare-footed and withont a coat or vest ; for they had to dress according to their means at that day. How is it now? No parents' wishes are consulted when " Young America" chooses to go. The patent-leather boots, the broadcloth suit, sleek hat, kid- gloves, fast horse, wine-glass, and giddy ball-room, are a part of the fashionable life of to day not indulged
76
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF
in by the pioneer parents and children. Mr. W's. re- marks were gratifying to those who heard him.
Several other old settlers were called upon ; but, there being a high wind blowing, making it difficult to be heard, and not being very well, they declined.
Among ancient relics presented, was an old copper tea-kettle, fifty years old, and an iron coffee-mill, the property of Mrs. Daniel Baum, Sr., which had been used in grinding coffee for Revolutionary soldiers.
The president stated that there were four persons present, whose average ages was about eighty years.
A large frame, containing eighty-four pictures of old settlers, the workmanship of J. P. Eversole, was a rich treat to look upon; and to J. M. Grant, of Delphi, who has been years in acquiring the faces of the pioneer fathers, is due the praise. It was justly said, by an old lady who was looking over the collection, "that it was selfish to have all the pioneer fathers in the frame, to the exclusion of the pioneer mothers." Our senti- ments exactly; and this grand collection will never be finished until the pioneer mothers, who, alike with their husbands, underwent the trials and perils that attended the first settlement of our county, are se- cured for exhibition at the next meeting of the "old settlers."
Dr. Stewart, who is permanent secretary of the or- ganization, stated that at least half of the first signers of the organization had passed from earth to their long home.
All business being done, the meeting adjourned.
After the exercises were over, the young folks re- paired to Milroy's barn, where they enjoyed themselves in the delights of the dance.
A match game of base-ball was played between the Delphians and Valleys, resulting in a victory for
77
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
the former. The game was witnessed by hundreds of delighted admirers.
For want of further room, we must draw the cur- tain over the scenes of the happiest, largest, and best "old settlers'" meeting ever held in the county, trusting that another year may call the survivors together again.
REMINISCENCES OF AN OLD SETTLER.
THE following paper was handed to the secretary by Mrs. Thomas Stirlin, to be read at the recent "old settlers'" meeting, but was unintentionally overlooked, It portrays Mrs. Stirlin's recollection of the scenes of the first settlers of our county, as follows :
"On the 16th day of February, 1825, I, in company with Mr. Odell's family, left Wayne County, Indiana, to emigrate to the Wabash country. Our journey lasted fourteen days. We had rain every day, except two, during our trip. The men would cut brush on which to lay our beds, to sleep. Our clothes would be wet upon our backs in the morning, sometimes. The country from White River to the Wabash was an un- broken wilderness, uninhabited, with the exception of a few Indians at Thorntown. We got along tolerably well, until we got this side Thorntown, when our wagon broke down; then I got into John Odell's wagon, and rode to Potatoe Creek. There John Little met us, with a horse and a yoke of oxen. My husband went to the south fork of Wild-cat Creek, to old Mr. Odell's, after a wagon. We encamped at Potato Creek that night. The next morning I started with Little for his home, on Flint Creek, twenty-five miles distant. I got on the horse, with my babe in my lap, with Little on foot, in advance. Sometimes it rained, and then it snowed, as fast as it could come down. I was on the horse from sunrise until dark, with a child in my arms, two years
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EARLY SETTLEMENT OF
old. You may be sure that I was very much fatigued. The next day, March 2d, my husband came with our goods. On the day following he was taken siek, and kept down about six weeks. We thought he would die. We had no doctor, nor any medicine. John Odell came to see us, and brought a dose of tartar emetic and some blister flies. These, with some butternut pills, composed our stock of medicine, with a bottle of Bateman's Drops, which we used as an anodyne. He recovered, and we all kept well until August, when he was attacked again with fever and ague, and was very sick for some time. I was confined the 21st of August, and could procure a nurse but for two days, when I had to get up, and perform my work as best I could. A man named Luce took sick and died, near us. As almost every body was sick, my husband and myself had to see to him. My husband was sick, and my babe was only a week old. We succeeded in getting help to dig his grave, and Mordecai Ellis made his coffin by splitting a bass-wood tree, dressing the boards with a broad-ax and jack-plane, and painting them black. He made quite a decent-looking coffin. Another family came to the neighborhood, who had settled on Deer Creek, on what is now the Milroy farm, who all got sick, and lost a child that is buried near the spot we now occupy. Their name was Galbraith. They wanted me to wash for them, as they had no washing done for six weeks. I told them I would try; and I did try, and performed as large a day's work as ever I did, when my babe was but three weeks old. The next December my husband came up to Deer Creek, and built a cabin. February 15, 1826, we started for our new home. We arrived here on Deer Creek on the 19th. The weather was very cold, and the snow about a foot deep. We stopped at John Carey's, and got some fire-we had no matches those times. We
79
CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
drove up to the cabin; I crawled under the wall, scraped away the snow, and kindled a fire, while the men sawed ont a door. The snow was about shoe-top deep in the house. We threw down some clapboards, and on them we placed our beds. We slept inside, and the hogs outside. The next morning the mud was as deep in our cabin as the snow had been the evening before. The weather was cold. We built a log-heap in our cabin, but still we almost froze. My husband would hew puncheons all day, and chink our cabin at night. We were nearly three miles from our nearest neighbor. We brought corn-meal with us, sufficient, as we thought, to last until after planting ; but it gave out, and I had to pound corn in an iron pot, with an iron wedge driven into the end of a hand-spike, and sift it through a basket-lid. We used the finest of the meal for breakfast, and the coarse for dinner and supper. We got our corn planted about the first of June, and then went to mill in a pirogue, down the Wabash, to a little corn-cracker, near where Lafayette now stands. I was taken sick about the first of July, and both our children. I shook forty days with the ague, without cessation. We then got some quinine, which stopped it for ten days. I got able to ride on horseback, and while going to see John Ballard, who was sick at Mr. Odell's, my horse became frightened, and threw me off; and that brought on the ague more severely than ever, and it held on to me until Christmas. I never saw a woman, except one (Sarah Odell) for three months. My husband was cook, washer-woman, and milk-maid during that time. In October, my husband had to leave home for three days, and I was left alone with my two children. One night our dog fought some animal near the door, which had no shutter but a quilt. I was very much frightened, and our faithful dog was almost killed. He could not walk the next
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EARLY SETTLEMENT OF
day. John Ballard stayed at our house after that till my husband returned.
" Forty-two years have passed since those times. I have seen our country rapidly settling and improving. There were but eleven families in Carroll County in 1826. One generation has passed away; another has succeeded. There are but two families left whose united head still live-Abner Robinson and ours. A few of the "old settlers" have emigrated to distant lands; but the greater number have passed to that bourne from whence no traveler returns. We, who are left, expect soon to eross the River, and join them in that better land, where sickness and sorrow, pain and death, are feared and felt no more.
"FRANCES STIRLIN."
OLD SETTLERS' THIRTEENTH MEETING.
Extract from the " Delphi Journal" of the Old Settlers' Meeting, held August 14, 1869.
THE "Old Settlers'" Society of Carroll County met at the grounds on the Milroy farm on last Saturday. The sun rose bright and full in the morning, indicating a clear day for the meeting. The Delphi Silver Cornet Band volunteered their services on the occasion, dis- coursing some of their sweetest music.
At eleven o'clock, the meeting was called to order by the president, Abner Robinson, Esq. The Rev. Mr. Foxworthy addressed the Throne of Grace.
On motion, the Hon. James Odell was elected per- manent vice-president, and Joel H. Dewey permanent assistant secretary, of the Society.
The meeting then adjourned for dinner.
Dinner being over, the meeting reassembled. Upon calling the roll, the following members answered to their names :
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CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA.
Abner Robinson, William M'Cord, James Odell, Thomas Stirlin, William Hughes, Adam Porter, Aaron Gregg, Isaac Robbins, John B. Milroy, John Archer, Isaac Jackson, James H. Stewart, Andrew Burntrager, John Wilson, Daniel Baum, Jr., Hamilton Thompson, Fanny Stirlin, Robert H. Milroy, John R. Ballard, Charles Angell, Joel H. Dewey, Ambrose Phelps, Charlotte Phelps, Austin Williamson, Mary Dunkle, Samuel M'Cain, Mirinda Dugan, Martha Beck, Magde- lena M'Cain, Susanna Ballard, George Malcom, Robert Davidson, Elizabeth Gregg, Mary Burntrager, John Burr, Matilda A. Milroy, Ann Wharton, Daniel H. Lenon, Robert Fisher, Isaac H. Lake, J. R. Saxton.
After the calling of the roll, Henry C. Dibble, Esq., a native of Delphi, but a citizen of New Orleans, was called upon, and interested the audience for an hour with one of the most beautiful and appropriate ad- dresses we ever listened to. We very much regret our inability to give the address to our readers.
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