USA > Indiana > Lake County > Reports of the historical secretary of the Old settler and historical association of Lake County, Indiana from 1901 to 1905 > Part 2
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Commencing this report with some improvements, among the additions to Crown Point, in the fall of 1901, may be named first, the Crown Point Sanitarium, under the control of members of the Roman Catholic church, Rev. Ph. Guethoff, M. J. Kramer, Joseph E. Heinrich, and Dr. Joseph Von Osinsky, comprising the company, but open, as such buildings usually are, to the sick and suffer- ing of every faith. The building is a substantial brick structure, standing a little north of the Roman Catholic church edifice, commenced in June, 1901, but opened for the reception of invalids about the middle of January, 1902. Also as second, the large green-house on what was formerly the Coffin and later the Rotarmond place, on the corner of North and Grant streets. The building is
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in the form of a large L, covering an area of 4620 feet. The dimensions are: 18 feet on North street, which it fronts and extending south on Grant street 120 feet, and then running west 100 feet, that part being 30 feet wide, to the long fuel and furnace room on the west side. Fire in the furnace of this green-house was not lighted till January 4, 1902, coal having been very scarce in Crown Point in the month of December, 1901. A large part of the quite extensive grounds on the south and west is given up to the cultivation of flowers, presenting a scene of much beauty in the summer time. These flowers are cut and sent to Chicago daily in their proper season. Besides these additions to Crown Point activities, improvements have been made in the cities of the county, and especial- ly in that part of East Chicago known as Indiana Harbor. Some mention was made of this locality last year. The work of grading streets, of erecting buildings of various kinds, setting out trees, building sidewalks, starting church and school enterprises, has gone steadily and rapidly on. A large mill building has been erected called the Indiana Steel Mill, and on Monday, August 11, 1902, "the wheels of the big mill were started to receive the first iron of the rolls." A well sunk by the Inland Mill people, in depth 276 feet, will furnish them, it is said, an abundance of good water. Indiana Harbor is already a town, almost a city, of itself. Its future none can foresee, but it promises now, when its mill work is all in operation and its harbor constructed, to make East Chicago one of the great lake cities of Indiana.
Five school houses have been this summer erected, in
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Ross township two, one of these a graded school building at Merrillville.
Two more railroads are quite sure to cross the county, the Gifford road entering at the southeast corner of the county and passing in a northwest direction, and the "C., C. and L.," crossing Ross township and reaching Griffith It seems quite sure that Lake county will continue to be first among the counties of Indiana in the number of miles of its railroads.
While improvements in different lines have been going onward, this has been in some respects a disastrous year. On Wednesday, October 23, 1901, early in the evening, the slaughter house at Hammond was destroyed by fire. The loss said to be $500,000, As this business was the large industry of Hammond, and there seems to be no prospect that it will be to any great extent resumed, the loss to that young city is great. A quite competent ob- server reported last week that neither Hammond nor Whiting were making any special growth, but that the principal advance in North township was in East Chicago.
The Conkey printing establishment was quite seriously crippled in business last fall for a time in consequence of a strike. The working people, at least some of them, wanted to form a Union, and Mr. Conkey would employ only non-union workers.
Although Hammond is not specially growing, the foun- dation work is now going on for what is expected to be an eighty-thousand dollar court house.
On November 13, 1901, in the evening, the home of Mr. Michael Johnston was invaded by some burglars who
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by threats and brutal usage compelled Mrs. Johnston to tell where $178 was secreted, which the robbers took, and, fearing that the aroused neighbors would soon be upon them, left the house. The neighbors were aroused by one of the girls of the large Demmon family who was there staying with Mr. and Mrs. Johnston, and who had been locked in an adjoining room by the robbers, from which she escaped through a window.
In the spring of this year an effort was made to take out from Cedar Lake some undesirable fish, such as gar fish and dog fish, but without much success. Says the Crown Point Register of April 17, 1902: "The job of sein- ing Cedar Lake is progressing slowly, and some magnifi- cent specimens of black bass and other game fish are be- ing hauled in and then let go; but so far none of the destructive gar fish have been caught."
On Monday evening, May 12, 1902, there was quite a large fire at Lowell. Between II and 12 o'clock the fire broke out in the rear of a blacksmith shop. Principal losses reported: A. H. Maxwell, $1200; Emil Sirois, $8000; Charles Schaffer. $800; Eugene Duckworth, $300.
May 15th of this year a $25,000 fire at East Chicago. A lumber mill was destroyed, but was soon rebuilt.
Besides loss by fires, the lightning this present summer has been quite destructive.
A new industry was started this year in Crown Point called a shirt factory. It gave employment to a number of girls and seemed to be for some time quite prosperous; but its industrial life was quite short.
On Wednesday, May 14, 1902, Articles of Incorporation were filed of the Golden Cure Company of Hammond.
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Capital stock $50,000. About the same time Articles were also filed incorporating what is called the Lake County Oil Company. Stock, $100,000. This company, understood to be Chicago capitalists, have this summer been sinking a well at Shelby, expecting to obtain oil. The well is said to be down 1000 feet, with strong expec- tations of getting oil.
On Sunday, May 18, 1902, the large pipe organ of the Lutheran church at Crown Point was dedicated. Many persons were present. The organ is considered a fine instrument.
The year has been singular for the decrease in the num- ber of school children. At the May enumeration for 1902, there were found to be in Crown Point 656, 33 chil- dren less than last year, 345 being boys, 311 being girls. In the township outside of Crown Point there were found 187 boys and 200 girls, 15 less than last year. In the en- tire township the whole number was 1043, 48 less in all than last year.
As in the years which have passed, so this year also some have gone from among us and from all the scenes of earth. There are reasons of some kind for placing on this record the names of some who are not our members.
I. The first of these is the name of Mrs. Olive Lucina or Lousina Hyde, the widow of Rev. Robert Hyde, who was a South East Grove girl in the early days, a member of the large Flint family, the eighth child among fifteen sisters and brothers, seven older and seven younger than herself. She was about 75 years of age, had been visiting in Crown Point, returned to her home in Chicago, fell down stairs, received serious injuries, and died in the night
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of Tuesday, September 3, 1901. The Flint family were among the leading Methodists of Pioneer days. Mrs. Hyde was a sister of the first Mrs. J. HI. Luther, and so an aunt of John E. Luther.
2. Ilugh Boyd, one of those staunch Scotch-Irish men, thousands of whom coming to this country in past years have added vastly to the vitality of our free insti- tutions, who came into Lake county in 1865, living for a time with his family in Crown Point, then having charge for several years of the Turner-Scofield butter factory, and removing at length to the east side of South East Grove, died of paralysis quite suddenly on Sunday even- ing, November 10, 1901, at the advanced age of S2 years. He had attended church in the morning. In the evening he was set free from all of earth's infirmities.
3. Thomas Fisher, one of three brothers coming into Lake county many years ago, died on Sunday afternoon November 24, 1901, at his home in Crown Point, at the age of 74 years.
4. Jacob Houk, for some years township trustee, a res- ident of Crown Point since 1865, proprietor of a large shoe store, dropped to the earth in his door yard and im- mediately died, Saturday, about four o'clock in the after- noon, November 30, 1901, 59 years of age.
5. December 3, of this same year, Tuesday afternoon, at her son's residence in Crown Point, died Mrs. Craw- ford of South East Grove, on the 78th anniversary of her birth. She was well known in central and southern Lake county.
6. Mrs. R. Calista Young, for many years a resident of Crown Point, the mother of Charles H. Young and
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sister of Mr. J. S. Holton, died suddenly at her son's home in Chicago, on Friday, in the forenoon, of January 3, 1902, not quite 69 years of age, having been born in Canada, March 20, 1833. Death came by heart failure. Burial at Crown Point on Sunday, January 5th.
7. Mrs. Betsey Parkinson, for many years a resident in South East Grove, died at her home in Hebron, Janu- ary 4, 1902. Age, 80 years.
8. J. H. Irish, Esq., born in Vermont in 1826, settling in Lake county south of Brunswick in 1850, died at his home in Hammond, Monday morning, January 20, 1902, about 72 years of age. From his city office he was known as Judge Irish.
9. Dr. Malcolm G. Bliss, born in Otego, New York, November 24, 1828, of New England descent, came to Crown Point in 1865. . He kept a drug store until 1874, commenced practice about 1876. He died Friday even- ing, February 28th, 73 years of age.
10. On Sunday morning, March 9th, Mrs. Julius Dem- mon, Nancy Wilcox, was found dead in her room. Born January 28, 1833, a member of a family of early settlers, married when seventeen years of age to Julius Demmon, she was the mother of six sons and six daughters, and had at the time of her death about sixty grandchildren.
II. Ross Wilson, born in Ireland, December 20, 1830, settling in Lake county in 1854, died at 10:30 on March 2Ist, 71 years of age.
12. Albert Taylor was born September 17, 1818, be- came a resident of Lake county, with his father and mother, four brothers and three sisters in 1836, taught a
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pioneer school, probably in 1837, was the first person bap- tized in the county by a Baptist minister -- July 20, 1840- lived for some time in Wisconsin, and died at Creston, April 16, 1902, in the 84th year of his age. The oldest and earliest public school teacher then living in Lake county.
13. Byron C. Morton, son of C. N. Morton, Esq., of Crown Point, died at Whiting, on Wednesday, June 25th, of this same year.
14. Dr. Henry Pettibone, son of Dr. Harvey Pettibone, born in Crown Point, May 31, 1850, died on Thursday, June 26th, at a hospital in Chicago, not long after under- going a surgical operation, which, it was supposed would save his life.
15. Mrs. Zuvers of Merrillville, widow of Solomon Zuvers, the last of six sisters by the name of Hall, died on Sunday, June 29th, on her 70th birthday anniversary. She came to Lake county in 1843, and.was married in 1848.
16. William Sigler, born December 31, 1822. coming with his father's family into Lake county in 1837, when 15 years of age, for some years one of the principal mer- chants at Lowell, died at La Grange, Illinois, Thursday morning, July 16th, of this same year, nearly 80 years of age.
By some means there was omitted in its proper place a record of the death of Edwin Church, a pioneer boy on Prairie West in 1836, a son of Darling Church, and for many years a large grocery dealer in Crown Point. He died November 30, 1898, in Crown Point. He was a grand-
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son of Richard Church, a prominent pioneer of Lake county.
A strange calamity. On Sunday morning, March 20, 1902, the house on Buck Hill, occupied at that time by a family named Larson, residents from Chicago, was found to have been destroyed by fire. On a bedstead were found, badly burned, the lifeless bodies of Mrs. Larson and her daughter, that daughter a young girl attending the Crown Point public school. At nine o'clock on Sat- urday night the mother and daughter had left the home of the Opal family to return to their own home. In the night there was a thunder storm, followed by a very wet snow of about three inches in depth and also quite a rain- fall. There were two suppositions to be made, but noth- ing certain could be learned. The husband and father, Mr. Larson, was absent at the time in Chicago. The bodies were cared for by Mr. Geisen.
A curiosity. On Saturday, August 16th, I examined along with our President, Mr. O. Dinwiddie, and ex-Pres- ident, Mr. W. A. Clark, a section of an old hickory tree, which had then but recently been cut down on the lawn in front of Mrs. Henry Pettibone's residence. Enclosed . in the body of the tree we found two oak plugs or pins, one was three and a half inches long and about seven- eighths of an inch in diameter, about eight sided as though made with an axe. One end was distant about one inch from the center of the tree, and the other was enclosed by sixty-four rings of hickory growth according to our count. For counting we had the benefit of a plane to smooth the surface and a convex lens to aid our vision. One of these oak pins, over which hickory wood had been INDIANA STATE LIBRARY
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growing, according to our calculation or count, for sixty- four years, was three feet from the ground and the other about five. The interesting questions to us were, how came they in that tree? and, for what purpose were they driven there? Supposing that the ends protruded slightly from the trunk before the growth began to cover them, we were inclined to believe that the United States survey- ors, who camped there in 1834, must have inserted them in the young hickory; but Mr. Aaron Fuller, who came to this county October 15, 1839, who left here in 1865, now a visitor from Texas, claims that he and Mr. H. L. Nich- ols drove those pins into that growing tree. The number of rings would then indicate that the pins were cut off close to the bark of the tree. It is a singular fact in na- ture that a growing tree will soon enclose within itself not only wood, but iron attached to its surface.
Some Weather Records. Cold weather commenced on Friday, December 6th in 1901, and continued for about two weeks. The mercury went down to 12 degrees and some reported 15 degrees below zero. There was some snow, a little sleighing, and a good ice harvest.
After December 20th, when the mercury reached zero at 2:30 in the afternoon, the weather became quite uni- form and mild the mercury ranging but little above and but little below 32 degrees.
January was very mild.
The last week of April was one of unusual changes in temperature. Sunday morning, April 20th thin ice. At one o'clock, 64 degrees. Monday morning, 60 degrees. At 10 o'clock 70, and at 2:30 83. A hot wind. At 6 o'clock 78, On Tuesday, early, 62 degrees. P. M. show-
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ers and a strong wind. In the northwest part of the coun- ty the wind tore up sidewalks, blew a street car over, and did quite a little damage. The Whiting News said: "The wind blew a tremendous gale in this vicinity from Mon- day until Wednesday."
Thursday, mercury down to 38 degrees. Noon, 58. Heavy rain in the night.
Friday, at noon 52 degrees. A hot wind came, and at seven o'clock mercury reached 70. The air felt as though coming out of a green-house. About nine in the evening the wind changed, it became cool, and at Whiting the wind blew three houses over on their sides.
Saturday, windy and wet. So that changing week ended.
Sunday, April 27th, pleasant, dandelions in blossom.
As April closes many wild flowers are in blossom and some strawberry vines, and of cultivated flowers there are many.
The night of June 2, 1902, is to be remembered for a great rainfall. At ten o'clock there was much lightning and quite heavy cloud banks in the north. About eleven the rain began to fall at Crown Point. The thunder was very heavy and continued most of the night. In the morning the amount of water on the ground was a grand sight. Probably the highest water in Crown Point since July 4, 1873. The water washed out some of the sidewalk on Court street, south of Mr. J. J. Wheeler's. . It ran over the walk on the west of Main street at the crossing of the "Beazar" and on Goldsboro, at the crossing of that ditch, it was over the walk on both sides of the street, and on
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East street the walk was afloat in different places. All the low lands were covered.
June 6th, between 4 and 5 in the afternoon there was another very heavy rainfall. Water in gardens on North street about as high as on June 3rd. June and July were both wet months. The Calumet river was over all the lowlands between Highland and Hessville. There is no record known of so much water on the ground along the two railroads between Crown Point and Chicago in the month of July as in this year of 1902. Of course, the Kankakee Marsh has been flooded.
A List of Names. Believing that these reports and rec- ords will be examined in 1934, and that a few living de- scendants of carly settlers will be grateful that some one took the time and had the courage to preserve a few names which their kindred had years ago hoped, but vainly hoped, would long remain on memorial stones, I take the liberty this year to report to you, as pioneer rep- resentatives, the names now to be found in Crown Point's second cemetery.
As to the first, the location of which probably few now know, I can rescue but two names of those laid away . there to sleep. These two are the names of Mrs. Mason, the first wife of Deacon C. M. Mason, and Mrs. Hornor, the first wife of Amos Hornor, who was once a Crown Point belle, Mary White, and who died in her young wo- manhood. The names of others besides these two are in some of our historic records.
The following are the names found in the second or Old Cemetery, taken from the memorial stones of about a hundred graves that have been there, (and in many of
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them the dust and bones still remain), names which some day some kindred will surely like to see preserved on this historical page, if there is nothing left "those bones from insults to protect."' [See Gray's Elegy.]
John G. Brownell, son of Alvah and Margaret Brownell.
Alfred R., son of A. and J. A. Nichols.
R. Jane Myrick, wife of H. Myrick.
"Chapman."
J. W. Rosencrants.
William Rockwell, 74 years of age, and Napoleon Rockwell.
Louisa Williams.
Esther, wife, and Phoebe, daughter of M. M. Kellogg.
Russell Eddy, his wife, and Ruth Ann, wife of D. K. Pettibone, the lot once nicely enclosed with chains. These stolen.
Some will even "rob the dead," or steal from the rest- ing places of the dead.
Erastus J. Sprague.
Jane, wife of Michael Duffie, aged 67 years.
Elizabeth, mother of Rev. Wm. Townley, 71 years of age.
Joseph Livingston.
James Wright. 80 years of age.
Chloe, wife of J. L. Stewart.
George W., son of S. T. Snyder.
Richard Church, 72 years old, grandfather of Edwin Church.
Maria A. Bragg, 17 years of age, daughter of Edward and Diana Bragg.
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Elizabeth, wife. Cytha, daughter. of E. Sprague, the wife 58 years old.
Harry Norton, 49 years of age.
Amos and Levi Brundage.
H. S. Topping.
George Norton, 20 years of age.
Also six members of the Ball family, including Hervey Ball, first Master of Lake Lodge, and Charles Ball, Lieu- tenant of 12th Indian Cavalry. The names of the other four are, Mrs. J. A. H. Ball and her mother, Mrs. Elisa- beth Horton, Heman Ball, and Henrietta Ball. In all 36 names secured for this record. Many others yet repose there in nameless graves.
It would seem to be quite sufficient to make one ashamed of our civilization to spend an hour in that de- serted cemetery. Cows pasture there in the summer time, but they do not break tombstones nor carry off nice large chains.
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REPORT, AUGUST 26, 1903.
Sixty-three years ago the pioneer settlements in Lake county ended; but the pioneer times, the manners, cus- toms, usages, modes of life, continued for ten more years, until the railroad era in the counties of Lake, Porter, and LaPorte commenced. With the coming into Chicago of the railroads from the eastward, as the second half of the Nineteenth Century opened, great changes began. These have continued to increase in number and in quickness of development, and we have reached the third year of this Twentieth Century, in the midst of growth, inventions, and advantages, which no pioneer could have foreseen. A few, a very few of them yet remain to celebrate with us this anniversary day. I hope they come, as we all ought to come, with grateful hearts, feeling our depend- ence on the God of our fathers who has spared our lives and loaded us with blessings.
Many have left us in the year's swift flight. They are · not here to-day, they will come no more. Of them all, this empty chair with its black drapery may remind us, and especially of one whose voice we miss, sadly miss, as we gather here, who was a friend to us all, ever ready to speak words of warm welcome and of cheer, known to so many thousands as Hon. Bartlett Woods. For him as for many others we mourn to-day. These or some of these others, as they have a place upon our record, I will briefly name:
1. Mrs. Volney Holton, in girlhood Martha Jane Coch- rane, was born August 10, 1823. was a resident for many
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years in this county, and died about six P. M., August 28, 1902, on the first day after our last anniversary, being 79 years of age. Burial August 31st.
2. On that same last day of August, 1902, there was committed to the carth the body of Mrs. George Wood- bridge, an active Christian woman and Sunday School worker, 88 years of age. She and her husband, Rev. George Woodbridge, were, with the Humphrey family, pioneer settlers on Eagle Creek Prairie, where is now the village of Palmer.
3. Mrs. M. M. Esty, the mother of Herbert M. Esty and of Dr. A. S. Cutler, of Kankakee, also of Leslie Cut- ler, late of Creston; died at the home of her son, Herbert M., Wednesday night, October 8, 1902. Born in Massa- chusetts, May 26, 18IS, she was in the 85th year of her age.
4. Cassius M. Taylor, oldest son of O. G. Taylor, born December 31, 1847, married to Annie E. McCarty, Janu- ary 31, 1877, a merchant for many years at Creston, died October 22, 1902. Age nearly 55 years.
5. Mrs. J. S. Holton, for many years a well-known res- ident of Crown Point, died at her home on Main street, November 10th, 61 years of age.
6. Mrs. S. Woodbridge, wife of the station agent at Ross, daughter of Mrs. Philip a talented writer and an author, died November 8, 1902.
7: J. L. Worley, who was over 80 years of age when last present in our assembly, which was not later than 1901, passed away also in November. The burial services were held at Lowell, Sunday, November 22, 1902.
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8. On the next Tuesday, November 25, died at his West Creek home, Josiah B. Bailey, who was born at Door Village, October 23, 1835, and was thus a pioneer child of LaPorte county, but for many years had resided in Lake county. He was 67 years of age.
9. On Tuesday, December 23, 1902, there was brought from Hammond to Crown Point for burial, the body of Charles F. Griffin, who was a Crown Point boy, became a lawyer, was elected Secretary of State of Indiana while residing in Crown Point, and after his term of office ex- pired had made his home at Hammond, where he died on Saturday, December 20, 1902, being still in the prime of life. about 46 years of age. Ambitious and successful in obtaining several desired positions, never having vigorous health, he passed rapidly through a comparatively short life.
IO. On Wednesday, December 31, at 6 p. M., near the close of the year 1902, there died at her home in Crown Point, Mrs. Dillabaugh, Mary Snyder, wife of Adam Dilla- baugh, 58 years of age.
II. On Monday, January 5, 1903, died at the family home, Mrs. B. Williams, who was Maria J .. Farmer, and was born in Lake county March 20, 1837. She was not quite 66 years of age.
12. William Ross, a grandson of Lake county's first pioneer settler, died Wednesday morning, January 14, 1903, about 67 years of age.
13. On Saturday, February 21, James Goff, born Sep- tember 26, 1830, died at his home in Crown Point. He was one of the few citizens of Lake county who had never
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learned to read and write. He was considered quite ac- curate in his weather predictions. He was 72 years old.
14. Mrs. De Witt Clinton Taylor of Creston. a mem- ber of the Palmer family, born at South Bend, April 26, 1831, who came to Lake county in 1844, died February 26, of this year, nearly 72 years of age. Mrs. Taylor is said to have been the first white girl born in what is now the city of South Bend.
15. On the next Saturday, February 28, there died at Lowell a young and successful teacher in the public schools of Lake county, one who had enjoyed the advan- tages of education and had devoted a few years of her young life in helping others to secure these advantages, Cora Sargeant, daughter of T. Sargeant and wife of Eagle Creek, now of Lowell, one of the twin sisters of Eagle Creek, Ora and Cora, and of a true pioneer family. Such as she are sadly missed.
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