USA > Indiana > Adams County > Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana : An authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Wells County > Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana : An authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 12
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The old-time method of condueting singing-school was also some- what different from that of modern times. It was more plodding and heavy, the attention being kept upon the simplest rudiments, as the names of the notes on the staff, and their pitch, and beating time, while comparatively little attention was given to expression and light, gleefnl music. The very earliest seale introduced in the West was from the Southi, and the notes, from their peculiar shape, were denominated "patent" or "bnekwheat" notes. They were four, of which the round one was called sol, the square one la, the triangular one fa, and the "diamond-shaped" one mi, pronounced me, and the diatonie seale or "gamut" as it was called then, ran thus: fa, sol, la, fa, sol, la, mi, fa. The part of a tune nowadays called "treble," or "soprano," was then called "tenor"; the part now called "tenor" was called "treble," and what is now "alto" was then "connter," and when sung according to the oldest rule, was sung by a female an oetave higher than marked, and still on the "chest register." The "old" "Missouri Harmony" and Mason's "Saered Harp" were the principal books used with this style of musical notation.
In 1850 the "round-note" system began to "come around," be- ing introdneed by the Yankee singing-master. The scale was do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do; and for many years thereafter there was mneh more do-re-mi-ing than is practiced at the present day, when a mu-
"JOHNNY APPLESEED."
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sical instrument is always under the hand. The "Carmina Sacra" was the pioneer round-note book, in which the tunes partook more of German or Puritan character, and was generally regarded by the old folks as being far more spiritless than the old "Pisgah," "Fiducia," "Tender Thought," "New Durham," "Windsor," "Mount Zion," "Devotion," etc., of the old "Missouri Harmony" and tradition.
INDUSTRIOUS AMUSEMENTS
The history of pioneer life generally presents the dark side of the picture; but the toils and privations of the early settlers were not a series of unmitigated sufferings. No; for while the fathers and mothers toiled hard, they were not averse to a little relaxation, and had their seasons of fun and enjoyment. They contrived to do some- thing to break the monotony of their daily life and furnish them a good, hearty laugh. Among the more general forms of amusements were the "quilting bee," "corn-husking," "apple-paring," "log-roll- ing," and "house-raising." Young readers will doubtless be inter- ested in a description of these forms of amusement, when labor was made to afford fun and enjoyment to all participating. The "quilt- ing-bee," as its name implies, was when the industrious qualities of the busy little insect that "improves each shining hour" were ex- emplified in the manufacture of quilts for the household. In the afternoon ladies for miles around gathered at an appointed place, and while their tongues would not cease to play, the hands were as busily engaged in making the quilt ; and desire was always manifested to get it out as quickly as possible, for then the fun would begin. In the evening the gentlemen came, and the hours would then pass swiftly in playing games or dancing. "Corn-huskings" were when both sexes united in the work. They usually assembled in a large barn, which was arranged for the occasion; and when each gentleman had se- lected a lady partner the husking began. When a lady found a red ear she was entitled to a kiss from every gentleman present; when a gentleman found one he was allowed to kiss every lady present. After the corn was all husked a good supper was served; then the "old folks" would leave, and the remainder of the evening was spent in the dancing and in having a general good time. The recreation af- forded to the young people on the annual recurrence of these festive occasions was as highly enjoyed, and quite as innocent, as the amuse- ments of the present boasted age of refinement and culture.
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SATURDAY A HALF-HOLIDAY
The amusements of the pioneers were peculiar to themeslves- Saturday afternoon was a holiday in which no man was expected to work. A load of produce might be taken to "town" for sale or traffic without violence to custom, but no more serious labor could be tolerated. When on Saturday afternoon the town was reached, "fun com- menced." Had two neighbors business to transact, here it was done. Horses were "swapped," difficulties settled, and free fights indulged in. Blue and red ribbons were not worn in those days, and whisky was as free as water; 121/2 cents would buy a quart, and 35 or 40 cents a gallon, and at such prices enormous quantities were consumed. Go to any town in the county and ask the first pioneer you meet, and he would tell you of notable Saturday afternoon fights, either of which to-day would fill a column of the Police News, with elaborate engravings to match.
A MILITANT CAPTAIN
In the days of muster and military drill (say 1846) the following scene is said to have been laid not a hundred miles from Adams Coun- ty: The Captain was a stout-built, muscular man, who stood six feet four in his boots, and weighed over 200 pounds; when dressed in his uniform, a blue hunting-shirt fastened with a wide red sash, with epaulettes on each shoulder, his large sword fastened by his side, and tall plume waving in the wind, he looked like another William Wallace, or Roderick Dhu, unsheathing his claymore in defense of his country. His company consisted of about seventy men, who had reluctantly turned out to muster to avoid paying a fine; some with guns, some with sticks, and others carrying corn-stalks. The Captain, who had but recently been elected, understood his business better than his men supposed he did. He intended to give them a thorough drilling and show them that he understood the maneuvers of the military art as well as he did farming and hog hunting, the latter of which was one of his favorite amusements. After forming a hollow square, marching and counter-marching, and putting them through several other evolutions, according to Scott's taeties, he commanded his men to "form a line." They partially complied, but the line was crooked. He took his sword and passed it along in front of his men, straightening the line. By the time he passed from one end of the line to the other, on casting his eye back, he discovered that the line presented a zig-zag and unmilitary appearance. Some of the men
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were leaning on their guns, some on their sticks a yard in advance of the line, and others as far in the rear. The Captain's dander arose ; he threw his cocked hat, feather and all, on the ground, took off his red sash and hunting-shirt and threw them, with his sword, upon his hat ; he then rolled up his sleeves and shouted with the voice of a sten- tor, "Gentlemen, form a line and keep it, or I'll thrash the whole company." Instantly the whole line was straight as an arrow. The Captain was satisfied, put on his clothes again, and never had any more trouble in drilling his company.
WOLF AND BEAR STORIES
The early residents of this part of the country tell us that the wolves gave them more trouble and were more dangerous than any other wild animals in the country. Abraham Studabaker related an incident in which he was an actor that shows how nearly he was killed when a child of about fourteen years of age. He was sent up to "Dis- mal" creek to hunt the cows one day in June and was returning home somewhere to the east of the present residence of Christian Burg- halter, when he heard the leaves rattling a few rods away from him, and upon looking in that direction he saw a large gray wolf going seemingly in the same direction that he was traveling. The wolf was evidently following him and was hungry, as he could see its tongue occasionally passed out over the end of its nose. He sprung to the nearest sapling, which was nearly too small to keep him out of the wolf's reach. He climbed up as far as he could but the tree began to bend over with his weight. As soon as he started for the tree the wolf started after him, and he barely got out of its reach. It would go hack from the tree, run and jump up and snap at him. But he was just beyond its reach. He said if ever a boy yelled it was he, but his yelling did him no good, as no one came to his assistance. After mimerons efforts to reach him by jumping, the wolf ran rap- idly away, a hundred yards or more, and got behind a large elm tree and would put its head just past the tree to watch him. This ordeal lasted for about two hours or more, when it returned and again tried to reach him by jumping. This time it became discouraged and ran away out of sight to the southwest. When clear beyond his view he got down and ran home. His story was related to his father, who at once returned with him to see the place where the wolf had treed him. When nearing the spot they saw the wolf trailing around in a circle about the tree, but upon their approach it soon ran away.
Another incident is related in which Mrs. Jacob Closs was lost
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and was attacked by the wolves. She was the mother of Mrs. Jesse Niblick, of Decatur. Her husband was at work southeast of Decatur and one afternoon she went ont to see him. She expected to soon re- turn home and left her little babe in charge of one of the older chil- dren. Along in the middle of the afternoon she started home, but missed her way. Instead of going north, she went west, and when night overtook her the wolves began to howl in all directions. They came nearer and nearer and she could easily hear the running in the leaves. She selected a young tree or sapling with some good- sized limbs that she could hold on to and climbed up beyond the reach of the wolves. They closed in upon her and sat upon the ground and howled. She heard some men chopping and hallooed as loud as she could. The men stopped and she hallooed again. They then eame to her relief with hickory bark torches. They helped her to find her way home. They were coon hunters that chanced to be in that part of the country. When she was found she was near Grim's prairie, just the other side of where the present Town of Peterson is located. On her return home she found that her neighbors were out hunting for her and her little babe was nsing its utmost energy to find its mother.
Robert Simison relates an incident of an easterner who came with a hunting party to Fort Recovery when he was at home with his father. North of Fort Recovery there was some fallen timber on some low lands. This was a favorable hannt for bear. It is the custom of the bear to make their winter quarters in a thicket as near some fallen tree as convenient. They would build on the ground and carry dry grass, leaves and small branches of trees and make a covering over the nest, leaving it hollow inside. Those nests were frequently a fair- sized brush heap, but always built in about the same manner and readily recognized by the experienced hunter. When completed the bear would crawl into the nest under the heap of brush and remain there thronghont the winter. A certain "tenderfoot" hunter walked up along the trunk of a fallen tree and jumped over onto the top of one of these brush piles, as he supposed it to be. The bear had not yet started in for his winter's nap and sprang out and ran off at full speed. When asked why he did not shoot the bear, in much excite- ment he said : "Why, I didn't know that I had a gun."
Another incident in which Mr. Simison was a prominent factor is thus related : The location was on Three Mile Creek, just south- west of Buena Vista, about the year 1840. He was returning home one afternoon and saw some young hogs running almost directly toward him. On looking again, he saw that a bear was after them.
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He at once climbed upon the trunk of a fallen tree near him. The hogs ran on past him, the bear following to within about twenty feet from him, when it stopped and stood on its hind feet and seemed to be looking directly at him. He knew that he had no gun, but felt badly in need of one. Somehow bruin did not like his looks and started off on a canter toward the river and was soon out of sight.
RUNNING DOWN INDIAN HORSE THIEVES
In the early times of Adams County the stealing of horses, as it always has been in new countries, was a very serious offense. Indians, as well as white men, were adepts in that line of crime, and many of the pioneers were called upon to pit their wits against those of their dusky kind. Along this line, Snow says, in his history of Adams County : "There is an incident related by Robert Simison, who fol- lowed some Indian horse-thieves and secured the stolen property. The horse belonged to his brother, who lived near Fort Recovery when the horse was taken. Robert and his brother were near Fort Jefferson working in the harvest. His brother became sick and they both returned home and found that the horse had been gone for two days. Arrangements were at once made to follow the trail of the thieves and recover the horse. An ample supply of ammunition, bul- lets, etc., was provided and a supply of rations for several days. The brother being sick, Robert started alone. The first day's travel took him in west of where Portland is situated. A campfire showed that the Indians had stopped there. The next stop was southwest of Penn- ville, or Camden. The next camp was nearly a day's travel to the northwest and was on a small stream, perhaps the Mississinewa river. Here he overtook the Indians in the afternoon, perhaps about three o'clock. He could hear them talking and see some of their horses that were tied to trees in the distance. He considered it dangerous to attempt a rescue of his property alone in the daytime, so he cast about for a suitable hiding place till the darkness should shroud his movements. Such a place was found in the top of a leafy elm tree that had recently been blown down. He had hardly secreted himself among the leafy boughs when he saw his horse coming into camp rid- den by an Indian, who was carrying a deer on before him. At that time there was an unwritten law that permitted the killing of the thief if found with the stolen property, especially so if it was slaves, horses or cattle. Mr. Simison says he could easily have shot the In- dian off the horse, but chose to resort to other means of securing the stolen animal. Said he : 'I lay in concealment until away after dark,
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then crept up cautiously near their camp. They had some dogs with them and one eame within a rod of me, but I was unobserved. They put a bell on my horse and tied his front legs, or feet, together with bark so he could not travel. I had no trouble in reaching him, gave him some salt and cut the bark from his feet. I then took some dry leaves and stuffed them into the bell and put it on the neck of an old pony near by. I then unstopped the bell that it might jingle as the pony moved, and in this way not arouse any suspicion should they awake at any time within the night. I led my horse a little way off and got on him and rode away as fast as I eould through the woods. After a while, in the after part of the night, the moon went down and it was too dark for me to see which way to go. So I got off of the horse and waited-it seemed hours to me-until daylight eame and the birds began to sing. I then started on and got home that evening. In the morning I took the horse, and went with him to Greenville and left him there. The next day I walked baek to my brother's. 1 got there about noon and found the Indian who had been riding the horse and another Indian there, and my brother's wife getting dinner for them. As soon as I came up I noticed them looking at my feet. I had changed the moccasins that I wore when I went after the horse for the shoes I had on. This perhaps removed their suspicions from me and may have saved my life. These were Miami Indians whose reservation was near Peru, Indiana.' "
OVERLOOKING THE VITAL POINT
The most successful of detectives have come to agree upon one point ; that is, the invariable eustom of the criminal to overlook some vital point in his efforts to perpetrate his misdeed, or to cover it when committed. A good story is told of a gang of Decatur robbers which illustrates the former statement. Sometime in the '40s, when J. D. Nutman & Company were operating a bank and drygoods store in the little village of Decatur, also lived a wealthy farmer across the river by the name of Eli Zimmerman. At that period a certain state law required a banker to always have on hand an amount of actual cash proportionate to the capital stoek of the institution. As cash was searee, that legal requirement was sometimes quite a hardship. Not so while Mr. Zimmerman lived in the neighborhood; for he was a large land owner, very thrifty, did not believe in long-time deposits in a bank, and his stock of cash eould always be temporarily drawn upon when required to fulfil the letter of the law. Mr. Zimmerman kept his money in his old log house; in a erack of the wall, in a
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coffee pot, an old stocking, or any other handy place or article. So it came to pass that during the years when this law was in effect Mr. Nutman frequently had occasion to call upon his neighbor across the river for a large amount of cash. The banker would deposit securities with Mr. Zimmerman and have the cash on hand to satisfy the bank examiner, and upon the departure of that official the money would be returned and the securities taken up.
But it happened upon one occasion that Mr. Zimmerman had pur- chased a large tract of land and made other investments. Therefore, when the banker called upon him for the ready cash it was not forth- coming, and it became necessary to go to Fort Wayne for it. In those days a stage coach ran between Decatur and Fort Wayne twice a week. The road between the two towns was lined on both sides by dense forests, broken only here and there by a few clear fields cul- tivated by early settlers. The northern part of the state was almost covered by a swampy wilderness known as the Haw Patch, not unlike the Limberlost region. These wilds were infested by a band of horse- thieves and other outlaws. They were supposed to follow varions routes from Southern Ohio to Northern Indiana, with stations along the ways where horses and other plunder were secreted until the stolen property could be safely moved and disposed of. Decatur was said to be the headquarters of several of this gang.
Word is believed to have passed to these outlaws that Mr. Nutman had gone to Fort Wayne to obtain quite an amount of cash in an- ticipation of a visit from the bank examiner. At all events the coach started from Fort Wayne at about 9 o'clock in the morning and at a gloomy portion of the road about two miles north of Monmouth, as the driver was floundering through the mud of the St. Mary's bottom lands and just as he pulled up on a corduroy bridge crossing the creek, a light was flashed in his face and he was ordered to hold up his hands. At the same time a long-barreled rifle was thrust into his face and the coach was surrounded by five or six outlaws. The four or five passengers besides Mr. Nutman were ordered to climb out, hold np their hands and be searched. To the evident surprise of the rob- bers the only booty secured were two or three silver watches, a few dollars in silver and a little currency of small denominations. The search of Banker Nutman had been especially thorough, but he yielded no richer results than the others, although every one of his pockets had been turned inside out, the lining of his coat ripped open and his shoes taken from his feet and carefully examined. On the fol- lowing day it was learned through an intimate friend that Mr. Nut-
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man had plaeed his big bank roll in perhaps the most conspicuous artiele of his apparel-his elegant lofty silk tile. The obvious was so plain that the robbers entirely overlooked it. Residents freely ex- pressed their belief as to the identity of the eriminals, but they were never identified or brought to trial.
Vol. 1-8
CHAPTER VIII
LEGAL AND MEDICAL
EARLY LOCAL, JUDICIARY-DIDN'T LIKE HIS JOB-FIRST GRAND AND PETIT JURORS-THE CIRCUIT AND PROBATE COURTS-PIONEER RES- IDENT LAWYERS-DAVID STUDABAKER- JAMES T. MERRYMAN- JAMES R. BOBO-DANIEL D. HELLER-THE ASSOCIATE AND PROBATE JUDGES-CIRCUIT AND COMMON PLEAS JUDGES-PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS-OTHER EARLY LAWYERS-CHARLES M. AND JOHN T. FRANCE-TEN YEARS AGO AND NOW-A LEGAL RETROSPECT-JIN- KINSON CLEARED HIS MAN-THE COUNTRY DOCTOR-PIONEER RES- IDENT PHYSICIANS-LEADING PHYSICIANS IN 1887 AND 1917.
By David E. Smith
The pioneer members of the professions as represented in Adams County, especially the lawyers and doctors, were like those of other raw sections of the country. They were quite apt to be deficient in book learning, but had a natural talent for their work, or the obstacles with which they were obliged to contend speedily weaned them from it. The practitioner at the bar considered that he had a working library if possessed of half a dozen Statutes and books on Practice, and the average physician was held to be well equipped if his medicines and instruments overran his leather traveling case. Common sense, in both fields of professional work, was deemed much more necessary than any parchment from a law school or a medical college. To a certain extent the rule holds in the modern days, as a thorough technical or scientific training in either law or medicine is not now an assurance of advancement without the saving grace of sympathy, practical knowledge and sound judgment of men and circumstances.
EARLY LOCAL JUDICIARY
Before there were any settled lawyers in Adams County, a local judiciary had to be constituted before which the people could bring any grievance which could not be compromised out of court. These
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judicial bodies were represented by the justiees of the peace and the associate judges of the Cireuit Court. People would die, estates had to be settled, guardians appointed for minors, and other matters adju- dicated, which called for the activities of a Probate Court. And such bodies were in operation before Adams County could be said to have had a Bar. The Bench preceded the Bar by several years.
The first justice of the peace to preside in what is now Adams County was Samuel L. Rugg, and he was elected over Esaias Dailey in 1833, when Root Township (which became Adams County) was attached to Allen.
Mr. Rugg, who eventually went to the Legislature and served as state superintendent of publie instruction, was far above the caliber of the early justices of the peace, although he had sprung from the ranks of the mechanics and was entirely self-educated. Joseph Martin, who settled in what is now Hart Township in 1837, the year after county organization, was the first justice of that section, and Thomas Watson, an Englishman, the first constable.
DIDN'T LIKE HIS JOB
The first case requiring Constable Watson's services was also his last. A civil action came before 'Squire Martin and to carry out the decision of the court in the matter it was necessary that Mr. Watson levy upon the property of the defendant to satisfy judgment. Accord- ingly, the constable went to the house of said defendant and found no one at home except the "lady of the house." When he stated his busi- ness to that dame, as he reported to the 'Squire, "The hold woman bate me with the pokin stick." The court ordered the constable to return and get some property equal in value at least to the amount of the judgment. He again gained admittance to the house, seized a cloek, and retreated from the irate "hold woman," using it as a shield to ward off the blows which she was showering upon him with a stout broomstick. Constable Watson thereupon resigned and could never be induced to return to office.
FIRST GRAND AND PETIT JURORS
At the second day's proceedings of the first session of the County Board of Commissioners, May 10, 1836, the following eighteen men were appointed grand jurors for the fall term of the Adams Circuit Court : Joel Roe, John Ross, Sr., Michael Roe, Bail W. Butler, Wil- liam ITeath, Sr., Jonas Pence, Robert Smith, Jehu S. Rhea, Benjamin
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S. Gorsline, Samuel Smith, William Ball, William Thatcher, William Biram, John Catterlin, Jonathan Roe, Eli Zimmerman, James Ball and Abraham Elifrits. The petit jurors (twenty-four) were: John W. Wise, Thomas Ruble, John W. Cooley, Joseph Wise, Joseph Thatcher, Peter Studabaker, Enos W. Butler, William Major, Otha Gandy, James H. Ball, Esaias Dailey, Jacob Fitzsimmons, Vachel Ball, Joshua Major, Joseph Troutner, George Wimer, Benjamin F. Blossom, Job Wolf, Joseph Hill, Jacob England, Philip Everman, Daniel Ball, Theron Harper and Zachariah Smith.
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