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 8
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 8
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
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[Through the Courtesy of John F. Snow]
PRESENT COURTHOUSE OF ADAMS COUNTY
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missioner for the term of two years from the first Monday in August next; present also, Samuel Smith, who presented his certificate of office from the hand of the sheriff of the county, certifying that he was duly elected county commissioner of Adams County for the term of one year from the first Monday in August next. And by an endorse- ment on the back of each of the said certificates it appears that each of the said commissioners has taken the oath of office prescribed by law, and they therefore took their seats as a Board of Commissioners for the County of Adams in conformity to law.
"Present also, Samuel L. Rugg, clerk, and David MeKnight, sher- iff, and the Board therefore proceeded to business.
"Thomas Ruble, Esq., made a report on oath of the fines imposed by him since the organization of the county, which amounted to five dollars.
"Ordered, that David MeKnight be allowed the sum of one dollar and fifty cents for advertising in the Fort Wayne Sentinel the act organizing the County of Adams.
"Ordered, that John K. Adams be appointed seminary trustee until the first Monday in May, 1837, and that he give bond and security in the sum of $25 for the performance of his duties in said office.
"Ordered that Joshua Major be appointed constable in St. Mary's Township until the first Monday in April next, and that he appear and give security according to law.
"The Board adjourned until tomorrow at nine o'clock.
"JEHU S. RHEA, "President.
"SAMUEL L. RUGG, "Clerk."
MORE OFFICIALS NAMED
The second day's proceedings are thus recorded: "Ordered, that Jeremiah Roe be appointed treasurer of Adams County until Febru- ary next, and that he be summoned to appear and give bond and security for the acceptance of the Board for the performance of the duties of his office.
"Ordered, that David MeKnight be appointed assessor to serve until the first Monday in January, 1837, and that he give bond and security for the performance of the duties of his office.
"Ordered, that John K. Evans be appointed collector for the state and county revenues for one year from the first Monday in May, 1836.
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THREE COMMISSIONERS' DISTRICTS
"Ordered that the county be divided into three commissioners' distriets, as follows: All that part of the county which is north of the township line dividing towns 27 and 28 north, shall form Com- missioners' Distriet No. 1; all that part north of the township line dividing towns 26 and 27 north and south of the first mentioned line, Commissioners' District No. 2; all south of the line dividing townships 26 and 27, Commissioners' District No. 3. (District No. 1 thus in- cluded the present townships of Union, Root and Preble; No. 2, Kirk- land, Washington and St. Mary's; No. 3, the southern half of the county, comprising Blue Creek, Monroe, French, Hartford, Wabash and Jefferson.)
Two ROAD DISTRICTS
"Ordered that Root Township be divided into two road districts, to-wit : All of the township on the east side of the St. Mary's river shall form Road District No. 1, and Jonathan Roe is appointed road supervisor in said district ; all west of said river to form District No. 2, and William Ball is appointed supervisor of roads in said distriet.
"Ordered that St. Mary's Township be divided into two road dis- triets, to-wit: All that part of the township which lies east of St. Mary's River to form District No. 1, and Elias Dailey is appointed supervisor of roads; and all that part of the township lying on the west side of the St. Mary's River and east of the north and south cen- ter line of Adams County shall form District No. 2, and Thomas Ruble is appointed supervisor of roads."
INSPECTORS OF ELECTION AND FENCE VIEWERS
Other "orders" made Enos W. Butler inspector of elections in Root Township until the first Monday in March, 1837: Thomas Ruble appointed to the same office for the same term in St. Mary's : William Heath, Sr., and Eli Zimmerman became overseers of the poor for St. Mary's Township and Vachel Ball and John W. Wise, for Root Town- ship, until the first Monday in April, 1837; Jonas Penee and Bail W. Butler, fence viewers for Root Township covering the same period, and Joel Roe and Zachariah Smith, Jr., for St. Mary's Township.
GRAND AND PETIT JURORS
The grand jurors named for the fall term of the Adams County Circuit Court were Joel Roe, John Ross, Sr., Michael Roe, Bail W.
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Butler, William Heath, Sr., Jonas Pence, Robert Smith, Jehu S. Rhea, Benjamin F. Gorsline, Samuel Smith, William Ball William Thatcher, William Biram, John Catterlin, Jonathan Roe, Eli Zimmerman, James Ball and Abraham Elifrits. Petit jurors: John W. Wise, Thomas Ruble, John W. Cooley, Joseph Wise, Joseph Thatcher, Peter Studa- baker, Enos W. Butler, William Major, Otha Gandy, James H. Ball, Esaias Dailey, Jacob Fitsimmons, 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.
JOHNSON SITE SELECTED AS COUNTY SEAT
At the special meeting of the commissioners held May 18, 1836, the only business transacted of historie importance (and it comes fairly within that classification) was the reception and the consideration of the report of the commissioners appointed by the state to locate the seat of justice for the new county. This was the report which covers their labors of three days:
"May 16-The commissioners appointed to locate the connty seat of the County of Adams, agreeably to the provisions of an act of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana approved January 23, 1836, met at the house of John Reynolds in said county. Present, William Stewart, Joseph H. MeMaken, Robert Hood and William G. John- son ; who, being duly sworn according to law, proceeded to examine the different sites offered for the county seat of said county, and after examining four sites presented for the county seat, to-wit, the sites of Thomas Johnson, R. L. Britton & Henry Work, Joseph Morgan & Thomas Prichard, and Samuel L. Rugg, the commissioners returned to the house of John Reynolds, as aforesaid, and adjourned until tomor- row morning.
"May 17-The commissioners aforesaid now proceeded as far to- ward the center of the county as they deemed expedient, and found it impracticable to establish the county seat of said county at the center ; and after returning to the house of John Reynolds organized them- selves by appointing William Stewart president, and Robert Hood, secretary, and thereupon notified the proprietors of the town sites to hand in their proposals: whereupon Thomas Johnson handed in his proposals marked A; R. L. Britton & Henry Work, B; Samuel L. Rugg, C, and Joseph Morgan & Thomas Pritchard, D.
"May 18-The commissioners aforesaid met pursuant to adjourn- ment ; present, the same commissioners as yesterday. There being no
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further sites offered or proposals made, the commissioners aforesaid, after due deliberation, do select the site offered by Thomas Johnson as the most suitable, and thereupon permanently fixed and established the county seat of the County of Adams on the said site, being part of the northeast quarter of section 3, township 27 north, range 14 east ; and thereupon proceeded to the aforesaid town site and marked a white oak tree about two feet in diameter with two blazes on four sides, on each of which the commissioners individually subscribed his name ; which tree is to be within the said town site.
"And the commissioners adjourned without day. "WILLIAM STEWART, "JOSEPH II. McMAKEN, "WILLIAM G. JOHNSON, "ROBERT HOOD."
The site thus chosen included what afterward became the business seetion of Decatur, and Mr. Johnson turned over his property ou terms very favorable to the county. The purchase price was $3,100; $500 payable in one year, the remainder in three years. He also donated four lots for churches, favoring the Presbyterians, the Cath- olies, the Methodists and the Baptists. Mr. Johnson further paid the expense of the loeating commissioners, and furnished a building for holding court and as a place of meeting for the board of county eom- missioners, as well as providing aeeommodations for the county of- fieers. This building was understood to be temporary, to be used only until a courthouse eould be provided.
DONATIONS AT THE COUNTY SEAT
Jehu S. Rhea donated to the county twenty aeres off the west end of an eighty-aere lot on the southwest quarter of section 2 (the old county fairground), and Samuel L. Rugg added ten aeres adjoining Mr. Johnson's land in section 3, which included the present Water Works Park. The original plat of Decatur was filed September 22, 1836. Various additions were afterward made extending the site into the northeast quarter of seetion 4, Washington Township, and into the south half of section 34, Root Township.
THE OTHER SITES OFFERED
It is said that the site for the county seat proposed by Samuel L. Rugg was what afterward was the Tonnelier farm on the south side
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of St. Mary's River, adjoining what is now Decatur near where the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad crosses the St. Mary's River. The Morgan & Pritchard site included the present Town of Monmouth and land lying west of that locality to St. Mary's River. The Britton & Work site was in the geographical center of the county, but was low and swampy, and as there was no prospect of bringing it within con- venient reach of the eastern and northeastern sections of the county, which were receiving the bulk of the new settlers, the location met
ADAMS COUNTY'S FIRST COURTHOUSE
with little consideration. From the first, Decatur had no serious op- position as the seat of justice, although it was over three years before a regular courthouse was provided for the use of court, board and county officers.
ORGANIZATION FURTHER PERFECTED
A month and two days after the locating commissioners had de- cided in favor of Decatur, the county board held a meeting to further perfect civil organization. At that session John Reynolds was ap- pointed county treasurer to succeed Jeremiah Roe, resigned, and Joseph Wise and John W. Cooley were chosen constables for Root Township. Wabash was created as the third township of the county, and then covered the southern tier of the present townships, and half of the next tier north. This meeting was held on June 20, 1836, and in the following August David Studabaker was appointed in-
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spector of election for the officers who were to be chosen for Wabash Township. At that election a supervisor, constable, two overseers of the poor and two fence viewers were selected.
COUNTY FINANCES AND JAIL
Sheriff David MeKnight was also allowed nearly $9 for making the first assessment of property in Adams County, and the tax levy for county purposes was fixed at one-half of 1 per cent. The clerk was directed to advertise for proposals for building a county jail, to be completed by July 1, 1837. The courthouse could wait ; the jail had to be built. It was evident that the expenses for providing accom- modations for the county officials were not erushing, as the board of county commissioners allowed John Reynolds only $12 for the use of his house up to September, as a place of meeting for that body and for the voters of the county, when any matters pressed either for solution.
FIRST ROAD IMPROVEMENTS IN COUNTY
At the September session of the county board, Esaias Dailey was appointed county road commissioner to take charge of the proportion of the 3 per cent fund recently created by the State Legislature to encourage the building of roads in various sections of Indiana. The sum of $600 was appropriated for the State Road "leading from the State line to the Allen county line on the west side of the St. Mary's" and $400 for the State road "leading from the State line near Will- shire to the Allen county line on the east side of the St. Mary's river." These sums represent the first expenditures for the improvement of roads within Adams County after its ereetion as a separate political body. The roads to which reference is made were improved and re- improved and are still seetions of well known and often traveled highways in Adams County. They run northwest and southeast, nearly parallel with the St. Mary's River between them. The road on the east side was virtually the old Wayne trace, and only needed to be repaired and supplied with bridges to be in good shape.
LICENSES, VARIOUS AND SUNDRY
The board of commissioners at the September session of 1836 fixed various licenses, as follows: For taverns and groceries, $10 each ; merchants, $10 for the first $3,000 invested in business, and an addi-
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tional amount proportionate to the capital involved; $5 for peddling wooden clocks. James M. Wilson was granted the first license to sell "spiritnous and strong liquors and foreign and domestic groceries."
The first marriage license was issued by the clerk of the court to Joseph Troutner and Sarah Weimer, and the ceremony was performed on July 3, 1836, by Thomas Ruble, justice of the peace. Another license was issued the 2d of August to Philip Evermore and Lydia Liste, who were married two days later by 'Squire E. W. Butler.
THROWN INTO DEBT THE FIRST YEAR
At the end of the year 1836 Adams County found itself in debt. The tax collector had turned $107.22 into the treasury and $10 had been received for a grocery license, making the total income $117.22. During the same period the county had paid out for services on ac- count of official business, with contingent expenses, $157.44; for books and stationery, $67.43 and a fraction of a cent, and for jury fees, $45, making the total expenditures $272.27 and a fraction. From which figures it is evident that Adams County had an indebtedness of more than $155 at the conclusion of its first year of official life.
It appears from the records that Elias Dailey was licensed to sell liquors and groceries in February, 1837, and that James M. Wilson was allowed $11.50 for making the 1837 assessment on all the property then possessed-real estate and personal, including lands and live stock but not bank stock, railroad stock, tractors or automobiles. The tax levy for 1837 was placed at one-third of one per cent for county purposes, and 20 cents per $100 and 50 cents per capita, for state pur- poses. Each poll tax was 75 cents.
FIRST COUNTY JAIL
The county jail was completed in July, 1837. The contract was first let to Richard MeKnight and William Lewis, but they appear to have sublet to Bazil Browning. At all events, late in the fall an order was drawn on the county treasury in Mr. Browning's favor "in the sum of three hundred dollars as payment for completion of the jail." The total amount donated for the building of the jail was $650. It was a double-hewed log affair, and comprised two rooms above and two below. The jail was used, according to circumstances, for more than thirty years. It is said that the circumstance which led the authorities to believe that its usefulness was at an end occurred in 1868. Some time in that year one John W. Williams was confined
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[Through the Courtesy of John F. Snow]
THE OLD LOG JAIL
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in the jail, but readily released by some outsider who bored through the logs into his cell. Lafayette Riley was arrested for aiding the prisoner to escape, but although it does not appear that the charge was proven, it was evident that the jail did not meet the requirements of a secure place of confinement, and was little used after that episode.
The jail stood on the southeast corner of the courthouse square. It was not entirely abandoned until 1879, when it was destroyed by fire. The new brick jail on Market Street was completed in 1886.
CREATION AND ORGANIZATION OF MORE TOWNSHIPS
At the March term of the board of commissioners for 1838, the Townships of Blue Creek, Jefferson and Washington were created, and elections ordered in each of them to be held on the first Monday of the following April, for a justice of the peace, a constable, an inspector of elections, one or two supervisors of roads, two overseers of the poor and two fence viewers. The inspectors of elections chosen were as follows: Pliny Flagg, Blue Creek, election at the house of Samuel Flagg; Robert Webster, Jefferson; Jacob Huffer, Washington. At the time that Jefferson Township was thus organized, two tiers of sections on the west were attached temporarily, but were afterward restored to Wabash. That part of section 34 west of St. Mary's River, which includes a part of the City of Decatur, was also attached to Washington Township in March, 1838, and it has retained that po- litical connection ever since.
At the next session of the Commissioners' Court in the same year Preble Township was organized from St. Mary's, and comprised a traet four miles wide from east to west and six miles long, from north to south, in the extreme northwestern corner of the county.
THE COUNTY SEAL
In January, 1839, the board of commissioners adopted a seal which had been purchased by the elerk. Its official description: "It is of brass, five eighths of an inch thick, and circular in opposite dimensions, one inch and three quarters in diameter. Within the periphery are, first, one heavy and one light circular lines, within which lines are the words 'Adams Board of County Commissioners, Indiana'; next to which words is a heavy circular line, then a broad ornamental cir- enlar line, then another plain line, within which is the figure of a Durham short-horned cow, represented standing with her head to the
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right hand on the seal." This seal was used until considerably worn, and then the one now in use was obtained, which is of substantially the same design.
THE OLD FRAME COURTHOUSE
The May session of that year was a maker of county history. French Township drew for its composition from both the southwest of St. Mary's Township and the northwest corner of Wabash. But the creation of a new township was not the chief historical happening of that meeting. A "permanent" frame courthouse was put under way through the following order passed by the board of commissioners, which named as contractors County Treasurer Reynolds and County Clerk Rugg: "Ordered, that John Reynolds and Samuel L. Rugg be authorized to build a courthouse on Lot No. 94 in the Town of Decatur, which shall be a framed house built of good material, thirty by forty feet in size and two stories high ; the lower story or room to be left without any partitions, and the upper story or room divided into rooms to accommodate the grand and petit juries, and that they convey the said lot to the county by its proper agent, for which lot they shall be allowed the sum of $50, the cost of which, together with the cost of building the said house, shall be paid out of the donation soon to become due from the said John Reynolds and Samuel L. Rugg. The expenses of building the said house shall be adjusted and agreed upon by the county agent with the said contractors, and said county agent shall exercise a kind of superintendence over the completion of the said building and adjust the costs of the said building with the said builders in a fair and equable manner, and that the said building shall be completed by the October term of the Adams Circuit Court, if possible. The weather boarding on the two sides next to the streets shall be planed."
The old frame courthouse was used only for holding court, and its construction and interior arrangement were generally supervised by the county agent, who at the time was Enos W. Butler. The county officers appear to have occupied rented quarters until 1849, when two small brick buildings were erected on the northeast and southeast cor- ners of the square ; in the former were the county clerk's and recorder's offices, and in the latter, those of the treasurer and auditor. The county sold the old frame courthouse when the brick structure was completed in 1873. It stood at the corner of Madison and Third streets to the west of the courthouse of the present, on the opposite side of the street. The frame house was used for a variety of pur-
THE NEW COUNTY JAIL
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poses. In the late '80s it found its way to First Street, where it was placed in service as a warehouse for the woolen mill. Still later it was moved to Front Street near Jefferson and occupied as a lodging house, being located on the property of Willard Steele.
CONTEST OF 1850
The records of the county seat contest in 1850 show that Pleasant Mills received two votes for the location ; Monmouth, 14; Monroe, 343, and Decatur, 474. It is said that had it not been for the influence swung by James Crabbs and J. D. Nutman, with their large mer- cantile, lumber and hotel interests at Decatur, that Monroe would have been selected.
THE COURTHOUSE OF 1873
When the courthouse now occupied was completed in 1873, at a cost of some $90,000, it was considered a fine public building. At that time it was described as "a beautiful and commodious structure of Philadelphia pressed brick, Berea sandstone and iron, with hall floors of marble. It is fire-proof, and its court room is beautifully frescoed and painted. The building is two stories high, 70 by 120 feet in di- mensions, with a mansard roof and a tower, the latter nearly 160 feet high from the basement."
The corner-stone of the present courthouse was laid with Masonic and Odd Fellows ceremonies on the 4th of July, 1872. It is on the north side of the structure and bears the following inscription : "George W. Luckey, Josiah Crawford, George Frank, county commis- sioners. Seymour Worden, auditor. James R. Robo, attorney. J. C. Johnson, architect, Fremont, Ohio. Christian Boseker, contractor and builder."
IMPROVED IN DURABILITY AND APPEARANCE
John W. Snow states: "Originally, the tower was not properly supported. It was massive and was in the center of the building, right over the large court room, with no support directly under the center that reached the foundation on the ground. It was upon a bridge work that rested on the side walls of the building, and its swaying back and forth by the wind storms caused so much apprehension that in 1900 it was taken down. A new tower, with suitable anchorage and supports, was then constructed at the front of the structure.
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Made of solid brick work sixty or seventy feet above the main building, it not only adds much to the appearance of the court house, but makes it a durable structure."
THE COUNTY INFIRMARY
The county infirmary is located half a mile south of Decatur on high rolling land of good quality. The farm, comprising 270 acres, was originally purchased by the county in 1875. With the exception of ten acres of timber and the area occupied by the buildings, the en- tire traet has been cultivated to wheat, oats and corn, vegetables, fruit, and pasturage for the live stock. The farm includes a fine pasture of 5 acres, the infirmary live stock comprising 20 milch cows, 30 head of young eattle, 40 head of hogs and 8 horses; an apple orchard of two acres, and a 4-acre garden in which are raised potatoes, beans and other truek. The farm is thoroughly drained with tiling and two large barns provide storage for the produce and shelter for the live stock.
The infirmary building is a large two-story structure of briek, with basement; contains more than eighty rooms and was erected at a cost of about $35,000. That was in 1901. The original infirmary was a temporary building erected at a cost of only $2,000 to shelter the county charges until a more suitable structure could be built. A house which already stood on the property was used by the superin- tendent as his residence. The first inmate was admitted June 15, 1875; the present number is thirty-four, of whom ten are women. About ten . per cent of the inmates are called upon to perform some work, either domestic or in connection with the farm.
The superintendents of the infirmary have been Hampton Fristoe, Andrew J. Teefle, W. H. H. France, George W. Hafeling, J. R. Graber and Martin Laughlin, the present incumbent. Mr. Graber, who was superintendent for sixteen years, concluded his long term of service in February, 1911.
TYPICAL PIONEER AND COUNTY OFFICIAL
Samuel L. Rugg, who has been mentioned in connection with the early and official history of Adams County, was a popular and able pioneer. He was at one time a Cincinnati machinist, and a man of some means suggested to him a partnership in a mill enterprise to be pushed in the new Indiana country. Mr. Rugg accordingly came on several years before the county was organized. He managed to push and wade through what is now the southern part of Adams and headed
[Through the Courtesy of John F. Snow]
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