USA > Indiana > The Indiana gazetteer, or, Topographical dictionary : containing a description of the several counties, towns, villages, settlements, roads, lakes, rivers, creeks, and springs, in the state of Indiana > Part 2
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ROADS AND CANALS. By a compact with the Unit- ed States, five per cent. of the nett proceeds of the lands in Indiana, which were sold after the first day of December 1816, were reserved for the purpose of making roads and canals, three per cent. was placed under the direction of the state legislature, to be appli- ed to those objects within the state; and two per cent. to be applied, under the direction of congress, to the making of a road or roads leading to the state.
The two per cent. has been applied to the construc- tion of the great national road passing through the seats of government of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. This is the first road, in usefulness and importance, in the state. : It enters Indiana in Wayne county, and passing through Indianapolis, leads on to Terre-Haute, where it crosses the Wabash and enters the state of Il- lincis. Next in importance and utility is the Michi-
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gan road which leads from lake Michigan through the seat of government, by way of Shelbyville and Greensburgh, to Madison in the county of Jefferson. This road was provided for, in a treaty made with the Indians, in the year 1826, in which a section of land was secured for each mile of the distance the road should be found to measure from the lake to some con- venient point on the Ohio river. It is believed, how- ever, that the very injudicious location of this road, while it increases the distance, will greatly diminish its utility. The three per cent. of the proceeds of public lands, which is under the direction of the legis- lature, has been from time to time appropriated to the laying out and opening of roads in various parts of the state, some of which are found to be a great con- venience both to the citizens of the state and to tra- vellers and emigrants, while others have been suffered to go out of repair, and are now useless. There are also numerous roads made by county authority, under the regulations of the laws on the subject of highways, wherever they are wanted for public or private conve- nience. They are, however, as yet, but moderately improved, and some of them very bad. Several char- ters have been granted for turnpike roads, in different parts of the state; but none of them have yet been carried into operation.
, The state of Indiana has not yet accomplished much in the construction of canals. The only canal which has been undertaken is one, already commenced, to connect the Wabash with lake Erie. This canal has been surveyed, and some progress has been made on the summit level in opening it. By an act of con- gress, passed in March 1827, for the purpose of ena- bling the state of Indiana to'unite the waters of the Wabash with those of lake Erie, a donation of land is made to the state, equal to one half of five sections in width, on each side of said canal, from one end thereof to the other, subject to the disposal of the legislature. The act of Congress authorizes such persons as may have been appointed to superintend the construction
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¿ di the canal, to select the lands so granted, and report the same to the secretary of the treasury of the United States.
'The legislature of Indiana have acted on the sub- ject of those lands; commissioners have been appoint- ed to superintend the concern; a part of the lands has been sold, and contracts have been made for the exca- vation of a part of the middle section, to the amount of one hundred and seventeen thousand dollars.
' A part of the canal line, and a proportional part of the lands granted to aid in its construction, lie within the state of Ohio. . An act of Congress, subsequent to the grant, authorized an arrangement between the two states, by which Ohio might accept the lands, and construct 'that part of the canal within her bounda- ries. The selection of the lands, however, was post- poned until the states could come to some agreement on the subject. This circumstance produced some dif- ficulty, and tended for a time to retard the operations of the canal. But the Ohio legislature has at length partially settled the question by a resolution, approbat- ing the undertaking and expressing their opinion, that the proposed improvement is one of great importance and utility to a large portion of the citizens of Ohio, as well as·to the state of Indiana, and to the general in- terests of the Union; but that the heavy expenditures already incurred in the construction of the Ohio and Miami canals, render it inexpedient for the state now to undertake a work of such magnitude. They de- clare further, that if Ohio shall ultimately decline to accept the lands and construct the canal within her limits, within the time fixed by Congress, she will au- thorize Indiana to sell the lands, and invest the pro- ceeds in the stock of a company to be incorporated by the legislature of Ohio; and that the decision shall be made known before the first of January, 1838. In the mean time, Indiana is authorized and invited to make the selections and surveys of the lands. The whole length of the canal line from Logansport, in Indiana, to the Maumee - village in Ohio, is estimated at two
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hundred and six miles, one hundred and twenty-eight of which are in Indiana, and seventy-eight in Ohio. Nineteen miles of the middle division are now under contract, and the work is to be completed by the 10th of October, 1834. Although the amount of labour done on those contracts is yet inconsiderable, the con- tracts are made with responsible men, and it is believ- ed they will be completed in the time stipulated.
ANTIQUITIES. The most prominent monuments of antiquity in the state of Indiana are the numerous for- tifications and mounds of earth, which are found in this, as well as the other western states. They are found - throughout the whole extent of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and south-westwardly to Mexico. The time when, by what people, and for what purpose these monuments of human labour were raised, is a subject which still remains involved in obscurity, and probably will baffle all attempts to unveil it, to the end of time. There is no circumstance to aid our conjec- tures respecting the time of their construction; the timber has grown to the same age, and has fallen and passed through the same process of decomposition, as in the adjacent forests. On the other hand they are frequently found on alluvial lands, and such too as do not appear to be of the most ancient formation. The fortifications are generally circular, some are ellipti- cal, and some, though not many, are square. The walls are composed of earth, and their height of all varieties, from the low small ridge which is but bare- ly discernible, to the strong bold embankment of fif- teen or twenty feet in perpendicular elevation, and as steep on the sides as the carth can be made to lic; though the wall of the same fort is of uniform size in all its parts. They are equally various in the quanti- ty of ground enclosed ; some include but a few perches, while others contain forty, fifty, or a hundred acres. They generally have a number of entrances or gate- ways proportioned to the area enclosed and the plan of construction. The mounds of earth are found in al- most all parts of the country ; but the most remarkable R
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in this state are in the vicinity of the Wabash, near to. Vincennes.
. Over one of those mounds in full view of Vincennes, Gen. G. R. Clarke marched the little Spartan band, with whom he invaded and took that post from the British, in the year 1779; alternately exhibiting them on the mound, and concealing them in the adjoining" wood, so that by passing the same round, and exhibit- ing the same force several times, the enemy were de- luded into a belief that their number was ten fold greater than it really was. . Nothing has been disco- vered in the construction of those mounds, to distin- guish them from monuments of the same description in . the neighbouring states. .
Various conjectures have been formed with respect to the primary use and design of those monuments. It seems to be generally conceded that those which are commonly called forts were intended as places of de- fence in time of war; but the mounds are, by different theories, appropriated to different purposes. Some have supposed them to have been designed for the per- formance of superstitious rites, or forms of worship. Others have supposed them to have been used as watch towers, and consider them as a part of the military ar- rangement. Another theory is, that they are ceme- teries, in which dead bodies were deposited as occa- sion required. This theory seems to have been pre- valent at the time when this country was first explored by white men .. Some very large and remarkable mounds, near the Ohio river, a short distance below Wheeling, were believed to be depositories of the dead, and a creck which passes through their neigh- bourhood was, from that circumstance, called Grave creek; by which name it is known to the present day. This theory is strongly corroborated by the fact, that. human bones have been found in most of those which have been examined.
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The writer of this article had an opportunity, some years since, of examining one of those mounds, which had been cut away on one side, so as to present a per-
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pendicular surface of ten or twelve feet in height. was plainly discoverable that the different strata of earth, of which the mound was composed, were differ- ent from each other in colour and quality, and all dif- fering from the earth' in the immediate vicinity of the mound. The different layers of earth were from nine inches to a foot in thickness; and between the differ- ent strata was a streak of an ashy appearance interspers- ed with a black substance, which on examination was found to be charcoal bedded in wood ashes. In those thin strata of ashes and coal, the skeletons of human bodies of all sizes lay in a horizontal position. These facts have led to the conjecture that, at whatever time these monuments were erected, the custom was to dis- pose of the dead, by first laying the corpse on the sur- face and burning it, and then covering the bones with earth, and that this process, repeated from time to time, produced, in a series of years, perhaps of ages, the monuments which, with us, have been productive of so much speculation ..
There are other vestiges of the ancient population of this country, though of inferior magnitude to those already noticed. Numerous axes, formed out of stone, are found on and near the surface of the earth, weigh- ing from half a pound to two or three pounds, with a groove around each, at a convenient distance from the pole, by which a wooden handle might be fastened to fit it for use. Also darts of different sizes, evidently the product of human labour, are found in great num- bers throughout the country. The citizens of Clarks- ville, in sinking a well in that village, found a walnut plank several fcet in length, something over a foot in breadth, and about two inches in thickness, upwards of forty feet below the surface of the earth, in a state of perfect preservation, and retaining the marks of the saw by which it had been cut, as plainly as if it had not been more than a week from the mill. From the entire absence of engravings, or medals, or dates, of any description, it may be fairly inferred, that the race of people, who have left behind them these evident
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signs of their existence, were destitute of literature, and from the specimens which we have discovered, there is nothing to induce a belief that they possessed the arts of mechanism to an extent beyond what is com- mon among savage nations.
MINERALS. Iron ore and coal are found in great abundance in different parts of the state. It is said al- so that copper is found on the Wabash and some of its tributaries, and that a large body of zinc has been . discovered, near the mouth of Sugar creek in Johnson county. Abundance of saltpetre has been found in a cave in Harrison county ; when the cave was first dis- covered, several hogsheads of this mineral were taken in so pure a state as to render the process of clarify- ing unnecessary; that which is now obtained, howev- er, requires some labour to render it fit for use. Salt water is found in different parts of the state, and salt has been manufactured to some extent at different works, which will be more particularly noticed under their proper heads. Epsom salts have also been ob- tained in large quantities in a cave in Crawford coun- ty; which, for some time, was a source of profit to the owner, but has been abandoned, on account of a great diminution in the price of that article.
PUBLIC LANDS. Prior to the year 1783, the state of Virginia had the sovereignty of all the lands now included in the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. 'The state of Virginia, in 1783, transferred to the U. States all her territory north-west of the Ohio river, saving and excepting certain special reservations, which have been disposed of according to the laws of that state. The lands in Indiana, thus ceded by the state of Virginia, and of which the Indian title has been extinguished, are laid off into townships of six miles square, and those townships are sub-divided into sec- . tions of one mile square.
A meridian line is run in W. lon. 9 deg. 12 min., ex- tending through the whole length of the state from south to north, which is called the second principal meridian. Ranges are formed by parallel lines six 3*
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miles distant from each other, and the ranges thus formed are designated by their numbers, east and west, commencing from the meridian. . A base line is also run from east to west, in N. lat. 38 deg. 24 min., and townships are formed by parallel east and west lines, six miles distant from each other, and crossing the range lines at right angles. The townships thus form- ed are numbered north and south from the base line; and the sections are formed by parallel east and west, and north and south lines, one mile distant from each other, and are numbered from east to west, and from west to east alternately, commencing at the north-east corner of each township. The sections again are sub- divided, by interior lines, into quarters and half quar- ters; and, by a late law of Congress, a purchaser can have a tract of forty acres laid off to suit his interest or convenience.
Those lands were, at first, sold at two dollars per acre, but the minimum price now is one dollar and twenty-five cents. .
For the more convenient disposal of the public do- main, the state is divided into six districts, and a land office established in cach district.
The Jeffersonville district comprises the lands cast of the second principal meridian, and south of the line dividing townships nine and ten north. The land of- fice is at Jeffersonville, in the county of Clark.
The Vincennes district, the land office for which is at Vincennes, .. in the county of Knox, comprises the lands lying west of the second principal meridian, and south of the aforesaid line, dividing townships nine and ten north ....
The Crawfordsville district, for which the land of- fice is at Crawfordsville, in the county of Montgomery, comprises the lands west of the line dividing ranges one and two, east of the aforesaid meridian, and ex- tends north from the line between townships nine and ten, to the line between townships twenty-four and .. twenty-five north.
The Indianapolis district, with a land office at Indi-
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anapolis in Marion county, includes the lands lying east of the Crawfordsville district, and north of the Jeffersonville district, as far as to the line between townships twenty and twenty-one north.
The Fort Wayne district has a land office at Fort Wayne, in the county of Allen, and includes all the lands north of the Indianapolis district, and east of the line dividing ranges two and three, east of the afore- said meridian ..
'A land office has been recently established at the town of Laporte, in Laporte county, for all that dis- trict lying north of the Crawfordsville, and west of the Fort Wayne district. .
Each of these land offices is superintended by a re- gister, and a receiver of public moneys, who are ap- pointed for the term of four years, but removable at the pleasure of the president of the United States.
By different treaties, the Indian title to all the lands within the state of Indiana has been extinguished, ex- cept the Miami reserve, a tract of thirty. miles square, or 576,000 acres, lying on the Wabash and Mississine- wa rivers, and some other smaller reservations, a- mounting in all, perhaps, to about 150,000 acres.
. There is an extensive territory north-west of the Wabash, comprising upwards of 3,000,000 acres which is yet unorganized, and a large portion of which has not been brought into market, It is expected, howe- ver, that as soon as the necessary surveys can be com- pleted, this tract of country will be offered to sale, and will, from its local advantages, very soon attract a nu. merous population.
Hisrony. In the year 1680, this country was first explored by some adventurers, with a view of deriving advantages from the Indian trade, chiefly in the arti- cle of furs. The ground on which the town of Vin- cennes now stands was then chosen as a place of trade, .. and from that time continued to be occupied by a few traders who lived in a manner but little different from . the natives. In 1735, a company of French from Can- .
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ada made an addition to the Wabash settlements. This country was at that time wholly claimed by France; but at the treaty of peace, in 1763, France ceded to Great Britain all her claim to this country, together with Canada; and from that time to the close of the revolutionary contest, this country was claim- ed as belonging to the crown of England. During the progress of the revolution, however, the claim of Great Britain to this country was warmly and success- fully contested, by Gen. George R. Clarke and his intrepid band, who boldly marched through a coun- try inhabited only by a savage enemy, and planted the American standard on the banks of the. Wabash. In this enterprise Gen. Clarke was much facilitated by the timely advice and efficient aid of the venerable Col. Francis Vigo, who is still living in the vicinity of Vincennes in the county of Knox. At the peace of 1783, the country south of the lakes and east of the "Mississippi was ceded to the United States by Great Britain: In 1784, the state of Virginia ceded to the United States all her claim to the lands north- west of the Ohio river, except certain reserves then specified. The territory was organized, and a sys- tem of territorial government established, in 1787 .- By an act of Congress of May 7th, 1800, the territory was divided, by a line running from the Ohio river; opposite to the mouth of Kentucky, to Fort Recove- ry, and thence north to the line between the United States and Canada; and the western division was call- ed the Indiana territory. In the year 1802, when the state of Ohio was organized, all that part of the ter- ritory lying west of a line running due north from the mouth of the Great Miami, was attached to Indi- ana. Indiana was again divided by an act of Congress of February 3, 1809, by which act the territory of Illinois was formed.
On the 29th of June, 1816, the Constitution of Indi- ana was finally agreed upon by the Convention, who were, by the provisions of an act of Congress, conven-
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ed at Corydon for that purpose; and the state was, at the next ensuing session of Congress, adopted into the Union.
The population of this country increased but very slowly, from the commencement of the government, in 1783, till after the close of Indian hostilities in 1795, after which time the country began to attract the attention of emigrants; but emigration was again checked and very much retarded by war on the bor- ders of the settlements, from 1811 till 1815; since which time the settlements and improvements of the country have progressed with unexampled rapidity. .
The population of Indiana in 1320, as appears by the census, was 147,178. In 1830, the return of the census shews a population of 341,585; to which if we add the probable increase since 1830, it may be safe- ly calculated that now, in 1833, the population of In- diana is three fold what it was thirteen years ago.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT .. The legislative authority is vested in a General Assembly, which consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. An enumera- tion is made every five years, of all the white male in- habitants, above the age of twenty-one years. The number of representatives, at the several periods of making such enumeration, is fixed by the General As- sembly, and apportioned among the several counties, according to the number of voters in each, in such ratio that the whole number of representatives shall never be less than thirty-six, nor exceed one hundred.
The representatives are chosen annually on the first Monday of August, by the qualified electors of each county respectively. A representative must be at least twenty-one years of age, must be a citizen of the United States, and must have resided within the li- mits of the county for which he is chosen, at least one year next preceding his election.
The senators are chosen for three years, on the first Monday of August, by the qualified voters for repre- tentatives. The number of senators is fixed by the
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General Assembly in proportion to the number of qualified voters; and is never to be less than one third nor more than one half of the number of representa- tives. A senator must be twenty-five years of age, must be a citizen of the United States, and must have resided two years in the state, the last twelve months . of which must have been in the county or district in which he is elected.
The General Assembly convenes on the first Mon- day in December, every year, and at no other period unless directed by law, or provided for by the con -.. stitution.
The supreme executive power is vested in a Go. vernor, who is chosen by the qualified electors on the first Monday in August, at the places where they vote for representatives. He holds his office for the term of three years, from the third day of the first session of the General Assembly next ensuing his election, and until a successor shall have been chosen and qualified, but is not capable of holding it longer than six years in any term of nine years. , He must be at least thirty years of age, a citizen of the United States ten years, and a resident of the state five years next preceding his election. He is commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the state, and of the militia thereof, except when they shall be called into the service of the United States .:
A Lieutenant-Governor is chosen at every election for Governor, to continue in office for the same time, and must possess the same qualifications. He is, by virtue of his office, President of the Senate; and in case of the impeachment of the Governor, his removal from office, death, refusal to qualify, resignation, or absence from the state, the Lieutenant-Governor ex. ercises the executive power, till the vacancy is filled, or the disability removed. And in case of a vacancy in the offices of both Governor and Lieutenant-Gover- nor, the President of the Senate pro tem. in like man-,. ner, administers the government ..
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The Secretary of State is elected by joint ballot of both houses of the General Assembly, for the term of four years; and the Auditor and Treasurer are elec- ted in like manner, for the term of three years.
Sheriffs and Coroners are elected by the qualified voters in each county, for the term of two years; but no person is eligible to the office of Sheriff more than four years, in any term of six years.
The judiciary power, both as to matters of law and equity, is vested in a Supreme Court, in Circuit Courts, Probate Courts, and Justices of the Peace. The Supreme Court consists of three Judges, who are appointed by the Governor, with the advice and con- sent of the Senate, for the term of seven years, and have appellate jurisdiction throughout the state .- The Circuit Courts consist of a President in each ju- dicial circuit, associated with two Associate Judges in each county. The Presidents of the Circuit Courts are elected by joint ballot of both houses of the Gene- ral Assembly, for the term of seven years; and the As- sociate Judges are elected, for a like term, by the qua- lified voters in their respective counties.
The Probate Courts consist of one Judge in each county, who is elected for the term of seven years, by the qualified voters of the county, on the first Monday in August, and have exclusive jurisdiction in all pro- bate and testamentary matters.
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