USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > The People's guide : a business, political and religious directory of Hamilton Co., Ind. together with a collection of very important documents and statistics connected with our moral, political and scientific history ; also, a historical sketch of Hamilton County > Part 11
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The organization of Sabbath Schools, Remember one and all, Was first established in Wycumbe, By Miss Hannah Ball.
After this Miss Bradburn Suggested to Robert Rakes To organize a Sabbath School, And helped him set the stakes.
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SABBATH SCHOOLS.
They organized in Gloucester, The banner they unfurled, The fame and name of which has spread, Almost throughout the world.
The honor due to Robert Rakes, Miss Bradburn and Miss Ball. Should not be given to Robert Rakes, But given to them all.
For the institution of Sabbath Schools, The honor is due Miss Ball. To her for lighting up the lamp, We give the honor all.
Miss Bradburn she is worthy of Our honor, love, and praise, For her suggestions, and her work, In keeping up the blaze.
And to Robert Rakes is due The honor of school extension, For adding fuel to the light, And widening its dimension.
VALUABLE RECIPES.
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For Cleaning Silverware, and for Silvering Copper .- One- fourth ounce crystal nitrate of silver, one-half ounce cream of tartar, one-fourth ounce of common salt; pulverize all to a fine powder together, bottle it up and it is ready for use. Ap- ply with a woolen rag, wetting the rag so as the powder will stick to it.
For Distemper in Horses .- Ground ginger, two ounces; flour of sulphur, two ounces; copperas, two ounces; Spanish brown, two ounces; saltpeter, one-half ounce; mix thoroughly. Give a tablespoonful once a day in bran mash. Keep the ani- mal warm and dry, with light exercise.
Whitewash for Out Doors :- Take good white unslacked lime, one peck; salt, one quart; two pounds Spanish whiting; one gallon good flour paste ; first slack the lime in hot water ; be sure to put enough on to keep the lime from burning; then add while warm the salt and Spanish white, and then the paste; let stand over night. It is better to have it warm while applying it.
For Removing Paint From Glass .- Baking soda and warm water.
Antidote for Poison .- Give sweet oil in large doses.
For Worms in Children .- Santenine, nine grains; calomel, six grains; white sugur, eighteen grains; mix well; make in six powders for a child two years old, and give one before each meal for two days ; work off with oil.
For Removing Grease Spots From Cloth .- Soda, two drachms; borax, one drachm ; dissolve it together in one ounce of hot water, then add one ounce of alcohol. Shake it well and apply with woolen rag or brush, rubbing briskly.
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VALUABLE RECIPES.
To Get Rid of Little Ants .- Use salt and water freely where they infest.
Washing Fluid .- Borax, one pound; soda, one pound ; dis- solve in two gallons of hot water. Put the clothes in the tub, cover them with water containing a half gallon of the fluid, and let stand over night.
For Toothache, Headache, Neuralgia, and Rheumatic Pains .- Make a liniment of the following preparations : One ounce of tincture of Amonia, one ounce tincture of cam- phor, one ounce oil of organum, one-half ounce oil of cedar, one ounce oil of hemlock, and one quart linseed oil; mix all together, put it in a bottle and shake well. Directions for using. Apply the liniment freely to the affected parts, and rub and bathe it as often as three or four times daily. For the toothache, put a little on a piece of cotton, and put it in the tooth, and rub it on the jaw of the patient. I have found this to be one of the best liniments in use.
For Cuts and Bruises on Man or Beast .- Take two ounces tincture of camphor, two ounces linseed oil, one ounce of tur- pentine ; mix all together, and apply to the affected parts.
For Pickling Beef .- To 100 pounds of beef take one gal- lon of salt, three-fourths of a pound of sugar, three ounces black pepper ground; add together, put all in a kettle con- taining three gallons of water; boil slowly, and skim occa- sionally. Pack the beef in tight tubs, and cover with the brine.
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DIRECTORY
HAMILTON COUNTY OF
FOR 1874.
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9
HISTORY
OF
HAMILTON COUNTY.
THE county of Hamilton was organized in 1823, and was named in honor of Alexander Hamilton, who was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in 1804. It is bounded on the north by Tipton, east by Madison, south by Hancock and Marion, and west by Boone and Clinton counties, and contains 400 square miles. There are nine townships in the county, viz .: Nobles- ville, Washington, Clay, Delaware, Fall Creek, Wayne, White River, Adams and Jackson. The population in 1830 was 1, 705, in 1840 9,855, and and at the last census, 1870, it was 23,347- Of these only 391 were of foreign birth, and 634 were colored.
The plane of the county is either level or gently undulating, and with very limited exceptions the soil is but seldom surpassed in any other part of the State. It is admirably adapted to the cultivation of wheat, corn, grass, and all the other products of the country. There are along White river a few dry, rich prairies, and at the heads of Cicero and Stony Creeks a number of wet ones; but they are mostly small, and when properly- drained constitute a rich and productive soil. The county, gen- erally, is well timbered with good proportions of oak, poplar, walnut, sugar, hickory and beech.
In geological developments and mineral resources the county
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY.
as yet is undeveloped. Recently a fine quarry of beautiful white stone has been discovered in White River Township, which promises, if worked with any enterprise, to furnish a splendid building stone for all the future edifices of the sur- rounding country. In gravel of the very best quality, the whole county is found underlaid with rich beds, such as will af- ford cheap facilities for graveling all the roads .in it. Several hundred miles of fine gravel roads have already been made, and the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railroad has obtained the chief gravel for the entire southern division of their track from pits in this county.
The beautiful undulating changes of the whole face of the country present numerous and attractive localities for home building purposes, such as will doubtless some day make the rural scenery of this county a perfect garden spot of agricultu- ral life and prosperity, such as no other portions of the State will excel. The waters of White River abound with a rich va- riety of fish, which afford to the sporting portions of the com- munity fine opportunities both of pleasure and profit. True, in these modern days, when almost every one seems to think that the chief end of man is to make money, the fishing business is not so devoutly followed as in the days of other years. And yet, we can not but believe that many would do well yet, as they used to say, "to call it a half day," at least now and then, " and go a fishing," as the practice when prudently followed has in it, even in these modern days, more real life than the constant dives which the million are making for gold, gold, gold.
The railroad facilities within the county are, as yet, mainly limited to a single line, viz : that of the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago road. In 1850 this great thoroughfare was completed to Noblesville, and within a brief period was finished to Peru. It has since been continued to Michigan City, with immediate connections with Chicago without change of cars.
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY.
Under the efficient Presidency of the Hon. David Macy, this grand trunk has become one of the leading thoroughfares of the State. Running, as it does, from south to north, directly through the center of the county, it affords to almost every por- tion of it facilities of exportation and importation such as give to business men and farmers as prompt a market as the country affords.
A new east and west road is now being made through the . county, crossing the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago R. R. at the county seat, which doubtless will, when completed, add no little to the intrinsic value of the lands of the county, as well as to the business interests of the county seat, also. This new thor- oughfare is called "The Anderson, Lebanon & St. Louis Rail- road." The citizens of the county generally are taking a com- mendable interest in the making of this road, as they are aware it will develope the agricultural resources of the country in such directions as must in a few years add largely to the wealth as well as to the enterprise of the entire county. The "Bee Line" on the eastern border, and the Lafayette Railroad on the west- ern, offer very good facilities to those portions of the county.
It is very apparent to observers that the advancement of the general interests of the farming community, throughout this part of the State, is rapidly inaugurating an entirely new era in the history of its commerce, for the markets of the East are now more than ever looking to the West, not only for their needed supply of flour, grain and bacon, but even the poultry and eggs, to say nothing of hundreds of other things, which are so abundantly furnished in this part of the West, are in loud de- mand among all our eastern cities. Of these articles Hamilton county now turns out annually a surplus much larger than many suppose. We are not able here to give definite statistics in re- gard to the shipments of this county, as they are made from so many different points, and through so many various agencies,
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY.
that it is almost impossible to get definite information. The single article of lumber alone would of itself make an item of astonishment, and yet its commerce is but just begun. The immense forests, still standing in the pride of past centuries, embody an amount of wealth beyond the calculations of even the most experienced. Manufactories are not here to consume this vast supply of timber, and therefore it must be shipped in its rude state to find its markets where it may.
The lack of manufactories in this rich agricultural region is, however, not at all strange, for the chief energies of the citizens of the county are directed to that sort of toil necessary to the natural productions of the country. Farming, stock raising, trading and commerce demand the services chiefly of the pres- ent citizenship. The mechanic, it is true, is here, but only in limited numbers, and the work which he performs will not, in the general way, much more than meet one-tenth of the present home demands. Save in a few of our cities, this, indeed, is one of the marked characteristics of the whole West; therefore our merchants go East for nearly all their stocks of cloths, calicos and other mercantile products, including ready made clothing, boots, shoes, hats, caps, etc., and even for the very soap which keeps us clean. It is not a matter of wonder, then, with such constant and heavy drainages on the cash capital of the West, that so many of our people are found murmuring at the scarcity of the moneyed circulation. It always has been so, and it always will, as long as the chief currents of our financial streams thus flow to the markets of the East.
With the rich soi! that Hamilton county possesses, and with such superior agricultural advantages as the masses of the citi- zens have, they should be largely independent of Eastern monop- olies. The misfortune has been that too many have failed to realize their own resources and advantages, and consequently they have often fallen short in essential funds on account of
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY.
their peculiar penchant for trading, or of their careless wasting of time in looking after some petty office, or perhaps of their waiting, like Macawber, "for something to turn up," instead of going to work with a will and digging gold from the dust of the earth, where, after all, it has to come from.
The present is too much a day of ease among many who might work. The iron nerve and daring spirit of the early pioneers of the West should certainly be remembered and imi- tated by their posterity, for then would the song of their life success become the best evidence of their personal independence, as well as of their business and agricultural advancement. It is true, if we turn our eyes back upon the past, in view of gather- ing lessons of practical philosophy from the examples of the early pioneers, we will see that
" Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long."
Yet the simple story of their efforts to live, and the pious con- tentedness which they have so generally displayed amidst the pri- vations and limited resources of their pioneer life, will give us many practical ideas in regard to what constitutes real life, such as can not but benefit us if we will but remember that
" History is philosophy teaching by example."
Through the kindness of a few of the old pioneers who live at the county seat, and who still linger in "the sere and yellow leaf" of life, who are now honored for their long services as well as for their personal integrity, we have gleaned many inter- esting facts of the early history of Hamilton county, which we wish here to place in permanent form before the public, and which we doubt not will be read by the coming posterities with the deepest interest.
In the year 1819, four years before the county was organized, John Finch, Solomon Finch and Israel Finch, with Thaddeus Baxter and William Bush, with their families, made the first col
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY.
ony in what is now the county of Hamilton. The treaty with the Indians, conveying this portion of the country to the proper . government of the State, had only taken place the year before, and they of course found the regions of the White River a universal and unbroken wilderness. They settled a mile or so below the present location of Noblesville on or near what was then called the " Horse Shoe Prairie." The following spring John Finch built a horse mill to grind their corn, making the burrs himself out of what is known as "nigger heads." This famous mill, built of logs, soon became "the corn meal hope " of the whole country down White River for 30 miles, as there was no Indianapolis yet. Indian trails were the only thorough- fares through the wilderness. All parties who came to this mill had to furnish their own running power, and as they paid no toll they could well afford this.
The style of living, as a matter of necessity, was in those days simple and plain, and the social intercourse of the few fam- ilies of the little colony was wholly of the honest and generous stamp. As young and primitive as this community then was, it had in it the elements of an advancing civilization, for immedi- ate steps were taken to organize among them the institutions of civil government. . The county being organized in the spring of 1823, the first court was held in the month of November of that same year.
The meeting of this court constituted an era of great interest among the sparse settlements, which were chiefly along White River ; and as no county seat had as yet been located, the court was ordered to convene at William Conner's farm, some five miles below where Noblesville now stands. John D. Stephenson had been commissioned by His Excellency, Governor William Hendricks, clerk of said court, and John Finch and William C. Blackmore had been appointed associate judges. Hon. W. W. Wick was the presiding judge of the district, which was termed the " Fifth Judicial District of the State."
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY.
As the burdens of this first court of the county of Hamilton were not supposed to be very onerous, the parties concerned, including the honorable Court, and James M. Ray, a lawyer from Indianapolis, and a number of witnesses, together with a few hangers-on, who desired in some way to be counted in the · judicial crowd, started in a frolicsome sort of style to the impro- vised " court house"-which was only a simple log cabin-by way of the river. Their canoe was a large one, and to all hu- man appearances seemed to be well manned. Besides the men in it, it contained a stock of provisions, a lot of blankets, some cooking utensils, and a keg of whisky. They had not gone very far down the river before they found the boat was getting very unsteady. The fault, however, evidently was not in the rough- ness of the river, but rather in the extracted contents of that keg of whisky. The "boys," as men often called themselves in those early times, had all got sort of "wabbly," and the conse- quence was the canoe was upset, and they were all spilled out into the river. The honorable Court, it is said, made good time for the nearest shore. James M. Ray, as he could not swim, stuck to the canoe until he was rescued, while one "J. K. Lem- ing struck out like a runaway steamboat," after the half-sinking and half-floating keg, as he well knew that none of the party would dare be so uncharitable as to blame their misfortunes upon it. The clerk of the court had his official docket along with him, and we are able to affirm, as we have the book now ·before us, that its unceremonious immersion in "the classic wa- ters of White River," gives still good and sufficient evidence of its Christian character.
For a while this judicial mishap looked like a serious affair, but by prompt effort everything was brought to shore, the canoe righted up and baled out, and they were ready again to proceed on their journey. A witness along, by the name of Foster, who was very bad off with the rheumatism, when he found him-
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY.
self head over ears in the water, was terribly frightened lest the exposure should prove his death-of course he had to swim or drown, and Judge Colburn says, "it was rich to see him lash the water into a foam as he paddled ashore, dog-fashion." From that day, however, he discovered that his fright and immersion had scared the rheumatism from his joints, so that in the future he could stand as straight as any other man, as the Judge says, " save when he got tight."
. The whole party of course was refreshed with this little epi- sode, and when everything had been reorganized, they started again on down the river, wiser and perhaps more sober than otherwise. Arriving at the court house, viz., the cabin of Mr. William Conner, the court was opened in due and legal form. The minutes of this court, which we have on our table, we see were kept in a style which reflects well on the clerical abilities and experience of the clerk, General John D. Stephenson, and shows that each officer had received his commission from the Governor, and that the court was fully prepared for all legal business.
There were only two or three cases brought before this Court during its session of two days, and these were only of minor importance. One of them was for selling liquor without license. Of course the fellow was properly fined.
We notice that the jurors got seventy-five cents per day, and the associate judges two dollars. The Prosecuting Attorney was allowed $20.00 for the term.
At a subsequent court held at this same log cabin, Governor Jennings visited it on an electioneering tour. He was a candi- date for Congress, and finding the Grand Jury out on a log, he sent off and got a two gallon jug full of whisky, which was drank by the crowd. It is scarcely necessary to say that the Governor got all their votes, and was elected.
Among the distinguished citizens of this early period in the
المهمة
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTI.
history of this county we find the names of William Conner, who was the founder of Connersville, in Fayette county, and represented that county in the Legislature of IS21-2, and came here a few years later. Wm. Warwick was the first Sheriff of the county. Gen. John D. Stephenson, who was born in Lewis county, Ky., in ISO1, came to this county, or rather to White River, in 1822; he and his good wife are still living, honored relics of the olden times. Judge Jonathan Colburn, who was born in Somerset county, Pa., in 1799, came first to White River in 1820, in the surveying service, with Major John Hen- dricks, the father of our present Governor. Judge Colburn in many respects is a remarkable man. He served extensively in surveying the sectional boundaries of a number of the eastern counties of the State, and came to this county to settle in I823. He assisted in raising the first log cabin which was built in Noblesville, in 1824, by Dr. John Finch. He served the county as Associate Judge, and afterward as Sheriff. In some way or other the Judge has been associated with the courts of this county ever since. At the present period, 1874, he is still, for his age, a vigorous minded, hale old man, having outlived the wife of his youth and nearly all of his children; but, like many a worthy relic who has gone before him, he is now blessed with a second wife, and seems
" As young in years and full of joy, As though life was but a happy spring tide."
H. G. Finch, who was born in New York in ,1807, and who is the son of John Finch who had settled here in 1819, might almost be said to be "to the manor born." He has witnessed every step of the civilization of the country, and while he has figured for many years as one of the first business men of the county seat, he yet carries about him the energy of an active life.
Dr. John Finch was the first physician who settled in the county, but a few brief years carried him to his grave.
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY.
A. J. Lacy was the first white child born in the county. Malvina, daughter of Gen. John D. Stephenson, was the first female child born in Noblesville, which occurred in the year 1825. The first male child was a son of Col. F. B. Cogswell, who is now Col. Milton Cogswell of the U. S. Army, and at this time is living in Indianapolis.
The first Sunday school was taught at "Horse Shoe Prairie " as early as 1820 by Curtis Mallorey, a Presbyterian.
The first day school was taught by Miss Sarah Finch about the same time.
The first baptism administered was in White River, the sub- jects being Margaret Finch and Sally Finch, and the first mar- riage in the town was performed by 'Squire F. B. Cogswell. Mr. Goc and Miss Garrett being the happy contracting parties. The first marriage of the settlement, however, was William Conner and Elizabeth Chapman.
Within a year after the organization of the county, the county seat was located, and called Noblesville in honor of James Noble, United States Senator. The removal of the civil records and of the court from the cabin of William Conner, up the river five miles, was of course an easy work, and in a little while sev- eral cabins were erected, and the town of Noblesville began to be known as a place of some business and promise.
The rich soil and the beautiful plain on which the town was located, in a short time drew many families to settle in it, and though for many years the Finch's, Conner's and Stephenson's were the leading families of the place, the numerous immigra- tions soon gave it as well as the county considerable geographi- cal importance. As early as 1830 Noblesville had grown to be quite a village. It had its courts and civil magistrates, its mer- chants, lawyers and doctors, who through the wants of the country, the litigations of the courts, and the autumnal miasms of the White River bottoms, managed to keep up the usual
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HISTORY OF HAMILTON COUNTY.
141
show of civilization, and to furnish a living for all such officials. The necessaries of life were of course generally cheap, and they dwelt pretty much as one people.
A year or so after this the Jackson men started up a printing office and published a paper called The Little Western, Lucius H. Emmons being the editor. Of course they soon made things rather hot around the heads of those on the other side of politics, and it was not long until a company was organized and another paper was instituted, called the Intelligencer. Both of these newspapers must have had a hard time to live ; but as the fight waxed warm between them, one of the stockholders of the Intelligencer, becoming a little tired of being bled so often to keep it up, suggested the happy idea that they could kill off their Jackson opponents with a great deal more certainty if they would only run the type of their offices into bullets and use their rifles on them. But like all other paper wars the revela- tions of coming events taught these rural parties wisdom, and they quit the fight for the time being at least, well satisfied that it was a little difficult to attempt to run newspapers with wind only. The newspaper history of the county generally would show that the profession had been a precarious one throughout, for the changes have been numerous both in publishers and ed- itors, and in many instances, as it has been also elsewhere, the dignity of the Tripod, like the old woman's marriage life, has only had a " poor house " finality.
And yet it will not be denied that in the citizenship of the county through all its history, the standard of respectability has been quite a substantial one. Whether in the town or county, the order of intelligence as well as morality has been almost uniformly of the better school, and the consequence has been that Hamilton county has always been able to present as fair an average of citizenship as any other in the commonwealth.
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