USA > Indiana > The history of Indiana > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 41 | Part 42
These pioneers from the South pushed on to White river at Spencer and Gosport the next year. By 1820 the squatters had reached Greencastle, and by 1824 they had penetrated the "Big Flat Woods" as far as Crawfordsville, where General Ambrose Whit- lock and Williamson Dunn had laid off the town of Crawfordsville on the bluffs of Sugar creek.
Another branch of this stream of immigrants fol- lowed Driftwood from Vallonia and Brownstown, founding the Haw Patch, Jonesville, and Flat Rock settlements in Bartholomew county before 1820. Lots were sold in Columbus early in 1821. The settlements were reinforced by many pioneers who came across from the Whitewater country, following Whetzell's Trace to Morgan county or coming from the Falls by the old Indian Trail, sometimes called the Three Notch road. This latter divided at Driftwood, one route leading to the mouth of the Kentucky, the other to the Falls of the Ohio. Along these trails came Jacob
31 Madison Indiana Republican, October 17, 1818.
32 Western Sun, May 16, 1818.
276
HISTORY OF INDIANA
Whetzell and John Vawter, the earliest settlers of John- son county, the former from Franklin county and the latter from Madison. The pioneers of Marion, John- son, and Bartholomew reached the Ohio river by three
routes. Those from the Whitewater traded to Cin- cinnati, those from Jefferson county to Madison or New Albany, and those from the lower settlements to Mauk- port by way of Brownstown, Salem, and Corydon. Ox teams were in general use for these long trips.33
The settlements on the Whitewater were keeping pace with those farther to the west. Wayne was the most populous county of the State. The first sale of lots in Richmond took place in August, 1816.34 By 1822 it had 410 inhabitants with factories, stores, and two newspaper presses. It was the seat of the annual meeting of the Quakers, who had built a house for that purpose one hundred feet long by sixty feet wide and two stories high.35
33 D. D. Banta, A Historical Sketch of Johnson County.
3+ Niles' Register, February 9, 1822, and April 3, 1824.
35 Richmond Intelligencer, Aug. 28, 1822; Western Sun, April 21, 1821 :
"Through the politeness of Colonel John Vawter, marshal for the State of Indiana, we have been favored with the following census :
Clark 3709
Perry 2330
Crawford
2583
Pike
1472
Daviess
2432
Posey 4061
Dearborn 11468
Randolph 1808
Delaware
3677
Ripley 1812
Fayette
5950
Scott 2334
Floyd
2776
Spencer 1SS2
Franklin 10763
Sullivan
3498
Gibson
3876
Switzerland
3934
Harrison 1
7875
Vanderburg
1398
Jackson
1 4010
Vigo
3390
Wabash
147
Warrick
1749
Washington 2039
Wayne 12119
No returns from Du-
bois-Estimated 1500
Owen
838
Orange
5368
Total
147,600
Jefferson 1
8038
Jennings 1 1
1 200
Knox 5437
Lawrence 1
4116
Martin
1032
Monroe 2679
277
COMING OF THE IMMIGRANTS
The sale of county lots at New Castle, seat of Henry county, took place, August 5, 1822. Trading posts and squatters were stationed all along the upper course of White river as far as Muncietown.
As noted in a previous chapter, Indianapolis was selected by the General Assembly to become the State capital. Gen. John Carr, the State Agent, opened the first sale of lots from the "Donation," October 9, 1821. There was at that time a considerable village with three taverns. Squatters had located in the neigh- borhood as early as 1820. The spring of 1821 saw a rush of settlers to the place.36
_ The Richmond Ledger, October 22, 1825, said the tide of immigration had never before set so hard toward Indianapolis. For days the main street had been thronged with persons moving west, principally from Ohio. They appeared to be of the thrifty, well- to-do class, driving large flocks of sheep and horned cattle. The Bloomington Gazette, October 8, 1825, stated that there was scarcely a day but throngs of movers passed through that town on their way to White river and the Wabash. The Indiana Journal, at Indianapolis, October 11, said there had passed that town daily for the last four or five weeks, twenty to thirty families, coming from Ohio and going to the Wabash. All seemed in good circumstances. Similar reports came from many other towns in the State.
The entries of land at the land office witness the rush of immigrants. In 1816 a land sale opened at the Vincennes land office and in three weeks about 1,500 tracts had been sold for over half a million dol-
36 J. H. B. Nowland, Early Reminiscences of Indianapolis; Berry Sulgrove, History of Indianapolis and Marion County; Niles' Register XXII, 48; Western Sun, Nov. 8, 1823, gives a no- tice of the remarkable growth of the town; see also issue of Nov. 3, 1821. A series of articles in the Indiana Journal, Nov. 4, 1846, to Mar. 22, 1847, by a pioneer gives an excellent account of the founding of the capital.
278
HISTORY OF INDIANA
lars. Vincennes and Jeffersonville were the leading land offices in the United States in the amount of busi- ness. By 1821 this activity had shifted to the Brook- ville office, as a result of the opening of the "New Pur- chase." The latter office, for 1821, took the lead, sell- ing in that year over $200,000 worth of land.37 By the close of the period the office at Crawfordsville was handling the rush and setting a record for the United States in the sale of lands.38
Various means of transportation and travel were in use. A great many of the poorer class, including a large proportion of the young men, traveled on foot. The movers usually had wagons drawn by horses or more often by oxen. Accompanying each wagon or train of wagons, for they often "moved" in companies, were droves of cattle, sheep, and hogs attended by the younger men and boys. A traveler on the traces met "movers" going and coming. Hundreds came to the frontiers, lured by the glowing advertisements, only to be scared out on arrival by the sickness pre- vailing everywhere, and by the amount of hard work and harder living everywhere necessary. Thus dis- couraged, they soon retraced their journey. A tavern keeper on the New Albany-Vincennes road stated that upwards of 5,000 souls had passed his tavern on the way to Missouri during the year 1819.39 Many of these returned immediately.
As early as the spring of 1820 a Mr. Foyles pro- jected a stage line from Vincennes to Louisville, mak-
37 This office was located part of the time at Indianapolis.
38 For the land office reports see American State Papers, Finance, V, index. The following table shows lands sold in State, 1820-1825.
Acres.
Acres.
1820
162,490
1823
165,046
1821
264,578
1824
154,558
1822
252,982
1825
162,270
39 W. Faux, Journal of a Tour to the United States, (1823),
212.
279
ROADS AND TRACES
ing the trip between 6 a. m. Wednesday and 1 p. m. Friday. This was said to be the first stage in Indi- ana.40 A post stage carrying United States mail was established between Louisville and Vincennes, April 10, 1824. It left the former place at noon Saturday and arrived, if on time, at Vincennes Tuesday, at 9 a. m., returning to Louisville by Thursday, 6 p. m. The distance was 1071/2 miles and the fare $8.00. By May 4, this had been extended on to St. Louis, and on July 14, a branch line started from Vincennes by way of Princeton to Evansville. It made the trip be- tween 8 a. m. Wednesday and 5 p. m. Thursday.41
Other important traces led from Yellowbanks, north through Spencer county and Dubois, to Washington; from Troy to Paoli; from Leavenworth to Paoli; from Mauk's Ferry via Corydon, Salem, Vallonia, Columbus, and Franklin to Indianapolis; from New Albany, via Salem, Orleans, Bedford, Bloomington, and Gosport to the Wabash or to Indianapolis; from Madison to Columbus ; from Madison to Greensburg; and last and most used was the Cincinnati-Whitewater road to In- dianapolis. In the latter years of this period the Na- tional road began to be used. With the exception of the National road and the Vincennes road, the roads mentioned were mere unimproved traces through the forest, on which a stranger might count himself fortu- nate if he were not "lost" half the time. Ferries were uncommon and dangerous, fords at most seasons deep and muddy. Through the heavy timber these traces rarely dried out. In dodging the mudholes the driv- ers zigzagged hither and thither among the trees, mak- ing the location of the road all the more bewildering to the traveler.42
40 Vincennes Centinel, April 15, 1820.
41 Western Sun, Nov. 8, 1823; May 1, 1824; July 10, 1824.
42 Indiana Gazetteer, 1849, 125, gives the experiences of Samnel Merrill going from Corydon to Indianapolis in 1825.
AP
280
HISTORY OF INDIANA
Business during this period was usually active, due to the demands of the incoming settlers. A per- son coming up the river from New Orleans counted 643 loaded flatboats on their way down.43 The steamer "United States," launched at Jeffersonville May 15, 1819, was the largest on the western rivers. It was 166 feet long, 700 tons burden.44 However, from 1819 to 1824, the export trade, as it was called, was dead. Grain rotted in the fields or in the stacks. There was no demand for it at New Orleans and there was no money to move it had there been a demand. Business men were unable even to pay the revenue on such goods as were taxed by the federal government. The Gen- ral Assembly petitioned Congress not to prosecute for such violations. 45 There was due from land buy- ers at Jeffersonville, January 1, 1819, $1,021,834; at Vincennes, $1,390,909.46 Congress from time to time passed laws in the hope of aiding public land debtors. The price of land was lowered from two dollars per acre to one and one-quarter. This immediately ruined all land values in the State, and made the hard times harder.47 Half the State taxes were delinquent.
43 Niles' Register, July 11, 1818.
44 Vincennes Centinel, May 22, 1819.
45 Annals Fourteenth Congress, 1st Session, 31.
46 Letters from Nathaniel Ewing in American State Papers, Finance, III, 734.
47 American State Papers, Finance, III, 782; Logan Esarey, State Banking in Indiana, 221. To add to the losses at Vincennes the large Steam Mill, the largest in the State, burned, Feb. 10, 1821. "A few years past Vincennes was the very emblem of prosperity ; every wind wafted her some good. Our houses were filled with inhabitants, our streets were crowded with citizens, the noisy hum of business resounded in our ears. All was life and activity. How sadly is the picture reversed. More than one-third of our dwelling houses are destitute of inhabitants, our population has decreased nearly or quite one-half, our real property has suffered a greater diminution. Buildings, that a few years ago rented for $200 or $300 per annum now rent for $50 to $100. An universal despondency prevails." Western Sun, Feb. 16, 1822.
281
NEW HARMONY
The years 1820-1822 were pestilential throughout Indiana. Promising towns like Palestine and Hin- dostan were swept from the map. Vevay, Rising Sun, Jeffersonville, and Vincennes were almost deserted. Yellow fever from the south joined forces with ague, malaria, and milk-sickness to desolate the frontier.48
§ 47 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
BESIDES the ordinary American pioneers who flocked to Indiana there were a few representatives of the peculiar religious and economic ideas then pre- valent in the East.
During the summer of 1814 the Harmonie Com- munity of Economy, Pennsylvania, sold out their inter- ests in the old home and bought a large tract of land, 17,000 acres, in Posey county, where they located in 1815. Here they cleared fields, built capacious barns, established factories run by steam. By 1817 they had 200 acres of wheat, large vineyards, rye, barley, oats, and pasture fields, with 1,500 Merino sheep and other stock in proportion. In their factories were pro- duced broadcloth, tinware, shoes, saddles, flour, beer, and other commodities.
From their leaders, George and Frederick Rappe, father and son, they were called Rappites. Their gen- eral customs were like those of the Shakers. All prop- erty was held in common. Their queer customs and aristocratic government were obnoxious to the neigh- bors. There were no marriages, and no children. In 1824 Rappe sold to Robert Owen, a British manu- facturer of liberal mind and means. In 1825 the Owens took possession and soon attracted to their "community" a select circle of scholars, artists and educators which made the place famous throughout the
48 Indiana Gazetteer, 1850, 118-119; Carlos McCarty, "Hindo- stan," Indiana Magazine of History, X.
282
HISTORY OF INDIANA
country. On account of advanced economic and social views the Owens, Robert and Robert Dale, never at- tained the influence in Indiana to which their ability entitled them. For a few years it was the most noted place in the State.49
Several communities more or less like the Har- monie located in different parts of the State. As no- ticed previously, in Vevay a colony of Swiss from Canton Vaud, Switzerland, were cultivating the vine and prospering enough to attract the attention of the eastern newspapers. Their boats annually carried a valuable cargo to the New Orleans market. Besides wine they produced hay, and straw hats for the south- ern market.50
Little was accomplished in the way of carrying out the plan of public education provided in the Consti- tution. The liberal grant of public land by the United States brought no present aid. There was so much cheap public land on the market that the school lands could neither be sold nor rented to advantage. A law of 1816 permitted twenty householders in a congres- sional township to organize and open a school. A law of 1824 incorporated the congressional township and vested in its board title to the school lands. These trustees are the legal ancestors of our school directors, and this was the beginning of our district school sys- tem under the general supervision of the township trustee. Little was done on account of lack of reve- nues.
At the same session, 1816, a law was passed by the General Assembly providing for the organization of a seminary in each county. The instruction in these schools was supposed to be rather advanced and would prepare the students for the State Seminary which had
49 Western Sun, Feb. 13, 1819. Samuel Merrill, Indiana Gazet- tcer, 1850, 334. Rapp sold to Robert Dale Owen in 1825; see also Geo. B. Lockwood, The New Harmony Movement.
50 Niles' Register, Aug. 23, and Nov. 29, 1817.
283
SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
been provided for by the law of 1820, and which was opened at Bloomington for students May 1, 1824. It required years of work on the part of the pioneers to find money, materials, and teachers to make this am- bitious plan a living institution.51
Itinerant teachers opened private schools in many places. Mrs. Wood, in 1818, advertised a boarding school at Vincennes in which she taught sewing, mark- ing, and muslin work in addition to the common branches-an early instance of manual training; Jean Jean advertised for pupils in French and Latin; Hor- ace Harding taught portrait painting; Bishop Flaget opened a girl's school in 1823; and the old Vincennes academy flourished also during this period.
A State-wide medical society was organized in 1819. An organization of the churches had for its purpose the placing of a Bible in every home in the State. Almost every new town that was laid out in the wilderness made provision for a public library. A reading room was provided at Vincennes in which sev- eral newspapers from the east and even from Europe could be found. One is surprised, not at the meager facilities for education, but at the universal interest in it and the many ways in which the interest was shown.52
Politics of the young State centered around two questions. The first in importance was the policy of the national government toward the public land. The great majority of the settlers bought their land on credit. With the failure of the markets during the
51 Laws of Indiana, 1816, 1820, 1824; Baynard R. Hall, The New Purchase; William A. Rawles, Centralizing Tendencies in the Administration of Indiana; Theophilus A. Wylie, Indiana University, Its History; R. G. Boone, History of Education in Indiana.
52 For a good idea of this activity read the Western Sun, and the Centinel of Vincennes, the Indiana Republican of Madison, and the Corydon Indiana Gazette.
284
HISTORY OF INDIANA
hard times from 1818 to 1823, many became embar- rassed and not a few lost their partially paid-for land. In response to their petitions Congress first gave them extra time on their payments, then reduced the prices of land, and as a final measure allowed purchasers, unable to complete their payments, to forfeit their land and take a due-bill for money already paid, which could then be used in the purchase of land at any fu- ture time.
The second political issue of importance to In- dianians was internal improvements. The pioneers were very anxious to have the national government open up the streams and help build roads. William Hendricks, the first congressman of the State, was their champion in both these measures. He was with- out question the most popular man in the State, though Governor Jennings was the shrewdest politician.
In 1817 the political opponents of Hendricks brought out Ex-Governor Posey as a candidate for Congress, but Hendricks was reelected to Congress by an over- whelming majority. In 1819 Lieutenant Governor Christopher Harrison made the race against Jennings for the governorship, but was badly defeated.53
In 1822 William Hendricks succeeded Jennings as governor and Jennings became congressman in place of Hendricks.
The first real political contest in the State took place in 1824 between the supporters of Clay, Adams, and Jackson for the presidency.54 For the first time there were county organization and platforms with handbills for the voters.
In general the sympathies of the pioneers were for the rough and rugged Jackson. It was known that
53 Western Sun, Nov. 14, 1818; Dec. 26, 1818; July 24, 1819; May 1, 1819; May 22, 1819; Niles' Register, Sept. 25, 1819.
54 The electors in 1816 and in 1820 were appointed by the General Assembly.
285
FIRST POLITICAL PARTIES
Jackson opposed the banks, and, on that ground, re- ceived the support of great numbers of financially em- barrassed settlers who attributed the scarcity of money to the manipulation of bankers. These men held a State convention at Salem, September 16, 1824, and nominated an electoral ticket and appointed a State committee to conduct the campaign.55 The business men and the well-to-do farmers usually favored Clay on account of his position on the tariff and internal improvements. Indiana voters favored both these measures throughout the early period.
Adams stood well with the lawyers and other pro- fessional men and was the favorite among the Quakers and other settlers on the Whitewater. The result showed the great popularity of Jackson. He received 7,343 votes, Clay 5,315, and Adams 3,093.56 Jackson received his highest vote in Washington county, Clay his highest in Jefferson, and Adams his in Wayne. The total vote was light, being only 15,751, out of a voting population of about twice that number.
The young State was receiving some attention, however, from the east and was not being slighted by politicians. In 1817 Henry Clay visited the State and was entertained by the citizens of Vincennes.57 In 1819 while President James Monroe was making a tour of the west, he, in company with General Andrew Jackson, stopped at Jeffersonville and was escorted by the State militia out to Corydon, where a barbecue was tendered, but Monroe and Jackson preferred the simpler entertainment.58 But most sumptuous of all was the banquet tendered General Lafayette at Jeffer- sonville April 16, 1825.59
55 Western Sun, Sept. 25, 1824.
56 Western Sun, Dec. 4, 1824.
57 Western Sun, June 7. 1817; Niles' Register, June 6, 1817.
58 Centinel, July 17, 1819; Indiana Republican, July 3, 1819; Corydon Indiana Gazette.
59 Western Sun, Apr. 23; Apr. 30; May 28; and July 2, 1825.
286
HISTORY OF INDIANA
The opponents of slavery had had no difficulty in the constitutional convention in barring slavery from the State, but they could not so easily free the State from embarrassment on this subject. Trouble arose from three sources. A great many colored men, who had by various means secured their freedom in the South, came to Indiana to live. As a rule they became paupers and a charge on the county. So many cases of this kind had occurred that when W. E. Summers of Williamson county, Tennessee, asked permission of the First Assembly to buy homes and settle his forty freedmen in Indiana the question caused an ani- mated contest. In a long letter John Dumont, chair- man of the house committee, attempted to show Mr. Summers why colored persons were not wanted in the State. The house refused to send Mr. Dumont's let- ter and the General Assembly was unable to agree on any answer.60
More aggravating than this question of colored pau- pers was the constant complaint made by Southern newspapers and slave owners that fugitive slaves es- caping into Indiana were aided in making their escape. In answer to these charges the First Assembly made anyone aiding in this matter liable to a $500 claim for damage. 61 In 1825 two citizens of Wayne county were so fined.
Still worse was the custom of kidnapping free ne- groes and carrying them back to slavery, as practiced by unprincipled men along the border. July 4, 1818, three such men stole a negro girl from Corydon, 62 and
60 Niles' Register, XI, 313; House Journal, I, 33, 43. A bill to admit three colored settlers was introduced but failed to pass. Senate Journal 1816, 7.
61 Laws of Indiana, 1816, ch. XXIV.
62 Niles' Register, XIV, 328. For the long and spirited cor- respondence between the governors of Indiana and Kentucky over this crime, see Harding and Esarey, Messages of the Governors of Indiana.
287
FREE NEGROES
in 1821 a mob from Louisville attempted to kidnap a free colored man named Moses at New Albany. Noth- ing but the presence of the militia company saved the negro.63 September 21, 1822, James Burks tried to capture Edmund Robinson, a free colored man of Richmond. The latter escaped, but the attempt caused great excitement.64
The sentiment of the citizens of the State was not the same, however, in all parts of the State. Thus, while Noble and Hendricks were being severely de- nounced at a mass meeting at Montgomeryville for op- posing the admission of Missouri as a slave State, the General Assembly, by a vote of 22 to 5, censured Sena- tor Taylor for voting for the Missouri Compromise and thus permitting slavery.65
The General Assembly further went on record, De- cember 31, 1818, in a hot denunciation of the kidnap- ping of negroes on the border. The senators were instructed and the representatives requested to oppose in Congress all fugitive slave laws.
63 Vincennes Centinel, March 3, 1821.
64 Richmond Intelligencer, Sept. 25, 1822.
65 Niles' Register, XIX, 415.
CHAPTER XI
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FROM 1825-1835
§ 48 EARLY ROADS
WHEN Indiana was admitted into the Union it contained about 65,000 people. These lived chiefly in the Whitewater valley, on the lower Wabash, and along the Ohio river hills. The problem of travel was a serious one and was not liable to be overlooked by legislators who had made the trip to Corydon or In- dianapolis.
There were well defined lines of travel leading into the interior of Indiana at this time, each in a measure used by a distinct stream of immigrants. From Ken- tucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas, they came to Madı- son and Louisville. From Madison, a stage line was early established to Driftwood, crossing at the mouth of Flat Rock. From Louisville, Jeffersonville and New Albany two routes led to the interior; one by Salem, Bono, Bedford, and Bloomington to the Wabash at Lafayette; the other led by Greenville, Fredericksburg, Paoli, Mt. Pleasant, and Maysville to the Wabash at Vincennes.
One can scarcely realize the condition of travel in 1825. There was no railroad, no canal, no pike. All the rivers except the Ohio were obstructed by fallen trees, ripples, and bars. Two main roads led to In- dianapolis, one from Madison, the other from Center- ville. The transportation service, if any was to be had, was bad, roads frequently impassable and stages usually late. Most of the freight was hauled by ox teams.
288
289
THREE PER CENT FUND
Two schemes for carrying on internal traffic were early taken up by the Indiana government. The earliest was the building of State roads with the three per cent fund. Congress had set aside five per cent of the net proceeds of all the land sold in Indiana for road building. Three per cent of this was placed at the disposal of the General Assembly, and was always known as the three per cent fund. In 1818 Christopher Harrison was appointed the first agent of this fund. He received the money from the United States and paid it out, according to appropriation by the General Assembly, to the county agent. The county agent used it in opening roads through the forest. Such roads, known as State roads, were one hundred feet wide, but the money was not sufficient to do more than clear them of timber. Until the country was settled more thickly, and there were consequently more "hands" to work the roads, they were little more than bridle paths. Yet much of the time of the General Assembly from 1818 to 1840 was occupied in authorizing these roads and distributing the three per cent fund. In 1821, for example, $10,000 were appropriated. The fund was usually overdrawn; nevertheless it was a great aid to the pioneers, most of whom earned money, work- ing on the roads at $1.50 per day, to pay their an- nual taxes. All told, over one-half million dollars were received by the State for this purpose. Various fanciful schemes were discussed in the legislature from time to time for disposing of the fund, but on the whole it was loyally used.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.