The history of Indiana, Part 29

Author: Esarey, Logan, 1874-1942
Publication date: 1924
Publisher: Fort Wayne : Hoosier Press
Number of Pages: 602


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On September 5 they reached Mud creek. Twenty guards deserted during the day, stealing Indian horses on which to get away. On September 6 the Indians marched seventeen miles, reaching Logansport, about 800 strong. They waited near the town three days for the government agents to make better arrangements for traveling. One-half the militia were discharged and half were kept to accompany the Indians to the State line.


By this time the Indian children and old people were completely worn out. The children, especially, were dying in great numbers, not being used to such fare. Physicians from Logansport reached them on the 9th and reported three hundred unfit for travel.


384


HISTORY OF INDIANA


The march from this time was not so rapid. William Polke took a small detachment of troops and revisited the abandoned villages to see if any Indians had re- turned. Several children died during the stay at Logansport.


September 10, they started at 9 a. m. and skirted the north bank of the Wabash all day, reaching Winna- mac's old village by 5 p. m. Food was very scarce. The priest was given permission to say mass every evening. They left Winnamac's old village at 10 a. m., marched seventeen miles on the 11th, and camped at Pleasant Run at 5 p. m.


Next day they forded the Tippecanoe at 11 a. m. and passed the Battleground at 12 m. Here Tipton distributed to the Indians $5,000 worth of dry goods, hoping by this means to raise their spirits somewhat.


Chief Wewissa's mother died on the 12th at the extreme age of 100. She had asked to be killed and buried with her fathers at the Mission and the chief had decided to humor her, but the white men would not permit it.


On September 13th they reached Lagrange on the Wabash, a short distance below Lafayette, marching eighteen miles. One hundred and sixty were under the care of Dr. Ritchie and son, the attending physi- cians. The phyicians were almost entirely out of med- icine. The children were dying at the rate of from three to five a day. On the 14th they reached Will- iamsport. On the 16th they reached Danville, Ill. Heat and dust were getting worse. Large numbers of sick had to be left in the road. Horses were worn out and the guards were nearly all sick, and unable to proceed.


At Sandusky Point, on the 18th of September, Tip- ton turned the command over to Judge William Polke, who had been appointed by the national government to superintend the removal. Judge Polke, Father


385


LAST OF THE MIAMIS


Pettit, and an escort of fifteen men continued with the broken tribe to their destination on the Osage river, in Kansas. The journey required about two months and cost the lives of one-fifth of the tribe.16


A few Indians remained in Indiana scattered on small reservations in various parts of the State. The larger numbers of these were on the lower Missis- sinewa, around Maxinkuckee lake, and around the small lakes in Kosciusko county. As citizens they were no match in their business dealings with their white neighbors. They gradually parted with their lands and spent the proceeds. A few remain at present, re- spected and treated well by their white neighbors. They have taken on enough of the white man's thrift and culture to convince anyone that the whole tribe might, under more fortunate circumstances, have been saved to civilization.


16 The details of this removal are given in the Indianapolis, Logansport and LaFayette papers. The Indiana Journal, and Indiana Democrat of Indianapolis contain the official reports. see also Jacob P. Dunn, "The Trail of Death," in True Indian Stories; Col. William M. Cockrum. A Pioncer History of Indiana tells the story also. The best discussion of this phase of our Indian history is by Daniel McDonald, of Plymouth, who inter- ested the General Assembly in the matter of erecting a monu- ment to the tribes in Marshall county.


CHAPTER XV


THE PUBLIC LANDS OF INDIANA


§ 63 THE SURVEY, ITS METHODS AND AREA


ALL the land of Indiana except the "gore" falls under what is known as the Fifth System of the pub- lic lands survey. The system was worked out by Col. Jared Mansfield, the surveyor-general from 1803 to 1814. The immediate problem that confronted Mr. Mansfield in 1803 was to survey the Vincennes Pur- chase. This rectangle lay around and to the east of Vincennes, being entirely surrounded by Indian lands. The northeast corner was two miles north of Orleans and the southeast corner was in the northern part of Perry county. These are known as Freeman's Cor- ners from the name of the surveyor, Thomas Free- man, who ran the lines in 1803.


Through the northeast corner of the Vincennes tract was run the second principal meridian, which struck the Ohio river at the east boundary of Perry county. This meridian governs all the survey of In- diana except that wedge east of the Greenville Treaty line called the "gore." The first base line was sur- veyed by Ebenezer Buckingham in 1804. It follows, approximately, the old road from Vincennes to Louis- ville, striking the Wabash three miles above the mouth of White river.


On the principal meridian, corners were set up six miles apart marking the tiers of townships. Other corners were set up one mile apart, marking the sec- tions. On the base line similar corners were set up at equal intervals. The latter corners governed the


386


387:


SURVEYING THE PUBLIC LANDS


township and section lines on the north side of the base line only. After the two main lines were sur- veyed the parallel lines were run six miles apart, after which the section lines were established. In running the meridian section lines it was found that they con- verged at the northern base or correction line. This made it necessary to set a double row of section cor- ners along the base lines. The ones which controlled the southern side were called the "close up" corners.


The actual surveys were made by deputy survey- ors hired by the United States surveyor general for the district. The deputies used solar compasses, tran- sits, and common compasses. A surveying squad con- sisted of two chainmen, a flagman, axman, and two mound men. The chainmen measured the distance with a four, or two-rod chain. The short chain, 33 feet long, was used on rough ground since, in measur- ing, the chain had to be level. The flagman led the squad, placing the flag as directed by the surveyor. The axman cut the bushes out of the way and also "blazed" the trees. If a tree was a "liner" it was chopped, or "blazed," on both sides; if a "bearing" tree, that is, stood near the line, it was "blazed' only on the side facing the line. The mound men had to establish corners. If a tree stood exactly on the cor- ner it was properly "blazed" and marked. If there was no tree a stone was set. If no stone was conven- ient a mound of dirt was erected. In the latter cases trees were marked as "witnesses," the surveyor record- ing in his field notes the direction, distance, and size of the trees. The section and range stones were marked with the proper numbers and letters so that anyone could tell the exact range, township, and sec- tion.


The surveyor noted also the character of land, the timber, and springs, on each section, and its probable value. All field notes were then returned to the sur-


388


HISTORY OF INDIANA


veyor general and, if approved by him, were sent to the government land office. After all the land was sold the surveyor's notes and plats were turned over to the State in which the surveys were located and are now preserved at the State capitals.


In the original survey only the section lines were run, but in making the plats the draftsman laid down the cross lines dividing the section into quarters and sixteenths. The sections in a congressional township were numbered from one up to thirty-six, beginning in the northeast corner and numbering the tiers back and forth. The townships were numbered consecu- tively as townships north and south and as ranges east and west.1 The whole expense of surveying was not to exceed three dollars for each linear mile.2


§ 64 LAND OFFICES


AFTER a tract of land was surveyed, a land office was opened and the land placed on the market. As soon as surveyors had been put to work on the Vin- cennes Purchase a land office was authorized.3 This office was ordered opened January 1, 1805. John Ba- dollet, a friend of Albert Gallatin, and later a member of the State constitutional convention, and Nathaniel Ewing were the men placed in charge of the new office. Comparatively little land was sold here till after the close of the War of 1812. At this office was sold all the land then open for settlement west of the second principal meridian.


1 Thomas Donaldson, The Public Domain, ch. VII; Payson J. Treat, The National Land System, ch. VIII; Niles' Weekly Regis- ter, April 12, 1817; George R. Wilson, "The First Public Land Surveys in Indiana," in Indiana Magazine of History, XII, 1 seq. The "Life of Ziba Foote," Vol. II, 359, Indiana Historical Society Publications.


2 United States Statutes at Large, 1804, ch. 35.


3 Statutes at Large, 1804, Sess. I, ch. 35. This act also pro- vided for land offices at Detroit and Kaskaskia.


389


LAND OFFICES


In 1805 a line was run from Freeman's corner near Orleans to the Greenville Treaty line near Brookville and all the government land between this and the Ohio river was placed under survey. This tract had been purchased from the Indians in 1805. In 1807 a law provided for the opening of a land office for the tract at Jeffersonville.4 This office controlled the land east of the second principal meridian. The settlers from the south, especially from Kentucky, who settled the hill country from New Albany to Bloomington, entered their land at this office. They formed the backbone of the "southern" element in our population. They were Jacksonian in politics, Protestant in religion, hos- tile to slavery, social, freedom-loving, poor, brilliant but uneducated.5


With the ratification of the New Purchase treaty in 1818 the whole of central Indiana was thrown open to the surveyors. The lands were divided into two districts, one land office being established at Brook- ville and the other at Terre Haute.6 The two land dis- tricts were separated by the line separating the first and second ranges east of the second principal merid- ian. The Brookville office was opened early in the year 1819 by Lazarus Noble, a brother of Senator James Noble and Governor Noah Noble. The settlers in the Whitewater valley previous to this time had entered their lands at the Cincinnati office. This was not inconvenient for them since the large majority of them came down the Ohio or crossed it at Cincinnati. The Quakers were strong in this section, especially in Wayne county. For many years this was the most


4 Statutes at Large, 1807, ch. 49, Sec. I.


5 Baynard R. Hall, The New Purchase; Hanford A. Edson, Presbyterianism in Indiana.


6 United States Statutes at Large, 1819, ch. 92. For the terms and boundaries of the New Purchase see United States Statutes at Large, Vol. 7, Indian Treaties, 187.


390


HISTORY OF INDIANA


populous county in the State. Politically, the section was Whig, and aggressively anti-slavery.


Williamson Dunn and Ambrose Whitlock opened the land office at Terre Haute in 1819. The settlers came very largely by the Wabash and hence found Terre Haute a convenient point. They came from all parts of the South and East and had no marked racial, religious, or political characteristics.


With the rush of settlers to the capital in 1825 the land office of Brookville was moved there. For a time it seems offices were maintained at both places. While Lazarus Noble was on his way to Indianapolis in Octo- ber, 1825, to open the new office, he died and was suc- ceeded by his brother, later Governor Noah Noble.7 This office was especially active after the National road reached Indianapolis.


By 1822 settlers were locating around Fort Wayne. There was a large number of special reservations in that region but no public lands opened to settlement. Capt. James Riley came in the spring of 1822, and sur- veyed lands in the vicinity. The act of May 8, 1822, established a land office.8 The land east of the line between ranges one and two east and north of the Brookville district was included in the Fort Wayne district. The office was opened with a land sale, Octo- ber 22, 1823. Joseph Holman, of Wayne county, was the first receiver, and Samuel Vance of Lawrenceburg, register. The office was in the old fort.9 During the decade from 1830 to 1840 this office was thronged with settlers who came up the Maumee, attracted by the opening of the Wabash and Erie canal.


In 1828 the northwest quarter of the State was erected into the Crawfordsville district.10 Beginning about 1825 a heavy immigration set into the Wabash


7 Indiana Journal, August 16, 1825; also November 22, 1825.


8 United States Statutes at Large, 1822, ch. 126.


9 Col. Robert S. Robertson, Valley of the Upper Maumee, I. 199.


10 United States Statutes at Large, 1833, ch. 77, Sec. 10.


391


LAND SALES


country by emigrants from the southern part of Indi- ana and elsewhere, coming up through the central part of the State. Such people found it convenient to go to Terre Haute. For this reason Dunn and Whitlock had held a land auction at Crawfordsville, beginning December 24, 1824.11 Just when the office was perma- nently located at Crawfordsville does not appear, but it was prior to 1828.


The last land office district to be laid off in Indiana was the LaPorte. It included the lands lying west of the eastern boundaries of Kosciusko and Elkhart counties, and north of the parallel running through Delphi.12 The law providing for this office was passed, March 2, 1833, but just when the office was opened does not appear. It was removed to Winamac during the summer of 1839.13


§ 65 LAND SALES


EXCEPTING the lands reserved for school purposes, and those bordering salt springs and known as the "saline lands," all the lots in a district were offered at public auction. Due to the fact that a district's boun- daries were frequently changed after an Indian treaty, there might be held more than one auction in a dis- trict.


At the auction, which usually took place at the opening of the district, the various lots of land were cried and sold to the highest bidder, provided the bid was equal to or above the minimum price fixed by Con- gress. Three months' notice of auctions was given in a proclamation by the President. The lands were of- fered in whole, half, or quarter section lots. Smaller lots were sold if the buyer would pay the extra cost of surveying. The usual duration of the sale was


11 Sanford, Cox, Old Settlers, 17.


12 United States Statutes at Large, 1833, ch. 78, Sec. 10.


13 Indiana Journal, November 15, 1839.


392


HISTORY OF INDIANA


three weeks, but after 1820 Congress reduced the time to two weeks.


The price fixed by Congress in 1800 was $2 per acre.14 The purchaser was required to pay at the time of purchase $6 per section or $3 per half section to cover the cost of the survey, and he was also required to deposit one-twentieth of the purchase price. He then had forty days to pay the first installment, which consisted of one-fourth of the purchase price. The last installments consisting of one-fourth each were due at the end of two, three, and four years. Six per cent interest was charged if payments were not made on time, and eight per cent discount was allowed if money was paid before it was due. The government was a liberal creditor. Every favor possible was shown to the honest buyer. Under a later law the debtor was given scrip for what he had paid, if un- able to complete his payments. When all payments were made the purchaser was given a patent.15


The amount of money taken in at the land office was proverbial. January 1, 1815, the office at Jeffer- sonville reported $242,176 outstanding, while Vin- cennes had $122,723 out. By January 1, 1819, these debts by the land buyers had increased to $1,021,834, and $1,390,909, respectively.16


During the first year of our statehood the Jeffer- sonville land office sold 261,142 acres for $522,285; Vincennes 325,361 acres for $601,302.17 The public land sales at Indianapolis were held in October, 1820, July and August, 1821, and in September, 1822. There


14 The Government has steadily reduced the price of public lands. The following have been the prices: $2.50, $2.00, $1.25, $1.00, $.75, $.6623, $.50, $.25, $.121/2, and gifts as a homestead. Thomas Donaldson, The Public Domain, index.


15 The Government lost about $20,000,000 out of $47,000,000 credited under the law of 1800.


16 American State Papers, Finance, III, 782.


17 Niles' Register, XIII, 261.


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were sold 237,173 acres at an average price of $1.441/2 per acre. The remainder of this district, 570,227 acres, was sold between 1820 and 1828 for the mini- mum price, which had been reduced at that time to $1.25 per acre.18 The receiver at Fort Wayne wrote in July, 1836, that he was receiving $25,000 per day. He expected to tale in $1,500,000 during the season. Crawfordsville was doing even better; in fact, the lat- ter office exceeded all the offices of the United States . for several years in the amount of business done.19


One of the serious problems of the land office was to get the money back to the government. After Jack- son issued the Specie Circular nearly all the money received was in coin. From Fort Wayne and Craw- fordsville it was frequently transported in four-horse wagons, guarded by a score of armed men.


The receivers were very careful as to the kind of money they received. Only such as could be deposited in the Bank of the United States as cash would be re- ceived. It was necessary for one who owed the land office to get this kind of money. This led to much inconvenience and positive wrong. At the old land office of Vincennes a bank was established where the customers could get their bank notes converted into land-office money. The bankers-in this case the re- ceiver was president of the bank-charged from six to twelve per cent for this service. This business was called "note shaving." The money when received at the land office was deposited immediately in the bank and again used for "note shaving." The office at In- dianapolis was kept; over a store, the storekeeper doing the "note shaving" with money furnished by the re- ceiver of the land office.20


18 Indiana Journal, July 19, 1834.


19 Republican and Banner, July 20, 1836; Logansport Tele- graph, June 18, 1836.


20 American State Papers, Finance, V, 66; American State Papers, Public Lands, VII, 507; see also Logan Esarey, Early Banking in Indiana, 234.


395


SCRIP AND NOTE-SHAVING


The land offices were among the most lucrative public positions open to ambitious politicians. As a result there were many cases of fraud and embezzle- ment, not to mention errors caused by ignorance. A general investigation of the land offices was begun in 1833. James B. Gardner, who inspected the offices in Indiana, found them in bad condition. He estimated that one-fifth of all the land certificates issued were defective either through the laziness or ignorance of the register.


Many of the receivers were speculating in land scrip. As mentioned above, if any one failed to pay in full for land, the land was taken back and the buyer was given scrip or due bills for money actually paid and this was subsequently received as cash in payment for other land. The receiver bought up this scrip at heavy discount and turned it in as cash. Speculators in the East bought it up and cashed it with dishonest receivers. A widely organized ring of speculators was found among the congressmen and men in the General Land Office at Washington. It perhaps cost one Indi- ana senator his re-election. The agent at Indianapolis in 1833, in connection with a merchant of the town, was doing an extensive business in scrip, of which the merchant, during the year 1833, had gathered up $98,000 worth. Not only was this turned in to the land office at par, but it was used by the merchant to "shave" money brought in by the buyers, which was not acceptable at the land office. A clerk in the store held a commission as notary public and was making large sums of money taking affidavits which were demanded on every pretense by the receiver, who shared in the fees. The receiver had formed a part- nership with a local broker and they were doing a profitable business speculating in lands and cashing notes given by the land buyers. On these notes they


396


HISTORY OF INDIANA


got eight per cent discount. At the time of the in- vestigation the receiver had $12,000 of government money so invested. The receiver had also loaned large sums of money to the merchants of Indianapolis. The United States attorney, who was a candidate for United States senator, found it very embarrassing politically to collect the debts due the land office on account of the large number of prominent persons who had borrowed money from the receiver.


At Crawfordsville the inspector found everything in an uproar. The office had been placed in the hands of Dr. I. T. Canby, the defeated candidate for gover- nor in 1828. As soon as he arrived, he and his bonds- men began using the land office money to set them- selves up in the mercantile business. In a short time Canby was a defaulter to the extent of $46,443. His bondsmen had entered 3,200 acres of first-class land at the lowest price. Gen. Samuel Milroy, one of his bondsmen, had taken over the office but had later turned it over to his son.21


Speculation in public lands did not play so impor- tant a part in Indiana as it had in Ohio. Many of the towns of the State, however, were opened up by speculators. There was complaint of speculators at the land sales at Indianapolis, Jeffersonville, and espe- cially at Fort Wayne. By 1830 the speculator had come into such bad repute that he would not be toler- ated at the sales. This was the case at Crawfordsville, LaPorte, and Winamac. Women who came to the sales




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