USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > Jackson in Sullivan County > The history of Jackson Township, Sullivan County, Indiana > Part 5
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Mr. McCammon's father was a tan- ner by trade and while in Daviess County he tanned many deer hides that were brought to him by the slave holders of Kentucky who used them to make clothing for their slaves. When Mr. McCammon was quite small he was the proud pos- sessor of a pair of hunting trousers which were made from the tanned hide of a panther which his father had killed.
One day while chasing a deer Mr. McCammon, knowing where the deer would likely cross the creek, hid himself in a thicket in order to be ready to shoot as he passed. While waiting he heard a noise above him and on looking up he saw a huge panther ready to spring up- on him. He
was successful in shooting the panther but in the mean time the deer had been fright- ened away.
Mr. McCammon bought from the government eighty acres of land at
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. This is now the home of John Barnett. There were a great man; super-trees then and from these they made their own sugar and also some to sell.
In 1843 Mr. McCammon was mar- ried to Eliza Cuppy, who was then eighteen years old. They went to housekeeping in a little log cabin with home-made furniture added piece by piece and made by Thomas Mahan, a brother-in-law. A walnut chest 20 in. by 20 in. by 40 in. serv- ed for a table and cupboard until! these articles could be made. An old cupboard, a chest, one chair and a rolling pin are all that are left of their first housekeeping outfit. These articles have been in use seventy- wo years.
Mr. and Mrs. McCammon were both members of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist church. They were the pa- rents of eight children, Ella, Budd, Mary, Sara Frances, the twins Jose- phine and Jane, Hade and Della. Of these only three are living. They are Mrs. Mary Mahan, Mrs. Jose- phine Pullis and Hade McCammon. Mr. McCammon recently celebrated his ninety-fourth birthday and is at present the oldest resident in the township.
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Chapter 7. District No. 6.
Harry Nelson
Gor Nelson 10
N Nelson
CarIN RAAMel 664 o ₩
Den Blevins 80
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Wm Manan 40
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Frank Rhemal
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Joseph Pour" 1750
LL Matan :60
Mahon ia 60
Mahan 40
J Crist :: 3832
80
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P Burke 22 43
1148
RL Ladd
MS Boston 40
E Marotta ¥39.70
ME Wise
26 66
Walter Shrieven 20
2666
Not School House
S'N Stampe 30
Elementriss 48
Charles Retard Harvey Asbury 38₺ 38
SC Mahan AC
20
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Savon. Homilton : 29
wm
Rosal Bemis
Del = 25
Lucas 2.5
US Powder Co 23 2 25
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Mariotto Caso -+ 12 0
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Wm Heady 40
VAI'M Sinclon 40
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Ed Walters 40
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District No. 6 is located in the northeastern part of the township. The land in this district is rather broken and not well adapted / to farming. "The soil is clay and was once productive but a greater part of it has been tilled year after year without much fertilization so that it is no longer very productive .. However, there are a few farms that are in good condition.
In 1886 a great deal of the south- eastern section of the district was sold for coal to the company that operated the Alum Cave Mine. Af- ter this mine was abandoned a great deal of this land was purchased by the U.S. Powder Company which operates the plant in this district.
Some of the first settlers of this
district were Robert Richey, Martin Biggs and Billy Hughbanks. They entered land here about 1835 Some of those who came later were James B. Mahan, Walter Asbury and H. T. Pierson,
Coal was first mined in this dis- trict in 1858, about one mile south- east of Shiloh church. The land was owned by George Barnett There was little demand for coal in those days except for smithing, so occa- sionally a load was dug out of the hill near the old "Alum Cave Rock" and carted away by oxen to Center- ville. now known as Lewis, and sold to the blacksmith for three cents a. bushel. On the opposite side of the creek from the mine the coal was on fire at this time. It had been set on
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John Chaney 40
fire for the purpose of destroying the rattlesnakes that denned in the hill. These rocks were a famous resort for rattlesnakes, and they be- came a great menace to the neigh- borhood. The men waged constant war upon them. In the spring while it was yet too cool for the snakes to crawl away they would crawl out upon the rocks in the sun to warm np. Then the men would often kill three or four hundred snakes a day.
The mine near No. 6 school house now operated by Mr. Marratta, was first operated in 1868 by Walter Asbury. He began digging the coal out of the ravine and burning it in a grate. It was unusual at that time to use coal for a fuel.
This district contains one road which is rocked. This crosses the district and passes Shiloh Church. The rest of the roads are poor and become almost impassable during the winter.
At the beginning of the war a number of men enlisted from this district. Some of them were Jona- than Rehmel, Abraham Wise, Pierce Gorby, H. T. Pierson, Jobn Nelson, Edwin Bemis, Joe McCray, Andy McCray, Elijah Brock, S. W. Asbury, Henry Bratton, Tom Crawford, SI- renus Rehmel and Joe Asbury.
Prior to 1870 the children of this district were compelled to go to No. 5 or No. 7 to get what education they received. In that year the first school house of the district was built. It was a frame structure and. stood a little south of the present building. Some of the first teachers were Peter Grant, Milton Dell, Wil- liam Grant, Charley Grant, Callie Grant and James Barcus. Some of those who followed were Dr. G. F. Plew. Jabes Asbury, Mollie Ladd and Melissa Chambers.
After the mines at Alum Cave were opened the enrollment aver- aged about seventy-five and often reached ninety. The building was too small to accommodate this num- ber so an addition of fifteen feet in length was put to the building, in 1891. A great deal of interest was taken in the schools at this time and in 1893 a literary club, which is dis-
cussed elsewhere in this history. was organized here which gave entertain- ments to raise funds with which to buy books for the library which had been started. This library increased until it grew to be the largest one in the township at that time.
Those who attended school here when the first school house was built will remember the following inci- dent. It was while attending school in the winter of 1870-71 that Henry Hayes, a lad fifteen years old, one morning before starting to school, proposed to try his marksmanship with an old muzzle loader rifle. When he fired the gun the breech- pin was blown out of the gun into Henry's head. The breech-pin was a heavy piece of iron about the size of a man's thumb. There it re- mained four months, despite the ef- forts of the best surgeons of the country. While great quantities of the brain and fragments of the skull . were removed, yet it did not prove fatal. After remaining there for four months it worked its way out the way it entered. After a few days Henry went on to school, acquired an education, grew to manhood, moved out west and made good as a farmer.
This case was discussed in differ- ent medical journals and was con- sidered a unique case by medical men.
In 1859 a Methodist Church was organized in this district and named the Shiloh Methodist Episcopal Church. Some of the charter mem- bers were Asa Mahan and wife, James B. Mahan . and wife, John. Watson and wife, William Hugh- banks and wife, Pierce Gorby and wife and Andy Ritchey and wife. The first services were held at the homes of the members but soon a church building was erected. The carpenter work was done by George Barnett and Walter Asbury and the plastering by James B. Mahan. The same building is yet standing but in 1891 it was turned to face the south and remodeled. Some of the first preachers at this church were Rev. Green and Rev. Bowers. The church
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was dedicated by the Rev. John Kiger.
The only one of the charter mem- bers now living is Mrs. Mary Craw- ford, better known as Aunt Mary Mahan. She with the help of a few faithful members has kept the church alive through all these years and to the ones who have grown up and gone away from this district their faces are a happy remembrance of the little church around the cor- ner.
The United States Powder Plant.
In 1904 the U. S. Powder compa- ny, of which Mr. Job Freeman is president, purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Jackson Township, one mile northwest of Coalmont, and erected the first building of the present powder plant and also built a switch from the plant to the main line of the C., T. H. & S. E. Railroad, north of Coal- mont. The farm on which the plant is located was formerly known as the Crawford Farm. It is a good location for the plant because it furnishes both water and stone in abundance. The plant consists of a power house and several depart- ments of powder-making machinery. The first department consists of the soda beaters, the stock house and the soda charge house. The second department consists of the pulveriz- er, the brimstone and charcoal stock house, and composition charge house. In the pulverizer the char- coal and brimstone are pulverized into dust by being put into tubular iron barrels which rotate.
The third department consists of the wheel mills where the soda. charcoal and brimstone are milled under eight or ten ton wheels which mix the above mentioned ingredients into powder. Water in quantity varying according to temperature and atmospheric conditions, is added to prevent explosions.
The fourth department consists of the presses where the powder is pressed into cakes. 24 inches square by 1 1-2 inches thick, by hydraulic pressure from three to five thousand pounds to the square inch. according to the density demanded by the
manufacturers.
The fifth department consists of the corning mills where the powder is cut into grains by being run through brass rolls which cut it into various sized grains.
The sixth department consists of the glazes where the powder is load- ed into tubular barrels which rotate. Here it is heated by friction to the proper temperature to drive out moisture. When properly dried it is leaded to keep out moisture.
The seventh department consists of the packing houses where the powder is screened and graded ac- cording to the size of the grains, and weighed in a scoop which holds
twenty-five pounds. It is then put into kegs and sealed. It is now ready for use. It is now taken from the packing houses to the mag- azine and loaded into cars or stored for shipment.
Since the opening of the plant, the company has purchased a num- ber of small tracts of adjoining land until the entire tract now comprises between six and seven hundred acres of land. A great many addi- tional buildings have been erected. There are in all about forty build- ings besides the dwelling houses erected for the employees. the prin- cipal of which is the beautiful bun- galow in which Mr. Sarchet. the su- perintendent of the plant. lives.
The first powder was made Dec. 3, 1904. and on Dec. 9. the output for the day was four hundred forty-four kegs. At first thirty men were em- picyed, but row the mill employs seventy men and the output per day is fifteen hundred kegs of powder.
The materials used in the making of powder are charcoal. brimstone, . and nitric soda. The soda used here comes from Chile, S. A .. and the sul- hur from Sulphur, La.
The men employed at this plant belong to the organization of Unit- Powder and High Explosive Workers of America. Local 127. This local was instituted Oct. : 7. 1904, with the following officers:
James Thompson. President.
Richard Overby. Vice-president. S. M. Stewart. Secretary.
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The officers at present are: James Thompson, President.
J. B. Mathers, Vice-president.
S. M. Stewart, Secretary.
The men employed here are the best paid powder workers in the United States. Some of our best citizens are employed here. This plant has an excellent record. There have been few accidents or injuries since the opening of the plant, which is due to the vigilance of the superintendent and to the careful and trustworthy men employed here. Instead of becoming a menace, CS some feared at first, the U. S. Pow- der Plant has proved a boon to our community.
Alum Cave.
It will not be long until the little town of Alum Cave, which used to be such a flourishing mining camp, will no longer be remembered, for the place where it stood a few years back is already overgrown with grass and shrubbery. Nothing is left but one house and the old rail- road track and trestle.
It was about the year 1886 that the New Pittsburg Coal and Coke Company bought the first coal land and built the first houses of Alum' Care. This name was given to the town because of an alum spri 1g found near it.
The first coal land bought by the company was owned by Asa Mahan and Daniel Goble. These men owned about one hundred and eighty acres of hilly land for which they received twenty-five dollars an acre for the coal and top. Later the company bought more land until finally it owned about four hundred acres ...
The E. & T. H. railroad built a switch from Farmersburg to Alum ('are. This switch extended from Alum Cave through Miller's Switch and Bridwell's Switch to the main line of the E. & T. H., south of Farmersburg. This line was com- pleted in September, 1886. Later this track was torn up and a new one built which joined a branch of the E. & T. H. about a mile and a quarter south of Hymera.
The building of the first shaft was begun in May, 1886. The store
building, hotel and dwelling houses were soon added and the work of taking out coal was begun. The coal vein found here was No. 5. It ranged from six to eight feet in thickness and had an excellent roof of limestone. . It contained the finest coal found in this section of the country. The store, which was known as the Company Store, to distinguish it from Fred Cochrad's store which was situated at the east end of town just across the road in Clay County, was a large building and contained in stock everything needed by the people of the commu- nity,-groceries, dry goods, china, hardware and drugs. It also con- tained the postoffice and the mine office. This store was always an ex- cellent market for all produce that the farmers had to sell.
The dwelling houses were owned by the company and, like too many other mining camps, they presented the usual dreary sameness of struc- ture so that the occupants distin- guished their houses by numbers rather than appearance.
I have often wondered why the coal companies persist in building the workmens' houses all alike when it would cost so little to vary 'the shape of the houses and the color of paint. This one thing has led many people to feel that mine operators are rather an inhuman lot.
Another instance that showed how little they thought of the com- fort of their employees was the water supply of the town. One well supplied practically all the people of the town and it was located down in a valley between two hills on which the houses were located, so that the water had to be carried up a very steep hill. Many women of the vil- lage carried all the water used by the family and for the washing as well. In dry seasons when the wa- ter was low, some would get up as early as three o'clock in order to get water before it became muddy. Yet. the people of this town liked their home and were happy. I recently heard one old resident of the place say that nowhere else would ever seem like home to him.
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There were very few buildings
besides the store and dwelling houses. The first depot was a box car but later a good building was erected. The first school house was a small one-room building . shaped. like the houses. Later the town- ship and the Red Men's lodge jointly erected a two story building. The lower floor was owned by the town ship and contained two school rooms The upper story became the Red Men's hall.
The coke ovens, which were ob- jects of interest to the surrounding country, were built in 1888 and were located on the side of the hill between the railroad station and the main part of town. They were built of the fire-clay brick in the shape of arches with openings through which the coal was put and had chimneys at the top from which the smoke escaped. The coal was brought from the mine to the ovens on a small track. It was then washed and put into the ovens. After being set on fire, the doors were partly closed. When the coal had burned until the smoke was no longer black, the ovens were shut up so that no air could get in. After having burned in this way for the required length of time the ovens were opened and cold water poured on the coke to cool it. This caused the coke to " crack. The men then came with large hooks and lifted the coke out. There were about fifty of these ovens and when all were working, the output of coke was about twen- ty-five or thirty tons per day.
When the mines were first started, picks were used, but later machines were used to mine the coal. The first wages received were very low in comparison with those of today. Many men worked ten hours a day for one dollar and a quarter. Later. they received one dollar and a half for loading, and two dollars for ma- chine work. When the mine was at its best, it gave employment to about three hundred men. The miners were not as well organized then as now. The first labor organ- ization at that place was known as the Knights of Labor. Wages, how-
ever, were not materially affected until in 1893 when the miners of Alum Cave undertook to join the organization known as the United Mine Workers of America. Upon meeting resistance from the operat- ors, a strike was called by the min- ers and a long hard fight ensued between the laborers and the opera -. tors. Many families were destitute, but they did not yield. During the. strike, coal was shipped from the south to Chicago to fill the orders that should have been filled by Alum Cave. The miners did not like this. so they ran some of the cars of coal. off on the switch and burned them .. The state militia was then called to. settle the disturbance. About three. hundred militiamen marched across country from Farmersburg to Alum. Cave. Although they did little to- ward settling the trouble, they made excellent headlines for the newspa- pers. The strike was finally settled by the operators granting both high- er wages and right to join the U. M. W. of A.
Some objects of rather unusual interest aside from the ovens were the alum spring and artesian well. The alum spring which gave the town its name was a little spring running out from the rocks. A large rock overhung it. thus causing it to be called a cave. The spring may be seen yet at the base of a perpendicu- lar mass of rock, sending out a tiny stream of water, clear as crystal.
Not a great many people new know that Alum Cave contained an artesian well. It was drilled to a depth of twenty-two hundred feet and the water was said to be unu- sually good for artesian water.
Some of the prominent men who had to do with Alum Cave are C. Richards. C. C. Harter and J. . C. Seifert, all of Chicago. The first superintendent of the mine was Pani Wright and the first mine boss was Frank Wilkinson. The last superin- ie.dent was J. P. Gilmore.
Perhaps the man who had most to do with the history of the place, and who was most loyal to the little town and Its inhabitants, was George Schuberth, the bookkeeper for the
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company and also postmaster of the town for a number of years.
In Westville, Illinois, there is one man, the cashier of the First Na'- tional Bank at that place, who often comes back to visit the site of this old mining camp. He came to Alum Cave one Sunday in April, 1892, when nineteen years old. He se- cured work in the mine at one dol- lar and a half a day. He was at the entrance of the "broad and easy road" that leads nowhere, but he did not take it. He moved his mother and sisters to the little town and worked for their support. He joined the Hub Reading Society at No. 6 and borrowed books which he read in the mines between cars. At one time he committed the Declaration cf Independence by the light of his bank lamp. No honest effort is ever expended in vain, as was proved in his case. He has made gocd in the business world and has Lot dishonored the man for whom he was named. This man is Abra- lam Lincoln Somers, of Westville, Illinois.
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In 1894, Mr. William Johnson, a young man without money, friends or experience as a miner, secured work in what was known as Slope Mine No. 2. He read a great deal, had a good memory, and was a close observer of what was going on. He became interested in mines and min- ing. He took up the labor problem and was victimized in Sullivan coun- ty on account of his activity in the U. M. W. of A. He afterwards went to Westville, Illinois, where he. with Mr. Somers, took up a correspond- ence course in mines and mining. He is now General Manager of the Saline County Coal Company of Chi- cago, Illinois. He says that it was at Alum Cave that he decided to be something more than a hobo.
Work was discontinued at Alum Cave mine in 1903 and the houses moved away. Alum Cave is no long- er found upon the map and will soon have disappeared from the memory as well, for the place that used to be so full of life is now field and forest.
Some old residents of this district are Mrs. Mary Crawford, Mrs. Fanny
Strahle, Mrs. John Nelson and Mr. and Mrs. Milton Dell, whose biog- raphies are given below:
Mr. and Mrs. John Nelson.
John Nelson was born in Vermil- lion County, Illinois, Sept. 19, 1839. He came to Jackson Township in the early fifties. He served in the Civil War in Company F of the 31st Indi- ana Volunteers. While with Sher- man on his march to the sea he res ceived a gunshot wound in the cheek in a battle near Kenesaw Mountain. on June 17, 1864. He was married three times and was the father of nine children, five of whom are iiv- ing. They are William, Mrs. Lafay- ette Brock, Thomas, Harry and Guy. The last two mentioned are the sons of his last wife, Mahalia Furry, who was born Jan. 15, 1859. Mr. Nelson was a member of the G. A. R. and of the Masonic Lodge at Lewis. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were both members of the Shiloh M. E. Church. Mrs. Nelson is at present living with her son Guy, on the home place.
Mr. and Mrs. Milton C. Dell.
Mr. Milton Dell. the eldest son of Thomas and Jane Waller Dell, w93 born Jan. 1, 1839 in Harrison Coun- ty, Ohio. He later came to Clay - County, Indiana. While in Ohio he became a teacher and after coming to Indiana he taught for eight years. In May, 1864, he enlisted for serv- ice in the Civil War in Company F of the Sixty-first Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, served four months and was discharged. He lat- er re-enlisted in Company F of the Thirteenth Indiana Volunteer Infar- try and was discharged in July. 1865, having while at Raleigh, North Carolina, contracted catarrh from which he has never fully re- covered. On April 20, 1873, he mar- ried Kate A. James of Jackson Township. There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dell four children. They are Carrie, Mollie, deceased, Mattie and Maude. Mr. and Mrs. Dell are members of the Methodist Church at Shiloh.
Mrs. Mary Crawford.
Aunt Mary was born in Mason County, Kentucky, in 1828, and moved to Jackson Township when
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she was nine years old. Her father first settled and lived on the farm east of Hymera now owned by John Keen. She has lived in Jackson Township practically all her life and has seen it change from a forest of heavy timber abounding with wild game to the Jackson Township of 1915. At that time there were no churches in the township and but one school house. This was made . of logs and stood on the ground!
near where Hymera Methodist church now stands. She remembers the building of the old log church where she became a member at the age of thirteen. In 1846 she was married to James B. Mahan and soon moved to the farm where she now lives with her son, Samuel G. Mahan, near Shiloh Church.
She is the mother of six children. Telightha, Alice, Laura, Josepwine Samuel and Althea. Of these only
Samuel Mahan, Mrs. Josephine I.is- ton and Mrs. Alice Husband are liv- ing.
Mrs. Fanny Strahle.
Mrs. Fanny Strahle was born April 9, 1835 in Somerset county, Pa. She was the oldest of a family of twelve children. At the age of twelve years her parents moved to Holmes county, Ohio. In 1852 she was married to John George Strahle, who had come to this country from Germany six years before. Thirteen years later they moved to Owen county, Indiana, where her husband bought a farm. In the year 1870, her husband's death came as a ter- rible blow, he having been killed by damps in a well in which he was working, leaving his widow with nine children. Four years later she moved with her family to Jackson township and has since that time re- sided in District No. 6.
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