USA > Indiana > Grant County > Fairmount > The making of a township, being an account of the early settlement and subsequent development of Fairmount Township, Grant County, Indiana, 1829 to 1917, based upon data secured by personal interviews, from numerous communications > Part 11
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The Making of a Township.
the Society of Friends, he traveled some in ministerial service, always paying his traveling expenses, which all preachers did not do. He held advanced views in reference to the resurrection of the dead to what was generally accepted by his church in his day and time, hence some ob- jected to giving him liberty to travel, as was Friends usage. His faith is now quite generally accepted by all orthodox churches. He was a man of energy and perseverance. He did not wait for opportunities to come to him, but got out and turned something up. He was strictly fair and honest in his dealings with men, but wanted what was his by right. He loved to trade in real estate, owned a number of farms at different periods of his active life, and gave each of his sons a good start in life. At one time he kept a large fruit nursery, from which many of the orchards of this section were stocked. He was kind and considerate
This picture shows the old house which once stood at the southwest corner of Main and Eighth Streets. It was on this lot that John Benbow com- menced the erection of the first log cabin on the present site of the town of Fairmount. Before the cabin was completed Daniel Baldwin came from Wayne County, Indiana, with his family, and in 1833 purchased the property and finished the cabin, which he occupied for several months.
as a neighbor, courteous in his manner, given to hospitality, lived out the Scriptural injunction to live in peace with all men as much as laid in his power. David Stanfield was a man of splendid spirit and of singular purity of character. The foregoing is an estimate of his career by a prominent citizen who knew him intimately for many years.
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David Stanfield-Naming of Fairmount.
David Stanfield's monument, a plain stone slab, erected at his grave in Back Creek graveyard, bears the following inscription :
"David Stanfield, proprietor south half of Fairmount, Minister of Friends Church, died Ioth mo. 24th, 1868, aged 75 yrs., 5 mo. II da."
(By Cyrus W. Neal.)
As David Stanfield was one of the persons who did not come to Fairmount, but Fairmount came to him, I will give a little information as regards this fine man and much-loved citizen. He came from Green County, Tennessee, was an authorized minister in the Friends Church before he came to Fairmount, and so continued until his death. He was the first preacher I remember of hearing preach. In the fall of 1856 he preached at iny mother's funeral at old Back Creek (I was five years old at the time). Margaret Pucket also preached at the same funeral.
David Stanfield appeared to be quite an old man at that time. He lived about two blocks south and two blocks west of where Dr. Glenn Henley's office is now lo- cated. His family consisted of himself and wife and nine chil- dren, seven boys and two girls. The boys were William, Vernon, Elijah, Clayton, Isaac, Charles CYRUS W. NEAL and Samuel. The girls were Lydia Jane (wife of Joseph W. Bald- win), and Hannah (wife of William Hall).
David Stanfield was a great man for fruit and had a large nursery and orchard that came to Dr. Henley's residence. He was exceedingly fond of good horses, and they did not come too lively for him. He was a good man with young horses, and always had the very best. He was what we would call an up-to-date farmer. He was not a rich man, but
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The Making of a Township.
for that day was considered "pretty well fixed," and was ready and willing, as were all the early settlers in the Township, to divide the last bushel or the last ham with a neighbor without money and without price.
My wife, who was a daughter of Joseph W. Baldwin, and a granddaughter of David Stanfield, has in her possession a diary kept by her grandfather in 1831, before he came to Fairmount. The book was made by cutting heavy, plain white paper seven inches square. which was sewed together with white flax thread, and the writing was very fine, indeed. It would be interesting to some of our young people . to see this splendid penmanship made by him eighty-six years ago. Not many persons of today could duplicate it. He says :
"In the year 1831 had a concern to attend Indiana Yearly Meeting and the meetings constituting it, and obtained a certificate for that purpose. On the fourteenth of the Ninth month, in the same year, pursued the project, accompanied by my worthy friend, Aaron Ham- mer." He says they held no meeting while passing through Kentucky, and arrived at that great city in the State of Ohio, Cincinnati, Ninth month, twenty-fifth. (Eleven days on road, and I suppose traveled horseback, a distance of about three hundred miles.)
A meeting was appointed for him in Cincinnati at the First Presby- terian Church. Many English Friends were present. He felt very much embarrassed at the prospect of facing a congregation made up of persons so intellectual and distinguished, in such a large city, and wished himself among country people. He says that Friends told him that Cincinnati, according to the last census, contained twenty-eight thousand people. He had his meeting, and many older Friends came to him after the service and encouraged him, saying he did well.
On the seventh day. first of the Tenth month, they attended Yearly Meeting at-New Garden (doubtless Indiana Yearly Meeting was held at New Garden and not at Richmond, at that date, as he says nothing about Richmond in his book).
On the way from Green County, Tennessee, to Cincinnati, they stop- ped over night at taverns, I suppose similar in construction and hos- pitality to the one kept by Robert McCormick in Fairmount Township. The bills itemized are: Bobbs, 25 cents ; Lowe's, 50 cents : Johnson's, 50 cents ; Calvert's, 50 cents : Sails, 621/5 cents ; Rose, 621/2 cents.
As these bills were for two men and two horses, it would seem that the high cost of living did not figure much in those days. After preach- ing in Indiana and Ohio, at many places, they returned home.
David Stanfield was a persistent Bible student. Any person going
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David Stanfield-Naming of Fairmount.
to his home to see him on matters of business would find him reading his Bible.
Marion, Indiana, March 13, 1917.
Fairmount had in 1850 attained to a position of some importance as a business point. It was in this year that citizens began to cast about for a suitable name for the embryonic town. David Stanfield suggested that the place be called Kingston. Joseph W. Baldwin, who owned the corner store, had heard much of Fairmount Park, Phil- adelphia, and favored Fairmount. Stanfield and Baldwin, after due consideration of the matter, being unable to agree, decided to leave the controversy to the decision of William Neal. Neal agreed with Bald- win, and this is how the town came to be called Fairmount. This, at least, is the conclusion arrived at by the writer, after conferring with a pioneer who knew Stanfield, Baldwin and Neal intimately, and was closely allied with the three men and held frequent conversations with them at the time the matter was under consideration. However, there appear to be other ideas in reference to it, and expressions bearing upon the subject are here submitted :
Joseph W. Baldwin, when talking about the early days of Fair- mount, always claimed that he gave the infant town its present name. There were three of them that had the matter in controversy. They were William Neal, surveyor, William Hall and Joseph W. Baldwin. They all had names to offer. I have forgotten what they were. Jo- seph presented the name of Fairmount and won the others over to his choice and thus it was recorded Fairmount.
A. HENLEY.
Melbourne, Florida, March 27, 1917.
Editor News: I see that somebody says Joseph W. Baldwin gave Fairmount its name. I have always thought that my father, William Neal, named Fairmount. I am sure he was County Surveyor about that time. MRS. ALVIN WILSON.
Los Angeles, California, February 26, 1917.
(Editor's Note :- The best information at hand shows that before a name was selected for the town Joseph W. Baldwin had a little store on the Seth Winslow corner ( the northeast corner of Main and Wash- ington Streets), located where the Borrey Block now stands. David
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The Making of a Township.
Stanfield, father-in-law of Baldwin, was planning to have a part of his farm surveyed and an addition laid out and platted for the sale of lots. It was suggested by one of the two men that the time had come to select a name for the town. Both agreed that this should be done. Stanfield preferred that the town be called Kingston. Baldwin, who had been reading about Fairmount Water Works, at Philadelphia, favored Fair- mount. After discussing the matter at some length they agreed to let William Neal decide the controversy when he came to make the survey. When Neal arrived Stanfield and Baldwin put the question up to Neal, and he took the view that, all things considered, Fairmount would be the best choice of names. Bill Wright had previously given the struggling village the name of Pucker, and the place was so desig- nated until the name Fairmount was finally agreed upon.)
Editor News: Some years ago, while Joseph Baldwin, William Hall and James R. Smith were yet living, I remember one afternoon these three worthy pioneers were sitting at the front of our store (Oakley & Elliott's), discussing with others the question as to who gave Fairmount its name. My recollection is that William Hall made the following statement (the other two concurring), that William Neal, who just at the time the people were seeking a name for the prospective town, returned home from Philadelphia, where he had visited Fair- mount Park, and being greatly delighted with its beauty and grandeur. he proposed the town be called Fairmount, which was generally accepted by the community. J. N. ELLIOTT.
St. Petersburg, Florida, March 9, 1917.
(Editor's Note :- It will be observed that there exists a difference of opinion as to who named Fairmount. However, there is honor enough to go around. and it is very likely that several had a hand in it.)
The south part of Fairmount was platted and subdivided into lots by David Stanfield, December 28, 1850. At first only four blocks lying south of Washington Street were surveyed by William Neal, who had been engaged for this work.
The original town plat was located in Section 29, Township 23 north and Range 8 east, consisting of fifteen lots. The following addi- tions have since been made: David Stanfield's; Jonathan Baldwin's
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David Stanfield-Naming of Fairmount.
First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth ; Nixon Winslow's ; J. P. Wins- low's First, Second and Third; Henley's First, Second and Third ; Baldwin and Nottingham's; Phillips's; Winslow, Ellers and Bogue and Winslow and Osborn's.
The first home built inside the present corporation limits was a log cabin started in November, 1831, by John Benbow, and completed later by Daniel Baldwin, at the southwest corner of Eighth and Main Streets. It was a typical pioneer cabin built of round logs, with a stick and clay chimney, puncheon floor, chinked and daubed to protect the family from wind and cold.
In December, 1833, Daniel Baldwin and family arrived from Wayne County, Indiana. Baldwin had visited Grant County the year before, and while here he purchased the Benbow cabin.
The second cabin built was erected by Thomas Baldwin, on the lot at the northeast corner of Madison and Mill Streets.
CHAPTER XIII.
EIGHTEEN FIFTY-TWO TO EIGHTEEN SIXTY-THREE.
(By James M. Hundley.)
I N COMPLIANCE with my promise I will attempt to describe things as I remember them in 1852 and up to 1863, when my acquaintance with Fairmount and Fairmount Township terminates.
In order that the reader may know why I assume to speak of early conditions in your town and Township I will say that I make no claim to having been a pioneer in your community. As a matter of fact the hunters and early pathfinders who contended with the haughty sav- ages that inhabited your almost impenetrable wilderness had gone many years before I came. But the home builders and early settlers, the sturdy characters who cleared away the forest, built the roads, con- structed the drains, erected the log school houses, the primitive church and their plain and simple habitations were here when I came. It is of these that I shall attempt to write.
I was born in Clinton County, Ohio, July 6, 1847, and came with my father. William Hundley, to your Township in the late fall of 1851. I have no distinct recollections of the journey from Ohio, which was made in a two-horse wagon to a point a short distance south of the Back Creek meeting house, where the road running east and west crosses the road leading to Marion.
It was here, in the early spring of 1852, that memory first dawns upon me. I found myself living with my father in a log cabin which was owned and also occupied by a man named Sam Jones and his family (not the Sam Jones of Gospel fame, but the husband of Jane Jones, who was a preacher of some note in the Friends Church). Sam Jones had a small frame blacksmith shop located at the crossroads. and, as my father was a blacksmith, they joined their fortunes and we remained there until the year 1853, when we removed to Fairmount and father, with Isaac Roberts, built the first smith shop in your town on what is now North Main Street.
I want to say before proceeding further that I am writing wholly from memory, which for one so young as I was at the period about which I write, would seem an unreliable source of information at this time. It has been said, and I think truly, that early impressions are the most lasting. I am sure that in my mind the surroundings and the men and events of that day are more clearly impressed upon my mind than events happening but a few brief years ago.
1 am conscious of the fact that I am writing for a generation of mnen
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Eighteen Fifty-two to Eighteen Sixty-three.
and women who can have but a faint conception of the conditions which surrounded your beautiful and prosperous town and your splendid and progressive Township when I came. I have already stated that I was not a pioneer or first settler, but only one who remembers those sturdy and splendid men and women who laid sure and fast the foundation and assured the making of your splendid town and Township.
They it was who overcame obstacles which would seem to char- acters less stern and hardy, insurmountable. Their industry, priva- tions and hardships changed an unhealthy and unfriendly environment and made your fertile fields to blossom as the rose. If we trace the progress of civilization in the past we shall find that environment has largely determined the advance of man in the attainment of the high- est and best of which he has been found capable.
JONATHAN BALDWIN
Son of Daniel and Christian (Wil- cuts) Baldwin, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, September
30 1823. He came to Fairmount Town- ship with his parents in December, 1833, his father having entered the land now comprising the larger por- tion of the north part of Fairmount. This land extended from Washing- ton Street north to Eighth Street, and from the Big Four railroad west to Back Creek. The cabin home originally stood near the hackberry tree on the Bogue lot. After the death of his parents Jonathan Bald- win purchased the home place and added much to its appearance. He was a man of medium size, not of robust build, but with more energy than physical endurance. He was public spirited, and always in the front rank in promoting public im- provements. No man did more in the building of the town, the public schools and the church of his choice than Jonathan Baldwin. He was extremely hospitable and kind-heart- ed, generous in charitable calls. He was religiously inclined, a consistent member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, to which he was a liberal con- tributor. He kept several yoke of cattle and for some years did a great amount of heavy teaming. He greatly exposed himself to inclement weather, thus contracting lung fever, from which he never recovered, but lived a number of years afterwards. He was no shirker. If there was a hard piece of work to do he went at it, confident of success. He did Cammack's heavy hauling in building the first steam saw-mill in that country. He was one of the original promoters of the Jonesboro and Fairmount turnpike. He was married twice. His first wife was Sarah Ann Dillon, daughter of Jesse Dillon. By this union four children were born, namely, Isaac, Elizabeth, David and Mary. Isaac died at fourteen years of age. The others are still living. His wife died in 1861. Later he married Mrs. Emeline (Tharp) Hockett. Jonathan Baldwin died April 8. 1877. His funeral was a large one. The minister, Rev. Elijah Coats, who preached his funeral, said of
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The Making of a Township.
him: "As to his real worth to his church and the community in which he lived, he stood head and shoulders above his fellow men; that he lived a contented, joyful, happy life, spent in doing good."-Dr. A. Henley.
I think I am safe in saying that your Township had made more progress when I came than had Fairmount. There were scattered all over your Township small farms and clearings. Fruit-bearing orchards gave evidence that their owners had been there several years when I came. The town and Township were, however, covered largely with a dense growth of magnifi- cent forest trees. The houses were chiefly of logs, some of them hewed logs, but by far the most of them were round log cabins, with puncheon floors and stick and clay chimneys. I do not mean by round-log cabins that they were circular in form, but that they were constructed of round logs. A puncheon floor was one made of split logs. The man who was fortunate enough to have a com- fortable frame house was consid- ered an aristocrat in those days. The most formidable task which confronted men of the early day was the clearing away of the for- est and the draining of the land. HON. JAMES M. HUNDLEY which was very much of it cov- ered with stagnant water for a large portion of the year. And this produced an abundance of fever and ague, which, during the fall of the year, would prostrate entire families. I think it was Col. Robert G. Ingersoll who said
Who has contributed leading articles to this story, is one of the able writers and speakers of the State. He is a son of William and Jane (Martin) Hundley. James M. Hundley enlist- ed in August, 1863, at Indianapolis, in Company C, Eleventh Ohio Volun- teer Infantry. He served with this regiment till April, 1864, when he was discharged and sent home. In Au- as a member of Company E. One Hundred and Fortieth Indiana Infan- try, serving with this command until July 11, 1865. Mr. Hundley is a law- yer. He has served as a member of the Indiana Legislature, from Madi- son County. He was for eight years postmaster at Summitville.
gust, 1864, he again enlisted, this time that "the world was not a very
good place in which to raise peo- ple, because it was three-fourths water and much better adapted to raising fish." I am sure that this was true of Fairmount Township
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Eighteen Fifty-two to Eighteen Sixty-three.
when I first saw it. Back Creek, which runs through Fairmount, was an almost impenetrable swamp, and in a good many places it was more than one-half mile in width, and for the greater part of the year it was very difficult to locate the channel. In the year 1854 the ditching of this creek was commenced, and a drain twenty-five feet wide and of sufficient depth to carry the water and furnish an outlet for lateral drains was constructed. This work was done by some fifty
FIRST FRAME DWELLING IN FAIRMOUNT
Owned and occupied by James Cammack and family. Built by Joseph Pea- cock, then a carpenter and contractor here, now a citizen of Kokomo.
James Cammack, who owned the mill, lived in the house west of Stanfield's store. The picture above shows this house, which until torn down in 1916 stood almost opposite The News office on West Washington Street. This house was at one time the home of George W. Butler and family, when Butler was associated with his son-in-law. J. N. Wheeler, in the ownership and operation of the old flouring mill, located in the building which still stands at the southeast corner of Washington and Mill Streets, and now occu- pied as a coal office. The old dwelling was used in later years as an office by the late Squire John F. Jones. It was also a sort of headquarters for vet- erans of the Civil War, who were in the habit of congregating here during leisure hours for the purpose of exchanging reminiscences and telling stories of their service during the Rebellion. Squire Jones himself was a brave soldier, having served as Captain of Company C. Eighty-ninth Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, a command in which many Fairmount Township men were enlisted. Captain Jones was popular with all comrades, enjoyed their respect and confidence, and for many years after the close of the War worked faith- fully to secure and did secure pensions for hundreds of veterans and their widows.
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The Making of a Township.
Irish laborers, brought from Cincinnati, and was superintended by Jesse E. Wilson, Seth Winslow and Jonathan Baldwin. It was the first public improvement undertaken aside from cutting out and making some corduroy roads.
"Well," some of our young people will ask, "what was a corduroy road?" Simply a road constructed with logs thrown crosswise and covered with brush and dirt in order to prevent vehicles from sinking in the mire. Anyone who has traveled over one of these roads in a wagon will not soon forget his experience.
THE OLD BALDWIN HOMESTEAD
On North Main Street, now owned and occupied by Mrs. Elizabeth Bogue. widow of Robert Bogue, a grandson of Daniel Baldwin. This house, which consisted originally of twelve rooms, six below and six above, is finished in native walnut taken from the forest. It was built by Jonathan Baldwin, son of Daniel Baldwin, in 1858, and was for many years the center of char- acteristic pioneer hospitality dispensed with a lavish hand by Jonathan Bald- win and wife. This house has at different times been used for hotel pur- poses. Across the road east of this house, in a beautiful grove, political and other meetings were held during summer and fall months.
The first saw-mill in Fairmount was built by James Cammack, and was there when I came in 1853. A little later he put in burrs and ground corn. Solomon (Toddy) Thomas had a horse mill for grinding corn, but this was southeast of Fairmount.
Isaac Stanfield, who was a pioneer merchant, built the first flouring mill a little way south of the present mill site, in the year 1854. This
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Eighteen Fifty-two to Eighteen Sixty-three.
was a two-story structure and equipped with the most modern machinery known in that day. This mill blew up by a boiler explosion and was never rebuilt.
The building of a woolen mill was commenced in the year 1860 and completed in 1861. I am now unable to say who was the builder and operator of this mill, but think Jonathan P. Winslow was one of the chief promoters. In any event, this mill supplied a long-felt want, card- ing. spinning and weaving wool, making jeans and linsey, the fabrics out of which the clothing of this time was chiefly made. Prior to the building of this mill the carding, spinning and the weaving had been done by hand, and the woolen clothing for winter and the linen clothing for summer had been spun and woven by the good women who then lived in your Township.
I cannot here describe the old-fashioned spinning wheel, your grandmother's loom or the cards used in preparing the wool for spin- ning. You may find these in some collection of curios. The flax-brake and the hackle have long since disappeared and can only be found in some collection of relics.
I cannot describe the process by which the home-made garments were colored. Certain it is, however, that many variegated and beau- tiful colors were obtained, and the miss of that period, costumed in her homespun dress, was quite as comely and fair to look upon as her lat- ter-day sister, arrayed in her frock of silk which in many instances seems to have failed to attain its growth at both ends.
I wish I could paint a pen picture of an autumn day in your Town- ship in 1853. In all the humble homes would be heard the hum of the spinning wheel, the sound of the loom, and in the clearings would be heard the sound of the woodman's ax and the crash of falling timber. At night the sky would be illumined by the burning of brush and logs piled high by your sturdy home builder in his effort to clear away your virgin forest and bring it under a state of cultivation. Then we were seeking to obliterate the forest and to destroy millions of dollars worth of valuable timber. Today we are talking about conservation and spending millions in promoting forestry. But I am digressing. I have been attempting to describe the public improvements and the private enterprises which at an early day contributed to the making of your Township.
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