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 18
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The Making of a Township.
more was needed his industry would procure it. He had friends-in- deed, who was not his friend? Of his enemies, they were few, and of them we need not speak. He was brave and true. He had a heart, when touched, full of love and the pity of a woman. He had faults that were his own ; they were few and easily forgotten. He had more brains than books, more sense than education, more courage and strength than polish. Hatred can not reach him more. He sleeps in the sanctuary of the tomb. beneath the quiet of the stars. He did not live to see the sunshine of his dearest hope matured, but left the field . for his successor to see his great ambition attained-that noble country -Oklahoma-opened up for settlement by the white man, and the mil- lions of acres of land made into bright and happy homes, occupied, free and unmolested, by the poor and struggling homesteaders.
"David L. was born in Grant County, Indiana, on the thirtieth day of December, 1836, where he received the usual country school educa- tion in the winter, working upon his father's farm in the summer time. He was bright and forcible in character from his youth, and became more than an average scholar. Being a lover of hunting and adven- turous sports, he, in the spring of 1858, with his brother, started West with the intention of engaging in the Mormon War, which was creat- ing great excitement at that time throughout the whole country, and especially in the West. Reaching Doniphan County, Kansas, he found the excitement somewhat abated. Inducements being offered, Payne pre-empted a body of land and erected a saw-mill thereon. This invest- ment, while flattering at the start, proved an unfortunate enterprise. and young Payne found himself entirely destitute of means. He was placed, so to speak, upon his own metal. With an active brain that would acknowledge no defeat, he soon found an occoupation of a most congenial character.
"At the time of Payne's settlement, Doniphan County, now a fertile and thickly populated section, was the grazing ground for vast herds of buffalo, deer, antelope, wolves and other wild animals native to the plains. He became a hunter. There he hunted with much success. as well as profit. He gradually extended his field to the southwest until he had penetrated the Magillion Mountains of New Mexico and explored the course of the Cimarron River through the Indian Terri- tory, and so became familiar and acquainted with the topographical situation of the great Southwest. He naturally drifted from hunting to that of scouting. He was soon engaged by private parties on expe- ditions, and after a time, by the Government. He became the com- rade of all the distinguished trappers, guides and hardy characters of
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Capt. David L. Payne.
that wild country. His intimacy with Kit Carson, Wild Bill, California Joe, Buffalo Bill, General Custer, and many others of national repu- tation, approached companionship.
"When the Civil War came Payne was one of the first to volunteer his services, joining the Fourth Regiment of Kansas Volunteers, which was subsequently consolidated with the Third Infantry ; shortly after- wards the two were formed into the Tenth Regiment. He served three years as private, refusing during the time six different tenders of com- mission. At the expiration of his three years' term he returned to Doniphan County, Kansas, and, in the fall of 1864, was elected to the Legislature of Kansas, serving in the sessions of 1864 and 1865, dur- ing which time, while never courting the part of an orator. his influence was pronounced. At the close of the Legislature he again volunteered as a private, taking the place of a poor neighbor who was drafted. He felt that he was better able to stand the hardships, and leave his friend and neighbor at home with his large and dependent family. Payne, upon re-entering the service, assisted in recruiting a company for General Hancock's corps of volunteers, and succeeded in enlisting one hundred and nine men, all hardy frontiersmen, who were devotedly at- tached to him. Again Payne refused to accept a commission, prefer- ing to remain a private and with his friends.
"Payne's services in the volunteer army extended over a period of eight years, first as a private in Company F. Tenth Regiment, Kansas Infantry, from August, 1861, until August, 1864. His second enlist- ment was in Company G, Eighth Regiment of Western Volunteers, and as a private from March, 1865, until March, 1866. His third ser- vice was as captain of Company D of the Eighteenth Kansas Cavalry, where he served from October, 1867, until November of the same year ; and his last service was in the Regular Army, as captain of Company H, of the Nineteenth Kansas Cavalry, in which he served from Octo- ber, 1868. until October. 1869. In the meantime he performed other services of great value to the State. He was at one time Postmaster at Fort Leavenworth ; also appointed Sergeant-at-Arms, for two terms, of the Kansas State Senate ; and in 1875 and 1876 he was doorkeeper to the House of Representatives in Congress, at Washington, D. C. Be- sides engaging in political campaigns that gave him social and acknowl- edged influence as a leader. he was an ardent supporter of Gen. Tom Ewing, who, after serving a term as Chief Justice of Kansas, sought the great honor of United States Senator. It is credited to Capt. D. L. Payne that General Ewing received his nomination through his influ- ence and support ; and such were his efforts in behalf of General Ewing that they remained ever afterwards warm and steadfast friends.
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The Making of a Township.
"During the Rebellion, Captain Payne was attached to the Army of the Frontier, under General Blunt, and was engaged in nearly all of the memorable conflicts that took place in Missouri and Arkansas, dis- tinguished for the desperate fighting and mortality of men. He was a participant in the battle of Prairie Grove. Arkansas, which occurred on the seventh day of December. 1862 ; and in this engagement he per- formed an act of gallantry which entitled him to a place in history. In the hottest of the fight his first lieutenant, Cyrus Leland, was shot through the arm, and then through the right shoulder. The enemy. having recovered from the charge, and reinforced, poured a deadly fire into the ranks of Captain Payne's company. The commanding officer ordered his men to fall back. Captain Payne, seeing his brave com- rade lying upon the ground, while the maddened enemy was charging and ready to trample him under, stepped out of the ranks and lifted up the almost lifeless lieutenant and bore him upon his shoulders for fully one-half mile to his own tent, where surgical attendance saved the life of his friend. Lieutenant Leland was afterwards appointed Adjutant- General upon General Ewing's staff, and is now a wealthy citizen of Troy. Kansas, a living evidence of Payne's heroism and devotion. Dur- ing the session of 1864 and 1865 Payne opposed the Special Bounty Act, purely upon patriotic grounds. However, the act was passed ; but he refused to accept it for his own use, but donated it to the county which he represented. thus sustaining his honesty and consistency.
"After the close of the War. Payne again resumed the occupation of plainsman, hunting, scouting and guarding caravan trains. From na- ture he was congenial ; from his commanding figure and ways, he was held in respect by the most daring desperado and the wild Indians of the plains, and earned for himself the name of the Cimarron Scout. The Indian Territory, the courses of the Cimarron River and the Great Salt Basin were as familiar to him as his childhood playground. But few men knew as well the Indian character as he, and his numerous conflicts with the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, Kiowas and Navajoes were numerous and beyond description.
"In the year 1870 Captain Payne removed to Sedgwick County. Kansas, near Wichita, and the following year he was again elected to the Legislature. from Sedgwick County ; and during that session through his influence Sedgwick County was divided and a new county formed from the northern portion and called Harvey County. In the redistrict- ing. one of the longest townships was called Payne Township, and for many years it was his home, where he owned a large ranch, about ten mniles east of Wichita.
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Capt. David L. Payne. 217
"In 1879, Captain Payne became interested in a movement for the occupation and settlement of a district in the Indian Territory known as Oklahoma, which, in the Indian language, signifies Beautiful Land. This Beautiful Land is located in the center of Indian Territory, and comprises an area of fourteen million acres of the finest land on the American continent. Captain Payne claimed the right to settle on this land under the treaty made by the Government with the Indians, in 1866, by which this district was ceded to the United States and became a part of the public domain, and was actually surveyed and set apart as such. Through his personal endeavors a large colony was organ- ized for the purpose of entering and settling upon these lands. The colony moved, early in December, 1880, and first assembled upon the borders of the Territory, near Arkansas City, on the banks of Bitter Creek ; and after organizing upon a military basis moved along the State line to Hunnewell, where they went into camp. The colony was closely followed by the United States Cavalry under command of Colo- nel Copinger, who had previously informed the intending colonists that any attempt to enter the Indian Territory would be forcibly resisted, the President of the United States having issued a proclamation to that effect. At Hunnewell the troops occupied one side of the creek and the colonists the other. The latter remained in camp for three days, receiving a great many recruits from western Kansas. On Sunday, the 12th, the camp was crowded during the day with the inhabitants of the surrounding country, who came, some from sympathy and some from curiosity. In the afternoon there was a dress parade by the colonists. and fully six hundred men were in line. The wagons numbered three hundred and twenty-five, with a goodly number of women and chil- dren. During the afternoon of this memorable Sabbath day the colo- nists held Divine service, conducted by the colony chaplain. The United States troops were invited to attend, which they did, officers and soldiers. The services were opened by that old familiar air, 'Amer- ica,' and the text was from Exodus: 'The Lord commandeth unto Moses "to go forth and possess the promised land." . Appropriate hymns were sung, and the services were closed with the rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' The feelings and emotions were visibly manifested on all sides, and officers and soldiers affected alike. The Stars and Stripes were fanning the breezes of a beautiful day from both camps. The wagons were covered by banners with such mottoes as: "'Strike for Your Homes !'
" .No Turn Back!
"'On to Oklahoma !'
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The Making of a Township.
"AAnd sundry other devices. In the evening, council was held as to what course to pursue. It was decided to wait a few days for some modification of the President's orders. Receiving no answer from the petition that had been forwarded to the President, and getting some- what uneasy, some proposed to enter the land in spite of the military. A meeting was held on the thirteenth day of December, at which Dr. Robert Wilson, of Texas, was appointed a committee of one to go to Washington, D. C., and see if something could be done at once to re- lieve the critical situation of the colonists. On the fourteenth day of December the colony moved on to Caldwell, some thirty-five miles, where they were joined by five more wagons and twenty men. The mayor and a long processsion of citizens escorted them through the town, ladies waving handkerchiefs and men and children cheering. The troops moved along with the colonists without interfering with their progress. The day following, a mass meeting was held by the citizens of Caldwell, resolutions were adopted indorsing the movement to settle these lands, and asking the President to order the troops to accompany the colonists to Oklahoma as an escort. Being unable to induce Con- gress or the President to move in their behalf, the colonists became restive, and shortly afterwards-Captain Payne having been arrested by the United States authorities, charged with trespassing upon Indian lands, and thus deprived of their leader-the colonists temporarily dis- banded. Captain Payne was taken to Ft. Smith, before the United States District Court, Judge Barker presiding, and on the seventh of March, 1881, was tried before the Court. Captain Payne was ably represented by Judge Barker, of St. Louis, Missouri, who argued at length the Treaty of 1866. The question raised by Captain Payne's arrest involved directly the nature and validity of that treaty, and hence means were offered for testing a point upon which the Secretary of the Interior and the ablest lawyers of the country were at variance. the latter holding that Oklahoma was a part of the public domain and sub- ject to settlement the same as other public lands. Captain Payne at this trial was nominally bound over under bonds of $1.000 not to re-enter the Territory, and returned home.
"Since the above arrest Captain Payne has made four well-organ- ized expeditions into the Territory, each time safely landing upon the Oklahoma lands, and there laid out towns, located farms, plowed and planted, built houses, and has as often been turned out by the United States military, seen his property destroyed before his eyes, and forced to the Kansas line, and there turned loose, he each time demanding a trial before the courts. His last expedition was in the spring and sum-
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Capt. David L. Payne.
mer of 1884. He had with him two hundred and fifty wagons and about five hundred men, all being again dispersed by the United States troops and escorted to the Kansas line. Captain Payne and his officers were arrested and dragged through the Territory to the Texas line, thence back to the interior of the Territory, marched on foot, and often suffering for the want of food and water, the object seeming to be to wear them out ; and then taken to Ft. Smith, and there refused a trial ; then taken from there to the United States Court at Topeka, Kansas, where public sentiment finally demanded a trial, which he was accorded at the fall term of 1884, and which resulted in a decision that he was guilty of no crime ; that the lands upon which he sought to settle were public lands. Elated with this decision, he returned to Wichita, Kan- sas, and, though shaken in health from exposure and exhaustion, he at once proceeded to gather about him his faithful followers. He soon found himself with the largest and strongest expedition that he had ever yet organized ; and in a few days he would have marched at its head to the promised land, when, suddenly, on the morning of Novem- ber 28, 1884, while at breakfast at the Hotel de Barnard, in Wellington, Kansas, he fell dead in the arms of a faithful servant. He died with- out pain or struggle. His body is buried in a metallic casket at Wel- lington, Kansas, and was followed to its present resting place by the largest concourse of people that ever gathered together for a like pur- pose in southern Kansas. They numbered many thousands. The time will come when his body will find a permanent resting place beneath a monument erected to him in the great square of the capital of the State of Oklahoma.
"Personally, Captain Payne was one of the most popular men on the Western frontier. He was a natural-born scout, and inured to the hard- ships of the Western frontier. His mother was a cousin of the cele- brated David Crockett, for whom he was named. Captain Payne was never married."
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CHAPER XXL
DULINGS, REEDERS AND SIMONSES.
T THOMAS D. DULING, SR., was born in Hampshire County, Vir- ginia. November 22, 1811. With his parents, Edmund and Mary (Dean) Duling, he moved in the fall of 1815 to Coshocton County. Ohio. On February 4. 1836, he was married to Nancy Meskimen. daughter of William and Anna ( Shryock ) Meskimen, her father a merchant of Baltimore, Maryland. where she was born. John Mesk- imen, great-grandfather of Thom- as D. Duling, Jr., was a soldier under Gen. George Washington. serving through the entire period of the Revolutionary War with a regiment of Maryland colonial troops. Thomas D. Duling, Sr .. came to Fairmount Township in the spring of 1845. He bought of Nathan Dicks eighty acres of land located about one-half mile north and west of Fowlerton. Here he built a hewed-log cabin eighteen by twenty feet, with one door, two windows and a fireplace. Having made preparations for a home, he returned to Ohio, and on October 3. 1845. with his wife and family. namely. William M .. Mary, John and Barbara Ann, came in a two- THOMAS D. DULING, SR. horse wagon to settle in the wilderness. This wagen Duling traded to George Nose for clearing twelve acres of ground. Here Elizabeth, Thomas D., Jr., Joel O. and George E. W. Duling were born. Elizabeth passed away at fifteen years of age, and George died September 2, 1894. The father and his family shared the hardships common to pioneers of that day. The first season he cleared six acres of land out of the green woods and planted a crop of corn. Each season he added more acreage to his cleared ground. Being industrious and thrifty he began to accumulate. Hle bought. in 1849, another eighty of Aaron Vestal, and about 1860 hic
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Dulings, Reeders and Simonses.
purchased of the William Chamness estate eighty acres more. In politics Mr. Duling was a Republican and a pronounced Abolitionist. The Dulings are members of the Methodist Protestant Church, and have given liberally of their means and have devoted their activities to the firm establishment of this denomination in their neighborhood.
Thomas D. Duling, Sr., to whom extended references have been made in former articles, came to this Township in 1845. He taught two terms of school in the early. day, the attendance one winter being so large that he was obliged to employ an assistant, who was Oliver Meskimen, of Linton, Ohio. In 1846 Mr. Duling was named one of the Township Trustees for a period of three years. On October 31. 1846. he gave bond for the faithful performance of his duties, with Henry Simons as his surety. Mr. Duling continued to serve in this position until 1860. The old log school house having burned in 1855. steps were taken at once to build a new one in his district. He offered one- half acre of land free as a site. This site was situated on the northeast corner of the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 25. He provided that this school house. which was known as the Liberty school house, should be open for all religious meetings, no denomi- nation barred, when not occupied for school purposes. This build- ing was completed in 1855. was in this building that Mary Ann Taylor taught when a very young woman. Mr. Duling's home was the scene of much hos- pitality. It was here that teachers usually made their home, and itinerant ministers of all denomi- nations found a characteristic pio- neer welcome. Thomas Duling was a man of considerable educa- tion for his day, and in a few in- stances young men would not un- dertake to teach school in his EDMUND DULING neighborhood unless first as- Was a pioneer who settled in Fair- mount Township in 1845. Mr. Dul- ing served as Commissioner from the Third District during the Civil War. and in many ways did his part to make this community what it is today. sured of Mr. Duling's assistance and advice. It was he, with the help of his sons, William M. and John W. Duling, who
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The Making of a Township.
got out the huge timbers, sills, posts and beams that were used in the construction of the old Duling home which was burned last winter. In finishing the interior of this house the best walnut lumber obtain- able in that day was used.
William M. Duling, son of Thomas D. and Nancy (Meskimen) Duling, is a native of Coshocton County, Ohio, where he was born on May 22, 1837. He came with his parents to Fairmount Town- ship in 1845. He was educated in the common schools of Coshocton County, Ohio, and Grant Coun- ty. Indiana, being a pupil at dif- ferent times of William H. H. Reeder, George W. Bowers and Columbus Lay. Mr. Duling has all his life been engaged in agri- cultural pursuits and has been quite successful. In politics he first affiliated with the Repub- lican party, later identifying him- self with the Prohibtionists. He has been for many years a promi- nent member of the Methodist Protestant Church. During the Civil War he served from 1864 to 1865 as a private with Company I of the Seventy-ninth Indiana Volunteers. On September 3. WILLIAM M, DULING 1862, he was married to Miss Ma- tilda J. Wilson, born in Jefferson Township, June 30, 1844. She was the daughter of John M. and Mary Ann ( Lucas) Wilson, early set- tlers in Grant County. Mr. and Mrs. Duling are the parents of seven children, namely : Mary, John M., Flora L., Frank, Eva, Oliver and Effie, all living. They have sixteen grandchildren and five great- grandchildren. Much of the information appearing in this story re- garding the Lake Galatia neighborhood was supplied by, or has been verified by Mr. Duling, who is still hale and hearty, though eighty years old.
Thomas D. Duling, Jr., son of Thomas D. Duling, Sr., was born in Fairmount Township October 22, 1849. His paternal grandparents
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Dulings, Reeders and Simonses.
were Edmund and Mary (Dean) Duling, and his maternal grand- parents were William and Anna (Shryock ) Meskimen. Thomas D., Jr., was educated in the com- mon schools of Fairmount Town- ship, one of his teachers being William H. H. Reeder, frequently mentioned as a highly efficient teacher of the pioneer period. Mr. Duling has lived his entire life in his native Township. He owns a splendid farm of eighty acres, and has served as director, part of the time as treasurer of the Barren Creek Gas Company, which he helped to organize and became one of the first stockhold- ers. In politics he identified him- self with the Republican party when he attained his majority, la- ter joining the Prohibitionists. He is an active and influential member of the Methodist Protest- THOMAS D. DULING, JR. ant Church at Fowlerton. On February 13, 1875, he was married to Miss Laney Ellen Dean, born in Owen County, Indiana, July 29, 1850. Mrs. Duling died December 25, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Duling were the parents of three children, namely: Melissa H., now the wife of Mil- ton A. Rich ; Sina Emily, wife of Lowry Glass, and Barbara L., who died February 27, 1891, aged about five years. Mr. Duling remembers many of the pioneers who have been mentioned in this story, and has lived his entire life in Fairmount Township.
REEDER FAMILY. (By Bishop Milton Wright)
Jonathan Franklin Reeder and William Henry Harrison Reeder were among the pioneers of Grant County. They entered the land of which they afterward made homes for life in the year 1837. They settled in the southeastern part of Fairmount Township, and did their part in clearing up the forests. Both of them were of Rush County,
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. The Making of a Township.
Indiana, to which their parents had removed when they were young from Montgomery County, Ohio, where William was born, November 15. 1813. Franklin having been born in Hamilton County. Ohio. June 18, 1806. The removal of their parents to Rush County was in the fall of 1822, where the father. George Reeder, died May 13. 1845, and the mother, September 12. 1858, both quite aged.
This George Reeder's ancestors, for the four generations preceding him, had the name of Joseph. The first Joseph Reeder was the grand- son of William Reader ( Wilhelm Leser ), of the Kingdom of Hanover. in Germany, who removed to England, probably before the year 1600. and his grandson Joseph came to Newton ( Township). Long Island. New York, about 1650. He had with him John Reeder and perhaps other brothers. From this John is descended. in the sixth generation, Governor Andrew H. Reeder ( 1854). of Kansas, the true Free State man. The descent was thus: 1. John; 2. John: 3. Isaac: 4. John : 5. Absalom : 6. Andrew H.
The four successive ancestors by the name of Joseph followed agri- cultural pursuits on farms of their own, and all of them, except the. first Joseph, were members of the Presbyterian Church, and citizens of industry and much respectability. The last two were deacons in the. church and noted for good sense, honesty and piety, as was George. who was an elder in the church nearly all his life. All the Joseph ancestors had each two or more sons, who married, and from them ยท are descended many of the Reeders of the different states. The second Joseph ancestor, probably late in life, removed to Morris County, New Jersey. His son, Jacob, is celebrated in the early history of Newton for his education, fine character and usefulness. ( Reeder was for- merly spelled Reader. )
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