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 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
ANNA FREEMAN GARRETSON.
Friendswood, Teras, April 15. 1917.
It is not material whether young Puckett's name was John, Jonathan or Cyrus. The historical fact of importance to your story is that the drowning took place at some point in the Missis- sinnewa River, and that Calvin Bookout, a respected pioneer of your Township, gave his life in a heroic effort to save the young man. Had this event occurred in more recent years it would no
417
Fragments.
doubt have been recognized by the Carnegie Hero Commission and Bookout would have been given a place in the records of this laudable undertaking. I am not of the opinion that it is material as to just where the plank road began or where it terminated. The historical fact which we have sought to point out was the short sightedness of the builders of this expensive and short-lived road,
DAVID JONES AND FAMILY
An example of grit and perseverance. In the picture are shown Mr. and Mrs. Jones and their nine sons and daughters, namely: Hon. William M. Jones, of Liberty Township; Dr. Ben Jones, of LaPorte, Indiana; Rev. Thomas Elsa Jones, now a Friends missionary to Japan; Dr. Eli Jones, of Hammond, Indiana; Miss Ora Jones, teacher in High School, Liberty Center, Indiana; Miss Orpha Jones, student at Earlham College; Rene Jones, student at Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Frances and Fred, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have retired from the farm and now reside on Henley Avenue, Fairmount.
when there was an abundance of gravel and other road building materials close at hand. This lesson is especially important at this time, when the State and Nation are entering upon road building in a comprehensive and substantial way. I was much interested in Mrs. Buller's communication, and heartily agree with her that there was much more sociability and generosity displayed in these
418
The Making of a Township.
days of long ago than in recent years. Your hardy pioneers lived close to nature and recognized the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. They were not then absorbed in money- getting, which is the present-day curse of our Nation and will ruin us as it has ruined all the Nations of the past who have forgotten God and worshipped only Mammon. I knew Anna Parsons, and was her schoolmate. Her father, Solomon Parsons, was killed on the railroad within twenty rods of where I now live. I have read with much interest the communications of Dr. A. Henley, and note that he says that those who put their lands into the railroad specu- lation about which I have before written lost them. I was not sure of this, and am glad that this fact is established. There were four of David Smithson's sons in the Union army, namely, Judiah, Jehu, Isaac and Seth. Jehu belonged to Company B. One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Infantry and died at Chattanooga, Tenn .. May 18, 1864. Seth belonged to Company E, One Hundred and Fortieth Indiana Infantry, and died at Columbia, Tenn., January 9. 1865. One of the primitive means of making meal was the grater, a contrivance made of a conical piece of tin, perforated with holes, over which the corn in the ear was drawn, the meal falling upon the board to which this was attached, and running thence down this board into the vessel or container designed to hold the meal. I am pleased that some of my writing has provoked criticism, and am sure that it would hardly be expected that some difference of opinion would fail to arise. I once heard an old man say that if everybody was of the same opinion, all would want his wife. Betsy. but if all knew her as he did no one would want her. I am some- times inclined to the opinion that this may be true of my contribui- tions to "The Making of a Township." I hope that I may be of assistance in resurrecting some of the things of the past which the present generation should know. If we cannot discover all of the truth we will do well to restore some of the things which are destined soon to be lost if not recorded now, as the generation having knowledge of your early settlers is rapidly passing to the Great Beyond.
J. M. HUNDLEY.
The first picture gallery that we can call to mind was operated by L. D. Cossand. It was on wheels and stood south of where Dr. Glenn Henley's office now stands. At that time the photographs of today were not taken, so far as we know. They were called
419
Fragments.
Daguerreotypes, taken on copper plates. Cossand was an eccentric person and was a bachelor, very reserved, and seldom seen away from his car. The young people loved to tease him, and they played all kinds of tricks on him. It took time to get a dozen pictures, as one had to sit for each picture separately, and the chances were that no two pictures would be exactly alike. In getting a picture you would have to sit perfectly quiet from two to five minutes. Now they get your picture on the run. This is a fair sample of how the times have changed. It has been said that one Thomas Barnhouse was the first person to take pictures in Fairmount. The only thing that we remember about Barnhouse was the house that he built just across the street from the present Interurban station. What made us remember this particular build- ing was the ornamental cornice. It was different from the heavy cornice of that day, being light and of ornamental work. If there is anyone who remembers this house when it was new I wish they would describe it and give date of building.
T. B. MCDONALD.
Solomon Thomas served as Commissioner from the Third Dis- trict one term, 1832-1835; Edmund Duling was Commissioner from 1864 to 1866, inclusive ; Jonathan P. Winslow served as Commis- sioner from 1873 to 1877: John Kelsay served from 1903 to 1907; Thomas J. Lucas served from 1907 to 1910, and was re-elected the second time for the term of 1913-1916.
James Montgomery came in 1830 and entered land in 1837. He was a persistent hunter and trapper, and never failed to get his share of the game on his expeditions into the forest. In the winter of 1840, perhaps December of that year, Montgomery tracked a bear in the snow about two miles and a half south of Fairmount. He summoned John Weston, Solomon Thomas and Jacob Davis, and they started in pursuit. The bear, which proved to be one of the biggest yet seen in this settlement, was overtaken and killed. The carcass was brought to James Montgomery's home, skinned and cut up into meat and divided among his neighbors.
Lindsey Buller, Francis Lytle, Henry Harvey, James Lytle, Lewis Jones and Thomas Winslow, while out hunting in 1840, killed a bear west of where the town of Summitville now stands. It was a ferocious female, and put up a terrific encounter. The brute was finally subdued and killed. The carcass was brought late at night
420
The Making of a Township.
to the cabin of Harvey Davis, where the bear was skinned and prepared for food. Mrs. Davis cooked a mess of bear meat for the hungry hunters which was for many years the talk of the entire settlement.
The first marriage license issued in Grant County was granted to John Smith, son of Caleb Smith, and Mary Ann Thomas, daughter of Solomon Thomas. Caleb Smith, father of the groom, who had been elected Associate Judge of the Circuit Court August 8, walked from his home near Jonesboro to the Solomon Thomas cabin, on Lake Galatia farm, to perform the ceremony, which occurred Sep- tember 8, 1831.
The Union Grave-yard is located on land entered by Solomon Thomas, in 1835. the land now comprising a part of the farm at present owned by David L. Payne, situated three miles southeast of Fairmount. Among the early pioneers buried in this grave- yard are James Montgomery, Martha Creek and Anna Brewer, wife of Aaron Brewer, daughters of Solomon Thomas ; Isaiah Edgerton. Thomas Edgerton, William Edgerton, Harmon Lytle and a small son, and Alvah Herrold.
A headstone still stands in Union Grave-yard bearing the in- scription which follows: "Alvah, son of Elijah and Rachel Herrold, died May 25, 1844, aged two years, eight months and twenty-five days. This to wait is far from contention, where no soul can dream of dissension." The quotation is from an old hymn book that was in general use in the early day at church services. Solomon Thomas laid out this grave-yard, which comprises about half an acre of land, and donated the ground to Union U. B. Church.
A mistake was made about a part of the grist .mill boiler being found in my father's creek bottom ; it was my Uncle Nathan's farm. which was between the mill and father's farm. But the weight off the safety valve was in the creek bottom on the south side of the road. I do not know whether the land was Daniel Thomas's or the Stanfield's. I think the miller's name was McNeir, or something like that. My father's first grandson by the name of Wilson is our son, Raymond, of Leadville, Col.
J. A. WILSON.
Logansport, Indiana, February 15, 1917.
42I
Fragments.
I am proud of my heritage, and it is a source of great pride to me to know that my grandparents were identified with and had a part in the building up of Grant County. I believe my mother once told me that at one time her father, Samuel Dillon, was Trustee of Fairmount Township. I remember well many of these grand and venerable folks of whom you write, and the recollection of their cheery and helpful dispositions shall always be a source of inspira- tion to me.
H. L. CAREY.
Marshalltown, Iowa, April 9, 1917.
Blowing Chaff .- They did not wait for the wind, but two of them held a sheet, or piece of canvas at either end, and kept it moving in such a way as to make a good stiff breeze and a third man poured the wheat and chaff in front of this contrivance in such a way as to have it blow the chaff away and let the wheat fall to the ground, or floor, as the case may be. I wonder if the reader ever saw a chaff piler thresher operating with a tread-mill horse power? That was the first kind of horse power machine I ever saw, and it was a barbarous affair-a regular horse killer. I think I will refer your readers to an encyclopedia for a description of this wonderful machine. Or perhaps some of your school boys who study mechanics can tell you about this contrivance.
J. M. HUNDLEY.
Dentists .- I am interested in getting a complete list of dentists that have practiced in Fairmount. I can remember Drs. Jay, Dale, N. S. Cox, C. M. Wilson, W. N. Ratliff, M. E. Ratliff, O. D. Cart- wright. J. A. Pearcy and S. T. Rigsbee. Speaking of Fowlerton, my brother Ancil and I surveyed and platted the first addition to the town. I was also head chain man in the surveying gang that run the prospective line for the C. I. & E. Railroad under the engineer, Sam Houston. One branch we surveyed from Matthews to Red Key, and the other to Muncie from Matthews, or rather the old town of New Cumberland, as it was then. I don't feel old, but when I look back and think of the many changes that have taken place since my boyhood days around Fairmount, I begin to realize that the years are passing away.
M. E. RATLIFF.
Cassopolis, Michigan, March 17, 1917:
I can remember one teacher whose name I have not seen on the list, Elijah Elliott, who taught at Wesleyan Back Creek. I also
422
The Making of a Township.
remember my first and last teachers, who live in Fairmount. They are Angelina ( Harvey) Pearson, 1863, and Sallie ( Hollingsworth) Kelsay. 1876. I remember Isaac Meek. He used to come to our house and bring an Indian with him, I think it was Me-shin-go- me-sia. He would preach and then Brother Meek would interpret it. He lived in the house that William Dillon built. It stands on the alley east of the N. A. Wilson Block, or, as was known then, the George Eckfelt property. It was Cy Puckett instead of Jonathan Puckett who was drowned in the river south of the tin plate factory at Gas City. There were six persons drowned at the same place. I can not recall but one name of the other four. This name was McKinney, west of town. In 1888 Ed Cassell was drowned in Lake Galatia. Zack Little, Dan McPherson and myself recovered the body.
SYLVESTER SMITHSON.
Fairmount, Indiana, March 17, 1917.
Some Corrections .- Robert Brazelton and family of five children lived on the place now owned by John Flanagan, at the cross roads west of the Wesleyan Campgrounds, as early as 1850. and possibly some earlier. Nelse Brazelton was the eldest son. He went to school where I did, at the first district school house built in the Township. Bob. as we always called him, and his wife, Ruth. were slaves in the South. Ruth was a smart darkey and a favorite with her master. a Mr. Hill, who gave her her freedom. He also aided her in buying Bob, her husband, who was held by a neighbor- ing planter, the price being $200. I think they had no children at the time they left the South or they might not have gotten off so easily. Nelse was a proud, gay, young Negro, liked fine clothes, was a good worker, and I think learned the barber trade. He drifted into Michigan. James Redding, the colored man that Hundley speaks of as having a wagon shop at Jesse Winslow's, was from North Carolina. Redding was a very clean, decent, honest Negro. Every one spoke well of Jim Redding and liked him. Jim knew his place and was not above his color. Jesse Winslow was one of those positive, impartial, unprejudiced characters who had the courage of his convictions. He had but little use for pro-slavery principles. While Redding was living with Jesse there came a young man, a rebel sympathizer, from the South, and wanted work. I think Jesse gave him a contract, and when meal time came round Redding ate his meals with the family. When this fellow saw
423
Fragments.
the colored face would be at the table, he made objections, saying he was not going to eat with a Negro. "Very well," said Jesse. ' thee can sit in the parlor, and when Jim has done his meal thee can eat." The fellow took in the situation and sat down with the family. The projected plank road from Jonesboro to Marion, at south end, commenced at the top of Deer Creek Hill, on north side, or near the top, and ran north to some point near the Pan Handle Railroad crossing of the State road, or it might have been the south corporate line of Marion at that date. The enterprise was not a success and was abandoned as a failure. David Stanfield's original farm joined the Nixon Winslow farm on the east until the Cincinnati, Wabash and Michigan Railroad was built, which divided the two farms. David sold twenty acres in the northeast corner to Jonathan P. Winslow. What I have written in this communica- tion, I think, is correct, but if others think different all right.
A. HENLEY.
Melbourne, Florida, March 13, 1917.
Solomon Thomas, who appears to have been a leading figure in the pioneer days of the settlement, owned a half section of land southeast of Fairmount. Thomas planted eleven acres in orchard. About forty acres were dammed for a fish pond. Neighbors per- sistently protested against this pond, claiming it was insanitary and not good for the health of the locality. In course of time Thomas yielded to the representations and importunities of his neighbors and permitted it to be drained. The Thomas land, of which the farm now owned by David L. Payne forms a part, was entered on November 5, 1835.
Elijah Ward, in 1836, entered the land where the Ward cabin. which he built, now stands.
David Lewis was a relative of Davy Crockett. His wife, Nancy (George) Lewis, was related to Daniel Boone.
Frederick Ice refused to sell corn to people who had the money to pay for it, but held his grain for neighbors less fortunate, who had neither food nor the money with which to buy. This trait of character and consideration for his people shows a custom which prevailed in the pioneer day, but not now so prevalent. Frederick Ice was well-to-do. He owned 1.700 acres of land in the edge of Delaware and Madison counties, just across the Grant County linc.
424
The Making of a Township.
William G. Lewis was a courageous man in his day, and while ruffians might seek trouble with others, they rarely ever pur- posely provoked him.
David Lewis donated the land on which Sugar Grove Church was located, on the county line road, on the farm now owned by Daniel Johnson.
Union Church was built in 1843 or 1844.
A custom had been handed down to make the teacher treat on Christmas day. We laid our plans in advance. The bigger boys would take the lead, and would be at the school house in good time on Christmas morning, make a fire and wait. Then you could see the teacher come sauntering along, of course expecting trouble. From ten to twenty boys and girls would be inside, a big boy at the door to make the demand, "treat or be ducked," then all the boys and girls would rush out around the teacher, who would sometimes quietly submit and buy candy or a bushel of apples --- generally . soles if they were very good and scarce. One of our teachers turns ound and went home. All hands took after him. He outran and as he ran dismissed the school, saying: "I will be back tomorrow. I claim pay for my day's work." One teacher re- fused to treat The boys gathered him up, took him to the creek and cut a hole in the ice, but he begged and exclaimed, "I will treat." On one occasion the master came late with a bushel of apples and threw them on the snow-then the scrambling for apples! We respected the master that would treat. Before wc had steel pens we had to write with goose quills. The master had to make our pens. It was his business to know how to make a good pen, and he took pride in it. I remember watching the teacher with a dozen quills and fine pen knife at work. How carefully he would scrape the quill, cut in the right shape, then split as he would place the quill on his thumb nail. When the quill would have to be repaired, get dull or we bore down too hard, then we would go to the master, hand him the quill-he knew just what to do and how to please. It was common for the teacher to carry his rule during school hours. Why he did so I can't tell. One thing children had to do-that was to go to meeting to worship. If we did not like to go, that made no difference. Back Creek Meeting House was our place to go. Father and mother would ride horseback, one would ride behind mother and some- times two behind father. NIXON RUSH, JR.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
RAMBLES OVER THE TOWNSHIP.
(By Mrs. Myra Rush Baldwin)
T HERE'S some flour or something on the back of your cap." said the Better Half as we trudged along the tarvia road north- ward Sunday morning.
"Well, your fuzzy, wuzzy cap is in the same shape." was the answer.
So, we each took off our caps and there, sure enough, was a fluffy white coating sticking to the wool and the fur of our headgear.
It was frost, or frozen moisture, from the fog that seemed to be lovering over the whole world.
In fact, that fog was so heavy that you could taste it and even smell it.
Wonder if a London fog can be tasted and smelled ?
It was such a frosty morning, too, and every little twig of tree and blade of grass fairly trembled under loads of dainty, white flakes of rime.
We stopped at old Back Creek graveyard to get some dates from inscriptions on the headstones.
We started in at the very oldest part, away over in the south- west corner. It was here that we found this inscription :
"Caroline, wife of Exum Newby, daughter of Joseph and Penina Winslow, died the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, 1831, aged twenty-one years, nine months and twenty-nine days."
"But that doesn't tell us anything," you say.
Oh, yes, but it does.
It tells the story of the first tragedy that happened in the little settlement in the wilderness.
Can you not visualize it all-the lonely little mound on the hill- side, overlooking the creek, with the unbroken forest all around and the September wind whispering in the tall trees above?
Only one grave, for it was the first in the burying ground, and a young mother slept there alone, with the autumn leaves falling gently all about her.
Through the forest to the north, in a little clearing, on what is now the Ancil Winslow farm, stood the cabin of Caroline's father, Joseph Winslow-the "Uncle Josie" Winslow, who came from
425
426
The Making of a Township.
North Carolina in a four-horse wagon, bringing with him $2,600 with which he entered land from the Government at $1.25 an acre for himself and for his seven sons and daughters, away back in 1829.
Aside from Robert McCormick, over on the river, "Uncle Josie" and his family were the very first of the early pioneers to settle in Fairmount Township.
To the south, on what is now the Fankboner farm, stood an- other cabin, Caroline's own home, on the land given her by her father, the same "Josie" Winslow.
Then, farther to the south, through the big woods, was the home of her brother, Seth Winslow.
Another brother, Matthew Winslow, and two sisters, Mrs. Aaron Hill and Mrs. Solomon Knight, lived farther to the north and east, while still farther down the creek lived Daniel Winslow and at home with "Uncle Josie" was Henry, and these were also brothers.
So, you can see, that for the first interment in old Back Creek graveyard, there were only relatives in the funeral party, with the exception of a very few neighbors, who had arrived in the new set- tlement in 1830 and 1831, previous to the young wife's death.
The little log church nearby was built that same year of 1831. Soon other graves were made near the lonely one on the bluff and a four-rail fence was built around the little plot. As the numbers increased the rail fence had to be moved over time and time again, until the graveyard attained to its present size.
Ah! Caroline, you were left alone on the hillside that September day, eighty-five years ago, with the birds and the little, wild animals of the forest as your companions. But, today, near you and all about you are the graves of your father and mother, your husband. brothers and sisters, their children and their children's children, many of them, and you are no longer alone.
In the same old part of the burying ground, on the edge of the bluff, we also found the grave of Thomas Wilson. a Quaker boy. son of Jesse and Hannah Wilson. He died of fever contracted while serving with the Northern army in the South during the Civil War. Separated from him by only a grave or two, lies his sweet- heart of long ago, who died two years after he passed away-of a broken heart, 'tis said.
Another stone marks the grave of one of the earliest of the pioneers, snatched away in the prime of life, his untimely death being caused by a mistake a clerk made when he filled a prescrip- tion with the wrong kind of medicine.
427
Rambles Over the Township.
It is not particularly beautiful, this old graveyard of ours, but it is sacred ground to all descendants of the pioneers.
"For beneath these stones are resting, Folded in their last long sleep, Men who toiled that we might prosper, Men who sowed that we might reap."
It was awfully cold standing out there in the frosty grass, Sun- day morning, so the writer ran in to the home of Isaiah Thomas, nearby, to warm her feet by a good gas fire for a minute. It gave her a chance, anyway, to have a nice visit with Aunt Carrie Thomas and Mrs. Hattie Atkinson.
Then we journeyed onward and soon turned east toward the Lin Wilson home.
We were so attracted by the appearance of the handsome bunga- low which John Devine has made out of the old house on his farm that we could not resist the temptation to stop and investigate a little. The house is almost completed and it certainly is beautiful and convenient
We lived a lot in the past last Sunday, but if you could have seen us, along about one o'clock, sitting with the Lin Wilson family, around the dining room table, from which good, country "eats" were fast disappearing, you would have thought rightly that we were existing very much in the present, also.
With "Uncle Sammy" Wilson we could easily live over the years of the early history of Grant County, for, with possibly one excep- tion, Emeline Lewis, Mr. Wilson has resided in Fairmount Town- ship longer than any other person now living. He is in his eighty- third year and his memory is excellent.
After the happy time in the hospitable Wilson home we turned our steps homeward, using the Interurban track for a thorough- fare, as the sun had come out and the roads were muddy.
However, at the next crossing we deviated a little in order to make a visit at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Will Kirkpatrick, which is also the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wilson.
There we found Mrs. Eunice Wilson, once President of the In- diana Woman's Christian Temperance Union, still unable to leave a sick bed which she has occupied for several months. She is cheer- ful and happy, in spite of it all, with her spirit still undaunted and her intellect still bright and untarnished. "Of such is the king- dom of Heaven."
428
The Making of a Township.
Another stop was made at the Mrs. Angelina Pearson home where reminiscences were again indulged in and a quiet hour en- joved.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.