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 4
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50
The Making of a Township.
Seth Winslow, another son of Joseph, on the same date entered the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 20. This farm was later owned by Mrs. Ruth Winslow Elliott, a daughter.
Henry Winslow, another son, settled on Section 17.
Exum Newby, on December 28, 1829, entered the southwest quarter of Section 17. This land is now owned by the heirs of Lewis Fank- boner.
These men came from Randolph County, North Carolina. They formed the nucleus for a settlement which grew in numbers and pros- pered. They cherished high ideals. They possessed rugged characters and robust physiques. They were hopeful of the future. They were cheerful and they were helpful. They were made of the kind of mate- rial that did not hesitate to brave hardships and to surmount obstacles. They "toiled, and suffered and died that we might inherit the promise."
Among others who came in the early part of the thirties and entered land were :
Charles Baldwin, August 4, 1830.
Solomon Thomas, August 9, 1830.
Iredell Rush, March 16, 1831.
John Benbow, November 30, 1831. Nathan Morris, April 9, 1832.
Thomas Morris, April 9, 1832.
Thomas Harvey, October 10, 1832.
Jesse Harvey, October 10, 1832. Henry Osborn, August 27, 1833. Thomas Baldwin, October 7, 1833. Daniel Baldwin, December 16, 1833. Benjamin Benbow, December 16, 1833.
A majority of these men entered land on Back Creek. Most of them came from North Carolina. All but two were of pious Quaker ancestry, and adhered strictly to the doctrines and discipline of the Quaker faith.
It may be remarked, by way of digression, that when the writer began his research for material for this narrative, he encountered a fact which seemed to him particularly significant. Nathan Morris, one of the pioneers whose name has been mentioned, was the father of twenty-two children. He was twice married. His first wife was the mother of fifteen children, and his second wife gave birth to seven. Carrying the inquiry a little farther. it was learned that the eldest
5I
Locating on Back Creek.
daughter, then living, at the age of eighty-two, was the mother of nine, seven of whom survived to marriageable age. The seven sons and daughters, collectively, were parents of seven children, six sons and one daughter. At this rate of retrogression, numerically, if it be inde- finitely maintained, Nathan Morris, father of the original family of twenty-two, should he return within two or three generations, would find his progeny practically extinct.
OLD BACK CREEK MEETING HOUSE (From a picture taken by Oz B. Fankboner.)
Back Creek Monthly Meeting of Friends was opened and held, agreeably to the direction of New Garden Quarterly Meeting, on July 21, 1838. The membership had increased gradually from a small beginning, when meet- ings for worship were held from 1829 to 1831 at the cabin of Joseph Wins- low. The building later erected for meeting purposes had proved to be inadequate for the accommodation of the membership.
On March 16, 1839, Friends nominated to make some arrangement in procuring lumber for a new meeting house reported to the monthly meet- ing that they had made "some engagements" for plank to the amount of about $100. Matthew Winslow, Thomas Hill, David Hiatt and Aaron Hill were appointed to have the matter in charge and report as occasion required.
On May IS, 1839, Aaron Hill, David Stanfield, Asia Peacock, Lewis Jones, Charles Baldwin, Jesse E. Wilson and Henry Winslow were appointed to make out a ratio of apportionment among the membership for the pur- pose of raising money to build the meeting house. This committee, on June 15, 1839. reported as follows:
Solomon Knight. Matthew Winslow. Exum Newby. Nathan Morris and Aaron Hill, 41/2.
Jonathan Wilcuts. Joseph Winslow, Charles Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin. Timothy Kelley, Iredell Rush, David Stanfield, Thomas Harvey and Ama- ziah Beeson, 3.
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The Making of a Township.
Lewis Jones, Seth Winslow, Evan Hinshaw, Thomas Winslow, Thomas Baldwin, Henry Winslow and Asia Peacock, 2.
James Scott and Dugan Rush, 134.
Micajah Newby, Lindsey Baldwin, William Osborn, Charles Hinshaw. Thomas Hill, William Peacock, Daniel Frazier, Benjamin Benbow, Mahlon Neal and Job Jackson, 11/2.
Peter Rich, William Stanfield, Jesse E. Wilson, David S. Stanfield, Henry Winslow, Jr., John Haisley, Ira Haisley, Jonathan Jones, Nathan Hammer, Elias Baldwin, Joseph W. Baldwin, Henry Harvey and Isaac Stanfield, I.
John Rich, Allen Wright, Nathan D. Wilson, John Lee, Charles Stan- field and John Peacock, 1/2.
The ratio of apportionment having been agreed upon, the meeting pro- ceeded at once to name Joseph Winslow, Exum Newby, Iredell Rush, Jona- than Wilcuts, David Hiatt, David Stanfield, Obadiah Jones, Charles Bald- win, Thomas Hill and Aaron Hill as a committee to devise a plan for the building of the meeting house "on the present lot of land."
On July 20, 1839, this committee reported as follows:
"We, the committee to propose a plan for a house, agree to propose the following: The house 40x80, to be built of brick, the wall 18 inches thick. 12 feet from floor to floor, to sink 18 inches below the surface of the ground and to be set on a stone foundation; three gallery seats to raise 9 inches each, the back part starting from the center and to raise 2 feet 3 inches; eleven 24-light windows in each apartment, glasses 8x10; three double doors in each apartment 4 feet in width, 7 feet in height, the house to be immediately east of the old one, with which the meeting unites and refers the subject to Back Creek Preparative Meeting."
The brick structure shown in the picture was constructed according to these specifications, and as nearly as it could be ascertained was ready for meeting purposes in June, 1841. In 1899 this house was torn down and the present church was erected at a location near the site of the old meeting house.
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Locating on Back Creck.
It is when we are confronted by these extraordinary facts that one is disposed to share with Col. Theodore Roosevelt his views regarding the far-reaching possibilities of race suicide and the apparent indiffer- ence of the present generation rel- ative thereto.
After the year 1833 the coun- try was settled up rapidly.
In 1835 Dugan Rush, Thomas Ratliff, William Payne, Clarkson Wilcuts, Timothy Kelley, Elijah Lucas, Lewis Moorman, James S. Wilson, Bingham Simons, Nathan Dicks, John Weston, Charles Hinshaw, Solomon Parsons. Franklin Davis, John Lee, Jr .. John Lee, Sr., and Jonathan Wil- cuts entered land.
In 1836 came Henry Harvey, Thomas Winslow, Thomas Edger- ton, William Osborn, Eli Moor- man, Charles Smith, Otho Selby, Wmn. H. H. Reeder, Lewis Har- rison, Ilarvey Davis, Jabez Moore, John Fankboner, William Leach, Jonathan Reeder. David Stanfield, Moses Benbow, Lan- caster Bell. Carter Hasting. Joel Hollingsworth, William Harvey, David Bates and Lewis Jones.
In 1837 Phineas Henley, Peter Rich, David Lewis, Morris Payne, Joseph Weston, Sr., Amaziah Beeson, John Baldwin, Thomas Osborn, James W. Davis and Henry Simons entered land.
In 1838 Nathan Davis came to ple of the new country, and in 1839 Charles Beeson followed.
NATHAN MORRIS
Who was born in North Carolina in 1808. He moved with his parents to Wayne County, Indiana, in 1818, and from Wayne County to Fairmount Township in 1832, three years after marriage. In 1865 he moved to Mar- shall County, Iowa, and settled near Bangor. After five years' residence in Iowa he located in Jewell County. Kansas, and died at his home near Burr Oak, in 1880. He was a minister in the Society of Friends from his young manhood. He was liberal in his dealings with neighbors, and it is said that no needy person ever left his door empty handed. With all his natural generosity he prospered, and this fact again bears out the assertion often made that those who are the most thoughtful in their kindness to
cast his fortunes with the peo- others are frequently the most blessed
in their material fortunes.
Of these patient pioneers let the words of the poet speak-
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The Making of a Township.
The world can easily spare the man Who pauses a moment here or there To make a promise or form a plan,
Or to pluck some flower that may be fair ; But the world has use for the man who gives His best for the joys that he wins away- The world with a welcoming cheer receives
The determined man who has come to stay.
There are few rewards for the pioneer Whose thoughts are only of sudden gains, Who camps for a day on the far frontier,
Then journeys backward across the plains ; But wood and valley and plain and slope Yield their best to him who has blazed his way
To the scene on which he has set his hope, Who, having arrived, is there to stay.
Mr. T. B. McDonald, of Lovilia, Iowa, lived in Fairmount Town- ship at a time when he witnessed many changes and improvements. It was during the period of the transition of this community from the rude agricultural implements of early pioneers and their primitive methods to a day when new devices were being gradually introduced for the better planting, cultivation and harvesting of crops.
The writer inserts at this place the comment of Mr. McDonald, which is prompted by his personal knowledge of affairs when he lived on his father's farm, located two miles southwest of Fairmount.
"The first thing the early settler did was to prepare a shelter for his family," writes Mr. McDonald. "He next cleared as much ground as was possible, on which to plant corn. This was the most important crop to be grown. With a crop of corn they had food for both man and beast. Wheat and oats were not thought of until considerable land had been cleared. Flax and buckwheat were the important products, how- ever-one to make clothing and the other for food. With buckwheat cakes and maple syrup one could do fine.
"When wheat, oats and meadows were planted it took time and labor to harvest them. The wheat and oats were cut with a sickle or cradle. In fact, both were used, the sickle to get the grain around the stumps and places where the cradle could not be used.
"The grain was bound by hand and threshed either by flail or tramped out with horses or oxen. If a farmer had considerable grain, as soon as it was stacked he would prepare a threshing floor by leveling
1
THE SECOND AND THIRD GENERATIONS
Back row, standing. from left to right- Mrs. Jane Hobbs, daughter of Mrs. Jesse Dillon; Mrs. Roland Smith, daughter of Carter llasting; Mrs. Elizabeth Bogue, daughter of Nathan Coggeshall; Mrs. Milicent Haisley, daughter of Iredell Rush; Mrs. Anna Hasting, daughter of John Smith; Mrs. Ruth Elliott, daughter of Seth Winslow. Middle row, sitting, left to right-Mrs. Julia Ann Dillon, widow of Albert Dillon; Mis. Keziah Dillon, daughter of Phineas JIenley; Mrs. Sarah Baldwin, daughter of Nathan Morris; Mrs. Huldah Bradford, daughter of Daniel Baldwin; Mrs. Mary Jane Winslow, daughter of Jesse Dillon; Mrs. Cynthia Winslow, daughter of Denny Jay. First row, sitting, left to right-Mrs. Leota Mozingo, granddaughter of John Smith; Mrs. Lucy Clark, granddaughter of Daniel Baldwin: Mrs. Kittie Smith, granddaughter of John Smith; Mrs. Myra Baldwin, granddaughter of Iredell Rush; Mrs. Lutie Newby, granddaughter of John Smith.
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The Making of a Township.
a piece of ground, making it as smooth and hard as possible. This floor would be in a circle. The grain would be placed on the floor and then two horses or oxen walked around this circle till the grain would all be out of the head. Then the straw was removed and an- other layer of grain placed on the floor as before. That would be repeated till all the grain had been taken from the straw.
"The next thing was to clear the chaff from the grain. This was done with a fanning mill, if one could be procured. The chaff, being the lightest, would blow away, thus leaving the grain practically clean. "The next improvement was what was called the chaff piler, being
MARK BALDWIN
Scientist, was born in Eliis, Kansas, June 8. 1889. His paternal grandpar- ents were Micah and Sarah ( Morris ) Baldwin and his maternal grandpar- ents were Nixon and Louisa (Wins- low) Rush. He is the son of Edgar M. and Myra ( Rush ) Baldwin. He was educated in the common schools of Fairmount, graduated from Fair- mount Academy, in 1909, received from Earlham College, in 1912, the degree of Bachelor of Science, and later took a post-graduate course in the Univer- sity of Chicago. He is the owner of 640 acres of land located in Georgia, near Albany, which comprises a part of the plantation belonging to the Al- bany Farming Company, consisting of 3,000 acres. This plantation was for- merly owned by Ben Hill, the noted Confederate statesman of Civil War times. Mr. Baldwin is a member of the American Association for Ad- vancement of Science and the Ameri- can Forestry Association. This
In early boyhood he wrote many clever verses which clearly indicated his poetic bent of mind. Two of these productions appear in this chapter.
a cylinder and a concave. This was run by horse power. Then came the separator, which pressed the grain and cleaned it.
"The next great improvement was the reaper. The first one that I remember was at Carter Hasting's. It was drawn by six horses. The grain was raked off the machine by hand. My recollection now is that the machine was owned by Jack Winslow, but I am not certain. One thing that I do remember is that people came a long distance to see the machine work."
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Locating on Back Creek.
BACK CREEK GRAVEYARD. (By Mark Baldwin.) Old, uncared for, 'most forgotten, Overgrown with weeds and grass. Scarcely noticed, little thought of By the people as they pass,
Is an ancient Quaker graveyard. With its stones in quaint array. Sculptured o'er with hopes eternal Of the resurrection day.
Yet beneath this sod are resting, Folded in their last, long sleep. Men who toiled that we might prosper, Men who sowed that we might reap
Their glory not in martial deeds, Quiet, simple lives they led, They built their faith on vital creeds. Not on ruins of the dead.
CHAPTER VI.
CLOTHING, FOOD AND SHELTER.
CORN, OATS, wheat and flax were staple products of the pioneer farm. Flax was raised for its qualities available in making arti- cles of wearing apparel for both men and women.
There are three prime necessities of life, namely, clothing, food and shelter. These necessities are common to civilized mankind. In this connection it will be of interest to the reader to know how pioneers provided themselves with clothing. The following excellent descrip- tion of the manner in which flax was converted into garments for women and into clothing for men will be found appropriate. This de- scription is from the pen of John T. Morris,* than whom there was no one of that early period better fitted by education and personal obser- vation to tell the story :
"During the first years of the settlement it was common for the peo- ple to produce nearly everything they consumed. Indeed, this was necessary, as most of the settlers were in limited circumstances-only able to command money enough to enter a small tract of land at $1.25 per acre. I suppose about eighty acres was an average entry for those who settled on the land at once. Some men who had the money to do so . would take up larger bodies of land and hold it for speculation.
"So the situation demanded economy. The people manufactured most of their wearing cloths from the raw material. It was common for each family to cultivate a small plat of ground in flax, from which to manufacture their summer clothing and such other articles as towels. table linen, etc.
"The flax seed was sown early in May, and by some time in July it was ripe enough to pull. When flax was grown for fiber it was always pulled by hand-pulled out of the ground and spread in swathes on the ground where it grew, and left to cure, after which it was taken up. bound into bundles and put under shelter to remain until the fall rains commenced. It was then taken to some grass plot and unbound and again spread in swathes and left to take the rain and sunshine.
thage, Indiana. * John T. Morris, at the time this article was being prepared, lived at Car- Mr. Morris was born near Fountain City, Indiana, November 22, 1821. With his parents, Aaron and Anna (Thomas) Morris, he moved to Grant County in March, 1830. He taught a number of terms of school and in numerous ways contributed liberally of his time, his talent and his energy to building for the present generation. Earl Morris, Clerk and Treasurer of Fair- mount, is a grandson of John T. Morris. Mr. Morris died at his home in Carthage on May 3, 1914, in his 93rd year.
58
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Clothing, Food and Shelter.
"This process was called 'rotting the flax.' This was necessary in order that the fiber might the more readily separate from the woody portion of the stalks, and at the same time the woody part of the - stalks was rendered more brittle, hence more easily worked out from the fiber. When the action of the weather had sufficiently rot- ted the flax, it was again taken up, bound into bundles and put under shelter to await the farmer's pleasure to break and scutch it.
"The first machine in this process was called a 'flax brake.' This was made entirely from wood-not even a nail used in its construction. The flax was first put through the 'flax brake,' then to the scutching board. By the use of this and the scutching knife the schives were worked out from the fiber.
"After this the flax fiber was handed over to the women to complete the work of making it Pioneer into cloth, or linen, which they
JOHN T. MORRIS
Fairmount Township school teacher and early friend of colored peo- ple. On April 10, 1843, Mr. Morris did by the use of different ma- boarded a flatboat on the Mississinewa chines, the first of which was the River, near Odd Fellows Cemetery, at Marion, and "staid with the boat," as he hatchel, an instrument used to says, in his autobiography, "until I land- comb out the coarse from the fine ed in New Orleans June Ist following." fiber. This machine was made by using a board seven inches wide and two feet long, in the center of which about thirty-six spikes were made fast in a space five by six inches. These spikes, or teeth, if you please, were about five inches long, made smooth and sharp at the point. This combing done, the fiber was ready for the 'little spinning wheel.'
"The reel was now brought into requisition, as it was always used in connection with the wheel. Reeled, spooled, warped and drawn through the sley, or put in the loom, the process of weaving was now in order. A nice fabric for men's pants and shirts was made by using cotton thread for the warp, filled in with flax thread. Trousers made
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The Making of a Township.
from this, after it was nicely bleached, were fit for Sunday, and, in- deed, your humble servant has worn such trousers when he went to see his 'best girl.' In those frontier times the women did the cutting and making, as well as spinning and weaving. It was some years after the first settlement was made before a fashionable tailor was in demand."
The Township originally was heavily timbered. There was an abundance of spice-wood, walnut, hickory, beech, cherry, sugar, ash. oak, sycamore, poplar, hackberry, etc.
The dense forest served as a refuge and feeding ground for all kinds of wild game, which was abundant in the early thirties. Bear, deer, porcupines, wild cats, raccoons, squirrels, 'possums, turkeys and quail were plentiful. The supply of meats was unlimited. The hunter and trapper had his choice "without money and without price."
Having referred to the manner of procuring necessary articles of clothing, the reader is again indebted to the late John T. Morris for the following well written description of methods employed by the pio- neer in securing his food.
"In 1830," he says, "Martin Boots owned and was operating a corn mill, located a short distance above the mouth of Boots Creek.
"At the same time Jesse Adamson was running another such mill. on Griffin's Creek, about half a mile above the mouth of the creek.
"For a few years the settlers were dependent upon these corn mills to get their corn ground into meal. The water wheels were so made that they were liable to freeze up in the winter, and remain so for some time, and in that case the people would run short of bread stuff, and have to fall back on Irish potatoes and lye hominy as a substitute for bread. Corn bread was the rule and flour bread was the exception.
"Sometimes the neighbors would make up a team and go forty miles up the Mississinewa River, to what was known as Lewelling's Mill, and bring down a load of flour. Then, for a time, the settlers would have biscuits occasionally on Sunday morning.
"The diet throughout the community was plain and simple. Meat was had the easiest way of anything that entered into a living. Game was plentiful. There were but few groceries bought. Each family made their own sugar and molasses from the maple trees. A few pco- ple used coffee, but a substitute for store tea could be found within a few rods of every man's house-spice-wood.
"So far as hogs were concerned, when left on the range they were almost no expense, as they would live and do well all the year. During the fall and early winter they got fat on the mast. Acorns and hickory nuts were in such abundance that a large amount of this mast was still
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Clothing, Food and Shelter.
on the ground when winter came on. This would become covered with leaves, and maybe with snow, and be preserved, so that hogs could find it and feed on it all winter. There was, however, one trouble with the hogs. They would become as wild as deer on being left at large in the woods, where they would scarcely see any person.
"Those who had hogs on the range tried to keep them located by going out occasionally and finding their bed, which the hogs moved as occasion required. As the mast became scarce in their beat. they would move over into new territory.
"But the excitement was on when the men went out to butcher their meat. After deciding whose hogs should be killed first, a few neigh- bors would be on the way early, with dogs, guns and horses, prepared for the chase. They aimed to surprise the hogs in their bed. (A good snow was a prerequisite to this wild hog slaughter.) Arriving at the bed, the hogs were routed and the dogs turned loose. A hog was soon caught and held till the men came up and stuck it. This one was left to die while the dogs caught another. And so the chase went on until all were killed, or as many as were wanted.
"Of course the dead hogs were somewhat scattered, but at least one horse was provided with harness, single tree and loose chain, in order to drag the hogs together at some suitable place where they could get to them with a wood sled and haul them in where the dressing was to be done. In this manner of hog killing guns were not brought into requisi- tion only as the hogs would rally and make a stand to fight, as was sometimes the case."
Mr. Morris has told how our ancestors hunted deer, and the reader is again indebted to him for this first-hand information :
"In those early times game was so plenty that it afforded both sport and profit to those who engaged in hunting. In the summer, hunters would go out on night expeditions on the river. They would equip a canoe for this purpose by placing a blind on the prow of the canoe. This was formed by using a few short boards. One was put down flat, cross- wise. Immediately behind this was boarded up some twenty inches or more. The board planked down was for a candle to stand upon. The upright back was to break the light of the candle from shining upon the men. Their craft being ready, the next thing was to start up the river.
"This was called 'fire hunting.' It was their purpose to start early enough in the day to work their craft several miles up the river before nightfall. At that time the hunting was wont to commence. So they would stop and light their candle and turn about. The deer did not frequent the river much only at night.
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The Making of a Township.
"It was supposed that there were two things that caused the deer to go to the river. One was the need of water and the other was they fed upon a moss which was found growing in the water upon the rocks. This was called 'deer moss,' and was found only where the water was shallow. Those hunters asserted that they had seen the deer go down with their mouths into the water after the moss. Whatever may have been the inducement, the deer were largely found in the river at night.
"On starting down the river, one man would be seated in the stern of the canoe, paddle in hand. He made but little effort to give the craft headway, except to shape its course. The other man stood behind the blind, gun in hand, and far enough back so the candle would not shine upon him. By this arrangement the men were completely hid behind the blind. The hunters said that the deer would appear to be wholly oblivious to everything except the candle. They would stand and gaze at the candle until the canoe would approach within a few yards of them. It was also stated that a man could see a deer eighty rods or more from the light of a candle placed upon the blind.
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