USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. I > Part 32
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"The jailor's house was a low frame, attached to the north side of the jail and fronting on Calhoun street. The jail was of square, hewn logs, strongly fitted together, two stories high, stairs on the outside, west side, and a high, strong upright board fence enclosing it, running along Berry and Calhoun streets."
In May, 1844, the town council ordered William Stewart, high constable, to "fit up the upper part of the jail house for the purpose of a watch house," and to call to his aid at any time "any four citizens to act as police." Mr. Stewart reported shortly afterward that he had carried out the instructions.
This log jail stood until 1847, when it was destroyed by fire. (See Chapter XXXII.) "It is well enough that it was burned," observed the Times of February 8, 1847, "as it may have the effect of replacing it with a respectable building."
"I remember being told of a man by the name of Alexander, who was often imprisoned for debt," observed the late Mrs. Lucien P. Ferry. "As soon as he was incarcerated he would mysteriously appear on the street. It was found that he could lift out one of the logs, step out and replace it." "Silas Doty [a well-known law- breaker of the time] was then in the prime of life and was frequently the occupant of this antiquated prison," wrote the late William B. Walter. "He was a shoemaker by trade and we could often see him and hear him hammering away at his bench. Whatever may be said of him as a horse thief or other bad things, he was not ashamed to work, and he made more than one pair of boots while spending his time in jail." A. G. Barnett observes: "I well remem- ber seeing Doty brought to this old log jail. He always could remove his handcuffs with ease. After his final escape he went to Oregon, where he wrote and published the story of his life."
It is related of Doty that he once was captured at Peru, Indiana, and placed on a canal boat to be brought back to Fort Wayne. He escaped from the boat, ran on ahead to Fort Wayne, reaching here after dark. He sought out his attorney, D. H. Colerick, held a hasty conference with him and escaped from the town before the boat arrived and his absence was discovered.
In 1840, the late Franklin P. Randall, chairman of a special legislative committee, prepared a bill to abolish the imprisonment of debtors. In his argument, as revealed in the original document. found in 1916, by his daughter, Mrs. Clark Fairbank, Mr. Randall said :
"Personal liberty is the dearest birthright of an American
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citizen. But so long as the body of the debtor is subject to arrest, there is no security but that the most worthy and meritorious cit- izen, after being reduced to penury and want, by the force of cir- cumstances beyond his control, may be doomed to end his days in a loathsome jail. The man who applies the midnight torch to his neighbor's dwelling is not condemned unheard. The highway rob- ber has a right to demand a trial by a jury of his county. And even the murderer himself claims the high privilege of calling upon twelve of his peers to pronounce upon his innocence or guilt. Not so the unfortunate debtor. The law has no tender mercies in store for him. He is at once delivered up to the merciless and gripping hand of avarice and, without an oath, without a trial of any kind. may be both arrested and imprisoned."
THE COUNTY SEMINARY.
In accordance with the provisions of the Barr and McCorkle grant to the county, a brick schoolhouse, the first in Fort Wayne,
FORT WAYNE'S FIRST ROCKING CHAIR.
Miss Margaret M. Colerick, librarian of the Fort Wayne public library, has, in daily use in her home on West Wayne street, the first rocking chair brought to Fort Wayne. Its story is an interesting one. In the summer of 1826 a party of immigrants from England, bound for the west, encamped at Fort Wayne for a night. Among their effects was a hick- ory rocking chair, brought from Europe, which was fastened with other substan- tial belongings to the outside of one of their covered wagons. Among the resi- dents of the abandoned fort were Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Forsythe, who had been married in the fort in 1825, and their infant daughter. At the time of the arrival of the travelers "Old Kittie," a nurse, who had the care of the child, saw the rocking chair and expressed the wish that she might have the use of it in caring for the child. Mr. Forsythe bought the chair. The baby, grown to womanhood, became the wife of Edward F. Colerick. The treasured piece of fur- niture passed to the possession of the daughter.
WILLIAM ROCKHILL.
William Rockhill came to Fort Wayne from Burlington, New Jersey, where he was born February 10, 1793, and entered the large tract of ground in the western portion of the present city recorded as the Rockhill additions. He was a mem- ber of the first board of commissioners of Allen county; he served two terms as a state representative; he was one of the pioneers in the establishment of the present public school system, previous to the organization of which he donated the site of the Methodist college; he served as a member of the first city council, as city assessor and, later, in 1844, as a member of the state senate. The people of the Fort Wayne district elected him, in 1846, to represent them in the national house of representatives. In 1838 he began the erection of the Rockhill house, which is now a part of St. Joseph's hospital. The death of Mr. Rockhill occurred January 15, 1865. The portrait, from a crayon drawing, was loaned by Howell C. Rockhill, son of William Rockhill.
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called the "County Seminary," was built on the west side of Cal- houn street, north of Water (Superior) street, on the site of the present county jail.
"In this old schoolhouse many * had their early train- ing for usefulness, and many there experienced that joy only once to be enjoyed in a lifetime. *
* This old schoolhouse was built of brick, in 1825, and was then quite large enough for all needed purposes. It was only one story in height and served for many years, not only as a schoolhouse, but as the place for religious worship, town meetings, Masonic installations and political speech- es," says the Fort Wayne Times, in 1858. John P. Hedges was the first teacher of this school. At about the same time, possibly earlier, Henry Cooper opened a school in the debtors' room of the jail, on the courthouse square. Mr. Hedges was succeeded by Joseph O. Boggs, Jesse A. Aughinbaugh, Smalwood Noel, James Requa, Myron F. Barbour and John C. Sivey.
John W. Dawson says that in 1838 the county seminary "was an old brick schoolhouse" with "a cemetery surrounding it, with rude palings and other plain marks of affection around the graves of the buried pioneers."
At the January (1825) session of the board of justices Joseph Holman, county treasurer, gave the first complete report of the con- dition of the finances of Allen county, as follows: Total receipts, $437.983/4 ; disbursements, $406.40; balance on hand, $31.583/4. At the July session of the board Sheriff Allen Hamilton was allowed $20 for six months' service; Anthony L. Davis, clerk of the circuit court and clerk of the board of justices, one year, $45; each of the grand and petit jurors received 50 cents per day for their services. The American Fur Company was required to pay a license of $25 per year to "vend foreign merchandise."
By appointment of John McLean, postmaster general, Allen Hamilton succeeded Samuel Hanna as the postmaster of the village to serve during the administration of John Quincy Adams.
BEGINNINGS OF THE CANAL.
With the dawn of the year 1826, the Wabash and Erie canal loomed prominently above the horizon of public interest.
In 1818, Captain James Riley, who had surveyed a route from the Maumee to the Wabash, had aroused much interest, especially in Ohio, where the legislature, four years before, had taken action upon several important canal projects.
Four years later, the states of Indiana and Illinois entered conjointly upon a plan to connect the Maumee and the Wabash. Governor Hendricks, in his message of December, 1822, had, refer- ring to the improvement of the Wabash for navigation purposes. urged that the state husband its resources "for the great work to be done."
Interest in the proposed waterway rose to fever heat during the year 1824. It is related that Judge Samuel Hanna, in 1823. while in conversation with David Burr, of Jackson county, Indiana. in the summer house attached to the home of Judge Hanna, at the northwest corner of Barr and East Berry streets, had given expres-
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sion to the belief that the project could be made a reality if the people of the village of Fort Wayne and of other new settlements of Ohio and Indiana could be brought to work in harmony on the project. The plan appealed to Mr. Burr and the two enthusiasts opened correspondence with the Indiana representatives and sen- ators in congress. Both of these men devoted years of attention to the development of the canal plans and the completion of the great work. In January of 1823, Representative Jennings, of Indiana, had reported a bill in congress favorable to a canal, and now, on the 26th of May, 1824, congress, after a spirited debate, gladdened the enthusiastic promoters of the great engineering task by passing an act authorizing the state of Indiana to survey and mark through the public lands the route of a canal to connect the Maumee and the Wabash. Ninety feet of the ground on each side of the canal was reserved from sale on the part of the United States.
In this same year, Micajah T. Williams, an elder brother of Jesse L. Williams, surveyed the route of the Miami and Erie canal, to connect Lake Erie and the Ohio river, by way of Defiance. Con- gress already had granted to the state of Indiana 3 per cent on sales of all public lands "to be reserved for making public roads and canals." Through the efforts of Judge Hanna and David Burr, congress next assigned a corps of engineers to Fort Wayne to make a preliminary survey. This corps, under Colonel James Shriver, extended the line from the mouth of the Tippecanoe, in Indiana, to the head of the Maumee rapids in Ohio. However, Colonel Shriver and his successor, Colonel Asa Moore, fell victims to malaria while engaged in the work, but the task was carried on to its completion two years later by Colonel Howard Stansbury.
The matter of great internal improvements now became the subject of debate throughout Indiana and Ohio, and in the succeed- ing elections for years the Indiana canal program was a hot political issue. In recognition of his ardent support of the canal and other internal improvements, Judge Hanna, with John Wright, of Win- chester, as his opponent, was elected by the people of the Fort Wayne district to represent them in the state legislature, and here he fought valiantly for the big enterprise. Again, in 1831 and 1836, Judge Hanna was a member of the lower house. He was elected to the state senate for two terms, in 1837 and 1840.
Late in the year 1826 a board of canal commissioners was appointed, composed of David Burr, Samuel Hanna and Robert John, the latter of Franklin county. After some delay, the com- missioners held a preliminary meeting at Indianapolis, and then, in 1828, a conference was held at Fort Wayne where matters ap- peared to be at a standstill, because of the fact that no provision had been made for the services of a surveyor or the procuring of the necessary instruments. Only $500 had been appropriated for the preliminary work. Taking matters into his own hands, Judge Hanna rode on horseback to Detroit and then took boat for New York, where he purchased the needed surveying equipment and returned to Fort Wayne in an incredibly short period of time.
March 7, 1827, was a "red letter" day for the canal. For weeks the debate in congress had waxed warm. The opponents of
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the proposition in the senate fought the plan to grant to the state of Indiana the right to sell all of the lands bordering the proposed right-of-way, but they finally agreed to give the state alternate sections of land for five miles on each side of the canal as at first projected, thus providing a total of about three thousand two hun- dred acres. After the action of the senate, the measure did not come up in the house, until one day before the close of the session, March 2, and it passed at midnight of that day. It was a fortunate day for the project, for the next congress, composed of Jackson adherents, was strongly opposed to the internal improvement pro- gram. Up to this time it was supposed that the eastern end of the canal would be confined within Allen county, as the navigable point of the Maumee was believed to be inside its limits. From the time of the discovery of the error, Ohio became an important factor in the procedure.
Civil engineers were scarce, but the Indiana commissioners managed to secure the services of a skilled man, John Smythe, who immediately entered upon the survey of the route from Fort Wayne, with the special duty of ascertaining the measure of the water supply for the summit level of the canal on which portion Fort Wayne was located. The survey, from the town to the St. Joseph river, six miles above Fort Wayne, at a point below the present Robison park, where the "feeder" dam was later built, first was undertaken. On the second day of his efforts, Mr. Smythe was fatally stricken with fever, and David Burr, as rod-man, and Samuel Hanna, as ax-man, finished the survey of the feeder canal southward to a point near the present Wayne Knitting Mills. With the detailed report of the survey, Judge Hanna returned to his seat in the state senate and "captured" the legislature with the an- nouncement that the St. Joseph river was capable of supplying an adequate amount of water for the summit level of the canal.
At about this time, some influence was brought to bear upon the proposition to abandon the canal plans and turn attention to the construction of a railroad. Governor James B. Ray, a short time afterward, declared that a railroad would cost less than one- half as much as a canal. On the other hand, the commissioners showed that canals require "labor and such material as this state affords; the latter [the railroads] iron, which constitutes a large item of expense, and must come from abroad." Viewed through the perspective of the years, it is evident that although the canal failed in some of its great purposes, the attempt to build a railroad at that time would have been a still more unsatisfactory under- taking. In the meantime, the officials of the middle western states were busy with negotiations with the Miamis to secure additional tracts of the remaining Indian reservations. By the terms of a treaty between the Indians and Governor Lewis Cass, Governor J. B. Ray and General Tipton, the United States secured a large amount of new territory to the north of Fort Wayne, in exchange for goods to the value of $30,547.71, and an annuity for twenty-two years of $2,000 in silver; the government also agreed to provide a black- smith, a miller to operate a gristmill to be established on the Tippe- canoe river, and 160 barrels of salt annually, besides $2,000 for
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educational purposes. All of the goods and the money were dis- tributed from the Indian agency quarters in the old fort. Later, other large tracts to the southward were secured. At the time of the payment of the annuities, only a few of the Indians were allowed to enter the fort. Each of the visitors represented a number of members of the tribe. This number, in each instance, was indi- cated by the delegate in laying upon the ground a short stick for each of the company for whom he was securing the annuity.
Many men of many types were added to the personnel of the citizenship of Fort Wayne during this period. John Brown, of Dayton, Ohio, and Orran Rogers, of the same state, came in 1825. Hugh Hanna, brother of Samuel Hanna, followed in the next year. Dr. Lewis G. Thompson, physician and legislator, came in 1827, and other valued citizens sought homes in the settlement which seemed to offer much to attract men of brain and brawn. A picture of life on the frontier, as it applies to the earlier members of the legal profession and the circuit court judges, comes from the pen of Oliver H. Smith, of Connersville, Indiana, who relates an episode of the early fall of 1825. Mr. Smith, who was a frequent practi- tioner before the Allen circuit court, joined Judge Miles C. Eggles- ton, of Madison, and James Rariden, of Centerville, in their ride to Fort Wayne. The three proceeded on their horses northward as far as the crossing of the Wabash, where they dismounted for relief from the severe heat. The river was almost dry, but the banks provided pasturage for the horses. Suddenly, Rariden's horse, irritated by a swarm of flies, ran away, followed by the other steeds, and all three soon disappeared from sight. The lawyers hid their blankets and saddles in the trees above the reach of wolves, and carried their saddlebags a distance of ten miles to Thompson's tavern, on Townsend's prairie. "The heat was intense," " writes Mr. Smith in his "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches." "None of us had been much used to walking. I am satisfied we must all have broken down, but most fortunately there had fallen the night before a light rain, and the water lay in the shade in the horse tracks. We were soon on our knees, with our mouths to the water. Tell me not of your Croton, ye New Yorkers, nor of your Fair- mount, ye Philadelphians-here was water that was water !" Finally they reached Thompson's place, a low, one-story cabin about twenty feet square. For supper corn dodgers, boiled squirrels and sassa- fras tea were served. Arriving at Fort Wayne on horses provided by the landlord, the court and attorneys found but little business on the docket, so "we all went up the St. Mary's river, to Chief Richardville's, to see an Indian horse race. The nags were brought to the ground, a gray pony about twelve hands high, and a roan. rather larger, to contest the superiority of stock between the bands of the Miamis and the Pottawattomies. Six Indians were selected as judges, two placed at the starting point, two at the quarter stake and two at the coming out places. 'Riders up-clear the track,' and away they went under whip and spur. The race over, the judges met, the spokesman, a large Miami, says, 'Race even-the Miami grey takes first quarter, Pottawattomie roan last quarter'- and all are satisfied."
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At the February (1826) session of the circuit court, held at Ewing's Washington Hall, Hiram Jones and Moses Cox were admit- ted to the practice of law. Cyrus Taber was allowed the sum of $25.121/2 for "guarding jail and dieting prisoners." Judge Eggles- ton, with Benjamin Cushman, presided at the fall term, held in August.
At the session of the court of August, 1827, Judge Cushman was indicted for carrying concealed weapons. He had already been convicted on another charge, and it is curious to note that he was generally regarded as a good citizen and had the confidence of the voters of the county without regard to the indictments which
JUDGE WILLIAM W. CARSON.
In 1837, as a young man, Judge Car- son came to Fort Wayne from Canada, where the family had settled, and en- tered the employ of Marshall S. Wines, then a large contractor. In 1846 he entered upon his career as a lawyer, but took the time for a course in the state university, from which he was gradu- ated in 1849. In this year he was elected prosecuting attorney for Adams county. Subsequently he became city attorney of Fort Wayne, county attorney, state sena- tor, judge of the court of common pleas, and judge of the thirty-eighth judicial district. Judge Carson was the author of several important laws, chiefly that regarding city charters, which regulate many of the municipalities of Indiana. He traveled extensively, his tours includ- ing three visits to Europe.
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JANE T. (WELLS) GRIGGS.
Mrs. Griggs was the granddaughter of Chief Little Turtle and the daughter of Captain William Wells. Probably in 1828 she married John H. Griggs at Fort Wayne. Mr. Griggs had come from the vicinity of Piqua, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Griggs removed to Peru, Indiana, soon after the marriage. One of their chil- dren was Charles F. Griggs, whose son, Warren Griggs, still is a resident of Peru, Indiana (1917). Other children born to Mr. and Mrs. John H. Griggs are listed in a note on page 264 of this work, where also, other information of the Wells family is detailed.
were found against him. Judges Cushman and Hood, sitting as a probate court, at the tavern of William Suttenfield, appointed Joseph Holman as the guardian of Andrew H. Stinson, a minor. Allen Hamilton was named as the guardian of Jane T. Wells, suc- ceeding Benjamin B. Kercheval, who had removed to Detroit.
At this time, William N. Hood, who had received his appoint- ment from Governor Ray to succeed Samuel Hanna, served with Judge Cushman. Judge Eggleston presided. Abner Gerard served as sheriff, and Oliver H. Smith, of Connersville, as prosecuting attor- ney. William Quarles, afterward a prominent Indianapolis attor- ney, was admitted to practice.
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Joseph Doane, convicted of a felony by the Allen circuit court, over which Judges Benjamin Cushman and William N. Hood pre- sided, in 1828, was the first man to receive a penitentiary sentence from Allen county; he was given a term of three years. The prosecuting attorney who secured Doane's conviction was David Wallace, later governor of Indiana. On the occasion of the second session of the 1828 court, Charles H. Test, later president judge, acted as prosecuting attorney. Andrew Ingham was admitted to the practice of the law. The first will recorded in the probate court was that of Abraham Burnett. In 1828, Anthony L. Davis was elected to represent the Fort Wayne district in the state legislature.
In 1827, Major Samuel Lewis, appointed by President John Quincy Adams to act as sub-agent in the Indian service at Fort Wayne, took up his residence here. Major Lewis built a handsome double-hewn log house on the present Montgomery street, which became one of the sights of the village because it was covered, in the summer, with roses. Major Lewis was a relative of Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark expedition fame.
To the home of Major and Mrs. Lewis came General Lew (Lewis) Wallace, from his home at Brookville; Mrs. Lewis was an aunt of the general. The father of General Wallace-Governor David Wallace-lived in Fort Wayne from 1848 to 1850, following his service in the state house, but his brief residence here was ren- dered unpleasant by unfortunate investments. To General Wallace, in addition to high honors won in the Mexican and civil wars, came world-wide fame as a novelist, his "Ben-Hur" having experienced the largest sale of any work by an American author, with one excep- tion-Harriett Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin."
With the progressiveness which characterized their movements in many directions, Samuel Hanna and James Barnett erected in 1827 the first gristmill near Fort Wayne. The importance of this pioneer enterprise is realized only when one reflects that up to this time the nearest mills were located in Ohio, and that all meal, flour and "cracked corn" of the preceding years was brought through a wilderness a great distance, which rendered the commonest of foodstuffs highly expensive. The Barnett and Hanna mill was located on the west bank of the St. Mary's river, directly south of the present Broadway bridge, where a dam was constructed. This mill was later sold to Louis H. Davis, who was succeeded by Asa Fairfield and S. C. Freeman. Subsequently A. C. Beaver became the proprietor. George Esmond was the owner of the mill for several years, previous to its destruction by fire in February, 1878. Mr. Esmond then erected a large brick mill on the site; this, in later years, was sold to Tevis and Proctor, and, like its predecessor, was destroyed by fire in 1888.
Other enterprises of the period were the tannery established in 1828 by Absalom Holcomb and Isaac Marquis, at the west end of Columbia street, where the Randall hotel now stands; the cooper shop of Madore Truckey; the blacksmith shop of Holloway Cush- man, on the south side of Berry street, east of Calhoun street; the general trading establishment of Zenas Henderson, at the northeast corner of Calhoun and Columbia streets, and the store of James
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Aveline for trade with the Indians. John Cook and his brother Philip, blacksmiths, located in the village.
At this time, when the region throbbed with new life, and trans- portation facilities over the rivers by means of the more numerous pirogues and other types of boats reached a more improved state, the Ewing brothers - George W. and William G. - opened their extensive fur trading operations. This business extended its oper- ations throughout a vast area of the middle west. William G. Ewing maintained his home in Fort Wayne, where he erected the mansion at the corner of West Berry and Ewing streets, which stands today a credit to the handsome residence section in which it is located. The Ewing house was purchased in 1915 by Dr. Albert E. Bulson, Jr. George W. Ewing established himself at Logansport, later at Peru, and finally in St. Louis. After the death of William G. Ewing he spent much of his time in Fort Wayne. The original Ewing office stood at the corner of Calhoun and Columbia streets. The later headquarters of the firm, remodeled for residence purposes, stands on the south side of West Main street, between Webster and Ewing streets.
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