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 37
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From the account of the celebration written by a Fort Wayne correspondent of the Indiana (Indianapolis) Journal, July 31, 1835, this extract is taken :
"On the 2d of July, three boats left this place for Huntington, for the purpose of bringing up such citizens of the lower end of the line as might wish to attend the celebration. The arrival of these boats in Huntington was hailed with the liveliest demonstrations of joy.
"The next day, the boats returned to Fort Wayne and were met and saluted by a detachment of militia under command of Captain Rudisill ; the salutes were returned by Captain Fate's artillery who came from Huntington with the boats. On the morning of the 4th, a procession was formed in front of Washington Hall, and proceeded to the canal, where its members embarked on the boats prepared for the occasion, and took a trip to the feeder dam [at the St. Joseph river, just below the present Robison park] seven miles distant. No less than five hundred individuals, including a large portion of the fair sex, were present on the occasion. Among the guests were General [John] Tipton, of the United States senate. and Colonel Stansbury, of the United States topographical engineers, who was one of the party who first surveyed the route of the canal. * * The company landed at the dam, salutes were fired by the militia, and some toasts were given. On the health of the canal commis- 322
323
CANAL CELEBRATION-"IRISH WAR"
1835 1837
sioners being drunk, D. Burr, Esq., returned thanks in a short but animated address. * * * General Tipton delivered a short speech. "The company then returned to Fort Wayne, where the Decla- ration of Independence was read by L. B. Wilson, and an oration delivered by Hon. Hugh McCulloch. A large company afterwards partook of a public dinner prepared for the occasion."
The committee which went to Huntington to meet the guests was composed of Dr. L. G. Thompson, Samuel Hanna, Allen Hamil- ton, Samuel Edsall, W. G. Ewing, W. S. Edsall, G. W. Ewing, Francis Comparet, Captain J. B. Bourie, William Rockhill, Colonel John Spencer, Jesse L. Williams, D. H. Colerick, Lucien P. Ferry and James Barnett. On the evening of the 4th, a dance was given at the tavern of Zenas Henderson.
THE "IRISH WAR."
We have observed that on this momentous occasion, David Burr, contractor for the construction of the canal for the LaGro district, was spending the day in Fort Wayne. During his absence, two opposing religious factions of Irish laborers, employed in the work, made prompt preparations to settle an ancient feud by means of the tactics of civil war. The climax of the trouble came six days later. One writer describes the condition as follows: "Some were from County Cork and others from the north of Ireland, and they had brought their age-old feud with them. The two factions fought whenever they met and their conflicts shocked even the Miami and Pottawattomie Indians. Contractors kept the factions as far apart as possible, but the fights only gained in severity what they lost in frequency. Throughout 1835 murders were by no means uncommon. Arson was of almost nightly occurrence. Assaults and the driving away of cattle lost the quality of 'news.' " The story of the "war" is well told in a report from Fort Wayne to the Indiana Journal :
"There have been some disturbances among the Irish laborers on the Wabash and Erie canal, which, but for the prompt and energetic measures resorted to for their suppression. would have resulted in a sanguinary conflict between the two factions into which the Irish are divided. For some time past, the 'Corkonians' have been the stronger party on the canal line, and they have embraced every opportunity of maltreating such of the 'Fardowns' as might fall into their hands. Nor have our citizens at all times been safe from attacks from these ruffians. The 'Fardowns,' having lately received great accessions to their numbers, resolved upon driving their opponents from the canal, and preparations for the contest were made by both parties.
"The Irish were observed by the citizens to be in the habit of nightly assembling in the secluded places in the woods, and all who could in any way procure arms were providing themselves with them. Three kegs of powder were forcibly taken from a wagon on the highway; the houses of some of the citizens were entered and the citizens compelled to give up their guns; and the lives of others were threatened who refused to give up their arms.
"The contest was intended to have taken place on the 12th instant, the anniversary of the battle of the Boyne. On the 10th, the 'Corkonians' assembled at LaGro to the number of about three
324
THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
hundred; most of them were armed. At the same time, about two hundred and fifty armed 'Fardowns' advanced to Wabash, seven miles from LaGro, on their way to attack their adversaries. D. Burr, Esq., canal commissioner, and some other citizens of the neighbor- hood, succeeded in inducing the two parties to suspend their fight for two days, in order to give them an opportunity to make some amicable arrangement.
"In the meantime, expresses were sent to Fort Wayne and Logansport, requesting assistance to suppress the disturbances and
MYRON F. BARBOUR.
Soon after his arrival in the village of Fort Wayne in 1835 Mr. Barbour became a teacher of the county seminary, on the site of the present jail. He worked with industry to assist in the establishment of the free schools of Fort Wayne, and was active in the promotion of many matters for the public welfare.
CAPTAIN ASA FAIRFIELD.
Captain Asa Fairfield, a seafaring man, came to Fort Wayne In 1834. He oper- ated the first boat on the Wabash and Erie canal. Captain Fairfield was the owner of the farm which includes a large part of the present South Wayne. He was a native of Kennebunk, Me., born in 1797.
FORT WAYNE'S FIRST CHURCH BUILDING.
The original building in which the First Presbyterian congregation wor- shiped was the pioneer church edifice in Fort Wayne, although the Catholics erected St. Augustine's church, on a site within Cathedral square, later in the same year-1837. The building was? forty feet square and occupied a lot on the south side of East Berry street, be- tween Barr and Lafayette streets. It was used until 1845, when the large brick structure was erected on the site of the present postoffice, at the south- east corner of Clinton and Berry streets. The latter building was destroyed by fire in 1882. The present building at the northeast corner of Washington boulevard and Clinton street was com- pleted in 1886. St. Augustine's church building was a small structure built within the present Cathedral Square. It was in use for many years, until suc- ceeded by a larger structure, the original building having been, in the meantime, re- moved to a cite near the south line of the property, facing Lewis street, where it was afterward destroyed by fire.
1835 1837
CANAL CELEBRATION-"IRISH WAR" 1
325
to protect the citizens from the dangers to which they would be exposed if the two parties should come in contact.
"The express arrived here [Fort Wayne] on Saturday, the 11th, and the appeal was promptly responded to by our citizens. The drum beat to arms, and in two hours a company of sixty-three men, well armed and furnished with ammunition, was on the march for the scene of action. * # The company embarked on a canal boat, and arrived at Huntington about midnight. Next morning they marched forward on their route, re-enforced by a company from Huntington, under command of Captain Murray.
"On hearing of the arrival of the volunteers, the Irish dispersed into the woods, fully satisfied that they could not trample upon the laws of the state with impunity, and that if they attempted to pro- ceed any further in their mad career they would inevitably meet with the punishment due to such lawless proceedings."
The Fort Wayne Light Infantry, the first military company formed of Fort Wayne citizens, "with a view to the suppression of difficulties said to exist between parties of belligerent Irish laborers on the canal," was officered as follows: Colonel John Spencer, captain; Adam Hull, first lieutenant; Samuel Edsall, second lieu- tenant; Henry Rudisill, ensign; David Pickering, first sergeant;
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THE FEEDER CANAL AND ITS CONNECTION WITH THE WABASH AND ERIE CANAL.
The small map shows the connection of the feeder canal with the Wabash and Erie canal and the present-day streets and railroads. The larger map shows the route of the feeder canal from its connection with the St. Joseph river, just below the present Robison park, to its junction with the main canal.
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326
THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
Lucien P. Ferry, second sergeant; Samuel Stophlet, third sergeant; Thomas Tigar, fourth sergeant; Alexander Porter, John Rhinehart, Martin Weeks and Christopher Lavely, corporals ; Samuel C. Flutter, drummer; Jacob Waters, fifer.
THE "JIGGER" BOSS.
In the following expressive language, a writer in the Lafayette (Indiana) Journal of September 23, 1899, gives a picture of life among the canal workmen:
"In the earlier days the Wabash valley had not been unhealth- ful. But the rent earth [referring to the digging of the canal] liberated a malarial pestilence. Whisky was the one specific, and every gang of workmen boasted a 'jigger boss,' whose duty it was to carry a large tin pail of whisky along the line and issue a small drink or 'jigger' whenever it seemed needed. His judgment was the only limit or guide. I found a former 'jigger boss' at Delphi the other day. 'Why, those workmen must have been drunk all the time,' said I. He replied, 'You wouldn't expect them to work on the canal if they were sober, would you ?'"
THE FIRST BANK.
The "Irish war," as it was commonly called, was a transient condition and it in no wise pictures the enlightened progress of the life of the town, a truth suggested by the fact that in the same year Fort Wayne's first financial institution was founded. Following a prolonged debate, the Indiana legislature, in January, 1834, passed an act creating and establishing the State Bank of Indiana, with its central place of business at Indianapolis. Samuel Hanna, of Fort Wayne, was the chairman of the committee which prepared the original charter.
This act gave to the state bank the monopoly of the banking business in Indiana until January, 1859. This central bank had the authority to establish branch banks in ten other towns. The Fort Wayne branch bank was brought into existence in 1835. On August 25, the directors of the state bank notified the prospective stock- holders of the Fort Wayne branch to pay in specie the first install- ments, or three-eighths of the subscription, to Samuel Lewis, William Rockhill and Hugh McCulloch. The directors named by the legisla- ture were Allen Hamilton, Hugh Hanna and William Rockhill. In November, Samuel Lewis, William G. Ewing, Francis Comparet, Joseph Morgan, Joseph Sinclear, Isaac Spencer, Asa Fairfield, Jesse Vermilyea, David Burr and Samuel Edsall were named as directors by the local stockholders, making thirteen in all. On the following day, at the home of Francis Comparet-a small brick building on the south side of Columbia street, between Calhoun and Clinton- Allen Hamilton was elected president of the bank, and Hugh Mc- Culloch the cashier and manager. Mr. McCulloch gave bond for $50,000; his salary was $800 per year. The cashier was instructed to give a receipt to Stephen G. Hunt "for four kegs of specie, sup- posed to contain twenty thousand dollars," received from the branch bank at Richmond, representing a part of the state's subscription to the stock.
327
CANAL CELEBRATION-"IRISH WAR"
1835 1837
1
"I had no practical knowledge whatever of banking, and I said so to the directors," writes Hugh McCulloch in his "Men and Measures of Half a Century," "but they supposed I was better fitted for the place than anybody else whose services they could obtain, and I did not feel at liberty to decline the appointment. I liked the business of banking, and had no disposition to resume the practice of law."
The bank secured from Mr. Comparet the use of his house, at a rental of $200 per annum. The rear room and the garden space were rented to Smalwood Noel, justice of the peace, for $5 per month. This little building was used only until 1837, during the time re-
BYRON D. MINER.
As a boy, Mr. Miner walked from Ak- ron to Perrysburg, Ohio, and then work- ed his passage to Fort Wayne on a pi- rogue. This was in 1835-eight years before the opening of the Wabash and Erie canal. After his arrival in Fort Wayne, Mr. Miner was variously employ- ed until his connection with the great trading house of G. W. and W. G. Ewing, with which he was associated as a part- ner for many years. He served as a member of the city council for a number of years, and in the state legislature. The portrait is from a photograph loaned by Mrs. Sarah E. Richey, daughter of Mr. Miner.
ISAAC DE GROFF NELSON.
I. D. G. Nelson, who came to Fort Wayne with his sisters in 1836, pur- chased the Fort Wayne Sentinel, but shortly afterward turned his attention to other fields of endeavor. In 1851 he was elected a state representative, and as the author of the "Nelson railroad bill," a law under which all the railroads of the state have been organized, attained wide fame. Subsequently he served as receiver of public moneys at Fort Wayne, clerk of the Allen county circuit court, trustee of Purdue university and state house commissioner. He was one of the organizers of the Wabash railroad. As one of the twelve incorporators of the Lindenwood Cemetery association, he was foremost in the creation of this beatiful city of the dead. He gave much attention to agriculture and horticulture, stock raising and landscape gardening.
quired to erect the bank building constructed by L. G. Tower, con- tractor, at the southwest corner of Main and Clinton streets, on the site of the building of the present Home Telephone and Telegraph company. The building was so arranged that the two banking rooms in the front were connected with the living rooms at the rear. In the residence portion of the building lived the McCulloch family.
In a recent public address, Charles McCulloch, then president of the Hamilton National bank, and son of Hugh McCulloch, said of the building :
"A large fireplace, where good-sized sticks of wood were burned, made the back room a most cheerful place. I can see, as if it were
328
THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
only yesterday, the familiar faces of the men who came into the old branch bank to transact business and discuss the various topics of the day, for, in the winter, that old fireplace was an attractive spot, and many of the prominent men of the town met there daily to talk politics and discuss business affairs, and frequently to make plans for the sleighing parties and winter amusements of the time. The front room lobby was made comfortable for customers in cold weather by a large stove that burned four-foot wood and heated the room perfectly. For years my father, as cashier, and W. M. Hubbell, teller, performed all the duties of the bank, even to making and keeping up the fires.
"As the business increased, one boy was taken in at a time and trained to be a bookkeeper, and then another, but I do not think more than four persons were ever employed at one time during the twenty years' existence of that bank. Stephen Bond, then a mere lad, was among the first; afterward, his brother, Charles D. Bond, was employed as a bookkeeper, as he had received some clerical education in the branch bank at Evansville and in the postoffice at Fort Wayne."
In order to accept the position of cashier with the bank, Hugh McCulloch resigned his place as judge of the probate court. Gov- ernor Noble appointed Thomas Johnson as his successor on the bench. Judge Johnson later served for two terms as prosecutor of the circuit court. He was a lawyer of power and wide influence in the state of Indiana.
In 1851 the state constitutional convention refused to provide for the extension of the charter of the State Bank of Indiana, be- cause of the bitter opposition to the institution as a monopoly. The legislature of 1854-1855 then passed an act to establish the Bank of the State of Indiana, although the bill was vetoed by Governor Wright. The control passed chiefly to the men who had operated the original state bank and its branches. It was one of the conditions of the arrangement that Hugh McCulloch should become president of the bank of the state. The new Fort Wayne branch, with the same stockholders, was organized October 25, 1855, with Hugh McCulloch president and Charles D. Bond cashier; the directors were Mr. Mc- Culloch, Ochmig Bird, William Mitchell, Pliny Hoagland, M. W. Hubbell, Hugh B. Reed and B. W. Oakley. In 1863, Pliny Hoagland became the president of the branch bank and served until the institu- tion was merged in the Fort Wayne National bank in January, 1865, at which time the following officers were elected : Jesse L. Williams, president; Pliny Hoagland, vice-president; Jared D. Bond, cashier, and Mr. Williams, Mr. Hoagland, Oliver P. Morgan, Montgomery Hamilton and Stephen B. Bond, directors.
In 1885, upon the expiration of the charter of the Fort Wayne National bank, the name of the institution was changed to the Old National bank.
A PIROGUE JOURNEY IN 1836.
A woman's description of life in the village and vicinity in 1836 comes from the pen of Miss Sarah Darrow, who came to Fort Wayne with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jared Darrow. The family traveled in pirogues. Miss Darrow's letter is addressed to her
1835 1837
CANAL CELEBRATION-"IRISH WAR"
329
sister, Mrs. Stephen B. (Adelia L.) Bond, at Lockport, New York, and is preserved by Mrs. Littleton Tough. She says :
"We had a delightful journey up the Maumee river. At Fort Defiance, we took a pirogue about eighty feet long and wide enough for mother's chair, and one sat in front of the other, all in a row. You may think how we looked in a wide river. Nights we went
an-
ind He has used. however, some ingenuity lo will trying to divert public attention, by abusing I myl others, as a shield to his own villany. This due ous |device, I can assure the gentleman will not
nature .: Next'is'the Treaty of Tippecanoe in October, 1832. How did you and the old cous
gentleman manage there to trump up a claim plad of.ten thousand dollars against the Pottawati- tute mie Indians, with whom it is well known that not neither of you ever traded to the value of sign
is
fifty dollars? Yet did you not upon that ras- addi cally and fraudulent demand, by bribery or otherwise, obtain and receive: 4000 dollars? mot
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ey the Legislature "and the public that he would not have troubled the Legislature with his pre- sence this winter .. tho
t, averring that you did do so? Who wrote that Jim
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The "Maek Which Mr. Ewing has mademe ing against me, and the numerous accusations im- the peaching my character and motives, will be wha noticed below his communication. and I pledge whi tho myself to prove every assertion false, and the long
it ti-
author of them guilty of base and wilful mis- Fre me,
after the signing of the treaty? Where was the necessity of having his acknowledgment taken to that bond !- is this usual, judge, please inform us -- you are a man of legal pre- tensions. Rather did you not advise that tice.
bv- the
representation. His unmanly attack upon my father, on account of its indecency ought not mar to be noticed; yet, I also pledge myself to said
id course, conscious that the transaction was a item
bre
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He knew well that my character was be- swd en, rond his reach. Ile knew well that he could goq 0-
it not reach nwy well know
that poor fellow's proper a part of id luable consideration ? D
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From Passelle's accusation of Colonel Ewing
pectable gentleman"
Euruq' defense
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A NEWSPAPER QUARREL OF THE THIRTIES.
1.
i. bond, my honest fellow, is it not in your own hand writing? and does it not bear date the 28th of October, 1832, being the next day
yet il the hap men you İcom tern
prove every assertion and base insinuation
n- of you had ever paid that poor fellow nor ever of t
intended to pay hirn, one dollar for that valu- you
which he has made, to be wilful falsehoods and known to be so by the KNAVE. to with d able property? Have you ever since paid er i'd | him, and if so, how much and in what manner? | time Will you deny that you are implicated in this sind transaction, or that you
not the grad Ther with him about that tirne from this country to (I fel) not in-la His tamni'y then at Vincennes-he no doubt go'. them HONESTLY. i SOLD him some about er; | that time myself. dota Imiss tr; How did you and he manage : to swindle, st cheat, and defraud an half blood Pottawati- with mi: Indian, called Louizon, out of his three your sections of land, which had been granted to Iconc e y him in that treaty? Or does he not tell true, becs
day this
id deb'edness was for goods and valuable prop- youd abod erty, or like the Miami claim, for manual ser- vices, nocturnal labors, etc .?. You certainly in ť knew, for you drew up the fair claim, and as pub you say you are an honest man, it will be very easy for you to explain the transaction. We make no mention of the new cloaks, fine'cloth, et which the old gentleman lugged off home
least forty ur fifty thousand dollars. executing notes for double and treble the amount . of goods rendered, and forging an affidavit or ad .. ding words to it, to enable him to get an al- lowance from the Government for a fraudulent claim against the Indians-I repeat, it cannot he be expected that a person guilty of such acts is worthy of a seat in the Senate of the state of Indiana. If Gen. Grover's communication which appears in this day's paper, or the chat- ges publickly made by him in presence of Mr. Ewing, had been made previous to the last
ct people or their forefathers, or their forefath- and er's ghosts-an'd whether it took place before offi ur or since the great flood? whether the said in- you
un- defrauding the Indians to an amount . of at Au
wOU any Will you please give us theitems of that elaim or any other data that will enable us lo 'swal- low it down? Will you tell us (or can you not and will you tell the truth?) .when and where he or you traded with those people, inkd con- com that lars tracted debts against them to that or any ath-
n
answer. Charges impeaching his character cor fn- {have been made, and these charges will be wit ges Mo reiterated until they are proven either true or ת״ח dif- false. If he will not satisfy the public upon this point, he can rest assured that charges let will be preferred against him, and laid before the honorable body of which he is a member. It cannot be expected that a person labor- op ing under the most infamous charges, such as unt
The two newspaper clippings here reproduced are from the Logansport (Ind.) Telegraph of November 19, 1836, involving persons closely associated with the history of Fort Wayne. Hyacinth Lasselle, Jr., editor of the paper, was the son of Hyacinth Lasselle, the first white person born on the site of the city of Fort Wayne, in 1777. Reference to the father is made by both writers. Colonel George W. Ewing, of Fort Wayne, was one of the most prominent of the mer- chants and traders of his period. It will be observed that each writer accuses the other of fraudulent dealings with the Indians. The clippings reflect the style of language quite generally employed in heated newspaper controversies of the time and which was not so stringently regulated by libel laws as at the present time.
330
THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
ashore and slept on the puncheon to rest our weary limbs, after being sun-beaten all day and getting corn-dodgers for our supper. But you must be very careful not to get over the cracks, for rattle- snakes are very common in this country. * * *
"The Indian payments commenced today, and they are holding a council with them for fear of an outbreak. They had to call out the militia from Logansport and Peru-two hundred from Logans- port and one hundred from Peru-but we apprehend no danger. They dress most splendidly, and some of them are very handsome. Chief Rushville [Richardville] has a splendid establishment-Tur- key carpets, Damask silk curtains and white dimity, and everything as rich in proportion. One wife doesn't answer their purpose, so they must have two, one young and one old as Methuselah. God Froy [Chief Godfrey, of Peru] is prince of the nation."
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