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 41
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that the climatic or soil conditions were unfavorable to the growing of mulberry trees, upon the leaves of which the silk worm thrives. The first home in Fort Wayne to be graced by the presence of a Christmas tree was that of Dr. Charles A. Schmitz, in 1840. The Schmitz home stood on the site of the building on Calhoun street
DR. WILLIAM H. BROOKS.
For half a century Dr. Brooks was a leading medical practitioner in Fort Wayne, and during this time he interest- ed himself in many of the town's pro- gressive interests. He established him- self in Fort Wayne in 1841. As a mem- ber of the local and state medical socie- ties he became known prominently throughout Indiana.
JOSEPH
RIVER
CITY LIMITS
MAUMEE O
ORIGINAL CITY LIMITS
ST. MARY'S RIVER
CITY LIMITS 1914
THE TERRITORIAL EXPANSION OF FORT WAYNE.
The original area of the city of Fort Wayne, as set forth in the city charter of 1840, is indicated by the white section in the diagram. The area in 1917 is shown by the shaded portion.
which adjoins the Noll (formerly Schmitz) block, on the north. . In June of 1840 Dr. Schmitz arranged for the shipment of the tree from Cincinnati to Fort Wayne over the canal. On Christmas eve this tree, glittering with candles and brilliant ornaments and decora- tions, was viewed by a company of invited guests. An infant daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Schmitz was placed in a basket beneath the tree, and the guests, including a number of Indians, were ad- mitted. The beautiful tree brought exclamations of delight from the red men, but it is recorded that they found the baby a more lasting object of admiration. Rev. Julian Benoit, a distin- guished missionary of the Catholic church, assigned to the charge of the affairs of the church at Fort Wayne, arrived, in 1840, to begin his long service. He became the first vicar general of the Catholic diocese in Fort Wayne.
ACTIVITIES OF 1841.
Smalwood Noel was appointed postmaster to succeed Henry Rudisill. . Allen county's first agricultural society, organ- ized in 1841, was officered as follows: President, Colonel N. A. Woodward; vice-president, Samuel Hanna; treasurer, Joseph Ber- key ; secretary, Henry Rudisill. The organization held several fairs and exhibitions during succeeding years. The prevalence of criminals, especially horse thieves, incendiaries and counterfeiters brought into existence an organization whose object was the detec- tion and punishment of the offenders. Lott S. Bayless acted as
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CITY INCORPORATED-FIRST OFFICIALS
1840 1842
chairman of the organization meeting, with B. B. Stevens as secre- tary. The committee on by-laws was composed of Joseph Morgan, Hugh McCulloch, G. W. Wood, Samuel Hanna and Joseph Berkey. John P. Jones, of Baltimore, opened a select school. William Robinson established a sash factory on Duck street, operated by water power from the canal. S. Leard became the landlord of Washington house and changed the name to the New York and Indiana house. Michael Koehler established
a brick yard. Among the leading citizens to locate in Fort Wayne in 1841 were Dr. W. H. Brooks (born in Worcester county, Massachusetts in 1813) ; Claus Peters (born in Germany, in 1813), contractor and builder; Clement A. Rekers (born at Plantlulene, Germany, in 1829), merchant, and William H. Bryant (born at Florence, Ohio, in 1817), street commissioner and county commis- sioner. I. D. G. Nelson succeeded Major Samuel Lewis as
An act to incorporate the city of Jost Naque
Sec. I. Be it enacted by the General Asually of The State of Indiana
That the district of country included in the following descartes limito shall forever be known as the city of Fort Wayne subject however to ber enlarged as the sand city shall increase in pop- ulation, big . Beginning at a point where the west line of JEction two, Towns hip thirty north Range twelve cast second meridian A takes the south side of the At Marys niver at low water marks, thence along The meanders of the said never and the Maumento a point where the half section line of section one in township afpresand touches the Maumee nor at low water thenew south o a point achty perches beyond the south live of section one agres and theice weas to the west line of action Eleven in Township afores and then ce south to the place of beginning
Sie 3. That Samuel Edsall Rawben & Dawson Madison Sweetsen John & Hill and Thomas Kaution or a majority of theme shall be the inspector of the first Election held under This act which Selection shall be held at the court house in the city of Fort Wayne on The first Monday in May 1 21840 at which election any person competent to vote at the general State elections and having reached for six I months last past within the limits of sound city shall be entitled to voir Thereat
FRANKLIN P. RANDALL'S ORIGINAL DRAFT OF THE CITY CHARTER. The engraving is a photographic reproduction of sections 1 and 3 of the char- ter of the city of Fort Wayne as adopted by the Indiana legislature in 1840. The original manuscript, written by Franklin P. Randall, has been preserved among Mr. Randall's papers by his daughter, Mrs. Clark Fairbank.
360
THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
receiver of the canal land office at Fort Wayne. Joseph Sinclear was chosen state senator and Lewis G. Thompson state representative. . Samuel Stophlet was elected judge of the probate court.
ACTIVITIES OF 1842.
New industries established during the year 1842 included the sawmills of William Rockhill and Samuel Edsall, on the north side of the canal, and the flouring mill (now the City mills of C. Tresselt and Sons) on the canal at Clinton street, by Allen Hamilton and Jesse L. Williams. The latter mills were operated by water-power from the canal. Bernard Rekers opened an orphan asylum at the corner of Wayne and Webster streets. An important canal shipment of the year included a cargo of 45,000 hoop-poles and 250 barrels of cranberries from Fort Wayne to New Orleans. . Dr. Henry P. Ayers (born at Morristown, New Jersey, in 1813), later a leading physician, located in Fort Wayne. . Judge Peter P. Bailey (born in Marlboro, New York, in 1812), who became a prom- inent merchant, banker, editor and railroad builder, came to Fort Wayne and established a hardware store at the corner of Columbia and Clinton streets. In his latter years, he became a resident of Mis- sissippi, where he held a judicial position with jurisdiction over nearly one-half of the state. Stephen Bond, merchant, and his family came from the east and settled permanently in Fort Wayne; the sons, Charles D., Stephen B., Henry W., and Jared D., rose to places of prominence in the financial and commercial world. Claude A. Cour (born near Paris, France, in 1822), pioneer mer- chant, came in 1842; from Germany came Peter Coling, William Baade and Frederick Hochstetter.
Volney Parks (born in Dearborn county, Indiana, in 1819), building and railroad con- tractor and lumber merchant, located in Fort Wayne this year. James W. Borden was elected judge of the circuit court, serving until 1851; during his term of service the following associate judges occupied the bench: Nathaniel Coleman, R. Starkweather, J. H. McMahon and Andrew Metzgar. Prosecuting attorneys who served during the same period were William H. Coombs, L. C. Jacoby, Robert L. Douglass, Elza A. McMahon, Joseph Bracken- ridge, James L. Worden and Edward R. Wilson. Lucien P. Ferry was elected state representative. Marshall S. Wines, also elected to the legislature, died during his term, and L. G. Thomp- son was elected to the place at a special election.
NOTE ON CHAPTER XXVIII.
(1) Officers chosen by the council of 1841 were: Recorder and attorney, Franklin P. Randall; treasurer, George F. Wright; high constable, Richard Mc- Mullen, succeeded by Bradbury B. Ste- vens; assessor, S. M. Black; lumber measurer, John B. Cocanour; flour in- spector, Daniel McGinnis; tax collector, Bradbury B. Stevens.
Officers chosen by the council of 1842
constable, Bradbury B. Stevens (suc- ceeded by James Crumley); treasurer, George F. Wright (succeeded by Oliver W. Jefferds); assessor, R. E. Fleming; flour inspector, Daniel McGinnis (suc- ceeded by Daniel Garnsey); attorney, Henry Cooper; chief engineer, W. L. Moon; surveyor, Ochmig Bird; street were: Recorder, William Lytle; high commissioner, Henry Lotz; collector,
361
1840 1842 CITY INCORPORATED-FIRST OFFICIALS
Edward Stapleford; board of health, Drs. W. H. Brooks, J. Evans and B. Sevenick.
The following county officers were elected in 1842: Auditor, S. S. Morss; treasurer, T. K. Brackenridge; sheriff,
Bradbury B. Stevens; recorder, Robert E. Fleming; surveyor, S. M. Black; coroner, Joseph Stratton; commission- ers, Robert Briggs, R. Starkweather and Joseph Hall.
CHAPTER XXIX-1843.
The Great Canal Celebration-General Cass's Address.
The canal is opened between Toledo and Lafayette-The memorable Fourth of July, 1843-Commodore Perry's cannon booms a welcome to the visit- ors-The Toledo Guards-The parade-The exercises at the Swinney farm, now Swinney park-General Cass's address-Peter Kiser and the barbecue-The toasts-General Cass receives a "ducking"-Promoters of the celebration-The packets and the freight boats-Early boat owners-Passenger and freight rates-Henry Lotz, mayor-The first daily mail-Highway building-The first daguerreotypes-"Johnnie Appleseed."
I F, PREVIOUS TO 1843, any village or hamlet of enlightened America were yet in ignorance of the existence of a town bear- ing the name of Fort Wayne, in northeastern Indiana, that condition was forever removed in the summer of this memorable year. For the newspapers throughout the land heralded the an- nouncement of the final accomplishment of one of the great com- mercial and engineering feats of the age, the completion of the Wabash and Erie canal from Toledo, Ohio, to Lafayette, Indiana. with Fort Wayne as the central port on the waterway.
Upon the busy town of Fort Wayne, where a monster central celebration was held on the 4th of July, the eyes of a forward- looking nation were centered.
At the sunrise hour of the memorable day, a cannon-a souvenir from one of the British vessels captured in Perry's victory in 1813 -boomed a noisy greeting to the visitors, chief among whom was General Lewis Cass, one of the nation's foremost figures. This cannon, employed on many subsequent occasions, caused the death of one man and seriously injured several others. It was then used as a hitching post in front of the residence of Mrs. Clark Fairbank until 1916, when, upon the sale of the property, it was given to the city to be mounted in Hayden park.
Describing the canal celebration, the Sentinel of July 15, 1843, says :
"On the Saturday evening [July 1] previous, the guests began to arrive, and by Sunday night the taverns were overflowing.
"On Monday afternoon the canal boats began to line our wharves, and continued without intermission through the night to land their passengers. Each boat was met on its arrival by the reception committee, who took the passengers to the houses where they were to make their homes during their visit.
"On Monday night the Toledo Guards arrived, and, having brought their camp equipage with them, pitched their tents on a beautiful green west of the city. Their splendid appearance and martial bearing added much to the celebration. On Tuesday morn- ing about 6 o'clock General Lewis Cass, the orator of the day, ar- rived in the packet boat Ohio and was escorted to the mansion of Allen Hamilton, Esq., where he remained during his sojourn, and where he was visited by many of our citizens, who were pleased with 362
363
THE GREAT CANAL CELEBRATION
1843
the urbanity and affability of his deportment and with the boundless hospitality of his host.
"Throughout the forenoon, visitors from the interior of the country remote from the canal line flocked in by hundreds, on horseback or in wagons and in vehicles of every description. The canal boats extended in double tier the whole length of the city, from the upper to the lower basin [from Lafayette to Harrison streets], and, being mostly decorated with flags, gave our wharf a very interesting appearance.
"The following gentlemen served as officers of the day: Mar- shal, Samuel Edsall. Assistant marshals, Colonel Sigler, General Curtis, General Hanes, S. S. Tipton, Alexander Wilson, Colonel Pollard, Captain Rudisill, Captain Stophlet, Captain Ferry, Captain Morgan, Colonel Lotz, S. C. Freeman, R. Bird, B. B. Stevens, Wolkie, Schmitz, Trentman, T. K. Brackenridge, C. S. Evans.
"At 11 o'clock an immense procession was formed on the public square, and marched to a beautiful shady grove on the farm of Colonel Swinney [the present Swinney park], where the exercises of the day were performed. The procession was nearly a mile in length and was enlivened by several bands of music. Following was the order of procession :
"Martial music, Toledo Guards, Revolutionary soldiers and soldiers of the late war (1812) with national colors; General Cass, orator; Hugh McCulloch, reader; Rev. Mr. Boyd, chaplain; Ethan A. Brown, president; W. G. Ewing, Samuel Hanna, Jesse L. Wil- liams, Allen Hamilton, Robert Brackenridge, A. S. White, E. A. Hannegan, J. E. Hunt, R. Dickerson, S. Medbury, General Myres, Colonel Pepper, L. B. Wilson, Jesse D. Bright, J. H. Bradley, James Blair, S. Fisher, E. Murray, P. Evans, W. W. Barlow, Colonel Ray- burn, Judge Keller, Colonel Hanna, Mr. Taber, Mr. Pratt, General Wiley, General Walker, Mr. Robbinson, J. S. Hanna, H. Ellsworth (vice-presidents), ladies, Defiance band, invited guests, committees, Marion band, engineer corps, German band, citizens of Ohio and other states, Miami warriors, Kekionga band, citizens of Indiana."
The immense crowd gathered at the site of Swinney park, where those within the reach of the voice of General Cass listened with enthusiasm to his famous oration marking the completion of the main portion of the great canal. The exercises were opened with patriotic selections by the bands, followed by the chaplain's prayer and the reading of the Declaration of Independence by Judge McCulloch. The stirring address of General Cass was frequently punctured by the firing of a cannon, which excited the cheers of the multitude without the range of his voice. Said the speaker in the course of his address :
"We have come here to rejoice together. Memorable deeds make memorable days. There is a power of association given to man, which binds together the past and the present, and connects both with the future. Great events hallow the sites where they pass. Their returning anniversaries, so long as these are remembered, are kept with sorrow or joy as they are prosperous or adverse. Today a new work is born, a work of peace, not of war. We are celebrating a triumph of art and not of arms. Centuries hence, we may hope the river you have made will flow both east and west, bearing upon
364
THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
its bosom the riches of a prosperous people, and that our descendants will come to keep the day which we have come to mark; and that as it returns they will remember the exertions of their ancestors while they gather the harvest."
The entire company was provided with a free barbecue dinner served under the direction of Peter Kiser. Mr. Kiser had purchased two fat oxen near Lafayette and had planned to bring them from the Wea prairie to Fort Wayne in a canal boat. The animals refused to enter the boat, however, and Mr. Kiser was forced to drive them to Fort Wayne, a distance of 110 miles, consuming eleven days in the trip.
A series of toasts, given under the guidance of Jesse L. Wil- liams, chief engineer of the canal, followed the dinner. Among the speakers from abroad were United States Senators Albert S. White and E. A. Hannegan; Henry L. Ellsworth, commissioner of patents,
WABASH AND ERIE CANAL AQUEDUCT AT FORT WAYNE. The Wabash and Erie canal crossed the St. Mary's river in the town of Fort Wayne at a point between the present two Nickel Plate railroad bridges. The picture is after a drawing made by Ellis Kaiser, now of Springfield, Mis- souri, presented in 1916 to Louis S. C. Schroeder.
and Governor Ethan Allen Brown. Local speakers, including W. G. Ewing and Judge Hanna, followed. Letters of enthusiastic greeting from many of the nation's distinguished men were read. The original letters are owned by Mrs. Clark Fairbank, whose father, Franklin P. Randall, was a member of the invitation committee. Among the writers were President Martin Van Buren, Henry Clay, General Winfield Scott, Daniel Webster, Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky; John McLean, of Illinois; J. C. Spencer, of Washington; Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire; John Law, of Indianapolis; Samuel B. Ruggles, of New York; William C. Bouk, of Albany; D. S. Dickinson, of New York; W. Woodbridge, of Michigan; Captain Robert B. McAfee, of Kentucky; O. H. Smith, of Indianapolis; James Earll, Jr., of Albany, New York; G. W. B. Clinton, of Buffalo, New York; T. A. Howard, of Rockville, Indiana; William Hendricks, of Madison, Indiana; Colonel John Johnston, of Upper Piqua, Ohio, and Robert Young, of Ohio.
365
THE GREAT CANAL CELEBRATION
1843
Much of the story as here given is obtained from the files of the Fort Wayne Sentinel. From a description of the day by other newspaper writers, many interesting side lights have appeared. The arrival of General Cass is thus described by LeRoy Armstrong in the Lafayette (Indiana) Journal, of September 25, 1899:
"A local poet had written some grandiloquent lines and it was part of the ceremony that these verses should be read to the states- man as he disembarked [from the canal boat]. The gangplank was not securely stayed, and while General Cass stood listening to the phrases he could not understand, the plank slipped and down went the thriftiest of trimmers. He came up moist but fervid and won Indiana to his presidential plans."
The celebration of the opening of the canal had been arranged at a mass meeting held at the American house, May 17, with Judge Hanna in the chair and Thomas Tigar and H. W. Jones acting as secretaries. The following committees were named for the manage-
The completion of the conad writing the Wabash with Sate I've is one of those moments works which cannot fail greatly to benefit more their over quarter , I to the-s joy over the remaining wants of the buon It monte the progress of the age. That it result tway more than realage the unterfactions of its patinete projection I supporters in the prayer of your fellow citizen 'nfica Sert.
GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT'S LETTER.
Among the men who were invited to participate in the celebration of the opening of the Wabash and Erie canal was General Winfield Scott, at that time commander-in-chief of the United States army. In his letter of regret, General Scott said: "The completion of the canal uniting the Wabash with Lake Erie is one of those works which cannot fail greatly to benefit more than one quarter, and to shed joy over the remaining parts of the union. It marks the progress of the age. That its results may more than realize the anticipations of its patriotic projectors and supporters is the prayer of your fellow citizen." Three years after the writing of the letter General Scott was leading the United States armies in the Mexican war; he was the unsuccessful whig candidate for president in 1852. The original letter is among the papers of the late Franklin P. Randall, in possession of his daughter, Mrs. Clark Fairbank.
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
ment of the celebration : On correspondence and invitation-Jesse L. Williams, Franklin P. Randall, Hugh McCulloch, Henry Rudisill, Dr. P. G. Jones, I. D. G. Nelson, Dr. L. G. Thompson, Captain James Berkey and Philo Rumsey. On arrangements-Messrs. Nelson, Thompson and Hanna, W. M. Hubbell, W. S. Edsall and William Rockhill. On reception-Mayor Henry Lotz and the members of the city council, T. W. Swinney, M. W. Huxford, Henry Rudisill, Robert Brackenridge, Jr., Dr. Charles E. Sturgis, Samuel Edsall, Allen Hamilton, Thomas Hamilton, David H. Colerick, Dr. Lewis Beecher, Asa Fairfield, W. G. Ewing, Thomas Johnson, B. B. Stevens, Madison Sweetser, D. F. Comparet and Messrs. Townley, Iten, Jones, Hull and Pritchard. Three men in each township of the county were chosen to raise funds for the entertainment of the guests.
TRAFFIC ON THE CANAL.
The first boat to pass from Toledo to Lafayette was the Albert S. White, Captain Cyrus Belden, of Toledo. The boat was warmly welcomed at Fort Wayne. From this time forward the canal was
THE ORFF (EDSALL) MILL.
The drawing, from a photograph, shows the Orff, or Edsall, mill (known later as the Empire mill and commonly called "the old stone mill") as it stood while the machinery was operated by waterpower furnished by the Wabash and Erie canal. An over-shot wheel was used. The erection of the mill was begun in 1843 by Samuel Edsall. Milford Smith was admitted as a partner, and later the business passed to Orff, Armstrong & Lacy, but John Orff afterward became the sole proprietor; later, it passed to his sons, John, Jr., C. E. and Montgomery Orff. In later years the mill was operated by steam power. It stood on the east bank of the St. Mary's river, a few rods north of the Main street bridge.
the common highway for freight and passenger service between the east and the southwest. Packet fares for passengers were estab- lished as follows : Fort Wayne to Toledo, 104 miles, $3.25; to Lafay- ette, 138 miles, $3.75; to Cincinnati, 221 miles, $6.75.
Among the captains of the packets, the highest class passenger boats on the canal, the following are remembered: Thomas B. Filton, W. S. B. Hubbell, M. Van Horne, John M. Wighton, Clark Smith, Byron D. Angell, William Sturgis, Benjamin Ayres, George Hoskinson, William Phillips, George Alvord, James Popple, Nathan
367
1843
THE GREAT CANAL CELEBRATION
Nettleton, Thomas B. McCarty, Christian Snavely, J. E.
Motherwell, Charles Sherwood, Elias Webb, William Dale, George D. Davis and J. R. Smith. Referring to the old canal days, Byron D. Angell says (1917) : "The Dickeys owned a packet line on the canal which, in 1849, was purchased by Jerome Petrie, of Little Falls, New York. Mr. Petrie purchased a number of packets which had been in use on the Erie canal and when they reached the Wabash and Erie canal it was found that they were twenty feet too long to enter the locks. A section was removed from the middle of each boat. In 1852 I was sent to Terre Haute as the agent of the. canal at that place, and in the following year was made a captain of the Queen City, one of the best packets plying between Terre Haute and Lafayette. Later I was the captain of boats running between Lafayette and Toledo, and finally had charge of the canal office at Lafayette. One who lives in the present day has no concep- tion of the Fort Wayne of the days of the old Wabash and Erie canal. Time has wrought wonderful transformations."
The sleeping berths for first-class passengers in the packet boats were generally arranged on each side of the upper cabin in two rows, one above the other, and some were made to be folded into small compass when not in use. Many passengers on crowded packets slept on the floor, though cots and hammocks were fre-
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GENERAL LEWIS CASS.
General Cass, the guest of honor and chief speaker on the occasion of the cele- bration of the completion of the main section of the Wabash and Erie canal, was influential largely in the develop- ment of the middle west. Born in Exe- ter, N. H., in 1782, he served in the war of 1812, was governor of Michigan terri- tory (1813-1831); secretary of war (1831- 1836); minister to France (1836-1842) ; United States senator (1845-1848) ; pres- idential candidate (1848); United States senator (1849-1857); secretary of state 1857-1860). He died in Detroit in 1866. General Cass explored a large portion of the middle west by means of canoes and the use of horses, and concluded valuable treaties with the Indians by which vast areas of Indiana and Michigan lands were secured by the government.
NATHANIEL P. STOCKBRIDGE.
Mr. Stockbridge was a native of Maine. He came to Fort Wayne in 1843, and for a period of ten years managed the hardware store of H. Durrie & Company, which was the beginning of the Morgan & Beach store of later years. In 1853, he purchased the book and stationery store of D. W. Burroughs, the pioneer establishment of its kind in Fort Wayne, and the business was developed into one of the largest retail and wholesale enter- prises of the time. The portrait is from a photograph loaned by Charles A. Stock- bridge, a son.
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THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE
quently provided. Thirty-five to forty passengers constituted a good load. The dining room was below, usually in the middle of the boat.
From two to six horses were employed, depending upon the size of the boat and the load. These horses usually traveled on a trot, the driver sitting astride the left rear, or saddle horse, and a pace of from six to eight miles an hour was maintained. Sometimes the relay horses were carried on the packet, as they were on the freight boats, but the horses were usually stationed at regular and con- venient ports.
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