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 43

Author: Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs. The story of the townships of Allen County
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago : R.O. Law Co.
Number of Pages: 760


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 43


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ARTICLES.


Where from.


Where bound .


Nell weight in pounds.


Miles.


Rates.


Tolls. $ $15.


St Limp


Safuntip


138


14


1


138 3. 2.2


25/40


muchandesp


501


2724


97


581


97


11


12


A


Wayne


792


20


950


20


19


792


4


317


C


4235


Fred Veeder


eastern part of Kansas. Numbers of them found their way back to


place, only to be forwarded as prisoners to their new home in the


from the locality, coming back only after the emigration had taken


tops of trees, others secreted themselves in swamps, and many fled


hunted down like wild animals; some were actually found in the


of rendezvous previous to taking their departure. Many had to be


"Many of these Indians had to be brought forcibly to the place


Says the late Edward F. Colerick in the Indianapolis News :


as the Fort Wayne Sentinel, September 26, 1846, observed.


just the kind of a man to make short work of a job of this kind,"


A PAGE FROM THE CANAL COLLECTOR'S RECORD BOOK.


The photographic reproduction of a page from the register of the collector of the Wabash and Erie canal at the Fort Wayne office shows the form of recording the movements of the boats and keeping an account of their cargoes.


1


Marchandises


418


Siatheme Pattaya Lire


Lafuratty St. Jump


33,


379


MIAMIS TAKEN TO THE WEST


1844 1845


the reservation, but were ultimately returned. A few of this class persisted in returning and never did go back, but spent vagrant lives in the vicinity of the reserve."


Much ill-feeling was aroused by the action of the government in showing marked favoritism toward certain leaders of the tribe, including the families of Chiefs Richardville, LaFontaine, Godfrey and Meshingomesia and the brothers of the latter living on the Missisinnewa. These were allowed to retain their lands, and some were richly rewarded in other ways. Says Mr. Colerick :


"It was well understood that the result of this treaty was ac- complished through fraud and a collusion on the part of some of the unprincipled men, chiefs and others of the tribe, who were bought up by grants of lands and money as well. It is said that Richardville, their tribal chief for half a century, who had taken such an active and questionable part in forcing this treaty upon his people, had to flee to Canada and remain there until the excitement and wrath of his people had died out. Chief Richardville, for his services in this matter, received several sections of the most valuable lands in northern Indiana, notably a large tract lying along the St. Mary's river four miles southwest of Fort Wayne, upon which the government built him a large and comfortable brick house where he resided until his death."


Many of the Miamis were taken by way of Fort Wayne on their way to Kansas. In the summer of 1846, five hundred Indians who had been gathered at Peru by the soldiers, and had been placed forcibly on canal boats, were brought through this city.


"Well I remember," wrote the late John W. Dawson, "the sober, saddened faces, the profusion of tears, as I saw them hug to their bosoms a little handful of earth which they had gathered from the graves of their dead kindred. But stern fate made them suc- cumb; and, as the canal boat that bore them to the Ohio river loosed her moorings, many a bystander was moved to tears at the evidences of grief he saw before him."


The almost complete disappearance of the once powerful Miami tribe is one of the pitiable records of American history. In 1814, General William Henry Harrison, writing to the secretary of state, said that the Miamis were merely a "poor, drunken set, diminishing every year; becoming too lazy to hunt, they feel the advantage of their annuity." During the period of the canal building, the Indians experienced little difficulty in securing whisky in exchange for their government allowance of money. Between 1813 and 1830, fully five hundred deaths resulted among the Miamis from murders and acci- dents as a result of strong drink.


When Chief Richardville and his three daughters removed from Fort Wayne, they took up abode on the reservation four miles south of the town, where, in later times, they lived amidst all the luxuries of the life of the time. After twenty-six years of rule of the Miamis, the chief died August 31, 1841. He was about eighty years of age. The body was placed in the present Cathedral square, the south half of which was then used as a cemetery. Rev. Father Clark, of Peru, Indiana, conducted the funeral services in St. Augustine's Catholic church. Although the body of the chief remains in its original grave, the monument which was erected there was removed later to the


380


THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


former Catholic cemetery near the St. Mary's river, south of the Pennsylvania railroad bridge, at Swinney park. From this site to the present Catholic cemetery, northeast of Fort Wayne, the monu- ment was removed by his grand-daughter, Mrs. Archangel Engle- mann. The monument was the tribute of the chief's three daughters, Catherine (the wife of Chief LaFontaine), LaBlonde and Susan.


Upon the death of Richardville, Francis LaFontaine (To-pe-ah) became the civil chief of the Miami nation, as a result of a popular election of members of the tribe. His father, who was of French extraction, was at one time a resident of Detroit. As a youth LaFon- taine was noted as an athlete. In his twenty-first year he married Catherine (Po-con-go-qua), daughter of Chief Richardville. The residence erected by LaFontaine west of Huntington, Indiana, is still occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Engelmann. LaFontaine died in 1846 while returning from the western reservation to make his home on the tract west of Huntington. He was taken ill at St. Louis and died at Lafayette, Indiana, April 13. The body is buried at Hunting- ton, Indiana. LaFontaine was a robust, corpulent man, weighing about 350 pounds. He was born in 1810, near Fort Wayne, and spent most of his life here. About twenty months after the death of


PLINY HOAGLAND.


Pliny Hoagland (born in 1810, near New Philadelphia, Ohio,) began his pro- fessional life as an engineer on an Ohio canal in 1835. Three years later he was engaged in a like capacity on the Ohio division of the Wabash and Erle


canal. In 1845 he removed to Fort Wayne. He was prominently concerned in the building of the Ohio and Indiana railroad, first as an influential factor in securing favorable legislative action, and latterly as one of the building con- tractors. He was a director of the Pitts- burgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago road, and of the Grand Rapids and Indiana. In 1856 he was elected a state repre- sentative, and in 1862 state senator. He succeeded Hugh McCulloch as president of the Fort Wayne Branch bank of the Bank of Indiana; when this concern he- came a national institution he declined the presidency, but became its vice president. His influence, while a mem- ber of the city council and in other positions of trust, resulted in much per- manent good to the community.


STOVES OF THE FORTIES.


The three types of stoves shown were among the styles in use in Fort Wayne during the forties. The pictures were reproduced from newspaper advertise- ments of Fort Wayne merchants.


381


MIAMIS TAKEN TO THE WEST


1844 1845


LaFontaine, the widow married F. D. Lasselle. Upon the death of LaFontaine, the chieftaincy passed to his grandson, Joseph LaFon- taine, the eldest son of Mrs. Engelmann. Upon the death of the latter, whose demise occurred at the home west of Huntington, March 3, 1914, the last of the Miami chiefs passed away.


James R. Godfrey, son of Chief Francis Godfrey, war chief of the Miamis, living near Peru, who was among those exempted from deportation, came to Allen county in 1844 and married Mon-to-se- quah, daughter of LaBlonde, who was the daughter of Chief Richard- ville. Mon-to-se-quah was born near Fort Wayne in 1835 and died in 1885. Twelve children were born to them-James, Mary, Louisa, John, Annie and George L., and six others, who died in infancy. George L. Godfrey was born in 1850, on the reservation southwest of Fort Wayne. The males of the Godfrey line who lived in Fort Wayne were termed chiefs, but the title was merely honorary.


Francis Godfrey (Godfroy or Godefroi), who rose to prominence as the war chief of the Miamis following the death of Little Turtle in 1812, died at his home near Peru in 1840. His father was a French- man who had chosen a wife from the Miamis. Francis married Soc-a- jag-wa, a Miami, early in life. In later years he chose for his second wife a half-breed girl twenty-six years of age. a daughter of Frances Slocum. The first wife, still living, remained in the home and became a servant. The arrangement, it is said, was suggested by the elder woman. The Godfrey home was a large establishment, furnished with all the luxuries of the wealthy, and many servants attended the chief and his household.


CHURCH AFFAIRS.


The affairs of the town moved forward with regularity during the early forties. In 1844, the dismissal of six members of the First Presbyterian church resulted in the formation of a church of the "New School" called the Second Presbyterian church, later known as Westminster. The first pastor was Rev. Charles Beecher, a brother of the famous Henry Ward Beecher, who, with his father, Dr. Lyman Beecher, officiated at the ceremony of the installation of the son and brother. At this time a series of evangelistic meetings was held by Henry Ward Beecher at the Allen county courthouse Referring to this experience, the celebrated divine wrote in 1877, in the Christian Union, following a lecture tour which brought him again to Fort Wayne :


"Surely, we thought, in the far north of the state of Indiana, through whose wilderness we used to ride along a mere bridle patlı, and even by 'blazes' on the trees, we should find something to remind us of old times. Alas! no. There is no old Fort Wayne here. But sitting down on the overlaid village is a brick city, with all modern improvements. A stately courthouse stands upon the square where of old stood the little courthouse where we preached two thundering weeks and gathered the Second Presbyterian church."


Hugh McCulloch, in his "Men and Measures of Half a Century," tells of the visit of Dr. Lyman Beecher, who, while on his way to Fort Wayne by way of the Miami canal, in Ohio, found that the slow schedule of the boats would fail to place him in Fort Wayne in time for the installation ceremony; so he hired a horse and rode


382


THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


from St. Mary's. He was about eighty years of age at the time.


Succeeding pastors of Westminster church were Isaac Taylor, Mr. Smith, Amzi W. Freeman, Daniel Blood, Mr. Ray, Eleroy Curtis, George O. Little, W. J. Erdman, Joseph Hughes, W. H. McFarlane, John M. Fulton, J. M. Leeper, J. Budman Fleming, W. H. Wilson, J. Clair Leech, A. R. Evans and T. Pliny Potts.


8


ARROW


SHOWS THE


LOCATION OF ABOVE SCENE


RIDG


-E


OGE


BLUFFSS


BRIDGE


W.


ROCK


HILL


OLD WATER - POWER


RESERVOIR


FT. W. & N. 1. POWER


HOUSE


AVE.


ELIZABETH


ST.


N. CLINTON ST.


ARROW SHOWS THE


LOCATION


OF THE


00ml


SCENE


W


m


ON THE


LEFT


SPY RUN


1913


THE CRUMBLING RUINS OF THE CANAL IN FORT WAYNE.


There are but few reminders of the existence of the Wabash and Erie canal within the limits of the city of Fort Wayne. The upper sketch shows the last remaining piece of masonry that formed a part of the abutment of the canal aqueduct which crossed the St. Mary's river at the point of the location of the present New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate) railroad bridges. The stone work is on the west bank of the river, directly between the two railroad bridges. A-The canal stone work. B and C-The abutments of the railroad bridges. The lower sketch shows the last remaining portion of the aqueduct which conveyed the waters of the feeder canal across Spy Run creek, near Clinton street. The two maps indicate the location of the points described.


.


MAIN ST.


SST ROUTE


JOSEPH R.


FEDER CANAL


SPY RUN CREEK


383


MIAMIS TAKEN TO THE WEST


1844 1845


With fourteen charter members, St. John's Reformed church was also brought into existence in 1844. Rev. J. M. Karoll was the first pastor, succeeded by J. A. Beyer, B. F. Altomatt, J. Bossard, H. Bentz, J. H. Klein, F. R. Schwedes, A. Krahn, Carl Schaaf and John H. Bosch.


JOHN M. WALLACE, MAYOR.


The voters of Fort Wayne again elected Henry Lotz to the office of mayor in 1844.1 The business of Mr. Lotz as a contractar occupied such a large amount of his time that he was unable to attend with any degree of regularity the sessions of the council of which he was the presiding officer. On the 22d of June, therefore, he tendered his resignation. The council, however, on the 1st of July, because of the non-receipt of the mayor's communication, had declared the office of mayor vacant on account of "the neglect and absence of the nominal incumbent."


John M. Wallace was chosen at a special election to assume the duties of mayor. Mr. Wallace completed the unfinished term of Mr. Lotz, and was made the choice of the voters in the spring of 1845.


President Polk, in 1845, chose William Stewart to serve as postmaster of Fort Wayne. The office was established in a building on Calhoun street, between Columbia and Main streets, and, later, it was removed to Calhoun street, between Main and Berry streets.


Prior to 1845 the rate of postage on a letter for thirty miles was 61/4 cents; over thirty and under eighty miles, 10 cents ; over eighty and under 150 miles, 121/2 cents; over 150 and under 400 miles, 183/4 cents; over 400 miles, 25 cents. The rates were four times this figure if the letter weighed more than an ounce.


"On a large proportion of the letters received from the seaboard states at the Fort Wayne branch bank prior to 1845 the postage was $1.00 and upwards," says Charles McCulloch, former president of the Hamilton National bank. "In 1845 the rates were reduced 50 per cent., a reduction which, according to the predictions of the opponents of the measure in congress, would bankrupt the postoffice department, if not the treasury. I remember," continues Mr. McCulloch, "that when I first went into the branch bank all the letter paper was of the thinnest and lightest character, and that many letters were so written that the sheets could be folded, sealed with sealing wax and directed without the use of envelopes."


THE CAMPAIGN OF 1844.


Daniel Geary, of Kansas City, writing a communication to the Fort Wayne Daily News in September, 1916, recalls that in the presidential campaign of 1844, the whigs built a log cabin 12 by 15 feet in size and placed it on trucks to be drawn in torchlight pro- cessions by thirty-two yoke of oxen. Both the whigs and the demo- crats erected a number of "liberty" poles on land south of the old fort, each trying to outdo the other in the matter of erecting the loftiest pole. Among the campaign "tricks" was that played on Dr. L. G. Thompson, whig candidate for congress, by his political enemies, who shaved the hair from the tail of his handsome white riding horse which eliminated him as a factor in the campaign. At


1


384


THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


that time, it was the custom of political leaders to "give public dinners with tables two or three blocks long, and all were invited to partake to their heart's content, and good food in abundance was served."


Allen county gave Henry Clay, whig, 861 votes, and James K. Polk, democrat, 849.


THE PRESBYTERIAN ACADEMY.


The Presbyterian academy, established in 1845 by Mrs. Lydia Sykes and housed in a small building which occupied the site of the present old high school building on the north side of East Wayne street, between Calhoun and Clinton streets, was allowed to decline some time afterward on account of the illness of the founder; but in 1853, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, of the First Presbyterian church, suc- ceeded in reviving the institution.


The academy was governed by a board of trustees apart from the trustees of the church. A one-story frame building, with a hall, cloak room and two school rooms, separated by folding doors which, on occasion, were thrown open to provide one large assembly room, accommodated this pioneer institution. The class-rooms were sup- plied with good desks and were well lighted and ventilated. The first teachers were Henry McCormick and Jacob W. Lanier, both college graduates. George A. Irvin, a graduate of Hanover college, and later superintendent of the public schools, who had been in charge of a ladies' seminary at Paris, Kentucky, succeeded to the management of the school. Among the remembered students are Dr. Gorrell, David Kirkpatrick and Platt Squires. In 1867 the prop- erty was transferred to the city school board and it became a part of the public school system.


Of the other private schools of the period those of Miss Susan Clark (Mrs. S. S. Morss), Miss Waugh, Miss Sophie Henderson (Mrs. Lasselle), Miss Lotz (Mrs. Rowan) and W. H. and Margaret Carson exerted a wide influence.


ACTIVITIES OF 1844.


The growing fame of Fort Wayne attracted hundreds of new citizens during 1844. Among these may be mentioned Lemuel R. Hartman (born in Wooster, Ohio, in 1838), who came with his parents, Dr. and Mrs. D. P. Hartman, and rose to prominence in banking circles; R. Morgan French (born at Norwich, Connecticut, in 1822), contractor, woollen mill owner and hardware merchant; Isaac Lauferty (born in France, in 1820), councilman, merchant and banker; B. W. Oakley, from New York, hardware merchant; Colonel Chauncey B. Oakley (born in Delaware county, New York, in 1833), councilman, mayor and active in many enterprises; Claude F. Eme (born in France, in 1831), dry goods merchant; Joseph K. Edgerton (born in Vergennes, Vermont, in 1818), prominent attorney and a foremost promoter of railroad development in the west; Fred- erick W. Stellhorn (born in Hanover, Germany, in 1818), active in many enterprises ; A. C. Beaver (born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1822), lumber dealer ; F. C. Brase (born in Loh, Germany, in 1821), canal captain and owner of a trucking business; John P. Tinkham, Joseph Falls and Ambrose W. Kintz, from Ohio; S. W. Chase, from


L


385


MIAMIS TAKEN TO THE WEST


1844 1845


New York; Delphos Martin, from France, and Isaac Blystone, from Pennsylvania. Honors were conferred as follows by elec- tion and appointment of Fort Wayne citizens to public office in 1844: Edward F. Colerick, county recorder, and clerk of the circuit court; William Rockhill, state senator; Christian Parker, state representative (upon the retirement of Mr. Parker, John M. Wallace was named to fill the vacancy) ; Governor Whitcomb appointed George Johnson judge of the probate court to succeed Samuel Stophlet, resigned. A. B. Craft opened a portrait studio.


William B. Walter served as the principal of a school- St. Augustine's Institute-constructed in connection with St. Augus- tine's Catholic church. Joseph Graff taught some of the classes. The course of study included French, German, drawing and paint- ing.


ACTIVITIES OF 1845.


Among the men of note who settled in Fort Wayne during 1845 and attained prominence in political, banking and educational circles were Pliny Hoagland, from Ohio; William Yergens (born in Prussia in 1828), lumber and cooperage manufacturer; John G. Maier (born in Betzenstein, Germany, in 1810), merchant, postmaster, township


State of


Indiana.


On demand, we promise to pay to RICHARD ROE, or Bearer, FIVE DOLLARS, to Merchandise, then presented at our Store, Itwayve -


in


aug 12 1644 Ssmith


State of


Indiana.


On demand, we promise to pay to RICHARD ROE. or. Bearer.


D OLLARS 9 In Merchandise, when presented at our Store, Ir wayne in


aug 12 104 Admith


PRIVATE CURRENCY OF THE FORTIES.


Herewith are reproduced two private bills used by a Fort Wayne mercantile establish- ment twenty years before the civil war. Similar forms of paper money were in common use at the time. These well-preserved relics are in the collection of James Trythall, of Fort Wayne.


386


THE PICTORIAL HISTORY OF FORT WAYNE


trustee and active in many lines of endeavor; Hugh B. Reed, from Ohio, druggist and a brigadier general in the civil war; Elza Mc- Mahon, from Ohio, prosecuting attorney and judge of the circuit court ; Elias Habecker (born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1826), contractor; Frank Pevert, from France, and F. W. Antrup, from


DR. CHARLES E. STURGIS.


Dr. Sturgis was born in Queen Anne county, Maryland, in 1815. After his graduation from the Ohio Medical col- lege he resided at Richmond and later at Logansport, Ind., after which period he located in Fort Wayne and engaged in the practice of medicine for thirty years. He represented Allen county in both houses of the legislature, and served for a long period as a member of the school board. In 1868 he represented the Fort Wayne district as its delegate to the national democratic convention in New York. His death occurred in 1869. The portrait is from a photograph loaned by the late William E. Hood.


JOHN G. MAIER


Mr. Maier came to Fort Wayne in 1845 from Circleville, Ohio, and engaged in the retail trade in a store on Columbia street. For many years Mr. Maier


served as township trustee, and in 1853 was appointed postmaster of the city. Mr. Maier made and sold the first ice cream in Fort Wayne; he raised the first home-grown strawberries, and made and sold the first grape wine. The first toys offered for sale in Fort Wayne appeared in Mr. Maier's store. The photograph was loaned by Mr. Maier's daughters, Mrs. Georgia Meriwether and Mrs. Eliza- beth J. Dawson.


JOSEPH K. EDGERTON.


Joseph K. Edgerton, who rose to high prominence in the political and railroad history of the middle west, was born at Vergennes, Vt., in 1818. Following his attendance at Plattsburg academy, Mr. Edgerton was admitted to the bar of New York city. In 1844, he removed to Fort Wayne and established a law prac- tice in partnership with former Gov- ernor Samuel Bigger. Later he was a law partner of Charles Case. He be- came interested in the construction of the first railroads and in 1854 was made a director of the Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad, an honor which was followed the next year by his selection as pres- ident of the road, to succeed Samuel Hanna. In 1856 he became a director of the Ohio & Indiana road and a leader in the movement to consolidate the prop- erties which now comprise the Penn- sylvania system west of Pittsburgh. Upon the consummation of the plan he was made vice-president of the new com- pany. From this time forward he was a prominent factor in the life of the middle west, being called to fill many positions of importance, including that of president of the Grand Rapids & In- diana railroad, and a member of con- gress. He became one of the largest land-owners of the region and was finan- cially interested in many of the lead- ing manufacturing and banking insti- tutions.


387


MIAMIS TAKEN TO THE WEST


1844 1845


New York. . Harmony lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized, the charter bearing the names of H. Durrie, G. Wilson, T. K. Brackenridge, S. Carey Evans and H. P. Ayres. Summit encampment, No. 16, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was granted a charter on the application of Moses Drake, Jr., Sigmund Redelsheimer, M. Blake, H. B. Reed, Thomas J. Robin- son, Milton Henry, William H. D. Lewis, Benjamin Saunders and F. Nirdlinger. W. and J. Paul established a chair factory.


Henry Hitzfield engaged in the manufacture of "seraphims" and organs. Sterns Fisher was chosen superintendent of the canal, with headquarters at Fort Wayne. The first Catholic school was established in 1845, in Cathedral square, when Rev. Julian Benoit brought from Vigo county a number of Sisters of Providence.


NOTE ON CHAPTER XXX.


(1) Minor city officials elected in


1844 were: Clerk, William Lytle; treasurer, Oliver W. Jefferds (succeed- ed by Robert Lowry); attorney, Sam- uel Bigger (succeeded by J. W. Daw- son) ; engineer, Ochmig Bird; fire chief, Thomas Pritchard; marshal and street commissioner, William Stewart; as- sessor, S. M. Black; councilmen, Mor- gan Lewis (resigned, succeeded by S. M. Black), S. H. Shoaff, Henry Wil- liams, Oliver S. Silver, John Cochrane


and J. B. Dubois. The board of health was composed of Drs. Charles A. Schmitz, Lewis Beecher and Lewis G. Thompson.


In 1845 the city officials, aside from mayor, were: Clerk, O. P. Morgan; treasurer, Oliver W. Jefferds; attorney, John W. Dawson; marshal and collect- or, W. B. Wilkinson; assessor, W. H. Prince; councilmen, S. M. Black, Philo Rumsey, H. W. Jones, James Humph- rey, Charles Paige and J. B. Dubois.


1


CHAPTER XXXI-1846-1847.


Troops to Mexico-Methodist College-Concordia.


Allen county sends three companies of volunteers to the Mexican war- Troops take their entire passage by water-Founding of the Methodist college-Its development and disappearance-Lutheran Male Academy- Concordia college-The Hedekin house, a well-known hotel of canal days -- Merchant W. Huxford, mayor-The third courthouse is erected on the public square-Beginning of the end of the Wabash and Erie canal- "White dog," "blue dog" and "blue pup"-A story of disappointment and despair-The last of the waterway.




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