USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II > Part 65
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
On account of the unfavorable location and the long distance people from the northern part of the county had to travel to attend, the three counties of Scott, Jefferson, and the upper por- tion of Clark began to hold a fair within a short distance of New Washington. It was kept in running order as a consolidated exhibition for ten or twelve years. In the meantime Charles- town had been favored again by the presence of the old fair ; and this proved to the cause of the suspension of the fair at New Washington.
For a number of years the society was finan- cially unprofitable. Fifteen acres of land under its control were mortgaged, and many other things made decidedly against its success. Practically, the Clark County Agricultural society was dead. The property was worth perhaps $3,000. Shares in the society were valued at $100 each. In the midst of these unfavorable circumstances Mr. M. P. Alpha, a gentleman who had always contributed largely of his means and ability, bought the old property, and re- organized what is now the Clark County Central Agricultural association. Its fairs are held here yearly. People bring their grains, fine stock, farming implements, household goods, and fabrics to exhibit, and to see each other in discussion of all the facts and fancies of agricultural life.
WAR RECORD.
Were we to follow all the Indian skirmishes of olden time; the organization of State militia for English and Mexican wars; the equipment of the soldier boys for the late Rebellion, and the exciting times caused by John Morgan's raid, enough matter would be obtained to form a good-sized history by itself. The devotion of Charlestown's citizens to the cause of liberty and the preservation of the Union was never doubted. She had a class of men who knew the price of freedom from experience-who had felt the In- dian's scalping-knife, had dodged the deadly ar- row-if such a thing were possible-and seen the tomahawk fly through the air with the pre- cision of a modern rifleman's bullet ; who had seen the savage stand in the court-house yard and reel in drunkenness on Main and Market streets; who had fought Indians in sight of Tulleytown and at Pigeon Roost. Young men and women of to-day turn away with a shudder, wondering that such atrocities could have been
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perpetrated in a land of so much present pros- perity.
Perhaps there was never another man in Clark's Grant who so narrowly escaped with his life as the Rev. George K. Hester. His father, John Mathias Hester, was born in Hanover, Ger- many, July 4, 1767. The family settled at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1772, consisting of father, mother, and three children. When about nineteen years of age George K. Hester took passage on a flatboat for the then far West. In those days it was no uncommon thing for lurking savages to fire on the whites as they floated to- ward the gulf. During the passage Mr. Hester had several narrow escapes; but it was after landing near where Louisville now stands that he was almost miraculously saved. While in the woods of Kentucky a party of Indians attacked his party, and after leaving him for dead he man- aged to gain a place of refuge and finally to re- gain his health. Some time during the bloody tragedy Mr. Hester was struck with a weapon on the back of his head, which rendered him un- conscious; but during the time of taking his scalp he was entirely conscious of everything which transpired. He never fully recovered from the effects of his wound, and it was the ultimate cause of his death thirty years after- wards. John Mathias Hester, his father, died at his residence near Charlestown on the 22d of November, 1823. Eighteen months after his son's misfortune George married Miss Susannah Huckleberry, to whom he was engaged before his injury.
The practical patriotism of Charlestown during the late war, as manifested by liberal enlistments and otherwise, is sufficiently illustrated in our military record of Clark and Floyd counties. It . may there be seen that she did her duty in the great crisis. An interesting incident occurred here on the 9th of April, 1863, in the sale at auction of a considerable tract of land and some railway stock, confiscated by the United States Government, as the property of Colonel William Preston, of Kentucky, who had gone into the service of the Confederate States.
But let us shift the scene. The history of Charlestown village and township has been traced from aboriginal times down to the present day. The hamlet has passed through stormy
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
years, but is now entering a period of quiet and satisfactory ease. Its most prosperous days have been passed, and it now lives the life of a retired and respectable county-seat.
OTISCO.
Going north on the Ohio & Mississippi branch from Charlestown, the traveler passes through a somewhat broken country. The soil is not like the fine bottoms of Utica. It is of a yellowish tinge, and though it generally produces very well, the drouth of 1881 reduced crops to less than one-half their usual yield. An ugly growth of forest-trees is conspicuous-beech of a knotty nature, ash that looks out of place, and scrubby oak, prevail. About half-way between Charles- town and Otisco the railroad passes through a cut of fine slate-stone. On the cliff stands an old Catholic church, a frame building much out of repair, which was erected in 1854. Across the railroad in a northerly course, an old German graveyard is partly walled in by a stone fence, while the briars and bushes seem to have taken possession of the ground. If the locomotive had failed to pass through this section, it would soon go the way of other old places, having hardly enough enterprise to give it prominence. Land ranges from a low figure upwards according to improvements.
The site of Otisco was formerly owned by Thomas Cowling; but after his death his son Samuel inherited the property. They were of English extraction, and came here almost fifty years ago, when the upper part of the township was a dense forest. Immediately after the rail- road was built, which was in 1854, the village was laid out. During its twenty-seven years of inactive life, there have been no taverns-nothing to afford food and shelter but a private residence. The town has two churches-Methodist Episco- pal and German Unitarian, the former having services every three weeks. There is also preach- ing every now and then by United Brethren preachers.
One thing worthy of note is the attention given to education. A handsome school build- ing stands in the eastern part of the village, where the surrounding country children, in con- nection with those in the hamlet, get the rudi- ments and otherwise learn to lay a foundation for a successful education.
There is in active running order a saw-mill and stave factory combined, owned, and operated by Mr. D. S. Conner.
S. W. Evans carries on an extensive cooper shop and heading-mill, and runs also a set of buhrs for grinding corn and buckwheat. .
The present physician is Jacob Somerville, and the school teachers are George Badger and Belle Enlow. A German burying-ground is situated near the Unitarian church. In the vil- lage there are two hundred and thirty-four peo- ple, mostly Germans.
Otisco's first postmaster was Hiram Ne- ville. The second and present officer is C. P. Maloy. Their storekeepers were Milo Lit- tell, Barzilla Guernsey, Martin Hartz. Now there are two stores, of which S. W. Evans and John Maloy are proprietors.
REMOVAL OF THE COUNTY SEAT.
We have now reached a portion of history which will perhaps never be satisfactorily settled. It touches the private interests of so many prominent men that even if the most impartial judge should decide its validity, objection would be made to his decision. In the matter of which we now speak there will follow a candid statement of facts as the writer found them to exist while collecting historical information.
The commissioners of Clark's Grant at first held their sessions at Louisville. When Clarks- ville was laid out the seat of justice was changed to that place. On the 7th of April, 1801, Springville was made the place of holding court. In the meantime the present town of Jefferson- ville was pushed into existence, and on June 9, 1802, the courts of the Grant were taken to the town of Ohio Falls. Here they were kept for ten years. Charlestown at this time attracting considerable attention, on account of its rapid growth and central location, became anxious to have the courts held within its boundaries. Hence, on December 14, 1812, the county seat was taken to this place, where it remained until October 30, 1878, when it was once more taken to Jeffersonville.
While the county seat was at Springville, Samuel Gwathmey was appointed clerk of the court of quarter sessions of the peace and of the orphans' court; Jesse Rowland was probate judge; Peter McDonald, coroner; Samuel Hay,
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
sheriff; Marston G. Clark, surveyor; Thomas Downs, treasurer; David Floyd, recorder. On May 26, 1802, Benjamin Park, the forerunner of all lawyers in southern Indiana, was licensed to practice law. In 1803 the first regular Falls pilots were appointed, David Floyd and John Owens being their names. While the courts were held in Jeffersonville everything in the county worked harmoniously. It was considered fair that the county seat should be changed, by most people in the Grant, to a more convenient situation.
The first and original court-house in . Charles- town was built of brick, erected in 1813. For many years it served all the wants of a new county. At the time of the Pigeon Roost mas- sacre the people placed around it a line of pickets for self-preservation, but no serious at- tempt was made to molest the citizens. During the interim between 1813 and 1819 there was no regular jail; a sort of calaboose was. used to in- carcerate prisoners. February 26, 1819, the county commissioners advertised for bids to build a jail. The notices were circulated through the Indiana Intelligencer, a paper in existence at that time. All the necessary out- buildings were to be included with the jail, such as barn, corn-cribs, and so on, which the jailor would actually need. Bids were received and a comfortable and well supplied jail and out-build- ings were erected by Daniel P. Faulkner.
Thirty-odd years ago the original court-house was replaced by a new and larger building. It yet stands, and is now used for school purposes.
Such is the history of material things relating to county seat matters. But during the sixty-six years while Charlestown remained the county seat, there had sprung up the more prosperous and larger town of Jeffersonville, which envied the old village her only great possession. Several times moves had been made to have the courts held at Jeffersonville, but the indignation in the northern part of the county was so violent that every attempt signally failed. It was not till the Ist of January, 1876, that notice was given through the columns of the Charlestown Record that the county seat would soon be changed, and that the people must prepare to accept the situa- tion gracefully. The Record is a paper of fifteen hundred subscribers, is edited and owned by William F. Ferrier, and was established in r869.
From this time thenceforward there was a sea of turbulence ; the two sections boiled with rage, and all manner of intrigue was practiced to secure the desired end. February 12th, the citizens of Charlestown and vicinity assembled in mass meeting to protest against the outrage, as they held it. Colonel Thomas Carr was chosen chairman, and Dr. C. Hay, secretary. A number of spirited addresses were made, and tremendous excitement prevailed. Mr. W. S. Ferrier offered the following resolution :
Resolved, That all members of this meeting make use of all honorable means to retain the county seat at Charlestown. That we throw into the scales our united efforts of influence and labor, and such financial aid as may be necessary.
The Indianapolis Sentinel of the same date says:
They are having a lively war in Clark county over the re- moval of the county seat from Charlestown to Jeffersonville. Jeffersonville makes an offer of $30,000 for the privilege of hav- ing the courts held there, but the balance of the county pro- tests. Clark is one of our largest counties, and not being well provided with good roads, it is not probable the farming community will consent to have the county-seat removed farther from the center.
The New Albany Ledger-Standard of February 15, 1876, says editorially :
Clark county is again thrown into a perfect turmoil of ex- citement on the county-seat question. These things used to come up every few years in some shape, but it was thought that when the Ohio & Mississippi railroad built a branch through Charlestown the question would at least be settled for many years. But it seems that Jeffersonville is deter- inined to make one more effort with what success is yet to be determined. Jeffersonville is on the verge of bankruptcy, all her manufactories and mercantile interests are paralyzed, and she cannot carry much greater burden. If it is true-which is doubtful, to say the least of it-that she has raised $30,000 and deposited to the credit of the commissioners, how much of it will be left by the time she has paid for petitions; paid the expenses of inevitable law suits; paid for the present Court- house and County jail, and paid for removing the offices ? She will find her $30, 000 well-nigh expended before a single stone is laid in the foundation.
The anti removal committee, which had been appointed at the Charlestown mass-meeting, pre- sented the following remonstrance to the citizens of the county:
Jeffersonville has her emissaries in every township and neighborhood in the county, and some even outside of the county and State, securing names to petitions by every means, fair and foul. When argument fails, money and whiskey are freely used. When legal signatures are not to be had, those of women and non-residents are put in their place. We may expect more names presented to the com- missioners than the statutes require. It behooves the tax- payers and citizens of the county to stand by their rights, and to demand and enforce a legal investigation of all the questions involved in this important matter.
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
For some time after the first outburst the court-house question was not discussed pub- licly, on account of local politics. On Monday, March 3, 1876, the county commissioners re- assembled, to continue the consideration of the removal question. A large number of citizens from Jeffersonville, and people from the sur- rounding country, were in attendance. A mo- tion was made to strike out the fictitious names in the petitions ; which was lost. At this a ter- rible storm of indignation burst forth, which threatened to disperse the meeting. After the excitement had somewhat subsided, the title of the ground which Jeffersonville promised to give was ably discussed. On Thursday following an agreement was made to adjourn informally till April roth, allowing the board to meet in the meantime and consider evidence which might have been collected, but not to arrive at any definite conclusion. At the expiration of the month the commissioners met again. They finally decided that the right of removal be- longed to the majority of the citizens. This virtually settled the matter. From this time till the records were actually taken to Jeffersonville the people considered the question settled. Charlestown accepted her inevitable fate with resignation. Citizens residing in the townships of Oregon, Washington, Bethlehem, Owen, Monroe, and Wood, considered the change an outrage. They were compelled to take two days in many instances to pay taxes or to answer a summons. But county seat quarrels are always productive of trouble. People in one part of the county mistrust those in the other, and hence hand down to generations a feeling similar to that which formerly existed between the North and the South.
NOTICES OF CHARLESTOWN.
This place, although in the interior, and for nearly all its long career off the great thorough- fares of travel, has not been wholly neglected by travelers and writers of gazetteers. Mr. Palmer, the Englishman who journeyed through the Ohio valley in 1817, has this to say in his subsequent book of Travels in the United States:
Charleston, the seat of justice for Clark county, is situ- ated in the centre of a rich and thriving settlement, thirty- two miles southwest from Madison, two miles from the Ohio river, and fourteen from the Falls. This village, like many others in the Western country, has sprung up suddenly by the
magical influence of American enterprise, excited into action by a concurrence of favorable circumstances.
The following notice of the place is contained in Dana's Geographical Sketches on the Western Country, published in 1819:
Charlestown, the county-seat of Clark, is situated two miles from the Ohio, twenty miles south of west from Madi- son, and fourteen miles above the Falls. It is one of the most flourishing and neatly built towns in the State; contains about one hundred and sixty houses, chiefly of brick, a hand- some court-house, and is inhabited by an industrious class of citizens. There are numerous plantations around this town, consisting of good land, and better cultivated, perhaps, than any in the State. This tract is within the grant made by the State of Virginia to the orave soldiers, etc., etc.
The village further receives the following notice in the Indiana Gazetteer, or Topographical Dictionary, for 1833:
CHARLESTOWN, a post-town and seat of justice of Clark county, situated on a high table-land between the waters of Fourteen-mile creek and those of Silver creek, about two and a half miles from M'Donald's ferry, on the Ohio river, from which there is a direct road and well improved to the town, thirteen miles from the Falls of the Ohio and one hun- dred and six miles south-southeast of Indianapolis. It is surrounded by a body of excellent farming lana, in a high state of cultivation. Charlestown contains about eight hun- dred inhabitants, seven mercantile stores, one tavern, six lawyers, four physicians, three preachers of the gospel, and craftsmen of almost all descriptions. The public buildings are a court-house, a jail, an office for the clerk and recorder, and a market-house, all of brick; in addition to which the Episcopal Methodists, the Reformed Methodists, the Bap- tists, and the Presbyterians have meeting-houses, all of brick, and an extensive brick building has lately been erected for the purpose of a county seminary. In the immediate vicinity of the town a flouring-mill and oil-mill have been recently erected, which are propelled by steam power. The situation is healthy, and supplied with several springs of excellent water. There are in Charlestown about sixty-five brick dwell- ing-houses, and about one hundred of wood. There are also carding-machines, propelled by horse- or ox-power.
CHAPTER XXI. MONROE TOWNSHIP.
ORGANIZATION.
Monroe is a township lying in the northwestern corner of Clark county. The first mention made in the records of this, the second largest town- ship in the county, which has over thirty-five thousand acres, is under date of January 1, 1827, when Andrew McCombe and I. Thomas were appointed fence-viewers. Previously, and
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
in fact for a number of years afterwards, the boundaries were indefinite. The surface pre- cluded strictly established lines. It was known that the upper side of the township bordered on the line between Scott and Clark counties, and that the south side was adjacent to Charlestown township. Beyond this there seemed to be no fixed boundaries. The west side was described as "extending to the county line," but even that line was imaginary. On the dividing line be- tween Wood and Monroe there was no dispute. That question was settled in 1816, when the former township was organized. The reason why boundary lines were so indefinitely located was in the hilly surface, poor soil, few settlements, and general unimportance of the township. On its first organization it went by the name of Col- lins township; and it was only in 1827 that its name was permanently settled. It was probably named in honor of President Monroe, who had only vacated his office a few years before ; or, what is more likely, the township name was changed about the year 1826, but no mention of it was made in the records until a year after, when we find record of the two men above named as fence-viewers.
TOPOGRAPHY.
The surface of Monroe township is diversified in the extreme. It reaches from the low bot- toms to the highest knobs in the county. It is about twelve miles long by six wide, lying in part in the famous Silver Creek valley. It was the great hunting-ground of the savage, rendered so on account of its excellent cover for all kinds of game. The early settlers saw many remains of the wigwam in this valley, though much decayed.
Says Rev. Mr. Guernsey, of Henryville:
These knobs have their peculiarities. Standing upon the highest peak, such as Round Top, so called on account of its small round top, and being cut off from the main chain, one can see to the Ohio river and Louisville without any obstruc- tion, and so far as the vision can extend. On a summer day the writer was on this knob, when his attention was called to a beautiful scene below. The sun was shining with all its brilliancy, but a little below where I stood there was spread out toward the south a cloud which looked as level as a house-floor. I had often looked on the under side of clouds, but never before had it been my privilege to see the upper side. As I stood there a heavy shower of rain fell, and I could distinctly hear the thunder and see the flash of the lightning.
Round Top knob differs from the other high elevations, by not being in the chain ; and in its ascent it differs in its irregu- lar rise by steps, or one rise after another, each one getting
higher than the last until the summit is gained. Then there is a dividing ridge running down from it, between two branches of Blue Lick creek, which finally end in the level ground below. About midway there is a barren waste where sound scarcely ever falls upon the ear from bird or beast. There desolation reigns, while unmistakable signs of some- thing having the appearance of art is plainly to be seen, which has never been satisfactorily explained to the writer. Some have called them buffalo stamps, but what have these animals had to do with the barren spot? Being on the southwest side of a white oak ridge, with now and then a scrabby tree, and the ground dry and hard, with excava- tions at least a foot deep, much like the removal of the earth for the foundation of a house, as smooth and level as human hands could make it, they must certainly have been made by some race of people. Then there are trenches or paths about a foot wide and deep, running from one of these larger ones to another, all over the hillside, with such regularity as no beasts would be likely to make.
The northern side of the township is com- monly called the Summit. The knobs terminate here, to a certain extent, in a sort of table-land. On the east side the surface is rather hilly, and in many places totally unfit for anything except grazing. Around the village of Henryville the general appearance is pleasing, while the knobs in the west render the scene grand and pictur- esque. There is no township in the county, which has so many diversities of surface; and from these diversities naturally springs a soil of various degrees of fertility.
On the farm of Thomas Montgomery, on other branches of Silver creek, there are strong indications of silver. The stratum is about four feet below the surface, and spreads out over several hundred acres. The ore has been ana- lyzed and found to be of considerable richness, but not in sufficient quantities to pay for mining. The region round about is wild and uninviting, and the soil cold and stubborn.
These facts, extracted from the geological surveys of Clark county, show, better than any attempt of a stranger, the nature of the soil.
Monroe township has several sulphur springs of note; among them is one on the farm of John Stewart, north of Henryville. But it is in the Blue Lick country that these waters have gained the greatest prominence. The water is composed mainly of epsom salts, magnesia, and tincture of iron. It has qualities well adapted to scrofula, and among numerous cases has never been known to fail. The sulphur springs, how- ever, will be treated more fully in the history of Carr township.
In the eastern part of Monroe there are salt
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springs on one of the tributaries of Silver creek. Many of the early settlers made salt here during the first few years of the present century.
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