Adams County, Indiana - The whole text, 1907 (part 6 of 16)

The Town Of Monroe

The town of Monroe is situated at the center of the county, seven miles west of the Ohio state line. At various times it has fanned itself with the hope of being the county seat of Adams county. With this idea it was platted, witii eighty lots, on the line between Monroe and Washington townships by John Everhart. and the plat recorded on the nth day of December, 1847. Its four streets were Washington, Jackson, VanBuren and Polk streets. In the general election of 1850 the county seat location was a prominent issue. A feature of this election shows that it was an issue between the north and south ends of the county, and that the southern candidates for county offices were about all elected over their northern rivals, while in the county seat issue Decatur was the winner. In that election the highest number of votes was cast for coroner. Thomas W. Andrews, of the northern part of the county, received 586 votes, and was elected; that for state senator Samuel S. Mickle received 447 votes and was elected. All the other county officers were chosen from the south half of the county. Charles Nelson, of Wabash township, received 505 votes for county commissioner; John Mc- Connell, of southeast Monroe township, received 485 votes and was elected county auditor; Samuel Eley, of southeastern Monroe township, received 497 votes for enumerator and county assessor and was elected. David McDonald was elected sheriff by a vote of 461, while his opponent, the Whig candidate, Jacob Conkle, received 381 votes. Both of these candidates for sheriff !:vc(! in Wabash township. The vote on county seat location stood: For Decatur, 474 votes ; for Monroe, 343 votes ; for Monmotrth, 14 votes, and for Pleasant Mills, 2 votes. After the county seat subject was abandoned, a part of the recorded plat was vacated by order of the county commissioners. One of the principal streets of the town al this time is Jackson street. This is an east and west street, and on this the greater number of the business houses of the town are located. When the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad was completed in 1871 Monroe had but two or three houses. The first frame house in this town was built in 1871 by Dr. Charles F. Rainier, who subsequently practiced medicine in Monroe and vicinity for more than twenty years. The first house built in the town was a two-room round log cabin, located on the south side of Jackson street near the present location of Joseph Hocker's drug store. It was built, it is said, along about 1853, by William Stockham, an ex-soldier of the war of 1812, and also an associate judge. Mr. Stockham was not only the first resident of Monroe, but was the first storekeeper. The wants of the neighborhood then were few, but he kept them on hand as far as possible. An old settler relates that the road to Stockham's store from Decatur ran in the direction of a snake track in the dust; that it nowhere ran straight; that the stock of goods usually kept by Mr. Stockham chiefly consisted of whisky, blind robins, dog-leg tobacco, ox yokes and ax handles; that he took in trade coon skins, beeswax, ginseng and maple sui':ir. Monroe has made much improvement since the fifties. One can get his tobacco and blind robinc, but must cross the corporation line to get his whisky, as the saloon is just outside the corporation. For a number of years Monroe was a great timber point. Lumber of various kinds was hauled here for shipment. Especially is this true of railroad ties, heading and staves. In 1872-73 Gilig & Hower started the first sawmill. Christ W. Hocker later put in a portable mill and later hoop machinery and a burr for chopping grain. As the country was developed the town grew in business interests, and a grain elevator was built to handle the grain marketed there. In 1847 Monroe was laid out as a town, but it was not until 1877 that it had a church building. Not that it had no church-going people, for it had, but that these were accommodated by attending the "twelve-cornered" log church that was a mile and a half south of Monroe. This church was built on the farm of Robert E. Smith, in section 9, in 1866, by the Methodist and United Brethren congregations and used by several other denominations. Some of the most active members in securing the construction of the church at Monroe were Bazil Hendricks, William and Philip Hendricks, David Reefy and James Davey. These were assisted by contributions of labor, lumber and cash from the prominent business men of the town and community. This structure was repaired and remodeled in 1904 and made much more convenient and greatly improved in its outward appearance. One of the principal advocates and managers of this improvement was Rev. Sprague, the local preacher. In 1887 the present brick graded school building was erected. This was the first school building in Monroe, and the second brick school house in the township. In 1902 another room was added and the building otherwise changed. This building was erected by Township Trustee Christ \Y. Hocker, an active merchant and timber man in Monroe in the eighties. It is now a graded school building and is located on Section Line street in the east part of town. The town of Monroe has never experienced any very extensive fires. Its most destructive occurred in the spring of 1905. Then Keller Brother's general store, Shelby Ray's drug store and residence and postoffice room and A. B. Bailey's general store building, with most of the contents, were destroyed by fire. A short time later, in the same year, Peter Kesler's blacksmith shop, J- W. Hendrick's residence and Mrs. Waggoner's house were destroyed. As to the causes of these fires, there has been more or less speculation. But one common agreement is that Monroe has been ben- by some new buildings that add a much more prosperous appearance to the village. The first fire of much consequence in this town was perhaps in 1887, when the -general store building belonging to Christ W. Hocker was burned. This was rebuilt, but was burglarized a number of times. In one case the burglars were caught and held by their captors with empty guns till the burglars drew loaded revolvers, backed out and escaped in the darkness. On the 17th day of April, 1905, the town of Monroe was incorporated. The result of the election was the selection of John Hendricks, Jonathan Burkhead and Hazel J. Andrews for town trustees; for town clerk and treasurer cornmined, John F. Hocker; for town marshal,

Peter Kesler. The highest vote received in this election was forty-two votes for marshal. In the general election of 1905 the following named officers were elected : John Hendricks, W. S. Smith, and L. F.. Lobenstine, for town trustees; for clerk and treasurer combined, M. L. Oliver and J. F. Hocker each received thirty-one votes; the tie vote was broken by tossing coppers, and on the basis of "Heads I win and tails you lose" Marion L. Oliver was selected ; for town marshal, J. W. Fverhart (the present marshal is is Joseph Dentner). Since the town was incorporated it is taking on some new life. The Ray block on the north side of Jefferson street is a substantial structure with ample hall room on the second floor for any meetings that may be held in the town. The new bank buildinfr is under construction, and the town has a number of tasty tile block residences. It has g-otten well started in placing cement sidewalks over the village. Its business men have started the movement towards getting more and new business enterprises to start up in the town. Stock is now selling to place a newspaper plant on its feet in Monroe, and a grist mill is already assured and' will soon lie built in the town. Among some of the other items of interest that may be named are : Church, 1 ; hotels, 2 ; restaurants, 1 ; drug store, 1 ; general stores, 3 ; hardware and implement store, 1 ; blacksmith shop, 1 ; tile and brick works, 1 ; lumber yard, 1 ; harness shop, 1 ; junk shop, 1 ; barber shop, 1 ; creamery, 1 ; coal yard, 1 ; dotcors, 2; grain elevator, 1.

The Oil Industry

1 1 was not until 18S8 that there was any definite assurance that Adams county was underlaid with oil. Along about this time companies were formed for the purpose of drilling for gas to be used for fuel and lights. The towns southwest, such as Anderson and Muncie, were then at the height of the natural gas booms. A little later than this wells were put down at Decatur, bin no oil or gas in any paying quantities were found. The first well showing plenty of oil was drilled north of Geneva near the northeast corner of section 29, township 25 north, range 14 east. This was on the land then owned by Reuben R. Bradford. This well was put down by Jack Adkinson at the instance of the Citizens' Gas Company of Geneva. As gas was not found in paying quantities; the well was abandoned. Within six years later a paying oil well was drilled within a few hundred feet from this and is at this time a producing well. Active operations in the' Geneva field began about the first of the year 1S92. The first well that started the tide toward Geneva was a well drilled in October, 1891, en the George Bolds land near the southwest corner of Adams county. This was a good producer and other wells were put down at once. On the 1st day of January, 1892, a well was put ui on the farm of George W. Shoemaker, About three miles west of Geneva. It was alsp a good producer. Then the oil fever <*'gan to raise. - Lands could not be bought " two and three times their previous values. il-r one one-hundred-and-twenty-acre farm »"li:ch before this the owner would have ll!>' sold for sixty dollars an acre he, in

1S95, refused twenty thousand dollars. This farm was then paying him a royalty of about five hundred dollars a month as his interest in the production. From a report made by the Buckeye Pipe Line Company in January, 1S96, which handled a greater part of the oil from the Geneva field, we take the following statement:

"At least there has been one thousand wells put down in this territory within the last three years. There are now six hundred and forty-four producing wells, as will be seen from the following table for November, 1895:

Oil at this time was selling at about seventy-five cents a barrel. That this district for the year at this rate would produce over one million five hundred thousand barrels of oil, which at seventy-five cents a barrel would make almost a million and a quarter dollars. There were a great many oil companies and they were changing from time to time. Some of the longest lived companies were the Northern Indiana Oil Company, the Superior Oil Company, the Devonian Oil Company, the Globe Oil Company, the Warren & Indiana Oil Company, the Geneva Oil Company, the Biack Brother Oil

Company, the Porter & Haskell Oil Company and the United Pipe Line Company. The principal oil territory in Adatns county is limited to Hartford, Wabash, Jefferson and Blue Creek townships. In Saint Mary's township a shale gas field was found on the farm of William H. Tceple, on the state line southeast of Pleasant Mills. A gas company -was organized and the product piped to Willshire, Ohio. But it soon became exhausted and the company dissolved, much the poorer and some wiser than when it began operations. The Blue Creek township oil field was a close rival of the Geneva field and some wells are said to have made a? much as five hundred barrels a day at the start.

The prospecting for oil is partly a matter of chance. On one eighty-acre lease a mile west of Geneva an experienced oil producer put down a well that to all appearances was entirely dry. He abandoned the tract and gave up the lease A new producer leased this land and the first well he put down was a hundred-barrel production. Four other wells were put down in close succession and .all were good producers. This lease was pumped for about five years and sold for ten thousand dollars. In Blue Creek township a well was put down that when it was completed had not the least indications of oil. The one contractor declared that so far as he was concerned the well might go to the hottest region known, that he wouldn't sink any more money in it ; that already he had sunk one thousand dollars with no prospect of ever gettiag a cent of it back. His partner said thai he would make one more sink just before he left it - that would be eighty quarts of nitfo-glyceriri - and see what it would do. The charge was put in and when the well was shot the oil flew high above the derrick and started off as a twohundred-and-fifty-baneh-a-day producer. In 1906-7 many of these wells ran so low that the casing was removed and the wells abandoned. The field at this time has a large number of active wells, but the production has greatly diminished. Two miles directly rwest Of the village of Ceylon is what are known as the "Twin wells." These are two wells that are about fifty feet from each other and right at the roadside. By pumping the one for ten or twelve hours the salt wafer could be lowered so that the oil could reach the pumps. Mr. J. H. Hardison, a philosophical producer, reasoned that if the pumping capacity was doubled that the salt water could be removed and then oil could be pumped all the time. With this belief the second wed was put down and both pumped at the same time. This was done and the desired result obtained. A careful observation of the operators in the Geneva field demonstrates the fact that the oil producers' risks are fully as great and even greater than similar investments in other lines of business. That a few two-hundredand-fifty-barrels-a-day wells soon made capitalists, but that a half dozen dry wells made bankrupts of some of them ; that the only real winners were the land owners upon whose properties the productive wells were operated. The Standard Oil Company located a pumping station at the village of Preble along about 1895. The object of this plant is to convey the raw production from the fields to the company's refineries at the various points. The pipe line from the Lima (Ohio) field to Preble and on to Chicago passes through the north part of Decatur. Another branch of this line reaches the

- inborn part of the county and is said to extend to the Casey oil fields in Illinois. The - umping station properties are immense in dimensions. The estimated valuation as assessed by the county assessor is one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for 1907. The Lima line has five pipes lying in the same trench. These pipes are six inches in diameter and carry an immense volume of oil. The grounds at present occupied by the I tumping station at Preble consist of about eighty acres, upon which is situated its pumping machinery, a large number of residences for its employes, a good-sized artificial lake of water to be used in case of fire, as well as for some other uses, and sixteen monstrous boiler-iron tanks, perhaps thirty or forty feet high and from one hundred and fifty to two bundled feet in diameter, which are roofed by conical covers of iron. It is said that the capacity of each of these tanks is about two hundred and forty thousand barrels of oil. A look at the tank field reminds one more of the show tents of some large aggregation like Barnum & Bailey's show than anything else. Along the lines there are occasional breaks that let the oil escape. When these are repaired the pools of oil are set on fire and the blue-black clouds of smoke rise hundreds of feel in height and resemble the destruction of a city in flames.

Stone And Gravel Roads

The question is frequently asked, when did this stone road building begin and who was the instigator of it in Adams county. It may have had several instigators, but he who is most 'entitled to be known as the "father of the stone road" system in Adams county is Samuel Doak, an ex-county commissioner. Long before he was chosen to h'l that very responsible office he was an advocate of better roads and more drainage. 'J lie roads and the drainage make this country what it now is as compared with what it was forty years ago. The chief hindrance to the road improvements at an early date Was the mistaken idea that there was no road-making material in the county and that !'» ship it in would be too expensive for the advantages derived. Perhaps the first att<-mpt toward pike-making was along about l,'7^. when the town trustees of Decatur contracted to have Monroe street graded and graveled. The gravel proved to be sand of too fine a texture to be of much value. It was hauled from the Daily farm in section 26, in Root township, about a mile from Decatur. This for a time checked the gravel road building in the north part of the county. The first gravel pikes of much value or extent were made in the southern part of the county. They extended west and northwest from Geneva and were begun about 1890. These were made of coarse gravel and were pretty good dry weather roads, but cut to pieces badly in the wet spring time. The old Piqua road was graveled about this time; it was perhaps the first good gravel road in the north part of the county. Later the township trustees would buy the gravel and the land tax of the citizens was worked out by hauling gravel on certain pieces of road as directed. In 18S8 the Rice & Bowers stone quarry north of Decatur began crushing stone for road purposes. There was a switch from the Grand Rapids & Indiana: tracks laid that the product might be shipped to other localities where stone roads were under construction. Several attempts to locate stone streets and roads were made, but they always resulted in failure until there was a joint petition gotten up including the townships of Washington and Kirkland with the adjoining township on the Wells county side. Daily Sr Mock as attorneys were employed to assist in getting the petitions in shape and having the proper elections advertised and held that when the decision at such elections was determined the will of the majority could be enforced. In Kirkland township David Steele took an active part in favor of the stone road project. as it ran past his farm. In Decatur John S. Bowers worked hard to secure its location, as he had stone to sell and wanted the road built. Joint petitions were filed and acted upon by the county boards ; the route as petitioned for and started at the west corporation line of Decatur, went a mile and threequarters, then south a half mile, then west two miles, then south four miles, then west to the county line at Couryviile and met the Bluffton division. In several attempts to vote a subsidy or tax for a stone road the majority was against the tax because there was no other issue before the election. The friends of the road waited to have the subsidy election held to a time near the holding of the general election, then this issue was made a part of the entire election and its advocates carried their issue by a fair majority. However, Kirkland township voted against the tax by about fifty majority.

This township was united in the petition with Washington, which, with its Decatui vote, won the issue. At that time a majority of the Adams county board of commissioners was absolutely opposed to such a measure as taxing the civil corporations through which the road was located for its construction, and as much as intimated that they would not permit it.

The line was surveyed and an estimate made of the construction placed it at thirtyfour thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars, or a little more than three thousand dollars a mile. Mr. Doak was the only county commissioner that favored making the tax lew for the construction of the road. About all the argument that the opposing part of the board would make was: "Veil, veil, to make dot rote vill broke everypody up." The attorneys for the petitioners threatened legal proceedings if the law regarding the result of the subsidy election was not speedily complied with. The levy was then made and the road built. The contractors for this road were Miller, Williams & Cavalt. After all the hustle and bustle for the subsidy the crushers here furnished but a part of the material for the road. The bulk of it came from Waterville, Ohio. In Adams county there are about seven hundred miles of public road. Of that amount there is about oneseventh gravel pike, and about a fifth, or one hundred and forty miles, of stoned road. Something near the average cost of the construction of this road is three thousand two hundred dollars a mile. Since the first stone road was built in the county there have been four separate stone quarries and crashers operated in the Decatur quarries. There are quarries at Big Blue creek southeast of Decatur, at Pleasant Mills and at Buena Vista.

AH of these furnish stone for road building. Running south from Decatur are three stone reads; a little way to the south they are .-ibout two miles apart and run to the southern part of the county. The center road connects Decatur with Geneva. There are many cross sections of stone road connecting these north and south roads, and the com- -missioners' court is crowded with petitions for new ones yet to be made. It now is a noticeable fact that those who were so alarmed lest everybody be broken up are now strongly in favor of good roads at the price they cost and would not have them removed from their premises for double the expense of building them. The lands through which these roads run are much higher in price than others and usually can find buyers at the figures asked for them. The methods of road building now are somewhat different from those used at the time the first roads were built in this county. In 1907 there were between thirty and forty improved dump wagons sold in Decatur to the contractors for stone road building. It is said that these wagons will bear up a four-horse load on good roads and that they can be unloaded in a half minute's time. That one of the contractors, Fred Hoffman & Son, has arranged for a train of ten or a dozen of these wagons to be drawn by a traction engine from the quarry or the cars to the place the material is used for road. At the present rate of road building within the next decade all of the principal roads of the county will be stoned. "Behold what a great fire a little spark kindleth," was never truer than the great change in sentiment on road building in Adams county.

The Hand Of Fate

The mysteries of life are many and varied. The dictates of fate are no respecters of the wishes or aspirations of men. Napoleon said that "The god of war favors the army most that can command the greater number of complete battalions." This great commander conducted eighty fierce engagements 111 his meteoric career without serious wounds. Fate seems to have marked him -or a slow and tedious death on the lonely ij-Ic in the sea after an intoxicating whirl at the crowned heads of Europe. After a most successful termination of the bloodiest conflict in the new world the martyred President. Abraham Lincoln, surrendered to the hand of fate. Generals Warren and Stonewall Jackson fell at almost the first fire. Were it not better that Moscow or Waterloo had ended Napoleon's life? Or that' Warren be spared to share his military genius with his destitute Revolutionary patriots? This could not be. Fate had otherwise declared. The train of life will carry its passengers onward to their destination. They can neither anticipate nor retard the hand of fate. Nor can it be that men as officers or rulers make them more dear to their friends or families than those whose honorable careers have shown them to be worthy citizens. In Adams county the hand of fate has been at work. Accidents and disasters have done their parts. To enumer- ate them all would require a volume much beyond the scope of the present work. \\ ho first lost his life by violence or accident in this country will remain a volume sealed by the hand of fate.

Ex-Sheriff Zachariah Smith, who was elected in October, 1836, and served till 1840 in Adams county, was drowned in the Saint Mary's river a short distance above Decatur on the 7th day of July, 1844.

Henry Eilenberger was crushed to death by the falling of the buildings in the cyclone that demolished John Baumgartner's house in French township in 1871.

Henry Cramer and his son, Charles Cramer, were drowned in the Saint Mary's river at Decatur in February, 1862. The son was skating and went through the ice and his father tried to help him out.

Robert Allison came near meeting the same fate at Buena Vista. His son, Rufus K., fell into the river and his father nearly lost his life in an attempt to rescue him.

Charles L. Schermyer was killed at the crossing of the Grand Rapids and Chicago & Erie railroads by a collision of trains that threw the watch tower over on him in 1891.

William F. Clendening was killed by a stroke of lightning while taking shelter during a thunderstorm under a tree a short distance west of Geneva on the 31st day of July, 1884.

Frank Teaney was found dead at the roadside between Chattanooga and Berne. He left towrn late in the evening, got down in the snow and froze to death, in February, 1886.

Samuel Jorden, who in 1888 was a prominent member of the Decatur "Coonskin Club," a political organization, was shot and killed in Clay county, Missouri, while there on business. Robbery was the probable cause of his murder, in September, 1892.

The Orphanage, at Berne, burned down on the 19th day of April, 1899. Three of the orphans - Alaggie Dell, of Portland, Indiana, age nine; Mamie Broderick, of Chicago, aged fourteen, and Katie Goebclbcrger, of Cleveland, Ohio, aged fifteen years. were burned to death.

There have been a number of deaths caused throughout the count)- in mysterious ways, but dates and names are wanting and no effort will be made to enumerate them, i iic hand of fate has perhaps rested most heavily upon that part of the county that is spanned by the Grand Rapids Railroad between the Limberlost creek south of Geneva and the Wabash river north of Ceylon. Within these limits there have been about twenty sudden deaths, caused by railroad accidents. The first was:

Kail road wreck at Ceylon on the iSth day 1 October, 1895, killing three men. The kvork train was handling some repairs at the « abash river bridge and ran in on the Ceyi"ii switch. The switch was not closed and 'he pay car crashed into the train on the -!<le track. These carpenters were killed : Harvey Makxt, William R. Brown and J>»nes Gibson.

the south span of the Wabash river bridge gave way with a heavy engine and freight cars. The train was moving southward when the engine and several cars went down. Two men were killed, but their names cannot be given.

William Newcomer was killed at the crossing of Line street in Geneva in the summer of 1897. He was in conversation while the train was switching and was run over by the cars.

David Long while returning home from the Portland fair was killed in North Geneva by a special train that pulled in after him as he started north for his home on the evening of August 26, 1899.

Daniel M. Hoskinson met his death near Ceylon while returning home in March. 1901. He got caught in a cattle guard that held him till the train ran over him.

Nora Shaner was run over and killed in the Geneva switch yards while playing on some empty flat cars in October, 1905. She was a child of about ten or twelve years of age.

Dr. J. W. Collins was killed in November, 1905, at the railroad crossing just north of Geneva, where Metcalf lost his life. The train killed his horse and demolished his buggy, breaking the doctor's limbs.

Adams county was organized by the legislative enactment of January 23. 1S36. Union township was organized as a separate civil corporation about 1840. Among the earliest settlers in this township were Daniel Hines, Andrew Luckey, John Walters, David Erwin and Christian F. Blakey. The whole country was all woods at that time. The roads were simply "by roads,"' cut from one clearing to another. There are no towns in this township, but at various times there have been country stores that were a great accommodation to the fanners in the springtime, when the roads were nearly impassable. This township now has some good stoned roads and has arranged for others to be built. As a fanning country it is one of the best in the county. The schools and churches at an early day received much attention by the residents. The school houses were first built and used for school and church purposes combined. Some of the log school houses were the Hines school house, in section 9, built in 1845 i trie Caskey school house, in section 31, built in 1S46; the Schnep school house and Walters school house, built in 1848, and the Reiter school house, in 1853. The first frame school house built in the township was in what was later known as the Erwin school, in section 9. The first brick school house was erected in what was known as the Caskey school district. This was built to replace the frame destroyed by lire after a warm school district fight in the selection of a school teacher, perhaps in 1884-5. This brick was remodeled and rebuilt several years later and this school is now known as the Spulle.- district. The first brick residence in this township was built by Simon Barkley in section 5. Among the list of church buildings are the Clark's chapel, in section 10, which was the first brick church in the township, and was built in 1881. Its congregation occupied a log church for a number of years before this structure was built. One of the finest church buildings in the township is known as the Emmanuel's Evangelical Lutheran church in the Blakey neighborhood, in section 24. This is a fine brick edifice, erected in 1891, and now has some other valuable church property, as school house, parsonage and grounds. From a small beginning in 1858 this congregation has grown and prospered. In 1865 it started its church school with about a dozen and a half of scholars; it now has a large congregation and fine church property. Another brick building is that of the Evangelical Association, which has a tasty brick edifice a few miles east of Decatur. The Union chapel, on the line between Root and Union townships, has a long and interesting history. The original church was burned down, but was rebuilt in 1873. In this township many of the first churches were log structures. Clark's chapel, in section 10, a Methodist church; the Woods chapel, in section 15, a United Brethren church; the Valley church, a United Brethren church, and the Grove church, all come under this list, bul ii is impossible to give the dates of their erection. The estimated population of Union township in 1907 is 1,105, tMe number of voters, 221 ; and the school enumeration, 403. Until i860 the townships of

Indiana had three trustees. Commonly the president of the board of trustees was the inspector of elections in the township. The names of all of these trustees cannot he given because they fail to appear upon the county records. Jacob W ending, 1847: Noah Glass, 1S48; G. D. Racket, 1849; Andrew Lucky, 1S51; F. J. Gillig, 1852; M.

The present limits of Root township are described by a block of territory six miles square that is four miles west of the Ohio state line and directly south of Allen county, Indiana. When the county was first organized Root township comprised all of what is now the twelve townships of Adam? county. As the lands were entered new townships were organized to meet the demands of the growing settlements and supply offices for those who were politically inclined. Some of the earliest permanent settlers in the present Root township were Robert Douglas, m 1820; Joshua Lister, in 1828; John Reynolds and Daniel Ball, in 183,1; John K. Evans, in 1832; Samuel L. Rugg and Vaschal Ball, in 1833. This township is on the line of the Wayne trace, later known as the Piqua road, and was much earlier in settlement than several of the other civil corporations of the county. The town of Monmouth, which is located in this township, was laid out and the plat recorded on the 26th day of June, 1836. Its lots arc sixty-six by one hundred and thirty-two feet m size. Its streets were Main, Clinton, Franklin, Spring and Wayne. The present Piqua road was one of the streets named.

In March, 1858, Ziba Dorwin, by order of the county board of commissioners, vacated thirty-one lots, as shown on the original town piat. Monmouth was once quite a business center, much in advance of Decatur, but at the present time Goldsmith's description of a "Deserted Village" would pretty well describe its condition. The completion of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad read its death knell. Since the Spring field &. Fort Wayne Railroad passes through the town it has revived a little, but for the present its palmy days are in the distant past. It now contains a few good houses, one brick among the number, a graded school building, two stores, a blacksmith shop and a graveyard. Its church buildings have been converted into fire wood, its four or five taverns have crumbled into decay and a general dilapidated appearance surrounds the town. William Lewis was one of its earliest residents. He was a colored man, who operated a corn grinding mill at Monmouth and then owned a large tract of land adjoining the town, it is said that the first school taught in the township was conducted, in Monmouth by Sarah McKisic: that the building used was not built for a school house, but was a round log cabin with the ground for a floor ; that this teacher was not a public school teacher, but taught a subscription school in the summer time. Some of the first school districts in Root township were known as the Gorsline school, in section 17 ; the Randal school, in section 22, and the Wise school, in the northeast corner of section iS. There is much uncertainty as to the exact time when these houses were first used, but most of them within the date between 1840 and 1S50. The first set of frame buildings came into use about 1852. This township doubtless had the first frame house in the county. The first one of which much record can be gotten was a frame addition to the Oakland tavern, built by Andrew Wise in 183S. Mr. Wise came from near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and brought his nails, glass and sash with him when he came. At the time he came Monmouth had twelve log" cabin houses. The first church building in this township was a log structure that was located near the northeast corner of section 22, on Seventeen-Mile creek. Some of the first leaders of this church were Benjamin Rice. J. R. Peoples, Isaiah Lewis and William Pillars. This church building was erected in 1840 and its name was Alpha. About twenty-three years later a new frame church building was built a little east of the log one, and this took the original name, and in its churchyard lies the remains of many of the earliest residents of the north part of the county.

Another early church building was erected north of Monmouth in section 17 in 1S65 and is a' frame. This was built by the English Lutherans and named Concord church. Many year? before this building was erected the Gorsline school house was used by this congregation for church purposes. In 1S54 there was a frame church built in Monmouth on inlot No. 17 by the Baptist church organization. Doubtless this was one of the first, if not the first, frame church building erected in the county. In 1870 the United Brethren built a frame church in the northern part of Monmouth near the graveyard. In 1868 the Methodist congregation converted one of the Ziba Dorwin tavern buildings into a church, but this has long since been abandoned. The German Lutheran people in the northern part of the township as early as 1841 built a log church building in section II. This was used for both church and school purposes. In 1851 a large frame church took its place and was used by this congregation until 1879, at which time the only brick church in the township was built. This building is a fine structure, about forty-five by ' seventy-five feet in size, and is known as the Saint Peter's Lutheran church. It is frequently called the "Fuelling church," as it is in the Fuelling neighborhood. This property consists of a church building, school house, parsonage and teacher's dwelling, and a conservative estimate would place the value of this property at about seventeen thousand dollars. Root township has two more towns within its borders. The town of Williams is situated on the north line of the county, nine miles west of the Ohio state line, on the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. It was laid out and the plat recorded on the 7th day of June, 1S72. Its originators were David Crabbs and Benjamin Rice. This town has two streets. Main, which runs east and west, and Adams, a north and south street. It has fifty-four lots and was one of the timber towns that sprang into existence when the heavy forests were being removed and the railroads loaded with lumber for market. The timber interests, as heading factories and saw mills, were removed and the- town ceased to grow or improve. At present there is a postoffice, a general store, a saloon and creamer}'. This town has some good houses, among which is a good district school building.

It has been frequently mentioned that among the tribes of Israel that the<-e was one lost in the shuffle somewhere on the way. Now, this may not be exactly the case with the third town in Root township, but it is too nearly true to be a good joke. At the north end of the Winchester road, in sections 19 and 20, the town of Manhym was laid out in 1S34 by R. L. Brittson. This town was situated three and a half miles northwest of Decatur on the Saint Mary's river, on the farm that is now the land of John Evans. This location competed for the county seat in 1S36, but was unsuccessful and the lots remaining unsold in 1840 were vacated by John Spencer, the purchaser of the remainder of the town site of Mr. Brittson. There were six town lots sold to other parties and in 1865 a suit to quiet the title was brought by Emanuel Woods and others. This town site was located on the principal line of travel from Winchester to Fort Wayne at an early day and is a nice location. The first brick house in Root township *;as built in section 34 in 1870. This township has the distinction of having the first brick school house in the county. It was built by Trustee John Christen in the Dent district in 1873. The estimated population of Root township in 1907 is one thousand six hundred and thirty ; the number of voters three hundred and twenty-six; the school enumeration three hundred and eighty-two. In the sou-.nwe.st corner of section 35, in this township, is located the ''Steele's Park,'' which is a fine one-hundred-and-fiftf.en-acre tract, nicely set out in groves of. native trees; has an artificial lake of several acre> and is at present used by the Great Northern Indiana Fair Association for its annual displays of the various products of the county. There may be nicer fair grounds in the state, but they are surely hard to find.

and is situated in the northwest corner of road ; Jacob Yager, Christian Micssing. Contlie county. It joins Welis and Allen coun- rad Renking, Louis Kcppert, Christ:an worth of fine church property. There is hardly a corner in the township from which a church spire cannot be seen. This township, as most others, used its school houses for church purposes at first until church to school became a matter of consideration. The first additional church was built to the east of the river from Freidheim, in what is known as the Dirkson neighborhood. This was located on the old Piqua road and called the Saint Form's Lutheran church. The first buildings were erected. The Wafel school church here was built about 1847 and conhouse was built about 1841 and was located tin"e(! in «« lir;til the Present elegant brick in the west part of section 26. The Fuhr- edifice was erected in 1877. The minister man school house was about two miles north of this in section 23 ; was built in 1843. These houses were both log structures. In 1852 the Dirkson school house, a frame, was built. The Fruchte school house was a frame, and was built in 1853. At the bein charge at this church is the Rev. II. C. Jaus. The next Lutheran church built in this township is known as the Saint Peter's Lutheran church, and is situated a short distance northwest of Preble station. This church was erected about 1878, has a large ginning the Lutheran people settled in the congregation and as all the others, a paronorthwest part of the township and started chial school. The minister in charge here is chial school and church buildings. The cen- Tt is known as the Zion Evangelical Luthertral and southern parts of the township had an church.

formed organization, which built the Salem were log structures. The third building waschurch at the east side of section 28 in 1857. a frame and was constantly in use for over the present massive brick structure, is one of the best in the county. This church has a large congregation, with the Rev. C. B. Preuss as minister since 1893. This township has two villages, the towns of Preble and Magley, each of which are railroad stations in the southern part of the township.. The town of Magley was begun in 18S2 by 'Jacob Magley, who then started a small general country store and served as station agent for the first few years. This town has some nice residences, a telephone station and stock yards, and one of the largest general stores in any small town in the county. It also has a creamery that was built by Levi Sarin some ten or twelve years ago. The farmers in this section of the county ship a great many cans of milk to the Chicago market each week. Robert Case, the storekeeper, is at this time the postmaster and coa! merchant in addition to his extensive store interests. This town is located a mile from the Wells county line and two miles west of Preble .and has perhaps fifty residents. The town of Preble is located about four miles directly west of Decatur and is the oil town of the county. This town was laid out and the plat recorded on the 14th day of November, 18S4, by Daniel Hoffman and David Werling. Its original plat contained thirteen lots that are fifty by one hundred and fifty feet in size. Within the next three years David Werling laid out an addition to the town. A tile mill and a saw mil! were located here soon after the town was begun. This village now has a large hotel, a good country store, a barber shop, butcher shop and saloon. The Standard Oil Company has extensive business interests here that require the presence of a large force of men, who permanently reside in Preb'.e. The oil company's pumping station buildings are about ail brick. To the east and southeast is a town of great big boiler-iron tanks that resemble the tents of a show ground. This town has one brick residence, that of County Commissioner David Werling. The first steam circular saw milt operated in this township was located in section 27 and was owned by Frederick Peck and Lewis Fruchte. The estimated population of Preble township in 1907 is one thousand three hundred and eighty-five; number of voters, two hundred and seventy-seven ; the school enumeration, three hundred and ninety-seven. It is impossible to give a complete list of township trustees, but commonly the trustee or president of the board of trustees until 1S60 was the inspector of elections. Frederick Buuck. 1S46; Ernst Stopenhagcu. 1848; Jacob Yager, 1850; Frederick- Buuck, 1851; George Kieffer. 1854; Ernst Stopenhagen, 1855; A. Kieffer, 1856; Ernst Stopenhagen, 1857: A. Kieffer, 1S5S: Conrad Reir.king, 1859; John Rupright, 1S60; John Archbold, 1864; John Rupright, 1S65 ; Thomas Archbold, 1868; F. W. Gallemyer. 1S69: Dcdrich Buuck. 1878; F. W. Gallemyer, 1882; Lewis Fruchte, 18S6; Henry Dirkson, 1890; Lewis Fruchte, 1894; G. W. Rupright, 1900; Lewis Kline, 1904.

Kirkland township is four by six miles in size and was organized in 1S41. It was named after the son of Samuel L. Rugg, then an officer of the count). This was one of the last townships organized in the county and some of the earliest residents were: John Hartman, William Dehl, Samuel Steele, Daniel Wcldy, Samuel Adgitt, Augustus LeBrun, Robert Niblick and William Beinelce. In 1850 this township claimed the distinction of having the oldest man in eastern Indiana. He was William Nottingham, who lived in section 4 on what is now W. D. Hoffman's farm. At that time it is said that he was one hundred and five years old. This township had the fourth steam saw mill in the county, it was built by William Dehl in 1856 and was located in section 2. Until about 1S80 there were no towns in this township. The town plat of Courryville was recorded on the 261b day of February, 1880. This town has twenty lots and two streets, Main and Calhoun; is located on the west hue of the Vour.ty, three miles from either end of the township. Courryville is on the Cloverleaf Railroad and is one of the timber towns that ceased to grow since the timber industries have been removed. The proprietor of this town site is Henry Jackson. The town of Peterson is another village. This is a mile from the north line and the same distance from the east boundary of the township. It was once quite a business center in the timber trade. Steele & Lenhart operated an extensive saw mill, headingfactory and stirrup works here in the seventies, but these industries have ceased to exist. It now has a blacksmith shop, grain warehouse, an elevator, stock yards and general store, which is kept by H. A. Eriner, who is ticket agent, freight agent, storekeeper and telephone manager. This village has never been platted, but its grounds are bought and sold by metes and bounds. The second brick school house within the county was built here in 1874 by Trustee Daniel Weldy. It was torn down in 1893 by Trustee Joshua Bright and a fine two-room brick graded school house built to take its place. The first frame house in this township was the residence of Samuel Steele and was built in 1852. The first brick residence was built by Robert Niblick in 1856, in section 10. At Mr. Niblick's house for a long time the postefhee of Gaih was kept. In 1868 the first frame church was built in section 26, which has later been called Honduras. This is but a cross-road corner, that took its name from the. postofhee kept there. It has a smali store and blacksmith shop. This church was used by several denominations and was erected by the Christian Union organization. Among some of those interested in its erection were : James Sarf , Vincent D. Bell, Jesse Smith and Isaac Sutbine. This church building burned down and was replaced about 1886 by another frame known as the Zion Christian Union church. In 1877, or thereabout, the River Brethren erected a substantial frame church in section 23, on the present Decatur & Bluffton stoned road. The early school houjes in this township were all log" structures. The Hartmanschool was at the present town of Peterson. The Steele school was the election school house. The Hoffman school house was in section 14. The Beech Grove school was in section 16. The Steele school house was built in 1848 and the Dehl school house was the first frame schoc! house built in the township. This township had a large amount of wet land and until the railroad passed through the township in 1880 its development was backward. One of the first stone roads in the county was built through this township in 1892-3 and against the will of a majority of its taxpayers.

two hundred and twenty-nine, and the school enumeration is three hundred and thirty. The township trustees and election inspectors are: Martin Kaufman, 1846; Jerry Russell, 1847; Samuel Steele, 1848; Daniel Weldy, 1850; D. L. Kaufman, 1852; Samuel Steele, 1853; Daniel Weldy, 1854; Henry Steele, 1855; Daniel Weldy, 1856; John Hower, 1S58: Joseph Steele, 1859; Jonathan Bowers, 1866; Daniel Weldy, 1872; Samuel Beavers, 1876; Joshua Bright, 1SS0; David Steele. 1S84; Joshua Bright, 1888; George Brown, 1892; William D. Hoffman, 1898; Joseph V. Pease, 1904.

Washington township contains the county seat and much of its history is closely related with that of Decatur, which should be examined in this connection. This township was organized in 1838. Outside of the town of Decatur there were several churches, mills and schools that were of much importance to the country residents. The town of Decatur was under the control of the township authorities until its incorporation in 1854. This township had its settlements as: The Andrews settlement, the Coffee neighborhood, Eli Zimmerman's corner and so on. The old Winchester road ran a mile from the west side of the township and was the principal road traveled to the south part of the county. Some of the earliest residents were: James Niblick, Eli Zimmerman, Bazil Hendricks, Charles Scherriiyer, Daniel Coffee, Jacob Christ, Thomas W. Andrews, Andrew Luekey and Wesley Merryman. What is now known as the

Washington church was among the first built in the township outside of Decatur. This church is located at the northwest corner of section 20 and was built by the Methodist congregation about 1855. It has been remodeled a number of times, but is still in use. In 1883 the Saint Paul's church was built at the corner of section 24, on the east stone road. This is a frame structure and is used by several church organizations. The only brick church in the township outside cf Decatur is what is known as the Beery church, situated at the southwest corner of section 6. This building was erected in 1 886 by the Brethren in Christ denomination. This church is on the west line of the township and a mile east of Peterson. Among the early school buildings were the Johnson school, southeast of Decatur, in section 14; the Coffee school house was later built on the mud pike road, just west of this. The Stultz school house was in the southeast corner of the township and was superseded by a small frame called the Brandyberry school house, in section 25. The Washington school house was among the first country school houses built in the township. It. was just a few rods from where the church of the same name was built. The first teacher in this log structure is said to have been Margaret A. Allen, who taught in 1S46. In 1880 there was a graded school building two stories in height built in this district, but the. graded work was discontinued after a few terms. This building was torn down in 1904 and a new and modern structure put up to take its place. The first brick house erected in this township was that of Samuel L. Rugg, in Decatur. The first country brick residence was the Studabaker homestead, which was built about 1873. The largest brick country residence in this township, and one of the most modern and tasty in the county, is that of Clark J. Lutz, in section II, southeast of Decatur. In his dreams the fortune hunter delights to think of buried treasure. The gold - that shining gold which men have toiled and slaved their lives away to save for some one else to spend. An old resident tells us that just after the sale of the Rivare Reservation by the Indian owners in 1826 that a band of Indians came down the Saint Mary's river and camped at an Indian village on what is now known as Numbers creek. The treasurer of the tribe, an old chief, was intrusted with the safe keeping of the money. He went up the creek a short distance and secreted it near a crooked oak tree. Some time in the night he took violently sick and died before he could reveal the treasure. He said, however, that it was near a crooked oak tree. Diligent search failed to locate the gold. That as late of 1865 a band of five Indians searched the creek for the money but could never locate it. The locations were in Root township and section 4, in Washington township. Air. John Schurger now owns these lands and says that he really does not know how rich he may some day be, as he may plow this gold up almost any day. Anyone can locate the creek. Mr. Schurger says that he chopped the crooked oak down long ago, but who can find the buried gold ?

In Washington township is located the county infirmary. It is perhaps the largest building in the county. It is two stories in height and has eighty-two apartment rooms. The first infirmary building was a frame structure that was built in 1875 at a probable cost of about two thousand dollars. The present large brick structure is of ample proportions for the present at least ; was built in 1895 at a cost of about thirty-five thousand dollars. Besides this building there is a superintendent's residence, two large barns, the heating plant and a number of smaller buildings. This farm consists of a two-hundrod-and-seventy-acre tract, in sections 13 and 14, and is about two miles southeast of Decatur. The superintendents of this institution have been : Hampton Fristoe, 1875; Andrew J. Teeple, 1877; W. II. H. France, 1883; George W. Haefling, 1 89 1, and J. R. Graber, 1894 to the present time. Though it is a very unpleasant thought to one of average independence and even ordinary intelligence to consider a home in the "poor house," it is one of the greatest blessings of a civilized country. Many of those unfortunate inmates have

The population of Washington township, including Decatur, as the trustee has jurisdiction in the city as well as the country, is estimated in 1907 as 7,020. The school enumeration of Washington township alone is 474 ; of Decatur alone is 1,318. The number of voters in the city and township is 1,404.

Saint Mary's township was one of the first in the county. At its beginning it comprised all of what is now Adams county except the present Root and Union townships. This township has some historic interests that are different from any other of which we have mentioned. It contains an Indian reservation of about one thousand six hundred acres of land, which lies principally between the towns of Rivare and Pleasant Milfs on- the east side of a line dividing sections 16 and 17 and 20 and 21, This reservation was used as a residence by certain Indian families and a general camping ground by the tribes as they traveled from Girty's town - now Saint Mary's. Ohio - to Fort Wayne semi-annually to receive their payments for lands sold to the United States in 1818 and 1S26. After 1832 these Indian tribes, were removed to west of the Mississippi river. It is said that Robert Smith came to Saint Mary's township as a resident in T832, and that his son. John Smith, was born on the 2d dav of October,

183S. This was the fust white child born in this township. Some of the other early residents of this tosvnship were a Mr. A.yres, who came in 1S21, and settled in section 16, on the Wayne trace; that John Ross came in 1S29 and settled in section 28. and Esias Daily in 1833 and settled in section 26 ; that Zachariah Smith and William Heath, Sr., came in 1S36. Andrew Teeple, Robert D. Tisdale, Elisha Gulic and Ardillas Carter were all early settlers. The Wayne trace passes along the Saint Mary's river and through the Rivare Reservation, which was platted for allotment on the 26th day of May, 1S55. This township has two towns, Rivare and Pleasant Mills, also two railroads. The plat of Pleasant Mills was recorded on the 8th day of September, 1846. The town was laid out by F. A. Goddard and George W. Heath in thirty iots, sixty-six by one hundred and thirty-two feet in size. On the 27th day of December, 1850. an addition of thirty-two lots was made by the original proprietors of tins town site. Pleasant Alills is on the plank road route connecting Saint Mary's with Fort Wayne, and in the fifties was a flourishing town. Eefore that time the river was used as a means of travel and for carrying produce to market. The boats and large canoes conveyed grain, lumber, furs and other produce from Goddard's stores and mills down the river to market. The first mill was on the east side of the river and was built in 1834. The next was on the west side and was built four years later, with buhrs for grinding grain. This mill changed to a woolen factory and a new grist mill built in 1846. This was operated for about fifty years, and rebuilt in 1896 by J. C. Cowan and W. W. Smith.. In this village many of the old buildings have outlived their usefulness and have been torn down. However, one of the old Goddard store buildings is yet standing at the corner of Main and Jefferson streets and is used as a residence and baiber shop. Pleasant Mills has three churches, the Baptist, a brick building, put up in 1878; a United Brethren structure that shows its age, and a new frame house, built by the Methodist congregation. This town, unlike Monmouth, when its railroad was completed in 18S0, regained some of its lost vitality and took on new life. It opened up a grain market and now has several good general stores. This town has a large brick graded school building. The original was a two-story, two-room brick building that was put up in 1881 by Trustee A. M. Fuller. This was remodeled and enlarged in 1897 and an additional primary room built in 1906 by Trustee William II. Teeple. Pleasant Mills has one brick residence, one restaurant, one blacksmith shop, one barber shop, one grain elevator, one livery stable, one butcher shop, one hardware store, threegeneral stores and one doctor, Dr. J. W. Vizard, state representative for Adams county at this time.

The town of Rivare was laid out by David Shaffer and the plat recorded on the 13th day of October, 18S3. This town originally had twelve lots and three streets. In November of the same year George J. Bipus laid out an addition of forty-nine lots that are fifty by one hundred and fifty feet in size. This town has two churches, one a United Brethren frame structure, that was built about 18S0, and an elegant brick edifice, erected by the Methodist congregation in 1901. This is the finest and most expensive church building in the township. In this village are some good residences, a saw and planing mill, a general store, kept at present by E. H. Cowan, who is also the postmaster - the postofnee at this town is known as Bobo. In 1887 Trustee J. C. Cowan built a graded school building two stories high, with two rooms, in Rivare, thus making two graded school districts for this township. Among the earliest school buildings were the Ross school house, built upon what is .sometimes called the "Backbone," a ridge running back from the river. This house was built about 183S and was situated in section 27. The Smith school house, in section 8. The Hawk school house, northeast of Rivare, in section 4. These school houses were all log structures of the genuine pioneer type. The first brick school house in this township was built in the Jones district, in section 22, and put up about i8!>o. The Evangelical Association has a good frame church building in section 3. The old Mount Tabor church house is still standing in section 8, south of Rivare.

Its history would be interesting reading if all were given. The Hope Well church building to the cast of Pleasant Mills, in section 28, is a log structure, but has long since been used as a residence. This township has two railroads, the Clover Leaf, which passes through Pleasant Mills, and the Chicago & Lrie, through Rivare.

The estimated population of Saint Mary's township in 1907 is 1.555. l'ne school enumeration, 394, and the number of voters, 31 t. The township trustees and election inspectors have been: Samuel Smith, 1846; John Foredyce, 1847; Daniel YVinans, 1849;

In 1820 Blue Creek township was the home of one of the first white residents of Adams county. His name was William Lowe, and his cabin was built at the east end of Thompson's prairie on what then was known as the Godfrey trace. This was an Indian trail from the Saint Mary's to the Wabash ana) Salamonie rivers. It connected the Godfrey reservation with the Rivare reservation just across the river from Pleasant Mills. Mr. Lowe remained in this part of the country until 1822, at which time his IKissessions went into the ownership of a Mr. Thompson, after whom the prairie was named. It is said that Mr. Thompson died in the winter of 1831 and was buried by some residents of Willshire. Ohio. That as ihere was no lumber 'at that time to make his coffin, a large ash tree was cut down, a -«g cut from it and split in halves; that a trough was made' for his coffin. It was placed upon a sled drawn by oxen to the place of burial. This township has one of the oldest public roads in the county, the Quaker trace, or the Fort Recovery road, as it is sometimes called. Several old residents state that they well remember seeing Indian families passing to and from their reservations along the Godfrey trace; that it was not unusual to see a squaw leading a pony well loaded with lodge poles, sheet-iron kettle, skins of animals and other trappings; that there were frequently several ponies passing along one after another at the same time; that some had as many as three or four children on one horse; that the Indian man seemed to have little to do but to follow along the trail with the dogs; that in the main these Indians were a very dirty, shaggy-looking set of people; some wore blankets and others were dressed partly in skins, with some white men's clothing; that some of the children and squaws had highly colored scarfs of vellow, red or blue cotton goods wrapped around their bodies over their clothing of skins; that the men all were armed with rifles, knives and tomahawks, and usually carried them wherever they went. Blue Creek is one of the smaller civil corporations and has but one town; that is the village of Salem, which was platted on the 14th day of November, 1867, by George W. Syphers. This town is located at the crossing of the Willshire and Fort Recovery roads in section 17, and has a blacksmith shop, a church, two general stores and some pretty good residence properties. This little town has the distinction of having the only Presbyterian church in the county south of Decatur. This was built here about 1850, was a log structure and has long since been torn away. A few years later the Methodist people erected a frame church building that served their purpose for about twenty years, at which time the present frame church building was put up. Jn east of Salem is the Union chapel, a United Brethren frame church building in section 10. Blue Creek township was organized in JS38, and is a part of what was originally Wabash and Saint Mary's township. Some of its other oldest residents were Denison Tinkam, Tunis Young, Michael Eley, T. D. Braddock, Elijah Gilpen and George Campbell. This township is within less than a mile of the town of Willshire, which was laid out in 1823, and as there were mills, stores and markets there at an early dr.y, and on the plank road, it was

The earliest school buildings in this township were the "Burdge" school house in section 32 ; the "Bryan" school house in section 21, which was also known as the election school house; the "Boyers" school house in section 5. These buildings were all made of logs and were built along in the forties. The first frame residence in this township was built by John Young in 1856. The only tile block school building in the county is in this township, and is known as the "Egypt" school house. This is situated in the northeast corner of the township and was built to take the place of a brick that was destroyed there by fire in 1905. The estimated population of Blue Creek township in 1907 is 1,475. ^he school enumeration is 386, and the number of votes 295.

The organization of Monroe township with thaf of the towns of Berne and Mondates from 1S40. It is a congressional town- roe, which might be examined in this conship which lies in the soinh half of the nection. Some of its earliest residents were county, and much of its history is connected Thomas Runle, Riesen Todd, Samuel Sack- ftt. Henry Martz, George Ray, John Hurtjge, John McLean, Lewis Mattax and fohn McConnell. On account of the line of low, wet prairies extending from east to west along Big Blue creek this and French township were settled later than some other parts of the county, from want of roads and drainage. The first steam saw mill built in the county, south of Decatur, was located at the west end of the Thompson prairie, in 1851, by John R. Burdge. This machinery was hauled by ox teams from Dayton, Ohio. The Martz school house and the Bolinger school house were the first erected in the township, though school was taught in an old log cabin by Judge William Stockham southeast of where Monroe is located before cither of these school houses were built. These were of logs and built in 1848 or 1850. The first frame school house in the township was the Mattax school house, located in section 26, was built in 1855 and finished with black walnut lumber as door and window casings. The first brick school house in this township was in section 17 and known as the Flora school. The first township teachers' institute ever held in the county was conducted by County Superintendent Daniel D. Heller on the 25th day of October, 1873, m the Center school district, which is located in section 15. That the present school teachers may have an idea of what the teachers of that time received -or their services we herewith give the scale <>f wages as adopted by the county board of education in 1869-70:

This township used the last log church building in the county. It was built at the east side of section 9 and was used as late as 1900 for church purposes. This church was of peculiar construction. It was built in the shape of a cross and had twelve corners. This went by the name of the "Twelve-Cornered church" and was built by the churchgoing people of several denominations, but perhaps had a majority of Methodists in its attendants. Some other church buildings in this township are the Baxto church, in section 25 ; the Quaker church and the Oak Grove church. Being in close proximity to the towns,-their churches are largely attended by many of the country people. Lewis Mattax, an early resident of this township, was county ditch commissioner along in the sixties, and the Thompson Prairie Ditching Association was organized and the Blue Creek prairies among other wet lands were drained to the west line of the township. One of the first ditches located was the Clymer ditch. Much land in this region belonged to poor people, who claimed that they were too poor to hire their ditches made and that they needed their labor to support themselves and families. Several suits were instituted against the owners of "speculator" lands before it became fully conceded that these ditches could be made at the expense of the land owners without their consent.

Along about 1870 the more progressive farmers and contractors strongly urged the construction of the large ditches throughout the county, and none have ever regretted them passing through Monroe township. What were once wet and worthless tracts are now the best corn farms. Monroe township has more vineyards and raises more grapes, perhaps, than any other township in the county. It is said to have started the first hedge fences ever introduced in the county. It has one other distinction that perhaps may be of some note. It once had a "corn juice" factory that did business on a small scale. It made "moonshine" whisky and was doing a "good, quiet business," when Uncle Sam's revenue officers swooped down onto the proprietor, J. M. Kelse, and carted him and his distillery fixtures to the state capital for an investigation. His buildings were so arranged that the front was used as a smoke house, with a rear department, in which his still was located. United States Marshal C. W. Starr made the arrest in April, 1873.

The estimated population of Monroe township in 1907, including the towns of Monroe and Berne, is 3,195. The school enumeration, exclusive of Berne, is 827 ; of Berne is 356. The number of voters, including Monroe and Berne, is 639.

When French township was organized in 1839 the greater part of its population lived in the south half of the township. That part southwest of the river was first settled. Some of the earliest permanent residents of the township were: George French. Roswell Horton, Samuel Fonts, John Augsperger, Abraham Ellenberger, Henry Soevine and Abraham blocker. At the northeast corner of this township was a neighborhood of French-speaking people. The northern section of this township was in the Blue Creek prairies, a very good kind of land, but almost worthless until it had been thoroughly drained. This drainage was begun in earnest in the latter part of the seventies, and this part of the county is now the home of many prosperous farmers. In this township perhaps more than in any other in the county the manufacture of cheese was quite an industry in former years. At the present lime French township has a large German population. However, there arc very few of the younger people who cannot speak the English language. The Fort Recovery road crosses the southwest corner of this township and extends along down the Wabash river to Bluffton. There are no towns in this .township nor at the present time any postpffices. There was once a postofnce on the Fort Recovery road at the residence of a Mr. Sheldon, which was situated in or near a large grove of linn trees. The postoffice took the name of Linn Grove, but after the town of Buena Vista was laid out the postofnce was taken to town. It is said that Mr. Alonzo Sheldon was one of the early postmasters at Linn Grove. The town of Vera Cruz is situated a short distance west of French township, on the Wabash river. This town was begun in 1848 and was one of the principal trading points for the first twenty years of French township's existence. This was also their nearest postoiHce. This township has less church buildings than any other township in the county, but two or three inexpensive frame structures meet their wants in this direction. We are informed that the churches at Vera Ciuz, Buena Vista and Berne are largely attended by residents of this township. One of the earliest school buildings in this township was known as the Sheldon school house and it was located in the southwest part of the township on the Fort Recovery road and built perhaps as early as 1846 or 1848. Others were the Slaughter school house, in section 27; the Marchaud school house, in the northeast corner of the township, and the Cottonwood, at the east center, and the Baumgartner school, at the southeast corner of the township. These were all frame buildings except the first mentioned, which was made of round logs.

The estimated population of French township in 1907 is 1,170. The school enumeration is 401, and the number of voters 234. The election inspectors and township trustees have been : John Stauffer, 1846; Roswell Haughton, 1847; Obediah Haughton, 1S52; Lot French, 1S53; Anthony Stockdell, 1858: Christian Bixler, i860: William Triplet, 1861 ; Christian Bixler, 1S62; Jacob Sarff, 1S63; Joshua Sarft, 1864; Solomon Shell, 1867; George Simison, 1870; Edwaid Ehle, 1876; Christ Ashbacher, 18S0; Samuel Hocker, 1S84; Jonas Neuenschwander, 1888; J. P. Steiner, 1 89 1 ; C. E. Stuckey, 1892;. Rudolph Schug, 1900; John C. Augspurger, 1904.

Simison, who is yet living, attended this sale and tells us that some of the best locations sold for as much as twenty dollars apiece. This was considered as an enormous price when good land could be bought for from five dollars to six dollars an acre in some other parts of the township. Some of the purchasers proceeded to improve their lots and built cabin houses. All went well until the spring freshets of the Wabash river. Then the town was covered with water two or three feet deep and the residents of James Beauchamp's town moved out in canoes. The head of one of these families is said to ha\"C been a Mr. Runyon, who got out of bed to find the water a foot deep in his house with his dog perched upon a pile of wood near the fireplace. Further efforts to populate "Jim Town" were abandoned. Some of the earliest residents of this township were: Robert Simison, who came first to the county in 1833; Daniel Miller, John Deffenbaugh, Josephus Martin, Salem Clendening, Daniel Morrow, John Pontius and James Glendening. The mills and stores were an important item in the days of settlement. There was a water mill built at the present site of Buena Vista along about 1845 by James McDowel, who subsequently moved to Jay county. This was a saw mill, with buhrs for grinding grain. Ephraim Parker bought this mill and sold it to Emanuel Neaderhouser, who, in 1S57, built the first grist mill in southern Adams county. This year the town of Buena Vista was laid out by Robert Sim-son on the west ban!: of the Wabash river, in section 3. This town is situated on the Fort Recovery & Huntington road, the original plat contained sixteen lots and nine outlots and the plat was recorded on ihc 25th day of March, 1857. An addition of twenty-six lots was made to this town on the nth day of December, 1S69. The lands of Robert Simison lie principally south of Buena Vista. His log cabin was one of the earliest residence buildings, if not'the first, in the township. The first residence built in Buena Vista stood at the street corner of Meridian and Taylor streets, where the Crabbs brick store building is located. It was built by David Beamer. Christian Sowers was the first storekeeper, and he was succeeded by the Crabbs store in a frame building on Taylor street and Fort Recover}' road. The Joseph and Perry Crabbs brick store building was erected in 1865. The brick for this building were made on the Elihu Sheldon farm, north of town, by Robert Niblick. The first tavern stand in this town was built by Jacob Johntry at the crossing of the river road and the Fort Recovery road at the northeast of the village. Before the railroads were built through Adams and Wells counties Buena Vista was quite a trading point. The grist mill was a great benefit to the merchants of the town. In this village several boys, as the Allisons, the Morrows and the Huffmaiis, as storekeepers, became wealthy men. This town and Vera Cruz were commonly selected as the points at which joint political conventions were held to nominate candidates for prosecutors and representatives for Adams and Jay or Wells and Adams counties.

At the present time this village has one tile block house, one brick residence, two brick store buildings and a large four-room brick graded school building, erected by Trustee Fred Hoffman in l8e>i ; two frame church houses; one boarding house, one res- taurant, one drug store, owned and operated 1 v Peter Huffman for the last forty years; two general stores, one hardware and agricultural implement store, one blacksmith shop, one doctor, Dr. J. T. McKean ; one shoe store, one grist mill, one telephone station, and three saloons. In 1876 the tworoom graded school building was built. This was the only two-room school building in thesouth end of the county at that time. The Odd Fellows' block, a two-story brick building, was built in 1S93. The Evangelical Association built the first church house in this village in 1869. Some of its earliest leaders were : Emanuel Neaderhouser, John Baumgartner, Andrew Schlagenhauff and Frederick Wechter. The Baptist church organization first had its church building north of town, but disposed of that property to the Christian church organization and in 1879 built a frame church building in Buena Vista. A.mong some of the aggressive members of this congregation were: Timothy Fouts, Peter Huffman, Wilson H. Shepherd, Marti;: Kizer and George Simison. There were several church buildings in this township much earlier than these. The Green Wood Methodist church, erected in section 10, southwest of Buena Vista in 1S57, and the Hartford Methodist church, about the center of section 26, on the old angling road through the John Pontius farm, was built in 1859. These were both frame churches and were in constant use for about thirty years. I he Union chapel is a Methodist church, situated in section 21, and is also a frame building. The first school house in Hartford township, was a log building that was lueaeed in section 15 and known as the Out- I eh school house, and was built in 1S46. ^eartj all of the first school houses in this township were log. The Watson school house, in section 34, was built in 1S4S. The Scott school house and the Bolds were among the first built. The first frame school house in the township was erected by Trustee Daniel Miller and his two associate trustees in 1854. This was located north of Buena Vista, in section 3, and was known as the Miller school house. The first brick residence in this township was built in section 26 by ex-County Commissioner George Pontius in 1871. The oil field has covered the southern part of this township and brick houses have sprung up like magic. In 1893 the "barker" attached to the pumping machinery made melody to the ears of those who were drawing large oil royalties. The George W. Shoemaker well was drilled in about 1892. This was a good producer and the tide flowed in for about ten years and made some men wealthy in a short time.

The estimated population of Hartford township in 1907 is 1,790: the school enumeration 448 ; and the number of voters is 358. Those who have been election inspectors and township trustees are : John Pine, 1S46; John Brown, 1847 ; Peter Kizer, 184.8: John Stauffer, 1849; Daniel Morrow, 1850; James Clendening, 1851; John Brown, 1852; John Watson, 1853; Daniel Miller, 1854; Josephus Martin, 1855; Daniel Miller, 1S58; E. W. Reed, 1859; Daniel Miller, i860; E. W. Reed, 1861 ; Martin Kizer, 1865; John Chrisman, 1S66; Daniel Morrow, 1867; Peter Huffman, 1S6S; Lewis C. Miller, 1876: Eugene Morrow. 1878; Emanuel Neaderhouser, Jr.. 1S8-?; L. O. Bears, 1886; Frederick Hoffman, 1S88; William Hall, 1892; Samuel Opliger, 1898; Moses Augspurger, 1904.

The original Wabash township contained a tract of land fourteen miles long and nine miles wide. In June, 1841, it assumed its present size, six miles square. As this township contains the combined towns of Alexander, Buffalo and Geneva and a part of Berne,, their history may be read in connection with that of Wabash township. The reader is also refened to "The Hand of Fate" in this volume. Some of the earliest permanent settlers of this township were : Peter Studabaker, in 1S34; William Vance, Henry Jttday, Morgan Smith, Samuel Linton, John Walker, Tilmon Rawley, Covey Galloway, George F. Baker, Christopher Swank and P. N, Collins. The earliest towns in the township Were Alexander and Buffalo. The only other town not heretofoi 0 mentioned is the town of Ceylon, which was laid out by Dr. B. B. Snow, and the plat recorded on the 2gd day of July, 1873. This town lies just south of the Wabash river on the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad and the original addition contains eighty lots, which are fifty by one hundred and fifty feet in si;;e. This town has three east and west streets - High street. Valley and Main streets - with cross streets numbered from one to four. On the 10th day of December, 1873, P. N. Collins laid out an addition of thirty lots on Main street. Ceylon is one of the timber towns that once was the scene of much business in the manufacturing line. The Royer spoke and wheel factory, the Adams & Raglia heading and suive factories, the saw mill and the grist mill operated by Dr. Snow, two good general stores, a drug store, cooper shops and some other industries were in operation here in the seventies.' The Snow grist mill was the first steam grist mill in the county south oi Decatur; was built in 1S73. At the present time there is a general store, two blacksmith shops, a shoe shop, a frame church building and a good brick school building, erected in 1S94 by Township Trustee Elias Riesen. This was the first brick school building in the township outside of the Geneva corporation. For a number of years this town maintained a two-room graded school, had a large trade in all kinds of lumber and timber, had a grain warehouse and handled grain ; had a depot building at the station and transacted a large amount of business, but its proprietors, who at one time jointly owned the lands on the south side of and adjoining the Line street in Geneva, parted with it at the wrong time and that town i? now largely built up with what might have been located further north and been a part of Ceylon. This town has some nice residence properties, but has few industries to give it the life and vigor -of years ago. Outside of the towns mentioned are several frame church buildings. The Hosfftetter church, in section 17, was built along about 1873 by the German Reformed congregation and is the second oldest church in the township. In 1840 the United Brethren congregation in the southern part of this township, with some of their Jay county neighbors, built a log church on the south county line, but on the Jay county side. This was a hewed log structure and was known as the Wabash chape'. Some of the members most interested in the construction of tin's church build- ing were: Charles Nelson, Daniel McCollum, Jacob Bartmas, William Sibray and Jacob Butcher. This church was abandoned in 1S76 and the Ford, school house was used until 18S4 for church purposes. At that time the Sugar Grove church house, a neat frame building, was erected in section 36. This building was destroyed by fire in 1S96 and in its stead the Apple Grove church building was erected about a half mile west of the Sugar Grove building. Among some of the members most interested in the construction of these church buildings were: Jesse McCollum, George Heimberger, Stephen Armstrong, Napoleon B. Ford, E. D. McCollum, Miriam Armstrong, Tazewell Fritz and J. E. Lawrence.

The Elm Grove church, built by the Christian, or "Campbellite,'' organization, as it is sometimes called, is located in the north part of section 25 and was built about 1880. In 1868 this congregation was organized, but used the Aspy school house for their services until their church building was completed. This organization was conducted by John H. Barr, Mark Aspy, William C. Aspy, John Hotsinpillar, Benjamin Aspy and James Barr at its beginning. The church has steadily increased in numbers and now has members in several of the adjoining townships. In the eastern part of the township, in section 14, the Quakers have a church building and small congregation. In the line of education Wabash township has always held a front rank. It was in section 20, near the center of the section, on the old Canoper road, that this township had its first school house. It is claimed that this was the very first school house built in the county, r.e that as it may, it was one of the first and was known as the McIIugh school house: was built along about 1836 or 1837. There were but two other log school houses built in this township, one, the Burdoin school house, in section 15, and the other near the center of section 2, known as the Rawley school house. This township got a plastered school house in 1856, the first perhaps in the county outside of Decatur. This was the Fords school house, in section 35. In 1S52 Wabash township .had its first steam saw mill, located at Alexander, and there were nine frame school houses built in this township between the yea's of 1852 and 1863, the old log ones being discontinued as the new ones were built. These commonly took their names from the farmer near whose home the school building was located. Without attempting to locate them here, they were known as the Myers, Kauffman, Swank, Aspy, Baker, Pyle, Rawley, Ford and the Bradford schools, a description of each of them can be gotten by reading a history of the Bradford school in connection with the history of Geneva. As stated, the Ford school was unlike the others. The first brick house erected in this township was built by Christian Burghalter on his farm in section 19 in 1S72.

The estimated population of Wabash township in 1907 is 3,430, including Geneva. Its school enumeration, exclusive of Geneva, is 618; the Geneva enumeration is 356; number of voters, including Geneva, 6S6. The election inspectors and trustees of this township were : George F. Baker, 1846; Jacob Baker, 1S4S; George F. Baker, 1849; Covey Galloway, 1S51 ; Henry S. Juday, 1S52; Covey Galloway, 1S53; Ralph Wilds, 1S54; Jacob Baker, 1858; P. N. Collins, 1859; Mark Aspy, i860; I. G. Baker, 1862; Henry Abnett, 1805; George W.

The residents of Jefferson township are in the farthest corner of the county from the count)' seat. This township had some very early residents and was organized as a township in March, 1838. It has been said that the first resident of this township was Samuel Friese. who located his cabin in section 15 on what is now the Hiller farm as early as 1S35. Some of the other early residents were : Ebenezer Webster, Wade Loof borough, Lawrence Gallogly, Jacob Abnett, John Fetters, John Rumple, William Abnett, John Buckingham and Jacob Fetters. There arc no towns in this township. The nearest postofhce for most of the southern part of the township before the rural routes were in operation was New Corydon. Between this town and the Adams county line, perhaps a half mile over in Jay county, Peter Studabaker built his first cabin in Indiana in 1S19. The Wabash river came too near his residence when overflowed and he returned to Fort Recover}-, but came back down the river in 1834, settled near the Price bridge in Wabash township on an eminence above high water mark. Roads, mills and schools were of common interest to most of the first settlers. The Quaker trace ran through Jefferson township and was one of the early roads through the eastern part of the county. At New Corydon there was a water mill built perhaps a! ;g about 1S55, that was a great benefit to the settlers in that part of the country. In this township, as in most others, log school houses were built as soon as the neighborhoods had sufficient settlers to maintain a school and pay a teacher. The first school house in this township was the Kinney school house, in section 33, and which was built in 1848. The last log school house was built in the Buckmaster neighborhood in 1854. Other school houses built between these dates were the Shaffer school house and the Porter school house. The first brick school house built in the township was erected in 1S87 in the Buekmaster district, or in section xcj, by Trustee Samuel Fetters. Some of his constituents thought him uselessly extravagant in building such an expensive school house. They may have lost sight of the idea that a good brick house will last the lifetime of several generations as built, while all the neighborhood around it will improve in a number of ways. Mr. Fetters showed his better judgment in building a good house. Had he built what some then suggested the house, as compared to a modern structure, would have looked as the little girl said that she felt. She said : "Oh, I feel like thirty cents with the three rubbed out." This brick house has no resemblance to any such a "thirty cents" as that. The first frame school house in the township was the Kelly school house, which is in the southwest pari of the township. This was built about 1S74 by Trustee Justice Kelly.

The first brick residence in this township was built by Augustus Kraner about 1876. Mr. Kraner is now right in the heart of the oil territory of this township and has a number of productive wells. Though at a disadvantage in some respects as regards roads and drainage for a long time, this township has a number of church buildings, among which -are the Maple Grove church (Christian, or Campbellite) organization, the Chapel and Mount Carmel, both Methodist church organizations; the Progressive Dunkards, or Brethren in Christ, the Evangelical Association and the Catholic. The buildings of each of these congregations, with the exception of the Catholic, are frame structures. The Catholic church is built in what is sometimes called the Irish settlement, though not near all of those living in this locality belong to that nationality. Among some of the early residents who were particularly interested in the building of the first church building in this locality were : Michael Kinney, John Finety, Michael D. Kinney, Stephen McHale, Thomas Moran, James Laughlin, Peter Kinney, Martin Laughlin and Timothy McGufngan. The first church building was a frame that was built in 18S0. This was hardly completed when it was destroyed by fire. The present brick structure was built the next year and is a valuable piece of church property.

The estimated population of Jefferson township in 1907 is 1,335. 1'ne school enumeration is 436. The number of voters is 267. The election inspectors and township trustees of this township have been : Gilbert Wright, 1846; John Loof borough. 1847; Elisha Chary, 1848; Ashbel Lewis. 1849; Isaac Edwards, 1850; William Abnett, 1851 ; Jonathan Kelley, 1852; William' Jones, 1853; John Abnett, 1854; E. Edwards. 1855; John Abnett, 1856; Jonathan Kelly, 1858; John Abnett, 1859; Jonathan Kelly, 1861; Charles Kelly, 1868; Justice Kelly, 1870; James Buckmaster, 1873; Justice Kelly, 1S74; John Hisey, 1876; Jonathan Kelly, 1878; John Hisey, 1880; Peter Kinney, 1882; Samuel Fetters, 1SS6: Martin Laughlin, 1890; W. V. Buckmaster, 1894; Abe Beabout, 1904.

Camp Meetings

Before there, were many church buildings in the county the church-going people would arrange to take a week or two in the late summer or early fall to meet and have a revival meeting. These meetings were planned from year to year as a sort of special privilege not to be missed on account of their social as well as religious advantages. 1 here were three or four locations that were specially desirable as camp-meeting grounds.