Allen County, Indiana - Chapter 3, 1880

Early County Lcyislation - Early Orders and Statements in Detail - County Finances and their Condition Duriny the Primary Period - Commissioners' Seal , Etc.

Shortly after the organization of the county, the law before in force, vesting the legislative authority in a Board of County Commissioners, was super¬ seded by the law regulating county business, which transferred that jurisdiction to a Board of Justices, composed of the several Justices of the Peace of the county. This latter law was in force from the first Monday in September, 1824, until October, 1829, at which time, the law having been repealed, a new Board of Commissioners, consisting of Nathan Coleman, William Caswell and James Holman, was chosen, at a special election held on the 12th of October of that year.

" Ordered, That there be assessed and collected, as a revenue due the county of Allen, the sum of 40 cents on every hundred acres of first-rate land, and 30 cents on every hundred acres of second-rate land, and 20 cents on every hundred acres of third-rate land."

At tlie September session, IS JO, the Board ordered that the County Sur¬ veyor for the county of Allen be directed to survey that part of the reservation ou which the fort bow stands, in said county, that part of said reservation for which the county of Allen has a pre-emption - for the use of said county, and make return of said survey with a plat thereof and quantity of acres, to the Board on the first Monday in November next."

In the mean time, under the right of pre-emption acquired by act of Con¬ gress of the 31st of May of the same year, the authority to enter twenty acres of the west side of the fort reserve, at SI. 25 per acre, by the Associate Judges of the county, had been transferred, by an order of the Board, to the County Agent, for the use of Allen County. In order to make the purchase when offered for sale, under the provisions of that act, steps were necessarily taken to make defi¬ nite arrangements for the procurement of money for that purpose, and the Board did so accordingly.

" Ordered, That Francis Comparet, Agent of Allen County, be and he is hereby required to procure money, by loan or otherwise, sufficient to purchase that part of the forty acres reserved for the use of the Indian Agency, on which Fort Wayne now stands, being that part for which the county of Allen has a pre¬ emption by virtue of an act of Congress, passed and approved May 31, A. D. 1830, allowing the Associate Judges in said county to enter at the minimum price, for the use and benefit of said county, so much of the said forty-acre reser¬ vation as the county has a right of pre-emption to, by virtue of the aforesaid act, and that he be allowed to pledge the faith of the county therefor, if necessary." Pursuant to that order, the sum required was procured of Henry Rudisill, and the purchase made as therein contemplated.

At a subsequent meeting of the Board, on the 27th of the same month, after the purchase had been consummated, the " County Agent was ordered to lay oft into lots that part of the Fort Wayne reservation for which the county has a right of pre-emption, and make out a plat thereof." This order, too, having been complied with, the proceedings thereunder were reported to the Board at the November term of the same year. The territory so ordered to be platted, was divided into seventy lots, ijicluding such as were fractional ; where¬ upon the County Agent aforesaid was directed to sell the same, and he sold them accordingly, on the 17th of the same month, at fair prices for the times.

Again, on the 9th of August, 1831, the services of the County Agent were called into requisition, and lie was directed " to cause the cutting-off of the brush aid stumps from the public square, to be let to the lowest bidder at public sale, and certify the amount to the Board, who will allow the amount to the person doing the work, the same to be done immediately." Under the order of the Board, also, dated March 5, 1832, the Agent was authorized to lease to James Wilcox, on his own application, thirty feet front by fifty back, at some remote hold it for four years if he so desired. During the same term, the following further order was made : " The Board orders the County Agent to agree with

Wilcox at the following rent : At the corner of Main and Calhoun streets, of the public square, §10 ; at, the corner of Main and Court streets, $8, and on the corner of Court street and Perry or Barr street, §6 per year." Afterward, at a special session of the Board, held iu June, 1834, further direction was given the County Agent, " authorizing him to lease to David H. Colerick a piece of ground for eight years, at the northwest comer of the public square, fronting on Main street twenty-five feet and running back forty feet, for which the said Colerick is to pay the county, for each and every year, §10, at the end of each year."

At the January session, 1833, the ninth year after the organization of the county, the Board fixed the rate of taxation for the current year as follows :

On the 6th of January, 1834, the first legal notice directed to be published in a public newspaper printed in the county was ordered by the Board to be publ'sbed in the Fort Wayne Sentinel, in the case requiring the County Agent to give notice that he would employ the County Surveyor to establish the corners of the couuty additions to Fort Wayne. Two days after, an allowance was made to Tigar & Noel, proprietors of the Sentinel , for the publication of that notice.

In October, 1834, at a special session of the Board, it was " ordered that L. G. Thompson be employed to attend the poor-house for one }'ear from this date, at two shillings per mile for visits, and one shilliug for each dose of medicine pre¬ scribed " - cheap doctoring, compared with the experiences of the medical profes¬ sion and its practice at the present day.

The following items of legislation appear among the records of the County Board, and are important, as indicating the steps taken toward providing for the wants and treatment of the poor of the county : During the first ten years of the county's existence, no organized action had been taken looking to the ultimate accomplishment of such a purpose. This record bears date in January, 1834, and refers only incidentally to the fact that an iufirmary had been built and a poor-farm purchased, without any details as to the plan and management. By the act of the Board, however, on the 6th of May following, the Clerk was author¬ ized " to advertise for the furnishing of medical supplies and attendance for the poor at the poor-house, in the Fort Wayne District, for one year, and William Rockhill was appointed to procure a suitable person to take charge of the poorhouse and make contracts for keeping the poov, and to act, at present, as Superin¬ tendent of the Poor-House and Poor-Farm."

At the session of the Board on the 6th of January, 1835, the poor farm was let for six years to Jeremiah Bowers, he to have the poor and take care of them, and receive §2 per week for boarding, making and mending, and clear twenty-five acres of land, " eighteen inches and under," and make a fence six rails hi^h and " double rider " the same.

At the session held in May of the sann year, an order was made directing that notice be given for a meeting of the citizens of the county, at the Court House, to consider the propriety of organizing a County Agricultural Society, lhis appears to have been the first effort toward the formation of such an associ¬ ation in Allen County.

The Board also, at the same time, under the law then in force, requiring the rate of taxation of property to be upon the valuation thereof, " ordered that there be levied on every hundred dollars in value, of real and personal property in said county of Allen, thirty-three and one-third cents; for road purposes, one cent on every hundred dollars. Polls to be collected at the rate of seventy-five cents on each person."

While the September term, 1837, of the County Board was in session, the following further order was made in reference to the organization of a County Agricultural Society : J

"Ordered, That the Sheriff be directed to cause the voters of Allen County to be notified that there will be a meeting held at the Court House in said county , on the first Monday in January next, for the purpose of forming an Agricultural bociety."

At the term following, in November, 1837, the Sheriff was ordered to erect a " Public Pound," on the southeast corner of the public square, being the corner fronting on Court and Berry streets, in the town of Fort Wayne.

C. V. N. Lent, M. D., was employed to attend the poor at the alms-house, at the March term, 1839, to receive 25 cents per mile traveled, 61 cents for each dose of medicine, and §200 per annum for surgical operations, or 50 per cent below usual charges.

" Ordered , That for each and every wolf killed in this county, if over the age of six months, the killer thereof shall be entitled to the sum of three dollars, and, if under the age of six months, one dollar and fifty cents, to be paid out of the county treasury, and that the Clerk be governed by the old law in granting certificates for the same." The law under which this order was made provided that, for each wolf supposed to be six months old and upward, killed within eight miles of any settlement, the killer thereof should be allowed and receive SI ; and for each wolf under six months old, 50 cents, to be paid out of the State Treasury on the certificate of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of the county where the same was killed. A further provision authorized the Board doing county business to allow, to the holder of any such certificate, an additional sum, not exceeding §2, for a grown wolf, and §1 for each under six months old, to be paid out of the county treasury. Before issuing the certificate provided duced were taken from a wolf or wolves, killed by you within this county, and within eight miles of some one of the settlements thereof, and within thirty days past; and that you believe such wolf or wolves, from which they were taken, were under or over six months old (as the case may be), and that you have not

On the 1st day of March, 1841, the Board made the following order, that " G. W. Wood, having filed his proposal to print all notices, orders, etc., for the county for one year from date, for the sum of nine dollars and fifty cents, it is therefore ordered that the Clerk cause all orders, etc., for the county, to be pub¬ lished in the Fort Wayne Times until March, 1842."

The following is the device for the seal to be used by the County Board in attesting its official acts, as prescribed by the Board at its session, September 9 1841 : ei

11 Ordered, That the following described seal be used as the seal of the Board of County Commissioners of Allen County, Indiana. The following is the device: Britannia seated on a shield and grasping the trident of Neptune, with the words ' Britannia, Rex. Fid. Dep.' - to be used until such time as another seal can be procured by said Board."

" Ordered by the Board , That the County Agent be and he is hereby author¬ ized to procure a seal for the Board of Commissioners, bearing the following device and letters, viz.: A sheaf of wheat in an upright position with a sickle sticking therein ; and, in the background, a field of corn with a reaper at work. And in a circle surrounding said device, the following words: 'Commissioners of Allen County. Ia. Seal.' The word seal to be in M. and the sheaf of wheat."

At the session of December 8, 1841, an additional bounty for wolf scalps was offered, making §5 for a full-grown wolf, and §2.50 for every scalp of a halfgrown wolf, killed in the county.

Because of the progress made in building a new Court House, there was a necessity for removing the obstructions on the public square, to put the area in a more presentable shape. The Board, at the March term, 1843, directed the County Agent to cause the buildings east of and adjoihing the Auditor's office, to be removed from the public square ; also, the stable on the square ; to grade the square, and grade and curb the sidewalks on Calhoun street. At the same session, a contract was entered into with Benjamin Mason, Charles French and

John O'Conour, for the erection of a building on the southeast corner of. the liublic square, suitable for one court-room and two offices. ,

For the use of the First Presbyterian Church, in Fort Wayne, the Board, at the June term of the same year, authorized the County Agent t) make, exe¬ cute and deliver to the Trustees of said Church, a deed for Lot No 6 d, in the county addition to said town, the order bearing date June 16, 1843. On the following day, the Board further ordered the County Agent to purchase Lot. No. US in Hanna's Addition to Fort Wayne, for the purpose of budding a jail thereon, for the sum of $500, payable in three annual installments lot has since become the property of the Berry Street Methodist Lpi>copal Church, and is the site now occupied by the church edifice of that congregation.

September 5, 1843, the Board received and adopted a seal to be used by them in their official capacity, substantially the same, descriptionally, as that pro¬ posed by the County Agent on the 9th of September, 1841.

At the June term, 1844, the Board fixed the following as the rate of taxa¬ tion for the year 1845 : 25 cents on each 8100 valuation, and 20 cents for the year 1846, for the purpose of building a jail.