Boone County, Indiana - Chapter 16: Cities and Towns of the County, 1914

Chapter 16: Cities and Towns of the County

Lebanon, the county-seat of Boone, is situated in the center of the county. The court house is located on the second meridian line, and five hundred and fifty-five feet north of the half section lines of section 36, town 19 north, range 1 west, and section 31, town 19 north, range 1 east, being in longitude 86" and 28' west, and latitude 400 and 4' north. Its elevation above sea level is 950 feet. It is over 200 feet above Indianapolis, and 100 feet above Frankfort and Crawfordsville. In this section of the state of Indiana, it is indeed the Lebanon in altitude when compared with other towns and cities. It was staked out in the woods and bogs on Prairie creek, about twelve miles from its confluence with Sugar creek at Thorntown.

Abner H. Longley has the distinction of driving the first stake for a home in its limits. It will be of interest to know how he reached the point. In the spring of 1832, as he came creeping along the state highway that was marked out from Indianapolis to LaFayette. he stuck in a swamp southeast of his destination in the crossing of Prairie creek, a mile and one-half southeast of Lebanon. He had to hunt around through the woods to get someone to help him out of his difficulty. He finally found Benjamin Dunn, who resided on the same road three miles northwest of Lebanon. He had a large pioneer heart, and cheerfully yoked "Buck and Bright" and accompanied him to the place, where he had left the wagon in the swamp, and thus kindly assisted, they brought the wagon and its contents into the port of Lebanon without "steam or sail." Mr. Longley having secured a lot on the southwest corner of the public square, erected the first house in the prospective city, a rough, one-room log cabin, and into this log cabin he and his family of ten persons, consisting of his wife and six children, his wid- owed mother and his sister, lived. In front of this cabin the first veranda was constructed. It was built by setting some rude posts into the ground and placing overhead the green, new cut branches of the trees. It made a delightful shade and was considered a luxury in its day. It was distinguished by being occupied as the first justice hall in the city of Lebanon. Here the first session of the circuit court was held. When Judge Morris. William Quarles and Calvin Fletcher, Esqs., arrived for the purpose of holding the first court they remarked, "Well, here is Lebanon, but where are the houses?" Mr. Longley was the entire town at that time. Home, school, church, court and the whole shop was under his hospitable roof. John Patterson has the distinction of being the second settler, and built the second log cabin in the flourishing city. The next year, 1833, William M. Smith swelled the population with his family, and erected the third log cabin. His home has the distinction of coming up by the first log-rolling ever held in the growing city. Soon after this the town had a boom, and S. S. Brown, J. S. Forsythe, J. C. Lane, Jonathan H. Rose, the first doctor, Levi Lane came, followed by many others. During the winter of 1835 the trees on the public square were felled and cut into logs, rolled into heaps and burned. The great portion of the town plat was yet in the woods. These few cabins were surrounded by tall trees, if they were not the cedars of Lebanon. Hickory, oak, maple, walnut and others of gigantic growth of over one hundred feet in height overshadowed their homes. The first court house was built in 1835. It was a hewn log structure. It stood immediately north of the public square and just west of the present jail. It served as a hall of justice for five years, when a brick building of two stories was erected on the present site, which cost our fathers at that time the enormous sum of four thousand dollars. This second house served until 1855, when the third house was begun and finished in 1857, at a cost of forty thousand dollars. The third house was razed in 19 10 and rebuilt in 191 1, at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. This growth and development of court houses is an excellent index of the growth of the county-seat, and it in turn of the wonderful advance of the county from an almost impenetrable wilderness to the beauty, wealth and luxury that we behold on every hand today. To have a good idea of what has been wrought by our people in less than seventy-five years, look at Lebanon in its beginnings, and its court house of this date. All other interests of the people have kept pace in homes, churches and schools. This great change did not all come in a day. It was of slow growth. The old citizens can remember when the city was still in the bogs. In 1840, when the first brick court house was built, it was surrounded by modest frame buildings. It was interesting at that time and even at a much later period, to know how the people got about in times when Prairie creek had possession of the town. There were a few plank walks set on blocks sawed from trees and set on end and planks laid endwise. In times of flood they became rafts and it took some art to walk on them. Often the pedestrians would be derailed and have to swim or wade owing to the depth of the water. Later, travel was by mud boats or plunging into mud from the ankle upwards. Back in those days they got it out on the Lebanonites that they were "web-footed," and the name went to all Booneites and stuck to them until they got out of the mud and water. It was this "guy" that goaded them into activity, and hastened the system of ditching and road building.

If one would look into Lebanon today, with its handsome homes, its modern public buildings, its paved streets and beauty, it would be difficult to convince him that a few years ago it was what our fathers say of it. If we could only see the town in the forties and the fifties, and behold its beauty and luxury of today, it would aid us in appreciating what our fathers endured for us. It gives some conception of the toil and hardships that they underwent to secure for us this rich heritage. They planted in the muck and the mire out of which has come the beauty of the lily of our day. They were the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, the very mud sills of our civilization. If they had not wrought and sacrificed we would yet be in the woods and wading in the swamps. We pause to give this picture of the beginnings, that we may know from whence we came, and to enable us to better appreciate the high privileges that have come to us as a heritage from our forefathers.

The town dragged heavily through the mud and made very slow progress. Ten and twenty years passed in this way until many that started to build wore their lives out in the effort, passed away or moved to a more healthful clime. It would make an interesting book to tell the story of the first twenty years of the struggle of this county-seat in the mud and woods of Boone county. The story will never be told because the participants are all gone. Now and then the curtain is drawn and a glimpse of the toilers is caught.

James Samuel Strong was born in Ohio in the year 1805. Four years later, on June 8, 1809, in the Miami valley, Miss Temperance was born, daughter of George Weller and Sarah Bell Crist. Her father moved to what is now Union county, Indiana, in 1812. Samuel Strong, as a young man, came later, wooed Miss Temperance, and on April 12, 1832, they were joined in wedlock. Before the honeymoon was over the bride and groom set their faces westward and landed in Lebanon and began to build a home. As an industry he established the first tanyard. Here he reared a large family. He was postmaster and school commissioner for a term of years in the forties. By an act of the Legislature in 1852 the town of Lebanon was incorporated in 1853. It had remained as a village for twenty-three years and for the next twenty-two years was content to be called a town. In 1875 it was organized as a city, with the following officers : Mayor, Samuel L. Hamilton; clerk, W. A. Zion; treasurer, William H. Richey; marshal, Jesse Perkins; assessor, Lysander Darnall; councilmen, A. O. Miller, A. C. Daily, Thomas Ailesworth, James Nealis, Sol Witt and Joseph Kelley. Note the stages of developments, first a village, next a town, now a city measuring well up with its neighbors throughout the great state of Indiana and royally wears the honor of being the county-seat of the foremost county in the state.

Lebanon is a solid city. It is not a mushroom growth. It has come up through hard knocks. If it was built in a swamp, its mud sills were laid deep and are down on hard pan. It is here to stay and grow. It is not one of the big towns of this day, but it is solid and brim full of energy and push. See its paved streets. It would be hard work to make one believe that for a long time in our history that they were almost impassible. See the beautiful homes, the graceful, commodious churches, the substantial public buildings after the latest improved designs, the magnificent school buildings With all modern fittings, the splendid business houses for manufacturing and facilitating trade, and above all the peaceful home-like spirit that prevails, making this a very paradise of beauty, health and quiet. When we behold all these comforts of life we want to forget all the history of the past and dwell on this picture of delight. We are not advertising, but there is no better place to live under the shining sun than the Lebanon of Boone county today. It is like all the precious things of this world, it came through toil, sacrifice and long suffering.

This town is located in the northeast part of Jackson township and on the Midland railroad, nine miles southwest of Lebanon and five miles north of Jamestown. The place is comparatively new, springing up when the above railroad was proposed. The town contains quite a number of shops, several stores, which require mechanics, merchants, of course there are doctors, good schools, churches and many good residences. There is a postoffice, which is a great convenience to the people of the northeast of Jackson and surrounding country. The people possess an enviable reputation as entertainers. Some of their Sunday school conventions are passed upon as the very best held in the county, notably the one of 1908. Every interest of the community is kept thoroughly up to date.

This once thriving little town was situated on the Michigan road, just north of where Little Eagle crosses the same. It kept this name for years, when it was changed to that of Hamilton, about the year 1838 or 1839. It was first named after Walter Clark, of Ohio. It was laid out on the land of Jacob Hoover in or about the year 1833. Trie following were the first citizens : Frederick Lowe, who built the first house and kept public house ; Elias Bishop, John and George Lowe, the Duzans, Jacob Hoover. The first blacksmith was Critchfield. The first doctors were W. N. Duzan. George Selders, George W. Duzan. The first merchants were Jacob Hoover, John Duzan, Oel Thayer, Zachariah Owsley. Zachariah Turpin kept a grocery. The first tanner was James Sheets. The first carding machine was built by Jacob Hoover and Moses Lyons as early as 1837 and has been kept up ever since; is now owned by Paul D. Liebhardt, with a sawmill attached. Andrew Hopkins, Clinton Osborn and Allen Brook were the saddlers and harness-makers. The town has been allowed to go into decadence. There are only a few dilapidated houses remaining that mark the site of the once flourishing town of Clarkstown.

This town was laid out in 1850 by Ariss Pauley. It was first known as "Crackaway." It is located near the center of Jefferson township, on the Noblesville gravel road and the Thorntown and Jamestown road, eight miles from Lebanon, in a fine part of the county. In i860 a postoffice was established here and named Cason, in remembrance of Thomas J. Cason, of Lebanon. It has been for years the center or voting place for the township. The first merchant was Wesley Adkins, who started a store in i860. The first postmaster was William Goldsburgh, succeeded by Joseph S. Miller. In 185 1, James Stephenson built a sawmill here. The following doctors have practiced here : Doctors Clair, Oxly, C. Smith, Hamilton, John S. Smith, Finch, Crafton and W. H. Ware. The first woodshop was by J. L. Pyles; first blacksmith, William Goldsburgh. The names of merchants and mechanics are: McDaniel & Brother, merchants; Lewis Denny, blacksmith; Henry J. Frazier, carpenter; Hezekiah Kerfart, shoemaker; Robert Denny, carpenter; Lee Miles, workingman. Three churches, one school house and fourteen families making in the eighties about fifty inhabitants.

Fayette is located on Whitelick, in Perry township, and in the southern part of it near the Hendricks county line and in section ten. The town is well located on an elevated, well-drainad piece of land. The town contains two stores, school house and several good private residences. Fayette was laid out on the land originally owned by Edwin Shurley and Mr. Turner. The merchants are Mr. McDaniel and Shurley; doctors, W. T. Everts and Jourden. Drug store by Josephus Dodson. Former merchants were Thomas J. Lumpkins and Thomas Fitch. Fayette is the voting place of Perry township, and is the center of considerable trade, not only in Boone but also of Hendricks county. Dr. W. E. Everts, who has a fine practice, also has charge of the postoffice. Fayette contains some three hundred inhabitants, of sober, industrious habits. The settlement here on Whitelick dates back to the thirties. The town, however, is not quite that old. (26)

Gadsden is located in Union township, on the Midland railroad, in the center of section 31, town 19 north, range 1 east. It is the second station out from Lebanon, Heath being the first. A branch of Eagle creek, called Mt. Run, takes its rise and meanders slowly along between it and the school house located in the northeast corner of the section, a half mile north and a half mile east by road. Considerable trading is done at the flourishing department store here for neighborhood trade, and from out the smithy's shop, a necessary adjunct of all country places, his cheery anvil rings out early and late. With good roads the scattered farm houses in sight are within easy reach from this station for all visitors to the country. It maintains a weekly correspondent to the county pioneer paper in Lebanon, which furnishes the country side with news of its happenings.

This town is located on the Indianapolis, Cincinnati & LaFayette Railroad, six miles northwest of Lebanon, in the southeast corner of Washington township. It was laid out on the land originally owned by H. G. Hazelrigg and named in his honor. It has been a stopping and shipping point of some note since its inception. While a railroad station it has all the marks of a country village store, blacksmith shop, postoffice and the usual number of dwelling houses. The Presbyterians established a church there, but the house is used now, if at all, more as a social center. Over the store established by S. Klepfer, however, is a public hall, used for general purposes, such as lectures, meetings of a religious character, etc. Hazelrigg is located in a fine part of the county. The people here could illy do without a postoffice and other conveniences such as elevators and silos throughout the neighborhood to save grain and provender. The population is steadily on the increase from eighteen souls upwards.

This thriving town is situated in the south part of Jackson township, in section 10, town 17 north, range 2 west. It was laid out by James Mat- lock and John R. Gibson in 1832. The first house built was by John R. Gibson in 1829. It was of round logs, with overlapping corners, of the pattern of the very first houses built in the woods of Boone county. If you get a view of one, you have a conception of all of that class. The style was not changed. It was the invariable rule for the construction of the round log cabin of the pioneer. Its rudeness was modified by the hewn log house that was the next style of the pioneer house, and marked an advance in beauty and convenience for a home. The boys and girls of our day can scarcely realize the style and inconvenience of the home of their grandparents in this county of eighty-five years ago. The first store in the village was opened by Samuel Hughes in a log cabin on the south side of Main street. For some time he sold without opposition, but in course of time, as it is in any thrifty, growing town, competition came. John Galvin started a store on the corner, and became a lively competitor, and set business a going with such vim that it attracted trade from all the adjoining country, including traders from Hendricks and Montgomery counties, more than doubling the trade of each, and making room for others in the trade and other industries, until the village grew into a lively trade center. The town being happily located, on the state road from Indianapolis to Crawfordsville, it soon became a stage town of first importance. There must be taverns to accommodate the traveling public. There must also be stables to keep and provide for the change of horses. In that age of our progress, a stage town was of more importance than it is now to be a railroad crossing. Any town so favored was set up and felt itself above its neighbors who were not so favored. It gave the town a boost and started it a going until railroads, trolleys and oil lines came in with the greater progress of our day.

The above village is situated five miles south of Lebanon, rather in the north part of Harrison township. It was laid out by G. O. P. Crawford on section 26. Its first tradesmen were W. H. Campbell, Henry Tomlinson, J. E. Pernell, Henry Ulin, William Higgins, John, Bartlett and Theodore Dickerson. The doctors were Henry Tomlinson, Melvin Leachman, E. W. S. Hilligoss and James Turner, with others located later. The postmaster

Edwards. The village contains a good brick school house, Protestant Methodist church and several good dwelling houses. The postoffke was formerlykept by J. P. Pinnell, who was probably the first one here.

This thriving town, so beautifully located on a high piece of ground near the junction of Brown's Wonder and Sugar creek, was laid out in the year 1835 by James Snow. It is near the Clinton county line and also near the line dividing the townships of Clinton and Washington, being, however, in the latter, on the road leading from Lebanon to Frankfort, about nine miles from the former and seven miles from the latter. The town contains many handsome residences, three churches, school house, etc., and is the center of a fine local trade. It has been called "The Burg" longer than the oldest inhabitant can recollect. It has a population of about two hundred. The village is well known throughout the country, as its flouring mill, at one time owned by George Ryan, was patronized by farmers far and near, not only of this, but by those of the adjoining county of Clinton. It is well supplied with fresh groceries, dry goods, ready-made clothing, boots, shoes and notions from its various shops and stores. A good drug store, conducted by E. E. Armstrong, deals out drugs, patent medicines, school books, stationary, paints, oils, cigars, tobacco and notions. This is the home of the well-known and valued citizens - Dr. Jesse S. Reagan, Dr. Walker, Nathan Garrett and many others. Dr. C. D. Umberhine, a graduate of Rush Medical College, is still in practice here. Frank Moore and W. H. Brown, who have plenty to do the year round, are its blacksmiths. William Keller is justice of the peace and works at shoemaking during odd spells. J. S. Moore ran the wagon shop and kept postoffice. Frank Mills was familiarly known as "Handle," from his varied duties, mail carrier, goods hauler and generalissimo of all work for everybody. Hart Lodge No. 413, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is the oldest secret society in the town. The membership own their hall and are in a good condition. The religious denominations are the United Brethren in Christ, Methodist Episcopal and Christ- ian. In the eighties the pastor of the first-named church was Rev. Perry Cooper; of the second. Rev. Jesse Hill, and of the last-named, Rev. Howe, of Irvington. In recent years the Christian church replaced their structure with a fine, substantial brick building. All are in a good condition.

New Brunswick

This town is in the southwest part of Harrison township and about seven miles southwest of Lebanon, in a rich, fertile part of the county, containing several good residences. Christian church, brick school house, postoffice, store, doctors, etc. Among the first merchants here were Samuel Vest & Son, Doctor Horner, Mr. Sexton, Aaron Frazee, Colonel Lechter, Franklin Walters & Son, D. M. Watts. I. W. Smith was postmaster and merchant in the eighties. The doctors who have practiced here from time to time are Doctors Horner, George and William Kane, W. E. Everts, James Leach and T. N. Bounell. William H. Crose was the old veteran wagon-maker. The blacksmiths, William Dale, O. C. Wilson and Joseph Chitwood. The first postmaster was Nelson Watts. The town was laid out in 1850, on the lands of Joseph and Nathaniel Wainwright.

North Field

Northfield was laid out in the year 1834. Jesse Lane was the proprietor. It is situated in Union township, on the Michigan road. Big Eagle crosses the Michigan road just north, and Findly creek on the south. Among the first settlers and business men were as follows : Hiram Mc- Quidy built the first horse mill or corn cracker. A. Sanburn was the first postmaster. First merchants were Mr. Long, Chance Cole, Jacob Tipton. Doctors were Knowlton, McLeod, Presly and Samuel Hardy. First blacksmith was Mr. Robinson; first school teacher, Mr. Bray; first justices of the built by the Methodists. A church, called Adventists, was built here in 1886 and dedicated in December of that year by Rev. Covert, of Howard county. It is a very good frame building; cost eight hundred dollars. Northfield is the voting place of Union township and for three-quarters of a century has had a postoffice. Among the early families of the place were George Shirts, Hiram McOuidy, Mr. Sanburn, Jacob Tipton and Mr. Robinson. The first tavern was kept by Hiram McOuidy. The town contains a good brick school house and Methodist Episcopal church. Northfield was once the home of Jonathan H. Rose, also that of Jacob Tipton. The postmaster in 1887 was Henry Nichols.

Rosston is situated in Union township, on the Michigan road, in the center of section 34/ township 29 north, range 2 east. It derives its name from the Ross brothers, whose farms adjoin it. T. M. Ross, with sixty acres on the north; J. J. and M. Ross, with thirty acres due west; N. Ross, with fifty-six acres south, and with him T. M. Ross, with thirteen acres more. Rosston is a mile north of Northfield, bearing west. It was laid out about the time the Anderson & St. Louis railroad was surveyed. There is quite a little trade here, especially since the railroad was finished from Anderson to Lebanon, January 22, 1887. There are two variety stores and a Masonic Lodge No. 528, chartered May 23, 1875. The first religious meetings held in LTnion township were at the home of S. Sedwick, whose farm borders Rosston on the east.

Royalton nestles among the hills of Fishback and Eagle creek and near the Marion county line on the south, in Eagle township, southwest of Lebanon. Among the first merchants were John Rodman, Doctor Horn, John W. Vaugh. The early doctors were Doctor Horn, Doctor Ross and Doctor Graham. First hotel was kept by John Smock ; first blacksmith shop was that of Thomas Smock; first postmasters were Doctor Horn, John McCabe, J. W. Vaugh ; first shoe-makers, Jeremiah Washburn and Daniel Thompson. Samuel Jones was the first to sell whiskey in Royalton. Mr. Strowmire was the principal merchant in the eighties. There is a postoffice kept here; also trades of various kinds going on. It was near here the

Terhune is located on the east side of section 22, township 20 north, range 2 east, in Marion township, at the crossing of the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville railroad and the pike leading from Mechanicsburg and Sheridan to Noblesville. The town was laid out early in the eighties, during the construction of the railroad. Being surrounded by very rich farming lands, it started out with the most lively boom of any prospective town in the county. Located about four miles on the railway from Sheridan, eleven miles east on pike from Mechanicsburg and fourteen miles southeast from Frankfort on the railroad, its founders thought it would become a large, flourishing town. That was the age in which everybody thought a railroad would insure a town. People flocked to the new town and it grew rapidly. In two or three years there were four stores, three blacksmith shops, many houses and other industries in proportion, sawmill, flouring mill, elevator, large livery barns and every indication of a thriving town. Terhune got its growth in less than three years and has settled down into a good trading center for Marion township. Supporting an excellent elevator, stores, blacksmith shops, school and churches, it makes, with good residences, a very desirable place for homes and country trade. It keeps in touch socially with other towns by good newspaper correspondents.

The territory now comprising Thorntown and vicinity was known as the "Thorntown Indian Reservation" until the year 1828, when it was purchased from the Indians by the government. It was two or three years before the Indians were finally removed, when a man by the name of Cornelius West fall purchased the ground on which the city is now situated. It was laid out in lots in 1831.

The growth of the town at first was very slow and the difficulties of the early settlers were great; log huts were at first a luxury, and the town was surrounded with swamps and mosquitoes and forests, and the people were annoyed with the old shaking ague and malarial fever, while the countrywas infested with wolves, bear, deer, wild cat and numerous smaller species of wild beasts, with no roads save paths through the swampy wilderness, with no bridges across the streams, with few possible means of ingress and egress, with LaFayette and Connersville as the nearest towns, with few domestic animals and almost no markets for the products of the farm, one can gain some idea of the trials and vicissitudes of the early settlers, the men and women who subdued the forests and laid the foundation for the present prosperous and happy homes.

Among the first arrivals and earliest settlers were Cornelius Westfall, Levi Westfall, Oliver Craven, Joshua and James Van Eaton, John S. Pearce (who erected the first grist mill in that part of the county), L. McConnell, Robert Hamill, Zachariah Gapen and Isaac Morgan. Mr. Hamill was the first postmaster and Mr. Morgan opened the first hotel or tavern, a humble log structure, in which the fare was of a primitive character, where cornpones and venison were the staple diet. Robert Hamill started the first store, and to him is due the honor of inaugurating mercantile enterprises in the town. Soon after another store was opened by Mr. McConnell; here was the first competition in trade in Thorntown, and from these two insignificant little establishments have sprung the quite one hundred business houses of today, while beautiful homes, costly church edifices and substantial school houses abound. The streets are wide and attractive and no stranger ever leaves Thorntown without admitting that it has made an excellent impression upon him.

The public school facilities are unsurpassed; the system in force is equal, if not superior, to most towns. The two large, elegant school buildings are modern, comfortable and convenient, the sanitary arrangements are perfect and a most efficient corps of teachers is in charge.

The city is well represented in the fraternal affairs, there being lodges of the following orders : Masonic, Odd Fellowship, in three branches ; Knights of Pythias, Red Men, Grand Army of the Republic, Modern Woodmen, the Benevolent and Protective Elks and Daughters of Rebekah.

Committee Reports

Your committee, appointed to draft suitable resolutions expressing our appreciation of the generous offer submitted to this meeting, beg leave to present the following: Whereas, Gen. Anson Mills, of Washington, D. C, has, through Richard E. Niven, submitted to the people of Thorntown a proposition wherein he proposes to expend not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the purchase of a lot, sinking wells, building pump house, the purchase of a boiler, engine and pump, build stand pipe, put in supply pipe, erect a handsome public drinking fountain (of bronze or brass), a watering place for stock, a sewer to carry all surplus water from the street to Prairie creek, all at his own expense, as a monument to his father and mother. And, whereas, he further proposes that the town of Thorntown shall have the right of attaching water mains and pipes of sufficient size to supply any 6r all parts of the town with water, for fire, sprinkling or domestic use. Therefore, be it resolved, that the action of General Mills in thus honoring his ancestors is highly commendable and appreciated by the people of Thorntown, and his offer to present to our citizens this tribute of respect as a memorial to his father and mother, who were pioneer citizens of this community, is recognized by us as a magnificent and generous act on the part of a dutiful son, which we accept with grateful acknowledgements to the donor.

of September 28, 1908, has been presented to the board of trustees of said town and said proposition has been duly considered by said board, and

Whereas, it is the desire of said board of trustees to assist in any way in their power the laudable purpose of General Mills to erect a monument to the memory of his father and mother in the place of his nativity which will prove a source of pleasure and utility to all the inhabitants of said town and community ; be it

Resolved by the board of trustees of said town of Thorntown, Indiana, that the generous offer of General Mills to said town be and the same is hereby accepted.

Resolved, that upon the completion of said water works plant as contemplated by General Mills the said town will, and it hereby obligates itself, to maintain the same in a first-class state of efficiency and that it will keep and maintain over each fountain or public drinking place erected by General Mills an electric arc light sufficient to light the same during the hours of darkness.

Resolved, that the board of trustees will adopt and enact all necessary ordinances to carry into full effect the above resolutions according to its spirit and intent.

Resolved, that the clerk of said town be and he is hereby directed to transmit to General Mills a duly certified copy of these resolutions under seal of said town.

Mr. John E. Leatherman introduced the above preamble and resolutions and moved that the same be adopted. The motion was seconded by Mr. Joseph Mayer. The president of the board of trustees, therefore, put the question: Shall the resolutions be adopted?

All With One Accord

fountain in Thorntown in memory of his parents. Mr. J. A. Ball, president of the town board, called the house to order and stated the purpose of the meeting. R. E. Niven was called upon to give the purport of the proposition of General Mills. A committee of three, consisting of R. E. Niven, Tom Bradshaw and Dr. C. R. Armstrong, was appointed to draft resolutions of acceptance of the proposition and expressive of the gratitude of the citizens for the generous offer. While the committee was preparing its report, Mr. Ball made a statement of the financial condition of the town, which was very gratifying. He stated that duplicate power and generators were being installed in the light plant, and that the town would be out of debt by the first of January, excepting outstanding school bonds not yet due. He stated that the net earnings of the plant last year was two thousand dollars and that the water works could be taken up by the town board after General Mills had completed what he wished, and carried throughout the town in a few vears without increase of debt or taxes.

William T. Barry

Know ye, that, confiding in the integrity, ability and punctuality of Robert Hamill, Esq., I do appoint him postmaster and authorize him to execute the duties of that office at Thorntown, in the county of Boone, state of Indiana.

According to the laws of the United States and the regulation of the postoffice department. To hold the said office of postmaster, with all the powers, privileges and emoluments, to the same belonging during the pleasure of the postmaster general of the United States for the time being.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the postoffice department to be affixed, at Washington City, the twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the fifty-seventh Southern Division.

It will be observed by the following statement of the postoffice department, that there was a postoffice for this community, prior to the one established at Thorntown. It was at New Pennsylvania, which was laid out In the fall of 1 83 1, by Enoch Davis, who built a dwelling and store-house, in which he kept a postoffice. New Pennsylvania was a rival of Thorntown, located on the Indianapolis and State road at the crossing of the road leading from Thorntown to Mechanicsburg, about the center of section 31, township 20, range i west, in Washington township, near the W. H. Hutchinson farm house. Robert Hamill, the father of R. W. Hamill, of Thorntown, came to Boone in 1832 and moved his family in 1833. He received his commission as postmaster.

The postmaster general informs the Honorable Mr. Tipton, that he has this day established a postoffice at Thorntown, county of Boone and state of Indiana, and appointed Robert Hamill, Esq., to be postmaster. The key for opening the mail is enclosed and the necessary blanks for the office, which are transmitted to the postoffice at New Pennsylvania.

Sir - I have concluded to establish a postoffice, by the name of Thorntown, in the county of Boone, and state of Indiana, and to appoint you postmaster thereof, in which capacity you will be authorized to act, upon complying with the following requirements :

First. To execute the enclosed bond and cause it to be executed by two sufficient sureties, in the presence of suitable witnesses, and the sufficiency of the sureties to be certified by a qualified magistrate.

Third. To exhibit your bond and qualification, duly executed, taken and certified as aforesaid, to the postmaster of New Pennsylvania, and then to deposit them in the mail, addressed to this Department, Office of Appointments.

A packet, containing a mail key, blanks, laws and regulations of the department, and a table of postoffices, is transmitted to you, addressed to the care of the postmaster of New Pennsylvania.

After the receipt, at the department, of your bond and qualification, duly executed, taken and certified, and after my approval of the sufficiency of the same, a commission will be sent to you.

This letter will be your authority for calling on the mail-carrier to supply your office with the mail. It will be your duty to continue in the charge of the office, either personally or by assistant, till you are relieved from it by the consent of the department, which will be signified by the discontinuance of your office, or the appointment of your successor.

Payments to the department must be punctually made, if called for by drafts, whenever the draft is presented. If deposits are ordered they should be made within ten days after the termination of the quarter, unless required to be made sooner.

No postmaster must change the name by which his office is designated on the books of the department, without my order therefor previously given.

Be careful in mailing letters, to postmark each one, in all cases, with the name of your office and state; and in all communications to the department to embrace, in the date, the name of your postoffice, county (or district) and state. *

Special attention to the foregoing instructions, and a careful perusal of, and a frequent reference to, the law and general instructions, are expected of you and your assistants.

Col. Anson Mills

Anson Mills, soldier and inventor, was born at Thorntown, Indiana, August 31, 1834, son of James P. and Sarah (Kenworthy) Mills, grandson of James and Marian Mills, great-grandson of James and Joanna (Neels) Mills, and great-great-grandson of Robert Mills, son of Amos and Mary, the first of the family in America, who came from England with William Penn in 1670 and lived in Newberry township, York, Pennsylvania. Both paternal and maternal ancestors were Quakers, and for several generations followed farming as a vocation. Anson Mills received his early education in the Charlotteville (N. Y.) Academy, and was a cadet at the United States Military Academy during 1855-57. He was appointed first lieutenant of the Eighteenth United States Infantry on May 14, 1861, having received the indorsement of the entire class at West Point in 1861. Appointed captain April 27, 1863; transferred to Third Cavalry April 4, 1871 ; major, Tenth Cavalry, April 4, 1878; lieutenant-colonel, Fourth Cavalry, March 25, 1890; colonel, Third Cavalry, August 16, 1892, and brigadier-general, June 16, 1897. Retired on his own application June 2j, 1897. He was brevetted captain December 31, 1862, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; major, September 1, 1864, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, and during the Atlanta campaign; lieutenant-colonel, December 16, 1864, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Nashville, Tennessee, and colonel, February 27, 1890, for gallant services in action against the Indians, at Slim Buttes, Dakota, September 9, 1876.

After leaving West Point he went to the frontier of Texas, and engaged in engineering and land surveying, and laid out the first plan of the city of El Paso. In 1859 he was surveyor on the part of Texas on the boundary commission establishing the boundary between New Mexico, Indian Territory and Texas. In March, 1861, he went to Washington and joined the Cassius M. Clay Guards, which were quartered, armed and equipped by the Federal government, and served there, protecting Federal officers and property until relieved by volunteers. He was with his regiment in the army of the Ohio and department of the Cumberland to October 22, 1864, and was acting inspector-general, district of Etowah, to February 25, 1865. He participated in the siege of Corinth, the battles of Perryville, Kentucky; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Hoover's Gap, Tennessee; Chickamauga, Georgia; the siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Missionary Ridge, Tennessee; Tunnel Hill, Georgia; Buzzard's Roost, Georgia; the Atlanta campaign, Resaca, Georgia; Dallas, Georgia; New Hope Church, Georgia; Kenesaw Mountain, New Dow Station, Peach Tree Creek; Utoy Creek, Georgia, where he was wounded, and Jonesboro, Georgia, and while on the staff of General Stedman, in the battles of Nashville, Tennessee, and Decatur, Alabama.

During the four years' war he was never absent, either on leave or from sickness, and was present in all the engagements of his regiment. Fox's "Regimental Losses" states that his regiment (Eighteenth Infantry), lost more in killed and wounded than any other regiment in the regular army, and that his company (H), First Battalion, lost more in killed and wounded than any other company in the regiment.

After the war he served at Fort Aubrey, Kansas; Forts Bridger and Fetterman, Wyoming; Fort Sedgwick, Colorado; Fort McPherson, Georgia, and Columbia, South Carolina. He joined the Third Cavalry April 15, 1871, and served with it at Forts Whipple and McDowell, Arizona; Fort McPherson, Nebraska; North Platte, Nebraska, and was in the field commanding the Big Horn expedition from August to October, 1874. At Camp Sheridan, Nebraska, and Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming, to May 18, 1876. He commanded expeditions against the Indians at Tongue River, Montana, June 9; at Rose Bud river, Montana, June 17, and at Slim Buttes, Dakota, September 9, 1876. At Camp Sheridan, Nebraska, to May 21, 1877, where he had charge of Chief Spotted Tail and his tribe of six thousand Ogalala Sioux Indians. He joined the Tenth Cavalry in April, 1879, and served at Forts Concho and Davis, Texas (and commanded battalion of regiment at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, during the Indian outbreak to November, 1881), to April 1, 1885; commanded Fort Thomas, Arizona, to August 26, 1886, and Fort Grant, Arizona, being frequently in the field, to September 24, 1888; on duty at Fort Bliss, Texas, under special orders, assisting officers of the interior department (U. S. geological survey) in surveys near El Paso, Texas, with the object of reclaiming arid lands in the Rio Grande valley, to April 2, 1890, when he was transferred to the 4th cavalry, and served at Presidio, California, to October 31, 1891. Commanded regiment and post of Fort Walla Walla, Washington, to February, 1893. Joined Third Cavalry as colonel February 28, 1893, and commanded post at Fort Mcintosh, Texas, and Fort Reno, Oklahoma, to August, 1893; made brigadier-general and retired.

General Mills invented the woven cartridge belt and loom for its manufacture and founded the Mills Woven Cartridge Belt Company, of Worcester, Massachusetts, which manufactures woven cartridge belts and equipment for all the world. He was a member of the board of visitors at West Point in 1866, and was United States military attache at the Paris Exposition of 1878. Since October, 1893, General Mills has been United States commissioner on the international boundary commission, United States and Mexico, during which he originated the principle of eliminating bancos (small islands) which are formed by the action of the Rio Grande and much complicated the boundary question previous to the treaty of 1905 for the "elimination of bancos in the Rio Grande." which he prepared. He was also appointed commissioner in 1896 to investigate and report upon a plan for an international dam near El Paso, Texas, for the purpose of equitably distributing the waters of the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico. The American section of the boundary commission has published, under General Mills' direction, many valuable reports, including the proceedings of the commission, in two volumes (1903) ; two reports on Elimination of Bancos in the Rio Grande (191 0-12), and Survey of the Rio Grande, Roma to the Gulf of Mexico (1913).

He sat on the arbitral commission for the hearing of the Chamizal case, Hon. Eugene La Fleur, of Canada, presiding, which case involved the question of international title to land forming part of the city of El Paso, Texas, and his dissenting opinion in the findings of the arbitral board was approved by his government.

General Mills is a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and was commander of the Washington commandery in 1908; Order of the Indian Wars of the United States and was commander in 191 1, Society of the Army of the Cumberland, American Society of International Law, honorary member Society of Indiana Engineers, Army and Navy Club and Metropolitan Club of Washington. He was married October 8, 1868, to Hannah Martin, daughter of William C. Cassell, of Zanesville, Ohio, and had two sons, Anson Cassel and William Cassel Mills (both deceased), and one daughter, Constance Lydia, wife of Capt. Winfield Scott Overton, United States army.

War Department

Adjutant General's Office, Washington, February 24, 1897. Statement of the military service of Anson Mills, of the United States Army, compiled from the records of this office :

He was appointed first lieutenant, Eighteenth Infantry, 14th May, 1861 ; captain, 27th April, 1863; transferred to Third Cavalry, 1st January, 1871 ; major, Tenth Cavalry, 4th April, 1878; lieutenant-colonel, Fourth Cavalry. 25th March, 1890; colonel, Third Cavalry, 16th August, 1892.

He was brevetted captain, 31st December, 1862, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; major, 1st September, 1864, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, and during the Atlanta campaign, lieutenant-colonel, 16th December, 1864, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Nashville, Tennessee, and colonel, 27th February, 1890, for gallant services in action against Indians, at Slim Buttes, Dakota, September 9. 1876.

He was on recruiting service July 19, 1861, to February 17, 1862, with regiment in Army of the Ohio, and Department of the Cumberland, to October 22, 1864, and Acting Inspector-General, District of Etowah, to February 25, 1865. He participated in the siege of Corinth, April 29th, to June 5, 1862; battles of Perryville. Kentucky, October 8, 1862; Murfreesboro, Tennessee, December 29, 1862, to January 5, 1863; Hoover's Gap, Tennessee, June 25 and 26, 1863; Chickamauga, Georgia, September 19 and 20, 1873; siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee, September 21, to November 4, 1863; Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, November 24 and 25, 1863; Tunnel Hill, Georgia, February 2T, and 24, 1864; Buzzard's Roost, Georgia, February 25 and 26, 1864; Atlanta campaign, May 3 to September 8, 1864; Resaca, Georgia, May 13 to 15, 1864; Dallas, Georgia, May 24 to June 5, 1864; New Hope Church, Georgia, May 29 to 31, 1864; Kenesaw Mountain, June 22 to July 3, 1864; Neal Dow Station, July 4, 1864; Peach Tree Creek, Georgia, July 20, 1864, where he was slightly wounded; Utoy Creek, Georgia, August 7, 1864; Jonesboro, Georgia, September 1, 1864, and Nashville, Tennessee, December 15 and 16, 1864.

Wyoming, to October, 1867, and at Fort Fetterman, Wyoming, to May 10, 1868; on leave to July 10, 1868; with regiment at Fort Sedgwick, Colorado, to April, 1869, and in Georgia and South Carolina, to January 15, 1871.

He commanded his troop at Fort McPherson, Nebraska, January 17 to May 1, 1872; at North Platte, Nebraska (on leave December 2, 1872, to March 9, 1873), to August 13, 1874; in the field commanding the Big Horn expedition, to October 13, 1874; on leave to January 18, 1875; commanding troop and post of North Platte, Nebraska, to April 14, 1875; at Camp Sheridan, Nebraska, to November 20, 1875 ; at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming (in field February 21 to April 26, 1876, being engaged in action against Indians at Little Powder river, Montana, March 17, 1876), to May 18, 1876; commanding battalion of regiment in the field on expedition against hostile Indians, to October 24, 1876, being engaged against them at Tongue River, Montana, June 9, at Rose Bud River, Montana, June 17, and at Slim Buttes, Dakota, September 9, 1876 (where he commanded), commanding his troop at Camp Sheridan, Nebraska, November, 1876, to May 21, 1877, and on leave of absence to February 27, 1878; on duty in Paris, France, with the United States Commissioner, Paris Exposition, to November, 1878, and on delay to March, 1879.

He joined the Tenth Cavalry, April n, 1879, and served with regiment in Texas (on leave March 23 to June 30, 1880, and August 26, 1880, to March 21, 1881), to May 21, 1881 ; commanding battalion of regiment at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, to November, 1881 ; on duty at Fort Concho, Texas, to July, 1882; at Fort Davis, Texas (on leave October 26, 1883, to January 2, 1884), to April 1, 1885; commanding post of Fort Thomas, Arizona, to August 26, 1886; on leave to March 27, 1887; on duty at Fort Grant, Arizona, being frequently in field to September 24, 1888; on sick leave to May, 1889 ; on duty at Fort Bliss, Texas, assisting officers of the Interior Department in surveys (before Congressional Committee in this city, January to March, 1890), to April 2, 1890, and on leave and under orders to July, 1890.

He joined the Fourth Cavalry, July 13, 1890, and served at the Presidio of San Francisco, California, to October 31, 1891 ; commanding regiment and post of Fort Walla Walla, Washington, to February 11, 1893.

He joined the Third Cavalry, February 28, 1893, and commanded it and the post of Fort Mcintosh, Texas, to June 21, 1893, and the post of Fort Reno, Oklahoma, to August 12, 1893 ; on leave to October 26, 1893, an<i since then on duty as Commissioner of the United States International Boundary Commission of the United States and Mexico.

He left West Point in 1857, went to the frontier of Texas and engaged in engineering and land surveying; laid out the first plan of the city of El Paso; in 1859 was surveyor to the Boundary Commission establishing the boundary between New Mexico, Indian Territory and Texas; in February, 1861, on submission to the popular vote of the state of Texas, the question of "Separation" or "No Separation," he cast one of the lonely two votes in the county of El Paso against separation, to nine hundred and eighty-five for separation; in March, 1861, he abandoned the state, going to Washington, and there joined the military organization known as the "Cassius M. Clay" Guards, quartered, armed and equipped by the United States government, and served there protecting federal officers and property, until relieved by volunteer forces called out by the President. On May 14, 1861, was appointed first lieutenant Eighteenth Infantry on the following recommendation from the then first class at the military academy.

Dear Sir : We, the undersigned, members of the First Class at the United States Military Academy, respectfully recommend to your favorable consideration the claims of Mr. Anson Mills, an .applicant for a commission as second lieutenant in the United States army.

During that time his habits and character conformed to the strictest military propriety and discipline, and we feel assured that he would be an honor to the service and that its interests would be promoted by his appointment.

During the four years of the war he was never absent either on leave or from sickness and was present in all of the engagements of his regiment. Fox's "Regimental Losses" states on page 3, that his regiment (Eighteenth Infantry), lost more in killed and mortally wounded than any other regiment in the regular army and that his company, H, First Battalion (page 420), lost more in killed and mortally wounded than any company in his regiment.

He invented the woven cartridge belt (and loom for manufacture) now adopted and exclusively used by the army and navy of the United States. He stands No. 24 on the lineal list of seventy-one colonels in the army.

Private Resolution No. I.

Joint resolution permitting Anson Mills, colonel of Third Regiment United States Cavalry, to accept and exercise the functions of boundary commissioner on the part of the United States.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Anson Mills, colonel Third Regiment United States Cavalry, having been nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate as a commissioner of the United States under the convention between the United States of America and the United States of Mexico concluded and signed by the contracting parties at the city of Washington, March first, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, is hereby permitted to accept and exercise the functions of said office of commissioner; Provided, Said officer shall continue to receive his emoluments in pay and allowances as colonel in the army while holding said office of commissioner the same as he would receive were he performing such duty under military orders and no other or additional pay or emoluments for his services as such commissioner.

James P. And Sarah Kenworthy Mills

One hundred years ago there was born August 22, 1808, at York, Pennsylvania, a male child, who was christened James P. Mills. At the early age of eight years he was left an orphan. He was bound out and apprenticed to learn the tanner's trade. When he reached his majority he caught the fever of Greeley's advice to go west, before that sage thought of giving it, and in his twenty-second year crossed the Alleghanies in a Dearborn wagon and continued his journey towards the setting sun, until he reached Crawfordsville. Here he became a citizen of the young state of Indiana, and as such we wish to follow him closely as a factor in the development of the state. His life is typical of the body of men that laid the foundations of the commonwealth. In this age he would not be termed educated.

The opportunities in Pennsylvania were meager a century ago. for the average young man, yet many of her sons, possessing brawn, grit and a sense of honor, forged to the west, and laid strong arms against the dense forests of Indiana. Our hero was one of that number. As soon as he was in Crawfordsville, he began to cast about for land. He had the ambition of ownership. He had planned in his mind to be a freeholder and purposed in his heart to own land with intent to build a home. On this sentiment the basis of this story is cemented. It's the same old story that lies at the foundation of every pioneer family in the state. Mr. Mills' employer recommended him to go to Thorntown in lieu of there not being desirable land to enter around Crawfordsville. This was the time when the question of organizing Boone county was before the legislature of the state. There were about six hundred souls living in this section of territory at that time. The county was organized in 1830. James P. Mills was one of the stalwart young men that stepped upon its wild soil with the nerve to build a county. In that year he came to Thorntown and sought employment with one Gapen, a tanner. It was not long until he drove his stake for life and received title to his homestead from Uncle Sam for portions of sections 6 and 7, in township 19 north and range 1 west.

About the same time his heart sought a fair maiden by the scripture name of Sarah, daughter of Judge Kenworthv, who was among the first white men who took up their abode in the old French and Indian village of Thorntown, as early as 1819. Now Sarah was fair and kind of heart and James was drawn towards her. She was born in Miami county, Ohio, on next to the last day of the year 1810, and her parents moved to Thorntown when she was of tender age, and settled just east of the old French and

Indian trading point in section 31, township 20 north, range 1 west, just a little over one mile across the woods from where our hero had located his home. There is no positive record of the process of movements, but the sequence tells the story. It must have run the same old road of lovers. There were meetings and cooings, horseback rides to the old church, apple parings, corn huskings, etc., during which the young man lost his heart. It put nerve into his arm. He drove a stake for his home just north of a gurgling spring, laid the ax to the root of the tree, like a tanner, not a woodman with trained chopping art. He hackled all round and round the tree until it fell in the line of gravitation. Thus he cleared the spot, hewed the logs and reared the home to the gables and put on the roof. All this while his heart strings were pulling stronger and stronger towards the Judge's daughter. He could wait no longer, not even to build the gables.

On the twenty-second day of November, 1832, James P. Mills was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Kenworthy and after one month of honeymoon, the bride at mother's and the groom trotting back and forth to his farm, one mile, and working like a beaver each day, fitting the home for his queen, at the close of the year 1832, with ax, mattock, handspike, hackle, loom and high hopes, they began home building in earnest in the wilderness. The story of this home is the story of Indiana. Its struggles, its privations, its hardships, its joys, its sorrows were the common lot of all. In this sketch we cannot stop to give the colorings, but must pass on.

We have spoken of James P. Mills as a pioneer, and it might be well on this occasion to speak of him as a man and citizen. As an orphan and apprentice, his youth passed without opportunity of education to qualify him as a public man. Landing in Indiana as he entered upon his majority, he at once became too busily engaged in subduing the wilderness and in his zealous home-building and struggles to provide for his family to look into books. He was a devoted husband, a provident and faithful father, and a conscientious citizen. With all these duties pressing upon him continuously day by day there was little opportunity for mind culture. In the very prime of life, when the light of a better day was dawning, the angel of death entered his home and took away the companion of his struggles.

There he stood, having passed the wilderness, in full view of the Canaan land, ready to pass over and feed on its honey and milk, but alas ! The companion of his joys and sorrows, of all his toils and hardships was called away and left him standing on the shore, with all the little ones clinging to his knees and pressing on his heart. This was a time to try his soul. Dazed, bewildered and uncertain how to move, he stood as a father true to his trust, even clinging to his babe in his desperation to hold the family of children together. He rose to the emergency of filling the place both of father and the truest of mothers. What a task of love! What a test of manhood! Few men would have borne the burden. He held his place as the head of the home, protecting and providing for his children until they grew to manhood and womanhood. He not only provided food and raiment, but saw that the fundamental principle of government was instilled and imbedded in their nature, that comes from the law of obedience. His word was the law of the family. He also provided for their education, even to the sacrifice of sending them from home, where they could have better facilities.

During the lonely days of his widowerhood he read much of patriotism and obedience to her call took all the sons from the home. Later Cupid entered and the daughters fell by his darts and the house was left desolate and the hero of all its conflicts stood solitary and alone. It was in the midst of this period of his life we first met him. For one year in the early eighties we sat at the same table three times a day. Mr. Mills was reticent by nature and slow to form acquaintance, but he grew upon you slowly and surely. He possessed more in mind and heart than appeared on the surface. If you came in touch with him where he lived you would find him a live coal. He was a graduate in the affairs of life. He may not have had the culture of college training, but he did have that high sense of honor and manhood that comes through the school of life's' duties and trials. He was polished by the friction of hardships and refined by the pressure of a life devoted faithfully to duty under the most trying circumstances. He was indeed truly educated and his life is a rich legacy to children and children's children.

Government Deed To Mills

The government deeded to James Philips Mills, of Crawfordsville, Indiana, the following described land: The east fraction of the northwest quarter of section seven in township nineteen, north, range one west, in the district of lands subject to sale at Crawfordsville, Indiana, containing eighty acres, deed dated, Washington, D. C, March third in the year A. D. one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one and the year of the Independence of the United States of America Fifty-fifth. Signed Andrew Jackson, President of the United States.

In the pioneer home were born all the stalwart sons and fair daughters. Anson, August 31, 1834; William, Marietta, Eliza Jane, Emmett, Allen, Gilbert John, Caroline and Thomas Edwin. Sacrifices were necessary to educate them. Schools there were none and they must needs be sent from home to the far east and south. The parents rose to the emergency. The mother spun, wove, made the garments and prepared food; the father tilled the soil and economized to provide means. In this home amid all the hopes and anxieties of the parents came the white-winged cupid with orange blossoms and daughters were given in marriage; came dark-winged death with sorrow also, bearing away its inmates in infancy, childhood and in young manhood's ripened prime on the field of battle. Saddest of all became the home when the mother, the light of its hearth, the bond of its union, was borne from their midst on September 4, 1849.

The mother and children, all gone by marriage or death, the father was left alone to live over and over the joys and griefs of the household. He trod the way companionless, down the sunset of life, until he passed under the shadow April 22, 1889, survived by three sons and two daughters. Thus ended the life work of one pioneer family of Indiana, after a full half century of toil.

Industry, frugality, truth, honesty and temperance were the cardinal virtues that made the sure foundation of this home. Such as these made the great republic possible. Parents of nine children, self-sacrificing, selfdenying, self-reliant and peaceful, joint occupants of the same farm with the Pottawattamie Indians.

The house has mouldered away and given place to the new and modern, but the spirit generated in it is alive today, of which this occasion is a glorious and lasting witness.

A live memorial is erected upon our streets by the eldest son, General Anson P. Mills, Washington, D. C., to commemorate these lives. As the warp and woof of mother's loom ran down like a golden web through his mind and heart, inspiring success in life, mayhap there was also a continuous silver thread, flowing from the gurgling spring at the old home to this memoriam.

As the iridescent spray flying crystal-white from its sculptured forms and flowers, thrill our being with a sense of beauty and perfection of taste, it is well for us to remember the story of the toil and sacrifice of hands and hearts that made it possible.

Marietta Mills, daughter of James P. and Sarah Kenworthy Mills, was born December 31, 1837 and died February 12, 1914. She is a sister of Anson P. Mills.

She was united in marriage to John T. Burckhalter, April 15, 1858. To this union were born ten children, three having preceded the mother in death. The surviving ones are, Abraham, of Montana; Rembrant W., of Pennsylvania; Sarah and Grace, of Thorntown; Rosa, of Hazelrigg; and Bertha and Howard, who lived with her and administered to her in her declining years.

She leaves six grandchildren and one great grandchild, her namesake, Marietta, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Taylor, of Rochester, Indiana. Besides these two brothers. Brig. Gen. Anson Mills, of Washington, D. C, Allen Mills, of Thorntown, and one sister, Mrs. Jane Smiley, of Thorntown.

Mrs. Burckhalter was a woman of very fine type of mind, taking a very philosophical view of affairs at all times and up to the very time of her death her mind was exceptionally clear and keen.

Mrs. Burckhalter was born in an old log house that stood on the -site of the present modern home, in fact her death occurred within a few feet of the place of her birth. The farm on which she was born, lived and died, was entered by her father, James P. Mills, September 30, 1834, who also on March 18, 1837, entered a tract of land adjoining. Sheepskin letters of patents are still in possession of the family, the first signed by Andrew Jackson, the second signed by Martin Van Buren, presidents of the United States at the time of entry.

Mrs. Burckhalter had witnessed the greatest era in the history of the nation and the most wonderful era, scientifically in the history of the world.

She had a large part in the history of the state and nation, one brother being consul to Mexico, while the illustrious Anson Mills, so distinguished himself in time of war as to secure the position of brigadier-general. During all these years she quietly remained at home, keeping the family together and rearing to sturdy manhood and winsome womanhood her sons and daughters who give to our nation those qualities and virtues which make us great among the nations of the earth.

It is intensely interesting to note the kaleidoscopic changes that have taken place in the life-time of this good woman. Born as we have said in a log house with its great open fire place that with tropic heat drove back the frost line from the window pane. This early home giving place to the present modern house with its conveniences and equipment. The old swinging crane and bake pan for the corn pone to the modern culinary effects. The tallow dip giving place to candle "by which you could read and not be nearer than four feet," then that revelation the kerosene lamp, "that lighted all the room" and then the present acetylene plant that rivals the daylight.

She saw her father haul great logs and place them end to end for fence, with chunks between to keep the pigs in or out. She saw him cut his grain with the sickle, this giving place to the rythmic swing of the cradle and then the drone of the modern harvesting machinery. In her early days the rap, rap of the flail, then the steady tramp of horses in the threshing of grain and now the whir of the modern thresher.

When she was a girl the nearest markets were LaFayette and Cincinnati. On the farm are still the old tanning vats where hides were prepared for the annual arrival of the shoemaker who came and stayed until he had made shoes for the whole family.

Mrs. Burckhalter walked to Thorntown to see the first train arrive on rails made of wood and shod with iron and "you must not get closer than twenty or thirty feet for fear of getting hurt."

During her time she had witnessed the coming of telephone, telegraph, wireless telegraphy, electric lights, automobiles, balloons and flying machines. Space forbids to enumerate further, but what a wonderful age in which this pioneer lived, and what a legacy such people as she have left to their children and to generations yet to come.

There is a little romance connected with the home place of Mrs. Burckhalter. Two young Indian chieftains fell in love with the same dusky maiden and fought a duel with knives over her, each struck the other a fatal blow at the same moment and the graves of these young chieftains are known today by members of the family.

Mrs. Burckhalter's life was spent at home caring for her children; this was her Christian duty and it was performed well and today her boys and girls can rise up and call her blessed.

The above village is located in the northeast part of Jackson township, in section 20. It was laid out in 1883 and named after Congressman Thomas Ward, who was instrumental in getting a postoffice established there. It is situated in a fine, productive country, about seven miles southwest of Lebanon, and five miles northeast of Jamestown. The first merchant was John B. Bennington, succeeded by Greenville Dodd, and he by Thomas Burris & Company. The first postmaster was J. C. Bennington, followed by G. Dodd, and he by Thomas Burris. There is a Christian church, a brick school house, and several residences. About the year 1870 George Jackson built a steam sawmill here, which is still in operation.

This town is the capital of little Worth, the baby township of the county. It is situated near the middle of the township on the Chicago division of the Big Four, midway between Zionsville and Lebanon, about seven miles from each. It is the center of trade of the best agricultural districts in the county. It was laid out in 1851 at the time the railroad was built, on the land of Abram Neese. Harrison Spencer is said to be the first man to sell goods in the town. He was soon followed by Henry Lucns and William Laughner. Isaac Dye and Alfred Osborn were the first to venture to build a grist mill to manufacture breadstuff for the people. The milling privileges at Whitestown were poor. They would have to go to Zionsville, Mechanicsburg or Thorntown to have grain made into flour or meal. There was no water power in Worth township so the early citizen had to depend upon steam. The first mill was in a few years burned and Henry Lucus rebuilt it. The third mill was built by J. W. Bowser and was the most improved pattern. It gained a reputation throughout the county and other counties for good work and was patronized from near and far.

Among other early business men may be mentioned F. M. & Caesar Echman, Neese & Keefe, Drs. I. T. Ross, Starkey, Larimore and Hardy. The early school houses and churches were up-to-date, and every interest of the community was looked after with great care and earnestness. The village soon rose to be an important trading center for the township and from other townships and has held the position to the present time. Worth township could not do without Whitestown. There, all elections are held, and all the business of the township is transacted. It is the center of trade, of politics, of social interests and of every other interest of the people. It is near the highest point in the county and is trying to conduct itself so as to be worthy of the respect of all its neighbors and hold a high place in the estimation of its neighbors.

Zionsville is located in Eagle township in the southeast part of Boone county, on the banks of Eagle creek, just below the junction of Big and Little Eagle creeks. It was organized and laid out in 1852, on the completion of the Indianapolis, Cincinnati and LaFayette railroad now known as the Big Four and belonging to the New York system. It was named in honor of William Zion of Lebanon. It is about half way between Indianapolis and Lebanon.

rolling and easily and naturally drained and developed into productive farms. Zionsville soon became an extensive trading center. Beautiful dwellings, extensive business rooms, excellent school buildings and churches evidence the energy and thrift of her citizens. The census of 1910 gives the population to be eight hundred and forty and the third town in size of the county. There are few towns of its size that can boast of better school buildings and facilities and none have more beautiful locations for such. There are four churches in the town, Methodist, Presbyterian, Christian and Christian Union, all of which support ministers and are alive in the work. In addition to these, the enterprising citizens have established Zion Park and maintain it from year to year by ten days of program each August with the best of talent for religious and intellectual instruction. Zionsville is above the average of towns of its size for its beautiful location, business enterprise and the social and moral character of its inhabitants.

As Zionsville was an afterthought, not coming until after the location of the railroad, it does not figure in the early settlement of the county. Eagle village on the Michigan road claims that credit. This was the first town established in the county by white men. It was noted in the early day for its energy and push. It was the first hotel center of the county and led off in many enterprises. The building of the railroad was its death knell. The laying out and building of Zionsville on the railroad so close was more than it could endure. Its most enterprising men moved to the new city and took their business with them and soon the town was gone. The fact that Eagle Village flocked to the new city gave it a great boom, and it soon became very lively and pushed forward rapidly, so that its friends thought it would become the metropolis of the county. It pushed forward for a few years until. Lebanon got out of the mud and other towns along the railway line began to wake up and move into life.

Zionsville at this juncture settled down to business and became one of our steady growth substantial towns. It soon became a center of trade for a considerable area of rich country and business of all lines was established to supply the demand. Mills, shops, stores and industries of all kinds necessary to meet the wants of the people were established and are maintained to this day. Zionsville is a live town with energetic business men, up-to-date schools, spiritual churches, beautiful residences and a hopeful outlook for the future.