Carroll County, Indiana - After Proceedings, 1882

After Proceedings

Granted to Samuel MiCr.rr.i: ami to Walker, Carter & Co. TO Sell Foreign Mkkcha.mh.si: - II. B. McKeen to Keep Ferrie-s- Bounties for Wolf Scalps - Changes of Township B0UNDARIE.S, E.stabi.ishing Corners, etc.

PRIOR to the adoption of the present State Constitution, in ] fS52, the day fixed for holding general elections thi'oughout the State, was the first Monday in August, of each year, and was known as the August election, to distinguish it from the Spring election, held in April, for choosing townshi[) and other local officers. The organization of the county having taken place in the early part of the year 1828, it was some time in ;idvance of the stated jjeriod for the selection of permanent officere, other than those required by the provisions of the organizing act itself. Accordingly, the first general election held in Carroll County was on the first Monday, being the 4th day of August, 1828, at the several precinets or voting places in the county. The result of that election was as follows: For Governor, Israel T. Canby, received 25 votes; James B. Ray, 4 votes; and Harbin H. Moore, 27 votes; for Lieutenant Governor, Abel C. Pepper received 28 votes; and Milton Stapp, 28 votes; for Congress, Ratlifl' Booti (Jackson) received 2<) votes; and Thomas H. Blake (Adams), 28 votes; for Sheriff, Henry B. Milroy received 33 votes; and Stephen Miller. 20 votes: for Coroner. Benjamin Baxter received 15 votes; and Robert Cade, 1 vote. At the same time, in compliance with the provisions of an act of the Legislature, at the session of 1827 and 1828, the sense of the people was taken for and against calling a convention to revise and amend the constitution of the State; that sense was expressed by the people of Carroll County, in a vote of nine for and forty-four against, such a convention. This vote does not include the vote on that question by the people of the township of Bel, because it was not, except fur jurisdiction, a part of Carroll County.

At the election held at the several precincts of the county, including the township of Eel. on the 3d day of November, 1828, for the choice of Electors for President and Vice President of the United States, there were, in the aggregate, 185 votes cast, as follows: For (Adams) Electors, Joseph Orr, John Watts, Joseph Bartholomew, Isaac Montgomery and Amaziah Morgan, received, respectively, in Deer Creek Township, 21 votes; Rock Creek, 7 votes; Tippecanoe, 14 votes; and in the townshi]) of Eel, 31 votes; total, 73 votes. For (Jackson) Electors, Benjamin E. Beckes, Ratliff Boon, Jesse B. Durham, William Ijow and Ross Smiley, received, respectively, in Deer Creek Township, 27 votes; in Rock Creek, 17 votes; Tippecanoe, 3 votes; and in the township of Eel, (55 votes; total, 112, a majority of 39 votes.

At a session of the Board of County Commissioners, on the 11th of August, 1828, the following, among other jiroceedings, were had : " Samuel McClure, having satisfied the board that his stock of mi^rchaudise does not exceed 11,000, and, having produced the Treasurer's receipt for $10, the board licenses the said Samuel McChu-e to vend merchandise for one year fiom the 1st day of September next." On the second day of the same session, another license was granted in these words, to wit: "Hugh B. McKeen, having given notice, as the law requires, and, having produced the Treasiu-er's receipt for $2.50, which sum the board established as his rates thereon, the board authorizes and licenses the said McKeen to keep a public feiTy across the Wabash River, at the town of Logansport, for one yeai' from this date." On the same day, they made the following further order, t« wit: " Hugh B. McKeen, having given notice, as the law requires, and. having produced the Treasurer's receipt for $2.50. which the board established as his rate, thereupon the board authorizes the said H. B. McKeen to keep a ferry across Eel River, at the town of Logansport, for one yeiu- from this date."

At the same time, the board granted the following license to vend foreign merchandise, to wit: "Walker. Carter & Co., having satisfied the boai-d that their stock of merchandise does not exceed $1,000, and, having produced the Treasurer's receipt for $10, the board licenses the aforesaid Walker, Carter & Co. to vend merchandise in this State for one year fimn the rJth day of August, 1828."

Among the other prooendings of the board at that term, Aaron Dewey, having been employed to survey and lay off the town of Delphi, into lots, streets and alleys, and locate the public square, he was allowed the sum of $10 for the service. It was fiu-ther " ordered, that a permanent corner be made at the southwest corner of Lot No. 1, and at the northeast corner of Lot No. 63, in Delphi," as a means of accurately determiui ig. iu the future, the true lines of lots, streets and alleys, in said town.

The following change of boundary, from that originally prescribed for the townships designated, was ordered to be made at the session of the Board held on the 'Jth day of February, 1829:

~ Ordered, Thnt oiif tier of si-ctiouss be livken off I lie soutli side of the townsliip of Rock Creek, and be tittaciied to the township of Deer Creek.

It was also ordered, that, in the future, elections in Deer Creek Township, be held at the schoolhouse, in Delphi. At the same session it was ordered that a fi'ame building be erected in the town of Delphi, on the public square, twenty-two feet wide and twenty-eight feet long, for a Clerk and Recorder's office, " the Clerk to occupy the front room in said building, for a storeroom, by paying a reasonable rent." This, it is believed, was the first public building erected in Delphi, for the use of a county officer.

Ordered, That any person holding a certificate for a wolf's scalp taken from the large kind of wolves, and taken within tlie bonnds of Carroll County, tor a full ,?rnwn wnlf [will lie .illowe.ll 50 rent-^, anil -.mj one under six months old. 'J."i - 1.1 lir paid .ml ..I" lli.> {'..iiiity Ti-.,isiiry.

Ordered, That the agent establish a permanent corner as by law directed, at the southwest corner of the public square, and, also, a permanent corner at the southeast corner of the public square, in the town of Delphi; and, that the order heretofore made, at the November session, 1828, requiring permanent corners to be established, be and the same is hereby revoked.

Ordered, Also, that the agent immediately take the necessary steps to procure a sufficient deed for that part of the donation which has not yet been deeded to the county, and that he survey the land proposed to be exchanged with William Wilson, for a burying-ground, and take the necessary steps to complete said exchange.

At the same session of the board, the County Agent was directed to let out the building of the jail in contemplation, with specific instructions as to the plan, materials, etc. By a subsequent order, however, made at a special meeting, on the 2r)th of September, the plan of construction was changed as to size and form. Among the proceedings of the same special session, at which the change of plan in the construction of the jail building, the order before made, for the erection of a Clerk and Recorder's office, was also materially changed, and the Agent was further directed to give notice to contractors for proposals to construct both said buildings, pursuant to which notice a letting was to take place, " to the lowest bidder, the undertaker to be bound to have the building completed by the 1st of Mai'ch, the Agent to pay one-third the amount when the frame is raised."

to be refunded ..111 ..I ih. . ..uiiiy revenue, when the same is wanted to build a Court H.m^. a... I il.ai William Gray be appointed to superintend the digging of tlif sai...\ aa.l ili.ii be make use of any timber on the donation that may lie waiilc.l Im llu- same.

The Avenue.S Of Tb.Wel

THE AVENUE.S OF TB.WEL. Indian Teails - Their Early Utilizath in v.\ iiii M'iiite People - Modified - Neighborhood 1!iiai.~ ^ii;~MrirKD for Them - County and State Roads - Iiii, ik ( '..x^i i:riTioN - CoRDURov and Graded Roadway.s - .Mis._i:i.lax\

Indian Trails

A MONG the Indians, as among all other people, whether savage or civilized, there were accepted routes of travel established by common consent. Of these there were dift'eront grades, depending upon the importance of the points connected and their distance from each other, and whether the inter-route stations were of sufficient consequence to justify modifications. The trails, one and all, were not so much the outgrowth of legislation, by councils of chiefs and head men, or a commission of engineers and road-builders, as by common consent and established by immemorial usage. They became, thus, fixed thoroughfares, connecting special points of greater with those of less consequence, and the reverse. The principal trails derived their specialty from the tribe- value of the great center of communication - much after the methods adopted and practiced by white people. Some of them, even, became international, being accepited and recognized by other tribes and nations, because of their adaptation to the purposes of general intercourse. In this county, those general trails were not numerous, neither were those of minor consequence frequently to be found. There was a trail of somewhat special importance, extending along near the eastern boundary of the county, in the route from the principal village of the Thorntown Indians, in the direction of Winamac's village, with branches connecting it with towns lower down on the Tippecanoe, and another rumiing up and down along the right bank of the Wabash, and still another in the western part of the county, connecting, perhaps, Thorntown with the vi llages farther to the north or west, or forming a junction with the great trail that passed to the eastward of Monticello, in the direction of Chicago. Besides these, there were, of course, by-paths of less use, connecting smaller villages and settlements, the identity of which it would be difficult now to locate. All these trails, in the early settlements of the coimty, wei-e more or less used, until opportunities were afforded better, by the white people, in passing from neighborhood to neighborhood. Not according with the demands of a more civilized age, they were abandoned by the settlers, and another class of thoroughfares adopted, which better conformed to the necessities of those having occasion to use them.

The first road, perhaps, which was the outgrowth of civilization in Carroll County, was that blazed and cut out by Henry Robinsou, at the time of his coming from the Wea settlements, to build his cabin, of which some account has been already given ; and this one, if we mistake not, was quite extensively used by hose having occasion to pass to and from the settlements named-

Of the roads in this county first located and established by the authority of law, was one extending from Terre Haute to Fort Wayne, a State road, authorized by an act of the Legislature,, approved, January 19, 1826, the Commissioners on which, under the appointment of that act, were Josephus Collett and John M. Coleman. For some reason, these gentlemen were not continued in office until the completion of the road, since the act under which they were appointed was repealed by a subsequent act passed and approved January 24, 1828, by which, also, Samuel Milroy, of Carroll County, and Francis Comparet, of Allen County, were appointed Commissioners, and the road " declared to be a public State road, and, by the same act, established and extended, through Fort Wayne, to the Ohio line, on a direction for Fort Meigs." This road, being in route with the general line of travel, was, no doubt, more extensively used than any other in consequence.

At a session of the Board of Commissioners of Carroll County, on the 11th of August, 1828, upon the application of sundry citizens iutiM-i'slcil along tho line proposed, it was orJ. i-.'l. I'liai ,1 puhlic road be laid out as follows, to wit: Commencing,'a i lil|.lii, riiiiii ilinirr ihr nearest and best route to Logiinsport, and thai .Viixaiidrr (Chamberlain, William Scott and William G. Bishop, be appoinli'd lo view and make tlie same, and report to this Board at their

Ordered. Tliat a pul)lie road be laid out as follows, to wit: Commencini; at l.o'jan-iport from ilnaici- the nearest and best route by way of John JI:(ii. .1^ o, I [i,,ii|.i .:. 11 Ivy's, and that Daniel Bell, Samuel MeChire anil < iiiMi- I T ih I !' .i;i|i iniid to view and make the same, and reporl to

At the same session, but on the day following, petitions being filed for two country roads, one from Delphi to Benjamin Baxter's, and the other from Delphi to Nathaniel Hamilton's, viewers were appointed to view and examine the routes proposed and report. A road of more general importance, was, on the same day, petitioned for, connecting, at the county line, a laid-out road from La Fayette to that point, thence running direct to Delphi, upon which the board appointed Mo.sbs Standley, Robert Caid and John Adams, Viewers, with the usual instructions. Another country road was also proposed, to run from the public square in Delphi, the nearest and best route to where the meridian line crosses Deer Creek, upon which David Baum, William McCord and Samuel Wells, were appointed Viewers, The same Viewers were directed to view anrl report^iipon a '^ii'oposed road fi-om the public square. in Delphi, to Elisha Brown's, on Bachelor's Run.

The ne.xt regular session of the board, commencing on th<" 11th day of November, 1828, at which time Samuel McCilure, Daniel Bell and Samuel D. Taber, Viewers, appointed at the previous term, reported "that they had viewed and marked a road from Logans])ort, by way of John MoGrogor's, to Champion Helvy's, at tho mouth of the Salamony River," which, being read and not objected to, was accepted, and the route " established as a public higliway, and divided into districts, as follows, to wit: No. 1, 2 :!. north; District No. 1, to commence at Logansport and ciiritiniu' to .John McGregor's; District No. 2, to commence at the house of John McGregor and continue to Samuel Mc- Clure'a; District No. 3, to commence at Samuel McClure's and continue to Champion Helvy's, at the mouth of the Salamony."

On the presentation and filing of the report of William G. Bishop, Thomas Stirlen and Alexander Chamberlain, Viewers, appointed for the -purpose, no objection being made thereto, the route viewed and marked by them, " commencing at the public square, in Delphi, and running thence eastwardly with Main street to the termination of said street; thence northeastwardly^ on a direct line to the ford of Rock Creek, above Merriman's, making the necessary variations to obtain good ground; thence, from Rock Creek to a point on the Wabash, known by the Old Trading House; thence, from the Old Trading House, up the Wabash, as near said river as good groimd can be had. to the ford of the Wabash, opposite to the town of Logansport," was established as a public highway in conformity with law.

The report of Moses Standley, Robert Caid and John Adams, Viewers, appointed at the preceding August session, being presented, and,-no ob.jection being made to it, the route so viewed and marked by them, " commencing at the west end of Water street, in Delphi ; thence to a stake ten rods from the comer of Daniel Baum'e lane fence; thence down said lane to the crossing of the Indian track over Deer Creek; thence, to intersect the county road, leading from La Fayette, in Tippecanoe Coimty, at the line dividing the county aforesaid, from Carroll, marked with three hacks with an ax," was " established as a public highway," and William McGord was appointed Supervisor to open said road according to law.

At the same session of the board, on the petition of sundry citizens interested in the same, for the openinjj of a road, from Delphi to the Old Trading House, David Baum, Samuel Wells and Joseph Dunham, were appointed to view and mark such road, on the best and most direct route, and report their conclusions at the next regular session. Accordingly, at the May session of the board, 1829, said Viewers, having carefully exa alined the proposed route, had the same sm've3'ed, made report of their proceedings in the premises, which, being duly considered and no objection appearing, the report was accepted and the route recommended, commencing at the public square, in Delphi, at the corner of Franklin and Washington street; thence, by designated bearings and distances, in a northerly by northeasterly direction, to intersect the Delphi and Logansport road, then recently established, at the Old Trading House, on Rock Creek, an aggregate distance of ten miles, three quarters and twenty-six rods, was regularly established as a public highway.

At the same session of the board, upon the report of William Wilson, Hugh Maniiry and Aaron Dewey, Viewers, appointed at the preceding term, a road from Delphi to Nathaniel Hamilton's, commencing at the north end of Washington street; thence by the northwest corner of the Donation; thence by the Point of Rock on the river; thence across the Wabash River, at the Rock Ripple at the Island,, and thence to Nathaniel Hamilton's, was established as a [jublic highway, according to the law.

Subaecpiently, at a session of the Board of Coimty Commissioners, commencing on the 10th of August, 1829, the following roads, upon which Viewers had been previously ajipointed, were established as public highways: "A road, leading from Delphi to the house of Thomas (lillam, in Section 13, Township 24 north. Range 2 west, beginning at Delphi; thence the ueafest and best way to tho northwest corner of Section 10, in Township 24 north, in Range 2 west; thence along the line, east, to the half-mile stake, on the north of Section 12; thence south, to the half-mile stake, on the south line of Section 13;" and another, " commencing at the public square, in Delphi : thence to Samuel Milroy's; thence to Daniel McCain's; thence to John Carey's; thence to the section comer of 2'2, 23. 26 and 27 (where it crosses Deer Creek); thence to the half-mile stake, at the northeast corner of Daniel McCain's land; thence to the northwest corner of Solomon Leslie's field; thence toHewit's; thence to the half-mile stake, at the corner of David Horter's orchard, and thence to the corner Sections 33 and 34, on the township line, between Tovmships 24 and 25, in Range 1 west." These emViraced all of the early roads located in the county, deemed essential as lines of communication between the principal settlements and the county seat.