Clinton County, Indiana - Chapter 6: Civil History, 1913

Chapter 6: Civil History

The civil history of Clinton county as an independent municipality begins in 1830. For two years previous to that time all of the present county had been attached to Tippecanoe county for governmental purposes, and had been organized as Washington township - popularly known as "Washington Territory." But population was increasing rapidly, and the inconvenience of the situation increased with it. It was a pretty serious task in those days to be obliged to go to Lafayette for a marriage license, or to attend court.

The census of 1830 showed 1.423 souls in the county, and all of them who were old enough to have opinions wanted a county government. There was, however, a very material division of opinion as to the location of the county seat. At that time Jefferson was the only town in the proposed county, and although it was only six miles east of the west boundary, it was a convenient center for most of the population as it then existed. But there was a decided sentiment in Indiana for locating seats of government with reference to future population, for whose convenience it was rightfully assumed that geographical centers would be most desirable. The prevalence of this sentiment had been shown by the location of the state capital at Indianapolis, although nine-tenths of the population of the state was then far south of it.

Realizing the force of this obstacle the advocates of Jefferson undertook to get the legislature to add to Clinton a tier of townships, or six miles, off the east side of Tippecanoe county. Mr. Abner Baker, who was one of the most deeply interested on account of lands owned by him near Jefferson, circulated a petition among the people of the territory proposed to be attached, risking his life in crossing swollen streams to reach them. He got the signatures of every man but one in the territory to be affected, which was not strange, for Jefferson was closer to them than Lafayette.

But all his labors came to naught, and it has been largely believed that he was betrayed in some way, but there is no valid ground for this. In reality the Jefferson people did not realize the weakness of their proposition. The objection to Jefferson was that it was eighteen miles from the east line, and therefore would be inconvenient for people in the eastern part of the county. Adding land on the west did not help that a particle. It was a remedy in name only, and not in substance. The petition was intrusted to John Nelson, representative in the legislature, who presented it; and it was referred to the committee on county organization and boundaries. There was no argument to present to that committee for the change except the desire of the Jefferson people, and as fair-minded men, they took no action on it. The legislature had nothing to do with the location of the county seat. That was the business of the commission appointed under the law for that purpose.

But the petition for the formation of the county was an entirely different matter, and the legislature promptly passed the following act, which was approved January 29, 1830:

"Section I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana. That from and after the first day of March, next, all that tract of country included within the following boundaries shall form and constitute a new county, to be known and designated by the name of the county of Clinton, to-wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of section 19. in township 23 north, range 2 west, on the east boundary of Tippecanoe county, where the southwest corner of Carroll county strikes the same; thence south seventeen and one-half miles to the half-mile stake in section 18. in township 20, range 2 west; thence east to the half-mile stake on the east side of section 13, township 20. east; thence north seventeen and a half miless: thence west to the southeast corner of Carroll county; thence west with the south boundary of said couny to the place of beginning.

"Section II. That the said new county of Clinton shall from and after the said first day of March, next, enjoy all the rights, privileges and jurisdictions which to separate or independent counties do or may properly belong or appertain.

"Section III. That Robert Taylor, of Montgomery county; Henry Ristine, of Tippecanoe county; Hugh B. McKeen. of Cass county; John Carv, of Carroll county, and Jeremiah J. Corbaly, of Marion county, be and they are herebv appointed commissioners, agreeable to the act entitled 'An act fixing the seats of justice in all new counties hereafter to be laid off.' The said commissioners shall meet on the second Monday of May, next, in the town of Jefferson, in said county of Clinton, and shall immediately proceed to discharge the duties assigned them by law. It is hereby made the duty of the sheriff of Montgomery county to notify said commissioners, either in person or writing, of their appointment, on or before the second Monday of April, next ; and for such service he shall receive such compensation from the county of Clinton as the Board of Commissioners thereof may deem just and reasonable, to be allowed and paid as other county claims are paid.

"Section IV. At the time and place of holding election in the county aforesaid, under the writ of election from the Executive Department, the electors of said count}- shall elect three commissioners, in and for the said county, who shall meet as a board at the house of Matthew Bunnell, in said county, on the first Monday of May, next, or as soon thereafter as they may be enabled to do after being commissioned, and then and there proceed to transact all business, and discharge the duties devolving on county commissioners, at the organization of a new county, as well as all the duties required of Boards of Commissioners at such session. The circuit courts of said county of Clinton shall meet and be holden in the town of Jefferson, in said county, until suitable accommodation can be had at the county seat of said county.

"Section Y. The agent who shall be appointed to superintend the sale of lots, at the county seat of the county of Clinton, shall reserve ten per cent, out of the proceeds of all lots sold, either by the county or proprietor or proprietors: also io per cent, of all donations made to the said county, and pay the same over to such person or persons as may be appointed by law to receive the same, for the use of a library for said county: which he shall pay over at such time as directed by law. Provided always : That nothing shall be construed out of any section of this act, so as to interfere or affect the justices of the peace who have been commissioned heretofore within the bounds of said new county

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That the commissioners that may be elected to do the county business of the said county of Clinton, shall be allowed the sum of $1.50 per day. for each and every day they may be employed in doing the business of said county, out of the county treasury of said county." ties, and they were supposed to be entirely disinterested in the selection of the county seat, as, no doubt, they were. They met, as provided, on the second Monday in May, at the public house of Charles J. Hand, in Jefferson, the only tavern in the place, and organized by electing Corbaly chairman. They then took up the selection of a county seat. Jefferson was still in the field, but its location was against it. Some demanded that the site selected should be even nearer the center of the county than the one finally chosen. At the proper time John Pence came forward with the offer to donate sixty acres of land and one hundred dollars in cash for the location on his land. That hundred dollars was no small item in those days. It won. Such had been the land investment in and around Frankfort or where the town was to be and the persistence of the people in aid of Mr. Pence's contention that the victory was easily won. The sixty acres of land were to be grouped around the proposed ''public square," with the prospect of rapidly becoming valuable. The hundred dollars cash could be used in the construction of the first court house as far as it would go and the proceeds of the sale of lots would do the rest. The people in the other parts of the county readily acquiesced in the result, though Abner Baker and his friends were sorely disappointed. The Jefferson people had partially won by securing the site of the capital of the county a mile or two nearer to them than if it had been placed in the geographical center of the county. After all it was a sort of compromise, for nine-tenths of the people then in the county lived in the west half of the county. Uncle John Pence performed his part of the contract to the very letter. On the ninth dav of Tune. 1830, John Pence and Judith Pence, his wife, joined in a warranty deed which is long, very precise, verbose and fully following the ancient form then in vogue, which form we had mostly inherited from our English ancestors, from whom we have derived many of the forms of legal papers, conveyances, etc., yet in use but which we have gradually outgrown. The deed was made ( the county was then organized) to Joseph Hill. John Douglas and Mordecai McKinsey. the first county commissioners, and their successors in office, and was acknowledged by John Ross, an associate judge of the circuit court authorized to attest acknowledgment of deeds.

As a general rule the site of a city about to be founded is determined bv some obv ious cause, its proximity to some center, its ease of access to the seacoasts or situation on some navigable river or some point on a principal line of travel. Often the demands of commerce compel the establishment of a town site, which in time becomes a great city: sometimes, but not often, a mere accident, some caprice or mere w him is the determining factor.

In the location and founding of Frankfort two causes combined: its proximity to the center of the county and the handsome donation made bv John Pence. This, now "The Gem City" of Frankfort, was laid out. founded and established before a single house was erected on it, while the ground was yet covered with a native forest, mixed with thicket and a hazel patch. The town grew up around the sole idea that it was to be the county seat, which was the one clearly defined idea of the purpose of the founding. In making the donation to the county Mr. Pence took into consideration the site suitable for the court house but also the direction and extent of the growth of the town or city. As it was. he waited more than four years, until August. 18^4. before he laid out an addition to the original plat. The deal did not turn out a fortune for John Pence. Fie had to wait until after 1870. fortv years after the founding of the town, before he realized anything like his first expectations as to the financial benefits he was to receive. He sold most of the lots in his first addition and in the addition south of the public square, but north and west he continued to have lots to sell until about the year 1880. when he put quite a number of his unsold lots on the market but with indifferent success. At a public sale he made then, the splendid lot corner of Main and Morrison streets was sold for a little more than $250.00; he put up the lot next Lo that: the bidding was so slow and the bids so low that this lot was withdrawn and no more were put up for sale.

The truth is. that John Pence never realized much from his venture. Others owning land adjacent to the town made more out of their real estate than Mr. Pence did. Lots west of the town, in a part known as Armantrouts' Addition, sold readily but at a low price. The real estate men who finally bought subdivisions of John Pence and put them up for sale were the ones who made the money out of Frankfort real estate, not John Pence: and the others interested, some of whom were his brothers, never left fortunes t<~ their posterity out of the laying out of Frankfort. It was a case of some were sowing and others reaping. John Pence did much for Frankfort. His name deserves to be held in honored remenbrance by the people of ''The Gen City."

P>efore the commissioners appointed by the Legislature had done their work of selecting the site for the county seat of justic or had reported their work to the governor an election of the county officers was duly held as provided by law. The first election was held May 3, 1830. at the cabin of Mathew Bunnell, just south and a little west of where the Farmers Chapel now stands and the Bunnell cemetery is situated. There was no politics in this election. The two opposing parties in those days were the Jackson Democratic and the old Whig party, the latter afterwards merged into the

Republican. Jackson had been president a little over a year and was immensely popular; nearly every man elected at this first election was a Jackson Democrat.

The most important officers voted for at this election were the county commissioners. John Douglas, Joseph Hall and Mordeccai McKinsev, all good and true men, were elected. John Pence was elected treasurer; Beal Dorsey, recorder; Samuel Maxwell, clerk of the circuit court, and he was also county auditor. Clerk and auditor were both held by the same man until 1841. Under the old constitution a probate judge was needed. For this semi-judicial office, highly regarded and honored in this good old day, William Douglas was duly elected. Associate judges w ere also reqquired : for these also highly honored, but almost superfluous positions. Samuel Mitchell and John Ross were elected. These officials, clothed with chancery court powers almost, could take acknowledgment of deeds and so forth, sat one on each side of the circuit judge; in the earlier days of the state's existence they were frequently consulted, both on and off the bench, but in the later forties, the presiding judge almost held them in contempt. In most court houses in those days the jury box was off to the left of the bench; in 1850 the circuit court judge sat in the end of the judge's seat next to the jury and the two honorable associates had all the rest of the bench to themselves and were never consulted. The constitution of 1851 abolished the office, but Mr. Ross and his associate retained the title of "Judge" until the days of their death. Isaac D. Armstrong was appointed county surveyor.

A great work now devolved upon the county commissioners and other officers just elected. They must get the machinery of the county government to running smoothly, much administrative work devolved upon them. A tax was soon to be levied: Benjamin Abbott was elected tax assessor for the countv, the entire county, as the law was then. Mr. Abbott filed a $100.00 bond ; he made out an assessment roll at once, submitted it to the county board at the July term. The county was divided into three huge road districts; thev appointed David Kilgore. Hiram Harrison and Robert Miller road supervisors. The board then adjourned to meet at the house of John Ross in Jefferson on August 1 2th. Jefferson was yet practically the county seat. The board then met in special session. Tt wras the practice then to raise a portion of the county revenue by a sort of excise or license tax. The board decided the license or tax for a grocery store, in which nearly everything from calico to whisky wras sold, should be $5.00 for the present year and a "store license" $10.00. John Ross was licensed to vend foreign and domestic merchandise and liquors for a term of six months for $10.00. Abner Baker and A. H.

Southard received a license to vend foreign and domestic merchandise for six months - the license fee not mentioned but presumed to be $10.00. John McClure and Pleasant Field were also licensed. As Jefferson was yet the commercial emporium of the county, all the above men licensed did business in that flourishing city. Tradition has it that all these esteemed business men and firms in addition to foreign and domestic merchandise, also sold a most excellent article of whisky, all from Clinton county distilleries. This whisky was usually procured for mechanical purposes, house raisings and log rollings and the like. One thing must yet lie told : the whisky was the genuine, not the doctored or drugged article.

At the meeting of the board held the following day the commissioners appointed by the Legislature to locate the county seat, reported by submitting all the papers in the case and were allowed the following sums as compensation for their service: Robert Taylor, $24.00; H. Ristine, $24.00; J. Corbley, $32.00, and H. B. McKeen, $28.00. All that part of the county east of a line commencing on a line now the boundary between Owen and Ross township and extending south to the county line was set off as Jackson township. About two-thirds of the county were thus Jackson township: and Ross township was set off nearly as you see it now on the map except that it included on the south five sections which are now a part of Madison township. Washington township embraced the rest of the county ; that is, all that territory now Perry and Washington townships. An election was ordered to be held the second Saturday in June to elect a justice of the peace for Ross, one for Washington, and two for Jackson. The election in Ross to be held at the house of Sol Miller, in Washington at the house of John Ross, and in Jackson in the house of Samuel Mitchell. At the board meeting of the next day William Douglass, the agent for the county, was ordered to lay off at once lots in the town of Frankfort after a plat "had been viewed and adopted by the board,'' which the clerk of the court was to "furnish immediately."

The agent was ordered to advertise and sell lots on the second Monday in July, to advertise in the State Gazette, published at Indianapolis, and by handbills duly circulated. After the survey was made the plat was to be presented to the board, by them duly examined and then approved. The sixtyacre tract donated by John Pence was to be set out and deed taken. The terms of sale of the lots were one-third cash down, one-third in twelve months, and the other third in two years. If purchaser failed to pay according to the above terms, he was to pay six per cent, interest from the date of sale. This closed the work of the commissioners court for the May term, 1830.

can be seen the successive steps to be taken in the starting, the organization in an orderly manner of a community for a time disorganized, and almost without any government, law or order. For administrative purposes, the people of the new county were attached to other organized counties. The state granted these nearly one thousand five hundred people power to organize their own local government, granted the power to organize and realize that all power is derived from the people, the rightful source of all power; they chose a county hoard possessing mere administrative powers; other officers principally executive, were elected. The local judiciary were not forgotten, a probate judge and associate judge were elected. Xext. justices of the peace were elected and the machinery of government was now running.

At the July session of the commissioners couru, held July, 1830, at the county metropolis. Jefferson, as it then was. in addition to thing done and acts performed at the May term as narrated, the county hoard, after due deliberation. directed the county agent. William Douglass, not to sell any town lots, as then p'atted for less than ten dollars, hut as a concession to the purchaser, if he paid cash. 6G- was to he deducted. That brought the actual cash prize of a lot. then all situated in blocks or squares adjacent to the public square, down to nine dollars and forty cents, thus bringing the purchase of a brand newr town lot within the reach of everyone. For taking the assessment of Clinton county and filing his report of the same, Benjamin Abbott was allowed for assessing the entire county at this, the first assessment, the magnificent sum of twelve dollars. As the law then was and continued to be, under the old constitution, the board drew the names of the grand and petit jurors for two terms of the circuit court next ensuing. D. Stockton. B. Abbott. Joel Flarland, A. Ross, Id. Miller. J. Harris. W. Michael, Jas. Hill. D. Kennady. H. Strange. D. Lasher, D. Young, Eli Rogers. J. Sherrard, I. Miller, Job Harriman, Peter Smith and A. Leak, eighteen, all good and true men were chosen grand jurors, the first in the county. The above were for the October term ; the following were drawn as grand jurors for its April term of the circuit court : S. Miller,

W. Leak. G. Ramsey. D. Kilgore, H. Young, M. Martin, R. Johnson. J. Ireland. D. Underhill. J. Gutterv. H. Harrison. J. Irene. J. Pence. J. Carter. N. McKinsev, F. Hopkins, J. Martin and R. Smith, the second grand jury drawn for the circuit court.

The following were then drawn to serve on the petit or traverse jury for the following October term: J. Harnsberger, LT. Hodges. D. Bradshaw, M. Brockman, R. Ramsey, P. S. Timmons, J. McClelland, A. IT. Southard, D. Rhinehart, R. McKensey, U. Jenkins, D. Young. T. Mandell. S. McOuern, R. Brooks. T. McCray, Xat. Kirk. G. W. Michael. J. Timmons, NT. Pence. W.

Wynecoop, H. Weidner, D. Gentry and G. D. Sharp. Twelve men were requested to form a jury, the other six drawn were for tailsmen, if needed.

For the April term, the following were drawn as petit jurors: \Y. Endicott, A. Michael. S. D. Thompson, D. Ross, E. Hendricks, R. Reagan, W. Williams, A. Benson. M. McKinsey, R. M. Miller, W. McBray. X. McKinsey, M. Shinn. John Hendricks, R. Ryan, J. Gripe, G. McKinsey, E. Timmons, W. Michael, A. Rogers. H. Lipp, J. McMechan, A. Majors and H. Harshman, all good and true men. The board ordered that the next term of the commissioners court should he held in Frankfort, the county-seat.

In the meantime, under date of June 8. 1830. one day before John Pence and his wife had deeded the sixty acres to Clinton county. William Douglass, the county agent, after having laid off the original plat of the town of Frankfort, filed this plat before the board which was examined, approved and accepted. This original plat consisted of eight blocks or squares, adjacent to and surrounding the block designated as the public square. As the plat was recorded in the commissioners' record and the county recorder's records, each lot, eight lots to the block, was to be ''sixty feet front and 132 feet deep." Thus filed, the statement is incorrect as the adopted size of nearly all the lots in the original plat and additions thereto, are 66 feet front by 132 feet deep. How this error crept into the record as can he seen in Deed Record Xo. 1 in the recorder's office, no one now knows. On the face of the plat as recorded, the public square is marked off as seventeen rods (poles) on each side, which would give the two intersecting alleys a rod wide each and eight lots of sixtvsix front each.

In this plat the streets adjacent to the public square, that is Washington, Jackson, Main and Cross Main (now Clinton) were each 80 feet wide and the streets then bounding the plat, Ohio, Prairie (now Prairie Creek) Columbia and Walnut streets were but 60 feet wide. Laid off thus, the eight blocks or squares with eight lots to the square gave sixty-four town lots. Following the practice of the U. S. surveys, the numbering of the lots began at the northeast corner of the plat: hence lot Xo. 1 is the lot on which the water works company's pump house is situated: lots 2, 3 and 4 are west of that; 5 and 6, the Ross and Dorner blocks: 7 and 8 was the old Charles Sipe property now owned by the water works company: lots 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 from the American Xational Bank to the Clinton County Bank and so on, counting the lots fronting on both Washington and Ohio streets. The lots adjacent to the public square all front thereon as the others front on the principal streets.

in Clinton county as well as the most important; at the September term they met in the county capital, or rather where it was to be ; no record exists of in what house they met. A great lot, a literal avalanche of petitions for new roads met their gaze. So many roads were petitioned for that more than half the men competent to he road viewers were appointed as such. Viewers heretofore appointed reported : as all the roads asked for were improved and utility" as the law requires, were allowed to be laid out and improved and none were turned down or the petitions continued. Xat Hall was licensed to keep a grocery, a place now known as a bar. a sample room or a saloon was then a grocery. Upon payment of the license fee Mr. Hal! was permitted to vend foreign and domestic liquors. George Michael was granted a similar license and various, numerous and sundry bills were passed upon and allowed. Nearly all these claims were for labor performed on the new roads already granted. Several new road districts were named and supervisors therefor appointed. The board ordered the county agent to have the public square "cleared," to be completely cleared off new ground, as if ready for the plow. In those days every one knew what that meant, all was to be done before October coming and to he let to the lowest bidder. The county agent was also directed to build a court house, a temporary structure. This was to be built of hewn logs to be made of good timber, to be eighteen feet wide and twenty-four feet long. It was to he one and a half story high and covered with good oak clapboards; one door six feet high or more if necessary and two 12-light windows in the front, one on each side of the door and two 12-light windows on the hack side of the house, sash and glass to he put in good: a batton door to be made and hung, the lower floor to be laid loose with good oak planks: the upper floor to be laid with good poplar flooring. The corners to be sawed down, the house to be chinked on the inside and daubed on the outside: a good cat and clay chimney to be built. All of said work to be completed in a good workmanlike manner on or before the first day of November next. The agent was to require good security that the work was to l>e done as specified and by the time named. The agent was also directed to lav off into town lots, north, west and south of the lots already laid out and to offer them at public sale on the 23th of October following having properly advertised the same.

In his report directed to he made by the board, William Douglas, the county agent, reported the sale of fifty-five (55) lots of the first sixty- four (64) laid out: these lots being all in the blocks or squares around the public square. It is a matter of interest at this date, more than eighty years after, to know for just how much most of these lots were sold and the amount paid for them. Of the lots bought in the block adjoining the public or court house square the lot which sold for the most money was lot No. 41 of the lot on which the Paris store corner, opposite the Coulter House, is situated. This lot was bid in by S. I). Maxwell, who paid $120.25 for it. The next highest was lot No. 13. now known as the Catterlin corner, where the Clinton Countv Bank now is: this sold for $90.50: the third lot in selling price value was lot No. 16. the corner where the American National Rank now is. w hich brought under the auctioneer's hammer an even $S5.oo. No. 14, north side, where the Dawson hotel is. $67.50: lot 15. where Porter's hardware store is now, sold for $64.25: lot 32. Hertz store corner, even S60.00; lot 25, clothing store corner, owned by Givens' heirs. $61.50: lots 28 and 29. one south, the other north of the once alley on which the First National Bank is situated, sold for $40.00 each: lot 2. j, now a part of the Joseph Steel estate. $45.00; No. 40. J. B. Merrifield block, $39.50; No. 52, where J. P. Gaddis store is, $38.00: lot 53,. where Laferty's clothing store and the Variety Store is, $46.50: lot 59, where Thrasher's store is, $46.50: lot 60, Coulter House and Morning Times block. $50.00 - lot east of Times office sold down to $28.00; lot 55, where the Airdome is, $26.50: No. 45, Royal theater. Braden Clark's block. S26.00: No. 46. south of Paris corner, $35.60: No. 48. where Blinn Theater stands, $28.25 : lot 47. northeast corner Main and Walnut streets, owned by Mrs. Jonathan Cohee. $26.60: lot 5. now Ross block, brought $40.00 even; No. 6. the home of the Crescent office. $23.60: No. 12. livery barn, north Jackson street. $22.00: No. 26. west and across the alley from Givens' heirs building, $25.00: the lot where the brick livery stable is on West Washington street, only $17.50: that was a low ground lot: No. 27, northeast corner Washington and Columbia streets, was so low it would not sell at all. Snipe Run was then decidedly conspicuous and did not present a captivating appearance to a real estate man.

Col. N. T. Catterlin paid $23.00 for the lot No. 30, where D. W. Paul's marble works were until recently ; lots 7 and 8, formerly the Sipe homestead, nowr Water Works Company's beautiful small park, sold for $16.00 and $11.75, respectively: No. 62, Chittick Block. $15.25; the Kelly Block, nearer the public square, brought $24.75 : No. 9, A. Givens' heirs, east of the old Lake Erie and Western Railway depot. $17.50; Nos. 35 and 36, now7 owned by Fred Coulter and H. Campbell, respectively, and once known as the Wirt Block, sold for $18.50 and $18.12^2 ; Nos. 49 and 50, where the Clinton county jail is situated, sold for $i2.i2p2 and $14.00, respectively.

The other lots were sold at from $10.00 to $22.00, according to location. At private sale H. Young bought the lot where the water works company's pump house is for $10.00 and paid $10.06 r4 for the lot west of that. Lots 17 and 18, from Freas' saloon building to the Lake Erie and Western railroad tracks, $15.75 an^ $15.00.

Of the fifty-five lots reported as sold 1>v the county agent the sum total realized was $1,772.32, or an average of $22.32 a lot. Since then the value of these lots, to say nothing of the improvements made thereon, has increased beyond the fondest hopes of the original buyer, or at least a thousand fold. These lots put upon the market then were not even cleared, not a building was on any lot. all was in brush and a w ild native forest. As to the lots unsold tin's is their history: Lot t, where the pump house of the water works is now. not sold then, but by private -^ale ; Xo. 10. w here the Lake Erie and Western Railroad depot is: Xos. 20 and 21, opposite the elevator and Charley Petty's livery stable on Xorth Columbia street: Xo. 14. the Cohee store corner: Xo. 54. Earner Block corner: Nos. 63 and 64. the lots opposite J. R. Brown's residence on Walnut street, yet used only as private residences; and No. 37', now opposite the Christian Church on Columbia street. Xine lots of the 64 were thus left unsold.

The lots are sold, the owners have their deeds, but where is the town? Some reference must be made to the early growth of this embryo town, now a city. A lad w:as once asked where he was born and raised. He replied. "I was not born and raised at all : I just growed." So it was with Frankfort at its small beginning. It was not first a town and then made the county-seat of justice of a thriving county. It started out a county-seat and then it began to exist and to grow. For forty years, more than a generation, its growth was slow, very slow , inded. When the decennial census of 1870 was taken the enumerator had hard work to rake and scrape up the names of 1,300 inhabitants: this was forty-three years ago. Since then the growth, though not phenomenal, has been steady, so that in a little more than four decades (1913), it has grown to a city of nearly, if not quite, 9.000 people: many of our enthusiastic people claim 10,000.

LTp to 1870, the growth was tardy, mainly because Frankfort had no railroad facilities. The people of Frankfort were entirely dependent upon costlv private conveyance when they wanted to leave the old town - prematurelv old - or to return to it. if they wanted to come back. When the Lafayette and Indianapolis railroad, now the Big Four, was projected, the matter came up in the state Legislature under the old Constitution, a special charter was sought by this railroad corporation, setting forth the terminals, routes, rightof-wav required, etc., all with reference to a small subsidy or stock subscripio6 tion by the counties through which the road was to pass. It is stated, and has never been denied, that the then representation from Clinton countv opposed the line of road passing through Frankfort by saying the people did not want the road, did not want to be taxed for its construction : the result was. the line was surveyed to pass through one corner of Clinton countv, leaving Frankfort high and dry way off to the east. Since then Frankfort and Clinton county have given nearly one million dollars for railway promotion and construction and the city has become a prominent railroad center. With the present interurban electric lines and other contemplated, reaching out in every direction, our county and its capital will soon have in addition to what they now have, transportation facilities equaled by few cities or counties of the state and surpassed by none.

At the November term of the commissioners court the board allowed Isaac D. Armstrong $38.75 for surveying, laying off and platting that portion of the original plat as far as the work had proceeded, namely : the nine blocks first laid out: that is. the 64 lots in the blocks lying around the public square and that square. This was less than bo cents a lot. less than half price of the fees paid for that work now. Guthery, Ferguson & Holliday were allowed $50.00 for clearing off the public square, the sum agreed upon with the county agent: this was at the rate of $27.50 an acre for grubbing, felling the timber, digging up the stumps and clearing up the ground, "smack smoothe." The digging and grubbing was done with a grubbing hoe or mattock which is yet an heirloom in the Pence family.

For building the temporary court house, as has already been described, Allen & Michael, contractors, were paid the magnificent but satisfactory sum of $20.00 current money of the realm. It should be explained that the timber used, the hewn logs, cost them nothing, as it grew right there on the square and in the streets, and which they were permitted to use. Upon the completion of this primitive temple of justice, out of the logs partly hewn, that is scutched on the inside, as many of the cabins were then, the corners duly sawed down and all other stipulations of the contract complied with, the order was passed and a draft or warrant on the county treasurer made. The board also put on record that the circuit courts and the other courts heretofore held in some private house in Jefferson should be held hereafter in the new court house in Frankfort.

At the next term of the commissioners court Michigan township was set off and allowed a separate corporate existence. Its territory was very much as it is now, except it embraced then what is since a part of Owen and Warren townships. It may be a mere coincidence, or typical of the civilization prevailing in that day. or. perhaps it was the fact that earliest and the greatest need of the new county then, of less than 2,000 people, the most pressing as well as the earliest need looking to any degree oj permanency, that the first building erected fit to be used and destined so to be used for nearly a generation, was the county jail built on the northeast corner of the public square. The county court house, as described, was very temporary indeed, intended though to last until the count}' was able to build another, the county officials found quarters as best the}' could in private residences: some in temporarv buildings, mere shacks: but the jail, such was the demand of the times, was a sure enough prison, a veritable terror to evildoers, a regular fortress almost as difficult to get into from the outside as to get out of from the inside. This was the county jail until 1845. when Joseph Haines, living near Jefferson, was committed for alleged horse stealing, who set the crude but solid structure on fire and perished in the burning which happened in the early morning. The poor fellow's cries were heard, but as he had been a railing, noisesome, boisterous prisoner, those hearing him supposed he was in one of his tantrums, into which he often resorted, they paid no attention to his distress until it was too late.

ordered to be placed as was its successor on the northeast corner of the court house square: to be let by sealed proposals and a 82.000 bond required: the letting was to be advertised in the Lafayette Free Press: the specifications ran ''to be built of hewn timber, completely hewn and squared, to be one foot square, the foundations to be four feet in the ground, etc." This wooden block house of a jail was to be built of double walls, the foot square logs to Ire dovetailed together with a foot space between filled in with foot square timber. It requires some stretch of the imagination to conceive how a double walled building, the inner and the outer wall one foot, and both these walls to be dovetailed together. It is evident the square logs composing the inner wall had to project at the corner beyond that wall and extend to and through the outer wall into which these inner wall logs were dovetailed.

Considering the material the building must have been solid and strong. The lower story was nine feet high, the second story six feet. The floors were to be of foot square timber; for a window a foot square grate was let into the east side of the jail. The only door or access to the lower or dungeon part of the jail was by a stairway to the upper story, thence by a trap door, three by two feet to the jail or dungeon proper: a window eighteen inches square was inserted into the upper story - all windows were heavily grated with one inch iron bars. When anyone was unfortunate enough to be committed to this jail he was taken up the outside stairway, then entering the upper room which was divided into two apartments, a vestibule and a reception room, thence he was let down through the three-by-two opening into the dungeon proper - "who enters here leaves hope behind." The work of constructing this substantial if not ornate prison was contracted to be paid for in three installments, one-third in advance, one-third when two-thirds done and the rest at the completion of the contract. The total cost of this jail was $1,466.25. no job or rake-off" in that contract. Xote: When an inmate was to be incarcerated in this jail: at the trap-door to the dungeon there was a ladder down which he descended, after which the trap-door was securely locked over the opening. All the food and other supplies to the unlucky inmate had to reach him through this two-by-three trap door.

The first addition to the town of Frankfort was what is known as Armantrouts Addition, the plat recorded December 2. 1835. The addition consisted of six blocks the same size as those in the original plat, but the recorded plat and also as shown on maps consists of but four lots to the block. Lot Xo. 1 of the addition, fronting on the north by Washington street - the addition extends from Washington to Walnut street - begins immediately west of that alley just west of the Presbyterian church and then the addition extends west to a line which if the alley was extended would be the alley midway between Fourth and Fifth streets or the west side of the Kramer planing mill property. The addition trisected by Taylor street in the eastern part and Doyal street in the western part.

In the placing of this addition on record as it was. somebody blundered. Armantrout seem to be blameworthy, but as the addition was platted and lots therein and eastward of it were sold, the continuity of the street system of all that west part of town was broken up and egress either way was hindered ; besides that, the beauty of that part of the town was marred. First, Second and Third streets extend only to Walnut; from Columbia to Taylor street, then so on north and south no thoroughfare. Third street is merged into Tavlor street and Fourth into Doyal. Taylor street into Bunnel and that is merged into John street. To remedy this, the travel north of the railroads, an attempt was made in modern times to extend Gentry south to Washington or to Clinton and thence to Walnut street, but it failed. Whose ever fault it was to thus disfigure the town plat and cause so much confusion in that part of the citv as it does now. he committed a great blunder.

At the second sale of lots of the original plat of the town of Frankfort, which sale had been ordered by the board to be held October 25. 1830, after due notice and advertising, eighty lots were put upon the market, from lot

Xo. 65 to Xo. 144, inclusive. Sixteen blocks were added to the first nine, making in all twenty-five (25) blocks. Of these sixteen last considered six (6) were reserved unplatted into lots, as has been stated. Of these six blocks unsold and unplatted, one was the block now north of the railroads and west of Prairie Creek, another was just east of the one just named and north of where the railroads are now. The other four blocks are all east of the creek and west of Harrison street. These were never platted as lots, and the deeds to tracts in all these are by metes and bounds.

These eighty lots, which under this order of the board were directed to be sold, were, and are yet, principally residence blocks and not business blocks, though some of them are ; and those lots used for business are increasing in number every year. The price of some of these lots, at the second sale ordered, which may interest many, is here given as a matter of history. Lot 80, where the elegant Masonic temple is now situated, fronting on Main street, sold under the hammer for $46.50, the highest price paid at this sale; and lot 79, where Dr. Oliver Card's residence is situated, also undertaking room, chapel, etc., is situated, sold for even $30.00; the next highest is the lot on which the residence now stands and the property of the late N. J. Gaskell, erected more than twenty years ago. Mr. Gaskell paid the sum of $2,000 for that, bought at the request of his wife, who spent her childhood days in the original house on the lot where her father then lived. This lot, the second highest priced of this sale, brought even $80.00. in a little more than fiftv rears selling at twenty-five times that sum. The next highest was lot 82. just south of the Gaskell lot: this sold at $38.00. All these lots just named were on good high ground, very desirable locations for residences. Lot 104. fronting on Clinton street, then cross Main, now owned by George Dinwiddie, across the wide alley from his residence, sold for $32.50

Lots 77 and 78. where the First Methodist church stands, sold, the corner lot for $30.75. the other for $26.00, respectively, and lot Xo. 108, where the Carnegie Citv Library now stands, sold for $28.25 : lots 83 and 84. opposite the M. E. church on Main street, the corner lot for $27.50, the other for $27.25. The lot at the corner of Morrison - the street that has since been widened - Xo. 137, brought under the hammer $28.75. though then there was an allev along the north side of the lot. Lot iot, the first story used as a grocerv, the Fair and another room, and the second story as a hospital, brought $24.25: lot 102, where the Burns hotel is. sold for $26.00; Xo. 106. diagonallv across Clinton street from the hotel, sold for $24.00: this last sold since, unimproved, for $2,000.00. The lot across the alley from this, and a part of library building site, sold for $22.50: the lot where Mr. Fuller has his candy and butter-scotch factory, fronting on Main street, $23.00; the lot south of that, $21.37^ ; the lot now the residence of Mrs. India Ghere, northwest corner Jackson and Wabash streets, $18.00; the lot immediately north of that, $17.23; Broden Clark's, northwest corner Washington and Columbia, $17.23; Dr. G. W. Brown, west of that. Si 0.371/2 : the lot where the Clover Leaf depot is, Si 0.00: Shanklin & Company's wholesale house. Si 2.00: lot where Fritch's mill is. $10.12^; lot north of this, drained by Snipe Run, did not sell at all: the lot where the Lineback shop is. S10.23.

Of the two lots upon which the First Christian church and tabernacle stand, the corner lot sold for $11.23, the west lot did not sell at all. Until after the war a modest, plain, low, square house stood where the Christian church is now. The house was moved down on a south part of town street, and was used as a tenement house. At one time, as sole surviving trustee of this church property. Col. X. T. Catterlin sold the house and the lot, and possibly the two lots, retained for a time the proceeds in his hands, hut finally he accounted for every cent, principal and interest. The money was turned over to the M. P. church authorities competent to receive it; with it their parsonage was erected. The hell on this modest church, the best hell in the city, was sold to Enos Hoover, then trustee of the township, who placed the hell on the little second ward school building, from which it was transferred to the large central three-story building there, where this bell yet does good service. That old eyesore, southwest corner of Washington and Columbia streets, lot Xo. 109, now the site of Frankfort's United States postoffice building, sold for $18.23. The lots where E. F. Allen's residence stood, south west corner of Morrison and Columbia streets, now the site of a butter factory, brought $37.33 1-3: the lot where the J. T. Sims flour mill is $10.06^2, and the lot where the elevator stands, $12.23 : l°t 011 Wabash street, just across the street from the Baptist church, $13.30; lot 70, John H. Barnes' estate on south Jackson, $io.i2p2 ; lot 72. now owned by Civil Engineer James R. Brown, $10.50. The lot long known as the residence of Hon. L. McClurg, $ 1 o. 1 2 V2 . The other lots put on sale at that time sold at from $8 - quite a number sold at that figure up to $14.30: the lot on West Washington street, owned now by the J. H. Minor heirs, sold at that figure.

X"o lots were sold east of Prairie Creek. The five blocks there and the Benefiel Mill site block were unplatted into lots. Lot Xo. 34, known as the Barner block, and is yet thus known, opposite the Coulter House, was sold at private sale March. 1832, to John Pence for $100.00 even money, and in January, 1833, John Pence sold the same to John Barner for the same amount, $100.00. This property has remained in the same family ever since. Dr. F.

C. Jones now owns it. February, 1832, John Pence sold to John H. Dunn the land, one acre and 95 square rods, on which the Alex and Abram Given mansion now stands, owned at present by J. P. Given and George Dinwiddie, for 850.00. The last time this tract was sold, while yet unimproved, it brought $3,200. Lot 85. now owned by J. T. Sheffler, sold in October, 1830, for $13.50, was resold the next year for $100.05. a big advance; in 1870 it again changed hands at the low price of S85.00. This shows how the price of lots fluctuated. The now Dorner building lot in 1832 sold for $51.50, quite an advance.

After doing without a county seal of any kind for more than two vears, at the September term of the commissioners court, the board ordered three seals to he procured, one for the probate court, one for the circuit court clerk and one for the commissioners court, to be used by the board and the auditor. The latter had the letters on it. C. C. C.. with the word seal below the other letters.

At the March term session of the board, in answer to a petition from citizens of Jefferson, nine lots. Xos. 28 to 36. inclusive, were vacated, lots, streets and alleys reverted back to unplatted lands. Xot getting the county seat of justice Jefferson did not quite need so many lots!

At the May term. 1831. Dr. J. T. Wilds was allowed by the board $3.00 for assisting in amputating the toes of Jesse Allen, who was then a county charge. For the year 1832 the county assessor was paid S18.00 for listing and assessing the property owners of the entire county. It was the practice to have a tax collector who collected the taxes and paid them over to the treasurer.

As early as 1832 there was a contest over the election of a justice of the peace in and for Michigan township: the case was decided by the board, who charged $3.00 extra, $1.00 each for their time and labor.

As the law was then Clinton county in 1832 drew the sum of $320 from the state treasury out of what was known as the three per cent. fund. The board applied it on the county's indebtedness. Under the law then ten per cent, of the money from the sale of city lots must be set aside for a county library. After the first sale of lots $60.1714 were thus set aside. It was used as the beginning of a fund for the county seminary. At the May term. 1831. the board appointed Thomas McClure trustee for the county seminary.

At the May term. 1831, John Pence, county treasurer, reported receipts as follo-ws : From licenses issued. $84.25; from current taxes county levy, $232.0154. Total, $3i6.26j2- Mr. Pence also reported: The amount of

That l/2 of a cent turned up in every transaction where the old Spanish 25 cents of our money involved the fractional part of that 25 cent piece. This last was "two bits''; half of the value of that or \2l/2 cents, was a "bit," the half of this was a "fip" or fippenny bit.

At the November term, 1832, of commissioners court, after the public sales were over and lots yet remaining unsold, the following quaint order was made as to the price of the remaining lots to be sold : "No lot was to be sold for less than $3.00 and as much more as he (the county agent) can get." At the May term. 1831, the total number of lots yet unsold were 28: that is, there were a total of 144 lots offered at the two public sales; of them 116 were sold and 28 not sold. These 116 lots sold brought into the county treasury $2,796.16, which went to the building fund. Charles I. Hand, the first collector of taxes, was bonded for $1,000.00. Five viewers for the various townships were appointed, also overseers of the poor; Dr. \V. V. Snyder was allowed $25.00 for amputating a leg of a county charge.

Hereafter no lot was to be sold for less than $10.00. Benjamin Abbott, allowed $12.00 for assessing the property in the county March term, 1931; Dr. J. T. Wilds was allowed $30.00 for medical services to a poor person ; inspectors of election were appointed ; all township officers were to hold over for 1831 ; there being no poor house, poor persons were boarded out.

The first road authorized by the county board was from Jefferson to Frankfort. Applications for other roads came in thick and fast. In all such applications, viewers were appointed who reported at the next meeting of the board. The rates of taxation for 1832 were fixed as follows: On a horse, mule or ass, 37*4 cents; stallions, from $8 to $10: pleasure carriages. $1 ; each work ox over three years old, 18 34 cents; each brass clock, $1 ; each gold watch, $1; each silver or composition watch. 25 cents: each vender of wooden clocks, $10; each tavern license. $6: each grocery license where whisky sold. $6; each store license, $12.

March term, 1832, William Douglas, the county agent, submitted a full and complete report of all he had done as said agent in the selling of lots and collecting the money therefor. He had sold, as stated, 116 lots and had collected, so far, $2,796.16; of this John Pence received $159.23^, leaving $2,636.92^4 to go to the building fund. The reason why John Pence was paid the sum of $i59-23T4 grew out of the fact that the original plat, which was intended to cover the sixty acres Mr. Pence was to donate, spread out to nearly, if not quite, sixty-six acres, or six acres more than the contract. For this six acres, more or less, he was repaid the $i 59.23 pj.

At this term was also reported the sale of the six blocks not platted into lots. These blocks were designated by number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. and 6. Dr. J. T. Wilds bought block Xo. 1, northeast corner of Jackson and Ohio streets, the saw mill lot: he paid $50.25 ; block Xo. 2 was sold to John Earner for $32.00. situated northeast corner of Prairie and Ohio streets, just across the creek from block Xo. 1 : block Xo. 3 was sold to William Irwin for $41.00, situated at the northwest corner of Washington and Harrison streets, very valuable now: block Xo. 4 was sold to Horatio Barner, for $51.00: it lies just across the creek between Washington and Clinton streets, very valuable. Block Xo. 5 was sold to John Baker for $60.50; this was long known as the Paris block, now as the High School Building block: block Xo. 6 was sold to Peter Francis for $10.01 ; this block, just south of the high school, is the site of the large third ward school building and some residences fronting on Harrison street.

Some other very important business was transacted this March term, 1832. Up to this time there was no official seal of any kind. The board now ordered a probate court seal, a circuit court seal, for the clerk of that court and a commissioners' court seal. The county was divided in eight road districts and supervisors thereof appointed, nine town lots of Jefferson vacated. Henry Fudge was appointed commissioner to handle and manage the three per cent, fund drawn from the state treasury. He was ordered to turn over and use economically this fund, now several hundred dollars, in laying out and clearing up ready to be used, the various new roads granted by the board. Philip Kramer was allowed $44.90 for work on the jail and Andrew Thompson S30.77J2 for iron used in the construction of the jail.

At the September term, 1832, of the commissioners court, among other important business, occurred the deposition of Col. William Douglas as county agent, who had filled the office for more than two years. The Colonel had not brought up his reports as promptly as desired and it was charged, not that he had been guilty of any defalcation, but that he had not properly accounted for the money which had passed through his hands ; his sureties on his bond needlessly asked to be released, and some other matters were alleged, until the commissioners vacated the office or deposed him and elected Jesse Carter in his place, who at once assumed the duties of county agent. Some little trouble further ensued in inducing Colonel Douglas to fully relinquish the office. It was all finally adjusted to the satisfaction of all. He removed to (8)

Tippecanoe county afterwards,, where William Douglas was known as a highly respected citizen. At the time of the war of the Union a son of this Mr. Douglas served in the Union arm with honor and distinction.

As a specimen of the way justices of the peace reported the fines they assessed, which were reported quarterly and spread of record in the commissioners' record, one report, that of Abner Baker, then justice of peace, is as follows :

Mr. Heavilon was tried for trespassing but found not guiltv. Joseph Harly, at the May term. 1833. was appointed collector for that year, for which he was allowed S18.00. As county agent Jesse Carter was allowed $24.50 from March .1832. until May. 1833, fifteen months.

To take care of the congressional school fund, sell the sections, the sixteenth section in each congressional township. Arthur Compton was appointed school commissioner and received $7.00 for his first four days work.

At the June session, 1832. X. T. Catterlin had been appointed jailer, which was revoked at the September term. He was then sheriff, and if jailer, he must be appointed. Some men on application paid Si. 00 to escape military duty, which was then obligatory. Before some justice of the peace one man was fined $1.00 on a charge of profane swearing.

At the September term the county treasurer reported as having received $648.22)4 and as having paid out S591.14. The building fund came from the sale of lots and was reported annually : this year it was $305.95 ; paid out, $272.08.

The vear 1833 seemed to have been uneventful. Those who were delinquent in their taxes of any kind were reported to the county board and the same recorded in the board's record. Some eighty delinquents were reported at the December term, 1833. The tax receipts were divided equally between the state and the county. There was but two kinds of county funds, the general fund and the building fund. There was a school fund from the sale of the sixteenth section in each township and a seminary fund which consisted of the fines and forfeitures collected. A library fund was made by

At the March term, 1834, the trustee of the seminary fund reported having received $48.75 and had loaned out $40.37^/2 . For the year 1834 F. L. Harley was appointed lister for the county to prepare the lists for taxation. At the May term the hoard consisted of Jacob Blinn, M. McKinsey and David khinehart. The number of road districts were doubled, now made to be sixteen in number. A stray pen was ordered to be built just south of the jail on the court house yard.

During the May term. 1835, Jesse Cook came in as a county commissioner. Philip Kramer one year later. The clerk of this court was allowed $18.00 extra for the year 1835. At the March term, 1836, the number of road districts was increased to 39.

At the September term. 1836. the new court house came up, the board resolved to build : an architect was to prepare plans, the cost was to be estimated. bids advertised for and the work to proceed, the house to be completed by November, 1838.

Considering the small cost of this court house, its comparatively small size, the letting of the contract was most elaborately advertised in the Lafayette Free Press, the Crawfordsville Record and the Indiana Democrat ; the plans and specifications were most profuse in detail in nearly everything that could be thought of. as to the thickness of the walls, the foundations, the columns, seating, flooring and finish of the separate rooms. The quality of the brick used, the kind of lumber, etc., were all noed. The walls of the first story to lie 18 inches thick, those of the upper story 13 inches. Partition walls were to be 13 inches; the columns to he 30 inches in diameter; the architecture not mentioned, but turned out to be the plain Doric; there were to be four rooms in the lower story, for auditor, southeast corner, treasurer, southwest corner the hall between to be ten foot wide. In the court room, second story, the seats for spectators were to be in the south end of the room facing north, stairway north end of the building. In 1837-1838 the building was erected by John Elder, contractor, the work all supervised by a building committee appointed bv the hoard. For his pay, amounting to $12,000, the contractor received $1,200 in advance, $1,800 September 1, 1837; $2,000 on the completion of the work, and the balance in two equal annual payments, one year and two years off. This strong, firmly-built court house building served the county forty-five years, until its size and other accommodations were totally inadequate for the business therein to be conducted.

At the March term, commissioners' court, 1837, David C. Clark came on the board. Kirklin township was set off as a township. Under an act of the Legislature the office of county agent was continued and John H. Dunn was appointed; also three trustees for the library. The school funds found ready borrowers at from 8 to 10 per cent, interest; the tax rate remained low; the county board, not as now. handled all the public funds and disbursed them also. Col. X. T. Catterlin was appointed tax collector at two per cent, for his commission.

Though out of its proper place in this history the account of the first sheriff's sale of real estate in the county may be noted: Bv a decree of the

Marion county district ( circuit) court in which eighty acres lying immediately south of the newly laid out town of Michigantown was sold to Col. X. T. Catterlin in December. 1832, for the sum of $15.25. Solomon Young, then sheriff ; the amount of debt of this foreclosure was over $500.00.

During the last part of the year 1830 and all of 1831. though Jefferson did not capture the county capital, there was great activity in the sale of real estate, both in and around that then flourishing town, yet the metropolis, at greatly increased prices over the Si. 25 an acre government price. But the advance in Frankfort and vicinity was as great or even greater. October, 1827, William Douglas entered from the government the northwest quarter of section 33, the old Keisher Mill site quarter, paying therefor $200.00; in May, 1831, he sold the same 160 acres, retaining two small reservations for mill sites, to Samuel Ayers, for $1,000.00. Part of this was never cleared and put in cultivation until after 1864. This advance in the selling price of land went on increasing rapidly all through the early thirties, especially the choice tracts. A quarter section, uniformly selling at $200.00 in but a few months thereafter sold at from $300 to $1,000. Lots, all eighty-acre tracts, were known as lots then, upon which were mill sites, were especially desirable and usually sold at good, sometimes fancy prices. These mill sites were not onlv found on the South Fork of the Wildcat, Killmore branch of that stream, and Sugar Creek, but nearly every little stream, rivulet or spring branch had water power which could lie utilized and let, to do the work of the sturdy old pioneers. Three or four of those mills were erected on Prairie branch - one in Frankfort - and the stream that heads two or three miles west of Frankfort and run' thence north, then west and northwest to the South Fork, had at least three mill sites, to say nothing of the Seager Wool Carding Factory and Woolen Mill which have been used until quite recently; there was the famous spring mill, whose water power was nothing but a series of springs - this was very valuable property, rated at from $10,000 to

$15,000 in value. Boghs mill, northwest of town, on the Rossville road, was also once esteemed valuable and held at a good price. But the general introduction of the use of steam and the tendency to concentrate all the milling interests in the cities and principal towns with the railroads have changed all this. But a new demand for good, durable and well located mill sites is again springing up. Already the United States government's geological survev has had a corps of civil engineers out in the north part of the state examining and surveying the Kankakee and the branches of the Tippecanoe, the upper Wabash, the Eel. Missisinewa, the Salominie, and other affluents of the Wabash. to ascertain what water power may be made available for the use mainlv of electric light and power plants. There is today no doubt a sufficient amount of water power in Clinton county which, if properly and economically utilized, would afford enough of electrical energy to light Frankfort and every town and village in the county, and some of this electrical power might be used for interurban or street car purposes.

Following the chronological order, the first jail burned in 1845; at once steps were taken to rebuild it by the construction of a more substantial countv jail. This building on the site of the other was fashioned somewhat like the former, with the dungeon or jail proper, in the first story and an anteroom and other needed apartments in the second story. The first story was built of hewn stone, hauled here from Lafayette and laid up in a very substantial manner. The second story was of brick. A residence for the jailer adjoined the structure. An outside stairway permitted entrance to the ante-rooms, in one of which was a small trap door, through which an inmate descending found himself in the jail proper. Many of the older citizens of the county remember this, the second jail, which served well its purpose until in the early seventies, when it was condemned as insecure and put out of commission. Its builder w as John P. Crothers, in his day a prominent citizen here.

The year of the organization of the various civil townships is as follows: Washington, Ross and Jackson, in the year 1830: Michigan, in 1831:

Tn 1841 Honey Creek township, now a part of Howard county, was organized as a township in Clinton county. The voters in the east part of Warren were nearly all Republicans, the Republicans of Howard county, in order to strengthen their vote, and the Democrats of Clinton county, wanting to diminish the Republican vote in their county as much as possible, combined and in 1850 both influences, working together, twelve and one-half sections of Clinton county, all of Honey Creek township in fact, were added

Clinton Countv, Indiana

The old court house, built in 1838, after being in use nearly forty-five years, the county in the meantime prospering and growing as the years went by, proved entirely inadequate to the wants and needs of the people of Clinton county, the population having grown from about 5,000 to nearly 25,000, the demand for a new court house became so strong that in 1881 the county auditor was directed to advertise for sale the old court house : at the expiration of the sixty days' notice, which was February 25, 1882, David Thompson, then acting as auctioneer, sold the ancient structure to David A. Coulter for $300, he to remove the same from the public square not later than the coming April.

It is the business of the writer of a condensed history, such as this is, to state facts in a plain, unvarnished style, but in writing of this, the new, the present court house of Clinton county, it may be stated that at this date, after he lapse of more than thirty years, this elegant building has well served the purpose of its erection and seems fully adequate to the demands of the people of the county for at least half a century or until the population of this county is double what it is now.

For some years, at least since 1870, there had been a demand for a new court house, but for various reasons, partly economical and partly political, the matter as urgent and as important as it was. continued to be deferred. It is a tradition that the political party in power when a new and costly court house or any other heavy improvement is made in a county, the party then in power suffers an eclipse, at least for a time. The Democrats were then in the ascendancy in the county, they had a premonition of their fate should thev go on with this much needed improvement - their fears were fully realized. In 1877 the small levy of ten cents was placed upon the tax duplicate for the building of this court house and remained at that for four years. It was then raised to twenty cents on the one hundred dollars.

In September, 1881, plans and specifications, drawn by George \Y. Bunting, an Indianapolis architect, were accepted: he furnished the drawings and superintended the work. In December the contract for the construction of the building was let to Farman & Pearce, the former of the firm dying during the work. Mr. Pearce finished the contract.

The style of architecture was classic with modern English and Italian features. The building was planned on a large scale. The rooms for the various officers are large and spacious as well as convenient. The building is square. 128 by 82 feet, with four wide entrances leading up to the first or office floor. The basement is for storage and additional office rooms. The city of Frankfort has its clerk, treasurer, civil engineer and mayor's office there now, as well as the headquarters for the police. A spacious hall intersects the first story proper, where not only the auditor, treasurer, clerk and sheriff but surveyor and the recorder, the most important record officer, are all housed in rooms suited to their needs. From the first, or principal floor, wide stairways lead to the second floor, where are the two court rooms, the grand and petit jury room, a witness, a ladies room and a large room for the judge. The height of the basement room is ten feet, that of the county officer's room is fifteen feet, of the court room, twenty-five feet. The building is constructed of Indiana oolitic limestone. The height of the structure is proportionate to its size, 165 feet.

The contract for the building of this court house was made and entered into while F. P. Bailey, Samuel Kvger and John Pruitt were the county commissioners, all Democrats, and while the work was in progress the hue and cry was raised that the contractors were using defective material, especially in the construction of the foundation, where mud cement was used. The word went out and was reiterated again and again in the opposition paper, whose editor not only raised the cry and repeated the slogan in his paper, but took the stump and went pretty much all over the county, crying "Soft Cement." The cost of the new court house was within the estimate and the terms of the contract. $200,000. The corner stone was laid September 2, 1882. Capt. J. X. Sims, one of the oldest members of the bar, delivered the opening address on this occasion. D. P. Barner was master of ceremonies for the day. who performed the duties of his office with honor and dignity. After the ceremonies of the corner stone laying was over Mr. Barner announced the orator of the day, Hon. Leander McClurg, who then delivered his patriotic, eloquent and appropriate oration.

As a memorial of the occasion in the corner stone of this court house were deposited copies of the Frankfort Crescent, the Saturday Banner, with lists of their subscribers: Christian Press and Colfax Chronicle, the Indianapolis Sentinel. Journal and Sun. copies of the premium lists of the Clinton countv fair, the Middle Fork fair were placed in a sealed casket, along with the Bible, copy of the state statistical report, the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation. Clinton county court docket of the bar for the Mav term. 1882: Clinton's photographs of the old court house and of the new. copv of the contract for the latter's erection, also with the architect's contract, copies of the various bids and of the one accepted, copies of all orders of the countv commissioners pertaining to the court house, a copy of Tohn Pence's patent deed for the land on which the city was founded, a copy of the deed in which John Pence, who deeded the sixty acres to the county for the donation he made to the commissioners and a copy of the original plat of the town of Frankfort. Also were deposited in this casket school reports for 1880 and 1882. catalogue of Frankfort public schools for 1882. poster of this corner stone laying, program of exercises of the day, small specimens of wheat, corn, oats. rye. clover, seed, flax and latter day process of flour and corn meal, one dollar legal tender note, one standard silver dollar, fifty cent fractional currency, five-cent silver and five-cent nickel coin. The laying of this corner stone of the present court house was a high day for Frankfort and Clinton county.

Clinton county has one institution, one building which has stood the test of all times since its erection, nearly fifty years ago: it outlives the old court house, is older than the jail, than the present court house, and is doing good service to this very day, and that is the county poor asylum. Way back in 1864 the county commissioners bought of Squire Joseph Baum 308 acres of most excellent land now less than a mile from the limits of the city of Frankfort and had constructed the present building at a cost of about $20,000. The monev was well spent. Some needed additions have been made, the barn and other buildings have been rebuilt on a large scale and everything out at the poor farm has been kept in good order. .After selling off some eightv acres the rest of the original tract has been drained and improved until todav the farm of the county asylum is one of the best kept, up-to-date farms in the county. Under the various superintendents the inmates have been well cared for and the people of this county need not be ashamed of the "poor farm." the buildings thereon or the manner in which the farm and premises are kept. The farm is usually so well managed that the bumper wheat crop raised on this model farm is the first cut and the first in the market.

Reference has already been made to the public roads of Clinton county as they were in the pioneer days. It is not enough to say that they were bad, they were very bad. Take the entire south third or more of the territory of the county, which would embrace the Twelve Mile Prairie and some smaller tracts: also nearlv all the level portions of the eastern part of Clinton county, and from the da vs of the early settlers and down to about 1870 the roads were bad; in the prairies there was an adhesive, sticky mud which clung to the wheels of the vehicles and in the level parts of the county where water stood nearlv the year round, making travel anything but pleasant. But along about 1870 and 1880 the improvements of the roads were carried on continuously: mostly by grading, draining and graveling the roadways until now, at this date, more than 90 per cent, of the roads in the county are in fine condition, all well graded and graveled, some of them macadamized with broken rock. These roads are kept in good repair. In fact the roads in Clinton county are considerably above the average in condition compared with the other roads of the state. Under what is known as the the threemile law. the work yet goes on until soon all the short interceding roads will be in first-class shape. The history of some of the principal thoroughfares would he rather a matter of interest at this late day. The first road laid out by direction of the state was the old Michigan road passing north and south through the county about eight miles west of the eastern boundary and extending from the Ohio river to Lake Michigan. Next was what is known as the old Strawtown road, from Madison county on west to Kirks, thence through the Twelve Mile via Jefferson and on to Lafayette. A road from Crawfordsville to Fort Wayne passed through the county, the road from Kirks to Delphi and from Muncie to Lafayette. These were all state roads of the completion of the Wabash and Erie canal many farmers hauled their wheat to Chicago or Michigan City, selling it there at from 40 to 60 cents a bushel, expending the proceeds for barrels of salt of other articles. After the completion of the canal in 1848 wheat and other grain was hauled to Delphi or Lafayette. In fact there was no market in Clinton county until after the completion of the first railroads which came through Frankfort. Grain was hauled to Delphi. Lafayette or Thorntown up to the year 1870. This lack of a home market and the condition of the roads in those early