Crawford County, Indiana - Chapter 11: Occupations and Customs, 1926

When the white men first came over the hills into Crawford County the land was a howling wilderness over which wild animals roamed at will. Probably the entire county was covered with a heavy growth of timber. At first the settlers chose the uplands for their homes because the lowlands were so heavily wooded that they were unable to clear it readily, making it unhealthy and the water impure. Many pioneers squatted on the land which they bought later on from the Government at $1.25 per acre. This land was called ''Congress land.''

The first settlers lived under the starry heavens until they had time to build a cabin house. The pioneers built cabins out of the tall straight poplars and oaks, many of which were two feet in diameter. These were scored down and hewed till they were about eight inches thick. The poplar tree was much softer and could be worked easier. Since the timber was light, the logs could be handled easily and were much preferred for houses. The hewing was done with a broadaxe. A good workman could hew the face of a log almost as smooth as one could saw the same and the hewed face did not rot as easily as the sawed one.

cause the creek water was not good for drinking. All sizes of cabins were built. Abraham Sheckel's old cabin house is still standing near Cape Sandy on the river. His house is about twice as long as wide. This was the style the southern men preferred, while men from the north built square log houses. Many built double log houses. These were two houses just a few feet apart. All the open space was covered by the same roof and used for a summer kitchen. The logs were notched so that they would fit together easily at the corners and be locked together. Hence such a house was not easily blown away by the wind. When a man's logs were ready he invited in his neighbors and had a house raising. Of course there was plenty of food to eat and drink on such an occasion. The pioneer covered his house with a clapboard roof. These were about four good feet long, eight inches wide and one inch thick. He selected a fine white oak for a boardtree, one probably four feet in diameter. The settler sawed down the tree and cut the body into cuts about four feet long. The cuts were set upon end and the bark dressed off well. The cut then was split into bolts which were rived into boards with a frow. When the settler had time he generally shaved the faces of the boards. When a house was covered with such a roof it lasted a long time.

The settlers often used a whip-saw in sawing out lumber. In the use of the whip-saw the settlers raised a small tree about four feet high and one man stood on a platform above it and another below it and sawed the log lengthwise. What lumber was sawed in this way was used for doors and flooring and furniture.

In most cases the chimney was made out of stones if they were handy. If they were scarce one then built his chimney out of mud and sticks. Of course the best families did not have mud and stick chimneys.

The old-fashioned pioneer made his floor out of puncheons, which were hewed timbers and matched so that they made a rather stout floor but not very warm. Such a floor was sufficiently tight to keep out rats and snakes but not to keep out spiders, many of which were poisonous to man if bitten by them.

The door was hung on wooden hinges and opened by means of a string run through a hole in the door. At night the settler drew his door-string in and fastened the door by means of a pin stuck into an auger hole in the door facing.

The pioneers used glass when it was available and when they could not obtain glass they used paper in the windows. Glass might be bought at Corydon or Jeffersonville, and later, when boats were on the Ohio, the glass might be bought at Fredonia.

At night the pioneer lighted his cabin by a huge fire in the fire-place, or by burning faggots put in a holder in the jamb-rock. The lamp was made by using a piece of cloth twisted into a cord and put into a saucer of grease. When the end was pulled slightly over the top and lit it made a fair light, but was rather dirty and smoky. Later, candles came into general use. They were molded by the settlers and were much better than the grease. They were used till long after the Civil War when coal oil was discovered and became cheap so that all people could use it.

over the fire on the hearth. She baked the bread in an old-fashioned oven before the fire. It was something like a skillet with a movable top. When the bread was put into the oven and the top was placed on carefully, it then was covered with coals of fire and set in a bed of coals which had been raked out before the fire. Sometimes the bread became a little dirty but no one complained, for every man was hungry and enjoyed the meal. The meat was roasted over the fire or broiled. Much of it was wild game, for the woods were full of all kinds of game. Corn was used for bread in most all homes. It was ground in _three kinds of mills, namely, horse-mills, water-mills and steam-mills. Leggett's and Fullenwider's and Leavenworth's Mills were the oldest ones in the county. Leggett's Mill and Fullenwider's Mill were on Little Blue near Alton, while Seth Leavenworth's Mills were at Leavenworth and at Milltown. The first cooking stove which was ever brought into the county was probably the one which Holeraft bought from a store boat in 1837. This was a little step stove. Holcraft, who lived about two miles north of Fredonia, had many callers to see the stove and see if it would really cook. Elam Wilens advertised three stoves for sale on August 30, 1838, at Leavenworth. These were about the first in the county.

The millers generally ground one day in the week. On that day the pioneers from far and near came with their grist. .There was always something to drink and many men enjoyed the days at the mill. This gave them a chance to meet their neighbors, many of whom lived several miles away. While they were waiting their turn at the mill the time was spent in story telling, among which the favorite tales were ghost stories. No wonder then that each one wanted his ''grist'' before dark, so that he could get home. Besides, the pioneers might have an encounter with a bobeat, a wolf, or a bear as he went through the dark and gloomy forest. The state encouraged millers by exempting them from military duties and jury duties in times of peace. The miller was not held responsible for the loss of sacks unless the owner's name was on them. The miller was allowed to exact a toll of one-fourth if he furnished the horses to grind the grist.

One of the most interesting stories told in those old days was Peckinpaugh's Indian story. Unele Peter Peckinpaugh, who had moved to southern Indiana about 1806, built a cabin near Cape Sandy on the Ohio River and was living there by himself. He had a large sugar camp open and was making sugar. The pots were boiling well, the sun had set, and all the land was dark. Uncle Peter sat in an easy seat, smoking his pipe and watching the syrup boil. Suddenly the syrup caught fire and burned up. Uncle Peter took that as an ill omen and fled to his cabin. When morning came he returned and such a sight he never had seen before. There were moccasin tracks of all sizes around the pots where the Indians had been licking the syrup and drinking the sap in the other vessels. The point of contention was whether that was a sign admonishing Peter to flee or whether he had gone to sleep and let his syrup get too hot and burn up.

The writer's father, when he was a little boy, went to John Carnes' mill with the men where he was staying. It being a cold ugly day the men were in by the fire. One man who had brought his two wolf hounds was telling some amusing stories to the crowd while occasionally one could hear the dogs bark out at the hopper. After some time one man went out and found that the dogs had discovered the meal streaming down and were eating it faster than the mill ground, then they would bark for more. After that one man stayed out and kept the dogs away.

The farmer did not clear much ground at first. He examined the oak trees in the spring to see if there was plenty of bloom for acorns on which he could fatten his hogs. If the prospéct was good he did not plant much corn for that year.

The farmer and his wife made the clothes for the whole family. The writer has been told by old citizens that as late as 1836 Representative Sands of Crawford County wore a suit of homespun while attending the General Assembly at Indianapolis.

Probably no county in the state had better timber than Crawford County. The rocky hillsides, as well as the level land, were covered with oak, poplar, gum, linn, sycamore and many other varieties. Many of these trees were two feet ''over'' forty feet from the stump. It must have taken several centuries for such trees to grow. Most of the oak was sawed into plow beams in those early days. Later, barge bottom was much needed. This kind of lumber was about two inches thick and,as wide as it could be had. Flatboats used the same material for flooring and siding. The poplar made a high grade of weatherboarding, lumber for flooring, doors and boat gunwales. Hoop poles were a great source of wealth to the early settler.

There were several kinds of them. Leavenworth was the shipping point for hoops till late in the eighties. John Bahr was called the hoop pole king because he bought and shipped them by the thousands. One of the great occupations then was hoop shaving. The small hickory poles were cut, split through the center and then shaved on an old-fashioned shaving horse sufficiently to make the split edges smooth. William S. Polen, one of the prominent farmers near Birdseye, told the writer that he came with his father all the way to Leavenworth with a load of hoops. It took two days to make the trip of about twenty-eight miles, At that time Leavenworth was a shipping point for hoops and lumber of all kinds. When John Bahr was buying hoops he had most all the waste land covered with hoops at Leavenworth.

The farmer spent most of the day hunting and fishing. Why did he not work more on his farm? There was not any use to clear the ground. A few bunches of hoops would buy his bread, salt and pepper and the woods furnished the meat and the water the fish. The pelts of the wild animals he sold. The woods were full of bears, deer, panthers, wolves, besides the small animals such as squirrels, foxes, raccoons and rabbits. The large animals hardly ever attacked men then, but they played havoe with the pioneer's young pigs, chickens and sheep.

The writer's father was working for Uncle Peter Peckinpaugh when he was a boy of about ten years of age. One night after they had gone to bed something raised a terrible disturbance down at the hog pen where his old sow had a litter of pigs. He turned his wolf dogs loose and seized his hand-spike and ran down to the pen. When he arrived the two largest dogs had caught some wild animal, one by the shoulder and the other by the hips and were struggling around over the ground. Watching his chances he struck down between the dogs and as luck would have it, broke the varmint's back. It was easily dispatched then. Securing a light from the house, he examined the animal which was a large panther measuring eight feet from the end of the tail to its nose.

The county commissioners were authorized by law to pay the settlers for each wolf scalp. John Stone, James Land, Nathan Ruth, Dan Farley, Enos Campbell and Edmond Ardoch were paid one dollar each in November, 1827, for wolf scalps.

Fruit growing became a favorite occupation as soon as the settlers could clear up land. Many varieties of apples were grown. As late as 1860 men had probably twentyfive varieties. The settlers made the apples into brandy and shipped it away to New Orleans by flatboat. Later, corn was made into whiskey and shipped south. For that reason coopering was a leading occupation among our early people. There was a demand for ''tight'' barrels and apple barrels. The staves out of which tight barrels were made were dressed and the edges planed so well that when the barrel was set up it did not need much corking to hold water, molasses or whiskey. Lime was shipped away in barrels, too. Much wine was also made in those early days.

The early settler did not need much food of any kind. The woods furnished meat. There were squirrels, rabbits and wild pigeons by the thousands. A stray shot would bring down enough for a pot pie. At roosting time they came by the thousands and when they lighted on the tops of the trees they broke down the branches. Old settlers tell queer stories about the pigeons darkening the sun when they flew over but there was more truth than one might think in the statement.

The farmer let his hogs run wild and live on the acorns, of which there were thousands under the large oak trees. When the acorn crop was poor the farmer was compelled to raise more corn. The type of hog raised in those days would take the prize in a side show now. They were able to outrun the wild animals in the forest and when brought to bay they gave a good account of themselves in a fight. What sheep and cattle the farmer had were capable of swift running and high jumping to escape the dogs and wolves.

The farmer had much trouble in remembering his stock. There grew up a custom of marking the ears of his hogs and calves. Each one had his own ear mark. John Sheckels of Ohio had his ear mark recorded in the recorder's office at English. His was a slit in the left ear and an under slope in the right ear. His mark was recorded October 26, 1837.

Meat packing was one of the important occupations of the people. Hogs were driven down into Crawford County from Orange County, Washington County and as far away as Bloomington. They drove them down there and let them fatten on the ''mast'' for several weeks in the fall and then butchered them and smoked or pickled the pork which was shipped away by flatboat to the south. One time men from Daviess, Martin and Lawrence Counties drove about two thousand hogs down into Crawford County to fatten on the mast. Although most of the land was Congress land, our good people became angry and killed the hogs. When the case was brought into court men swore that they saw the smoke and heard the shots but they did not know who did the shooting. Therefore the drovers lost their hogs.

When butchering time came hundreds of men were employed all along the river to help the men who owned the hogs in their work. When all was ready the hogs were driven in and butchered. Each man had an ear mark by which his hogs were known. Yet many settlers lost hogs which they in turn stole from some other man, for all stock ran out then in the deep woods.

On one occasion a man found a calf belonging to Henry Jackson Landrus. After a few days Landrus found where the calf was. He took men with him and went to identify it. When he came to the barn-yard the calf knew him and ''bawled'' to him. Yet he could not prove that it was his. Therefore the finder kept it.

Salt was one of the most useful articles of all. In the early days the state kept the saline springs and enough adjacent land to furnish wood with which the men could boil down the water in order to obtain the salt. A man would travel to the salt lick and boil enough water to make a barrel of salt, then journey on home. In the early days Indians were very prevalent about these licks where many bloody encounters occurred. There was salt found near Mifflin in Crawford County, while Royce's and Rock's licks in Washington County and French's lick in Orange County and Jackson's lick in Monroe County were the most noted. Often settlers rode to Jeffersonville where they bought a bushel of salt and returned, They were

Many settlers made large quantities of sugar from the maple trees. They tapped the trees with an auger, put in the spile, and caught the sap in a trough cut out of a poplar log. They boiled the sap down in large kettles and made it into sugar. There were 8,300 pounds made in 1858 at a value of $584.

Another food product much relished by the people and widely used was hominy. The farmer shelled his corn and soaked it in lye water for some time. Then he was able to remove the rough jvils of the corn. The grains were then soaked in clear water to remove the lye. When they were thoroughly cleansed the housewife cooked the corn till it was done. When seasoned well it made a fine wholesome food.

Coffee made its appearance in the early days of the county. Men did not know how to use it. Some tried to eat it but that was not very enjoyable. After some time a wandering peddler came to the county. He sold some coffee and taught the pioneers how to use it. They were to ''parch it,'' grind it in a coffee mill, boil it in water and then drink the water. :

'"That every person who shall in proper person, or by an agent, vend any merchandise which may not be the product of the United States without having a license or a permit to do so, as is or may be designated and required

Salt was much needed in those days. The pioneers went in groups to the salt licks and boiled down salt water for several days till they made about a bushel or more for each of them. Then they came home. There were wells of salt water on Otter Creek in Union township. Later, when the sulphur water was found, Mr. Benham manufactured salt. Southwest of Hartford in section 29, township 2, range 1 west, on Otter Creek Forks of Little Blue River, Ed Hall Golden had a fine well of artesian water from which he made salt. It was bored for oil and sunk to a depth of 1,170 feet. Some oil was found but not in any paying quantity. The best salt brine was reached at the depth of 611 feet. The well furnished 1,600 gallons of brine in twelve hours. LEHighty gallons of brine will make a bushel of salt. He had sixteen kettles, each of which would hold 100 gallons, and was making twenty-five barrels of salt every thirty-six hours. It cost about 17144 cents a gallon to boil down the brine.

The farm implements were of the crudest type. The plow was generally a single shovel with a coulter on in front. This was used in new ground where there were many roots and rocks. Plowing with two good horses with such a plow was rather laborious. If the coulter caught on a root or a rock just right it would jump out and let the handles strike a man on the chin or hit him in the ribs. a blow which he would not soon forget. Later, a double shovel was used and a turning plow. <A few harrows were in use during those early days, but many farmers used a large bush to drag over the ground after they had sown their wheat or oats.

The wheat was cut with a cradle. A good man could cut a swath about six feet wide down the side of a field. A man would follow and bind the grain by hand. Often he picked up bunches of blackberries, sticking his fingers, and sometimes a large snake might be gathered in the bunch, which of course generally escaped from the bundle unhurt and gave the binder such a seare that he approached the next bunch with more care.

The plowing for wheat was generally done in August. In those good old days there were nests of yellow-jackets, bumblebees and wasps everywhere. A man was fortunate if he got around a twenty-acre field without plowing out a nest of yellow-jackets. The boys enjoyed the sport of fighting them the best kind, but the farmer was not much pleased with the encounter.

The wheat was generally beaten out by hand. Later an old floor was used and the horses tramped out the grain and the farmer fanned it until it was elean.

In those days most of the grinding was done by water power and horse power. Riley Main had a horse mill near Schooner Point; Leggett's and Lake's mills were on Little Blue River lower down and Froman's and Carnes' mills were also on Blue, south of Grantsburg. Cole's mill, near Wyandotte Cave, on Big Blue, was built about 1840. His mill was run by water. Leavenworth had a mill very early and Milltown was named after Leavenworth who built a large mill there about 1825.

The people were obliged to work very hard day in and day out. Yet they were fond of amusement. The oldfashioned barbecue, the apple cutting, the old-time muster dance, the shooting match and the charivari were next to a circus. The barbecue was usually a political meeting. A hole was dug in the ground about the size of a large grave. This was filled full of hickory wood and burned up, then filled and burned till it was almost full of live coals of fire. This hole sent out a great quantity of heat. The beef and mutton parts were put over it and left there to roast. A whole beef might be roasted at once by such a method. When all was ready the meat was cut into slices about like pancakes and handed out to the men in that way. There was generally much speaking on such occasions. During the Whig campaign of 1840 several were held in the county.

The shooting match was quite common till late in the eighties. Men prided themselves on their guns. To be able to shoot a turkey's head off a hundred yards away was a good shot. The beef was driven in and men put up different amounts. For instance, it might be $3.00 a chance on two quarters or all quarters. All present went in as they pleased. Men often went in one dollar each on the hind quarter. These men were entitled to shoot at a mark a certain distance away. The best shot took the quarter of beef. Some men were so sure of their success that they took a rope with them to drive home the beef. Andy Sonner did so on many occasions. The turkeys were put into a box in which there was a hole in the top. This hole was of sufficient size to let the bird's head stick out. A man gave ten cents a chance at the head. If he hit the head he got the bird.

The old-fashioned charivari was a favorite sport for all. Some men never desired any such entertainment. Late in the fifties a gentleman by the name of Francis Forbes lived near Tower, Indiana. When Wm. Waldon married one of his daughters he swore that he would whip the whole pack if they came rioting about his residence. He being a bluff old fellow frightened out all, the boys but three men, Henry J. Landrus, Harvey Meleom and Charles W. Tower, decided that he must be serenaded. Mr. Landrus took his old musket, Charles Wesley Tower took his long string of sheep bells, and Mr. Melcom took a ''drum bull.'' Mr. Forbes had a dog named ''Tiger.'' He believed that old ''Tige'' would simply eat them if they came. So that bright night in January with-snow about knee deep and the thermometer hovering around zero found this trio of daredevils approaching ''Un¢le Frank's'' home. Landrus stuck his gun between the ash hopper and the old-fashioned picket fence and fired off the gun just about a foot over ""Tiger's'' head where he was sleeping in his warm cozy nest. He bounded out and ran around the house, only to meet Tower rattling about twenty-five sheep bells strung on his back. Dodging Tower the poor dog met Melcom who pulled the rosined raw-hide string through the head of the drum bull, letting out the most horrible noise one could ever imagine. "With one tremendous leap ''Tige'' cleared the fence and escaped. About that. time the door flew open and out ran Uncle Frank barefooted, with nothing on but his night clothes and pursued the famous trio, who by now had left the yard and were running down the state road. He made speed and was just about to catch Charles Tower who was handicapped with all the sheep bells. Just one more leap and he would have his victim, but at the critical point Tower dodged to one side in the snow and stopped. ''Uncle Frank'' tried to stop but his feet slipped out from under him and he coasted, naked as he was, for some distance in the snow. In the meantime Tower had escaped.

Next day the news spread like wildfire and by night a large number of men with drums and fifes came. They lined up and marched down the state road beating the drums and playing the fifes. The crowd knew that Mr. Forbes enjoyed martial music very much. Before the first selection was completed he came out and walked around the crowd for a minute or two and then said, '' Well, I Gar, I said that I would whip them but I did not agree to fight all Crawford County.'' One of the men asked Mr. Forbes if he did not want to beat one tune on the snare-drum, which he did. Then after playing another selection or two the crowd left. But they knew that he would cause them trouble, so they sent a man to Leavenworth and told Attorney Samuel B. Pepper all that had happened. The men had hardly departed, early the next day, when Mr. Forbes came into the office and wanted to prosecute about 186 of his neighbors. So the following conversation occurred :

After thinking the matter over for a time he said: ''Mr. Pepper, just wait a few days till I have had more time to think about the matter.'' He never came back.

From the forties on there was a tremendous business done by flatboating on the Ohio River. The flatboat was loaded with corn, lime or other articles. The hay boat or corn boat was much more pleasant on which to work. The lime boat was dangerous should any water get on the lime barrels. The boats stopped at most all the towns and sold corn and other produce. The man when he reached the Gulf of Mexico either sold the boat or had it towed up the river home.

Life on the river was pleasant when the weather was good, but woe betide the man who was caught out on the river when a storm came. The flatboat was generally propelled with a steering oar. Besides the corn and lime boats, there were boats loaded with packed meat and whiskey.

There were men up and down the river who delighted in telling great lies. On one occasion a man was floating down the river. As he passed the mouth of the Wabash a man called from the bank and said that they had better not go far down the river for the recent earthquake had caused the river to fall in a deep hole and sink. The captain cried, ''to the oars, boys, back!'' That man was only

The old-fashioned lime kiln was a great source of wealth in those days. A large kiln generally held a great quantity of lime. It was put into barrels and shipped south on a flatboat. The old-time kiln was a hole about fifteen feet deep and ten feet in diameter. One usually dug such a pit on a steep hillside where he could dig in from the lower part for the furnace. The kiln being filled, one fired it by burning wood in the eye of the pit. All up and down the river one finds traces of these old pits or kilns.

Most all the lime was shipped out on flatboats. The boats were being built every day up and down the river. A lumber man generally marked the trees for the gunwales. Poplars were chosen, ones about eighty good feet to the limbs. They were cut down in the spring and scored and hewed till they were about eight inches thick and two or three feet wide. Small studding were set on the gunwale and sided up some and covered. A long steering oar with a long sweep was out on the top of the boat. By it men guided the boat as it floated down the stream. Life out on the river was dangerous at nights, therefore most boats had a ''watch.'' Sometimes robbers would slip up and '*eoon'' the boat and steal all the money the men had, even killing the watches at times.

The farmers cleared up their land as fast as they needed it. Rails were split out of walnut and white oak for the fences. The fences were generally built about ten

The first wire fence ever brought into the county was bought by William Perry Everdon. The fence ran from the house of Walter Coleman north on the Marengo road. The fence was built many years after the Civil War. Probably the first self-binder ever brought into the county was owned by EH. E. Richardson.

The good housewife had her share of the burden to bear. It was not light by any means. She eared for the geese in order to have feathers for bedding. It was the custom to give each girl a feather-bed when she married.

Enough chickens were raised to furnish eggs for cooking. The woman used them freely in cooking cornbread and eakes. Above all, it was a social custom to have a yellow-legged chicken each Sunday when the preacher came.

In the early days men dried apples and peaches on a dry kiln. These old-fashioned kilns were built of rock. There were places for firing and drying the fruit. The women canned fruit, made cider out of crab-apples, wine out of grapes, jellies of all kinds, maple syrup, spice brush, sassafras, balsam, sage for the sausage. The kitchen was a store house. The cellar was filled with apples, potatoes and turnips, while the main quantity was buried or pitted away.

Before the Civil War Crawford County was filled with strong men. They might walk twenty miles any day on a deer hunt. The hardy farmer generally reared a family of eight to ten and fifteen children. The father was the ideal of the boys, while the mother was a queen over the daughters. The evening was spent around the huge chimney on a wintry night while the parents played games with the children. Such was the happy life of the farmer.

The courting was done in a manner much different from now days. The old couple generally slept in the main living room. When the old man and his wife had retired then the young people sat up before the fire and did their sparking. On one occasion a very old gentleman told the writer that he was watching the old lady who was peeping out from under the ''kivers'' at him. He had no chance at a kiss until the fire got low. Then he happened to think of his tobacco. Filling his mouth with a large chew, he began to fire away at the fire stick which was blazing. After several minutes he mastered the blaze. The room being moderately dark he had just time to get his kiss when he heard a rustling in the bed and on looking around he saw the old lady with her night cap on begin crawling out of bed. He expected the worst but she just came to the fire and stirred it up with her long poker. He thought that he had better leave about that time.

John O. Nash of Marengo told a story of how he went home with a girl about the year of 1858. After taking her home they talked till they were tired, and he decided that he would stay over night. The old-fashioned boot-jack was missing so he could not get his boots off. The girl took hold of the boots and by strenuous efforts assisted him to pull them off. Yet he said that the girls were just as moral then as they could be.

reaching to their knees. These were sewed so well that one could wade water all day with them on and not get one's feet wet. Such a thing as a pair of rubbers or overshoes was unknown.

The hunting was done with an old-fashioned flint-lock gun at first, but later a long barreled Kentucky rifle was used. It had double triggers. One set the trigger first. Then sight was taken. When the aim was just right one pulled the second set of triggers. The weight of a hair was almost sufficient to fire the gun, after the trigger was set. oe

The Methodist ministers and Christians were on the field early. One can not give too much eredit to the work of those early circuit riders. The oldest Christian church was the Blue River meeting house, near what is now English. The Baptists were also on the ground early. These ministers suffered untold hardships and many insults. On one occasion a minister was conducting a baptismal service near Alton when an unbeliever who wanted to see some fun, who lived in a cabin near Little Blue, came down to the bank and caught his dog in his arms. A foot-log about the distance of six feet from the water reached across the river which was about thirty or forty feet wide. He walked out on that log with his dog still in his arms. Several of the men in the crowd on the bank wanted to go and persuade him to leave, but the minister said: ''Just let him go.'' When he was out over the middle of the stream, he prepared to baptize his dog. The dog became seared and kept kicking around till it got one foot under his suspender. He repeated the little speech that he baptized him in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy

Ghost, upon which he intended to hurl the dog into the river, but the dog gave such a kick that the man lost his balance and fell into the river too. He went under for several seconds, but soon arose and swam to the shore, a wetter but wiser man than before.

The Methodist people organized a class at what is now Tower about 1858. The men used Gaines Patrick's cooper shop for a church till the old Tower Chapel church was built about 1858. It is about five miles north of Leavenworth.

Among the many noted men who have gone out from Crawford County one may mention Mr. William H. Kendall, who at the date of writing is the minister of the Memorial Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, and John Hanger, who is a Methodist in Indianapolis.

The people of Crawford County are extremely Protestant and temperate. After the enactment of the County Unit in local option an election was held in Crawford County on May 26, 1909. The drys received 1,436 votes and the wets had 683.

Colored people rarely have lived in Crawford County. Before the Civil War one lived for a short time down in Ohio township. About 1922 a few colored men lived on the Government Reservation above Leavenworth. They sent two colored children up to the Leavenworth public schools. Much confusion arose, but fortunately no one was hurt, but the children were badly frightened.

Later one or two colored women came down to the high school to attend the Parent-Teachers' Association. They came into the hallway but no one welcomed them. So they

Coal may be seen cropping out of the ground at various places in Crawford County, but not much has been done toward mining on account of the abundance of wood.

In November, 1920, the English and Princeton Coal and Oil Company opened a mine on Henry Wright's farm south of Taswell under the supervision of M. 8. Spurling who was a licensed coal miner. The vein was about four feet thick and the coal of a fine grade, containing a good quantity of carbon. The mine was opened on November 20th. There was a ready market for all the coal that the company could dig from the mine.

In the good old days one made shoe polish out of elder berries. The ripe berries were gathered and the juice squeezed out of them in a course cloth. Then the juice was boiled down till it became thick. One generally applied the polish with a feather. The juice also made an excellent quality of ink, but was never as popular as pokeberry juice for ink.

The custom of binding out boys and girls till they were eighteen or twenty-one years old existed in the early days. The following ads appeared in the Leavenworth Arena on November 21, 1839: ''One Cent Reward. Run away from the subseriber on Nov. 4, 1839. A bound boy by name of Simon McComb. Supposed to be about 14 years old, very small for his age. Has heavy eyebrows, rather flaring look about his eyes. Any one returning him to the subscriber will receive 'one cent and no thanks. Stephen Roberson, Union Township. . . ."'

The people in those early days were required to do militia service. As early as 1838 one finds in the Leavenworth Arena a notice warning all the militia within the boundary of these points: Commencing at Big Blue River where the Governor's Old Trail crosses the river and following the trail west to the Milltown and Leavenworth road, thence down the road to the Rome road, thence to the Ohio township line, thence south to the Ohio River. Then up the river to the Big Blue River. That will include most all of Jennings township east of the Fredonia and Paoli roads. The militia in that territory were to meet on July 28, 1838, at Leavenworth and elect a captain, one lieutenant and one ensign to command the company which was the Twenty-third Regiment of Indiana Militia. Notice was signed by Wilham Mansfield, Colonel.

Not all the men attended these muster days willingly. One finds this notice: David Cole was ordered to attend the battalion muster, May 29, 1841, at John Martain's with his company as the law required.

Many interesting items of news are found in the Whig Arena. The notice of the lost child was given. It seems that the little son of Silas Davidson had left home with his dog to hunt. The boy was not over ten years of age. He never returned. A thorough search was made for the boy by over three hundred people but no trace of the lad was ever found. The dog and child were probably eaten by the wild animals. The child was lost in December, 1841.

Hardly any great barbecue would be held without a foot race. At the great Whig barbecue held in Fredonia in 1840 the race between Asa Buckles and Tom Tarr attracted as much attention as the Whig speeches.

The old-fashioned games of three-cornered cat, round town ball, long town ball, hat ball, baseball and many others were played by the boys. Hat ball was a very brutal game. The victim was placed with his face to the wall while the other boys were allowed so many throws at him. The suspense under which the victim was while waiting for the ball to strike was telling.

At the spelling bee old-fashioned Japanese lanterns were hung up in which a candle was placed. The teacher chose two to divide the house. After spelling for about one hour there was an intermission at which the young people crowded out to play games of various kinds. © Tap was one of the favorites. After rest the crowd was divided and some time spent in spelling. The climax came when the crowd stood up around the wall and spelled for major. One had a fair chance.* If he missed the word then he sat down. The man who stood the longest carried away the floor.

Crawford County produced some of the best spellers in the state. One may name Jephtha Turley, Thad Riddle, Logan Riddle, ''Farmer'' Brown, Sherman Smith and George C. Smith. In later years Alfred Turley won a wide distinction for his success in winning the floor on all

But the old time sports are gone. New sports have come to claim our attention. Basketball came into our midst. Men fought its advent. At Leavenworth the town ''dads'"' tried to enact an ordinance prohibiting basketball. They claimed that it broke down the code of ethics established by their grandfathers. Later the basketball faction won. out.