Decatur County, Indiana - Chapter 3: County Organizatiox, 1915

Chapter 3: County Organizatiox

Earl}' in the spring of 1820 the Federal government sent out several squads of surveyors to lay out the "New Purchase," lands acquired from the Delaware Indians by the treaty of St Mary's (1819), embracing all of the eastern and central part of the present state of Indiana. Mose of these surveyors were young men, some of whom were inexperienced; but they were all well endowed with high animal spirits and bodily vigor.

Thev worked their way through the wilderness, much of which had never before been traversed by white men, cutting their way through thickets with axes, wading swamps and fording rivers, sleeping out at nights, wherever they happened to be when the sun sank, and enduring much keen discomfort in order that the land might be surveyed and opened for settlement.

Farms and towns are still laid out in accordance with this original sur\'ey, and whenever a section is large by a few acres or small by a hundred or so, the cause can be directly traced to mistakes made by these pioneer engineers, the men who ran their blind lines through the forests. In one section of the "New Purchase" there is a point toward which all lines in that part of the country tend to veer. It is said that in 1820 a distillery stood at this place, and that, thinking of it, the surveyors unconsciously let their instruments veer in its direction.

Decatur county was surveyed by men who here and who later became leaders in the community, which grew up rapidly after the "New Purchase" was thrown open for settlement. The survey of what later became Decatur county was made by Thomas Hendricks and Samuel Hueston, with four assistants. Hendricks was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and it is presumed he got the job of surveying this section of the "New Purchase" through his brother, William Hendricks, who was then governor of Indiana. His assistants were neighbors whom he brought from Pennsylvania with him.

Early Settlement

In October of the year 1820, a government land ofhce opened at Brookville; the surveyed land was ready for settlement and the tide of immigra- tion began. The first land patent issued in wliat is now Decatur county was to John Shellhorn, for what has since been known as the SheUhorn farm, between the Big and Little Flatrock, on the Moscow road. The Shellhorn family still retains this property for which its ancestor received a patent from the United States government, October 3, 1820.

Shellhorn took his claim near the junction of the Big and Little Flatrock, thmking that it would probably be but a short time until that place would be chosen for a county seat. He laid out the town of Rdckville and then waited for his visions of towering spires to materialize. But the legislature, in fixing the boundaries of Decatur county, threw Rockville into one corner of the county and Shellhorn's dreams were gone forever. He died a few months later. Rockville has never appeared upon a map of the count3^

Two of John Shellhorn's neighbors, James Hobbs and James Wise, took out land patents six days later, Hobbs locating one mile east of the present site of Clarksburg, and Wise one mile south of where that town is now located. Although Shellhorn was the first to enter land in Decatur county, he was by no means the first settler. No sooner was the ink on the treaty of St. Mary's dry, than the tide of immigration to the "New Purchase" began. All along the border were bold spirits waiting for this unknown country to become the property of the government. No sooner had the Indians renounced all claims to it than the settlers flocked into it.

By the treaty of St. Mary's, all land located between the Whitewater on the east and White river on the west, north of the old boundary line, was made the property of the national government. All along the borders of this territory were pioneers waiting for the Indians to be shoved out. No sooner was the treaty made than the movement of the pioneers began.

Probably the first to reach Decatur county was John Fugit and his sori, John. Griffy Griffiths, with his wife and son, Ishmael, came next. Then came the remainder of the Fugit family; the wife, four sons, a daughter, and a Mrs. Garrison. Later in the spring Cornelius and Jesse Cain, Elias Garrard, William McCoy and their families arrived settling in the vicinity of Clarksburg.

About the same time a settlement was made on Little Flatrock, east of Milroy, which has produced a number of men of high distinction, among them being Dr. Raymond T. Brown, William J. Brown, three times a member of Congress, and Admiral George W. Brown, of the United States navy. Farly in the spring of 1820, a number of families settled in the Clarksburg and Springhill neighborhoods, among them Dr. Andrew^ Rankin, David

F"rom the date of the first entry to the end of the year there were eighty-nine land entries. Some of these were for as much as half a section, but most of them were eighty-acre tracts. The entries this }-ear. by township, follow :

The entries of this year were nearly all along the northern line of the county, but ten being near the center and two south' of it. The entries the following year were mostly in the same section, the early settlers endeavoring to get closer to the larger water-courses, as the latter afforded drainage. The more level sections, now the best land in the county, were then worthless, as no system, other than natural drainage, was then known.

Those Who Came The Next Year

Save for a very few exceptions these entries were made for actual settlement purposes, and within a year most of the owners had taken possession of their property. At a special election in 1821 there were one hundred and forty votes cast, and as the law required a residence in the state of a year before a man could vote, it is probable that this did not number more than half the male citizens of the county.

Decatur county originally formed a part of Delaware county, an immense tract of land ranging east to the Ohio line and north to, and including, the present county of Delaware. But in 1821 the state Legislature provided for breaking up this territory into smaller units, and appointed commissioners to locate county seats for Decatur, Shelby and Rush counties.

In the days when Decatur county was a part of Delaware, there was no law to govern the community; for Delaware county was a civic organization without entity - a great stretch of territory extending from the aguecursed Driftwood bottoms until lost in the swamps of the IMississinnewa and Wabash rivers. There were no courts of justice; no vested police powers, each man being a law unto himself. There is a tradition, howe\er, that the elder Fugit had been a justice of the peace in Franklin county and that he brought his commission and docket with him, performing marriages and dispensing justice to all coming of their own accord to seek it. Those wishing to enter the matrimonial state were compelled to go to Brook\-ille to secure the marriage license.

In the legislative act creating Decatur county, its boundaries were fixed as follows: "Beginning at the southwest corner of section 18, in township 8, north of range 9, east of the principal meridian; thence north fifteen miles to the southwest corner of section 6, in township 10, north of range 8, east; thence east three miles to the southeast corner of section 33, in township II, north of range 8, east; thence north seven miles to the northwest corner of section 34, in township 12, north of range 8, east; thence east eighteen miles to the west boundary of Franklin count}- ; thence south with said boundary to the north line of Ripley county; thence with the old boundary line to the north line of Jennings county, thence west with the Jennings county line to the place of beginning."

Commissioners appointed to select sites for the county seats of the three counties named were Edward Ballinger, Henry Ristine, Green P. Webster, and Abraham Dumont. This commission decided to meet on May 7, 1822, to select a county seat for this county, but, for some unexplained reason, only Ballenger reached Greensburg, which had been selected as the meeting place. Another meeting was fixed for June 12, on which date Greensburg was selected as the county seat; parts of tracts of land offered by Thomas Hendricks and John Walker being accepted. The tract accepted contained one hundred acres.

Four donations of land were offered for the county seat, although the records show only two. The first was the Hendricks donation of sixty acres, bounded by Lincoln street, Main street, and Central avenue, in Greensburg. The Walker donation lay just south of this and contained one hundred acres, extending from Broadway to Lincoln street. In addition, Joseph English offered a site two miles southwest of the present county seat and Richard Hall offered land three miles northeast of the city.

There was considerable bad blood existent for a tinie on account of the selection of the county seat. Charges were freely made that Hendricks and Walker had been guilty of log-rolling at Shelby ville and Rushville. Probably the most satisfactory location, from the viewpoint of the present day would have been the English site, but no one in that day had the sHghtest notion that eastern Sand Creek, and southern iMarion and Salt Creek townships ever would be settled.

The site having then been fixed, the board of commissioners proceeded to lay off the city of Greensburg, and fixed Monday, September i, 1822, for the first sale of lots.

Upon approval by the governor of the special act of the Legislature creating the county, Henry H. Talbott was appointed temporary clerk and William Ross, sheriff, until an election could be held. The sheriff was charged with the duty of dividing the county into three commissioner districts, calling an election and seeing that the same was properly conducted. As Ross decided that he would be a candidate for the sheriff's office, it was deemed improper that this office should be filled by an election at a time when he was, by necessity, in charge of the polls. Accordingly, selection of the sheriff was deferred until the regular election in the following August, when Ross was badly worsted by Doddridge Alley, who was just then entering upon his office-holding career.

At the first meeting of the county commissioners the following officials were appointed : Overseers of the poor - Fugit township, William Custer and Joseph Henderson : Washington township. Robert Ross and William Floyd; Adams township, Jonathan McCarty and David Jewitt. Fence viewers - William Leopold, Robert Imlay and George Marlow, Fugit township ; Abraham Miller, Jonathan Davis and Andrew Horsley, Washington township, and David Johnson, David Forester and Joseph Bennett for Adams township.

The board then appointed John Hi)pkins as county treasurer for one year, and Enoch McCarty was ap]3ointed lister of taxables. At the next meeting the names of Thomas Hendricks and David Montague were certified to the governor for his selection of a county surveyor. The appointment was given to Hendricks. The next appointment to be made was that of county agent, which was given to John B. Potter. His first work was to lay ofi the town of Greensburg, after which he turned his attention to the erection of a jail.

Beginning Of Law And Order

The following grand jury was empanelled and charged on Monday, October 7, 1822: John Hopkins, foreman; Alley Pryor, Joseph Henderson, Nathaniel Robbins, Fielding Lamasters, Lewis Pleakenstalver, Isaac Darnell, Robert Harbord, John M. Robinson, Griffe Griffiths, John House, William M. Smith, Tobis Donner, Joseph Rankin, John Forsyth and Andrew Horsley.

This jury was in session only one day, its members recei\-ing seventyfive cents each for their services ; and returned eight indictments, all of which were for assault and battery. Those indicted were Patrick Hudson, William Thorp, Abraham Miller, Madison Redding, Isaac Parnell. Lodwick Cook, David Stout and McCoy McCarty.

Says the record further : "This day ai)])eare(l in open court, ]\Iadison Redding, who entered a plea of guilty;" and their honors, after due delib-

When Talbott appeared at the first session of court to file his bond as clerk, objection was raised on the grounds that he was not of the legal age, and that he was not a resident of Decatur county. Says the record, "Joseph A. Hopkins moved to reject the bond, which the court, after mature deliberation, overruled." It seems appropriate in this connection to say a word concerning Talbott. It has fallen to few men to serve the public so long or in so creditable a manner as was given to Henry H. Talbott. He so thoroughly won the esteem of his fellow citizens that it was impossible for anyone to defeat him when it came election time. He served as clerk continuously until the new constitution was adopted in 1852. He was a patriot in the truest sense of the word, and although he was sixty-one years old when the call was issued for volunteers in 1861, he proffered his services. They were declined, on account of his years; so he accompanied the troops as a sutler. During the battle of Phillipi he seized a gun and followed his comrades into the fray. He died July 21, 1872.

At the first annual election, August 5, 1822, electors voted for a governor, lieutenant governor, a representative for the seventeenth Congress, to fill a vacancy, a congressman for the third district, a sheriff and a coroner. The following vote was cast:

There was at this time but one party in the state, the National Republican. and voters cast their ballots according to their individual preferences. Two years later this party split, part going with Andrew Jackson and part with Henry Clay.

Court House History

The first board of county commissioners met on the 14th day of i\Iay, 1822, at the house of Thomas Hendricks, a double log building, one story in height, on what is now known as Taylor avenue, Greensburg, near where East street crosses the avenue. Hendricks' house was used as a court house until 1825. In that year it was proposed to build a court house, and the following transcript of page 121 of the first book of the record of the commissioners' court shows the specifications that were drawn up for it : "The State of Indiana "Decatur County

"At a special meeting of the board of Justices of Decatur County on Saturday the 15th day of January, 1825, for the purpose of drafting a plan for a Court House.

"This day the board proceeded to draft a plan for a Court hmise for the said County of Decatur upon the following plan, Towit. The foundation to be built three feet high and to be one foot above the ground at the highest part of the ground, to be laid in a workmanlike manner with good stone and lime mortar, three feet thick at the bottom and twenty-two inches thick at the top to be battered on each side equally - forty foot square. The walls of the first story twenty-two inches thick forty feet square of good brick fifteen feet in the clear, laid in a workmanlike manner, the front a flemish bond and good sand brick. One double pannel door in front lined with inch plank on the back, with good and suffecient lock, and a bolt at the bottom on each door, the door sill cut out of stone to extend at each end! six inches in the wall twenty four inches wide of a suitable thickness, the door to be eight feet high in the clear & five feet wide in the clear, and a circular glass top, the front of the house to be to the east, two windows on each side of the door, of 24 lites each eight by ten. The North and South sides of the house, to be a door in the center of each wall eight feet high and five feet wide in the clear a double batten door, with good locks & bolts at the bottom of each door. One window on each side of the doors of 24 lites. 8 by los - A stone sill at the bottom of each door of the same description as the sill of the front door. On the West side to be a window in the Centre six feet from the floor to the bottom of the window of 30 lites 8. by 10. with a circular glass top. One window on each side of 24 lites 8. by IDS. of the same heighth as the other windows.

"The second story of good brick 13 feet high in the clear. The walls eighteen inches thick the front of good sand brick and laid a flemish bond, One 36 lite window in front 8. by los with a circular glass top. And one 24 lite window on each side of it. And 3 windows on each of the other sides of the house of 24 lites each, eight by los. four fire places in the second story one in each corner of the house. A plain Cornice. The roof nine feet pitch, to be covered with good joint shingles five inches to the weather, shingles eighteen inches long. Cupelo twelve feet in diameter - eight square, sixteen feet high, and a circular top, a circular window in each square with Venetian shutters and necessary arrangements to receive the Spere.

"Four posts 15 inches diameter eight square, to be set on pillars of Stone in the first story, the pillars to be sunk three feet in the ground, three feet and a half square at the bottom to be equally battered to the top to a square of 22 inches to be 12 feet apart in the Center of the house; two girders to extend across the house 12 feet apart from the center of each and rest on the posts named, the girders to be 15 inches wide and 12 inches deep and the joists to be 12 inches deep by 3 inches thick, to be framed in the girders two feet apart from the Centre of each joist. The frame of the Second Story to be similar to the frame of the First Story.

"The stairs to start from the South east Corner of the house, and ascend to the passage. The window and door frames to be made in a workmanlike manner."

"Ordered that the Court house he huilt on the Public Square iu the town of Greensburgh and that the Centre of the Square be the Centre of the house, to be completed on or before the first day of I\Iay, 1827. And the tenns of payments as follows, four hundred dollars to be paid on or before the 25th of December next, and the balance to be paid in three equal annual enstalments thereafter. Bond and approved Security will he required of the purchaser in a penalty of double the sum that the building is sold for. The person or persons bidding the same oft" and failing to Comply with the Conditions above Stated, will forfiet the sum of fifty dollars to be recovered by suit in the name of the County Agent to be applied to the use of the County in building said house. The person bidding off the same shall give bond and security as above stated within fifteen days from this date."

On Monday, November 6, 1826, the board of justices, which was now made up of George W. Hopkins, president; Wesley White, William E. Crawford, Griffe Griffiths, W^illiam Fowler, Samuel Bryan, James Donnell and Zachariah Garton, gave notice of the "sale" of some more work on the new court house. This time it was for some minor work, and, from all that could be deteiTnined, the building was ready for occupation by the specified time in May, 1827.

This building was occupied until 1854, when it was condemned by the board and the work of its demolition commenced that summer. However, on June 8, 1853, the commissioners - Smith Reiley, B. H. Harney and H. S. Burke - appointed B. W. Wilson, I. G. Monfort and B. H. Harney as a committee to draft plans and specifications for the construction of a new court house, "the whole cost of said house, when completed and furnished, not to exceed thirty thousand dollars." This committee reported on Septeml^er 7, its report was accepted and it was dismissed. The commissioners then employed Edwin May to superintend the construction and appointed B. W. Wilson, I. G. Montfort and B. H. Harney to act as a building committee and as the representatives of the commissioners. May was instructed to consult with them on all contracts, payments and changes in the original plan.

On March 6, 1854, the contract for the stone work was let to W. W. Lowe and Jacob M. Hiltertrand. But it was not until June ig, 1855, that the contract for the brick work was placed. It went to R. B. Thomson and Henry H. Talbott for four dollars and twenty-nine cents per thousand bricks actually used, the waste and soft bricks to be deducted from the kiln count. The contractors were to furnish all labor, tools, "including hods, ladders and all necessary apparatus for the raising of the bricks on the tower and

Other parts of the building, at their own cost and charges," but the county was to furnish "brick, Hme and sand, water in the wells in the public square, together with all the scaffolding and nails." A bid was made by N. T. Horton; of Cincinnati, by the pound for the frame for the galvanized iron roof and the iron doors, window shutters and stairs. He asked thirty-seven and a half dollars per hundred square feet for laying the iron roof. The estimated cost of the new house on the plan as first acceiDted vv^as forty thousand dollars, but the plans were changed and departed from until, when completed, it, with the improvements of the grounds and the iron fence around it, cost the county close to one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. As early as 1885 the remodeling of the court house was discussed in the commissioners" court, and on June 12, 1888, the board of commissioners, after consideration of the project, decided that the county treasury was too depleted for any such step to be taken at that time; however, they directed that such be done in the spring of 1889, and on December 10, 1888, they ordered the auditor to secure plans and specifications. At a special session called on January 30, 1889, the proposals submitted by McDonald Brothers, of Louisville, were accepted and the contract of drafting plans and specifications awarded to them. On ^larch 18, 1889, bids were received for "remodeling the court house" and for "heating the court house." The contract for the first was awarded to J. C. McGarvey & Brother, of Cincinnati, Ohio, for twenty-seven thousand nine hundred and twenty-nine dollars, with two thousand one hundred dollars reduction for certain changes that might be made. The highest bid was for thirty-seven thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars. Security was ordered to be presented on the following 25th of March. But it was on March 26, and not March 25, as stated by the tablet on the west wall of the corridor in the court house, that the contract was approved and the cost, after several changes, set at twenty- four thousand, nine hundred and ninetv-nine dollars. The heating contract was awarded to I. D. Smead & Company, of Toledo, Ohio, for twenty-seven hundred and fifty dollars. The contract for furnishing the court room, library, the judge's private office, and the offices of the clerk, sheriff, recorder, superintendent of schools, treasurer and auditor was given to the Grand Rapids Furniture Company, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 7, 1890. The building was inspected and accepted by the commissioners and architect on March 14, 1890, "excepting the painting, and a part of the wainscot in the obscure portions of the corridors, the clearing out of the cellar and refitting the same." The commissioners at the time the contract for remodeling was let were, Everett Hamilton, Henry Steining and Ezra Guthrie, and when the building was accepted, Henry Steining, Ezra Guthrie and Augustus Miller.

In 1903 the building was in need of repairs and on March 7 the commissioners - Jethro C. Meeks, Uriah' Privett and Jesse Styers - awarded H. L. Shute the contract of making certain repairs, for fifty-two hundred dollars. At this same session of the commissioners, plans for a hitchrack were submitted by the engineer, J. W. Craig, and accepted. Bids were ordered to be received for the sale of the old fence about the court house square park at this same meeting.

The Tree On The Court House Tower

In the summer of 1870 a citizen of Greensburg, whose name posterity has not preseiwed, was examining the court house tower with a spyglass, when he noticed, springing from the third crevice above the water sheet on the east side of the tower, one hundred and ten feet above the ground, a small twig. From that day down to the present time the fame of the tree on the tower has been heralded throughout the world. Apostrophes, prose epics, poems galore and even songs have lieen written about it. Strangers to the city always ask to he shown the curiosity the first thing, many not being convinced that there is such a tree until they actually see it.

The first picture of the tree appeared in a local paper in the issue of January 10, 1879, when the court house and tree were shown in connection with an advertisement of St. John's Lone Tree Medicine Company. Since that time the tree has been exhibited pictorially all over the world, and postal cards by the tens of thousands have convinced a dou1)ting world that such a tree really exists. By 1884, according to one of the local papers, the bole of the tree was four inches in diameter and the tree itself was nine feet in height. Some time during the latter part of the seventies other trees sprang up on the tower, and at one time no less than seven were casting their shade over the tower. This grove was allowed to flourish until the court house was remodeled in 1888, when it was deemed necessary to remove some of them. The largest tree of the forest was getting of such dimensions that it was threatening to tear up the roof, and since it was a question of either saving the tree or the roof, the tree had to be sacrificed. Three other small trees were removed at this time. Since then all the others have died except the one on the northeast corner. At the present time (1915) (6) this one tree is about eighteen feet high and has a bole of about five inches in diameter. Strange to say, it never seems to be affected by the summer droughts, but remains green even when the trees in the court house j^ard are showing the effects of dry weather.

Among the many poems written about this famous tree, the one by D. Eckley Hunter, then of Washington, Indiana, and an instructor in the teachers' county institute at the time, is the best which has come to attention. Professor Hunter read it at the close of the session, August 22, 1884. Mr. Hunter has a fairy. to explain the origin of the tree and then draws a moral. The complete poem has fourteen stanzas, but onl}' eight of them are here given :

The Grove On The Court House Tower

Until the organization of Decatur county, residents in this part of the "New Purchase" had been Hving without law, so consequently there were no legal punishments for transgressions. But with the organization of the county and the formation of a local government, a jail was rendered necessary. The board of commissioners, meeting on February ii, 1823, ordered the construction of a log jail and at a subsequent session, fixed its specifications as follows :

"To be twenty by twenty-four feet square; the walls to be of stone and two and one-half feet thick, laid with good lime mortar, and every hole to extend through the wall. The first story to be seven feet high; one window in the lower story to be fourteen inches square, to be bounded with solid rock three feet in length and not less than fourteen inches thick, the bars to be one and one-half inches square, well riveted to the frame and to be four squares of three inches."

The room last described was the dungeon, intended for the incarceration of prisoners of the worse type. Entrance to it was effected through a trap-door in the floor of the upper story. Construction of the upper story was very similar to that of the lower, save that those confined there got fresh air from two windows, instead of one. This room was intended for keeping prisoners jailed for minor offenses.

A narrow stairway on the outside of the building led to the door of the upper room, the only entrance to the jail. This building stood on the west side of the court house yard until 1832. It was very poorly constructed, and incapable of detaining anyone who really wanted to get out.

According to tradition, Hiram Hendricks, who, with Robert Church, did the stone work on the building, was the first person to be incarcerated therein. As the story is told, Hendricks was jailed for debt upon complaint of Owen O'Reiley. The next morning, when O'Reiley went to jail for the purpose of interviewing his debtor he found him seated outside, looking regretfully at a huge hole, which he had cut through the wall in order to get to the fresh air.

On May 4, 1830, the board ordered that "the Agent of the County, be instructed to sell to the lowest bidder the repairing of the jail of said

County in the following manner, towit, the sides of the Upper Story thereof to be lined with oak plank one and one-half inches thick to be set up and down, well secured at the bottom and top and lined across the same with threequarter poplar plank, tongued and grooved and nailed with good six-penny nails not to exceed three inches apart on the whole face of the lining and that the lining be turned around the door and windows to the grates and likewise the fixing of the trap door and some convenient wa}' to be made to descend to the lower room of said jail, the whole to be completed in a good workmanlike manner by the first day of October next."

"Ordered by the board that the sheriff of the county do proceed after (after giving three weeks' notice in the Political Obscn'cr) to sell on the 2d Saturday in June next, at the door of the court house in Greensburgh, the building of a jail for said county of the following description, to wit :

"To be of hewn timbers not less than twelve inches square, the whole of the timbers to be eighteen feet long, a double wall, the corners dovetail notches, the inside walls to extend and notch on the outside walls, a space between the walls of six inches to be filled with wide rocks set on edge, the under floor to be the same as the wall with stone between, the logs crossing each other, the foundation or joist course of the floor and the bottom rounds of the outside walls to be of white oak, the timber of the balance of the walls of good, sound wood such as beach, sugar, etc., two windows in the lower story one on the west and the other on the east side of the house, opposite each other of the following description, six inches in height and four feet wide to be filled with grates of iron one inch square, three inches apart, to stand up and down and to pass through a bar of iron half an inch thick and three inches wide to cross the grate in the center, the bar to extend in the timbers two inches, a plate of rolled iron half an inch thick and to extend in the walls a proper distance, the rolled iron to cover and be well spiked on the jams around the windows, the logs of the walls to be notched close and the inside walls to be laid in lime mortar. The second floor to be of one tier of logs hewn twelve inches in thickness, the edges hewn square. The second story to be in like manner of the first, with a tier of joists one foot thick, laid close, resting on the inside wall, and butting against the outside wall to be hewn to a thickness of twelve inches, the edges squared and one tier crossing them in the same manner to extend out for the room to stand on - and window in the upper story similar as in the lower story - one door of common size to be cut in the end well on the north side, in the upper story a door frame to be made as wide as the thickness of the walls and well fastened in both walls, the frame to be of white oak four inches thick and to be lined on the inside on the walls, and the frame well spiked to the walls with sufficient iron spikes, not less than eight inches long. The shutter to be two and a half feet wide and six feet high, to l^e made of two-inch oak plank, made double, well si^iked together with strong iron spikes, a strong lock with double bolts to lie well imbedded in the door with a sufficient key - Iioth sides of the door to be entirely lined with strong sheet iron nailed on with one nail to every three inches, a sheet of hammered iron, half an inch thick, twelve inches long and eight inches wide to be set in the frame with strong spikes to receive the bolt and to be bent so as to cover the inside of the frame. A substantial stairwaj' to be erected on the outside of the jail to reach the door with a good platform, the timber of white oak ; the building to be well covered with shingles, the gables weatherboarded, the eaves boxed and plain cornice, the corners of the house to be neatly turned down, a hatchway to be made in the center of the second floor two feet and a half square with a sufficient shutter lock and key. The doors to be hung with strong wrought iron hinges. The whole of the work to be completed in a strong workmanlike manner. Stories to be seven and one-half feet high in the clear inside. The building to stand on a stone foundation of one foot underground and six inches above the surface of the earth three feet thick, to be of good stone, laid in a workmanlike manner. The grates in the windows to be set in a frame in the center of walls to be made strong and rabited in the logs two inches, the inside of the frame to be lined with iron half an inch thick, well spiked on. And the logs where they are cut to make the windows to be lined with rolled iron half an inch thick, well spiked on.

"The whole to be completed by the fourth Alonda}- in October next. The payments to be made when the work is completed by orders drawn on the treasury of the county. One bid reserved for the use of the county. We undertake to give bond and security to the acceptance of the sheriff for the faithful performance of the work.

"And it is further ordered that the sherifif, at the time and place aforesaid, sell the old jail on a credit until the first of January next, for the best price he can obtain for the same, one bid reserved for the use of the county - bond and security required.

On June 15, 1859, the board of commissioners passed a motion to remove the county jail from the corner of the court house square and ordered the sheriff and auditor of the county to purchase a suitable site, and to remove all material from the old to the new site. A site on the north side of West Main street, a half block from the public square, was selected and the old jail was removed in September, 1859. Edwin May was engaged, at the price of two hundred and fifty dollars, as the architect and superintendent of construction. Bids were received for the construction of the building on September 30, 1859, and the contract awarded to Henry H. Talbott and Richard B. Thompson. The contract price of the building and the date of its acceptance by the board could not be ascertained.

This building was in continuous use as the county jail until 1880. On March 10, of that year, the commissioners made it a matter of record in the minutes of their court that they had "visited the jails of Shelbyville and Columbus, with the view of better determining plans for erecting a jail in this county." On April 13, 1880, the commissioners, S. H. Logan, Wren Grayson and Henry W. Badeker, accepted the plans and specification for a new jail submitted by Edward Carlisle, an architect. At a special session on May 20, 1880, bids for its construction were examined and the contract awarded to Rosebrough & Company, of Greensburg, for eleven thousand three hundred and fifty dollars and the old jail was sold to Richard J. Braden, the highest bidder, for three hundred and fifty dollars cash. However, on the next morning, May 21, Rosebrough & Company refused to accept the contract and the work was let to the next best and lowest bidder, the Greensburg Limestone Company, of Greensburg, for twelve thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars. The new building was to be built on the site of the old one and was to be completed by October i, following. This building is still in use as the county jail.