Delaware County, Indiana - Chapter 6: County Organization and Government, 1924 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 6: County Organization and Government

Section 2 of Chapter LIV of the laws passed at the fourth session of the General Assembly of the state of Indiana, held at Corydon on the first Monday in December, 1819, this chapter being "an act attaching the New Purchase to the counties therein named," provided:

"That all the remaining part of the said New Purchase lying east of the second principal meridian, except so much of it as has been attached to the counties of Fayette, Jackson and Wayne by former laws, and except so much of it as is attached by the first section of this act [affecting Franklin, Fayette and Randolph counties] to the counties named therein, be, and the same is hereby formed into a new county to be known by the name of Delaware, and all that part of the said New Purchase lying west of the second principal meridian be, and the same is hereby formed into a new county, to be known by the name of Wabash."

Section 3 of this act provided that the counties of Jackson, Jennings, Ripley, Franklin, Fayette, Wayne and Randolph "shall have concurrent jurisdiction throughout the said county of Delaware in all civil cases," and John Vawter was appointed to take a census of the inhabitants of the new counties of Delaware and Wabash.

Though the county of Delaware as now constituted did not attain a separate civil status until in 1827, it will be noted by the above that a much greater Delaware county officially was "on the map" seven years prior to the formal erection of the county as we now know it. As has been pointed out in a previous chapter, that relating to the days of Indian occupancy here, the treaty with the Indians at St. Marys (Ohio) in 1818 opened for settlement more than eight millions of acres of lands for settlement in central Indiana, creating the '""New Purchase" designated in the act of the Legislature above quoted, really a second New Purchase, for it was thus that the twelve-mile strip west of the Greenville treaty line and running from the Mis-

-sissinewa at about the point now occupied by the town of Ridgeville southwest to the Grouseland treaty line that was acquired by Governor Harrison from the Indians at the treaty of Ft. Wayne in September, 1809, also had been called. This treaty at Ft. Wayne opened lands which provided for the expansion of two new counties, Franklin, north of Dearborn, and Wayne, which extended north of Franklin, including the present counties of Union, Fayette, Randolph and a portion of Jay.

Good Bargain For Uncle Sam

General Harrison, who then was territorial governor, evidently was well pleased at the outcome of this latter purchase. In his letter to William Eustis, secretary of war, written from Vincennes not long after the negotiation of the treaty, he said: "I think, however, upon the whole, that the bargain is a better one for the United States than any that has been made by me for lands south of the Wabash. The tract along the boundary line south from Fort Recovery is almost altogether of the very first rate. The county of Dearborn in this territory adjoining it is settled up to the very line, and the farms are thicker than in any part of the western country that I have seen, the neighborhood of Lexington excepted. I am informed by the register of the land office at Cincinnati, and other respectable persons, that it is their opinion that there will be several hundred persons upon this tract as soon as the treaty is ratified and an office opened for the sale of it. The tract adjoining on the Vincennes tract is not so uniformly good, but it contains much more good land than either the tract ceded by the treaty of Grouseland or that of Vincennes with the Delawares and Piankeshaws."

By this treaty at Ft. Wayne in 1809 other lands were opened for settlement in the southwest section of the then Territory of Indiana adjoining the Vincennes tract and the Grouseland tract, but it must be kept in mind that all the central and northern portions of the territory still belonged to the Indians until the second New Purchase in 1818 opened the remaining lands south of the Wabash with the exception of certain reservations awarded the Miamis, much of the land north of the Wabash, continuing to be held by the aboriginals until their title finally, with certain minor exceptions, was extinguished in 1836. Immediately following the opening of the lands in the central part of the state surveyors entered the field and "ran the lines" preliminary to the public sale of the new domain and entry books were opened at the land office at Brookgville. In 1822 the land office was moved to Ft. Wayne and thus the lands comprising the present county of Delaware were sold at the latter office. Presently a land office was opened at Indianapolis, the new capital, and later an office was opened at Crawfordsville. Bearing in mind that "the second principal meridian" which constituted the western boundary of the great Delaware county erected by the act of the Legislature of 1819 above quoted runs through the present city of Lebanon, over west in the county of Boone, it will be apparent that the historic old county of Delaware occupied just about the best section of all the present proud state of Indiana, while the new county of Wabash occupied almost as much territory to the west. That was in 1820.

As these lands began to be occupied and as population increased civil units were carved out of the original county of Delaware, among these being Marion county, erected two years following the location of the capital there, until by the year 1824, when the capital was moved to Indianapolis, there had been erected (besides Marion) the counties of Decatur, Rush, Henry, Bartholomew, Shelby, Madison, Johnson and Hamilton in the territory above set out, Randolph county in the meantime having been set off from Wayne county. Grant county was erected in 1831, Jay county in 18386 and Blackford in 1839. It was in 1827 that, with an exception to be noted later, the present boundaries of Delaware county were delimited and a separate civil status granted. This county was erected in accordance with the terms of Chapter X of the laws of the state of Indiana, passed and published at the eleventh session of the General Assembly held at Indianapolis on the first Monday in December, 1826, this chapter being "An act for the organization of Delaware county, approved January 26, 1827," as follows:

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That all that tract of country included in the following boundaries shall form and constitute a new county to be known and designated by the name of the county of Delaware, viz: Beginning at the northeast corner of Henry county, thence due north with the western boundary of Randolph county to the northeast corner of section numbered 8, township No. 22, north of range No. 12 east, thence west to the northeast corner of section No. 11, township No. 22, north of range No. 8 east, thence south to the northwest corner of Henry county, and thence east, with the northern boundary of said county, to the place of beginning.

Sec. 2. The said county of Delaware shall from and after the first day of April next enjoy all the rights, privileges and jurisdiction which to separate and independent counties do or may properly belong or appertain.

Sec. 3. Elias Poston of Rush county, Jonathan Platts of Wayne county, Martin Adkins of Decatur county, Joseph Craft of Henry county, and William Smith of Randolph county, are hereby appointed commissioners agreeable to the act entitled "An act for fixing the seat of justice in all new counties hereafter to be laid off;" the said commissioners shall meet at the house of Goldsmith Gilbert, in the said county of Delaware, on the second Monday in June next, and shall immediately proceed to discharge the duties assigned them by law. It is hereby made the duty of the sheriff of Randolph county to notify said commissioners, either in person or writing, of their appointment, on or before the first Monday in June next, for which he shall receive such compensation out of the county treasury of said county of Delaware as the board of justices thereof may deem just and reasonable, to be ordered and paid as other county claims are.

Sec. 4. The county board of justices of said new county shall within twelve months after the permanent seat of justice shall have been selected, proceed to erect the necessary public buildings.

Sec. 5. That all suits, pleas, plaints, actions, prosecutions and proceedings, heretofore commenced and pending within the limits of said new county of Delaware, shall be prosecuted to final issue in the same manner, and the state and county taxes which may be due on the first Monday of June next, within the bounds of said county, shall be collected and paid in the same manner and by the same officers as if this act had not been passed.

Sec. 6. The county board of justices shall meet at the home of Goldsmith Gilbert, in said county, on the first Monday in August next, and then and there proceed to do and transact all such necessary business as may be required by law.

Sec. 7. The said county of Delaware shall be attached to the representative district composed of the counties of Allen and Randolph, and to the senatorial district composed of the counties of Rush, Henry, Randolph and Allen; and that all that district of country heretofore known as the county of Delaware, yet unorganized, be hereafter called and known by the name of the county of Adams.

Madison county, on the west, had been erected in 1823, Pendleton, the old trading point and seat of justice originally known as "the Falls of Fall Creek," being the first county seat, and it was not until in 1825 that by an act of legislative authority Andersontown (Anderson) was made the county seat. The territory north of the new county of Delaware was vaguely regarded as being within the confines of Allen county, which had been erected in 1824 and which then embraced the territory later given to Wells, Adams, Whitley and Huntington counties, joining the then somewhat vague northern boundaries of Randolph county, which took in the present counties of Jay and Blackford. By an act of January 24, 1828, a year following the act erecting Delaware county, "all the country immediately north of the county of Delaware, to the township line dividing townships 25 and 26, and west to the Great Miami reservation, is hereby attached to the said county of Delaware." This included the present county of Blackford, which later was attached to Jay county upon the latter's organization; the eastern tier of townships in Grant county, erected in 1831, and two townships in the southwestern part of Wells county, which latter county was erected in 1837. Madison county originally included the present county of Hancock, its northern border being south of White river. The study of the changing boundaries of many of the counties in the later settled portions of Indiana is an interest- - ing one, but hardly profitable for a review of this sort.

"The Indiana Gazetteer, or Topographical Dictionary' (John Scott, Centreville) for 1826, the year before the erection of the present Delaware county, had the following to say of Delaware: "A county embracing all that part of the New Purchase lately acquired from the Indians, lying east of the second principal meridian line, and not included within the limits of any organized county. It is not as yet organized, but the counties contiguous thereto and east of the said meridian, have concurrent jurisdiction throughout the same. It is bounded east by the state of Ohio, north by Allen county and the Wabash river, west by Wabash county and south by Hamilton, Madison, Henry and Randolph. Its greater length is ninety miles from east to west and its breadth fifty-four, containing 3,096 square miles, or 1,981,440 acres. The land is generally good, particularly that which borders on the Salamania and Wabash rivers. Its principal waters are the Mississinawa, Salamania and Wabash rivers, which pass through it in a northwestern direction. There are several extensive prairies in this county, and the Indians have a number of reserves." By some now unaccountable oversight this old gazetteer omitted mention of White river in this list of the streams watering this region. Attention also is called to the old spelling (above) of Mississinewa and Salamonia. The spelling of Centreville (above) was the old style and was followed by John Scott, the pioneer printer. In the old records and plats of this county Center township invariably was spelled "Centre."

Beginning Of Civil Organization

Prior to the definite organization of Delaware county in 1827 Randolph county had civil jurisdiction over the country and the settlers over west in what is now Delaware county, and in 1825 Liberty township, as a new western township of Randolph county was organized and its lines delimited by the commissioners of Randolph county, these lines taking in pretty much all of what is now Delaware county. When settlers were few and far between townships were . large, many of the civil townships in those days comprising territory covered by perhaps a dozen congressional townships.

Unhappily, Randolph county suffers under a historical loss similar to that suffered by this county in the loss of some of its early records, the records of the commissioners' court for Randolph county from February, 1821, to November, 1825, having been lost; thus the official record of the organization of Liberty township over here in what then was the western part of Randolph county is not available for reference. However, Jere Smith's "Reminiscences" have it, bearing on this point, that "in the May term of 1825 David Rowe was allowed $1.50 for making return of the election of two justices of Liberty township. From this, and from my recollection, I can say that in January, 1825, either the whole or the east part of [the present] Delaware county was made into Liberty township.

"The township containing Smithfield is still called Liberty, and as David Stout had been county commissioner in Randolph county and had moved to what is now Delaware county, built a mill and laid out Smithfield, I presume he had that country erected into Liberty township. There were but few inhabitants in that region, and David Rowe, who brought the election returns, lived pretty well up on Prairie creek, at least six miles from Smithfield. Also, May, 1826, John J. Deeds, who had settled on White river and had built a mill above Smithfield, was appointed supervisor on the west fork of White river from the mouth of Cabin creek to Mont-see Town, as the Indians called it. Hence 'Mont-see Town' [Muncie] was then (May, 1826) in Liberty township and in Randolph county as well." |

Corroborative of the above reminiscence a notation in the records of the commissioners' court of Randolph county for the January term, 1826, sets out that David Vestal was appointed assessor in Liberty township for the year 1826 and Aaron Richardson was appointed inspector of elections in Liberty township for one year. John Coon and John H. Myers were appointed fence viewers in Liberty township for one year. Then in the May term, 1826, it is recorded that "William Vanmeter [VanMatre, first clerk of Delaware county and first postmaster of Muncietown] is appointed supervisor on the state road from the post numbered 39 to the post numbered 44; ordered that all the hands in Liberty township north and south between the last numbered posts do work on said road and also on the west fork of White river from Monceytown to the line dividing ranges 7 and 8." It thus will be seen that civil direction of affairs as far west as the present city of Muncie was being exercised by the commissioners of Randolph county up to the time of the erection of Delaware county. The "hands'" - squatters and early settlers - over here at least were being brought under the keen eye of the state road supervisor and required to do their bit in behalf of the common good. Local government was being established. The frontiersman no longer was a mere power unto himself.

Story Of The Development Of The Court House

As has been set out elsewhere, the first meetings of the court of the new county of Delaware were held in the tavern of Goldsmith C. Gilbert at Muncietown, where also had met the county agents or commissioners appointed by the Legislature to determine the site of the county seat and set the wheels of local government in motion. This old wayside tavern there on the Delaware trail at the site of the former Indian village at the bend of the river, "where the bend assumes the shape of a horseshoe," properly may be considered as having been nominally and temporarily the first court house in Delaware county.

By the terms of the enabling act for the erection of this county it was provided (Sec. 4) that "the county board of justices of said new county shall within twelve months after the permanent seat of justice shall have been selected, proceed to erect the necessary public buildings." It was on the second Monday in June (the 11th), 1827, that the commissioners appointed by the state for that purpose fixed the seat of justice here. Therefore during the summer of 1828 the board of justices took the initial steps toward the erection of a definite court house and during the fall and winter following (1828-29) superintended the erection of a two-story frame building for that purpose.

lotted for that purpose in the original donation made by Goldsmith Gilbert, Lemuel G. Jackson and William Brown to secure this point as a county seat site, but the reminiscences of both Thomas S. Neely and Judge Buckles state that the building stood on the west side of High street just north of Main street, probably on the lot later occupied by the old Walling hall which was used as a court room during the time of the erection of the present court house. In the absence of the official record, no explanation now can be given for this apparent deviation from the original intent. The reminiscences of Judge Buckles have it that the public square was first utilized as a site for the log jail which was erected in 1829 or 1830.

This old building on High street, facing the "square," was the first court house proper. The building has been described as having been substantially timbered, these timbers pinned together with wooden pins of from one inch to an inch and a half in diameter, and enclosed with what was known as "solid" weather boarding. The court house was about 20 by 40 feet in ground dimension, the lower story divided into two rooms for court purposes, with a door and two front and two side windows in each, and the upper story partitioned so as to provide quarters for the county offices.

Hardly more than five years had elapsed until it was apparent that this building would not answer the full purpose for which it was designed and in the winter of 1836-37 the board of county commissioners awarded a contract to Morgan John for the erection of a brick court house, forty-five feet square and twenty-eight feet in height, of two stories, with a suitable cupola, which in due time was completed, but not before the contractor had "gone broke" on the job. Minus Turner's reminiscences (1880) throw an interesting sidelight on the matter of the erection of this old court house. Said he: "I was county agent at the time the present court house was built. By order of the board of county commissioners I went to Centerville, in Wayne county, and procured plans of the court house at that place. This building was constructed after the plan of the one at Centerville. Morgan John was the contractor. He had taken the contract to build the house after a very common plan, which the board had prepared and adopted. I persuaded the board to build a better house and they sent me to Centerville with that purpose in view. Mr. John accepted the change and went on with the building, but it was so much more expensive that he broke up. This building cost from $1,000 to $1,500 more than if it had been constructed after the original plan. The brick of the building were to be laid up in what then was called 'Flemish bond' and two bricklayers were secured from Newcastle, who were Eastern workmen. They did not, however, prove equal to the task, being unable to lay it up in that way; so, after the first story was up, they quit. Some excitement was caused among us, who had laid brick, to see this kind of work done."

A picture of this building presented in this work is a better commentary on the style and character of the structure than any description could be and will revive memories of other days in the minds of those who were living here prior to the demolition of the old building in the middle '80s to make way for the present court house. The Neely reminiscences (1880), above quoted, have it that when this old court house was erected it "was considered a marvel of beauty and, in fact, was the finest structure in many surrounding counties."'

Need Of New Court House Soon Felt

Though no doubt at the time of its erection this building probably was regarded as "the last word" in court houses, it was not long until it was found to be wholly inadequate for the growing public needs of the county and it was decided by the commissioners to enlarge the scope of court house equipment by the erection of a supplementary building on the public square to provide sufficient office room. It appears that the court was not in agreement with the plan proposed by the commissioners for a general house of records, for on the order book of the circuit court as of the tenth day of the March term, 1843, it appears that "The Delaware circuit court is now about to close its spring term. During the session of the same it has been made known that the commissioners of Delaware county are making preparations for moving all the county offices into the upper story of the court house. The judges of this court, together with the members of the bar and citizens present, do protest against such a course, for various reasons: First, the late destruction of all the records of Miami county, in this state, in consequence of keeping the office in the court house; the destruction of the records in Dearborn county from a similar cause. We scarcely ever hear of the destruction of the records only from the fact of having more than one office build- ing. Where more than one or two offices are in the same building carelessness on the part of the occupants ensue and destruction by fire the inevitable consequences. We therefore recommend to proceed immediately to build an office sufficiently large for the clerk's and recorder's offices and furnish the same in such a way as to secure the records from loss by fire." This is signed by David Kilgore and John Brady, judges.

Unusual Concession To Local Contractors

In the summer of 1848 the board awarded to the contracting firm of Russey, Wysor & Jack the contract for the erection of this county office building, a two story brick, 46 by 26 feet in ground dimension, at an agreed price of $2,696.46, "the whole job to be completed and ready for use on or before the first Monday of June, 1849." And it was thus that the old county office building which stood alongside the old court house, occupying the northwest corner of the public square, came to get its place there. A local review in 1880, four years before these buildings were torn down to make room for the new court house, referred to the old buildings as "both answering the purposes for which they were constructed, yet in appearance they are somewhat antiquated and illy comport with the magnificent architecture of the present day everywhere manifest in the edifices of the city."

One interesting feature of this old office building was the special privilege the commissioners granted the contractors, James L. Russey, John Jack and Jacob H. Wysor, to construct. for themselves on public ground, as a basement story for the county office building, "and to have full, free use of same, with right of ingress and egress on the north end of same, for the term of fifty-years, for and in consideration of the sum of $100, to be paid in annual installments of $5 each year in advance: fifty years to be computed from first Monday in June, 1849 . . . no nuisance to be maintained, no liquors to be sold on the premises, except beer or cider, either for purposes of sickness or medicine." This extraordinary lease lacked fifteen years of maturity when the county office building was torn down in 1884. Russey was killed by Indians in California in 1850. Jack died in 1859. Wysor lived until 1905, being eighty-five years of age at the time of his death. This old firm, Russey, Wysor & Jack, at the time that contract was entered into with the county, was operating the old Gilbert flour mill and in other ways was active in local affairs.

Wysor's business activities continued after the loss of his partners and he remained until his death one of the most influential factors in the development of the town.

It was in the auditor's vault in this old office building in the early morning of March 10, 1865, that the fire occurred that caused the destruction of the early records of the commissioners' court besides other valuable papers and records of the auditor's office, reference ta 'which has been made above, entailing a loss that particularly for historical purposes is still regarded as lamentable. The mystery connected with that fire persists to this day. No prosecution followed, but apparently in the minds of many there became fixed an impression that the fire was not accidental, although it was given out at the time that boys playing cards in the basement of the office building during the night had left the stove too heavily charged with wood and that this overheated stove had communicated fire to the wood pile just underneath the vault of the auditor's office and that this fire burning through the floor had consumed a valuable portion of the contents of the vault before it was discovered and extinguished. But this is only one of the stories.

Those still living here whose memories go back to the '60s when questioned concerning this fire will smile with an "I could an' if I would" air, will recall that there was a good deal of local talk at that time about criminal responsibility for the fire and some talk about pushing the investigation to the point of prosecution, but that the auditor always vehemently and at times violently denied any knowledge of how the fire started or why it just happened to destroy certain records and papers at the time highly important to him personally, and that nothing ever was done toward definitely fixing the responsibility. As the Helm review (1880) written fifteen years after the fire says, "whatever the inducement may have been, if really there was any, for the destruction of these records, the facts connected with the transaction seem destined to remain undiscovered. Whether it was the result of perfidy or carelessness, the fact remains that the public, and the citizens of the county especially, have suffered an irreparable wrong."

Contemporary Account Of The Fire

At the time the fire evidently was not regarded as much of a "sensation." However, the newspapers of that period were not so much given to sensationalizing local events as they now are. In its "story" of the fire in the issue following the blaze in the court house, the Muncie Free Press (March 16, 1865) confined the narrative to nine lines, as follows: "Last Thursday night some villains set fire to the records in the vault of the auditor's office. A considerable portion of the records were destroyed and nearly all were more or less injured. The duplicates for 1864 and 1865 were preserved. No clue has been obtained to the perpetrators of this act of vandalism."

This theory of incendiarism was maintained by the Free Press in the week following, for in its issue of March 23 (1865) it said: "The auditor's office is undergoing thorough repairing and will soon be in order again. The destruction of the records, the auditor informs us, will not work any serious damage to the business of the county, as it fortunately happened that the late records were nearly all preserved. The commissioners' record was destroyed, but that can be brought up from memory, assisted by data not destroyed. Had the fire been kindled in the treasurer's office, as the incendiaries intended, the damage would have been much greater. The discovery of the fire before it broke through the vault was a fortunate affair, for had it once got fairly started the whole building would probably have been destroyed, as well as the entire records of the county." The repairs here referred to apparently were effected at a cost of something less than $500, as on May 30, 1865, the commissioners allowed the claims of S. F. Brady for $295 "for shutters for public offices,' and of Kurtz, Barnes & Co., two claims, one of $57.03 and the other for $88.15 "for repairs of county offices." Brady was the county treasurer.

George W. Seitz was auditor in charge of the records at that time and his eight years of service in the auditor's office was just drawing to a close at the time the fire occurred. It is said that he was so indignant at the rumors of possible personal implication in the fire that gained circulation at the time that he declined emphatically to take a hand in the investigation that followed or to give the investigators any assistance, declaring that the rumors constituted an unwarrantable and unforgivable affront to his honor and dignity. An investigation was made, however, and a long report was turned in, signed by E. C. Daniell and J. A. Wachtel, "committee." This report, however, carried no suggestion of personal criminality, though it did carry a scathing oblique hint, which no doubt gave some satisfaction to public feeling. That report found that "the books and papers destroyed or missing include the commissioners' record, commissioners' docket, auditor's journal and ledger, together with other important books and papers, making it impossible to get the desired information from records in said office for the period of time from November 29, 1860, to March 6, 1865," and then followed an analysis of the apparent condition of affairs based on a comparison with the records in the county treasurer's office, with the statement that "after having exhausted every means of information we find that the party or parties whose duty it was to keep the accounts carelessly or purposely neglected to charge the treasurer, as required by law, with the money received from the sale of said bonds, and that the money paid for their redemption, both principal and interest, is a total loss to the county."

To their apparently exhaustive but admittedly inconclusive report Messrs. Daniell and Wachtel appended the following: '"Supplemental - From November, 1860, to March, 1865, there was received into the treasury about $500,000. This large amount was all paid out on orders issued by the auditor. A statement of the purpose for which these payments were made and the authority for issue of orders by the auditor, it is supposed, were recorded in the commissioners' record, in accordance with law. The record is missing, consequently it cannot be known whether or not said orders were legal or just. Many persons have asked us to explain what became of the money collected for the payment of the soldiers' bonds burned on the morning of March 10, 1865.

"All money collected for a specific purpose and not used as such is transferred to the county revenue account and used for the general expenses of the county. In this case the fund was so transferred and used for the building of bridges and other legitimate expenses, and loss to the county occurred by the burning of the books, except the fees of the auditor for issuing said bonds and the government stamps, ~ which amounted to about $1,000.. The destruction of the books and papers covering a specific period of time, particularly where financial transactions of such magnitude are involved, is, to say the least, deplorable. It seems highly improbable that an accidental fire should possess such intelligence as to wipe out so completely the particular books and papers necessary (as before stated) to a proper investigation of the financial operations of the county during a specific term; yet a fire ever so small could have been used by designing persons to rid the office of the important books and papers that are missing, and at the same time leave undisturbed such large quantities of records, etc., as are to be found in the vaults of the auditor's office. We have been requested to give the amount paid out for soldiers' bounties and relief to soldiers' families in Delaware county. The books show that about $200,000 have been paid, of which amount about $69,000 was paid for relief. The destruction of the commissioners' record places this fund also beyond the reach of investigation."

- The published annual report of the auditor for the year ending May 31, 1865, reveals that there was $7,099.21 "on hand June Ist, 1864, from three years previous," and that this, with receipts, including $20,699.74 on account of the soldiers' relief fund, swelled the receipts for the year to a total of $107,666.89, against which was charged expenditures which left an amount on hand June 1, 1865, of $14,- 826.47. Expenditures included, on account of county bonds, $36,000; soldiers' relief, $17,114.50; bridge account, $6,986.04; poor account, $2,680.71, and town of Muncie, $3,523.20.

Erection Of The Present Court House

The old court house and county office building, neither of which ever was found wholly satisfactory, served their purpose in a way until along in the '80s it became apparent to all that they would have to go and a modern building take their place. After proper deliberation and consultation with competent authorities the board of county commissioners finally declared that the court house of the county of Delaware had become "untenable by reason of decay," as the official order has it. The record of the board in special session, January 15, 1884, reveals that ''on the question of building a new court house the board of commissioners decided by a unanimous vote to build a new court house and adjourned to meet on Saturday, January 19th, 1884, for the purpose of consulting with attorneys, citizens and architects in reference to plans and time of building said court house." The board at this time consisted of William F. Watson, C. E. Jones and James Barrett; William Dragoo, auditor and clerk of the board, and Joel R. McKimmey, sheriff and bailiff of the board.

Western Railway Company to furnish transportation over any railway for county officials, commissioners, the circuit court judge, any attorney or citizen or such committee as the board might select to accompany them on a tour of inspection of court houses and fixed Tuesday, January 29, "as the day on which they will start on said tour." On the following April 25 the commissioners employed Brentwood S. Tolan, a Ft. Wayne architect, to prepare plans for a new court house, and it was ordered that the old court house be sold to the highest bidder on July 2 following. The board accepted a proposition from William Walling to use his building on High street, across the street west from the court house, as temporary quarters for the county and it was ordered that the old Walling Hall '"'shall be known as the court house of Delaware county, Indiana, and in said hall shall be located the office of the county clerk and the office of the sheriff of said county." Quarters for the other county offices were secured in a building across the street north from the court house, on the site now occupied by the Knights of Pythias building. Apparently no one cared to buy the old court house and county office building for what salvage there might be in them and D. C. Mitchell was employed at $2.50 a day to superintend the wrecking of them.

Freemasons Granted Right To Lay Corner Stone

On July 15 Architect Tolen's plans for a new court house were adopted by the board and it was ordered that advertising for bids on the structural work be begun. On November 7 following the contract for the construction of the edifice was awarded to Charles Pearce & Co., of Indianapolis, "his being the lowest and best bid for the construction of said work.". The Pearce bid was $195,618.46, and the successful bidder on that same day was given by the board a "go-ahead" pending the approval of his bond for the faithful performance of his contract. On December 9 following the board ordered that bonds of the county be issued on which to secure a loan in the sum of $98,000 to provide funds with which to carry on the work. On April 11, 1885, the board ordered that the laying of the corner stone of the new court house "be and the same is hereby awarded to the order of Free and Accepted Masons; that the oration in behalf of secret societies be delivered by the person selected by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; that the oration in behalf of the citizens of Delaware county be delivered by Judge Joseph Buckles, and that the order of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Red Men and the order of Good Templars and the Grand Army of the Republic and all other secret organizations, with the citizens of said county, be and they are hereby invited to take part in the exercises of the day."

The contract for the tower clock on the new court house was let by the board on November 13 to the Howard Watch and Clock Company for the sum of $1,500, the company to provide all save the bell, which the board had preserved from the wreck of the old court house. This bell, which still is tolling the passing of the hours, has been doing public duty since the summer of 1848 when the original bell which was placed in the cupola of the old court house upon its erection in 1837 was moved to the seminary building and a new 1,000- pound bell installed in its place. On July 22, 1886, the board contracted with Pearce & Company for the sum of $1,600 for the carving of the three sculptural figures which adorn the edifice, "Delaware Chief," facing the east, and "Industry" and ''Agriculture," over the south entrance, which latter entrance the board decreed should be the official entrance of the court house for the posting of public notices and the like.--On January 14, 1887, Pearce & Company was given a further contract for the frescoing of the court rooms and corridors for the sum of $38,000, this work '"'to be done as per sketches submitted." It is a matter of regret on the part of many that in a recent renovation of the corridors of the court house the frescoe paintings of the old and the new court houses on the walls of the main corridor should have been obliterated. The picture there of the old court house was ever cherished by the "old timers."

On August 15, 1887, the commissioners made a final inspection of the edifice and accepted it from the hands of the contractors, who were thus discharged from further liability. On October 4 following, the several county officials meanwhile having become installed in their new quarters all ready for business, the board ordered that old Walling Hall be no longer considered the court house of the county of Delaware, but "that said building [the new court house] situated on said public square shall be the court house and place of holding courts and place of county offices of Delaware county," and it was 'thus that the county came into its handsome new official home, which has admirably withstood the storm and stress of nearly forty years, as a glance at the picture of the edifice presented in this work will disclose.

The Laying Of The Corner Stone

In honor of the importance of the event marking the laying of the corner stone of the new court house, July 23, 1885, the Muncie Daily News, N. F. Ethell then the editor, issued a "triple number," a special edition covering the story of the event, and printed an extra 5,000 copies of the same "for gratuitous distribution throughout the town and county," a copy of which, printed on silk, was made a part of the contents of the corner stone. As this special edition of the News carried much general informative matter concerning Delaware county, its historical value when it comes time to renew the court house and the contents of the corner stone are laid open to the inspection of the people of that generation will be greatly appreciated no doubt. That was the day on which General Grant died and inverted column rules surrounding the newspaper's announcement of the former President's demise gave fitting evidence of the editor's mourning.

Though unfortunately rain came on in the afternoon to mar much of the outdoor plans for the day, the essential features were carried out and the corner stone was laid with appropriate ceremony. Mr. Ethell's account of the affair, clearly prepared in advance, did not take this rain into account and the story thus carried in his paper is based on the expectation that the parade arranged for the occasion would have in line no fewer than nine cornet bands besides several martial bands, this parade to be participated in by the several posts of the Grand Army of the Republic in this county, as well as by local and visiting companies of the uniformed bodies of the leading secret societies, Anderson, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Marion, Winchester and Ft. Wayne being thus represented on the program. Besides this long line of marching bodies provision was made for the grand master and officers of the Indiana grand lodge of Freemasons, under whose direction the corner stone was laid; Judge Buckles and other speakers, county commissioners, the court house architect and contractors, the mayor, city officials and members of the common council, county officials, visiting city and county officials and "citizens on foot, on horseback and in carriages,' many of the latter of whom no doubt were kept back by the rain. The line of march arranged for the parade was west on Jackson street to Cherry, south to Charles, east to High, south to Howard, east to Walnut, north to Washington, east to Vine, south to Main and west on Main to High street and the public square, D. H. H. Shewmaker chief marshal, with the following assistants:

T. H. Kirby, on behalf of the Knights Templar; J. W. Little, uniformed Odd Fellows; George E. Dungan, Freemason; R. I. Patterson, Grand Army of the Republic, and Will Feathers, Knights of Pythias.

Judge Buckles Grew Reminiscent

Frank Ellis, mayor of the city of Muncie, was the presiding officer at the exercises incident to the laying of the corner stone and the formal ceremony was directed by Albert P. Charles, grand master of Indiana Freemasons. Will Cumback delivered the oration in behalf of the assembled secret societies and former Judge Joseph S. Buckles delivered the oration in behalf of the citizens of Delaware county. In the course of his address Judge Buckles said that "in 1830, three years after the county was organized, we had a population of about 1,000. We have no means of knowing what the population was before that date, and owing to the misfortune of having part of the county records destroyed by fire, we have no reliable means of ascertaining the amount of taxable property in the county until the year 1842. The taxable property of that year is shown to have been $1,586,341 ; total taxes for that year, $12,552; total taxables for 1884, forty-two years later, $9,893,505; taxes for 1884, $153,388, thus. showing that we paid in taxes for the year 1884 $141,836 more than in 1842 - nearly twelve times the amount paid in 1842 - based, how: ever, upon a corresponding ability to pay.

"From a population of 1,000 in 1830, we have today a population of more than 30,000. We had in 1830 a rich, fertile soil capable of producing in great abundance every kind of product that would grow and mature in this climate. That soil, however, was covered with dense forests, with here and there a wagon track blazed through by emigrants, and perhaps one-half of the land of the county as well covered with water as it was with timber; with here and there, long distances apart, a rude log cabin, inhabited by a sturdy pioneer and his brave wife, who had come West to grow up with the country. What is today the city of Muncie was then the village of Muncietown, consisting of a few huts near the northwest corner of the square and the Wheeling pike bridge; not a school or church building in the county.

"About this time we had erected a small frame building just west of this square for a court house, and a log cabin on the square for a jail. We have no means, that I have been able to find, of ascertaining the population of the village of Muncietown or Center township at that time, as disconnected with the county, except the record of an election held for justice of the peace of Center township, which resulted - John Marshall, twenty-five votes; William Gilbert, twelve votes, and Gilbert's male cow, one vote. . . . At that time we had two terms of the circuit court per annum, length of terms from one to three days. The business of the first term of the probate court is shown to have been the appointment of one guardian, the approval of his bond and the adjournment of court until court in course." Judge Buckles concluded his address by pointing out some of the duties of good citizenship, recommended the practice of the civic virtues throughout the land, "and teach our children to do the same thing; and in twenty-five years from this date we will have the most intelligent, moral, enterprising and powerful hundred millions of people in any one government upon the face of the globe. One of the most gratifying thoughts in connection with this prediction is that all the better class of peoples in the world will be endeavoring to profit by our example."

A feature of the ceremonies attending the laying of the corner stone of the court house was the reading of the following poem written by ''Corporal Bob' (Robert I.) Patterson, then postmaster of Muncie:

Yes, my boy, Ill try to follow up this pyramid of stone, For I'm most too old an' shaky to make the trip alone; An' I ain't used to walkin' on such finely chiseled rock, Or climbin' up long windin' stairs to see the tower clock; But every one is boastin', the lowly an' the great,

That we have the finest court house of any in the state. So I thought I'd take a look an' gather what I can About its superstructure an' its architectural plan;

But give us old settlers credit, for we helped to pave the way For you to lay this corner stone in this more modern day; True, everything is grander, an' people ain't so slow

They were made of bone an' muscle then, while yours is cut of stone. We made our fires with steel an' flint, but now it's come to pass You only turn a thumb screw to turn on the natural gas.

The well sweep an' crystal spring was then our water source, Now you touch the magic faucet an' water comes in force; Then our old time lawyers shot words like burnin' fire

Within our old log court house, an' that did our souls inspire. Now I imagine Judge Buckles could not feel much at home, Or a Shipley grow so eloquent beneath this splendid dome. But I s'pose it suits young lawyers to uncork their bottled lore, An' let fly at judge an' jury while on this polished floor.

Like the special copy of the News designed for preservation, a copy of this poem also was printed on silk and enclosed in the brass container in which much other local memorabilia was stored away in the corner stone. An informative list carried in that special edition of the News preserved the names of the following citizens of Muncie then living, past seventy years of age: Martha Branson, Patsy Branson, Samuel Chipman, Judge Coffeen, William Cassady, Rebecca Charman, Rachael J. Clevenger, Mary Casey, Joseph M. Davis, Nicholas Hiler, Mary Hiler, John Galbraith, Robert Gordon, Nancy Harter, Sarah Howell, Catherine Kirkwood, Mrs. Thomas Kirby, John Luscht, Mary Moore, Matilda Neely, Christian Retz, Charles Rickard, Loxley Rickard, Emanuel Rich, Mary Rich, Sylvester Schultz, Catherine Simmons, Solomon Snell, Minus Turner and Adam Wolfe.

Reference elsewhere has been made to "ironing" prisoners in the days of the beginning of a social order here, there being no proper jail house in which to confine them, and it was not until some years after the county had got going on something like a systematic basis that an adequate jail was erected. In the old records of the court occasional references are found attesting the inadequacy of the first makeshifts for jails and it would appear that it was not until the middle '50s that decisive attention was given the matter. At the September term of the commissioners' court for 1858 it was ordered that the board take a trip over to Winchester to inspect the jail there . with a view to erecting something of a similar character at Muncie. In the following December the board ordered a loan of $3,000 for jail purposes, it appearing "that the revenue afforded by reasonable taxation is insufficient to pay for the same, in addition to the ordinary expenses of the administration of the county business.'"' Bonds were issued in this behalf and the auditor was ordered to discount the same at not more than 8 per cent. At this same term (December, 1858) Thomas S. Neely was authorized to prepare plans for a jail house and sheriff's residence and to superintend the erection of the same. At the following March session (1859) the board purchased from Luther B. Willson for the sum of $500 lots 2 and 3 in block 8 of the Gilbert donation, and before the year was ended an iron jail had been erected on the spot, site of the present jail, at a cost of a little less than $5,000. This jail served the community for more than twenty years, or until in 1882, when the commissioners ordered a new jail, which was completed in the fall of 1883 at a cost of $20,000. This jail, extensively remodeled and "modernized" in 1922, still serves its purpose.

For more than seventy years Delaware county has maintained its infirmary or "poor farm" at the present site of that well ordered institution about four miles due east of Muncie on the Winchester road in Liberty township, a little more than a mile west of Selma, the present state of the institution being a gradual development from the days when a "poor farm" was that in very deed and with little to mitigate some of the ancient horrors that traditionally attached to such a refuge for the county's unfortunates. There is little use now to revive stories of some of these ancient horrors. The literature of

Much is heard among sentimentalists of a class concerning the ideal conditions surrounding the social side of "the good old days" in Indiana, perhaps even in this part of the state. Those persons simply have failed to interpret their grandparents aright. There has been no time in the history of this country when it was true to say that "the good old days" were better than the present; nor in the history of any other country, unless it be one of arrested development. Amel- - ioration of social conditions is a progressive movement, even as is the movement for the improvement of physical conditions. That the sentimentalist who is ever harking back to the times of ''the good old days" is wrong and has ever been wrong was noted as long ago as five hundred years before the Christian era by The Preacher, who uttered a solemn warning against this tendency to magnify the doings of past generations in these words: "Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this."

Sorry Plight Of Pioneer Indigents

It does not require any very close inquiry to disclose that the plight of the indigent at the time of the organization of this county was. a sorry one indeed. Indiana has little to be proud of in any review of its record during the '30s and '40s of the past century, or even of the decade following. As one observant but pittiless commentator (W. H. Smith) recently remarked along this very line: "Prior to 1860, owing to various causes, the name of Indiana did not stand high in the sisterhood of states. Her free school system had been overthrown by a decision of the highest court of the state, and the word had gone abroad that Indiana was opposed to public education; great frauds in the handling of the lands of the state had brought disgrace on the state administration and on the people; a great wave of 'wildcat' currency, fathered by legislative enactment, had brought widespread ruin, and the credit of the state was held in contempt in financial circles. These, and other causes, had operated to drag down the name of Indiana until it was a badge of degradation to be called a Hoosier."

Amid such conditions it may be very certain that those whom | dire poverty had overtaken, especially the widow and orphan, got only such succor and comfort as the law allowed them, and that com- fort was of the coldest possible variety, sparingly doled and contemptuously tendered. It was not until another generation came along that the cold word "charity" was given a new translation and changed into the warm word, "love." The old time "poor house" was a work of "charity." The modern "infirmary" has at least in the functioning of the visiting committee something of a "labor of love" to recommend it. The plight of its inmates is not wholly comfortless nor altogether forbidding. And for these changed conditions let all who have to do with the reviewing of social conditions throughout this region give women the credit and the praise, as are their due.

A review of the allowances of the early boards of county commissioners in Delaware county reveals numerous allowances, never in any very extravagant amounts, to the "overseers of the poor." The early laws of Indiana provided for the appointment in each township of these overseers of the poor, these appointments being made by the board of county commissioners. It was the duty of these overseers to look into cases of poverty or indigence and then as a measure of relief "farm out" or sell to the lowest bidder the services of the individual requiring relief. In the case of orphan dependents it was the duty of these overseers to "bind out" or indenture the services of such orphans - boys until twenty-one years of age and girls until eighteen - to such persons as might make a bid for their services and lahor, thus creating a condition of involuntary servitude that could not be denied, these "bound" boys and girls being held by their taskmasters under binding legal forms that left them little or no redress even against some of the intolerable situations that thus inevitably would arise, as the old records and narratives of that period reveal only too clearly. Elsewhere in this volume there is set out in the phraseology of the period the manner in which these "bound" boys and girls thus were disposed of. The "poor house" and the "orphans home" under public management and inspection had not yet been evolved.

About the beginning of the 50s it became apparent here that a change in method of caring for the indigent was necessary. The minutes of the board of county commissioners for the September term, 1851, carry the following order: "Ordered, That a notice be published in the Whig Banner that all persons desirous of selling land for a poor farm of Delaware county, to contain 130 to 200 acres, may hand to the board at their next June session, on the first day thereof, sealed proposals containing a full description of the land, price and terms of payment - must be not less than one nor more than five miles from Muncie."

Among the several proposals in this behalf received by the board at the following June session was that of Enoch Hagenbuck, of Liberty township. The board accepted the Hagenbuck proposal and the record of the August session, 1851, carries a resolution to the effect "that the contract between Enoch Hagenbuck and the auditor, for the purchase of a poor farm, be confirmed, the contract being as follows, to-wit: First payment, one order for $600; one for $550, and one for $500, payable January 1, 1852; second payment, one order for $800, payable June 1, 1852." Under the terms of this contract Hagenbuck was to give possession in the fall of 1851. At a special session of the board in December of that year the board appointed Samuel D. Andrews to be superintendent of the poor farm at a salary of $230 a year and Dr. Samuel V. Jump was appointed physician to the institution at a salary of $50 a year, under obligation to visit the poor farm once every fortnight and on call for emergencies. In the following January the deal was closed by Enoch and Christina Hagenbuck deeding to the county commissioners (David Shoemaker, Charles Mansfield and Joseph Thomas) "and their successors perpetually in office for a poor farm" their tract of land described as the southeast quarter of section 8 and three undivided sevenths of the east half of the southwest quarter of same in township 20, range 11 (Liberty civil township), "estimated to contain 193 acres more or less, to have and to hold," and setting out that "we have good right, full power and lawful authority to sell and convey the same and do and will warrant and forever defend the same against all lawful claims of all persons. Witness our hands and seals, the 28th day of January, A. D. 1852." And thus the county came into possession of the "poor farm," which under gradually softening conditions long since came to be known as the county "infirmary" and which long has ranked well up among the best of similar institutions throughout the state. The current Year Book of the state of Indiana, carrying statistics for 1922, gives the number of persons in Delaware county receiving "indoor relief" (county poor asylum) for that year as sixty; 'outdoor relief" (number aided by township overseers of the poor), 2,717; dependent children, seventy-two.

Infirmary Twice Destroyed By Fire

In May, 1891, the old county asylum building was destroyed by fire and a more substantial structure was erected on the old "poor farm" site. With the passing of time it came to be recognized that this was not an adequate asylum and in the summer of 1913 the county commissioners approved plans for the rehabilitation of the old county infirmary plant by the construction of a modern addition and the remodeling along practical lines of the old building, and a requisition was made on the county council for $45,000 to meet the expense of the work. The new building was erected and the old one worked over and the new institution was just getting well "broken in" when in the early morning of March 23, 1915, fire broke out in the old building, which housed quite a number of the inmates of the institution, and the structure was destroyed. When the debris was cleared away it was found that thirteen persons had lost their lives in the fire. The new building escaped the flames and served as the basic unit of the present establishment there, new buildings being at once erected to take the place of the old building that was destroyed. Albert Clark was superintendent of the infirmary at the time of the fire. The county collected insurance amounting to $33,786.71 on that portion of the institution that was destroyed. With modern improvements from time to time as the pressure of demands required these buildings since have served their purpose. Among the more recent installations there is a well equipped hospital department. The current (1923-24) county budget carries appropriations of $18,250 for expenses of poor and $31,320 for poor farm.

Just as a sidelight on conditions at the "poor farm" back in "the good old days" extracts from an official report of the official "visitor" during the late '50s may prove interesting. In the journal of the board of county commissioners for the September term, 1858, there is filed the report of the visitor to the poor house, as follows: "Your visitor would beg leave to report he has visited the said farm four times in the last quarter and finds the poor persons very well cared for in a worldly point of view, but their morals are sadly corrupt.

There is at this time ten in number. . . . I hope the board will take into consideration the moral condition of the paupers and in their wisdom do what they think proper and right in the premises." This report is signed by James Orr, visitor.

The most sacred charge on any community is the proper care of its dependent children. Reference has been made to the pioneer system of taking care of orphans by "binding them out," a system which left many loopholes for detestable abuse. When the "poor farm" was established it became the custom to place such dependent children as were not voluntarily provided for by kindly neighbors or kinsfolk in the "poor house" alongside the adult inmates, a procedure which carried with it many inevitably bad consequences. It is noted in the record of the board of county commissioners for the March session, 1854, when a new lease on the poor farm was granted, Enoch Albright thus taking charge for a term of three years, that the lessee agreed to take care of children at the rate of $1 a week. Adults were chargeable to the county at the rate of $114 a year. The lessee paid $180 a year for the use of the farm and the incidental services of the inmates. This arrangement may have been fitting to the time. It is a matter of wonder now that so many years passed before a more humane system for the care of orphans and dependent children was worked out. A new generation had to take hold of the problem.

Among the various eleemosynary activities that have so admirably promoted and fostered the social service operations of this community is the Delaware County Children's Home Association, which was organized in the early 90s. This organization's articles of association were filed for record on January 24, 1893, these articles setting out that the objects of the association were '"'to establish and maintain a home or asylum for the care, support, discipline and education of orphan children, aged females and crippled persons, or either of them." The original directors of this association were P. F. King, B. C. Bowman, William R. Windsor, H. A. Cowing, Mrs. Julia Richey, Mrs. Margaret March, Mrs. Alice S. Vandercook, Mrs. R. M. Patterson, Mrs. Mary Goddard, Mrs. Martha M. James, James T. Broyles, James H. Pierce, Mrs. John Paulin, R. A. Andes, Henry Yountz, Mrs. Thomas Clark, Turner H. Johnson, Danie] Peterson, Dr. John V. Baird, Dr. A. M. Good and Mrs. Sophia Jump.

This voluntary association opened and maintained a home for orphans on the north side of town (Muncie) and carried on with indifferent public assistance until about twenty years ago, when it became apparent that a proper institution for the care of dependent children under public charge had become necessary in this county and the county commissioners by formal resolution made entry that it had become "necessary to purchase suitable ground and building for the purpose of locating thereon a home and asylum for the care, support and protection of the orphan and dependent children of Delaware county." Furthering this laudable end, the county council in 1906 approved the plan and on June 8 of that year the board of commissioners ordered the purchase for the sum of $7,800 of the property then owned by Nehemiah B. Powers "containing forty acres more or less," between the Muncie and Yorktown pike and White river in the south half of section 18 of Center township, just beyond the western limits of the city of Muncie, and at the same time entered an order for the advertisement for bids for the erection of buildings suitable for the purpose, the commissioners of record at that time being John S. Ellis, John S. Huffer and Peter A. Helm, and in due time the present admirable institution for the care of the county's dependent children was erected and placed under public charge.

On February 14, 1907, the county commissioners entered into an agreement with the Delaware County Children's Home Association looking to the management of the institution, the county, by the terms of this agreement, to insure proper maintenance of the institution, the Children's Home Association agreeing "to furnish a matron and all necessary help for doing work in and about said house or home, to receive all children in accordance with the laws of the state of Indiana governing the reception of said children in said home; to provide care, food and clothing for said children and to place said children in permanent homes as soon as suitable homes can be found for them," etc. This agreement was signed on the part of the association by Dr. Hugh A. Cowing, president, and Nellie M. Stouder, secretary. Doctor Cowing, who is the present (1923) president of the Indiana state board of health, was for twenty-three years Delaware county's health commissioner. He has a record of two years of former service as president of the state board of health and for four years served as vice president of that body.

The Muncie Home Hospital

Though Delaware county does not maintain a county hospital and is not at present contemplating the erection of such institution under the recent law providing for the erection of county hospitals, it contributes largely to the support of the Muncie Home Hospital, a private institution maintained partly by public donations, the county's cur- rent budget providing $10,000 in that behalf. The city of Muncie's current donation in the same behalf is $3,000. This hospital in South Mulberry street is the modern outgrowth of a movement started by the Delaware County Hospital Association organized in the fall of 1900, with a capital stock of $25,000, in shares of $25 each. The articles of association of this organization, filed for record on September 5, 1900, bear the signatures of W. G. Rice, F. G. Jackson, George R. Greene, Hugh A. Cowing, Henry M. Winans, Isaac N. Trent, L. L. Ball, Ulysses G. Poland and General W. H. Kemper. The city maintains an isolation hospital in West Twelfth street, keeps up the office of the city health commissioner and contributes to the maintenance of the Public Health Nursing Association, while the county keeps up the office of the county health commissioner, the current appropriation in this latter behalf being $4,255. The Visiting Nurses Association maintains headquarters in the Johnson block on South Walnut street.

The first general hospital in Muncie was the old Whitney or "Muncie" hospital which for years was maintained by Dr. and Mrs. W. D. Whitney, the latter of whom also was a physician, at 513 South Council street, and which during the period of its existence and prior to the establishment of the public or "Home" hospital proved its worth many times in emergency cases. Doctor and Mrs. Whitney carried on their hospital operations in accordance with the best traditions governing such institutions, providing a place for city and county cases as well as for their own private patients and the fine spirit they thus displayed has not been forgotten. The Home Hospital in South Mulberry street was established in the old Anthony residence there, the old building being remodeled and extended to meet the requirements put upon it for institutional purposes.

By the terms of the will of Mrs. Mary Jane Luick, who died at her home in Muncie on November 5, 1923, Delaware county comes into a legacy of near $100,000, left by Mrs. Luick for the purpose of erecting in Muncie " a suitable home for blind, indigent, infirm or helpless elderly women," the same to be known as "Luick Home." The will set out that this disposition of the Luick estate was made in deference to the wishes of the testator's late husband, George Luick, who died some years ago. The will provides that the proposed institution shall be administered by the board of county commissioners through a board of three trustees to be named by the commissioners.

An interesting experiment in the way of community foundation work was undertaken at Muncie in January, 1924, when twenty-five representative citizens of the town donated $10 each for the creation of a fund of $250. This fund was deposited in trust with the Merchants Trust and Savings Company to be held until by normal interest accretion it had expanded to the sum of $25,000,000. It was figured that this would be in the year 2215, at which time the fund would be available for community purposes.

It is a matter of continuing regret that by reason of the fire in the old court house back in 1865 the early journals of the county commissioners court were lost, the files in the auditor's office thus lacking Records 1, 2, 8, 4 and 7. Record No. 8 begins with the journal of the March term of the commissioners court, 1865, the fore part of this record being chiefly taken up with transcripts of settlement sheets and auditor's reports for the years 1863 and 1864, copies of which apparently had been supplied for purposes of the permanent record, but there is no memorandum in this record noting the fact of the fire. Record No. 6 (scorched) closes with notations of the November term, 1860, this revealing that the missing Record 7 covered the period of the Civil war, No. 8 opening, as above, just about the time of the close of the war. The loss of Record 1 is particularly unfortunate, as there would have been carried the official story of the county's organization, a tale that never can be told in full.

The oldest remaining minutes of the commissioners court thus are carried in Record 5, which opens with a minute of the convening of the June term for 1846, as follows: "June Term, A. D., 1846: Be it remembered that on this first day of June, one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, the board of commissioners of Delaware county, Indiana, met in the court house in Muncietown in said county; present, Michael Thompson, Thomas S. Neely and James Orr Jr., Esqs.; also Joseph M. Davis, Esq., sheriff of said county, and Joseph Anthony, county auditor." It will be observed that though by legislative enactment the name of Muncietown had been changed to Muncie in 1845, as is set out elsewhere, the auditor was continuing the old style in the summer of 1846. |

The first order in this record is that in the matter of the appointment of viewers to report on the petition to vacate a county road in Harrison township and remonstrance thereto, said viewers to report

"to the next or the present term of this board." The next minute of this session is that regarding allowances to township supervisors "for extra allowances," and this is followed by an item covering the auditor's report of the common school fund for the year.

Road matters occupied the chief attention of the board in those days and the journal is largely taken up with notations in that behalf. A bit of interesting illumination on certain conditions of the period is cast by some of the items under the head of allowances for the term. That was in the days of quill pens and the first item in this current schedule of allowances "for the services and other items of charge expressed below, towit:" is an allowance of 50 cents to Frederick EK. Putnam "for quills for county." One dollar a day was the prevailing charge for services as road commissioners, chainmen, judges of elections and similar services to the public chargeable by the day. Auditor Anthony's quarterly salary was $100. The commissioners were paid $2 a day for days of service.

At this same term the charge for a license "to peddle or vend clocks for one year in this county" was fixed at $15. Minus Turner was licensed ''to keep a tavern in Muncietown for the term of one year" upon the payment of $20, "the said Minus Turner having produced to the board his petition signed by a majority of the citizens of Centre township as directed by law, and also made satisfactory proof of his being in readiness," etc. A fee of $5 was required for license to merchants. Among those thus licensed "to vend merchandise" at this term were Martin Gallihar, Frederick E. Putnam, William Lewis, John Hizer, Edwin C. Anthony and Harlan & Ray (Samuel W. Harlan and James B. Ray). Harlan was then county clerk and a minute of this session of the commissioners orders "that Samuel W. Harlan be permitted to remove the clerk's office from the room in the court house up stairs at present occupied by him to any other convenient place in Muncietown which he may choose, upon condition that no rent on account of said office is to be taxed against the county." It seems not unlikely that the clerk might have had in mind the desirability from a publicity point of view of having the county clerk's office in his store room.

A Sidelight On The Missing Records

Though the journal of the first board of commissioners is not available for reference, there has been preserved the old, time-stained first County Order Record, carrying notations of the first allowances granted by the board, these opening with items apparently relating to the expenses incident to the erection of the county, though (unfortunately) the character of the services thus requited by orders on the county treasurer is not specified, the amounts of money paid only being set out. The first five orders are of date September 4, 1827, as follows: To Joseph Craft (of Henry County), $30; same, $12; Elias Poston (of Rush county), $33; Thomas Wright, $5; Peter Nolin (sheriff), $5. The next orders, as of date November 5, 1827, follow: Goldsmith C. Gilbert, $1.50; L. G. Jackson, $1.50; blank, $10; William VanMatre (clerk), $60. On July 7, 1828, orders were issued as follows: Samuel Simmons (county agent), $5; Joab Vestal, $15; William Smith (of Randolph county), $20; Jonathan Platts (of Wayne county), $21. Of the above, Messrs. Poston, Platts, Craft and Smith were four of the five men appointed by the Legislature to act as agents in organizing Delaware county, the other, Martin Adkins, of Decatur county, apparently not having responded.

Not until in January, 1831, were the orders specified as to character of service rendered, the first such item being that of $2 to William Berry for bounty on wolf scalps. The grand jurors for the April term, 1831, were paid $1.50 for their three days of service, 50 cents a day. These grand jurors were Daniel Burrows, William Blunt, Peter Simmons, Joseph Blunt, Stephen Bunnel, John G. Deeds,

William Early, Isaac Shoemaker, John Haze, Aquilla West, William Casteel, Timothy Templin, Tristram Starbuck, Jacob Powers and Ruel Ragan. The petit jurors also were paid at the rate of 50 cents a day. These petit jurors were John Reeves, Andrew Boggs, John Coon, William Jones, John Stewart, Ralph Heath, Jacob Branson, John Jackson. William Duncan, Henry Smith, Lemuel G. Jackson, William Wise, William Mansfield, David Boggs, William Allen, Thomas Reeves, Jonathan Turner, Daniel Rose, Isaac Branson, Sharrod Brock, John Rees, Joseph Bennet, Uriah Thornburgh, Samuel Simmons, John Mansfield, John Hawk, John Forkner, David Nichols, William Fitzpatrick, N. Roe and Enoch Nation. Joab Vestal, Almon Spencer and John D. Price were allowed $1 a day for services. as bailiffs and John Tomlinson and Samuel McCulloch were paid at the rate of $2 a day for services as associate justices during the three days of court. Thomas Galyean was allowed $2 for rent of room for grand jury and John Marshall was allowed $2 for rent of room for use of court. Order No. 252 was issued to George Green for $2 "'for making a coffin for a pauper." Peter Nolin was paid $20 "for assessing Delaware county." William Fitzpatrick was allowed $5 "for boarding a famished pauper." Wolf scalps were paid for at the rate of $1 apiece and there are numerous entries of allowances in this behalf, some of the hunters apparently making good spending money by their prowess.

Grand Jurors Get A Raise In Pay

At the October term of court (1831) the pay of the grand jurors was raised to 75 cents a day. These grand jurors were William Daugherty, William Jones, John Conner, Solomon Stout, Joab Vestal, James Hodge, Charles Stout, Almon Spencer, David Jones, Mahlon Branson, Henry Jones, George Turner, William Rowe, Henry Bolton and Thomas Bishop. The petit jurors for this term were Isaac Branson, Robert Gibson, John Howell, John VanMatre, David Gharky, George Michael, James West, James Trimble, John McCulloch, William Casteel, Uriah Thornburgh, Sharrod Brock, William Jones, Charles Davis, Daniel Simmons, John Haze, James Hodge, Benjamin Drummond, Conrad Mooter, Obediah Bentley, John Saunders, John Newland, Ezekiel Bazziel, Solomon, Hobaugh, Aaron Stout, John Smith, Jacob Branson and Martin Hoover. William Williams was bailiff of the grand jury and Samuel P. Anthony was allowed $4 "for firewood ar J rent of a room to hold court." An item among the allow- ances of the November term of the board (1831) was of $3.50 to Job Swain "for advertising the sale of school section No. 16, T. 20, R. 10 in The [Centreville] Western Times.' This is the mile square comprising the southwestern portion of the present city of Muncie, the section in which David Gharky established himself. In the sale of that section Gharky bought in eleven parcels of land, totaling 263 acres, for which he paid all the way from $1.50 to $10.01 an acre, the average price for the lot being a fraction more than $3.95 an acre.

On May 9, 1832, Daniel W. Lyon was allowed 3714 cents "for bedding and dieting a prisoner in jail for one day." Real estate transactions apparently were simpler then than now. An order issued on November 9, 1832, called for $2 payable to Henry Tomlinson "for selling school sections in two townships." The price of coffins gradually was rising. Under the allowances in account with the overseers of the poor at the September term, 1835, an order was issued to A. Rockenfield for $5 "for making coffin." At the January term, 1836, Daniel Shawhan, A. McCallister, I. Layman, F. McNary, I. Simpson, E. Cole, E. Pittson, M. Pittson, William Summers, S. Johnston, William Simpson, Isaac Pittson, I. Windsor, William Smith and L. Willson were each allowed 75 cents for services in holding an inquest as a coroner's jury. C. Redpath, coroner, was allowed $5; William Price, constable, 3714 cents, and James Hutson, S. Bodle and I. Pugsley, witnesses, 25 cents each. Among the allowances granted at the September term, 1840, were orders Nos. 612, 618 and 614, those of A. Kennedy for $3.58 "'for defending prisoner; Madison Whitesides, $4.50 "for ironing prisoner," and Silas Morgan, $5 "for guarding prisoner." Evidently the jail was not considered a secure stronghold, as every now and then among these allowances are items "for ironing prisoner," or "for guarding prisoner." At the March term, 1841, a total of $300, in five separate orders, was allowed E. Coffeen "for work on jail,'"' while in the succeeding May term Coffeen was allowed $650, in two separate orders, "for work on jail."

At the June term of the board in 1846 the following tax rate was fixed for the year: State (on each $100 valuation), 25 cents; state poll, 75 cents; lunatic asylum, 1 cent; deaf and dumb asylum, 5 mills; education of the blind, 2 mills; county, 40 cents; county poll, 50 cents; roads, 114, cents per acre on land affected and 15 cents the 7100 valuation of town lots and improvements.

Auditor Anthony Grows Sarcastic

On page 24 of Commissioners Record 5 (the opening file of records preserved from fire), under the head of vacation entries for 1846, there is a carefully drawn set of ruled lines in blank prefaced by the statement that "the auditor of Delaware county submits the following report to the superintendent of common schools in the state of Indiana for the last half year ending on the 31st day of August, 1846." And then the eloquent blank lines. This was followed by an explanation in which Joseph Anthony, the county auditor, sets out that "my delay in forwarding this report is occasioned by a hope that I could procure answers to the questions required in your circular. After much effort I found it impossible to make it complete and I thought it not worth while to send it imperfect. For the reasons why these things cannot be, come and see my last - year's report, and in addition I will add that we have but about half enough of the school laws and forms." Auditor Anthony, who later served a term as judge of the circuit court, apparently had no patience with "red tape."

This was about the time of the erection of the old county seminary. In the journal of the board of commissioners for the September term, 1846, there is a notation of an allowance of $174 to Moses S. Neely "for labor and materials in respect to the completion of the county seminary."

State Senators - The first state senator to represent this district in the upper house of the Indiana General Assembly following the erection of Delaware county in 1827 was Amaziah Morgan, a resident of Rush county, this senatorial district then having embraced the counties of Rush, Henry, Randolph, Delaware and Allen. Morgan was a member of the first board of commissioners of Rush county, erected in 1822. In the next session (1829) the district was represented in the Senate by Daniel Worth, who served for three terms and was succeeded by Samuel Hanna, whose successor in 1835 was Michael Aker. In 1836 Andrew Kennedy, of Muncie, one of the rising lawyers of Indiana, took his seat in the Senate, where he served until his election to Congress in 1841. In the legislative session of 1847-8 he became the nominee of the Democrats for United States senator and this choice would have been ratified by the Assembly, the Democrats being largely in the majority, but pending the meeting of the two houses in joint session he was stricken with small pox and died at Indianapolis on the night of December 31, 1847. It is written that 'not one among his former friends and colleagues could be found willing to superintend the performance of the last sad rites, and the sexton of the cemetery and the driver of the hearse bore his body away at midnight and gave it interment. Both became contaminated with the disease and died during the following week. The General Assembly passed a series of appropriate resolutions, then adjourned in terror of the contagion and did not again convene until a year later."

John Foster was the next senator from this district, which by that time had been narrowed to the counties of Delaware and Randolph, and he was followed by James Hodge and Richard Winchell, both pioneers of this county, during which time Delaware and Grant were joined in a senatorial district. Then in 1849 Joseph 8. Buckles, afterwards circuit judge, was sent to the Senate and after four years of service was succeeded by Isaac Vandeventer, of Grant county, and he in 1857 by Walter March, Muncie's "Yankee lawyer," who in 1850 had represented this district in the state constitutional convention, in 1852 was elected judge of the common pleas court and who in 1879 again served in the Legislature, this time in the lower house. Judge March spent his last days in Muncie, his death occurring in 1888. He remained in the Senate for eight years and thus rendered service in behalf of this district during the stressful days of the Civil war. William A. Bonham and Milton S. Robinson then in turn were sent to the Senate and in 1871 John W. Burson, a Muncie banker, was elected. His seat was contested by William B. Kline, for years a member of the Muncie common council; the Senate declared the seat vacant and James Orr, of Selma, was elected to fill the vacancy. During this period Delaware and Madison counties formed this senatorial district. Orr was succeeded by R. H. Cree and Charles Doxey and the latter in 1879 by Marcus C. Smith, who had rendered previous service as a representative in the Legislature and as mayor of Muncie. It was during his service in the Senate that in 1881 the senatorial district again was changed, this time to comprise Delaware and Henry counties, and the next senator from this district was E. H. Bundy, of the latter county, who served until 1893, when he was succeeded by Ozro N. Cranon, of Delaware county, who was serving when Delaware county was made a separate senatorial district. Wal- ter L. Ball was the first senator from this new district and he was succeeded by Charles M. Kimbrough, also of Muncie, who served during the sessions of 1905-7, and was succeeded by David A. Lambert, sessions of 1909-11; George F. Gelts, 1913-15; Arthur D. McKinley, 1917-19, and the present incumbent, J. Monroe Fitch, 1921-238. Representatives - tThe first representative in the Legislature from this district, in 1827, was Daniel Worth, of Randolph county, who in 1829 was succeeded by Lemuel G. Jackson, one of the founders of old Muncietown, who was succeeded in turn by David Seamans, Elias Murray, David Ribble and David Kilgore, afterward judge of the circuit court and representative in Congress, who was serving in the Legislature when in 1836 Delaware county was given individual representation in the house. Under this new apportionment William VanMatre, first clerk of Delaware county and first postmaster of Muncietown, was sent to the Legislature, and he was succeeded in turn by John Richey, Kilgore again, Abraham Buckles, Eleazer Coffeen and Goldsmith C. Gilbert, the first settler of Muncietown, who died in office, in January, 1844, at Pendleton, from an attack of sudden pneumonia which overtook him there while on his way home from Indianapolis. John Tomlinson, early surveyor and judge of probate, was elected to succeed Gilbert and then came in succession John Trimble, Samuel Orr, Michael Thompson, James Orr, David Kilgore, Marcus C. Smith, William Brotherton, James Orr again, Alfred Kilgore, John B. Ervine, Dr. S. V. Jump, James P. Snodgrass, Arthur C. Mellette and William Ribble, who was serving in 1875 when Jay county was added to Delaware for representative purposes, an apportionment which continued "off and on" as log-rolling legislators would from time to time effect legislative reapportionments, ten or fifteen years. Ribble was succeeded by M. A. Smith, Horatio J. Lockhart, J. Harvey Koontz, Walter March, Gen. John Peter Cleaver Shanks, John W. Ryan, J. E. Mellette, J. Linville, O. N. Cranor, Thomas S. Guthrie and William W. Ross, the latter of whom was serving when under the reapportionment of 1899 Delaware county, which by this time again had become a separate representative district, was given two representatives. Ross was re-elected, together with Asbury L. Kerwood, and they were followed by Oliver Carmichael, who was continued in office for four terms, and Henry L. Hopping, elected in 1900, who served during the session of 1901. Since then the representatives from this district have been as follows: Session of 1903, John V. Baird and Oliver Carmichael; 1905, Oliver Carmichael and

Charles A. McGonagle; 1907, J. Monroe Fitch and Oliver Carmichael; 1909, Lewis G. Cowing and J. Monroe Fitch; 1911, David P. Campbell and William H. Hufford; 19138, Charles W. Barnhart and John W. Schaefer; 1915, Charles A. McGonagle and John W. Schaefer; 1917, Charles A. McGonagle and Jacob D. Miltenberger; 1919, Jacob D. Miltenberger and Clark McKinley, the latter of whom died while a candidate for re-election; 1921, Jacob D. Miltenberger and Mrs. Julia D. Nelson, the first woman to serve in the General Assembly of the state of Indiana; 1923, Lemuel A. Pittinger and Isaac N. Trent.

County Clerks - William VanMatre, who as early as 1823 had come over here into the New Purchase with the considerable family of VanMatres that helped settle the county and had settled in what came to be the Yorktown neighborhood, was the first county clerk elected in the election held in 1827 and he was long an influential figure in local public affairs. He opened the county clerk's office, established a system of orderly routine in the bookkeeping of that office and in 1834 was succeeded by Samuel W. Harlan, who had become established in the mercantile business at Muncietown and who remained in office for twelve years, being succeeded by Thomas J. Mathews, who held the office for almost the same length of time, or until 1859, when George W. Spilker, who later became prominent in local banking circles, took charge of the clerk's office. Spilker served as clerk for eight years, thus occupying the office during the period of the Civil war, and in 1867 was succeeded by George W. Greene, a nephew of Goldsmith Gilbert and a soldier of the Civil war who had come out of the army with a captain's commission. Captain Greene served in the clerk's office for eight years or until 1875, when Asbury L. Kerwood, also a soldier of the Civil war and said to have been the first Delaware county soldier wounded by rebel bullets, came into office, having been elected by the largest majority on his ticket in the fall of 1874. Mr. Kerwood held the office for eight years and in 1883 was succeeded by George F. McCulloch, who had long been serving as deputy clerk and who by re-election was continued in the office for six years or until succeeded by Charles M. Kimbrough in 1889. Kimbrough was succeeded in turn by John E. Reed, George R. Mansfield and Robert I. Patterson, the latter elected in 1902. James H. Leffler was elected in 1906, John W. Mansfield in 1910, Charles F. Bowden in 1914, Frank E. Barber in 1918, and Perry W. Mansfield, incumbent (January 1, 1924), in 1922.

Auditor - During the period of the opening of public affairs here there was not as much bookkeeping involved in the keeping of the public records as there is now and it thus was possible to "double up" on public offices. It was thus that the busy William VanMatre, first clerk of the county and first postmaster of Muncietown, also held the position of first auditor of the county, as well as first recorder, all the vital records of the county therefore being entered under the one hand and in the same office. When he was succeeded by Samuel W. Harlan the latter continued to carry on the duties of both clerk and auditor, but relinquished the office of recorder, there by this time (1834) having developed a sufficient business in the recording of deeds and the like to make this latter function a one-man job. In 1848 Harlan was succeeded in the auditor's office by Joseph Anthony, afterward judge of the circuit court, who served for four years, at the end of which time Harlan was re-elected auditor. He was succeeded in 1857 by Dr. George W. Seitz, who served during the time of the Civil war and during whose term of office the fire occurred in the vaults of the auditor's office that destroyed many of the early records of the county, a story that is set out elsewhere. Seitz was succeeded by J. S. McClintock and the latter by A. J. Buckles, who in 1874 was succeeded by William Dragoo of the pioneer Dragoo family in this county and father of the present auditor of Delaware county. Four years later Capt. William H. Murray, a veteran of the Civil war and father of the present judge of the superior court, was elected auditor and after four years of service was succeeded by William Dragoo, for a second term of service. Dragoo was succeeded by Jacob Stiffler and he by Webster S. Richey and the latter by Robert W. Monroe, who served until the incumbency of Joseph E. Davis, elected in 1902. Davis was re-elected in 1906. Francis M. Williamson was elected in 1910 and re-elected in 1914. In 1918 James P. Dragoo, the present incumbent in the auditor's office, was elected and in 1922 was re-elected to the office.