Elkhart County, Indiana - Chapter 5: General County Matters, 1916

First County Seat - Concord and Elkhart Townships Created - Old Mong-go-qua-nong Township - Jackson Township of Today - Turkey Creek Township, Kosciusko County - Old Middlebury Township - Washington Township - Benton Township of the Present - Jefferson, Clinton, Harrison, Osolo, Union, York, Olive and Lock Townships Successively Formed - Locating the Seat of Justice - Pioneer County Financing - Definite Location of County Seat - Proposed Town of Goshen Selected - Oliver Crane AND the Court House Square - Laid off and Sold Original Town - Temporary Meeting Places - The First Court House - The Court House of 1870-1905 - The Elkhart County Infirmary- - The County Jail - County Societies - Elkhart County Agricultural Society - Early Fairs - Fair Grounds Purchased - Agricultural Society Disbanded - The Pioneers' Association - Elkhart County Historical Society - County Medical Society - Agriculture, the Great Pioneer Industry - Cultivating the Woodlands - Breaking the Prairies - Threshing and Cleaning the Grain - No Rotation of Crops - Improving the Native Swine - Only Scrub Cattle - Just "Homey" Sheep - The Poultry - Population from 1830 to 1910 - Receipts and Expenditures.

Under the act of the Legislature organizing the County of Elkhart an election was held in the spring of 1830, at which were chosen the following officials to administer its affairs: Thomas Thomas, clerk ; Eli Penwell, sheriff ; William Latta and Peter Diddy, associate judges of the Circuit Court; J. W. Violett, recorder; and James Mather, John Jackson and Arminius Penwell, justices of the peace. The first three sessions of the board of justices were held at the house of Chester Sage, a log cabin on the north bank of the St. Joseph River nearly opposite the mouth of the Elkhart; these meetings covered the period from June, 1830, to May, 1831.

In an old record book in the office of tlie county auditor appears the following item under date of June 28, 1830: "The Board of Justices for the County of Elkhart met at the house of Chester Sage in said county, the place appointed by law for doing county business." This first county seat was located in the present City of Elkhart on the bank of the St. Joseph River at the point where the Main Street bridge crosses the stream'.

One of the first acts of the board of justices was the division of the county into two townships, and the following record will show how that was done : "Concord Township shall include all that part of the county northwest of a line beginning at the western boundary of the county between townships 26 and 37 and running thence east to the line between 6 and 7, thence north to the state line, and all that part of the county southeast shall be included in Elkhart Township." From this it would appear that Concord Township included what are now Cleveland, Baugo, Osolo, Concord, Washington and Jefferson townships. Thus instead of drawing the dividing line straight across the county between townships 36 and 37, a block of almost two townships, now called Middlebury and York, was set upon Elkhart Township, which made the area of the latter division much larger than Concord Township. Did we not have the actual records of the board before us, as above quoted, this division would seem almost inexplicable when taken in connection with subsequent township divisions. At the time this boundary line explains the word "southeast" employed in the above record, and without doubt marks the two original townships as the justices intended they should be. However, on the organization of Middlebury Township, noted below, the phraseology used is, "Ordered that all that part of Concord Township in ranges 6 and 7 be set apart and known by the name of Middlebury Township." But range 7 was never constituted, so far as we have record, a part of Concord Township, so that a discrepancy at once arises between the records and the resultant facts. The explanation which suggests itself most readily is that the clerk omitted the phrase, "and of Elkhart Township" directly after "Concord Township" in the above sentence ; or that, in a day when the written word was only a poor symbol for pioneer logic and deed, "in ranges 6 and 7" was meant to be construed as including all that part of the county lying north of the line between townships 36 and t,J and in Elkhart County. At the best, it is an interesting bit of ancient history of this county.

In Elkhart Township was included not only all the rest of the county as at present constituted but, for voting and other purposes, LaGrange, Noble and Steuben counties on the east, and Kosciusko County on the south.

The first important change was made at the session of the board of justices on July 13, 1830, when all the territory east of Elkhart County proper was formed into a separate township and given the unwieldly Indian name Mong-go-qua-nong, and so remained until the counties of Noble, LaGrange and Steuben were erected therefrom.

Jackson Township was the first township to be erected with limits as they are today. This is a full congressional township and as such is designated township 35 north, range 6 east. This organization for civil purposes was effected in November, 1833, and Col. John Jackson was chosen the first justice of the peace.

In May, 1833, the commissioners made the following order: "That all the territory lying south of Elkhart County and attached thereto be designated and set apart and known by the name of Turkey Creek Township." Thus the old Elkhart Township was

In March, 1834. Middlebury Township was set apart from all that part of Concord Township lying in ranges 6 and 7. The new division thus comprised that block of country now known as Middlebury, York, Jefferson and Washington townships.

In January, 1835. Concord Township suft'ered another large diminution of her original bounds. At that time all that portion of the county lying between the Michigan line on the north and the St. Joseph River on the south. St. Joseph County on the west, and range six (the western limit of Middlebury as above fixed) on the east, was organized as an independent township, and was named Cleveland.

Middlebury Township as first constituted soon became too populous to remain as a single township, and on ]May 5. 1835. the commissioners ordered that all that portion of the township lying in range 6 be constituted a township and named Washington.

In the southern part of the county, Elkhart Township was divested of a large district. On November 2, 1835, the commissioners ordered that all the country in congressional township 35, in range 7, be known by the name of Benton Township, and by this act the extreme southeastern corner was set oft' and designated as it is today.

range 5 east and south of the St. Joseph River be set apart and known by the name of Baugo Township." It therefore comprised that strip of country, three miles wide, on the western edge of the county, where now are seen three townships, and during the first years the fractions of the townships now in St. Joseph County were attached to Baugo Township.

At the same session of the commissioners, in March, 1836, an order was entered forming township yj north, range 5 east, into Jefferson Township. This division, created from the original \\'ashington Township, is a full congressional township, except the triangular piece of section 31 cut ofi: by the Elkhart River, and which, by order of the board, became a part of Concord Township.

The board met again in I\Iay, 1836, and directed that "a portion of Elkhait: Township in range 7 be set apart and be known by the name of Clinton." Elkhart Township was by this restricted in size to three congressional townships, and at the September meeting in 1836, township 36 north and range 5 east was constituted intn Harrison Township.

In January, 1837, the original township of Cleveland was divided, and township 38 north and range 5 east, south of the state line, was set apart and named Osolo Township.

In March, 1837, Union Township came into legal existence by order of the commissioners. And on the same date and in direct consequence Elkhart Township was reduced to its present limits, being, technically, township 36 north, range 6 east.

York Township came into existence at the same time with Union. This is the fractional township 38 north, range 7 east, originally a part of Aliddlebury, which, as one of the oldest and most extensive townships, on that date took on the limits by which it is still known.

Two more townships remained to be formed. Under date of November 5, 1839, the commissioners directed that "fractional township 36 north, range 4 east, be set off from Baugo Township, it now being a part thereof," and named Olive.

Locke Township, the little division in the extreme southwest corner of the county, was the last to be formed, and it had a somewhat varied experience before organization. It is said that in the early days its citizens, so far at least as election purposes were concerned, had to go into Harrison Township to vote; they next voted in Union Township, and then in Olive, and finally, in June, 1 84 1, they were set oiT to themselves, the record being as follows: "Ordered that the congressional township No. 35 north of range 4 east, in the County of Elkhart, and State of Indiana, and the same is hereby set off as a civil township to itself for the purposes of transacting township business for said township ; and it is further ordered that said township be known by the name of Locke ; and it is further ordered that an election be held in said township on Saturday, the 24th day of July, 1841, for the purpose of electing a justice of the peace."

Thus were the sixteen townships of Elkhart County created by fiat of the board of trustees and the board of commissioners, at various meetings from June 28, 1830, to June, 1841.

Even before the county government was organized the five commissioners appointed under the creative act to locate the seat of justice were making progress in their assigned duties. The gentle- men selected were William G. Ewing and Hugh Hanna, of Allen County; Samuel Fleming and John Bishop, of Wayne, and John Bennett, of Delaware. They were instructed to meet at Mr. Sage's house on the fourth Monday in May, 1S30. This they did, and then commenced the examination of proposed sites for the county seat. Two days later they met at the same place, and reported that they had selected the southwest quarter of section 24, township 37 north of range 5 east. The tract specified was at the present station of Dunlap, on the New York Central Railroad, a short distance north of the Elkhart River, and nearly opposite the county asylum on the south shores of the stream. As there was no county government at the time the commissioners held their meeting after they had selected the site, they could only report to themselves, and therefore adjourned to July 12th following.

The board of justices and other county officers had in the meantime been elected, and although the commissioners' report was placed on record by that body, no action was taken upon it, and the Legislature of 1830-31 passed an act for relocating the county seat. The act was approved February 10, 1831.

The election for a state representative, sheriff" and coroner, ordered to be held on the first Monday in August, 1830, occurred, as provided for - for Concord Township, at Mr. Sage's house, and for Elkhart Township, at the schoolhouse on Elkhart Prairie.

The first records of county finances indicate thrift and close sailing to reach port safely. In 1830 the revenue collected amounted to $198.00, and the disbursements, $183.43. The receipts were derived from various items of taxation, as follows : The poll tax was ZlV- cents; a like amount was levied on each horse, one-half that sum on each work ox ; 25 cents was the rate for a silver watch, one dollar for a brass clock, one dollar for a four-wheeled carriage, and seventy-five cents for a two-wheeled carriage. These direct taxes probably were cheerfully paid, although occasionally we find recorded the case of a man who had his tax remitted on the ground that it was unjustly large.

The last meeting of the board of justices was held in July, 1831, and on the following September 5th Edward Downing and George McCollum were sworn into office as members of the new board of commissioners. That was the governing body of the county for nearly seventy years. Both of these sessions were held at the residence of Thomas Thomas, county clerk, a short distance east of Elkhart on what is known as Two-Mile Plain.

One of the last, and certainly the most important of the acts performed by the old board of justices, was that which fixed the county seat at Goshen. Under the legislative act of 1831 the commissioners named to examine sites and make a recommendation as to the one most suitable, were L. G. Thompson and L. Davis of Allen County; Hiram Todd and Walter Wilson, of Cass County; and David Miller, of St. Joseph County. The place designated for them to meet from which to proceed to the performance of the duties devolving upon them was at the mouth of the Elkhart River, and the time set for their meeting was the third Monday in March, 1831.

The record of the board of justices shows that Anthony L. Davis, L. G. Thompson and David Miller, a quorum of these commissioners, met on the day designated and proceeded with their work. On the 26th of May they submitted their report to the board. The report recites that they examined the several sites under consideration, including the one previously selected, and recommended that it be vacated and the county seat relocated. The new location selected was described as the south fraction of the northeast quarter and the north fraction of the southeast quarter of section 9 in township 36 north, of range 6 east; providing that the two fractions should not exceed the maximum quantity of one hundred and sixty acres, to which the county had the right of preemption for county seat purposes. The commissioners further recommended that, should the two fractions exceed the maximum quantity, the first described fraction should be preempted and the second purchased by the county.

The records show further that the commissioners recommended the name of Goshen as a suitable name to be given to the town which should be built at the proposed seat of justice. The report was accepted and approved by the board of justices, the seat of justice was located and the name of Goshen was otScially given to the site at the time selected.

H. S. K. Bartholomew, president of the Elkhart County Historical Society, has written the following regarding the connection of Oliver Crane with the acquisition of the court house property and the platting of the original town site : "The opinion seems to be held by a great many people that the land included in the present court square was acquired from Oliver Crane, one of the earlier residents of this portion of the county. It is also believed that he gave the land to the county with the stipulation that should it ever cease to be used for that purpose it should revert to his heirs. The records show, however, that this opinion was not well founded. The fact is that a tract of ninety-two and twenty-eight hundredths acres of land was acquired from the government by preemption, as had been recommended by the commissioners. This tract embraced all of that part of the present City of Goshen which lies between the Elkhart River on the west and Broad Alley, now Cottage Avenue, on the east; and between Clinton Street on the north and the first alley south of Washington Street on the south. The deed of conveyance for this parcel of land was executed June 7, 1833, and is signed by Andrew Jackson, president of the United States, and attested by his private secretary, Andrew J. Donelson, and by Elijah Hayward, commissioner of the general land office. It states specially that the conveyance is made in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress passed in 1824, granting to parishes and counties in each state or territory the right of preemption to quarter sections of land for seats of justice. The deed is recorded on page 98 in deed record No. i of Elkhart County. Thus the county records completely controvert the timehonored tradition that Oliver Crane donated to the county the land which is included in the present court park.

"There is another tradition, which seems to rest on a better foundation, that Oliver Crane first suggested the name of Goshen for the proposed county seat town, and that he did so because he had come from a town of that name in New York. Hon. John E. Thompson and the late .\nthony Defreese were questioned by the writer as to what they knew concerning this tradition. Both of them stated that for the past fifty years or more it had been generally accepted as true. And in a personal memoir by the late John W. Irwin appears the following statement: 'Among the principal men who were early settlers here before 1832, the time of coming of Alexander Irwin, was Oliver Crane, who had come from Orange County, New York, the county town of which was named Goshen. It is understood that he was mainly influential in inducing those who had charge of laying out our county seat town for the name given it. My father is claimed to have been consulted about the name in 183 1 and favored it, not from the standpoint of Crane, to follow a town name to which he was attached from local considerations, but from the fitness of the name as being a country rich and productive, as that of Goshen in Egypt, occupied, by the designation of Joseph, by his kinspeople during their sojourn in that country.' The public records appear to contain nothing either to prove or disprove this opinion. All that has been found concerning the matter is what has already been stated : That the name was recommended by the commissioners who chose the site for the county seat, and was officially confirmed by the Board of Justices in whom was vested the authority to transact all county business.

"The name of r)liver Crane is prominently identified with the earliest history of the Town of Goshen in another way, even though he is not entitled to the honor of having given the court square to the public. At the session of the Board of Justices held May 2, 1831, he was appointed agent for the county seat. This was just before the present site was selected. At the session of the board held June 21st, after the county seat had been re-located, he was ordered to lay of? into lots the tract which had been chosen for this purpose. He was further ordered to advertise half of the lots to be sold on the 2d day of July. In September of the same year he made his first report, showing that he had sold fifty-four lots, receiving therefor $2,607.75. I" November, 183 1, he was succeeded by Robert Randall as county agent. It appears from the record, however, that Crane was associated with his successor and with the county surveyor, George Crawford, in surveying and laying out lots in the new town. The public records also show^ that twelve lots were reserved by the county for a public square and public buildings. These lots, numbers 131 to 136, inclusive, fronting on Main Street, and numbers 155 to 160, inclusive, fronting on Third Street. "Besides the tract which was acquired from the Government by preemption, the county purchased of Oliver Crane another tract lying immediately north of it and including that portion of the present City of Goshen which lies north of Clinton Street, east of the Elkhart River and south of the New York Central Railroad. Its area is twenty-seven acres, three roads and three rods, the deed for which was made September 2, 1834, signed by Oliver Crane and his wife, Elizabeth Crane, and acknowledged before Peter L. Runyan, a justice of the peace. This tract was a part of the northwest quarter of section 9, township 36 north, range 6 east, and which was entered from the Government by Ephraim Seeley August 2, 1831. The two parcels of land which were acquired, the one by preemption and the other by purchase, aggregated one hundred and twenty acres, six and two-sevenths rods."

At the first meeting of the Board of Commissioners held at the residence of County Clerk Thomas in September, 1831, only Edward Downing and George McCollum were present. At the next session John Jackson, the third member of the board, presented his certificate, the meeting being held at the residence of Commissioner McCullom on ]\Iain Street opposite the square. In January, 1832, another meeting was held at the same place. In March, of that year, the board met at the house of Luke Hulett, near the present site of the Baptist Church, Sixth and Washington, Goshen. From May, 1832, until August, 1833, the commissioners met at Abner Stilson's tavern, located where the Kindig Block now stands at the corner of Main Street and Lincoln Avenue, also at the county seat. The court house was completed in 1833, the board of commissioners assembling therein for the first time in September of that year.

During the period when the county had no structural representative of its dignity, Justice, in the form of the Circuit and Probate courts, patiently wielded her sceptre at the homes of such good citizens as Chester Sage, Thomas Frier, Henry Dusenberry, George McCullom and Abner Stilson, the last being the hotel man. With

As to Elkhart County's first court house, no record has been found of any contract made for its construction, although several of the pioneers, who were in positions to be authorities on the subject, agree that the builder was Jacob Studebaker, who modeled the structure after the court house at Dayton, Ohio. The only citizen of the county, whose residence and memory directly connect him with that period, is the venerable John W. Ellis, of Elkhart City, who is in his ninety-first year (spring of 1916) and still bright and strong mentally ; in view of his years, he is also in a wonderful state of preservation, physically. The editor is proud to acknowledge him as one of his associates in the preparation of this work.

had brought him, with other members of the family, from his native county of Oswego, New York, where he had been engaged for a number of years in unprofitable farming. At an earlier period, however, he had become interested in lake transportation, and when he located on a large tract of land in the Two-Mile Plain, now in the eastern edge of Elkhart City, he not only engaged in farming, but in the river business, owned boats, built a hotel on his farm - a stage inn - erected a large warehouse at Elkhart, and became a busy, successful man in the new country to which he had transferred his large family.

John W. inherited his father's abilities and at the age of twenty had become his mainstay in many of his enterprises, and for many decades after never slackened in the founding and prosecution of works which have been creditable to him and conducive to the development of his home community. His large and varied interests brought him often to the county seat, so that he has had ample opportunity to verify his clear recollections of the old court house. To make the description still clearer Air. Ellis, on the last day of March, 1916, sent to the writer a penciled outline of the interior arrangement of the building completed when he was a young boy and when his busy father used to occasionally drive his bright and sturdy hopeful to Goshen and its court house. It seems that the original structure was forty feet square and two stories in height, with the county offices on the second floor. The court room occupied the entire first floor. The main entrance was from the east, and the judge's seat, or bench, opposite, against the western wall. On the northern and southern sides were two large fireplaces - one on each side - and the offices above were similarly accommodated, large chimneys running up along the outside of the walls.

Several years later the county offices became so inadequate that one-story wings were erected on either side of the main entrance and were occupied by the treasurer, auditor, sheriff and recorder.

In 1868, after thirty-five years of honest wear, the old court house showed such signs of dissolution that work was begun on a structure more appropriate to the progress and standing of the county. The undertaking, which was in charge of Commissioners

James Bechtel, J. E. Thompson and Nathaniel Thompson, was completed in 1870. It was of brick and stone, classic in architecture, two stories and basement, covered 82 by ^2 feet, and from base to cornice was 52 feet in height. At the south end was a clock tower, which was twice the height of the main building and which became so oppressively imposing that in 1905, when the court house was lengthened at both ends and generally remodeled, that obtrusive feature was eliminated. A dome-like and moderate tower, in proportion with the dimensions and in harmony with the general architectural lines of the body of the court house, was substituted, so that the present structure is really imposing and creditable to the judgment and taste of designers and builders. The total ground space added was 87 by 70 feet. The well-lighted basement contains accommodations for several county officers, toilet and rest rooms, and the County Historical Society, with an interesting museum in connection with the last named. The main floor is also occupied by the officers of various county departments, and a broad staircase leads from the central court to the court rooms, jury rooms, office of the county prosecutor, witness rooms, and all other modern accommodations for the efficient and pleasant administration of justice. About $100,000 was expended in the well-conceived and executed work of addition and reconstruction in 1905.

"In the early forties," according to P. M. Henkel, "there was no asylum for the care of the poor and indigent persons. Such as were dependent upon public charity were farmed out by the county commissioners for their support by the year to the lowest responsible bidder. At this date (1845) but two persons in the county were provided for. The first farm purchased by the county to be used as an asylum for the poor was located in Jefferson township and consisted of eighty acres. A superintendent was appointed and all indigent persons transferred to his care." This poor farm was 25^ miles northwest of Goshen, and was known as the Adam Harman Farm.

In 1847 Miss Dix. the eminent iihilanthropist and reformer of prison conditions, visited on her tour of inspection the institutions of Elkhart County, and her strictures relative to the county poor farm were specially severe. "The poor house." to quote Miss

Dix's report as it appeared in a local paper of that year, "is situated several miles from Goshen, and has a farm of eighty acres, forty of which are cultivated. Xo dwelling is as yet constructed for the poor of sufficient capacity for their suitable accommodation. The situation of this establishment is remote and difficult of access." Only three individuals were kept there at county expense at that time, so that it is hardly surprising that the home had not yet reached the dignity and efficiency of a public institution.

Perhaps this criticism led to the action of the county board in 1853 Ijy which a substantial building was planned for the accommodation of the county's almoners. This house was erected on Elkhart Prairie, five miles southeast of Goshen, on the old Fort Wayne Road. The poor house was burned in February, 1871, but was replaced by another in the summer of that year. In 1882 the county commissioners traded with \\\ D. Platter for a marsh farm of 453 acres between Bristol and Elkhart on the St. Joseph River. This trade was rescinded by the new board of commissioners elected in 1882, and. Platter refusing to surrender the old farm, a lawsuit followed. The case was in the courts two years, was tried in the Circuit Court at LaGrange before Judge Robert Lowry, of Fort Wayne, who decided in favor of the county. Platter took an appeal to the Supreme Court, where Judge Lowry's decision was affirmed, so that the county continued in the possession of its farm on Elkhart Prairie several years longer.

In 1885 the farm on the prairie was sold, and the site of the present Elkhart County Infirmary was bought of David Rupp, for the sum of $5,000. The farm is located at Dunlaps, in Concord Township, half way between Goshen and Elkhart, and is reached by the interurban electric line. It contains no acres, of which eighty acres are tillable land. As to live stock, there are 18 head of cattle, 7 horses, 40 hogs and 200 head of poultry of all kinds.

The asylum, as it was then known, which was erected in 1886, is a brick building, two stories and basement, and contains sixtyfive rooms. The east side is for the women and the west for the men. An addition to the main structure, 31 by 60 feet, was made in 1905, which provides for a hospital, and rooms and cells for the several classes of insane patients. Since that year improvements in the buildings, farm and grounds have been continuous, so that Elkhart County Infirmary meets every requirement. As an institution it cares for forty males and twenty-three females.

The present county jail, on the west side of the court house square in its exterior aspect resembles a pretentious private residence. Its reconstruction to the present condition occurred in 1879, costing the county over $20,000. It is said that Ira Storr was the first offender to be incarcerated in the old building.

There are several societies and institutions whose scope is county-wide, and their histories fall logically within this chapter. The old County Agricultural Society, with its exciting and instructive fairs held generally at or near Goshen, is no more, but in its place have arisen the farmers' institutes, granges and other bodies of agriculturists cooperating for mutual improvement and the progress of their calling and social conditions. The County Medical Society is a stalwart combination of the medical fraternity of many years standing, and the early physicians and surgeons of the county were prominent in the Union Medical Society of Xorthem Indiana before they formed a separate association. Although the members of the bar have had an association for years, its membership is not as general among the lawyers as that of the medical society among the physicians. For twenty years, on the other hand, the County Historical Society has been alive and doing a fine work in its field, which is both the preservation of all literature, whether published or in manuscript, bearing legitimately upon the history of Elkhart County, as well as the collection of such illustrative articles as photographs of pioneers or pioneer buildings, relics of the olden times, historic and prehistoric, souvenirs of war and of peace, and other curios of the museum order.

The county fairs, the first of which was held in 1 851 and the last in 1893, exercised a wholesome influence upon the agriculture of the county and contributed materially toward its progress. These fairs were held under the auspices of the Elkhart County Agricultural Society, which was organized in 1851. But long before this an agricultural society had been proposed, as is shown by the following extract from the commissioners' record : At May session, 1836, "ordered that the clerk write six advertisements that there will be held at the court house in the town of Goshen on the last Saturday of June next a meeting for the purpose of organizing a county agricultural society, and that the sheriff set up the same in the most public place in the county." No permanent result seems to have followed this action of the board.

The history of the county's agriculture would be incomplete without some mention of the society and the exhibits it held from year to year. The first officers of the organization were : Ebenezer M. Chamberlain, president; C. A. Hinman, vice president; Charles L. Murray, secretary; Nathan Smiley, treasurer. The first fair was held in the court yard at Goshen, October 24th and 25th of the same year. There was what was then considered an excellent exhibit of the products of the farm, including grains, fruits and vegetables, as well as live stock. In later years the same exhibit would have been considered very small and inferior in quality. In the live-stock department horses were well represented, there being a total of 45. There were but 16 head of cattle, 9 sheep and 4 hogs. According to the secretary's report there was not shown at the fair a single pure-bred animal of any kind. Among the exhibitors that year were Elias Paul, Irvin Vincent, George P. Rowell, S. H. Weyburn, M. M. Latta, Azel Sparklin, Peter Fetters, James Canton, William Vesey, J. W. Violett, Matthew Rippey, Henry G. Davis, Thomas Miller and Abner Blue, names which were well known throughout the county at that time and for years afterward and many of whose descendants are among the leading citizens of the county at the present day.

The fairs continued to be held in the court yard and court house for four years, when a small plat of ground, consisting of four acres, was purchased for fair ground purposes. This ground was located on the south side of Madison Street in Goshen and extended some distance east and west of Ninth Street. Later a tract of ten acres was purchased about half way between Goshen and Water- ford and fitted up for fair ground purposes. In 1866 and from 1868 to 1873, inclusive, no fairs were held. In 1874 a fine tract of land consisting of twenty-nine acres lying just outside of the corporate limits of Goshen on the east side of the Fort Wayne Road, was purchased by a joint stock company organized for this purpose, and leased to the society. The lease also stipulated that the society should have the privilege of purchasing the grounds at some time in the future, which was done. In 1874 a successful fair was held on the new ground, and this continued for a period of nineteen years.

In 1892 the agricultural society became embarrassed financially and a year later, after holding an unsuccessful fair, it practically disbanded. Subsequently the beautiful grounds were sold, and for twelve years Elkhart County held no fairs. Several years ago a new site was established at the Lesh farm just east of the city, and fairs are held each year.

ization, its meetings aroused much enthusiasm not only among members, but the entire populace, and were eagerly looked forward to as one of the annual events of the county's social life. The first annual meeting of the association was held at the court house on May ii, 1858, with James H. Barns as chairman and E. W. H. Ellis, secretary.

At Elkhart County's second annual farmers" institute, held in Goshen in January, 1893, tlie late Joseph Rippey read a paper on the subject of Pioneer Farming. For three years following the subject was discussed at the institutes, the second paper being presented by Thomas Miller, the third by John H. Violett and the fourth by Dr. M. M. Latta. Finally, on January 4, 1896, the Elkhart County Historical Society was formally organized with a membership of twenty-six people.

The purposes of the organization are declared by its constitution to be: "To secure and preserve historical data, reminiscences, records, relics and whatever else may be of value or interest in connection with the history of Elkhart county or its inhabitants." From the date of its inception the society has labored faithfully for the accomplishment of these purposes. It has collected many articles of exceptional value, a number of which it would be impossible to duplicate. It has also many rare old documents and papers bearing upon the early history of the county and describing the life of the pioneers.

Public meetings have been held from time to time, at which addresses have been delivered and papers read, touching upon some phase or other of our local history. Interest in the society has been steadily growing from year to year and there are at present a greater number of people concerned in its welfare than ever before since it was organized. While it has not accomplished all that was expected or desired, its work has been very satisfactory and its future outlook is encouraging.

in the '40s. (Jt the Union Medical Society of Northern Indiana - for such was the name of this body - E, W. H. Ellis was president and M. M. Latta secretary when the third semi-annual meeting was held at the Milage of Benton in November, 1847. The principal paper and discussion concerned the use and abuse of mercury. There was also an address on non-paying patrons. At the meeting of the society in June, 1848, at Goshen, Doctor Chamberlain read a paper on the nature and causes of congestion ; Doctor Jackson spoke on the influence of cold in producing diseases, and Doctor Parks read a paper on pneumonia. The officers chosen for the year were: E. W. H. Ellis, president; R. Willard, vice president; M. M.

Latta, recording secretary; P. Henkel, corresponding secretary; S. B. Kyler, treasurer, and Chamberlain, Jackson, Willard, Fowler, Kyler, censors.

During the first two decades after the settlement of Elkhart County its people depended almost entirely upon agriculture and live stock for their livelihood and material advancement. When the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern and other railroads were pushed through northern Indiana in the early '50s, the contracted transportation facilities previously afiforded by the flat boats and the little steamboats which had so long plied the St. Joseph, and by the bad or indifferent highways and stage lines incident to land travel - these land and waterways along which flowed with fair safety the grain and flour and hogs and cattle toward the ports of the great lakes and the eastern country - gave way to a system which was seen, from the first, to be capable of such expansion that manufacturers to their utmost increase could be handled and distributed to the best markets. But before that time came, when the people of St. Joseph Valley and Elkhart County had to raise and make most of the things which they ate and wore right at home, the products and riches of the soil were all-in-all.

This period of the county's history, in which nearly all the leading citizens of northern Indiana courted the favors of Mother Earth in order to advance their interests and the development of their home counties, has been well described by H. S. K. Bartholomew, president of the Elkhart County Historical Society and a widely known writer. What follows on that subject has been extracted from one of his papers on "The History of Agriculture."

The pioneer farmers' first work, with the exception of those individuals who were fortunate enough to secure lands upon the fertile prairies, was to clear away the forest which covered their newly chosen farms. This at the very beginning was a great obstacle to their progress. Only small patches of ground could be cleared at first and these were planted to corn. The ground was plowed with a wooden mould-board plow and a team consisting of several yoke of oxen. It usually took two persons to do the plowing, a man to hold the plow, and either a man or boy to drive the team. In a few years plows with iron mould-boards were introduced, but as they would not seam well in all kinds of soil they were not considered a success at first. Besides, as the ground was full of roots, or new stumps and standing trees, the wooden mouldboard was less liable to break than one of iron, so it was better adapted to the conditions than the iron one. The cultivation was done with the hoe at first, then came the single-shovel plow, which was in use for a number of years. Among the trees, stumps and roots both plowing and cultivation were tedious, laborious and disagreeable work. This condition continued for a number of years, until the stumps had decayed sufficiently to make it possible to remove them.

On the prairies the work of plowing and cultivating were less disagreeable and could be done more rapidly. There was no clearing to be done, and this saved a great deal of hard labor. The first work was to turn over the prairie sod, and this was done with the same kind of a plow and team as in the newly cleared timbered lands. As the sod was turned over a man followed about every third furrow, dug into the top of the furrow with his foot or with a hoe and planted corn, covering it in the same way. In some instances the corn was dropped in the furrow very near the outside, so that the edge of the next furrow when turned over would be directly over the grain. The corn would then come through between the two furrows. Dr. A. C. Jackson says that on the farm of his father. Col. John Jackson, the first year's crop was not cultivated from the time it was planted until it was husked.

In the early '40s a machine was in use which threshed out the grain and dispensed both with the use of the flail and the tramping of the horses. This machine consisted of only a cylinder and was operated by horse power. When the threshing was done by any of these methods the grain had to be separated from the chafif by fanning with a sheet, the wind blowing the chaff away. There were no fanning mills then, but they were introduced a few years later, the exact year not being known. These mills were in their crudest form but were considered a great improvement over the winnowing sheet. All of this labor had to be done in order that the farmer might produce a supply of wheat sufficient to provide bread for his family and if possible a small surplus to sell.

No attention was paid to the rotation of crops. Corn was planted after corn and wheat after wheat, and that was continued year after year. Sometimes these crops were alternated, but only as a matter of convenience and not to prevent the exhaustion of the soil. It was not thought necessary at that time to give any attention to this matter, which has come to be one of the most important questions the farmer of the present day has to consider. When the timber was first cleared away the land was full of fertility and nobody then had any idea that these lands would ever cease to furnish sufficient nourishment for any crops that might be planted. Had the same care been exercised in conserving fertil- ity then as the farmers are compelled to exercise now, the soils would never have become impoverished, as so many of them have, and it would be just as easy to raise good crops as it was when the land was first brought under cultivation.

The first swine of an improved breed of which there is any definite knowledge were brought to Elkhart County in 1850. Elisha D. Irwin purchased of a man named Bothwell in the eastern part of Noble County a sow of the breed known as the Irish Grazier and brought her to his farm on Elkhart Prairie. At the same time Jesse D. \"ail, of Benton Township, sent with Mr. Irwin bought a pig of the same man. Mr. Irwin brought both of them in a wagon, the distance he hauled them being over thirty miles. Both Mr. Irwin and Mr. Vail bred this strain of hogs for a number of years. They were so far superior to the native breed that a ready sale was found for all surplus stock for breeding purposes, and in five or six years they were extensively bred all over that section of the country. The swine referred to were white and of attractive appearance. They somewhat resembled the old Chester W'hites, but those who bred them pronounced them superior to that breed. It recjuired about eighteen months to mature and fatten them, so it can be readily understood that they would not be adapted to presentday conditions.

The cattle which the pioneers brought with them were scrubs, but as a rule they were a better type of animals than were the swine. They were kept until they were four years old before they were slaughtered, and when rtiarketed at that age they brought from $12 to $15. They were neither of the beef nor the dairy type, but were used for all purposes. The cows furnished the family's supply of milk and butter, but that was all. The steers on a good many farms were trained for work, the ox team then being in continuous use. Such animals as were not used for either of these purposes were killed for beef. The breeding of blooded stock as a specialty or as a branch of general farming was not begun until after 1850. The first blooded animal concerning which there is any positive knowledge was a Short-horn cow, owned by Alexander Irwin. This cow was purchased in 1833 of a man who was driving a herd of blooded cattle through from Pennsylvania to this state and selling them wherever he found a buyer. Whether they were pure-bred animals or only a good type of grade is not known. Mr. Irwin bought the cow referred to expecting to establish a herd of that breed of cattle on his farm, but he died in 1835 and his plans were never materialized. The ordinary scrub cattle were all that were to be seen here for over two decades after the county was settled.

Sheep were brought here by some of the earliest settlers, and they have been raised in the county continuously. Like the other animals the first sheep kept by our pioneer farmers were scrubs, and for twenty years or more no other sheep were known. They were kept for the purpose of supplying wool for home use, the product being woven into cloth and made into garments. Major Violett, who located in the vicinity of Waterford in 1829, kept a large flock of sheep, probably the largest in the county for a number of years. Of the first blooded sheep to be brought into the county but little is known. The first man to exhibit them at the county fair was William Long, of Benton Township. This was in the early '50s.

Just when blooded chickens were introduced is not known nor is it known who introduced them. Jacob Pfieffer, Jr., of Middlebury Township, and the Lattas, of Elkhart Township, were among the first farmers to begin improving their flocks of poultry by the introduction of blooded stock. The first pure breed chicken that was brought in was the old Shanghai, some time in the 'sos. They were greatly inferior to the improved breeds of the present day, but they w-ere so far superior to the water fowls that they immediately found favor with the progressive farmers. After the Shanghais came the Brahmas and the Cochins, which were still better. These were the leading meat breeds that were kept here during the '60s and '70s. The first of the egg-producing breeds were the

In 1830, the year of the civil organization of Elkhart County, the Federal census enumerators gave this political division of the state a population of 935. During the following decade the rich and beautiful valley of the St. Joseph attracted thousands of agriculturists, who had become weary of struggling in the contracted areas of the East and sought freedom and fortune for themselves and their children in the West. Notwithstanding the lack of canal transportation, the St. Joseph and Elkhart rivers offered a fair outlet for the home products to Lake Michigan and thence to the region of the great lakes. And there was already promise of railroad transportation from the East, by way of Buffalo, across Northern Indiana. Consequently, Elkhart County "looked good" to so many plucky emigrants that by 1840 it had a population of 6,660.

In 1850 the United States census reports indicated that i2,6go people had settled within the limits of the county, and within the following decade, when the railroads really came and the solid future of that section of the state was assured, Elkhart County made its greatest advance in population. In i860 the figures showed a population of 20,986 and, despite the retarding effects of the Civil war, it had increased to 26,026 in 1870, and to 33.454 in 1880.

Especially since 1890 have the census figures been of value and interest to home communities, covering, as they do, the details of townships, towns and cities. We therefore append the statistics for 1890, 1900 and 1910:

The reader will doubtless note as he progresses through these pages that they are not loaded with figures. When lugged in immoderately, statistics only becloud the understanding. Their only excuse of existence in a plain tale or picture is to illustrate : as in the case of the following tables, which exhibit the comparative wealth, or taxable power, of the dilTerent townships and corporations in Elkhart County.

It is of interest to note that the levying of land taxes according to valuation dates from 1835. Previous to that year taxes were levied by the acre, irrespective of valuation, but with the development of the newer counties of the state, and the increased and wide variation of values, it was seen that the old system was unfair. In the year named, therefore, the Legislature passed an act dividing lands into three classes, according to their market value, which were taxed accordingly. Although the law at first was strongly opposed, presumably by those who had previously been under-taxed, it has stood up to the present.

The board of commissioners of the county submits an annual report, in accord with a legislative act of 1899, showing receipts and expenditures. From its last statement, for the year ending December 31, 1915, it appears that the balance in the treasury on January 1st of that year was $3,740.34; receipts from all sources, $5,065.73 ; total, $8,806.07. The disbursements for the year were $5,616.66, leaving a balance, December 31, 1915, of $3,189.41.