Fayette County, Indiana - Chapter 6: Civil Organization of the County, 1885

Chapter 6: Civil Organization of the County

FAYETTE COUNTY was established by an act of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana approved December 28, 1818, and named at the same time in honor of Gen. Lafayette. The act creating the county took effect January 1, 1819, and with this date the history of the county as a civil division begins.

The county was formed of territory taken principally from the counties of Wayne and Franklin> which counties were created at the same time by an act of the Assembly of Indiana Territory passed November 27, 1810, to take effect from February 1, 1811.

Going another step backward, the counties of Wayne and Franklin were formed from Dearborn and Clark, which originally embraced a large scope of country, out of which many counties were subsequently formed.

The western boundaries of Wayne and Franklin Counties was the western boundary line of the "Twelve- Mile Purchase," which boundary line with reference to Fayette County as it is at present, extended from a point in the northeastern corner of Posey Township, about a quarter of a mile west of the eastern boundary of the township, in a southwest diagonal direction, passing through the townships of Posey, Harrison, Connersville, Columbia and Orange, to a point on the northern boundary lino of Franklin County as it is to-day, a half mile west of the eastern boundary of Orange Township. The line dividing the counties of Wayne and Franklin, as designated in the act, corresponded with the line which at present separates Connersville and Harrison Townships, and Waterloo and Jennings Townships.

Section 1. - Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, that from and after the first day of January next all that tract or parcel of country which is enclosed within the following boundaries shall constitute and form a new county to be known and designated by the name and style of the county of Fayette, to wit, beginning at the southeast corner of Section 33, Township 13, Range 13, thence north three miles, thence east three miles to the old boundary line; thence north to fractions 28 and 33. in Township 1.5, Range 14, east of the second principal meridian; thence west on said line to a line dividing Sections 27 and 28 in Township 15, Range 12, east of the second principal meridian; thence nortli on said line to a line dividing Town.ships 15 and 16; thence west six miles; thence south eighteen miles; thence east so far as to intersect the line dividing Townships 12 and 13; thence along said line east to the place of beginning.

From the boundaries above described it will be observed by comparison that the county when formed was minus the strip of country it now possesses in eastern Jackson south of Jennings, extending two miles east and west and three miles north and south; and its eastern boundary was the " Old Boundary Line," or, as it is sometimes called, the " Indian Boundary." In 1821. when Union County was created, the territory east of the present eastern boundary line of Fayette lying between said eastern boundary and the "Old Boundary Line " was given to Union. By an act approved January 16, 1826, the strip of territory heretofore referred to in eastern Jackson Township was attached to Fayette.

So much of the territory of Fayette County as it now exists, as lies east of the western boundary line of the "Twelve-Mile Purchase," and north of the line dividing Harrison and Connersville Townships, and the townships of Waterloo and Jennings, extending to the eastern boundary line of the county, was taken from Wayne County; that portion south between the western and eastern boundaries as above described from Franklin County, and all territory west of the western boundary line of the "Twelve-Mile Purchase," from the " New Purchase."

Section 3 of the act of the General Assembly creating the county, made provision for its seat of justice and appointed William Bradley, of the County of Switzerland; James Dill and John Watts, of Dearborn County; Williamson Dunn, of Jefferson County, and John F. Boss, of Clark County, Commissioners, for the purpose of locating the same. They were to convene at the house of John McCormac, in Fayette County, on the third Monday of February, 1819. These five Commissioners assembled at the house designated, February 16, 1819, but adjourned without accomplishing the object in view, however. On the day following they again Convened and ' ' pro- ceeded to fix and establish tlie permanent seat of justice in and for Fayette County, to be in the public square laid off and recorded by Joshua Harlan, in the town of Conneravillo, county of Fayette and State of Indiana, on the northwest quarter of Section 25, in Township 14, Range 12 east ot second meridian, in the district of lands offered for sale at Cincinnati- Said square is bounded on the northeast by Monrge Street, and on the southwest by Market Street, as laid off and recorded by John Conner and Joshua Harlan, and as by the plat of said town. Permanent seat of justice declared as above, and fixed, February 17» 1819."

County Bdildings

First Jail. - At a special meeting of the Board of Commissioners, held March 6, 1819, it was ordered that "there shall be a jail built and erected on the public square on which the seat of justice is established, in the town of Connersville, in and for the county of Fayette, and on the west side of an alley running through said public square, nearly in a north and south direction, at or next to where the schoolhouse now stands; which said jail shall be built on the following plan: to be built with logs thirty feet long by sixteen, hewn to a square twelve inches thick; two partition walls of logs of the same size; floor and loft to be laid of logs of the same size aforesaid, the middle room to be twelve feet in the clear, the other two rooms seven feet each in the clear; the logs out of which said jail is to be built to be of good sound oak, cherry, red elm, honey locust, or ash timber; the logs, when said jail is raised, to be let in by a half dovetail in such a manner as to let the logs as'near together as they conveniently can be; the upper and lower floor to be laid 80 as the timbers will touch from end to end; to be under-framed with good stone, one foot under ground and one foot above the surface of the ground; each room of said jail to be ceiled inside except the under part of the upper floor, with oak plank an inch and a half in thickness, well seasoned, and not to exceed twelve inches in width, and to be well spiked with iron spikes at least four inches in length and not less than eleven to each plank; said jail to be at least nine feet between the floors, and one round of logs above the upper floor, as before mentioned, on which upper round of logs the rafters shall so far be projected as to give an eave twelve inches clear of the wall; said jail to be covered with poplar joint shingles not exceeding eighteen inches in length; two outside doors and one on the inside, the doors to be made out of oak plank, one inch and a half in thickness, well doubled and spiked with spikes at least four inches in length, to be placed not to exceed four inches apart and clinched in the inside of each door; each door to be two feet in width, two iron bars to be fixed to each outside door, which bars to be onehalf inch by two inches, one end of each bar to be fastened to the logs on each side of the door by a staple, and the other end to be locked to a staple on the opposite side of the door; one window to be in each room, twelve inches by eighteen in size, iron grates, of an inch and a quarter in size, fixed in each window, two inches apart, said grates to be well plastered in at least three inches on the upper and lower part of. each of said windows; said jail doors to be well hung with good and sufficient strap hinges; the whole of the work on said jail to be done in a workmanlike manner.

" The building of this jail is to be set up and offered at public sale and outcry to the lowest bidder at the public square in the town of Connersville on the 13th day of this instant * * * to be completed by the first day of September next at the expense of the county." The Sheriff was to attend to the selling of it. The contract was let to Jonathan John and the building was completed within the time specified. The jail was examined and accepted by the Commissioners in August, 1819, and the contractors allowed $704 for its construction.

First Court House. - In November, 1819, the Commissioners agreed upon a plan for a coiu-t house. The building was to be constructed of brick, and to be forty feet square and two stories high - the first story eighteen feet high, the second fourteen feet high. The front half of the lower floor was to be constructed of brick, and the other half of oak or ash plank, one inch and a quarter thick, and not more than eight inches in width. The second floor was to be laid with oak or ash plank of the same description as the rear half of the lower floor. In the first story there were to be three windows in each side and end, except in front, where in the center of the building there were to be folding doors, with a window on either side. The windows were each to have twentyfour lights, 8x10 inches in size, and the window which was to be immediately behind the Judge's bench was to be two and one-half feet higher than the other windows. On each side of the second story there were to be three windows of the same size and description as those given above. There were to be two fire-places below in the southwest and northwest corners of the building, and three tireplaces in the second story. Two girders (14x12 feet) were to extend through the center of the house (one above and one below) from side to side, equidistant from either side of the house, each to be supported by two columns, which were to be well turned and round, and thirteen inches in diameter at the bottom, and proportionally small at the top. The roof was to bo pitched from each side to the center, from whence was to be raised a cupola, eight feet in diameter, and thirty-two feet in height from its pedestal; from the top of the cupola was to extend a spire ten feet high. A handsomely gilded ball fifteen inches in diameter, and a neat vane were to ornament the spire; above the vane was to be extended across the spire a bar with a gilt ball on each side, and a neat cap was to be placed on the top of the spire.

Returning to the interior of the building, we mention that through the center of the house on the ground floor, and along the edge of the wooden floor, was to be a hand rail and banisters, and immediately under the middle window in the rear side of the house was to be raised a bench, for the Judges of the court, two and one-half feet from the floor - the bench to be banistered, and the stairway to ascend thereto was also to be banistered. This room was to be provided with jury boxes, a criminal box and other requisites. On the second floor there was to be a partition across the house from north to south, the west portion of which was to be divided into two rooms, and the east half of that floor was also to be divided by a partition. The walls were to be painted and penciled, the roof painted Spanish brown color, the cupola white, and the whole of the interior of the building of the latter color, excepting the Judge's bench, jury boxes and banisters, which were to be painted blue. The contract for the erection of the building was to be sold by the Sheriff, on the last Saturday in November, 1819. It appears that this contractor was Jonathan John, as the building was accepted by the Commissioners from him in August, 1822, and the total amount paid him was $1,262.50.

This building was one among the early brick structures of Fayette County. It stood on the center front of the public square fronting to the east, and was the court house of the county for nearly thirty years.

First Clerk and Recorder's Office. - In September, 1825, the Board of Justices of the Peace authorized Jonathan McCarty to erect a building for the offices of the Clerk and Recorder. We fail to find anything of record showing to whom the contract was let, or when the house was constructed; however, in March, 1827, Mr. McCarty was allowed the sum of $220. 40J for having erected such building - so much of it as was then completed. We are informed that the building stood on the northwest corner" of the public square and had but two comisartments, and that the amount above named would have erected such a structure, so it is quite likely that the house was about completed when that sum was allowed. It was constructed of wood.

the southeast corner of the public square. It had two rooms and was constructed by Sherman Scofield. Gabriel Ginn was appointed by the Commissioners, at the May meeting, 1833, to superintend the erection of the building.

Second Jail. - The question of a new county prison seems to have been agitated in the spring of 1834, for in May of that year the Commissioners offered a prize of $10 to the one who would furnish the best model for jail of three rooms. John Sample, Jr., was awarded the prize, and one of Fayette County's distinguished citizens - the Hon. Samuel W. Parker - was allowed $3 for "getting the model." At the fall term of the Circuit Court the Judges recommended the refitting of the old jail after a plan submitted by Elijah Corbin. However, this was not done, for in November, 1834, Gabriel Ginn and George Frybarger were appointed agents to superintend the building of a county jail, and to enter into a contract with Philip Mason after the model for a jail heretofore submitted by Philip Mason.

The building was constructed of brick, was a story and a half high, having three apartments, two below and one above. It stood on the south side of the public square, and was erected at a cost of $800. This was the county prison until 1849.

Second Court House, First Jailer's Residence and Third Jail. - This, the present court house, was completed as a court house, jailer's residence and jail, and received by the Commissioners November 12, 1849. In June, 1847, the Commissioners of the county entered into an agreement with John Elder, of Marion County, Ind., for the construction of the building, which was to be completed on or before October, 1849, in consideration for which they were to pay Mr. Elder $20,000. The "Indiana Gazetteer" published the year that the building was completed thus speaks of it: "It is one of the most spacious, convenient, and substantial buildings of its kind in the State, - all the county offices are located on the first floor, in good sized office rooms. In connection with each office are ample tire proof rooms for the security of their books and papers. The court room, jurors' rooms (of which there are four) are all on the upper story. In the rear of the center building there is attached a wing two stories high, which are constructed six dormitories, or cells, for prisoners. The prisoners can be taken to and from the court from a rear passage by a door entering immediately into the court room."

The building is constructed of brick and stands on the public square facing the east. In 1881 improvements to the extent of about $8,000 were made upon the interior of the building; the jail was taken out and the space converted into rooms for the use of

The old locust trees that stood in the court house yard and about the public square, and which for nearly a half century beautified the grounds and furnished in the heated season refreshing shade, were planted in the spring of 1835. Their removal took place in December, ISSl.

In January, 1849, the old court house, Clerk and Recorder's ofHce (second) and the old jail were sold by the Commissioners. The court house and jail were pui'chased by A. B. Conwell for S575; and the other building by Sherman Scolield for §96.

In June, 18-19, Hemy Goodlander and John Elder were appointed a committee to purchase a bell and clock for the new court house, and for that purpose there was appropriated S600.

Fourth Jail and Slieriff''s Residence. - This beautiful two-story brick building with highly ornamented stone trimmings is located on Fourth Street, opposite the court house, and faces the north. The rear of the building forms the jail, which with the basement or cellar is three stories high; underground is the dungeon, consisting of a cell about ten feet square. On the ground floor is one apartment, in size about 3(3x31feet, and contains four cells; above are located six cells, two of which are for females. The contract for the construction of this building was awarded to J. W. Perkinson, of Indianapolis, May 3, 1880, for $14,900. The architect was E. J. Hodson. The house was completed and occupied in the spring of 1881.

Poor Asylum. - Until 1836 the paupers in Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties were under the charge of township officers, who let the contract for the maintenance of the unfortunate poor to the lowest responsible bidder. On the 26th of December, 1834, the Commissioners of the three counties named met at Fairfield, in Franklin County, for the purpose of jointly erecting an asylum for the poor of the three counties. Subsequently a farm located in Jackson Township, Fayette County, was purchased of Thomas

Clark, and the Commissioners met thereon, August 10, 1835, and agreed "to build an asylum, to be in readiness by the first Monday in May next (1830)." The building was to be of brick. It was completed|and the farm let to the highest bidder.

May 9, 1836, Isaac Gardner, of Union County, was chosen as Superintendent of the institution at a salary of 1500 a year. The first Board of Directors were Joseph D. Thompson, Martin Williams and Zachariah Ferguson. The paupers of Fayette County were ordered removed from the several townships to the asylum in May, 1830. The total expense of keeping up the asylum for the year 1836, and up to February 9, 1837, was §1,709.41 J^. From February

9, 1837, to March 6, 1S3S, the total expense of the asylum was $1,040.15^, of which amount Fayette County's apportionment was S349.03|. Among the early Superintendents of the asylum while controlled by the three counties, and in the order given, were Isaac Gardner, William Riggsby and William Bai-nard, each serving several yeai^s.

In June, 1856, the Commissioners of Union County purchased the interest in the farm ]of the counties of Fayette and Franklin for the consideration of §3,210.66 and §3,696.52 to those counties respectively, their paupers to be removed on or before March

In September, 1856, the Commissioners of Fayette County having purchased a portion of the present infirmary farm, contracted with Sherman Scofield for the erection of a poor-house building thereon, for §7,000, to be done on or before June, 1857. The present large and commodious two-story brick structure was received from Mr. Scofield in August, 1857. Several tracts of land have since been added to the farm, which lies on the'ridge northwest of the city and commands a most beautiful view, imtil it now comprises 173 acres of land. On either side of the main building is a large wing and beneath a spacious basement or cellar.

The total expense of keeping up the institution from March 1, 1S5S. to March 1, 1859, was §996.99. The first Superintendent of the asylum of Fayette County was William Custer. His successor was Peter Reed, since which the Superintendents have been as follows: William Custer, P. A. Morse, Jacob Ridge and John B. Salyer, the present incumbent.