Gibson County, Indiana - Chapter 21: Miscellaneous Items of Interest, 1914

Chapter 21: Miscellaneous Items of Interest

Under the abo\-e caption will be found many interesting, valualile items, which hardi}- find place in any special chapter, but when coupled with other topics afford one of the best historic chapters in this volume.

Sale Of A Negro Girl

The following is a true copy of one of the early-day legal papers executed in Gibson county, and still remains a part of the county's records, though the paper and ink are somewhat faded with the passage of an e\-en hundred years : of Gibson and Indiana Territury, for and in ci insidcratinn nf the sum ni' S_:;7 i to me in hand paid at nr hetorc tiie enseahns,' and dehvery of tliese presents, the receipt whereof I, tlie said John Goodw yn, do hereby acknowledge, have bargained and sold and by these presents do bargain and sell unto Benjamin Scales, his executors, administrators or assigns, a certain negro woman named Dina, aged about seventeen years, to have and to hold the said negro woman (Dina) above bargained, sold or mentioned or intended so to be. to the said Benjamin Scales, his heirs, executors, administrators or assii^ns for ever. And I. the said John (ioodwyn, myself, my heirs, executors, administrators or assigns unto the said I!enj.amin Scales, his heirs, etc., shall, will and do warrant and defend against me, mv heirs, etc.. and all and e\ery person claiming under me as well as against the claim or claims of all and every other person or perscins whatsoe\cr. In witness whereof T ha\e hereunto set my hand and seal this the 20th dny >>i ( )ctober. I'^si.v

On ^larch 18, 1816, Matthew, a negro man, seemingly agreed with his master, James Lyon, and consented to be remo\ed from Gibson county to any other state or territory as a slave for life and the instrument goes on in the record to state "the same may be recorded."

On the ^th of July, 1814, Robert M. Evans emancipated a lilack man named John Born, who was formerly a slave in Virginia, then owned b)- Benjamin Taylor and after the (jwnership passed to Evans and the remo\al to this territory he was liberated, as above stated, which was a commendable act performed by Mr. Evans on the anniversary of the natal day of our great Republic. Xow then, the next day, July 5th, an instrumept was placed on record which show s that w hich purports to be a generous act of Evans was simply a farce on liberty and justice - because on that day the negro man John became an indentured servant to E\ans for thirty years, and on the _' 1 st of December. 1814, for the consideration of h\e hundred and lift\- dollars Robert M. Evans sold and transferred John (the colored man) to .\'ath;iniel l'".v;uis.

Another case was that of a colored family. On .\]iril 17. iSiO, the legal heirs and representatives of Robert Archer, deceased, of Gibson county. caused to Ije placed on record a ileed grantinu libertv to Simi)son. a ni-iu of color, and Eve, a woman of color, and in behalf of themselves, and for and in behalf of Mitchell and Rachel, infant children of the said Eve, for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar paid by the said Simpson and Eve, and. in the terms of the deed "forever exonerate and discharge and for and in consideration of five years faithful servitude of the said Simpson and Eve, rendered heretofore to the family of our deceased father, in his lifetime, and abhoring, as we do, the idea of involuntary servitude, ha\ e and by these presents each of us hath from this henceforward and fore\er more exonerated, discharged and set free, the said Simpson, Eve, Alitchell and Rachel from any and all manner of servitude."

A Slave-Trade Trick

While sla\es could not be legally kept in slaver}- in the Xdrthwest Territory, they could be retained in a form of ser\itude that was in reality slavery. Here is one of the forms of deception and evasion the ignorant negroes were led or forced to sign so they could be sold in sla\'ery in Indiana.

"Knox County - I do \i)luntarily agree and consent to my sale and transfer from George Wallace, Jr., to Tossaint Dubois for the balance of m\- term of servitude. \\'itness my hand and sea! the 30th day of June, 1813.

This was sworn to before a notary and then appeared the following further statement: "I, Sam, being of full age, do hereby voluntarily agree to and consent to the sale and transfer from Toussaint Dubois to Jacob Kuykendall, it having been made at my jsarticular recj[uest, for the balance of my term of servitude. \\'itness my hand and seal this 18th day of November, 1814. The mark (X) Sam."

It may be presumed that Sam's "particular request" was granted. The government occasionally got onto the trail of grafting in the old days just as it does sometimes now. Here is a sample from among Judge Prince's papers :

"William Prince, Esq., Indian Agent, Vincennes - Sir: The fraudulent conduct of Mitchell Brouilett in relation to the provisions for Indians at Eort Harrison in the year 181 7, 181 8, entitles him to no further confidence from

A clerk had written die order, and the rather tlouri>hin^ hand (if the famous South Carolinian, John C. Calhoun, had signed it. There are also other communications to Agent Prince from >.Ir. Calhoun, then secretary of war and having super\ ision of Indian affairs.

There appeared in the columns of the Claricii-Xcu's in .March, njij, at the date of the centennial celebration of Gibson county, several interesting paragraphs from which we are permitted to here (|uote. They relate largely to items found in papers, books and letters belonging to Judges Prince and Hall. ]\Iany of these papers are bills or duplicates of bills rendered against the government for Indian supplies when Captain Prince was .serving as Indian agent at \'incennes, and to those of this day who ha\e been accustomed to think of the olden-time Indian as gathering his substance from the wilds some of these bills sound odd. In 1820 Pierre Laplante of Vincennes had a bill of one hundred and thirteen dollars, including in it items for six dollars for transporting the annuity to the Wea Indians at Fort Harrison, and another for six dollars - two dollars a da) - for rounding up the Indians to pay them off. There were al.so large bills for bullocks and other nie;it, corn, whisky, caring for horses, repairing guns, etc. One gunsmith's bill ran over four hundred dollars in a year for making gun and other repairs for the Indians. Seventy-five cents for repairing a tonirdiawk was not an unusual charge - imagine the untutored savage (or was he better tutored than we have thought) carrying his tomahawk into the gmismith's shop and getting seventy-five cents worth of repairs on it. How these Indians did eat. too! Every day must have been Thanksgiving with them, judging from the bills they ran up against the government. Whisky went out to them in twentygallon lots, and the supply did not last long either! Especially, were the bills big when a pow-wow or treaty conference was about to be held.

^lost of the items seem to have been ordered by chiefs for their persona! use, and it appears there were more chiefs than "privates." A chief seems to have had the privilege of going the limit. August 2t,. i8jf). Christian Graeter put in his bill of three dollars thirty-seven and one-lialf cents for breakfast for nine Delaware chiefs ; he also had a bill of seven dollars for keeping two Indian horses seven days; and one of nine dollars and fifty cents for "keeping Indian horses brought in by white people as estrays." One claim of one thousand four hundred and seventy-eight dollars was rendered February 5, 1821. for money advanced for pro\-isions for the Delawares who were en route fnim the White River country to .\rkansas - driven onward by treaty with the whites. E\ idently they tarried quite a spell there, and were fed at the go\'ernment's expense.

Bee Hunting

Bee hunting was a fa\(jrite amusement of the old settlers. The destiny of the Indian was to recede before the ajjproach of the white man: it is the province of the honey bee to act on the reverse and precede the adxent of civilizatitju. The approach of the honey bee was always a sad harbinger to the Indians, for they knew the pale faces were not far behind. At an early date bees were very numerous in Indiana in the groves and along the skirts of timber, hence the product of the hive became a desirable commodity in trade and commerce. When the farmer wished a little "land office" money this was the only real article that would readily command it. Bee hunting excursions were of annual occurrence. In the spring of 181 7 William Wilkinson and others made a little excursion down to Pigeon creek where they camped and remained a week. In the timber along that stream the}- discovered thirty bee trees. The party secured during that trip fifty-h\e gallons of honey and seventy pounds of bees-wax. The usual outfit for such a trip was a lot of kettles and a wagon drawn by a team of oxen.

Pioneer Mills

Among the first mills of Gibson county were the band mills. A description of one of these primitive mills may not be without interest at this day. The plan was cheap. The horse-power consisted of a large upright shaft some ten or twelve feet in height, with some eight or ten long arms let into the main shaft and extended out from it fifteen feet. Augur holes were bored into the arms on the upper side at the end, into which wooden pins were driven. This was called the "big wheel" and was, as has been seen, about twenty feet in diameter. The raw-hide belt or tug was made of skin taken ofif of beef cattle which were cut into strips three inches in width ; these were then twisted into round cords or tugs, long enough to encircle the cir- cunifereiice of the In^- wheel. There it \\a^ held in place hy the wooden ])in>, then to cross and pass under a shed to run arountl a drum of what is called a "trunnel head," which was attached to the grinding apparatus. The horses or oxen were hitched to the arms by means of raw-hide tugs. Then walking in a circle, the machinery was .set in motion. T i grind iwehe lm>hels of corn was considered a good day's work on a band mill.

The most rude and primiti\e method of manufacturing meal was liy the use of the grater. A plate of tin was pierced with many holes so that one side was \ery rough The tin is nailed o\er a lioard. in an oval shajie. An ear of corn was rubbed hard on this grater, whereby the meal was forced through the holes and fell down into a ves.sel, prepared to receive it. .\n improvement on this was a hand-mill, which was propelled In man or woman power. A hole is made in the upper stone and a staff of wmid is put in ii and the other end of the staff is put through a hole in a plank abo\e so that the whole is free to act. One or two persons take h the upper stone as rapidly as possible. An eye is through which the corn is ])ut into the mill with the ban to suit the mill, instead of a hopper. .\ mortar ' meal is made out (jf a large round log three ._ir foiu- feet long. One end is cut or burnt out so as to hold a ])eck of corn, more or less, according to circumstances. This mortar is set one end on the ground and the other up to hold the corn. A sweep is prepared over the mortar so that the sjjring of the pole raises the piston and the hands force it so hard down on the corn that after much beating meal is manufactured.

Early M.Vrriages

June iS, Willis Stallions to Mary .Stallions. July 9, James Cheek to Xancy West. July 25, Lemuel Baldwin to Jane Lynn. July 28, Michael Thomas to Amelia Merick. October 28, James \V. Hogue to Rosanna Archer. August 5, Robert Wheeler to Elizabeth Barker. August 14, William Kennedy to Ann McCra. September 24, William Steel to Martha Butner. Se]3tember 25. James R. Xett to Celia Jar\-is. October 4, James Tyler to Kliza (Iraham.

Rev. Alexander Devin was among the first settlers and on June Ti, 1808, he united in marriage James McClure and Malinda Ann Warrick, this being beyond doubt, the first marriage among the white people to take place on the south side of the Patoka river, in Indiana. It was of course the first marriage within what is now Gibson county.

Market Prices Then And Now

From old histories and files of newspapers of this count}', the following prices obtained at an early date, and these will be followed by present-day quotations :

About 1816 and 1820 good calico sold here for fifty cents per yard and domestic at about the same proportion. Goods of the same quality in 1835 could have been purchased for eight cents per yard. Along about 1825 homespun of the best quality of jeans woven by the diligent hands of the wives and daughters of pioneers brought from seventy-five to eighty cents per yard. The industrious house wife considered if she had woven one and one-half yards of good cloth that she had performed a good day's work. Linen made from flax brought thirty cents per yard. The usual price for coffee in 1816 was seventy-five cents per pound. Pork, much of it mast-fatted, sold during the inflated period of 1836-37 for six dollars per hundred pounds dressed and about the same general prices ruled for other stock. It is no wonder that the panic occurred with such an inflated condition of what was then mostlv a worthless currency. Dressed pork prior to this, from 1816 to 1835, brought only one dollar and fifty cents to two dollars per hundred. Butter sold from 1820 to 1830, at about six and one-fourth cents per pound and wheat averaged about fift)' cents per bushel. From 1820 to 1835 corn and oats average about fifteen cents per bushel. In 1816 the price of salt here was three dollars per bushel and the average price for a first class cow and calf was not over seven

"Know all men by these presents that I ( ieorge Curtis do give a bill of sale to Eli Hawkins (for the sum of lift\ dollars ii being for value received of him, this 13th day of July, 1S13). A gray mare about eight years old fourteen and one-half hands high, one dark brindle cow, with .a calf, a heifer a year old this .spring, who^e color i^ red and white, one bed and furniture, one cupboard and furniture, kitchen utensils, a set of shoemaker's tools, one table, chest and trunk, also house and two half acre lots lying in Columbia, west of John Severn's lots, which 1 the said Curtis imrchased of .Samuel Adams, Gibson county, Indiana Territory. In witness wliercinto I set unhand and seal this day and date above mentioned.

Coming down to the present date, the following market (|uolalions are given as the common prices. Mark the contrast in many items with those nained above: Calico, fi\e to se\en cents; l>leached muslin, ten to twelve cents ; wire nails, three cents per jionnd ; butter, thirty cents ; eggs, twenty-five cents; sugar, best, seven cents; coffee, from twenty to thirty-five cents; corn, sixty-five cents; wheat, ninety-five cents; oats, forty-two cents; cattle, $9.50 per cwt. : hogs, $7.50 per cwt. ; sheep, $3.00 to $3.50 per head ; coal oil. ten to fifteen cents per gallon. The chances are that all manufactured- goods will always be cheaper and food stuffs and all ])roducts of the pasture, field and orchard will, as the poinilation increases, become higher.

Francisco - In Center township, January 6, 1S31, on the north half of the northeast quarter of .section 19, township j. range t; west, by John Perkins.

Mackey - In Barton township, on the northeast corner (jf the east half of section 15, township 3, range 9 west, by Henry Meyer, October 20, 1893.

East Mt. Carmel - In White River township, on section 28, township I, range 12 west, by W. D. Daniels and Emily D. Pickerell, June 2y, 1897.

Oakland City (originally Oakland) - By James Cockrum and Warrick Hargrove, on section 18, township 2, range 8 west, in Columbia township, January 15, 1856.

Patoka (once known as Smithland, also Columbia) was platted October 13, 1813, on section 25, township i, range 11 west, by Lewis J. Smith. It is in White River township.

Among the Gibson cdiuUx' tnwn-^ that liavc "paNscd uwv" was lUicna \'ista, in W'ashingon township, un White ri\er above Hazelton. Tiiis was the location of the old Decker fcrr\-, the lirst on White ri\er in this count}-. For a while the little town lioonied, Init when the h'vansx ille iS; Terrc liar.te railroad went the Hazelton route instead i>t tiie iiuena \'ista route it proved a death blow and Washington township wa^ left without a town.

King Station, south of Princeton, came into exi'^tence with the building of the Evansville & Terre Haute railroad aljout 1851-J. h'or a year or more the road's terminal was at the old King farm about a half mile north of the present station. A turntable was used there and a stage coach carried passengers on north.

Lyle's Station, four miles west of Princeton, has the uni(|ue distinction of having been settled entirely by colored people. "S'ears ago a colony of colored people bought a large bod\- of land in the Cherry Gro\e \icinil\. and some of them are still living on the lands then purchased.

East Mt. Carmel, on the Wabash, across from Alt. Carmel, Illinois, came into existence about twenty years ago, when W. D. Daniel was getting out piling there. The postoffice name was changed to Fetters, for William Fetters, merchant, because there was a Carmel in Indiana. There is no postofifice there now, though it is quite a settlement.

Dongala is another Gibson county town of the past. It was on the Patoka ri\er near the Pike county line, and was laid out in 1S51 with a public square and broad a\'enue-like streets. Tlie Wabash and l{rie canal promised to make it a real city, but it died with the canal.

In June, 1S14, the first cyclone ])assed o\er Gibson county, passing from a northwesterly to an easterly direction. The Parker house, on Hall's hill adjoining Princeton, was destro}ed and man}- other exidences of destruction left in the path. The trees of the forest were torn up by the roots. crops were leveled to earth, and odds and ends of furniture, farm imi)lenients, etc., were scattered to the distance of miles from their Ijase. William Harnes, who lived on a farm north of Patoka, described another cyclone which passed over this section in 1839. About three o'clock in the afternoon, as he relates, the atmosphere became oppressive and dark, the birds gathered close into the (20) boughs of the trees, and a pecuHar odor was present. The cloud came up out of the west in a funnel shape, with a ball of fire revolving in its apex as it rolled along. The phenomena crossed a wheat field and burnt the stalks off, leaving a path of black ashes in its wake. Rip Van Winkle might have told this tale to his tavern cronies.

On Sunday evening, February i"], 1876, Princeton was \-isited with the most severe cyclone which ever passed over the county. The storm came from the southwest. Almost the entire southern part of the city was demolished by the wind. Many peculiarities incident to the type of storm were present. In 1880 another wind storm \-isited the county.

Flat Boating

Between the years of 1823 and 1840 the trade carried on by means of flat boats reached its highest point. The De\in brothers were noted during this time as boatmen. Most of the boats were sent to the Xew Orleans markets, corn and jiork. and occasionally wheat, forming the cargoes. The Patoka, Wabash, Ohio and Mississippi rivers formed the highways of travel. Five men usually manned each boat, one of whom acted as captain. Patoka was generally the starting point for produce from this count}'. In the winter of 1836-37 the Devin brothers packed and shipped nearly a million pounds of pork. Col. James W'. Cockrum was also engaged during this time in the flat boat trade.

Fear Of First Stoves

When the first stoves appeared, not so long ago as many might imagine, the\- were regarded with awe and fear in many instances, and when coal first began to be used in sto\es some were so afraid of it that they would put the fire out at night, and gingerly, and with constant expectation that something was going to happen, would rebuild it the next day. The same fear was shown for the first coal oil lamps, and it is told of one well known Princeton lady that when her husband brought home her first coal oil lamp she made him take it out into the garden, some distance from the house, to light it.

First Legal Hanging

The first legal execution in Gibson county was that of William Thomas Camp, for the murder of J- R- Bilderback, both men residents of Pike county. The two men had traveled together to Haubstadt, Camp walking and Bilder- back on liorseback. Ueacliing- 1 laulistadl tlu-y failed t(i obtain l(Kl.t,nns. so decidetl to canij) in the woods a sliort distance a\va\-. r.ilderl)ack !a\- down and went to sleep, and Caniji. willi a hickory clnb he had picked n]>, -^Irnck him on the head and killed him. He threw the bndy into the to]) ni a fallen tree. The motive of the crime was the theft of a note for se\enty-lne dullars which Bilderback held on Camp. After committing the deed. Camp rode the horse to Xew Harmony, in Posey county, where he was arrested. He was brought back to Hauhstadt and there he jjointed out the evidences of his crime and the location n\ the Ixidy. A coroner's jury was ulitained, and to them Camp made his confession. After bein.i^- put in jail at Princeton he made his escape, and for a lonn^ time was hidden. He afterward went to Kentucky, where he was rearrested for horse-stealin.i^- and placed in jail at Owensboro. He w'as brought back to Cibson county for trial and convicted at the July term of court. 1872. of murder in the first degree. He was sentenced to be hung on Friday, October 4th. but Governor Baker granted him a respite until Friday. November .22d. when, at two o'clock, he was executed by the then sherifif, F. W. Hauss.

In the old tlax's of (iibson county, si.xty or more \ears ago. it was no trouble at all to get fired from church nieniljershi]). It is related that in the Methodist congregation here - and it is presumed that the same is true of the other congregations - dismissals were fretpient for playing cards, attending races at the old straight race course in north Race street or elsewhere, dancing, going to a circus - the latter an unpardonable sin - and xarious mlier reasons that are today openly or tacitly condimed liy nio^t churches. A nieniiier would perhaps be called to account and voted out li\- the congregation one Sunday, if belie\-ed guilt}-, and the next Sunday would rejoin.

P. R. Baldridge. who has interesting recollections of Princeton from back in the thirties, relates an incident that wa^ carried off by some of the young fellows here during the existence of the old market house, which stood on the north side of the court \ard. The stage coach from X'incennes to Evansville was driven by William Green, who died recently in \'incennes at the age of one hundred, and this was the half-wa}- place where the night stop-over was made. C)ne night after drixer ( ireen h;id gone to bed at the tavern, kept by a widow, ]\[rs. Jng, about where the Gilbert store now is, Ben Howe, Green Thompson, Samuel Archer, Mr. Baldridge and some of the other mischievous ones put the old stage coach up on top of the market house, which was a low building. The next morning Green fussed and fumed when he saw \\hat had been done, saving he would not be able to make the trip on time, but after worrying him a while, the same ones who had put the coach up quickly took it down and started Mr. Cireen on his way rejoicing.

Mr. Baldridge says at that time there was also a stage to Owensvilk- and New Harmony, which was known as the "jerk-water." It was driven by Joel Minniweather.

James Scantlin also tells a stage coach story (if huw his father, the late Thomas Scantlin, and some others, at an early date, one night took the Petersburg stage coach apart, carried it up on the roof of the court house and there reassembled it. The driver was caused considerable worry until the jokers brought the coach down the same way they had taken it up.

Passing Of The Old Survey M.Vrks

On ]\Ia\- 7 in the }ear 1800 the territory now forming the great states of Ohio and Indiana was cut off or out of the then Northwest territory and subdi\-ided by a line running north from the mouth of the Kentucky river to the lakes, all east of this line being called Ohio and all west of it Indiana. This land at this time was a trackless wilderness. There were no section, township, range or county lines, no roads, no bridges, no ferries, no means of intercommunication from one point to another, except an Indian trail from Vincennes to Louisville. The whole country was one \ast unmarked, uncharted wilderness, covered with magnificent trees, oak, poplar, ash, walnut and many other varieties, many of them so large that few men now living ever saw or will ever see anything equaling them in size and beauty.

The present system of divLding the public lands had been invented and adopted, but no work had been done at this time. The system of surveying is sometimes credited to Thomas Jefferson, but he really did not invent it, but did approve and encourage its adoption.

The first sui'veying within the present boundaries of Gibson county by the United States surveyors was begun on the 27th of October, 1804, by Bradley and Breathitt in the extreme eastern part of the county. The surveyors who did the work in this county were Bradley, Breathitt, Brown, Buckingham, Rector and Sullivan. This man Sullivan was one of the ances- tors of the Sullivan and Kirks now living in the north part of the county today. Rector began surveying in Ohio, worked through Gibson county and over into Illinois, and was finally sht)t by an Indian, who thought that he had killed him. But Rector managed to fall into a creek, swim across, and get into camp. However, he died the next day. The creek is called Rector's creek to this day. It is in Saline county, lllinciis.

Ziba Foote, for whom Foote's pond was nameii, was another ni those United States surveyors, but there is no reconl of an\' (if iiis work, as he was drowned soon after beginning his ial)ors. He was an educatctl man and ambitious to get on in the world, and was engaged to be married lo an intelligent. educated young woman. He had been at work in Michigan, but linislied there, went to Cincinnati, secured a contract in southern Indiana, tloated down the Ohio to Louisville, walked out here, and probabl\- was drowned the first da\- he went to work. The killing of Rector, the drowning of Foote, and the following items copied from one of the surveyor's books of field notes, w ill show some of the physical diiificulties to be overcome in doing the work :

"Sunday. March 23, 1806 - }.Iy pack-horseman and marker declared they could not wade so much water, and would not stay with me longer. I remonstrated with them, but to no avail.

The general plan of dividing up the public lands may be .stated as follows: A meridian line (north and south) was run. Next an east and west line, called a base line, was run. Then, beginning at the intersection of these two lines, the land was laid out in townships six miles s<|uare. The first row of these townships lying .south of the base line is called town or townshi]) 1 south. The first row of these townships adjacent to the meridian Hue and west of it is called range i west. Any land lying in llie first townslii]i laid out would be in township i south, range i west. These townships were liien sul)- divided into thirt_\--six sections. By tiiis s\stem of designating lands it is plainly seen how easy it is to locate an_\- piece of land l)y description. \ iz. : The northwest quarter of section 7 in township 2 south, range ir west, of the sec-'

These surveyors were supposed to keep accurate notes of their work and observations, as follows : "Monday, Nov. i, 1804 - Began at the southwest corner of section 36, township 2 south, range 9 west, ran north 2.70 (two chains and 70 links) to a hickory twelve inches in diameter, 15 chains to a stream ten links wide, course southwest, 20 chains to a white oak 24 inches in diameter; 40 chains quarter-section corner; put post from which a white oak 14 inches in diameter bears north 12 degrees, east 14 links, and a hickory 12 inches in diameter south -^y degrees west 20 links ; 60 chains a stream 40 links wide, course southeast; 80 chains section corner of 35, 36, 25, and 26. Put post from which a white oak 24 inches in diameter bears north 25 degrees west 16 links distant; another white oak 30 inches in diameter bears south 24 degrees east, 22 links distant. Timlrer, oak, hickory, dogwood, 2d rate land."

The hickory and white oak first mentioned on this line were called line, sight or fore and aft trees and were notched or hacked with three hacks on the south and north sides, and were of use to subsequent surveyors in locating lines and corners. The others mentioned were what are known as witness trees ; at the northwest corner of section 36 a post was planted, and the figures indicate the size, the course and distance of the same from the corner.

Of all the thousands of these witness and line trees only about a dozen remain in Gibson county. Of all these line trees the writer, with an accurate knowledge of the county, remembers only three now standing, one a beech on the north line of location No. 8, now owned by George Peed. One stands on the east line of the northeast quarter of section -^i, township 2, range 12, now owned by Miss Martha Waters and others in Montgomery township ; and there was, a short time since, another on this same line, north of the northeast corner of this last named tract. There may be one or two more, and some of those named may be gone by this time.

Of all the witness trees the writer only recalls the following": Two on the range line between ranges 9 and 10, both elms, one near the residence of Philip Reinhart, the other seven hundred or eight hundred feet north of the Southern railroad. Another stands at the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of section 17, township 3, range 11, near the home of Jesse Dunlap. Another stands at the southeast corner of the home of the late L. N. Montgomery on the Posey county line. These last two are the only ones known not to have been chopped into and the marks cut out and practically destroyed. Another stands at the northeast corner of the southeast quarter of 23-3-13, now owned bv Fornian E. Knowles.

These witness trees were niarked, shnwiiiLT the miinlu'r nl the section, township and range. For instance, tiie tree incntinneil at tlie cnrner of sections 35, 36, 25, and 26, was hlazed facing the cnrner. In this hl.aze was cnt the letter S, and the nnniber of tiie section it slond upnn. 'I'iiese figures and letters are as plain today as wiien crt. provided tliey lia\e not been disturbed. A few years since another stood just east of Foole's pond, near where Foote was buried, and probably was the only one marked by him. Whclhcr it is still standing or not is not known.

There may be three or four others, but it is believed this inchulcs all. and it is highly probable that one or two ot these are now gone. Many of these would have died and decayed by the natural cnurse of nature, but many have been ruthlessly and uselessly destroyed that might ha\e lieen pie>er\ed for the interest of the antiquary- and the old sur\eyors.

Incidents And Sketches Of Early Times

To L. O. Emmerson. of Oakland City, credit is due for the subject matter which follows under this head. Mr. l-jumerson has written a great deal relating to the incidents of early times in Gibson county, and these articles have appeared in the local papers from time to time. It is from these articles that the following extracts are made, with such revision as has been deemed necessary for the purpose of this pul)lication :

The Big Wei.E At So.Mervielk

What is known as the "big well." at Somerville. was dug in ihe summer of 1854. There was not even a shower to lay the dust from July 1st to September i8th, and the farmers surrounding Somerxille joined the Irish on the railroad in digging this well. It is about fifty feet deep and al)out eight feet in diameter. The work of digging this well was directed l)y John Martin, father of D. M. Martin, of Oakland City. It was a great work. On reaching the depth of about fifty feet, a heavy blast was placed and a shovel full of fire was thrown in, and a tremendous explosion followed. When all was still there was a gurgling sound heard, but the smoke was too thick to see the results. "Pat" Flanigan could hardly wait to go down to see the results of the big blast, and as soon as he could go he got into the bucket and was lowered at a rapid rate. All at once he found himself submerged to his shoulders in very cold water, tie yelled up as loud as he could, "Mike, by the Holy Saint Marv, draw me up uuick, or I will Ije scalded to death. The well is full of boiling water." He had mistaken cold for hot. Parties went to work with buckets to draw out the water so that the loose rock torn by the blast might be removed, but, with all their drawing, in ten hours the well stood thirty feet in the finest water in the whole country. As this was a kind of partnership well between the farmers and railroad people, all came here for water. People for ten miles came and hauled water from this well and after drawing constantly for days at a time would not lower the water more than two feet and it would reco\ er this two feet in just a little while. During many dry years since this time, the big well at Somerville has been Barton township's chief supply.

The people in Somer\ille and vicinity were of the old type of Covenanters, and for many years the preaching place was in the woods, under a large sugar tree about three-quarters of a mile south of Somerville. Many a powerful sermon was preached here. The people would assemble at ten o'clock and the first sermon would continue until noon. Then there would be a half hour intermission for lunch. Then the second sermon would begin and sometimes last until three or four o'clock in the afternoon. The Rev. John Kell was the first minister to preach at Somerville. Then came Rev. Samuel Baldridge and after him Rev. John McMaster. It was in Septeni1)er, 1854, after a long dry season that Re^-. McAIaster came to preach. The whole country was parched and dry, stock was suffering and dying for water. In the morning service Mc^Iaster made a special prayer for rain, and the jirayer was fullv an hour long. About the middle of the afternoon the worshippers were startled by a keen clap of thunder; a cloud had formed and was coming on at a rapid pace. The congregation ran to an old log school house nearby, and barelv gained shelter, when a perfect deluge of rain came down. Uncle Rube Martin was there and his belief in Rev. McMaster was very great, so when the rain began to pour Uncle Rube struck his fist in the palm of his hand and said : "Dipend men, I told you McMaster's prayer would fetch it," and Rube did truly believe that the rain was in answer to that prayer, and who knows but he was right? Uncle Rube soon went into the army and received his death wound in the cedar woods at Stone's Ri\er.

The land on which Oakland City stands was settled by Jesse Houchins. He sold out to Col. James W. Cockrum about the year 1827. Cockruni soon went south and engaged in steam-boating tor a few }-ears, and about the year 1835 returned and repurchased the greater ]5art of the land now occuijied by Oakland City, from Richard Barrett, who then lived in a small hnu.'^c which stood near where Airs. H. C. \'icker's residence now stands. 'I"he well of this old residence is the same one that now supplies .Mrs. X'icker-^ with water. .\ir. Cockrum lived here for se\eral yeai"'^, and here Col, W. M. Cockrum was born, who still owns the land on which the old house slooil and refuses to sell it at any price. He removed the old house several years ago and it now stands in his yard near his residence, with a lot of the old household furniture which belonged to his father and mother in it. Hi? father's old hunting rifle, which he called the "Tormentor," hangs in a gun rack over the door. The old dogirons used by his father are still in the old wood fireplace. In fact this old house and contents are the greatest old relics remaining of Oakland.

Col. James W. Cockrum was the father of the town of Oakland City and did more to build up the town than any other man. .\nothcr verv i)roniinent man in founding this town was Jacob W. Hargro\e. Air. Ilargro\e li\ed on a large farm of several hundred acres just east of town, where he li\ed the greater part of his life. He was one of Oakland City's first merchants and was also a big dealer in leaf tobacco and other farm products. He was also a stock dealer and a miller. In the year 1855 he, in company with Col. James W. Cockrum and several other gentlemen, built a steam grist and flour nu'll on the Old Straight Line railroad, on the ground now c)ccu])ied by Dr. Alc- Gowan's stable yard and garden, and built a miller's residence where the Doctor's residence now stands. This mill cost alionl eight thonsaud dollars. a large sum for this early dav. There was a woolen mill in connection with the flour mill. This proved to be an unprofitable inxestnient. Tins mill burned down about twent\-five years ago.

In the early days of Gibson county a road was oiiened from lioi.inxille. Warrick county, to Princeton, in Gibson county. As there were but fewfarms cleared between the two jjlaces, this road was buiU on llu- shortest route, regardless of the land lines. It was cut through the woods nearly all the way and was used as the stage hue between the two towns. The great, awkward stage coach hinibered Ijack and forth and all the traveling men going from one of these tow ns to the other took passage in this coach. It also carried the mail. Xow alrmg this road lived several men who made their living hunting game, and all the deer hides or other pelts they had U> sell were sent to Boon\-ille or Princeton, and as these hunters never knew just when the stage would pass their locality, they wuuUl take their skins tn the roadside and put their mark on them and hang them up in some conspicuous place. When the stage came along the driver would gather up the hides he thus found and deliver them to the merchants in one or the other of said towns, who knew the marks and would give the hunter to whom they belonged proper credit for them. Thus the tra\-elers in the stage coach would see. the driver stop e\er\' mile or two and gather u\) the deer skins which he found hanging up by the roadside. Soon this r(_)Ute became known as the Buckskin road. This name became general throughout the whole country and for many years remained unchanged, until the farmers along the route began to straighten the road and put it on the lines. This road left the old State road at the 'S'oung place, just south of Princeton, and ran in a southeasterly direction. It passed just south of the poor farm to Port Gibson and from there on to Lynnville, in Warrick county, and from there almost due south to Boonville. For many years this was the main route to all this country between Boonville and Princeton, and along this line the early settlers clustered and small business places sprang up along the road, such as cooper shops, blacksmith shops and other industries.

Along in the early fifties there came a }-oung German from E\ans\ille by the name of Emil Sasse, and started a small store on this road, near the eastern line of Gibson county. His business at first was a kind of settlers' canteen, with a few groceries, powder, lead and other small wares. He also secured a postoffice and named it "Buckskin," after tlie road on which it was located. His business was prosperous from the start. It was fifteen or twenty miles to any other point where people could trade and he did a good business. His brother, Theodore, was in business in Evansville and soon sold out and joined Emil at Buckskin. They increased their stock and built a larger store. Trade rushed in and people came for ten miles in every direction, and the Sasses were the busiest men in the whole country. Emil Sasse was twice elected treasurer of Gibson county. After the closing out of the Sasse store at Buckskin the Evansville & Indianaixjlis railroad was built. It ran about a mile east of old Buckskin. A new town was laid out on this railroad and Herman JUiskuli! continued the town of VmcV will enJMV such ])ri isperit\- :-

There are hut lew men in (iihsmi euunty that have reaehed the halfcentury nule stone on the hisj;hway from the cradle tn the gra\e hut have memories lingering around the old grist mill (it their hoyhinxl days. Tuesdays. Thursdays and Saturdays were "custom days", toll one-si.xth for corn, one-eighth for wheat. First come, lirst served.

Here all the gossip of the country was exchanged for its kind. Here knives were swapped, either hy inspection or sight unseen. Horse swajjping was also of common occurrence. On those "custom days" from early morn to dewy eve the crowd was coming and going, swapping and hantering. Did it happen to he a campaign year, politics was discussed by all except the miller, who was supposed to favor all sides and have nothing to say, and it was regarded as a breach of good breeding to attempt to draw him into discussion.

The milling was most often done liy the boys of the family, ranging in age ivom ten to seventeen years, li an_\- one should inquire about the size of any ^^ertain boy and was told that he was big enough to go to mill, they would consider the answer satisfactory. When the family meal barrel showed signs of exhaustion, a bag of corn would be selected the evening before some particular dav, and at night after all the chores were done and the family was all indoors, a bed c|uilt would be spread out upon the floor and the corn poured thereon. Then the family would gather around and shell the corn upon the (|nilt, while the cobs wouUl be thrown aside for use in the kitchen stove. Then the quilt would be gathered up, causing the corn to collect in the center, when it would be scooped into the bag and set aside until morning. Bright and earlv the next day it would be placed across the back of a horse, with a boy mounted astride, and he would strike out for the nearest grist mill. Sometimes he would have to go five or six miles. The sign "First come, first served", was strictly adhered to. Often he would be among the last to arrive and many times he would have to stay till dark for his grist, and then ride the lonel\- wa\- home through woods and swamps in the darkness.

But all this was nothing to the day he had spent with the other mill boys, wrestling, jumijing, jilaying ball and marbles. swap])ing knives and exchang- iiig gt)ssip for gossip, which he knew would be called for and listened to by all when he got home. .\ good supper would be waiting for him when he arrived home at last, for of dinner he had none.

In the -Major David Robb settlement near wlicre the town of Hazelton now stands, tliey had built a school house not far from White river and school was being held there. One of the patrons of the school had started out hunting and gone by the school to see one of his boys at the time of noon recess. While there the hunter's dogs treed a young panther, not far from the slIiouI house. Tlie children went out to see what the dogs were barking at, antl the hunter, cm coming up, saw it was a panther kitten about one-third grown, lie shot it out of the tree and told his boy to drag it near the school house and when school was out in tiie evening to take it home and save liie hide.

.V short time after "books were taken up " the teacher and jjupils were startled by the awful scream of the old mother panther, as she came bounding along the way the young one had been dragged. They had forethought enough to close the door and put the window bench in place and fasten it there. Tlie furious animal rushed up to the carcass of her kitten and when she found it was dead she broke forth in terrible howls and screams of lamentation. 1-ooking around for something on which to avenge its death, she made a rush for the school house, ran two or three times around it and then leaped on lop of and commenced tearing across the roof from side to side as if hunting some place where she could get in to the imprisoned teacher and pupils, .\tter a while she gave three or four most terrible screams; presently the answering screams of another panther were heard some distance off. It was !ntt a short time until her mate came rushing up and the two went to the dead kitten and seemed to be examining it. They then gave several screams, one after another, and made a rush for the building, bounded on top of it and for the ne.xt half hour kept up a screaming such as the helpless scholars anil frightened teacher had never heard before.

Major Robb had several men working for him at that time. They heard the fearful noise, and by the direction were sure it came from near the school house. Three men took their rifles and hurried to the rescue. Several dogs had followed the men and they set up a loud barking and rushed at the school house. A panther could easily kill the largest dog with one stroke of its terrible claws, but for some reason thev are dreadfullv afraid of a dog- and could 1ie easily treed by a small feiste. The panthers jumped to the grouiul and ran u]) a large tree which stood near the school house and were soon shot to death Ijy the hunters.

The teacher was a full-blooded Irishman, ])ut a .short time from Ireland. He had wandered out into the wilds of Indiana. Coming into that neighborhood and learning that Major Robb was from Ireland, he had been staying at his house for some time. Having the necessary qualifications he was employed to teach the school. After the panthers were killed he dismissed the school and went back to the ^Major's, but refused to teach any longer. He said he would not li\e in a country that was on the frontier of "hades" and was inhajjited liy such pesky, screaming, screeching varmints as this country possessed. - From Cockrum's Pioneer Hi^^tory of Indiana.

Flood Waters

Gen. George Rogers Clark, when making his memorable marcii from Kaskaskia to Vincennes in the month of Febrnar\', 1779. encountered the high waters of the Wabash river, and in his account of the tortuous miles coxered he relates of meeting the overflow from the ri\-ers. Muddy roads and numerous pools were first disco\ered, and a drizzling rain warned them that these signs were a hare forerunner of the floods ahead. He describes the fortitude of the men later, when they were compelled to wade through the level expanses of water covering the le\el country, and the good spirits prevailing notwithstanding the hardship. .\ portion of his diary, published in English's "Conquest of the Northwest,"' and there quoted from Bowman's Journal, relates:

"lOth. Crossed the river of the Petit fork upon trees that were felled for that purpose, the water being so high there was no fording it. Still raining and no tents - encamped near the ri\-er. Stormy weather.

Clark himself says in his journal that the weather was "wet, but fortunately not cold for the season, and a great part of the plains under water several inches deep. It was difficult and very fatiguing marching. =;= * * I viewed this sheet of water for some time with distrust : but, accusing myself of doubting, I immediately set to work, without holding any consultation about it, or suffering anybody else to do so in my presence : ordered a pirogue

"In the evening of the I4tli, our ves.sel was finished, manned and sent to explore the drowned lands on the opposite side of the little Wabash, with private instructions what report to make, and, if possible, to find some spot of dry land. They found about half an acre and marked the trees from thence back to camp, and made a very favorable report. Fortunately the 15th happened to be a warm, moist day for the season, and the channel of the ri\er where we la\- abciut thirty yards wide. A scaffold was built on the opposite shore tliat was al)i)Ut three feet under water; our baggage ferried across, and put on it. Our horses swam across and received their loads at the scaffold, by w Inch time the troops were brought across, and we began our march. Our \essel was loaded w^ith those who were sickly, and we mo\ed on cheerfully, e\ery moment expecting to see dry land, which was not discoxered until we came to the little dry spot mentioned.

"This being a smaller l)ranch than the other, the troo[)s immediately crossed, and marchetl on. in the water, as usual, to take possession of the (nearest) height they could discover. ( )r,r horses and baggage crossed as had lieen done at the former river, and proceeded on, following the marked trail of the troops. .\s tracks could not be seen in the water the trees were marked. * * * We were now convinced that the whole of the low country on the Wabash was drowned, and that the enemy could easily get to us, if they discovered us, and wished to risk an action; if they did not, we made no doubt of crossing the river by some means or other."

The narrative continues to tell of the repeated hardships endured by the men w ho w^ere forced to march through the flooded countr)-. Camp grounds were difificult to find, for the country was uniformly low.

English's "Conquest of the Northwest" relates : "There was no cessation of the flood. If anything, it grew worse as the party advanced. It would be diflicult for persons at this day to realize the generally wet anil marshy condition of the flat lands, especially the bottom lands adjoining rivers, lakes and creeks, in Illinois and Indiana in early times. This was the general situation, which was much aggravated, of course, by seasons of great rains and floods. The country, from a variety of causes, has been gradually getting drier, as the author personally knows, for the last fifty or sixty years, and the same drying-out process has no doubt been going on as far back as the campaign of Clark against Vincennes. The author saw the bottoms of the Wabash w'hen o\'erflowed. in 1834 and 1835, and fully realizes the wistness of the country co\ered with water. He made a horseback journe}- almost en- tirely across Iiuiiana and lihnnis, fmni eas and can not but compare the present dr\i extremely wet state at that period. Indeed the streams and the water supply continue ti other half century.

"This wet condition was noticed hy all travelers in early times, and especially in the region of the Wabash and its tributaries. Thomas's 'Travels in the West,' in 1816, says: 'There is one inc()n\enience attending this country, exclusive of the overtiowing of the Wabash. All its tributary streams, after a heavy shower of rain, rise aho\-e the banks, and overflow the lowlands, adjoining, which on all is of considerable extent. In time of high water, it is one of the most ditTicult countries to travel through I ever saw. I have known it for more than four weeks at one time that no jierson could get away from Union Prairie without swimming his horse, or going in a boat.' "

Clark and his heroic little laand continued their march toward X'incennes, at times wading" through water to their waists and e\en to their shoulders. High land would be reached, and hopes of better country would arise, only to be dispelled by the sight of limitless expanse of watered lands on the other side. Clark, upon reaching the Embarass ri\-er, discovered the whole country between that and the Big W^abash river towarrl \'incennes overflowed, and impassable by straight course. The Embarass and Wabash rivers had overflowed to such an extent that the}- were united across the land intervening. Through this mire and muddy water, Clark and his men forged their way.

Concerning the action of the floods in the past years there is little to say, only that the water at certain stages does certain things, .\t the eighteenfoot level the water overflows the banks and spreads into the surrounding country, driving the jjeople from the lowlands to the higher points of ground. At the twent'\--twu foot le\el no section of the river country is inhaliilal)le except the highest points. The spring of kji^ was an exce])tion. I'or tlie water at this time rose to the point of 31. i feet on tlic gauge at .Mt. Carmel, Illinois. There has been no period since the \ear 1S73. when records were first tabulated, when the water reached such a height. ( jenuine disaster followed this phenomenon; hundreds of people were made homeless, and thousands of dollars worth of property in Gibson county was destroyed.

Wabash river at the Mt. Carmel station since 1875, these records being those of over twenty feet, the genuine danger point. Sixteen feet is the official danger point, bnt at this stage Httle loss is suffered owing to the precautions taken by the people.