Hamilton County, Indiana - Chapter 6, 1901

Chapter 6

When a sufficient number of settlers had settled and located within the present bounds of Hamilton County to entitle them to become a separate organization under the law, they made application through the proper channel, the Legislature, for a charter authorizing them to become a separate and independent jurisdiction. This step was taken in the summer and fall of 1822. The application was presented to the Legislature of 1822-3, and on January 8, 1823. pursuant to the petition, an act was passed. The first section provides that from and after the first Monday in April, 1823, all that part of Alarion County and north thereof contained in the following bounds shall constitute and form a separate county, viz: Beginning on the range line dividing ranges 2 and 3, east of the second principal meridian at the southwest corner of section 7, in township 17 and range 3, thence running on said range line to the township line dividing townships 20 and 21, thence east on the said township line to the northeast corner of section 5, in township 20 and range 6, thence south on the section line to the southeast corner of section 8, in township 17 and range 6, and thence west on the section line to tlic place oi ]K'i;innin^'. In the act the county is named IJaniilton. Commissioners Avere appointed by the Legislature to carry this act into effect l)y layinj;- out said county. In order to set the machinery in motion. WilHam P. Warrick was appointed sheriff for the said new county l)y Governor 1 Ien(h'icks. It was ^Varrick's duty to gix'e notice of the holding- of an election for the purpose of electingcounty connnissioners, count}- officers and associate judges. This act became a law on the 7th day of April, 1823, and the first board of commissioners convened on the T2th day of May, 1823. I have frequently been asked when and how this county was laid out and when organized into a separate jurisdiction. For the benefit of the readers and in answer to the questions, I have written these notes concerning the same :

Hamilton County was located and divided into two townships. One was named White River Township, and the other L>e]aware. Governor Hendricks appointed John D. Ste|)henson clerk, and William Conner treasurer until 1824, and William P. Warrick sheriff of said county. In the spring of 1823 the first election was held. This election was held in the cabin built for Solomon l^'inch at or near Horseshoe Prairie. Solomon P'incli, \\'illiam Dryer and Zenis Beckwith were elected commissioners. John Conner was elected Representative and John Finch and \V. C. Blackmore were elected associate judges. The circuit judge was ap- poiiiud I)\ the Cjovernor. His name was Egleston. The Legislature directed that all courts in Hamilton County should be held at the house of William Conner, in Delaware Township.

The tirst commissioners' court was held in May, 1823, at the house of William Conner. William Dyer, Zenas Beckwith and Solomon Finch, commissioners, and John D. Stephenson clerk. At this session the county was divided into two townships. Jacob Hyers and Henry Poland were appointed overseers of the l)oor for \\'hite River Township, and George Kirkendall and James Williams for Delaware Township, for one year. The board also at this session ordered an election for the purpose of electing two justices of the ])eace. one for each township, to be held at the house of Henry Poland, at Strawtown ; the other at John Conner's house in Delaware Township.

At the August session of the Board of Commissioners Jerry K. L.eaming and Andrew McClintock were appointed constables for White River Township until February term, 1824, when it was ordered that Edward H. Dryer and George Wise be appointed as such for Delaware Township for the same term, and each was required to give bond in the sum of $500. At this session of the board the first petit jury was drawn as follows : Allen Baxter, Chapel W. Brown, Thomas ]\Iorris. Andrew \\'. Ingraham, Michael Wise, John Duncan, Archil^ald Bayless, John Tressel, John Os-

It was ordered that J. D. Stephenson be allowed for books $2.37, and for making out tax duplicate $4.00; that Curtis Mallory be allowed $1.25 for furnishing jury ])()xes and boxes for election purposes; that Solomon iMnch and Zenas Beckwath be allowed $8.00 each for four (lays' services as commissioners, and that William Dryer be allowed $2.00. he claiming no more.

as taxes on a pleasure carriage ; that Chapel W. Brown be released from paying thirty cents, charged on one yoke of oxen. Jacob T. Hire was released from paying thirty-seven and a half cents, amount charged on levy for a horse. John Bruitt, Francis Kinkaid, James Friel, Sr., George Kirkendall and Robert Duncan were exempt from poll taxes, they being over fifty years of age. Zenas Beckwith was allowed $40.57 for purchasing books for the county ; W. P. Warrick being allowed $26.50 for his services as sheriff for the year 1823; J. D. Stephenson $10.00 for being clerk for commissioners during the year 1823; Solomon Finch, William Myers and Zenas Beckwith $2.00 per day each for services as commissioners for this term.

At the term of the commissioners' court in the year 1823 J. K. Leaming was appointed tax lister. It was ordered by the board that all hotel keepers within the county of Hamilton should pay a Hcense fee of $10.00. A petition was filed before the board asking that a public highway be laid out and opened commencing at or near the mouth of Pipe Creek, crossing the river near Strawtown, and again crossing the river near Jerry Leaming's, about two miles below Strawtown, and thence down the river on the w^est side to the Marion County line near Bruitt's place. This petition was filed at the August term and was the first petition filed for a public highway. A petition was also filed for a road beginning at the Madison County line near Perkins-

\illc, Icadiii!^- i)ast Jacol) Dyer's farm to Strawtown, and frnni Slrawtowii to W illiam Conner's farm, l^y way of Nobles\ille. The hoard ordered elections to be held for tlie year iS_'4 as follows: At the honse of William r.usli iii Delaware Townshi]), and appointed John Stoops inspector; and for White River Township the election was ordered to he held at the house of Henry Foland, in Strawtown, and ap])ointed J. K. Leaming ins|)ector. 3 ~"

At the February session in the year 1824 it was ordered that W". P. Warrick act as collector for one year and that Curtis Mallory serve as treasurer. A special session of the Ijoard \vas held in March, 1824, to receive the rei)ort of the commissioners, appointed by the Legislature to lay out the county seat.

At the Noxember session of the commissioners' court the board found that the expenses of the county U)V that year amounted to $224,371^; that the credit to the county was v$ 170.62^. the balance against the county being $53.75.

At the January session of the board a license was ordered to l)e issued to W'illiam Conner to vend foreign merchandise on the payment of a fee of $10.00. This fee was paid and license issued and was the first license issued for this i)urpose. Under this license Mr. Conner o])ened the lirst store ever opened in Noblesx'ille. John Hare showed to the board that he had paid tax in Ohio in the year 1824 upon property listed against him in this county and was released from the taxes assessed aj^amst Inm here. At tlie January session of the board tor the year 1825 it was ordered that an election for Deknvare downship be held for the year 1825 in Noblesv.Ile, and Curtis Mallory was appointed inspector Ir was also ordered that the election in White River Township be held in Strawtown, and William Dyer was appointed inspector.

It has frecpiently been said that the contest between Strawtown and Noblesville was, on the county seat question, very close. This is a mistake. The report of the commissioners appointed by the Legislature to locate and lay out the county seat for Hamilton County says that the Strawtown site was not considered at all because it was too far from the center of the county. The report says that after examining all of the sites offered Xol)lesville was considered the most eligible.

The Hrst jail building in the county was built by Josiah F. I'olk. This building was of logs and was built on ground donated to the county by Conner and Polk, just north of the old graveyard. It was accepted by the board at its March session, 1825.

At the February session of the Board of Commissioners, 1824, the following rates of taxation were ordered, to-wit: For every animal of the horse, ass or mule kind, over three years old, thirty-seven and a half cents each; work oxen, three years old, eighteen and three-fourths cents; on each two-wheeled pleasure car- ria.L;c. (»nc dtillar each; fuiir-whcclcd pleasure carriage, .^1.30; on each hrass clock, one dollar; on each siher or pinchback watch. l\vcnty-li\e cents; on each g'old watch, one dollar; on each ferry, $3.00; and on each male person over the age of twenty-one years, fifty cents, provided, that persons over the age of fifty years and not freeholders, and snch as are unable from bodily disability to follow any useful occupation for a livelihood, and all idiots and pau])ers, shall be exempted from the last mentioned tax.

At the March session of the l>oard of Commissioners, in and for Hamilton County, in consideration of the location of the county seat at Noblesville, the following named persons agreed to pay the county agent to aid in building public buildings at said county seat, the several sums of money, labor and material set opposite each name :

At this session of the board Josiah F. Polk was appointed county agent and as such agent was ordered to sell the lots previously donated to the county by Conner and Polk.

()l)cno(l from iVol)lcs\ illc lo the ford on W'liilc l\i\or al)()\e the mouth of Stoii)- Creek, thence west across the ri\-cr [)ast John Conner's mill, and intersect a road leading- from Strawtown to the south line of Hamilton County. This is the road now leadin^^" south from the city on Eighth Street.

At the May session of tlic Board of Commissioners, in the year 1824, the slieriff of this county was ordered to let the building of a log jail, to be built on the fraction of land donated by Conner and Polk to the county, situated on the east bank of White River, north of the old cemetery. The jail was to be twenty-one feet long and in two apartments, to l^e built of logs closely i"otched down. The price for completing this jail building was $300 and the contractor was to accept the labor and materials donated to the county for the purpose of as.sisting in the erection of county buildings, as part payment for building the same.

On the 31st day of January, 1824, the Legislature passed an act abolishing the office of county commissioners. Solomon Finch and Nathan Popejoy were elected commissioners to serve until the act would become effective, and at a session of the board held in August, 1824, they met and were sw'orn to discharge their duties as county commissioners and also took an oath against duelling. On Monday, the 6th day of September, iSjj. William lUish, William Foster. Andrew W. Ingraham and William Dver met at the house of

William Coinier in Ilaniiltoii County, Indiana, and each of them produced commissions from the Governor commissioning them justices of the peace, upon which was indorsed the oath of office. And thereupon agreeable to an act entitled an act to regulate the mode of doing county business, approved January 31st, 1824, took their seats as members of this board. Andrew W. Ingerman was selected as president. This board was known as the Board of Justices, superseding the Board of Commissioners.

At the November term of the Board of Justices Josiah F. Polk produced a commission, signed by the Go^'ernor, whereby he was commissioned to become a member of the Board of Justices and after taking the necessary oath he took his seat as a member of said board. So long as this board continued to do the business of the county it was known as the Board of Justices.

At the January session of the Board of Justices, 1825, a petition was presented for the opening of a highway down Fall Creek to intersect a road leading from the Hamilton County line to IndianapoHs. This ])etition was made by John Welchel. At this session Curtis Mallory was appointed treasurer for the year 1825. It was also ordered that Thomas Morris be appointed superintendent of school section No. 16, township 18, range 4, east, for the year 1825.

Primitive History Of

1826, Robert ].. riannanion produced iiis commission as sheriff to succeed W. P. Warrick. At this session R. L. Hannamon was appointed county agent and ordered to sell out the l)uilding- of a stray pen. Allen Osborn applied for a license to vend merchandise for one year. Both applications were granted. W. P. Warrick was allowed $20.00 for his services as sheriff ex-officio from the 7th day of March, 1825. to the i8th day of October, 1825. It was ordered that the election in Delaware Township be held at Noblesville, and in White River Township at Strawtown. It was ordered that Curtis Mallory act as county treasurer for the year 1826. J. D. Stephenson, clerk, was allowed $6.00 for making duplicate of tax list for 1825. The board at this session found that the expenditures of this county since its organization amounted to $589.77} and that the receipts amount to the sum of $456.40^. At the March session Zenas Beckwith produced his commission as one of the Board of Justices and took his seat on the board. At the September session, 1826, the sheriff was ordered to cause the removal of the jail building built by Josiah F. Polk to the public square. The board at this session found that the receipts exceeded the expense in the sum of $36.69!.

At the January session of the board in the year 1827 licenses to vend merchandise in Hamilton County were issued to Jerry K. Leaming and Allen Osborn. At the March session. 1827, Fall Creek Township was

At the November session of the board a license was granted to George Shirts to keep a public tavern in Noblesville. The license fee was $3.50. This was the first public tavern licensed in the county. At the May session George Shirts was allowed $i.68| for services as jailor. At this session land was assessed for county purposes as follows: On each 100 acres of first-class land, forty cents ; on each 100 acres of second-rate land, thirty cents; on each 100 acres of third-rate land, eighteen and three-fourths cents.

The first notice of a probate court in this county, in tlie commissioners' record, is in July, 1828. The delinquent tax list for this year was $12.75. -^^ the November session George Shirts was allowed $6. 12 J for dieting a prisoner in jail and for room furnished in which to hold court for the year 1828. John Finch and William C. Blackmore were allowed $18.00 each for services as associate judges.

At the January session of the board, 1829, John Stephenson & Co. were granted a license to vend merchandise for one year. The receipts this year exceeded expenditures $43.11]:. At the January session of the board a tavern license was granted to William S.

Wallace al W Ooch illc, this county, for one }ear. Robert I., llananion was also granted a license to keep a ta\ ern in Xo])lesville. On the lotli day of August, 1830, the board ordered that a one-story court house be built on lot Xo. I, in block No. 11, in the town of Nobles- \ille. thirty-two feet long and eighteen feet wide.

The hrst license granted to sell intoxicants was granted to James Hughey, at his house in Woodville in January, 1831. The first license to sell spirituous liquors in Noblesville was issued to Wilburn Davis & Co. at the September session, 1831. At this session the county was divided into three commissioners' districts.

]n 1832 the Legislature ordered a State road built from Knightstown to Pendleton, and from there to Strawtown. Near the same time the Legislature also ordered a road from Morristown, in Shelby County, by way of Greenfield, in Hancock County, and Noblesville. in Hamilton County, to intersect the Lafayette & New Castle road at or near Kirk's Prairie, in Clinton County. John D. Stephenson and John Osborn were appointed as commissioners to locate and lay out the road. Their report of location was made in November, 1832. Pioneers had traveled from Noblesville to the vicinity of Lafayette over this route, but there had been no established road. This road is still used, as then laid out, to Kirklin. Tn 1833, at the January session of the l)()ar(l. Madison Sweclscr was .^ranted a license to retail merchandise at W'oodx ille. for a period of six months. At this session of the hoard a building erected by Jerry K. Learning for the county clerk's office was received. The price was $122.00. At the same time Daniel Heaton made a report of the expense of locating a State road from New Castle to Crawfordsville, so far as this county was concerned. John D. Stephenson, as recorder of the county, was allowed the sum of $2.00 for recording apprentice indentures.

The board at the same session made a record of the expenditures and receipts of the county for the year 1832. The receipts w^ere $945.58; expenditures, $1,033,744. At the March session, 1833, Curtis Mallory was appointed county treasurer for one year. At the May session of the same year the jail was ordered repaired as follows : The room where the criminals were kept was to be lined crosswise of the logs with good oak boards one and one-half inches thick and not to exceed eighteen inches in wddth, the edges to be squared and spiked ; the doors were to have new locks and the floor was to be lined in the same manner as the walls. The debtors' room w^as to be lined in the corners in the same manner. At this term Stephen Carey and .Mien Cole were sworn in as county commissioners.

At the September session of the board Asa Beales petitioned the board to lay out and locate a road from the present site of Westfield south to the county line.

I'Uimitivk Histoky Of

li was ai ilie No\ember session, 1833, that the board divided the county into townships. Without described them, it will be sufficient to say that the nine townships of our county, as we now have them, were named and described at that time.

At the January session, 1834, it was ordered by the board that Lewis G. Coy, John iMuri:)hy, Josiah West, Barton W. Wall and Jonathan Colborn each be allowed the sum of one dollar for one day and one night's service in guarding- William McDowl, a prisoner charged with murder. This is the first record in the county of a prisoner Ijcing charged with this crime.