Hancock County, Indiana - Chapter 31: Patriotism of Hancock County, 1882

Chapter 31: Patriotism of Hancock County

Introduction, the Mexican soldiers, three months men, portrait of Gen. O. P. (iooding, list of officers and soldiers of civil war, Morgan raid men, partial list of patrons.

Errata

I'uEce 57, chapter III., slioulcl be followed by the subject of the chapter, niue-Uiver I'ownship - Continued," similar in style to page 124.

Page 344, eighth line, the quotation should be " Afi aiiie couiiln','^ and the quotation in the next line should be " Meiiif Deutche fateflant.''''

Page 442, The distance from Eden to Carrollton, instead of " 7," should be " i6>^ " miles, and from Cleveland to Woodbury, instead of " 2)2," should be " 21 1^'," and from Carrollton to Milner's Corner, instead of " 2>j," should be " 21 " miles.

Page 479. In the column of important events for 1S35, " Locofoca " should be -' Locofoco," and for 1845 the representatives should be "George Henry and R. A. Riley."

Introduction

After Christopher Cohimbus had returned from inakhig his great discoveries which brought another continent into existence, all the enterj^rising nations of Europe fitted out vessels to make explorations in this land of promise, Spain sending her men to the Southern, France to the Northern and England to the Atlantic Coast of North America. Their claims necessarily conflicted, a-s the grants of Spain extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, France from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and England passing over both of these from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Indiana was originalh' claimed as a part of Florida, which became a Spanish colony in 1543. Northern Indiana was included in the territory granted in 1620 to the Plymouth Company by King James, and was therefore claimed by Great Britain, but the French possessed a superior claim, and retained the territory by establishing settlements and fortifications. Vincennes settlement, the first in what is now Indiana, was made in 1702, one hundred and eighty years ago. This territory remained in the possession of the French until 1763, the close of the memorable French and Indian war, when by treaty it passed into the hands of the English.

Indiana was at this time inhabited by the great Miami confederacy of Indians, whose territory embraced Indiana and the greater portion of Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Here the red men of the forests had held supreme control, unmolested in their rights for many years, an independent nation, commanding the respect of all the neighboring tribes. No wonder that when they saw the white man ad\ancing and taking possession of their beloved hunting-grounds tliat the latent passions which lay slumbering in their breasts burst forth with all the fury of uncivilized manhood.

by the British in the same year. In 1779 Colonel Clarke again recaptured it. The Indians now began their depredations on the settlers, and a body of men. under General Harmur, was sent against them, which was totally defeated, in what is now Allen county, by the famous Indian Chief, "Little Turtle." In 1 791 General Charles Scott destroyed the Wea villages on the Wabash. After the defeat of Harmur, General St. Clair organized a new force, which was also defeated near the present site of Fort Wayne. In 1794 General Wayne (familiarly known to the Indians as "Mad Anthony, a man who never slept") appeared against them, and completely humiliated the whole confederacy, moved on to the confluence of the St. Mary's and .St. Joseph rivers, and erected Fort Wayne. This for a time ended the Indian troubles.

In 17S7 the North-west territor}- was organized, embracing the present States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and that part of Minnesota east of the Missisippi. In 1800 Ohio was set apart as a separate territory, leaving the remainder of the North-west territory to constitute Indiana. Of this new Inaiana territory William H. Harrison, of Virginia, was the first Governor, and the seat of government was located at Vincennes. John Gibson, of Pennsylvania, was appointed Secretary ; William Clarke, Henry Vanderbourgh and John Griffin Territorial Judges. The whole white population then of what is now the great State of Indiana, with her hundreds of* thousands, was only 4.875, but about one- fourth of the population of Hancock county to-day.

Indiana was first organized into three counties, viz: Knox, Randolph and St. Clair. In 1803 Clark was added and a convention held at the territorial capital, composed of delegates from the four counties.

The first General Assemblv met at \'incennes in 1805. with delegates from the above counties and Dearborn, which had since been addeil. New counties have been organized from time to time, till there are now ninetv-twf) in the great "Hoosier"' State. Governor Harrison's address to the first legislative assembly in Indiana was full of patriotism and exhortation to faithful, honest (hit\ . In;liana territory was divided, and ^Michigan territory struck o'.Y and organized on the north in 1805.

In iSoj IlliiioiK territory was cut from the western |)art (d' Indiana, comprisin;^ the territory west of the Wahash, from a line rnnnini^ north from Vincennes to the Dominion of (',ni;ida, and this now rcdni cil Indi.ina to her present limits,

In iSio new Ironhles with the Indians commenK-d. A plan of ( ampaif^n was formed, which ended in the ^reat Indian hattlc of 'Pipi^ei inoe, where (Jeneral Harrison, routed the Indians i\ni\ caused them to sue for peace, hut the war of rSii comin;^^ on hrouj^'ht with it new difVicultics with the Indians. Many nnnders occ urre(l, ;ind I he frontier settlers wcre kept ill alarm nnlll the close of this second war with CJreat llritaill. The f.iinieis when working in the (iehls carrietl in I heir belts revolvers and knl\cs. 'The ^moi was laid on the jnonnd by a driven slake to mark the spot. Men then e\pe(tid lo be atta(d<e(I at any time, and were ready to act on Ihe 'spur of the nionien I .

Harrison and Clarke one, Jefferson and Dearborn one, ami Franklin and Wayne one, in each of which the voters were empowered to elect a member to the legislative council.

Indiana adopted a constitution and %vas admitted to the l^nion in 1S16. Jonathan Jennings, under the new constitution, was elected first Governor of the State over Thomas Posev, who had been Governo'" of the territory, the vote standing 5,211 to 3,934. In 1820 the site of the present seat of government was selected by commissioners appointed by the General Assembly. In 1825 the capital was removed from Corydon to Indianapolis. In 1834 the State Bank was chartered. In 1842 imprisonment for debt was abolished.

Indiana, when the great rebellion threatened this countrv with destruction, came nobly to the front with her brave "bovs in blue,"' from time to time, to the number of 200,000. Few States can say as much ; and Hancock county was not afraid to marshal her forces and send them to the front to be trodden in the dust by the iron hoof of the war-horse.

The first railroad in Indiana was built in 1846, between Madison and Indianapolis. Five thousand miles of railroad are now in operation, and others in the process of construction.

In 1 85 1 our old constitution was abolished, and a new and much better one adopted. Our vote was as follows : 109,319 for and 26,755 against the same.

Indiana now stands among the leading States of the Union. Her school fund is larger by two millions than any other State in the Union. Her manufacturing resources are unbounded, her coal fields are among the most productive, and furnish a large source of wealth, her water power is excellent, and her railroads numerous, Indianapolis, -our capital, being the greatest railroad center in the State, and not surpassed by any city in the United States in this respect. Jeftcrsonville, New Albany and South Bend are respectively noted for their extensive " car works," " glass works," and " wagon f^ictory."

We have seen Indiana when a forest, dotted here and there by prairies which seemed like oases in a desert. We have seen noble, hardy pioneers with their families entering into the country and, with their glittering axes, leveling the jj^iant progeny of the forest. We have seen Indiana when the red men owned tlie soil, and when only a cabin here and there showed where the march of civilization had begun. We have seen her in infancy, with a white population- only one-fourth as large as that of Hancock county. We have seen her when the savage red men took the war-path, destroyed her property, murdered her children and rejoiced in the victory. But the noble pioneers w'ho settled this country braved all these dangers, and established their institutions of liberty, religion and truth upon a iirm foundation. \V"e see Indiana as she stands to-day in all her grandeur, glorying in her powder, rejoicing in her resources, sending great men to the various fields of action, educating her boys and girls without cost, and shedding the glorious rays of truth and enlightenment to all her people.

May her light still continue to shine in the firmament as brilliantly as the noonday sun, and diffuse the blessings of liberty to all mankind.