Howard County, Indiana - The whole text, 1909 (part 6 of 9)

Crimes And Casualties

Peter Cornstalk, a prominent Indian chieftain, died in 1838, just north of Burlington, and the lx)dy was hauled lay \\'illiam Smith to Pete's run, Ervin township, where it was buried. It was con- vexed in a wagon, and the men had to cut their wa)- through tlie forest. Cornstalk's son, Pete, following the trail to this city - "Cocomo" - and to the place of burial, discovered "Doc Bill," "Captain Bill" and Sam Loon disinterring the remains to rob the grave of the ornaments with which the corpse had been buried. The Indian killed "Captain Bill" on the spot, and the other men escaped. March, 1840, Pete treated Loon from his bottle, got him drunk at Joshua Bamett's grocery, and then conducted him to his brother, "Doc Bill," who was sick under a tree. The next morning he jerked Loon from the side of his brother, "Doc Bill," jumped upon his breast and sank a dagger in his heart. "Doc Bill" was not molested and died of his sickness. Pleasant Walker was given five dollars to bury Loon's brother.

Jacob F. Myers, a hunter, was frozen to death, February 14, 1843, "1 Ervin township. He had left the grocery of John Harrison for his home in Cass county. \\'hile he had been drinking, was not drunk. When his dog came home half staiwed, a searching party was formed. The body was found lying flat upon the back, the handkerchief that had covered the face having blown away. Myers's gun was leaning against a bush. From the tracks in the snow, which crossed and recrossed, it looked as if he had become lost and traveled about forty miles. Although he carried steel, flint and punk, Lidian fashion, to start a fire, he evidently had not attempted to make one. The searching party, which had a horse, harness, ax, and an augur, made a "jumper" and hauled the body home.

The New London Pioneer of the date of December 13, 1848, says: "One day last week, a man by the name of Kelly, living at Kokomo, in attempting to swim his horse across Wildcat creek, the stream being very high from the efifects of the recent rains, was thrown from his horse and drowned. It is said that he was in a drunken frolic and was forcing the poor horse through the raging flood for the third time. After disappearing he raised to the surface and exclaimed, 'Hurrah for old Tan,' his horse, and sank to rise no more."

Februaiy 14, 1849, the Pioneer also records: "A man by the name of Love, in the neighborhood of Kokomo, one of the coldest days of the present week, in a drunken frolic drove his family from his cabin, setting fire to it, entirely consuming the house and furniture."

The only authentic account extant of the killing of Jonas Brewer was that related by Daniel Rarey, one of the most reputable of Howard county's pioneers, a short time before his death. Mr. Rarey's only connection with the case was being arrested as a suspect. But he was released without trial, as it was clear that in the deed itself he had no participation. Although many persons of prominence and substantial means were concerned in the affair, every one left the countrj^, and few living, if any are yet alive, have never since been heard from. The disappearance and supposed death of Brewer was in 1849. "Brewer was a handsome, finely built man, who came to Howard county, some said from Kentucky, others, from Logansport, Indiana. He was popular and fascinating. He kept company with a IVIiss Garinger, although her father made strenuous opposition to Brewer's attentions. Mr. Brewer had a rival, Elijah Tyre, the latter a man of pronounced personality, and of Scotch extraction, and seen generally wearing a shawl.

"Brewer left his pretty sweetheart one day and promised soon to return to her. A few months elapsed and he did not appear, nor had a word been received from him. Tyre had been very devoted in Brewer's absence and pressed his claims constantly. His suit was wamily urged by the girl's father. If the girl felt the sting of Brewer's neglect she never mentioned the fact to any one, and final- ly she yielded her consent of marriage, if not her heart, to Tyre, and was married to him, to her father's great joy. Bnt the newly founded home was darkened by a shadow that pained the young wife's heart and brought the blush to her cheeks. The tiny stranger was not a welcome guest.

The Assassination Of James Brewer

"One day the word went round that Brewer had returned. The husband was morose and went about his work sullenly. One e\ening he went to his home and found it deserted. There was an abandoned cabin that stood on the bank of AYildcat creek, near Hopewell church. It was here that a mob gathered and formed its plans. When Brewer was found he was torn away from the young woman's embrace. She pleaded for his life, but to no avail. He was dragged to the church site and tied to a small beech tree. His back was stripped and the man was whipped as hard as lust)" arms could apply the lash. The mob had blackened their faces and looked like a gang of negroes. Brewer recognized his assailants, despite their disgxiise, however, and hurled curses at them, and vowed to kill any and all of them, if his life was spared.

"Men in the mob said that the injured husband, wrought to a frenzy of excitement, rage and fear, whipped out a knife, to the horror of all the mob, who had not intended his death, and plunged it into Brewer's heart. Brewer strained against his bonds and died with an unuttered curse upon his lips. Tyre always denied the guilt of the fatal blow, even on his deathbed, altliough those nf the mnb laid the crime to him.

"Next morning broken and bloddy switches were found, hut not the body of Brewer. A woman was seen running across a field one afternoon, and by farmers working nearby was heard to shout to her brothers, wlio were working in the woods. 'They ha\-e found the body under the bridge." The men cut tlie harness off tlieir horses in a second, and leaping astride dashed away, never to return. Near the bridge was a bog. Here searcli had been made and apparently traces of a body found. If ever there, it had e\-idently been removed shortly after this alarm. Where it was removed has never been known. Some said it was secreted in a gully on the James Miller farm, others said that the skeleton tumed up by ditchers several years later in the old Purdum farm, just east of the city, Avas that of the murdered man.

"The next night after the killing warrants were sworn out by Oliver Tyre before Justice Jonathan Fisher and Constables Howell and Tence Lindley beg^an seiwing them. Mr. Rarey was awakened from his sleep by the barking of dogs and a babel of voices. Going outside of the house in the dark night, he saw lanterns swaying and supposed that hunters had lost their way. He soon learned his mistake, and to his astonishment was placed under arrest. As Mr. Rarey was able to show that he was several miles away in the hay harvest at the time of the killing- he was nex'er tried. The circumstance that led to his arrest was that parties suspected of belonging to the mob had called at his home the afternoon before the tragedy to solicit him to help in the enterprise."

"On the day of our August election," says the Pioneer, Howard county's first newspaper, in its issue of Wednesday, August 7, 1850, in "Harrison township, the most horrible and heart-rending afifray took place, that we have ever been called upon to witness. There appears to ha\e been an old grudge and dispute between the parties for some length of time, and the encounter was designed and premeditated. The assailants, Brohard and Lane, retired at an early hour, selected their ground, and after some parleying, a ring was formed, into which the parties stepped, and commenced a fearful onset, encouraged by their friends, respectively. After dealing- each other some half dozen or more blows with the fist, the brother of Lane interfered by violently pushing Brohard aside from his opponent. Lane instantly tottered and fell dead upon the ground. His friends soon removed him to a neighboring brook, and two physicians were promptly called, and all means used that could l^e to resuscitate the dead man, but to no effect." Dr. Lewis Kern, a pioneer of Harrison township, who was at the election when the difficulty between John Brohard and Jesse Lane occurred, described it picturesquely :

"Lane approached Brohard, who, by the way, was a large, raw-boned man. and apparently much stronger than Lane. But the Lanes boasted of being of fighting stock. After applying various vile epithets to Brohard, Lane dared him to fight, and BnMiarcl said, 'Jesse, I do not want to have any fight with you here. I am willing to acknowedge that you are a better man than I am and let us make friends.'

"\\'hen Aaron Lane, Jesse's brother, drew a ring on the ground and remarked that 'If he was not a d - tl coward he would enter the ring, and his brother would whip him.' Brohard replied, "To show you that I am no coward, I will enter the ring,' which he did in a perfect]}- cool manner, while Lane had his coat oft" and a belt fastened around his waist, foaming with rage. He sprang at Brohard. The first lick Brohard knocked off and dealt Lane a blow in the region of the heart. Lane fell o\-er muttering a curse and died."

Brohard was arrested for the aft'ray and first taken before James T. McCraiw, justice of the peace, and his bond fixed at two hundred dollars. His sureties were James and Barnett Bmhard. J. F. Fanchier filed the affidavit August 5, 1850. September 14, i8so, Brohard's bond was raised before Henry B. Havens, justice of the peace, to eight hundred dollars, and the charge raised to manslaughter. In November, the same year, Brohard was tried by jury in the circuit court and fined three dollars for the affray.

In 1856 the law authorized* a jur\- in coroner cases. That year "Scott" Mitchell committed suicide. Thomas A. Armstrong was coroner, and the jury empaneled comprised Hiram Kewlin, Len Mills, John W. Travis, J. K. Will, C. Stafford, R. H. Porter, Samuel T. Mills, Daniel M. Centine, R. H. Birt, O. B. Todd, H. B. Havens and Henry Ulrich. Mitchell was found dead one morning at eleven o'clock, at his home, which stood upon what is now the Congregational church corner. Mr. Mills broke through a window and opened the front door for the entrance of the citizens. Mitchell was stretched upon the floor. He had securely shut up the house, and dressing himself in his best clothes, he had laid down upon the iloor, holding a shotgun against his body. He pulled the trigger with his foot. His family were all away from home. The reason of his act was never known. Strange as it may seem, he had begged earnestly of his friend Mills to go hunting with him early that morning. It was supposed that he had purposed killing ]\Iills and shooting himself.

In i860, a six-year-old daughter of Levi Sizelove, living in the eastern part of the county, was killed by a tree the father chopped down, he not knowing that she was there. The same year Joseph W. Davis, of Fairfeld, killed his father by striking him over the head with a stick of wood, as the sequel of a quarrel. Davis received a sentence of two j'ears.

John Thrall, on May 27, 1863, shot to death Nelson J. Cooper and fatally wounded the Rev. John W. Lowe, who died the next day. Thrall was a horse thief and while attempting to resist arrest perpetrated the crimes, for which he was hanged by a mob. Captain H. H. Stewart was deputy sheriff under N. B. Brown, and had received word to be on the lookout for horses stolen at Anderson. When Thrall and his companion, whose name has not been officially preserved, arrived at the Nelson Cooper barn on the north side of the court house scjuare with the horses word was sent to Captain Stewart, who. with a party of friends, was dancing a cjuadrille, a few squares removed from the livery stable. Stewart at once left for the liver>^ stable, where he found the men mounted upon the stolen horses. He examined the animals and was soon satisfied that they were the horses described in a letter received by the sheriff. The men started to ride away, whereupon Stewart ordered ^Ir. Cooper to assist in their arrest. As Mr. Cooper reached toward the bridle. Thrall whipped out his revolver and sent a bullet into his brain, which bullet entered at the side of Cooper's nose, and he was instantly dead. Then Thrall opened fire upon Stewart, who was shot in the hand. The missile peeled the flesh back, and this same bullet sped toward the Rev. Lowe, whom it struck in the side wounding him fatally. To escape the next shot Stewart threw himself beneath the horse. Fearing his further safety Thrall started from the stable on a gallop, his companion having already fled, proffering Thrall no assistance. Proceeding west on Walnut street, Thrall was about to reach the railroad tracks, when confronted by Justice of the Peace Thomas Auter, a doughty character, who, inspired by the excitement of the moment, without knowing its cause. but hearing the cries to stop Thrall, picked up a brickbat, which he hurled with a lusty aiTn at Thrall's head. The horse thief, to escape the missile, swung to one side, whereupon the saddle turned with him. Henry B. Steward, a son of Coroner John Steward, and an expert shot, just returned from the army on a furlough, was standing upon the Dennison comer and brought Thrall down by a shot which shattered his leg. He had said upDii tlie instant that he wduld not kill Thrall, but he would wound and disal)le him. as he did. Thrall lay wounded in the street when Coroner John Steward advanced upon him to demand his arrest. Thrall yet held in his hand the weapon which had caused Cooper's death and mortally wounded the Rev. Lowe, but he made no attempt to use it on the coroner. He submitted to arrest peacefully and for safet}- was taken to the third story of the old Henderson hotel. The (jwner, - n(.t the man after whom th.e hotel was named - appeared in a frenzy of excitement, brandishing an ax, exclaiming that he didn't propose to have any murderer in his house, and declaring that he would kill Thrall. Coroner Steward, with Thrall's weapon, commanded the landlord to immediately go below, which he lost no time in doing. Coroner Steward then conducted his prisoner to jail. IMeantime a searching party pursued Thrall's companion, who was followed to a swamp northeast of the city, but who managed to escape detection by hiding under a log over which his pursuers passed. At night he escaped, and while it has been reported that he was subsequently apprehended and sent to the penitentiary, this appears a mistake, as Captain Stewart says that he made a thoroug'h investig-ation, even at the penitentiaries, and that Thrall's companion was never apprehended and convicted. Thrall was ver}- bitter toward his companion. He said that as they had approached Kokomo they had stopped at the ^Vashington street ford of \\'ildcat creek and pledged themselves to escape ov die together, as they "swigged a slug of whiskey." Instead the companion deserted Thrall the moment trouble introduced itself. Thrall was happy in the death of Mr. Cooper, but regretted that of Mr. Lowe, and was Sony that he had not hit Captain Stewart. Public excitement reached its height on the night following the Rev. Lowe's death and a mob formed to execute summary justice to Thrall. He had expected something of the kind. His need of being in fear of the event had been shouted to him through the bars of his ceU, from outside of the windows. He noted these warnings mentally, but did not condescend to answer concerning them. But that he was impressed with the fate before him was evident in his sending for Coroner Steward. To that official he made a remarkable confession. He said his name was not Thrall at all. He revealed to the coroner his real name, under pledge that it ne\er be revealed. Forty years Coroner Steward kept that secret in his breast and he carried it with him, as he had promised, to his grave. Tlirall - for that must be the name by which he is to be known - confided the information that he was from the southland, and that he was a member of a prominent family, and that his situation had once been an honorable and prosperous one. To save his aged mother and family from the shame of a knowledge of the true circumstances of his death he w.mld keep t(n-e\erer his identity a secret. He said that he had been a merchant, but a Union man in a southern state. Every attempt had been made to induce him to recant his sentiments and to impress him into the Confederate service, but without avail. His business was wrecked, he said, by a mob of southern sympathizers, and his property destroyed. Thrall saved five hundred dollars out of the wreck, bid his family "good bye," promising to return if all went well, and fled to the North. He landed in Indianapolis, Indiana, and worked a while in a tannery, but soon fell into dissipation and bad habits. Losing his situation as the result of a jealous quarrel with his foreman, he become a peddler of fruits upon the streets of Indianapolis, but finally, attracted by the high prices horses were bringing, if sold for the use of the Union Army, he entered upon horse stealing upon a wholesale plan. He gave his watch to Sherifif Brown and his ring to Coroner Steward. That night the blows upon the iron doors of the jail resounded throughout the city, Init no man was calmer through all the excitement than Thrall. Xo man ever faced a mob more bra\ely. Roughly handled, despite his wound, he hobbled to the court house yard Avithout a murmur. He stood upon a box and faced the seekers of his life defiant!}-. Examining- the noose which hung above his head, he found that it was too long-, and with his own hand adjusted it to his neck. He whipped out a handkerchief and tied it around his body to symbolize his innocence over the guilt of the mob. which he defied to do its worst. While he was }-et speaking- he was swung off. Those popularly supposed to be connected with the mob never prospered afterward and suffered a great deal in consequence of it, leaving the locality ultimately and ever afterward expressing regret at the part they had taken in Thrall's death. His body was cut down, bttt refused burial in the old cemeten-. He was buried beneath a tree upon the east, just outside. It was even ditificult to secure burial of the remains, feeling ran so high. While Thrall was buried it was always the claim that his body had not a long- repose, and it was the general belief that the skeleton beneath the stairway of a prominent drug store of Kokomo, which rested there for years, was that of Thrall. The body of his victim, Xelson Cooper, was removed from the old cei-iieten- to Crown Point cemetery, forty years after the burial, and was laid not far from the Rev. John Lowe, the seconil of Thrall's victin-is.

Infiamed with jealousy. Dr. Heniy C. Cole shot dead, October, 1866, Chambers Allen, as Allen was leaving the jiostofiice, then on Buckeye street, near Walnut street. Dr. Cole and his first wife. Nellie Cole, a beautiful woman, had many domestic disagreenients. Upon one occasion, returning to Kokomo after an extended absence. Dr. Cole found a sale of his household goods in progress, which he declared unauthorized, and to which procedure he put an abnipt end. Despite their disagreements, he was greatly in love with her. He did even'thing- in his power to maintain the hannony of their domestic relations and did not divorce her until after he had shot Allen. Dr. Cole, in the shooting, acted upon the belief that Allen had invaded his home. He had warned Allen to keep away ivom Knkomo; it is said he even wrote Allen a letter, warning him to remain away from Kokomo, plainly infomiing him that he would meet death if he ventured a retum. It was generally known in Kokomn, in that day, that Cole had threatened Allen's life. The first sight of Allen was enough to inspire Cole with a frenzy, and he fired three shots into Allen. Cole was arrested and at first denied bail, being confined within the Washington street jail, but later was released upon ten thousand dollars bond. He took a change of venue December, 1866, to Tipton county, where he was tried for murder and acquitted upon a plea of emotional insanitw his defense in chief being conducted by Senator D. \\'. Voorhees. Dr. Cole was one of Kokomo's most picturesque personalities, and himself was the victim of a violent death. Dr. Cole was of a tall and graceful build, with lustrous eyes, and had a magnificent beard, which was w ith him a matter of great pride. He always dressed faultlessly in his da}-, the best tailor-made clothes gracing his figure. He wore an appropriate ornamentation of jewelry, and had delicate, small hands and feet, and was a man of fascination among women. His father, Jesse Cole, a Kentuckian, mo^-ing to Ripley count}-, where Dr. Cole was born, was noted through life as impulsive, self-willed, and a thoroughly determined man, and such was his son. Dr. Cole, who was a determined and admittedly desperate man. He would shoot, if he so decided, and this trait known, he was greatly feared. He inspired the most devoted, loyal and undying friendships, and enmities as bitter as could be imagined. He had been an armv surgeon and had gained a wide reputation in liis day as a ph}sician of great si<ill and a surgeon of rare ability. Fcjr a friend, especially a poor man, he would dri\-e any distance, and upon the most inclement night, with the certain knowledge that he would not receix'e a cent's pay. He has been known to threaten to throw downstairs a poor patient offering to pa}- him a bill, remarking that he "would charge the amount up to some rich patient." He insjjired the love of children. But an enemy he hated with all the hatred of his soul. Dr. Cole's name has been connected with many daring and elaborate schemes of revenge, and with unlawful things, but no proof against him ever appeared. Guilty or innocent, no man's name was ever more freely used in connection with transactions, proof of his direct connection with which would have landed liim behind the bars, if not sentenced him to the gallows. Yet proof of such connections were never even attempted. He vehemently denounced his enemies as the authors of "these vile slanders" one and all. He hail enemies, and .scores of them, and the}- hated him as cordially as he hated them. Yet in private life he was as kind and mild-mannered as a man could be. A candidate for mayor. Dr. Cole's enmities grew to white heat. He gave no compnimise and expected nmie. It was while holding- this office that he met death, breathing- his last upon the same night that Garfeld dieil. The roar of shot guns was plainly heard throughout the city before midnight. The peo])le rushed toward the spring mills, hearing- the rejxirt that Dr. Cole had been shot, and his body lay upon the comm(ins to the west of the mill, cold in death. The explanation was that Dr. Cole had planned the burning of the mill, and that he had purposed its robbery with the intention of secreting the flour upon the premises of an enemy, but, anticipated by a sheriff's posse.- was shot to death while attempting to flee the place. He was said to have been betrayed by an accomplice in his purposed act. A post n-iorteni of the body was held. His nose was broken, which was said to have been caused by his running against a wood pile in the attempt to escape. He was also shot in the knee, the claim being that this was the first wound, received as he ventured up to the mill window to enter, to join his confederate in carrying out flour. In his heart was found a small bird shot, pronounced the cause of death, and received, it was said, while in flight, and refusing to submit to arrest. A coroner's investigation before Dr. J. C. Wright, of Russiaville, was held. The state of facts presented were testified to by those participating in the capture and death of Cole. His friends refused to believe that he had attempted a theft and claimed that his death was consummated elsewhere, but no such proof was ever adduced and the explanations of the posse stands unimpeached until this day. In the remo\al of Dr. Cole, Kokomo lost a picturesque and forceful personality, of whom friends speak in kindness and of whom those who disliked him speak in harshest terms, economizing- no word to his disparagement.

The prosecution of Jonathan Binns for the murder of his wife, Rachel Binns. January 31, 1870, was (me <)f the most notable in the criminal annals of Howard county. .\t the time the killing took place there was a suit pending in the Cass circuit court by ^Irs. Binns against her husband for a divorce, in which she charged Binns with various things, among them consorting with bad women. Mrs. Binns was shot while at her home at Russiaville, at night, between 8 anel 10 o'clock, through a window. \Mien dying she stated that her husband had shot her. She stated tliat he had said that he could and would shoot her if she did not sign certain papers concerning some money. Binns attempted to prove that he was at Kokomo, ten or tweh'e miles distant, at the time the crime was committed. Twice C(jnvicted, Binns securetl a re\'ersal of the case in the supreme court, first upnn the ground that he had been wrung- fully deprived of a continuance of his case, for which he had asked, and to which he was entitled under the law. He succeeded in his second appeal upon the gn:)und that his wife's declarations of his guilt of her death were Avrongfully admitted in evidence, in that she had not seen him hefore receiving the fatal shot, but had merely expressed the opinion that it was he because of their past differences and his threats against her. The state was able to show the presence of Binns near the residence of his wife a short time before her death. In August, 1877, Michael Gillooley killed Thomas W. Lannon at the junction and was prosecuted for murder in the first degree. Lannon was a policeman and had once arrested Gillooley for frequenting a house of ill fame. The state showed that Gillooley had threatened to kill Lannon in consequence. Gillooley W3S con\-icte;l of murder in the first degree. The leading witness against him was Rev. Father Francis Lordeman, who had admonished Gillooley against carrying out his threats. Gillooley took an appeal to the supreme court, claiming that the testimimy of Father Lunleman was the confidence of the church, but this plea was overruled and the conviction affirmed in November, 1877, by the suprenvi court. As tlie death penalty had been imposed, the gallows were building- when a public agitation for the prisoner was started. The matter was carried to "Blue Jeans" Williams, then go\-ernor, who commuted the sentence to imprisonment for life. Gillooley was pardoned a .sh(;rt time before his death. He had threatened the death of the trial judge, Init ended his days (|uietly.

Richard Long was hanged by a mob upon the ]\Iain street bridge IMonday night, April 3, 1882. The iron structure then standing had a support above. Long was accused of having outraged the little daughter of Ed Pritchard. He was arrested and placed in the ^^'ashington street jail. The Sunday preceding his execution an excited throng faced the jail, throwing a rope over the fence at frequent intervals and breatliing threats. But this was not the agency of Long's death. The unorganized throng was merely the froth of public feeling. Later a mob was deliberately org'anized in the Haskett grove, and it chose a leader, who was such in name and in fact. Monday night the mob tore Long from the jail. He was conducted along High street in his stocking feet, pale with excitement, but not yet seriously impressed witli the Ijelief tliat he was actual!}- to be hanged. He made no appeals, but walked liraxel}- forward. Arri\-ed at the bridge. Long was lifted upon a box and the mpe put around his neck. It was foimd too short to reach over the girtler abo\'e and one of the mob climbed to the height and fastened it to a beam above the box. At this juncture the Rev. Robert INIc- Cune, past<')r of the First Cougreg'atir.nal church, and Hon. J. Fred Vaile, later of western and national fame as a lawyer, arrived and pleaded in \-ain with the mob for tlie life nf Finig. Vaile even called upnn the men tn aid him in rescuing- the c ir.demned man, but to no purpose. Xo liue responded. I-i>ng was asked if he had anything- to say. He requested the i^rivilege of singing "See That My Grave Is Kept Green," and the strain was interrupted with the exclamation, "Shove a hot jxitato in his mouth." When the last words faded from Long's lips the box was kicked from beneath him and he swuiig- to his death. The Imdy was cut down next morning and exhibited in the nin-th corridor of the court house. His body was supposed to have l)een buried in the old cemetery, and for a season his grave was covered with a bunch of flowers, planted by unknown hands, which attention ceased finally altog'ether. Some said his body was never buried, but be that as it may, a coffin was at least. Long denied to the last bis guilt of outrage, and it seems tliat the proof of that point has never been clearly established and remains to this day a matter of grave doubt. Long confessed to horse stealing, and admitted that he had sen-ed in the Michigan City penitentiary, but denied the rape, evidences of which it was asserted were established by the condition of his clothing.

During the administration of J. F. Elliott, prosecutor of Howard and Tipton counties, occurred one of the celebrated trials of this locality. William Dougherty was tried for homicide in the alleged felonious killing of Joseph VanHorn. in the saloon of the Howard House. The shooting grew out of alleged oflfensive remarks made by VanHorn imputed against the chastity of Dougherty's sister. Dougherty was tried at Tipton and acquitted.

During the administration of A. B. Kirkpatrick as prosecutor William ]\Ialosh received a sentence of nine years in the penitentiary for burning the Union block. The trial was hatl in 1887.

In the same year OUie Hawkins was convicted of the killing of Richard Hacse through jealousy and was defendetl by Senator D. W. Voorhees. Hawkins received a seven-year sentence, but was pardoned.

December. 1888, John E. Fleming, an escape from the Marion, Indiana, jail, shot Robert L. Jones, sheritT of Grant county, in a house in Jerome, Indiana, where the sheriff was tr}-ing to effect Fleming's arrest. Fleming was captured and convicted, but escaped even from the penitentiary, but was apprehended. His sentence was for life.

In 1891 George Tykle received a sentence of two years in the penitentiary for criminal negligence in boiling- a man named Clark to death. Tykle conducted a bathing establishment ami it was shown that Clark was a helpless paralytic and. placed in a bath tub. was left alone, and while in this situation the natural gas in the burner either came up or was turned up liy third parties, with the result that Clark was literally boiled alive, the flesh from his bones floating about the tub when his body was discovered and removed. The fact is that Tykle, who was a well-read and well-educated man, but had his own theories about things, was grieved to death over the misfortune, as Clark was his best friend and a sincere believer in the water cure theories of Tykle.

The Molihan Gang

During the seventies the Molihan gang flourished in the Junction district. All manner of crimes were laid at the doors of this reputed gang, but if g-uilty its members were never ascertained, apprehended and brought to justice. It was claimed that its ramifications extended so far that justice was nullified and detection rendered out of the case, and tliat it perpetrated crime with impunity and after a studied plan. A wholesale robbeiy of farm houses and city residences of silverware was one plan supposed tO' be backed by the gang, and several bodies cut to pieces upon the railroad tracks at the junction were said to have been men murdered and then placed there by this gang, the booty of which, it was claimed, was sold in Chicago by those whose names, if revealed, would have caused surprise. At any rate the terror of the gang- caused deep apprehension in the minds and heaiis of the Kokomo public, and when the ]\Iolihan saloon passed away and the reputed gang melted away the public breathed a sigh of relief.

September 4, igoi, Jacob Dotterer was killed at his home in Howard township, near A'ermont. The aged man was attacked by four men, two of whom were masked, this fact leading the authorities to believe that they were Howard county men, while the unmasked men were strangers. The report seems to ha\'e got abroad that Mr. Dotterer was to receive, on the night that he was fatally shot, the purchase price <~.t his farm, and his assailants planned to rob him of his money. Two of the men were seen to cross the fields from Vemiont station and lie in wait for the appearance of the purchaser of the farm, who, later, came to the Dotterer home, where he remained about half an hour. Soon a knock was heard at the front door of Mr. Dotterer's home, which summons he answered in person, lamp in hand. He was confronted by the two masked men. who commanded him to surrender. He hastily set the lamp upon a stand and gave battle to the strang-ers. knocking both down and worsting the rest of the party as they advanced upon him. Although a man of sixty-five years of age, he proved a "genuine surprise party" for his assailants. He was worsting them all, when one cried out, "Well, I guess we will have to kill the old man." With that a shot rang out and a bullet pli.iwed through the old man"s stomach, entering from the side. Dotterer fell and with a d}-ing strength reached into his pixket, and drawing out two hundred and forty-two dollars he had there, hurled it up a stairway, where it fell unnoticed into a recess in which it was not discovered by the robbers. The old man being shot, the robbers compelled Mrs. Dotterer to open the safe, after she had fought one of the number and torn his shirt off, while they held Mrs. Roll Dotterer at bay. In the safe was found sixty-five cents. A search of the house discovered fifteen dollars more, \\\vxh the robbers took away, but this was all they secured. For while the deeds to the farm had been made the money was not turned over on the tragic night. The amount would have been several thousand dollars, and the robbers expected a large haul. When they left the Dotterer heme they told the women that if they gave the alarm to the neighbors they would shoot them upon sight. It was some time therefore before the alarm was given. The authorities had parties under suspicion, but as they were about to get evidence to warrant arrests tiie suspects left the city.

Of Howard Couxtv. 3Oi The Suttox-Vager Mystery

What is commonly sp )ken of as tlie Suttmi- Yager mystery is one which lias ne\-er been solved, it mystery it was, in tact. While the death of Francis Sutton. April 27. 1903, and that of Lewis Yager, jNIay 11, 1903, ai-e both claimed to have been suicides, these deaths, succeeding each other so closely, happening in the same locality, and bearing so many evidences of similarity, roused the entire county to the belief that the young men had been murdered. best detective skill of the country was employed to no avail, working upon the theor}- cjf murder and with the intent of bringing the guilty parties - if any - to justice. All the great metropolitan dailies sent representatives to the locality to seek to clear up the myster\% but all these efforts came to naught. Francis Sutton was found lying near his horse and buggy, close to the gate at the Peter's home, not far from Hemlock. Sutton had called the night Ijefore (Sunday night) upon Miss Stella I'eters. and left lier home. He never got farther than the gate at the end of the lane, which opened into the public road. Here he is supposed to have taken his own life, or to have been killed. A large hole had been pawed into the ground Ijy the horse, indicating that it had stood at the gate a long time impatiently. A short distance to one side was found the body of Sutton, which had evidently lieen spilled <xit of the Inigg')' when the horse left the gate, proceeding towartl a woods on that side. In the buggy was found a revolver, that of Sutton, with one chamber empty, and his body disclosed that death had come from a single shot.

Two weeks later the body of Lewis Yager was fcmnd sittingbolt upright in his buggy, which the horse had drawn to the lane gate at the D. S. Yager home, near Oakford. Yager, too, had called upon a young lady the evening before, but had left her home early and proceeded elsewliere. There was some evidence that he had been at Sharps\'ille. The buggy wheel was stained with blood, and his toes were jammed under the front rod of the buggy bed. The blood had oozed from a wound in Yager's temple. \\'hile suicide was claimed, the position of Yager's feet led to the suspicion and belief that he had been shot and his body wedged into the buggy so it would not fall out, and the horse started homeward. Other circumstances alleged were that the horse he was driving was a high-spirited one and would not stand fire, in the case Yager fired a bullet into his own brain, but would ha\e run away, perhaps wrecking the buggy and leaving the body anywhere along the road. The theory was that Yager had been with se\^eral parties, and there was evidence that he had been drinking, as the laprobe smelled of the fumes of liquor, yet it was recognized that this might have been poured on the robe as a misleading circumstance. The elaborate theory was btiilded that both Sutton and Yager had been victims of a feud of the neighborhood and that both had been murdered. The finding (_)f a revolver in the road near the supposed scene of Yager's death later heightened the belief of foul play, and it was argued that perhaps Sutton had been shot with a revolver not his own, but that his revolver had been discharged once and thrown into the buggy bed to establish the appearance of a premeditated death. It was surmised tliat both young men had been halted antl shot to death while in their buggies. A bogus detecti\-e ran ofi^ with the re\'olver and no practical results e\-er came of the investigations upon the murder theoiy, but nevertheless it ma\' have been the true one, and time may vindicate it, but the conclusion was accepted by the public that both young men had committeil suicide and that the most striking coincident was that they should take their lives within so sliort a time, one after the other.

Attorney I. C. Hoopes, prominent at the Howard county b:u . in a fit of mental aberration stole into the parlor of his West Taylor street home, December 28, 1907, sending a bullet through his brain, death resulting instantly.

Fairy McClain was shot tn ileath at the home of her aunt, Mrs. Mattie Xay, North Lafontaine street. April 7, 1908. Knocking at her bed room door, which opened oft" a hall through which he easily enteretl, the street door being unlocked, Jesse W'orley Osl)orn, her jealous and maddened lover, forced himself intu her bed room, as soon as Miss McClain opened the door to see who was there. She being in her night clothes, fled to her bed, and the aunt and her little son fled to the home of a neighbor t(_i summ.m the police. Osborn demanded that Miss iVIcClain arise and talk with him and that she kiss liini. She declined U> comply with any (if his requests, and defied his threats, which. pre\iously made ag'ainst her. he renewed ujjon this occasion. Osli;irn, who had been drinking, whipped out his re\i)l\-er with the exclamation. "Fairy, you provoke me." and shot her twice in the head. She fell out of bed in a heap. Osljorn fled the .scene, although the night was stormy and the rain was falling heavily. .\ search was instituted for him. Iiut without avail, for some* days. He had gone as far as Canada, but homesick, he ventured to return as far as Logansport. Here he was appreliended in the Fan Handle railroad yards by the cnmpan}-'s detecti\-es. while riding the bumpers of a freight train. Osborn made no resistance against arrest and was brought to Kokomo, his captors obtaining a reward of five hundred dollars offered by the countv commissioners. Osborn entered a plea of guilty and was sentencetl to the ]>enitentiary for life. He had, it developed, kept company with Miss Mc- Clain fir several vears, and she finallv decided to eet rid of him. A few weeks before the killing they had quarreled and he had struck the }'oung woman, for which offense he was given a jail sentence. While the young woman chose to bear her maiden name and did so. she was the wife of Levi ]\Iiller, but with whom she did not live. Charles Thresher and William Lindley lost their lives as the result of drink. September 28, 1908. On that date their bodies, stiff in death, were found in the gravel pit near Greentown. Sunday preceding the}' were seen to leave Greentown, jug in hand, which vessel contained whisk}-, and they remarked to one they passed that they were "going out to celebrate the county local option law." which had just been passed by the special session of the legislature. The}- remained at the gravel pit throughout Sunday, drinking and eating paw-paws. The jug was replenished at least twice. Finally Charles Lindley, who was with them, staggered away from the place and ti-ied to get his companions to follow him. without success. Whe 1 he returned ne.xt day he found them cold in death, one body submerged in the water and the other staring- with g-lassy eyes towards the starry heavens. The bodies were taken to the Fulwider undertaking establishment at Greentown. where, under the direction of the Rev. Hall, they were viewed by school children who passed by, single file, as an object lesson in temperance.

The (uitfit of the Pioneer office (the Pioneer was the first paper jjublished in the history of the county! was brought from New London to Kokomo early in the fifties. The equipment was installed in the west side of a double frame building, ou the north side of High street, just east of Main street. l"he name of the paper was changed to that of The Howard Tribune, witli C. D. Murray as editor. On the east side of the building- occupied by the Tribune office lived the parents of Daniel G. Wilkins. "Uncle" Dan, as Mr. Wilkins has been known for }-ears, became a printer by natural associations. He frequented the Tribune office just across the hallway from his home, and soon picked up a knowledge of the business. James Beard, the real owner of the printing ec[uipment, and who had come with it from Xew London, pulled the press - a ^^'ash^ng-ton hand press - and "Uncle" Dan ran the roller. Mr. ^^'ilkins was also given the emplovment of passing the papers, the circulation of the Tribune being at that time about three hundred. "Uncle" Dan, who, as a boy, had carried the mail from Delphi to Marion, relinquished this employment. Such trips made upon horseback consumed four days in going and coming-. "Uncle" Dan settled down in earnest to learn the printer's trade, and soon had mastered the boxes.

In those days type was set by hand instead of by machinery, and each type was picked from a box and placed in a composing stick. "Uncle" Dan soon learned all the technicalities of the ofifice and was not long in mastering the names of the type used, as the office was possessed of but few fonts of type at best. Mr. Beard was a very agreeable man under whom to work and took a great fancy to Mr. Wilkins, who acquired from him the thorough mastery of the printer's art, which distinguished him throughout life, Mr. ^^'ilkins became an expert and passed almost half a century in the practice (if his craft, a certain testimonial to his efiicienc}', the entire time being with the office with which he had started, he remaining in its serx'ice throughout successive ownerships. The Tribune office was finally moved from High street to the north side of the public square, occupying the second story of the building in which was situated below the Robert Birt tin shop, later owned by G. W. Hocker. Mr. Murray retired as editor of the paper, which was purchased by Clinton Boliver Hensley, of Logansport. Mr. Hensley was an unique newspaper men, but preferred the pleasure of hunting to the drudger)' of the offica much of the time. But the interests of the paper did not suffer. An unknown but brainy contributor was Dr. L. D. Waterman, who later moved to Indianapolis. T. C. Phillips purchased the paper of Mr. Hensley and changed the name to The Kokomo Tribune, dropping the word Howard. ]\[r. Phillips was a notable editor of Indiana, and his fame extended even into other states. He was an able, trenchant editorial writer, absolutely fearless and aggressive. He was equally devoid of physical fear, and the indignant man who came around to settle scores for an article to which he objected usually decided to abandon the attack. Mr. Phillips was a strictly party man, being an uncompromising Republican, the only tangent upon which he ever left his strictly orthodox Republicanism being- when he, with Judge Linsday and a number of other leading Republicans, "swung around the circle" with President Andrew Johnson. But it was not long until he had returned to his party fold and his paper and personality were a tower of strength for the political cause which he espoused. His editorials were widely Cjuoted and he expended his best energies in making his paper the leading one' of Indiana.

The office was graduallv improved and finally moved to the east side of the court house square, occup}-ing tw<i different locations in that district. It was while the office was in this part of the city that a cyclone blew down the building in which the office was situated. Mr. Philips declined to accept contriljutions to make good his losses, but consented to re-establish his paper upon condition that a certain number of citizens would take his paper for a year. Whh these subscriptions, and with borrowed money, he erected the Trilnine building, at the corner of Buckeye and Alulbeny streets, and ec]uipped the office with a cyhnder press and a first-class typographical equipment, including a job office. A tireless worker, he soon made the paper a distinctive one in surrounding states. All this time he clung by "Uncle" Dan \\'ilkins. in whose untiring labors for the success of the paper and excellent judgment he had implicit reliance and faith. Mr. Wilkins's service was interrupted long enough for a sen'ice in the Civil war, and a few months" application to house painting, but when he returned to the office at the earnest solicitation of Mr. Philips it was to remain through' the ownership of Mr. Philips's sons, and that of strangers as well, and terminating from the disabilities of old age in 1904.

At the death of T. C. Philips, The Tribune was taken in charge by his sons, Charles Philips and A. F. Philips. Charles Philips was possessed of fine literary ability and is spoken of by those who knew him best to have been the real one of the family gifted as a writer. The paper was now converted into a literary publication, all but losing its character as a newspaper. It invited and paid well for contributions from the noted writers of the day, containing- contributions from Riley, Nye, Brady and others of great note. But as a financial undertaking this publication did not pay, the proprietors being unable to secure a wide enough circulation. Upon the death of Charles Philips, and under the management of A. F. Philips, The Tribune resumed its individuality as a newspaper and dropped much of its foreign contributions. Seymour T. Montgomery was prominently .connected with The Tribune, and for the time that I^hilips was a "political heretic" essayed the editorial management and responsibility. IMontgomery finally ran off, leaving the city mysteriously and suddenly.

The Kokomo Independent

of brain. It was nut, however, long lived. During the period of its establishment and for sexeral }-ears succeeding ]\Ir. Bennett engaged in the active practice of the law, and with success. It was not until 1872 that Air. Bennett engaged in newspaper work on an elaborate scale. In that year a joint stock company was formed and a printing outfit purchased. The Howard County Republican was launched. While The Independent, Mr. Bennett's first paper, was printed from The Tribune office. The Republican had an equipment of its own, and asked favors of no one. Air. Bennett was a tower of intellectual strength, and his paper reflected his personality. He was the only man feared by T. C. Philips, and he gave blow for blow in a manner which counted. Bennett had both the ability and the courage, and he feared neither man nor devil. The publisher of the paper was Will Siddall. When Mr. Bennett left Kokomo it was to go to Logansport, where he took charge of The Logansport Sun. This paper attracted wide attention, as did any paper of which Dan Bennett was the head. But' while at Logansport Mr. Bennett fell a victim of an apoplectic stroke and died afterwards from its effects. The Kokomo Democrat once said of Mr. Bennett: "\\'e have met no cleverer gentleman than D. H. Bennett. He has figured largely in the politics of the county and the district. When he said that he would speak out his sentiments, boldly and unflinchingly, in matters of politics, we did not say it unwisely, as we have since learned. In the congressional canvass he was the friend of Dr. Henderson. Dr. Henderson has run up between five hundred and a thousand in advance of his ticket in the district, and it is due to the brave, lx)ld, outspoken words of such men as Bennett that he has done so." The Republican, while in the hands of Mr. Siddall, sustained a misfortune from which it never recovered. A fire started in the ofifice and was sttbdued with difficulty. The flames suppressed, it was found that material damage had been done. Mr. Siddall was.

not enamored of Kokomo newspaper work and left soon after for Indianapolis, making the best disposition possible of the printingoutfit of The Republican.

The Kokomo Journal - first of that name in Kokomo - expired in 1871, while under the ownership of L. J. Templin. In the conduct of this paper M. W. Pershing and S. T. Montgomery had been identified. Air. Templin met e\-ery obligation, making arrangements with the Kokomo Democrat to care for subscriptions he had received since the Journal had been revived. He said that in doing this he did not endorse the policies of the Democratic party, but desired merely to funiish his patrons with a good country newspaper. ]\Ir. Templin returned to the conduct of a nurser}- which he had owned upon assuming the direction of The Journal. The Journal started in 1S70, ended its existence in February. 1871.

The Radical Democrat

The first issue of The Radical Democrat, of K(jkomo, appeared Wednesday, oMay 18, 1870. The editor was W. J. Turpin, "Jap." Air. Turpin was known as the "Tipton Slasher." and was a man of exceptional newspaper ability. After his work in Kokomo he did \-aluable feature work for the Indianapolis newspapers. "Jap" Turpin is a familiar name in Kokomo newspaperdom, and he created an impression not soon to l)e forgotten by the older residents. His office was situated in the upstairs of the Dennison building, corner of ^^'alnut and Bucke}-e streets. The furniture C(5nsisted of two chairs, and tw(T tables. A board reached fmm the head of a flour barrel to the top of a bottomless chair, and upon this board C. H. Havens folded the first issues of the paper. He was the newsboy. ha\ing what was known as the public square route. The Radical Democrat was published from the Tribune office. It was but a short time until the word "Radical"' was dropped from the title page of the publication. \N'hile ]\Ir. Turpin was yet in control of the paper Jcjhn W. Kern was a contributor to its columns. J. M. Goar succeeded Mr. Turpin as editor of the Democrat. In October, 1870, Dr. Jcihn F. Henderson was a candidate for congress, and in this aspiration the Democrat supported him loyally. The fierceness with which the opposition of newspapers was conducted in that day is illustrated in an editorial appearing in the Democrat of the issue of Thursday, October 20. 1870. For instance, the Journal says : "Philips is a malicious liar and an unmitigated scoundrel, and a bald-headed old gambler." Whereupon Philips reminds them that the Journal is a "bastard sheet, with neither paternity nor maternit}-, and that the editors thereof are thieves, murderers and scoundrels." R. G. Smith, a prominent contributor to the Democrat, said in the issue of that paper November 10, 1870 : "Mr. Turpin started a Democratic paper in Kokomo, having neither press nor type, and I know it was often said, by both Democrats and Republicans, that the paper would, soon play out, but Mr. Turpin kept the paper a running, and finally sold his interest to IMr. John M. Goar, whom our citizens soon knew as a sharp writer, and who made the Democrat as sharp as lightning." The Democrat in its issue of November 17, 1870. says: "Dr. Henderson, the founder of two hotels at Kokomo, and whose native modesty would not permit him to name one after himself, has assumed the heavy responsibility of the editor of the Kokomo Democrat. The doctor is a robustly constructed, smug and compact chap of the.best possible inclinations. Dan Bennet has been engaged and will sling ink in his best style and do up the fashion dispatches. Ed Freeman will contribute half a neck of items a week if necessary, and Walker will attend to the heavy market and banking conditions, and occasionally give his views upon hog cholera." John ^^^ Kern

(lid work on The Democrat. In the issue of March 2, 1871, the announcement appears: "Dr. Henderson went to Bahimore and Philadelphia this week, leaving The Democrat to my care. Inexperience and greenness in the business will account for the many inaccuracies and blunders."

Dr. Henderson was an able and couragenus writer, and he made a formidable competitor of The Tribune in the Democrat. In time he was assisted by his sons, J. O. and H. E. Henderson, and later turned the property over to them absolutely upon their return from c<illege. They are today the proprietors of the paper. C. H. Havens, who occupies the editorial desk of the Kokomo Daily Dispatch, by which the paper became known years ago, is the dean of the Kokomo newspaper circles. He worked for a time with Dan Bennett as roller boy, and then entered into the employment of Dr. Henderson. Mr. Ha\'ens left Kokomo in 1874, returning in 1882 and taking a place at the t}-pographical case. Here he revealed the peculiar ability of which he is possessed. His contributions to the columns of the paper under a nom de plume excited a state reading, being quoted throughout the exchanges of the commonwealth, and were notable for a philosophy and a pathos that created a deep impression in the mind of the reading public. Mr. Havens used no manuscript, "setting the matter out of his head as well as his case." His ability demonstrated, he took editorial charge upon Mr. J. O. Henderson being appointed to fill the office of revenue collect(ir in this district in 1884, and has been in charge since that time. His forceful personality, aggressiveness and brilliancy as a special writer and sound appreciation of news values have given the paper an individual standing among its contemporaries. Yet in the harness, "Sir. Havens is desirous of no eulog}', and that will be a topic for the future writer after Mr. Havens shall have closed his newspaper days, but when that time comes his relation to Kokomo new.spapenlom will be found to have been one of unusual importance.

The Kokomo Gazette

Tlie Kukomo Gazette was founded by E. E. Russell and William Gause. the office being located upon the \\'est side of the court house sqtiare. The office was little more than a job outfit, although provided with an army proof press, upon which the publication was printed. The partnership did not long continue and in a comparatively short space of time the paper became the property of Onier ]\Iaris, then of Russiaville, a brilliant writer, who afterwards achieved fame as a contributor to the Chicago Record, while prospecting in the Klondike. Mr. Maris eventually entered into a partnership with Ed Pritchard, subsequently retiring, Mr. L. C. Hoss taking an interest in the paper, and being for a time a partner of ]Mr. Pritchard. Upon the latter disposing of his partnership holding- to John M. Runk, the firm continued as Hoss & Runk, the former finally securing- entire control and ownership of the paper. Mr. Hoss engaged A. E. Kirkpatrick as editorial writer, and they conducted an aggressive, bold, independent Republican paper, its circulation soon assuming formidable and somewhat amazing proportions. Mr, Hoss utilized a steam press and greatly added to the typographical equipment of the office. In September, 1883, he established the Daily Gazette. While the Kokomo Herald was the first daily appearing on the streets of Kokomo, many years preceding the Gazette, the later paper was the first daily to stick, and ne\er missed an issue from the first day it was offered to the public. In the spring of 1884 the Gazette and the Kokomo Tribune affected a consolidation, under the name of the Kokomo Gazette-Tribune. L. C. Hoss and A. F. Philips being the editors and proprietors. The name Gazette was carried several years and finally dropped. The daily issue continued under the new ownership and is known today as the Kokomo Daily Tribune. F. M. Gideon was in an early day editor and part owner of the Gazette.

Of Howard Countv. 3I3

At the time of the consohdation of the Gazette and Tribune \Vilham H. Turpin entered upon the scene of newspaper activity in Kokomo, he being one of the most picturesc[ue and striking personahties known in the circles of Kokomo newspaperdom. A correspondent at New London, his humor and quaint style attracted a wide reading and favorable attention. He was oftered a position as reporter upon the new daily, and as he once said himself, was appalled with the weight of the new responsibility and was doubtful if he could give satisfaction. But as a news gatherer he had few equals. He had a mysteri(jus way of "getting next" to the most carefully guarded secrets which he gave to the public which made him dreaded. He was skillful and shrewd in building up a large circle of loyal friends, who aided him in many directions. It became a maxim that "Turpin is always next." At an advanced age he was active, alert and divining, so much so that nn new men in the field constituted formidable competition. The\- came and went, but he remained at his post without fear of displacement. His style was not of classical cast, but bubbled over with good humor, and he delighted to "touch them up," as he put it. No man in the Kokomo field could produce the number (^f personals that he did. They seemed to pour in a stream from his pencil point, and few were able to escape his observation, if desirous of slipping quietly out of the city. With those he knew liked a special mention he gave a special treatment and made many friends among those fond of newspaper mention. ^Vhen George Gibbs and a party of friends made a trip from the city Turpin wrote: "The special mission of George Gibbs will be to eat two-thirds of the dumplings and all the chicken gizzards, together with the gobble of the rooster, if it is jxissible to get at it. The proverbial part that gets through the fence last is also a choice morsel that Georg'e sets g-reat store upon. It is his purpose to beat a livelv tattoo with the drum sticks, and also to trv his fortune by yanking the pulley bune." Turpin was an indefatigable worker, arising at five o'clock in the morning', and was soon thereafter at his desk. He worked through the day, and then long after the supper hour. He wrote all his matter with a pencil, and the enonnous amount of copy he produced was a marvel to his younger associates. Had he had an early education he would ha\e made his mark in the higher fields of journalism.

One of the humorous personals he published in The Tribune was copied in The New York Sun because of its rich fla\-(ir of humor. Turpin's early life had beai that of an orphan, he finally being cared for by the Shakers, of Ohio, and learned the trade of a broom maker. He naturally held many of the beliefs of the people by whom he was raised, but never gave expression of his heartfelt sentiments save to intimate friends. While with this people he learned much about herbs and flowers and their medicinal \-alues. This knowledge helped him greatly in his newspaper work. Turpin was an optimist of the first order. The financial side of his life was filled with discouragements and trials, but he educated his family and lived well. Regardless if half an hour before he had met with a serious reverse his whistle resounded through the corridors of the court house as he went in quest of news and in the streets as lie passed along them. Asked once bow he could be so jolly in the midst of what would depress other men he said: "Well, it can't be helped, and what is the use to be thinking about it all the timei^ There will be another day dawn." An enthusiastic baseball fan. and a polo enthusiast, his enjoyment of a game coming his way was a sight worth while to see, but his disgust w'as savage if the home team played "rotten." His reports* of sporting events were characteristic of his unique personality. His friends were legion, he was "foxy," and few men ha\'e been more keenly missed than he from his paper and his old haunts, where his friends saved him choice tips and good jokes. Turpin, aftei" having worked twenty-two years as a broom maker in all the principal cities of the west, settled in New London, Howard county, in 1868, where he married. He was coroner of Howard county six years, street commissioner of Kokomo nine years, and engrossing- clerk of the lower house of the Legislature in 1887. His seiwice with The Gazette began in 1883, and terminated with the consolidation in 1884, when he went to Richmond to become writer on The Richmond Palladium. He was well known over the state as a local writer, and was connected with the Chicago Tribune and Liter-Ocean and other city newspapers as correspondent. Turpin was also engaged in newspaper work at Tipton and Elwood, and returning- to Kokomo worked on the Kokomo News- Dispatch, and lastly Tribune, in which later ser\-ice he was employed when his death occurred in 1907.

Mr. L. C. Hoss was finally associated with his father, P. E. Hoss, in the ownership and control of The Tribune, the elder Hoss purchasing the interest of A. F. Philips, who left the city to engage in newspaper labors in foreign fields. In the departure of Mr. Philips, the last of the noted pioneer family departed, and the name was henceforth known histdrically only. The Hosses sold the paper to Mr. B. B. Jiihnson, once county treasurer, and later of the Richmond Item. He operated the paper for several months, selling to J. A. Kautz and H. E. McMonigal, of Wabash. Mr. McMonigal retired and the Tribune has become one of the most valuable plants of its size in the state under the management of Mr. Kautz, and has reached a wide influence.

The Kokomo Morning Times

komo Morning- Times, a daily paper. The outfit of the Industrial Union was purchased and installed in the Sharp room, south side of the court house square. In a few months the paper reached a high water mark in subscriptions, and, encouraged by this properity, the owner moved the plant into the old Tribune corner. The paper assumed an important place in the municipal election, and its. influence did a great deal for the election of A. B. Kirkpatrick as mayor and Harry Bennett for marshal, upon a strict law enforcement platform. Mr. Nicholson was an ardent temperance man and the town was soon "tight," as the word is used in liberal circles. The ambition to become a member of the general assembly of Indiana soon seized Mr. Nicholson, and this ambition was realized, he working for the temperance enactment bearing his name. The actual life of his paper was little short of a year. He struggled bravely against the panic of 1893 '^"d '^'^'^s reduced to pathetic and sore straits in the hope of weathering the storm, but was finally forced to give up the struggle.

The Greentown Gem

The Russia\'ille Obsen-er was founded a number of years ago, and is a permanent addition to the county newspapers, to all appearances. The Greentown Gem is a bright and prosperous publication representing the interests of eastern Howard county, being published at Greentown.

The W.Vter Cure Er.A.

One of the earliest of magazine publications devoted to special interests was The Water Cure Era, published at New London in the forties. It was a monthly paper of sixteen pages, devoted to an explanation of the doctrines of the water cure, being edited by Drs.

Of Howard Cot'Nty

T. P, Albertsi)!! and A. \'. Talbert, and was issued from tlie Pioneer office. A similar publication was, for several years, published in Kokomo at the Invalids" Home b_\- Dr. T. V. Gifforcl. Aaron Walker published the Christian Foundation, devoted to the doctrines of the Disciples' church.

The Vol.Xpuck

A newspaper intentionally short li\-ed was that pulilished by W. S. Annstrong-, called The Volapuck. appealing to the Kokomo public against the Indiana Natural Gas and Oil Companw and for the municipal ownership (^f a water w(_irks plant. During the Roosevelt campaign Mr. Armstrong- published The Protest, in which he urg'ed the defeat of Judge Parker for the presidency.

The Kokomo News

The Kokomo News, a daily publication, was established in 1896, occupying the old Tribune corner, at the intersection of Mulberry and Buckeye streets. The proprietors and editors of this paper were \\\ H. Staley and son. E. T. Staley, who came here from Frankfort. The property finally fell in to the hands of W. J. Spruce, and later into the ownership of a syndicate of which R. L. Williamson was the responsible head. The Kokomo News company was finally fonned, an organization composed chiefly of Koko- UKT capital, and the property was taken over by the new organization. L. R. Naftzger was placed in editorial charge, and The News took on an extensive growth and a wide importance. W. L. Austell was business manager. In time the company passed into a receivership, the management falling to W. B. Westlake, of Marion, Ind. When the paper was legally sold it came into the management of Trn\vbridg-e & Harris, Mr. Trowbridge finallv succeeding to sole direction and ostensible ownership. He ran the paper for several months, finally disposing of it to The Kokomo Dispatch. In the death of The News, 1908, perished the last of the third paper enterprises of Kokomo. Man}- ha\'e floated upon the sea of newspaperdom and all failed in turn.

Freeman Cooper, who had published a paper at Russiaville, founded The Kokomo Journal, and, after he relinquished that publication, Milton Garrigus took charge of it. The plant was well equipped typographically, but the actual printing was done at The Dispatch ofifice. Mr. Garrigus sold the plant to a company interested in propagating the Populist doctrines. The paper was called the Industrial Union. In the end the paper ceased publication and the outfit was bought by S. E. Nicholsan, who had conducted the Russiaville Observer, and who decided to establish a daily paper in Kokomo.

Early Days Of Kokomo

"The present site of Kokomo," says an authority," was covered with immense trees and a thicket of underbrush, through which a bird could scarcely fly. There was no improvement here then, but Foster's log house, log barn and a small patch of clearing around them. Where the Frances hotel stands, upon the site of the old Clinton hotel, was once a swamp and fish were caught a few yards north of it. Justice Henry L. Ahireland saw a team drawing a load of wood stall upon ]Main street."

Choice lots in an early day were along High street. They sold for five dollars and seven dollars each. The Howard National Bank and Frances hotel corners could have been bought for a few skins. The Nord}-ke for R. G. Smith) quarter section, near the city, was wortli three hundred and twentv dollars.

\\'hen the original sur\'ey of tiie Foster donation was made, a mistake of one chain was made, and as a result Mr. Foster's yard was encroached upon. On this account the commissioners refused to accept Mr. Foster's deed. The discrepancy was rectified, one of the chief witnesses being John Moulder, one of the locating commissioners of the county seat. Several lot owners were awarded damages.

The original survey of Foster's donation was bounded by Taylor, Union, High and Washington streets. The tier of lots on the north side of Taylor street, on the west side of \A'ashington street and on the south side of High street were afterwards laid off. The cost of the sui-vey has been preserved by the county records. To Austin C. Sheets, county surveyor, was made the following allowances at the December term, 1844: Surveying- donation, $1.30; plat of same, 50 cents: survey of public square, $1 ; plat of town, 50 cents; thirty-two lots at 25 cents each, $8.50: total, $11.50.

George Gay and Silas Fawcett. ch?inmen, for cutting- off the public square, were allowed $6.i2j-4 each. Christopher Cromer, marker, was allowed $4.37>^. March, 1845, the record contains an allowance as follows: Suiweying donation, $1.50: plat of same, 50 cents: sixty-eight lots at 25 cents each, $17: plat of town. Si: total, $20.

David Foster was one of the most conspicuous characters in the life of Kokomo for many years. He generally wore a fur cap, a lilue army coat and carried a basket. When he spoke he had a peculiar way of lifting his right hand to the level of his head and whistling, and then uttering whatever he had to say. His financial acumen was ever uppei-most.

Having one afternoon bartered with S. C. ^loore, a pinneer lumber dealer and sawmill man of Kokomo, for the saje of a cow, he returned bv ^Moore's lumlier vard, at the foot of what is now

South Union street, at tlie nortli creek bank, after his evening- meal, and was informed that "Fnrt Sumpter had been fired upon and civil war was imminent." h'uster tlirew up his hand and whistled. ".\h! Ah! Trying- to get my cnw cheaper?" He disljelieved the truth of the report. Learning- that a friend had sold his farm, and was purchasing many things for his children, Foster obseiwed : "Going! Going! A gold watch! A set of furs! This and that! Going! Going'!"

The g-rowth of the town he had seen develop from his log cabin finally drove his family from the double frame house he had occupied for years and which stood originally in what is now Main street. The notable stn.icture was moved to the west of the newly laid-out street and finally given over to other occupancy until torn down.

In his day Foster was a heavy landowner, being proprietor of five hundred and fifty-two acres in the reserve section in 1846, on which he had improvements assessed at one thousand five hundred and fifteen dollars. The land was returned for taxation at two thousand seven hundred and sixty dollars. He owned sixty-seven lots, most of which were returned at ten dollars each, but which aggregated one thousand and three dollars. He had seven hundred and eighty-six dollars' worth of personal property. His total assessment was six thousand and sixty-fi^ur dollars. His total tax was fifty-three dollars and twenty cents, which he was not able to pay at (-ince, handing o\-er to the treasurer twenty one dollars and twenty cents as the first payment.

David Foster

was knee deep when Dr. Lewis Keni reached the home of George Sni.idgrass, on the banks of Little \\'ildcat creek, Harrison townsliip, April 18, 1846, in compan}^ with his brother. Jacob Kern. The doctor was then fottrteen years of age. Here and there a patch of grotmd had been cleared. The country was one wild sweep of woods. The next morning he was awakened by ~Siv. Snodgrass caUing his son : "Newton! Have you fed the cattle yet. Xewton?" "No," answered Newton. "You had better feed them," came the response. The son shouldered his ax and advanced into the dejiths of the forest. He fed the cattle by cutting off the limbs <if trees and the cattle ate of the tender part of the branches, "browsed" or "buddeil." The inhabitants of the county in the winter time lived mainly upon cornbread. wild turkey and various game. The cabin of Judge N. R. Linsday, the first resident lawyer of the county, and the cabin of Dr. Corydon Richmond, then a practicing physician, in 1845, faced each other on Union street, between Sycamore and High streets. In clearing the woods for gardens the men threw the brush in front of the cabins, and for the families to be neighborly the women had to travel a long- way around to reach either home. - Wildcat creek, a short distance south, was theii a clear, clean stream, with a swift current. In the deed of the ]\Iiami reserve the "rapids of Wildcat creek" were mentioned. Alas! what changes.

Malaria

Malaria was the bane of the city and county. To stay its ravages a tea was made of roots of rhubarb, as bitter a decoction as ever passed human lips. After Judge Linsday moved onto the W. B. Smith farm on West Sycamore street, his oldest son, James Linsday, and daughter, Mrs. L. E. Harrison, were critically ill with malarial fever, the son dying. In that day they had strange ideas about medical treatment. In cases of measles the cabin was to be shut up as nearly airtight as possible, and it is now to be seen that the construction of the cabins, which was so that the air was not entirely excluded, is what saved man}- a sick person's life. In fevers the patients were denied water to drink. When Airs. Harrison was so sick with the malaria, she piteously begged the hired woman to get her some water, and employed every expedient to secure it, but without success. Watching a favorable opportunity when not herself obsei-yed, she left her bed and staggered to the spring on the side of the hill, where she drank all the water she desired. There chanced to be a tub of warm rinse water near the house, and prompted by an impulse she enjoyed a bath. Finally seen by the hired woman, the seiwant's piercing screams set the whole household into a state of perfect terror. Mrs. Harrison was hustled to bed and it was a solemn and agitated family that tearfully gathered about her bedside. The sick young lady's death was expected at any moment, but her experience was her life salvation. She perspired as never since her illness and recoveiw at once began.

Moscjuitoes were very bad in an early day in Kokomo, as they were in the year 1908 - history repeating itself - but the pioneers triumphed. A Swiss dress was often serviceable at night to enable people to sleep. They had no mosquito bars, and even if they had these might have proved as unsuccessful as those of 1908.

Early Social Gatherings

Upon social occasions, which consisted for the most part of husking bees, the pioneers gathered in to help a farmer husk his com. Cabin and bam raisings were stellar events, as were logrollings, when city and town folk mingled to perform the necessary labors of the forest. Oxen were used in preference to horses by the pioneers. They were more patient to plow through the deep mud and horses were easily snag-ged by the fallen timber. Going to church'was a social treat and the arrival of Methodist circuit riders always welcomed.

At the pioneer parties in Kokomo partners were selected in a peculiar manner. Some person was seated on a chair with a girl and the guests approached singing :

"Here we come, three frogs are we, Courting your daughter, so rare so fair. Can we have lodging here, oh ! here ? Can we have lodging here, oh! here?"

"This is my daughter, sitting upon my knee; Neither of you there, can have lodging here, oh ! here. Neither of you there, can have lodging here, oh ! here."

The women did not have the conveniences of gas and electricity with which to cook. The pioneer women cooked in the fireplace, which was equipped with a crane, and had skillets with legs and covers, the hot coals being placed upon top of the covers to assist the fire below in cooking. Preparing the meals in this manner meant red faces in winter and physical suffering in August, although' out- side (i\-ens and fires were often used with more convenience and comfort. Judge Linsday was the aristocrat of the place. Before coming to Kokomo he drove with a load of wheat from Pendleton, where he lived, to Cincinnati, sold it. and bought not only a law library, but his wife a cooking stove, tlie first in Kokomo. and the envy of all the town.

First Apples In Kokomo

The first load of apples ever brought to Kokomo - in fact. Howard county - was hauled here by Colonel T. J. Harrison, son-inlaw of Judge X. R. Linsday, the first being brought from the home of Colonel Harrison's father in southern Indiana. Fruit was scarce and none gTown in this locality, in the first settlement of the countiy. in the nature of the case. Colonel Harrison was studying law with Judge Linsday and desiring to pay his old home a visit. )ie agreed to with Judge Linsday to bring him a load of apples if the Judge would lend him a team and wagon in which to haul the load. Had Colonel Harrison driven with a wagon bed of gold into the yard of Judge Linsday, he would not have been half as welcome as he was when* he crossed the premises with the luscious and mellow fruit. The wagon bed was loaded to the very top, first with a layer of straw and then a depth of apples in turn, so it was difficult to see how Colonel Harrison had any seat upon whicli to make the return trip. Aaron Linsday clambered upon the wagon wheels antl passed around the treasures to mouths which fairly watered. With his pockets filled and munching- a golden specimen of orchard fruit, he started with rapid strides to invite the Bohans and the Fosters to take all they wanted. The news of the arrival of the apples spread, and they were divided among farmers in all parts of the county.

First Debating Society

The first literar}- and deljatino- society in the history of the county and in which Kokoniu citizens were the leading- spirits, was known as the Richardviile County Lyceum. Its initiatii.m fee was twelve cents, and two-thirds of those present, at any meeting, could admit a new member. The same vote was rec^uired to le\y a tax. Every member was to be heard in his defense before fined by the president, and an appeal from the chair to the house was allowed. Any one could retire from membership by paying all the "pecuniary arrears." Leading members were John Bohan, afterwards county auditor and for years a justice of the peace in Kokomo: H. C. Stewart, Dr. Con-don, Richmond, who tiled at an advanced age at his home in Kokomo: A. North, J. M. Harlin, W. C. Johns, G. W. Poisal, X. R. Linsday, N. Harding, Thomas Lamborn, J. S. Thompson. D. Foster, J. L. Jones, A. C. Sheets, J. T. McClintock, C. J. Allison and D. Bates. The jolly and joking crew of Kokomo were Dr. Richmond, David Foster, Charles D. Murray, Harles Ashley and John Bohan. In getting ofl:' jokes, telling side-splitting stories, and in provoking his listeners with laughter, lawyer Murray was an expert with few equals, and no superiors. A notice appearing in the New London Pioneer, July 1 1, 1849, for a camp meeting to be held at Kokomo, August 17, 1849, discloses the extent of Kokomo's growth, in a large measure. The notice read : "The ground is selected within a quarter of a mile of this town, Kokomo. We ha\-e two taverns and one g-rocery, hence no huckstering-."

The early day roads leading- to and from Kokomo, with few exceptions, had no direction in particular. In many months of the year their condition was uniformly bad. The president judges, accompanied generally by several lawyers, journeyed from county to countv to attend court. As late as the sixties wild flags grew upon the public square two feet high. In the earhest days of the town the inhabitable portion was almost entirely included within the public square. The houses were constructed of rough hewn logs. Stores were few in number. Merchants were compelled to secure licenses to sell their commodities. The license to sell clocks was fixed by the board of commissioners, 1849, at twenty dollars. David Foster obtained the first merchant's license by the payment of five dollars, and was to sell his wares in Kokomo. Charles \\'arren and Phillip Ramsayer, in March, 1845, obtained licenses as merchants in the city, while pennission was granted Jonathan Haworth to sell in [Monroe township. ]\Ir. Foster's license was granted at tlie December term of the commissioners, 1844. The county abounded in deer about Kokomo. A dense forest surrounded the whole of Kokomo. The first two-story frame building in the coimty was hewn out of the logs of the surrounding forest, and occupied l)y Justice Bohan, in this city, with a store. It was here that pioneer lawyers and others assembled to exchange experiences and discuss various topics.

In December, 185 1, a meeting- of the qualified voters was held at the court house for the purpose of incorporating the town, with Levi Birt as chaimian and H. B. Havens as secretary. These two persons afterwards divided Kokomo into five districts. An election was subsequently held and the following persons selected trustees:

First district, C. D. [Murray; .'second district, L. [\I. Harland; third district, Levi Birt; fourth district, C. Richmond; fifth district, Adkins James.

Incorporating The Town

At the June term of the board of count)- commissioners, 1855, Henry A. Brouse presented a petition for the incorporation of the town of Kokomo. He showed that a proper suiwey had been made and that the map, as required by law, had been filed with the treas- urer, for the inspection of the pubHc. An election was ordered and held at the office of the city clerk of Kokomo on the twenty-second day of the same month. Perhaps the notice was too short. But be that as it may, the election was not held, a showing to that effect being made to the commissioners subsequently by Attorney J. W. Robinson, who pleaded for another chance. This was afforded. The election was held October i, 1855, as ordered. There were sixty-two votes for incorporation and three opposed. Thereupon the incorporation was duly and legally ordered.

A writer says : "The infant city grew very slowly for several years. The heavy timber and underbrush, and the swampy condition of the soil, combined to retard the growth and prosperity of the town. When the timber was cut down, so that the sunlight could penetrate to the earth, vegetation became very profuse and luxuriant. This decaying vegetable matter created chills and fever, ague and incidental diseases. For many years quinine was an article as staple as flour. It was no uncommon thing for all the members of a family to be confined to bed at the same time. Many moved awav because of sickness, and other feared to come for the same cause. In 1852, the number of inhabitants of the town was only one hundred and fifty-two, after eight years of existence." The ague was terrible, and Drs. C. Richmond and his brother, Orsemus Richmond, were truly hemes, compelled to travel about on foot, of nights, being unable oft times to travel even horse back. The shakings and chills of ague were a positive terror to the pioneer residents of the town and countrv.

edged before C. D. Murray, March ly. 1854. Its existence was to continue until April i, 1874, but. after a few years, it ceased business. The institution was located on the Darby comer. A robbery was perpetrated and the bank never recovered from the shock. The capital stock was for three hundred thousand dollars, and there were three stockholders, David Foster, John Bohan and Harles Ashley. Foster's private fortune was impaired by the break.

Late in the forties, and early in the fifties, the constant cry of public agitation was the fact that the city had voted to take ten thousand dollars stock in the Indianapolis & Peru railroad company, and that nothing in return was obtained, and so far as known nothing has ever to this late date been received directly upon, the stock, lost under foreclosure proceedings. But the early residents of Kokomo took an imperfect view of the situation. The gift was more than repaid in the inestimable benefits derived to the city from the building of the road, which forged the new county seat to the foremost rank. In later years the policy was entered'upon of giving donations to factories by the citizens to secure the location of industries, and the method was the means of making the city what it has become. But in the location of the railroad a peculiar \-iew was taken b}' the business men. The turned heaven and earth to ha\-e it located along Bucke}'e street, thinking it would be a peculiar benefit to the property in front of which it passed, and that freig'ht bills and drayage bills could be saved b}' having the tracks pass along in front of the business establishments. These hopes proved erroneous, and no mistake was greater than locating the road where it is, and for its removal the city and the public would be thankful beyond measure. Finally the Kokonio public entered upon the aid of railroad building with less legal cjuestion and with a more prodigal hand. A subsidy was voted for the construction of a railroad line from Frankfort to Kc konio, and from Marion to Kokomo, but in this dual fomi the donation was set aside by the supreme court. The sequel was the donation of twenty-four thousand dollars to the Kokomo-Frankfort line. These two roads were builded separately and as standard guage lines, but eventually were consolidated and C(in\-erted into a narrow gauge system, reaching to Toledo on the east and St. Louis on the west. The road was destined to another change, and became a part of the Cloverleaf system, being returned to a standard guage system.

January 9, 1864, the Jay & Dolman grain elevators, situated just above the depot of the Peru & Indianapolis depot, burned. This was an exciting time in the histoi-y of the town of Kokomo. The intense heat of the burning structure was minimized when the wheat, released from the bins in which it was confined, snKithered the flames. The problem was to save the S. Rosenthal storage rooms and the Howard flouring mills, removed but a sin irt tlistance from the elevator, but this object was accomplished. However, cm the Monday following, an explosion destro)'ed the plant of the fli^uring mill. The boiler gave way. Two men were killed as the result of the explosicin. William Leas, a nephew of the proprietor, W'orley Leas and M. W'eddle. the miller. So violent was the explosion that a thousand-pound piece landed in the yard of the residence of Dr. Corydon, Richmond, cutting ufif a fence post, close to the ground. Mr. Lease was injured, but not seriously. The loss (if Mr. Leas approached ten thousand dollars, as did that of Jay & Dolman. The milling, as well as the elevator properties, were subsequently rebuilt and constituted the chief commercial distinctions of the city for a number of years.

Exploring For Oil

g"as, in the eighties. A company was organized to explore for oil in 1869, and, as subsequent events proved, the drill, in quest of oil, was within a short distance of gas when the project was abandoned from the fact that the drill became fast, and the well thus started, and so near success, was abandoned.

An election was held March 31. 1865, to determine whether the town of Kokomo should ha\-e a cit}- organization, which proposition carried. The ballots voted were not printed, nor of the elaborate description known in late years, under the Australian ballot system, but were merely slips of common fool'scap paper, upon which "Xo" was written by those opposed to incorporation, and "Yes" by those favoring the step. The affirmative vote carried by a material majority. The official records of the election were recorded with the names of the voters upon common writing paper. The first city government was organized with the following officers : ]\Ia}-or. Nelson Purdimi : clerk. J. A. Coffin ; treasurer, P. B. Kennedy: city attorney, Clark X. Pollard. In that day the city attorney was elected by the people, whereas, in 1908. that officer is chosen by a majority of the common council, as the law has directed for several years past.

In the year 1862 there was a tragic event in the history of Kokomo town. A stiff and furious blowing northeasterner was responsible for it all. Philip Kemp and companions felt a jar. They were alarmed, but could not tell why. Instinctively they swung themselves from the second story of a low building, on the Darby comer. Then came a crash, a volume of dust, and a mountain of debris arose. T. C. Philip's Tribune was an undistinguishable wreck and a hardware store had passed out of existence. The James-Armstrong firm was erecting a three-story building. It was to be tlie building of the town. It was just ready for the roof when a miniature cyclone carried it down upon its humble neighbor. A public calamity had been sustained and a town meeting was called. Despair was written upon every countenance. Volunteers were called for. ]Mr. John W. Cooper, attorney, among many citizens, pushed a wheelbarrow and loaded brick for three days. At the end of that time the citizens had the ground cleared for the builders. A second structure, in the course of time, mounted skyward, and another building replaced that driven into the earth at the Darby corner.

In the spring of 1870 the entire west side of the court house square was destroyed by fire. The structures were of frame and burned like tinder, and the wind was high, carrying the sparks and burning fragments throughout the village, to its eminent peril. The citizens wore anxious faces and fought to save their homes. Fortunately the fire was confined to the district in which it started through mysterious origin. Mrs. Xicholas Trobaugli was carried out of a burning building and her life saved. The destruction of so much business property was a blow to the town's pnisperity, but it rallied in due time, and on the site of the burned district arose the old opera house, started in 1872, which was a big structure for its day and upon the stage of which appeared in succeeding years the foremost play folks of the country and the most eminent lecturers. The fire of the burning structures, exclusively frame, were carried over the town, and it was the fight of eveiy man to save his home and family. J. M. Mader worked like a hero for others, forgetting two fat hogs, which burned to a crisp, and a spring wagon, on his own premises. The bucket brigade was a corps 'if honor.