Huntington County, Indiana - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 16 of those read), 1887

UNION TOWNSHIP embraces a superficial area of thirty-six square miles in the eastern part of the county, being Township 28 north. Range 10 east, of the Congressional survey. It is bounded as follows: Jackson Township on the north. Wells County on the east. Rock Creek on the south, and the Township of Huntington on the west. It is watered and drained by the Wabash and Little Wabash Rivers, the former flowing through the southwest and the latter through the northwest corners of the township, both receiving a number of small tributaries not designated by any particular names. With the exception of small areas of broken land adjacent to these streams, the surface of the township may be described as comparatively level and characterized by a deep, black soil, which for general agricultural purposes is not excelled by that of any other division of the county. The southern portion was originally quite wet, a considerable area in the southwest corner being a low, swampy prairie, a fact which led the early settlers to locate on the higher lands in the northern part. These wet lands have been reclaimed by a successful system of artificial drainage and that which was formerly considered almost worthless is now among the most fertile and best developed farming districts of the township. Like other portions of Huntington County, Union Township was originally covered with a dense forest growth and many of the first settlers derived a considerable remuneration from the sale of timber which was cut and floated to the sawmills formerly in operation at various points on the Wabash and Little Rivers. The early settlement of the country necessarily implied the destruction of much fine timber which, if standing to-day, would represent a greater value than the land upon which it grew.

Monroe. " For reasons not now known, it was reorganized in June, 1845, at which time it received the name by which it has since been known."

The first settler of the township was John Lewis, who made a tour of the country in 1834, and selected a site for a home on the farm now owned by Messrs. Simonton and Bippus, in Section 5. He entered this and other tracts in various parts of the county, and immediately thereafter erected a cabin for the reception of the other members of his family, who moved out the following spring. Mr. Lewis had formerly been a business man of New York City, but owing to certain reverses, concluded to try his fortune in the then far west. He was a resident of Union for several years, but subsequently engaged in business at Huntington, in which city his death occurred a number of years ago. His son, William H. D. Lewis, came the same time, and for a number of years was permanently identified with the early growth and development of the township. He is at this time an honored resident of Huntington, and one of the oldest residents of the county now living. The same year in which the Lewis family settled in the township, witnessed the arrival of Jeremiah Barcus, who located on what is now the Briant farm, a tract of land at that time owned by Mr. Hanna, of Fort Wayne, who entered it a short time previous. Mr. Barcus resided upon the same for a period of five or six years and then moved to another part of the township. John McEwen, in 1836, settled on the Renbarger farm, in Section 32, and about the same year Joel Seeley settled west of the Lewis place in the northern part of the township. Section 6. Mr. Seeley moved here from Michigan, and a little later was joined by Cyrus Adams and a Mr. Barnhart, both of whom made homes in the same part of the township. The place upon which the former made his first improvements was gotten from Mr. Lewis, who made a deed for 100 acres as compensation for a barn which Mr. Adams erected for him. John Freel came to the township as early perhaps as 1836, and purchased a tract of land in Section 29, upon which he erected a small log cabin the same year. He moved his family from Ohio, but owing to the distance of his new home from any settlement, and the presence of large numbers of wolves, which had the effect to completely " frighten him out," did not occupy his cabin at once, but resided for about one year in Huntington. He moved to his place in 1837, and was a resident of the township for a number of years.

Another pioneer of 1837, was the Rev. William Stevens, who had the honor of being one of the earliest preachers and pedagogues in the northern part of the county. He settled near the Lewis place in the northern part of the township, locating on land for which he engaged to teach and preach a specified length of time as pay. Finding a better opening near Fort Wayne for the exercise of ministeral and scholastic attainments, he subsequently asked to be released from the contract, and moving to Allen County continued his professional career there for several years. Frederick Yahne was an early settler in Section 5, moving to the township from the State of Ohio, and purchasing from Mr. Lewis. He subsequently moved to Jackson Township, where a son, Emanuel Yahne, also an early settler, still resides. Conspicuous among the early comers was Adam Young, who is said to have been the first Grerman settler in Huntington County. His first appearance in the township was as a common tramp, ' being alone, friendless and penniless with no definite destination in view. Passing the residence of Mr. Lewis, while making his way from Mr. Vermilyeas, in Jackson Township to Huntington, he stopped and requested a breakfast, promising to pay for the same m any kind of work which the family saw fit for him to do. After eating his breakfast he was told to make himself useful in the potato patch near the house, in which he at once went to work with such a will as to surprise even Mrs. Lewis, who was never known to take very kindly to foot pads. He worked on until noon, and after dinner resumed his hoeing, having no intention of quitting until the task was finished, the family in the meantime wondering if he was going to take his departure or not. His manner of working, together with his gentlemanly demeanor, pleased Mr. Lewis, who about the middle of the afternoon concluded to hire the honest German if he desired employment. A bargain was soon made, Mr. Young agreeing to work for $12.00, which Mr. Lewis paid him regularly for a period of seven years. He subsequently purchased a tract of land near Roach's Prairie, Section 27, and was also instrumental in inducing quite a number of German friends to locate in the township, sending money to the old country at different times for the purpose of bringing his friends and relatives across the water. He is remembered as an honest old bachelor, who went through life with few, if any, enemies. Charles H. Lewis, brother of John Lewis, settled in Section 5 about the year 1839, and another brother, Tomkins D. Lewis, entered several tracts of land and became a resident of the township in an early day, also. Murray, Eichard, Hugh and Stephen Freel made homes in the southern part of the township many years ago, and as early as 1838 or 1839, Joseph Seibert, William Whitestine, James Whitestine and Alfred Harris settled in the northern part of the township, the first named locating in Section 5, the Whitestines a short distance south of the river, and Harris near the Wabash & Erie Canal. James Thompson and a Mr. Branstrater entered land and moved to the township in an early day, as did also many others, among whom were a man by the name of Barnes, Benjamin Brown and Rufus Sanders.

After the completion of the Wabash & Erie Canal, a large tract of land lying between Wabash and Little Rivers, was purchased by speculators, in consequence of which, no permanent settlements were attempted in that part of the township, until after the year 1842 or '43. " The dense forests were left undisturbed, and afforded an exoellent hunting ground, and as provisions were sometimes scarce, the settlers not unfrequently resorted to this means of replenishing their stores." These lands, with other parts of the township, were purchased and improved from time to time, and among the later settlers may be mentioned the following persons: Aaron Hill, Benjamin Hill, Daniel Feighner, John S. Young, Alexander Smith, Samuel Kline, John Kline, Adam Smith, Jesse R. Haney, Henrv Kline, John Anson, Austin T. Smith, Aaron Smith, John C. Guthrie, John Silver, Martin Call, John Heron, Daniel M. Shank,. William O. Jones, Seth Smith, Atchison Smith, and Samuel Hayes.

3Iiscellaneous Items.~The first road in the township is the one leading from Fort Wayne to Lafayette, which was cut out from Tippecanoe to Fort Meigs many years before any settlements were attempted in tiuntington County. It was first used by the United States Troops in passing between those two points, and although considerably changed in later years, is still an extensively traveled highway.

The early houses of the pioneers were the conventional round log cabins, common to all newly settled countries, and it was not until the lapse of several years that improved structures took the place of these rude and homely habitations. Some of the settlers early became great experts in this primitive kind of architecture, and it is related of one man that he made a considerable sum of money, building cabins at $50 a piece. The first hewed log houses in the township, were erected by Joel Seeley and Mr. Barnhart, and among the earliest frame houses was the one built by Mr. Branstrater. John Lewis, in 1835, set out the first orchard in the township, with trees which he brought from Long Island, New York; many of these trees are still standing, and although more than a half century old, bear fruit nearly every year.

The first death in the Township is said to have been that of Charles Prime, a colored man, who accompanied Mr. Lewis from the City of ISTew York. He died in the year 1837, and lies buried on what is known as the Silver's place. A man by the name of Wolf died in an early day, as did also Mr. Barnhart, and the wife of Tomkins D. Lewis, the last two of whom departed this life some time in the forties. On the 8th day of August, 1836, occurred the first birth in Union, that of Oscar L., son of John and Miriam Lewis. John Barnes, son of one of the earliest settlers on the Little River, was born soon after the family came to the country. Emaline A., sister of Oscar L. Lewis, was born November 37, 1838, and on the 9th day of October, 1841, was born to the same parents another son, Theodore Lewis. Perhaps the first marriage in the township was that of Cyrus Adams, to Jane, daughter of Joel Seeley, solemnized within a short time after the groom moved to the county.

About the year 1840, occurred a distressing accident resulting in the instant death of a stranger, who was working at the time for Mr. Lewis. He was cutting down a tree which in its descent split a considerable distance up the trunks and twisting around suddenly a part of it struck him in the head crushing his skull into a perfect jelly.

A man by the name of AUerton, a workman on the "Wabash road, was accidently killed about the time the road was being cut through the county. It appears that he was assisting in digging out a large tree, and in order to make it fall a certain direction he was ordered to clinch it and fasten a rope to one of the limbs. No sooner had he reached the limb than the tree came to the ground crushing him to death in the fall.

William Whitestine, while assisting in raising a log stable, about the year 1865, missed his footing on the building and with the log which he was attempting to adjust fell to the ground, the fall killing him almost instantly.

The accidental death of John Silver, one of the substantial citizens of the township, in 1873, was an event that cast a shade of gloom over the entire community. He, with a man, was repairing his well, and while near the bottom, a part of the pump which was being drawn up slipped from the chain, falling upon him with such force as to cause his immediate death.

Another casualty was the drowning of William Cramer, in Little River, in 1884, It appears that he had just shot a duck and in attempting to wade to it got in water beyond his depth.

As is well known Union Township is pre-eminently an agricultural district, and but few manufacturing enterprises have been attempted within its borders. The near proximity to sawmills on the Wabash and Little Rivers in adjoining townships afforded the early settlers means of obtaining lumber, and it was not until within a comparatively recent date that steam sawmills were brought to the township. The first mill of any kind wg,s built by Andrew Branstrater on Flat Creek, near the eastern boundary of the township, about the year 1847. It was operated quite successfully in an early day and manufactured much of the lumber used by the pioneers of Union and other townships. It finally fell into disuse, nothing having been done with it after 1868. John W. Bunnell was the last proprietor. John Sowers, about the year 1856, built a steam saw-mill near the central part of the township, which was subsequently moved near the Huntington Township line, where the old building still stands. It was a good mill and is said to have done a prosperous business. It was last operated by a Mr. Nave. There are at this time several portable saw-mills in different parts of the township, besides two tile factories operated by Walker & McCoy and George Bailey. Spencer Wheeler has a large lime-kiln, with which he is doing a prosperous business. The last Board of Trustees under the old law was composed of James Thompson, John Heron and Daniel M. Shank. The following gentlemen have held the office since the law providing for a single trustee went into effect, to-wit: Austin L. Smith, Mr. Dumbauld, Alexander Smith, Urias Dumbauld, E. T. Lee, and the present incumbent, Anthony Weber.

Eeligious. - The pioneers of Union, in their rugged toil of clearing the forests and making homes in the wilderness, were not unmindful of their spiritual welfare, and as early as 1837 we learn that religious meetings were regularly held in a little cabin near the canal, Rev. Mr. Stevens doing the preaching. In this same building, which was nothing more than a deserted shanty, Mr. Stevens taught one of the first schools in the northern part of Huntington County. Rev. Mr. Ball, traveling minister of the Methodist Church, early visited the settlement, and conducted pubHc worship at the residence of Mr. Barcus. The first church building, Mt. Zion, in the eastern part of the township, in Section 1, was erected late in the sixties by the Albright Denomination, a society of which was organized a few years previous. This organization is reputed in good condition and is ministered to at this time by Rev. Mr. Smith. In 1870 the Union Church building, near the central part of the township, was built for the use of all denominations, the citizens of the neighborhood contributing toward jits erection. The Wine brenarians, or Church of God, have a society which meets at regular intervals in the building, while worship is also conducted irregularly by ministers of different denominations.

Aside from Union Station, on the Wabash & Pacific Railroad, and Roche Station, on the C. & A., there is no town or village in "the township, the population being composed almost entirely of agriculturalists^ noted for their industry, intelligence and thrift. Union Station was established in 1879, and Mardenis Postoffice at the same place a few years later. There is one grocery store at the station, kept by John Anson.