Huntington County, Indiana - Chapter 5: Settlement and Organization, 1914

Explorers and Missionaries - Early Traders - A Quaker Mission - First Land Entries - Flint Springs Hotel - Pioneer Citizens - Frontier Life and Customs - House-Raisings - Log-Rollings - - Harvesting - Amusements and Pastimes - A Bear Story - Influ¬ ence of the Wabash & Erie Canal - Huntington County Erected - The Organic Act - Early Taxes and Expenditures - The County Seat - Public Buildings.

More than a century before any attempt was made to found a per¬ manent settlement in what is now Huntington County, the Wabash Valley was visited by white men. In the latter part of the seventeenth century, when France claimed dominion over all the Mississippi Valley, French explorers and Jesuit missionaries penetrated far into the interior and in their letters and journals told of the Maumee and Wabash rivers, predicting that along these streams would be found the principal route of communication between the French settlements in Canada and the "'Father of Waters." Among those who thus referred to the Maumee and Wabash in their correspondence with and reports to the French authorities at Quebec were Father Hennepin, La Salle and the mis¬ sionaries Allouez and Dablon.

Some of the first white men to visit the Wabash Valley, after the explorers and missionaries, were the fur traders Drouet de Richardville and Jacques Godfroy; Hyacinth La Salle, who was the first white child born at Fort Wayne; Captain Wells, who was killed in the massacre at Fort Dearborn, and Joseph Barron. The last named acted as inter¬ preter in the negotiation of several of the early treaties with the Indians and was General Harrison's messenger to the Shawnee prophet in 1810, before the Battle of Tippecanoe, to warn him against making further efforts to incite the Indians to hostility.

At several places along the Wabash, trading posts were established. The pirogues - large canoes hollowed out of logs - went up and down the river, carrying such goods as flour, bacon, whisky, trinkets and other articles to exchange with the Indians for their furs. As a rule, the

About 1805 a small colony of Friends or Quakers came to the forks of the Wabash, about two miles west of the present City of Huntington, and established a mission, under the charge of William McKinney. At that time, and for a number of years later, the " Forks" was a favorite place for the Indians to assemble in council. The object of the mission was to convert the Indians to the Christian faith and teach them habits of industry. The Quakers were kindly received by the natives, cleared twenty-five or more acres of ground and built a double row of lob cabins. The mission was well supported financially and for a few years pros¬ pered. Then came the War of 1812, during which the cabins were burned, the fields laid waste and the mission destroyed. Thomas Roche, an old resident of Huntington County, says the Quakers were warned of what was coming by some friendly Indians and made their escape, but the mission was never rebuilt. There seems to be some question as to whether it was destroyed by Indians or white troops, but whichever was responsible the settlement of the missionaries failed to become a permanent institution.

The early records of the land office show that on October 12, 1830, Elias Murray and Isaac Bedsall obtained patents to tracts of land in Section 13, Township 28, Range 8, near the Wabash River in what is now the eastern part of Dallas Township. These were perhaps the earliest land entries in the county. William Huston, Newton Silsby and Samuel Hanna also entered lands in the county about the same time; but it does not appear that they established homes thereon, and it is probable the lands were taken for speculation.

On 1831 two brothers, Joel and Champion Helvey, natives of Ten¬ nessee, came to "Flint Springs," where the City of Huntington now stands, and built a large double log cabin, which became known as the "Flint Springs Hotel." It was a popular stopping place for years for the travelers up and down the Little River Valley.

As a matter of fact, but few attempts were made to found perma¬ nent settlements in the Wabash Valley until after the location of the Wabash & Erie canal. Work on the canal was commenced at Fort Wayne in February, 1832, and in that year Albert Draper located upon the Richardville reservation, not far from the present Town of Markle. In September, 1833, Samuel Jones brought his family from Highland County, Ohio, and entered a tract of land where the Town of Warren, in Salamonie Township, now stands. He built his cabin near the old Indianapolis & Fort Wayne State Road and before he had it completed Fleming Mitchell settled in the same locality.

Michael Doyle, a contractor on the Wabash & Erie canal, settled on the southeast quarter of Section 33, in the southern part of what is now Clear Creek Township, in 1834, but about a year later went to Carroll County. John R. Emley selected and entered land in Clear Creek Township in that year and became a permanent resident. Others who located in the county in this year were Michael Kennedy, in Hunt¬ ington Township ; George W. Helms, in Jefferson ; Isaac Branson, in Wayne; Joseph Sprowl, in Lancaster; John Lewis, in Union, and some others, who selected sites in various portions of the county.

People of the present generation can hardly understand or appre¬ ciate the toil and hardships of the men who boldly marched into the wilds of the Wabash Valley, robbed them of their terrors and paved the way for the comforts and luxuries of our modern civilization. The pioneer from one of the older states, who wended his way westward until he found a location that suited him, was immediately confronted by the necessity of providing shelter for himself and family. This shelter was almost invariably a log cabin, rarely more than 16 by 20 feet in dimensions, and generally of one room, which was at once living-room, bedroom, dining-room and kitchen, though when the weather would permit the cooking was often done out of doors. When several families came together and located near each other, one cabin would be built, in which all would live until others could be erected. Money was practically unknown on the frontier and hired labor was scarce. To overcome these conditions the settlers would "swap work" by helping each other to do the things that one man could not do by himself. Hence, when a settler wanted to build a cabin he would cut the logs, drag them to the site selected, and then invite all the settlers within reach to a "raising."

When the men were assembled at the place, four of their number were chosen to "carry up the corners." These men were always skilled in the use of the ax, which was the principal working tool in the early days of every frontier settlement. They would take their places at the four corners of the cabin and, as the logs were pushed up to them on poles or "skids," would cut a notch in the under side of each log to fit upon a "saddle" shaped upon the one below. The man who could carry up a corner, keeping the walls fairly plumb by his eye alone, was regarded as an artist - or it might be more correct to say an architect.

The house-raising was a social as well as an industrial event. While the men were engaged in the erection of the new dwelling, the "women folks" would gather to prepare a dinner, each one bringing from her own store such articles of food as she thought the others might not be able to supply, or some delicacy in which she was especially skillful in preparing. If the weather was fair the dinner would be served out of doors, upon an improvised table under the shade of the trees ; if too cold for that, it would be served at the cabin of the nearest settler. And that dinner ! While it boasted no terrapin nor canvass back duck, nor foreign wines or delicacies with high-sounding names, it consisted of wholesome, nutritious food, with appetite as the principal sauce, and was always accompanied by mirth and good-natured badinage.

At the time the cabin was raised no openings were left for the doors and windows, these being cut out after the walls were up. At one end an opening would be made for a fireplace, which was generally wide enough to take in sticks of wood four or five feet in length. If stone was convenient, a stone chimney would be built outside the cabin at this opening, but in many instances the chimney was built of sticks and daubed with clay.

The roof of the cabin was made of oak clapboards, split or rived out with an instrument called a frow. These boards were usually three or four feet long and would be held in place by poles running lengthwise of the cabin and fastened to the logs at each end by wooden pins. If nails could be obtained the boards would be nailed to the poles arranged for their support, but many of the early cabins were finished without a single article of iron being used in their construction. The door would be made of boards fastened to the cross battens with small wooden pins, hung on wooden hinges and provided with a wooden latch, which could be lifted from the outside by pulling a thong of deerskin that passed through a small hole in the door. At night the string would be drawn inside and the door was locked. This custom gave rise to the expression "The latch-string is always out," signifying that the visitor to whom such an invitation was extended would be welcome at any time.

Many frontier cabins had no floor except "mother earth." In those of the better class, a puncheon floor would be found. Puncheons were slabs of timber, split as nearly the same thickness as possible, and after they were laid the upper surface of the floor would be smoothed with an adz.

Lumber was hard to obtain and was considered a luxury in the pioneer settlement. Often the first lumber in a neighborhood would be made with a whip-saw. By this method the log, which was first hewn on two sides with a broad-ax, would be placed upon a scaffold high enough for a man to stand upright under it. The scaffold was nearly always placed on a hillside, so that the log could be rolled or slid upon it from above. When it was in position lines would be stricken upon the upper surface showing the thickness of the boards. One man would then take his place on the top of the log to guide the saw and pull it upward, while the man below would pull the saw downward, giving it the cutting stroke. It was a slow and tedious process, but it was often the only one in use until some enterprising settler would build a saw¬ mill on some stream that was capable of furnishing water-power to run it.

Very little factory-made furniture ever found its way to a settle¬ ment on the frontier, so the pioneer furnished his cabin with furniture of his own manufacture. A few clapboards, smoothed with a drawknife, were supported on pins driven into holes bored in the logs of the cabin walls to form shelves for the family china. If it could be afforded, this home-made "china closet" would be provided with a curtain of cotton cloth, but in many instances the curtain was lacking. Tables were made by nailing or pinning a few clapboards or whip-sawed boards to battens and the top thus formed would be supported on trestles. When not in use the top could be stood on edge against the wall and the trestles stacked in one corner to make more room in the cabin. Chairs were not always to be had and their place was taken by benches or stools made of puncheons supported on pins driven into holes bored with a large auger, at an angle that would permit the legs to flare out¬ ward, thus giving the bench or stool greater stability. Two hooks, made from the forks of small branches, were fastened to the wall to support the long-barreled rifle, from the muzzle of which hung the bullet pouch and powder-horn, while from the corners of the cabin dangled bunches of boneset, pennyroyal and other herbs, wflth which the mother was wont to treat all the ordinary ailments of childhood without the expense of summoning a physician.

As matches were rare the fire in the huge fireplace was not allowed to become extinguished. If such an unfortunate event should occur, some member of the family would be dispatched to the nearest neigh¬ bor's to "borrow" a burning brand or a shovelful of coals to replenish the supply. Through the fall and winter seasons the light of the open fire was the principal source of illumination for the cabin. When the weather was so warm that a fire in the house would be uncomfortable, the home-made lamp was brought into requisition. This lamp was made by partially filling a shallow dish with lard or bear's grease, in which was immersed a rag wick, one end of which projected over the edge of the dish. The projecting end was then lighted, and while this primitive lamp emitted both smoke and the odor of burning grease, it afforded sufficient light for the housewife to attend to her duties. Later came the "tallow dip" a crude sort of candle made by dipping a looselytwisted cotton wick in molten tallow and then exposing it to the cold air, repeating the operation until a sufficient amount of tallow adhered to the wick to make it stand upright, when it would be placed in a candlestick. This was some improvement over the bear's grease lamp, but it was in time succeeded by the moulded candle. Candle moulds of tin usually consisted of six or eight tubes, soldered together. Through the center of each tube would be drawn a cotton wick, after which molten tallow would be poured in until the moulds were filled, when the whole would be set in a cool place for the tallow to harden. Often there would be but one set of candle moulds in a settlement and they passed from house to house.

The cooking was done at the fireplace, a long-handled skillet, with an iron lid, and an iron kettle being the principal cooking utensils. The skillet was used for frying meats and baking biscuits and the kettle for the preparation of the "boiled dinner." Game was plentiful when the first white men came to Huntington County, the pioneer was an expert in the use of the rifle and the forest was depended upon to furnish the supply of meat. To secure breadstuffs was a more difficult problem. Settlers were often compelled to go for miles to some mill run by water-power for a "turn of cornmeal or a grist of wheat." Corn was chiefly depended on and various methods were devised for convert¬ ing it into meal at home. In the early autumn, before the grains became too hard, the grater was used. This was an implement made by punching holes in a sheet of tin closely together and then fastening the edges of the tin to a board somewhat narrower than the sheet, so that the latter would curve upward. Over the rough surface the ears of corn would be rubbed back and forth, the meal passing through the holes in the tin and sliding down the board into a vessel. Sometimes a mortar would be made by burning out the top of a hardwood stump near the cabin until a depression was formed, then cleaning out the charred wood the corn would be crushed in the mortar with a pestle of hard wood or a smooth stone. Or the grain would be rubbed between two flat stones until it was reduced to the proper consistency for making bread. Some people of the present day would probably "turn up their noses" were such bread set before them, but the pioneers ate it - and it not only sustained life, it also gave them bone and brawn to cope with the hardships of the wilderness.

Salt was a luxury among the first settlers and, before the completion of the Wabash & Erie canal, sold as high as ten dollars per barrel. Settlers would, therefore, organize parties and go to some salt spring or "lick," where several weeks would be spent in evaporating a year's supply. The salt thus obtained might not successfully pass the inspec¬ tion of the pure food officials, but it gave savor to the food and no doubt aided in keeping the members of the family in good health. After

Other instances of "swapping work" were in the log-rollings and in harvest time. When the first actual settlers came into Huntington County the greater part of the land was covered with a heavy growth of timber. When a pioneer undertook to clear a piece of ground for the purpose of cultivating it, he felled the trees and cut or burned the logs into lengths convenient for handling and then invited his neighbors to "rolling," when the logs would be piled in heaps so they could be burned. Log-rollings were tests of physical strength. The men were paired off according to their physical ability and each pair was provided with a stick of strong, tough wood called a "hand-spike." Two of the men who considered themselves the strongest would volunteer to "make daylight" under the log by placing their hand-spike under one end and raising it sufficiently for the other to get their spikes in place. Then all would come up together, and woe to the unfortunate individual who allowed his fingers "to take mud" by his inability to lift bis share of the load. The laugh would be on him for the rest of the day unless he could redeem his reputation by causing his partner "to take mud."

Wheat was harvested in the early days with a reaping hook - a crooked steel blade with a serrated edge and a wooden handle at one end. As the wheat crop grew in proportions and a better method of harvesting was needed, some wise man invented the cradle, which was considered the acme of perfection. It consisted of a framework of four or five fingers of tough wood, bent to conform to the curvature of the scythe. As the grain was cut off by the scythe it fell upon the fingers and was thrown in a straight swath for the binder. It was no unusual sight to see half a dozen or more cradlers in a wheat field, each followed by a binder, while behind came a party that stacked the sheaves into shocks. When one man's wheat was thus cared for the men wTould repair to the field where the wheat was ripest, going in this manner from farm to farm until the wheat crop of the entire neighboorhood was made ready for the flail, which was the primitive threshing machine. In time the flail gave way to the "ground hog" thresher, which separated the wheat from the straw, but did not clean it from the chaff. Then the fanning mill came into use, and many a boy who wanted to spend the afternoon in fishing for "shiners" has been disappointed by having to turn the crank of the fanning mill while his father fed the wheat and chaff into the hopper. At last an inventor combined the ground hog and the fanning mill into one machine and the separator was the result.

for the men, and while sometimes one would take a "drop too much," it was not the custom to become intoxicated. While the men were at work the women would join hands in preparing the meals, and the affair would often wind up with a dance. In every settlement there was at least one fiddler, as the pioneer violinist was called, and his services would be called into requisition at the "house-warming," when the new cabin would be properly dedicated, or to celebrate the completion of the log-rolling or the harvest season. At these social dances there were no waltzes, two steps or the tango, but their places were fully supplied by the Virginia reel, the minuet, or even the "break-down," in which main strength and physical endurance were the important elements. In the light of modern development the music furnished by the "one-man orchestra" could hardly be considered classic, but such tunes as "Jim Along Josie," "Money Musk," "Turkey in the Straw," "The Irish Washerwoman" and "Is There Anybody Here That Loves Old Jackson," offered splendid opportunities for tripping the light, fantastic toe, and it is doubtful whether the attendants at the President's inaugural ball ever get more real enjoyment out of the function than did the early settlers of Huntington County at a "house-warming."

Then there were the shooting matches, generally held about the holi¬ day season, the husking bees, pitching horseshoes, and the athletic con¬ tests, such as w'restling, foot racing, etc. After the orchards were old enough to bear fruit came the apple cuttings. There were also quiltings and sheep-shearing contests, which mingled both pleasure and profit. At the corn husking bee those present were divided into two parties, each with a leader; the corn was divided into two piles, as nearly equal in size as possible, and the captain who "won the toss" was entitled to take his choice of the piles. Then began the contest to see which side would first finish the pile of corn. In these matches the women took part as well as the men, and the fellow who found a red ear of corn was en¬ titled to the privilege of kissing the lassie next to him. The young men often played this part of the game in an underhand way by passing the red ear covertly from one to another.

The man who wore "store clothes" in those days was regarded as an aristocrat. After the wolves were driven out, nearly every settler kept a few sheep. In every settlement there were one or more sets of hand cards - broad-backed brushes with short wire teeth, all bent slightly in one direction - and by means of these primitive, implements the wool was converted into rolls. Then the rolls were spun into yarn on an old-fashioned spinning wheel, which was turned with a stick having a small knob at one end, the housewife walking back and forth as the rapidly revolving spindle reduced the roll into woolen thread. The young woman who could spin her "six cuts" a day was looked upon as eligible to be the wife of some thrifty young farmer. How many of the young women who graduated in the Indiana high schools in 1914 can tell what "six cuts" means? After the wool was spun into yarn the latter was dyed with indigo or the bark of some tree - most generally the walnut - and then woven into flannel, jeans or linsey on the old hand loom. Girls wore flannel or linsey dresses, which they learned to make for themselves as soon as they were old enough to handle a needle. Boys were clad in jeans or other homespun material, their suits made by their mother or sisters by hand, as no sewing machine had as yet been invented. The head of the family frequently wore buckskin clothing, for the reason that it would stand rough usage, and the chief headgear of both father and sons was the home-made coonskin cap, with the ringed tail often left to hang down the back of the neck as an ornament.

Through the forests roamed wild animals of various kinds, and often as the family sat around the great fireplace, cracking nuts or popping corn, the howling of wolves could be heard in the woods near the humble cabin. Cockrum, in his "Pioneer History of Indiana," tells the follow¬ ing story of two boys who came from the East to visit an uncle :

"A neighbor, who was wise in the lore of wild animals, took the boys out on a longed-for hunting trip.- They had gone five or six miles from the village, when they spied a large bear running away from them. Mr. Johnson instructed them to tie their horse to a tree, go to a place he pointed out, and not move from there on any account until he returned. On walking around, after waiting a long time, they saw two little animals wrestling much as boys do, rolling and tumbling over each other. They did not have the least idea what they were, but slipped up as closely as they could and made a rush to catch them, which they found hard to do, as the little cubs were much more nimble than they looked. They chased them round over chunks and brush. Finally one of them ran into a hollow log and the younger boy crawled in after it. The older boy finally caught the other little bear, wThen it set up a whining noise and at the same time scratched and bit him. In a few minutes he heard the brush crackling, and looking up, he saw the old bear coming at him with full force. He let the cub go and climbed up a little tree, fortunately too small for the bear to climb. She would rear up on the tree as though she intended to climb it, and snarl and snort at the boy, who was dread¬ fully scared. About this time the little boy in the log had squeezed himself through so that he could reach the other cub, whereupon it set up another cry. The old bear left the tree and ran to the log, and over and around it, uncertain where the noise came from. She commenced to tear away the wood, so she could get to the cub, for she was too large to get more than her head in the hollow of the log. The boys were thus imprisoned for more than two hours, when a shot was fired not far away. The boy in the tree set up a terrible hallooing and Mr. Johnson soon came in sight. A second shot soon, killed the old bear. The young bear was caught and tied ; and the little boy came out of the log dragging the other cub, which they also took home for a pet."

No doubt these two boys had a wonderful story to tell of their bear hunt when they returned to their home in the East. Cockrum does not give the exact location where the incident took place, but the Huntington County boy who reads the story may imagine, if he pleases, that it occurred somewhere near his home, for in the early days, such a thing could have happened almost anywhere in the State of Indiana.

But times have changed. No more is heard the howling of the wolves at night near the family dwelling. The log cabin has given way to the modern residence, the grain cradle to the twine binder, the tallow candle to the electric light; the house-raising, the log-rolling, the quilting and the husking bee are unknown except to the oldest residents; meals are no longer prepared before a blazing fire, the cook meanwhile wearing a deep sunbonnet to shield her face from the fierce heat ; the old spinning wheel and the hand-loom are seldom seen except in museums, where they are looked upon with curiosity as relics of a bygone civilization ; the great packing companies, with their refrigerating cars, supply the people of the cities with fresh meats, and everybody wears "store clothes." The people of the present generation boast of the accom¬ plishments of the last century, but are they as unselfish, as genuinely happy, as the pioneers who wore homespun and "swapped work" while they were laying the foundations for the comforts and blessings the people of today enjoy?

As already stated, work on the Wabash & Erie canal was begun at Fort Wayne in February, 1832. The Legislature of Indiana, in antici¬ pation of a tide of immigration to the region through which the canal was to be constructed, established several new counties. On February 2, 1832, Gov. Noah Noble approved an act entitled "An act establishing the counties of Huntington, Wabash and Miami." Section 1 of this act read as follows:

"Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That all that portion of territory included within the following boundary lines, shall form and constitute a new county, to be known and designated by the name of Huntington, in honour of Samuel Huntington, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, to-wit : Beginning at the southwest corner of Allen county; thence north, with the western boundary thereof, six miles ; thence west along the township line, sixteen miles to the point of intersection with said line and the line dividing sections four and five, of township twenty-nine, north of range eight east; thence south twenty-four miles to the southwest corner of section thirtythree, in township twenty-six, of range eight east, on the northern boundary of Grant county; thence along the township line, to its inter¬ section with the line of range ten east, thence north eighteen miles to the place of beginning."

The act made no provision for the organization of the new counties, Section 4 expressly setting forth that "The several parts of the said new counties shall remain as they are now attached, for representative, senatorial and* judicial purposes."

Huntington County was organized under the provisions of the act of February 1, 1834. As that act forms the basis of the county's legal existence as a separate political division of the state, it is here repro¬ duced in full :

"Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That the county of Huntington shall hereafter enjoy all the rights and privileges, benefits and jurisdictions, which to separate or independent counties do or may properly belong or appertain.

"Section 2. Philip Moore, of the county of Delaware; Joseph Hol¬ man, of the county of Miami ; David Rankin, of the county of Allen ; Daniel R. Bearss, of the county of Elkhart, and Benjamin Berry, of the county of Grant, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, agreeably to the act entitled, 'An act fixing the seat of justice in all new counties hereafter to be laid off' (approved January 14, 1824). The commission as aforesaid shall meet on the second Monday in May, next, at the house of Elias Murray, in said county of Huntington, and shall immediately proceed to discharge the duties assigned them by law, and it shall be the duty of the Sheriff of Grant county to notify said com¬ missioners, either in person or by writing, of their appointment, on or . before the 15th of April, next, and for such service he shall receive such compensation as the board doing county business in said county of Huntington may, when organized, deem just and reasonable, to be allowed and paid as other county claims.

"Section 3. The circuit court and the board of county commission¬ ers, when elected under the writ of election from the executive depart¬ ment, shall hold their sessions as near the centre of the county as a con¬ venient place can be had, until the public buildings shall have been erected ; and the county commissioners shall each be entitled to the sum of two dollars per day for their services while transacting county business.

"Section 4. The agent who shall be appointed to superintend the sale of lots at the county seat of said county of Huntington, shall re¬ serve ten per cent, out of the proceeds thereof, and pay the same over to such person or persons as may be appointed by law to receive the same for the use of a county library.

"Section 5. The board of commissioners at their first meeting after they are elected, shall appoint some suitable person to assess and collect the county and state revenue of said county of Huntington (and the county of Wabash, which is hereby attached to the county of Huntington for judicial and all other civil purposes), in the assessing and col¬ lecting of which the said assessor and collector shall be governed by the provisions of 'an act for the assessing and collecting of revenue,' except that he shall not be required to complete the assessing before the 1st of May, as by that act provided.

By Sections 4 and 5 of this act it will be seen that the County of Wabash was attached to Huntington. Under the provisions of the act, Stearns Fisher, John Burke and Lewis Rogers were chosen as county commissioners and upon them devolved the work of completing the county organization. They met on May 5, 1834, in a log house, the exact location of which cannot be ascertained, and their first official act was to issue the following order :

"That all that portion of the county of Huntington being and lying east of Range 8 shall compose the first commissioner's district, viz.: No. 1. That all that portion lying in Range 7 and 8 shall compose the second commissioner's district, viz.: No. 2. And all that portion lying west of Range 7 shall compose the third commissioner's district, viz.: No. 3."

By this order the first district included the present civil townships of Jackson, Clear Creek, Union, Huntington, Rock Creek, Lancaster, Salamonie and Jefferson. The townships of Warren, Dallas, Polk and Wayne were in the second district, the remainder of which and all of District No. 3 were in Wabash County. The board also ordered that what is now Huntington County should constitute a civil township, to be known as Huntington Township, and that an election should be held on the 1st Monday in June, at the house of Jonathan Keller, for the pur¬ pose of electing two justices of the peace for said township.

Amos Harris was appointed assessor, as provided for in Section 5 of the organic act, and the following schedule for the taxation of property was announced :

Brass clocks, gold, silver and composition watches, each. . 0.50 White male citizens over 21 years old, not exempt from taxation by state law, each . 0.50

Compared with present rates of taxation in most of the Indian coun¬ ties, these figures appear "ruinously low," but it must be remembered that expenditures were correspondingly low, the salary of the sheriff for the first year amounting to but $70. Besides, the revenues derived from taxation were supplemented by license fees levied upon and paid by certain occupations. At the first meeting of the board it was ordered that the fee for license to sell groceries, which doubtless included whisky, should be $10 per year. The first license of this character was issued at that meeting to S. & H. Hanna. At a subsequent meeting of the board, about a year later, the license fee for brass or wooden clock peddlers was fixed at $10 per year.

Elias Murray, who was appointed treasurer at the first meeting of the board, reported in October, 1834, that the revenue received by him from all sources amounted $155.23, of which he had disbursed the sum of $147.63, leaving a balance in his hands as treasurer of $8.40. The board ordered that he receive $4.50 for his services.

Champion Helvey served as sheriff until the county was fully organ¬ ized, when he was succeeded by William G. Johnson. William S. Edsall was the first county clerk, and Charles G. Voorhees was appointed the first county agent for the sale of lots at the county seat and the per¬ formance of such other duties as might be assigned him by the com¬ missioners. At the September term in 1835 he reported to the board that he had received the sum of $906.32, all of which had been paid out in accordance with the law and the orders of the board.

The records show that the first session of the Circuit Court ever held in Huntington County was convened on March 2, 1835, "at the house of Jonathan Keller, in the town of Huntington, being a place as near the center of said county as can be conveniently had for said purpose. ' '

Murdock Lane and Jonathan Keller were the associated judges, citizens of the county, and Gustavus A. Everts, of Laporte County, was the pre¬ siding judge, being at that time judge of the eighth judicial circuit, which included practically all Northeastern Indiana. Elias Murray was foreman of the grand jury. A more complete account of the early courts will be found in the chapter on the Bench and Bar.

No report of the commissioners named in the organic act to locate the seat of justice of Huntington County can be found, and it is believed that none was ever filed. That they discharged their duty and fixed the county seat at Huntington is certain, but how many and what other sites were proposed is not known. There is a sort of tradition that the Miami chief, La Fontaine, tried to have the seat of justice established at the forks of the Wabash. This is hardly probable, for the reason that La Fontaine was not chief at the time Huntington County was organized in 1834, and he then lived "near the south side of the prairie, between Huntington and Fort Wayne." According to the story, the chief offered to donate the site, build a suitable structure for a courthouse, and also build a bridge across the Wabash. He did not become chief until after the death of Richardville, in 1841, when he removed to the forks of the Wabash. The couidy seat had then been located at Huntington for about seven years, and if La Fontaine ever made any effort to have it removed to the "old treaty grounds, ' ' no record of it has been preserved.

Some time before the county was organized, Gen. John Tipton, of Logansport, purchased the land that had been entered by the Helvey brothers in 1831, located in Section 15, Township 28, Range 9, upon which the original plat of the Town of Huntington was laid out. Gen¬ eral Tipton proposed to the commissioners appointed to select a site for the seat of justice that, in consideration of the county seat being located in the new town, he would transfer to the county a number of lots and erect a building for a courthouse. His offer was accepted, and in this way Huntington became the county seat.

General Tipton carried out his part of the agreement made with the locating commissioners. Through Elias Murray he donated a number of lots to the county authorities to aid in the erection of public buildings and defray other expenses incident to the organization of the county. He also erected a frame building and gave it to the county for a court¬ house. This first courthouse stood on the northwest corner of Jefferson and Franklin streets. It was completed about 1840 and was used as a courthouse for a number of years, when it passed into the possession of George J. Bippus. The handsome Bippus block now occupies the site.

At the September term in 1854 the county commissioners offered a prize of $25 for the best plans and specifications for a new county building, which was to include a court-room, quarters for the various county officers, a jail and a jailer's room, and which could be built for a sum not exceeding $15,000. The plans and specifications were to he submitted to the board at the December session, but more than two years passed before any definite action was taken with regard to the erection of the building. Then it was decided to expend a larger amount of money, and in June, 1857, a contract was let to William McGrew and

David J. Silver for the erection of a new courthouse on the present public square for $23,000. The board of commissioners at that time was composed of John Kenower, James Taylor and Samuel Emley. The cornerstone was laid on April 5, 1858, by Solomon D. Bayless, grand master of Indiana Free and Accepted Masons, the ceremonies being conducted under the direction of Mystic Lodge No. 110, of Huntington, of which John R. Coffroth was at that time worshipful master. Changes and additions were ordered by the board of commissioners while the building was under construction, which increased the cost to $28,000. This second courthouse has been described as follows : basement and a tower twenty-four feet in diameter and eighty feet in height at the front of the house. It is sixty feet wide and seventy feet long, and stands in a beautiful little park filled with trees and sur¬ rounded by a neat and substantial iron fence. The first floor is arranged for the county offices, and the second floor contains the court-room, commissioners' room and rooms for jurors."

This building served as the courthouse of Huntington County for nearly half a century, or until it was torn down to make way for the present magnificent edifice.

In the fall of 1902 a petition, asking the board of county commis¬ sioners to take the necessary steps toward the erection of a new court¬ house, was circulated for signatures. At that time the law required such petitions to be signed by at least 500 freeholders, and as only about one hundred signers were secured the matter was dropped. A little later the question was revived, and on June 1, 1903, the following petition was presented to the board :

"We, the undersigned freeholders, residents of Huntington county, Indiana, respectfully submit to the board of commissioners, our petition for a new court-house, the court-house in Huntington county having served its purpose.

"The fact that it is too small for the accommodation of the county officers and courts held in Huntington county ; that the same is badly out of repair ; that it is requiring constantly the expenditure of large sums of money to keep it in repair; that the court-house is out of date; and that the people of Huntington county, with only a few exceptions, are decidedly in favor of building a new court-house, have prompted your petitioners to ask said board to take the necessary steps for the con¬ struction of a new court-house, and we ask that such action be taken at once, and that the same be done with as little delay as possible."

This petition, signed by Dr. Daniel Yingling, George Krieg, George Stephan and more than five hundred resident freeholders of the county, was taken under consideration by the board, then composed of Joel C. Littler, E. A. Chenowith and R. M. Redding. After examining the old building they came to the conclusion that it was inadequate to the needs of the county, if not actually unsafe, and that a necessity existed for the erection of a new courthouse "in the near future upon the present courthouse square in the city of Huntington.' Consequently, on June 5, 1903, the commissioners cause the following entry to be made upon the records :

"Said board hereby grants said petition, and it hereby orders and decrees that a modern fireproof courthouse be built upon said premises, which shall cost in the neighborhood of two hundred thousand dollars."

On September 9, 1903, the county council approved the action of the board and appropriated the sum of $260,000, which was at that time supposed to be sufficient for the erection of the new building and the filling of the grounds. J. W. Gaddis, of Vincennes, Indiana, was selected as the architect at a meeting of the board of commissioners on November 14, 1903, and on March 10, 1904, the contract for the erection of the building was let to P. H. McCormack & Company, of Columbus, Indiana, for $239,450.

On April 9, 1904, the county council passed an ordinance authoriz¬ ing the issue of courthouse bonds to the amount of $260,000, bearing interest at the rate of 3*/2 per cent per annum, payable semi-annually, the last of the bonds to fall due on July 1, 1924. The bonds were sold to the banking firms of J. F. Wild & Company and Meyer & Kiser, of Indianapolis, at a premium of $135.

The cornerstone of the new courthouse was laid on September 28, 1904, under the auspices of Amity Lodge No. 483, Free and Accepted Masons, of Huntington, with Hon. Thomas R. Marshall, of Columbia City, afterward Governor of Indiana and ATice President of the United States, as the principal speaker. The cornerstone, which is at the north¬ west corner of the building, is a beautiful block of granite from Redstone, Maine, four feet three inches square by three feet eight inches in thick¬ ness, and weighing five tons. On the north side is the inscription :

The courthouse is 136 by 169 feet in its outside dimensions and four stories in height. Its architectural style is a pleasing combination of the Roman and Grecian. The corridors from the four entrances converge at the circular opening in the center under the dome. On the first floor are the offices of the auditor, treasurer, assessor and recorder, the cus¬ todian's room and a public rest room, in which the mural decorations represent scenes from the several townships of the county. On the second floor are the offices of the clerk, sheriff, surveyor, county superintendent of schools, a room for the Grand Army of the Republic, quarters for the Daughters of the American Revolution and an assembly hall for public meetings. The third floor is devoted to the two court-rooms, prose- cuting attorney's office, judges' chambers, jury rooms, quarters for the court reporter, the library, etc., and on the fourth, called the mezzanine floor, is a room set apart for the Women's Christian Temperance Union, committee rooms, etc.

Few counties in Indiana have better courthouses than Huntington, but, as frequently happens in the erection of public buildings, the structure was not completed within the original appropriation. The total cost of the courthouse, including the mahogany and steel furniture, was $346,773.77. These figures are taken from article written by Frank S. Bash, former county recorder, and published in the Huntingdon Herald of December 28, 1908.

At the August session of the Commissioners' Court in 1834, the clerk was ordered to advertise for bids for a county jail, the contract to be let to the lowest responsible bidder on October 4, 1834. On that date the contract was awarded to William H. Wallis for $400. The jail erected under this agreement stood on the southeast corner of the public square. It was a hewed log structure, two stories in height, but without any outside opening to the lower floor, except two very small and strongly ironed windows. Prisoners were taken up a stairway on the outside to the second floor and then made to descend a ladder to the "donjon keep," after which the ladder was drawn up and the trap¬ door secured. The walls of the jail were double, the space between being filled with concrete, and the floor was constructed of hewed logs. On the second floor was a room called the "debtor's room," the law of that period allowing imprisonment for debt.

At the time this jail was built it was considered a veritable "Bastile" for strength, but on more than one occasion it was seriously damaged by fires started by prisoners confined within its walls, in the hope of burning a way to liberty. After several years a prisoner known as "Old Man Lafferty" started a fire that gave the officials considerable trouble in saving the inmates of the jail.

When the courthouse was built in 1858, the basement was fitted up with cells and used as a jail for more than twenty years before some one discovered that the damp atmosphere, always to be found in under¬ ground rooms, was not conducive to the health of the prisoners and a movement was started for the erection of a new jail.

On January 21, 1880, Matilda Blackburn conveyed to the county commissioners of Huntington County lot No. 121, in the original plat of the Town of Huntington, for a consideration of $2,000, the intention being to use the site for a new jail building. More than two years elapsed before the project assumed definite shape, but on April 19, 1882, the board of commissioners - Joseph Wagoner, David Burket and George Buzzard - entered into a contract with Joel W. Hinckley to erect a sheriff's residence and jail on the Blackburn lot, according to plans and specifications furnished by E. J. Hodgson, an Indianapolis archi¬ tect, for $23,975. This jail, located at the corner of State and Cherry streets, is still in service. It is a substantial brick building, which compares favorably with county jails throughout the state.

Since the organization of the county in 1834, it has pursued "the even tenor of its way." The routine business of the county and its courts differ but little from that in other counties, but mention of the most important incidents will be found in the appropriate chapters.