Huntington County, Indiana - Chapter 9: Towns and Villages, 1914

How Towns are Projected - List of Towns and Villages That are or Have Been in Huntington County - Historical Sketch of Each - Pioneers - Early Industries and Business Enterprises - Schools and Churches - Public Utilities - Transportation Facili¬ ties - Miscellaneous Events - Population in 1910 - General Con¬ ditions in 1914 - Present Day Postoffices.

Among the early immigrants to Indiana, in common with other states in the Middle West, were some whose fondest dream was to be¬ come the founders of cities. Even at a time when the population con¬ sisted of only a settler here and there, these men were active in seeking out favorable locations for their purpose, as they believed, preempting townsites and laying out towns. A few of these towns survived and grew, many failed to meet the anticipations of their founders, some never got beyond the "paper" stage, and still others perished because they were so located that it was impossible for them to receive the support necessary to their development. Occasionally, some fortunate occurrence, such as the location of a county seat, the presence of a fine water power or the building of a railroad, would give permanence and stability to one of these towns and it would in time become a city of greater or less prominence. But in almost every such case the other towns near by would be the sufferers and after a vain struggle for existence would disappear entirely from the map.

Huntington County was no exception to the prevailing system, though it is quite probable that fewer towns within her borders were projected purely for speculative purposes than in many other localities. By examining old maps, plat-books and atlases, the investigator will find more than a score of towns, several of which are no longer in existence and are remembered only by the oldest inhabitants. A com¬ plete list of these towns and villages includes Andrews, Banquo, Bellville, Bippus, Boehmer, Buckeye, Charleston, Claysville, College Park, Goblesville, Harlansburg, Kelso, Lancaster, Mahon, Makin, Marclenis, Markle, Milo, Monument City, Mount Etna, Pleasant Plain, Plum Tree, Raccoon

The history of the City of Huntington - the only city in the county - is given in the preceding chapter, and below will be found the history of the several towns in the above list. In the case of some of the extinct towns, as well as some of the smaller villages and hamlets, it has been found impossible to secure sufficient information to compile a full and authentic account of their career.

About the time the survey of what is now the Wabash Railroad was made, Abraham Leedy conceived the idea of laying out a town in Dallas Township for a railroad station. He therefore purchased of Martin Har¬ vey a tract of forty acres of land in the southwest quarter of Section 23, Township 28, Range 8, on the line of the proposed road, and employed Peter Emery to divide it into town lots. Mr. Emery made the survey on December 12, 1853, and on the 30th of the same month the plat was filed in the office of the county recorder of Huntington County by Mr. Leedy, under the name of " Antioch. " This original plat shows thirty-three lots and two large out-lots. The following August Leedy & Wintrode's addition of eighty-four lots was platted, and in June, 1859, J. H. Campbell's addition of thirty-nine lots was added to the town. Since then the original plat has been increased by Baker's addi¬ tion, Bellman's first, second and third additions, McKeever's addition and the addition of S. J. Leedy.

The first house in the town was built by Abraham Leedy, who was also the first merchant. Other early merchants were William Randolph, who was for several years in partnership with Mr. Leedy, Elijah Snow¬ den, John Collins, J. Parrott, E. B. Cubberly, Thomas Gibb and Joseph Snyder. Thomas King was one of the pioneer residents of Antioch and became associated with Mr. Leedy in operating the first sawmill, which was built soon after the railroad was completed. This mill afterward was sold to Gardner & Blish, who added machinery for the manufacture of baskets. It was later converted into a sawmill and stave factory by Morris & Bell, which firm did a large business, employing about fifty men.

For a time the growth of the town was rather slow, but as the resources of the surrounding country were developed Antioch became an important shipping point. About the close of the Civil war it had the reputation of being the best local trading town between Huntington and Wabash. A steam sawmill was added to the business interests in 1862 by King, Morris & Richardson. Elijah Snowden erected a flour mill in 1864, and not long after that the Antioch Manufacturing Com¬ pany was organized for the manufacture of plow handles and certain lines of furniture. The plant of this concern was subsequently acquired by Cubberly & Irwin, who converted it into a flour mill. It was destroyed by fire about 1876. In 1866 Lessel Long started a carriage and wagon shop and did a successful business for a number of years.

The first hotel in the town was the "Forest Home," built by Joel Cramer about 1855 or 1856. It was afterward kept for several years by a man named Manford, but was finally converted into a dwelling.

society had been organized some four years before, and the Methodist Church was established in 1860. At the present time these denominations are all represented in Andrews by neat houses of worship.

Early in the year 1881 the officials of the Wabash Railroad decided to locate a division point somewhere on the line between Fort Wayne and Lafayette. After looking over various places, they came to the conclusion that the level country about Antioch offered better facilities for yards, roundhouse and repair shops than any other station, and a plat of ground just west of the town was chosen as the site of the new enterprise. Then Antioch experienced a boom. A large force of men were soon employed in the construction of yards, the erection of the roundhouse, etc., and under this influence several additions were laid out. Lots sold rapidly and brought good prices. The railroad com¬ pany also laid the foundation of a building intended for the division superintendent's office. Because the company called their yards and shops "Andrewsia, " in honor of one of the officials of the road, it was proposed that the name of the town be changed from Antioch to Andrews. There was some opposition to this move, but it was overcome and the Town of Antioch passed out of existence just as the Town of Andrews came in. Hardly had the change in name been effected when the Wabash Company became the lessee of the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railroad (now known as the Lake Erie & Western), and the division point was removed from Andrews to Peru. The building for the general division offices was never finished and the old foundation stood for several years, a mournful relic of what was to have been one of the sources of Andrews' prosperity.

At least one citizen of Andrews took a philosophical view of the situation. While some of the people were inclined to be acrimonious in their criticisms of the railroad company for removing its shops and yards, Garrett Van Dolson, an old resident, comforted them with the remark: "We lived here before the Wabash became interested. We can live here after it removes its stuff." Quite a number of those who located in the town took a dilferent view and began looking for a more active business and industrial center to which they could transfer their residence. In January, 1885, the Andrews Express, the only newspaper in the town, was removed to Huntington and consolidated with the News. The great railroad strike of 1894 put an end to the hopes of Andrews of ever becoming a great railroad center. The bridge and building department was the last of the railroad interests to be taken away.

Although the removal of the railroad interests was a great blow to Andrews, the town survived and in recent years has shown renewed signs of industrial activity. It is one of the neatest and most attractive residence towns in the Wabash Valley. Its streets are well kept; cement sidewalks have been laid on nearly all the principal streets; it has a large kitchen cabinet factory and some minor enterprises in the manu¬ facturing line, a grain elevator, a bank, a public library, a $25,000 public school building, in which eight teachers are employed, four of them in the commissioned high school grades, a weekly newspaper, lodges of the leading secret orders, and the usual complement of mercantile estab¬ lishments found in towns of its size. Transportation facilities are afforded by the Wabash Railroad and the Fort Wayne & Northern

Indiana Traction Company's line. The casual visitor to Andrews is impressed by the great number of beautiful shade trees that adorn the streets and lawns, and the uniform courtesy of the people. A city hall was built in 1905, at a cost of about three thousand five hundred dollars.

About the time of the railroad boom Andrews was incorporated. The officers for the year 1914 were : W. F. Wise, 0. C. Billings and John Blose, trustees, with Mr. Wise president of the board; M. B. Park, clerk; R. 0. Bixby, treasurer.

Some years ago a franchise was granted to a company to establish an electric light and power plant, but the company sold out and electric light and power is now supplied by the company at Huntington. In the spring of 1914 the bonded debt of the town was $4,200 and the authorities had under consideration at that time the establishment of a system of waterworks for the town. The population in 1910 was 957.

players within its limits than any town on the Wabash line, and more crack marksmen with a rifle. Uncle Jesse Miller, deceased, the pump manufacturer, had the biggest voice. He telephoned to North Man¬ chester one day and the boys declared that when he squared away and shouted into the receiver, the people in North Manchester heard the message without the use of the line."

On February 26, 1906, a plat of the Village of Banquo was filed in the office of the county recorder by Jacob T. Hawkins, Henry A. Gilbert and William H. Spaulding. It is located in the northwest corner of Section 22, Township 26, Range 8, in the Logan Creek Valley in Wayne Township. The plat shows seventeen lots, the dimensions being 356 feet from east to west and 660 feet from north to south.

An old map of Huntington County, published in 1879, shows "Priceville P. O." just across the section line in the northeast corner of Section 21, and old settlers recall the fact that Banquo was in existence as early as 1880, so it is certain that the settlement was at least a quarter of a century old at the time the official plat was filed. Lafontaine, Wabash County, is the nearest railroad station and the postoffice from which the people of Banquo receive mail by rural delivery. According to Rand & McNally's atlas, the population of the village in 1910 was 75. It is a trading point for the residents of the southwestern part of the county.

About four miles below Warren, on the north bank of the Salamonie River, in the northeastern part of Jefferson Township, is the little Hamlet of Bellville. No official plat of the village was ever recorded and but little can be learned of its history, further than that a small settlement grew up about a saw and grist mill, which was established by James Taylor some time in the '40s. This mill continued in success¬ ful operation for more than forty years. A few dwellings, a Christian church and the ruins of the old mill are all that is left of Bellville.

When the Chicago & Erie Railroad was built through Huntington County, a station was established about a mile east of the Wabash County line, in Warren Township. This station was called West Point, and the following story is told of the manner in which it received that name : Some years before, William Stults was engaged in teaching "singing schools" in different parts of the county. One of his classes was in Clear Creek Township, near the eastern boundary, another was at the schoolhouse a short distance southwest of Goblesville, and a third was at the schoolhouse where Bippus now stands. As this was the most western of his classes, Mr. Stults was in the habit of referring to it as "West Point," and when the station was located there that name was adopted. A little later, when the postoffice was established, it was discovered that there was a West Point in Tippecanoe County, and the postoffice was named Bippus, in honor of George J. Bippus, a prominent citizen of Huntington County, who secured most of the right of way for the Chicago & Atlantic (now the Chicago & Erie) Railroad.

The plat of the town was filed with the county recorder on July 25, 1885, by Ernest G. Bender, Jacob Coblentz, Joseph Sell and others. This plat shows the town as consisting of fifty-five lots, in Sections 21, 22, 27 and 28, Township 29, Range 8, "on the south side of the Chicago & Atlantic Railway." Bippus is now one of the thriving villages of . Huntington County. It has a bank, a large tile factory, a telephone company, two large general stores, a furniture store, drug and hard¬ ware stores, a large grain elevator, harness, blacksmith and wagon repair shops, a cement works, three churches, a graded public school, and a number of cozy homes. Although not incorporated, the public spirit of the citizens is seen in the good cement sidewalks on nearly all the streets, erected by common consent and cooperation. When the rail¬ road station was first established, the depot was about half a mile east of the village. The reason for this is said to have been on account of the refusal of the people to donate a site for the station buildings. A few years ago the depot was moved up near the center of the town, to the mutual interest of the railroad company and its patrons. Bippus claims the distinction of being the best shipping point between Marion, Ohio, and Chicago, for towns of its size. The population is about three hundred and fifty.

Boehmer was surveyed by Samuel H. Swain on October 8, 1879, for Jacob C. Zent, the owner of the site, but the plat was not filed for record until November 1, 1880. According to the description filed with the plat, the town is located on the east line of Section 24, Township 26, Range 10, "on the Toledo, Delphos & Burlington Railroad." The original survey shows four lots on the north side of the railroad and ten on the south side. The town never came up to the expectations of its founder, owing to the fact that the station of Buckeye, only a mile west, received more encouragement from the railroad company.

The proprietors of this place were Samuel T. Jones and Loren B. Minn, who employed Samuel H. Swaim to lay out the town in the spring of 1879, about the time the narrow gauge railroad was completed through Huntington County. The survey was made on the 24th of May, and the plat was filed in the office of the county recorder on October 2, 1879, and shows twelve lots. Buckeye was made a station by the railroad company and is the principal shipping point on that line in Huntington County east of Warren. In 1910 the population was 50. Buckeye has a general store, a sawmill, a tile factory, a blacksmith shop and several residences. During the oil boom it did considerable business.

In 1835 Joseph P. Anthony settled in the southeast corner of Sec¬ tion 31, Township 27, Range 9, in what is now Lancaster Township. Others located in the immediate vicinity soon afterward and about two years later Mr. Anthony came to the conclusion that it would be a profitable venture to lay out a town. Accordingly, he employed Wil¬ liam Delvin to make the survey, which was done on November 27, 1837, and the plat was filed with the county recorder the next day. The plat shows thirty-six lots, a few of which were sold by the proprietor soon after the town was laid out. The name Charleston was given to the new town, which flourished for a time. Garrett Heffner established a store, and it is said his stock consisted of a few groceries, several bolts of calico and unbleached muslin and a barrel of whisky. He did not do a very successful business. Samuel Jennings opened a larger and better stocked store and captured most of the trade. After a short time Mr. Jennings sold out to John McGlinn, who carried on a good business for several years. This was the last business venture in the village. After McGlinn closed out his stock several of the remaining houses in Charleston were moved over to Mount Etna, about a mile west. Other houses were permitted to decay, the plat was ultimately vacated, and the ground whereon Charleston once stood is now used for farming purposes.

The Town of Claysville, in the northwestern part of Warren Town¬ ship, was platted by Hiram Weston and William T. Guffin and the plat was filed in the recorder's office on August 17, 1853. The original plat shows seventeen lots in Sections 3, 4, 9 and 10, Township 29, Range 8, on the old Huntington & Liberty Mills Plank Road. A postoffice called Bracken was established soon after the town was laid out and Claysville became a mail distributing point and trading center for a large territory in the northwestern part of Huntington County. James Ferguson, the firm of Smith & Blood, Frank Sprinkle and Thomas Bolinger were among the early merchants. The village has not grown in the last half century, but it is still a local trading center. The postoffice was discontinued some years ago and the inhabitants now receive mail by rural delivery from Bippus. The population was but 50 in 1910.

Although this is an incorporated town, it is practically a part of the City of Huntington. In fact it was laid out as ' ' College Park Addi¬ tion to the City of Huntington" by John A. AY. Kintz, a trustee of Central College, on October 8, 1896, and the plat was duly filed for record on the 5th of November following. The plat shows 262 lots, each 50 by 120 feet. About the time the college was opened in 1897 a postoffice was established in the suburb under the name of Ubee, the name being formed by spelling out the initials of United Brethren, the denomination that founded the college.

On January 6, 1908, a petition signed by T. H. Gragg, then presi¬ dent of the college, and a number of others, was presented to the county commissioners asking for the incorporation of the addition as a separate jurisdiction. A special election was ordered by the commissioners for January 27, 1908, to give the resident voters an opportunity to express their views on the subject of incorporation. At the election the vote was thirteen in favor of incorporation and six against the proposition. When the returns were submitted to the board of commissioners on February 3, 1908, the order was entered upon the records that the prayer of the petitioners be granted, and that the territory named in said petition "be and is hereby incorporated as a town, under the laws of the State of Indiana, by the corporate name of ' The Town of Col- v lege Park.' " The population in 1910 was 103.

This little village is situated in the northern part of Clear Creek Township, at the junction of Sections 3, 4, 9 and 10, Township 29, Range 9. It is the outgrowth of a settlement that grew up about the sawmill started by John Goble some years ago. No regular plat of the village was ever filed in the recorder's office, and, like Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin, it "just growed." Besides the sawmill, the business activities of Goblesville have been a blacksmith shop and two or three general stores. Mail is supplied to the inhabitants by rural delivery from Huntington. Being situated in the midst of a rich agricultural district, it is a trading center of local importance, and according to Rand & McNally it had a population of 60 in 1910.

Just when and by whom this village was founded is uncertain. It is situated in the northeastern part of Polk Township and was in exist¬ ence forty years ago at least. A postoffice was established there at a comparatively early date and Oliver N. Snider was postmaster for several years, as well as the village merchant. At one time D. B. Shell had a sawmill there and there were some other small industrial enterprises. Today about all that is left are a few dwellings. The postoffice was discontinued many years ago and mail is now supplied by rural delivery from Huntington.

line of the plank road running from Huntington to Warren, in the northeast quarter of Section 25, Township 27, Range 9. Mr. Crosby offered the lots for sale and on January 24, 1857, filed the plat for record, giving his town the name of Kelso. Before the close of the year 1877 several dwellings and two general store buildings had been erected and a postoffice called Majenica was established. The postoffice has been discontinued and the people of Kelso now receive mail by rural delivery from Huntington. A large tile factory in the southern part of the town is the principal industry. Rand & McNally gave the popu¬ lation in 1910 as 250, but these figures are probably too large. The village has Methodist and Christian churches and a good public school building.

This town, sometimes called New Lancaster, was laid out by Solo¬ mon Shideler and the plat was filed for record on September 28, 1836. It is located in the eastern part of Section 33, Township 27, Range 8, on the north bank of the Salamonie River and near the southern boundary of Lancaster Township. In the original plat were thirty-six lots, each 82 y2 by 165 feet, except a few next to the river, where the Salamonie cut off part of the lot.

Soon after the town was laid out a man named Wood opened a gen¬ eral store, which quickly became a popular trading point for settlers living in the vicinity. Other early merchants were Michael Caylor, Isaiah Reed, Randolph & Leedy, Samuel Fenstermaker, William Cook and Joseph Ewart. At a later date Jonas and William Calvert were engaged in the mercantile business at Lancaster. Dr. L. A. Caster, who was secretary of the first county medical society, was one of the early physicians. George Fletcher established a pottery and for several years carried on a profitable business. The Methodist Episcopal, Wes¬ leyan Methodists and German Baptists organized societies and built houses of worship, and for some years Lancaster wore an air of general prosperity. But, like all towns remote from railroads, it never came up to the expectations of its founder. After the introduction of the rural free delivery system, the postoffice was discontinued and the inhabitants of the village now receive mail from Huntington. Notwithtanding all its drawbacks, Lancaster is still the center of considerable general merchandise trade and is a neighborhood center where the farmers and others can get together and talk politics, etc.

of Roanoke. It was laid out by Archibald Mahon and the plat was filed for record on June 20, 1853. The original plat shows ninety-four lots, seven streets and a public square. The streets running north and south were Water (along the canal), Main and Wilt, and those running east and west were Hannah, State, Durbin and Mill. Probably the principal reason for the selection of the town site was a fine spring, the water which was piped to the canal, where a tank was provided for its recep¬ tion. This was said to be the best water supply between Toledo and Lafayette and all the canal boats stopped at Mahon to replenish their reservoirs.

One of the first industries of the town was a sawmill built by a man named Savage for the purpose of sawing timber for the Wabash Railroad. Among the early settlers was Monroe Mahon, a brother of the proprietor, who built a fine residence - at least fine for that day - in the grove on the north side of Main Street. He also established a grist mill and a distillery. At the distillery a great number of hogs were fattened and then shipped to market. The farmers in the neighborhood furnished the hogs, the distiller did the feeding and the profits were equally divided. Two men named Yahne and Smith were probably the first merchants. Their stock consisted largely of boat supplies. Mr. Neff was another early tradesman.

Roanoke and Mahon were rival towns for some years. The latter had an advantage in being located near a lock, which was always con¬ sidered almost indispensable to the success of canal towns. It was more fortunate in securing industrial establishments and the old seminary, which brought quite a number of young men to the town as students. It is said that the detour of the AV abash Railroad around Roanoke was brought about by the influence of Mr. Mahon and the refusal of the Roanoke people to subsidize the road. Mahon was made a railroad station and for several years the people of Jackson Township were compelled to go there for goods shipped or to take passage on the trains. After the road was completed a large warehouse was built at Mahon by the railroad company and was conducted for some time by Samuel Mahon. With the decline of traffic on the canal, Mahon also declined, and when the railroad company established a station for Roanoke the town received the final blqw that put an end to its existence. The last residents of Mahon were a few section hands employed on the AAr abash Railroad.

Elam Mahon, a son of Samuel and nephew of the founder of the town, was the last of the family to remain in Mahon. For some time after the canal ceased to be adapted to heavy freighting, he owned and operated a canal boat that could be used only for light cargoes and for short hauls. He was somewhat fastidious in the matter of dress and always wore a "stove-pipe" hat, which was the admiration of the com¬ munity. His home was the center of hospitality and frequent were the entertainments there. It was in his house that the first piano ever brought to Jackson Township was seen, and anyone who could "get music" out of the instrument was a welcome visitor. The last business in which Elam Mahon was engaged here was in cutting the timber from his land and boating the logs to Fort Wayne, and in furnishing wood to the Huntington lime kilns. He finally went East and died soon after his departure from Huntington County.

Makin is a small hamlet in the eastern part of Warren Township, on the highway running from Huntington to North Manchester. Its begin¬ ning was a shoemaker's shop, which was established there soon after the first settlements were made in that locality. It has never been officially platted and at the present time its chief importance is as a neighborhood trading center. Mail is received by rural delivery from the postoffice at Bippus.

About three miles east of Huntington, in Union Township, is a small station on the Wabash Railroad called Mardenis. It was first known as "Miner's Switch," and later as "Union Station." William Mardenis was appointed agent for the railroad company and put in a stock of goods in connection with his duties as agent, after which the place took his name. Mardenis has two grain elevators and considerable stock, hay and grain are shipped from that point. Rural routes supply the place with daily mail.

This is one of the old towns of Huntington County. It was laid out by Elias Murray, acting under power of attorney for Levi Beardsley and his wife Elizabeth, of Cherry Valley, Otsego County, New York, and the plat was filed for record on June 25, 1836, under the name of "Tracy." Some three years before that time a man named Tracy opened a store where the Town of Markle now stands, and, according to some authorities, divided his land into town lots, conferring upon the place his own name. His venture was evidently unsuccessful and the actual history of the town begins with the filing of the plat made by Mr. Murray. This plat shows ninety-two lots, each 5 by 10 perches, five streets running north and south and a like number running east and west. The north and south streets are Wabash, Wilts, Morse, Sparks and Curry, and those running back from the river are Sayler, Draper, Miller, Clark and Lee.

Although the town was laid out in 1836, it did not get beyond the paper stage for nearly fifteen years. Dr. Joseph Scott is credited with having built the first residence in the town in 1850. He was the first physician. A man named Haswell came in shortly after Doctor Scott and erected a large frame building - afterward occupied by Buffington & Casper - in which he opened a general store. Robert Allen started a blacksmith shop; John Nave was the first wagon maker; J. A. Michaels was the proprietor of the first shoe shop, and John Zimro the first carpenter.

William Chapman erected a three-story frame flour mill some time in the '50s. It was run by water power and was for several years considered one of the best mills of its kind in the county. It was purchased about 1885 by a man named King, who converted it into a roller mill. About 1855 or 1856 Amos Curry started a tanyarcl, and several sawmills have been operated at Markle at different times. When the Chicago & Erie Railroad was completed John Stults established a saw and planing mill and carried on a successful lumber business for a number of years.

With the completion of the railroad, Markle experienced a boom. Several additions were made to the town, the most important ones being North, Souers', Roush's, Allen's, Stults' and Seibold's. New merchants came in, a hotel, restaurants, livery stables, barber shops, an undertaker, a photograph gallery and other enterprises were added to the business community, and the population was about doubled within two years. It was about this time the town was incorporated under the name of Markle, the stone and lime industry began to be a prominent factor, a feed mill was established by Henry My grant, and Justice & Patterson engaged in the business of baling hay.

The Markle of today is one of the active towns of Huntington County. It has a bank, a creamery, a cement block factory, a telephone exchange of the Majenica Telephone Company, large stone and lime interests, a grain elevator, a wagon shop, a number of well stocked mercantile houses that handle all lines of goods, a money order postoffice with three rural routes, three churches, well kept street, good side¬ walks, a $20,000 public school building, in which eight teachers are employed, and a number of neat residences. The population in 1910

Milo is a small post-village in the extreme southern part of Jefferson Township, not far from the Grant County line. It is a station on the Clover Leaf Railroad and during the oil boom was a place of considerable activity. It has a general store and some minor business interests. No official plat of the town was ever filed in the county recorder's office.

In 1869 the people of Polk Township decided to erect a monument to the memory of the soldiers who enlisted from that township for service in the Civil war and sacrificed their lives upon their country's altar. The sum of $500 was raised by subscription and a neat marble shaft was erected near the north bank of the Salamonie River, not far from the center of the township. On this monument was inscribed the names of twenty-seven Polk Township boys, in whose honor the monu¬ ment was erected. About five or six years later Jacob Leedy, James Q. Pilcher and others laid out a town in Section 23, Township 27, Range 8, and Indian reservation No. 30, and as the new town is near the soldiers' monument it was given the name of Monument City. The plat shows eighteen lots, with Oak Street running east and west, and River Street running north and south as the principal thoroughfares. It was filed in the recorder's office on March 8, 1876.

The first business enterprise in Monument City was the sawmill of Weeks & Slyter, who also operated a general store for awhile. After a few years they disposed of the store, but continued to operate the sawmill for several years. G. W. Byram, Noah and Isaac Hildebrand, the Hallett Brothers and Jonas Calvert also sold goods at various times. William Armstrong started a blacksmith shop a year or two after the town was founded, and there have been a few other business concerns. Monument City is located in the heart of a fine agricultural region and is a good local trading point.

On November 12, 1839, William Delvin, surveyor, laid out foe John Hefner the Town of Mount Etna in the southwest quarter of Section 31, Township 27, Range 9, in what is now the extreme southwest corner of

Lancaster Township. In his survey Mr. Delvin delineated seventy-five lots, with Madison, Main and Huntington streets running north and south, and Warren, Charleston and South streets running east and west. There were also public square and a five acre out lot. Additions have since been made which extend the limits of the town into Polk, Wayne and Jefferson townships.

Mr. Hefner opened a hotel soon after the town was laid out, and the next business enterprise was probably the cabinet shop of William Watson, which was established in the early '40s. Michael Minnich, a carpenter and millwright, was among the early residents and assisted in building many of the first houses and Jacob Epley's mill, which was erected in 1848. The first store was opened by Clark Cubberly, about 1845, in a little log building fronting the public square. He was suc¬ ceeded by a man named Dorch, who put in a large and well selected stock of goods and did a thriving business for several years.

Other early business men were Samuel Swayzee, Henry Hildebrand, Frank Calvert, Samuel Brelsford, John Jeffrey, Thomas A. Gibb and Conrad Plasterer. Doctors Kersey, Mills, Wickersham, Beckford, Pal¬ mer and Bigelow were among the physicians who practiced in Mount Etna at an early date. Later Doctors Chenoweth and Mitchell were located there. For a number of years during the early history of the county, Mount Etna was an important trading point, but with the building of railroads much of its trade was attracted to other towns and some of its best professional men sought other fields.

About ten years after the close of the Civil war, the people of Mount Etna began to agitate the subject of street and other improvements, and a majority of the citizens voted to incorporate the town. The first board of trustees was composed of A. R. Large, Elam Purviance and John Bowman. John S. Martin was elected clerk and Samuel Fisher treasurer. After the incorporation the streets were graded, sidewalks laid and other improvements made, which placed Mount Etna among the desirable residence towns of the county. Although an incorporated town, the schools are a part of the Wayne Township school system.

At the present time Mount Etna is the principal trading point for a large district in the four townships in which it is situated. It has a telephone exchange, two churches, a money order postoffice, a public school building, a cement block factory, Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges, and the usual industries found in inland villages of its class. The population in 1910 was 148.

to lay out a town in the eastern part of sections 18 and 19, Township 26, Range 9, in the western part of Jefferson Township. On the original plat, which was filed for record on January 20, 1875, the north and south streets shown are Water, Church, Center and Oak, and the east and west streets are High, Scott, Main and Locust. The town was first known as Nixville, but the postoffice was named Pleasant Plain and in time the village came to be known by that name. Eli and Stephen Scott opened the first store and soon afterward Joseph Custer became a competitor. Much of the early prosperity of the village has departed, but it still has some local trade. The postoffice was discontinued some years ago and a rural route from Warren now supplies the people with mail every day. Rand & McNally give the population as 80 in 1910.

Plum Tree, also once known as Yankee Town, is situated on the line between Rock Creek and Salamonie townships, three miles from the AVells County line. It is the outgrowth of a settlement formed there at an early day and takes its name from a large, wild plum tree. It was never officially platted. A postoffice was maintained here for many years, but it has been discontinued and the people now receive mail by rural carrier from Warren. The Methodists and Disciples established churches at Plum Tree at an early date. At the present time a general store and a blacksmith shop represent the business interests of the hamlet.

While the Wabash & Erie Canal was under construction in the early '30s, the State of Indiana gave a strip of ground twenty-four rods in width along the northwest side of the canal for a town. It was stipu¬ lated that each lot should contain two acres, laid off at right angles to the canal. Seventy-two lots were laid off, half of which were in Allen County and the other half in Huntington, hence, that part of the village in the latter county was in the northeast corner of Jackson Township. A number of lots were sold and the purchasers built upon them, but after the canal traffic ceased the town gradually died for want of adequate support. In June, 1897, Thomas Ruggles, then county surveyor of Huntington County, obtained the original plat from the state and reestab¬ lished the lines between the lots. Very few people in the county have any recollection of Raccoon Village, which took its name from an Indian village in the vicinity.

In 1845 Lemuel G. Jones built a sawmill on land leased from the state where Roanoke now stands. Two years later he added a grist mill. The records show that Jones sold the ''Roanoke Mills" and his lease to Chapman & Horton on November 26, 1849, and that on February 1, 1850, George A. Chapman sold his interest to his partner, Theo. Y. Horton, who became sole proprietor. Some years later Mr. Horton erected a large woolen mill, which for years was one of the leading industries of the county. A description of this mill may be found in the chapter on Finance and Industry.

In the meantime Captain Columbia had erected a residence within the present limits of the town and a man named Bilby had opened a small store. After disposing of his interest in the mills, Mr. Chapman, who owned the land near the Dickey lock, decided to lay out a town there. Securing the services of S. C. Putnam, then county surveyor, he laid out a town of forty lots on the "south half of the southwest quarter of Section 14, Township 29, Range 10," and conferred upon it the name of Roanoke. Within a few years the original plat was occupied by buildings and several additions were made to the town. Foremost among these were Chapman & Horton's standard addition of sixty-four lots, Chapman's second addition, Viberg's, Dinius', Corkin's, T. V. Hor¬ ton's and Wilkerson's additions.

Among the early industries of the town were Chading's blacksmith shop, Van Becker's dry dock and boat yard, Horton's woolen mill, Meech's flour mill at the old lock, the steam mill of Michael Minnich & Sons, Dinius Brothers' tannery and several woodworking establish¬ ments which gave employment to a considerable number of men. Among the early merchants were William Bilby, William Payton, Horton & Chapman, Martin, Henry and Solomon Bash. Later came Bash & Grim, Hall & Windle, Windle & Wasmuth, R. C. Ebersole, Blount Brothers, Jacob Brown, R. D. Olds, E. C. Olds, Tarrance & McCombs and a few others. Dr. C. B. Richart located in the town about the time the survey was made and is credited with being the first physician and proprietor of the first drug store. Benjamin Nave, S. H. Grim, William Vannerder and A. P. Koontz were early cabinet makers. The first shoemakers were "Hank" Row and Samuel Taylor. Samuel Wertsbaugher was the first tailor.

C. H. Viberg kept a hotel near the town for some time before the plat of Roanoke was filed on September 11, 1850, and his house was a favorite stopping place for travelers. The first hotel in the town was built by William Payton in 1852. It was located at the corner of Third and Commercial streets. After about a year Mr. Payton was succeeded by D. H. Rose, who in turn was succeeded by Doctor Irwin. After some years the building was converted into a dwelling. Thorp & Ream then sold their store building to Samuel Dougherty, who refitted it as the St. James Hotel and conducted it for several years. The Kahn House was erected in 1886.

Late in the year 1873 John II. Barr circulated a petition and ob¬ tained a large number of signatures, asking the county commissioners to order a special election to decide whether or not the Town of Roanoke should be incorporated. The election was held on May 4, 1874, when a majority of the citizens expressed themselves in favor of the proposi¬ tion and the town was duly incorporated. The first officers of the town government were as follows: William H. Meech, William B. Thorp and Samuel Stump, trustees; E. C. Olds, clerk; C. B. Richart, treasurer; N. P. Mowry, assessor, and Samuel Wertsbaugher, marshal. The officers for 1914 were : Henry E. Smith, Alvin 0. Smith and William Koonts, councilmen; Charles Fausz, clerk and treasurer, and George Fields, marshal. Henry E. Smith is president of the council.

One institution that was the pride of Roanoke for many years was the old "Roanoke Classical Seminary," in which quite a number of Huntington County's prominent business and professional men were equipped for the great battle of life. A more complete account of this seminary will be found in the chapter on Educational Development.

Among the early inhabitants of Roanoke were quite a number who possessed both taste and talent for music, and the town became widely known as a musical center. One of the best bands in Northern Indiana was the old Roanoke Silver Cornet Band, the members of which were led by a Professor Struby, a talented German musician, though somewhat irritable at times. This band filled engagements at various cities, for which it frequently received as much as one hundred and fifty dollars per day. A musical organization called the Beethoven Society was another Roanoke institution. It made a special study of classic music, held musical institutes, gave concerts, etc., and its services were occasion¬ ally demanded in Fort Wayne and other cities in the northeastern part of the state. A quartet from this society furnished the music for Gen. James R. Slack's funeral. Some of the members of the Beethoven Society are still living in Roanoke.

The first newspaper published in the town was the Roanoke Register, which was founded by H. D. Carroll in 1871. At the present time the town has two newspapers - the Review and the Clipper. The history of these papers is given in Chapter XIII.

When the Town of Mahon was laid out in 1853 a spirited rivalry immediately began between that place and Roanoke. Mahon was for¬ tunate enough to secure a station on the Wabash Railroad and for a time the Roanoke people had to go to Mahon to 'Hake a train." The cholera scare of 1854, when a few deaths occurred in Roanoke, also gave the town a backset for a little while, but it soon recovered, and after a depot was established by the railroad company Roanoke's supremacy over Mahon became a settled fact.

At least one man of genius lived in Roanoke, and that was Horace Rockwell, an artist of far more than ordinary ability. He lived a secluded sort of life, seldom being seen upon the streets, though his wife and daughters were rather prominent in social circles. Occasionally Mr. Rockwell would quietly make a trip to New York or Cincinnati, where he would exhibit his oil paintings, win prizes in competition with other artists, and dispose of his pictures at good prices. When not engaged with his brush and palette he devoted a good portion of his time to the construction of a flying machine. At last his machine was finished and he gave it a trial. But he learned, like Darius Green in the old poem, that the trouble was in alighting, for he came down with such force that he suffered some severe contusions and a few broken bones. To the surgeon who attended him he stoutly maintained that the accident was in no wise due to any fault in his machine, but merely that he "forgot to flap his wings." The accident, however, put an end to his experiments.

In 1913 an arrangement was made between the Town of Roanoke and the National Company, of South Bend, Indiana, by which that com¬ pany installed a system of waterworks at a cost of $15,000. The supply of water comes from deep wells and is pumped to all parts of the town. The agreement with the company is of such a character that the sum paid annually for the street hydrants will in time pay for the plant, when the entire system is to become the property of the town.

Shortly after the Fort Wayne & Northern Indiana Electric Railway was completed, a contract was made between the town authorities and the traction company, by which the latter furnished electric light to Roanoke. In addition to the waterworks and electric lighting systems, Roanoke has one of the finest public school buildings in the county, in which nine teachers are employed, four of them in the commissioned high school grades. It also has a bank, a knitting mill that employs about eighty people. A large tile factory, some paved streets, good cement sidewalks on all the principal streets, a number of well-stocked stores, a public library, five churches, several lodges, two weekly news¬ papers, telephone connection with the surrounding towns, a money order postoffice with four rural routes, a peaceful and cultured popu¬ lation and a number of comfortable residences. According to the United States census for 1910 the population was then 532.

As the name of this hamlet indicates, it is located in the exact geo¬ graphical center of Rock Creek Township. A postoffice was once main-^ tained here, but it has been discontinued and mail is now delivered by rural carrier from Huntington. It consists of a few dwellings and a general store.

About 1844 a Friends Church was built near the north line of Section 11, in Dallas Township. A little later Joseph Silver opened a store a short distance south of the church and the settlement which gradually grew up there became known as Silverton. No plat of the village was ever made and the population never numbered more than four or five families. No postoffice was ever established there, but Sil¬ ver's store was a mail distributing point for the neighborhood. After Mr. Silver moved away the settlement declined and Silverton is now nothing more than a memory.

Four miles east of Huntington, on the Chicago & Erie Railway, is the little Village of Simpson, formerly known as Roche's Station. The plat of Simpson was made by Henry H. Wagoner, county surveyor, on May 1, 1885, for George J. Bippus, trustee, and was filed for record on the 23d of the same month. It shows seventeen lots, in the northeast corner of Section 29, Township 28, Range 10. These lots are all north of the Erie Railroad and west of the county road running north and south on the section line. A general store is the only business enter¬ prise.

This village, situated at the junction of Sections 4, 5, 8 and 9, Township 27, Range 10, was laid out by William and Mary A. Daniels and the plat was filed on April 10, 1875. In its early days it was also known as "Brownsville" and "Brown's Corners." For awhile it pros¬ pered, but with the building of the Erie Railroad much of its business and trade was diverted to Markle and Simpson, and Toledo is now a typical crossroads settlement.

The incorporated Town of Warren, situated in the southwestern part of Salamonie Township, oil the Salamonie River, is the largest town in the county. The land upon which it is located was entered by Samuel Jones in 1833. Being near the old Indianapolis and Fort Wayne state road, Mr. Jones came to the conclusion that it would pay to divide his land into town lots. Hosea Powers, deputy county surveyor, was there¬ fore employed to make the plat, which was filed in the recorder's office on December 11, 1836. At first, the intention was to call the new town Jonesboro, in honor of the founder, hut it was learned that a postoffice by that name was already in existence in Grant County, so the name Warren was adopted, in order to have the town and postoffice uniformly designated. Several additions have been made to the original plat, the most important of which is East Warren, which was surveyed by S. H. Swaim for Silas Jones in September, 1879. Finkle's addition was platted in 1882.

The first sale of lots occurred on New Year's day in 1877. Soon after that L. R. Allison opened the first store. A postoffice was estab¬ lished with Dr. S. D. Ayres as postmaster, who was also the first resi- dent physician. Edward McPherson started in business as a blacksmith, John Shaffer opened his shop as a cabinet-maker, and several new resi¬ dents were added to the population. Thomas Mitchell had erected a grist mill on the south side of the Salamonie some time in 1836, which brought many of the neighboring farmers to Warren, and the town soon came into prominence as a local trading point.

For the first forty years the growth of Warren was comparatively slow, owing to the fact that it was without adequate means of communi¬ cation with the rest of the world, but during that period it never went backward. When the Toledo, St. Louis & Western (Clover Leaf) Rail- road was completed through the southern part of the county in the fall of 1878 Warren experienced its first boom. Within five years after the coming of the railroad, the town had a grain elevator, three dry goods stores, six groceries, three drug stores, two hardware stores, two furni¬ ture stores, two jewelry stores, an undertaker, a bank, a hotel, a graded school, two sawmills, a planing mill, a weekly newspaper and a popula¬ tion estimated at over one thousand.

Warren's second boom came with the discovery of oil in Jefferson Township. Between the years 1890 and 1900 the population increased from 1,120 to 1,523. Several new business enterprises were added to the town's activities, especially dealers in oil well supplies, lumber, etc. As the oil wells began to show signs of failure, quite a number of people sought other fields, and in 1910 the population was 1,189. While this had a depressing effect upon the industries and commercial interests, the citizens of the town have showm no signs of serious discouragement, but are still loyal to Warren and are going ahead much in the same way as before any oil wells were drilled in the vicinity.

Warren was incorporated about the time the Clover Leaf Railroad was built. The town officers for 1914 were as follows: E. M. Mossburg, J. M. Long, Rufus Crandell and Elijah Huffman, councilmen; Glen Brown, clerk; Monroe Wiley, treasurer; Daniel P. Mossburg, marshal.

In February, 1901, bonds were authorized and a site purchased for the establishment of a waterworks and electric light plant. Work was commenced in the latter part of that month and was advanced so rap¬ idly that by the middle of the summer service was started. The water supply is both pure and plentiful, and the electric light service is better than that in most towns the size of Warren. In the spring of 1914 the town expended over five thousand dollars in improving the light and power plant, and electric power is now furnished to a number of small manufacturing concerns.

Warren has become widely known in recent years, particularly among the members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as the site of the Methodist Memorial Home, a history of which is given in another chapter. This institution, which is a home for old people of both sexes, occupies a beautiful site in the northern part of the town.

Foremost among the business enterprises of Warren are the mer¬ cantile establishments usually found in towns of its class. It has two banks, a cement works, a large grain elevator, a mitten factory, some oil interests, about four miles of paved streets, good cement sidewalks, several lodges, a fair association, a weekly newspaper, five churches and two public school buildings. Eight teachers are employed in the graded school and six in the commissioned high school. The town is also the headquarters of the Warren Telephone Company, whose lines extend to the rural districts and the neighboring towns and villages.

In 1906 the Marion, Bluffton & Eastern electric line was built through Warren, giving additional transportation facilities, and the town is connected with Huntington by an automobile transit company, which makes two round trips daily. With these conveniences, and surrounded by a populous and fertile agricultural district, it can be seen that Warren is "no mean town."

According to the latest edition of the United States Postal Guide, there are ten postoffices in Huntington County. In the following list the figures in parentheses after the names of the offices indicate the number of rural mail routes emanating therefrom: Andrews (3), Bippus (1), Buckeye, Huntington (9), Markle (3), Milo, Mount Etna, Roanoke (4)' Ubee, Warren ( 6 ) . All are money order offices and those at Andrews, Huntington, Markle, Roanoke and Warren are authorized to issue inter¬ national money orders good in foreign countries.