Huntington County, Indiana - Chapter 11: Internal Improvements, 1914

First Highways - Fort AVayne and Indianapolis State Road - Huntington and Liberty Mills Plank Road - Turnpike Com¬ panies - Free Gravel Roads - Rivers as Avenues of Transporta¬ tion - The Canal Era - Land Grant for the Wabash & Erie Canal - First Canal Boat - State System of Public Works - Its Collapse - Benefits Resulting from the Wabash & Erie Canal - The Railroad Era - Early Opposition - The Wabash - First Railroad Train Reaches Huntington - The Chicago & Erie - The Clover Leaf - The Cincinnati, Bluffton & Chicago - Electric Lines - Drainage and Reclamation of Swamp Lands.

When the first white men came to what is now Huntington County there was "not a stick of timber amiss." One of the first necessities, therefore, in the way of internal improvements was the opening and improvement of public highways. Before roads were cut out through the forest the traveler, in going from one place to another, followed the most direct route, often referring to a small compass, if he was fortunate to have one, to keep him in his course. In the absence of the compass he relied upon the sun as his guide. Where an old Indian trail existed it was used by the early settlers as a thoroughfare until better roads could be constructed.

Surveys for state roads were made at an early date. Some of these roads were afterward opened and improved, hut in a majority of cases they were merely "cut out" by the settlers who located along the route, the state going to very little expense beyond the cost of the sur¬ vey, and frequently this expense was borne by the counties through which the road passed. In the earliest records of Huntington County mention is made of the Fort Wayne and Indianapolis state road, and of roads leading to " Muncietown, " as the City of Muncie was then called, and to Goshen, in Elkhart County. The Fort Wayne and Indianapolis road crossed the southeastern part of the county, and near it some of the first settlers of Salamonie Township selected their lands and erected their cabins.

The first roads in the county were marked by "blazes" on the trees. They followed "the line of least resistance" between the ter¬ minals, without regard to points of the compass, and with equal disre¬ gard as to how much they might interfere with some pioneer farmer's arrangements for clearing and improving his land. In after years most of these old 4 4 traces, ' ' as they were called, were altered and straightened to conform to the section lines of the government survey. The greater part of the business of the county commissioners in early years was the hearing of petitions praying for the establishment of public highways in various parts of the county.

In the construction of the first roads the most primitive methods were used. After the timber was cut from the line of the road and the stumps removed, some attention was given to filling in the marshy places. Small logs, ten or twelve feet in length, were thrown crosswise of the road. As these logs sank into the mud another layer was added and in this way the corduroy road was built. It was not as smooth as a pavement, nor as solid as a rock, but it answered the purpose.

A company was organized in 1850 with a capital stock of $25,000 to build a plank road from Huntington to Liberty Mills, in the northeast¬ ern part of Wabash County. The Huntington terminus of the road was at the junction of Jefferson and Matilda streets. From that point it ran on or near the line of the Goshen road for about six miles, and from there to Liberty Mills, "allowing for such variation as may be found necessary." James R. Slack was the first secretary of the company and had a great deal to do with the construction of the road. Timber was plentiful in those days and the sawmills along the line of the road were kept busy for some time in sawing oak plank 8 feet long and 3 inches thick for the roadway. The road was completed about 1853 and was the first toll road in Huntington County.

Soon after this road was commenced another company was formed for the purpose of continuing it to Warren. The fact that the planks used were only 8 feet in length made it impossible for two vehicles to pass on the road and the company promulgated a rule that teams going toward Huntington should have the right of way, those going in the opposite direction to drive off the plank to allow them to pass. For this and other reasons the road was not popular, and as the supply of timber began to diminish it was allowed to fall into decay. It was finally abandoned about 1870.

The first gravel road in the county was projected about the close of the Civil war, to run from Huntington, via Mount Etna, to the Grant County line. Promoters, after looking over the country, declared that plenty of gravel could be obtained for the road, but there was enough opposition to the enterprise to delay the actual beginning of the work until 1867. Even after the road was commenced many were skeptical as to whether or not it would ever be finished. One old resident expressed himself as follows: "I do not expect to live to see this road completed. In fact, I don't expect that my children will ever see a gravel road from Huntington to the Grant county line.

Notwithstanding this pessimistic view, he lived to see not only that road completed, but also over two hundred miles of fine gravel road built within the limits of Huntington County.

In 1868 the gravel road from Andrews to the Salamonie River, a distance of six miles, was commenced, but it was not finished until sev¬ eral years later. The experience of the early gravel road companies showed that the people had but little faith in the utility of this class of highways, and this indifference, which in some instances developed into a stubborn opposition, made it difficult to secure subscriptions to that capital stock.

The Huntington, Kelso & Warren pike was begun in 1874, and, like the Andrews and Salamonie road, was not completed for several years. It is about fifteen miles in length, and is now one of the best roads in Northern Indiana. Soon after it was commenced the road from Huntington to Lancaster was undertaken and was finished about the same time. This road is eight miles long. All these early gravel roads were built and operated by companies that were permitted to charge toll, the rates of which were fixed by law.

In 1877 the Legislature passed an act authorizing the purchase of toll roads, upon petition of the residents along the lines, when such petitions were sustained by popular vote. The commissioners of the several counties of the state were also given power to issue bonds for the construction of free gravel roads, not to exceed $50,000, and to levy a tax upon the lands on either side of the road for a distance of two miles for the payment of the principal and interest of such bonds. Under the operations of this law the "good roads movement" received its first g^eat impetus in Indiana. As soon as the law went into effect the people of Huntington County began organizing for the purpose of securing the construction of all the free gravel roads that could be built under the law. During the next decade the following gravel roads were built in the county:

The Huntington and Markle road, eight miles in length, in 1878; the Misliler road, from Huntington northeast to the Whitley County line, about nine miles long, in 1878; the Stults road, from Huntington due north to the Whitley County line, eight miles, 1879; the Columbia City and Fort Wayne roads, aggregating about fifteen miles, in 1880 and 1881 ; the Roanoke and Christian road, the Union Township road, the Huntington, Warren and Montpelier road, the Polk Township road and the Huntington and Zanesville road were all built during the years 1881 and 1882; the Roanoke and Jackson road, the Hosier road and the Infirmary road were all completed in the spring or summer of 1884, and the Wabash and Salamonie road was finished in 1886. To aid in the construction of these roads the commissioners of Huntington County issued bonds for a little over $130,000.

But the work did not stop with the building of these roads. On the contrary it has gone on until now Huntington County has approxi¬ mately four hundred miles of as good roads as there are in the state, the cost of which was about $400,000. And still other roads are under construction or in contemplation. The people of the county have dis¬ covered that good roads are a paying investment. Instead of hauling "a little jag" of produce to market, the farmer can now haul a full load, with less exhaustion to his team and less wear on his wagon.

The first bridges over the streams were built of timber, roofed and weather-boarded to protect the framework from the weather. A few of these old covered bridges are still to be found in various parts of the state, and there is at least one in Huntington County. But it is only a question of a few years until they join the corduroy roads of early days, and in another generation they will be forgotten, or linger only in the memory as an example of the crude way the pioneers had of doing things. The first iron bridge was built at Andrews by John Mur- phy & Company, the cost of the structure being about $5,000. One by one the old wooden bridges have given way to steel, and in somes cases steel has been supplanted by concrete.

At the time the first settlements were made in Huntington County the waterways of the state constituted the main arteries of traffic. The first roads were projected between points on the principal rivers, where they could connect with the pirogues and canoes of the traders. For a number of years after the capital of the state was located at Indianap¬ olis there was a pleasing fiction that the White River was navigable. The Fort Wayne and Indianapolis state road was intended to connect the AY abash & Erie Canal (whenever it should be built) with the waters of the AVhite River, which would afford transportation to the Ohio. The Muncietown road also connected with the White River, and the Goshen road with the St. Joseph River, over which traffic could reach Lake Michigan.

Settlement in the states of the Middle West was rapid and the demands for internal improvements, especially transportation facilities, increased faster than money could be accumulated to supply them. During the first twenty years of Indiana's statehood, at nearly every session of the Legislature there were introduced bills providing for the establishment of a state system of internal improvements. The mes¬ sages of the different governors during this period were full of recom¬ mendations, some of which possessed a certain degree of merit, though a majority of these recommendations would now be regarded as extremely visionary. Governor Ray was particularly energetic in his efforts to secure the enactment of laws that would enable Indiana to inaugurate and prosecute to completion "a grand system of internal improvements, and for the ultimate production of a revenue that shall relieve our fellow-citizens from taxation. ' '

Foremost among the projects for providing transportation chan¬ nels was that of improving the natural waterways of the state. The first traders along the Wabash and other western rivers carried their goods in canoes or pirogues. These traders, and the settlers about the trading posts, tried to impress Congress with the idea that the Wabash was navigable to Lafayette, and represented that a canal could be easily and cheaply constructed from that point to the mouth of the Maumee River, thus connecting the country around the Great Lakes with the Mississippi Valley.

As early as 1822 the states of Indiana and Illinois began to work together for the improvement of the Wabash River. A little later the subject of connecting the Maumee and Wabash rivers by a canal came before the legislatures of Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. About this time the first steamboat ascended the Wabash to Lafayette. The news of this incident was heralded far and wide and gave a wonderful impetus to the canal project, the advocates of that scheme insisting that it was now clear that the Wabash was navigable to Lafayette, and that the canal was feasible. A commission was appointed to investigate the subject and report to the legislatures of the three states as to whether a railroad or a canal was the most practicable means of communication between the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lake region. The com¬ mission reported in favor of the canal, because it could be built and operated at much less expense than a railroad ; because so far the utility of the railroad as a common carrier had not been fully demonstrated, while traffic and travel by canal was a certainty, except in extremely cold weather, when the ice might interfere with navigation.

Congress was now overwhelmed with petitions praying for the con¬ struction of the canal. It was argued that it was a military necessity ; that in the event of war with a foreign power troops and munitions of war could be moved with great speed and at slight cost from the interior to the northern border. It was also represented that the canal would bring a large number of settlers into the central part of the country, and that through this settlement the nation would in a few years receive more from the sale of public lands than it would cost to build the canal. Finally, Congress yielded to the pressure and by the act of March 2, 1827, granted to the states of Indiana and Ohio each alternate section of land, equal to a strip five miles in width on each side of the canal, which was "to connect the navigable waters of the Wabash river with Lake Erie."

It was further provided that work on the canal should be commenced within five years after the passage of the act, and that if the money derived from the sale of lands was not sufficient to complete the canal, the states should supply the deficit. The land in Indiana thus granted for the construction of the canal was estimated to be worth $1,250,000. The state authorities, fearing that the land grant would not produce suf¬ ficient revenue for the completion of the canal, was a little slow in accepting the grant, but it was finally accepted, with all the conditions imposed by Congress.

Samuel Hanna, Robert John and David Burr were appointed a board of commissioners to conduct the sale of the lands and to oversee the construction of the canal. By an act of the Legislature, approved January 31, 1832, the commissioners were required to divide the lands into three classes, to be sold respectively at $1.50, $2.50 and $3.50 per acre, one-fourth cash and the balance in payments extending, in some instances, over a period of fifteen years. Lands unsold could be entered at the prices above named. A land office was opened at Fort Wayne and the announcement sent broadcast that the canal lands could be purchased on easy terms. This opportunity to obtain good lands, within easy access of a main artery of commerce, brought a large number of immigrants to the Wabash Valley, some of whom founded homes in what is now Huntington County.

Work on the canal was commenced at Fort Wayne in February, 1832, a few days before the expiration of the five-year limit fixed by Congress. Two years later the State of Ohio had done nothing toward building her portion of the great waterway, and on February 1, 1834, the Indiana Legislature adopted a memorial asking the state's senators and representatives in Congress to use their influence "to secure the passage of an act granting to Ohio the permission to select land from the reserves lately acquired from the Indians," in lieu of the alternate sections along the line of the canal, as contemplated in the original grant.

President Andrew Jackson refused to approve the treaty of Octo¬ ber 23, 1834, because of the great number of individual reservations it granted to certain Indians. These individual reservations interfered to some extent with the construction of the canal, but when President Van Buren ratified the treaty in 1837 the state was given the privilege of selecting any unsold government land in the state of equal quantity. The selections were made in 1844 and a public sale was held in the fall of that year at Peru, whither the land office had been removed from Fort Wayne in 1840. This land office followed the construction of the canal and in 1847 was removed from Peru to Logansport.

In the meantime the craze for a state system of public improvements had not abated in the slightest degree. By 1836 the state was thought to be in a financial condition to justify the inauguration of an extensive system of public works. While many of the projected improvements had no direct bearing upon the welfare or development of Huntington County, it is deemed appropriate to give a brief account of the gigantic undertaking of the state under the act of 1836. By the provisions of this act the governor was authorized to appoint a board of internal improvements, to consist of six persons, said appointments to be made "by and with the advice and consent of the senate and the canal com¬ missioners then in office." Eight great waterways and land thorough¬ fares were specified in the bill. In order that the reader may under¬ stand what ideas were entertained by legislators three-quarters of a century ago the list of these internal improvements is given in full :

2. The Central Canal, "to commence at the most suitable point on the Wabash & Erie canal, between Fort Wayne and Logansport, run¬ ning thence to Muncietown ; then to Indianapolis ; thence down the val¬ ley of the west fork of the White river to its junction with the east fork of said river, and thence by the most practicable route to Evans¬ ville, on the Ohio river."

4. The construction of a railroad from the Ohio River at Madison to Indianapolis, via Columbus and certain other points named in the bill. This road was afterward completed and was the first railroad in the State of Indiana.

5. A macadamized turnpike from New Albany to Vincennes over a route touching Fredericksburg, Salem and Paoli. If the reader will take a map of Indiana and trace the route of this turnpike he will find that as a crooked highway it is certainly a masterpiece. But each of these towns wanted to be on the line of the road and the members of the Legislature were evidently of an accommodating disposition.

7. The improvement of the Wabash River from Vincennes to the mouth of that stream. This improvement was intended to stimulate steamboat navigation of the Wabash and add to the revenues of the Wabash & Erie Canal.

8. A canal from some point on the AVabash & Erie Canal near Fort AATayne to Lake Michigan. As the point on the canal was not definitely designated, some of the pioneers of Huntington County entertained the hope that the Lake Michigan Canal would pass through the northern part of that county. The canal, however, was never built.

To carry out the intent of the bill the sum of $10,000,000 was appro¬ priated. Concerning the act, Dillon, in his ' ' History of Indiana, ' ' says : "The state system of internal improvement, which was adopted by Indiana in 1836, was not a new measure, nor did the adoption of the system at that time grow out of a new and hasty expression of popular sentiment. For a period of more than ten years the expediency of providing by law for the commencement of a state system of public works had been discussed before the people of the state by governors, legislators and distinguished private citizens."

In the discussion thus referred to by Dillon, the advocates of a state system of public improvements did not lack for a precedent. To use a favorite expression of political party platforms, they could "point with pride" to the fact that the State of New York had built the great Erie Canal, and that in ten years the tolls had paid the entire cost of con¬ struction. If a canal in New York had been such a success, why should not Indiana profit by that experience? The theory appeared to be flawless, but the application of it failed to produce the anticipated results. To quote again from Dillon :

"In fixing the mode of organizing a state board of internal improve¬ ment, and in defining the duties and powers of this board, the general assembly of 1836 committed several material errors. On account of these errors, and for other reasons, the internal improvement law of 1836 encountered a strong opposition; and this opposition was most marked among the people of those counties through which the lines of the proposed public works did not pass."

After all, such a condition is not surprising. The people of those counties far removed from the lines of public improvement were pay¬ ing taxes to the state, which was using the public revenues to build canals and roads that gave such counties no direct benefit. And, like Banquo's ghost, this opposition would not down. By 1839 it had become so insistent that work upon the internal improvements was suspended. In his message to the Legislature that assembled in Decem¬ ber of that year, Governor Wallace summed up the situation as follows:

' ' The failure to procure funds, as we had a right to expect from the extensive sale of bonds effected in the early part of the season, has led to great and unusual embarrassments, not only among the con¬ tractors and laborers, but also among the people. The state has, in con¬ sequence, fallen largely in debt to the former, and is without means of discharging it. . . . What shall be done with the public works?

Shall they be abandoned altogether? I hope not. In my opinion, the policy of the state, in the present emergency, should be, first, to provide against the dilapidation of those portions of the works left in an unfin¬ ished condition, and, secondly, as means can be procured, to finish some entirely, and complete others, at least, to points where they may be rendered available or useful to the country."

The Legislature of 1839 authorized the issue of $1,500,000 of certifi¬ cates of indebtedness, in the form of state treasury notes, for the pur¬ pose of paying the claims of the contractors and other public creditors. These certificates circulated as currency for a time at their face value, but within two years they had depreciated from 40 to 50 per cent. Owing to the fact that they were printed on yellow paper they became known, after the depreciation set in, as "yellow dog" money. The Legislature then redeemed these certificates with an issue of engraved scrip in denominations of $5 and $10, which was made receivable for interest, and later for the principal, from the purchasers of the Wabash & Erie Canal lands. The scrip was printed on white paper and soon received the name of "white dog" money, in comparison with the cer¬ tificates of 1839.

At the close of the year 1841 over eight million dollars had been ex¬ pended on the public works authorized by the act of 1836, and it was estimated that at least twenty millions of dollars more would be necessary to complete the system according to the original plan. Public sentiment was adverse to any further issue of bonds, or any increase in the state debt, to carry on the work and the whole scheme collapsed.

The Wabash & Erie Canal was commenced, however, before the enactment of the internal improvement law of 1836 and was built under a different act. Work on the canal was slow for a time, but after a start had been made it progressed more rapidly, and on July 3, 1835, the water from the head of the canal at Fort Wayne reached Huntington. That was a red letter day in Huntington's calendar. Late in the after¬ noon the packet boat Indiana, Captain Fairfield, master, arrived at Huntington and tied up at the upper lock, then known as Burk's lock. On board was a large and enthusiastic party of Fort Wayne citizens, who were met by an equally enthusiastic throng of Huntington people. In anticipation of the arrival of the first canal boat, Dr. George A. Fate had brought a small cannon from Dayton, Ohio, and the little gun now boomed out its noisy welcome. The next day the Indiana returned to Fort Wayne, taking the cannon along.

When the state system of internal improvements collapsed in 1841 the Wabash & Erie Canal was partly completed and the finished portion was bringing in a substantial revenue. It was finished through Hunt¬ ington County in 1836. This portion of the improvement system was therefore not abandoned, and, as part of the lands granted by the gen¬ eral Government to the state was still unsold, it was hoped that enough revenue could be realized from the sale of the remaining portion to complete the canal according to the original design. The act of 1836 contemplated 1,289 miles of canal, railroad and public highway. When only 281 miles of this system had been completed the state was heavily in debt and the state officials experienced great difficulty in raising funds to pay even the interest upon the indebtedness. Trans¬ portation channels were still needed by the people of the state, but there were no funds available with which to build them. The Wabash & Erie Canal, with its unsold lands and tolls, was taken in part pay¬ ment of claims by the state's bondholders, who promised to complete the canal. The Ohio portion was finished and placed in operation in 1843, and the entire canal from Toledo, Ohio, to Evansville, Indiana,

Some years ago Elbert J. Benton prepared a history of this great waterway, which was published by the Indiana Historical Society. Says he : £ ' Before the opening of the canal, in 1844, the zone of the Maumee and Upper Wabash valleys had sent towards Toledo only 5,622 bushels of corn. Five years later the exports from the same region, sent to that port, reached 2,755,149 bushels. For home consumption, the large number of laborers added to the population increased the demand for produce and much more money than ever before came into circulation.

"When the canal was begun, the Upper Wabash valley was a wilder¬ ness. There were only 12,000 scattered population in all that district, but people began to flock in by wagon-loads, so that the number had increased to 270,000 by 1840. In 1846 over thirty families every day settled in the state. Five new counties were organized in three years following the opening of the first section of the canal from Fort Wayne to Huntington. Thirty per cent of the emigrants entering the port of New York passed into the group of states where the Erie canal and its connections were being constructed. The boats that took grain up the canal brought back emigrants and homesteaders from the East. Thirty-eight counties in Indiana and nine in southeastern Illinois were directly affected by the new waterway. Long wagon trains of produce wended their way to the towns on the shores of the canal. In the year 1844 four hundred wagons in a day were waiting to unload at points like Lafayette and Wabash."

It is worth while to bear in mind that a number of towns in the Wabash Valley owe their origin and early prosperity to the Wabash & Erie Canal. Some of these towns grew into cities of considerable size. All along the Wabash industry was stimulated by the prospect of having a reliable outlet to the markets. Sawmills, flour mills, paper and oil mills were established in these towns and every boat that went up the canal carried their products to the eastern states. Between the years 1840 and 1850 the increase in population in the counties adjacent to the canal was nearly 400 per cent, or more than twice the increase in other parts of the state. Such an influence did the canal wield in the development of the country through which it passed that Mr. Benton calls it the "Indiana Appian Way."

About the time the canal was finished through the state, the build¬ ing of railroads became an all-important subject in Indiana. Charters were liberally granted by the Legislature to companies to construct rail¬ ways, and as these lines came into active operation the income of the canal was visibly affected. The legality of the canal company was also called into question, which added further to its distress, and after a few years the once famous Wabash & Erie Canal ceased to he a paying institution. In this emergency the state was asked to pay one-half of the debt for which the canal had been taken, the creditors claiming that the state, by granting franchises to the railroad companies, had acted in bad faith and diverted from the canal company large sums of money that would otherwise have been received in tolls.

In 1873 the people of Indiana adopted an amendment to the state constitution enjoining the state from ever obligating itself for the pay¬ ment of any portion of canal bonds. The next year the canal was vir¬ tually abandoned, because the receipts from tolls were not sufficient to keep it in repair, though a few boats remained in commission for about a year later. Early in the summer of 1875 a flood caused a washout of the canal near the City of Peru. After the waters subsided the canal was left practically dry and no longer fit for commercial purposes. Boats were left stranded at infrequent intervals along its bed, where they gradually sank into ruin and decay. In 1876 the great waterway was sold under foreclosure proceedings to William Fleming, of Fort Wayne. Some Peru capitalists bought from Mr. Fleming that portion of the canal between Lagro and Lafayette, and most of the entire route has since been disposed of by piecemeal, either by purchase or condem¬ nation proceedings, to electric railway lines and other interests. Such was the ignoble end of the great waterway that was once the hope and pride of thousands of people living in the Wabash Valley. During its

Since the decline of the old AY abash & Erie Canal at least two wellorganized efforts have been made to secure water transportation through Northern Indiana. In 1880 Congress appropriated $15,000 for a survey of a canal from Toledo to Lafayette. The survey was made, but owing to a change in the national administration and other causes nothing further was ever done in the matter.

About 1908 or 1909 Perry A. Randall and a few other Fort Wayne men began agitating the subject of a barge canal to connect the waters of Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. In March, 1914, the Erie and Michi¬ gan Deep Waterways Association was organized at Fort Wayne, a number of representatives from other cities in the northern part of the state being present. J. W. Caswell, of Huntington, was elected one of the vice presidents of the association. The subject was presented to Congress, and on May 4, 1914, a survey was commenced under the direc¬ tion of P. M. Churchill and Malcolm R. Sutherland, United States engineers.

That same evening a meeting was held at the rooms of the Huntington Commercial Association to organize a branch of the Deep Water¬ ways Association. At this meeting citizens of Andrews, Roanoke, Wabash and Lagro were present. Commenting upon the activity of the people of Huntington, the Fort AVayne Journal-Gazette said: "Over at Huntington the Commercial club expects to get 500 members for the association. If every city in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania had as many enthusiastic boosters for the canal as Huntington has with her 15,000 population, there would be no question about its construction. You cannot convince the people of Huntington that the canal will not be built."

Two routes are under contemplation - one running from Fort AVayne through Elkhart and South Bend, and the other farther south, through Huntington, Rochester and Valparaiso. The selection of the route depends largely upon the available water supply for purposes of navigation and the activity of the people living along the proposed canal. In this respect Huntington is one of the most active cities in the state, and if the canal is built the Commercial Association of that city hopes to be once more connected with the outside world by means of a waterway. What the ultimate result will be remains to be seen.

The first railroad in the United States was a line about nine miles long, running from the Town of Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, to some coal mines. Compared with the railroads of the present day it was a crude affair, but it proved to be a successful undertaking, and thought- ful men saw in it the beginning of the nation's most reliable system of transportation. While a number of states were devoting their attention and energies to the construction of canals as a means of developing their natural resources a few miles more of railroad were built in the East, though many people were skeptical as to the ultimate success of such roads, and many others were strenuously opposed to this method of traffic and transportation. About 1830, or perhaps a year or two later, some young men of Lancaster, Ohio, formed a debating club and asked the school board of the town to grant them the use of the s'choolhouse in which to hold their meetings. When the board learned that it was the intention of the young men to discuss the railroad ques¬ tion it returned the following reply:

"You are welcome to the use of the schoolhouse to debate all proper questions in, but such things as railroads and telegraphs are impossi¬ bilities and rank infidelity. There is nothing in the Word of God about them. If God had designed that his intelligent creatures should travel at the frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour, by steam, he would clearly have foretold it through his holy prophets. It is a device of Satan to lead immortal souls down to hell."

In spite of such sentiment and opposition, the railroad gradually found advocates among the more progressive element of the people. In the light of modern progress and development, the arguments and objections of the Lancaster School Board, eighty years ago, appear almost silly. Although the holy prophets failed to foretell a "frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour," it is not unusual for the fast passenger trains of the present day to attain a rate of speed four times that great. In fact, a railroad whose trains did not make greater speed than fifteen miles an hour would soon perish for want of patronage.

As early as 1845 some, of the citizens of Huntington County became interested in the construction of a railroad through the county. When the road was first proposed, as in the case of nearly all early railroads, the terminals were not clearly determined, the general proposition being to connect Lake Erie and the Mississippi River, "at suitable points." After some delay the line was selected from Toledo, Ohio, up the Maumee Valley to Fort Wayne. From that point two routes westward were proposed - one via Liberty Mills and down the Eel River Valley to Logansport, and the other down the Little and Wabash rivers, via Hunt¬ ington, Wabash and Peru, to the same destination. From Logansport, it was proposed to follow the AVabash Valley to Lafayette. The advo¬ cates of the northern route between Fort AVayne and Logansport claimed that it was the shorter and ran through a better improved country. They pointed out, with some force, that the swamps along the Little River would be a serious obstacle in the way of constructing a railroad on the proposed southern line. John Comstock, of Liberty Mills, and several Logansport men were particularly active in their efforts to secure the adoption of the Eel River route.

On June 23, 1852, a meetitig was held at Logansport to consider the matter and decide upon a route. Representatives from Toledo and Lafayette, and a number of intermediate towns and cities were present. The delegates from the Town of Huntington were John Roche, David L. Shearer, Lambdin P. Milligan, Jesse Davies, Samuel Moore and John Ziegler. The Town of Roanoke was represented by George W. Chap¬ man. It is said that when Daniel D. Pratt, a prominent attorney of Logansport, was called upon for some expression as to the advisability of building the road, he walked over to the secretary's table and signed his name for a substantial stock subscription, remarking as he did so : "There is my speech." His example was contagious and before the meeting adjourned a large part of the money necessary for the con¬ struction of the road had been subscribed.

When the question of selecting a route came up for consideration, Mr. Milligan offered a motion that the road follow the Little and Wabash rivers. This motion was supported by all the delegates from Huntington, AVabash and Peru, and was finally carried. Among the papers of the late John Roche was found a copy of the original articles of asso ciation adopted at the Logansport meeting, to wit :

"Article 2. The eastern terminus of the road shall be at a point on the east line of Allen or De Kalb county in said state of Incliana; thence running down the valleys of the Little and Wabash rivers and passing through the counties of De Kalb, Whitley, Huntington, AVabash, Miami, Cass, Carroll, Tippecanoe, Fountain, Warren and Vermillion, or as many of them as necessary, all in the State of Indiana, on the most eligible route, and terminating at some point on the west line of said State of Indiana in the general direction of Danville, Illinois.

The adoption of the Little River route was not satisfactory to those who favored the Eel River Valley, and they immediately began taking steps to bring about a reorganization of the company, with a view to effecting a change in the line of the road. There is little question that the City of Huntington owes its location upon the line of the AA7abash Railroad to John Roche. Fearful that the advocates of the Eel River route might succeed in their reorganization scheme, and appreciating the truth of the old saying that "money talks," Mr. Roche went to work with his characteristic energy to obtain subscriptions to aid in the building of the road. In this effort he enlisted the cooperation of Lambdin P. Milligan, Samuel H. Purviance and other leading citizens, and when another meeting was held at Logansport he was able to show that the people of Huntington had subscribed $22,000 - a large sum of money for that day - on condition that the road should pass through that town. This was the largest amount subscribed by any of the towns along the proposed railroad. It seemed so incredible that Azariah Boody, the representative of the eastern capitalists who had agreed to finance the project, asked Allen Hamilton, of Fort Wayne, if the people of Hunt¬ ington could be relied on to pay that sum. Mr. Hamilton replied that he knew but little about some of the subscribers, but if John Roche said they were good his word would be accepted. That settled the question and the route as fixed by the original articles of association was not altered.

Pursuant to Article 3 of the articles of association, the following board of directors was elected on August 18, 1852 : Samuel Hanna, of Allen County; John Roche, of Huntington; Hugh Hanna, of Wabash; John W. Wright and George Cecil, of Cass; Reed Case, Hiram Allen and A. R. Bowen, of Carroll; James Spears, of Tippecanoe; M. M. Milford and Joseph Ristine, of Fountain, and William Kent, of Warren County. Soon after the election the board met and organized by elect¬ ing Albert S. White president of the company; John Little, secretary; William L. Brown, treasurer; William Durbin, chief engineer, and Stearns Fisher, superintendent of surveys and construction.

Work on the road was commenced in the fall of 1853. Owing to the cholera epidemic of 1854, progress was slow for a time, and the first train did not reach Huntington until November 13, 1855. Huntington was then a village of about four hundred inhabitants and the entire popu¬ lation turned out to witness the arrival of the first railroad train. The scenes that accompanied the arrival of the first canal boat, more than twenty years before, were reenacted and the people congratulated each other upon the fact that the railroad was a reality. With the first day of January, 1856, a regular passenger schedule was adopted and since that time Huntington has had continuous railway service. The first telegraph office was established at the railroad station in the fall of 1856. After a time the name of the railroad was changed to the Toledo, Wabash & Western, and still later to the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, under which it was operated until the name was shortened to the single word "Wabash," by which it is now widely known as one of the great trunk lines of the country.

The Chicago & Erie Railroad is the outgrowth of a project which had its inception as early as 1836, when a company known as the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad Company was organized to build a railroad from New York to some point in Ohio.

On December 1, 1871, the Chicago, Continental & Baltimore Railroad Company was organized, with a capital stock of $2,000,000, to build a road from the northwest corner of Indiana through the counties of Lake, Porter, Laporte, Starke, Marshall, Fulton, Kosciusko, Wabash, Huntington, Wells and Adams, or such of them as might be finally decided upon as offering the most feasible route, to connect with the Baltimore, Pittsburgh & Continental at the state line. A little more than a year later the name of the Chicago, Continental & Baltimore was changed to the Chicago & Atlantic.

On March 15, 1873, the Chicago & Atlantic Extension Railway Com¬ pany was organized for the purpose of constructing a road from the Indiana state line to Chicago. The capital stock of this company was fixed at $1,000,000.

In the meantime the Atlantic & Great Western had become known as the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio and had completed a line west¬ ward from New York to Marion, Ohio. On July 15, 1873, the Chicago & Atlantic Railroad companies of Indiana and Illinois were consolidated with the Baltimore, Pittsburgh & Continental Railroad Company of Ohio, under the name of the Chicago & Atlantic, to build a road from Chicago to Marion, Ohio, to connect with the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio, or from Chicago via Pittsburgh to New York, as might be deter¬ mined after surveys had been made. Articles of association were filed with the secretary of state of Ohio on August 6, 1873, but nothing in the way of building the road was done until several years later. In 1878 the officers of the Chicago & Atlantic Railroad Company were: H. R. Low, of New York, president; J. S. Robinson, of Ohio, vice president ; L. P. Milligan, of Huntington, secretary and attorney ; George J. Bippus, of Huntington, treasurer. Mr. Bippus and J. W. Purviance, of Huntington, were on the board of directors, and Col. C. E. Briant, also a Huntington man, was active in his efforts to secure the early completion of the road.

In the latter '70s a narrow gauge railroad was completed between Huntington and Markle, on the right of way now occupied by the Chi¬ cago & Erie. On April 12, 1879, President Low issued the announcement that the company was ready to proceed with the work eastward from Huntington, and predicted that within ninety days connection would be made with the Delphos, Bluffton & Frankfort Road at Decatur. A meeting was held at Kenton, Ohio, June 6, 1879, to consider the question

In June, 1880, the capital stock of the company was increased from $7,000,000 to $10,000,000 and the stockholders expressed themselves in favor of issuing bonds to the amount of $6,500,000. No immediate action was taken, however, on account of certain legal requirements to be complied with before the bonds could be issued. In September, 1880, the obstacles having been removed, the directors called a meeting of the stockholders for October 29, 1880, "to vote' on the proposition to author¬ ize the directors of said company to create and issue bonds in the name of said company, to the amount of $6,500,000, for the purpose of con¬ structing and equipping its line of road from the town of Marion, Ohio, to the city of Chicago," etc.

At the October meeting representatives of New York capitalists were present with a proposition to negotiate the sale of the bonds, and a new board of directors was chosen. The Huntington Herald of Novem¬ ber 10, 1880, said: "We are happy to announce this week, and on good authority, that the completion of the C. & A. railroad is now an assured fact. . . . New parties have been taken into the organization, and

In January, 1881, four corps of engineers were engaged on the survey, and the road was completed through Huntington County in 1882. On January 17, 1882, a special election was held in the City and Township of Huntington, by order of the county commissioners, to vote on the proposition of granting a subsidy of $12,000 to secure the location of the railroad shops at Huntington, and out of 1,006 votes cast only 176 were in the negative. About the time the road was completed the Erie Railroad Company obtained full ownership of the Chicago & Atlantic and the name was changed to the Chicago & Erie.

About 1875 the citizens of Warren and Bluffton began to work in unison for some better methods of communication with outside cities. The result of their efforts was the incorporation of the Delphos, Bluffton & Frankfort Railroad Company. At that time Warren numbered but about five hundred inhabitants, but among the citizens were several men who were enthusiastic over the railroad proposition. Foremost of these were George H. Thompson, Sr., George H. Thompson, Jr., and S. L. Good, each of whom pledged himself to pay $500 to the railroad company as soon as the first train reached Warren. The promise was kept and the same men worked systematically for the extension of the road.

gauge and the first train arrived at Warren on October 11, 1878. About this time subsidiary companies were organized to extend the road to Toledo on the east and St. Louis on the west. The road was completed from Delphos to Frankfort late in the year 1879, after which work was pushed on the extensions and the road was in operation between Toledo and St. Louis about three years later, making it the longest narrow gauge road in the country. The subsidiary companies were then consolidated and a project set on foot to continue the line westward to Kansas City. The name "Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad Company" was adopted, but the line between St. Louis and Kansas City was never built. After a few years the traffic on the road increased to such an extent that it was made a standard gauge road, known as the Toledo, St. Louis & Western. It is now a part of the "Clover Leaf" system.

This road enters Huntington County from the northeast, about three miles north of the southeast corner, and follows a general southwesterly direction through the townships of Salamonie and Jefferson. The sta¬ tions on the road are Boehmer, Buckeye, Warren and Milo. Near the last named station the road crossed the southern boundary and enters Grant County.

In September, 1903, a railroad company was organized through the efforts of Smith II. Bracey, of Chicago, to build a road between Hunt¬ ington and Union City, Indiana, with a view to extending it later to Cincinnati and Chicago. Late in January, 1904, Mr. Bracey and Allen Russell visited Huntington to awaken interest in the enterprise. On the evening of February 5, 1904, a railroad meeting was held at the courthouse in Huntington, at which Messrs. Bracey and Russell asked the county for a subsidy of $75,000 to aid in building the road, or $125,000 if the shops and terminal offices were located in Huntington. They announced that Bluffton, Pennville and Portland had all agreed to make donations, running from $20,000 to $54,000, and that the track was completed and trains running between Bluffton and Pennville.

The question of subsidizing the road was taken before the board of county commissioners, and a special election was ordered by the board in Huntington Township for March 22, 1904, to vote on the proposition to donate $125,000 to the company. This was defeated by a vote of 1,280 to 1,105, but the minority was large enough to show that there was a decided sentiment in favor of building the road. Another special election was then ordered for June 14, 1904, to vote on the proposition to make the donation or subsidy $78,500, and this time the vote was 1,497 to 612 in favor of the subsidy.

completed and in operation from Portland to Bluffton. A receiver was then appointed and further work was suspended. Under the manage¬ ment of the receiver, the affairs of the company were placed in better shape, the Huntington County subsidy and donations were paid and the road was completed to Huntington in 1907.

On January 22, 1901, the Fort Wayne & Southwestern Traction Company was granted a franchise by the Huntington city council to occupy certain streets with its tracks. At the council meeting on the 26th of February a proposition was submitted by the company to locate a powerhouse, repair shops, etc., in the City of Huntington, if the council would donate $7,000. The proposition was held in abeyance until certain conditions were complied with by the company, after which the donation was made.

Track laying began in August and about that time a movement was inaugurated to extend the line westward to Wabash, the original plan having been to run southward from Huntington to Warren. In the meantime the Wabash River Traction Company had obtained a franchise through Miami County. An arrangement between the two companies was made and in November, 1901, the old towpath and bed of the Wabash & Erie Canal from Huntington to Lafayette were secured by the consolidated companies for a right of way. The road was com¬ pleted between Huntington and Roanoke about the first of December, and on December 12, 1901, the first interurban cars began running between Huntington and Fort Wayne.

At the December term in that year the county commissioners of Huntington County granted the company a franchise to extend its line westward from the Huntington city limits, along the Maple Grove road and through certain sections of land in Dallas Township, to the Wabash County line. Work on the road was pushed forward with vigor and in due time the line was completed all the way from Fort Wayne to Lafayette. It is now operated under the name of the Fort Wayne & Northern Indiana Traction Company.

The Marion, Bluffton & Eastern Interurban Railway runs parallel to the Clover Leaf Railroad through the southern part of the county. It was built in the summer of 1906, the first car from Warren to Marion having been run on the last day of September of that year.

Various franchises have been granted to individuals and electric railway companies for the construction of roads that have never been built. In August, 1901, the commissioners granted a franchise to Frank J. Heller to build an electric road northward from Huntington to connect with other interurban roads in the counties of Allen, Whitley, Noble and Kosciusko. The Huntington & Winona Traction Company received a franchise on November 3, 1902, to build a road along the Huntington & Goshen road from the City of Huntington to the county line, and on June 21, 1904, the commissioners granted a franchise to the Portland, Montpelier, Warren & Huntington Railway Company to build an electric line along the gravel road from Huntington to Warren. None of these roads have developed farther than the paper stage so far, but some of them may yet be constructed.

Although drains or ditches for the reclamation of swamp lands are constructed in a manner entirely different from that used in building railroads and public highways, and affect private property only, they indirectly are a benefit to the whole community. For this reason it is deemed appropriate to give the subject some consideration in this chapter.

Railroads are usually built by corporations, with funds raised by the sale of stocks and bonds or voted as subsidies by the people of the townships and counties through which the line passes. Public high¬ ways are constructed and kept in repair by a general tax levy, but the cost of public ditches is assessed against the lands drained by them in proportion to the benefits received.

Old settlers can remember when certain portions of Huntington County were too wet for agricultural purposes, especially in the early spring when the snows melted, to which were frequently added heavy rains. These low, wet lands were the last to be settled and in their original state they were the source of much of the fever and ague with which the pioneers had to contend. Drainage has improved the land and brought it under cultivation, increasing the profits of the owner many fold. While the advantages to the owner of the swamp land may be reckoned in a pecuniary sense, the drainage of these lands has con¬ ferred a lasting benefit upon all the adjacent territory by improving the sanitary conditions, thus stamping out malaria and enhancing the general health of the inhabitants.

On March 10, 1873, Governor Hendricks approved an act authoriz¬ ing the organization of draining associations. Under the provisions of this act, L. P. Milligan, Frederick H. McCulloch, George B. Lawrence and John H. McTaggart, of Huntington County, formed the "Little River Draining Association, ' ' for the purpose of ' ' deepening the channel of the Little River, straightening it in places, and cleaning out its tributaries. ' ' Articles of association, signed by a large number of owners of wet lands in Huntington, Allen and Whitley counties, were filed in Huntington County on July 30, 1873, in Allen County on August 8th, and in Whitley County on August 17th. Jacob R. Billinger, prosecuting attorney of Allen County, instituted quo warranto proceed- ings to dissolve the association, on the grounds that it was not legally incorporated, and in the Allen Circuit Court the association was dis¬ solved. An appeal was then taken to the Supreme Court of the State, which reversed the decision of the lower court and the association proceeded with its work.

John J. Anson, Samuel F. Day and Aaron McKimmey were appointed to fix the assessments for benefits and the awards for damages in Hunt¬ ington County, and on May 25, 1875, they submitted their report, with a long list of the lands affected by the proposed improvement. In some instances the assessments ran as high as $500 for a forty acre tract of land. Thousands of dollars were spent in straightening, deepen¬ ing and widening the channel of the river, the most difficult part of the work being the clearing of the stone ledges from the stream at what is known as the "Ox-bow," a short distance above Huntington. A channel thirty feet wide wras blasted through the rocks, but this has been found insufficient to carry off the water in wet seasons and several efforts have been made to have the work done over, but so far nothing definite along that line has been accomplished. This was the first big drainage project in Huntington County.

In 1875 the Legislature passed a supplementary act concerning the reclamation of swamp land by ditches, and this law was amended by the Legislature of 1877. Between that time and the close of the year 1880, the county commissioners of Huntington County had granted petitions for the construction of thirty-seven ditches, the aggregate length of which was seventy-seven miles.

The act of 1873 and all supplementary acts were repealed by the Legislature of 1881, which enacted a law "To enable owners of lands to drain and reclaim them, when the same cannot be done without affecting the lands of others, prescribing the powers and duties of county commissioners and other officers in the premises, and to provide for the repair and enlargement of such drains, and repealing certain acts therein specified, and declaring an emergency."

Under the provisions of this act one or more land owners could peti¬ tion the county commissioners for a ditch, setting forth its general description, and were required to furnish bond that they would pay the cost of the proceedings, in case the ditch was not ordered. If the three disinterested persons, appointed by the commissioners as viewers, reported favorable, and no remonstrance was offered, the board ordered the construction of the ditch. It was not long until the law was found to be so complex and the work of securing the construction of drains under its provisions was hampered by so much ' ' red tape, ' ' that it was superseded by what is known as the ' ' Circuit Court Ditch Law. ' '

This law created the office of drainage commissioner, the incumbent of which was to be appointed by the county commissioners. The entire proceedings under this law are in the Circuit Court. A petition is presented to the judge, who appoints a commissioner to act with the drainage commissioner and the county surveyor in viewing the proposed ditch. If they report favorable the court orders its construction.

On March 4, 1893, what is known as the Drainage District Law went into effect. Under its provisions a drain may be constructed and kept in repair by mutual agreement of the owners of the lands affected. All ditches therefore come under three general heads : Commissioners ' ditch, Circuit Court ditch, or Drainage District ditch. All three systems have been used in Huntington County. The commissioner and circuit court ditches are kept in repair by the township trustees.

The first drain tile was used in the county about 1869 or 1870. After the passage of ditch laws by the Legislature, by means of which outlets for tile drains were secured, the use of tiling increased all over the county. It is estimated by competent persons that in some instances the cost of tile upon a farm runs as high as $25 per acre, or even more. But even at that figure the money thus spent has been found to be a good investment, bringing large returns in the increased value of the crops raised upon such farms.