LaPorte County, Indiana - Chapter 3: Early Settlement - Hudson, New Durham and Scipio Townships, 1904

Though white men - French, Spanish, British and American, had passed and repassed through what is now LaPorte county, and though doubt¬ less white hunters and trappers had been here, spme of whom may have had Indian squaws for their wives, there was no bona fide settlement un¬ til the year 1828 or 1829. And here, according to all the evidence we have been able to obtain, we shall have to differ from former historians of the county, and hold that the first settlement was not in New Durham but in Hudson town¬ ship, probably as early as the fall of 1828. This was on the east shore of DuChemin or Hudson lake, where the village of Hudson afterwards sprang up, and where its remains now stand. Anyone passing the place on the Lake Shore Railroad, can see the spot. North of the rail¬ road is a little cluster of buildings, the vestiges of a once thriving town. There, in the writer's opinion, is where the first settlement in LaPorte county was made.

And a Baptist mission was the center around which that settlement gathered. Whatever the sacrifices of the French Catholic priests in evan¬ gelizing among the Indians had been, we have to admit that the Baptist church led the van of civilization into this county. Asa M. Warren came to Hudson township in 1829. This has been disputed, but the evidence goes to substantiate it. Warren was unpretentious in his statement, he did not claim to be the first white settler ; he was a blacksmith and made tomahawks and other implements for the Indians, much of which was done on credit. He kept accounts of his blacksmithing and the dates reach back into the year 1829. When he came to Hudson he found there a mission house already erected, of hewed logs. In that house there was a school, well attended and in full operation, taught by Robert Simmerwell. Warren found also the cabin of Joseph Bay, at whose house Joseph W. Lykins was boarding. Indians were there, one of whom. Jack Jones, kept a small trading establishment; but neither Bay nor Lykins was an Indian. Both were bona fide white settlers. Joseph W. Lykins voted at all the early elections, was an election officer, was several times a member of the grand or petit jury, moved from Hudson township to Wills in 1832, owned several tracts of land, signed many obligations as surety, and was sued on many of them, which may have broken him up; as he was in every way a substantial pioneer until 1837 or later. There was another Lykins - Johnston Lykins, - born in Ohio, a leading teacher and mission worker, who had been at the school in Hudson, and who probably helped to establish it; but it is not likely that Mr. Warren would confound the two, for at the time when he gave the above testimony he knew Joseph Lykins well, and had known him for many years. The name appears on the county records sometimes as Jo¬ seph and in other cases as Joseph W. Lykins, which fact probably led General Packard to be¬ lieve that there were three men by the name of Lykins. Joseph Bay voted at all the early elec¬ tions, was drawn on several juries, had an estab¬ lished home and owned cattle. Packard says that he had a squaw for a wife when Warren found him, which is hardly in harmony with the well ascertained fact that he entered into a good Christian marriage with Elizabeth Cissne on Sun¬ day, October 12, 1833. Robert Simmerwell, the teacher, did not vote, but he was more than once a juror, serving as such as late as 1834. He was not an Indian but a white man and married. The Missionary Jubilee, an official report of his church, speaks of Mr. and Mrs. Simmerwell who labored for the Pottawottomies, and says that he was born at Blockley, Pennsylvania. We mention these particulars to show that these men should be regarded as settlers, and that the date of their arrival was prior to that assigned to the arrival of Asa M. Warren in 1829. When Warren ar¬ rived he found them there, he found the school there, attended by both Indians and whites, he found a settlement there. All this could not have sprung up in a few months in the summer of 1829. The missionaries would not have located a school at DuChemin in the summer or early fall when the Indians were scattered on their hunts and rambles.

The school at Hudson lake was not a Catholic school but a branch of the Carey Mission near Niles, Michigan. . This was established by the Rev. Isaac McCoy, a native of Indiana, and a regularly appointed Baptist missionary among the Indians, and Johnston Lykins was his author¬ ized assistant. The mission was named the Carey Mission, after a well known Baptist missionary who went from England to India. These men established a branch mission and school at Hud¬ son lake; this made the locality a safer, more orderly and more congenial one for the pioneers, and accordingly a settlement sprang up around the school ; and there, in 1829, Asa M. Warren found it. This, in the writer's view, was the first settlement in LaPorte county, though this and

Asa M. Warren first resided at Hudson, but striking no water in digging for a well he moved to the bank of a lake in what is now Wills town¬ ship, where he put up a blacksmith shop and was known by the Indians as "Wishtean Bish," the "Blacksmith by the Lake." When he had suc¬ ceeded in getting water at Hudson he removed to his former home. He is thus associated with the early settlement of both Hudson and Wills townships. He resided at Hudson until well into the seventies, a rugged and positive character who had a great and good influence on the life of the county.

In 1832 Nathan Haines settled in Hudson township, not far from the lake. His children attended the mission school in company with the Indian children. Like his neighbors, Bay, Ly¬ kins and Warren, he exercised the franchise of an American citizen.

In 1831 W. W. Cleghorn visited the settle¬ ment at Hudson. He was not then a settler but only a fur trader. After the Black Hawk war, and the Indians were about to be conducted to their home beyond the Mississippi, it was felt that the work of the Carey Mission was accom¬ plished. Some delay, however, occurring in the removal of the Indians, a small school was main¬ tained by Mr. Simmerwell. When many of the Indians did go, Mr. and Mrs. Simmerwell ac¬ companied them,, arriving at Shawnee, Indian Territory, the official report says, on November 14, 1833. But it appears that they returned ; for Mr. Simmerwell served as juror as late as 1834, and the official report of his church says that he resigned and the Carey Mission was discontinued, April 8, 1844. Cleghorn also accompanied the Indians when they were removed, having obtained from the Government a license to trade with them. He owned property on the banks of Hudson lake, but did not return until 1853, after which time he resided there for many years.

Let us now turn to the sister, and nearly cotemporaneous, settlement in New Durham township. Here we have a good example of the interdependence of communities. There is no such thing as isolation in the universe, spiritual or natural. Not a particle of matter can exist alone.

but only in relation to other particles. And the same attractions and repulsions exist in the realm of mind or spirit. As individuals depend upon individuals, communities depend upon communi¬ ties and nations upon nations. Every pioneer settlement has its roots and beginnings back in other and older settlements.

Toward the close of the eighteenth century there was living in Virginia a family by the name of McKenzie, consisting of the father, the mother and several children. They were surprised by hostile Indians and all except the father were captured. The Indians butchered the mother and all the children except two daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth, aged respectively seven and nine years, whom they carried into the wilds of Ohio, where they held them as captives for more than twelve years.

Meantime an adventuresome lad by the name of John Kinzie had run away from home in New York, and after years of knocking about had reached Sandusky, Ohio. He had learned the art of a silversmith, could make Indian ornaments, and had become an Indian trader. He was clever, brainy and forceful, and had obtained great in¬ fluence over the Indians. In Ohio he met Mar¬ garet McKenzie, and formed a marriage relation with her, and took her to the trading post of Detroit as his wife, where she bore him three chil¬ dren, William, James and Elizabeth. Margaret's sister Elizabeth also had married an Indian trader by the name of Clark, and of the union were born two children, John K. and Elizabeth, or Sarah, as she is called.

In 1795 occurred the treaty of Greenville, after which all the Indian captives were set free, and Elizabeth (McKenzie) Clark, whose husband had died, took her two children and joined her sister in Detroit. Mr. McKenzie, the father of Elizabeth and Margaret, hearing that his two daughters were yet alive, came on to Detroit and took them and their children back to Virginia with him. Margaret was thus separated from Kinzie, who went to Chicago as one of its first settlers. He is called the father of Chicago, and he certainly did a great deal for the infant settle¬ ment.

It is probable that John Kinzie, in Chicago, kept up communication with the family. At any rate, John K. Clark went early to Chicago to seek his fortune, and Archibald Clybourne fol¬ lowed him as soon as he arrived at manhood, reaching Chicago on August 5, 1823. He remained there about a year, and then returned to Virginia, in company with John K. Clark, to bring his father and mother to the place he had determined to make his home. He arrived in Chicago with them on the 23rd of August, 1824. The party consisted of the parents, Jonas and Elizabeth ; the two sons, Archibald and Henly; also John K. Clark, and Elizabeth Kinzie, one of the daughters of John Kinzie by Elizabeth McKenzie as above mentioned.

Archibald Clybourne became government butcher for the Indians and attained to eminence in Chicago affairs, Clybourne avenue bearing his name. He fed the refugees at Fort Dearborn in the Black Hawk war, and the Clybourne mansion became historic. His aged widow ninety-two years old has only just passed away. Henly Cly¬ bourne became an Indian trader and latterly figured in the history of LaPorte county where we find his name spelled Clybum. His half sister, Sarah Clark, had married William Eahart, who lived near Niles, Michigan, and Archibald and Henly Clyburn in visiting her had passed and repassed through what is now LaPorte county on horseback, taking in its beauties and natural advantages. And latterly probably the branch of the Carey Mission at Hudson was one of their stopping places.

Meantime, there was a family by the name of Benedict living in Durham, Greene county, New York, consisting of the parents, Stephen and Miriam Benedict, four sons, Joseph Holland, Levi Jones, James Waldron, John Keeler, and two daughters, Sarah and Alpha Maria. Stephen Benedict had purchased a soldier's claim on land in Illinois and he concluded to locate upon it. The family left their eastern home in 1827, trav¬ elled by canal to Buffalo and thence by a sailing vessel to Chicago. There Stephen Benedict left his family and went on horseback to see his land, which was situated on Spoon river in Fulton county. He found that it was in a secluded spot, and so far as he could learn there was not a house within fifty miles of it. He therefore aban¬ doned the purpose of taking his family there at that time and returned to Chicago. He placed his family and household goods on a French barge, made his way by water to Joliet and thence overland to Ottawa, where he purchased a claim and made some improvements, intending to im¬ prove his land on Spoon river while his family remained here. At that time there were only eight other families in Ottawa.

Meantime, Henly Clyburn had made the acquaintance of the family and married Sarah Benedict. The wedding was solemnized at Ottawa on May 4, 1828. In November of that year Mr. Benedict passed away, and the widow and her children looked to Henly Clyburn as their protector. Nor was her confidence mis¬ placed; for, though not a large man physically, Mr. Clyburn possessed in an eminent degree courage, tact, perseverance and all those qualities which are necessary to success in pioneer life. The family decided to leave Ottawa and locate in the beautiful region of LaPorte, through which Henly Clyburn had passed with his brother. This was a severe undertaking. It was yet winter, but they must be settled in their new home in time to begin the spring work. Blinding snow storms met them almost daily as they slowly plodded their way with ox teams toward Fort Dearborn at Chicago. It was so intensely cold that the oxen's eyes and noses became frozen on the march, and some of the family had their faces frozen. A part of the time it was so cold with the blinding sleet and snow coming into the eyes of the lead oxen, that their eyes actually filled with ice so that they could not see. Then the leaders were taken out and placed behind. This was repeated several times, the leaders becoming blinded in a short time. On other occasions the wagon broke through the crust on the snow and the emigrants extricated it by prying the wheels out with their bedrails. Through these hardships the family reached Chicago.

They remained there a short time to rest and recuperate, after which they resumed their journey, and Clyburn conducted them to what is now the county of LaPorte. When they arrived here there were fifteen inches of snow on the ground, they had no fodder and were compelled to feed their cattle tree branches and what prairie grass they could find, until the snow left. To keep a few potatoes from freezing and preserve them for seed, they placed them in a barrel of corn and wrapped blankets around the barrel while on the journey, and after arriving at their destination they dug a hole in the ground under the tent, in which they placed them, surrounding them with prairie grass which the boys had man¬ aged to procure on a little bank where the snow was partially blown off.

On their arrival the family went into camp near the present town of Westville, in New Dur¬ ham township. This was on March 15, 1829, At the old settlers' meeting in 1883 a daughter of Henly Clyburn, Mrs. Theodore Armitage, of Westville, read a paper in which she said,

"I once asked that grandmother what were her feelings that first night, if she were not afraid to go to sleep in the wilderness of snow which sur¬ rounded them, not only of the Indians but perhaps hunger before they could raise anything to eat. Her answer I will never forget. 'No, my child,' she said, 'I felt then that I could say with David, I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor their seed begging for bread'; and I can testify that so far in her case it has been fulfilled, for she was truly a Christian."

With characteristic energy Henly Clyburn at once set to work and with the assistance of the Benedict boys built a cabin. This was located in the edge of a grove about half a mile northeast of the present town of Westville. After thus providing for his wife and her mother's family, he set forth with an ox team for Niles, Michigan, where the nearest mill was situated, that he might get some grinding done. There he saw William Eahart and Samuel Johnson and told them of the beautiful country which he had chosen for a home, and a little later in the spring they came and en¬ tered claims and built cabins not far from Clyburn's. Having prepared their homes they re¬ turned to Niles, using Clyburn's ox teams with which to move their families and household goods. Later in the same year Jacob Inglewright also came from the vicinity of Niles and joined the same settlement. Among these early arrivals we find the names of Charles and James Whit¬ taker, and John S. Jessup.

On the 16th of July, 1829, occurred the birth of the first white child ever born in the county Elizabeth Miriam, daughter of Henly and Sarah Clybttm.

In 1830 William Garwood, whose descendants are still living in the county, entered a claim of three hundred and twenty acres of land on section fourteen, near New Durham, and moved upon it with his family. At this time the Indians were very friendly with the whites, who had not yet come in sufficient numbers to make the red men fear that the whites would dispossess them of their country. Pottawottomie and Ottawa In¬ dians were numerous in the vicinity, but they were helpful rather than dangerous; for they bought the surplus crops of the settlers, paying for them in furs which the white men sold for cash to the agents of the American fur company, and were thus enabled to pay the government for their land. The instance of the Indians killing an ox belonging to Henly Clyburn, for which he ulti¬ mately received the pay, was related in the last chapter. The greatest evil resulting from this was being deprived of the use of the ox. Prairie sod was too tough to be easily broken with the plow; a very strong team was required to turn it over. Hence several settlers had to combine their teams. Very soon, however, it was found more advantageous for some one man to make sod-breaking his special work. Here we see an indication of the division of labor. The occupa¬ tion of sod-breaking was undertaken by Henlv Clyburn, and to be deprived of an ox prevented him from doing his work. He was at the incon¬ venience of taking a long journey to the Carey Mission near Niles, Michigan, to solicit the loan of a yoke of oxen in order to make up a breaking team.

In the year 1831 Alden Tucker joined the settlement and located on section thirteen. There were not many arrivals during this year, but in 1832 many came. Among them were A. M. Jessup, Evan Henton, Joseph and Tabitha Wright and their son Moses S., Josiah Bryant and fam¬ ily, Jeremiah and Jonathan Sherwood, a family who long ago left the county, Charles Campbell and Wilson Malone, whose descendants reside in Porter county near Valparaiso, and one of them. Mrs. Frank Flood, near Beaver Dam school house in New Durham township. Josiah Bryant was the father of Benjamin Bryant, who married Alpha Maria Benedict ; their sons are well known in LaPorte. In this year also came Rev. James Armstrong, the pioneer Methodist preacher, who lived and died in the county and of whom we shall have occasion to write again in a future chapter. In 1833 a school was opened in the settlement. It was taught in the loom house of "Aunt Sally," wife of William Eahart. It was the first school and we shall have occasion to refer to It again.

Such was the second settlement in LaPorte county. It was effected by people of sterling character and excellent family. Henly Clyburn was from an ancient and distinguished French family of Claibournes who were among the first settlers in America; and the ancestors of the Benedicts were of English descent and were in our Revolutionary struggle. Others of that first settlement were just as honorable; and if, as we shall see, the first settlers determine the character of a community, what we have related bodes well for the future of LaPorte county.

The first settlers in Scipio township were Adam Keith and wife, his sister, his brother-inlaw Lewis Shirley, and Shirley's mother. They arrived on the 6th day of July, 1829, and entered a claim on section nine. They were originally from Pennsylvania but came from Ohio to this county. On October 10th Lewis Shirley was born, the first male white child born in the county. On May 13th occurred the first death among the settlers. Elizabeth Keith, wife of Adam Keith, passed away. To be deprived of one's marriage partner is a severe loss, but how much more so to be left alone with a family in a new and un¬ settled country!

In this year also occurred an incident which shows that human nature was very much the same then as now. A man by the name of Welsh, together with his son, who was a youth of eight¬ een or nineteen years, located in what is now Door Village and built a cabin ; not to serve as a pioneer home but as a liquor saloon, the first in the county. Here he sold liquor to the Indians, for there were few others to patronize him. With their characteristic love of fire-water they patron¬ ized him liberally. But "get-rich-quick" schemes were sought after then as now, and Welsh, not realizing profits rapidly enough, began to dilute his liquors. The Indians soon detected it and one day a party of them visited his saloon, rolled out his kegs, broke them open and spilled his liquor on the ground. It was not exactly a woman's crusade like that which struck this re¬ gion of country in *73 and '74, nor was it from the same motive ; it was a crusade of those who wanted not the abolition of liquor but to have it stronger.

In the year 1830 Daniel Jessup, Joseph Os¬ born and John Broadhead settled in the township. In 1831 Arba Heald, who built the first water¬ power mill in the county, settled on section six¬ teen, Hugh McGivens and William Adams settled on section seventeen, General Arthur McClure on section five, and John Garwood on section six. Elijah Brown and his brother-in-law Stephen Brayton, James Anscum, John Gattis and Mr. Phillips also became settlers. General Joseph Orr purchased land during this year but did not re¬ main, though he returned the following year in time to take part in the Black Hawk war. In this year also occurred the first wedding in the county, Adam Keith and Hannah Harris were married. It was quite an undertaking to get mar¬ ried in those days as it was necessary to go a long distance to obtain a marriage license. In this case Mr. Keith went to Logansport. Usually the people went to South Bend, which on horse¬ back or with an ox team was no easy journey. Mrs. Keith died recently in Kansas, having at¬ tained to an advanced age. She was the first white woman married in the county. Isaac N. Rambo also came and settled in Scipio in 1831 and lived here for six years, then moved to Whitley county for a year, after which he returned to Scipio and settled on section eleven.

In 1832 Christopher McQure, brother of General Arthur McClure, became a settler. Lewis Keith came July 6th and built a cabin on section eight. Peter White and family settled on section twenty-one and built a cabin. Their first shelter was at Rising Sun and consisted of two trees fallen parallel with each other, and the space be¬ tween them roofed over with bark. He was the son of John La Blanc - John the White - who was a native of France, and emigrated to Acadia, from which place he was banished, as related in l^ongfellow's "Evangeline." Peter bought Michi¬ gan road lands. His sons rendered great service in transporting A. P. Andrew's steam engine and mill from Lafayette, as related further on. In this year also Thomas W. Sale and Mr. Melville became settlers.

The Black Hawk war was now coming on, and, like distant mutterings before a storm, there were several Indian scares. The Sac Indians had never been friendly with the United States. In the war of 1812 they joined sides with the British. As a recompense they were receiving an annuity in Canada, whither they went every year and re¬ turned laden with arms and ammunition. They crossed the border at Detroit, and their trail lay through LaPorte county. Black Hawk, the powerful chief of the Sacs and Foxes, had con¬ ceived the idea that the several Indian tribes by combining might be powerful enough to resist the whites ; though after being captured and taken east to see the white man's populous towns and cities, he returned and told his braves that resistance was useless. Years before this, the Sacs by treaty had ceded their lands east of the Mississippi to the United States, but had still remained upon them. When required to conform to their treaty they resisted. Early in 1832, in ugly mood, a large number of their braves went to Canada. They crossed the land where Hon. C. W. Cathcart had located, in New Durham township, and one day when he stood in their path, one old giant chief with a grunt rudely jostled him aside. Several others lifted the cover of their rifle locks that he might see that the priming was dry. He saw them return laden as usual, but it was their last journey through the county. As they came back he happened to meet them again, at the house of Mr. Nichols, some six miles east of LaPorte. There was no one at home but Mrs. Nichols and her children. The Indians boisterously demanded that she give them whiskey, but if she had any it was hid. Some of the rascals went and got switches and asked Cathcart to whip the squaw until she produced the fire-water, and when he refused they rudely hustled him about. They could not understand English, but he could speak Spanish and he made them understand enough of that to quiet them. When they reached Illinois the fiends began their work of slaughter bv murdering an old man, which was the first bloodshed in the memorable Sac and Fox war.

When the news came that they had com¬ menced hostilities in Illinois, the settlers of LaPorte county feared that they would retreat into Canada instead of going to their own lands beyond the Mississippi. Hence they took meas¬ ures to defend themselves. Word was sent over the prairie and a large number of people assem¬ bled at Door Village. They hurried in during the night, and in the morning a meeting was held to determine upon the best means of protection, when from some cause there was a confusion, the people became alarmed and a stampede followed. About half the assembly started their teams east¬ ward, some not stopping except for rest and meals until they reached Cincinnati. Some did not re¬ turn until the following year, and some not at all. Forty-two men remained and built defensive works consisting of a ditch, earth works and a palisade one hundred and twenty-five feet square. On two diagonally opposite corners there were block houses which commanded the sides. This fort was built under the direction of Peter White, who had been in the war of 1812 and had ob¬ tained a knowledge of such matters. It was com¬ pleted in three days and the occupants felt com¬ paratively safe. It was located about half a mile east of Door Village near the road on the lands of Lewis Shirley. After the scare was over the people of course returned to their homes.

But through it all there were at least two persons who possessed cool heads and were un¬ terrified. One was Mrs. Arba Heald. With defiant air which gained for her the reputation of heroine, she took rifles, axes and pitchforks and barricaded herself in the cabin on her hus¬ band's farm, and declared that she would kill a number of Indians before they took possession of her home. Probably if the Indians had attacked her they would have been somewhat surprised. Neither threats nor persuasions could induce her to go into the fort.

Another cool-headed person was Henly Clybum. He took his family into the fort, and then he went and remained in his cabin. He was not afraid of the Indians. They liked him, and he had great influence over them. When they were finally removed to the west he entertained five hundred of them at one time, and seven hun¬ dred at another, in a grove just west of Westville. When the Black Hawk war really began, the regular mail carrier, on a bob-tailed horse, arrived in LaPorte county from the east, on his way to Fort Dearborn. But hearing of the bloody work of the Indians in Illinois he was afraid to proceed, and so Henly Clyburn changed work with him. The mail carrier remained at work on the farm, and Clyburn saddled his horse and carried the mail bags to the west. There was only one place which he feared and that was at Calumet river, which he had to ford in the dark. Crossing the river, there was one narrow ridge on either side of which there was very deep water, and Clyburn was apprehensive that in the dark¬ ness he might miss the ridge. But being a man of wonderful nerve he went on and reached Fort Dearborn in safety, which at that time was crowded with refugees. Nearing the fort he shouted his arrival, which produced great con¬ sternation as the inmates supposed it was an Indian attack ; but when they learned who it was they received him with expressions of joy.

During this war the Hon. C. W. Cathcart, then a young man, took a load of ammunition from Niles, Michigan, through LaPorte county to Fort Dearborn. He settled in New Durham township; but as that is contiguous to Scipio a word from him may not be amiss, as giving a glimpse of pioneer life. He says,

"In the fall of 1832, hearing that my eldest living brother was in Boston, I wrote to him, and he joined me. We worked together about Niles for a while, then came out here, put up a log cabin and went to keeping, as we called it, 'Bachelor's deviltry.' I well remember one win¬ ter night, going over to the widow Benedict's to give the mail carrier a letter, that on my return I found our cabin surrounded by a pack of prairie wolves which were snarling and making the night hideous over the bones, etc., that we had thrown out. We had an old dog belonging to the elder Mr. Garwood, which had stayed with brother for company. For safety's sake they had both taken shelter in our bunk. The wolves in their fight over the bones had knocked the door down, which was made of shakes and put to¬ gether with nails, and held possession until I by throwing clubs at them started them off." main absolutely unsettled until the year 1828-9, and that settlers from different parts of the United States, without any preconcerted action or communication with each other, should begin to pour in at just that time ; but so it was. Here, different families for the first time met each other, and here their lives were first united in the same community, and in many cases by marriage in the same home.

Hardly any of those early settlers remain. On the long and weary march they have been drop¬ ping out one by one until, of the pioneer warfare, only a few veterans dre left. It would be im¬ possible in a work like this to trace the life his¬ tory and describe the end of each one of them, and for this there would not be sufficient space. But when we see a notice like the following, from the LaPorte Republican of January 15, 1904, it makes us connect the present With the past.

"Mrs. Levi J. Benedict, whose husband came with Mr. Clyburn's family to this county in March, 1829, and settled near Westville, where he resided until his death near thirty years ago, died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Stewart Barnett, in Indianapolis last Saturday, aged eighty-three years. Her funeral was held at Westville on Tuesday/'