LaPorte County, Indiana - Chapter 13: Development - Laporte, 1904

By a peculiar combination of circumstances the spot where the city of La Porte now stands was destined to become a large settlement ; it lay directly in the natural thoroughfare between tlie east and the west. North of it the country was ridged and hilly, sandy, and more or less densely wooded ; not likely to be chosen as a way of travel. South of LaPorte was the Kankakee region, impassable during most of the year, and no fit place for a through trail during the re¬ mainder; and south of the Kankakee region the Tippecanoe country was a wilderness. At La¬ Porte, however, the country was open and com¬ paratively level.

This was the natural route between the east and west. On this account it was, that from farther back than we can make any calculation, a through trail cast and west traversed the spot where LaPorte now stands. It is quite true that this consisted only of a well worn path over the prairies and through the woods, and at first thought it may not amount to much ; but it was to the Indians, explorers, hunters, .trappers, soldiers, and pioneers, what a state or national road is to us. It was even more, for it was their only thoroughfare, which roads are not to us, for we have railroads.

LaPorte was situated at just the convenient distance from other stopping places, to make it desirable for a camp ground ; east of it was the country about Niles, South Bend, and other places ; west of it were the Calumet region and the broad prairies of Illinois. At LaPorte was the most convenient and also the most beautiful and comfortable camping ground on the whole ex¬ tent of the Indian trail. Here, so inviting after a long tramp, were the grassy shores of a little group of lakes in the edge of a dense hardwood forest reaching down from the north into the prairie. Here the travelers found dry and rolling ground for their camps, fuel in plenty, pure spark¬ ling water, shelter from the tempest and shade from the heat of the sun, with a wealth of game all about them, and myriads of fish in the lakes ; and whatever way they looked, they saw a land¬ scape of lake prairie and sylvan beauty never to be forgotten. A little to the south and west there was a natural opening or narrow gateway through which the traveler going either way emerged upon a broad prairie. On this account some French explorer, with the poetic instinct of his race, named it LaPorte (the portal), which name clung to the region ever after. Far and near, bv redmen, explorers and settlers alike, the. locality was known as LaPorte, and thus the city which was to arise in the near future was named beforehand. French, Spanish, British and Amer¬ ican soldiers, Indian hunters, trappers and traders, missionaries and settlers, all stopped at LaPorte. When the post at Detroit was established, and later Fort Dearborn at Chicago, LaPorte became more than ever a route of travel between the two ; the Sac and Fox Indians passed this way, going to and coming from Canada ; each party, whether of whites or Indians, added the ashes of its campfires to those already in existence, and La¬ Porte became far famed as a camping ground or sort of halfway house. It was known at the na¬ tional capital, and at the different centers of civili¬ zation throughout the country.

It is not strange, therefore, that the pros¬ pecting party to which A. P. and James Andrew belonged, should have made LaPorte their ob¬ jective point. It was not strange that John B. Niles and many other young men who were seeking a suitable location for their expanding energies, both physical and mental, should have been led in this direction, and that the settlement should have been more rapid here than elsewhere.

There was another happy combination of cir¬ cumstances which rendered it possible at once to have an organized county with a regularly con¬ stituted government, which was not the case in many other counties. A large part of the land in the county had already passed from the Indians into the possession of the national and state governments, rendering it possible for the whites to enter their claims upon it, purchase it, make improvements, and institute a county government.

At an Indian village near the mouth of the Mississinewa river, on the Wabash, near Peru, on October 16, 1826, Lewis Cass, James B. Ray, and John Tipton had negotiated a very important treaty with certain of the Pottawottomie Indians, according to which, among other things, the tenmile strip north of the old Indian boundary was ceded to the government, and also a strip one hundred feet wide through the country for the purpose of making a road from Lake Michigan to some convenient point on the Ohio river. In addition to this, one section of good land was ceded for every mile of the road. This was the 'Old Michigan Road." Congress confirmed the treaty, and bv act approved January 24, 1828, the general assembly of Indiana appointed commis¬ sioners to survey and mark the road. The com¬ missioners made the second survey, which the assembly established as the road, by act approved January 13, 1830. The same act appointed Sam¬ uel Hanna of the county of Wavne, William Polke of the countv of Knox, and Abraham M'Lelland of the county of Sullivan, commissioners on the road to change its course wherever advantageous and, with the consent of the national government, to select and survey the Michigan Road lands into sections, and number the sections in numerical order from one upwards. Among other tracts the commissioners selected the four sections on which LaPorte now stands; not of course in¬ cluding the portion north of the old Indian boundary, which had already been ceded under another item. In 1831 Congress sanctioned and confirmed the selection and locations made by the state of Indiana of the Michigan Road lands (U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. 7, p. 295, 296). In this manner all that part of the county north of the old Indian boundary, and also the land on which LaPorte was built, came at once into the market and could be purchased direct from the government. On October 26, 1832, by a treaty with the Pottawottomies negotiated by Jonathan Jennings, John W. Davis, and Marks Crume, on the Tippecanoe river, the remainder of LaPorte county, with others, was ceded to the government, and the lands were thus brought into the market. But, as we have seen, the county was organized and its seat of justice fixed before this.

Knowing in 1831 that the new county must shortly be organized and that a county seat must be chosen, Walter Wilson, Hiram Todd, John Walker, James Andrew, and A. P. Andrew, Jr., picked out sections thirty-four and thirty-five, ly¬ ing mostly south of the old Indian boundary, in township thirty-seven north, range three west, as the most favorable location for the capital of the new county, and entered into an agreement for the purchase thereof at the sale at Logansport, by Walter Wilson as trustee for the syndicate. Wil¬ son bought the land October 19, 1831, and three days later the agreement was reduced to writ¬ ing, this instrument being the first affecting real estate to be placed on record when the county books were opened in 1832. The other original purchasers of land now occupied by LaPorte and its several enlargements and outlots were John Egbert, October 18, 1831, who sold his certificate of entry to Captain Andrew; Walter Wilson, in his own right, October 19, 1831, who sold most of his certificates to William Bond ; John Walker, October 18, 19 and 21, 1831 ; James and A. P. Andrew, October 21, 1831 ; Hiram Todd, Octo¬ ber 21, 1831 ; Adam G. Polke, October 19, 1831 ; and Joseph Pagin, November 8, 1830, and Octo¬ ber 19, 1831. Walker and Polke, each of whom had entered a half of the southwest quarter of section 36, exchanged their certificates within a few weeks as a matter of convenience to the former in connecting two of his purchases. In July, 1832, Dr. Todd sold one-half of his onefourth interest in the partnership land to W. G. and G. Ewing, Fort Wayne speculators in northern Indiana wild lands, taking their note for $500 as the consideration. As the party had bought the land, about 450 acres, at $1.25 per acre, Dr. Todd's entire investment was less than $200, so he cleared a profit of $300 on his deal and had half of his original interest left. Adam

G. Polke was the second county collector and the second sheriff; he was drawn on the first petit jury, voted at the first presidential election, and was a member of the county election board in 1835. He entered about 1,500 acres of govern¬ ment land in the county, but in most cases sold the certificates before patents were issued. Will¬ iam Bond came to the county early in 1831 and built a log house a short distance southwest of the future county seat. He was a member of the first petit jury, was an early overseer of the poor, and bought about 1,600 acres of public land.

As stated elsewhere, there was a strife be¬ tween Major Elston, the proprietor of the original plat of Michigan City, and the Andrew syndicate as to the location of the county seat. The pro¬ prietors of the LaPorte property offered to do¬ nate to the county for public purposes, one cen¬ tral block of six lots for a court-house square, and every even numbered lot in the plat which, as roughly mapped out, contained two hundred and fifty-three lots' besides the court-house block. Major Elston made about an equal offer. But the central location, convenient site, and lovely surroundings determined the decision in favor of LaPorte, which was reached about the end of September.

In April, 1832, an election had been held in the county under a call issued by Benjamin Mc¬ Carty as acting sheriff, by virtue of a writ of election from Governor Noble, at which election McCarty was elected sheriff, George Thomas clerk and recorder, and Chapel W. Brown, Elijah

Just where this house stood is not known, but it was near enough to LaPorte for all practical pur¬ poses. From all accounts it was a log house. The commissioners continued to meet in the house of George Thomas. From later accounts we learn that Thomas's house in which the county business was transacted, was a frame house, or at least one which was made largely of slabs from the Andrew sawmill. But the mill was not in operation before July, 1832, and there had been several meetings of the commissioners at the house of George Thomas before then. There seems to be no way of reconciling facts, state¬ ments and documents, but by supposing that Thomas had two houses; the first a log cabin, the second a frame house.

The commissioners' record shows that the first meetings were "held at the house of George Thomas." This language is repeated until the October term, 1832, when the meeting was "held at the house formerly occupied by David Pagin." Then the November term was held at "the house of George Thomas in LaPorte " This looks as though Thomas's first house was not far from the one "formerly occupied by David Pagin," nearer Miller's lake, that the commissioners met at the former Pagin home at the October term because at that time Thomas was about moving, and that before the November term he had moved and was ready to have the commissioners meet at his new home "in the town of LaPorte."

The commissioners to locate the county seat met and performed their duty in the latter part of September, or the first part of October, and George Thomas at once prepared to erect a house in town, to be used as a residence for his family, and as a public building pending the construc¬ tion of a court-house. On a fine Sunday late in October, 1832, the neighbors gathered at a spot about where the Lake Shore station now stands and raised the Thomas cabin, the first house on the original plat of the county town, using slabs from the Andrew mill and logs cut in the imme¬ diate vicinity, as material. Wilson AJalone was there and slept in the cabin that night, building one for himself a little later. Richard Harris also helped, and two weeks later paid $50 for the lot now occupied by the offices of Kramer & Sons, and built a home. Among the others who lent a hand at the Thomas raising was- Colonel Willard A. Place, just arrived from near Cincinnati with his family, and preparing to settle on a farm in the vicinity, having in July of the preceding year visited the county and decided to make the re¬ moval. He had served under General Harrison and at once took a prominent part in public affairs here. He served the county as commissioner, recorder, associate judge and member of the legis¬ lature, and after his removal to LaPorte a few years later he interested himself in railroad devel¬ opment, banking, the gas company, stock dealing, and in the organization of the agricultural society. He died in 1876.

In November, 1832, the county commissioners met in Thomas's new house and ordered the pay¬ ment of three dollars per day to each of the lo¬ cating commissioners for their services. Dur¬ ing that winter the county seat made no further advance, but with the opening of the following spring, settlers began to ar¬ rive in the county in great numbers and the town rapidly filled up. The lots were readily sold at from $25 to $60 each, Walter Wilson sell¬ ing for the syndicate and Charles Ives, as county agent, selling for the county, having been ap¬ pointed for that purpose by the county board in November and directed at the January term, 1833, to ' sell at public or private sale the lots donated for the use of public buildings/' At the March term it was ordered "that the elections of Scipio township, which were formerly held at the house of A. P. Andrew, shall now be held at the town of LaPorte, where the courts of said county are usually held." May 7, 1833, the board directed the county agent to advertise the letting of a con¬ tract to build a court-house, and August 21 a contract was made with Simon Bunce for the building, to be located in the center of the public square at a cost of $3,975. In due season the palace of justice was completed and occupied, and Colonel Place bought and removed to his farm for a dwelling the little frame structure that had been in use for court-house purposes, which was probably the one he had helped Thomas to build.

On Nov. 16, 1833, County Agent Ives was directed to prepare plans for a jail and advertise for bids for the construction of the same, which he faithfully did, and Decem¬ ber 26, Warner Pierce contracted to build the prison for $460. While the county was arranging to house its officials and criminals, the business of LaPorte was assuming the proportions of a boom. Business and professional men, mechanics and laborers came in a steady stream along the old Sac trail and up the newly-opened Yellow river road, and the trade with farmers extended many miles in every direction. In March, 1833, Thompson W. Francis, first carpenter to work regularly at the trade in the county, came to the town and built the first hotel, which was opened by one Lily and afterward kept for a long time by Captain Levi Ely. Ward Blake and his brother also opened a hotel at about the same time, where Callender's drug store is now. Charles W. and Henry N. Cathcart came in May of the same year and built a shop for Dr. Vaughn, about the fifth frame house in the place ; as stated elsewhere they boarded with Mrs. Richard Harris, who did all the work even including washing for a large num¬ ber of boarders, under great inconveniences. Richard Harris speculated in a small way in wild land and invested in several town lots. During that summer John F. and William Alison, Hiram Wheeler, John B. Fravel, Nelson Landon, William Clement and Dr. Ball established themselves in merchandising, William O. Ross opened a law 'office and was a justice of the peace, and Seth Way and Charles Ladd found employment in breaking the new prairie sod for settlers along the old Sac trail. George Thomas was postmas¬ ter, along with his other public engagements.

In 1834 there were fifteen houses in LaPorte. In 1835 the population had largely increased and the first newspaper published in the county, the Michigan City Gazette, in its issue of July 22, 1835, spoke of LaPorte as "this flourishing vil¬ lage." The whole item is as follows :

"LaPorte. - This flourishing village lays about ten miles from this place. The Land Offices, Major Robb, Register; and John M. Lemon, Re¬ ceiver ; and county buildings are located there."

The time was now come to incorporate the place as a town. Accordingly a petition was drawn up and signed by the requisite majority of the voters, asking for the incorporation of the town of LaPorte, and presented to the county commissioners. The commissioners met on No¬ vember 4, 1835, and passed the following action :

"Ordered that, in pursuance of the statute, and the petitions of the citizens of the town of LaPorte for the incorporation of said town this day legally presented, comprising in the opinion of the Board two-thirds of the whole number of legal voters in said town, an election be held at the usual place of holding elections in said town, on Saturday the 14th day of November, inst., for the purpose of electing trustees of said corpora¬ tion.^

An election was held on the date specified, at the house of Robert S. Morrison in the town of La Porte, and Amzi Clark was duly elected trustee for district No. 1, Jonathan M. Hacker for district No. 2, William Clement for district No. 3, Hiram Wheeler for district No. 4, and Jacob Haas for district No. 5. William Dinwiddie was president of the election, and William Allen, clerk.

LaPorte started out on her career as a town with great promise, and she did not disappoint the expectations of those who put confidence in her future. It may be well just here to transcribe a paragraph exactly as it appears in the LaPorte Herald of November 5, 1836, the first paper pub¬ lished in LaPorte. On page second of that issue a writer speaks as follows : -

"Three years ago it was the travel of a day from the house of a white man to his neighbor ; now our county population rises 10,000. Three years ago the borough of LaPorte could back her pretentions to the name of town with only three log cabins; now 170 buildings give her more valid claim. The whole land which but one year ago was owned by government, now on every hand presents the most thriving farms, etc."

Some of the buildings of those early days still remain, though much changed in appearance. Probably it would surprise us if we could know to just what extent this is true. As an instance, it is said that the house, No. 1202 on Jefferson avenue, now occupied by G. A. Coffin, was built by Dr. Dinwiddie abput the year 1837.

In 1838 LaPorte had her daily mails by stage¬ coach due from the east in the afternoon, and from the west at 6 o'clock a. m. There were mails from Michigan via South Bend, Tuesdays, Thurs¬ days and Saturdays ; from Plymouth via Tamarac, Fridays ; and from other points on other days. And one is surprised at the large number of un¬ claimed letters which remained in the postoffice ; it was no uncommon thing for a list of between two and three hundred to be posted. Thomas D. Lemon at that time was postmaster. There was much legal business transacted, there were formations and dissolutions of copartnerships, there were thefts, warnings against rogues, etc., etc., and in every respect human nature was just about the same as it is now. McCarty and How¬ ell were doing a large business in a general store, as was likewise J. R. Richards; though he soon sold out and went west. Amzi Clark was dealing in general merchandise and buying wheat, which was then selling at 87 J4 cents in LaPorte. John C. Reid was teaching a private school of high grade. J. M. Wilson had a tannery. Janies Whittemwas notary public and commission agent, doing a large business and advertising for wheat, as were also Sleight and Moore. Among the lawyers were John B. Niles, Myron H. Orton, Hathaway and Chapman, William P. Andrew, Roberts Merryfield and W. C. Hannah. Doc¬ tors Meeker Rose and J. P. Andrew were among the physicians. As yet there was no bank, save the state bank at Michigan City; but in 1839 a loan company was established, with $200,000 capital. A select academy was opened on Mon¬ roe street by E. B. Hannigan, there was a lyceum, and there was also a school taught by a Miss Sawin. In short, all the departments of human life which usually go to make a thriving com¬ munity were well represented.

The buildings were mostly framed ones ; brick had not yet been burned in the county to any great amount. Even as late as 1845 there were only two or three brick buildings. One of them was the court-house, another a schoolhouse. At a very early day there was an effort to keep the town clean, neat and beautiful; the same effort which in general has persisted throughout its existence. Places which could not be drained were filled up, and the marshal was careful to have woodpiles, old barrels, wagons, etc., re¬ moved.

In the spring of 1848 there were preparations to build many nice dwellings; these were put up during the following summer, a new sawmill of great capacity was built, the question was agi¬ tated of building a town hall, and articles in the papers spoke of the increasing prosperity of La¬ Porte.

By act of the general assembly of Indiana, approved January 17, 1849, ^ie boundaries of the corporation of LaPorte were extended very considerably, additional powers were granted to the trustees, and provision was made for the elec- tion of a president and marshal by the legal voters. The town authorities under their added powers took means to improve the condition and appear¬ ance of the streets, alleys and sidewalks, and to cleanse the town of rubbish, etc., old buildings were moved away that others might occupy the ground, frame business houses gave place to brick ones, and cross walks and new sidewalks were built. And yet, strange to say, it was not until May, 1849, that hogs were prevented by ordinance from running in the street.

The California gold fever now broke out and spread to La Porte. This caused great excite¬ ment and was a constant subject of discussion. Wagons were continually passing through with those who were going overland to that then far distant country. Some eighty or ninety wagons wrere detained in one week by the bridge being washed away at Calumet river. LaPorte contrib¬ uted her quota to the procession. On Monday, March 12, 1849, teams were harnessed, men hur¬ ried about the streets with equipages suitable to the long overland journey, and a company set forth. Their names are given as Peter Guile, Melzor Buck, Ferdinand Barly, E. % Stanton, a Mr. Wilfong, J. Hannum, J. Bartlet, J. Ridgway, William Gilliland, F. C. Pomeroy, George Lee, and D. D. Jones. On Thursday of the same week another LaPorte company took up the line of march for the California gold diggings. This was a stock company organized on principles calculated to secure harmony and promote the best interests of its members. John R. Traver was superintendent, Stephen McDonald secretarytreasurer, B. C. Harris quartermaster, Henry Mil¬ ler deputy quartermaster, and the additional mem¬ bers were James E. Degroff, William Everhart, John Hall. Samuel Miller, William Miller, Hor¬ ace Cram, Charles K. Weed, Anthony Rogers, and John Holland. These were industrious busi¬ ness men whose characters for morality and in¬ tegrity stood high among their fellow citizens, neighbors and friends who were sorry to lose them. On Friday of the same week another com¬ pany left from Stillwell prairie styled the Kings¬ bury Mutual Association Company, who asso¬ ciated together merely for the purpose of mutual protection and assistance. This company was composed mostly of young men who seemed capa¬ ble of surmounting almost any obstacle. The nrmes of this company were F. D. Everts, C. R.

Patterson, G. W. Brandon, M. T. Wickham, S. F. Lane, C. Barney, J. H. Dunham, L. Finley, F. Ro»e, G. Pratt, and S. Walbridge. In June a letter was received and published from Lemuel Robinson one of the emigrants from this county, dated Grand Island, Platte River, May 29, 1849, which reported that four thousand wagons had passed a given point up to the previous Saturday, that many had become discouraged and turned back, that there were much sickness and many deaths among the emigrants, ihat his own train had lost two by death, but that the New Durham temperance mess, composed of Crumpacker, Mil¬ ler, Griffith and himself, were well and in good spirits. There were ministers along who preached on Sundays, held class meetings, etc. Alas, what will men not do for gold! what hardships will they not suffer! and often times how they will rob their characters to increase their possessions ! The "forty-niners" learned by sad experience that the hardest way in all the world to get gold was to dig it.

In the late forties, when the larger centers in this and other counties had become connected with each other by plank roads, a further impetus was given to business. The time had been when the housewives of the settlement would assemble on the shores of the beautiful lakes near by and engage in veritable washing bees at which they were sometimes helped by the men. This made "blue Monday" pass more pleasantly. But as business grew and the population increased and more comforts and even luxuries came in, and civilization became more complicated, the primi¬ tive and helpful ways were forgotten or assumed another form, and it seemed as though the people of the community acted more on the principle of each one for himself.

Long before the fifties there was much agita¬ tion on the subject of railroads. With character¬ istic energy Michigan City was striving hard to become the great railroad center of the county. Her people desired that when the railroads did come they should come there. As wheat was be¬ ing transported in other places, they estimated that it would cost only about one-third of a cent per bushel more to ship it to Buffalo from Michi¬ gan City by rail, than it would cost to ship it by water ; a very small item in comparison with the delay and risk of water transportation. But La¬ Porte took the argument up and contended that if a railroad would be such an advantage from Michigan City, it would be a still greater advan¬ tage from LaPorte, because it was more central and grain could be brought to the county seat at an expense of from two and a half to three cents less per bushel than it could be taken to Michigan City. The far-seeing men of LaPorte contended that if the produce was brought to this point and shipped away by rail, it could not fail to contribute more to the growth and busi¬ ness of LaPorte than any other improvement that could be accomplished; because it would make an entire revolution in the commercial busi¬ ness of the county. The arguments did not seem to consider that railroads would create other shipping places in the county besides the two cen¬ ters. We see here an instance of the old-time rivalry between the two sister cities, which per¬ sists and is ever ready to crop to the surface.

LaPorte was incorporated as a city in 1852, with a population of five thousand persons. A city charter was granted, and in August of that year an election was held under the charter, and William J. Walker was chosen first mayor.

Occasionally this locality experiences a very severe winter like the one just passed. The win¬ ter of 1855-6 was an instance. The weather con¬ tinued cold and the sleighing lasted until the latter part of March. The ground was covered with a considerable depth of snow. March in its frigid¬ ity maintained a record along with December, and winter tarried in the lap of spring.

LaPorte has always been a patron of martial music. When the railroad shops were in the city there were more musicians here than there are now, and during much of the time there have been several brass bands belonging to the town, some of them of excellent ability and training. This was especially the case during the Civil War. Even before that the people were willing to do a good thing for their bands. Recently Ferdi¬ nand Leavitt, grandson of Ferdinand Roberts who died in LaPorte in i860, has unearthed the following from his grandfather's papers. All the persons were well known citizens and all, are now dead, the last one to pass away being Mr. O. P. Ludlow, who died recently in his eighty-ninth year : -

In 1853 a free banking law was passed by the state legislature, and in 1855 a charter was given to the Bank of the State of Indiana. Governor Wright vetoed both of these bills but they were again passed. The movement was a child of iniquity. The Governor fought it bitterly; his opposition resulted in an investigation by a com¬ mittee whp reported that many dishonorable things had been resorted to by speculators who engineered the bill, and they recommended that the charter be revoked. Nothing came of the recommendation. When the stock books were opened a few men subscribed all the stock. But they had a white elephant on their hands. They had neither the experience nor the actual capital to do a successful banking business, and finally they offered to purchase the branches of the old bank. This was consented to provided Hon. Hugh McColloch, president of the branch at Fort Wayne, should be made president of the bank of the State. This was done and the bank entered upon a career of honor. In the latter part of 1856 or first part of 1857 a branch of this bank was founded at LaPorte with D. G. Rose as president, Samuel Burson cashier, and Samuel Organ teller.

The streets around the court-house were not at first called by their present names. Michigan avenue was called East Main street, Indiana ave¬ nue was called West Main street, what is now Main street was called South Main, and State street was North Main. Thus there were four main streets around the court-house square. These names were in use until July 14, 1873, when East and West Main streets were changed respectively to Michigan avenue and Indiana avenue. But it was not until June 25, 1877, that North and South Main were changed respectively to State street and Main street. Regarding the court¬ house as the center, east of it is East Main, and west of it is West Main. Such were the decrees by ordinances of the city council.

Notwithstanding the stringency of the times, in 1856 and '57 there was an era of building. It has well been said that nature is rhythmical, and everything comes in waves. From time to time a wave of improvement and building has passed over LaPorte. Such was the case at the time mentioned above. Lots were offered in the An¬ drews additions, and the public square was beau¬ tified with trees. The old Fountain building on East Main street was sold and removed, and a new bride building erected in its place by H. Zahart. The old building on what was known as the "Stebbins Corner" was removed, two other buildings east of it tom down, and a block of brick buildings three stories high was built in their places. The comer building was erected by Mr. John Bartlett, and the two adjoining by A. J. Westervelt. H. Lusk put up a brick store room of three stories on the south side of South Main street, in which was a public hall.

John P. Teeple purchased the ground east of Millikan's grocery and erected a business house. Mr. Van Nest put up a two-story frame house thirty feet front and one hundred feet deep on South Main street, near the LaPorte Hotel, for his hardware business. Mr. H. Truesdell put up a new store room adjoining his livery stable.

W. J. Irwin put up* a fine brick dwelling on the south side of South Main street. Luther Mann put up a fine wooden dwelling on Harrison street. W. C. Nelson put up a good brick dwell¬ ing on Harrison street, and there were also a num¬ ber of smaller houses going up. Let it be remem¬ bered that these were "fine buildings" for those days, and that all this and much more building were going on very nearly at the same time.

At just about this time the state legislature passed an act making changes in the law govern¬ ing cities. Under the old law the council did not have power to compel the construction of side- walks and the planking of alleys and streets at the expense of those whose property would be benefited thereby, unless called to do so by a petition of two-thirds of the property owners along the line of such improvements. In conse¬ quence of this the streets, alleys and sidewalks of LaPorte in many places were almost impassa¬ ble and presented to strangers the appearance of a once prosperous town going to decay ; though the liability for accidents was not lessened. Mayor F. McCullom referred to all this in his inaugural on Monday, May 1 1, 1857, and informed the coun¬ cil tfct under the new law they had the power by a two-thirds vote to inaugurate a new state of affairs, and soon much improvement was made.

The two papers of LaPorte at that time were the Union and the Whig . In the Union of July 22, 1857, the editor says that on that date he com¬ pletes the nineteenth volume of the paper, and that during those nineteen years there have been many changes. Then - i. e. in 1838 - LaPorte did not contain a thousand inhabitants; there were no railroads, no factories, no mills, no wealth, and little enterprise. But the town had a good con¬ stitution and was bound to grow. The produciveness of the soil was the main element of strength, water transportation affording low rates was another item. Land that was then worth $1.25 per acre was now worth $50 to $100. City property had advanced in like proportion. Busi¬ ness lots which were then worth $500, were now worth $10,000 to $12,000. The population ex¬ ceeded six thousand and there were two railroads, each doing a heavy business.

In 1857 LaPorte acquired a fire department. In April of that year the people were gazing with much pride on their new hook and ladder wagon as it dashed by, and the city was expecting the arrival of a new engine which had been ordered of the manufacturers in Providence, Rhode Island, at a cost, hose and all, of $2,400, exclusive of freight. On May 16, a meeting of the citi¬ zens was held at the court-house to take steps to organize an engine and bucket company, and a hook and ladder company. Committees were chosen to draft constitutions and by-laws. L. D. Webber, L. Crane, and K. Druliner were chosen on behalf of the engine and bucket company ; and W. E. Randall, Richard Holmes, and J. Thomp¬ son, Jr., on behalf of the hook and ladder com¬ pany. Meantime, on May 20, the new engine arrived. On the 23rd the adjourned fire meeting was held. James A. Bliss was president, and Jacob Wile secretary, of the meeting. An engine and bucket company was organized witn William Scott as foreman, Henry Bottum assistant fore¬ man, Thomas Amrod engineer, James A. Bliss secretary, L. Crane treasurer, and George Mer¬ chant steward. Whether the former committee did not serve, or whether the constitution and by¬ laws which they drafted were not satisfactory, does not appear; but another committee was chosen to draw up a constitution and by-laws, consisting of J. Wile, L. Crane, and G. W. Rich¬ ards. The last of May the newly organized fire company, under the directions of Mr. Jeffries the manufacturer, tested the engine, * which proved to be eminently satisfactory and a thing of beauty. The company and the small boys did not wish for the destruction of property, of course not; but they did desire to try their engine at a genuine fire.

Meantime those interested in the hook and ladder company were not idle. The first regular meeting of the company was held at the common council room Wednesday evening, May 27, and the following officers were elected: Foreman, J. Thompson, Jr. ; assistant foreman, B. F. Coleman, Jr. ; secretary, Simon Wile ; treasurer, J. H. Hamberger; steward, A. T. Forbes. The companies were both well organized, and served the city well for many years. Other engine and bucket companies were added from time to time as de¬ manded, and these companies figured very promi¬ nently in the history of the city ; both at fires and, in a way, in social life. The city council from time to time passed such ordinances a$ to the number constituting fire companies, as to fire lim¬ its, and as to assistance and conduct at fires, as the needs of the city demanded ; and the depart¬ ment, even in the days of the old tub machines, was efficient and wisely handled.

But the days of the fire engine were over. In 1870 the city took measures to construct water works. The city was bonded, and operations be¬ gan. The water-works building was erected, mains and pipes were laid, and the present satis¬ factory Holly system inaugurated, which pumps the water directly into the distributing mains with force enough to carry it to its minutest ramifica¬ tion and with extra force in case of fire. Accord¬ ingly, on November 27, 1871, an ordinance was passed disbanding the fire companies ; thenceforth only the hose companies would be needed, and the people bade a final farewell to the faithful old engines which had served them so long and so well, and to those occasions when, after fighting a fire, they would take a large fire company, num¬ bering some sixty or seventy men, and generally several such companies, into some hall and feed them with crackers and cheese.

'The Holly system has proved very satisfac¬ tory, there is sufficient pressure for any fire, and to throw streams of water over the tallest build¬ ings, with power to spare. The fire department is a voluntary one, and probably is as efficient as a voluntary fire department can well be. There is a system of fire alarm signals, with fire boxes, and whenever a number is rung in, the response is quick, and the hose carriages are at the scene of the fire in short notice, and the service at the fire is well' directed and brave. Already the sub¬ ject is being agitated of having a paid depart¬ ment; and if the city continues growing at the present rate, and many more factories locate here, the time will soon come when a paid department will be a necessity.

As early as March, 1857, the subject of light¬ ing the city with gas was agitated. Gas lighting was not reached for nearly twenty years, and elec¬ tric lighting for thirty; but on July 8, 1867, an ordinance was passed establishing a system of lighting the city by street lamps supplied with oil, regulation iron lamp posts were erected at a sufficient number of street comers, lamp districts were defined, and the mayor was empowered to employ a suitable person to "light, extinguish and can" the street lamps. This system was in use, and proved as satisfactory as could be ex¬ pected, until January 26, 1874, when an ordinance was passed providing for the laying of mains and lighting the city by gas. Ten years later, or on April 2, 1884, an ordinance was passed pro¬ viding for the lighting of the city by electricity, which ordinance was supplemented on April 26, 1897. From all this it will be seen that LaPorte has been well abreast of other cities in adopting up-to-date methods. Her system of sewerage was begun in 1872 ; her telephone system in 1892 ; she has given much care and attention to her police department and to her streets and walks, and her ordinance books show that she has been as well governed as cities of her size usually are.

In her relations with the general government LaPorte has been well served. She has an effi¬ cient postal service, with letter carriers. Her postmasters have been the following: From 1833 to 1835, George Thomas, of whom mention is made elsewhere : from 1835 to 1837, A. W. Har¬ rison; from 1837 to 1861, Dr. Thomas W. Lemon, a very long service, by far the longest in the list ; from 1861 to 1865, George B. Roberts, who served until Lincoln's assassination ; in 1865, six months only, Edmund S. Organ; from 1865 to 1869, J°hn M unday, an ex-soldier of the war, and who is now living in Chicago ; from 1869 to 1877, Dwight Fraser; from 1877 to 1881, Charles G. Powell, four years and eight months; from December 19, 1881, to the same date in 1885, Samuel Bagley who is now bookkeeper in Hall and Weaver's bank; from 1885 *° 1889, H. E. Wadsworth; from 1889 to 1894, John Shafer; from 1894 to 1898, S. E. Grover ; from January 10, 1898, until the present, William A. Banks. These officers have given . good satisfaction to the public; they have been gentlemanly and obliging and have had faithful and efficient depu¬ ties and corps of assistants.

It is pleasant to relate that there have been times when the fraternal feeling between the two sister cities has been very marked. As an in¬ stance, in the winter of 1862 scores of ladies and gentlemen would drive to Michigan City from LaPorte, and take possession of the Jewel House. Mr. Williams, the host, would entertain them, about an equal number of Michigan City people would come and keep them company, and a gen¬ eral good time would be enjoyed until the wee small hours, when the LaPorte visitors with merry bells would drive home over the crisp snow. Not long after, the Michigan City people would re¬ turn the visit and go to the Teegarden House, where LaPorte citizens would join them, and there would be fiddling and dancing and a pleas¬ ant time. These visits were pronounced very beneficial. At the present time the different fra¬ ternal societies of the two cities are visiting each other and witnessing each other's work, which they can conveniently do now that there is an electric line between the two towns. These in¬ terchanges are very beneficial, they do much to promote a fraternal feeling between the two towns, and to keep down that rivalry which some¬ times has been carried to an unfortunate extreme.

The sources of data for writing a history of LaPorte are comparatively meagre because so many published and other documents have been destroyed. Many files of newspapers have been committed to the flames, their owners not know¬ ing that they were more precious than gold. Hence there are gaps of many years each, which can never be filled. Facts, events, names, and characters, interesting and useful for us to know, are lost forever. There are, however, in other publications throughout the state, scattered refer¬ ences to LaPorte. For instance, in June, 1862, Rev. Elijah Goodwin, editor of the Christian Record, published at Indianapolis, was in LaPorte to attend a meeting of the Christian co-operation ; and after tarrying several days he published in his paper the following : -

"LaPorte is one of the most beautiful cities in Indiana, situated on the Chicago and Toledo Railroad, some twelve miles from Lake Michi¬ gan, and ten or twelve miles from the state line between the states of Indiana and Michigan. It contains about 6000 inhabitants and the whole face of the city bears the marks of good taste and industry."

LaPorte has had her set-backs, there have been eddies and backward movements and periods of apparent stagnation. One such period ter¬ minated in 1863. In J86i a new council was in¬ ducted into office, which wrought wonders in giving tone, position and credit to the city. From the organization of the city government in 1852 up to that time, the city had been struggling un¬ der loads of embarrassment. Taxes were high, and few improvements were made on the streets, cross walks, sidewalks or elsewhere. So burden¬ some had the taxes become, and so loosely had the city finances been managed, that many of the most wealthy and influential citizens were becom¬ ing seriously in favor of reverting to the town corporation. This was seriously favored by some publicly, and would have been favored by others but for the pride they possessed of refusing to go back to the condition of a countrytown. When the new council came into power in 1861, the city was in debt about $7,000, which meant much then, and city orders sold at from seventy-five to eighty cents on the dollar. But in 1863 the city was out of debt for the first time in its history, many improvements had been made, the streets had been thoroughly graded, cross walks and sirie- walks repaired, the sewers leading to the "great ditch," and the great ditch itself which ran mean¬ dering through the city, had all been renovated and placed in perfect order, taxes had been re¬ duced, and by the published report of the. deputy city treasurer, Mr. Simon Wile, every cent of the $7,000 debt had been paid, all the improvements had been paid for, and there was cash in the city treasury to the amount of $3,567.77 ; city orders sold for cash, and all this, too, in the time of civil war, the expenses of which were heavy on the people. The personnel of the council which wrought this change was as follows : first ward, Samuel Wilmot, David Grant ; second ward, John R. Richards, George W. Mecum ; third ward, A. Teegarden, V. W. Axtell; fourth ward, Simon Wile, Reuben Mundy; fifth ward, O. Wilson, H. C. Wells. O. Wilson resigned in 1862 and Jacob Wile succeeded him, and J. R. Richards died and W. A. Place succeeded him in October, 1862. These were the men to whom is due the credit of the improvement mentioned.

Again in 1870, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad shops, which were located here, were removed to Elkhart. This was a se¬ vere blow. While the shops were here LaPorte was a lively place indeed, there were presenta¬ tions among the railroad men, social gatherings, fraternities, bands of music, buying and selling, "eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage." But after the car shops were re¬ moved the city became very quiet, it had received a blow from which it is only now fairly recover¬ ing. The assessor tells the writer that the popu¬ lation is over ten thousand, and that the city is just about getting back to where it was when the car shops were here.

LaPorte never has had a boom, but has over¬ come obstacles and outlived discouragements in a steady, conservative way, until now it is one of the cleanest, most beautiful of cities, being second to none of its size and class. All its streets* except in the business portion are lined with large and beautiful trees, so that it is called the Maple City. It has avenues which in their fine resi¬ dences and beauty compare favorably with those of any other city. LaPorte has never suffered like other cities from financial depressions, strikes and labor troubles. Even in the dullest times her factories have been in operation regularly a part of the time, thus enabling her workmen to live. There has been less enforced idleness here than elsewhere, and as a consequence the laboring men have been generally of a better class and more permanent. A very large proportion of them own their homes and take pride in improving and beautifying them. Many of the streets of the city are curbed uniformly and paved, giving room for wide, green boulevards, on some of which are shrubs and flowers; as rapidly as possible other streets are being put in the same condition, uni¬ form cement sidewalks are being built on every street, and much of this work is already accom¬ plished ; the bona-fide population is now over ten thousand persons, and increasing, new factories are being located here ; and with the large factor¬ ies which have been in operation for many years steadily increasing both their business and their plants; with her magnificent court-house, excel¬ lent city hall, and splendid school buildings ; with her water works, lighting plants, and street rail¬ roads, one of which is already in operation and others soon to be built ; with her fine streets, pleas¬ ant with summer green, birds and squirrels, or merry with winter sleigh bells ; with her beautiful adjacent lakes, her fine climate, her spacious outlying country, and her excellent railroad facilities - LaPorte is the fit capital of one of the best counties in the state, a satisfactory home for her citizens, and an inviting spot for individuals who seek homes, and for coroporations who seek an adavantageous location for their manufacturing plants.

The history of Center township is so largely that of LaPorte that we have not mentioned it separately. The township began to settle rapidly after the organization of the county. No part of the county was more attractive. The north part of it was well timbered and on the south and west were broad stretches of rich prairie land dotted with burr-oak groves. There were many sparkling lakes, the most beautiful and numerous group of which lay in the immediate vicinity of LaPorte. Outside of the city there are no villages and the township is given to agricultural pur¬ suits. In the immediate vicinity of the city there are many small fruit- farms and market gardens which have supplied the city, and from which much produce also has been shipped away.