Marshall County, Indiana - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 1 of those read), 1881

Base And Meridian Lines

west by Stark and St. Joseph Counties; is twenty-one miles square, and contains 441 square miles. It includes Townships 32, 33, 34, and half of 35 north, and Ranges 1, 2, 3 and half of 4 east of the Second Principal Meridian. Township and Tanges are ascertained by what are known as the Meridian and Base Lines. These are lines established by the Government for the purpose of acctrately dividing and describing the lands. The Second Principal Meridian Line in Indiana passes from south to north through the counties of Perry, Crawford, Orange, Lawrence, Monroe, Morgan, Hendricks, Boone, Clinton, Carroll, Cass, between Fulton and Pulaski, and Marshall and Stark, and through St. Joseph, so that the west line of Marshall County is the Meridian Line. The Base Line passes through the southern portion of the State from west to east, through the counties of Knox, Gibson, Pike, Du Bois, Orange, Washington and Clarke. A base line is first established on a true parallel of latitude. From this line, townships, which are generally six miles square, are measured north and south. At the distance of twenty-four miles, or every fourth township, north of the Principal Meridian base, and at every thirty miles, or five townships, south, standard or correction parallels are established, which in truta become bases for surveys immediately north or south of them. The first correction line is just north of Indianapolis, and the second about six miles north of Logansport. The reason these correction lines are established is that, "since the meridians are not parallel to each other, be cause they would all meet at the poles, it follows that the townships, though said to be square, are not exactly so, but are longer on their southern boundaries than on their northern ones. If this were not corrected, the successive townships in any range would be larger and larger south of the base line, and smaller and smaller north of it. Even with these correction lines, absolutely correct measurements cannot be made, and heuce, in almost every deed of conveyance, for the purpose of curing any defects in this respect, the term "more or less" is inserted. North of the base line, we have division or parallel lines six miles apart, running east and west, called township lines. We have the principal meridian established by Government, which runs at right angles with base and township lines. East and west from the principal meridian, parallel lines are drawn north and south at the distance of six miles, which are called ranges, and num ber east and west from the meridian. These lines measure the land into six-mile squares, which are called "Congressional townships." These in turn are subdivided into thirty-six squares or sections, containing 640 acres, The numbering of sections begins always at the northeast corner of the township, and proceeds from right to left until six sections are counted and the northwest corner of the township is reached, then dropping down one tier and counting back from left to right, so continuing the operation till the whole thirty-six sections are numbered, as shown in the following diagram:

Ohio and Dearborn, and parts of Switzerland, Franklin, Union, Wayne and Randolph Counties, are surveyed in ranges west from a First Principal Meridian line, rmmning due north from the mouth of the Little Miami River, and forming the east line of the State, and townships from a base line fifteen miles north of the base line above described.

The ordinance for ascertaining the mode of disposing of lands in the Western Territory, of which Indiana was then a part, was passed by Congress May 20,1785. It provided for geographers and surveyors, and described minutely the modus operandi to be observed, as follows: ; square, by lines rmnning dune north and south, and others crossing these at right angles, as near as may be; and each surveyor shall be allowed and paid at the rate of $2 for every mile in length he shall run, including the wages of chain-carriers, markers, and every other expense attending the same.

"Tho first line running north and south, as aforesaid, shall begin on the Ohio River, at a point that shall be found to be due north from the western termination of a line which has been run on the southern boundary of the State of Pennsylvania: and the first line running east and west shall begin at the same point, and shall extend throughout the whole Territory. The geographer shall designate the townships, or fractional parts of townships, by numbers, progressively, from south to north, always beginning each range with No. 1; and the ranges shall be distinguished by their progressive' meihtioes to the westward, the first range, extending from the Ohio to the Lake Erie, being marked No. 1. The geographer shall personally attend to the running of the first east and west line, and shall take the latitude of the extremes of the first north and south line, and of the mouths of the principal rivers,

"The lines shall be measured with a chain; shall be plainly viarked by chaps on the trees, and exactly described on a plat, whereon shall be noted by the surveyor, at their proper distances, all mines, salt springs, salt licks and mill seats that shall come to his knowledge; and all water-courses, mountains, and other remarkable prominent things over or near which such lines shall pass, and also the quality of the lands.

"The plats of the townships, respectively, shall be marked by subdivisions into lots of one mile square, or 640 acres, in the same directions as the external lines, and numbered from 1 to 36, always beginning the succeeding range of the lots with the number next to that which the preceding one coneluded. And where, from the causes before mentioned, only a fractional part of a township shall be surveyed, the lots pro-tracted thereon shall bear the same numbers as if the township had been entire. And the surveyors, in running the external lines of the townships, shall, at the interval of every mile, mark corners for the lots which are adjacent, always designating the same in a different manner from those of the township.

"The geographer and surveyor shall pay the utmost attention to the variation of the magnetic needle, and shall run and note all lines by the true meridian, certifying with every plat what was the variation at the time of rmnning the lines thereon noted.

" As soon as seven ranges of townships, and fractional parts of townships, in the direction from south to north, shall have been surveyed, the geographer shall transmit plats thereof to the Board of Treasury, who shall record the same, with the report, in well-bound books, to be kept for that purpose. And the geographer shall make similar returns from time to time of every seven ranges, as they may be surveyed."

In regard to the sale of these lands, the ordinance " provided that none of the lands within the said Territory be sold under the price of $1 the aere, to be paid in specie or loan certificates, reduced to specie value by the seale of depreciation, or certificates of liquidated debts of the United States, including intorest, besides the expense of the survey, and other charges therein, which are hereby rated at $36 the township, in specie or certificates as aforesaid, and so on in the same proportion for a fractional part of a township, or of a lot, to be paid at the time of sales. on failure | of which payment the said lands shall again be offered for sale.

"There shall be reserved for the United States, out of every _ township, the four lots being numbered 8, 11, 26, 24, and out of every fractional part of a township, so many lots of the same numbers as shall be found thereon for future sale. There shall be reserved the lot No. 16 of every township for the maintenance of publie schools within the said township: also, one-third part of all gold, silver, lead and copper mines, to be sold or otherwise disposed of, as Congress shall hereafter direct."

The foregoing is given as being remotely connected with the history of Marshall County, and for the purpose of furnishing the reader a ready reference in regard to a matter very imperfectly understood.

Marshall County was named in honor of Chief Justice Marshall. Tt was part of the territory belonging to the Menomonee tribe of Pottawatamie Indians, and included in the Government purchase under the treaty of Tippecanoe River, made in 1832. It is a timbered region, interspersed with prairies, formerly regarded as marsh lands and valueless - now regarded as among the most valuable. The heavy timber lies in the shape of a reversed letter 3, the open part to the west, the upright body of the letter represented by a tract fifteen by twenty-one miles on the east side of the county; the cross line by a tract six to eight miles wide across the south end, with some smaller tracts in the center of the west side representing the cross in the middle of the letter. The remainder is made up of prairie and "barrens" (not barren land, but light timber) and prairies.

The heavy timber consists of all the hard and soft timbers, except the resinous - oak, ash, hickory, maple, beech, elm, walnut, butternut, linn, poplar, ete., and in all the varieties of these woods. The barrens are variously timbered with white, burr, yellow and black oak, and hickory, and the heavy barrens have the heavy timbers scattered, without undergrowth, while the light barrens are like large orchards. The face of the land is gently undulating, with no abrupt elevations or declivities. There is every variety of soil, the greater portion being the deep, rich, black loam of the heavy timbered lands. The burr oak barrens have rich sandy loam. The white oak barrens, clay and sand. The black and yellow oak, light sand soil with clay bottom. The marshes, the richest and finest of alluvium, producing heavy growths of the best hay.

Yellow River rises in the northeastern portion of the county, and flows through it southwesterly. From eighteen to twenty-five miles distant from the county seat, on the east and south of the county and partly through it, flows the Tippecanoe River; on the north and west, the Kankakee; on the northeast, the St. Joseph. About forty-two miles northwest and north lies Lake Michigan.

Pine Creek, in the northwestern portion of the county, and Wolf Creek, in the center, are the only streams of note. Small streams flow through all the wet prairies, and good water is abundant in every part.

Pretty Lake, three miles west of the county seat, is a beautiful sheet of water about two miles in cirenmference. Lake of the Woods, in the north part of the county, is famons for fish, Twin Lakes, three in number, in the center, are pretty places, and Maxen-kuck-ee, in the south, is what its Indian name calls it - * beautiful water." It is about nine miles in circumference, and one of the most beautiful lakes in the West.

The Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway crosses the county in a northwesterly direction, and the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railway from the south to Michigan City and Chicago. These roads cross each other at the county seat. The Baltimore & Ohio Railway crosses the county eight miles north of the county seat,

Plymouth, the county seat, is near the geographical center of the county, on Yellow River, at the crossing of the two railroads named, and contains about 2,600 inhabitants. It has been devastated with fires - the last in 1872 - and, until within a few years, has been destitute of good brick. Since the discovery of suitable elay, and the production of brick at prices admissible, several good blocks have been erected, and the future growth of the town will be substantial and permanent.

Yellow River runs through the center of the town and around two sides of it, but does not interfere with the business portion. The railroad stations are about one hundred rods from the main business center, and the town has fourteen passenger trains daily. It is within three hours of Chicago (eighty-four miles), four of Indianapolis (117 miles direct), two and a half of Fort Wayne of Michigan City (forty miles}, and is in close connection with every road leading into or out of Chicago, at from thirty minutes to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and gradually on, up to four hours, with any road. The freight trains will average over one an hour; and no town anywhere has the arrival and departure of trains more convenient and pleasant for leaving or arriving, and for economy of time and facility of business transactions. The tewn is abeut one mile square, and does an active and profitable business. Manufacturing to a large extent has not been either actively encouraged or established; but the central location as to other towns, and its facilities for rapid and cheap transportation, its nearness to ready markets, and the cheapness of property and living, will bring from the large centers many manufacturers whose profits are now eaten up by the great expense and delay of operating in the large cities; and no more favorable location can be found in the West than this. The following tribute to is from the pen of Charles H. Reeve, an old resident of the county, whose opinions and observations are entitled to respect and consideration: "Those who are residents and read the newspapers should rejoice that they live in the safe and beautiful Yellow River Valley. I suppose few of them ever stop to think that they do live in a valley; that westward the land rises from thirty to fifty or more feet to the mile, until it reaches the summit a few miles out, and then slopes away on the great Kankakee plains, at only about six or eight inches to the mile, to the Kankakee River, and then rises again to the high table-land of the prairies; while on the north and northeast it rises in like manner to the summit, and then slopes away to the St. Jo River, the same on the east, southeast and south to the Tippecanoe. Nor do they regard our inland position and timbered protection, where the wild storms sweeping up the valleys of the larger streams above named, and from Lake Michigan and the great Western prairies, are carried up by the rising land toward us, and so high over our heads instead of tearing us in pieces, while the timber, obstructing the currents, makes clouds and rain, and saves us from droughts. As day after day_ the reports of the terrible storms all over the coun- is full of peace and safety - no failure of crops, no epidemics, no floods or great droughts, with good lands. ready and convenient markets, no public local debts, schools and churches convenient on every hand, the farmers of Yellow River Valley should hug themselves with delight in their safety and prosperity. Why go to Kansas or Minnesota, or elsewhere, for better land? It is not there, and there is no timber, and there are those terrific storms and floods, and droughts, with less profitable markets and burthensome taxation. We have passed the excitement and trials of pioneer life, are settling into the permanency and stability of slow and progressive prosperity in place of the wild and speculative rush for wealth that constitute the movements of new localities. But, more than all, we have safety. The elements do not war here. While we have no coal, or iron, or stone, or precious metals in mines, or great water-power, we have nearly five hundred square miles of as good land as is in the world, taken as a body; we have health, abundance of valuable timber (which we should save, and not remove save for necessary wants), good and certain crops, good water, easily obtained; our lovely and now famous Lake Maxenkuckee, and our unsurpassed Yellow River Valley.

and torrents and wear and tear of property; but beautiful undulations and quiet streams, and little gems of lakes. Nor overgrown towns or cities, full of criminals and burthened with taxes, buat good and convenient markets, and enough means of transportation and travel.

where, in fact, they have what they cannot find elsewhere with so few discomforts and evils, and which should be, if it is not, held at its true value. Forty-two years of personal knowledge, and thirty-three of unbroken residence, should enable me to know, and in that belief I pay this brief and truthful tribute to one of the fairest spots in all the land."

Civil townships are organized by the Board of County Commissioners for the convenience of the inhabitants in transacting the business of their several localities.

The eivil townships are Union, Center, Green, Bourbon, Tippeeanoe, German, North, Polk, West and Walnut, and are bounded as follows: Union - West by Stark County, south by Fulton County, east by Green Township, north by West Township.

Center - West by West Township, south by Green and Walnut Townships, east by Bourbon and German Townships, north by German and North Townships.

German - West by North Township, south by Center atid Bourbon Townships, east by Kosciusko and Elkhart Counties, north by St. Joseph County. ;

History Plymouth

PLYMOUTH was organized in 1836, by Polk, Blair and Sering. The following additions have since been made: Merrill's; Cabbell's; Niles and Sering's; Wheeler's four additions and subdivisions; J. L. Westervelt's; Van Pelt's; Niles'; Congle's Independence; Place and Van Pelt's; McFarlin's; Brownlee's four additions and subdivisions; Cleaveland's; Moore and Westervelt's; Blain's; Cabbell's; Rose's; Houghton's; Brink's; Ewing's; Osborne's two additions; H. Work's; E. Work's; Frank's; G. W. Ewing's; Becker's; J. H. Wilson's; Cressner's; Huggins and Wheeler's continued addition.

Bourbon

BOURBON, twelve miles east of Plymouth, was laid ont as a town by Samuel Thomas and J. 8. Neidig, on the 23d of April, 1853. Since then, the following additions have been made: Martin's first and second; J. F. Parks', and Parks' continued; Linn's, and Linn's continued; Boley's first and second; Jackson's; Ball's; Davis'; Bailey's; Thayer's first, second, third, and continned; J. W. Thomas'; Borton's, and Staple's.

The town of Bremen was platted and laid out by George Beiler October 21,1851. The original plat contains forty-eight lots. The followirg additions have been made to the original plat: Deitrick's; Heims'; Ringle's; Bauers' first and second; Foltz's continued; Mast's; L. R. Martin's; D. Ringle's; Koontz's; Vanner's; and J. P. Huff's. It lies thirteen miles northeast of Plymouth,

This place was originally Imown as Sidney, and afterward Fremont. It was laid out by John Plake and M. L. Smith January 8, 1851, and was called Sidney. Some time afterward, the name was changed to Fremont. At that time, the place was in Green Township. When Walnut Township was organized, June 9, 1859, the name of the town was changed to Argos, by which name it has since been known. The following additions have been made: Railsback's; Lowry's; Williams'; Bucher and Worthington's; Rhodes'; Huff's; Sarah Rhodes', It is located eight miles south of Plymouth.

Inwood

seven miles east of Plymouth, was platted and laid out by Ezra G. Pearson December 20, 1854, and contained eighteen Jots, and was designated on the map as Pearsonville, in honor of the proprietor. As a matter of convenience, the railroad company changed the name to Inwood, by which name it is now generally known. The following additions have been mado: Pearson's first and second; A. W. Hendricks'; Croup & Core's first and second; Frederickson's; Lee and Dickinson's,

This place, situated on the northwest shore of Lake Maxenkuckee, was platted and laid ont by Bayless L. Dickson June 8, 1844, and called Union Town. The plat was re-surveyed in 1851, and the name changed to Marmont. The names of the streets are Scott, Cass, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lake, Plymouth and Main.

This place, situated on a high bluff on the east side of Maxenkuckee Lake, is not regularly laid out. The street that divides the place, running east and west, is called Lake street, and that running north and south is called Washington.

Tippecanoe Town

The original proprietors of this place were Joseph Hall, Daniel C. Martin and Joseph Serls. It was platted and surveyed December 12, 1850. It is located on the Tippecanoe River, in Tippecanoe Township, in Section 18, Town 32, Range 4 east, and contains thirty lots.

The original proprietors of this place were Eli Taylor and Calvin J. Wright. It was laid out October 30, 1878, and called Teegarden, in remembrance, probably, of Dr. Teegarden, of La Porte. It contained thirty-three lots, and an addition of nineteen lots was afterward made by Lewis Lemert. It is in Polk Township, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

This place, located on Section 5, Michigan Road Lands, six miles north of Plymouth, was laid out by Achilles Hunt August 5, 1873, and contained 121 lots. Three years later, Mr. Hunt was killed by the kick of a horse he had been leading to water. An addition has since been made by Edson Spencer.

Walnut

twelve miles south of Plymouth, was laid out by Frederick Stair April 16, 1866, and contained eighty-three Jots. It was originally known as Fredericksburg, and derived its name from the proprietor. The railroad company changed the name to Walnut, by which it is usually known. Calhoun and Tucker made an addition to the original plat some time afterward.

Panama

This place was laid out by I. P. Shively September 6, 1854, and contains thirty-eight lots. It is situated on the south side of the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 4, Town 33, Range 4 east, on the Plymouth & Warsaw State Road, about five miles northeast from Bourbon.

The proprietors of this village were Simon Stough, M. J. Link and E. J. Mosholder. It was laid out June 9, 1866, and contains twelve lots. It is situated about five miles northeast of the county seat.

This place is situated on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, in West Township, near the western boundary. It was located October 25, 1871, by D. W. Taft, Cornelius Tuttle, W. J. Richardson. Two additions were afterward made.

North Salem Clayton

NORTH SALEM. This place is situated in the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of Section 20, Town 33, Range 3 east, southwest of Inwood about two miles. CLAYTON was the name of a place located on Section 31, Town 35, Range 4 east, about one mile from Bremen. It was laid out with two wide avenues crossing each other in the shape of the letter X, with lots so arranged that both sides had an avenue fronting. It failed to grow, and is now known only as a matter of record.

Elizabeth Town

ELIZABETH TOWN. This was the feminine name of a town plat laid out in an early day by G. A. Cone in the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 6, 'Town 34, Range 1 east, in Polk Township, on the La Porte road, twelve miles from Plymouth. Its form was that of a Maltese cross, containing twelve blocks of twelve lots each, or 144 lots in all. It never came to anything, and the project of building a town there was soon abandoned.

BLISSVILLE was the name of a little neighborhood village about seven miles from Plymouth, on the La Porte road. On the completion of the L, P. & C. R. R.,, it was absorbed by Walkerton and Tyner, a few miles distant. SLIGO was the name given to a post office located at what is now known as Zehbner's Mills, at the foot of the Twin Lakes, in West Township.

FAIRMOUNT was situated on the Michigan Road, five miles north of Plymouth. Tt has long since ceased to be a town. These are all the towns and villages in the county of which any information can be obtained. Those mentioned above that have "come to stay' will be more fully considered hereafter.