Marshall County, Indiana - Chapter 7, 1890

INDUSTRIAL REVIEW OF MARSHALL COUNTY - MANUFACTURING INTERESTS - MILLS OF VARIOUS KINDS - THEIR PRODUCT - RAILROADS AND THEIR VALUATION - TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE COMPANIES - PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS - TAXABLES OF THE COUNTY.

'ARSHALL county's commercial interests are only such as are sustained and maintained by the citizens of Other agricultural counties in the state, of its size - possessed of like advantages and handicapped with similar weights and disadvantages. Plymouth, the county seat, is only a small inland city, of less than 3,000 inhabitants, with a score of other trading points around it, several of which offer equallj^ as good inducements to purchasers as does the city of Plymouth. Union township, which is numbered one on the records of the county, has no commercial importance whatever in the general sense of the term, and no manufacturing interests - even the saw-mills of the days of yore nearly or quite all having been removed or allowed to rot or rust into a state of worthlessness. Their mission is ended - the forests are gone and their work is done. Union townsnip has two railroads running through it - the Terra Haute & Logansport or "Vandalia" railroad, and the New York, St. Louis & Chicago railroad. The following is a statement of the number of miles of main and side tracks, valuation of rolling stock, personal property, etc.: New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad:

In Center township, in which is located the county seat, there are, of course, more industrial interests than in any of the other townships in the county. The oldest institution in the place is the " Plymouth Water-mill property," located in the northeastern part of the city of Plymouth. It was first built by Austin Fuller ("Judge Fuller"), about the year 1843. The original frame still stands, but as time has gone along the inner gearing has been remodeled from time to time to keep pace with the new inventions and improvements, and it is at this writing, 1890, one of the best flouring and merchant mills in northern Indiana, being thoroughly equipped with the "roller process," which is all the rage at this date. It is now owned by Mr. William Zehner, for many years a respected citizen of this county and a man of experience in his business. The mill furnishes employment to from four to six hands regularly, or, the year round.

The " Eureka Flouring mill," situated in the ceptral eastern portion of the city - one block east of the Parker house - was constructed about fifteen years ago, or about the year 1875, by Mr. Joseph Westervelt. It was afterward owned by John M. Shoemaker and others. It is now owned by Peter Disher and wife. The mill is very conveniently located and under the watchful care of Mr. Disher is doing an excellent custom business and is rapidly growing in favor with the citizens of the county. This mill also employs from four to six hands regularly.

The " Brick Planing mill," built by Mr. George L. Brinck and others, and now owned by Arthur L. Thompson, is located immediately south of Thayer's warehouse, on the south side of the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago railroad. It has been in operation fifteen or sixteen years, or since 1874 or 1875. Since the leasing of the Behrens plant to Mr. C. L. Morris, for the "Acme Novelty Works," the I3rick planing mill is the only one in the city at this time. Mr. Thompson deals in lumber, doors, blinds, sash and building material generally, and furnishes employment for five or six hands constantly.

The " Old Oglesbee saw-mill," about two squares east of the depot of the formerly I. P. & C. R. R., now Lake Erie & Western railroad depot, is the oldest saw mill in the city, having been running here over a quarter of a century. It is still owned - by Mr. N. H. Oglesbee, but is now rented by Mr. C. L Morris, who employs in it a half dozen hands, regularly. Mr. Morris owns and runs a saw-mill about one block west of the depot of the Terre Haute & Logansport railroad. This is one of the largest and best saw-mills yet remaining in the county. Including the hands employed in the mill and those engaged in drawing logs from his half section of timber land immediately north of the city, he gives employment to about twenty hands or more, constantly.

Mr. Morris is also the owner and proprietor of the "Acme Novelty works," recently put in the planing mill formerlj' owned and run by John F. Behrens. The industry is a young one but is evidently going to prove a success, as everything does that Mr. Morris engages in. This is the kind of industry we should have had many more of, many years ago - industries that would have used up our material in finer work and given employment to more operatives. In these novelty works employment is given to about twenty-five workmen. If Plymouth had a half dozen C. L. Morrises, she would have a permanent boom.

One of the oldest industries in the county is the tannery in the north part of the city, on the east side of Michigan street. It has been in its present locality at least twenty-live years. It is not run on a very extensive scale and furnishes employment for only three or four hands, generally. Although a very necessary institution, it is located in too public a place, and amounts to almost a nuisance to adjacent property owners and is certainly a drawback to that portion of the city. It is owned by Mr. John Shultheiss, a most estimable citizen.

The electric light works are located in the northwest part of the city, between the Lake Erie & Western and the Vandalia railroads. It was built out of a donation made by the citizens of Plymouth with the understanding that a great portion of the Fort Wayne Jenney Electric Light company's works were to be removed here. This the company failed and refused to do, and a suit brought by the citizens to recover the property, is now pending in the supreme court of the state, the case having been decided in the lower court in favor of the citizens. The building is being used for the manufacture of electric batteries and employment is given to a dozen hands most of the time.

In Inwood, in the eastern part of Center township, on the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago railroad, there are two good flouring mills that are doing a good and paying business. The larger one is owned by Daniel C. Shively. The name of the owner of the other the writer of this has been unable to find out.

and is doing a fair business, although the timber in that vicinity is getting very scarce, but logs are now made into lumber that in the earl}^ days of the county would have been regarded as entirely worthless.

Center township has three railroads running through it and outside of the city of Plymouth has the following number of miles of main and side track and also personal property and rolling stock, appraised as follows: Western Union Telegraph Co.:

Green township, No. 3, has no store or trading place, even, and has but one postoffice at Wolf Creek mill, after which the postoffice is named - "Wolf Creek." The Wolf Creek mill is situated in the northwestern part of Green township, and was built in the year 1S45, by Robert C. Bliven, who, during a rise in the creek, on the 28th day of February, 1850, in attempting to repair or save the dam from breaking, lost his footing and was drowned. The mill passed into the hands of the Zehner family, and is now owned by Mr. Michael B. Zehner. It is one of the few mills in the county that retains the old process of grinding, and many prefer the flour made at this mill to that made by the new roller apparatus, now so universally in use. This mill furnishes employment for two or three hands only.

Mr. Thomas L. Voreis runs quite an extensive brick and tile yard in the east central part of Green township, and is succeeding well in his business which he has been running for some three years past. In the brick making season he gives employment to eight or ten hands, and one or two the year round.

The New York, St. Louis & Chicago railroad runs through Green township, and the following is the number of miles of main and side, and the valuation of personal property, rolling stock, etc. Western Union Telegraph Co.:

Bourbon township has but one town and postoffice in it, that being also named Bourbon. It is a lively and enterprising place and has many good stores, groceries, etc., but has no commercial interests to speak of. Some years ago the Northern Indiana Lumbering company was located in Bourbon and did a heavy business, but the forests are now nearly all cleared away, and this company is one of the institutions or organizations of the past. There is still one saw-mill in the place, owned by William J. Acker & Son. They also run a planing mill in connection with their saw-mill, but the saw-mill is more a matter of convenience to the citizens of that region than a paying business investment, doubtless.

The " Bourbon Flouring mills" are owned by a flour syndicate, and the mill is almost entirely shut down, and it is only used as a place of exchange where patrons bring their wheat and get Warsaw flour in exchange. The mill is in the name of H. G. Thayer, of Plymouth, at last date of information, who has business partners in the Warsaw mills. The Bourbon mill is a very fine one and should give employment to at least a half dozen hands, but only one or two are employed, according to best advices, at this time. The mill was built several years ago by the Davis Brothers, and was an honor to the town, but it is swallowed up in monopoly as many other laudable enterprises have been and will continue to be in this county and elsewhere.

P. M. Noggle owns and runs a flouring mill in the northeast part of the town, and does a good custom business, as the writer is informed. This mill gives employment to three or four hands the year round.

An axe handle factory is run by Peter Knisely, and owing to the superior quality of the second-growth hickory in the vicinity, and the excellent work done by him, both in design and execution, his helves are in great demand throughout the country. His establishment furnishes employment for five or six hands steadily, and a good market to the farmers in the vicinity for their timber. Many more such establishments should be run in the county.

A planing mill is owned and operated by the Bourbon Elevator company. G. D. Ettinger is the business manager, and the establishment gives employment to three or four hands. The Bourbon Elevator company owns and operates the grain elevator at this place, and owing to the excellent farming country around the town, does a good and paying business, Bourbon having only one railroad, and consequently there is no competition in buying.

The Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago railroad runs through Bourbon township and town. The following is the number of miles of main and side track, rolling stock, personal property, etc., in the township, outside of the town of Bourbon, which is iven separately, below, also telegraph and telephone property: entral Union Telephone Co.: Personal property $85 00

Tippecanoe township, No. 5, has no commercial interests of any note. Old Tippecanoe town, as stated elsewhere in this work, is virtually vacated and deserted, and nearly all the business and enterprise have been given to the village of Ilion, one mile south of the old town and located on the " Nickel Plate" railroad. Once there was a woolen factory in the old town, but that was burnt down years ago, by an incendiary, and the old flouring mill that used to do as much and as good work as any mill in the county, is now closed and there is no " sound of the grinding." It is doubtful whether it will ever again be repaired and set running. The village of Ilion has no factories or shops to give employment to hands. Mr. Hartsell runs a saw-mill in the place and has been doing a good business for some years in the timber and tie business, but timber is gettingscarce and soon he will have to shut down for want of material to work upon. He gives employment to probably four or five hands in his mill. Mr. Patrick S. Mulligan owns and is using a grain elevator in Ilion, and owing to the fact that he is an honest, obliging and 29 - B.

German township. No. 6, located in the northeast corner of Marshall county, has no special commercial interests. There is but one town or trading place in the township, and that is at Bremen. It is one of the best towns in the county as a trading point, the business men being honest, prompt, painstaking and liberal in their dealings with their customers and patrons, and the farming district around the town is second to none in the county.

The compiler of this meager chapter is indebted lo that courteous gentleman and reliable business man, Mr. John W. Wright, of Bremen, for the following items of interest concerning the industrial interests of that place. Mr. Wright writes as follows:

" Dear Sir: - My time has been so occupied that I have been unable to get any statistics of other manufacturing firms. In fact, they have existed and expired, and new concerns are in existence, and yet not properly a lineal descent from the older ones which are now no more.

" We still have the two old grist-mills, and one good saw-mill. These three can trace their ancestry away back. Christian Schilt founded one saw-mill and one grist-mill, the grist-mill

" We have also a custom planing mill, run by Volmer & Knopfle. They have been in business four or five years, and are very popular, accommodating, and are doing well.

Individually I am nobody's successor, yet have succeeded. My business had its birth, February, 1869, in what was then known as Huff & Walter's saw-mill, of Bremen. It was repeatedly enlarged by my very munificent friends, Jacob Walter, now deceased, and William Huff, Sr., who still lives, and is as generous and helpful as twenty years ago. This generosity grew with his years and wealth, and he, together with his brother Philip, contributed with their means, which included a friendly word in every direction which meant a good deal in those times for a poor lone Yankee in the midst of a whole township of earnest democrats who clanned together stronger than ancient Scotland could think of. The two brothers put their hearts together and built me what was then considered as fine a factory for the business as any in the state, with the kind words, "pay when you can." From an employment of two men it has increased at times to twenty-five and thirty, and the possibilities are twice that. At no time in its existence has it suffered for lack of profitable work. It still continues prosperous, and now with a younger leader, the business could be increased almost without limit.

The saw-mill run by Mr. Carbiner and Huff, employs on an average about eight or ten hands, and the grist-mills the usual number for mills of their capacity.

Mr. Wright is the manufacturer of bent wood for all kinds of vehicles and agricultural implements. By his energy, honesty and promptness, he has amassed quite a comfortable fortune, that he is very liberal with in all matters of charity and public enterprise.

The Baltimore & Ohio & Chicago railroad passes through German township, east and west, and outside of Bremen the tabulated statement is as follows: Baltimore & Ohio & Chicago Railroad:

North township, No. 7, has no general commercial interests. There are four towns or villages in the township, the larger of which is La Paz, situated on the crossing of the B. & O. & C. railroad, and the Michigan road. A grain elevator is owned and run by W. S. Johnson, and a stave factory is operated almost the year round by Johnson, Myers & Co., which gives employment for eight or ten hands, and furnishes a good market for timber in the neighborhood of the factory. The other trading places are East La Paz, situated three-fourths of a mile east of the original La Paz, Linksville and Harris station, which last place is situated on the Vandalia railroad about five miles north of Plymouth. It has a grain elevator and postofifice, but no industrial interests or pursuits. Linkville is only a very small place and has nothing but a saw-mill, which is run only occasionally.

Polk township, No. 8, has two villages in it, Tyner City and Teegarden. Tyner City is located on the Lake Erie & Western railroad, about seven miles northwest of Plymouth. Although this place has a high sounding name, it is quite a quiet and small place, and is of no commercial or industrial importance whatever. Years ago, a large stave factory was in full blast in the village, but the timber has been consumed and the factory taken elsewhere. Recently, Mr. John W. Baugher, who has for many years run one of the very best saw-mills in the county, in West township, on the La Porte road, four miles west of Plymouth, has removed his mill to the southwest part of Polk township, or about two miles southwest of Tyner City. At this writing, October, 1890, Mr. Baugher has not gotten his mill into operation, but soon will have, as he is one of the most energetic men and best machinists in the county, and allows nothing to lag on his hands nor run "out of line." He gives employment to ten or twelve hands, all the year round, and he and his business are valuable acquisitions to Polk township and a corresponding loss to West.

It, like Tyner City, has no commercial importance, but has a good saw-mill and tiling factory, operated by Mr. Hejiry Ford, a very energetic and competent man. He employs on an average, probably ten or twelve hands. There is also a warehouse large enough to meet the wants of the locality, and for many years, a charcoal pit has been run near the village, that furnished employment for from twenty-five to forty men at least, during the fall and winter seasons.

West township. No. 9, has but one small village in it - Donelson, situated on the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago railroad, six miles west of Plymouth. It is a small place and has no general, commercial or industrial interests whatever. It is decidedly an agricultural township. There is a saw-mill near the above named station owned by Mr. John G. Lehrman, a very competent engineer and practical saw-mill man, but timber is too scarce in that region to give steady employmicnt to any considerable number of hands.

Walnut, the tenth and last township as numbered on the records of the county, has two towns, trading places and postoffices in it, being Argos and Fredericksburg, commonly called "Walnut Station."

Argos is situated on the Michigan road eight miles south from Plymouth. The Lake Erie & Western railroad runs through the eastern part of the town, and the Nickel Plate railroad forms a junction with the Erie road in the south part of the place and runs through the southwestern part m a westerly direction. Argos is probably the most lively town in the county, and has had a very substantial "boom" since the completion of the "Nickel Plate railroad," and the boom appears to have come to stay, but it is, like all the other towns in the county, only a trading place for the very excellent farming district that surrounds it, and her commercial interests are only of a local nature. Mr. Leonard Bock has for years run the flouring mill on the west side of the Michigan road, near the center of the town, and being a

Mr. David Boyce has a saw-mill located about three and a half miles southeast of Argos, and employs four or five hands when running his mill.

Mr. Charles Reddinger also has a saw-mill about four or five miles southeast of Argos, and employs the usual number of hands in a country saw-mill.

Thus it is seen that the railroads and other corporate associations pay considerably over one-fifth of the taxes in our county, which is quite a relief to the resident tax-payers.