Marshall County, Indiana - The whole text, 1908 (part 4 of 12)

"To the Honorable the Board of Commissioners of the County of Marshall: The undersigned, three of the commissioners appointed by an act of the general assembly of the state of Indiana entitled 'An act to organize the county of Marshall, approved February 4, 1836,' respectfully report to your honors that by an agreement entered into by a majority of the commissioners appointed by said act, the meeting of said commissioners was agreed to be held at the house of Grove Pomeroy in said county on Monday, the 18th day of July, A. D. 1836, to discharge the duties assigned to them by said act.

' ' Whereupon the undersigned, Peter Johnson, Griffin Treadway and Samuel C. Sample, three of said commissioners (Hiram Wheeler and John Eohrer, two of the commissioners, having failed to attend), having met at the house of Grove Pomeroy on the said 18th day of July, 1836, for the purpose of permanently fijdng the seat of justice for the said county of Marshall, then personally examined all the sites proposed to them in said county for said seat of justice, and received propositions for donations for the same from the different proprietors of lands naming and proposing sites, and we after such examination, and seeing and inspecting said propositions, have concluded and determined to fix, and by these presents do permanently locate, fix, and establish the seat of justice of said county of Marshall at Plymouth. The site for the public buildings for said county is designated on a plat of said town as made by James Blair, John Sering and William Polk, proprietors of said town, the names being recorded in the county of St. Joseph, Indiana, the said site for said public buildings being by said proprietors donated among other things to said county.

' ' And also the said proprietors have donated to said county one acre and four-fifths of an acre of land for a public burying ground, lying in the southwest corner of the northwest quarter of section 13 of Michigan road lands, the same lying west and south of Plum street in said town; also two acres more or less of land for a site for a county seminary, bounded as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of Adams and Plum streets in said town; thence southwardly with Plum street 264 feet to the northwest corner of Washington and Plum streets; thence west on a line on the south with Washington street, and on a line on the north with Adams street, to the west line of said section thirteen (13), the said seminary lot to maintain a width of 264 feet from east to west, and for which lots said proprietors have executed their deed to the county agent of said county, and for which lands for a burial ground and seminary they have executed their deed to your honors for the uses aforesaid.

"And the said proprietors have agreed to build a temporary courthouse, not less than thirty by twenty feet, one story high, on lot No. 32 in said town; the county of Marshall to have the use of the same for the term of four years from the completion thereof, the same to be ready for the use of the county by the spring term of the circuit court of 1837; and for the completion of which house and for the use thereof as aforesaid the proprietors have executed their bonds payable to the board of commissioners, in the penal sum of $1,000; and the said proprietors have also agreed to defray the expenses of the location of said site, being $45, and which sum thjy have paid to the undersigned. All of which deeds and bonds and notes the undersigned herewith produce to your honors. All of which is respectfully submitted the 20th of July, 1836.

The county having been organized, the board of commissioners, consisting of Robert Blair, Abraham Johnson and Charles Ousterhaute, ordered the clerk of the board, Jeremiah Muncy, to file among the papers of the court the deeds for the lands donated, and have the same recorded among the deed records of the county. Prior to the organization of Marshall county the territory embraced in it was designated "unorganized territory," and St. Joseph county, having been organized in 1830, the territory of Marshall county was considered under the jurisdiction of St. Joseph county. From Judge Howard's "History of St. Joseph County" (1908, page 274) the following in regard to "Plymouth township, St. Joseph county," is taken as being of rare historical interest:

"On September i, 1834, the board of coiumissioners of St. Joseph county ordered that all the territory of the county lying south of the north line of congressional township 35 north, should form a new township to be called Plymouth. The township so formed included the south parts of the present townships of Madison, Union and Liberty, and all of Lin-

"In the order setting off the township the board provided for an election for the choice of two justices of the peace for said township, to be held on the 27th of September, 1834. On October 13 of the same year the election so held was contested before the board, the contest sustained and a new election ordered. Both elections were held at Grove Pomeroy's, in said town of Plymouth, in St. Joseph county. Mr. Pomeroy was himself appointed inspector of election until the ensuing April election. At the May term, 1835, of the county board, Samuel D. Taber was allowed the sum of $1.50 for making a return of the election of Plymouth township.

"The town of Plymouth, now the county seat of Marshall county, was situated in and gave its name to the township of Plymouth. We have already seen that the plat of this town was filed and recorded in the. office of the recorder of St. Joseph county in October, 1834. The records of the commissioners show that on December 7, 1835, there 'was reported therein the description and plat of the survey of the state road from Goshen, in Elkhart county, to Plymouth, in St. Joseph county.

"By an act of the legislature approved February 7, 1835, the north boundary of Marshall county was defined to be the north line of congressional township 34, leaving all of township 35 in St. Joseph county. This congressional township, as we have seen, was included in the civil township of Plymouth. The act of February 7, 1835, does not seem to have been intended to complete the organization of Marshall county, but by an act passed at the next session of the legislature, February 4, 1836, the county was finally organized and the north boundary of the county was extended to the middle line of congressional township 35, thus leaving in St. Joseph county only so much of Plymouth township as was included in the north half of congressional township '35. The consequence was that Plymouth as a township of St. Joseph county ceased to exist, the territory still remaining being attached to the adjacent townships of the county, as their boundaries were defined by successive orders of the board of county commissioners."

As has been stated elsewhere in this history, the house of Grove Pomeroy, where the election referred to in the above extract was held, was on the northwest corner of Michigan and La Porte streets, now known as the Corbin corner. Samuel D. Taber, also spoken of in the extract, resided on the east side of the Michigan road south of Plymouth about three miles. He called his place "Pash-po" for an Indian chief of that name.

For road purposes the whole of Marshall county was attached to St. Joseph county and was called Road District No. 19, and Grove Pomeroy seems to have been the supervisor. At the first meeting of the board of commissioners of Marshall county after its organization in 1836 he made a report of his doings as such supervisor, which is as follows :

"Now comes Grove Pomeroy, supervisor of the nineteenth road district for the county of St. Joseph, Plymouth township, for the year 1836, and makes return or report. Account of work done by hands liable to work on public highways in nineteenth road district in county of St. Joseph, Indiana, during year ending the first Monday in April, 1836: Lot Abrams,

What disposition was made of this $21 the records do not show. At that time - April i, 1836 - Marshall county had not yet been organized, that important event in our history not occurring until July 20, 1836, nearly four months later.

A few white settlers began to locate here in 1830, and under an unorganized condition the inhabitants were under the protecting care of St. Joseph county, which was organized in 1830. At that time St. Joseph county was bounded on the north by Michigan territory ; on the west by La Porte and the unorganized territory south of La Porte, on the south by the unorganized lands, and on the east by the unorganized lands and Elkhart county. Its extent was about thirty miles from north to south, and twenty-seven miles from east to west, including an area of about 740 square miles, or 473,600 acres. Its population in 1830 was 287 inhabitants; in June, 1832, it was estimated at 1,500, and so great had been the immigration it is said that in 1833 the population was estimated at two thousand.

German township was organized May i, 1838, from the northeast part of what was then Center, and the east part of North township. It took its name from the large number of German people who had settled in that part of the county, and naturally the township town was called Bremen.

Bourbon township was organized January 6, 1840, and was bounded as follows : Beginning in the southeast corner of the county and running to the German township line, thence west five miles, thence south to the county line, thence east to the place of beginning. This territory embraced what is now Bourbon and Tippecanoe townships. The petitioners for the organization of Bourbon township were:

This township is said to have been named after Bourbon county, Kentucky, from which the Parkses and many of the signers of the petition emigrated. The town of Bourbon received its name in the same way for the same reason.

Union township was organized March i, 1840. The petitioners were Vincent Brownlee. William Thompson, John A. Shirley, Lewis Thompson, John Dickson. William Hornaday, John M. Morris, James Houghton. Elihu Morris, D. C. Hults, Thomas McDonald, John Morris, John H. Voreis, Piatt B. Dickson, Elias Dickson, John McDonald, Eleazer Thompson. The prayer of the petitioners asked that the township might be called "Union," and it was so ordered. The name was probably selected to perpetuate the name of "Union" county in southern Indiana, from which some of the residents of that county came.

Tippecanoe township was organized March 9, 1842, embracing seven miles square oflf of the south end of Bourbon township. The petitioners for the organization of the township were A. H. Buckman, Thomas Irwin,

William Wagoner, Israel Baker, William Sprout, William H. Rockhill, Samuel, Joseph, William and George Taylor, Samuel Rockhill, J. H. Cleaver, T. H. IMcKey, James Turner, Jacob Raber, G. H. and J. O. Parks, William Elder, Robe'rt Meleny, H. Blakely, Solomon Linn, John Greer, Moses Greer, Israel Reed and A. J. Cruzan. This township took its name from the Tippecanoe river which runs through it.

Polk township was organized March 4, 1845. It embraced all that part of North township that lies west of sections 23 and 24 in township 35 north, range i east, the same being the western portion of North township. This township was named in honor of James K. Polk, who was on the date of its organization inaugurated President of the United States.

George M. Dallas was the Vice-President elected on the Democratic ticket with James K. Polk, and, believing it to be in accordance with the political fitness of things, the board of commissioners was petitioned to change the name of North to Dallas, and it was so done. This change occurred shortly after the organization of Polk township, but June 3, 1845, forty petitioners asked that the name be changed, and the township be known as North and it was decreed accordingly.

North township was one of the original townships. When it was first organized, it comprised, in addition to its present limits, the territory now embraced in Polk and German townships. German township was taken off May 11, 1838, and Polk, March 4, 1845. When Polk was cut off from the west part of North, it was a time when political excitement was the order of the day. Polk township having been named in honor of the newly-elected President, some of the Democratic voters conceived the idea that it would be just the thing to change the name of North and call it Dallas, in honor of the Vice-President. March i, 1845, the following petition was presented to the board of commissioners : "To the Board of Commissioners : We, the undersigned petitioners of North township, ask for the name of said township to be altered from North to Dallas. Signed, S. N. Champlin, James Palmer, Adam Snider, James Sherland, Warren Burch, John Kilgore, Charles A. Stilson, John Morris, N. Parmer, Hiram Baker, John Trowbridge, John P. Grover, John Irwin, George Nitcher, Ale.x M. Vinnedge, George Vinnedge, John Snider, Seymour Stilson, John S. Baker, Abraham Baker, Joseph Trowbridge, Josiah White, A. Burch, Daniel Nitcher, Orrin Palmer, John Wildey, George W. Ferguson, Calvin Burch, J. E. Emerson, W. S. Braum, P. P. Robinson, Sol. Stevens, and H. R. Pershing." The board ordered the change to be made as indicated in the petition.

"We, the undersigned citizens of now Dallas township, respectfully request your honorable body to change the name of Dallas township to that of North township. Signed, Robert Schroeder, Jesse Schroeder, Robert Johnson, Sr., Seymour Stilson, G. W. Ferguson, C. A. Stilson, Warren Burch, Sol. Snyder, James Parmer, D. Cummins, George Murphy, D. Vinnedge, M. Hard, Daniel Nitcher, James Sherland, Sol. Snyder, Wash. Morris, George Vinnedge, A. M. Vinnedge, D. Conger, John Schroeder, Simon Snyder, M. Robert, B. Gerrard, J. C. Jones, A. Snyder, D. Murphy, Sr., R. Johnson, Jr., J. Snyder, W. S. Brown, H. M. Greer, James Murphy,

C. Sherland, J. Johnson, Thomas Packard, J. P. Grover, G. Nitcher, J. Wilder, J. Kilgore, D. Murphy, C. Burch, J. Lampheer, Pleasant Ferguson." The prayer of the petitioners was granted, and the distinguished honor accorded" to the Vice-President was obhterated by one fell swoop of the magic pen of the board of commissioners.

Menominee Township. - At the March term of the board of county commissioners, 1839, being March 5, 1839, the commissioners made the following order :

"Whereupon it is Ordered, That all that territory lying west of the range line dividing range i and 2 east of the second principal meridian and north of Yellow river, including so much of Union township as is north of Yellow river and lying in said county not extending north of Center township, to be known as Menominee township.

"Ordered by said board, That James Nash be and he is hereby appointed inspector of elections in said township (of Onondaga) until his successor is elected and qualified.

"Ordered by the board, That an election be held in said township on the first Monday in April next for the purpose of electing one justice of the peace in said township, and that the sheriff of said county give notice of the same according to law."

As appears by the record' the township had first been named "Onondaga" as appears above enclosed in parentheses, and that word in the first paragraph had been erased and the word "Menominee" written in its place. In the last paragraph of the record the clerk of the board had evidently forgotten to erase the name "Onondaga." (See Commissioner's Record A, page 224.)

"Ordered by the board of commissioners of Marshall county, That the township in said county formerly known as Menominee township shall be known hereafter and designated as Lake township."

The naming the new township Menominee was undoubtedly in honor of the old Indian chief Menominee, who with his band of 859 Pottawattomie Indians had been driven away only about seven months before the township was organized. Several of the settlers about the Twin lakes, who had profited by the removal of Menominee and his band of over 800 Pottawattomies, undoubtedly did not wish to perpetuate the name of the good old Indian chief even by attaching his name to the township which embraced much of the reservation of the land of which he was robbed, and induced the board of coimnissioners to change the name from "Menominee" to "Lake."

The name "Onondaga," spoken of above, was the name of what was generally known as "The Old Forge," described elsewhere, situated at the end of the lower Twin lake, now called "Sligo."

tory embraced in the above named townships and all that part of Center township lying west of the range line dividing ranges i and 2 east, to be constituted into a civil township to be known as West township, and no change has since been made.

March 9, 1853, Franklin township was organized by dividing to the south by the range line dividing ranges 3 and 4,, and embracing all that part of German township lying east of said range line. January 7, 1855, the name of Franklin township was changed and it was thereafter ordered to be designated on the county records as German township.

This action was taken about the time of the inauguration of Franklin Pierce, and Franklin, the name of the township, was in honor of Franklin Pierce, the newly elected President.

In 1853 a township was organized out of the west portion of Center and given the name of Pierce, in honor of President Pierce, just then elected President, but for some cause which does not appear the order was canceled, and nothing was done to perfect the organization.

Walnut township was organized June 9, 1859, out of a portion of Tippecanoe and Green townships. About one hundred and fifty inhabitants of the territory signed the petition asking for the organization of the township. The towns of Sidney and Fremont lay very near each other, and the postoiifice of these two places being named Argos, it was ordered that Sidney and Fremont be discontinued and thereafter known as Argos.

These comprise all the townships now organized, and they are classified in the following order: Union, Center, Green, Tippecanoe, Bourbon, German, North, Polk, West and Walnut.

March 9, 1842, the board of commissioners ordered that all that part of Starke county lying south and east of the Kankakee river be attached as follows: All that part lying west of Union township be attached to and to constitute a part of Union township; all that part lying west of Center be attached to Center, and all that part lying west of North township be attached to North township. Previous to this the "territory of Stark" had been partially organized into townships by the commissioners of Marshall county. September 7, 1849, Amzi L. Wheeler, on behalf of himself and others, filed petitions for the organization of a new township in Starke county, embracing all the territory west of the Kankakee river, and to be known as Vanburen township. The prayer of the petitioners was granted. Washington and California townships were organized by the commissioners of Marshall county before the act organizing Starke county was passed by the legislature.

The foregoing comprises all the proceedings had in relation to the organization of the county, and the changes that have been made up to the present time.

Civil. Townships Boundaries. The civil townships as now organized are bounded as follows : Union. - West by Starke county, south by Fulton county, east by Green

German. - West by North township, south by Center and Bourbon townships, east by Kosciusko and Elkhart counties, north by St. Joseph county.

Several years ago the writer obtained from an Indian, Nigo, since deceased, the last of his race in this part of the country then living, the names of some of the lakes and rivers as they were originally known and called by the Indians, and, although his knowledge of Indian orthography was quite limited, yet it is barely possible the reader can guess the pronunciation from the spelling.

Wolf Creek rises in Tippecanoe township, passes through a portion of Walnut and Green, and empties into Yellow river near the northeast corner of Union township. In the early times it was skirted on either side for some distance with broken lowlands, marshes, cat swamps, etc., and was a safe and sure retreat for wild animals of all kinds. Black wolves were numerous from one end of the creek to the other, and from this fact it took its name. The Indians called it Katam-wah-see-te-wah, the Indian name for black wolf. In early times Clark Bliven built a mill dam across the creek a few hundred yards above where it enters into Yellow river. A sawmill was erected there on which was sawed lumber for the second courthouse, built in 1850-1. A grist-mill was also erected there about that time and was used for milling purposes up to about 1904, when, after much "lawing" in court, the dam was ordered removed, the owner, Michael Zehner, receiving five or six thousand dollars for the damage sustained. After a year's labor the dam was removed and the big ditch that was dug along its bottom was completed November i, 1907, and the old mills and the old mill dam that stood for more than fifty years are things of the past. Mr. Bliven, about 185 1, the original builder of the dam and the sawmill, in attempting to repair a break in the dam caused by high water, fell into the current and was drowned.

Yellour River was called by the Indians, Wi-thou-gan, and very appropriately signifies "yellow water." Another Indian name for it was Wausau-auk-a-to-meek, probably in the Miami Indian tongue, as their language was somewhat different, or it might not have had reference to the color of the water. The early settlers called it Yellow river from the peculiar chrome color of the water. It has been so known ever since, and will doubtless continue to bear that name for all time to come, although in the drainage of the swamps and marshes through which it passes the water has become almost clear and has lost its yellow color which gave it its name. Y'ellow river rises in the swamps and marshes of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, runs through German, Center, West and Union townships, and finally finds its way into the Kankakee river, where it is lost forever amid the rippling waters of that classic stream ! The north branch of Yellow river near Bremen was called Po-co-nack, and means "beechy," from the prevalence of beech timber in that region. It is only in wet seasons that it is entitled to the name of river.

In the early period of the settlement of the county a good many people were not satisfied with the country, and moved on farther west, but after staying a few years the memorj' of Yellow river and the "Yellow river valley," determined them to return and take up their permanent abode here. This gave rise to the adage that if persons got their feet wet in Yellow river they could never stay away from it any great length of time. This inspired one of the poets of the "Yellow river valley"' to put this thought into doggerel verse as follows :

Piatt's Run is a small stream rising in the west part of Green and the east part of Union townships. It wends its winding way through low and swampy land until it empties into Y'ellow river a short distance below the mouth of Wolf creek. During the rainy seasons it furnishes a sufficient supply of water to run a sawmill a portion of the time. A good many years ago a dam was built across the stream and a sawmill erected on the farm then owned by Dr. Caillat. The milling business did not prove to be a paying investment and was abandoned long ago. The creek got its name from Piatt B. Dickson, through whose farm it ran.

Pine Creek and Yellow Branch are both small streams of no special note, rising in Polk township and emptying into the Kankakee. Yellow Branch was known among the Indians as "Pan Yan."

Tippecanoe Riz'cr rises in the northeast part of the state, runs through Kosciusko county and passes diagonally through Tippecanoe township, Marshall county, from northeast to southwest, where it enters Fulton county, and so on in the same direction until it empties into the Wabash river. It runs through a splendid section of the country and is one of the handsomest rivers of its size in the northwest. It abounds in a plentiful supply of fresh water fish of various kinds. It was called by the Indians Qui-tip-pe-ca-nuck.

Deep Creek is a small body of water running from north to south through Tippecanoe township until it finds its way into Tippecanoe river. It derives its water from the marshes and lowlands through which it passes, and is noted for getting "on a high" every time it rains, and the facility with which it washes away the small bridges over its banks.

Max-in-knck-ce is the largest of nine bodies of water called lakes in Marshall county. It is in the southwest corner of the county in Union township. Its dimensions are about three miles long and two and a half miles wide. The eastern banks are high and in places quite abrupt. The northern, western and southern banks gradually rise from the water's edge, and the cultivated farms, extending in places down to the water, make the scenery the finest in the western country. The lake is fed entirely by the natural rainfall and the springs which gurgle up from the bottom in every direction. Of late years it has become one of the most popular summer resorts in the northwest, a fuller description of which will be found elsewhere in this history, as well as a paper on the orthography and meaning of the word Maxin-kuck-ee.

Lake of the Woods, or, as it is sometimes called, Big Lake, is in German and North townships in the northeast part of the county. Its dimensions are about two miles in length and one mile wide. It takes its name from the fact that it is completely surrounded with a thick growth of trees. It is a beautiful sheet of water, and is one of the best lakes for fish in the county, but, being a considerable distance from the main traveled road, has not yet come into public notice as a place of general resort for sportsmen outside of the immediate neighborhood. The Indian name for the Lake of the Woods was Co-pen-itck-con-bcs. This was the name of a vegetable that grew spontaneously in that region in an early day. It was mostly a product of mud and water, and was found in the outlet, and in and about the shores. It was similar in appearance to the beet, and when properly prepared was very nutritious and quite palatable. The Indians cooked them by digging deep trenches in the ground, walling up the sides with small stones, leaving a small space in the middle into which they placed the co-pen-uck-con-bes, and covering them over with bituminous earth and other burning material,

Pretty Lake, four miles southwest from Plymouth in West township, took its name from the fact that it is the prettiest lake of its size in all the region round about. It is three-quarters of a mile long and about half as wide. The banks are skirted with beautiful natural shrubbery and timber of larger growth. Of late years it has become a fashionable summer resort for Plymouth people and others, and about forty summer cottages have been built the past dozen years. It is surrounded with well cultivated farms, and, from the eminence on the eastern shore, Lake Como in all its glory never appeared more beautiful !

Tivin Lakes are also in West township, five miles west and a little farther south than Pretty lake. These are three small lakes, each connected by a small neck of water between two hills. The largest is not to exceed threequarters of a mile in length and a quarter to half a mile in width. An- ' other is smaller and almost a perfect circle ; while the third is still smaller, and is more what a "Hoosier" would call a marshy pond than a lake. Black bass, sun-fish, goggle eyes, perch and blue gills are plenty. There are still a few ducks to be found' in the bayous and out of the way places during duck season, but since the white man came, they, like the Indians over on the north side of the Middle Twin lake, have had to move on and give place to "the survival of the fittest." Before the country was settled, ducks congregated there by the thousand, so much so that the Indians called it "Duck lake," in their language, She-ba-ta-ba-uk.

Flat Lake and Galbraith Lake are in West township. They are both quite diminutive, and are growing smaller by degrees and beautifully less as the years go by. They were in the early times a favorite asylum for ducks and wild geese, and in that region was an Indian camping ground and a runway for wild deer, turkeys and other wild fowls.

Dixon Lake divides the honors between Center and West townships two and a half miles southwest of Plymouth. It is perhaps half a mile long and half as wide. It empties its surplus water into Yellow river, which flows southward half a mile distant to the eastward. It was named in lionor of a man by the name of George W. Dixon, who resided in the vicinity of the lake in an early day.

Miiekshazv Lake is one mile south of Plymouth, through which the Lake Erie & Western railroad passes. As its name indicates, it is mostly composed of muck, and the duck hunter, as he goes into the muck up to his arm-pits, is apt to ejaculate, "Oh, Pshaw !" Hence the name. This lake was immortalized by a continued story, illustrated, published in the Plymouth Democrat in 1878, to which the attention of the curious reader is directed.

The Great Magnetic Flozving Well - There are a large number of flowing wells in the county, the largest and most important of which is the Great Magnetic Flowing Well near where the old Plymouth grist-mill formerly stood, between the mill-race and Yellow river, in the north part of town. The proprietors, J. V. Bailey and L. G. Capron, had sunk an iron tube pipe for the purpose of operating a turbine water-wheel. When down about forty feet, the parties driving the tube suddenly broke through into an apparently hollow place, and the water came rushing out at the top of the tube. In a short space of time the bright sparkling water spouted two feet above the tube with a steady, even flow that was exceedingly refreshing to behold on a hot, sultry day. The tube happened to stand perpendicular, and the stream parted at the top in liquid, sparkling hemispheres, taking on all the tints and colors of the rainbow, and fell to the pool below in a f)lumelike cascade, almost hiding the tube itself.

By experiment it was found that the flow ceased at a height of about fifteen feet above the river low-water mark. Accordingly the proprietors put down a thirteen-inch tube as an experiment. When the same depth was reached as in the first tube sunk, the flow of water came up through the enlarged pipe with equal force. The volume of water discharged was simply enormous, and it has continued from that time (1875) to the present (1907) without any decrease in the flow. It is estimated that the well discharges 500 gallons per minute, 30,000 per hour and 720,000 gallons every twenty-four hours, sufficient to supply a city of 50,000 inhabitants. Tests and experiments have conclusively shown that the water is highly magnetic and is otherwise possessed of medicinal and other curative properties in an eminent degree. It is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable flows of water, considering the depth, in the world.

Since then there have probably been put down in Plymouth 100 inchand-a-half flowing wells, and the city waterworks are supplied with water from nine flowing wells which have been sunk from a depth of from fifty to 100 feet, furnishing an abundant supply of absolutely pure, sparkling water.

In the region of Donelson and the country round about, the same flow of water is secured, and occasionally it comes to the surface in the form of springs.

Maxinkuckce Lake is famed for its numerous and splendid flowing wells. Almost all the numerous cottages on the east, south and north parts of the lake are supplied with water from flowing wells, and the lake itself is kept at its normal height by water which comes from the flowing well reservoir at the bottom.

Bourbon Living Spring - Nearly half a century ago Capt. John C. Hedrick, a veteran of the Mexican war (long since deceased), discovered on his farm, a short distance from Bourbon, a vein of water which proved to be a living spring. The water is perfectly clear, and very pleasant to the taste. The water boils up in twenty-five or thirty different places, and the surroundings showed that the fountain head is at least sixteen feet below the surface of the ground. It is thought that, with proper hydraulic appliances, water from the spring might be easily carried to the town of Bourbon, and the business and residence houses abundantly supplied with water. This great spring evidently comes from the immense reservoir that holds the water for the flowing wells all over the countv.

One of the most beautiful small bodies of water in the Northwest is, without doubt, Maxinkuckee lake, a brief description of which will be of interest to those who admire the beauties and grandeur of nature. It has been truthfully described by the late Jerome Burnett, whose poem is inserted here to give the reader a "birdseye view," so to speak, of this charmingly delightful body of water:

Maxinkuckee Lake

IMaxinkuckee lake is oblong in shape, about three miles long and two and a quarter miles wide, with somewhat irregular shore lines and some small bays and undulations. The shores present about ten miles of lake front of almost every character of approach; the level beach, the gradual slope, the steep incline, the abrupt bluff, the rounded headland, and these of various elevations, from the water's edge to nearly fifty feet in places. The water is wholly from springs, except the natural rainfall, there being no inlet that may be called such, and the springs of delicious water are found everywhere along the shores. The banks are bold, clear, shaded, and occupied by all sorts of summer 'cottages, mansions, hotels, clubhouses, academies, schools of learning, etc. On the west side of the lake a small strip of lowland gives outlet to the surplus water into a small lake close by, and thence to the Tippecanoe river some miles southwest. There is very little grass, weeds, drift, or other unsightly things in or around the lake, and but little brush, trees, logs, or other debris along the shores. All is clean, pure and healthy. Flowing wells abound on the north, east and south sides, and the most delicious cool water rushes up to about eight or ten feet above the level of the lake on boring a distance of fifty to lOO or more feet. Once on its shores at almost any point, and as long as you remain, be it days or years, the surroundings impress you constantly, and if there be a particle of love for the beautiful in your composition, that sense is called into action at all times and on all occasions, in sunshine or in storm, the beauties of spring, the charms of summer, and the glories of autumn.

Surrounded with unbroken forests as the writer has seen it, with the deer drinking of its limpid water without fear of molestation, the wild fowl floating on its bosom, the forest songsters noisy amid the otherwise silent woods on all sides, and the few hardy pioneers with their new beginnings and humble surroundings, scattered here and there within easy reach of it, it was a gem of imperishable beauty.

Again surrounded, as it is now, with fertile and highly cultivated farms, charming cottages, and handsome dwellings with white tents amid the trees, cozy hamlets on either side, railroad stations and conveniences, its surface covered with sailboats, yachts and steamers and hundreds of rowboats, and on all sides the pleasure of fashion and those seeking relief from ennui, overwork or study ; music, dancing and social gatherings of strangers from all quarters and temporarily fraternizing ; to each and all it is still, notwithstanding the marvelous changes that have been wrought during the more than past half-century, what it was to the Indian - the sparkling water - the beautiful Maxinkuckee. Once having come within the witching spell of its voiceless charms, in the language of Othello, the beholder can truthfully say : 'Tf heaven would make me such another world of one entire chrysolite, I would not give thee for it!"

'"Max-in-kuck-ee - In many respects this is the most beautiful of the multitude of small lakes with which northern and northwestern Indiana is studded. Its shores are high, beautifully rounded, and clothed with the native forest. The waters are clear and cold. Hundreds of springs flow out from the banks, and many more rise from the bottom of the lake. Very few weeds grow in the water, and there is far less of moss and peaty formation than is common in our Indiana lakes. Here, to a large extent, sand gives place to gravel, and the beach is firm and clean. Nowhere in the United States is there a lovelier body of pure, cold water. It has become a famous summer resort, and deserves all the good praise it has received."

The construction of the VandaHa railroad's northern branch to South Bend by way of Plymouth in 1884, with a station at the northwest shore of the lake, so facilitated access that the beautiful groves along the east side began to be dotted with cottages; hotels were established; clubhouses were erected ; steamers began to pufif about the new buildings, and a fleet of little white sailboats blew over the water. The cottagers have shown most excellent taste in that they have preserved the natural beauty of the groves and green banks, while building large and costly summer homes, and the careful ornamentation of lawns and groves has handsomely supplemented without destrcviup- the n^tur^l beauties of the place.

During the summer of 1900 Prof. B. W. Everman, ichthyologist of the United States commission of fish and fisheries, surve\'ed the lake and made a complete report of everything connected with it, which is to be published by the government, but has not yet made its appearance. The map, however, to accompany the report has been printed and a few copies have been distributed to those most interested in the future of the lake. The map is made from surveys and soundings made by Prof. Everman. The area of the lake is shown to be 1,864 acres. The contour lines of the bottom of the lake are from soundings taken on section and half-section lines, and is the first and only map of "the bottom of the lake" ever published. The deepest place in the lake is on a line about half way across between Long point and Maxinkuckee landing. At that point it is eighty-eight feet deep. In the immediate vicinity the depth ranges from seventy to eighty-five feet in several places. The map is a valuable production and undoubtedly the most correct one that has yet been made. It is to accompany a full report prepared by Prof. Everman, embracing a description of the numerous varieties of fish found in the lake, together with the fauna, and other matters of interest.

The numerous ways of spelling the name of the lake induced the writer of these sketches to investigate the question and the result is embraced in the following information obtained from various official sources, in reply to letters written for that purpose.

The auditor of state at Indianapolis writes that David Hillis, one of the surveyors of the land around the lake, spelled it "Alek-in-kee-kee." Jerry Smith, another surveyor, spelled it "Muk-sen-cuk-ee." On the field notes in the surveyor's office of Marshall county David Hillis spelled it "Max-inkuck-ee," while Jerry Smith, deputy United States surveyor, spelled it "Muk-sen-cuck-ee." At a treaty made at the lake March 16, 183S, it is spelled "Max-ee-nie-kee-kee."

From these official sources it is shown that the usual spelling, "Maxin-kuck-ee," appears but once and that is on the records of Marshall county, which is a copy of the original field notes from the records of the auditor of state at Indianapolis, where the auditor says Mr. Hillis spelled it "Mekin-kee-kee." Therefore, whoever transcribed the field notes of Mr. Hillis from the records at Indianapolis, for the records of Marshall county, made a mistake when he copied it "Max-in-kuck-ee." The record in the depart- ment at Washington has it "Muk-sen-cuck-u." At the time the field notes were made by the deputy government surveyors, quill pens were used, and it is possible - in fact probable - that the final "u" was intended for "ee," the top running together and making a letter like "u." The "i" in "sin" was probably an "e" with the top run together. This is a reasonable conclusion based on the spelling of Jerry Smith on the Marshall county records and at Indianapolis. The correct spelling is undoubtedly "Muk-sen-cuck-ee." There is no authority for Max-in-kuck-ee. The word from which it was erroneously copied is "]\Iek-in-kee-kee," as is shown in the letter of the audtior of state.

It is no wonder that the name has got badly mixed in the bungling translations that were made of it, in the original surveys and in the treaties in which the name occurs. In making the treaties, etc., the name was taken down by the interpreters, as the Indians knew not how to spell or write, and the interpreters spelled it according to the sound as well as they could, and it is therefore not strange that it appears in so many diflierent ways. But no matter. The present spelling, "Max-in-kuck-ee," has come to stay, and no power on earth can change it, even were it desirable to do so. The railroad company, the Culver ]\Iilitary Academy, the postoffice department, and the people generally about the lake, recognize the present spelling, and that fixes it beyond any possibility of change.

As to the meaning of the word in its present form, it has none. Originally it was an Indian word, but what its meaning was no one has been able to find out. For a long time it was generally believed to be the name of an Indian chief, but the government records, which have been diligently searched, fail to show that name or anything like it. The late Charles Cook, who lived a few miles north of the lake, and in his early days made his home with the Pottawattomie Indians in this region for many years and understood their language perfectly, said it was the Indian word for moccasin, because the lake was the shape of an Indian moccasin, and further, because of the prevalence of moccasin snakes about the lake at that time. Simon Pokagon, the last of the Pottawattomie Indians in this part of the country, whose death occurred in Michigan in 1900, in reply to an inquiry said it meant in the Algonquin language (same as Pottawattomie) "There is grass." Pokagon was a graduate of Notre Dame University and knew the meaning of words. As his definition has no relevance to the lake it is additional evidence that the word as we have it is a bungling translation of the original Pottawattomie name, whatever it may have been. But notwithstanding the marvelous changes that have taken place during the more than two-thirds of a century since its discovery by the American, what it was to the Indian, it is yet to the white men of today, the sparkling, laughing water, the beautiful Max-in-kuck-ee! That is what it means - let it go at that !

The green below and the blue above - The waves caressing the shores they love; Sails in haven and sails afar, And faint as the water lilies are In inlets haunted of willow wands.

The blue above and the green below. Would that the world was always so - Always summer and warmth and light. With mirth and melody day and night; Birds in the boughs of the beckoning trees, Chirr of locusts, and whiffs of breeze - World old roses that bud and blow - The blue above and the green below.

The green below and the blue above, Heigh, young hearts and the hopes thereof - Kate in the hammock and Tom sprawled on The sward - like a lover 's picture drawn By the lucky dog himself, with Kate To moon o "er his shoulder and meditate On a fat old purse or a lank young love - The green below and the blue above.

The blue above and the green below, Shadows and sunshine to and fro - Seasons for dreams - whate'er befall Hero, heroine, hearts and all. M'ave of wildwood - the blithe bird sings, And the leaf-hid locust whets his wings - Just as a thousand years ago - The blue above and the green below.

Attention was first attracted to the lake as a summer resort by the erection of a chibhouse by a few residents of Plymouth on the east sliore of the lake on grounds leased of L. T. Vanschoiack. the same now being owned by Mrs. McOuat, of Indianapolis. This was in 1875. The lease was to run five years. The club house was a story and a half frame building, with sleeping apartments above, and parlor, dining room and kitchen below. It became quite a popular place of resort, and many times during the hot summer months as many as fifty persons were entertained at one time. The officers of the club were Joseph Westervelt, president ; William W. Hill, treasurer, and C. H. Reeve, secretary.

In 1878 a number of those who had been instrumental in organizing this club, wishing to have something permanent and more elaborate and comfortable, purchased fifteen acres of eligible lake front on the north bank, and erected a large two-story frame building, lathed and plastered, containing a large reception and dancing room, and other conveniences. The club was furnished with a fine sailing yacht, and five sailboats and as many rowboats were owned by the individual members. The organization was named "The Lake View Club," and was composed of the following members, all residents of Plymouth: William W. Plill, Nathan H. Oglesbee, Henry G. Thayer, Chester C. Buck, Joseph Westervelt, Charles E. Toan, Horace Corbin and Daniel McDonald. Within a few years each of these members, except Mr. Westervelt, erected comfortable cottages in which they made their homes during the summer seasons, all taking their meals at the club house. In 1890, owing to business reverses of some of the members, it became necessary to disband the club and dispose of the property, which was done, the Vandalia railroad company purchasing it for $16,000.

In 1878-9 Louis B. Fuhviler, IMoses Muhlfield, and others of Peru, purchased ground and erected a two-story clubhouse on the northeast bank of the lake. 'The ckib in its earlier days was one of the most noted organizations on the lake, and its disbandment a number of years ago was a distinct loss to the cottagers who made their homes around the lake during the summers.

About the same time several Rochester people formed a club and erected a clubhouse on Long point, on the west side of the lake, and occupied it with considerable irregularity for several years. The club went out of existence many years ago, but the club house still stands and has been remodeled into a double cottage, which is occupied by private families during the summer seasons. The Rochester people were the pioneers in discovering the beauties of Long point, being the first to erect a building there. For that reason for many years it was called "Rochester point," and even yet many of the early comers about the lake call it by that name.

Since then there have been erected about 150 cottages, and the progress made in the improvements about the lake since the coming of the railroad is marvelous, a description of which would require more space than the limits of this sketch will permit.

In selecting the names for their cottages around the lake, the owners have exercised considerable ingenuity and imagination. Many of the names are more than merely fanciful - they describe, in some particular, the character or individuality of the surroundings, or some natural feature associated with the location, such as Shady Bluff or South View. Others commemorate some personal attachment or some sentiment associated with the owner's experience, such as Hamewold or The Wigwam. Others are named in a vacation spirit, such as Hilarity Hall or The Powwow. The following is a list of the cottages as complete as the names can now be recalled: Oak Lodge, Oak Dell, Oak Knoll, The Oaks, Two Oaks, The Illinois, Shadv Point, Shady Blufif, Portledge, The Tepee, The Wigwam, Grand \"iew. The Martin Box^ Squirrel Inn, Manana, Beach Lawn, Cosy Cote, Willow Spring, Meadow Lodge, Waupaca Hall, Woodbank, The Roost, Ingleside. Windermere, Hilarity Hall, Idleden, The Sunset, Cricket Camp, South View, The Powwow, Ed'gewater, Fairview, Maple Grove, Pleasant Point, The Buckeye, Sleepy Hollow, Kemah, Idlewild, Aubbeenaubbee Park, Cherry \'illa and Halcyon Villa.

A sketch of the town of Culver on the northwest shore of the lake, and also of Culver Military Academy on the northeast shore, will be found elsewhere under appropriate heads.

Xxi. Towns And Villages

What now constitutes the city of Plymouth was laid ofif and platted as a town by John Sering, James Blair and William Polk, and filed for record in the recorder's office of St. Joseph county on the twentieth day of October, 1834, the records of what is now Marshall county being then kept at South Bend, which was the seat of justice of St. Joseph county at that time, and.

as it IS a matter of some importance as a starting point for a brief sketch of Plymouth, the county seat, the reference as it appears on the plat is hereby copied in full :

Plymouth is surveyed at right angles with the Michigan road, which runs through the town of Plymouth 5 degrees west, variation 6 degrees 10 seconds, platted by a scale of eight rods to an inch. Michigan street is 100 feet wide; each of the other streets are 66 feet wide and the alleys 12 feet in width; all the lots except fractional ones are 88 feet in front by 126 feet in length, containing one-fourth of an acre. The square marked "Courthouse Square" is donated by the proprietors for public buildings necessary for county purposes. Lot No. 131 on Plum street on the west is given for a county seminary, and one acre and a half adjoining Plum street on the west is given for a public burying ground; end of lots numbered 49, 50 and 51, and 20 feet off of the east end of lots numbered 75, 76 and 77, is added to the width of Center street for a market house.

In the winter or spring of 1835, Oliver Rose opened the first store in Plymouth. His store room was a log building which stood on the ground immediately east of the building now known as The Plymouth Inn, on La Porte street. Mr. Rose also commenced farming operations on quite an extensive scale for those days on what is known as the Goodsell farm, north of town, opposite the fair grounds. When he came to the county he was accompanied by the late Gilson S. Cleaveland, who assisted him for some time as a clerk, afterwards became a partner, and finally sole proprieter, in which occupation he continued for many }ears. During the summer of 1835 Uriah Metcalf and Milburn Coe located here. Mr. Coe afterward erected a sawmill which stood a little to the north of the present site of Zehner's mill in the northeast part of town. The race is yet visible, and where the dam stood can also be seen. This was a poor excuse for a mill, but it was better than no mill at all, and was the first sawmill erected in the county. It furnished lumber for doors, and door and window casing and floors, etc., but it was a long time before it could be made to furnish lumber sufficient to justify the erection of frame buildings. The dam was not very substantially built, and whenever a heavy rain fell there was nearly always a washout, and it was not many years until it was abandoned.

During the same year Grove Pomeroy erected a frame building, the lumber for which was sawed by this mill, on the corner of Michigan and La Porte streets, on the ground now occupied by the Corbin block, which he called the "Yellow River hotel," afterwards the "Plymouth hotel." Mr. Pomeroy was the landlord and carried on an extensive business in entertaining travelers, as the general land sales, which commenced about that time, brought many persons into the county from the dififerent parts of the country. This hotel was considered the half-way house for the stage line from Logansport to Niles, Mich. Ten years later, after the opening of the Michigan road, the stage line through this place from south to north was considered one of the main thoroughfares of the state, and many who read these lines will remember how Old Jake Rhinehart, as he was familiarly called, would blow his tin horn, crack his whip, and come dashing into town on his four-horse rock-a-way coach ! The whole town would be out to greet him and to see who the new arrivals were. A hack also made regular trips between Plymouth and La Porte, and both of these lines furnished the only means of transportation until the railroads came many years later.

Plymouth was selected as the county seat of government by the trustees appointed to organize the county, which was done July 20, 1836. It was several years before it had any organization by which it could be governed. There were but two streets in the town, one the i\Iichigan road, now Michigan street, and the other what was called the "Yellow River" road, which meandered from the Yellow River hotel in a northwesterly direction, along what is now La Porte street. These streets were only passable wagon roads, muddy in rainy weather and dusty in dry weather. There were no sidewalks then, and the few people who resided here at that time traveled the wagon road, leaving the space now occupied by sidewalks to grow up in weeds. Cows and horses, hogs and other animals had the freedom of the town without let or hindrance. Many of the cows were furnished with bells, and after filling themselves with grass during the day from the ranges around the suburbs of the town, they would congregate at some convenient place in the residence part of the village, lie down in the sand and chew their quids, and tinkle, tinkle, tinkle their bells the whole night through, to the disgust of nervous people and those whose sleep was easily disturbed. As has been the case ever since the beginning of the world, is now, and ever shall be, there were numerous dogs - yellow dogs and bull dogs, shepherd dogs, bird dogs, average dogs, miscellaneous dogs, good dogs and bad dogs, and every kind of dog that the mind of man could conceive of, yelping dogs and howling dogs - and just - dogs. They ran the streets at night, and the din these dogs raised in these nightly revels has echoed and re-echoed along down the corridors of the past until the present time ! To add to this entertainment, the prairie wolves, which were numerous in various places around town, chimed in with a doleful chorus that portended the certain death of any innocent sheep that might be wandering about the village. The killing of sheep, however, was not confined entirely to the hungry wolves that made night hideous with their hungry yelps. Among the numerous dogs that infested the town there were many that were as expert at killing sheep as the worst sheep-killing wolf in the gang. In order to protect the sheep, the sheep-killing dogs had to be killed. Those, having guns delegated themselves public executioners and it was not long before the sheep-killing dogs were exterminated and schemes set on foot to capture the wolves, so that in the course of time the sheep were allowed to run at large without much fear of being in danger of being killed.

The writer has heard a great many people in his time wonder why it was that the courthouse was built so far out of town as it is - that is. from the business center. That is easily enough explained. Where Michigan street crosses the river it was low wet ground as far north as the corner of Michigan and La Porte streets, and the proprietors were of the opinion that the business would center around the public square, as is usually the case in new towns. So they selected the courthouse square in the center of a splendid location for business houses in ever\- direction from where the courthouse would be erected. But. as is always the case.

Immediately after the county had been organized and the comity seat located at Plymouth, an enterprising individual, whose name has not been handed down for the benefit of present and future posterity, erected a small shanty on the west side of the iMichigan road, on the south side of the river, where a temporary log bridge crossed that stream, and opened what was in those days called a "grocery," but now universally known as "saloon." He stocked it with a barrel of whisky which was procured from Kentucky, and other necessary fluids to suit the tastes of the few customers who felt that it was necessary to "take a little something for the stomach's sake." The place came to be known as "Old Kentuck," in honor of the barrel of whisky that came from that state, and to this day the older residents, in speaking of it, call it "Old Kentuck" ! The first glass of whisky the writer ever saw drank was in this place, somewhere in the later forties. It was kept by a man at that time well known as one of the prominent men of the town, by the name of Anson Shinnebarger. The writer came with his father to town that day and accompanied him to the various places where he went on business. Joseph Evans was sheriff of the county at that time, and Air. Shinnebarger, being absent from town, had intrusted the key to "Old Kentuck" to him. Mr. Evans was a Democratic politician ; so, also, was the writer's father, who was at that time a candidate for county auditor. A. L. Wheeler was the Democratic political boss, and after the political situation had been duly canvassed Mr. Wheeler proposed that the trio adjourn to "Old Kentuck" for further consultation. As a matter of course, the writer, who was then only a "kid," was permitted to accompany them, although very properly was not permitted to participate in the several libations which were indulged in. He remembers distinctly how Mr. Evans walked behind the little counter, took down the old decanter and set it down before them, and how they filled up the little glasses to the brim with the distilled juice of the corn all the way from "Old Kentuck." They sipped it down leisurely, talking the meanwhile about the political conditions in the various townships in the county and what ought to be done in order to elect the whole ticket and increase the Democratic majority in some localities that had of late shown some signs of weakness. It is proper here to say that none of these men were habitual drinkers and none of them ever drank to excess. In fact, in those days nearly every one took a little something for "their oft infirmities." Even the preachers who furnished spiritual food for their parishioners, at least many of them, thought it no harm to keep a well-filled decanter on the mantelpiece, to be used in case of "snake bites" and other maladies ! During harvest time "the little brown jug" was considered as necessary as the wooden pail filled with fresh spring water, and generally both of them were placed side by side in the fence corner, in the shade of a spreading bush or tree. When the harvester had gone across the field and back he always took a drink, first sampling the contents of the jug and then washing it down with a gourd full of water. He imagined that the liquor invigorated and strengthened him and better enabled him to perform the work he had to do. But not many years later this was demonstrated to be a fallacy ;

But to return to the subject : Those business men who early came here to engage in traffic and trade were not long in determining that the business of the new town should not be too far removed from the center, and as lot No. I was on the east side of Alichigan street on the north side of the river and opposite the Yellow River house on the west side of the street, that was thought to be the proper place to begin the erection of shanties and small and cheap buildings for the sale of such dry goods, groceries, hardware, etc., as the pioneer population needed ; and as the first buildings were erected on the north bank of the river, across from the "grocery," and as those who came later could not draw the trade with them by building around the courthouse square, they decided to join with the others and assist in building up the commercial center down town not far from the "grocery." The town plat at that time was an untouched wilderness, covered with trees and bushes, the only vacant space being the blazed La Porte road and the partially cleared Alichigan road, which had not then been opened more than twenty-five feet in width. The courthouse square was covered with trees and bushes, and there was not even an Indian trail leading to it, and no one could tell where it was without the aid of a surveyor. The little courthouse, which the proprietors of the town erected for temporary purposes, was located on the west side of Michigan road, third block north from the little "grocery." This courthouse they knew was only temporary, and, as they did not know whether they would remain permanently, they concluded to build in the vicinity of the others. And that is why the business part of Plymouth was not built around the courthouse square.

Among the first who came here in 1835-6, and for several years later, the writer remembers James Bannon, who kept a boot and shoe shop and the postofifice in a small wooden building on the east side of Michigan street, on the space now occupied by the Humrickhouser brick building. He went to California during the gold excitement of 1849, and as he was in middle life then, he is probably dead long ago. He was a Democrat in politics, and held the postoffice for some time under President Tyler.

John Cougle kept a "grocery," or saloon, as they are now known, in an adjoining building, but later erected a large frame building on the corner of Garro and Michigan streets, now the handsome two-story brick building owned by C. T. Mattingly, and occupied by the postoffice, which he occupied as a dry goods and notion store until his death occurred many }'ears ago. He kept liquors for sale and drank heavily, which may have had something to do with his untimely taking oft". He was strictly honest and straightforward in his business transactions, but entertained some very peculiar notions. Before his death he purchased a coffin which he stored in his place of business so that it might be on hand when wanted. He was the owner of a fine bass drum and almost every pleasant evening gave an exhibition of his skill on that detestable misnamed musical instrument in front of his place of business. Later he was reinforced by Lorenzo D. Matteson, a carpenter and builder, with his snare drum. He was an artist on his instrument, and the two made a full band with some to spare. Nearly all the people of the little town turned out to hear them, and it was a

Robert Rusk early opened a tin shop in a small frame building on the east side of ^Michigan street. His was the first establishment of that kind in Plymouth. His building was burned by the disastrous conflagration that destroyed nearly all the business buildings on both sides of ]\Iichigan street March 22, 1857. He died many long years ago. Joseph Griffith was another early settler well known in his day. He was prosecuting attorney at one time, also postmaster. He met death by the accidental discharge of his gun, while out hunting, more than half a century ago. He was always ready to offer himself as a living sacrifice for the amusement of the people. At a circus, once on a time, the clown was going to perform the difficult act of balancing a chair containing a man in it, on his chin. Joseph offered himself as the victim. The clown turned the chair upside down, and Joseph inserted his legs between the rounds in good shape, and after being adjusted in front of the audience, the clown left him to his fate. The uproar was terrific, and became greater when the victim had to throw himself down on the ground, backward, to extricate himself. At another time a sleight-of-hand performer came along and one of his tricks was that he could break a half-dozen eggs in a silk hat, which was fashionable in those days, without soiling it. He asked the loan of one to perform the trick. Mr. Griffith promptly handed him the one he wore. The performer broke in the hat a half-dozen eggs and with a stick stirred them up "good and plenty." When he went to show that the hat was not injured he found that the eggs were in reality broken, and the fine silk hat ruined! The performer handed the hat back to Mr. Griffith, remarking that he had made a mistake in performing the trick, and that he was very sorry indeed that he had spoiled his hat. Of course the boys who had quietly got the performer to play the trick on him took up a collection and bought Mr. Griffith a new "beaver." It was not long after this that he was accidentally killed as stated.

Plymouth was organized as a town corporation under a charter granted by the legislature under an act approved February 11, 1851. Prior to the adoption of the new constitution the legislature passed special acts for almost every conceivable kind of purpose, among which was the incorporation of towns. After the taking effect of the new constitution the legislature passed a general act which enabled towns of a certain number of inhabitants to incorporate under it, thereby saving the legislature the unnecessary trouble of passing special acts.

In 1 85 1 an act was passed by the legislature permitting Plymouth to organize as an incorporated town, which was done some time during that year, but precisely the date, or who the first officers were is not known, as all the records were destroyed in the disastrous fire of 1857. From the Plymouth Pilot, which was started here about that time, the following information is obtained. The town council, which had just then been created by a special act of the legislature, passed an ordinance providing that sidewalks be built on each side of Michigan, La Porte and Center streets, four feet wide, of white oak or yellow poplar plank. These were the first sidelOG HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.

Prior to this there was no town organization whatever and every one did as he pleased without let or hindrance. Town ball was a favorite game on Michigan street between La Porte and Garro streets, every day when enough of idle men and boys were around to iriake the game interesting. For a time horse racing was a favorite amusement. Old Jack Smith came here as a shoemaker. He was an all-around sport and was the owner of a swift little runner which he exercised up and down Michigan street almost every day, and occasionally another horse was pitted against his horse. The track was on Michigan street from Jefferson to La Porte streets, and when the horses got fairly started the way they made the dirt and dust fly was a sight to behold. The passage of the ordinances stopped all this, and the streets were ever after used for the purposes for which they were intended.

The editor of the Pilot in the issue of his paper containing this information had this item: "We notice that one of our citizens has been mending his ways by putting down a good, substantial pavement opposite his residence."

In 1853 the population of Plymouth was 670. In the disastrous fire of 1857, which swept away nearly the entire business portion of the little town, all the books and records in relation to the corporation organization were desti-oyed, and therefore the particulars in regard thereto cannot be obtained ; nor does the oldest inhabitant remember who were the officers at the time of the organization. It seems from the report of the board of corporation trustees, held January 30, 1855, that a proposition to surrender the charter had been presented. After considerable discussion the following resolution was adopted :

Eesolvecl, That surrendering the charter granted by the legislature of this state on the 11th of February, 1851, incorporating the town of Plymouth, this corporation will and does hereby become incorporated under the general law of the state of Indiana for the incorporation of towns, defining their powers, etc., approved June 11, 1852, as provided by the fifty-fifth section of said act.

Dr. Rufus Brown was president of the board at that time, and Milo W. Smith clerk. Dr. Brown was one among the first practicing physicians who settled here in an early day, and was also one of the best. He was one of the most genial and agreeable men there was at that time in the town. He was a public spirited citizen and was always one of the leaders in every enterprise looking to the advancement and well-being of the town. In politics he was a whig, later a republican, and at one time was elected and served in the Indiana state senate. He was of a military turn of mind and during his term of office as senator directed his efiforts principally to perfecting the military laws of the state. He was authorized and made an effort to organize a regiment of state militia for the ninth congressibnal district, but failed to enthuse the people with the military spirit, and after meeting with indifferent success he abandoned the eft'ort. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, sang in the choir, belonged to about all the temperance organizations, and about all the other societies and associations in existence here at that time ; was prompt and zealous in the discharge of all duties imposed upon him, and was, take him all in all, a man whose like we shall never look upon again. He died, before his senatorial term expired, at his home in Plymouth, July 4, 1859.

Milo W. Smith was town clerk and was an educated and cultured gentleman. He was not a man of great force, but was methodical and competent in the work he had to do, a good citizen, who passed away many years ago regretted by all who knew him.

Resolved, That whereas on the 22d Jay of March, 1857, the law office of A. C. Capron, the clerk of this corporation, was destroyed by fire, and also the books, records, tax duplicates, assessment rolls, maps, orders, vouchers, etc., of the corporation were entirely destroyed, the clerk is ordered to replace the same as far as possible.

The law creating incorporated tovyns was loose and unsatisfactory in its workings, and the population being then sufficient to organize under the city law, in April, 1873, the writer of this history drafted a petition, and he and James W. Maxey secured the requisite number of petitioners, which was presented to the board of corporation trustees requesting them to order an election of the voters of the town to be held for the purpose of taking the sense of the people as to the expediency of changing the government of the town from a corporation to a city. The board of town trustees acted favorably upon the petition, and ordered an election to be held on the 25th day of April, 1873. The election resulted nearly three to one in favor of "city," there being 327 votes cast, of which 2j.d were in favor and eightythree against a city form of government. The proper steps were then taken, the old corporation dissolved, and the city government set in motion. In May, 1873, an election was held for city officers. Prior to the election 3 conference of the leading citizens of both political parties was held, in which it was agreed that in the new organization politics should be left out of the question" so far as possible. The politics of the town at that time being democratic, the republicans consented that the Democrats should be entitled to the candidate for mayor, and the remainder of the officers be alternated between the two parties. In this way the two parties were equally represented in the new organization, Horace Corbin being the first mayor elect. The following is the ticket agreed upon and elected :

The most exciting pohtical fight which ever occurred in Plymouth, or even in the county forthat matter, took place in the city council by the introduction of an ordinance August 27, 1894, by Councilman Reynolds to redistrict the city into four wards instead of three as it had been from the organization of the city. The particular reason given for this action was that the southwestern portion of the city had always been neglected in its representation in the city council ; that there was street and other work in that territory that needed attending to and that it would not be done unless the people down there were given a separate ward and two councilmen to look after their interests. There was behind it, however, a little bit of political maneuvering that did not appear on the surface. During the past year the council had been composed of three democrats and three republicans - George R. Reynolds, Charles R. Hughes and Charles B. Tibbitts, democrats, and W. E. Bailey, Z. M. Tanner and Samuel Gretzinger, republicans, which made the vote on all political questions a tie. Charles P. Drummond, democrat, was mayor, and on all questions of a tie voted with the democrats. At the spring election Mr. Drummond was defeated by Joseph Swindell, republican, who was to enter upon the duties of his ofifice the first meeting in September of that year. In order to relieve Mr. Swindell of the responsibility of casting his vote to decide a tie, the democrats conceived the idea of creating another ward, and appointing by resolution two democratic councilmen from that ward, which would make the total number of councilmen eight, five of whom would be democrats. So it came to pass at the last meeting before Mayor Drummond's time expired, an ordinance looking to that end was introduced as above stated. The ordinance was passed, James W. Maxey and William 0"Keefe appointed and sworn as councilmen from the Fourth ward, entered upon the discharge of their duties and. were recognized by ]\Iayor Drummond during the remainder of his term, which expired on the first of September, when Joseph Swindell, the republican mayor, entered upon the discharge of his duties. Among his first acts was his refusal to recognize Messrs. Maxey and O'Keefe as members of the council, alleging as a reason that the ordinance under which they were appointed was not legally passed. Legal proceedings were then instituted and the matter went into court and finally to the supreme court.

But to go back a little, it will be interesting to give the facts as established by the evidence in the record : April 25, 1873, Plymouth was organized as a city under the general law, and was immediately districted into three wards with two members each, or six in all, and this status remained until August 27, 1904, when the Fourth ward was added and the council made to consist of four wards and eight members. A fine little parliamentary battle in the council then ensued as is shown by the record as follows :

"Councilman Reynolds moved that the rules be suspended and that the ordinance be placed upon its passage by one reading. The motion was seconded by Councilman Hughes, and thereupon Councilman Bailey moved to refer the ordinance to the committee on ordinances and police. The vote resulted in a tie. The mayor cast his vote in favor of the negative and declared the motion lost. Councilman Reynolds then, with the consent of his second, withdrew his motion to suspend the rules. Councilman Tibbitts then moved that the rules heretofore governing the proceedings of the council as printed in the ordinance book be annulled and repealed. (This rule provided as follows: 'All ordinances shall be read three times before being passed. No ordinance shall pass or be read at the same meeting in which it was introduced.') The yeas and nays were taken on this motion to repeal the rules and the result was a tie - three for and three against. The mayor cast his vote in the affirmative and declared the rules repealed. Councilman Reynolds then moved that the ordinance as read be placed upon its passage. This vote was a tie and was declared carried by the mayor casting his vote for it. Councilman Tibbitts then moved that the ordinance as read be passed and adopted upon one reading, and upon the passage of the ordinance the ayes and nays were taken with the following result : Messrs. Hughes, Reynolds and Tibbitts voted for the ordinance and Gretzinger against it, and Bailey and Tanner were recorded as present and not voting. The mayor thereupon declared the ordinance passed and adopted.

"Councilman Bailey presented a protest against the action of the council and moved that the same be placed upon record. Upon this motion Bailey, Gretzinger and Tanner voted in the affirmative and Reynolds, Hughes and Tibbitts against it, and the vote being a tie, the mayor voted in the negative and declared the motion lost. A resolution was then introduced appointing James W. Maxey and William OTveefe councilmen from the new ward. Those who voted in favor of the resolution were Hughes, Reynolds and Tibbitts, those against it Bailey, Gretzinger and Tanner. The vote being a tie, the mayor voted in favor of it and declared it adopted. The new councilmen were thereupon sworn and entered upon the discharge of their duties."

At the first meeting in September Joseph Swindell entered upon his duties as mayor, and among his first acts was to refuse to recognize Messrs. Maxey and O'Keefe as members of the council, or allow the clerk to call their names on roll call. This resulted in the new councilmen bringing mandamus proceedings in the circuit court to compel the mayor to recognize them, which it did, but on appeal to the supreme court of the state, that court decided adversely to the claimants to represent the Fourth ward, on the ground that the ordinance under which they held their appointment had been passed contrary to the rules governing the introduction and passage of ordinances through the council of Plymouth, which it decided the council had no right to repeal in the manner in which they declared it done. This case created a good deal of ill feeling in the community at the time, but as the supreme court has settled it forever, and the three councilmen instrumental in its passage are now all dead, it will only be remembered by our people as an episode in our local history.

and solemn light over the little town with unimproved dirt streets. In these days thelittle stores and shops were lighted with tallow candles, and lard and tallow lamps, until time to close for the night. Then but little business was done after sundown, and seldom 9 o'clock at night found many people out of bed. There were no street lights of any kind for more than twenty years after the place had grown sufficiently to be known as really and truly a town, and when the sun went down preparations were begun for the closing up of business for the day. After a while, glass standing and hanging lamps with cotton wicks and a burning fluid made of alcohol and other dangerous explosives, came into use, and proved to be a great improvement over the old system of lighting. Later still coal oil was discovered, and was brought to Plymouth for lighting purposes by H. B. Pershing, then in the drug business. He kept one of the lamps filled with coal oil burning in his store to show the superiority of this oil pumped out of the earth over all other lighting fluids that had previously been discovered. The writer remembers distinctly of his father procuring one of these lamps and a can of oil and taking it home with him and trying it as an experiment. It made a beautiful, clean light, far superior to anything the family had ever seen ; but for some time there was a feeling of insecurity pervading the household, that some day an explosion would take place that would knock things into smithereens. But the expected did not take place, and coal oil rapidly found its way into favor until its use became almost Universal.

The use of coal oil having been fully established, the "town council determined to devise a way by which the streets could be lighted, and about 1876 or 1877, some twelve or thirteen posts were put up at places where lights were needed the most, on top of which were fastened lamps that would hold about a quart of coal oil. These lamps were lighted by contract, Ezra Barnhill having the job the first two or three years. He sublet the work to John S. Harsh, who attended to the lamps about three years, when Dickson Thompson took the job ofif his hands and attended to it about three years, when he resigned, and was succeeded by Jonathan Brown, who remained in charge of the "plant" until it was discontinued to give place to electricity.

This old-time system of lamp-lighting the streets was the first eiTort in this direction Plymouth had had, and it seems exceeding strange that the streets of the town had been in darkness about forty years from the date of its organization before the edict had gone forth from the town board, "Let there be light," and "there was light !" The people of the town, "without regard to race, color, or previous condition of servitude," hailed with joy and gladness this new process of bringing them "from darkness to light." Of course it was better than no lighting at all, but as compared with the present splendid electric lighting system it would be considered very little better than no light at all.

In 1888, an electric light plant having been established in Plymouth, the city decided to enter into a contract with the company looking to the lighting of the principal streets with electric arc lights, and this was done without much delay. The streets are now lighted with about thirty arc lights, and with the electric signs, and lights in the plate glass windows

During the summer of 1907 a gas plant was established in Plymouth, the output of which is mostly used for cooking and heating purposes, but when added to the electric light, will add greatly in dispelling what little darkness there may be left.

In 1888, after long and patient investigation, the city council determined to put in a system of waterworks for use by the citizens of the town and especially for fire protection, and that year put in about 18,000 feet of pipe, built an engine house, put in the necessary engines and fixtures, etc., at a total cost of about $17,000. Since that time several thousand feet of pipe have been laid, so that almost every part of the city can easily be reached by the fire hose, and since the organization of the fire department to conform to the waterworks system, the fires that have occurred have been extinguished with very little loss, whereas those that occurred prior to that time were in every case disastrous, so that in every fire in the main business part of town since that time enough property has been saved in each fire to pay for the entire waterworks system, as is shown by the losses in the great fires of 1851, 1857, 1866, 1872, before the waterworks fire department was organized.

"Plymouth was always a beautiful town. It never looked so beautiful to our e\es as at the present time. Just bathed in refreshing showers, she blooms like a garden of roses in the desert. Silvery voices ring upon the ear, and bright eyes peep through the damask custains of heat, white Bloomer palaces. Yellow river glides on its course, laughing merrily among the greenwood shades and inviting us to drink of its limpid waters ! We were not aware that Plymouth could gather so bright an array of celestial spirits. Many a sigh comes mourning over the green sward from the rosy bowers of Love and tears are falling for many a lost Adonis."

For some time after the organization of the county, merchants and hotel keepers were required to procure a license from the board of commissioners. At the May term, 1837, the board fixed the rate of license for these and other occupations as follows :

"Each traveling caravan, menagerie, or other collection of animals or show of wax figures, or circus exhibited to the people for money, $50 for each day.

"That license to vend foreign merchandise and foreign and domestic groceries be taxed $5 for each $1,000, and $2.50 for each additional $1,000; provided that no license shall exceed $20 for one year."

At the same term licenses to vend merchandise were granted to Chester Rose, Evan B. Hobson, Wheeler & Gregory, Hobson & Cougle. Jeremiah Grover, William ]\L Dunham, Grove Pomeroy were licensed to keep tavern.

The mercantile business was not very lively in those days. The whole county did not contain more than 600 people, not more than half of whom were residents of Plymouth and vicinity, and these were generally poor and had little use for dry goods and "foreign merchandise," and consequently many who engaged in the business failed to realize the profits they had anticipated and went out of business. All these old merchants and tavern keepers are long since dead - not one is left to tell the story of the pioneer days in the wilderness.

For a period of twenty-two years Plymouth was without any appliances to assist in extinguishing fires. The first efi^ort in that direction was the organization of what was called Protection Hook and Ladder Company No. I, which perfected its organization under the law by filing its constitution in the clerk's office February 24, 1858, about half a century ago. The following were the original members as they appear on the constitution : Jacob B. N. Klinger, Daniel McDonald, Adam V'innedge, Stephen A. Francis, Henry B. Pershing, D. Lindsay, Thomas J. Patterson, Rufus j\L Brown, James E. Houghton, J. C. Leonard, L. D. Lamson, Julius Tacke, David How, Eli R. Shook, Henry Humrickhouser, John H. Beeber, Nathaniel B. Klinger, David Vinnedge, Samuel Freese, John S. Woodward, second, Meyer Becker, Adolph Meyers, Henry M. Logan, William W. Hill, S. Vinnedge, Matthew Boyd, John M. Shoemaker, George Anderson, Charles G. Tibbitts, John Noll, Henry Kuntz, Horatio B. Sellon, W'illiam M. Kendall, Henry Botset, Christopher Seitel, Charles Ebel, J. Alexander, M. La Pierre, Homer Sluyter, George H. Wilbur, Thomas K. Houghton, Amasa Johnson, John W. Patterson, Henry McFarlin, John W. Houghton, Jerry Blain, Daniel B. Armstrong, James L. Cleaveland, Joseph Lauer, Henry M. Hilligas, J. N. Freese, F. ]\"lullen, D. R. Davidson, William Babington, Michael Stoll and William C. Shirley.

The first officers were : Jacob B. N. Klinger, foreman ; Stephen A. Francis, assistant foreman ; William C. Shirley, treasurer ; Daniel McDonald, secretary, and Eli R. Shook, steward.

The formation of this company grew out of the great fire of 1857, March 22, which destroyed every business house on both sides of Michigan street, between La Porte and Garro streets, entailing a loss estimated at between $75,000 and $100,000, with little or no insurance. There was no firemen's organization here then, not even a bucket brigade, and no water if there had been, except such as could have been drawn from dug wells and from Yellow river, a considerable distance away.

The constitution and by-laws are quite voluminous and contain about everything that could possibly be thought of in connection with the duties of members of the organization. The hour of meeting was fixed at 7 p. m., John ]\L Shoemaker's time being the criterion - he being the town watchmaker at that time. Evervthinq- went bv sun time then, which was. and is, about fifteen minutes slower than "standard time," which is now in universal use in this part of the countr_v, the change having been made some thirty years ago. There was a good deal of opposition to abandoning the good old-fashioned sun time, but the town clock was set forward to standard time, the town schools adopted it at once, the railroads followed suit, and it was not long until the business houses, the churches and the citizens generally turned their timepieces forward, and everybody began doing business on "fast time." The telegraph office at the Pennsylvania station receives the exact time every day at 12 o'clock noon; in this way the town clock is regulated, as well as the clocks of the watchmakers and others. Each member was required to procure the following uniform : "A black glazed cap, a red woolen sack or wamus, with black velvet collar and cuffs, and a black leather belt."

A two-story frame building for the use of the company was erected on the bank of the river on the south side of Adams street, the upper story being used for meeting purposes and the lower room for trucks, ladders, etc. Later the company moved into the Dawes wagon shop, located where John W. Parks now has his law office, on the south side of Garro street.

April 10, 1859, the residence of David How, on the southwest corner of the public square, caught fire, and had it not been for the Hook and Ladder Company would have been totally destroyed. Speaking of the fire the editor of the Republican said :

"The conduct of the members of Protection Hook and Ladder Company No. I, on this occasion, was honorable to them in the highest degree. No set of men could have done more efficient service with the same means. Our citizens will ever be proud of their firemen so long as they demean themselves in this manner, and will doubtless on all suitable occasions manifest a material regard for them."

With the organization of the old Hand Engine Company, and later the Hose Company, the Hook and Ladder Company necessarily had to take a back seat, but it was the first organization for the protection of property against the ravages of fire in our midst and is entitled to its due meed of praise.

As near as can be ascertained, the books having been destroyed, Adriatic Engine Company No. i and Torrent Hose Company No. i were organized in 1865. The first officers of the engine company were : Martin H. Rice, forem.an ; D. Emmit Simons, assistant foreman ; Sigmund Mayer, secretary ; John W. Palmer, treasurer.

About that time the department was regularly organized and was composed of the following companies : Protection Hook and Ladder Company No. I ; Adriatic Engine Company No. i ; Torrent Hose Company No. i.

The records having been destroyed, as stated, it is impossible to get any information in regard to the work of the fire department until about the first of the year 1876, when the present city building was erected and occupied by the fire department. From that time up to the present a record of all the doings of the department has been kept, from which it appears that the companies took possession of the new hall February 21, 1876, and dedicated it by a grand ball on the same night, which proved to be one of the best paying balls ever given in Plymouth, the net proceeds being $165. At

"Resolved, That the members of the fire department of Plymouth take great pleasure in returning their sincere thanks to the citizens of Plymouth for their liberality in purchasing tickets to the firemen's dedication ball, and to the ^IcDonald Brothers, printers, especially, do the firemen feel grateful for their unparalleled liberality in donating all the printing for the occasion, amounting to $13, consisting of tickets, cards and programs, executed on the best of material and in a neat, artistic style."