Newton County, Indiana - The whole text, 1911 (part 2 of 3)

Momence and Texas were compelled to shut down. The 'squire, being out of breadstuff, shelled a sack of corn and went up about eight miles northeast of Rensselaer. In describing his experience he told how it took him all one day to get there in a little one-horse wagon. The mill was a horse-mill, and he said it was the prettiest little thing he ever saw. He said, "Why, it would just hop off one grain on to another so quick, it was fun to watch it."

Living close to the 'squire was a man by the name of Ward, who, in a fit of passion, put a load of shot into the back of one of the Kennedy boys, while the latter was passing the Ward residence on horseback. Ward was arrested and at the next session of the circuit court he was tried. Harrington was a witness and when called upon to give his evidence, he said: "I don't know as I can tell anything that would be good evidence in this court, but as I ve had a long ride through deep mud to get here, would say I understand Ward shot the Kennedy boy, putting a whole load of shot in his back. And after he had done it, he played crazy - tried to kill himself by running his head against a fence-stake. His brains ran out and Doctor Richards was sent for. He filled up the cavity with corn meal and they do say that Ward has more sense now than he ever had. This is all I know about the case."

Another citizen of Morocco, deserving a passing notice, was Samuel Hurst. In many respects he was an entirely different type of man from the 'squire. He was a consistent member of the Methodist church. He was naturally full of fun and a joke on himself seemed to do him more good than to get one on somebody else. His habit of joking was carried to such an extreme sometimes as to de¬ mand discipline in the eyes of some of the good brethren who thought it was a grievous sin even to smile.

During the time Hurst lived in Morocco he kept the only hotel in the town. A part of the time he would work at his trade - that of car¬ penter. At this time the Methodists were building a frame church on the ground some two or three lots east of where the present

Kennedy store stands. At this particular time Hurst was working alone on the church building, when a man drove up in a buggy, stopped, and called out to him to inquire where he would find the hotel. Mr. Hurst pointed it out to him, when the stranger asked: "By the

With that he drove on to the hotel, inquired for the landlord, and when informed he was working on the church, the man didn't have the nerve to face the music, so drove on to find anothei stopping-place. NT r. ITurst got more good from telling this story on himself than he would have derived from several times the amount of the man's hotel bill.

and J asper counties. This farm he traded for a stock of goods belonging to Benjamin Hinkle, of Rensselaer. He operated two stores, one in Rensselaer and one in Morocco, closing up the business in about two years. In the meantime he had trusted many of his neighbors and whenever he had failed to collect accounts due him, he took notes giving the parties more time in which to make payment. In this debtor class was a man owing him thirty dollars, whom we will call Jake - because that was his name. After a few years had passed he met Jake one day and said to him: "Jake, here's your note. It's all paid off and you might as well have it."

At one time there was living in Jackson township a man by the name of Jerry C., who was red-headed and very impulsive. Each winter during the revival services in the church he would join, and he would then want permission to preach. But they put him off from time to time, and usually, as soon as the weather got warm and the meetings closed, he would fall from grace and be ready to com¬ mence again the next winter. On one of these occasions during which he renewed his vows, they gave their consent for him to preach. An¬ nouncement was made that he would preach in a certain school-house the next Sunday. I was not present to hear him, so will have to give the facts as my informant related them to me. This was an old lady, about seventy-five years of age, by the name of Ellett - the mother of Martin and Steve Ellett, old citi¬ zens of Jackson township. She came into the store and after a while asked me if I was up to hear Jerry preach on Sunday. I told her I was not there. She said: "Well, you'd ought to have been there, you'd have been surprised. Why, he done lots better than you'd 'a' thought he could. He really done first-rate for a man with neither religion nor education!"

In the ridges north of Morocco were a few families who got their living by making rails and clapboards, sometimes getting a day's work in the settlement. Among them was a family living in a dugout in a sand-bank. It was a very sorry excuse for a habitation. They had one small room with dirt floor, and a stovepipe running through the covering of puncheon, hay and sand. They had quite a family of small children, with scarcely any clothes, and often not more than half enough to eat. To make conditions worse, the mother of the family had been sick for some time and, as might reasonably have been expected, the sickness ended in death. I met the stepmother of the dead woman the next day - an old lady about seventy-five years of age. With tears streaming down her cheeks she remarked to

All at once she brightened up and, with al¬ most a smile on her countenance, ended by saying: "Well, anyhow, it couldn't be any worse for her."

John Brennesholtz and Madison Collins both came to this country at an early day and became what in that day was considered tol¬ erably close neighbors. However, they failed utterly to live together as neighbors should, trying to promote peace and good will, one toward the other. On the contrary, they were continually mixed up in lawsuits - sometimes over matters too small to talk about. Gen¬ erally the one defeated before the justice of the peace would take an appeal to the circuit court. A case of this kind was on trial at Rens¬ selaer, and I, along with several other neigh¬ bors, had been called as a witness. Milroy & Cole were attorneys for Brennesholtz, who, by the way, was a very strong spiritualist. Spider & Lee were the attorneys for Collins. The jurors were in their seats, the evidence all

Now, Spider, as a general rule, was a plain, forcible speaker, quite effective in his manner before a jury - seldom making use of any spread-eagle style of oratory. But somehow in this case he got warmed up and closed his speech with the following burst of eloquence : "Oh, that I had the eloquence of a Demos¬ thenes and the legal knowledge of a Blackstone, that I might portray in characters of livid light the damnable persecution of this man Collins by this idiotic old spiritualist!"

Just as he closed, he cast his eyes over the jury and discovered there were three spiritual¬ ist jurors. It is needless to say the jury failed to agree.

We at this day hear but little about ghosts and witches. They seem to be almost a thing of the past. However, only a few years ago the world was full of them. The evidence in support of their existence was fully as strong as is the evidence which still supports such popular superstitions as those in regard to eat¬ ing at a table at which thirteen are seated, or starting on a journey on Friday. So do not condemn too harshly a man who carries a rab¬ bit s foot in his pocket for luck, or a buckeye to cure rheumatism, or a red string around the neck to keep the nose from bleeding, until we rid ourselves of all these superstitious notions.

One little incident will illustrate the con¬ dition of the minds of some people regarding superstitions a little over fifty years ago. One day, while working in the old log blacksmith shop in Morocco, a man came in with a little job of work. While waiting for it to be fin¬ ished he related to me his troubles. It seemed from his story that some time before he, or some of his family, had been having a little falling out with an old lady in their neighbor¬ hood, and from that time they were unable to make their butter "come," although they had spent much time and put forth a lot of hard la¬ bor at the churn. Being unable to account for this condition of things on any reasonable grounds, they finally came to the conclusion that the old woman with whom they had been quarreling had "bewitched" the cow. The more they thought of it the stronger became the conviction. After telling of his troubles he wanted my advice as to how this "spell" might be removed. My experience along the line of witchcraft having been limited, I had to draw on my imagination somewhat. My first thought was to recommend the black cat cure. That was to take a black cat and cut off three inches of its tail, one inch at a time. Upon re¬ flection I concluded that would be pretty rough on the cat, so I abandoned that treat¬ ment. I then told him to go home and fill his churn one-third full of water, take the king¬ bolt out of his wagon, put one end in the fire, and, when it got quite hot, to swing it three times around his head, shout as loudly as he could, and then stick the hot end of the king¬ bolt into the water in the churn. That, I told him, I thought was the best thing to do under the circumstances.

He answered that he had done so and that since doing it there had been no trouble with the butter proposition. To make the remedy still more certain of having produced these results, he said : "And I want to tell you, right at that very time that I done it, that old woman who had bewitched the cow had a spell of sick¬ ness."

Which proved positively that she had be¬ witched the cow and also demonstrated the efficacy of the remedy. It also proved that my misplaced sympathy for the black cat had re¬ sulted in misfortune for the old lady, although I had not meant to do her any harm.

Justifiable Larceny

James Moore had missed several hogs, and he suspected one of his neighbors of having stolen them. On searching the premises of the suspected party, evidence was discovered which satisfied Mr. Moore that his suspicions were well founded. He then went to the jus¬ tice of the peace, James Murphy, and swore out a warrant for the arrest of the suspected party. This warrant was placed in the hands of the constable, Thomas Starkey, who came to my house and asked me to go with him to assist in making the arrest. When we reached the home of the party we were to arrest we learned that he had gone away. Expecting to catch up with him in a short time, we rode on after him. We kept hearing of his passing certain houses along the road, so we kept on for some forty miles until we reached the ! town of Bradford. Here we caught up with him and arrested him just as he was getting on the train to go south. We stayed in Bradford overnight and the next morning started for home. We went through Rensselaer, where we stopped for dinner, and at this point the man under arrest made arrangements with David Snyder, a prominent attorney of that town, to go down with us to Morocco and de¬ fend him at the trial.

We reached Morocco after having been away two days, although we had not expected to be gone more than that number of hours. The court was soon in session and ready to dis¬ pose of the case. A jury was demanded and soon collected and accepted by the parties. Witnesses gave their testimony showing that the body of the missing hog had been found in the house of the accused and fully identified.

It looked as though nothing could be said or done to prevent the speedy conviction of the prisoner. David Snyder commenced his plea to the jury by saying that in all new countries there were certain conditions and practices that every one recognized and accepted, the same being entirely different from the con¬ ditions existing in older settled portions of the country; that customs long practiced in a com¬ munity became of higher authority in deter¬ mining certain cases than the mere letter of the law, instancing the established custom of going to the woods and taking the timber freely from lands owned by non-residents, placing under the same rule the right of every person to take a hog wherever found running at large. 'He said that custom made law and from time im¬ memorial it had been the custom in this coun¬ try to consider hogs as public property, and be¬ fore a man could rightfully be punished for this offense there must be a public meeting of the citizens of the community to then and there declare that, from and after a certain date, hog-stealing in that community would consti¬ tute and be considered a crime.

About the year 1850 there was a great rush to buy up the timber lands of this part of the state. The idea then was that as soon as im¬ migrants commenced the settlement of the prairie, the timber lands would become val¬ uable and a source of great profit to those own¬ ing the same. With that idea in view, a great many non-residents rushed in and bought up large tracts of timber land, thereby, to some extent, at least, establishing a hindrance to the settlement of the country. Consequently it was not long until, by a law acted upon almost universally, residents had the right to go upon what was called "speculators' lands" and take the necessary timber to improve their farms and erect their buildings, quieting the con¬ science by saying, "Others do it, and why not I?"

About the time the timber lands were bought up, quite a large number of Swedes settled about seven miles west of Morocco, across the state line in Illinois. I want to say they proved to be a very valuable class of citi¬ zens - honest, industrious and truthful. Al- though they had a hard time to make a living for the first three or four years after they set¬ tled there, it was not long until they had good farms and improvements, surrounded by many of the comforts of life, amply repaying them for the privations of the first few years. When the nation needed their help, no community, according to their number, furnished more or better soldiers during the civil war, many of them serving in Indiana regiments.

A few years after they located and the strug¬ gle for a livelihood became easier, they con¬ cluded they needed a church building, as they were a very religious people. So one winter day when there was snow on the ground and sledding was good, about twenty or more started for the woods with teams and sleds to cut logs and haul them to Morocco, where there was a saw-mill. There they could have the logs sawed up into lumber, to be used in building the church.

by him, north of Beaver Creek, he found some j of these same Swedes busily felling trees. On reaching the point where they were at work he asked them what they were doing. They told him they were cutting logs and hauling them to the mill, as they were getting ready to build a church.

They immediately stopped work and called to their preacher, who was assisting them in the work. When he came up, one of the men told him what Mr. Archibald had said.

Then, turning to Mr. Archibald, he said, "We are very sorry, indeed, Mr. Archibald, to have disturbed your land, as we don't want a stick of stolen timber put in our church but we really thought this was 'speculators' land.' "

The Old Court House

AT the time of the organization of Newton ^ county the town of Kent consisted of one store, one dwelling house, erected by David McHolland (now owned by Thomas Moore, one square west of the Catholic church), and a couple of unfinished store buildings. Through the courtesy of the owner of one of the latter buildings we were allowed possession of same for the transaction of county business, all of the officers occupying the one room. We at once opened up the books and from that time on were ready to discharge the duties de¬ volving upon the several officers of Newton county.

When the commissioners, appointed by the governor to locate the county-seat, made their report locating the same at the town of Kent, they also reported the proposition of A. J.

Kent, in case they should locate the same as he desired. His proposition was : A donation by himself in cash of five hundred dollars; 160 acres of land, being the southeast quarter of section 23, town 28, range 8; 195 lots, 30 x 150 feet each; and a court house square, 350 x 250 feet, to be selected by the county commission¬ ers.

"June 18, i860. The commissioners, in pur¬ suance of law, proceeded to select the site for the court house for said Newton county. After viewing the different blocks of land laid out into lots, as per plat of said town of Kent, said commissioners selected block 16, containing 30 lots, as a site for the court house and public offices of said county. At the same date it was ordered by the commissioners' court that Reu¬ ben White be appointed agent to receive the donations for the county seat from A. J. Kent, as per the proposition made by him.

The Old Court House 13 1

full power to contract for the erection of a building, to be used as a court house, on block 16, and superintend the building of the same at a cost not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000), to be paid for out of the donation funds of said county."

The recorder and clerk refusing to serve on the committee above named, the auditor did, on April 10, 1861, take to his assistance Reu¬ ben White, and proceeded to post notices for proposed bids to furnish material and erect said court house.

On April 13, 1861, the parties above named met for the purpose of receiving bids, as ad¬ vertised, and the contract was at that time let to John B. Cheseb rough for the sum of nine hundred and seventy-four dollars ($974). Afterward they made an additional contract with him to erect a portico over the east door of the said building for the sum of twenty-six dollars ($26), making the total cost of the house, when completed, one thousand dollars. This was at least one instance in which a court

"June 3, 1 86 1 . Commissioners met. Pres¬ ent, William Russell, Michael Cofifelt and Thomas R. Barker. Elijah Shriver, sheriff, declared the court in session. Whereupon it was, on motion, ordered that we do now ad¬ journ to meet in the court room of the new court house, erected on block 16, in the town of Kent." and four offices below. The lower rooms were appropriated by the clerk and auditor on the south side of the building, and by the treasurer and recorder on the north side.

court house, was erected, containing two rooms. When first built, it was the intention to use these rooms as jury rooms. However, objections were raised on account of their be¬ ing on the ground floor. Being abandoned for that purpose, the clerk soon after appropriated the west room, the recorder taking the east one. The auditor's office was then enlarged by taking in all the south side of the court house on the first floor. The sheriff then took pos¬ session of the room deserted by the recorder, this being the first time he had been able to

This arrangement continued until August, 1906, when the new and present court house was completed. The old building was aban¬ doned after a continuous use of forty-five years and was, on November 3> 1906, sold to John Simmons for the sum of one hundred and sev¬ enty dollars. The original cost of the building had been one thousand dollars. Deducting the amount for which it sold, made the leal cost to the county only $830 for forty- five yeais serv¬ ice, or an annual rental of $18.30 a year. I doubt if any other county in the state can show such an illustration of economy.

AT the regular term of the commissioners' court of Newton county, held at the court house in Kentland, April 3, 1905, the commissioners, David Hess, James A. Whaley and Elmer Skinner, made a contract with Eric Lund, of Hammond, Indiana, to furnish all material, construct and complete a court house on the public square in the town of Kentland, for the sum of $26,195, said building to be erected according to plans furnished by Jo¬ seph T. Hutton, architect and superintendent of construction.

Bonds were issued to pay the cost of con¬ struction and sold to J. F. Wild and Company for the sum of $27,251, they being the highest and best bidders for the same. There were sixteen other bids for the court house bonds.

were instituted in the Newton circuit court to enjoin the commissioners of Newton county, viz., David Hess, Elmer Skinner and James A. Whaley; and the county council of Newton county, to wit: James Chancellor, John R. Hershman, Charles Hartley, George M. Herriman, R. L. Ewan, Felix Tyler and Edward Roush, from letting a contract to build a court house at Kentland, Newton county, Indiana.

April 1, 1905. Case came up for trial, and the court, after hearing the evidence of wit¬ nesses and arguments of counsel, overruled the motion to enjoin the commissioners from building the said court house, and made the further order that the defendants, to wit, the county commissioners and county council, re¬ cover from the plaintiffs their costs in this case laid out and expended.

Transcripts of the proceedings were made out, filed in the supreme court, and on June 30, 1905, the supreme court, in a lengthy de¬ cision, overruled the action of the Newton circuit court.

The main point made by the supreme court in its ruling on the case was that the county council, in making the appropriation to build the court house, had done so by a motion and not by an ordinance. I quote from same :

"It is therefore ordered by this court that the judgment of the court below, in the above entitled cause, be in all things reversed as to the board of county commissioners of Newton county, all of which is ordered to be certified to said court."

During the time this case was pending in the supreme court, the contractor, Eric Lund, had commenced work on the building, and at the time the decision of the supreme court was rendered he had put in the foundation and the side walls up to the top of the first story. The commissioners had paid him on this work the sum of $12,000, for the payment of which amount they held an indemnifying bond signed by a( large number of the citizens of Jefferson township to protect them against any loss that might come to the county by reason of such payment.

This decision of the supreme court, of course, brought everything to a standstill. What had been done would be a total loss un¬ less steps were taken to complete the building. It also had the effect of destroying the legality of the bonds, issued to pay the cost of such construction. The owners of the bonds im¬ mediately proceeded by suit to recover from the county the amount paid for same, together with interest and costs. Everything that had been done was void and matters had to com¬ mence again at the very beginning.

The county council met and this time made an appropriation by ordinance instead of a motion, thereby complying with the decision of the supreme court.

On November 6, 1905, the commissioners made an appropriation of $28,500 to pay the judgment obtained by the bondholders. Of this amount $i3>529-9 7 was already in the treasury and new bonds were issued for $14,- 970.03.

At the January term, 1906, the commission¬ ers ordered that, in accordance with the ordi¬ nance passed by the county council in Novem¬ ber authorizing the bond issue, the bonds of Newton county for that amount be issued and

$23,000 be issued and sold to provide funds for the completion of the unfinished court house at Kentland. It was further ordered, at the same term, that the bid of Eric Lund to com¬ plete the building for the sum of $18,323 be accepted.

August 6, 1906. Joseph T. Hutton, archi¬ tect, employed by the commissioners to super¬ intend the construction of the court house, filed his report, certifying the contract made with Eric Lund to perform the same for the sum of $18,323, had been fully complied with.

It was therefore ordered by the commission¬ ers that the contract made with Eric Lund "having been fully complied with according to the terms and conditions of same, we there¬ fore accept said court house and dedicate the same to the use of the public, and to be used as and for the court house of Newton county, Indiana." circuit court to recover this difference from the signers of the indemnifying bond given to the commissioners but the court decided against them and the case was dismissed.

WHEN this county was stricken off from Jasper, the question of the location of a county seat for Newton county was a dis¬ turbing proposition. At that time very few people lived south of the Iroquois river in the territory so stricken off. Probably ninety per cent, of the population was north of the river. It seems it should have been an easy matter for the residents to have settled upon some satisfactory point for the location of the county seat and that all might have worked together to accomplish that result. There were, how¬ ever, several communities in the central part of the county, each working for the county seat and their influence was frittered away and destroyed by fighting one another. The principal towns contesting for the honor were Morocco, Brook, Beaver City, and a point about three miles east of Morocco, said to be the geographical center of the county. This i confusion of sentiment among the majority of the citizens gave the commissioners an excuse for locating the county seat, as they did, at the extreme south end of the county but on the line of the only railroad then passing within the boundaries.

Although the county seat had been legally located, the majority of citizens were still dis¬ satisfied, many of them being very bitter over the matter and it was not long until the ques¬ tion of removal was raised. The authority for this was found in a law, passed in 1855, for the removal and relocation of county seats by a petition of two-thirds of the legal voters of the county, to the board of commissioners, asking for such removal and relocation. And so the following efforts were made to remove the county seat from Kentland.

Number One

"John Darroch, John Coffelt, F. W. Ham, Andrew Hess, Silas Johnson and James Ar¬ chibald filed on the 4th day of September, i860, with the auditor of said county, a peti¬ tion for the removal of the county seat and its re-location at and on south half of the northwest quarter of section 36, town 29, range 9, averring that said petition contained the names or signatures of two-thirds of the legal voters of the county. And at the same time filed a deed for a site for county buildings, containing three and one-fourth acres of land, also deposited fifty dollars, as provided by law, for employing an architect.

(Prior to this time they had erected a build¬ ing to be used as a court house, an exact dupli¬ cate of the one at Kentland, on the proposed site for the re-location. This building stood for many years, known as the Beaver City Court House.)

objected to said petition as not containing twothirds of the legal voters of the county, it is therefore ordered that the several petitions be read and that any person, for cause, may chal¬ lenge any name thereon and show cause why such name should not be counted on the same."

"September 7, i860. Court met pursuant to adjournment. Present, same as yesterday. The whole day was spent in examining the petition for removal and the remonstrance against the same, and the evidence of witnesses as to their legality."

"September 8, i860. Case still in progress. The petitioners introduced the poll book of the last election, showing that 492 votes cast at that time be taken as the true number of voters in determining this case."

The court ruled that the act of 1855, under which the petitioners were acting, left the question an open one to be decided by the court, the same as any other question of fact, by the best evidence obtainable. The court ruled that the 492 votes cast at the last election fell short of the true number of legal voters in the county at that time. Therefore, the court was of the opinion that the 342 names on the petition and the 202 names remaining on the remonstrance made a total of 344, as the true number of legal voters in the county. And the petition not having two-thirds of the legal vot¬ ers on the same, it was therefore ordered that the case be dismissed.

The next movement made for the removal of the county seat was from the neighborhood of Brook, as shown by the following record of proceedings.

Number Two

"June 3, 1861. Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment. Present, William Russell, Michael Coffelt and Thomas R. Barker, when the following proceedings were had:

"C. E. Triplett, Z. Spider, John Lyons, An¬ drew Hess, and others, petitioners for the re¬ moval and re-location of the county seat from the town of Kent to a site near the town of Brook, to wit: on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 19, town 28, range 8, filed ten petitions said to contain 390 sig¬ natures to the same, also deed for five acres of ground as a site for public buildings, also bond of Z. Spitler for conveyance of 160 acres of land; also, to convey to the county every third lot in the town plat, to be laid out in said northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 19, town 28, range 8; also a bond for one thousand dollars to be used for the erec¬ tion of public buildings. The petitioners also filed a list of the votes cast at the last October election.

"The remonstrants then moved the court to strike from the petition for removal the name of all those who had, since signing said peti¬ tion, joined the United States army and been mustered into the service of the United States.

"June 7, 1861. Court again met when At¬ torney M. Collins made a motion that the peti¬ tioners be allowed to withdraw their suit and all papers be returned to them. Which motion was by the court overruled.

"And it was then ordered by the court that on account of the defects in the bond for the one thousand dollars that this case be now dis¬ missed and that all papers in the same be re¬ tained by the court."

Number Three

"Come now James Nelson and files petition said to contain the names of 685 legal voters asking for the re-location of the county seat of Newton county, Indiana, at Beaver City. Also, files deed for land as site for court house and jail, and pays into court $250, of which $100

"Comes also, A. J. Kent, by his attorneys, Baldwin and Wallace, and files motion to dis¬ miss said petition, which motion was overruled by the court."

"May 19, 1869. Court met pursuant to ad¬ journment. Appeared also the petitioners by Hammond and Spider, their attorneys, and moved the court to dismiss their proceedings with leave to withdraw all papers filed and money paid into court. Which motion was by the court allowed, and the case dismissed with¬ out prejudice."

Number Four

"Come now Daniel Ash, and 609 others, by Hammond and Spider, their attorneys, and file thirty petitions praying for the re-location of the county seat of Newton county, Indiana, at Morocco upon the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 21, town 29, range 9; also file deed for two and one-fourth acres of land as a site for the court house and jail; also tender and deposit the sum of $100 to pay an architect, and also the further sum of $150 to pay such damages as may be assessed against them, in conformity to the requirements of the law."

For some cause not disclosed in the records, the petitioners, by their attorneys, Spider and Hammond, did, on March 11, 1870, come into court and dismiss these proceedings with leave to withdraw all the papers, money, etc., filed by them in this case.

Number Five

"December 24, 1872. Commissioners' court ! of Newton county, Indiana, met pursuant to adjournment. Present, Andrew Hess and Daniel Gray, commissioners; John S. Veatch, auditor; William Patrick, sheriff, when the following proceedings were had:

"Comes now John W. Daveer, John Thompson and 952 others and file their peti¬ tion to re-locate the county seat of Newton county at Brook; also, file deed for two lots of ground as sites for court house and jail; also, file bond for all costs or damages herein.

"Comes now, C. B. Cones, A. J. Kent and 580 others, by Peter H. Ward, their attorney, and file their remonstrance against said re¬ location.

"Counsel for petitioners move to strike said remonstrance from the files of this court, to which counsel for remonstrants objects, and court now adjourns."

"The court, after hearing argument of coun¬ sel and being duly advised in the premises, orders that the remonstrance against the re¬ location of the county seat at Brook be stricken from the files of this court for insufficiency.

Number Six

"Come also John G. Perry and Patrick Keefe, by E. O'Brien, W. H. Martin and J. T. Saunderson, their attorneys, and file re¬ monstrance to said petition.

"The petitioners now offer to pay or deposit the sum of $100 to pay an architect, and the further sum of $150 to pay any damages that may be assessed against them.

"The court, after having duly considered the question, refuses to receive or allow to be paid in or deposited by said petitioners the sum of $100 to pay an architect, and the further sum of $150 to pay damages that may be as¬ sessed against them, offered to be paid after the filing of the remonstrance.

"Come now parties, by their respective counsel, and after hearing the evidence of wit¬ nesses presented and the argument of counsel thereon and being duly advised on the same,

"It is ordered by the court that the prayer of the petitioners for the removal of the county seat, as asked for in said petition, be refused.

A change of venue was afterward taken from the Newton circuit court to Jasper county, and from Jasper county taken to Tip¬ pecanoe county, and while the case was in the Tippecanoe circuit court, a case was decided in the supreme court involving the same points in dispute as in this case, adverse to the peti¬ tioners. On that account this case was dis¬ missed.

Prior to this time, all efforts made for the re¬ location of the county seat were, under the law of 1853, by petition. From this time on, action

It provided that if, at any regular session of the board of commissioners of Newton county, Indiana, four hundred legal voters and free¬ holders of said county, two hundred of whom had been freeholders at the last general elec¬ tion, shall present a petition praying that an election be held for the purpose of re-locating the county seat of said county at some point to be named in said petition, then such an election shall be called.

On compliance with these conditions the commissioners were required to fix a day for holding such election, the same to be not less than sixty nor more than ninety days from the date of granting the petition.

Within five days the clerk was to certify to the auditor the number of votes cast for and against said re-location, and if sixty-five per cent of the votes cast were in favor of re-loca¬ tion, the auditor was required to call the board of commissioners together within thirty days, they to take the necessary proceedings to carry out the requirements of the law for such re¬ location.

Number Seven

"April 2, 1900. Court met in regular ses¬ sion. Present, E. Parsons, Henry T. Griggs and F. Edmondson, commissioners; S. C. Jones, auditor, and Chester Wickwire, sheriff.

"Comes now Frank Davis and others, and presents petition praying that an election be held for the purpose of re-locating the county seat of Newton county, at the town of Moroc¬ co, and affidavits showing that said petition contained the names of four hundred free-

"And now come Carroll C. Kent, Patrick Keefe, George D. Rider, W. T. McCray, H. A. Strohm and J. V. Dodson and file their de¬ murrer to said petition.

"It is, therefore, ordered that the prayer of the petitioners be granted and that an election shall be held on the 19th day of June, 1900, and the auditor is hereby ordered to give the legal notices for the same as required by law."

This election, which is still remembered by all who lived in the county at the time, brought out I5I5 votes for a re-location and 1415 votes against the same.

Number Eight

"Before the board of commissioners of Newton county, Indiana. Present, Henry T. Griggs and W. F. Edmondson, commission¬ ers; S. C. Jones, auditor, and Jasper Collins, sheriff.

"Comes now John B. Lyons and others, and present to the board their petition praying for an election for the purpose of re-locating the county seat of said Newton county at Brook; also, at the same time files affidavit of two free¬ holders showing that said petition contains the names of four hundred freeholders and legal voters of said county, and that two hundred of said signers were freeholders and legal voters at the last general election in said county, as required by law; and also, at the same time files a bond for $3,000, as provided by law.

requirements of the law, did on the 3d day of July, 1900, order an election to be held for the purpose of determining whether the county 1 seat shall be re-located at the town of Brook, as prayed for in this petition.

"And the board did further order that said election shall be held on the 25th day of Sep- : tember, 1900, and that the auditor gave proper notices of the same, as required by law."

On September 25, 1900, an election was held in accordance with said order, at which time 1337 v°tes were cast for the re-location of the county-seat and 1208 votes cast against such re-location.

Number Nine

Petition for election to re-locate county seat at Goodland. Commissioners' court, Newton county; regular term, October i, 1900. Present, E. E. Parsons, Henry T. Griggs and

"Come now the petitioners, by Emery B. Sellers, their attorney, and present their peti¬ tion and bond praying that an election be held for the purpose of re-locating the county seat of Newton county at Goodland, with the affi¬ davit of three freeholders attached, showing that said petition has been signed by 400 free¬ holders and legal voters, 200 of whom were freeholders and legal voters at the last general election in said county.

"The court, finding that said petition, affi¬ davits and bond in all respects meet the re¬ quirements of the law do now order that an election be held in accordance with the prayer of the petitioners and that said election be held on the 30th day of J anuary, 1901 .

On trial of the appeal in the circuit court the action of the commissioners was sustained, whereupon the remonstrants took an appeal to the supreme court. Afterward, to wit, on the 19th day of March, 1902, the supreme court sustained the action of the circuit court and the commissioners of Newton county were ordered to fix another date for election.

The commissioners, on April 7, 1902, or¬ dered that a special election, for the purpose of determining the question as to the re-location of the county seat at Goodland, be held on June 7, 1902.

buildings at Kentland met and reported the same to be of the value of $1,000. Said report was signed by Albert M. Burns, Anthony A. Anheir and George W. Williams.

Afterward, on August 27, 1902, John R. Davis commenced action in the circuit court to restrain the county commissioners from let¬ ting contracts for the erection of county build¬ ings at the town of Goodland, and the court did, on the 1st day of September, 1902, refuse to grant the order prayed for.

On January 29, 1903, Elmer R. Bringham commenced suit in the Newton circuit court, asking that a writ of mandate be granted com¬ manding the commissioners of Newton county to let a contract for the building of a court house at Goodland.

Afterward the writ of mandate was granted by the judge of the White county circuit court. An appeal was taken to the supreme court of the state of Indiana, which court did, at its November term, 1903, in a lengthy decision

(reported in volume 161, page 616, of the reports of the supreme court), decide that the act of March 2, 1899, on which act this case was based, was unconstitutional, and that all proceedings under it were void.

This decision of the supreme court prac¬ tically ended the long struggle for the removal of the county seat from Kentland. The pro¬ jection of a new north-and-south railroad through Kentland, connecting it with the northern points of the county, and the building of a new court house, both operated to make the removal less advisable.

County Sheriffs

AFTER the taking effect of the new state constitution in 1852, and the action of the legislature necessary to put the provisions of the same in force, the present school system came into existence and has continued until the Indiana school system has for several years been a model for other states to follow.

The first school house erected by any organ¬ ized body in Newton county was in 1854, when a small frame building was constructed in the town of Morocco. It stood about a square north of where the Farmers' Bank is now located, and cost about $300. No better illustration of the advancement made in our system of schools can be shown than by copy¬ ing the last report of W. O. Schanlaub, super¬ intendent of schools for Newton county, which he has kindly furnished me for this purpose.

School Statistics For 1908-1909 Churches And Preachers

BEFORE going into any general history of church work in Newton county, I want to speak of the work done by individuals rather than by organized congregations. The work to which I refer was done by men who have passed on to receive their reward for the deeds done in the name of their Master. Their lives of self-sacrifice and devotion to duty still de¬ serve from us a tribute of respect and thank¬ fulness for the influence they exerted and the examples left to us who are so much more fa¬ vorably situated than were they. We are now enjoying many blessings which have come down to us through the influence of their lives and their teachings.

The memory of my association with these men is one that I treasure. I was well ac¬ quainted with all that I may name and I can truthfully claim them as personal friends.

We sometimes fail to appreciate the value ; a community receives from the life and in- j fluence of a good man living in it. In fact, there are many communities to-day that are in¬ fluenced, morally and religiously, by the lives of men who have passed away years ago, of whom it may truthfully be said, "Though dead, their influence still lives."

One of the neighborhoods most fortunate in the character of the early residents was that on the north side of the Iroquois river, nearly due north of the present town of Kentland. This was known as the Kenoyer and Myers set¬ tlement. Frederick Kenoyer and Jacob Ken¬ oyer were father and son, both preachers, and members of the United Brethren church. Jacob Kenoyer was quite prominent in that church. He was a good preacher and also a very fine singer. He opened his meetings by doing his own singing, generally singing some hymn of his own composition. He was con¬ sidered a fine preacher, well known and re¬ spected, not only in the church of his choice, but by his neighbors and a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. He died on July 23, 1870, comparatively a young man, in his forty-ninth year, honored and respected by all who knew him. The elder Kenoyer was not so widely known. He and his wife both lived to a good old age, dying a very few days apart.

George Myers and Robert Edmondson were both preachers, living in the same neighbor¬ hood - the Kenoyer settlement. They were good and useful men who have long since gone to their reward.

Two or three miles west of Morocco was what might well be called the Johnson and Archibald neighborhood. Of the Johnsons there were Silas, John F. and Dempsey; and of the Archibalds, William, Robert and James - all men of integrity and uprightness of char¬ acter. They were all members of the Chris¬ tian church, and it was due to their influence that the Christian church gained such a strong footing in Newton and Jasper counties, Indi¬ ana, and Iroquois county, Illinois.

berry as preachers and teachers in those early days. Leaving home on horseback Saturday morning, they often rode twenty or thirty miles, preaching twice or three times on Sun¬ day. On Monday they would retrace their way back to their homes, where they would work the rest of the week on their farms, to provide for the wants of their families. Very often their teaching was misunderstood and misin¬ terpreted, for we of these days know but little of the strife and confusion existing between the different religious bodies of that time; but every one to-day, who was acquainted with those men, especially Silas Johnson, has only words of praise and commendation for them and their labors. I think it would be safe to state that hundreds of men and women to-day are living lives of faithfulness to the religion of Christ by reason of the steadfastness of these men to their religious convictions.

The Brook neighborhood was equally fortu¬ nate in the character of their early settlers. There was the Lyons family - John, Samuel and Morris - all first-class men; with Philip

Earl and Samuel Benjamin - a body of men any neighborhood might well be proud to claim. These, with the Hess families, Andrew and David, gave to that community a safe moral condition which is still in evidence. Their upright examples have influenced not only their own descendants, but all who asso¬ ciate with them.

Morocco Churches

As Morocco was the first town started in the county, and in it was built the first build¬ ing used and owned by any organized re¬ ligious body, a description of the same would seem naturally to claim our attention at this time. The building referred to was erected about 1856, on the same site the old log house occupied. It was a good, comfortable build¬ ing, having two front doors, as all church buildings had in those days - one entrance for the men and the other for the women. At that time it was not thought to be proper for a man and his wife to sit together on the same seat in

The first preachers for the Methodist peo¬ ple, after I went to Morocco, were James Far¬ ris, from near Francisville, and Isaac Sayler, living near Rensselaer. They were both local preachers and came to Morocco to conduct services at irregular intervals. The Rev. Farris was the father of the Hon. George Farris, who lately represented the Terre Haute district in congress.

At the present time Morocco has five church organizations, viz., Methodist, United Breth¬ ren Baptist, Christian and Catholic, all hav¬ ing good churches in which to meet.

The First Baptist Church of Morocco was organized in 1897. Pastors who have served said church are: Mr. Faulk, W. C. Carpenter, I. W. Bailey, J. M. Caldwell and F. A. Morrow, the latter still serving in that capac¬ ity. They have a fine, large building, which cost in the neighborhood of $8,000, and they are now out of debt.

as elder, and George W. Murphey, George H. Bell and Theo. F. Clark as deacons. Prior to this time, however, there had been preaching by L. M. McDermott, J. H. Edwards and D. M. Johnson.

A protracted meeting was held a short time previous to the organization, by Elder Craft, at which time quite a number were baptized by him, making a sufficient number to warrant the organization. In the fall of the same year (1887) a frame church building was erected, and on February 5, 1888, the same was dedi¬ cated by L. L. Carpenter, of Wabash, Indiana. From this time there was preaching by such men as Elders Hubbard, Anderson, McNeil, Shoemaker and Campbell. From January, 1892, until September, 1893, D. M. Honn was pastor. Following him came A. L. Ferguson, S. Moot and W. L. Stein, in the order named.

During 1899 Thomas Shuey held a threet weeks' meeting. George W. Watkins served the church as pastor from February, 1900, to October, 1901. He was followed by C. G. Brelas, and it was during the latter's ministry that the new edifice was erected and dedicated j: September 13, 1903, by Charles R. Scoville, of j Chicago, who held a two-weeks meeting following the dedication.

Following this, the church was served by Frank C. Higgins, George Musson, E. C. 1 Boynton, George B. Stewart. Everett Gates, 1 of Chicago, was engaged, closing his work in January, 1909, when L. P. Builta became min¬ ister and retains that position at this time. \

In the month of February, 1910, L. E. Sel¬ lers and LeRoy St. John held a protracted meeting for the church, resulting in sixty-two additions to the membership of the church, which now numbers about two hundred.

Brook Churches

The first Methodist church building erected in Brook was a frame structure erected during the pastorate of B. C. McReynolds, in 1886 or 1887, although there had been Methodist preaching in the neighborhood as far back as 1840. The present brick building was erected in 1889, and dedicated in January, 1900. The building is centrally located, opposite McKin¬ ley park. It is modern in its architecture and appointments, and I do not think it would be out of place to say it is a standing monument to the energy and liberality of John Esson, although he was not a member of that church.

The first religious services I attended in Brook were held by the Methodists in 1857, in a new barn on the farm of Morris Lyons. There were two preachers present, one by the name of Johnson, the other called Stevenson, who resided in the south part of Benton county and was afterward appointed chaplain of the 15th Indiana regiment. Mr. Stevenson preached the sermon on this occasion.

He was a man of fine talent and educational ability, but with these qualities he combined a little eccentricity in everything he did. Many funny anecdotes are related of him dur¬ ing his connection with the army. One story was related to me by an officer of his regiment. While they were stationed in West Virginia, in the early part of the war, a correspondent of the Indianapolis Journal visited the regiment, and in a letter written to that paper he spoke j of Chaplain Stevenson as being a "brick." This was a new term to the chaplain, as applied to individuals, and being uncertain as to whether ; it was complimentary or otherwise, he took the precaution to inquire of the other officers as to its significance. They informed him the word suggested a man who was tough and im¬ moral in his character, one who became drunk, and gambled, and had all the other vices they could think of. The chaplain at once opened up a correspondence with the Journal in which he fiercely and emphatically denied the charges made against him in the letter of their correspondent, and wanted it distinctly under¬ stood that he was not a "brick."

During the progress of the services in the barn above referred to, a hen flew down out of the hay-mow where she had deposited an egg, and, as hens invariably do, she made a great fuss about her achievement, calling the atten¬ tion of every one to the fact that she had ac¬ complished something for which she deserved world-wide fame. As a matter of fact, this method of announcement is not confined ex¬ clusively to hens. During the interruption Mr. Stevenson stopped his preaching and re¬ marked, "I wonder what that old hen wants. She can't get religion."

A few years afterward I met Mr. Stevenson and spoke to him, calling him by name. He wanted to know how I knew him. I told him where I met him - at the time he preached in the new barn at Brook.

At the present time Brook has three good churches, United Brethren, Methodist and Christian - all live, active, working organiza¬ tions and each denomination having a good, substantial brick building in which to worship.

Kentland Churches

The first religious service in the town of Kent was held in the loft over the storeroom of Ross & Peacock, which stood facing the rail¬ road, near the site of the present Fletcher blacksmith shop. A Baptist minister preached there a few times during the year i860. After the Kent Hotel was completed, services were held in the waiting-room by Jacob Kenoyer, a Mr. Bloomer, and possibly by others. After the United Brethren church was built, it was used occasionally by other denominations. A union Sunday school was established and maintained as such for ten years or more, when for some cause or other it split up and separate schools were established.

Prior to the building of the first Methodist Episcopal church building in Kentland, in the year 1870, the following officiated as min¬ isters for that congregation : D. S. Dunham, in 1861 ; Miles H. Wood, 1862; Mr. Stranahan, in 1863, and E. W. Lawhon in 1864. The lat¬ ter was the first regularly stationed preacher of that church. During the week, he worked for C. Rettinger in his shoe shop, as he was by trade a shoemaker. He was a faithful, con¬ sistent Christian, carrying on his church work under many difficulties, some of which grew out of differences of opinion arising on account of the Civil War. The violence of the preju¬ dices at that time it is almost impossible for us to realize in this day.

Following him came Isaac Sailor, in 1865, although he was not regularly located here; H. C. Woodhams, in 1866; Miles H. Wood, 1867; J. M. Blye, 1868. Charles W. Tarr ; was here from 1869 to 1871, and during his ministry the former church building was erected. He went from Kentland, at the ex¬ piration of his term, to Los Angeles, Cal¬ ifornia, where it was a pleasure for me to meet him and his wife in 1908.

The building mentioned above was dedi¬ cated July 19, 1870, by John M. Reid, D. D. About $3,000 was raised on that day to pay the indebtedness, the cost of same being about $4,000.

The Presbyterian church of Kentland was organized in 1867, by C. Palmer, of Watseka, Illinois, and occasional services were held in the old court house until 1870, when the con¬ gregation built a frame meeting-house costing about a thousand dollars. It is still in evidence as a store-house used by Schuh and Son.

The Christian Church of Kentland was or¬ ganized March 21, 1876. Prior to that time there had been transient preaching by Silas Johnson, S. M. Conner, L. L. Carpenter and others.

May 6, 1876, W. H. Graham, Ezra B. Jones and John Ade were elected trustees and in¬ structed to purchase the United Brethren meeting-house, which instruction was com¬ plied with and a deed secured for the said property. This building was used by the Christian church until 1907, when a new

In the early existence of this organization the pulpit was filled temporarily by such preachers as A. M. Atkinson, S. Rohrer, J. P. Davis, and others. In 1876 Mr. Hendryx was employed to preach for one year; in 1877 J* H. Edwards became pastor, serving some eighteen months. Following him, John Ellis supplied the pulpit half the time, and in the intervals came many other preachers, among whom were W(illiam Kraft, Robert Ireland, Ira Chase, S. M. Conner and F. P. Franklin. In 1880 L. M. McDermott preached for this church a little more than a year. For several years the pulpit was supplied temporarily by the Revs. Hires, Henegen, Gilchrist, Hub¬ bard, Dempsey Johnson, Orlando Johnson, Rodman Mcllwain, and others. Mr. and Mrs. Crank were employed to preach in December, 1895, remaining until September 1, 1898.

1 two years. In 1900, L. J. Shuey was engaged and served the church a short time, after which 1 H. A. Wingard was minister and served until i J. L. Brady was employed, who preached from January 1, 1902 until January 1, 1909. During this period the new church building was erected. From January 1, 1909, until March 1, 1910, J. N. Cloe served as minister, at which last date Mr. Bennett succeeded him as pastor, which brings it up to the present time.

During the early sixties there were a number of Catholic families living in the vicinity of Kentland, and the, first priest to visit them came from Logansport, Indiana. Services were held at intervals in the court house until 1864, when J. A. Stephan took charge of the i mission. During the same year the first church building was erected. This was a wooden structure, 40 by 60 feet, at a cost of about $1,000.

In 1872 the present brick parsonage was j erected, and in 1888 the present brick edifice, at a cost of $8,000. The old church building, with considerable remodeling, was trans¬ formed into school-rooms, and is still used as such by the parochial school.

Goodland Churches

The thriving town of Goodland has six church organizations, all housed in attractive buildings. They are: Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Lutheran and Hol¬ land. I regret that I cannot give detailed in¬ formation as to the worthy records made by these churches.

In this connection I wish to explain that, in neglecting to devote space to Goodland, I have no desire to overlook the claims of Grant town¬ ship, where I have many friends. This little volume is not a complete history of all parts of Newton county, but largely a record of events and conditions that came under my personal observation. I was familiar with early hap¬ penings at Morocco, Brook and Kentland, but I never resided in Grant township and have no first-hand knowledge of its history.

The town of Goodland was laid out by Tim¬ othy Foster in 1861. At that time the town was called Tivola, afterward changed to Goodland - a very appropriate name, taking into consideration the quality of the lands sur¬ rounding the town.

At that time there were but few settlers in the vicinity of the town, and it was not until about 1870 that emigration set in this direc¬ tion, principally a kind of flow-back from Illi¬ nois - very largely from the neighborhood of Ottawa, through the influence of Abner Strawn, who had business investments at

Goodland and also engaged in the purchase and sale of lands in this vicinity. At that time land was so very much cheaper here than in Illinois that many farmers in that state sold out and moved over here, buying land along the line of the railroad from Efifner to Wol¬ cott, often getting three acres in Indiana for the price of one in Illinois. At the present time the land in the neighborhood of Goodland is all under the highest state of cultivation and selling for $150 to $175 per acre. The town itself has made a steady growth, and, in every way, compares most favorably with the Other prosperous towns along the Pennsyl¬ vania railroad.

The town of Goodland had the misfortune to lose its public school building by fire a few years ago, but the new building is a fine struc¬ ture and a credit to the community.

MOROCCO, the oldest town in Newton county, was laid out by John Murphy, January 28, 1851, since which time the follow¬ ing additions have been made to the original plat:

THE first newspaper in Jasper county was called the Jasper Banner. This was es¬ tablished at Rensselaer in 1853. It was neutral in politics, with John McCarthy as editor. However, in the campaign of 1856 it came out strongly as a democratic paper. Because of this change in policy of the Banner , the Rensselaer Gazette came into existence and brought out its first issue on April 29, 1857, with the statement: "The Gazette will be re¬ publican in politics now and forever." Mr. D. F. Davies was the first editor of the latter paper, and in 1859 he sold out to I. N. S. Alter and Thomas Burroughs.

The first newspaper established after the or¬ ganization of Newton county was at Kentland, and the issue came out on the 26th day of Sep¬ tember, 1861. It was called the Newton

County Chronotype , with V. B. Cowen as its editor. For a short time this paper, under the management of Bissell, Ade & Ross, with its name changed to Newton County Union , was published as a republican paper. On De¬ cember 16, 1863, H. Wyatt became editor and continued to act as such until March 24, 1864, when the paper suspended.

On February 2, 1865, Streight & Watson bought the office and changed the name of the paper to the Newton County Gazette. On May 26, 1865, the office was sold to J. H. Horrell and Company, who changed the name to the Citizen.

On July 21, 1866, McKernan & Horrell purchased the paper. On October 27, 1866, McKernan bought out his partner and re¬ mained proprietor until February 16, 1867, when O. P. Hervey became owner and editor. D. S. McKernan again became the owner, on May 25, 1867.

Up to this time the paper had been repub¬ lican, but it adopted a neutral policy until August 3, 1867, when John B. Conner became the editor and proprietor and made it a repub¬ lican paper again.

On July 23, 1874, ^e Gazette was purchased by J. M. Arnout and S. P. Conner. On May 24, 1877, John French bought out the interest of J. M. Arnout.

On April 17, 1879, Edwin Graham pur¬ chased the interest of S. P. Conner and the firm became French & Graham, and was finally changed to French & Conner, by R. A. Conner purchasing the interest of Edwin Gra¬ ham.

On December 13, 1870, the office was de¬ stroyed by fire, and again in 1883 it suffered a like calamity. Notwithstanding these severe losses, in each instance the paper almost im¬ mediately resumed publication and made weekly visits to its numerous patrons.

John G. Davis and John W. Randall pur¬ chased the Gazette from French & Bramble on April 30, 1891, changing the name of the paper to the Newton County Enterprise . About one year later John W. Randall sold his interest in the paper to Harry Strohm, and for a few months the firm name was Davis & Strohm. Shortly after this John G. Davis sold his interest to Dodson Brothers, and the paper was published by Strohm & Dodson until Jan¬ uary 1, 1908, when Charles M. Davis became one of the proprietors. On that date the firm incorporated under the title of the Enterprise Printing Company, under which name it is still conducted to this date (March, 1911).

The Newton County Democrat was estab¬ lished August 6, 1862, with W. C. Rose as editor. In the spring of 1863 the office passed into other hands and John McCarthy became editor. He continued to run the paper until the fall of 1863. The paper then suspended tired. On March 13, 1873, C. Root and Ed¬ win Graham became the publishers. On June 13, 1 873, Mr. Root retired and Mr. Spotswood again became editor.

The Democrat suspended on July 10, 1873. On August 28, 1874, the paper came forth un¬ der the name of the People's Press , with John B. Spotswood and W. L. Dempster as editors and publishers.

In November, 1874, Mr. Spotswood be¬ came sole editor and publisher. The fire of 1883 destroyed the office, and no effort was made to restore it.

Prior to this time, the Newton County News was started as a democratic paper by D. J. Eastburn. This was in December, 1881. In March, 1883, it was leased by Abram

The Democrat again came into existence on September 12, 1884, with A. J. Kitt as pub¬ lisher and editor. On February 13, 1885, John B. Spotswood became editor of the Kentland Democrat and retained control of the paper until his death, which occurred October it, 1893.

From that date until June 4, 1894, the paper was run by the administrator of the Spotswood estate, with Edward Steinbach as editor. On June 4, 1904, the paper was sold to Charles F. Wigmore, who edited the same until Novem¬ ber 17, 1894. On November 17, 1894, Ed¬ ward Steinbach purchased the paper and has controlled it as publisher and editor to the present date (March, 1911).

r | 'HE first railroad project afifecting New¬ ton county was a proposal to build a line from Fort Wayne to Rock Island, Illinois, passing through Rensselaer and Newton county at a point about three miles north of Morocco. This was in 1854. There was consid¬ erable grading done through Jackson and Beaver townships, but that was as far as the undertaking progressed at that time.

In 1871 this scheme was again revived, un¬ der the name of the Continental Railway Company. Considerable grading was done east from Rensselaer but none in Newton county. The financial troubles of 1873 doomed the enterprise to failure and the people to an¬ other disappointment.

the southern part of the county, was built in 1859, the first train passing over the route in December, 1859; but the road was not open for business until March, i860. When this road was built there was scarcely any one liv¬ ing on the line from Reynolds to the state line, it being at that time an unsettled waste. This was afterward very largely settled by a flowback from Illinois.

What is known as the Big Four railroad was built in 1871. It cuts off a portion of Newton county in the extreme southwest portion of the same. There is about a mile and a quarter

The Monon railroad runs through the northern part of the county. The town of Rose Lawn is on the Monon. This road, built i in 1878, was at first narrow gauge, but a few years after was changed to standard. There was a great celebration in Rensselaer on Feb¬ ruary 14, 1875, on account of the completion of this road. Alfred McCoy made a barbe¬ cue, roasted an ox, etc.

road, running through Goodland, Foresman, Julian and Mount Ayr, was completed and opened up for business. In 1888 a branch of the same road, through Brook and Morocco, was built.

What is generally known as the I. I. I. road, a part of the New York Central system, was completed in 1883. There is about one and three-quarters miles in this county, in the ex¬ treme northeast corner.

In 1905 the Chicago, Indiana & Southern railroad, from Danville, Illinois, to Indiana Harbor, was built and the first trains were run over the road in December of that year. This, being a part of the New York Central system, is a great road and runs through the towns of Kentland, Ade, Morocco, Enos, Conrad and Lake Village, crossing near the center of the old bed of Beaver Lake.

ANY record of the part taken by Newton county in the effort to suppress the re¬ bellion of 1861-1865 must necessarily be very brief and meager. Volumes might be written regarding the Civil War and then the subject would not be exhausted, as every movement of troops, every battle fought, every effort made to bring peace again to our nation, concerned not only those directly engaged in such efforts, but affected every loyal citizen of our country, wherever he might reside. The one and only object of all effort in the North was to sup¬ press the rebellion and preserve from dissolu¬ tion the union of the states. So, what was done by Newton county to accomplish this result was relatively a small part of the whole, yet the great final achievement was one which the whole world now applauds and gratefully ac- knowledges to have been for the very best in¬ terests of all factions concerned. In speaking of the Civil War I shall deal only with the part taken by Newton county in this great contest.

Unless one lived during that period and took some part in those stirring events, he must fall far short of comprehending the intensity of feeling marking that period of our history, during four years of desperate struggle for a nation's existence.

It was the first time this part of the country had been involved in real warfare. A few years earlier there had been a war with Mex¬ ico, but Newton county was too sparsely set¬ tled to take any organized part.

Threats had been made and there were dark forebodings in the minds of many of our peo¬ ple, yet we were little prepared to receive the news which fell like a thunderbolt in our midst on that Sunday morning, April 14, 1861.

f When the people fully realized that a state of war really existed, every one was wrought up to the highest pitch of excitement. No other subject was talked about or thought about and

On Monday, April 15, Governor Morton telegraphed the president his tender of 10,000 men on behalf of the state of Indiana. On the same day President Lincoln issued his proclamation calling for 75,00 o men.

On April 16, Governor Morton issued his proclamation calling upon the loyal men of the state to organize into companies and report forthwith to the adjutant-general. The response from every part of the state was prompt and generous. The day after the call 500 men were in camp. On the 19th there were 2,400, and in less than seven days 12,000 had been tendered.

Ninth Indiana Volunteers

The first body of troops accepted from this 1 part of the state consisted of a company from Jasper and Newton counties. They formed a part of the 9th Regiment of Infantry and were mustered into service on April 25, 1861, for three months. This company was officered by Robert H. Milroy, captain; Gideon C. Moody, first lieutenant, and Edwin P. Ham¬ mond, second lieutenant. At the expiration of the three months' service they reorganized and went into the three years' service, with twentyfive men from Newton county. This was Company G.

It is a remarkable fact, and shows the kind of material composing this company, that be¬ fore the war closed one was a major-general, three were colonels, while a number were cap¬ tains and lieutenants.

Before the regiment went to the front, Rob¬ ert H. Milroy was appointed colonel, and so remained until his promotion to take charge of a brigade.

The 9th Regiment participated in the fol¬ lowing battles: Greenbriar, Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Wildcat Mountain, Stone River Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission ary Ridge, all the battles of the Sherman cam¬ paign to Atlanta, also the battles of Franklin and Nashville.

After this it was transferred to Texas, where it remained as a part of Sheridan's army of occupation, until September, 1865, when it was mustered out and returned to Indiana, with honors second to no regiment in the serv¬ ice.

Fifteenth Indiana Volunteers

Communication with Washington by tele¬ graph being cut off, no response to this offer was received. Governor Morton then deter¬ mined to anticipate the further calls of the government, and to this end proceeded to or¬ ganize on his own responsibility, as the com¬ mander-in-chief of the militia, five regiments of twelve-month volunteers for the defense of the state. There were at this time twenty-nine companies at Camp Morton, the general ren¬ dezvous, besides sixty-eight other companies that had been raised and tendered to the gov¬ ernor.

On the 7th of May, 1861, orders were issued for the organization of these companies into six regiments, the legislature having endorsed the action of the governor and added one more regiment to the number. On the 1 ith of May, 1861, five regiments were reported as having the full complement of men, with a surplus of six companies in camp.

years was at once submitted to the state regi¬ ments. The 13th, 14th, 13th and 17th promptly accepted the proposition, except for a few who declined to volunteer for three years and were at once discharged.

The 13th Regiment was mustered into the United States' service at Camp Tippecanoe, Lafayette, June 14, 1861, with George D. Wagner as colonel. Soon after, it moved to Indianapolis, whence it proceeded by rail on the 1 st of July for western Virginia.

Company H of this regiment was comprised of nearly an equal number of men from each of the counties of Newton and Jasper, the fol¬ lowing having enlisted from Newton county:

The 15th Regiment was in the battles of Greenbrier, Rich Mountain, Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Stone River and Missionary Ridge. In the latter battle this regiment took a con¬ spicuous part, suffering heavily. Its loss was 202 men out of 334 engaged, being over sixty per cent. The day after this battle it marched ville, traveling ioo miles in six days. Many were without shoes and on short rations. The regiment remained near Knoxville until Feb¬ ruary, 1864, when it returned to Chattanooga, and on the 14th of June, 1864, it left there for Indianapolis, where it was mustered out of the service.

Fifty-First Indiana Volunteers

The 51st Regiment was organized at In¬ dianapolis on the nth of October, 1861, and mustered in on the 14th of December, 1861, : with A. D. Streight as colonel, Benjamin J. Spooner, lieutenant-colonel; William H. j Colescott, major, and Erasmus B. Collins, sur¬ geon.

Albert Light died at Lebanon, Kentucky, February 24, 1862, and Adolphus Wonder was promoted to first lieutenant March 15, 1862 ; promoted to captain June 30, 1863 ; died in prison at Charleston, South Carolina, Sep¬ tember, 1864. He was recognized as an able officer and had the respect of all the company.

The Fifty-first left Indianapolis for the front December 16, 1861, passing through Louisville on the 1 8th of the same month; through Bardstown and Lebanon, Kentucky, and in the latter part of January, 1862, took part in the battle of Hall's Gap, near Somer¬ set. At this point, the confederate general, Zollicoffer, was killed, the enemy routed, and a large amount of guns and cannon captured.

I On February 12, 1862, they returned to Lebanon, Kentucky, and there they left a large number of sick. It was at this point Lieuten¬ ant Albert Light died, also William Board. John Lowe and several others were left here. Many of them were sick with measles and be¬ cause of exposure took severe colds which proved fatal in many cases.

In this early stage of the war the government was unable to provide proper care for the sick and wounded men. In Lebanon, the latter part of February, 1862, at which time I was there, there were fifteen hundred sick sol- diers. Stores, churches and all public buildings were filled with the sick, all lying on the floors. A few had blankets but a large major¬ ity had not, and lay in rows on the floor as closely together as they could be placed. In fact, it was about as sad a sight as I met at any time during the war. The object of my trip to Lebanon was to bring back the body of Lieu¬ tenant Albert Light, and at the same time I as¬ sisted John Lowe in procuring a furlough to come back home.

The 51st took part in the battle of Stone River on the 31st of December, 1862, and Jan¬ uary 1st and 2d, 1863, losing forty-nine men in killed and wounded. After this engagement the regiment remained in the vicinity of Mur¬ freesboro until the month of April, 1863, when the 31st and the 73d Indiana, 3d Ohio and 80th Illinois, all under the command of Colonel Streight, headed for Rome, Georgia, for the purpose of making a raid in the rear of Bragg's army. On the 29th and 30th of April, 1863, they were overtaken by the rebel cavalry under General Forrest. What is known as the

On the 1st of May another battle took place, and the enemy was again defeated. On the fol¬ lowing day another engagement was fought near Gadsden, Alabama. In this fight Colonel Hathaway, of the 73d Indiana, was killed.

On the 3d of May, it was again overtaken by the forces of General Forrest, and com¬ pelled to surrender. After being kept prison¬ ers for some time, the enlisted men were pa¬ roled for exchange, and went into camp at In¬ dianapolis in the early part of June, 1863. On the 9th of February, 1864, part of the Union officers, one hundred and nine in all - Colonel Streight among them - made their escape from Libby Prison by digging a tunnel under the prison walls. This tunnel was about sixty feet long. Of the one hundred and nine who crawled through, fifty-five were recaptured and taken back. The fifty-four, after suffering severely, finally reached the Union lines, after ten month's confinement in rebel prisons. The balance of the officers were not released until nearly the close of the war.

In November, 1863, the regiment was ex¬ changed, and joined the army at Nashville. In February, 1864, the regiment reenlisted as veterans, and during the campaign of 1864 did duty at Chattanooga. On the 13th of Decem¬ ber this regiment participated in the battle of Nashville, and afterward joined in the pur¬ suit of the retreating rebels. Going as far as Huntsville, Alabama, they remained there un¬ til March, 1865. About the first of May, 1863, they returned to Nashville. In June, 1863, the 31st was ordered to Texas, and was stationed near San Antonio until November, 1863. It was subsequently ordered north and was mus¬ tered Out December 13, 1863.

The principal battles in which the 51st regi¬ ment engaged were Shiloh, Corinth, Perrysville, Stone River, Columbia, Franklin, Nash¬ ville and Overton's Hill.

Ninety-Ninth Indiana Volunteers

Company E, of this regiment, was organ¬ ized in August, 1862, and rendezvoused in South Bend, with Daniei Ash, as captain, com¬ missioned August 22, 1862. Samuel Moore was first lieutenant. The members from New¬ ton county were as follows :

November to Memphis and was assigned to the 3d brigade, first division, 1 6th army corps. During the winter of 1862-63, this regiment was placed on duty guarding the Memphis & Charleston Railroad. On May 6, 1863, it embarked on steamers and went down the river, joining the forces of General Grant, be¬ sieging Vicksburg on the 4th day of July, 1863. The same day Grant took possession of Vicks¬ burg. This regiment marched with Sherman's command for Jackson, Mississippi, and had a severe skirmish on Big Black River, reaching Jackson on July 9th. On July 16th the rebels evacuated Jackson, and Sherman's command took possession of the place. The regiment then returned to Big Black river, where it re¬ mained in camp until the latter part of Sep¬ tember. It was ordered to Chattanooga, arriv¬ ing there on the 24th of November, 1863. On the following day it took part in the Battle of Missionary Ridge. Immediately after this bat¬ tle it was ordered to Knoxville to relieve Gen¬ eral Burnside, then besieged at that place. From Chattanooga to Knoxville there was fighting nearly all the time. Many of the men were barefooted, destitute of blankets, and were without regular rations or supplies. Ar¬ riving at Knoxville the Union forces com¬ pelled Longstreet to retreat, relieving General Burnside. A short time after the regiment was ordered to Scottsboro, Alabama, reaching that point on December 26, 1863.

The regiment remained in camp at Scotts¬ boro until the 1st of May, 1864, when it took part in what was known as the Atlanta cam¬ paign. It was in the engagement at Resaca on May 14th; at Dallas on the 28th; and on the 15th of June it participated in a charge at Big Shanty. There was continuous skirmishing every day. It also took part in the battle in front of Atlanta, which lasted from July 20th to the 28th, on different parts of the line. On October 3d, it joined in the pursuit of General Hood, and had a fight at Little River, Geor¬ gia, on the 26th, and after a march of two hundred miles it again reached Atlanta.

the sea. On the 15th of December it took part in the charge upon Fort McAllister which, after a desperate struggle with its garrison, surrendered, and thus opened Sherman's com¬ munication with the sea. After several skir¬ mishes at different points, the regiment finally reached Washington City on June 5, 1865, and was mustered out of the service.

The 99th regiment left for the field with 900 men, and returned from its campaign with 425 officers and men. It marched, during its terms of service, over four thousand miles.

Upon arriving at Indianapolis this regiment wa's present at a reception for returned soldiers given in the state house grounds, on June nth, and was welcomed home by Governor Morton and others.

One Hundred And Twenty-Eighth Indiana

This regiment was recruited in the winter of 1863, rendezvoused at Michigan City, and was mustered into service March 18, 1864, with Richard P. DeHart as colonel, and Jas- per Packard, lieutenant-colonel. Company A, of this regiment, comprised a large number of Newton county men, with James Bissell as captain, and Joseph Blessing as second lieu¬ tenant. At the time of his enlistment, Captain Bissell was a prominent lawyer of Kentland. He was killed about November 30, 1864, near Franklin, Tennessee.

On March 23, 1864, the 128th Regiment left Michigan City, proceeding by way of Indianapolis to Louisville and then to Nash¬ ville. On April 6, 1864, it left Nashville for the front, byway of Stevenson, Bridgeport and Chattanooga, reaching Charleston, East Ten¬ nessee, on April 21, 1864.

Battle of Resaca followed. Immediately fol¬ lowing this came the battles of Dallas, New Hope Church, Lost Mountain, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta and Jonesboro. From this time on, during the next four months, the regiment, or some portion of it, was on the

On June 6, 1864, Colonel DeHart, having been disabled by wounds, Lieutenant-Colonel Packard assumed command of the regiment. All through the month of October, 1864, the regiment took part in the chase after General Hood, who was attempting to advance and capture Nashville.

On October 30, the regiment was ordered to Chattanooga, joining the forces of General Thomas at that point. From here it was taken to Nashville to oppose the forces of General Hood, then advancing in that direction. From there the regiment moved to Columbia again to meet the advances of General Hood and his forces. On November 24, the Union forces met the enemy, and for six days severe skirmishing took place, one-half of the regi-

| rnent being alternately on the skirmish line. In the meantime, the Union army fell back to Franklin, where a desperate fight took place, 1 but the enemy was finally repulsed. The regi¬ ment again fell back to Nashville, where a final stand was taken.

On December 15, 1864, General Thomas moved upon the enemy, and, after two days of hard fighting, utterly defeated General Hood, driving his demoralized command beyond the waters of the Tennessee river. The regiment took part in pursuit of the retreating forces,

In these battles, around Franklin and Nash¬ ville, Newton county had more men killed and wounded than in all the rest of the battles of the war combined - not all of the killed and wounded, however, were in the 128th Regiment.

Va. On February 20, it sailed to Fort Fisher, North Carolina, going from there to Moorehead City, North Carolina. Early in March it marched along the Atlantic & North Car¬ olina railway, repairing the road as it ad¬ vanced. On the 8th of March, the Union forces encountered the enemy near Kingston, and for two days heavy skirmishing resulted. On the 10th, the enemy made heavy assaults, but were repulsed and fled in great disorder. This regiment took an active part in the en¬ counter, losing heavily in killed and wounded. On the 20th it left Kingston and moved to Goldsboro, being assigned to duty in that city. From there it went to Raleigh, North Car¬ olina. Remaining at Raleigh until the spring of 1866, the regiment was ordered home and mustered out April 13, 1866.

In Other Regiments

In the 1 2th Indiana Cavalry, from Newton county, were: Daniel M. Graves, a captain; Henry E. Ash, Mahlon Fell, William Flem¬ ing, Albert S. Graves, Thomas Staton, Elijah M. Standridge and John Strohm.

Joseph Ade enlisted in the 6th Ohio Infan¬ try, although living in Kentland at the time of his enlistment. Charles E. Ross, still a resident of Kentland, went from this county and en¬ listed in the 8th Illinois Cavalry. Both of them served throughout the entire war.

All honor to our heroes, living and dead, who saved our nation ! All praise to the moth¬ ers, wives and sisters who so nobly did their part in the nation's struggle for existence! Words are too weak to express their anxiety and mental suffering during the long years from 1861 to 1865!

During War Times

TN July, 1863, Governor Morton issued a -*- call to resist the invasion of John Morgan, commonly known as "Morgan's Raid." With¬ in forty-eight hours 65,000 men tendered their services. Among the volunteers was a full company of about eighty men from Newton county. This call was received at Kentland on Friday afternoon. Men rode over the county all night, notifying all who were likely to enlist to meet at Kentland the next day, to take part in the defense of the state. Nearly every one who was notified responded, and an organization was effected, with Horace K. Warren, captain, and John Ade, first lieuten¬ ant.

Indianapolis, notifying the authorities of the state that we were on the way. Arriving at Logansport, we received word to remain there over night. We camped in the court house, the citizens of Logansport supplying all our wants bountifully. The next day we awaited orders, finally receiving word that there were more men in Indianapolis than could possibly be used, and to allow no more to come forward. Toward evening of that day, the Pennsylvania railroad company furnished an extra train and took us back home. I am sorry no muster roll of this company was preserved, and therefore I can not give a list of its members.

During War Times 235

No serious difficulty was felt in Newton county in obtaining volunteers to fill the quota, until the call made July 18, 1864, for 500,000 men. Newton county's quota, under this call, was thirty-seven men. In response to a public meeting of the citizens of the county, held in Kentland, October 14, 1864, the county commissioners met in a special session on Oc¬ tober 19, and made the following order:

"October 19, 1864. Ordered that there be bonds of the county issued to the amount of $18,500, for the purpose of raising means to procure 37 recruits, the number of men due from Newton county under the present call. Said bonds to be of the denomination of $25 and $50, with 6 per cent, interest, payable an¬ nually, principal to be due in five years, and that Nathaniel West, William Russell and E. L. Urmston be appointed a committee to dis¬ pose of the bonds, procure the recruits, and take such action as they may see proper to carry out the objects of this order."

On February 15, 1865, the commissioners passed an order to pay $250 to each accepted volunteer accredited upon the quota of the county, provided that this should be paid only where the township bounty did not exceed $200. The total amount expended for bounties was as follows : law to deprive Governor Morton of his mili¬ tary authority over the militia of the state, and nothing prevented them from carrying out their intentions but the action of the loyal members of the legislature. During the night prior to the day when the scheme was to be carried out, these members left Indianapolis, refusing to return, thereby breaking the quo¬ rum and making it impossible to do anything more that term.

Again, in 1863, we had another illustration of this same feeling. One H. H. Dodd had been engaged in shipping revolvers and other arms and ammunition to disloyal parties over the state, such shipments being marked, "Sun¬ day school books." In September, 1863, he vis¬ ited this part of the state, making speeches and urging resistance to the draft and discour¬ aging enlistment. At Rensselaer, where he repeated the same kind of talk, he was ar¬ rested by the provost-marshal and placed in custody. The news soon spread all over this part of the state and the members of the Knights of the Golden Circle, or as they were

On the following morning, which was Sun¬ day, they started from all points in the county toward Rensselaer, with the determination of rescuing Mr. Dodd or losing their lives in the attempt. They went into camp about five miles west of Rensselaer, at a point known as Blue Grass, on the farm of Mr. Mallatt. After they arrived there, they learned, through some of their friends, that Rensselaer had organized a company, fully armed, which awaited their arrival to welcome them with "bloody hands to hospitable graves." Here their courage oozed out, and instead of being an army de¬ sirous of war they soon began to favor peace at any terms. Before night they followed the illustrious example of the famous king of Spain, "who marched uphill with twice five thousand men and then marched back again."

A Trip To Vicksburg

IN the early part of September, 1863, the 99th Indiana Regiment was in camp on Black river, Mississippi, about twenty miles back of Vicksburg. The word came that Young Thompson, a member of that regiment, was very sick. His wife came to see me and prevailed on me to go down there and do what I could toward getting him home. Accordingly, I went to Indianapolis, called on Gov¬ ernor Morton, and secured a letter from him stating the object of my business and generally recommending the same, with the request that I be permitted to pass through the lines unless conditions made it impossible for any one to be granted that privilege. During the war I made several trips to the front, and always, before starting, I secured proper credentials from Governor Morton.

On this trip, I proceeded to Cairo and there took a boat for Memphis. On this boat there were many persons going to the front on mis¬ sions somewhat similar to mine, most of them having sons in the different camps or hospitals, sick or wounded. At Cairo I secured a pass to Memphis, but now I could go no farther until I secured another. Accordingly, I went to the provost-marshal's office and stated my business. He politely told me that it would be impossible for me to secure a pass to go farther down the river as all transportation possible was needed for the demands of the army. I stated my case as urgently as I could, but to no avail, as he said there was a positive order outstanding forbidding the granting of any more passes to citizens. As a last resort I handed him my letter from Governor Mor¬ ton, which he read.

A Trip To Vicksburg 241 Swenney, Swayne

Armed with this document, I had no trouble in securing passage down the river, and also was entrusted with many messages from my fellow-passengers, who had been detained at Memphis, to their friends and relatives down the river. The river was quite low and at many places the channel would run close to the bank, so that often we expected to be fired on by "bushwhackers." On landing at Vicks¬ burg we were not disturbed. Walking up the wharf, I happened to stop and look back to¬ ward the boat. There, coming off the same boat, I saw my old friend and neighbor, Thomas C. Moore. We had been on the same boat several days without meeting each other.