Newton County, Indiana - The whole text, 1911 (part 1 of 3)

Chapter

XXVI. Newton County Soldiers . XXVII. During War Times XXVIII. A Trip to Vicksburg . XXIX. A Trip to Chattanooga XXX, Ingersoll's Tribute . v XXXI. Kentland Fires .

Preface

On April 21, 1910, there was held at Kentland, Indiana, a celebration to commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of the organization of Newton county, Indiana.

As I was permitted to assist in the work of organ¬ izing the county, and have resided for a period of nearly sixty years within what are now the boun¬ daries of Newton county, I feel that I may perform a service to the present generation, and to future ones, by setting down some of the facts that have come under my observation. Most of the subjectmatter offered herewith was prepared during the year 1910 and was written, partly because I had been requested by friends so to do, but principally be¬ cause I wished to occupy my mind and fill in the time.

I am supposed to be too old to engage in actual business, but having been accustomed to constant employment of some kind ever since I was twelve years of age, it naturally goes hard with me to sit around and do' nothing. "A man is as old as he feels," and I find it difficult to convince myself that I am in my eighty-third year. Having been closely connected with many of the events making up the early history of Newton county, it seems to me im¬ portant that these events should be truthfully re¬ corded. It is easy for fiction to take the place of fact. Much that I tell will be based upon personal knowledge. Other facts have been taken from the records, or reported to me by trustworthy persons.

When I began writing I had no intention of pub¬ lishing a book, but since completing the work I have been requested by many tO' turn it over to the printer; and this is the only excuse I have for join¬ ing the long procession of Indiana authors.

This volume does not pretend to be a complete and accurate history of Newton county, but merely a record of certain facts which may have some value for those who dwell in this favored region.

Indian Occupation

NEWTON COUNTY is the youngest of the ninety-two counties in the state of Indiana. It has much in its history to prove of local interest to those who may come after us, and which would be entirely lost to the world if not made a matter of record during the lives of those who were conversant with the facts which go to make up this history.

It lies almost in the northwest corner of the state, the line dividing the states of Indiana and Illinois forming its western boundary, with only one county, Lake county, between it and the northern limit of the state.

Directly to the south lies Benton county, the banner corn county of Indiana, and a con¬ tinuation of the rich black belt of central Il¬ linois.

Perhaps never before, within the span of one human life, have such marvelous changes taken place along a new and unpromising fron¬ tier, as some of us older settlers have witnessed

I was a resident of Chicago during the sum¬ mer of 1849* It was then a pretentious country town. Only a few years before that, the region surrounding it had been an unbroken wilder¬ ness. Now it is one of the great commercial capitals of the world, with a population ex¬ ceeding two millions and a trade so stupendous that the figures are beyond comprehension.

Where, less than a century ago, the only roads were the narrow trails of the red man, now in every direction long railroad trains are distributing the commerce of the world, and

For instance, in the northern portion of Lake county, where, three years ago, was a vast expanse of sand ridges and sloughs, to-day is in operation the largest steel industry in the world, around which has grown up the city of Gary with its paved streets, concrete side¬ walks, electric lights, water and drainage sys¬ tems, and a population of some twenty thou¬ sand and increasing rapidly.

Going back eighty-four years - in July, 1827, what is now the city of Chicago was a settlement of six or seven American families, a number of half-breeds, and a few vagabond Indians. At that time the Winnebago Indians were gathering in the neighborhood of Green Bay, threatening to attack and destroy the few white settlements established along the lakes. Gurdon S. Hubbard was a resident of Chi¬ cago and the owner of trading posts, estab¬ lished along the Iroquois river where the towns of Middleport and Bunkum were after¬ ward located, and also of a trading post on the Kankakee river in Newton county, after-

At that time Mr. Hubbard had an Indian wife by the name of Watseka, from whom the now thriving city of Iroquois county, Illinois, derived its name.

Realizing their danger, the settlers at Chi¬ cago appealed to Mr. Hubbard to hurry to Danville, Illinois, and secure volunteers to as¬ sist them in defending their homes.

He started from Chicago one morning and the same night reached the trading post near Bunkum, on the Iroquois river, about two miles from the Indiana state line. Procuring a fresh horse, he> rode on to Danville, Ver¬ milion county.

At that time all inhabitants of the county, capable of bearing arms, were enrolled under the militia law of the state, and organized as a battalion. The officers of the battalion noti¬ fied their men to meet at a designated point, and on a call for volunteers fifty men offered their services and were accepted. Archibald Morgan was chosen as captain. Many of the men were without horses, and the neighbors who did not go loaned their horses to the vol¬ unteers. After being mustered in they dis¬ banded with orders to prepare five days' ra¬ tions and report at Danville the following day. Starting from Danville they passed the cabin of Seymour Treat, three miles north of Dan¬ ville, which was the last habitation until they reached Hubbard's trading post on the north bank of the Iroquois river about a mile above the point where the town of Bunkum was aft¬ erward located. From this point there was no other habitation, except Indian wigwams, un¬ til they reached Fort Dearborn. It was a prai¬ rie wilderness all the way, except for a little timber near Sugar creek and at the Iroquois river.

On arriving at the Hubbard post a lot of Indians, some of them half naked, were lying and lounging about the river bank. When it was proposed to swim the horses over, the men objected, fearing the Indians might do some mischief, such as opening fire on them while they were in mid-stream, but Mr. Hubbard as-

In regard to their arms it is said they were very deficient. They had gathered up squirrel rifles, old flint-lock muskets, in fact anything like a gun that they could lay hands on. Some had no guns whatever and were afterward sup¬ plied by Mr. Hubbard. He also furnished them with flour and salt pork. They remained at Hubbard's post all night, the next morning again moving forward, swimming Beaver creek and crossing the Kankakee river at the rapids, the present site of the city of Momence. Pushing on, they reached Yellow Heads that day. Next morning they set out again, cross¬ ing a branch of the Calumet, west of Blue Island. All the way from Danville they fol¬ lowed an Indian trail, known as Hubbard's Trail. There was no sign of road and, but for the knowledge which Mr. Hubbard had of the country, they could not have found their way, as the entire country was crossed and re¬ crossed by Indian trails. It had been raining

Indian Occupation 7

They reached Chicago about four o'clock on the evening of the fourth day after leaving Danville, in the midst of a very severe rain¬ storm accompanied by thunder and vicious lightning. The people of Chicago were glad indeed to receive them, as they had been ex¬ pecting an attack every hour since Hubbard had left them. They had organized a com¬ pany of forty or fifty men, composed mostly of Canadian half-breeds, with a few Americans, under the command of Captain Beaubien. They kept guard day and night for some ten days, when a man came in from Green Bay bringing word that General Cass had con¬ cluded a treaty with the Winnebagoes, conse¬ quently the danger was over. The citizens were overjoyed at the news and in their glad¬ ness turned out one barrel of gin, one barrel of brandy and one barrel of whisky. Knock¬ ing in the heads of the barrels, everybody was invited to take a few drinks, and it is said everybody did drink. Captain Morgan, with

The citizens of Chicago had every reason to fear the Indians, inasmuch as the original set¬ tlement had been practically wiped out by what is known in history as the Fort Dearborn massacre, on the spot now marked by a beauti¬ ful stone memorial.

In 1804 Fort Chicago was established on the south bank of the river, about the spot where State street joins the river and on the same ground where Fort Dearborn was erected in 1817. About the time of the establishment of Fort Chicago, the American Fur Company es¬ tablished a station under the protection of the fort. For the first eight years there was little of interest to be noted. In 1812, however, the war broke out with England, and the conse¬ quences were peculiarly disastrous to all the western settlements exposed to the hostility of neighboring tribes of Indians.

post, and the country around it full of hostile Indians, on the 9th day of August, 1812, Cap¬ tain Heald, the officer in command at the time, received an order to abandon the fort and pro¬ ceed with the troops to Fort Wayne. The evacuation of the fort took place on the 15th day of August, 1812, six days after the order had been received from General Hull. About nine o'clock on the morning of that day the party, composed of fifty-four regulars, twelve militia, and several families, left the fort un¬ der the escort of Captain Wells. Their route lay south along the beach of the lake and after proceeding about a mile and a half they were fired upon by the Indians, and in fifteen min¬ utes almost the entire party was killed or wounded. The survivors were made prisoners and marched back to the Indian encampment near the fort, where some of the wounded prisoners were murdered in the most shocking manner by the squaws, the small number sur¬ viving being distributed among the different members of the tribe. The day following this

The fort was rebuilt in 1817, when it took the name of Fort Dearborn. It was occupied, except at short intervals, by a garrison, until 1 837, when the Indians having generally left the country, it was finally evacuated.

The preceding pages are merely prelimi¬ nary to the history of Newton county. They will indicate, by contrast, the wonderful changes that have overtaken us within two or three generations. While the changes within the boundaries of Newton county are not so revolutionary or startling as those that have made Chicago one of the seven wonders of the world, they are sufficiently remarkable to be of interest to all who reside within its borders.

The Pott Aw Att Amies

ORIGINALLY the Pottawattamie tribe of Indians had exclusive control over this part of the country, their territory ex¬ tending from the Rock river in the west to the Scioto river in the east, and from the lakes on the north to the Ohio river on the south, now embraced in the states of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Later, owing to the fact that other In¬ dian tribes were being pressed westward by the encroachment of the whites, they were con¬ fined very largely to northern Indiana and Il¬ linois. They were a bold and warlike race of people and for many years maintained a hos¬ tile attitude toward the white pioneer. They joined with the French against the Iroquois and the English; and afterward joined with the English against the Americans, only yield¬ ing to the inevitable in the general pacificaii tion which closed the war of 1812. From this time they were faithful friends of the Amer¬ icans and are entitled to very much credit in assisting to defeat the Winnebagoes' outbreak in 1827, and also the one under Black Hawk in 1832.

The state of Indiana, and especially the northwestern part, was their last place of abode east of the Mississippi, and although they assumed an attitude of tribal freedom, they accepted the position of ward toward the national government.

The section of the state of which Newton county now forms a part was held by the In¬ dians long after the whites had begun to domi¬ nate central and southern Indiana. Here they trapped and hunted, and, indeed, this portion of our country at that time was a perfect In¬ dian paradise, abounding in fish and wild game, together with all kinds of fur-bearing animals which they sold to the white traders or exchanged for supplies.

The Pottawattamies

ernment to remove the Indians to a new home in what was then our far western territory. The Pottawattamies owned extensive tracts of land on the Wabash and its western tributaries and also in northwestern Indiana, but the titles gradually passed from them, notwithstanding government restrictions placed upon their dis¬ posal of lands. There were several partial re¬ movals of the Pottawattamies, the final and principal one taking place during the summer of 1838, under the charge of General Tipton. Doctor Fitch, then of Logansport, acted under appointment by the government as medical director. This large emigration, numbering about one thousand of all ages, started reluc¬ tantly toward the setting sun. It is said they formed a mournful spectacle, these children of the forest, slowly retiring from the homes of their childhood and the graves of their an¬ cestors. They knew they were bidding a last farewell to the hills, to the valleys and the streams of their childhood, the hunting grounds of their youth, and the stern and bloody battlefields of their ripened manhood

- all these they were leaving behind to be desecrated by the plowshare of the white man. Every few miles one of the throng would strike out from the procession, into the woods, and retrace his steps back to the old encampments, declaring he would die there sooner than be banished from the country, and it was several years before these stragglers could be induced to join their brethren west of the Mississippi. This body, on their western journey, passed within a few miles of Lafayette and on through Danville, Illinois, where they halted for seveial days, being in want of food. They were without tents or other shelter and many of the women carried young babes in their arms. All were compelled to travel on foot. Thus the mournful procession passed across the state of Illinois, towaid their future home in the west, one hundred and fifty of their number dying on the way. They finally reached their new home on the Missouri.

The First Murder Trial

ALTHOUGH the celebrated criminal trial -tV-to which I would call attention, was held at Bunkum, across the state line, it deserves ' mention as a part of local history. Several of the persons actually participating in the trial afterward became citizens of Newton county. Furthermore, county and state lines did not form arbitrary divisions as they do at present. Bunkum was the center of a community of which Newton county was only a part.

Strange as it may seem, the first person ar¬ rested for murder in Cook county, Illinois (the county in which Chicago is situated), was brought to Bunkum under a change of venue. In the month of May, 1836, a man was found dead near the roadside a few miles west of Chicago. A knife wound in the body showed that the man had been murdered. A few days after the discovery of the body, a man calling himself Joseph L. Morris was arrested and indicted by the grand jury. The feeling in Cook county was so strong against him that his counsel took a change of venue to Iroquois county. The trial came up at the May term, 1836, of the Iroquois circuit court, and was held at the house of Richard Montgomery. Those present were: Stephen S. Logan, judge; James Grant, state's attorney; Hugh Newell, clerk, and Samuel M. Dunn, sheriff. The prisoner's counsel asked for a continu¬ ance, which was refused, and the prisoner pleading "not guilty," a jury was impaneled, consisting of Benjamin Fry, Jacob W. Whiteman, Samuel Rush, Alexander Wilson, James Frame, Jacob Morgan, Wesley Spider, Wil¬ liam A. Cole, Ira Lindsey and Isaac Fry.

The evidence was that the prisoner had been seen in the company of the deceased, that a knife found upon the person of the prisoner was identified as one belonging to the mur¬ dered man. These and other facts presented

The First Murder Trial 17

"It is ordered and adjudged by the court that the said defendant be taken hence by the sheriff of Iroquois county, and confined and safely kept by said sheriff until Friday, the 10th day of June next, on which day the said defendant shall be taken by said sheriff to some convenient place in said county and then and there, between the hours of ten o'clock in the morning and three o'clock in the afternoon of the said day, by the said sheriff hanged by the neck until he shall be dead."

The prisoner was ironed and confined in one of the houses near by until the day of his exe¬ cution, which took place at the appointed time. He was placed in a wagon and a rope was looped around his neck, the other end of the rope being fastened to the limb of a large wal¬ nut tree. This tree stood in the bottoms, on the north side of the Iroquois river, about half way between the present wagon bridge and the bluff. The wagon was driven out from under him and he was left hanging until dead. His guards, during the time between his sentence and execution, were Samuel M. Dunn, sheriff, and George Courtright. A large crowd of people came from long distances to witness the execution. The day was one of rain and storm. The prisoner, on his way to execution, smoked a cigar with great fortitude and, on arriving at the place of execution, made a short speech, justifying his past life. When life was extinct the body was buried at a point a little south¬ east of Bunkum.

An Early Tradition

TAURING the time the Indians held pos- : -L' session of this country, but only a short time before the whites began to crowd in on them, two of the Indians, one named Turkey Foot and the other Bull Foot, got into a fight, caused, it is said, by a drunken brawl, in which one or both were killed - tradition says both. They were placed in a sitting posture, facing each other, and a log pen built around them to keep away the wolves. My impression is that there was but one in the pen, as John Myers,

I who came to this country in 1836, informed me that soon after he came, while on a hunt- [ ing expedition, he saw the pen and went up to it, and while leaning against the log pen, his dog got his head through the crack and got hold of the dead Indian's foot and gave Mr. Myers quite a scare for an instant. This pen, he told me, was in a grove about two and onehalf miles southwest from where the town of Morocco was afterward located. In the same grove Silas Johnson built his house and re¬ sided until his death.

Dempsey Johnson, one of the early settlers of the county, has given to me his version of the interesting tradition, as he gathered it from the first residents of this region. I shall insert Mr. Johnson's story, just as he turned it over to me.

The Two Indians

In Beaver township, Newton county, In¬ diana, there were two groves of timber, one called Turkey Foot Grove and the other Bull Foot Grove, the latter being located in the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 30, township 29 north, in range 9 west, and Turkey Foot Grove being located in the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter and the northeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 32 in said township and range afore-

An Early Tradition 21

It is reported that Turkey Foot went over to visit Bull Foot, that they had a quarrel over some matter and Turkey Foot killed Bull Foot. Then, for revenge, Bull Foot's son killed Turkey Foot, after which he stood the two bodies upright against two trees standing close together, with their faces toward each other. He then cut poles and built a pen around them. When the white men began to settle in that neighborhood they gathered up the bones of these two Indians and buried them near where they were found.

The above information was given me by the early settlers. Jacob Ash was the first white man to live in Turkey Foot Grove. He moved there in the year 1842. His daughter, now Catherine Dearduff, is living in Morocco at this time. In said county at that time there were but two houses between Turkey Foot Grove and the town of Rensselaer, Indiana, one of which was occupied by John Murphy and the other by Philip Reynolds, both being in Beaver township. James Cuppy was the first white man that lived at Bull Foot Grove. Silas Johnson and Robert Archibald bought Cuppy out and moved there in the year 1846. The writer came with them, and saw within Bull Foot Grove a lot of poles in a thick clump of brush, and the neighbors said that this marked the resting-place of the two Indians. From the years 1846 to 1848 I was at Bull Foot Grove a number of times, and saw where the bones of the two Indians were supposed to be buried, which spot had been rooted up by the hogs, and small bones were present that had been rooted out.

Dr. Charles E. Triplett, Sr., came from Kentucky in the year 1856, and went down to Bull Foot Grove and took up quite a number of bones, among which were two thigh bones. T. hose thigh bones showed that one was a tall man and the other a short man. They further showed that the short man had had his thigh bone broken some time in his life, and that it had overlapped and grown together. He said that Turkey Foot was the taller of the two.

Turkey Foot Grove has black oak, burr oak, elm, cherry and hackberry timber. Bull Foot Grove had the same kind of timber, excepting the elm. Turkey Foot Grove is in a good state of preservation at this time, containing about forty acres of large timber, while Bull Foot Grove has all been cleared away and the land is now used for agricultural purposes.

There is another tradition that Bogus Island (northwest of the present station of Enos) was headquarters for a gang of horse-thieves and counterfeiters, and much has been said and written in regard to the same. I think the stories have been greatly exaggerated, but this much is undoubtedly true: At one time, along about 1837, two or three men were on the island and engaged to some extent in making counterfeit silver coin. They were arrested and brought before Wesley Spider, a justice of the peace, who then lived in the same house afterward occupied by Zechariah Spider. These men were tried and bound over to court, but they forfeited their bond and the case never was tried. For these facts I am indebted to Wesley Spitler, who gave them to me in an in¬ terview shortly before his death.

There was one case of horse-stealing of which I had some personal knowledge, having met and talked with the parties who were in pursuit of the thief, both when they were go¬ ing and on their return. This was, I think, in 1857. ^ horse had been stolen in the neighbor¬ hood of Milford, Illinois. A party consisting of some twelve or fifteen men started in pur¬ suit. They got on the track of the thief and followed him, and at a house a little east of where the town of Conrad now stands, they found the horse, also shortly got in pursuit of the thief, who jumped into the big ditch be¬ tween Beaver lake and the Kankakee river, but a short distance from where they found the horse. As the thief was climbing up the bank of the ditch, on the opposite side, the party fired at him, as they all had guns, and he fell back into the ditch, dead. They then went back to the house, got their horse, and arrested the man living there and took him to Rensselaer, where he was afterward tried and sentenced to three years in the penitentiary for harboring horse thieves. His name was William Shaffer.

Morocco In 1853

AS this history was prepared for the mem- ^-bers of my family and my more intimate friends, I hope I will be permitted to touch upon matters that might seem out of place in a book addressed to the general public.

Until the early part of 1853, I lived at and kept the old toll-gate between Cheviot and Cincinnati. At that time I received a request from Ayres and Company, of Bunkum, Illi¬ nois old acquaintances of mine - to move out and take charge of a branch store which they had established at Alorocco, Jasper county, Indiana. Accepting their offer, I left Cincin¬ nati on March 10, 1833, going by steamboat

Arriving at Madison early the next morn¬ ing, we took the train on the Madison & In¬ dianapolis Railroad and arrived at Indianap¬ olis about noon. We went to the Wright House, a large frame hotel on Washington street, standing where the New York Store is now located. There we got our dinner and then took a train for Lafayette on the In¬ dianapolis & Lafayette Railroad, which had just been opened up for travel and extended to the top of the hill about two miles east of Lafayette. We remained in Lafayette two days and then started for Bunkum, Illinois, in a two-horse carriage.

We were met at Lafayette by Mark Ayres, who accompanied us on the remainder of the trip. Leaving Lafayette early in the morning, we made the first twelve miles in fine shape, our route that far being over a new plank road just completed by the Ellsworth Land Com¬ pany. At the end of the plank road we started to go through a lane about a mile long, before

We reached Oxford, then the county seat of Benton county, about two o'clock. There we fed our team and had dinner. We then started for Parish Grove, which point we reached after dark and in a heavy rain. In fact, when we got to the grove the only way by which we were able to follow the road was for one of us to go ahead on foot and keep calling out, thus enabling the driver to find his way by sound instead of by sight. The Boswell family was then living in the grove and at first said they could not take care of us, but NT r. Ayres, who was somewhat acquainted with them, said it did not make any difference what they said, that we were there to stay, and stay we did, as it was eight miles to the next house.

In the morning we started for Sumner's Grove. When we came to Mud Creek we found it was very deep, but we started to ford it. When nearly across, one of the single-trees floated off. We had to get out in the water, waist-deep, and tie the traces to the doubletree before we could pull out. In the mean¬ time, Adaline, holding the baby in her lap, had tried to keep her feet on the seat but made a slip and she was wet nearly to her knees. Aft¬ er making the shore, we drove on to the Sum¬ ner home, where we dried our clothes and got our dinner. During our stay at Sumner's, Mr. Sumner got into conversation with us and found out where we were going. He said he was glad to hear it, that he had been ac¬ quainted with Bunkum for fifteen years, and that during that time people had been contin¬ uously moving in, and but few moved out, and that it was just about the same size then that it had been fifteen years before. In fact, he did not even recollect of ever being there when there was not a corpse in the town. After he left, however, Mrs. Sumner, who noticed that Adaline was badly worried over his statement, told her to pay no attention to his stories, as it was not nearly so bad as he had attempted to make it.

Sumner went part of the way, piloting us across Sugar Creek. Late that afternoon we reached the famous city of ^Bunkum." It may be well to state here that Bunkum was not the name of the town at all, but the name used by every one at that time for two different towns, the Iroquois river forming the dividing line between the two - the one on the south side of the river was Montgomery, and the one on the north side was Concord.

After we left Parish Grove in the morning, until we reached the timber on the Iroquois river, we passed but two houses, no others be¬ ing in sight on either side of the road. The first was the Sumner house and the other was a small house standing on what is now the east end of Sheldon, Illinois. There was not a bridge across any of the streams between the end of the plank road and the Iroquois river.

We remained in Bunkum six weeks, during which time I made six trips to Lafayette, hauling goods for the store one way and produce, largely eggs, the other way. Eggs were then five cents a dozen. One load, I remember, was

Bunkum, at that time, was a great business town. It had four large stores, drawing trade from the surrounding country as far away as thirty or forty miles. The firms doing business were Ayres and Company, Fowler and Smith, Charles Sherman, and John Donovan, nearly all of whom afterward moved to Watseka, when the railroad was built. John Donovan is the only one of the number now living.

We moved to Morocco, Indiana, about April 23, 1833. At that time the town was about two years old and had some six or seven houses. On the road from Bunkum to Moroc¬ co, after passing the Dunning farm, about half a mile from Bunkum, until we reached the Robert Archibald farm, a distance of ten miles, all was open prairie, with the exception of an improvement just commenced by Wil¬ liam Plummer, which was about half way be¬ tween these two points. Of those living in Mo¬ rocco at that time, David Pulver and A. W.

At that time Morocco was the only town in the territory now comprising Newton county. The nearest post-office was Bunkum on the west, twelve miles, and Rensselaer on the east, eighteen miles. There was a post-office at the residence of Amos Clark, called White's Grove, established September 27, 1853. This house stood about a half-mile southeast of what is now known as the Pleasant Grove meeting-house, near the Iroquois river, in Jef¬ ferson township. On April 27, 1854, it was moved to the residence of Zechariah Spider, and again on June 20, 1861, to the residence of Elijah Kenoyer, where it remained until October 15, 1861, when it was discontinued.

There was also a post-office called Brook, several miles farther up the river, both sup¬ plied by mail carried on horseback once a week. The first office was about two miles southwest of the present town of the same name. The several postmasters of the Brook

Morocco In 1853 33

The Brook post-office was by far the oldest in the county. Morocco had no mail connec¬ tions with Brook or White's Grove. We com¬ municated with the outside world through

In 1854 we succeeded in getting a post-office at Morocco, on condition that the citizens would agree to carry the mail once a week to Rensselaer and back, also keep the post-office for the proceeds of the office, so that it should be no expense to the government.

As this was the best arrangement that could be made, the conditions were accepted. John Ade was appointed postmaster and David Pulver appointed mail carrier. A few months later an office was established in Jackson town¬ ship, called Pilot Grove, and Stephen Elliott was appointed postmaster. This condition of things existed for some three years, when John Ade was removed for offensive partisanship. There was no civil service in those days but, as a prominent state politician put the case, "The times now require that every government offi¬ cial must be a firm supporter of the admin¬ istration." was written, it was folded and fastened either with a wafer or sealing-wax. The rate of postage depended upon the distance the letter had to be carried, and the money could be re¬ ceived from the sender or collected at the des¬ tination. This necessitated making out a way¬ bill with each package of letters sent to the dif¬ ferent offices, showing the amount paid and the amount to be collected on each package. Few of our institutions have shown a more decided change than the mail service. ^ 4 £) C U &

In 1831 a new constitution was adopted by the state of Indiana; and the next legislature, which met during the winter of 1832-1833, enacted many laws to put in force the changes made necessary by the new constitution. One of the most important of these enactments was the adoption of an entirely new school system. After the new school law had been passed, it took considerable time to make it effective, as taxes had to be levied and collected, and new officers elected.

forming the county of Newton. There were several buildings used for school and meeting¬ house purposes, but they were all built by private enterprise. Some of them were built by single individuals, and all were log build¬ ings. There was one at Morocco; one about a mile and a half west, known as the Kessler school house; one on the river, built by the Myers and Kenoyer families; one in Jackson township, near the Jabez Wright residence. There may have been one southeast of the pres¬ ent town of Brook. In most of these, school was taught for a short term in each year, per¬ sons in the neighborhood uniting to employ a teacher, he boarding around among the pupils, in many cases, as part pay for the services ren¬ dered. These buildings did not have a nail or any other article of iron in their composi¬ tion. The floors, benches and doors were made of puncheons; wooden hinges' for the doors, and for a light, a log would be sawed out of the side of the building, and when they did not have glass, greased paper was used in place of it. The roof was made by using clapboards about three feet long, split out of logs and held down in place by logs called "weight poles." When meetings were held at night, and spelling schools, it was expected that each family would bring a candle or a saucer of grease with a rag in it to furnish light for the occasion. Rude and unsatisfactory as these conditions may seem to have been, many of our prominent men got their first elements of an education in these very schools.

Prior to 1834, at which time the lands in this part of the state were surveyed and placed on the market through the land-office at Winamac (price one dollar and twenty- five cents per acre, payable in gold or silver) , no one had actual title. Some of it was settled by squat¬ ters. Others filed claims and proved them up and purchased the lands after they were thrown open for entry.

Settlements were made exclusively either in the timber or along the edges of it. No one thought of getting out on the open prairie. In fact, the surveyor, making his notes to the gov¬ ernment in his report of the survey of the prairie in the south part of the county said : "Land is good; covered with fine grass, but owing to the scarcity of timber can never sup¬ port anything but a very sparse population."

Dempsey Johnson in 1849, Daniel Dearduff in 1844, Josiah Dunn in 1832, and John Elliott in 1832. John Lyons built a house on the Iro¬ quois river in 1832 and started what was after¬ ward known as the Brook settlement. A son, Aaron Lyons, born that same year, is conceded to be the first white child born in the territory of Newton county. Samuel Benjamin also settled there about the same time. Samuel Lyons came in 1840; Philip Earl in 1837.

Creek, and in 1845 erected the first sawmill in the county. It was a water-mill and run by throwing a dam across the creek, a short dis¬ tance east of the farm now owned by George Spider. Samuel and Frederick Kenoyer, brothers of Jacob Kenoyer, also settled in the same neighborhood in 1836; and John Myers, the same year, followed a short time after by Amos Clark, Amos White and Charles Ander¬ son on the south side of the river.

Settling right in the heavy timber were John Montgomery, father-in-law of Morris Lyons, and John Roberts, who were both early settlers, John Roberts in 1843 and Morris Lyons about the same time. A little farther down the river was the residence of Bassett Timmons, father of Joshua Timmons, who settled near what was known as the Timmons ford in 1835. Down toward the state line was the Whiteman * settlement, consisting of five brothers: Jacob, Joshua, Amos, Ezekiel and Henry, who set¬ tled there in 1833, possibly a little earlier. On the south side of the river, right on the state line, lived Samuel M. Dunn, who was actingsheriff in Iroquois county, Illinois, in 1835, at the time Joseph L. Morris was hung in the town of Bunkum.

Beaver Lake

HpHE early settler in Newton county, though deprived of any near source of supplies, found no difficulty in finding support for himself and family. A new-comer brought with him a limited supply of flour, coffee, tea and sugar. With this stock as a basis, he found it possible to furnish his table with all he needed. Deer were found in great abun¬ dance, as well as almost all other kinds of game, such as geese, brant, ducks, prairie chickens - in fact, in that early day this part of the country was a perfect Indian and hunt¬ er's paradise. And for many years, even after this country was fairly well settled, hunting parties would come from long distances to en¬ joy the sport and supply themselves with lux¬ uries so easily obtained. For many years Alexander Lanier, of Madison, Indiana,

There was another source of supplies and revenue - in fact, for many years it afforded the settler his only means of getting the little sums of actual money with which to supply himself with necessary articles not produced at home. The winter time was then the harvest time of the year, for in that season the fur-bear¬ ing animals were eagerly sought, captured and skinned, and the pelts sold to fur-buyers who had agents at convenient points supplied with ready money. Sometimes the competition be¬ tween opposing buyers was quite brisk. The principal fur-bearing animals were the mink, raccoon, muskrat, deer once in a while, and, in a very early day, before the country was settes, some beaver. The quality of the fur captured here was said to be very fine and much superior to that taken no far¬ ther south than the Wabash river.

covering a large portion of township 30, range 9, now known as McClellan township. This body of water was about seven miles in length, east and west, and about five miles at its widest part, north and south, with a depth of not to exceed eight or nine feet in its deepest places. It was celebrated as a wonderful fishing resort, and amazing stories are told of the vast num¬ ber caught sometimes by a single draw of the seine. At certain times of the year myriads of geese, ducks, swan and other game birds would be found there. As a spot for hunting and fishing it had no equal in any other por¬ tion of the state.

When the original survey of this part of the country was made, this lake itself was not in¬ cluded in the survey but was meandered and fractions all around the boundaries of same were purchased by John P. Dunn and Amzie B. Condit, who afterward deeded the same to Michael G. Bright, who claimed all inside of these fractions and extended the lines across the lake by platting the same in 1837, dividing it into forty-acre tracts and giving each lot a number, commencing at number i and running to number 427. About this time, through some kind of a settlement made with an outgo¬ ing state treasurer, he deeded to the state of In¬ diana each alternate forty-acre tract, the state getting the odd-numbered tracts, and Michael G. Bright retaining the even-numbered tracts. In 1865 the state authorized the selling of its lands so held, making the terms of sale one dol¬ lar and fifty cents an acre for one year, all re¬ maining unsold at the expiration of the year to be held at one dollar per acre.

About 1853 the first effort was made to diain the lake by cutting a ditch from the northwest part of the lake to the Kankakee river. The contract to make this ditch was taken by Austin M. Puett, grandfather of William Darroch. This first ditch carried off enough water to cause the shore line to recede about a hundred yards - in other words, it re¬ claimed a very narrow strip all around the lake. As this ditch was enlarged and tribu¬ taries opened, the old bed of standing water gradually disappeared and Beaver Lake is

The First Bank

/^\NE of the most noted and far-reaching laws enacted by the legislature of 1853 was the adoption of what was known as the free banking law. Under its provisions, any person or persons depositing with the secretary of state bonds of any state in the union, were authorized to issue currency for an equal amount. The object of many of the founders of banks under this law was to establish them as far away from the lines of travel as possible and put the money into circulation at points far distant from the banks of issue. As Mo¬ rocco was then forty miles from the nearest railroad, and the intervening country was very sparsely settled, Morocco made a very desira¬ ble point for the establishment of such a bank.

tablished came in 1854. I had been to Cincin¬ nati on a visit, and while there saw some of the money in circulation. Shortly after my re¬ turn from Cincinnati, in company with John Murphy, I went to Rensselaer on business in connection with the new post-office, of which I had been appointed postmaster. Shortly after our arrival in Rensselaer we were called into the office of George W. Spitler, who informed us of the fact that a bank had been established in Morocco and told us of some of the advan¬ tages that would accrue to the country by rea¬ son of the same - that our school funds would be increased and the county developed by in¬ ducing persons to locate in that vicinity, also that within a short time some of the officers of the bank would be among us and erect a bank building and take charge of the business in general. In the meantime, before these things could be attended to, he requested Mr. Murphy to take home with him one thousand dollars in gold to redeem any bills that might be presented before the regular officers arrived to take charge of things. Mr. Murphy said

As time passed, Mr. Murphy redeemed what few bills were presented, until the amount brought from Rensselaer was ex¬ hausted, and still no one put in an appearance to establish the bank. But, having entire con¬ fidence in the stability of the bank, he re¬ deemed other notes until he had paid another hundred dollars out of his own money. Then he sent David Pulver to Rensselaer with a re¬ quest for some one to come down and attend to the business or else send more money. On ar¬ riving at Rensselaer, Mr. Pulver was informed that the bank had changed owners and there was no one there authorized to speak for the further action of the institution. There was no clue to the proprietors and Mr. Murphy had two hundred dollars of the paper of the Bank of America on his hands, without any assur¬ ance that he would ever realize anything for his money expended. It is safe to say he did no further banking business, but when the affairs of the bank were eventually wound up by the secretary of state he made a reasonable salary besides the return of his money, as the issue of the bank, amounting to about seventyfive thousand dollars, was redeemed at eighty cents on the dollar. No one ever appeared to make settlement with Mr. Murphy, nor is it known that there was ever any person in the town of Morocco that had any right of owner¬ ship in the same. I was not president of the bank, although there is an outstanding joke to that effect.

This is not an exceptional case, for the state was full of banks that had but little, if any, bet¬ ter foundation on which to rest. This was almost a fair example of the condition of the finances of the state under what was known as the wild-cat banking system.

It is impossible for us to-day to realize the difficulties of doing business under that system. Whenever a bill was offered, you had to get the latest Bank Note Reporter and find the quotation. It might be worthless or show any shade of discount. When one crossed the state

To illustrate, I had a note for fifty dollars, due in six months without interest. One of my neighbors bought it, taking the note at its face, and discounted his money ten per cent.

A great many stories are told of the bank at Morocco. Many have but little foundation in truth, but the following, I have every reason to believe, is an actual fact. During the time the bank was supposed to be in operation, the town of Bradford (now Monon) was the railway station nearest to Rensselaer. The railroad line extended north to Michigan City. A stage coach from Rensselaer met the north-bound afternoon train at Bradford and then returned to Rensselaer, so that most of the return trip through a very lonesome region had to be made after night.

One afternoon five men got off the train at Bradford, made their way to the hotel and called for supper. Two of them were attor¬ neys from Lafayette going over to Rensselaer to attend to some legal matters. Two of the others were citizens from Rensselaer - one an attorney and the other a doctor. These four were well known to each other, in fact old ac¬ quaintances. Also, all of them were well known to me. The other was a stranger, and although he ate supper at the same table, he seemed to keep as far away from the others as possible. It was noticed that he kept a small satchel on his lap all the time while eating sup¬ per, This, and a few remarks he made to the landlord in regard to the location of Morocco and the manner of getting there, satisfied one of the party at least that the stranger's objec¬ tive point was the Bank of America at Mo¬ rocco. He communicated his suspicions to the rest of the company. After supper the hack drove up and all got in. After a few miles had been traveled, by a preconcerted arrangement, the two Lafayette gentlemen commenced an attack on the two citizens of Rensselaer for the bold and terrible system of outlawry allowed to exist in their county, especially in the neigh¬ borhood of Morocco. They cited many cases of murder and horse-stealing and called atten- tion to the gang of counterfeiters said to exist in that neighborhood. The Rensselaer gentlemen defended themselves as best they could from these charges, claiming that they were no more responsible for violations of law in their county than the gentlemen from Lafayette were for crimes committed in Tippecanoe county. These charges and counter-charges were kept up until late at night, when Rens¬ selaer was reached and all went to bed.

by our friend with the black satchel, he re¬ fused to take him to Morocco for less than >; thirty dollars, and asked for a guard of four men. He told the stranger that he (the stran¬ ger) would be held responsible for all loss or damage to team and wagon. About this time one of the fellow passengers of the night be¬ place, it would never do for him to go there in the clothes he had on, for he would be almost certain to be murdered. He proposed letting the stranger have an old suit of clothes and a rifle, so that, in the disguise of a hunter, he might make his way on foot to Morocco and back, with a t least some prospect of safety. Our friend thanked him for his kindness, went back to the hotel, and in a short time the hack for Bradford drove up and he secured passage for that point. And the bank at Morocco was thereby saved at least one demand for specie.

T) RIOR to 1834, the northern part of the state of Indiana was unorganized terri¬ tory. The legislature of the state, meeting the latter part of that year, passed an act for the organization of fourteen new counties. In¬ cluded in this number were the counties of

Beginning at the southeast corner of section 33> town 24, range 6, west; thence west to the state line; thence north thirty miles; thence east on the line dividing towns 28 and 2Q , to the northeast corner of section 4, town 28, range 6, west; thence south thirty miles to the place of beginning .

Beginning at the southeast corner of town¬ ship 2Q, range 5, west ; thence west to the state line; thence north thirty miles ; thence east on the line dividing towns 33 and 34, to the northeast corner of town 33> range 3> west; thence south thirty miles, to the place of begin¬ ning.

This embraced all the present counties of Newton and Jasper lying north of the line di¬ viding towns 28 and 29, and also a portion of the territory now included in the counties of Lake and Porter.

In 1836 Porter county was organized, and Lake county in 1837, taking from Newton county all the territory north of the Kankakee river. In 1840 the present county of Benton was organized. A year or two prior to that time Jasper county had been reorganized, and the remaining portion of Newton county be¬ coming by that act a part of Jasper county, the

In 1857 it became known that an effort was being made by parties owning large tracts of land in the north part of the county to form a new county out of the north part of Jasper county, with the county seat to be located on the Kankakee river. It became evident to the citizens of the western portion of the county that if they allowed the scheme to be carried out, their prospects for a new county would be forever hopeless, as there is a constitutional provision prohibiting the formation of a new county of a less area than four hundred square miles, or reducing any old county to a less area; and although the western half of Jasper county was hardly ready to assume the respon¬ sibilities of a separate county government, the residents believed that if they waited too long the north and south partition would be made and all of what is now Newton county would continue to be relatively outlying territory, so far as the seats of government were concerned.

A meeting of the citizens of Jasper county living west of the line dividing ranges 7 and 8 was called at the town of Morocco, at which time it was resolved to proceed at once to cir¬ culate a petition to the commissioners of Jas¬ per county, asking them to set off a new county, to be known as Beaver. Afterward, but at the same meeting, on motion of Thomas R. Barker, the name was changed to Newton, carrying down to history the friendship of Jasper and Newton, as related by Weams in his "Life of General Marion."

The petition was signed by nearly every voter in the west half of Jasper, and at the September term, 1857, was presented to the commissioners for their action. Naturally, the petition was opposed by the citizens of the other part of the county and, after about two days of skirmishing, the petition was dismissed on the ground that some of the names had been attached to the petition before the law author¬ izing a division had taken effect. The petition was rejected on Tuesday afternoon. That same night a meeting was held at the school house in Morocco. Copies of the petition were j hastily prepared and each one, as soon as ready, was delivered to a horseman who was to ride all night, covering his assigned part of the territory and collecting signatures. The work of circulating the petitions was continued next day and the horsemen met by ap¬ pointment next night at what was known as the Salem school house, which stood a half-mile j east of the present station of Julian. Within twenty-four hours, these energetic workers had canvassed the whole territory and brought in a petition representing an overwhelming ma¬ jority of all the citizens. - !

On Thursday we went to Rensselaer to pre¬ sent the new petition. The commissioners had adjourned the evening before, to meet the next morning at nine o'clock, but by some means tney got wind of what was coming and two of the commissioners failed to return until after the court was adjourned by legal limitation. 1 John Lyons, one of the commissioners, re¬ mained there all the balance of the week. It is but justice to one of the commissioners, Sam- uel Sparling, to say that I went out to his home during the day and found him confined to his bed by illness. The other commissioner was reported to have received word that his wife had been taken sick and needed his attention.

At the December term, 1857, certain parties offered a counter-petition, striking off the ter¬ ritory along the Kankakee river, intending to hold that as a preventive against any action in favor of striking off the new county of New¬ ton.

On the first day of the term all parties were on hand, the county of Newton being repre¬ sented by Silas Johnson, John Andrews, Zechariah Spitler, John Ade and several others. The opposition was led by Robert Milroy and L. A. Cole. After a short time spent in con¬ sultation, the case was continued until Thurs¬ day. After a conference, the friends of New¬ ton county determined, as the best line of pro¬ cedure, to go into the territory asking to be set off as a new county along the Kankakee river and, if possible, secure signatures to a remon¬ strance against such action. This was so far successful that quite a majority of all the voters residing in that territory signed the re¬ monstrance. After considerable argument for and against the petition, the remonstrance was presented, and with but little further discus¬ sion the petition was dismissed. Thereupon the petition for Newton county was presented December 7, 1857. After some time spent in hearing the argument for and against said peti¬ tion, the prayer of the petitioners was granted. Zechariah Spider, John Darroch and David Creek were appointed a committee to lay out and establish the boundaries of the proposed new county.

An appeal was taken to the circuit court, which overruled the decision of the commis¬ sioners and granted an injunction restraining them from entering the report of the commit¬ tee appointed to establish the boundaries of said Newton county upon their records.

An appeal was thereupon taken to the su¬ preme court by the defeated parties. The matter rested there until November, 1859, when the supreme court reversed the ruling of the lower court. On December 8, 1859, the commissioners of Jasper county made the final order on their records, defining the boundaries of the new county of Newton.

The first public recognition of the existence of Newton county took place at the February term of the Jasper county circuit court. I had been selected to act as a juror at this term of the court, and, on the morning of the second day of the term, I was present with other jurors. We were told to stand up and be sworn. I then stated to the court, Judge Charles H. Test, that before taking the oath I wanted to make the statement that I did not think I was qualified to act as a juror. The judge asked my reason for making the state¬ ment, and I replied I did not think I was a resident of Jasper county. The judge then in¬ quired where I lived, and I told him I lived in Morocco. He replied:

The judge then asked the clerk if there was any such decision on file in his office and if so to go and get it, which the clerk did. After a little time spent by the judge in reading the decision of the supreme court, he said: "Mr. Ade, you may stand aside. And if there are any other jurors from the part of J asper county which has been stricken off, they also may con¬ sider themselves discharged."

In March, i860, Thomas R. Barker was ap¬ pointed by Governor Willard as organizing sheriff for the new county, and as such organ¬ izing sheriff he issued a call for the election of officers for the new county. In accordance with said call, about the 10th of April, i860, the following persons were declared duly elected to the several offices, as follows :

John Ade, recorder; Adam Shideler, sur¬ veyor; Elijah Shriver, sheriff; William Rus¬ sell, Michael Coffelt and Thomas R. Barker, commissioners.

On April 21, i860, the officers elected to the several offices in Newton county met in the town of Kent, which had been selected as the county seat by the three commissioners ap¬ pointed by Governor Ashbel P. Willard for that purpose. These commissioners were Liv¬ ingston Dunlap, Joseph Allen and Samuel H. Owen. After performing the duties assigned them, they made their report to the governor on March 13, i860.

Thomas R. Barker, organizing sheriff, then and there administered the oath of office to William Russell and Michael Coffelt, as com¬ missioners of said county. The said Thomas R. Barker then declared the board of com¬ missioners duly qualified to act as commission¬ ers of said county, and called them together for the purpose of doing such business as might be brought before them. The said board, be¬ ing now in session, approved the bond of Zechariah Spider as clerk of the circuit court in and for said county. Thomas R. Barker, as organizing sheriff, then administered the oath of office to Zechariah Spider and declared the office of clerk of the circuit court duly estab¬ lished.

The commissioners then approved the bond of Alexander Sharp, as auditor of said county, who received the oath of office by the clerk of the circuit court. The said office of auditor was then declared by said sheriff to be duly es¬ tablished.

The commissioners then approved the bond of Samuel McCullough as treasurer of said county; also of John Ade as recorder of said county; also of Adam W. Shideler as surveyor of said county; also of Elijah Shriver as sher¬ iff of said county. The clerk of the circuit court then administered the oath to said Sam¬ uel McCullough, John Ade, Adam W. Shide¬ ler and Elijah Shriver. The said Thomas R. Barker then declared that the said officers be-

Thomas R. Barker, having resigned the office of organizing sheriff and his successor having qualified, then took the oath of office as a commissioner of said Newton county.

The commissioners then adjourned to meet the following Monday morning at their first regular term, at which time the routine busi¬ ness of the county was taken up.

Storms On The Prairie

npHE old settler always has the special privilege of talking about the weather of bygone days. Perhaps the weather itself has not changed since fifty years ago, but the con¬ ditions under which we were compelled to face the storms have been entirely altered.

It is hard at the present day to realize the contrast between the open prairie as we first knew it and the stretches of farming country as we see them to-day, with their groves, hedges, houses, fences and other serviceable wind-breaks. Before settlements were estab¬ lished outside the timber, there was nothing to check the force of the storms, especially the windstorms, which swept across the open piairie for many miles without trees, buildings or fences to check their violence. Travelers crossing these vast unsettled plains were some-

Storms On The Prairie 67

In the winter of 1850-51 a man by the name of Williams started from the town of Bunkum to cross the prairie to the Beaver timber, a dis¬ tance of some ten miles. He was overtaken by one of these storms and became lost. He failed to reach his destination. His friends, learning that he had started across the prairie, organ¬ ized searching parties which moved out in all directions, but without success. His body was not found until the snow melted in the spring, and it was then discovered some four or five miles west of the point he was intending to make.

For many years I had been hearing of sim¬ ilar cases, and one especially interesting, but I had been unable to get the exact facts in the case. A short time before the death of John Myers I interviewed him and requested him to tell me what he knew about the story I had heard. He said he was acquainted with some of the facts in the case but referred me to Mrs.

I interviewed Mrs. Kenoyer shortly after and found she had a very vivid recollection of all the circumstances. In fact, her brother had been the principal sufferer and it is from my recollection of what she told me, and also from a narrative published in a history of Iro¬ quois county, Illinois, that I am enabled to offer the following facts.

In 1836, James Frame, the father of Mrs. Jacob Kenoyer, was living near the present city of Onarga. In December of that year, Thomas Frame, his son, had sold some cattle and from the proceeds of such sale, after rid¬ ing across the prairie to Danville, Illinois, he entered eighty acres of land in section 15, township 26, range 14. The transaction took place December 19, 1836. On the following day, in company with a man by the name of James H. Hildreth, who was also on horse¬ back and going in the same direction, he left Danville for his home. They journeyed along together during the day through a misty rain and there was considerable snow on the ground. About four o'clock in the afternoon a gale of wind, sharp and piercing, came sweeping over the prairie and in a few mo¬ ments clouds overspread the sky. Within a short time the men were moving across a sheet of ice. They were proceeding on the Ash Grove road when this change in the weather took place. They reached Fountain Creek about sundown, finding the creek overflown and ice forming along the banks, making it impossible to cross. They decided to return to the house of a man named Bicknell, but had not gone far when darkness overtook them. The cold grow¬ ing more and more intense, the labor and diffi¬ culty of travel kept on increasing and the prospect of reaching any house became more and more gloomy, until it seemed altogether hopeless. They realized they must do some¬ thing or perish. They agreed to kill their horses. Hildreth was to kill Frame's horse first, and when that became cold, then Frame was to kill Hildreth's. Accordingly, Frame's

The carcass was opened and both men got their arms and legs into the carcass of the dead horse. Frame survived until nearly daylight, ! when he expired. Hildreth, although badly frozen, as soon as it was daylight, started for help. He soon discovered a house, but before j he reached it he came to a stream three hun¬ dred yards wide, with the current deep and running swiftly and full of ice. A. man by the name of Burson lived in the house on the other side of the stream but was powerless to help him. Hildreth, however, went up the stream and finally found a place where he crossed. Burson went with Hildreth to Asa Thomas's, a mile south of Milford, and gave notice of what had happened.

Clement Thomas, David and Benjamin Mersham, Levi Williams and Amos Wiley set out for Burson's. Arriving there, they found the stream frozen over, and from there they followed Hildreth's tracks and were soon at the spot which witnessed the terrible sufferings of that night. Frame's body was taken to Burson's and the following day word was sent to the father of the deceased, who on the second day thereafter removed the body of his son to his own home. The funeral was conducted by Amos Wiley, one of the parties above men¬ tioned, he being the circuit rider of the Meth¬ odist church.

Robert Williams, living near Milford, knew that Burson had no conveniences for caring for Hildreth and sent a team the next day to convey him to the Williams home. There he stayed for several weeks, his mother coming to care for him as soon as the news could reach her by mail. Doctor Hawes amputated all his toes and all his fingers and thumbs, except one finger on each hand.

While writing upon the subject of cold weather, it may be well to state that there have been two memorable cold and stormy days in the history of Newton county. One of these days was January 1, 1864. The other was February 14, 1866. There have been colder days, probably, than either of these, but the days above named were not only cold but ac¬ companied by snow and high winds. It is safe

So far as January i, 1864, is concerned, I was absent from home at the time. I had started about three o'clock in the morning from Stevenson, Alabama, for Nashville, Tennessee, riding all day in a freight car in company with William Graves. We had been to Chattanooga, he to look up and care for his son, Lawrence, while I went to do the same for and the storm so severe that it is almost a won¬ der we survived the trip. The next day we took a train for Louisville and had to wait over there for two days on account of the float¬ ing ice in the river. The ferry boats were afraid to cross and at that time no bridges spanned the river. We finally reached Kentland on the first train to get through in four days. While no one was reported to have frozen to death at that time, there were several persons who died shortly after from the effects of exposure, and there was a heavy loss in stock and poultry. Many who had started away from their homes that morning, expecting to return in the evening, were compelled to seek shelter at the first opportunity, there to remain until the storm had abated, while the folks at home kept up lights and fires all night awaiting their return.

February 14, 1866, was another day long to be remembered. Up to about nine o'clock in the morning it was a bright and pleasant day, with enough snow on the ground to make fine sledding. Many started out that morning expecting to get a good day's work done and be home again by night, or sooner perhaps. About nine o'clock the wind shifted to the north and it commenced snowing and drifting. Within a very short time all who could do so sought shelter. Among those who were out that day were some six or eight parties with teams and sleds from Morocco, who had come to Kent for lumber for Daniel Ash. He was building a new house to take the place of one destroyed by fire a short time before. The storm struck them about the time they were crossing the Iroquois river. They succeeded, however, in reaching Kentland, although suf¬ fering severely from the cold. They put their teams in the stable, where they remained for two or three days, and then all returned with empty sleds as the roads were drifted so full of snow they were impassable for loaded teams. John Goddard and Isaac Smart, two of the number, the next day after the storm, left their sleds and one team and each one riding a horse, they started for IVIorocco, finally reaching there safely. There was an urgent reason for John D. Goddard taking the risk he did, as he was to be married that night to Miss Mary

About the worst condition arose from chil¬ dren being at the school-houses. The morning being so pleasant, there was at least the usua^l attendance, and when it came time for dismiss¬ ing school in the arternoon the storm was so severe that had the children started for home they ceitainly would have perished on the road. The teachers therefore kept up the fires and stayed with them until their parents or some of the neighbors came to take care of them. Some cases were reported of teachers and pupils remaining in the school-house all night.

I had a little experience that day. William had gone to school in the old school-house, lo¬ cated on the lot on which W. F. Porter now lives - just across the street from the old United Brethren and Christian church. Mr. and Mrs. John Cunningham were teaching the school. It was nearly three blocks from where I lived. About the time for school to be dis¬ missed I went after him. We started home, hand in hand. We ran as fast as we could all the way, but when we reached home his hands were nearly frozen and we had to use snow and water before going to the fire to warm them. Mr. Cunningham remained at the schoolhouse with the children until the parents came for them.

when the thermometer stood below zero; De¬ cember, 1884, had seven days; January, 1885, had eleven days; February, 1885, had fourteen days; and March, the same year, had one day. January 22d was the coldest day of the winter, the thermometer standing at thirty-three de¬ grees below zero. December 19th was close to it, registering thirty-one below, but these were not stormy days.

AT the time the county of Newton was or- ^ ganized, and while it was a part of J asper county, it consisted of five townships, viz. : Iroquois, Jackson, Lake, Beaver and Wash¬ ington. Iroquois township embraced all of towns 27 and 28, range 8, and one mile of! the west side of towns 27 and 28, range 9. Jackson township embraced all of towns 29, 30, 31 and 32, range 8. Lake township included all of town 30, ranges 9 and 10. Beaver township embraced towns 29 and 3a, ranges 9 and 10. Washington township embraced towns 27 and 28, ranges 9 and 10, except a strip one mile in width on the east side of said towns 27 and 28, range 9, which had been stricken off and added to Iroquois township.

"Monday, April 23, i860. Commissioners met pursuant to adjournment and the first busi¬ ness in order was the petition of Ralph Swiggett and others for the division of Washington township, so that all north of the Iroquois river remain as Washington township and all south of said river may be formed into a new township. Ordered by the commissioners that said township be divided, and that the name of the new township be called Jefferson, and that the boundaries of the township be as follows: Commencing at the Benton county line, at the southeast corner of section 35, town 27, range 9, thence north on the section line to the mid¬ dle of the Iroquois river. Thence westwardly, down the middle of said river to the west line of Newton county. Thence south on the west line of said county to the south line of said county. Thence east on the line dividing New¬ ton and Benton counties, to the place of be¬ ginning." the county into townships was not further dis¬ turbed until March 5, 1862, when John Frank¬ lin presented the petition of Thomas Griffith and others, asking to be set off from Iroquois township into the civil township of Washing¬ ton. It was ordered that said petition be granted and that the civil townships of the county should be as follows :

"That said civil township No. 1, Iroquois, shall consist of towns 27 and 28, range 8; that Jackson township No. 2 shall consist of towns 29, 30, 31 and 32, range 8; and that township of Lake, No. 3, shall consist of town 31, ranges

9 and 10; that Beaver township, No. 4, shall consist of towns 29 and 30, ranges 9 and 10; that the civil township of Washington, No. 5, shall consist of town 28, ranges 9 and 10, lying on the north side of the Iroquois river; that the civil township of Jefferson, No. 6, shall consist of town 27, ranges 9 and 10, lying south of the Iroquois river." from the civil township of Beaver. Ordered that the prayer of the petitioners be granted and that the said township be called McClel¬ lan, and that it consist of the following terri¬ tory, to wit: all of town 30, ranges 9 and 10."

Afterward, on December 6, 1863, on peti¬ tion of R. C. Currens, Blake Wilson, F. C. Pierce and thirty others, Grant township was organized by striking off of Iroquois township all of township 27, range 8, and that "A. L.

March 9, 1871. Philip Miller and others presented a petition for a division of Jackson township, said division to be made on the line dividing towns 29 and 30, range 8, setting off towns 30 and 31 and fractional part of 32, range 8, into a new civil township to be known as Colfax township. Ordered by the court that the prayer of the petitioners be granted, and that there be a new civil township formed em¬ bracing all the territory in townships 30 and 3 1 and fractional part of 32, range 8, to be called

June 8, 1872. M. D. Kay and fourteen others presented a petition for the division of Colfax township, to be divided at the town line, dividing towns 30 and 31, range 8, to be called Lincoln township. The commissioners not being satisfied with the petition it was con¬ tinued until the next term.

September 2, 1872. It was ordered that the prayer cf the above petitioners be granted and that the territory be embraced in the follow¬ ing bounds, to wit: commencing at the south¬ east corner of section 36, town 31, range 8. Thence north on the line dividing Newton and Jasper counties, to the center of the Kankakee river. Thence westwardly following the meanderings of said river to a point where the range line, dividing ranges 8 and 9, crosses the said river. Thence south along said line, dividing 'ranges 8 and 9, to the town line dividing town¬ ships 30 and 31. Thence east along said town¬ ship line to the place of beginning. To be known by the name of Lincoln township, New¬ ton county, Indiana, No. io. And that Aaron Wilson be, and is hereby appointed trustee of said Lincoln township."

This completes the organization of the several townships in the county, ten in number, viz.: Iroquois, No. i; Jackson, No. 2; Lake, No. 3; Beaver, No. 4; Washington, No. 3; Jefferson, No. 6; McClellan, No. 7; Grant, No. 8 ; Colfax, No. 9 ; and Lincoln, Nc. 10.

Population

NEWTON COUNTY has maintained a steady growth in population ever since the first census of i860. In recent decades the towns have shown an aggregate increase, while the purely agricultural districts, such as Wash¬ ington township, have shown some decrease in population. Since the farm lands have been drained and can be worked at all seasons, and labor-saving machinery has been introduced, fewer laborers are needed in the agricultural regions. Many of the older residents have moved into the towns and the younger farm¬ ers have sought the opportunities of a newer country.

obtained from the Department of Commerce! and Labor through the courtesy of the Hon. E. D. Crumpacker. The townships are given in alphabetical order:

The Brandon Trial

/^NE day in the summer of i860 I heard that a murder had been committed in Jackson township and that the prisoner had been brought to Kent, he having been bound over by the examining justice. At that time the county officers were in temporary quarters in a store building fronting the railroad, near the present site of the Fletcher blacksmith shop. I went from my office to the room in which the prisoner was said to be under guard, and there I found three of my old neighbors and friends - Elijah Shriver, Calvin Hough and Samuel Brandon. From my knowledge of the men, I could not believe it possible that any one of them would be guilty of the crime charged, and I was so much surprised that I believe I left the room without speaking to any of them.

Shortly afterward I learned that Samuel Brandon was the one charged with the crime. He was taken to Lafayette and confined in jail to await the action of the grand jury. On Monday, August 27, i860, agreeable to an order issued by Charles H. Test, judge of the 1 2th judicial circuit, the court met for the first time in Newton county, at Kent - Charles H. Test, judge; Zechariah Spider, clerk; Elijah Shriver, sheriff; John L. Miller, prose¬ cutor. After attending to some preliminary business the following named parties were ad¬ mitted as attorneys to practice in this court: William D. Lee, Albert G. Brown, George W. Spider and Robert H. Milroy.

It was ordered by the court that Elijah Shriver, sheriff, go to Lafayette and obtain the person of Samuel Brandon from the jailor of Tippecanoe county and bring him before the court now in session. The following persons were sworn to serve as grand jurors for the term: Ransom Elijah, William Harriett, Al¬ len Park, Henry Rider, Young Thompson, Martin Crawn, George Stoner, Samuel Bard,

John Smith, Nathaniel Ford and James Cowgill, who, after due deliberation, did on the 29th day of August, i860, return an indictment against Samuel Brandon for murder.

Following is from the record: "Thursday, August 30, i860 - Court met pursuant to ad¬ journment. Comes now John L. Miller, pros¬ ecuting the pleas of the state. Comes also the defendant in person and by Mace, Lee & Spitler, his attorneys. Comes also a jury, to wit: Nathaniel West, John Padgett, James W. Dodson, John Smith, Josiah Howenstine, Amaziah Board, Hugh Warren, Thomas J. Smith, George Herriman, Joseph Louthain, Charles Prue and Peter Shaub."

The facts brought out at the trial were sub¬ stantially these: Samuel Brandon and David Handley were neighbors, living in Jackson township. Handley had a cornfield near the residence of Brandon, and one of Brandon^s hogs got into the corn. In driving the hog out, Handley threw a stone at the animal and broke its leg. This irritated Brandon, who came running out to where Handley was, and, after a few words, demanded that Handley get on his knees and beg his pardon. Handley re¬ fused and Brandon shot him, causing almost instant death.

"We, the jury, find the defendant, Samuel Brandon, not guilty as to the first and third counts of the indictment; and guilty as to the second; and that he be imprisoned at hard labor in the state's prison for life.

Whereupon the court did, on the following day, pronounce judgment against Brandon in accordance with the verdict of the jury and sentenced him to punishment at hard labor in the state's prison during his life.

Brandon was not what you might call a bad man, but was possessed of an ungovernable temper which brought sorrow and death to an innocent family and long years of confinement and remorse to himself. In his case was proven ! the truthfulness of the statement, "He that is j slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."

During the progress of the trial Brandon seemed to be perfectly indifferent as to the re¬ sult, exhibiting no regret or sorrow for his deed. All those present at the trial remarked on this phase of his character. However, one evening during the progress of the trial, after the proceedings for the day were closed, he and I were by ourselves in a corner of the room, no others within hearing distance. He seemed to unburden himself. He told me he would give anything he had if he could only shed a tear, that he seemed to be burning up in¬ side and there was no way by which he could get relief. This satisfied me that we often mis¬ judge others by seeing only that which is vis¬ ible from the outside, not knowing what is go¬ ing on within their consciences.

Michigan City, where he remained some four¬ teen years, when he was pardoned by the gov¬ ernor and returned to his old home. Here he died several years later.

Some Early Settlers

T) EFORE the time when railroads began to open new territory for settlement, it gen¬ erally took three classes of citizens to open up and develop a country. The first class was made up of what might be called squatters - - they were the adventurous frontiersmen who came before any lands were regularly offered for sale. They lived by hunting, fishing and trapping, and moved on farther west when the second class came in and purchased the land from the government at the uniform price of one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. This second class generally held on to their land for a few years, making, as they supposed, a good, big profit on their investment, when they would sell out to the third class, who would put up permanent improvements and become the fixed residents of the country.

Some Early Settlers 97

About the time I arrived in Newton county, this region was beginning to fill up with the settlers who were to become permanent resi¬ dents and carry forward the work of develop¬ ment and improvement.

The following is a list of names, as they come to me, of persons who were living in this territory prior to its organization as Newton county, in i860, with the date of the arrival of each:

WHEN roads were first made in this country they went by the most direct routes from one point to another, without re¬ gard to section lines. Travel was seldom guided by any roadway, the traveler steering for some landmark, such as the cut-off for the crossing of the Iroquois river, indicated by a gap in the timber at what is now known as the Strole bridge, or else the lone trees standing northwest of where the town of Brook is now located. The "north timber" and Pilot Grove also showed prominently from the prairie.

But, as the country settled up, roads began to be located, usually on established lines, such as section or quarter-section lines. After a time, as the travel was confined to lanes, the roads in the spring of the year would become almost impassable, and it was thought at the time that one of the great drawbacks to the im¬ provement of this whole region was the ad¬ mitted fact that we could never have any per¬ manently good roads on account of not having, within easy reach, any material, such as gravel

At this time (1910) Newton county stands in the front rank for the number of miles of good stone roads within its borders. And al¬ though it has cost a large sum of money to make these roads, they have added much to the comfort and pleasure of life. After they are once built, no one would have them removed for many times their cost. The number of miles of good, finished stone roads is as fol¬ lows : cost of about two thousand dollars per mile. The old prairie roads in the fall of the year were, however, the model roads, and we will never have anything again to equal them for easy traveling. There was a yielding of the sod, so that a horse would not tire as he does on a hard road. Horses brought here in a lame condition, or with tender feet, would get entirely sound again in time.

Prior to the year 1833, at which time the railroad between Indianapolis and Lafayette was completed, and the Illinois Central be¬ gan to run trains between Chicago and Kanka¬ kee, there would be in the fall of each year an immense amount of travel on the roads be¬ tween Lafayette and Chicago, mostly farmers' teams hauling wheat to Chicago or coming back loaded with salt and groceries of all kinds, either for their own use or for the mer¬ chants who had purchased stocks of goods east and shipped the same- to Chicago by way of the lakes. To accommodate this travel, camping-places, and, in several instances, "tav¬ erns," as they were then called, had been estab-

After leaving Lafayette the first would be ' Oxford, at that time the county-seat of Benton county. Parish Grove was the next point; then Sumner's Grove, between Mud Pine and Sugar Creek; then Bunkum, at which point there were two taverns, one on each side of the Iroquois river. The next was the Buck Horn tavern, located near where the present town of Donovan, Illinois, stands. This was kept for many years by the father of John Donovan, the latter now living at Watseka, Illinois, and one of its most prominent citizens. The next tav¬ ern was at the crossing of Beaver Creek, and the next was known as the Big Spring, about half-way between Beaver Creek and Momence. Then, on to Momence, at the crossing of the Kankakee river. The next general stop¬ ping-place was called Yellow Head Point, said to be named after an Indian who lived there, by the name of Yellow Head. The next point on the road was Blue Island, and then came Chicago, a distance of about one hun-

I think it was in February, 1858, that John Darroch, John Smart, Daniel Ash, Elias At¬ kinson, myself, and possibly one or two others, each with a wagon loaded with twenty-five or thirty bushels of shelled corn in sacks, started from Morocco for Kankakee to dispose of the grain and bring back merchandise. The roads had been frozen enough to bear up our loads, but the weather had turned warm and the roads thawed quite rapidly during the day. When we reached the Kankakee river at Aroma (now Waldron) we could not cross be¬ low the dam. Above the dam the river was frozen over, but it was doubtful if the ice would bear up the team and load together. So we led the teams over and pulled the loads across by hand, and arrived at Kankakee some ' time after dark, putting up there for the night.

The next morning we disposed of our corn at twenty-four cents per bushel, laid in our supplies, and in the afternoon started for home. Owing to the fact that the warm weaio6 NEWTON COUNTY ther had continued and it was considered un¬ safe to cross the Kankakee on the ice, we re¬ turned by way of Momence, where there was a bridge across the river. We spent our sec¬ ond night there. The next morning after breakfast we struck out for home. Elias At¬ kinson, however, had got up early and started out a couple of hours ahead of the rest of us. We had made but a few miles, however, when we caught up with him. He had started across a slough and had stopped on a big cake of ice was afraid to go ahead and could not turn aiound to come back. So there he stood, wait¬ ing for the rest of the company to come up and relieve him, which we did, and he remained with the crowd the rest of the day.

We stopped to feed and eat our mid-day meal at what was known then as the outlet of Beaver Lake. In a wet time, Beaver Lake would overflow and the water run down through the willow prairie, emptying into Beaver Creek near the state line.

ory as one of the best meals I had tasted for a long time) we started for home, reaching there about night of the third day. At that time it was not thought the trip was anything strange or remarkable, but it is a fair illustration of the conditions under which this county began its history.

A Few Stories

QUR history, thus far, has consisted of rather dry statements of facts, and it may not be entirely out of place to rest a while and give a little spice to the story by reciting a few peisonal incidents in the lives and characters of some of the prominent citizens living in the neighborhood of Morocco during the time the writer was a resident of that place.

I presume every neighborhood has had some few men who, by reason of their pecul¬ iarities, were different from the common run of their associates; who, because of their talk and actions, deserve to be remembered. Mo¬ rocco had its fair share of this interesting class of individuals. The country store was the meeting point, or clubroom, where they had opportunity to meet with others and give to a limited audience the benefit of their peculiar ideas on politics, religion, or whatever sub- ject might be up for public discussion, legislatures, state and national, only had the knowledge and ability possessed by these coun¬ try store assemblies, questions that often take them months to settle could be disposed of in a very short time. Many of the mistakes made by our army officers in the field could have been obviated, if the officers had taken the advice of these rural experts.

The first of these persons that comes to my mind at present is 'Squire Harrington, who lived in Jackson township, about four miles east of Morocco. He moved there about 1851 from Williamsport, Warren county, Indiana, where he had acted as justice of the peace for several years with great credit to himself as well as to his constituents. He had a fair com¬ mon-school education, was a constant and per¬ sistent reader of the general news of the day, and kept well posted. His strong forte was to be ready with an answer to any question that might be put to him, and any one starting an argument with him seldom came out better than second best.

The following incident may be taken as a | fair sample of his style of discussion. One day ; the store was nearly full of the best talent of the country. Among those present, besides the 'squire, was a Doctor Grigg, a man who had a very exalted idea of his own ability. The sub¬ ject under discussion was the condition of things in Kansas as affected by the slavery question. The 'squire, in commenting on the action of the political parties on the slavery question in days gone by, made the remark that in 1844 both parties, whig and democratic, made their platforms halfway between earth and hell. The doctor, thinking to give the benefit of his theological knowledge, wanted to know, "Where is that place you call 'hell' located?"

Another time, the 'squire came into the store and was telling me about a political speech he had heard made by A1 Bunch at the Collins school-house. He said to me: "Why, it was re¬ markable! I had no idea he was capable of such an effort. You would have been surprised to hear him. Why, he knows 'constitution,' 'amalgamation,' 'high heavens,' and lots of other big words that you would have no idea he knew anything about."

Still another time, he was telling me about his experience in going to mill. It was in the fall of 1857 or 1858. It was a very dry season, the streams being all dried up. Allen May, of Indianapolis, had a large bunch of cattle herd¬ ing on the prairie where the town of Reming¬ ton is now located. When the creek dried up, the cattle were driven to the Iroquois river for water, and when the river dried up they had to be taken to Beaver Lake so they could get water. It was so dry that we had to haul drinking water two miles. The grist-mills of