Porter County, Indiana - Chapter 6: Ivhlitaiiy Histojiy, 1912 (part 2 of 2)

Liberty Townsuip

This township was created by the board of county coiiinnssioneis at its first session in April, 1836. It lies in the northern jiart of the county and is bounded on the north by Westchester to^\ais]iip ; east Ijy Jackson; south by Centei", and west by Portage. It is exactly five mill's sinunc jiiul contains an area of twenty-five square miles. The surf;ice is j.'('nii;illy level, -with some swamp lands in the western and northwislciu jMnlions. When drained this land produces large crops of grain and lia.') . Tlir soil is a dark loam, running to clay in places. Long Lake, in the soiillK'.i.st corner, is coiniected with Flint lake in Center township by a iiarrdw cliannel; Coffee creek flows across the northwestern portion, ;iikI S;dl en^'k runs along the western border, or rather across the soutliwcsl eoiiur and thence along the western border. The latter stream funiislus some water-power, and in one place widens to form a pond of cousiderabli' si/.c. Originally, the land was heavily timbered with oak, hickory, iiuiple, ash, elm, black walnut, butternut, white wood and souh' minor varieties, but very little of the native timber remains, except in llii' swamji districts which have not yet been brought under cultivation.

Probably more trouble occurred over the land titles and claims in Liberty township than in all the rest of Porter county. Throu^di the treaties with the Pottawatomie Indians, the government granted to certain individual members of that tribe small reservations, known as "floats," varying in size from a quai'ter section to a section, and in some cases even more. These "floats" could be bought of the Indian or halfbreed ownei's for a trifle, and shrewd speculators took advantage of the situation to ^Durchase a number of them for the purpose of selling thein to actual settlers at a handsome profit. As the Indians to whom they had been reserved rarely occupied them, white men located upon thein, not knowing the real state of the title. After the occupant hud made .some improvement the speculator would appear upon the scene and demand a pi'ice that was often beyond the means of the scttlei" to pay, or his immediate removal from the land. In the one case the speculator could receive a price for the land much greater than he had jiaid for it, and in the other he became possessed of the improvements niiidc by the settler without cost to himself. Several petitions were sent to W'asliington praying for relief, but the government was slow to act jind llic jhi-- nicious system went on until it culminated in what is known as the

"Suavely war." William Ci-uwford located upon one of these Indiau tracts - a quarter section in flic northeast part of the township - but suKsequently sold it to William Suavely. A little later Peter White laid claim to the land and asked tlie assistance of the law to dispossess Suavely. Charles G. Merrick, wlm had been elected sheriff of the county in 1838, organized a posse, and, pursuant to the order of the court, went to Suavely 's for the purpose of evicting him. Suavely barricaded himself in his cabin, and he and his .sons, well armed, put up a spirited defense. Unable to gain admit fa nee through the doors or M'indows, the sheriff ordered some of his men to cliinb to the top of the house and tear off the roof. No sooner had I hey begnji to remove the clapboards than Snavely fired through the o])euing and wounded one of the men. This had the tendency to .stop acti\e operations on the part of the sheriff and his men, and Snavely, thinking lu- had killed the man, made an attempt to escape. He was overtaken, captured and taken to the count}' jail, where he remained until his victim i-ecovered from the wound, which was only a slight one, when \w was released upon payment of a fine and a promise to relinqili.sh the land. Some years after his death, his heirs received a portion of the value of the improvements made by Snavely while ill possession.

Trouble also resulted thi'ough the methods practiced by speculators at the public land sale at Lapoite in 1835. The "land-sharks" were there with long purses, anxious to get possession of the most valuable tracts, not for the puq^ose of establishing homes upon them and bringing them under cultivation, but merely to hold them until some actual settler would be forced to buy at a large; ]jrofit to the original purchaser. Liberty township, with its hea\y growth of timber, offered special attractions to these men. In order to gain an opportuhity to purchase the lands at a low price they fre(iuentl.y gave a quarter section to those seeking a home not to bid against them. Then by collusiou anmng themselves they "bought the lands for a song." Those to whom the quarter sections had been given as bribe not to bid went upon their lands, built houses and founded homes. Everj' impruvement of this character created a demand for othci" lands in the town.ship i ;! gave llie speculators an excuse for advancing prices. As most of lii. :. ml in the township was owned by the speculators, settlers sonylil c'. - . lsin\here, and Liberty was slow in developing.

Owen Crumpacker is credited willi Iumi:;: jii-st settler in the townsliip. He came from Union countj', ludi.in:.. n. ,'u)a\ 1834, and was soon followed by William Downing and Jerry Id.iiii.'ntoi'. During the next two years John Dillingham, E. P. CiAc, William Gosset, George Hesing, Asa Zane, Ira Biggs, David Hnghavt, S(>lo:iini Ilabanz, John White, Abrara Snodgrass, Frederick Wolf, Joliii S.fl'oicl, William Calhoun, Daniel Kesler and a few others located wiUiin 'Aw present limits of the township. Three settlements were formei! Ky lliese ])ioneers. One known as the Dillingham settlement was in the rash i li part ; the Zane settlement near the center, and the Salt creek si'ltlemriit in the western portion. Soon after his'arrival in 1836, William Go.ss' I buiU a saw and grist mill on Salt creek, and with the first lumber sawed lie erected the first frame house in the township. It. was a one-story stiuctiire, about 24 by 32 feet in size, and later was used for a churcli ami house. Gosset's mill was for years a landmark in that portion "I l\>rter county. The people of the Zane settlement patronized Elijah Caslic) V; mill, which was located on Coffee creek, just across the line in Jackson icwnship.

The first death was that of William Ilugliarl's wife, and it was due to the escapades of some drunken Indians. One day, in the fall of 1835, some four or five Indians visited Joscjili lliiHs's trading post on the Calumet river, where they took on a cargo o: "fire-water," and then Started out to annoy the settlers. William anii i );.vid Ilnghart, who lived together, were absent on a hunt and tin !>;;.. 'is tried to force an entrance to the house. The women, though ha.iiy iiightened,' managed to bar the door, after which they sought r^ fiu-i' hi iho loft of the cabin. After beating the door awhile with tlicii- tuinaUawks, the Indians left, and. none too soon for their scalps, for in a :i,tle while the brothers returned. Mrs. Hughart died not long aftej'A.iicl i>om the effects of the shock. On June 14, 1836, William iri,i.;,,.i> i arried Elizabeth Zane, which was the first wedding in liilicrly t(n\TJship. A wedding in the pioneer days was usually llu- occasion for a neighl)orhood gathering and nearly always wound up \\il!i a dance. The following story is told of the festivities aceoinpan.\ing tlic niarrijige of George Humes and Sarah Crawford in April, 1837. 'i'in' ceremony was performed in a log cahin about 14 by ij6 feet feet, by 'I'honias J. W.vatt, justice of the peace. As there were some thirty or forly invited guests present, and the cabin contained two beds, besides other articles of furniture, the crowded condition of the room can readily be imagined. After the wedding the justice and the bride's father c(>l('l)rated by looking too frequejjtly upon the "flowing bowl," and in a short time were hopelessly intoxicated. The yoimger guests insisted uj)on having "just a little dance," but the two dnniken men were in the way. The two beds were piled full of hats, wraps, etc., but a bright young woman solved the difficulty by proposing to 'roll the two meu under llie beds. Tier suggestion was carried out and by this means the larger part of the floor could be given to the dancers, who continued the merriment until the "wee sma' " hours.

In Liberty, as in the other original towTiships created by order of the board of county commissioners, April 12, 1836, an election was ordered to be held on April 30th. Following is a copy of the election returns from Libert}' township :

"At an election held at the house of Daniel T. Kcsler, Liberty township. Porter Co., Ind., on the 30tli day of April, A. D., 1836, for the purpose of electing one Justice of the Peace for said township, the following named persons came forward and voted, to wit: Peter Ritter, Thomas J. Wyatt, William Downe.y, Daniel W. Lyons, Joel Crumpaeker, Joel Welker, John Sefford, M. Blayloch, Fretlerick Wolf, Richard Clark, William Calhoun, Isaac Zane, Owen Crumpaeker, Iliram Snodgrass, Jerry Tot'hunter and Solomon Ilalianz. We, the undersigned Inspectors and Judges of an election held at the house of Daniel T. Kesler, in Liberty Township, Porter Co., Ind., on the 30th day of April, 1836, for the pur- pose of electing one Justice of the Peace, do hereby certify that for the office of Justice of the Peace, Peter Rillo' got thirteen votes, and Thomas

These returns were signed by Jerry Todbnnter, insprckn-, and by John .Sefford, Joel Crumpacker, William Suavely and Snliiiiioii Ilabauz, judges. At the spring term of court following this elcftion, Daniel W. Lyons was appointed the first constable for the townslii]i; -b ss;e IMorgan and Richard Clark, oveVseers of the poor; Edmund Tratcbas and William Downey, fence viewers, and Solomon Ilalianz, suix'rvisur of roads. About the same time, Peter Ritter, Samuel Olinger and William Thomas were appointed to lay out a road from Casteel's mill, on Coffee creek, to Gosset's mill, on Salt creek. The road as established bv them is still in existence and follows very closely the original line. Tlie ^'^aIJ)araiso and Michigan City plank road, built in 1851, ran throught the eastern part of the township, 0)i the line now occupied by the Valparaiso and Chesterton road, a fine, macadamized highway, and there are about ten additional miles of improved road in Liberty township.

In 1836 a school was taught in a little log house in the Zane settlement by Mrs. Sophia Dj'e. This, it is believed, was the first school in the toMiiship. The following year a school was taught in the Dillingham settlement by Anna Lyons, and a year later a log school house was built in that locality, in which E. P. Cole taught several terms. A school was likewise opened in tfie Salt Creek settlement in 1837, but the name of the teacher cannot be learned. The first frame school house was built in 1 856. As in the other parts of the county the first school houses were built by the cooperative labor of the citizens, and the schools were maintained by In 1911-12 Liberty had seven district schools in operntion, the teachers in which were as follows: No. 1 (the Phares school), Eva Wheeler; No. 3 (the Cole school), J. M. Lentz; No. 4 (the Lindorman school), Eda Lawrence; No. 5 (the Johnson school), Nellie Cnuuley; No. 6 (the Babeock school), Grace Moore; No. 7 (the Daly school), . - Phoebe Hess; No. 8 (Crocker), Coral Toseland.

supply this deficiency Abram and Peter Stail'oiHl and Dr. Stanton conceived the idea of building a steamboat to navisaU' lower Salt erode and the Calumet river, for the purpose of carrying or lowiiii;- tiiuber and produce to the Chicago markets. W. D. Ci'utliers ialur liccanu- associated with the projectors, and about the close of the ClJvil war work was commenced on a small vessel, twelve feet wide and thirty fvv\ long. Some two years passed before it was finished, but eventually it ^tart('d on its maiden trip. The experiment was not the success autieipatcd, and after two or three trips the boat was sunk in the Calumet river. Thf pr omotcrs were so badly discouraged that they made no attempt to raise the vessel, and somewhere in the Cahimet river the fishes play hide and seek among the ruins of the only steamboat ever built in Portei- county fcft- the navigation of local waters. At the present time transportation is furnished by three lines of railway. The Baltimore & Ohio crosses the township east and west a little north of the center; the Wabash runs along the northern border, and the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern crosses tlie northwest corner. Woodville, a station on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, one mile west of the eastern boundary, is the principal village of the to\vnship. It grew up after the building of the railroad and in 11)10 haii a poi)idation of less than'lOO. The postoffice was established there in 1881 or 1882, and in 1912 it was the only postoffice in the county, the others having been discontinued on account of the rural free delivery routes which cover all parts of the township. Three miles west of Woodville is a small station called Babcock, and in the northwest corner, at the junction of the Wabash and the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern, is the village of Crocker, with a population of about 200. It is a trading and shipping point of some importance, and owes its existence to the crossing of the two lines of railroad at that point.

While the increase in population lias not been great in i-ecmit years, Liberty has not been humiliated by a decrease as have some of her sister townships. In 1890 the number of inhabitants, according to the llnilcd States census, was 855; in 1900 it was 877, and in 1910 il liad jeaclicd 881.

Altlioiigh some of the earliest settlemoits in the eoiiiit>' were made in wliat is now Morgan loi'nship, it was not organiz(Hl as township nntil August, ]843, when it was cut off from the nortlirni part of Pleasant. It is exaetly six miles scpiare, corresponding to the ('ongressional townsliip .34, range 5, and contains thirty-six square miles. It derives its name from Isaac Morgan, who was one of the first settlers, though the jDlace where he located is in Washington township. Among the pioneers of Morgan may be mentioned Benjamin Spencer, George, Jacob and John Schultz, John Baum, Abraham Stoner, Samuel and Abraham Vaij Dalsen, Lyman and Elisha Adkins, John G .Keller, Thomas Wilkins, N. S. Fairchild, Archie De Munn, Elias Cain, John Berry and William Minton, all of whom had taken claims by 1837. Steplio) Bartholomew, Thomas Adams, Miller Parker, Enos Arnold, G. W. Patten and John E. Harris were also among those who located within the present township limits at an early date. An old settler is quoted as saying that when he oame to Morgan township "there was nothing but snakes, wolves and Indians." The Indians were generally peacable, however, except when thej'^ were drinking, and even then one would remain sober and take charge of the fire-arras and other weapons to prevent his drunken tribesmen f rolii doing some one an injury.

Among the Pottawatomies there was a tradition that at some period in the remote past their tribe got into a dispute with another tribe west of them regarding the boundary line between their respective hunting gi-aunds. To settle this difference of opinion, it was agri'cd by tlie chiefs to fight three pitched battles, the winner of two of llicm to fix the boundary. Old Indians believed the three battles were foiiglit sojiiewhere on the Morgan prairie, though no evidence of such conflicts Avere apparent when the first settlei's came there in the early '30s. Some believe that the old fort on the Kankakee river, mentioned in tlic liisloiy of Pleasant township was erected as a place to which the Pol(a\s;iloinies could retreat in case of defeat, but this theory is hardly Icnabic \\licii ojie stops to think that the best authorities agree that the I'oUawaloiiiies did not inhabit this region until after the Revolutionary war, whilr Ihe old fort shows evidences of having been erected at a niucli raili( r dale. The probabilities are the whole tradition is a mj'th.

Game animals were found in abundance by the fij'st .sclllcrs, and in the groves were numerous hollow 1/ees in whicli bees had Im'cii storing honey, perhaps for years. As late as 1851 Heni'v S. Adams, Rollston Adams, Asa Cobb and G. W. Patton, in a hunt of five (\:\yii succeeded in killing sixteen deer. AVilh plenty of wild game to fin'riisii nu'at for the larder, honey for the taking, and a fertile soil to cuUivalc, the pioneers of Morgan township did not sutfer the hardships ajid p)-i\a-lions experienced by many settlers on the frontier. Their gi-ea1isl drawbacks were the long distance to markets and the prairie firr.s, w liiili often swept OA'cr the country laying waste everything that canie in the jiafh of the flames.

The historical sketch of thei township written by Henry Stoner, trustee, in 1883, to be filed with the relics in the corner-stone of the court- . house, states that' an election was held on April 4, 18-i:', at which James White, Jesse Spencer' and Joseph McConnell were chosen trustees; David W. White, clerk, and John Brumbaugh, treasurer. As this date was some four months prior to the time when the county commissioners established the to\VTiship of Morgan, Mr. Stoner is mistaken regarding the date, or the officers named were elected for Pleasaiit township, of which Morgan was then a part'. The official records of this election cannot be found, nor can the names of the first township officers be ascertained. Neither can the name of the first white child born in the township be definitely learned. The first burial was that of a man named Agnew, who was frozen to death in a snow storm late in the fall of 1835, while trying to join his family at David Bryant's place at Pleasant Grove, Lake county. With a wagon load of household and an ox-team he set out on the old Indian trail but in a short time the sn(i«' Ix'gan falling so fast that the trail w.is obliterated. Unyoking his oxiii and leaving his wagon standing on the prairie, he started on foot, but became Ijcwildcred and iinally f?;ive waj' to the drowsiness that ended in his death. Wlien liis oxen and wagon were discovered search was made for his ho(l\ . wliidi was found and buried upon ]\Iorgan prairie. Mr. Stoner's (;ornii' stone aceoiiut says he was buried in the Adams cemetery, but Rattey's History of Porter County says that Mrs. Harriet J. Adams wiis ilic first person to lie interred in that burial ground. It may be possil>lc 1lial Ali'. Aguew's remains were removed H^am. the first place of burial to tbe cemetery, but the writer has been unable to find any one who could throw aii>- light on the subject.

Near the southwest corner of the tow7isliip is the old place known as Tassinong. There is a theorj' that a French trading post once occu))ied this site, though when the white men became acquainted with the place about 1830, uo traces of the post remained. Some three years after Morgan township was organized, Jesse Harper, who later won renowTi as a Greenback orator, started a store at Tassinong. A postoffico called Tassinong Grove had been established two miles south of Hari)er's store in 1840, with John Jones as postmaster. Harper remained but a few years, when William Stoddard started the second store at Tassinong. Aliout that time the postoflice was removed to the village. Josejih and William Unruh, William C. Eaton, Francis McCurdy, Ranker & Wright and Abraham ^hart were also engaged in the mercantile business at Tassinong prior to the Civil war. In 1852 there were, besides the store, two blacksmith shops and a shoe shop at the place, and in 1855 the Pres byterians established a church. The building occupied by this congicgation was erected by the people with the understanding that all denominations should have the use of it, though it was known as the Presbyterian church. When the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville railroad came through the township a few years ago, the town of Maiden s]irang uj) about two miles north of Tassinong, and the old town fell into decay. Maiden is a thriving little place, and is the principal shipping and trjidin^' point in the township. The only postoffice in the township i)i V.)]'l was Liberty View, a station on the railroad about four miles east of j\lalden. This town was projected by E. C. Maulfair, of Chicago, who. in June,

1909, platted the north sevciily-twu .hmts of llir iiortlicast quarter of section 35, township 34, range 5, :iim1 cdiife'iiid \ipon the embryo city the name of Liberty View. The jdnt \\:is ,hi],\- rccuided in October, 1909, and a postoiYice by that name was jorm established there. The town has not met the expectations ol ils rounder.

Just where the first scliool in tlie Uiwiisliij) was located seems to be somewhat in doubt, though old settler.s ^.ay it was not far frour the old "Baum" farm on Morgan prairie. Thi>\' agicc that the house in which it was taught was a small log strurtmc, jirobahly 12 by 14 feet in size, and that Orilla Stoddard was the lirsi. leach -i-. The second school house stood about two miles from the soulh line ol the township on the road running east from the present town oT M.ddi'u, and the third was built on the old Spencer place near Tassinong. j\Ir. SLoner's sketch, above referred to, closes with the staten)eut that "Mfn-.^-an township is noted as being one of the foremost agricultiu-al 1ownsliij)S in the county. Its growth has been gradual and steady. At the present date, October 20th (1883), there are enrolled in the nine school districts of the township 306 school children between the ages of six and twenty-one years." . That was written nearly twenty-nine ye.irs ago. In the school year of 1911-12, the nine districts mentioned by Sir. Stoner had been reduced to seven by consolidation, and in these .seven schools the following teach- .ers were'employed : No. 2 (Adams), VAHh Anderson ; No. 4 (Rising Sun), Florence Yoimg; No. 5 (Tassinong), Nora McNeff; No. 6 (Bundy), Edith Shroeder; No. 7 (Schroeder), Pcail Stoner; No. 8 (Piukerton), Olive Donahue; No. 9 (Flitter), Noia Denton.

Morgan township has an extensi\(' sxstmi of dilclics and al>oat fifteen miles of macadamized road. Two lines of railroad cross the towiiship. The New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate) line crosses the northeast corner, but there is no station on this i-oad \\itliiii the limits of the tOAVuship. The Chesapeake & Ohio (Innncrly tlic (Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville) enters near the soidhcasl cormi' and follows a northwesterly course, through' Liberty View and IMaldrji, having the township about two and a half miles north of tln' sonlhwesl coi-ner. The populaiv./." ,. av lion of the last twenty years has been somewhat fluctuating in characliT. In 1890 it was 830; in 1900 it had increased to 88-1, and during the next ten years there was a decrease, the number of inhabitants in 1910 being but 812.