Sullivan County, Indiana - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 25 of those read), 1909

A Sketch Of Indiana Through The Territorial Period And Up To Organization As A State

By an act approved May 7, 1800. congress provided, "That from and after the fourth day of July next, all that ]:)art of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, which lies westward of the line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north, until it shall intersect the territorial line between the I'nited States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and be called the Indiana Territory." The act provided further, "That there shall be established within the said territory a government in all respects similar to that provided by the ordinance of congress, passed on the thirteenth day of July. 1787, for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio : and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to. and enjoy, all and singular, the rights, privileges and advantages granted and secured to the people by the said ordinance." A further provision of the act creating the Indiana territory was, "That so much of the ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, as relates to the organization of a general assembly therein, and pre- scribes the powers thereof, sliall be in force and operate in the Indiana territory, whenever satisfactory evidence shall be given to the governor thereof, that such is the wisli of a majority of the freeholders, notwithstanding there may not be therein five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years and upwards." But until there should be such five thousand inhabitants the representatives in the general assembly, if one should Ije organized, should be not less than seven nor more than nine ; to be apportioned by the governor among the several counties, agreeably to the number of free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, in each. As to the eastern boundary line, as fixed in the act, it was further provided, "That whenever that jiart of the territory of the United States which lies to the eastward of a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, running thence due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall be erected into an independent state, and admitted into the union on an equal footing with the original states, thenceforth said line shall become and remain permanently the boundary line between such state and the Indiana territory." A final provision was that, until the general assembly should determine otherwise, "Saint A'incennes, on the Wabash river, shall be the seat of government for the Indiana territory."

The Harrison mansion is the naiue given to the venerable building in which the legislature of the territory held its sessions and in which the governor resided and w^here the general court was held. The building is still in a good state of preservation ; and efi:'orts have often been made to have the state secure it as a historical museum.

The house, from an architectural point of view, as well as from its massiveness, seems remarkable. At the time it was erected its situation was a wilderness, far from civilization, and to get the materials for its construction, the glass, iron, etc., meant a year or more of time before they coukl be delivered at Vincennes. Historical societies have endeavored to have it kept as a lasting monument to the memory of those who built so well and as a reminder that this was the birthplace of government, religion and education in the west. The building is two stories high, with a large attic, and a basement under the entire place. It was completed in 1805. The ceilings are thirteen and one-half feet high and the rooms are spacious. The walls arc of brick and inside and out are eighteen inches thick. The glass in the windows came from England, and it took two years to have it delivered. The wood was sawed with the old-fashioned whip-saw, and all the nails were handforged on the grounds. The woodwork is hard-paneled, finished with beading and is of solid, clear black walnut. It is said that the walnut in the house today is worth a small fortune.

So came Indiana into existence, with a capital of her own, and with even a freer form of government than that of the northwest territory, prior to its legislative stage. The area of this new Indiana territory included all of the present state of Indiana, Except a small wedge-shaped section in the southeast part of the state, east of a line running from a point on the Ohio opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river, northeasterly to Fort Recovery, in the state of Ohio, this line being the old Indian boundary line, between those points named in the treaty of Greenville. The new territory included also a narrow strip less than three miles in width on the west side of the state of Ohio, north of Fort Recovery, and lying between the north and south line through I'ort Recovery and the present boundary of the two states. The territory included besides, all of the state of Michigan lying west of the north and south line through Fort Recovery : also the whole of Illinois and Wisconsin : and so much of Minnesota as Hes east of the Mississippi river. The limits of the Indiana territory, for a time, extended even west of the Mississippi. Vol. 1 - 22 l')y an act appixived ]\larch 26, 1804. congress attached to Indiana all that part of Louisiana west of the Mississippi and north of the thirty-third degree of north latitude, under the name of the District of Louisiana. At a session of the governor and judges of Indiana territor}-, held at Vincennes, beginning October i, 1804. a number of laws were adopted for the District of Louisiana. During the following year, however. b\- an act of congress approved March 3, 1805, this district was organized into a separate territory. This was truly an imperial domain. Detroit. Sault Ste. ]vlarie. St. Ignace, with eastern Michigan and all Ohio, remained in the northwest territory until the admission of Ohio as a state of the Union, November 29. 1802. when the northwest territory, as a political division, ceased to exist. At that date also, congress attached to Indiana the remainder of Michigan, or Wavne county, as it was then called; and, in 1803, \\'i]liam Henry Harrison, as governor of the Indiana territory, assumed jurisdiction over all of ]\Iichigan, and extended the limits of Wayne county to Lake Michigan. Thereafter, until the formation of the territory of Michigan, June 30, 1805, Detroit, Sault Ste. Alarie, and St. Ignace, as well as the sites of Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Niles. with all the valley of the St. Joseph, were in Indiana. Chicago and St. Louis were then in Indiana ; and so were the sites of Milwaukee, St. Paul, ^linneapolis and Duluth. The inland sea, Lake Michigan, was wholly within the Indiana territory. The ambition of Napoleon is said to have been to make the Mediterranean a French lake ; and he came near succeeding. La Salle made Lake Michigan a French lake ; it was afterwards a British lake ; and now it is the only one of the great lakes that is wholly American ; in the first years of the nineteenth century, it was an Indiana lake, surrotmded on every side by Indiana territory.

] lenrv Harrison, of N'ir^inia, as first governor of tlic liidiaiia tcrritorv was contirnietl 1)\- the senate. Harrison liad I)een secretary of the northwest territory, and also delegate in congress from that lerriior\. On the next day, John Cjibson. of Pennsylvania, a ])ioneer of distinction, was appointed first secretary of the territory. Jt was to Secretary (jibson that the great chief Logan, in 1774, delivered his celebrated >])eech, known to ever}- school bo)'. William Clark, 1 lenry X'anderburg and John Criffin were appointed the first judges of the territor\-. Harrison did not come to assume his olifice until January, 1801. |ohn (jibson. the secretar}-, arrived at A'incennes early in Jul\, iSoo. and. as acting governor, proceeded to make appointments of territorial ofticers and to provide for the administration of the afifairs of the new government, which was formally organized Jul\" 4, 1800. 'Hie first entr\- (jn the executive journal, dated at Saint \'incennes, Jnl\- 4, 1800, reads as follows: "This da} the government of the Indiana territory commenced. William Henrv Harrison having been appointed governor: John (iibson, secretary: William Clark, Henry \'ander lUirgh and John (iriffin, judges in and over said territory." This was the second time in the history of our commonwealth that July 4th proved to be a notable day. It was on July 4, 1778, that George Rogers Clark surprised and captured Kaskaskia, then the capital of the British possessions northwest of the Ohio, thus opening up the first page of our history, as a part of the American Union: and now again on July 4, 1800, was organized the government of Indiana, as an incipient commonwealth of the republic. On lannary 12, 1801, Governor Harrison having arrived at \"incennes and issued proclamation therefor, the governor and judges convened in legislative session and adopted laws for the government of the territorv. This was the first body ever convened within the present limits of Indiana to make laws for our commonwealth. Idie ordinance of 1787 continued in force, so far as applicable, as also the laws already adopted for the government of the northwest territory before the division. The new court, called the General Court of the Indiana territory, organized and held its first session at \'incennes. March 3, 1801. The court record opens as follows : "At a General Court of the Indiana Territory, called and held at Saint Vincennes the third day of March, in the year one thousand eight hundred and one. The commissions of the judges being read in open court, they took their seats, and present: William Clark, Henry \'ander Burgh and John Griffin, Judges. Henry Hurst, Clerk of the General Court, having produced his commission from the governor and a certificate of his having taken the oath of allegiance and oath of ofifice, took his place. John Rice Jones, Attorney- General, produced his commission, and a certificate of his having taken the oath of allegiance and oath of office." One of the orders made on this first day of court is of much significance. It was for the examination of certain persons "for counsellor's degree, agreeable to a law of the Territory." Among the persons so ordered to be examined as to his proficiency in the law was the Attorney-General himself, John Rice Jones. After obtaining their degree as counsellors, those distinguished gentlemen were required to appear at subsequent terms of court, to be examined for their second degree, for admission to practice as attorneys-at-law. Now-a-days it is the constitutional privilege of "every person of good moral character, being a voter," to be admitted "to practice law in all courts of justice." Which is the better system in "a government of the people, for the people, and by the people," may perhaps be a subject of debate. One may become a good lawyer, though admitted to practice without examination ; and he may be a poor lawyer, though admitted after tlie most severe examination. "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings."

The business of this early supreme court was very light, as compared with the business of the courts of our day. From the organization of the court, 3, 1801, until the close of its last term, September 16, 1816, just before the territorial form of government gave way to the establishment of a permanent state government, two manuscript dockets, or order books, one of 457 and the other of 120 pages were found sufficient to contain all the orders of the court. The court sat at Vincennes from its organization until 1813, when the scat of government was removed to Corydon, in Harrison county.

The general court, unlike the supreme court of our day, had original as well as appellate jurisdiction. The business, however, was usually appellate, the appeals being taken from the several county courts. Yet the most important case that came before the court was an original action for slander, brought by the governor, William Henry Harrison, against one William Mcintosh, a wealthy Scotch resident of A'incennes, and said to be a relative of the distinguished Sir James Mcintosh. The case was tried by a jury selected as follows: Forty-eight men were summoned by elisors, appointed by the court ; of these, the plaintifif struck out twelve names, after which the defendant struck out twelve. From the remaining twenty-four a jury of twelve men was drawn b\- lot. The jury gave the governor a verdict for four thousand dollars, a part of which was remitted and the rest given to charity. The judges of the general court, like the judges of our supreme court in their respective circuits, had power to preside in the circuit courts ; and we learn that Benjamin Parke, after whom Parke county was named, while judge of the general court, rode on horseback from Vincennes to AVayne county, to try a case of larceny. It is said that his judicial bench on that occasion was a log of wood. The case was one of petit larceny, - exceedingly petty, indeed, - the theft of a pocket knife. The people of those days sought the iusl enforceiTicnt of the law upon the statute books, according to its true inient and meaning", rather than the making of many newlaws. A speedv hearing, a fair trial, a prompt acquittal of the innocent, a certain conviction of the guilty, the taking of no man's property without right and the delay of no man in the recovery of what belonged to him. - these things seemed to our simple forefathers the true ends of the administration of justice. They deemed the enforcement of the old laws of more consequence than the making of new ones. To remedy miscarriage of iustice. they looked to the courts and to the ot^cers appointed to administer the laws, rather than to the enactment of new laws.

The tirst judges of the general court were succeeded by Thomas Terrv Davis. Waller Taylor, Benjamin Parke and James Scott. The last three occupied the bench until the territorial form of government came to a close, in 1816. The most distinguished of the judges, and one of the ablest public men in the history of Indiana, was Benjamin Parke. Soon after the close of his services as judge of the general court, he was appointed tirst judge of the United States district court for Lidiana, serving from 1817 until his death, in 1835. Waller Taylor was also a man of distinction. \\'hile judge of the general court he served as major with Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe. On the organization of the state government, in 1816. he was chosen as one of the tirst United States senators from Indiana, and served for two terms. James Scott, the third member of the general court at the time of its dissolution, was appointed one of the first judges of the state supreme court, and served for fourteen years. The attorneys-general for the territorial period were three in number. - James Rice Jones, Benjamin Parke and Thomas Randolph. Jones was one of the compilers of the Indiana code of 1807. Disappointed in his political aspirations, he went to Illinois, and afterwr.rds to ^lissouri. He was a member of the first constitutional conven- tion of Missouri, and afterwards member of the supreme court of that state. Thomas Randolpli, thi.' last attorney-general of the territory, was a cousin of John Randolph of Roanoke. He was killed at the battle of Tippecanoe, in ]8i i. The office of attorney-general ceased to exist from his death until its re-establishment b}' the legislature, under the new constitution, in 1855. To Dcnjamin Parke, and to General Washington Johnston, another distinguished lawyer, our supreme court is indebted for the nucleus of its present librar}-, - one of the finest west of New York City. The books of Parke and Johnston upon the shelves of this librarv are made the more precious by the autographs of those eminent men. The salaries of the judges of the general court were seven hundred dollars a year each ; that of the attorney-general, at first sixt}- and afterwards one hundred dollars a year.

The questions brought for decision before the general court of the Indiana territory were in many cases quite dift'erent from those that have since engaged the attention of our courts. Legislation itself was difl:"erent. Many acts now deemed criminal were then either sanctioned by the law, or at least looked u]X)n with indifference or even indulgence. On the other hand, scjme offenses were then punished more severely than at present. Not only treason and murder, but also arson, horse-stealing upon a second conviction, and rape were punishable by death. Burglary, hog stealing and bigamy, in addition to other penalties, rendered the oft'ender liable to be punished by whipping. But duelling was punishable only by a fine ; although all officers, whether legislative, executive or judicial, as well as attornevs-at-law, were required to take an oath that they had not given or accepted a challenge to a duel. In their legislation against corruption in elections, the men of those days seem to have been wiser than some of our modern legislators. They punished the briber, the bribe-giver: while more recent laws, in many cases, have punished only the bribe-taker. Liquor laws also differed widely from our own. Tavern keepers might have their licenses revoked, not only for failing- to do their duty towards their guests, as to giving proper attention and providing wholesome food for man and beast, but also for failure to keep on hand "ordinary liquors of good and salutary quality." Provisions of this kind, in favor of pure food and against adulteration, again seem to be receiving some attention from legislators, both in congress and in the general assembly.

As we have already seen, provision was made for the erection of pillories and whipping posts in every county for the punishment of criminals. And not only men, but even women, were publicly whipped for violations of law. Imprisonment for debt was also authorized by the laws of the territory, as it was then generally throughout the United States. Lotteries, on the contrary, now regarded as not only illegal but even as immoral, were in those days, rather favored by the law.

By an act of the legislature, approved September 17, 1807, the Vincennes university was chartered by the legislature. It is the oldest educational institution of that rank in the state, if not in the west. Among the provisions of the charter was one for the raising of twenty thousand dollars "for tlie purpose of procuring a library and the necessary philosophical and experimental apparatus" for such university. The trustees of the university were required to "appoint five discreet persons" as managers of the lottery, who were to have power "to adopt such schemes as they may deem proper, to sell the said tickets, and to superintend the drawing of the same, and the payment of the prizes." It was further provided that "said managers and trustees shall render an account of their proceedings therein at the next session of the legislattu'e after the drawing of said lottery." It is clear that our worthy forefathers thought pillories and whipping posts suitable and proper means for the punish- ment of wrong-doers; and that they were also of opinion that money for the promotion of the higher education of the people, might properly be secured by the establishment of a lottery. It was not until February 3, 1832, that an act was passed by the legislature making the conducting of a lottery a misdemeanor ; but even in that act, for the purpose no doubt of protecting the Vincennes lottery, there was a saving clause in favor of lotteries "authorized by law." In the constitution of 185 1, however, the prohibition was made absolute, - that "no lottery shall be authorized ; nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed." But, notwithstanding this distinct declaration in the constitution, added to the previous statutorv enactment, the trustees of the university still persisted in keeping up their lottery ; and in this practice they were long sustained by the courts. x\s late as the May term, 1879, o^ the supreme court, the lottery provision of the Vincennes university charter was held to be an inviolable contract, which neither the legislature nor even the people, in the framing of their constitution, could abrogate ; and the Dartmouth college case and other high authority was cited in support of the decision. "We hold," said the court, in Kelluni v. State, 66 Ind. 588. "that the lottery established by the board of trustees for the Vincennes university, under the fifteenth section of the territorial law for the incorporation of said university was and is a lottery 'authorized by law.' " It was not until the J\Iay term, 1883, of the court, in the case of State v. Woodward, 89 Ind. no. that the \'incennes lottery was finally declared illegal. The opinion in the case was the last written by the eminent jurist. James L. Worden ; and followed a then recent ruling of the supreme court of the United States.

Another illustration of the persistence of customs which have long prevailed in a community, is exhibited in the history of slavery in Indiana. To manv persons the statement may be a surprise that human slavery ever existed witliiii the borders of this state. We must rememljer, however, tliat. on the conquest of the northwest by George Rogers Clark, all this country became a part of \'irginia, under the name of the county of Illinois. Our territory thus becoming a part of the state of \'irginia. slaver\- had a legal foothold here, as it had there. Besides, the French, and also the Indians, held slaves in the territory previous to the A'irginia conquest; the slaves so held being not only negroes but also captive Indians. After the deed of cession 1)\' X'irginia to the United States, it was uncertain for a time whether slavery should be recognized or not : but. in the ordinance of 1787. for the government of the territorv northwest of the Ohio, it was finally provided, in terms, that "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."" The same prohibition was carried into both our state constitutions. Yet, under the plea that, before the passage of the ordinance, slave property had been lawfully acquired within the limits of the territory, it was argued that the holders of such property could not be legally deprived of it. The argument was even made that a mother being a slave, her children could be born only as slaves, and that the owner of the mother became the owner of the children so born.

The property interests of the country were enlisted in behalf of retaining the institution of slavery, and even of introducing more slaves into the country. A large part t")f the population was from Mrginia and Kentuck}-, and this element constituted a powerful party in favor of perpetuating some form of African slavery. At the head of the slaveholding interest was the governor of the territory, \\"illiani Henry Harrison. The governor was a \'irginian. and seemed to be sincerely of opinion that the prosperity of the country depended upon the establishment of slavery. A strong effort was made to have the provision in the ordinance of 1787 prohibiting slavery suspended, at least for ten years. The contest before congress was long and earnest, l)nt the jjctition from Indiana was finally ilenied ]j\' that hotly. Yet the effort was still persisted in to retain in slavery, by some form of indenture or otherwise, those who had been slaves or who were the children of slave mothers. As late as the year 1813, the act concerning taxation passed 1)\' the legislature pruxided, as a part of the schedule of assessments and taxatiuu, for a tax "for every slave or servant of color, above twelve years of age, two dollars." .Two cases came to the supreme court, in which the (piestions so raised were finalK settled against the right to hold slaves in Indiana, in the first of these cases. State v. Lasselle, 1 Blackf. 60, the trial court had decided that a colored woman, I'ollw was the property of Lasselle. The su])reme court, without deciding whether X'irginia. by consenting to the ordinance of 1787, intended to emancipate the slaves in the northwest or not, held that, in anv event, slavery was eiTectually abolished by the Constitution of 18 if). In the other case, that of Mary Clark, also a cok)red wt)man, decided in i I'.lackf. 122, Mary Clark had attempted to bind herself as a servant for a term of twenty years. She afterwards repented of her baro-ain ; but the trial court held that she must complv with her contract. The supreme court, however, decided that such an indenture, though voluntarilv made, Avas a species of slavery, and that the coutract could not be enforced. Thus was wiped out the last vestige of legal bondage in Indiana. It is true that long after these decisions, many persons continued voluntariU to live out their lives as slaves within the limits of the state. Even as late as 1840, as shown by the United States census for that vear. there were still three slaves in Indiana, - a man and a woman in Rush county and a woman in Putnam county. Ihit slavery, as sanctioned bv the law, was at an end: and it came to an end. in fact, with the death of the last of such voluntary slaves.

The desire on the part of many of the inhabitants to estabhsh slavery in the Indiana territory resulted in a proclamation by the governor calling for the election by the people of delegates to meet in convention at Vincennes, December 20. 1802. This convention petitioned congress for a suspension of the sixth article of the ordinance of 1787, which prohibited slavery in the territory. The petition, as we have seen, was rejected by congress. The report of the committee to which the petition was referred was prepared by John Randolph, the distinguished orator and statesman, then senator from Mrginia, and was an unanswerable argument against the establishment of slavery in the territory. The Vincennes convention which prepared the petition in favor of slavery is also noteworthy as being the first deliberative body elected to represent the people of Indiana. The convention consisted of twelve delegates. From the county of Knox, four ; from the county of Randolph, three ; from the county of St. Clair, three ; and from the county of Clark, two. The counties of St. Clair and Randolph were in that part of the territory which is now the state of Illinois ; Knox and Clark were in what is now Indiana. So small was the population, in 1802, of the territory now comprising these two great states. Wayne county, now the state of Alichigan, does not seem to have been represented in this early convention.

The act of Congress for the organization of the Indiana territory, approved May 7, 1800, provided that whenever the governor became satisfied that a majority of the freeholders of the territory were in favor of the organization of a general assembly, an election for that purpose should be called, even though there might not then be in the territory five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years ; thus providing an earlier period than was provided in the ordinance of 1787, for the establishment of a representative government. By a vote of the people taken September 11, 1804, it appeared that a majority of one hundred and thirty-eight were in favor of organizing- a general assembly ; and accordingly Governor Harrison issued his proclamation declaring that Indiana had passed into the second stage of territorial government, and called an election for January 3, 1805, at which members of the first house of representatives were chosen in the several counties. This body met at Vincennes, February i, 1805, and selected names for the organization of a legislative council, or senate, as provided in the ordinance of 1787. The counties then represented were Knox, Clark and Dearborn, in what is now Indiana; St. Clair, in Illinois; and Wayne, in Michigan. This was the last official connection of Michigan with the Indiana territory. Bv an act of congress, approved January 11, 1805, it was provided that from and after June 30, 1805, that part of the Indiana territory lying north of an east and west line drawn through "the soutlierly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend" through the middle of Lake [Michigan to its northern extremity, and hence north to the northern boundary of the United States, should be erected into a separate territory, to be known as Michigan. It will be noticed that this left the greater part of the present upper peninsula of Michigan in the Indiana territory.

The legislative council having been selected, the first general asseml)ly of Indiana, embracing then the greater part of the old northwest territory, except Ohio and Michigan, assembled at \'incennes, July 29, 1805. The council, or senate, consisted of five members ; and the house of representatives, of seven members. ]\Iichigan having become a territory, Wayne county was not represented. The counties having representation in the assemblv were Knox, Clark and Dearborn, in what is now Indiana, and St. Clair and Randolph in Illinois. The business of this first general assembly was chiefly routine. Benjamin Parke was elected the first delegate of the territory in congress. The second general assembly began its session at X'inccnncs. August 16, 1807. The laws passed at those two sessions, together with all other laws in foree in the territory, were collected and puhlished in one volume, called the code of 1807. This was the first Indiana code of laws.

After the signing of the treaty of Greenville between General Anthony Wayne and Little Turtle and the other chiefs, August 3. 1795. it was belie\-ed that permanent peace had been established between the whites and Indians. Uut the emigration to the rich lands of the northwest grew to such proportions that the Indians were pressed farther and farther into the interior. Numerous treaties, as we have seen, were made, from time to time, throwing open to wdiite settlement the several reservations of territory made at Greenville to secure to the Indians their huntinggrounds. Often, too, where two or more tribes owned certain lands in common, as they often did, the whites secured by the title of one tribe and then failed to respect the claim of the others to the same lands. The French had respected this community ownership of lands, and never denied the title of the Indians, even to the territory occupied bv themselves. iMoreover. as to their own holdings, the French accepted the community idea, which was universal. Several hundred acres were set aside at A'incennes, which the inhabitants of the post used in common for pasture and other uses. They "fenced in" their stock as is now the law in Indiana ; and the crops planted outside this community propertv In' each householder were without enclosure. The community idea, however, was antagonistic to the ideas of the emigrants from the east. Each settler wanted his own lands for himself exclusively, and was particularly unwilling that any Indian should have any part or parcel in his holding. r>ut. besides securing additional Indian lands by new treaties, many white emigrants, without any such authority, pushed in upon the lands yet reserved to the Indians bv the treatv of Greenville and other treaties. This land ^recd, as the Indians called it. was cxaspcratinq- to the natives, who loved their old hunting grounds; and the feeling of resentment against the encroachment of the whites became more acute from \ear to year. Afterwards, when white men fell in Ijattle with tlie Indians, it was uoi uncommon for the latter to stuff earth into the mouth, nose and ears of the fallen pale face, as if in mockery of this greed for land.

In a message to the legislature of Indiana, in 1806, Governor Harrison referred to the growing dissatisfaction of the Indians, in this and other respects. The Indians, he said, "will never have recourse to arms - I speak of those in our immediate neighborhood - unless driven to it bv a series of injustice and oppression. Of this they already begin to complain ; and I am sorry to say that their complaints are far from being groundless. It is true that the general government has passed laws for fulfilling, not only the stipulations contained in our treat}-, but also those sublimer duties which a just sense of our prosperity and their wretchedness seem to impose. The laws of the territory provide, also, the same punishment for ottenses committed against Indians as against white men. Experience, however, shows that there is a wide difference in the execution of those laws. The Indian always suffers, and the white men never."

In the state to which the minds of the Indians were wrought up. by both their real and their fancied wrongs, they needed but a leader to break out into hostilities against their oppressors. The leader was forthcoming, a greater perhaps than either Pontiac or Little Turtle. In 1805, Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief, and his brother Law-le-was-i-kaw - the loud voice - resided in a village on the \\'hite river in what is now Delaware county. Law-le-was-i-kaw took upon himself the character of a prophet, and is usually known under that title. He began to preach to the Indians, calling upon them to reject witchcraft, the use of intoxicating liquors, intermarriage with the whites and the practice of selling their lands to the United States. He acquired great influence among the tribes, not only the tribes in Indiana, but those of the whole west. Prophet's Town was established on the banks of the Wabash river, near the mouth of the Tippecanoe, as a center to which all the Indians were invited to gather. While the prophet was arousing the religious enthusiasm of the Indians Tecumseh was visiting all the tribes of the west and the south, forming a confederacy which might be strong enough to resist further encroachments on the part of the white settlers. The poison of British influence was again manifested ; and when the war of 1812 broke out between England and the United States, the Indians were found in full and active sympathy with the British. Interviews took place from time to time between Governor Harrison and the Shawnee chiefs, but the estrangement continued to increase from year to year. In the early part of 1811 the people of the territory became thoroughly alarmed at the growing strength of the Indians at Prophet's Town ; and Governor Harrison. under direction of the president and the secretary of war. began preparations for a military expedition against the prophet. Harrison's army consisting of about seven hundred efifective men, of whom two hundred and fifty were regular troops, arrived near Prophet's Town November 6, 181 1. On the morning of the seventh, before daylight, the Americans were fiercely attacked by the Indians, and many killed. Harrison quickly rallied his forces and charged upon the Indians, who were completely routed. Harrison's loss, in killed and mortally wounded, were sixty-two, with one hundred and twenty-six other wounded men. The enemy's forces are believed to have been greater, and their losses quite as severe ; Init there is a lack of definite information on these points. The battle of Tippecanoe is the most important that ever took place within the confines of Indiana. The spirit of the Indians was completely broken, and the confederacy which Tecumseh was building up was completely destroyed.

This great warrior was liimself absent at tlic time, xisitin^- the tribes of the south. It is said that he was angrv with his brother for briiifriu"- on the engagement. Tecuniscli was not tlien ready for liis conflict with the whites, and his plans were therefore frustrated. He .soon joined the l!ritish army with his Indians and was killed at the battle of the Thames, in Canada' not far from Detroit, October 5, 1813. He was undoubtedhthe greatest warrior and statesman ever produced l\v the Indian race.

After the battle of Tippecanoe there was occasional minor trouble with the Tnchans ; but with the death of Tecumseh their courage and ambition as a united people was gone forever. The remnants of the red race were by degrees removed to the far west; and their place was rapidly taken by the hardy pioneers who poured in from the eastern states and from Europe. The triumph for the second time, of American arms over those of Great Britain, soon after followed; and the future of the great northwest was assured.

Another interesting episode in early Indiana history ought to receive at least a passing mention. In 1805, 1806 and 1807, Aaron I'.urr. once vice-president of the United States, was engaged in dift'erent places along the Ohio valley in organizing a mysterious enterprise, now believed to have been intended for the founding of an independent southwestern republic, to embrace Mexican and American territory. Some are of the opinion that Burr's ambition looked to the uniting of all the states and territories of the Mississippi valley, with Mexico, into one great central state of which he should be chief. Amongst other ]~)laces Burr visited Jefi'ersonville, Mncennes and Kaskaskia. He was arrested early in 1807, and his vast project, whatever may have been its nature, suddenly collapsed.

wishes of the people in the matter, and, by an act approved February 3, 1809, declared that from and after March i, 1809, all that part of the Indiana territory lying west of the Wabash river, and a direct line north from Post \4ncennes to the British possessions, should form a separate territory, to be called the Illinois territory. The population of the whole of the Indiana territory at that time was about twenty-eight thousand ; eleven thousand being in the Illinois division, and seventeen thousand in Indiana proper. The cutting off of the territory of Illinois left the capital of Indiana on the extreme west of the territory ; and an agitation soon developed for its removal from Mncennes to some more central point. By an act of the general assembly, approved March 11, 1813, the capital of the territory was fixed at Corydon, Harrison county, from and after May I, 1813. The capital remained at Corydon until it was removed to Indianapolis, in 1825, as provided in Sec. 1 1, article XI of the constitution of 1816. By reason of the absence of Governor Harrison in the wars with the Indians and with Great Britain, the active duties of the office of governor devolved for the time upon the secretary, General John Gibson. It was by his call as governor that this last meeting of the general assembly was held at Vincennes. On February 27, 1813, President Madison appointed Thomas Posey, then a senator of the L'nited States from Tennessee, as governor of the new Indiana territory, then reduced very nearly to the territorial limits of the present state of Indiana.

During the thirty-one years from the close of the Revolutionary war, and the signing of the treaty of Paris, September 3, 1783, to the close of the second war with Great Britain, and the signing of the treaty of Ghent, December 24, 181 4, Indiana passed through the several stages of develop- ment, until she reached the full maturity of her growth as a commonwealth. The time during which she was a part of the county of Illinois, nursed and cared for by the mother state of Virginia, may be considered the period of her infancy; the time during which she was a part of the northwest territory, trained and guided by the national authority, and governed by the ordinance of 1787 and other laws adopted for her protection, may be considered as the period of her childhood ; the time during which she was a part of the vast Indiana territory and entrusted with the forms if not the reality of self government, may be considered as the period of her immature youth ; the time during which she was regarded as a separate and distinct territory, allowed to legislate in a limited manner for her own particular needs, and called upon to defend her integrity by the shedding of her blood at Tippecanoe and in battle with the British oppressor, may be considered as the period of her adolescence. It was then recognized that the time of her full maturity was at hand, and that she was entitled to take her place as one of the sister states of the Union. On December 14, 181 5, a memorial to congress, praying for the admission of Indiana as a state, was adopted by the general assembly of the territory; and, on the 28th of the same month, was laid before congress by Jonathan Jennings, the territorial delegate. The memorial recited the provision of the ordinance of 1787, that when the free population of the territory should be sixty thousand or over, the territory should be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, and stating that a census taken by legislative authority showed that Indiana had more than the requisite population. In compliance with this request of the legislature, congress passed an enabling act, approved April 19. 18 16, providing for an election to be held in the several counties of the territory, May 13, 1816, to select delegates to a convention to frame a state constitution.

The convention consisted of forty-three members, elected from thirteen counties, as follows : Wayne, 4 ; Franklin, 5 ; Dearborn, 3 ; Switzerland, I ; Jefferson, 3 ; Clark, 5 ; Harrison, 5 ; Washington, 5 ; Knox, 5 ; Gibson. 4; Warrick, 1.: I'erry, i; and Posey, i. It will be noticed that these counties were almost altogether on the Ohio and Wabash rivers. Indiana's hrsl seUlcmcnts were along the rivers on the southern borders; and the settlers were almost all from the states and territories south and southeast of the Ohio. The population of the thirteen counties sending delegates to the constitutional convention of 1816 was sixty-three thousand, eight hundred and ninety-seven. Two additional counties. Orange and Jackson, also in the extreme south, were organized in 1816. under authoritv of the territorial legislature ; but not in time to send delegates to the constitutional convention.

The convention began its deliberations at Corydon, on June 10, 1816, and completed the framing of the constitution on June 29, 1816. Jonathan Jennings presided over the convention, and William Hendricks was chosen secretary. On the completion of their work, President Jennings, as required by the constitution issued to the sheriffs of the several counties writs of election, fixing the first Monday of August, 1816, for the election of a governor and other state officers. Jonathan Jennings was elected first governor, receiving, 5,211 votes, to 3,934 cast for Thomas Posey, then governor of the territory. William Hendricks was elected first representative of Indiana in the house of representatives of the United States.

The first general assembly, chosen at the same election, began its session at Corydon on Monday, November 4, 1816. Christopher Harrison, elected lieutenant governor, presided over the senate ; and Isaac Blackford, the famous jurist, was elected speaker of the house of representatives. The governor and lieutenant governor were inaugurated November 7. 18 16; John Paul having been previously chosen president pro tempore of the senate. Thereupon the territorial government came to a close. i>y a joint resolution of congress, approved Deceniljcr 1 1, iSi^), Indiana was formally admitted as a sovereign state of the Union. ( )n .Vovemher 8, 1816, the general assembly elected James Noble and Waller Taylor a.s the first senators to represent the state in the I'nited States senate. The session closed on January 3, 1817.

The po]:)ulation of Indiana when admitted into llie Union, in iSiC), was less than seventy thousand; Init such an im])etus was given to emigration b}' the organization of the state government that the census of 1820 showed that the state then contained 147,178 inhabitants. The revenues of the state continued for many years t(j be derived from a tax upon lands, as had been the practice during the territorial government. This tax was not. as at present, a percentage of the valuation, l)ut a fixed sum per hundred acres according to the quality of the land. b\)r this purpose, all lands were deemed to be of first rate, second rate and third rate. In the beginning, first rate lands were assessed at one dollar per hundred acres; second rate, eighty-seven and a half cents; and third rate fifty to sixty-two and a half cents. In 1821, the assessment on first rate lands had increased to one dollar and fifty cents on each hundred acres, and on other lands accordingly. In 183 1, the assessment on first rate lands fell to eighty cents a hundred;- second rate, to sixty cents; and third rate, to forty cents. By an act approved February 7. 1835. the method of a->scssment was changed to our present advalorem system : and the assessor was directed to assess land for taxation at its true value, or. as the act expressed it. "as he would appraise the .same in the payment of a just debt due from a solvent debtor." County revenues were raised principally from poll taxes and license fees, until the adoption of the ad valorem system.

of congress, approved April 19, 1816, and as agreed to by an ordinance passed by the constitutional convention, at Corydon, June 29, 1816, are as follows: On the east, "the meridian line which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio" ; on the south, "the river Ohio, from the mouth of the great ]\lianii river to the mouth of the river Wabash" ; on the west, "a line drawn along the middle of the Wabash, from its mouth to a point where a due north line drawn from the town of Vincennes would last touch the northwestern shore of the said river ; and from thence, by a due north line, until the same shall intersect an east and west line drawn through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of Lake ]\Iichigan"; and on the north, "the said east and west line, until the same shall intersect the first mentioned meridian line, which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio." It was provided in the enabling act of congress that if the constitutional convention of Indiana should fail to ratify these boundaries, then the boundaries of the state should be as fixed in the ordinance of 1787.

It would seem that the boundaries as fixed by the enabling act of congress, and as agreed to by the constitutional convention of the state, were so definite that no dispute could arise concerning them ; yet each of the boundaries, except that between Indiana and Illinois, has been the subject of contention. The western boundary is exactly that fixed in the ordinance of 1787; and also that fixed by the act of congress, approved February 3, 1809, setting off the territory of Illinois from that of Indiana ; except that the ordinance of 1787 fixes simply the "Wabash river," from its mouth to \"incennes, as part of the boundary ; and the act setting off Illinois territory defines that territory to be "all that part of the Indiana territory which lies west of the Wabash river," and the direct line north from Vincennes. The wording of the ordinance of 1787. "the Wabash river," would doubtless be interpreted to mean the middle line of that river; and the line is so defined in the enabhng act providing for the achnission of Indiana as a state. In the act setting oiT the territory of Ilhnois, however, it might be contended that as lUinois "Hes west of the Wabash river," the boundary must l)e the west margin of that river. No such contention has ever l^een made by the state of Inchana. ^'et such a couchision has been reached as to the southern boundary of the state. The enabhng act provided, as we have seen, that the state should be bounded on the south "by the river Ohio" ; and this would seem to mean the middle line of the river. The ordinance of 1787 also provided that "the middle state," that is, Indiana, should be bounded on the south "by the Ohio." The plain interpretation here also would seem to be that the middle line, or thread of the stream, should form the southern boundary of the state. But the words have not been so interpreted. In the act of cession by the legislature of Virginia, passed December 20, 1783, and in the deed of cession, made March i, 1784, the territory ceded to the United States is described as "being to the northwest of the river Ohio." The territory on both sides of the Ohio, and the river itself, were at the time a part of A'irginia ; and the contention was early made by Kentucky, as succeeding to the rights of Virginia, that no part of the river was included in the northwest territor\-. and consequently that no part of it could pass by the deed of cession. The ordinance of 1787 itself was "for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio." The claim of Kentucky has been sustained by the courts ; and the southern boundary of Indiana is the low water mark on the northwest bank of the Ohio river, as the same existed when the boundary was fixed. As the river has since receded to the south in some places, we have the anomaly that parts of the state of Kentucky are at present located on the Indiana side of the river.

The rights of Indiana, however, as to the use and navigation of the Ohio, and also as to civil and criminal jurisdiction on the river, have been made secure. By section seven of an act concerning the erection of tlie district of Kcntuck}- into an independent state, passed by the commonwealth of X'irginia. December. iS, 1789, it was provided, "that the use and navigation of the river Ohio, so far as tlic territory of the proposed state of [Kentucky I . or the territory which shall remain within the limits of this commonwealth lies therein, shall be free and common to the citizens of the United States; and the respective jurisdictions of this commonwealth, and of the proposed state, on the river as aforesaid, shall be concurrent only with the states which may possess the opposite shores of the said river."" The framers of the constitution of 181 6 seemed satisfied simply to declare the boundaries of the state ; but the framers of the constitution of 1 85 1, while repeating this declaration, took pains to add, in accordance with the act of the commonwealth of Virginia, that "the state of Indiana shall possess jurisdiction and sovereignty co-extensive with the boundaries declared in the preceding section : and shall have concurrent jurisdiction, in civil and criminal cases, with the state of Kentucky, on the Ohio river, and with the state of Illinois, on the Wabash river. so far as said rivers form the common boundarv between this state and said states respectively."

The enabling act defines the eastern Ijoundary of Intliana to be "the meridian line which forms the western toundary of the state of Ohio."' The ordinance of 1787 provided that "the eastern state,'" that is, Ohio, should l)e Iwunded on the west by "a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great ^Nliami"' to the British possessions. In the enabling act of congress for the admission of Ohio, approved April 30, 1802, the same western boundary was fixed for that state. Ikit in the act approved j\Iay 7, 1800, separating Indiana from the north w-estern territory, the eastern boundary of Indiana, as we have already seen, was declared to be "the line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of Kentucky river.

and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north, until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada." Yet, in the same act, it was also provided, "That whenever that part of the territorv of the United States which lies to the eastward of a line be^inning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, running- thence due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall be erected into an independent state, and admitted into the Union on an ecjual footing with the original states, thenceforth said line shall become and remain permanently the boundar\' line between such state and the Indiana territory; anything in this act contained to the contrary notwithstanding." As Ohio was admitted with the Great Miami meridian as her western boundary, it would seem that she could have no claim to this irregular line by way of F"ort Recovery ; and, indeed, such imaginary claim, as a practical question, has long since been relinquished. Indiana has never stood out for the three mile strip west of Fort Recovery, now a part of the state of Ohio ; and Ohio has abandoned any fancied claim to the wedge-shaped territory south of Fort Recovery, now a part of the state of Indiana. The old Indian boundary line, described in the treaty of (h-cen\'ille. and extending southwesterly from Fort Recovery to a point on the ( )hi(^ opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river, is, however, yet found on many Indiana maps, as a historic reminder of the contention once entertained between the two states.

But it was as to the northern boundary of the state that there was chief contention. The ordinance of 1787. after providing for the boundaries of the minimum number of three states into which the northwest territory should be divided, provided further that, if deemed expedient, congress should have authority "to form one or two states in that part of said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerlv bend or extreme of Lake ]\Iichigan." The enabling act, lidwever, provided thai the northern boundary of Indiana should be "an east and west line drawn through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of Lake Michigan." The state of Indiana, therefore, extends ten miles north of the line provided in the ordinance of 1787 as the boundary between Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, on the south, and ]\Iichigan and AMsconsin on the north. This east and west line through the southern bend of Lake Alichigan is sometimes called the ordinance boundary line and sometimes the old Alichigan or Indiana boundary line. The people of ^Michigan contended earnestly for the ordinance boundary line, claiming that any other boundary would be illegal and unconstitutional, for the reason that the provisions of the ordinance of 1787 in this regard were irrevocable, as defining the boundaries of the five states to be created out of the northwest territory. It appears that when the ordinance of 1787 was passed the true latitude of the southern extremes of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie was not known. At any rate, the people of Ohio at that time seem to have been of the opinion that an east and west line through the southern bend of Lake ^Michigan would strike Lake Erie north of Maumee bay. As if to force such an interpretation of the ordinance, a line was actually surveyed from the southerly bend of Lake Michigan to the northerly cape of Maumee bay. The order for this survey was made by act of congress; and the intention of congress was to mark the old ordinance boundary. The survev was. however, made under direction of the Ohio surveyor general, and he had the survey made according to the views of the Ohio authorities. This line is called the Ohio line, and also the "Harris line," from the name of the surveyor. In the final settlement of the dispute, Ohio succeeded in making, or retaining, the Harris line as the northern boundary of that state. .Michigan was reluctantly persuaded to receive in exchange for the territory taken from her the upper peninsula of that state ; and a most valuable exchange it has turned out to be. The Harris line was never accepted as the northern boundary of Indiana; neither did this state accept the ordinance boundary, but took an independent, or perhaps, we might say, an arbitrary, position, insisting upon a ten mile strip north of the ordinance line, and giving as a reason for such insistence that otherwise she would be cut off from the navigation of Lake Michigan and the either great lakes. The Harris, or Ohio, line w<iuld not satisfy Indiana any better than the ordinance line ; for both would prevent her from having a harbor on the great lakes. Michigan did not at first make a very strong contention against Indiana's claim. There were then no settlements in northern Indiana or southwestern Michigan ; whereas the territory in dispute between Ohio and Michigan included the town of Toledo and a rapidly growing district in the vicinity. The northern boundary of Indiana is an east and west line, but the northern boundary of Ohio, the Harris line, runs a little north of east, beginning on the east line of Indiana, at a point about four miles and a half south of the northern boundary of Indiana and running east by north to include the city of Toledo and Maumee bay. Neither did the ordinance line mark the boundary between Illinois and \\'iscon-sin. Had it done so, Chicago would have been in Wisconsin, as it was at one time supposed to be. The northern boundary provided for in the ordinance of 1787, "an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake ^Michigan," has therefore been wholly obliterated.

The name of our state, ''Indiana," does not appear in our history until the passage of the act of congress, approved -May 7. 1800, providing that all the northwest territory, w^est of a line through Fort Recovery. should "constitute a separate territory, and be called Indiana Territory."' The name thus given is very dear to the people of this state, not only from the beautv of the word itself, but even more from its association with our history, as a territory and as a state, now for over a hundred years. Indiana territory included at first not only the territory now forming our state, but also a part of that of Ohio and Michigan, all of Illinois and Wisconsin, and even part of Minnesota. As the successive territories were set otT. however, and the territories themselves were erected into states, the beloved name remained with us. Other names were found for our sister commonwealths : Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota ; all indeed beautiful, with their melodious French and Indian suggestions, but none of them comparable to our own Indiana.

There has been comparatively little discussion as to the origin of the name. It would seem indeed that the origin should be evident. When the territorial government was set up in the year 1800. the countrv was almost wholly occupied by the Indians. So far as occupancy was concerned, it was the Indian land. In ancient and modern times, in Europe as well as America, the suffix a, when added to a word, has been understood to mean land, country or place. Greece was known as Grecia ; Italy, as Italia ; Germany, as Germania. So we have Russia, Prussia, Austria, Australia, Pennsylvania, Mrginia, Louisiana and manv others. Indiana means nothing therefore but Indian land or Indian countr\-.

It appears, however, that our state was not the first to bear the pleasant sounding name. In an interesting paper read before the W'avne County Historical Society. Mr. Cyrus W. Hodgin tells the storv of an older Indiana.

At the close of the French and Indian war, in 1763, says Mr. Hodgin, a Philadelphia trading company was formed to engage in the fur trade on the Ohio. The company sent its agents into the Ohio vallev with large quantities of goods to exchange for furs and other products which the Indians were accustomed to bring to the trading posts. In the fall of that year, certain bands of Indians who were tributary to the Iroquois confederacy attacked the agents of tlie Pliiladelphia company at a ]xjint a little below the site of the ])resent city of Wheeling, and seized npon the goods of the ctjmpaiiy, which ihey ajjproijriated to their own nse. in compensation for this loss, the lrof|uois transferred to the com])anv a tract of nearly five thousand s(|uare miles of land l}ing south of the Ohio and east of the Great Kanawha - a tract e(|ual in extent to the state of Connecticut. To this princely domain the company gave the name of Indiana - Indian land. In \yj() the tract was convened to a new company, known as the Indiana Land Company. X'irginia. however, refused to acknowledge the Indian title held by the company. A resort to the courts was equally tmavailing. The eleventh amendment to the constitution of the United States, denying to citizens of one state the right to bring any action or suit against another sovereign state of the Union, was declared adopted, by proclamation of the president, issued Januar\- 8, 1798; and so the long c<3ntested case was stricken from the docket of the supreme court of the United States. The Indiana Land Compan_\- having lost its claim, the company itself passed out of existence ; and the name was but a memor}-. until, in 1800. it was bestowed upon this commonwealth, now the great central state of the Union. It is not at all probable that the naming of our state had any connection with the name "of the eastern Indiana. Accidentally the name is the same ; but in each case, undoubtedly, the name given had direct reference to the Indians who occupied the country.

The publishers, in acknowledging their indebtedness to the editor, Thomas J. Wolfe, whose knowledge of persons and of facts and incidents in the county's history for nearly seventy years, and whose unabating interest in every department of this undertaking insure to the public the faithfulness of the endeavor and the value of this work as a history of the county, take this opportunity, in the closing pages of the volume, to publish the following, reminiscent and historical sketch of his long and interesting life.

On the 25th day of January, 1832, in the little town of Alerom on the banks of the Wabash, Dr. Elliott announced to a small coterie of old ladies, in waiting, that a son had been born to Benjamin and Isabella (Shepherd) Wolfe. This bit of news in a town where everybody knew everybody's business created no surprise as it was not unexpected.

A little later a family convention was called, and grandmothers, uncles and aunts were there, and to distinguish this particular child from all those bearing the same patronymic they decided to call him Thomas Jefferson. There was, no doubt, partiality shown in this ; as the delegates were all Mrginians, by blood or marriage, they desired to thrust additional honors on their state and its citizens, but it was all done without the consent or connivance of the parties in interest.

The boy took the prescribed course for boys of his age - hives, stomach-ache, whooping cough, measles and mumps. \\'hen about six years old he entered the high school (it was on top of the bluff just west of Uncle Jimmy Reed's store) and kept his little "footies" dangling between the floor and ceiling, his legs not yet having come up to the standard prescribed by Lincoln that they should be long enough to reach the floor. He was often reprimanded b}' the master for whispering and talking, and was punished (?) by being compelled to sit between two girls. This punishment failed as Tommy was often caught trying to talk to both girls at once, and another diagnosis was had and the treatment changed.

His mind developed so rapidly that his' father became alarmed and apprenticed him to his grandmother on Shaker prairie to learn the science and art of farming. He did not know "gee" from "haw," and in order to know on which side to hitch Jack he hacked the swinglctrcc, but while the boy was gone to dinner the hands turned the doubletree over, and that afternoon the starboard horse worked on the larboard side, but neither the boy nor Jack knew the difference, and tlic joke failed. After the crop was laid by the boy returned home to nurse a stonebruise and Jack went to grass.

He continued to play school and work at mumble-peg. marbles, tops and kites, and frequently to help girls dress their dolls and. occasionally, his mother wash dishes and paddle the clothes on the old wa>h bench. After about two years his father made known his decision to move to his farm on Shaker prairie. The boy remonstrated that it would be lonesome and that the wild animals and Indians might get him as he came home in the dark. But the father argued that outdoor life was good for boys two big oxen to help you along, that the soil compared favorably with that along the Nile, and that corn grew as it did in Rgypt, that his exchequer needed replenishing, that his finances had not increased as fast as his family, that we were on the eve of great prosperity that corn liad already advanced 25 per cent and was now worth T2Vj cents f. o. b. flat- boat at "'Rankin cribs," and was Hkely to go bigher - wbeat wortb 2iiy2 cents, pork wortb $1.50 per cwt. and mast plenty, - and as be closed bis argument be gave a significant glance toward tbe smokebouse (we bad no woodsbeds in tbose days). And Tommy saw tbe force of tbe argument antl fearing a more striking one, said, "Pap, I agree witb you. I bave been tbinking for some time we ougbt to go to tbe farm.'"

Witb tbe fatber to decide was to act. In a sbort time wagons were loaded and tbe overland trip of fifteen luiles was made witbout a stop. Arrivin"- at tbe destination, tlie future residence was found to consist of one room - were tbis fiction instead of a "so-tale" we should bave said small room, but trutb compels us to say tbe room was more tban twenty feet long and about eigbteen feet wide, boarded witbout and ceiled witbin. Still it was a problem to condense tbe contents of a tbree-room bouse into one room, and leave space for nine bead of men, women and cbildren, tbe answer to wdiicb could not be found in Smiley 's or Pike's aritbmetic. Tbe motber, bowever, altbougb deficient in figures, was a woman of resources, and by bedtime bad made two rooms out of one by a partition of bed-clotbing bung from tbe ceilmg to tbe fioor. Tbe rear room contained tbree beds and two trundle beds, and tbe front room two temporarv beds on tbe fioor. wbicb bad to be removed to get room to cook at tbe fire-place and to spread tbe table.

Wben tbe crop was started, tbe fatber. motber and oldest boy went to X'incennes, and among otber tilings bougbt a cook-stove. The dealer, Xick Smith, explained that these stoves economized space, split woman's work in two, and would save half tbe fuel. The fatber said be thought they were a little high ($50.00), but he guessed they would take two, as they were scarce of room, his wife was overw'orked. and the boys did not like to cut wood. Siuitb laughed.

neighborhood, was more than a seven days' wonder., It was a "step-stove," or double-decker, and much contention arose as to where to build the fire. The Dutch, accusitnned to bake ovens, insisted on making it in the second stor}-, and wlicn hot, withdrawing the fire aufl ])utting in the dough. Directions were consulted, and one woman, to the surprise of all the rest, said she "had saw a cook-stove with fire in it at X'incennes," and she took the side of the fire-box and settled the dispute.

The family continued to reside in the one-room house until alter the crop was laid by, when improvements were made by moving a one-room log structure to within ten feet of the one occupied, and covering the house and open space with boards, which gave the family two rooms, an airy hall, and a bedroom in the loft reached by a ladder. For about five years this contiiuied to be the family residence, and Thomas Jefiferson had grown in stature and importance in proportion to the house, and still held his position as oldest boy of the family.

The father was much away from home, running for representative in the stimmer and fall, serving in the legislature in the winter, and flatboating his crops in the spring. In the meantime he superintended the building of a large residence on the farm, and Tom, who had outgrown his pet name Tommy, hauled the brick for the chimneys and foundation, with two yoke of oxen, from Ochiltree's, a few miles nordi of Vincennes - the hewed timbers from the woods, and the sawed lumber from Turtle creek, near New Lebanon. The house was considered one of the finest in the countv, and required about two years in building, as everything was done by hand.

consisted of fishing" and coon-hunting", and his outings were going to and [v nieetin'," and selHng sweet cider and gingerbread at the August elections.

About this time, his father, who had spent about two years in Miami University antl had learned that "a little learning is a dangerous thing," divulged a long-cherished design of giving his children "a better bringing up than he or his had had." The father's intention was to send them to college in succession, beginning with Tom. The matter was discussed in the family during the winter, and Jake, younger liy two years but about as large, insisted on going too, and maintained that he was equal to Toni in everything" except age, which was no fault of his. that they had always been chums and trundle-bed fellows - and he prevailed. Then the mother put in a plea for Ann, a sister still two years younger - that the children had always been together, that no distinction should be made on account of sex, that Ann had been taught to look after the washing and sew on buttons and tie up sore fingers and toes, and that she ought to be permitted to go along to care for the boys - and on a final vote it was so decided.

There were busy times in the preparation. The decision had been made in favor of the State University, where each county was entitled to two students free of tuition, and on application, Tom and Jake had been appointed delegates by the county commissioners. The next question to be settled was how to get there, and this was decided in favor of the farm wagon, as no railroad had as yet been built to Blooniington. Tom was appointed chairman of the committee of ways and means, and directed to equip the wagon properly for the journey. Packing was a small matter, as one small trunk, covered with horse-hide with the hair on, and profusely studded with large-headed brass tacks, was sufficient for three wardrobes, and the only additional receptacle was the sister's band box.

These, and a I30X of tallow candles which the niotlK-r molded, and a few other accessories snch as a mother onl}- could think of, made the cart^o.

On the hrst da} of Ma_\'. 1851, the start was made (ner the trail taken hy the father over twenty-five years hefore, on his trip to Oxford for a similar purpose. The country was sparsely settled, water scarce, and it was difficult to g-et entertainment for the niy-ht. The time tahle has heen made so that hy an afternoon's travel and an carl\- start the next da}' the Athens of Indians could he reachetl after onl\- one ni^ht en route. But owin^;- to had roads and hills, such as the hoys said they had not seen since they left ]\Ierom bluft's. night came on ahout seven miles west of Bloomington, and they were directed to seek lodging for the night at Dudley C. Smith's.

ArriviuQ- at the old farm-house b\- the roadside, the\- received a hearty welcome. The family, at home, consisted of father, mother, two sons and four daughters. The old gentleman was a native of X'ermunt and his wife of Kentucky. Being reared a strict Episcopalian, the father read a Psalm and pra}ed - prayed for the family and the "strangers within their gates." The second daughter, scarcely fifteen, wearing short dresses, verv timid and bashful, was the one that most attracted Tom s attention, and who was to , but we anticipate. Early the next morning the journey was resumed. At Bloomington the boys were introduced to several of the noted men in the public life of Indiana of that time, besides the president and members of the faculty. Board and furni>hcd room were procured for the boys, on Main street (College avenue), at $1.50 per week each (they to furnish their own candles), and Ann was placed in ]\Irs. AlcPherson's Academy.

This continued for about two years, the children being taken home each vacation to see mother and clear up some bottom land. After this the father leased the farm and moved the family to Bloomington us a nialtcr of economy and lo give all of the children better opportunities. The daily grind of college life for four years. Tom, Tommy and Thos., by a process of evolution and a precedent of the university, was changed to Wolfe, Thos. J. To him the brightest oases in the desert of college life were the visits made to the old farm house by the roadside where resided the second daughter, but the time had not yet come for a declaration of serious intentions. The trips became more frequent but the distance was shorter, as she had been transferred to Airs. AlcPherson's Academy. The girl had grown in stature, but paradoxical as it may seem, her skirts came nearer to the floor.

The course of study selected by Wolfe, Thos. J., was the regular classical course of universities in that day, and stimulated by visions of the future he received his degree of A. B. in 1856. After a short outing he entered the law department, and taking the prescribed course was graduated B. L. in 1858, and on the 3rd day of August, 1859, ^^'^^ married at the old farmhouse by the wayside, to Lucia R. Smith, second daughter of Dudley C. and Isabella (Porch) Smith. A short time after this they moved to the old home in Sullivan county, and owing to the unsettled condition of the country he engaged in farming and merchandising.

To this happy union three children were born, and each died in succession during infancv. On a small marble monument in the old "Shepherd graveyard" the name "Wolfe" is carved on the base and on the shaft are the names, "Effie, September 8, i860 - October 2, 1862. Bertie, November 17, 1864 - August 7, 1866. Pearl, Alay 7, 1868 - Alarch 14, 1870," - and except for this brief record nothing remains of their short lives but a "fond memory."

After the death of Pearl the parents moved to Sullivan and the father resumed the practice of law which he had temporarily left ofif. In the quiet of Sunday morning, Alay 26, 1907, the wife and mother, who had been an inspiration to him and a partner in all joys and sorrows, after a brief illness of fours days, folded her weary hands and "closed her eyes to slumber awhile." She had almost reached her three-score years and ten and her golden wedding, of married life, but ''God called her in and shut the door."

]\Ir. Wolfe still keeps an office and attends to such business as comes to him. He is now nearly seventy-eight and retains use of his mental and physical faculties to an unusual degree - indulges an optimistic spirit and believes the world is growing better and that every man "reaps what he sows" and gets about what is coming to him. He attributes his present activity to outdoor life, much walking, moderate eating, regular habits, freedom from worry and the acceptance of the advice which Cromwell refused "Throw away ambition." His life, measured by the common standard - dollars and cents, would rate low on \\'all street or in Dim ; but by the standard of "quid pro quo" it might come up to the average.