Vanderburgh County, Indiana - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 4 of those read), 1889 (part 2 of 2)

But within a year the gigantic scheme of development began to crumble and fall. Some capitalists in the east had purchased the state bonds on terms that placed but little money in the hands of the authorities for immediate use. It became evident at once that the times were not ripe for the progressive steps that had been contemplated and authorized by legislative enactments. The state's credit failed, and this occurred fortunately before the immense debt at first intended to be incurred was fastened on the people. However, even when it was evident that the work could not be carried to completion, vast sums of money were expended in pushing forward the plan, the indecision of the public officials permitting a great waste of monev. Railroads in various parts of the stale were left in an incomplete condition and were soon abandoned altogether. The system of canals terminating at Evansville formed a part of this extensive and ill-advised plan of improvement. As soon as practicable ground was broken at this end of the gi-eat highway, and the work was pushed forward sufliciently to provide an excellent skating place for the bovs of the town in the winter of 1S37, but no better results were achieved before the '-state s\stem"' broke down. With aggressive zeal, commendable and characteristic of the enterprising citizens of that day, in order to be readv for business as soon as the canal was opened, a passenger boat, of good appearance, substantial and commodious, was built, named in honor of that manlv pioneer, Nathan Rowlev, launched upon the waters and there allowed to float until she became a useless, rotten hulk. At this time, when the system had collapsed, the state in general and this city were in a far worse condition than they could possibly ha\e been had the work commenced never been thought of. All hope of improvement from this source was abandoned. The rapid filling of the country with industrious people was supporting the growth of the town, independently of the canal. A large surplus of produce was annually brought to Evansville for shipment. Steamers began to pl\' regularly between Pittsburg and St. Louis, or Cincinnati and New Orleans, and Evansville was the shipping point for a large area of fertile country-.

Not content with using the boats that were brought here from other docks the same enterprising spirit that was visible in other branches of business led to the construction of a steamer here. An account of the building of the first boat in the town of Evansville has been given to the public by Dr. Floyd Stinson, and is here quoted: -'The Otsego was probably built in 1S34.

j was hewed and sawed out by hand. She was built by Joseph Lane, Frederick E. Goodsell, and John M. Ham jointly. Mr. Sampson was the boss ship carpenter, and Joseph Lane, F. E. Goodsell, John M. Ham, W. Kirby Ham, John M. Stinson, W. H.

j Stinson, Thomas J. Stinson, James McCorkle and others \vere carpenters who assisted in the building. When the hull was finished it was launched into Pigeon creek. Thomas Scantlin says that he was at the launching, and saw the bottle of wine broken on the hull as she went down, that being the custom on such occasions in those da\'s.

" The boilers and engine of the O/scgv were otit of the steamer Dchn.:arc which had l)een wrecked on the ScufTietown bar. They were used in a saw-mill in Evansville prior to being put into the Ohcgo. There were three boilers each twenty-four inches in diameter, single fiued, sixteen feet long. The engine had three feet stroke. The wheels were fourteen feet in diameter. When she was finished she was named Ol-

I scgo for the town of Otsego, New York, Mr. Goodsell's native town. Her officers and crew were as follows: Captain, Joseph Lane for a time, and John M. Ham permanenth: clerk, William Lockhart; engineers,

" Her trial trip was up to Joseph Lane's iandin<j^ and back. In a short time afterward slie was run to Henderson on an excursion trip. Among the passengers on board were Miss Mary McNitt, (afterward Mrs. James Steele), Miss Amanda Miller (^afterward Mrs. Gro\'es), Thomas Scantlin and Thomas J. Stinson. The boat was put into the trade from Louisville to St. Louis, making the round trip in a week. She was running in this trade in 1S36. Some persons sa}' that she was run up the Wabash but her power was suc'.i that she had to be cordelled over the rapids. She was bought by Capt. Crochan and put in the Yazoo river trade, \'icksburg being her objective point. The next we hear of her, is that she was tied up at St. Louis for debt. From there she was ' sneaked out ' and run to Evansville where she was again tied up for debt. She lav at this place for some months, part of the time sunk upon the sand-bar just above the cit}-. She was raised and again sold. Mr. Henry B. Oldham says that she was, in the 3'ear 1S39, run up the Waba.sh river, commanded by Capt. Alf. Bellwood, and at that Point Coupee or Nine Points, she struck a snag, sunk and was wrecked."

Witli the departure of the prosperous times of 1834-36 this enterprise, like many others of less magnitude, was entirely checked. However, in later years boat building and repairing assumed some prominence. Some of the boats built here compared fa\orably in material and workmanship with an}' boats of like dimensions built on the western waters.

Before passing from this fortunate era, whose general prosperity w;fs e\idenced by the fact that in 1834, of the net revenue of the state - $45,945 /(".<.< I/kiii one per rent, was unpaid at the treasury when it became due, to that which followed the financial crisis of 1837, of national proportions. Some reminiscences illustrating the condition of the town and the characteristics of its people at that time, contributed in 1 88 1 by William Brown Butler, a distintfuished citizen of early times, who represented the county in the state legislature and occupied other places of trust and honor in the community, are here inserted:

"In the autumn of 1835 I left New York to visit different places in Indiana on the Ohio river with a view of locatin<j and doinsr a wholesale or jobbing dry goods business. After visiting Madison and New Albany, I arrived in Evansville in November, and remained until the last of December. I was most favorably impressed after my lirst visit there, and became satisfied that Evansville at no distant period must become a business place of note, with no rival in the state on the Ohio river below New Albany. It being the natural landing point on the river of the great Wabash region, must make it a prominent business place independent of the advantages which would accrue to it in consequence of being the terminus of the grand artery of the internal improvement system.

"My great trouble, after deciding to locate in Evansville, was to secure a suitable store. The onlv one \acant that would answer my purpose was on the northwest corner of Main and Water streets belonging to the Messrs. Lewis. I had much ditliculty in getting a lease of it. Mr. James Lewis' course in the matter grew out of the impression that I did not mean business. When I proposed good security, Horace Dunham was instructed to write out a lease at once. As soon as it became known what my object in coming to Evansville was, I was most kindly received bv all and prompth' furnished with desired information and proffers of assistance in getting established. First among the citizens of Evansville who paid me particular attention was the late Hon. James Lockhart. For several of my first days there he was much with me, inducing me to believe I had made a favorable impression on him. When the fact leaked out I ascertained that I was indebted for his kindness to a rather singular mistake on his part. He mistook me for a Mr. Barlow, an absconding cashier of the Commercial Bank in Albany, N. Y., for whose arrest a reward of $3,000 was offered.

" I found Evansville without a schoolmaster and no settled minister. Fathers Wheeler and Parrett, and the Rev. Benoni Stinson preached occasionally, I was told. The first religious service I attended there was when Bishop Kemper preached in the little schoolhouse on the public square. Tlie mud was terrible. Mr. A. B. Carpenter, who had attended the morning service, proffered with his lantern to pilot all who wanted to attend in the evening. Quite a number accepted. On our arrival at the school-house the condition of our pants and boots was lamentable. I said to a young stranger, one of the party, 'Mr. Carpenter is a first rate pilot, is he not ? ' 'First rate," he responded. 'He struck the channel all the way.'

"The seating accommodations of the school-house were simply loose boards on blocks of wood. It had a fire-place, however, which neither the court-house nor the church had. The old Presbyterian church on Second street, between Main and J^ocust streets, was the only church in Evansville at the time, and it was in an unfinished condition. Bishop Kemper's visit suggested the propriety of making the church more comfortable. On mentioning the subject to Gen. Evans, he approved of it, and proffered to contribute as much toward it as I would, and said that his son would do the same. I at once wrote a brief heading to a sheet of foolscap, stating the object desired, and my subscription to the fund. Gen. Evans' and his son's names followed, with others who were present. In two or three days an amount sufficient was subscribed to procure comfortable benches with backs, in place of boards on blocks, for the audience, and a plain, respectable looking pulpit in place of the dry goods box with John Shanklin & Co. on it in bold letters facing the audience. On my way to the east a few days afterward, I purchased in Cincinnati a large stove with pipe for the church, which arrived and was put in its place the following week, when the carpenters had completed their part of the improvements.

"The court-house was in a more unfinished state than the church. The floor was brick paved. There were wooden shutters, but no sash or glass in the windows. It was all open to the roof. Nothing had been done toward finishing or flooring the second stor}^ Benches with backs, for the jurors, one large and one small plain table for the use of the clerks, lawvers and court, with sundry spHt-bottom chairs, comprised the furniture of the room.

" The jail, to me, was a great curiosity, the first and only one I ever saw built of logs. While Mr. William H. Walker was sheriff, a notorious Texas counterfeiter was arrested and lodged in the strong room of the jail, to await the sitting of the court. To insure his forthcoming when wanted, Mr. James T. Walker, supported with a well charged double-barrelled shot-gun, slept in the room over the prisoner. All went well for awhile, until one night, after locking the outside door and proceeding to his room, Mr. Walker found himself confronted by his prisoner, shot-gun in hand, calling on him to quietly surrender the fort, which he, knowing the desperate character of the culprit, did without ;i murmur. Mr. Walker soon found himself the prisoner, and the man en route for Texas, taking the gun, and, I believe, tlie ke\' of the jail with him. It required some nerve to occupy lodgings over so desperate a scoundrel."

Mr. Boyd Bullock, a well-known old-time resident of the city gives this general description of the town as it appeared in 1836, showing but little improvement in its appearance in sixteen years: "My first sight of Evansville, was in 1836. There was a ragged bluff bank probabl\- fort}- feet high, with a winding track along the river front wide enough for two carts or drays to pass. There were but two persons in the village who followed the business of draying. On reaching the top of the bank I found a few scattering buildings, most of Which were small frames. There were two hotels, or taverns, as they were called in those davs, one an old frame building kept by Mr. Thomas Johnson, and the other a two-story brick kept Maj. Alanson Warner. The latter was a pretentious edifice, in fact, extra fine for those days. There were about fifteen buildings of all kinds on Water street, log and frame for the most part, with two or three of brick. On First street there were more houses than on any other thoroughfare - twenty-six in number. Main street at that time was ver}^ poorly built up. On the upper corner of Main and Water streets was John Mitchell's store and residence. On the opposite corner was an old establishment belonsrinir to the Lewis Brothers, with the old warehouse in tlie rear, in which was held the first court. In this building the fashionable balls were held, it being the onh' suitable place for a pastime of that character. Here appletoddy was wont to be served to the company in an indescribable style, with gingerbread as an accompaniment. Across Main street was another old warehouse belonging to Mr. Mitchell. In the rear of his store on the corner, stood the Kazar House. On the west side of Main street was an old frame, whereW. & C. Bell afterward kept a drug store. Next came Sherwood & Rowley's two-story brick store, which was torn down when the Merchants' National Bank building \\'as erected. Opposite this on the corner of Main and First stood an old log cabin and another loff house next to the alley, opposite which stood Mr. Samuel Mansel's dwelling house weath-

I or three small frames, in one of which Mr. James Scantlin, Sr., kept a tin shop. There was nothing on the other side. The old court-house stood on the corner of Main and

I a small brick school-house. Where the court-house now stands there was what seemed to be an old brick pond from which I often gave my cow water. The other corner of the square contained the old jail, which stood a little off the street. Farther out above Fourth street, stood Mr. Varner Satterlee's frame residence, and across the street Mr. Henson's brick. At that time there were ponds, sloughs, gullies, and places for back-water, running nearly from Main street to the river and Pigeon creek, near its mouth. There was an old graveyard between Third and Fourth streets, two blocks below Main, and when there was a funeral, which occasionally took place, it was no light task to cut the way into it, such a thicket of brushwood and briers covered the ground."

In 1837 the real estate and personal property in Evansville was valued at ^863,675, and the taxes assessed reached the sum of $3,266.06 ;/. The following citizens, all prominent men of that day and of later years, formed the board of trustees and filled the town offices: Robert M. Evans, president; James Lockhart, Wm. Walker, Edward Hopkins, Abraham B. Coleman, John Douglass, Thomas F. Stockwell and Francis Amory, trustees; Joseph Bowles, clerk ; James Cawson, treasurer; John S. Hopkins, collector ; and Amos Clark, attorney.

In this year the march of Evansville's progress and prosperity was checked and the extravagant hopes of her people were dashed to the ground. The financial crisis of 1837 is a part of the country's history. The banks suspended specie payments, real estate everywhere declined in value, and distress prevailed in all parts of the countr}'. Evansville, instead of enjo3ing any immunity from the general calamity, received a greater blow, perhaps, than towns in other states, because of the downfall of the internal improvement system. The period from 1838 to 1844 was indeed gloomy; much property in the town passed into the hands of eastern creditors, in payment of the indebtedness of merchants and speculators, and for several years possessed verj' little market value; many were forced out of business and a considerable number left the town for other and better fields. The town decreased in population, wealth and commercial importance. For a time some struggled against the calamity and hoped for a betterment of condition.s, but at length, with courage and patience exhausted, went into bankruptcy or turned over their possessions to creditors and migrated elsewhere to start anew. Amongf these was Amos Clark, Esq., a lawyer of early times, who maintained a high position at the bar and before the people. Col. Dobyns, of Tennessee, married Clarissa, daughter of Hugh McGary, and thus became possessed of certain property interests in and about Evansville, which were entrusted to the management of Mr. Clark. The condition of the times preceding and following the financial panic of 1837, is well shown by the personal letters which passed between these gentlemen at that time, from which some extracts are here made.

Sir: - I have been applied to repeatedly for leases upon the land adjoining town, but have not yet given any, and think it best not to offer the land for sale. The favorable terniination of the canal renders the land extremely valuable. I have no doubt but if it were laid out in lots it might, a considerable portion of it, sell from one to two thousand dollars per acre. The canal terminates in a large basin at the end of the street which leads out from the public square, and by opening a street to the Princeton road following the course of the street which divides the Lower enlargement from the original plat, will render this land of incalcuable value. Laughlin has done nothing concerningr the six acres on which the old Steam mill stood. That piece is now worth not less than twenty thousand dollars. * * * Our railroad, I have no doubt, will be commenced this year. The canal on this end of the line is under contract and the work is progressing."

Soon afterward conditions changed. On February 21, 1838, Mr. Clark wrote thus: "As to money, there is none in mv hands or anj'body's else in this part of the country. It is an article now more difficult to obtain than I ever knew it." He proceeded to tell of failures, assignments, the taking of mortgages and judgments to secure claims, and pictured the greatest financial distress. Again, June 6, 1838, he said: "As to getting money out of Walker, it is out of the question at pres- ent. * * * It is impossible now to collect money except by suing, and under existing circumstances 1 would hardly advise that course." More than two years later, on Jul}' 2d, 1840, he wrote, "I tried everv means in m}' power to raise some cash for you, but it was out of the question. In fact there is no cash here. Town is dead and his estate is not settled. Goodsell is doing all he can, and will get through. Walker is worth money, but has got none, and says this week he expects to be protested in bank. As to myself I shall recover judgments next term against some of the best men in the place sufficient to pav all I owe, and am determined to close my business as soon as the law will let me, so there is no use suing me." With an account of foreclosures, ejectments, etc., he portra\ ed greater distress than prevailed two and a half years earlier. The following letter is presented in full:

"EvANsviLLE, 4th March, 1840. "/?rr/;- Sir: - I have not heard from you this winter, except Mr. Goodsell told me on my return from Harrisburgh, where I attended as a delegate to the National convention, that he had received a letter from you. It will be advisable for you to be here at our court, b}' all means. The New Yorkers have brought their suit now for the land in an action of ejectment, of which I am this moment apprised, and it renders it still more necessary for you to be here. I have another reason why I want yi^u to come. I have a good little steamboat exactly calculated for your trade which I want to sell you. She sold last summer at $3,500.00, and an additional $500.00 was laid out on her. I will let you take her at a fair price and take claims here and property for her. By this means you will get your pa\- and have it under j-our control. She is a sound, good boat and will carrv I suppose sixtv or sevent}- tons. As to any money being now collected, or for years to come, it is out of the question. Our legislature has passed a most extraordinar\- law with a view to relieve the people, by which it will be next to impossible to collect debts, and have taken away one term of our court. Our public works are stopped, the state is bankrupt and half the people in it. Produce is low and falling, and what is to be done God only knows. I returned last night from a trip far up the Wabash and found times harder there than here, if possible. Property here can not be sold at an}' price, and I am well satisfied I can make you a trade in this steamboat that will be much better to you than to have your concerns hing as they now do. You will, of course, be here as soon as a letter could reach me; if not, write immediately. " Yours trulv,

In 1838 the census showed a population in Evansville of 1,228, represented as follows: white males, 567; white females, 621; colored males, 24; colored females, 16. In 1840 the population of the county was 6,250, and of the town 2,121. In the last named }'ear, the mercantile interests of Evansville were represented by the following individuals and firms: Shanklin & Johnson, Rowley & Sherwood, Henry D. Allis, John Mitchell, John M. Stockw'ell & Co., Burbank & Co., Jones & Royston, Jerome B. Lamphear, John R. Wilcox, F. C. Gwathne}', Alexander Price, S. W. Townsend, Edward Hopkins, John H. Maghee, William Caldwell, Fred Wetsell, Martin Schovel, A. B. Carpenter & Co., Charles L. Rhomann, C. M. Griffith, Robert Barnes, Thomas Gedney, Charles Folmen, Bittrolff & Geissler, Joseph Raim, P. Wise & Co., G. A. Meyers. G. Venneman »S: Co., J. E. Wood. 1>. Jacobs & Co., Daniel Wolsey, John Greek, Edward Jewell, W. cS: C. Bell,

In the midst of these hard times the brilliant and spirited campaign of 1840 was fought, and William Henry Harrison was triumphantly elected. The stirring scenes of that campaign can never be forgotten by those who witnessed them, and they form an interesting chapter in our national history.

About 1842 wise legislation and private thrift and economy brought back a fair degree of prosperity, and the countr}- began to recover from the results of the panic. Evansville shared in the improved condition of affairs, but her revival was more largely due to favorable causes of a local nature. Faith in the future of the town, however, was not firmly fixed until about 1845. In the midst of the distress attending the business stagnation, in November, 1842, the town was swept by the most destructive fire that thus far had ever occurred in its limits. All the houses fronting on the east side of Main street, between First and Second, were destroyed. There were no fire engines in those days, and the citizens were compelled to carry water in buckets from a cistern located in the yard of the old State Bank, and had great difficultly in controlling the flames.

Work on the northern portion of the Wabash & Erie canal had been pushed forward as much as possible. It was completed to La Fayette in 1841, in which year a second grant of land was made bv the general government. The sagacious and far-seeing men of that day held tenaciously to the idea that Evansville's location was exceptionally favorable for the building of a great city, and they set about industriouslv to work a realization of their hopes. The state debt was honorably compromised, but there was no possibility of inducing the legislature to undertake anew the scheme of internal improvement, and the national congress was again looked to for aid. Hon. Conrad Baker, Gen. Joseph Lane, Hon. William j Brown Butler, Willard Carpenter and other prominent men did their part in effecting an 1 honorable settlement of the state debts, and ! in securing favorable legislation bv congress. In 1845 the third grant of lands for the construction of the canal was made. It included one-half of all unsold lands in the \'incennes land district. The completion of the canal j thus became assured, and the anticipation of the benefits to be derived from its successi ful workings strengthened confidence in fuj ture growth, and gave an impetus to business such as it had not felt before. At once hopes began to crvstalize into facts, not so much through the agencv of the canal when constructed (for, indeed, of itself it was a disappointment) but through the agency of other conditions and facts produced by the anticipation of benefits to flow from the construction of this waterway. When pursuing wealth and prosperity in one direction other means silently combine to produce the desired results regardless of the touchstone sought after. Evansville became an El Dorado to which men of all classes flocked to better their conditions. Speculators visited the town, examined its advantages and prospects, pushed on across the prairies to Chicago, or went by steamer to St. Louis, investigated those places and returned to Evansville as the land of greater promise. Life, hope, and energy were infused into ever}- branch of business. The surrounding lands far to the interior had by this time passed from the possession of the government into the hands of individuals, and the agriculturist seeking a new home was forced to induce some earlier settler to part with some of his holdings. Vahies of real estate in town and country rapidly adyanced. New farms were fast brought into culLixation, forests fell before the ax of progress, and because of the productiyeness of the soil, which had garnered in its pores the accumulating richness of ages, yast quantities of farm products found their way into the markets of E\ansyille. Merchants buying produce and shipping it southward and furnishing supplies of tea, coffee, sugar, spices, and manufactured goods to the farmers multiplied and the yolume of business transacted increased so rapidly as to occasion wonder and amazement. Long lines of wagons from points as far inward as Vincennes, La Fayette, and Terre Haute came to Eyansyille to effect these exchan<res. Mairnificent steamers daily landed at the wharf and lay for hours discharging and receiving freight. The levee as soon as it was constructed, in 1848, and prior to that time the river bank in front of the city, from end to end was stacked with produce of all kinds. This was the commencement of Evansville's career as a great commercial city. Her favorable position for handling the products of a \ast and productive region, recognized for years and, indeed, from the first looked forward to as a source of greatness onl\- awaiting development, was now yielding the rich fruits so long anticipated.

Men of large attainments, broad experi ence and dauntless energy were coming from lands beyond the sea, England, Ireland and especially Germany, and from distant states, to engage in mercantile or professional pursuits in this thriving place. Skilled artisans and manufacturing laborers were also seeking here a home. The descendants of the earlier pioneers in various parts of the country, of strong character and sterling worth, in the vigor of youth, left the farms of their fathers and came to the town, to enter upon broader fields of usefulness than were promised at the old homesteads. Evansville soon became a city in its proportions, its advantages and its importance.

On the 29th day of January, 1847, the governor of Indiana approved an act of the state legislature, granting to the citizens of the town of Evansville a city charter. Its mayor, the members of its first council, and its officers chosen at an election held on the first Monday in April, 1847, were all men of distinction and recognized ability. Hon. James G. Jones, a distinguished lawyer and citizen, was selected as mayor. In the council, which met for the first time on April 12, 1847, there were: L. L. Lajcock, First ward; Silas Stephens, Second ward; Willard Carpenter, Third ward; C. M. Griffith, Fourth ward: L. Howes, Fifth Ward; John Hewson, Sixth ward. The first oflicers of the city were: John J. Chandler, clerk; William Bell, assessor, collector and marshal; Samuel Orr, treasurer; James E. Blythe, attorney, and Wm. M. Walker, surveyor. At the time of its charter as a cit}', the area covered by its corporate authority' was about 2S0 acres. It had within its limits about 4,000 souls; the valuation of its real estate and personal property was $901,324; and the amount of taxes assessed on this valuation was $3,319.47, a sum adequate for the needs of the young city, though insignificant when compared with the annual expenses of to-day.

"Up to this period, notwithstanding Evansville had become the most important shipping point between Louis\'ille and the mouth of the Ohio, a distance of 400 miles, very little wharf improvements had been made other than the cuttinc: of roads through the high and almost perpendicular banks to the landing places. Hut the constantly growing commerce and increased shipping interests made it neces- sarv to construct a wharf commensuratt" with the extensive business which was being established; and in March, 1848, the city entered into a contract with John Mitcliell, Marcus Sherwood and Moses Ross to grade the river bank and complete a wharf having frontage on five squares, a length of nearly 2,000 feet. This at the time was considered a great work, and was an important step forward in the commercial history of a place now dignified with municipal proportions and recognized by the important appellation of a City."'

About this time saw- and grist-mills were springing into existence, some propelled by water and some by steam: a small foundry and machine shop and various other industries which have since grown to huge proportions were begun on a small scale. The growth of schools and churches, as elsewhere noted, was commensurate with the industrial advancement, and the community was supplied with an ade(i[uate number of those practicing the learned professions. In 1850, the census showed a population of 5,105, and at that time there were in the city, 10 grist- and saw-mills, - 4 propelled by water; - about 100 stores, groceries and warehouses: 3 printing offices each issuing a daily newspaper; I5law3"ers; 16 physicians; 13 preachers, and a great varietv of mechanical, manufacturing and mining laborers, all afforded constant emplovment bv the abundance of coal in the vicinity and the demands of the large region of productive country which made Evansville its supplv depot. At this time the annual exports from Evansville amounted in round numbers to about 600,000 bushels of corn, 100,000 bushels of oats, 1,500 tons of hay, 1,500,000 pounds of pork and bacon, and large quantities of tobacco, wheat, potatoes and other products of the farm.

For several years this means of transportation was more a feeder to the carrying trade of the river than a rival to it, but at length a revolution was wrought in the continued progressive development, and the railway became the king of transportation. The canal was in course of construction when the feasibility of a railroad northward from the young city began to be seriously considered. Indeed, it was not completed and made read\- for boats until 1853, and then it had but little influence on the growth of the city. Awaited for anxiouslv, in its coming it brought no fulfillment of promises. A few warehouse were constructed on its banks and there was some handling of freight, but the anticipated business activity was not realized, even to the tenth part. Its meatrer usefulness was of short duration, it being entirely abandoned about 1864, the railroads by that time having absorbed the whole of its business as a common carrier. The practicabifity of railroads had been demonstrated, and progressive citizens were on the alert to keep Evansville fully abreast of the times. Early in 1849, the matter was thoroughly discussed, and at the March term in that year, of the board of commissioners, an election was ordered to be held on the following April 12, for the purpose of taking the sense of the people on the question of aidiuFf in the construction of the Evansville & Indianapolis Railroad, b}' subscribing for $100,000 worth of stock to be issued by the company proposing to build the road. At the election there were cast 624 votes in favor of the proposition and 288 against it. The county treasury at this time was in a depleted condition, and when in June following, it became necessary for the county to pay $2.00 per share on the 500 shares required to be taken at once (the taking of the additional 1,500 shares being postponed tmtil the company was propei^ly organized, etc.), it was forced to negotiate a note in bank to raise the necessary $i,ooo. At the same time the city, as a separate corporate boch', also aided in the construction of the road by subscribing for $100,000 of its stock. The president of the company was Samuel Hall of Gibson countw This pioneer railroad, whose construction was commenced in 1S50, was subseijuenth' known as the Evansxille & Crawfordsville, and at present as the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad. Besides the incalculable value of this railroad to the citv and county in developing their natural resources, both cit\' antl counts' realizedhandsomely on their investments, the stock subscribed b^y each being sold in 1S81 for $150,000, to Mr. D. J. Mackey, whose energy and great executive ability, as well as the public spirit controlling his actions, have made the property a great agent for good to the city of Evansville.

In 1 85 3 the \aluation of real and personal propert\' had increased to $2,537,965.00, and the amount of taxes levied was $29,799.60. The growth of the city continued, and in the tenth year of its career as a city, in 1857, the valuation of real and personal property was $4,399,040.00, and tlie taxes levied amounted to $58,285.21.

In 1857 the adjoining corporations of Evansville and Lamasco, which had existed up to this time as separate municipalities, were consolidated, by the annexation of Lamasco to Evansville. In location, business and social interests they had been one, and their union under one city government was a consummation which added materialh' to their prosperity. The citv of Lamasco included that portion of the present city lying between Division street and Pigeon creek. It was laid out bv four gentlemen, Messrs. John and William Law, and Macalland Scott, who gave the place a no\el title, taking the first two letters of Laiv and Macall and the first three of Scot/, thus succeeding in producing a distinctive and hitherto unheard of name. Later an unsuccessful attempt was made to change the name of the city of Evans\ille to Lamasco, the friends of the mo\ement setting forth the ad\antage to result from general advertisement over the countrw The proposition, however, was not adopted.

Evansville had been made a port of entr\' in 1856, at which time trace chains and other staples of hardware were brought here" from foreign countries. Manufacturing industries, however, were gaining a foothold, and in some branches an advanced position had been reached. But the chief cause of the prosperit}- enjoyed at that time was co»iiiicirc. The wholesale and jobbing trade had attained large proportions, and the shipments to the south of agricultural products were great. The board of trade report for 1857, prepared under the supervision of Judge M. W. Foster, gave the following figures as representing the sales of merchandise in the city for that year:

The report shows the extent to which manufacturing had grown b\- the following items, indicating the amount of some manufactured articles in that year:

The banking capital in that year, as represented by the public banks, was $325,- 000.00. The population of the cit)- was 12,250, and it was estimated that during the year 100 houses had been erected, yalued at a (juarter of a million dollars.

In this year there came to the country at large another linancial crisis and period of business depression, from which there was no recoyery before the outbreak of the civil war had changed social and business conditions. The workinir classes in Evansville had betrun to feel the influence of hard times before enlistments for the army were called for. Some shops had closed their doors and operati\'es were forced into idleness and want. The favorable position occupied by Evansville with reference to the commerce of the Ohio river, prevented the distress from becoming general. Its shipments were constantly increasing, its population and wealth were growing, its trade was being extended and the city was apparently maintaining a steady and healthy progress up to the commencement of hostilities, but there were nevertheless man\- niechanics and shopmen out of employment. Indeed, the manufacturing industries of the cit}' were languisliing; they were not keeping pace with the ad\ancement being made in trade and agriculture.

In i860 the citizens of Evansville witnessed the most hotly contested and exciting political campaign known in her history. The rail-splitter, Abraham Lincoln, in the simplicity and purity of his manhood, exhibited such elements of strength, that the people were wildly enthusiastic over his canvass. Gorgeous street parades with banners, emblems and various spectacular contrivances, soul-stirring discussions of issues finall}- submitted to the '- fierce arbitrament of the sword" for decision, and massive assemblies of people from the surrounding country, fanned the fires of patriotism and encouraged the enthusiasm of the people. Following this came the firing upon Fort Sumter bv an armed force in rebellion against the authority of the nation, and then in (juick succession the scenes of a civil war, which laid waste a great area of rich and prosperous territory, consumed unreckoned quantities of individual and public wealth, and sending desolation and woe to the homes and hearts of many people. An attempt to describe these scenes so far as they concern this locality, to give some account of what the loval people of Evansville did in those trying times, and what occurred in and about the city as incident to the prosecution of the war, is made in another chapter. As to the business interests of that period Hon. John W. Foster, the distinguished soldier, citizen, and diplomat, in a compilation of facts made by him in 1868, when acting under the' authority of the board of trade, and basing his comparisons on the tables quoted above, said:

"In 1861, at the commencement o^ our late civil war, Evansville was one of the most important ports of southern shipments on the western waters. In the leading articles of produce and provisions it compared favorably with St. Louis and Louisville (exceeding in many articles the latter city), as its shipments had largely increased since ' 1857. There was established a regular triweekly line of packets to Cairo, mainly owned and controlled here. Regular packets were maintained between Evansville and Bowling Green, Kv., on Green ri\er. The Wabash packets made this their iiome port. Its steamboat interests were ver\- considerable and rapidlv mcreasing. The whole trade of the city came from the border counties of Kentuck^- on the lower Ohio and Illinois, the Green river xallew in Kentucky, the Lower Wabash valle\', and the regions of country traversed bv the Evansville & Crawfordsville railroad and the Wabash & Erie canal, for a distance of se\entv-five miles. The war caused material chan<ces in these interests and the circle of trade. For a time the steamboat interest was apparently destroyed. Communication with the Lower Mississippi was entirely cut off, and nearly so with Green river. The Cairo packet line was greatly hampered and harassed by military restrictions. The immense produce and provision carrying trade from the Wabash ceased with the closing of business relations with the South. The freijjht business of the E\ans\ille & Crawfordsville railroad was, for a like reason, materially lessened. About this time the navigation of the Wabash & Erie canal became uncertain and finally closed. A valuable part of the trade, on this account and the cutting off of our New Orleans communication, was lost to this citv. Under these circumstances the future of Evansville at that time looked gloomy in the extreme. Hut steamboat owners, merchants and manufacturers, in a little while began to experience a more hopeful state of affairs. The wants of the government gave employment at remunerative rates to such of the steamboats as were not protitably engaged in the carrying business of the city. The grocery merchants, whose supply^ market at New Orleans had been cut off, found a more enlarged depot of supplies at New York, to wiiich place the operations of the war turned all wholesale merchandise dealers. As the field of occupancy of the federal army was enlarged, the enterprise of our merchants and manufacturers extended. The old packet lines were re-established, and new lines opened up the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, and down the Mississippi to Memphis. Evans\ille became the most convenient point of supply for western Kentucky, and for the rich valleys of the Cumberland and I Tennessee, and received a very considerable trade from Memphis and the country bordering the Mississippi, between that citv and Cairo. From 1S62 forward the business of this city began to re\i\'e, and in a little while it exceeded that done before the war. The restoration of peace found it greatly increased in population and wealth, its area of trade enlarged threefold, its steamboat interests more than doubled, its manufactories much more numerous and their product largely multiplied, and the various departments of industry iiuickened into new life and activity. Since' the close of the war, with all the channels of trade and commerce 1 open and unrestricted, and with all the embarrassments of finances and the fluctuation of values, Evansville has been enabled, not only to retain the business which was attracted to it b\' the changed condition of affairs, but has reached out into new fields of enterprise."

The second decade in the hislor\- of Evans\ille as a city, ending in 1S67, notwithstanding some unfavorable circumstances at its commencement, was, in its entirety, one of progress and prosperity. The war. blighting in its first effects, eventually proved a cause of lasting good. Never before had the commercial interests of the city been so well served by its location on the di\iding line between a bod\' of producers and a bod\' of consumers as at the restoration of peace. The South, wealthy at the commencement of hostilities in 1861, " found itself as the result of four years of civil war entirely prostrate, without industry, without tools, without money, credit or crops; deprived of local self-government, and, to a great extent, of political privileges; the flower of its youth in hospitals, or dead upon the bloody, storm-rent battle-fields; with society disorganized, and starvation imminent or actuallv present." The first efforts of the people to lift themselves from this gloomy and depressing condition were opposed by great obstacles. For two }-ears the cotton and grain crops were, to a great extent, failures, and much difticultv was experienced in making .satisfactor\- arrangements for the employment of labor. The South had not been supplied with manufacturing establishments, and was, therefore, compelled to seek a suppl}' of breadstuffs and clothing, of mechanical tools and a^ricultural implements, in other than home markets. This she had been accustomed to doing, and, therefore, while vast quantities of the raw material used in forminp- the products which she consumed were in her possession and easy of access, no efforts were as yet made to utilize these great sources of wealth.

The heavy duties placed upon imported articles during the war bv the national congress encouraged manufacturing and rendered successful competition bv foreign competitors impossible. To a large portion of the South, Evansville was the most convenient depot for supplies. Her marts were well supplied with every necessar}- of life, her factories and furnaces were in full blast, her merchants were liberal, conscientious, accommodating, honorable. Business grew rapidly under this new stimulus. The steamboat carrying trade was then appoaching the height of its importance. From Pittsburgh to Cairo the towns along the course of the Ohio ri\-er and those along its tributaries were growing in wealth and population. At Evansville the steamboat arrivals had grown from 1,493 in 1861 to 2,580 in 1 868, and some of the exports during the last named year were as follows: Corn, 2,017,794 bushels; flour, 58,840 barrels; hay, 12,045 bales; meal, 16,728 barrels; oats, 54-595 bushels; pork, 12,374 barrels; tobacco, 19,758 hogsheads; wheat, 175,410 bushels. In 1867 there were 354 houses built in the city, their estimated value being $1,131,700.00. The assessed value of real and personal property was $i:5'7^S5555' and the taxes levied amounted to $165,- 004.10. The merchandise sales amounted to $12,763,690.00; those in dry goods and groceries each exceeding three and a third millions of dollars. Of manufactured articles produced there were $2,890,202.00 worth. The banking capital, as represented by National bank stocks, was $1,550,000.00, and the deposits ranged from $399,397.00 to $692,308.00. The discounts ran, per quarter, from $1,423,174.00 to $1,547,222.00. This was an era of general prosperit}- and improvement. The favorable outlook begat confidence, and the growth of the city was then more rapid perhaps than at any other period of its career. Cotton mills, the largest in the west, and other large and important mills and factories were put in operation, street cars and other public conveniences began to be provided, and on every hand there were striking; evidences of individual and public prosperitv. The cit\- was receiving valuable additions to its population bv an influx of intelligent citizens from the south and east. Business and professional circles were being recruited with a class of people that was in all respects highly beneficial to the communitv. In 1867 the enrollment for schools and estimates based on the \'Otes cast at the elections indicated a population of 22,000 inhabitants. Three years hiter, however, in 1870, the United States census credited the city with only 21,830 inhabitants, but this seemed so manifestly a mistake that it caused L,n-eat dissatisfaction to those interested in ha\ing Evans\ille's importance as a city undiminished by incorrect statements rej^arding its size. The votes cast in October of that year at the congressional election numbered 4,665, and if one vote represented fi\e people, a basis of computation accepted by statisticians, the population was about 23,325; and estimating one vote for everv six inhabitants, there were at that time 28,990 residents of the city. The year 186S marked the commencement of a period of depression. While the growth of the city continued it was not with the rapid strides which had characterized its movements from 1862 to 1867. An abnormal condition of affairs continued for some \-ears after the close of the war. Among its results were an inflated paper currenc}-, high prices, and a stimulated demand for articles of trade which was not abated while people were forced to restrict their purchases and accommodate themselves to their chan<red conditions. During this settling process, or the period in which the public was learning its true condition, and especially that portion of the public which was drawing most heavily upon the merchants and manufacturers of Evansville for its supplies, there was a marked decline in prices, a contraction of business, a repression of speculation, a reduction of public and private expenditures, and a restriction of commercial enterprises and improvements. These, together \\'ith tinancial embarrassment and uncertainty growing out of the questions of national currency, banking taxation, debt, and the aspect of political affairs, upon the peaceful settlement of which naturally depended the commercial operations of the countrv, caused a ireneral depression affecting the mercantile and manufacturing interests of the entire country. The chief influence affecting Evans- \ille locallv was the business rivalry of other cities in the Ohio valley. The merchants of Cincinnati, Louisville, St. Louis, Cairo and Paducah made \igorous efforts to di\'ert from E\ans\ille the large and valuable trade of the lower Ohio, and the rich \allevs of Green, Cumberland, and Tennessee rivers. Rival packet lines and mercantile agents used every exertion and resorted to ever}- expedient to draw the trade away from this city, and while at the close of the vear the business men viewed the operations of the year with satisfaction, there was not that increase in the volume of business transacted, which under fa\orable conditions, the results of the previous years would have justified. While an increase in the general business of the city was observed, there was a decre ase in some articles of export or departments of trade and manufactures, when reckoned in dollars and cents. It is possible that there was no actual fallinij off in the amount of LToods handled and that the decrease obser\able was due to the decline in prices. However, this was a decrease in griicral bii^incsf.

The year was the first of the national bankrupt act, and there were widespread financial embarrassment and distrust, but no large and disastrous failures occurred in this city. Some individuals were forced to yield before the storm of adversitv, but there were no failures of moment. The substantial character and reliabilit\- of the business men of this communit\-, were attested b\- the fact that the credit of but few leading merchants or manufactures was seriousl\- impaired. While conducting their business with just liberality toward their customers, and with a reasonable degree of enterprise and spirit, tliev engaged in no unhealth}- speculations and did not seek to extend their business beyond their capital or abilitj- to control it. At that time there was no appreciable decline in real estate values, thus showing that confidence in future development was unshaken. Rents, especially of business houses, were reduced to conform to the reduction in profits of trade, wages and the prices of building materials, and the value of improvements depreciated, but real property was maintained at its highest quotations throughout the vear. A revival of business was confidentlv hoped for, but these hopes rested on an unsound basis. The bursting of the storm and the crash of failures was not long postponed. The crisis was reached in 1S73; panic and dismay were the results.

Just prior to this time many valuable improvements, public and private, were provided for. A large rolling mill, now out of operation, extensive additions to the cotton mill, which had proved to be a successful venture, manv fine buildings for manufacturing and commercial purposes, and many elegant private residences were erected. Congress had appropriated the money for the erection of a postoffice and custom house building, although work on it was not immediately commenced. The St. George hotel, a magnificent building, costing in the neighborhood of $200,000.00, was constructed in response to the demands of the tra\-eling public and to push forward the growth of the cit}'. Improvements in the streets, wharves, and elsewhere through the city were undertaken.

The extent and diversity of the manufacturing industries were b\- this time very great. The list included 150 different classes of articles, and almost everything of importance in the way of ordinary manufactures was comprised in it.

The total \alue of articles manufactured 3'early was then estimated at $12,000,- 000.00. The most extensive manufactures were heavy machinerv, such as mills, engines, etc., and furniture. The milling interests had assumed large proportions and the products in breadstuffs was up to this time annually increased. There were about 150 wholesale houses, and a very considerable proportion of them carried as large stocks as could be found in the leadinij houses of similar branches in the principal cities of the West. Commodious business buildings were erected for the accommodation of this rapidly growing trade, until there were man\- blocks in the lower or wholesale part of the city that would have ornamented the chief wholesale streets of Cincinnati or St. Louis.

The commission business had attained considerable importance. Large assignments of flour, grain, salt, seed, tobacco, cotton, meats and every article of commerce, of large or small bulk, were made to the houses of this city. The growth of the retail trade had been commensurate with that in other departments. The progressive men of that period, many of whom are still in the van and forefront of the fight for industrial supremacy, were not standing with idle han.-ls and watching with CDmplaisance the efforts of other cities to outstrip Evansville in the race for advantage. Railroads were planned in various directions, and active steps were taken to secure their construction. Far-seeing men realized that the day was at hand for the railroad to usurp, or rather, by right to succeed to the throne, so long and so well occupied by the majestic river, from w'hich w'as ruled the growing empire of the great West.

Tul'Chixg Bottom

since iS6S, were now to bu (.'iit^ulfed in lh(_' t^eneral ruin. The linanciai panic of 1873, national in its proportions, swept across the land, bliijhting hopes and wrecking fortunes. The convulsions of the storm were felt in E\-ansville, as in other cities of like size and like environments. Many private enterprises were abandoned. Business men were dri\en to the wall, and their failures increased the general feelings of distrust. Capital was ti nid. Its investment was withheld for signs of bjtter promise. Projectors of railroads gave up their plans to await a recoverv from the season of distress. Private improvements were suspended and real estate values declined. Few exchanges were made and there was no active demand. The banks and leading commercial houses, however, w eathered the storm and there was no disastrous or sensational collapse of business.

The condition resulting immediately from this panic was not long continued, but after passing out of the trying experience, the city resumed the march of progress with slow and cautious steps. There was visible advancement within a year, but entire confidence was not immediately restored, and improvement was consequently slow. Real estate soon recovered, though there was no immediate demand. Holders had unshaken confidence in ultimate prosperity, and were not anxious to dispossess themselves at a sacrifice. The valuation of real and personal property' in 1S74 was $24,758,355.00, and for the twelve months ending with Aufjust of that year, the sales of real estate numbered 8i4and aggregated $2,307,562.00 These changes in possession occurred between individual residents principally. There was no attempt to inflate values or raise prices by fictitious means. The Courier of May 2 of that year, contained this pertinent statement: values here, raised b\' rings of speculators. Good lots can be had for from $100 to $1,500 according to location and improvements. There has been a steady advancement in the value of property with each successi\'e yeai'. Some \'ast tracts in the suburbs of the city are held by foreign capitalists, and they have no doubt found a profitable investment. There has, however, been but little spiculatioa outside of purely legitimate channels. Property is regarded here b\' all a-; certain to p.i\- hiadsom.'lv, and there are splendid opportunities for investments of all kinds."'

That the financial crisis and the resulting depression did not long deter citizens from progressive activity is attested by the following statement from the same paper:

"The present building season is only about one-third over, and }-et our contractors and architects have been engaged for work till the end of the season, while building material can scarcely be manufactured to meet the steady demand. At the opening of the present season, it was predicted that the financial stringency would affect our building operations disastrously, but such has not been the case. On the other hand it will e\en show much larger results. In addition to the large business blocks being erected, the number of private residences going up was never in numbers so great as in the present season. This is attested by all persons who are associated with this department of business. At least two millions and a half dollars will be expended in buildincfs alone this season. A list of these blocks and houses, which we have secured, would cover four columns of this copy of the Courier. We have passed that period of development when all buildings are constructed for use without regard to the beauties of architecture or the satisfaction of taste, and the city rejoices in scores of private residences which are perfect models of beauty and taste. In the rapid manner in which the city grew, no attention was paid to these essential elements in making a city attractive and beautiful, but that era has been passed, and in the next three years even greater progress will be made."

The number of houses erected during the year was estimated at fully 5°° and the amount expended in the season's work and on buildings completed in that year, though commenced at an earlier date, at $3,000,000.

With the emplo^'ment to labor afforded by so much building in addition to that engaged in the commercial and manufacturing pursuits of the city, which, though jielding in some particulars, were generally holding the station gained before the panic, if they were not advancing, general distress and pressing want could not, and did not, prevail among the people. The improvement of Evansville from that time has continued. She has taken no backward step, never essaying a mushroom growth, such as has occurred in many " boomed" cities of late years; her advancement has been constant and substantial. The scenes of activity may have shifted and in many departments of industry " good old days " may have gone, never to return, but the general improvement of the city has been maintained. The population has constantly increased in numbers, its aggregate wealth has grown, and the individual prosperity of the masses has been preserved. This is particularly evidenced by the fact that its laboring classes, its mechanics, miners and toilers of every sort, enjoy not only an abundance of the necessaries of life but also many of its comforts and luxuries. A very large proportion of these people - about 85 per cent of them - because of regular employment, good wages, thrift and industry, own their own homes, and, to say nothing of tlie wage-workers" earnings held by numerous building associations, the People's Savings Bank, an institution whose patrons are chiefly among the laboring classes, has over $650,000 in deposits, representing a portion of the savings of 2,500 people. This is the condition of the wage-worker at this time, and it fairhrepresents his condition at all times since 1874, '^o'" while the agencies of Evansville's advancement have changed and in the changes invested capital has suffered, the laborer, shifting and becoming an adjunct of each new agency, has encountered no serious harm.

The population of Evansville is and has been since a time antedating its corporation as a city, largely of German descent, though other nationalities are well represented. The greatest of harmony and best of feeling, generally considered, have prevailed between employers and employes. The city has enjoyed a pleasing immunity from strikes and labor troubles of all kinds. The wageworkers are intelligent and enjoy undisturbed the highest rights of citizenship. The dignity of labor is recognized by all, and it is only the idler who provokes contempt.

In the early development of the vast empire of the west, the Ohio river was the main thoroughfare upon which the products of the mill and factory were brought from the east to their consumers in the new country. The wealth of surplus products of the rich lands of the west were put upon the same highway to find their way into the distant markets of the world; and the staples of the tropics were distributed to the agricultural and manufacturin<j centers of the north by the same means. In this era producer and consumer were separated by many miles of distj\nce; and commerce was the soul of business activit}-. Wlien the citizen of Evansville desired to witness scenes of life and restless action he went to the river front. There, upon the levee, pontlerous wagons, c.irts, and dra3-s, crowded each other for space, and workmen hurried from place to place in every sort of occu- i pation. Vast quantities of produce, of lumber, salt, cotton, tobacco, grain, agricultural implements, furniture and what not were piled on the wharves and on the river bank. Warerooms, commission houses, and storerooms soujiht convenient locations on Water street. Then, indeed, the river was king, and when the first railroad was built it became an obedient subject to the power on the throne. But at length the general construction of railroads commenced, and marked the decline of the river trade. Rapid transit was the great desideratum. In earlier days merchants received their goods by steamer from the eastern cities, and they were sometimes long delayed by obstructions to navigation. It was soon found that by using the facilities for shipping afforded by railroads, goods could be received and in a large measure sold, before the arrival of goods ordered at the same time and shipped by boat. Merchants desiring to turn their capital frequentl}- soon gave their undivided patronage, in through freights, to the railroads. Gradually the through lines of steamers were abandoned. The effects of this change were seriously felt by many prosperous villages along the Ohio river. To many it was a death blow. From Pittsburgh to Cairo to-da}-, there are to be seen at short intervals, towns with abandoned houses and shops, dilapidated mines, silent mills, and all the essentials to a picture of " the deserted village. " The commerce of the Ohio gave them life. When that went down, or to speak more accuratelv, was altered from what mav be called a " long haul " to a " short haul " system, their occupation was gone, and when they were unable to attach themsehes to some other life-giving agency, thev suffered the long-continued agonies of a living death.

Through the aggressive spirit and broad understanding of its leading men, Evansville was not doomed to such a condition. When the through freight from the commercial centers of the east came westward by rail, the steamers that made long trips, for example from Pittsburgh to St. Louis, or from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, were taken off and put in other trades - shorter trades to suppl\- different demands. River towns at the termini of railway branches running from the trunk lines were made points of distribution for a rapidly growing countr)-, and in many cases the towns so utilized enjoyed a greater degree of prosperity for a time, by reason of the change. Merchants at smaller towns for forty or fifty miles around such a place, were forced by this change of conditions to make the railroad point the base of supplies, where previously they had drawn upon the east directly, by means of through steamers. This was true of Evansville. Far up and down the river and to all the towns along the tributaries of the Ohio the commercial emissaries found their way and following them were large shipments of merchandise. To the commission men and merchants of Evansville came the surplus products of the same rich country, instead of going directl}- to distant points by water transportation as in earlier times.

Under these circumstances the river trade grew iinmensely, but this was in the infancy of the giant railroad system. When the country, thus supplied by steamers, making daily and tri-weekly trips, became covered with a network of railroads, it could not be expected that the same amount and kind of business would be transacted on tlie water. If Evansville had blindlv clung to commerce to the exxlusion of other factors that enter largel}' into the growth of modern cities in the middle states, her people would have suffered for the want of employment, or her population would have decreased and her growth been effectually checked. For when supply depots, themselves directlv connected b}' rail with producers and consumers, multiplied, the usefulness of Evansville would have been diminished, and at length, it seems reasonable to believe, the city would have been of little more importance than other towns that supply a limited agricultural region. But early in her career the merchant and manufacturer joined hands. Before passing, however, to the consideration of the relative influence of manufacturing upon the growth of the city, the results of her commerce may profitably engage some attention.

The cheapness of water transportation makes the river a desirable means of getting many kinds of produce to market, and there are many portions of an exceedingly productive country still directly dependent upon the river as the carrier of its supplies, with Evansville as a supply depot. These considerations serve to keep up the business about the wharves, though its volume is not so great as formerly. At the present time there are as many steamers registered at this port as there have been at any previous time, and regular packet lines to all the principal places between Louisville and Paducah, and along the Tennessee, Cumberland and Green rivers, make Evans\ille their home port. But the commerce of the place has, especiall}- in late years, drawn the railroad into its service. The pioneer road, the Evansville & Terre Haute, is splendidly equipped, and handles large quantities of freight. In 1872 the St. Louis

& Southeastern, running from St. Louis to Evansville, was consolidated with the Evansville, Henderson & Nashville, and thus through trains to the south were supplied. Subsequently these Hnes became the property of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company. Its trains were transferred bv boat between Evansville and Henderson until 1885, when the Ohio river was spanned by a steel bridge, 3,686 feet long, and costing $3,000,000, which connects Evansville directly with the wealth of the south, so extensively traversed by the great L. & N. system. Later, the Louisville, Evansville & St. Louis railroad (air line) furnishing a direct route to the East, the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville railroad traversing the rich lands of eastern Illinois, the Evansville & Indianapolis railroad (straight line) affording an outlet for a mining and agricultural region of great wealth, the Ohio Valley railroad and the Belt Line, have been constructed. Aid has been voted to other lines, and many additions to the alread}' splendid system of railroads centering here are proposed. To any one familiar with the good results that flow in such large streams from these powerful agencies in the development of cities, the fact that Evansville maintains a stead}' growth can bring no surprise. In 1880 the population of the city, by the census report, was a little in excess of 29,000. This census was probably not well taken, for, b}' careful estimates, based on the number of voters in the citv at that time, the number of children in the schools, and the number of names in the city directory, the population was shown to be at least 40,000. The assessed valuation of propert}' amounted to $18,152,005, being divided as follows: Real estate, $7,769,805; improvements, $5>i49'5S.'5; personal property, $5,232,645. In that year the wholesale and jobbing trade was very large in all classes of articles.

Railroad Development

Those who, as thev grew up into a knowledge of affairs, and in the active periods of their careers saw that Evansville's prosperity was drawn almost entirely from the river trade, as was the fact in earlier days, may view the alterations in that trade as a mark of the cit3''s decline. If so, they err, for not onl)' is the number of boats registered larger than ever before, but the changes in the character of their business have been such as to furnish employment to a greater number of men and women residing in Evansville. Formerl\- steamers brought raw materials and manufactured goods here from different localities, and E\-ansville merely effected an exchange between the separated consumers and producers. Now these steamers bring crude materials and carry away manufactured goods, the transformation from one condition to the other being effected by the brains and hands of the toilers here. Besides the steamers, in this work there are the great steel highways leading in all directions, over which are run, with systematic regularity, thousands of freighted cars in every month of the year, themselves furnishing employment to a vast number of workmen whose families are a portion of Evansville's societ\-, assisting to support its schools and churches, and each doing something to enhance the public welfare.

That the founders and earh' settlers of this citj- builded better than they knew is nowhere more strikingly exhibited than in tiie fact thai the place selected by them is so favorably located for the development of vast stores of natural wealth of the existence of which they at that time had no knowledge. That immeasurable quantities of coal la}' under the surface of the new land where the}- were raising their rude cabins, that the extensive forests of hard wood, with the passage of years, would enter into the world's consumption at so great a value, and that mountains of building stone and rich ores, so essential to the satisfaction of needs they could not dream of then, were to the southward, within easy access, could not possibly ha\-e entered into their consideration. The trials and misfortunes that checked immigration to the stjite of Indiana at various times, and the causes which made the incoming of settlers spasmodic, have already received some consideration in these pages. When that great tide of immigrants poured in between the years 1835 and 1840, the easy-going habits of earlier pioneers were abandoned. There was a c'eneral awakening, and ever\- new demand evoked an attempt to supply it. Some of the most ordinary farm implements were neither made in Evans\ille, nor were thev to be had at the stores in the place. But the importance of manufacturing, as the most reliable source of substantial growth, was recognized soon thereafter, and from the time when the work of utilizing the wealth of the forests and the fields by converting their wild products into implements and articles of use was begun, the merchants and capitalists of the city, with unflagging zeal, have sought to encourage and foster this interest in its varied branches, until to-da\' there is probablv no city in the United States, of equal population, that has a greater diversity of established manufacturing industries.

great as might reasonably have been expected when the vast possibihties and means of advancement are considered. There has been a constant increase in the variety of these interests and the aggregate volume of their output. At times the progress has been slow, and some enterprises have failed because of faultj^ management or financial depression of more than local proportions, but nevertheless the aggregate of the work done has grown from period to period. Manufacturing, in its relation to the general commerce of the present day, is the chief organ in the industrial anatomy. Through the vast channels of commerce, millions of values annually find their way to the artisans, mechanics and wage-workers of the world, and by them are worked up into new articles of usefulness, again to be sent out on missions of advancement and upbuilding. Manufacturing and commerce, then, are mutually dependent, and in the developed conditions of this age and place, "useless each without the other."

It is estimated with acceptable accuracy that at this time fully $3,500,000.00 of capital are invested here in manufacturingplants engaged in producing various lines of merchandise. The following is a partial list of the number and variety of these establishments now in successful operation :

Agricultural implements, 4; architectural iron works, 5; awnings and tents, 2; bag manufacturer, i ; bakery, cracker, i ; baking powder, 2; barrel hoops, i; barrel heading, i ; bedstead, i ; bent material, i ; blank books, 4; boiler makers, 5; boot, shoe and gaiter uppers, 3; box manufacturer, wood, I ; brass founders, 2 ; breweries, 3 ; brickyards, 12; broom manufacturers, 3; candy manufacturers, 4; carriage manufacturers, 10; carriage springs, i; chair manufacturers, 6; cigar box manufacturer, i; coal mines, 8; coffin manufactory, i ; corn

The extent of the flour milling interest is already considerable, and the extraordinary advantages afforded by cheap fuel and location in the grain growing region, and near the consuming population of the great South, is already attracting the attention of millers elsewhere, with every prospect that this interest will be enormously increased. The following is a statement of the flour business under the present capacity:

Total output of flour per day, 2,100 barrels; total output of flour per week, 12,600 barrels; total output of flour per year, 630,- 000 barrels; consumption of wheat per da}', 9,500 bushels; consumption of wheat per week, 57,000 bushels; consumption of wheat per j'ear, 2,736,000 bushels; average cost of wlieat per da}' at 8o cents, $7,600; average cost of wheat per week at 80 cents, $45,000; average cost of wheat per year at 80 cents, $2,188,800; average cost of packages per day, $546; average cost of packages per week, $3,276; average cost of packages per year, $157,248; average cost to manufacture per day, at 40 cents a barrel, $840; average cost to manufacture per week, at 40 cents a barrel, $5,040; average cost to manufacture per year, at 40 cents a barrel, $241,920.

This represents the output of seven mills, and it is believed that notwithstanding the capacity of all of them is small, as compared with that of the mammoth mills at Minneapolis, the cost of production is as small as the cost at Minneapolis, due in large part to the low price of coal and nearness to the grain, while the cost of marketing is very considerably less. Evansville, therefore, may justly claim an unequaled location for the profitable production of flour.

That Evansville should be a large manufacturer of furniture and woodenwares of all kinds can not occasion surprise, when it is known that the last United States census showed tills city to be the largest hardwood lumber market in the United States.

Some conception of the magnitude of the saw-mill and lumber interests m;x\- be had from the following statistical data, gathered from the books of those engaged in these enterprises: number of saw-mills, 11; number of men employed, 855; amount of wages paid yearly, $385,000; feet of lumber sawed, 107,500,000; capital invested, $500,000; yearly business, $2,545,000; amount of ground occupied by mills, about 40 acres.

Another evidence of the city's growth is the immense trade in building brick. There are fourteen brickyards within, or just outside, the city limits, with an aggregate daily output of 90,000, and an annual output of more than 15,000,000. There are 200 hands employed. The increase in the growth of the cit}^ is partially represented by the increase in the output of these brickyards, which is about thirty per cent over the product of last year. The entire output of 1887 was sold before the beginning of the spring trade of 18S8, and 8,000,000 of the present year's make have already been sold for future delivery. The brickyards not only make the common building brick, but two of them are manufacturing stock or repressed and ornamental brick the equal of any to be found west of the Alleghany mountains. The makers of brick here now ship from 600,000 to 1,000,000 a month to southern states.

One of the most faithful handmaids of manufacturing is mining, the growth of which industry has been commensurate with that concerning which some statistics have just been given. In earl}- days the only fuel used was wood. Manv pioneer farmers along the river bank laid the foundations of their fortunes by establishing woodyards and furnishing fuel to the steamboats. The towing of coal from the mines far up the river was commenced in 1850, and a few years later collieries were established in this vicinity and operated with great success. The amount of coal within easy access of the furnaces of Evansville is beyond computation. The great abundance of this product of nature and the comparative ease with which it is brought to market, the chief item of cost bein<j the labor-cost in its mining, makes its price to the consumer very low. Under the city there are two veins of soft coal which are reached by ten different shafts within or near the city limits. Vast quantities are transported here by rail and water, there being within a radius of thirty miles no less than sixty shafts in operation. A coal famine has never been known in Evansville, and it is now recoglU nized as an impossibility, so varied are the sources of supply. The cost of coal is from fifty to seventv-five cents per ton. With such cheap fuel there has not been here, as in many other places, that intense anxiety for the discovery of natural gas, a substance recently thought to promise a revolution in manufacturing industries; however, wells are being sunk in close proximity to the city limits, and gas has been secured within a few miles of the cit}-.

In this connection attention mav be directed to the vast areas of rich iron ore in the states immediately south of Evansville, and to the fact that for the purposes of combining the two substances, iron and fuel, in manufacturing enterprises, the advantages of this cit}- are unecjualed. Statisticians show that the values of farm lands in any prescribed area increase in direct proportion with the per cent of the population engaged in other than agricultural pursuits. The farmer earh' learned that surplus produce without a market was not wealth. The distance between him and the consumers of his products measures the extent of his prosperity. The same rule governs the prosperit}' of the producers of other commodities. A diversity of interests and a diversity of employment, call into action the highest degree of mental force and make a community great. Evansville is in the center of a great corn producing country, in the midst of what is known and recognized as the corn belt. _ Three-fifths of all the tobacco grown in the United States is produced within a circle described about Evansville as a center with a radius loo miles in length. Ten thousand hogsheads were sold on the "breaks" here last year, and from the earliest times the business of handling this product has been engaged in extensively by men of high business standing and of great financial strength. The grain producing country directly tributar}- to Evansville, extends over a large portion of three great states. All forms of produce find here a read}' market. Very recently the canning industrj- has been entered upon, and the cultivation of vegetables and small fruits is receiving proper encouragement.

If diversity of interests is the touchstone of municipal greatness, the magnificent growth of this city need not occasion wonder; indeed, the only cause for wonderment is that with its great natural advantages the city has not moved forward with more rapid and more gigantic strides. At this time the population of the city, based upon the most reliable data, is 53,000: and the assessed value of real and personal property within the city limits is $20,825,708.00, to which, to obtain the actual amount of the city's wealth, must be added the value of many factories, among them the cotton mill and the potteries, and many residences located beyond the city limits, as well as from 35 to 50 per cent upon the figures quoted, that being the difference between assessed and actual values. That extensive improvement is being made is apparent to the most casual observer. On every hand can be seen evidences of continuous and health}' growth and sound prosperity. Many handsome buildings are being erected, and the hum of industry is everywhere heard. In 18S7 the estimated cost of improvements was $276,500.00, while up to the middle of October of the present \'ear it was $294,260.00. The city directory now being made shows an estimated increase of 4,000 or 5,000 in the city's population during the present year.

Much of the recent growth has been due to an organized effort on the part of progressive citizens to utilize the gifts of Providence, showered in such abundance at the feet of this city. A Business Men's Association has been formed, its objects being to effect the betterment of the city and its people in every possible way, and by developing its natural resources to earn for Evansville that rank and reco<rnition aniontj the cities of the world which it ought to receive. The association has already done much good by inducing the establishment here of labor-employing enterprises, and by planning for a magnificent opera-house and public building, now in course of construction, to cost $100,000.00. Its officers are M. J. Bray, Jr., president; W. J. Wood, first vice president; Samuel Vickery, second vice president; S. S. Scantlin, treasurer, and W. S. French, secretar\-, and among its members are about 500 of the most progressive and advanced citizens of the place.

The development thus far made and past achievements in the various divisions of human effort, suggest the possibilities of the future. Nature with lavish hand has bestowed her favors; the rapidity and extent of Evansville's growth hereafter must depend wholly upon the amount of wisdom and enterprise exercised by its citizens. But it is attempted here to record onl}' the works of the past and the present status of the city. To recite achieved facts, not to utter hopes, speculate upon possibilities, suggest public needs, or means of quick development, is the sole privilege of the writer. The " lamps of prophecy " can not be lighted; the realms of the future can not be invaded.

With its population of 53,000, Evansville is already the second city in a state having over 2,000,000 intelligent and progressive inhabitants. Located on the Ohio river, above the reach of the highest waters known to history, commanding the trade of the great south, with eight steamboat lines, five of them daily packets with this as a terminal point, sixty registered steamboats, and seven well constructed and admirably equipped railroad lines, the commercial advantages of the city are patent to all. Fron; the earliest times, with every change in the commercial facilities and methods of the west, Evansville has had a most enviable position. When the waterways were in the ascendency she commanded a great trade; as they are paralleled and perhaps worsted in the sharp contest for supremacy in the commercial world by their great competitor, the iron horse, Evansville becomes a railroad center and maintains a high position among the chief cities of the middle states. The fittest survives always, in means of transportation as well as all things else. Great streams like the Mississippi, the Missouri and the Ohio have already lost much of their commercial value. They may continue to lose throughout the coming half centurj'. That this city may maintain its commercial standing, its large minded citizens will doubtless see to it that its advantages are not curtailed by any neglect in the construction of railroads, the only means of securing its proper relation to the surrounding countr}-, now rapidly developing.

With cheap fuel and cheap transportation from the cotton fields and iron mines of the south, as the center of an almost limitless supply of hard wood, and with every facility for manufacturing, it is not surprising that no place of equal population throughout the length and breadth of the land has a greater diversit}- of manufacturing interests. The largest cotton mills west of New England, and over 300 manufacturing establishments in operation, give the citv a prominent place among producers of manufactured goods. With a banking capital of $3,000,000, and surrounded on all sides by the richest agricultural region, her mercantile exploits are of necessity very extensive.

With artificial gas and electric light plants, waterworks, street railways, well improved ! streets, manv miles of free gravel-roads, elegant and commodious pubhc buildings, and every public convenience; with schools, churches and libraries worth}' her industrial importance, unsurpassed social advantages, many elegant private residences, and numerous cottages owned by their occupants; and with several extensive and important enterprises projected and in process of establishment, Evansville, as it now is, may be truly called a great city. And, further, its varied and extensive natural advantages, inexhaustible sources of wealth, already' referred to in detail, lead to the conclusion and warrant the assertion that this city has nothing for which it may be more thankful than its future.