Vanderburgh County, Indiana - Chapter 7: Manufacturers, 1897

Chapter 7: Manufacturers

Early Manufacturers - Rivalry Between Stringtoivn a7id Newburgh - Negley's Grist Mill an Important Enterprise - A Place Where Men Met and Discussed Politics - Trysting Place for Fartn Lads and Lassies - Soine Liked Their Toddy - List of Patrons of the Grist Mill.

T TP to 1837, with a voting populatiou of 540 in Pigeon township, '^ Vanderljurgh county, there was no pi-opelling power employed in any factory in Evansville, save animal, water and human hands. However, three and a half miles from Evansville, in what is still called Stringtown, there was a large cabinet-making establishment, owned and conducted by an Englishman named Thomas Smith, in which factory John Ingle, Jr., the father of our present John, David, Robert and George Ingle, learned his trade and became an efficient cabinetmaker. Smitli's establishment continued to run several years, and was finally compelled to shut down on account of the strong and increasing competition in Evansville. There were several other manufacturing enterprises in Stringtown at that time, among them beingblacksmith shops, shoe shops, wagon-making and repairing shops, a tailor shop, and two large tanneries. At this time there was not a factory of any kind in Evansville propelled by steam, except a sawmill owned by Silas Ste2>hens, which had just started up.

There was, just before 1837, a lively competition between Stringtown and Newburgh, with the balance of trade in favor of the latter village, until Stringtown went her one better by building a blacksmith shop. The advent of a new manufacturing establishment, even though it was only a blacksmith shop, was watched with as much interest by

The most important industry, however, claimed by the public spirited citizens of Stringtown, was David Negley's grist mill, which, by the way, was the first flouring mill ever built in this county. It was located on Pigeon creek, about 300 yards above the bridge that spans the creek on the Stringtown road.

The dam of this old mill obstructed the free flow of the stream for years after the mill proper had disappeared, and indeed up to the last nine or ten years. The farmers up the creek complained bitterly about the dam causing their low lands to overflow, and they finally brought suit in the county court to have it abated as a nuisance. They failed in that suit, however, as the obstruction had been in the creek over twenty years, undisturbed, and its owners had acquired a title by right of easement. The dam afterwards broke down and was finally removed.

Quite a little village sprang up on the bank of the creek opposite the mill, but the buildings have all since disappeared, with the exception of one or two, Evansville having attracted the villagers in later years. Negley's mill in those days was a regular Mecca, or rather a Jerusalem of trade and exchange, in flour, meal, bran and grain of all kinds, embracing the patronage from a territory of thirty or torty miles around. The farmers, on certain days of the week (called grinding days at the mill), could be seen with their horses and wagons and ox-teams, like a caravan crossing the plains, all headed for Negley's mill. The wagons contained, in addition to the grain being taken to the mill, meats, vegetables, butter, and eggs for the Evansville market. At intervals the traveler on the old Stringtown road would meet the characteristic barefooted boy astride of old "Suse" or old "Bess,'^ seated on the top of a sack of wheat or corn, going to the mill to have it ground.

To such huge proportions grew the patronage of Negley's mill that it soon became necessary to run it every day in the week except Sunday, which was more of a sacred day of rest in those times than it is now. The work of grinding grain into flour and corn-meal in the primitive days between two huge revolving stones called burrs, was a slow process, and reminded one of that passage of George Herbert that will always live in literature : "God's mill grinds slow, but sure."

The forest on the bank ot the creek, reaching back hundreds of yards around the old mill, was a regular camping ground for the farmers who brought their grain to the mill. A regular record of their names was kept in the books of the mill, with the time of their arrival for their grist entered therein, so that no dispute might arise as to who came next. It was from this custom, practiced at the old grist mills of primitive days, in the west, that the expression arose : " It is like going to mill ; first come, first served." This was, of course, the rule at Negley's mill, but notwithstanding the precautions taken, every now and then the boys from the rural districts would raise the question of priority of rights to get their grist and "pull out" for home, and not infrequently a fight would ensue, and, as the heathen rule of "might is right" prevailed to a great extent, the fellow who came out best in the fight got his grist fii'st.

Politics in those days was a favorite theme for discussions, and every farmer was a born politician, and ready to back up his arguments with a wager, covering all of his earthly possessions, even to his land claim entered in the government land office. If that did not silence his antagonist and end the argument, he was ready to substantiate his assertions and political opinions with a test of physical powers. These great questions of state were' frequently settled by the farmers, camped about the old mill, while they waited hours and days for their grist. Games, too, such as pitching horse shoes and quoits, running footraces, jumping, wrestling, boxing, etc., were resorted to, to pass away the tedious hours. Some men engaged in preparing meals of corn-crackers, griddle-cakes, corn-bread, and "side meat," while others, whose appetites were more delicate and who craved sweetmeats, would stroll out into the adjoining woods to hunt with their old trusty flint-lock rifles. In less than an hour they would bring into camp from ten to twenty squirrels, while a hunter to-day would consider himself lucky to bring home half a dozen of the pretty, bushy-tail tribe in a day's hunt.

Deer and wild turkeys were plentiful in those days, and it was a very common thing to see a farmer with a deer or two and half a dozen wild turkeys in his wagon. The expression, "You always see game when you haven't got a gun," was little used in those days among the country people, because they made it a business to take their guns with them, not only to shoot game, but to use in self-defense.

Rabbits and quails were not so plentiful then as now. They cannot thrive without grain and that was a scarce product. The only hunting that was really called sport was bear, deer, fox and tm-key hunting. Fishing was, however, quite a desirable sport, as there were plenty of the finny tribe, and fine game fish too, and a fisherman could throw them out on the bank as fast as a small boy could bait his hook. This kind of sport is likewise a thing of the past in this section, and the

Negley's mill was, too, a sort of trysting place for the farm lads and lassies, for the girls frequently accompanied their papas and big brothers to the mill, and many's the little courtship and little scandal that grew out of these meetings of country lovers. Every now and then some of the older heads would catch the infection and become turned, so the saying goes, and a married man couldn't talk secretly or a little to one side with his neighbor's wife without setting the tongues of the gossips going, which in course of time would stir up feelings of jealousy where there existed no real cause. *Many happy matches were made there, and many of the descendants of those who did their love making at Negley's mill are now dwelling in this county.

Some of the country folks liked their toddy, and some of the women folks had no prejudice against and would occasionally take a "drop" just to guard against the weather and rheumatism. But it was pure unadulterated liquor and did not contain poisonous ingredients (such as poisonous berries) as are now put in liquors to make them more intoxicating. It was not like the "coffin nails" of the present time, and when a man felt that he needed a drink for his health, he did not imagine that he was driving a nail into his coffin. It was the good old peach brandy, and apple-jack that our forefathers distilled, which have since been dubbed "moonshines" by the laws of the government. This legislation has forced up the price of liquor and indirectly caused its adulteration.

List Of Patrons

The following are the names of parties who lived in this and adjoining townships, who patronized David Negley's mill and had their grain ground there : Anthony, Angel, Akin, Alsap, Atchison, Alleon, Aydelott, Alexander, Blackburn, Barnett, Brown, Bosiey, Barker, Burns, Brayfield, Brody, Bryant, Bowen, Begley, Beal, Brown, Brownlee, Browning, Bennett, Bingham, Brandis, Barnett, Barnes, Bolus, Burns, Beharrel, Berridge, Bowles, Barton, Burton, Benner, Baker, Cochran, Cox, Coker, Cody, Collins, Clark, Catlett, Calvert, Craig, Conners, Crisp, Christ, Cannon, Carson, Conway, Duncan, Dixon, Damon, Dean, Dotroy, Darling, Donahue, Dougherty, Deters, Davenport, Dunlap, Davis, Davidson, Donnelly, Dunk, Ei-skine, Featherstone, Fickas, FairchikI, Fitzgerald, Ferlings, Farquhar, Fisher, Felstcad. Fender, Forsythe, Granger. Grimm, Grigsby, Goldsmitli, Gib-

Chapter Yiii Early Transportation

Means of Transportation in Primitive Days - Difficulties in the Way - The River the Great Thoroughfare - Farmers Bought in Louisville and Vincennes - Peddling Wagons Sprang into Existence - Wabash and Erie Canal - History of Its Grant and Construction - Legislative E?iactnients - Terminus of the Canal where the Present Court-House Stands - First To~v out of Town and First Trip up the Canal - The Canal a Failure - Suits for the Property

The means of trausportatiou in this section of the country, in the days of the early settlements, were not such as to inspire a spirit of enterprise and competition, and the tiresome and discouraging delays of supplies from the eastern market was a great deal like the people in the olden times on the coast waiting for the return to port of a merchant sailing vessel, that did not return sometimes for a period of six months or a- year. The early merchants in this section experienced great difficulty in obtaining their goods, especially articles such as clothes, calico and hardware, which included such things as nails, axes, hatchets, blacksmith supplies, etc., etc. These things could be obtained by river from Pittsburg, but there was no telling \vhen it would get here, as the steamboat facilities were very poor, and generally, as a matter of economy, it was brought down on flat-boats. Articles of wearing apparel, cloth, cutlery, etc., had to be purchased in such markets as Baltimore and Philadelphia, and hauled over the mountains to Pittsburg in wagons, and from there boated down to the villages along the Ohio river. These eastern-made articles were so expensive, however, that the early settlers were indifferent about whether they ever arrived here or not. Nails, for instance, ran as high as 25 and 30 cents a pound, so that few of them were used in the construction of the log cabins, log stables, etc., or in any emergency on the farm. About the only artisans who had any use for them were the wagon-maker and blacksmith. Not more than two <ir three pounds of nails were con-

Calico ran up as high as 30 cents a yard and the production of the family loom was therefore the principal article worn. A woman in those days felt as proud to be the happy possessor of a new calico dress, as she would to-day in a handsomely trimmed rich silk gown. And the typical mother of the land looked forward with high expectations to the day when she could see the last weave of "lindsey woolsey" taken off the great loom, that had become an heirloom of the family. Out of this cloth the winter dresses for all the female members of the family were to be made.

The arrival of the boat with the merchants' consignment of calico concerned only the town folks, and this was about the extent of the distinction between the dresses of the town women and the country

Peddling Wagons

Louisville and Vincennes were great markets, furnishing supplies for this entire section, and with canal and river transportation, the farmers, as well as the town people, made regular trijis to those places to get their tea, coffee, sugar, clothing, etc. In later years the farmers in this section hauled their bacon, wheat, corn, etc., to Vincennes and Louisville, where they sold them or left them in exchange for these articles. In former years they had been compelled to pay cash for everything needed in the family, which they could not themselves produce. Out of this overland system of transportation in wagons sprang up a regular peddling business, and enterprising merchants and traders of the east started peddling wagons all through this section. These wagons contained all sorts of supplies that were sold to the farmers for cash or traded for eggs, chickens, turkeys, feathers, butter, and even bacon. In fact these peddlers M^ould take anything that they could dispose of in the eastern markets in exchange for their goods. The pack-peddlers also followed the country roads and were merchants in their small way. In the early history of the settlements of this section, the pack-peddlers were mostly Irishmen and Scotchmen - now they are Polish Jews, Italians and Grecians.

The tramp artisan was also a means of transportation, but he only carried small supplies, with which repairs of tinware, etc., were made. Pack-horses and donkies were not infrequently seen on the liighway.

Evansville had its own peddlers who used to run over the country and pick up produce, chickens, butter, eggs, coon skins and hides. These peddlers had small stores or places in which to keep these articles in the town, and would either sell them to merchants there, ship them down to New Orleans, or haul them overland to Vincennes, Terre Haute or Louisville - the last named place was considered the best market. Among those early peddlers were such men as the late Asa Bement, Reuben Hart, Willard Carpenter, and many others, who afterwards became distinguished citizens and prosperous merchants. The peddling business was in those days one of the principal industries in this section and a large number followed it. The idea finally dawned upon the farmers, however, that they could do away with this middle man, the peddler, and they began to take these things to the markets themselves.

The Canal

When, in 1824, Congress made a donation of jiublic lands to the state of Indiana for the purpose of building the Wabash and Erie canal from the Wabash to the Maumee, the people of this section began to see the dawn of a new era in the means and facilities of transportation.

But it seemed,'as timewoi-eon, that their fondest hopes in this direction would never be realized. Congress was soon heard from again, and as the donation was not considered sufficient, that body, on the 2d of March, 1827, made another grant, consisting of each alternate section of the public lands within five miles of the proposed line of the canal, upon condition that the work should be commenced within five and completed within twenty years. This grant was accepted by the state. The route was sui'veyed and the canal located. The lands granted were surveyed and claimed. The route of this canal was as follows :

It commenced on the Wabash, near Lafliyette, and continued along the bank of that river up to the mouth of Little river ; thence up the Little river to the mouth of the Abaite river ; thence across that stream and up another branch of the Little river to its source ; thence acro.ss the .summit, seven miles, to the junction of the St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, at Fort Wayne. The water needed on the summit level was supi)lie(l l)y a feeder, fourteen miles long, from St. Joseph's.

From Fort Wayne the canal descended along the Maumee to the town of Maumee, at the lower end of the rapids of that river. The Miami Canal in Ohio was then continued to the Maumee to intersect the Wabash and Erie canal near Fort Defiance on the Maumee, about fifty miles above the rapids.

The expense of making that part of the canal within the limits of Indiana, including locks and feeders, was estimated by the United States engineer at $1,081,970 for 127 miles, or $9,000 per mile. This, however, jjroved to be a low estimate. The amount of land granted by congress for the purpose of building the canal was 355,200 acres; of these 264,000 acres were set apart by the state, and 41,000 acres were sold for $71,000. The public lands granted to this state for that purpose was at that time valued at $756,750. The remainder of the sum needed to construct this grand medium of transportation was raised bv loans secured bv lands.

The Enabling Act

April 19th, 1816, congress passed what was called the "enabling act," organizing the state of Indiana out of what was known as the Indiana territory. This act provided that five per cent of the net proceeds of the lands lying within said territory shall be reserved for making public roads and canals, of which three-fifths shall be applied to those objects within the said state under the direction of the legislature.

The Constitutional Convention of Indiana of 1816, accepted this condition, and preparations were made to begin the work of internal improvement, in anticij^ation of the receipts that would accrue to the three per cent fund; $100,000 was appropriated in 1821 by the legislature, of the so-called three per cent fund for the construction of state roads named in the appropriation act; simultaneously the office of "Agent of the three per cent fund" was created, and various commissioners appointed to supervise the books. *(See laws 1822, p - 152.) An appropriation was made by the legislature out of this fund in 1824, for the improvement of the navigation of the Wabash river. (Special acts, 1824, p - 82.)

The construction of the Wabash and Miami (afterward called the Wabash and Erie canal), was authorized in 1828. (See laws 1828, p - * 10). There was further enabling legislation passed in 1829 respecting the duties of the agent of the three per cent fund and state roads. (See laws 1829, p - 98).

The New Albany aiul Viuceunes turnpike road, which aiFords connection with improved facilities for wagon transportation between New Albany and Louisville and Vinceunes, was incorporated in 1830. (See laws 1830, p - 60), and the state treasurer was by said act authorized to subscribe for 100 shares of stock in the name of the state of Indiana. In 1831 a boai-d of commissioners was appointed for the construction of a portion of the Michigan road, which gave an outlet for produce, etc., to the north by way of Terre Haute. (See special acts 1836, p - 119). A scheme was begun about this time for the purpose of obtaining some further appropriations from the United States government by the anticipated division of the surjjlus revenue in the treasury. This was suggested by the public servants representing the state of Indiana in the halls of congress. The division was afterM'ard made (1836) and various new acts were passed for the construction of canals, railroads and other public works; out of thi;s movement grew the creation of the office of

Finally in 1836 by act 7, -Jan. 27, (see law 1836, p - 6), a vast and comprehensive scheme for internal improvements was formulated and the people of this section began to see the dawn of a new era in the imjjrovement of their facilities for transjjortation. This last act referred to was known as the "Internal Improvement Act," and provided for the construction of the following public improvements; and authorized an immediate survey of routes, and the furnishing by the engineer, of estimates, etc., viz: White Water canal and a connection with Central canal, by canal, if possible, otherwise by railroad; the construction of "Central canal;" an extension of the Wabash and Erie canal from the mouth of the Tippecanoe river to Terre Haute, and from there forming a connection with the Central canal ; a railroad from iSIadison, by way of Indianapolis to Lafayette, (which was afterward built); a macadamized turnpike from Xew Albany to Yincennes; a i-ailroad from Jeffersonville, by way of Xew Albany and Salem to Crawfordsville, if considered practicable; if not, the same route to be traversed by a macadamized road. (The railroad was afterward built). The removal of obstructions to navigation in the Wabash river, between its mouth and Vincennes, was also provided for in this act; also the construction of the Erie and Michigan canal or railroad.

once for the construction of that part of the Wabash and Erie canal lying between the Tippecanoe river and the Ohio state line. Provision was simultaneously made for the issuing of state bonds to aid in the construction of the Lawrenceburg and Indianapolis railroad, (which was also completed).

Board Of Internal Improvement

This same act of the legislature contained a provision for the appointment of six persons, who, with the three canal commissioners, previously appointed, should constitute the "Board of Internal Improvement." This act also created "a fund for internal improvement," and entailed additional duties upon the canal fund commissioners.

The board of canal commissioners was found to be too cumbersome and by an act of the legislature, passed February 9, 1837, amending the former act, the board of canal fund commissioners was reduced to one person. (See laws 1837, p. 66.)

Surveys were now ordered for the purpose of extending the "Erie and Michigan" canal and constructing the "East Fork Canal." (See laws 1837, pp. 73 and 74.)

In 1837 (see acts February 8, 1837, p. 3), a further step in the direction of economy and efficiency was taken, by the reduction of the "Board of Internal Improvements" to- three members Disappointment followed disajjpointment, and the system of internal improvements was really a sinecure for a lot of politicians. Its usefulness was ended; and by act of January 28, 1842, (see laws 1842, p. 3, sec. 65) the "Board of Internal Improvements" and the office of "Fund Commissioners" and "Chief Engineer" were abolished.

This repealing act, however, provided for the continuance of the construction of several of the public works already begun by private corporations, and also provided for a commissioner to take charge of the Wabash and Erie canal east of Lafayette. (Provisions had previously been made for the completion of the canal west of Lafayette, and the Erie and Michigan canal.

This vast system of transportation overland, by means of macadamized roads, canals, railroads, and the clearing of navigable streams, threw the state heavily in debt. In order to settle with its creditors who held its bonds, issued on account of these public improvements, and to complete the Wabash and Erie canal to Pwvansville, the acts of

January 19, 1846 (laws 1846, p. 3,) and January 27, 1847, (laws 1847, p. 3,) were passed. The first of these acts, (known as the Butler bill, offered by Brown Butler, of Evansville) provided for the funded debt of the state and for a "board of trustees of the Wabash and Erie canal," and for its completion to Evansville.

The citizens of the little town of Evansville, as it then was, had watched with much concern the progress of the system of canals, etc., going on in the upper portion of the state, and had almost given up all hope of any connection with it, but they began at this time to have renewed courage.

The position of Charles Butler, Esq., who represented the bondholders, will be found in the "Documentary Journal of the Indiana legislature of the 30th session (1845-6)." Upon this proposition the so-called Brown Butler bill was passed.

The Remainder Of The Three Per Cent Fund

Miraculous as it may appear, after all the expense and loss of money at the various stages of the foregoing public improvements, there still remained a surplus of "three per cent fund," which, by the act of May 20, 1852, (I. R. S. 1852, p - 304), was turned over to the state treasurer. What remained of this fund was ordered to be distributed to the counties, by act of April 8, 1881, (law 1881, p - 700).

A Canal At Last

A graveyard was removed from the tract of laud where now our , magnificent new court house stands. A large basin was excavated and in this basin the work of building canal boats was begun. The canal had been surveyed and was to pass through this square. A stock company of enterprising business men of Evansville was formed for the purpose of building canal boats, and experienced workmen were brought here from the east to build the boats. The capital stock of the company was limited to $1,500, and thirty shares of stock were sold at |50 a share. The first boat built by the company, of which the author was a member, was named the "Rowley" in honor of our efficient superintendent of construction. The second boat built was called the "Evansville."

the canal. The arrival of the first water will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. All the people came rushing to the scene at the first signal, and they made it a day of great rejoicing.

As the water swelled in the channel and gradually lifted our little canal boats in the basin, the breasts of the people were filled with emotion and the vast multitude gave way to their feelings by sending uj) cheer after cheer.

The first run of our boats was made as far as White river. The launching of the first boat and when she started with the team of mules at the end of the rope, was another incident of suri^assing interest. The first man in the community to mount a mule and start off with a tow was Mace Newman. There was considerable contention as to who was to take the first tow out of town, and Mace Newman, always on hand and well up in the front where there was any excitement or public demonstration, settled the question by usurping the honor. It was the proudest moment of his life and he doubtless felt himself as great an individual as President Garfield, who was then a boy, riding a mule on the towpath of the same canal in the state of Ohio, that connected with the Wabash and Erie.

Among the members of the canal boat stock company were John Hewson, who was afterward the third mayor of the city, and Nathan Rowley, Robert Barnes, Stejjheu Hopkins, John Mitchell, John Douglas, A.B. Carpenter,ThomasScautliu, .John M. Lockwood, (now a banker in Mt. Vernon, Ind.) Marcus Sherwood and your humble servant.

The first trip up the canal was an eventful one. We took no freight of course, our whole tow consisting of our guests. It was a day of rejoicing, and was celebrated by everyone. The people took their guns and fishing tackle with them and made a regular picnic excursion of the trip. It is needless to say we brought back deer, turkey and all sorts of game, as it was plentiful in this section in those days.

The story of the Wabash and Erie canal only deserves perpetuating for the sake of writing history as it was made by the enterprising men of this community, and of illustrating the determination of the early settlers to improve their condition through increased and advanced means of transportation. As a matter of fact, none of the men who were active in pushing this great enterprise to completion could to-day say that they were proud of their work, save in a sense of public spirit. Of course they were proud of it in the days of its construction and operation, but they were prouder of the day when the canal bed was filled up-

The Canal A Failure

The canal did not prove a profitable investment nor a successful means of transportation. Paralleling the Wabash, and, we may say the Ohio river, in its course, as navigation on those two rivers was improved and steamboating business built up, there was no hope for the canal. And to add to this dilemma, railroad syndicates were already sending out advance corps of surveying companies that began staking off projected lines of railroads, and blazing the trees through the forests. But at that time the smartest and farthest-seeing of the early settlers little dreamed that one of these embryo railroads would at some future day occupy the very bed of their pet scheme, the Wabash and Erie canal. But it did, and that is the present Straight Line road.

The canal property, in none of its branches, ever paid the projectors a cent. In fact it proved a most disastrous enterprise to many, and became an object of speculation. Schemes sprang up everywhere and as the bonds that had been issued had a national reputation there was a constant struggle to get possession of them as well as of the canal lands themselves later along for a merely nominal price. But it was in the end a very unprofitable business for all of the landowners. Public property sharks were in those days even more numerous than they are now; and they promoted a regular "Credit Mobilier" combination of schemes on a smaller scale.

These schemes were practiced in the dark and attempts in some instances were made clandestinely to obtain legal titles to the canal property by colluding with public, state and federal officers and advertising public sales of these properties in the eastern newspapers, and then on the day of sale buying them in. These spurious public sales gave the purchasers a color of title that threw the residents of this section on the defensive and opened legal fights along the line of the canal after it had been abandoned, covering a period of more than twenty years.

Title In Fee Simple

Many of the early settlers in this section, and also here in Evansville itself, acquired a title to these canal lands by right of easement or, as it is called, adverse possession for a period of twenty years or longer. Suits to get possession and to quiet title followed, some of

One of the first of these suits was filed by John Shankliu against the city of Evansville, in the October term of the Vanderburgh circuit court on the 7th day ot November, 1871. The com2:)laint in this suit sets forth "that on the 18th day of October, 1837, he (John Shankliu) was the owner in full of all that real estate embraced within the limits of the eastern enlargement of said city of Evansville." He gave a part of this enlargement to the use of the public as the bed of the Wabash and Erie canal and other canals connecting therewith.

The canal extended from Eighth to Second streets along what is now known as the Boulevard or Canal street. It passed down Fifth street to the basin, thence through Lamasco and finally boiled over into Pigeon creek, where au overshort wheel was built for a mill.

Water remained in the canal from 1838 till the year 1859, "when the same ceased to be used as a canal and was wholly abandoned for that purpose," the complaint of Mr. Shanklin says, "and therefore the defendant (the city of Evansville) without law, forcibly, and without right entered on said premises, (the canal bed) and caused the same to be filled up with drift and other material, in which condition it remains to this day. By reason of the aforesaid facts, the plaintiif says that said real estate set apart for said canal reverts to him, and asks that his title may be quieted and the defendant (the city of Evansville) be perpetually enjoined from setting up any claim thereto."

The city answered the complaint of Mr. Shanklin, admitting his original ownership but claiming that the city became the owner of the canal bed and filled it up at her own expense, graded and established it as a street and used it as a street, etc.

The plaintiff was represented by Judge Azro Dyer, and by his son, George Shanklin, as attorneys, and the city was represented by Judge Asa Iglehart & Son.

First, that prior to the 16th day of October, 1837, the plaintiff was the owner of the tract of land in controversy; second, that on that day plaintiff, with Robert M. Evans and other adjoining proprietors, laid off by proper metes and bounds the eastern enlargement of the city of Evansville, which included the tract of land claimed by the plaintiff in this suit, in town lots and streets and alleys, and platted and recorded the same, etc. That since recording said plat, etc., the plaintiff has sold one-half of said lots so platted and still owns the other half; third, that the plat of laud in controversy, known as Canal street, was soon after it was platted and recorded, with the consent of the defendant used and occupied by the Wabash and Erie canal, as the southern terminus of said canal in Evansville. That the canal was abandoned, and about the year 1854, the defendant (the city of Evansville) commenced filling up the same, and coutiuued from year to year thereafter filling until it was completed from Second street to Eighth street, about the time or shortly before the commencement of this suit (Nov. 7, 1871), and that a number of the purchasers of said lots on said Canal street have erected buildings, including a valuable public school house fronting ou said Canal street, and this said Canal street has, since the defendant commenced filling up the same, been kept open and improved by tiie defendant as a public street, and been used and treated by the public as such ; and I find as a conclusion of law upon the facts above found, that there was a dedication by the plaintiff to the public of the real estate in the plaintifl's complaint mentioned as a public street and that the defendant is entitled to the possession of the same to be kept open, improved and maintained as a public street. I find for the defendant.

More Litigation

The building of the new county court-house precipitated another suit to settle the question of title. This was the fiimous case of Collett vs. the board of commissioners of Vanderburgh county. It is reported in 119 Indiana supreme court reports, page 27. In rendering his decision in this case. Justice Mitchell says :

"This is an appeal from a judgment rendered against Josephus Collett, in an action of ejectment brought by him against the board of commissioners of Vanderburgh county. The real estate in controversy consists of four lots in the city of Evansville, upon which the board of commissioners were proceeding to erect a court-house, and comprises what was formerly the property acquired by the state, upon which to locate and construct a canal. Prior to 1847, under various act« of the legislature, the state engaged in the construction and operation to some extent of a water way, called the Wabash and Erie canal ; the design of which was to connect the waters of Lake Erie, at Toledo, Ohio, with those of the Ohio river at Evansville, Indiana. After the project had been carried to practical completion by the state, for reasons that need not be repeated here, provision was made by an act of the general assembly, approved January 19, 1846, for the organization of a corporation known as ' The Board of Trustees of the Wabash and Erie Canal,' to which corporation the governor on the 31st day of July, 1847, pursuant to authority, conferred by the above mentioned act, conveyed all the right, title, and interest of the state in and to the canal and all its appurtenances."

The canal extended through the city of Evansville, a distance of a mile and a iialf. Commencing in 1865 the authorities proceeded to fill up the canal at the various street crossings and as early as 1867 it was filled at all, or nearly all, of the crossings, and the canal was thus obliterated at those points.

Water collected and became stagnant in the intermediate jDortions, which resulted to the enactment of an ordinance by the city, requiring the owners of the lots to fill up the canal, which threatened the public health. At the May term, 1866, this court decided that the state acquired only an easement or servitude in the lands upon which the canal was constructed, and that the fee continued in the former owners. (Edgerton vs. Huff 26 - 35). Thereupon those who seemed to be the owners of the fee of the lands in controversy proceeded to fill up the canal, completing the filling at a cost of about $2,000 in the year 1867. Thereafter the lots were regularly assessed for taxation against the several owners, until the year 1873, when the county of Vanderburgh acquired the title by regular conveyance, from those in possession and who had title as above.

Having related all the facts connected with the history of the canal, the judgment of the appellate court, may be stated briefly, which was to the effect that the judgment of the lower court was affirmed, with costs, which meant that the county owned the land pui'chased from the citizens of Evansville, who acted in good faith and conscience - land that Mr. Collett, of Terre Haute, attempted to wrest from them. The principal of the law upon which the higher coui-t reached this conclusion is stated in the syllabus, of the decision, which is quoted as follows :

" When a canal, instituted by the state and afterwards conveyed by it to a corporation known as the board of trustees of the Wabash and Erie canal, for public purposes, who abandoned as a highway, and possession was afterward taken by abutting lot owners, who filled up the channel and rescued the property at great expense and in good faith, from becoming a pul)lic nuisance, and retained exclusive and contin- uous possession for twenty years, they acquired title by prescription as against one asserting a mere proprietory interest in the land formerly occupied by the canal."

The decision was in favor of the public-spirited citizens of Evansvilie, who had spent their time and money in filling up the microbebreeding pool or ditch, that the canal company had left as a legacy to the inhabitants of Evansville for the consideration they had shown and the interest they had taken in the building of that waterway.