Vermillion County, Indiana - Chapter 4: Org.^nization and County Government, 1913

Chapter 4: Org.^nization and County Government

The territory comprising present Vermillion county is thirty-seven miles long from north to south and a\erages about seven miles in width from east to west. It is bounded on the north by Warren county, Indiana, on the east by the Wabash river (Fountain and Parke counties), on the south by Vigo county, and on the west by Edgar and Vermillion counties, in Illinois.

Vermillion was originally a part of Vigo county. In 1821 Vigo county was divided by the organization of Parke county, which comprised Vermillion as a part of it, and Roseville, on the Big Raccoon, was the coiJnty seat. In 1823, by act of the Indiana Legislature, Parke county was divided by the Wabash river, the part west of the river being organized as Vermillion county and named from the rivers. For manv years the Big Vemiillion river had been the boundary between the possessions of the Peaukeshaws on the south and the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies on the north, and during the period of ownership by France it was a part of the boundary between Canada and Louisiana.

Vermillion county was created by an act of the General Assembly, approved January 2, 1824. In order that it may be referred to as the generations come and go, and being assured that it is authentic, as copied from the minutes and journals of the General Assembly of the state, the full text of the bill is here given, and reads as follows :

i. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Indiana, that from and after the first day of February next, all that part of the counties of Parke and Wabash included within the following bounds shall form a new county, that is to say: Beginning on the west bank of tfie Wabash river, where the township line dividing townships numbered 13 and 14 north, of range 9 west, of the second principal meridian, crosses the same; thence west to the state line ; thence north to the line dividing townships numbered 19 and 20 north; thence east to the ^^^abash river; thence south with the meanders of said river to the place of beginning.

"Section 2. The said new county shall, from and after the first dav of February next, be known and designated by the name of the county of Ver- million, and it shall enjoy all the rights and privileges and jurisdictions which to a separate and independent county do or may properly belong or appertain ; provided always, that all suits, pleas, plaints, actions and proceedings which may before the first day of March next have been commenced, instituted and pending within the county of Parke, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and effect in the same manner as if this act had not been passed ; providing also, that the state and county taxes which are now due within the bounds of the said new county shall be collected and paid in the same manner and by the same officers as they would have been if the creation of the said new count}- had not taken place.

"Section 3. Robert Sturgis and Samuel Caldwell, of the county of Vigo; Moses Robbins, of Parke county; William Pugh, of Sullivan county, and William Mcintosh, of the county of Putnam, are hereby appointed commissioners, agreeably to the act entitled 'An act for the fixing of the seats of justice in alUnew counties hereafter to be laid off.' The commissioners above named, or a majority of them, shall convene at the house of James Blair, in the said new county of Vermillion, on the first day of March next, and immediately proceed to discharge the duties assigned them by law. It is hereby made the duty of the sheriff of Parke county to notify said commissioners either in person or by written notice of their appointment, on or before the first day of February next ; and the said sheriff of Parke county shall receive from said county of Vermillion such compensation therefor as the county commissioners of said new county of Vermillion shall deem just and reasonable ; who are hereby authorized to allow the same out of moneys in the treasury of said county, not otherwise appropriated, in tlie same manner as other allowances are made.

"Section 4. The circuit court of the county of Vermillion shall meet at the house of James Blair, in the said new county of A'ermillion, until suitable accommodations can be had at the county seat ; they shall adjourn their courts thereto, after which time the courts of said county shall be holden at the seat of justice of said county established by law; pro\ided always, that the circuit court shall have authority to adjourn the court from the house of James Blair as aforesaid, to any other place, previous to the completion of the public buildings, should the said court or a majority of them deem it expedient.

"Section 5. The board of county commissioners of the said county of Vermillion shall within six months after the permanent seat of justice of said county has been selected, proceed to erect the necssary jjublic buildings thereon.

seat of justice of said new county shall reserve and receive ten per centum out of the proceeds of all donations made to said county, and also out of the proceeds of all sales made of lots at the county seat of said county, and pay the same over to such person or jjersons as ma)' be appointed by law to receive the same, for the use of the county library for the said county of Vermillion, which shall pay o^-er at such time and place as may be directed by law.

"Section 7. The powers, privileges and authorities that are granted to the qualified voters of the county of Dubois and others named in the act entitled 'An act incorporating a county library" in the counties therein named, approved January 28, 1818, to organize, support and conduct a county library, are hereby granted to the qualified voters of the county of A'ermillion ; and the same powers and authorities therein granted and the same duties therein re<juired of the several officers and persons elected by the qualified voters of Dubois and other counties therein named, for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of the act aforesaid, according to the true intent and meaning thereof, are hereby granted to and required to the officers, and other persons elected by the qualified voters of Vermillion county.

"Section 8. The said county of Vermillion shall have both civil and criminal jurisdiction over all the countr_\- north of said county, which is or may lie included in ranges 9 and 10 west, to the northern boundary of the state.

9. The said new count}- of Vermillion shall l)e attached to the counties of Parke and A^igo. for the purpose of electing representati\-es to Congress, and to the same senatorial and representative districts to which said counties now belong, for the purpose of electing senators and representati\'es to the General Assembly, and to the first return district for the purpose of returning votes for electors of President and Vice-President of the United States."

For in excess of one year Vermillion county thus had jurisdiction over more than a hundred miles of country north and south, extending to Lake Michigan, within a few miles from the modern citv of Chicago.

Gov Nty Govern M En T.

In 1824 the county seat was located at Newport, where it has always remained. It was then within little else than a wilderness. The locating commissioners were : Robert Sturgis, Samuel M. Caldwell, \\^illiam Pugh and William Mcintosh, of adjoining counties. It is likely that a fifth commissioner was appointed, but did not serve for some unknown reason.

It is likely that the county seat was located at Newport on account of its central location, and also on account of the immense spring that gushed forth from the earth at that point. Again, there was located a grist and saw-mill on Little Vermillion river, and the people donated more liberally than was the case in other parts of the county.

After securing a seat of justice, the earliest acts of the county commissioners were recorded in a home-made book, manufactured for the purpose by the county clerk. It was left where mice worked and, much of the records are not plainly made out. In March, 1882, as much of the mutilated book as was possible was carefully transcribed in a large well-bound book. This transcript begins with the minutes of the session of March, 1824, the year in which the county was organized, so really but very little of the original records have been lost. The first session was held at the house of James Blair, situated near the southeast corner of the northeast quarter of section 16, in township 16 north, of range 9 west. That was on the west side of the old .wagon road leading from Eugene to Newport, about half way between the two towns.

"At a special meeting of the board of commissioners of Vermillion county, begun and held at the house of James Blair, on Tuesday, March 23, 1824, and the commissioners, havitig their certificates of election and having taken the necessary oath, took their seats. Commissioners present, John Haines, Thomas Durham and Isaac Chambers.

"First. Ordered, that \\'illiam W. Kennedy be and is hereby appointed clerk of the board of commissioners of Vermillion county for this session.

"Third. Ordered, that all that part of the county of Vermillion contained in the following bounds, to-\vit: Beginning at the Wabash river, where the line dividing townships 13 and 14 crosses the same, thence with said line to the line dividing the states of Indiana and Illinois, thence north to the line dividing townships 14 and 15, thence east with said line to the \Valwsh ri\er. thence south with said river to the place of beginning, shall constitute the ci\il township of Clinton ; and that the election in said township be held in said township at the house of Jehn Sargeant, in Clinton.

"Fourth. Ordered, that all that part of the county of Vermillion contained in the following bounds, to-wit ; Beginning at the Wabash river where the line 1:ietween townships 14 and 15 crosses the same, thence west with the said line to the center of township 16, thence east with said central line to the W'abash river, tlience south with .said river to the place of beginning, shall

"Fifth. Ordered, that all that part of Vermillion county, contained in the following bounds, to-wit : Beginning at the Wabash river at the center of township 16, thence west with said central line to the line di\'iding the states of Indiana and Illinois, thence north with said line until it strikes the Big Vermillion river, thence east with said river until it empties into the Wabash, thence south with said river to the place of beginning, shall constitute the township of Vermillion, and that elections in said township be held at the school house in section i6, in township i6.

"Sixth. Ordered, that all that part of Vermillion county contained in the following bounds, to-wit : Beginning at the Wabash river at the mouth of Big Vermillion river, thence west with said river to the line dividing the states of Indiana and Illinois, thence north with said line dividing townships 19 and 20, thence east with said line to the Wabash ri\-er to the place of beginning, shall constitute the township of Highland, and that elections be lield in that township at the house of Jacob Andrick."

Among the early journal entries are those relating to the appointment of constables for the following townships : Charles Trowbridge, for Clinton township; John Harper, for Helt township: Jacob Custer, for A'^ermillion township ; George Hansucker, for Highland township. All the abo\-e \itoceedings were had on the first day of the first session of the board of commissioners.

Clinton and Helt tow?nships remain unchanged to this da}-, but the other two townships have been made into three as follows : The line between A^ermillion and Eugene townships is the line dividing sections 19 and 30 of surveyed township 17 north and 10 west, running east to the northeast corner of section 21, township 17 north and range 9 west, thence north a half mile, and thence east to the river; the line dividing Eugene and Highland townships is the line dividing sections 19 and 30 of tow-nship 18 north and 10 west, running east to the river; and from the northern side of Highland township has been cut of¥ one tier of sections of congressional township 19 north, 9 west, and thrown into Warren county.

The first grand jurors in A^ermillion count}' were appointed as follows: David W. Arnold, Horace Luddington, Rezin Shelby. Andrew Thompson. John Tipton, William Coffin, John Scott, Jesse Higgins. Morgan De Puy, William Hedges, John Vannest, William Boyles. James .Andrews. James Harper, Sr., and James Davis.

The iirst petit jury was composed of the following gentlemen: Joel Dicken, Robert Elliott, James Groenendyke, John Thompson, Simeon Dicken, Isaac Worth, Lewis Zebreskey, Benjamin Shaw, Alexander Bailey, William Rice, Harold Hayes, Amos Reeder, William Hamilton, John Clover, Ralph Wilson, John Winisett, Abraham Moore, John Maxadon, Joseph Dillow, Thomas Alatheny, John E. Anderson, Obed Blakesley, John Van Camp and Joshua Skidmore.

The board of commissioners appointed "superintendents" of the school sections ; Harold Hughes, for Clinton township : William Bales, for Helt township; James Davis, for Vermillion township; William Coffin, for that in 17 north, 9 west, in Highland township; Horace Luddington in 18 north, and Jacob Andrick in 19, also in Highland.

The first overseers of the poor in this county were: John Vannest, for Clinton township; James Andrews and .-Vugusus Ford, for Helt; Zeno Worth and John Tipton, for Vermillion, and John Haines and William Gonger, for Highland.

John Collett was appointed "agent for laying out a county seat," and also for "selling such lots as were donated by John Justice and George Miner for the use of the county, such lands as were by them donated as more fully appears by their bonds."

Alexander Bailey was appointed the first collector in this county. "The County Library Fund" was in charge of James Blair, but such librar}-, with all others in the commonwealth, was abandoned.

On the third day of this session the bills of the sherift' and commissioners apijuinted 1)\^ the state government to locate the county seat were audited and ordered paid. William Fulton was allowed thirty-five dollars "as a sheriff in organizing the county of Vermillion," and also two dollars and fifty cents for olitaining a copy of the laws regulating tlie duties of the office of sheriff' in new counties.

jnlui Collett \vas authorized to receive a deed of the land for the county seat from John Justice, Josephus Collett and Stephen Collett, the land l)eiug "all that part of the west half of the southwest quarter of section 26, in township 17 north, of range 9 west, which may be south of the Little Vennillion creek should the same contain more or less."

The Mav, 1824, session of the board of commissioners met at the house of Tames Blair, but at once adjourned to the house of Josephus Collett, at Vermillion Mills. At this place Mr. Haines did not appear. The other two commissioners decreed that ferrv licenses be seven dollars; "that the clerk list all property liable to taxation for county purposes to the full amount allowed by law.'" The rate of tavern license was fixed at five dollars. The board entered an order that the seat of justice should be known as "the town of Newport." It was also ordered that the lots in said town be laid of¥ according to the following form, viz : Lots, sixty-six feet in front and one hundred and eighty-one feet in depth.

James Blair was permitted to operate a ferry at Perrysville, and the rate of crossing was fixed by the county board as follows : Wagon and five horses, seventy-five cents ; wagon and four horses, sixty-two and a half cents ; wagon and three horses, fifty cents ; wagon and two horses, three shillings ; man and one horse, one shilling; pedestrian, six and a fourth cents: neat cattle, four cents a head ; hogs and sheep two cents a head.

During the first year of the county's history the board of countv commissioners placed a license of ten dollars as a license to vend foreign merchandise for the remaining portion of the year 1824. This was the first "protective tarifif" heard of in Vermillion county.

With the machinery set in motion, the newly organized county soon began to build for the future. Public buildings had to be constructed and roads and bridges made. Taxes had to be levied and collected, all of which kept the commissioners quite busilv engaged for a number of years.

Court Houses And Jails

At the June, 1824, session the county commissioners ordered a contract to be let for the building of a court house of the following description: Thirty-six feet in length and twenty- four feet in depth : containing two jury rooms, to be furnished with a window of fifteen lights and a door opening from each into the court room ; the latter to have eight feet for a ]oassage between it and the jury room : balance of sixteen feet to be finished, laid ofif and worked in a semi-circular form, in a workmanlike manner: with seats for the judges, bar and jury : with banisters to separate the said court and jury rooms, eight feet one from the other across said court house, at the distance of eight feet from said jur)- rooms, except so much as may be necessary for the admission of persons in and to the bar and court, which said space is not to exceed three feet ; and the said court room is to be furnished with three windows of fifteen Hghts each, and two good doors. Said building is to be erected on the southeast corner of the pubUc square, of good substantial frame of a ten-foot story covered with joint shingles; and said frame to be settled on a sulficient number of eighteen inch blocks two feet long."

June 24, 1824, the board of commissioners met and awarded the contract for building the above described court house, for three hundred and forty-five dollars, the structure to be completed by the first of the following November.

Although the commissioners refused to accept the building when said by the contractor to be completed, it was used for courts and other public meetings of all kinds until another was erected of brick. The contractor was John Justice, to whom the county paid a part of the contract price, and he sued the county for the balance, and finally recovered the full amount, the supreme court ordering the county to pay in full, with the costs in the proceedings.

In the month of February, 183 1, the county commissioners obtained plans for another court house, and advertised for proposals for furnishing the material with Avhich to build it. James Skinner, being the lowest responsible bidder, was awarded the contract for furnishing the brick at three dollars and fifty cents per thousand, and Stephen B. Gardner was promised two dollars and fifty cents a perch for the stone. Other material was contracted for, and the court house was completed under the immediate supervision of the county commissioners, and was occupied until January 29, 1844, when, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, it was partly destroyed by fire. The board met immediately and ordered the necessary repairs made. With the re-building and repairs thus made the structure served the county until 1868, when another court house was found necessary for the protection of the records and the transaction of the county's increasing business. Its cost was thirty thousand dollars. To this was added a wingon the west, in 1903, costing the county - twenty-eight thousand dollars more ,and this re-built structure is the present court house, which is a good brick building, of handsome proportions.

In July, 1910, the belfry of the court house was struck l)y lightning, causing a loss of fifty dollars, which was made good by the insurance carried bv the countv.

County Jails

In June, 1828, four years after the organization of the county, the commissioners let the contract for the erection of the first jail in Vermillion county, the same being sixteen by eighteen feet in size, two stories high, of hewed timbers, with a partition of twelve feet for ''debtors and criminals" room, lower story eight and a half feet in the clear, upper story eight feet, with partition as below, to be built of double timbers, eight by ten inches thick, or wider if convenient; roof to be of joint shingles, etc., etc. Samuel Hedges was the contractor, and the contract price was three hundred and sixty-nine dollars.

In connection with the same building was to be a clerk's room, fourteen by sixteen feet, one story high, nine feet in the clear, two fifteen-light windows, one door, etc. For this room, Mr. Hedges was to be paid one hundred and sixteen dollars. Both structures were completed on time and no difficulty arose between contractor and commissioners.

The present fine county jail, situated two squares to the east of the court house, is a combination of brick and stone. The brick portion, on the south, was a part of the jail built many years ago, and is now the sheriff's residence, while the main structure is of the finest grade of stone, cut and laid in an excellent manner. The jail proper was erected in the nineties at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. On the site of this building was the old jail in which was hanged the only man ever legally executed within Vermillion county. This was in 1879 and is mentioned elsewhere.

Vermillion county has always been mindful of its unfortunate poor and at a very early date in its history provided a poor farm, which is still the comfortable home of this class. The land comprising this farm^ - a quarter section, two miles south of Newport - was first entered by Wilbur and Davis from the government and comprises the southwest quarter of section 3, township 16, range 9. Later Peter Smith became the owner, and upon it as security he borrowed a certain sum of money from the county: failing to pay, the land re\'erted to the county, and after a short time the authorities converted it into a poor farm upon which rude buildings were erected. These buildings on land worth thirty-five dollars per acre in 1886. became worthless, and in 1887 Vermillion countv erected a splendid, up-to-date countv infirmarv, cost- (17) ing almost sixteen thousand dollars. It included a department for the insane. The structure was erected two stories high, with a basement under the whole area, which was forty by one hundred and eight feet. The original building, as completed in 1887-88, had thirty-two rooms for inmates, six of which were planned for the insane subjects ; five rooms were set apart for the use of the superintendent and his family. This building was constructed by Moore & McCoy of Danville, Illinois. In 1887 the reports show that the average number of inmates was about twenty. Joseph Conrad, who was made superintendent in the spring of 1881, at a salary of six hundred dollars per year, served for many years.

Since then many additions and impro\-ements ha-\e been made on the premises. The superintendent's report to the county authorities in 1912 show that there were then twenty-six males and fourteen females at this humane institution. The superintendent was Grant Knight.

County Treasury Robbed In 187O

Vermillion county was the victim of a bold robbery on Monday night, April 18, 1870, and the Hoosicr State, published at Newport, had the following account of the afifair, at the time :

Over thirty-five thousand dollars was stolen from the county treasury vault, which had been faithfully closed and locked by Treasurer S. B. Davis, w ho later became famous as the editor of the paper above named.

The doors were forced open liy steel wedges, which were driven by a sledge. Neighbors heard the noise, but not distinctly enough to have their suspicions aroused.

The next da)- Orville White, who had just learned of the l)urglary, saw two men carrying a satchel across the farms about three miles north of Clinton. Calling two railroad hands to his assistance, they gave chase, calling upon the suspected fugitives to halt. They struck for the river, and leaving a portion of their clothing up the bank, began to swim across. ]Mr. White and his companions arriving, saw a farmer on the opposite side whom they knew, and hallowed to him to kill the rascals. Getting into shallow water, they drew their revolvers and fired at him, '\\v. White then recjuested his assistant to watch the thieves until he could raise a posse to take them. Discovering a wallet in the river, Mr. White waded in and obtained it, and found it contained $16,354. He then went home, mounted a horse and started for Clinton to raise a posse; but in the meantime the scoundrels reached the opposite shore, a mile below where thev entered the stream, soon found two railroad hands, and drew their re\-oh-ers upon them, commanding them to give up their clothing in great haste, as the)' "had got into a row and had to swim the river to save their hves." Returning to the river, they got into a skiff and floated down past CHnton under cover of the night, and thus succeeded in getting avi^ay.

It is thought that very skillful burglars must have pulled off this job. The following day, Mr. \\'hite learned that one of the assistants, whom he had hastily picked up from out a company of railroad men, near bv, was the receiver of a large amount of money at tliat time, but was not present at the robbery.

On May 13th, $5,210 more of the county's money was found in a satchel lodged on the roots of a cottonwood a mile and a half below where tlie thieves commenced to swim the ri\-er. $15,320 was ne\er found.

Assessed Valltation By Precincts County Finances, January, I9I2

From the county commissioners' report of the finances of Vermillion county for the period between January i, 191 1, and that of January i, 1912, the following is extracted :