Wabash County, Indiana - Pionekr Pictures, 1914 (part 2 of 2)

Corn was always its largest, as it was its first crop. At lii'st the means for suceessful cultivation of the soil were few com])artMl with the api)Iiances of the present, yet they were ai)i)arently well adapted to the wants anil the means of the i)eriod. bi'ing simple anel inexpensive in their eharaeter.

A pietun' of tliese tinu'S, elosely api)lieal)le to the jnoneer farmei- of Wabash Counts', is thus drawn by AVilliam Henry Smith in his "History of Indiana": "To plow the hill sides the farmer plowed so as to throw tlie furrow ihiwn the hill, and to do this the jilow had to be dragged back to the staiiiiig ])oiut aftei' ever_\- fun'ow. Contrast that slow and laboi-ious method with the I'evolving ])\o\v now in usi'. The harrosv \vas y shaped, with' wooden teeili, the whoh' made liy the fai'uier himself. The wheat had to bi' harvested with a siekle, with whieh an expert eutter would go over abmit three-([uarters of an acre per day. Al)Out 1840 an imi)i-oved ])low laiown as the Peaeoek, taking its name from its inveiitoi', was inti'odueetl. This ei'eatetl a revolution in the work of the farm, emd)lijig the farmer to plow aljout tsviee the amount of land in a day.

"The methods of planting and sowing were also of the pi'imitive kind. The corn ground was 'laid off both ways; tlie wife, or tin; boy or the girl, would drojj the eoi'Ji at the intersections, while tlie farmer would follow and cover with a hoe. Wheat, oats and barley were sown 'broadcast,' the sower carrying his grain in a sack swung around his neck. Help svas almost impossible to be obtained, and all the woi'k devolved upon the farmer and his famil\'. When there did come a sui-|)lus of ])Oi)ulation and men svere si'eking faiau work, about the onl\' time they could find employment was when the harvest was I'eady to l)e gathei-ed. Then the bands of the sicklers came into play. Csually from live to ten persons would form these bands of i'eai)ers, one man following another across the Held, cuttiiif^ a()Out half an acn; each day. These; bands would begin tiieii- work in tlie southern part of tlie stati- wliere the grain ripened iirst, and ivap liekis Jiorthward until they would reach the verge of civilized life in the territory. The best reapers would receive 371/2 cents j)er day, or a bushel of wheat. It was not until 1840 that the grain ci'adle came into general use in the state. ^Vith that new iini>lenient. a good cradler and two binders could harvest and shock al)Out two acres per day. , ;

"Previous to 1840 the grain was threshed either with a flail or trampled out with horses. Two men could Hail out and winnow about twelve Inislnds per day, and two men and a boy, with horses, could ti-amp out ami winnow al)out twenty bushels a day. The wiiniowing, or separating the grain from the chaff, was done ])y the luuul sieve. The mixed chaff and grain was i)Ourt'd from above on the bed-sheet, while two men would so vibrate the sheet as to create a current of air, which would blo^v the chaff to oiu' side, while the heavier grain would fall in a pile at their feet.

"The first thi'eshing nuichine was introdu(;ed into the southern part of the state in ]8o9. With four horses and eight or nine men 200 bushels of wheat covdd be threshed in a day. The wheat so threshed had to be cleaned afterward. It recjuired three men two da.ys to clean and sack what would be threshed in one. This was thouglit to be a wonderful improvement over the old way, and it was, Ijut when compare(l with the steam threshei-s and separators of the present day it was very primitive.

"Tile scythe ^vas the only im])lement for mowing the meadows. A good, strong man could only cut from one to two acres in a day, working from sun-uj) until dark. The hand-rake was then used to rake up the hay preparatory to stacking it with the wooden fork. AVith a mowing machine a num now cuts ten acres a day, and with a steel-toothed horse rake another easily prepares it for the stack, and a steel fork operated by a man and a horse stacks it.

"The first hay press in use was made of a long wooden screw al)0ut a foot in diameter, with ten or twelve fe(,'t of thread to the screw. A stick of timber twenty-six inclies square, with a hole tlirougli tlie center, served as a nut, with threads cut to receive tlie wooth'U screw. The init was fi'anicil into tlie to;) of two <,MTat jKjsts, twenty-six ])y ein-htfcn inches in si/.i', and twenty-on<* iVct long, standing four and a half feet ai)art. Six of these posts were planted in the ground. A space eleven feet high was left to receive the hay to l)e i)ressed. To the to{) of tlie gi'i-at wooden screw was fastened a swet'p thirty feet long, bent downwai'd. To this horses Were hitched. To complete a hail two feet stjiun'e and foui' ft'i-t long, the horses 0])erating the screw would have to travel aliout a mih; and a half.

to the inti-otluetion of imi)roved implements, about 1840, it took one farm hand twenty-four (hiys to plow, seed and hai'vest ten acres of corn. At Hrst only enough grain was grown for the use of the family and for stock feeding, as there was no nuirket for it. The corn was ground or pounded into a coar.se meal, or made into hominy. To these succeeded hand mills.

"As the fai'iiiei- would get uioi'e land cleared, lie would cultivate mort; corn and feed hogs, they ti'ansporting themselves to market. Tlu^ breed was rougli, and the hogs when fattened for mai'ket would only ^veigh about two hundred jtounds gross, and ])rior to 1843 the price never reaclu'd two cents ]»er i)0und gross. Cincinnati and Lawrenceburg wei'c the two great markets for hogs, and in the winter to those two places the tlro\'ers would wend their slow way, driving several hundred liogs. During the summer and fall months the hogs were permitted to run at large in the forests, eating great (pumtities of mast with which the forests abounded. Tiatcr, they would l)e gathered and fed for a fewweeks on corn, thus making their meat mai'ketable. Running at large they tn'came very wild, and often it would be the work of days and weeks to gather them together for fattening.

"As farming stretched fartiier into the interior, the difficulty of getting to market incn-asod. Roads were few and of the worst cliaractei'. AVhat surplus was raised had to tind a nuirket at Cincinnati, Louis- N'ille or New Orleans. To reach New Oi'leans, flat boats were used, and the farms lu'ar the interior streams wei'e more pi'ofitable, for the farmers would com])iiie, build one or moi'c thit lioats, load tliem with grain ()!- baled hav, then llont them out to llie Ohio ;iiid then.'e (h)wn to New

Orleans. Wheat and corn were frequently hauled to these waterways from a distance of seventy-five and a hundred miles, and when thus delivered over roads which much of the time were almost impassable, the prices obtained prior to 1840 was from thirty to fifty cents a bushel for wheat and from ten to twelve cents for corn.

"pjut few cattle were raised, only enough to furnish milk and butter for tile family, and a yoke or two for farm work. A few sheep were also kept of mongn-1 breeds to supply wool for clothing. The wool was carded by hand, made into yarn on the liand spinning wheel and woven into jeans and linsy on hand looms, every farm house being supplied with tliese necessary articles to the pioneer. Milk cows were sold for eight dollars, and the best of them only produced three pounds of butter i)er week. Horses were only raised for farm purposes and the breed was very indifferent. . > . , , ; , , .,-

"After some years water mills began to appear, here and there along the streams, but they were only calculated to grind for home consumption, and the farmer, when he wanted flour or meal would fill a sack with wlieat or corn and, throwing it over his horse, go several miles to mill where, perhaps, he would have to wait half a day for his 'turn.'

-'The first flour mill of any consequence erected in the state was built in Lawrenceburg, twenty miles west of Cincinnati on the Indiana side of the line, in 18:39. To this mill grain was transported over the bad i-oads from all of Central Indiana. The trips would require from eiglit to ten days, and from seven hundred to nine hundred pounds were a good load for two horses or a yoke of oxen. Once at the mill the farmer would sell his wheat and take his pay in iron, salt, dye stuffs and othei- necessities. The wheat, when made into flour, would be shipped to New Orleans by boat.

"But a better day was coming for the Indiana farmer. New and better facilities for reaching markets were to be opened up. The first of these was the Wabash and Erie Canal which was opened in 1841. This waterway connected with the lakes and reached far into the interior of the state, thus affording ready and cheap transportation to the mar- kets of the East and even with Europe. Tliis gave a great impetus tO' the agrieultural interests of the State, and the area of farming was widened, llogs were no longer the best paying products to be raised on the farm. Wheat, oats and other cereals began to be profitable, and the work of tlie farmer was greatly diversified. Railroad building was soon to take its place in the work of furnishing markets for the surplus of the farmer. This bi'ouglit a rotation of crops. Railroads were followed by manufa(;turing establishments, and a greater home demand. The increase in foreign and home demand brought with it a better breed of live stock and lietter varieties of grain. The farm acreage increased rapidly, and the new and improved implements and farm machinery made it possible for tlie agriculturist to kcei) up with the increased demand for his jiroducts."

But the most interesting work of the historian is to place before his , readers the words of some authority who is living in the times of which he wi'ites. Those of the present thereby get not only the atmosphere and coloi'ing of the past, but nuiy indulge in that comfortable, if rather unfair mental process of comparing the prophecies of the past with those developments which have brought the actual history up to the present. "While the AVabash & Erie Canal was in process of l)uilding there was no i)ublie man who more thoroughly investigated the agricultural possibilities of the country between the Ohio and the Alississippi, especially of the Wabash Valley, than Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, commissioner of i)atents, Washington, D. C. His relative, Henry W. Ellsworth, was a resident of Lafayette, and soon after the completion of the Wabash & Erie Canal to Wabash, jjublislied a veiy interesting book on the "Valley of the Up])er AValiasb, with Hints on its Agricultnral .Vdvantages ; Esti*nates of Cultivation and Notices of Labor-saving Alachines." The two Ellsworths co-operated both in tlie exchange of information and in the inti'oduction of improved agrieultural maehinet'y into the vall(\v of the Upper AVabash. Many of the ])ioneer farmei's of AVal)ash County had cause to thaidv them both.

In a letter from the Commissioner to the author of the "A^alley of the Upper AVabash," dated September, L'^3S, occurs the following: "I hope you will extend agi'icultural improvements, as far as your means will allow. I shall cheei'fully --ommunieate, from time to time, such information on timt subject as T can collect, fn addition to the machines already ordered for Lafayette, T shall soon send otiiers, calcidated for ditching, sowing, reaping, raking, Max pulling, etc.; all of which,.

"Tile cause wliicli lias hitherto prevented the true advantages of this delightful valley from being known is found in the extreme ditiiculty of gaining access to it by any of the established routes of Indiiina. The AVabash Kiver, susccj)tible as it is of iiuproveiiK'nts which would secure a constant navigation has, until lately, furnished an uncertain thoroughfare. A journey to the Upi)cr Wabash from the Ohio Kiver, by land, owing to the extreme roughness of the roads, the difficulty of obtaining suital)l(_' veiiicles and accommodations, and withal the distance, was one of exti'eiue fatigue, while all api)roach from J^ake Erie by the Indian trails and traces of the Maumee iliver could be undertaken only \s'ith a single horse, and often at a risk of long and serious tlcteiition, from innumerable by-patlis and streams almost impassable. The single pioneer and hardy hunter could indeed press througli these obstacles; but the emigrant witli his family coukl travel only the more convenient routes along the borders of the state.

in this way emigrating fi-om our eastern seaports have passed from nuftalo to Detroit, thence to Chicago, and iinally sctth'd on the lake shore or near tlie watt'r courses. This facility of water communication has already causeel the settlement of parts of ^lichigan. The enterprise of her citizens has opened roads to the interior and soutliern I)orti()ns of her growing state, and many are now emigrating thence to adjoining i)ortions of Indiana. Those, who after a short residence in ^Michigan dispose of lands at $15 or $25 }>er acre, can lind tracts even more productive at $1.25 in Indiana.

"Sucli havi- been the causes which existed to iH'tard the settlement of Northern and Northwestern Indiana. They are now iai)iilly disappearing; a few months more will witness their complete removal, and an emigration to a spot so well fitted by nature to sustain it will take place, hitherto uiipreccdenled even in the history of western settlements. The magniliceiit internal improvement schemes of Indiana, involving an ex- [)ense of many millions, are fast develo])ing the vast extent of her resources, and opening in all tlircctions certain avenues of quiidv communication to the eiiti'i-prisiiig settler.

important link in tin- '^veat eliain of conmuinication now upening betwr.Mi the .Mississippi KiviT and the city oi' Xrw Yofk will ho At the pi'csmt tiiiir lioats ai'c ninnin;z (lail\- i'l-oni Loj^'ansport to Fort Wayne, a distance of about ei^bty miles. The heavy sections on the remaining poi'tion of tlu- canal between Lafayi'tte, the head of steamboa.t navigation on the AVabasli, and Logansport, are now completed, and tin' lighter are in jti'OgT-es.s and will soon be iinished.

"From the vigorous exertions of Ohio and the time as settled by eontract, there is little doubt but what that portion of the canal which ])asses through her territory will be completed by the 1st of October, 1S;',|). Th.' opening of this canal throughout its whole extent will indeed l.r ;i proud ei'a for the AVahash valh-y ; and furnishing, as it does, the most direct and natural channel of communication between the East and the West, we can hardly estinmte the travel that will How in this dil-ection.

"Till- oiH'iung of the Erie and AVabash Canal will afford an immediate outlet f(»i' much of the prodiice of this and adjoining counties. The main ehaiimd for the exportation of produce licretofoi-e has been the AVabash Rivei", by means of which vast quantities have been shipped annually to the .states bordei'ing on the .Mississippi and to New Orleans. Many exceedingly profitable speculations have been made in pork, and a large amount is i)ut up every season. Investments of capital, yielding great rcUirns, can easily be made from well conducted stock farms. b\"raising and i)i-essing hay for the southern mai'kets, from wheat, corn etc. The'recent introduction of labor-saving machines, all of which are admirably calculated for the prairies, has nmterially reduced the former expense of cultivation.

-'One great cause of the iiinnediate gi'owth of the AVabash valh'y is the numbci- of pi'airies, i)repai-ed, as it were, by nature for the plough. Thousands of acres can be found, even now. as well fitted for producing erops as the most highly manured and I'olled lands of the okl settlements. Such is its fertility that ovei- 100 bushels of corn, 40 bushels of wlieat and 70 bushels of oats are easily raised ui)on a single aci'e. Some inilividnals have been cultivating upwards of 1,000 acres of grain, the whole of which is readily disposed of at the highest prices. Other tracts of similar extent are sowed in grass, and the hay sold at an immense profit in the southei'ii nuirkets.

"The (piestion of the comparative value of timber lands and prairie is decided by important facts in favor of the latter. The co.st of a single acre of each will Ijl- the same, but the comparative expense of eultivatioii will he fouml as 1 to 3 in favor of the prairies. From ^3 to $9 per aere, inelnding the tirst cost, is an ample allowance for the complete arrangement and cultivation of a prairie farm, while the sum of $12 per acre is th(i lowest price for simply clearing timlxn- land, wliich is left for jnany A'ears encumbered with unsightly stumps and roots. The soil of the j)rairirs, too, is generally more i)roductive than that of tiiid)er land. Poi-tions of prairie, far remote from timber, can be easily supplied by sowing the seed of the black walnut or locust. Four or live years are sufficient to ])roduce a growth of tind)er suital)le for fuel and other purposes. Sod fences, with a hedge of locust or tile hawthoi'ii, are found to be better and far neater than the ordinary ones heretofcn'e in use, while the recent iiiiprf)vements in ditching machines I'ender their construction coiiiparativel\- cheaj) and easy. Many of these hedges are alreaily found upon the i)rairies. and they will soon constitute the outer and division fences of extensive ])i'airie farms. The surface of the praii'ies, from its smoothness, is admirably ada])ted for the successful operation of numerous lal)or-saving machines of recent oi'igin. By the use of the ditching machines, before mentioned, it is estimated that fences may be made upon tlie prairies at the astonishing low price of fifteen cents per acre, while the iliteli answers a most valuable ])urpose in draining moist lands."

The following is fi'om a letter written l)y lion. O. 11. Smith, United States senatcu- from Indiana, who was one of the successful live st(jek raisei's of the West of 1838: "Tlu' next braneh of your inquiry in relation to the raising and feeding of hogs or swine lias ]-eceived more of my i)ei'Sonal atteJition tlian that of grazing cattle or of I'aising lior.ses. Living in the centei- of the AVhite AYater valley, where the great and almost the exclusive jiroduce for exportation has been pork, my attention has necessa]-ily l)een more directed to that subject than the others named.

"The lands which we call tirst-rate corn lands, are generally alluvial bottom lands, or walnut or burr oak talile-Iands. These lands, properly cultivated, produce aljout the average of sixty-five buslu'ls of corn to the acre; some of the very best i)roduce eighty bushels to the acre, and are cultivated for successive years in corn. A statement of my own operations for a few years past will partially illustrate the process adopted in that part of Indiana in which I reside, in the pork business. I have had in cultivation in corn, for several years past. 160 acres of river bottom lands. The mo.st of these lands have been in cultivation in corn about fifteen vears without intermission and without mamii-e. The avcra^T ci-op has btn-ii, since J have tilhul Ihciii, about 65 bushels of coru to the aere. I phmt my corn, generally, about the iirst of ^lay; it is laid by, about the middle of July, aud by the middle of September it is sufficiently hard to commence the feeding of my hogs. At this time I purcluise of tliosc who raise them, the stock required to eat off my corn; say al)out thre<' and a half hogs to the acre, which is about the proper nunibci- to eat an an-e of corn in thii'tcen weeks - the usual time allowed to iiiaki' t)ur jjoi'k fi-om ordinary stock hogs.

"My coui'se of fet'ding is tliis : j\Iy fields contain from twenty to tliirty acres each, all well watered. At the ])roper season, I turn my hogs into a lield, and after it is eaten off clean 1 i)ass them into another, and so on, until I have fed off my croj), when my hogs are ready for nuirket. Tlie profits of the operation depend much upon the 1)V\(:l' and quality of the stock, and the i)riee pork may bear in tlie nuirket. But for several years i»ast it has been an excellent agricultural business. AVhen I first conuiieiiced this kind of .stock, a few years ago, 1 very naturally suppo-sed, liy turning them into tlie field of uJigathered corn great waste would be the inevitaljle consequence, and 1 had my corn pulled and fed to them in a dr\' lot. l!ut I souw became satisfied, ])y ins])(;cting the operations of m\- neighbors who had l)cen for years in the Itusiness, that my labor and ex])ense of feeding in tliis nuinner was entirely thrown away, and I al)andoned it.

"Hogs gatlier corn in tli<' field with litth; or no waste, provided the fiehls 01- lots in which they are fed are i)roi)ortioned in si/e to the number of bogs fed ui)on them, which should be in the i)roportion of 100 hogs to live or six acres of corn. The hogs should be I'egularly salted while feeding, and running water should be accessible at all times to them. l'>y feeding in this way, i find that my hogs improve more rapidly and my lands increase in value yearly, although I have never put a shovelfid of nuiiiure upon them. This may Ix.' accounted for by the fact that the .stalks, husks, etc., are brought down to rot upon the lands through the winter, to be ploughed under in the spring; and so the ]-)rocess goes on year after year, the land receiving again the most of all that is raised \ipon it.

"Before 1 leave the subject of feeding swine, I would suggest that very much of the success depends upon the breed of the animal, as well as the manner of his feeding when young. There is one simple fact that should never be lost sight of by the feeder or raiser of this stock, and that is, if you once put a hog upon high feed you should never diminish it, or the animal will scarcely (;ver regain his former healthful and improving condition ; or, in other words, when you commence the fattening })rocess you should continue until the animal is killed."

Coiitiiiuatioii hy autliof: '"Tlir givat profits of .stock-fanuiiig will be rrailily piTccivcil. Coi'ii, as will appear from Mr. Smith's t'Xi»crii'nce, rail l»c i-aisc(| ami drlivcrcd on tlir stalk at live cents j)ei' Imslicl ; siiiee his actual cost for (>") bushels (an averag'e crop per acre) for sevei'al years, was but .-f;:').')!). llo^s fed thus in Held I'cquire no additional ex])cnditures except the sum ivquii'ed for salting. Such has been the t'.xpericncc of other indi\-iduals, st)ine of whom have fattened foi- the market .\-e;i!-ly upwards of l,()i)0 hogs. Th.' great demand foi- ])ork existing in the southei'ii markets, togethei- with the iiinuense profits that attend its sale, ai-e too well known to need a furthei' mention. The pork business, in its various bram-hes, has furnished the connuencement and compl(_-tion of many of those splendid fortunes which are found in the larger cities of the Western world.

'"Othci's have devoted their attention to i-eai'ing fine stock eattl(\ and with great success. Stock of this description ean be kept fat on the pi'airie ])astures during siniuner, and will live well on blue grass iields throughout the wintei-. Jt is bettei-, howi'ver, to provide fodder and allow them sludter. Selections of cattle and other stock, as bi'eeds, can be made to gi-eat advantage from the rare collections to bo found in poi'tions of Ohio and Kentucky. The jji'ofit on ;')(-() lieifei's at $.1 (the average cost) is readil\- percei\'ed. AVorking oxen of large si/e, which can easily be procured at $.")(), will l)ring in .Alicliigan from $100 to $125 {)er yoke; and lai'ge mnnbei's have during the past \-ear I)een di'iven tlnthei- from tin- valley of the AVabash. The cost of diiving oxen to an eastern market will not exceed $5 per head, or they may be sent in flatl)oats to the Southern states at an expense ])ut trifling, when compared witlj the I'etui'ns.

"Beet sugar manufacture offers anothei- advantageous mode for the investment of cai)ital. From eighteen to twenty tons of sugar beets are calculated as the i)i'oduct of an aci-e. This, allowing eight per cent of sugar, gives 8,200 i)ounds which, estimated at ten cents \)vv ])0und, will give $320 to the acre. The residue of beets, after an extraction of the sacearine mattei-, is much used in England for tlie manufacture of fine paper. TIk- cultivation of the beet, with reference to sugar, is an emi>loyment well ada])ted, on a suudl scale, to private families. ]\luch of the labor re(piisite can be performed indoors, and will furnish an agreeable occupation for long winter evenings. Wonld it not literally t^nd to sweetrn life, to raise a few bai-rt4s of dioice sugar from a garden patch:' This is done witli niudi suc-.-ss in Fi'ance. where labor is high, and the rent of land, eight, t.-n and twelve dollars per acre."

The author then goes on to picture the vast agricultural importance of both th.' AVabash and Maumce valleys, some tive hundred miles in extent, whose grand outlet wa.s to be the AVabash & Erie Canal. Supposiiig tliem solidly cultivated for an average breadth of twenty miles, it was estimated that the crop of wlieat would amount to 336,000.000 bushels (average of twenty l)usheLs to the acre) and that of corn, 672,- 000.000 bushels (average, forty bushels). The U)12 cro]) reports show that the bannei- eorn state (Illinois) had to be (-ontent with 420.000,000 bushels of corn, and North Dakota, which led in wheat pi-oduction, with 143,000,000 bushels. And at the time that the Wabash valley editor was' sueh a i)rophet, .Mr. Obed Hussey, of Cincinnati, Ohio, was just eommencing to introduce his reaping machine, which he was manufacturing in Baltimore, ^laryland, Hussey 's Reaping ^Machine, which w^as "warranted to cut fifteen acres of heavy wheat in a day, the grain taken as clean and kd't in as good order for binding as when cut by the scythe or siekle."

Tn January. 1837, the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, thus speaks of the bright outlook "for the Wabash Valley, which had been much neglected: "Fh'c thousand persons left Buffalo in one day to go up the lake, and yet not one went into the valley of the Wabash. A slight inspection of 'the maps of Indiana, Ohio and Illinois, will show a direct route to th.- .Mississii)i.i from the west end of Lake Erie, to be up the Maumee and down the Wabash Valley to Lafayette. It therefore may be considered certain that when the railroad from St. Louis to Lafayette is eomideted the great travel from the IMississippi valley to the east will be by the lakes through the AValiash and Erie Canal, the shortest and quickest route by several days. A person at the mouth of the Ohio will pass up to St. Louis, then take the railroad and canal to Lake Erie, in preference to following the meanders of the Ohio River in a steamboat. Can there be a doubt on this subject?

be allowetl ; from Lafayette to the lake, at the rate of from four and a half to five miles per hour on the canal (now in operation a considerable part of the way), forty-eight hours; on the lake twenty-four hours; and from the lake to New York City, via railroad (now commenced), not exceeding two days.

"You may ask, What will be the markets for Indiana? I answer, New York and New Orleans - the former by tlie Evm canal and the latter by the Wabasli River (navigable to Lafayette for steamboats) and by the railroad above named to St. Louis, also to Montreal by the "Welland canal. A choice of all these markets, equally accessible, is presented to the farmers in the Waba.sh Valley; and one particular advantage this valley po.ssesses over Michigan and Wisconsin is tlie early navigation of the Wabash River. The produce of this valley can, by this river, pass down to New Orh^ans in tlat-boats, free of toll, and be transported to Ciiarleston, Baltimore, New York and Boston, six weeks before the N(;w York canal opens. This early market may be estimated as a good prolit in business."

It was not until the early '50s that the farmers of Wabash County commenced to organize "for the encouragement of agriculture." This movement was the result of the legislative act of February 14, 1851, under which a State Board of Agriculture was formed, with the governor, Josei)h A. Wright, as president, and John B. Dillon, as secretary. On tlie 4th of the succeeding June, the State Board issued a circular suggesting to the farmers of Indiana the formation of county and district societies for the "encouragement of agriculture."

On January 12, 1852, the following (with others whose names are not of record) met at Wabash and organized a county society: William T. Ross (president), John L. Kniglit (secretary), Alanson P. Ferry (treasurer), Stearns Fisher, William Ross (Chester Township), Calvin Cowgill, F, Bouse, L. B. Musselman, Daniel Jackson, T. B. McCarty and Henry TylcPherson.

The first fair of the Wabash County Agricultural Society was held October 20 and 21, 1853, on the plat of ground between the old mill race and the canal, south of the round house of the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railroad Company. Con.sidering the newness of the enterprise, the attendance was large. Treasurer Ferry shows how the fair "came out:"

Tlie report of the president for 1854 says: "Tlie second annual fair was lield on the 5th and 6th days of October at AVabash and, was attendeil by iiumei'ous citizens from every i)art of the county, and many from adjoining counties. There was an adtlress delivered on the second (hiy of the fair by John ^I. AVhecler, Esq., of this county. There are al)out 200 members belonging to the society, and the lively concern wliicii many of them feel to promote its best interests are indications of its onwai'd progress and future usefulness. Indeed, it is almost a matter of astonishment to witness the rapid change that has taken place among our farmers in the way of improving the breeds of their domestic animals since tlie organization of this society, which, without doubt, has been the exclusive cause of emulating tliem to so praiseworthy an enterprise."

The report goes on to state that during the year 1853, 3,500 hogs were slauglitered and packed in the City of Wabash, the aggregate weight of which was 700,000. The revenue derived from these at $3 and $3.50 per hundred would represent a respectable income to the packers and, indeed, to the pork raisers. It was also stated that as a result of the fairs, tlie eft'orts of the society and the general awakening of the farmers, the quality and yield of wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley and the grasses had greatly improved.

As to tlie general status of the two chief grain crops, at this period, the following from the 1857 report is instructive: "The large yellow and white and mixed colored varieties are i)lanted. The ground is plowetl deej)ly, then harrowed and sometimes ]-olled. The corn is phinted ahont the lirst of .May. The after cultivation is ellected by using the plow three times and the cultivator twice. The average yield is about hfty Imshels to the acre, produced at a cost of about $5. The eroj) linds a market at Wabash. The cultivator is widely used in raising this ci'op."

As to wheat the report says: "The Genesee and blue stems are esteemed the best varieties. The method of j)re])ai'ing the ground is to plow dee]), harrow, and after to drill the seed; and .sometimes the groun<l is rolled in the spring. The seed is sown about the 1st of ISeptembei- at the rate of one and a half bushels per acre. The average yield is twenty bushels; harvest generally takes place about the Gth of duly and tlu- crop is generally cut by tlie reapers. The sui'plus product iinds a nuirket in the town of AVabash, where the i)rice during the season has averaged eighty-.seven and a half cents per bushel, (ireat improvements have been matle in the county during the last few years in planting aiul harvesting wlieat. The drill is now largely used in putting it in. and the I'caper is almost invai'iably used in securing the cro])."

]^y 1S58 the membership of the society had increased to over five hufidred, and tlie I'egular annual fairs continued to increase in interest for many years. In 187!) the fair grounds were enlarged by the purchase of 21 ^ acres to east of the original tract, and from year to \-ear the exhibition and administrative buildings were improved, as well as increased in num])er. One noticeable feature of each successive f;iii- was the gradual falling off in the exhibits of hogs and the improvement in the numlK'r and quality of the horse and cattle display.

This society, wliieh was organized in 1852, continued to hold annual fairs, and reached its greatest jjrosperity from 1870 to 1880, both iii attciidaiiee and itn-ripts, and tlie ^'cncral display. Oji January 2;{, 1889. the society, not !irin<j^ very prospcroiis, conveyed tiic n-niainder of the ival estate wliicli it held on West Hill Stfeet, to the City ol' \Val)ash for j.ai'k pui'poses, reservin<,' tlie ]'iylit for the puhlic to use a i)ortion of it at any and all proper times, for pul)lic meetings together witii the I'ight to erect booths or huildings for jjublic use. The old agricultural society, as such, went out of existence.

A stock company was aftcrwai'ds organized and purchased ground just north of Treaty Creek, which it improved and on which it held annual fail's for sevei-al yeai's, wIkmi it hecame involved for want of su])- poit, and the land and buildings were sold, aiul thus ended the agricultural societies in ^Vahash.

A societ\- of farmers and nierchants have an organization, and make annual exhihils in the City of Wahash, but at present ha.s no home of its own, using Iniildings and si)aces for its exhil)its. The attendance and displa\- are \ery creditable.

From the returns to the county assessor, the last of which were received in May, ]'J14, a definite idea is obtained of the comparative sources of wealth embraced under the comprehensive classification of Agriculture. From which we glean the following regarding the three chief cert'al crops of Wabash County:

There wer(' also raised for the year lOl-j, l!),i)56 tons of clover hay from 1(),773 acres of land, and 16,27!) tons of timothy from an acreage of 15,168. Less than 350 tons of alfalfa were raised from 135 acres.

The cattle were iiunibtTcd at l(j;Ai:], with a valuation of $577,151, and the o.lJG-i inih-li cows were assessed at $269,335. Dairy products : xAlilk produceil in 11)13, 2,400.410 g:allons vahu'd at $30G,!)40; cream, 121,019 gallons. $54,590; l)utt<'i', 304,608 pouutls, $70,071. Total cattle (including milch cows) witii tlu-ir annual products, $1,287,087. On Jannary 1, 1914, the farmers of AVal)ash County liad 30,546 hogs on hand which they valued at $328,354; 5,744 slicci), $28,375, aud 11,72!) laying hens, $62,837. The last luuned had produ(;ed 1,113,116 dozen eggs, valued at $187,597. It is quite likely that within the memory of this generation the modest, indnstrious hen, will supplant the noisily aggressive hog as a valuable source of revenue to the citizens of Wabash County.

It also appears from the assessors' returns that there are 2,284 farms in tile count\', with a total acreage of 224,996. Of the latter only 27,2(i6 acres are under lease or rental. Tliere are 2,287 acres of waste land; 54,225 of pasture land; 22.682 of tindx-r, and 3,862 cultivated to orchards. Incideidally, the farmers use 1,150 windnnlls.

A table i)erhaps of more general interest is that compiled by the assessor showing the valuation of taxable property as returned by the ditferent townships and corporations, the number of polls (tax-payers) and the mortgage exemi>tion allowed by the Board of Review:

In comparison with the above the following figures for 1856. sliowing the value of lands and improvements in the several townsliips, arc suggestive :

A comparison of the tax reeeij^ts of tbe i)resent day witli tliose of seventy-five years ago, will show how^ the revenues of tlie county and state have increased as civilization luis advanced. The following receipt is for persoiud and poll tax for a householder in 1840: "Received of Jonathan Weesner one dollar and forty-four cents in full of his state and county tax for the year 1840. - J. Holland, Collector Henry County."

Tiie first complete census of Wabash County was the national enumeration of 1840, taken five years after it was organized; the returns then indicated a population of 2,756.

The coisus takers for the decade ending 1850 got so busy that thereafter, and inclusive of that year, the returns by townships are accessible. The figures for 1850, 1860 and 1870 are as follows:

Bench And Bar

First :\Iki:ting of the Ciucrrr Court - First Crand Jtrors - Judge KvKUTs (t.\ THE Bench - To I'rove That the Court was Needed- Second Tek.m of Coi'RT - Associate Judces Go - :Most IJe.mahkauee Ciii.AHN AE Case - Aakon French and Fa.miev - The Pitiahee Invaeid - The French Fa.nhev Disai-eears - De ad Bodv Found in Canal - BoDV Identified as that of Edward lioYEE - Hubbard Arrested FOR .AlcRDEK- Search for Criminal Evidences - Dead Bodies OF Tin-; French FA^^LY Foi^nd - Hci'-bard and ^VIFE Charged with ^Mi.,.i,i,;k_The Death 1'enalty - Hubbard's Plea - The Judge's Comments - First and Only Execution in Wabash County - .Mrs. Hri'.BARD Cets Lu'E Sentence - CiRCurr Judges - Proseci'ting At-

Thr Cii-cuit Court lias always been tlw cliici' jiKlicial ho.ly of AVahash County, aiul since 1S7J has Iktu its sole tril.unal of justice. Its iirst civil organization, in ISJf), i)rovi(le(l for the election of two associate ju(l^«<'s H) assist the presiding judge of the circuit, who was not present at the Iirst session. In ISIiti the Probate Court was organized and continued to adjudicate those matters pertaining to it, until it was abolished in isr)2 and its business transfi^rred to the Court of Connnon Pleas. ^ That liody was legislated out of existeiu-e in 1S7;}, since which year the Circuit (V)urt lias had the sole responsibility of keeping the scales of justice true within the limits of Wabash County.

"Daniel Jaeksoii and Daniel Ballinger, associate judtres of tlie Wabasli ('ii'cuit Court, met pursuant to notice given ])y William Jolmston, slici'itl' of tlie county aforesaid, at tlie liouse of David Burr, and adjourned to the iiouse of William Steele in the town of "\Val)ash, the seat of jiistice of Wabash County, and, after having taken as oflicers, as aforesaid, all the necessary oaths j)rescribed by the constitution aiul laws of the State aforesaid, which oaths were administered and certified by William Johnsfon. shei-iff as aforesaid, agreeably to a sj)ecial statute of this State in such case made and provided - the within judges having considered themselves authorized according to law to organize and hold a court in and for the county aforesaid; and William Steele api)i-art'd in proper person in open court and ])resented a t-ommission from N. Noble, governor of this State, for the office of clei'k of the Circuit Court of Wabash County for the term, of seven years, Avhich couuiiission beai's (bite tin; 2Stli day of May, IS:',,"). Said AVilliam Steide having Ijcen duly sworn to supjxirt Ihe coiisf itution of the Uiiiteil States and the constitution of tlio State of Indiana, and to faithfully discharge the duties of clerk of the Circuit Coui't of Waljash ('ounty according to law, tiled bond in ])enalty of .t2.r)()l), with Isaac Fouler, Isaac Thonuis, S. F. Ale Lain and John Johnson as sui'cties, which was apju-ovcd June 11, 1835.

-On Alonday, Juno 15th, four days after the meeting of the associate judges, as recoi'ded, the l)oard of eount.y commissioners convened and selected the following grand jurors for the August term, 1835, and the February term, 1836:

It A\as certainly high time that tlu' citizens of Wabash County had a local coui't foi' tlie ti'ial of offenders and the ])i'ompt settlement of their ti'oubles which could not ])e placated b\' individual t'ompi'onnse. '^riiere is a case in ])oint, the narrative of which is claimed for .Major Stearns h'isher. it will be remembered that in PS:U David lUirr kept a tavern on the treaty grounds. AVell, some time in that \-ear he engaged a tramp to t\ait on the table and make himself generally useful around the inn. Doubtless his salai'\- was small - l)ut still travelers have rights. So thought Mr. ^lills, a guest at the Burr House, who awoke out' moi'ning to lind that his purse containing $4(.) had been stolen.

Suspicion fell u])ou the serving man, whose conduct wlien charged with the tlud't strongly confirmed that sus])icion. But ]\Ir. j\Iills was in a hurry to contiiuie his journey and, with no court on the ground, coidd not see his way clear to await the tardy processes of the law.

So Colonel Buri- tied the hands of the ti'anip thief to an elevated railing to which horses were hitched and started for the woods for some convincing ''switches," intending to give the nuin a lashing which he would at least remcrid)er and be a wai-ning to others that tln'y must respect the rights of his guests. Hy tliis time others had gathered in ii-oiit of the hotel, among the spectators l)eiiig Stearns Fisher and the Indian eldef, Aldodali.

When the colonel returned with his implements of punishment, the case was further discussed and landlord and guest decided that it would he the Ijetter example to the new community to allow the law to take its course.

Aldodah was therefore engaged to take the prisoner to Huntington, whicli was the location of the nearest magistrate, and at once prepared to leave with Jds num. The Indian was a iiol)ledooking specimen of a wariMoi-, tall and liiiely formed. lie was faultlessly attii-cd in natis'e costume, had his ritle in his hand, ami tomahawk and scali)ing kiufe in his belt. The ])risoner was an li'ishman, and his race wennot lovt'rs of the red num. This feeling was lieartil\' rt'turned by the liulian. Thend'ore the Irishnum, U})on being untii'd from the rail, trenddingly olieyed Aldodah when he i^ointed in the direction of Huntington and told him to "go."

Thus the ctdprit took up his march, Al-lo-lah following (dose at his heels and ^\-atching his every nujtion with the wily sagacity of a savage. I\Iills followed after on horseback, and, arriving at Huntington, a magisti'ate was found and the offender Indd to trial. Next day, the trio proceeded to .Mai'ion, in the same order as before, Al-lo-lah taking good care of his pi'isoiiei', gi\dng liim no opportunity to escape. Ai-ri\ing at Marion, tliey found coui't in session. The num was at once put upon his trial, eon\ieted and seJiteiieeil, and on the following da\' was on his way to - leU'ei'sonville 1 *en i teiit ia I'y in charge of the regular ofdcers of the law.

The second term of the Wabash Circuit Coifrt convened on Monday, the 2^ith of I'V'bi'uary, 1S;]6, at the house of Andrew Ahirphy. Present: lion (iusta\us A. Inverts, presiding judge; Dainel Jackson and Daniel Hallinger, associate judges, Josiah L. Wines, sheriff, and W^illiam Steele, clerk. After disposing of the business ready for trial, court adjourned on .March 3, 18l3(i, after a session of four days.

For a numbei' of years afterward, the amount of business pi'csented to the Circuit and Pi'obate courts was inconsideraI)le, and few really imjiortaid cases commanded attention. Under the statutes of 1S52. l)y which the Probate Court was abolished and that of Conunon Pleas was ere- atfd, the mctliod of praetiei^ in tin- coiiduet of legal affairs was materially cliaiig'ed, as was also the routine of judieial j)!'oceediiius. Siil)se(iueiitly, the presence of associates or eo\inty ,jud<^-es was dispensed with, the cirriiit jud-^'e exei'cising sole judi<'ial authority within liis [)rovinee.

Tu 185") the Oiri-uit Court (.hulge John ]\I. Wallaee) tried one of the most famous criminal eases which ever engaged tiie attention and awakened the horror of an American communit\', ami it has had no parallel - at least, in Wahasli County - to tliis day. Theie are few either of the early or late generations identified with the affairs of the Wabasli ^"alley who have not cringed before the details connected witli the murder of Edward Hoyle and the French family. The gi'uesome story has been rei)eatedly told, and will long stand as one of the most remarkable cases of calloused criminality on record.

In the year ISo-i there lived near Rich Valley, or Keller's Station, on the north side of the Wabash near the western county line, a quiet, inoffensive man named xVai'on French, with a wife and five children. He was willing to work, but lacked ambition to go abroad for it, when he could not tind it near home. Although not naturally lazy, he lacked both ambition and ttirift.

French owned no land, but "squatted" on Keller's farm. Tn the summer season he worked at such odd jobs as tlie neigldjorhood afforded, such as chopping, digging and clearing. He and his family shifted along in out-of-doors weather, but often with the coming of winter were pitiable objects of charity. Thus tliey lived in a little cabin for several years, wh(»n thei-e appeared to them a couple named lluljbard, who offered to ]iay for the shelter of even such a roof. The Frenches were only too glad to thus add a bit to their scant income.

One October day in 1854 French was sick al)ed and some of the neighbors called to see him, among whom were Stearns Fisher and James Lewis. The latter came on Saturday evening, October 6th, and listened with sympathy to the invalid's story of his trouliles, his fears that he would not recover if he could not get to a milder climate, and his wish to sell what little property he had in order to carry out that plan.

Oil his way Iiouk-, Mr. Lewis thought the matter over and decided it wouhl Ije a kindness to the French family, and jx'rhaps a reliei' to the neigliljorhood, if tlie sick man's phm coidd he realized. A morning or two afterward he started to see J^'reiieh and \)uy him out, and thus alford iiim the necessary means with which to leave the country.

Approaching the cabin Lewis encountered the Iluljljard couple bearing a tul.) of slojis l)etween them, and -Mrs. Hubbard at once spoke up and said all gone,'' adding that they were "clearing up after them."

Lewis asked tliem how it happened. They told him that French's lirotlu'i-, from near Cincinnati, had come there in the night bringing uews of his father's death in Iowa; that he had left them land and wished them to go there and live. The brother had arrived at Peru on the evening traiii, had come directly there, loaded the family into a wagon he had bought for the purpose and started back to Peru again in the night, so as to be able to take the early morning train, as at that time but two trains a day were run, one in each direction.

HuljJ)ard informed Lewis that he had bought all their things, and on being asked how French could leave when he was so sick, said that the brotlier had given him brandy, and had him dancing on the floor overjoyed at the prospect of leaving.

Tliere were various circumstances making Hubbard's story a plausible one, and Mr. Lewis and su])sequent inquirers were easily satisfied. No investigation was made, and the disappearance of French and his family gave rise to but little or no comment.

Hubbard lived in the caliin, undisturbed, until the spring of 1855, when developments began to l)e made which must have disturbed his equanimity. At this time a party of young men from Wabash went down the canal for the purpose of fishing. The water was partially drawn out that the canal might be repaired. Hi drawing their seine they discovered the dead body of a man, which had evidently been put there during tlie winter previous. The body l)ore marks of violence, as having been beaten with a club or stone on the back of the head. The arm was also severely In-uised and cut in apparent effort at self-protection.

During 18r)4 and IS."),! tlic Toledo. AVabasli & AVestcrn Railroad was bring constriu-ti'd, and a lai-ge force of men had been employed along the line. An inquiry was therefore set afoot to ascertain who might be missing from this large floating population. \. L\ (lardner, one of the railroad contractors, aiul Dr. E. B. Thomas (afterward of La Oro) I'eported that the descri])tion of tlie bod\- corresponded to that of one Edward Boyle, who had disappeared some months {)revioiis. The grave was opened and the body thus identified.

Up to the fall previous Boyle had worked on the railroad and had boardetl with the other hands along the line. In the summer lu' had been taken very siek and Avas attended by Doctor Thomas. At one time his life was despaired of and he sent for the priest, giving him sonu' four or live hundred dollars in silver and gold coin ami directing him what to do with it in case of his death. Upon his recovery the money was returned to him.

Hubbard prevailed upon Boyle to board with him, took his baggage into the cabin and the latter shortly afterward disappeared. As Boyle had no family or intimate friends in the neighborhood, Hubbard's explanation that he had gone into the neighborhood of Lafayette to teach school was creditable, Boyle being a man of some literary attainments. But the finding of the bod}^ of the murdered man put a different phase upon the matter, and Deputy Sheriff Thomas, Constable Tyler and others, went to Hubbard's cabin to question him further about Boyle's disappearance. Arriving there and listening to the conflicting stories told by Hubbard and his wife, who were l)Oth under the influence of liquor, the party became satisfied that their suspicions were well founded and, without waiting for the foi'mality of a warrant, arrested Hubbard and his son and l)rought them to Wabash to appt'ar before Justice James.

Hubbard conducted his own defence, pleading earnestly and ably for his release, and, indeed at this time there was but little positive evidence of his guilt. He was put under bonds of $500, failing to procure which he was remanded to jail to await his trial.

-Meanwliilo, the orticers wci'e on the aU-rt for further evidence and adopted, among other expedients, the plan of secreting themselves so tliat they eould listen to the conversations whicli took i)lace between lluhbard and Ids wife wlien shr came to visit him. Ai'riving at t'liough facts to justify them in the belief he was the luunh'i'er, and tiuit M i-s. IIul)bard was in possession of the mone}- taken from I^dward IJoyh', Constable Wilson and Deputy Sheritf Thomas went to the Hubbard cabin to .search for the treasure supposed to be concealetl there, and in tiuest of more positive proof of his guilt. Stoi)ping at the Stone (.'ut on the railroad, they l)orrowed a jdck and went on. Before they I'eaclied th<' <-abin they met (Jonstalde M. II. ^Morgan, who told them that he and Isaac Keller had just l)een in the cal)in, entering it by raising a window, and had noticed a very I)ad odoi- about the house.

'Mm. Hubbard was away from home, and .Messrs. Wilson and Thomas Ijroke their way into the house by pulling out the staple which held the padlo(d\. Fpon raising the floor and beginning to dig, it was not long Ijefore they encountered the dead body of a child about eighteen months of age. Sending for' the coroner, the search was continued until the horrible fate of the French faiiuly was no longer a matter of doubt. There lay in one common gi'ave, under tin* door of thi; cabin with so light a covering of earth ovei- them that the stench would soon have become intoleral)le, the remains of poor Aaron French, his wife and five children. Some of the family had evidently been murdered while asleep, but the body of ^^Irs. French gave indication that she had fought for her life to the last. Over this sickening mass of corruption, with barely eigliteen inches of earth to cover it, and with blood on the under side -of the Hoor, IIubl)ard and his wife had lived for many months, wearing the clothes of the murdtn-ed family and using tludr household etl'eets, .appareidly unmindful that i-etribution was hovi'i'ing all about them.

On th(! 2d of August, 1855, the grand jury returned a l)ill charging John and Sarah Hub))ard with the murder of Aaron French. They were afterward brought into court and tried separately. Joini Hubbard was

The trial lasted from September ;3d to the Tth, the jury retiringabout 10 o'clock on the night of the latter date.' Tlu- next morning (Saturday) the}' brought in a verdict of murder in the first degree, with the death penalty.

At the meeting of court in the afternoon, the defendant was brought in. Judge "Wallace ovei-ruled the motion for a new trial, as well as an arrest of judgment, and then asked Hubbard if he had anything to say why sentence of death should not be i)ronounced against him. In rei)ly he said lie had not, but with the coiu't's ])ermission he would make a few remarks. . He then proceeded to relate some difficulties he had had with certain Irish Catholics in the neighborhood of his cabin, and surmised that revenge miglit have led them to concert a deep-laid plot for his ruiiL In the most solemn terms, su])stantially denying his guilt of the charge preferred against him, lie spoke of his family and especially of his idiot son, necessarily thrown, l>y his ignominious death, helpless upon the world ; thanked Sheriff Pawling for his humanity and kindness, his counsel for tlieir faithfulness and ability, the judge for liis impartiality and evident leaning to mei'cy in his charge, complained of the language of certain persons outside the jail to him and his wife while imprisoned, and also that the jury had shown no mercy toward him in the rendering of their verdict. At his request ex-Judge Pettit, his counsel, then read for him the following paper :

"In till' course of human juilicaTui'c, now, after verdict, 1 have no reason known to the hiw to opimse this judiz'iueiit. IJiit I ha\-e a reasiin in e(jnseieneL;, and in e-onfuh-nee of the tt-ri'ihh' condition of a dyin^^ man and hid'ore the loftiest of jiid^'-es, I venture, thoui^li una\ailin^', to urge it, tlud I am guilt h'ss of this terrihle ehai-gt-.

'"^1\- presumed guilt is wholly without a motive and ineoiisistent with my past eharaeter. JUit Providener. eai'eful of right and revengeful of all \\'rong. remains to me now my only, hut a eoiihdent hope of delivera]iee.

"I acknowledge here, at this last stage of my melaiudioly cause, surrouiuled with its strangi- wid) of difhcult, unravehnl, ])ainful and inexi)lieahle circinnstances, my grateful sense of the lunnane conduct of the shei-ilt of this county, the intt grity of purp(jse of the hmaan judgment on my conduct, and the humainty of the jury who have l)atientl\- taken in the most ohvious sense my own and the i)ublic interest ill chai-ge.

"1 press again before you that I am innocuous to this aljouiinable and atrocious conduct, and appealing from this judgment, \vhose mercies are exhausted in the verdict of the jui'y, I ])rei)are to go to that Infinite Judge tliat tries the reins and searches the hearts, not of myself only, l)Ut of all the c-hildreii of men.

Among other reiiuirks in sentencing the defendant to be hung on Decembei' Pitli. Jiiilge Wallace said: "You have been found guilty of the murder in cold blood of a man while languisiiing^ upon a bed of sickness. The i)roof establishes the horrid ti-utli, also, that not alone the uuiii (the husband and father i, but also the wife and children, five in luunber, fell victims to your uiuuitural thirst for blood. It appears, also, that this unfortunate victim of youi' cruelty, eonliding in your honesty, integrity and hunuinity. kindly received you and your wife into his own house, humble though that home was, and to some extent, in your })overty-stricken condition, shared with you his own contlition of life. This Avas your condition in his house, too, at a time when, without a{)parent cause (inilecd. what cause could thei-e be for hV) you ruthlessly murdered every mi-mbei' of his family - not even sparing those infant children wiiose sweet smiles of innocence should have awakened your own parental feeling, and deterred you from the accomplislmuMit of the blooLly puri)Ose of \our heart, or like the rays of sunshine peering in upon the tt'rriblc darkness' of your soul, guided you again to your lunnanity, awakening a sense of gratitude to your frimd and their fatlu'r."

An api^eal to the State Supreme Court faih-d, and at 3 o'eloek on Thursday, tlie 13th of l)ecend)er, 1S55, Hubbard was hung aceording to the (leerers of jury and eourt. Tlie seene of his execution was tlie eourt liouse square, and it was witnessed ])y thousands who tioeked thitlicr from distant points in Xurthern and Central Indiana. Legally, the hanging was private, l)Ut actually it was far from it.

The l)ody of Huljbard was deeently l)uried, but it is said to have been afterward disinterred in the '-interest of science." The discovery was made that it had carried several bullets for many years; their presence was, of course, never explained. A plaster cast of the criminal's head and shoulders was long preserved by Dr. James Ford, and showed the likeness of a man who seemed capable of uprightness, honor and even hunumity. ^\ ,\..?a'. }'' .

:\lrs. Hid)bai'd was tried for the same abominable crime in the Circuit Court of Crant County, and in April, 1850, was sentenced to hai-d labor in State's Trison for life. When the Woman's Reformatory was established, she was transferred to that institution, where she lived to be a matronly, white-haired old wouum. one of the most obedient and bidable of its iiunates, never causing the attendants any trouble whatever. She was often visited by pei'sons from Wabash County and was frieydly and talkative, but when asked about the French family, she said that was a sealed book and would not talk about it. She died in the institution.

Hubbard's is the only execution which has ever occurred in Wabash County, and it is believed that it will be the last. The case is therefore historic, as well as dramatic.

From the organization of AYabash County, in 1835, until the reorganization of the judicial circuits of the statein 1853-54, the county was a part of the Eighth Circuit, and the president judges were as follows: (lustavus A. Everts, 1835; Samuel C. Sample, 183G; Charles W. Ewing,

Under the act of February 10, 1831, the associate judges of the Circuit Court acted on all matters of probate until the first ^Monday in August, 1836, when Elmer II. Cox was elected to the bench of the Probate Court. His term was for six years from August 30th. AVilliani Steele was clerk of the court. The first meeting of the Probate Court, under the jurisdiction of Associate Judges Jackson and liallinger, was lield Xovendjcr !), 1835, and the first meeting at which a regular probate ju'dge presided, November 14, 1836. On the second day of the latter term a seal of the court was adopted, appropriate doubtless, but not esi)ecially cheerful. "Words to be engraved on said seal to be 'Indiana, AVabash Probate Court,' and in the center of the seal a female figure Setting ( ?) leaning over the tigure of a coflin, with her left elbow resting on the shoulders of the said col!in, her head sui)ported by her left hand, hokling a handkei'chief in the left hand l)etween the side of her face and her hands."

The earlier terms of the Probate Court were held at private houses, often at those of the judges themselves. Those who occupied tlie bench until the probate Imsiness was transferred to the Coui't of Common Pleas were as follows: Elmer E. Cox, 1836-38 (resigned) ; James

I"^n(ler the act approved ]\Iay ]4, 1852, the Court of Common Pleas of Wabash County was created, l^y that law tlie state was divided into Common Pleas disti-icts, from the courts of wliieh there was an appeal to tlie Circuit Courts. At first Wabash anil Kosciusko counties constituted tlie Tliirt>--tliird District. In each of the districts a judge was to be elected at tlie annual election in October, 1852, antl every fourth year thereafter. Jolm L. Knight was elected first .iudge of the Tliirtythird District, and on the od of January, lS5;i the tii'st term of the Common Pleas Court for AVabash County was held in the coui't house at the seat of justice. Besides the proliate l)usincss, its jurisdiction was concurrent with the Cii'cuit Court ""in all cases against lieirs, devisees and sui-eties of executors, administrators and guardians; in the partition of real estate, the assignment of dower, and the appointment of a eommissionei- to execute a deed on any title bond given l)y a decedent;" also, "in all civil cases, except for slaixh-r, libel, breach of marriage contract^ action on of!icial I)ond of any state or county officer, and where the titli' to real estate shall be in issue, aiul when the s\nn due or demanded, or the daiiuiges claimed, shall not exceed $1,0()(), exclusive of interest and costs. Tn all that class of otfenses not amounting to felony, except those over which justices of the peace had jurisdiction, the Common Pleas Coui't had original jurisdiction. The clerk of the Circuit Court was ex-officio clerk of the Common Pleas Court.

Judge Knight, of W^abash County, continued to occupy the bench through 1855; was succeeded by George E. Cordon, also of this county, wljo served one year; Joseph II. Alatlock, l,S57-f)(); Kline C. Shryock, of Fulton County (then in the district), 18(iO-(i;-5 (resigned to enter the army) ; David I). DykiMnan of Cass County, l.S(j8-65; Thomas C. Whiteside. 18(;5-7() ; James H. Carpenter, 1870-7:5. The Legislature of the latter year, as stated, abolished the Court of Common Pleas and transferred all its business to the Circuit Court, which now shares with the justices' courts th<' great i'esponsi1)ility of dispensing justice in Wabasli County.

Tiicidciitally, the reader has already mettlui pioneer members of the ])ar. who usually figui-ed in vai'ious ))ublic eapaeiti<'S; as a iiew community can ill afford to let any good, intelligent man go to waste. The

Col. ^Villialll Steele has ali'i-ady been mentioned as the county's tii'st rel)resentati\-e (jf the liar. He was a good lawyer, hut was so ac/tive in his jnihlie capacities that he rathei- scattered his abilities in the strictly l)rofessional field. He was so ahle, so ])Oindar and so versatile that the ])eople simi)ly would not let him alone.

William II. Coond)s, who came from Connersville. Indiana, in the siniimer of \s:',7), was perhaps the second retrular pi'actitioiier, hut though he made a ^uod impression dui-ing the few years of his i'esi<leiic(,' in the county, he sought a larger professional field in h'ort AVayne.

John V. Pettit came from Logansport soon after his admission at the bar of the Cass County Circuit Court and rose rai)idly in the profession. I'\jr iiutny years he was associated in practice with Hon. Calvin Cowgill. In IS.").'] he was a{)pointed judge of the Eighth Circuit, having already served in the State Assembly and as Government consul in Brazil. He resigned the judgeship in 185-i to be elected to Congress, being honored by three successive terms. Then back to the State Legislature. Judge Pettit was in Congress also during the first of the war, and although originally a democrat became a stanch republican and an acknowledged foi'ce in the councils of Lincoln and Governor Morton. In many re spects he was a great man. In view of his frail physique and almost lifelong sickness, his accomi)lishments were certainly most remarkable. II.' died at his home in AVal)ash. March 21, ISSI.

James D. Conner, a Fayette County man, located at Wal)ash in 1840, when he had ])ut just ])assed his uuijority, ])Oor but ambitions in the right way. Within a decade he stood among the leading members of the bar. lie was a strong whig and in IS.")!; was sent as a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention which nonnnated Fremont foi' the presidency of the new party. As a i-epuhlican he was among the first to serve in both the lower and upper hous( s of the state Legislatuiv, and although as eaidy as ISlil Line. -In ti ndei'ed him a judicial appointment, he did not ascend the bench until 1SS4, when he was elected judge of the Twenty-seventh Circuit, then composed of Wabasli and ^Miami counties. He served in that capacity for six years to the satisfaction of l)otb lawyers and tlu-ir clients. Ju(]|j:e Conner married a dani;liter of Col. Hugh iraniia, and was tlierefore doubly endeareil to Waliasli County people.

Calvin Cowgill was lioi'n in ISli), the same year as Judge Cornier, hut the foriin'r was a native of Ohio. In lS-12 he was admitted to the bar at Winchester. Indiaiia, and Ixd'ore the Supreme ('ourt at Indianapolis, but did uot pi'actiee' much for si'Vei'al \'ears. In 1851 he was elected to the Legislatui-e and in the following \-eai' moved to Wahash, where he conuiienced active i)i'actice with John IT. Pettit. lie was among the pioneer republicans of Wabash (,'ouuty, served for several years as trt-asurer, was provost nuirshal during the ('ivil war, and was sulisecpiently returned to the Ceneral Assembly. In the late '70s he was elected to Congress. He was also })rominent in connei-tion with the organization and presidency of the Grand Ifapids, AVabash & Indiana Railroad, and for several years at the head of the Wabash Natural Gas Company, as well as a leader in otiier large enteriirises.

(Jen. Charles S. Parrish was adndtted to the bar at AVabash in 1856, served as prosecuting attorney of the circuit for tlu» term commencing 1857, and was for many years after a leader at the bar, as well as one of the nu)st prominent citi/ens of Wabash. He served throughout the Civil wai- from captain to brevet brigadiei' general and no citizen did more for tlu' Cidon, both at home and at the fi'ont. General Parrish was afterward uuiyoi- of the city, and. whether in peace or in war, was honored for his faithfulness and ability.

Peujannn V. Williams, who had lived in Wabash since he was three yeai's old, stuilied law under Judge Coiuier and at liutler Cnivei-sity, Indianapolis. In 1851) he graduated from that institution at the head of his class, antl immediately commenced pi'actice at \Val)ash. At the very couniiencement of his practice, in Api'il. ISliC he enlisted in the first company which left Waliash, connnand.'d by Captain Parrish, reenlisted in August. 1S02, and did not return to his law ])i'actice until the war was over. He l)ravely served as captain of Com])any K and foi' many years after the Civil war actively and successfully i)i'acticed his profession. Captain Williams is now the oldest lawyci' in the county measured by length of professional service, is the father of the l)eautiful i\Iemorial Hall erected to the sohliei's with whom he mai'ched and fought ill his youiijLnT days, ami is among the bc'st-infonm-d m.'ii in the county. JArryhody knows hnn and lias a warm lieart for him, as lie has for all.

John J.. Knight studied law with Judge Conner, and in 1843 was admitted to jiraetiee before the Circuit Court, lie was a line lawyer, the lirst judge of the Common Pleas Court and a credit to both the bench and bar.

Daniel M. Cox located at La tiro at an early day, afterwards moved to Wabash, was at one time editor of the Wabash Intelligencer, and was what nmy be called ""an all-arou-id good num.''

In the early ':)()s John M. Council and Joseph II. Matlock added their names to the list of pi'aeticing attorneys in Wabash County. .Mr. Comiell was a fair lawyer, while Judge .Matlock was able both as a practitionei- and on the bench. In 1854 he was elected district prosecutor and afterwards served a term ou the bench of the Court of Common Pleas.

Alanson P. Ferry came to Wabash County in 1843 and commenced thi' i)i-actice of the law at La Gro. Sonu- two years later he came to the city of Wabash and, although he stood high in his profession, his literary attainments di'ew him to jouriudism h\ which, as editor of the Plain Lealer, he nuuie peiha[)s a higher reputation than in the field of law. He was highly respected in every way. He died July 26, 1880, aged about sixty years.

^Mei'edith H. Kidd came from Peru, where he had been admitted to the ])ar in Ls.")!, autl in 1857 was elected prosecuting attorney of the circuit. lie was active and stood high, luit his fine service in the Civil war and later in the regular army overshadowed his reputation as a lawyer. He also made a good record as a banker. lie was a son-in-law of ^laj. Stearns Fisher.