Adams Township

Adams Township

On May 14, 1822, the county commissioners established Adams township with the following limits : Beginning at the county line on the township line dividing townships 10 and 11, range 8, thence east with the township line to the line dividing sections 32 and ^^, range 9, township 11; thence north to the southwest corner of section 21 in the town and range aforesaid; thence east to the southwest corner of section 23, range 9, township 1 1 ; thence north with the section line to -the southwest corner of section 14, thence east to the southwest comer of section 17, range 10, township 11; thence north with the section line to the county line ; thence west with the county line to the northwest corner of said county ; thence south with the county line to the place of beginning.

This was one of the three original townships laid out in the county, and has been cut down three different times: First, by the formation of Clay township in 1825, sections 27, 26, 25, 30, 34, 35, 36 and 31, township 11, range 8, being cut off to give Clay its present size ; second, when Clinton township was formed, Adams suffering the loss of fourteen whole sections and five half-sections, township 11, range 9, as follow: 2t,, 24, 14, 13, 18, II, 12, 7, 2, I, 6. 35, 31 and the half sections, 34, 3, 10, 15 and 22; third, two sections, 19 and 20, township 11, range 9, were added to Washington township. This left the limits of Adams rather ill defined and after the last cut was made from this township, is found the following extract in the minutes of the commissioners' records: Adams township limits (Vol. i, page 135) : "On May 2, 1825, the limits of Adams township were redefined by the board of justices as follows : Beginning at the county line on the range line dividing ranges 9 and 10; thence south fi\'e miles to the southeast corner of section 24, range 9, township 1 1 ; thence west to the county line ; thence with the county line to the place of beginning."

The Squatter

Prior to 1818 a small portion of southeastern Indiana, only, had been purchased from the Indians and partially settled. In that year a treaty was concluded with various triljes of Indians, by which most of the land in the interior of the state, south of the Wabash river and not previously purcliased, was deeded to the United States. Immediately, emigrants began to push their way into the "New Purchase," as it was called. The lands were not yet surveyed nor ready for sale; still, choice selections could be made preparatory to purchase when the land should be offered for sale - the "squatter," in the meantime, clearing a small piece of ground in some eligible situation, where he hoped soon to buy. This small tract, with the game, which was abundant, produced sufficient to satisfy his wants.

The First Settler

The first white man to take up his abode in Adams township is believed to have been John Gullion. He came from Switzerland county, and was an old Revolutionary soldier - said to have been perfectly irrepressible and uncontrollable in battle. He had been shot through the cheek and mouth in some of the battles of that war, and was greatly disfigured. It is believed he visited the country above Big Flatrock in the fall of 1818, building a "shanty" and, perhaps, clearing some ground in the bottom near where the Michigan road crosses that stream. In the spring of 1819 he moved his family and took up his pemianent residence. In the same spring, Abraham Heaton settled about one mile further up that stream. He cleared land and raised a crop of corn in the bottom just below the mouth of Little Flatrock, in what in later years has been known as the Manley Kimble bottom.

In November, 181 9, Edward Tannor arrived and settled on the school section near where Nelson Jewett now lives, building a shanty and covering it with laark taken from an al^andoned Indian shanty near 1>y. In the spring of 1820, Heaton was joined by Peter Zeigler and Philip Isley, who raised a crop of corn in the same bottom, Iniying corn of Heaton of the previous year's raising, at one dollar in silver per bushel.

hunted with them, and Hved on terms of mutual friendship. In the fall of 1820, the land, having been surveyed, was offered for sale at Brookville. Abraham Heaton bought one hundred and sixty acres where he had located. Peter Zeigler bought one hundred and sixty acres, which was soon afterward sold to Martin Adkins, and is now owned by Joseph D. Pleak. He also bought one hundred and sixty acres just west of the present site of St. Omer, on which he lived until within a few years. Jonathan McCarty bought one hundred and sixty acres where the Michigan road crosses Big Flatrock; J. M. Robison, two hundred and forty acres immediately south of McCarty's, and J\Ir. Sanford, one hundred and sixty acres east of the same. Jonathan Paul entered a half section or more at the falls of Mill creek, near to the present St. Paul, and was one of the first, if not the very first, to erect a mill in the county. Col. \X. \V. Pearce entered one hundred and sixty acres one mile northwest of St. Omer, on the Michigan road, and William Peterson, one hundred and sixty acres just east of the present site of St. Omer. John Shelhorn entered lands between Big and Little Flatrock, and erected a mill on the latter stream about the time, or soon after, that Paul built on }ilill creek. Of course, these were small affairs compared with modern mills. They were devoted mostly to grinding corn, but were provided with bolts which were turned by hand and each customer had to turn his own grist.

Shattered Hopes

Shelhorn also, in 1821, laid oft' a town on the bluft' immediately above the confluence of Big and Little Flatrock, called Rockville, which was the first town laid oft' in the county. The county line not yet having been established nor the county seat located, it was hoped to make it a county seat. The town plat is recorded at Brookville, and the only e\'idence of its existence in our records is in the records of deeds to certain lots - Main street and Broadway being given as part of the boundary. The site was a beautiful one for a town, but, failing to be made a county seat, all further effort to Iniild up a town was abandoned.

David Jewett entered a considerable tract of land just east of Shelhorn, on Little Flatrock. Daniel Stoggsdill arrived either in the fall of 1820, or verj' early in 1821, and was the first minister of the gospel in this section of the country. His home was in the corner of Washington township, yet the church which he founded, and to which for a long time he ministere.d, was in Adams, with whose people he would be more properlv classed than (7) anywhere else. The same may be said of Richard Guthrie, who settled in 182 1, in the corner of Clay, just below the present town of Adams. Solomon Turpin entered one hundred and sixty acres of land on Clifty, where the Michigan road crosses that stream, and Jonas Long, it is believed, the same year entered eighty acres one mile farther west, just east of the present town of Adams. Rev. Joel Clark entered lands in the east part of the township in 182 1, where Phillip Martin subsequently lived. He was a Baptist minister and quite an old man at that time. His son, Austin Clark, was a Methodist exhorter and, in connection with Jonathan Tindale, who came at the same time, established the first Methodist society in the township. Archibald Clark, a brother of Austin, settled on Little Flatrock, near the center of the township. Joseph Lee came in the fall of this year and settled on the school section. Enoch McCarty, Hershon Lee, Daniel Howard, and perhaps others, were in the county, but had not at this date, entered lands with a prospect of becoming pennanent residents.

Enoch James, a young man who had accompanied a family to which he was related, was the first to procure a marriage license in the township, and, it is believed, in the county. He was married in the spring of 1822.

Early Mail Facilities

Jonathan McCarty and Edward Tannor were the first justices of the peace, elected in 1823. The first postoffice was established in 1822, or 1823; \'V. W. Pierce was postmaster. The mails were carried on horseback from Lawrenceburgh to Indianapolis, once in two weeks, and afterwards weekly. The streams were all unlaridged, and in times of high water, which sometimes continued for weeks, the mail carrier had no means of crossing but to swim. A canoe was usually kept at the crossing, and sometimes he would go over in that with the mail bags, swimming the horse by the side of the canoe ; but if the canoe happened to be on the other side, or no one could be found to row it, he would plunge boldly in, protecting the mail bags as best he could. Samuel Frazier was for a long time the carrier, a good-natured, lively young fellow, and, let the weather or streams be what they would, he seldom failed to get the mails through on time. He was long remembered by the old settlers on that route.

Primitive Conditions

This sketch would be imperfect if it did not give some idea of the state of the country and of the difficulties these first settlers had to encounter, yet no description can give to one who never saw the country in its native wildness, any just conception of what it was. Half the country seemed to be under water, hence settlers mostly selected lands near water courses, where, the lands being more broken, dryer situations could be found. In passing from Flatrock to Clifty, in the spring of the year, and sometimes a good part of the year, water from one to three feet deep would have to be waded for near half the distance, the scene being enlivened by the croaking of innumerable frogs, and occasionally by a deer which went bounding through, or over, the thickets of spice and other underbrush.

Of roads there were none that deserved the name. Wilson's "trace," from Napoleon through by the present site of Greensburg and on to Flatrock, and perhaps farther west; Freel's "trace," which, branching off from the former at the big fallen timber, ran through by the forks of Clifty and on to Connersville ; and another from Brookville, through or near the present town of Clarksburg and on to the settlements on Clifty and Flatrock, were the roads followed by settlers. The trees along the route were merely "blazed," and a few brushes cut out. The logs that could be easily removed were taken from the track, and others were frequently crossed by piling chunks on each side which enabled the teams to draw the wagons over.

There were no mills in the country, and meal was made by pounding corn in a mortar. This was made by burning a hole a foot or so deep in a solid sugartree, beech or other log, setting this up on end and erecting over this something exactly like a well sweep, only, in place of rope or chain to attach to a bucket, was a pole with the butt end down, .and fitted nicely to the shape of the mortar. A small portion of corn was put in at a time and pounded till sufficiently fine, and the coarse parts removed by a sieve. This process, hard and tedious as it was, was easier for most than going to mill - the most convenient being four miles below Brookville. Colonel Pierce, who was the first to sow wheat in the township, and perhaps in the countv, that being in the fall of 182 1, was compelled to go to that distance to get it ground - taking two days to go and two to come back.

It was some years before a store was established in the township, the nearest being Benson's, where Spring Hill now is, and at Arthur Major's, two or three miles below the present St. Paul. But very little store goods sufficed in that day: all articles of wear were home-made; spinning and weaving were a part of the regular employment of the women of every household, wool being carded into rolls for spinning by hand, and flax was frequently partly prepared for spinning by the same hands; some, before flax could be raised, substituted nettles, which grew luxuriantly on bottom land to the height of three or four feet; when they had lain sufficiently long to become rotted, they were prepared the same as flax, and made a very good article of linen. Garments were made with but little regard to fashion. The men sometimes wore what was called a hunting-shirt, fringed round the edges with red or blue fringes, and a coonskin cap, with the striped tail hanging down the Ijack - these being the only efforts at style.

The women wore dresses of home-made linsey, or linen striped with indigo or copperas color, to suit the taste, exactly such as can be seen at the present day worn by emigrants from the mountainous regions of Tennessee and North Carolina. Deerskins were, after a home tanning, converted into moccasins. Some of the more well-to-do aspired to shoes (boots were not thought of), but one pair usually lasted a good while, and so careful were the girls of their shoes, that it was the custom, when they w'ent to meeting, to carry their shoes and stockings in their hands, putting them on only when they arrived within a short distance of the meeting-house. Hats were frequently made of buckeye splits, plaited and sewn together, and were quite a stylish article when new, the only draw-back being that after two or three wettings they turned a mouldy, dirty-looking brown color that was anything but handsome.

^^'olves, though not very numerous, were still troublesome to those who attempted to keep sheep. Rattlesnakes were abundant, and, though a source of great dread, yet accidents from this source were not frequent. On one occasion about seventy were killed in one day near Paul's mill, where they had crawled out from their den in the rocks. This was considened rather better than an ordinary day for snakes.

Horses were turned out. after work, to range in the forest, as it was impossible to procure food otherwise, the precaution being taken to fasten a bell to the neck in order that they might be easily found in the morning. But, as the season advanced, the malaria from the swamps, coupled with the continued hardship and exposure, began to tell on the settlers, and nearly all were afflicted with chills and fever. Some continued to shake until Christmas, others recovering in a few days or weeks ; sometimes they were scarcely well enough to attend the sick, yet very few cases were fatal, whether from the mildness of the malady or the scarcity of doctors, it would be impossible to tell.

Wild Game

One year was noted for a wonderful l)eech mast. This l^rought in the pigeons by the millions, squirrels also, and the wild turkeys in vast numbers. It was no uncommon thing to see the whole heavens covered for hours at a time, like a cloud, with pigeons going to the roost in the evening or returning in the morning. Squirrels were so thick as to, in some instances, destroy whole fields of corn in the fall; the trees left standing gave them shelter, so that they ra\-aged all parts of the field alike. Squirrel hunts were sometimes made to try to exterminate them, and it was not uncommon for one man to kill one hundred and fifty in a day. Turkeys, too, were so abundant that frequently only the breast was sa\'ed to dry, the balance of the carcass, though fat and fine, being thrown away. Hogs multiplied rajndly and, feed being abundant in the woods, they soon sought their li\ing there altogether, and became as wild as the deer. Almost everyone had wild hogs in the woods and those who had not. bought a real or pretended claim from someone else; these claims never ran out or became worthless while the hogs lasted, there being no first mortgages to come in, as in later times, to swallow up all minor interests. In the fall or beginning of winter it was the custom to go to the woods, strike a camp, and hunt and kill wild hogs till enough were secured for the year's supply. The hogs, being almost wholly unmarked, few could tell their own from others, nor did they seem at all particular, the fact that one had a claim being thought sufficient to justify him in taking the first he came to.

The temperance reformation had not yet commenced and all classes used whiskey as a regular beverage. To supply this want, whiskev being thought indispensable, still-houses were very early erected, and there have been as many as six in a township, though not all in operation at one time. They have long since disappeared, yet their influence probably long survived them.

Pioneer Schools

Amidst all disadvantages, the interests of education, morality and religion were not wholly neglected. Rude school houses were put up by the voluntary aid of contiguous neighbors. A log was usually cut out of the wall on one side and over this greased paper was pasted, this serving for a window. Under this was the writing-desk - a board laid on pins, driven in the wall ; and the seats were split puncheons, without backs. The teachers, sometimes, very well matched the school house, while some would compare very well with those of the present day. People with such rude surroundings sometimes gained a very good practical knowledge of arithmetic, going clear through and doing every sum in a single quarter, a feat that under modern teaching is seldom accomplished under three or four, so little do the surroundings of a scholar have to do with his ad\-ancement.

The present officers of Adanis township are: Trustee, L. A. Jewett; assessor, Ed Shower; advisory board, William Larrigan, J. S. Townsend and Manford Slifer; road supervisors, Ed Hoffman, T. M. Fa\or, George Smith and Thomas Teitsort.

The little village of St. Omer is located in section 2, Adams township, and appeared on the horizon for the first time in 1834, when it was laid out by John Griffin and A. Major. It is on the old Michigan road and was formerly an important trading center of Adams township. Scattered along either side of the famous old thoroughfare, which is the main street of the little village, may be seen quaint old cottages, once the home of happy and contented people. The first building in the town dates from 1830. The Michigan road was once an Indian trail which wound its way through this country, and, from the opening of the "New Purchase" to settlement, the trail became the main road from the southeastern part of the state to the new capital at Indianapolis. With the opening of the Michigan road by government and state aid, in the early part of the thirties, taverns sprang up at intervals throughout its entire length, and these taverns, in many instances, became the centers of hopeful villages. In St. Omer may still be seen a few buildings which were once used as taverns. The Wilder property was once such a tavern.

Visions Of Railroads

In the early forties, St. Omer began to see visions of a railroad, but the vision was all the people ever saw. The present Big Four was first planned to run through the village, but subsequent surveys showed that it would miss the town by about two miles. Another projected road which was to pass through St. Omer was a line from Greensburg, part of which was actually graded. However, this line never materialized, and since that time the town has given up hopes of ever ha\-ing a railroad. This projected road explains the huge cuts and fills which may still be seen along the Michigan road between Greensburg and Shelbvville. The work had even proceeded so far that part of the abutments for the bridge across Flatrock were in place. Thousands of dollars were expended, to say nothing of the time and labor and blasted hopes.

An interesting incident connected with this \isionary railroad was a clan feud between the Irish laborers of Shelb}-\-ille and those stationed at St. Omer. So bitter became this strife that they took their old flint-lock muskets with them to their work day after day and stacked their arms along the right of way, to be used in case trouble might arise. Several skirmishes actually occurred and some blood was shed, but there were no fatalities.

Few people know that the timber was prepared for the construction of a depot in St. Omer, but such was the case. The depot was to stand on a spot just south of the later residence of Wesley Wilder, but when it was decided to change the route of the railroad, the timbers were hauled to St. Paul and became a part of the residence of Joseph Eck. So much for the railroad history of St. Omer.

Education

The subscription school furnished all of the education for the youngsters of St. Omer before the adoption of the new Constitution in 1851. ^Vhen the system of free schools came into operation, in that year, St. Omer was divided between two school districts, one school house being in the village and the other in the woods near where John Leach later lived. This did not prove satisfactory and in 1856 the citizens of the village secured a graded school and placed it in the hands of Franklin Pearce and Samantha Mann, the mother of Dr. E. Jewett. A few weeks after school began, Mr. Pearce was hit on the head with a stick of wood in the hands of one of his pupils, and killed. Whether it was accidental or intentional, is uncertain. The school was one of the best in this section of the state at the time. Latin, German, algebra, music and other higher branches were included in the curriculum. The present school building was erected in 1879.

There have been three churches in St. Omer, the Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian and L^nited Brethren. The Presbyterian church was destroyed l)y fire several years ago and never rebuilt, tradition saying that the church was burned as the result of some courageous preacher pointing out in too plain a manner the future destiny of a certain young man whose agricultural efforts were devoted to the sowing of the wrong kind of oats. The history of the other churches is given elsewhere in this volume.

St. Omer has never boasted of a large population and today can scarceh^ claim over half a hundred. There were never any factories of any importance in the village, but from the earliest history of its career there were artisans capable of supplying most of the local wants. Plows, wagons, saddles and harness, hats, beds and many other articles have been made here in a small way. Coopers, butchers, blacksmiths, wood-workers, carpenters, and even tailors, have pursued their trade here in the past. At one time there were four general stores, two drug stores, a hotel or two, and the ubiquituous saloon in St. Omer, and all of them appeared to thrive. John F. Harwood opened the first hotel and Harvey Vaupelt established the first store. Today there is not a single store in the village, the proximity of St. Paul, two miles away, having made it impossible for a local merchant to continue in business.

The history of this once prosperous little hamlet cannot be dismissed without mentioning an interesting dream of its former inhabitants. Before the Civil War, St. Omer entertained aspirations of being a county seat. A project, fathered by some politicians, proposed to make a new county out of parts of Decatur, Shelby and Rush counties, with St. Omer as the county seat. However, so much opposition was encountered that the proposal never did anything more than raise the hopes of the guileless people of St. Omer. The promoters of the new county even went so far as to select the site for the new court house, the site being located across the road and west of Smith's garage. The failure of the new-county scheme and the shifting of the railroad, two miles to the west, was the death-knell of St. Omer. Its oldest citizens can still tell of the halcyon days when they fondly imagined great things for the town. They planned for its future with every confidence in the promises of the railroad people, and likewise gave every encouragement to the county-seat proposal - l)ut, alas, it was all in vain.

The village of Adams is situated on the Big Four railroad and also the interurban line. It is only five miles from Greensburg and in the extreme southern part of the township bearing the same name. The village was laid out by Aaron H. Womack, January i, 1855, two years after the completion of the railroad through this township. It is located in the center of a rich agricultural district and, although there has been a great falling off in the population of some of the smaller towns since the general influx to the cities began, Adams has continued to grow. Mr. Womack was the first merchant in the village, although William Gouldsbury is credited as being the first settler. Mr. Gouldsbury erected the first residence in the town and also established the first industrial enterprise in the form of a blacksmith shop and wagon works. Around this nucleus soon gathered a prosperous settlement of industrious, intelligent and progTessi\'e people.

Adams was incorporated in September, 1877, for school purposes, but the school was taught only one term under corporate management. Confusion and jealousies arising among the officers and citizens, it was determined, by a unanimous vote, to abolish the corporation and return to the management of the township trustee.

The business interests of Adams in 191 5 are as follows: Auctioneer, A. F. Eubank; barber, George Baumgartner: blacksmith, J. S. Hichney and I N. Con, John Inman, Charles Adkins; boarding house, Mrs. Mae Longstreet; contractor, James Inman; elevator, Albert Boling; general merchandise, Arthur Toothman, J. J. Mull, Walter Marshall; implements, L. R. Davis; livery, William Jackson; meat market, A. R. Coy; physician, M. A. Tremain; paper hanger, Ed Shauer; restaurant and confectionery, A. R. Coy; veterinary, Morton Tanner.

Adams has a well organized band of fifteen members, with Justin Guthrie as leader. They were organized in the winter of 19 13 and ha\e two thousand dollars invested in instruments. This band has recently purchased new uniforms and renders concerts during the summer months for the entertainment of the townspeople.

Adams is accommodated by the Big Four railroad, with A. R. Coy as agent, and also the electric line, with Arthur Toothman as agent. Grace Jackson is the present postmistress. The town has a population of four hundred people.

Downeyville is a small hamlet in Adams township. This village was never platted and, although the name covers considerable space on the county map, there are only four or five houses in the cluster that marks the town limits. The business interests, which consist of a general store, are conducted by J. F. Downey & Sons.

I06 Decatur County, Indiana

Few of the present generation know that the first town laid out within the present Hmits of Decatur county was located in Adams township. Shortly after land in the "New Purchase" was offered for sale at Brookville, Abraham Heaton bought one hundred and sixty acres in section 6 of Adams township. In the early part of the following year John Shelhorn entered a tract in the same section and these two men conceived the idea of laying out a town above the confluence of Big and Little Flatrock. The county of Decatur had not yet been organized and no one, of course, knew how much territory the new county might include. Heaton and Shelhorn hoped to induce the authorities to select the site of their proposed town for the county seat and when they laid out their town provided for a public square. On the Franklin county records may still be seen the town of Rockville, which these two enterprising Yankees laid out in the early spring of 1 82 1. The plat was recorded at Brook ville, February 19, 1821 (Deed record E, page 76), and shows one hundred and eight lots. The streets were one chain in width and seventy-five links in length. The plat shows the following streets : Main, Broadway, Walnut, Water, Mulberry and Market. While the site was a beautiful one, the proprietors never realized anything from their patriotic efforts to make it a town. During the following year the locating commissioners placed the county seat of the new county at Greensburg and thus blasted any hopes that Heaton and Shelhorn might have entertained for their town. The present town of Downeyville is in the neighborhood of this long- forgotten, prospective county seat of Decatur county.

The town of St. Paul came into existence at the time the Big Four railroad was built through Decatur county, in 1853. The town is on the line between Decatur and Shelby counties, although the greater part of the town is in Decatur county. Jonathan Paul was the first settler to locate on the present site of St. Paul, entering all of section 33, township 11, range 8, except eighty acres; the patent for this large tract being dated October 20, 1820. The Pauls came from Jefferson county, Indiana, where one of the members of the family had laid out the town of Madison. A sister of Jonathan Paul became the wife of William Hendricks, congressman. United States senator and governor of Indiana.

The original Paul home in Adams township, Decatur county, was a log cabin near the road, at the foot of the present Paul Hill cemetery, at St. Paul. There was a semblance of a village many years before the town was laid out, the hamlet being known as Paultown. The older residents still speak of the place as Paultown, but few of the present generation are aware of the first name.

The first Paul cabin burned a few years after it was erected and another log structure was built on the same spot, which ser\'ed as a home for the family until the erection of a substantial brick building. The contract for the erection of the brick house was let to Daniel French, who made the brick near where the house was built. The evidence of this worthy contractor's work still stands in St. Paul and bids fair to stand for many years yet to come. Shortly after getting his first cabin erected, Paul established a rude mill on Mill creek, a short distance above where the later Paul mill stood. This first mill - and it was probably the first mill in the county - was not much larger than a smoke-house, but it served the purpose for which it was built. He ground only corn and this was done in an old-fashioned hand "hopper."

A few years after Jonathan Paul put his first mill into operation, his son, John Paul,. built another inill a short distance below the old mill and operated it by water-power. Sometime later John Paul saw that there was an excellent water-power site at the confluence of Mill creek and Flatrock and proceeded to build a woolen-mill on the west side of Mill creek near where it empties into Flatrock. He built a dam across Mill creek and the race which he constructed may still be seen. John Paul also had a saw-mill near the same place, deriving his power for its operation from Flatrock. The two mills were close together and it was his original intention to utilize the same race for both mills, but such a plan was found impracticable. These two mills gave employment to several men and were the means of attractmg a number of families to the little hamlet of Paultown, or "Bull Town," as it was frequently called. In the spring of 1847 the two mills were swept away by a flood and Paul also saw his dam across Flatrock disappear at the same time.

Railroad Booms The Town

From 1847 to 1854 was a period of depression in the once thriving village, but with the building of the railroad through the place in the latter year, things began to look more auspicious. Paul rebuilt his mill, and, with the assistance of his son-in-law. Erastus ]\I. Flovd, laid out the town into lots; giving it at the same time, the name of St. Paul. From that time forward the town had prospered and today is one of the best trading centers in the count}'. By 1859 the town had increased in population until fnat year saw the erection of thirty buildings. According to a local account, there were the following enterprises in St. Paul in 1859: Merchants - Caldwell & Dorsey, Drummond & Buell, Ridlin & Company, John DeArmond and Benjamin Jenkins ; steam and water mills - George Wooden ; cabinet shop - - Hann & Raymond; two hotels; woolen factory - John Paul, and a number of other industries.

A word should be said regarding the old Paul mill, which no longer greets the eye of the fisherman as he wanders along Mill creek in search of chubs and slickjacks. Amateur photographers no longer compete in efl:'orts to get the best pictures of the building, with its quaint overshot wheel. The old mill was razed in 1909 and nothing now remains of an industry which was once a boom to the settlers who flocked from far and near to take their turns in getting their grist ground. Never again will the curious gather to watch the water, freed from the race by the lifting of the old water gate, rush down over the wheel and fill the buckets. The hum of the old French burrs is silenced forever; no more will the youth of the village, stripped to the skin, stand under the falls of the race overflow ; no more will boys borrow the old miller's spade, with which to dig worms when fishing in the old mill race; no more will they parch corn on the top of the old box-stove, fired with cobs, and listen to the miller's stories of pioneer days.

Schools And Churches

The first school house in St. Paul stood on the site of the store now owned by the Benning Brothers, and the second one was located where Walter Hungerford's residence now stands. School was also held for a time in the second story of Oddfellow hall, now the carriage and buggy factory of Jacob Johannes. During the early seventies a school was maintained in both the Methodist and Catholic churches. After leaving Oddfellow hall, the public school was stationed in the building now owned by Henry Neidigh, which was also used for religious purposes at the same time. In 1870 the school district built a school house about one hundred feet back of where the present school building now stands. This building was used until it was destroyed by fire in 1901, and, until the completion of the present building in the following year, the Floyd building was used for school purposes.

The first church building dates from 1857 wlien the different denominations of the town erected what they called a union church. Each denomination interested in the erection of this edifice was to be allowed to use it at regular intervals, but it seems that, owing to the predominance of the Lutherans, it was commonly known as the Lutheran church. However, other denominations used it for services for a few years. Just when the Lutherans gained complete control of the building is not known; hut it is certain that it was unused several years previous to the time the Christian church got possession of it in 1874. The Christians seemed to ha\'e rented it until 1892 when they purchased it and made many extensive improvements in it. The Methodists built about 1858 and the Catholics in the same year. I'he first Methodist church burned in 1892 and in the same year the present church was erected. The Catholics are still using the church thev built in 1858.

Industries And Commerce

The stone industry in St. Paul was started in the 'fifties bv John Scan- Ian, who established a stone quarry south of town, which gave emplovment to a large number of men. Later, William Lowe established a quarry at the junction of Mill creek and Flatrock, on the site of the old woolen-mill. Later H. C. Adams opened a quarry opposite the Lowe quarry on Flatrock. In 1 913 P. J. McAuliffe, who had leased the Lowe quarry, some years previously, closed the quarry as a result of the extensive damages suffered by the March flood of that year. In 1907 Greely Brothers built a large stone crusher on Flatrock east of town. This is one of the largest concerns of its kind in Indiana and produces from fifteen to twenty car loads of crushed stone daily. In addition to crushed stone for road material, a large amount of what is locally known as "dimension" stone is quarried. This stone ranks second in the state to Bedford stone and is shipped for building purposes all over the United States. It was used in the construction of the custom house at Cincinnati and in the state house at Indianapolis. The only other industry of any importance now in St. Paul is the buggv' factory of Jacob Johannes. This was established by the present proprietor in 1878 and has been in continuous operation since that year. Formerly carriages were manufactured as well as buggies, but at the present time only buggies are made. The factory has an annual capacity of one hundred buggies and on an average of se\-enty-five are now made each year. Only first-class vehicles are turned out and the product finds a ready sale, despite the heavv inroads which the automobile has made in the vehicle industry. In addition

The first merchant in St. Paul was a man by the name of Hungate, who sold a little of everything, as was the custom in those days. The business enterprises of the town change from year to year, and scarcely a year passes that there is not some change in firms. New enterprises are being added from year to year, and it is impossible to predict what a new year will bring forth.

A survey of the business and professional interests of St. Paul in the summer of 1915 discloses the following: Automobiles, St. Paul Hardware Company; bakery, St. Paul Baking Company; barbers, Jacob Wise, William Favors, Carl Brooks; blacksmiths, Merritt Copeland, ManHef & McAuliffe; buggy factory, Jacob Johannes ; building and loan association, George W. Boling, secretary; bank, St. Paul Banking Co., Orlando Hungerford, owner; cement products, Joseph Eck ; carpenters, George W. Swartz, Albert Hay- - mond, Miller Brothers; dentist, Leshe Rivers; drugs, Dr. D. J. Ballard, H. H. Gladish; elevator, William Nading; feed and milling products, W. T. Bolhng; flowers, Mrs. H. W. Ballard; furniture, Charles H. Wiley; general stores, R. D. Templeton, L. A. Jewett & Son, A. B. Mulroy; groceries, Benning Brothers, John B. McKee, James Embry; harness, Garrett & Conrad ; hardware, Boiling & Thompson, I. W. Martin ; hotel, Diltz & Adams ; ice dealer, F. M. Favors; ice cream parlor, Mrs. H. H. Gladish; insurance, Mrs. John Harwood, George W. Boiling; interurban agent, Joseph Miller; implements, W. W. Townhend; jeweler, C. F. Kappes; livery, Ottis Thompson; lumber and building supplies, John Sinipson & Son; meat market, Carl G. Wolfe; millinery, Mrs. B. F. Mason; moving pictures, Howard & Pleak; newspaper, St. Paul Telegram^ O. C. Pearce, editor; notions, B. F. Mason; painter and paper hanger, Amos Dodds, Orla Wadkins, Pearce & McAulifife; plumber, Garrett & Conrad; physicians, G. J. Martz. F. M. Howard, Earl Jewett, D. J. Ballard, William R. Turner ; pool rooms, Charles Neal, Wallace McCain, Bush Brothers; rural mail carriers, Clarence Ketchum, Orla Guess, Denzel Doggett ; restaurant, Joseph Miller; stock buyer, Carl G. Wolfe; saloons, George Hess, Jasper Linville (both on the Shelby county side); Standard Oil Company agent, Charles Ross; tinner, George Scheiderman; undertaking, Charles H. Wiley; veterinarian, W. R. Chrisler.

Disastrous Fires In St. Paul

There was prol^ably more excitement in St. Paul during the summer of 1912 than any time since the Civil War. Beginning on December 22, 191 1, there were a series of seven fires, in number, which wrought up the inhabitants of the little town to a high pitch of excitement, and if the guilty parties, suspected of being the cause of the fires, had been caught after the seventh fire, they might have expected severe treatment at the hands of the indignant citizens. The first fire took the elevator; the second, John West's residence; the third, the Big Four depot; the fourth, February 5, 1912, the drug and general store of Daniel Hazelrigg, as well as the postoffice, which was in his building. Hazelrigg's loss was about three thousand dollars, most of which was covered by insurance. The most destructive fire was the fifth one. On Alarch 12, 1912, the stores of A. F. Hier & Son and John R. Turner were burned to tiie ground and by this time the citizens began to investigate matters. Many indications pointed to incendiaries and detectives were engaged to ferret out the cause of the many fires which had come so close together. But there was still more excitement yet to come. On May 3, 1912, the store and residence of William Kelso burned with all of their contents. The barking of a dog in the middle of the night wakened the Kelso family and enabled them to save their lives. By this time the inhabitants of St. Paul were on the border of a panic and there was a mass meeting to decide upon somie definite plan of action to find out the cause of all these many fires. However, the fears of the people gradually subsided and nothing was done. Just about the time that they had come to the conclusion that the fire-bug had decided to burn no more buildings in the town, the new residence of Dr. J. W. Bell burned to the ground on the night of July 10, 1912, and the seventh fire had occurred. According to the newspaper accounts, the same dog which had warned the Kelso family two months previously again appeared on the scene and, by his barking, awakened the Bell family. This was the first fire in which lives were nearly lost, Mrs. Bell being severely burned before she escaped from the house. As might be expected, the people of St. Paul were aghast at this final calamity, and determined to leave no stone unturned in an efifort to solve the cause of the seven fires which had taken place within a period of seven months. But it was to no avail ; the mystery ne\er has been solved, although some people had strong suspicion as to the guilty parties. Fortvmately, this fire of July to has been the last one inflicted on the suffering town.

Big John Of St. Paul

Ill the summer of 191 1, there arrived a big dog in St. Paul via the box car route. A brakeman, on opening a car, was astonished to see a dog of unusual size leap out and run down the railroad track. This particular dog was destined to become the hero of the fire-stricken town in the summer of 1912. He was a friendly sort of a canine and was soon a favorite of every one in the town, and the whole town shared in providing him with dainty bones and all those delicacies dear to the palate of a dog. When the assessor came around in the spring of 191 2 and began to inquire concerning the ownership of the dog, he was told that the dog belonged to the town. Such an ownership was a puzzler for the assessor and he was in a quandry how to collect the two dollars from the town. But he was soon to find out to what .degree the dog had endeared himself to the citizens of the town. The business men took up a collection for "Big John," and thus satisfied the craving of the law and thereby gave the dog another year of legal existence.

This is only half of the interesting story of this dog. The grateful citizens wanted to show their appreciation of his valuable barking and finally decided to present his dogship with a gold collar. The collar bore the engraving, "Big John. Hero. May 3, 1912, St. Paul, Ind." This inscription will enlighten the world where he mingles that this canine is a real hero, and that in St. Paul, Indiana, a dog has appreciati^'e friends.