Eagle Creek Township

Eagle Creek Township

The south-east township of the county, having about twenty-seven sections in the Kankakee region marsh lands, swamp and islands, and nearly twenty-nine sec- tions of high prairie and grove, has these five peculiarities: that it contains no store, no village, no saloon, no post-ofBce, and no church. And there runs across, unless just cutting the north-east corner, no railroad. For an industrious, intelligent, prosperous, and wealthy farming community it is equal to any in the county.

Le Roy

The station bearing the above name, formerly called Cassville is a good market for farm products. There are two principal buyers, S. Love, and John Wilson; and it is said that better prices are paid there than at Crown Point. On one day this fall it is said that one hnndred wagon loads of hay went into Le Roy. The two finest looking houses of the village are, the home of the Beach family, and the house lately built by S. liOve. This house covers an area of nine hundred and sixty-eight feet. In one room are eight doors.

The first sailing on Cedar Lake was done, probably, by Job Worthington of Massachusetts, in a small Indian canoe, and using an umbrella for the sail, in 1837. But the first " snow white sail " that was given to " the gale" was spread, without much doubt, by T. H. Ball, then a boy, and his uncle, H. H. Horton, a merchant from New York. To that uncle the credit belongs of rigging a sail and fitting a rudder to a large row-boat, and sailing on the lake in either 1838 or 1844.

Short Papers

in ] 835. To no other one can its erection with good reason be attributed. In that cabin the editor of this volume spent his first night in Lake county in the summer of 1837.

One of our lawyers, a German by birth, the Hon. J. Kopelke, is one of our best educated young men and a good writer in English and German. He has in his library and reads with facility in their original language the Pandects of Justinian.

The principal builder and contractor of Crown Point is now Thomas B. Lee. He has lately built the county house, Mrs. Biggs' residence, and is building the Presbyterian church. Like others of our citizens he had some thrilling experiences in the war. He was in the battle of Shiloh, a member of a full company in an Arkansas regiment. His company went into battle eighty strong, and only fourteen marched out. Five others were afterwards borne wounded from the field. The other sixty-one men were never seen more.

Probably the best historical and theological library yet collected in the county was that of the Rev. George Woodbridge of Ross, who was eighty years of age in October, 1872, and who died but a few years ago. His library, containing some six hundred choice volumes was divided this year among his children.

Sand Ridge

Hobart. A road runs, a little north of the crest of this ridge, due west for perhaps fortj rods, then straight, bearing a little north of west, four miles in all, to Lansing. There are three cuts now through this ridge, the one at Highlands made for the Chicago & Atlantic railroad; one a mile westward, where, some thirty years ago, & narrow ditch was dug through to let the water of the low lands on the south pass to the Calumet, which ditch was worn by the running water until now at the crest of the ridge it is about seventy feet down to the torrent of water that rushes through in spring time, as though in a mountain gorge, and the opening at the top is by measurement one hundred and twenty feet wide; and the third cut is near the State line, made for the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroad. This ridge of sand extends westward for some distance into Illinois. From its summit near the State line the view extends, without obstruction southward to Dyer, and off as far as the eye can reach upon the prairie region of Illinois. Along this ridge was an old stage road from the old. Liverpool westward.

In the fall of 1856 Chauncey Wilson became a resident on this ridge, on section 19, where Mrs. Julia A. Wilson and two sons, Charles J. Wilson and Robert L. Wilson, still reside. Ira O. Dibble was a few years ago a large land holder in this part of the county. A school house was built in this neighborhood in which the first school was taught by Miss Chloe Green in 1857.

twenty-five members. The first meeting of the school year was held at Crown Point, the second at Hammond, the third at Hobart, and the fourth at Lowell, The year closed with seventy-three members and one honorary member. The first meeting of the present year and the first anniversary was held at Crown Point in the Public School Building November 22, 1884.

From the report of the examiner, who was then James H. Ball, the report of the first regular official school visitation, as that report from week to week was published in the Register, the following is taken:

" Crown Point Graded School - -Mr. J. W. Youche, Principal and in charge of the 1st grade; Miss Flora McDonald, Miss Loe R. Thomas, and Miss Mira L. Clark in charge respectively of the 2d, 3d, and 4th grades. The enrollment of pupils in each grade, commencing with the first, numbers 48, 50, 51, 50." The teachers are spoken of as "energetic and efficient, and working for a higher model, and holding occasional meetings to consult together and devise improvements." "Classes in the first grade in German, Algebra, and Geometry."

Now J. W. Youche is a leading lawyer in town, and State Senator. Miss McDonald is the wife of Dr. Poppe, a well ofE physician of Chicago. Miss Thomas has been removed to Paradise. And Miss Clark is now the wife of the Auditor of Lake county, the family reputed to be among the most wealthy m the county. It is because changes like these take place, in this free land of ours, that so many of the present teachers of the county are young girls scarcely out of their teens, and young men who expect in a few years to be in the legislatures or in Contrress, or in official or professional life, on the road to iame and fortune. We have a Ewer, a Church, a Gerlach, and a Wunderlich; also, W. Esswein, Michael Kolb, W. Northrup, and Silas Zuvers, also, Mrs. Foster, and, until this year, Mrs. Inez Gibson; but nearly all the teachers of a few years ago are in other walks of life. It seems that the Crown Point school then numbered 199. Now the school numbers 532.

It seems almost impossible, with the utmost care, to avoid all omissions of what one expects to insert in a work like this. Before leaving these proposed historical papers I here insert a few omissions that have come to my notice. They all belong to the business interests of Crown Point, and should have been m that paper included between pages 122 and 147.

The first is the business house of Clark & Clingan. James Clingan bought out A. H. Merton, whose store is mentioned on page 134 as being on the southwest corner of the square, and W. A. Clark was admitted as a partner. The firm of Clark & Clingan, then a leading business house, dates from 1857 to 1859. They then dissolved, "W. A. Clark continuing on the west side of the square, who finally removed his stock of goods to the country. James Clingan sold out in 1861 to George Krinbill.

The second is the saloon of N. D. Young, a pleasant, obliging young man who married Miss Josephine Frederick. His saloon and home are near the Pan Handle depot.

The third is the brick making interests of the town. These are the yards of Abrams & Clingan, and of H. W. Wise. At both more than two millions have been made in a season. This year H. W. "Wise has made threefourths of a million and J. Clingan has made one quarter of a million and eighty thousand tile, counting all as three inch tile.

Errata

The editor has thouo-ht, when lookinor at an error in a " form " that had passed through the press, and then looking at others on a --' proof-sheet," " What a privilege it is to be able to correct our mistakes! "

On pfige 114 mention is made of getting an ox out of the mire, and the writer was made to say, " got his body on a rail," an expression involving an absurdity in the eyes of the pioneer writer. The author wrote, " got his body on a roll," and then the rolling process continued till the patient ox reached ground upon which he could stand.

On page 321 the top line is out of place. It should be at the bottom of that page, but was placed at the top by an oversight in making up. Errors of this kind have occurred in the best of Boston periodicals.

Some twelve years ago there was published by T. H. Ball, a history of the county of Lake, commencing with the settlement of 1834 and closino- with some of the more noted events of 1872. In these twelve years some further research has been made into various particulars connected with our history, bat nothing has been brought to light, so far as I can learn, to shov/ much inaccuracy in the volume referred to above. xA. few typographical errors there are, which a careful reader can easily correct. On page 51 is an apparently erroneous statement resulting from a transposition of points. The semi-colon after "Taylor" needs to take |he place of the comma after "Robinson," and then the statement is correct. On page 90, speaking of the Cedar Lake Sun day- School, the word "opened" should be "re-opened," as the school was in existence before that time. On page 242, is a similar error resultino- from an oversiofht in examining- and interpreting a child's diary, the records in which are perfectly reliable, because made at the time and "in black and white." The Cedar Lake day school, there mentioned, was opened on Monday. May 27, 1839; but on account of a temporary absence from home, it was reopened by the teacher on June 10. On page 92 is a real mistake, in regard to the black bear shot by Solon

Shout Papers

Roljinson. John Church was the mail contractor, sometimes employing some one in his place; and on that day the real carrier was a young Parkinson, who afterwards for 3'ears, drove a stage from Valparaiso to LaPorte. On page 52, June 1835 should be 1834, as it is on page 24. On page 170, in the table, the date for Cedar Lake should probably be 1840. On page 172, the name Henry Pettil)one should be under Scientific Graduate, 1872, instead of Literary course not completed.

In Porter and Lake, page 534, the writer proposes to discredit a statement made on page 239 of "Lake County 1834,"" about the fruit crop of North township as compared with the grain crop of Center. Had the writer known more about each, in those years, he would have said less. In that same work, on page 418, in a note, the writer asserts that the statement, "that the county was divided in 188G into North, Center, and South townships," made, as he claims, "by local writers and others," is " a careless mistake." I propose to show that this is not a mistake, and if it were it is not a careless one. On p<ige 206 of oar Lake county history it is stated that the first commissioners of the county in April, 1837, divided the county into three townships, " the townships * ^ being named North, Center, and South." On page 37 it is stated that certain commissioners, in the spring of 1836," divided the territory of Lake into three townships, North, Center, and South." On that page is not said, " being named." Both statements are correct. Solon Robinson says, and he is authority for the early times of Lake county, those commissioners in 1836 divided the county into three townships. He says that when, in 1837, the election was ordered, at which election Lake county commissioners were elected, that election for the north township was held at Amsi L. Ball's, for this center township at the old log cabin, ^ ^ ^ and for the south at the house of Samuel D. Bryant." At the first election after the organization of the county, as held for a justice of the peace he speaks of North, Center, and South. From this it appears that between the spring of 1836 and of 1837, in this county, these were called the north, the center, and the south townships, and that in 1837 these became the proper names applied to them. It also appears that where, on page 37, after the statement is made that this territory of Lake was divided into three townships, " North, Center, and South" are inserted as names, they are thus inserted as the names by which those townships were known in this county, which, as common names, were the proper names given to them in 1837. I am solicitous to show, in behalf of Solon Robinson, no longer living, that he wrote in regard to this with perfect accuracy; and that in following and interpreting him I have made no " careless mistake."

I have but one more reference to make to "Porter and Lake," I do not think any one in this county appreciates more highly than I do what there is that is valuable in that work. It certainly contains blemishes and mistakes. That it should everywhere put, evidently with design, the name Bartlett Ward for Bartlett Woods, is more than a blemish and worse than a mistake. The statement to which I refer is on page 554, in regard to " one Wiggins." He was not " beyond question" the first white man to settle in the township. He certainly did not die in 1836.

Of course, in a territory so new as ours, rapid as has been the growth of some characteristic features of American life, there are to be found not any "ivy mantled tourers,'" no ancestral ruins covered with the moss of centuries, no dwelling places where many generations have lived and died, no classic historic spots, where great deeds have been performed, nothing connected with the white race to stimulate the novelist, the poet, or the orator. But for all that, it may be of value to place on the printed page such records as we have; for we have been making history, we have taken from the wilds what we expect to leave as heritages to our children; we have laid the foundation for homes and burial places and monuments and churches, and towers, perchance, that may in future years become moss-covered and ivymantled; that may at least become venerable with age in the centuries of the future, when the later generations of mankind shall tread upon the dust of the present. An age of fifty years may be entitled to no respect in the lands of the old world, but the civilization of England, of Germany, of France and Switzerland, of Italy, of even Greece itself, of Egypt, Assyria, and China, once was young and fresh and crude. With a rapidity sufficiently great we are sure to be growing old. May our noontide splendor be yet distant far.

Fifty years have done much for us, yet as a portion of time how short! The preparation and arrangement of the abundant material furnished for this volume have both been pleasant employment; and as one hope expressed twelve years ago has been realized, in regard to meeting in 1884 with the gathered sons and daughters of Lake, I have now to look forward to that other gathering of the countless throngs in our future glorious home. Until then I may add, as an expression of my own feelings, on this last page:

And awaits my spirit too ; For the wrong that needs resistance, For the cause that lacks assistance. For the future in the distance, And the good that I can do."

E PHILLIPS & CO.. dealers in Groceries and Ladies' Underwear. - Our stock is constantly increasing. Corner Towle and Doltnn Streets, Hammond, Ind.

HERBERT S. BALL. M. D.. resident physician, will promptly answer all professional calls. Office over Rockwell Brothers store. Crown Point, Ind.

T> McAllister, iron Foundry. Brass or iron casting done to XV» order. Kettles of any size made on short notice. Old cast iron purchased. Shop between the two lepots. at Crown Point-

William Parry

Supplies Marble and Granite Monuments Head Stones, and Statuary, at prices that defy competition. Works East of Cole's store, and opposite Court House.

WHITE BRONZE Those beautiful monuments are endorsed by the leading Scientists of the world as practically irdestructible. equal in strength and durability to the dark bronze statuary of antiquity. Designs and prices given on application to O. ROSE, Gen. Agent for Lake and Porter counties, Crown Point, Ind.

Source changes here: from A Standard History of Lake County, Indiana, and the Calumet Region, by Howat, William Frederick, B. 1869, Ed, published 1915; 46 words in this source stream.

Chapter Xi Hanover Toavnship

Advance German Colonists - Henry Sasse, Sr. - Henry Von Hollen - Lewis Herlitz - Herman Doescher - H. Klass and Klassville - John H. Meyer, Father and Son - Founder of Hanover Center AND Brunswick - German Lutherans, Methodists and Evangelicals - Other Churches and Schools 162