Grant Township

Grant Township

On September 8, 1889, the county commissioners, acting under a petition of tax-payers and voters, made the north half of Union township into a new township, to be known as Grant township. The area comprised in this new division was sections one to eighteen.

Waterloo

Four and a half miles north of Auburn is located the town of Waterloo, in Grant township. The town was formerly in Union township, but upon the division of the latter, the place fell within the bounds of the new township of Grant. Two branches of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad meet at Waterloo, making the town important as a shipping center. In 1890 the town had a population of one thousand four hundred and seventythree; in 1900, one thousand two hundred and forty-four; and in 1910, one thousand one hundred and sixty seven.

The first settlement near the present site of Waterloo was made near Cedar creek, northeast, and was called Uniontown; it is now a mere suburb to Waterloo. Wesley Park erected a board shanty on the site of Uniontown in 1838 as a shelter for two men who were building a bridge over Cedar creek at that point. In November, 1838, D. Altenburg and L. Walsworth and their families, together with the two bridge builders, passed a night while the settlers were on their way from Steubenville to their selections of land in Union township.

Owing to the fact that the place was on the line of the state road from Fort Wayne north through Angola, and being remote from other settlements, it was thought to be a splendid site for a town, and accordingly a plat was made by Frederick Krum. George Trout built a store building and estab- lished a trading point. The firm of M. & A. Hale next entered the merchandise business. James Bowman erected a water power saw mill, and about 1856, after the laying out of Waterloo, changed it to a steam power mill. Richard Burniston was the local blacksmith; Dr. Jones the physician, Mr. Wareham the gunsmith, and a Mr. Smith had a cabinet shop.

The construction of the air line by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad through the county caused the platting of Waterloo City, as it was called for several years, there being another Waterloo in the state. Miles Waterman, afterward a member of the Legislature, owned a tract of land south of Uniontown, lying on both sides of the railroad track. On this tract he laid out the town of Waterloo, assisted by John Hornberger, and the acknowledgment was taken before Justice of the Peace George Wolf on March 14, 1856. A railroad office was the first structure raised. Eli Williamson, the pioneer carpenter, built the first dwelling house. Store buildings were erected by James Irving and John Wood, and rented. The sale of lots and buildings began and continued at a very lively rate, and the population began to increase. Some of the men who moved in were : T. Y. Dickinson, afterward publisher of the Waterloo Press; Dr. J. N. Chamberlain, sheriff of county from i860 to 1862; Henry Willis, who filled the same office from 1864 to 1S68; Jacob Kahn, merchant; Gen. Lewis J. Blair. John Shull opened the first tavern, which was later known as the Central House. J. P. Beers, from Auburn, was the first lawyer in the town. The first grist mill was built and run by Josiah and Jonathan Weaver, and it stood in Uniontown and was built in 1868. George Thompson and Best, McClellan & Moody later erected mills. The latter firm suffered a total loss by fire in 1876. Waterloo has the honor of having had the first fire department in the county.

Waterloo In I9I3

The United States census of 1910 places the number of people in Waterloo as eleven hundred and sixty-seven. The town is well located on two railroads, and enjoys increasing prosperity as a shipping point for the surrounding country. The present town board is composed of the following men : J. E. Dilgard, W. F. Bowman, John Dunn, Wesley Beidler, and Samuel Gfellers. W. R. Newcomer is clerk, Verne W. Lowman is treasurer; and W. H. Ettinger is marshal. A new town hall was built in the year 1912, to replace the one destroyed by the windstorm of November 11, 191 1, which swept over the town from a northeasterly direction, and entailed a hundred thousand dollar loss to the town. The new town hall is modern in equipment and cost twelve thousand dollars. The Indiana Public Utilities Company, an outside corporation, supplies water and light to the town. Gas, paved streets and sewerage have not yet been installed in the town.

Library History

The first steps taken to procure a library for Waterloo were taken in the fall of 191 1. On the evening of December 5, 191 1. Miss Ora Williams, of Indianapolis, one of the state organizers, came to Waterloo, and a public meeting was called at the old United Brethren church, and the library law and its scope fully explained. A committee from the Fortnightly club, the Minerva club, the Progressive club, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, was appointed to proceed with the work of organization. Not until the summer of 1912, howe\-er, was the work pushed. Then they got busy and the necessary subscription was soon raised, and at the July meeting of the town board the petition and the subscription list were presented and the town board ordered the levy to be made. One of the first official acts of the newlyappointed town board was the issuance of an invitation to the advisory boards of Grant and Smithfield townships to join in the establishment of a public library. Smithfield township took no action, but the advisory board of Grant township wanted an expression from their people. The necessary signatures of the tax payers was obtained, and the levy made.

A room in the Denison block was rented, and Bertha Knott was appointed librarian, and on November 20, 191 2, the library was opened to the public. Book showers, donations by individuals and clubs, entertainments by the Rebekah lodge and high school societies furnished money to buy books, and four hundred books were on the shelves and the state loaned two hundred more.

The erection of a building had been discussed early and the secretary of the board was instructed to open up correspondence with the Carn^ie corporation. After some delay this was done, and on March 26, 19 13, the Carnegie board pledged nine thousand dollars for the building with the conditions that a site must be donated and the town and township to guarantee to raise nine hundred dollars annually to maintain the library. On April 14,. the board selected the two Showalter lots on the corner of Wayne and Maple streets as the best site for the new building and the purchase money was contributed by the people of the south side. Wilson B. Parker, of Indianapolis, was chosen as architect. On June 28th. contracts were let. Goodall & Sons, of Peru, secured the contract. The new building will be ready for dedication sometime in December, 1912, or the first of the year 1913.