Jefferson Township

Jefferson Township

Jefferson township occupies the southwestern corner of Tipton county, and has the following boundaries: On the north, Prairie township; on the east, Cicero township; on the south, Hamilton county, and on the west, Clinton county. Thirty-nine square miles are embraced within the town¬ ship. The general land surface is similar to that of the county as a whole, namely, level, with occasional undulating areas, and at one time considerable tracts of low, marshy ground. Near the western border of the township there was at one time several hundred acres of wet prairie, almost entirely free from timber with the exception of a dense growth of willows, scrub oak and other small shrubs. The soil in the southern part is of a light color, sandy in spots, while the level land is black and thick, very deep and of. high pro¬ duct ive value.

Dixon creek rises in section 7 and flows in a westerly direction, and Jericho creek flows through sections 21, 22 and 23 and unites- with Cicero creek in section 24. Cicero creek passes through the southern part of the township and is easily the foremost stream in this county, affording an outlet for most of the other streams. The southeastern corner of the township is drained by Prairie creek and a few small tributaries.

Early Settlement

The very first white settlers who came into Jefferson township have left nothing to establish their identity. Their names have been wrapped in the shroud of time, and their deeds while here were not of consequence sufficient to leave definite trace. Squatters came and went, after dwelling in rude shelters along streams for days and weeks, deriving their sustenance from the game of the forest, and making no effort to improve the land. These men disappeared with the incoming of permanent and serious pioneers, to seek other homes in advance of the rush of civilization.

Barnett Stepp was one of the first men to locate here. He moved his family to the southern part of the township in 1835, and took out a claim, which he entered at the government land office one year later. Stepp was a native of Kentucky, but had lived for a number of years in the southern part of the state before coming to Tipton county. He was a man of little or no worth; he made a few unimportant improvements, and lived the life of an animal, with little personal pride or ambition. Another settler, who came in a few years later, stopped at Stepp's cabin and took dinner with the pioneer family. He described his visit thus: "The small cabin was about ten by fifteen feet in size, with no floor and but an indifferent stick chimney. There was no window, save an opening in the wall, which was covered with oiled paper. The furniture was in keeping with the mansion, and consisted of a few rude stools and benches, and an apology for a bedstead, made by driving a post into the ground floor, to which were fitted rough poles reaching to the wall of the cabin. A fire-place in one end of the building answered the two¬ fold purpose of heating and cooking." This same visitor relates that the dinner consisted of a pot of bear meat, with greens and hoe-cake, while one dollar would have bought double the amount of clothing worn by the entire family. Stepp was obliged to exert himself more when the country became more thickly settled, in order that he might make a living. He finally suc¬ ceeded in clearing a small space for a farm, where he lived until his death in 1852. He is described as being "good-natured, harmless and illiterate."

A son-in-law of Stepp, named Horton, came to the township in the sum¬ mer of 1836, and located a short distance east of the claim belonging to his father-in-law, where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land. He was an old riverman and had engaged in steamboating on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers for a number of years, making considerable money, which enabled him to improve his land. He was an indefatigable worker and his orchards were considered the finest in the township. However, he was ec¬ centric and had many peculiar habits. He was fond of high fences, which he constructed twenty rails high, and locked the corner of each panel so firmly that no storm could shake them loose.

Hugh Alexander and Archibald Small settled in the southern part of the township in 1837, near the county line, where the latter entered land in section 35. Alexander purchased forty acres of Small, but remained in the township only a short time, when he disposed of his property and left the country, to the great delight of the people, who had found him an unde¬ sirable.

Deal and his brother-in-law, Benjamin Allen, and James W. Bodkin. The first named entered land in the western part one year after his arrival, but made no very extensive improvements, being what might be termed the drone of the settlement. Allen entered land in the same vicinity and resided on his possession until 1848, at which time he disposed of it and left the settlement. Bodkin entered land, but did not move upon it until a few years later, though he erected a cabin and made other small improvements. He was a bachelor and for a number of years lived with his brother on the place, doing their household duties. They were regular "women" in the opinion and judgment of the neighbors.

The following were other settlers who arrived prior to 1839: Jason Overman, John McKinsey, Jonathan Endicott, Sherwood Allen, John M. Holmes, Thomas Cooper, Alexander Mills, Robert Smith, Jacob Johns, Will¬ iam Turpen, William Wallace and William Black. Overman entered land in 1838, but did not move into the township until sometime later. He settled in the southern part, and was ever connected with the best interests of the country, dying about the year 1871. His son, Nathan R. Overman, was once circuit court judge and a successful lawyer of Tipton, and Emslev A. Over¬ man. another son, was a clerk of the court and a successful newspaper man, and died in 1914, while a deputy clerk of the court.

McKinsey settled also in the southern districts, and was joined a few months later by his son, John, Jr., who made the first improvements on the farm, later owned by John Straley. Allen squatted a short distance south of Tetersburg, and was the first cobbler in the township, a trade at which he worked for a number of years. Holmes secured land near the western border of the county, and was one of the early teachers in the township schools. Cooper settled on the southern county line where the village of Ekin stands, and served as the first justice of the peace in Jefferson township. A son came to the county in company with his father, and lived here for fifteen or twenty years. Mills settled in the south part of the township, and was always known as a good citizen and a Quaker. He afterward removed to Liberty township. Robert Smith located near the village of Goldsmith, and Loke located near Tetersburg, where he built the first blacksmith shop in the township. He later removed to the Western states.

In the year 1836 John D. Smith, a native of Ohio, came to Indiana in company with several land seekers, and passed through the western part of Tipton, then Hamilton county, on a tour of observation. He selected land in section 24, near the southeast corner of the township, and made an entry, after which he went back to his native state, where he married and remained until 1839, when he again came west with the intention of improving his real estate. He was elected a member of the first board of county commis¬ sioners in 1844. He was accounted one of the most valuable men in the his¬ tory of the early. township and county.

Prior to 1840 there was not much settlement made of a permanent na¬ ture. The fact that a majority of the newcomers were men of moderate means was a strong cause for this condition. Among those who entered lands in an early day, but did not improve them, were: Daniel Howe, Sylvester Heaton, Greenup Holman, Levi Clark, William Amber, Richard Spalding, Edison Bennett, Nathan Kirk, Allen Bond, Ross McNeill, Isaac Miller, John McMullen, Jacob Gregg, James Bromthall, Perry Alexander, Hiram Price, John B. Callicote, John Thompson, Isaac Scott, Thomas W. Carter, R. G. Wood, Fred Scott, William McClure, Samuel Walker, William Couts, Stephen Spraker, James McMary, Dickson Hunt ana Thomas Gilfallen. Several of these men made extensive entries with the purpose of gaining a rich profit with the advance of land prices, but in this they were disappointed and some of them were forced into severe financial straits.

Among the settlers of 1838 and 1839 were: Levi Dunn, who stopped in the southern part; Abram Ploughe, south of Tetersburg; John Williams, a Virginian; Charles Winders, who located in the south; James and Joseph Goar, who entered land near the southern boundary. Joseph Goar was one of the first associate judges of Tipton county.

Near 1840 a few settlements were made north of the Indian boundary, in the Miami reservation, the settlers obtaining permission of the Indians to make temporary improvements. The first of these pioneers was George Teter, who squatted near the present site of Tetersburg, where he remained for seven years, waiting for the land to come into market. He was a native of Virginia. Eli and Asa Teter, sons of the above man, came in about the same time and were joined by George Phares, also from the Old Dominion.

In 1839 Archibald Montgomery, a Kentuckian, in company with a party of hunters, passed through the northern part of the township and camped near the present site of Normanda. Being pleased with the country, Mont¬ gomery marked out a claim, with the intention of entering land as soon as it came into the market. In the meantime, he constructed a cabin on his claim, to which his family were moved in 1841, meeting no hostile sentiment on the part of the Indians then in the vicinity. David Kemp came to the township in 1840 and located a claim in the western part, near the village of Kempton, where he built a cabin and moved his family one year later. An¬ drew Evans, a Virginian, made a claim in section 34, the reserve, near Nor- manda. Evans came to Indiana from Kentucky in 1841. He served the town¬ ship as justice of the peace several years. Other settlers who located in the northern part of the township were Edward Jackson, who entered land a short distance south of Normanda in 1841 ; Daniel Stephens, who settled about one and a half miles east of the same place; William Richardson, who took out a claim east of Normanda; Elijah Stanridge, east of Normanda one mile; and James Foster, near Goldsmith.

The first wheat to be sowed in Jefferson township was by Arch Small. John D. Smith was the second man to make an effort at wheat raising, real¬ izing about eight bushels per acre from his crop.

The first settlers of Jefferson township had great difficulty in obtaining the necessities of life such as clothing and groceries. The absence of markets accounted for this. Money was little known as a medium of exchange; the farmers traded their crops and animal skins for the articles desired, which were supplied by a produce collector, who gathered up the ginseng, beeswax, deer skins, honey, etc., for which he exchanged calico, groceries and other commodities at ruinously high prices. The nearest market place was the small village of Cicero, in Hamilton county, sixteen miles from the southern settlement, this distance trebled when the condition of soil and roads is taken into consideration. A trip to this market was undertaken with great hardship and suffering, not mentioning loss in time. The first wheat raised, memtioned above, was cut with an old-fashioned hand-sickle, tramped out by horses and hauled to Lafayette for thirty-seven and a half cents per bushel, the second crop, as stated before, brought fifty cents a bushel. The first bar¬ rel of salt was brought to the township bv Mr. Smith, who obtained it at Cicero, paying twelve dollars and twelve and one-half cents for it.

First Improvements

The first orchard was planted by John Horton on his place about the year 1837. He transported the young trees from one of the southern coun¬ ties. John D. Smith set out the second orchard. The first frame house in Jefferson township was built at the village of Normanda in 1848 by M. P. Evans. John D. Smith erected the first hewed log dwelling in the township in the year 1838, and twenty years later built the first brick residence, the third of the kind in the county at that time. Squire Tucker and Frank Wheatley were the next parties to improve their farms by brick houses. The first mill in Jefferson was built by Elijah Stanridge in 1845, an<i it stood about one mile east of Normanda. It was a simple structure, built of un- hewn logs, which rested on four large posts, driven into the ground. The machinery consisted of two "niggerhead" buhrs and a coarse muslin bolting apparatus, all of which was operated by horsepower, each person furnishing the team to grind his own grist. Another early mill was located a few miles south of the southern boundary in Hamilton county, which mill was patron¬ ized considerably by Jefferson township farmers. Daniel Stephens owned a mill in the northern part of the township for nine years.

The Normanda steam flouring mill was erected in 1854, and bought shortly afterward by Richardson and Vandevender. It was a two-story frame building, contained two runs of buhrs, with saw mill attached, and ground grain besides manufacturing lumber. Different parties operated this mill for several years, until finally it was moved to Goldsmith. At the village of Tetersburg, Mr. Phares built and operated a saw mill. A large steam saw mill was built in the southern part of the township in an early day. In 1874 F. M. Mozingo erected a large steam saw mill in Kempton, and it was later run as a heading factory. The Goldsmith mill was brought to the vil¬ lage in 1878 from Normanda by Ebal Teter.

Other Early Statistics

The first death in Jefferson township was that of the wife of Archibald Small, in 1839. A Mrs. Higer died the next year. The Tetersburg cemetery was set apart in 1847.

The first marriage is supposed to have been that of Archibald Small and Mary Ann Couts in 1841. Hugh Milev and Rebecca Mills were married the latter part of the same year.

Early Elections

The first election in Jefferson township after the organization of the county was held at the residence of Jerry Dunn, near the southern boundary of the township. This was in the latter part of 1844. The second place of holding elections was at the house of Stephen Blevins, near the village of Jericho, or what was the village, in the southern part of, the township. J. D. Smith's dwelling was used for a voting place, and also the home of John Longfellow. Elections were held at the latter place until the school house

There were seventy-four voters living within the township in 1846. The first trustee of the township, after the law providing for one trustee went into effect, was John D. Smith, who served several terms. Joseph Goar, Hiram Fulkerson, Webb Crane, Isaac Dick, D. M. Foster, James V. King, H. H. Bunch, G. W. Epperson, Charles Fostrom were other early trustees.

Joseph Goar had as a rival candidate, Sylvanus Bouse, a strong rival in the township. The election resulted in a tie vote between these men. Good-naturedly they decided to toss a coin and the lucky guesser, "heads or tails", wTould take office. Goar wras the victor.

Jefferson township has, in the last twenty years, developed along the same scale as other portions of Tipton county. Her farmers have made every effort to make their lands equal to the reputation borne by the county as a whole. Naturally, farming is credited as being the principal industry, but hand in hand with this vocation is the business of stock raising and fruit growing, and either one of them might be termed the principal vocation of the township. Almost every farmer raises stock of some kind, and as one third of the towmship was prairie land, it is especially valuable for grazing purposes. Fruit is grown extensively, probably the principal or¬ chard being that of J. D. Smith, Jr. He manages his orchards on strict scientific principles, and in the state exhibition has never failed to capture his share of honors.

The character of the farmers and the citizenship of this towmship is very high, and her educational and religious institutions are complete and progressive. The Lake Erie & Western railroad line, running east and west through the township, is a convenient avenue of communication for the people, /while the telephone, rural free mail delivery and gravel roads all unite to supply quick and easy intercourse with the outside wrorld. The average size of the farms in this community is about eighty or ninety acres, but the land value runs to near two hundred and tw'entv-five dollars per acre in some places. With this value attached to the soil, it is incumbent upon the farmer to utilize every available foot, which he does. In the in¬ terests of the county the citizens of Jefferson township are always willing to aid with their best efforts, and financially to a substantial extent. Lag- (8) gards are few; all the citizens are "live wires." The towns and villages are in a prosperous condition, and rank among the best in middle Indiana. Practically every farmer in this township is connected bv telephone com¬ munications, with both local and long distance services.

This is a village of the dead, a relic of antiquity. Even the exact location of this abortive town is a matter of conjecture, although most of the knowing ones place it in the southern part of the township, in section 23. Its founders were Jerry Dunn and Caswell Boxley, who laid out the town at the point where the old Eagletown state road intersected the road surveyed from Anderson to Michigantown. A plat was made and the lands placed on market, but no one seems to have bought. The plat was afterwards abandoned.

This village was laid out on the farms of Mahlon and Asa Teter in 1848, near the central part of the township. No plat of the village was ever placed on record. The first business house was a small log structure erected by Cumbaugh and Tansy, and after two years was bought by Will¬ iam Bunch. The erection of the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington railroad, built in 1875 one mile north, effectively killed this town, and the trade and interests were transferred to Goldsmith. This town was at one time one of the business centers in Tipton county, the stave and hoop-pole business sup¬ plying employment for a large number of men.

In the northern part of the township is located the village of Normanda, in part of the southeast quarter of section 34, and on part of the southwest quarter of section 35, township 21 north,, range 2 east; also on part of the northwest quarter of section 2, and northeast quarter of section 3, township 21 north, range 3 east. It was surveyed and platted in 1849 for M. P. Evans, Edward Jackson and Matthew Jones, proprietors of the land. All of these men began putting up improvements. Evans built the first frame house in the township on his lot, and J. C. Yandevender erected the first store room, which he stocked with miscellaneous merchandise. The building was a hewed log structure, erected in. 1850, and stood near the center part of

However, there is a general store which does a good business. The town retains the postoffice, receiving the mail by rural route from Goldsmith. It has good telephone connection, both local and long distance.

The building of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad is responsible for the birth of the town of Kempton. This enterprise was completed in 1875, and in that year Kempton started. It is situated in sections 6 and 7, near the western boundary of the township, on land originally belonging to David Kemp, the proprietor, and for whom the town was named. Henry Hays built the first house in the village, south of the railroad, and occupied it as a dwelling and a grocery. Fostrom & Gillenstein started the second store. Noah Mathews built the first blacksmith shop. A planing mill was constructed in the eastern part of the village in 1875 by James Lane, who operated it two years, when it was purchased by Van Briggle & Son. A postoffice was established in 1875 and Anthony Holmes appointed post¬ master.

At present Kempton is an incorporated town of about seven hundred people. Wilson Tunis, James R. Cooper and Jacob Stroup are trustees; Ed. H. Snetcher is secretary and treasurer; Albert Rayl is marshal. The town is conveniently located on the railroad and a great amount of business is conducted with the other towns in the county. There is one bank, one newspaper, three churches, three lodges, and other features which denote a progressive town. The principal industry is perhaps the Kempton Tile Factory, owned and operated by T. F. Lindley, of Goldsmith. The Kemp¬ ton Canning Factory and an elevator and milling company complete the industries of the town. Kempton is negotiating for an electric light system, getting its electricity from the Marion, Kokomo & Frankfort Traction Com¬ pany at West Middleton. An electric railway line is now being projected through Kempton from Indianapolis to Delphi. It is the largest town be¬ tween Tipton and Frankfort.

Goldsmith

Six miles west of Tipton, on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, is situated the village of Goldsmith. This place was surveyed in 1876 for the proprietors, John Wolford, J. A. Teter, McDonald Teter and Hiram Ful- kerson. Solomon Wolford built the first residence in the western part of the village and J. J. Campbell erected the first business house, just south of the railroad, on the west side of the principal street. The first black¬ smith who located in the town was William Keen.

Goldsmith was originally named Green Station, but another town in the state had this name, so Goldsmith was adopted, in honor of the contractor and constructor of the Lafayette, Muncie & Bloomington Railroad, now the Lake Erie & Western.

The town has one of the best high school buildings in the county, constructed in concordance with the newest hygienic and efficient principles of school buildings. An able corp of teachers are employed and the quality of work and results of each term rank high.

A feature of Goldsmith is the Tipton county old settlers* meeting, which is held here every year. Thousands of people come at this time, some from long distances, and the day is spent in rejoicing and feasting.

In January, 1914, Goldsmith was a village of two hundred people. The tile factory is the principal industry and is operated by T. F. Lindley.

Ekin is a hamlet situated in the southern part of the township, on the county line. The first store was operated by James McKee, who built for the purpose a frame building. After five years he sold out and moved. Ekin was named by McKee for General Ekin, who had charge of the government depot at Jeffersonville at that time. For his appreciation of the naming of the town for him, the General sent a large Bible to Mr. McKee to be used in the United Presbyterian church, at Bethsaida.

Ekin had its origin from the timber business. Hundreds of acres of unbroken forests existed as late as 1880, since when millions of feet of lumber have been shipped to the markets of the world.