Noble Township (part 3 of 3)

In 1001, Prof. E. ^l. Crouch, A. ]M., became president and served until 1910. During this period valual)le improvements were made, both in tiie capacity and convenience of the college buildings and in the enlarged scope of the curriculum. In 1905 the central heating plant Mas installed, and in the following year the Young ]\Ien's Hall was erected. The laboratories and library were greatly enlarged in lf)08, and in the same year the model training school for teachers was established. That institution was accretlited by the Indiana State Board of Education, June 21, 1907, for the training of teachers in Classes A and B, and fully accredited April 9, 1!)09.

Since 1902 ]\huu-hester College has been controlled by a boaixl of six trustees, representing the state districts owning the school. The direct work of the college is carried on by an executive board. The president of this executive board is also president of the college. Each of these bodies has a secretary and treasurer, and the latter a field representative. Identified with the college organization is also the general educational board, appointetl by the general conference of the church.

Succeeding Professor Crouch as president of the college was Prof. E. V. Bixler, who was followed in 1911 by Prof. Otho Winger, the present incumbent.

President Winger is an educator of broad and practical outlook, and his administration has greatly added to the general reputation of the college. It was largely through him that the gynnuisium was added to the school buildings in 1911, and that its apjoaratus has been improved and well adapted to indoor exercises for both sexes. He is also an ardent advocate of vocational training and agriculture. The numual ai'ts and domestic scicJice are all Ijeing carefully developed in the school woi'k. A new building is now being erected that will be devoted to the sciem-es and vocational subjects. The 1)readth, defjth and solidity of the eurriculum cannot be better indicated than by a general review of its dei)artments.

The acadciny course has been certified by the Indiana State Board of Education as being equal to the commissioned liigh school course of the public system of education, its graduates being admitted to nornud school, college or uiiivei'sity.

The Liberal Arts College carries with it the degree of A. B., and embraces a regular four years' course. This is now the most rapidly growing di'partment of the school.

The normal school, as stated, has been fully accredited by the Indiana State P>oard of Education since April 9, 1909, and the training school estalilished on the college grounds has won a high reputation. Oidy expert state normal graduates are placed in charge of the work. Till- Ohio State Board of Education has also recognized the work of this school.

The thousands interested in Bible study will learn with pleasure that ^Manchester College has a well organized department devoted to that subject. As stated by the management: "Courses are planned with a view to the direct study of the Bible, and not merely to study books about the Bible." It may be added that they are planned along the lines of the Bil)le work which has been so successfully prosecuted at the Bethany Bible School of Chicago, an institution under the direction of the Church of the Brethren.

The school of commerce and liiuin(;e, or business college, embraces everything of theory and practice which may lay the groundwork of a broad business life, including courses in stenography, bookkeeping, advanced accounting, banking, commercial law and commercial geography.

There are also courses for instruction in agriculture, manual training and domestic science ; in art, for either those who wish to teach it or apply it professionally ; in expression and oratory and physical culture.

The foregoing summary gives a general idea of the varied activities of the institution guided, as to educational development, by President AVinger and his twenty-seven associates on the faculty. One of the most active and best known of these is Prof. L. D. Ikenberry, secretary, professor of mathematics and science, and chairman of the faculty for several months in 1900-01. He is closely associated with President Winger in the direction of the school.

The college departments, broad and varied though they be, are looking forward to an increase in available funds for their extension and greater effectiveness. Both the trustees and the executive board there- fdiv lit-ai-tily unite in tlic following stateiiu'iit of tlu-ir ^iTat need: -'It is a well known fact that no institution of iiiglier learning- receives suftiriciit funds fi-oiii the tuition fees of its students to pay the salai-ies of the teachei's. In order to eoiiipete successfully with othei' institutions of learning there is need of tinaneial hell) hy way of endowments. The large universities and colleges are adding thousands and even hundreds o( thousantls of dollars every year to their already large amounts. It thei-efore should nut Seem unreasonable, or a wild dream, for the trustees to ask for one hinidred thousand dollars endowment foi- Mamdiestei' (Jolleg''. When this amount is secured the <-fficieiicy of the college will he greatly increased. A good beginning has already btH'ii made. About twenty thniisaiul dollars has been secured. With the friends of the institution fidly awakened to this great need, it should not f)e difficult to secure the aniotint asked for."

^ilanehester College has made a good start in many other ways than in the direction of an ade(jnate endowment fund. Its courses are standard, its faculty faithful and efticient, and last, but most speaking of all, the attendance of students is constantly increasing. There are now in the college department 99; in the nornud, 102; in the academic, 69; and connected with such special courses as music, drawing, etc., 80. Having a total attendant of 850 and a valuation of property estimated at one Inuulred and twenty-five thousand dollars, Manchester College is one of the most important institutions of Wabash County, whether viewed from the standpoints of education or material development.

The first bank in North Manchester came in with the railroad, in Decclnber, 1871, when Jesse Arnold and John Arnold founded the .Manchester Bank as a private institution. P^r many years it was considered the leading bank in the P]el River region and from it was evolved the First National Bank of North Manchester, which was chartered on the 17th of ]\Iarch, 1883. Its officers were: Jesse Arnold, president; James Arnold, vice president ; John R. AVallace, cashier.

The year before the chartering of the First National, on tlie 15th of March, 1882, CJeorge W. Lawrence fouiuled the Eel River Valley I^ank, and on account of his high standing and wide ac(iuaintaiu'e as a mer-

The Union Trust P.ank was founded Octolier H, I'Jl.':!, with David Ginther as president, hut has fairly entered the field with a capital of $40,00(), deposits of $45,000 and a surplus of $10,000.

Tlu' Telephone Company, which was established in 1897 and now operates 400 instruments, seems to l)e a family monopoly - Emanuel Staver, president and manager; Mary Staver, vice president; Bertha Staver, secretary and. treasurer.

The first newspaper in Nortli ^Manchester was published in 1865 by John J. Martin, who called it the Advertiser. Within two years he sold it to Joseph Singer, who changed tlie name to the Union Banner and issued it thus for eighteen months. It then reverted to Mr. Martin, who published'it as the Exchange until 186fl, when he sold to W. T. Cut,shall. The latter i)ublished the paper as the Globe for awhile, and finally disposed of the establishment to .M. E. Pleas, who founded the Nortli Manchester Republican.

Now, however, we are to recoi'd the founding of a newspaper which has endured to the present day - the North Manchester Journal, first issued in Us?:^ l)y a joint-stock comi)any under the editorship of J. IL Keyes. In the following November it went under the nuinagement of A. (L Beauchamp and I). AY. Krisher, but was subsequently sold by the

In JaiuuiiN- of the latter year Samuel V. IIoi)kins houuht the establishiiii'iit and conducted it until his death in 11)00. His son Lloyd succeeded him, and in 11)02 a ('(jiisolidation was effected with the Tribune under the lirm naiue of Hopkins iSl: Billinu:s (William E.). Lloyd Hopkins dy^d in ]\Iarcli, 1913, when Ada Hopkins, sister of the deceased, assumed an interest in the Journal as an heir of the estate. The i)artnership with ]\Ii'. Lillin^s was dissolved and in December, 11)1:5, the Journal Publishing Company was incorporated to condmrt the nt'wspaper and printing business. Of that corporation ]\liss Ilojjkins is jiresident and Kex L. Ilidy is secretary and treasurer.

The North .Manchester News, of which AVilliam E. Billings is editor and j)roprietor, was founded in 1876 by W^illiam T. Cutshall, wiio remained editor and proprietor of it for many years. From 1904 until its suspension in 1912, it was under the successive inanaj^enieiit of J. C. -Martin, Archie (junn, llunier Chirk and II. J. iiartoo. In .May, 1913, the Xcws was revived hy .Mr. J?illings, who had retired from tlie Journal the jn-t'eeding numth.

Tlir Christian Church shares with the ^Nlctliodist tlie honor of first ohtaininy a foothold in North ^lanchestei-, and it has maintained its standing as a consistent and progressive organization, being now altogether the leading religious Ijody in the commuiuty. It has split into old, conservative and j)r()gressive branches, tlu; first named repre.senting the jdoneers of the denomination, who located their societies at New Madison (Servia). Pleasant Grove and Antiocii.

Tlie Pleasant Grove congregation was organized in 1844, under Elder Joseph Roberts at the ho\ise of Isaac Robbins, whose home continued to be its meeting ])laee for a numl)er of years. Finally the membei*s of the society united with the citizens to erect a log house which was used for a schoolhouse during the secular days and for religious services on the Sal)bath. Then a tract of land was donated by John Simonton and Joshua Simpson for a cemetery, and the privilege extended to any denomiiiation to use a portion of it as the site for a church provided any house of worship erected thereon should be used by all other denominations for funeral services. The conditions were accepted ])y the Pleasant Grove congregation, which in 1858 erected a substantial frame church about three miles east of North ^lanchester.

The Antioch C!hristian Church was organized in 1861 by Elder George Abbott, who occupied the prdj)it for about four years, in 1866 a lot was doiuited in Section 14, three and a half miles southeast of North JNIanchester.

The conservative branch of the Christian Church in North I\Ianchester dates from 1882. It has developed into a society of some 500 members, who worship in a large and handsome brick edifice erected in 1907. The pulpit is occupied by Rev. D. M. Adams.

The First Church of the Brethren, as ithe progressives ai'c known, is in chai-ge of Rev. B. II. Flora, has a meud)ershij) of 400 and ()ccupii\s a housL' of worship, commodious and elegant, which was dedicated in .Alarch, ]i»i;i Its successive pastors have been: KeV. W. W. Summers, Kev. AV. C. JVrry, Kev. J. M. Kitzgers, Kev. D. T. Oliristner, Kev. 0. AV. Kench, Kev. ,). .M. Fox, Kev. K. K. Teeter, Kev. H. H. Flora, Rev. W. II. Miller, Kev. 1. n. Wright, Kev. L. O. Iluhbard, Kev. E. i). Burmvorth, Kev. George Konk, Kev. J. L. Kimmel and Kev. B. IL Flora.

The ]\I. E. Church of North ^Manchester, which has l)een in cluirge of Dr. J. ]\I. Haines since 1912, is one of the strongest religious organizations of the locality. The early history of the denomiiuition in this section has been given, up to the time of the division of the North ]\Ianelu^ster Circuit in 1850, when the Akron Circuit was formed from the westei'ii portion of it. "During this year,'' says a chronicler of the society, took its first permanent stand in North ^lanchester. AVhen Kev. Elrod came to the circuit, Henry Strickler was, I Ijelieve, tilt' (udy nude member belonging to the North Manchester class. Brother Strickler united with the church the second year of Rev. Beach's administration (18-4;^), and the church here owes Brother Strickler a debt of gi-atitude for his zeal and his untiring labor for the advancement of the church and its interests. For several years his time, energy and money Were freely given to advance the Redeemer's kingdom. He spent nearly an entire summer, and involved himself financially, in building the meeting-house and parsonage in ^lanchester. These were the church's dark days. The next year, under Brother Elrod 's administration, his most sanguine expectations were realized ; Methodism took a new start and has been steadily advancing ever since."

Rev. Enos P. Church was pastor in 1860, 1861 and 1873-76. When he was returned to the charge in 1873 he wrote: "One of the objects -most familiar to us was the old church, the same in which the society worshiped in the early settling of the county. But the trustees had taken preliminary steps toward building a new house of worship, and on the 21st of Jiuie, 1873, the ground was broken for the foundation." After the work had so far advanced that the building was inclosed, operations were suspended for several months, but early in the spring of 1874 work was resumed and by August 1, 187-4, the church was completed at a cost of $7,000. It was dedicated on Sunday, August 16, 1874, by Rev. Thomas II. Pearne, D. D., of Cincinnati. The increasing membership made it necessary to enlarge and remodel the building in 1884-85, and the result was the massive, convenient and tasteful edifice now occupied. The parsonage adjoining is comfortable and modern.

Tfie United Brethren organized as early as 1844 and still have a small society and a modest house of worship. The present pastor is Rev. 0. B. Wells. In tlie year mentioned about a dozen of the United Brethren met in the barn of Col. Richard Helvy and organized a church. About 1855, after a series of strengthening revivals, the society erected a house of worship on Second Street, the site for which had been donated by IMahlon Frame. The church building was dedicated l)y Bishop GlossV)reuner assisted by Rev. II, M. Ilickee, who was the pa.stor in charge at the time. Among the earlier pastors of the society may also be mentioned Revs. J. France, B. S. Clevenger, P. Wells, F. Thomas, G. Grouse, S. K. Wells, E. Johnson, B. Fannin, S. Barcus, E. Seithman, J. R. Brown, J. Ilippenstcel. William Simons and J. JNlorrison.

North ^Manchester is well represented by the seeret, benevolent and patriotic societies. All the old and standard orders have lodges, such as the Masons and Odd Fellows, and the same may be said of those which also stand high, but are of more recent origin - the Knights of Pythias, Knights and Ladies of ]\Iaceal)ees, Grand Army of the Republic with the Women's Relief Corps, Order of Moose, etc.

The ]\Iasons and the Odd Fellows organized about the same time at North ^Manchester - in December, 1849. On the 28th of that month, Deming Lodge No. 88, F. & A. M., was organized under a dispensation granted by Elizur Deming, grand master. The charter members were : Isaac J. Garwood, Jacob Simonton, Robert Harper, Henry Lantz, James Wilson, Henry Eichholtz, L. J. Groninger and Curtis Pauling. The early meetings of the lodge were held in the room over the Lantz & Davis store. In 1857 a third story was added to the cabinet shop of T. I. Siling (afterward the Keller House), and there for the first time the order occupied a room of its own. For a period of fifteen years the lodge met at that place, and in 1872 commodious quarters were provided for the different ]\Iasonic bodies in the L. J. Noftzer hardware building. Perhaps the most prominent of the early IMasons were C. V. N. Lent and Jacob Harter, either one or the other holding the chair of worshipful master of the lodge for nearly twenty years from 1857.

The first Odd Fellow's organization at North IManchester was IMeshelainnoghquoh Lodge No. 75, which was formed in December, 1849. For awhile its meetings were held iii a building afterward owned by Lewis Russell on ]Main Street. But the majority of its members resided at or near Liberty i\Iills, and within a year headquarters were moved to that place. In 1850 the lodge, assisted by a few Masons, united with the

History Of Wabash Oofnty 309

:\h'tliO(list coii^nvj-ittioii of LiluTty Mills in the t-ivetion of a l)uil(liii<,r to serve jointly as a ehureli and a lodge room - the latter being in the upper story. The :\lasc)iis, iiowever, did not organize, and shortly afterward their Grand Lodge issued an order prohiljiting the joint occupation of lodge rooms with other societies. So the Odd Fellows became the sole possessors of the hall. :\leshekunnoghquoh Lodge, of Liberty Mills, is still in existence - notwithstanding its name.

North :\Linchester Lodge No. 264, I. 0. 0. F., was organized in November, 1866, under a charter signed by T. B. ^McCarty, grand master, and E. H. Barry, grand secretary. Its charter members were: A. C. Barnhart, J. F, Kinney, D. C. ^Vest, Isaac Garwood, S. A. Argerbright, J. Sheets, AVesley Bussard, Daniel Lutz, David J. Rupley and Reu])en Abbott. ]\Ir. Kinney was the first noble grand. In January, 1868, the lodge room was moved from the Ilaney Building to the second story of the Ileeter Building on the north side of Main Street. In 1875 the order added a third story to the Straw brick store on the south side of ]\Iain Street, where it provided handsome and complete rooms for its lodge and encampment.

North Manchester has always had the forethought to provide her people with good amusements, and in that regard has largely depended on l^ome talent. It has had a band for a great many years. In 1876 the North ^Manchester Cornet Band was organized from a selected membership of two other similar organizations. Prof. A. B. McFann was long a musical director at North Manchester.

During the summer and fall of 1880 David Hamilton erected an opera house on Main Street, whieh has been the scene of numerous creditable theatricals and musical entertainments, and within later years a number of very creditable "movies" have been put in operation.

Such recreations, with lodge meetings, gatherings under the auspices of the Woman's Club, and the continuous resort of a large portion of the community to the accommodations of the Public Library, leave nothing to be 'desired for those of conservative and superior tastes.

The Waijasii I^iver - The Salamonie and Its ]\Iills - Cheeks in the Towns] 1 1 1> - X at i r a e Fea tuk Ius - Fi rst L a n d E ntki es - Lewis Rogers, First Real Settler - The Fajious Ferry - Rogers Hotel Rivals I^urr's Wabash Lnn - Young Sayre, the "Crook" - Levi

- Six Young Men Come - A. A. Peabody - The Fresikhir Family - Saaiuel Wiley and Daniel Hallinger - Enoch and John Russell - Settlers at and Near Hoi-ewell - Thomas Fitzgibbon - William T. Ross - Pioneer Politicians - The Irish Settlement - Rise and Fall op Towns - La Gro Platted - Utica and Belden - ]\L\jenica AND New Holland - Dora and Urbana - Lincolnville - Cih^rciies at Lincolnville and Ei-*sewhere - La Gro Town or Village - Corporation and Schools - At the Height of Its Prosperity - John and George Todd - La Gro of the Present - The M. E. Church - St. Patrick's Catholic Church - The Presbyterian Church - - Social and Literary.

As the reader knows, La Gro was one of tlie two original townships into whieli the connty was divided soon after its creation in 183."). In 18.30 it was tirst cai-ved, eight niiU^s S(iuare of its northern sections going to form Chester and tlie same erea of its soutliern territory l)eing erected into Liherty Townsliip. In 1846 La Gro regretted its generosity and recovered two miles from the north of Liherty, and suhsequently favored Cliester with a mile of its own territory. The other changes M-hich have hronght La Gro Townsliip to its present irregular shape have resulted in donating ahout thirteen sections of land to Nohle Township, leaving it with an area of al)Out eighty-five sections - which is a little less than tliat of Nohle. That is the La Gro Township to which the foHowing descriptive and liistorical matter applies.

Tile chief streams in La Gro Township are the Wahash and its hranch, the Salamonie River, and it is mainly to them tliat the region owes its t-arly srttlctiu'iit and tlit- most iiiti'ivstiiig f.-atures of its i)ioiu'er history. Ihr Waliash Rivt-r (.-ntt-rs tlu- township aiul the county nearly niiJway uf til.- l.ij<:ili of til.' townsliip and tiows in a general southwesterly direction to the City of Wahash, ahout a mile and a half beyond its western limits. The eoui'se of the stream is (juite regular, having no extensive hends, one of the largest being jtist south of La Gro and west of the mouth of the Salmanonie.

The Wabasli is a comparatively large stream in La Gro Township, witli high, bluffy and sometimes rocky banks. Heavy freshets sometimes occur and the main portion of La Gro being on comparatively level ground the town has l)een a great stift'erer from these overflows upon several occasions. The town was the most seriously under water during the ice jams and floods of 1883 and 1913. The only machinery in La (ii'O Township ever propelled by the AVabash i)roper was Lyiui's mill, near old Melden postoftice, where the stream enters the county from Huntington.

Salamonie River, however, which enters from tlie southeast at what was foi'inerly New Holland postoffice, has a considerable volume of water and as its channel is more confined than that of the Wabash, its derived l)0wer has been considerable. The banks of the Salamonie are high and often rise into bluffs. i\Iills have been built upon its margin, those of Robert English and J. L. AVines being the most important of early times. Considerably later, but, at that, three or four decades ago, were the saw and grist mills at Dora, about a mile northwest of New Holland, and the mills on the south side of the AVabash opposite the town of La Gro.

La Gro Creek, the principal northern branch of the AVabash, rises in section 12, northeastern part of the township, runs in a generally southwest direction, and enters the parent stream aliout midway of the town. It is several miles in length, and is very useful as a water-supplier and fertilizer. Its npper course is through comparatively level land, but as it passes onward the surface becomes rolling and even bluffy, and within a mile of its mouth its banks are (|uite high and perpendicular, the adjacent lands being rough and hilly. The channel of the stream is a little east of old Hopewell Church, and it encircles the bluffs and high land upon which the old La Gro Cemetery is situated.

P>esi(ies Salamonie Kiver, Hurr and Ross ereeks eoiiie in from the south. The chief tributary of the Salamonie is Rush or Ueer Creek, which enters the township from the south through section '42 and joins the former at its big bend just west of New Holland. Rusli Creek is a strong, rapid and very crooked stream, witii high banks and a rocky channel. , :i;.o ,- ;, . ^ ,

Above New Holland on the west of the creek and south of the pike are found deposits of gravel and sand, which have been largely utilized in road-building. Limestone is also plentiful in the vicinity of the stream, which, in its day, has furnished power to several mills at and near New Holland.

The surface of South La Gro, away from the streams, is rolling and beautiful. On the Salamonie, as on Rush Creek, it is very rough, with .steep hills and banks, but the soil is uniformly good, consisting of a clay loam which inclines occasionally to sandy.

Originally the surface was heavily tind)ered. AVhite and liurr oak, ash, elm, hickory, beech, sugar, linn, waliuit and poplar were abundant, but the old wooded ti'acts have been largely cleared without being replaced by second growths.

There is a considerable amount of bottom land on Wabash River, but its bluffs, as well as those of La Gro Creek, are somewhat high and broken, and for some miles back the face of the country is rolling and somewhat rugged. Further north, the surface is level, and not iinfre- (luently low and marshy.

Aside from the period when the Wabash & Erie Canal was being constructed through the township, the citizens of La Gro Township have chiefly depended upon the products of the soil for their sustenance and comforts. Its crops are usually good, consisting largely of corn, wheat and oats, and forage grasses such as timothy and clover hay. As a live stock country it has made considerable progress, cattle, horses and hogs l)eing raised with profit. The poultry interests are also becoming noticeable.

Speaking in general terms, the first land entries and the first settlements in La Gro Township were made in a strij) of country lying about a mile and a half either side of the Wabash River and along the Upper

Salainoiiie to its mouth. OiftVrL'iit parts of sirtioiis 1, 2, 6, 12, 28, 29, 'M. 31, o2, ;}3, ;U and :].') were entered in the period 1827-33 by Jeremiah Cox, Austin AV. Morris, J. L. Wines, Israel T. Canity, W. Daniels, Samuel Ilanna, Lewis Eo^'ers, John Hurley, Robert Hurley, Samuel Wiley, A. N. Grover, Levi Bean. John Spray, John Townsend, Jacob Shappell and Edward B. Walker.

In 1827 three entrii's wei'e made eoverin'^- 174.47 aei'es; 18:50, nine entries, 946.32 acres; 1832, two entries, 173.80 aeres; 1833, ten entries, 1,842.28 aeres, or nearly three sections. ^lost of these entries were for settlement or improvement. Jeremiah Cox, who made tlie tirst tliree entries in 1827, was a well known nailer of Wayne and Randolpli counties. They embraced about two hundred acres, east and nortli of the mouth of the Salamonie River, for a mile up that stream and iuUf a mile up the AVabash, his idea being to secure favorable mill sites.

Tl\e three entries of J. L. Wines, made in 1830, gave him about three quarters of a mile on both sitles of the Salamonie River in sections 1 and 12 just below Dora.

]\Iessrs. l^aniels and Canby, the same year, made entries about two miles northwest of La Gro, and IMorris entered his land on the north side of the Wa])ash near the mouth of Enyart Creek.

Ilainia's parctd of laud, entered in 1832, was about tliree miles below the town of La Gro on the north side of the Wabash, and Roger's land on the south side, not quite a mile below the mouth of La Gro Creek.

The banner year for entries was in 1833. John Hurley selected a (piarter of section 11 south of the Salamonie and half a mile distant, and Ro])ert Hurley had an adjoining quarter in section 2. Samuel Wiley's tract, entered the same year, was in section 33, a mile and a half west of T.ia Gro. Si)ray, Townsend and Bean nuide selections "several miles from nowhere." , ^lessrs. Spray and Townsend chose tracts up La Gro Creek in the ueighborhood of what afterward ])ecame Hopewell Church, the former selecting a parcel in section 14 and Mr. Townsend all of section 23. They were three miles from most of the entries along the Salamonie. Levi Beau ventured several miles to the east, his entry of 200 acres being about a mile west of Belden, or the eastern township limits.

Walker's entry, the last one made in 1833 (October 12) was the southwest (juarter of section 27, northwest of the town of La Gro and La Gro Creek.

Now as to the actual settlers - the weight of evidence is in favor of according the honor of first "permanent citizen" of the township to Lewis

Ko^'ers, uiio, in lH:n, lived for .Sf-vt-ral nioiiths in the brick house built by the United States ( Jowrnnient for Cliitd" Les Gros (La (Iro) within the present corporate limits of the Town of La (Jro.

Shortly thereafti'r Jxobert .AleClure, brother of Sanuiel, obtained a lease from Gen. John Tipton of certain lands lying on thfe north side of the AVabash, opposite the mouth of the Salamonie, ami built a ealiin there. During the year he disposed of his lease to Mr. L'ogers, who eomineneed to operate a ferry which had been started, not long before, l)y Jo.seph and Champion Ilelvy, discontinued as an unprofitable venture and moved to Huntington. - -

But Mr. Rogers was not of their opinion. The ferry was in line with the old Indian trail, which had become a favorite horse-l)ack route from Grant and Delaware counties, and other settled regions of the south, to Northern Indiana and the lake region at Michigan City. The mouth of the Salamonie, which was the southern landing place of the feri-y, had always been a popular rendezvous for both Indians and white men. There was a ford across the Wabash lower down, b\it it was difficult and not without danger when the water was high.

Tlierefore Rogers' ferry, which he commenced to operate regularly and as frequently as he liad customers, proved a great public convenience. When work commenced on the Wabash & Erie Canal in ISIU, and the Town of La Gro on the northern banks of the Wabash sprung up in a day, Rogers' ferry was more than ever an indispensable institution. The ferry was, in fact, maintained at that point until the bridge was built across the Wabash about 1857.

Lew^is Rogers also opened a tavern in two large double eal)ins, and had stabling accommodations for horses. As to lodging in the '30s, forty or fifty are said to have slept at his hotel in a single night. xVs many as could pack themselves on the floors of his cal)ins considered themselves well accommodated ; it was far better than lying out in the w^oods. As to horse lodging, after the stables were filled the remainder of the animals. were tied to near-by fences and trees, or anywhere else they could be fed. The State Road from La Gro to Marion was surveyed in 183;^ and oi)ened two years later, which added to the busijiess both of Mr. Rogers' hotel and ferry. His inn was a rival which gave David Burr and the Paradise Springs Hotel a hard tussle for the patronage of both man and bt'ast.

Tlie famous iVrry was a rud<- scow made by Mr. J;o<^crs hiiiisidf, and was propelled across the stn-aiu by a i'oi)e stretched from tree to tree on either bank. The boat itself was tied to a huge elm on the l)ank of the Wabash. A si)ring bui'st from the foot of the blutV on the east sitle of La Oro ("reek, in the east part of towu, and was a weleome sight in the early tinn-s, l)Oth to liorses and men.

Of the three Helvy brothel's, Hiehard came to La Gro soon after Rogers and occupied the old chief's brick dwelling. He was an Indian trader on a small scale, and about 1834 moved his store to North ]\lanchester.

In ]\Iarcli, 1832, a young man named Daniel Sayre came to La Gro in search of a location and was put to work by .Mr. Rogers, in connection with the growing business of hotel antl ferry. In time IMr. Sayre became prominent both at La Gi'o and \Va})ash, being long postmaster of the city named. An interesting account of the coining and settlement of the young man was thus written in the early '80s, when Mr. Sayre was postmaster of Wabash City : "Daniel Sayre was an early comer into the Wabash region, whose settlement therein was determined by chance rather than by intention. He was a lad, who like many another in those days, had set ont on foot to 'spy out the land,' having a little (and only a little) Ohio money and none besides. Some rogue, on seeing his Ohio money, had told him that that kind of paper would not do in Indiana, and had kindly given him in exchange for his last $5 bill, another all right, cheap and new, but, alas! counterfidt. * "When Daniel, poor lad! innocently otfei'ed his shiidng and beautiful note to "Sir. Lewis Rogers in payment f(U' his bill for supper, lodging and breakfast (62Vo cents), the landlord cruelly pronounced it bogus, with an intimation, moreover, that men who carried that sort of stuff were already too 'plenty in these woods.' Our young traveler explained how he came l)y it and declared it to ln' all he had, good or bad. offering, however, to 'work out his bill.' which was done instanter.

"Daniel quartered a large, knotty black walnut so vigorously and so rapidly, so promptly and so nicely, that tln' mollified landlord hired the lad at once, and kept him at good wages for two years. Out of these wages Daniel saved enough to enter land, first purchasing 107 acres of canal land and afterward IHl acres of the sauie, on usual terms. The price of the former piece was .^.'3.50 per acre, oiie-(iiiarter down and the balance in seventeen years with interest at G i)er cent paid annually in advance, which was certaiidy reasona])le enough. The second tract was ,^2.50 per acre, upon the same condition.

"In the spring of 1884, ]\Ir. Sayre, then about nineteen years old, went upon his land, building a cabin, girdling and clearing and fencing twelve acres, and cutting and piling (eighteen inches and under) eigiiteen acres more; and letting the whole to a renter for two years to finish the clearing. lie married Mary X. Grover in 1836, and they have hiui nine children. Seven of them grew up; one son died in the army, and six liave been married and are still living.

"j\Ir. Sayre first I'esided upon the clearing aljove described, two and a half miles above Wabash, changing his location after a few years to a farm near Hopewell Chui'ch, northeast of La Gro. After numy years he moved to the town of La Gro and spent two years there, coming then to "Wabash, where he has since resided, except two years spent at La Gro. ]\Ir. Sayre has for some time been postmaster of Wabash, having been closely identified with the business and prosperity of Wal)ash County for more than fifty-one years."

Levi Bean was the first white man to settle in North La Gro Township at a distance from the Wabash River. It has been noted how in 1833 he made entries in section 3U, about a mile west of Belden, and it is stated that he moved to his land during that year. He was a citizen of Fayette County, but at once became prominent in his new home, being chosen a member of the first board of county commissioners in 1835.

John and Robert Hurley, who entered lands in sections 11 and 2, south of the Salamonie River on what afterward became the ]\Iarion Road* settled thereon about 1833 and were the pioneers in the southern part of the township.

The only settler to dispute priority with them would be Josiah L. AVines, who had also made claims in those sections in 1830, and it is not known positively whether he located on any of his tracts in 1832 or 1833.

Michael Minnick, who selected mill sites at Dora in 1834, wrote long afterward in regard to Wines: "We (his brother John and himstdf) stayed two days (December 12 and 13, 1834) at Leonard AVines' caliin, who had loratc'd one and a half miles below Dora on the east side of the river and was putting' in his dam for a mill." The Alinniek brothers had eome on foot from Clark County, Ohio, after having entered land at Fort Wayne for a mill site above the Wines location. They leveled their site December llitli, stayed that night at IMr. Wines' dwelling and set out the next day for liome. In ]8;J6 they built cabins at Dora in which to reside with their families.

The year 1834 witnessed not a few arrivals in La Gro Township, many young men iiaving been drawn thither by the promise of work on the new canal, with good wages which they planned to invest in lauds. In April of that }ear six active, strong young men walked from Indianapolis to Da Cro, with that object in view; they were John Russell, Samuel Layser, Miciiael Ilushaw, Thomas Nelson and Adam Nelson. At first they secured employment in erecting shanties for the laborers and afterward obtained work on the ditch itself. i. .'.v, .:;-

In the fall of 1834 Augustus A. Peabody came, accompanied by Samuel Abbott, then a youth in his sixteenth year; he was an orphan and xMr. Peabody was his guardian. Both became well known in the affairs of the community. Mr. Peabody 's family joined him in the following spring. .cx'vi.

Andrew Freshour arrived in the La Gro region looking for land, in the winter of 1834-35. On account of a heavy snow which covered the country he was obliged to take a tract on "trust" lying three miles north of La Gro. Fortunately, the land proved to be as good as if he had had the opportunity to carefully select it. The Fi-eshour family consisted of the parents and an infant (Calvin), and in the fall of 1835 they passed IMr. Peabody 's cal)in afoot, on their way to their new home. Andrew Freshour is described as '"a first rate citizen and a great ac- (piisition to a new county."

Samuel AYiley and Daniel Ballinger settled about a mile below La Gro in the early spring of 1835. In June of that year, Air. Ballinger commenceil to serve as one of the first two associate judges of the Circuit

Court for the newly organized eoiuity. He beeanie (|uite prominent in public affairs and was a leader in cverytliing good which eoneerncd the township and county.

After working on the canal through the .sunnner of 1834, John Kussell returned to Indianapolis and induced his father, Enoch, to accompany him to La Gro. In December of that year they rode through the wilderness on horseback, and in January, 1835, entered three eighties in section 13, not far from what became Hopewell Chapel or Church. On ]\Iarch 12, 1835, John Russell married Elizabeth Ballinger, daughter of Judge Daniel Ballinger. He obtained his license at Huntington and his marriage at the home of the bride's ])arents in La Gro is generally pronounced the first ceremony of the kind in the townshij).

East of Hopewell meeting house John Nelson had settled in 1834, and John Revd and James Payne in 1835. John Barrett located north of the Russell place in 1835, and in that year a number of German families also settled in the vicinity, viz. : - Those of John Young, John Bitzer, Samuel Ilarter, John Harter, Samuel Boon and John Boon. '.; ^w

Among the best known contractors on the canal was Thomas Fitzgibbon, who came in 1834 and while continuing his work in connection there^dth entered a section of land south of the Wabash and southw'cst of La Gro. Portions of this tract he afterward improved, dying upon his estate in 1865.

William T. Ross was one of the iirst settlers of South La Gro, building a cabin for his mother and himself in August, 1835. At that time there were not more than half a dozen houses between La Gro and Marion.

In 1835, when the county was created and divided into townships, the following officers were ai)pointed from La Gro Township, which tlieti was the eastern half of tlie county; several of them will he recognized as residents of the township as we know it today: JJohcrt IlurU-y and James Wiley, constables; A. II. KeUer and J. Galalian, overseei-s ; A. II. Kcdlcr, insjx'ctor of elections; William li. Caldwell and John Ilarler, fence viewers; James Darrow, supervisor of District \o. 1; Daniel Ballinger, supervisior of District No. 2.

At the first sitting of the Board of County Commissioners, La Gro Township was ordered to elect two justices of the i)ea(;e and for that purpose an election was directed to be held at tlie house of Jacob Simppell, on iMonday, July 8, 1835.

But even before Wabash County was organized and its territory was attached to Huntington County for civil and political purj^oses, the old Indian village of La Gro was the scene of an election. In 18:32, when -the Ilelvys and Lewis Rogers were trying to get settled at that point, the presidential election was held at which Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay were candidates. The twenty-six votes there cast, of which Jackson received a majority of two, represented the electors of La Gro precinct, which then eiidn-aced Huntington County and nearly all of the present Wabash County.

The first incundjents of offices among tlie citizens of La Gro Township, as it now is, were as follows: Daniel Ballinger, associate judge; J. Leonard Wines, sheriff; Levi Bean, county commissioner; William Moody, justice of the peace.

The first grand jurors from La Gro Township were Sylvanus i\Ic- Lane and Benedict W. Lowry ; the first petit jurors, John Ilai'ter and Robert Hurley.

Of the foregoing, perhaps I\Ir. Wines became the most prominent, for, in addition to operating a successful sawmill on the Salamonie about two miles above La Gro, he was influential in several public capacities. After serving acceptably as sheriff he was sent to the State Legislature, 1)eing one of the first representatives from Wabash County.

Soon after the commencement of work on the canal a number of Irish families gathered on a tract of land near Andrew Freshour's farm, about three miles north of La Gro, and there, within the succeeding two or three years was formed quite a settlement. Among the best known of these Irish settlers were John Eagan, John Coughlan, John Dalton, John Shanahan and Michael Shanahan. Further southwest and nearer the Wabash, such sons of the Isle as Timothy Kinneark and Patrick Kinneark

In I'aet, the vilhij,'*,- was lon^' tiie ct'iiter of a hirge, indiistfious and (at tiini'sj i-athcr lively, not to say turbulent, eolony of Ii-ishnien. liefore the eanal was eonipleted to Wabash in 18::!7, there had l)een several skirmishes at and n(-ar La Gro by contending factions, whieh culminated in an encounter so decisive as to be ever afterward noted in local history as the Irish War. Several hundred arrests were made, all the details of which trouble will be found printed in the general account elsewhere given of the ^Vabash & Erie Canal. , , ,,

Several towns have risen and fallen in La Gi"o Township; some of them have entirely disappeared ; others declined into mere postofHces and were finally absorbed by the Rural Routes, and several are still thriving.

The original plat of tiie town of La Gro is not dated, but it is thought to have been made in the spring of 1834, as it is known tlmt lots were sold at that time. It was tlien in Grant County. The plat was not recorded at AVabash until March 6, 1838.

Utica, on the north bank of the Wa))ash River just within the township and the county lines, was surveyed ^larch 1, 1837. Although it made no headway as a village, a grain warehouse was built at that point and some business was transacted for a number of years during the early period of canal activities. As stated, the plat was surveyed in March, 1837. It lay north of the canal for ten blocks, and six blocks back into the country - sixty town blocks in all ! But aside from the little grain warehouse, there was virtually nothing to cover that magnificent expanse, and in June, 1853, the town plat of Utica was vacated by the County Commissioners.

A portion of the original site of Utica was afferward included in the hamlet of Belden, which was laid out l)y Elijah Ilackleman, ]\Iay 13, 1856. Its original proprietor was Archibald ]\I. Kennedy. By the late '70s there were a sawmill, a gristmill, a blacksmith shop, a store, a grain house, a schoolhouse and a few dwellings. A postoflice was estatilished in

]\Iajeinca was platted Oetober 16, 1842, but was promptly squelched by New Holland which, on the 23d of the following month, was laid out, across the Salamonie River at the mouth of Deer Creek. Although the former was named after an Indian ehief who onee lived near its site, north of the river, euphony and romance had no saving virtues, and after a short struggle ^lajeniea succumbed to the greater enterprise and vigor of New Holland, across the river.

The proprietor of New Holland was j\Iartin MeParland. George Jennings opened a store and John Wilson, a blacksmith shop. New Holland soon secured a postofUce, a frame schoolhouse was built in 1841, and Hiram Pickering established a little tannery in 1845. The tannery, variously impi'oved, stood the stress of half a century, and was the one reall.N' permanent industry of New Holland. Kindley's original sawmill changed hands twenty or more times in forty years, according to a local scribe, but the tannery went right along under Pickering's faithful proprietorship and unvarying industry. New Holland, for years, was really quite a promising place, but now is hut a very quiet handet.

Dora was laid out as a town by John i\Iiiniiek as proprietor, and is located on section 18 on the western banks of the Salamonie River. The plat was recorded December 13, 1850. Mr. IMinnick had already Imilt and put in oi)eration two mill.s - a sawmill in 1843 and a gristmill in 1845. The first store was opened by Stephen Minnick about the time the town was laid out, and a postoffice was estal)lished also. The town grew both in business and industrial matters, and by the early '80s had about twenty-five dwellings, two churches and perhaps one hundred and twentyfive people. A good township schoolhouse was built in 1875. The handet has since been on the decline.

Urbana, which lies partly in La Gro and partly in Paw Paw Township, was surveyed ^larch 5, 1854, and a sketch of it will be found in the history of the latter, to which it seems most closely related.

In the late '40s that fertile section of the township west of Deer Creek and drained by its little tributary known as Bud '^,reek, commenced to be settled by a line ehiss of iiulii.strioiis and law-abiding farmers, tradesmen and craftsmen. AI)()nt ]SAH (!liristian Suaffer l)<)UL,'lit an acre of ^^-onnd in that locality and set up a \\a«;()n shop which he run for several years. Job Ilolloway, who eanie i]i IS^y-i, was the village blacksmith for thirty or forty years. lie and his brother, Israel, had a monopoly on the smithy and wagon-shop industries. Several large general stores located, a postoflice was estal)lished in 1865, a shingle factory and planing mill folli)\ved, a large brick township schoolhouse was completed in 1876, and 1)y the time that was completed the community at the four corners of sections 25, 36, 3U and 81, had three churches.

The Settlement had been known as Lin(;olnville since the establishment of the postoflice in 1865, and in 1876-77 the southwestern and the southeastern i)ortions of the site were platted. The platted portions were in sections 31 and 86.

Lincolnville covers a generous plat of ground, whether it is platted or unplatted in a legal sense, and retains its old appearance of being more a collection of pretty little farms and gardens than a town.

At or near Lincolnville are several churches, the ]\Iethodist Society having about eighty members with Rev. A. D. Burkett, of jMount Etna, as its pastor.

There is also an organization of the same denomination at Hopewell (old Hopewell Church) four miles northeast of La Gro. It has fifty members and is under the charge of Rev. E. C. Farmer, of Bippus.

The ]\Iethodist Church at Lincolnville was formed in 1868, the first meetings being held in the schoolhouse and elsewhere. The society completed a house of Avorship in 1878.

The Hopewell Church was one of the first to be organized in the county, a ]\Ietliodist class having been organized in that neighborhood in 184.1. This region was long the center of famous revivals and is greatly endeared to Methodists throughout the Wabash Valley.

The Friends were formerly (luite strong at and near Lincolnville. As early as 1840 they comnteneed to meet in log cabins about a mile northeast of the present hamlet. As Lincolnville developed the meml)ership of their society became strong enough to warrant a regular Friends meeting house. They also maintained a cemetery, in connection with their old house of worship, which was opened for l)urial in 1842.

As originally laid out in 1834 the town of La Gro lay wholly north of the Wabash & Erie Canal, with its southern base resting on that water- way whi.-l, here is very iwhv the river. The streets east and west were \\ asiun-ton, Main, Webster and Jeft'erson ; north and south, Davis, Dover Speneer, Canal, Clinton, Tipton, George and llarric-t. They are parallel to the eanal east and west. La Gro Creek erosses the eastern part of the town.

^ Tlie tirst addition to the original town (Brady's) was surveyed May 25, LS40, and lay nortli of the eanal and west of the tirst plat. In 184:3 tliat adilition was extended to the westward, and in 1S48 South La Gro, south of the Waliash River, was laid out by Robert and ^liehael English! This was the most ambitious addition to the town, the new plat embraeing m^-irly two hundivd lots on i)oth sides of the road southward from the bridge across the Wabash. That highway was given the name of .Alani Street, whieh was a continuation of the Davis Street of the original town. The ideas of the Messrs. English as to the growth of the town smithward were as large as the real estate men interested in the North Town. The plat of South La (Ii-o eompri.sed the water power and the saw and grist mills built, owned and operated by the English brothers, who thmvlore had several reasons to exp.'ct that 'their a<ldition would grow rapidly. P,ut their hopes were not realized, the settlement of the town havnig been almost contined to the portions north of the river and canal. Eveii in that direction, it has fallen far short of the expectations of its proprietors, who finally extended their plats so that they included the grounds of all the cemeteries and the country far beyond them. The greater part of that area is now farm land.

Cohi'Or.Vtiox And Schools

La Gro was incorporated as a town in June, 1859, the members of the fir.st town council, elected on the 25th of that month, being as follows: E. W. Benjamin, First Ward; W. B. Barlow, Second Ward; William Murgotten, Third Ward. A. IL ]\Llls was elected clerk and assessor, and Peter S. .Alurphy, marshal and treasurer, ilr. :\Iurpliy evidently did not favor the treasurership, as he failed to qualify in that capacity, and B. H. Lassell was appointed to the office. '

A school building was erected in the town at a very early day - in fact, about the time it was platted by Gen. John Tipton. Some years afterward a larger schoolhouse was erected, which, after the completion of the substantial Township Union School in 1881, was transformed into a residence. The present principal of the Union School is Hugh S. Jeffries.

The first .school established outside the village of La Gro is thought to have been located one and a half miles nortli of Peabody's Creek and was probalily ofx-iicd about 1839. One of its close contemporaries was a 1(1^' ratlin which stood a mile noi1h of Ilojiewell (Miureh. Jesse Springer \\as one of thr cai'lit'st teadicrs in that ncighliorliood. - ., ^^ , . ....

From IS.'U to 1837, while the canal was bein^- l)nilt throu(;h La Gro Township, tlic town had a brisk local trade, and though houses, stores and cverv'tlnng rise were crude, the place showed rapid growth. Then eame a season of depression, while the canal was being- completed at its Ohio end to Lake Ei-ie. After that, for twenty years or more - that is, from 1841 - the town of La Gro rivaled Wabash as a business and transportation center. The matter is well put, in this wise: "The amount of trade in gi-ain and stock at Wabash and La Gro, especially the latter, M'as something marvelous. Grain was hauled from a vast region; from Goshen on the nortli to Anderson anil .Muncie, and even to Indianapolis and Richmond on tiie south. For, though the roads might be ))etter .southward, yet the price was better at the canal, there being a close and a certain connection with the Great East and the Atlantic seaboard ; and hence it came to pass that during a period of perhaps twenty years or more a very large amount of trade was done at La Gro and Wabash, and a considerable portion of that time the advantage seemed to be largely with the town at the mouth of the Salamonie.

"La (}vo was in several respects easier of aeeess. Into La Gro it was 'all down hilL. while the ai)proaehes to Wabash tVoiii the south were Vexed by se\ere ascents. And, moreover, a j)lank roail was constructed from La (iro in the direction of Marion, as also one from La (Iro to North i\Linehester ; and the amount of travel drawn to La (Jro hy these was truly nmrvelous. Several grain buyers established themselves there, and all the ^n-ain and stock and pork were brought to theni that they could handle. During the Inisy and i)rosperous days of La Gro an immense trade was carried on. One hundred teams have been known to be on hand by sunrise, and the wagons would stand in a long train far out into the country, obliged to wait for hours and hours, and sometimes far into the night, before the turn of each would come to unload, thus enabling them to do their trading and go home."

In 18-il one of the English brothers ei'ected a large warehouse, and Judge Comstock built another. John R. Murphy began business with ^Ir. English, but soon became an independent merchant, grain buyer and stock dealer. In 1842 Amos L. Stevenson came from Clarion and for about fifteen years kept a store and hotel, bought grain, packed pork and dealt in live stock. Isaac Bedsaul engaged in the pork and grain trade for about a dozen years from 1844, and then moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa. These are some of the best known business men of La Ore's booming period, for as late of 1860 the town handled more grain and stock, and commanded more general trade, than AYabash itself; in fact, there were several years during which La Gro was the greatest grain center in the Upper Wabash Valley.

La Gro's bright days were over when the '"through" railroads commenced to push through the AVabash Valley and more than take the place of the canal, the plank road and every other medium which had been bringing her trade and prosperity. Since then the town has dropped out of the race, and has been, on the whole, decreasing in jjopulation even for -the past twenty years. The national census for 1890 gives the population at 549 ; that of 1900 at 456, and that of 1910, at 463.

Among the best known of the merchants of La Gro, who witnessed both the rise and the decline of their home town, were John ami George Todd, father and son, who were associated for several years as dealers in hardware and agricultural implements. The latter, now in his sixtysecond year, sent the last freight down the AVabash Valley by way of the Wabash & Erie Canal and of late years has established a large business as a builder and contractor. Ilis home is now in Wabash, whither he moved in 1914, after having lived near or in the village of La Gro since lii.s infancy. Both among the farmers and bnsines.s men of La Gro Township no two men were better known or more thoroughly resj)ected than Jdhn and George Todd. The editor of this work therefore feels that he is fortunate in nuiid^ering the latter as one of his associates.

John Todd, who died September 28, 1882, was born of Irish parents November 7, 1804. In 1811 the family moved from his birthplace in Penii.sylvania to Ohio and thence, after two years, to Franklin County, Indiana, lie mai'ried Elizabeth Lackey shortly before he had reached his twentieth birthday, and, in time, eight children were boru to them. Soon after his marriage his father died, leaving him in care of the homestead where he rt-mained until 1849, when he moved to Union County, Indiana. Thei'e his first wife died in 1850, and two years thereafter he married .Miss Le<^ Dare, a native of ^Maryland, by whom he had two children, (ieorge was the elder of these, both sons.

In lsr)4 .lohn Todd located in AVabash County, occupying Ids first fxirm east of La Gro village. He remained there for two years, when he moved into town and conducted a sawmill. His next move was to l-u\- the large farm two miles northeast of La Gro, upon whi('h he livrd for eleven years. In this locality George reached manhood, was hardened l)y farm work and educated at the union school in the village.

l'\ithei' and son formed a business partnership in 1875, and for several yeai's conducted a profitable business in hardware and agricultural inii)lements. At the time of his death in 1882, John Todd was accounted one of the mo.st prosperous citizens of the place, being the owaier of a one-half interest in the La Gro Flour ]\Iills and more than four hundred acres of valuable lands.

George Todd continued the lines of business thus laid down, continually improving and expanding all branches. He also became business numager of the large Hour mills situated a short distance south of La Gro, known as the Todd & McClure Mills. The younger man dealt largely in grain, and, as stated, developed a large contracting business l)efore he moved his headquarters to Wabash. From his early manhood he had taken a deep interest in the public affairs of the township, especially in the progress of its schools. Commencing with 1880, he served for a number of years as school trustee, and was otherwise honored. IMr. Todd is a man of family, having been married in 1875 to Miss Ada Tiller, an Indiana lady. Few were better known in La Gro than they, and their fine village residence was always the center of socia])ility and culture. One of their sons, also now located at Wabash, is among the younger and promising members of the Wabash County bar.

The business liouses of tlu- ])reseiit La Gro arc scattered for a short <listance alcn- I\Iaiii Street, and the houses of the townspeople are spnnkh.d over pretty rises l)eyond. There are two or thi'ee churches in sight and a small fiourmill and grain elevator. It is hard to realize that this is the l)0(,niing La Gro of the '40s and '5()s.

The most interesting landnuirk of early times is the Western House, wlii.-h has been conducted by the Egnew family since 1867. On Christmas fhiy of that year it was opened by Andrew Egnew ajul his wife, iind when the former died in 1890 the son, AVilliani, joined the widow in its mauiigement. The AYestern House is the hotel noted as having liKMi erected by Amos L. Stevenson in 1842. Of course it has been repeatedly rciuodeled to conform to the changing conditions of the limes. In .Alarch, 1!)14, a smoker to the niendjcrs of the Connnercial Club was given in the parlors of the hotel, to connnemorate the installation of electric lights in the famous old hostelry. So that the story of the lighting of the Western House reads thus: Tallow candles, 1812; kerosene, 1868; gasoline, 1912; electricity, 1914.

The :\rorrow Grain Company and the La Gro Milling Company are the present-day evidences of the immense trade which centered in the town sixty years ago. It is now the center of a fair country trade, tlic finances of the townsmen and farmers being handled by the Citizens State L.ank of La Gro. That institution was organized March 9, 1912 and now has resources of $127,000. It has but recently occupied a tine new Ijuilding. Present officers: Charles Hegel, president; Alex Fulton, vice president; D. W. Gillespie, cashier.

La Gro has never been prolific of newspapers. Its first journalistic attempt was in the autumn of 184!), when John Q. llowel commenced the publication of the Eagle, which fell to the ground in the following year. Then came a long pause, for it was not until July, 1874, that any representative of the press again appeared. At that time an old printer, Air. Kichards, issued the first number of the La Gro Express, which continuetl for three years as rather a spicy publication. Midway in its career, it had a weak rival in the La Gro Local. After the suspension of the Express in July, 1877, Air. Richards founded the Laketon Herald.

In the fall of 1837 Ivev. I. ITarrison was sent on the Logansport mission. Tliis included all the country from Logansport to Huntington, and from fifteen to twenty miles north and south of the Wabash Piver. During this year, P. Adams and family, with some others, moved to La (!rp. This greatly encouraged the little band. Tn 1850, during the j)astorate of the Pev. AV. 8. liirch, the present church edifice was built. l^'i-om this little beginning, otlier societies have sprung up. At tlie present time both the La Gro and Asl)ury churches are in one cliar'/e.

The present membership of the La Gro Church is 200 while the membership at Asbury is sixty-five. The people in La Gro expect to have a new church edifice, costing about twelve thousand dollars in about a year. '

Asbury Church, or Asbury Chapel as it was generally called in the earlier days,_ was built in the fall of 1859, but preaching in connection witli the society had been progi-essing since about 1848. The first services were held in the schoolhouse near the Disciples Church at the eastern edge of section 16, La Gro Township, with Rev. Morrow P. Armstrong in charge. The house of worship built in 1859 and still occupied is just over the line in Noble Township.

St. Patrick's Catholic Church of La Gro owes its founding to the gathering of a large number of Irish laborers and members of the faith at that point during the construction of the Wabash & Erie Canal. Several years before that period. Father Badin had stopped at La Gro and said mass, while on his way from Fort AVayne to Logausport. But the church was fairly founded when, in 1838, Thomas Fitzgibbon, one of the canal contractors, donated two lots for church purposes and a frame house of worship was erected. The list of resident pastors of St. Patrick's commences with the name of Rev. Patrick ]\IcDermott, who served the charge from 1846 to 1847. Then came Rev. Mich. C. O'Flannagan, 1847-1848 and Rev. John Ryan from 1848 to 1865. During the earlier portion of his pastorate an addition was made to the church building, and the La Gro charge was extended so as to cover Huntington, Wabash and Warsaw. A bell was also placed in the church tower, one of the first in the county. In Noveni))er, 1857, the two acres in the southeastern part of town were laid out for cemetery purposes.

During the service of Rev. Matthew E. Campion, in 1868-73, the present brick church was built, in dimensions 50 by 114 'feet. It Avas dedicated on March 17th of the latter year. At that time, when St. Patrick's was at the height of its prosperity, it embraced some three hundred families in its ministrations.

Rev. John Grogan served from 1873 to 1882 and Rev. M. F. Kelly was his successor for a number of years. In 1888 Rev. Anthony J. Kroeger assumed the charge and during his incumbency of two years the school was opened in the old frame church. He also established the church at Andrews.

Kelly, 18!)4-95; Michael Kaiily, 1895-97; Peter J. Quinn, 1898-1907; William D. Sullivan, 1907-10; Joseph Muteh, 1910. Rev. Joseph Muteli lias been pastor ol' St. I'atrick's Church since July, 1910, and has witliin his jui'isdiction 250 fanulies.

La Gro has the usual complement of societies, to satisfy the social and benevolent instincts of its men and women. The Masons have lately moved into their line rooms in the new bank building; the Odd Fellows occupy comfortable quarters in their hall, erected in 1888. The Independent Order of Red ]Men, the Foresters of America and the Knights and Ladies of the Maccabees, all have growing lodges, and the ladies of literary tastes have a special medium of improvement and pleasure in their Century Club, organized in 1900.