Peru Township

Peru Township

The Holman Purchase - Miamisport - Early Settlers - Sketches of A Few Pioneers - Peru Laid Out - Secures the County Seat - Early Prominent Citizens - First Incorporation of the Town - First Officers and Ordinances - The "Red Ladders" - Incorporated BY Special Act op the Legislature in 1848 - Hog or No Hog - Additions to Peru - Fiee Department - Water Works - Gas Works - Electric Light Plant - Commercial Club - City Park - Public Improvements - Postoffice - Municipal Finances - List op Mayors - Miscellaneous 153

Towns And Villages

List of Towns that Are or Have Been in Miami County' - When- Founded AND By Whom - The Pioneer Settlers - Early Industries and Business Enterprises - Schools and Churches - Wht Some Towns Perished - JIiscellaneous Events - Population in 1910 - List Of Present Postoffices 179

TiiK IIoLMAX Purchase - JIiamisi-urt - Early Settlers - Sketches of A Pew Pioneers - Peru Laid Out - Secures the County Seat - Early Prominent Citizens - First Incorporation of the Town - First Officers and Ordinances - The "Red Ladders" - Incorporated BY Specl\l Act of the Legisl^\ture in 1848 - Hog or No Hog - Additions to Peru - F'ire Department. - Water Works - -Gas Works - Electric Light Plant - Commercial Club - City Park - Public Improvements - Postofpice - Municipal Finances - List of Mayors - Miscellaneous.

Peru, the county seat and only incorporated city of Jliami county, is situated on the north bank of the Wabash river, a little southwest of the geographical center of the county. Its history begins with the treaty negotiated with the Miami Indians at the mouth of the Mississinewa river on October 23, 1826, at which time John B. Richardville, the principal chief of the Miamis, was granted, among other tracts of land, a reservation of one section where the city now stands. The following February John McGregor built a small cabin on the western part of this reservation and he has the credit of being the first white man to establish a permanent domicile within the present limits of Miami county. On August 18, 1827, Richardville and his wife, Pem-e-se-(iuah, conveyed this .section to Joseph Holman for a consideration of $500, and it is said that part of the purcha.se price was "paid in trade," instead of all cash.

On March 3, 1828, the transfer of this land was approved by President John Quincy Adams and on January 7, 1829, Holman sold 210 acres of the east end of the section to William N. Hood for .$500 - just what he had paid for the entire section less than four months before. It was Holman 's ambition to found a town on the remaining portion of his land and on i\Iarch 12, 1829, David Hurr, a surveyor employed for the purpose by Mr. Holman, laid out the town of Miamisport on the southwest quarter of the section. The original plat of ]\Iiamisport shows four streets running east and west - Water, Jackson, ilarkct and Canal - and six streets running north and south - Clay,

At that time the territory now comprising :\Iiami county was a part of Cass county, which included all the present counties of Cass, Miami, Wabash. Fulton. ]\Iarshall, Kosciusko, Elkhart and St. Joseph, and parts of Starke, Pulaski and Laporte. Settlers were beginning to come into the Wabash valley and it was evident that the county of Cass would soon be divided aud a number of new counties formed. Then, too, there was already some talk of a canal to connect the waters of the Great Lakes with the Ohio river, following the course of the Wabash, and ]\Ir. Holman hoped to establish a town that would at once become the county seat of a new county aud a commercial center on the line of the canal, in case it was built. Part of his dream was realized, as Miamisport was for a brief spell the seat of justice of j\Iiami county in 1834.

Graham gives the names of Louis Drouillard. Benjamin H. Scott, Andrew and Isaac Marquiss, Abuer Overman, Zephaniah Wade, Z. W. Pendleton, Walter D. Nesbit. William N. Hood _and Joseph Holman as the residents at Miamisport about the time the town was laid out. Concerning the early business enterprises, the same authority says: "G. W. Holman. mindful of the soles of the early settlers, tanned' their hides and furni.shed leather at this point, while John McGregor, equally thoughtful about their bodies, opened a tavern. He also looked after their letters as postmaster and regulated their morals by holding the scales of the blind goddess in exact equipoise, as justice of the peace. Captain Louis Drouillard was one of the 'merchant princes.' He lived at the east end of Water street, where he had a store for trade with the Indians and supplied the modest wants of the people at low prices, and never dreamed of hemg offered 'A silver pound to row us o'er the ferry,' which he kept at that point, for the price fixed by law was, for a man, six and a fourth cents, and a man and horse, twenty-five cents."

It is to be regi'etted that not more is known of the early settlers of Miamisport. Joseph Holman, the proprietor of the town, was born in Kentucky in 1788 and in 1820 removed to Wayne county, Indiana. During the administration of President John Q. Adams he was land commissioner at Fort Wayne and just before Miami county was erected represented the district composed of Allen and Cass counties in the legislature. In 1839 he returned to Wayne county, where he died in 1872. He was an active politician during the greater part of his mature life and was a delegate to the convention that framed the present constitution of Indiana. His first residence in :\Iiami county was a small cabin on the bank of the Wabash river, a short distance below the town of Miamisport, where he lived for several years, when he built a stone house on Ilolman street between Main and Third streets, within the present limits of Peru. Subsequently he built a frame house on his farm and lived there until he went back to AYayne county.

William N, Hood, one of the most influential men in the early history of the county and founder of the city of Peru, was born in Ohio in 1791. ^Vhen only aliout eijjhteen years of age he eame to Indiana, first locating at Fort Wayne, where he was engaged in mercantile pursuits for several years and amassed considerable wealth for that period. In 1831 he came to Miami county and in 1886 was elected to represent the counties of Cass and Miami in the state legislature. He was again elected representative in 1838, and died in July of that year, soon after the expiration of the legislative session.

\Yalter D. Nesbit, another i)ioneer, was born in Ohio in 1811 and eame to Miamispoi't with his mother and sister in the fall of 1830. A rude log hut was hastily erected, in which they lived during the winter. Before locating at Miamisport the family had lived for about two months at Logansport. Mr. Nesbit continued to be a resident of the county until his death in April, 1895. He was the first supervisor of the county. In 1832 he married Miss Lonana Riley, who survived him after a married life of more than sixty years.

Z. W. Pendleton kept a tavern and is said to have been "one of the best fiddlers in the Wabash valley." This qualification made him a popular figure at the country dances, but after a short residence in the county he moved away and all subsequent history of him has been lost.

Abner Overman, who was the first treasurer of Miami county, left for fields unknown a few years after the expiration of his term of office; Louis Drouillard died in 1847; .\ndrew and Isaac Marquiss both died at an early day, though some of their descendants still reside in the county.

William M. Reyburn, a native of Virginia, where he was born on October 21, 1792, grew to manhood in Ohio, where about 1829 he was licensed to preach by the I\Iethodist conference. In October, 1831, he eame to what is now Miami county and settled on a tract of land immediately west of that bought from Richardville l>y Jo.seph Holman, Refore coming to Indiana he had served as a soldier in the war of 1812 and had held the rank of major in the Ohio militia. He represented Miami county in both branches of the state legislature and served three years as county commissioner. He was one of the first ilethodist ministers in Miami county and was always a willing helper of every movement for the betterment of the community. He died on June 1, 1854.

The boundaries of the old town of ^Miamisport are now marked by Main street on the north; LaFayette street on the east; Holman street on the west, and the Wabash river on the south. During the first five years of its existence its {frowtli was "slow but sure" aud its founder had hopes that some day it woukl beeome a town of importance on the great Wabash & Erie eaiial. Then a rival sprang up that blighted the prospects of Miamisport and in time blotted it from the map. It will be remembered that William N. Hood had bnujjht 210 acres of the east end of Ilohnau's section in January. 1829. Whether it was his intention at the time of the purchase to found a town upon that tract is not known, but about the time Miami county was organized, early in 1834, he determined to found a town there and make an effort to secure the county seat. There is a sort of tradition that William M. Reyburn, whose land adjoineil that of Ilolman on the west, had united with that gentleman to extend the town of Miamisport westward. This hastened ^Ir. Hood's action and he engaged Stearns Fisher, an engineer empioj-ed on the canal, to plat a town immediately east of Holman's.

Prior to that time the two men had been good friends. Now they became bitter enemies. Violent words passed between them on several occasions and the quarrel became a matter of comment for the entire population. Hood went ahead with his project, however, and although Miamisport had the start of his town by five years he was not dismayed. In the survey of the town site Dr. James T. Liston and Walter D. Nesbit carried the chain and drove the stakes. An old document descriptive of the work of the surveyor and his assistants says: "When Peru was laid out the site was entirely covered with heavy timber ajid a thick, impenetrable growth of underbrush. Not a rod square was cleared, I have frequently heard Mr. Fisher say that the men had to precede him and clear away the underbrush so he could get a sight through his instrument."

Truly not a very ciicoui-iigiiig outlook for a town, l^ut Mr. Hood was something of a diplomat. When the commissionei's appointed by the legislature to locate the county seat of Miami county met at the house of John McGregor in June, 1834, he executed a bond, provided the county seat should be located at Peru, to donate the public square and erect upon it a brick court-house and log jail, with some other promises, all of which were fulfilled. He also enlisted the friendship and influence of the Miamisport merchants by offering to present them lots in Peru, or at least to sell such lots to them at a merely nominal figuri'. It is said that some of the best lots on Broadway sold as low as fifty dollars. The old saying that "Money talks" was certainly true in this instance. Peru secured the county seat.

Although the sessions of the county commissioners' court continued to be held at .Miamisport until .May, 1835, it was evident that the town's hopes of future greatness were forever blasted. On June 9, 1841, the plat was vacated by the eouiity eoraraissioners upon Ihe roiiuest of the residents, thoiigh in time the limits of Peru grew out to and beyond the old plat, which now forms part of the city with the boundaries above noted. No doubt the failure of his cherished project had great influence in causing Mr. Holman to leave the county a few j-ears after he lost his fight for the county seat.

In the meantime, .soon after Peru was platted, Mr. Hood sold onethird of his land to Richard L. Britton and another one-third to Jesse L. Williams, the consideration in each ease being $3,000. Hritton was a man of considerable wealth and Williams was one of the leading civil engineers of the west. The deeds of conveyance were dated July 26, 18-34. About that time contracts were let for the construction of portions of the canal, extending it still farther to the westward, and for the building of the dam and locks at Peru. The tlirce proprietors took advantage of the situation to advertise their first sale of lots. Buyers came from great distances, the lots sold readily, those fronting on the canal commanding the highest prices. Among those who came in al)out this time were Daniel R. Bearss, Albert Cole, James B. Pulwiler, Alexander Wilson and C. R. Tracy, all of whom became more or less prominently identified with the liusiness interests of the new town. Daniel R. Bear.ss was born in Liviug.ston county. New York. August 23, 1809, and was therefore twenty-five years of age when he settled in Peru in August, 1834. His grandfather served under Wa.shington in the Revolutionary war and his father in the War of 1812. He was reared on a farm and educated in the Ing school house. In 1828 he went to Fort Wayne, where he entered the employ of W. G. & G. W. Ewing, who at that time were extensively engaged in the Indian trade. Soon after Mr. Bearss joined them they opened a branch store or trading house in Logansport, wliere he was employed until 18:i2. lie then severed his connection with the Ewings and embarked in tlie mercantile business on his own account at Goshen, Indiana, where he contiiuied for about two years. In January, 1834, he married Miss Ennna A., daughter of Judge Albert Cole, and the following August came to Peru as already stated. He paid $150 for the lot at the northeast corner of Third street and Broadway, where the Bearss hotel now stands, and formed a partnership with his father-in-law for the purpose of carrying on a general merchandising business. This association lasted Init about one year, but Mr. Bearss continued the business until 1844. when he formed a partnership with Charles Spencer, under the firm name of Bearss & Spencer. Five years later he retired from mercantile life and devoted his time and attention to looking after his large property interests. Besides tlie hotel lie owned several business blocks and a luimher of good I'Mrnis in ]\Iiaini county. 'Slv. Bearss was always interested in political niatters. lie was an enthusiastic supporter of Henry Clay for the presidency and was one of the founders of the Kepubliean jiarly in Miami county. He served three terms in the state senate and two in the house, and held other local offices. He took a k(!on interest in the movement to bring railroads to I'eru and was a direetor of both the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago and Wabash roads. Early in the year 1884 he went to Hot Springs, Arkansas, hopinji- to improve his health, and died there on .\i)ril 18th of that year.

Albert Cole, for more than foi'ty years intimately connected w-ith the business interests and political fortunes of Peru, was born at Berlin, Connecticut. ^May 1:1 1790. After the death of his father in 1801, he lived with his older l)rothei', a farinei'. attending the district schools during the winter seasons, and later learned the trades of tanner and shoemaker. In 1813 he started west and arrived at Cincinnati in the fall of that year, but soon afterward returned to his native state. In September, 1814, he married ^fiss Mary Calpin and again started for the west. He located at Zanesville, Ohio, where he was engaged in farming, tanning and shoemaking until 1833, when he removed to Goshen, Indiana. In July. 1834, he located in Peru and for about a year was in partnership with his son-in-law, Daniel R. Hearss, in the mercantile line. When the fii'ui dissolved. ]Mr. Cole took his share of the goods to Lewisburg, where he continued in merchandising for another year, at the end of which time he returned to Peru. In 1840 he was elected one of the associate judges of Miami county and from 1848 to 1851 was postmaster at Peru. He also served as United States commissioner under President William H. Harrison for the distribution of the surplus revenue. He died in November, 1878.

James B. Fulwiler, another prominent Peru pioneer, was born in Perry county, Penn.sylvania, September 6, 1812. He received an academic education in his lujtive state and in 1834 came to Peru with a stock of merchandise for Samuel Pike. On March 7, 1837. he married Jliss Pauline, daughter of Francis Avaline, of Fort W^ayne, and the next year, at the solicitation of his friends, he was a candidate fo'r representative in the state legislature from the district composed of Fulton and Miami counties, but owing to his views with regard to the state system of internal improvements he was defeated. From 1848 to 1855 he was clerk of Miami county and in 1860 was a delegate to the Baltimore convention which nominated Stephen A. Douglas for the presidencj'. When he came to Peru in 1834 he established his store on the noi'thwest corner of Broadway and Thirtl streets and he continued to be identified with business enterprises in Peru until some years before his death, when he I'etired, though lie afterward served several terms as justice of the peace. Three of his sous became promiueut in railroad circles and another son, Louis B., was at one tiiue editor of the Miami County Sentinel.

Stephens' History of Miami County (p. 179), says: "Some one of the surveying party asked Hood what he was going to call his town, and he replied that he didn't care, so it was a short name. A number of names were suggested and they finally agreed to call the new town Peru." This is the onlj' story the writer has been able to find explaining how the town received its name, and it is probably coi-rect.

Shortly after the plat was completed Dr. James T. Liston Iniilt a large, double, hewed-log house on the corner of Cass and Second streets, which was the first building erected on the original plat. Before the close of the year 1834 several other residences and a few business houses had been built and the future city of Peru was started upon its career. During the year 1835 a number of dwellings and a few more business rooms were built, but the year 1837 marked the gi'catest prosperity experienced by Peru in the first decade of its existence. In that year the canal was finished and opened for traffic between Peru and Fort Wayne, the dam in the Wabash river and feeder to the canal were completed, the first newspaper was established, large mills were constructed, and began operations in the fall, the town boasted three taverns, seven dry-goods and one grocery store, three physicians, a collegiate institute, a number of tradesmen, saddlers, carpenters, shoemakers, blacksmiths, etc., and a population estimated at five hundred inhabitants. ,

On March 26, 18-12, a mass meeting of voters was held to consider the question of incorporating the town. Joseph L. Reyburn was chosen to preside and James M. DeFrees was elected clerk. After a thorough disciLssion of the subject, a town government was formed in accordance with the provisions of "An act providing for the incorporation of towns,"' approved February 17. 1838. Peru was then divided into five districts, in each of which was elected a trustee. The first board of trustees was composed of John Low. Samuel Glass. Joseph L. Reyburn, John Coulter and Isaac Robertson. On April 2, 1842, these trustees met and organized by the election of Joseph L. Reyburn president, and James M. DeFrees town clerk. At a subsequent meeting William R. ilowbray was elected treasurer; Samuel Hurst, lister; and John H. Griggs, marshal. Twelve ordinances were passed by the board at- the meetings of April 5 and IT. 1842, viz.: 1. Providing for the assessment of property ; 2. Levying a tax of twelve cents on the $100 ; 3. For licensing groceries and coffee houses : 4. Estalilishing the width of .siili'walks : "). Providiiiir for tin- |)iiiiislniu'iit ol' iiiisdniiriinors - \mvticuhirly specil'ying refusal to assist an ofticfi- in tile ilisciiarfie of liis duty, driving upon or obstructing the sidewalk, and running or racing horses upon the streets; 6. Regulating shows and exhibitions; 7. For tile removal of nuisances; 8. For preventing shooting witliin the eor- ])orate limits of the town: !). Allowing taxpayers to work out the amount of their taxes; 10. Regulating the marshal's duties and fees;

Xo record can be found of any other meeting of tiiis board until March 2'), 1843, when a meeting of the board and citizens generally was assembled "to provide measures for the purpose of arresting ravages by fire." The citizens voted to require the board to levy and collect a tax to provide hooks and ladders, and resolved: "That we will use our influence to sustain the board in enforcing all the laws heretofore enacted for the regiilation and government of the town."

Two days later (March 27, 1843). the board levied a tax of twenty cents on the $100 and pas.sed an ordinance providing for the purchase of live ladders twenty-four feet long; five, fourteen feet long; five roof ladders, fifteen feet long; three fire hooks, with poles not less than twenty-two feet long, "all to be painted with Venetian red." Bids for liuse ladders were opened at a meeting on April 18, 1843, and the contract to furnish them was awarded to Alexander Porter for $52.00.

At an election held on May 1, 1843, the following trustees were elected: First district, John Lowe; Second district, G. S. Fenimore; Third district, J. L. Reyburn ; Fourth district, Jacob Fallis: Fifth district, Samuel Hunt. A week later the lU'w board met and organized by the election of John Lowe as president. On June 5, 1843, the board had another meeting and accepted the ladders from Mr. Porter, and passed the following ordinance relating to their distribution, with a penalty for violation of any of its provisions:

"Re it, and it is hereby, ordained by the president and trustees of the town of Peru, that each Trustee be, and he is hereby, required to take three of the corporation ladders and place them in the most suitable place in his district, and that one hook be placed in the second district, one in the third and one in the fifth."

This appears to have been the last meeting of the board of trustees under the first town government. On January 11, 1848, a petition, signed by a number of citizens of Peru, praying for the incorporation of the town, was presented to the house of representatives of the Indiana legislature, then in session. Alphonso A. Cole was at that time the member for Miami county. The petition w^as referred to a select committee, consisting of Messrs. Cole, Hamilton and Trimbly, which reported back the same day a bill for tlie inporporation of tlie town. It passed the senate on February 3, 1848, and Mas duly approved by the governor. The bill named as couneilmeu Jaeob Fallis, Albert Cole, James IM. DeFrees, George W. Goodrich and Edward H. Bruce, who were to hold until the first election, which was required to be held within one month after the taking effect of the act. On March 1, 1848, the council named by the legislature met and elected Albert Cole mayor; Ira Mendenliall, recorder; and C. R. Tracy, treasurer.

The first town election was held on ^larch 13, 1848, when William A. McGregor was elected mayor. On April 7, 1848, the council levied a tax of fifteen cents on each $100 worth of property for town purposes. The net amount of revenue derived from this source during the first year was $258.96, to which was added $36.00 received from shows and exhibitions, and $45.75 as license fees of taverns and groceries, making the total receipts for the first year of the new town government $341.79. The balance in the treasury at the close of the year in March, 1849. was $221.17. Think of tliat 1 In these days, when so much is being said aboiit an "economical administration of government," it may be refreshing to note that the disbursements in Peru during the first year after its incorporation by the legislature were only a little over one-third of the receipts. The second year the expenditures were somewhat heavier, as the grade of Broadway was established by Solomon Holman in 1848 and the next year the grade was made, involving a till of two feet or more at points below ^lain street, at a cost of $387.59. In 1851 a portion of Broadway was graveled, the first improved street in the town.

The question as to whether hogs should be allowed to run at large seems to have been a "paramount issue" in the early history of Peru. Says Graham: "For nearly two years the legal learning, the broad statesmanship and the burning eloquence of our city fathers boiled and seethed around the question of hogs, to impound them or let them run. Ordinance after ordinance was framed, but there always seemed a crack through which a pig could crawl. ' '

In the records of the town under date of April 26, 1850, is found the following entry: "Comes now Oliver Dyer, marshal, and reports the sale of 52 hogs impounded by him, to wit :

"Comes now tlie said Oliver Dyer ami presents a elaim to the mayor and couneil for impounding, advertising and feeding fifty-two hogs, amounting to $2!».2r), witli a eredit tliereon of ij^LSO, being the amount realized from the sale of said hogs."

The marshal's elaim was refernnl to a committee consisting of Higgins. Shutz and Ilaekley. wliieh committee latter reported adversely, on legal grounds, and added; "Certaiidy not, when from the best information they are enabled to obtain, the i)roceedings were conducted with a special view to running up an ac-count over and above the proceeds of the sale had under them."

At the same meeting at which the marshal's bill was presented Coleman ITenton came forward with a petition, "numerously sigue<l by citizens of the corporation," prayitig for the repeal of the "hog law." Four remonstrances were also presented and both petitions and remonstrances were referred to a committee of three - Higgins, Adkinson and Brown - which reported the following ordinance :

"Be it ordained by the mayor and common couneil of the town of Peru, that the ordinance entitled 'An ordinance to restrain swine from running at large within the corporation of the town of Peru' and all ordinances amendatory thereto, as also all ordinances or parts of ordinances lending in any maimer to restrain swine from the enjoyment of the lai'gest liberty, be and the same are hereby repealed."

This oi'dinanee seems to have ended the whole matter and taken the "hog out of polities," as no further reference to the subject can be fotuid in any early history- of the town. Some years later - the exact date is uncertain - the liberty of the hog was again curtailed, l)nt the festive cow was allowed to run at large upon tlie streets until about 1891 or 1892, when the council, after nuich discussion, which at times grew acrimonious, passed an ordinance prohibiting live stock of any kind from I'unning at large within the corporate limits of the city.

The town government established under the act of 1848 lasted for nearly nineteen years. An (dection was ordered for February 18, 1867, at which the voters should express themselves for or against the incorporation of Peru as a city. The result of that election was 350 votes in favor of the proposition and only thirty-seven against it. After the election certain provisions were complied with, and on February 25, 1867, the city was duly incorporated, with four wards, and a city election ordered for March 11, 1867. At that election Orris Hlake was elected mayor; Ira B. Myers, clerk; William F. TTauk, treasurer: John C. Owens, mar.shal and street commissioner; Maitin Swauger, assessor; James M. Brown, city civil engineer; Ootlieb Conradt and Jacob Weist, coiuicilmen for the First ward; R. P. Effinger and Alpha Buckley, for the Second ward ; William Deiiiston and Samuel W. Ream, for the Third ward: Henry Deibert and Eli J. Jameson, for the Fourth ward; James B. Fulwiler, Henry Button and James T. Heutou, school trustees.

Mayor Blake took the oath of office on ilarch 15, 1867, and served until the first regular election the following ^lay, when he was succeeded by Josiah Farrar. At the May election Lincoln P. Pond and Henry Stanley were elected assessors; W. B. Loughridge, city attorney, and the other officers elected in ilarch were all reelected, with the exception of Henry Deibert, councilman from the Fourth ward, who was succeeded by Josiah Felix. John C. Owens resigned the office of marshal and street commissioner on July 2, 1867, and Isaac Burnett was ap- pointed to the vacancy. After a week's service he also resigned and the office was filled by the appointment of Thomas J. IMcDowell. The city government of Peru was now permanentl.v established.

Soon after the town was laid out in 1834 some additions were made by the proprietors, but these additions became a part of the original plat. Just east of the town was the reservation of Francis Godfroy, granted to him by the treaty of 1826. By the provisions of his will, a full account of which is given in another chapter, a portion of this reservation was to be laid off into town lots, within three months after liis (U'cciisc, as ;in aiMitinn to tlic town of Pern. Pursuant to tlic provisions of the old chiefs will, Allen Hamilton, executor of the estate, tiled a plat of '-(lodfroy's addition to Peru" in June, 1840. This was the first and is the largest addition ever made to the city.

In 1842 Ewing's addition east of Broadway and inniiediately north of the original plat was laid out. It contains thirty-nine lots on each side of Ewing street - which runs east from Broadway to Clay street - or seventy-eight lots in all. Hood's addition of six squares, hounded by Main, Canal. Hood and LaFayette streets, was laid out in 1849. E. H. Shirk platted a portion of the old Hood farm in 1863 and added it to the city. This addition is bounded by Main. Eighth, Hood and Grant streets. The following year E wing's i)artition addition of sixtyfour lots, situated north of Fifth street and extending from Broadway to Hood streets, was laid out and became part of Peru. Brownell's addition of 147 lots, bounded by Main. Union and Forest streets and the railroad was platted in 1866. Shirk's second addition was made in 1868. and in 1869 Smith's addition, bounded by LaFayette, Eighth, Hood and the railroad was made to the city. Two additions were platted in 1870. viz.: Dukes' addition from Grant street to the old Logansport road and from Seventh street to the railroad, and Smith's second addition north of the railroad and east of Grant street. In 1871 Sterne's addition, running two squares west from Grant street between Main and Seventh streets, and Shirk's third addition, bounded by Seventh. Fremont, Eighth and Hood streets, were platted and annexed to the city. Dukes' second addition, west of Grant street and noi'tli of Boulevard, and Smith's third addition, east of Godfroy's and extending from Canal street noi'th to the railroad, were laid out in 1S72. Brownell's addition between Union and Walnut streets w-as also made to the city in this year.

During the next ten years several subdivisions of former jilats were made and recorded and a few new additions were made to the city. Among the latter are Runyan's and Darrow's additions in 1873; Bouslog's addition on East Eighth street in 1880; and Farrar's addition between Third and Main streets, east of Grant, in 1881. From that time to the beginning of the present century the princi])nl additions recorded and annexed to the city are as follows: Shirk & Edwards' addition known as East Peru in 1887; Beck, Reilly & Faust's addition in 1887; A. N. Dukes' North Peru addition of 214 lots, east of the Chili pike and north of the railroad, in 1890; Bouslog's Elmwood addition, east of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad and north of Godfroy's addition, in 1890; Levi & Falk's addition, situated between Canal, Main, Smith and Lincoln streets, in 1891 ; Brownell's north addition, a sub- division of outlot No. 11 in Uodfro\''s addition, in 1S[)1 ; Stutesmau's addition, north of Boulevard and west of the Mexico pike, in 1892 ; and a revised plat of Brownell's addition from Canal street to one tier of lots north of Main street and extending from Holman to Forest was recorded in 1895.

The most important addition to the city since 1900 is unquestionably that of Oakdale, consisting of 1,058 lots, the plat of which was filed on Janu;iry 27, 1906, by the Oakdale Improvement Compan.y. A full account of this addition and the manner in which its lots were placed on the market will lie found in Chapter XIII of this work. On March 28, 1901, the city council passed an ordinance annexing to the city all the ad.ioining acKlitions except Ridgeview and South Peru, both of which were incorporated as independent towns.

Mention has already been made of the "red ladders" ordered by the board of trustees on March 27, 1813, whicji was the first attempt to estalilish anything like a fire protection in the town of Peru. Although an ordinance was passed providing that the trustees should keep the ladders in the "most suitable place," they were usually left at the scene of the fire where they were last used, and when another fire occurred there was some difficulty in locating the fire department. Shortly after the incorporation of 1848 the marshal was instructed to ascertain the whereabouts of the hooks and ladders and provide for their safekeeping.

Early in the year 1860 a petition of citizens was presented to the council, asking that body to appoint F. S. Hackley as agent to visit several cities and investigate their fire departments with a view of establisliing a department in Peru. In May, 1860, the council authorized the erection of a fire engine house, at a co.st of $1,100 and purchased a hand fire engine, with the necessary hose, etc., which cost alwut $2,300. A volunteer force was organized to man tlie engine at fires and tlie annual cost of tliis dejiartment during the next twelve years was about sixty dollars.

In Xovember, 1872, the council passed an ordinance for the reorganization of the fire department and a new engine was purchased. A more thorough organization was effected under the ordinance of July, 1888. which jn'ovided for a cliii'f, two assistants, one hose company of sixteen men and a hook and ladder company of eight men. The same year the fire department building on Xorth iliami street was erected at a cost of some $3,200. By tlie ordinance of October 23, 1888, a fire limit was established, extending from the south lioundarv line of the city aloug the west side of Wabash street to Eighth street, thence along the west side of Showana street to the north lioundary line of the corporation, thence along the northern boundary to the northwest corner of Lot No. 64, Ewing's partition addition, thence southward to the east line of Miami street, and thence along the east line of Miami street to the southi'rn lioundary of the city. Within these limits it was ordained that all buildings should have walls of brick and stone, with roofs of tin, iron, slate, or some other fire-proof material.

The first paid department was established in 1889 and on March 24. 18!)2. the council passed an ordinance providing that the department should "consist of one chief engineer and one regularly organized lio.se company, consisting of three men regular and three minute men, who shall be reiiuired to sleep at the engine house; and one hook and ladder company, consisting of eight men, who shall be received into actual service by the common council of said city, and whose pay .shall be fixed annually by the common council."

Late in the year 1912 two automobiles were ordered from a firm in Elmira, New York, at a cost of .$15,000. These machines combine a chemical engine, a pump with a capacity of five hundred gallons of water per minute, and a supply of hose sutficient to extinguish any ordinary fire. Prior to the installment of these machines a supply of hose was kept at the Indiana Manufacturing Company and another at the hospital, but with the advantages of quick transit of fires these sub-stations have been discontinued and the entire department is quartered at the house on Miami street. At the close of the year 1913 the department consisted of ten men, under the chieftainship of William Murtha. Init at the beginning of the year 1914 two more men were added. With twelve disciplined men and the improved fire-fighting apparatus it can be said that Peru has as efficient a fire department as is usually found in cities of its size. It should also be stated that the introduction of the two automobiles did not displace the apparatus already in service. The horses, the hook and ladder truck and the hose wagon are still available whenever they are needed.

Tile proposition to establish a municipal water works system for the city of Peru first came before tlie council in 1871. At that time public sentiment was against the undertaking and no action was taken. On March 7, 1873, Governor Hendricks approved an act authorizing cities to issue bonds for tiie purpose of building water works and the (piestion was agitated for a time in Peru, but again no definite action was taken on the matter. In 187"), Sliirk. Dukes & Company came forward with a proposal to build and equip a water works system adequate to the demands of the eity under a franchise, but the council declined to grant the franchise and once more the subject was dropped w-ithout any results having lieen obtained.

In July, 1877. a special election was held to ascertain the .sentiment of the voters with regard to the construction of water works, those in favo)- 1o vote a tiallot declaring "For Water Works." and those opposetl a ballot "Against Water Works." I'pon canvassing the I'etui-ns it was found that the proposition had carried by a vote of almost two to one and on April 10. 1878. the council jiassed an ordinance authorizing the issue and sab' of water wni-ks lionds. For some reason that ordinance was repealed and on June 7. 1878. another was passed providing for an issue of bonds amounting to $110,000, due in twenty years, with interest at the rate of eight pel- cent per annum. Tlie bonds were sold at a slight discount, but soon afterward went to par and later to a premium.

for (lifl'crmt jioi'tioiis of llic woi'k wcfc let in OctolnT. 1878, and in May, 187i), Ihey were coinpleted. A substantial liriek jinnip liouse was erected at the corner of AVayiie and Canal streets, in the eastern part of the city, where two iimnpiiipj engines run by steam were installed, the daily capacity of the pumps beinsi' about 2,500,000 gallons. The reservoir was liuill on the south side of the Wabash river, on an elevation of sufficient height to supply a gravity pressure capable of forcing six streams of water to a height of fi-om fifty to seventy-five feet. The cost of the original plant was -$109,549.!);i

At first the water works were under the control of a committee of three members of the city council, Imt in 1881 the state legislature passed an act providing that water woi'ks owned by a municipality should ])e controlled by a board of three trustees or directors elected by the people. This system prevailed until 1895, when another state law placed such works under the control of the city council. The actual management of the works is vested in a superintendent and an engineer.

For tw-enty years the water supply was taken from the Wabash river. On April 13. 1900, the council entered into a contract with the Shaw-Kendall Engineering Company, of Toledo, Ohio, to drill thirteen wells and install an air lift pumping plant, with a capacity of not less than 2,200,000 gallons for each twenty-four hours. The contract price of the new equipment was $35,300 and on July 10, 1900, the council authorized a loan of $15,000 to complete the payment for the new works, which were placed in service early in 1902. Tender the new system the quality of the water was gi-eatly improved and the result is seen in the increased consumption. The city now has over twenty miles of mains and a majority of the people living along these mains use the city water. The revenue derived from the water works more than pays the expense of operation and repairs, as may be seen from the statement of the city finances near the close of this chapter.

In June, 1874, H. E. and C. F. Sterne & Company began the construction of a gas plant to be operated in connection with the woolen mills, of which they were the proprietors. Some three and a half miles of mains were laid during the summer and on November 15, 1874, the company announced that it was ready to supply illuminating gas. A contract was made with the city to light the streets for a period of twenty-five years. This was a comparatively small plant, the gasometer having a capacity of only about 20,000 cubic feet. The annual consumption of gas gradually increased and in 1885 amounted to about 6,000,000 f,-et.

The Peru-American Gas Company was incorporated in the spring of 1886 and on July 27th of that year bought the plant from the original proprietors and gi-eatly enlarged it. ilore mains were laid and every inducement was offered to the people to use gas. About that time, or a little later, natural gas was discovered south of Peru in Grant and Howard counties and was piped to the city, where it was used both for heating and lighting, although for the latter purpose it was greatly inferior to the manufactured gas. In May, 1895, the natural gas pipe lines passed into the hands of the Dietrich syndicate, which continued to supply gas until the pressure became too low to force it to the city. The natural gas mains then lay idle for a time, when the Dietrich interests secured a franchise, constructed an artificial gas plant in the western part of the city and liegau the manufacture of gas. About 1911 the works of the Dietrich syndicate were merged with those of the Peru-American Gas Company, under tlie latter name.

The iirst electric lights in Peru made their appearance in the fall of 1885, when the Thomson-Houston Electric Company installed a dynamo with a capacity of twenty-five arc lights as an experiment, taking power from Jliller's mill. The following July Volney Q. Irwin, of Crawfordsville. purchased thi> plant, with the ground and building wiiere it was located on the old canal, near the canal mill. Mr. Irwin put in a boiler with a capacity of 212 horse-power, an S5-horse-power engine, and two dynamos each capable of supplying current to twentyfive lights. Contracts for lighting stores and other buildings were then made and in a few years electric lights had largely taken the place of gas lights.

In November. 1894, the Peru Light and Power Company was incorporated with V, Q. Irwin, president ; P. F. Covington, vice-president ; Nathaniel Covington, secretary and treasurer. This company tlien took over the plant, added another arc light machine and an alternating incandescent machine, increasing the capacity to 165 arc lights, and 2.000 incandescent lights. ^Vitll these additions and some other changes electrical engineers pronounced the Peru plant to l)e the eciual of that of any other city in the country of similar size.

A few years later the subject of a municipal lighting plant began to be discussed and a large number of Peruvians expressed themselves in favor of its estalJishment. On jMarch i:^, 1900. tlie city council granted to I^Ieu & Perrott, of Indianapolis, a franchise to build and equip an electric lighting works, with the understanding that the city woulil i>un-li;isi' tlir siiiiic uiuli'f certain coiulitidiis. Instead of liiiilding a new plant. I 'leu & Pcrrott imrdiasi'd the old one, installed some new niachinen-. and on Xoveini)ci' 1, 1!)00, it was turned ov(!r to the city. There was some eritieisni of the manner in wiiieh this deal was carried throngh. Tlie franchise of the Peru Light and Power Company was about to f.\i)ir(' and that compan.v, after a franchise had been granted to tlie Indianajjolis parties, reali/.ed that it would be a difficult matter to secure a renewal. It is said the old company sold out to I'len & Pen-ott at a sacritice and that the purchasers resold to the city at a figure that left them a hanilsome profit. The criticism of the city authorities was on account of their having granted a franchise to outsidei's. when tlie old plant might have been purchased direct from the old company. During the year ]!)i:! the expense of operation and upkeep was .$60,428.77 and the receipts amounted to $56,389.28. Although these figures indicate that the plant was operated at a loss, the i-epairs uuide during the year have placed it in good condition and the probabilities are that for the coming years the electric lighting works will show a bahince on the riglit sitle of the ledger.

AVithiii recent years it has become almost a universal custom for the business men of a cit.v to organize some sort of an association of l)usiness men for the purpose of promoting their common interests and adding to the material prosperity of the city. At a meeting in February. 1!)01. when the question of raising a bonus for Josiah Turner as an inducement to lease and reopen the old woolen mills was under consideration, some one proposed the organization of a permanent business men's association. A committee, consisting of Frank M. Stutesman, chairnuin, Ilugli .McCatfrey, Julius Falk, R. H. Bouslog, R. A. Edwards. A. X. Dukes, A. L. Bodurtha, C. IT. Brownell and J. D. Oates, was appointed to formulate and present plans for siieh an organization. Xotliing definite was accomplished until nearly a year later, but (in January 17. 1902, a meeting was held which resulted in the <)i-ganization of tiie Peru Commercial Club. A nominating committee was appointed, wliicli presented the following names as the lirst officers of the dull: F. .M. Stutesman, president; R. A. Edwards, vice-president: Xelson W. .Miller, treasurer. The report of the conunittee was concurred in and the officers were elected. At a subsequent meeting a little later J. (i. Brackinridge was elected secretary. The first executive board was comjiosed of Hugh McCaffrey, Henry Meinhardt, G. C. Miller, G. xV. Swartwout and A. N. Dukes. Eight standing connnittees

Since the organization of this club it has been an active factor in its efforts tn promote tlie interests of the city of Peru and its people. Its work in bringing new manufacturing enterprises to the Oakdale addition is described in another chapter: the arrangements for the laying of the corner-stone of the new courthouse were made through the club; it has been energetic in campaigns to secure bonuses for new factories, particularly the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad shops: has offered valuable suggestions and assi.sted in the matter of granting franchises to corporations, and while it has sometimes taken the initiative in these matters it has always worked in harmony with but subservient to the city administration.

The secretaries, in the order in which they have served, were J. G. Brackinridge, Giles W. Smith and Pliny M. Crume. The officers for 1914 are Hugh ileCaffrey, president: J. W. Parkhurst, vice-president; Guy York, secretary ; Henry Kittner, treasurer.

The club now has an active membership of about 150, though at times in the past, when some campaign of more than ordinary interest was on, the membership has run as high as three hundred or more. This was especially true in the movement to secure a subsidy for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad shops, when the club worked in unison with the city administration and the Improvement and Park Association.

This park was established through the efforts of the Improvement and Park Association in connection with the securing of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad shops in Peru. A full account of the manner in which the land was purchased by the association and leased to the city for park purposes may be found in the chapter on internal improvements. The park was formally opened on the evening of August 20,

Shortly after the eonipletion of the waterworks the question of sewers came uj) for consideration by the people and the city council. The first sewer in the city was built on Cass street and the second on Tippecanoe. It is said that these two sewers were constructed through the influence of two members of the council who lived on the two streets, and that they were put in without regard to a general sewer system. A little later a system was planned by Jliehael Iloran, the city civil engineer, and the work of building sewers was commenced according to that plan. At the close of the year 1913 the city had eleven main sewers and tliirty-five laterals, and several new lines wei-e under contemplation. The sewer on Broadway is a double sewer, i. e., there is a conduit on each side of the street, so that easy access is afforded to the buiklings on either side. The work has proceeded gradually, in order that the burden of expense might be distributed over a number of years. When the system is completed Peru will be as well supplied with sewers as any city of its size in the country.

On July 2, 1901, the city authorities entered into a contract with C. Moellering & Company, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, to pave Broadway with brick from the Wabash river uoi'th to the railroad tracks, the cost of the improvement being nearly .$r)(),000. This was the first paved roadway of any kind, except gravel, in the city. The next improvement of this character was the paving of Main street from Wabash street west to Jliami with brick, which was made a few years after Broadway was improved. A few years later a bitulithic roadway was laid in the east end of j\lain street, extending to the city limits, and in 1913 this portion of the street was connected with the brick pavement at Wabash street by a bitulithic pavement. West Third street is paved with brick from Broadway to Miami street, aud in the winter of 1913-14 an order was issued for the pavement of Main street from Miami west to the eity limits, the work to be done during the spring and summer of 1914. Other improvements are also in contemplation. Most of the sewers and paved roadways have been built under what is known as the "Barrett Law," which levies the cost of the improvement against the abutting property, but gives the property holders ten years in whicJi to pay their assessments, improvement bonds being issued at the time tlie work is done and made payable in ten annual installments.

In a few places in the older part of the city there is room for improvement in the sidewalks. Init in the main the walks are in good condition. In a number of the new additions concrete sidewalks have ))een laid and this material is rapidly growing in favor in the construction of new walks wherever ordered.

When the postoffice was first established at Peru it was called "'^Ic- Gregor's" and John IMcGregor was appointed the first postmaster. For iiliout three-(|uarttn-s of a century tlie postoffice occupied rented (juarters wherever suitalile rooms could l)e obtained, moving from place to place as leases expired and property holders required their buildings for other uses. In 1909 congress api^ropriated .*t!75,000 for the purchase of a site and ei-ection of a jDostoffice building. The lot on the northeast corner of Sixth street and Broadway was selected and in March, 1910, the contract for the erection of the building was awarded to P. H. McCormaek & Company, the firm that built the Miami county courthouse. On October 17, 1910, the corner-stone was laid. In the stone were deposited, among other things, a little book of Peru views aud a list of the postmasters from the time the office was established. An effort was made by the writer to obtain a copy of that list, but one could not be found. Just before the stone was placed in position J\lr. MeCormack, the contractor, wrote a few lines on a bill of fare of the Bearss hotel and deposited it in the cavity. What he wrote no one knows and it will prolialily not be ascertained until the corner-stone is removed. Postmaster Loveland says the cost of the site was $15,000 and that of the building about $78,000. The interior woodwork in the postoffice was furnished by the C. H. Brownell Company, of Peru. From the little log cabin of 1835, when only a few letters were sent and received during an entire year, the receipts of the Peru postoffice are now approximately $35,000 per annum. The office employs twenty-seven people, exclusive of the twelve inral delivery carriers. During the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1!)1;5, the office issued 18,655 domestic and 194 international money orders and during the same period paid 10,228 domestic and 17 foreign orders. With the extension of the pan-els post the iiunibei' of iiioiiry ordri's is constantly

On December 31. 1913, the following report was sent to the state statistician as an abstract of the inclet)tedness, receipts and disbursements of the city for the year ending on that date : large extent to the ravages of the great flood of ilai-ch, 1913, which did immense damage to the water works pumping station, the electric light plant and other public utilities. To place these utilities in working condition temporary loans were necessary. The receipts for the year were as follows:

In the matter of expenditures the year 1913 was one of the heaviest in the city's history. Two new automobile fire engines were purchased late in the preceding year, but were paid for in 1913 ; an addition was made to the fire engine house on iliami street to provide a place for the new apparatus, which made the cost of the fire department far above that in normal years; the repairs made necessary by the flood and the natural expenses caused the disbursements to outstrip the receipts, as shown by the following table :

In the health, fire and police departments the amounts above given include the salaries of all persons connected with those departments. Wliile the figures taken from this report show a deficit at the end of the year of $9,433.20, it must be remembered that 1913 was an extraordinary year in the destruction of property, which necessitated large expenditures in the way of repairs.

Since the establishiiieiit of the city govcriiinoiit in 1867, a period of fifty-seven years. Peru had hut ten mayors. Orris Bhike was elected at the special election in Mai-cii. 1S()7. anil sri'\-c(l until the regular election in May. when he was sncceeiliMl hy Josiah Kai'rar. William A. McOrcgor was elected in l.Sli!) and served until lS7r). when William B. itcylnirn was elected. Mr. Kcyliiii'n dic<l on .March '.iO, 1882, and John A. (iraham was appointed to fill out the unex])ired term, at the close of which he was eR'cted. Mr. Graham served hy reeh-ctions until the election of Jesse S. Zern in 1889. Mayor Zern continued in office until his death, which occurred in JIa.v, 1896. At the election a few (lays jn-ior to his death, he was reelected for another term, hut died licforc taking the o;itli of office. The i-ouncil met on the evening of Ma.\' 9. 189G, passed resolutions of sympathy ;ind respect, and elected Orson Dni'aml mayor for the ensuing term. A few da.vs later a new council came into offic-e and elected ('harles A. Parsons mayor, claiming that the old council had no authority to elect a mayor except for the few days remaining of the old term. ilr. Durand refused to vacate, however, and the ease was taken to the courts. The supreme court of the state finally upheld the old council and Mr. Durand continued to serve as mayor until he was succeeded by William A. Oduni in 1902. hi liMili .John J. Kreutzer was elected mayor to succeed Mr. Odura and served for four years, being succeeded in 191^) by William A. Hammond, the present mayor.

Peru had a police force of eleven men. uiuler the superintendency of J. H. Snilitt. at the begiiunng of the year 1914. This is one policeiiian for about each 1,100 of the population, but as the people of the city are genei'all.v peaceful, law-abiding citizens, this force is sufficient to maintain oi'tler and protect life and i)ropei-ty.

eomfortnble and commodious houses of worship ; there are a number of literary and social clubs ; most of the fraternal societies are represented by lodges, and the monthly pay-roll of the various manufactories amounts to about $200,000 in normal times. Full accounts of the schools, societies and manufacturing' interests will be found in other chapters of this work. Three steam railroads and three electric lines afford excellent slapping and transportation facilities; the city has three daily and two weekly newspapers; the mercantile establishments and hotels compare favoralily with those to be found in cities of similar size elsewhere; the professions are ably represented, and these things, together with the efficient fire department, a bountiful supply of pure water for domestic use, a fine public library, the presence of an industrious, order loving population, all combine to make Peru "no mean city."