Pleasant Township

Pleasant Township

Pleasant Townsliip, comprising fifty-six s(iuare miles in the northwestern part of AVabash County, does not belie its name. It is a country of varied surface, of beautiful streams and numerous pretty lakes, and of fertile soil and comfortable homesteads. The sportsman, the lover of out-of-doors and the home-builder, are e(iually pleased with tiie outlook.

Eel River and its tributaries are chiefly responsible for the pleasant outlook of the country. That stream enters from the eastern border of the township and flows generally in a southwesterly direction, through the southeast central and southern sections into Paw Paw Township toward Roann. On its way, it passes Laketon and South Laketon, and receives Otter, Silver and Scpiirrel creeks from the north. These, with several smaller tril>utaries from that direction, bind together various chains of little lakes.

This feature is most pronounced in the watercourse west of Laketon, which embraces Long, Round and Mud lakes in a sort of triangle. Long Lake, nearly a mile long and one-third as wide, is the largest compact body of water in Pleasant Township. South of its west end is Round Lake, considerably smaller and lying directly west of Laketon, wliile

^Fiid Lake to the west of l^oii^' is not iiiueli more than a fail" sized i)oncl. J>ut they are all sunny and offer good lishinj:: <^rounds, while the surroundinLT count r\' is justly attractive to the liuiitei- and toui'ist generally.

Silver Creek, tlie largest of the Eel River hraiiches, rises in an unnamed lake iu section 26, in the northwestern part of the township, and Hows southeasterly through Flat Lake and other expansions of its hed iido the main stream, ahont a mile north of the southei-n line of the township, hetween sections 16 and 2\.

The largest lakes outside of the Laketon region are along the course of Sipiirrel Creek in the western part of the township. The source of that sti'eam is Flora Lake in section 11. Half a nule to the south, lyingmostly iu section 14, is Lukeiis l^ake, through which it tlows southwest into MiauH C'ounty, douhling l)ack into Pleasant Township ami emptying into the Eel River just east of Stoekdale in Paw Paw Township.

Lukens Lake is nearly midway hetween Stoekdale and the old postofHce of New ITarrishurg, Pleasant Township. It is a little smaller than Long Lake, and received its name from the fact that in early times most of the land ui)on its shores was owned hy INlatthias Lukens, one of thfr leading and Avealthy pioneers of the township.

Li tlie early times Squirrel Creek was utilized considerahly as a waterl)o^\-er stream, some of the first settlers in that portion of the county coming up its valley from the Eel River and building cabins and mills on its haid\s. It derives its lunne from the Indian Village founded by the Indian chief, Captain Squirrel, adjoining the site of Stoekdale. Squirrel, in the Indian tongue, is Niconza, which was the name of a postoffice established, many years ago, on the banks of the creek al)Out a mile southwest of Lukens Lake and just over the bouiulary line in Miami County.

The northwest part of Pleasant Township is very hilly, the northern sections being less hilly and considerably rolling. In early times the tind)er in these regions was large and abundant, consisting of black walnut, poplar, hickory, ash, oak and sugar maple. The shores of most of the lakes in the western part of the township, such as Lukens and Twin, have rough and hilly banks, while further east they are low and sandy. The country south of Eel River is generally level, but not so low as toprevent easy drainage. The valley was heavy timber land. Toward the north are the prairies, the barrens and "bastard barrens."

The barrens are tracts of land originally covered with an open growth of oak and hickory, which grew to a height of fifty or sixty feet. The

The soil th]'ou,tj:]iout tlie township is considered rich and strong. In the bottoms of tiie streams it is a sandy loam; in other places, clay predominates. The barrens and bastai'd barrens, thonfi,ii moi'c high and I'olliii^' than the "bottoms,'' prodnce ii'ood crops of j^rain. In fact, the bastard barrens are tiion^'ht by many farmers to embi-ace the best lands in the township, exc(})t the Kel River liottoms, for the g'eneral production of cereals and grasses.

As a political and civil body, Pleasant Township was created in 'May, ]8;i(), by strikinji' off fi'om the north of Noble Township nine tiers of sections (ei^lit sections in a tier). This division wonld iiudutle Stockdale, liut fxcliide Hoaiin. It was not until ISTiJ that Paw Paw Township was created and the two southern tiers were taken from Pleasant, thus reducinu' it to its preseid teri-itory - seven miles north and south, and eight miles, east and west.

The readei- must keep these facts in mind, in order to reconcile apl)ai'i'ntly contlicting statements as to the tirst settlers of the two townships. For instance, both Pleasant aiul Paw Paw townships often claim John Antlerson as their pioneer settler. Uiuloubtedly he was the first \vhite i'esi(U'nt in the Pleasant Township of 1886, but is displaced by another when the Pleasant Township of 1873, or of the present, is considered.

The local histoi'ians have reached an agreement that the first settler \\ithiii the linnts of Pleasant Township of today was Jesse Aloy^-r, one of a party which in 18:55, came through from Wayne County, Ohio, its meiid)ers locating either in jMiarni or AVabash counties, near the boundary line. The story of that journey and especially the circumstances which determined IMr. Moyer's choice of a location in Pleasant Townshi]) are thus told by ^Matthias Lukens, then a youth and an entlinsiastic meiid)er of the colony: "I came through fi'om AVayne County, Ohio, \\i\]\ a company of movers going to the Wabash Valley, in the si)j-ing of }H'A'). There were two families, with only two wagons - one ox team a'ld one tea.m of liorses. The families wer(> these: .^^atthias I\Ioyer's, seven in all; Jesse Aloyei''s (brothers), five in family; as also flacol) (Jill, a widower with no chilclri'ii, and niyscli', who was a boy cightiH'ii years old, and caiiu' with them and stayed. Father (Abraham Lukens) came two years hiter.

"In passing tlirongh the Black Swamp, that awful place, wiiere so many horses were killed and wagons broken, and where there were so many taverns to take in the weary and sometimes discouraged emigrants (there being tliirty-two of tliem in tliii'ty-one miles) our teams got completely stalled and the wagons were swamped. Some of tlie goods tak'en trom the wagons and left at one of the taverns, and they tl()uiider(;d tlirough with the rest and with themsehes until they reached the head of the rapids. Here j\Iatthias ]\loyer was taken sick at the house of his brotlu'r-in-law, Amarah Wilson, and we stayed there until he l)eeaine able to travel. Only Jesse Moyer and Jacol) Gill went back with the wagons and brought the goods which had been left behind, the distance being some twenty-five or thirty miles. These goods thus bi'ought forward were loaded upon some pirogues and sent onward to F(U't AVayne, and th(^ company of emigrants resumed their westward way to the I'csidiMice of Colonel John Anderson in AVal^ash County. The ."\loyers had l)een well ac(|uainted with Mr. Anderson before he left Ohio, and they were uladly welcomed by him in his new home in the Eel River Valley.

"To ])ass over the distance of thirty-one miles across the Black Swamp consumed ten days and the whole journey consumed from ]\Iay 4 to July 25, l,s;;r>. xVfter arriving at Colonel Anderson's the teams, with two of the im-n, returned to Fort Wayne for the goods which had been conveyed fi^om tlie head of the rapids of the jNlaumee to that place."

The outcome of the migration was that ^Matthias jMoyer settled in ]\Iiami County not far from Niconza meeting house, and Jesse IMoyer, his ])rother, located with his family near Sciuirrel Creek in the northeastern part of section 2:}. IMatthias Lukens was a distant relative of the latter, Abraham Tjukens, his father, luiviiig mai-ried a cousin of Jesse ^loyer's. The elder Mr. Lukens came to the locality with liis family- in 1S:57, but it was IMatthias who became the owner of the lai-ge tracts of land sonth and east of the lake which beai's his nam(\

In August, 1885, the month after Jesse ]\Ioyer located just north of what was afterward Shiloli Church, Samuel Tliurston, wife and two young sons, reached the Wabash Valley from Delaware County, Ohio, in company with a family of neighbors. They had come through in an ox \\agon in the \isual way. ^Iv. Thurston had made no ])rospecting trip, and ivuew neithei- the country nor its Dcople. His first intention had been to setth:' at Wabash, but he did not like the prospects there and so pushed on towai-d tlie noi'th, tiiinking to tint! his way to Turkey Prairie. As they camped on the banks of Silver Creek, at an old Indian stopping' place, tiie country seemed so pleasant that the wife said "This is a fine place for a home - let's stop here." And so they did, Mr. Thurston entering an ''eighty" in section 7, three miles west of Laketon. This tract became the family iiomestead, where live other children were born and where both parents died - the father in 1847 and the mother in 1861. ]\[r. Thurston was a faithful IMethodist and a popular citizen and as his house was near the center of the township, it was long a favorite gathering place for those concerned both in religious and political matters. He was the second i)crin;uient settler in Pleasant Township and a good, useful j)ioiieer, liis wife and children also lionoring the family name.

Tile first election in Pleasant Township was ordered to be held on the second Saturday in July, 18)56, at the liouse of Samuel Thurston, to eU'ct a justice of the i)eace. Soon afterward the county commissioners appointed the following ol^cers : Samuel Tlmi-ston, constable; John Perice and Jes.se INloyer, overseers of the poor; Cornelius Ferree, inspector of ch'etions; Ivichard Atlams and James Larew, fence viewers.

According to this account of the first election, told by an old settler, there were but five legal voters present: "In the fall of 1886 the im- ])0i'tance of the i)residential election about to take place so impressed tlie minds of the few settlers that they met and organized Pleasant Township, in order to secure the privilege of holding an election within their own limits. The voting was done at the house of Samuel Thurston, and there were l)ut five legal voters present, those being all on hand who had been in the State a year - just enough to form their board and no more. Their names were : Jesse ]\Ioyer, John Anderson, Joe Dennis, John Ferree and Jacob Gill. There were three Whigs and two Democrats ; but as the Democrats did not know the names of their electors, only three l)allot.s were cast, and two of the five legal voters, the judges of election, carried the returns to ^Vaba.sll." , , . , : .

The iirst rejj:ularly organized church in Pleasant Township seems to have ])een orjj^ani/.ed by the Gernum Baptists, their meeting house being abiiut three miles iiortheast of Laketon in the northeast corner of section 2. Tliat locality is some two miles west of North Manchester, from which i)hice tlie bulk of the membership was drawn. The society, )'- which ^vas formed in 18.']6, was called the North ^Manchester Church, and for a long time its meetings were held in dwellings and barns; the larger gathei'ings took place in the latter. Among the early mendiers who tlirew open their liouses and ])arns were Josei)h Ilarter, Eli Ilarter, Israel Ilai-ter, Adam Ohmart, Isaac Ullery, Jacob Metzgar, Daniel Cripe, Daniel Swaidv, lletu'y Ileeter and Nicholas Frantz. The meeting house was built about 185S. This society became veiy strong, and in the early '80s was split into two congregations, the separatists building a church on the line lietween Pleasant and Chester townships. -, . ,

In 18.'?7 Pobert Schuh'r, with his wife and family, came from Pennsylvania and while going up the valley of Squirrel Creek met Jesse Moyer and his family in their cabin north of that stream. The location pleased them so well that they bought the place and at once occupied it. At tliat time, Daniel Schuler, the eldest son of the family, was in his twenty-first year.

Nine years afterward (in 184G) Mr. Schuler married ]\Iiss IMary A. Sowei's, and tliey l)ecame tht' parents of ten children. By a second marriage Mr. Schuler had thi'ee children. P^r thirty-five years he was a rnling elder in the Shih)li Church. Considering all, the Schuler family is as well known as any in the townshi[).

Shiloh Presljyterian Cliurch was one of the first religions organizations to be perfected in the township. It was founded on October 25, 1840, at the house of l^obert Schuler, in tile northeast (|uartei' of section 2'.i just north of Squirrel Creek. The officiating clergyman was Rev. Asa Johnson, of Peru, and the first members of tiie society wei-e Kobert and Kli/abeth Schuler, John and .Matthew Miller, A. D. Seward, Hannah

Johijsoii and Jacob Raiitz. Robert Schuler, who was considered thb founder of the Shih)li Church, was orchiined an t4der in March, 1(S41, and died in 184S. James Jack, wiio was chosen in 1S43, i)assed away the same year. His son, Rev. Amlrew 1). Jack, served Shiloh Church for two terms. Tlie congregation at one time reached a membership of about one hundred.

Tile pioneer ^Methodists largely centered their activities around the Gamble family and their farm in sections 19 and 30, northwestern part of the township. Thomas Gamble, his wife and several children located in section 19 during the year 1838, coming from Kosciusko County, Indiana. The father died after about ten years' residence in Pleasant Township, the widowed mother surviving him at least thirty-five years. The Gamble estate was a large one, and for many years the widow retained nearly two hundred acres of it, lying in the southwestern part of section 39 and the northwestern (piarter of section 30.

AVhen the family first came to the original claim in section 19 during the month of March, 1838, a snow storm covered the ground to a depth of a foot, and while the older members were building a cabin, the 3'ounger ones lay under a brush heap. At that time there was only one house between their cabin and AVarsaw, fourteen miles north, and Mr. Gamble had to go to Elkhart Prairie, some forty miles, for breadstuffs until they could raise some grain. As he was obliged to go with a yoke of oxen, the family were in serious straits before he returned. But that was the expected in pioneer life. Toward the south, it was three or four miles to Samuel Thurston's and farther yet to Mr. Luken's.

But within the next two or three years a number of settlers located , in the northern and northwestern i)ortions of the township and Rev. Ansel Beach, the ilethodist missioiuiry, commenced to preach in the little schoolhouse several nnles south. Protracted meetings were also held in Mr. Gamble's barn, as well as several camp meetings in the vicinity, at "Tucker's Camp Ground." Finally, al)0ut 1842, the Methodists of the neighborhood erected a hewed-log meeting house, which stood about half a mile east of the Gamble farm, at the cross roads where sections 19, 20, 29 and 30 meet. The Tucker Camp Ground was some distance southwest. The old log meeting house of the Pleasant M. E. Church stood until 1874, when a small frame building was erected for the liolding of religious services. IMrs. Thomas Gamble contiimed steadfast in the support of its activities until her death at a venerable age, and lun- cliildren and grandchildren have followed in her footsteps.

On ScptciiilH'r H, IHI^G, Laki-toii was jjlattcd hy Hugh Hariiia, Isaac Thomas and -1. \). Cassatt. Tliis was tlie iirst town laid out away from tlie \Val)ash Kivt-r, and it was the ambition of its proprietors to make it a rival of North ^Manchester as a trading center in the Eel River Valley. There wei-e ninety lots lying near the river (jn the north side, and the streets Were Pottawatomie, Spring, .Main, Mill and Tamarack, north and soutli, and Eel, \VaI)ash, Lake and Wayne east and west. Additions were aftei-ward made l)y S. P. Petrie and I. R. :\Iendenhall.

The site of the old Laketon is a level and l)eautiful tract, with Round Lake at the west and Long Lake at the northwest. A mile west, on Silver Creek, James (.'ox estaljlished a grist mill, or corn cracker, about the time the town was platted. William Johnson and Ira Burr were the first merchants of tlie place, and within a few years a blacksmith shop was built and several dwellings appeared, while along in the 'SOs it had a number of stores, a schoolhouse (District No. 12), and a newspaper. The last-named, the Laketon Herald, was estal)lished in 1883 by Charles A. Richards, then a veteran printer who had been "at the case" for over sixty years.

Soon after the completion of the Detroit, Eel River & Illinois Railroad, in 1873, Daniel Van Buskirk laid out South Laketon, south of the river, as an addition to the original town, a nnle to the north. In 1874 ]\Ir. Van Buskirk establislied a large genei-al store, and in the same year Philip & Thomas I.ifiin set a sawmill in oin'ration. Not long afterward they gave their family name to the postotfice established at the new addition, A\hicli was long known as Ijamsville or South Laketon and is now designated by the former name.

^Ir. Van Buskii'k, however, contimied to l)e perhaps tlie strongest moving force at South Laketon, operating at times a sawmill, a blacksmith shop and a tile factory. Among the other early industries was the brickyard of F. IT. Williamson, established in 1880, and the shingle factory of George W. Ilarter, started in 1881. For many years the Ohmart family has been a strong factor in the progress of Laketon - Abram, Jacob and J. E. Ohmart, the last named being a present-day resident of the place. Jn 1883 the Chicago & Atlantic Railroad was cotiipleted tlu'ough Pleasant Township, i-uniung between ijamsville and Laketon.

The Laketon State Bank was organized August 3], 1<)12. Jt has a capital stock of $23,000; deposits of over $6!»,000; loans, $75,000 and cash and money in other l)anks, $14,775. The bank owns its own building at the corner of Lake and ^Nfain streets, and its officers are: Jacob Miller, president; Quincy A. Earl, vice president, and George F. Ogden. cashier.

The United Brethren Church at Laketon is one of the oldest in the township. Preaching and worship by this body of Christians began about 1853, the clergyman officiating being Reverend ^h'. Ileischer. The meetings were at first held in a vacant store house, kindl>' oi'fei'cd foithe purpose. Aiuo)ig the earliest members of the society were David Warner and wife, Jacob AVarner and wife, AVilliam Sholty and wife and Jacob Lautzenhizer and wife. Rev. John Frantz held a series of revivals in the earlier period of the church's history which materially added to its niembershij) and influence. The first house of worship specially dedicated to Divine services was completed by the United Brethren in 1857 aiul dedicated by Rev. Jacob Rinehart. The building still stands, and is used by the township as a public hall. The trustees of the chui-ch during the erection of that building were AVilliam Sholty, David AVarner and Levi Aliller. The present church edifice was completed in 1904, and is a brick structure erected under the trusteeship of FT. E. AVyland, X. W. Fites, AI. T. Sholty, Daniel AVertenberger and J. E. Thonuis. Among the pastors who have served this church may be mentioned Revs. Ambrose Penland, Presley AVells, S. AV. AVells, Noali Surface, 1). AI. B. Patton, J. Alorrison, Z. AV. AVebster, J. N. Martin, AVilliam Simons, A. AI. Cummins, J. A. Farmer, J. M. Baker, R. J. Pai'rett, J. S.

The AVesleyan Methodist Ohurcli at Laketon was founded in 1897, and a house of \vorship was ereeted in 1903. The society has a nienibership of forty-iive and is under the pastorate of Kev. H. (}. Hrown.

The two old postot^ees of New Harrisburg and Hose Hill should be brietiy mentioned. The former, which fifteen or twenty years ago was called a "village," lay among the hills of Pleasant Township, mostly in the southwest (iiiarter of section 35, and wandered over into Miami County. George Gearhart had laid it out as early as April, 185(5. AVilliam Carpenter built a small frame dwelling and a store on the ^Vabash County side in 1858, and within the next (piarter of a century there arc records in the history of New Harrisburg of the establishment of three more stores, a blacksmith and a wagon shop, several piiysicians and some mills. In 1876 the post office at Nieonza, Miami County, three miles soutli, was moved to the village, and in April, 1883, the Chicago & Atlantic Kailroad just grazed its southern edge and allowed it the privilege of a depot. At that tinu' it had a Methodist church (built in 1873), about twenty-five dwellings and perhaps a hundred people. This was the high tide of its life.

Rose THll, the postoffice on the north line of Pleasant Township, was established when the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railroad was built through the township and the county, in 1872. As it is about six miles from Laketon, eight miles from New Harrisburg and five miles from North jManchester, its location was considered good for a growing center of trade. But all such calculations and predictions went for naught.

The general status of the railroads which traverse Pleasant Township, as well as their relation to the towns within its limits, in 1884, is thus described by a local authority of those times: "The Detroit, Eel River & Illinois Railroad was projected about 1854, and considerable work was done ui)on the route, but at that time it proved a failure. JMau}' years afterward the project was renewed, and this time the cutei'prisc was accoinplislicd. Ix-inji,- eonipleted in 1871. It enters Pleasant Towiisliip in section 21, i)ass(s thi'Ou;^h sections 22, 15, 14, 11, 12 anil 1, lown 2!), ran^^e (>. Its track is in the valley of Eel River, and ni)on the south side of the stream. South l.aketon ( Ijamsville 1*. 0.) is the onl\' \-ilhi^-e upon its i-outc in this township. The lenji'th of ti-acks of this railroad in Pleasant is live uuh's, runiuny in a tlireetion neai'ly from iioi'thtN'ist to southwest, its course through Paw Paw and IMeasant heing in a straight line for eight miles from a point so\ithwest of Koann to ahout half a mile east of Ijamsville, and in a slightly varying course two miles more straight to the east line of Pleasant, passing thence into Chester Township antl to North Manchester.

The Cincinnati, Waljash & Alichigan Railroad passed from south to north, through Wabash and Xtirth Alanchester, whei'e it deflected to the northwest and cut through the northeast corner of Pleasant Township, which it left at Rose TTill, wldch was never more than a ])Ostoffiee and a by-station.

The 188-1 account continues: "The Chicago & Atlantic Railroad is a late enterprise, oidy completed in April, 188:1 It passes through the township in a noi'thwesterly direction, ci'ossing the 1m-1 River Railroad about half a mile east of South Laketon, passing l)etween Laketon and ijamsville about half a mile from each place and spanning Eel River itself near the latter. It crosses Silver Creek upon a high and extensive trestlework, and the track leaves the townshii) near and soutli of the little town of New IlaiTislinrg upon section '-io, having entered it on section 13. The length in the township is al)Out nine miles, crossing as it does its entire extent from east to west. This new road is of great advantage to Pleasant Township, since it passes near all three of its towns, offering the dii'ect means of increase and development of traffic to them all, and thus to the township at large.

"The route promises, in fact, to be an important thoroughfare between the East and West, possibly the most so of any road in the county. It will he of considerable advantage, especially to the towns of Laketon and New Ilari'isburg, which ])efore its advent were floundering help- Icvssly and hopelessly in their distance from railroad facilities, and will in like manner be of great service to the country dwellers in their respective regions."

Chapter Xxvi

(Jkxkkai. Df.schii'tiox - Drawbacks to Si:ttli:mi:nt - The Riciiaud- \iijj-: Tracts - Two "First" Skttlers - Located ix 18;]1)-I6 - David RiDExoiR - Exocii Jacksdx and the Weesnehs - Land Entries of 1847 - AccorxTiNG for AValtz's Amix - Creation of the Township - Twin Springs, or Springfield - ]\Iount Vernon - Somerset - Sugar Grove j\L E. Ciiukcii - The Presbyterian Church - ]\[ount Pleasant M. E. Church and Cemetery - German I^aptists of the Township - Pleasant Grove Wesleyan Church.

AValt/c Towiisliip eml)races forty-eiglit sections in the southwest cornel- of Wa])asli County, ])eing eight miles cast and west and six miles noi'th and sontlu It is drained and watered l)y the IMississinewa River and its trihutai'ics, whicli traverse all l)ut its northern sections; in these rise the headwaters of .Mill Creek, which tiows northward and empties into the AVal)ash helow Wabash City. Ten jMile Creek, the chief tributary of the ^lississinewa within the limits of the township, rises in the nortliei-n ed^'c of Grant ('ounty, takes a westerly course through the southeast portion of the township, and enters the river a little east of Somerset.

Tlie Mississinewa extends in a very crooked channel through the southern portions of the township, flowing in a generally northwestern direction toward the AVabash River, which it joins at about the center of Alianii County. Its current is strong and has furnished an abundance of water-power to the people of Waltz Township, Avho have established several fairly successful mills on its banks in the vicinity of Somerset and IMount A^ernon. Mill Creek is so named not because of any industries which have been planted on its banks within AValtz Township, but because the Government built the old Indian mill on that stream not far from its mouth in Noble Township.

AValtz Towiisliip was of latu (k!Vc'l()[)in('nt, and has lU'Vcr shown nincli progress from an urhan stantlpoint. It is si ill almost piiri'ly a eolleetion of rural counniinitifs ami scattered farms, virtually the only attempts at condensed settlements having been made at Somerset and ]\lount Vernon, in the .southeastern portion in the valley of the ]\Iississinewa. The oidy invasion of its territory l)y the railroad was in 1872, when the Oincinnati, Wahash & ^lichigan cut off a few acres of its extrom- northcast curiicr.

The chief reason for the tardy S(4tlement of Waltz Township was that the lands within its limits were all included in the Big -Miami Ivescrve and, rdlhough ihe\' were surveyed in 183l>, the year before tiiey were ceded l)y the Mianns to the United States, the Government did not issue ])atents, oi- titles to them until 1847-48. The consequence was that settlers were loth to take up homesteads, the tenure to wlnt-h was so uncertain, ami espeidally as the bulk of the Indians did not leave the country until 1847.

Besides the canal and other pul)lic lands in Waltz Townshii), were sevei-al individual reserves to various head men of the ]\Iiamis, some of \\hich Were disi)osed of soon after the treaty was officially proclaimed liy Pi'csident Tyler in 1841. The chief of these special reserves were the Kichardville tract of 1,280 acres (sections 4 and 5) ; Reserve 25, aI)out 640 acres, on the western ])order of the township south of the .Missi.ssinewa Kiver; Keservt' No. 2(). i)GO acres on the northern banks of the river, about a nnle east of No. 25, and a part of the jMe-shin-go-me-sia tract, comprising 1,G80 aci'cs north of the river and west of the eastern boundary of the township in sections K?, 14, 23, 24, 25 and 26.

Chief l\ichard\ille had a grant of seven sections altogetiu-r, under the 1840 treaty, to be located at his pleasure, and his estate on Cart Creek, which his heirs held for years, cut out a large nund)er of settlers there.

One tract of the Kichardville grants was a little northeast of Somerset and was known as the Twin Springs section, named l)ecause of the presence thereon of tw^o constant springs of clear, cold water. Even before this selection was made by the heirs of the ehief in about 1841, a Frenchman named Krutzan is said to have located at that locality, with his Indian wife, Imilt a rude log house and entertained travelers, who made of it a tavern on their way from IMarion to rem. It was al)Out half way hetweeii these points. Tliis historic tract afterward came into possession of Alh'n IIamilt(ni, by virtue of a tleed from the daughters of JxiehardviUe.

.Moses Coi)pic]c, who l)iiilt one of the first eoru-ei'ackers on S(iuirrel Crt'elv, J^iw Paw Township, is said to liave ))een in the Alississinewa \'aney and made a like improvement in the Somerset neighborhood, be- I'oi'e any whit(,' settler located within the limits of AValtz. But Coppiek was aj)i)arently like John Anderson - even more so - considerable of a wanderer, and lial)le to be "first" in more than one locality in a pioneer country.

The first settler to come and stay was Samuel Orcutt, who migrated from fJrant County, probably as early as 1837 or 1838, and bought an Indian claim near Twin Springs at the upper edge of Somerset.

Among the settlers of 1839 were Francis F. Cain, James T. Liston and AVilliam Shaw. There was (luite an influx in 1840, occasioned by the treaty with the IMiamis hy which their lands were ceded, with certain reservations, for purposes of settlement. Those who located during that year in Waltz Township were: Levi Stanley, north of the river; Tobias .Miller, north of the future town of Somerset; Tense Massey and his son, James, from Randolph County; Joab Price, Tense Massey 's son-inlaw ; Benjamin Shaw ; and John B. Eltzroth.

From 1841 to 1846 came the following: In 1841, David Leland, "William Berry and David Ridenour ; William Stewart, to the south side of the .Mississinewa, in 1842; Daniel Hoover and John Wherrett, 1843; Enoch Jackson, from Wayne County, in 1845, locating in section 1; John Whiteneck, east of IMount Vernon, in 1846.

David Ridenour, who became a settler in 1841, accompanied his father from Tuscarawas County, Ohio. lie married in Wa1)ash County and had twelve children, all of whom lived to be married. The family homestead, upon which he was reared, was just west of old Waltz postoffice on a branch of ^lill Creek. The treaty with the Indians had been tnade, l)ut th(! original owners of the soil hung on for several years after the coining of the liidciioui-s. Ncitlicr liad IIk; land come actually into market for purchase; nor did not, until 1847. Like others who came rarly and waited for that liai)i)y time, they were ' '" Afterward they entered their lands in a regular way and secuivd a clear title. David Ridenour hecame not only a hirge land owner, but invested in the sawnnll near his place.

As stated, P^noch flackson came from AVayne Oonnty in 1<SI5. IRi built a cabin in the woods in section 1, his claim l)t'iny on both sides of a creek. At that time the Weesners had settled south of him - lohiel Weesner in section 18 and Nathan Weesner and Jose[)h AVeesner in section 13.

In 1847, under the Preemption Act of the preceding' fall, most of tile earl}' settlo's of AValtz Township made i-eyular entries of their lands. Among the numl)er were: Jacob ]\Iilnor, June oOtli, soutlieast (juarter of section l-'i (ui the east township line directly north of the ]Me-shino'O-me-sia lu\serve, still owned by the IMilnors; Johiel Weesner, July 20th, southeast (|uarter of section 18; Elihu AVeesner, July 2()th, southwest (luarter of section 18, north of Red Bridge ami on the north line of Reservation No. "ifi ; Natlum AVeesner, July 20th, northwest (piarter of section lo, near the northwest corner of Reservation 26; Andrew 1\. Starbuck, August 10th, southwest qiuirter of section 25, four miles west of Somerset: Nathan AV. Iliatt, August lOth, southeast quarter of section 26, next wi'st of Starbuek's; James Shackelford, September 24th, northeast (luarter of section 20, a little north of Sugar Grove Oeineterv ; John R. Davis, October 2d, uortliwest quarter of section 20, next west of Shackelfoi-d's; and Tobias IMiller, October 4th, southwest (piarter of section 28, across the river from Somerset.

In .May, 1^41, soon after tiie IMiamis had ratified their ti-eaty with the (IdM'rnnienl, tiie Hoard of Connnissioners of Wa))ash County created Wail/ Township witli the following bounds: Commencing on the township line Itetween towns 26 and 27 and where the range line between 6. and 7 crosses, and running south to the county line, thence west to the southwest corner of Wabash County, thence north six miles along the line of said county to where the township line between 26 and 27 intersects the county line between .Miami and "Wabash comities, thence east to the place of beginning. The township was named in honor of Lieut. -Col. Frederick Waltz, who was killed at the battle of the -Mississinewa, December 18, 1812. lie was a brave offict'r and a fine man, from every account we have of him.

Jesse Long was appointed inspector of elections and one was ordered to be hc-ld at the house of J. Eltzroth, on Tuesday, June 15, 1841, for tile choice of a justice of the peace. The place for holding elections was afterward set at Lewis Oyler's, and at the June term of the board in ]84r) to Alexander Jackson's, whose residence was across the river from the new town of Somerset.

Twin Springs, or Springfield, as it was called during the first three or four years of its existence, was surveyed by David P. Alder for 'Stephen Steenberger, proprietor, in December, 1843. Its location was on Twin Springs section, selected for Richardville's estate, as one of seven gi'anted him l)y the treaty of 1840-41, and comprised sixty-four lots on the south side of the Mi.ssissinewa River a short distance east of the mouth of Ten Mile Creek. Jacob D. Cassatt was wont to affirm that when he was a member of the Legislature from Wabash, in 3846 or 1847, a bill was introduced by him, which became a law, changing the name of the town from Twin Springs to Somerset.

At the time named, a few substantial forms of life had appeared at the plac(. - a hotel Ijy John Shackelford, two little stores kept ])y Derrick Lt4imer and Daniel Hoover, John Wherrett's blacksmith sho)->. and a few dwellings.

About a mile furtlicr cast, iu the smitliwrst eonuT of see-tioii 2G, were also a few huildiiifj^s standing upon the site of JMount Veruon (plat surveyed in July, 1847), al)Out half a mile south of the river. Several years before Mr. Wherrett had started a blacksmith shop at that locality, ])ut had decided that his prospects would be improved by locating at Twin Springs, or Somerset. I^y ]847 Peter King had started llie grist mill on the other side of tlie river, east of the ]\Iount A^^rnon Pike bridge, and several years afterward the mill on the south side of that stream, liflow the town, was erected. The former was (|uite an esta])lishment t'oi' many }ears, Imt did nothing to enhance the growth of !Mount ^^'rno:l.

Somerset, on the other hand, became a fair settlement for an interior town. Besides several new stores opened in the late '40s, Elihu and Allen AVeesner established a tannery and Joseph Perry set up a cabinet shop. Other establishments came and went, and scn'eral mills were built on either side of the river both above and below Somerset. In 1861 Jacob UUery erected a little woolen factory on the south bank of the ^ilississinewa, a mile below, but after a few years the venture was abandoned. In that locality several larg(.' grist mills were successively erecteil by Ferree ifc Albaugh, from fifteen to twenty years after the launching of tlie woolen factory, but each of them was burned and the builders and i)r(>])rietors aliandoned the site as something taboo.

Scvei'al additions were made to Somerset - one by Stephen Steenl)erger and :\I. C. Crabill in 1849; another by AVilliam Snyder in iS.lij, and a third by William ]\IcLain in 1867.

in 186!) a public scliool was built for the accommodation of the townsfolk and neigh])oring families ; church facilities were always plentiful, and in 1883 the Somerset lUigle was established. Hut though that joui-nal did all it could to advertise the advantages of the place, it never boomed and has always been obliged to l)e content with the honor of being "the best town in AVabash County which has no railroad.';

Pei-haps the first religious organization in Waltz Township was the Sugar Grove Alctliddist <'liurch. ]Me. -tings weiv lirst held at John R. Davis' cal»in in 184:'.. the preaclier being Air. Alerrill. For about seven >eai's sei'\-ices were continued without a meetinghouse, but in \H^)i) a new hewcd-log house of worsliip erected. It stood on its original site for (il'tren years, when it was moved to College Corner, and to the iiiiiiicdiiilc vicinity of the meetinghouse of that name belonging to the Diseiplcs, northwest of Sugar Grove. The Weesners and Shaekelfords Were all early worshipers of Sugar Crove Methodist Church.

By 1846 there was preaching by Reverend ]\Ir. Hawes, of ^Marion, a Presbyterian, to the people of Somerset and vicinity. In that year Rev. Andrew Luce organized a society and conducted services in a little log schoolhouse, a short distance from town. , . ., , jMount Pleasant ]\Iethodist Church originated in a class which was formed in 1845. Several informal meetings had been held before, but in the year named Enoch Jackson, who had but recently settled on the southwest quarter of section 1, threw open his large, comfortable cabin for religious purposes and a regular organization was effected. In 1847 a log house of worship was erected in that locality, and in 1865 the society built a neat frame structure. The IMount Pleasant Church proved to be strong and enduring.

The cemetery established in connection with the church was laid out in 1846, and is one of the oldest in AValtz Township. The first burial was that of the infant child of Robert Burns Jackson, which took place in August of that year. Various additions were made to the original cemetery plat, which is located about one and a half miles southwest of Pioneer. ^Many of the early settlers have been buried at Blount Pleasant Cemetery, and it is still extensively used.

The following deed for an addition in 1853 is interesting as an old document, made out and acknowledged by two stanch pioneers of Waltz Township^ Enoch Jackson and Nancy Jackson, his wife, and acknowledged before Jonathan Weesner, justice of the peace, the latter the father of Clark W. Weesner, of Wabash :

"Enoch Jackson and Nancy his wife of Wabash county and the state of Indiana, convey and warrant to Joseph Kirby, John Roberts, Daniel W. Stradley, Joshua Bunch and AVesley Stubblefield of the same county and state, the following described real estate, to wit : Beginning on the center line thirty rods west of the center of Section one, in Township No. Twenty six north, of Range No. five east, and running thence south nine rods, thence east eighteen rods, thence north nine rods, thence

however, that that portion of the -round now arranged and allotted for a hurying ground shall forever remain free for all persons who wish to inter therein, who shall also be free to ereet any stone or other monument to the memory of their departed friends. The plaee of burying however to remain subject to .such rules and restrictions as may ])e adopted l)y the above named trustees and their successors in office, to whom the above prennses are conveyed and wai'ranted, for and in consideration of the sum of ten dollars, the receii)t of which is hereby acknowledged, this twenty ninth day of January eighteen hundred and fifty three.

"State of Indiana ss. Wabash County. - I^efore me, Jonathan Weesner, a Justice of the Peace, in and for said county this 2yth day of January, 1853, Enoch Jackson and Nancy his wife acknowledged the execution of the above deed.

About 1847 John Whiteneck, who was an elder of the German Bap tist Church, moved into the vicinity of Mount Vernon. There were a few of his people on both sides of the lAIississinewa River and he began to pi-each to them. These meetings were generally held in cabins and school houses and, if they promised to ])e largely attended, a barn \vas Itrought into requisition. In time a society was formed of German Baptists HI AValtz Township. That organization so increased in membership tiiat it divided into two bodies, and a separate brick meetinghouse was erected for each - one north of the river in 1871 and tiie other at :Mount Vernon in 1874.

Such religious movements as these, showed the early religious tendency of the citizens of Waltz Townslnp, who have alwa\s enjoyed a Ingh reputation for sobriety and morality, as well as industry and conservative but solid building of all their institutions. .