Union Township (part 3 of 4)

was effected under charter from home office and name Winchester Camp No. 7440 with one hundred fourteen charter members. The officers were the same as are holding now, as follows : Consul, Grant Straley ; past consul, T. A. Helms; adviser, I. N. Stout; banker, Albert Rupe; clerk, C. A. lliff; escort, John Sterling; watchman, John O. Murphy; sentry, Percie Whitton; physicians, G. C. Markle and C. M. Kelley; trustees, H. F. Conyers, A. L. Barker arid Charles Tillson.

Present Officers - N. W. Ferguson, venerable consul; W. E. Smith, adviser; D. H. Reitenour, clerk; C. Cadwalader, banker; Alfred Singer, escort; H. C. Caylor, watchman; Ralph Reitenour, sentry; Russell Addington, special auditor.

First officers : R. W. Castle, past dictator ; George M. Smith, dictator ; R. S. Hiatt, vice dictator; C. L. Baird, prelate; Rolland Brooks, sergeant at arms ; S. A. Barr, C. L. Bates and A. J. Stonerock, trustees ; Joseph Haviland, inner guard ; Marcus- Murray, outer guard.

Present officers : E. P. Denny, dictator ; Herbert Butler, vice dictator ; Josiah Lamb, prelate; D. L. Martin, secretary; Zora Cox, treasurer; S. A. Barr, C. L. Bates and A. J. Stonerock, trustees ; R. W. Castle, deputy supreme dictator (by appointment) ; George Shettle, inner guard; Ed. M. Coffin, outer guard; J. M. Fletcher, Jr., sergeant at arms.

This lodge has near completion, on East North street, a club room and lodge room, which will cost more than twenty thousand dollars when completed and furnished. Meetings ^^^ednesday night of each week.

First officers : A. I. Bennett, past dictator ; Ross C. Sutton, dictator : W. H. Botkin, vice dictator; C. K. Rife, prelate; George Sizemore, secretary;

Present officers : Ross C. Sutton, past dictator ; L. S. Cougill, dictator ; C. K. Rife, vice dictator; Frank E. Dunn, prelate; Merle S. Ward, secretary; A. P. Gruber, treasurer; H. H. Brown, sergeant at arms; Harry Needham, inner guard ; A. L. Crawford, outer guard ; G. Benz, John F. Caron and C. J. Lehman, trustees; Dr. B. K. Snodgrass, physician; Dr. H. W. Detrick, physician. Members, one hundred and twenty-eight. Meeting each Monday night.

First officers were : C. F. Pierce, past president ; C. L. Summers, president; C. A. Ilifif, vice president; E. M. Coffin, secretary; Josiah Lamm, treasurer; C. M. Kelley, John Beals and A. F. Hickman, trustees. Charter members, two hundred and fifty.

Present officers are : C. O. Summers, past president ; D. H. Moore, president; J. A. Segraves, vice president; E. M. Coffin, secretary; Josiah Lamm, treasurer; O. G. Puckett, A. F. Hickman and Mont Harris, trustees.

Union City Nest No. 1819, Order of Owls. - Organized February 15, 1913. Meets on each Tuesday night in the Independent Order Red Men's Hall. Officers : Ira Vernon, president ; Charles Deloter, vice president ; C. E. Horn, past president ; Ray Hiatt, secretary ; A. F. Marsh, treasurer.

Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad, so-called, was put into operation and found many helpers and sym.pathizers throughout the county. The case of the Wilkerson slave girls, in the year 1839, was a most remarkable one, arousing great excitement and eliciting much sympathy from Anti-slavery men, and much condemnation by pro-slavery adherents and opponents of abolition. We give below a copy of the complaint filed in the case. Mr. Springfield doubtless thought he was greatly robbed and terribly wronged by the escape and loss of those two girls, valued by him at $1,200. The other party, on the other hand, reckoned themselves to be doing service to God and humanity by aiding these poor fugitives in their attempt to escape from bondage.

Thomas Springfield, a resident citizen of the State of Tennessee, in the United States of America, complains of the defendants named aforesaid, being in custody, etc., on a plea of trespass, to-wit :

That the plaintiff was heretofore, to-wit, on the 26th day of January, 1839, and for a long time before and still is, the true and lawful owner of two negro women - Susan and Margaret - of great value, to-wit, of the value of $1,200, and duly entitled to claim property and service in the said negro women, by and under the laws of the State of Tennessee. And, whereas, the said negro women had, before the day last aforesaid, escaped from the plaintiff to whom they owed service as aforesaid, and had come into the county of Randolph aforesaid, without the consent of the plaintiif. And, whereas, the plaintiff had sent to the county of Randolph a duly qualified agent, with authority to arrest said negro women, and take them back to the State of Tennessee aforesaid, yet the defendants, well knowing the premises, and that the said negro women were the property of the said plaintiff, and owed to him labor and service under the law of Tennessee, afterward, to-wit, on the 26th day of January, 1839, with force and arms, at the county of Randolph aforesaid, did unlawfully, knowingly, forcibly and wilfully conceal and harbor and entice away said negro women, and did then and there forcibly, unlawfully, knowingly and wilfully, after due notice as aforesaid, that they were the plaintiff's property, conceal, command and assist the said negro women to make their escape, and to elude the lawful pursuit of the plaintiff for the said negro women. By means whereof, the said negro women, the property of the said plaintiff, escaped from him, the said plaintiff, and went to parts unknown, and have become wholly lost to the plaintiff; and other wrongs then and there did to the plaintiff serious harm and damage, contrary to the statute and against the peace of the State, and to the damage of the plaintiff of $1,200, and therefore he asks, etc.

The case was contested for a time, Moorman Way and Samuel W. Parker being the attorneys for the defendants. The case was never brought to final trial, however. It was abandoned at last by the plaintiff, enraged, no doubt, by the determined opposition he encountered from the Abolitionists, and convinced of the uselessness of further contest, and the hopelessness of any attempt either to recover his slaves or to get redress for loss of their persons and their services. Such occurrences, of course, greatly provoked slaveholders and those who were not Abolitionists, but those who belonged to that despised but determined band felt a necessity laid upon them to fight slavery in every possible manner to the bitter end. They felt in their inmost souls that "man is worth more than laws," and that the liberty of an oppressed but innocent race was an object worthy of the utmost activity and determination.

The citizens of this county may well be thankful that the institution of human slavery, which made such occurrences possible, is forever numbered among the things that have been but are not.

There were various routes, more or less frequented, extending across the county. Knots of Anti-slavery men would be found here and there, even among a general pro-slavery population. One remarkable group was to be found in Jackson township. Rev. Thomas Wiley, of New Lisbon, Milton Beach and Mr. Chandler, near Allensville, and perhaps others there, were active Abolitionists in the midst of a hostile community. Mr. Wiley, as a bold and fearless reformer, denounced slavery and the black laws, and declared he would never obey them. The Democrats, to test his sincerity, elected him to office, but he was true to his declarations and his convictions, and refused to qualify, paying the penalty instead required by the law. Mr. Chandler was elected to some other office by the Democrats for the same reason, but he, too, refused.

The separation among the Friends, caused for a time much sorrow of heart, and much alienation; but time and the abolition of slavery have brought about a reconciliation, and most of those who had belonged to Antislavery Friends went back to the body. Some of them were Jehu Hiatt, Dr. Beverly, Job and Joab Thornburg, Daniel Hill, William Peacock, John A. Moorman, Solomon Wright, Ebenezer Tucker, Martin A. Reeder and doubtless several others. As a result, the great body of the people of Randolph county became imbued with Anti-slavery sentiments. Prominent among the movement, in Anti-slavery in Randolph county may be reckoned the establishment, in 1846, of the Union Literary Institute, in Greensfork township.

northeast of Spartanburg, near the Ohio line, in the Green viHe colored settlement. An account of the school may be found in the chapter on Education. The influence of the institution was good in several ways in the elevation as to intelligence and morality of the people of color, in softening down the prejudice against color (since the school was always attended by some, and often by many whites), in standing as a steady and faithful protest against the foolish and cruel policy of ostracising any class of citizens, especially on account of color or race.

It is an interesting fact that Hiram Mendenhall, the gentleman who presented the famous petition to Henry Clay at Richmond, Indiana, on the occasion of his visit to that place, was a resident of Unionsport, Randolph county.

Another movement against slavery carried on in this region was the Free Labor Movement. Most Anti-slavery Friends -held it wrong to use the products of slave labor; and they set on foot an enterprise to encourage free labor cotton and sugar to establish free labor gins and sugar houses, and agencies to buy and sell free labor products.

Several stores were established in the region, and it is an interestipg reminiscence that at the sale of the personal estate of Moorman Way, Esc]., in October, 1881, a considerable quantity of goods left on hand from his old free labor store was offered.

William Steele is thought by some to have been the founder of what is called the Underground Railroad. He was a Scotchman, and second cousin to W. E. Gladstone, prime minister of England. He was born at Biggar, on the Clyde, in Scotland, in 1809, and came to America in 1818. He resided first at Winchester, Virginia, then at Barnesville, Belmont county, Ohio, ten years, and then at Woodfield, Monroe county, Ohio, thirty years. He moved afterward to Kansas, and still again to Oregon in 1872. Mr. Steele died in 1880, in Oregon. He was a pioneer in Anti-slavery with Benjamin Lundy. Lundy was a saddler at St. Clairsville, Ohio, and had accumulated several thousand dollars at his trade. He called a meeting at his house in St. Clairs - ville in 181 5, and five or six persons attended, forming at that time what they called, the Union Humane Society, declaring war upon slavery.

It is a wonderful thing, and yet supposed to be a fact, that no slave was ever taken from the hands of the agents of the Underground Railroad. Mr. Steele lived to see the work of the Underground Railroad accomplished, and the business of the company quietly apd honorably brought to an end by the war of the rebellion and the emancipation proclamation, through which, according to the word of Scripture, a nation was born in a day.

For unknown ages slaves have run away. David had a runaway slave in his camp before he was made King of Israel. Onesimus ran away from Philemon in Paul's time^ - i. e., some say so, while others will have it that Onesimus was Philemon's brother "according to the flesh." The Seminoles in Florida were mingled with runaways from Georgia.

"Oppression maketh a wise man mad;" what, then, will it not do upon a poor woe-begone slave? Some fifty or sixty years ago people in the Northern states began to help fugitive slaves to escape from servitude. Gradually the work grew into a system, as shown in the biography of William Steele, above written. Stations were agreed on, routes arranged, signals adopted, conductors appointed and the operation of the affair became quite regular and business-like. The secrecy with which the work was carried on made people call it the Underground Railroad. On some routes great numbers passed. Abolitionists, of course, were the chief actors, though others and even proslavery men and slaveholders themselves sometimes assisted more or less. Few runaways were captured and very few Abolitionists were ever convicted for helping slaves off.

We give a few incidents below, showing somewhat the nature of the work. A colored fugitive was staying at Daniel Worth's, in West River township. One day, as the colored man was in the house fondling the baby, pursuers came after him. Daniel was near the door outside, and talked loud. Mrs. Worth, hearing them, said, "^Vho are they?" The negro, looking out, knew his master, and, dropping the child, "lit out" through the back window for the "fallen timber," a half mile away. They saw him and gave chase, but he got to the timber, and to find him there was worse than to find a needle in a hay mow. He was safe. They were greatly enraged, and offered Daniel Worth $ioo if he would bring the slave in, but he would not. They threatened to go and bring men and clear out the whole fallen timber, and asked Daniel how far it extended. "So many miles west, and I never heard how far into Ohio," was his reply. They came back several times, but never got their man.

Alexander Davis, a large, stout man, came from Tennessee on horseback. He could write, and wrote passes for himself. Pursuers tracked him to Economy. A lad overheard their plans and gave the alarm. He was taken to Daniels Charles', Greensiork, then to Joseph Thornburg's, Cherry Grove, then to Newport, and so to Canada. On the way from Cherry Grove to

Newport he met the pursuers. It was rather dark. He knew them, but they did not recognize him. After awhile he left Canada for New York City, and sent a letter saying that he was doing well.

An interesting young man from Georgia once came to Economy. He was skillful, being a repairer of engines. Aaron Worth was attending school at the Union Literary Institute, and took him there, and he was forwarded to Canada. They never heard from him again.

Two brothers, Dawes, traveling,^ stopped at Winchester, having two slaves. They were tanners, and decided to locate there. They contracted for tanbark, etc., but were advised to go back to Kentucky and sell their slaves. They concluded to do so, and to buy hides in Cincinnati as they returned. They set out at noon, and got to Newport about dark, in a double wagon. Dr. H. followed them, got a warrant at Newport, twelve men pursued and arrested them as kidnappers, and brought them back to Newport in the night. They found the law and the temper of the people were such that conviction for kidnapping would certainly ensue, and they were persuaded to emancipate the slaves. The point was this : Owners were allowed to hold their slaves while simply passing through, but their contracting in view of settling was interpreted to be in law a location; location made the slaves free, and attempting to take them away was kidnapping. They tried to prosecute Levi Coffin for his part in the transaction, but they did not succeed.

Lewis Talbert ran away from a plantation a few miles from the Ohio river, in Kentucky, and came to the Union Literary Institute. After attending school for some months, he grew so uneasy thinking of his sisters in slavery, that he could not rest, and resolved to go and get them off to the free states. He went, stayed one day and two nights on the farm ; did not see his sisters, but left them word that he had been there, and that he would come again. In three weeks he was back at the school. After awhile he went again, got his sisters, brought them to the Ohio, but for some reason one sister was afraid to cross, and the other would not come without her; so they went back, and he crossed into Ohio and came on to Newport and to the institute again. Meanwhile, he had told others how to run away, and several had left, and pursuit was made. The hunters came to Richmond, got assistance, and sixteen men came in the night on horseback to Newport. Lewis had been there, but had left. They found no fugitives. Three men started at midnight on foot to come to the institute to tell Lewis to get out of the way. They came just at daylight, and asked, "Is Lewis Talbert here?" "No; why?" "Because if he is he must make himself scarce; they are after him; sixteen men came into Newport last night and will be right up here."

Lewis had "vamoosed" already. They did not come after him, nor did they find him anywhere else. Afterward he laid his plans to visit Kentucky again. A confidant unwittingly revealed them, and his master's son came to Indianapolis, seized him, had him adjudged a slave, and took him bound to Kentucky. He said afterward, "That was just where I wished and had started to go; but I did not fancy that style." His friends supposed him done for; but in six weeks from that day he was put upon the train at Indianapolis, his black face popped in at the door of the institute. "Why, Lewis, we thought you down in New Orleans by this time." "Oh, no; I was never born to be sold down the river." He had been twice sold, and the trader had startec^ Tiis gang on the steamboat down the river. They let him be loose on the boat. He managed to get a chambermaid to cut the ropes of a boat behind and let him down into the river. He paddled for shore, and found himself in southern Indiana, with only shirt and pants. He was taken up by some amateur hunters, but he put a bold face on it and said he was a free negro from about Richmond, and showed a genuine note of hand, signed by Elijah Coffin, president of the State Bank, Richmond. They let him go. He afterward went to Canada and became a preacher.

Slave Girls Cabin Creek

Two slave girls were brought into the Cabin creek colored settlement. They were closely tracked to the house where they were. A parley was held ; a crowd had gathered; the girls were disguised with men's clothes and smuggled through the crowd, taken to John Bond's, then to Dunkirk, Cherry Grove, and to Newport, at Levi Coffin's. There they were concealed between two feather beds. The pursuers traced them there, too, but they were never taken. The girls were sent to Canada. ( See fuller account elsewhere. )

A gentleman in Richmond had his house so fixed that slaves could be concealed so that, though his dwelling was searched over and over, time and again, while the hunted ones were there, still none were ever found. Even his children never knew until years afterward of that place of concealment. Once a company of fugitives were traced directly to his house ; the house was watched outside while it was searched inside, and was watched for days and nights, but no discovery was made, the slaves were never found, and got safe oflF at last.

Emsley Jones' Adventure

One dark night a colored man came to Emsley Jones', an Abolitionist near Dunkirk, and told him that a runaway wished to see him. He went out, and the negro led him directly to a couple of slaveholders. "Where are those sla^-es?'' "I cannot tell," said he. One of them struck him with a sharp knife to cut his throat, but only hit his chin. He stepped aside, and in the dark got out of their way ; but they never found the slaves.

Incidents Told By John H. Bond

have known of twenty-five in one company. They came partly in a wagon, and some on foot from Xewport, and were sent to Jonesboro or to Camden. I took one company of ten to Jonesboro ; we had to camp out one night.

"Seventeen lodged at my house at once. The man who took them on went through to Jonesboro in one day and night. Pursuit was made. Three of us rode all night, and got to them at Jonesboro about daylight. The gang was dispersed into the woods, and were kept there three weeks before they could be got away. The pursuers got there before noon. Three men. Jack Page and two others, were the hunters. They hunted round for several days, but went off without their prey."

Gangs of fugitives used to come to the institute. At one time fifteen came in one company. It was a woman and her ten children, a son-in-law and a grandchild, and two others. The woman and children belonged to one man, and they were all he had. She was asked, "Were you not used well?" "Yes." "Why did you run away?" "^My children were my master's, and the mistress and the white children wanted us to be sold, and we thought it time to quit."

The whole subject of the Underground Railroad is a remarkable episode in the history of this county. ]\Iany exciting occurrences, and some amusing ones as well, took place in the progress of events. At Oberlin, Ohio, at one t-ime, some slaves were convened out of town toward the lake in open daylight, imder a load of hay. One black man was once painted white, and rode off to a place of security in that disguise. On one occasion, a decoy wagon was sent out in advance toward Elyria from Oberlin containing some free negroes, residents of the town, some of them dressed as if they were women, know'ing they would be watched and followed, as they Avere. At Elyria, eight miles away, the whole group was arrested. As much delay as possible was made, but in the course of two or three hours after the arrest, the fact was learned that this party was a "sell." But meanwhile the real fugitives had

At one time a slave woman at one of the lake ports, who had been closely pursued, was conveyed across the lake in a coffin as a corpse, being accompanied by several friends in deep mourning.

The pursuers went over to Canada on the same boat, but they never learned the ruse that had been practiced upon them. The great mass of events in connection with this movement will, of coutse, be lost in oblivion. A few have been rescued from the general fate, and we have made a small addition to the number for the perusal of future generations.

In addition to the excitement and separation among the Friends on account of slavery, the Methodist denomination also suffered to some extent by the "True Wesleyan" movement. For a considerable time, that body found many adherents in this region of the state, including a considerable number in Randolph county. Some account of the Wesleyans may be found in the chapter devoted to the churches, as also a statement concerning the Antislavery Friends in the same chapter.

It is an amusing fact that many persons really supposed that the Underground Railroad was underground. A young lady from New Hampshire once asked the writer of these sketches how the thing was managed "under the ground." "What do you mean?" rejoined he. "Why, the Underground Railroad - how did they get to it and from it?" said she.. "Did you understand that it was really underground?" "Yes, of course; I never heard it called anything else." And then we had to explain to that young lady, who was really an intelligent girl, why the Underground Railroad had received that curious and expressive appellation, at which explanation the lady was greatly surprised in her turn.

In 1839 a peculiar case was entered in the Randolph circuit court, being a charge against several persons, colored and others, by Thomas Springfield, of Tennessee, for concealing his two female slaves, Susan and Margaret Wilkerson, and assisting them to escape.

The affair was a famous one, and made great stir at the time. Two girls by the name of Wilkerson had managed to escape from Tennessee, and had made their way to the house of their grafidfather Wilkerson, residing in the colored settlement on Cabin creek, in Randolph county. They were pursued and overtaken at that place. A. gang of some seventeen armed men on horseback, raised in the vicinity of Huntsville, had gathered and gone to the house where the girls were. Meanwhile, the old lady Wilkerson had armed herself with a corn knife, and, with fierce and deadly earnestness, guarded the door, threatening to cut down whoever attempted to enter. She also put her little grandson upon a horse, with a horn, with orders to ride for life, and blow the alarm as he went, which he did jvith a will, and the neighbors came together as if running to a house on fire. In the confusion the girls were gotten out of the back window into the woods, and so they escaped. It serves to show how blunted were the moral perceptions of men. on this subject of hiunan liberty at that time, that the slave claimant was a Methodist clergyman, artd the leader of the troop of pursuing horsemen was a Baptist preacher. They doubtless, like Paul of old in his Pharisaic blindness, thought they were doing good service to God as well as to man ; but thank heaven, those days of darkness are past.

The indignant declaration of brave old Massachusetts, by the prophetic lips of the gifted Whittier, has become sober fact throughout - the entire national jurisdiction:

Anti-Slavery Incidents John H. Bond

"The Underground Railroad through Cabin Creek began about 1831. The first fugitive was brought by Thomas Frazier. Thomas rode on horseback and the slave walked. Great numbers have passed here first and last, probably hundreds of them, on foot, on horseback, and in wagons. Seventeen is the largest number that ever lodged at our house at one time. They would be brought from Newport, and be taken from here to Jonesboro, or elsewhere. I took one company of ten to Jonesboro. The trip consumed three days, and we had to camp out one night. We knew that they were coming. Word was sent from farther south to William Beard, in Union county, and by him to Levi Coffin, and from there to Cabin Creek. At one time a company that had been sent on to Michigan were pursued, and a man went all the way from Cabin Creek to Michigan on horseback to give warning. A

"One day H. H. Way (Uncle Henry), came to me and said, 'J^sse, is thy horse in thy stable?' 'Yes.' 'Has thee a saddle and bridle, and are all in good condition ? Does thee need them for a few days ?' 'No, not especially.' 'Well, feed him properly, and if thee don't find him in the stable m the morning, thee need not be uneasy.' "

The horse disappeared that night, but several days afterward he was there again. H. H. Way had been tip into Michigan, or somewhere, and a troop of negroes on horseback had passed through the town.

One morning, on passing by Levi Coffin's, many people were standing in the street around his door. "What is the matter? Is somebody dead?" Henry Way came out of the house and said, "Only a fresh lot of negroes come to town."

Henry H. Way was a young physician, and brought a lot of medicines along to Daniel Dawson's, whom they moved to Blue river, in the south part of the state.

Old Newport (and Levi Coffin in that town) was the head center for Underground Railroad work for this whole region. He removed to Cincinnati, and until the end of slavery was prominent in Anti-slavery labors, assisting in the escape of thousands of fleeing fugitives from bondage toward the North Star. Levi and his worthy wife died a few years ago.

Grand Army Of The Republic

The Grand Army of the Republic is a patriotic organization in the United States composed of the national veterans of the Civil war. It was organized in Decatur, Illinois, April 6, 1866, by Dr. B. F. Stevenson, of Springfield, formerly surgeon of the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry. The organization grew very rapidly, and in a short time posts were established all through Indiana. It will be noticed they are named after soldiers that stood in high rank with their comrades. The main purposes of the Grand Army of the Republic and qualifications of its members are given in the sixth rule of the organization, which is as follows :

"To maintain true allegiance to the United States of America, based on a paramount respect for, and fidelity to, its constitution and laws, to discountenance whatever tends to weaken loyalty, incite to insurrection, treason, all re- bellion, or in any manner impairs the efficiency and permanency of our free Constitution; and to encourage the spread of universal liberty, equal rights and justice to all men. Soldiers and sailors of the United States army, navy, or the relief corps, who served between April 12, 1861, and April 9, 1865, in the war for the suppression of the Rebellion, and those having been honorably discharged therefrom after such service, and of such state regiments as were called in to active service and subject to the orders of the United States general officers, between the dates mentioned, shall be eligible to membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. No person shall be eligible to membership who has at any time bore arms against the United States."

Randolph county was a fruitful field for such an organization, as it has so many thousands of men who have been in the Civil war. For a great many years this organization took charge of the Memorial services, and in that manner paid tribute to their fallen comrades. That duty and respect, however, has been left to their sons and daughters, who have an organization of their own which will be spoken of later.

First officers were : James Patchell, commander ; James B. Ross, senior vice commander; W. W. Nevison, junior vice commander; Thomas Mitchell, officer of the day; O. C. Gordon, quartermaster; William Commons, surgeon; J. C. Reed, chaplain; W. M. Reeves, official guard; B. W. Simmons, adjutant; S. W. Whitten, sergeant major; Charles Branham, quartermaster sergeant; Robert Tester, outer guard; Amos Eisenhour, inside guard; J. J. Norris. L G. Stahl and D. S. Moist, trustees.

Present officers are : A. J. Flarris, commander ; T. J. McMullen, senior vice commander; James Shannon, junior commander; John W. Hoke, quartermaster; Wm. Harriman, surgeon; William S. Wasson, chaplain; Abijah Green, officer of the day; D. W..Bickle, adjutant; A. H. Swain, sergeant major; Hiram McClure, quartermaster sergeant; H. A. Harrison, patriotic instructor; Fliram McClure. Jacob Ludy and Robert Lester, trustees. Members, fifty-one. Meeting every Tuesday evening.

First officers : A. O. Marsh, commander ; George U. Carter, senior vice commander; H. R. Marlatt, junior vice commander; John W. Macy, adjutant.

Present officers : James E. Huston, commander ; Gilbert Muckey, senior vice commander; G. R. Kennedy, junior vice commander; N. C. Simmons, adjutant. Number of members, ninety-eight. Meetings, Tuesday night.

Those who have served as grand officers are : A. O. Marsh, department commander Indiana Grand Army of the Republic. (Our records do not show the- year.) Isaiah P. Watts, department chaplain. (He can not tell the year.)

Total members joining post as members from time of organization to present time, April 23, 1914, 365. Committee for post, N. C. Simmons, W. P. Marlatt and John Flight.

Present officers are : Commander, Curtis B. Small ; senior vice commander, Lee Jackson; junior vice commander, E. Wright Moore; chaplain, William J. Clevenger; quartermaster, Henry Deselms; adjutant, William H. Harrison ; officer of the day, Benjamin F. Sunday ; officer of the guard, William T. Davis. Members, eighteen. Meetings held the fourth Saturday each month.

commander, Henry Hawkins; junior vice commander, David M. Thorn; officer of the day, Henry C. Hiatt; officer of the guard, David M. Kinsey; chaplain, Peletiah Bond; surgeon, Martin Eckerle; post quartermaster sergeant, S. C. Bowen; post adjutant, Jesse H. Hubbard.

Present officers are : Post commander, James M. Hamilton ; senior vice commander, Griff a T. Thorn; junior vice commander, William Shell; chaplain, Tarleton M. Nichols ; quartermaster, Martin Eckerle ; officer of the day, Ezra Xye ; officer of the guard, Hegry Hawkins ; surgeon, Henry M. Benson ; post adjutant, George M. Bascom ; quartermaster sergeant, S. C. Bowers ; sergeant major, William W. Kinsey. Members, thirteen. Meetings first and third Monday night in each month.

Present officers are : Commander, Thomas O. Flood, senior vice commander, Thomas W. Odle; junior vice commander, James Karnes; adjutant and quartermaster, Abram Morrical; chaplain, D. C. Edwards; surgeon, John Harris; officer of the day, Andrew I. Wood. Members, twenty. Meetings held Saturday evenings.

Sons Of Veterans

Early in 1886 Elmer G. Walker, then provisional commander for the Sons of Veterans of Indiana, the order not having yet been established in this state, wrote to the Grand Army of the Republic posts of the city of Winchester, asking them to organize a camp of Sons of Veterans here. A committee was appointed and in a short time had a charter application filled and sent in. The application was approved and returned, and on July 7, 1886, Andrew J. Stakebake, the commander of the Grand Army of the Republic post, instituted the camp and sent in his report. On the 21st of July the camp was chartered under the name of Sherman Camp No. 44, Indiana Division Sons of Veterans, United States of America. In 1891 the name was

John Bond William Mann

The membership of this camp is about one hundred fifty, and it will not be long until this camp will boast a membership of three or four hundred and every descendant of a Union soldier, Randolph county will consider it an honor to be a member of it. The high principles of this organization, the motive which it has for its work, the reason it has for its existence, makes it an organization that will and should live as long as the son of a veteran respects his father as he should.

44" ranks as one of the best camps in the state. It is considered perhaps the best, and is sent for far and near to exemplify the work in all the degrees. They have even been invited to other states upon similar missions, and have always reflected credit not only upon themselves but upon the entire body of the state. "Old 44" is the only Sons of Veterans camp in the county today, and its membership is found in all parts of the county. It has been a , factor in unifying public opinion and public sentiment and has done a wonderful work in the perpetuating the memory of those who fought for their country.

]\Iembers of "Old 44" are recognized high in the councils of the state, Sons of Veterans, and some of its members have been distinguished as great officers.

John D. Miller, Division Commander of 1909-1910. R. J. Bosworth, Division Adjutant 1890-1891 and Division Secretary 1907-11. J. M. Brown, Division Adjutant from 1891-1892, and William Bishop, Division Quartermaster 1890-1892. The Sons of Veterans together with the Grand Army of the Republic and Woman's Relief Corps occupy the third story and west half of the second story of the Old Central Building. These rooms have been elegantly furnished and meet the needs of the occupants nicely. All honor to an organization whose membership honor the work of their father.

One of the greatest and most worthy of all institutions which have been organized for the betterment of society is the Woman's Relief Corps. Formerly the membership was limited to the mothers, wives, sisters or daughters or Union soldiers, but at this time, any desirable woman may become a member. This organization has done a wonderful work and has been a source of inspiration to all other organizations. No society labors more for the amelioration of mankind than this devoted patriotic band of women. (49)

Order Eastern Star

First officers ; President, Thanie Thompson ; senior vice, Ruth Hoke ; junior vice, Mary ?\Iessick; chaplain, Elizabeth Lester; secretary, Mary Swain; treasurer, Desta Teegarden; conductress, Mary Anderson; assistant conductress, Susan AA'asson ; guard, Alice Woodbury ; assistant guard. Mattie Cox: patriotic instructor, Eliza Castle; press corps. Emma Ribbett; color bearers - first, Rena Campbell ; second, Elmira Mote ; third, ^lary Emmons ; fourth, Sarah Wetz. Fifty-six members at present.

Present officers': President, Isa Lemaux; senior vice, Jane Blackaby; junior vice, ollie Jellison; secretary, Nida Walker; treasurer, Malissa Ward; chaplain, Jennie Stick; conductress, Jane Maranda; guard, Delilah Mendenhall. Thirty-four members at present.

Present officers: President, Hannah Marlatt; secretary, Ida Coleman; treasurer, Mary E. Best ; patriotic instructor, Anna Kennedy ; press correspondent, Mattie Wattts. One hundred and eleven members at present.

The corps at jiresent has fifteen members, with officers as follows : Lulu Barker, president: Lucy Gaddis. senior \'ice: Ellen Strahan, junior vice: Victoria Edwards, chaplain : Dora Driskill, treasurer ; Sallie Adamson, conductress; Cora Mann, guard: Amy Sheppard, assistant conductress; Lizzie Havnes, assistant guard : Willa O. Gordon, musician : Ida Gordon, secretary.

Sons Of Liberty

The Sons of Liberty, or otherwise known as the Knights of the Golden Circle had more of a footing and a larger membership in Randolph county than would seem possible. There were no less than five circles to be found within our borders. The object of this lodge seems to have been to arouse sympathy for the southern cause and if possible to overthrow the State go\ermT!ent, at that time, under the leadership of Governor Oliver P. Morton. Military drill was a part of the business of their regular meetings. As the war progressed they became bolder and bolder in their attitude against the government and finally planned to capture the State arsenal, and release the southern prisoners held in Camp Morton, at Indianapolis.

Governor Morton found the problem a very difficult one to handle and appreciated thoroughly all information and help that could be had from various parts of the state. It remained for a citizen of Randolph county to assist very materially in this way. It was largely through the work of a resident of this county that the treasonable doings of these circles were discovered. This gentleman made what he called a "confession," which was sworn to before a Justice of the Peace. This information was conveyed to General Carrington, at Indianapolis, and was in turn taken to Governor Morton who appreciated the services beyond measure. In. this confession he says: "I, the undersigned, believing it to be my duty as a good citizen to make known the acts and designs of a secret organization now in existence throughout the country, known as the K. G. C.'s or Knights of the Golden Circle, make the following statement:

For some time past I have been an active member of said order and have participated with them in all or most of their meetings in this township and in other lodges. I have taken three degrees and have considered myself fully a member of standing in said organization and know the intentions and motives of said order. I also am accfuainted with the members that meet from time to time at the secret meetings and give only the names of those I have seen in the lodge taking part as active members of said lodge and known to me as good and true K. G. C.'s.

I will also give the names of others I have never seen in the lodge but know them to be K. G. C.'s of good standing, they answering all the signs of the order. When first received as members the oath is administered to them separately before the applicant is allowed to know anything about the order the substance of which is opposition to the administration, abolishionism, emancipation, confiscation, arbitrary arrest, conscription, etc., in fact, opposition to the government in all things.

There is a military organization in each township in each county in the state all the members are to be secretly armed and stand ready for all orders from their officers. There is in the center of the State of Indiana a grand lodge called the grand star which is made up by delegates from each state in the Union; all subordinate lodges report through their representative to the Grand Star Lodge. My understanding is that the K. G. C.'s are the same thing North and South; the management of the organization and the signs are identically the same. I believe I could pass through the southern confederacy by using the signs of our Northern lodges.

The members of the township lodges are subject to the order of the captain who is the highest officer in the township. Their arms are contracted for and ordered from Indianapolis and sent secretly to each lodge by I. Beck & Brother. Each member has to contribute for said purpose. To give warning of danger a gun is fired four times counting fifty between each firing. For the purpose of knowing the friends of the K. G. C.'s - If a circle is drawn on a house with chalk and a line drawn straight through the center it is evidence that the occupant is a K. G. C.

The military signs are the same as they have in the Southern army. Their meetings are held in secret places and well guarded to prevent any approach while drilling or doing any business in the lodge. Their object is to Oppose everything the administration may do towards putting down the rebellion; oppose all war measures whatever, such as preventing enlistments, encouraging descriptions, etc. Delegates are sent from the Grand Star to the army for the purpose of introducing the order of the K. G. C.'s among the soldiers. I know several women in Randolph county who are members of the order, the wives of officers of different lodges. The promulgations of treason against the government is the business of every member.

I have heard leading men say at their meetings that Jeff Davis had violated no rights that they claim in this government; that Jeff Davis was a better man than Lincoln and that John Morgan was a good man. None but the leading members of the order understand the true meaning and intentions of the K.- G. C.'s. The penalty for violating the oath is having the body cut into four quarters and cast out at the north, east, south and west gates. I have been expelled from the order, the only charges against me being the crime of volunteering as a soldier in the army which is expressly forbidden by the order. I have been threatened with death by members of the order for breaking the laws and refusing any longer to act as a member of said order.

The members generally understand that there are officers in the army that are members of the order but I don't know any myself. Our captain told me that some of the militia, or guards, in Ohio were K. G. C.'s, who are there for the purpose of aiding the order in their designs. The members generalh- declare that if they are drafted and have to go into the army if they should be in a battle they would use their guns against the Federal soldiers, or in any way to aid the rebels.

I have been ofifered the command of one hundred men to aid in bringing Vanlandingham back in case he was elected governor of Ohio. I was called on to act as drill master for the company of this township on Sunday which met in an out of the \\-ay woods in said township but did not go which I suppose is charged against me in the lodge.

The last election was secretly managed by the I-C. G. C.'s. They all denied having any candidates. But a convention was held and the nomination made and the ticket distributed with orders how to vote; this was done at the lodge meetings previous to the election. Each one was to hold back until the afternoon, as it was supposed the Union party would ha\'e two or more candidates - by this means they were to carry the election. The State is divided into four military districts, each district has a general commander.

The members of each township compose a company, each company is divided into squads; a chief is' appointed by the captain to head each squad. If a

I am satisfied that many of the above named men are ignorant of the true meaning and intentions of the K. G. C.'s and believe they would leave the order if they were not deceived by the officers and leading men. I have had many opportunities, perhaps more than others, to ascertain these facts. I have paid strict attention to the matter and I" am now fully satisfied the whole order was and is now kept up as a treasonable organization and their aim is to rule this government or destroy it, therefore, I have voluntarily made this statement. I claim to be a Douglas Democrat but my democracy has ever taught me to be always on the side of my country, willing to aid in putting down conspiracies instead of sustaining them.

This organization had its signs, grips and pass words and at one time bade fair to be strong enough to accomplish their purpose. This organization became so strong throughout the state and so bold during the summer of 1863 that General John ^lorgan of Kentucky was encouraged to invade the state with his force, in the belief that there would be a general uprising. In 1864 they matured a plan for a general uprising in the city of Indianapolis. On the 1 6th of August the plan was discovered and the infantry stationed at Camp Morton searched the "invading post at Indianapolis." It is said that three hundred revolvers were taken from passengers on one train : hundreds of revolvers were thrown into Pogue's Run, which has given the search the name of "Battle of Pogue's Run." It is known that at least thirty thousand guns and re\-ol\ers were invoiced and it is fairly thought that at least sixty thousand revolvers and six thousand muskets had been distributed.

That this disloyal organization was in correspondence with the leaders of the Confederacy has been fully established. The statement made, as here published, is no doubt a true one, as these same things were afterward ' proven in trials in various parts of the state.

The other Randolph county citizen who had direct connection with this affair was R. H. Morgan, Greensfork to\^'nship, who gave the following reminiscence :

'"I was taken to Grand Gulf, May 13th; stayed there until June 5th. Governor Morton came with his hospital boat and took us to Evansville. I was in the City Hospital until July 3d, then at Indianapolis until July 7th. I was then furloughed home for thirty days ; went back for eight or ten days and was furloughed again, and so on until November. I was then detailed to the provost marshal's office, at Indianapolis, and continued there until the close of the war, June 30, 18(13. I helped arrest Milligan, i-ii-rscy, ].](j\ilcs, Dodd and Heffron. and to capture the re\(jl\ers, ammunition and powder sent to Indianapolis in the conspiracy by the Sons of Liberty. We took thirty-four boxes of revolvers and fixed ammunition in the old book-bindery of the Sentinel office. The boxes were three feet by one foot by fourteen inches. The revolvers were seven shooters. The boxes were marked Sunday school books, on the outside. The plot was discovered by the detectives of General Carrington. We took also one hundred and four kegs of powder, in zinc-covered boxes. They had been sent on to Terre Haute, but were found there and brought back to Indianapolis and I helped to put them into the magazine.

Dodd escaped; Heffron turned state's evidence, and Milligan, Horsey and Bowles were tried by military commission and sentenced to be hung, but at the last moment were reprieved by President Johnson and their sentence was at length revoked by the United States court on the ground that a military commission had not the right to try them outside of the military lines.

Comrade Long and myself broke in the book-case containing the books for the ritual, etc., for the Golden Circle, in Heffron's office, and there were three or four bushels of them, and we turned them over to the provost marshal. There was also a plot at the same time (by the secret lodges of the Sons of Liberty) to capture the government, release the rebel prisoners in Camp McTtrni and turn the state in fax'or of the rel)el cause; but the whole conspiracy, extending by kindred lodges far and wide throughout the West, was found out in time and checkmated. These revolvers, etc., were brought to the state under a false pretence of lieing Sunday school 1)(; .ks, and they were to be distributed to the members of the Golden Circle through the state, arrangements ha\'ing been perfecti-d for the purpose."

Temperance E. L. Reminiscences General

The cause of abstinence from intoxicating lic|uors early found advocates in Randolph county. The Friends had for many years been taking strong and comparatively high ground against the common use of strong drink, as had also the Methodists of the earlier days, not, perhaps, strictly identical with, yet much similar to, the more modern distinctive movement. This movement \\-as in fact a gradual one, growing by progressive steps, and through various efforts during the lapse of many years, taking at length the. shape of die American Temperance Society, which was formed at Boston, Massachusetts, in about 1826, on the principal of total abstinence from ardent spirits as a beverage.

That movement spread rapidly and extensi\'ely through the settled portions of the country, and in ten years had become a general success insomuch that the habits of drinking and offering ardent spirits their use in harvest and at raisings, etc., as also their sale in the general stores and groceries of the country had, in very extensive regions, mostly or entirely ceased. During several years before 1836, most of the active temperance workers became convinced that the enterprise could not be permanentl}- successful unless all intoxicating drinks were abandoned. The pledge against all such liquors gradually superseded the old pledge; and, in 1836, the American Temperance Association changed its ground accordingh', framing its pledge substantially as follows : The undersigned, believing that the use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage is not necessary, but rather injurious, and that while their moderate use is continued the evils of drunkenness can never be prevented, do hereby mutually pledge ourselves to each other that we will neither use nor traffic in the same nor furnish them to others ; and that in all suitable ways we will discourage such use and traffic in the community.

This ground tlius taken in 1836. seventy-eight }ears ago, has been in substance the basis and foundation of all temperance action since that time. During years past the forms of opposition to the use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage, and to the traffic in the same, have been legion ; the principle in all, however, being substantially identical.

The detailed history of temperance work in Randolph countv during those early times is supposed to be not now accessible. The first temperance nieetina; of which we ha\e an account was held at the court-hou'^e in Winchester about 1830, under the auspices of the original National Association, with the pledge against distilled liquors. Temperance societies were formed extensively throughout the county, and the religious element for the most part became convinced of the correctness of the principles of the movement, and the necessit}' of the work proposed. Among those who were actively engaged were ^Moorman Way, Paul \A', Way, John Way, Henry Huffman, Thomas Fisher. Isom Puckett, William Harris. J- E. Beverly, '\\. A. Reeder, James

J. E. Beverly, then a young man under age, was, for a considerable time, Secretary of the County Society, and Isom Puckett was at one time its president.- The movement flourished for several years and most good people were indoctrinated with its principles. Moorman Way at one time walked eight miles to attend a temperance meeting held by a Presbyterian clergyman who was an acti\e and talented advocate of the cause.

A strong temperance society was organized in Winchester, January i, 1839 at the Methodist meeting-house for the purpose of organizing an association for the suppression of the unnecessary use oflicjuor. The meeting was called to order by Benjamin Cox, one of the first county commissioners, and was addressed by Carey S. Goodrich, Wm. Hunt and John H. Hull. At this meeting a constitution was adopted and was signed by one hundred thirtyseven citizens. A committee, composed of George W. Goodrich, Moorman Way and James Clayton was appointed to draft the constitution. The resolutions passed at that time shows the sincerity of these people in their purpose.

They resolved to look on the cause of temperance as a common cause of every sincere lover of his country, his race and his God. They resolved that they would by all lawful and honorable means endeavor to prevent the licensing of houses for the retailing of liquors. They further resolved that "we consider the license law as totally erroneous in theory and highly destructive of our dearest interests and that we look upon it as a relic of barbarous days, entirely unworthy the sanction of an enlighted legislative body and that its beneficial effects are light, trivial when compared with the injurious results." An interesting historical fact is noticed in one of their resolutions when they "Resolved, that we deprecate the trai^c of ardent spirits and especially in taverns as fraught with evils more direful than even groceries."

Edmund B. Goodrich was elected president and David Haworth, vicepresident ; Henry W. Way, secretary ; and Solomon Reynard and John Wright, directors. An investigating committee was appointed which consisted of Moorman Way, George W. Goodrich, Henry D. Huffman, James Clayton, Carey S. Goodrich, John Way, John R. Davis, Thomas M. Davis, Wm. Hunt, John H. Hull. This committee met at the Goodrich Brothers & Company storehouse on the 7th day of December, 1839. David Haworth, John Wright and Solomon Reynard being present. That this society did good work is recognized at its next meeting, one year later, when they resolved, "That the operations of the temperance society for the last twelve months has demonstrated the efficiency of temperance societies as a means for the accomplishment of the end in view, to-wit : The arresting of the ravage ing of intemperance and that we have increased confidence in the goodness and in the uhimate success of the cause."

That this society was in earnest is shown by the fact that in July of 1840, charges were preferred against Silas Colgrove for violating the pledge of the society. The committee consisting of John Wright, John Way, IMoorman Way, James \'\^ Moore and E. \Y Goodrich was appointed. Upon investigation it was found that Mr. Colgrove was guilty and he was expelled from the society, accordingly. This led to a great deal of public discussion and on the loth of December of that year, 1840, a public debate was held to discuss the question of temperance societies. Arnold Buffam was for and Colonel Jeremiah Smith against tem.perance societies. The earnestness of the debate was shown by the minutes, "After a debate of six hours there was a call made for additional signers whereupon thirty-five members were added." At this time a distillery was being erected in the town of Winchester and the society took it upon themselves to fight its construction with all its power. This society went so far as to pledge themselves to refrain Irom dealing with individuals engaged in manufacturing liquors because they believed such to be an encouragement of them in their practice, to a certain extent. The enthusiasm ran high and in February, 1841, Mr. James Ferris gave an address of such great strength that he was asked to furnish it for publication, that it might be scattered over the entire country.

In 1842 a special committee consisting of John T. Beverly, Adam Mc- Pherson and Edmund B. Goodrich was appointed to draft resolutions for the good of the order. It was decided to organize a county wide Total Abstinence Society- This society held its meetings in AVinchester on June 14, 1844. at which time by-laws and constitutions were signed b}- three hundred and fifty-nine people. W'e do not know how long this society continued as the last minutes found are dated September, 1845, and indicate a verv flourishing condition of the society.

Soon after 1840, the movement was revived in the form of W^ashingtonianism. One Mr. Porter, from Cincinnati, held meetings at AA'inchester for that cause, and, perhaps, organized societies here, and the movement extended as before throughout the county-at-large and continued to prevail for several years, with much enthusiasm. Up to this time the various temperance societies had been open and free to all ; but, as the Washingtonian movement began to show symptoms of decline, the temperance work took new shape in the form of secret associations of various kinds. Perhaps the earliest, at least one of the earliest, was the Sons of Temperance. It began in New York

City, but spread rapidly westward, and was soon planted in Randolph county, in 1844. Others were Good Templars, Daughters of Temperance, Temples of Honor, etc.

In some respects the work done by these various societies was more restricted than the former movements, chiefly from two causes. First, many ardent temperance workers were in conviction opposed to secret societies, and could not, in consequence, affiliate with their work; and such, while deeply sympathizing with the object to be attained, and unwilling to throw anything in the way, yet felt obliged to stand aloof from active participation. The second reason was that the various secret orders required the payment of money as a pre-requisite of membership, and as a condition of continued connection.

In the summer of 1854, a Fourth of July temperance celebration was held at Winchester. Great preparation had been made and great display was indulged in. All the temperance orders then in vogue were present, and marched in procession in regalia. An immense crowd was in attendance and great enthusiasm was apparent. Just before that, an event of notable importance in temperance had taken place in Winchester. A notorious saloonkeeper had defied the whole power of public sentiment and kept brazenly on with his mischievous work. He had been appealed to in every way,- and especially by the ladies of the village, to cease his work and close his saloon. He refused. A citizen of the towm, once honored and prominent, who had at one time been county sheriff, having become a hard drinker, was lying sick from- a debauch and prostrated with delirium tremens. He finally died with this awful disease, and \vhile his lifeless corpse was lyang stark and stiff at his wretched home, the ladies of Winchester gathered at the domicile of his afflicted widow, and, placing her at their head, formed a large and imposing procession and marched in a body to the grog shop where this man had bought much of his liquor, and sternly demanded of the keeper that he destroy his liquors and quit the business of dram selling. He refused and the}- proceeded to smash in his licjuor barrels and spilled the whole in the street. Great excitement throughout the region was the consequence. The grog seller sued the women, but owing to the fact that all their w-ives were engaged in the onslaught, none of the attorneys of Winchester would engage for the plaintiff, and he was obliged to get legal assistance from Greenville, Ohio, and elsewhere. The final issue of the case is not now remembered. The case was strongly commented on and the spirit of the courageous ladies highly praised by the gifted orator of the day, Matthew R. Hull, Esq., who, to an enthusiastic and eloquent delivery, added a most sarcastic and fiery manner, and his invectives against the heirlous traffic and all its participators were bitter and terrible.

For many years one of the most active and indefatigable workers in the various departments has been Miss Amanda M. Way, who has in later years gained even a national reputation.

E. B. Reynolds Esq., has also, among perhaps others, become famous through the country as an energetic and successful temperance orator and lecturer, ha\'ing within the last year or two been engaged in the work in Kansas of bringing the temperance sentiments of that state to the point of adopting the prohibitory amendment in the constitution of that state.

Within a few years past, several new phases of the temperance work have made their appearance. About 1870, an organization intended to embrace all existing societies was formed, called the Temperance Alliance, which, for a time, did efftcient work in educating the people in the principles of total abstinence.

About February, 1874, the Women's Crusade broke out at Union City, and for a brief season swept everything before it. Almost all the Christian women of the place were engaged in the work. It grew up without previous notice or preparation, and the movement seemed to be the spontaneous outburst of an overwhelming sense of the terrible power and curse of the drinking habit, and the fearful evils of the liquor traffic. The crusade first took shape at Washington Court House, a village in southern central Ohio, and was taken up rapidly throughout the state. A gentleman known as the "Ohio Broad Ax," held some meetings at Union City and told how they were doing in Ohio.

At one of these meetings, on Friday, a committee of ladies was appointed to decide upon a course of action. The committee was Mme. Commons, Galloway, Croner and McFeely. On Saturday, the committee, three of them, met at l\ir. Commons' office. Mrs. Commons was made president, Mrs. Galloway, vice-president, and Mrs. Croner, secretary. A kind of constitution was drawn up, coupled with a general pledge "to do what they could." A meeting was held on Monday night and seventy-five ladies signed that pledge. The next day at i o'clock, another meeting was held at the Presby;> terian church. One hundred and fifty or more ladies were present. Religious exercises were had, but no definite plan of action had been decided on. Suddenly one lady said, "Let us go to Cain's saloon." Others also said, "Let

US go." The proposition was voted with a rush. A procession of about two hundred ladies was formed, two and two, and down they went, arm in arm, to Cain's saloon.

The news spread over town Hke wild-fire and the citizens came crowding down, fearful of the treatment their wives might receive from the saloon men and the roughs, who were also there in great numbers. The ladies entered, their leaders pushing up to the counter and commencing a talk with Cain. He brandished an article written by some clergyman or -other in opposition to the crusade in other quarters, telling "women to keep at home," and mind their own business, etc., and demanded them to "read that" and learn their duty. Meanwhile Cain, expecting prayer by the ladies, seemed desirous of having the matter over as speedily as possible, and asked the ladies if they wished to have prayers. No plan to that effect had been made, but the "spirit of the time" was on them, and Mrs. Commons, who was one of the leaders, replied that if he would keep the crowd still, they would. He said they should be still, and Mrs. Enos Turpen engaged in prayer, after singing. The whole thing was spontaneous; no plan whatever had been arranged and they did simply what the Spirit led them to do. Mrs. Turpen made a most moving prayer. Her soul was all on fire, and she evidently spake as the Spirit gave her utterance. Some who were there said, "she prayed like an angel," and that "such another prayer was never heard from human lips." At one point the roughs seemed about to break loose. Mrs. Commons glanced at Mr. Cain and he hushed them with his fist. After prayer, he insisted that his article should be read, and Mrs. Commons, standing behind the counter, in the midst of that strangely mingled crowd - Christian ladies, their husbands and friends, the saloon keepers and the roughs, read the article. He boasted of its doctrine, written by a clergyman and admonished the ladies to go home and be quiet and let his business alone. Some said, "Let us go home." Mrs. Commons said, "No, I want to talk" and said to Mr. Cain, "Will you keep them still?" "Yes, I will." Mrs. Commons went on to make her speech, taking the article as the basis. She said afterward that she felt as though "the power" rested en her, and she spoke simply as she was moved upon. The crowd was restrained from doing the ladies harm, and they went home. The next day the. work was renewed and so it continued for some two weeks, and, for the time, every saloon but one was closed. The movement could not, in the nature of things, be kept up indefinitely, and the saloons after a time, opened again to resume their work of making drunkards for money. A legal movement was also commenced against the saloon keepers, which, however, resulted in failure from the well known fact that to obtain evidence against saloon keepers is generally utterly impossible. At Cain's saloon, Mrs. Commons spoke about twenty minutes, and the house was as .still as death. She seemed wonderfully helped, and spoke freely and with great apparent effect. The saloon keeper seemed like a caged lion. When Mrs. Commons closed her speech, she said, "Now I am ready to go" ; and the ladies marched away as solemnly as though it were a funeral. The marshal on the Ohio side, though a drinking man, declared, "No one shall harm you," and he went with them for protection as they v\ient their way round to every saloon on the Ohio side; and then they went back to the church and found the house filled with gentlemen. The next day they visited every saloon on the Indiana side. One was so frightened that he put up iron bars to his windows. He agreed to close out. Another sent a letter to the committee offering to ship the liquor back to the wholesale house and quit the business. Four places were closed on the Indiana side.

The Ohio side was visited again and for some time every liquor shop but one was shut up. There had been twenty saloons and for some weeks all were closed except one. Suits were also brought against several liquor sells. One offered to close up if they would drop the suit, but the Alliance would not do it. Cain was shut up by a legal process for awhile, but after a time he began again.

The x\lliance held meetings e\'ery day until October, in the Presbyterian church and after that once a week. The suits that had been begun at Greenville proved a costly failure, since in a liquor loving community evidence against rum sellers can scarcely be obtained.

The next year (1875), the ladies of Indiana met at Indianapolis and formed the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and auxiliary unions were formed in Randolph county; and, among other places, at Union Citv, which were more or less effective in sustaining the temperance spirit and prosecuting temperance work. In November, 1875, a National Union was organized at Cleveland, Ohio, and the Indiana Union was made auxiliary thereto.

Murphy Movement

Francis Murphy began his \vork in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, late in the fall of 1876. Great success attended his labors. Many temperance converts were made and the movement spread extensively east and west. Among others the Timmony brothers joined the Murphy movement and began to hold meetings from place to place. In process of time, they came to Gallon,

Ohio. Meanwhile, the Temperance Alliance work was going on at Union City and elsewhere in Randolph county, but there was no knowledge in detail of the Murphy movement.

A great religious revival was in progress in Union City among the Methodists under the leadership of Rev. Mr. Vigus, their pastor. But an anxiety arose to become acquainted with the Murphy movement, and, if practicable, to introduce it there. A meeting was called at the Methodist church for consultation. At this meeting, Mr-s. Commons made a statement of what little knowledge she had gained from the papers of the time and her nephew, Mr. Dodge, who had been in the work in Eastern Ohio, was visiting at her home, and, being present at the meeting, was called up, and he told what he knew. He stated, among other things, that the work was carried on mostly by the reformed men themselves. A committee was appointed and another meeting was held in a' few days. The committee, however, had prepared 'no report. The Timmony brothers were at this time at Gallon, Ohio. The committee was discharged and another one was appointed to confer with the Timmony boys, and arrange lor them to come to Union City, if possible. The committee did so, and they agreed to come four nights. The people flocked to the meetings and joined in great numbers and it was clear that they ought to stay longer. But money was required to pay the rent of the hall as well as to pay the lecturers. At first a collection was taken each night, but that did not seem likely to be sufficient, and, among other things, a plan was arranged by which an individual gentleman or firm became responsible for the hall rent one night apiece. Thus the meetings were continued eleven nights. As the result, about two thousand names were obtained and for a time drinking liquor in Union City was mostly at an end.

A reading room and rooms for amusement and recreation were hired and fitted up and the movement went on quite enthusiastically for a time. The ladies helped the enterprise much in every possible way. Among other things, they held a strawberry festival to raise funds for the Murphy club, which netted one hundred and sixty dollars. But the movement flagged in interest and zeal, and is now entirely extinct. Many went out and held meetings throughout the surrounding country and formed auxiliary clubs, thus bringing many into the work.

The enterprise was soon after set on foot at Winchester and with great apparent effect though the results seem not to have been permanent. Among the gentlemen who were more or less prominent at Union City in furnishing funds for the movement, were Messrs. Caldwallader, Starbuck, Worthington, Pierce, Anderson, Reeder & Bowersox, Turpen and others.

As already stated, the Women's Temperance Union was subsequentlyformed and continues to the present time. During many years, the temperance sentiment has been very strong, so much so as mostly to prevent the existence of licensed saloons. At Union City, at Ridgeville, at Farmland, at Fairview, at Spartanburg, at Lynn, at Arba, sometimes at Winchester, liquor saloons have for the most part been prevented. The history of the movement in this respect would furnish much interesting and instructive material, yet the demon of drink is like that other demon of mischief, thrusting himself into every company, and everywhere seeking whom he may devour; and many are cast down by his power. One agency for temperance employed for a time with good effect at Union City and perhaps elsewhere, was the holding of Sunday afternoon street meetings. Many were held with large attendance and it is hoped with good results. The speeches at those meetings were good and often eloquent, and doubtless many listened to temperance truth from the sidewalk and the street corner who would not trouble themselves to attend a meeting held indoors.

The religious denominations have been mostly active in the temperance work from the beginning, as also many who were outside the churches. In fact, good and philanthropic men and women of all shades of belief in other respects have made common cause of the temperance work, and have marched shoulder to shoulder in the grand war against the legions of king alcohol.

E.specially have the members of the Legislature from Randolph distinguished themselves in that body in undertaking to enact measures for the suppression of the drink traffic.

Hon. M. A. Reeder introduced a bill for the entire suppression of the traffic. Hon. Nathan Butts was chairman of the temperance committee in that Legislature which passed the so-called Baxter bill. That bill was the result of the joint labors of Messrs. Butts and Baxter, aided by the suggestions and advice of many other active and judicious friends of temperance, both in the Legislature and out of it. The perfected bill was presented by Mr. Butts as chairman of the committee. The only speech in its fa\'or in the House was made by him, and it passed both branches of the Legislature, was signed by Governor Hendricks on his sick bed, -with great interest expressed by him in its behalf, and became a law, only to be killed shortly afterward by an adverse decision of the Indiana supreme court.

dianapolis for Dr. Munhall to come to Union City and organize a Young Men's Christian Association. He did so, and the following autumn the as>ociation established itself in a pleasant location with a reading room and library. The Young Men's Christian Association has been in operation with more or less activity ever since.

For a time the Youn«" Men's Christian Association and the Women's Christian Temperance Union occupied the same rooms, holding frequent meetings, and carrying forward their respective enterprises with energy and success. .

The Murphy movement took hold at Winchester with a rush, and seemed for a short time to sweep everything into its current; but the enterprise soon declined, and for a long time it has shown little or no activity. In Farmland and Ridgeville a longer life was attained, the latter place continuing to work in this respect even to the present. The Women's Christian Temperance Union is organized by townships. The County Union has a president, with a \'ice-president in each township.

In 1880 there was formed at Indianapolis an organization called the Grand Council. It was composed of delegates from the various temperance societies and orders in the state, such as Christian Temperance Unions, Good Templars, Temples of Honor, Blue Ribbons, Red Ribbons, Sons of Temperance, Knights Templar, etc. The chief work of the winter was the circulation of petitions to the Legislature asking for a prohibitory amendment to the state constitution forbidding the manufacture and sale of intoxicating drinks as a beverage, and also for a law to prevent, so far as possible, the evils of the liquor traffic.

Independent Temperance Movement

The Murphy movement, after some years of acti\-ity, seemed to lag and die. During the winter of 1879-80 a new movement sprang up which has been in operation with greater or less degree of activity ever since. Meetings were sustained several times a week during the greater part of 1880, interspersed occasionally with concerts for amusement, instruction and pecuniary profit. At first the association fitted up a hall in the third story of a brick building east of the Branham House. The location, howe\er, was difficult of access, and considerably uncomfortable, especially in hot weather. During the summer of 1880 the association succeeded in raising mone\' and labor enough to erect a tabernacle on a vacant lot, south side of Oak street, east of the Bowers building. (50)

. The tabernacle was opened in July,- 1880, by a series of temperance meetings, which were largely attended. Addresses, lectures and a temperance Sunday school were kept up in the tabernacle until the weather became too cold, the school being under the charge of Miss Dwi'nell.

As an indication of the public sentiment in many parts of Randolph county, as a specimen of the tactics sometimes employed, we append the following from Fairview, in Green township, as related by Philip Barger, Esq. : "There has been a strong temperance work in this region for many years, Washingtonians, Sons, Good Templars, etc. The people generally are strongly opposed to liquor selling. Not much of it has ever been done here. Samuel Caylor once kept hotel and sold liquor. Several persons have tried to carry on the business at Fairview, but they have been shut up or driven out in some way. Some years ago William Clemens set up a liquor shop at Fairview. The fruits soon began to appear - noisy and drunken men, etc. I was justice, and I issued warrants to about a dozen drunken men who I knew got liquor there, and had Prosecutor Cheney come from Winchester. The men came and were examined separately, but we could get nothing from them. They had left a jug of liquor near when they came, and when they got to it again the}' swung the jug defiantly and drank in triumph. Some one or two with the prosecutor and constable had stayed to dinner, and saw and heard their defiance.

Mr. Cheney was greatly mortified at our failure, and angry at their triumph, and he cried, 'Is any one here willing to swear out a warrant against that man for keeping a nuisance?' 'I will,' said one. It was done instanter, and the constable posted off forthwith to serve the warrant. But the bird had flown. The magistrate's summons to those customersof his had frightened him, and he put out on the double quick without waiting to see the upshot; and he never came back to answer for a nuisance. Another man tried it. Twelve complaints were made, and three indictments were found. One was sustained, and he was fined and sent to jail in default of payment. He bailed himself out for $100, which he furnished, and went and got drunk and died of delirium tremens. So liquor sellers have found a hard road to travel in Fairview."

It is now almost seventy-five years since the first petition for a saloon license was presented to the county commissioners. This petition was presented by residents of Green township and signed by enough citizens of that township to induce the commissioners to grant it; however, in less than a year the saloon keeper was fined for violation of the law. This has been the record of all these years - violation after violation on the part of those who handle intoxicants.

The history of the drink traffic in Randolph county is full of exciting incidents. Its course has been "evil," only evil, and that continually," fighting, fighting, ever fighting for its devilish power over the bodies and the souls of men, like its old father, Satan, going about like a roaring lion seeking some human prey to devour. The commissioners of Randolph county have mostly refused to grant license to liquor sellers. It is said, indeed, that the circuit court has rendered a decision that in certain circumstances the law requires license to be given. Still, to their honor be it said, the commissioners persist in their refusal, thus throwing the fearful responsibility of the unseemly and mischievous act, if it must be done, upon the court itself.

The history of the liquor traffic, and of the struggles against it in Randolph county during the years that are past, and the various success attending them at different times, if it could be written, would be full of thrilling interest. The incidents at Union City and elsewhere in this behalf have been very exciting and somewhat dramatic.

Porter Lodges

About 1879 °^ 1880 a genteman by the name of Porter, who was a reformed inebriate, held many meetings and formed several "Porter Lodges" in Randolph county, chiefly in the western part. His influence seemed to be great for the time, and many were brought to espouse the cause of total abstinence through his efforts.

Good Templars

The Good Templars was another' society that originated in New York City about 1854. This order was introduced into Randolph county by the creation of Winchester Lodge No. 3, April 15, 1854, D. W C. F Hatch. During the same year lodges were established at Union City, Farmland, Windsor, Ridgeville, Lynn, Huntsville, Maxville and Spartanburg. The work spread rapidly in the state, fifty lodges being organized in less than a year. The Grand Lodge of the state was organized at Winchester January 17, 1855. At this convention forty-three lodges were represented, compris-

Lodges were instituted at Bloomingsport, Buena Vista, Deerfield, J\iorristown, Fairview, Harrisville and Jericho. These societies continued in operation many years, sowing good seed, spreading the knowledge and the practice of total abstinence, reclaiming the inebriate and saving the 3^oung from the terrible habit of drink. Since the passage of the Xicholson bill Randolph county has been for the most part dry. At first Winchester was dry in all the wards, excepting one, and this was overcome by remonstrance several years ago. Under the County Option law Randolph county voted and went "dry" by a very large majority.

Later on the township and ward unit was substituted, and under that law one ward of Union City was "wet." Union City, Ohio, however, was dry, and this led to a great deal of difficulty in that city. Ohio went wet so far as Union City is concerned, and the Indiana side then went dry.

The people of this county have always stood against the pernicious influence of intemperance and will continue to stand against it. The early principles of temperance have been inculcated deep in the minds of the better class of people, so much so, that this county will always be found on the side of humanity - which means against the liquor traffic.

The Sons of Temperance was. an order instituted in Xew York Citv in 1849. The object was to solidify and perpetuate the results of the Washingtonian society referred to heretofore.

The Lodge of Sons was organized in Randolph county as early as 1846, at least the county commissioners rented "The Sons of Temperance room in the second story of the court house" that year. The order was verv flourishing.

In 1854 a grand Fourth of July celebration for temperance in Randolph county was held at Winchester, embracing the Sons, the Good Templars and other temperance societies. The occasion attracted an immense crowd and the exercises were very impressive, and doubtless much good was accomplished. The fight at this time between the liquor and the temperance elements was exceedingly bitter.

The remonstrance referred to in the ^^'inchester Temperance Association was filed with the county commissioners March 4. 1S40. and again in 1843 another great remi_.nstrance, signed Ijy three hundred and fifty-nine citizens, was filed.

"I, Nathan Garrett, auditor of said county, do hereby certify that it has been made known to me by the filing of the necessa^ry certificates required by law by the proper officers of the spring annual election held in the following to\vnships on the first Monday in x\pril, A. D. 1847, that a majority of all the votes cast at such spring annual election were cast against license in the following townships, to-wit : White River township, Ward township, Monroe township, Stoney Creek township, West River township and Washington, all lieing townships in said county of Randolph aforesaid.

In the spring of 1849 ^^^ ground on which this enterprising town has since been built was owned by a settler by the name of Augustus Loveland. There was on the tract scarcely a sign of alteration or improvement by human hands. Mr. Loveland, its owner, had a little opening and a cabin house and a log stable.

The Messrs. Smith (Jeremiah and Oliver H.), having succeeded in establishing the Bellefontaine railroad upon its present route, conceived the idea of building up a town at the state line. Accordingly, the Loveland tract was purchased by Jeremiah .Smith in May, 1849, and steps were immediately taken for the survey and platting of a town site. The growth of the place was rendered more certain by the fact that the railroad from Bellefontaine to Indianapolis was built by two companies, and in those days goods had always to be trans-shipped at the termination of each road. About the same time, moreover, measures were taken which were effectual to change the route of the road which had been projected, and upon which much work had already been done from Greenville to Winchester, so that the junction with the Bellefontaine route should be at the state line, thus securing at oncethree important outlets to the embryo town - east, west and south - even before the new city had begun to be, except in the brain of those who had sO shrewdly planned and inanaged the whole affair. And besides, a road was planned and built from Columbus to Union City, thus making four roads to start the town with, which, m those times, was an immense advantage.

The town was surveyed and platted some time between May arid December, 1849, ^s the land was purchased in May and the plat was recorded in December of that year.. The lots were offered some time in the winter or spring of 1850, and, among other purchasers, David Teeter became the owner of a lot in the projected town. At the time of that purchase (February, 1850), no buildings were on the original site of Union City but the cabin, and the stable of Augustus Loveland, as above described.

There was a house north of Division street, between Howard and Columbia, not far from where old Mr. Carter used to live. It was occupied by a Mr. Ricard. The eighty-acre tract was owned by a Mr. Crumrine, and Ricard rented it. Samuel Carter bought the land afterward of Mr. Crumrine. On the lot purchased by him, David Teeter proceeded, shortly afterward (say March or April, 1850), to erect a dwelling. That edifice was at the southeast corner of Oak and Howard, and has long been known as the Star House. It was the first building erected in Union City. Mr. Teeter did not live to finish it. . He had been feeble in health for some time, and he grew worse, and died in May, 1850. The house was sold to Benjamin Hawkins and he finished it. Mr. Montgar lived in it a while; "No other house was built in 1850. The second house was put up for Henry Debolt. It was a frame, and was built by John Teeter in the spring of 185 1, and it stood near the present site of the opera house.

The third was a one-story frame building. Daniel Weimar took the contract, and John Teeter and Hezekiah Fowler built it for John Frazier and Jack Downing, intending it for a saloon. They used it for a year, perhaps, and quit. Those twb houses were the only ones - built in 1 85 1 ; but in the spring of 1852, things began to open out pretty lively. Four railroad tracks weer rapidly concentrating upon that point in the woods on the Ohio line, all of which were soon completed to Union City, but the western end of the fourth (Union City to Logansport) had to wait for several years.

The people, in the spring of 185^, seemed to begin to realize the situation, and many appeared determined to become masters of it, if possible. And so, early in 1852, settlers began to arrive. As already stated, there were just three dwellirg-housts - the eriginal Lopelancl log mansion, the Star House (unfinished), and the house built for Henry Debolt. But by July, 1852, several houses had been erected and several residents were on the ground. -

Alfred Lenox, one of the earliest residents, said that when he came, Jiily 2, 1852, the residents on bothsides of the line, but mostly in Ohio, were Messrs. J. D. Carter, Montgar, Dr. John Diehl, W. A. C. Dixon, Jacob Livengood, John Hayes, Schultz Hayes, Henry Debolt, Miller, John

The demon of liquor proved itself worthy of its ancient name on its first introduction into the town, created a great row, and caused the discharge of seventeen railroad hands soon after that grog shop was opened. That sa-

Abram Hoke, R. B. McKee, Dr. J. N. Converse, Benjamin Hawkins, Mr. Searl, Enos Turpen, Simeon Branham, William Anderson, Samuel L. Carter, R. A. Willson and doubtless many others, came in 1852 or early in

Business first began near the point where the Deerfield and Greenville wagon road crosses the Dayton 9nd Union railroad. J. J. Turpen was weatherboarding there a building for a store in July, 1852. He set up the store, of which he had charge, the goods belonging to Mr. Ward, contractor on the Piqua road, in August, 1852, the first on this ground. John D. Carter had built a saw-mill and cut the first log about April i, 1852. Alfred Lenox had the first grocery, October to December, 1852, near the Deerfield Crossing. He had a fine run of business, but his partner left, and, having no spare time himself (Lenox was working hands on the Dayton and Union railroad), he sold the goods to a Greenville firm in December, 1852.

Mr. Livengood had built a boarding house, perhaps the first on that ground, just opposite the store building above mentioned and east of the Deerfield road, and was boarding scores of hands who were working on the railroads.

Quite a village had grown up befween the months of September and December, 1852, near the Deerfield Crossing, as though business might perhaps take hold at that place. But it did not do so. That point proved to be away from trade, and business left that spot and wandered westward. A strong effort was made to establish things in Ohio, near the mill, brewery and foundry. Mr. Carter had built a saw-mill. David Fruits put up an immense four-Story frame, intended for an opera house, hotel and what not, but he soon "got through his pile," and his.great frame stood there for a time, projecting far into the upper air, and nicknamed the "deadening" by the neighbors, until at lengtn somebody bought it, took one story from the top and finished the rest for use [Orr House]. Before long a grist-mill, a brewery, a foundry, etc., were erected, a store or two was started, and heroic efforts were made to hold the town in the Buckeye state. But all would not do. General business could not be made to "stick" over there, but it insisted on fleeing across the line and building its cozy nest in the balmy Hoosier state.

In fact, the original intention of the projectors was that the town should be in Hoosierdom, and their plans could not be readily thwarted. Besides, to make assurance doubly sure, Mr. Smith purchased forty acres of land directly on the state line, on the Ohio side, and held it vacant, refusing to sell to anybody any of that tract, thus utterly preventing'the Ohio side from building up to the business of the Indiana side. And that gap between the two corporations continued for about twenty years, until the supremacy of Union City, Indiana, was supposed to be. so firmly established as to need to fear no rivalship.

About January, 1853, Courtney Hayes started a grocery across the track from the old Orr Building (Ohio). There were several residences in Indiana, and a hotel or two had been started but no other business had yet begun there. In February, 1853, Benjamin Hawkins built a frame house on the Indiana side and put in a stock of dry goods, and Jesse Paxson became his clerk.

The plat was corrected and enlarged, the plan being radically changed, ^ the angle of the streets being made different, the lots smaller and more numerous, etc. The new plan and plat were recorded February 6, 1854, more than four years after the first -was made. In the new plat there were 483 lots. The streets are mostly not "square with the world," but run at a considerable angle, the northward streets veering toward the west. The north and south streets (beginning with state line) were as follows : State Line, Union, Columbia, Howard, Plum, Walnut, High (and Broadway, east of the Branham House, from Pearl to Chestnut, across the depot). The east and west streets, -beginning at the north, were Division (directly east and west). Hickory, Oak. Pearl, Smith, Chestnut. Smith street is on the railroad, and Chestnut is south of the railroad. The streets are eighty feet wide, except Smith and Broadway, which are 100 feet and Division and State Line, which are much narrower than eighty feet. The alleys in the original plat are thirty feet wide. Large additions have been made from time to time (about eighteen or more, in all) in Indiana, till the entire town in that state covers nearly a mile square - perhaps rather more than that.

About 1853 Mr. Searl built a building east of the Branham House for a grain warehouse. The grain business rose, almost at a bound, to immense proportions. Hundreds of wagon, loads have been in waiting at once, and the ' grain men had to work day and night to keep up with the business. Grain was hauled from Recovery, from New Corydon, and from within six miles of Richmond. The second warehouse was built by James White, but it was burned in 1857, before it had stood a year.

In 1855, three years after Union City began, there were six dry goods stores^ - Messrs. Lenox, Turpen, McFarlan, White, Hawkins and one other.

There were in early times some saloons in Union City (Indiana side), but Alfred -Lenox routed one, and Simeon Branham another, probably in 1855. This (Indiana) side of the town has never taken kindly to saloons, and, for the most part, has kept them out. Union City, Ohio, however, is sufficiently infested with the nuisance.