Wildcat Township

Wildcat Township

Wildcat township occupies the northeast corner of Tipton county. The surface is, for the most part, very level, and in some localities very flat. Originally, the township was heavily timbered, the prevailing varieties being walnut, poplar, elm, beech, sugar-tree, ash, and linn, with a dense under¬ growth of spicebrush, dogwood and willows. The soil is a deep, black veg¬ etable mold, resting upon an impervious clay sub-soil, consequently is well suited for the raising of crops. Where proper drainage has enhanced the value of the ground agriculturally, abundant crops of the leading cereals and fruits native to this state are raised. Much attention has been given to the problem of good drainage, for the farmers have come to realize that upon that depends the size of the crop.

Mud creek and its several tributaries moisten and drain the land of this township, particularly the northwest corner, and passes, in its course, through sections 32, 33 and 34, flowing in a northwesterly direction. Adjacent to this stream, the land is low and marshy, and during the rainy seasons is overflowed on both sides. The largest tributary of Mud creek is Turkey branch, which enters the township near the southwest corner. It flows in an irregular channel through sections 20, 17, 16, 9, 4 and 3, and empties into the main channel in section 34. Another small creek flows in an east¬ erly and southeasterly course through the center of the township. These streams at this day have been drained considerably, so that the damage once done by overflowing in rainy seasons is largely, if not completely, diminished.

Organization

In the year 1847 the board of county commissioners created Wild¬ cat township with the following boundaries: Beginning at the northeast corner of section 32, township 23 north, range 6 east, thence south five miles, thence west twelve miles, thence north five miles, thence east twelve miles to the place of beginning. Two years later this territory was modi¬ fied by taking twenty-five sections from the western part of the division, and using them in the formation of Liberty township, leaving the area of thirty-five square miles, the extent of the present township. Wildcat town¬ ship originally formed a part of the Miami reservation, and was not opened for actual settlement until the year 1847, which time the land came into market, ready for entry.

Early Settlement

Prior to 1847, however, a few pioneers had located in various por¬ tions of the township. They selected their claims, and were called squatters, in hopes that when the land was opened they might establish claim to the ground they had taken. Some of these adventurous men were successful, while others were not. '

Records prove that the first actual white settlers came in near the year 1845, and located near the north fork of Wildcat, in the northern part of the township. These were David Decker, Philemon Plummer, Robert Stephens, Ira Plummer and their respective families. Decker came from Madison county, adjoining, and erected a primitive pole cabin, around which a few rods of ground were cleared for a truck patch. However, the wet state of the country precluded a very bountiful living from the soil, so Decker was forced to depend upon his rifle for his main subsistence. Game was plentiful, and the meat used for the table and the skins used as a medium of exchange or for clothing. Decker lived on his original claim some five years, when he disposed of it and moved farther south, near the present site of Windfall. Here he became the possessor of a valuable tract of real estate, which he owned until 1871, when he sold all of his property and moved from the township. 1 le was a man of prominence in his community and was chosen a justice of the peace at the first election after the township organization.

Philemon Plummer came to this township from Rush county and first established himself near the eastern boundary of this county. Having lived here but a short time, he took a claim on Turkey creek, in the northern part of the township. He earned his living in practically the same manner as Decker, that is, mostly hunting. In later years he became a minister in the C hristian church, and assisted in the organization of many of the congre¬ gations of this denomination. Robert Stephens located on Turkey creek, near the northern boundary of the township, and was a typical backwoods pioneer, a true hunter, and a good man. After occupying his claim a short time, he sold out to David Gray, who entered the land in 1848. Ira Plummer, a brother of Philemon, settled in the northern part of the town¬ ship, near Irvin creek, on land afterwards owned and occupied by Philip

Armstrong. Plummer afterwards sold the claim to Joshua Bailey, and moved to a place near the site of Windfall, where he entered land and resid¬ ed there until his death in 1881.

In 1845 J°hn Nutter came, and made his first settlement in the west¬ ern part of the county, where he lived seven years before taking up a claim in Wildcat township. Nutter had no money when he first arrived here, but he set to work with a brave heart to build himself a home. He describes his household outfit as consisting of one case knife, which he found while out hunting, a gallon pot, with one leg broken off, and an old cracked skil¬ let for which he traded a pound of coffee, a three-legged stool which an¬ swered the twofold purpose of a table and chair, and a large rough trough in which his stock of provisions was kept. Nutter manufactured his own clothes from skins. By hard work Nutter finally cleared a space of ten' acres, and fitted* it for cultivation the second year after his arrival. Seven acres of this patch were planted in corn, the ground being dug over with a mattock and the crop tended with the same implement. From the sale of this corn he realized enough money to buy a two-year-old colt. The first land he owned in this township was a one-hundred-and-sixty-acre tract located in section 9. By industry and rigid economy, he accumulated quite an amount of property, and in his old age was considered a rich man.

Other early settlers who came a short time afterward were John Morris, James Hitt and a Mr. Forbes. Morris took out a claim on what was later known as the John Pumphrey land. He was simply a squatter, and did nothing in the way of improving except erecting a rude cabin and clearing a very few acres of land. His death, in the year 1846, was the first in the township. Hitt arrived in the spring of 1847. He settled two miles east of Windfall. He lived here for two years and then disposed of his land, only to enter another claim. Forbes located in the northern part of the township near Mud Creek, and proved a valuable acquisition to the community. His tastes, however, did not run in the direction of farm¬ ing, and thinking there were more easy ways of gaining a livelihood be¬ sides digging and grubbing, he procured a small stock of groceries and notions, which he kept at his house for the accommodation of the sparse settlement. In after years, he traveled about the country as a clock peddler, and when that occupation no longer returned a fair profit, he turned his attention to tinkering.

From 1845 until 1848 the development of the county progressed rather slowly, and in the latter year there were but forty acres of cultivat¬ ed land in the township. The settlements were confined principally to the northern and eastern parts, and it was not until the beginning of 1849 that any attempts were made to bring under cultivation the interior and southern portions of the township. In 1848 the settlers were: Avery Chase, who opened a claim in section 4, which he sold to James B. Fouch six years later; John Smith, who located on North Fork, where he lived five or six years, when he sold to Cyrus Holloway and emigrated to Missouri : Theophilus Calmut, who secured land a short distance west of Windfall: Elisha Pickering, who settled near the northeast corner of the township; Henry Yeakley, who secured land in the same locality; William Myers, who entered land in section 5, a short distance north of Windfall, and Thomas Legg, who made his first entry near Windfall. The last named was one of the promi¬ nent citizens of Wildcat, and a man of more than ordinary energy and in¬ telligence. He remained in the vicinity of Windfall a few years, when, be¬ coming dissatisfied with this part of the country, he moved further north and entered land, where a son had previously settled and died. Arthur, Benjamin and William, sons of Thomas Legg, came a few years later. They were men of rharacter and influence, and prominently connected with the progress of the township.

Other settlers who came in at this early date and entered the hard struggle of pioneer life were Silas Mitchell, John Pumphrey, Richard and David Beeson and T. J. Wheeler. The first was a native of Kentucky, and came to Wildcat from Decatur county, to which place he had emigrated in his early manhood. He served for several years as a township trustee. Pumphrey entered land near the northern boundary of the county. The Beeson brothers rented not far from Windfall, and Wheeler located on Irvin's creek. During this year of 1848 the other persons who made entry of land in Wildcat township were: Irwin Tennell, John Pierce, John Clif¬ ford. James L egg, Joseph Quinn, William Comer, Salathiel Vickery. A. Chase, L. B. Johnson, Preston Smith, John Wright, Richard Parker, F. J. Deer, James Fouch, D. B. Martin, Samuel McCrary, W. A. Bpldon, C. B. Nav, R. C. Forsythe, William Alley, John Cochran, Andrew Pum¬ phrey. Nathan Smith, Thomas Wheeler, Hiram Plummer, David Decker and Abel Gibson. In 1849 entries were made by A. Fletcher, J. W. Beeson, Lewis Mitchell, D. Y. Smith, Thomas Wheeler, Isaac Eaton, Thomas Coch-

Early History

The first hogs fattened within Wildcat township for the market were driven to the city of Lafayette and sold for a dollar and a quarter a hundred in "blue pup" money, worth at that time about thirty-five cents on the dol¬ lar. The year following this transaction, a man by name of Peck bought up all the hogs in the county for a nominal sum of "canal scrip", and drove them to Cincinnati, where he received one dollar and forty cents in good money. The first wheat was marketed &t Peru, thirty miles distant, and brought the exorbitant price of sixty cents per bushel, part in cash and part in trade. Twenty bushels was a large load, and to make the trip with that amount required four or five days, as roads had to be cut the greater part of the way through a dense woods, which, with the muddy conditions of the ground, made traveling a hazardous proceeding. Flour and meal were first obtained at the Perkinsville mill, twenty-five miles distant, and at Somer¬ set, in Miami county, to reach which place the pioneer was obliged to travel about thirty miles.

Many of the early pioneers manufactured their own meal by crushing the dry corn in a primitive kind of mortar, made by chiseling out a hollow space in the top of a sound stump. The pestle was formed very often from an iron block, or more often an iron wedge fastened to a sweep, and with this crude contrivance a very coarse meal could be made. A still simpler means was often resorted to before the corn 1>ecame hard enough to shell, namely, the common tin grater. The first mill in Wildcat township was constructed by James B. Fouch, at the village of Windfall, about the time the town was platted. It was erected as a sawmill, but buhrs were afterwards attached for the grinding of both corn and wheat, which met a long-felt want in the com¬ munity. The mill operated successfully several years, at the end of which time it was totally destroyed by flames, and a new one built in its place. The first frame house in the township was the residence of James B. Fouch at Windfall, and the first brick dwelling was constructed by John Nutter on his farm near the village.

The first road through Wildcat township was surveyed in the year 1849 and traversed the township in a southwesterly direction toward Tipton. The petition for the highway was drawn up by John Nutter, and the following viewers appointed, John Smith, John Nutter and A. Forbes. They reported favorably to the route, and a scientific surveyor, whose knowledge of proper engineering was not very great*, was chosen to run the line. Everything progressed well until the surveying party reached a thick wilderness, where the knight of the Theodolite became completely "stalled", and was unable to proceed. At this moment, Nutter took the situation in hand, and pre¬ ceded the party, armed with a cow-bell and rang whenever he wanted a stake set. By means of this ringing, which the engineer followed up with his instrument, the route was successfully laid out, the letter of the law fulfilled, and the term "cow-bell road" attached to the highway. Another road crossed the northern part of the township from east to west, about one half mile from the county line. It was established in the year 1851, and for a number of years was an extensively traveled highway. A road leading from the old "Bell mill" to the county line, between sections 4 and 10, was laid out in an early dav, and is one of the leading throughfares of the town¬ ship at the present time. The Windfall and Howard county pike was con¬ structed in the year 1881. It extends from the village to the county line and was made by taxation for free travel. In the year 1882 the highway leading from Sharpsville to Windfall was gravel, and also a free pike. These roads extend through rich agricultural regions, and have been the means of developing the country in a marked degree. The Richmond divi¬ sion of the Pan Handle railroad was surveyed through the township in 1852, and completed in 1855. It crosses the southwest corner, about five miles of the road being in the township, and has been the direct means of developing the country's resources by increasing the value of land, and bringing good market places almost to the doors of the farmers.

The first death in the township occurred in the year of 1846, and inter¬ ment was made in the old Baptist graveyard, in the northern part of the township, near the forks of Wildcat creek, which cemetery was laid out in 1850, on land belonging to Silas Mitchell. Among the early burials at this place were Mrs. Cash, Elizabeth Rosier and Mrs. John Nutter. The second place used for burying the dead is the old cemetery on Irvin creek in the northern part of the township. It was laid off for the purpose in a very early day, and the first interments therein were two small children of James Pulley. A small graveyard was also begun on Turkey creek in the year 1850. but only three burials occurred there. These were the son of John Morris, William Myers' child and a child of John Deer. The largest cemetery in the township is the Windfall graveyard, which was conse¬ crated to the burial of the dead a short time after the origin of the village.

Curtis Ville School House, Erected In 1912

The first birth within the limits of Wildcat township occurred in the family of David Decker, a short time after their arrival in the township. Other early births were in the families of Wesley Chase and Robert Stephens.

Wildcat township is now destitute of all the rich growth of heavy timber which once beautified the land. For commercial purposes this has all been removed, and what is there now is mostly second growth, which will in due time be removed as was the first. The land has been well drained by tiling and ditches; there are miles of excellent gravel roads; the farms are of the most modern type, well cultivated, and managed according to the progressive methods of scientific farming. Not only is the farm land of value and beauty, but the homes and buildings built thereon. These rival the urban residences in conveniences and appearance. It is not an uncommon thing for the modern farm home to be provided with private heating plant, water supply, lighting system, bath, etc. Most of the farmers now possess motor cars, and have thereby easy and quick access to the larger towns of the county. Telephones and rural mail delivery are other fac¬ tors which bring the farmer of Wildcat into closer communication with his fellows.

Windfall

The town of Windfall was laid out by James B. Fouch, the original plat embracing part of the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 16, township 22 north, range 5 east. Fouch located at this point for the purpose of engaging in the lumber business, and platted the village in order to secure a station on the railroad which had been surveyed through the county in the year 1852. He erected a large sawmill in 1853, and had the lots surveyed the same year, the lines being run by William H. Nelson, county surveyor at that time. The first house in the new village was erect¬ ed by Josiah Ross and used by him for a store. It was a frame building and stood for a long time in the southwest part of town, and was, during the latter years of its existence, used for a residence. Ross sold goods for about four years, at the end of which time he disposed of his stock and moved to the village of Mier. The second stock of goods was brought to the place by James Knight, who erected for the purpose a frame building in the southwest part of the town near the railroad. The storeroom was at that time a small affair, about sixteen by eighteen feet in size, and was occupied by Knight with a meagre assortment of merchandise for a period of ten years. William Dixon erected a warehouse and storeroom near the rail¬ road in the year 1858 and opened up a good business, both in buying grain and selling goods. He kept a large general stock and was identified with the business interests of the village for several years. In 1859 Messrs. Taylor and Smith built a large storehouse near the railroad, which store they stocked with merchandise to the amount of several thousand dollars. They did a flourishing business for several years, when they closed out to other parties and left the village Another early merchant was William Ham¬ mond, who erected a building at the "Five Points," where he sold goods for a period of four years, when he disposed of the stock and house to J. H. Zehner, who occupied it for some time.

Among the early business men and firms were Richard Freeman, Banta & Wines, William Cummack, Mr. Attenheimer, John Zehner and John Bailey. The manufacturing interests of Windfall were never very great. The first enterprise was the saw and grist mill erected by James B. Fouch, prior to the laying out of the village. It was in successful operation for several years and did a large business, being extensively patronized by the citizens of Wildcat and surrounding townships. It was burned about the year 1858, and another combination mill was erected in its place the year following. The second mill was also erected by Fouch and stood in the southwest part of the village. It was operated as a saw and grist mill for several years, when the machinery was removed and the building was then occupied bv a hoop and felloe factory. Michael Null began the manufac¬ ture of staves in 1865, and built his factory near the western limit of the village on the railroad. A large saw-mill and felloe factory was establish¬ ed in the year 1877 by Thornburgh and H irons, who ran it in partnership until about the year 1881, at which time the former sold his interest to B. F. Gifford. The Windfall Steam Flouring Mill was established in 1873 by a joint stock company consisting of ten members. It stood near the railroad in the southeast part of the village.

Incorporation

On March 24, 1871, the village, by a unanimous vote of the citizens, became an incorporated town, and elected the following board of councilmen: J. H. Zehner, T. J. Alexander, W. A. Dennis and L. B. Carver. The board

Town Notes

Windfall has been the scene of many crimes in the past, before law and order had been sufficiently well established. In the year 1865 one Noble Goff was murdered in his bed, by an assassin who used a large, old-fashioned hatchet. Goff had at one time been a respectable citizen, but in later years had fallen into heavy dissipation and had made many enemies. His wife was a woman of violent temper and had frequently threatened his life. She was accordingly arrested and convicted of his murder, serving a long term in the penitentiary. In 1864 or 1865 Dr Armstrong shot and killed Henry Thomas. Jealousy on the part of the doctor was the motive for the crime. He pleaded "not guilty" to the charge, and. was acquitted. In one of the village saloons later, a man named Perry was killed by A. Balser. A quarrel resulting from a game of cards was the cause. In 1867. near the village, James Stewart killed a man named Gifford. The latter had gone to Stewart's home for the purpose of attaching some cattle, and, not being very warm friends, the two men soon entered into a bitter quarrel, during the progress of which the shooting was done. Stewart was tried, but* was acquitted on the ground of self-defense.

On March 13, 1883, a fire originated in the large brick drug store be¬ longing to Dr. McAlaster, and spread to his residence nearby. The store buildings of Vice & Nutter and Legg & Patterson were soon enveloped in flames, and quickly all of the structures were a moldering ruin. The fire was supposed to have been the work of an incendiary.

Windfall In I914

The present town of Windfall is one of the most attractive communiites in Tipton county. The streets are paved and well kept, and the resi¬ dences and public buildings show evidence of care and civic pride. The only drawback to the town is the railroad facilities, that is, to other points in Tipton county. The only connection is by way of the Pittsburg, Cin¬ cinnati, Chicago & St. Louis line, which gives intercourse with Elwood, Kokomo and Logansport. The census of 1910 gave the town a popula¬ tion of eight hundred and ninety-nine people, against nine hundred fifty- seven in 1900, and five hundred sixty-one in 1890. This 'figure is now generally estimated, and correctly, to be a little over one thoi^and.

Jacob Dick, William Kleyla, E. P. Shell and E. D Moser are the present trustees of the incorporated town of Windfall; J. S. Murphy serves as marshal, and O. L. McKay as clerk and treasurer.

The Windfall Gas Company supplies the people with nrrtural gas, obtain¬ ed from six or eight wells in the neighborhood. A franchise was granted in the fall of 1913 to the Indiana Union Traction Company to supply the town with electric lights. Perhaps the chief industry of Windfall is the Royal Canning Company, a private concern devoted to the canning of tomatoes. The country in Wildcat township is rich in the production of tomatoes, and the factory has an adequate supply of the vegetable every year.

There are one and a half miles of brick paved streets in Windfall, and the sewerage system is very complete and efficient for the size of the town, having its outlet in a nearby creek. Water is obtained from wells.

The town has the good fortune to have a hospital, small but adequate in room and service, built by Drs. Moser in 1913. in connection with their offices and residence.