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COX & DONOHUE,
Binders,
53 La Salle-st., Chicago.
To the PIONEERS OF JAY COUNTY,
for their enterprise and fortitude in civilizing the wilderness, and to her VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS, for their gallant efforts to crush this
wicked Rebellion, this Book is respectfully dedicated.
M. W. MONTGOMERY.
THIS Book is not written for the present generation. He who reads it
without keeping this in view, will be disappointed. Not that it possesses any merit which
cannot be appreciated at the present time, but because it narrates those events which grow
in interest as they recede into the past. There are two periods in the history of Jay
County of great interest to her people, viz: that of its Early Settlement and that during
the War against the Rebellion. To preserve for future generations of her citizens a
correct narration of these epochs, is the object of
THE AUTHOR.
July 20th, 1864.
In 1820 the presence of a white family in the territory now embraced within the limits of Jay County had never been known. The aborigines had ranged its forests uninterrupted in their wild pursuits. In its wilderness they chased their game, they paddled their rough canoes upon its streams, and here and there they kindled camp-fires, built the wigwam, engaged in their savage revelries, or fought their battles. But with the first encroachments of civilization upon their hunting grounds, they took their departure. The flint arrow-head, the tomahawk and the stone battle-axe are the only mementos they have left us. Now, much of their forest is cut away, and civilized men, with all the institutions of society and progress, occupy their places. To delineate the causes and primary agents which have wrought out this noble transformation is the pretension of this little volume.
To gather fresh from the lips of the pioneers, while they still remained, the story of their early trials, was necessary to the completeness of the work. They are fast passing away. While this work has been going through the press, one venerable pioneer—Samuel Grissell—has departed, and he will never read the pages in which he took so lively an interest. Had the work been delayed a few years, the history of the early settlement of Jay County would have been wrapped in the uncertainties of tradition. One thing has embarrassed the author at every step: Most of the persons named herein are now living, and he who speaks of living men, bares himself to showers of arrows from the quivers of criticism.
When the work was commenced, four years ago, very little was known by the people of the
county, generally, concerning its early settlement. Less than half a dozen persons then
living in the county knew who was the first settler, and wrong impressions widely
prevailed upon that, as well as very many other subjects. Some have boasted of their
knowledge of the early history of the county, yet they could not tell who was its earliest
settler, or even who was the first in their own township. To brush away false traditions
and reveal facts, has been a leading object in preparing these pages. Much difficulty has
attended the investigation. It has required patient, persevering labor to ascertain the
truth about many disputed points. To accurately fix a single date has sometimes required
days of inquiry and cross-examination. To gather the histories of the companies, while
they were bravely facing the foe, has also been a difficult task, but they make a record
highly flattering to the patriotism of the soldiers. Jay County has never offered a
bounty. Her financial condition has been such as to render this course necessary, unless
she should overwhelm herself with debt. At the opening of the war she was without public
buildings, or money to erect them. The building of a jail and purchase of a poor farm were
a necessity. Other public buildings must soon be built. Thus, while many other counties
have given tens of thousands of dollars to induce their citizens to volunteer, the patriot
sons of Jay have gone forth uninfluenced by other motives than pure love of
country, which is patriotism in its noblest sense. Nor has there been less
volunteering on this account. The number to be drafted in the county under the call of the
President in July for 500,000 men, shows that the county is equal to her sisters, which,
no bounty being offered, reflects the highest honor upon her people. The number of men to
be drafted is 203, distributed among the townships as follows: Richland, none; Knox, 19;
Penn, 15; Jefferson, 28; Green, 27; Jackson, 19; Pike, 32; Wayne, none; Bear Creek, 5;
Madison, 17; Noble, 24; Wabash, 17.
How strangely have the fortunes of war scattered the One Thousand Soldiers from Jay! From Gettysburg to Charleston, from Rich Mountain to Pea Ridge and New Orleans—everywhere over the extended theatre of the war have her soldiers fought. In every contest their devotion to their country's cause has been self-sacrificing, and their bravery unfaltering. A crown of glory and the gratitude of their countrymen await them. The author regrets exceedingly that circumstances beyond his control compelled him to omit any history of the fractional companies, only so far as the lists of the members indicate. Company F, 40th Ohio regiment, has traversed Western Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, and is now participating in the grand operations of Gen. Sherman before Atlanta. Their record is a noble one, of which their children's children will be proud. A sketch of the hard-fought battles and brave deeds of company C, 19th Indiana regiment, would itself make a volume. It is their all-sufficient, crowning glory that they participated in the battles of Cedar Mountain, Gains' Farm, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorville and Gettysburg, and are now in the struggle before Petersburg. The repeated efforts of the author to obtain a history of company E, 7th Indiana Cavalry, have been constantly baffled by some strange caprice of the mails.
The author now presents the result of his labors to the people of Jay County. That the
work is imperfect, he fully realizes. When several thousand dates and as many names are
given in so small a compass, it would be very strange if errors did not occur. Out of the
abundant material that has been gathered, the chief difficulty has been to determine what
not to say. But he rejoices in the consciousness that, through it all,
he has been constantly governed by an honest purpose to do justice to the subject, so far
as his poor abilities would permit. He hopes the reader will find as much pleasure in the
perusal as he has found in the preparation.
The author's acknowledgments are due to many persons
ON the 15th day of February, 1821, Mr. Peter Studabaker and Miss
Mary Simison were joined in the bands of holy wedlock at the house of the Simison
family, where Fort Recovery,*
Mercer County, Ohio, now stands. The newly married pair resolved to go still farther on
the frontier, and hew out for themselves a home in the wilderness. So they gathered
their household goods, and with several friends entered the wilds, soon striking the
"Quaker Trace" leading from Richmond to Fort Wayne, which they followed until they
reached the Wabash river. This spot was their destination, and upon the low bank, near
the water's edge, they prepared to "camp." Cutting four forked poles, they drove one end
of each into
Sleep had scarcely calmed the wearied company when they were aroused by the yells of a
gang of approaching wolves. Elsewhere came an answering howl, then another and another,
till the forests seemed ringing with their hideous yells. The howling became so
terrific, the dog sprang out and threatened to give battle, but soon came bounding back,
panic stricken, and jumped upon the nuptial bed. As they lay there, so close to the
bank, they could see about a dozen wolves at the water's edge on the opposite shore.
Soon they heard the sharp, savage snap of wolf-teeth near their bed, and glaring eyes
shone in the darkness within six feet of their camp. The men sprang from the ground in
alarm, seized their rifles and fired. The howling pack fled in haste and did not return.
Again the men lay down, and soon "tired nature's sweet restorer" calmed their fears, and
they slept soundly till morning—perhaps dreaming of the pleasant homes and dear
friends of their childhood. Thus camped and AY COUNTY.
This was on the farm now owned by Samuel Hall, on the south bank of the Wabash, at New Corydon. Soon Mr. S. built a cabin, "all of the olden time," and into it they moved, with the naked earth for a floor. This cabin, the first home of that now widely known pioneer family—a rude hut twelve by sixteen, of small round logs, with clapboard roof held on by "weight poles,"—was the first civilized dwelling ever erected in our county. Unbroken forests were on every hand; no house within fifteen miles—no mill or store in thirty-five. Their only companions were Indians—their only foes were wolves.
These animals, always annoying by their constant howling, were often very troublesome. It was next to impossible to raise stock of any kind. Once a wolf came up to the house in open daylight, to attack a calf, when Mrs. S. appeared, and it ran off. At other times they were still bolder. One night a pack attacked the hogs. Mr. S. went out with his gun, his wife holding a torch while he shot at them five times, but without effect, and they came still nearer, snapping their teeth almost within reach. They seemed bent on an attack, and the entreaties of his wife at last prevailed on him to go into the house.
Mr. Studabaker obtained a livelihood in various ways—principally by hunting. His delight was to be in the wilderness, beyond the reach of society and its innovations. He loved the quiet grandeur of the forest, and the excitement of hunting deer, squirrels, otters, wild ducks, wolves and bears, possessed to him irresistible charms. The game he killed furnished meat for his table in abundance, and of the rarest kind. But they had other sources of income. Even at that early day many travelers passed along the "Quaker Trace," and they all stopped to enjoy the hospitality of these pioneers. In fact, at that time it was rather a matter of necessity, as the distance in either direction to any other house was a day's travel. The "Quaker Trace" was so called because it was opened and traveled by the Quakers of Wayne County, on their way to Fort Wayne to market.
Mr. S. sometimes traded provisions to the Indians for furs, and by selling the furs added something to his income. An incident of this kind is worth relating.
In the fall of 1821, Mr. S. and Thomas Robinson, who then lived on the "Prairie," in
what is now Adams County, went to Greenville and got some flour, and bringing it to the
Wabash, dug out a large canoe and started down the river, to sell their flour to the
Miami Indians, in a town at the mouth of the Mississinewa—one hundred
This family endured very many severe hardships during their stay at this point on the Wabash. So the first families who settled in each section of the county endured privations and trials which would have overwhelmed others less patient, energetic and brave. To the comfortably situated residents at the present time these trials seem almost incredible. Here is a leaf from the life of Mary Studabaker:
Late in the autumn of 1822, the Indians, as they were sometimes in the habit of doing,
stole two colts—one from Mr. Studabaker, and one from his brother-in-law, John
Simison. In the early part of winter Simison came to Studabaker's, and the two men set
out for Wapakoneta, Ohio, in search of the colts among the Indians of that
Mrs. Studabaker gives the following account of the survey of this part of Indiana by the government surveyors. In the winter of 1821 and 1822 James Worthington, of Columbus, Ohio, son of Governor Worthington, accompanied by nine assistants, came to Mr. Studabaker's, and made their home with him during the three months occupied in making the survey. Having two sets of instruments, they operated in two distinct companies, and surveyed the territory now making the counties of Jay, Adams and Wells. They gave Mr. Studabaker a plat of their survey, which was very useful to the early settlers for many years.
About forty rods below Hall & Arnett's Mills, at New Corydon, is a tree on which
many dates have been cut, and among others the figures "1822." They are now grown up, so
as to be
The first person born in Jay County was ABRAM STUDABAKER. He was born in the little cabin on the Wabash, September 29th, 1822,
a child of the wilderness—the first born of the family and of the county. His life
was but a blossom, having died March 11th, 1824, at Fort Recovery. Another son was
afterward given the same name.
Mr. Studabaker moved to the Wabash with the intention of making that his permanent
home; but the frequent overflows of the river at that time discouraged him, and finally
led him to move away. One evening in the spring of 1822 several travelers stopped to
stay all night. The Wabash was quite high, but not unusually so. Mrs. Studabaker made a
bed on the floor, in which the travelers retired to rest. In the night, one of them
thought he felt rather "moist," and on turning over found the puncheons were floating.
They got up; one went up in the "loft," and the other concluded to nap the rest of the
night away on the logs of wood by the fire place. But the family, being more fortunate,
were on a bedstead, and slept there until morning, when they found all the puncheons
except the two on which the bed-posts rested, floating about the room. Mr. Studabaker
waded out and brought his canoe into the
MARY STUDABAKER has been a pioneer all her life.
She was born March 16th, 1796, in Sherman Valley, Penn. At the age of two years her
father, John Simison, moved to Kentucky and settled within six miles of Lexington.
Residing there six years, they moved to Warren County, Ohio. After living there ten or
twelve years, they moved to Greenville, and from there, in the spring of 1817, to Fort
Recovery. There was not a single family then living in all the region of the Upper
Wabash. They were the first pioneers of Fort Recovery—that place so celebrated in
history as the scene of St. Clair's defeat, and Mary was afterward of Jay, and still
later of the south part of Adams County. There was a trading house then at Fort
Recovery, built by David Connor. It was about twelve feet square, and surrounded by
pickets—logs set in the ground reaching about eight feet high—as a
protection against the Indians. Into this house John Simison and family moved. Mr.
Simison farmed the ground upon which the town is now built, while his boys did the
hunting. He raised most of the living for
It was while living here that the Treaty was made with the Indians, October 6th, 1818. Dr. Perrine, of Greenville, attended that meeting. Starting in the morning, on foot, he expected to reach Simison's that evening; but night overtook him while he was in what is now Madison Township. Finding he must camp out, he was much alarmed lest the wolves should devour him. Coming upon a much-broken tree-top, he set about building a camp that would protect him. Out of the broken limbs he built a very small, oval-shaped pen, leaving a hole at the bottom. Into this he crept, and drew a stick, prepared for the purpose, into the hole after him, thus effectually blocking all entrance. Curling up there, he slept soundly. Some time after this Thomas Robinson settled beside Mr. Simison—then soon moved into Adams County.
But sorrow was in store for this family. Mrs. Simison died in September, 1820, and on
the last day of that ever-memorable year, she was followed by her husband. His burial
took place on New Year's day, 1821. Thomas Robinson and Peter Studabaker happened to be
there at the time of his death, and making a rough box which had to answer for a coffin,
they buried their
In a few weeks MARY was married, and entered upon her brief life of
trials in Jay County. After moving back to Fort Recovery, Peter Studabaker was engaged
chiefly in farming for about twelve years, when he moved to Adams County, where he died
June 15th, 1840. He was born in 1790, in Moreland County, Pennsylvania. MARY now lives with her son ABRAM, in Adams County, Indiana,
in a log house, with one of those great old-fashioned cabin fire places, which so
abundantly dispense warmth and cheerfulness to the inmates. It is about sixty feet from
the river, upon the banks of which she has lived since her childhood days, nearly half a
century. By the side of its quiet waters she was wooed and won, and has devotedly braved
many dangers, reared a large family, and followed her husband and several children to
the silent tomb. She is now seventy-four years of age, and though in feeble health, her
mind still retains its original vigor. Strong common sense, quick perception and good
judgment are her characteristics. Indeed, without these qualities, she could not have
passed through so rugged and eventful a life. Her son, Honorable David Studabaker, has
resided for many years in
ON Monday morning, near the close of November, 1823, a few persons
might have been seen crossing the Mississinewa river, making their way northward from
the residence of Mr. Mishack Lewallen, or what is now the pleasant village of
Ridgeville, Randolph County, Indiana. The company consisted of John Gain, who was a
Dutch Indian-trader, John Brooks, his wife Mary Brooks, and Nancy Brooks, who was then
an infant. Mary and her child were riding in a wagon, drawn by one yoke of oxen; John
Gain was driving, while John Brooks was cutting out the way. They were entering an
untamed and unknown wilderness, where before only the tragic scenes of the wild forest
had been enacted.
The noiseless march of the surly bear, the piteous bleating of the deer, as, wearied
and
The two men kept up a lively discourse upon the new country, the abundance of game, the quality of the soil, the prospect for profitable trade with the Indians, and such other topics as are always full of interest to the pioneer. Thus slowly wended their way forward the second white family that ever moved into Jay County, and the first one that made it their permanent home.
The day was a most beautiful one, and the weather very pleasant for the season. The
mild brilliance of the autumn sunlight tinted the forests with golden rays, the fallen
leaves spread the earth with a carpet of brown, and the air was
On their way they passed over the beautiful knoll on which New Mount Pleasant is now
situated, and toward evening stopped for the night, and camped on the banks of a small
creek, afterward called Brooks' Creek, in honor of the family which was the first to
camp, and subsequently the first to live upon its banks. They kindled a cheerful fire by
the side of a large log, and Mary Brooks cooked supper by it, getting water from the
stream. Soon after nightfall they prepared to rest, for all were weary with their day's
travel. The ground was dry, and they gathered in heaps the fallen leaves, spread
blankets upon them, and, with feet toward the fire, all lay down under the star-spangled
canopy which overspread them. But Mary Brooks did not sleep. Her heart was full of
sadness. To use her own language, "she was sad all that day, as they came through the
wilderness." They seemed to be entering an
Many times she besought her husband to take her back to the settlements; but his desire to go forward and try the life of a pioneer and secure a home for his family, led him to deny her urgent request.
Early the next morning they set out for the Indian village, on the banks of the
Salimonie, of twenty or thirty huts. The Indians were of the Miami tribe, and Francois
Godfrey their chief. A few years afterward he built a brick house there, and since then
it has generally been known as the
Having introduced the second family who braved the dangers and endured the privations of pioneer life in Jay, a brief sketch of their former lives may be interesting:
John Brooks, born August 6th, 1791, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was raised a
farmer, in Maysville, Ohio. Mary Campbell was born October 19th, 1799, in Bourbon
County, Kentucky.
In a few weeks her first child, Elizabeth, was born; but it died in thirteen months, and was the first person buried in the cemetery at Ridgeville. There were but three families in that settlement prior to her arrival. They were Joab Ward, Mishack Lewallen and Stephen Jones.
One day, one of the men shot an Indian whom he caught stealing cabbage from his garden.
This aroused the anger of the Indians, and the settlement was very much alarmed lest
they should all be murdered. They made a fort of Lewallen's house, and the four families
lived in it for two weeks, in constant fear of an attack. But their enemies did not
come, and they again ventured forth to their usual avocations. During the
John Gain soon began to think that he could do better at Fort Wayne, and in February,
1824, moved there. This greatly embarrassed Mr. Brooks. It deprived him of the expected
income, and left him there alone with the Indians, with no means of conveying his family
to the settlement. In the spring he planted the cleared ground in corn, and there was a
fine prospect for a crop until the blackbirds came by thousands and destroyed the most
of it. Mrs. Brooks says it seemed as if there was a bird for every ear. Fortunately John
Brooks was a favorite with the Indians, and they taught him their arts in hunting and
trapping, and these were now his only dependence. During his stay there he killed
thirteen wolves, besides large numbers of deer, raccoon, and other animals. He sold the
furs in Fort Wayne at high prices. In this way he supported his family the first year.
The second spring he again planted corn, and raised an abundant crop. After a while he
got a yoke of oxen, and then commenced
One time when Mr. Brooks was preparing to go to Ridgeville, he got an old Indian woman,
who was the mother of Francois Godfrey, the Chief, to stay with Mary during his absence.
She was a kind old "squaw," and Mrs. Brooks avers was quite good company. They passed
the time pleasantly together, until one day an Indian came there and gave her some
whisky, and she drank freely. That night she was taken very sick. Mrs. Brooks did
everything possible for her relief; but she grew worse. About two o'clock in the morning
she brought her blanket, sat down on the floor, and leaned her head against Mrs. Brooks,
and there, supported by her pale-faced friend, in a few minutes she breathed her last.
Mrs. Brooks laid the corpse upon the floor, covered it up and waited alone with the dead
until morning, when the Indian who had been there the evening before, came, and she sent
him to the Chief with the news. A large number of Indians then came down to Brooks', and
showed many signs of sincere mourning. By their request, Mrs. Brooks baked a large cake
in the ashes, and they buried it with the corpse. The friendship of the Indians, and
especially of the Chief, for the Brooks family was now greatly increased. Mr. Brooks'
business kept him much of the time away from
In June, 1824, Mr. Brooks started to Stillwater for provisions, expecting to be gone
several days. His wife and child were to be left alone, as was usual in such cases. She
saw no one for several days, except a traveler on his way to Fort Wayne, who called for
a meal. A heavy rain caused an unprecedented rise in the streams, rendering it
impossible for Mr. Brooks to reach his family or get nearer to them than Ridgeville.
Mrs. Brooks now began to fear for her husband. She knew that he would make every effort
in his power to reach his family, and greatly feared that he would risk too much and get
drowned. But apprehensions of her own safety soon added to her perplexities. Her
provisions were nearly gone, and the Salimonie remained so high that she could not cross
to the Indian village to get relief. Her forebodings and anxieties increased until, on
the thirteenth day of her husband's absence, she gave the last mouthful of food about
the house to her
Still the Salimonie overflowed its banks, and relief came not. Her child lived on milk,
but cried almost continually, while her own sadness and hunger were overwhelming. The
belief that Mr. Brooks was drowned, added to her own hunger, made her desperate. In this
suffering and despairing condition did the poor woman and her child live for three days.
By this time she gave up all hope of ever seeing her husband again, and supposed she
must starve; but preferring a watery grave to the slow torments of starvation, she
resolved to go to the Salimonie and drown herself and little one. Taking the child, she
went to the river, but her weakness compelled her to rest several times on the way.
Probably the sight of the swollen, angry current startled her, for she sat down on a log
when she reached the water's edge. To use her own language: "It was the thought that my
husband was dead that so discouraged me, and I concluded to go half way across the foot
log and throw myself into the stream." While there weeping she saw a person coming
toward her on the opposite side of the river. Seeing he had a hat on, she knew it was a
white man. After wading a long distance he reached the foot log and came across to her.
She was so weak that her joy quite overcame her, and for a time she could not
The only visitor Mary Brooks had while living on the prairie was Mrs. Hannah Lewallen,
from Ridgeville, who came twenty-four miles on those occasions, which, as Fanny Fern
says, "involve the increase of the census." At one time Miss
The second person born in the county, and the first who is yet living, was Allen Brooks, March 4th, 1824. He still lives in Jay, and is a respectable citizen. The next one was William Brooks, October 20th, 1825.
While Mr. Brooks was trading with the Indians he went to the Big Miami, in Ohio, for some things, and brought back a barrel of apples, which he took to Fort Wayne and sold at a very high price. Saving seven choice ones, he brought them home to his wife. Like a prudent woman, she saved the seeds and planted them. They came up nicely, and Mary was so proud of her little nursery that she visited it nearly every day. But of this and what came of it more hereafter.
John Brooks was delighted with the country on
Early in the spring Mr. Brooks hired a man named Richard Swain for one month. He was a
traveler. The two men went to Cherry Grove, built two "half-faced" camps, and cleared a
small spot of ground, where Mary Brooks' orchard now stands. "Half-faced" camps, as they
were called, must be mentioned frequently in this work, and should be described.
Generally, they were made thus: poles were cut, and built up at one end in the form of a
log house, while the other end was left open, and the end of the poles placed between
posts which were withed together. The whole was covered with clapboards. The open end
was the highest, and answered the purpose of door, window and fireplace. This fashion
was often changed in some particulars. Sometimes the back end was built against a large
log, and poles only on the sides. Frequently the roof was only brush or bark. Hunters'
camps were still less substantial. Four forked poles were driven into the ground,
connected at the top by other poles
The Brooks camp was covered with bark, and the sun soon curled it up until it was very little protection against rain. But Mr. Brooks soon built a cabin and moved his family into more comfortable quarters. He cleared three acres of ground, and planted it in corn that spring. He also resumed his usual employment of trading with the Indians, hunting and trapping. At one time he took one hundred and eighteen raccoon skins to Fort Wayne and sold them. He always preferred teaming to hunting, and after the country became somewhat settled, that was his chief occupation.
These years passed slowly and drearily for Mary Brooks. Her husband was absent most of
the time; she had no neighbor with whom to exchange visits, and the calls of Indians or
travelers were few. It seemed to her as if she was caged in a wilderness, out of which
she could not even see, much less escape. Much of the time she was sad and lonely. Her
heart yearned for society and friends. And no wonder, for she lived there
seven years without seeing any other house than her
own! Think of that, village mothers, whose neighbors, within a few steps from
your door, are counted by scores! Think of that, farmers' wives, the music of whose
ringing farm-bell is answered by the sweet chimes of half-a-dozen neighboring ones!
Seven years in the wilderness, without neighbors! Though the Israelites were kept in the
wilderness, they had their whole tribe of relatives for company.
But she had other trials. While living in this lonely condition, a man named George
Porter and family, now a resident of Blackford County, moved through there and settled
on the prairie by the Godfrey Farm. This made no nearer neighbors, for it was twelve
miles there; but Porter and Brooks would sometimes go after provisions together. One
time they went to Newport, Wayne County, on this errand. As was frequently the case,
they were unexpectedly detained several days, and Mrs. Brooks, with five children, found
she was entirely out of flour or meal. She had plenty of cheese, milk and sugar, and
upon these they lived for three days. They suffered much, especially the children, until
Mr. Porter came along with some meal, which Mr. Brooks, who was a long distance behind,
had sent forward. Mrs. Brooks tells of a similar occurrence at Ridgeville, while Mr.
Lewallen was building the first mill at that place. He had a
Mrs. Brooks had carefully taken up her apple tree nursery on the prairie, and set it
out at Cherry Grove. There were thirty-three in all, and when they reached the proper
size, she had them set out as an orchard. This pioneer orchard grew rapidly, and by the
time the country was being generally settled, bore an abundance of fine fruit. To this
day thirty-one of those trees are living, still luxuriant and prolific. They are now
extraordinarily large trees. The body of one, two feet above the ground, measures five
feet and two inches in circumference, while the top spreads out to forty feet in
diameter. The body of another is five feet in circumference, and the top forty-four feet
in diameter. The writer measured them in December, 1861. At that time the joists in
front of Mrs. Brooks' fireplace were hanging full of nice drying apples, while a basket
of the beautiful fruit was sitting near to regale the visitor. That year, while most
orchards failed, she had a bountiful supply. It is the oldest orchard in Jay
About the year 1833 a man named William Van Sickle and his family came through there from Muncie, on their way to Fort Wayne. As he was out of money, he concluded to stop a short time at Cherry Grove. Accordingly he built a cabin and staid there three years. This was the first white neighbor Mrs. Brooks had had for ten years; but they were mere sojourners, and moved away again.
At last, after long years of waiting and hoping, settlers began to move in with their families, their industry and their civilization. The wilderness now began to look like a neighborhood, and Mary Brooks was greatly rejoiced. The first one who moved near them was Mr. Adam Zeigler, who settled within one mile and a half. Mrs. Brooks was so delighted to have a neighbor, she thought it was but a "few steps" to Mr. Zeigler's.
John Brooks died on the 4th of February 1844, of dropsy. Rev. George C. Whiteman preached the funeral sermon, and Mr. Timothy Stratton was Administrator of the estate. Thus departed the first man who became a permanent resident of Jay County.
Mrs. Brooks still lives in widowhood, in a log
SEVERAL years after Peter Studabaker left his cabin on the Wabash at
New Corydon, Orman Perring and family came there, making the third family of settlers in
the county. The exact date of his arrival is not known. Mrs. Studabaker gives it as
about 1826. The "first cabin," however, was already gone. It had been pulled down, a few
logs at a time, and made into rafts on which travelers crossed the river. Mr. Perring
lived there until about 1837, when he moved down the Wabash. He lived chiefly by hunting
and keeping travelers who passed that way.
On the 8th day of March, 1829, two families moved into Jay County and settled on a
beautiful bank at the forks of the Little Salimonie. The OHN J. HAWKINS and GEORGE
TUCKER, had been out the fall before looking for land, and
concluding to settle on the Salimonie, had built three half-faced camps, and now brought
their families to them.
It was the first warm, beautiful spring day, and all nature seemed waking from its winter slumber. It was an appropriate time for the settlement of a pioneer family. The foundations of rugged Winter were breaking up, and mild, charming Spring was delightfully resuming her sway. So these families had broken away from the busy, selfish, conventional society of an old-settled country, to enjoy the freedom and warm-heartedness of the wilderness. They came from Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, and though the distance was but fifty miles, it took them eight days. Their camps were built against the side of an immense log, covered with bark, the cracks stuffed with moss, and the front end open for a fireplace. The "Recollections, by J. C. Hawkins," speaking of this, says: "That fire-place was 'as big as all out doors,' and it was easy to suit our fires to the changes of weather. If it was warm, we could use a bundle of sticks that a boy could carry; if it was cold, we could put on several cords at a time, and have plenty of room for more." Their "back-logs" and "fore-sticks" were drawn to the fireplace by the team.
Mr. Hawkins and his family were delighted with the country; but Mrs. Tucker was so much dissatisfied with it that she soon prevailed on her husband to move back to the old settlement, leaving their neighbors alone in the wilderness.
As the Hawkins family were so intimately connected with the early history of the
country, a sketch of them will be in place here: The ancestors of John J. Hawkins
emigrated from England early in the 18th century, and settled on the Shenandoah River,
in the Colony of Virginia. They were slaveholders, and spent their time in horse-racing
and fox-hunting with hounds. They were descendants of Sir John Hawkins, of whom Blake's
"History of Slavery and the Slave Trade" says: "Sir John Hawkins
was the first Englishman who transported slaves from Africa to America. This was in
1562. His adventures are recorded by Hokluyt, a cotemporary historian. He sailed
from England in October, 1562, for Sierra Leone, and in a short time obtained
possession of 300 negroes, partly by the sword and partly by other means. He
proceeded directly to Hispaniola, and exchanged his cargo for hides, ginger, sugar,
&c., and arrived in England after an absence of eleven months. The voyage was
very prosperous, and brought great profit to the adventurers."
From the family of one of the four brothers sprang Samuel Hawkins, who at the age of
sixteen
Nathan Sellers served in the Revolutionary War, and distinguished himself in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. While in Kentucky he became a magistrate, and finally Sheriff, which office he resigned because of the inhumanity of the laws he had to execute. A common mode of punishing negroes there was to nail their ears to posts, and then whip them! Although offered one thousand dollars per year for the deputyship, he refused to have anything to do with the execution of such laws. He was strongly opposed to slavery, and seeing no prospect of its abolition in Kentucky, he moved to Ohio in 1809, and in 1826 died as he lived, a consistent Christian. Several of the ancestors of Nancy Hawkins served with Daniel Boone in the war with the Indians, and were victims to the tomahawk and scalping-knife.
There were six children in the Hawkins family when they reached Jay County, as follows:
Samuel, the oldest, then aged eighteen, Nathan B., Benjamin W., Avaline (afterward the
wife of James Simmons, of Randolph County), Joseph C., and Caroline (now the wife of B.
W. Clark).
During the summer and next winter Mr. Hawkins spent much of his time in hunting.
Killing game was one of the principal means of support for all the earliest settlers. It
provided meat for their families, and the sale of skins and furs supplied them with
money. In October Mr. Hawkins built a comfortable cabin, and moved into it, having lived
in the camp for eight months. On the last day of the year he went hunting, and killed
three deer near together. "After dressing them, he hung the two largest without
difficulty; the third being a small one, he did not take the necessary pains to fix a
suitable place, and while endeavoring to slide it up the side of a tree with a fork
which proved to be too limber, it fell and wrenched him severely in the chest. He was
not alarmed at first, but hoping further success, he returned slowly homeward, and as he
had become warm by his exertions, he took a violent cold, and his feelings were such as
to convince him that his
The grave was just in front of the cabin, overlooking the Salimonie from a high bank,
but not now alone. Other graves have since been dug there to receive the mortal remains
of loved ones of the family. One son of the pioneer, Judge Nathan B. Hawkins, a
daughter, Avaline Simmons, and several grandchildren are sleeping by his side. George
Bickel, one of the earliest
The next stone to
the right shows the grave of George Bickel.HERE LIES
JOHN J.
HAWKINS,
who died March 15, 1832,
aged 42 years.
The estate was settled up, and Nancy Hawkins had just one hundred dollars' worth of
property left her; but this pittance, coupled with her own
SAMUEL and B. W. Hawkins carried the mail by turns, from Winchester
to Fort Wayne, by way of Deerfield, Hawkin's Cabin, New Corydon and Thompson's Prairie.
One evening in the month of February, 1834, Samuel reached his mother's cabin, on his
return from Fort Wayne, while a heavy snow was falling. It was already about ten inches
deep, and continued to fall so fast that objects could be seen only a few rods from the
door. It was a dreary night out doors, but the family were enjoying themselves around a
comfortable cabin fire. A loud rap was heard at the door, and, upon its being opened,
eight negroes, six men and two women, presented themselves and begged for a night's
lodging. Their request was granted. The men were all common looking negroes, except one.
He was tall, broad-chested, met" the slaves. He replied that he had not. This was technically true, but was
designed to deceive the man-hunters. There were then two routes from Fort Wayne to
Winchester; one by the way of the Hawkins' Cabin and New Corydon, the other by Brooks'
and the Godfrey Farm. Supposing, from Samuel's reply, that the fugitives had not gone
this road, the slave-holders took the other route, feeling certain that they were on the
right track. The reward for the apprehension of the slaves was $1,000, and Samuel
Hawkins, by simply giving the information in his possession, might have taken the money.
It was a great temptation for one so young and needy, but he man in his bosom, and acted
accordingly. When the pursuers took the wrong track, he hastened to return, and overtook
the fugitives at the Wabash where New Corydon now stands. The snow was so deep, and
progress on foot so difficult, that they had only been able to reach that distance.
Thinking to have some sport, he rode up hastily and cried out, "Run for your lives, your
masters are after you!" The feeble woman, who was several rods behind the others,
uttered a wild shriek and sank down in a swoon. The men were all armed with flint-lock
guns, and the first word spoken was by their leader, "Look to your priming, boys!" then
turning to the mail boy, with a look of terrible determination, he said: "Young man, our
blood may be poured out like water, but none of us will ever be
taken!" Such firmness and daring Samuel Hawkins never before saw depicted in a
human countenance, and he believed it was well for their pursuers that they were never
overtaken. He hastily corrected his deception and told them the facts. Dismounting from
his horse, the fallen woman was placed upon
Another similar anecdote is told by B. W. Hawkins.
In the fall of 1833, while he was carrying the mail, four negroes called at his
mother's to stay all night. They were large, fine appearing, well dressed young men,
carrying gold watches, and had plenty of money. They stated that they were from
Richmond, and were going to Fort Wayne to work on the canal. They told their story so
plausibly that it was believed. The next morning, Benjamin set out on horseback for Fort
Wayne, with the mail, and the negroes started also, traveling leisurely on foot. Upon
reaching Fort Wayne, the landlord informed the mail boy that a gentleman was there,
waiting to see him. He was taken to the room and introduced to Dr. Campbell, of
Kentucky, owner of the celebrated Warm Springs. Hearing that the boy's name was Hawkins,
the Dr. entered into a very friendly chat, and asked many questions about the family,
and soon learned that John J. Hawkins was a cousin of his. Thus endeavoring to gain the
confidence of the boy, he said that he was in search
Seven years afterward, when B. W. Hawkins had a family, was living in Portland, and was
Sheriff of Jay County, an uncle of his, named "Last summer I spent the watering season at Dr. Campbell's
Springs, in Kentucky, and he told me of a great loss he had sustained. You know he
is our cousin and a very nice man. He had four well-trained musicians whom he kept
in the highest style of luxury and ease. They played for company during the watering
season, and had all the rest of the year to travel over the state and make large
sums of money for themselves. They were better clothed than their master, and
enjoyed all the pleasures the country afforded. But while they were giving concerts
in Louisville, they crossed the Ohio river and escaped into Canada. He expended much
money in hunting for them, and finally got a letter from them saying they had landed
safely, had joined the king's army, and
Joseph replied that the case was an unanswerable argument for his side of the question; that it showed how strong was the love of freedom in the human soul, if these slaves would prefer to leave all their luxurious living and endure the hardships of a soldier's life, for its sake.
During the relation of the story, B. W. Hawkins was sitting by, smothering a hearty laugh, for it was the first he had heard of the slaves since he had left them in the woods, while neither Bird nor Joseph knew of the part he had borne in the transaction.
LATE in January, 1832, William Simmons, from Henry County, Indiana,
came to visit his brother-in-law, Thomas Shaylor, who lived on the Salimonie, three
miles above Portland. The weather had been very stormy for several days, and the snow
lay upon the ground ten or twelve inches deep. The bushes and limbs of the trees were
bowed by the weight of snow that hung upon them. But a fierce west wind came up,
scattered the snow, and the weather became extremely cold. Mr. Simmons called at the
cabin of John J. Hawkins, who was then an invalid, and inquired the way to Mr.
Shaylor's, saying that he would return that way the next day. But the next day
Thus explicitly directed and equipped, the two young men hastily entered the snowy
woods. Shaylor and his companions followed a short distance, but soon turned back. After
traveling three or four miles the young men came to his track; following this a short
distance, they found he had been crossing his own path, and must be completely
bewildered. About 11 o'clock they found him. He was in a terrible condition. He was
slowly dragging himself along, both his feet being badly frozen and burned. He would put
his stick forward and then draw himself up to it. In this way the poor man was
endeavoring to save his life. He was so exhausted by hunger, exposure and suffering
that, had not help reached him, he would soon have lain down and perished. The sight of
the young men greatly rejoiced him, for he hoped to be restored to his family. He was
found on the knoll where Liber College now
After hunting until it was time to return, he had gone down Butternut to the Salimonie,
intending to take up stream to the mouth of the Little Salimonie, and then up that to
Shaylor's. The mouth of the Little Salimonie is very narrow—like a small
run—and coming to this, he thought it could not be the place, and passed on up the
Big Salimonie, one or two miles above Portland. Finding that he had missed the way, he
returned, and when he reached the little prairie opposite where Thomas Jones now lives,
he was too much exhausted to proceed further. He then tried to strike fire, but his
flint entirely failed. He soon found his feet were freezing. He cleared away the snow,
and by dancing around managed to keep awake all night. Early the next morning he again
tried his flint, and the first stroke made fire. In thawing his shoes he burned his
frozen feet terribly, and could not again put on his shoes. He then made a pair of
mocassins from the skin of a wolf he had killed the day before. He left his gun, and,
with the help of a staff, dragged himself along; found the mouth of the Little
Salimonie, and was going up the stream when found
N "Best of all, there was in our parlor that household altar, the
blazing wood-fire, whose wholesome, hearty crackle is the truest household
inspiration. I quite agree with one celebrated American author, who holds that an
open fire-place is an altar of patriotism. Would our Revolutionary fathers have gone
bare-footed and bleeding over snows to defend air-tight stoves and cooking-ranges? I
trow not. It was the memory of the great, open kitchen fire, with its back-log and
fore-stick of cord-wood—its roaring, hilarious voice of invitation—its
dancing tongue of flame, that called to them through the snows of that dreadful
winter to keep up their courage, that made their hearts warm and bright with a
thousand reflected memories."ANCY HAWKINS is still living, and is now
seventy-five years of age. She is in good health, active and lively. Unusual energy,
unfaltering devotion to right principles, and full-hearted hospitality are, as they
always have been, her distinguishing characteristics. She is a passionate lover of home,
and has impressed this trait of character upon all her children. She still lives upon
the "Old Home Farm," where she and her husband first settled, and until within the last
year in the log cabin built by him in 1829. She is never so contented as when enjoying
the genial warmth of that great fire-place. Of this institution, so cherished in Jay
County—the crowning charm of all log cabins—we heartily adopt the language
of Mrs. Stowe, in her "House and Home Papers:"
That cabin is the oldest one now standing, and the fourth one built in Jay County, and
will never be torn down while the farm remains in the
CHORUS.
CHORUS.
When he was elected County Clerk, in 1859, he persuaded his mother to live with him one winter; but when the willows put forth their earliest leaves, the bright green grass was peeping from door-yards and fence-corners, and the first gleeful chirping of the spring-birds was heard, she went back to the farm, and the fairest temptations of town life cannot induce her to leave it again. The farm is a rich and beautiful one, lying just at the forks of the Little Salimonie, half a mile from the village of Antioch.
One time the dogs caught a deer near the house, when Mrs. Hawkins and Mrs. Shaylor were
the only occupants. They took the axe and went to assist the dogs, which held the animal
down, but with his fore-feet and horns he would fight very briskly. Whenever there was
an opportunity the ladies would give the deer a blow with the poll of the axe. But this
style of warfare served only
The Indians were the only neighbors of the Hawkins family for several years. The tribes who were in the habit of visiting this region were the Miamies, Wyandottes, Pottawatamies, Senacas and Shawnees. The two latter were very friendly. They came in the fall to hunt, and in the spring to trap. While passing through one time an Indian boy stole an axe. About three months afterwards they returned, and the boy's father brought the axe back, saying, "My boy stole him. No good boy!"
If they found Mr. Hawkins' ducks far from the house, they would drive them home, and sometimes they would find his cow mired in some swamp several miles distant, when they would come and inform him, pilot some one to the spot, and assist in releasing the animal. By such little acts of kindness they showed their friendly feeling toward the white family.
Once an Indian called on Peter Studabaker, at Fort Recovery, and told him that a very
rich man had moved into the county, meaning John J. Hawkins. Studakaker inquired whether
he had many horses and cattle. "No," said the Indian, "he got heap of children and
thirteen dog!" It
All early settlers are familiar with the name of the old Indian, Doctor Duck, who remained in the country a long time after his tribe had emigrated to Kansas. He showed much skill in the treatment of diseases, but could not cure Mr. Hawkins, with whom he lived for six months. He was very religious, and often appeared to be praying to the Great Spirit. One time he attended preaching near Deerfield, after which there was a church trial of an offending member. The old Indian listened attentively until there was some conflicting testimony, when he went to the door, turned round and said to the meeting, "Me go; no much good here—too much lie."
About two weeks after Mr. Hawkins died this Indian went alone to the grave, and there spent nearly half a day, apparently preaching and performing wild ceremonies. During the year 1835 B. W. Hawkins was employed by a Greenville firm to buy furs, at forty dollars per month and expenses paid. He visited ten counties, and purchased of the Indians, in one lot, fifteen hundred dollars' worth. His employers had offered to their agents that the one buying the best lot of furs should be presented with a new suit of clothes. Mr. Hawkins got the suit, from boots to hat.
SKETCHES have now been given of the first four families who became
residents of Jay County. On this account they are given in detail, and, also, because
Pioneer Life can be most truthfully sketched by a correct history of several individual
families. In the lives of these families, all pioneers can see likenesses of their own.
Yet the experience of no two are exactly similar. What golden threads of history might
be unraveled at every family hearth-stone! What family's history would not be full of
thrilling interest, were the silver chords of love, and hidden currents of smiles and
tears, joys and sorrows, revealed? But these are too sacred for the public eye. The
limits of this volume admit only of specimens of Pioneer Life. Henceforward families
will be mentioned only in more general terms, and the
At the opening of the year 1830, from the low chimneys of but three humble cabins the blue smoke curled gracefully above the tall, vast forests surrounding them, to mark the beginning of civilized life in Jay County. As a few bright stars appear first at evening, and, as the night draws on, multitudes glitter in the sky, so these families—"stars of empire"—were the front lights of that thronging civilization that is following. They were Orman Perring, John Brooks and the Hawkins family. At that time, although Brooks had been a settler there for eight years, the others knew nothing of him, nor did he of them. Thus dimly did the light of civilization shine in that region at the opening of this decade.
In the spring of 1830, James Stone and William Cummings visited Ft. Recovery. They knew
Peter Studabaker, for, three years prior, while on a visit to the St. Joseph country,
they had enjoyed his hospitality. They selected land in Noble Township and went to work,
planted corn, killed large numbers of deer and found many bee-trees. Greatly pleased
with the country, when autumn began to tinge the forest with yellow, Mr. Stone brought
his family from Gallia County, Ohio. This time he was accompanied by Henderson Graves,
who had married his daughter the evening before starting. William B. Lipps was living
The two families lived in a camp about six weeks, then built a cabin. In October, John J. Hawkins came there, hunting some cattle, and they learned, for the first time, that they had a neighbor within six miles.
The country abounded in such luxuries as turkeys, venison and honey. The greatest
difficulty was the want of a mill, there being none nearer than Greenville. But Peter
Studabaker dressed a couple of "gray heads," and constructed a horse mill which served
the neighborhood for some years as a corn-grinder. This mill was turned by a "tug"
instead of cogs, which was made of raw cowhide. In dry or frozen weather the tug would
contract and become too short, and in wet weather stretch and get too long. Corn was
raised in abundance, with but little work. In 1831 James Stone sowed 1½ bushels of wheat
on 1½ acres of ground. When harvest time was at hand, the blackbirds came by thousands,
and destroyed much of it; yet he got 37½ bushels. He was the first settler in what
afterward became Noble Township, and entered the first piece of land ever entered in Jay
County, November 9th, 1832. He had this honor, however, by but one day, as Thomas Scott
entered forty acres the next
Thomas Scott came soon after Stone, remained a few years and moved to Texas, where he died.
Henderson Graves says that about this time, he and Conaway Stone cut a bee-tree, and, to their great surprise, found two swarms in it, from which they got ten gallons of strained honey. At another time when they were hunting, and at some distance apart, both shot at the same deer, at the same instant, neither one hearing the report of the other's rifle, and each fatally wounded the animal. These settlers saw that sublime phenomenon of the shooting stars, which occurred in 1833.
In October, 1830, a boy fifteen years old, and small of his age, started from his
father's house in Darke County, Ohio, on horseback, to select a piece of land for their
future home. He stopped for the night three miles north of Fort Recovery, with David
Beardslee, who desired that they should settle near him. But the boy's father instructed
him not to select land near another family, for near neighbors were apt to quarrel.
Taking a bridle path which Orman Perring had made from Fort Recovery to the Wabash, he
followed it till he came to the land which was afterward the farm of the late Elder
Ebenezer Drake. Dismounting, he hitched his horse, blazed a path to the Limberlost, and
returned just before night.
One winter Hamilton went with a team and sled into Ohio after provisions, to procure which was a source of great labor and inconvenience to all the pioneers. When he was crossing Still Water the ice broke and let him into the stream. Unhitching the horses, he tied them to a tree, and went to a neighbor's and staid all night. In the morning the stream had risen so that he could not get in sight of his horses, and they had to stand there nearly two days and nights before the water subsided!
In those early times Mr. Gibson was quite a hunter—has hunted four days without
seeing a house. At night, in the winter, he would build two log heaps, set them on fire
and sleep between them on bark. At one time, hunting a horse that had a bell on, he did
not find it until it was too dark to go home. He mounted the animal and let her go, but,
after traveling two hours, she came back to the place from which they started.
Dismounting, he lay down at the roots of a tree, without a fire, sung awhile, and went
to sleep, not waking until the morning sunlight was
Thus resulted the census of Jay County for 1830. Could we peer into the dark unknown
beyond us, and compare with these the census
During these years new settlers came very slowly. So, at least, thought the small
"advance guard" of pioneers who were waiting and hoping for neighbors to come in, and
the germs of society to spring up around them. It was in the autumn of 1831 that the
tinkling of the cow-bell and the sound of the white man's axe first broke the wild
stillness of what, four years later, became Madison Township. John Eblin and William
Denney, with their families, settled there at that time, and were the first settlers in
the township. By coming together, they avoided much of that dreariness and many of the
severer trials which met those families who lived their first years in the county alone
amid the wild woods, wild men and ferocious beasts. However, they passed through those
privations which necessarily follow
Not long after these men moved in, Conaway Stone built a cabin near where Mr. Abraham Lotz now lives; but soon moved across into Noble Township. About this time, also, Henry Crowell and John Fox settled there, making quite a neighborhood.
It was during this year (1831) that Thomas Shaylor moved into the county, occupying the vacated "shanties" of Mr. Hawkins until he could build a cabin. This he did upon a branch of the Salimonie, on what was afterward the Hardy Farm, now the property of Lieutenant C. H. Clark. In 1833 Mr. Shaylor moved down the Salimonie, and became the first settler in Green Township.
In November, 1831, Mrs. Sarah Riddley—a woman who, during her lifetime, was the
wife of seven different husbands—settled with her family
Mr. Philip Brown was the first to arrive in the new country in 1832. He came March 8th,
and built a cabin just across the road from the north side of Liber, on the southwest
corner of the farm now owned by Dr. D. Milligan. It was the first house built in Wayne
Township. Though the cabin has long since been gone, until lately a solitary peach tree
had marked the spot; but now nothing remains to remind the passer-by of the place where
it stood. The next year, when Brown had quite a comfortable improvement made, James Wier
was passing through the country looking for land. Being much pleased with Brown's place,
and learning that it was not entered, he told him that he (Wier) had entered the land.
As it was then termed, Brown had "squatted upon Congress-land," and had not yet been
able to purchase it. But now, by this unfair means, he must be driven from a spot he
began to call home, to commence again in the woods. He was greatly enraged, and made
some threats against Wier, who went to Randolph County and swore his life against Brown.
A constable named Robert Parsons came into the settlement and
On the 15th of November, 1832, Mr. Abraham Lotz and family joined the settlement made
the year previous in Madison Township. There he has remained for thirty-two years,
aiding in various ways the development of the county. On that farm he has raised a large
family, most of whom have identified themselves with the interests of the county, and
some hold honorable positions as officers. J. C. Lotz, Esq., was appointed Clerk in the
Interior Department at Washington in 1861, which office he is now filling with credit.
Abraham Lotz was a member of the first Board of County Commissioners, and for many years
Justice of the Peace in his Township. In the summer of 1833 he opened a Sabbath School
in his own house, which was very successful. The place of meeting was accommodated to
the convenience of the neighborhood, and the school met at different houses from time to
time. That Sabbath School, the immediate successor of the Indian
Within the next year or two, John McLaughlin, Edward B. Wotten, William Money, William Isenhart, Benjaimin Goldsmith and others settled in the Township. It was a very common thing then for the Indians to hunt through there. They were very peaceable, and would often dine with their white neighbors. At one time, a very large, muscular Indian came to help Mr. Lotz roll logs; but he was so exceedingly awkward as to be of no use whatever. A log is still lying on the bank of the creek there in which the Indians had cut notches to assist them in walking up the bank. Jesse Gray also hunted and camped through those woods at that time.
In August, 1832, John R. Mays, George Bickel and Henry Glassford came to Mrs. Hawkins',
and selected land in the vicinity. Mr. Mays chose the farm he now lives upon, because of
the beautiful
Mr. John James, of Randolph County, was one of the Commissioners to lay out the State
road from Richmond to Fort Wayne, and Jer. Smith was his Surveyor. In September, 1832,
while making the survey, they camped on the north side of the Little Salimonie, where
the road now crosses it, probably attracted by the beautiful grove, which is now owned
by Mr. Jonas Votaw. Here they were visited by Philip Brown, of whom they obtained
"roasting ears" and squashes. They
Daniel Farber and family were the first to move into the county, in 1834. Of course
they staid the first night with Nancy Hawkins, whose house was the first resting place
for most of the settlers. They lived with Philip Brown until Farber built himself a
cabin, just opposite the present beautiful residence of Dr. Joseph Watson, at Collge
Corner. They moved into it before there were either doors, windows, floor or chinking.
Mr. Farber wanted to put in a floor, but his wife, Nancy, said she would live on the
ground until he could plant some corn, and so the cabin remained floorless until
September. The cabin is justly celebrated as the one in which the first election in the
county was held, and in which the first Post-office was established. Enoch Bowden came
that year, occupied the house the absconded Wier had built, and afterward moved into
Bearcreek Township. Henry H. Cuppy also came and built the house known as the "Conner
house," on the south
During this year new settlements were commenced at three different points in the
county. The first of these was by John Pingry, who settled where he still lives, near
West Liberty, April 10th, having been at Mr. Cuppy's for three weeks, previously. His
was the first wagon ever driven on the State road, leading north of Portland. They had a
camp already prepared, and retired quite late that night. The next morning, when Mr.
Pingry awoke, his wife, Elizabeth, and two of the boys were clearing a garden patch.
Similar energy has characterized Mrs. Pingry's life. John Pingry says that spot looked
like a paradise then. The grass and leaves were appearing in their bright green, many
flowers were out, and he could stand in one place and count 160 walnut trees, that would
average three feet feet in diameter. He thought then it was the best land he ever saw,
and thinks so still. He cleared ground and put in ten acres of corn, but the birds,
squirrels and raccoons destroyed most of it. During that summer he killed twenty-six
deer, two bears, and skinned sixty raccoons on the corn-field, which were only about
two-thirds of the number he killed, and declares that he "killed squirrels enough to
have fenced it." From the raccoon skins he got a hat made, costing $6, which
About the first of May, the same year, Samuel Grissell and Moses Hamilton, from
Columbiana County, were in Winchester, hunting land, but had not found any that pleased
them. B. W. Hawkins saw them, and, by much hard persuasion, got them to come up into
this region. They did so, and stopped with Thomas Shaylor, who lived in a cabin without
floor or chinking. The ground had been swept so much that there was quite a hole in the
middle of the house. It rained hard during the first night of their stay, the ground on
which they were sleeping became very wet, and the hole full of water. They made
selections of land, Mr. Grissell's being that upon which he still lives. They went home
by way of Fort Wayne, where they bought a canoe and paddled down the Maumee. Mr.
Hamilton soon moved out, and he became the first permanent settler of Penn Township. Mr.
Grissell followed
In November, Mr. John McCoy moved into the cabin Shaylor had occupied. He says four ten
cent pieces were all the money he had in the world. He had to depend upon his gun for a
living. He was as contented as the young man from Jay, who, while traveling out from
Dayton with four cents in his pocket, wrote to his friends that he felt just as well as
if he had had "double that amount." In three years McCoy killed three
hundred deer.
The great distance to provisions, and there being no roads cut out, led the early settlers to make meal by pounding corn in a "hominy block." Mr. McCoy and all his neighbors had to go to Newport and Richmond to find a mill and store. In a year or two the settlers were greatly delighted that Job Carr was going to build a horse-mill, but they were as much disappointed when the first grist ruined the mill, and their hominy blocks had to be used again.
The other settlement made during this year was in Jefferson Township. Mr. Aaron Dillie was the first settler there. But little is known of him now except that he was an earnest, consistent Christian. Mr. Joseph Flesher, who died a few years since, came next, and, very soon after, in the autumn of 1834, Joshua Hudson settled on the land now known as "Baker Johnson's farm," having lived for a year previous on Day's Creek, Randolph County. While living at the latter place, after they had retired for the night, there came quite a shower of rain. When Mr. Hudson rose in the morning he found the puncheon floor floating and the house surrounded with water for fifty yards! He carried his family to a place of safety and, by the next night, the water subsided.
In 1837 Mr. Hudson died, and the family was scattered. Wm. C. Hudson, Esq., his son, and the surviving members of Mr. Flesher's family, are the oldest living inhabitants of that township.
This year (1834) is known among the settlers then living in the county as the "hard
year" and the "squirrel year." It was a time of great hardships, caused by the coming of
squirrels in vast numbers, who destroyed the crops. It was called the "squirrel march or
stampede," as those animals seemed to be emigrating, by hundreds and thousands, for some
cause yet unexplained. The inhabitants would stand around their fields and
The first marriage in Jay County took place in this year. Mr. JOSEPH
WILLIAMSON married Miss MARY ELLEN HARTUP, May 21st, 1834. The wedding was at Henry H.
Cuppy's, and the Justice was Oliver Walker, of Randolph County. The license was issued
at Winchester. Mr. Williamson now lives in Wells County. The next marriage was that of
Mr. JAMES SIMMONS to Miss CHRISTENA AVALINE HAWKINS, June 24th, 1834,
by Joel Ward, Esq.
Mr. David Baldwin selected land near John Pingry in the fall of 1834, and in April of
the next year he and William Baldwin settled there. They thought it a very wild place,
for they would sometimes stand in their cabin door and shoot the deer that were browsing
on the trees which had been cut down to keep them from falling on the
During 1835 many persons visited the county and selected land. Every settler's cabin
was crowded with travelers. Early in the spring, William and Uriah Chapman came out and
camped near by the spring, where James Whiteman now lives, in Bear Creek Township. Two
corners of a blanket fastened to the ground, the other two tied up with lind bark, in a
slanting direction, served for their camp, in front of which they kindled a fire. On the
22d of April, William, with his family and father-in-law, George Lipps, arrived on the
spot where he lived until his death, February 15th, 1862. He first built a shed, under
which they lived, cooking by a log-heap, for two months, until compelled to build a
cabin for protection against the mosketoes. Like many others, Uriah Chapman had to
travel by night in
Mr. Joel Wilson was the first settler in Richland Township, arriving there in the fall of 1835. James Green had, however, visited the county previously, and built a cabin in what he then supposed was Delaware County, but which the survey afterward proved to be in Jay; but Mr. Wilson was the first to move with his family into the township. Most of the earliest pioneers of Richland Township have either moved away or gone to their final rest; but Mr. Wilson still remains, a respectable and influential citizen of the township. Mr. Green's cabin and an orchard he set out were situated on Isaac Ketterman's farm, and were the first improvements of the kind made in that township. The same fall John Booth, Benjamin Manor and William Richardson opened a settlement in the southwest corner of the county.
About this time three new settlers came into the Camden neighborhood. They were Joshua
Bond, William Swallow and Elihu Hamilton. William Coffin then lived in the same house
with Shaylor. Mr. Bond was raised in North Carolina—a Friend—was a pioneer
in Wayne County,
In November Peter Daily, accompanied by William Carpenter, settled near Joshua Hudson, in Jefferson Township. For four years his business was hunting, in which he was very successful. Raccoon skins were worth $1 a piece then, and he caught ten in one evening and one hundred and sixty-eight during the season. For an otter skin he got $8.50. He and Alexander Stein went hunting one day—shot but six times, and killed seven deer. He had hunted so much with a favorite horse that, though turned loose, it would stay near his camp until he was ready to go home. One time he went home without taking the horse, and on going back, six weeks afterward, he found the faithful animal still making the camp his headquarters.
In March, 1835, Colonel Christopher Hanna, with a large family, of which H. P. Hanna
was the eldest, settled in Noble Township, where George Bergman, senior, now lives. They
shared the usual hardships of the pioneers. During a trip to Greenville for provisions
his family
In 1836 he moved to Portland, and became prominently connected with the organization of the county; was the first Sheriff of the county by appointment of the Governor, and first County Clerk, by election. In 1850 he moved from the county, and died, highly respected, in Tama County, Iowa, March 23d, 1859.
This year also witnessed the coming of Daniel W. McNeal, who was closely identified
with the early settlement of Jay County. He came in November, 1835. At the organization
of the county he was appointed County Surveyor, which office he filled for many years.
In this capacity he laid off the county seat, and suggested to the County Commissioners
the name for it, which was adopted. He afterward held the offices of Justice of the
Peace, School Examiner, Land Appraiser and Surveyor of Swamp Lands. He also taught
school in the county several years. Although he had some eccentricities, he was
possessed of extensive and varied knowledge; was especially well versed in mathematics
and many of the physical sciences. He gloried in having been an
THE year 1833 added but few to the scanty number of pioneers. One
was Mr. Obadiah Winters, from Miami County, who reached the Hawkins cabin with his
family on the 1st of October, having visited the country the previous summer. He bought
out James Morrison, and still lives on the same old farm. It was very common at that
time for hunters from the older settlements to hunt in this county. Their camps were
every where to be found. But the crack of no one's rifle was heard so frequently, or was
so fatal to the game, as that of Jesse Gray. His favorite camping place was near the
spring on the Salimonie, now owned by Samuel Reed. Once when Mr. Winters was hunting, he
heard what he was sure was a turkey calling her mate. Soon he saw
When Mr. Winters' son John was about two and a half years old, he was one day at his grandfather's, Philip Ensminger's. In the morning the old man went hunting, and without his knowledge the little fellow followed and got lost. The waters were very high, and it rained hard during that night. Great excitement prevailed throughout the community, and a large number of persons went to hunt him, which they did the whole night in vain. A cat which was wont to play with the child followed them, and repeatedly during the night came to them, mewed, and then went away again. They paid no attention to this until morning, when J. C. Hawkins and Thomas Mays followed the cat, and she led them direct to the lost boy. He was insensible, very cold, and nearly dead. When he revived so as to be able to talk he saw the cat and said, "Tom, you and me has been lost." He also said that the cat came to him several times through the night, and that he saw a big dog, which was doubtless a wolf.
Mr. Winters made the coffins in those days. There being no lumber for the purpose,
puncheons
In the autumn of 1833 Edward Buford and family settled near where Samuel K. Williams
now lives, and was the first settler in Jackson Township. He had been a valuable scout
in the war of 1812, and now he and his sons were famous hunters. They had as many as one
hundred and fifty traps set at one time. The "pole trap," which was so often used by
them and other hunters, should be described. A long pole was cut, then two stakes driven
into the ground, one on each side of it, near one end. These were withed together at the
top; then another pole was placed on the first one, the end between the stakes raised
up, and triggers set under it. To these was attached a string, which ran back between
the poles. Upon the whole was placed a heavy
THE wild animals abounding in the forests of Jay, when civilization
commenced its war upon them, were the bear, deer, wolf, wild cat, wild hog, otter, gray
fox, raccoon, woodchuck or ground hog, porcupine, mink, muskrat, skunk, opossum, rabbit,
weasel and squirrel. Early settlers claim to have killed catamounts. Some of these
animals being now rarely seen, should be described. The wolf has the general appearance
of a large dog. He hunts in the night, lives chiefly upon deer and rabbits, but kills
sheep, hogs, and almost any other animal when he can. Wolves do not go in large gangs
except in the winter; then twelve or fifteen are sometimes seen in one pack. At other
seasons they go in pairs, except when attended by their
Wild hogs are simply tame ones that have run in the woods until they have become wild, or their progeny. They sometimes live to the age of twelve years or more, become very large, and have a large tusk on each side of the snout. They are the wildest animals that ever traveled the woods. They do not root around irregularly like tame hogs, but always in a straight course, as if surveying, occasionally raising their heads and walking several rods. They never attack a man unless cornered. The early settlers killed them rapidly, and now none remain.
Wild cats were very numerous in Jay. They are of a brindle color, have the shape of the house cat, but are four or five times larger. They are a ferocious animal; will fight desperately when attacked, and can catch and kill a nest of pigs in spite of the efforts of the mother.
Two miles below Bortland there is what the hunters call the "big eddy" in the
Salimonie. It is a place one mile long where the waters are unobstructed and calm. It is
the best place for
As late as 1833 the Indians visited this eddy to enjoy, for the last time, their
favorite hunt. Once, having just made such preparations, Jesse Gray, senior, came into
the vicinity. They
In 1834, the families scattered over the south part of the county began to think their settlement of sufficient importance to be under the restraint of law. Prior to this they had enjoyed unlimited freedom. When Mr. Goodrich, Collector of Randolph County, came to collect taxes, every man positively refused to pay. The collector laughed, said that any one who dared come out there to open a forest, ought not to pay tax, and returned.
The Commissioners of Randolph County were petitioned to organize Salimonie Township and appoint an election.
On the 5th of January, 1835, the Board ordered that all the attached part of that
county should be organized into Salimonie Township. They also appointed the first
election at Daniel Farber's, on the last Saturday in January, 1835, Obadiah Winters,
Inspector. The officer to be elected was a Justice; the candidates were H. H. Cuppy and
Benjamin Goldsmith. Whiskey was free, a barrel having been obtained for the occasion,
and the contest grew very exciting. The only
When a boy is possessed of a hatchet or a jack-knife, the temptation to use them
becomes irresistable. So it seemed to be with these few social neighbors. By the
election of a Justice of the Peace, they obtained the facilities for going to law, and
litigation commenced. Before this, all difficulties had been adjusted by third parties,
without officers or fees, which generally resulted in the belligerent parties "drinking
friendship." Not so when they could boast a "Squire." A law-suit was waiting for Squire
Cuppy when he returned from Winchester, where he had to go to get his commission. Mr.
William Bunch and Philip Brown quarreled about a "cross" dog belonging to the latter,
who had made some serious threats, and the former commenced a suit to compel Brown to
"keep the peace." The case was docketed "John Doe versus Richard Roe, etc.," a writ
issued, a constable deputized, Brown arrested and the witnesses summoned to meet at
Cuppy's house. The defendant admitted the charge, and was "bound over" to appear at the
higher court. The most difficult part of the trial, for the Justice, now came up viz:
how to draw a "recognizance." After much profound deliberation and careful research, a
form was found in the statutes, which, law, and the form must be copied as given in the Statute. So it was
copied, brackets and all, after which the court instructed the securities to "attend the
next term of Court in Winchester, and deliver Brown up, in open Court, to stand his
trial for vagrancy." Accordingly, when Circuit Court opened in
Winchester, the securities appeared with Brown, when the Judge, upon an examination of
the papers, dismissed the case in such terms, as convinced Cuppy of his unfitness for
Justice of the Peace, and he resigned—a sensible act, which rarely occurs in these
latter days. So ended the first lawsuit.
The records of the Randolph Board of Commissioners, dated May 5th, 1835, state that all
the territory included in Jay County was constituted one road district, and William
Bunch appointed supervisor. On the same day, Madison
The year 1835 witnessed the opening of the first schools in Jay County. The "red man of
the forest" was followed by daring old hunters like Jesse Gray, who found these woods
against which the axe had never been raised, delightful fields for the pursuit of game.
Their camp-fires succeeded the wigwam, while soon the rude cabin came. Now, when the
wild man was only an occasional visitor, and many hunters were tramping the forest,
schools were opened, and the few children of the settlement taught to read and spell. In
the summer of this year, two schools were taught. One in a cabin built by a Mr. Wringer,
situated where Liber College now stands, and the other in a similar house, situated on
what was afterward the farm of James Rhine, in Madison Township. The former was taught
by Miss Sarah Tharp, later the wife of Mr. Thomas Ward, of Winchester; the latter by Mr.
Edward Bell Wotten, who had recently settled there. These
The first mail carried through this county was in 1829, by Mr. Ellis Kizer, from
Winchester, by way of the Godfrey Trace, to Fort Wayne. The mail was not opened then in
the county, but this pioneer herald picked his way on horseback along a barely
discernible path, through three score and ten miles of wilderness. At the Godfrey
village he could count several times as many Indian huts as there were white families
along the entire route. He carried it until 1833, when Samuel Hawkins got the contract,
and the route was changed so as to pass through the Hawkins settlement. On the
The following shows by townships all the land entered in Jay County prior to 1836, in order of date, and name of the person making the entry, as taken from the record in the County Auditor's office:
In April, 1836, Mr. Joseph Wilson, afterward County Auditor, selected land near Samuel
Grissell, who accompanied him to Fort Wayne, to make the entry. They struck the Wabash
at Adam Miller's, went down stream to Henry Miller's, where Bluffton now stands,
arriving after dark. Here they met John Conner, carrying the mail—an occurrence
familiar to all northward travelers for twenty-five years afterward. The next morning,
crossing the river in a canoe, and swimming their horses, they proceeded on their
journey. Every where the streams were overflowing, and several times the water ran over
their horses' backs. At the St. Mary's river they left the horses, crossed in a canoe,
and walked to the land office. Early in the July following Mr. Wilson brought his family
from Champaign County, Ohio. From Joab Ward's they came via John
Brooks', which place they endeavored to reach in one day. Failing in this they were
compelled to camp out. They were greatly troubled by the myriads of blood-thirsty
mosquitoes that swarmed around them. Having located wife and
The land lying south of the boundary road, in Jay County, was ceded to the United States by the Indians in a Treaty made at Greenville, Ohio, August 3, 1795. The line began at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and, after various windings, reached Fort Recovery, and proceeded "southwesterly in a direct line to the Ohio River, so as to intercept it opposite the mouth of the Kentucky or Cuttawa River."
This treaty was signed, on the part of the United States, by Major General Anthony Wayne, and by the Indians, by the chiefs of the following tribes: Wyandots, Shawnees, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Eel Rivers, Weas, Kickapoos, Piankeshaws and Kaskaskias.
The land lying north of this boundary line was ceded to the United States by the
Indians in
Colonel John Vawter, of Jennings County, was Chairman of a Committee in the House of
Representatives, of the Legislature of 1835-6, that introduced a bill, which passed and
was approved February 7th, 1835, entitled "an act laying out all the unorganized
territory, to which the Indian title has been extinguished, in the State, into a
suitable number of counties, and for other purposes," by which the counties of Jay,
Adams, Wells, DeKalb, Steuben, Whitley, Kosciusko,
The following is section third of that act: That all the
territory included within the following boundary lines shall constitute and form a
county, to be known by the name of Jay; beginning at the southeast corner of Adams
County, thence west to the eastern boundary of Grant County, thence south to the
northern boundary of Delaware, thence east with the northern boundary of said
county, to the north-east corner of the same, thence south to the north-west corner
of Randolph County, thence east with the northern boundary of said county, to the
State line, thence north to the place of beginning.
This included the territory of Blackford County which was organized into an independent county in 1837.
The chief labor of laying out the territory into counties devolved upon Colonel Vawter,
who was better acquainted with the country than any other member of the committee, yet,
when the counties were named, he was not allowed the privilege of giving a name to even
one of the fourteen counties organized by his bill. He always regretted this
exceedingly, as he was very anxious to name one county ARMSTRONG, in
honor of a brave old soldier of that name who spent his best days in the northern part
of Indiana, and who finally fell a victim to Indian barbarity.
It cannot be ascertained who gave the name of JAY to this county.
Some member of the
JOHN JAY, in honor of whom the county was named,
was the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He was appointed
Minister to England, in 1794, when he resigned the office of Chief Justice. In 1800,
while he was Governor of New York, he was re-appointed Chief Justice, but declined the
appointment.
Another act was passed, approved January 30, 1836, by which the county was organized.
S
ECTION1.Be it enacted by the General Assembly, &c.: That, from and after the first day of March next, the county of Jay shall enjoy all the rights and jurisdiction which, to separate and independent counties, do or may properly belong.
SECS. 2d and 3d, appointed the commissioners to locate the county
seat, made it the duty of the Sheriff of Randolph County to notify them, and that they
should be paid from the treasury of Jay County.
SEC. 4th, provided that the first circuit and other courts should be
held at the house of Henry H. Cuppy.
SEC. 5, made it the duty of the county agent to reserve ten per
cent. of the money received from the sale of donated lots for the use of the County
Library.
SEC. 6th, set forth the duties of the Board of County Commissioners,
and the 8th placed the
The following persons were appointed by the Legislature to locate the county seat: Judge Jer. Smith, Judge Zachariah Pucket, still living in Randolph County, Jacob Thornburg, of Henry County, who has been dead many years, Mr. Nathan Coleman, of Allen County, and Mr. Philip Moore, of Delaware County, who died about that time. With the exception of Mr. Moore, they all met at H. H. Cuppy's the first Monday in June, 1836, as required by the law. Camden, they said, though a pretty site, was too far from the center, (for they then anticipated that Blackford County would be stricken off.) The geographical center of the county, one and a quarter miles north-west of Portland, was too low. They then viewed the "Sugar-tree" grove, about one and a half miles south-west of Portland, and decided that was the most appropriate spot. But they were falsely told by a man who desired to enter that land himself, that the owner of it lived in Union County, Indiana, and would not sell the land on any terms. They then took eighty acres on the north side of the Salimonie, offered by Daniel Ried, of Richmond, through the agency of H. H. Cuppy, and ten acres adjoining, offered by James Hathaway. Ried reserved half the lots around the court house square, and one-third of all others.
Jay County is eighteen miles long (north and south), twenty-one miles wide across the north end, and twenty-two across the south end. The face of the country is generally level, although somewhat broken along the water courses. The surface soil is usually a dark loam, with a subsoil of clay, intermixed with limestone gravel. There is a section of country lying toward the northwest part of the county, embracing about six square miles, which is in some of its features unlike other portions. In this section, the surface soil is a sandy loam, lying upon a gravel subsoil. It is interspersed with many hillocks or knobs, which Benjamin Ninde called the Lost Mountains. This district is chiefly in Penn Township.
There is not much rock in the county. Enough "grayheads" generally are found to supply
the demand for walling cellars and wells. In the vicinity of Antioch and three miles
north of Portland, this variety of rock prevails extensively. For two miles above and
below New Corydon the Wabash river flows over a stratum of white limestone. A mile south
of the river this quarry of stone crops out in the creeks and runs, but being in the
beds of the streams, can only be quarried in dry seasons. A lime-kiln has been in
operation for several seasons on the south bank of the river, by Washington Walter,
which turns out lime unsurpassed anywhere. Limestone is also
The country is very well watered by the numerous streams that take their rise within its limits. They have so little fall, however, they afford but very little water power. Springs abound along some of these streams. It was originally very heavily timbered with beech, hickory, oak, ash, walnut, sugar, maple, elm, linden, sycamore, &c. When the first settlers came, the woods were destitute of an undergrowth. As the settlements became general, and fires were not allowed to run through the timber lands, a dense undergrowth sprung up.
The county abounds in wild fruits, consisting of plums, grapes, paw-paws, blackberries, gooseberries, and, in the neighborhood of the Loblolly, were huckleberries and cranberries.
A belt extends across the north part of Jackson Township from west to east, varying in
width from eighty rods to a mile, called the Loblolly. It consists of brushy ponds, wet
prairies and small lakes. Along its border is some of the richest land within the
county. It is thought that nearly the entire tract can be reclaimed and made very
profitable for agricultural purposes. Considerable portions of it were conveyed by the
United States to the State of Indiana several years since, and were by the State sold,
the
The following table shows the number of acres and square miles in each Township.
The county was now (1836) organized. This fact, added to the reputation the county had
gained for richness of soil, heavy timber, abundance of game and cheap land, brought new
settlers by hundreds during this and the several succeeding years. Entering land,
building houses, clearing fields, and cutting out roads, occupied almost
Large numbers also came in who did not enter land immediately. This sudden and numerous influx—all "early settlers "—precludes all possibility of our even mentioning their names in this work, much less recounting their experiences. And, indeed, it is unnecessary. Enough has been said of the earlier settlers to exhibit pioneer life in all its important aspects. To add more from the abundance that might be given, would be to tire the reader with the repeated narration of similar occurrences.
LET US now turn our attention to the necessary paraphernalia of
organization—courts and officers. By appointment of Governor Noble, Christopher
Hanna notified the people that there would be an election on the — day of August,
1836, to elect county officers. That was the first county election. There were but three
precincts: one at B. Goldsmith's, one at Daniel Farber's, and the third in Lick Creek
Township, now Blackford County. The following persons were elected: Commissioners, John
Pingry, Abraham Lotz and Benjamin Goldsmith; Associate Judges, James Graves and Enoch
Bowden; Clerk, Christopher Hanna; Sheriff, Henderson Graves. B. W. Hawkins was a
candidate for clerk, against Hanna, and had the
The first marriage license issued was to Casper Geyer and Rachael Clark, April 11th, 1837, and they were married on the 18th of April, 1837, by Wade Posey.
The first session of the Board of County Commisssioners convened at Mr. Cuppy's on the 8th of November, 1836. H. H. Cuppy was appointed County Treasurer, Lewis S. Farber Assessor, and Jacob Bosworth agent to superintend the sale and conveyance of the lots donated to the county in Portland. Mr. Bosworth not having been in the State long enough to be eligible, B. W. Hawkins was appointed in his stead. David Baldwin was appointed superintendent of the three-per-cent. fund, being three per cent. of the money arising from the sale of public lands within the State, appropriated to making roads and bridges. That office and that of the county agent were very important offices at that time. Cuppy was granted a license to retail merchandise for one year for ten dollars.
At a special meeting of the Board, December 5th, 1836, the county seat was named P "W "ORTLAND. Many persons desired it should be called Riedville, in honor
of Daniel Ried, who donated the EDNESDAY, May 3d,
1837.Ordered, That there be a house erected on some suitable lot in
the town of Portland, for the use of the county, and that Christopher Hanna
superintend the letting of the same on the 13th day of June next. The terms and
descriptions to be made known on the day of sale."
No direction being given as to the size, price or materials, such an order, in these days of speculators, would be rather an unsafe specification.
L. S. Farber was allowed $23.27 for assessing the county. James Marquis was appointed Collector of the taxes for the county. The first tax assessed was at this term, being $1.25 on every $100 valuation of property for county purposes, one cent on every $100 for road purposes, and seventy-five cents on every poll.
September 4, 1837, the Board adjourned from the house of Mr. Cuppy to the new log Court
D. W. McNeal was allowed $7.75 for surveying and platting the town of Portland.
J. B. Gillespie was granted a license to keep a ferry where the Quaker Trace crossed the Wabash. The profits probably never paid for the license.
Mr. Cuppy resigned the office of Treasurer, and Hawkins C. Fouts was appointed.
Christopher Hanna was appointed to superintend the building of a county jail.
November Term, 1837. At the opening of this term Henderson Graves took his seat as Commissioner, as successor of John Pingry, and B. W. Hawkins as Sheriff.
Thomas Wheat was appointed School Commissioner. In January, 1838, H. C. Fouts was allowed $11.75 for his services as County Treasurer for four months. At the March Term, 1838, John Pingry was appointed Loaning Agent of the surplus revenue fund, and William Vail Collector of taxes for that year.
January Term, 1839. Contracted with Moses Knapp to build a public Pound for $17.87½. It was a post and rail fence, a few rods north of the present jail.
Robert Huey was granted a license to keep a grocery in Portland. This was the first store of the kind kept in the place.
Joshua Pennock had built a jail, for which he had received $181; but it not being according to contract, the Commissioners sued him for damage. It was a log house, poorly built, and stood north of the present jail.
A man from Blackford County was at one time convicted of stealing a log chain, and sentenced to three or four days' imprisonment. As the jail would not hold him, Sheriff Hawkins took him home with him, and kept him there rocking the cradle, until his time was out!
November Term, 1839. H. C. Fouts was removed from the Treasurer's office, and William T. Shull, now of Blackford County, appointed.
At this time Lewis N. Byram was contracted with to build the walls and roof of a brick Court House for $1,750, and he was to "warrant it to be a substantial building for twenty years." William Haines finished the house. The wall was very poor; the building was abandoned in 1859, and in March, 1860 was sold at auction for $153.
In January, 1840, John Pingry got the contract for building another jail for $800. That was the old log jail sold for $32 in 1862, torn down and converted into the wagon shop of S. H. Williams.
The first term of the Circuit Court, in Jay County, was held on the 17th day of April,
1837, at the house of Henry H. Cuppy, which house is still standing on the farm of
Colonel Shanks, south
Christopher Hanna, was clerk, Henderson Graves, sheriff, and Thomas Johnson, of Fort Wayne, prosecuting attorney.
Jeremiah Smith, of Randolph County, was the only lawyer present, except the State's attorney.
The grand jury, at that time, consisted of the following named persons: Henry H. Cuppy, Benjamin W. Hawkins, Obadiah Winters, Hawkins C. Fouts, James Marquis, David Baldwin, John Pingry, Samuel G. Hanna, Conaway Stone, William Vail, Joseph Wilson, John S. Mays, Daniel W. McNeal, William Clark, John Eblin and James Stone. Henry H. Cuppy was foreman, and Anderson Ware was bailiff.
This jury found but one bill of indictment which was against two of its members, H. H. Cuppy and Daniel W. McNeal, for an affray. Cuppy was tried, defended by Jer. Smith, and found guilty. McNeal plead guilty. This constituted almost the entire business of the term. The court was in session two days.
The two succeeding terms were held by the associate judges alone, without the aid of president judge, prosecuting attorney, or other lawyers.
The fourth term was held on the 10th day of
Jacob Bosworth, Benjamin P. Wheat and Andrew Ried were appointed school commissioners for Jay County. There was quite an array of lawyers in attendance.
In January, 1839, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit was formed, of which Jay County constituted a part. Morrison Rulon, then a young man, who had but recently been admitted to the bar, was, by the legislature, elected judge of this new Circuit. He resigned, without ever having held a court, and David Kilgore was, by the Governor, appointed to fill the vacancy.
Judge Kilgore held the office under his appointment until December, 1839, when he was elected by the legislature, and held the office until the spring of 1846.
Judge Kilgore has since then served in the convention for the revision of Constitution of Indiana, was speaker of the House in the Indiana legislature, and represented the fifth district of Indiana, in Congress, two terms. He still resides in Delaware County, Indiana.
In December, 1845, Jeremiah Smith was elected Judge of the Eleventh Circuit, and served
In January, 1855, the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit was formed, Jay County constituting a part of it. Judge Jeremiah Smith was appointed Judge of this Circuit, by the Governor, to serve until the next general election. Under this appointment he held two terms of the Jay Circuit Court.
In October, 1855, Jehu T. Elliott was elected Judge of the Thirteenth Circuit, and was re-elected in 1861. He is at this time Judge of the Jay Circuit Court.
The first associate judges of Jay County were Enoch Bowden and Obadiah Winters. Judge Winters served from 1837 until 1850; Judge Bowdon, from 1837 until 1843, and again from 1850 to 1851, at which time the associate judges were abolished by the adoption of the present constitution of Indiana.
Abraham C. Smith served as associate judge from 1843 to 1850, when he was succeeded by John Current, who held the position until the office was abolished.
Jehu T. Elliott was the first prosecuting attorney for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
He served, in that capacity, in Jay County, but one year, and
John Davis, of Madison County, succeeded Judge Wallace as Circuit presiding attorney. The office was next filled by Joseph S. Buckles, of Delaware County, who served until 1848.
Mr. Buckles has since been a member of the State Senate, and is now Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. He is still a resident of Delaware County.
In 1849, the law having been changed so as to provide for the election of a prosecuting attorney for each county, John P. C. Shanks was first appointed and afterward elected by the people to fill that office, and served two years.
Mr. Shanks was born near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, came to Jay County with his father,
in 1840, studied law with Judge N. B. Hawkins, and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He
represented Jay County in the Indiana Legislature, in 1855, was elected to Congress in
1860, and served on
In 1851, the law authorizing the election of a prosecuting attorney for each county, having been repealed, David Moss, of Hamilton County, was elected prosecuting attorney for the Eleventh Circuit. He was succeeded by William Garver, of the same county.
Silas Colgrove, then and now a resident of Randolph County, held the office of prosecuting attorney from 1853 to 1856. He has several times represented that county in the Indiana Legislature. He is now Colonel of the 27th regiment of Indiana volunteers, in which capacity he has seen much service, and has been twice severely wounded. Colonel Colgrove was succeeded in the office of prosecuting attorney by Thomas M. Browne, of Randolph County, who filled that office six years. Mr. Browne has been a member of the State Senate, was on General Wood's staff at the battle of Shiloh, is now Lieutenant Colonel of the 7th Indiana cavalry and was lately wounded.
James N. Templer, of Jay County, was elected to the office of prosecuting attorney in 1861, and still holds that office. Mr. Templer came to Jay County, with his father, when a boy, was educated at Farmers' Academy and Liber College, studied Law with Judge Haynes, and was admitted to the bar in 1857.
Christopher Hanna was the first clerk of the Jay Circuit Court. He served until the year 1843 when he was succeeded by B. W. Hawkins, who held the office until 1850. Ira Denney was his successor, and filled the office until 1859, when B. W. Hawkins was again elected, and still holds the office.
Henderson Graves was the first Sheriff of Jay County by election. He served until the fall of 1849, when he was succeeded by B. W. Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins served four years, and was succeeded by Robert Huey, who filled the office until the fall of 1844, when Jason Whipple was elected.
Two years later, Hugh P. Hanna succeeded Mr. Whipple, and, after serving four years, Alexander Johnson became his successor. Mr. Johnson filled the office until 1854, when Jacob E. Lotz was elected. In 1856 Alexander Johnson was again elected Sheriff, and, after serving two years, he was in turn succeeded by Mr. J. E. Lotz, who held the office until 1862, when Alexander Hanlin, the present incumbent, was elected.
The first term of the Probate Court of Jay County was held at the Court-house in Portland, on the 14th day of May, 1838, before Enoch Bowdon and Obadiah Winters, assistant judges of the Circuit Court.
The first letters of administration were granted to Ellis Davis on the estate of Aaron Rigby, deceased, the 20th day of September, 1837. The associate judges also held a term of the Probate Court in November, 1838.
In August, 1839, George C. Whiteman was elected Probate Judge for Jay County, and continued in that office until the court was abolished, in 1852.
The first term of the Court of Common Pleas for Jay County, was held by Nathan B. Hawkins, on the 17th day of January, 1853. The common pleas district then consisted of the counties of Randolph and Jay. Judge Hawkins was elected judge of this district in October, 1852, and died, in office, in October, 1853.
There were but few men who occupied a more prominent position in Jay County, during the
period of his manhood that he spent in the county, than Nathan B. Hawkins. He came to
the county with his father in 1829, and remained here until he was about sixteen years
of age, when he went to Wayne County, Indiana. He there went into mercantile business,
first as a clerk, and
He died at his residence, in Portland, on the 20th of October, 1852, aged 41 years.
James Brown, of Randolph County, where he still resides, was appointed by the Governor to fill the office of Common Pleas Judge, until the succeeding general election. He has represented that county in the Indiana Legislature.
In 1854 William A. Peelle was elected Judge of the Common Pleas Court, and held the
office two years. At the time of his election he was a citizen of Randolph County. At
the expiration of
Judge Haynes came to Portland to commence his career as a lawyer, where he still
remains. He has always identified himself with the best interests of Jay County. His
integrity of character, honesty of purpose and thorough knowledge of his profession,
have given him the confidence of the people in an eminent degree, and made him a
successful, honest lawyer. He prepared for college at Monson Academy, Massachusetts, and
took a literary course at Phillips' Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. He commenced the
study of law with Hon. Linus Child, at Southbridge, in the same State. In September,
1843, he came West, resumed the study of law with Hon. Walter March, of Muncie, Indiana,
where he taught the Delaware County Seminary, and was admitted to the bar in March,
1844. At the age of twenty-seven, in December, 1844, he came to Portland,
The first prosecuting attorney of the common pleas court of Jay County was William Moorman, who was succeeded by John J. Cheney, and he by Enos L. Watson, all of Randolph County. Thomas J. Hosford, of Delaware County, held the office from 1860 to 1862, when Enos L. Watson was again elected, and still holds the office.
The lawyers who have been residents of Jay County are Moses Jenkinson, Morrison Rulon, Nathan B. Hawkins, Jacob M. Haynes, John P. C. Shanks, James B. Jaqua, John R. Perdieu, John W. Headington, James N. Templer, William D. Frazee, John J. Hawkins, David V. Baker and Allen Jaqua.
Moses Jenkinson now resides at Fort Wayne, Indiana; is a lawyer of considerable note, and has represented Allen County in the State Legislature. He removed from Jay County in 1845. Morrison Rulon was twice elected to the legislature from Jay County; is now a resident of Union City, Indiana.
W. D. Frazee remained in Jay County but a short time; is now engaged in the law practice at Decatur, Indiana.
J. W. Headington resides at Portland, and is now Major of the 100th regiment Indiana Volunteers.
Messrs. Jaqua, Perdieu, Templer, Hawkins, Baker and A. Jaqua are still residents of Portland.
Among the attorneys not residents of Jay County, who have practiced in its courts, are Jeremiah Smith, Moorman Way, Zachariah Pucket, Beattie McClelland, Silas Colgrove, William A. Peelle, James Brown and Thomas M. Browne, of Randolph County; Joseph Anthony, Thomas Anthony, Andrew Kennady, Thomas J. Sample and Walter March, of Delaware County.
John Brownlee, of Grant County, also attended the courts of Jay County. He acted as prosecuting attorney at the October term, 1839.
The following shows the names of those who have been members of the Board of County
Commissioners, when they assumed the office, and expiration of their terms:
John Pingry
1836-'37Abraham Lotz
1836-'38John Pingry
1838-'40Benj. Goldsmith
1836-'39Henderson Graves
1837-'39Jacob Bosworth
1838-'39Timothy Stratton
1839-'45Josiah H. Topping
1839-'41George White
1840-'43Ammon Cook
1841-'44Samuel Hall
1843-'46Jacob Bosworth
1843-'46John Reed
1844-'46Joseph Roach
1845-'46William Gemmell
1846-'49Sumner Griffin
1846-'50John Goff
1849-'52David Money
1849-'52Wm. H. Wade
1850-'56Isaac Myres
1852-'54William Gemmell
1852-'58Alexander Jackson
1854-'58Vynul Arnett
1858-'64Wm. B. Miller
1858-'61M. A. Smith
1856-'62Alexander Jackson
1861-'64Eli Bales
1862-'—
Jay County was first represented in the State Legislature by Lewis W. Purviance, of
Huntington County, in 1839. The district was then composed of Jay, Adams, Wells, Whitley
and Huntington counties. In 1840 it was represented by Morrison Rulon. In 1841 the
district embraced only Adams and Jay counties, and Elder Robert Tisdale, of Adams, was
the representative. He was succeeded by Nathan B. Hawkins in 1842, and he by Samuel S.
Mickle, of Adams, who has since been in the State Senate. The representatives succeeding
were as follows: 1844, Robert Huey, of Jay County; 1845, S. S. Mickle, of Adams. In 1846
the district was composed of Jay and Blackford counties, and William F. Jones, of the
latter county, was the representative; 1847, Morrison Rulon; 1848, George S. Howell, of
Blackford; 1849, Robert Huey; 1850, William T. Shull, of Blackford; 1851, Joseph W.
Holliday, of Blackford. Mr. Holliday was a lawyer of Blackford County; was elected
representative to
In 1852 Jay County became entitled to a representative independent of other counties, and Robert Huey was elected; in 1854, J. P. C. Shanks; in 1856, Joseph J. McKinney; in 1858, George C. Whiteman; in 1860, Isaac Underwood, and in 1862, Samuel A. Shoaff.
The following persons have been State Senators from districts of which Jay County has been a part: In 1839, John Foster; in 1840, Michael Aker, of Randolph; in 1843, Isaac F. Wood; in 1846, Dixon Milfigan, of Jay; in 1849, Jacob Brugh, of Blackford; in 1851, Thomas D. M. Longshore, of Randolph; in 1853, Theophilus Wilson, of Jay; in 1857, Daniel Hill, of Randolph; in 1861, David Studabaker, of Adams, and in 1863, George S. Brown, of Wells.
Henry H. Cuppy was the first County Treasurer and Hawkins C. Fouts the next. His
successor was William T. Shull, who was succeeded in 1841 by Jonas Votaw, who held the
office until 1853, at which time Alexander White took it, but died in 1855, before the
expiration of his term. G. W. Templer filled the vacancy thus occurring, and in
Prior to 1850 the County Auditors were Alexander White and Joseph Wilson. At this time John Coulson took the office and served until 1859, when William G. Sutton was elected, and is the present incumbent.
Geo. W. Templer was the first County Recorder (1843), and was succeeded in 1850 by Thomas Black, who served until 1859. Harvey Humphries was then elected, and served until 1863, when Cyrus Stanley was elected, and now holds the office.
D. W. McNeal was the first Surveyor, was succeeded by Thomas Brown, in 1842, and he by William H. Montgomery, in 1845, who served until 1852, when John C. Bailey was elected; in 1856, Nimrod Headington; in 1858, Thomas Brown, who served two years, and in 1862, B. R. McCoy, the present incumbent.
MUCH of the early history of the townships can never be obtained.
The official reports of the first elections are not in existence. The records of the
County Commissioners appointing the elections, and the recollections of the early
inhabitants, are the only sources from which any information can now be drawn. From the
former we can only learn the time at which these elections were held. The facts
ascertained from the first settlers concerning them are vague, uncertain and often
contradictory. An instance will illustrate: In one township the confident testimony of
the earliest residents would show that the first election was held at three different
places and at as many different times. Similarly conflicting statements are given in
most of the townships. The
The first township organized was PENN, by order of the County
Commissioners at their first sitting. It was named by Samuel Grissell, in honor of
William Penn. The first house was built by John Gain, in 1823; the first settler was
John Brooks; the next was Moses Hamilton, who remained long enough to acquire the
honorable distinction of first permanent settler. Samuel Grissell came next, and was
soon followed by John McCoy, both in 1834.
The town of Camden was laid out August 27th, 1836, by Jeremiah Smith, Samuel Grissell
being the proprietor. It was first called New Lisbon. Mr. Grissell made a sale of town
lots, Job Carr being the auctioneer, and sold at prices varying from $15 to $30. John D.
Jones built the first house in the summer of 1836, (William Samuels had partially raised
a house before this,) and became the first settler. It took the few hands that could be
collected three days to raise it. The
In 1836 H. Z. Jenkins brought his family from Ohio, and a stock of goods, consigned to
him to sell on commission, with which he opened the first store in the town—first
occupying Job Carr's house, just west of the town, and afterward one of his own, in the
village. Mrs. Jenkins generally waited on the customers. Job Carr, junior, kept the
second store; and in April, 1839, Anthony Pitnam, now of Richmond, Indiana, opened the
third. The Friends built the first meeting house in the township, situated east of the
town. This log house, though still standing, is now superceded by a neat frame
structure. At the first meeting held in Camden, by the Methodists, H. Z. Jenkins joined
the church. James Coulson and his wife H. Z. Jenkins, Mary Delong and Sarah Gove formed
the first class. Mr. Joseph A. Lupton was the first blacksmith, opening a shop in the
winter of 1839-'40. Stephen Kees and Joseph J. Paxson were among the earliest pioneers
of the north part of the township. The prudent forethought of Joshua Bond led him to
bring a pair of hand mill stones when he moved from Ohio.
About 1838 Samuel Grissell started a saw mill on the Salimonie by Camden, and in 1844
put in operation a water grist mill. In 1850 Mr. Grissell and Lukins Griffith built a
steam saw mill,
The first election in Penn Township is involved in much obscurity. The County Commissioners' record shows that the first election appointed was to be held at New Lisbon (Camden) on the second Saturday in December, 1836, Samuel Grissell, Inspector. At the January term, 1837, another election was ordered, to be held at Jonathan Hiatt's, John M. Carr, Inspector, on the last Saturday of that month. And again, at the May term, 1837, still another election was appointee for the first Saturday in June—place not given. All these elections were to elect a Justice. Elihu Hamilton says he was elected the first Justice at the election held at Jonathan Hiatt's; that he would not accept the office, and that at a subsequent election, Ellis Davis was elected. The first township officers were appointed by the Commissioners in May, 1837, and were as follows: Inspector, Elihu Hamilton; Supervisor, Jonathan Hiatt; Overseers of the Poor, Joshua Bond and William Swallow; Fence Viewers, Moses Hamilton and David Canady.
Levi Johnson, 'Esq., for twelve years Justice of the Peace in Jackson Township, taught the first school in Penn Township in the winter of 1837-'38, in a log house which stood near the present residence of Jesse Gray, jun.
The Post Office was established in Camden on the 19th of January, 1839, and John D. Jones appointed Postmaster. He held the office just six days, during which time he opened one mail and found one letter for that office. John M. Carr succeeded Mr. Jones as Postmaster. It was first called Penn, then changed to Pennville.
BEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP was
organized in November, 1836, the first election held on the second Saturday in December,
1836, at the house of John Pingry, Biram A. Pearson being Inspector. The first township
officers were as follows: Inspector, James Marquis; Supervisors, William Vail and James
Marquis; Overseers of the Poor, William Baldwin and Edward Buford; Fence Viewers,
Frederick Wible and William Gray.
The first settler was John Pingry, sen. The first store was kept by Lewis N. Byram, at
Bloomfield. The first Post Office (Bear Creek) in the township was also at Bloomfield,
established on the 7th of February, 1840, L. N. Byram, Postmaster. On the 14th of July,
1851, the, office was removed to West Liberty, in Jackson Township, and W. R. Coldren
appointed Postmaster; but in July the following year it was returned to Bloomfield, and
J. L. Grigsby became Postmaster. John H. Smith holds the office at present, and is the
only merchant in the place. In 1854 George W. Porter started the first store at West
Chester,
The first marriage in the township was that of Addison D. May and Miss Lucinda Pingry, Nov. 6, 1834, by William Odle, Esq., of Deerfield. In the fall of 1835, Tandy Dempsey came to John Pingry's, and on the 8th of August, 1836, he died, being the first death in the township. In 1836 a large hickory tree caught fire near Mr. Pingry's. The fire ran up the tree about forty feet, there burned it off, and then slowly and constantly burned downward for nearly one year. It was known as the "burning tree."
James Marquis and family settled on the farm now owned by Rev. Aaron Worth, April 14th,
1836, purchasing the claim of Michael Zimmerman, who lived in a split log house. The
chickens roosted on the joists at one corner of the house, while at one end on the
outside was a shed,
In June, 1837, Mr. Marquis commenced building a water grist mill on that place, and, in January, 1838, put it in operation—the second mill of the kind in the county. Like all other pioneer mills it was a great blessing to a large section of country. Many persons were waiting at the mill to get some grinding done when it started. Persons came to that mill from Adams, Wells and Blackford counties. Most persons came on horseback, some on ponies, and some brought their grists on their shoulders.
In March, 1839, he started a saw-mill, the first one in Jay County.
The first temperance meeting ever held in the county was also held at Mr. Marquis'
house, in 1837. In 1839 the first temperance society was organized in the same
neighborhood, and Dr. Jacob Bosworth delivered an address full of sound sense and
convincing arguments. The following scraps are specimens of its bold, manly utterances:
"Intemperance is incompatible with genuine patriotism. This
virtue is not to be conceded to the drunkard. This noble and generous plant cannot
live in a soul so uncultivated so overrun with foul and noxious weeds. Can a man be
a patriot who violates every obligation of domestic and social life? whose example
is a moral pestilence in the community, and who, for the sake of a beastly
gratification, inflicts misery and wrong upon all who have the unhappiness to be
connected with him. The good man loves his country because it contains much that is
excellent and much that is dear to him. He knows it to be the home of the wise and
good, of his kindred and friends, whom he venerates; he reveres the liberal and holy
institutions it contains; in their prosperity and perpetuity he takes the deepest
interest, and his most strenuous efforts are ever ready to remove what is evil and
to advance that which is excellent and useful. Nothing of this kind can be
attributed to the drunkard. His conduct and example, instead of advancing the
welfare of his country, are eminently calculated to destroy its best interests. Do
patriots discourage habits of industry and encourage habits of idleness, pauperism
and crime? Intemperance destroys the intelligence and virtue of the
people—those pillars of our republican system! it endangers our civil and
religious institutions, with all that is held dear by the true patriot."
Signed to the pledge of that society are nearly one hundred names, embracing persons living in all parts of the county.
The first settler on the Limberlost, between William Gibson and Williain Chapman, was
Ira Towle, who came in the spring of 1837. In three weeks Samuel Towle settled beside
him. Within the next year or two a whole settlement of Eastern people joined them. John
C. Montgomery,
A whirlwind more terrific than any storm that has since visited Jay County occurred on
the 28th of March, 1840. It commenced half a mile west of Adam Stolz', near Westchester,
taking nearly an eastern direction. A very small cloud first
The first settler in Wabash Township was Peter Studabaker (1821); the second was Orman
Perring, and the third was William Gibson. The first election was held at William
Gibson's, on the 23d of September, 1837. John B. Gillespie settled on what is now the
town site of New Corydon in 1837, and in 1839 built the old grist mill, having only a
brush dam. In 1841 Samuel Hall built a saw mill on the south side of the river. James
Gillespie erected a saw mill adjoining the grist mill, in 1842. In August, 1843,
Theophilus Wilson purchased the town site and the Gillespie Mills, brought a stock of
goods, and opened the first store. Gillespie had laid off a few town lots in 1840, but
none had been sold. In March, 1844, Mr. Wilson employed Thomas Brown to survey the town
of New Corydon. Jesse Snyder put up the first blacksmith's shop in 1844. Theophilus
The first school kept in the township was by Miss Elizabeth Montgomery, now Mrs. Thomas
Towle, in the summer of 1840. The first school in New Corydon was taught in the summer
of 1844, by Miss Sophronia Lewis,—a hewed log "smoke house" being converted into a
school-room. A Post Office was established at New Corydon in September, 1844, and T.
Wilson appointed Postmaster, who held the office until January 1st, 1852, when he
resigned in favor of C. W. Scott, who resigned in a year, and George
In 1844 the Rev. I. N. Taylor was stopping at Mr. Wilson's, who had just been repairing his old log house by ceiling up the rafters. Mr. Taylor proposed that a Presbyterian Church should be built there, and when Mr. Wilson made some objection he read to him these words from Hosea: "Is it time for you to dwell in your ceiled house, and this house lie waste? Go up to the mountains, and bring wood and build the house, and I will dwell in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord." Mr. Wilson replied, "You have got the Bible on your side; we will build the house!" and immediately gave Mr. Taylor the choice of his lots, and started a subscription paper by putting his name down for fifty dollars. The paper was circulated, and persons signed work, lumber, hauling, grain, etc., no money being promised. Rev. I. N. Taylor and the Limberlost settlement aided very much. Mr. Reuben Montgomery took the subscription and built the house for $250, without money. This pioneer church has been occupied by all denominations with good feeling. In 1855 a Methodist Church was built.
The first Sabbath School in New Corydon was established on the 26th of June, 1842. The preliminary steps of organization were taken at the house of Asahel W. Lewis, in February previous.
The old mills have now good successors. About 1858 John Hall and Vynul Arnett started a steam saw mill on the south bank of the river at the bridge, and in August, 1859, set in operation a steam grist mill. In 1862 William and Henry McMakin erected a large water grist mill at the old mill site. All these mills are now in successful operation. In 1859 Henry Reed opened a drug store in New Corydon, which he still owns.
The earliest minister in Wabash Township was Elder Robert Tisdale, a Baptist. He continued to travel and preach until his death, at a good old age, at Montpelier, in the autumn of 1856. In early times he carried a hatchet with him, in the winter, with which, fastened to a pole by withes or linden bark, he would sit on his horse and cut the ice before him, sometimes making but three or four miles a day, camping out at night or climbing a tree to avoid the wolves. He traveled extensively over Indiana and sections of Ohio; was a strong advocate of temperance and Sabbath Schools; noted for long sermons, and in late years for his liberal Christian sentiments.
Rev. F. Baldwin, Rev. J. W. Allen, Rev. Mr. Drury and Elder Chaffee were, at different periods, the preachers for the Baptist church at New Corydon, until 1854, when Rev. J. C. Skinner became its pastor, and still holds that relation.
In 1847, Rev. J. H. Babcock preached for the
He was succeeded by Rev. Andrew Loose, who remained some over one year, when Rev. James Boggs became the pastor of that church and the Presbyterian church on the Limberlost, and continued until 1854, when he moved to Clinton, Indiana, and afterward to Fairton, New Jersey, where he still resides. Rev. Joseph H. Jones then became pastor of the two churches, and still retains that position. He settled first in Adams County, but, in 1863, moved to Westchester, where he now resides.
The many Methodist circuit preachers in New Corydon and other circuits in the county, deserve honorable mention for their self-denying labors in the dissemination of christian principles, but their large number prevents us from obtaining a complete sketch.
Among the most valuable of the Jay County pioneers was Theophilus Wilson. He settled in
Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, in 1841, where he bartered goods for the furs,
skins, deer hams and everything the surrounding forest produced. He settled on the
Wabash in 1843, from which time his identity with the physical, moral and political
interests of Jay was conspicuous. He was the proprietor of New Corydon, its first
merchant, post-master, and leading spirit in all
Noble Township was organized in September, 1837. It was named in honor of Noah Noble, Governor of Indiana from 1831 to 1837.
The first settlers were James Stone and Henderson Graves. The first election was held
at James Graves', who was elected the first Justice of the Peace. Here the name
Limberlost finds its source. This singular name was given this stream from the following
circumstance: A man named James Miller, while hunting along its banks, became lost.
After various fruitless efforts to find his way home, in which he would always come
around to the place of starting, he determined he would go on a straight course, and so,
every few rods would blaze a tree. While doing this he was found by his friends who were
hunting him.
A Post-office was established in Noble Township, May 28th, 1851, called Hector, and J. C. Brewington appointed Postmaster. For several years Wilbur Morehous has held the office.
Near the "ninety mile tree,"—a tree on the state line, between Indiana and Ohio,
just ninety miles from the Ohio river,—Ebenezer Woodbridge now of Lee County,
Illinois, settled in 1838, bringing his family two years after. Their cooking stove was
the first in that part of the county, and created much curiosity among the neighbors.
In 1861, Daniel Forner and Charles Joseph commenced the manufacture of crockery ware at Mr. Forner's residence, in Noble Township. They are still engaged in the business.
Wayne Township was organized in September, 1837. Most of the early history of this township has already been given. The first election was held on the third Saturday in September, 1837, Daniel Farber, Inspector. The first settler was Philip Brown, who built the first house (1832). The next was William Brockus, and the third James Morrison. Then came Obadiah Winters, the Highlander family, and H. H. Cuppy. The latter built the "Conner house" on the south side of the Big Salimonie, now owned by Colonel Shanks, in the fall of 1833. That house is celebrated as the one in which the first Commissioners' and Circuit Courts were held.
In 1836 Cuppy brought some goods from Richmond and opened a store in that house, which
In 1839 Nathan B. Hawkins and William T. Shull opened the second store in the place. The town was full of native trees then, and it is related that hickory-nuts would often fall upon the log court house while court was in session.
Dr. Jacob Bosworth moved from Massachusetts to Ohio in 1817. While passing through
Darke County he found Jesse Gray, who urged him to go to Jay to look for land, which he
did. He and his family arrived March 1st, 1836. He was the first physician in the
county, and for many years his practice was extensive. In the summer of 1837 he opened a
Sabbath School in the Wringer cabin at Liber, which had then been used
John Smith built the next house in Liber in 1836. It was on the farm so long the home
of Deacon Jonathan Lowe, now owned and occupied by Jonathan R. Wells. Mr. Smith also
built the "old log barn," still standing, and now owned by Mrs. Mary S. Montgomery,
which was the subject of the following verses by R. S. Taylor, Esq.: CHORUS. CHORUS. CHORUS. CHORUS.
They were set to music also composed by Mr. Taylor, and after being sung at an exhibition at Liber College, were published in the Minnehaha Glee Book.
In the summer of 1845 Rev. Joseph H. Babcock came to Jay County, residing first at
Portland, where he organized a Presbyterian Church November 29th, of nine members,
consisting of J. H. Babcock, Eliza Babcock, Jacob Bosworth, Nancy Bosworth, Josiah H.
Topping, Hector Topping, Amaretta Topping, Joseph C. Hawkins and Amanda Frazee. The
meeting was held in the Court House. In 1847 he moved to New Corydon, preaching in
Portland and in the old Limberlost Church. He died at New Corydon, March 15th, 1848,
universally lamented. He was a favorite with all classes, adapting himself with ease to
the society around him: a fluent speaker, and possessing a complete education as a
lawyer as well as a minister, he was well calculated to be a leader in all the moral
movements of the time, and especially to lift the Banner of the Cross in the
heterogeneous society of a new country.
When the Commissioners organized Pike Township, in 1837, they gave it that name at the suggestion of J. C. Hawkins. Most of its early history has been given. The first settler was John J. Hawkins; the next Thos. J. Shaylor, and the third Sarah Riddley.
Jacob Sutton relates that one night, soon after he settled there, his dog became much alarmed. He saw in front of the house some animal, and shot at it while in the house. It proved to be a wolf, and the shot had broken its back. The excited dog caught it and would not let go until he had dragged it into the house, where it was killed.
The oldest settler, now living, in the west part of the township is Henry Harford. The
first election was held at Jacob Sutton's, and Henry Welch, who lived on the farm now
owned by John J. Adair, was elected Justice. David Garringer has held that office the
longest of any one in the township. The first school house built was
Boundary City Post Office was established May 11th, 1852, and Daniel Heaster appointed Postmaster. He still retains that position, and has a store.
The village of Antioch was surveyed in 1853. Amos Hall, C. H. Clark and David Frazee were the proprietors. Mr. Clark named it after Antioch College. Peter Couldren kept the first store.
The first sermon ever preached in Jay County was by Rev. Robert Burns, a Methodist, at the Hawkins cabin, in the fall of 1832. His text was, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest."
Jefferson Township was organized at the last meeting of the Commissioners in 1837. The
first election was held at the house of Jacob H. Sanders, who was elected the first
Justice, and John Nixon was chosen Constable. Peter Dailey was
Jackson Township was organized in March, 1838. Prior to this it had been attached to
Bear Creek Township. The first settler was Edward Buford. The first person who died in
the township was Aaron Rigby, in September, 1837, near the farm of Isaac Russell. There
being no lumber, the coffin was made of "puncheons,"* by Joshua Bond. Gillum Post Office was established January 8th,
1856, and George Fish appointed the first Postmaster. In 1857 Abel Lester opened an
establishment for the manufacture of crockery ware. It was in operation only about two
years.
During a thaw in the winter of 1837-'8, Mr. James Snow, father of Dr. B. B. Snow, then
about sixty years old, who lived six miles northwest of Portland, being out of tobacco,
of which he was a passionate lover, started to Camden on foot to procure some. Soon
after leaving home the weather began to turn colder; but though thinly clad, he was
sufficiently comfortable until his return, when it began to snow very rapidly, making
him quite wet and hiding the trace he was following, except the blazes upon the trees.
Soon the snow covered most of these, and he discovered he had lost the track entirely,
which he tried in vain to regain. Finding that he was suffering from the cold despite
all his exercise, he endeavored to retrace his steps to Camden. This he found very
tedious work, and soon impossible, on account of the darkness. He now became seriously
alarmed for his safety; wandered about, and called loudly for aid, but received no
answer. By this time he was discouraged and exhausted. He had waded across runs and
through slashes until his feet and lower extremities were very wet; his clothing was
freezing upon him, and he had eaten nothing since early in the morning.
Richland township was organized in May, 1838. It was named by Benjamin Manor. The first election was held at William Richardson's who lived where Laban Hickman now does, on the second Saturday in June, the same year, John Booth, Inspector. James Ewing was the first Justice. Matthew A. Smith held this office for fourteen years. Half Way Post-office was established September 19, 1853, and Samuel J. Current appointed Postmaster. Half Way Creek was so named from being half way between Portland and Muncie, and, from this stream, the Post-office received its name. The village of Mount Vernon was laid out by W. H. Wade, and surveyed by John C. Bailey. Michael Coons, who settled in the township in 1837, has killed several bears and over three hundred deer there.
The first settlers in the vicinity of Dunkirk were Isaiah Sutton and William Shrack, who came in September, 1837. One day, while the men were absent, Mrs. Sutton saw a deer, and, though she had never fired a gun, she took careful aim and shot, killing the deer instantly.
James S. Wilson was the first Postmaster at that office, which was established February 28th, 1856.
Green Township was organized in March, 1838. The first settler was T. J. Shaylor, the next William Coffin. Samuel Routh, William Bunch, Greenbury Coffin and Henry Delong were also early settlers. The Rev. G. C. Whiteman settled where he still lives, Oct. 22d, 1837. Mr. Routh and Christopher I. Timberlake were from Green County, Ohio, and named the township after that county. The first election was at Delong's, the first Monday in August, 1839.
Rev. Wade Posey, who was then on the Winchester Circuit of the Methodist Church, preached the first sermon in the township at Mr. Whiteman's. The first school was taught in the winter of 1845-6, in a school house situated near James Whaley's. The township had no post office until May 22d, 1862, when one was established called Green, and John Stricker appointed Postmaster.
Knox was the last township organized, which was in March, 1839. A. C. Smith and Joseph
John Brooks was the first settler. Brittan Beard, Joseph Gaunt, John Gaunt, Adam Zeigler, Abraham C. Smith and Joshua Bowers were among the early settlers.
The first election was held at Gaunt's, on the first Monday in April, 1839, A. C. Smith, Inspector. There were just seven votes cast, and six officers elected, as follows: Trustees, A. C. Smith, Michael Roland and Joseph Gaunt; Justice, Michael Roland; Clerk, Cornelius Smith; Constable, Adam Zeigler.
The first death in the township was that of Mrs. Jane Beard, wife of Brittan Beard. She died in the fall of 1839, and was the first person buried in the township cemetery. Cornelius Smith taught the first school in the winter of 1838-'39.
The organization of Madison Township has been given. Henry Abel and Benjamin Goldsmith
were the proprietors of Lancaster. It was
In the winter of 1835-'6 William Martin opened a store near Abraham Lotz', which was the first in the county.
One hindering difficulty in the development of the resources of the county has been the
rage for hunting which most of the early settlers possessed. Instead of clearing a farm,
only a small spot was generally opened on which to raise a patch of corn, and the time
principally spent in hunting. It would have been much more profitably employed in making
wider aggressions upon the forests and thus adding new fields to the farm. During the
first stages of the emigrant's life this hunting was an absolute necessity; but was
often, from long habit and love of the excitement of the hunt, continued after the
necessity had passed away. The liberal prices paid for skins by the fur traders also
encouraged the hunting, and the money thus distributed was for many years the chief
dependence of the pioneer families in
The first organized religious and educational effort, in Jay County, was made by Rev. Isaac N. Taylor. He was, emphatically, the leading pioneer in all systematic, effectual labor in these movements. Occupying, as he did, so prominent a position in the county's early history, so thoroughly identified with her best interests, any history of Jay County would be very incomplete without a considerable sketch of his life and labors in it.
In October, 1838, he was sent by the American Home Missionary Society and Presbytery of
Chilicothe, Ohio, to St. Mary's, Ohio, as a Missionary to the new settlements in that
region. Early in the summer of 1840 he received a vague verbal message to the effect
that somebody, thirty or forty miles west of St. Mary's, wanted to see
Six weeks afterward, Mr. Taylor returned, preached for several days at Ira Towle's, sometimes in the barn, and organized a Presbyterian church, of thirteen members, of whom Jacob Bosworth, (though living twelve miles distant,) Harry Reed and M. P. Montgomery were elected elders.
In the afternoon, on the Sabbath, there was a meeting for the relation of personal
Christian experience. Most of the male members of that gathering have gone to their
eternal home. No one can paint so true a picture of these men as Mr. Taylor, who writes
thus: "Father Montgomery, brought into the Kingdom in advanced life, impressed me that
common sense was his great excellence. His story of his conversion showed that the truth
and spirit of Christ had seized upon this ruling power in his conversion, and had ever
since made this trait the chief medium of keeping him from error and preserving his
piety. A memorable morsel in his prayer on that occasion illustrated how child-like
sympathy may rule in company with a masterly will. It was this: 'O, Lord, thou knowest
there is a great work to be done here in Jay County, and we have none to look to but
Thee.' He was a famous framer.
"Ira Towle's hesitating yet honest manner made me say of him, to myself: There is a man that minds his own affairs and keeps his own secrets, and wishes all others to do the same. I found him so. Never obtrusive, he was always in his place, doing, not proposing or discussing, his full share towards all the interests of society. In keeping with all else, he, dying without any immediate heirs, bequeathed most of his property to the cause of Home Missions, amounting to over two thousand dollars.
"Harry Reed's account was unstudied and highly emotional. Some odd, blunt expression
about God's handling him mighty rough, would make us smile, and the next minute we would
find ourselves weeping with him that wept, while he was telling of the almighty love of
Jesus. With him religion was an inwrought principle and law of life, that would always
prevail over the transient errors of sudden impulse or hasty speech. I confided to him,
more than any man in those days,
"M. P. Montgomery, a man of superior intellect and of views and aspirations wide and
high, with both natural and acquired gifts of speech, gave us, in addition to his
Christian evidences, the lively impression that he was, all over, from the sole of his
foot up, for more than six feet, to the crown of his masterly head, a Presbyterian. It
was to be expected that such a man would hail with joy the hopeful beginning of better
times. He deprecated the prevailing type of religion in the country, as contemptuous of
solid knowledge, dignified forms, and practical correctness. He was chiefly instrumental
in getting, at so early a date, the first meeting-house, the block house, Limberlost
Chapel. Soon after the organization of the church, he attended, as elder, a meeting of
the Presbytery, at New Carlisle, Ohio. It was the era of the great Washingtonian
Temperance Reform. One night there was a grand meeting. Several eminent speakers were
present, among them the famous Dr. Hall, of overwhelming brass bugle eloquence. Mr.
Montgomery having
"His stay in the county was only for a few years. Indeed his stay on earth was not long, for, having removed to the vicinity of Fort Wayne, he had scarcely fixed his family comfortably on a new farm, when he was called to another sphere."
In 1841 Ira Towle gave the land for a church site and cemetery. Logs were hewed on four sides and a house erected that year—the first church building in the county.
The first temperance meeting in that part of the county were held in it, and, at one of these, Judge J. M. Haynes made the first public speech. The people who so long worshiped within its walls, abandoned it in 1862, occupying their new house at Westchester.
Though forsaken the rustic church is not forgotten.
The memory of its dear old walls is linked with the cherished remembrance of the many loved ones who sleep near it. As the first altar consecrated to God in the new county, its appearance is rescued from oblivion for the eyes of futute generations. The church organization is now Congregational.
Mr. Taylor accompanied Dr. Bosworth to Portland, where the doctor announced him, on
account of his youth, as a "Presbyterian boy preacher."
The statements and reasonings of Dr. Bosworth's "boy preacher" was the same he had insisted on among his neighbors since they had pitched their tents together in the wilderness. But he had longed to have these truths fastened on men's minds and consciences in a professional way, and his delight on this occasion was great.
For about two years after his first entrance, Mr. Taylor made frequent visits in Jay, and, gradually, a desire sprang up within him to labor for the mental and moral welfare of the county. This was more natural, because, by reason of certain predispositions, he had cherished from boyhood the desire to help lay the foundations of society in a new country. During these visits his acquaintance was enlarged at New Corydon, Camden and in the Hawkins neighborhood, and his desire grew into a fixed intention to spend the vigor and strength of his life in this destitute and difficult, but promising field for intellectual and religious labor.
He moved into the county in February, 1843, and first occupied a cabin belonging to William H. Montgomery, two miles east of Westchester. In addition to preaching to the flock he had gathered there, he preached in the Hawkins cabin for Father Philip Ensminger, then, as he still is, (though now in his ninetieth year,) the meek and venerable white-haired patriarch of that neighborhood. Mr. Taylor's veneration for "first things" and interest in pioneer experience was greatly gratified at Mrs. Hawkins'. The vigorous blood and daring nerve of "Old Kentuck" animated her frame as she would recount the thrilling scenes of their first year among the savage beasts and savage men that then walked curiously and stealthily around her rude earnest of a coming civilization.
Then, on the Wabash, Mr. Taylor would preach for the neighbors in the cabin of Robert Webster, where some of the most solemn and affecting scenes of his ministry were enacted. Here he was aided by the self-denying Missionary Pogue, who, then a student at Lane Seminary, Ohio, spent a three months' vacation in Jay County, and afterward went to the Sandwich Islands, without a wife, because Miss Elizabeth Webster, the intelligent and Christian housekeeper in that cabin, had gone to her grave and her home in heaven.
In 1845 Mr. Taylor, desiring to attend theological lectures at Lane Seminary, moved to Cincinnati. That movement he always regretted; returned in two years and settled in Portland very early in the spring of 1847. For two years he was Agent of the American Sunday School Union, and he accomplished a great work in organizing schools and awakening in the minds of the people an interest in that most useful and effective branch of Christian labor. While living in Portland he engaged in an unprofitable mercantile enterprise with Calvin D. Searl. Late in 1850 he became Principal of the Jay County Seminary, which position he held for two years. During these years, looking forward to the founding of a school, he selected the knoll on the Salimonie by the spring as a suitable spot, and purchased the land of John Smith. The remainder of Mr. Taylor's life in Jay is inseparably connected with Liber College, and will appear in the following chapter.
To build an institution of learning in some new region "where no man had laid a
foundation," had long been a darling enterprise in the mind of I. N. Taylor. In many
respects he was well fitted for the work. He greatly loved life in a new country. He has
spent but a mere fragment of his mature life elsewhere than in the beginnings of
society. This region of tall forests and log-cabins, wide fire places and liberal
chimney-corners, its germs of society planted with plain, genial, warm-hearted pioneers,
was well suited to his tastes and talents. His early settlement here, extensive
acquaintance and sympathy with the people, great influence, unflagging energy, and,
under adverse circumstances, obstinate will, all aided in adapting him to the work he
was
"While these three men were sitting by the spring to which many scores now daily resort, the covenant of his boyhood came vividly to the mind of the Missionary, then in his twenty-fifth year, and an impression sudden and overwhelming as from the whisper or impress of a ministering angel, was settled on his heart, that on this spot he should dwell and execute his covenant with God and a sainted brother."*
Nothing, however, was done toward the enterprise, then so dimly painted in the visions of the future, for ten years, except that Mr. Taylor negotiated for the land. When he moved upon the ground he called the place Salem.
The first public meeting ever held to consider the subject of building a school there, assembled in the "old peeled-log meeting house," near by what was then known as the Salem Cemetery, February 5th, 1853. The persons present were Rev. I. N. Taylor, Jonathan Lowe, Jacob Bosworth, J. H. Topping, Obadiah Winters, Wilson Milligan, David Hays, George W. Templer, William McCormick, Joseph C. Hawkins, John G. Spade, Augustus Bosworth and R. S. Taylor. Mr. Winters was chosen Chairman and Mr. Taylor Secretary.
"The day was bitterly cold; the wind blew a heavy gale, and the snow drifted through the crevices of the cabin, so that not a spot could be found in the room where the Clerk could keep the paper dry. So unusually bitter was the cold storm that a large red-hot stove did not warm the 'peeled-log house.'"*
I. N. Taylor proposed an institution to be called Salem Academy, and argued that "such
an enterprise would be more in harmony with the undeveloped state of the country and the
conceptions of the people, as well as within their means." Mr. Bosworth proposed a
college, arguing that "no school of high grade could be made without foreign aid, and
that such assistance could be more readily obtained for a college." This proposition
prevailed, and the school was named "Liber College," by suggestion of Mr. Taylor. After
this the village took the same name. April 20th, 1853, a notice appeared in the Portland
Journal giving notice of the first election of officers, and on the
3d of May the corporators met and organized themselves into the "Liber College Joint
Stock Company." Shares were placed at $20 each, and the payment of $100 entitled the
holder to a perpetual scholarship. At this meeting the following officers were elected,
being the first officers of the corporation: Trustees, Jacob Bosworth, Wilson Milligan,
Obadiah
"Liber is a latin word of four meanings, which the school-boy sometimes expresses in
the rhyme:
"The significance of the title may be expressed in a sentence. We established, on
liberal principles, in a new woodland, an institution for the education of our children,
in books of practical Science, Religion and Liberty. * * * Rarely was a College, or even
a first rate High School, founded, furnished and finished in the time of one mortal
generation. This we know, and are not crazed or gloomed. The growth of a good
Institution is usually like that of an oak. As men in middle life and old age do not
plant acorns expecting themselves to sit under the expanded and towering boughs of the
embryo oak, so we are not oppressed with swollen fancies of speedy
A college campus of six acres was donated to the company by I. N. Taylor and Jonathan Lowe.
Early in this year, (1853,) the Board contracted with I. N. Taylor to build a house, suitable for the preparatory classes, for one thousand two hundred dollars. The result was that in November of that year the house was ready to be occupied.
In August the site itself was cleared of its native beach trees and old logs.
On the 5th of November, 1853 the school was opened; I. N. Taylor, President and Mrs. Julia A. Weber, Principal of the Primary Department.
During the first term Deacon Jonathan Lowe proposed to place in school a negro boy, living with him, called George Lowe, but whose real name was George Hunter. This displeased a number of the stock-holders, and they became divided on the question of admitting colored persons to the privileges of the school. At once the previous harmony among the original founders was broken. The language of the Constitution of the College being that "the purpose of this Institution is to furnish to any person whomsoever the facilities of a common and collegiate education," those stockholders opposed to the admission of colored persons ceased to co-operate in the management of the College. Afterward (March 22, 1855,) the stockholders voted to reimburse those who had paid stock, not understanding that negroes could be admitted to the school. The result of the withdrawal of these persons was the founing of Farmers' Academy, of which more will be said hereafter.
The first year the school opened with twenty scholars, forty-three being in attendance
during the course of the year. The entire cost of teaching and agency during the first
two years was only about one thousand one hundred and fifty
At the opening of the third year of the school Miss Sarah Jane Miller was the Primary teacher, which position she held for three years. The number of trustees was increased to twelve. During the year I. N. Taylor resigned his office as President of the Board and J. C. Hawkins was appointed to the office. Two rows of rooms were built for self-boarding students, and several new residents came into the village and built houses. Nothing of especial interest occurred then until the fifth year, during which the teachers were as follows: President, I. N. Taylor, Principal Primary Department, Miss S. J. Miller, Assistants, R. S. Taylor, Pulaski Mills, Mattie Tyson, Edmund Lockett, W. G. Montgomery and Hattie A. Weber. The whole number of students during the year was one hundred and seventy-four.
The commencement exercises at the close of that year were distinguished by the graduation of the first class, consisting of M. W. Diggs, Pulaski Mills and R. S. Taylor. Immediately after the latter received his diploma, he stepped forward with Miss Fanny W. Wright, and the newly-crowned Bachelor of Arts lost the first part of his degree.
The following is an extract from the peculiarly appropriate Baccalaureate Address of
President Taylor: "MISSION OF THE PIONEER
COLLEGE. "In new countries there is as much native mind, of good order, in proportion to the
number of inhabitants, as in old countries; and, considering the degenerating
influences of sumptuous and fashionable life in many places, there is even more.
Uncouth men and women may become new settlers, but weak and cowardly men and women
are not likely to brave the toils and dangers of pioneer life. Moreover, these toils
and dangers invigorate the brain, and effectuate a strength of character which ease
and luxury only hinder and prevent. Hence, the children of pioneers are more likely
to exhibit that amount of healthy brain and active nervous organization, which we
call natural talent, than any other class whatever. It is my belief, after the
observation of twenty years, that among the first and second purchasers of new
territory, there is a higher order of vigorous mind than in any other condition of
society. In old England there is a class—the real aristocracy of the
kingdom—whose very aristocracy consists in superior physical and mental
development. To this they are devoted. But in America there is no aristocracy but
that of wealth and fashion, whose votaries, generation after generation, diminish in
physical and mental power. It is left to the perils, privations and gigantic
civilization conflicts of the wilderness, to preserve a type of muscle and brain,
undiminished in compass and vitality. But in such new regions as ours, this natural
talent is covered up under the rubbish of mere neglect. The trees, and brush, and
grass, and mud, are but the emblems of a more concealing intellectual and moral
wilderness, in which the very germs of genius are buried from the world. "Nothing but the broad and bright glare of High School and College light, will ever
reveal these specimens of mental riches, even to the consciousness of the gifted
sons and daughters of the forest. For, the drudgeries of pioneer life, the paucity
of books, the inefficiency of common schools, the limitation of travel and
conversation, the everlasting staying at home, the absence of all sight of great men
and great things, the weakness of most professional efforts in the sick room, at the
bar and in the sacred desk, the raillery of the political platform,—all these
conspire to show us not only the want of adequate causes, but the existence of
hindering causes, respecting the elicitation of true talent and genius. Nothing
short of an actual experiment, of advancing scientific and literary learning, will
draw from their retreats the best specimens of mind. But this will; it will do it in
any new country, and do it effectually. Many a brain of fine compass and vigorous
pulse, throbbing under the compressure of miserable common school facilities, aches
for a larger surrounding, and turns to the young College, like steel to the magnet,
the very day the opportunity is given to gratify the high impulsion. "Generally, the circumstances of new settlers, for many years, do not suffer them
to send their sons and daughters abroad, to the good Institutions of other places.
And besides, there is a natural, and not much unreasonable reluctance, on the part
of our youth, to go suddenly from the rude paths of new-land life to the gorgeous
highways of refinement. "In view of all this, it is simply certain that hundreds of the finest minds of the
section, scattered about in all our new regions, must forever remain lost to the
world and to themselves, without the revealing presence and vivifying power of the
Home College. "But plant the College: open out to view the hitherto unknown beauties of
Literature and grandeurs of Science; furnish the facilities to home-born intellect,
to unfold itself to "By the redemption of buried intellect, then, O heart of our country, cherish thy
own Home College."
Rev. M. W. Diggs is now pastor of the Congregational Church at Pisgah, Mercer County, Ohio. Pulaski Mills has given his time chiefly to teaching, since his graduation, and in June, 1864, was appointed by the County Commissioners, School Examiner of Jay County for three years.
R. S. Taylor studied law with L. M. Ninde, at Fort Wayne, and is now partner in the law
firm of Ninde & Taylor. He has always given much attention to music, and has
acquired considerable well-deserved note as a musical composer. For several years before
he graduated, the words and music for the College exhibitions were, most of them, of his
composition. Many of his pieces have found their way into the later musical
publications, while others have been issued in sheet
In 1855 the Liber Glee Club was formed, of which R. S. Taylor was chorister. In the summer of 1856 it gave concerts at different places, which were the first ever given in the county.
During the summer session of 1857, Pulaski Mills was Principal of Liber College. For the year 1858-9, Miss Jane A. Montgomery was Principal of the Primary Department.
In March, 1857 Vynul Arnett was chosen President of the Board, in the room of J. C. Hawkins, resigned, which position he held for two years.
With the close of the sixth year of the Institution, President Taylor closed his official connection with it, and, in September, 1859, moved to Illinois. For a paragraph, that he may not be misunderstood, the author must speak plainly.
Thus ended Mr. Taylor's fourteen years in Jay County. During all this time he devoted
his great energies and talents to the intellectual and moral interests of her people.
Unambitious of wealth or fame, he gave his time and means
Many of these youths are now the teachers of the county, many others teach elsewhere, and still others are filling various important positions in society. With small means, great obstacles and many other discouragements, he, nevertheless, accomplished a great work. But his usefulness was but beginning, had his course not been such, before his departure and since, as to deeply grieve and mortify his many former friends, and cripple his usefulness.
He was a graduate of Athens College, Ohio, possessed a clear, strong mind, and profound knowledge of human nature. This attracted to him many warm friends, and gave him, for many years, great influence. His sermons were characterized by profoundness of thought and beauty of expression, but were long, and rather quietly delivered. He now resides in Nebraska, and is a surveyor on the Pacific Railroad.
Accompanying some statements of his early life in Jay, which have been substantially
embodied in this work, President Taylor sent the following
I have spent my New Year's in preparing the rough sketch contained on these
leaves. With much difficulty I compose my shattered nerves to write anything
that brings up the events that so interested me in Jay—that dear scene of
all my effective existence, and where my heart yet lingers in imperishable
longings, but from which I am sundered forever * * * * Wishing you much pleasure and success in your good work, I remain,ASHVILLE, ILLINOIS,R. M. W. MONTGOMERY:
Dear Sir:AYLOR.
In 1859 the Board of Trustees invited Rev. Ebenezer Tucker, of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, to become President of the College. He accepted, and moved to Liber that year. He has since been constantly engaged in the college, preparing scores of young men and women to be teachers of common and graded schools. He was educated at Whitesboro, New York and Oberlin College. Prior to his residence in Illinois, he was, for eight years, Principal of the Union School, at Spartansburg, Indiana.
During the first term of the college year of 1859-60, Elihu H. Votaw, now a student at Wheaton College, Illinois, was the Principal. Since that time the Principals of the Primary Department have been Miss Edith S. Bailiff, of Fulton, Ohio, Miss Bell A. Johnston, now Mrs. G. W. Loofbourrow, and Miss Helen M. Johnston, of Bell Centre, Ohio.
The Presbyterian church in Portland divided in 1854, and the seceding members organized a Congregational church at Liber.
The first Musical Institute held in the county was at Liber, in December, 1863, by W. S. Montgomery, and M. Z. Tinker, of Terre Haute, Indiana.
Concerning the Liber Spring, now owned by D. C. Baker, Esq., the following letter embraces all that need be said. It was written without the faintest idea of its appearing here, and is, consequently, as fresh and lively as the limpid waters that still rise from that dearly loved fountain under the hill. It is inserted without the knowledge of the writer, for who is so well prepared to speak of that Spring as he who, for more than ten years, made it daily visits?
After as much reflection as I can readily give to any one subject, with the
mercury at 95°, I can think of nothing that I would particularly wish to have
The numerous veins that oozed through the banks of the Salimonie, and painted
their way to the water's edge with a slimy green and yellow glazing, seemed
almost uniformly, judging from taste and odor, to have come from some locality
where sulphur much abounded. A pure, clear, cold spring as this was, was rarely
found, and was highly prized. There was no house very near it;—there had
been one years before on the hill just above, but it was then a mere heap of
rotten logs. It may have been a dwelling house, or only a hunter's lodge. I
remember picking up some pieces of broken china near it. The painted flowers on
them were as bright and fresh as new. The cheeks of the girl who washed them
must have long since lost their roses. The old spring was then a mere hole in
the ground; it had not even the usual protection of a sycamore gum. There was a
well-worn path leading to it, into which several others converged, and which was
much traveled by those who lived up the Salimonie, on their way to and from the
county seat. There was at one time a gourd supplied to it by some
public-spirited person, and kept But the circumstance most interesting to my mind of any connected with the old
spring, and one which shows what little things determine the course of human
affairs, is that its existence there determined the location of "Liber College"
where it is. I well remember the day when my father and mother first went out to
examine the land on which the College now stands, and with what glowing
enthusiasm they spoke, when they came back, of the "pure, cold spring" that was
there. There were a good many difficulties in the way of getting the land: the
price asked was considered high, and the title was in the hands of several
persons, so that it took many conveyances and considerable trouble and outlay to
secure it; and in the long and persevering efforts that resulted in its
purchase, I know that the spring was a leading motive. If you will examine the
original " I do request that if you have not already done so, and your book is not now in
type, you will make some mention of the "old spring."ORT WAYNE, Indiana,EAR FRIEND M.:manifesto" of the College you will find the spring
prominently and honorably referred to.
THE first meeting to consider the subject of founding this school
was held at the house of G. W. Templer, then living at College Corner, in the spring of
1854. Another meeting was afterward held at David O. Whipple's. The members of the first
Board of Trustees were Jacob Bosworth, President; Obadiah Winters, G. W. Templer, James
Templer, J. G. Spade, John J. Adair, Geo. Blazer, John Reed, Lewis J. Bell, Augustus
Bosworth.
James Templer, now a resident of Indianapolis, donated the site for the building, and Jacob Bosworth built the house—a frame, twenty-five by fifty-six feet, and two stories high—for $900.
Mr. C. C. Chamberlain, a graduate of Antioch College, taught for the first six months,
commencing December 10th, 1854, Miss Katurah Winters
On the 5th of July, 1858, the school was sold to the Northern Indiana Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and Rev. W. F.
The last Post Office (College Corner) established in the county, was near this place, on May 30th, 1862. Jonas Votaw was the first Postmaster;—Jacob Bosworth is the present one.
In June, 1847, the County Commissioners contracted with Jacob Bosworth to build the "Jay County Seminary." It was not finished until 1848. The first term of school in it was taught by Mr. Thomas T. Loomis. For the year 1850 Mr. Calvin J. Parker was the Principal, and for the two following years Rev. I. N. Taylor occupied that position, which was the last school taught in it. In 1853 the county sold the building to Elias Bromagem, who occupied it for several years, when it was forfeited to the county, who in 1860 resold it to B. W. Hawkins, who has since made it his residence.
The cold winter of 1842 and '43 will long be remembered by the early settlers of Jay
and the adjoining counties. On the 12th of November, 1842, the ground was covered by a
fall of snow, which did not entirely leave until April, 1843.
Another trying time for the settlers of Jay County was the rainy summer of 1844. All
the streams overflowed the low lands many times during the season. The farmers found it
impossible to plow or plant, and no crop was raised. Large numbers of families left
their cabins and clearings, and moved back to the older settlements, most of whom never
returned. Had it been
Among the pioneers of Jay was an oddity called Johnny Appleseed. His proper name was John Chapman. Many years ago he brought from Central Ohio, two bushels of apple-seed, on the back of an ox, and cleared small patches of ground on the headwaters of the Loramie, Anglaise, St. Mary's and Wabash rivers, besides various other places, and planted apple-seeds. In the early settlement of this county, he was wandering about, from one nursery to another, camping wherever night overtook him, selling trees. He had a nursery on the Wabash one mile east of New Corydon. He never carried a gun or wore a sound piece of clothing, though he possessed considerable property; never slept in a bed, or ate at a table; had no place he called home; was a devoted Swedenborgian in religion, and died near Fort Wayne in 1845. He had once been a fine business man, but an accident had caused a partial derangement of his mind. The trees from his nurseries are bearing fruit in a dozen different counties in Indiana, and thousands are enjoying the fruit who never saw or heard of Johnny Appleseed.
The first newspaper ever published in Jay County was The Portland
Journal, issued in the summer of 1852, by Mr. James M. Bromagen,
On the 20th of February, 1856, Rev. I. N. Taylor issued, at Liber, The
Liber Lamp, a small, four-column weekly paper, devoted to the general interests
of the College. It was first printed in the basement of the College, and had about four
hundred subscribers. Its emblematical head was "Science, Religion, Liberty," and its
motto, "Semper Liber, Neuter Nunquam." In this form it passed through
the first volume. The second volume, which closed its career, was published by R. S. and
W. J. Taylor, and the size reduced to a sheet two columns wide and just seven inches
long, issued monthly.
In November, 1856, Mr. William McCormick started The Jay County
Democrat. In May, 1858, Mr. George H. Moore became a partner in the ownership of
the paper. It had about three hundred subscribers, and was discontinued October 26th,
1859.
The Jay County Republican was first issued in March, 1858, by Hon. J.
P. C. Shanks and L. M. Morrison. In a short time Mr. Morrison sold to William S. Jones,
and on the 13th of April, 1859, the last number was issued.
The Jay Torch-Light was first issued September 8th, 1859, by M. W.
Montgomery. The printing office was first in one room of the then abandoned old brick
Court House; but fearing the crazy old building would tumble down and extinguish the light, the office was moved to Miller's building. The first few weeks it
had three hundred subscribers, but before the close of the volume the number had
increased to five hundred and seventy-five. On the 18th of July, 1861, R. C. Harper
became one of the proprietors, but re-sold to Mr. Montgomery April 17th, 1862. At the
close of the third volume Mr. Montgomery sold the paper to Mr. P. S. Loofbourrow, who is
the present proprietor.
The Jay County Times was issued August 1st, 1860, by George H. Moore,
and discontinued in the following spring.
It is not certainly known whether The Jay County Clipper ever reached
an actual existence or not. However, one number made its appearance in December, 1862,
issued by Jacob Simmons, and three or four more numbers followed semi-occasionally
during the winter, in one of
On the 8th of October, 1863, Mr. C. C. Morical commenced the publication of The Democratic Review, but in a few weeks abandoned it, since which time
it has been conducted by Dr. T. J. Lafollet. It has about six hundred subscribers.
In May, 1862, the County Commissioners opened sealed bids for building a new jail. The
bids were as follows:
Augustus Bosworth,
$4,200M. A. Reeder, Winchester,
4,000Crowell, Conkel and Denney,
3,960W. H. and M. W. Montgomery,
2,237
The latter firm having bidden $1,663 lower than the others, was awarded the contract. They completed the building by the following December. The iron cells were made and put up by Macey, Rankin & Co., of Cincinnati. The total cost of the jail was $6,600.
In 1861, Jonas Votaw, Esq., was appointed a member of the Board of Directors for the Northern Indiana State's Prison, which position he held for two years.
Jay County has, as yet, no completed railroad. Four tracks, passing through the county,
are projected; on three of them much grading has been done. The map shows their names
and routes.
Jay County still has its hunters. Quite a company of old hunters are in the habit of making yearly visits to Paulding County, Ohio, for the purpose of hunting. John Williams, probably, goes more frequently than others. He is a hunter of considerable note, though he did not settle in the county in those early days when the hunters had undisputed possession of the territory. In the winter of 1863-4, he and O. McKinstry killed twenty-one deer.
The census of Jay County was taken, for 1840, by Morrison Rulon, for 1850 by J. M. Haynes and N. B. Hawkins, for 1860, by J. N. Templer and Ira Denney.
The population, in 1840, was not taken by townships, and is reported in total at 3,863. During that year 16,018 pounds of maple sugar were made in the county.
On the night of the 4th of February, 1862, the Treasury of Jay County was robbed of
four thousand six hundred dollars, of which one hundred belonged to Doctor E. R.
Sheffield, and about two hundred dollars to B. W. Hawkins. County
Barker was tried first. William Brandon turned State's evidence, was released from
trial, The Jay
Torch-Light, by M. W. Montgomery, developed the following facts:
Johns planned the robbery, Barker and Blackburn did the robbing, and Brandon piloted them. They got the keys of the treasurer's office and safe from Mr. Winter's house. Barker's trial lasted five days and resulted in his conviction, and a sentence of three year's imprisonment. Johns' trial also lasted five days, and he was sentenced to four years in the penitentiary.
Barker and Johns were immediately taken to the Michigan City penitentiary. John's case was taken to the Supreme Court, on the point that, though one of the accomplices in the larceny, he was not, at any time, in the State of Indiana, and, therefore, could not be tried in this State. The Supreme Court sustained this view—a decision which, though perhaps constitutional, is certainly a very dangerous one—and in a few months he was released.
In May, 1862, Blackburn was again caught and confined in the Muncie Jail, from which he
soon escaped. He was, however, retaken in a few months and placed in the new jail at
Portland. From this he also escaped by sawing off the iron bars in the windows. He was
now retaken the third time and tried at Winchester in September,
For several years a lawsuit, resulting from a horse-trade, had been in progress between Mr. Elias Bromagem and Samuel Emery, a man of bad character. During this time some one shot at and slightly wounded Mr. Bromagem, who then lived near Hill Grove, Ohio, and Emery was accused of the crime. In May, 1862, William Bromagen being at home from the army, on furlough, met Emery on the street in Portland, and after some words, Bromagem drew a revolver and fired three shots at Emery, all of which took effect—one in the left arm, and two entering his back, passed through his body. He ran through R. Kirschbaum's store and up stairs in Miller's building, and while endeavoring to shoot Bromagem from the window, fell and rolled down stairs out into the street. He died May 31st, 1862. Bromagem immediately returned to the army.
A distinguished historian has said, "Blessed is the nation whose annals are tiresome."
Those pages of a nation's history are most interesting which record events that caused
the nation to weep and bleed—when the ship of State has been convulsed by mutinies
or endangered by raging storms, or the attacks of enemies. But when she sails quietly,
upon smooth seas, her crew loyal, her flag honored in every port, the pages of her
history grow tedious. The historian delineates not the peaceful, prosperous life of the
nation, but lingers about those great crises in her history, from which she rises to a
more glorious renown, or falls into the pit of ruin. The history of Jay County,
likewise, decreases in interest as we recede from those trials and incidents which
cluster around her early settlement, and enter upon the prosperous quarter of a century
which followed her organization in 1836. During these years her progress, though not
rapid, has been steady and healthful. The long delay in the completion of the railroads
contemplated through her borders, has greatly hindered the accumulation of wealth and
development of her resources. There are few events in these years prominent above the
monotonous routine of civilized life. How gladly would we drop our record here: "But there's a divinity that shapes our ends,"
The attack of the rebels upon Fort Sumter—inaugurating the most gigantic contest
the world has ever seen—and President Lincoln's proclamation of April 14th, 1861,
calling for seventy-five thousand volunteers to put down the rebellion, was received by
the people of Jay County with one mind. Traitors had appealed from the peaceful court of
the ballot-box, to the bloody arbitrament of the sword and bullet, and were ruthlessly
waging war upon the nation. The people saw no way to preserve the honor and
institututions of the country but to crush the rebellion by force of arms. The contest
soon assumed proportions so vast as to astonish the world. Yet
Being distant from railroads and daily papers, the people of the county did not so early awaken to the realities of the war as those centres which more quickly felt the heart-throbbings of the wounded and bleeding country. For this reason no full company was raised for the three months' service; but many went and entered companies forming in other counties.
The first citizen of Jay County to volunteer was CHARLES E. BENNETT. He was a young man, and student at Liber College. When he read
the call for troops he told President Tucker that he was going. He went to Winchester,
joined a company there, but was rejected. But, determined to serve his country, he went
to Indianapolis, joined company C, 8th Indiana regiment, and by hiding his glasses for
his near-sightedness,
he again enlisted in company F, 75th regiment Indiana volunteers, and this
time gave his life for his country. He died of disease while the company was at
Castillian Springs, Tennessee, about the 1st of December, 1862. He was a kind-hearted,
honest young man, and had been raised a Quaker.
The first effort made to raise a whole company in Jay County, for the war was in July, 1861. Quite a number from different parts of the county had already gone—hastening, at the first clash of arms, to the scene of conflict. Meetings were held at several places in the county, at which Judge J. M. Haynes, J. N. Templer and others addressed the people. But at first volunteers were slowly obtained, because the people had not yet become warriors, and, beside, it was then considered by many as preposterous to think of raising a whole company in the county. But after the first thirty men were obtained no more difficulty was experienced.
Those most actively engaged in enlisting the company were Messrs. C. H. Clark, S. L.
Wilson and Nimrod Headington. On the 6th of August they were ordered to report at
Indianapolis at
The parting scenes were thus sketched at the time by "Early on Friday morning the 'reveille' summoned the soldiers
together at Camp Ross, and a march around town was the order. This the boys
performed with the greatest enthusiasm. They marched in front of each house where
any of them had been boarding, and gave them hearty cheers. By this time the people
from all parts of the county began to assemble, to witness the departure of the
volunteers and bid them farewell. "The town was soon crowded. Everything and everybody was in motion; and as the
afternoon approached, many countenances were serious and sorrowful. But the
volunteers seemed in the highest spirits and full of enthusiasm at the prospect of
an early chance to fight for their country and slay rebels. The farmers of the
county had tendered their services with their teams, to take the boys to Winchester,
so freely that more teams were on the ground than could be used. About one o'clock,
P. M., the soldiers were drawn up in line, the wagons and carriages brought out, and
preparations were being made to start. This was the last opportunity to say
'Farewell' to the brave fellows who were now going to the war, perhaps never to
return; and it was well improved. It is useless for us to attempt a description of
the scenes and incidents of that parting. The streets were filled with men and women
crowding around the volunteers, shaking hands, speaking words of encouragement,
giving the parting charge, and bidding farewell. "It was an affecting scene. Few indeed were the eyes not wet with tears at that
hour. The volunteers met the occasion like soldiers: they wept, as good soldiers
always can, but they swerved not a moment in their purpose to go forth and fight for
the maintenance of our glorious Government."The Jay
Torch-Light, more vividly than they can be at this distant date:
Amid loud cheers and the waving of hats and handkerchiefs, the long train of wagons and
carriages started, carrying two hundred persons, over one hundred of whom were a
citizens' escort. At Winchester the citizens gladly entertained the soldiers, and the
next day they reached Indianapolis; were sent to Camp Morton, and on the 11th were sworn
into the United States service for three years. Here they remained nearly one month,
when they were assigned to the 39th
That was the first hard march experienced by company C. Only those who have performed
On the 10th of October they "struck tents" and marched to Camp Nevin, twelve miles
farther South. The force collected at this camp was the nucleus of what afterward became
the grand "Army of the Cumberland." It was near this camp that the first blood of the
Rebellion which fell upon Kentucky soil, was shed. Forty picked scouts (Jefferson Sewell
and W. H. Blowers, from company C,) were sent out under Lieutenant Colonel Jones against
a marauding body of two
It was here, also, that company C was first called upon to lay some of its members in a
soldier's grave. In a quiet, country grave-yard, on the banks of Nolin River, this
sorrowing company consigned to the tomb the remains of Sergeant ROBERT G. JACKSON, who died, December 6th, 1861, of typhoid
fever. He was sick for a long time in a church near the camp, used for a hospital, where
the best care possible under the circumstances was bestowed upon him. He was a brave
soldier, a true and generous friend, and well beloved by his fellow soldiers and friends
at home.
On the tenth of the same month another brave young man from that company—John McCroskey—was consigned to a resting place beside his comrade Jackson.
On the tenth of December the army marched to Munfordsville or Green River, Camp Wood.
Here the army remained until February 15th, 1862, when, a sufficient force having
collected, it moved against Bowling Green, occupied by General Buckner. A flank movement
by General ROWNLOW. Upon alighting from his vehicle,
he waved his hat, raised his eyes towards heaven and shouted "Glory to God! once more
inside the Union pickets!"
On arriving at Nashville, some were entirely bare-footed, having traveled in that condition many weary miles over the rough stone pike, their feet blistered and bleeding. But their hardships were borne with heroic fortitude, and that wise philosophy which quietly submits to ills that cannot be remedied. They consoled themselves with allusions to the privations of the Revolutionary fathers, and seemed proud to be called upon to emulate their courage and fortitude. But supplies soon arrived.
On the 16th of March, 1862, the army at Nashville, (General Buell's,) set out on the
march for the south-west. On Saturday, April 5th, Major
In the morning the roaring of cannon told them that the contest on the battle-field was renewed, even more fiercely than on the day previous. A boat transferred their brigade, consisting of the 32d and 39th Indiana, and 15th and 49th Ohio to the scene of conflict, arriving about 11 o'clock a.m. The fighting was then nearly two miles from the landing.
Standing upon the boat's deck they listened to the noise of the battle, which was one
continual
The "By letter from Lieutenant Clark, we learn the part borne
by the Jay County boys in the great battle of Shiloh. They were in the thickest of
the fight for two and one-half hours, and, during that time, the rebels commenced
their retreat. They fought bravely and well, though it was the Jay Torch-Light of April 24th, speaking of this company
said: first battle they had ever engaged in. It was a trying time to their nerve
and courage. For nearly two days the battle had raged most furiously, and, more than
half that time the rebels had driven our men. The boys heard the cannonading from
the opening roar and had seen hundreds of the wounded and dying borne from the
field. In these circumstances they were called into the field and placed in the
centre. It was like marching into the jaws of death. But they went forward boldly
and fought well. All honor to them. Jay County is proud of her
soldiers."
Captain Wilson being at home on the recruiting service, the company was commanded by Lieutenants J. G. Cowell and C. H. Clark. The casualties in company C were as follows: Stephen J. Bailey, mortally wounded in the thigh, James Q. Odle, mortally wounded in, the arm, Edwin Hoover, wounded in left arm, Penbroke S. Bodle, slightly in the neck, J. N. Stratton, slightly in the neck.
When Bailey was being carried from the field, he said to Lieutenant Clark, "Tell my
mother I died like a man, fighting for my country." At that moment the cheers of our
troops were heard, and he inquired what it meant. Upon being told that the rebels were
running, he said, "Then I die in peace." He was carried from the field, placed upon a
boat, and taken to Mound City Hospital, Illinois, where he died, April 17th, 1863. He
was a very intelligent young man, interesting in conversation, quiet and industrious. He
was the son of Mrs. Mary Bailey, of Camden, and was raised a Quaker. He was the first soldier from Jay County to yield up his life to rebel
bullets, and was worthy of this honorable niche in the history of the War.
James Q. Odle died at the residence of his brother, at Windsor, Randolph County, Indiana, June 18th, 1862. His remains were interred at Deerfield, Indiana.
Many soldiers contracted diseases from exposure by encamping on the field after the heat and excitement of that battle. Among them was Mr. James Hathaway, who died May 16th, 1862, at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He was forty-eight years of age when he volunteered in his country's service, leaving a large family. He was a Christian, in every sense of the term. While he served God faithfully, he was true to his country. He was the patriarch and moral monitor of the company. Vice, in many of its members, he would reprove in a manner that always elicited from the reproved warm love and respect, and they all sincerely mourned his death. From his position as musician, he was not required to go into battle, but, laying aside the fife at Pittsburg Landing, he went with the comany into the battle, unarmed, but seizing the first deserted musket, bravely fought until the battle was over. His memory will be cherished as one of Jay County's noblest soldiers.
The army encamped on the battle-field for several days, then marched against Corinth. At Bridge Creek, company C participated in a severe fight, but received no injury.
They remained near Corinth until about the middle of June, when they marched southward
to Huntsville, Alabama, arriving there July 4th. Here the 39th were ordered to
Bridgeport,
In this fatiguing march the soldiers were most of the time destitute of rations, and had to exist upon fruit, green corn and meat supplied by foraging parties. As the corn became hard they parted their canteens and, punching them full of holes, made graters, from which, with commendable perseverance, they manufactured sufficient corn meal to keep off actual want, yet many nights they had to lie down, not only tired, but very hungry.
The appearance of the army on reaching Louisville clearly indicated the hard marching and privations to which it had been subjected. Tarrying long enough to replenish their exhausted wardrobe, on the 1st day of October, 1862, they again started on the long, forward march to redeem the territory which incompetency, or half-hearted loyalty had given to the rebellion.
The marching was as severe in this advance as it had been in the retreat. The weather was very hot, the earth parched, and water scarce. The men often marched until midnight, and would then have to walk one or two miles for water. Swine were driven from the wallow and the water used to make coffee and quench thirst, and, on one occasion, even drinking water from a hole in which lay dead horses, mules and dogs! and, at other times, pushing back a green scum, an inch in thickness, to fill their canteens. Amid these trying circumstances, an indomitable spirit of patriotism prevailed and few complaints were uttered.
At Nashville, General Rosecrans succeeded to the command, in the place of Buell, removed, who was hailed with enthusiastic delight by the Army of the Cumberland.
General Bragg had halted in his precipitate retreat, and fortified Murfreesboro, and the 39th being encamped some distance in front of Nashville, were much of the time skirmishing with scouting parties of the enemy.
On the 25th of December General Rosecrans ordered an attack upon the rebels, which was
the preliminary of the great battle of Stone River. On the night of the 29th, the army
encamped upon the open field before the enemy. On the 30th an engagement with part of
the line took place, and General McCook's Division, in which was the
Just at daylight, next morning, the enemy, several lines deep, attacked the 39th, driving them back in confusion, killing and capturing many. The loss of company C was as follows: John Hilton, mortally wounded, Eugene Plumb, mortally wounded, Cyrus Stanley, severely wounded, Gr. H. Bassett, severely wounded in groin, John McClelland, wounded in neck, and forty prisoners, as indicated in the list of members.
On New Year's, 1864, these prisoners were put on board the cars at Murfreesboro and started toward Richmond, where they arrived in two weeks, having suffered severely on the route, for want of food. They were first confined in a tobacco warehouse, and afterward in Libby Prison. Their stomachs rebelled against the meagre, unsavory prison rations. A small loaf of bread, some soup and bad beef, was, at first, an allowance for each man, daily, but, before they left, this supply was divided between six men.
On the 28th of January, 1863, the unwounded privates of company C, with many others,
marched through the city to the canal. While crossing this the bridge gave way and
precipitated them twenty feet, into water fifteen feet deep. The canal was walled with
stone, and the men could not get out without assistance, but the guard
During the battle, Cyrus Stanley was struck near the back-bone, by a musket ball, which entered his right kidney. While Daniel Walter was helping him off the field, Stanley's hat was shot off, and two balls passed through Walter's clothes. But they were both captured. With his wound undressed and bleeding, on platform cars, without covering, Stanley was taken to Chattanooga, having been three days and nights without one morsel of food! Six rebel surgeons examined his wound and pronounced it fatal. But his quiet spirit and courageous determination saved him from a southern grave.
On the 5th of March, 1863, he and thirteen others were taken to Knoxville, and thence
(March 8th) to Libby Prison—that dungeon whose mention brings to mind all that is
horrible and revolting in human suffering. All this time Stanley had not recovered
sufficiently to walk, even upon crutches. He was confined in a room with
In all of these company C have borne an honorable part, reflecting credit upon themselves and the county they represent, and with heroic deeds inscribing an imperishable record upon the annals of their country.
The following were nine-months' drafted or substitute recruits, who joined this
company-all now discharged except one. They were drafted October 6th, 1862:
RECAPITULATION.
Volunteers
130Drafted Recruits
14Died
17Resigned and Discharged
27
The history of company C has been given at length for several reasons. It was the first company to go from the county, and has been longest in the service. Many things, also, connected with its history can be related of all other Jay County companies; but having been given, need not be repeated.
During the latter part of August, 1861, James W. Campbell and Nimrod Headington
recruited a company for the three years service. An
On the 21st of October they went to Camp Jo. Holt, at Indianapolis; thence, November
16th, to New Haven, Kentucky; remained there until the 28th of December, when they moved
to Camp Wickliffe. In February, 1862, they marched to the mouth of Salt River, in the
same State. The company had been very healthy until near the close of the year 1861,
when, in about one month, eight of its members died, most of them of pneumonia. Their
health began to improve with their removal from Camp Wickliffe. At the mouth of Salt
River the regiment embarked on board a steamboat for Point Commerce, on the Mississippi
River, in the State of Missouri. They marched across the country from this place by the
way of Benton to New Madrid. The company took part in the siege of that town, and while
so engaged they assisted in hauling a heavy cannon by hand to Biddle Point, a distance
of fifteen miles, through swamps, and in the night. With this gun four of the rebel
gunboats were driven off, one of which was disabled. After the capture of New Madrid,
the company remained at that place until the 15th of June, 1862, when the 34th regiment
was ordered on board transports and proceeded to Memphis, Tenn. Remaining there but a
short time, they accompanied Col. Graham N. Fitch in his expedition up the White River.
This company participated in the fight at Grand
Before narrating the stirring events that come next in chronological order, it is proper to state that Col. Steele having resigned, Lieut. Col. (now General) Cameron became Colonel. Prior to this Lieut. Headington had been detailed to command company K, of the same regiment; but Captain Campbell having been appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Arkansas colored regiment, he became Captain of company B. The regiment was assigned to the 13th Army Corps, 12th Division, commanded by Gen. A. P. Hovey.
The 30th day of April was spent in transporting the troops across the river, preparing
rations, and
The engagement now became general along the whole line. Our army, however, marched steadily through a dense cane-brake, some four hundred yards, and, on emerging from this thicket, one of the enemy's batteries was discovered only about two hundred yards distant, which was belching forth grape and canister at a furious rate.
A charge was ordered, and, in a short time, the battery was captured, together with two wagons loaded with ammunition, and about three hundred prisoners.
The 34th regiment was in the advance in this charge, and six men in company B were wounded, one of whom, Bailiff. W. Stowell, died of his wounds.
The battle continued through the whole day
On the 3d of May the army moved toward Jackson, Mississippi, and, after taking that place, started in the direction of Vicksburg.
On the 16th of May the battle of Champion Hills was fought. General Hovey's Division bore the brunt of the fight. Company B, of the 34th regiment, lost in killed and wounded, seventeen men.
Captain Headington, two days after the battle writes: "We fought another hard battle on
the 16th, in which many of our brave boys fell. In my company first fell, by my side,
William H. H. Bailey, mortally wounded, next Staley, then Chapman on my right fell,
mortally wounded, while defending the colors. Then, on my left, Perry was killed, then
fell Swaney, mortally wounded, then Geiger, wounded in the leg, then Doyle, wounded in
the shoulder, Airley, wounded in the thigh, Pugh, wounded in the back, Daniel Crisler,
in the arm, George Denney, in the hand, William Louk, in the hand, D. Shinn, in the
wrist, James Crislee, in the shoulder, Houk, in the hand, Hammitt in the
leg—seventeen in all. Never did
The enemy was completely routed and driven from the field, leaving their dead and wounded. The 16th and part of the 18th were spent in burying the dead.
On the morning of the 19th, the army moved in the direction of Vicksburg, and, on the 20th, at early dawn, came in sight of the doomed city. Then commenced the memorable seige of that town, which resulted in its surrender, with the entire army, under General Pemberton, on the 4th of July, 1863.
This company was engaged in this siege from the commencement to its close, shooting during the day, and digging in the trenches during the night, yet not one of them was injured by the shots of the enemy during the whole time.
On the 5th of July the regiment started for Jackson, Mississippi, under General Sherman, when the rebel General Johnston was driven from that place, and many miles of railroad destroyed.
Early in August the regiment went to Natches, and thence to New Orleans, where they
The regiment returned to New Orleans on the 23d day of December. On the 29th, they embarked on board a steam-ship for Matagorda Peninsula, Texas. After remaining there two months the regiment returned to New Orleans on the 23d of February, 1864, where they remained until the 20th of March, when the re-enlisted men were furloughed for thirty days. They started for their homes immediately, arriving at Indianapolis on the 29th, and, on the 1st of April, were given a grand reception by the Governor and other dignitaries of the State and city of Indianapolis.
On the morning of the 3d of April the veterans belonging to Jay County received the
greetings
After spending a month among their friends they again returned to their field of service. Arriving at Indianapolis on the 2d of May, 1864, they remained one week at Camp Carrington and the 19th of May found them again at New Orleans, where they still remain.
Before the regiment left Indianapolis, Captain Headington was promoted to Major of the 34th regiment.
This company, throughout the varied and arduous services in which they have been engaged, have, on all occasions, acquitted themselves with distinguished honor, and, in the future, they will not be found wanting in bravery, patient endurance and devotion to their country's cause in every trial to which the fortunes of war may subject them.
Company E was recruited in August, 1862, and, on the 18th of that month, left Jay for camp, having first accepted a bountiful farewell supper from the ladies. The next day they reached camp at Wabash, Indiana, Colonel John U. Pettit, commandant, where the following officers were unanimously elected: Captain, Joseph P. Winters, First Lieutenant, Royal Denney, Second Lieutenant, Levi James.
On the 26th they went to Indianapolis, where they received arms, uniforms, one month's wages, and twenty-five dollars of their bounty. They arrived in Louisville August 31st. Thus, in about twenty days, this full company had been recruited, armed, equipped and had arrived in Dixie, ready for active service which they were soon called upon to perform.
They reached Munfordsville, Kentucky, September 3d, where they were stationed to guard the railroad bridge across Green river.
There were two small forts here, one above, the other below the bridge, between which a
line of breastworks had been commenced, and negroes were now at work upon them. The
number of
Company E lost one man, Jonathan Cloud, seriously wounded. The next day our men received a reinforcement of two regiments and six pieces of artillery.
Chalmer's force proved to be only the advance of Bragg's great army, a part of which
completely surrounded our small force, planting artillery on every hill lying around the
fortifications. It was a useless waste of life to contend longer, and, on the morning of
the 17th of September, the entire Federal force surrendered. It is notorious that
General Buell, being near by with his immense army, might easily have turned this
disaster into a victory, but he failed to do it. These prisoners
On the 27th of October they returned to parole camp, at Indianapolis, where, on the 17th of November, just two months after their surrender, Governor Morton, in a speech, informed them that they had been exchanged.
On the 4th of December they took the cars for Cairo, Illinois, where they proceeded
aboard the Ohio Belle, bound for Memphis, where they arrived December 8th, and camped
one mile southeast of the city. They performed picket duty around the city until near
the close of the month, when they were stationed in Fort Pickering, on the river just
below the city, where they remained nearly one year—until October 18th, 1863. This
long period of the history of this company, though
On the 7th of April, 1863, Capt. J. P. Winters was honored with the appointment from Gen. Veatch of Provost Marshal of Fort Pickering, which position he filled with much credit during his stay at the fort. During this absence of the Captain the company was commanded by Lieut. White.
There was great joy in company E when, October 18th, they were removed from the Fort to
a beautiful camping ground on Poplar street, east of Memphis, and again assigned to
picket duty around the city. Here the boys declare the pleasantest part of their
soldier-life was spent. The duty was light; but above all the pure air and exercise they
now enjoyed, so in contrast with their long confinement in the Fort, brought back health
and buoyancy of spirits to the men. But a soldier's comfort and ease is always of short
duration. While here they participated in a victorious engagement against Gen. Forrest,
at Lafayette, and pursued him to Cold Water, Miss., returning to Memphis New Year's,
1864. January 28th they left their beautiful camping ground, and boarded a steamer, in
company with a small fleet starting to Vicksburg, where they arrived on the 30th
Six days after their return they set out—under command of Gen. A. J.
Smith—upon an expedition up Red River. On their way they halted at Semmesport,
marched across the country, and after a hard fight captured Fort De Russey and three
hundred prisoners, March 14th. On the 21st of the same month they were sent to Pine
Hill, La., twenty miles from Alexandria, where they captured three hundred prisoners,
four pieces "Why General Banks ordered a retreat is a
mystery to all. Here was the battle-field covered with the dead and wounded rebels,
neither of them taken care of. Here were thousands of small arms left on the field,
sufficient to arm several thousand men, eleven pieces of artillery dismounted or
disabled. This had been done by our men, but we must leave all for the rebels to
gather up again. Our own dead were not even buried. A thousand groans and ten
thousand curses were hurled against Banks."
The army fell back to Grand Ecore and then to Alexandria, skirmishing almost
constantly—reaching Alexandria April 26th, just one month after they left it for
Shreveport. They continued their course down Red River till May 7th, when a severe
engagement took place, in which the rebels were defeated, company E losing one mortally
wounded. May 17th they reached Semmesport
Company H was recruited in August, 1862; left Portland September 9th; reported at Wabash, when it organized by electing the following officers: Captain, John W. Headington; First Lieutenant, Gideon Rathbun; Second Lieutenant Stephen B. H. Shanks. They were mustered into the three years' service at Indianapolis on the 23d of September. Early in October they were furloughed home for a few days. On the 11th of November they went by rail to Cairo; thence by steamboat to Memphis, where they joined Grant's army and acompanied him on his grand expedition through Mississippi in the fall of 1862. They were as far South as Yocknapatafa. On their return they reached Grand Junction January 10th, 1863, in the vicinity of which they remained during the winter.
On the return march to Holly Springs the company began to feel the hardships of war.
Their rations failed, and they lived as they could, some of the time on raw or parched
corn, and but little of that. A member of the company (a lad of sixteen years) writes
thus: "Many murmur and say they have nothing to eat and must starve. For my part I find
it easy enough to get along—
In March, 1863, they moved to Colliersville, Tennessee, where they remained, doing guard duty and scouting until June 5th, when they proceeded to Vicksburg and joined the grand siege of that city. After its surrender they went with the force which drove the rebel Johnston from Jackson, Mississippi.
They spent nearly three months in camp on Big Black River, and late in September
proceeded up the river to Memphis, thence by land through Northern Mississippi and
Alabama to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The march from Memphis to Chattanooga was long and
severe, occupying forty days, the distance being about three hundred miles. The men
endured the trip pretty well, however; many of them even gaining in health and strength
during the long and tiresome journey. On Lookout Mountain, and in the region overlooking
and threatening Chattanooga and Grant's gallant army, lay Bragg's rebel hosts. Hardly
had Sherman's brave troops taken a little rest until the combined forces made a fierce
and persistent attack on the enemy. Up the heights of Missionary Ridge and Lookout
Mountain the resistless heroes charged, killed and captured great numbers and drove the
rest in confusion for
On the 26th of November they started in pursuit of the retreating rebels, and continued as far as Graysville, Georgia, where they burned a large mill, and tore up and destroyed the railroad track and bridges. They were then selected as part of the force to march to the relief of Knoxville. In that expedition of more than three weeks the men marched day after day, sometimes till midnight, half naked, bare-footed, without rations or cooking utensils, yet almost without a murmur. Arrived at Maysville, they learned that the rebels had run, and they returned by way of Chattanooga and Bridgeport, to Scottsboro, Alabama, where they arrived December 27th, 1863.
The march to the relief of Knoxville was one of peculiar and excessive hardships. In
the I cannot but contrast the difference between our situations at this moment. You
are preparing to worship God in your little church, and to listen to the words
of "Peace on earth and good will to men," while I, your brother, am lying close
to a trembling earth, made so by the whizzing of balls and shells aimed for our
destruction! You no doubt will be interested in the character of my reflections
and feelings in the circumstances. After singing "The Lord my Shepherd is," "From every stormy wind that blows,"
and "On the mountain top appearing," I committed myself, my family, my brethren
and my country to God's keeping. The result is a calmness and resignation that
is almost surprising to myself. How far I shall be able to maintain this state
of feeling of course I cannot tell, but I trust that I shall be enabled to find
strength in Now, brethren, as it regards the principles we have contended for: Farewell. May the peace of God, that passeth all understanding, be with you to
the end.ATTLE FIELD NEAR JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI,EAR BRETHREN:—In the face of death I believe they are right! I have lived by them and
stood up for them in life; and if it please God that I should now die, I shall
die with the full confidence that piety to God and humanity to man are the sum
and substance of Christ's holy religion. I exhort you, therefore, to stand fast
by them—"Stand up for Jesus!" and though we may always be unpopular among
men, yet "it pays" to have the consciousness that all is well when there is
danger in every step, and one looks death square in the face. (We are looking
every moment for an order to charge.)
Early in January, 1864, the regiment was again set to guarding railroads, and continued until May 1st, when it joined the grand army now before Atlanta. In this campaign it has participated in engagements at Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church and Kenesaw Mountain, and several have been wounded. Their losses have been heavy throughout the war. In sixteen different places and seven different States, their "dead ones brave" are lying. The battle-scarred veterans of company H have made a record which while they live will be their honor, and when they die will be their glorious epitaph.
Company F was recruited in July, 1862, by A. C. Rush; left Portland on the 31st of the
same month; the next day went into camp at Wabash; was assigned to the 75th regiment,
and was mustered into the three years' service August 20th, and in two days were at
Louisville. They were then, under orders of Gen. Dumont, sent to several points in
Kentucky in search of the rebel Morgan. They visited Lebanon, Shepardsville and Lebanon
Junction, etc., and then returned to Louisville on the 22d of September; thence went to
Elizabethtown, and again returned to Louisville. On the 6th of October they left this
city the third time and went to Frankfort, Versailles
Since the opening of Gen. Sherman's campaign company F has been most of the time in front, gallantly performing all duties required of it. It has met the enemy in some of the severest contests of the war. Its large list of noble men who have been killed and wounded on all these occasions, attests its uniform bravery and deeds of imperishable glory. We leave it looking from the front into the besieged city of Atlanta.
Company B, 11th Indiana Cavalry, was recruited by R. C. Harper, Elias Shewalter and J. F. Bowden, in October, 1863.
On the 10th of November they were
COMPANY B, ELEVENTH INDIANA CAVALRY.
SERGEANTS.
CORPORALS.
PRIVATES.
Died-2
Total- 98
Regimental officers from Jay County in the Seventh Indiana Cavalry Regiment:
Members of Company E, Seventh Indiana Cavalry from Jay County:
SERGEANTS.
CORPORALS.
PRIVATES.
RECAPITULATION.
Regimental Officers
3Company E
43Died
4
When the call was made in April, 1864, for volunteers to serve for one hundred days,
Jay Torch Light, went as privates in this company. The editor's
wife, Mrs. Ann E. Loofbourrow, and Miss Rebecca Adams, took entire charge of the paper,
editing it, setting the type, and doing all other work required to issue the paper. They
did this work with a promptness, too, which many of their more pretending brothers of
the press would do well to imitate.
The following one hundred days' men were enlisted at Camden by Capt. Geo. W.
Fairchilds, who, uniting with a squad from Bluffton, went to
The following one hundred days' soldier are in the 134th Indiana regiment:
Total one-hundred-days' men: 112
The following persons, from Richland Township, are also in the One Hundred and
Thirtieth Indiana:
The following names are on the Provost Marshal's record, as volunteers for Jay, without
the regiment being given:
In 1862 James B. Jaqua was appointed Draft Commissioner for Jay County. He took the first enrollment, and on the 6th of October, 1862, the following persons were drafted for nine months. They were taken to Indianapolis by Provost Marshal Isaac Underwood, where they had the privilege of choosing what volunteer regiment they desired to enter, and were scattered:
[Those marked with an asterisk (*) furnished a substitute.]
Total number drafted: 87.
The casualties in the miscellaneous list and most of the fractional companies are not known.
A few, after being discharged, have re-enlisted, and their names appear twice, and a
very few more are from other counties, leaving over ONE THOUSAND VOLUNTEERS from JAY COUNTY in the ARMY OF THE UNION! God bless them! Farewell.