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YORK TOWNSHIP
According to early records, based on the
testimony of Nelson Prestiss, the first settler in York Township
was John Knight, who located on section 29 in 1829. He was a
squatter and an adventurer, who cared little where he settled,
so that he could obtain a bare living, and the piece of land
he chose was merely a burr-oak barren, though plenty of better
land lay within a mile of his place. Though he cleared and laid
out a small garden, in which he grew corn and vegetables, which
he traded to the Indians, he depended largely on his rifle for
the support of himself and family. He resided alone in the township
until about 1833, when the Henshaws came in, or until the advent
of Levi Perry, who was said by Isaac Tibbot to have been the
second settler. It has been stated, indeed, that John Knight
was the third settler, and that he came a year or two later than
1829. The question, though sometimes in dispute, has never been
definitely settled. However, he, Washington and James Henshaw
and Mr. Perry were undoubtedly the first four settlers. Soon
afterwards Joseph Bradford entered the quarter section on which
Knight had squatted, and the latter was obliged to leave, and
accordingly departed for Elkhart Township. Bradford's action
in this matter was without excuse, as the land was poor and sterile,
but he was doubtless tempted by the improvements which Knight
had made. The Henshaw brothers, previously mentioned, located
about 1833 at Port Mitchell, where they built a dam across the
Elkhart River, and erected a saw-mill and grist-mill, or "corn-cracker,"
as the primitive grist-mills were usually called in those days.
As white labor was scarce, the Henshaws employed Indians to help
them put up the buildings, stimulating them to exertion by the
promise of a barrel of whiskey, which was not given to them,
however, until the work was done. The occasion proved a "big
time," the Indians, of course, became intoxicated, and several
rights were begun, but quickly suppressed. Both these mills were
rude affairs. The bolter in the grist-mill was turned by hand,
and the flour was course and black, while power was lost to the
saw-mill by imperfect shafting.
Among the pioneers of York Township, other
than those already mentioned, were Joseph Bell, James, Robert
and Stedman Gray, Hiram Bassett, John Williams, John Bowman,
Joseph Beall, D. Bradford, David Anderson, Dr. Halsey Lewis,
Elisha Blackman, Vincent Lane, Nathan Frink, Isaiah and Benjamin
Hardinburg, Jacob Cramer, Daniel Downs, William Crispell, William
F. Engle, John Middleton, John and William E. McCaskey, Francis
Murrey, Adam Nimmon, George Powers, Milo L. Street Joel B. L.
Smith, John McMeans, Charles D. Shearer, John Smith, Joel Vanderford,
Wesley White, Zenas Wright and his sons George and Charles, J.
B. White, Isaac and George F. Whitaker, Samuel Webster, Nathaniel
Woodward, John Young, and others. At the first township election,
held in the autumn of 1838, but sixteen men were present. The
inspector of election was George F. Whitaker, and he selected
two clerks and two judges and announced the pools open. Stedman
Gray was chosen road supervisor, but on his refusing to serve,
John Bowman was selected in his place. Joseph Bradford, who lived
across the line in Sparta Township, served as justice of the
peace in York until the spring election of 1839, when he was
succeeded by John Bowman. At the same election John Middleton
was elected constable. The township received its name from the
fact that a majority of the earliest settlers were from the State
of New York.
Fort Wayne was the earliest depot for supplies,
the settlers paying $7.50 a barrel for flour and $7 for a barrel
for salt. Provisions were sometimes hard to obtain and much privation
had to be endured, though fish and game were, as a rule, easily
procured. After crops had been freely planted and good harvests
obtained, conditions improved, and in the meanwhile wheat, corn
and potatoes, when badly needed, could generally be obtained
on Perry's Prairie, where an early settlement had been made,
and the soil was rich and fertile. The Henshaw brothers in time
sold their mills to Samuel Hanna and possibly W. F. Engle. The
grist-mill was finally destroyed by fire. Stedman Gray, who worked
for the Henshaws, followed the occupation of miller for many
years, and claimed to have made the first flour in Noble County,
though his statement has been disputed. The old mill passed through
several hands before its final destruction. Joseph Bell built
a saw-mill at an early day on Bell's Run in section 21. It was
operated by means of a dam and race, the water from the race
being utilized a little later to operate a small chair factory
which was started by Halsey Lewis. The factory was a rude affair,
and the produce of indifferent quality, and in a few years the
enterprise was abandoned. The dam connected with the saw-mill
finally proved a nuisance, as it caused the water to overflow
the adjoining land. The doctors, having ascribed some serious
cases of sickness to that cause, the citizens finally purchased
the mill site and destroyed the dam. Another saw-mill was erected
about 1852 by Isaac Swarthout, about two miles below Port Mitchell,
but for lack of patronage it was unsuccessful and soon fell to
pieces.
The first village established within the
limits of York Township was Augusta, which was laid out in August,
1837, by W. M. Holmes, George P. Whitaker, Thomas Gale and D.
H. Colerick, the owners and proprietors. The village was laid
out in thirty-eight blocks, each of which, except our, contained
eight lots. The exceptional four were on the sides of the square
plat, and were triangular in shape. The lots were laid out at
the corner of sections 14, 15, 22 and 23, the central block being
reserved as a public square. Around the square the streets were
eighty feet wide, all others being sixty feet. Four lots were
donated by the proprietors for school or church purposes. As
narrated in Chapter Two of this history, August was selected
as the new county seat, I 1837. This fact immediately caused
an influx of settlers, and a number of industries sprang up.
The village continued to thrive until March, 1843, when the burning
of the courthouse, probably by an incendiary, put an end to the
era of prosperity, and a quick decline set in, as in the following
year the county seat was removed to Port Mitchell. The population
of August was then about 200, about half of whom followed the
county seat to its new location, and by 1850 the village was
almost deserted.
Port Mitchell, whose new honors were destined
to be of short duration, had been platted in May, 1838, by Samuel
Hanna and William F. Engle. It was situated on the east half
of the northeast quarter of section 35, and the west half of
the northwest quarter of section 36. About thirty blocks of eight
lots each were laid out, one of which was designed for a public
square, and an open place, called "Market Space," was
provided. Prior to this time, however, the Henshaws had built
their mills, and some cabins had been erected in the vicinity.
Hanna & Engle opened a store about 1837, or perhaps earlier,
but the settlement had a slow growth until its selection as the
county seat, when the usual "boom" in such cases as
once set in. The population increased until it exceeded that
of August at the zenith of its prosperity. The proprietors donated
lots for schools and churches, stores, shops and mills were erected,
a postoffice established, with J. B. White as the first postmaster,
and a courthouse and public offices built. But the citizens of
Port Mitchell had all the jubilation to themselves. The property
owners at Augusta were indignant, and the inhabitants of other
settlements jealous, and from the start efforts were made to
have the county seat re-located at the "Center," now
Albion, as well as at some ten or twelve other points. The Port
Mitchellites sought to ward off the approaching doom of their
town by sundry proposed deeds of charity, but their acts and
promises were regarded without favor, and at least, in 1847,
the county seat was removed to Albion, where is has since remained.
After the departure of the lawyers and county officials, the
citizens also began to leave, and a rapid decay set in. A few
industries, including the mills, continued in operation for awhile,
but they were finally obliged to yield to the inevitable and
seek more promising fields. About 1852, however, a man named
Campbell erected a woolen mill at Port Mitchell. It was a two-story,
frame building, 30 by 45 feet, and a considerable quantity of
carding and spinning was done under the direction of a Mr. Walker,
a practical spinner. Subsequently the property passed into the
hands of George baker, and during the war the mill flourished,
but at its close the patronage decreased. The enterprise was
finally brought to an end by the burning of the mill about 1872.
About the same time that the county seat
was changed from Sparta to Augusta, a village called Van Buren
was surveyed and platted on section 20, for which also, like
almost every other village in the county, county seat hopes were
entertained. But these proved visionary. The claims of the proprietor
were rejected by the locating committee, no lots were sold, and
the embryonic village "expired soon after being christened."
One of the important events in the early
history of York Township was the great flood of 1844, which swept
away dams and bridges and greatly injured the crops. It was during
this time of danger and excitement, on July 1, that Wesley White,
one of the pioneer settlers, lost his life. The bridge west of
Augusta, across the Elkhart River, had been carried away, and
a rope had been extended across the stream to aid persons who
could not swim in crossing. Mr. White, who was on the west side,
and wanted to cross, attempted to do so by swimming. There were
some twenty-five or thirty people present who urged him to avail
himself of the rope, but he preferred to rely on his unaided
abilities, and plunged in. The current carried him swiftly down,
and when he came to the rope he tried to seize it but missed,
and, after a cry fro help, sank in the muddy water, attempts
to aid him being fruitless. His body was recovered on the following
day. His death caused a profound sensation through the county,
as he was a man highly esteemed, "an accomplished gentleman
and a competent and faithful officer."
Robert M. Waddell, History
of northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties,
Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1920, Noble County, pgs. 419-422. |
