BELDEN AND UTICA
                              by Ron Woodward

     Utica was once laid out as a town and Beldon Post office became a part of the original 
plat.  Utica was laid out on the north bank of the Wabash River in Lagro township.  It 
was surveyed by E.W. Cox March 1, 1837 and recorded May 3, 1837 the proprietor being 
Joseph Brackett.  It consisted on 212 lots.  Its north/south streets were First to Tenth and 
its east/west streets Canal, Broadway, Market, Main, Grand and State.  It did not prosper 
as a village, however a grain warehouse was built and some business transacted during 
the early years of the Wabash and Erie Canal.  In June, 1853 the county commissioners 
vacated the plat upon petition of Archibald M. Kennedy.  A new plat, the Belden of 
today, was laid out upon a part of the same ground.
     Belden, marked now only by the bridge crossing the Wabash River, was the site of a 
post office until 1897.  This hamlet was laid out by Elijah Hackleman May 13, 1856 and 
its original proprietor was Archibald M. Kennedy.  It consisted of 34 lots sitting on the 
Wabash and Erie Canal. The plat record date is June 2, 1856.  There were 34 lots; streets 
north and south was Main Street and east and west were First and Second streets.  Lynn's 
addition was recorded February 5, 1878 and was located between the railroad and the 
mill race with 15 lots. Streets were Mill running north and south and Wabash and 
Franklin streets east and west. Where present day farm lands now exist, there was once a 
sawmill built by Jack Ross, gristmill,  blacksmith shop established by Philip King, store, 
grain house, a school and a few dwellings. 
     The gristmill was built by Matthew Lynn in 1869.  It had three run of buhrs and was 
the only mill propelled by water of the Wabash River in Lagro Township.  It was called 
the Belden Flouring Mill.    James M. Deck moved to the Belden area around 1880 lear- 
ning the workings of the millers trade.  In 1883 he and his family moved to Roann where 
he was the owner and manager of the Stockdale Mill for over thirty four years.  A general 
store was run by Samuel James until 1877 when George H. Lynn purchased the store.  In 
1881 it became Lynn & Morrison.  Lynn also served as station agent.    
      The post office was established about 1878 and run by George H. Lynn.  The 
Methodists of the area used the school house for preaching and Sunday school. Families 
that attended were Lynn, Hushaw, McClure and Farris.
     In 1880 the community had a population of about 40 in eight different families.  Those 
families were the Lynns, King, Hildebrand, Dyer, Taylor, Mircher and Toling families.
      It is said that the village got its name from a man named Belden who built the first 
railroad bridge, a high wooden covered trestle, near that location.  The present day bridge 
replaced the ford that people of the area used to cross the river.  Another ford, Kelly's 
Ford, was one mile west of Belden.
     In 1883 the following account appeared in the Wabash Plain Dealer concerning 
Belden which gives an idea as to the type of people in Belden at the time.  "One of our 
young men, of tender years, has fallen madly in love with a beautiful lady who recently 
left sweet sixteen behind forever.  The average reader will say "nothing strange in that." 
The strange part is to follow.  Now for the tragedy:  Ha! A rival suitor comes upon the 
scene and threatens to estrange the affections of his sweetheart.  He resolves to have 
"blud," but reconsiders, in view of the fact that suitor number two is the largest man and 
a dangerous customer to tackle.  So going to his "fair, fond love" he lays the matter 
before her and frankly states that in two weeks time if she has not pledged her heart and 
hand to him alone, nothing would stay the hand of the grim reaper who would gather 
them in together to be made one in death, if not in life.  The object of his labored 
breathings and smothered sighs calmly awaited her fate but at the end of the allotted 
period lightning fails to strike, and nothing unusual transpires.  The mad lover subsides.  
The lady retires to her home in Whitley county, but is soon called back by the illness of 
her sister, when the afflicted young man's troubles break out like a healthy case of 
chicken pox.  Being banished from the house he awaits her coming into the stable hard by 
where the fair one administers food to the stock.  Her refusal to converse causes him to 
spill brine.  He comes again and again with the same sad results, and finally the young
Lady locks the door which he tries in vain to open, and finally with a disappointed kick 
retires from the spot, and the curtain falls on the first act." 
     The bridge, remodeled, and the store, though now a residence, still stand.  For many 
years the remains of the mill dam were visible, however today only a few boulders are 
visible when the water is low indicating where it was.  Five families live in and around 
the vicinity of Belden at the present time.