This chapter is composed of a series of miscellaneous articles, including reminiscences, incidents and a variety of subjects difficult to classify. But it often happens, as in this instance, that matters which do not materially fall under any distinct class are therefore the more unique and readable. The editor submits this chapter with pleasure, because he believes it will be much enjoyed by both old, young and the middle-aged, as there is something in it to suit all palates.
The following verses by Miss Nora O. Gardner are self-explanatory:
But the white man, in his wisdom,
From the tiny porch, high swinging,
And the work within the temple,
At the noon hour of the above date the west span of the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge at Monticello fell with a crash that could be heard for miles, carrying with the wreck twenty-five cars. All of the ears were wrecked except the caboose, and the engine and tender were included in the debris. It took 100 men nearly a week to clear away the wreckage. The engineer was killed and the fireman had one of the most remarkable escapes recorded in railroad history.
The story of the casualty is told by the Monticello Herald in its issue of Thursday, July 25, 1878, the following items, taken from its files; covering the substantial points: "The number of cars that went down was 25, 18 of which were loaded with grain, one with furniture and the remainder with empty flats.
"The engineer's body was recovered only Thursday morning, after an all night's search. The marks on it indicated that the unfortunate man must have becn killed in the fall, though the disfiguration was not near as great as in the case of the watchman. After the coroner's inquest the corpse was taken to Logansport, where deceased resided, and thence to Chicago, where it was interred. It was Beam's intention to quit the road and go onto a farm and he was making his last trip for that purpose. He left a wife and two children.
"It required the force of 100 men and two engines to remove the debris so that the bridge builders could commence operations, and it took them three days to do it.
"The watch of Louis Beam, the engineer killed in the accident, was found in the wreck hanging on its accustomed nail in the cab. The watch was not only ticking, but indicated the correct time of day and was entirely uninjured.
"The little daughter of conductor Riddell had been promised a ride on the engine after the train reached Monticello, but fortunately she forgot all about it and remained in the caboose.
"The escape of Ed Laing of this place, the fireman on the ill-fated engine, is almost unparalleled in the history of railroad accidents. Standing on the same engine with Beam and Durfee, who were both killed, he went down in the crash a distance of 75 feet, with no opportunity to jump, and was found alive and but slightly injured beneath the wreck. He frankly says he doesn't know how he was saved.
"At the coroner's inquest Thursday several railroad experts were examined as to the cause of its giving way.
"The first witness called was J. Zecker, road master and superintendent of bridges on west half of third division, who testified as follows: 'Have been superintendent for ten months, west span has been built six years. The bridge is the Howe truss, built of pine, three breat rods, and considered the safest and best length from 65 to 68 feet high. * * * My opinion is that the car went off the track by some cause, either by rail spreading or brake beam coming down. If a car is loaded it is liable to brake at any span. There are marks on the ties to show that a car or cars were off the track. There was no safety track on the inside, but a guard rail on the outside. Safety tracks on inside are not considered any better. Last examined the bridge on the 8th or 9th of July, 1878. Local going west on 17th inst. stopped on west end of span that went down. Gave orders for trains to go slowly over the bridge on the 17th and prior to that date.'
"C. Riddell, conductor train No. 13, received orders from J. V. Vinson, agent, on 17th to run all trains slow.
"J. Becker of Pittsburgh, Pa., civil and chief engineer of the P. C. & St. L. Bg. Co., said: 'I wrote the specifications and made the contract for the building of the three western spans of the bridge over the Tippecanoe river and superintended its construction and its erection. The contract was made July, 1871, and the bridge was constructed immediately afterwards, the western span being the last one erected. The bridge was built by J. K. Miller & Co. of Steubenville, Ohio, of Allegheny white pine, with oaken keys and clamps, and of a superior quality of iron, furnished by a Pittsburg firm whose material we have frequently tested and always found of a very superior character. The timber for the bridge, like the timber of every other bridge that I ever built, and I have built several hundreds of them, was rather green, at least it was what might be called not seasoned.
"'It was framed at Steubenville, O., and shipped from that place to this for erection. The railroad is to use green timber in their bridges. No doubt perfectly seasoned timber would be preferable and if properly protected is undoubtedly more durable, but it would be almost impossible to procure seasoned timber for bridges. The bridge was painted shortly after its erection, which was probably from four to five months after the timber was sawed and planed. I think that the complete painting of green timber without permitting it to dry out, would hasten the decay, leaving the spaces between the different chord pieces and the entire lower surface of both chords unpainted for the purpose of drying out the entire moisture.
"'I never made a report to the P. C. & St. L. R. R. Co. relative to the condition of the bridge since its erection in 1871, my duties being simply that of engineer of new construction work, the mending and repairs of all structures after their completion being placed in charge of the division superintendent. I have looked at the bridge and can not conceive any cause for its destruction unless it was done by the sudden concussion of some vital parts or by a derailed car or misplaced rails.
"'The dimensions of the structure, I consider ample for all requirements and the age of the bridge could not yet have impaired its efficiency. Heat may have caused it,'
"We, the coroner's jury, sworn to enquire into and ascertain the cause of the death of Louis Beam and Jerome Durfee, after viewing the bodies and having heard evidence and made inquiry do find that on the 17th of July, 1878, while local freight train No. 13 going east with engine, tender and twenty loaded cars were passing over the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Saint Louis Railroad bridge across the Tippecanoe river at Monticello, White County, Indiana, said engine, tender and cars by reason of west span of said bridge breaking were precipitated into the Tippecanoe river causing death of said Louis Beam and Jerome Durfee.
"Wm. Spencer, Foreman; Robert Clark, Henry Snyder, James H. McCollum, James A. McConahay and F. M. Mullendore."
The Cantwell-Dayton murder trial is and always will be an interesting incident in White County history. Alfred L. Cantwell and Spencer S. Dayton, two laborers, and brothers-in-law, were given a life sentence for the murder of David Jones, who was shot in the breast and instantly killed. The shooting took place in Tippecanoe County, November 11, 1849, but the body was found in a pond within the border of White County. The defendants were indicted April 24, 1850, Joseph Phillips being foreman of the grand jury. The trial took place in the fall and on October 28, 1850, the following verdict was returned:
"We, the jury, find the defendants Alfred L. Cantwell and Spencer J. Dayton, guilty of murder in the first degree as charged in the indictment and affix their punishment in the State's prison at hard labor, during their natural lives. JOSHUA LINDSAY, Foreman.
"The jury in submitting the above verdict deem it fit to say that they are not opposed to the infliction of capital punishment on principle but believe the ends of government generally demand it for murder in the first degree. In this opinion all the members of the jury except two concur, but in consideration of the wrongs done Cantwell, and the youth of Dayton, they have preferred the mode of punishment put down in the above verdict."
The wrong done Cantwell to which the jury referred was this: The evidence showed that Jones, who was killed, had arranged to elope with Cantwell's wife, and the latter, learning of this, had met Jones while he was waiting for Mrs. Cantwell, and at this meeting the shooting took place. Prior to the trial the prisoners, with Mrs. Cantwell, were for a short time confined in the jail at Delphi, but when the trial began all were brought to Monticello and placed in the old log jail which stood on the east side of Illinois Street just north of Marion Street. One morning during the progress of the trial, and after the prisoners had been taken to the courtroom, this old jail was found to be in flames, having doubtless been set on fire by the prisoners. It was but a small loss to the county.
Of the twenty-seven witnesses subpoenaed by the state in this case not one survives. So much from the record. Many traditions are narrated as to Dayton, but it is likely he died in prison of tuberculosis. As to Alfred L. Cantwell, he was pardoned by the governor about 1861, enlisted in Company F, Twenty-seventh Indiana Volunteers, and in the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, was mortally wounded, but the date of his death is not known. In this company were Enoch G. Boicourt, Joshua Bunnell, Robert Gregory, John Ream, Samuel Reed Vinson, Henry Van Voorst and other formerly well-known White County soldiers. It was the first noted trial of such a character in White County. Isaac Naylor was the presiding judge; William Potter, prosecuting attorney; Ranson McConahay, clerk; and Pratt & Reyburn, attorneys for the defendants. The members of the grand jury that returned the indictment were William Turner, Newton Tedford, Joseph Bostick, Walker Graham, Alexander Briggs, Charles W. Kendall, Joseph Phillips, Thomas Sleeth, Jacob Graves, James K. Woods, Jonathan Oats, John C. Hughes, Thomas Wickham, William W. Mitchell and Jasel Fisher. They were under the charge of Loren Cutler, a sworn bailiff.
The jury that heard the case and returned the verdict was composed of the following members: Okey S. Johnson, Joshua Lindsay, Amos Cooper, Alexander Miller, Isaac Davis, Peter Bishop, Christopher Itskin, Thomas W. Redding, Moses S. Barr, Asa Huff, Adam Hornback and Zebulon Sheetz.
These names call to mind many of our oldest and most respected families. All have passed away, Mr. Turner, father of John M. Turner, of Monticello, who died a few years ago, being the last to go.
From a paper read by Mrs. Miranda J. Reynolds, at the old settlers' meeting at Monticello, August 26, 1893, as published in the Herald of August 31, 1893, we extract the following:
"Wm. Sill located in what is now Monticello, erecting the first house in the town on lot No. 1 (s. w. cor. Marion and Bluff streets), which is near Martin Witz's present house. It was a cabin which we moved into, without doors or windows and a puncheon floor. In those days the latch-string was always out. Our house was the stopping place for all the settlers in the county. The Indians were all around us and often slept on the floor before the fire. Peter Price was our nearest neighbor. In 1834 or 1835 there were several families moved here. One was Mrs. Reese, a widow lady with several daughters and sons.
"We were without religious organizations of any kind, but Mrs. Reese said we must have a Sunday school. She and Mr. Sherwood invited all the children to meet them on Sunday in a new house that was being built and bring their books. We all went and took our Webster spelling book. Of course we had a Bible and Watt's hymns, but no books for children. About this time there were several families moved here from Virginia—Father Sheetz and family, the Johnsons and a large family of Reeses. They were all Presbyterians. In 1836 a church was organized consisting of Zebulon Sheetz and wife, mother and son, John Reese and wife, mother and sister, and Jonathan Harbolt. Mr. Sheetz and John Wilson was [sic] the first elders. Father Williamson was the first minister. We had Baptist and Methodist preaching also. The services were all held in the school house and we frequently had a sermon from local preachers who were 'homemade' men. On one occasion one of these was preaching for us and after he had preached two hours a crusty old bachelor thought he would roast him out, but he took off his coat and preached two hours longer.
"Abraham Sneathen, another preacher, deserves more than a passing notice. He lived in Liberty Township, but we often went to hear him preach. I attended a revival service conducted by him. He wore a blue calico shirt and was barefooted. After talking awhile he rolled up his pants and started for the river singing, 'Am I a Soldier of the Cross?' the congregation following, where he baptized several converts by immersion. Grandfather Tilton used to amuse us young folks very much by asking the Lord to 'rim-rack and center shake' the sinners when he prayed at camp-meetings. * * *
"I must say a word for the dear mothers of our town, Mothers Sheetz, Price, Barkley, Tilton, Hull, Sill and a host of others ever ready in sickness with their healing salves and sweating herbs, spending whole nights caring for their neighbors. Often have Mothers Sheetz and Sill ridden miles on horseback to carry some tried remedies to suffering ones, called by physicians of our day 'old women's remedies,' but how welcome to the suffering homesick frontier women, These have all passed away, but their work so nobly commenced is being carried on by the sons and daughters, which is proven by the fine farms, splendid church buildings, the schoolhouses in every township, the manufactures of all kinds, the gravel roads, ditches and all the improvements. This is marvelous to one who has lived here sixty years and seen the progress.
"Our first physician was Doctor Rifenbarrick. He was a rough specimen as he traveled miles and miles on horseback. His medicine case was a pair of old fashioned saddlebags. He would walk up to the bed and look at his patient, then go over to the table, put out a spoonful of calomel and jalap and apply a fly blister. This was his prescription for all diseases. Such heroic treatment would not be appreciated in these days.
"The three first general stores were situated as follows: Mr. Orwig of Delphi had a store where A. R. Bennett now lives (southwest corner Bluff and East Broadway). Wm. Sill had one where the Lear Hotel is (east side Main Street, opposite courthouse), and Isaac Reynolds one near where S. A. Carson now lives (east side of Main Street south of Harrison). These stores contained all the general supplies for which the Indians used to exchange venison and game of all kinds, cranberries, maple sugar, etc.
"Our first school was taught in a small frame house on the lot where A. R. Bennett now lives, the house that was built by Mr. Orwig for his store. It was taught by Mr. Gillam of Carroll County. Our books were Webster's. Speller and the old English reader. The furnishing of the schoolroom is beyond description.
"Our amusements consisted of sleighriding in bobsleds, horseback riding, picnics, etc. One merry huckleberry picnic I remember distinctly. Our conveyance was a log sled drawn by oxen."
Mrs. Reynolds was a daughter of William Sill and has since qone to her reward, but the above graphic picture of early days in Monticello is well drawn and deserves to be remembered. It is an authentic account of her early girlhood and no one is now living who can recall those scenes.
From an interview with Mrs. Harriet Baum, published in the Monticello Herald of November 28, 1895, she gives a brief statement of her experiences in Monticello in 1832, and subsequent years. She recalls the time when the land now occupied by Monticello did not contain a single house. Mrs. Baum and her husband came here directly after their marriage and located in what was then known as Walnut Grove, a few miles southwest of town. Uncle John Roberts was the nearest neighbor and the other settlers in the country were Peter Price, Benjamin Spencer, John Rothrock, Mahlon Fraser, Sr., Benjamin Reynolds, Judge Barnes and Jerry Fisher. Wm. Miller Kenton, son of Simon Kenton, of Indian fighting fame, came soon afterward, and located on a farm adjoining the Roberts farm. Mr. Baum had worked for Mr. Roberts before he married and the year before his marriage occurred the "Black Hawk Indian scare," which is one of the earliest traditions of White County. The Indians were reported to be on the warpath headed for the new settlement, and several families made tracks for civilization, some to the Barr Settlement near Battle Ground and others to Delphi. Mr. Baum then being a single man, "would not run but stood his round and cocked his gun." But the Indian raid proved to be a false alarm and the settlers soon returned to their homes.
The first thing the Baums did after their marriage was to build a home. It was a cabin of round logs 16 by 18 feet, with one room and a chimney of sticks and clay. The aristocratic settler like Mr. Roberts was able to build a home of hewed logs and it was not many years until the Baums were able to revel in the same luxury and they moved into their new home of a hewed log house of two rooms.
John Roberts about 1842 built the brick house now occupied by his grandson, Robert E. Roberts, on the new stone road. It was one of the first, if not the very first, brick houses built in the county. Mrs. Baum well remembered the first house built in Monticello. It was built by William Sill on lot 1 (the southwest corner of Bluff and Marion streets). Other houses soon appeared, among the first being a log tavern of two rooms built by Rowland Hughes. One of Mrs. Baum's earliest recollections is seeing the Indians pass by her house on their way to Winamac to get the money for their lands. They traveled in single file with ponies, squaws and papooses, but on their return they scattered in squads. They had stopped in Monticello to imbibe firewater and had forgotten their habits.
Mrs. Baum's husband died and she later became the wife of Abram Hanawalt; both are now dead and the twenty years since this interview was held have sufficed to remove from our midst the last of the first settlers.
Probably the most peculiar and interesting insect of the cicada family is the seventeen-year locust, so-called because of its periodic visits every seventeen years. Individually it gives out a peculiar rasping sound which the vivid imagination of the hearer easily converts into a long-drawn-out Pha-ra-oh, which when once heard is never forgotten. Millions of them united produce a continuous droning easily heard for a distance of a half mile.
The writer's first recollection of the brood which infests White and Carroll counties, and a portion of Cass and Clinton, was in 1868, when they came up from the ground by the millions, covering the shrubbery and small twigs of the lower branches of trees almost as closely as a swarm of bees. They appeared again in diminished numbers in 1885; and again in 1902, still fewer in number. This brood is due again in 1919; and again, if not extinct, in 1936. Watch for them in the timber along the Tippecanoe.
An old subscription paper on which was subscribed the money to buy the instruments for the first brass band organized in Monticello, was placed in the archives of the Old Settlers Association in December, 1879. It bears no date but it was doubtless about the year 1848. The amounts subscribed total $48.50, most of which is marked "paid," and opposite the amounts paid is shown the kind of currency in which it was paid, for instance, "Chas. Dodge, $2.00, Paid, State Bank of Ohio." On the back of this paper appears the names of the members of this band, as follows: R. A. Spencer, R. W. Sill, Chas. Dodge, John R. Willey, Wm. Braught, M. A. Berkey, W. Rifenberrick, Zachariah Van Buskirk and Orlando McConahay. All these are now dead and our first band is forgotten.
Another band was organized in Monticello in 1852, the horns being the old-fashioned brass instruments. Dr. Robert Spencer was the leader, bis instrument being a clarionet [sic]. Other members were the Doctor's two sons, William and James, the former playing a cornet and James an alto. Alfred Reed, afterward a colonel in the Civil war and judge of the county court, also played a cornet; Zachariah Van Buskirk, second clarionet [sic]; John R. Willy, James K. Lynch and Thompson Grose, alto horns; David K. Ream, bass drum, and William H. Parcells, tenor drum. The leader of the band copied all the different parts of the music with a quill pen. This primitive band was succeeded later by the Monticello Silver Cornet Band, composed of Drs. Robert and William Spencer, Daniel D. and Oliver Dale, James G. Staley, Watson Brown, and others, many of whom enlisted as a regimental band at the beginning of the war.
The highest flood and heaviest ice gorge ever seen in the Tippecanoe at Monticello occurred February 29, 1904. The long, cold winter had frozen the ice to an unusual thickness. This heavy ice was broken up by a flood in January, but most of it lodged on the river bed and on the banks between Monticello and the river's mouth. The weather again turned cold and the slush ice ran thickly and was wedged and packed in the river for several miles above, to be frozen solid by a low temperature lasting well into February. Heavy rain began falling Sunday night, February 28th, and by Monday evening the ice formed a gorge near Norway, destroying the Norway bridge and carrying the west span away bodily. About eight o'clock this portion of the ice mass reached Monticello, threatening the destruction of the large iron bridge spanning the river at this point. The formation of a second gorge at the islands below the city checked the onflow, the ice rose to within three feet of the bridge floor and the threatening bridge span from Norway came to a halt some two hundred feet above the Monticello bridge, where it remained until the subsidence of the waters dropped it to the river bed, where most of it still remains. The scene next morning was one never to be forgotten. The waterworks plant and the Barnes electric light plant north of it were flooded as high as the windows, while from bluff to bluff the entire bottom lands were covered. Only the tops of two houses on the flat under the railroad bridge showed above the surrounding ice.
In 1904 a man named James C. Mitchell obtained a patent on a smokeless powder, and a local company was formed for its manufacture. Nothing, however, ever came of it except the serious maiming of the inventor. December 14, 1904, while grinding some of the powder in his laboratory in Reynolds an explosion occurred. Mitchell's left hand and arm were blown off, his right mangled so that only two fingers were saved; the great toe on one foot blown off, the flesh on his leg badly torn, one bone in his right arm broken and both eyes destroyed. Altogether he was about the most complete wreck of a man that ever lived through an accident. He got well and, though totally blind, afterward made two trips to Scotland in the interest of his invention.
The star attraction at a "corn festival," or street fair, held in Monticello the week of October 3 to 8, 1904, was a high dive from the courthouse tower into a net, by a young man named Archie Robbins. The "dive" was made from one of the upper windows on the east side of the tower into a net stretched over the cement walk nearly one hundred feet beiow. He shot down like a rocket, struck the net squarely in the center, going through it as if it were tissue paper. The foolhardy leap was witnessed by a large crowd of people. Instant death was averted by a pile of loose straw which the management had placed under the net as a precaution. His spine was fractured and his lower limbs paralyzed. He was removed to the house of his father in Hartford City, Indiana, where he died some weeks later.
In the White County Democrat of February 9, 1900, was published a letter written by Martha Rees, dated "Monticello, White County, Indiana, Dec. 20, 1835," addressed to her aunt, Susan Rees, Sheets' Mill, Virginia. The Reeses had arrived in White County on November 17, 1835, and Martha was writing the old home folks her first impressions of the new home. She says:
"We bought a lot in town and expect to get a house built against spring. We have got our logs hauled for the house. We live in about two miles of town. Our town improves very fast. Last spring there was only one house in the place, and that was built for a stable. Now there are six dwelling houses, and against this time next year it is supposed there will be upwards of twelve dwelling houses. I heard the first sermon preached in town that ever was preached there a few days ago. There will be regular preaching there now. We heard a Methodist preach about a week ago.
"Houses are generally very indifferent here, but it is hoped that the inhabitants of this country will take more pains in making their houses comfortable. It is a chance house that is large enough for to have preaching in. You said that you wanted to know what kind of a house we lived in. We live in a cabin. We have not as much elbow room as we should like to have, but we have to put up with it. Our house is as good as the houses are in general. We can put up with our houses better than if our land was as your Virginia lands are. It is delightful to look over the prairie. We can sit in our house and see a house five miles off. We live on a ridge called 'Sandy Ridge.' Jonathan Johnson lives about a quarter of a mile off. He lives with Oky. Uncle James Parker lives in less than a quarter of a mile of us. Uncle Joshua Renker lives about two miles from us."
The lot she speaks of buying and having the logs hauled onto for building a house was Lot 53 on the west side of North Main Street, where the Kiefhaber residence and blacksmith shop stood for many years afterward, and now occupied by the fourth, fifth and sixth business rooms in the brick block north of Washington Street. The one lone house mentioned was the residence of William Sill on Lot No. 1, southwest corner of Bluff and Marion streets. The "Sandy Ridge" mentioned was northwest of Monticello.
On November 10, 1859, it was announced that James Spencer, owner of the Monticello Spectator, by invitation of M. McKachin, conductor, and Mr. John, engineer, rode over the Pan Handle bridge on a carload of iron and pronounced it good (the bridge).
The first train over the T. L. and B. Railroad from Monticello to Middleport was noted on December 26, 1859.
Under date of January 11, 1860, the Spectator announces that "trains are now running regularly" and adds the astounding fact that "we have four trains passing this place daily, both ways."
From the Spectator of March 15, 1861: "Merchant Rowland Hughes of this place has established a horse-power corn sheller in his warehouse, which shakes the cobs out of two hundred bushels of corn per day in a manner interesting to behold."
The first term of the White Circuit Court was held at the home of George A. Spencer, in Big Creek Township, about five miles southwest of Monticello, on Friday, October 17, 1834. Present James Barnes and Thomas Wilson, associate judges. Both judges presented their commissions signed by Noah Noble, governor, dated July 7, 1834, and William Sill presented his commission as clerk, which was also signed by the governor and dated July 7, 1834. These commissions were each for a term of seven years. Mr. Sill took the oath of office before Aaron Hicks, sheriff, and thus originated the White Circuit Court. A grand jury was convened and, having heard witnesses, returned one indictment charging Jeremiah Bishir with malicious mischief. It seems that his neighbor, John Roberts, owned a certain horse which had broken into the Bishir fields. Mr. Bishir had caught the horse and tied to its tail a full-sized clapboard, the which the said horse had kicked until both tail and clapboard were almost worn out. At the April term, 1835, towit on Friday, April 17, 1835, the case came on for hearing when Mr. Bishir entered a plea of guilty and the court fined him $5 with the costs and ordered "that the said defendant do stand committed in the custody of the sheriff of said county for the space of one minute." This first judgment violates the laws of syntax for which it seems there was no penalty, but tradition informs us that tho bystanders gathered in a circle around the prisoner and for the full space of one minute he was "it." At that time there was no jail in the county or Mr. Bishir would have had the honor of being our first jail bird.
Doubtless few people are now living who can recall the time when the public square, on which is located the courthouse, comprised only the east half of what is now occupied for that purpose. When the town was platted a street from north to south and forty feet wide extended from Broadway to what is now Court Street, passing under the west end of the present courthouse. This left the Square about 140 by 175 feet, but Court Street did not extend to Illinois Street. The county commissioners were asked to buy lots 82, 83 and 84, lying west of the courthouse, and add them to the Square. They appropriated $500 for that purpose and the Monticello Herald of July 1, 1865, printed a list of subscribers who had subscribed and paid $1,027 towards the purchase of these lots making the fund $1,527. Of this amount the owners of these lots were paid as follows:
The subscription paper contains the names of thirty-nine subscribers, only four of whom are yet living, namely, Jeptha Crouch, J. H. McCollum, Alfred R. Orton and Capt. G. B. Ward. Lot 84 was opened to make the west end of Court Street and lots 82 and 83 are occupied. by the sheriff's residence and jail. It seems strange to us that, when this land cost but $1.25 per acre, no larger space should have been dedicated for a seat of justice, but at the time it was doubtless considered ample for all time.
A woman to whom all old soldiers pay especial honor is Mrs. Mary A. Carr, of West Point Township, the only living mother of a Union soldier in White County, who on August 7, 1915, celebrated her ninety-first birthday. She gave two sons to the Union army, Walter Carr, of West Point Township, with whom she lives, who was a soldier in the Forty-fourth Ohio Infantry and S. B. Carr, of Colburn, Indiana, a member of the Eighth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. Both served for four years and left enviable records as soldiers. Mrs. Carr is well preserved, her mind is active and she is greatly interested in the G. A. R., the members of which are indebted to her for many acts of kindness.
During the summer of 1859 the Democrat and Spectator engaged in a heated controversy on the subject of "Spiritualism." The Spectator had been accused by a republican, in a letter to the Democrat, of advocating that cult and at it they went. From the files of both these papers we learn that a Miss Whoolet had given a lecture in the old court room on "Revelations and Manifestations of the Spirit World," which had been attended by some female from Burnettsville, who wrote a letter to the Democrat, July 10, 1859, in which she attacked the editor of the Spectator for his part in the programme. This called for a reply by the Spectator, seemingly in denial, and the game was on and it was a great game in which argument gave way to abuse and all had a good time.
On Wednesday evening, August 3, 1859, at the courthouse, the ladies of the Methodist Episcopal Church Sewing Society gave a grand festival. The hand bills announcing the fact were from the Democrat press, the proceeds were to be used in improving the church, arrangements were to be made to please the most fastidious taste, all the luxuries of the season were to be served and the admission fee was 10 cents. The bill reads just like a modern one. There has been little change in church festivals in the last half century.
In the early days of Monticello journalism the papers were delivered by youthful carriers, such as Jay B. Van Buskirk, Bowman and Samuel A. Rothrock and many other nice little boys. Their pay was not very liberal and they were allowed, at New Year time, to distribute to their patrons a hand bill on which was printed a calendar for the coming year and with it an alleged poem in which about everybody in town was given a puff or a roast. These so called poems make almost a complete directory of the business men of the town and were often amusing. The oldest one in the archives of the White County Historical Society is the one issued for 1857, by the Political Frame, in which everybody and everything is given a genuine hearty fling. It closes with the following beautiful sentiment:
Shortly after the close of the Civil war a movement was launched, in the western part of White County, to remove the seat of justice from Monticello to Reynolds. The idea had its origin prior to the war but during that struggle the subject was permitted to occupy a rear seat. After the war the removal was freely agitated, its sponsors urging the change for the reason that Reynolds was situated very near the geographical center of the county. This suggestion was met with the statement that if the change was made the people of the county would be taxed to raise at least $250,000 to pay the lot owners of Monticello for their lots, the title to which would fail should Monticello cease to be the permanent seat of justice of the county. This argument was based upon the terms of the grant by which the county acquired title to the lands on which Monticello was located. As stated, at the close of the war the subject was again agitated, meetings were held pro and con, the newspapers discussed the proposed change and handbills were printed and circulated all over the county and for a dozen years the question was acute. On June 29, 1867, a large handbill was published and circulated, showing why the removal should not be made, and carefully stating the reasons against suoh removal. This was signed by Isaac Reynolds, Randolph Brearley, Jonathan Harbolt, Rowland Hughes, Charles W. Kendall and John Roberts. This was not the end of the controversy but at last the movement died, peace was declared and the subject forgotten.
An examinaion [sic] of the files of the White County newspapers prior to 1885 discloses some strange features in local journalism. In the olden time if two or more individuals became involved in political, or other, controversies they would rush into print and tell the truth about each other in a most shocking manner. After the first article no argument was ever used, the question at issue was dropped, the words "thief," "liar" and many even worse epithets were freely printed and the war went merrily on until both sides had exhausted their vocabularies and the matter was dropped; but only for a short time. In a few months another war would be declared, perhaps with a different alignment, the vials of wrath would be opened, innocent bystanders would he involved, the reputations of many of our best citizens would be attacked and the casual observer would naturally expect to see bloodshed or even murder before it was ended. But none of this. When they grew tired they would rest for a time, then at it again. These wars were confined to no class or profession but most of them were waged by local lawyers or candidates for office. To read them now is to be amused, but perhaps in fifty years the reader may get as much enjoyment in reading of our way of doing things.
Another feature of these old papers is worthy of note. If a man died, no matter how prominent he was, he was lucky to get three lines in a local paper, but if he belonged to some society, he was good for a half column of formal resolutions which gave no account of his life, his worth or his family. Does the reader ask what these papers contained? They would be given over to news from Washington, speeches in Congress and even whole pages from the Congressional Record. In what has been written no reflections are intended on these pioneer newspapers. They were well printed, neat in appearance and published what the people wanted to read, but since about 1885, a great change is noted.
The last thirty years has [sic] been remarkable in journalistic development. It would really repay any one to read the local papers published during that time just to recall the wild schemes that have been set afloat. Traction lines from no place to no where have been located by wily promoters, life, accident, and fire insurance companies launched by irresponsible solicitors from far away cities, worthless mining stocks have been sold by the wholesale and the work still goes on its way. The public enjoys such things and is willing to pay for it.
Another change is apparent. The old time local paper had no army of correspondents. If Betsey Short visited Bud Means Sunday, if old Jack Means helped Bull catch a coon, or Squire Hawkins assisted the hero of Lundy's Lane to kill a hog, the public remained in blissful ignorance of such events. Betsey's courtship was ignored, Bull gained no publicity and the poor hog met his death, "unwept, unhonored and unsung." But time has changed all this. What will the next generation think of us?
So far as known the following is a list of all the old Mexican soldiers who ever permanently lived in White County: Roy D. Davidson, Michael Austin, a man by the name of Conkling (a cousin of Senator Conkling's), Thomas Cooper, John Wright, a Mr. Penny, Andrew Robinson and William F. Ford. These have all passed away but the descendants of some of them still live in the county. Three men only enlisted from the county, William F. Ford, N. H. Steel and Beveridge McCormick and all went from Jackson Township and these, too, have since died. Mr. McCormick died in the service from the loss of an arm.
Between 1840 and 1850, an individual by the name of Smith, living about two miles southwest of the present town of Idaville, procured a "worm" and engaged in the manufacture of "Mountain dew." Shades of the past! All this in Jackson Township. All of its patrons have passed beyond and Smith has gone to his reward. His was doubtless the first (but not the last) blind tiger in White County. Peace to his memory.
In the early spring of 1860, one Burns, who came from Ohio and settled about two miles north of Burncttsville, became jealous of his spouse and after killing her committed suicide. He also attempted to kill his child which he declared to be illegitimate. She was interred in the Winegarner Cemetery but he was denied Christian burial and his grave is still preserved on the old farm but in a sadly dilapidated condition.
A few of the older citizens of Jackson Township remember the suicide of Mr. Crose. He was a quiet, reserved man whose mind became unsettled on the subject of religion and about 1855 killed himself by shooting about two miles southwest of the present town of Idaville. The affair was a sad one and for many years the neighbors with bated breath discussed his unnatural act.
On July 2, 1866, a man by the name of Brummer who had been married about a year and whose wife had left him about a month prior to the above date, met her near Reynolds, fired two shots at her and then turned the revolver on himself. This was Sunday about 10 o'clock and he died about 2 P. M., while she passed away at 4.30 P. M. of the same day.
On Sunday January 23, 1876, the body of Richard W. Herron, a veteran of the Civil war, was found frozen in the woods pasture about two miles east of Monticello on the south of the railroad. He had left Idaville Friday afternoon, January 14th, where he had been tending bar for John (Jack) Kelly and started, as was supposed, to Brookston, where his father lived. Search had been made for him for more than a week but without success until after he had been dead for some ten days. His body was brought to Monticello, placed in the courthouse and an inquest held by the coroner, Doctor Henry. The inquest occupied a portion of three days, the jury of twelve men returned a verdict that deceased had come to his death at the hands of John, alias, Jack Kelly. A warrant was issued for his arrest and he was committed to jail without bond. Subsequently he was tried in the White Circuit Court where a jury found him guilty and fixed his punishment at six years in the penitentiary; being dissatisfied at this he applied for and was granted a new trial, but in this trial the jury found him guilty and gave him eighteen years and failing to get another trial, he was taken to prison. Kelly was a blacksmith by trade and when not drinking was an industrious, peaceable man, but liquor made him a demon and when in his cups was a terror to the village. He had quit his trade and was keeping a saloon in the same house in which he lived with his two little girls, aged ten and thirteen years, and Herron for about a month had been a member of the family. The principal witness for the state was one, John Toothman, who had succeeded Herron as bartender for Kelly and it was largely on his testimony that Kelly was convicted.
On May 31, 1863, Mrs. Lucinda Hughes, wife of John C. Hughes, who lived just east of what is now Sitka, was drowned at the Hughes Ford, on the Tippecanoe River, where now stands the Lowe bridge. With her husband and two grandchildren they had been visiting on the west side of the river and were returning to their homes. Mrs. Hughes feared to cross with her husband in his buggy and was with the grandchildren in a spring wagon when it struck a rock and was turned over. The children, by holding to the wagon, were carried down stream and rescued. Mr. Hughes, who had crossed safely, returned at once but the body of Mrs. Hughes was carried down the river and was found the following day two miles below the ford. She was sixty years old at her death and held in great esteem by all who knew her. Her husband, John C. Hughes, was a brother of Rowland (Pap) Hughes and died in 1872, at the age of seventy-two and both are buried in the old cemetery at Monticello. Near their graves are buried his parents. Ellis Hughes, born December 17, 1776, died January 6, 1850, and Sarah, his wife, born January 25, 1777, died March 18, 1857, in her eighty-first year. These dates carry us back to the Revolution. Near these graves lie the remains of Mary Imes, mother-in-law of "Pap" Hughes and the late Senator Turpie. She died February 15, 1868, at the age of eighty-two.
By an act in force March 4, 1911, the Legislature of Indiana authorized counties to pay a bounty of 10 cents for each crow and 5 cents for each crow's egg killed or found in the county and the party filing his claim was obliged to make affidavit to the facts before the county auditor and produce the crow's heads and eggs. An appropriation was made for this purpose by the county council early in 1911, but at its meeting on April 6, 1912, the fund had been overdrawn $116. At this meeting a further appropriation of $300 was made for the purpose but the council suggested that the commissioners reduce the bounty to 7 cents per crow and 3 cents per egg. The auditor was obliged to cremate the birds heads and eggs and one enterprising individual brought in at one time 167 crow heads, yet the crow continues to flourish.
On the night of October 22, 1873, a large livery stable at the southwest corner of Washington and Illinois streets, in Monticello, owned by Beeson Brothers, was destroyed by fire. Everything in the barn, including nine head of horses, six buggies, grain and a large quantity of hay was consumed, But one horse was saved and it was in a bad condition, having been almost burned to death. The fire originated in a defective flue and the loss was in excess of $6,000, with insurance for half that amount.
On this corner stands one of the land marks of Monticello, the three story brick building, 45 by 70 feet, known as the Reynolds Block. The White County Democrat of July 20, 1865, notes that it was being built by the Messrs. Reynolds and that the cellar is excavated and the walls begun. It also adds, "the front will be supported by iron columns." This building is yet one of the principal business blocks of Monticello and bids fair to stand another half century.
In an article contributed to the White County Democrat of December 16, 1898, James Spencer, who now lives in Liberty Township gives some interesting history of White County as it was in 1847-48, when Mr. Spencer came to this locality with his parents. At that time Monticello contained less than three dozen houses, both public and private. He remembers the old two-story frame courthouse, said to have been built by his father some years earlier; without a yard of plaster, it had been ceiled with wide poplar boards. This seat of justice stood on the east side of Main Street, not far from the present M. E. Church. (This building was later removed to the northwest corner of Main and Harrison streets and used for a wagon shop. It is now the office and grain room of the Southside feed barn.) On the present site of the M. E. Church stood the leading hotel of the town, run by Jacob Beck and shortly afterwards by Joseph Rothrock. (This building was later the home of the late Squire Henry P. Bennett, but when the church was built it was moved to the east side of Main Street half a block south of the South Side School building, where it now stands.) The only other hotel in the town was operated by Rowland Hughes on the east side of Main Street in a one and a half story log house. The only dry goods store in the town had just been started by Rowland Hughes, who converted his 10 by 12 barroom into the limited, yet ample, quarters for the mercantile traffic of that day. Isaac Reynolds and J. C. Merriam, of Logansport, soon afterward opened a competing store in the same locality. Daniel M. Tilton had a meager stock of groceries in the one story frame building which stood at the northwest corner of Main and Washington streets and James C. Reynolds kept the postoffice in the front room of his little harness shop which stood where the State Bank is now located.
There was but one church in the town, the New School Presbyterian, which stood on the ground now occupied by the Presbyterian Church. This old church was later moved to the north side of Court Street and was used as a barn until the fall of 1914, when it was torn down and a garage erected on its site. Rev. G. D. Miller was the only resident pastor, the Methodist Episcopal people having only a small class with occasional preaching appointments. The writer of that article calls to mind William M. Bott, Joseph and Mahlon Fraser, as the first earnest advocates of Bible Wesleyanism and their earnest zeal and consistent daily walk and conversation, which had a great influence in placing that church squarely on its feet in the community.
This writer's father, and Dr. Samuel Rifenberrick, were the only practicing physicians in the town as Dr. Randolph Brearley had just withdrawn from the practice. Thompson Crose and Amer S. McElhoes were the only blacksmiths, but Jesse Grim soon made the sparks fly on his own forge. Johnson Rifenberrick was the merchant tailor, John Maguire the dandy shoemaker with old man Day & Sons as super-cobblers. There were no drug stores in the whole county, no newspapers, no railroad dreamed of, but one weekly mail via LaFayette, and in fact no towns in the county except Monticello and Norway. At that time there were no mills of any kind except Hillman's sawmill. Just above what is now Tioga, Sheetz' gristmill, now Oakdale, and the Norway mills. Norway was the best trading point, the Kendall brothers at that place had a fine trade both in their store and mill. Jonathan Harbolt was the only undertaker in Monticello and his six and eight dollar stained poplar coffins were good enough for our old pioneers. Charles Dodge conducted the only wagon shop in the rear end of lot 1, on Marion Street between Main and Bluff streets, and across the street to the east J. R. Willey, did some work of the same character. Joseph and Abram Hanawalt were the plasterers and Uncle Samuel Heckendorn had the only furniture shop in the village. Benjamin Linville, Samuel Logan and Sampson Hartman were the active carpenters of the time and the old log jail stood near what is now the Pennsylvania depot.
The first school attended by Mr. Spencer was on the east side of Bluff Street, just north of Washington. It was taught by Prof. George Bowman, in an old one story frame building that long since has been torn down.
David Turpie was the only resident attorney and Horace P. Biddle, of Logansport, was judge of the court whose sessions were brief and far between.
In 1847, there were no bridges across the Tippecanoe River and not even a ferry boat, until 1850, when one was started at the foot of Marion Street. The part of the town east of Main Street and north of the present railroad was called, "Ponetown," and was devoid of human habitations. Such in brief is a showing of Monticello prior to 1850. Few can recall these scenes and these few will soon have passed away.
It may seem strange that White County has erected no memorial to the soldiers and sailors she has furnished in our three wars since the organization of the county, but our people have been taxed so heavily for drainage and roads that it has not as yet been thought expedient to levy a tax for this purpose. That a fine one will some day be erected no one doubts. The subject has not been frequently agitated of late years, but so long ago as the close of the Civil war meetings were held for the purpose of interesting the public in such a project. The first meeting of which we can find an account was held at the courthouse in Monticello on Saturday, 2 P. M., May 21, 1864. At this meeting, on motion of Thomas Bushnell, David Turpie was chosen president, and James W. McEwen and Richard Brown, secretaries.
Thomas Bushnell, Orlando McConahay and Dr. J. A. Blackwell, were appointed a committee to prepare a subscription paper for circulation and agents to circulate this paper were appointed for each township. Of all the people named in connection with this work James W. McEwen is the only one now living. This monument was to be erected in the public square at Monticello; at the close of the meeting nearly $150 was subscribed. Some years later Congress provided for the erection, over all graves of deceased soldiers, of the little plain headstone so familiar to us all and, like the little bronze button, this soon became popular with the old veterans. Many counties of the state have erected memorials to their soldier dead and it is not likely White County will much longer delay some action in this matter.
About 1855, Rev. Abraham Snyder, father of Captain Snyder, now living in Monticello, built a tannery at Norway and for some fifteen years he did a thriving business. He purchased the hides from The farmers and butchers and tanned them with tanbark, taken from the surrounding forests which method produced a splendid quality of leather known as, "Snyder's Jerk." It was used largely by local shoe and harness makers and gave the best of satisfaction. John C. Bartholomew, who married Mr. Snyder's daughter, was a saddler and harness maker and had his factory in the tannery which was located just south of Norway across the road from the fine spring, which is passed on the highway. The water from this spring which is, "sweet unto this day," was used in tanning the hides and the Snyder family lived above the factory.
The first marriage in White County, as shown by the records in the clerk's office was that of John Luce to Sally Hazelton, solemnized October 26, 1834. The second was the marriage of George R. Bartley to Katharine McColloch, on November 24, 1834, and the third Nathaniel Bunnell to Nancy Bunnell, on March 10, 1835. These licenses were all issued by William Sill, who was the first clerk of White County and in each case the knot was tied by George A. Spencer, justice of the peace.
During the month of July, 1913, a large band of Gypsies were encamped for several days on the east side of the river opposite Norway and while there their king, Thomas Nicholas, seventy-seven years old, died of dropsy. He was a man of wealth and the entire tribe was well supplied with money which was freely spent on the old king's funeral. His remains were taken by auto to Danville, Illinois, and there buried in regal style. His people would not allow the old king to be embalmed, the weather was quite warm and the trip was a memorable one for those unaccustomed to such funerals.
On August 14, 1878, was celebrated at Monticello the opening of the second division of the I. D. & C. R. R. (now Monon and Standard Gauge). The Delphi and Monticello brass bands furnished the music. Rowland Hughes presided, speeches were made and all were hopeful that the road would soon be extended to Indianapolis and Chicago. This seems to have marked the completion of the road between Rensselaer and Monticello, for at the close of this meeting the watchword was, "On to Delphi." All were enthusiastic in praise of narrow gauge systems and it was openly expressed that the old standard gauge roads would soon be abandoned.
During the Civil war the Rev. Thomas Callahan, at that time pastor of the United Presbyterian Church at Idaville was a well known character. In politics he was a democrat of the old school but an intense union man. He has long since gone to his reward and in the spring of 1912 his widow died, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Ida M. Baxter, in Valparaiso, Indiana, being eighty-nine years old. The town of Idaville was named after this daughter, who was handsome and a general favorite with the early settlers. After being given the name of Hanna it was discovered that there already was a Hanna in Indiana, hence the change.
From the Register of July 5, 1854, we glean an account of the death by drowning in the Tippecanoe River of J. G. McCully, son of Solomon McCully, of Jackson Township, which occurred at the celebration on July 4, at Monticello. He, with several others, was bathing near the foot of Broadway and getting into deep water became frightened and sunk [sic]. His body, after about an hour, was recovered by Dr. Wm. Spencer and Benjamin Brusie.
On the east bank of the Tippecanoe River, on a high bluff north of the dam, and just outside the city limits, is a little graveyard of much local interest, but very seldom seen by anyone save by the honest farmer who tends his crops in the adjacent field. Many of the graves are unmarked, but among the marble stones are those erected to the memory of Sarah S., wife of Moses S. Sheetz; who died January 14, 1853, in her thirty-second year; Margaret, wife of Zebulon Sheetz, who died December 2, 1861, in her sixty-ninth year; Mary A., wife of T. M. Thompson, who died October 24, 1867, in her forty-second year; Zebulon Sheetz, who died November 9, 1868, in his seventy-first year; Thomas M. Thompson, who died August 24, 1881, in his seventy-second year, and Eva, wife of Jonathan Oates, who died January 1, 1845, in her thirty-fourth year. But at the southwest corner stands an old fashioned marble tombstone upon which is engraved this remarkable epitaph:
"To the Memory of
Ann Barbara Sheetz
Who was born in York
Co. Pa. July 1750.
Died in White Co. Ind.,
July 25, 1839."
No white person is buried in White County who was born prior to her birth. It is not known to whom she was related. The Sheetz, Oates and Thompson families were very early settlers, but neither record nor tradition gives any account of this woman who had lived a quarter of a century when the Revolutionary war was begun. She certainly came to White County after she had passed her fourscore years and we can only conjecture her reasons for coming, at that age, to a country occupied by the Indians. Her grave certainly contains the remains of our most aged early settler.
In 1863 and prior thereto the greater portion of Liberty and Cass townships consisted of ponds, sloughs and wet lands. Some time in 1862 or 1863 a meeting of farmers was held to consider the proposition of draining the wet land, and under the statute a company was organized known as the Keen's Creek Draining Company. The route of the proposed drain commenced near the head of Keen's Creek in Cass Township and followed practically the meanderings of the creek until it reached the Tippecanoe River. The company elected as directors Benjamin Watkins, Fred Burgett, Uriah Patton, Richard Cornell and others whose names I have forgotten. They proceeded to let a contract for the construction of the drain, having completed the preliminary survey and estimate of cost. Upon the completion of the drain they assessed the benefits against each tract of land benefited. Among the lands assessed were the lands of John C. Hughes and John Large, each of whom refused to pay his assessment. The company in 1865 employed Hon. David Turpie to bring suit against Hughes and Large for the collection of their respective assessments. He brought suit in the Common Pleas Court before Hon. David P. Vinton, judge.
At the September term the case of John C. Hughes was put at issue and set for trial on the 16th day of May, 1866. Turpie being confined to his bed by sickness and unable to try the case, he sent for me and employed me to represent him in the trial. I was at that time young and had not as yet established a reputation as a lawyer, and of course, with the formidable array of counsel employed by the defense, the members of the drainage company were frightened, as they had depended upon Turpie's experience and ability to win the case for them. However, Turpie told them that I was competent and had the essential brass to manage the case properly, and on his assurance that he would be responsible for any mistakes in the trial, the company reluctantly accepted my services. The defense was represented by Ellis Hughes as local counsel and Judge Samuel A. Huff and Hon. John Pettit of the LaFayette bar.
At the outset the Court sustained a demurrer to the complaint, filed by Judge Turpie. I took leave to amend and spent the entire night in my office preparing an amended complaint. I set out the entire drainage act, and the amended complaint was held good by the court.
The case was at issue, and on the 16th of May, 1866, a jury was empaneled composed of John Dunlop, Abram Snyder, Wm. P. Montgomery, Ira Chenoweth, Valentine Bates, James E. Montgomery, John H. Carr, James Barnes, John Matthews, Wm. J. Bishop and Daniel Dale, Sr. After hearing the testimony of a great number of witnesses and a lengthy argument of counsel the jury retired to arrive at a verdict. As this was the first suit brought in White County to collect a drainage assessment, the people were excited and interested. It was considered a test of the drainage laws, and the courtroom was filled with spectators during the entire trial. Uncle Peter Price, who was scarcely ever seen in the courtroom, was present throughout. He was greatly interested, being an enthusiastic ditch man, and exhibited as much joy over the verdict as if he had been one of the plaintiffs, when on the 19th of May, 1866, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the drainage company for the amount of the assessment.
The case against Large was tried with the same result. It was appealed to the Supreme Court and reversed upon a technical error, when Large compromised with the company and paid his assessment and part of the costs.
It is a surprising fact that the judge, D. P. Vinton, the attorneys, Samuel A. Huff, John Pettit, Ellis Hughes and David Turpie, every member of the jury, the defendants, and all the plaintiffs that I remember, are all dead, and that I am the only surviving participant in that somewhat memorable trial.
Were any adult citizen of White County asked to give the names of the towns platted and located, within the boundaries of the county he would name over the towns with which he is familiar and say "that is all." His credulity would be overtaxed if told there was not a person living who could from memory give the names or location of all the towns that exist or have existed in this county. The modern "boomer" has his prototype in our first settler who laid out towns which he confidently expected to immortalize his name and enrich his purse.
As appropriate to this history we subjoin a list of a few of these town plats with a brief account of their histories.
New Hartford—The oldest of these towns is New Hartford, which was laid out in due form by Abel Line on January 20, 1837, about two and one-half miles east of Monon. This was quite a pretentious village, for in addition to its seventy lots it had a public square, which was forever dedicated to the public. This was doubtless intended to answer the purpose of the Roman Forum, but of this we have not so much as a tradition.
Wyoming is next in chronological order and was laid out on the west bank of the Tippecanoe River one-half mile south of the Pulaski County line, on February 24, 1837, by Crystal D. W. Scott, a New Light minister, many of whose descendants still reside in White County. It contained sixty-four lots and was described as "handsomely situated on the bank of the Tippecanoe river, where the Rochester and Monticello road crosses said river." It was further said to be surrounded by a rich agricultural country and was no doubt a good place in which to live. But one lot in this town was ever sold by Mr. Scott.
New Lancaster—On October 13, 1837, David Lambert laid out a town called New Lancaster, about a half mile south of Lowe's bridge, on the west bank of the Tippecanoe River. It is now and doubtless was at that time a beautiful location. The town consisted of eight blocks divided into sixty-two lots, but it was stillborn. Mr. Lambert's location availed him nothing, for not a single lot in New Lancaster was ever transferred by its founder.
Montgomery—Three days later, on October 16, 1837, the Town of Montgomery was laid out on the east bank of the Tippecanoe River (no more definite description is given) by Joseph Smith, Benjamin Grant and William G. Shelley. This was doubtless a rival of New Lancaster, which was born and died three days prior, but its sixty-four lots and a public square 276 feet on each side shared the fate of its older rival, and Montgomery does not live even in memory.
Castleton—On February 28, 1838, one Cyrus B. Garlinghouse became firmly convinced that a sand dune about a mile east of the present Town of Idaville would some day become a great city. Possessed with this idea he laid out a town of forty-eight lots and called it Castleton. This was twenty-two years before the railroad was built, and all of the above named towns were laid out before the Indians were taken to the far west.
Fayette—On March 18, 1856, Harris Shaw laid out a town about midway between Wolcott and Seafield and gave it the name of Fayette. Four years later the railroad passed through this embryo metropolis, and tradition has it that one day a flat car stopped, loaded the town and removed it to Wolcott, leaving its sixty-four lots without an inhabitant.
Clermont—Princeton Township was well represented in the "town boom" business, and on April 2, 1860, about four months after the opening of the railroad, Clermont was laid out by Christopher Hardy about one-half mile east of Wolcott and on the north side of the railroad. Mr. Hardy was quite modest and platted but twenty-four lots, but his little town of Clermont was swallowed up by the Town of Wolcott.
Kiousville—~On the 25th day of November, 1856, John Kious platted the town of Kiousville located about one mile north of Brookston. It included a part of four sections and comprised about 200 lots, being the largest number of lots contained in any town at its birth. But its size did not avail, and it went the way of all the earth. Hic jacet.
These are not deserted villages. They simply failed to materialize, and the hopes of their founders were blasted from causes over which they had no control. It is interesting to notice that the earliest of these towns were all laid out on a natural water course, for at that time it was not expected the railroads would so soon penetrate so far to the westward. Of the expectations of their founders we know nothing but can readily surmise that they had in view the development of the water power on the advent of the railroad but not one of these towns was benefited by either.
The above list includes only towns actually platted and appearing of record. Besides these were a number of postoffices, some of which were abandoned far back in the past and others only since the advent of free rural delivery. Among them were Flowerville, Badger, Dern, Forney, Rankin and others.
The following article from the Idaville Observer of December 5, 1913, is a reminder of life fifty years ago:
In the country north of Idaville you will still find a few reminders of the pioneer life of a three-quarter of a century ago scattered among the comfortable homes with which the country is being fast filled.
Just a few miles north of town stands an old log house with a huge brick fire place and chimney arising at the end of the building. The house is built of hewn logs, laid up cob house style and is in a good state of preservation. It is a mute reminder of the days when building material, other than logs, was well nigh impossible to get. The building of a home in those days was a simple affair compared with the erection of even the most common of the houses of today. The man with an ax and a grove of timber could soon put up a shelter to protect himself from the cold and storm and wild animals. The trees were cut down with the ax, cut the proper length, the sides slabbed and notched at the ends, all ready for the walls. When the walls were up the same ax was used to split puncheons for the floors and doors, and shakes for the roof. With a mud fire place and a stick chimney the settler was ready to face all the vicissitudes of the seasons.
Just a short distance further on stands another log cabin that has passed its days of usefulness as a shelter for man and is now used to house stock. There is yet a third cabin in this neighborhood whose roof has decayed and fallen in, l eaving only the walls, built of sturdy logs, standing. in its day this last cabin was the center of the life of the community.
When these cabins were built the surrounding country was practically a vast wilderness teeming with the wild life of that day, for the settlers were few and far between. The lands that are now yielding so richly of grain were swampy sloughs with no outlet. In winter and spring they were veritable lakes which dried up under the summer sun. The groves of today were but scrubby bushes, which with the rank wild grasses made admirable hiding places for the deer, prairie wolves, foxes and timid wild fowl. Night after night the wolves would gather around the scattered homes and make the darkness hideous with their howling. Roads were few and far between. What few there were wound their way around on the high places to avoid the sloughs. Fences there were none, save around the fields of grain.
Fifty years of toil and work have changed all of that. Great open ditches with mile after mile of tile have drained the swamps and where the water-fowl once nested and reared their young there are great fields of corn. Droves of cattle graze where the wild deer fed and hogs are fattened where the prairie wolves howled their requiem over the passing of the wild.
Gone are the sturdy men and women of those pioneer days. Stout hearted, strong willed, they faced the rough life of those days, and laid the foundation of the better life of today. Forgotten by nearly all they builded better than they knew. The seeds of civilization they planted have multiplied more than a hundred fold.
But not all the hard work is done as yet,—for there is room for as great a development in the future as in the past.
Mrs. Georgiana Reynolds, who with her son William M. Reynolds, lives on a farm east of Monticello, is the oldest native resident of union Township now living (August, 1915). She first saw the light January 1, 1837, in a little temporary abode on lot 10 in the original plat of the Town of Monticello, where five years later her father, William Sill, built the two-story residence which still stands on that site. It is on the west side of Bluff Street three doors north of Broadway and is one of the oldest landmarks in the city.
Mr. Sill was White County's first clerk, first auditor and first recorder, all of which offices he held at the same time. His son, Robert W. Sill, was sheriff at the time of the Dayton-Cantwell murder trial in 1850 and made the arrest of the indicted men. The old jail having been burned, they were kept in shackles for a time in one of the upper rooms of the house here mentioned. This old house at 110 North Bluff Street, besides being the domicile of White County's officiary, often sheltered temporarily the judges of the court, non-resident members of the bar, and even more distinguished guests from the state capital and elsewhere. Among them Mrs. Reynolds especially remembers Hons. Henry S. Lane and Schuyler Colfax, who found shelter under that hospitable roof during some of their political campaigns. Her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Sill, thus acquired a wide celebrity as hostess of White County's quasi-executive mansion.
Mrs. Reynolds is the last survivor of William Sill's family of two sons and three daughters. Her sisters were Mrs. Miranda J. Reynolds, wife of James C. Reynolds; and Mrs. Sarah Van Voorst, wife of Sylvanus Van Voorst. Her brothers were Robert W. Sill and Milton M. Sill.
Being a daughter of the first clerk, auditor and recorder, and a sister of one of the early sheriffs, she has some vivid recollections of White County's early officialdom. Among them is an incident that happened at the old jail on Illinois Street near Marion Street, then "out on the commons." She was commissioned by her brother, the sheriff, as cup bearer to the prisoners in the jail, and when he carried their meals to them she went along to carry the coffee. One morning when Sheriff Bob opened the jail to give two prisoners their breakfast they knocked him down, and rushing out past the little coffee carrier, escaped across the meadows. Her brother, who had only been temporarily stunned rose up and gave chase, and being very lithe of limb and fleet of foot, he overtook the fugitives and lone-handed led them back to jail.
Another exploit which gave this young sheriff considerable renown in his day was the capture of a notorious horsethief known as "Riz" Beauchamp. He was regarded as a dangerous man and had sent word to Sheriff Sill that he would kill him if he ever attempted to arrest him. Bob learned that Beauchamp was up in Jasper County prowling around in the vicinity of a camp-meeting then in progress near Rensselaer. He provided himself with a lasso and went on his trail. He found him m a group of men on the outskirts of the camp ground, and taking some local officers with him, he slipped up behind him, threw the noose over him and jerked him down on his back. Giving the rope to one of his helpers, he completed his conquest by closing in on his man and putting him in handcuffs. During this process, however, "Riz" fired a bullet at him which barely missed his knee and gave Bob a trophy of the encounter in the shape of a bullet-riddled trousers leg.
Indians were still numerous here in Mrs. Reynolds' childhood. Though they were not much feared by the settlers of that day, she was always panic-stricken at the sight of their dogs, which she says were "the ugliest beasts that ever walked." Mr. Sill was a merchant as well as a county official, and his store was located a few doors south of the present State Bank of Monticello. He had a brisk trade with the Indians, accepting their coonskins and other furry pelts in exchange for goods and shipping them to Philadelphia. The Indians were very friendly and often invited him to visit their wigwams, which dotted the river banks between here and Norway. Their hospitality could not be refused, but their cuisine was not exactly the kind that prevailed at the Sill mansion on Bluff Street, and his visits were therefore confined mostly to the hours between meals. His wariness was born of the following experience: One day, with his son Milton, he accepted an invitation to dinner at an Indian camp near town, beguiled by the appetizing stories he had heard of corn pone. With an expectant appetite he watched the preparations for dinner, and when he saw the squaw chef wash her hands carefully before proceeding to prepare the pone he inwardly remarked upon the cleanliness of these aboriginal daughters of the forest. But when he saw her mix the dough in the same water in which she had washed her hands his romantic thoughts came down to earth again and he lost his appetite for corn pone.
The husband of Mrs. Reynolds, to whom she was married October 29, 1854, was Mr. Calvin Reynolds, and he came from Somerset, Ohio. He died in the year 1872 during an epidemic of cerebro-spinal meningitis which ravaged this locality during that year. He was taken sick while watching at the bedside of a neighbor and died the next day, so rapid was the work of that memorable scourge. All the children of this union, six in number, are still living: Ebenezer, William M., Levi and Embree Reynolds, Mrs. Minnie Detwiler and Mrs. Mary Gladden.
The only bearer of the family name of William Sill now living in this county is Mr. Charles Sill, mail carrier on Rural Route 5, Monticello, Indiana. His wife, Mrs. Jessie Mullendore-Sill, is also a descendant from sterling old settler stock, being a daughter of Mr. Francis M. Mullendore, who was at one time deputy sheriff of White County and who enjoyed the respect and confidence of his generation.
Joshua Grim, notwithstanding his name, was a man who loved a joke. He was a butcher by trade and lived here when Monticello was young. He was a brother-in-law of Rowland Hughes, Monticello's pioneer merchant prince (commonly known as "Pap" Hughes), but for some reason he imagined that "Pap" did not consider him a very valuable addition to the family and that he was a little "uppish" in his bearing toward him. For this reason Grim was always pleased when anything occurred to ruffle his brother-in-law's dignity and was ready at all times to contribute his mite to the ruffling process. He was inwardly tickled when be heard that "Pap" had been swiped of $100 by investing in a worthless patent right, and it was music to his ear to hear him "cuss" traveling patent right vendors and tell what he would do to the next one that darkened his door. "Pap" had a great command of expletives, and when in full eruption it was an education to stand around and listen to him.
One day Grim had a visit from a stranger who wanted to sell him the county right for a patent farm gate. Grim declined to invest and was about to allow the fellow to depart, when a diabolical thought struck him.
"There's a man named Hughes over there," said he, "who might want it. He buys about everything that comes around." The stranger thanked him and started for the Hughes store.
"Hold on a bit," called Grim. "Now Mr. Hughes is very peculiar. He'll refuse you at first and may pretend to get mad and even order you out of his store, but that's all bluff. If you stand your ground and spunk up to him he'll take a fancy to you and maybe buy two or three counties before you get through with him."
The stranger accepted the pointer thankfully and started off again. Grim watched him till he entered the store and then made a bee line for the scene himself, taking up a position on the sidewalk just outside the door, where he could enjoy the entertainment. He heard the stranger following his directions to the letter, and he heard his predictions fulfilled on "Pap's" part also, except that he failed to mellow down. The sound of voices inside grew from a murmur to a roar, and finally the stranger emerged unceremoniously from the door, pursued by "Pap" with flashing eyes and an uplifted chair. As the patent right man passed him he cast a reproachful glance at him but did not take time to stop.
Capt. B. F. Price, whose father was the first actual settler in Union Township, recalls an incident connected with White County's first jail, the humor of which "touched the funny bone" of his boyhood nature and has stuck in his memory ever since.
The jail was located on North Illinois Street near Marion Street, and as there were no houses around it nearer than the New School Presbyterian Church the view from behind the bars commanded quite a large scope of commons. A man named Smallwood Thompson was incarcerated in the jail for stealing five coonskins from Rowland Hughes. One Sunday morning just as the church bell was ringing Thompson was caught in the act of breaking jail. When his plans were foiled he seemed easily reconciled to his fate and was disposed to think it a good joke that he had come so near regaining his liberty in broad daylight.
"Why Smallwood," somebody remarked, "if you'd only waited till night you'd have got out."
"Yes," he answered, "but I saw the people going to church and thought I'd get out in time to go too."
There are few of Monticello's pioneer buildings still standing, but some of her oldest buildings have incidents connected with their history which make them interesting.
One structure which is much older than it looks is the little shoe shop which stands on Broadway between the O'Connor Block and the Law Building. It has occupied many sites. It was built in 1851 by Liberty M. Burns and Amer S. McElhoes and was the home of Monticello's first meat market. The members of the firm of Burns & McElhoes were fresh from Pennsylvania and full of thrift, though limited in means. They recognized the value of a central location for the meat business, but having no ground of their own on the public square they adopted the bold expedient of building their meat shop in the courthouse yard. A new brick courthouse had just been erected, and in the minds of these enterprising meat vendors the smell of blood and beefsteaks was all that was needed to complete the sanctity of the judicial plaza. At that time the sessions of the Commissioners' Court were few and far between, and the young squatters, selecting a time when the board had just adjourned, planted their meat shop in the southeast corner of the courthouse grounds and were selling steaks there before the county fathers were aware of their bold pre-emption of the public domain. The house was small and easily moved, but it remained there long enough to build up a trade which followed the firm when they finally had to seek another site.
The following is an abstract of the assessment of the property in White County for the year 1915:
| Prairie Township | $ 1,878,790 | ||
| Big Creek Township | 964,020 | ||
| Union Township | 1,142,140 | ||
| Monon Township | 1,215,210 | ||
| Liberty Township | 759,490 | ||
| Jackson Township | 914,660 | ||
| Princeton Township | 1,340,000 | ||
| West Point Township | 1,353,770 | ||
| Cass Township | 576,060 | ||
| Honey Creek Township | 728,610 | ||
| Round Grove Township | 946,780 | ||
| Monticello Corporation | 1,382,430 | ||
| Brookston Corporation | 363,870 | ||
| Reynolds Corporation | 163,460 | ||
| Burnettsville Corporation | 186,420 | ||
| Monon Corporation | 425,330 | ||
| Wolcott Corporation | 357,910 | ||
| Chalmers Corporation | 264,670 | ||
| _______________ | |||
| Total | $14,963,620 | ||
| To which add for corporations about | 1,600,000 | ||
| _____________ | |||
| Making a grand total of | $16,563,620 |
This is for purposes of taxation. The true value of taxables in the county will approximate $40,000,000, less the amount claimed by mortgage exemptions.
Elisha Warden, the veteran house mover, was one of the early residents of Norway, having come there with his parents in 1836, when less than a year old. In his boyhood days Norway gave promise of great commercial importance, being for years the center of industrial activity for a large scope of territory on account of its water power. It was here that the Tippecanoe was first harnessed, and though its dam has been swept away its site for power purposes is still one of the finest on the river.
One of the earliest industries of Norway was conducted by Mr. Warden's father, Elisha Warden, Sr. He manufactured peck and half-bushel measures made of bent wood, and his products supplied the market almost exclusively in White and adjoining counties. A Norwegian named Helver, who had a turning lathe, manufactured wooden bowls and other kitchen utensils. Mr. Warden ran a huckster wagon, which was the vehicle of distribution both for his own products and Mr. Helver's woodenware, and on his return home from a trip his wagon was usually loaded with farm and garden truck taken in exchange for their handiwork.
Elisha Warden, Sr., was elected sheriff of White County, in the early '40s, and his son relates an incident of his official career which illustrates the stress of a sheriff's life and incidentally recalls the early topography of our now beautiful county.
Sheriff Warden had a warrant for a man named Dirth, who was wanted for some misdemeanor and was said to be in hiding in the country not far from Monticello. He mounted his horse and went in pursuit of him. The soft and marshy nature of this region in those days made it easy to trace a fugitive by his footprints, and he soon struck a trail which promised to lead him to the object of his search. Toward evening he discovered his man, but in a most tantalizing position. He was perched on a muskrat house far out in a marsh. How he got there was a puzzle then and ever afterward to Sheriff Warden, but he reasoned that where one man could go another could follow, and he plunged his horse into the marsh in a bee line for the muskrat house. He was soon hopelessly mired and stuck fast in the swamp. The man on the muskrat house apparently was not armed. Neither did he seem to be alarmed, and in fact did not need to be. He was evidently in no danger of arrest, and he simply sat and grinned at the sheriff's plight. He even began to toss pleasantries at him across the water and to give him sarcastic advice about how to run a sheriff's office. At last he called out:
"Say, Sheriff, I'll help you out if you'll give me my ground!" meaning exemption from arrest for the present.
It was getting dark, and the sheriff's condition being desperate, he accepted the proposition. Dirth got down off his perch and by skillful maneuvering and hard work pried horse and rider out of the mire and got them back to land.
Sheriff Warden played "honor bright" with him by letting him go his way at that time but arrested him a few days later, after their "gentlemen's agreement" had expired.
With the disappearance of the marshes the muskrat has also vanished from White County, except along the watercourses, and present-day fugitives from justice would have to travel much farther than Mr. Dirth did to find such a refuge as a muskrat house.
One of the most interesting records in White County is now in the possession of Miran B. Spencer, Esq., of Monticello. It is the old docket, bound in deer skin, which his grandfather, George A. Spencer, used when he was a justice of the peace in Big Creek Township from September 16, 1834, to June 23, 1836.
The record of many suits are [sic] found in this little book, the first case being that of Merkle, Orwig & Co. vs. Milton Doan, in which judgment was given plaintiffs on September 16, 1834, for $32.65. On this judgment the constable levied on about twenty acres of corn valued at $184, one horse valued at $8 and one lot of hogs valued at $8.
The second case was that of Ashford Parker against our old friend, Jeremiah Bishir, filed the same day, and on November 15, 1834, judgment was rendered against defendant for $10.90, which was later paid.
One of the most amusing cases was filed January 15, 1835, entitled, "Samuel Shanahan vs. Robert Newell," in which plaintiff swears, "that on January 15, 1835, in the county aforesaid, Robert Newell, of sd. county, a certain assault and battery, was perpetrated by sd. Newell coming to my house, clinching me & striking me two or three times, twice on the head & once in the side. This was on the body of Samuel Shanahan & that he verily believes that Robert Newell of said county is guilty of sd. offense & further saith not." A warrant issued, Mr. Newell was arrested, pleaded guilty and was fined $3 and costs. Cornelius Clark entered replevin bail and on April 4, 1835, the judgment was paid. But this did not close the matter, for two days later, on January 17, 1835, Newell sued Shanahan and recovered judgment for $10, on which Andrew Ferguson became replevin bail. On April 25 the costs were paid and $2.25 paid on the judgment, but the remaining $7.75 is still due.
On January 30, 1836, one Samuel Beever recovered judgment against Jeremiah Bishir for $9.75 and costs, which included fees for several witnesses who had been subpoenaed in the case. The Beever family name figures prominently in this record, and on February 23, 1836, one W. M. Beever was arrested for an offense which is not stated. He pleaded not guilty, was tried, acquitted, but placed under bond to keep the peace, and the record concludes: "Said defendant fined for swearing $1.00." Mr. Spencer was a good churchman and would have no swearing in his court.
One of the most important cases was that of Joshua Rinker vs. Jeremiah Bishir, in which, on May 30, 1836, judgment was awarded plaintiff for $75, and upon which Simon Kenton became replevin bail. The record shows that $10 is yet due on this judgment.
The last case tried was on June 23, 1836, in which Jeremiah Bishir recovered judgment against W. M. Beever for $5.18 3/4, upon which judgment Philip Davis became replevin bail, but this judgment is not yet satisfied of record.
On August 9,1837, this docket was turned over to Joseph Phillips, justice of the peace, who states that it was one year after the commission of George A. Spencer had expired.
It will doubtless surprise many of the younger generation to learn that an attempt was made to construct a telegraph line through White County prior to the advent of our first railroad. Some time prior to 1850 poles were set through the entire length of Main Street, as far north as Norway and on part of the projected line to LaFayette. This line was intended to connect the latter place with White Post, a postoffice in Pulaski County, but no wire was ever strung, the poles rotted in the ground and the project was abandoned. But the prospect gave Monticello one of its periodic "booms," town lots were in demand, prices soared and Monticello was expected to become a mighty city when the wire was opened for business. Peter Price, father of Capt. B. F. Price, caught the fever and paid $100 for the lot at the southwest corner of West Broadway and Railroad streets. After holding it for twenty-three years he was glad to accept $50 for it and this is but a single illustration of the effects of one of our first booms. The electric telegraph was in its infancy and it is no wonder the people were excited over the proposition to bring it to their doors.
For two generations the people of White County and vicinity have heard and admired the rich musical tones of our grand old courthouse bell. It is one of the finest bells in the state and has a history unknown to most of our people, for but a few have ever seen it.
It bears the following inscription cast on its outer side, "From Meneely's foundry, West Troy, N. Y., 1852." This company is still in business and is the oldest bell foundry in America, having been established by Andrew Meneely in 1826. West Troy is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about six miles north of Albany, and when cast this bell was consigned to Dr. Samuel Rifenberrich, at Lockport, Indiana, coming down the Hudson to Albany, thence by Erie Canal to Buffalo, thence by Lake Erie to Toledo, thence by Wabash and Erie Canal to Lockport, Indiana, from which place it was hauled by wagon to Monticello and placed in the tower of the old courthouse. In 1894-95, when the present courthouse was built, it was placed in its present home. When placed in this new home the hammer of the courthouse clock was attached and during the last twenty years, by day and night, it has faithfully proclaimed the hours and suffered no less than 1,139,424 strokes.
The following is a list of officers of White County since its organization, with the dates of their election or appointment.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.--Ira Bacon, Daniel McComb and Robert Newell, 1834. McComb resigned in November, 1834, and Daniel Dale was appointed to succeed him. Ira Bacon resigned and in May, 1836, James Gay was appointed his successor. James K. Wilson, 1836; William W. Mitchell, 1837; William Wood, 1838; John Young, 1839; James H. Hiett, 1840; Ranson McConahay, 1841; Hiett resigned and in November, 1841, Allen Barnes was appointed in his place; Chrystal [sic] D. W. Scott, 1842; James Kerr, appointed September, 1842; Allen Barnes, 1843; James Shafer, 1844; J. H. Wilson, 1845; Solomon McCully, 1846; Samuel Smelcer, 1847; James P. Moore, 1848; Jefferson Courtney, 1849, he moved out of his district and in 1850 Solomon MeCully took his place; James K. Wilson, 1851; Christopher Vandeventer, 1852; Andrew Hanna, 1853; J. K. Wilson, 1854; Sothey K. Timmons, 1855; Thomas Downey, 1856; William H. King, appointed 1857; George Cullen, 1858; Anderson Irions, 1859; Ansel M. Dickinson, 1860; George Cullen, 1861; James Hays, 1862; Ansel M. Dickinson, 1863; James Renwick, 1864; Samuel Smelcer, 1865; Christopher Hardy, 1866; John G. Timmons, 1867; Theodore J. Davis, 1868; James C. Gress, 1869; Thomas Downey, 1870; John Parrish, 1871; Ansel M. Dickinson, 1872; John Parrish, 1873; Martin H. Cartmell, 1874; David R. Fisher, 1875; Jacob Pfister, 1876; Nelson Hornbeck, 1877; Jacob Pfister, 1878; John T. Barnes, 1879; John A. Beam, 1880; John T. Barnes, 1881; Eli W. Cowger, 1882; Alfred C. Tam, 1882; Joseph Taylor, 1884; Alfred C. Tam, 1884; Eleazer H. Scott, 1886; Judson Paul, 1886; James Hewitt, 1888; George Huffman, 1888; James W. Dye, 1890; Perry Spencer, 1890; John M. Russell, 1892; James W. Dye, 1892; John R. Russell, 1894; Robert D. Roberts, 1894; Daniel O. Rader, 1896; Perry Spencer, 1896; Oscar K. Rainier, 1898; Daniel O. Rader, 1898; Joseph Taylor, 1900; George T. Inskeep; 1900; John Ball, 1902; Henry Duncan, 1902; Joseph Taylor, 1904; George R. Schlademan, 1904; Charles A. Gay, 1906; Alfred A. Renwick, 1906; Jacob D. Moore, 1908; Patrick Hays, 1908; Andrew F. Nagel, 1910; Charles Hufty, 1910; Andrew F. Nagel, 1912; Marshall S. Personett, 1912; Martin L. Ranker, 1914; Marshall S. Personett, 1914.
TREASURERS.--George A. Spencer, 1834; Asa Allen, 1838; Peter Price, 1841; Isaac Reynolds, 1841; Randolph Brearley, 1844; Jonathan Harbolt, 1845; James C. Reynolds, 1848; Robert W. Sill, 1850; Jonathan P. Ritchey, 1852; William Russell, 1854; Michael A. Berkey, 1856; John E. Dale, 1858; W. E. Samuelson, appointed July, 1861; Albert Kingsbury, 1862; Joseph Rothrock, 1862; Capt. Granville B. Ward, 1866; Joseph Rothrock, 1868; Israel Nordyke, 1872; John Faris, 1876; Madison T. Didlake, 1880; Robert R. Breckenridge, 1884; Hiram A. B. Moorhous, 1888; Julius W. Paul, 1892; James C. Jones, 1894; James C. Stockton, 1898; William F. Brucker, 1902; Miran B. Spencer, 1904; William P. Cooper, 1908; Otto C. Middlestadt, 1912.
SHERIFFS.—Aaron Hicks, 1834; John Wilson, 1834; James Parker, 1836; he resigned and Daniel M. Tilton was appointed to succeed him in 1839; James C. Reynolds, 1842; Elisha Warden, 1844; Robert W. Sill, 1848; Michael A. Berkey, 1852; Henry C. Kirk, 1854; William Wright, 1858; Matthew Henderson, 1860; Milton M. Sill, 1864; Matthew Henderson, 1868; William E. Saunderson, 1870; he died in office and the coroner, Enoch J. Dunham, succeeded him; Irvin Greer, 1874; James Hay, 1878; Joseph W. Stewart, 1882; Joseph Henderson, 1886; James P. Gwin, 1888; Robert F. Dobbins, 1892; Simon N. Dobbins, 1894; John W. Warner, 1898; George Stevens, 1902; Hamilton E. McCully, 1906; Ben Price, Jr., 1908; Thomas F. Downey, 1912; Joseph C. Williams, 1914.
AUDITORS—William Sill, 1834; Thomas M. Thompson, 1846; Joseph D. Cowdin, 1853; William Russell, 1855; he died in office and was succeeded by Joseph D. Cowdin in 1856; Thomas Bushnell, 1861; George Uhl, 1869; Henry Van Voorst, 1876; David M. Carson, 1884; Morris J. Holtyman, 1892; Jasper L. Ackerman, 1900; Albert G. Fisher, 1908.
CLERKS.—William Sill, 1834; Ranson McConahay, 1848; Orlando McConahay, 1858; Daniel D. Dale, 1866; George W. Lawrence, 1874; Samuel P. Cowger, 1878; Jones Brearley, 1886; Frank B. Humston, 1894; Addison K. Sills (six months by appointment); Samuel L. Callaway, 1898; Wallace Atkins, 1906; Charles S. Preston, 1910.
RECORDERS—William Sill, 1834; Thomas M. Thompson, 1846; Hugh B. Logan, 1856; John S. Hurtt, 1862; William W. McColloch, 1866; Rufus L. Harvey, 1874; James P. Simons, 1882; Bernard A. Vogel, 1890; Burdell B. Baker, 1894; Fred C. Obenchain (by appointment six months); Charles H. Kleist, 1902; Morton Coonrod, 1910.
The judges of the Probate Court in White County were: Robert Newell, 1834, who died in office, and Aaron Hicks, 1846. The associate judges were James Barnes and Thomas Wilson, 1834; Thomas McCormick, 1841, and James Barnes, 1841. This court was abolished in 1853 and its business transferred to the Common Pleas Court, which, in 1873, was merged in the Circuit Court. A brief account of the judges of the two last named courts will be found in another part of the work.