Cass County, Indiana
LODGES AND SOCIETIES
The fraternal spirit of the people of
Twelve Mile is shown by the societies they have organized since the
rapid development of the new town on the advent of the railroad in 1901.
I.
0. O. F.
Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 519, was
organized December 17, 1881. with only a small membership, but in
recent years the numbers have rapidly increased. Present membership, 77.
FREE
MASONRY
A Masonic lodge was instituted in
Twelve Mile in 1908, and Dud Dalzelle was its first master. Their
membership now numbers 36.
WOODMEN
OF THE WORLD
Twelve Mile Camp was organized
December 5, 1905, and is said to be in a prosperous condition, with a
membership of twenty. The Gleaners is the latest order to be organized
in 1912, with a membership of thirty.
PATRONS
OF HUSBANDRY OF FARMERS' GRANGE
This, perhaps, was the first secret
fraternal order organized in the township iu 1870, and James P.
Ferguson was its first "master." The officers consisted of a master,
overseer, steward, secretary, treasurer and chaplain. Women were
eligible to membership. This organization was popular among the farmers
all over the western country about this time. They combined for mutual
improvement, benefit and protection against what they termed imposition
and extortion of moneyed interests and middlemen. The Grange held its
meetings in schoolhouses and for a time was prosperous and helpful in
many ways, but did not last many years, when it was entirely abandoned.
KNIGHTS
OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
This was a political secret order in
sympathy with the South during the Civil war and opposed to President
Lincoln's methods of conducting the prosecution of that war. These
treasonable societies under the above name, were organized all over
Indiana. They were often composed of otherwise good citizens, but who,
in their political and party animosity, were carried to the extreme of
opposing the government and organized secret societies with that object
in view. There were a few men of this character in Adams township, who,
in 1862, organized a lodge of the Knights of the Golden Circle and
Joseph Lease, who was a strong Union man and ardently supported
President Lincoln's policies, joined the order with the object of
exposing the treasonable workings of the society, which he did. Those
initiated into the order were bound by a strong oath and death was the
penalty; for violation of the oath are not given out, out of consider
-ation of the descendants of these men, who are among our best and
respected citizens, as were also their forebears, except for this one
incident of their lives, which they afterwards greatly deplored.
HOOVER
Hoover is a small station in the
southern part of Adams township, at the crossing of the two railroads
that pass through the township, the Eel River division of the Vandalia
and the C. C. and L. R. R., and about nine miles east of Logansport. It
dates its history from about 1871 or '2, soon after the Eel River R. R.
was completed. At this time a large steam sawmill was erected here,
which was the nucleus around which the town developed. In April, 1874,
Riley Hoover, proprietor, laid out the town, surveyed and platted 14
lots and a few houses to accommodate the mill hands were erected. For
many years the saw mill was the chief industry. It had been located
here to saw the timber from the big woods, known as the "Seven
Sections," belonging to the Taber heirs, and there has been a mill
located here ever since, run by different parties,
although in recent years, owing to
the scarcity of timber, the mill does not do the business it formerly
did. J. L. Clouse was probably the first merchant to open a country
store, which he continued to manage for many years or until his death.
He was the first postmaster in the village. Wm. Obenchain also engaged
in the mercantile business for a
while and Willard Place bought and
shipped grain and stock extensively for some years. At present there is
a general store managed by John Crumpacker; an elevator, and stock
yards operated by P. P. McFaddin; blacksmith and repair shops and the
usual "press brick" workers found around a country village store. Peter
Enyart has been postmaster for many years and has one rural mail route,
No. 20, which delivers daily mail to the farmers of the vicinity,
greatly to their convenience and profit. Grain, stock and lumber are
the principal articles shipped from the town on its two railroads,
which maintain a union depot at the crossing. The population numbers
about one hundred. A new Methodist church was recently erected and a
schoolhouse stands nearly a half mile to the west. A good farming
country surrounds the town, which affords a ready market for all
agricultural products. An iron bridge was some years ago erected across
Eel river just south of Hoover, which gives an outlet to Miami Township
and New Waverly, which is mutually advantageous to both.
MISCELLANEOUS
ITEMS AND HAPPENINGS
The first automobile in Adams
township was purchased in 1906 by James Black, when he was looked upon
as an aristocrat or a plutocrat or anything but a plain Hoosier,
and it was quietly noised around that
Mr. Black must have received a tip from Andrew Carnegie or John D. and
would soon be a director in Standard Oil or the Steel trust. For
a time in old Adams everybody was
craning their necks when that automobile came up the road ; but now the
people are accustomed to the innovation, rather like it and an
automobile is not as much of an attraction today as the old ox cart of
the pioneer, and each year finds the number increasing. The first piano
in the township was bought by Thos. H. Skinner in 1882, and at that
time was a great novelty as well as luxury for a common farmer to
possess.
Early in the sixties Jacob Abbott
living in the northwestern part of the township, was kicked by a horse
and killed, leaving a widow and one child. Her maiden name was Lyda
McHenry.
In 1886 Chas. Smith was killed by:
being kicked by a horse and a Mr. Webster committed suicide by hanging
himself.
During the year 1868 John Hissong
committed suicide in Allen Obenchain's barn by cutting his throat with
a razor.
A son of David Young shot and killed
himself in 1880.
John Mars was struck by lightning and
instantly killed on his own farm in 1856 and Henry Mars was crushed to
death under his wagon shed in 1870.
Elmer Robins was killed by lightning
during the summer of 1912.
Geo. Wolford, an old soldier and
respected citizen, accidentally shot himself and died from the effects
of the wound about ten years ago.
A distressing accident occurred in
1865 at a sawmill on Alexander Reed's place, in the southern part of
the township, whereby: Addis L. Thomas lost his life. He fell against
the moving saw and before it could be stopped his body was so mangled
that he died a few days later.
Wm. Frankum was run over by his wagon
while hauling rails and instantly killed in 1858.
Alvin Myers, son of Marion Fisher,
during the year 1886 was thrown down and his horse stepped on his
breast, crushing the life out of him.
Mary, wife of Albert Skinner, was
accidentally shot by the latter and instantly killed, October 8, 1898.
Abe Townsen, while driving a four
-horse team, hauling logs, ran the wagon against a tree in the woods,
which fell and struck him on the head, crushing his skull, causing
sudden death.
Many other minor accidents, such as
having hands or feet injured, requiring amputation, legs and arms
broken by kicks of horses, falls and injuries of various kinds, so that
Adams township heads the list for sudden deaths and accidents to her
citizens.
One of the amusements of pioneer life
was an occasional entertainment, exhibition or theatrical performance
by the young people of the settlement, which were generally held in the
largest barn in the neighborhood at which the young Shakespeares would
display their Thespian faculties. One of the grandest of these
performances was held in the barn of Thos. H. Skinner, about forty
years ago. There was a tragedy in one act, where a boy was shot and
killed and the act was so realistic that Mrs. Richard Lowman, who never
witnessed a play of that character, fainted and it required great
efforts to resuscitate her and put a stop to the young tragedians'
further performances.
During the Civil war partisan feeling
rose to a high pitch in Adams township and had many unfortunate
disputes and a great deal of bitter feeling was engendered. At a camp
meeting near the Dillman farm, an attempt was made by some soldiers to
hang an erratic citizen of Logansport in attendance, who had given
utterance to some treasonable sentiments. He was, however, hustled off
the grounds by his friends and barely escaped the noose which had been
gotten in readiness by the would-be lynchers.
PHYSICIANS
Dr. Thomas Crook was the first
physician to locate in Adams Township in 1853. He was a brother of
General Crook, of the Indian and Civil Wars, and was born in Montgomery
county, Ohio, December 18 1822, and died in Adams Township, December
26, 1882 and lies to rest in Bethlehem M.E. cemetery. He was twice
married his first wife was Louisana Worst; second wife was Eliza
Dudgeon. He had three children by his first wife and two by his last.
He came to Cass county in 1853 and practiced in Adams township,
residing on a farm, until 1870, when he returned to Dayton, Ohio, but
in 1876 moved back to Adams township, where he practiced until his
death. Dr. Crook was not an
educated physician, but possessed the
intuitive faculty of a good physician.
DR.
JOHN C. WAITE
was a native of West Virginia,
where he was born July 15, 1835. He moved to Cass county in 1862;
graduated from Rush Medical College, 1869 ; practiced at Walton,
Indiana, 1873-74, then for a time at Adamsboro, Hooverville, and
finally locating at Twelve Mile, where he had been in practice prior to
his receiving his degree, about 1867; later he engaged in practice at
Chili, Miami county, and finally; moved to Julietta, Idaho, where he
died in 1903. He was a member of the Idaho legislature for two terms.
Dr. Waite was a charter member of the Cass County Medical Society. He
was married three times and has one daughter living.
DR.
JAMES McKEE
Dr. James McKee, a former
resident of Bethlehem township, is a son of Robert. F. McKee and
brother of ex-Mayor Geo. P. McKee. He was born in Washington county,
Pennsylvania, about 1840; educated in the public schools of his native
state, attended a college in West Virginia, and graduated from Rush
Medical College in 1878-9. He first began practice at Macy, Indiana,
then at Mexico, and about 1878 located in Twelve Mile, where he
practiced his chosen profession until about 1881, when he moved to
Newton, Kansas, residing there until about 1905, when he was appointed
as an official in the pension department at Washington, District of
Columbia, where he now resides. He was elected to the office of coroner
for several terms while in Kansas He was joined in marriage to Miss
Mollie Grable of Bethlehem township in 1866, and they have three
children.
DR.
J. M. MORRIS
is a native of Fairfield
county, Ohio, and was born in 1841. He studied medicine with Dr. Peters
in Ohio, attended medical lectures in Columbus, Ohio, and at Keokuk,
Iowa. He moved to Twelve Mile in 1870, where he continued in practice
until 1881, when he removed to Fulton, Indiana, where he is still in
active practice. While at Twelve Mile he was married to Sarah Jane
Sargent, to which union six children were born, three of whom, two sons
and one daughter, are living.
DR.
H. DUDLEY SKINNER
is the son of Richard Skinner,
a pioneer of Adams Township, where the doctor was born November 21,
1854. He was educated in the public schools and later taught district
schools for several terms. He studied medicine in the office of Fitch
and Coleman and received his degree of M. D. from the Indiana Medical
College in 1881 and at once engaged in the practice of medicine at
Twelve Mile, in the township that gave him birth, where he continued in
practice until 1884, when he moved to Denver, Indiana, and about a year
later went to Minnesota and finally located in Condo, North Dakota,
relinquished medical practice and engaged in the legal profession. The
doctor was united in marriage September 15, 1882, to Miss Sarah A.
Williams of Indiana, and they have several children, only one of whom
is living (1910). While located in Twelve Mile he was twice elected
township trustee and was an energetic Republican in politics.
DR.
GEO. WALTER HARDING
was born at Five Corners, Miami
county, Indiana, December 27, 1858, educated in the public schools and
one term at De Pauw University and graduated from the medical
department of 'Michigan University in 1886 and in 1896 attended a post
graduate course in Chicago. He located in Twelve Mile in 1887 and
continued in active practice until 1896, when he moved to North
Manchester, Indiana, where he is still engaged in professional work. In
1882 he was united in marriage to Miss Ida M. Lester and they have
several children.
DR.
LEWIS CRAIG MILLER
is a native of Ohio, where he
was born (at Alliance) in 1869 and educated at Union College, Ohio;
received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1895 and
at once located at Twelve Mile, where he has been a successful
practitioner to the present time (1913). The doctor has attended
strictly to professional duties and cast aside official honors.
Recently, however, he has been elected to the presidency of the Twelve
Mile Bank, established in 1912. He was joined in marriage in 1897 to
Miss Suyder of Deedsville, Indiana, and they were blessed with three
children.
ADAMS
TOWNSHIP CHURCHES
Rev. Wm. M. Rayburn, a
Methodist preacher, was probably the first minister to expound the
gospel of Christ in this township about 1832. He held religious
services in the cabin of Logan Thomas in the southwest part of the
township, but no class was then organized.
ZION
M. E. CHURCH
This was the first religious
society to be organized in Adams township. Anthony Martin settled on
the northwest quarter of section 7 in 1831. He was a blacksmith and the
first to ply that trade in the township. In 1833 he sold his claim to
James McClung and moved to Laporte. No records are accessible showing
the details of the organization of this church, but there is a cemetery
(Grables) on the Martin McClung farm and burials were made here prior
to 1833, these with the family and church relationships, shows,
according to I. W. Kreider's investigations, that a class was organized
in this neighbor -hood about 1835, composed of Benj. Enyart and wife,
Silas Enyart, Thos. Enyart, James McClung and wife, Rev. Ashabel Buck
with members of the Plummer, Dague and other families not now
ascertainable. Meetings were held in private houses and later in a log
school house located on the northwest quarter of section 5, Adams
township, until about 1846, when a hewed log church was erected near
the house above mentioned, on land donated by Henry McHenry. This log
meeting house served as a place of worship until 1888 when it was torn
down and the present
frame building was erected at a cost
of $1,800. The trustees in 1888 who erected the new church were Wm. S.
Finnimore, G. W. "Wolford, D. N. Dague, Wm. M. Preston and J. O.
Winegardner churches caused a decrease in membership. While 'this is
not a large congregation, yet, what is lacking in numbers is made up in
zeal and the church is moving along in the even tenor of its ways,
doing its duty in the Master's cause. The present membership is
reported to be 71. Present pastor, Rev. Spekane, 1912. Rev. Ashabel
Buck was one of the first pastors and Rev. J. J. Cooper, in 1885-87.
TWELVE
MILE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
To Elder Thos. Whitman the
credit is due of sowing the first seed, which, under careful culture,
germinated, and in due time developed into the Twelve Mile Christian
church.
There had been preaching at intervals
for three or four years in the cabins of Thos. Skinner and J. Reed by
Father Atkinson, Rev. A. Snethen of Kentucky, Rev. Jos. Roberts and N.
Myers, but on January 16, 1847, Rev. Whitman perfected a permanent
organization at a meeting in the cabin of Thos. Skinner with a charter
membership as follows : John and Lucinda Davis, Thos. and Amelia
Skinner, Richard Skinner, James Davis, Thos. and Jane Whitman. The
first officers were John Davis and Thos. Skinner, deacons, and these
two with John Johnson, trustees. Thereafter meetings were regularly
held in private residences and the congregation rapidly increased.
Among the new members were Margaret and Elizabeth Davis, Margaret and
Nancy Reed, Rebecca Stroud, Amelia and Elizabeth Jones, Abraham Lowman,
Mary Johnson. Elmore Simons, Joseph and Henrietta Venters, Jos. Lowman,
Eliza M. Beck, S. Skinner, Rebecca Balew, Cynthia Bockover, Joel Black,
Caroline Skinner, 0. P. Davis, Rebecca Reed, D. L. Davis, Wiley
Johnson, Margaret Skinner, Sarah J. Davis, Susan Lowman, Catherine
E. Leavel, Isabelle Ashworth. In the
fall of 1848 a hewed log meeting house 24x36 feet was erected in the
northeast quarter section 22, on land donated by Thomas Skinner and
this church has generally been known as the Skinner church. This log
building was used for church purposes until 1870 when it was replaced
by a new frame building 36x40 feet and dedicated to the service of the
Lord, by Rev. T. Whitman, the first pastor, on December 25, 1870. The
church seats 300 and cost $1,100. A Sunday school was organized in 1846
in the cabin- of T. Skinner and has been successfully operated from
that day to the present time and has been a great aid to the prosperity
of the church. The present membership of the church is about 60. A
cemetery adjoins the church. The first interment therein was Mary, the
wife of Nathan Skinner, March 16, 1841. Pastors who have served this
congregation are as follows : Rev. Thos. Whitman, 1846-51; Rev. Abraham
Snethen, 1852; Rev. John Winters, 1853-55; Rev. Thos. Wells, 1856; Rev.
Benj. Trapp, 1859-63 ; Rev. Wm. Y. Winegardner, 1864-75 ; Rev. James
Ulery, 1876- 80 ; Rev. Samuel McNeely, 1881-83 ; Rev. S. Culbertson,
1884-86 ; Rev. Joshua Greer, 1887-90 ; Rev. Taylor Jackson, 1891-92 ;
Rev. M. M. Wiles, 1893-95 ; Rev. Kendall West, 1896 ; Rev. Abraham
West, 1897-98. The following ministers have at times, held services in
this church, but dates are not known :
TWELVE
MILE CENTER M. E. CHURCH
For many years there were
irregular church services held in the school house at Twelve Mile but
no organization was ever formed until the year 1883, when the Rev. R.
J. Smith held a series of meetings, arousing a great religious interest
in that neighborhood and organized a class of forty members, at the
schoolhouse in the village of Twelve Mile. Joshua Howell was class
leader and Andrew Decker, Sunday school superintendent. Sunday school
was maintained with irregular preaching for a number of years but a
house of worship was never built as Twelve Mile was only a few miles
distant from Zion and Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal churches. In 1891
this little congregation assisted the United Brethren people to erect
their church at Twelve Mile and have blended with that organization and
with the above named Methodist churches, so that the Twelve Mile Center
Methodist Episcopal church organization no longer exists as a separate
or independent class. Rev. R. J. Smith continued as pastor of this
church and accomplished much in bringing many souls to Christ, and
although the organization was abandoned yet his work greatly
strengthened the other three churches into which the members of this
congregation entered and became blended.
CORINTH
BRETHREN IN CHRIST (PROGRESSIVE DUNKARDS)
This church is an outgrowth of
the German Baptist, Brethren or Dunkard church at Mexico and eastern
part of Adams township and they are known as Progressive Brethren in
Christ, as they do not adhere to some of the old customs of the parent
church, such as the special style of dress, music in the church, etc.
The organization of this congregation
was perfected in 1890 at schoolhouse No. 5, by Rev. S. H. Bashor. The
charter members were H. C. and Adda Reed, Belle Dalzelle, Aron C., Wm.
C. and Nora Black, Frank and Jennie Dillman, Samuel and Rhoda Damm,
Mary Grandsinger, D. A. and Josephine Hopkins, S. McClain, A. M.
Sherard, T. E. and Maggie Thomas, Sarah Teal, Geo. D. and Sarah Wilson,
Eliza E. and Mary Crook, Wm. M., Anna, David and Barbara Young, Marion
and Emma Kreider. This congregation
at once began to plan to build a
house of worship and purchased one and one-half acres of land, and the
records show that S. F. Dillman conveys a church site located in the
southeast corner of section 28, Adams township, to the trustees of the
church ; D. A. Hopkins, S. McClain, and D. Young; date of deed, June
10, 1890. A church edifice was at once begun and completed the same
year and formally dedicated to the Triune God, November 21, 1890. The
church is a substantial frame building erected at a cost of $2,600.
There is a burial ground adjoining the church and the first interment
therein was a child of Logan Thomas in the year 1833.
A Sunday school was organized in 1900
and the workers therein are
zealous in the cause of the Master
and through the efforts of the Sunday school the membership of the
church has increased until it numbers 110. The following persons have
served the congregation as pastors or elders in charge: S. H. Bashor,
August 1. 1889-1890; D. A. Hopkins, March 1, 1890, Oct. 1, 1890; W. C.
Perry, October 1, 1890-91 ; J. H. Swihart, October 1, 1891-93; W. C.
Perry, October 1, 1893-94; J. H. Swihart. October 1, 1894-97; L. W.
Ditch, October 1, 1897-98 ; Wm. M. Miller, October 1, 1898-99 ; D. A.
Hopkins, October 1, 1899-00; W7. C. Perry, October 1, 1900-03; J. M.
Fox, October 1, 19T)3-04; A. S. Menaugh, October 1, 1904-05 ; P. M.
Fisher, October 1, 1905-06 ; A. S. Menaugh, October 1, 1906-07; D. A.
Hopkins, October 1, 1907-10; C. C. Guisso, October 1, 1910-11 ; D. A.
Hopkins, October 1, 1911-12.
DUNKARD
CHURCH (OLD GERMAN BAPTIST) CONSERVATIVES
The Mexico German Baptist church was
organized at Mexico, Miami county, in 1881 by Wm. Fisher and Geo.
Balsbaugh, with the following list of charter members: Joseph Edward,
John Kinzie, John Arnold, Wm. Fisher, Geo. Balsbaugh, Eliza Miller,
Lewis Fisher and Joseph Augle.
Meetings were held in schoolhouses
and private residences until 1883 when a frame church was erected about
two miles east of Mexico, Miami county. There were some dissensions in
the congregation and they became divided into progressives and
conservatives. The conservatives predominated and as the majority of
the latter resided west of Mexico and in Cass county the church was
torn down in 1897, moved and rebuilt on the southeast quarter of
section 4, about one mile northeast of the town of Hoover in Adams
township at a cost of $1,800 and the church has continued to prosper.
The present membership is reported to be sixty-five. Services are held
every two weeks with Geo. Balsbaugh, Wm. Fisher and Elisha Miller,
officiating.
The deacons are Edward Kinzie, John
Kinzie, Benjamin and John Augle. The church is not large but is
composed of plain but devout and earnest Christian workers who believe
in practical religion and act accordingly.
HOOVER'S
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
As early as 1887 Brother Fennel, a
traveling minister, held meetings in the Hoover schoolhouse half a mile
west of the village of Hoover and organized a class of ten or twelve. A
year later Rev. Butler took up the work and held revival meetings which
increased the membership of the class, but some of them inclined to the
United Brethren church and joined with others of that faith at Twelve
Mile, leaving the Methodist class at Hoover weak and in a state of
suspended animation for several years. However, in 1902, Rev. Wm. Amoss
held a series of
meetings in Hoover schoolhouse and
reorganized the class, some of the members of which are: Mrs. Kizzia
Lunsford, Mrs. Rose AVolf, Mrs. B. E. Meadows, Mrs. Mollie Henry. E.
Buskirk, Jos. Buskirk, Florence Buskirk, Laura Buskirk, Lawrence
Buskirk, Mrs. Crook, Eliza Cox, D. W. Doran, Ora Doran, Frances Doran,
Bertha Doran and Myrtle Doran.
Through the efforts of Rev. Amoss, a
neat, frame church edifice was erected and dedicated September 27,
1902, at a total cost of $2,500, and by the assistance of the Ladies'
Aid Society, six months later, the entire church debt was paid, leaving
the church free from all financial obligations and in a prosperous
condition, both financially and spiritually. Pastors who have served
the congregation are : Rev. Wm. Amoss, 1902-04; Rev. Wm. Hamilton, Rev.
Eli Davis, Rev. A. C. Hoover, Rev. Geo. Pelly, Rev. John Parker,
1910-13.
UNITED
BRETHREN CHURCH (TWELVE MILE)
The first held by the denomination in
Adams Township was at the house of Enos Butler in section 19 and Rev.
B.S. Clevinger was the first preacher. Later Rev. Levi Hoover and
Jos Terrell preached at irregular intervals in the Dudgeon schoolhouse
at Twelve Mile. This church was formally organized July 10, 1887, by
the Rev. H. E. Butler, with a charter membership as follows: A. J. and
Mary Decker, Geo. Leonard, Mrs. D. Conrad, Ida Decker, Effie Decker,
Sarah Hoover, Mary A. Hoover, Cordelia Ward, J. B. Decker,
Elizabeth Randolph. Pastors— Rev. H.
E. Butler, 1887-9; S. Snyder, 1889-91; J. W.
Hindbaugh, 1891-2; G. W. Lambert,
1892-4; 0. P. Kegg, 1894-5; J. Becket, 1895-6; G. L. Mattox, 1896-8; O.
F. Landis, 1898-00; J. T. Keesey, 1900-03; J. N. Martin, 1903-04; J. Q.
Kline, 1904-06; C. J. Miner, 1906-09 ; A. Cloud, 1909-10 ; R. G. Upson,
1910, present pastor. It was not, however, until 1891 that steps were
taken to erect a house of worship. One acre of ground was bought of I.
W. Egman in the northeast corner of the northeast quarter of section
20, nearly a mile east of the present town of Twelve Mile. A commodious
frame church was erected at a cost of $1,500 and dedicated in July,
1891. A cemetery adjoining the church is maintained and Wallace Snuffin
was the first interment March 7, 1888, as shown by the marker. When the
railroad was constructed through Adams Township about 1900, it left the
old village of Twelve Mile to the east a half mile or more and a new
town sprang up on the railroad. In the year 1911 the congregation
abandoned the old church and tore it down and erected at a cost of
$5,000 with lot, a handsome new modern frame church in the present new
town of Twelve Mile which was dedicated to the service of the Master
January 7, 1912. A Sunday school was organized in May, 1886, and is
maintained and the church is in a prosperous condition with a
membership of 149. Rev. R. G. Upson is the present pastor.
CEMETERIES
OF TOWNSHIP GRABLE CEMETERY
This is probably the oldest burial
ground in the township and is situated on the north-west quarter of
section 7, about one and a half miles south of the Fulton county line
and one-quarter of a mile east of the west line of Adams township. John
Grable, who owned the adjoining farm, deeded to Silas Enyart, John
Abbott of Cass county and A. B. Chapin of Fulton county as trustees in
trust, as a burial ground for the neighbor -hood, a tract of land 100
by 150 feet in the above named section; date of deed October 25, 1849,
but the deed was not recorded until March 7, 1900. During this time the
farm changed hands and the owners claimed the burial ground. It now
lies in the center of a field with no road or lane leading to it. It is
grown up with bushes and trees sadly neglected and a home for ground
hogs where they burrow at will. There are probably 100 graves located
here but the majority are unmarked. According to Isaiah Kreider, who is
an authority, a child of Anthony Martin was the first interment prior
to 1833, but no stone marks the grave. The earliest interment as shown
by the marker is Silas Enyart, died 1844, but we know the Martins who
lived here in 1832-3 had deaths in their family.The following soldiers
are buried here : Darius Lunsford, Ohio Reg. War of 1812. Oliver
Enyart, Co. E, Twenty-ninth Ind. ; died at Nashville July 28, 1864.
Frank Lunsford, Co. K, Fifth Ind. Cavalry ; died August 26, 1892.
SKINNER
CEMETERY
In the early forties James Reed
donated ground for this cemetery, but deeds were never made until March
2, 1871, when Noah Simons, who then owned the surrounding farm, conveys
to the trustees of the church, Allen Obenchain, Richard Skinner and
Isaac Newman, a piece of land 12x18 rods, in the northeast quarter
section 22, for church and
burial purposes and on April 2, 1892,
additions were made to the original plat.
The old part was never platted, but
the new addition is platted but not recorded. The Christian church,
known as the Skinner church, adjoins this cemetery. The first
interments herein are : Mary, wife of Nathan Skinner, May, 1842; Daniel
Bayless, 1842; James Reed, the donor of the ground, August 7, 1843.
Soldiers— Thomas Skinner, War of 1812; died April 11, 1881, age 85. Wm.
Hunter, Co. K, Forty-sixth Ind.; died August 28, 1894. D. H. Calkins,
Co. E, Twenty -ninth Ind. ; died April 8, 1865, at Chattanooga.
DILLMAN
CEMETERY
For many years this was known as the
Dillman graveyard, from the fact that Daniel Dillman was the owner of,
and lived on the adjoining farm. Prior to this, however, Samuel Lowman,
who had entered the land, laid out a burial ground in the early
thirties and it has been used for burial purposes ever since, but, like
most of the early cemeteries, deeds were never made or recorded ; until
June 10, 1890, when S. F. Dillman, son of D. Dillman, conveys one and a
half acres of land in the southeast quarter of section 28 to David
Young, S. McLain and D. Hopkins, trustees of Corinth Brethren in Christ
church (Progressive Dunkards), (Rec. 47, p. 519). This organization
erected a church soon after and controls the management of the
adjoining cemetery, which was included in the above conveyance. The
ground is platted but not recorded. First burials were : An infant of
Henry L. Thomas, 1833 ; a child of John Simons, 1833 ; a son of Miner
Alley, 1833 ; four children of Mr. Wilson prior to 1840; Sarah, wife of
Wm, Leffel, 1846; Elizabeth, daughter of D. Dillman, 1845. Soldiers —
Levi Lunsford,
Co. F, Forty-first Ind., died
November 13, 1884; Jos. A. Spencer, Co. G, One Hundred Fifty-first
Ind., died November 16, 1902.
MOUNT
CARMEL CEMETERY
On July 6, 1891, I. W. Egman conveys
one acre of ground to the trustees of Twelve Mile U. B. church,
situated in the northeast corner of the northeast quarter of section
20, Adams township. The ground was platted but not recorded. The
following year a church was erected but recently was removed to the
town of Twelve Mile, but the trustees of the church have the management
of the burial ground. The first interment was Wallace Snuffin, March 7,
1888. Soldiers — Frank Somers, Co. F, Seventy-third Ind., died December
10, 1905; Samuel Arthurholtz, Co. F, Seventy-third Ind., died July 28,
1903; Wallace Snuffin, Ohio Reg.; Levi F. Bixler, Mich. Reg., died
1900; Geo. W. Wolford, Co. A, Eighth Ind. Cavly., died 1903.
JACK
CONNER TOMB
This unique tomb is situated about a
mile east of Hoover's crossing and south of the railroad a short
distance in a beautiful walnut grove on a knoll surrounded on three
sides by a ravine fifty feet deep. The ground was enclosed by a picket
wire fence about forty feet square, but the fence has fallen into
decay. John Conner was an eccentric Indian trader, the first settler in
Adams township, locating here in 1828. He died August 20, 1846, and
prior to death gave directions that his coffin be placed in a box,
filled with tar and left setting on blocks above ground. His directions
were carried out and the box thus prepared was left setting in the open
air in that beautiful walnut grove where it has peacefully reposed for
over sixty-six years. A few years later the neighbors complained and a
stone vault was built over -the box and coffin containing the remains,
a photograph of which appears on another page, showing the appearance
of this interesting tomb as it exists today, and his cabin a short
distance across the ravine. His
wife Elizabeth, who died March 1,
1849, lies buried here; also John Payne, 1846; three children of a Mr.
Snell, 1851 to 1855; Elijah Conner, June 5, 1848, and his infant in
1840 and a child of John Hoover, 1853. Mrs. Mary M. Harp, whose maiden
name was Dillman, now a resident of Logansport, attended this funeral
and relates many interesting anecdotes of this most unique character in
pioneer days and incidents connected with this most remarkable burial.
OLD
TOWN INDIAN BURIAL GROUND
Is situated on the north bank of Eel
river and west of the mouth of Twelve Mile creek on what is known as
Little Charlies Reserve. In the early settlement of the county, from
1825 to 1840, there was an Indian village extending for three miles
along the river from a mile above Adamsboro, eastward. At about the
location #bove described, there was a burial ground and residents in
that locality have dug up Indian skeletons in gravel pits along the
banks of the creek, but no exact spot or burial ground can now be
located, as Indians more often laid their dead in hollow logs or trees
or in the side of some cliff or hill. This ground was also the scene of
General Wilkinson's engagement with the Indians in 1791, mentioned
elsewhere, and a number of Indians and two soldiers were killed and
buried here.
SCHOOLS
Adams township, lying so far from
Logansport, the center of trade and being covered by a dense forest,
the pioneers of this township underwent great hardships in the early
settlement and had to content themselves with what they found on the
land, as it was next to impossible to transport goods or merchandise
from the outside world, nevertheless they were brave and energetic and
were not slow to appreciate the value of mental culture and as soon as
settlements were formed they erected schoolhouses and employed teachers
to instruct their children, yes, before public houses were built, the
first school was taught in an old log cabin on the Dalzelle farm in the
northwest quarter of section 29, in the winter of 1836-7, by Wm.
Davidson. The first schoolhouse erected in the township was in 1838 or
'9. It was a primitive round log house with the cracks closed with
sticks and mud and cost, completed, the munificent sum of $39.50. The
first schoolhouse stood on the Joel Black farm, section 29. S. A.
Ouster taught the school at $12 per month. In 1842 this first
schoolhouse was destroyed by fire, the patrons disagreed as to the
location, the result was two houses were built, one on the Dillman farm
near Corinth church, section 28, and the other on Wm. Murden's farm in
section 30, then owned by Logan Thomas. Both were hewed log houses, the
former was occupied until 1859, when it was abandoned and a frame
house, No. 6, was erected on the southeast corner of section 33 and
about the same time the Thomas log schoolhouse was replaced by a frame,
located near the same site, this was consumed by fire in 1910, but has
never been rebuilt, its pupils being hauled to the Twelve Mile school.
The Thomas log schoolhouse was known throughout all that section, S. A.
Custer, August Morse and many other well known pioneers wielded the
birch in this primitive temple of learning and the first religious
meetings were assembled here. The first school in the Skinner
neighborhood was taught in a log house over the line in Miami county
and the first school in that section was held in the log church about
1850 or '51,
taught by Jos. Davis. It was not
until 1856 that a frame schoolhousewas erected near the northeast
corner of section 22 on the T. Skinner farm. Its first teacher was G.
I. Reed, second teacher, Katherine Wickham.
The Dudgeon hewed log schoolhouse in
old Twelve Mile (Hen Peck) located on the southwest corner of the
southeast quarter section 17, was built in 1844 and abandoned about
1864, when a frame building was built to the west on the northeast
corner of section 19, which is now in the present town of Twelve Mile.
During the year 1910 this frame house was replaced by a beautiful brick
structure containing five or six rooms and a graded school established,
including the High school course, with an expenditure of $14,000. The
High school has twenty students, taught by P. F. Chenot, principal.
About 1837-8 a log schoolhouse was built in the northwest part of the
township in section 5, and in 1846 one was erected on the northeast
quarter of section 9, these with school No. 7 in section 27 and No. 8,
known as the Hoover schoolhouse, Adams township now has a complete
system of schools running through all the grades, primary up to and
through the high school.
Two districts have recently been
abandoned and the pupils are hauled to the Central school at Twelve
Mile. One wagon is employed in each district for which tjie township
pays $2.50 per day and it is claimed that it is not only cheaper for
the township, but gives better satisfaction to the patrons to attend
the larger and concentrated school.
The total enumeration in 1912 was
279. Total value of school property $28,000. From the trustees books we
reproduce the enumeration of the first school district in Adams
township in 1840 : Nathan D. Nichols, four children; H. L. Thomas, two
children; Jos. Lowmau, two children; Geo. Lowman, three children; Miner
Alley, no children: R. Ferguson, four children ; John Ferguson, one
child ; Wm. Spray, one child ; John Cox, four children ; Isaac Young,
two children ; Thos. Dalzelle, one child; H. Alexander, three children;
Joel Black, three children ; Jos. Lewis, two children ; P. Woodhouse,
no children ; Tillman Woodhouse, no children; Noah Martin, no children;
M. Eldridge,
two children ; J. Greathouse, two
children ; J. H. Wilson, four children; J. Leffel, one child.The
following persons have served as trustees of the township with the
years of service from 1865 to 1912: Stephen Enritt, 1865; John M.
Smith, 1866-7; W. Y. Winegardner, 1868-70; Thos. L. Barr, 1871-72;
Roht. Dalzelle, 1872-76; Daniel Brower, 1876-78; Jos. Grandsinger,
1878-80; Thos. Hill, 1880-82; H. D. Skinner, 1882-86; Geo. Barnhart,
1886-90; John Sullivan, 1890-94; Wm. Carson, 1894-00; J. M. Deniston,
1900-04; A. B. Irvin,
