RUSH COUNTY, INDIANA
FIRST MARRIAGE LICENSE ISSUED IN COUNTY
Among the
numerous interesting "firsts" encountered in making up a history of a
community none is more interesting than that having to do with the
first record of marriage in the county. The first persons licensed to
marry in Rush county were Aaron Osborn and Elizabeth Lee, their names
constituting the initial entry in Marriage License Record 1 in the
office of the clerk of court. This license was issued on May 10,1822, a
little more than a month after the formal organization of Rush county
as a separate civic unit and more than a month before the location of
the site of the county seat. The certificate of solemnization of the
ceremony uniting this pioneer pair was filed by Elder John Blades three
days later, May 13. The second license issued was that in behalf of
Samuel Cones and Sally Grigg, this having been issued on May 29 of the
same year. The certificate of solemnization, bearing the attestation of
John Lenville, justice of the peace, was not filed for record until the
following August 3, but there is no explanation on the face of the
record to account for this apparent delay in the consummation of the
plans of the happy pair. June (the traditional month of brides) was
passed without the granting of a single license to marry—nor is there
any explanation of this melancholy fact—and it was not until July 23
that the third license was issued, this latter being in favor of
Benjamin Sailors and Kervilley Evans. There was no delay in the
consummation of the plans of this pair, however, for the certificate of
solemnization signed by Elder John Blades bears the same date as that
of issue. This wonderfully interesting little old, time-stained book,
No. 1 of the long line of marriage license record books in the clerk's
office, carries the record of licenses on to March 29, 1826. One of the
most interesting features is the gradually varying style of the
certificates of solemnization. Beginning with the first brief
attestation made by Elder Blades, told in scarce a dozen words, these
certificates gradually grow in specific detail to such a point of
verbosity that toward the close of the record book they are found to be
filling a full page of the record, as for example on page 154 (the last
entry in book No. 1): "William Gilson to Sarah Nash: Be it remembered
that on the twenty-ninth day of March in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and twenty-six a license was issued by the clerk
of the Rush Circuit Court authorizing any person (duly authorized) to
join together in the bonds of matrimony William Gilson and Sarah Nash;
and afterwards, towit, on the third day of April in the year of our
Lord last aforesaid Richard Blacklidge, a. justice of the peace for
Rush county, filed in the clerk's office aforesaid the following
certificate, towit: I do hereby certify that I did join together as
husband and wife William Gilson and Sarah Nash on the 30th day of
March, 1826. Given under my hand and seal the 3d day of April, 1826.
Richard Blacklidge, justice of the peace."
It will be
interesting to know that among the "firsts" of Rush county the first
road planned in the county was the road running through Richland
township a mile north of the Decatur county line and crossing the loop
of Clifty creek. It was at the first meeting of the board
of county commissioners, April 1,1822, that an order of the board was
entered appointing Jesse D. Condy, Jacob Oldinger and John Cook "to
review a road to commence on the east line of Rush county at the
corners of sections 21 and 28 in town 12, range 11 east, thence on a
due west line to the west boundary of said township."
The next road ordered was a matter of minute in the record of the
second meeting of the commissioners, May 13,1822, this meeting having
been held at the house of John Lower, it being noted in that minute
that "the board appointed Benjamin Sailor, William Junkens and Worth
Parker to view a road commencing where Whitsel's trace crosses the line
between Fayette and Rush counties and turning thence west the nearest
and best route to the dwelling house of Richard Thornberry, thence the
same direction to where said trace crosses the line of the counties of
Shelby and Rush." Richard Thornberry had entered the
northwest quarter of section 26 in Rushville township and the general
direction of the old Whitsel trace through this county is thus
definitely established across the old Thornberry ford over Flat
Rock. This "trace" was the old "blazed trail" cutting up
through Franklin and Fayette counties through this region and thence on
west to the Wabash country. Reference is made to it in Esarey's
"History of Indiana," where, in speaking of the stream of
immigration that "followed
Driftwood from Vallonia and
Brownstown, founding the Haw Patch. Jonesville and Flat Rock
settlements in Bartholomew county before 1820," it is pointed out that
"the settlements were reinforced by many pioneers who came across from
the Whitewater country, following Whetzell's trace to Johnson
county.'' The variation in the spelling—Whitsel and
Whetzell—is a not uncommon characteristic of many of the old records,
clerks in some instances apparently being guided more by the sound of
the name than by any desire for strict orthographic accuracy.
Among other
interesting "firsts" the following copy of the first teacher's
certificate ever issued to a female teacher in Rush county merits a
place: "State of Indiana, Rush county, ss: We, the undersigned school
teacher examiners in and for said county do hereby certify that from
personal knowledge and examination of Elizabeth Willhoit we find her
qualified to teach the following branches, towit: Reading, writing,
arithmetic, English gramar (sic) and geography, and that she is well
qualified to teach a common English school. Witness our hands this 10th
day of March, 1845. Job Pugh, Finley Bigger, examiners." The teacher
here referred to, Elizabeth (Willhoit) Caldwell, was the mother of Mrs.
John F. Moses and Mrs. Moses treasures highly the time-stained document
which attested her mother's early competency as a teacher. The school
examiners here mentioned were forceful figures in the county at that
period. Job Pugh for years served as recorder of Rush county and in
other ways rendered public service. Finley Bigger, a lawyer of wide
influence, located in Rushville in 1836, coming from Ohio where his
father, John Bigger, had served for years as a member of the Ohio state
legislature. In 1853 Finley Bigger was appointed registrar of the
United States treasury and served in that capacity until 1861.
A "first" that
will be regarded as of importance to the future generations is that of
the date of the arrival of the first express shipment to the city of
Rushville by airplane. This was May 17, 1921, on which day R. N".
Hensler, an air pilot, delivered to the drug store of Pitman &
Wilson at Rushville a package of fishing tackle from Bowagiac,
Michigan, the trip having been made with but one stop, at Wabash,
Indiana. This trip contrasted with the trios made into this section by
the lumbering ox carts a hundred years before was regarded as a most
significant commentary on the amazing progress that had been made in
transportation during the century. The actual flying
time of this trip was two hours and fifty-five minutes, the distance
covered being 165 miles as the crow flies.
It long has been a
matter of comment on the part of visitors here that the outstanding
feature of the social life of Rush county is the genial and wholesome
neighborliness of "the folks," a happy trait that has persisted here
since the beginning, the people of the county in each succeeding
generation continuing to remain "just folks" to all the world.
This fine neighborliness of spirit formerly found expression in the
annual county fair and in the annual meetings of the Old Settlers'
Association. The county fair succumbed to the lessening of distances
brought about by better means of transportation, the state fair now
easily providing an outlet for that form of expression among the people
of Rush county, while the old settlers' meetings ceased to attract
apparently for the simple reason than no one could be found in the
county any more who would admit that he was "old." In later
years street fairs in the county seat, corn shows and the like have
served to bring the home folks together on occasion, and there is now
on foot a movement to have a great homecoming festival at Rushville in
1922, at which time all who have ever had a part in the life of
Rushville will be invited to gather for the celebration of the
centennial anniversary of the county. In 1916 Rush
county celebrated with appropriate ceremonies at the county seat the
observance of the state's centennial and that was an admirable "get
together" meeting, but perhaps the best exemplification of the
neighborly spirit above referred to ever noted in the county was the
remarkable series of meetings held at Rushville in 1920, the "town"
entertaining the "country" there in the spring of the year and the
country returning the compliment to the town in the fall. In the spring
the Rotary Club of Rushville had issued a general invitation to the
farmers of the county to have dinner with the merchants of the city on
a day and more than 1,800 farmers and their wives had accepted the
invitation, the occasion proving so wholly enjoyable that the farmers
and their wives, on their part, decided to return the compliment in the
fall. To that end plans were laid for a September dinner and on Friday,
September 17, 1920, four great tents were erected in the city park, the
business and professional men of the city being invited to partake
there of the hospitality of the farmers and their
wives. The statement that there were no fewer than
12,000 persons gathered at that dinner was declared by a contemporary
print to be "too conservative" an estimate. There were no fewer than
2,500 automobiles parked about the scene of the big dinner, and it did
seem that almost the whole county had turned out. In the first of the
big tents erected for the occasion the women's committees of Anderson,
Rushville and Noble townships entertained; in the second, Jackson,
Posey and Richland; in the third, Ripley, Walker and Center, and in the
fourth, Union. Washington and Orange. No old settlers' meeting ever
drew such a crowd, and the genuine neighborliness of the spirit
displayed was commented on by all. As the Republican, in its
report of the affair, said: "The immense throng of people was jolly and
good natured. Neighbors and friends visited with each other and many
who had been passing on the streets of Rushville for years
without knowing one
another became acquainted." Addresses
appropriate to the occasion were made by local and visiting notables
and a series of motion pictures of the neighborhood gathering was taken
under the direction of the extension department of Purdue University,
these pictures later being exhibited throughout Indiana and in
neighboring states as a suggestion to other counties and county seat
towns to go and do likewise.
In an
interesting review of the history of the Carthage Meeting of Friends
prepared some time ago by Owen S. Henley to be read at a celebration
meeting of the historic old Meeting, Mr. Henley pointed out some
incidental activities on the part of certain members of the Meeting in
years gone by as follows: "Dr. John M. Clark, a member, was one of the
most noted doctors of an early day, was well read, could speak in a
number of dialects and was also a proficient writer. At an early day
Herman Allen, a member, applied for and received what was said to be
the first patent on the planing machine. The knife was run horizontally
and thus cut across the grain of the wood and did not gain public
favor. In 1854 Elwood Hill and Noah Small, members of Friends'
families, conceived the idea of applying steam as the power to thresh
wheat. To carry out this idea they went to Troy, New York, purchased a
portable engine of six horsepower, placed it on a wagon and during the
season of 1855, so far as can be ascertained, made the first use of
steam in threshing wheat in the United States. About 1814, in North
Carolina, Joseph Henley purchased, with the idea of setting him free, a
colored boy, Joe, the price paid being thirty-two barrels of flour. Joe
was skillful in shoemaking for that time and soon left for Richmond,
Ind., but insisted on giving his note for $50 as some little payment
for the flour. In 1826 Thomas Henley, son of Joseph, starting to
Indiana on a prospecting tour, the father gave him the note with
instructions to hunt up Joe and see how lie was getting along. Joe was
found in a little cabin. 12x14, south of what is now Main street,
Richmond. Split puncheons led from the trail to the door; the cabin was
on posts two feet high, a pool of green dirty water was under the
entire structure and several ducks were hunting tadpoles in the same.
Joe suggested moving on, thinking he could do better, and offered the
cabin for the note. The nerve of Thomas failed and he left Joe in
possession. Thomas Henley then came on out to where Carthage now stands
and where at that date his uncle, Robert Hill, was building a mill, and
worked with mattock and wheelbarrow thirty days for $10, boarding at
the palatial home of Jesse Hill—15x25 feet, dirt floor— at the rate of
12 1/2 cents per day. A copy of the 'menu' has not been preserved."
Certain individual
Friends of the Carthage neighbor-hood were active agents in the
operation of the "under-ground railroad" which "ran" through this
county in the days when the enforcement of the fugitive slave law
carried a severe penalty for assisting a runaway slave, and those who
thus incurred the penalty of the law carried on their operations at
considerable risk. In 1916 Thomas T. Newby, of Carthage, published an
interesting little book of "recollections" in which he recalled the
time when he first saw matches, tells of the circumstances attending
the introduction of lamps into Rush county, and of the old railroad
that ran from Knightstown through Carthage to Shelbyville, of which the
only tangible reminder in this generation is the trace of the roadbed
running south-westerly out of Carthage, and tells of the days when
excursions were run on this road, when flatcars with benches on them
were used for passengers and when passengers had to get off to "give a
lift" to the puffing little engine; but probably the most interesting
recollection in this interesting little book is that in which Mr. Newby
gives some reminiscences concerning the old "under-ground railroad." He
says that "for a few years before the Civil war the 'underground
railroad' was patronized very frequently through here by those mostly
from Kentucky and Tennessee. There were several men in Carthage who
sympathized with the South and they were ever watching and ready to
inform against any who aided a runaway slave, so that assistance given
had to be managed with care and secrecy. There was a 'station' at
Rushville managed by 'Agent' Burns (colored), who would bring slaves to
Carthage after night and they were kept secreted until the next night
when an 'agent' here, Elisha B. White or Jim Hunt (colored), would take
them to another 'station,' the Jessup neighborhood, four miles north of
Knightstown, where they were hidden in the daytime and at night taken
to the next station north and then on to Newport (Fountain City), where
the 'president' of the 'underground railroad' lived—stanch friend of
the slave, Levi Coffin. From there they were 'shipped' on to Canada,
some times taking several days and much risk. One Sabbath day in the
summer of 1855 there were twelve runaways hidden all day in our sugar
orchard, it being a dense thicket then."
Reference
heretofore has been made of the organized band of horse thieves which
operated throughout this section of the state back in the '50s, with
headquarters in the Moscow neighborhood. Apparently it was thought by
the law abiding Quakers of the Carthage neighborhood that the forces of
law and order no longer were to be depended upon and they organized a
band of vigilantes, which they called the Ripley Rangers, for the
purpose of putting a stop to the repeated depredations of this gang.
The constitution and by-laws of the Ripley Rangers, approved by the
board of county commissioners on December 8, 1857, point out that
"Whereas, horse stealing, counterfeiting, burglaries and larceny have
become quite common, and those who perpetrate those deeds escape from
justice with impunity and infest our common county with lawless bands;
therefore, to the end that justice be established and public order be
maintained, the better to secure to the citizens of our country their
just rights and to bring offenders to justice" the Ripley Rangers found
it necessary to concert for action. The rangers evidently was an
oath-bound organization for the by-laws provided punishment for such
members as might reveal the secrets of the meetings of the
organization. Officers of the association provided for
under the constitution were captain, first and second lieutenants or
ensigns and a secretary and treasurer. David Marshall was the president
of the meeting at which the organization was effected and Thomas C.
Hill was clerk. Other names signatory to the articles of association
were Jesse Henley, Amos H. Hill, Joseph Overman, Andrew J. Morely,
Elisha B. White, Asa H. Hudson, Jared P. Binford, Henry Henley, Thomas
W. Henley, Jesse L. Phelps and John Reddick.
While on the subject of inventions
which have been worked out by Rush county men, it is but proper to
recall that Jesse Boyd many years ago perfected a double-shovel corn
plow, which is believed to have been the first device of its kind ever
used. He secured a patent on his device, but failed to protect one of
the basic principles of the invention, the arch connecting the plows,
and an enterprising manufacturer of agricultural implements recognizing
the weakness of the patent filed under the original patent and put out
a plow which covered the valuable principle worked out by Mr. Boyd and
made a fortune which otherwise might have been that of the Rush county
inventor. James F. Harcourt was another inventor who worked out a good
thing in a grain drill, the first device of its kind used in Rush
county, and for some years manufactured drills on his place in Anderson
township, not only supplying the local demand but doing quite a
shipping business in the products of his factory until the competition
of the big implement factories put him out of business.
It was in
the spring of 1913 that Rush county in common with many communities
throughout Indiana and western Ohio was visited by the most disastrous
flood that ever swept through this region. It was on Monday night,
March 24, that the waters of Flatrock rose to a dangerous height and
when Tuesday morning dawned the people of Rushville found themselves
confronted with a situation unique in the annals of the town, while all
up and down the valley of the river throughout this county, and
particularly in the vicinity of Moscow, the flood had spread until the
scene presented the appearance of a great, muddy lake. Viewed from the
court house tower it was seen that to the east and southwest the land
was covered with water as far as could be seen. The water covered the
business part of the city in Main street to the rise above Third street
and thus every basement in the business section of the city was filled
with water, entailing a great loss in damaged stocks of goods. The
lower portions of the city in the Eastend were covered, nearly every
house in Julian street and in Second and Third streets (east) being
entered by the flood, the people in those sections being driven to the
second floors of their homes. This situation continued until the
following Thursday by which time the waters had subsided sufficiently
that stock could be taken of conditions. In the meanwhile railway and
interurban traffic was suspended and save for fragmentary and confusing
messages by telegraph or telephone—wire service also being practically
out of commission—the town was completely cut off from the outside
world. Even after the flood in the city had subsided the bottom lands
up and down the valley of Flatrock were flooded, the Driving Park being
under water for a week. In the bottom lands numerous families were
marooned in their homes for several days before assistance and relief
could be gotten to them, owing to raging waters, and untold distress
was suffered by many. In Orange township an elderly couple were thus
marooned and were forced to take refuge against the rising waters in
the attic of their house. Their plight was discovered and neighbors set
about some measure of relief. A raft was devised and in the evening
three men set out in this craft seeking a way to the engulfed house.
Their raft was caught in an eddy and all three were precipitated into
the flood. Happily they managed to support themselves by the branches
of shrubbery growing nearby, but help could not be sent them in the
darkness and they were kept there all night, supported by cries of
cheer from the shore and by the lights that were kept burning by the
anxious watchers on the bank. One of the trio stood all night in the
fork of a small sapling and after the flood had subsided cut this
sapling and had it converted into a hall tree which he prizes highly as
a souvenir of his night of peril. Happily, there was but one life lost
in the great flood, the victim being James Hubbard, a Negro, who was
drowned at the old hitchrack just south of the county jail. It was
estimated that the loss in the city alone aggregated $300,000, while
that throughout the rural districts affected by the flood was almost as
much. The flooding of the basement of the Republican office put the
presses of that paper out of commission. The Jacksonian's available
supply of print paper was destroyed and during the week of flood
conditions the two papers merged, being issued under the name of The
Jacksonian-Republican, a bit of hyphenation that, considering the
ancient political feud between the two papers, seemed almost incredible
to many of the readers, but which demonstrated to all that in times of
trouble personal animosities are wont to disappear in all relations of
life. The water gauge in front of Oneal 's store on South Main street,
which had been maintained there for many years, showed that the water
of Flatrock reached a point twenty-five inches higher than ever before
recorded, and a good deal of comfort was taken in the statement of the
meteorologists who presently attempted to analyze the conditions which
brought about the flood of 1913 that the excessive rainfall was caused
by a combination of meteorological conditions that might not again be
presented in a million years.
Back in the "old days" when hogs ran loose in the
streets and cattle roamed undisturbed along the high ways the question
of keeping the prideful public square in the growing city of Rushville
free from this annoyance evidently was a paramount one, if judged by
the number of names of the then leading citizens of the town who
formally prayed the board of county commissioners to erect a fence
which would be a protection against the intrusion of willful and
perverse livestock. This petition, which is preserved in
the public library, is dated August 29, 1838, and reads as
follows: "We, the undersigned citizens of Rush county,
believing that the protection of the public buildings and the
convenience of the people generally as well as our standing as a county
requires that there should be a good substantial plank fence put around
the public square in the town of Rushville, or around as much thereof
at least as to enclose the court house, the clerk's and recorder's
offices, handsomely in said town; we would therefore pray your
honorable body to make an appropriation out of the moneys under your
control belonging to said county to construct said fence, and we would
further ask your honorable body to appoint some suitable person or
persons to procure the necessary material for the construction of said
fence and to have the same constructed as soon as the materials can be
obtained and the work performed, upon such plans and at such distances
around said buildings as you shall in your wisdom direct."
This petition is signed by William Cavot, Hartley Felty, John Belman,
William Frame, James McPike; Robert A. Matthews, John Brown, Walter
Brown, H. Offutt, Alonzo Brown. Ervin Fleener, James Curry, I.
Hamilton, William Lowry, Harvey Seward, George Hibben, R. Y. McBride,
Onias Jackson, Benjamin Lakin, W. H. Endicott, William Oliver, Noah
Snidiaker, G. W. Braun, P. A. Hackleman, Thomas Olin, Reu Pugh, James
S. Arick, William H. Anderson, Joel Wolfe, Erastus T. Bussell, William
Lower, Thomas Pugh. John Dixon, G. B. Plush, A. N. Blacklidge, I. N.
Pugh, Chapman Morris. John Day, John Hatfield, William R. Callahan, A.
S. Lakin, John Carr, Israel Kister, Joshua I. Walton, Simeon Tooley,
John Sproul, Turner A. Knox, John Pride, William Pride, Samuel Davis,
Thomas Wallace, Edward Linville, I. N. Alley, Thomas Swift, John Kelso,
Or. W. Moore, Roland T. Carr, Isaac Arnold, D. M. Stewart, Gustavus
Cowger, James Brown, Levi L. Smith, Burel Bell, Lot P. Swift, I. W.
Ferguson, C. W. Summers, Joseph Watson, Thomas M. Thompson, Jesse
Morgan, John Smawley, Thomas Walter, William McRoberts, William P.
Rush, John White, Ebenezei Cross, John Oliver and H. Laughlin, these
names constituting a pretty representative list of "leading citizens"
of the day.
The custom
which prevailed under legal sanction in a generation now past of
binding children out to service by formal indenture, a practice which
perhaps sometimes resulted happily to the "bound" boy or girl, but
which more often, no doubt, resulted quite to the contrary, is
re-called by looking through the time-stained book of "Indentures" in
the office of the county recorder. The first entry in this book was
made in 1849 and the last in the latter '50s, the record carrying
formal copies of numerous such indentures recorded to give them legal
force and effect, these indentures binding the children thus involved
to a form of servitude that happily was made so obnoxious by a recital
of the evils of the system in Ed-ward Eggleston's "Hoosier
Schoolmaster" and other such tales of the period as to secure a repeal
of the indenture law in this state. The first entry in this book of
indentures in Rush county is as follows:
"This indenture
witnesseth that Moses Carr, of Rush county, and state of Indiana, hath
put and placed and by these presents doth put and bind out Ms son, Owen
Carr, and the said Owen Carr doth hereby put, place and bind out
himself as an apprentice to James A. Fry to learn the art and trade and
mystery of farming, which the said James A. Pry now useth and
followeth, the said Owen Carr to dwell with and serveth the said James
A. Fry after the manner of an apprentice from the day of the date
hereof until the 9th day of May, 1858, at which time the said
apprentice, if he shall be living, will be twenty-one years of age.
During all which time the said apprentice shall well and faithfully
serve the said James A. Fry and everywhere and at all times readily
obey his lawful commands; he shall do no damage to the said Fry, nor
wilfully suffer any to be done by others; he shall not waste the goods
of the said Fry, he shall not absent himself from the service of the
said Fry, but he shall in all things and at all times carry and behave
himself as a good and faithful apprentice ought during the term
aforesaid, and he shall not contract matrimony during the whole term
aforesaid; and the said James A. Fry on his part doth hereby covenant,
promise and agree to teach and instruct the said apprentice or cause
him to be taught and instructed to read and write and cypher to the
double rule of three inclusive, if he have intellect sufficient to
receive said instruction, and feed and clothe him with ordinary good
clothing, and at the expiration of the term furnish him an ordinary
good freedom suit and at the expiration of said term pay him $100 in
cash, and also teach him the art and trade of farming and during said
apprenticeship to furnish him all necessary attention during the
sickness of said apprentice. In testimony whereof the said parties have
hereunto set their hands and seals this 4th day of August, 1849. Moses
Carr (seal), Owen (his mark) Carr (seal), James A. Fry (seal). Attest:
Finley Bigger, Samuel B. Diffendofer." This indenture was acknowledged
before John Dixon, "an acting justice of the peace, within and for said
county of Rush," on the same date. The next entry was that in the case
of an eight-year-old boy, who was thus "bound out," and so on through
the long list. One of the last entries in the record is that in the
case of a little girl, as follows:
"Indenture of apprenticeship between J. L. Winship
and J. T. McMillen and Polly B. Winship, witnesseth: The said Polly B.
Winship, aged twelve years on the third day of March, 1858, by and with
the consent of the said J. L. Winship, her guardian and father, hath
and doth hereby bind herself as an apprentice unto the said J. T.
McMillen until the third day of March, 1864, from the date hereof to
learn the trade and occupation of housewifery, and the said Polly B.
Winship covenants faithfully to serve J. T. McMillen as such apprentice
during said term, and the said J. T. McMillen covenants with the said
Polly B. Winship to teach her the said occupation and to provide her
with all necessaries proper to her age and condition and to send her to
school during nine months of said apprenticeship. In testimony whereof
we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 23d day of January, 1858.
J. L. Winship (seal), J. T. McMillen (seal)." The above indenture was
received for record January 25, 1858, at 12 o'clock meridian.
It is apparent
from contemporary evidence that sometimes these bound boys did not
"stay put." In a copy of The Indiana Herald and Rushville Gazette of
May 4, 1839, in the public library at Rushville, appears the following
advertisement: "One Cent Reward but no Thanks Ran away from the
subscriber on the 28th day of April, 1839, Evan Crawford, an indented
apprentice, aged about ten years. The above reward will be given for
the apprehension and delivery of said runaway at my farm, one mile
north of Rushville, Rush county, Indiana. Michael Lower."
In the
chapter relating to the churches of Rush county there may be found an
occasional reference to divisions in congregations, splits over some
point of discipline or doctrine, but there is nothing in those formal
statements of fact to indicate anything of the exceeding bitterness
which sometimes marked these divisions, nor of the bitter neighborhood
feuds thus sometimes engendered, feuds which in some instances hardly
have died out altogether to this day, lamentable as the statement may
appear. Doctrinal points of ecclesiasticism were maintained with a
fierceness of belief and a vigor of expression rarely heard today, and
when a "split" on a point of discipline or doctrine occurred it usually
was a split that tore the church community wide open. The differing
factions usually were led by men of strong convictions and a vigor of
opinion that would not brook opposition or argument and in consequence
there could be found no room for both in the same church, hence a
"split" which would result in the establishment of a counter church,
perhaps across the road from the parent church, or at least in the same
neighborhood. Sometimes these differences arose over the proposition to
introduce instrumental music in the church. Particularly were the
United Presbyterians and the Christians of the early day hostile to
such "agencies of the devil," and many a division has occurred over the
insistence of the younger element in the congregation in favor of the
introduction of an organ in the church as an instrument of praise. One
such memorable split was that which occurred years ago in a
congregation (now defunct) in the northwestern part of the county, over
the proposition to put an organ in the church. The contest for
leadership in this dispute resulted in the creation of two factions
which rent the neighborhood in two. Fist fights were not uncommon in
this dispute, and when "lewd fellows of the baser sort" became enlisted
as mercenaries in the war of the factions the poisoning and shooting of
cattle became common and in some instances the shooting at individuals
was a feature of the war, though happily no person was killed. For a
time there is said to have been a real state of terror in the
community, so that the more timorous feared to venture out at night.The
dog of one of the leading factionists was found one morning crucified
to a post in the door yard, the poor creature hanging on a nail driven
through the skin of its back. There were divisions in other
congregations over the music question, recalled by older readers,
though none is recalled in which the element of personal animosity
entered to quite the degree above indicated. In one instance the leader
of the faction which drew away from the parent church on account of the
introduction of an organ in the church and erected at his own expense a
church not far away, taking with him a considerable number of the other
members, was so pronounced in his opinions respecting the use of an
organ in church that he would not attend the funeral of his sister.
held in the parent church, of which she had remained an adherent, until
promised that the organ would not be opened during the time of the
funeral service. Some of the divisions which took place in certain
religious denominations during the days of the Civil war have not even
yet been reconciled. Rush county suffered "splits" of this character,
along with all other parts of the country. In one of the churches the
controversy was unusually bitter. One of the members of the divided
church presently formed a connection with another communion, and his
remark on thus finding a new church home is still quoted with interest.
Said he: "I thank God that at last I have found a church that has
neither religion nor politics in it."
In the
chapter relating to the churches of Rush county reference has been made
to the celebrated division which occurred in the East Fork Baptist
Church in Washington township in 1845, a local cause celebrity of the
period which attracted widespread attention. George C. Clark, who
afterward became so influential a figure in the general life of the
community, for many years lawyer, publicist and banker in the city of
Rushville, at that time was a young lawyer without practice (as he
admitted), and partly for pastime during the hearing of the case in
court and partly for the value of practice in shorthand, took notes of
the proceedings. Before the trial was finished numerous elders and
others of the Baptist church insisted on publication with so much
earnestness that in 1846 he published the proceedings of the trial.
Apparently the little book was much sought, for the edition seems to
have been exhausted. For years afterward inquiries were made for copies
of the book, but none could be found. Finally Luther Benson, the
renowned temperance lecturer and a native of Rush county, ran down a
copy of the old book in Missouri, in the hands of Judge Pence, and
prevailed upon Mr. Clark to have a reprint made of the report. This
reprint was published at Rush-ville in 1895, and is one of the most
interesting documents relating to the history of church feuds in the
state. Mr. Clark's reprint covers eighty-eight pages, carrying the
testimony in the case and the proceedings of the court, the title of
the book being "Means vs. Anti-Means; or the Trial of the Baptist
Church Case in the Rush Circuit Court." The title of this notable ease
in court was John Doe ex. dem. of the trustees of the Little Blue River
Regular Baptist Church vs. William Jones, Philander Clifford and James
Newhouse; ejectment. The case was tried before Jehu T. Elliott, circuit
judge, the plaintiff's counsel being Samuel W. Parker, Robert S. Cox
and P. A. Hackleman, the defendants being represented by Jas. Perry,
George B. Tingley and R. M. Cooper, and the jury was composed of Roland
T. Carr, Thomas Maddux, John H. McGinnis, Wilson Laughlin, Elijah
Billings, Samuel Fries, Nicholas Burns, Conrad Cline, Sampson Cassady,
William C. Robinson, James Shields and Isaac Adams. The hearing of the
testimony, in which many quaint quibbles of doctrine and dogma are
submitted, and arguments of lawyers in the case consumed several days.
In the court's lengthy charge to the jury Judge Elliott pointed out
that "the testimony shows that the Little Blue River church sent
delegates or messengers to the Whitewater Association—that two sets of
delegates or messengers appeared at the association, professing to come
from the East Fork Flat Rock church, and that a question arose in the
association as to which of the two sets represented the true East Fork
Flat Rock church. A vote was taken, and the Means delegates received by
the association; this vote caused a division of the association: the
Anti-means party withdrawing from the grove when the vote was taken, to
the meeting house, and the Means party holding their meeting at the
grove. It also appears that two of the delegates from the Little Blue
River Baptist Church withdrew with the Anti-Means party, the other
remaining with the Means. Afterward, at the September meeting of the
Little Blue River church, a charge was preferred by Smith, the Means
delegate, against Baker and Jones, the Anti-Means delegates, for
improper conduct in the association, upon which a vote was taken
sustaining Smith, which caused a separation and division of the
church," and much more covering the points brought out in evidence.
"The jury," it is succinctly stated in Mr. Clark's interesting
narrative, "retired, and after a short absence returned with a verdict
for the plaintiffs.'' That the case was regarded as of large importance
was indicated by P. A. Hackleman in his address to the jury when he
said '' I wish you to bear in mind that you are engaged in trying the
most important civil suit which was ever tried in this court house." It
will be noted that Hackleman's side won. It is proper to point out that
the Means of the title of this ease refers to the "means" by which God
works. "His wonders to perform," and that the split in the church was
due to various interpretations of this mystery.
Happily, in
the sidelights on the history of this community there are few tragedies
to record. In an earlier chapter there is carried the story
of the only hanging in the history of the county—an event that left
such an impression upon the community that even now its echo is heard
when an occasional reference is made to the time when "my grandfather
saw Edward Swanson hung." But about forty years ago in Orange township
there was a tragedy of such an unusual character as to merit a
reference to it in this connection. Richard Boling, an Orange township
farmer, and his wife had driven over to Shelbyville to spend the day at
the Shelby county fair and while there Boling, in a moment of convivial
confidence, had revealed to a couple of engaging strangers the fact
that he had with him a considerable sum of money. Boling and his wife
returned to their farm home in the evening without molestation, but in
the middle of the night they were aroused from their slumbers by a
masked man, who demanded their money, compelling them under threat of
death to arise and direct his search for the roll of bills. While the
masked intruder was bending over a bureau drawer carrying on his search
Boling seized an ax that was in a corner of the room and struck the
stranger such a blow on the back of the neck as literally to decapitate
him. In the stranger's convulsive reaction to the blow his revolver was
discharged. Following the report of the weapon the Bolings heard a
voice from outside the house cry "Tom," evidently an anxious inquiry on
the part of the masked man's companion, but there was no further alarm.
The next morning Mr. Boling reported the presence of the decapitated
man in his home, telling the sheriff that he had "axed" him to stay all
night and that he had accepted the invitation. The identity of the
masked "Tom" never was revealed, as no one claimed the body.
Besides the
number given them when they were organized the district schools of the
county usually took the local name of the owner of the farm on which
the house was built, or of some prominent person in the community, but
in a number of instances a local name was given, which lived longer
than the number of the school. The origin of some of these names is
unknown. The location would determine the nickname of others, and in
some the name was probably given by some wag in the community, from
which there was no appeal. A few of these local names of the district
schools, the greater number of which have been abandoned, are as
follows: Hardscrabble. Rabbit Hash, Pin Hook, Neffs Corner,
Tilliewiggin, Beaver Meadow, Union, Compromise, Frog Pond, Beech. The
Switch, German, Flat Rock, Clifty, Beech Grove, Poplar Grove, Locust
Grove, Center, Ireland, Macedonia and Tile Shed.
Rush county has
two local insurance associations, which are believed to be unique in
the history of such organizations in this state, both working along
much the same lines, but with a distinctive difference. Both companies,
however, are said to be unique in this state from the fact that policy
holders are restricted exclusively to the county. The elder of these
associations, the Farmers Insurance Association of Rush County, was
organized by the adoption of articles of association on November 24,
1877, and the initial members of the association were A. M. Kennedy,
Isaac Goble, William H. Downey, John W. Ferree, John Zion, J. M.
Gorman, William Powell, Lewis Dalrymple, Robert N. Hinchman, William S.
Reynolds, J. C. Humes, Lee McDaniel, David Conner, Nicholas Brown, O.
C. Hackleman, Benjamin F. Norris, John Blacklidge, John W. Clark, R. H.
Phillips, J. T. Hinchman and John Fleehart. The present officers of
this association are as follows: President, W. A. Alexander;
vice-president, O. M. Harton, and actuary, L. R. Webb,, the latter of
whom has served in that capacity since 1907. The association has
offices in the court house, and has now no fewer than 2,500 policy
holders, with liabilities right around $5,000,000. This association
insures farmers' property against losses by fire, whether caused by
lightning or otherwise. The Rush County Mutual Live Stock Insurance
Company, which was incorporated in 1917, insures its members against
loss by death to their live stock caused by disease or accident, but
not if caused by fire or lightning. Jesse A. Leisure was the chief
promoter of this latter association, and has been the president of the
same since its organization. The other original officers of the
association were as follows: L. R. Webb, vice-president; Edmund B.
Lowden, secretary; John O. Hill, treasurer; Clyde Henley, Will P. Jay
and William A. Mull, adjusters. The present officiary of the
association is the same as the above, with the exception that Samuel R.
Newhouse is now the vice-president; Joseph A. Stevens, secretary, and
A. L. Gary, attorney. The association has about five hundred members,
and is carrying policies in excess of a half-million dollars.
As has been
pointed out elsewhere, there were numerous rebel sympathizers in Rush
county during the days of the Civil war, and in several instances
serious clashes between Unionists and "copperheads" were averted only
by the counsels of calm judgment on the part of the community leaders.
One of these reputed southern sympathizers was a man named William
Griffin, who in 1861, erected a dwelling house on his place, five miles
east of Rushville, expressing his sympathies in the architectural
arrangement of the house, the cornices of which were emblazoned with
figures of a "copperhead," and elsewhere about the dwelling were
decorations emblematic of the South, the walls of the lower corridors
being painted in the colors of the Confederacy. When the house was
being built a league of local Unionists was organized in the vicinity
and this league prepared to set fire to the building, but the pleadings
of Mrs. Griffin saved it from destruction. Not long after the close of
the war the place was bought by John Gray, but the emblematic
peculiarities were not altered and all through the years since the
house was known as the "rebel house" of Rush county. In the spring of
1921, Mr. Gray retired from the farm, and moved to Rushville, the
"rebel house" being taken over by a tenant. A few weeks later the house
caught fire from a chimney spark and was destroyed, and thus passed a
singular relic of a time when sectional feeling found expression in
various ways hereabout.
It is not
generally known that quite a large tract of land in this county was
entered by fifteen colored men and women, who had been slaves, prior to
their coming to this county. The Register of Sales on file in the
recorder's office, which contains a list of names of purchasers of
Government lands in this county, reveals the fact that all of section
35 and the east half of the south-east quarter of section 34 in
township 13 north, range 8 east was entered by fifteen persons whose
name was Graffort. The names of the fifteen persons were Peter;
Kasander, John, Hannah, Mary, Tryphenia, William, Hazard, George,
Jesse, Westley, Amy, Jane, Leonard and Hedgeman Graf fort. The 720
acres of land in this county is situated in the northwest corner of
Orange township. These same persons also entered a tract of land in
Shelby county near the Rush county land, that contained 430 acres,
making a total of 1,200 acres. This acreage gave to each one eighty
acres, which carried out the provisions of the owner of those slaves.
It is said that by his will the master of those slaves directed that at
his death, they should be given their freedom and that his executor was
directed to purchase for each of them a tract of eighty
The last
annual report of the auditor of Rush county showed balances and
receipts (county fund) for 1920 to be $85,743.73; expenditures,
$83,352.58; balance, January 1, 1921, $2,391.15; miscellaneous funds,
including principal of flood bonds, interest, redemption bonds,
benevolent, state, school, roads and the like— balance, January 1,
1920, $80,596.90; receipts for 1920, $1,113,525.34; disbursements for
1920, $1,014,347.58; balance January 1, 1921, $99,177.50. Bonded
indebtedness of the county, flood bonds and coupons, $19,417.50;
townships, for redemption in free gravel road bonds: Ripley township,
$78,502.70; Posey, $71,072.10; Walker, $65,214.45; Orange, $120,104.05;
Anderson, $143,823: Rushville, $203,547.65; Jackson. $81,021.60;
Center, $56,003.35; Washington, $8,074.50: Union, $56,619.80; Noble,
$60,143.15; Richland, $66,717.30. The school township bond indebtedness
is set out in the chapter on the schools of the county.
Some current
statistics along other lines show that in Rush county the total value
of real estate and improvements is $51,968,600; mortgage exemptions,
$705,410. Net value of real estate and improvements, $51,263190; steam
and electric railroad property, $3,606,470; telegraph and telephone
property, $286,625; express companies' property, $11,445; other
corporations and personal property, $14,389.825; total net taxables,
$69,556,-555; polls, 3,123. Taxes levied (state)—general fund,
$15,472.82; benevolent institutions, $27,127.04; highway commission,
$27,127.04; schools, $37,730.90; educational institutions, $19,475.84;
vocational educational, $1,391.11. Taxes levied (county)—general fund,
$51,812.58; gravel road repair, $41,733.91; gravel road construction,
$168,-936.63; other funds, $6,963.63. Taxes levied (all
townships)—township fund. $15,836.23; tuition, $99,571.42: special
school fund, $124,182.74: road fund, $46,377.39; poor fund, $4,424.20;
other funds, $37,043.94. Corporation taxes—general fund, $29,160.54;
light and water, $2,660.39; other funds, $13,293.07; total,
$770,340.43. One of the most significant showings made in Rush county
in the statistical way is that relating to infant mortality, the death
rate of infants under one year per 1,000 births being 56, against a
state average of 71. During the year covered by the report for 1920,
there were 338 births in the county, 145 males and 183 females.
According to the June, 1920, apportionment of common school revenue for
tuition made by the state superintendent of public instruction the
number of children between the ages of 6 and 21 in Rush was 4,492. The
sum of $19,733.55 was derived from the state school tax. The enrollment
in the elementary schools of the county for the year 1919-20 was 3,124;
high school, 659; total 3,783: average daily attendance in the
elementary schools, 2,581; high schools, 561. Graduates—commissioned
high schools, 90; certified high schools, 2: common schools, 224.
Number of elementary teachers, 102; high school teachers, 46. Number of
high schools, 13. Disbursements from tuition fund, $112,620.38: school
fund, $182,038.29. Rush county ranked fourth in the state for progress
in school consolidation and abandonment of one-room schools since 1890,
being preceded by Randolph, Montgomery and Marion. It ranked first in
swine production, with 70,721 all purpose swine; 11,720 breeding:
total. 82,441.
Centennial History Of Rush County A. L Gary and E.B Thomas 1921