Union County Sesquicentennial Book
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Location: Union County, Indiana, United States
Surname/tag: UNION_COUNTY_INDIANA
Preface
About
Transcription of this book is a collaborative work in progress being completed with permission from the Union County Historical Society. Raw scans of the original text have been pasted here to get us started, but there are many errors. Text is being collaboratively corrected and formatted in online word processing software and copied over a few pages at a time as it is completed. As with all of WikiTree, anyone is welcome to contribute.
The goal is to provide a searchable version of the book containing links to profiles of all deceased people mentioned. It is hoped this will be a tremendous resource for researchers and an educational tool for all. To add to its educational value, names of important locations and events are also linked to Wikipedia pages or the most informative web pages available.
Scanned Images of Printed Book
Scanned images of the book are available from the Campus Library at Indiana University East:
Additional Resources
The IU East Campus Library also has additional Union County history resources available online including the 1989 book "History of Union County, Indiana, 1821-1988": https://iue.libguides.com/UnionCountyIndianaHistory
Union County Sesquicentennial (1821-1971)
Inside Cover
The Sesquicentennial Historical Committee thanks the Union County people who shared their precious old family photographs, newspaper clippings, documents, and memorabilia with us. We are sorry that space did not permit the use of all of the material provided. We extend our thanks also to the many persons who were involved in preparation of this book. The name of the author of each article is given.
Natalie J. McNary, Historical Record Chairman
Seal - Union County Sesquicentennial 1821 1971
THE COVER
The cover is the work of an artist, Irvin L. Showalter, who was born and reared in Union County.
Title Page
SESQUICENTENNIAL HISTORICAL RECORD commemorating the 150th ANNIVERSARY of UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821 — 1971 Including the program of festivities September 19-26, 1971.
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Photo: Sesquicentennial Chairman, Harold S Hughes and Robert Napier, President of the Sesquicentennial Corporation, June 1971
On roads entering Union County there are signs reading "Welcome to Beautiful Union County," New comers' attention is called to the wooded hills along the streams and the level, fertile fields of this very productive farming county. It is truly a wonderful spot in which to live, and we residents consider ourselves very fortunate.
I wish to thank all members Of the Union County Sesquicentennial Committee for their interest and hard work which has made this celebration a success. The efforts of every one of these people are appreciated.
I hope that the various features of this celebration will give the younger generations an idea of the life, pleasures, and hardships of the early settlers and make them more appreciative of our modern ways of life. There has been a vast change in the 150 years.
To everyone — a Friendly Greeting — and we hope that all of you enjoy the festivities.
Harold S. Hughes
General Chairman
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UNION COUNTY EARLY HISTORY
Maurice LaFuze
I saw the sweet Miami,
The swift Ohio bent and roll
Between his woody walls of gold
The Wabash banks of gray paw-paw,
* * * * * * At morn
Of autumn, when the oak is red,
Saw slanting pyramids of corn,
The level fields of spotted swine.
The crooked lanes of lowing kine.
Joaquin Miller
from Songs of the Sierras
Photo: Templeton log cabin. First built in Union County in 1804 was enlarged in 1807 to present form.
Union County was formed in 1821 from parts of Wayne, Franklin, and Fayette counties. Earlier it was a part of Dearborn County.
Of the part of the county east of the 1795 Greenville Treaty Indian boundary, about two-thirds came from Wayne County and the remainder from Franklin County. The part west of the Indian boundary came from Fayette County except the northern tier of sections from Wayne County. The basic reason for the formation of the new county, UNION, may have been that this seemed the simplest and least partisan way to settle the conflicting territorial and other claims of the three donor counties.
The name of the county may have been suggested by the method of formation or by the name of Union, the earliest town in the area or by both. Union, established before 1810, stood on the east bank of Hanna's Creek along a road now abandoned.
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Photo: Inside of Templeton Cabin.
Liberty, the name of the county seat, seemed to follow naturally from the name of the county to people who had only recently gained their freedom. A writer some years ago stated that the name Liberty was derived from that of a town in Virginia from which members of the Friends Church had moved to Union County. The accuracy of this statement is clouded by the facts that few early settlers came from Virginia and the Union County Friends came from Nantucket and North Carolina. In preparing for the Liberty Centennial (1936), Leland Bond and others concluded that there was no positive answer to the origin of the name.
Brownsville was selected as the first county seat of Union County by commission of citizens from nearby counties. It was the largest town in the new county and in 1815 had become the earliest regularly platted town in the county.
Martin Wright and Mary Cartwright, in March 1821, were the first couple whose marriage was recorded in Union County. They lived in the southeast corner of Brownsville Township where Uzal P. LaFuze, C.C. Abernathy and Trebor Young later lived.
Residents of the eastern part of the County insisted on a more central location for the county seat and Dr. Sylvanus Everts of the Salem area, Union County's representative to the general assembly, secured the passage of a bill to locate the county seat in the center of the county, and the present site was chosen in 1823. Thomas Cook was the owner of forty acres including the courthouse square. James and William Crist were early owners of farms now part of the present town.
Beginning in 1804, Union County was settled rapidly by two streams of people, one from the Carolinas, a second from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Smaller numbers came from Virginia, Tennessee other states. Surprisingly few early settlers came from Ohio or Kentucky.
People from the Carolinas came overland on horseback or in wagons, across Tennessee and Kentucky to Cincinnati, and then to Harrison, Ohio. From there they followed the Carolina trace, possibly a woods buffalo trail, through Mt. Carmel to near Fairfield and then up the Whitewater valley.
Early settlers from Pennsylvania and New Jersey usually came down the Ohio River on flat boats to near Cincinnati and came to Union County through Hamilton and Oxford.
Beginning about 1830, settlers from the east came in Conestoga wagons along the route of U.S. 40. Isaac Webster came from Pennsylvania about this time, driving a four-horse team of roan horses, the stock of which he maintained the rest of his life.
The log cabin of John Templeton, which has been restored and stands in the county jail yard in Liberty, is generally accepted as the first built in Union County and the date of its building 1804. It originally stood in Harmony Township on the east bank of the Whitewater River about one mile north of the mouth of Hanna's Creek. John Templeton is believed to have explored Union County as early as 1799 and may have built a cabin then. The Hanna, Ewing, Nickels, Swann, Green and Hollingsworth families
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came to Union County from South Carolina in 1804 or 1805. A deed to Robert Green is said to be the first recorded, though he may not have been the first settler.
Other early settlers in Union County were:
in Liberty Township, William McGreer, 1804, and William Kelley, 1805; in Brownsville Township, Adam Eli, 1805, Solomon Beck, 1806, Charles Hunt, 1806, Samuel Farlow, 1806, and Michael Snyder, 1807; in Harrison Township, Benjamin Nutter, 1807, Phillip Lybook, 1807, and Wyatt, 1807; in Center Township, William Beard, 1805, and Charles Waddle, 1807; in Union Township, Abraham Darst, 1805, Robert Flack, 1806, and Jacob Bake, 1806.
Probably more early settlers came from North Carolina than any other state, with Pennsylvania, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Virginia following in that order. North Carolina people settled in all parts of the county, those from Pennsylvania mostly in the northern half, and those from New Jersey south of the New Hope School in what is still known as the "Jersey" neighborhood. South Carolina settlers located mostly near Dunlapsville.
Early families from North Carolina were Beck, Beard, Sanford, Druley, Swafford, Showalter, Whetzel, Miller, Burt, Fosdick, and Immel.
Other families coming were:
From New Jersey: Rose, Ward, Ogden, DuBois, and Cockefair. From Virginia: Eaton, Snyder, Creek, and Stanton. From Tennessee: Yaryan and Heavenridge. From New York: Crist. From Maryland: Ridenour. From Nantucket: Macy, Swain, Maxwell, and Barnard.
INDIANS WERE FRIENDLY
Maurice LaFuze
Most of the land in Union County was ceded to the United States by the Miami Confederacy of Indians in the Treaty of Greenville only a few years before it was settled. The so-called Indian boundary from the mouth of the Kentucky River to Fort Recovery, Ohio, crossed western Union County in about the same direction as the east fork of the Whitewater River. The remainder of the county was ceded by the Indians in the "Twelve Mile" Purchase of 1809 at Fort Wayne.
In addition to the Miami Tribes, the Delaware and Shawnee Tribes sometimes hunted in the vicinity. These tribes are believed to have lived here only a short time, after having been crowded west by the colonists along the Atlantic Coast.
When the first settlers came to Union County, Indians were living west of the Whitewater River near Paddock's Ford. They occasionally hunted near the settlers' homes, but they were usually friendly and helpful. Colonists built Fort Dunlap about one mile west of Dunlapsville, a stockade southwest of Richland Cemetery, and a block house along the Harrison-Center Township line about one mile west of the C and O railroad; however, no record of battles or massacres can be found in these areas.
Much earlier, Union County had been the home of people known as "Mound Builders", probably of the Hopewell Indian cultural group. While little is known about them, they are believed to have been less nomadic and more advanced than the Indians of the period when the colonists arrived in Indiana.
About ten mounds built by the Mound Builders have been observed. They are fifty to seventy feet in diameter and four to eight feet high. They are on second bottom land along streams. Four of the more accessible mounds are: (1) On the bank of Hannas Creek, on the east end of the Harold Smith farm near Roseburg; (2) southwest of the house on the Perry Burris and Homer Ramey farm, south of Indiana 44 just beyond of the bridge over the East Fork of the Whitewater River; (3) on the John Bell (now Edgar Bell) farm across the river north of Brownsville. This mound has been excavated by a group from Earlham College; (4) on the Corrington place there is a well-preserved mound in the woods, N.E. corner of sec. 27. It is 4½ feet high and about 70 feet in diameter.
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CHURCHES
Maurice LaFuze
Photo: Four Mile Church of the Brethren, organized 1809.
Union County settlers lost no time in establishing schools, and they were soon organizing congregations and building churches. Five churches had been organized by 1810. These were: evangelist, after D. L. Moody and before Billy Sunday. Sumner L. Martin, Methodist, and E. P. WhaUon, Presby terian, achieved more than local fame after serving local pastorates.
FOUR MILE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN, which was organized in 1809 and has held services continuously since that date. Its present location is about l½ miles north of its original site on the Isaac Hart farm. Witter, Miller and Huston were early families.
BATH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, organized in 1808, with William Rose, Jedidiah and Neri Ogden as elders. It received over 400 members and was a strong church for many years. Its church, built in 1823, was sold and razed about 1950. It stood about six miles due south of Liberty in the cemetery which remains.
BETHEL METHODIST CHURCH probably stood near the Nutter Cemetery on the Charles Nutter ((A.P. Creek) farm. Its first meetings were held in 1807. A log church was built in 1833 and stood until 1857. Early members were the Jacob McIntosh, Thomas Willis, David Stanton, Prichard and Sullivan families.
A BAPTIST CHURCH near the Sims Cemetery just north of Fairfield. Early families: Sims.
A BAPTIST CHURCH a short distance southwest of the Brownsville Methodist Church. Dungans may have been members.
Early Evangelists or circuit-riding ministers who visited Union County were Samuel Baldridge, Presbyterian, 1813; David Monfort, Presbyterian, 1818; Lorenzo Dow, Methodist, 1830; Halan Robbins, Methodist, l840; Joab Stout; Daniel Robinson; Valentine Chase; John P. Brady; William Tyner; Elihu Moore; Sam Billings; George Harlan; John Sparks; David Taylor; Moses Hornaday; and Mahlon Morris.
Photo: Brownsville Methodist Church erected 1844.
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Photo: Salem Friends Church erected 1825
The Rev. J. Wilbur Chapman, grandson of Amos Chapman, a pioneer Union County doctor, began his ministry in 1880 as pastor of the Liberty and College Corner Presbyterian churches. Later he became the county’s leading evangelist, after D. L. Moody and before Billy Sunday. Sumner L. Martin, Methodist, and E. P. Whallon, Presbyterian, achieved more than local fame after serving local pastorates.
Photo: Liberty First Presbyterian Church Choir, 1897.
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF UNION COUNTY CHURCHES AFTER THE FIRST FIVE LISTED ABOVE
1813 Dunlapsville Presbyterian
1816 Silver Creek Christian
1817 Silver Creek Friends (On Hanna's Creek)
1818 Brownsville Methodist*, Log Church (Mt. Pleasant Cemetery) , Brown Baptist (Golf Course) , Salem Friends*
1825 Billingsville Methodist
1826 New Hope Friends
1826 Poplar Ridge Friends (Fayette Co. Line)
1827 Brownsville Presbyterian
1829 Liberty Presbyterian*
1829 Hanna's Creek Christian (DuBois Creek)
1831 Hanna's Creek Congregational Christian *
1835 Philomath Universalist
1835 Wood's Chapel Methodist
1837 College Corner Methodist*
1838 Liberty Church of Christ
1840 College Corner Presbyterian*
1841 Universalist (Contreras), Old Dutch Church (Philomath)
1846 Brownsville Christian (Campbellite)
1849 College Corner United Presbyterian*
1850 Billingsville Presbyterian
1852 Liberty Roman Catholic (St. Bridget's)*
1865 Brownsville Christian Union*
1865 Salem United Brethren
1868 Greenwood United Brethren*
1869 Goodwin's Corner Old Order Baptist
1874 German Baptist (East of Cottage Grove)
1880 College Corner Mt. Sinai A.M.E. , Planken Horn Chapel (Philomath), Billingsville Church of Christ
1890 Mt. Pleasant Methodist*
1890 Quakertown Methodist
1900 College Corner Nazarene
1920 Liberty First Baptist*
1947 Liberty Nazarene*
1952 Liberty Baptist*
1964 College Corner Baptist*
*Still active
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SCHOOLS
Maurice LaFuze
Photo: New Hope School built 1893 and now used as a dwelling.
Union County citizens had no sooner arrived than they began to organize schools for their children, and their schools have always been considered of the highest importance.
The first settlers arrived in 1804, and by 1810 schools had been set up in every township.
Tuition Schools
Just which was the first school may never be agreed upon. W. E. Crawford, at the dedication of the Dunlapsville School in 1924 wrote that school was held in Fort Dunlap in 1804-05. Mrs. Jennie Hill stated that the teacher in Fort Dunlap was Lot Green. Harold Michel, who wrote a thesis on Union County schools, believed the first school was established in 1807 in Harmony Township near the Sims Cemetery. The teacher was Thomas Harvey. A school was held near Richland Cemetery before 1810 with John Hughes as the teacher, and a school was held on the Zachariah Stanley (William Dils) farm in 1807. At least thirty of these early tuition schools have been reported. Usually, they were organized by the teachers and were held in homes or churches, but a few log buildings for use as schools were built.
First Public Schools
Under the first Indiana constitution about 30 public schools were organized in Union County, mostly in the 1830's, at least two in every township. Each school was an independent organization with three trustees in charge. Public support was derived from income from the sale of a section of land in each township, certain penalties, and small tax levies in each district, usually about two sections. The total cost per school may not have been $100 a year, since the term was short and most of the material and labor for the construction were donated.
Information about these early public schools is very limited, and W. N. McMahan, L. J. Cully, and Harold Michel did not mention them in their writings. This is surprising, since the deeds to the school sites are in the recorder's office. Beer's Atlas of 1884 shows eight of the locations but gives no other information. These schools seem not to have lasted long. They came just before a period of severe financial stress and a considerable exodus of people going farther west. In addition, there was often no clear majority in favor of public schools.
Only two personal comments about these early public schools have been found. Miss Ellen Scott states that her mother and uncle, Elizabeth and Albert Wooters, attended the school near the line between Sections 9 and 10 around 1850. This school was replaced by the so-called "Township House" school standing on the Elmer Bossert farm.
Before World War I, Oliver Brown, then an elderly man, told Joseph Ryan that he had once lived near the Ryan home at the north end of the Harry Webster farm. As a boy he attended a nearby school, probably one of the southeast
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Photo: Greenwood School, 1890.
Photo: First grade Liberty School, 1907. Nell Hamm Chapin, teacher.
Photo: Graduating Class of Union High School, College Corner, 1898.
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corner of the Elmer Rodenberg farm adjoining Philomath. Mr. Brown said that there were sometimes as many as a hundred pupils at this school. The changes in this area are strikingly shown, since the site of this school is now almost a half mile from the nearest road and the nearest house. John Beck Sr. was treasurer of one of these schools in 1837.
Seminaries
Several seminaries for education above the elementary level were organized in Union County before the Civil War. These were promoted by individuals or churches.
In the 1830's the educational center of the county was in Philomath, for there at the Western Union Seminary, courses were offered in algebra, geometry, astronomy, natural science, and philosophy. An interstate newspaper was also published there. This school was organized by the Universalist Church. One of the buildings stood until recently on the northwest corner of the Elmer Rodenberg farm.
During the 1840's there were three schools for advanced study in Center Township. One was in the present residence of Harold Hughes; a second, Cedar Grove Seminary, was at the north edge of Salem on the R. C. Cain farm in an area now usually called Sorghum Town. The main building was standing until about 1965. Beech Grove Seminary stood near the entrance to Whitewater Park. These three seminaries attracted students from outside the county.
Whitewater Presbyterian seminary was built in 1853 in Dunlapsville, and the Liberty Presbyterian Church held classes in a seminary near the west end of Seminary Street. Just before the Civil War there was a West Point Seminary on Brownsville Avenue in Liberty.
Township Schools
The present Union County School system dates from the Indiana Constitution of 1851 and the legislation that followed. Under the Caleb Mills program schools were to be tax-supported and free to all.
Hickory Grove School in eastern Liberty Township is believed to be the first school in Union County built under this program. In the township election to authorize the township trustees (three then) to proceed the vote was close, 28 for the 24 against. The school was built by William Crist in 1853 for $472.00, and it was opened in 1854 with Thomas Wright as the first teacher. Among the pupils were the ten children of Israel Freeman. This school preceded the Hickory Grove School which is still standing, and it stood near the southwest corner of the Edna Abernathy farm.
The school system of Union County developed slowly before the Civil War. Only a few school houses are known to have been built until after the war.
After 1866 things moved rapidly. When C. W. Osborne became county superintendent in 1881, there were 41 schools in the county. Altogether about 60 public school buildings have been built on about 50 different locations. The number in use may never have exceeded the 41 in operation in 1881. Beer's Atlas of 1884 shows about two-thirds of these sites.
About 1900, consolidation began with new buildings at Greenwood, Hannas Creek, and Clifton. Horse-drawn buses brought pupils from nearby districts to these and other schools located at Dunlapsville, Brownsville, Liberty, and College Corner.
The Billingsville semi-consolidated school was the last rural school built in Union County; built in 1925, it was closed in 1953. With the coming of motor busses, centralization rapidly increased; now there is a county-wide system with only three school locations, Liberty, College Corner, and Kitchel.
Photo: The Union County Corporation Schools in Liberty including the new Union County High School, 1971.
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SCHOOL DAZE
John E. McMahon
There was much activity in the Jersey neighborhood that summer of 1904. A new brick school house was being built to replace the old frame building. But as is often the case the new edifice was not ready at the start of the new school year.
That is why I started my first couple of months of the school year in the old frame building. Then we moved across the road to the new place. The new building had no water fountain, but a pump in the school yard took care of our needs along with a tin cup for all to use. Mother, thinking that was not very sanitary, bought an aluminum collapsible cup that could be carried in the pocket or dinner pail. Of course, this being a new thing everyone had to try it, thereby defeating the purpose for which it had been purchased.
There was a rail fence along the road and often we teeter-tottered by using a rail taken from the fence. A nice flat one was better than a round or three-cornered one, as it didn't roll and was more comfortable to ride. Those sharp rails were murder. The little kids shoved the rail through the fence for a low ride while the older and braver boys put their rail over the top of the fence and sailed high in the air. I don't recall that the farmer ever complained about the condition of his fence.
We sometimes played town ball. We made our own rules and a baseball as we know it now was unheard of. What we used was made of cord string, tied together and wound as tight as we could get it. There must have been a shortage of string in all our mothers' kitchens. Sometimes we had to stop the game until the ball was rewound. A flat board was the bat. It worked fine because it was the best, we had and we didn't know of any better way.
Sister Ethel and I walked the half-mile to school and carried our lunches. I think Ethel used a basket but I insisted on using a lard bucket that would hold a couple of sandwiches and an apple. Guess I thought the pail wasn't as sissified as a basket. Anyway, that's how a kid's mind works sometimes.
This new school house was more modem than the old one. It had a cupola or tower with a bell and cloak rooms on each side of the entrance--one for the boys and one for the girls. (The comfort stations, we didn't call them that in the old days, were out back.) This building even had a basement. I'm not sure about the heating system but think it was a wood-burning heater in the basement. The teacher was janitor as well as instructor. Occasionally, if the big boys were good, they would be allowed to ring the bell and fire the furnace.
The windows were large and provided all the light necessary for day-time study, but when a special event was held at night there must have been oil lamps with reflectors.
Ironically, the new brick building is now a heap of rubble, while the old, discarded frame one is still there and in use - probably as a granary or tool shed.
BROWNSVILLE -The First County Seat
Mrs. Beauford E. Gavin, Sr.
The village of Brownsville is prettily situated in the southwestern part of Brownsville Town ship, on the left bank of the east fork of Whitewater River, a river that was so named because the waters were clear enough to see a pebble or fish at a depth of twenty feet.
The origin of the name Brownsville has not been authenticated. Some believe it was named for the home town of some of the settlers who came from Pennsylvania; others, that it was named for a family of Browns who came into the territory very early.
The village lies mainly in the eastern half of Section 18. This land was purchased from the government by Aaron Ashbrook and Charles McGathlin, December 13th and November 23rd, 1811, respectively, each purchasing a quarter section.
Barzilla Trail was here in 1910 telling Mr. L. J. Cully that his father William Tr ail, a slave who escaped from his master, came to this county in 1814 and helped clear the land on which Brownsville was built. It is known that there were several underground railways here, probably forty to forty five homes being involved.
Photo: Brownsville covered bridge built 1840, one of oldest in Indiana.
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Photo: Echard House, one of earliest built in Brownsville. Rear part was of log. The large frame structure was added in the 1820's.
Brownsville was laid out in 200 lots, October 27, 1815, for Thomas Constant, the proprietor, the surveying being done by James Leviston. It is therefore the oldest regularly laid out village in the county. At the time of its origin it belonged to Wayne County. From December 28, 1813, the date of the formation of Fayette County.
It gave early promise of being a place of considerable size and prominence, owing probably to its early origin, its location on a river and subsequent selection as the seat of justice of the new county. Some of the early men of prominence at this time were Simon Yandes, Wm. F. Elkins and the Youses, Frederick, Major William and Joshua, all of whom figured in the early history.
In 1817 Mr. Youse rented a tavern from Mr. Raugh or Rolf, and kept it for several years. A Mr. Hall was a merchant, and the hatter was Mr. Elijah Holland. The hats were made from wool and from beaver fur. Soon after the arrival of the Youses, William Youse and James Baird embarked in mercantile pursuits, and for a time William and Simon Yandes did a similar business under the firm name of Yandes and Youse. It is said that these gentlemen engaged in a little banking business, issuing paper money in 6¼, 12½, 25, and 50 cent pieces for the convenience of the immediate neighborhood. James Baird and William Sangston were granted a tavern license of 1825. In 1829 Ira Grover and brothers were licensed as merchants of the village. They were wagon and cabinet makers, blacksmiths and potters. Joshua Youse erected a steam distillery and manufactured liquor quite extensively for a number of years.
In 1825 the printing office of Cason Buckhalter published for John Swayze the first weekly newspaper called Flying Roll and Onion Advertiser. The paper was a four column folio and [was] very presentable for this early day. Much of the space was devoted to foreign news, little to local. The following ad appeared dated September 20, 1825, over the signature of William Watt, under the heading, "$5. Reward."
"Ran away from the Subscriber on the 14th day of this month, an indented apprentice to the hatting business, by the name of Levi Rontzon, about five feet, eight or nine inches high, dark complexion; speaks German and English, and is between 19 and 20 years of age; had on when he went away, a blue cloth coat, dark mixed cassinette pantaloons, striped summer vest, black fur hat and a pair of Monroe shoes. The above reward will be given for the apprehension and delivery of said apprentice."
The seat of justice was located in the village of Brownsville by an act of the General Assembly approved December 31, 1821. The appointed commissioners assembled at the home of Fredrick Youse, for the performance of their duties on the second Monday in February, 1822. At this time Brownsville and Dunlapsville were the only villages that had been plotted, neither of which were suitable places for the seat of Justice because of their location being so far from the center of the county. Some of the leading men were active in measures incident to the formation of the county seat at or in the immediate vicinity of Brownsville, one of them being a Representative at the time in the State Legislature. At a special meeting of the board of Commissioners held March 11, 1822, for the purpose of proceeding in the erection of public buildings for the county it was ordered:
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“That a jail of the following dimensions and description be erected on the south east corner of the public square in Brownsville." These dimensions may be found in Beers Atlas of 1884 on page 8. The cost of the jail, was $438, including $128 for the labor.
The first court house was to be a two story brick structure located on the northwest corner of the public square, which therefore was to be known as the Court House Square. While Brownsville was enjoying her good fortune, plans were being made to move the county seat to the center of the county. The Court house was never constructed, as in the spring of 1823 a tract of land was purchased, lots were sold and money was raised to build a court house in Liberty. The loss of the county seat did not completely demolish Brownsville or its growth, as it had a choice spot on the river for loading and unloading boats. The village had been a popular stopping place for thousands of people who crossed Whitewater River in the gold rush of 1849. Settlers going west also crossed the river there, for there was always the possibility that the river would be too high for safe crossing and Brownsville was a place they could spend a few days buying supplies and having needed repairs made.
The only recorded evidence we find of the place where the courts were held appears in the May term of the County Commissioners' proceedings, 1823, when it was ordered "that Henry Emerson be allowed $37.50 for house rent for the Union Circuit Court and Commissioners court in full, up to April 15, 1823;" and at the same session the commissioners ordered that "the house of Simon Yandes, where courts are usually held, in Brownsville, be engaged as rented until after the close of the next term of the Union Circuit Court at a sum not exceeding $7."
The first term of the Circuit Court of which there is any record was held at Brownsville beginning July 1821. Present were Miles C. Eggleston, President Judge; Robert Swann and Sylvanus Everts, associated Judge for the County of Union; William Youse, Sheriff and James Leviston, Clerk.
The first Probate Court was held before the above Associated Judges beginning on the second day of July, 1821.
Among the most important personages in the courts were the young Squires, young lawyers. At that time queques [queues] were much in fashion and nothing was more common than to see a young Squire, with a wilted rorum hat, which had once been stiffened with glue in its better days, upon his head; from the back part of which hung a queque, three feet long, tied from head to tip with an eel skin, walking in evident superiority, in his own estimation, among the people in the court yard, sounding the public mind as to his prospects as a candidate for the Legislature.
A covered bridge built in 1840 over Whitewater River in Brownsville is the oldest bridge in the state of Indiana, standing in its original location and bearing traffic. It has two span, 140 feet long, and is of the Burr Arch Type.
Brownsville may never have reached fame but at 150 years of age it is a lovely small village nestled between two hills by the side of the Whitewater River. Many inhabitants can trace their lineage back to the early settlers, a proud heritage.
Photo: Old school house built in Brownsville in 1856.
Photo: Masonic Temple and general store erected in Brownsville in 1876.
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UNION COUNTY COURT HOUSE
Ellen K. Scott
Photo: The First Court House in Liberty was torn down in 1889 and replaced by a large stone structure.
The present court house, built in 1890, is the third for Union County, the second on the present site.
The following information was taken from a history of Union County written by William N. McMahan and published in the Liberty Herald, July 6, 1944.
The stone came to Liberty on flat cars in huge blocks which were hauled to the site by teams of horses. It is believed most of the stone came from a quarry near Cleveland, Ohio, but the first tier above ground and the uppermost, from an Indiana pit. The blocks were cut, dressed, and carved by hand with mallets and chisels near the building.
The blocks of stone for the basement and first floor were lifted and set in position by a hand windlass, the ropes of which operated on high masts and long booms. Later, derricks were placed on the upper floors and the stones pulled into position by a team of horses going up Seminary Street to the library corner. The huge stones over the south door were lifted by hand power. The stones vary in thickness and are backed with brick. The joists are iron, and between are brick arches. The roof supports and rafters are of iron with strips of wood to which the slate is nailed. The stone eaves are lined with metal, and the inner trim is solid oak. The stairways are metal, and the corridor floors are of tile.
Over the Bench, when the courthouse was new and for many years thereafter, was a mural painted by an itinerant artist. This depicted the wisdom of Solomon and was based on I Kings III 24-25 and 26, but this was later obliterated by painters who evidently preferred scrolls and eagle designs.
The architect was G.W. Bunting of Indianapolis, who was a strong believer in the ornate. William McKay, the contractor, was the father of Mrs. Ida Wood and grandfather of Mrs. William J. Miles and Mrs. Elmer Robertson. The commissioners were J. Milton Fender, Daniel Maxwell and my father, James W. Scott.
The first contract was for $88,000, but this included only, the walls, roof, and floors. Taking everything into consideration, it is safe to say the cost was between $130,000 and $140,000, which sum was paid in a few years.
Recently, the Union County Court House has been given a thorough cleaning, revealing the natural beauty of the stone and the fine workmanship of the carving. Local citizens have become newly aware of the outstanding character of the county's most important structure.
Photo: Union County Court House built 1890.
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This page sponsored by JAMES S. SHEPARD
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EARLY "COLORED" SETTLERS OF UNION COUNTY Elizabeth H. Rile Kelley
Photo: John Mitchell, Sr., free man of color.
Research did not disclose the exact date or the name of the first non-white family, referred to as "colored," to settle in Union County near Liberty, Indiana.
After the Civil War, a few "colored" people migrated mostly from Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, and some came from the neighboring state of Ohio into Union County.
As in other such instances, they came to Liberty seeking a new and freer way of life. The true and accurate facts of how they were accepted at first are either not recorded or they are lost. But, suffice it to write, now, that many of them found helpful, trusting, encouraging and lasting friends among their Caucasian neighbors.
Given employment, in this farming area, they were provided with the opportunity to feed, rear and educate their children. They soon adjusted to the tolerant environment and perhaps for the first time in their lives these "coloreds" began to experience partial dignity and develop the self-respect of a human being, a whole person, and to enjoy the unity of an unbroken family.
These early newcomers to Union County came in various shades and hues of tan and brown coloring. Rarely were they generally or truly pure black. One such person was John Mitchell, Sr., born of free parents, who came from Forsythe County, North Carolina. He carried on his person worn and aged "free papers" which described him as "about six feet four or five inches high, with very long legs, stout able bodied without any surplus flesh, tolerable dark color, combs his hair to one side, talks freely, with good looks. He is of peaceable character. September 13, 185l."
Any old, old timer around Liberty may remember him, dressed in an Uncle Sam suit of red and white striped
Photo: Jim Rile and his fiddle, 1920.
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trousers, a navy blue cutaway, long-tailed coat and a top hat, marching at the head of a parade for the Republican party at election time.
It is assumed that most of the other colored migrants either had slave ancestry or they were once a slave. Such was the case of James (better known as "Jim") Rile who ran away to enlist in the Union Army during the Civil War, serving in the 45th Pennsylvania Regiment. After his discharge from the war, he followed his family from Burlington, Boone County, Kentucky to Oxford, Ohio. At nearby College Corner, Ohio, he met and soon married Emmaline Ore.
They started their home in a one-room frame house a mile from the Salem Friends' Church, near the Beard home, which was an underground slave station. Most of their long lifetime was spent at this place.
To this union twelve children were born. Obadiah ("Obie"), the oldest son, was a barber in Hamilton, Ohio, for 60 years. Agustus ("Gus"), next in age, helped work on the building of the Court House in Liberty and died while serving in the Spanish American War. Emmett lived in Liberty most of his life and was a butcher. Barthenia and Everett make their home in Chicago, Illinois. The youngest daughter, Emma (Rile) Warren, now residing in Oxford, Ohio, is perhaps the first colored person to graduate from Liberty High School. Alonzo ("Lonnie"), a farmer, was the last to leave the vicinity of Liberty, retiring to Richmond, Indiana, in 1966, with his wife, the former Martha Mitchell.
Jim Rile worked hard at many odd jobs to rear and educate his big family of 12 children. He hunted, trapped, fished, sodded yards, sheared sheep (at 10¢ a head) and set out shade trees (at 50¢ a "sapling") guaranteeing them to live.
As his sons grew older, they helped their father build and add onto their home, a room at a time, until six rooms made it complete for the growing family. They also helped in the "shading" of East Seminary Street (U.S. 27) in Liberty. These trees, some of them now at least 100 years old, stand as a living tribute to the memory of Jim Rile. He may also be remembered for playing his "fiddle" for the Saturday night Square Dances along with his son Lonnie who played the mandolin.
Information about the Mitchell and Rile families is available because the writer is a descendent of both. By oral recall from family and acquaintances, the writer was given the following names of other "colored" residents of this community: Boatright, Tracey, Thurman, Churchman, Robbins, Harris, Marthel, Thompson, Price, Phillips, Collins, Cotton, Clemens, and Gammon. These were among the early arrivals.
The families of Potter, Wilson, Mize, Hurd, Collier, Gibson, Clark, and Sawyer are well-known, with relatives and descendents still residing in Union County.
It is with regret that space and information are limited to less detailed writing on these valiant people.
In conclusion, a brief tribute should be paid the late George Hurd, a familiar figure with his horse and wagon, reminiscent of pioneer days, giving of his service to many people in many ways. Also, tribute is offered to the late William ("Bill") and Inah Sawyer who are responsible for the first and only colored church built in Liberty. - - - - Maurice Lafuze has this to add to the above: The writer's grandfather, John Mitchell, may have been the strongest man who ever lived in Union County. When fire threatened the sacked wheat in a wagon at threshing time, he reached over the side of the box bed and lifted out two sacks of wheat, one with each hand. Not very many men could have lifted out one.
Photo: Inah and William Sawyer. Founders of the Liberty First Baptist Church, 1920.
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Photo: Merchants Edgerton & Fosdick purchased license in Franklin County in 1818 before Union County was formed.
UNION COUNTY INDUSTRY
Maurice Lafuze
While building homes and clearing land were the most important work of the early Union County settlers, they soon began to supply other needs requiring special skills or equipment. This was usually done by individuals or small groups. Following is a list of such occupations, or products:
Baker - Wilson, Liberty.
Buggymaker - Ernst, Liberty
Buggyspoke wedges - Harley Wadsworth, Brownsville
Cooper, (Barrelmaker) - William Dungan, Brownsville
Covered Bridge Builder - Adam Mason, Brownsville
Fence Weaver - Wilson, Liberty
Harnessmaker - John A. Bertch, Liberty – Billingsville
Hatter - Sam Hill, Liberty; William Watt, Brownsville
Lime Kiln - Pipetown
Oil Press (Linseed Oil) - Lewis Swallow, Brownsville
Plow & Wagon Maker - David Ward, Liberty
Potter - William & John Beard, Lotus; John Miller, Charlottesville
Shoemaker - Hanson Robinson, Clifton; Walton, Liberty
Silkworm culture - Union Twp.; Robert Thomas Farm
Soap - Home industry
Spinning Flax & Wool - Home Industry
Stone Quary
Sugar Maple - Everett Kitchel (1500 trees)
Tile- large factory, Cottage Grove
Water Mills - Benjamen Bond , Whitewater-Quakertown; Brown, Whitewater, Harmony Twp.; Cockefair, Quakertown, Corrington, Silver Creek; James Crist, Silver Creek; Jacob DuBois, Dubois Creek; Dunlap, Dunlapsville, Whitewater; Samuel Lafuze, Richland Creek; William Leonard, Hanna's Creek; S. Miller, Sand Run; John Partington, Hopeville (Yankeetown) Whitewater; Redd, Brownsville; Rigor, Ellis Creek; Sayres, Simpson Creek; David Ward, Hanna's Creek; Wolf, Location unknown; Fredrick Yaryan, Richland Creek.
Weaving-wool, linen, cotton - Home Industry
Wool Carding - Holland & Dunham, Silver Creek (near Liberty)
Two Union County Industries were outstanding for their times. The Cockefair Woolen Mill and Rude Brothers, manufacturing agricultural implements.
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Photo: Cockefair Woolen Mill Factory, 1820.
Elisha Cockefair, born in Essex County, New Jersey, came to Union County in 1820, and soon established a woolen mill on Eli's Creek on a farm that included land in both Union and Fayette Counties. The factory, one of the first west of the Alleghany Mountains, stood near the Fayette County line. When the Civil War came, he and his son, Sylvanes [Sylvanus], were ready to supply the great demand for uniforms and blankets, and as a result they became among the wealthiest men in the county. The machinery was bought about 1925 for the Henry Ford Museum of early American industry.
John, George and Squire Rude, young farmers with a knack for metal work, began on a Brownsville Township farm what was to become the largest industry yet developed in Union County. They were sons of M.L. (Marquis Lafayette) Rude, a native of New Jersey, who came to Union County from Cincinnati in 1842. Their home was the Frederick Yaryan farm on a road now closed which ran from the Will Milles to the Norman Johnson farm. Traces of the shop in which they began to make farm machinery may still be visible.
In 1860 the enterprise was moved to Liberty, and production began just west of the railroad on High Street, in a two-story building costing $1200. Grain drills were the first machines manufactured, but the real expansion of the company came from royalties from a basic patent on the arch which enabled a farmer to cultivate both sides of a row of corn at one time. In 1883 they reported sales of $150,000.
Frank Rude, a son of Squire, continued the factory until about 1925 when it had become a leading producer of manure spreaders. Later General Implement Co. manu-
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Photo: Businessmen of Liberty, 1897.
factured corn elevators, cultipackers and rotary hoes in the plant. The main factory, then partly occupied by a paint shop and television shop, was destroyed in a spectacular night fire in 1963.
For many years Union County life was in a sense regulated by the Rude Factory whistle heard at six, twelve, and six o'clock, sun time. Traditionally, Rude employees were paid in gold coin.
The firm of O'Toole Brothers has been in continuous operation by the same family for the past 93 years. The Granite and Marble Works founded in 1878 by James P. O'Toole is now operated by Steven T. O'Toole, great grandson of the founder.
Carter Paint Company has for many years been a stable industry, a leading producer of roofing and other paint. A new plant on the site of the Benajah Fosdick home produces automobile lacquers.
Carl VanAusdal began a considerable industry manufacturing Garden-All tractors and attachments, later operated by Glen Heilman and finally by Wheel Horse, Inc.
Liberty Mills has become a large independent producer of livestock feeds.
Dr. Byron Eaton was a pioneer in producing S.P.F. hogs; that is, hogs free of rhinitis, and certain troublesome forms of enteritis and pneumonia. This enterprise is now called Kleen-Leen, Inc. and is owned by Ralston-Purina, Inc.
Photo: Dr. J.E. Morris, First President of Union County National Bank.
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OLD ESTABLISHED BUSINESSES
Stephen Sharp
A number of businesses in Union County operating today have been doing so since the turn of the century or earlier.
THE LIBERTY HERALD - 1851
"The Star and Banner" was started by W. Appleton in 1851. In the 1920's this paper bought the LIBERTY HERALD and took it's name. In 1931 it moved to its present location on N. Market Street. Daniel Paddock is the editor.
UNION COUNTY CO-OP, LIBERTY ELEVATOR - 1855
The original building, called the Carlos Elevator, was built approximately 1855 by A. B. Fosdick three years after the railroad was laid through Liberty. The land was purchased from the gas company. The original capacity of the elevator was 9000 bushels of grain. Today the capacity is 160,000 bushels of grain, and feed storage of bulk and bag is 200 tons. The Union County Farm Bureau Co-operative Association, Inc. was organized March 15, 1930, the Directors being: Schuyler Greene, Fred Abernathy, H. V. Barnard, M. P. Jones, Cecil Bake, S. J. Fields, and Perry C. Druly. Everett Ballinger was the General Manager. Today Robert Lorenz is General Manager and the Board of Directors are: Glen Carson, President, R. E. Robinson, Vice President, Harold Gilmore, Secretary, Robert Caldwell, Harold Lake, Harold Abernathy, and Harold Ryan.
Photo: The Liberty Mill, 1890.
LIBERTY MILLS - 1856
214 S. Main Street has been a mill site since 1856. On September 15, 1898 Charles S. and Thomas A. McCoy assumed management. The present structure was rebuilt by Thomas A. McCoy in 1930 after a fire destroyed the previous one. Joseph Gambee has owned and operated the mill since 1949.
UNION COUNTY CO-OP, Cottage Grove Elevator – 1902
Aaron Gardner built the elevator approximately 1902.
Before that time grain was shoveled into the car by hand. In 1947 Co-op bought the elevator from Edgar Robinson.
O'TOOLE BROTHERS - 1878
James P. O'Toole Sr. founded the garnite marble works at 6 N. Main Street. In 1893 they moved to their present site.
THE LIBERTY RESTAURANT – 1909
Frank Maibaugh established the first restaurant on the site approximately 1909. A restaurant has continued since, and is now owned and operated by David Ross.
J. A. BERTCH AND SON - 1886
J. A. Bertch founded the present store on the same site as it is located now. Maxwell and Robert Bertch presently own the store.
UNION COUNTY NATIONAL BANK - 1869
The Union County Bank was formed in the Courthouse on September 4, 1869. The original stockholders and directors were J. E. Morris, Z. J. Stanley, J. C. Kitchel, W. W. Sullivan, W. M. Clark, Henry Shriner, A. H. Campbell and James Smith. The Bank building was built in 1870, at a cost of $5,236.88, which included the vault. The lot cost $300.00. In January 1872 application was made to the Treasury Department for a National Bank Charter which was granted by The Comptroller of the Currency June 29, 1872 the name of the bank being The Union County National Bank, of Liberty, Indiana. Presently the Board of Directors are Norman H. Johnson, chairman, Lawrence E. Sharp, Maxwell Bertch, Robert C. Caldwell, and Norman M. Johnson. Lawrence E. Sharp is president and Marsh A. Pouder is vice President and cashier.
Photo: Hughes Dry Goods Store, 1910.
LIBERTY DEPARTMENT STORE - 1872
In 1879 E.C. Hughes leased the store from Levi Cully & Son. There was a grocery in the rear and dry goods in front. In 1822 the lot was bought for $200.00, four years after it was platted. The Liberty Telephone Co. began upstairs in 1905. Aaron Cohen owns and operates the store now.
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FOSDICK'S - "On the Square since 1876"
Seth Kelley started the original business. In 1876 W. A. Fosdick, his son-in-law, became his partner. Then in 1902 Fosdick's son joined the store and it was known as W. A. Fosdick & Son, Furniture and Undertaking. ln 1931 a funeral home was started in the Fosdick residence on East Union Street. Furniture makers often made caskets and this is how Fosdick's grew into the funeral business.
==== WINNEFELD HOTEL – 1882 ====
The first hotel was destroyed by fire. Then in 1882 Joseph Corrington built the present structure and called it "New Corrington." Mrs. Katherine Winnefeld currently owns the hotel.
MILES-RICHMOND, INC. - 1890
A. Graham and William Henry Harrison Clark purchased the lumber yard from Solon Ferguson in 1890. It was known as A.Graham & Co. Later on W. H. H. Clark & Son owned the company and gave it their name. In February 1948, Maurice Miles and W. R. Richmond bought the company.
MAX'S MENS STORE – 1894
Fred Max started a tailor shop in the hotel in 1894. Later he moved his growing shop to where the bank driveway is now. At Max's death Robert Montgomery and Karl Hammerle bought the store and moved it to its present location at 109 W. Union Street in 1954.
Photo: Fred Max, popular clothier, and namesake, Max Swafford.
THE FARMER'S STATE BANK, West College Corner – 1895
This bank was founded on October 5, 1895, and reorganized in 1915 and 1937. The founders were: W. L. Pults, President, J. D. Pults, Cashier, George C. Weidman, A. D. Hawley, M. H. Hawley, Aaron Gardner, John C. Coulter, S. L. Bake, William R. Hays, Alex Gray, R. T. Gilmore, H. F. Hanna, T. M. Wilson, and Sam J. Cline. Presently Harley Pults is President and John D. Pults is Cashier.
BRANDENBURG GROCERY, Brownsville – 1900
Approximately 1900 a grocery store was founded in Brownsville. Past owners have been John Stag, L. J. Cully, Harry Kain, Lorel Ross and Chester Davis. It is now owned by W. J. Brandenburg.
Photo: Collyer Barber Shop, Liberty, 1918.
COLLYER BARBER SHOP - 1897
The family of Collyer has been cutting hair for a long time in Liberty. In 1897 Noah Collyer, Glenn Calkins and Earl Robeson started out at 115 W. Union Street. In 1912 they moved to a wood frame building just north of the bank, and Bennett Collyer joined in 1918. In 1924 they moved to their present site on E. Union Street. Franklin Collyer entered the barber business in 1957.
FARMERS FEED AND GRAIN COMPANY, Kitchel - 1901
J.C. Kitchel donated land to the railroad so that a depot and stockyard could be built, necessary for a feed mill. The five men forming the mill were: Aaron Gardner, C. Tony, James Allen, J.C. Kitchel, and Everett Kitchel. The elevator was built in 1901 of native timber sawed at Peter Gephart's Sawmill on the State Line. Harrison Township appropriated money to help build the Cincinnati, Richmond and Muncie railroad to Kitchel. Will Hart was the first manager. The elevator is presently owned and operated by John George.
DRIGGS SHOE STORE - 1903
Roy J. Driggs bought the H. H. Walton Shoe Store in 1903. The site has always been a shoe manufacturing shop or a shoe shop. The store is now operated by Audrey Driggs.
CARTER PAINT COMPANY - 1905
Approximately 1905 Frank Carter moved the Elastic Paint Company of Indianapolis to Liberty and renamed it the Liberty Paint Company. It replaced the Eureka Paint and Supply Company which was closed. On November 16, 1910 Carter Paint Company was organized in the same building as the previous companies, which is their present location. The first directors were Frank Carter, President, George W. Pigman, Vice president, Charles D. Johnson, Treasurer, F. W. Shock, Secretary, and Julia K. Bennett. In the early years the paint company used a red cedar clay decomposition from the George Mace farm near Brownsville for their pigment. The present Directors of Carter Paint Company, Inc. are Roy E. Kratzer, J. E. Kratzer, Ruth Kratzer, Wayne Smelser, and Norman H. Johnson. Roy E. Kratzer is President of the Company, J. E. Kratzer is Vice President, Norman Johnson is Treasurer, and Kenneth Husted is Secretary.
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HISTORY OF COLLEGE CORNER
John McCreary
No history of College Corner would be understood without first explaining how it received its name. Early in the nineteenth century Oxford Township was designated as a land grant era for a college, so the little village being in a corner of that area was named College Corner.
The first plat on the Ohio side was recorded about 1837 and the first plat on the Indiana side was of an addition made by C.P. Ridenour on September 15, 1859. Another addition was entered on January 15, 1868 by J.M. Ridenour. One of the earliest stores was in a log house built on the Indiana side by Thomas Forbes. Samuel Ridenour succeeded him and for nearly 40 years was an outstanding merchant and civic leader.
Old histories report two schools, one in Ohio and one in Indiana, both with a single room and a single teacher. By 1853 each school had two rooms. For 25 years after the Civil War attempts were made to consolidate the two schools. The Ohio building was a fairly good building, but the Indiana school was in poor condition.
This led the Indianians to push the consolidation plan. Finally after a mass meeting a committee was sent to Indianapolis and they secured approval of the Attorney General of a combined school. The same procedure followed in Ohio. Advantage was taken of the state line road and the building was placed half in Indiana and half in Ohio. By a special act of the Ohio legislature, a special school district was formed in Ohio and a contract was made giving Union Township, Indiana certain rights and privileges in connection with the school.
As far as state and national educators know, College Corner school is the only one so situated in two states, but its peculiar legal status has not affected its prosperity.
The two town boards work in a similar cooperative way and over the years have kept the whole village moving.
College Corner is an important grain and stock shipping point. The land around the village is exceptionally rich and the farmers are a very thrifty, progressive lot.
Photo: Political Rally at College Corner, 1900.
This page sponsored by PRS INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE and FARMERS STATE BANK, COLLEGE CORNER
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Scenes in College Corner...
Photo: (No caption)
Photo: (No caption)
Photo: The Union School in College Corner.
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TRANSPORTATION
Maurice LaFuze
Photo: Hack, 1900.
Probably the first well defined road in the county led from Brookville, through Fairfield, Dunlapsville, Brownsville, Abington to Salisbury just west of Richmond. This was simply a route, with no improvements, and seems to have been on the west side of the Whitewater except from Brownsville to Paddock's Ford.
Next probably was the Eaton road from Brownsville to Eaton, past the north side of the Union County Farm. The Oxford-Connersville road through Billingsville, New Hope, Dunlapsville, and Alquina, was the earliest officially surveyed road.
One of the earliest covered bridges of the state was built at Brownsville in 1938. It is still in daily use. One of the longest covered bridges in the state, that at Dunlapsville, was built in 1870. While condemned, it is being maintained by the Union County Historical Society. The soundness of the covered bridges' construction is indicated by the fact that they stood while the railroad steel bridge at Brownsville was demolished by the 1913 flood.
The Staggs stagecoach operated briefly about 1830 on a route from Brookville through Liberty and Brownsville to Centerville.
Most of the earliest settlers in Union County came on foot or on horseback. A few had wagons, but many more had to depend on sleds or pack horses for moving anything they could not carry. The streams were too small for boats to be important.
The slow development of the roads is indicated by the fact that even as late as 1840, when Samuel Lafuze and Elizabeth Immel were married they left the bride's home (Carl Sanford Farm) on horse back. The first improved road in the county, then called a pike, was from College Corner to Liberty. Most of the early road improvement was done by corporations, which collected tolls for their use. Liberty to Boston, Liberty to Brookville, Liberty to Connersville, Liberty to Abington, and Liberty to Brownsville were some of the toll roads. The home of Hubert Stevens south of Liberty was a toll house. Others stood at the east edge of Liberty; at the junction of the Abington pike and the old
This page sponsored by RAY'S FARM EQUIPMENT & FORD SALES - Raymond R. Kaser
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Photo: Scenic view near Brownsville.
Brownsville road on the Joseph Lake farm; and at the northwest corner of the Union County Farm. These toll roads were continued until about 1880.
A little grain was hauled to Cincinnati before the coming of the railroad in 1852, but most of the corn went to market on foot in the form of hogs, cattle and turkeys. Mrs. Jediah (Jennie) Hill wrote of seeing such droves going past her school, west of Dunlapsville, en route to Cincinnati.
Most of the driving was done by specialists who purchased the stock locally since they had the advantages of knowing the market and the route and had trained dogs. The home of Mrs. Alpha Husted west of Roseburg was once a tavern with livestock pens where the drivers could stay overnight. Timing was a delicate matter for those who drove turkeys, since at the approach of darkness the turkeys would fly into any available tree for the night.
McGee was one of the professional drivers. Driving livestock to distant markets had a brief revival when the 1913 flood washed out the railroad at Hamilton. In April 1913, Will and Carroll Montgomery drove cattle to Cincinnati following the present route of U. S. 27.
Around 1830 David Ward began to make wagons in his father's shop, about one mile south of Burnside Park. There was at that time a limited trade even with points as far away as Cincinnati. In 1837 Zachariah Stanley agreed to haul a four horse load of whiskey to Cincinnati for the Middlecough distillery to meet pressing debts. He received $5.00 for the trip.
In 1836 Samuel Lafuze hauled 1628 pounds of home cured bacon to Cincinnati, sold it for 8 cents a pound, and brought home needed supplies. It was a three day trip.
D. Park Ernst was the operator of a buggy and sleigh factory in Liberty in the late 1800's. His factory stood on Main Street north of the bank until 1940. Robert Ross is the owner of a sleigh on which his mother Mae Ernst (Mrs. Charles Ross) sewed the upholstery as a girl.
While the coming of the railroad in 1852 brought new markets and new contacts with urban centers, the impact of the automobile and motor truck have had an even greater impact on life in Union County.
Joshua Davis in 1900 became the county's first owner of an automobile, which could be seen almost daily going from Liberty to the Davis farms near the Wayne County line.
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Trucking livestock to Cincinnati and other terminal markets became an important industry beginning about 1915. Elmer Post, Sherman Bias, Clate Montgomery, Henry Scott, James Teegarden, and a little later Harold Crouse and Sons, were early truckers. Early trucks driven here were Paige, Biderman, Reo, and Ford. Willard Montgomery remembers going to Cincinnati in his father's SOLID RUBBER TIRED FORD. It took about eight hours for the round trip.
Other early automobile owners were Charles G. Mitchell, Marmon; Dr. E. R. Beard, Cadillac (one cylinder); Everett Lafuze, Cadillac, Danford Lafuze, Ford (red); J. Smith Mitchell and Monroe Crist, Buicks. Dickey Bros. took their new car home but it is said to have been a year before their driving technique was good enough to bring it up "Scratch Gravel" hill to visit Liberty. The supreme test of the early "hot rodders" was to be able to drive up Honeyman's Ford Hill (near the Speedway) in high gear.
Photo: Richmond Pike, about five miles north of Liberty, 1910.
Photo: Surrey with the fringe on top, 1890.
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Photo: Dunlapsville Covered Bridge built by A. M. Kennedy and Son, 1870. One of longest in the State.
THE FIRST TRAIN INTO LIBERTY
J. L. Stanley
The railroad which came to Liberty was one connecting Cincinnati and Indianapolis by building a junction railroad joining the C H & D at Hamilton, Ohio.
The Cincinnati and Indianapolis Junction Railroad, then the Indianapolis Division of the C H & D Railway, later the Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Western Railroad is now the Baltimore and Ohio.
The line was completed into Liberty in 1860. Liberty had offered a bonus if the line was completed by Dec. 1. When the supply of rails was exhausted the line was one mile outside the corporation. The chief engineer sent out word that he would treat any men in the county who were willing to help. They were ordered to take up rails back of the train and spike them temporarily in front so that the train could pass. This was continued until the train was within the corporation limits. The chief engineer then rolled a barrel of whiskey to the door of the baggage car, men carried it on to the right of way. Dr. Campbell the chief engineer knocked in the head and called, "Boys here is your treat". Within a short time men were lying all around, William Fosdick is the only known resident who witnessed this scene.
Photo: Train Wreck on C. & O. Railroad one mile east of Liberty in 1872. Persons assisting with wreck caught small-pox and 12 died.
Mrs. Isaleen Connaway, (Leaha Connaway's mother, who celebrated her 90th birthday June 6, 1936) is reported to have been a passenger on the first train to make the run from Liberty to College Corner.
Prior to the advent of the automobile the railroad provided the chief mode of transportation. At the turn of the century there were from 12 to 16 passenger trains per day thru Liberty and they were usually well filled.
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EARLY AUTOMOBILES
Harold S. Hughes
Photo: Cadillacs on E. Union Street, Liberty, 1905.
I was born in 1895, so I feel that I grew up with the automobile age and can remember many of the old cars.
Joshua Davis lived in the house east of us and he owned some of the first cars in this area. If my memory serves me correctly, his first purchase was a car manufactured somewhere in the East. He bought it with the understanding that it be driven through to Liberty, but it failed to arrive.
His first car was a steam car, probably a Locomobile. It is not commonly known, but there were at least forty makes of steam cars at that time--early 1900's--but White and Stanley steamers were the most popular.
His next car was probably a single cylinder Reo. It was a two-seater with a platform on the back and a removable "tonneau" to accommodate extra passengers. It was entered through a door in the rear. Another early car was a five hp. single cylinder Brush, chain driven and a little rough and noisy. This car was a beautiful Detroit electric with an enclosed body. Mrs. Davis used it to do her shopping in Liberty and always attracted a lot of attention. It was a smooth and quiet machine, but very limited in range as the batteries had to be recharged frequently. I doubt if it ever got as far as Richmond because of this.
Those early cars were more or less novelties and playthings, but gradually they began to improve in performance and reliability. Mr. Davis had several Premier cars, made in Indianapolis; also some Franklin air-cooled cars which served him well.
Many of these cars had carbide lights. Gas was generated in a dual tank on the running board with the lower section holding carbide crystals and the upper one holding water. By opening a small valve and letting water drip on the carbide, gas was formed. The operator then opened the front of the lights and touched a match to this gas jet. A flickering light was the result since pressure was not constant, so frequent adjustments had to be made while driving and trips after night were therefore not too common. Presto tanks came next and were more satisfactory.
Most travel in those days was still by horse and buggy as only the daring purchased cars, and horses were often badly frightened by these noisy machines.
I remember meeting one couple on a narrow country road. As soon as our car came into view, the man leaped out of his buggy and rushed to the horse's head while his wife jumped out and ran behind the nearest tree! It is hard to
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believe that things like that really happened--but they did.
Many cars were ordinary buggies with small engines attached. The higher buggy wheels were necessary to travel early gravel roads which were either deeply rutted or had high gravel ridges in the center. Low axles would not clear this heap of gravel; but as power and speed increased, roads were improved, so the buggy style was abandoned.
Another interesting car was the Metz--friction driven. Two disks at right angles to each other provided a transmission. To start the car, the rim of one disk was pressed against the flat side of the other, rotated by the engine. The nearer the center, the slower the speed and the greater the power. Speed increased as the disk was shifted farther on the surface of the rotating disk. This created a rough and noisy machine with slippage quite a problem. Mr. Richard Maze had the only Metz that I remember in this county, but needless to say, the car was not a success and not many were manufactured.
Much more could be written on this subject, but for those who are interested, our library has several interesting books which go into detail, so it would be well worth your time to read them.
Photo: Erle L. Paddock in 1909 Leader owned by his father Rife Paddock, former Union County resident.
Photo: Delivery truck, 1910.
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Page 30
TENDING GOD'S ACRES
Florence Finch Higgins
Mort Swaffotd Barnyard, 1910.
As man settled the wilderness and located his home, it was always near water, and thus the first land en tries were made in Harmony Township in 1804 - 640 acres on either side of the east fork of the Whitewater River. Several men, all related and originally from South Carolina, came in late summer of that year by blazmg what they called the Carolina Trace They built their cabms and then went back to Hamilton County, Ohio, until the next spring when their families came back with them. Names of these included John Templeton, Joseph Hanna, John Harma, and Robert Swann.
The Union County 1884 Atlas says: "The pioneers were generally a sober, industrious, and kind hearted people."
For many reasons harsh and lone They wrestled with their lot.
Winning the paradise of home From many a rugged spot.
The top agricultural products have always been com and hogs with beef cattle, dairy, small grain, etc., also getting attention. In 1836 a farmer delivered 196 bushels of wheat to mill for $1 a bushel. Th.ts was sown by hand, reaped with a cradle, bound by hand, and tramped out of the chaff on a floor. What a change to the $10,000 to $16,000 reapers used today!!
The 1970 county trustees' report divides the county's 64,25l acres into 3I7 fanns, which had on their land over 30,000 hogs. It has been boasted that our small county produces more pork per acre than any other county in
Indiana. At least our farmers do much hard work in selling their grain through livestock to try to give their families a better standard of living.
A report of the fourth annual fair held in 1869 under the auspices of The Union County Agricult ural Horticultural and Mechanical Society says the entries were as follows: horsC'S 142, jacks and mules 12, cattle 41, swine 46, sheep 36, mechanical, miscellaneous, etc., 583. Some of the first-place winners went on to State Fair competition. Lola Lee Bea!d has in her possession a loving cup her Grandfather Mayhew Paddock won with his hog entry in 1855. Others in the county have similar prize possessions.
1909, Lucy Finch Sanford and daughter, Florence Higgins.
Bill Leonud Threashing Rig, 1915.
Barnyanl of George Carmichael, I 90S.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
From the fairs came the 4-H movement and the Home Economics clubs for women. The first state leader of 4-H was appointed in 1912, and Union County had a county agent,
M.A. Nyde, in 1919. Osa Duval Gainey organized a girls' club in 1918, and Kathleen Egan and Earl Bowman, both teachers, were among the leaders who helped before the arrival of the agent. This work is still very worthwhile for our youth, and the annual exhibits and fair use the 4-H Livestock Building, dedicated in 1952, and the Girls Building, built in 1959. The Union County Home Economics clubs, also Extension work, were organized in 1918. The group from Harmony Township later dropped the home economics projects and became the Highland Literary Club. County Agent Forest Campbell's annual report for 1921 says:
Interesting days from the diary of Danford Lafuze (Alice , Lafuze Coffman's grandfather) w"hen he was a "Man" of 15 years of age are as follows:
"Jan. 20 - Homer and Pap (Mabel Lafuze McCarty's father) husked out the fodder, about fifty bushel. Jan. 25 - Homer and Pap commenced ditching in the field by the flat branch. Feb. 16 - Homer hauled corn - 60 bushels at fifty cents. March 6 - Clear and warm. We commence
Horse & wagon, 1876 .
"Practically nothing has been done along the line of Farm Home Betterment, but at the short course in 1922 we expect to work on this point." Eighty dress forms were made by Union County ladies in 1922, and Home Economics clubs thrived here and benefitted those who desired to learn.
"Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness!" What a feeble effort for brightness, but it was all they had until kerosene lamps. A few farms had Delco plants to generate electricity from about 1915 through the 1920's.
Every farm then had at least one milk cow for milk and butter, a few chickens, a vegetable garden, fruit orchard, and small berry patch. Many had sheep for wool. Most of these are gone in 1971 with work much more specialized.
Tall Corn, 1918.
plowing today. March 10--;-- Cloudy and raining. We went to Roe's to thrash oats. March 13 - We went to Roe's to clean oats - got 10 bu. Homer sowed clover seed. April 17 - Cloudy and cold. We plowed. Pap bought a new horse of John Ross - $200. April 27 - Cloudy and warm. We com menced to plant corn in the little field. May 4 - Clear and fine. Oliver harrowed. I rolled. Homer furrowed off in the field below road. May 9 - Cloudy . We planted about I5 acres of corn. The boys harrowed. May 16 - We plowed for Hungarian. I got a setting of Duck's eggs - cost 10¢. J unc 28 - We commenced to cut wheat. July 8 - Clear and hot. Father went to pike meeting. We cut some wheat forenoon. Hoed some afternoon."
Some farms close to power lines were able to hook onto these. 1n 1930 we ourselves were in a group of five neighbors within about a mile radius who built a line (at a charge of
$75 each) to the Public Service line. But the wonderful general availability of electricity to farmers came in 1938 when REMC came into existence and rural areas were in the push-button era.
Some entries from a dairy of Ellen Lafuze Creek (mother-in-law of Elsie Creek) give us a look into the life of a farmer's wife in 1873. She mentions a calico dancing party at Salem Hall on February 14 and on February 20 an oyster supper calico party. The next day was cold with snow on the ground, and she finished a wool comfort and ironed. Also, she wrote that " a traveler wanted to know the way to Brookville and if [ could not give him a bite to eat, which I did and was glad to see him go."
Most entertainment was visiting neighbors, going to
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 refused the offer, as that place is home to my son Philip and his family today. During fifty years of active farming in Union County, my husband and I have seen many changes. Before radio and TV, people got together for the lyceum shows and chautauqua circuits; and such cooperative enterprises as the old threshing rings produced much good neighborly spirit.
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 UNDERGROUND RAILROAD Mary E. Bertch
Ed and Arthw: DuBois with load of wheat, 191O.
church, singing parties, spelling matches, anniversary celebra tions where games were played - fruit basket, charades - with apples and popcorn served. Several entries in March say: "Boil sugar water all day," so they had their own maple syrup. Much time was spent in sewing clothing for the entire
family. A May 22 entry that year said they killed a black snake in the kitchen, and the next day her comment was: "Snakes plenty." On the 25th she said: The measu1ing worms are very thick covering fences and hanging from the trees; not much pleasure to be in the woods." July 12: "Clear bright day; Alex goes early to Oliver's (Maurice Lafuze's father) to stack his wheat. I churn, bake, iron a bit, pull weeds in garden, gather early pea seed, sweep, sew and write a while this evening." Quite a full day! A menu she served carpenters when their house was being built (they were living in three rooms) included beef, sweet and Irish potatoes, cabbage, turnips, beans, tomatoes, pumpkin and elderberry pies. December 10 entry: "Alec went to Petty's after tile." This is a reference to a tile factory at Five Points on the present Ollie Sheets farm.
Some 1875 prices mentioned in a diary were: "15 yds calico for dress at 8 1/3 cents, 7 yds muslin at 9 cents. 2½ yds flannel 13¢; sold red steer to Ross at 7¢ a lb.; sold 20 hogs averaged 422 lb. at 7 .10." (per hundred weight, I presume.) Hogs were usually sold in December to a buyer who would gather a large drove in Liberty and then drive them to Cincinnati.
The selling price of land has changed along with methods of cultivatim1 and living. A letter dated 1860 to Marietta Barnard, my children's great-grandmother asks if she will sell 80 acres of land grant at $25 per acre. I am grateful that she
With the development of RFD, the telephone, and the automobile, rural life has become quite different. Farm organizations, such as the Grange, Farm Institute, Farm Bureau, and HFO have all promoted new practices. Cur ren Lly, there is much emphasis on working to get more equitable prices to compete with price increases in other fields.
Can farm life change as much in the next 150 years?
Log smokehouse - later used as com crib, 1913.
The modem cry "Black is Beautiful' is reminiscent of Union County days more than a century ago when Negroes were aided by brave and compassionate families. Stations of the Underground Railroad located here provided safety for those runaway families seeking refuge in the North and in Canada. Stations here were one of the first links in a chain routed from the Ohio River. Descendants of these deter mined Negro families continue today in their search for complete freedom and equality.
Even before the Civil War families were transported across the Ohio River by groups of anti-slaveryenthusiasts. How the route to Canada had been named the "Underground Rail road" is a matter of speculation but a story is told about a group of men in Cincinnati who were engaged in a conversation concerning the escape of Negroes. A Southern man said that slave owners always could trace the Negroes to Cincinnati but no further. He also said that he felt the Negro must travel the rest of the way by means of a railroad underground. One of the Cincinnati men, anxious not to betray their method, agreed heartily and the Southern slaveholder immediately demanded to see the railroad. He was taken to an unfinished railroad tunnel back in the hills a short distance from Cincinnati and irlformed that it led straight to Canada. The slaveholder was convinced and the name supposedly grew from this occasion.
The Quakers, well known for their love of peace and comfort and fairness to all mankind were most influential in the stations set up in Union County. One line that ran through this area was operated by a Negro, Peter Naper. He took the escapees by night to the Beard home near Salem. The home was believed to have been built between 1816 and 1822 by John Beard, a Quaker who came here sometime between I809 and 181l. An inscription of the date was found on the plaster of a bedroom wall. Bricks for the double walls were made on the farm. When the Logues are plowing even today, they often turn an unused brick over in the field that evidently had been placed there to bake and then passed by when the construction took place.
Slaves were hidden by the Beards in an attic-like room that was reached by a rope ladder concealed in an upstairs bedroom cupboard . The cupboard was designed with a false top to cover the hideaway area. Two small windows near the rooftop provided a lookout . An escape hatch, visible from the inside but not outside, was built in the roof. It is believed the woods came up close to the house at that time and this enabled the Negroes to exit via the roof and quickly become hidden in the wooden area.
The old home has many memories within its walls for it not only was a sanct u ary for the runaway slaves but a social center as well. Many parties were held there as well as religious meetings by the devout Friends. The original Beard home is now occupied by the Julian Logue family . When the Logue children were small, they often were certairl there were still slaves in the upper story, for in the usual manner of homes built more than 150 years ago, creaks and cracks can become quite loud in the darkness of a night, particularly to a young and imaginative mind.
Another Unde rground Railroad lirle in the county, accord ing to its archives, was in an old brick house on DuBois Creek in Harmony Township. The Negro was hidden under the living room floor on the bare ground. He was admitted there through a trap door in a closet under a winding staircase. From there, the slaves were aided by Wayne County residents until they reached Canada. The staircase that covered the trap door which led to a tunnel running to a hill behind the house was removed in a remodeling project. Mrs. Gardner Waddell lives in the home now. She and her family have lived there for 42 years.
The present residence of Mrs. 0 .8. Creek has recollections of slavery within its walls for it also aided Negro families in their escape from the Southern Slaveholders. Tales of the hideaway slaves in this home came from Mrs. Lloyd Fosdick,
35
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
mother of Eugene Fosdick, who, as a girl resided across the
provided a hiding place for them. These since have been filled
OTHER TOWNS
Stephen Retherford
road from Mrs. Creek's home. Mention of this station was made in Harriet Beecher Stoew's controversial "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in connection with Judge Elijah Van Sandt, a Hollander. This gentleman was a grandfather of Mrs. Fosdick and an ardent anti-slavery worker who helped many to escape. He had four daughters, one of whom was Mrs. Fosdick's mother. To each of these he bequeathed property in the area. The land was then purchased h:y Mrs. Creek's mother, Mrs. Cora Hart Stevens. Mrs. Creek recalls that one of Mrs. Fosdick's favorite stories was about a time a Negro family with several children was hidden in a pantry near the kitchen where a number of men were being served dinner. None of the children made a sound the entire time and the family was led to safety when dinner was over. This home was built about 125 years ago but the actual -date is not known. The gracious country home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Jones, sr., on Indiana 44, served its day as a shelter for slaves seeking refuge and freedom. Large cupboards on each side of the fireplace in one of the original two downstairs rooms
in and serve as book shelves and storage area.
The home boasts a construction date of 1823, of bricks made on the farm, but its modern comfort belies its original state. The Tappan homestead, originally recorded in 1912 , has remained in the family ever since. Mrs. J.E. Tappan of St. Louis, Mo. is the present owner.
A fireplace in the room adjacent to the one used by the Underground Railroad is encased in a wooden mantel, hand carved by an itinerant visitor in the home many winters ago. He had exchanged his craft and chores for a winter home.
A number of other homes in the county are enchanted with a lore that may or may not have been. Statio ns easily could be imagined from the artifacts found or from dug-out places discovered as remodeling has taken place. But as our descendants will speculate about our activities in another century because we have neglected to record them, so must we leave to posterity the possibility of other Underground Railroad stations .
Settlements developed spontaniously in the early l800's throughout Union County. They usually consisted of a few houses grouped together with a church, school, general store, blacksmith shop and often a grist mill and post office. Some of these settlements grew into small villages. Many of them are considerably smaller now than they were years ago, a few have completely disappeared, but most remain as distinct communities today.
maker, one dress making establishment, and a saw mill. Th e United States census of 1880 gave it a population of 120 . CLIFTON - now, a community with only a few houses. At one time there was a store, a blacksmith shop, a post office and a school. CHARLOTTESVILLE - situated in southeast Union Township , now has only a few houses. COTTAGE GROVE - situated on the B&O Railroad, and located partly i.n Union and Center Townships. In 1884 , the Union Township half consisted of a post office, one store, and an extensive tile factory while in Center Township there was the depot, one grocery, and two blacksmith shops, and a school. GOODWINS CORNER - at one time consisted of a store , a blacksmith shop, a post office and a church.·The store which was called the General Store was a grocery, clothing and hardware store all togetl1er. At the present t ime, there is only the Baptist church and a part of the blacksmith shop left.
Julian Logue home near Salem which was used as an underground railroad station_ from 1827 to 1864. Side view reveals the small windows near the rooftop that provided a lookout.
Dunlapsville Academy, built in 18S4 DUNLAPSVILLE - is the largest and oldest of these. Situated on the east fork of the Whitewater River in the southern part of Liberty Township, it was platted as a village with sixty-five lots in 1817. John Dunlap was proprietor. A fort stood near by. The Dunlapsville Presbyterian church is likely one of the oldest organizations of the Presbytery but unfortunately early records were destroyed by fire. The first house of worship erected by this group was constructed of large logs cut by John Templeton and William Nickels about 1820. A site was chosen by the Presbyterians for an academy and in 1852 the building of the DunJapsville Academy was begun. The church at DunJapsville served as the school until 1854 when the academy building was completed. Reverend R. B. Abbot was chosen president. The faculty consisted of five instructors. The departments were Primary, Intermediate, Classical, and Musical. The school was well equipped having a piano, chemical and physical apparatus, and a librnry. Every morning the whole school met for devotional exercises in the chapel, a room which was later used as the town hall. In 1878, there were in the village two small stores, two blacksmith shops, a wagon shop, a shoe shop, one resident physician, a church, a school, and a post office. The United States census of 1880 gives Dunlapsville a population of 118. BILLINGSVILLE - is a hamlet situated in the western part of Union Township. In it'sheyday the town consisted of a post office, one harness and saddler shop, three groceries, two blacksmith shops, one drug store, one boot and shoe
Kitchel School, 1971 KITCHEL - grew with the building of the C.C.&L. Railroad (now C.&O.). Situated in the heart of Harrison Township, this village was early in the century one of the newest and busiest centers in Union County. Long an important grain and shipping center , it now has a branch of the Kaiser Agricultural Chemical Company. The Harrison Township school provides six elementary grades for the community. LOTUS - at one time there were stores, a photograph gallery, a depot and a post office in Lotus. It has been recorded that one year at Christmas there were as many as fifty wagons hitched in front of the two stores there at one time. One store was owned in partnership by Milton Maxwell and Asher Williamson. One day while Williamson was eating dinner, Milton Maxwell sold $75.00 worth of merchandise . They had, to say the least, a thriving business. When the rural free delivery was established, the depot and the post office were abandoned.
36 37
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE
Betsy Ross Hopkins
member of the State Senate of Indiana and was able to secure an appointment to West Point for his son in March , 1843 . The West Point Class of 1847 had fifty-three cadets from every section of the United States . Several men attending West Point of this time became famous generals in the Civil War such as George McCle llan and " Stonewa ll" Jackson .
friends gat hered aro und . Whe n the minister asked Lott ie if she would take Ambrose Bu rnside to love and to cherish, she said, " No siree, Bob, I won't!" When tJ1e ne ws reached Lottie 's hometow n, people said it sounded like Lottie. She managed to convince Burnside that it was a pran k. She late r married James Clark, who came to the wedding armed with a pistol and told Lotti e, "T here will be a wedding here tonight or a funeral tomorrow!" The next week a letter arrived for
Cadet Burnside , when he entere d West Poin t, was tall, erect, and wore the same style of side whiskers which he wore through life. By graduatio n time his class was reduced to thirty cadets with Burnside ranking eighteen th . He was sent to Mexico, Rhode Island, and New Mexico , an d afte r being promoted to the rank of first lieutenant he was given a furlough so tha t he might visit his home in Libert y. While there, he proposed to a young girl from Oxford, Ohio, Charlotte Moon , whom he had met on a previous visit while she was visiting a relati ve in Brownsville, Indian a. She was highly educat ed , beautiful, and popular. Years later she
Miss Lottie Moon from Burnside, but Lottie's mother returned it after writing on it, "Charlott e was married last wee!< to James Clark."
The following year Burnside married Mary R ichmond Bishop and resigned from the army irl November. He invented a breech-loading rifle and established a factory in Birstol, Rhode Island. Afte r the firing on Fort Sumter, Burnside took comm and of a regiment from Rhode Islan d. He served as a comm arid er of the Arnly of the Potomac and was placed in command of the Depart men t of the Ohio. He aided in the captur e of Morgan 's Raiders.
General A. E. Burnside 1824-1888, Commander of the Army of the Potomac at Fredricksburg.
was accused of being a Confe derate spy . She accepted his pro posal of marriage , and they set a date for the wedding. At the appointed time they stood before the minis ter with their
After the war, he returned to Rh ode Island and served as governor and United States Senator until his death in 1881.
Ambrose E. Burnside, the fourth child of Judge Edghill Burnside, was born in the log cabin on his father's farm near Liberty, Union County, Indiana, on May 23, 1824. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell Bertch now occupies this site. Dr. Everts delivered the baby and because his wife was Mrs. Burnside's closest friend and had recently lost her first-born child, who had been named Ambrose Everts, Mrs. Burnside named her son Ambrose Everts Burnside. When he entered West Point years later, Everts was unintentionally changed to Everett, an error which was never corrected .
Burnside was a regular attendant at the Methodist Episcopal Church. He attended a seminary in Liberty . The
principal was Dr. Houghton, a Quaker preacher. At the seminary Burnside acquired a sound knowledge of the practical branches of math ematics, rhetoric , logic , and moral philosophy. His plans for his future education were changed when his mother died in 1841, and he was indentured as the apprentice of a merchant tailor in Centerville , Indiana. Upon the completion of his apprenticeship, he returned to Liberty, where he worked for a short time as a journeyman, and then entered into partnership with John M. Myers. The firm of 'Myers and Burnside , Me rchant Tailors' occupied a small, one-story wooden building, with one apprentice, Benajah S. Fosdick. Although skilled at his trade, Burnside longed for a military life. It was fo rtunate th at Judge Burnside was a
This marker was erected in 196 3 on the Court House lawn by the Indiana
Civil War Cent enni al Commission.
Near the site of his bir th another marker had been placed in 1936 by the National Society of Daughters of the Union, at the entrance to a small road side park on U.S. 27 about 1 mile southeast of Liberty.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
JOAQUIN MILLER
Crys tal E. Coughlin
Joaquin Miller, 1839-1913, "Poet of the Sierras"
Hulings Miller, a Quaker schoolteacher of Scotch descent, who had come from Cincinnati to Union County, there had met and married Margaret Witt, the daughter of one of the county's earliest settlers, of Dutch ancestry, and had re mained in the community as a teacher and small storekeeper, though with little success in either occupation. The poet, their second son, was born, not March l 0, 1841, as stated on the marker near his birthplace, but in 1839 or possibly as early as 1837. Miller subtracted several years from his age when he first began to achieve success as a "youthful" poet. He was named Cincinnatus (not for the Roman general but for his father's birthplace) Hiner (not Heine for the German poet, as he liked to claim, but for the doctor who attended his birth.) He was usually called Hiner. A Liberty dentist, Dr. Hiner Miller Hunt, whose mother was Joaquin's cousin, was his namesake. A number of his relatives, descendants of the pioneer Witt family, still reside in Union County.
Hulings Milier soon left Union County with his young family, going first farther north and west in Indiana, where another son and a daughter were born. Then, in 1852 Joaquin actually did cross the plains in a covered wagon with his family, arriving in Oregon after eight months and settling on a farm there. A fourth son was born in Oregon.
When he was seventeen, Hiner, as he was still called, set out for California, where he worked as a ranch hand, cook, odd-job man, and miner for a time. Then for more than a year he lived with a tribe of Indians and took an Indian wife, who bore him a daughter named Cali-Shasta. (He left the Indians soon after the birth of this daughter, but he later sought her out and found her a home in San Francisco.) Miller also took part in a battle against a band of renegade Indians who had massacred a group of whites. His California adventu re ended when he became involved in an escapade which resulted in his arrest on a charge of stealing a horse. Research supports Joaquin's claim that he merely took the horse in lieu of money owed to him by the horse's owner; however, he was arrested, imprisoned, and charged with the theft, but he succeeded in escaping and fled back to Oregon.
After his return to Oregon, the young adventurer con tinued his education, attending Columbia College for a few months and receiving a degree. He taught school briefly, but when gold was discovered on the border of Idaho and Montana, he and two of his brothers joined the rush to the mines. Hiner soon tired of mining and became a partner in a pony express line, braving severe weather, hard labor, and the
Theresa Dyer, who wrote under the pen name of Minnie Myrtle. Hiner started a correspondence with her, and in 1863 he made a trip to her home to meet her. He fell in love at first sight and, after a whirlwind courtship of three days, married her. Miller worked as a journalist in Eugene, and in 1863 moved to Canyon City, where he set up in the practice of law, evidently with some success, since he was appointed a judge. The young couple had three children, Maud, George Brick, and Hal.
Miller continued his literary efforts, but with little succes, his two small volumes of poetry receiving little acclaim from either the public or the critics. Meanwhile he took part in another Indian battle which won him quite a local reputa tion; and he continued to do well in the law. However, his marriage was not doing so well, and just as he was preparing to run for Supreme ,Court Judge, his wife took the children and went home to her parents. Although they were not divorced until much later, his chances of being elected were wrecked.
It was at this point that Miller determined to devote himself entirely to poetry. In 1870 he went to San Francisco, where he won an introduction to a circle of literary celebrities. The poetess Ina Coolbrith took him in hand, tutored him, and reputedly suggested that he adopt the name Joaquin from the title of a poem he had written and published about Joaquin Murietta, the Mexican bandit. Then he set off for England to try his literary fortunes abroad.
Miller had always admired Byron, and was pleased and flattered when he was called the "American Byron." He visited the tomb of the British poet and placed there a sprig of California laurel. When he arrived in London, after trying unsuccessfully to interest a publisher in his work, he published "Pacific Poems" at his own expense and sent copies to the reviewers. To the amazement of everyone except the author, the poems were immediately successful, and Joaquin Miller became an overnight sensation. Moreover he was accepted enthusiastically in both literary and social circles. He wore his hair and beard long and dressed as a frontiersman, with red shirt , flowing tie, high boots and sombrero. When he recited his poetry with booming voice and dramatic gestures, his London hostesses were delighted. Hymet Ruskin, Browning, and Swinburne, and Dante G. Rossetti gave a dinner for him. He published a second volume, "Songs of the Sierras," generally considered to be his best work , which received extravagant praise.
The words leapt like a leaping sword: "Sail on! Sail on! Sail on! and on!"
These stirring lines were familiar to generations of Americans who as school children read and memorized "Columbu ," by Joaquin Miller. They also probably learned that he was an accidental Hoosier, born in a covered wagon while the family was traveling westward through Indiana. This was a romantic legend fostered by the poet himself, who
couldn't resist the temptation to embellish the tru th or even change the facts when occasion demanded to produce a more dramatic and colorful narrative. For this reason his bio graphers have had difficulty in determining just what were the real facts of his life.
The more prosiac truth about his birth was that he was born at the Union County farm home of his maternal grandparents a few miles north of Liberty. His fa ther,
dangers of "road agents". With the earnings from this venture he bought and published a newspaper, which was so violently pro-Southern in its sympathies that it was suppressed by military order.
From 1860 on, Miller had been a frequent contributor of poetry, letters, and various articles on subjects of current interest to the newspapers of the area. Another contr ibutor, whose poetry was popular with Oregon readers, was Minnie
When Joaquin returned to America in 1871 he was received enthusiastically by the public, though the critics stilJ were cold. After a short stay in the congenial atmosphere of San Francisco he made a trip to Brazil, wrote poems about it, and then visited England again, where he was lionized as before, was presented to the Queen, and met the famous Lily Langtry , for whom he wrote a poem. He traveled on the continent and wrote "Songs of Italy" {1878). He also
published a number of prose works reminiscences, novels,
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA
1821-1971
and a play, "The Danites," which was a box-office success when presented on Broaday, on tour, and even in London. In 1879 Miller married Miss Abigail Leland, a wealthy New York society woman, and they made their home on Long Island, where their daughter Juanita was born. Then Joaquin built and lived in a cabin in Rock Creek Park in' Washington, D.C., which is now a memorial. Finding his poetic powers waning in the East, in 1886 he returned to California and built a home in Oakland which he called the Hights. He continued to write, contributing to magazines and publishing books. He also received many visitors, including relatives, old friends, and literary acquaintances. "Songs of the Soul" (1896) was favorably reviewed by American critics. When gold was discovered in the Klondike, Joaquin secured an appointment as a correspondent for the San Francisco Examiner and went to the gold fields. He wrote about his experiences for the paper, and after his return, lectured and toured on the Keith vaudeville circuit with great success. ln 1900 he covered the Boxer Rebellion in China as
Joaquin Miller died at the Hights, February 17, 1913. In accordance with his request, his body was cremated and his ashes scattered over the hillside by the wind. His daughter Juanita, who was as colorful a character as her famous father, lived at the Hights until her death in 1970. The area now belongs to the City of Oakland and as Joaquin MiJler Park is maintained as a memorial. Joaquin Miller was out of step with his own times - but was he born too late or too early? Was he the last pioneer - or the first hippie? Biographers emphasize his rugged pioneer character, which he inJ1erited from his courageous immigrant ancestors, and call him a typical frontiersman. Yet today his fantastic, picturesque manner of dress, his long hair and beard, and particularly his insistence on "doing his own thing" would fit right into the modern scene. Perhaps it was Joaquin's good fortune to be a misfit, because it was this very difference from his contemporaries which brought him to the attention of the literary world and helped him to achieve the international popularity and reputation as an important literary figure of the Victorian era.
OTHER TOWNS
Hotel in Pilomath, Indiana.
Stephen Retherford
a correspondent for the Examiner. He spent his remaining years at the Bights, taking occasional trips and lecture tours around the country. He visited Indiana several times, and on one visit struck up a close friendship with James Whitcomb Riley. A photostatic copy of a letter from the Hoosier poet to Joaquin is in the Union Co. Public Library. His last visit to Union County was made in 1899. He always remained proud of his Hoosier heritage.
Joaquin Miller's Union County relatives were proud of their illustrious cousin and of the literary fame which he acquired. While privately they deplored some of his more' flamboyant eccentricities, they viewed with cool disfavor the books and stories which emphasized this colorful and slightly scandalous side of his character at the expense of his more solid qualities and his substantial literary achievements; for critics agree that he made a real contribution to American literature.
MOUNT PLEASANT - is located five miles west of Liberty on State Road 44 and a mile east of the Union and Fayette County line. At one time it was called Half-Acre but it was later changed to Mt. Pleasant. QUAKERTOWN - is a small village near the northern boundary of Harmony Township and the East Fork of the Whitewater River. At one time it consisted of a grist mill, a store, a post office and a blacksmith shop. This village had the best natural site for hydraulic power on the river. Nathan Henderson, a Quaker, built the first mill. There was also a woolen factory , a carding machine and an oil mill. The woolen factory, was operated until 1857, when the machinery was sold and a general store started in the building by J.M. Stanton. PADDOCKS FORD - is northwest of Clifton. This is a rural community with only a few houses. It is now the present site of the Brownsville Conservation Club. PIDLOMATH - a little cluster of houses situated in the extreme northwestern corner of Brownsville Township. Early a village called Bethlehem was laid out here but there seems to be no record of it. The Philomath Encyclopedia, a newspaper, was edited and managed by Jonathan Kidwell, who also operated a printing press and published some books on Universalism. The Western Union Seminary was established here in 1883 by the Western Union Association of Universalists. PIPETOWN - is one mile southwest of Liberty. There are only two houses located there now. It received it's name from Squire Stevens, Justice of the Peace at that time, who was fond of smoking a pipe and did so quite often. ROSEBURG - is south of Liberty on State Road 101. About 50 years ago it was discovered that there were two towns by the name of Roseburg in Indiana. The Post Office Department would not allow two towns in the same state to
Post Office in the town. When the rural free delivery was started the Post Office was discontinued. The people then started calling the town Roseburg again. SALEM - a neighborhood settled by Quakers about 1814 . In 1818 they built a log meeting house and a school near the site of the Salem Church. In the summer of 1826, Jonathan Swain bought a lot adjoining the meeting house to the north and erected a frame school house in which he taught school. In 1831 the Quakers purchased the school and maintained it themselves. About 1841, serious dissention arose in the Quaker Church over the question of slavery in the South. So great was the agitation that quite a large body of members seceeded, and taking possession of the school house, fitted it with seats for the purpose of worship. Elihu Talbert, who owned the Dennis Gleason farm, repaired and put in order for school a brick blacksmith shop situated directly west of his dwelling. This was known as the "Little Brick". In 1845 Elihu Talbert , Joseph Gardner, and others, erected the building now owned by the United Brethren Church, which they called Union Chapel. SANDRUN - is in Union Township. In earlier days there was a school located there, but it has been torn down and the pupils now go to College Corner. The only house that is near Sand Run is about one-half mile away. SORGHUM TOWN - is a little village south of Lotus. It contains a few houses and one of the first sorghum mills ih the area used to stand here from which it derived it's name. YANKEETOWN - had the first grist mill in this part of the county built in the fall of 1814, in what was then called Hopewell, by John Hagennan. He operated it for some years, then it was sold to William Bossert. The mill was· later purchased by D. W. Price, who did a thriving business until 1885. This village, located northeast of Brownsville, has now only a few houses. WITT'S STATION - is located in Harrison Township and
Margaret Witt Miller, mother of Joaquin Miller. Many Union County people are related to her. She spent her last years at the Rights with her devoted son.
have the same name, therefore the name of Roseburg was changed to Carl and was known as such as long as there was a
situated on the C. & 0. Railroad. At one time there was a general store and an elevator. Now only a few houses remain.
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
1 JlwMZ {JJJlJIJl ]Ju, (l)mµ.
SOCIAL LIFE IN UNION COUNTY
Frances Rankin
Elizabeth T. Stanley, State President of W.C.T.U., 3rd from left in front row, and group of ladies, 1888.
Social life in Union county dates back to the first settlers when families and friends joined for Saturday night hoe downs and lawn parties, along with quilting bees and apple peelings. During this era, the ladies donned their long hoop skirts and dainty hats, while the gentlemen for fancy affairs wore top hats, dress suits and spats. Organized groups soon were introduced in the settle ments. According to available records, the three oldest organizations were probably the IOOF Morton lodge , or ganized Oct. 28, 1854; the Nichol Castle Knights of Mystic Charm, Oct. 11, 1875; and the Burnside Lodge No. 25, United Order of Honor, April 24, 1883. Since that time the county has become well-organized, with nearly everyone belonging to at least one and more often, several organizations. At present time there are clubs of ail kind, including, literary, service, philanthropic, patriotic, social, religious, secret orders, etc. In addition there are a dozen Homemakers clubs and many church organizations for every denomination. Included in the groups are two Greek Letter organiza-
tions, and clubs for all ages, men, women, boys and girls, from the Brownies and Cub Scouts, up. A United Fund organization was formed several years ago and incorporates a number of different service groups. Much can be said for the various organizations, however, it would be impossible to name them all in this article. They all have their place in our community and all join forces to work together in community projects. During the last century and a half, many groups have come and gone, but most have endured the years. Many of the local groups are affiliated both nationally and internationally with world-wide memberships.
Church Social at Corrington House, 1900.
Criterion Club, 1900.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA
VETERANS
182'1-1971
John E. McMahan
Union County is a mighty small county - but let's rephrase that and leave out the "small." Then we have a "mighty" county. And so it is considering the men folks (and women too) who have served their country when needed. It would be utterly impossible to name all the veterans of all the wars. It is known there are twenty-six Revolutionary veterans buried in the limits of Union County. From there on you name the war and we have been there. Some volunteered and some went unwillingly but they went anyway and did the job they started out to do. I don't believe there is a veteran anywhere who can truthfully say he wasn't pretty badly scared when first entering combat. They say it is no fun to be shot at, but when they overcome that fear and go ahead with their mission - that is the stuff of which heroes are made. And we should give each of them our full measure of respect and admiration. There are two strong veterans organizations in the county. The American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Each has a nice club house where veterans are welcome to come, relax and swap tall tales. Lies to some folks but to a veteran, "It's thehonest truth so help me". Each year the patriotic organizations get together and have a Memorial Day service honoring veterans of all wars. The committee takes great care that no veterans grave is left unmarked. It is entirely fitting that we should do this in their memory.
Surgical Dressing Unit in a parade in Liberty, 1918.
To add a personal touch, I ate with my three sons one day and I just listened. One used an occasional word of the Arab or Egyptian language, one dropped a word now and then of• French and German, and the third used words of the South Seas and Korea. I thought, here one family has been in various parts of the world, learning a little of their language, ways of life, their habits, religion and background. Could this tend towards a better understanding, more tolerance and better develop the brotherhood of all mankind? Let us hope so.
THE LIBERTY LITTLE HOOSIERS
The stories and notes on the lives of Liberty citizens which follow were written by members of the Little Hoosiers. This group is a 6th grade history club interested in local and state history. They have written two books, Liberty and Hoosiers! Hoosiers! The latter book has been copyrighted and is on file in the Congressional Library, Washington, D.C.
TRUE STORIES OF UNION COUNTY
The first two stories were taken from the book "HOOSIERS! HOOSIERS!!," written by 'The Little Hoosiers".
The Mystery of Redman's Mill
"Heave ho!" "We can do it!" "She moved!" "Steady! Heave Ho!" A chorus of men's shouting voices sounded across the Still House Hollow and the Whitewater River in June, 1845. "What's going on here?" we asked an old man sitting on the bank of the river. He turned to us and said, "Well, girls, it all began about a month ago, over there at Redman's Mill. As you can see, the water here is shallow enough to ford by
wagon or on foot, so there is no bridge. There were a lot of wagons that day, waiting in line, filled with grain to be ground. Mr. Reman and his son worked until midnight, when Mr. Redman got so tired, he went home to bed. About an hour later, his son finished the last load and he closed up the mill for the night. "It was a beautiful night. The moon made a silvery bridge across the river, and all was still as the young man walked home. It stayed quiet and peaceful all night. No storms. No winds. No earthquakes. As I said, it was a quiet night, girls. "Next morning early, the young man came back. He took
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
one look at the mill and ran back, shouting! 'Father! Father! Come quick!' He and his father ran to the mill. They didn't know what to do. Because during that quiet summer night, that mill had turned right around on its foundation! The corners stuck out across the foundation walls for seven feet!
shoulders. Look, girls! The mill is back on its foundation! Good for Mr. Pigman and his friends!"
ft was true, they had put the mill back, and it ran for many more years. But the mystery was never solved.
HEADLINE - Richmond Item - Sept. 25, 1926
Woman Sheriff Nabs Rum Ring! A Lady Sheriff?
"Mr. Redman thought his mill was ruined. People came from all over to see the turned around mill. They wondered what had caused it. But no one could figure the answer. Could the mill be fixed?
"Finally, Mr. Adam Pigman of Liberty called all the men together. There they are, with ropes and levers and strong
{This is a true story and we want to thank Miss Ellen Scott for telling us about it. Her grandfather, Samuel Scott, lived just across the river from the mill, and helped put it back. We thank Judge Bridenhager for sending us the newspaper clipping about this great mystery.)
by Vickie Chapman Sandra Roll
Yes! In Union County! Mrs. Emma Pouder was appointed sheriff of Union County after the death of her husband, Milton Pouder. He died just twelve days after he had taken office. She became Indiana's only lady sheriff on Jan. 22, 1923.
Sheriff Emma Pouder was a very attractive lady . She had a sweet, kmd face, but everyone said she was a fine sheriff, because she knew what was right and what was wrong and that the people could depend on her to do her duty . And
Now about the headlines in the Richmond and Indiana polis papers.
"Led by Mrs. Pouder, Sheriff, a riading party swooped down on bootleggers, six miles southwest of Liberty, about 2:00 O'clock Wednesday afternoon, and arrested four men, confiscated 700 gal. of mash, 10 gal. of whiskey', a 50 Gallon still, and an automobile owned by one of the men. The men will be charged with manufacturing liquor. The still was in operation when they arrived. The men had started to run
when they saw the officers, but stopped when the officers
A Great Catasrophe
Crash! Rumble-rumble! The residents of Liberty all sat up in their beds. What's happening! Could it be an earthquake? A train wreck? But soon the noise settled down and so did the people.
that is why the people elected her to serve a second term.
This was done in spite of the idea most people then had, that the duties of the sheriff was really only a man's job. She even did the cookmg for the prisoners , with all her other duties! She said she never had any trouble with prisoners. When she put on her gun, she meant business.
drew their guns. They submitted to arrest without further resistance. The raid was said to be the largest ever staged in this area. The house where the still was located was comp letely hidden by a clump of trees. The still was under the kitchen floor . The men were said to have been supplying whiskey to customers in all cities of this vicinity."
Sherry Moore
But in the morning they would see something that their eyes would not believe! The hundred foot tower on the beautiful new courthouse had fallen down1
Little Orphan Annie
1 he Famous Poem by James Whitcomb Riley
Qock Tower of the Union County Court House in Liberty.
The date was July 1891. All the people were discouraged because the new courthouse was not even one year old. People came from neighboring towns - to see what had been a beautiful building.
For about nine months no one could use their offices in the building. Finally, in 1892, the courthouse was again ready for use. While rebuilding i t, they put a four-faced clock in the tower.
The Union County Courthouse is said to be one of the most beautiful court houses in Indian, a
by Ted Stubbs
Did you know that Little Orphan Annie was a real live per.son?
Her real name was Mary Alice Smith. She was born near Liberty on Sept. 25, 1850. She lived on a small farm with her parents, until she was nine years old, when both her parents died. Then she was taken by her uncle to the home of Capt. Reuben Riley, where she worked as a " bound" servant. James W., his two brothers and sister were very small children. At first they were afraid of this little girl who told them many stories of witches, and goblins. This really terrified them! But the Riley children grew to love her and never forgot her.
Later she left and married Mr. Leslie Gray. But her stories about the mysterious goings-o n were especially remembered by James W. Riley. When he started to write poetry, he wrote this poem about " Little Orphan Annie." She was a
grandmoth er by then and loved to read this poem to her grandchildren, not knowing it was about her! Later, Mr. Riley brought her back to Greenfield for a visit. She died when she was 84 years old, sixty-three years after she had left the Riley home.
During the years when Mr. Riley was traveling around giving lectures and reading his poetry to audiences, he visited Liberty several times. He gave his programs at the Opera House and there was always a great crowd there to hear him. Liberty people always asked for certain favo1rite poems and "Little Orphan Annie" was one of them.
Mary Ellen Bridenhager
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
NOTED CITIZENS OF UNION COUNTY
0 perfect heroes of the earth, That conquered forest, harvest set!! How shall we count your pround bequest? But yesterday ye gave us birth; We eat your hardearned bread today, Nor toil nor spin nor make regret, But praise our petty selves and say How great we are. We all forget The still endurance of the rude Unpolished sons of solitude. What strong uncommon men were these! - Joaquin Miller from "Songs of the Sierras"
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Many, many people have gone out from Union County into the world and into many fields of work. These people have left their mark for good upon our community , state, the nation, and the world. Isaac Montfort, the second pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Liberty, became a chaplain in the Civil War with the rank of Colonel. After the war, he continued preaching, built many churches, and was beloved by all. The four sons of The Rev. E.P. and Mrs. Whallon of Liberty all became men of prominence in the East - a judge, a
Elijah Brown was a journalist. After his conversion here in Liberty, he left for the East, where he published a paper The Ram's Horn which became a great power in religion.
Miss Gertrude Hill became a missionary to China.
Dr. John Hurty, an instructor at the Academy, became Health Commissioner of Indiana.
Daniel T. MacDougal graduated in John Short's first high school class, graduated from DePauw University, became
Brigadier General Thomas W. Bennett
physician, a missionary, and a pastor of a large church . J. Wilbur Chapmann, a pastor in Liberty, left to become a
director of the New York Botanical Garden in New York City.
Thomas W. Bennett, son of a Union County farmer, was born in 1831, in Harrison Township.
Casterline. Her home was where the James Shepard Jaw office is now located. That home was a doctor's home for
world-famous evangelist whose message was heard around the world.
Karen Parks Donna Fields
Sheila Fairchild Kathy Fields
He was a graduate of law school of Asbury Unjversity, professor of mathematics and natural sciences in White Water College at Centerville, and from 1855 to I861, practiced law at Liberty, Indiana.
many years. Bennett Grove, owner of Grove's Shoe Store for 39 years, was named after General Bennett. John Grove, father of Bennett, and General Bennett were very good friends. Mr.
Elizabeth T. Stanley
Elizabeth T. Stanley was a strong-willed, determined woman. She was very much against liquor and saloons and traveled around the state speaking to groups of people and helping to organize new chapters of the Women 's Christian Temperance Union. She also wrote articles and pamphlets. She was very well known for these and for her lectures, which she gave everywhere she went. Elizabeth E. Stanley was president of the State W.C.T.U . for 20 years.
Emma Zetta Kennedy
Emma Zetta Kennedy went to New York to study music when she was a young girl and became a great concert singer. She also sang in operas and musical plays. She was married to Henry Bonnelle, so on the stage her name was Zetti Bonnelle. Emma Zetta Kennedy was born in 1872. The Kennedy home is now the Baker Funeral Home. When Zetti came home to Liberty, she always gave a concert for her friends at the Opera House. Miss Ellen Scott told us about one she attended . "It was a stormy night, and when the concert was almost over, the storm got really bad. The wind and rain made it impossible for anyone to leave. So Zett i sang and sang! She sang songs we asked for and concert songs and songs we all knew and loved. The concert lasted almost four hours before the storm stopped. Those of us who were there never forgot the wonderful concert and her beautiful voice."
He was a member of the State Senate for several terms . Mr. Bennett left the Senate to lead the fust company of soldiers from Liberty to war.
At the outbreak of war, he raised a company of volunt eers and served as Captain in the Fifteenth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers. He was Major of the Thirty -sixth . As Colonel of the Sixty-ninth, he was engaged in all the movements and battles which resulted in the capture of Vicksburg and in the Red River campaign. He was an energetic and devoted officer and became Brigadier General before the Civil War ended.
After the war, General Bennett again practiced law in Liberty. He moved to Richmond in 1868 , of which city he was elected mayor. In 1871 , he was appointed by President Grant to be Governor of Idaho Territory. He came back to Richmond and was again mayor of that city , serving a total of eight years.
General Bennett married Anna Casterline, daughter of Dr.
Grove and many other people called General Bennett "Uncle Tom."
During the Gvil War the generals wore capes as part of their uniforms. After the war, General Bennett made a trip around the world and brought back a Swiss music box to Mrs. Bennett Grove, carrying it under his cape all th ose many miles. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Johnson on East Union Street , was the Bennett home for many ;ears. The home was built in 1834 and was the only home east of College Comer Avenue and was fenced as a deer park. John Hartley , who resides on East Union Street , is the proud owner of a 45 caliber Colt single action revolver which Bennett Grove gave him. It was the personal gun of General Bennett issued by the U.S. Army. The closest living relative of General Bennett is a great niece, Mrs. Perry Druley, of Rushville. Mrs. Druley named her son Bennett Druley.
Roxanne Logan Beth Scherer
Mike Field s
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Three Great Doctors
THE HAWLEYS
The first of these three great doctors was DA. Hawley. He was born in 1823 and died in 1902. He served the community of College Corner for over 50 years. He built the family home in 1848. It is now the Hanna residence. The second of these doctors was DA.'s son, William H. Hawley. He was born in 1858. He received his medic egre from Indiana University in 1880 and went to Cmcmnat1 Miami Medical College for his M.D. degree. Then he went into practice with his father. He, too, served his community for over 50 years. William's son Paul became the last of these great doctors in one family. He was born in 1891 and died in I965. He got his medical degree at Indiana University in 1912, his doctor's degree at Cincinnati University in 1914, and a Doctorate f Health at Johns Hopkins in 1923. He became famous for his
services during two world wars. During World War I he was a Regimental Surgeon. In World War II e ?ecame famous as Chief Surgeon of the Army in Great Bntam and then m the entire ETO. He became a General in 1943.
He was the most decorated doctor in history. He received decorations from other countries as well as from the U.S.A. General Hawley, after the War, served as head of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In 1955, President Eisenhower made him a member of the President's Commission on Veteran's Pensions.
General Hawley is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This is the story of three generations of great men who served their community and their country faithfully and well for over one hundred years!
Colonel Oran D. Perry
Ted Stubbs
Colonel Oran D. Perry was born in Liberty, Indiana, in 1838. He was a Quaker and attended Quaker schools Though he was a Quaker and hated wars,_ e willirlgly volunteered to defend his country when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted and helped organize the first company of Union County soldiers. When he was twenty-five years old, he was appoirlted Lieutenant Colonel of his regiment. He saw the surrender of Vicksburg when the white flag of
surrender was raised on July 4, 1863. Later he was promoted to Brigadier General.
Oran D. Perry became one of the best known and most beloved of Indiana's Civil War Veterans. Later he was appointed Superintendent of the Soldiers and Sailors M nu ment in Indianapolis. He served here for many years. He lived to age 91.
Jan Dwiggins
Chester Vernier
Chester Vernier graduated from Liberty High School in 1898. His family owned a drugstore where Bossert's law office is now.
While Mr. Vernier was a professor at Stanford University in California, he wrote a series of law books on the subject of
"American Family Laws. The fmal volume was published irI 1931. When these books were published, he presented ari autographed set to the Short High School Library and one to the Liberty Public Library.
Angela Davisson
52
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 Pearl Sizelove
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 STANLEY MEMORIAL INSTITUTE
Pearl Sizelove was born in 1891 in the Salem Community. Pearl and her parents were Quakers. Her parents were Emmett and Clara Pearson Stanton. After she married Benton Sizelove, they lived at 7 East Seminary in Liberty, until her death in 1958.
In 1940 her interest in clay modelling really began. She opened a studio in her home and kept her kiln in the kitchen. She became famous for her little lady figures, or "Godetts, as she called them. Each figurine wore an ensemble taken from Godey's LadyBook and other magazines. She also made
Mrs. Aaron Cohen
During her childhood, she made articles from blue clay which she gathered from Hanna's Creek. She made dolls, doll dishes and doll articles. In her lifetime, she worked as dental assistant, lawyer's secretary, inspector in a war plant and correspondent for the Richmond and Liberty newspapers. She was the first woman in Union County elected to public office and served as county recorder from 1924 to 1928.
little Quaker couples. These figurines were first sold in a Richmond store, and later through a Chicago Merchandise Mart salesman. The success of the little Godetts was nationwide. They were sold in stores from St. Petersburg, Florida to Fairbanks, Alaska.
Pearl Sizelove will be long remembered for her ceramics and for her beautiful little Godett figurines. Lynn Stanley
Stanley Memorial Institute. the large brick building situated on the Southeast corner of East Union and South Fairgrounds Streets, is a landmark, a memorial to a man, and a place of many memories to the residents of Union County. The Coliseum, as it is now known, was built in 1912, a memorial to Zacharias Stanley, who died in 1908 . His daughter, Margaret Stanley Deal, gave Union County the sum of twenty Lhousand dollars to consrtruct a building to be used for charitable and educational purposes; hence Lhe name, Stanley Memorial Institute. The bequest had to be met with a fund of twelve thousand dollars from the county for maintenance of Lhe building.
many round dances held here. The Coliseum was not without its troubles. Unfortunate investments depleted the maintenance fund, and the board of trustees found it necessary to relinquish the building by deeding it to the town. The building's good looks covered a multitude of errors, and in 1933 the Coliseum was closed when the brick walls were found to be actually bulging because the roof was too heavy for the design. With the residue of the maintenance fund, plus a subscription cam paign which netted four thousand five hundred dollars, the building was made safe for occupancy again and was reopened in 1937. An addition for the Fire Department was built in 1947.
Joseph N. Rose
This accomplished, the structure was built. It soon became the hub of the community. Here all graduations, lectures, plays, and dances were held, even though the auditorium was
Several years ago the upstairs was condemned for public gatherings, and recently the downstairs was also declared unsafe. The city offices, used for transaction of business and
Dr. Joseph N. Rose graduated from Liberty High School in I880. He received a degree from Wabash College in 1886 and became a world-famous botanist. He was often called "The Godfather of Plants." Dr. Rose left Wabash to go to Washington, D.C., to take a position as a botanist for the Department of Agriculture. Later he was appointed as botanist at the Botanical Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. He was sent by the [nstitu-
tion on many expeditions to tropical and mountainous ateas to search for rare and unusual plants. He discovered several hundred new plants and five new species of the cactus plant. They are all named after him! He also wrote many books and articles. Dr. Rose was assistant curator of the United States National Museum in Washington for twenty-five years. Mary Ellen Bridenhager
upstairs, and the wooden steps and floor creaked under the strain of the hundreds who walked there for the entertain ment. Long-time residents still reminisce about the Liberty Little Theater, of Dr. E.R. Beard who was Mr. Little Theater" , of Joshua Davis, self-appointed guardian of the building, of Guy Farr calling the square dances, and of the
Council meetings, and Town Judge's chambers are still occupied. However, the Town Council is faced with the dilemma of deciding whether to remodel or raze this historical white elephant, or to find quarters elsewhere. No matter what occurs, the stories of the Coliseum will still be told and its memory will linger on.
BATH SPRINGS RESORT
Long ago a hotel which was to be as great as the one at Saratoga, New York, or White Sulphur Springs, West Vir ginia, was located at the southern edge of Harmony Township inUnion County. Early in the 1800's a man from Boston walked through the mid-west and discovered the sulphur springs there. He wrote back east and sent a sample of the water. Soon wagons came from the east with people eager to find a cure for their ailments. Soon a hotel was built, and the springs became more and more popular. The hotel had twenty-seven rooms for guests. Then a race track was added, and more and more
people came. Great plans were made to take care of the expected crowds and a plan was laid out for a town as the popularity of Bath Springs grew. Bath houses were built to accommodate the many people who came.
Just before the Civil War the property was sold. The new owner did not approve of horse racing, and the people soon stopped coming. You can see no more of the hotel, but the Bath Springs still run with the sulphur water which was once so famous a hundred and fifty years ago.
Ricky Logan Jeryl Telker
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY,INDIANA 1821-1971 HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, IND I ANA 1821-1971 tBJZltind Jn11 J,DJJllkJnu ... Ruthe/ Brown
The Liberty Band, including Don Gardner (1899)
Our County was settled by people who brought withth m a violin, a flute, and a keen interest in culture and the development of the arts.
Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" is the story of
Grover's Corner, New Hampshire , and it spans thirteen years - 1901-1914. Really it's a philosophical play about the whole human race.
This story of UNION COUNTY, Indiana, spans one
hundred and fifty years - 1821-1971. This segment of the story is an attempt to review show business as we have participated in it, and any philosophy expressed is purely incidental.
The first act (1821-1871) was played by Quakers from the
East, settlers from the Carolina's, loggers from Virginia and Kentucky, and a few Miami, Delaware and Shawnee Indians. The ink recording that act has faded and is no longer legible. Much of the second act {1871-1921) can be easily read, and if you climb the steps to an area above Rowland Robinson's store, and listen carefully, you may hear the applause of a 1910 audience watching little George Coughlin and petite Charlotte Husted in their very first performance as George and Martha Washington. The little stage on which the youngsters performed was used regularly for school plays and
other local enterta inment .
In this act, too, is the story of the Gem Opera House, managed by Clay Hamm , and his daughter, Nell. Our town was very proud of the Gem with its majestic stage and flying scenery. Much excitement was created by the arrival of a carload of scenery, and a dozen or so actors each week. The whole town took on an air of importance; young boys busied themselves as stage hands to get the scenery in place. None
was more a part of that stage crew than young Carl Ammerman. Carl remembers the stage as "big enough for a carload of scenery." When the traveling stage show gave way to the "moving picture show," the Gem became Liberty's first movie theatre, owned and operated by the Paul Brothers. Now the theatre was open every night - shows three nights a week and roller skating three nights a week. In this act are other local perfo rmers. There is Miss Jennie D. Coughlin who taught elocution from 1890 well into the twentieth century. Among her many students was Hazel Lathrop. There is Carl Wallace who started a juvenile band in 1910. Members were George Coughlin, Gene Fosdick, Dudley Fosdick, Russell Paddock, Alva Barnard, Cecil Barnard, Harold Hughes, Ewing Tappan , Dwight (Buster) Tappan, and Harley Paddock. There had been an earlier band, before 1899, that had among its members Don Gardner. Don left the concert band at sixteen to become part of a circus band, went on to play with numerous bands in Indianapolis, then Chicago, Miami, New York. For many years he played with the "King" of them all, Sousa and his band. There is, Mrs. Henry Bonnelle (Emma Zetta Kennedy), who went to New York to study voice. With the stage name Zetti she appeared in several plays of the New York stage. Her favorite role was that of a southern belle in When Johnny Comes Marching Home." There are the Fosdick brothers (Gene and Dudley) who played with several orchestras in New York. Dudley played with Guy Lombardo's Orchestra for twelve years, and during
Zetti Bonnelle in "When Johnny ComesMarching Home"
Teresa Maxwell Conover Grass Skirts (l 959)
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Hello Dolly (1971)
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
History of the Union County Public Library
Joseph A. Sawyer
Th.is history is taken from an article written by Miss Laura Hill, titled, "History of Local Public Library," written in 1915;an article by Dr. E. R. Beard, written the same year and titled, "Liberty's Carnegie Library;" from minutes of meet ings of the Board of Library Trustees; and correspondence between the local library and the Indiana State Library in the early part of the 20th century.
In 1887, according to a report by Dr. John W. Short, Superintendent of Schools, an effort was made by teachers to secure a fund to begin a library, but it was unsuccessful.
that time made many arrangements. Gene had several organized orchestras in New York known as Fosdick-Johnson Orchestras. Then there is Tom Morgan who appeared on the New York stage in the 20's. Teresa Maxwell Conover plays in this act, too, as an actor on the legitimate stage and in the movies. She appeared with Eddie Cantor in " Whoopee. " In 1912 The Stanley Memo rial Institute was dedicated and the center of entertainment activity shifted to the coliseum. The third act begins in 1921 and closes in 1971. This act is filled with the music of Roarin' Twenties band groups and swinging blues, films from Hollywood for the depression years and the developing of our own actors through the Little Theatre. Later came variety shows, affiliation with National Thespian by the local high school, a revived interes t in square dancing, a new interest - the hula dance, lots of tap dancing, and finally, our all school musical productions. The Little Theatre group involved just about everybody. and many plays were given. The most memorable are "Abie's Irish Rose," George Washington Slept Here," and "Arsenic and Old Lace." Perhaps the most outstanding performance was that of Gladys Lippitt in "Arsenic and Old Lace." The plays of this group, as well as all high school plays, were given in the Coliseum. In 1951 the Talking Twenties Dramatic Club was organized and the next year, 1952, received its charter from the National Thespian Society. In 196 I the stage in the school cafetorium was completed, and '"The Eve of St. Mark" was the first play. Other outstanding productions have been '"The Diary of Anne Frank," '"The Robe," "Our Town," and "The Miracle Worker."
Through the l 950's the variety shows given by the high school were very popular.
It was, also, during the l 970's, that Jeannette lnaubi came to our town to teach in the elementary school. At the request of many parents she consented to give lessons in hula dancing. Several Hawaiian dance concerts were given in a packed auditorium where night after night the performers received standing ovations.
There were some among us, like Mrs. Thomas Lawson, who wanted very much to save that first act with the faded ink. She organized a Little Hoosier Chapter, and soon her sixth grade was bringing to life those first fifty years of Union County history. They have gained recognition throughout the state with square dancing, programs, and the production of original historical plays. For five years they have performed by invititation for LS.I.A. Conventions.
The late l950's brought the sound of tapping shoes as Ron and Rita Coffman tapped their way into our hearts, and became quite well known as petlormers. It is impossible to list all honors that have come to them. For several summers they toured, appearing at state fairs in North Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, and here in Indiana.
In 1966, the drama and music departments of the high school combined efforts to give the first school musical, "The Rainmaker." This was followed by "Lil Abner," '"The Sound of Music," "Oliver," '"The Apple Tree," and in 1971, "Hello Dolly."
Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" is all about the continuity of life - and so the life of show business in our town continues.
For the fourth act, there will be a new auditorium, and. the story of acting and dancing will be told there. The sound of music - of a flute, and a violin - will continue in this, Our County.
Five years later the report states that small donations had been made by teachers and that a Mrs. Albert Davis had given a number of volumes of Scribner's, Harper's, and The Century magazines.
The report of 1899-1900 states that a lady visitor offered in 1888 to establish a 100-book library for $100, on the condition that the books be kept in the public school building and be accessible to pupils a well as adult subscribers. Teachers gave encouragement to the enterprise, and, aided by a number of school patrons, the money was raised and books procured.
There was apparent disappointment among the subscribers over the purchase of the books and those outside the school lost interest in the collection. At this point the school board came to the rescue and made a small appropriation to replenish the stock of books. This met with such cordial endorsement that the policy was continued until the time of the last report made by Superintendent Short in 1900. At that time the school possessed a library of 725 volumes, according to his report.
When the Society of Alumni was organized in 1902 it showed its interest at once by a cash donation to the library; as a consequence the library threw open its doors to the Society's members. In 1905 the library contained 1,005 books, mainly for the use of students; included were many books of a general and miscellaneous nature.
Because the School Board could no longer see its way clear to add to the collection, Superintendent Thomas W.
Record suggested to the teachers that the public be asked for a collection of books ind money on the Lincoln Centennial, February 12, 1909. This movement was headed by the Alumni Society, The Clytie Club, and The Criterion Club. this '"fag Day" resulted in 150 books and $147.50 cash being presented to the library. The money was turned over to a committee consisting of Miss Laura Hill, Mr. AA. Graham, and Superintendent Thomas W. Record. With their purchase the library consisted of 1,700 volumes.
In June, 1913, the School Board transferred the library to the new Stanley Memorial Building or Coliseum, and named it a public library. The board of trustees, named by the county judge, the school board, and the town council were: Miss Ethel Coleman, Miss Laura Hill, Dr. E.R. Beard, Dr. Garrett Pigman, Mr. O.L. Stivers, Mr. L.E. Fosdick , and Mrs. Julia K. Bennett. Miss Esther Hamilton was employed as librarian.
After the library was moved to the Stanley Memorial Building, many books were given it by the public. There were programs and events to raise money for the library and by
1915 it could report a collection of 2,290 volumes and listed 8 I1 subscribers.
It was during this period that we find that requests were being °!ade to the Carnegie Corporation for funds for a public library building. After much correspondence and many disappointing replies, the Carnegie Corporation finally agreed to give $10,000 for the building of a free public library for Liberty and Center Township.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA
1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Miss Esthe1 Hamilton, being setved at the circulation desk by Miss Gladys Lippitt, 1928.
The Kitchel St01e, Libnuy station, 1928.
Ground was broken for the new building May 17, 1915, and the cornerstone was laid June 19, 1915, with appropriate ceremonies including a march of Masons from lhe Temple to the new building site. The list of documents placed in the cornerstone is as follows:
List of subscribers to the lot History of Liberty Library Names of Officials of State of Indiana Names of Officials of Union County Names of Liberty School Board members Names of Library Board members Names of Officials of Liberty churches Clytie Club yearbook Criterion Club yearbook Copy of the Liberty Herald Copy of LibertyExpress Copy of Libertonian
Miss Esthe1 Hamilton, M.r. Edd Ketne1, and Miss Gladys Lippitt p1epaie fo1 a trip in the book tJuck, 1928.
Mr. Ketne1 and Miss Hamilton, at Witts Lib1aiy Station, 1928
Copy of Indianapolis Star President Wilson's message to Germany Picture of Liberty High School classes Names of children in school 19I 4-I 915
The Carnegie Library was dedicated October 8, 1915. The board of trustees and library staff were: Dr. E.R. Beard, president, Mrs. Julia K. Bennett, vice-president, Miss Laura Hill, secretary, Dr. Garrett Pigman, Mr. E.Z. Gainey, Miss Esther Coleman, Mr. L.E. Fosdick, Mr. O.L. Stivers, and Miss Esther Hamilton, librarian.
According to newspaper reports of the dedicatory service, and minutes of the board meeting immediately preceding the · dedication, the lady members of the board acted as hostesses. The presidents of the three local women's clubs took charge
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of decorations. The dedication committee procured flags; the librarian and Miss Lorene Stahr sold postcards of the library for five cents each. Musical numbers were presented by local artists and one vocalist from out-of-town. Mr. Henry V. Sanborn, Secretary of the Public Library Commission, delivered the address. Thil day represented a milestone in the history of the public libnuy.
In 1917 the Indiana State Legislature enacted a law making it possible for libraries to be supported on a county-wide basis and to give service over the whole of such taxed county. The county commissioners of Union County immediately levied the small tax necessary to make services available to the county. There was considerable improvement in services performed by the library through the 1920's. By 1928 there were 12 stations in the county which were served by book truck, driven by Mr. Edd Ketner, and personnel from the library working with librarians in each station. Circulation in the stations that year was 42,209. This zenith was in harsh contrast to the report of 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, when salaries were cut 10%, the stations were reduced to three, and janitorial services were suspended for the summer.
Like all other public services, the library was still trying to overcome the hardships caused by the money-short l 930's when it faced the war years and the restrictions and shortages of the l 940's.
For some reason that is not readily apparent, library services reached a plateau and neither advanced nor retreated during the years of World War II and the decade that followed.
In the early I960's the concept of library services underwent a radical change in the state of Indiana. The Indiana Library Association, along with its companion trustee association, the Indiana Library Trustees Association ; the State Library and its Extension Division; and the Graduate Library School at Indiana University provided vehicles for the sharing of these changes and improvements among the individual libraries in the state.
After 1:1any years working as an II-member board, the board's position was clarified and standardized in 1966, and stands now as a 7-member body. With the board's reorganiza tion and the widespread changes that library service has undergone in the last decade, there has been steady growth in the services that the library has been able to perform. The collection held by the library has been upgraded, and is approximately 15,000 volumes. A movie projector is made available to clubs and to individua ls and film can be scheduled through the library. The Indiana Library Free Film Service, inaugurated in 1971, has been added to the existing arrangements for getting film. This new service, made possible
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by funds granted under the Library Services and Con struction Act, provides children's films as well as film of interest to adults. There are taped books and players on which to listen to them. Phonograph records are available to borrowers or may be listened to on the library's stereo player. An art collection for lending is being added to the library's services. Books and film are taken to the County Home and to Park Manor Home, where groups of people who are unable to get to the library may make use of its holdings. This is indeed a far cry from the image of the early library where, for many centuries, books were chained to desks, and the user's need had to be certified before any book could be touched. In those times a library was considered a repository of man's accumulated knowledge, and was responsible for the legacy that would be left to succeeding generations. The guardianship of man's knowledge is but one of the many functions of our present day library; the complexities of changing civilization have compelled libraries to add the other services. Recent boards of trustees have attempted to anticipate community needs and our library today is a product of this thinking.
Without the dedication and zeal of the early pioneers we could not have arrived at the point at which we stand today. We owe them an everlasting vote of thanks for their efforts in the beginning. This dedication was demonstrated by Dr. E.R. Beard and Miss Laura Hill in the founding and development of Union County's public library. Both were on the first board of trustees. Dr. Beard served as president of the board from 1913 until his death in 1933. Mr. William N. McMahan, superintendent of schools when he was appointed to the board, succeeded Dr. Beard as president and filled that office admirably until his demise in the spring of 1946.
The tenure of Miss Esther Hamilton, employed when the library opened in 1913, coincided with the years of Dr. Beard's and Mr. McMahan's terms on the board. After becoming librarian emeritus in 1941, Miss Hamilton retired in 1946. She had carried high the banner that proclaimed library service as the right of every resident, and had done her utmost to see that every resident got that service.
Lo gevity of service is claimed by Miss Gladys Lippitt, who Joined the staff in 1920. She has served as Assistant Librarian under Miss Hamilton, Miss Jean Mitchell, Mrs. Anna Fosdick , and Mrs. Mary Frautschi, the present librari an.
We also owe much to the trustees, staff, and interested people of the community whose work and knowledge have been given toward making our present library service possible. The board now serving is: Mr. J A. Sawyer, president, Mrs. Edward Woodru ff , vice-president, Mrs. Max well Bertch, secretary, Mr. Marsh A Pouder, treasurer, Mrs. Clayton Bond, Mrs. George Coughlin, and Mr. Albert H. Crawford. The librarian is Mrs. R. J. Frautschi, and her assis tant is Miss Gladys Lippitt.
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Ji/,JlldtJ.
• • • • •
Creed and Bond
about 1900.
S.W. Creed with prize winning pumpkin and prize winner.
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Liberty Grade School, Built 1876.
Union County Jail, 1880.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Union Street, Liberty, looking east from New Corrington Hotel veranda, 1890.
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Union Street, Liberty , 1910.
Market and Union Streets, Liberty, 1890.
Business Section, Liberty, 1910.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Union Street, Liberty after big snow, 1918.
on Richmond Hill,US 27 North of Liberty, 1928.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
$a1uJ,datJ .niqJt1 in Jil,1214-1951
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 HISTORY OF THE PRESS IN UNION COUNTY Daniel C. Paddock
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
LIBERTY FIRE DEPARTMENT Dorothy D. Bertch from material furnished by John D. Hartley, Volunteer Fire Chief
Union county had been formed only a short time when its first newspaper was published. It is quite probable that the fust was at Brownsville. According to records, No. 20, Volume I, of the Flying RolJ and Union Advertiser, was issued from Brownsville Tuesday, Sept. 20, t 825. Printed and published by Cason Buckhalter for John Swayze, it was a four-column folio.
Next in order was The Liberty Port-Folio, No. 8, of Volume l, being published Saturday, April 21, 1832. With four pages and five columns to the page, it carried the motto "Faithful, active, vigilant and steady," and was published from the office of Messrs Boon, Dooley and Walters.
Peoples Advocate and Political Messenger, made its appearance in Liberty Sept. 18, I 832, flying tile motto "Measures - No Men." This paper was published at the expense of "friends of correct principles" and distributed by
The Co!Jege Corner News was founded at College Corner in 1901, by the Rev. S.P. Kellum and has continued its weekly publications under tile clirection of Mrs. Mildred Kennedy, Robert White, Jr., andRichard Taylor.
The Herald , now in its 120th year, is one of the oldest establishments in tile county. Owners included Dr. Ziba Casterline, James H. McClung and A.J. Calkins, partners; J.H. Thomas and by Green and Drebert.
Otiler owners included C.W. Stivers, 1867-69;A.F. Davis, Frank A. and Orion L. Stivers and in 1925, T.J. Wright, wlio after a few months sold out to Howard L. Yeager, publisher of The Liberty Express, who consolidated the two papers and continued publication of The Herald. In 1928, Yeager sold the plant to W. H. Parsons who served as its editor and publisher until May 1931 , when it was purchased by John Randolph Wedcling, who was owner
Liberty Volunteer Fire Department, 1930.
them free of cost to the reading public.
The first issue of Liberty Star and Union County Banner, came out Saturday, April 16, 1836, and bore the motto, "Westward The Star of Empire Takes Her Way." The editor and publisher was C.V. Druggins, who said in his salutatory "We have cast a stone at a venture ."
According to records , the next in line was The Sentinel and Star In The West , which was dated Nov. I 0 , 1832. Although tlus first was published in Cincinnati , by Samuel Tizzard and J. Kidwell, notice was given that the next volume would be commenced at Philomath , Union County. This paper had a circulation in 10 different states.
The Liberty Herald was started July 2, 1851, in Liberty, by William Appleton which appeared in a six column paper , set up in burgeois and minion type.
Since tile birth of The Herald , a number of newspapers have started including The Shield , 1861-1865; The Union County Times, 1876 ; The Corner Stone, published in College Corner , 1877 ; The Libert y Mail , 1877-8l; The Union County Democrat, I 882; The Liberty Express in I 902 which consolidated with The Herald in l 925 with Harold L. Yeager, owner , editor and publisher.
and publisher until his death in August 1935.
Following his death , his wife, Mary, became publisher and owner and Daniel C. Paddock , who had been affiliated with The Herald since 1925 , became editor and general manager. On Nov. 1, 1964, Mrs. Mary Wedding Lucas leased The Herald to Daniel C. Paddock, who continues to edit and publish the paper in its present form. April 23, 1966, The Herald was converted from an eight-page, eight column newspaper to a five column tabloid size, in keeping with the trend of the times and carries from 12 to 20 pages each wee k.
The present staff includes Mr. Paddock, editor and publisher; Mrs. Charl es G. Paxton, reporter and proof reader among other duties, Miss Frances Rankm, reporter, copy reader , bookkeeper , proof reader , advertising manager , e tc. ; Mrs. Merl Heaster , Linotype operator ; Theodore Bell, com positor and printer ; and Charles L. Bultman, part time compositor and printe r. In August , I 96 4 , The Herald began publishing the Union County Review, a free circulation newspaper which is distributed weekly to every home in Union County and residents on rural routes, extending into most surrounding coun ties.
The official beginning of the Liberty Volunteer Fire Department was on November 3, 1841, when the town council of Liberty passed the following ordinance: "Resolved by this board that there be eight ladders furnished at the expense of said corporation, three 25 feet long, three 15 feet long, and two 10 feet long and four hooks, all of which ladders and hooks shall be made of good and substantial timber and iron and be made in a manner to suit the exigeancies of fire, and that Thomas Carr be appointed to superintend the making of said hooks and ladders and that said hooks and ladders be kept in the market house for public use." According to council minutes of October 24, 1843, Howard Starbuck was allowed $8.75 as compensation in full for making corporation ladders. On March 2, 1892, H.S. Kain was appointed Fire Chief. Other officers appointed from a list of 33 volunteer firemen were M. Fahrlander, assistant chief, Charles Drapier, captain and George Johnson, captain of the hook and ladder company. On July 8, 1895, the town council signed an agreement with the newly organized Liberty Fire Department No. I, composed of ten members. The members agreed to drill one night in each month and to receive 50¢ per month. Also they were to receive $1.00 for each frre and false alarm. A fine of 504 was to be paif if a member failed to come to drill and a fine of$ 1.00 for failure to come to a fire. The agreement was signed by firemen Edward Grant, Lee
Moore, Elwood J. Johnson, Bert Clark, Richard Summers, John Falls, Charley Saple, Cass Connaway, Albert Barnard, and Ambrose Perkins. In the early days Liberty fire fighting equipment con sisted of a hand pumper which operated like a hand car. It was pulled to the fire by volunteers. Later it was horse drawn. Next a hook and ladder wagon was used including leather buckets for a bucket brigade. Then came the hose cart, which was a hose reel on wheels and was equipped with two and one-half inch hose. It was purchased after the installation of the waterworks and was drawn to the fires by a white horse. Th.is equipment was stored in the late Bob White's livery barn, where the Butler Apartments now stand on North Market Street. In 1916 , the first motorized equipment was purchased.It was a Model T Ford truck equipped with two chemical tanks, extension ladder, roof ladder, pike pole, axe, lanterns and hose bed for 2½ inch hose. After the motorized equipment was received, Ed Kain was appointed water chief and "Happy" Brunner was chemical chief. This equipment was stored in the Brunner Ford Garage located at tilat time where the Bufler Apartments now stand. In 1930, the Liberty Fire Department received its first motorized pumper truck, made by the General Fire Equipm ent Co. St. Louis, Mo. This piece of equipment is still in service in Liberty after 42 years. In April 1946, a new Buffalo Fire truck was delivered and rural fire protection for
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Liberty Volunteer Fire Department, 1947 .
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 I
LIBERTY POST OFFICE AND POSTMASTERS
Frances E. Rankin
five townships in Union County became a reality. In 1947 a 1000 gallon water tanker was added to the facilities. This provided additional water supply for rural fires. The truck was equipped with a power pump with booster reel and hose, ladders, 2½ inch hose and 1½ inch hose. This made it an auxiliary fire engine. The truck has since been made over into a squad truck to carry extra fire and salvage equipment. In October 1958, the second pumper tanker was added to the rural department . This being a Ford truck with a front mount pump made by the Mid-West Fire Equipment Co. In 1967, a Ford 4 wheel drive 3/4 ton truck was built up by the department members with a 250 gallon tank for water and a portable pump with pre-connected foam for tractor, automo bile and spill fires. This truck is also used for grass fires. Fire equipment has been stored in many locations through the years. From 1930 until January 1947, the equipment was stored in the Central Motor Company garage. The garage was owned by Frank Bethge who was appointed fire chief of the department and who served until December 1956. The equipment was moved in January 1947 to the Liberty Water Works, there it remained until October 16, 1947 when it \\-as moved into the newly completed Liberty Fire Station. This fire station was designed by Glen Connaway and stands at the south end of the Coliseum. The building was erected by Julius Tully, also a fireman. A brief review of the Liberty fire alarm system reveals that at fust, the alarm was spread simply by people shouting "Fire!". Later the telephone and the shouting of "Fire"
brought fire fighters to the scene. Then the citizens donated money for a deep-throated steam whistle which was installed at the Rude Factory. Rude engineers on duty day and night sounded the whistle when there was a fire call. Later the city purchased a wildcat whistle and had it installed at the waterworks. Next came the present alarm siren which for years was on top of the telephone exchange. It was later moved to the Coliseum near the fire station.
In the 130 years of its existence, there has been but one
fatality in the department. William Gavin, 239, was fatally injured January 25, 1895, enroute to a fire with the equipment. His death, due to head injuries suffered in a fall from the equipment, occurred the same day as the accident. Members of the department at the present time are: John
D. Hartley, chief; John F. Hartley, assistant chief; William Elliot, second assistant chief; John D. Bertch, secretary; William Hendrix, treasurer; Albert Carr, Robert A. Ross, William L. Ashcraft, Glen E. Heinbaugh, Ray E. Pfledderer, William K. Bias, Larry A. Gulley, H. Edward Woodruff, John Byrd, Malcolm Keasling, Richard Lee, William H. Kalsbeek, and Jan Montgomery.
On May 5, 1951, the Liberty Fire Department was given an A rating by the Indiana Rating Bureau. This means a
saving in insurance premiums to the rural residents in the five townships served by the Department. The members of the Department have saved the taxpayers a great deal in other ways. Much of the work done on rebuilding and keeping up equipment is volunteer work done by the firemen.
The Liberty post office was established April 22 1824 the year after Liberty began as a town. In a year the fust postmaster was appointed and the line has been continuous since then.
Until Civil War days the mail was carried by stage coaches and occasionally when roads were almost impassible, letters and papers came in saddlebags and two-wheeled carts.
For more than 70 years the trains transported the mail, however, since then trucks have taken their place, especially in this community , where we no more have train service.
The Liberty post office has had more than 30 different postmasters and acting postmasters, since its origin.
They include the following: Cason Burckhalter, Joseph Williamson, James Perry, Joseph Watson, Samuel McCull ough, John Yaryan, Joshua Leach, George C.W. Thompson, Wilson Bragg.
David S. Pierson, Allen C. White, Henry Husted, Abbott
W. Bowers, Winfeild T. Bowers, Charles W. Stivers, Dennis Egan, S.D. Byram, John Lynch, Silas D. Byram, Laucetta L. Byram.
B.M. Grove, James M. Freeman, Albert T. Sering, Frank
B. Husted, Leland L. Bond , Mrs. Lorena P. Kerr, Jess E.
Stevens, George L. Bridenhager, John McMahan and the present official, Karl T. Hammerle.
George L. Bridenhager served the longest term of any official, from March I, 1940 until Oct. I, 1957.
According to records the first city mail delivery in Liberty, was Aug. 16, 1916, while the rural delivery service began in l 903.
The present staff includes Karl T. Hammerle, postmaster; Charles L. Bultman, assistant postmaster; George Snodgrass, clerk; Garry Sayne, clerk; William Elliott, sub-clerk-carrier; John Hartley, city carrier; Douglas Jordan, sub-city carrier; Robert J. Corrington, R.R. 1, carrier; Herschel Williams, R.R. 2; Joseph Deilkes, R.R. 3; Paul L. Weers, R.R. 4; Glen Welch , custodian; William Bell, assistant custodian; and sub-Rural carri rs, R.R. 1, Everett McCashland; R.R. 2, George Cornngton;R.R. 3, Nelson E. Lee; and R.R. 4,Ben King.
The present building was dedicated Saturday, Aug. 13, 1938, with Jess E. Stevens, then postmaster, serving as Master of Ceremonies. Offices of the Union County Exten sion Service and the Selective Service Board are located in the basement of the building.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
HISTORY OF WHITEWATER STATE PARK
Crystal E. Coughlin
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
"That little stream fill up that big valley and form a 200-acre lake? Impossible!" The skeptics looked at tiny Silver Creek trickling over the sand and stones of the creek bed and shook their heads in disbelief. But the experts from the Indiana Department of Conservation smiled knowingly and went ahead with their plans. For Whitewater State Park was a "test-tube baby", as it were, conceived, brought into being, and developed by modern scientific methods.
Indiana had begun building a system of state parks in the l 920's and after 20 years the state was dotted with parks which 'provided recreational facilities for its citiz ns. the east central section did not provide such a service witlun
financing and purchasing the required acreage was t e responsibility of the local community. Therefore early i 1945 the Commercial Club of Liberty sponsored the orgam zation of the Whitewater Memorial State Park Association, composed of officials and _other re?resentatives Unio , Wayne, Fayette, and Franklin Counties. The word memo 1,- al" refers to the original idea of making the park a memonal to service men and women of the four counties in World War II· but later the state ruled that a facility of the state could n t memorialize those from only a portion of the state, so this feature was dropped. Later an act of the General Assembly of 1947 was required to legalize the procedure of land purchase and transfer to the state. This call_ed fo r the formation of a Joint Park Board which completed this phase
Whitewater State Park Directors, 1949
easy driving distance of its residents. Therefore the Director of the Division of State Parks of the Indiana Department of Conservation promoted the passage of a bill in the Gener_al Assembly of 1943, enabling the state to establish a park m this area of the state. A committee from the department toured the Whitewater Valley to view the terrain, examirled aerial photos and maps of the region, and studie populati?n figures and other statistics on the area. Select10n of a site was based on these criteria: natural beauty of topography and vegetation; proper land conformation and oil co stitu tion and adequate water supply, particularly with a vie_w to building a dam to impound an artificial lake; ea_sy acces?bil1- ty and location in the center of an aera with s fftc1ent population to provide a large number of poten al park visitors· and suitable and sufficient areas for handling these visitors'. The survey party reported to the Director of the Department that the only site which met their requirements was located on Silver Creek in the southwest quarter of Union County.
At this point interested citizens of the area were con tacted and informed that the state would develop and maintain a state park at this site, but that the task of
of the project, and on June 8, 1949, transferr d to the state a total of 1514 acres which had been acquued. The total amount spent was $147,000, of which tax levies in ayne Co. provided $79,350; Fayette co. $26,6 ; Fran Co. $15,800; and Union Co. $12,250. In add1t10n Umon Co. residents raised $15,000 by public subscription .
The dam to impound Silver Creek and form a lake, which was to be the biggest attraction of the new park, was completed and dedicated on October 28, 1951, with special ceremonies attended by a crowd of 2000. It was expected that six months would be required for the water level to reach the top of the spillway; but Nature confounded not only t e skeptics but also the experts: a torrential downpour m mid-Jan ary of 1952 brought the lake ater boilin to the full mark and sent it roaring over the spillway, carrymg tree trunks, limbs, and other debris from the lake bottom, "."hich struck the splash pool at the base with such force that 1t was demolished and had to be rebuilt.
The park opened Sept. 1, 1952, for picnicking and boat only. The 1000-foot beach inaugurated sw i g atthe lake on June 5, 1953; and the opening of the f1shmg season on
June I 6 brought thousands of anglers to cast a line into the "new water", which the Indiana Department of Conservation had stocked with several varieties of fish.
From the beginning motor boats were banned on the lake, but rowboats for both pleasure riding and fishing are popular, and in smaller numbers, sailboats and canoes. The park management provides docks which are used by park rental boats as well as the privately-owned craft brought in by visitors. Picnic areas with tables, benches, furnaces, and shelter houses dot the wooded areas along the lake shore. Thousands of swimmers and sunbathers crowd the beach and patronize the bathhouse and refreshment center completed in 1954. Red Cross swimming and life-saving classes under supervision of park personnel are provided each summer. Horseback riders may rent mounts at the saddlebarn and follow the bridle trails laid out for them.
Whitewater Park's popularity was evident from its opening day, and its revenue from admissions and rental fees has consistently exceeded the cost of maintenance and improve ments. The figure of 200,000 annual attendance forecast in
the preliminary survey was passed in its third year of operation, and in 1970 the number was more than 300,000.
Some of the featui;es pictured so glowingly in the preliminary survey have never been realized. The natural amphitheater for outdoor entertainment; the rustic lodge overlooking the lake; cabins for vacationers; and a bridge over the spillway to the still undeveloped west side of the park area have never got beyond the projection stage. It is to be hoped that these will eventually be built. On the other hand, the enormous growth in popularity of camping and the development of new types of trailers and campers, a phenomenon undreamed of 25 years ago, bring thousands of vacationing families to Whitewater each year. Camping facilities are at a premium, and a veritable city of tents, trailers, and campers of all descriptions springs up when the park opens at the beginning of the season and remains until it closes in the fall.
Even a "test-tube baby" doesn't turn out as its parents had hoped and planned; but sometimes it achieves a different kind of success all its own.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 The following Union County citizens were active in the work carried out:
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
UNION COUNTY GOVERNMENT Stephen Retherford Union County government is comparatively simple. [t consists of three county commissioners, and seven county councilmen, which are elected at general elections.
Whitewater Memorial State Park Association, lnc. George M. Harris, pres. Clayton Bond, Ist vice-pres. Richard E. Ross, 2nd vice-pres. Dwight M Orr, 3rd vice-pres.
Robert 8. Driggs Earl J. Frank Harold S. Hughes No1man H. Johnson Clarence Orr Daniel C. Paddock
Joint Park Board Chm. of Co. Commissioners Rex Abernathy 1947 Pres. of Joint Board Wm. J Miles 1948 Alfred Bond 1949
Other county officials are also elected. The Circuit Court Judge and the County Prosecutor serve Franklin County as well as Uruon.
Present Officials are: County Commissioners; James Curry, Lucian Byrd, and Clifford Hornung
Wilham N. McMahan, sec.-trcas. Leland L. Bond Elmer F. Bossert Walter Bossert George L. Bridenhager Wayne Creek George A. Coughlin
Chester Roberts Leonard Roberts Charles Stahr Dr G.E. Stevenson Robert C. Talbott Dr. WA. Thompson
Sec. Treas. George A. Coughlin Superintendents of park. Charles C. Little John Siebert Merl Gentry Kenneth Spenny
County Councilmen: 1st district - Harry Dils 2nd district - Raymond Witter 3rd district - Walter Bright 4th district - Harold Lake at-large - Harold Clevenger Roy Maddock
Circuit Court Judge William Runyan County Prosecutor - Michael Douglas County Sheriff - George Sexton County Auditor - Albert Brown
County Treasurer - Dorothy Montgomery County Clerk - Esther Cox
County Assessor Edgar Bell
Township Trustees: Liberty - George Dragoo Harmony - Burdette Lemmon Harrison - Harold K. Dare Brownsville - Leonard McCrory Union John Smith Center - J. W. Whipple
Richard H. Stevens County Recorder - Mary Elizabeth Petro
HISTORY OF LIBERTY'S WATER SYSTEM Daniel C. Paddock
The Beach at Whitewater Park, 19S3.
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Although Liberty was incorporated in 1936, water, the hfe-blood of any commumty, was provided the town for many years from individual wells. It was not until July 18, 1894 that a petition to the Town Board, cornpnsed of C. J. Murphy, President; F. Zutter master, George Pierce, R. D. Steele and Josh Davis, with James C. Rose, Clerk approved a petition by town residents, requesting a special election, to determine interest in construction of a water works for the purpose of providing fire protection and suppling of water to manufacturing plants, business houses and residences. Bids were received Sept. 29, 1894 for the new waterworks consistmg of tubular wells, two steam pumps of 500,000 gallon capacity, two steam boilers of 45 horse power each, a permanent pump house, approximately tluee miles of cast iron pipe and 35 double nozzle fire hydrants. On Oct. 6, 1894, a contract was awarded to David R.P. Demenck of Newport, Kentucky in the amount of $11,425.00. A $14,792.20 bond ordnance was approved Nov. 7, 1894 and on Dec. 20 it was reported that seven wells had been driven and construction of pumphouse and dwelling would be under roof as fast as weather would permit. The original waterworks was situated on land now occupied by the local REMC and George Goff residence at the intersection of North Main and Brownsville Avenue On Dec. 20, John E. Stevens was employed as the first engineer and rates were set varying from $20.00 per year for manufacturing plants down to $3.00 per year for a single faucet residence.
The new waterworks was completed and accepted by the Board on April 15, 1895 and the contractor was paid in full. The waterworks was later moved to the location north of town following purchase of land from the Lafuse family and a 75,000 gaUon wooden water storage tank erected. With improvements dunng the ensuing years this water works served the corporation adequately until March 4, I958, when it was determined that an additional water supply was needed and a contract for frilling test wells was authorized the Board comprised ofClarence West, President; Robert Brewer, Glenn Heinbaugh, Marsh Pouder and Cecil Ardery. As the tests at that time provided no adequate supply, on Oct 6, 1959 bids were taken for constructing a new well field along Whitewater River west of Liberty, and erection of a new 255,000 gallon standpipe situated on ground formerly known as Davis Park. At the Board's regular meeting, Jan. 7, 1960, bids were accepted for a new system at a cost of $222,207.00, to be located on ground purchased from Olvis Marcum for $3,500.00, and bonds were sold in the amount of $262,000.00 with Board members, Marsh Pouder, President; Glen 0. Kaufman, David J. Ross, Sylvan E. Handley and Jess E. Stevens; Theresa Barnard, clerk-treasurer and Charles Liven good, attorney. The Bonds were sold in July, 1960 at 4 3/8% plus $812.20 premium to City Security Company of Indianapolis. The completed construction was accepted and final payment made Feb. 5, 1962 and this system continues to serve Liberty adequately at the present time.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA
1821-1971
SPORTS IN UNION COUNTY
Helen V. Stevens
Union County has always been an enthusiastic sports community.
At the beginning of the century, horse racing was quite popular and Liberty had a modern race track located at what is now known as "Davis Park" which was equipped with horse barns to accomodate the race horses and a covered grandstand to accomodate the many fans. Some of the early race horse stables were owned by George Tappen , Joshua Davis, Lev Woods and Jim Rose. Some of the trainers were Al Addison, "Corky" Keffer and Dr. Urgenbright. The last race was held in 1914.
Liberty Baseball Team -1904
Another sport that has long been popular in this territory is baseball. Some famous sports figures once played at Liberty, among whom was "Legs" Wildman , who later played with the St. Louis Browns. Also Weeb Ewban k, who is now Coach of the New York Jets professional football team. At one time Union County had teams at Greenwood,
A popular team in the 1940's was composed of a group of boys that started playing ball together in the fifth and sixth grades and continued to play together long after they all graduated from high school. They played softball under the sponsorship of "Hensley's Service" and baseball under the "Liberty Merchants". Various leagues were formed in Liberty, College Corner and Connersville and many exciting games have been played by the participating teams. In 1956 through the efforts of John "Bum" Hart Alan Gruelle, James Cummins and Roy E. Stevens, Little League was organized for boys from 8 years through 12. The first games were played at the present High School Diamond. In 1959 they moved to the old softball diamond located where the new grade school now stands. Here they replaced the lights and continued to play there until 1965 when they had to vacate to make room for the new grade school. The present location just nortl1 of "Davis Park" was leased from the Davis heirs and through lots of hard labor and fine community cooperation this location has been developed into one of the best equipped Little League ball parks in the State of Indiana. It is supported by rents received from advertising signs around the park, and one money making project per year. At the present time there are approximately 150 little boys benefitted by the Little League Organization. College Corner has its own baseball program for little boys but is not affiliated with the National organization as is Liberty. For the older boys 13-16 there is the Babe Ruth League and for the boys through 19 we have American Legion Ball.
Basket ball, the ever popular sport, from information available, probably started in the early l 900's before gynasiums were heard of. The first team of which any record could be found played their games in the Old Opera House that stood where Ross Super Market now stands. This team also played football and at one time played Miami University's "B" team and defeated them. Until 1961 Union Co u nt y had four basketball teams - Brownsville, Kitchel, College Corner and Liberty. [n 196_1 Brownsville and Kitchel consolidated with Liberty, leavmg teams at Liberty and College Corner, which we have today. Union County throughout the years has put out some fine ball teams . Since basketball has become a part of every high school in the State, schools play under the I.H.S.A.A. and the crowning event of each year is the State basketball tournament. No Union County school has won the coveted State title but in 1967, under the coaching of Joe Stanley, Liberty reached the semi-finals. The first Sectional title to be won by a Union County School was won by Liberty in 1938 with a team coached by Burl Shoo!. Kitchel, with barely enough boys in high school to have a team, won the Sectional two years in a row, 1942 and 1943. Keith Stroup coached the Kitchel teams. In 1914, under the coaching of Meredith Delph, Liberty won .its second Sectional tid e. Brownsville won in 1946 with James Williams as Coach . Liberty won again in 1967 and advanced to the semi-finals as stated above.
Judge stand Union Co. Fairgrounds, 1907, Liberty.
Billingsville, Quakertown, Dunlapsville and Liberty and College Corner has always had its own baseball program.
George Carmichael with "Lady Gray."
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Liberty High School Football Team - 1909
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA
BASKETBALL
College Corner Trojans - 1941
Kitchel Basketball Sectional Champions - 1942
1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
BASKETBALL
Brownsville Lions, Basketball Sectional Champions, 1945
Liberty Basketball Sectional and Regional Winners, 1967
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
HISTORY OF LIBERTY'S SANITATION SYSTEM
Daniel C. Paddock
LIBERTY HIGHSCHOOL BASKETBALL TEAM 1916-1917
FIRST LITTLE LEAGUE TEAMS - 1956
From its incorporation in 1836 , until 1944, Liberty's sewerage system consisted of three disposal me thods, septic tanks, cesspools and outhouses, none of which were especially satisfactory or sanitary.
In the beginning, however, sewerage treatment plants were unheard of and the above methods, unsatisfactory as they were, were the only modes available for sewage disposa l. It wasn't un til December, 1944, that the powers that be, in the Corpo ration, gave serio us consideration to a sanitary sewerage system and treatment plant, following a letter from the Indiana Stream Pollution Control Board , urging immediate action be taken to install a complete sanitary sewerage system in the corporation. Under guidance of Dr. G.E. Stevenson, town board president, and Earl Frank, James Wilson, Charles M. Davis, Harold S. Hughes and Mrs. Foster Osborn, clerk, plans were made to proceed with the project. ln May, 1945, following an order to stop polluting Silver Creek, and Whitewater River, the town board contracted Henry B. Steeg and Associates, engineering firm of Indianapolis, to draw up preliminary plans for the system.
This firm began work immediately; the town was surveyed and plans were drawn up with the project to be begun and carried to completion as soon as materials and labor became available, following World War II, which was concluded in August, I945, after the surrender of Japan.
In October, 1945, preliminary plans were revealed for the new system, which would serve normal population of 1,500-1,700 , with enough capacity to handle a 2,300 population .
Site for construction of the treatment plant was purchased from Emmett Rile, adjacent to West Point Cemetery in November, 1945 , and in January, 1946, the engineers were authorized to prepare final plans and specifications on the complete project.
Approval of plans and specifications were received from the State Board of Health and Stream Pollution contro l Board in May, I947, and final plans and specifications were approved by the Town Board in November, 1947, however,
the project was still delayed due to shortage of materials and exhorbitant construction costs.
In December, 1947, a petition for extending the time to proceed with the project was denied by the Stream Pollution Control Board and a new town council elected in November and organized at this meeting , composed of Earl J. Frank, C. D. Porter, Harold Brunner, Glenn Heinbaugh and Daniel C. Paddock, inherited the problem. A public meeting on the project was·held Aug. 3 I, 1948, at which the estimated cost of tl1e sewerage system was given at $222,444.60 and cost of the treatment plant, $40,000. As no bids were received on the construction in October of 1948, tl1e town again advertised for bids in September, 1949 and on Oct. 6, 1949, the construction contracts were awarded to Columbia Construction company of Indianapolis for installatio n of the sewers at $223,030 and the treatment plant construction to Shamrock company on its bid of $49,799, with the work expected to start within 60 days. Bonds were sold in January, 1950, to finance treatment plant construction and were purchased by the Union County National Bank at 2¾ per cent interest rate, plus a $966.00 premium for the total issue of $110,000. Final con tracts were signed in March of 1950, and construction of the plant began March 14, 1950, with sewer line construction starting shortly thereafter. The treatment plant was completed in September, J950, and the sewer installation finished in June 1951 . This system has served the Corporation from that time until the present. With construction progressing on the new Brookville Lake, expected to be completed by 1974 , the present town council, Francis Hughes, president; David J. Ross , John Bertsch, George Hensley and Clarence Brunner , Mildred Finch, clerk-treasurer; William E. Toney , attorney, is now faced with the problem of expanding the sewer system and treatment plant to avoid pollution of the new area. Plans are now under way for the expansion program, which will be financed by federal, state and local funds and is expected to cost in the neighborhood of $775,980.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 EARLY UNION COUNTY HOMES Maurice Lafuze
The Harold Hughes home on East Seminary St. Liberty was built 1841 to be the Union County Seminary.
Freeman Lumber Yard, 1880
The period from 1804 to 1830 was one of intense activity in Union County . During that time homes were built for many more people than now live in Union Cou nty , besides scores of barns, many schools and churches, and mile after mile of rail fences. John Templeton's log cabin built in 1904 and restored in the Union County jail yard in Libe rty , is typical of the better log houses built by early Union County settlers. Many cabins were less well built of round logs and a few had at first one side open lo the weather. Several of the belier log houses were used as homes until as late as 1900. These usually had been weather boarded , often with thin tulip poplar siding. There are still a number of Union County homes in which a paJt of th e structure is of logs . Brick and frame homes began to appear in the I 820's and many substantial homes still occupied were built before the Civil War. Homes in the federal style were usually the first built. Colonial style once used to designate these homes is now reserved for a similar but larger home with high pillars in front as in George Washington's home at Mt. Vernon, Va. The federal style homes in Union County were quite uniform, nearly always with two stories, about twice as long as wide. The main ent rance was in the middle of the long side, and on the farms the wide side faced the road. There was a chimney at each end, and a small plain portico at the main entrance.
Examples of the brick federal style home follow, with the approximate date of construction, the original builder and present owner, listed in that order. 1830 William Beard - Julian Logue 1833 Henry Rinker - Harry Webster 1834 Thomas Bennett - Norman Johnson 1835 Simon Snyder - on the Johnson farm north of Liberty 1841 The Harold Hughes home on East Seminary Street Liberty was built to be the Union County Seminary . Trustees were Elias Jarrell, George W. Hunt , and Jeremiah Williamson . Others: Frank Ardery home, Union Twp.; Gus Broner home, Main and Sycamore St. , Liberty ; CA. Alcorn, Road 101 South. The Ted Retherford home built by William Byram about 1860 is in the federal style with Italianate details. Bricks and the quick lime for the mortar for these homes were burned on the site from clay and limestone near at hand. A surprising fact is that the flat limestone readily available in many streams seems never to have been used to build a house. There were about sixty federal style brick homes built m Union Coun ty , perhaps twice as many frame houses in the same style. Frame homes in the federal style were similar in plan to those of brick, but varied somewhat more in size and often porches were added. The home of Mrs. Charles Little
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This page sponsored hy AUDREE'S DRESS SHOP and BRUNNER'S DAlRY QUEEN
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
The Home of Mr. and Mrs. H. Haworth Smith, North of Roseburg.
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971 UNION COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Stephen Retherford
on the Clifton Road shows the early style with small portico or entry.
For the federal style with Greek revival pillared portico there is the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Smith, north of Roseburg, also the home of Sylvanus Cockefair (Charles Masters) on Eli Creek. For a federal style home with modern porch there is the Carroll Montgomery home built by William Talbert about 1830.
A federal style home with large porch and elaborate scroll work decorations is the R.C. Cain home (Thomas F. Huddleston) in the Salem area, also the Ora Sanford home (Moses Harveim) in Brownsville Twp.
After the federal style home came the Italianate . Instead of the plain rectangular basic structure of the federal style, the homes were often cut off to make a three sided end, or a
hexagonal bay window was added. The eaves extended
A striking home style, that of the Mansard Roof was that of the A.B. (Benejah) Fosdick which stood until a few years ago on the site of the new Carter Paint Co. factory. A fine example of this style can be seen in the Keith Dare home in Franklin County one mile south of Billingsville. This is the most common style of home near the foot of the colerain hill going into Cincinnati on U.S. 27.
After about sixty years of preferring homes of simple lines, Union County home builders, about I 885, made a drastic change to the Neo-Jacobean Style, the multi-gabled house. To the earlier basic rectang le people now added ells and T's to make homes with three, four or more gables. With this change came also the central chimney and central heat.
The large frame house on the O.N. Williams, (Munson Corrington) Carroll Montgomery farm in Union Twp., is of
Justice of the Peace Alfred Burke and wife - Dunlapsville
Alfred Burke served as Justice of the Peace of Liberty Township, and the marriage records of Union County show that he officiated at many weddings.
farther and were supported by brackets, and curved or ornate lentels covered doors and windows. Surp risingly, the Italian ate houses uniformly were built with the end toward the highway. This was possibly because people had had time to improve lanes, so that the entrance was on the lane rather than the highway. On the other hand this placing of the house might have been immitation of the urban builder who could thereby put more homes on a given frontage. Italianate style houses in Union County were built from about 1860-1885. Examples of this style are: the B.F. Coddington, (Robert Lilly) home 4 mile north on U.S. 27; the Dan Harvey (Willard Rude) home south of Clifton; and the John Allen (W.P. Kitchell) home, recently razed south of Five Points. Italianate details are well illustra ted on the J.A. Bertch and Son store in Liberty.
the Neu-Jacobean style. To th is style home was soon added the curved veranda, with railing, giving access to one, two or even three doors. Typical examples arc the Will Fosdick (Clark Pouder) home on East Union St.; the Will Maxw_ell (Wallace Wharton) house east on Indiana 44 or the J. Smith Mitchell (James M . Smith) house north on U.S. 27. The veranda is of Benga l origin. This type home is more common in town than on farms since combination of farms had by this time made many rural houses superflorous. There are many examples of this type home on Ccn tral or Grand Avenues, in Connersville, or in R ushville north of the C&O Railway. Union County now has many fine modern homes of ranch or other styles. While home styles arc an interesting study in· town or country they are most easily observed from the country roads.
The Union County Historical Society was organized on March 22, 1924 at a meeting called in the basement of the Public Library. Founding members were: Mrs. Martha Craft, Mrs. Gertrude Greggerson, Addie Garrett, .1rs. Flora Kennedy, Mrs. Ella Miller, Mrs. Clara Reynolds, Mrs. Minnie Stivers, Mrs. Ethel Laird, Miss Marie Guard, Miss Louie McMah an, Miss Ester Hamilton. The stated purpose of the Union County Historical Society was and is "to preserve the history and historical relics of history and historical relics of Union County, Indiana". With that in mind, a rather brief description of some of the group's major activities have been the establish ment of a museum in the basement of the Court House in 1929, a county-wide tour by members and other interested people of places of historical significance in 1934 , the placing of the Templeton Cabin on the jail yard in 1938, and the
observing of "Covered Bridge Days" annually since 1966. The latter activity has been of major concern to the Union County Hist orical Society for several years now. "Covered Bridge Days" is an event held annually in the area of Dunlapsville and the Dunlapsville Bridge in an effort to raise money for the relocation of the Dunlapsville Bridge some where in the area of the Treaty Line Museum to make way for the Brookville Reservoir. Some of Union County Historical Society's prominent members over the yea rs have been William McMahan, Mr. and Mrs. Lelond Bond, Earl Frank, Mrs. Charles D. Johnson, Irving l.afuse, and Mrs. Albert Johnson. The present officers are: President, Dick Howard; Vice-President, Louis Stanley; Secretary, Phyllis Howard; Treasurer, Marsh Pouder.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
(1873-1877) JJWm J:Jz11 (!JialUJ JJj 'm.JM.. ClaA!uwn 'llla.c11 JWJ. 'lllaldna 'lll.aAia 'Ylllwland At the start of the diary the Macys lived southwest of Dunlapsville. They moved to Quakertown in May 1876 and kept boarders or transient visitors and served meals in their home. Mrs. Macy died soon after last entry. She is buried in Dunlapsville.
all the right's they think they want , what they think about taxation with OUl any representation , and if they think it is right when the husband dies with out a will for the property to be sold off and divided out? If so why not when the wife dies, she would be no more likely to squander that property than he would, she would be no more likely to marry than he would, then why not make them on a equal footing? Then there is an other question and that is the temperance question, which has been discussed for many years, with very little success so far as I can see. I believe if the ladies were allowed to vote there would be no need of temperance meetings from the fact that there would be nothing to get intoxicated on. Is this what our gentlemen drinkers fear? We fear that is one of the causes that we are kept in the background.
you can go neither in the house nor out but your nostrils are greeted with the stench. The wheat shocks are as greene as the meadows, the oats are beaten to the ground, the cucumber vines have all died, the watermelons are in the same fix. The tomato vines standing up look like they would measure sixteen feet, they are all vine, the punkin vines have traveled till it will take two or three surveyors to tell who they belonged to. The corn looks well what is standing, there is a great deal of it that has taken the pleasure of laying down. The cabbage looks well, the onion crop is good , the peas grew so high they forgot to bloom and l guess if there could have been a pole put high enough the beans would have paid a visit to the moon. The Irish po tatoe crop is good generally, the sweet potatoes have an abundanace of vines and looks like they would make cables that would reach
December 1873 Friday 5 A pleasant day. I finished Anderson's shirts and baked a cake. Clark gathered a load of com. Wednesday 24 Quite frosty.. Clarkson and Edgar went to Quakertown to gather a load of corn and I went to the store. It was one o'clock when we got home. I got dinner and sewed some. Clark went to Alquina this evening and settled for the building of our wood house, and our sawing bill. Edgar is gone to Salem to a ball. School adjourned today ti! after the holidays. Clara has hung up her stocking and I put three sticks of candy, six hickory nuts, five crackers, and Clark put six cents in money.
July, 1874 Friday 3 Pleasant. I took the trade to Quakertown - 6 lbs. of Butter & 1O½ doz. eggs. They came to $1.97. Saturday 4 A glorious day in American history. The day that our forefathers signed the Declaration of Indepen dence and resolved that they would submit to the yoke of tyrrany no longer. This transpired ninety eight years ago today. We attended a celebration gotten up by the Grangers at Sand Run. Had a splendid time. Had speeches from Mr. Adams , Mr. Reynolds & Mr. Hamilton. There was quite a concourse of people. They had the misfortune to burst the cannon early in the day. The Liberty Band played some excellent music and all seemed to enjoy themselves.
Augµst, 1874 Saturday 12 Warm. We all went to Liberty to a temperance meeting. The Quakertown mill was sold today at sheriffs sale for twenty six hundred dollars. Hugh Abernathy was the purchaser. November 1874 Monday 2 Some warmer. I'm no better. George and Fanny was over this afternoon. One week ago tonight John Hollingsworth was shot at Tom Powels
saloon. He is living yet and it is thought he will get well. Also the Saturday previous two darkies got enough of the devils oil for one to kill the other. Also the same week that Hollingsworth was shot, a lady by the name of Pierce came to her death through the neglect of a drunken husband. This is saying a good deal for our County seat, with its splendid courthouse and its splendid jail. Well, will the time ever come when the evils of the intoxica ting cup will be felt no more, when the poor inebriate can lift up his head and say, 1 thank my God that the temptation is gone, that I can walk the streets like an honest man, with out the fear of being in the gutter every time I step out. God hasten the time is my prayer. Wednesday 11 Cool. Clark and I went to Liberty, he to pay taxes, I to have my teeth pulled. I had eight pulled without getting off my chair. Saturday 5 A little cooler. I baked six pies and seven loaves of bread and churned. Clark and Edgar went to Connersville with the hogs. Clark got seven cents a pound, his hogs averaged three hundred and eighteen pounds. Came to four hundred and twenty three dollars. He has sold six hundred and thirty six dollars worth of stock this year.
May, 1875 Wednesday 25 Warm. Clark, Emily and I went to Liberty, to attend the Woman's Right's Convention. I was very much pleased with the proceedings of the Convention and think those ladies who called the Convention are in a good cause, and that their efforts will be crowned with success; and that at no far distant day shall be my prayer. For why the ladies are not allowed to vote I can not tell unless they can not see how they stand. They say "I have all the right's I want," when they have absolutely no right's compared to what the men enjoy. I would like to ask those who are so sure they have
June, 1875
Thursday 17 Warm and looks like rain. I started to Quaker town where I arrived about eleven o'clock, where owing to a rain storm, 1 stayed till after dinner, then Manhala Stanton and I started for John Hannas, who lives on the old Stanton farm. The
White Water valley is one of the beautifulest spots in the world, the valley is from a half a mile to a mile wide, which is filled up with the waiving corn the golden wheat with here and there a beautiful meadow, and orchards, with the farm homestead, surrounded with beautiful flowers making it look like a paradise. What can be more beautiful? When you tire of looking at the valley, you can cast your eyes on either side to the hills, crowned with those majestic trees of the forest, with their topmost branches reaching almost to the sky. While if you are successful enough to climb one of those hillsides, the lower branches invite you to a cool and refreshing shade.
July, 1875
Thursday 29 ... It being brother George's birthday, we gathered together a few things, and went over to give him a surprise. Well the next thing was dinner, of which we had plenty. I will endeavor to give the reader a detail of what we had for a country birthday dinner. We had chicken, potatoes, green beans, fried fish, bread, butter, beet pickles, cucumber pickles, cabbage, stewed dried apples, stewed dried peaches, canned peaches, cheese, maple molases, custard pie, grape pie, blackberry pie, silver cake, fruit cake, ginger bread, coffee, milk and water.
August, 1875 Monday 2 Some cooler and drissling rain. I sewed some. It has rained till everthing that can rot is rotten, and
across the Atlantic ocean. Well, I guess we will have to keep some of them over, and take them to the centennial. And the weeds have grown so tall, they remind one of cane brakes, and if there was any bears I should expect to hear them growl; or the deer poking their antlers out to see if this country was inhabitated, or if it was in its native wilderness. The birds have ceased to wabble their lays, and the tree toad and bull frog seem in the height of their glory. The lightning bug sits all day with drooping head and folded wings, at night it comes forth and emits its spark, but the dampness has taken all light out of it. And the mosquito still claim you as his near relation, and sucks your blood and sings as though he was singing your funeral dirge. And the dogs bark as though they were moldy and horse, and the fox steals in the poultry yard and catches the poultry and still it rains, rains and is gloomy without and within, and my heart is sad, and I think will it ever quit raining. Tuesday 3 Still misting rain, until noon, then the clouds that had so long hung like a pall over this beautiful land disperssed and we were blessed with the golden beams of sunshine. September, 1895 Saturday 4 A beautiful day. We arose this morning before the crow flew off his roost. I cooked a chicken and fixed up our dinner, and Clark hitched the two-horse wagon and we started to Quakertown, where we arrived before eight o'clock. We halted there an took in five passengers. Mr. Milton Stanton, his wife and two children and Miss Mahala Stanton. We then started to Liberty to the old settlers meeting where we arrived about ten o'clock. This meeting of the old settlers is the first one I ever attended, and I must say I was very much
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
pleased with the proceedings. The meeting was held in the courthouse yard, which is a beautiful place to hold a meeting of any kind. The congrega tion was large, and every one appeared to see his neighbor. There were a good many old relicks shown and among other things, was a shaving bone that Uncle Adam Pigman carried in the war of eighteen hundred and twelve; and the vest that he
Saturday 20 Pleasant. I stewed punkin, baked six punkin pies and three dried apple pies, five loaves of bread, and a crock of ginger snaps, stewed beets and made cucumber pickles, churned and scrubbed. We also went to the Lodge.
March, 1876
Monday 6 Warm. Clark was boiling sugar water all day yesterday and today. I done off six gallon of
(1849) }JWm 1m (!JialUJ JJj6J.i}tu B. tBRaAd Elihu was born near Liberty in 1825 , one of twelve children of William & Rachel Beard, Quakers who settled in Union County eight years earlier. The home where Elihu spent his boyhood was built in the 1820's and was an "Underground Railroad Station" in pre-Civil War days.
was married in, in eighteen hundred and fifteen. The vest was made in my grandfather's family. When I say made, I did not intend to convey the idea that cutting out and sewing it together was all they done. They carded the cotton, spun the thread, done the coloring, and wove the cloth. Uncle Adam Pigman is eighty six years old, and the oldest man in Harmony Township. I saw two things there 1 never saw before, one was a porringer and the other was a bed warmer. There was an excellent speech in the forenoon by Mr. Tom Bennett, and in the afternoon by Mr. John Yaryan. Besides a great many others made short orations. There was music by the band and music by the choir, and the old folks sang some old styled hymns. Wednesday 3 Warm and a day that will be remembered for years. It commenced thundering about ten o'clock; and thundered and rained and hailed till three. At twelve o'clock it was so dark that those who ate their dinner had to light their lamps. The sky had a peculiar look. In the north and south for an hour and a half after it commenced, it was nearly the color of gold, while over head it was dark. Gradually the gold color disappeared and it became all over of one color. You could distin guish no cloud, by the vivid flashes of lightning which was as bright as I have ever seen. It all appeared so dark and heavy. Rufus Brown , and Catherin Holland were stunned by the lightning. It was so dark at one o'cloc k at our house that to stand out on an open porch you could not see to read common print. It faired off about three o'clock and did not rain any more till about dark, when there came up another thunder storm and passed over and cleared off. I have heard since that some people thought the world was coming to an end, and others thought there was going to be an earthquake. And some thought the scripture was being fulfilled where it speaks of the sun being turned to darkness. I sewed some on Clara's dress. November, 1875 Saturday 13 ... Clark and I went to the Lodge, and had a nice time in the way of speaking and debatin g. The question for debate was, which is entitled to the most honor, Christopher Columbus for the dis covery of America, or George Washington for defending it. Christopher had but one to speak for him, the rest were for George.
molases this forenoon. This afternoon I went to Quakertown to the store ... The news today was that the saloons in Liberty were all destroyed last night. Happy day when the saloons shall all have passed away. July, 1876 Tuesday 4 Had a heavy rain last night. This being the fourth of July, it is a great day of rejoycing as the cannons are loudly proclaiming far and near. It is not the common fourth. of July, it i the Centen nial fourth of July. One hundred years ago today our forefathers, drew up a piece of writing which they all signed, and which they called the Delcara tion of Independence which guaranteed to eve'ry man life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And after a hard struggle of a great many years fighting, and the loss of some of the bravest and best men they gained the victory, which made them free men; and all the blessings we enjoy today was gained by drops of sweat and blood. September, 1876 Tuesday 19 Warm. Clark and I went to Uncle Adam Pigman's funeral, which was very large. There was one hundred and nineteen wagons, carriages, and buggys. October, 1876 Monday 9 Cool. Clark, Clara and I went to Liberty to a Republican meeting. There was a large crowd; but a very civil one. There were two or three bands, and several companies dressed in regalia, that marched. There were two speakers, a white man by the name of Wats, and a colored man, the governor of Louisiana, a Mr. Pinchback. February, 1877 Tuesday 27 Frosty. Clark hauled a log to the mill to make pailing to pail in our garden. I scrubbed and baked five loaves of bread, and finished molding candles, I have molded four dozen. Clark fixed an ashhouse today. March, 1877 Thursday I A very fine morning, but rained a litt le in the evening. I baked five loaves of bread, two cakes, and seven pies. Clark went up to the place and got the posts to make our garden fence. We have a gentleman and his wife staying with us tonight, by the name of Dewit. He gives lectures on horses, and gives a lecture in the hall tonight.
Jan. 1 This year I design to keep a diary by which means 1 hope to be able at the close of each week, each month, or even at the end of the year, to have a better knowledge of the manner in which my time has been spent. I have for some time been engaged in educational pursuits. Commencing in the spring of 1845 I spent five sessions at Oxford College. In the autumn of 1847 I commenced teaching, which occupation I continued for six months. In the spring of 1848, I went to Iowa on a visit . This was a very agreeab le journey to me. And as I went by water and returned by land l got to see a considerable portion of the world ... In the summer of 1848 I entered Farmers' College near Cincinnati ... The year of 1849 begins today and lam on my return to college. June 30 Start home early in the morning - my roomate Mr. Garrett started with me. We walked over to the pike running from Cincinnati to Oxford, where we arrived about seven in the morning. We were told the stage would not come along till about ten. After resting a short time we proceeded, stopping occasionally to rest and talk. The principal con versation was about cholera which we found was raging in the country as well as in the City . . . The stage at last overtook usand we arrived at home about a little before night. Found the people generally healthy though alarmed about the cholera - the dread of this disease was much greater here than it had been in the city. July 2 Went to Liberty, a little town about two miles from home. Saw several of my old acquaintances - took dinner at my sister's - afternoon went to the Seminary. Mr. Horton has a fine school here at this time - about 60 in number. Horton has been teaching about twenty years and has generally been considered one of the best of teachers. He is somewhat irritable and passionate. The order was not very good though most of the students seemed anxious to learn. July 3 Attended Milton Hollingsworth's school - situated one mile south of Liberty - at a place called "Beech Grove." Hollingsworth keeps a most splen did school - has about 60 students - the order was the best of any school 1 ever attended. He is strictly moral - very mild - whips none at all - said he never had taken a stick into school - is purely democratic. Has his scholars to make all the rules - and the result is he has little disorder or trouble.
July 18 . . . We have not had any cholera in our settlement yet. There is some cholera at Liberty a small town about two miles from where my father resides - the people about there, and even here, are con siderably alarmed. July 21 ... This evening I heard my brnther-in-law was sick - he resides in Liberty. I went immediately to town - found him quite unwell - he has some thing very similar to the cholera - the disease was checked when I got there. There is a great deal of sickness in Liberty at this time. July 22 ... On my return this evening 1 learned that William Tolbert's wife had died of cholera about half an hour before my arrival - she lived within a quarter of mile from father's - was taken in morning and died before night. July 24 ... While watching with Gardner this morning I was called to go for the Dr. for another one of the neighbors. The word was he was bad and wanted the Dr. in haste. I rode about 6 miles for a botanic or rather electic Dr. - returned without him, leaving word for him to come as soon as possi ble. . . . I left him medicines. He and wife infor med me that they believed that it would be impossible to get assistance from some three or four of their nearest neighbors if they were dying, so much for Christianity for they are loud profes sors. I think it is a very good time to prove the size of men's souls - and some appear very small . . . Aug 6 Went to election today - did not vote as 1 claim a residence in Ohio. I would have liked to have voted today in order to support our free-soil candidates. I hope they will succeed - the pro spect is very favorable - they having to some extent united with the democratic party. It is astonishing that northern men who understand the advantages of freedom and free institu tions , should be in favor of extending this abominable curse of slavery over newly acquired territory. Aug. 29, 30, 31 Spent these going to the City, having been employed to help my Brother drive in some stock. We have had rather a jully time. Driving cattle to market is not the most disagreeable business in the world. Sept. 1 Arrived at college this evening - had a very agreeable time on the road from the city to the College ... After supper went to see the president and found him and family well and sociable.
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
J. A. Bertch & Son founded 1866.
This page sponsored by J.A. BERTCH & SON
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Replica of coach used in Union Co unty in late J B00' s.
This page sponsored by BAKER-SHOWALTER FUNERAL HOMES
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA
Fosdick house built 1869.
W.A. Fosdick, founder.
This page sponsored by FOSDICK FUNERAL HOME
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1821-1971
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
Photo of Oil Painting of original Co-op Elevator, part of which was erected in 1855.
This page sponsored by UNION COUNTY FARM BUREAU COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION - Liberty and Cottage Grove
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
PROGRAM
Union County Sesquicentennial Sept. 19 -Sept. 26, 1971
Sunday, Sept. 19
Home Coming in All Union County Churches
11:00 A.M. - Barbecue - American Legion 2:00 P.M. - Vintage Antique Auto Parade 3:00 to 5:00 P.M. - Gay Ninety Social Hour -Town Square 5: 00 P.M. - Ice Cream Social - Junior Leaders 7:30 P.M. - All Churches of Union County - Old Fashioned Hymn sing and services - 4-H Building.
Monday, Sept. 20-Pioneer Day
and Display of Antique Machinery Muzzle Loading Gun Display and Shoot
5:00 P.M. - Silent Movies 7:30 P.M. - Evening Show at 4-H Building. Awards will be given for oldest married couple; oldest Man , Oldest Woman; Oldest Union Countian (native).
Tuesday, Sept. 21-Youth Day
Sports Car Display
1:30 P.M. - Baby show; pony rides 5:30 P.M. - Youth Parade
Contests, sack race, greased pole (climb) watermelon eating; live frog , three
jumps, most distance; tug-of-war; box lunch auction. 7:30 P.M. - Queen Crowning Contest at Gymnasium. 8:00 P.M. - "Saga of Whitewater Valley" - Gymnasium
HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1jl21-1971
Wednesday, Sept. 22 Music and Ladies' Day Music and Ladies' Day
10:00 A.M. - Cookfng School - Door Prizes - Public Service 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. - 4-H Building - Memory Review Written by Bessie Cash ; Silver Tea - Refreshments Concession at rear of 4-H building "Ye Olde Cupboard". Archery demonstration. 7:00 P.M. - Fiddler's Concert - 4-H Building 8:00 P.M. - Dixon Dance Revue Evening - " Batt le of Combo Bands" Dutch Brunner's Lot. 8:00 P.M. Spectacular Production of "Saga of Whitewater Valley" - Gymnasium
Thursday, Sept. 23-Agriculture Day
10:00 A.M. to 12 Noon - All entries due at 4-H Building
Awards for largest pumpkin, head of cabbage, turnip, oddest ear of corn, longest ear of corn , best peck of wheat, best peck of oats, most unusual gourds.
5:00 to 8:30P.M. - Pork chop supper at 4-H Building
5:30 P.M. - Garden tractor pull
(Closed to Union county and College Corn er School district.) 8:00 P.M. - Spectacular "Saga of Whitewater Valley"
Frida y, Sept. 24 Old Fashioned Art and Handicraft Day
Loo ming of cloth; looming of rugs; braiding rugs; crocheting rugs; Hook rugs; homemade soap display; needle point ; embroidery; crochet ; quilt display; bread bakin g; apple butter making; caning; candle making; jewelry making; horse shoeing and forge welding; wood carving; broom making; spinning wheel display ; silho uet tes; knitt ing; leather work; hairpin lace and tatting; candy making; l n_dian relics and art; display of paintings from Richmond, Connersville and surrou nding area, in courtho use corrido rs and lawn. 8:00 P.M. - Final Presentation of "Saga of Whitewater Valley"
Saturday, Sept. 25-Feature Parade Day 10:30 A.M. - Mini circus at Short High School 11:00 A.M. - All-day Bar becue -American Legion Home I: 00 P.M. - Water fight by fire departments, downtown 2:00 P.M. - Mini circus, SHS gym and Barbecue contin uing 9:00 P.M. - Grand Celebratio n Ball - 4-H Building
Sunday, Sept. 26-R eligious Ser vices
1:00 P.M. - Covered dish cooperat ive d inner and get-together - 4-H Building
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HISTORICAL RECORD OF UNION COUNTY, INDIANA 1821-1971
UNION COUNTY INDIANA
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Handley's Barbershop, Collyer Motel & Barbershop, Standard Service Station, L.S. Byrd & Sons, Scaggs Oil Company, Wayne Auto Supply Company, Hofer's Super Market, Payton's Shoe Store, Mother's Restaurant, Shriner's Grocery Store, Mr. & Mrs. Curtis Miller, & Sawyer Radio & T.V. Service.
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Mags
Also, the content is quite large for one web page, but I chose to do it that way for ease in using a web browser's page search to search the page for names and keywords. I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for dividing it up among multiple pages--especially if there are any WikiTree tools I may not be aware of that would help keep the page lengths more reasonable while not interfering with ease of searching the entire book.
I've copied my comment I made on the John Templeton (1766-1837) profile to a G2G post in the WikiTree Help section. Perhaps I'll also put it in the looking for volunteers section.