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CHAPTER XIV. |
STOCKTON TOWNSHIP—HISTORICAL SKETCH, BY , MARTIN WINES—ORGANIZATION OF TILE
TOWNSHIP REMINISCENCES—LINTON—MERCHANDISING —RESIDENTS AND INDUSTRIES—THE
EARLY SCHOOLS—THE SCHOOL LAW—THE EARLY CHURCHES—DIFFUSION OF RELIGION.
THE following general sketch of the settlement in Greene County, written by
Martin Wines in 1860, and published in the White River zette, is deemed of
sufficient value for an insertion in the chapter on Stockton Township, where
the old settler lived for so many years:
" The first settling of any new country is generally an encounter with
privations, hardships, difficulties and dangers. Some are more so than
others, according to climate, natural productions, variety and quantity of
game, fish, wild 'fruit, etc. Scarcely any new country but what has more or
less of these; some have nearly every difficulty to brook, while in other
new settlements a good many of our necessary wants are easily obtained.
" In the first settling of Greene County, many had to encounter the fever
and ague, chills and fever, and in some instances bilious fever, and without
the assistance and relief of physicians, of which we are so abundantly
blessed in these days. " The first location was made in the fall of 1816, on
the waters of Black Creek, by John Jessup and his family. He built a small
log cabin near the western line of Greene County, and during the next winter
or spring was joined by William Lemon and Thomas Smith. Smith remained but a
short time, however, when he concluded to establish a ferry. on White River,
a short distance below the mouth of Eel River. His ferry-fiat he constructed
by having two long poplar sticks, in such manner and shape as to form of
each one half a boat; these were firmly fastened together with cleats, and
in such a manner as to form a good and substantial ferry boat, that lasted
for several years. This ferry is continued to this day, and is still known
by the name of Smith's Ferry, although Smith himself has been dead for many
years, and his family nearly extinct. " Lemon and Jessup soon followed Smith
on to White River, and many others about this time also settled in the White
River Valley.
" Some of the lands were purchased at the land sales at Vincennes, In the
year 1816. Jonathan Lindley purchased the tract where the beautiful village
of Worthington now stands, including the lofty site of Point Commerce.
Solomon Dixon purchased that excellent tract just' below Fairplay, which is
still owned by the Dixon family, I believe by William Dixon. Peter C.
Vauslyke also purchased, at the land sales aforesaid, a tract of superior
land, mostly river bottom, amounting to 800 or 1,000 acres, situated up and
down the river, west of Bloomfield. These, with one or two others, perhaps,
were the only tracts sold at the public sales; yet immediately after the
close of the public sales, the purchases by private entries were numerous
and continual. Many exciting races have been run from some part of Greene
County to the land office, and even the darkness of night or the blasts of
storm could not intercept the contest. " I have mentioned the names of
Jessup, Lemon and Smith as early settlers. I might also, in the same list,
mention Soebe, Shoemaker, Sanders, Stalcups, Watson, Dyer, Heshaw, Craig,
Owens, Buskirk, Jackson, Kelshaw, Deem, Clark and Kelly. These, with a few
others, located in the upper part of the county. Further down the river
could be found Ingersoll, Fields, Wines, Howard, Shintaffer, Shafer, Hogue,
Van Voorst, Warnick, Van Slyke, Scott, Robinson, Gillum, Bradford, Fellows,
Pearce, Faucett, Mason, Benham, Bogard, Barker, Bynum, O'Neal, Slinkard,
Herrington, Stafford and Buckles. " These, with a few others, may be styled
the first settlers of Greene County. But previous to the organization of
Greene County, Sullivan, extending east to White River, and Daviess,
extending upon the east side of White River to the Owen County line, were in
the territory before the organization of Greene County, which took place
during the session of 1820-21. The emigration increased rapidly, and
extended into every part of the county; but the east increased faster than
the west side of the river. Timber and fine springs were in abundance on the
east side to be found, while on the west, below Eel River, the timber was
generally scant and dwarfish, and nearly or quite destitute of springs.
These privations and objections to a North Carolinian were insufferable
obstacles, not to be encountered in settling a new country. " The election
held previous to The organization of Greene, and while we yet constituted a
part of Sullivan, was at David Soebe's, where Rob. ert Inman now lives. It
was the precinct of White River Township, and contained 200 square miles.
The representative district included Knox, Sullivan, Vigo, Morgan, Owen and
Daviess Counties, and sent three Representatives to the State Legislature. "
John McDonald, of Daviess County, George R. Sullivan, of Knox, and Gen.
Sturges, of Vigo, were the candidates voted for in our township, and they
were elected. The other candidates I do not recollect, but I believe GAD.
George W. Wasson, of Carlisle, in Sullivan County, was one of them. The
Legislature at this time and for two or three years after met at Corydon,
Harrison County. Jonathan Jennings was Governor, his term of office expiring
at this time, he was succeeded by Gov. William Hendricks.
" Besides the sickness of this new settlement, and this was by no means
light, especially in the summer and fall of the year 1820, we were also
destitute of mills for grinding our breadstuffs, excepting the hominy block
and hand mills, which, by way of definite designation, were termed " Arm-strong's
mill." The grinding on either of these mills required the stfeifgth of a
full-grown person, and as the operation was slow it made a repetition of
hardships daily amounting in the aggregate to a very considerable sum of
fatigue and hardship. " Mechanics were but few and far between—their
materials of poor quality and a short supply, so that many of us had for a
tale a broad piece of plank, a slab, top of a box or chest—and our bedsteads
were in like manner, badly constructed in one corner of the cabin. Thus many
inconveniencies were endured for several years, until by degrees we became
inured and resigned to our destitutions and privations." The early settlers,
more particularly in Stockton Township, were Thomas Breece, Robert Harrah,
William Osborn, John Osborn, old man tale, M. Pool, Stephen Stone, J.
Robinson, William Humphreys, Jesse Powell. William Ellis, Aquilla Moss and
his boys Nathaniel, C: M., Stephen, W. G., J. J., Jeptha, Laban, D: H.,
Joseph and Elijah, and his girls Mary and Sarah, old man Goodman, Martin
Wines, Wickliff Wines. William Stephens, Andrew Humphreys and many others.
ORGANIZATION.
Stockton Township, as it is now, was not created until many years had
elapsed after the organization of the county. In 1821, at the first term of
the first Board of County Commissioners. Richland Township comprised the
present townships of Stockton, Grant, Fairplay and Richland. The first
change made in this large township was in May, 1828„ when all west of the
river (now Fairplay, Grant and Stockton) were constituted Dixon Township. In
August, 1829, the township of Dixon was divided into Fairplay and Black
Creek Townships, the latter comprising the present Townships of Grant and
Stockton. In January, 1830, the name Black Creek was changed to Stockton, in
accordance with the suggestion of Wickliff Wines, who regarded the township
one of the finest in the county for stock-range. Another account says the
township derives its name from an under officer in one of the early American
wars. The township kept its above last-named limits through all the years,
until March, 1869, when Grant, having secured the railroad and the town of
Switz City was created, since which time Stockton has had its present
limits. The early elections were held at Fairplay, which was the oldest town
in the county, and the names of the residents of the present Stockton
Township, who served in these early years, will be found in the chapter on
Richland Township. At the creation of the above described township of Dixon
the following officers were appointed by the County Board—Jonathan B.
Sanders, Inspector; Hiram Hayward, William Buckles and John Patton Road
Supervisors; Ezekiel Herrington and t- Daniel Fields, Fence Viewers; Robert
Harrah and Samuel Fields, Overseers of the Poor, and elections were ordered
held at the house of T-Tiram flayward.
REMINISCENCES.
Upon the arrival of the first settlers, the township was one of the finest
in the county. A considerable portion was quite level and was open prairie
land, where herds of deer grazed on the rich grass which grew in profusion,
often higher than a man's head. Other portions were more rolling and were
covered with timber, through which all the varieties of wild animals of this
latitude roamed. Several of the Mosses and others were experienced hunters.
C. M. Moss has killed eight full-grown deer at four shots. Laban Moss was
also a skillful deer hunter. On more than one occasion he killed two at one
shot. Aquilla Moss was one of the first preachers. He was a hard-shell
Baptist, and was a man of great force of character and commanded wide
influence and unbounded respect from all who knew him. He was also a man of
great hardihood, and could withstand the attacks of disease and encounter
the inclemencies of the weather without injury or effect. Nathaniel Moss was
also an early preacher, as were Nicholas SMith and Jonathan Jones. Among the
first marriages were those of James Armstrong and Eveline Harrah, and
William Osborn and Eleanor Wines. William Stephens, an eccentric old settler
who had been with Gen. Jackson behind the cotton bales at New Orleans, was a
famous story-teller, a sort of Peter Pindar, whose fund of anecdotes was
inexhaustible. Hart's' trace was the old trail from Smith's Ferry on White
River, extending across Stockton Township to the old Shaker settlement near
Carlisle. Nine Mile Prairie is said to have received its name from the fact
that it was nine miles from Fairplay, the election precinct and the leading
commercial point on the river at the time of the earliest settlement. Buck
Creek took its name from the great number of very large bucks killed there
one winter at. the time of earliest settlement. Prairie fires were grand
sights when the country was yet new. The grass grew so high that late in the
fall, when it was dead and before it had fallen to the ground, or early in
the spring, ere the ne'v crop had commenced to grow, when a fire once
started with a strong wind nothing could stop the whirlwind of flame and
destruction; not even a heavy rainstorm. The advancing ranks of fire would
come so rapidly that they often swept over the leaves far out into the
surrounding woods. The old man Wines told of a race he once had from the
flames. He was on a horse, which he had to put to its best pace for a couple
of miles or more ere he had reached a place of safety. The flames would dart
up twenty feet high, and were accompanied by a frightful atmospheric
roaring, as the great area of heat would cause the air to rapidly ascend in
circular columns of smoke. The first three schoolhouses built in the
township were destroyed by fire. More than a dozen houses were similarly
burned during the early years. The destruction of hay was a common
occurrence. No distillery of note ever operated in the township. Andrew
Humphreys manufactured a small amount at an early day. He was an early
blacksmith and Justice of the Peace, and has for years been one of the most
eminent citizens of the county. His remarkable political career is described
elsewhere.
LINTON.
This neat little village of enterprising, thrifty people, was founded really
by Wickliff Winds. Before the town was thought of, John W, Wines* sold goods
in the township. This was as early as 1831, and perhaps earlier. It is said
he afterward removed his goods to Fairplay. Wickliff Wines, the same, opened
his store at Linton not far from 1837. He sold from a mall stock of dry
goods, groceries, hardware, drugs, no-Cons, and soon afterward started a
small, horse mill to crack corn for the neighborhood. People then mostly ate
meal instead of flour, and a home mill could crack the corn up line enough
for the pioneer mouth, and thus a long journey through bottomless roads to
some distant water mill was avoided. This led to the demand for the horse
mill of Mr. Wines. About the same time, also, he sunk a few vats, and began
tanning deer and other hides. He dealt in furs, which, periodically, were
taken away by French traders of Vincennes. In a short time the town, which
was not yet a town, began to grow. It was not properly laid out and recorded
until June, 1850, at which time Hannah E. Osborn and Isaac V. Coddington
secured the services of the Courty Surveyor, and laid out forty lots on
Section 23, Township '7 north, Range 7 west, and named the town Linton, for
a gentleman living in Terre Haute, it is said. It had become quite a little
village by this time, however.
MERCHANDISING.
Among the earliest merchants were Wickliff Wines, Henry String, William
Osborn, Thomas Smith (who sold tinware), Thomas Ashley, Riggs & Ashley, John
Ashley, Ashley & Osborn, Price Brothers, Humphreys & Aiken, Josiah
Coddington and others. This brought it up to just before the last war of
1881-85. After this came Samuel Gray, Andrew Humphreys, and W. G. Moss (who
had about $10,000 worth), Humphreys, Rector & Moss, Aiken & Son, William
Baker, Price & Colton (about 1881), B. S. Sherwood (who sold goods for
Holmes, of Louisville), John Klink, Henry Ramacher, J. F. Wood & Co., Ernest
Stretelmyer, J. P. McIntosh, J. N. Yakey, Edwards Brothers, J. W. Wolford,
Wolford & Yakey, Yakey Law, Terhune & Humphreys, Cornelius & Osborn and
others. The present business (February, 1884), may be classified as follows:
General stores, J. W. Wolford & Son, Yakey & Law; drugs, J. B. Holson, Moss
& Moss; hardware and agricultural implinents, Moss & Humphreys; groceries,
C. E. Osborn and Moss & Moss: clothing and boots and shoes, J. B. Able;
milliner, Mrs. S. E. Turner; barber, W. H. Andrews; cooper, 11. Andrews;
Blacksmiths, I. N. B. Hinman, H. M. Sherwood; livery, I. V. Buck; hotels, B.
S. Sherwood and I. V. Buck; secret society, Ma
sonic; church, Methodist; grist mill, Watson & Bunting, east of town. Dr. J.
M. Humphreys opened the first distinctive drug store. He war followed by 0.
P. McKissick. McIntosh afterward took the trade. Dubbins & Winder opened a
hardware store in 1881; Graham soon took Winder's place, and the latter,
finally took the whole stock. Moss & Humphreys have the trade now. C. B.
Kemp was in the drug business for a short time, as was also Robert Kirkham.
Moss Brothers are his successors.
RESIDENTS AND INDUSTRIES.
In 1859, among the residents of the town, according to the hastily given,
though excellent recollection of Mr. J. W. Wolford, were I. V. Coddington,
farmer and blacksmith; Stephen Coddington, Isaiah Coddington, wagon-makers;
Dr. A. J. Miller, W. M. Price, storekeepers; Thomas Mason, tanner; John
Klink, cooper; Dr. W. F. Sherwood, James McClung, hotel keepers; Wilson
Humphreys, merchant; Dr. J. M. Harrah, D. L. Osborn, farmers; Marcus Sperry,
blacksmith; Thomas Smith, tavern keeper; Hiram Baker, farmer and carpenter;
Rev. A. P. Forsythe and J. W. WuIford, wagon-makers. Before this the old
tannery had long been running, and continued under several owners until
about the time of the last war, when it was abandoned. I. V. Coddington bad
made wagons before this date. At his best,he had four or five employes, and
turned out about thirty finished vehicles per annum. F. M. & Alvin Owens
made wagons quite extensively in the decade • of the sixties. A carding mill
had been operated in town a few years, beginning about the year 1851;
Bledsoe & Jones had some claim on this mill. Its life, like that of very
good little children is said to be, was brief. The present grist mill, east
of town, was erected by the Armstrorigs about twenty years ago. The building
is two-storied, is 40x60, and has two sets of stone, one for wheat and one
for corn. The old George Clayton Grist Mill on Beehunter Creek was erected
late. in the forties, and ran a useful career of eight or ten years. Among
the physicians of the town have been Wood, Sherwood, Miller, Harrah,
Jackson, Clark. The present doctors are B. A. Rose, E. T. Sherwood, Jesse
Hanna and L. H. Dilley. Wickliff Wines was the first Postmaster, and William
Cornelius is the present agent. Linton is a good business point. The county
fair ground iS just east• of town. The population is about 200. An account
of the Odd Fellows Lodge will be found in the sketch of Switz City,. to
where the lodge was removed. Linton Lodge, A., F. & A. Al., No. 560, was
created a few years ago. It worked under a dispensation from 1880 to 1882,
and then secured- its charter. Thomas Jones, J. W. Wolford, E. J. Jackson,
were the leading members at the start. The lodge started with a membership
of about thirteen, and now has about twenty-four. The first. officers were
E. J. Jackson, W. M; T. M. Jones, S. W.; J. W. Wolford, J. W.; T. A. Fairnot,
Treasurer; and Henry Ramacher, Secretary. The lodge is in a prosperous
condition.
SCHOOLS.
This is one of the townships where it is next to impossible to tell who
taught the first school or where it was taught. They were so few and so
scattering, and at the same time so unimportant, that they escaped attention
and have passed hopelessly beyond the powers of recollection. An early
school was taught by one of the Mosses, one by Harrah, one by Wines, and
another by one of the Osborns. A log schoolhouse was built near Linton, just
west of town, as early, it is said, as 1828. Two others were built soon
afterward. It is said that Nathaniel Moss was the first teacher in the
Osborn neighborhood. In early schoolhouse was built near the western border
of the township, east or southeast of D.ugger. Three log schoolhouses were
standing in about 1832, all of which were burned by prairie fires set out by
hunters to drive deer into the woods where they could he shot from
concealment. Hiram Hayward and Daniel Fields were famous hunters, who
resorted to this method to secure venison and buckskins. The primitive log
schoolhouse is well known. Round logs, hastily thrown up in a square about
16x16; a log left out on one side, over which greased paper was fastened to
keep out the rain and cold, to admit light; a large fire-place occupying an
entire end of the building, and a huge " cat and clay " chimney on the
outside; rude clapboard desks and seats, and an almost entire absence of
books. The Testament and Webster's Speller were indispensable to the early
schools. Writing was done with a quill sharpened by the teacher. " Mend my
pen " was an expression of frequent daily occurrence. A long, seasoned gad
was always present. Spelling schools were numerous and famous. Young people
would " ride double" miles to attend one, and would stand and spell and
spell until midnight. Then came the ride home over the frosty earth, through
the eager air. The old schoolhouse at the cemetery west of Linton was used
many years. It was succeeded by a log structure erected in the eastern part
of Linton in the forties.. In 1859, a frame schoolhouse was erected, which
was destroyed by fire the following year, after which the old house was used
until soon after the close of the last war, when another frame house was
built, in giza about 20x28. Miss Julia Sheehy was the first teacher in this
house. In 1882, the present two-storied frame schoolhouse in the
southeastern part of town was erected, at a cost of $1,500. The building has
two comfortable rooms—one above and one below. S. P. Carress was the first
teacher. He was joined by John Cravens as an assistant, who is now the
Principal (winter of 1883-84). The enumeration is about eighty scholars.
CHURCHES.
But few localities in the county have had superior religious advantages to
Stockton Township. The early residents were men of strong moral views, who
endeavored to practice what they preached and whn labored hard in the cause
of the Master. Rev. Aquilla Moss was the earliest prominent 'minister who
resided in the township. Nathaniel Moss was another, and Nicholas Smith and
Jonathan Jones were prominent divines. The Methodist class at Linton was
organized about the year 1830, in the old log schoolhouse at the cemetery.
Early in the forties, the church was built on ground donated, it is said, by
Wickliff Wines. Among the earliest members were Martin Wines, Wickliff
Wines, DaiId Osborn, George Clayton, Thomas Lund, Thomas Butler, Aquilla
Price, Martin Hale, John Butler, George Butler, George B. Denton, Hiram
Baker, the Sharps, the Wakefield.s, the Lismans, the Jameses, several of the
Coddingtons, the Rileys, the Smiths, William Buck, the Harrahs and others.
The present class in Linton is the lineal descendant of this old class. The
present fine frame church was erected in 1882 at a cost of $1,600 by A. B.
Tharp, contractor. The old church west of town was standing until 1881, when
it was removed, piecemeal, to Linton, re-adjusted, and transformed into a
hardware store, and is now occupied by Moss & Humphreys. The Morris Church
in the western part is an old organization. Their frame church was built
over thirty years ago, and among the membership there were the Stones, the
Hales, the Rosses, the Bucks, the Stevensons, the Bryants, the Grahams and
many others. Old Zelots Clifford, one of the most famous ministers of the
Methodist organization in Western Indiana, who organized as many classes,
perhaps, as any other divine, was one of the early ministers of this
congregation, and it is stated that he organized the class about 1845. The
facts cannot be stated. Rev. Clifford was in many respects a remarkable man.
It is told of him, in a neighboring county where he went to organize a
class, that he had been especially invited to appear there on a certain week
day for that purpose. As the time drew near, the few that had assembled,
probably about a dozen, saw the minister arrive on his tired horse, which he
tied to a sapling, saw him take his saddle-bags and throw them over his
shoulder and walk toward the house. There was nothing about his appearance
to inspire any one with a belief either in his piety or wisdom. He was
slouchy, threadbare, insignificant in stature, homely in feature, and to add
to the general disappointment of his little congregation, he seemed to feel
his inferiority as far 'as appearances were concerned, for he shuffled into
the room without recognizing any one, threw his saddle-bags on the floor,
took out a Bible that had evidently seen bard service, and began reading in
a voice so low, puny and hesitating that more than one smile of disdain
might have been seen in his audience. He did not offer to open the exercises
after the usual custom with singing and prayer, but, as he advanced, his
voice took a firmer tone, his figure lost its bent and withered appearance,
his eyes kindled with earnest fire, and erelong his listeners were bent
forward with eyes fixed upon his face intently listening to every word that
fell from his lips. He finished the chapter, and then went on to point out
the moral lesson he had selected. After sweeping on for perhaps twenty
?minutes, he seemed not the same man that had entered the room a short time
before. His voice thundered, and his eye, glowing with magnetic fire, was
lustrous, and held his audience spell-bound. He was eloquent, logical and
extremely forcible, and the sentiments uttered were of the purest piety and
the noblest humanity. His audience were wrought up to the highest pitch and
cried with joy over the holy pictures of Christian life and future happiness
he so skillfully painted. The result was, he immediately formed a
flourishing class, and for years was their pastor. The Olive Branch Baptist
Church in the northern part was organized about 1840, and the early
membership was from the families of Isaac Mitchell, Andrew Campbell, Jerry
Davis, Samuel Bonham, David Bledsoe, David Owens, Abner Walters and many
others. After many years, the class was divided on doctrinal questions, and
from it two classes, the Olive Branch and the Salem grew. These endure to
this day, though the Olive Branch is the stronger. Each has a church. That
of the Olive Branch was erected about 1868, while the Salem class kept the
old building. Among the membership of the younger Olive Branch, in 1868 and
later, were the Beasleys, the Popes, the Dentons, the Fullams, the Lynne,
the Ellises, the Prices, the Adamses, the Truetts, the Stockramg, the Wolf
ords, the Claytons, the Rookeberrys, the Uffermans, the Popes and others.
The ministers of this class have been James Blue, M. C. Clark, William
McNutt, Wilson Trent, W. I,. Green, and none at present. The Samaria Baptist
Church in the western part was organized very early and their church was
built just east of Dugger during the forties. The early membership was from
the families of the Mosses, the Ellises, the Brewers, the Burges, the
Rectors, the Kelleys and others. Aquilla Moss was probably the organizer of
this class not far from 1830. The German Lutheran Church, northeast of
Linton, was built in the fifties, and among the early members were the
families of Schlots, Bernes, Hoseman, Stretelmyer, Klink,. Bolton, Rosenrath,
Goshen, Linderman, Stockram and others. The class yet exists.
This information is the research of many people across the United States and may contain errors. It is presented as the best information to date. Like all of those whose work I have incorporated herein, my research is a work in progress and subject to change without notice. A special thanks to Marlene Ricci of CA, Dwayne Meyer of CA, Jacqueline Bean of TX, Debbie Dick of IN, Milus Miller of IL, Carol Hendricks Miller of IN, Clarence Miller of IN, and Harold Glen Miller of IN. There are numerous others too; many of which are unknown, but their findings and stories are still much appreciated. Much of this would not have been possible with out their information. Also this website includes historical facts gathered from Washington County History, Indiana History, Rowan County and Salisbury North Carolina Historical sources and other US Historical sources.
James A. Miller- Great -Great -Great -Great Grandson of Adam Miller and Hannah Sheets.
©2007 The Millers of Washington County
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Last Updated 07/04/07 08:27:23 AM -0700