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CHAPTER XIX.
STAFFORD TOWNSHIP-ORGANIZATION AND FIRST OFFICERS-EARLY CONDITION AND
EVENTS-THE SETTLEMENT-MASSEY'S COTTON GIN-OTHER EARLY INDUSTRIES - HUNTING
ANECDOTES - MISCELLANY - SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES-VILLAGE OF MARCO.
THE township of Stafford was one of the first five created in Greene County
in 1821, when the county was organized by the first Board of Commissioners.
The township at first included the present townships of Stafford and
Washington, and remained so until 1830, when the latter was created and
given a separate organization. Since then, Stafford has remained as it is at
present. as far as limits and boundaries are concerned. It was named in
honor of old Benjamin Stafford, father of the present old settler of that
name, who is living near the center of the township. At that period, the two
townships, Stafford and Washington, were one, and as Mr. Stafford was,
perhaps, the most prominent of all the residents, and as he was a man of
sufficient intelligence to display an interest in the civil affairs of his
locality, his name was adopted as the township name. He was appointed
Inspector of the first elections which were ordered held at his cabin. Two
Justices of the Peace were ordered elected (1821), but the other officers
were appointed by the County Board. Isaac Hubble and John Goldsby were
appointed Overseers of the Poor; John Breese, John Goldsby and Benjamin
Stafford, Sr., Fence Viewers; John Breese, Constable. Those were the first
officers to administer the civil affairs of old Stafford Township. John
Seaman and John Breese were the two first Justices of the Peace elected in
1821. William Hodgins was the first Lister of the township. In 1822, Mr.
Hodgins was the first Road Supervisor, and had the following hands: John
Seaman, Jesse Stafford, John Stafford, Isaac Hubble, John Breese, Madisbn
Collins, Joseph. Kirkpatrick, William Hodgins and William B. Harrison.
Benjamin Stafford was re-appointed Inspector. In 1822, Joseph Dixon and
William Itodgius were Overseers of the Poor; Jesse Stafford, Isaac Hubble
and Peter Herington, Fence Viewers. Mr. Herington was one of the first three
County Commissioners.
EARLY CONDITION.
The appearance of the township in early years was different from what it is
at present in many respects. Much of the land is low, with but little
natural slope for drainage, and even at this day is too wet for profitable
cultivation; but, in early years, before the arts of man had been used to
convey the surplus water with speed to the streams, large portions of the
township, especially in the rainy seasons of the year, were vast lakes where
millions of wild aquatic fowls took bath and gathered their food. This
characteristic of the township endures to the present day, as will be
testified by scores of resident and non-resident sportsmen who have waded
the marshes many a day with wet limbs, empty stomachs, but happy hearts, it
is stated that one hunter, about twenty years ago, killed in one season over
1,000 geese, ducks and brants. In later years, hunters from abroad come in
sometimes with modern sporting facilities and slay in a week's time
one•third as many. At a much earlier clay, wild turkeys were very abundant
in the drier portions, but sought the treeless marshes very often for food,
or to hatch their young. Every old settler can tell interesting tales of
turkey hunts. Along the borders of the woods in early morning they
congregated, and could be shot from tree tops until the hunter was weary. It
is asserted that often they were so remarkably fat that when they struck the
ground after being shot dead from the top of high trees, the skin upon
their, backs would burst open like a ripe pod. Great rolls of yellow, oily
fat were often taken from their bodies. When nicely cooked before the old
fire-places, they were fit for the gods to eat. Late in the autumn, when the
weather was dry and the grass dead, great prairie fires swept across the
open portions of the township, carrying destruction to everything that lay
in their way. The grass grew from three to six feet high, and when a fire
was started with a strong wind, especially at night, the scene was grand
beyond descrip. tion. . The burning wave 'would travel as fast as a horse,
while the angry tongues of flame would dart upward thirty feet high, and an
awful roar, more terrifying than that of a cyclone, would awe the beholder
with the grandest emotions. Wild game would run from the burning grass at
their swiftest speed, or fall down -exhausted, to be devoured up by the jaws
of flame. The encircling timber would bound the limits of the fire. Many an
old settler lost his hay and house by the fires.
THE SETTLEMENT.
It is stated that the first settler in the present Stafford Township was a
man named Josiah Carrico, or as he became universally known and is called to
this day, Calico. He was a long-limbed Kentuckian,who had first settled in
Sullivan County, probably in Jefferson Township, but had come to what is now
Stafford Township as early as 1817, and possibly a year before. He located
in the southern part of the township on the bbrder of what is yet known as
the " Calico Mash." This was a large, marshy,open tract of land which
Carrico used as a pasture for his stock, and in which he is said to have
killed many deer and a few bears. He lived in the township until his death,
leaving several children, one of whom, it is said, now lives in Terre Haute.
Joseph Dixon settled soon afterward just east of Marco, and became
prominent. In about September, 1818, Jesse, John and Benjamin Stafford and
their uncle, Peter Caress, came to near Marco from "Kentucky, with a herd of
about thirty cattle, one yoke of oxen and two horses, one of which was
ridden by BenjamireJr., then a small lad, and after hurriedly building a
rude log cabin and arranging affairs comfortably, John went back to
Kentucky, leaving the others to clear sufficient. ground during the
remainder of the fall and the following winter for a crop in the year 1819.
The next spring, John returned with the team to assist in raising the crop.
The cattle had been herded in the rich winter pastures in his absence, by
the others, and a tract of fifteen or twenty acres had been cleared for the
crop. A small field of corn and a garden of vegetables were raised in 1819,
and the.following year, 1820, the remainder of the family came on from
Kentucky-It was about this time that Bartlett Goodman came in and located on
the northern line of the township. Mason Pitts came in about 1819, and
settled on the Jackson farm and was a noted hunter and trapper. Isaac Hubble
came at the same time and built a rude log cabin in the western part, where
he liyod for many years.-- James Walker, another settler of note, located
near Mr. Hubble, Andrew Wallace was a very early settler, coming in 1819,
or, as some say, in 1818. He established himself je the western part. where
there was quite a settlement as early as 1820— five or six or more families
near each other. Abraham Goodman also came in very early, locating in the
northwestern part. George and Moses William son came to reside in the
township as early as 1821,and very probably as early as 1820. Abraham
Garrett Merited in the western part in 1819, it is said, as did alEm Enoch
Morris and John Breese. This extensive settlement in the western part was on
the high, dry ground, and wasirally an outgrowth or expansion of an older
settlement in Sullivan County. Prior to 1821, all of Greene County west. of
the river, it should be noticed, was part and parcel of Sullivan County, so
that the earliest residents were residents of that county until the
Legislature created the county of Greene. Several other families came in
later, one of the most prominent being that of James Jarrel. Simon Hagerman
was another early one, as were the Brewers. In the western part, in the
vicinity of Marco, and in the southern part were the first settlements. By
the year 1825, there were not less than thirty families in the township.
Times were hard, and the settlers had all they could do to make an honest
living.
MASSEY'S COTTON GIN.
It will seem strange to any one not an old settler of Greene County, yet the
fact is that in early times considerable cotton was raised in every
township, and in some ne ighborhoods families raised not only enough to
clothe themselves in cotton garments, but had some to sell. For several
years during the decade of the twenties, the residents of Stafford and
Washington Townships engaged in this occupation so extensively that an
intelligent mulatto named Hugh Massey, devised machinery similar to the
primitive cotton gin of Eli -Whitney, and prepared to not only clear the
cotton of its seed, but also at the same time to tear it into shreds and
render it suitable for being carded by the women preparatory to being spun
and woven into cloth. He built a shed about forty feet long in which were
the machinery and the sweep, by means of which horses set the mill in
motion. In one end of this building, where the cotton was torn into shreds,
a tight room was built to prevent the loss of cotton by the freedom of the
wind. Interested spectators were permitted to peep cautiously in this close
room to see the gin at work. All this apparatus for handling the cotton was
on the second floor, while on the lower were the horses and heavy machinery,
and a small grist mill or corn cracker which had been started earlier by Mr.
Massey. The owner had been led into starting the cotton gin by the demand
from the neighborhood. I was soon discovered that a fair quality of cotton
could be raised, and as sheep were hard to keep, owing to the wolves and
other causes, the attention was directed to the cotton fields as a source
from which to obtain clothing. It is said that the Dixons raised as high as
twenty acres of cotton, and the Staffords often raised five, acres. Many
other families raised as much or more than this. Thousands of pounds were
grown annually in this neighborhood and taken to the mill of Mr. Massey. The
picking of the cotton in the fields became quite an extensive industry. Men
became quite expert, and in the fall made a business of traveling around
from field to field of cotton to pick on shares. They took one-half of the
cotton for picking the whole. The bolls were not as full • and heavy as they
are in the South, but they yielded a satisfactory return for the labor.
After the cotton had been to the mill of Mr. Massey, it was taken
to the homes, carded by hand, spun on the old wheels, and woven into cloth
in the looms of the pioneers. The cloth thus made was not as fine and smooth
as can be bought in the large stores of to-day, but it made good substantial
suits for summer, and when mixed with wool, furnished excellent
linsey-woolsey for winter wear. After_running a few years, the cotton mill
was abandoned, as the production of cotton gradually fell off. The grist
mill or 'corn cracker was operated longer. These mills stood on the
Vincennes road, about a mile and a half west of Marco. The corn cracker was
afterward owned by William Sulcer, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, whose
tax for many years on real estate was remitted by the County Board in
consideration of ill health caused in serving his country. The bolting was
done by hand, and of course the meal and flour furnished were coarse. The
mill ran about ten years.
OTHER EARLY INDUSTRIES.
An early mill of the township was started by John Purcell a short distance
west of the central part of the township. It was a genuine old corn cracker
with horse power, and was a curiosity in its way. A heavy roller was so
arranged that it crushed the corn on a broad base from which the meal was
brushed into a box or bag. It was started at an early day and was the first
improvement over the old way of crushing the grain by hand with mortar and
pestle. Its period of existence was brief and uneventful. Abraham Garrett,
at an early day, probably about 1833, built a long shed on his farm and put
in the necessary machinery, and commenced carding wool. Settlers would take
their wool to him and after it had been carded would return for it, take it
home, and spin and weave it into cloth. He operated the mill for several
years. The old mill on Black Creek was built quite early and ran for many
years with many changes in the ownership. The name of the builder could not
be learned. A. large dam, with an excellent natural mill site, furnished
water-power second to no other place in the county. Just above the dam the
country was as level as a floor, and over all this, now called the " Goose
Pond," a head of water was obtained to operate a dozen mills. The entire
country above could be kept under water, and was. After a year or two, this
was such a breeder of malaria that complaint arose, but the darn was not
removed, as it was too valuable. Finally, in the night it was cut, but was
repaired soon afterward. Everybody had the chills in that neighborhood. At
length the dam was destroyed one night, and the timbers of the mill were so
injured that the owners commenced legal proceedings against the
transgressors. The matter went to the Supreme Court, with just what
result.cannot be stated. The dam and mill were soon afterward permanently
abandoned. One or two other short-lived mills were operated in early years.
It is said that one or two small distilleries were conducted for a few years
in the decades of the thirties and forties. Nothing but a limited quantity
of corn whisky was manufactured.
HUNTING INCIDENTS.
Benjamin Stafford says that one morning he stood in his father's cabin and
counted over thirty deer passing in one herd. This was very unusual, as they
usually went in very small herds. They were very numerous, and could be shot
at almost any hour of the day. William Harrison was one day hunting in the
township when, in passing near the border of the Goose Pond, he saw a bear
out to one side in the woods. It seemed to be coming toward him, so he
concealed himself behind a clump of bushes, and after priming his rifle
awaited the approach of bruin. At last the animal came shambling along to
within easy rifle shot, when he took careful aim, fired, and stretched it
dead on the ground with a bullet through its head. He skinned it, and went
to the house and got a team of horses with which it was loaded on the sled
with skids with the help of some of the Stafford boys. It weighed when
dressed over 400 pounds. Its flesh was eaten by nearly all the neighbors. On
another occasion, Josiah Johnson was hunting in the vicinity of the Goose
Pond, with two dogs, which soon were heard at bay out in the woods, barking
at something they had treed. Mr. Johnson surmised by their angry and rapid
howls that they had encountered an animal of more than usual size and
ferocity. He accordingly hurried out to see what they bad found. He reached
the spot and saw a moderate sized bear in a large oak tree, to which it had
climbed after ascending a smaller oak which stood against the large one. The
animal stood on a high branch composedly eyeing the raging dogs below.
Without deliberating very long, Mr. Johnson brought the bear to the ground
with a bullet. It was seized by the dogs, but, after a few spasmodic kicks
and gasps, it became motionless. Mason Pitta was a hunter of courage and
experience. It is said he claimed to have killed more panthers than any
other resident of Sullivan County (the western part of Greene County was
part of Sullivan before 1821). He had an eye like a hawk; was easy and
graceful of movement; possessed great strength, courage and endurance, and
was a. dead shot off-hand with his rifle. He was a blacksmith, and when not
hunting was working the most of his time at his trade. One day, in passing
across an open space on his way to a neighbor's, returning something he had
borrowed, he saw a heap of grass and leaves, and going noiselessly up to the
spot, kicked the leaves away and hallooed at the top of his voice.
Instantly, two large panthers sprang out and bounded off like cats into the
marshy tract of land and were soon out of sight and sound. He had no gun,
but came back afterward with .gun and dogs, but could not find the "
painters," as he called them. It is said he shot one from a tree in the
southern part of the township on another occasion. Old man Carrico is said
to have killed three or four bears in the marsh near his house. One he
wounded, and as it came at him with open mouth he was compelled to use
his knife to prevent being " hugged " to death. The Stafford boys—Benjamin
and Azmabeth—in a very early day, with the aid of dogs, caught on Black
Creek four otters, an animal that was very rare even at that time.
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST.
The first entries of land were made as follows: Allen Reeves. on Section 35,
in October, 1816; Isaac Hubble, on Sections 7 and 18, in August, 1817; Mason
Pitts, on Section 6, in September, 1817; Joseph Dixon, on Section 25, in
October, 1817; Charles Scantland, on Section 86, in October, 1817; John
Hinkle, on Section 7, in 1818; Abraham Miller; on Section 29, in 1818; John
Smith, on Section 30, in 1818; John Hamilton, on Section 30, in 1818; Joseph
Hackley, on Section 32, in 1818; James Walker, on Section 6, in November,
1818; Abraham Garret, on Section 19, in 1818; Peter Hays, on Section 24,
in 1819; Benjamin Stafford, Sr., on Section 24, in January, 1819; Simon
Hagerman, on Section 13, in 1819, and Joseph Kirkpatrick, on Section 36, in
1821. Some of these men did not reside in the township. Carrico raised the
first crop in the township. William Miller, an old crippled Kentuckian, who
came to the township with Hagerman, was the first one to die. It is said
that one of the Hubbles was the first born. The first marriage was that of
John Reeves and Jane Carrico. The ceremony was performed by Squire Black, of
Carlisle, at the log cabin of old Mr. Carrico. The families living within a
few miles of the place were invited to witness the wedding and eat of the
supper prepared at the old fire-place of the cabin. The fare is said to have
been wild turkey, potatoes, corn bread and beans, seasoned with fat pork.
That was good enough for an historian.
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.
The first school in the township was taught in the western part, in a small
log cabin that, had been built for a residence by some settler and
abandoned. It had no floor but dirt, and no window but an insignificant
opening, over which not even glazed paper was fastened. It was usually left
open, serving td` admit light and air. A large fire-place was the most
interesting feature of the dismal little room, as its cheerful light and
heat filled the place with ruddy glow. The teacher is said to have been one
of the Hinkles, of Jefferson Township, Sullivan County. It is probable that
not more than one or two terms were taught in this house, though after this
the neighborhood was not without a school. Another early schoOl was taught
in the southern part, a few years later, by a man named Harvey. About the
same time, Mr. Cartwright and a Mr. Anderson taught schools near Marco. In
1830, there were only three well-established schools in the township, but in
1846 there were five, and a sixth one taught occasionally. ' Frame houses
were not built for schools until in the fifties, when the new school law
came into effect. Now the township is well supplied with school privileges.
The old Baptist Church on Black Creek was famous in its day. it was
organized about the year 1835, although meetings had been held in the
neighborhood at private residences and schoolhouses for a number of years
previously. Bartlett Goodman was one of the leading members. The Brewers,
the Purcells, Davises, Andersons, Collins, Coombs and others were among the
first members. On the 22d of March, 1844, Benjamin Stafford deeded to
Bartlett Goodman, Peter Cornus and E. Peach, " Trustees of the house of the
Lord, at Black Creek, to be and remain free for all denominations of
Christians to worship, except on the fourth Sunday and Saturday preceding,
and shall then be exclusively free for the denomination commonly called
Baptist," about one acre of land, on Section 25, upon which to build a
church. " Should two or more appointments come on the same day, the oldest
shall have the preference." A log church was built soon after this, the
contractors being John and Benjamin Stafford, Jr., who undertook to put up
the building for about $60. The luniber for the floor, door-casings, doors,
etc., was obtained at the old Fellows Saw Mill at Mineral City. This old
congregation lived and flourished many years. It is said that Aquilla Moss
organized the class. Bartlett Goodman succeeded him as minister, and then
came two men named Wilson, both of whom were prominent ministers, and
organized and served classes in all parts of the county.. Another class was
organized in the southwestern part, and a church was built 'which is yet
standing. The class is prosperous. Schoolhouses have been used for religious
as well as educational purposes.
MARCO VILLAGE.
This is the only town ever within the limits of the township, except Old
Marco. It owes its origin to Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad. It was laid
out in May, 1869, on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of
Section 25, Township 8 north, Range 7 west, and at first comprised 100 lots.
The proprietors were W. M. Franklin, Calvin Fletcher, Jr., and John T. Mafah.
At this time and before for a number of years, there was upon the town site
a log house occupied by Henry Coker. The next building was erected by the
railroad men for a boarding house, and is now the sesidence of Mr. Marsh.
Immediately after this, William Courtney finished a house that bad been
commenced by some one else. It is now used as a saloon. Marsh built an early
house, which is now used as a hotel by the Widow Sims. John Brewer built an
early, one and put in a stock of drugs.. Marsh had started his store before.
The depot was erected early. Benjamin Fry had lived down by the mill before
the town was founded. Four or five small buildings were put up early to
rent. J. 0. Burton came in with a stock of goods, and Dr. Hungate started a
saloon. This was a few years after the town started. In 1874, Franklin P.
Jarrell opened a store of general merchandise, since which time he has been
engaged actively in the business, with a large stock and with excellent
patronage for the little town. He has been admitted to the bar of the Greene
County Courts, and is the legal monitor of the town. Other merchants have
been Weaver &• Ray, John Fitzgerald, James Lyons, Himes & Loper, Hendron &
Son, P. S. Buskirk, Himes & Delay, John Gardner, Lyons & Hughes, Lyons &
Loaders. These men have had the leading business houses. Others have been in
business. Paul Sharp is the present and was the first blacksmith. Dr. R. A.
J. Benefiel was the first resident physician and Dr. Talbott was the second.
Dr. Aydelotte was in for a short time. The present physician is J. T.
Freeland. The Hunter Grist Mill and Saw Mill was built about 1874, and is
the leading feature of the town. William and Frank Hunter were the builders
and Proprietors, and are so at present. The grist mill is fitted with the
latest and best machinery, and furnishes first-class flour. The saw mill was
attached later. There, are three run of stones in the grist mill. An
elevator has been erected by Dagger & Co. Marco is one of the best
grain-shipping points of its size on the I. & V. Railroad. Martin & Stalcup
had a saw mill in town for several years. The town has a population of about
150. Within two or three years after the town was laid out, the Township
Trustee, Jacob Garret, built a small one-storied frahie schoolhouse at a
cost of about $500. Among the first teachers were John Page, Gould Norris
and Josie Norris. Before the erection of this house, the children went to
the country schoolhouse southwest three-fourths of a mile. This first-house
was used until the present fine two-storied brick was erected in 1870, at a
cost, including the furnishing, of about $2,400. There are two fine
rooms—one above and one below. Among the Principals in this building have
been Cavins, Stamper, Menges and the present (January, 1884) teacher, Mr.
Danielson, a graduate of the college of Baltimore, and an advanced student
of the splendid educational institutions of Germany, of which country he is
a native. The Methodists have a church in Marco. It was organized from the
remnants of an oldr.class that had been in the neighborhood for many years.
Within a few years after the town was founded, the class built a church
which cost about $1,300, and was paid for by all the
neighborhood—Christians, Pagans and Agnostics. The class is weak and its
membership uncertain. Among the members may be named Mrs. Baker, Fred Meese,
Dr. Benefiel, Mr. Winfield and others.
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 08:28:21 AM -0700