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Form 3427
G-t-N
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01802 3
32
GENEALOGY 977.202 F77ACPZ V.5
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2010 with funding from
Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
http://www.archive.org/details/pamphlets05publ
Fort Wayne and Allen Connty
PulDlic li'brary Pamphlets
^-^
FjOtt^tfe^ Series
Contents
1. The Allen County Co-urt House.
2. Fort Wayne Gamblers 1865-1900. 3« The Broadv/ay Cemetery.
4. Daily Life in Early Fort Vfayne.
5. A Sketch of Early Fort Wayne.
6. Beginnings of Fort Wayne .
7. Reminiscences of Old Fort Wayne..
8. Fort WajTie in 1838.
9. Streets of Fort Wayne.
10. Outline of Fort Wayne History 1750-1860.
11. The Allen Coimty War Memorial Coliseum.
12. The Organization of Allen County
13. Fort Wayne The Summit City.
14. Early Travelers to Fort Wayne.
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REFERENCET
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THE ALLEN COUNTY COURT HOUSE
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GUIDE TO ALLEN COUNTY COURT HOUSE
COMPILED BY
GEORGIANA W. BOND ADA C. FENTON
FORT WAYNE. INDIANA
PUBLIC LIBRARY OF FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
FORT WAYNE, INDIANA
1953
Copyright, 1913. by G. W. Bond
GEORGIANA WRIGHT BOND, 1855-1942
Georgiana Wright Bond, born in 1855, spent her early life in and near jNIadison, Indiana.
VI 1
She was the daughter of Captain James G. Wright, owner of Ohio River packets, and Oeorgiana Chalfant Wright, a refined and edu- cated woman of Kentucky, Georgiana Bond attended j\Iiss Nurse's School for Young Ladies in Cincinnati, Ohio; here she chose her trousseau l)efore lu'r marriage to Charles Ewing Bond, a banker of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
]\Irs. Bond was a cultivated woman. A charter member of the Woman's Reading Club, one of Fort Wayne's first women's organizations, she was stimulated by the interests and activities of that group to gather and preserve for posterity the information included in this guidebook, (ieorgiana Bond, together with Colonel and Mrs. Robert S. Robertson of this city, had collaborated with the architect, Brentwood S. Tolan, in choos- ing the inscriptions carved in the stonework.
Her little volume is an illustrated guide to th.e history, architecture, and ornamentation of the Allen County Court House; historical and allegorical scenes portrayed in the building's paintings and sculptures are interpreted for the reader. Letters, plans, and descriptive sketches from the arcliitects, artists, and sculptors fur- nished source material for the book. Compilation of references and writing the manuscript oc- cupied the author for several years; she was fifty-eight years of age when the work was pub- lished in 1913. The author was assisted by her sister, Mrs. Ada Wright Fenton, of Washing- ton, D. C.
During World War I, Mrs. Bond was in charge of the Red Cross Volunteer Production Work; her duties were discharged ably and efficiently. Living to the ripe old age of eighty- six, her keen and colorful memories of early life on the Ohio River were a source of great interest to her friends and family. Many recollections included incidents on the packet boats of the Ohio and INIississippi rivers and events of the Civil War.
viii
PREFACE.
The original issue of this book appeared forty years ago, and the siii)ply of copies has long since been exhausted. The merits of the author's guidebook together with the perennial demand of the public seem to justify republica- tion for free distribution at this time. The heirs of (ieorgiana Wright Bond have graciously per- mitted reissue of the work on a non-profit basis.
IX
CONTENTS
Page.
History of tlie Court House 1
l^lacing tlie Couuty Seat 1
First Allen County Court House 2
Second Allen County Court House 4
Third Allen County Court House 5
Fourth Allen County Court House 7
Exterior 10
Facades 1-
Artesian Well 1-^
fntei'ioi" 14
First. Floor 1 (>
Tablels 1<5
Second Floor 1^^
Third Floor 18
Law Library 1^
Rotunda 19
inner Balcony 24
Superior Court Room 24
Court Room No. 3 28
Court Room No. 2 34
Circuit Court Room 36
Dome and Balcony 43
Clocks 44
Artesian Well 44
Tunnel 44
(/ounty Seal 44
Conclusion 45
Statistics 46
xi
ILLUSTRATIONS
L Frontispiece.
2. Georgiana Wright Bond
o. Ileadin^x to IJegmnmg.
4. Sketch of Court House Xuniber L
5. Court House Xuniber 8.
6. Court House Xuniber 4.
7. Facades.
8. LoAver Corridor. !). Flooi' Fhnis.
10. Commissioners Court Room.
IL Rotunda.
12. Superior Court Room.
13. Panel — Literature.
14. Panel — Iron Industry.
15. Panel — Music.
16. AVest Wall (^ourt Room Xo. 3.
17. Battle of Fallen Timbers.
18. Panel — X^aming County Seat.
19. Panel — Finance.
20. Panel— Burial of Little Turtle.
21. West Pediment Circuit Court Room.
22. Panel— Call to War.
XUl
ALLEN COUNTY COURT HOUSE
HE Court House of Allen County, Indi- ana, in the City of Fort Wayne, stands, in its noble proportions and magnifi- cence of detail, a monument to the profound genius of its architect, Brentwood S. Tolan, and to the wisdom, foresight and judgment of the people of Allen County, and its Board of County Commissioners. It can also be claimed as the largest, most beautiful, costly, safe, and most splendid structure de- signed for County uses, of any in Indiana, or indeed, in the entire West, a work of combined arts that present and future generations must behold with just pride and admiration.
Before entering upon a detailed description of this splendid building, the fourth Allen County Court House to be erected on this site, a short history of its three predecessors may be in order.
PLACING OF THE COUNTY SEAT.
When, in the evolution of a State, a new County was to be formed, and its boundaries permanently defined, it was customary for the larger and more pretentious towns in that sec-
1
ti(»n, foreseeing all the advaiitaoes inevitably fol lowing the placing of a County Seat, to strive, bv offering substantial inducements to obtain tliis benefit. When therefore, in 1823. a new County was formed in Xortlun'u Tndi;ina. from pai'ts of Iiandoli)h aiul Dc^hnvare Counties, and called "Allen." in memory of the heroic Colonel John Allen, who lost his life in the battle of Raisin River, January 22. 1813, two astute business men. Jolin ]\IcCorkle. Escjuire, of Pi(iua, Ohio, and Jolm T. Barr of Baltimore, Maryland, owning property in the rising town of Fort Wayne, oft'ered to give the piece of ground oAvned by them, as a site for the County Court House, should the thriving town witli its population of 300 be selected as the seat of justice. This property, in 1822. had been plat- ted, and called "Tlie I^ublic 8(iuare."
This ]n'oposition having been accepted, these two public-spirited men added to their gift of land $400.00 in cash, a rather large sum for those days, and thus it was that Fort Wayne became the County Seat of Allen County. The 'n^ublic S(|uare,''* 141) feet wide, by 314 J -et long, whicii then, as now, was bounded on the noi'th by ^Main Street, on the east by Court Street, on the south by Berry Street, and on the west bv Calhoun Street, Avas recorded in 1833.
During the next seven years, however, no public building being pi'ovided. County busi- ness was transacted in the office of Alexander EAving, Es(|uire, at the southeast corner of Barr and Columbia Streets, or in that of William Suttonfield, at the northeast corner of these streets.
FIRST ALLEN COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
Tn 1831, Fort Wayne having doubled her
2
First All(>n Coiintv Coui't IIoiiso.
population, claiming some 800 in round num- bers, the County Board, consisting of Francis Alexander, William Casswell, and James Hol- man, ordered as a preliminary step, the brush and stumps removed from the public square, and definite measures were adopted and a con- tract let for the erection of the first Court House of Allen County, at a cost of .$3,321.75, ^'John S. Archer, Esquire," according to the (juaint old records, '"to furnish brick, Jam.es Hudson to lay them, supplying also lime and stone, Messrs. Hanna and Edsall, all lumber, timber, nails, glass, etc., besides the necessary carpenter work."
Public-spirited citizens subscribed $149.00 in cash, besides material and labor to tlie amount of $499.00, the remainder being paid from the County Treasury. This building was poorly constructed and was destined to remain unfin- ished. It was, however, used for nine years, and Court Avas held here for the first time May 7th, 1832. There are no pictures extant of this first Court House, but it is described by those who still recall it, as 40 feet s(iuare, a two-story brick edifice, perfectly plain, with its roof rising to a small cupola, and this surmounted
3
by a gilded ball, and weather-vane. It proved to be entirely inadequate for the needs of the fast-growing County and City, Fort Wayne in lS-i3 having a population of 1,500, several structures were built about the Court House enclosure to supplement its capacity, one of brick, a one-story affair, containing one Court room and two offices on the southeast corner of First and Berry Streets, and on the northeast corner, another, for the use of the County Treasurer and Auditor, while the County Clerk and Recorder had offices, respectively, upon the northwest and southwest corners. Here also upon the southwest corner stood the County Jail, destroyed by fire in 1837 in which a room was provided in its second story for the ''detention of debtors." This first Court House was condemned as unfit for further use in 1841, and the County Agent was authorized to sell it to the highest bidder. Tradition declares that it actually fell down, the gilded ball and weather-vane becoming the property of Mr. Henry Rudisill and was long preserved and used as the crowning ornament of the chicken-coop at his suburban home on Spy Run.
THE SECOND ALLEN COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
For six years no temple of justice graced the public square until in 1843 the Commissioners, Nelson McLain, F. D. Laselle, and Joseph Hall, awarded a contract to the firm of Samuel Edsall & Company "for the building of a new Court House at a cost not to exceed $15,000." This, completed in 1847, was considered in its day, an imposing affair, and was dedicated with a proper show of appreciation. It was of brick, one story in height of very plain exterior and situated on the east side of the square.
4
THIRD ALLEN COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
In 1860, the City now numbering 10,300 in population, and the County growing rapidly, sealed proposals were asked for the building of a larger Court House to meet the increasing demand of public business, to be placed in the center of the Public KSquare and to be built, according to plans and. speciiications, prepared by Edwin May, Esquire, of Indianapolis. To Samuel Edsail was awarded the contract at $63,613.00 and the third Allen County Court House was completed and accepted July 23, 1862.
This was, as is shown by the engraving, a square brick structure, a com.bination of Doric and Corinthian architecture, and had for its exterior ornamentation life-size figures of Gen-
5
erals AVayne and Washington in fnll Continen- tal uniforms, in niches npon the northern and western facades, respectively. This was further g7'aced by a central cupola with four clock dials, facing the four enclosing streets. The arrangement of the interior, while severely plain, was sufficient for the demands of the time, the only attempt at nuiral decoration being two figures in fresco on the walls of the Court Room on either side of the judge's stand, Columbus and the Goddess of Liberty.
The corner-stone, a block of marble, was laid Avith imposing ^Masonic ceremonies. May 1st, 1861, and was inscribed:
CORNER STONE.
Mav 1st, 1861, A. D. 5. 861.
P>y Sol lUiyiess, P. G. M.
Marshall Crow)
John Shaffer - County Commissioners.
Isaac Hall )
— Contractors. —
S. E. Edsall ajid V. :\r. Kimball.
Designed by Edwin May, Esquire.
Superintendent — Sanmel McElfatrick.
Builder— 1). L. Silva.
This corner-stone is preserved in the present Court House. The total cost of this building- was about $78,000, including architect's and superintendent's fees. Ft was not fire-proof and conse<|uently was an unsafe repository for the valuable documents, etc., that had been by this time accumulated in its store-room.
Such, in brief, was the history of Alien Courjty's first three Court Houses. Once again, howeve]-, pnbiic business demanded increased facilities for its pr(>i)er transjictioU; and better
protection for the important records and papers in its keeping.
The City of Fort Wayne, rich in historic interest, in enterprise and wealth, situated in the fertile and consequently rapidly developing Allen County, having attracted and held man}^ business men of large means, with a growing population in 1895 of about 40,000, it was deter- mined, by the County Commissioners, Messrs. Sylvanus Baker, Matthew Ferguson, and John H. Stellhorn, to build once more an Allen County Court House, and this time not alone for present needs, but, with foresighted wis- dom, for generations to come. They agreed upon a fire-proof building which would fittingly represent in design and construction the dig- nity of the City, the County and the people, and in 1895, after a critical inspection of plans sent in by many well-known architects, of highest standing, those submitted by a fellow-towns- man, Mr. Brentwood S. Tolan, were chosen, and in 1897 the contract was let to James M. Stew- art & Company of St. Louis, Mo.
THE FOURTH ALLEN COUNTY COURT HOUSE-
The present stately edifice, its own commen- tary- upon the taste and judgment of the Board of Commissioners, was accomplished from, in- ception until it stood a completed achievement, without a law-suit or serious interference of any kind ; and the people of Allen County can look with pride, just and great, upon this, the gem of their many goodly possessions, noble in exterior, and beautiful throughout.
The corner-stone vras laid with impressive services Nov. 17, 1897 ; addresses by Colonel R. S. Robertson and Honorable Wm. P. Breen, fol- lowing prayer by Reverend Samuel "Wagenhals,
7
of the English Lutheran Church. An address was also made by Governor J. A. Mount, who, with his staff, graced the occasion, the music led by Professor Guillem Miles, being furnished by a chorus of girls from the Public Schools.
Imbedded in the corner-stone, which is set in the northeast corner of the building, corner of Court and Main streets, is a copper box made by John H. Welsh & Son, Fort Wayne, contain- ing copies of daily papers, lists of County offi- cials, statements of County finances, data of County business, coins of different denomina- tions and memorials of various kinds. The stone is inscribed :
ALLEX COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
Erected A. I). 1897-1900.
This' stone was laid bv Judge Johri ]\Iorris,
Nov. 17th, 1897.
8
Commissioners from comnjencement to com- pletion :
1896 - 97—
Jasper W. Jones, Prest.
Matthew A. Ferguson, Yice-Prest.
John Stellhorn, Sec'y-
1897 - 98—
Matthew A. Ferguson, Prest. Svlvanus Baker, Yice-Prest. Chas. E. Orff, Sec'y.
1898 - 1900—
Matthew A. Ferguson, Prest. Augustus K. Schnitker, Vice-Prest. Chas. E. Orff, Sec'y.
Auditor 1896-97— Clarence W. Edsall. Auditor 1897-98— Louis J. Bobilya. Auditor 1898-1900— Wm. Meyer, Jr.
Brentwood S. Tolan, Architect.
Successor to
Thomas J. Tolan & Son.
Wm. H. Goshorn, Superintendent.
This most magnificent temple of Justice, cost- ing Avith its interior furnishings $817,553.19, was dedicated Wednesday, September 24, 1902, in the presence of a large gathering of people from far and near.
Following the invocation by the Right Rev- erend Herman J. Alerding, Bishop of Fort Waj^ie, the Attorney for the Board, Honorable James M. Barrett, in an eloquent address an- nounced the completion of the building, its acceptance being acknowledged by the Honor- able Chas. McCulloch.
Honorable AVm. Bourke Cochran, of New
9
York, was the special orator of the day. Colonel R. S. Robertson giving the liistorical address, in Avhieh he said, "Every detail of use or orna- ment, every decoration inside or out, exce})ting the mural paintings, was conceived, modeled, cast or sculptured and carried out to a finish within tiie limits of the Court House Square- and most of it within the Court House walls." The Reverend David W. Moffett, D. D., pas- tor of the First Presbyterian Church, pro- nounced the benediction. Shober's and tlie First Regiment Bands, furnished the music and a special "Dedication IMarclr' composed for this occasion by ]\[r. Geo. E. Holmes, then of Fort Wayne, was much appreciated and ap- l>lauded.
EXTERIOR.
The nobly proportioned building, absolutely fire-proof, is of blue limestone, from the cele- brated (juarries of Bedford, Indiana, and is a combination of the Renaissance, Roman, and Grecian, in architecture. While the graceful columns and pilasters of the first and second stories proclaim the Ionic in sentiment and style, diversity is found in the Corinthian type upon the third story.
A very beautiful and distinctive feature is presented by tlu' graceful Ionic columns and caj)itals set twelve feet apart, surrounding the upi)er j)art of the building, the colonnade repeating, in suuiller size columns, about the dome. The harmoniously pi'oportioned dome contains clock dials facing the four corner's of tli<' compass, and, surmounting the whole beau- tiful creation, a revolving copper statue of Eilx'rty holding her torch of ('ulighlenment. hci-oic in size, 18 feet 8 inches in height and cosliji*: -1^1 .()()().
10
Calhoun Street Front — 1. Agriculture ; 2. Transportation ; 3, Commerce ; 4, Spirit of Civilization ; 5, Science ; 6. Inven- tion ; 7, Industry ; 8, Ambition ; 9, Enterprise ; 10. Diligence ; 11, Knowledge ; 12. 13, Victory ; 14, Washington ; 15, Jurispru- dence ; 16, Law Study ; 17, Lafavette.
Berry Street Front — IS, The People ; 19, Jurv ; 20, Prose- cuting Law ; 21, Spirit of Law ; 22. Defending Law ; 23, Client ; 24, Supreme Court ; 25, Incorruptibility ; 26, Fearlessness ; 27, Learning ; 28, Impartiality ; 29. 30, Fam'e ; 31, Anthony Wayne ; 32. Detective and Preventive Law ; 33, Mercy ; 34, John A'llen.
Court Street Front — 35. Music and Stage Art ; 36, Art ; 37. Literature ; 38, Spirit of Civilization ; 39, Theology : 40, Medicine ; 41, Law ; 42, Faith ; 43, Perseverance ; 44, Genius ; 45, Truth ; 46. 47, Peace.
Main Street Front — 48. Army and Navy ; 49, Congress and Senate ; 50, Debating ; 51. Spirit of Government ; 52. Voting Citizen: 53. Wife and Child of Citizen: 54. Supreme Court: 55. I'ower ; 56. Progress : 57. System ; 58, Wisdom ; 59. 60. Pros- l)erity : 61. Little Turtle : 62. War ; 63, Peace ; 64, Tecumseh.
Tlie sketch of the exterior, as shown here, will give a very full idea of it, especially inter- esting, as it was made by the author Mr. Dux himself, and gives his own interpretation of the allegorical designs. He says in a personal letter to the writer. ''The Calhoun Street or main side of the building represents civilization and embraces all branches of it, LaAV, Government. &c.. &c., &c., the other sides represent the same,, only ]nore in detail.
FACADES.
The Calhoun Street or west side is 'further enriched with a set of ornamental tablets, inscribed Avith the names of the twenty town- ships of Allen County, and just below the cornice in the center is the carved Cjuotation : —
"Forth fi'om this fair life Measureless things are wrought A thought-dawn born
Which shall not cease to broaden till its beam ]\rakes noon of knowledge For a gathered world.''
Above the entrance on this side is the maxim:
"Be just and fear not."
AVith the inscription on the second story
above the entrance :
''Jurisprudence is the knowledge of things di- vine and human ; the science of what is right and Avhat is wrong."
On the south, or Berry Street side, are the words carved above the door — "Law favoreth Charity."
The second story bearing the inscription — "Justice — the hope of all who suffer — Tlie dread of all who wrong" —
12
surmounting which, just below the cornice, is the quotation : —
''Poise the cause in justice scales — Whose beams stand sure, Whose rightful cause prevails."
Above the large art -glass window in the cen- ter of the Court Street or east side are the familiar lines from Tennyson's ''Locksley Hall"—
''Doubt not — through the ages
One increasing purpose runs ;
And the thoughts of men are widened
With the process of the suns. ' ' —
followed just above the door wdth — ' ' consent makes the law. ' '
The upper inscription upon the north of Main Street end is those wonderfully forceful words from Webster's famous speech in reply to Haynes in 1830:
"The people's Government; made for the people ; Made by the people and answerable to the people."
The second story shows Tennyson's beautiful lines :
"Ring out the thousand wars of old" Ring in the thousand years of peace," — and just above the entrance —
"Law hateth wrong."
Above the cornice, outlining the building on the Berry, Main and Court street facades, are numerous panels bearing full length figures of men in groups of three, representing the many explorers, pioneers, warriors, statesmen, jurists, scientists and inventors, etc., etc., who for
13
especial ability in the many different fields of effort, have deservedly been awarded enduring l')hues in tlie annals of our country's history.
INTERIOR.
Entering on each of the four sides of the building through triple doors, flanked by mas- sive granite columns, we find handsome mosaic floors of encaustic tiles in vestibules, lobbies, rotunda, and Commissioners' Court Room, the other floors being of cement or hard wood laid on cement.
The lower corridor is open fi'om end to end and fi-om side to side, througli the center of tile building, the large pillars of Scagliola sup- poi'ting the center and surrounding the well of tl)(' dome or rotunda, while Ix^autiful Italian uiai-ble si airways lead from tin- entrances on
14
r»mD fi-Oa a Co/vsi/crAnov /^oofs
B SrA/asTo Towrfi
C Public Clzva tqr
D St^i/Aroft iMAcr
£ F/>esn Am /f^TAnc
a: ^ TA IfiS To MezzA/WIE. /"z. OOfi
C. Pp/ ^A TE Elevator .
A. 5TAifis To Jc/fy RooMi Above
I. Closets.
:£WND HOOR C. PuBi/c £leva to" .
D. SLSi/ATOR 5f*AfT.
C Fresh AiK //\/TAM£.
f CASHIEfS.
6 PkiVATC £LEVATOfi. H CHECK DeSK.
/ Closets
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D. FLEVATTia SMArT CALHOUN i>T
£ ffiesH Aii^ /"TAxc. f\ ^TAinsTo SASEnE/rr.
C f^li-ATt: SlEVATOR-
M. Master Clock />oom. I. Closets.
FLOOR PLAffS Of ALLEN CXJUNTY COURT HOUS£. SCAiE-Ji.-.r d.S. TOLA N, AFCHITECr.
the first or basement floors to tlie two success- ive floors above, a separate stairiva}^ leading from the Callioun Street door to the third or Judiciary floor, provided for the use of judges, jury, officers, etc., insuring greater dispatch and privacy in reaching the Court Rooms, Avhich are on this floor. Throughout the build- ing Italian marble walls rise to the ornamental plaster cornices. Large columns are used tlir(Uighout the halls, on the lower floor, of Verde Antique Scagliola, and tliose surround- ing tlie Avell of the dome are of a beautiful cream pink, reminding one of ^Mexican Onj^x. The Scagliola used throughout has been pro- nounced by artist experts to be of unsurpassed excellence.
FIRST FLOOR.
Offices for Township Trustees, Sherifl:', Sur- veyor, Assessor, Coroner, Health Officers, Su- perintendent of Public Schools, Engineer, Jan- itor, etc., are on the ground floor, as well as a large Assembly Room, for the public meetings of citizens. Here, also, are found passenger elevators and an attractive Rest Room for women, equipped with easy chairs, desks, couches and lavatory. The general disposition of these apartments, can best be seen by a glance at tlie floor plan given on preceding page, kindly supplied by ^Ir. Tolan, the archi- techt of this building.
TABLETS.
Embedded in the wall on the first floor, front- ing the north elevator shaft is the old corner- stone, taken from the immediate predecessor of this Court House, and on ascending the east stairway, we find placed just beneath the large window, a bronze tablet, inscribed —
16
''MEMORIAL TABLET."
"Building ordered September 4th, 1895. Com- pleted October 3rd, 1900.
Commissioners 1896 - 97 —
Jasper W. Jones, President. Matthew A. Ferguson, Vice-President. John H. Stellhorn, Secretary.
Commissioners, 1897 - 98 — Matthew A. Ferguson, President. Sylvanus F. Baker, Vice-President. Charles E. Orft', Secretary.
Commissioners 1898 - 1900 — Matthew A. Ferguson, President. Augustus R. Schnitker, Vice-President. Charles E. Orff, Secretary.
Auditor 1896-97— Clarence W. Edsall. Auditor 1897-98— Louis J. Bobilya. Auditor 1898-1900— William Meyer, Jr.
ARCHITECT—
Brentwood S. Tolan, Successor to Thomas J. Tolan & Son.
Inspector — Henry W. Jensen.
Superintendent — William H. Goshorn.
Contractor — James Stewart & Co."
Above this tablet, enclosing the arch of the large art-glass window, are two beautiful sculp- tured figures symbolizing ' ' The County and the City." On the left, a female figure, holding a stalk of corn, represents the products of the rural districts, while on the right her sister figure, holding a distaff, typifies the industry of the city.
This dignified and graceful allegorical piece, sliown as heading to first page, representing
17
tlie bond between the county and city, was conceived and executed by Mr. Wni. I>arth, of tlie firm of Bartli & Staak, and presented by liini to the Court House.
Cumniissionc'i's Court Uuom.
SECOND FLOOR.
ri)on the second floor are to l)e found the offices of County officials, Auditoi''s Office and Record Rooms, Treasure!' "s Office, Clerlv's Office and Record Room, with the County Commissioners Court Room in the center of tlie west side, all spacious in size and hand- somely appointed and for convenience of arrangement unsurpassed.
THIRD FLOOR.
Upon the third, or Judiciary P'loor. are situ- ated four Court Rooms with Jury Rooms, Wit- ness and Private Consulting Rooms. These are
18
connected by separate corridors insuring ease of communication, and greater privacy. The Jury Rooms adjoin the Court Rooms, or are on the mezzanine floor above them.
LAW LIBRARY.
The well-e(iuipped law library- is placed on the third floor directly in the center of the west side.
There are about 2.000 volumes on the library shelves, many of vrhich are very rare and of great value. Just at the present time the Allen County Law Library Association is planning the expenditure of one thousand dollars for additional books which will greatly increase the resources of the librarv.
ROTUNDA.
The open rotunda extending from first floor to the lovely arch of the dome, flanked by im-
19
pressive stairways and encircled by massive pillars and fine ballustrades, is the center of tlit^ whole masterful conception. Outside, from whatever direction one approaches, the nobly ])ropoi'tioned dome, which is its outer shell, is the first thing to catch the eye, and the torch in ''Liberty's" hand indicates to the passerby the apex of the achievement. Within, very fit- tingly, richer materials and more elaborate decorations have been used than in other parts of the interior, sculpture, paintings, marbles, and a broad scheme of color and ornamentation in stucco relief unite with the lofty architec- tural design to form a most notable interior.
The floor of the rotunda is scjuare with a central well, circular on the office floor, octa- gonal on the Judiciary Floor, each surrounded with ballustrade of pure Italian marble, the floors of encaustic tiles laid in rich mosaic de- sign.
The four sides are arched by graceful pend- entives to meet the dome and enclose great semicircular windows filled with stained glass which together with the stained glass in the top of the dome supply the greater part of the light needed for illuminating the rotunda. In the evening the light is furnished entirely by elec- tricity.
Encircling the four arched windows are ex- (juisite mural paintings from the studio of Mr. Charles HoUoway, of Clinton, Iowa, by whom they Avere designed and executed.
The following is Mr. Holloway's own descrip- tion of the paintings :
''The sketch on the north arch sym- bolizes a community that is governed by just laws tempered with mercy. Under such condi- tions the people are content and prosperous and commerce and the manufacturers, arts and
20
science flourish, fii the center of tlie arch is the figure of the Law with open book of the code in her lap, and holding in either hand the tablets of the God-given law. To the right of the Law is the figure symbolizing Justice, holdr ing the flaming sword and scales, and on the left is the figure of ^lercy placing a restraining hand upon the lap of the Law. On one side of the arch, are symbolized, by appropriate fig- ures, the Industries. Agriculture is typified by the husbandman, holding in his hand the sythe, and Avith a sheaf of grain by his side, while Commerce is pointing out to him a market for his produce in lands across the sea.
Below are the figures bringing the products of the soil to the wharf. In front, is the figure with a distaff, symbolic of the industry of Weaving, and in the foreground is the black- smith standing beside an anvil, with a sledge- hammer in his hand, and by his side a machin- ist is testing with a hammer a cog-wheel for flaws. The group symbolizes ^Manufactures in general.
On the other side of the arch, in the fore- ground, are shown the sister arts of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The architect with his plan across his knee and dividers in his hand, is discussing with the Painter and Sculptor the decorations of his building.
To the side of them a figure reading a book symbolizes Literature, and next to her Poetry with inspired air is reciting her verses. To the right of the group of Literature, Music is represented by two figures, one playing on the pipes and the other on the lyre.
The whole subject is treated classically, and in the abstract.
The subject of the east panel is Peace and Prosperitv.
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Jn the center of the arch is the white robed, flower-crowned figure of Peace in a golden chariot, garlanded with flowers, and twined with fruit and olive brandies, drawn over the rose tinted clouds with white horses festooned with flowers and leaves. Floating alongside the chariot of Peace are her handmaidens, all robed in white, scattering flowers over the sunlit earth. Below, to the right in the flower-decked valley among the green trees youths and maid- ens are dancing to the music of the shepherd's pipe. Beyond in the sunlight tlu^ flocks are graz- ing, in the background runs a train of purple hills. On the left side of the arcli winding down the sunlit slope tlirougli the trees to the cool shade of the foreground, is Ceres, the God- dess of Earth's Fruitfulness. At the head of the procession, two youtlis are leading with fes- toons of flowers a white bull garlanded with green leaves. On either side are maidens play- ing on musical instruments. All is joy and hap- piness, peace and plenty. (See frontispiece)
The subject of tlie Soutli panel is Despotism and Anarchy.
Despotism in wliich the whim of an individ- ual is the supreme law, where the knout and axe are wielded without the thought of justice, and discontent and anarchy are rampant. In the center of the arcli under an architectural canopy lies reclining on a gilded couch, tlie Despot, a sensual animal type, a Nero, sur- rounded by his henchmen and guard ; a woman on bended knee pleading for justice, for her daughter's honor, for her own honor, in vain. A soldier lays his hand roughly on her shoulder and drags her away to be lashed. Below to the right of the center, prisoners in chains are be-
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ing dragged to the dungeon or knout, old men and youths and fair maidens. The executioner applies the lasli to the brawny shoulders of a strong man, who lies in agony. The people crowd around, awe-struck and horrified, some with stolid faces biding their time, others more reckless and with threatening look and ges- tures. On tlie left side a wild crowd of the peo- ple is clamoring for justice, in the background others are beginning to apply the torch, the people are in arms, tlie revolt is on, and an- archy follows in its path.
Following in the train of lawlessness. War is shown upon the west panel. As peace and prosperity are the natural outcome of laAV and order, so is war and devastation the inevitable result of despotism and anarchy. In the center of the arch is tlie genius of War in an armored chariot drawn by wild horses and fiends, with serpent-entwined hair and pendulous breasts. Tn the background riding with the dark green clouds across the lurid sky lighted up with the flame of the burning city, are Death, Pesti- lence and Devastation, typified by appropriate figures below, (,'oming from either side, the two armies are clashing together — the people are gaining, the forces of Heaven lend their aid and shadowy figures from the dark clouds are twirling thunderbolts which compel the enemy to fall back, and be trampled under the feet of the horses of those following — the people rush in with redoubled force — victory will be theirs. Okl men and women are wailing over the dead bodies of loved ones. A mother clasps her son to h.er breast while with the other hand she buckles on his sword, a husband embraces his wife and child while moving on to battle. The dead and wounded, and frightened groups of women and children fill the foreground."
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INNER BALCONY. The inner balcony is just above the dome pic- tures and just below the stained -glass cap of the dome. The view down the Avell of the rotunda from here on a clear day is entrancing- Iv beautiful.
?»^ ^WiSRw^ ^''■^
SUPERIOR COURT ROOM- l^eginning a survey of the rooms on the Ju- diciary Floor, we find the Superior Court occu- pying the extreme south end. It is considered by many to be the most beautiful of the four Court Rooms in its color scheme and appoint- ments. The walls of a rich ]\Iassachusetts Scagliola are panelled in a darker tone, relieved with lighter Alps green l)orders. On the west side is the Judge's stand, back of Avhich is his private I'oom. All the fui'nishings are of rich mahogany, lielow the oi'nameiital cornice, the Avails are rncirchHl with a fric/c of l)ronze
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sculptured panels, the consistent subject of which is Government in its different depart- ments, as Fine Arts, Liberal Arts, Industries, Science. These masterpieces are the work of Messrs Barth & Staak, of Fort Wayne, and must be critically examined to appreciate the art and delicate beauty of their conception.
We are fortunate in having the authors' own description of these artistic creations of their genius. Along the Avest wall beginning at the left hand corner we find five panels represent- ing as a whole the "Government of the United. States. ' ' These show in : —
No. 1. United States Treasury — Represent- ed by a male figure in center, on left the coin- ing of money, with the United States Mint in the background ; on the right, the printing of bank-notes with the United States Treasury Building in the background.
Xo. 2. Education — A female figure in cen- ter. Left, mental education shown by youth studjdng — Owl and Sphinx, emblems of wisdom and the unknown. Upon the right, physical education exemplified by disc throwers.
Xo. 3. Laws — A male figure in center hold- ing the written Constitution. Left, a group of warriors, woman and child, signifies protection for the weak and helpless. Right, man casting ballot. Capitol at Washington shown in back- ground.
X^^o. 4. Judiciary — In center a female figure as the Law decides between the guilty culprit on the right, and the accused innocent on the left.
X"o. 5. Agriculture — A female figure in the center represents the fruitful earth ; dairy and cattle raising on the left and on the right, man and horse, tillers of the soil.
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Upon the north wall from left to right are five panels representing the Sciences.
No. 1. Natural History — A female figure with thoughtful brow, seatetl between Flora and Fauna.
No. 2. Geology and Chemistry — Male figure in center holds the crystal. Left group signi- fies Chemistry, right group compounding drugs.
No. 3. Medicine — ^Esculapius. the Father of Medical instructors in center, teaching. On the left. Surgery is represented, dissection of body; right, ^ledication.
No. 4. Astronomy — Hipparch us," Father of Astronomy," in center, Avitli students on right and left studying the Heavens with refractor.
No. 5. Literature, accompanied by Cupid as Poetry on left and the Drama on right. Con- gressional Library in background.
On the east wall, opposite the Judge's stand, are five panels, which from left to right, repre- sent the Industrial and Liberal Arts.
Xo. 1. Cai-i)entry.
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Xo. 2. Masonry— Til e triumphal Arch of Constantine, and the Egyptian pyramids in the background represent the results of enduring masonry.
\o. 3. A cartouche hohling clock for the room, with figures representing America, past and present. An Indian, on the left, with crude weapons and dress stands for the past — on the right a mechanic holding a telephone, with loco- motive in foreground, speaks of progress in the j)resent.
Xo. 4. Ii'on hulusti'ies — At left foundi'y work is illustrated : at right, machinery and structural iron work, most perfect exam|)le of which is shown in the Ferris wheel in back- ground.
Xo. 5. Decorative Art Industries — At left an artisan at work on scroll ; at right, chasing and embellishing a lielmet.
Along the south wall, from left to right, are five panels illustrating the Fine Arts.
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No. 1. Ai'chitecture — ReprewSented by a no- ble female figure in center. Left and rigbt students at work and submitting sketches. A ehend) as Genius points to the Parthenon in backgi'ound.
Xo. 2. Sculpture — A female figure in cen- ter re})resents this most noble of arts. A genius hoUls a crown I'eady foi- the successfid artist.
Xo. -S. Female figure as Painting, sister art to Sculpture, with brusli and palette; Students at work right and left.
Xo. 4. ]\Iusic — Female figui'e seated at oj-- gan. ty})ifying Sacred IMusic. Left. Dramatic ^lusic ; right. Song or Vocal ]\Iusic.
Xo. 5. Dramatic Art — Tragedy in centei' with book and dagger; Youths as actors around her; I^ust of Shakespeare at left.
The panel "]\Iusic" very justly admired, was executed by a friend of i\Ir. Bai'th, Mr. Richard Zeitner, of Cincinnati, a vei'y able sculptor and tlie panel "Dramatic Art" was also executed by a visiting sculptoi', ]\Ir. William Ehrman.
COURT ROOM NO. 3.
Xorth of the Superior Coui-t Room, and sej)-
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arated from it by a narrow corridor, is the ex- tra Court Room, known as Number Three. The Avails of Belgium Black and Gold Scagliola are finished above the ornamental cornice with mural paintings by Mr. Florian Piexotto, of New York, and Cincinnati, and ^Ir. Charles Ilolioway, who also created the exquisite paint- ings in the dome. Important episodes in the early history of this section of the country, part of the great "Northwest Territory" as it was then styled, are depicted. The paintings upon the south wall by Mr. Florian Piexotto reproduces "the Battle of Fallen Timbers.'" Avith "Mad'' Anthony Wayne and his brave soldiers putting to rout the Indians and Cana- dians, led by the Chippewa Chief ]\Iasass, or Turkeyfoot, the gallant Wayne liaving at his command only 800 men as opposed to a horde estimated at 2,000. This decisive battle took place in August 1794 near Ft. ^liami, which is nov\' the town of ]\Iaumee, Ohio, and effectually
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destroyed the confederacy of Indian tribes. This battle took place in a wood in which were many trees felled by a recent hurricane, and among them the Indians were ambushed. A boulder from vrhose summit ^lasass endeavored to rally his fleeing followers, still marks the si)ot. It weighs about 6800 lbs., and has rudely carved upon it a turkey-foot, and other Indian characters. After this battle General Wayne and his small army resumed their march to the spot afterwards called Fort Wayne.
A pretty little painting hangs upon the wall just under this picture of the battle, which shows the spot where it occurred and the mem- orable boulder.
I\Ir. HoUoway's painting on the north wall l)ortrays the "Treaty at Greenville,'' that mo- mentous and important treaty between General Anthony Wayne and the Allied Indian Tribes, headed by Little Turtle. This took place at Greenville, Ohio, in the Fall of 1795, after the Hattle of Falh^n Timbers, General Wayne hav- ing gone into winter (|uarters in Fort Wayne before resuming his return east. Hy this treaty valuable grants of land were conceded by the Indians, and after it, the permanent settlement of this region began and civilization moved foi*- ward apace.
The picture shows General Wayne seated at tlie right with his officers, and the famous In- dian Chiefs of history standing or seated on the ground at left, with that famous and astute warrior. Little Turtle, "the white man's friend.'* occupying the central place.
A later episode in the history of Fort Wayne is commemorated in the second of ]\Ir. Hollo- way's j)aintings over the door on the east wall, the famous ride of brave William Olliver, Sep- temlxM*. 1812 Avho is depicted accompanied by
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his four loyal Indian — one of whom was the re- nowned half-breed Logan — upon the perilous ride from General Harrison's headquarters, at Piqua, Ohio, through the enemy-infested woods, bearing to the besieged garrison at Fort Wayne, word of approaching relief. It is to be regret- ted that there are no copies of these pictures extant vrith the exception of the very inade- (juate one of the Battle of Fallen Timbers here gfiven.
Battlo of Falls n Timl)c-i-s.
The handsome bas-relief panels, the work of ^Messrs Barth & Staak, encircling this room, are of especial interest, as they are, in many in- stances portraits of men who were instrumental in establishing Allen County, and laying a firm foundation for its future prosperity.
From left to right around the room, begin- ning at the southeast corner, we see.
No. I. Governor William Hendricks, hand- ing to Allen Hamilton his credentials as first Sheriff of Allen County, April 2, 1824.
No. 2. Committee with General John Tipton pointing to portrait of Colonel Allen, and nam- ing the new county in his honor.
No. 3. Fort Wayne declared the County Seat. Caleb Levris and Lot Blumfield, of Wa}ne County. Abiathei' Hathaway of Fay- ette County, William Connoj' of Hamilton County and James M. Hay of Marion County, appointed by Governor to select the County Seat. This they did at the house of Alexander Ewing, Esq., I\Iay 4. 1824.
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Naming the County Seat.
No. 4. Meeting of first Board of County Commissioners of Allen County, Indiana. Wil- liam Rockhill, James Wyman and Francis Com- paret were the Commissioners, and with them met Samuel Hanna and Benjamin Cushman, Associate Judges, and Anthony L. Davis, Clerk and Recorder, 26th of May, 1*824.
No. 5. Judge Samuel Hanna, first Judge of Allen County, represented as ''Protector of In- dustries. ' '
WEST WALL.
Xo. 1. Iron Industries — An early specialty of Fort Wayne.
Xo. 2. Seal of Indiana over Judge's seat. Xo. '4. Transportation — Past and present.
NORTH WALL.
Xo. 1. Bust of Hon. Hugh McCHilloch, Allen County's distinguished son, at one time Secre- tary of the United States Treasury. He was first Compti'oller of the (,'urrency and orig- inator of that office. He is liere represented, partly allegorically, as Finance, with Columbia p)-esenting him the United States Treasurer- ship, and Fortune smiling upon him with gifts m her hand. United States Treasury Building shown in background.
•«^ JJ(lIlft*«*e^^
Finance.
Panels in the alcove on this side represent the canal period of our evolution.
No. 1. Old methods of transportation, by wagons, etc., etc.
No. 2. Breaking ground for the stupendous undertaking of joining the waters of Lake Erie with the Mississippi River, by means of "the Wabash and Erie Canal,'' Feb. 22, 1882. Panel shows Mr. J,ordan Vegus, Es(i., Canal Commis- sioner turning the first sod as he said, "T am now about to- commence the Wabash and Erie Canal in the name and by the authority of the State of Indiana." Charles W. Ewing was the orator of the day.
No. 8. Completion of canal, 1843. General Lewis Cass was orator on this occasion.
No. 4. Shows the new means of transporta- tion by boats, a great step taken in the forward movement of civilization. The first boat to pass Fort Wayne was the "Indiana,'' Capt. Asa Fairfield, and })lied between Fort AVayne and Logansport.
Panel on north wall between the alcove and east wall, commemorates the name and person of Allen Hamilton. The County in the guise of
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a noble female fiour(\ is g-iviiig to him tlie Star of (Office ill reeogfiiitioii of his worth and serv- ice.
Tile eloeiv ojiposite t!ie Judge's seat is frametl with aliegorieal figures. Xight and .Alorning. or the "Passing of Time," whik' the panel to the left of it is Agriculture — and (!ie right. Arts and Sciences.
This room is ustnl at present hy the Daugh- ters of tlie American Revolution for the safe- guai'ding of many articles of especial historic interest, which will well repay a visit of in- spection, treasures of "ye olden time." bits of old china and glass, furniture and brasses hoarded with pious care by descendants of tlu^ l)ioneei's. most of them from famous old homes which sei'vc to make Allen County a delight to the student of early American life.
Among the many rare portraits in the col- lection is one in oil of Colonel John Allen, for whom our County is named, which was bought l)y the County Commissioners from a relative of Colonel Allen living ]iear Louisville. Ky.. and is known to be authentic. The artist. ^Mr. ]\Iat- tliew Jouett. of Harrodsburg, Ky.. was cele- bi'ated as such in his generation, and dcserv(H}- ly so, judging by this fine exami)l(^ of his abil- ity. It was from this portrait that the bust of Allen, which adorns the south front of the Court House was modeled.
COURT ROOM NO. 2.
Crossing the rotunda to the north we come into another Extra Coui't Room, or ''Court Room Xumber Two."
The walls of this room, to the ornamental cornice, arc of dark Tc^nnessee and ^Mexican Onyx Scagliola embellished further with cream
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white plaster panels, in l)as-relief, the work of Mr. ]\r. J. Doner, of Chicago. These illustrate frontier life in and around P'ort Wavjie, pai-- ticnlarly as regards the aborigines.
Beginning at the left corner of the west wall and proceeding to the right are panels repre- senting them during war periods.
WEST WALL.
No. 1. Indians in council, seemingly decid- ing for war.
No. 2. White captives.
No. 3. Torture of prisoners.
SOUTH WALL.
No. 1. Arrival of Genei'al Wayne's army. No. 2. ]>attle between Indians and whites.
***v-i '«*^
t
No. 3. Burial of Bittle Turtle. He was ac- corded by the Commandant of the Fort full military honors, as belitted this brave, honor- able, if uncivilized man.
No. 4. Gv'ueral Wayne's headijuarters.
No. 5. Fort Wayne.
EAST WALL.
The thre(' panels here expi'ess the pastimes of the savages daring times of peace.
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Xo. 1. Indians shooting arrows at target. No. 2. Indians in canoes. Xo. 3. Indians dancing.
NORTH WALL.
X'^0. 1. Little Turtle advocating peace.
Xo. 2. Smoking Calumet, or Peace Pipe.
Xo. 3. The trading post of the frontier.
Xo. 4. Arrival of first white woman. In- dians welcome her.
Xo. 5. Ceremony of washing her feet in to- ken of respect and honor.
CIRCUIT COURT ROOM.
On the Judiciary Floor, at extreme north end of building, is the handsomely appointed Cir- cuit Court Room, the harmonious color scheme, chiefly cream and green, found in Light Sienna, ^Massachusetts' Green and Red African Scag- liolia. The Judge's stand is upon the west side ; circling the room, above the cornice, to a depth of three feet is a beautiful mural painting, the work of the late ]\Ir. Carl Gutherz, of Wash- ington, D. C. It is deemed especially fortunate that we have been able to secure a description of this work of art in the words of the distin- guished artist himself. This Avas first printed August 20, 1909, by the ''Daily Xews," and is given here by courtesy of the News Company:
"Among the most beautiful works of art in the structure is the frieze in the Circuit court room, which was done by the late Carl Gutherz, a famous artist Avho did most of the mural dec- orations in the congressional library at Wash- ington. Mr. Gutherz painted the pictures
36
which adorn the Circuit court room at his studio in Washington, and they were sent here after completion.
The description of the paintings given by the News was written by Mr. Gutherz himself in 1901. He died several years ago. Mr. Gutherz' description is as follows :
FOUNDERS OF LAWS.
"Supposing the spectator seated in the cen- tral part of the room, facing the judge's seat: You will see to right and left side, over the rostrum, the founders of our laws, Moses on one side, Justinian on the other. Justinian and Moses are instructing and giving the edicts of law to their people for distribution. Back of Moses rises the temple of Solomon, while in the distance, near Justinian, the Christian architec- ture is indicated by the dome of St. Sophia.
The oak branch forming part of the decora- tion over the pediment represents strength and government and the figures most prominent are the representatives of the law, or the lawyers of the period, who were in those days closely related to the ecclesiastical, and Avhich accounts for the figure of a monk on one side and that of a Hebrew priest on the other.
In turning completely around you face the end of the room and the wall facing the judge's seat. The pictures represented here are in- tended to convey the idea that the inspiration of all justice is of divine conception. On one side the message is handed dow^n from above, while on the other side the actions of the court are recorded on the divine tablet to be taken to the supreme judgment of all wisdom. "Strive for justice," is the solemn warning held up by the angel, while cherubs pluck from laurel
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])r;niclies the wrt^atli and tanntiiigly hold up the ^rohh'ii trophy for the vietor in its cause; on tlie other side the elu'rub is employed in fixing the sea! upon the judicial parehnunit. Avhile othei's arc scrutinizing' the documents.
Facing the judge's seat tliese pictures are by their positions especially associated with it and the acts whicli are considered by them and passed upon by the court.
The vertical stripes in tlie corners and which are also separating the pictures on the side Avail, framing them in as it were, and also tak- ing the place of pilastei's, thereby giving a fea- ture of sti-ength and support between the wall and ceiling and so jjainted in color and line as to stand prominently forward of the picture, represent in their turn wisdom, strength, im- partiality and the protection of the United States government in symbolic ornament.
JUSTICE PROMINENT.
In facing the side wall of the room the cen- tral group most prominent is "Justice," a figure blindfolded by the very act of holding in front of her with uplifted hands the scroll upon which the word "justice" is inscribed in golden lett<'rs. She is fearlessly Avalking into our pres- ence, p]"otected on either side by angels in male attire, the angel to the right with drawn blade and expressing disdain or contempt, hurling back the forces of disorder and crime (figures more beast than human), representing anarchy and the malaria of injustice and shielding the figure of justice. The angel to the left of jus- tice is extending his open hand, greeting the law-abiding people, the liund)le shei)herd is gazing upon him wilh awe and hi* flork a,rc in- s])ii"(Ml \\\i\] tfMiicrity by tin hoiy j^resence, while
:J8
the bells seem ringing restful cadence from dis- tant church towers ; the smoke from a near by hamlet rises serenely to the sky, a beacon to the order-loving toilers, and by the wayside childhood and matron stop and rest to gather knowledge from book and flower — in fact, all the scene is intended to point to peacefulness and order.
The pictures joining the side to the end wall and flanking the central group, ''Justice," are in their turn intended to portray ideas which connects them also to the end wall, thereby forming one continued whole in numerous parts. In this way the picture next to ]\Ioses represents apprehension. Vigorous manhood has caught the offender and is bringing the creature before the judge, whose attitude in- dicates his power to punish the breaker of tlie law. On the opposite end and joining the "Divine Inspiration" is "The Jury," which is here represented about the era A. D. 500.
The lawyer of that period is defending some case before the jury composed of people of dif- ferent nationalities and which might have taken place in Rome, Alexandria or Constantinople a'bout that time. The lawyer is a Roman, marked by insignia of his office — his prominent listener, evidently some higli personage in dis- guise, his dress is covered by a robe which veils his personal identity.
COURT AS MEDIATOR.
In turning to the wall opposite you will find a like diversion ; and here also, the central panel is subdivided into three separate groups and which represent as a whole "Arbitration," the court being, in fact, the mediator of two oppos- ing parties, both claiming justification.
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Tlie central g'roup )'e[)i'eseiits the home, the saered hearth forms th(^ ])ackgrouiul of the throne for tlie g-uardian angel. Kneeling" in l)rayerful attitude apiH'aling for protection are cliildren approaching from oj^posite sides and the divine spii-it of love and home is gently uniting them with her own precious fingers and sliielding' them with her powerful wings from discordant passion and destruction, represented on either side by the organized mob. which is stayed in the destructive work by the angel s])irits of home and ])eace. Theii' gestures and <ittitude bid them to thirdv and reform to more orderly uu'thods ere ap})roaching the sacred pi'(H'incts of tlu^ hearthstone.
Flanking the central grou]) like the wall op- posite— in fact, a com])l(Mnent of the pictures of the "'Jui'y'" and *" A})prehension. "' are pic- tui't^s indicating the "'Protection of tlu^ Court." The aged widow and orphan ai'c shielded by the staff of order against those that would take advantage of their enfeebled state. The othei- end of the wall aiul that which joins the *' Angel of the Record" represents "Charity" and who. seated betwet^n the two figures representing '■ Power of Law." is urging her cause and by so doing* forms tlu^ very apt^x of the sides of ".lustice. "
By the ai-rangeuu^nt of the i)ictures described above there is a continued theiiu^ from })ictur(^ to i)icture, and by the effect of color and grouping tliere is preserved a symmetrical ex- pression in the general appearance of the room, attachiufr the ceiling to the wall and giving' light into the corner which Avould otherwise be oppressive with shade."
Two beautiful pediments fui'ther enrich this i-oom. subjects being the "Four Seasons," On
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the east wall on left of the clock-cartouche the attributes of Spring, are expressed by a young maiden holding budding branches, eu- pids scattering roses, and doves hovering near, symbols of youthfulness, innocence and love. Summer, upon the right, as a maturer woman, holds a stalk of corn, signifying maturity and fruitfulness ; children carry sheaves of wheat, while rabbits, their summer companions, gam- bol about them.
The western pediment represents allegori- cally, Autumn and Winter.
Autumn, the grown man, the hunter, full of life and vigor, his occupation as provider sug- gested by the dead pheasants at extreme left ; Avhile Cupid extracts the juice of the grape, both together representing the necessary cruelty of life associated, however, with its joys. Winter, is the old man, completing his circle of seasons of life, its coldness indicated by the maiden warming her hands by the fire. All the playmates are fled save the crows, which Love is feeding.
Beneath this thoughtfully conceived pedi- ment, are three panels on either side of the Judge's stand, done in bold relief that are most beautiful, illustrating the action and attributes of the law.
Upon the extreme left is expressed : —
No. 1. Its Restraint.
No. 2. Wisdom and Justice.
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Xo. 3. Truth and Strength.
No. 4. Power to relieve and set free.
SOUTH WALL.
On this wall War is represented in its dif- ferent aspects. At the extreme left :
Xo. 1. The Call to War: A messenger on hiorseback gallops with flag and trumpet to sound the call. Upon the left a father inter- rupts his son at work to give him a sword, while Columbia on the right points, urging the soldier on to concjuer, to battle for the right.
Xo. 2. Marching to War. Soldiers bid farewell to loved ones that they may march towards the Sun of Liberty.
Xo. 8. War, the terrible : Represented by Goddess of War accompanied by Death, riding side by side, over battle fields amidst groups of fighting men, the dead on either side. A su- perbly spirited and striking group.
Xo. 4. Victory, o)' Ti'iumph. A youth, as the Power of Right overthroAvs the cruel Di-agon of Wrong. Young men and maidens proclaim triiim})h and crown the victor.
Xo. 5. 'I'hc Retiii'u from Wai*. ^Mothers and
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children on the left, welcome the soldier father home, while upon the right, a widow and child receive the sword and riderless horse of the husband and father slain in battle.
NORTH WALL.
These five panels showing the lovely accom- paniments of Peace, are appropriately placed opposite the Y/ar panels. From left to right :
No. 1. Home Industries, which flourish only in peaceful times.
No. 2. Charity; help to the aged, or sick. No. 3. Goddess of Peace welcomed by all. No. 4. Hospitality ; receiving the stranger — serving the guest.
No. 5. Peaceful Arts and occupations.
The alcove which forms the east side of the room, has at its left side a panel, Industry, and at its right, Science. The interior is fin- ished with panels illustrating the peaceful pur- suits or pastimes, the accompaniments of pros- perous and careful toil. Inside the alcove at left we see :
No. 1. Hunting.
No. 2. Horticulture.
No. 3. Fishing.
No. 4. Agriculture.
No. 5. Pioneer Life.
All these vv^onderfully fine groups are the product of the genius of Messrs. Barth & Staak, and are, for vigor of expression, wealth of de- tail and beauty of execution, beyond criticism.
DOME AND BALCONY.
A stairway north of elevator on Judiciary Floor leads to the balcony on the outside of
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dome from whence a comprehensive view of the city may be obtained.
CLOCKS.
A fine pneumatic clock system has been in- stalled by means of which the thirty-two clocks inside the building, as well as the four in the dome, are regulated by the master-clock stand- ing in the vestibule of west entrance, ground floor.
ARTESIAN WELL.
On the north sideAvalk there is a remarkably fine Artesian well 300 feet deep which supplies the drinking fountain and is used for all pur- poses where water, or water power, is needed about the building. This well is the second deepest flowing well in the United States, and was, when sunk, the very deepest. The water is mineral and absolutely pure.
On the north and northeast sidewalks are shelter entrances leading to the basement and to public comfort room, lavatories, etc., etc., for botli men and women.
THE TUNNEL.
A tunnel extends from basement, northwest, corner, under Calhoun street and, running- north, connects the Court House with Power Station north of the Jail. It carries all pipes and wires necessary for heating and lighting but is not open to the public owing to its small size, it is reached by man-holes along the route, every part being easily accessible for re- ])Mii"s, etc.
COUNTY SEAL.
Tbe first seal used by the first Board of Com-
44
missioners was in 1841 and was an old English seal which represented Britannia seated on a shield, grasping a trident of Neptune, with the words," Britannia, Rex. Fid Dep." This was only used until such time as another could be de- signed and procured.
On September 9, 1841, an order was issued for a seal for the new County of Allen, to bear "a sheaf of wheat in an upright position with a sickle therein ; and, in the background, a field of corn with a reaper at work, and, in a circle surrounding said device, the following words: 'Commissioners of Allen County, I. A. Seal., The word Seal to be in M. and the Sheaf of Wheat."
This is the seal now in use.
CONCLUSION.
Thanks are gratefully extended to the author of "Reminiscences of Old Fort Wayne," the architect and artists, the News Company, the ex-Commissioners and many others, and espe- cially to the present Board of Commissioners — Mr. John B. Wyss, Mr. James D. Butt, Mr. Wil- liam F. Franke with the attorney to the Board, Mr. Edward G. Hoffman, all of whom have so generously and graciously aided us, and whose appreciation of our efforts has made it possible to present to the public this brief history and description of the splendid Court House of Allen County, Indiana.
45
STATISTICS
Plans accepted 1895
(^oiitract awarded May 26, 1897
Corner-stone laid November 17, 1897
Building partially occupied . . .December, 1900
Building dedicated September 23, 1902
Total cost of building and furnish- ings $817,553.59
Style of architecture Renaissance
^laterials iBlue Bedford Stone
I Vermont Granite
Construction Fireproof
Length of building 270 feet
Width of building 134 feet
Height to main cornice 57 feet
Height to clear story cornice 76 feet
Height from street to top of statue . . . 225 feet
Height of statue 13 feet, 8 inches
Diameter of clock dials 13 feet
CONTRACTORS
Brentwood S. Tolan Architect
James Stewart & Company, of St. Louis*
General Contractors
A. Hattersley & Sons.,
Plumbing, electric wiring, etc.
Fort Wayne Electric Corporation,
Engines and dynamos
Wm. Moellering & Sons, Power House
Louis J. Schwartzkopf Tunnel
Art j\Ietal Company Steel Furniture
H. H. Andrews Company Wood Furniture
C. C. Schlatter & Co., Hardware and glass
Diebokl Lock & Safe Company,
Treasurer's vault
46
Pheiffer & Schlatter . . Plate glass and hardware
Luminous Prism Company Art glass
W. H. Andrews Interior decorations
F. M. Smith & Company Hardware
Wolf & Dessauer Shades and matting
Winslow Brothers Co Bronze tablets, etc.
Rhinesmith & Simonson,
Molding and woodwork
Anton Rieg Sewer for tunnel
Lennox & Halderman . . .Plastering and stucco Peoria Stone & Marble Company
Extra marble and tile
Brown Ketchum & Company,
Law^ Library stair and iron in dome
Tuttle & Bailey Mfg. Co Ventilating plates
Empire Fire Roofing Co, Roof tiles
F. Miller & Sons Electric fans
John H. Welch. . . .Copper box for corner-stone
INSPECTORS
L. B. Larim.ore, J. H. Brannan, H. W. Jensen, Geo. Jacoby, Hoisted & McNaughton,
Pierce & Richardson,
Lennox & Halderman
47
Prepared by the staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County February, 1953
FORT WAYNE GAMBLERS 1865 - 1900
Prepared by the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County
1954
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FOREWORD
Since earliest times, gambling has exerted an almost universal appeal. In early cultures, games of chance en- joyed ceremonial importance; successful participants were often credited with supernatural powers. More often, how- ever, gambling has been regarded as a social evil, and re- pressive action has been taken against it.
In Fort Wayne ) the rapid urban growth which followed the Civil War fostered widespread organized gambling. The following brief summary of late nineteenth-century gambling activities in Fort Wayne has been compiled from newspaper accounts and general works of the period. The Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County present this publication in the hope that it will enter- tain and inform the many historically minded citizens of the arer
JRason ioog
Following the Civil War, while speculation in rail- roads, oil fields, banks, and life insurance was widespread throughout the nation, Fort Wayne was invaded by a horde of professional gannblers, thieves, and confidence men. At- tracted by the railroads which converged here , they per- fected so nnany schemes for fleecing the unwary traveler that the railroads later felt constrained to employ private detectives in order to protect the passengers. Citizens of Fort Wayne were victimized by a band of thieves and gam- blers organized under the leadership of the notorious Edward Ryan. Public indignation reached the breaking point in 1867 when a stranger was robbed at a local railroad station; an angry mob burned Ryan's saloon to the ground and forced his hasty departure from town. The desire for reform was short-lived, however, and the gamblers met with little op- position when they resumed their gamxes.
Inhis autobiography, MASON LONG, THE CONVERT- ED GAMBLER, the author stated that he was only an average ambitious youth until he was introduced to gambling in the army. "Gaming," he said, "afforded a relief to the monot- ony of camp life and produced excitement which withdrew the attention of the boys from the perils they were undergo- ing. " Through diligent practice, Long became the reginnen- tal champion at chuck-a-luck, and by the end of the war he had accumulated enough money to buy a grocery store in Fort Wayne. Here he was introduced to whisky, "as medi- cine only, " and resumed his gambling activities under the aegis of John Sterling, a proprietor of the infamous Lodge Saloon.
Long's formative years as a professional gambler were spent in the company of experts from New York, Chi- cago, Detroit, St. Louis, and Cleveland, who had been at- tracted to the wide-open games that could always be found in downtown Fort Wayne in those days. Long declared, how- ever, that after Ryan's precipitate flight "the confidence men deserted Fort Wayne, and this city began to lose its prominence as a gaming center. These thieves had lost a large part of their booty to the professional sports, and when they departed, the gamblers found themselves short
of victims. The thieves robbed the greenhorns and in turn lost their 'swag' at the faro bank or the poker table, taking to the road as soon as they were 'broke' for the purpose of replenishing their exchequers. Those were indeed lively times in Indiana. "
Nevertheless, Long apparently found Fort Wayne prof- itable enough for him to devote almost full time to its ex- ploitation. Although he was sometimes "busted" hundreds of miles away from Columbia Street in his pursuit of race horses and other gambling pleasures, he always returned here for a fresh start in his chosen profession.
Keno, which Long thought fascinating (perhaps because he could never win at it), was similar to bingo; the stakes, however, were invariably high. Long declared that the game was most often played by amateurs, as professional gamblers realized the inevitability of losing to the house. Faro, on the other hand, was an elaborate banking game which appealed to amateurs and professionals alike. Played on a layout which was a tableau of one complete suit painted on a green cloth or tabletop, it consisted primarily of bets placed with the banker on the order or frequency with which certain cards would appear in a silver dealing box. Play- ers were offered any of twenty-one different ways to bet on each new card that appeared. The FORT WAYNE GA- ZETTE called it "the most absorbing game carried on in Fort Wayne. "
By the fall of 1873, Long was operating a sumptuous saloon and gambling house at 74 Calhoun Street. Outfitted with huge mirrors, Brussels carpet, and ponderous black walnut furniture, his rooms over the saloon were doing such a brisk business that he was obliged to operate two games simultaneously. During the Northern Indiana Fair of 1874, Long was again forced to expand in order to accommodate his eager patrons; three faro tables and one of rouge et noir barely managed to satisfy all the gentlemen who clamored to place bets. The same delightful problem faced Long at the Soldiers Reunion which was also held here in 1874.
Mason Long was not the only gambler in Fort Wayne during this period. A flourishing keno game was located
..a sompluoos saloon
over The Office, a saloon on Berry Street. Nearby was an establishment which operateda full -tinne faro game for many years; that particular den had become, in the words of the GAZETTE, "one of the institutions of Fort Wayne. " In ad- dition, transient gannblers often rented rooms in the down- town area for short periods and parlayed small stakes into minor fortunes within a few days, only to lose them again later in other places.
Editorial indignation, of course, was not lacking con- cerning this serious civic problem. The FORT WAYNE NEWS used its columns both as a weapon against gamblers and as a goad for Chief of Police "Mike" Singleton. Chief Singleton, characterized by Long as bold and clever, was hampered as a guardian of law and order by weak city or- dinances and the general apathy of most citizens. He led raids against known gambling houses whenever he was rea- sonably certain of obtaining a conviction. But to convict was almost impossible because of the difficulty of proving law violation after gambling devices had been secreted in locked rooms and in clever hiding places. Gamblers who were arrested and taken to jail raised the nominal bond re- quired, jumped bail, and left town for a short time until it was again safe to return. Long stated that his rooms were raided about three times in an average year and that he had paid the city treasury approximately three thousand dollars in bail over a period of ten years.
Long elaborated on this theme, calling to mind for the modern reader the slapstick comedy of early movies:
"I have known the police to work for weeks devising some plan for bagging a nest of sports. They usually chose a time when the gamblers were supposed to be flush in order that the city treasury might receive a 'benefit. ' They often scaledbuildings, climbed ladders, let themselves down from the roofs through skylights, disguised themselves in citi- zens' clothes, and, in fact, resorted to all nnanner of strat- agems in order to capture the gentlemen who 'buck the tiger. '"
In 1875 the FORT WAYNE SENTINEL championed Chief Singleton and advocated a liberal use of the grand jury
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to eliminate the various gambling rooms from the city. "There are now, "the newspaper stated, "according to com- mon report, a larger number of gaming rooms in operation in this city than ever before, except during the war. There are more well-dressed loafers hanging around the corners with no visible means of support than at any tinne for years past. It is stated on good authority that in the heart of the city, within one block of the Aveline House, there are from three to five gambling hells in constant operation, both day and night. Their locations may be plainly discovered from the mobs of loafers which hang around thena. "
Long has given a hint as to one important reason for civic inaction:
"One of my sporting enterprises in Fort Wayne was a private 'clubroom' for gentlemen. This place was frequented by some of the leading businessmen and wealthiest citizens of Fort Wayne who liked to play among themselves, but did not desire to come in contact with regular sporting men. They were bankers, capitalists, merchants, city and county officials, and other men of that class. "
Eventually, Long's luck changed. What the newspa- pers facetiously called "Mace Long's Bazaar" and "Mace Long's Confectionery" in time became the rendezvous for naany undesirable characters in town; the "bankers and other men of that class" presumably moved on to another gam- bler's tables. In their stead were now "blear-eyed bum- mers, whisky bloats , and deadbeats. " After squandering his money on foolish trinkets and at race tracks, Long be- gan to drink more heavily than ever before. The "medicinal purposes" of whisky were long since forgotten and had given way to prolonged drinking bouts and attacks of deliriumtre- mens. Long later "took the pledge" at a spectacular tem- perance rally held in the city in 1877. Shortly afterward he abandoned his cards and tables, joined a church, and began his famous series of lectures onthe evils of drinkand gann- bling. In this worthy enterprise he was sponsored by the Blue Ribbon Association, a Midwestern temperance group that had grown out of the tempestuous Moody-Sankey re- vival meetings in Chicago. Although the gamblers and
saloonkeepers of the city sourly asserted that "Mace" was merely playing a confidence game and that in time he would disappear with some trusting do-gooder's money, they were mistaken. Long became a sincere reformer thereafter, testifying on the platform throughout the Midwest. He was also engaged in writing and selling his two moralistic books, SAVE THE GIRLS, which dealt with the problem of "fallen women," and THE CONVERTED GAMBLER.
Although widespread gambling in Fort Wayne dimin- ished after the conversion of Long, professional gamblers still did a flourishing business in a few upstairs rooms on Calhoun and Berry streets. Several newspapers took it up- on themselves to describe to their readers the pitfalls of the more popular games of chance; poker, faro, and keno were painted in the blackest hues by reporters who had obviously indulged and lost painfully in those pastimes.
The GAZETTE of February 13, 1881, contained per- haps the most elaborate analysis of the problem; charges were also made that a number of poker rooms, patronized by prominent officials, church members, and businessmen, were running day and night within the city. Dating from this period. Fort Wayne newspapers printed more and more ar- ticles which dealt with the ganab ling problems of other cities. Reprints of humorous "con game" stories were followed by the tragedy of a youth's suicide outside an Indianapolis faro room, or the heart-rending portrayal of a gambler's de- serted and starving wife and children.
For all the sound and fury that local violations of law evoked on the pages of our newspapers, there seems to have been an inadequate understanding of what gambling was. One outstanding illustration of the difficulty is seen in the GAZETTE'S article entitled "A Lucky Pair," dated April 25, 1882. In it Mr. Souser and Mr. Whitney were congrat- ulated for winning $15, 000 apiece in the famous Louisiana Lottery. Mrs. Souser, in an interview with a GAZETTE reporter, revealed that her husband had "speculated in lot- tery tickets for some three years." It is certain that if Souser had been apprehended at a downtown faro table, his gambling activities would have been condemned by the paper.
But the statement concerning his participation in lotteries was printed without comment. Thus it was that the lottery and the general principles underlying all gambling were un- intentionally given favorable notice in the columns of a no- toriously anti-gambling newspaper. As a side light to the affair, the SENTINEL casually mentioned in August of that year that Whitney was said to have lost naost of his $15, 000 at J. W. Hall's faro tables.
The practice of infrequent police raids did not suc- cessfully curb gambling. Most gamblers, like Dennis Mc- Feeley and J. W. Hall, still looked upon bail as a kind of license fee, which they cheerfully paid for the privilege of operating in the city. Respectable citizens had little to fear if they were apprehended in gambling rooms. When Mc- Feeley's establishment was raided on August 9, 1882, twenty well-known gentlemen were arrested and fined. A SENTI- NEL reporter was at the scene, but only threats, and no names, appeared in the paper.
On September 27, 1887, a warning was issued from police headquarters that every known gambling room would be watched and promptly raided if the slightest suspicion existed concerning illegal activities. The numierous gam- blers throughout the city were astonished to hear that the laws were at last to be enforced. All up and down Calhoun Street--at McFeeley's, at Oliver's, at Meader's--bartend- ers belowstairs turned away the regular habitues with the comment, "Game's closed!" The poker room over the Crystal Billiard Hall was silent, and countless "clubrooms" all over the city were shuttered and tenantless. An old re- formed gambler, unidentified but sounding like Mason Long, was quoted by the GAZETTE as saying: "I hope the police authorities will continue in their good work. "
Although the old games were quick to disappear under this pressure, the old gamblers did not respond in a similar fashion. They soon adopted new devices and learned the intricacies of new games. Their patrons, after the first flurry of fright had passed, returned to lose again in new locations. One of the first games to gain a foothold in the recently reformed city was a so-called "policy game. "
8
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Laborers from all over Fort Wayne were soon betting on numbers drawn in a lottery at Covington, Kentucky. The existing laws were easily circumvented by the practice of accepting bets and paying winnings at crowded public places; a direct wire from Covington to a room at 30 West Main Street relayed the results of each day's drawing. At about this time slot machines made their first appearance in the city; here as elsewhere, they proved to be immensely pop- ular.
The state legislature granted Fort Wayne a new city charter in 1894, and the city immediately received the ben- efits of a committee on public safety. Such boards or com- mittees had been designed for the specific purpose of elim- inating crime, and it was not long before gamblers felt the effectiveness of the new weapon. The Board of Public Safety announced in the columns of the GAZETTE that the oldprac- tice of infrequent raids and subsequent fines was to be aban- doned. In the future a warning would be given, after which the full weight of the law would descend upon all violators. However, the effectiveness of the Board depended upon the sincerity and vigor of each political administration. The election of C. B. Oakley as mayor on an independent reform platform that sanne year enabled the Board to work success- fully; most gambling activities were discouraged for the time being.
By 1897 newspapers were distressed by the laxity that had again overtaken City Hall. "Gambling is very generally carried on, as well as other evils," said the GAZETTE of January 3. The FORT WAYNE JOURNAL of November 17, 1898, condoned the use of gambling in promoting carnivals and street fairs but heartily condemned the faro games, poker players, and slot machines which had followed the carnivals into town and had remained when the festivities were over. This paper, too, did not seem to realize that it was exhibiting a puzzling inconsistency on this important question. In spite of the sincere and well-intentioned efforts of the authorities and refornners, gambling has continued to be an ever-present social problem in the twentieth century.
10
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THE BROADWAY CEMETERY
Prepared by the Staff of the
Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County
1954
One c| a fti^torical scrics.ifti'^ pampftlel b published under ^ dircdioit of \kc qovcrmnQ Boards 4 Ift^ Tliblic library 0!}T&rl Wayne an^ Qlkn County.
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FOREWORD
The area now comprising McCulloch Park was once the Broadway Cemetery. Used as a burying ground from 1837 to 1885, the cemetery was then closed, and many of the remains were re- buried in Lindenwood Cemetery. The small park, however, is still the final resting place of Samuel Bigger, seventh governor of Indiana.
The following unsigned letter to the editor appeared in the FORT WAYNE JOURNAL on December 10, 1885, when it was first proposed that the Broadway Cemetery be abandoned. The Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County present this pamphlet in the hope that it will prove interesting to readers. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation have been changed to conform to current usage.
:o the Editor:
While preparing a report for the lot owners of Lindenwood lemetery, I had occasion recently to learn something of the un- written history of the older Fort Wayne cemeteries. I wrote to the [onorable Hugh McCuUoch for some information in regard to the arly history of the Broadway Cemetery and its possible future. In eply, I received the following letter, which is of such general in- 3 rest to the public that I thought it should be published. The letter [ill be of special interest to those who have friends whose remains re still lying in that desecrated ground. The Broadway Cemetery 'as once dear to them because of the loved ones laid there years ago mid tears and sorrow. But now the place is the abode of owls and ats and their more worthless associates, the tramps and other igabonds that infest it. Vandals have destroyed the monuments id tombstones, while they have used the deserted vaults and exca- ited graves as hiding places for disgraceful revelry and debauch- ry as well as for escape from justice.
Washington, D. C. November 24, 1885
Dear Sir:
Soon after I became a resident of Fort Wayne, I discovered that there was no public burial ground either in the town or near it. Interments had been made and were being made in a lot to which the town had no title; consequently, there could be no assurance that the bodies buried there would remain undisturbed.
Therefore, in 1837 (if I rightly recollect) I bought from Judge Hanna four acres of land near the town. I enclosed the area with a handsome fence and laid the land off into burial lots. Some lots were set apart for the poor; others were offered for sale. Perhaps most lots were sold before Lindenwood Cemetery was formed. The proceeds of the sales were applied to repay the money I had ex- pended on the purchase and improvement of the grounds. For my trouble I expected and received no compensation.
The sale of lots ceased soon after Lindenwood Cemetery was
established. As there were no funds for keeping the grounds in order, and as many of the bodies which had been buried there were removed to the new cemetery, the graves which remained were neglected. They are now, I understand, in a disreputable condi- tion. As the lots were sold for burial purposes only, the property reverts to me when it ceases to be used for burial purposes. Un- der these circumstances, I have offered to relinquish my right to it to the city of Fort Wayne, upon the agreement of the city to en- close, beautify, and maintain it permanently as a public park.
Very truly yours,
HUGH Mcculloch
The necessity for a place of common burial had become most critical, as the writer can attest from his own recollections, when Mr. McCulloch stepped into the breach and advanced the money to purchase the ground. He fixed the price of lots at a very reason- able and satisfactory sum, and he placed James Richey, a very clever and accommodating Irishman, in charge of the grounds as sexton. Richey was to bury the dead when required, and he was to rebury the remains removed from the sandbank near the St. Mary's River, mentioned in Mr. McCulloch's letter. Jimmy Richey was accommodating, honest, and faithful to his trust. He and the plain old graveyard were ever-present to all visitors, and they seemed to lose their identities and usefulness at about the same time. One passed to his reward, and the other remains a cankering sore that ought to be and can be cured. Fortunately, the city council now has the matter under consideration, and it will doubtless devise some scheme to change the area into a place of beauty and a pleas- ant resort. Fort Wayne is a city of thirty or forty thousand inhabitants; this large population is composed largely of artisans and other industrious classes. Many of these laborers and their families reside in small apartments and have few opportunities to enjoy the exercise and fresh air so necessary to life and health. The improvement of these grounds, limited as they are, would furnish a breathing place, at least.
FORT WAYNE JOURNAL, December 10, 1885
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DAILY LIFE
m
ARLY FORT WAYNE
Prepared by the Staff of the
Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County
1954
Ojtc c| a fti^torical scrics^tftb pampftlel b published tmdcr Iftc directioit c^ Vxc gcwmtg Beards 4 1^^ T^ublic library c|7brtWayitc snb QllcnCcuRly.
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FOREWORD
The following sketch of life in early Fort Wayne was compiled by Mrs. Laura G. Detzer from early newspaper accounts, letters, journals, and personal interviews with old settlers. Mrs. Detzer's account was later included by Charles E. Slocum and Robert S. Robertson in the second volume of their HISTORY OF THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN, published in 1905.
The Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County present this publication in the hope that it will interest and inform the many historically minded citizens of this area. Grammar, spelling, and piinctuation have been changed to conform to current usage.
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Even the Indian traditions tell of Kekionga as a social center. The wandering tribes often met at this ancient vil - lagefor the green-corn dance and for the fishing and hunting dances. Men and women still live who have watched these savage frolics. Sometimes the Indian would be clad in his naked nothingness, but often he wore robes of fur and belts of wampum and had white scalps to fringe his hunting shirt.
Yet the Indian is not a more picturesque figure than the early fur trader. Under the name of woodranger, cou- reur de bois, or voyageur, he has become a bit of stage property for the novelist and playwright. To give local col- or and to serve as a foil to the devoted early Jesuit, this conventional swashbuckler swagger s through many an Indian tale. Only traditional accounts remain of his mode of life around the old post, but very likely it was similar to that of a woodranger anywhere. As he was frequently an outlaw from the older settlements, he realized more fully than his Indian companions what it meant to be free of laws and taxes. Choosing a likely young squaw, he would settle down to a life alternating between hardship and dissolute ease. Here was a natural vantage point for the hunter and trapper. For- est and stream furnished all the needs of Indian or wood- ranger. A national road, either pike or corduroy, would have meant less to him than his three rivers as a passage- way. And the portage, which might have seemed a hindrance to his prosperity, was made a toll road for his profit.
Comte de Volney, during his travels in America in 1796, was very curious as to Indian manners and customs. When he asked about those French Canadians who had set- tled by the waterways, he was told that they were kind, hos- pitable, and sociable; but in ignorance and idleness they beat the Indians. They knew nothing of civil or domestic affairs; their women neither sewed, nor spun, nor made butter, but passed their time in gossiping and tattle. The nn.en hunted, fished, roamed in the woods, and basked in the sun. They did not lay up as we do for winter or provide for a rainy day. They could not cure pork or venison, make sauerkraut or spruce beer. This Arcadian existence was interrupted, however, by the arrival of the new settlers.
1
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Even the Indian traditions tell of Kekionga as a social center. The wandering tribes often met at this ancient vil- lage for the green-corn dance and for the fishing and hunting dances. Men and women still live who have watched these savage frolics. Sometimes the Indian would be clad in his naked nothingness, but often he wore robes of fur and belts of wampum and had white scalps to fringe his hunting shirt.
Yet the Indian is not a more picturesque figure than the early fur trader. Under the name of woodranger, cou- reur de bois, or voyageur, he has become a bit of stage property for the novelist and playwright. To give local col- or and to serve as a foil to the devoted early Jesuit, this conventional swashbuckler swaggers through many an Indian tale. Only traditional accounts remain of his mode of life aroxind the old post, but very likely it was similar to that of a woodranger anywhere. As he was frequently an outlaw from the older settlements, he realized more fully than his Indian companions what it meant to be free of laws and taxes. Choosing a likely young squaw, he would settle down to a life alternating between hardship and dissolute ease. Here was a natural vantage point for the hunter and trapper. For- est and stream furnished all the needs of Indian or wood- ranger. A national road, either pike or corduroy, would have meant less to him than his three rivers as a passage- way. And the portage, which might have seemed a hindrance to his prosperity, was made a toll road for his profit.
Comte de Volney, during his travels in Anaerica in 1796, was very curious as to Indian manners and customs. When he asked about those French Canadians who had set- tled by the waterways, he was told that they were kind, hos- pitable, and sociable; but in ignorance and idleness they beat the Indians. They knew nothing of civil or donnestic affairs; their women neither sewed, nor spun, nor made butter, but passed their time in gossiping and tattle. The men hunted, fished, roamed in the woods, and basked in the s\in. They did not lay up as we do for winter or provide for a rainy day. They could not cure pork or venison, make sauerkraut or spruce beer. This Arcadian existence was interrupted, however, by the arrival of the new settlers,
1
who as a matter of natural selection were energetic, rest- less, courageous men and women.
There must have been great beauty of river and forest surrounding this wilderness fort. The letter written by Lieu- tenant Curtis to Mr. Cullen, October 4, 1812, says, "I was on my arrival, and still continue to be, highly delighted with the place and my situation." Other descriptions tell of the wonderful verdure, the thick bluegrass, the luxuriance of the wooded shores, and the magnificence of the forests. With no exacting game laws, these abundant woods and full streams were a paradise for fishernnen and hunters. Even at a much later date, hunting was a royal sport in this vi- cinity. Men are living who have seen deer bounding where the Pennsylvania Company's shops now are.
From letters and from oral tradition we know of the famous hospitality of old Fort Wayne. The officers of the fort and their wives were the first entertainers. Coming from an older and more formal society, they carried into their rude barracks the manners and customs of cultivated folk. A certain punctilio was the natural consequence of their military life. Colonel Hamtramck, the first cona- mander of the new fort, had led the life of a soldier fronn his boyhood. As one line on his tombstone reads, "He was a soldier even before he was a man. "
Some facts have to be seen in retrospect so that one can realize their significance. In 1800, while Captain John Whistler was one of the officers of the fort, his son, George Washington Whistler , was born here. And the son of George Washington Whistler, the famous engineer, was James Mc- Neill Whistler, artistic genius of the nineteenth century. And so through one of his fifteen children. Captain Whistler, later promoted to the rank of major, is kept in the memory of a forgetful generation. Whistler and Haden etchings are among the choicest possessions in houses standing on the site of the old blockhouses and palisades.
We find more than one reference to the generous hos- pitality of the Whistler quarters: "Major Whistler enter- tained the guests," and again, "Major Whistler's house was 1 the inn for all comers. " In 1869, Mrs. Laura Suttenfield
fflajor (i)fu&tter enfertbmdL the Q^Le^ts
wrote a short sketch giving a glimpse of the lonely life of the little garrison in 1814, when Major Whistler was in com- mand. She says:
"The fort at that time contained sixty men of the reg- ular army, all patriotic and anxious to celebrate one day in the year. They made three green bowers, one hundred feet from the pickets of the fort, where Main Street now is. One bower was for the dinner table, one for the cooks, and one for the music. Major Whistler had two German cooks, and they prepared the dinner. There were but eleven persons at the table, and only three are now living to tell of that day. Our dinner consisted of one fine turkey, a side of venison, roast beef, boiled ham, vegetables in abiindance, cranber- ries, and green currants. As for dessert, we had none. Eggs were not known here until three years after that time. Three bottles of wine had been sent here from Cincinnati, but only one was used. After a few toasts, three guns, and some music, we went into the fort, and the ladies changed their dresses. Then Major Whistler called for the music, which consisted of one bass drum, two small drums, one fife, a violin, and a flute. There was a long gallery in the fort; the musicians took their seats there. Only three of the gentlemen would dance, and there were but three ladies present. A French four passed off very well for an hour. Then the gates of the fort were closed at STindown, a fact which gave it a gloomy appearance. There were no children and no younger persons for amusement, and everyone soon retired to his room. All was still and quiet. The sentinel on his lonely round would give us the hour of the night. In the morning we were aroused by the beating of the reveille. "
These quiet days were disturbed in 1815 when Major Whistler began to rebuild the fort. To aid the soldiers, twenty new workmen were sent for; and there was much bustle in and around the whole place. Pulling down the old fort, putting up the new one, burning bricks, and felling trees for the oxen to haul gave everything a lively appear- ance.
A letter from Sergeant W. K. Jordan to his wife "Bet- sey" is another delightful scrap that has floated down to us
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from the old fort. The writer was one of the survivors of the Fort Dearborn Massacre, and the letter is dated Octo- ber 12, 1812. After relating the treachery of the Indians, Sergeant Jordan continues, "Every man, woman, and child was killed but fifteen- -and thanks be to God I was one of them! The first shot took the feather out of my cap; the next shot, the epaulet off my shoulder; and the third broke the handle of my sword. I had to surrender to four dananed yellow Indians. " His life was saved by White Raccoon, who held him by the hand as he stood with the fourteen other sur- vivors. Jordan continues, "They stripped all of us to our shirts and trousers, and every family took one captive as long as we lasted; then they started for their towns. Every man to his tent, O Israel! But I will just inform you that when I got to my strange lodging, I looked about like a cat in a strange garret. " Jordan was warned against any at- tempt to escape. He was told that if he remained he should be a chief, but if he attempted to escape he should be burned alive. We are sorry when he says he has no time to write the particulars of his daring escape. So we only know that he stole a horse from his captors and got to Fort Wayne aft- er seven days in the wilderness. He adds, "After all my fun I weigh 190. " Then he tells her that as he writes he is wearing some of the soft hair of her head, and he beseeches her to see that Mountford (his little son) is sent to school.
It is easy to see from these old letters and recollec- tions that life in the old fort was of much the same stuff that life is today. Styles have changed, and so there is a differ- ent pattern, but the material is the same. A letter written by Major Joseph Jenkinson, another commander, gives us one hasty look over those high and faraway palisades:
Fort Wayne, Indiana March 14, 1814 Dear Sarah,
I have nothing of importance to inform you of, but I shall suffer no opportxinity to escape unembraced, I hope, my love, that you and nay children are well. I do not know what to think of your coming here, but I wish you were here, and had come with nne when I first canne. I am bringing
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wrote a short sketch giving a glimpse of the lonely life of the little garrison in 1814, when Major Whistler was in com- mand. She says:
"The fort at that time contained sixty men of the reg- ular army, all patriotic and anxious to celebrate one day in the year. They made three green bowers, one hundred feet from the pickets of the fort, where Main Street now is. One bower was for the dinner table, one for the cooks, and one for the music. Major Whistler had two German cooks, and they prepared the dinner. There were but eleven persons at the table, and only three are now living to tell of that day. Our dinner consisted of one fine turkey, a side of venison, roast beef, boiled ham, vegetables in abundance, cranber- ries, and green currants. As for dessert, we had none. Eggs were not known here until three years after that time. Three bottles of wine had been sent here from Cincinnati, but only one was used. After a few toasts, three guns, and some music, we went into the fort, and the ladies changed their dresses. Then Major Whistler called for the music, which consisted of one bass drum, two small drums, one fife, a violin, and a flute. There was a long gallery in the fort; the musicians took their seats there. Only three of the gentlemen would dance, and there were but three ladies present. A French four passed off very well for an hour. Then the gates of the fort were closed at sundown, a fact which gave it a gloomy appearance. There were no children and no younger persons for amusement, and everyone soon retired to his room. All was still and quiet. The sentinel on his lonely round would give us the hour of the night. In the morning we were aroused by the beating of the reveille. "
These quiet days were disturbed in 1815 when Major Whistler began to rebuild the fort. To aid the soldiers, twenty new workmen were sent for; and there was much bustle in and around the whole place. Pulling down the old fort, putting up the new one, burning bricks, and felling trees for the oxen to haul gave everything a lively appear- ance.
A letter from Sergeant W. K. Jordan to his wife "Bet- sey" is another delightful scrap that has floated down to us
from the old fort. The writer was one of the survivors of the Fort Dearborn Massacre, and the letter is dated Octo- ber 12, 1812. After relating the treachery of the Indians, Sergeant Jordan continues, "Every man, woman, and child was killed but fifteen- -and thanks be to God I was one of them! The first shot took the feather out of my cap; the next shot, the epaulet off my shoulder; and the third broke the handle of my sword. I had to surrender to four damned yellow Indians. " His life was saved by White Raccoon, who held himby the hand as he stood with the fourteen other sur- vivors, Jordan continues, "They stripped all of us to our shirts and trousers, and every family took one captive as long as we lasted; then they started for their towns. Every nnan to his tent, O Israel! But I will just inform you that when I got to my strange lodging, I looked about like a cat in a strange garret. " Jordan was warned against any at- tempt to escape. He was told that if he remained he should be a chief, but if he attempted to escape he should be burned alive. We are sorry when he says he has no time to write the particulars of his daring escape. So we only know that he stole a horse from his captors and got to Fort Wayne aft- er seven days in the wilderness. He adds, "After all my fun I weigh 190. " Then he tells her that as he writes he is wearing some of the soft hair of her head, and he beseeches her to see that Mountford (his little son) is sent to school.
It is easy to see from these old letters and recollec- tions that life in the old fort was of much the same stuff that life is today. Styles have changed, and so there is a differ- ent pattern, but the material is the same. A letter written by Major Joseph Jenkinson, another commander, gives us one hasty look over those high and faraway palisades:
Fort Wayne, Indiana March 14, 1814 Dear Sarah,
I have nothing of importance to inform you of, but I shall suffer no opportunity to escape unembraced. I hope, my love, that you and my children are well, I do not know what to think of your coming here, but I wish you were here, and had come with me when I first came. I am bringing
Ephraim completely under. I have had him once in the guardhouse handcuffed. I have given him two whippings, the last of which was a very hard one. I shall cool the fellow; he bounces at the word. Give my love to father, naother, and friends. I am, my love.
Your devoted husband, JOSEPH JENKINSON
The unruly Ephraim was the commander 's Negro serv- ant, and the punishment was not\inusual for the tinae. Colo- nel Hamtramck, most humane of officers, complained to General Wayne that the "economic allowance" of one hundred lashes as a punishment for theft seemed inadequate to make an honest man of a rascal. The soldiers would steal beef and other rations, and he was "tired flogging them." But in 1819 the slender garrison was ordered farther west, and military rule in the fort became a thing of the past. It seemed for a time a very sad and lonely little village with- out the pleasant company and the protection of the soldiers.
The military influence had dominated the society of the day. Admiration for the glory and the dignity of a life at arms was a natural feeling of the time and place. The discipline was a much-needed object lesson to the frontiers- men. The United States government has always been a model housekeeper, and we can imagine the plaza in the enclosure of the old fort, which was well kept, smooth, and gravelly. Then, close at hand, there was Fort Wayne's first fire apparatus, for under the double gallery, or veran- da, hung leather fire buckets, painted blue.
For a time we have but slight account of the deserted barracks. The Reverend Isaac McCoy's HISTORY OF BAP- TIST INDIAN MISSIONS, published in 1840, tells much of the Indians but little of the French and English population. His minute account of a spiritual crusade has given us an accurate picture of certain phases of life in and around the old blockhouses. His experiences continually remind one of those early JESUIT RELATIONS which have been such a source of information to Annerican historians. As he trav- els through the forest, he is grateful for a handful of parched i corn to eat and a piece of dry bark to sleep on. As LeJeune
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wrote, "Though my bed had not been made up since the cre- ation of the world, it was not hard enough to prevent my sleeping. " After many adventures by flood and field, on the twenty-ninth of May, 1820, Mr. McCoy opened his mission school in the fort buildings "with ten English scholars, six French, eight Indians , and one Negro." These eight little Indian boys were to be clothed, fed, and lodged by the mis- sion. Mrs. McCoy had to care for them and for her own seven young children, and she also had to do all the house- work.
Then came the labor problem. "We hired an Indian womian to assist in domestic labors, but she afforded little help. " The sad case of Mrs. McCoy is like the one James Russell Liowell writes of as he tries to strengthen the hearts of the discouraged nnistresses of modern domestics. He asks them to imagine a household with one wild Indian woman for help, who could communicate only by signs. Those were serious tinnes indeed when your cook might give notice by taking your scalp or chignon, as the case might be, and making off with it into the woods.
In less than a month after his arrival, Mr. McCoy was compelled to make a journey to the state of Ohio to pur- chase needed supplies. Among other things, he brought back two Ixixuries: a spinning wheel and a two-horse wagon. And then Mrs. McCoy began her efforts to change the simple life of these primitive people to the strenuousness that be- longs to a higher civilization. The gossiping and tattle were to be exchanged for spinning and spelling, and no doubt they even learned to cure pork or venison and to make sauerkraut and spruce beer. Flour and meal had to be hauled in wag- ons about one hundred mile s , and most of the way led through a wilderness and over bad roads. Corn, which in the white settlements seldom sold for more than twenty-five cents a bushel, here cost a dollar and a half or two dollars. Soon the Indian youths numbered twenty- six, then thirty. But the Board of Missions seemed to forget the brave mission- aries, and they became so destitute as to be ashamed of their poverty before even the poor Indians. Mrs. McCoy taught the girls to sew and to use the spinning wheel. In
8
1821 the mission boasted forty-two "Indian youths," as Mr. McCoy always called the pupils of this pioneer manual train- ing school. Then it was decided that it would be best for Mrs. McCoy to go back to the settlements for a time. The cheapest and the most available method of travel for her seemed to be to descend the Wabash in an open canoe. Mr. McCoy wrote: "The distance by water was between three and four hundred miles, and more than half of this was through a wilderness inhabited only by uncivilized Indians. It was on the twenty-fifth of June that, with our three young- est children, she took her leave, not expecting to return in less time than three months. " The weather was hot, and the poor mother could scarcely sleep as she tried to keep the mosquitoes away from her little children. They camped on shore every night and spent nine days on the river; it rained almost every day! Their provisions were damaged and their clothing mildewed, but the brave heroine lived to return overland with a young babe the following September.
In February, 1822, when Mr. McCoy was returning from a trip to Philadelphia and Washington, he found his sorest trial awaiting him. During his journey of more than seventeen hundred miles on horseback over wretched roads in cold weather, he had become so ill as to be almost un- able to travel. When he was within five miles of home, he learned of the attempted murder of his nine-year-old daugh- ter by a Potawatomi Indian. As Mr. McCoy writes of his mental and spiritual struggles in this bitter hour, he re- cords his grateful obligations to Mr. B. B. Kercheval, United States Indian agent at that time.
Mr. Kercheval and Mr. McCoy worked hand in hand endeavoring to encourage the Indians to cultivate the soil. On March 8, 1822, the loom began to make cloth from yarn spun by the Indian girls of the mission. Later in the same year three Catholic priests, who came to administer the sacraments and to say Mass, visited the Baptist mission school and drank tea with the missionaries. But at last Mr. McCoy preached a farewell sermon; and the Indians, the oxen, horses, hogs, milch cows, and family were on their way to a new station, farther from white settlements. On
10
December 9, 1822, the little village again felt deserted. The whole story of the hardihood and the sacrifices of the Reverend Isaac McCoy and his wife, Christiana McCoy, is one of pathetic heroism. They seem to illustrate a quaint bit from an old New England sermon, "God sifted a whole nation that he might send choice grain over into this wilder- ness. "
The War Department gives us one bit of description of early life in the village that had grown under the shelter of the fort. In 1823 Major Stephen H. Long, a topographical engineer, was here three days, and he says:
"To a person visiting the Indian country for the first time, this place offers many characteristic and singular features. The village is small; it has grown under the shel- ter of the fort and contains a nnixed and apparently very worthless population. The inhabitants are chiefly of French- Canadian origin; all are more or less imbued with Indian blood. The confusion of languages, owing to the diversity of Indian tribes which generally collect near a fort, makes the traveler imagine himself in a real Babel. " He goes on to tell of his disgust at seeing the Frenchmen dressed like Indians in breechcloth and blanket. The ways of living were chiefly matters of adjustment or adaptability. The New England colonist had used the smoky pine knot because it was cheap and near-at-hand. But the northern Indiana pio- neer foiind no pine forests stretching from his doorway, no fat codfish to be had for the catching. His Becty lamp was filled with lard oil or bear's grease, and the tallow dips were early replaced by molded candles. The prosperous fur traders easily exchanged their peltries for the spernna- ceti candles of the eastern whaler.
The French families loved dinners and dances, gaiety and song: and the visit of the tourist or trader was made the occasion for whatever festivities were possible. The log house of John P. Hedges at the southwest corner, of Calhoun and Berry streets had the whole upstairs in one roona, and many a dance was given on that puncheon floor. Owners of several other houses were able to give dances in upstairs rooms built especially with that purpose in mind. Giving a
11
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dinner at the tavern was another way of entertaining an hon- ored guest. On these occasions finery from Quebec, Cin- cinnati, New York, or even Paris would deck the dark-eyed beauties who sat around the table. After a time the ladies would be escorted home with lanterns, and all the men would return to drink a few more rounds. Great was the hard- headed hero who could mix his drinks and stay sober as other unsteady guests slid to the floor or reeled home! The old French lady who recounted these tales acknowledged that now and then there were a few chickenhearted youths who refused to get drunk. "But not a many!"
The little village seemed to thrive from the very first, and fine hewn-log houses became common. Those first fur traders who had been bold enough or greedy enough to risk the uncertain temper of the Indians were accumulating gold. From 1820, when the American Fur Company established an agency here, the fur trader and the dealer in Indian goods were the businessmen of the village. To be sure, anyone who could get a keg of whisky and a box of tobacco could set up a store. Customers, chiefly Indians, were plentiful and gullible. The village at the meeting of the rivers was pros- perous. Canoes lined the banks after the hunting season, when the Indians brought in their great loads of peltries. Blankets, known commercially as Mackinaw blankets, were manufactured in Europe especially for the Indian trader. These blankets were all wool, about one -half inch thick, with two black stripes at each end. The sizes were desig- nated as "points" and were woven into the corners of the blankets. An ordinary overcoat could be made from a three and one -half point blanket. But if a hood was required, or if the blanket was to be used for hunting or war expeditions, a four-point was needed. They cost from eight to fifteen dollars and could be dyed to suit the taste of the purchaser. All profitable trade was Indian trade. On Columbia Street there was a famous jewelry manufactory, supported almost wholly by Indian traders. This was in charge of Jean Bap- tiste Bequette, known as "Father Bequette," or "the Indian jeweler. " He employed thirty or forty French workmen to make earbobs for the Miami belles. He bought old silver
1 9
tiat ladies (oouli be e^corW Vxoiol
and melted silver dollar s to make beads, brooches, crosses, bracelets, and other essentials of the Indian toilet. The American Fur Company was his principal customer.
When canoes and pirogues were plying our rivers, and when wild game was cheap and bearskin and wolfskin rugs were common, land was considered relatively unimportant and was purchased cheaply. One man boasts that he bought 1 the lot on which he is still living from an Indian for a keg of whisky. Later, a lawyer received a house and lot as a fee for securing a divorce for his client. Agriculture was slow and tedious work in the face of comparatively easy returns from other activities. The sale of lots in 1823, the organi- zation of the county, and the canal talk all helped to attract immigrants to this place and to favor the establishment of permanent homes. According to local tradition, those were handsome, double hewn-log houses which were unusual even for that time. The house of Major Samuel Lewis (near the site of the Lewis homestead on Montgomery Street) was one m of the famous sights of the village. It was covered with roses climbing over its doors and windows, and the yard had hedges and great clumps of wild roses. It was to this pic- turesque home that General Lew Wallace came when he was J a mere lad to visit his aunt, Mrs. Lewis. No sight-seer in ' the village was allowed to leave without being taken to see this beautiful rose -covered log house.
Even in the old garrison days there was always a forge or blacksmith-shop. Then came a butcher-shop--but a sharp knife and a drove and drover would be a better de- scription of the first meat market. At last Peter Kiser set- tled down as village butcher. He had individuality enough to make him a marked character, and he is remembered today for brusque speech and a famous scrapbook. Later his general store was kept in the most erratic manner, but he somehow managed to have a little naore cash each year when he went to Cincinnati to buy goods.
We soonhear of Wilcox, Peltier, Tower, Miller, Fink, and Griebel making beds, chairs, tables, desks, and all the furniture needed in the village households. Not that the first settlers always waited for honne maniifactures. When Chief
14
Richardville finished his house near Huntington, he sent to Paris for the furniture. Though dressers were more com- mon than sideboards, yet the beautiful sideboard of Mrs. Zenas Henderson is remarkable even today for its beauty and elegance. When Judge Cooper finished his house on East Berry Street in 1836, he sent to New York for the fur- nishings. The bills for the pier glass, carpets, curtains, and paper show that elegance was sought as well as comfort. In the Hanna homestead there are exquisite mahogany pieces that once were in the log house built as the first home of Judge Hanna. These early craftsmen veneered long mahog- any couches and covered them with horsehair. They copied the pattern pieces brought via far waterways; and soon loo tables, candlestick stands, sideboards, and console tables began to take the places of the makeshift furniture.
Enterprising pioneers had brickyards, tanneries, dis- tilleries, breweries, and a pottery. In 1840, a great project for the manufacture of silk was introduced. Copies of the JOURNAL of the American Silk Society in old attics attest the scientific interest taken in the silkworm business. Mul- berry trees were planted and silkworms imported, but the trees did not thrive, and worms and project died together.
Side by side with a social life of marked cordiality and simplicity was a French society, alien in its tastes and ideas. When the Honorable Hugh McCuUoch came here in 1833, he found the little village very fortunate in the char- acter of its inhabitants. Settlers from overseas and colo- nists from Maryland, Virginia, or the eastern states gave character to the town.
When home catering was a necessity and unexpected visitors a certainty, something could always be managed. One famous housekeeper explained: "In the meat house hung plenty of hams; in the cellar were tubs of eggs; we always had potatoes and flour; and so something could be done." Here as everywhere, quick wit and willing hands made the most of opportunities. It takes more than food and fire to produce a meal, and so the clever cooks deserve the honors. At the time of the canal celebration certain families enter- tained several hundred guests. In those early days there
15
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was always a profusion of eatables on the tables of well-bred people. A modern dinner table with its peppers and salts, butter, nuts, flowers, and bonbons would have caused dis- may to the hearty trenchermen of 1830 and 1840. A fine cake was sure to be a pyramid, and after a grand affair the question would be, "How did the pyramid look?"
The record is one of the few balls and parties before 1840. But among the old treasures in one attic was found a printed invitation to a ball on Christmas Eve, 1833. All that the local printing office could produce for ornament- -a screaming American eagle, stereotyped tavern cuts, ro- settes, scrolls, and borders--were used to add to the dig- nity of the occasion. The text reads:
Christmas Temperance Ball for 1833. Tuesday, December 24. The Managers of the Christian Temperance Ball tender their respects to and solicit the company of Mr. Henry Coo- per and Lady at a Ball to be given at the house of Z. Hender- son, in the town of Fort Wayne, on the evening of the twenty- fourth of this month.
Respectfully,
ISAAC SPENCER
JOSEPH SWINNEY
W. RANKIN I THOMAS JOHNSON
R. J. DAWSON
And here is another invitation, printed just two years later:
NEW YEAR'S BALL The company of Mr. Samuel Sowers and Lady is solicited at the Washington Hall on Thursday evening, the thirty-first of this month, at five o'clock.
W. G. EWING
HUGH McCULLOCH
O. W. JEFFERDS
FRANCIS AVELINE
JOHN SPENCER
JOSEPH SINCLEAR
R. J. DAWSON
R. BRACKENRIDGE, JR.
16
Q. C[}rh{matt Sail u> 1033
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If we could look into these frontier ballrooms, we would see fashions and styles of that year of grace, for that was the picturesque era when they were crystalizing the fashions of 1830. It was also a time when much formal and conventional conversation was used. The letters of Judge Cooper are so serious as to seem almost stilted to light- minded folk. When this clever lawyer, famous for his wit and repartee, writes tender, loving letters to his young wife, there is no touch of flippancy, none of the modern familiarity that seems the pleasant privilege of man and wife. Whether he bemoans his absence from her, begs her to get plenty of household help , advises her to buy molded and not dipped candles, reminds her to keep Edward off the street so he won't play so much with the Indians, or begs her to go to comfort a bereaved neighbor- -it is all in state- ly, old-fashioned phrases.
Nothing was ever quite so wonderful as the great canal celebration on July 4, 1843. Invitations were sent to Gen- eral Lewis Cass, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Colonel R. M. Johnson, President Martin Van Buren, General Winfield Scott, and naany others. There were boats of every description, horseback riders, wagon- loads of people, half the population of northern Indiana jos- tling one another in Fort Wayne, the great canal town. The canalboats extended in a double line fronn the upper to the lower basin. These boats, decorated with flags and every variety of bunting, gave to the wharf a very gay appearance. Then came the grand procession in the following order; martial music; Revolutionary soldiers and soldiers of the late war; orator. General Lewis Cass; reader, Hugh Mc- CuUoch; chaplain, the Reverend Mr. Boyd; president, Ethan A. Brown; then the thirty vice-presidents, followed by la- dies, the Defiance band, invited guests, committees, Mar- ion band, engineering corps, German band, citizens of Ohio and other states, Miami warriors, Kekionga band, and cit- izens of Indiana. The local newspaper tells us that the ora- tion of General Cass "was a masterly production, somewhat lengthy. " In it he traced the growth and developnnent of this new country and described an imaginary voyage in an abo-
18
riginal skiff up the Maumee, over the tableland, and down Little River. All the households in the town entertained guests. Judge Hanna's house had a candle in every window, and the illumination could be seen for miles.
At the opening of the Hedekin House in 1846, there was a grand military ball. The Silver Grays, of Detroit, came to give a foreign tone to the affair. Their martial manners and military trappings must have made sad havoc among the belles of the day. Later the dances at the Rock- hill House were famous for the display of wealth and beauti- ful gowns.
In his CHARCOAL SKETCHES, John W. Dawson says that the first marriage in Fort Wayne was that of Dr. Ed- wards to Miss Hunt. The bride, who was related to General Lewis Cass, was a daughter of Colonel Thomas Hunt, who served under General Wayne at the storming of Stony Point. Colonel Hunt brought his family to Fort Wayne from Boston in 1797. Later he was stationed at Detroit, and in 1803 Colonel Hunt was ordered west with his regiment. Captain Whipple, the commanding officer, and Dr. Edwards, the surgeon's mate, stood at the landing at Fort Wayne watching the regiment coming up the Ma\imee. There were fifty Ca- nadian bateaux, and it must have been an imposing sight. But the surgeon's mate overlooked the parade and remarked to his companion on the beauty of Miss Hunt. And Miss Hunt had observed and noted the fine -looking young officer. The result was a fort wedding in two weeks and a bridal trip to Bellefontaine, Missouri. Marriages were often difficult to arrange. The county seat was distant and transportation soinetimes uncertain. But romance and affection laughed at difficulties and far-distant marriage licenses. There were fierce rivalries, not a little artificial gallantry, and more than one duel. This seeking of satisfaction was one of the legacies from fort days. For such affairs of honor Colonel William Suttenfield was usually the master of cere- monies. His daring ride during garrison da,ys and his con- tinual interest in military affairs made him a sort of hero to all the small boys of the place. They would hang around his tavern listening to his never -failing iund of adventures.
19
Even when the stories stopped, the boys would sit still or lean over the banisters as though fascinated. Finally Colo- nel Suttenfield would go to the fireplace where his sword al- ways hung and buckle it on. With martial stride he would begin moving around and growling, "I just feel like eating a boy for dinner, " or perhaps, "I want a boy boiled today; I'm pretty hungry. " No further hint was necessary; every boy went and stopped not on the order of his going. His wife, Mrs. Laura Suttenfield, was one day delighted to welcome her sister. Miss Taylor, of Dayton, Ohio. She came for this visit in a sleigh and, the snow disappearing unexpect- edly, was compelled to make a long stay while awaiting a convenient opportunity to return. But propinquity or fate interfered, and in 1820 Miss Taylor was married to young Samuel Hanna by the Reverend Isaac McCoy. In spite of the. great distances, wedding finery was got together. Besides the \vhite silk wedding gown, usage prescribed a "second day gown." Mrs. Hanna's was a blue Canton crepe, trimmed with blue ribbons. Her white satin wedding slippers were afterward lent for more than one village wedding, for this was the reign of the neighbor. All the characteristic gather- ings of the early settlers favored that neighborliness which was surely the most conspicuous feature of pioneer days; hospitality and neighborliness were warp and woof of the daily life.
It would be a curious sight if we could see such a wed- ding as Miss Tilley had. She was a sister of Mrs. Marshall Wines and was married in the old First Presbyterian Church. In front of the church and around the corner, the saddled horses of the wedding party and of the wedding guests were hitched. One horse had two small trunks adjusted to his back; this was the packhorse that carried the baggage. When the bridal couple canne out, saddles were adjusted and girths tightened. With packhorse and luggage, they started on a wedding trip to Logansport. Such a wedding journey was not unusual. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Fleming were mar- ried at Buffalo, and after following the devious waterways by boat over the lake and the canal to Defiance, they rode on horseback to Fort Wayne. Mrs. Fleming's riding skirt
20
jask feel uliz zoXCrva^ a \dov^ for 6Mnnzjr
tlaey ^torte^. on a uKx^ciLn^ trl^
was muddy to her waist when she dismounted. Once a gay- party went to Vermilyea's with Mr. and Mrs. Royal Taylor. After being served a banquet, the guests returned, leaving the bride and groom there. William B. Walter has left an account of a wedding he attended in 1845 at the house of Francis Comparet. Father Benoit united in marriage Mr. Reno (Renaud), a young fur trader, and Miss Lacroix. For the wedding feast there was wild turkey and venison and a large stone jug of wine. It would certainly have been con- sidered niggardly to have a wedding without wine. Among the guests were Miss Cynthia Bearss, Miss Edsall, Miss Forsythe, and Miss Rockhill. All were friends of the pretty French bride, Angeline Lacroix.
The friendly teas of a group of neighbors or friends seem close to us as we read the old, timeworn invitations: "Mr. and Mrs. McCulloch present their compliments to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper and request the pleasure of their com- pany at their house on Tuesday evening at six-thirty o'clock. " Or again, "Mr. and Mrs. Rockhill request the honor of your company this evening at tea at half-past five o'clock. " The same names recur again and again. Mr, and Mrs. Jesse L. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Allen Hamilton, Mr. and Mrs. D. H. Colerick, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Wines, Mr. and Mrs. William Ewing, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Hanna, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh McCulloch- -all were names found on old in- vitations. Some of these read, "Come to tea at half-past five, " or "half-past six, " or now and then there was a little party to meet "by early candlelight. "
When Mr. Henry Rudisill imported a Leipzig piano it was destined to give pleasure to many outside his own house- hold. Farmers for miles around looked forward to the stop at Rudisill' s to hear the two older daughters play the piano while Mr. Rudisill and his son Henry played the flute. It is amusing to know that Mr. Rudisill sent a rocking chair to Leipzig which created fully as much of a sensation there as the new piano did in the little frontier village. The chair was examined and tried, and it became known far and near as a New World curiosity, an "American rocking chair. "
At the two great crises of life--birth and death--the
23
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neighbors in this frontier locality were very largely depend- ent upon each other. As trained nurses were unknown, the kindly heart and the skilled hand brought grateful relief to tired watchers where there was protracted illness. Some people seenned to have the touch and the knowledge; they were always in demand. Such service was, of course, gra- tuitous, and many years have not served to blot out the mem- ory of old kindnesses done. Again and again the stories were told of the goodness and the unselfishness of Mrs. Lewis G. Thompson (Dr. Thompson's wife), of Mrs. Mar- shall Wines and Miss Eliza Hamilton, and of many other old friends and neighbors.
The boon most appreciated was the gristmill that would turn out good flour. A sawmill with a corncracker attach- ment was a wonderful improvement over the hand mill for grinding corn. Wooden mortars--some made to use indoors, others made by hewing out a stump in the dooryard--were a necessity for every family. As all cooking was done at open fires, the Dutch oven and a large kettle or pot were in constant use. The Dutch oven was not unlike a gas or gaso- line oven with short legs. It had one side open next to the fire and could stand among the coals. Many pioneer men and women bear grateful testimony to the delicious flavor of corn pone baked in a kettle among the coals. It stood all one night and the next day, often turned and slowly baked. A johnnycake paddle hung in view in every tavern, and it was in constant use. Among the inconveniences of early days was the short-lived splint broom. There was never a corn broom in the old fort. There were expensive brushes and then, for everyday use, the Indian broona made fronn a hickory sapling. Wire screening, now so commonly used as to seem a necessity, was unknown in early days. As the family ate, some younger member or a servant would stand patiently waving a fly brush over the heads of the eaters. This fly brush might be a stick with a common newspaper slit and tacked on one end. Or it might be a peacock's tail made into a ro\ind brush; thehandle, interwoven withnarrow ribbons, would be hard as ivory. The steady swishing back and forth could not stop for a moment or a horde of persist-
25
ent flies would descend on dinner and diners.
All we read or hear of the absence cf stoves does not bring the facts so sharply to our attention as the editorial notice of an advertisement for stoves in a local newspaper of 1845. "If," the editor says to the subscriber, "you have never tried one, you have no idea of its convenience and utility. " A fireplace was the necessity of the poorest, a stove the luxury of the well to do. In those days there were candles, sealing wax, small panes of glass, bare rafters, hand sewing, and horseback riding. Our grandparents would have been grateful for a dinner table lighted by electric lights, for gumnned envelopes, for the timesaving sewing machine, for the convenience of plate glass, and for the wonderful motorcar. Now we think that having their old- time necessities is an indication of refined taste. The warna- ing pans and nightcaps of our great-grandparents were not for fashion, but for comfort. The valance or curtain of the high four-poster was to keep out the stiff breeze that some stray chink might let blow in too freshly. The beds were ample, high, wide, and corded. And if they were comfort- able, they were sure to have that oriental luxury- -a feather bed!
With new immigration, the agricultural population came, and plowing with oxen and the planting of orchards began. The old orchards of Johnny Appleseed were greatly appreciated by the early settlers. From both gratitude and pity, he was allowed to lie on many a kitchen floor by the fireplace. Even in this fertile soil the necessary labor was pitiless in its exactions. Agricultural implements were so imperfect that planting and harvesting meant patient and severe toil. The first settlers had sheared, carded, spun, hackled, fulled, dyed, and woven; they realized the value of their material when their textiles were ready to wear. Such activity was a lesson in practical economics, and it made each one ready and anxious to cut his garment according to his cloth.
Among the diversions of the women were such co- operative industries as quilting bees, apple butter parings, and candle dippings. Add to this the busy spring days of
26
I
soapmaking and the fall carnage of hog -killing, and one sees that there must have been many strenuous seasons and many tired muscles. Through it all for the pioneer mother there was the regular business of cradle- rocking, one task that with its work and worry carried its own balm and blessing.
Young ladies were sent east to finishing schools and had such studies as were thought suited to the female mind. They engaged in such mild athletics as battledore and shut- tlecock. They studied music and learned to play on a piano resembling the spinet with its thin metallic trills. Of this same tinkling trill Mrs. Earle writes: "There is no sound in the nineteenth century that at all resembles it. Like log- gerheads in the coals and lug poles in the chimney, like church lotteries and tithingmen, the spinet- -even its very voice- -is extinct. "
New elegancies began to invade the social life of the place. Not long after Mrs. P. P. Bailey left the first call- ing cards for the ladies on her visiting list, another delight- ful shock came--a party was to be given, and "P. P. C. "was in one corner of the invitations.
Up in the attic I fo\ind them, locked in the cedar chest,
Where the flowered gowns lie folded, which once were brave as the best;
And, like the queer old jackets and the waistcoats gay with stripes.
They tell of a worn-out fashion- -these old daguerre- otypes.
Quaint little folding case, fastened with tiny hook. Seemingly nnade to tempt one to lift up the latch and
look, Linings of purple velvet, odd little frames of gold, Circling the faded faces brought from the days of old.
27
Queer oil paintings, miniatures, water colors, and other examples of the art of the day hang on the walls of old homesteads. Sometimes, alas, these searched-for pictures lie in dusty attics; sometimes they have gone through a rum- mage sale to a more appreciative owner; and not infrequent- ly they are ashes --by accident or design. Sometimes an eastern or southern limner left a canvas of real beauty which secured its place among the family treasures because of its art rather than sentiment. But whether it is a crudely done "family group," or a silhouette, or a Rembrandt Peale, nothing can give at a glance so much information about old customs and fashions as an old picture. Sometimes the name of the artist is forgotten by a careless generation, but of a certainty Mr. Rockwell, Mr. Freeman, B. G. Cosgrove, J. Hegler, and A. B. Craft painted here before 1850. On February 3, 1844, A. B. Craft published the following ad- vertisement:
"The subscriber informs the public that he is now ready to take in a superior style the likenesses of all who will favor him with their custom. All likenesses are war- ranted correct and satisfactory or no charge made. Ladies and gentlemen are respectfully asked to call and examine specimens. "
Then, in 1845, J. Hegler announces himselfas a "por- trait painter," but he will also paint "landscape window shades, fire screens, etc. " Daguerre's process of using the sun for an artist was beginning to make its way to this growing and thriving town. In 1840 Dr. Draper had suc- ceeded in making daguerreotype portraits in New York. At first the "sun process" was supposed to be suitable only for still life. But very lovely and flattering were the portraits made by these "Daguerrean artists, " as the advertisements called them. Early in the fifties exquisite pictures and fine cases came from the gallery of Mr. McDonald. Ten years later we find Mr. Benham at his Premium Gallery at the corner of Calhoun and Columbia streets ready to make pho- tographs "in the highest degree of perfection known to the art. " And then came the charming ambrotypes with both detail and softness to recommend them. The very cases
28
have an old-time charm. Some were inlaid with gold or silver lines or mother-of-pearl. Sonnetimes whole cases were of mother-of-pearl or of the precious metals. The larger ones were made in imitation of books; and with their gilt titles, "Token" or "Souvenir," they could have stood among a row of prayer or gift books. One exquisite case is covered with green velvet outside and inside and has gold corners. Another has a beautiful ivory cameo set in the mother-of-pearl. But all these were soon superseded by the conmmercially profitable ferrotype, tintype, and photograph. Although the editorials and the news columns of the early papers are reticent as to the daily life of their sub- scribers, the advertisements are frankly confidential. Al- most every line marks the difference between yesterday and today. For example, in 1845, A. B. Miller makes special note of the fact that he has for sale potash kettles and grind- stones and that he will pay the highest prices for one hun- dred tons of black salts and ten thousand bushels of ashes. Today potash kettles have fallen into innocuous desuetude, and the term "black salts" is given in neither dictionary nor book of chemistry. About the same time Dr. Beecher, who, like most early physicians, had a "doctor shop," desired to exchange drugs, medicines, paints, or dyestuffs for bees- wax, ginseng, and senega snakeroot. Then Robinson and Paige advertised "Men's heavy waxed boots, heavy fisher- man's or hunter's long boots, also woman's and girl's bro- gans, fine for the country. " We cannot but wonder if those brogans did service inpicking cranberries in the great cran- berry bog west of town. When an advertisement lays spe- cial stress on "city-made slippers and gaiters" we know the day has gone by when yoxing Francis Aveline could make moccasins or shoepacks for the whole village. Again, the meaning of an advertisement may be absolutely unintelligible without local and intimate knowledge of the affairs of the day. For example, Hannilton and Williams offer for sale a mysterious commodity, "White Dog and scrip. " This is merely a line from the sad financial tale of the Wabash and Erie Canal. Blue Dog and its fractional currency. Blue Pup, belonged to the same litter as the wildcat money of
29
Michigan. In an early paper Peter P. Bailey, at the Sign of the Padlock, calls attention to his large and well-selected stock of hardware and miscellaneous goods. Very attractive it is to read of his spectacles and sniiff boxes, of his tobacco boxes, cigar cases, hearth brushes, lard and oil lamps, britannia candlesticks, brass and iron firedogs, powder horns, and nails, A little later at the Sign of the Padlock there are a hundred stoves for sale! Besides the Areola Company's new and splendid hot-air parlor stoves, there are Premium cooking stoves and a jewel of a stove called Atwood's Hot Air Empire Cooking Stove. The alluring ad- vertisement says, "For this stove two sticks of wood will last all day." With a fine vagueness as to quantities, Sinclair and Chittenden announce, "We want a right smart chance of butter and a pretty considerable lot of eggs, for which we will pay either cash or goods. " The names of the materials kept at the Mammoth Cave (S. Hanna and Sons) have an old- time sound. There are Carolina plaids, organdies, delaines, lusters, ginghams, alpacas, brocaded silks, and satinettes.
Mrs. Paul, milliner on Berry Street opposite the Presbyterian Church, with pardonable pride boasts of her "Patent Bonnet Press, the only one west of the mountains. " She can at any time turn, clean, and alter straw and leghorn hats. Mrs. Paul's competitors were the Misses Wells, whose fine needlework is yet well remembered. Bits of their handiwork may still be seen in delicate old lace caps and Quaker bonnets. They did much sewing for the gentry of the day. One famous order was for a long broadcloth coat for "Queen Godfrey." As wealth increased, the dandies had an opportunity to try to outshine one another. At the Fashionable Emporium of James M. Blossom could be found figured satin, silk, and merino stocks, cravats, and scarves; silk and linen purses; half hose; silk and connmon suspend- ers; ivory dressing combs and combs of buffalo horn. At the old rifle shop owned by Moses Yering, there was a fine supply of guns, rifles, and pistols. His earliest advertise- ments do not mention revolvers; probably at that time Sam- uel Colt'i invention was not connmonly used here.
Soon a taste for imported goods developed. Royal W.
30
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Taylor advertises children's French coats and Egyptian dresses, also honeycomb shawls. Anyone who had furs, coonskins, deerskins or bearskins, beeswax, flaxseed, or, better than all else, black salts could buy many wonderful things. The cabinetmakers were busy, for a new and rapid- ly growing population needed new furniture. Joseph Johnson announces that he has on Barr Street, north of the market house, an assortment of those new and fashionable articles, Venetian window blinds. Special advertisements offer for sale buffalo robes, sperna and mold candles, candle wick- ing, fine riding whips, bedcords, sugar kettles, and one curious offer of a "smut mill cheap. " All this is before 1850. The advertisements change with customs and fash- ions, for later the purchaser is begged to call to see Bal- moral skirts, hair nets, nubias, and new styles in hoop skirts.
One personage was known as "Auntie Vance" to the whole village, but her name is written, Sallie C. Vance, among the charter members of the First Presbyterian Church. Her age was a mystery about which she allowed no levity and no discussion, for she was a maiden lady of the old school. She was also the self-appointed censor of the Presbyterian Sewing Society. This society naet every other week at the homes of members to sew for home mis- sionaries. Before the sewing day, a large clothesbasket holding the work would be taken to the house of the enter- taining member. The cutting, basting, and sewing would continue all afternoon. Just before time for refreshments, all completed articles had to pass muster beneath Auntie Vance's sharp black eyes. And woe betide the hapless nee- dlewoman who did careless work or put long stitches in the pantalets or pea jacket for the mission child. She would take a garment and look it over, searching each minute part. If satisfactory, it had passed muster. But if unac- customedor indifferent hands had held the needle, she would cry out scornfully, "Look at that!" The culprit whose work was held up for all the sewing society to see had no appeal from the decision, "Rip it out and do it over!"
She used the Christian name of every friend and ac-
32
quaintance. One day a gracious and lovely hostess said to her, "Auntie Vance, isn't your tea right? I remembered you liked it strong, and I put in an extra quantity. " Auntie Vance looked severely down the table and said, "Susan, when one puts extra tea in the pot, one is boiuid to taste it in the cup. " Her minister asked how she liked his last Sunday's dis- course. She answered, "Jonathan, I like that sermon every time you preach it. " She was a church regulator of undoubted influence. When someone suggested an increase in the num- ber of church elders. Auntie Vance replied with cutting sar- casm, "Yes, the church needs elders! But where do we see proper timber for elders?" The timberless congrega- tion had no reply ready.
C. E. Slocum and R. S. Robertson, HISTORY OF THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN (Indianapolis: Bowen & Slocum, 1905), Vol. II, pp. 60-81.
33
Skdch of
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A SKETCH OF EARLY FORT WAYNE by Colonel Robert S, Robertson
Prepared by the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana
1954
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FOREWORD
This sketch of Fort Wayne's history was penned by its prom- inent adopted son, Colonel Robert S. Robertson. It originally ^- peared on the pages of the FORT WAYNE DAILY GAZETTE in August, 1879. The author hoped that his summary might induce others to contribute to a comprehensive history of Allen County.
The Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County present this account in the hope that it will enter- tain and inform readers and will encourage further reading in our city's history. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation have been changed to conform to current usage.
Ofu (jf a fti^torical scries.ifeb pampftlcl b published aitdcr Iftc dircctiojt c^ \hc qcmrmnQ Boards ^ ^^^ T^ublic library c|7briWayiic anb Qllcit County.
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FOREWORD
This sketch of Fort Wayne's history was permed by its prom- inent adopted son, Colonel Robert S. Robertson. It originally ap- peared on the pages of the FORT WAYNE DAILY GAZETTE in August, 1879. The author hoped that his summary might induce others to contribute to a comprehensive history of Allen County.
The Boards and the Staff of the Public Library of Fort W^ayne and Allen County present this account in the hope that it will enter- tain and inform readers and will encourage further reading in our city's history. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation have been changed to conform to current usage.
CoL l^cberl S.l^berhcn
ROBERT S. ROBERTSON
Robert S. Robertson was an early historian of Fort Wayne. He not only recorded events that occurred before his time , but he also made history for others to write. Bom on April 16, 1839, in North Argyle, New York, he was descended from Scottish forebears. Admitted to the bar in 1860, Mr. Robertson began the practice of law at Whitehall, New York. At the beginning of the Civil War, he began his military career as a private. He quickly rose to the rank of first lieutenant. After his discharge because of wounds re- ceived in battle , Robertson was given the brevet rank of captain by President Lincoln and the brevet rank of colonel by the governor of New York. Later he received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his military services.
In 1866 Colonel Robertson came to Fort Wayne and began the practice of law. In 1867 he was elected city attorney for a term of two years. The next year he was the Republican nominee for state senator but was defeated. In 1871 he was appointed United States commissioner and register in bankruptcy. At the Republican Indiana convention of 1876, Colonel Robertson was nominated for the office of lieutenant governor. He was defeated in the election of that year; but he sought the office and was successful in the special election of 1886. His election precipitated a battle for political power in state politics. During his tenure, he was elected president of the State Board of Equalization, a position previously held only by the governor. Other honors came to him later in life. He was appointed a trustee of Indiana University, and President Harrison appointed him a member of the Utah Commission.
His published volumes include HISTORY OF THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN, INDIANA REBELLION OF 1887, and VALLEY OF THE UPPER MAUMEE RIVER. "Educational Development of the Northwest" appeared in the MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
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The early history of the country is a subject attracting the attention of many investigating minds. Now that a history of Allen County is being prepared, it is right that any persons whose inves- tigations enable them to throw light upon the earliest history of Fort Wayne do so; the work undertaken by our county historians may then be as complete as possible. In the hope that it may induce others to add to the work, I contribute my mite in the following hasty sketch from notes made for my own use.
In deciding important questions in history, the value of maps is often overlooked, but they are frequently the only records of early explorations. An early map can prove that the site of Fort Wayne was known at an earlier date than any in recorded history.
In 1657 Nicolas Sanson, royal geographe r to the king of France, prepared a map of Le Canada or Nouvelle France; Lake Erie is dis- played with a river flowing into it from the southwest, clearly rep- resenting the present course of the Maumee River from the site of Fort Wayne to the Lake. The St. Mary's River and the St. Joseph River had not yet been explored. Thus, we have conclusive evidence that the Maumee River had been traveled to the vicinity of this point prior to 1657 by the indefatigable French explorers. The map is in possession of C. C. Baldwin, of Cleveland, and a reduced copy is reproduced in volume one of the AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN.
In 1680 the route to the Mississippi River, by way of the Maumee and Wabash rivers, is clearly referred to by Pere Allouez in his letter of November 9, 1680, translated from the third volume of FRENCH DISCOVERIES of Margry:
"There is a river at the end of Lake Erie, ten leagues below the strait, by which we can traverse much of the road to the Illinois. It is navigable to canoes and is about two leagues nearer than the route by the St. Joseph and Kankakee rivers by which they usually go there. "
On August 11, 1681, Sieur de La Salle, before starting on his second expedition toward the Mississippi River, made his will and devised the following: "Do give, cede, and transfer to the said Sieur Fleet in case of my death. . . as well as all my rights over the country of the Miami, Illinois, and others to. . .the Miami, in the state it may be at the time of my death. "
The second volume of the MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTO- RY mentions another note from the pen of La Salle in 1682, which
reads:
"The fifteenth of January we struck the trail of those of our people whom M. Henri de Tonty had sent on a hunting expedition. They were searched for, and one was found. The other two had gone to make inquiries after me to the river of the Miami. "
In WESTERN ANNALS, a report made in 1682 by La Salle to Frontenac mentions the route by the Maumee and the Wabash to the Mississippi as the most direct. Even though it was the shortest route, the explorers long continued to go around by the Lakes, sometimes descending by Green Bay and the Fox and the Illinois rivers; or they descended by the head of Lake Michigan up the St. Joseph River to the present site of South Bend, thence by portage to the Kankakee and down that river. Why they should travel this roundabout way so long has been a mystery until lately, when another unpublished letter of La Salle threw light upon it. It is well known that, about the time of the advent of the whites, the Iroquois con- federacy was carrying on a war of extermination against the Algonquin tribes, of which the Miami and the Illinois were a part.
In his letter of October, 1682, La Salle said:
"I can no longer go to the Illinois country but by the lakes Huron and Michigan; the other ways which I have discovered, by the head of Lake Erie and its western coast, have become too dan- gerous due to frequent encounters with the Iroquois. "
This letter is important because it shows that La Salle dis- covered the route. He stood on the future site of the populous city of Fort Wayne , when there was nothing to meet his view but the un- broken forest and the small cluster of Indian wigwams. Therefore, we may consider this disputed question settled, for La Salle was noted for reporting exact facts, and when he said that he had dis- covered the route, it may be taken as a fact.
My research of the period from 1682 to 1716 has revealed no direct mention of this route. In WESTERN ANNALS, it is stated that a route was established about 1716 from the head of Lake Erie, up the Maumee River to the site of Fort Wayne, by a portage to the Wabash, and by way of this river to the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
History and tradition inform us that in 1747 a French fort was destroyed at the junction of the rivers. If this be true, it must have been soon re-established; in 1749 Captain Celoron de Blain- ville, a chevalier of the Order of St. Louis, was sent by the Governor
of Canada, the Marquis La Gallissonniere, with orders to descend the Ohio River and take possession of the country in the name of the king. He descended the Ohio River to the mouth of the Great Miami River, burying inscribed leaden plates at various points in his route. He followed the Miami River to Fort Lo ramie, then across the portage to the head of the Maumee River. The MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY further reports:
"They completed the portage on the twenty-fifth [of Septem- ber] and arrived at Kiskakon. This appears to be the Indian name for the site of Fort Wayne. . .Celoron found it to be a French post under the command of Captain M. de Raymond. It undoubtedly took the name of Kiskakon from a branch of Ottawas that removed to this place from Michilimackinac , where they had resided as late as 1682. It was here that Celoron provided pirogues and provisions for the descent of the Maumee to Lake Erie. The Miami chief, 'Pied Froid' ('Cold Foot'), resided in the village. He appears not to have been very constant in his allegiance either to the French or the English. Leaving Kiskakon on the twenty-seventh of September, a part of the expedition went overland to Detroit, and the remainder descended the river by canoe. "
A map of Celeron's route, prepared by Father Bonnecamps, who accompanied the expedition, shows with considerable accuracy the courses of the St. Mary's and the Maumee rivers. The fort is located in the bend of the St. Mary's south and east of the river. According to the map, and in agreement with existing traditions, the fort stood somewhere not far from the residence of Honorable Hugh McCulloch. In 1751 Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal mentioned "Fort Miami on the Maumee. " This must have been our Fort Miami; for, although there were in the West four outposts named Miami, the other "Fort Miami on the Maumee" was not built until early in 1794 by the British. No event of importance occurred here for thirty years or more. This post remained in the condition in which George Croghan found it until Fort Wayne was built and garrisoned in 1794.
But as early as 1785, Washington wisely discerned the im- portance of the place. He wrote that same year to Richard Henry Lee:
"Would it not be worthy. ..of the wisdom and attention of Congress to have the western waters well explored, . . .at least as
far westerly as the Miami River, running into the Ohio River, and the Maumee River running into Lake Erie, and to see how the waters of these communicate with the river St. Joseph, which empties into Lake Michigan and into the Wabash River? For I cannot forbear observing that the Miami village. . .points to a very important post for the Union. "
In his treasonable letter of 1789, General James Wilkinson proposed to send articles from Detroit through Lake Erie to the Miami River and then by the Wabash River to any point on the Ohio River. In 1790 Antoine Gamelin was sent from Vine ennes to visit the Indian villages on the Wabash River; he proceeded as far east as Kekionga, the Miami village at the junction of the St. Joseph and the St. Mary's rivers. LeGris was then chief of the Miami. Gen- eral Joshua Harmar's expedition reached the Miami, or the Omee River, on October 14, 1790; he engaged the Indians at the "common fording place" of the Omee and was defeated. The AMERICAN STATE PAPERS contain a letter of General Henry Knox to General Arthur St. Clair dated September 14, 1790. General Knox writes that the great object of this campaign was to establish a strong military post at the Miami village, had it been compatible with the public finances.
In 1791 General St. Clair was sent on a similar errand. Knox, then Secretary of War, gave him the following instructions for the campaign:
"The force contemplated for the garrison of the Miami village and for the communications has been set between one thousand and twelve hundred noncommissioned officers and privates, and the garrison must have in store at least two months' supply of salted meat and flour in proportion. "
In WESTERN ANNALS, we learn that he adds, "It is hardly possible, if the Indians continue hostile, that you will be suffered to establish a post at the Miami village quietly. "
St. Clair left Fort Hamilton; and on October 12, 1791, he commenced to build Fort Jefferson, in Darke County, Ohio. On the twenty-fourth he resumed his march to the head of the Maumee; on November 3 he reached a stream which he supposed to be the St. Mary's, but It was really a branch of the Wabash Just south of the headwaters of the St. Mary's. Here St. Clair was attacked by the Indians under Little Turtle. He suffered a disastrous defeat and
V/ASHItiQTON WQOTL TO 7?/CUAQD HEfiRV LIL
was obliged to retreat with the loss of several high-ranking offi- cers. The famous Brant, or Thayendanegea, was present at this battle.
On the twenty-sixth of December in the same year, General Knox again recommended the establishment of a strong military post at the Miami village. In 1792 Reverend Samuel Kirkland was sent as an envoy to the western Indians. One of the points he visited was the Miami village to urge the Indians to make peace and to learn what number was engaged against St. Clair. According to the AMERICAN STATE PAPERS, Captain True man was sent from the Ohio River to the Maumee River, on May 12, 1792; but he was murdered by a man and a boy he met while hunting.
The next military activity was General Anthony Wayne's cam- paign of 1794. It was his plan to reach Au Glaize, the headquarters of the Indians, undiscovered. To deceive the Indians he cut two roads, one toward the foot of the rapids, and the other to the junc- tion of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph rivers. He pressed forward between the two. However, the Indians had learned of his move- ment from a deserter and had abandoned their towns.
On August 18, 1794, his army advanced forty-one miles from Au Glaize and, nearing the enemy, threw up light defenses, which they called Fort Deposit. On the twentieth they moved five miles down the north bank of the Maumee River, where they were at- tacked by the Indians in the heavy timber. There were less than nine hundred troops engaged against two thousand Indians. The Indians were driven back two miles through the timber and took to flight. Wayne's army remained three days near the battlefield and destroyed the cornfields situated at Maumee Rapids. Wayne re- ported that the Miami had about two thousand warriors in the fight near the British garrison.
On September 4, 1794, the army under Wajnie again set out for the Miami village at the head of the Maumee River and arrived here on the seventeenth. On the eighteenth Wa5Tie selected the site of the fort. On October 22, 1794, it was completed and christened Fort Wayne by Colonel John F. Hamtramck, who was placed in command of the garrison. On the twenty-eighth of October, Wayne and his legion left Fort Wayne and went to Fort Greenville, Ohio.
On the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth of December, the chiefs of several tribes, including the Miami, came with peace messages
6
COnPLETLO -AnO CUR/6TLt1£D FOQT WAV/V£ ..
to Colonel Hamtramck at Fort Wayne. On January 24, 1795, they entered into preliminary articles with Wayne at Greenville. The articles were concluded by treaty at a conference lasting from June 16 to August 7, 1795. Thereafter, peace, instead of war, reigned over the historic confluence of the St. Joseph and the St. Mary's rivers.
FORT WAYNE DAILY GAZETTE, August 5, 9, 1879
BEGINNINGS
PORT WAYNE
HughMcCulloch (1808-1895) was born at Kennlbunk, Maine and educated at Bow- doin College. He studied law in Boston, was admitted to the bar in 1832, and came to Fort Wa3Tie in 1833. He began the practice of law, but his energies were diverted to a brilliant career in banking and governmental service. He became Casliier of the Fort Wayne Branch of the State Bank of Indiana. Later he became Comptroller of the Currency under Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase. Later Lincoln appointed Mr. McCulloch Secretary of the Treasury. This office he also held under President Andrew Johnson. Later President Arthur appointed him Secretary of the Treasury. This service as Secretary of the Treasury under three presidents was a record in American history, until Andrew Mellon exceeded it recently by serving an even longer period of years in that capacity under three presidents.
This material is reproduced verbatim from Mr. McCulloch's book MEN AND MEASURES OF HALF A CENTURY (1888).
Beginnings of Fort Wayne Hugh McCulloch
In 1833 Fort Wayne, as I have said, had little to recommend it but its site which, being an elevated plateau at the junction of the St. Joseph's and St.. Mary's Rivers, which formed the Maumee, was commanding and picturesque. It was near the line which divides the waters which flow northeasterly to Lake Erie from those which flow southwesterly to the Gulf of Mexico, a few miles, called "the portage, " separa- ting the Maumee from the Wabash. The explorers of this section were F rer ch Cath- olic priests, who crossed the St, Clair Straits near Detroit, passed over the western end of Lake Erie, ascended the Maumee to its head, and having had their canoes carried by friendly Indians over the portage, descended the Wabash to the Ohio, and thence by the Ohio and Mississippi to the Gulf. Catholic priests are invariably sa- gacious, far-seeing men, and these explorers predicted that their route from Lake Erie westward would become a great thoroughfare; which prediction was fulfilled, first by the Wabash and Erie Canal, and afterwards by the Wabash Railroad.
Upon taking command of the United States forces after the defeat of General Harmer on the St. Joseph's in 1790, and the practical annihilation of the army under General St, Clair, near the head-waters of the Wabash in the following year (the report of which terrible disaster so overwhelmed President Washington with grief and rage that he gave expression to his feelings in a vehemence of language surpris- ing even those who knew that beneath his usually placid and cold exterior there existed a fiery sensibility which, when suddenly excited, he was unable to control), General
Anthony Wayne perceived the necessity of a fortification which would command the portage and prevent free conmiunication between the Eastern and Western Indian tribes. The fort, to which his name was given, was therefore built under his direc- tion, and it became a nucleus of what is now one of the most populous and enterpris- ing cities of Indiana^ In 1833 the stockade, enclosing two or three acres and a num- ber of hewn-log houses, was still standing. At the head of the allied tribes by which Harmer and St. Clair had been defeated was Little Turtle, Chief of the Miamis, one of the bravest and most sagacious Indians of whom there is any record. It has been stated by some writers that a Mohawk half-breed, called by the E nglish Joseph Brandt, was in command of the Indians in these (to the United States forces) disastrous battles. This, I think, is a mistake. Brandt was raised among the Onondagas, in New York. Having an aptitude for learning, he became a favorite of the English Indian Superin- tendentand his secretary. When the Revolutionary War broke out, he naturally sided with those in whose service he had been employed, and his name became a name of terror to many settlements in New York and Pennsylvania; but there is no evidence that he took part in either of the battles referred to. Richardvlile , who succeeded Little Turtle as Chief of the Miamis, informed me that it was Little Turtle who led the Indians, and to whose valor and skill they were indebted for their victories.
Little Turtle had heard of Wayne, and when he learned that this great warrior was to take command of the United States forces, he called the chiefs of the allied tribes together in council, and advised that peace should be proposed to the white men, from whom, he thought, honorable terms could be obtained. "Our wigwams," said he, "are lined with the scalps of white warriors and filled with plunder; let us make peace and return to our hunting grounds. We may not always be victors. Our
enemyls still strong; the new chief, the friend of the great Washington, is achiefwho never sleeps. " This advice was disregarded. Alarge majorityof the council was in favor of their continuing upon the war-path. "Have we not, " said one of the young chiefs, "beaten the white men in two great battles? Is not the land ours? Shall we talk about peace when by a few more blows we m^y destroy the invaders and enjoy our hunting grounds forever?" Mournfully and with sad forebodings Little Turtle yielded to the demand of those whose thirst for blood had been increased by what they had tasted. The war was continued, and in 1794, the allied tribes were so over- whelmingly defeated near the Maumee Rapids , eighty miles below Fort Wayne , by the forces under Wayne, that they never appeared upon the war-path again. Gather- ing together the remnants of his tribe after this terrible defeat Little Turtle return- ed with them to their own country, on the upper Wabash, where he spent the rest of his life in efforts, not to civilize his people, but to save them from being contami- nated by intercourse with the whites. To him is due the honor of forming one of the first temperance societies in America. He called together the men of his tribe, and, after portraying the evil of whiskey (fire-water, as it was properly called), he pro- posed that they should all pledge themselves to each other to drink no more of it. His proposal was agreed to. The pledge was given, and during the life of this great chief it was, with few exceptions, faithfully adhered to.
Little Turtle differed from most Indians in being inquisitive in the desire to know how other people were living, and what they were doing. He had great respect for General Cass, whom he visited at Detroit, and to whom, as the General informed me, he was in the habit of putting questions which exhibited great natural intelligence and a good deal of interest in the affairs of nations which he had heard about. He could
not speak English well, but he understood everything that was said to him in this language. In one of these interviews General Cass told him about Poland; how it had been crushed by the strong nations around it, and was being divided between them. "I never had, " said the General, "a more attentive listener. He sat motionless, with his keen eye upon me, until I had finished the mournful story, when he sprang to his feet, and with his hands upon his tomahawk, paced the room with an expression upon his face which indicated that his war spirit was aroused, and that he would be glad to strike a blow for the unfortunate Poles."
I saw a good deal of the Indians in my early life in the West. I was present at many of the annuity pa5nnents to the Miamis, and atone of the great councils at which treaties were made. Many of them I knew personally, and I must say of them that, when sober, they were perfectly inoffensive and trustworthy. In riding through their country, in meeting them on the way or at their wigwams, I never had the slightest
i
fear of them nor any cause for distrusting them. It was only when they were intox- icated by the vile whiskey which was sold to them by the traders — and this was not frequently the case — that they were dangerous. From what I know of Indians gener- ally, my conclusion is, that if the treaties with them had been fairly made and faith-] fully observed, if upright and competent agents had been sent to them and they had been protected against the impositions of villainous traders, Indian wars would have been of rare occurrence. It must be admitted that in numerous instances treaties were made with chiefs who were under the influence of dishonest white men, or by chiefs who did not represent the wishes and sentiments of the tribes, and even such treaties were not faithfully executed by the Government. By neglect of the Indian Bureau at Washington, or the incompetence of Government employees, supplies, in
imany instances, failed to reach the Indians in season. In other instances, the articles delivered were of such inferior quality as to justify the suspicion of the existence of something worse than neglect or incompetence on the part of those who acted for the Government. It cannot, perhaps, be truthfully said that Indian agents, as a class, have been dishonest or incompetent; but it can be said, without doing them injustice, that they have not been the kind of men that private individuals would have selected to perform important duties. As for the licensed traders, it can be safely said that they have been the reverse of what they ought to have been. Nor has dishonesty in trade with the Indians been confined to the licensed traders.
There has been a good deal of Indian trade outside of the agencies in which the Indians have been cheated. Nothing surprised me more, as I became acquainted with the manner in which this trade was carried on, than the fact that men who had the reputation of dealing fairly with white men did not hesitate to practice the most shameful impositions in their dealings with the Indians. I haveknov/n many men who were engaged in the Indian trade, but I cannot remember more than two or three who dealt with them with perfect fairness. Long ago I formed the opinion that the tribes that occupied the northern part of the United States were incapable of being civilized, by which I mean, incapable of living by manual labor upon land or in shops. Differ- ing widely in disposition and character from the tribes in the southern states, and altogether differing from the aborigines of Central and South America, naturally dis- inclined to industrial pursuits , they have been doomed to pass away with the game upon which they mainly subsisted. Land is needed for grazing and cultivation. Every acre is, or will be, required for the subsistence of the human family. Territory sufficient to support a thousand Indians by hunting and fishing, would furnish homes
for hundreds of thousands of industrious white men. A few families of the various tribes will for a while linger about the industrial civilization in which they can never fully participate; but as a race they will soon disappear, leaving no record of their oriplii and no reliable record even of their own existence. While this is to be their fate, there is cause for national humiliation in the fact that their disappearance has been hastened by the vices, the cupidity, the injustice, the inhumanity of a people claiming to be Christians.
Uninviting as Fort Wayne was in many respects, it was fortunate in the charac- ter cf its settlers—intelligent, far-seeing, wide-awake men — among the mostprom- inent of whom was Samuel Hanna, one of that class to which the West has been in- debted for its public improvements. Commencing business in a sm.all way with his brother-in-law, James Bamett, he became the leader in all enterprises which were , undertaken for the benefit of Fort Wayne and the country around it; the most impor- tant of which were the Ohio and Indiana, and the Fort Wayne and Chicago railroads, the former extending from Crestline in Ohio to Fort Wayne, the latter from Fort Wayne to Chicago. The construction of these roads was uphill work from the start. Again and again were the companies upon the verge of bankruptcy, and nothing saved them but the faith, energy, and unyielding tenacity of Mr. Hanna. He lived to See both roads completed and consolidated with the Pennsylvania and Ohio, forming the Pitts- burgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago, one of the great trunk lines of the country.
Allen Hamilton was a Protestant Irishman of a respectable but impoverished family. Having obtained, by the help of some of his relatives, a fair clerical educa- tion, and having formed the resolution to strike out for himself, as he expressed it, 1 he joined a small company of his countrymen who were about to emigrate to Canada.
In due time he reached Montreal, and, after spending a few days in that city in fruit- less efforts to find employment, he proceeded on foot to New York, and being equal- ly unsuccessful there, he pushed on in the same way to Philadelphia. Here he was compelled to make a stand. He was down to his last dollar, and he must either find something to do or starve. Having secured a cheap lodging, and been refreshed by a good night's sleep and a plain but substantial breakfast, he started out hoping to find some one who would take him upon trust and put him to work, no matter what might be the nature of the service. All the long, weary day he spent in going from street to street and shop to shop. Nobody wanted a clerk, and to those who might have given him employment as a laborer, he seemed too delicate to be serviceable. Just as the sun was going dov/n and he was about to rf urn to his lodgings, hungry and despairing, he saw through the window of a plain-; coking office a gentleman of venerable appearance sitting at his desk. "This is my lastchance," said he to him- self; "I will try it." So, mustering what courage he ha^-l, he knocked hesitatingly at the door and was bidden to come in. There was something in the tone in which the words "Cor.ie in" were uttered that was encouraging. "And what can I do for you?" said the old gentleman, "Something to do by which I car. sarn an honest living, " was the earnest reply. "You look weary and troubled; how happens it, if you are willing to work, that you are in need of employment?" Briefl., the young man related his pitiful story. The old gentleman listened to it patiently and when it was finished he said: "You bear, young man, an honest face. I believe you have told me the truth. You shall have a trial. Come to me in the morning; I v* lU put you at work. " These were the first words of encouragement which Hamiltor had heard since his arrival at Montreal. His heart, as he said to me years after, vent to his mouth. He could
hardly speak, and when he did he could only say, "I thank you, sir. " The next morn- ing at the appointed hour he was at the office. By his aptness and industry he grew _ rapidly in the favor of his employer, and was so well paid for his services that in less than a year he had money enough to cover his expenses to Aurora in Indiana, where a distant relative was living. Here he obtained employment in the office of the County Clerk, and, being a young gentleman of good habits and address, he soon became a visitor at the house of Judge Holman, United States District Judge, whose daughter, a very accomplished girl, the sister of William S. Holman, the distinguished mem- ber of Congress from Indiana, he had the good fortune to marry. From Aurora he went to Fort Wayne, and had been living there two or three years when I met him in 1833, unconsciously laying the foundation for a large fortune by investing every dollar he could raise in Government lands. I say unconsciously, because no one then d ream- ed of the rapidity with which Western lands were to rise in value. In a conversation with him in the spring of 1834, I said that a friend of mine, a ship-master, tired of the sea, was coming to Fort Wayne with $15,000 in cash, "That is a large sum," said he; "if I had that amount of clear cash I should consider myself rich. " He died about twenty-five years from that time, leaving an estate worth a million or more. The turning point in Mr. Hamilton's life was his kind reception by the old Quaker in Philadelphia. From that day his career was one of uninterrupted success. Nor was his good fortune confined to the acquisition of wealth. He was equally fortunate in his family relations. Especially fortunate was he in having sons who (unlike the sons of most rich men in the United States) are adding to the estate which their father left them, and at the same time malntainir^ his good reputation.
William G. Ewing and his brother, George W. , formed the firm of "W.G. &
G.W, Ewing. " They had come from Ohio, and with Mr. Hanna, Mr. Hamilton, and others whom I shall mention, were among the first settlers of northern Indiana. As there were at that time no surplus agricultural productions in that section, the only business opening for them was trade with the Indians and white hunters and trappers in furs and skins. Commencing in a small way at Fort Wayne, they rapidly extend- ed their field of operations, and in a few years from the time at which they bought the first coonskln, the firm of "W.G. & G.W. Ewing" became one of the mostwidely known and successful trading-firms of the Northwest. For a considerable period their bills drawn upon their consignee in New York against shipments of furs and skins furnished the larger part of the New York exchange of the branch bank, of which I was manager. But large and profitable as was their trade, the bulk of their large fortune was the result of investments in real estate, the most fortunate of which were in Chicago and St. Louis. Enterprising, laborious, adventurous men they were, but so devoted to business, so persistent in the pursuit of gain, that they had no time to enjoy the fruits of their labors. I have rarely met their equals in business capacity or general intelligence; very few have I known who had less real enjoyment of life. Charles W. Ewing, their brother, was a lawyer, and one of the most graceful and fascinating speakers , one of the most accomplished and agreeable men socially, that I ever became acquainted with. He had a splendid physique and a classic face. He was an excellent singer and story-teller. He had made a study of Shakespeare, and could quote the finest passages from the works of the great master in a manner that could hardly be surpassed by distinguished actors. In addition to these accomplishments and advantages, he was a good lawyer and skillful advocate. So thoroughly equipped was he for success in the higher walks of life that the most
distinguished positions would have been within his reach, if his convivial habits had not led him into dissipation which terminated prematurely a career the opening of which was full of promise.
Samuel Lewis, who had charge of the Wabash and Erie Canal land office, was a man of the purest character and of superior business capacity. His wife, a lady of rare intelligence, was the aunt of General Lew Wallace, who is adding to his high reputation as a soldier enviable distinction as a writer. The house in which Mr. < Lewis lived was a double log cabin, the latchstring of which was always out, a cabin which was rendered charming in summer by the beauty and odors of the honeysuckles and climbing roses which covered its walls, and in winterby the cheerful blaze in its ample fireplaces, and which was always made doubly charming by the open-handed hospitality of its host. Lewis G. Thompson was for many years the leading physician of Fort Wayne. He had that instinctive knowledge of diseases which distinguishes the born physician, and without which medical knowledge derived from books is a snare. Belonging to the old allopathic school, he believed in medicine, and gave evidence of his faith by prescriptions which were the reverse of homeopathic, but so accurate was his intuition in locating diseases, that he was rarely at fault in treat- ing them. I admired Dr. Thompson for his medical skill and for his many noble and manly qualities, but more than all for the conscientiousness and humanity which compelled him to treat with equal carefulness and attention those who were able to pay for his services and those who were not. Jesse L. Williams, the chief engineer of the Wabash and Erie Canal, was living at Fort Wayne in 1833. When the State engaged in an extensive system of public works, he was appointed chief engineer of the State, and went to Indianapolis, where he remained until the entire system collapsed
I
in the general financial crash of 1837, and all hopes of its revival had been abandoned, when he returned to Fort Wayne, where he recently died, the last survivor of those whom I first met there. Few of our civil engineers have surpassed Mr. Williams in engineering skill, and I have never known his equal in industry and endurance. His labors as chief engineer of the Wabash and Erie Canal, and other public works in Indiana, were prodigious, but he never failed to be equal to them. Week after week and month after month, every day except Sunday, on which he always rested, he could be found upon the line of the public works , usually in the saddle , and in the evening, and until midnight, at his desk. The only position which he has held outside of Indiana was that of Government director of the Union Pacific road, which he held for only a short period. He found soon after his appointment that there was a secret as well as open connection between the railroad company and the Credit Mobilier, the nature of which he was not to be made acquainted with; a wheel-within -a -wheel management, which he suspected was not favorable to the interests which he was appointed to look after and protect, and he therefore resigned his directorship. Mr. Williams acquired a large property, and he was very fortunate in his family connec- tions.. His wife (a daughter of Judge Creighton of Chillicothe, Ohio), who is still living, is a lady of superior culture, who has always been distinguished alike for her social qualities and active beneficence. His sons, while they do not come up to their father's standard in energy, will not discredit the name which they bearo
The men whom I have thus mentioned, with Robert Breckenrldge, Register of the Land Office, a man who possessed the best qualities of the distinguished Breckenrldge family of Kentucky, of which he was a distant connection; Marshall S. Wines, a man of extraordinary enterprise and force; John Spencer, Receiver of the Land Office;
Francis Comparet, and John B. Bourie, Canadian Frenchmen, who were just com- mencing what soon became a large trade in furs with the Indians, made up, with their families and a few stragglers, the population of Fort Wa3me in the early summer of 1833, Since then I have seen a good deal of the world. I have been thrown among people of all grades; I have been brought into social and business relations with men standing high in public esteem; but the men of whom I have spoken, after the lapse of more than half a century, stand out before me in bold relief as remarkably intelli- gent, enterprising, far-seeing, and withal kind-hearted, generous men. Nor do I forget the roving, daring men who opened the way for settlers, but never lingered when people became numerous and game became scarce — the leather-stocking fron- tiersmen of the West. Rough in manners, uncouth, if not repulsive, in appearance, as some of them were, they seemed to be the very men whom it would not be safe to meet in out-of-the-way places. But such they were not. Thieves, robbers, murder- ers are not bred in the forests where nature exists in its freshness and beauty; they are the product of gregarious civilization. Many a time have I met frontiersmen in places where resistance would have been in vain, without receiving from them any but the kindest treatment. Beneath a rough exterior there was a mine of noble qual- ities, which slumbered only when there was nothing to bring them into exercise. "Scratcha Russian, and you will find a Tartar," said Napoleon. "Scratch a Christian, and you will find a pagan, " says Heber Newton. Reversing the scale, I could say as the result of my observation, that if one of these frontiersmen had been scratched, there would have been revealed a gentleman.
Nor ought I to conclude what I have thought itproperfor meto say about my early acquaintances in the West without saying a few more words about a prominent and re-
markable man, John B. Richardville , who succeeded Little Turtle as chief of the Miamis. His father was a Frenchman, his mother a squaw. By what rule of succes- sion or selection he became chief I was not informed, but he proved to be the right man for the place. He was no war chief, like Little Turtle. He had not a drop of fighting blood in his veins, but he was a man of great natural shrewdness and sagac- ity, of whom no one ever got the better in a trade. Nor did he find an equal in diplo- matic skill among the Government commissioners when treaties were to be made with his nation. "He is," said Senator Tipton, who met him frequently in council, "the ablest diplomat of whom I have any knowledge. If he had been born and educated in France, he would have been the equal of Talleyrand." Although he dressed like a white man, and lived in a brick house, he had a commanding influence over the tribeo He was watchful of the interests of his people, but by no means unmindful of his own. In all treaties, large reservations of the choicest lands were secured to him, and not a few boxes of silver were set aside for his special use. The great mistake of his life was made, he said, when he yielded his own judgment to that of a Catholic priest, who was one of his secular as well as spiritual advisers , and sent his tv/o boys away from home to be educated — one in Louisville, the other in Montreal. Apt to learn, and patient under discipline, they took high rank in their respective schools, and when they returned to their home, near Fort Wayne, they were as bright and interesting youngfellows as could be found anywhere. Such they didnot long continue. They had lost their taste for Indian life, and they had no disposition to engage in the pursuits of white men. They soon passed from listlessness to dissipation, and became the most degraded of the young men of the tribe. "Education," said their disappointed father, "very good for white boys; bad, very bad, for Indians."
With the exception of a few of their chiefs, who were landowners, the Miamis were removed to what is now Kansas, in 1846, and I recollect the doleful descrip- tions which came from them of that country. To them it was a desert over which the fierce winds were constantly sweeping, without trees, and withoutgame. The change from a country like northern Indiana, its lakes and rivers abounding with fish, and its splendid forests alive with game of nearly all descriptions, to a nearly treeless plain, was indeed disheartening. Said one of the traders who went with them to me on his return: "I am, as you know, unused to the melting mood; but when the young braves at my parting with them burst into tears and begged like children to be taken back to their old home, I could not help crying also."
Prepared by the staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County February, 1953
REMINISCENCES OF OLD FORT WAYNE
1906
Compiled by- Mrs. Lura Case Woodworth Mrs. Carolyn Randall Fairbank Mrs. Martha Brandriff Hanna
' sjitsreJ^'*'*'
One of a historical series, this pamphlet Is published under the direction of the^ governing Boards of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SCHOOL CITY OF FORT WAYNE
B. F. Geyer, President Joseph E. Kramer, Secretary William C. Gerding, Treasurer Wlllard Shambaugh Mrs. Sadie Folk Roehrs
PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD FOR ALIEN COUNTY
Tlie niernbers of this Board include the members of the Board of Trustees of th School City of Fort V/ayne (with the same officers), together with the following citize chosen from Allen County outside the corporote city of Fort Wayne:
James E. Graham Arthur NIemeier Mrs. Glenn Henderson Mrs. Charles Reynolds
oltheon*-' ; Fort War? i*^» Itenaitca:;. -•» riotheyei
This collection of episodes and annals relating to Old Fort Wayne has been a source of enjoynnent and instruction to persons of this commu- nity for nearly a half -century. The original issue of the booklet was long ago exhausted. Indeed, it would be impossible to locate a half-dozen copies today. In view of the interest in the subject matter of the booklet as well as its relative rarity, it seemed a worthy enterprise to present to our adult patronage a reissue of this treasury of local history. No changes, except in mechanics, appear in this edition. It is almost an exact reproduction of the original publication. The Boards and Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County present this collection of local historical naa- terial to adult readers in the hope that it will prove to be just as interesting in the years to come as it has been in the past.
I
One of CI historical series, this pamphlet Is published under the direction of the governing Boards of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SCHOOL CITY OF FORT WAYNE
B. F. Geyer, President
Joseph E. Kramer, Secretary
William C. Gerding, Treasurer
Wlllord Shambaugh i
Mrs. Sadie Fulk Roehrs
PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD FOR ALIEN COUNTY
Vne members of this Board include the members of the Board of Trustees of the School City of Fort Wayne (with the same officers), together with the following citizens chosen from. Allen County outside ihe corporote city of Fort Wayne:
James E. Giaham Arthur Niemeier Mrs. Glenn Henderson Mrs. Charles Reynolds
This collection of episodes and annals relating to Old Fort Wayne has been a source of enjoyment and instruction to persons of this commu- nity for nearly a half-century. The original issue of the booklet was long ago exhausted. Indeed, it would be impossible to locate a half-dozen copies today. In view of the interest in the subject matter of the booklet as well as its relative rarity, it seemed a worthy enterprise to present to our adult patronage a reissue of this treasury of local history. No changes, except in mechanics, appear in this edition. It is almost an exact reproduction of the original publication. The Boards and Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County present this collection of local historical ma- terial to adult readers in the hope that it will prove to be just as interesting in the years to come as it has been in the past.
T-HE OLD CO C hCIL -HOast W+^EQE AriTWOny- WAyNE • 4-lELD -coaNCii-^
WITWT+4E- INDIANS ■ ■,
[ 5]TaATEDOM • EA5T- /AAl M • 5T32ELT J
FOR.EWORD
We have endca'^ cred to make tPiia book of Reniirascences a rhronicie of some of the most stirring and interesting events connected with the ea.rly history of Fort Wayne.
That we have not been able to secure the recitals of happenings, that are just as closely woven around the memory of many of the other founders of our beloved city, is our misfortune, but the halo of glory which hovers around the memory of these sturdy, self-confident, and far-seeing pioneers, can never be dimmed, and their names W'hich we still honor and revere are placed in loving remembrance upon this page. They are:
Judge Samuel Hanna
Allen Hamilton
Cyrus Taber
Maj. Thomas Forsythe
Henry Johns
Wm. G. and G. W. Ewinj
James Barnett
Thomas Swinney
Louis Peltier
Wm. Suttenfield
Michael Hedekin
James Aveline
Col. Marshall S. Wines
Thomas Johnson
Dr. M. W. Huxford
Dr, Benj. S. Woodworth
R. W. Taylor
Hugh B. Reed
Henry Rudisill
I. D. G. Nelson
Major Saniuel Edsall
Dr. James Ormiston
Philo Ramsey
Wm. Rockhill
Madison Sweetzer
M. W. Hubbell
Wm. S. Edsall Francis D. LaSalle Dr. Louis B. Thompson Dr. Chas. E. Sturgis Hon. Hugh McCuUoch Jesse L. Williams Franklin P. Randall R. W. Townley John B. Dubois Robert Hood Henry Cooper R. Brackenridge Reuben J. Dawson
Jacob Bowser Pliny Hoagland Joseph Scott John P. Hedges Morgan French O. W. Jefferds Oliver Silvers Robert E. Fleming Samuel C. Freeman Dr. W. H. Brooks George DeWald Samuel Sowers Joseph McCorkle
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
The Miamis, who lived here before the coming of General Anthony Wayne, were a powerful tribe of Indians, the central force of the North- west, whose sway extended over Indiana, part of Ohio and the southern por- tion of Michigan, in fact reached even to the banks of the Mississippi Riv- er. At the time of General Wayne's campaign, Little Turtle was the Chief of the tribe; at his death the Chieftainship, being in the female line, de- scended through his mother to Richardville , and he in turn was succeeded by Chief Godfrey.
The last of these Miami Indians were taken in 1847 to their govern- ment reservation in Kansas.
In 1790 the American forces in the Northwest had sustained a crush- ing defeat under General Harmer at Maunnee Ford, now known as Harmer' s Ford, about half a mile east of the confluence of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's Rivers. Again in 1791 the army commanded by General St. Clair was routed and almost totally destroyed near Fort Jefferson in Ohio, The defeat of St. Clair was the most disastrous that the white men had sustained at the hands of the red since the days of Braddock, and it came at a time when the nation was in dire distress because of the British aggressions. Since the War of the Revolution, no event had so impressed the people and placed the Republic in greater danger than did this defeat.
It was at this time when the country was in such peril that Anthony Wayne was called to save the nation. The campaign in Ohio and Indiana,
which was tc give peace to the frontier and loosen the British grip \ipon the Northwest was the crowning; work of Wayne's life. Strictly speaking, the war that called Wayne to the frontier was a prolongation of the War of the Revolution. Though the treaty of peace made with England had been rati- fied, it had not been carried out, and while the British could no longer claim territory to the south of the Great Lakes, they encouraged the Indians to hold and fight for these broad lands.
In 1792 Washington appointed General Wayne Commander-in-Chief of the American Army and he was ordered to Pittsburgh to organize troops for the purpose of subduing these Indian tribes. This company was called the "Legion of the United States," and the men for the command were gath- ered by sweeping the streets and prisons of the eastern cities of their beg- gars, tramps, and ciiminals, and let it be remembered that this was the second sweeping, the first having gone to St. Clair.
General Wayne soon found that whisky and tales of Indian cruelties were demoralizing his troops, so he shipped them twenty-seven miles down the Ohio River and named tlie post Legionville. In May, 1793, the com- mand was transferred to Fort Washington, now Cincinnati. In the mean- time, the government endeavored to effect a treaty with the tribes and to establish a peace without bloodshed. A Grand Council composed of repre- sentatives from six nations was held at Maumee Rapids. The negotiations turned out fruitless, and Wayne was ordered to make another effort to sub- due the Indians.
On October 7, 1793, Wayne's army began its march, and on the 13th
he camped at a place which he named Greenville in honor of his old com- mander, General Green.
This post, which was eighty miles from Cincinnati, he selected for his winter quarters. There in the wilderness, surrounded by hostile Indi- ans, he passed the winter. To render his troops familiar with the danger, he sent a detachment to the battlefield where St. Clair met defeat, with the double duty of burying the dead and building a fort; this was called Fort Recovery. In the meantime, Wayne was joined by General Scott with 1 , 600 Kentucky volunteers, and the army now moved toward the Maumee. Some miles beyond Fort Recovery, he built a stockade and called it Fort Adams. On August 4 the troops encamped on a beautiful plain where a strong forti- fication was built and named Fort Defiance. Wayne's army was now at the most important point of the Indian country. Once more peace was offered the Indians, but the overtures, against the advice of Little Turtle, were rejected. Wayne perceived that nothing but a severe blow would break their spirit, and he resolved to inflict it. For this purpose the army moved for- ward and on Aug. 18 they established a magazine of supplies, which was called Fort Deposit. Then General Wayne summoned a council of war and adopted a line of march and battle submitted by Lieutenant William Henry Harrison. Wayne learned through his scouts that a large force of Indians were waiting to meet his army at a place known as Fallen Timbers. A tornado, which had swept the country, had piled up huge trees of the forest in confused masses and heaps that gave an ideal cover for such fighters as the red men. The British fort was but two miles below the advance edge
of this entanglement, and the Indians were contident that its garrison would come to their aid as soon as the battle was begun. Wayne's troops now marched down the Maumee River in a column with a battalion of mounted Kentuckians under Major Price as an ad\'ance guard; when six miles below the camp, the Indians opened fire that literally hurled the Kentuckians back on Wayne's main army.
The supreme moment of the day and of the long war on the frontier had coine. With instant decision Wayne gave the word to charge, and as the long roll of the drums began, the battle line leaped forward, yelling with joy of conflict. The soldiers shot down the red men as they fled and dashed on in relentless pursuit till they had driven the panic-stricken Indi- ans past the tightly closed British fort and scattered them far and away in- to the wilderness beyond.
Wayne's troops now marched down the river and built a fort called Fort Industry, When this garrison was completed, the ariny moved slowly up the Maumee Valley; they finally reached the Miami Village at the junc- tion of the St. Joseph's and St. Mary's Rivers. It is said that the troops blazed their way through, on the line of what has since been known as "Wayne Trace" in the extreme easlernpart of the city, arriving here onSeptember 17, 1794. On the 22nd of October the garrison was finished, and after fir- ing fifteen rounds of cannon, it was given the name of Fort Wayne.
The fort, which was built in 1794, was restored in 1804, rebuilt in 1815, and evacuated in 1819, but portions of the last fort remained until in the 'bO's.
Carolyn rianJall Fairbanks
MRS. LUCIEN P. FERRY, Decatur, Indiana To the Daughters of the Mary Penrose Wayne Chapter, D. A. R. :--
My father, Louis T. Bourie, who was an Indian trader and an inter- preter, came to Fort Wayne in 1762, before General Anthony Wayne built the fort here in 1794. Later he became a warm personal friend of Anthony Wayne.
There were only two houses standing near the old English fort, and it was near these that my father built a home and brought his family to live. This old English fort was built before 1762, between the St. Joseph's and Maumee R.ivers, in what was then known as the "Old Apple Orchard" and now known as Lakeside.
After living here for a w^hile, he moved back to Detroit but becoming dissatisfied there, he finally moved here again, this time to stay. This was in 1814 and I was a baby three months old.
When I was older, I was told hov/ we came here from Detroit by water in a pirogue--a boat hewn from a large log--the boat being large enough to hold trunks, bedding, passengers, and a good stock of provisions for a long trip.
The only means of travel in those days was by water or horseback; an occasional wagon came sometimes from Ohio or Kentucky. When my
father and his family landed, he found that his house had beenburned to the ground, fired so we were told by the Indians,
While my father was building a new house we lived in the fort built by General Anthony Wayne and saw a great deal of military life there. The new house was built on East Columbia Street, between Clinton and Barr Streets, near the fort.
After my father's death, my mother and 1 went to live with my oldest brother, John Bourie, who had married and built a home on East Columbia Street opposite my father. This brother was the father of the late Louis T. Bcurie and Miss Desdemona Bourie, who is still living with the family of Louis T. Bourie in Lakeside.
My sister Hattie married Colonel George Washington Ev/ing, so well knov-n in the early days of Fort Wayne.
About the year 1822 I was sent to school and this school was held in the fort. My teacher was a Baptist nnissionary by the name of McCoy. This same n?.issionary baptized by immersion a daughter of Captain Wells, who, as you know, was a brother-in-law of Little Turtle, Captain Wells had three daughters, Rebecca, Ann, and Jane. Ann married Dr. Turner; Rebecca, Captain Hackley; and Jane, a Mr. Gregg. There was great ex- citement when Captain Hackley hanged himself at his home in Bloomingdale. This, of course, happened when I was yet a young child. I next went to school in the Council House. In one room there were cupboards full of to- bacco to be sold or given to the Indians. Whenever the beys were unruly, they were shut up in these cupboards until they were almost suffocated. I
next went to school in the jail, which was situated where the Court House now stands. The old jail was built of logs, and I remember being told of a man by the name of Alexander, who was imprisoned just so often for debt. As soon as he w^as incarcerated he would mysteriously appear on the street. This happened so often that upon investigation it was found that he could lift out one of the logs, step out and replace it.
I can remember, I think it was in 1828, how wolves would prowl around about where Shoaff's Gallery used to stand and where Wolf & Dessauer's large store now stands. This was an open and wooded spot and here the wolves were trapped and disposed of.
When I was older, I