HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY  503

carried the county, Fernsel having a majority of 140. The statute gov-
erning the case provided that the candidate-elect should be qualified
within ten days from the date of election, otherwise the auditor was
authorized to declare a vacancy and make appointment to fill the same.
From some cause Fernsel did not appear until after the expiration of the
ten days, when he was informed by Auditor James M. Hoskins that he
had forfeited the office by neglect and that A. J. Montgomery had been
appointed and qualified to do the work of the position and receive the
emoluments of the same.

“The Athens of Clay County.”
    For a number of years, half a century ago, say from 1850 to 1860,
the little town of Poland was known as “The Athens of Clay County.”
This distinction was accorded the village by way of nick-name, by com-
mon consent, because of the debating society maintained there at that
time As participants in the conduct of the society John B .Nees and
Elisha B. Peyton were the principal characters. Both were men of some
education, with literary tastes and aspirations .N ees was the older man,
having the broader experience. Peyton was practicing law in the jus-
tices’ courts of Clay, Owen and Putnam counties. Both were men of
high standing in the community, bright and argumentative, and, all
things considered, good speakers. In politics Nees was a Democrat and
in religion a Presbyterian; Peyton a Republican and devout Methodist.
Their disputations, regularly held, afforded entertainment and instruc-
tion for residents of the three counties—Clay, Owen and Putnam—and
were largely attended and appreciated.

A Clay County Experiment Station.
    But few of the tillers of the soil and producers of crops in Clay
county know that an “experiment station” was once conducted in the
county. In the spring of 1860, Robert Conley, proprietor of the New
York store, Brazil, had in stock a large quantity and variety of garden
seeds, with a supply of catalogues descriptive of the same and their
cultivation, which were distributed gratuitously to prospective pur-
chasers. William Travis then lived on the corner of Main and North
Franklin street, now occupied by Hutchison’s harness shop, in the Hill
property, where there was a good garden spot. In looking over the
catalogue to make a selection of seeds, he saw advertised for the first
time the vegetable oyster, or salsify, with the cultivation of which he
at once decided to experiment. In the midst of the garden, where was
the richest ground, a good-sized bed was prepared and at the proper
time put to seed. In due time the plants appeared, looking vigorous and
promising. The development was closely watched and every spear of
grass and other extraneous growth plucked up. After a couple of weeks’
daily attention and special care in the treatment of the new and rare
product, Mr. Travis’s mother came out from eastern Ohio to pay him a
visit. When at dinner the mother asked him if he were cultivating any
garden, he told her that he was and that he was producing something
new, of which he had never heard while in Ohio. When he told that it
was the vegetable oyster, the mother said that she had never heard of
it, but would be glad to see it. Dinner over, she was conducted to the
garden and shown the vegetable oyster for the first time. Adjusting her
spectacles, bending over and looking at the growth, she said: ‘Why,
William, is this what you call vegetable oyster in Indiana? In Ohio