Fountain County IN Archives Biographies.....Coon, William S. 1817 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 12, 2006, 6:29 am Author: H. W. Beckwith (1881) William S. Coon, farmer and stock raiser, Newtown, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, March 8, 1817. In 1833 he settled with his parents, Isaac and Mary (Stephens) Coon, in Fountain county. They improved a home on the land owned at this time by Mr. Coon's son, Isaac. He was married March 19, 1837, to Elizabeth Garland, by whom he had four children: Perry G., born January 1, 1838, died September 3, 1868; Mary Ann, September 26, 1843; Isaac W., June 5, 1845; and another which died in infancy. Mrs. Coon died November 5, 1848, and on July 29 following he was married to Huldah Stephens. She died January 17, 1875, and he was married a third time, August 22, same year, to Rebecca Selby. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church, and he has been a deacon since his earliest connection with it, twenty years ago. He owns a well improved and valuable farm of 443 acres, lying about three miles northwest of Newtown. He was a whig until the dissolution of that party, when he attached himself to the democratic party, in whose ranks he stands to-day. He was county commissioner one term, and was elected to that office in 1870. His service in this position was not without the excitement of factitious clamor and opposition. The building of the county jail was a measure which has been industriously and captiously animadverted upon, and the voice of unsparing criticism has not yet abated its energy or shown that there is any delight for it in a "flash of silence." The facts are substantially as follows: The contract was let for $50,000. When the structure was about half completed, and pretty nearly all the material on the ground, some persons at Attica and Veedersburg, who were interesting themselves in the removal of the county seat, procured an injunction to restrain the further prosecution of the work; this was tried in the circuit court and sustained. The commissioners then hired the contractors to finish the work. In the agreement the former understood that the architect was to determine the value of any change from the original contract. If more work should be done and material furnished than was stipulated for in the contract, the architect should fix the price on the extra work and material, and the commissioners be bound to pay both the original and extra amounts. If less work should be done and less material furnished than was stipulated for in the contract, the architect should ascertain the deduction to be made from the contract price, and the contractors should be bound to accept the original contract price less the said deduction. By an oversight of the commissioners the second article of agreement was so drawn that the architect was empowered to fix the price of the whole work. He fixed it. The jail cost $115,000. The difference between the original contract price and the actual cost was $65,000. This was the price of interference; not an interference on behalf of the public welfare, but of a private scheme for personal and local aggrandizement. The commissioners cannot escape responsibility for their acts, neither for their omissions; but it is perfectly apparent that had not their plans been interfered with and thwarted, Fountain county would not have "paid the fiddler" $65,000 for the special gratification of a few of her citizens. Another public act for which this board has never been given proper credit was the defeating of the railroad tax. A county donation of $137,000 had been illegally voted by the people to aid in the construction of the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western railroad, and another which was to be built from Attica to Covington. The tax was extended one year, but after that the commissioners refused to make the levy. Suit was brought in the circuit court against the county and judgment obtained for the plaintiff; the commissioners appealed to the supreme court and the judgment was reversed. Additional Comments: Richland Township Extracted from: HISTORY OF FOUNTAIN COUNTY, TOGETHER WITH HISTORIC NOTES ON THE WABASH VALLEY, GLEANED FROM EARLY AUTHORS, OLD MAPS AND MANUSCRIPTS PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC, THOUGH, FOR THE MOST PART, OUT-OF-THE-WAY SOURCES. BY H. W. BECKWITH, OF THE DANVILLE BAR; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF WISCONSIN AND CHICAGO. WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CHICAGO: H. H. HILL AND N. IDDINGS, PUBLISHERS. 1881. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/fountain/bios/coon796nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/infiles/ File size: 4.9 Kb