Greene County IN Archives History - Books .....Chapter XIX Stafford Township 1884
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Book Title: History Of Greene And Sullivan Counties, Indiana

CHAPTER XIX.
STAFFORD TOWNSHIP—ORGANIZATION AND FIRST OFFICERS—EARLY CONDITION AND EVENTS—THE
SETTLEMENT—MASSEY'S COTTON GIN—OTHER EARLY INDUSTRIES — HUNTING ANECDOTES —
MISCELLANY — SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES—VILLAGE OF MARCO.

THE township of Stafford was one of the first five created in Greene County in
1821, when the county was organized by the first Board of Commissioners. The
township at first included the present townships of Stafford and Washington, and
remained so until 1830, when the latter was created and given a separate
organization. Since then, Stafford has remained as it is at present, as far as
limits and boundaries are concerned. It was named in honor of old Benjamin
Stafford, father of the present old settler of that name, who is living near the
center of the township. At that period, the two townships, Stafford and
Washington, were one, and as Mr. Stafford was, perhaps, the most prominent of
all the residents, and as he was a man of sufficient intelligence to display an
interest in the civil affairs of his locality, his name was adopted as the
township name. He was appointed Inspector of the first elections which were
ordered held at his cabin. Two Justices of the Peace were ordered elected
(1821), but the other officers were appointed by the County Board. Isaac Hubble
and John Goldsby were appointed Overseers of the Poor; John Breese, John Goldsby
and Benjamin Stafford, Sr., Fence Viewers; John Breese, Constable. These were
the first officers to administer the civil affairs of old Stafford Township.
John Seaman and John Breese were the two first Justices of the Peace elected in
1821. William Hodgins was the first Lister of the township. In 1822, Mr. Hodgins
was the first Road Supervisor, and had the following hands: John Seaman, Jesse
Stafford, John Stafford, Isaac Hubble, John Breese, Madison Collins, Joseph
Kirkpatrick, William Hodgins and William B. Harrison. Benjamin Stafford was
re-appointed Inspector. In 1822, Joseph Dixon and William Hodgins were Overseers
of the Poor; Jesse Stafford, Isaac Hubble and Peter Herington, Fence Viewers.
Mr. Herington was one of the first three County Commissioners.

EARLY CONDITION.

   The appearance of the township in early years was different from what it is
at present in many respects. Much of the land is low, with but little natural
slope for drainage, and even at this day is too wet for profitable cultivation;
but, in early years, before the arts of man had been used to convey the surplus
water with speed to the streams, large portions of the township, especially in
the rainy seasons of the year, were vast lakes where millions of wild aquatic
fowls took bath and gathered their food. This characteristic of the township
endures to the present day, as will be testified by scores of resident and
non-resident sportsmen who have waded the marshes many a day with wet limbs,
empty stomachs, but happy hearts. It is stated that one hunter, about twenty
years ago, killed in one season over 3,000 geese, ducks and brants. In later
years, hunters from abroad come in sometimes with modern sporting facilities and
slay in a week's time one-third as many. At a much earlier day, wild turkeys
were very abundant in the drier portions, but sought the treeless marshes very
often for food, or to hatch their young. Every old settler can tell interesting
tales of turkey hunts. Along the borders of the woods in early morning they
congregated, and could be shot from tree tops until the hunter was weary. It is
asserted that often they were so remarkably fat that when they struck the ground
after being shot dead from the top of high trees, the skin upon their backs
would burst open like a ripe pod. Great rolls of yellow, oily fat were often
taken from their bodies. When nicely cooked before the old fire-places, they
were fit for the gods to eat. Late in the autumn, when the weather was dry and
the grass dead, great prairie fires swept across the open portions of the
township, carrying destruction to everything that lay in their way. The grass
grew from three to six feet high, and when a fire was started with a strong
wind, especially at night, the scene was grand beyond description. The burning
wave would travel as fast as a horse, while the angry tongues of flame would
dart upward thirty feet high, and an awful roar, more terrifying than that of a
cyclone, would awe the beholder with the grandest emotions. Wild game would run
from the burning grass at their swiftest speed, or fall down exhausted, to be
devoured up by the jaws of flame. The encircling timber would bound the limits
of the fire. Many an old settler lost his hay and house by the fires.

THE SETTLEMENT.

   It is stated that the first settler in the present Stafford Township was a
man named Josiah Carrico, or as he became universally known and is called to
this day, Calico. He was a long-limbed Kentuckian, who had first settled in
Sullivan County, probably in Jefferson Township, but had come to what is now
Stafford Township as early as 1817, and possibly a year before. He located in
the southern part of the township on the border of what is yet known as the
"Calico Mash." This was a large, marshy, open tract of land which Carrico used
as a pasture for his stock, and in which he is said to have killed many deer and
a few bears. He lived in the township until his death, leaving several children,
one of whom, it is said, now lives in Terre Haute. Joseph Dixon settled soon
afterward just east of Marco, and became prominent. In about September, 1818,
Jesse, John and Benjamin Stafford and their uncle, Peter Caress, came to near
Marco from Kentucky, with a herd of about thirty cattle, one yoke of oxen and
two horses, one of which was ridden by Benjamin, Jr., then a small lad, and
after hurriedly building a rude log cabin and arranging affairs comfortably,
John went back to Kentucky, leaving the others to clear sufficient ground during
the remainder of the fall and the following winter for a crop in the year 1819.
The next spring, John returned with the team to assist in raising the crop. The
cattle had been herded in the rich winter pastures in his absence, by the
others, and a tract of fifteen or twenty acres had been cleared for the crop. A
small field of corn and a garden of vegetables were raised in 1819, and the
following year, 1820, the remainder of the family came on from Kentucky. It was
about this time that Bartlett Goodman came in and located on the northern line
of the township. Mason Pitts came in about 1819, and settled on the Jackson farm
and was a noted hunter and trapper. Isaac Hubble came at the same time and built
a rude log cabin in the western part, where he lived for many years. James
Walker, another settler of note, located near Mr. Hubble. Andrew Wallace was a
very early settler, coming in 1819, or, as some say, in 1818. He established
himself in the western part, where there was quite a settlement as early as
1820— five or six or more families near each other. Abraham Goodman also came in
very early, locating in the northwestern part. George and Moses Williamson came
to reside in the township as early as 1821, and very probably as early as 1820.
Abraham Garrett located in the western part in 1819, it is said, as did also
Enoch Morris and John Breese. This extensive settlement in the western part was
on the high, dry ground, and was really an outgrowth or expansion of an older
settlement in Sullivan County. Prior to 1821, all of Greene County west of the
river, it should be noticed, was part and parcel of Sullivan County, so that the
earliest residents were residents of that county until the Legislature created
the county of Greene. Several other families came in later, one of the most
prominent being that of James Jarrel. Simon Hagerman was another early one, as
were the Brewers. In the western part, in the vicinity of Marco, and in the
southern part, were the first settlements. By the year 1825, there were not less
than thirty families in the township. Times were hard, and the settlers had all
they could do to make an honest living.

MASSEY'S COTTON GIN.

   It will seem strange to any one not an old settler of Greene County, yet the
fact is that in early times considerable cotton was raised in every township,
and in some neighborhoods families raised not only enough to clothe themselves
in cotton garments, bat had some to sell. For several years during the decade of
the twenties, the residents of Stafford and Washington Townships engaged in this
occupation so extensively that an intelligent mulatto named Hugh Massey, devised
machinery similar to the primitive cotton gin of Eli Whitney, and prepared to
not only clear the cotton of its seed, but also at the same time to tear it into
shreds and render it suitable for being carded by the women preparatory to being
spun and woven into cloth. He built a shed about forty feet long in which were
the machinery and the sweep, by means of which horses set the mill in motion. In
one end of this building, where the cotton was torn into shreds, a tight room
was built to prevent the loss of cotton by the freedom of the wind. Interested
spectators were permitted to peep cautiously in this close room to see the gin
at work. All this apparatus for handling the cotton was on the second floor,
while on the lower were the horses and heavy machinery, and a small grist mill
or corn cracker which had been started earlier by Mr. Massey. The owner had been
led into starting the cotton gin by the demand from the neighborhood. I [sic]
was soon discovered that a fair quality of cotton could be raised, and as sheep
were hard to keep, owing to the wolves and other causes, the attention was
directed to the cotton fields as a source from which to obtain clothing. It is
said that the Dixons raised as high as twenty acres of cotton, and the Staffords
often raised five acres. Many other families raised as much or more than this.
Thousands of pounds were grown annually in this neighborhood and taken to the
mill of Mr. Massey. The picking of the cotton in the fields became quite an
extensive industry. Men became quite expert, and in the fall made a business of
traveling around from field to field of cotton to pick on shares. They took
one-half of the cotton for picking the whole. The bolls were not as full and
heavy as they are in the South, but they yielded a satisfactory return for the
labor. After the cotton had been to the mill of Mr. Massey, it was taken to the
homes, carded by hand, spun on the old wheels, and woven into cloth in the looms
of the pioneers. The cloth thus made was not as fine and smooth as can be bought
in the large stores of to-day, but it made good substantial suits for summer,
and when mixed with wool, furnished excellent linsey-woolsey for winter wear.
After running a few years, the cotton mill was abandoned, as the production of
cotton gradually fell off. The grist mill or corn cracker was operated longer.
These mills stood on the Vincennes road, about a mile and a half west of Marco.
The corn cracker was afterward owned by William Sulcer, a soldier of the
Revolutionary war, whose tax for many years on real estate was remitted by the
County Board in consideration of ill health caused in serving his country. The
bolting was done by hand, and of course the meal and flour furnished were
coarse. The mill ran about ten years.

OTHER EARLY INDUSTRIES.

   An early mill of the township was started by John Purcell a short distance
west of the central part of the township. It was a genuine old corn cracker with
horse power, and was a curiosity in its way. A heavy roller was so arranged that
it crushed the corn on a broad base from which the meal was brushed into a box
or bag. It was started at an early day and was the first improvement over the
old way of crushing the grain by hand with mortar and pestle. Its period of
existence was brief and uneventful. Abraham Garrett, at an early day, probably
about 1833, built a long shed on his farm and put in the necessary machinery,
and commenced carding wool. Settlers would take their wool to him and after it
had been carded would return for it, take it home, and spin and weave it into
cloth. He operated the mill for several years. The old mill on Black Creek was
built quite early and ran for many years with many changes in the ownership. The
name of the builder could not be learned. A large dam, with an excellent natural
mill site, furnished water-power second to no other place in the county. Just
above the dam the country was as level as a floor, and over all this, now called
the "Goose Pond," a head of water was obtained to operate a dozen mills. The
entire country above could be kept under water, and was. After a year or two,
this was such a breeder of malaria that complaint arose, but the dam was not
removed, as it was too valuable. Finally, in the night it was cut, but was
repaired soon afterward. Everybody had the chills in that neighborhood. At
length the dam was destroyed one night, and the timbers of the mill were so
injured that the owners commenced legal proceedings against the transgressors.
The matter went to the Supreme Court, with just what result cannot be stated.
The dam and mill were soon afterward permanently abandoned. One or two other
short-lived mills were operated in early years. It is said that one or two small
distilleries were conducted for a few years in the decades of the thirties and
forties. Nothing but a limited quantity of corn whisky was manufactured.

HUNTING INCIDENTS.

   Benjamin Stafford says that one morning he stood in his father's cabin and
counted over thirty deer passing in one herd. This was very unusual, as they
usually went in very small herds. They were very numerous, and could be shot at
almost any hour of the day. William Harrison was one day hunting in the township
when, in passing near the border of the Goose Pond, he saw a bear out to one
side in the woods. It seemed to be coming toward him, so he concealed himself
behind a clump of bushes, and after priming his rifle awaited the approach of
bruin. At last the animal came shambling along to within easy rifle shot, when
he took careful aim, fired, and stretched it dead on the ground with a bullet
through its head. He skinned it, and went to the house and got a team of horses
with which it was loaded on the sled with skids with the help of some of the
Stafford boys. It weighed when dressed over 400 pounds. Its flesh was eaten by
nearly all the neighbors. On another occasion, Josiah Johnson was hunting in the
vicinity of the Goose Pond, with two dogs, which soon were heard at bay out in
the woods, barking at something they had treed. Mr. Johnson surmised by their
angry and rapid howls that they had encountered an animal of more than usual
size and ferocity. He accordingly hurried out to see what they had found. He
reached the spot and saw a moderate sized bear in a large oak tree, to which it
had climbed after ascending a smaller oak which stood against the large one. The
animal stood on a high branch composedly eyeing the raging dogs below. Without
deliberating very long, Mr. Johnson brought the bear to the ground with a
bullet. It was seized by the dogs, but, after a few spasmodic kicks and gasps,
it became motionless. Mason Pitts was a hunter of courage and experience. It is
said he claimed to have killed more panthers than any other resident of Sullivan
County (the western part of Greene County was part of Sullivan before 1821). He
had an eye like a hawk; was easy and graceful of movement; possessed great
strength, courage and endurance, and was a dead shot off-hand with his rifle. He
was a blacksmith, and when not hunting was working the most of his time at his
trade. One day, in passing across an open space on his way to a neighbor's,
returning something he had borrowed, he saw a heap of grass and leaves, and
going noiselessly up to the spot, kicked the leaves away and hallooed at the top
of his voice. Instantly, two large panthers sprang out and bounded off like cats
into the marshy tract of land and were soon out of sight and sound. He had no
gun, but came back afterward with gun and dogs, but could not find the
"painters," as he called them. It is said he shot one from a tree in the
southern part of the township on another occasion. Old man Carrico is said to
have killed three or four bears in the marsh near his house. One he wounded, and
as it came at him with open mouth he was compelled to use his knife to prevent
being "hugged" to death. The Stafford boys—Benjamin and Azmabeth—in a very early
day, with the aid of dogs, caught on Black Creek four otters, an animal that was
very rare even at that time.

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST.

   The first entries of land were made as follows: Allen Reeves, on Section 35,
in October, 1816; Isaac Hubble, on Sections 7 and 18, in August, 1817; Mason
Pitts, on Section 6, in September, 1817; Joseph Dixon, on Section 25, in
October, 1817; Charles Scantland, on Section 36, in October, 1817; John Hinkle,
on Section 7, in 1818; Abraham Miller; on Section 29, in 1818; John Smith, on
Section 30, in 1818; John Hamilton, on Section 30, in 1818; Joseph Hackley, on
Section 32, in 1818; James Walker, on Section 6, in November, 1818; Abraham
Garret, on Section 19, in 1818; Peter Hays, on Section 24, in 1819; Benjamin
Stafford, Sr., on Section 24, in January, 1819; Simon Hagerman, on Section 13,
in 1819, and Joseph Kirkpatrick, on Section 36, in 1821. Some of these men did
not reside in the township. Carrico raised the first crop in the township.
William Miller, an old crippled Kentuckian, who came to the township with
Hagerman, was the first one to die. It is said that one of the Hubbies was the
first born. The first marriage was that of John Beeves and Jane Carrico. The
ceremony was performed by Squire Black, of Carlisle, at the log cabin of old Mr.
Carrico. The families living within a few miles of the place were invited to
witness the wedding and eat of the supper prepared at the old fire-place of the
cabin. The fare is said to have been wild turkey, potatoes, corn bread and
beans, seasoned with fat pork. That was good enough for an historian.

SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.

   The first school in the township was taught in the western part, in a small
log cabin that had been built for a residence by some settler and abandoned. It
had no floor but dirt, and no window but an insignificant opening, over which
not even glazed paper was fastened. It was usually left open, serving to admit
light and air. A large fire-place was the most interesting feature of the dismal
little room, as its cheerful light and heat filled the place with ruddy glow.
The teacher is said to have been one of the Hinkles, of Jefferson Township,
Sullivan County. It is probable that not more than one or two terms were taught
in this house, though after this the neighborhood was not without a school.
Another early school was taught in the southern part, a few years later, by a
man named Harvey. About the same time, Mr. Cartwright and a Mr. Anderson taught
schools near Marco. In 1330, there were only three well-established schools in
the township, but in 1846 there were five, and a sixth one taught occasionally.
Frame houses were not built for schools until in the fifties, when the new
school law came into effect. Now the township is well supplied with school
privileges.

   The old Baptist Church on Black Creek was famous in its day. It was organized
about the year 1835, although meetings had been held in the neighborhood at
private residences and schoolhouses £or a number of years previously. Bartlett
Goodman was one of the leading members. The Brewers, the Purcells, Davises,
Andersons, Collins, Coombs and others were among the first members. On the 22d
of March, 1844, Benjamin Stafford deeded to Bartlett Goodman, Peter Corpus and
E. Veach, "Trustees of the house of the Lord, at Black Creek, to be and remain
free for all denominations of Christians to worship, except on the fourth Sunday
and Saturday preceding, and shall then be exclusively free for the denomination
commonly called Baptist," about one acre of land, on Section 25, upon which to
build a church. "Should two or more appointments come on the same day, the
oldest shall have the preference." A log church was built soon after this, the
contractors being John and Benjamin Stafford, Jr., who undertook to put up the
building for about $60. The lumber for the floor, door-casings, doors, etc., was
obtained at the old Fellows Saw Mill at Mineral City. This old congregation
lived and flourished many years. It is said that Aquilla Moss organized the
class. Bartlett Goodman succeeded him as minister, and then came two men named
Wilson, both of whom were prominent ministers, and organized and served classes
in all parts of the county. Another class was organized in the southwestern
part, and a church was built which is yet standing. The class is prosperous.
Schoolhouses have been used for religious as well as educational purposes.

MARCO VILLAGE.

   This is the only town ever within the limits of the township, except Old
Marco. It owes its origin to Indianapolis & Vincennes Railroad. It was laid out
in May, 1860, on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 25,
Township 6 north, Range 7 west, and at first comprised 100 lots. The proprietors
were W. M. Franklin, Calvin Fletcher, Jr., and John T. Marsh. At this time and
before for a number of years, there was upon the town site a log house occupied
by Henry Coker. The next building was erected by the railroad men for a boarding
house, and is now the residence of Mr. Marsh. Immediately after this, William
Courtney finished a house that had been commenced by some one else. It is now
used as a saloon. Marsh built an early house, which is now used as a hotel by
the Widow Sims. John Brewer built an early one and put in a stock of drugs.
Marsh had started his store before. The depot was erected early. Benjamin Fry
had lived down by the mill before the town was founded. Four or five small
buildings were put up early to rent. J. O. Burton came in with a stock of goods,
and Dr. Hungate started a saloon. This was a few years after the town started.
In 1874, Franklin P. Jarrell opened a store of general merchandise, since which
time he has been engaged actively in the business, with a large stock and with
excellent patronage for the little town. He has been admitted to the bar of the
Greene County Courts, and is the legal monitor of the town. Other merchants have
been Weaver & Ray, John Fitzgerald, James Lyons, Himes & Loper, Hendron & Son,
P. S. Buskirk, Himes & Delay, John Gardner, Lyons & Hughes, Lyons & Louders.
These men have had the leading business houses. Others have been in business.
Paul Sharp is the present and was the first blacksmith. Dr. B. A. J. Benefiel
was the first resident physician and Dr. Talbott was the second. Dr. Aydelotte
was in for a short time. The present physician is J. T. Freeland. The Hunter
Grist Mill and Saw Mill was built about 187-4, and is the leading feature of the
town. William and Frank Hunter were the builders and proprietors, and are so at
present. The grist mill is fitted with the latest and best machinery, and
furnishes first-class flour. The saw mill was attached later. There are three
run of stones in the grist mill. An elevator has been erected by Dugger & Co.
Marco is one of the best grain-shipping points of its size on the I. & V.
Railroad. Martin & Stalcup had a saw mill in town for several years. The town
has a population of about 150. Within two or three years after the town was laid
out, the Township Trustee, Jacob Garret, built a small one-storied frame
schoolhouse at a cost of about $500. Among the first teachers were John Page,
Gould Norris and Josie Norris. Before the erection of this house, the children
went to the country schoolhouse southwest three-fourths of a mile. This first
house was used until the present fine two-storied brick was erected in 1879, at
a cost, including the furnishing, of about $2,400. There are two fine rooms—one
above and one below. Among the Principals in this building have been Cavins,
Stamper, Menges and the present (January, 1884) teacher, Mr. Danielson, a
graduate of the college of Baltimore, and an advanced student of the splendid
educational institutions of Germany, of which country he is a native. The
Methodists have a church in Marco. It was organized from the remnants of an old
class that had been in the neighborhood for many years. Within a few years after
the town was founded, the class built a church which cost about $1,300, and was
paid for by all the neighborhood—Christians, Pagans and Agnostics. The class is
weak and its membership uncertain. Among the members may be named Mrs. Baker.
Fred Meese, Dr. Benefiel, Mr. Winfield and others.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF GREENE AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES,
STATE OF INDIANA,
FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TO THE PRESENT; TOGETHER WITH INTERESTING BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES, REMINISCENCES, NOTES, ETC.

ILLUSTRATED.

CHICAGO: GOODSPEED BROS. & CO., PUBLISHERS.
1884.

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