Jay-Adams County IN Archives History - Books .....Chapter I 1896
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 17, 2007, 5:48 pm

Book Title: Reminiscences Of Adams, Jay And Randolph Counties

CHAPTER I. THE FIRST FAMILY IN JAY COUNTY.

     On the 15th day of February, 1821, Mr. Peter Studabaker and Miss Mary
Simison were joined in the bonds of holy wedlock at the house of the Simison
family, where Fort Recovery, now Mercer County, Ohio, now stands. The newly
married pair resolved to go still farther on the frontier and hew out for
themselves a home in the wilderness. So they gathered their household goods, and
with several friends entered the wilds, soon striking the "Quaker Trace" leading
from Richmond to Fort Wayne, which they followed until they reached the Wabash
River. This spot was their destination, and upon the low bank, near the water's
edge, they prepared to "camp." Cutting four forked poles, they drove one end of
each into the ground, laid poles and brush across the top, and their camp was
completed. A fire was kindled at one end, by which the young wife cooked supper
for her company—her first experience in house, or rather camp-keeping, by
herself. Their simple repast was highly relished and soon dispatched, and they
retired to rest, blankets spread upon the ground serving for beds.

    Sleep had scarcely calmed the wearied company when they were aroused by the
yells of a gang of approaching wolves. Elsewhere came an answering howl, then
another and another, till the forests seemed ringing with their hideous yells.
The howling became so terrific, the dog sprang out and threatened to give
battle, but soon came bounding back, panic stricken, and jumped upon the nuptial
bed. As they lay there, so close to the bank, they could see about a dozen
wolves at the waters edge on the opposite shore. Soon they heard the sharp,
savage snap of wolf-teeth near their bed, and glaring eyes shone in the darkness
within six feet of their camp. The men sprang from the ground in alarm, seized
their rifles and fired. The howling pack fled in haste and did not return. Again
the men lay down, and soon "tired nature's sweet restorer" calmed their fears,
and they slept soundly till morning—perhaps dreaming of the pleasant homes and
dear friends of their childhood. Thus camped and slept the first white family
that ever trod the wilderness which fifteen years afterward became Jay County.

    This was on the farm now owned by Samuel Hall, on the south bank of the
Wabash, at New Corydon. Soon Mr. S. built a cabin, "all of the olden time," and
into it they moved, with the naked earth for a floor. This cabin, the fist [sic]
home of that now widely known pioneer family—a rude hut twelve by sixteen, of
small round logs, with clapboard roof held on by "weight poles," —was the first
civilized dwelling ever erected in our county. Unbroken forests were on every
hand: no house within fifteen miles —no mill or store in thirty-five. Their only
companions were Indians—their only foes were wolves.

    These animals, always annoying by their constant howling, were often very
troublesome. It was next to impossible to raise stock of any kind. Once a wolf
came up to the house in open daylight, to attack a calf, when Mrs. S. appeared,
and it ran off. At other times they were still bolder. One night a pack attacked
the hogs. Mr. S. went out with his gun, his wife holding a torch while he shot
at them five times, but without effect, and they came still nearer, snapping
their teeth almost within reach. They seemed bent on an attack, and the
entreaties of his wife prevailed on him to go into the house.

    Mr. Studabaker obtained a livelihod in various ways—principally by hunting.
His delight was to be in the wilderness, beyond the reach of society and its
innovations. He loved the quiet grandeur of the forest, and the excitement of
hunting deer, squirrels, otters, wild ducks, wolves and bears, possessed to him
irresistible charms. The game he killed furnished meat for his table in
abundance, and of the rarest kind. But they had other sources of income. Even at
that early day many travelers passed along the "Quaker Trace," and they all
stopped to enjoy the hospitality of these pioneers. In fact, at that time it was
rather a matter of necessity, as the distance in either direction to any other
house was a day's travel. The "Quaker Trace" was so called because it was opened
and traveled by the Quakers of Wayne County, on their way to Fort Wayne market.

    Mr. S. sometimes traded provisions to the Indians for furs, and by selling
the furs added something to his income. An incident of this kind is worth relating.

    In the fall of 1821, Mr. S. and Thomas Robinson, who then lived on the
"Prairie," in what is now Adams County, went to Greenville and got some flour,
and bringing it to the Wabash, dug out a large canoe and started down the river,
to sell their flour to the Miami Indians, in a town at the mouth of the
Mississinewa— one hundred miles by the river route, and a few miles above Peru,
Miami County, Indiana. Easily and rapidly they glided down the smooth waters of
the Wabash. In the afternoon of the second day they came in sight of the town.
They soon saw that the Indians were on a desperate "spree," and were dancing,
singing, yelling and fighting. They wisely concluded it would not be safe to
visit the town that night; so they rowed up the river a short distance, anchored
their canoe, went ashore and camped for the night. The next day they went down
towards the town. Robinson staid with the canoe, while Studabaker went to
negotiate a sale of the flour. The first Indian he met was a squaw, named "Big
Knife," with whom he was well acquainted. She told him they had had a terrible
time the night before, and that in the fighting several Indians had been killed,
and that they were then all in their huts, sleeping off the effects of their
revelry. He inquired if any of the men were sober. She replied that one was, and
offered to conduct him to the hut where that Indian slept. On their way through
the village, which seemed almost deserted, they passed by a young Indian who was
lying with his stomach ripped open, and part of his entrails lying upon the
ground, but still alive. They went and aroused the sober Indian, who, after much
painting and ornamenting, went with Mr. Studabaker to the canoe. On their way
they passed the wounded Indian. A squaw was sitting by his side, weeping,
replacing the entrails, and with an awl and deer's sinew was sewing up the
horrible wound. The Indian looked at the flour, and pointing to the sun and the
western sky, said that when the sun reached such a place the Indians would get
hungry and come and buy. At the appointed time this sober Indian came down to
the canoe, followed by the others, each of whom purchased a small quantity of
flour. Our adventurers then returned, occupying about three days in their
up-stream rowing.

    Thus the family endured very many severe hardships during their stay at this
point on the Wabash. So the first families who settled in each section of the
county endured privatations and trials which would have overwhelmed others less
patient, energetic and brave. To the comfortably situated residents at the
present time these trials seem almost incredible. Here is a leaf from the life
of Mary Studabaker:

    Late in the autumn of 1822, the Indians, as they were sometimes in the habit
of doing, stole two colts—one from Mr. Studabaker, and one from his
brother-in-law, John Simison. In the early part of winter Simison came to
Studabaker's, and the two men set out for Wapakoneta, Ohio, in search of the
colts among the Indians of that country. Before leaving, Mr. Studabaker hired a
boy from the settlement to stay with his wife, who then had a babe only three
months old, to cut the wood and build fires. The men had been gone scarcely an
hour when this boy proved treacherous, and left Mrs. Studabaker and her child
entirely alone. This placed her in an alarming situation. Her husband expected
to be absent nearly a week; the weather was very cold, and she had no wood and
but little strength. She was fifteen miles from any neighbors, in a wilderness
full of roving gangs of Indians and wolves. The prospect was a dreary one. She
saw her dangerous situation, and with heroic fortitude resolved to do her utmost
to save herself and child. She devoted herself assiduously to chopping wood and
building fires. Quite naturally she sought the kinds of wood which would chop
the easiest, and sometimes cut "buckeye," the poorest of all wood. This made it
difficult to keep good fires; but she managed to get along without suffering
much, except from lonliness, until the fifth day, when the weather turned
extremely cold. All this time had passed, and she had not seen a human being.
Even the sight of an Indian would have gladdened her heart. This day she built a
fire, but it would not burn. She chopped more wood and piled the great
fire-place full; but all in vain. To use her own words, "It seemed to be, as it
is said to be in Greenland sometimes, too cold for the fire to burn."
Disheartened and despairing, as her last hope, she took her babe and went to
bed. Here they must lie until assistance came, or freeze to death! But the kind
care of an ever-watchful Father in Heaven was upon her. In about two hurs [sic]
Mr. Studabaker came home, bringing the stolen colt. He soon built a large,
comfortable, crackling fire. How great was her joy at this very opportune rescue!

    Mrs. Studabaker gives the following account of the survey of this part of
Indiana by the government surveyors. In the winter of 1821 and 1822 James
Worthington, of Columbus, Ohio, son of Governor Worthington, accompanied by nine
assistants, came to Mr. Studabaker's, and made their home with him during the
three months occupied in making the survey. Having two sets of instruments, they
operated in two distinct companies, and surveyed the territory now making the
counties of Jay, Adams and Wells. They gave Mr. Studabaker a plat of their
survey, which was very useful to the early settlers for many years.

    About forty rods below Hall & Arnett's mill, at New Corydon, is a tree on
which many dates have been cut, and among others the figures "1822." They are
now grown up, so as to be barely visable, and have every appearance of having
been put there at that time. It is quite likely the work of the government
surveyors.

    The first person born in Jay County was Abram Studabaker. He was born in the
little cabin on the Wabash, September 29th, 1822, a child of the wilderness—the
first born of the family and of the county. His life was but a blossom, having
died March 11th, 1824, at Fort Recovery. Another son was afterward given the
same name.

    Mr. Studabaker moved to the Wabash with the intention of making that his
permanent home; but the frequent overflows of the river at that time discouraged
him, and finally led him to move away. One evening in the spring of 1822 several
travelers stopped to stay all night. The Wabash was quite high, but not
unusually so. Mrs. Studabaker made a bed on the floor, in which the travelers
retired to rest. In the night, one of them thought he felt rather "moist," and
on turning over found the puncheons were floating. They got up; one went up in
the "loft," and the other concluded to nap the rest of the night away on the
logs of wood by the fire place. But the family, being more fortunate, were on a
bedstead, and slept there until morning, when they found all the puncheons
except the two on which the bedposts rested, floating about the room. Mr.
Studabaker waded out and brought his canoe into the house, and took his family
to dry land in the woods, where they camped until the water went down, which was
in four or five days. In this way the Wabash over-flowd [sic] the land about his
cabin, and he moved back to Fort Recovery, having lived in Jay County about two
years.

    Mary Studabaker has been a pioneer all her life. She was born March 16th,
1796, in Sherman Valley, Penn. At the age of two years her father, John Simison,
moved to Kentucky and settled within six miles of Lexington. Residing there six
years, they moved to Warren County, Ohio. After living there ten or twelve
years, they moved to Greenville, and from there, in the spring of 1817, to Fort
Recovery. There was not a single family living in the region of the Upper
Wabash. They were the first pioneers of Fort Recovery—that place so celebrated
in history as the scene of St. Clair's defeat, and Mary was afterward of Jay,
and still later of the south part of Adams County. There was a trading house
then at Fort Recovery, built by David Connor. It was about twelve feet square,
and surrounded by pickets—logs set in the ground reaching about eight feet
high—as a protection against the Indians. Into this house John Simison and
family moved. Mr. Simison farmed the ground upon which the town is now built,
while his boys did the hunting. He raised most of the living for the family, but
had to go to Greenville to find a store and mill. He had a hand mill, and
sometimes ground on that.

    It was while living here that the Treaty was made with the Indians, October
6th, 1818. Dr. Perrine, of Greenville, attended that meeting. Starting in the
morning, on foot, he expected to reach Simison's that evening; but night
overtook him while he was in what is now Madison Township. Finding he must camp
out, he was much alarmed lest the wolves should devour him. Coming upon a
much-broken tree-top, he set about building a camp that would protect him. Out
of the broken limbs he built a very small, oval-shaped pen, leaving a hole at
the bottom. Into this he crept, and drew a stick, prepared for the purpose, into
the hole after him, thus effectually blocking all entrance. Curling, up there,
he slept soundly. Some time after this Thomas Robinson settled beside Mr.
Simison—then soon moved to Adams County.

    But sorrow was in store for this family. Mrs. Simison died in September,
1820, and on the last day of that ever-memorable year, she was followed by her
husband. His burial took place on New Year's day, 1821. Thomas Robinson and
Peter Studabaker happened to be there at the time of his death, and making a
rough box which had to answer for a coffin, they buried their pioneer friend.
But for the fortunate presence of these men, none beside the mourning orphans
would have been there to perform the last sad offices for the lamented dead.

    In a few weeks Mary was married, and entered upon her brief life of trials
in Jay County. After moving back to Fort Re- [sic] about twelve years, when he
moved to Adams County, where he died June 15th, 1840. He was born in 1790, in
Moreland County, Pennsylvania. Mary now lives with her son Abram, in Adams
County, Indiana, in a log house, with one of those great old-fashioned cabin
fire places, which so abundantly dispense warmth and cheerfulness to the
inmates. It is about sixty feet from the river, upon the banks of which she has
lived since her childhood days, nearly half a century. By the side of its quiet
waters she was wooed and won, and has devotedly braved many dangers, reared a
large family, and followed her husband and several children to the silent tomb.
She is now seventy-four years of age, and though in feeble health, her mind
still retains its original vigor. Strong common sense, quick. perception and
good judgment are her characteristics.. Indeed, without these qualities, she
could not have passed through so rugged and eventful a life. Her son, Hon. David
Studabaker, has resided for many years in Decatur, Indiana, where he has been,
and still is, a prominent attorney. He has represented that county in the
Legislature of the State, and was for four years the State Senator from that
district composed of the counties of Jay, Adams and Wells, in which position he
sustained himself with credit.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Reminiscences of Adams, Jay and Randolph Counties

Compiled by Martha C. M. Lynch

Ft. Wayne, IN: Lipes, Nelson & Singmaster

Circa 1896

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/jay/history/1896/reminisc/chapteri465gms.txt

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