Tipton County IN Archives History - Books .....Jefferson Township 1883
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/in/infiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 6, 2007, 1:28 am

Book Title: Counties Of Howard And Tipton, Indiana

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.
BY. G. N. BERRY.

   To rescue from fast fading traditions the simple annals of the pioneer people
of our own county is a pleasing but perplexing task, the annoyances arising
chiefly from there being no connected record of the acts of these people. To
meet and converse with the few now living of these early settlers, those who
came here as young men and women, and who are fast approaching, or have passed
the allotted threescore and ten years, has been a task attended with many
pleasures. To gather up the raveled threads of the strange but simple stories of
their lives-now mostly broken threads-to catch the fleeting traditions and
fireside histories and hand them down to posterity, has been the peculiar labor
of the writer. The importance that attaches to the lives, character, and work of
these humble laborers in the cause of humanity and civilization, will some day
be better understood and appreciated than it is now. They will some time,
through the pen of the wise historian, take their proper place in the lists of
those who have helped to make the world wholesome with their toil, their sweat
and their blood. They laid the foundations on which rests the civilization of
the Western Hemisphere. If the work was done well, then the edifice stands upon
an enduring rock; if ill, then upon the sands. If great and beneficent
results-results that endure and bless mankind-are the proper measures of the
good, then who is there in the world's history that may take his place above the
hardy Indiana pioneer of fifty years ago?

   Historically, Jefferson holds a front place among the townships of Tipton
County. Fifty years have dissolved in the mists of the past, since the woodman's
ax first rang among the dense forests, as he felled the trees for his humble
cabin home in the wilderness. The southern part of the county was originally
included in Hamilton County, while the northern portion formed part of the Miami
Reservation, and was not opened for settlement until after the purchase in 1844,
although a number of families obtained permission of the Indians to locate there
several years prior to that date. The township was created at the general
division in 1844, and occupies the southwest corner of the county, with the
following boundaries, to wit: Prairie Township on the north; Cicero on the east;
Hamilton County on the south, and Clinton County on the west. It embraces an
area of thirty-nine square miles, the greater portion of which is quite level,
except the southern part, where the land is undulating and somewhat rolling,
especially along the water-courses. In the central part are considerable tracts
of low marshy land, while near the western border are several hundred acres of
wet prairie, almost entirely devoid of timber except a dense growth of willows
and other small shrubs. The soil in the southern part is of a light color, is
sand-mixed in many places and very fertile, while the level land is a black
mucky soil, very deep, and noted for its productiveness.

   A number of streams traverse the township, affording ample drainage and
abundant stock water. Dixon Creek rises in Section 7 and flows in a westerly
direction. Jericho Creek, an imporant water-course, flows through Sections 21,
22, 23, and unites with Cicero Creek, in Section 24. Cicero Creek passes through
the southern part of the township and affords the principal outlet for all
streams in this section of the country. The southeast corner of the township is
drained by Prairie Creek, which receives a number of small affluents, none of
which is known by any particular name.

   Jefferson Township is and probably always will be an agricultural region. The
black loam is as deep as in any other part of the county, and the peculiar
formation of the surface soil is such that there will be no exhaustion of the
stored plant-food here for ages. For grass and cereals, it may be prepared to
equal, if not excel, any similar amount of territory in the county. Already, in
corn, it stands first, both in quantity to the acre and in quality. Deep plowing
is the farmer's key to wealth here, and when the deep plowing is followed up
with tile drainage, it brings wealth and abundance to the husbandman.

PIONEER SETTLEMENTS.

   The early settlers who first located among the forests and sloughs of
Jefferson, the men who came here while yet the footprints of the savage still
pressed the sands, are those around whom lingers the most thrilling interests.
Some of the first settlers in the county located in this township, and here,
too, figured some of the most distinguished characters the county has known. It
is difficult to determine with any degree of accuracy who the first settlers
withiD the present limits of the township were, as quite a number of transient
hunters squatted along Cicero Creek early in 1830. They remained but a few
seasons at most, and beyond erecting a few temporary habitations, and clearing
small patches of ground around their cabins, made no further improvement,
spending almost all their time hunting the game which at that day was very
plentiful.

   Among the very first actual settlers was Barnett Stepp, who moved his family
to the southern part of the township in the latter part of 1835, and took a
claim where John Puckett lives, which land he entered one year later. Stepp came
originally from Kentucky, but had lived a number of years in the southern part
of this State before immigrating to this locality. He was in every respect a
pioneer of the original type, whose wants were few and very easily satisfied.
His ambition rose no higher than a mere animal existence, and the improvements
he made on his land were an index of his thriftless life and want of energy.
United to a "better half," whose aims were in sympathy with those of her liege
lord's, he passed a contented life in the wilderness, dividing his time about
equally between hunting and work. An early settler, who came in a few years
later, states that he stopped at Stepp's cabin and took dinner with the pioneer
family, and thus describes their surroundings: "The small cabin was about 10x15
feet in size, with no floor, and but an indifferent stick chimney. There was no
window, save an opening in the wall, which was covered with oiled paper. The
furniture was in keeping with the mansion, and consisted of a few rude stools
and benches, and an apology for a bedstead, made by driving a post into the
ground floor, to which were fitted rough poles reaching to the wall of the
cabin. A fire-place in one end of the building answered the two-fold purpose of
heating and cooking." Our sojourner speaks of the dinner as consisting of a pot
of bear meat, with greens and "hoe-cake," while one dollar would have bought
double the amount of clothing worn by the entire family. As the country settled
up and game became scarce, it seems that Stepp was obliged to put forth extra
exertions in order to gain a livelihood for his family, so he went to work with
a right good-will, and cleared out a tolerably fair farm. He remained in the
township until the time of his death in 1852. He is remembered by many now
living as a good-natured, illiterate and a harmless old pioneer, who passed
through life without an enemy.

   A son-in-law of Stepp, by name of Horton, came to the township in the summer
of 1836, and located a short distance east of his father-in-law's place, where
he entered 160 acres of land. He was an old "river man," and had followed
steamboating on the Ohio and Mississippi for a number of years, accumulating
thereby quite a handsome competency, which enabled him to make good improvements
on his land. He was a man of industrious habits, but very eccentric. One of his
peculiarities was making large fences, which he built twenty rails high, and
locked the corners of each panel so firmly that the most severe storm could have
no possible effect on them. He set out one of the first orchards in the
township, many trees of which are still standing. The old place is at present in
possession of his son-in-law, John Samuels.

   In 1837, Hugh Alexander and Archibald Small settled in the southern part of
the township, near the county line, where the latter entered land in Section 35.
Alexander purchased forty acres of Small, but remained in the township only a
short time, when he disposed of his property and left the country, much to the
satisfaction of the community, as he proved no desirable neighbor. The next year
added a few more families to the little settlement. Among these were John Deal
and his brother-in-law, Benjamin Allen, and James W. Bodkin. The first named
entered land in the western part one year after his arrival, but made no very
extensive improvements, being what might be termed the drone of the settlement.
Allen entered land in the same vicinity and resided on his possession until
1848, at which time he sold out and left for other parts. Bodkin entered land,
but did not move upon it for a few years later, though he erected a cabin and
fitted it up for occupancy. He was a bachelor, and for a number of years lived
on his place in company with a brother, doing their own cooking, washing,
mending, etc. It is said they became as great adepts in the art of housekeeping
as any woman in the community.

   The following additional settlers arrived prior to 1839: Jason Overman, John
McKinsey, Jonathan Endicott, Sherwood Allen, John M. Holmes, Thomas Cooper,
Alexander Mills, Robert Smith, Jacob Johns,. William Turpin, a man by name of
Loke, William Wallace and William Black. Overman entered land in 1838, but did
not move to the township until some time later. He settled in the southern part
and was identified with the country's development in a marked degree, being a
man of good abilities and considerable energy. He died about the year 1871. His
son, Nate Overman, is the present Circuit Judge, and one of the prominent
lawyers of Tipton. McKinsey settled where Enoch Etchinson lives in the southern
part of the township, and was joined a few months later by his son John, Jr.,
who made the first improvements on the farm, at present in possession of John
Straley. Allen squatted a short distance south of Tetersburg, and was the first
cobbler in the township, a trade at which he worked for a number of years,
making and repairing many of the brogans worn by the early settlers. Holmes
secured land near the western border of the county, and figured as an early
pedagogue, having been identified with the schools of the townships for several
years. Cooper settled on the southern county line where the village of Ekin
stands, and seems to have been a man of considerable prominence during the early
history of the county, serving as the first Justice of the Peace in Jefferson,
before its annexation to Tipton County. He was a good farmer and a man of more
than ordinary intelligence, but his neighbors used to say that his dealings were
not always conducted on square principals, but savored very much of crookedness,
a fact which made him very unpopular in the community. A son came to the county
in company with his father, and settled in the same locality, where he lived for
fifteen or twenty years. Mills settled where Thomas Shannon lives, in the
southern part of the township, and earned the reputation of a good ciitzen,
[sic] being a Quaker of the orthodox wing, and living out the pure doctrines of
his faith in his every-day life. He sold his lands to Oliver Perry and moved to
Liberty Township a number of years ago. Robert Smith settled near the village of
Goldsmith, on land at present in possession of Frank Price, while Johns and
Turpin located temporarily near Tetersburg, where they made small improvements
and gained some notoriety as hunters and trappers. Loke located near Tetersburg
also, where he built the first blacksmith shop in the township, and worked at
his trade for two years, at the end of which time he sold his claim and moved to
one of the Western States.

   In the year 1836, John D. Smith, a native of Ohio, came to Indiana in company
with several land seekers, and passed through the western part of Tipton, then
Hamilton County, on a tour of observation for the purpose of making a
settlement. He selected land in Section 24, near the southeast corner of the
township, and made an entry, after which he went back to his native State, where
he got married and remained until 1839, when he again came West for the purpose
of improving his real estate here. He was the exact opposite of the majority of
the settlers who had preceded him, being a man of good business qualifications
and unusual energy. By means of these qualities, he accumulated one of the
handsomest and most valuable estates in the county, which he still lives to
enjoy. He took an active part in the county organization, and was elected a
member of the first Board of Commissioners in 1844, his majority being next to
the largest on the entire ticket. In all movements calculated to benefit the
country he has been in hearty sympathy, and to his energy and business tact is
the township indebted for much of its present prosperity. Mr. Smith is the
oracle of the township, a regular encyclopoedia on legs, and can reel off the
history of the county as one reads a hymn book.

   The majority of the pioneers who settled in Jefferson prior to 1840 were men
of very moderate means; indeed, were quite poor, and were compelled to locate on
inferior lands, the more eligible claims having been entered by speculators who
held them to the detriment of the county. This fact served as a check to
immigration, and for a number of years the development of the country progressed
rather slowly, and it was not until about the year 1842 that any real progress
was made.

   Among those who entered lands in an early day, but did not improve them, were
Daniel Howe, Sylvester Heaton, Greenup Holman, Levi Clark, William Amber,
Richard Spalding, Edison Bennett, Nathan Kirk, Allen Bonds, Ross McNeil, Isaac
Miller, John McMullen, Jacob Gregg, James Bromthall, Perry Alexander, Hiram
Price, John B. Callicote, John Thompson, Isaac Scott, Thomas W. Carter, R. G.
Wood, Fred Scott, William McClure, Samuel Walker, William Couts, Stephen
Spraker, James McMary, Dickson Hunt and Thomas Gilfallin, all of whom obtained
their patents prior to the year 1839. Several of these parties made entries for
the purpose of making a fortune with the advance in real estate, an expectation
which was never realized, as they were afterward compelled to dispose of their
lands at ruinously low figures. A number of persons were broken entirely up by
the venture.

   Among the arrivals of 1838 and 1839, were Levi Dunn, who settled in the
southern part of the township, where he lived about four years, when he sold and
moved to Clinton County; Abram Ploughe, who located a short distance south of
Tetersburg; John Williams, a Virginian, who made his first improvements on land
at present owned by John Kagen; Charles Winders, who secured a home in the
southern part, where he afterward became quite wealthy; James and Joseph Goar,
prominent settlers, who entered land near the southern boundary, where they
became possessors of a valuable tract of real estate. Joseph Goar was one of the
first Associate Judges, of Tipton, and afterward represented the county in the
Legislature.

   About the year 1840, scattering settlements were made north of the Indian
boundary, in the Miami Reservation, the settlers obtaining permission of the
Indians to make temporary improvements. The first of these pioneers was George
Teter, who squatted near the present site of Tetersburg, where he remained for
seven years, waiting for the land to come into market. He moved here from
Virginia, and brought with him the value of his paternal estate in gold, which
amounted to just $900. This sum he buried near his cabin, where it was allowed
to remain until the land was subject to entry, when his treasure was unearthed,
and invested in real estate. Teter became a large land-owner, and one of the
wealthy citizens of the township. Eli and Asa Teter, sons of the preceding, came
about the same time, and were afterward joined by George Phares, whose arrival
dates from the latter part of 1840. Phares was a Virginian also, and located one
mile southwest of Goldsmith, where he acquired a handsome competency. Several
descendants of these two families live in the township at the present time, and
are among the prominent and well-to-do citizens of the country.

   In the year 1839, Archibald Montgomery, a Kentuckian, in company with a party
of hunters, passed through the northern part of the township, and camped near
the present site of Normanda Village. Being well pleased with the appearance of
the country, he marked out a claim, with the full intention of entering the land
as soon as it came into market, a resolution he put into effect seven years
later. In the meantime, however, he built a cabin on his claim, to which his
family were moved in the year 1841, meeting with no opposition from the Indians,
who treated his encroachment with the utmost good will. Montgomery became a
prominent farmer, and was identified with the township until 1867, at which time
he moved to the county seat, where his death occurred several years ago. He has
one son living in Tipton at the present time, Capt. Montgomery, of whom a more
extended notice will be found in another chapter of this work.

   David Kemp came to the township in the year 1840, and located a claim in the
western part, near the village of Kempton, where he built a cabin and moved his
family one year later. He is still living on his original farm, to which he has
added much of the surrounding land, until, at the present time, he is considered
one of the largest land-owners in the county.

   Prominent in the list of pioneers who settled in the "Reserve" was Andrew
Evans, a native of Virginia, who made a claim in Section 34. where the village
of Normanda stands. Evans came to Indiana from Kentucky in the spring of 1841,
and for twenty-two years was considered one of the leading citizens of
Jefferson, serving the people several terms as Justice of the Peace, and always
taking a lively interest in religious matters, being a devoted member of the
Presbyterian Church. He reared a large family, several of whom are still living
in the county. Other settlers, who located in the northern part of the township,
were Edward Jackson, who entered land a short distance south of Normanda in
1841; Daniel Stephens, who settled about one and a half miles east of the same
place, on land where the Widow Hall lives; William Richardson, who took a claim
east of Normanda, on the Thomas Foster land, near the place where he still
resides; Elijah Stanridge, who made improvements east of Normanda one mile; and
James Fosel, who settled near Goldsmith Village on the Enos Hamill farm. The
foregoing comprised the principal settlers in Jefferson up to the year 1842.
There may have been, and probably were, others, whose names could be
appropriately added to the list enumerated, but they were not learned.

HOW THE SETTLERS LIVED.

   As already intimated, the majority of the early settlers were men of moderate
circumstances and came here desirous of securing cheap homes, and bettering
their fortunes. They came with but a meager outfit of this world's goods, but
strong in faith and hope expected to increase their worldly store and to provide
a home where to pass their declining years. The immigrant, upon his arrival, at
once began preparations for a shelter. During this period, the family lived in a
wagon, or occupied a temporary habitation made of poles covered with brush,
until a more comfortable structure could be erected. The first crops were
principally corn and a few potatoes. Wheat and other cereals were not raised for
a number of years after the first settlement, on account of the poor condition
of the soil, which at that time was very wet and marshy.

   The first wheat sowed in the township was by Arch Small, a few years after
his arrival in the country. It made a moderate yield, and furnished the seed
that in after years made much of the wheat bread of the neighborhood. John D.
Smith was the second man in Jefferson who made the attempt to raise wheat, and
realized from his crop about eight bushels per acre. After it was cut and in the
shock, Mrs. Smith conceived the idea of having some blackberry pie, and set her
wits to work to that end. She made known her wish to her husband, who dismissed
the matter by saying there was no wheat threshed. The good wife would not be put
off so easily, and made the proposition to shell enough for a grist, providing
he would take it to mill. To this he willingly agreed, not suspecting that she
was in earnest, but what was his surprise upon returning home at night to find
about four pecks of wheat which she had rubbed out on the washboard, and cleaned
ready for grinding, by pouring it from a vessel and letting the wind blow away
the chaff. The little grist was taken to the nearest mill, at Boxleytown,
fifteen miles distant, and in due time the blackberry pies made their appearance.

   One of the first really profitable industries pursued here was the gathering
of wild honey and manufacturing maple sugar. The honey was gathered and the wax
strained, and both became money producing products of the country. Beeswax,
honey, ginseng, venison hams, sugar, pelts and furs were the only things
possible to send to market to exchange for such articles as the people needed.
These early comers had to have wearing apparel, powder, tobacco, and some of
them whisky. For everything else they could kill game. The first season they
usually had to buy corn for bread, but the emergencies were frequent when this
could not be had. Then they used lean meat for bread, and the fat part for meat.
All families, however, did not live in this way. There was then, as now, great
difference in the forethought and thrift of the people. Many, even when here
before the county organization, lived generously upon such as the land then
afforded. Meat of a superior quality, and in variety that we cannot now obtain,
was within the easy reach of all. Deer were everywhere abundant, and during the
early years of the township were killed in large numbers, furnishing the chief
means of subsistence for many families.

   One pioneer states that he killed three of these animals from his own door,
as they frequently came close to the premises, and during cold winter weather
would feed with the cattle in the stable yards. Another old settler relates
that, upon one occasion, a large buck came close to his cabin, and browsed very
leisurely for some time among the shrubbery. Going into the house for his gun,
the pioneer found the hammer gone, but being bent upon securing his buckship, he
loaded the weapon, took deliberate aim, and, at a given signal, his daughter
touched off the gun with a coal of fire. The deer was feasted upon that evening.
Some bears were found here at the time of the first settlement, and were eagerly
sought for by the pioneer hunters. Two large ones were killed by Barnett Stepp,
near his residence, one day, and several others were taken by-different parties
in various parts of the township. The wolves, which were numerous in this
portion of the country at an early day, proved so destructive to stock, that
systematic hunts were planned and carried out in order to exterminate them.

PIONEER AMUSEMENTS.

   In pioneer days the people had their sports, which were, perhaps, ať
enjoyable to them as our more refined amusements are to us in this fast age.
Log-rollings, house-raisings, corn-huskings, usually accompanied with the
old-fashioned quilting bees, were common occurrences. These gatherings were
heartily enjoyed by all, and seemed to vary the monotony of a life in the
backwoods. They had weddings in those days, and these occur to some extent yet;
but those good old-fashions and "infairs," where are they? The knot was tied at
the bride's residence, while the "infair," a kind of wedding No. 2, was held at
the house of the groom's parents. These happy events were generally followed by
the dance, a common amusement in our grandmothers' days. Terpsichore! "What
dancing! Not your dreamy waltz of this day and age; not the bounding polka, the
bewildering schottische, or any of the other fashionable dream walks: but the
enthusiastic fiddler, keeping time with his cowhide shoe, and jerking out the
lively tunes of the "Arkansas Traveler," "Lightning Jig," "Money Musk," "Possum
Up a Gum Stump," while the merry frolickers raced over the puncheon floor in
that good old-fashioned "walk-talk-ginger-blue-style" of the "hoedown" that
filled their innocent hearts with joy, and their legs with soreness and pain.
They had the old-fashioned singing school also, where the singing master, a
mighty man in his day, armed with tuning fork, and Missouri Harmony, instructed
the rustic swains and backwood belles in the mysteries of the gamut. Do fond
recollections falter in recalling that weird magician of the pen, the
writing-master, the knight of the goose quill, the master of the ink and pot
hooks, the gifted architect of those inspiring flourishes and spread eagles? He
married the belle of the neighborhood at the close of his term; and, "Othello's
occupation gone," quit the trade, and instead of eagles, has been content to
raise barn-yard bipeds, and play Jumb) for the grandchildren. Then there was the
traveling phrenological lecturer, who felt craniums and located flattering bumps
at so much a head; and the geography teacher, who taught the neighboring youth
to sing the States, capitals, lakes, rivers, etc., to music, which still lingers
in the ears of many like funeral dirges of days that can return no more.

EARLY MARKET PLACES.

   The pioneers of Jefferson experienced great difficulty in procuring
groceries, wearing apparel, and other articles necessary to comfort and 
convenience, on account of the absence of market facilities. Money was almost
unknown, the farmers relying upon what little produce the county afforded, and
their small wheat crops, for the few articles their families needed. Twice a
year the neighborhood would be visited by the produce collector, who gathered up
the ginseng,, beeswax, deer skins, honey, etc., for which he exchanged calico,
groceries and other commodities at ruinously high prices. The nearest market
place was the little village of Cicero, in Hamilton County, about sixteen miles
from the southern settlement-no great distance, but, when we consider the wet
condition of the soil and the absence of roads, a trip that was attended with
difficulties of no small magnitude. Many of the early settlers came to the
country with but few dollars in money, which they invested in their lands,
leaving them without the means of procuring teams, wagons or agricultural
implements. John D. Smith states that at one time there was but one two-horse
wagon in the community, which was loaned among the neighbors, each one taking
his turn with the borrowed vehicle.

   The first wheat raised in the township was cut with the old-fashioned hand
sickle, tramped out by horses, and hauled to La Fayette for 31 w cents per
bushel. The second crop found no nearer market, but brought a better price,
selling at 50 cents per bushel, part of the pay being taken in trade. The first
barrel of salt was brought to the township by Mr. Smith, who obtained it at
Cicero, paying for it $12.12 1/2. He dealt out the precious article to his
neighbors by the pound, but we are safe in saying that no great fortune was
realized in the operation. He purchased a grind-stone at the same time, for
which he was obliged to pay the modest sum of 15 cents per pound.

EARLY IMPROVEMENTS.

   The first orchard in the township was planted by John Horton on his place
about the year 1837. He brought the young trees from one of the Southern
counties. It is said that as early as the year 1845 this orchard bore excellent
fruit. Until this orchard came on, the people tasted no other fruit except that
which grew wild in the woods. These were crab apples, plums, grapes, wild
cherries, and the varieties of nuts found here. The second orchard was set out
by John D. Smith the same year he located permanently in the township. The first
frame house in Jefferson was built at the village of Normanda, about the year
1848, by M. P. Evans. John D. Smith erected the first hewed log dwelling in the
township, in the year 1838, and twenty years later built the first brick
residence, the third of the kind in the county at that time. Squire Tucker and
Frank Wheatley were the next parties to improve their respective farms by
erecting brick houses thereon.

   The early settlers were compelled to go long distances over almost impassable
roads for their breadstuff's, the nearest source of supplies being a little
horse mill at Boxley Village, which ground so slowly that it could not
accommodate all who desired to patronize it, hence many went to Noblesville,
Cicero and some to Indianapolis, for their flour and meal. The first mill in
Jefferson was built by Elijah Standridge, in the year 1845, and stood about one
mile east of Normanda. It was a simple structure built of unhewn logs, which
rested on four large posts, driven into the ground. The machinery was of the
simplest pattern, consisting of two "nigger-head" buhrs and a coarse muslin
bolting apparatus, all of which was operated by horse-power, each person
furnishing the team to grind his own grist. It made a coarse article of meal,
and was quite well patronized by the citizens of this and adjoining townships
for a period of live or six years, at the end of which time it was allowed to
fall into disuse. A mill of similar character was erected in the northern part
of the township, some time prior to 1848, by Daniel Stephens, who operated it
about nine years. It was a very rude affair, operated by horsepower, and ground
nothing but corn, yet it proved a very valuable acquisition to the community,
saving many trips to other places. Another early mill; patronized by the
pioneers in the southern part of the township, stood a few miles south of the
southern boundary in Hamilton County. It was constructed by a man by the name of
Couts, who procured a couple of bowlders, from which he shaped two mill-stones,
the lower bowlder being fixed in a large gum. These gums were common articles of
utility in an early day. They were made by sawing off a hollow tree any required
length, and when set upright were fair substitutes for barrels. This gum was
firmly fixed in the ground, the buhrs adjusted and the mill was complete. The
motive power to this was supplied by the brawny arms of two men. It was erected
by Couts for family purposes only, but at the suggestion of many of his
neighbors, it was afterward placed at the disposal of any who wished to use it.

   The Normanda Steam Flouring Mill was erected in the year 1854, and purchased
a short time afterward by Richardson & Vandevender. It was a two-story frame
building, contained two run of buhrs with saw attached, and for a number of
years did a flourishing business, both in grinding grain and manufacturing
lumber. Messrs. Richardson & Vandevender operated it about nine years, when it
was purchased by a man by the name of Norman, who ran it for several years, when
it was purchased by other parties and moved to the village of Goldsmith. An
early saw mill was built and operated by Mr. Phares, at the village of
Tetersburg, and did a very extensive business for a number of years, supplying
lumber for the majority of the first frame houses in this part of the county. A
corn-cracker was an important feature of the mill, and was operated certain days
of each week. A large steam saw mill was built in the southern part of the
township, near John D, Smith's residence, in an early day, the old frame of
which is still standing. It was operated until it outlived its usefulness, when
the machinery was removed and the building allowed to fall into ruins. There
have been a number of saw mills operated at various places in the township at
different times; the lumber business in an early day having been an important
industry. Some of these mills were operated very successfully, and vast
quantities of poplar and walnut lumber were manufactured and shipped, but the
majority of them entailed heavy losses upon the owners. It is said that we have
had more men "broken up" at the mill business in Jefferson than in any other
township of the county.

   In the year 1874. F. M. Mozingo purchased a lot in the newly platted village
of Kempton, and erected thereon a large steam saw mill. Eighteen months later,
he entered into a partnership with Messrs. Grubb & Kemp, and together they
erected a good flouring mill, to be run in connection with their lumber
interest. The building is a frame, 36x40 feet in size, two stories and a half
high, and was erected and furnished with the necessary machinery at a cost of
$4,000. The mill has three runs of buhrs, and a grinding capacity of about
twenty barrels of flour per day. The saw was taken out in 1882, and a heading
factory substituted, which is being operated with good success at the present time.

   The Goldsmith Mill was brought to the village in 1878, from Normanda, by Ebal
Teter, one of the present proprietors. It is a frame building, two sfcories
high, and has two runs of stone; a saw was attached in 1880, since which time a
great deal of timber has been manufactured and shipped.

   An early industry of the township was the Tetersburg Tannery, operated by
William Burch from the year 1849 to 1856. Burch made a good article of leather
and realized considerable money from his business as long as he followed it,
having been well patronized by a large number of paying customers.

CEMETERIES, EARLY MARRIAGES, ETC.

   The first death in Jefferson occurred about the year 1839, at which time the
wife of Archibald Small departed this life. Her remains were interred on her
husband's land near the present site of Ekin Village, where a cemetery was laid
out a couple of years later. The second person buried in this graveyard was a
Mrs. Higer, who died the latter part of 1840. Another early interment was the
wife of John D. Smith, whose death occurred a few years after the one last
mentioned. The Tetersburg Cemetery was set apart for the burial of the dead
about the year 1847, and the first interment there, was Selinda, daughter of W.
and S. Welshous, who died the same year. Other early burials at the same place
were Mrs. Elizabeth Teter, Sarah Teter, Ellen Tansy, infant daughter of W. S.
and E. Hamilton, Priscilla Shepherd, Prunelly Teter, Mahlon Dunn, Jeremiah
Townsend, Mary Phares, Elizabeth Welshhous, Mr. and Mrs. George Teter and
William S. Teter, all of whom died prior to 1854. The northern settlement used
the Normanda Cemetery as a burying place, which is situated across the line in
the adjoining township of Prairie.

   It is difficult at this remote day to trace the first marriage which took
place in the township, though it is supposed to have occurred about the, year
1841, the contracting parties being Archibald Small and Mary Ann Gouts. Hugh
Miley and Rebecca Mills were joined in the holy bonds of wedlock in the latter
part of the same year. Among the first births was-Melissa Smith, daughter of J.
D. Smith, who is still living.

VOTING PLACES.

   The first election in Jefferson after the county organization was held at the
residence of Jerry Dunn, near the southern boundary of the township. This was in
the latter part of 1844. The second place of holding elections was at the house
of Stephen Blevins, near the village of Jericho, in the southern part of the
township. J. D. Smith's dwelling was used as a voting place, and also the
residence of John Longfellow, where elections were held until the schoolhouse at
Tetersburg was finally fixed upon. The township was afterward divided into two
precincts, with voting places at Goldsmith and Kempton, where elections are held
at the present time.

   The number of voters living in the township in 1846 was seventy-four. At the
present time, there are 550 residents capable of wielding the elective
franchise. The first Trustee of the township, after the law providing for one
Trustee went into effect, was John D. Smith, who served several terms. Since his
administration, the office has been filled by the following gentlemen, to wit:
Joseph Goar, Hiram Fulkerson, Webb Crane, Isaac Dick, D. M. Foster, James V.
King, H. H. Bunch, G. W. Epperson, Charles Fostrom, and J. J. Campbell, the
present incumbent. The election of Joseph Goar was brought about under rather
peculiar circumstances, and is remembered with much interest. His competitor for
the office was Sylvanus Boice, a man who could muster as many friends as any
other person in the township. The race was made upon strict party principles,
the friends of both men rallying their respective forces, and working with might
and main for their favorite candidates. The township was so evenly divided
between the two aspirants that the election resulted in a tie, an ugly dilemma,
out of which no one saw any friendly means of escape. The difficulty was
adjusted, however, in a very good-natured way by the two competitors, who
decided to test the matter by a little chance game of "heads and tails," heads
to win. An old-fashioned copper cent was procured, and the would-be Trustees in
the best of spirits proceeded to throw for the place. Goar was declared elected,
and Democracy retired, with three cheers from the spectators.

VILLAGE OF JERICHO.

   It is difficult to determine the exact location of this lost city, but
antiquarians argue that it was in the southern part of the township, in Section
23. From the most reliable information, its founders appear to have been two men
by the names of Jerry Dunn and Caswell Boxley, who laid out the town at a point
where the old Eagletown State road intersected the road surveyed from Anderson
to Michigantown. A plat was made, and the lots placed on the market, but no one
seems to have been allured by the prospective metropolis, and consequently its
growth was very cruelly "nipped in the bud" through sheer indifference. Jericho
reached the climax of its improvement when Jerry Dunn cut a set of logs for a
house, which was never erected. The plat was afterward abandoned, and the city
of great expectations died suddenly on the hands of its proprietors.

TETERSBURG.

   This little hamlet dates its history from about the year 1848, and was laid
out on the farms of Mahlon and Asa Teter, near the central part of the township.
No plat of the village was ever placed upon record, it being a mere neighborhood
town, the outgrowth of the country's demand for a place of traffic. The first
business house was a small log structure erected by Messrs. Cumbaugh & Tansy,
who sold goods for a period of two years, at the end of which time their stock
was purchased by William Bunch. A man by the name of Crane succeeded Bunch, and
later came Phares & Vandevender, who brought a large stock of merchandise and
conducted a very successful business for several years. Phares purchased the
entire interest some time later, and erected a fine brick store room in which he
sold goods until the completion of the L. E. & W. Railroad, when he changed his
place of business to Goldsmith. The store building was purchased by the
township, remodeled and fitted up for school purposes. In connection with his
mercantile business, Phares operated a saw mill and heading factory, by means of
which the village became quite a prominent point. The railroad which passes
about one mile north of the town, proved its death-blow, and its business
interests have been absorbed by the growing village of Goldsmith.

   Tetersburg Lodge, No. 324, I. O. O. F., was organized May 7, 1869, with the
following charter members, to wit: S. M. Patton, Samuel Deal, James B. Woods,
George W. Lowley and Dr. A. M. Vickrey. The first officers were: Samuel Deal, N.
G.; J. V. Hoss, V. G.; Aaron Ward, Sec.; James B. Wood, Treasurer, S. M. Patton,
Warden and Conductor. Meetings were held in a hall over Phares' store until
1879, at which time it was mutually agreed to move the organization to
Goldsmith, which was accordingly done. The present hall belongs to E. W. Phares,
and is a model of neatness, being well finished and furnished. The officers in
charge at the present time are: T. C. Welchell, N. G.; Asa E. Teter, V. G.; G.
W. Swarms, Permanent Secretary; John P. Frazier, Recording Secretary, and Ebal
Teter, Treasurer. The present membership is about twenty-three.

NORMANDA.

   This village is situated in the northern part of the township, in part of the
southeast quarter of Section 34, and on part of the southwest quarter of Section
35, Town 21 north, Range 2 east; also on part of the northwest quarter of
Section 2, and northeast quarter of Section 3, Town 21 north, Range 3 east. It
was surveyed and platted in the year 1849 for M. P. Evans, Edward Jackson and
Matthew Jones, proprietors of the land. All of these at once began putting up
improvements. Evans built the first frame house in the township on his lot, and
J. C. Vandevender erected the first store room, which he stocked with a
miscellaneous assortment of merchandise. This building was a hewed log
structure, erected in the year 1850, and stood near the central part of the
village. James Campbell bought an interest in the store in 1852, but withdrew a
short time afterward and erected a building of his own in the western part of
the town, where he has been in business ever since. Vandevender continued
selling goods for about nine years, when he disposed of his stock to Messrs.
Cooper & Law. McDade & Buchanan erected a business house on the lot at present
occupied by Dr. Campbell, where they sold goods for a short time, when the store
was bought by Capt. Montgomery, who closed one year later. The business
interests of the place at the present time are represented by two good general
stores and a blacksmith shop. Like the village of Tetersburg, Normanda's
death-knell was sounded when the railroad was completed, and a general decay has
fastened itself on the once flourishing village.

KEMPTON.

   Is an outgrowth of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, and dates its origin
from the completion of that enterprise in 1874. It is situated in Sections 6 and
7, near the western boundary of the township, on land originally belonging to
David Kemp, the proprietor, and is one of the best business points on the line
of the road. Henry Hays built the first house in the village, south of the
railroad, where Stillwell's store stands, and occupied it as dwelling and
grocery. He kept a small stock of goods during the winter of 1874-75, and
disposed of his business to E. L. Burkhart in the spring following. Burkhart
sold out to Messrs. Childers & Demoss, who in turn disposed of the stock to D.
J. Booth, after continuing the business about six months. Fostrom & Gillenstein
started the second store in a building which had been erected by George Bolden,
and continued as partners for one year, at the end of which time the latter
disposed of his interest to Henry Nelson. The firm of Fostrom & Nelson sold
goods two years, when the entire business was purchased by Nelson, who afterward
traded the stock to D. J. Booth for a farm A large store building was erected in
the western part of the village by Holmes & Son, who conducted a good business
for some time, when they closed out on account of financial embarrassments. The
house is used at the present time for school and lodge purposes. Another
merchant during the early days of the village was a man by name of Bishop, who
built a small store room in the western part of the town. He was in business but
a short time, however, when he followed in the wake of hundreds of others who
found merchandising an uncertain road to fortune. Noah Matthews built the first
blacksmith shop. At the present time, there are two shops, operated by A. O.
Canfield and John Kenton.

   A planing mill was built in the eastern part of the village in 1874, by James
Lane, who operated it two years, when it was purchased by Van Briggle & Son.
They remodeled the machinery, attached a saw, and ran it about two years, at the
end of which time it was purchased by Jasper Powers, the present proprietor. G.
N. Phares engaged in the tile business soon after the town was started. The
factory he built stands near the northeastern limit of the village, and is
operated at the present time by Samuel Stilwell. The other manufacturing
interests of the place have been alluded to under the head of mills. A post
office was established in the year 1875, and A. Holmes appointed Postmaster. The
office at the present time is kept by Joseph Stephens at his place of business.

   The physicians who have made Kempton their headquarters are Drs. L. B. Ward,
Summers, Green, Williams, Sturdevant and Ballinger. The present business of the
town is represented by the following firms and business houses: D. J. Booth
keeps a large dry goods and general store, with a stock representing a capital
of about $20,000. They have one of the finest stores in the county, and are
second to none in the amount of goods sold annually. Stilwell handles dry goods,
drugs and groceries; Joseph Stephens and W. A. Green make drugs a specialty: C.
Fostrom keeps a large hardware store, and handles agricultural implements; John
Adkins has a furniture wareroom; Reese keeps a general stock. There are two
hotels, a barber shop, meat shop, shoe shop and several places where
"tangle-leg," "forty-rod," "lay-'em-straight," and other similar brands can be
obtained in quantity and quality according to demand.

   The population of the village at the present time is estimated at 400, and
its future outlook is as encouraging as its most ardent friends could wish.

   Kempton Lodge, No. 482, I. O. O. F., was organized March 31, 1874, and worked
under dispensation until the 20th of May, at which time a charter was granted,
signed by D. B. Shideler, Grand Master. On the charter appear the names of the
following members, viz.: William H. Goodknight, A. B. Seward, J. J. Campbell, G.
W. Robbins, Jacob Ream, W. R. Watson, David Goodknight and F. M. Mozingo. The
first officers were William H. Goodknight, N. G.; Jacob Ream, V. G.; John Kemp,
Rec. Sec.; N. B. Matthews, Perm. Sec.; and F. M. Mozingo, Treasurer. The
officers at the present time are: John W. Reese, N. G.; L. B. Ward, V. G.;
William H. Goodknight, Rec. Sec; D. H. Kemp, Perm. Sec; and F. M. Mozingo,
Treasurer. The lodge is in good working order, and numbers thirty members. The
hall was completed in 1875, and represents a value of $1,000.

GOLDSMITH.

   This most beautiful little village in Tipton County is situated about five
miles east of Kempton, on the L. E. & W. Railroad, of which it is an outgrowth,
and was surveyed in the year 1876, for the proprietors, John Wolford, J. A.
Teter, McDonald Teter, and Hiram Fulkerson. Solomon Wolford built the first
residence in the western part of the village, and J. J. Campbell erected the
first business house, just south of the railroad, on the west side of the
principal street. J. C. Vandevender, the veteran merchant of the township,
brought the first stock of goods to the place, which he sold from Campbell's
building. He was in business about three years, when he disposed of the stock to
J. J. Campbell, the present energetic proprietor. Several firms have done
business in the village at different times, among whom can be named Vandevender
& Phares, Phares & Shortell, and Shortell & Campbell.

   The large brick storehouse north of the railroad was erected in the year
1879, by E. W. Phares, and is one of the handsomest and most conveniently
arranged buildings in the county. It is occupied at the present time by the firm
of Shortell & Smith, with a large stock of general merchandise, valued at
$18,000. The first blacksmith who located in the village was William Keen. The
only shop at present is owned and operated by Augustus Brandt. The following
exhibit shows the present status of the village from a business point of view:
Shortell & Smith, general store, including lumber yard and grain buying; J. J.
Campbell, general stock of merchandise; Hinkle & McFarland have one of the
neatest drug stores in the county; J. R. Russell keeps a restaurant; Joseph
Copick, harness shop; J. B. Porter is boot and shoemaker; John Welchel, a
barber; G. Beck, a cooper; A. N. {{}} a carpenter. The millinery establishment
of the village is kept by Mrs. McFarland, who is also landlady of one of the
best little hotels in the country. There is one combination saw and grist mill
in the town, the history of which  has already been given. The medical
profession has been represented in Goldsmith by the following disciples of the
healing art: M. M. Bunday, Dr. White, J. A. Bouse, T. C. Welchel and Dr. Reep.

EKIN.

   Ekin is a little hamlet of a few dozen houses, situated in the southern part
of the township near the county line, and serves as a trading point for that
region of country. Of the early history of the place and circumstances which led
to its origin we were not informed. The first store was opened by James McKee,
who erected for the purpose a substantial frame building in which he sold goods
for about five years, at the end of which time he closed out his stock and left
the place. At the present time there are two good general stores kept
respectively by Foster and Kassaboom; one saw-mill, a blacksmith's shop and two
millinery stores.

SCHOOLS.

   Several years had elapsed since the date of the first settlement in the
southern part of the township before any attempt was made to organize schools.
This failure to provide educational facilities was owing partly to the remote
distances pioneers lived from each other, their general poverty, and the large
body of land held by speculators to the detriment of the country's development.
It is not positively known when and by whom the first school in the township was
taught, though it is supposed to have been by James Fosee, as early as 1842.
Fosee was a man of some intellectual attainments, had practiced law, was a
shrewd trader, but never entertained a very profound respect for honesty or
veracity. He was arrested upon one occasion for theft by the Sheriff of Hamilton
County, and taken to Noblesville for trial. He and the officer of the law rode
the same horse, and on their way the prisoner broke the silence by saying, "Four
years ago, I was a little nabob in Ohio; I rode in my carriage; I had persons to
do my bidding; I was looked up to and respected by the community; my pockets
were lined with geld. Now, here I am, James Fosee, a-straddle of a horse, behind
the Sheriff, going to jail for larceny. How are the mighty fallen." He taught
his first term in a little cabin a short distance south of Goldsmith, and is
remembered as a very good instructor. His son, Peter Fosee, taught in the same
locality two years later. In 1843, Perry, afterward Dr. Evans, taught a three
months' term in the building which James Fosee occupied. An early schoolhouse
was built in the southern part of the township, near Jericho, and about the same
time a good log building was erected on the Montgomery land, not far from the
present site of Normanda. This latter house was first used by Harvey Epperson,
who taught about the year 1843. The next teacher at the same place was J. H
Montgomery, who wielded the birch the year following. Other early teachers in
the northern part of the township were Putnam Evans, Edgar Rumsey, Joseph
McKenzie, J. S. Ables, J. H. King, Ann Jackson, J. C. Driver, Mr. McCarty, M.
Frazier, Moses Harmon, Samuel Epperson and Mrs. Campbell. A school was organized
at Tetersburg in an early day, with Jason Overman as teacher.

   These early schools were all supported by voluntary subscriptions, and it was
not until about the year 1854 that the public system of education was adopted.
As the settlements increased in population and the township in wealth and
prosperity, educational facilities expanded to suit the wants of the times,
until at the present day we find a number of good schoolhouses dotting the
township at intervals, and of capacity to accommodate the youth of their
respective neighborhoods.

   The following list comprises the teachers for the year 1882-83: John A.
Wallace, T. C. Ferguson, G. C. Maguet, J. A. Mitchell, Lucy Gossett, Clar
Munday, F. B. Crockett, Belle Gossard, W. W. Clark, J. H. Rood, W. W. Mount,
Retta Carbaugh, J. Bowlin, D. H. Lutz and A. B. Baugh.

CHURCHES.

   The first religious services in Jefferson were held by traveling preachers of
the Methodist, and New-Light denominations several years before any permanent
organization was effected. The citizens of the western part of the township met
for worship with an old Methodist society in Clinton County, while the
Presbyterians had an organization many years ago a short distance east, in
Cicero Township.

   Tetersburg Christian Church is the oldest religious organization in the
township at the present time, and dates its history back as far as 1849. It was
organized by Elder Lemuel Shoemaker, with an original membership of about
twenty, among whom were George Teter and wife, Asa Teter and wife, Ebal Teter
and wife, Eli Teter and wife, Mahlon Teter, George Phares and wife, William
Wimer and wife, Sarah Wolford, Levi Dunn and wife, and Enos Miles and wife. The
organization was effected at the village schoolhouse, which was used as a place
of worship for about twelve years, when the present church edifice was erected.
This house is a frame building, cost $400 and stands on ground donated by Asa
Teter. The first pastor was Elder Shoemaker, who preached very acceptably for
two years. After Shoemaker came the following pastors, to wit: Abraham Cole,
Samuel Poff, John Poff, George Boswell, Henry Puckett, James Humphrey, William
Dunfee, Mr. Peck, John Puckett, John R. Kob, Mr. Williams, John Layman, D. W.
Fowler, and B. F. Jaynes, the present pastor. There are forty members belonging
to the church at the present time. A good Sunday school is supported under the
superintendency of Salathial Rains.

   Normanda Presbyterian Church was organized in the year 1852, by Rev. John
Dale. The first meeting was held at the residence of Andrew Evans, a short
distance north of Normanda, and the following names recorded as members, viz.,
Andrew Evans and wife, J. H. Montgomery and wife, Charles Rumsey and wife, and
John McCorkill and wife. The organization was maintained at Evans' residence for
some time, and afterward at the village schoolhouse, where it was kept up until
the year 1864, when it was changed to Tipton. Rev. John Dale was the stated
supply about six years. He was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Whalen, who ministered
to the congregation four years. Aside from these two, the church had no other
pastor while the society remained at Normanda.

   In the year 1863, Rev. ____ Huntsinger, of the Protestant Methodist Church,
held a meeting at the Goodknight Schoolhouse, and organized a society composed
as follows: Archibald Dick and wife, Owen Reese and wife, Jane Stroup, Howard
Moon and wife, George Moon and wife, Garrett White and wife, Samuel Dunham and
wife, William _____, Jane Draper, Ann M. Reese and Ellen Dunham. Rev. Douglas
was the first pastor and preached two years. After him came Revs. Miller,
Swazey, Boxwell, Smith, Evans and Heim. The pastor in charge at the present time
is Rev. _____ Boswell. Their house of worship, a neat frame edifice, 34x38 feet
in size, was erected in the year 1873. It stands a short distance north of
Kempton, on land donated by David Goodknight, and cost the sum of $1,600. The
present membership of the church is about fifty. I. N. Goodknight is
Superintendent of the Sunday school.

   Goldsmith Methodist Episcopal Church organization was brought about
principally by the efforts of Dr. J. A. Bouse, who inaugurated a movement for
the erection of a church building at the village in the year 1881. John Magnet
donated ground for the purpose, and work began on the edifice at once, which was
soon completed, at a cost of $1,000. It is a beautiful frame structure, stands
north of the village, and does great credit to the originators of the movement.
A short time after its completion, a meeting was called for the purpose of
organizing a class, which was effected through the labors of Rev. M. S. Metts
and Miss Kate Lubrick, an evangelist, assisted by Dr. J. A. Bouse. The class was
organized with but three members, viz., Mr. and Mrs. Sylvanus Bouse and Dr.
Bouse, but in a short time this number was increased by large additions and the
society soon acquired a permanent footing. It was attached to Shielville
Circuit, of the Northern Indiana Conference, and in 1882 became the principal
head of Goldsmith Circuit. The pastors of the church have been Rev. E. W.
Osborne and F. G. Brown. From a small beginning, the society has increased in
numbers until at the present time there are seventy-five good active members
enrolled. Sylvanus Bouse, J. C. Vandevender, Richard Foster and I. N. Bouse are
Trustees. J. D. Smith, I. N. Bouse and W. P. Bouse compose the Board of
Stewards. Robert Dunn is Class Leader. In 1883, a neat parsonage was purchased
at a cost of $600.



Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

COUNTIES OF HOWARD AND TIPTON, INDIANA.

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
ILLUSTRATED.

CHARLES BLANCHARD. EDITOR.
CHICAGO: F. A. BATTEY & CO.
1883.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/tipton/history/1883/counties/jefferso518gms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/

File size: 57.9 Kb