Clark Township - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Clark Township in the southeast corner of Montgomery County was formed as Township 17 North, Range 3 West in October of 1830, the last (at the same time as Scott) to be settled.  It tallies 36 square miles of land, with a good quality of soil that was at least in earlier times naturally drained.  The slow move was due to the thick forest areas, the Cornstalk tribe slow to move and other settlers happy with their chosen areas.  At this point, many wild animals roamed the township, including turkeys, deer, hogs, squirrels, wolves, and snakes.  Early settlers told of a bear who bothered all and that there were swarms of bees, but the wild honey was delicious.  

As Brown Township was mainly settled by Shelby and Mercer Kentucky folks, the majority of Clark settlers hailed from Berkley and Botetourt County, Virginia; however, some of these families were also from Shelby.  Preston Beck, Ezekiel Berry and Lucas Baldwin were three of the earliest settlers.  The Carman family purchased land in Brown as well as in Clark, large chunks of it.  The Harrison family purchased about 1,000 acres and Samuel Harshbarger, Revolutionary War Soldier and his sons Jacob and Samuel bought about that much, as well.  Still others who tallied more than 300 acres per land grants (Jesse Inlow in October of 1825 had over 400, obviously a very early settler and likely the first although early historian H.W. Beckwith doesn’t agree with me); were the Hodges, McIvers, McMurrays, Millers, Lewis Otterman and his sons purchased well over 600; John and Samuel Peffley about 700; Lewis Powell; Ragsdales; Edward, Jesse and John Routh and the Hicks family well up there, as well.  Add to the final tally of the large earliest land owners were Staton, Swank, and Winters.   Hiram Beckwith in his 1881 history noted that. “Settlers much like sheep followed, their leaders coming rapidly to enter land,”  others following and by the Spring of 1837 believe it or not, there was no land left in Clark Township.  Amazing!  

These groups brought large families to aide in the farm work, but there were wagon makers to help the farmers tote the crops, physicians to guide their health, preachers to care for their needs; teachers guiding their children, along with blacksmiths, several impressive women who were amazing weavers, just anyone to make and prosper the community.

In 1836, Ladoga was laid-out by John Myers.  By the next year, it tallied five homes with two of those also serving as stores.  By 1880, it had one of the largest populations of any of the MoCo towns at 2,000 people and at that point thrived as an active station on the Logansport, New Albany and Chicago Railroad.  Very early, Silas Grantham started a boarding house and although Beckwith notes “Dr. Cary” as the earliest doctor there, it was likely Isaac Carman instead who practiced there very early for decades, passing away at age 83.

By 1874, there were over 700 people in Ladoga but Ashby’s Mills and Forest Home had other folks in the township, both very close to sitting on the Putnam County line.  Outside of Ladoga there were eight other school houses and the vote for the township was 501 persons.  At this time and basically throughout times, the Religious Denominations included the Methodist Episcopal Church with 100 members and a Sabbath School with an average of 60.  The Missionary Baptist in 1874 had a membership of 80 but an attendance of 100 each week, as well as a Sabbath School. The New School Presbyterian Church was either beginning, fledgling or ending with a membership of just 26.  St. Bernard’s Church had an extension in Ladoga mainly for the Irish railroad workers with Father EP Walters as pastor with a membership of 80, but only about 20 attending each week yet there was a very active Sunday School.  The Christian Church had 100 with an average attendance of 40 and another Christian Church six miles SE of Ladoga had a membership of 90.  There was also Wesley Chapel ME Church five miles south east so close neighbors with 100 membership.  Haw Creek was three miles south of Ladoga and often worked with other churches; Bethel was four miles east of town with 40.  In the 1910 census, there were five preachers indicating about the same number of churches.  Today, there are the Ladoga Baptist, Ladoga Christian and the Community Church plus at least two others in the township.

Granges were popular throughout and in 1874 there were three (Jackson, Pleasant Valley and Cornstalk) with a total of 132 members.  Later on or perhaps at that time, sure there were the norm, Masons, IOOF, and more than likely others.    

As per education, Milton B. Hopkins, who had been State Superintendent of Public Instruction began a school that owned a classical curricular together with a tough scientific one.  At this time, there was also a Baptist Church school that had built two beautiful buildings.  These two type academy schools prepped many for what was to come quickly, when just a couple of years later, the Central Indiana Normal College was organized at Ladoga, with three teachers and 48 students, Profs Warren Darst and WF Harper as co-principals.  Darst was an amazing educator but retired just a couple of years later as did Harper.  By the third year there were more than 300 and by 1880 almost 600 and the faculty had grown to 14.  At this point there were nine schools with an attendance of 379; however, 429 were registered to attend.  Ladoga itself had a total of 325 with 18 teaching in the township.  At this point, there were about 2,000 people living in the township.

So, how did Clark grow and what were the changes?   Bringing in the 1900s saw clothing, furniture, hardware, grocery stores, a movie (bit later and an Opera House), even an actual ice cream parlor with two good looking young men as the dip(per)s.  In later years, as with most of the small towns, the after-school or Saturday hang outs were usually the library and the drug store, the men and gals hanging out in the restaurant or groceries.  But, as with all little towns, the larger cities with their shopping malls and now the internet where you can order just about anything and have it the next day have put these small towns in if not the death mode, at least giving them a jerk in the seat of the pants.  Love that this town seems to always jump back up. For one thing (as Chet Vice noted, after being on the town council for over a quarter of a century),  “Things kind of run in cycles, they die down, they come back!”  The town itself holds fairly stable at 900-1,000 in the census records.  Many work in Indianapolis or Crawfordsville, but they call this beautiful, little town home.  

From the 1900 census, there were 194 in the farming field and another 85 as workers on those farms.  Today, farms, with no horse-drawn plows as then, are much larger and obviously much improved equipment makes the whole farming scene a different world from 120 years ago.  There was only one of each of these occupations in 1900 – plumber, brick mason, harness maker, a produce shipper (Havens and his large poultry business there for years), hardware dealer, sawyer, land lord, shepherd, painter, doctor and Jacob Harshbarger had plenty of his own money as he was listed as a “Capitalist.”  Found it rather odd there were nine servants, plus two wash women, 28 day-laborers and a half dozen working on the railroad.  

Ten years later, several worked at the canning company (wonder how many years – decades that was there plus there was at least two other factories, one in Clay City and the other in Brookston – well into closing in 1951 – Lafayette Journal – Courier Sun 18 Sept 1994 p 41).   The Indy News 23 Sept 1933 p7 reported that the pay roll at Ladoga the week before tallied $3,883.82.  Wow!  Just wow!  Hard work, a few layoffs, depending on the crops, but many stayed as true employees, such as Forest Purdue who was employed there exactly three decades when he passed away on his 55th birthday.  Besides the canning factory, there was a carriage one for many years, a poultry house, a veneer mill and a great deal of building as there were 23 who worked in that career, including contractors, carpenters, wallpaper hangers, cement workers and the like.     

One of the favorite careers was that Ed Summer was a pro baseball player – wonder how he fared?  Bill Boone might be able to tell us.  There were also several workers listed in the “city shop.”  Not real sure exactly what that was but imagine there was a large building and employees who did city work worked there and went out and did what was needed as there was a stable manager, several teamsters, blacksmiths, street laborers and electricians.  However, it was a bit odd to have a barber and an undertaker on board.  Along this time there were five insurance agents, two veterinarians, three dressmakers, five in telephone work and Walter VanHorn was photographer plus Roy Stamp, a playwrite.

In 1920, we began to see some auto workers and salesman.  Also 40 common laborers and almost 20 teachers. Bertha Ashby was the librarian, there were less than a dozen railroad workers, but strong groups in the canning and poultry business.  The medical field was also well represented with four nurses, three doctors, a couple of druggists.  Other professions were a boarding house and a hotel, insurance business, eight in the Post Office world and several in office type work.  Oh, and Walt VanHorn was still taking pictures – wonder if there are any of those around?  There were also five grocery stores.  Pretty nice place to be with a cobbler, two livestock traders, a saw and flour mill and Walter Mauck made brooms.  

Bet everyone in the 1930s enjoyed Rick’s bakery, and along that line, there were six listed as cooks and Herman Scott owned a restaurant.  That year, eight women did laundry, four seamstresses and 75-year-old-widow, Sally Foster wove rugs.  Close to a dozen did office work (clerks, secretaries) with eight working in the telephone business and four in the post office.  Salesmen worked in furnaces, law books, poultry and Theodore Lawrence was an artist.  John Alfrey was the cemetery sexton with Howard Himes as post master.  Was impressed with Lillian (Slade) Tomlinson, age 32 who was a state tax collector, Ed Barnes township trustee.  A casket factory, had trimmers and such listed.  Five worked on the railroad and nine in a printing plant, either in the one mentioned in the last couple of census, or with the newspaper or possibly at this point, RR Donnelley.

In 1940, the first listed on the census was Ira Foster, age 68 who was the town clerk. The auto world now became important to the community as there were almost 25 dealers and mechanics in the car business.  To take one aback, there were two younger men (James Oakley, 19 and Damon Lawrence, 17) listed as Public School librarians, and one that really threw me was John Hinkle, age 60 who was a “Theatrical stage actor.”  15 were in the canning business in some capacity; seven working on the railroad; eight telephone workers; and 13 in the farming business, including one dairy (wild guess but that seems about the same number as today minus the dairy).  Again, there were ten in the housekeeping field and there were two taverns.  About a dozen were in the construction business.  The town had at least two groceries, a department store, an automatic phonograph place; ten teachers; a blacksmith; several in the sewer construction business; three in the newspaper field; and although there were a couple in the earlier census, this year there were 15 in the trucking business (lumber, oil, vegetables, milk, etc as well as a bulk oil plant). There were three barbers and a beauty shop this census, along with a hardware, elevator, restaurant, dry good store; one lady was a sales person in an apple shop and impressed there was a retail food store.  Add a tailor, tavern, laundry gals (but only two this year); drug store, and Robert Poynter was the proprietor of a “movie house.”  Occasionally, reading census records, ya’ get a laugh and sure got one reading the 1940 Ladoga area census when a three year old was a cemetery sexton.  I’m assuming it was the one underneath the boy, but he was 75 – one extreme to the other.  Anyway, had to giggle.  Probably one of the most popular of all the businesses was the ice cream shop.  

1950 is of course the last viewable census and we see several new and unusual careers, such as Rodney Stout, the sheep shearer; a huckster; oil agents; maids (7 of ‘em); a greenhouse owner; Bruce Stull and Russ Cross working for the municipal utilities; a theater owner, manager, cashier and projectionist; ten working at the elevator; six in the mail system with William Amos Boone the mail carrier; three beauty shops and cosmetic owners and at least one barber shop.  So cute that Ira and Prudy Foster in their late 70s were still the town clerk and assistant.  One of my favorites was Grace Tribby, a 74-year-old widow who had a rooming house with three widows as lodgers, one 92, one 82 and the youngest was 69.  TJ Patton was the state deputy fire marshal (sounds like a great article); there were two radio repair shops; and still two blacksmiths in town; 15 truckers (coal, lumber, oil, general ones); twelve involved in the restaurant business as owners or workers and along that line there were three groceries, which included a meat market and 18 working in those businesses; five at a drug store; four nurses, two doctors (Fred Blix great man and Frank Denny); a veterinarian; dentist; nine worked in a clerical capacity as bookkeepers, clerks in various places - appliance shop, machine shop, printing shop and elsewhere; with five as janitors in such places; 21 were in the building trade (electricians, carpenters, construction workers, decorators, brick masons, plumbers); and the auto trade had blossomed with six owners and dealers, seven in the filling station business and 15 mechanics.  Sixteen were listed in the sales business which included working in a furniture store, lumber company, liquor store, department store and sold brushes; two newspapermen; 14 farmers; seven telephone operators; James Cox, the funeral director was assisted by his wife, Irene.  Another woman had an interesting job, a hay baler (Eva Clore) and hauler.  Bertha Peffley Boone was the (long time) librarian.  There were four in the realty and insurance business and a unique job was Claude Harshbarger who made and placed burial vaults.  Seven were listed as teachers and there were four ministers, one of whom, Paul Miller also was an insurance agent.  Three in the banking business.  It was very impressive that so many manufacturing type companies were in the area, including Aircraft Production, Steel & Wire (likely the workers went to Indianapolis on a couple of these); Coal Company; Gas Tank manufacturer; Aluminum Company; Oil; Poultry; Canning (18 workers there) and probably Donnelleys (17 there) as the Printing plant.  Wrapping this up, there was a furniture store, hardware, pool room, greenhouse, a radio announcer, two welders, a shoe repairman and a tree topper.  

For several years a big part of Ladoga was the Indiana Christian Children’s Home which was an orphanage, then around 1980, it became a juvenile’s home.  Sarah Bradley had her Commercial Photo Studio downtown for several years.  Also, Jim Gephart had a wonderful nursing-home establishment, the Brewer’s an amazing furniture store.   Today, coming from the East, you are greeted with a nice and busy gas station/convenience store and a fairly new Dollar General.  Along the ride through town, many gorgeous old homes greet you, one of the signatures of Ladoga.  Downtown, the largest place is the Mountie Mission (thanks Diane Cross for all you do and helping update me on Ladoga, too), which is an aide for those needing clothes, furniture and such; the library, a nice, newer building with wonderful programs; Rob O’Dell’s studio; a new restaurant, the Emporium 109 owned and operated by Garcias; the Laughing Cow (Michelle Calvert); a laundromat; Hoosier Heartland bank, long-time business, Vice’s Ford which was just purchased by Andy Moore; plus the town still has their grade school, after decades of a wonderful K-12 (and Fuzzy Bear preschool) as well as Morgan-Servies Funeral Home along with Jessica’s On Main (bridal).  Nearby is Scott Septic, Todd Mechanical, Bane-Welker Equipment, and recently, Brett Cating remodeled the old canning company into a restaurant called the Canning Factory Bar & Grill.   Besides all that, there is much more in 2022, making Ladoga a hopping town, the center of Clark Township, as it has been from its beginning.   ---kbz