Montgomery - early history
What Was MoCo like way back when – article for the BiCentennial Committee by Karen Bazzani Zach
Water here. Water there. Water just about everywhere was one of the ways many of our early settlers discovered our area. Picture Sugar Creek much larger, width and depth, big enough for keel boats. This is why the original name was Rock River. All of the creeks were deeper and wider, providing water for homes and irrigation. Sugar Creek along with Coal Creek, Raccoon Creek, Wea, Eel River and others are tributaries of the Wabash. The Wabash was massive at one time, fed from the Great Lakes but somewhere along the way (1881 Hiram Beckwith History of Montgomery County) it became “only a riverlet, a shriveled, dried-up representative of its greatness in prehistoric times.” This happened to our Sugar Creek, as well, but in our early years, it remained the basis of exploration, along with the obvious foot and pony way.
Many early historians feel our lush land and timbers were formed by receding water. When Europeans first came to America and “left the dense forests east of the Alleghenies and went west over the mountains into the valleys, they would see small patches of country destitute of timber.” These openings in our area were much increased. The English called these barren and the French referred to them as prairies.
The Native Americans gave names to places or things in view of the peculiarities of the item; thus, our Sugar Creek they dubbed Rock River due to the many rocks it travelled over and those along its banks and the size at the time indicated river. The word Miami was pronounced and referred to in several different ways Oumiami, Maumee, Miahama, Monami, Aumiami, and others (Beckwith). As Indiana was developing, General William Henry Harrison noted that the Miami “were diminishing every year” and the more American settlers coming in would drive them to sell to the government (Beckwith). Although they lost some in number by skirmishes with settlers and troops, small pox was the real killer of the majority, wiping out whole villages.
Wild game consisting of deer, turkeys, rabbits and perhaps buffalo (different reports on this) and other wild animals would in just a few minutes of hunting feed several families. Fish galore dwelled not only in Sugar Creek but all the creeks in our area. Settlers (and the Native Americans before them) were lucky to find wild plums, grape and paw-paws in abundance.
The Native Americans lived in harmony with the French, but one chief said to Gen. Harrison, “Why do you not make us happy like our fathers, the French did? They never took from our land. They planted where they pleased – so did we. They cut wood where they pleased – so did we. Now, if one of us attempts to take a little bark from a tree to cover himself from the rain, up comes a white man and threatens to shoot him.” (Beckwith). Our little patches of Native Americans left were mainly good, even living in the area up into the 1830s, although I have heard one family story that when the husband was away, one was aiming to steal and perhaps more. The lady shot out the door and evidently killed him – she buried him and the husband was happy when he returned that all was well! Little did he know!
If you’re a Native American historian and haven’t read the HW Beckwith’s 250 plus pages that opens his Montgomery County History you will want to. Have to admit here, I had never done so, but now glad I did! M.M. Vancleave noted that when he came from Kentucky in 1825 at age 15, there were more Native Americans than white people and that he would dig ginseng to exchange for coffee and teas. Panthers, snakes and wolves were in large abundance. My favorite item he discussed was, “Roads were made in those days by blazing the trees along the line of the route.” (C’ville Weekly Journal Oct 6, 1877).
At the time of the Beckwith history, and don’t think it has changed any or little, Montgomery County was 24 miles from north to south and 21 miles across, containing 504 square miles with 332,560 acres (figures from an 1875 survey). Several springs fed the many streams. In the early days the diversity of the surface was fairly unique (western broken and hilly, north and center rolling, east and south flat and level and the northern border having fertile prairies.” (Beckwith). Heavy growths of poplar walnut, oak, beech and those still popular sugar maples covered much of the county. There were a few swamps which through the decades have mainly evened out. Huge boulders are still found – in fact, we have one in our basement and it’s staying right where it is!
Well, hopefully, this little piece has given you a bit of a hint of what our area was like before and about the time it was settled, long before Wabash College became the center of our education; long before Lew Wallace’s book put us on the map; long before the beauty of the southwestern area became a State Park … long before so many wonderful happenings in our community. So, stay tuned to learn more interesting county history!!
Items from the First Commisioners’ Record Which Suggests That Time is a Revolutionizer
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Friday, 27 January 1899
Deputy Auditor Maxwell has unearthed the first commissioners’ record of Montgomery County and has found therein a number of interesting items which read almost like fairy stories today. The record begins in 1823 and the name of Montgomery County’s first settler, William Offield, appears thereon as one of the first board of commissioners. The first board did not long endure for in 1824 two of the members resigned and the affairs of the county were then administered for several years by a commission of five justices. These in turn gave way in time to another board of commissioners. The following items from the ancient record will prove interesting:
In 1824 the commissioner were allowed $2 a day, a juryman 75 cents, witnesses 25 cents, county treasurer, $14.26 a year, and assessor $3 a year.
In 1825 a library fund was established but what ultimately became of it is not known.
In 1825 Henry Ristine was given the contract of cutting the trees about the court house and raking the chips out from under the building and underpinning it with logs so that the hogs could not nest under it.
The first prisoner in the “jail house” of whom there is a record was Jesse Keyton.
John Wilson was the first paid clerk of the county and he received $57.76 a year.
David Vance received the contract for making the furniture for the first court house and was paid for this the sum of $40. For quite a number of years the first court house had no chimney and in cold weather the business was transacted in a house for which $1 a day was paid.
The first retailers of liquors in the county were Robert Johnson. Henry Ristine, Eph Catterlin and Wm Nicholson are mentioned as the first men licensed as tavern keepers. Merchants were also licensed in those days.
Back in the twenties the sheriff collected the taxes. He gave bond for $5,000. The roads were then laid out in width from sixty to eighteen feet and took the name of the person in charge of their construction. The widest road was the Terre Haute Road, which was sixty feet. Road viewers were paid $1 a day.
In 1826 the court house had its first janitor, Robert Johnson. Henry Ristine kept the first pound.
The first claim ever cut by the board of commissioners was that of Samuel Maxell in 1823. He presented a bill for taking up a stray animal and had the bill cut down from $17 to $3.
Ambrose Whitlock laid the town of Crawfordsville out and every other lot was given to the county. W. P. Ramey was the county agent and he sold these lots as he could, the commissioners instructing him to part with no lot for less than $10. The county gave the lot now occupied by the municipal light plant to the Baptist Church and the lot where the First M. E. Church now stands to the Methodist Church.
In 1826 the court house was let to Silas Napp for a school house, the agreement being that he should put new window lights in to take the place of those broken out and that he should surrender the building when it was needed for the transaction of public business.
Back in the twenties wolves were numerous and troublesome and the commissioners finally offered a bounty of $1 for every scalp brought in. This was a rare bait and a number of farmers at once went into the wolf killing business. In less than two weeks the county treasury was bankrupt and the commissioners held a special session to revoke the order and cut the bounty down to twelve and a half cents.
The first person fined for assault in the county was a woman, Martha Hart, in 1827.
There was no end of trouble with the prisoners in the first jail. They were constantly breaking out and every page or so of the record shows where some man had been paid for returning a fugitive. Peter Smith was evidently a terror in the early times and it is shown where he escaped and was recaptured at least a dozen times.
The first defaulter of whom there is record was James Helverson, a tax collector, who in 1829 came out $7 shy. His bond had to stand the loss.
Ezekiel McConnell was the first school commissioner in 1831.
The following was the first tax list, made in 1823:
Horse, mule...$ .25
Oxen...$ .18 ¾
Silver watch...$ .12 ½
Male...$ .25
In 1827, the list was increased as follows:
For each male person over 21...$... 25
For each horse... $. ..37 ½
Yoke of oxen...$...37 ½
Each two wheeled pleasure carriage…$1.00
Each four wheeled pleasure carriage…$1.50
Each punch black silver watch……..$ .25
Gold watch...$1.00
Brass clock...$ .75
Liquor vender’s license...$15.00
Tavern keeper’s license...$8.00
The early commissioners used to establish the rates that tavern keepers could charge. The highest item allowed was $1.25 a bottle of wine. Lodgings were rated at twenty-five cents and whisky at twelve and a half cents a quart.
The board mentions J. W. Powers, Isaac Elston and W. P. Ramey as the leading merchants of the town in the twenties.
Commissioners…$37. 25
Assessor…$30.00
Baliff C. R….$34.00
Constables for coroner…$1.91
Coroner for an inquest…$5.00
For guarding prisoners…$5.00
Grand and traverse jurors…$156.00
Supervisors of roads…$33.40
Road viewers…$17.25
Judges of elections…$14.62 1/2
Stationery…$3.50
Associate judges…$42.00
For paupers…$28.56
Road tax list…$7.00
New jail…$633.09
Jailer of Vigo County for keeping prisoners…$79.34
Book for recorder…$9.50
School commissioner…$15.00
Collector of census…$17.00
Clerk…$60.00
Sheriff…$60.00
Treasurer…$34.53
Miscellaneous expenses…$5.06 1/2
Total…$1,330.01