Wilhite - Eleazer Allen
Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal, May 17, 1909
OLDEST RESIDENT OF THE COUNTY ELEAZER A. WILHITE, WHO CAME TO THIS COUNTY IN 1823 AND EVER SINCE A RESIDENT HAS PASSED TO HIS REWARD
When He Came to Crawfordsville There Were But Five Houses Town Site Was Wilderness
Eleazer A. Wilhite, retired merchant tailor, eldest resident of Crawfordsville, died at about half-past nine o'clock Sunday evening at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Dumont Kennedy, where he has resided ever since 1898. Eleazer Wilhite was born on New Year's day, 1820, in Jefferson county, near Louisville, Ky. He came here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Simeon Wilhite, in 1823, when he was but three years old and has resided here ever since--more than eighty-six years. He was in his ninetieth year and until a few weeks ago his health and vigor was still remarkable. Mr. Wilhite was twice married. His first wife was Miss Adda J. Blankenship. One child, James Q.W Wilhite, better known as Warner, who was known all over the county, was born to them. They were married May 9, 1846. His second wife was Mary M. Halloway. They were married December 24, 1860. Dr. Mary Wilhite was known all over the county and she was an active charity worker and it was largely through her influence that the orphan's home was established in this county. She practiced for many years in this city. She died several years ago. Four children blessed the second union. They were two sons, Ed. Wilhite of the United States Navy, and Stanton Wilhite, of Chicago; two daughters, Mrs. Dumont Kennedy of this city, and Mrs. H.L. Hanley of Chicago
His Illness -- Mr. Wilhite's illness dates back to a few weeks ago when he was taken with grip. Since then he has rapidly failed. Like a strong machine working perfectly and uninterruptedly for years that suddenly goes to pieces, so with Mr. Wilhite--when the break in health came he seemed to lose all vitality and became practically helpless. He was in politics a staunch Republican and was one of the original Lincoln men in 1860 and urged the delegate from this county to the national convention, George W. Hall, to vote Abe Lincoln. He never sought political honors for himself. He was modest and unassuming of sterling integrity and never during his long career was his honesty questioned.
Saw Country Develop -- Mr. Wilhite knew Crawfordsville like a book and every page of its history which detailed its growth from the time he came here with his parents to the present. The same year Montgomery county was organized, so that he was a resident from the time it was organized to the present and has literally grown up with the country. He saw the taxable property of the county increase in value from a few paltry hundreds of dollars to almost thirty millions. When his father built his log hut near where the Brown & Watkins flouring mills flourished years afterward on Market street, there were but five other homes in Crawfordsville. All of them were located near the same point, clustering about the springs, which now affords the water and light company the annual water supply of millions of gallons of water from the entire city. Major Whitlock was then the owner of these springs, and he like his neighbors, settled near them so as to have a natural supply of water. Such a thing as a well was not thought of in those days. A good spring was as essential as a log cabin to the early pioneer.
No Indianapolis Then -- Altho such a small boy when he came to Crawfordsville, Mr. Wilhite in later years had a distinct memory of the long, hard journey through the wilderness. A family named Miller came with the Wilhites. The party crossed the Ohio river at Madison on a ferry boat and reached Crawfordsville after passing through Indianapolis, that is it was the spot where they said the town had been laid out. When Mr. Wilhite's parents reached Crawfordsville they took up their residence in a little log hut which one of the Millers, who had come before, had erected. Major Whitlock and his wife had one of the cabins and it stood near the Price Elevator. Williamson Dunn and his family occupied one of the other cabins. It stood in a big woods. The residence of Capt. Pence now stands where that cabin was located. Two families named Smythe had cabins about where Smith & Duckworth's lumber yard is now. The big woods were all about giant trees standing where the business blocks are now. The wilderness was so dense that Mr. Wilhite and his brother nearly got lost in the woods one day while going from their home on Market street to Williamson Dunn's residence on Main street.
No Fields in Those Days -- In those days there were no fields and people lived on fish, game, nuts and what little corn they bought in Terre Haute. The first field cleared was on Lafayette avenue near the old town cemetery. At first only garden truck was raised but the field was soon made bigger and planted corn and other fields were rapidly cleared as new settlers came pouring in. Sugar creek was a big river. The land office was a log hut and stood on east Market street, where Brown & Watkins' mill was afterwards built. The first court house stood on the present site of Barnhill, Hornaday & Pickett's store and the jail was where the court house is now located. When Mr. Wilhite first came to Crawfordsville it was no unusual sight to see large bands of Indians passing through the forest.
The First Railroad -- It was long afterward before the first railroad (the Monon) was constructed. But he saw all these changes come and others as interesting follow them. He has witnessed the coming of the locomotives and the trolley car. He, it was, who had the honor to drive the first spike when the Indianapolis & Northwestern traction line laid its track on Main street in this city a few years ago. He has seen the telegraph and the telephone introduced and the endless network of wires of the latter system ramify the country, making it possible for him to sit in his own county home and talk to any part of the county. In the good old days, if he wanted to talk with a friend in a distant part of the county, he had to go to his home on his horse's back, splashing among mud roads and ofttimes swimming streams.
Many were the rapid remarkable changes Mr. Wilhite lived to see. Mr. Wilhite was always of temperate habits and was never addicted to the use of tobacco or stimulants of any kind. For this reason and because his life was clean in every way much of his old-time vigor remained with him to the very last.
He always saw the funny side of any incident, and for this reason all his reminiscences had an amusing feature, which was often made doubly so by his keen wit. He had the distinction for many years prior to his death of being the oldest resident of Montgomery county, though no the oldest citizen. William Schooler, who celebrated his ninety-fourth birthday at the home of William Scott in this city, on December 18, 1908, is the oldest citizen of the county, but he came here several years after Mr. Wilhite's arrival. William Offiel, who died years ago, was the first settler to take up his home in Montgomery county. He settled by a spring on the banks of Offiel creek, a short distance south of this city, in 1822. Mr. Wilhite's coming was so soon after that it appears to be about the same, looking backward well night a century there after. Mr. Wilhite was for years leading tailor in this county. He began to learn his trade when twelve years old, and kept at it till two years ago, when he quit all active work. He has made clothing for hundreds of people in this county. For years he could be found at his bench with the regularity of clock work. He made a suit of clothes for William Henry Harrison during the hard cider campaign shortly before his distinguished customer was elected president. President Harrison was here visiting Major Whitlock at the time he ordered the suit.
Much Sought Musician -- During his early career he was a much sought musician and played the violin at the dances which followed many a log rolling then so common. When some new settler completed his log hut - everybody lived in log cabins in those days - the event was sure to be followed by a dance, and it was equally sure that Mr. Wilhite would do the fiddling. It mattered little where the social function was given as his fame as a fiddler was as wide as the county. Now there is hardly a log cabin left in the entire county. He did not confine his attention entirely to the stringed instrument for he was the leader of the Wilhite band for several years, which hadn't an equal in western Indiana.
His Vision of the Past -- Mr. Wilhite was a remarkably well preserved man in both mind and body until the very last. His health was almost perfect and he was never sick. He enjoyed a good joke as much as anyone and delighted his hearers with many of the best reminiscent stories which drew from an unimpaired memory of things which happened in the early days in this city. His vision of the past, of the growth of Crawfordsville from the beginning, was as clear as if the happenings were of yesterday or the day before. So marked was this gift that real estate men and abstractors frequently called upon him to make affidavit as to who was the owner of such and such a piece of real estate years ago. He could tell without hesitation who was the owner of almost any lot that could be pointed out in this city at any given time during the past three-quarters of a century. So well did he remember that he could tell when each new business block or room was erected, by whom and for what purpose. From his inexhaustible fund of knowledge he could draw from one to half a dozen good stories of fact, in which the proprietors of these same stores figured.
Mr. Wilhite was greatly interested in county local option and he frequently said he wanted to see it tried. When the agitation began in this county in January he was unable to leave his home but expressed a desire to sign a petition asking for an election and he was given the opportunity and the signing of the petition was the last time he signed his name. He was deeply interested in the outcome and was much gratified when he learned of the overwhelming majority of the option forces. - thanks to Kim for being so diligent to type this lengthy but wonderful piece of not only Eleazer Wilhite's history but the early years of Crawfordsville as well :) THANKS KIM
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Friday, 23 February 1900
The oldest citizen of Crawfordsville in point of residence is Eleazer A. Wilhite, who, although over eighty years of age, is still hale in mind and body, able to pursue the tailoring trade he has followed for sixty five years, and able to discuss intelligently the issues of the day or to tell of the people, the customs, and the life of long ago. Mr. Wilhite came to Crawfordsville in 1823 and has been a resident of the place ever since. In speaking of his coming and of the early history of the town he said:
“Of course, I was quite a small boy when I came with my father, Simeon Wilhite, and my mother to Crawfordsville, yet I can remember many things most distinctly, strangely enough many of them matters so trivial and so inconsequential that one would scarcely be expected to remember them over night. We came here from Kentucky with the Miller family and most clearly do I remember crossing the great Ohio River on the ferry at Madison
We came to Crawfordsville by the way of Indianapolis , only there wasn’t any Indianapolis
One day my brother and I went from our cabin over to the Williamson Dunn cabin that is from Market Street Main and we narrowly escaped being lost in the forest.
With the Millers came old Jacob Miller, a Revolutionary soldier. He was then an old man and lived to be over ninety, dying along in 1838. I have heard him tell many stories of the fight against the king and he was a prime old talker too. He had served the whole seven years and was with Washington at Valley Forge and at the surrender of the great Cornwallis. Of this last he liked to talk and grew really eloquent as he described the glorious day. But of Valley Forge and of the suffering when the Delaware Virginia Warren Market Street Sherman Old Town Cemetery , but was later buried in the Masonic Cemetery
In 1823 there were no cleared fields in the county and people lived on fish, game, nuts, fruit, and what little corn they bought at Terre Haute Lafayette Avenue Old Town Cemetery East Market Street
It was several years before any offenses were committed except getting drunk, and getting drunk was scarcely an offense in those days.
The first court house stood where Barnhill, Hornaday & Pickett’s store now is, and the first jail where the court house now stands. The jail was a clumsy one and Dr. Curry caught the first thief that was put in it. The man stole a silver watch and the old doctor caught him out in the woods. His name was “Jack” but I do not recall his last name. Two guards were set over him at the jail and the very first night he was in, twelve men blacked up like Negroes came and took him away from the guards who laughed and made no defense. At that time the Lafayette Avenue Washington Street Methodist Church
Of course, Major Ambrose Whitlock was a big man in those days, but he was a very plain one and much like his neighbors and no more esteemed, for people were sticklers then for equality, and as I sad, all honest men were equally esteemed. I remember well when General William Henry Harrison, afterwards President, used to come here to visit the major. They were fast friends and had been in the Indian wars together under Hamar and Wayne. The major told me once that he was present when General Harrison had his talk with Tecumseh at Vincennes Prince Albert
It was in that campaign that I first heard Henry S. Lane
There were a dozen speeches going on at once I suppose, but soon I noticed that one orator was getting all the crowd and such yelling and laughing and cheering you never heard as came from his constantly increasing audience. There were a dozen speeches going on at once I suppose, but soon I noticed that one orator was getting all the crowd and such yelling and laughing and cheering you never heard as came from his constantly increasing audience. The men were just wild when I came up and saw the tall, lean young man who was speaking. He was a ‘spell binder’ and when I asked who he was some fellow spoke up and said, “They say his name is Lane, and he can just skin the Damykrits better’n anybody I ever heerd.”
That was the first time I ever heard Henry S. Lane
I was one of the original Lincoln men in this community, and when the late George W. Hall was elected a delegate to the Republican nominating convention in 1860, I went to him and told him to vote for ‘that Abe Lincoln out here in Illinois
I guess there is no musician in the county who has furnished inspiration at so many dances as I have. I became a fiddler when quite young and have played in every township in the county. At thousands of dances I was the most important factor in early days. The music was simple then, ‘The Arkansa Traveler,’ The Fisher’s Hornpipe,” and ‘Old Sal Miller’ being favorite selections. There was another in old times called ‘Big Pigs Pulling the Little Ones Through the Fence,’ but I haven’t heard of this for many, many years, and I fancy that it is now entirely obsolete.
When we first came here it was no uncommon sight to see large bands of Indians. The trail ran directly through Crawfordsville and they would pass through, going from up about Thorntown to the narrows of Sugar Creek, where they hunted and fished. The trail was a very old one—probably hundreds of years old, for it had worn a deep path as hard as stone almost.”
Source: Indianapolis Star Tuesday 18 May 1909 p 4
Crawfordsville, Ind May 17 – Eleazer Wilhite, the oldest resident of Crawfordsville is dead at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Dumont Kennedy at the age of 89. Mr. Wilhite has been a resident of this city for more than 86 years and was in many respects the official history of the city. - kz
Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal 23 Feb 1900 p 9
In an article about Eleazor Wilhite, a local tailor and one of the first to come to Crawfordsville and lacked a bit being 90 years old at his death, Eleazor tells about knowing Jacob Miller : “With the Millers came old Jacob Miller, a Revolutionary War soldier. He was then an old man and lived to be over 90, dying along in 1838. I heard him tell many stories of the fight against the king and he was a prime old talker, too. He had served the whole seven years and was with Washington at Valley Forge and at the surrender of the great Cornwallis. Of this last he liked to talk and grew really eloquent as he described the glorious days. But of Valley Forge and of the suffering when the Delaware was crossed he would talk but little, merely saying they had suffered many things. He was a native of Virginia and a man of many talents besides being a pure patriot. There were two other men here in the very early days, Daddy Mason and General Jack Warren, both of whom claimed to be Revolutionary soldiers, but Mr. Miller did not believe them. After he came here he built a stout cabin, larger than most of the others and it still stands. It is on Market Street, just east of the Sherman house. It was weather boarded finally and old Mrs. Dobson still lives in it. When Mr. Miller died he was buried in the Old Town cemetery, but was later buried in the Masonic Cemetery, I think. Old Mrs. Shevlin who yet lives here is his granddaughter.” – thanks so much to “S” for all her great obit work on this site