COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY— PIONEER LIVE STOCK MEN— LOCAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES— INITIAL MEETING IN BIG CREEK TOWNSHIP— FAIR OF THE TRI-COUNTY FARMERS' ASSOCIATION— WHITE COUNTY SOCIETY ORGANIZED— FIRST AND BEST COUNTY FAIR— THE SECOND FAIR— DIVISION OVER COUNTY SEAT REMOVAL— ATTEMPTS AT REVIVAL— THE OLD SETTLERS' ASSOCIATION— FIRST MEETING AT JOHN BURNS' GROVE-- FIRST KNOWN OFFICERS— PRESIDENT GEORGE A. SPENCER— FIRST WELL-ORDERED ASSOCIATION— PIONEERS OF 1829-67— WHITE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY— WHITE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY— DR. JOHN W. MEDARIS— DR. MADISON T. DIDLAKE.
There are several societies of county-wide interest and influence, the efforts and acts of which are both worthy of record. Some of their aims laudable though they be, have failed of accomplishment from lack of membership and financial means; but the future may still bring realization to such efforts, which have been directed through co-operative channels toward the education and improvement of the citizens of the county, either in specialties or in general.
No organization of that character was founded earlier or more persistently supported by a chosen few than the Agricultural Society and its practical manifestation, the county fair. Now it seemed alive; then dead; perhaps the next step was a revival, and the following a decline; so that for many years neither the farmers nor the townsmen knew what to expect. The society is now supposed to be sleeping, albeit the general sentiment is growing that it should be awake and doing.
County agricultural societies were authorized by enactment of the State Legislature in 1838. The farmers and live stock men, especially of Honey Creek, Big Creek and Union townships, held a number of meetings, but were not strong enough in numbers to organize at that early time. Besides raising barely enough grain for their family consumption, the agricultural activities of White County for some twenty years after its organization consisted largely in raising horses, cattle and hogs for the markets at Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York. Sometimes the live stock was fattened for eastern parties; sometimes raised by the home farmers and driven to the East. One of the first men to make the venture of driving stock to the eastern markets was Sylvanus VanVoorst, of Reynolds. In the fall of 1849, he started a mixed drove of cattle and horses East, with no definite market in view, and continued his journey as far as New York City before he was able to sell at satisfactory prices.
But these ventures, as a rule, proved to be unprofitable, and the farmers who grazed the herds of eastern owners on the free range got into all kinds of wrangles as to compensation; the consequence was that along in the '50s they commenced to improve their home stock and own the herds and droves for which they cared. These pioneer live stock men most favored the Morgan, Lexington and Copper Bottom horses; Short horn, Durham, and Hereford cattle, and the Berkshire and Cheshire hogs. The first men to give their serious attention to the improvement of stock in the county were Samuel Alkire and John Barr, of Prairie Township, cattlemen; John Burns, Philip Wolverton, Jonathan High and Benjamin Reynolds, Big Creek, who bred cattle, horses, hogs and sheep; Isaac Beaby, West Point Township, horses; Peter Price and John Roberts, Union Township, and Isaac Adams, horses, cattle and hogs; James K. and William Wilson, Monon, the same; and Christian Vandeventer and Robert and Crystal Scott, Liberty and Cass townships, hogs and cattle.
The result was that before long eastern buyers came regularly to White County, instead of vice versa, and the home farmers and live stock men commenced again to talk about organizing a County Agricultural Society. The townsmen, many of whom had agricultural interests, also joined in the movement. The people of Monticello and Reynolds were particulary enthusiastic, the People's Agricultural Society being organized in the former place in the late '50s for the purpose of promoting agriculture, horticulture and stock-breeding in the county.
But the movement which led directly to the organization of a county society originated in Big Creek Township, the home of Ocorge A. Spencer and Benjamin Reynolds. At a meeting held on the 13th of October, 1857, of which Albert S. White was chairman and E. D. Smith. secretary, it was resolved "that this meeting deem it expedient that an effort be made to organize an Agricultural Society for White county, and that the citizens of the county be requested to assemble at Monticello, on Saturday, November 14th, at noon, to consult upon the subject, and, if deemed advisable, to take the proper steps for the organization of such society. A general attendance from each township is requested."
In the meantime the Farmers' Association, which had been organized in the preceding February, met at Burnettsville with a membership of about forty, and on November 7th had an exhibition or fair at that place. This appears to be the first event of the kind in White County and, notwithstanding rather inclement weather, a fair attendance of spectators and exhibitors was reported from Cass, White and Jasper counties, which constituted the territory covered by the association. The exhibits embraced horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, vegetables and grain and specimens of domestic work.
But the people of White County felt that they were strong enough to have a society and a fair of their own; hence the Monticello meeting of November 14th. It was held at the courthouse. Judge David Turpie presided and addressed the meeting on the necessity of organizing a County Agricultural Society. Committees on articles of association and membership were appointed, after which an adjournment was taken until December 7th. On that day the society was formed for the "Promotion of the interests of agriculture, manufactures and thc arts in this county." A constitution was adopted in accordance with the regulations prescribed by the State Board of Agriculture, and the following officers elected for the ensuing year: President, Albert S. White; vice president, Lucius Pierce; treasurer, Randolph Brearly; directors—B. W. Sill, Honey Creek; Anderson Irons, West Point; John B. Bunnell, Princeton; C. Hayes, Prairie; John C. Hughes, Liberty; W. H. King, Cass; James Elliott, Jackson, Peter Price, Union; A. A. Cole, Monon, and George A. Spencer, Big Creek.
At various meetings held within the following four months committees were appointed to prepare a premium list for the county fair to be held in the coming autumn and to procure grounds and erect the necessary buildings for the exhibition of live stock, products of the farm and garden and the display of domestic manufactures. In the spring of 1858 the directors received the reports of the committees, from which the cheerful prospect evolved that, after building a portion of the pens and sheds and thereby draining the treasury, it would be necessary to raise $4,000 to meet the premiums which had been offered. The strain was eased somewhat by substituting diplomas for cash premiums on many articles, the change being generally accepted with good grace, as prize ribbons could be kept for future display and glory, while money could not.
The Committee on Grounds and Buildings reported that Peter Price had generously donated a forty-acre tract of land about half a mile west of town on the north side of the highway, and that buildings were so far advanced that they would be ready for occupancy by the 1st of September. The time fixed for holding the fair was the last week in that month, when it was assumed that the grains and vegetables of the county would be sufficiently matured to be placed on exhibition to the best advantage.
This first fair was a grand success, despite the fact that the country had not yet recovered from the monetary panic of 1857, for the general election was at hand and various candidates for state and county offices were in attendance. That feature of itself drew many to the fair. The exhibition was a novelty and was really creditable. Furthermore, the funds which the people brought with them purposely to spend were enhanced by generous contributions from office-seekers. No fair was therefore more of a success than the first.
One in attendance wrote of the exhibition, years afterward, in this strain: "The exhibits of grain, vegetables and farm products were extensive. Wagon loads of sweet and Irish potatoes, cabbages, pumpkins, squash, corn, oats, wheat and rye were brought in by the farmers and entered for premiums. The breeders of fine stock—cattle, horses, hogs and sheep—were well represented. There were many men living in the county who had for a long time made a specialty in the breeding of the best stock obtainable, and to them we are indebted for the high repute of White County in the production of the best horses, cattle, sheep and swine of any of her sister counties in this part of the State.
"But horses, cattle, hogs and sheep were not the only stock on exhibition at our Fair. Chickens, turkeys, geese and Guinea fowls were also brought and entered in their classes for premiums. The woman department was not neglected either. Premiums were offered for home-made laces, embroideries, quilts, bedspreads, woolen socks and other wearing apparel; also for the best five pounds of butter, the best loaf of bread, the best cake, the best home-made cheese and many other articles involving the culinary art."
The unexpected success of the County Agricultural Society in its first venture at holding a fair made the managers quite sanguine of the future, and search was immediately instituted for permanent grounds.
The second fair held at the Monticello grounds in 1859 was less encouraging for several reasons. Times had become really hard; the country was flooded with worthless money; Wild-Cat banks were winding up their unbusinesslike affairs everywhere, and stores and manufactories were either failing or reefing their sails in an endeavor to weather the storm. Good money was at such a discount that the few banks which had conducted their business within reason were grimly holding on to it, although constantly beseiged by business men who were still solvent, but could hardly keep afloat without a medium of exchange of some kind.
Then there was the prevailing agitation over the transfer of the county seat from Monticello to Reynolds, which divided the membership of the County Agricultural Society and threatened to disrupt it. But these differences were finally compromised, although the movement had its retarding effect. Neither did the second fair present a drawing card in the presence of public speakers whom the people of the county were eager to hear, as no election of importance was pending.
Despite these drawbacks the exhibits were most creditable, those in the lines of agricultural products, machinery, manufacturers and stock being superior to those of the first fair. About this time the first threshing machines were appearing in the grain fields of White County farmers. They were operated by horses. It is hard to realize, in this connection, that it was twenty years after the county was organized that threshing machines commenced to be manufactured in the United States. Reverting to the county fair of 1859, the truth is that its exhibits were good, but the attendance was very poor, and the society received a blow which seemed to benumb its activities.
The prevailing sentiment of the committee on grounds and the society generally was that the site of the county fair should be near the county seat, and, as Reynolds and Monticello were still contending for that honor, the choice of grounds was greatly complicated; in fact, a decision was never made. The citizens favoring Reynolds had offered the society forty acres of land near that place, where a fair was afterward held, and further agreed to aid in its improvement, provided the society would make it a permanent location for the county fair to be held in the future. A majority of the committee, however, was opposed to Reynolds, either as a location for the county seat or the county fair, and voted to postpone the purchase of fair grounds until the state of the treasury should warrant.
That time never came and, although fairs were held for several years afterward, the County Agricultural Society was finally dissolved. An effort was made to revive it in 1874, at a time when the people were just recovering from the panic of 1873. Several citizens of Monticello leased a tract of land from William Rothrock, a mile south of town, prepared the grounds, advertised the enterprise extensively, offered liberal premiums to exhibitors and held the fair. Although it was a success and resulted in leaving several hundred dollars in the treasury, the farmers and stockmen of the county did not follow up the movement, and no attempt has since been made to hold a county agricultural fair. Various local fairs are held at such points as Brookston, Monon. Wolcott and Monticello, the monthly sale of horses at the county seat being perhaps the most prosperous of these enterprises. The advisability of again organizing a society which shall combine all these interests and, in other ways, stimulate agricultural, horticultural and live stock matters throughout the county, is periodically discussed and may result in another and a stronger County Agricultural Society.
The old settlers of White County have been organized since 1858, their annual meetings having always been occasions of warm sociability and great interest. Since the fall of 1911 the contributions to the history of the county contained in the speeches and papers prepared by the old settlers have been preserved through the efforts of the White County Historical Society, which was organized in that year. That organization has been a credit to its name, and among its other good works is its practical support given to this history of White County.
All the accounts of the Old Settlers' Association state that its "first organized meeting" took place at the grove of George Spencer, Big Creek Township, in September, 1858, but make no mention of a gathering held in the previous month at the grove of John Burns, on the Grand Prairie. Mr. Burns, a genial Ohio man, then in his fiftieth year, had settled in what afterward became Big Creek Township as early as 1830. He had then barely passed his majority, although he had been married four years. Upon his 80-acre tract he erected a little log cabin, with dirt floors, but at the time of the old settlers' gathering in his grove he had a large, finely improved farm, and eventually became the most extensive land owner and live-stock breeder in Big Creek Township.
The first meeting of old settlers, whether it could be called organized or not, was held in the Burns grove about the middle of August, 1858, as stated in a communication published in the White County Jacksonian, August 18th of that month. The account of this initial meeting is written so unaffectedly as to be refreshing, despite the formality of some of the expressions. It is therefore reproduced: "On Friday last a most agreeable entertainment came off at the grove of Mr. John Burns on the Grand Prairie. Information had spread abroad that there would be an 'old settlers' festival' at the time and place above mentioned, and early in the forenoon the settlers, old and young, came flocking in from all directions until at 10 o'clock, when the organization took place, quite a mass of citizens, male and female, had collected on the grounds.
"Judge Test was chosen President of the day, who, in a succinct and felicitous manner, stated the object of the meeting and in turn the old settlers of White county told the tales of their early adversities, the successes that attended their perseverance and industry, their many privations and discomforts; how glad they were to see the face of a friend, or that of a stranger, if he had even come from the same State they had left; the difficulties of obtaining supplies for necessary wants, the places whence they came, etc., etc.
"I assure you, Mr. Editor, of the many entertainments in which I have participated I never partook of more enjoyment than upon this occasion. Each old settler, in a style of unvarnished frankness and truth, gave his experience; and to me what they said was more refreshing than if they had clothed their language with flowers of faultless beauty and formed their sentences with the precision of a well-arranged garland. And it was pleasant to look upon the form, the honest brow, the well-developed man, now numbered among the patriarchs of the county and who can look back with so much enjoyment upon a life well spent in the service of his country and for his posterity. In these exercises the clergy also added their experience, and opened and closed the ceremonies with an invocation of all good and all peace to those present, and all mankind.
"The ladies—God bless them!—were out in large numbers, giving a zest and affording a brightness to every surrounding scene; for without these angels of beauty what would be the life of man?
"The vocal music was good, and the ladies and gentlemen who did the singing acquitted themselves handsomely.
"The presiding officer, Judge Test, who had said so many good things, closed the proceedings before dinner with many happy remarks well adapted to the occasion, including his own backwoods experience, all of which was well received and rapturously applauded by the audience.
"In accordance with the arrangements prescribed by the committee, the company repaired to the well-arranged dinner table, one hundred yards long, covered with the substantials and luxuries of the surrounding country, and furnished by the ladies, whose hearts always overflow with kindness and liberality, and by the bounty of the hospitable proprietor of the grove, Mr. Burns. The provisions were discussed with much relish, and many thanks were uttered to the old settlers for the comforts and plenty which their industry and hardships had been the means of bestowing.
"After the festivities at the table, the party returned to the stand where appropriate sentiments were given and received with much good cheer; and when the ceremonies of the day were pronounced closed the young and gay, with light and buoyant hearts, repaired to an eligible part of the grove and 'tripped the light, fantastic toe' so merrily as to make them forget, until the sun sat in the prairies, the toils and privations of their progenitors. But if these amusements of the young were lively and gay, they were perfectly innocent and harmless, with which no sensible person should find the slightest fault.
"And shall I speak of this lovely grove—this delightful spot? Here is the residence of our hospitable friend, Mr. Burns, which he sought a long while ago when there were few to dispute his wise selection of a home—and he, too, is an old settler, His farm is one of the largest and prettiest in the county, and his liberality toward the old settlers and his neighbors shows that he has a heart to enjoy it. And, indeed all around his chosen residence appear green fields, well cultivated farms, lovely groves, cattle on a thousand hills, presenting an amphitheatre of enchantment. Travel where you will, at this season of the year you cannot look upon a more lovely landscape.
"What is more rational, what more entertaining, what more interesting than similar gatherings to this, when the harvest is over and the husbandman is at his ease?"
It may be that a regular organization of the Old Settlers' Association was effected at the meetings said to have been held at the grove of George A. Spencer, one of the first three pioneers of Big Creek Township—the gatherings of September, 1858, and September, 1859. Although several hundred people are reported to have been present at the latter gathering, there is no record of its proceedings. The first officers known to have been elected were those chosen on September 8, 1860; also at Spencer's grove. At that time Mr. Spencer was himself chosen president of the association; Thomas Spencer, John Roberts and William M. Kenton. vice presidents; Lucius Pierce, marshal; J. J. Barnes, secretary. At this meeting addresses were delivered by Charles H. Test, Alfred Reed and Rev. H. C. McBride.
George A. Spencer, whose name has already appeared so often, was for nearly forty years one of the most prominent men in the county. He was a native of Pennsylvania, but in his youth became a resident of Perry County, Ohio. There he was afterward married and served in the War of 1812. In 1829 he walked from his Ohio home to a locality about three miles west of the Tippecanoe, where he decided to settle with his family. in the following year he bought 320 acres at the land sale in Crawfordsville, bringing his family on from Ohio soon afterward. This land he improved, increased his holdings to fully 1,000 acres, and resided on the original homestead until his death in January, 1867. As stated, the first courts of White County were held in Mr. Spencer's house, and as its first treasurer he also made his early home doubly official. Afterward he served as justice of the peace for about twenty-five years. By trade he was both a tanner and carpenter, which fact, in connection with his standing as a farmer and a citizen, made him one of the most useful and widely known men in White County. Mr. Spencer was too old to be a soldier in the Civil war, but several of his sons acquitted themselves well in that regard, and the Spencer family in White County has always stood for honor and stability.
The Old Settlers' Association, of which Mr. Spencer was perhaps the first president, virtually left no records until the early '70s, the anxieties, horrors and responsibilities of the Civil war overshadowing much of that uncertain period. But the 16th of August, 1873, was its red letter day, as the old settlers then assembled at the courthouse in Monticello, elected permanent officers and arranged to keep a record of all subsequent meetings of the association. The officers thus chosen were as follows: Alfred Reed, president; Charles W. Kendall, secretary; Israel Nordyke, treasurer; Peter Price, William Burns (son of old John Burns and the first or second child born in the county), Robert Rothrock, Solomon McCully, Noah Davis, Thomas Downey, Samuel Smelcer, Nathaniel Rogers, John Burns, Joseph McBeth, Joseph H. Thompson, William Jordan and Austin Ward, vice presidents. All persons who had resided in the county for twenty-one years were made eligible to membership and the secretary was directed to enter the names of all applicants, with the dates of their first residence in the county. At each annual meeting he was also to record deaths or removals from the county. Thus was the Old Settlers' Association put upon a businesslike basis, which has since endured and brought so much pleasure and profit to its members. The annual meeting is fixed as the last Saturday in August. The citizens of Monticello have been especially enthusiastic and liberal in support of the entertainments, which are so thoroughly appreciated by the thousands who now throng to the gatherings of the old settlers, their relatives and friends, wherever found, but mostly collected from within the limits of White County.
As entered in the record book of the association the following are the best-known of the old settlers who have joined that organization, with the years of their coming:
1829—Joseph H. Thompson, Robert Rothrock, Mary Thompson, Calvin C. Spencer, Matilda Peirce, Eliza M. Kendall, Louisa Virden.
1830—John Herron, Jacob Buchanan, George D. Washburn.1831—John Burns, Samuel Alkire, Catherine Bartley, John Roberts, Wm. Burns, Catherine Orr, Peter Price, George W. Spencer, Joseph Rothrock, Samuel Smelcer, Jeremiah Bisher, Robert Neal, G. W. Redding, Martha Roberts.
1832—John Gates, John Gray, Solomon McCully, Thos. Spencer, Margaret Renwick.
1833—John Worthington, Andrew Hanna, J. W. Smelcer, Orlando McConahay, Abram N. Bunnell, David McConahay, Elizabeth Sill, Miranda Reynolds, Nancy Bunnell, Samuel Virden, T. W. Berkey, Ann Smith, Lucy Jane Crose, Mary A. Kenton, Isaac Davis, Mary Davis, Susie Redding, Adam Gibson, Harriet E. Ranker, Silas M. Virden, Oliver S. Dale.
1834—Allen Barnes, John Hannah, Nathaniel White, Nathaniel Bunnell, Stephen Bunnell, Sophia Bunnell, Elizabeth S. Cowger, Samuel Shafer, Susanna Shafer, Milton M. Sill, Elizabeth Neal, Isaac S. Vinson, Sarah Line, Peter Bishop, Sarah A. Cowger, Abraham BunnelI, Rachel Redding, George W. Redding.
1835—G. H. Gibson, Alexander Barnes, William Price, William York, John York, Matilda Dodge, William Spencer, William M. Roth, Rowland Hughes, Jane Cullen, Ellis H. Johnson, Abram Snyder, L. T. Korn, William Duncan, Rachel Cornell, Richard H. Cornell, Benjamin Greenfield, George H. Mitchell, George B. Smith.
1836—Hiram Sluyter, Zachariah Rothrock, Morgan H. Dyer, Aaron Price, Esther M. Hall, Randolph Brearley, John D. Scroggs, Davis C. Scroggs, Gideon E. Scroggs, Eliza C. Rothrock, Daniel M. Tilton, Elisha Warden, James Downey, Elizabeth Sluyter, W. H. Rinker, Henry Chamberlain, Richard Imes, Sr., Margaret Nutt, Nelson Hornbeck, Elizabeth Reese, Hannah C. Franklin.
1837—Jonathan Oats, Hugh Lowe, James C. Reynolds, Georgianna M. Reynolds, Mary C. Patterson, Mary J. Reynolds, George Snyder, Henry Snyder, Sarah Rothrock, Eli Cowger, Liberty M. Burns, Martha Greenfleld, Walter Billingsley, Mary Simonds.
1838—Elizabeth Shriner, Mary Sill, James W. Mason, Daniel J. Tilton, Perry Spencer, Esther Rinker, George Elston, J. W. Watkins, Elmira Woltz, Samuel Heckendorn, William Kinney, Ann M. Ford, Clark S. Little, Mary Huff, Phebe Hornback, Henry T. Little.
1839—Abraham Neal, Hugh B. Logan, H. C. Neal, John C. Karr, Hannah Stout, Reuben Stout, J. W. Welch, O. C. Sleeth, John Harvey, Charles W. Kendall, Samuel E. Logan, David C. Tedford, William Dowell, J. Lytle, Maria Fraser, John D. Rinker, Louisa Lear, Mary Failing, Elizabeth Wiley, Mary E. Townsley.
1840—William D. Edson, Elisha H. Davis, Letetia Davis, J. C. Grewell, Philip Benjamin, William S. Davis, George Perrigo, Perry Gates, Susan Patton, J. E. Dunham, Sarah McConahay, Henry Murray, Asa Bailey, Jonas Monbeck, John Hornbeck, Mary Grace Wirt.
1841—John P. Shafer, Noah Davis, Israel Davis, Theodore J. Davis, Owen C. Davis, William W. Davis, Philip Benjamin, Elizabeth Sluyter, Sarah Bunnell, Thomas Rinker, William Boze, Jane M. Sleeth.
1842—Isaac Price, Bushrod W. Cain, Mary Wright, Lorin Cutler, James McKinney, Catharine McKinney, Alexander Yount, W. W. McCulloch, Rebecca Little, John Eldridge.
1843—Thomas Barnes, J. S. Spencer, Lucius Peirce, Mary A. Burns, William H. Gray, Samuel G. Neal.
1844—Theodore M. Davis, T. A. Robison, N. J. Robison, Wm. H. Brannan, Adin Nordyke, Israel Nordyke, Samuel Fleming, William Orr, John Matthews, Katherine J. Chamberlain, S. P. Cowger.
1845--Isaac B. Moore, John C. Hughes, James W. Bulger, Minerva Bulger, Simon Bailey, Louisa Bailey, E. H. Johnson, Albert Bacon, William Haas, Emily Yount, John Short, John Wright, Jane Wickham, Lucy F. Miller, W. T. Dobbins, James R. Moore, George B. Woltz.
1847—Elizabeth Hughes, Lydia Worthington, John Snyder, Nathan C. Pettit, Sarah Monbeck.
1848—John Wilburn, Catherine A. Logan, Amer S. McElhoes, Mary McElhoes, Joseph L. Hall, Nancy Hall, Eliza Perrigo, Sarah Bailey, John P. Carr, Samuel Cromer, James Spencer, Emeline Hughes, John Shell, Catherine Hughes.
1849—Calvin Cooley, David Droke, David S. Droke, Edward Reynolds, Joseph DeLong, Joseph Paugh, Catherine DeLong, Robert Ginn, Ellen R. Ginn, A. H. Wingard, Sarah Cromer, John H. Switzer.
1850—Charles Reid, Eliza J. Wickham, Nicholas Myers, Mary Roach, Samuel Snyder, Philip M. Benjamin.
1851--Daniel Morse, Thomas E. Barnes, Jr., James M. Thornton, Lizzie Clark, Levi Mowrer, M. J. Anderson, Alexander Reed.
1852—Thomas B. Moore, W. F. Edwards, Louisa A. Moore, William B. Keefer, Matilda J. Mowrer, John W. Brown, George Cullen, Ira Keller, E. McDonald, Hamilton Templeton, Philip Wolverton, W. S. Bushnell.
1853—Elisa Dickey, S. E. Brannan, Elizabeth Hughes, Peter Carnahan, Susan Carnahan, John N. Harbert, Job J. Holmes, Frank Carnahan, Robert L. Cox.
1854—Elmira J. Thomas, Mrs. McBeth, John Horen, Ferdinand Hays, Jane Bishop, Solomon Delzell.
1855—Shelton Rutherford, Verlina Rutherford, Permelia Bacon, James Coble, Wm. H. McKinney, Peter Loftus, Margaret Loftus, Miranda Dickey, Richard Cornell.
1856—Solomon Crose, James A. Barr, E. J. Berkey, W. J. Gridley, Samuel Townsley, Thomas Cooper, Cornelia Crouch.
1857—Robert Gregory.
1858—Amaziah Davisson, Sarah A. Davisson.
1859—George Uhl.
1860—John Moriarty, Harriet Moriarty.
1861—Nathaniel Sweet, John Morrell.
1863—Charles J. Hutton, Nancy A. Hutton, John L. Pitts.
1866—Samuel B. Wright.
1867—Andrew Goble.
At the White County Old Settlers' meeting, held at Monticello, August 26, 1911, the importance of a county historical society was presented and urged by William H. Hamelle, and accordingly a committee was appointed to organize such a society for White County. The committee, consisting of J. B. VanBuskirk, William H. Hamelle, Bernard G. Smith, James P. Simons and Will S. Bushnell, met at the office of Spencer & Hamelle on the evening of September 1, 1911, and effected an organization to be known as "The White County Historical Society," with the following officers: President, William H. Hamelle; vice president, Will S. Bushnell; secretary, Jay B. VanBuskirk; treasurer, Bernard G. Smith. The president was authorized to purchase the necessary records and books for the society, and the meeting adjourned.
The charter members of the society are as follows:
Monticello—B. G. Smith, Will S. Bushnell, Wm. K. O'Connell, Mrs. P. V. Mikesell, R. D. Roberts, Wm. F. Bunnell, B. F. Price, Sr., George O. Breese, C. D. Meeker, J. D. Timmons, T. W. O'Connor, Miss Anna Magee, T. J. Woltz, Wm. P. Cooper, J. B. Roach, George Biederwolf, A. B. Clark, George F. Marvin, Wm. H. Hamelle, J. B. VanBuskirk, H. D. Shenk, Charles C. Spencer, Perry Spencer, John M. Turner, Sanford Johnsonbaugh, George K. Hughes, Frank R. Phillips, B. B. Baker, Wm. M. Reynolds, John McConnell, S. A. Carson, H. C. Johnson, M. T. Didlake, J. P. Simons, Felix R. Roth, Wm. Guthrie, and J. C. Jones.
Chalmers—S. M. Burns and James VanVoorst.
Monon—John W. Brannan, Thomas S. Cowger, Eli W. Cowger and John C. Lowe.
Reynolds—C. C. Wheeler.
Brookston—Robert H. Little, John C. Vanatta, James E. Carson, Alex. L. Telfer, Guy G. Jennings, Joseph H. Kious, August S. Bordner, and A. P. Gosma.
The objects of the society, as stated in its constitution, "shall be the collection and preservation of all material calculated to shed light on the natural, civil and political history of White county; the publication and circulation of historical documents; the promotion of useful knowledge; and the friendly and profitable intercourse of such citizens as are disposed to promote these ends."
Annual public meetings were inaugurated, the first one being held in Library Hall, Monticello, April 19, 1912. At this meeting a paper on the early history of Indiana, by W. H. Hamelle, was read by the secretary, and James M. McBeth read a history of the McBeth family, which he had prepared by request. Short talks giving cordial endorsement of the work and purpose of the society were made by James M. McBeth, Judge T. F. Palmer, H. C. Johnson, Rev. A. L. Martin and J. E. Loughry. Music was furnished by the high school orchestra and a ladies quartette composed of Miss Marjorie McBeth, Miss Grace Clapper, Miss Ruth Vogel and Miss Julia McCuaig.
Records were procured and the work of gathering historical material and collecting and indexing it by the most approved system was begun. Matter pertaining to the early history of the county, and especially biographical sketches, both of pioneers and later residents, were especially solicited, all such contributions to be sent to the secretary.
The present officers of the society are: President, William H. Hamelle; vice president, Will S. Bushnell; secretary, Jay B. VanBuskirk; treasurer, Bernard G. Smith.
Executive Committee—William H. Hamelle, Jay B. VanBuskirk, Bernard G. Smith, James P. Simons and Will S. Bushnell, all of Monticello.
Advisory Board--Cass Township, Joseph McBeth, Idaville; Jackson, *Geo. H. Mitchell, Idaville; Liberty, James Spencer, Buffalo; Union, Jas. M. McBeth, Monticello; Monon, Eli Cowger, Monon; Honey Creek, Mrs. Sarah Gardner, Reynolds; Big Creek, S. M. Burns, Chalmers; Princeton, Albert Plummer, Wolcott; West Point, Walter Carr, Reynolds; Round Grove, A. L. Telfer, Brookston; and Prairie, Thos. W. Sleeth, Brookston.
The physicians of White County have always stanchly upheld the ethics of their profession, and they justly point with pride to the founder of their medical society, Dr. William S. Haymond, long of Monticello and afterward a resident of Indianapolis and a figure of national fame. It was shortly after his return from army service as a surgeon, in broken health, that he called a meeting of his fellow practitioners in White County for the purpose of organizing a society. Eight physicians met at his office in Monticello. Dr. H. P. Anderson was made chairman and after the adoption of a constitution, which had been previously prepared, these permanent officers were elected: Doctor Haymond, president; Dr. John Medaris, vice president; Dr. John A. Blackwell, secretary.
The time of meeting was fixed for the second Tuesday in each month, various committees were appointed, and Doctor Anderson was selected to read a paper upon any topic he should choose at the next meeting. The society then adjourned to meet at Reynolds on the second Tuesday of the following May. None but physicians of the regular school were admitted to membership; practitioners in other counties were admitted to honorary membership, and three active members constituted a quorum for the transaction of business.
Besides those already mentioned, some of the prominent early members were C. A. Barnes, W. H. Ball, J. R. Skidmore, John A. Wood, William Spencer, J. H. Thomas, William Mote, A. V. Moore, H. W. Riddile, C. E. Lamon, H. A. Harcourt and A. B. Ballou.
Meetings of the society were held quite regularly until 1869, after which there was a break for about six years. In October, 1875, they were resumed, at which time some changes in the laws were made.
*Mr. Mitchell died about 1914 and his successor has not been named.
Doctor Haymond shared with Dr. John W. Medaris, of Brookston, the honors of prominence and ability in the membership of the County Medical Society. The former, however, while a citizen of more extended fame, withdrew from the historical field of White County in the early '70s, when he moved to Indianapolis and entered upon the broader plane of his life.
Doctor Medaris, although a physician of middle age when he became a resident of Brookston in 1859, continued to make that place his home and the center of his faithful practice, his Masonic activities and his splendid educational work— all tending to the progress of White County—for a period of more than half a century. At the time of his death on September 21, 1911, he was in his ninety-seventh year; the oldest person in White County, probably the oldest Mason in the state (having joined the order in 1846) and the veteran of the White County Medical Society, having survived Doctor Haymond for over a quarter of a century.
Doctor Medaris was born in Clearmont, Ohio, October 22, 1814, was educated in his native state, and received his medical training in the Miami School of Medicine at Cincinnati and the Sterling School of Medicine, Columbus. After his graduation he began practice at Hartford, Ohio, and in 1859 located at Brookston. The town was then very young and the doctor's circuit of practice was often many miles out in the country, over terrible roads and through storms and mud. But, like others of his fellows, he accepted such hardships with good cheer as matters-of-course in the career of the country doctor. No member of the profession was more widely known or beloved than Doctor Medaris.
In 1867, three years after the founding of the county medical society, Doctor Medaris realized another of his ambitions, which was particularly his triumph, in the building of the Brookston Academy, one of the prominent educational institutions of Northern Indiana. During the Civil war he had served as a member of the Indiana Sanitary Commission, having been detailed by Governor Morton to give medical aid and assistance to the Union soldiers of White County detained in the Memphis hospitals. But he was best known throughout the state for his enthusiasm and steadfastness in Masonry, which endured for sixty-five years— from the time he joined the order until his death. Through out its official life he was one of the stanchest and dearest friends of the Old Settlers Association; and at its meeting of August, 1911, held the month before his death, appeared to be in his usual health. A few days before he was called away to the Future which knows no centuries, he received a dispatch announcing the death of his daughter, at her home in Danville. The attendant shock, with a decline in his physical strength which had been noted a short time previously, undoubtedly hastened his end. A strong personality, which was evinced in practical accomplishments, honesty and sincerity, with a generosity which often went far beyond the bounds of self-protection, and an abiding affection for those nearest him, as well as a broad charity for all, were the marked traits in this revered patriarch.
Among the members of the profession who joined the White County Medical Society at a later date than those mentioned were Doctors A. B. Jones, F. A. Grant, R. M. Delzell, R. S. Black, William Tracey, W. V. Trowbridge, John Harcourt, Madison T. Didlake, W. Holtzman, Robert J. Clarke, S. H. Parke, J. H. Reed, R. M. Reagan, J. W. McAllister, F. E. Lester, H. R. Minnick, J. E. Chaffee, James L. Carr, George R. Clayton, W. H. Clark, E. P. Washburn and Walter McBeth.
One of the oldest and best known of what may be called the second generation of physicians, who are still in practice, is Dr. Madison T. Didlake, of Monticello. He is a Kentuckian who passed the earlier stages of his development as a resident of Bloomington, Illinois. There he finished his literary education with two years of study at the Wesleyan University, and at the age of twenty began his professional training under Dr. C. R. Parke, of Chicago. In the winter of 1866-67 he graduated from the Chicago Medical College, and for several years thereafter practiced at Augusta, Arkansas, and Stanford, Illinois. In 1871 he commenced his professional career in White County by locating at Wolcott, but since 1881 has been a practitioner at Monticello. Besides enjoying a large practice, Doctor Didlake has served in several public capacities, being county treasurer in 1880-84 (two terms).
The White County Medical Society of today has a membership of twelve, with the following officers: Guy R. Coffin, president; Madison T. Didlake, vice president; Grant Goodwin, secretary, all of Monticello; and Augustus J. Blickenstaff, of Wolcott, treasurer.