PLAN OF GOVERNMENT SURVEYS--BASIS OF COMMON SCHOOL FUND--WHITE COUNTY LANDS CLASSIFIED— MEXICAN LAND WARRANTS MAKE TROUBLE--CANAL AND SWAMP LANDS—LAST OF THE STATE LANDS —REGULATIONS FOR TOWNSHIP SURVEYS-- NATURAL FEATURES TO BE NOTED-- SUBDIVISIONS OF THE TOWNSHIPS--EARLY SURVEYS WITHIN THE PRESENT COUNTY—SURVEYING BEFORE LAND DRAINAGE--SWAMP LANDS DRAINED—EARLY WATER TRAVEL—PIONEER ROADS--STATE AND NATIONAL HIGHWAYS--COUNTRY [i.e. COUNTY] ROADS SURRENDERED TO THE TOWNSHIPS--MODERN ROAD BUILDING--CANAL AND RAILROAD COMPETITION--PIONEER RAILWAYS-- FIRST WHITE COUNTY RAILROAD-- THE BENEFITS IT BROUGHT--HEADED FOR MONTICELLO--LOGANSPORT, PEORIA AND BURLINGTON GETS THERE-- WHITE COUNTY'S RAILROAD WAR— ROAD OPENS WITH BLOODSHED—GRAND PRAIRIE-- RAILWAY STATIONS ON THE NEW LINE-- THE AIR-LINE DIVISION OF THE MONON— OPENING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS, DELPHI & CHICAGO RAILROAD-- THE TIES WHICH BIND THE COUNTY.
No subject can be named of more practical moment in connection with the basic development of a country or county than that which relates to the security and accessibility of its land holdings. The subject touches both the stable founding of homes and communication with desirable markets and communities, with attendant prosperity, social gratification and the expansion of individuality. More precisely, the steps by which this development in a raw country are successively taken include reliable land surveys, the building of land roads and the improvement of waterways as they are required by individuals and settlements, the regulation of titles by which those who desire to use the land shall have priority over speculators, and the devising and operation of measures of such public utility as extended drainage or water distribution, of benefit to large tracts of country which could not be brought into operation if left to individual initiative.
For several years before the passage of the Ordinance of 1787 creating the territory northwest of the Ohio River, Congress was discussing the best methods of dividing the lands of the national domain. On May 18, 1784, an act was finally introduced to divide them into townships each ten miles square; in April of the following year, another measure was brought before the Congress proposing that each township should be seven miles square, and on the 20th of the following month that act was amended, making the congressional township six miles square, as at present.
After the appointment of surveyors and geographers the south line of the State of Pennsylvania extended west was fixed as the base line. The north and south meridian was also established. The surveyors were ordered to note "the variations of the magnetic needle at the time the lines were run," and when seven ranges, or forty-two miles, had been surveyed, one-seventh of the same was to be set apart "for the use of the late Continental army."
Then the section numbered 16 in each congressional district was set apart for the use of the public schools, the proceeds derived from the sale of the lands therein forming the basis ever thereafter of the American common sehool fund.
It may be said with pride that the lands in White County have never been involved in extensive litigation, owing to the fact that all questionable claims by the Indians or others were settled long before the advent of the white man, and there is not a single Indian reservation in the county. In this, White County has been more fortunate than her sisters to the south and east.
Of course, the title to all our lands is derived from the United States, but at various times the Federal Government has granted to the state over 3,500,000 acres, of which nearly 1,500,000 acres was applied to the completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal, and some 1,250,000 acres comprised the swamp lands. The canal and swamp lands, together with those conveyed by the Government direct to the purchaser and known as government land, include nearly all the area of White County, 504 square miles.
After the war with Mexico a land warrant was issued to each American who served and was honorably discharged, entitling him to a quarter section of land anywhere in the United States where there was government land subject to entry. Thousands of these warrants were thrown upon the market, most of the soldiers preferring the money to the land. These warrants passed into the hands of land speculators and brokers at prices ranging from $80 to $100 each, and many valuable tracts of land in White County were thus held against those who wished to actually settle.
The same may be said even more forcibly of the canal and the swamp lands, the former of which were thrown on the market at a period previous to the flood of Mexican land warrants and the swamp lands at a later date. They were all largely purchased by non-resident speculators, who advanced the Government price of $1.25 per acre to double and even quadruple those figures.
In many other ways the history of the Wabash and Erie Canal reflects no credit on its promoters. When partly finished it was turned over to the creditors for completion, who also failed to finish it, but made many attempts to get the Legislature to make an appropriation for the purpose. Finally, in 1873 an amendment to the state constitution was adopted forever prohibiting the payment of any part of the claims.
As to the swamp lands, they should have been sold and the proceeds placed to the credit of the school fund, but the deadly politician came into action and most of this gift—to use the mildest expression—was dissipated. The loss of the state in these transactions has been variously estimated at from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000, of which White County lost her full share.
The last lands to be entered, or purchased from the state, was about 400 acres known as University lands, and which were sold about 1890 under an act of the Legislature of 1889. Since then neither the state nor the Federal Government has held any title to lands in White County.
Although the early settlers of White County had their share of trouble over their land tenures, they were much more fortunate than the counties which were along the direct route of the canal, were more populous and ambitious, and were an intimate part of the "boom" of the '30s, caused by the building of the state roads and the Wabash and Erie Canal from the Great Lakes to the Ohio River. In the prosecution of the largest of the enterprises connected with Indiana's ambitious system of internal improvement, White County was somewhat away from the main routes, which generally included the valley of the Wabash, but, as has been intimated, such geographical accident had its advantages in that its territory escaped in some measure the invasion and manipulation of foreign "promoters" who so worked to the disadvantage of the founders and builders of homes.
By the congressional ordinance of May 20, 1785, it was specified, after providing for the appointment of surveyors and a geographer, that: "The first line running north and south as aforesaid, shall begin on the river Ohio, at a point that shall be found to be due north from the western terminus of a line which has been run as the southern boundary of the state of Pennsylvania; and the first line running east and west shall begin at the same point, and shall extend through the whole territory; provided that nothing herein shall be construed as fixing the western boundary of the state of Pennsylvania. The geographer shall designate the townships or fractional townships by numbers, progressively, from south to north—always beginning each range with No. 1; and the ranges shall be distinguished by their progressive numbers to the westward, the first range extending from the Ohio to Lake Erie being marked No. 1. The geographer shall personally attend to the running of the first east and west line and shall take the latitude of the extremes of the first north and south line and of the mouths of the principal rivers.
"The lines shall be measured with a chain; shall be plainly marked by chaps on the trees and exactly described on a plat; whereon shall be noted by the surveyor at their proper distances, all mines, salt springs, salt licks and mill seats that shall come to his knowledge, and all water courses, mountains and other remarkable and permanent things over or near which such lines shall pass, and also the quality of the lands.
"The plats of the townships, respectively, shall be marked by subdivisions into lots of one mile square, or six hundred and forty acres, in the same direction as the external lines and numbered from one to thirty-six—always beginning the succeeding range of the lot with the number next to that with which the preceding one concluded. And where, from the causes before mentioned, only a fractional part of a township shall be surveyed, the lots protracted thereon shall bear the same number as if the township had been entire. And the surveyors in running the external lines of the township shall, at the interval of every mile, mark corners for the lots which are adjacent, always designating the same in a different manner from those of the township."
Chapter 80, Acts of Indiana Legislature 1831, approved February 10, 1831; page 129, section 6, enacts as follows: "That Samuel Basye of Tippecanoe county, be appointed a commissioner to locate a road from Lafayette in Tippecanoe county to the mouth of Trail creek on Lake Michigan."
By the same act commissioners were appointed on other roads and all were ordered to meet on the first Monday of May, 1831, "or sonic subsequent day," take an oath, proceed with a surveyor to locate and mark out said roads in the nearest and best directions, "having due regard to the quality and situation of the ground; a plat of which location they shall file in the clerk's office of each county through which the same shall pass, so far as it shall run through said county." Their pay was fixed at $1 per day for each day they were engaged at said work. This was prior to the organization of White County and the plat of the road through its boundary was filed in the clerk's office of Carroll County, of which county at that time we formed a part.
Trail Creek empties into Lake Michigan at Michigan City, and from this fact the road, a part of which is Main Street in Monticello, has been known as the Lafayette and Michigan City State Road. The direct route between these points was almost wholly a series of swamps, which rendered it necessary to depart from the shortest line. Over a large part of this road an old-fashioned stage line operated a daily service between Lafayette and Monticello for many years.
Section 7 of the above named act of 1831 directed Thomas Gillam, present commissioner on the state road leading from Frankford (as Frankfort was then known) in Clinton county to Delphi in Carroll county to make such changes in its location as he might think best, "and also to extend the location of such road in or near the same direction to where the same shall intersect the road leading from Lafayette to the mouth of Trail creek on Lake Michigan."
Thus we see that nearly four years prior to the organization of White County, we were united by these roads with Frankfort, Delphi, Lafayette and Lake Michigan, but we must not forget that these roads were little more than trails.
By an act of the Indiana Legislature, approved January 18, 1833, (see Acts 1833, page 164), John Armstrong, of Carroll County, was appointed to view, mark and locate a state road, "commencing at the public square in the town of Lafayette in the county of Tippecanoe, running from thence northwardly, crossing the Wabash river at what is called Davis' ferry, thence by or near to Moots' ford, Moots' creek, thence the nearest and best way to section sixteen in township number twenty-six, north of range three west, where the same will intersect a state road leading from Delphi in Carroll county to Lake Michigan." This section 16 is less than two miles south of Monticello, and from this it will be seen that at least three roads were opened through our county prior to its organization in 1834.
But the Northwest Territory was quite a tract of land, and even when White County was organized in 1834 many of its congressional townships had not been divided into sections, and those which had been were so lately done that the section and quarter-section corners were still plainly marked with stakes, witness trees or mounds of earth; the lines could be easily traced without the aid of compass or chain. There was therefore little work for a surveyor in White County for a number of years after its creation and one was not elected by the settlers until 1838.
Before then, about the only time that the services of a surveyor were desired was when some enterprising and hopeful settler concluded that he had located at the point of a future town or city. Several men located in the early '30s, who brought their compasses, chains and rods with them, and were equal to the platting of any town on earth; among the best known surveyors of those times were Malachai Gray, Joshua Lindsay, Asa Allen, John Kious and John D. Compton.
But after a few years the Government stakes and trees which marked the original surveys were burned by prairie fires, or leveled by hunters and settlers, without knowledge of their significance, and the mounds of earth thrown up in places where timber was scarce disappeared before the plough of the husbandman and the hoofs of the cattle. Then the settlers saw the necessity of having an authorized official to restore the obliterated lines and corner markings, as well as complete the subdivisions required by the incoming land buyers. Asa Allen was therefore elected the first county surveyor and served for a period of four years, during which much of this pioneer work was accomplished.
For several years the surveyor's office was far from desirable, both on account of its meager fees and the trials and expense incident to field work. During fully three months of the year much of the land was partially covered with water and often the lines had to be run through areas submerged from two to four feet and from 80 to 160 rods in width. The surveyor must either wade through the sloughs in the wake of his chainmen, or await the coming of winter and fix his "corners" on the ice. The latter method was preferable to wading, considered from the probability of correct measurements, but the frequent winter storms were by no means pleasant to meet; so that there were decided drawbacks to the prosecution of surveying operations at all seasons of the year. The draining of the lands lightened and facilitated the work of the surveyor and was an encouragement to the land buyer in divers other ways, about to be described.
It was many years, however, before these benefits, either to the surveyor or the farmer, were to be realized in White County; for at least a quarter of a century its residents were to be the prey of the unscrupulous politician and speculator, who filled their pockets with thousands of dollars which legitimately belonged to the tillers and toilers of the soil.
By the congressional act of September 28, 1850, the United States granted to the State of Indiana all the overflowed land remaining unsold therein; it is estimated that the swamp lands in White County covered an area of at least 100,000 acres, or nearly a third of its total territory. It is fortunate for the authoritative discussion of the subject in hand that we have an account written by the late Milton M. Sill, county surveyor in 1859-61, and afterward editor and proprietor of the Monticello Herald, draft commissioner, sheriff and provost marshal during the Civil war, and later a respected practitioner at the bar.
Mr. Sill's words, clearly and earnestly written as one having authority, are as follows: "Much benefit was expected to inure to the settlers in White county by this action of Congress and doubtless their expectations would have been fully realized had the act been carried out in good faith; but it was not—it was a gigantic steal from start to finish. Commissioners were appointed by the legislature to select and plat the swamp lands, who, in express violation of the act of Congress granting the land, selected and designated large tracts of the very best of our high rolling prairie as swamp land; and it was so taken and accepted, and sold as swamp land at one dollar and twenty-five cents, the law prohibiting a less price.
"Nearly all the land passed into the hands of non-resident speculators, who held it for an advance from the purchase price, expecting the money they had paid in would be applied to the drainage of the land. In this they were sorely disappointed; not one-tenth of the money paid into the treasury by them was applied to the drainage of the land. It is true that under the act of the Legislature of May 20, 1852, some ditching was done in this county, but no practical benefit was derived therefrom except to the men engaged in the work, who were paid a slight advance above ordinary wages. The ditches in many places were never completed, and in others were found to be wholly insufficient in capacity. In short, the money was squandered and went into the pockets of men who handled it for their own personal benefit; the water was still on the land and must be got off before the farmers could hope to get a fair return for their labor.
"It is truly said 'Where there's a will there's a way;' and it was found at last, though twenty years elapsed before the way was found. On the 10th of March, 1873, an act of the State Legislature was approved authorizing the formation of draining companies, and giving them power to assess benefits against all lands benefited by the work. This act, though somewhat complicated, was the beginning, and as improved by subsequent acts was the means of finally clearing the county of its seas of water and rendering a vast area of land productive and fruitful.
"Better still is the showing as to health. The last report of the State Board of Health places White county at the top of the list, with the smallest mortality in proportion to its population of any county in the state. The visitor who returns now after an absence of twenty years may well express his astonishment at the marvelous change. Where once he saw only stagnant pools and seas of water, now gently wave vast fields of golden grain. Neatly painted farm houses and barns have replaced the log cabin and stable of the early settler. Where once he could travel for miles through the open prairie without road or path and with no fence to bar his progress, he must now follow roads on established lines through lanes of hedge or wire on either side, and cattle, horses, sheep and other stock grazing in the fields to right and left. Would he know the price of land which could have been purchased twenty years before for five, ten, fifteen or twenty dollars per acre, he will be informed that now it is worth from thirty to two hundred and fifty dollars per acre, if for sale at all. Much of this rapid advance in the price of real estate is due to this splendid system of drainage; but nature should be given a share of the credit also. The Tippecanoe river, flowing from north to south through the county its entire length, with an average fall of five feet to the mile and an average depth below the surface level of sixty feet, with branches on either side reaching to and beyond the county's eastern and western limits, affords opportunity for successful drainage at comparatively small cost."
Within ten years after the passage of the decisive legislative act of 1873 the different ditch companies probably spent $300,000 in the county, of which about two-thirds was for open ditches and the remainder for tiling and closed drainage. Most of this work, which laid the basis of the fine system of drainage which now prevails, was accomplished in the later part of that period. The improvements in this regard have been so continuous and thorough that it would take far more space than the editor has at his command to enter into details as to the location and courses of even the open ditches; but any good map of the county will indicate them as a fine network spread over the entire county, perhaps the closest woven in the townships of Honey Creek, Monon, Cass, West Point and Prairie.
Although the Tippecanoe River was freely used by the early settlers or White County, it could not become such a well traveled water way as the broader, deeper and geographically important Wabash. The traders, voyageurs and hunters naturally made less frequent use of its waters than those of the parent stream, and the boats which followed its course were smaller and more fragile than those which plied the Wabash. But before the lands were drained to any considerable extent the Tippecanoe and its tributary streams were almost necessities of existence to the farmer, hunter and woodsman, who must seek such markets as Logansport and Lafayette for the sale of their produce and the replenishing of their households and individual establishments. Flat boats would often be built in the summer and loaded with corn, wheat and other products, and then the proprietors would wait for a heavy rain or a freshet to carry them out into the Tippecanoe and thence to the Wabash.
As the settlers ventured away from the valley of the Wabash into both the eastern and western tributaries, they cut pathways through the woods, winding in and out and following the courses which had the fewest bogs and other drawbacks, such as inequalities of surface and tenacious clay.
With the increase of population and the opening of new farms on the upland prairies and other fairly dry lands, it became necessary to straighten the roads before laid out along the lines, or rather curves and 1oops, of least resistance, and to place them on section and quarter section lines. This could not be accomplished for any great distance without encountering a slough too wide to bridge and too miry to ford. In such cases the logs, rails, brush and sand of the neighborhood were called into requisition in the construction of the old-time corduroy road; the sand, loam or muck covering, as the case might be, was about a foot thick, but soon sifted between the crevices, and it called for good nerves and solid flesh to withstand much travel over these crude highways. But they shortened the distance between points, which was an advantage over the old windings, and although they were frequently of insufficient width to allow the passage of teams and caused delay when travelers in opposite directions met on a long road, and one or the other had to give way and retrace his course— still, even that experience was better than to become lost, mired or completely exhausted by travel over the old excuses for roads.
White County did not receive the direct benefit from the building of any of the general highways surveyed and put through the state by the Legislature and the general Government, such as the Michigan, the Cumberland and the National roads. On January 21, 1828, the State Legislature passed an act directing the survey of the Michigan Road. This was done and a lane put through the forest 100 feet wide. In 1832 the work had reached Logansport from the Ohio River, and within the following two years, or about the time White County was created, it had been extended northward to Rochester and finally to Lake Michigan. The Michigan, although a crude, ungraded road, with many stumps left standing in its course and furnishing illustrations of some of the most trying examples of corduroys in the Northwest, was, nevertheless, a passageway through the State of Indiana, connecting with the Cumberland and its extension, the National, at Indianapolis. Emigrants from the East came down the Ohio River, then took the Michigan Road to all points in Indiana and the Northwest. Others, traveling in wagons, drawn by oxen as a rule, came over the National Road to Indianapolis, and thence north over the Michigan Road to Logansport and other northern points. The early roads built in White County, before the drainage of its lands commenced in earnest and it became possible to construct the modern turnpikes, were mostly designed to be feeders to the Michigan Road which passed along the valley of the Wabash.
Up to 1852, when the new constitution was adopted, the roads were looked after almost entirely by the county. At that time the control of the roads was practically surrendered to the townships, together with the care of the poor and the schools. In 1859 the Legislature abolished the board of three township trustees and gave the one trustee much more power.
But the greatest impetus to road building in county and state was the enactment of the Free Turnpike Law of 1877, passed four years after the measure went into effect creating the drainage system under which a third of the county has been redeemed from the swamps and finely developed as a country of good roads. White County was not slow to take advantage of the law. Though much opposition was encountered at first from the large land owners along the lines of road first subject to improvement, after a few miles had been completed the assessments were, as a rule, paid without undue solicitation. The result of this road building up to date is that the county has within its limits 175 miles of gravel and 170 miles of stone and macadam road.
We now come to the period of the Wabash and Erie Canal and the competition of the first railroads in the state. The decade previous to 1856 witnessed the keenest rivalry, that year marking the decline of the canal trade. Briefly, the northern sections of the canal were completed to Logansport in 1840, and farmers as far north as Plymouth and much farther west than Monticello, brought their produce to Logansport to be shipped east over the canal. It was completed to Lafayette the following year and to Evansville, on the Ohio River, several years thereafter. Both Logansport and Lafayette received their full share of the canal boom during the following period of fifteen years, while Monticello and White County were benefited, albeit not stimulated, in that they were placed in more intimate connection than ever before with the markets to which they were tributary.
The Madison & Indianapolis Railroad, the first railway in the state, was completed from the Ohio River to the capital in the fall of 1847, but the first definite approach of a railroad toward White County was to be from Cincinnati by way of Logansport. In 1848 the citizens of Cass County began the agitation of a line to their town from the Ohio metropolis, and the result was the incorporation of the Lake Michigan, Logansport & Ohio River Railroad Company, designed to build a line from Cincinnati to Chicago via Logansport. A few years later the enterprise was revived in the New Castle & Richmond Railroad, now the Richmond and Logansport Division of the Panhandle or Pennsylvania Railroad.
About this time the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroad was projected from New Albany, on the Ohio, to Michigan City at the foot of Lake Michigan, and it was completed through the state in 1853-54. Its construction through the very center of White County was immediately felt in the stimulus both of town creation and rural expansion. Monon, under the name of New Bradford, Chalmers, as Mudge's Station, Brookston and Reynolds, as now known, were all products of that period and originally mere stations of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroad. They were soon centers of trade and supplies for a large portion of the settlers.
The road "was of great benefit to the farmers of White county, passing, as it did, through the county near the center for a distance of twenty-four miles, and affording a market for their grain and stock at home which they had not before enjoyed. They were not the only beneficiaries, however; the merchants, shippers of stock and travelers were all benefited. The merchant, instead of mounting his horse and riding to Cincinnati, a distance of two hundred miles, or going by stage coach with the money with which to purchase his goods in a leather belt strapped around his waist, or carried in his saddle bag or valise, could get aboard the train and in a tenth part of the time, and with less than one-half of the expense required by the old way, get to his destination, purchase his goods and return home, without his absence being discovered by his friends and neighbors.
"Another benefit was the facility of communication by letters between distant points. It was possible to transmit affairs of business, or send missives of friendship, to distant points and receive answers in return in a few hours, where before it had required days and even weeks to accomplish that feat. It was also possible to get the news of daily events transpiring in the outside world, which had only been learned before by the perusal of the weekly newspaper, a week or two after the happening."
Monticello was still without a railroad; but hers was coming and would arrive in five or six years from the Logansport way, through the forerunner of the east and west line of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It is said that the Lake Michigan, Logansport & Ohio River Railroad Company expected to build its line west and south along the Wabash and did much grading, but never completed the road, and the Logansport & Crawfordsville Railroad later acquired its rights. The section from Logansport to Kokomo was first constructed because of the canal conveniences for the shipping of material. In 1855 the first engine was received at Logansport through the canal, and the trial trip over the railroad was made on July 4th of that year, the success of the event being celebrated by a picnic and speeches near Taber's prairie, two miles east of that town.
But although the iron horse was thus headed for Monticello, he did not actually snort into its limits until five years later. The Logansport, Peoria & Burlington Railroad was completed in December, 1859, as a feeder of the Toledo, Wabash & Western line, running from Toledo to St. Louis. The first cars over the Wabash line run into Logansport in March, 1856, and what is now the State Line Division of the Panhandle or Pennsylvania System, extending from Logansport to Peoria was begun soon afterward.
For some time there had been trouble between the laborers and contractors in Cass County and the quarrel spread into White County to such an extent that it has gone into local history as the Railroad War. The disputes culminated in direct conflict between the railroad management, contractors and the sheriff on one side, and the railroad hands on the other, and a riot occurred when the celebrating excursionists reached a point on their trip toward Peoria, a few miles west of Monticello. Two of the rioters were wounded—one rather badly—and a number badly battered on both sides with clubs and axes.
The account of the exciting celebration of the opening of White County's first railroad, in so far as the events relate to home territory, is thus told by the Logansport Journal of December 31, 1859: "The long looked-for connection with the Peoria and Oquaka road was made on Monday last, the 26th. The first passenger car, with a party of excursionists, started from Bridge street, on Monday morning, made the trip through to Peoria, and returned on Wednesday evening, the 28th. As the opening of this road (the Logansport, Peoria and Burlington) is justly regarded as of much importance to our people, we are induced to give a space to a notice of the occasion commensurate with the great interest in the enterprise felt here and elsewhere.
"The party, composed of some twenty citizens, two or three contractors, Mr. Gilman of New York, one of the directors, and Mr. Crugar, the superintendent of the Oquaka road, after a very short notice, assembled near the Wabash bridge at 11 o'clock. The train started at 11:30.
"The run to Monticello, twenty-one miles, was made in about an hour. The track, though just put down, was in very good condition. At Monticello too short a stay was made to enable several to join the company, who intended to have done so.
"At Reynolds Station we found a large car used for boarding-house purposes, fify-five feet long and eighteen wide, two stories, on the track. The rails had been removed from the road, both before and behind the car, and it seemed immovable. This arrangement was in pursuance of a plan, ostensibly, to obtain pay for the hands who had been laying the track, but really was intended to obstruct the road so that the cars could not pass over before the first of January. Upon this condition, subscription notes for over $120,000 became payable, and it is rather probable that the demonstration was instigated by some such interest as this.
"The company had paid off the track-laying contractors on Saturday, and owed nothing on that score. The contractors were paying off their men at Logansport at that moment and designed paying those at the Station on the next day (which was actually done). The contractors were at the Station and gave assurances as to the true state of the case, but without effect.
"Strychnine whiskey and bad counsel possessed too much influence. The insurgents had no complaint whatever against the company, and the obstruction was a high-handed outrage against right and the law. Extensive preparation had evidently been made for a fight, for some forty men were garrisoned in the car, each bearing a freshly made club. The effective force upon the train was small, so, after a parley of two hours and a counsel of war, the train was run back to Monticello. Here warrants were obtained for the arrest of three of the more active insurgents.
"On the return of the train with the sheriff, nearly half of the car force left, and another parley took place with the rioters, but it was bootless except to one of the force, who was kicked from the platform. Propositions to telegraph to Governors Wise and Willard and President Buchanan were overruled. After an hour spent in unavailing quarreling, it was concluded to take the car by storm, which was handsomely done by a detachment of the excursionists headed by the sheriff (time, six minutes). For a few minutes a bloody scuffle took place for possession of the iron rails which were in the ear. Clubs, axes, spikes, iron chairs and pistols were uncomfortably thick and active. One of the car party rushed upon one of the assailants with an axe and received a pistol ball in his breast. This ended the conflict, for the fight instantly turned into a rout, and the front door was filled by the retreating party, who took no care upon which end they landed so they got upon the ground somewhere.
"The rails were replaced in a few minutes and in a short time the train, with the captured fort, was on its way again to Monticello, where a switch received the obnoxious edifice. The train then returned to Reynolds, took up the excursionists and at 7 o'clock recommenced the trip to Peoria.
"The scenery through which the road passes was new to most of the excursionists. The Grand Prairie was entered just beyond Reynolds Station, but nothing could be seen until daylight. At that time the eye fell upon a country unbroken by timber and only occasionally diversified by houses. In many places the eye seeks in vain for single object other than the sky and earth, not a tree, house, fence or animal appearing for miles. The soil of the prairie appears of an excellent quality, and the cultivated places give abundant proof of fertility, in the great heaps of corn stacked up for sale or use."
Old Burnettsville had been platted several years before the coming of the railroad and was somewhat off its line, but during the month following the lively celebration of its opening, Sharon, adjoining Burnettsville, was platted and the two were soon consolidated under the original name. Idaville, three miles west, was platted and made a railroad station in July, 1860, and Wolcott, in the western part of the county, came into line during the following year.
By the building of what is now the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis (Pennsylvania) line through White County, which bisected the present Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railroad (Monon) at Reynolds, the settlers were provided, to a fair degree, with railway accommodations. The third step in securing such conveniences, and a great addition to them, was taken in the building of the Indianapolis, Delphi & Chicago Railroad in the late '70s. The opening of the road from the western Indiana line to Monticello was celebrated in that place on August 14, 1878. Large delegations were present from Rensselaer, Lowell, Bradford, Delphi and other localities along the line of the new road. The Monticello and Delphi bands furnished the music and the crowd of visitors was escorted to the courthouse, where the celebration centered. John H. Wallace, chairman of the committee of arrangements; H. P. Owens, a bright Kentuckian; John Lee, president of the road; A. W Reynolds, L. B. Sims of Delphi, ex-president of the road, and others connected with the enterprise and with the building of narrow-gauge lines, were among the speakers who instructed and amused, It was a very successful celebration and boomed the Chicago Air Line immensely.
The opening of passenger traffic on the Indianapolis, Delphi & Chicago (now Monon Route) was announced for May 21, 1883, but on account of difficulty in securing entrance facilities at Indianapolis the date was postponed. The first passenger train began regular service June 17, 1883, running only from Monon to Indianapolis. Another train was scheduled from Chicago to Frankfort in the same time-card. The first through service between Chicago and Indianapolis was scheduled the third week in October, 1883.
The completion of the Indianapolis, Delphi & Chicago Railroad not only vastly increased the facilities of Monticello and Monon in the way of getting into more direct communication with the larger markets of the country between the Ohio River and Lake Michigan, but was of much local advantage to the agriculturists and the small rural communities in the northwestern part of the county. Through trains commenced to run about 1881.
The building of what is now a second or air-line division of the Monon system did not result in the founding of any important towns in White County; in fact, only Guernsey, in Honey Creek Township, and Lee, in Monon Township, were founded as stations.
Thus has White County been transformed into a country well adapted to the founding of pleasant and contented homes and prosperous communities--all bound together and brought into intimate touch with related towns, cities and states, through its improved lands, its good roads of gravel and macadam, and its well conducted railroads. Transportation and communication by water has become a negligible quantity in the calculation of its general progress.