INDIANA TRAILS
ALLEN
COUNTY INDIANA
EARLY SETTLEMENT
seat, were James M. Ray, of
Indianapolis, W. M. Conner, of Hamilton county, and Abaithes Hathaway.
In the early part of 1824, they agreed upon Fort Wayne as the proper
place,
and in the last week in May, in the
same year, the fist election for county officers for Allen county took
place. The first session of the “County Board” was held on the last day
of May
in the same year, the Board
consisting of William Rockbill, James Wyman, and Francis Comparet.
The county officers, elected at the first election, were: Anthony L.
Davis, Clerk;
Allen Hamilton, Sheriff; Samuel Hanna
and Benjamin Cushnan, Associate Judges; Joseph Rolinan, Treasurer;
H. lB. MeKeen, First Assessor; Lambert Cushovis, First Constable;
W. T. Daviss, Overseer of the Poor;
B. Hors, Inspector of Elections; Israel Taylor, Joseph Troutner. and
Moses Scott, Fence Viewers; Samuel Rood, Supervisor. At the first
session
of the Board, three Justices of the
Peace were elected, as follows: Alexander Ewing, William N. Hood, and
William Rockbill. These gentlemen assumed the position, officio, of the
“Board of Justices,” taking the place
of County Commissioners. The first session of this body was held on the
twenty second of October, 1824. On this occasion the Board gave
notice of the location of a State
road from Vernon, in Jennings county, by way of Greensburg, Rushville,
and New Castle to Fort Wayne.
These were true
pioneer days in Fort
Wayne. There were none of the present line buildings that grace the
city; no leading thoroughfares adorned with fancy teams; no colleges;
no
fine church buildings; nothing of the
modern, fashionable order. But there were the rude taverns, the
straggling Indian, the hardy fur trader in short, the unpretending
pioneer.
But few, if any, at this day, thought
that Fort Wayne would ever become a leading city. Yet the place had its
advantages for trade, and the penetrating business men of early times
were not slow to improve them.
Pioneer hotel life in Fort Wayne in 1824, is, to some extent, portrayed
by an old bill of “tavern rates” which has been. preserved. It reads as
follows:
“Per day, 60 cts.; breakfast, dinner
and supper, each 25 cts.; lodging, per night, 12 1/2 cts.; whisky, per
quart, 12 1/2 cts: brandy per quart, 50 cts. gin, per quart, 37 1/2
cts. porter,
per bottle, 37 1/2 cts.; cider, per
quart, 18 1/2 cts.”
Allen
county had its taxation, and,
we suspect, it was bothersome, too. Every male over twenty one years of
age had to pay fifty cents. And for each horse, gelding or mare over
three
years old, thirty seven and a half
cents; every work ox, eighteen cents; every gold watch, twenty five
cents; every pinchback, twenty five cents; every four wheeled pleasure
carriage,
one dollar. The State taxes were
generally paid in wolf scalps, on which a bounty was allowed.
The first circuit
court held in Allen
county was on the ninth of August, 1824. The judicial circuit then
included Adams, Wells, Huntington, and Whifley counties.
At this time, 0. W. Ewing was made
prosecuting attorney, and John Tipton foreman of the grand jury. W. G.
Ewing was, on this occasion, admitted to the bar as a practitioner at
law.
At this session of the court an
application was made for a divorce, and, says Mr. Bryce, “some
indictments were found against parties for selling liquor without
license, etc., at this
term of the court each being fined
three dollars and cost. In one instance, for gambling, a man was fined
ten dollars.” The first master in chancery of this court, was Charles
W. Ewing,
then a young lawyer of much ability.
“To show the difference between the manner of allowances of that day
and this, when six times as much service was rendered in a given time,
the records show that Robert Hood
(well remembered by old citizens,) was allowed seventy five cents per
day for three days’ service as bailiff to the circuit court; Allen
Hamilton,
sixteen dollars and sixty six cents
for four months’ service as sheriff of Allen county; and Charles W.
Ewing, for his services as prosecuting attorney, for the term, five
dollars.
This court, after
a session of three
days, adjourned on the twelfth of August. 1824, to convene again as the
court in course. The following year, 1825, the board of justices
appointed
W. 0. Ewing county treasurer; and the
second term of the circuit court was convened at the residence of
Alexander Ewing, on the sixth of June Hon. F. Morris, of the fifth
judicial
circuit a resident of’ Indianapolis,
presiding Judge Hanna officiating in the capacity of associate justice.
James Rariden, and Calvin Fletcher were admitted as practitioners of
law
at this term both men of considerable
distinction in after years. Henry Cooper, a man of many estimable
qualities, long since deceased, was also admitted to the bar at this
term of
the court, which continued only five
days.”
The third
term of this court was
convened at the house of William Suttenfield, on the twenty first of
November, 1825,. Judges Hanna and Cushman presiding.
It was at this session of the court
that a device for a seal was presented by Charles W. Ewing.
Calvin Fletcher presented his commission and ‘was sworn in as
prosecuting attorney.
The term in the following year, 1826,
was held at the residence of Alexander Ewing, the same judges
presiding; but at the next regular term, which was opened on the
thirteenth of
August, in the same year, Hon. Miles
C. Eggleston, of Madison, presented his commission, as president judge,
was sworn in, and presided during the term. Benjamin Cushman
acted as associate judge; Cyrus Taber
as sheriff; and Amos lane as prosecuting attorney. A singular story is
told of the trial and conviction, on a charge of murder, of Big-Leg, an
Indian, who resided near Fort Wayne,
at the term of the court held in 1830. “A half Indian and negro woman,
whom he claimed as his slave, had been in the habit of entering his
cabin
during his absence, and taking his
meat. After repeatedly warning her to desist he at length told her that
if she disobeyed him again, he would kill her From her residence among
the
clan, of which Big— Leg was chief,
whose village was on the Wabash, a few miles from Fort Wayne, with a
view to escape the fate that she knew must befall her, after a further
disregard of the commands of the
chief, the woman came to Fort Wayne, and was soon employed by some of
the citizens. Shortly after her departure, Big-Leg came to town, too,
and wandering about, he soon
discovered her washing, at a house then standing about what is now the
southeast corner of Clinton and Columbia. streets. Stealing suddenly
upon
her, with his long knife ready for
her destruction, he plunged it into her with such force, that it is
said the blade passed through her body, and she fell dead at his feet;
whereupon he
proudly ejaculated, ‘Was’nt that
nice!’ Though no uncommon thing, at that period, for the Indians
visiting here to kill each other, and for which no redress had ever
been sought by the
authorities, the citizens here, who
were then largely outnumbered by the Indians of the region, were
greatly incensed at this terrible procedure of Big-Leg, and the civil
authorities at
once had the chief arrested, and
placed in the old county jail. His main plea was that the woman
belonged to him—was his property, and that he had a right to do what he
pleased
with her. When told that he was to be
hanged for the offense, he could not comprehend it, but seemed to get
the idea that it was some such operation as that he had often witnessed
in the use of the old steelyards by
the traders in weighing venison, etc., and concluded that he was to be
weighed until he was dead; which fact soon became commonly understood
among the Indians of his tribe and
the region here; and as he was a chief much regarded by his clan, they
early sought to exchange him for one of their number, whom they
considered
rather worthless; but without
avail. Having received some explanations as to his probable fate by
hanging, or weighing, as he understood it, which he seemed to regard as
fixed, he,
with his friends, thought to have the
experiment tried upon a dog, in order to see how the animal would act.
Accordingly, while the chief was still confined in the jail, a number
of his
Indian friends collected about the
outside of the prison, in view of a. small opening, where the chief
could look out and see the action of the canine as his Indian friends
proceeded
to execute him. Placing a rope around
the animals neck, and suspending him from a pole that had been arranged
for the purpose, at the height of a few feet from the ground, by
means of crossed stakes driven into
the earth, the dog was soon dangling in the air. Observing the animal
very closely through the grates of the jail, the violent throes and
contortions
of the dog at once gave him a great
aversion to hanging, or being thus weighed till he was dead; and when
the jailer again made his appearance, he urged that he might be shot,
rather than be killed by such a
process as that he had seen tried on the dog. When his trial came on,
John B. Bourie and chief Richardville acted as interpreters. He was
convicted,
but being recommended to mercy by the
jury, the governor subsequently granted him a pardon; and in 1848, with
a body of Miamis, he removed to Kansas.*
From 1828 to 1880, Fort Wayne was a
scene of pioneer life. The general style of the dwellings was that of
the usual log cabin, or the “hewed log house,” which was quite a
luxury.
There were a few frame houses, but
the interior of all was pretty much the same. Not a vestige of
aristocracy could be seen in any quarter. Young ladies were then plain,
common
sense girls. Courting was conducted
in the vivid presence of a “big log fire,” unaided by the soft notes of
the piano, as at the present time. The lovers talked of plain
matter-of-fact
subjects. But little, if anything,
was said of the opera. The theater had a charm, but only as something
to be talked about. But things have changed. With 1827- 28, there came
rumors
of a canal, and finally, the canal
itself This was a vast innovation an important improvement; but the
advanced idea did not rest here. A railroad was agitated —nay,
constructed.
Brick and stone buildings took the
place of log houses; the pioneer trader became a merchant; elegant
residences were erected; churches were built; society was formed; fine
tastes
were cultivated; elegant
furniture, costly pictures and the piano were introduced. In short, a
populous, prosperous city grew up with all its attendant luxuries.
Pioneer life disappeared
and modern extravagance took its
place.
It would be tedious to follow along
the dry current of the modern history of Fort Wayne and Allen county.
It has been a history of continued progress. Enterprise has marked
every
page, and success crowned almost
every effort. We shall be content now, to notice the present condition
and future prospects of Fort Wayne and Allen county, and to give a few
pictures of the pioneers of
civilization in that section.
( SOURCE: "A History Of The State Of Indiana"
published 1876)
