The history of the county seat of Elkhart county has its beginnings even before the organization of the county government. The legislature of 1829-30 enacted a law, which was approved January 29, 1830, and which was entitled An Act for the Formation of the Counties of Elkhart and St. Joseph. This law provided for the appointment of five commissioners, who were to examine sites and select a seat of justice for the county. The commissioners selected, and who were named in this act, were William G. Swing and Hugh Hanna, of Allen county; Samuel Fleming and John Bishop, of Wayne county; and John Bennett, of Delaware county. They were instructed to meet at the house of Chester Sage, whose location was not designated further than that it was within the bounds of the county, on the fourth Monday in May, 1830, and proceed to the discharge of their duties.

In accordance with the provisions of this act the commissioners met May 24, 1830, at the residence of Chester -Sage and began the work which the legislature had assigned to them. Two days later they met at the same place and reported that they had examined a number of sites and had selected the southwest quarter of section 24 in township 37 north of range five east, as the site of the proposed county seat. This tract of land is in the present township of Concord, about a mile west of the line between Concord and Jefferson township, just a short distance north of the Elkhart river, and almost directly across the river from the present county asylum. The commissioners also reported that the land which they had selected was attached to the district of lands held for sale at the Fort Wayne land office and had not been previously offered for sale by the United States government. At that time there was no organized county government and no authorities to whom these commissioners could submit their report. They therefore adjourned May 26 to meet again on July 12, following.

The same act which authorized the formation of the county provided for holding an election of county officers and for electing three justices of the peace, who should organize themselves into a hoard and have charge of the county business. Accordingly an election was held, but at what date I have not been able to ascertain. The three justices elected at that time were James Mather, Arminius C. Penwell and John Jackson. By another provision of the act above referred to. the house of Chester Sage was designated as the place for the meeting of the board of justices after their election. The board met for the first time June 28, 1830, and after transacting such business as came before it adjourned to meet in special session July 13. At that time the commissioners above named formally presented their report of the selection of a site for a county seat. The report was received by the board and placed on record. What the cities of Goshen and Elkhart would have been had the county seat remained at the place first selected—for it is almost midway between the two—must 1>e left to the speculation of those individuals who enjoy wrestling with that kind of problems.

But that spot was not to be the real county seat, whatever may have been the desires and expectations of the inhabitants of that early day. The legislature of 1830-1 passed an act providing for the relocation of the county seat. The act was approved February 10, 1831. Another set of commissioners was named, who were to examine the site which had been previously selected and also such other sites as might be considered eligible for this purpose, and decide whether or not the public interest demanded a relocation. The commissioners selected at this time were L. G. Thompson and Attorney L. Davis, of Allen county; Hiram Todd and Walter Wilson, of Cass county; and David Miller, of St. Joseph county. The place designated for them to meet and from which to proceed to the performance of the duties devolving upon them was at the mouth of the Elkhart river, and the time set for their meeting was the third Monday in March, 1831. The record of the board of justices shows that Anthony L. Davis, L. G. Thompson and David Miller, a quorum of these commissioners, met on the day designated and proceeded with their work. On the 26th of May they submitted their report to the board. The report recites that they examined the several sites under consideration, including the one previously selected, and recommended that it be vacated and the county seat relocated. The new location selected was described as the south fraction of the northeast quarter and the north fraction of the southeast quarter of section nine in township 36 north, of range six east; providing that the two fractions should not exceed the maximum quantity of one hundred and sixty acres, to which the county had the right of pre-emption for county seat purposes. The commissioners further recommended that, should the two fractions exceed the maximum quantity, the first described fraction should be preempted and the second purchased by the county. The records shows further that the commissioners recommended the name of Goshen as a suitable name to be given to the town which should be built at the proposed seat of justice. The report was accepted and approved by the board of justices, the seat of justice was located and the name of Goshen was officially given to the site at that time selected.

The opinion seems to be held by a great many people that the land included in the present court square was acquired from Oliver Crane, one of the earlier residents of this portion of the county. It is also believed that he gave the land to the county with the stipulation that should it ever cease to be used for this purpose it should revert to his heirs. The records show, however, that this opinion was not well founded. The fact is that a tract of ninety-two and twenty-eight hundredths acres of land was acquired from the government by pre-emption, as had been recommended by the commissioners. This tract embraced all of that part of the present city of Goshen which lies between the Elkhart river on the west and Broad alley, now Cottage avenue, on the east; and between Clinton street on the north and the first alley south of Washington street on the south. The deed of conveyance for this parcel of land was executed June 7, 1833, and is signed by Andrew Jackson, president of the United States, and attested by his private secretary, Andrew J. Donelson, and by Elijah Hayward, commissioner of the general land office. It states specifically that the conveyance is made in accordance with the provisions of an act of Congress passed in 1824. granting to parishes or counties in each state or territory the right of pre-emption to quarter sections of land for seats of justice. The deed is recorded on page 98 in deed record number i of Elkhart county. Thus the county records completely controvert the time-honored tradition that Oliver Crane donated to the county the land which is included in the present court park.

There is another tradition, which seems to rest on a better foundation, that Oliver Crane first suggested the name of Goshen for the proposed county seat town, and that he did so because he had come from a town of that name in New York. Hon. John E. Thompson and the late Anthony DeFreese were questioned by the writer as to what they knew concerning this tradition. Both of them stated that for the past fifty years or more it had been generally accepted as true. And in a personal memoir by the late John W. Irwin appears the following statement : " Among the principal men who were early settlers here before 1832, the time of coming of Alexander Irwin, was Oliver Crane, who had come from Orange county, New York, the county town of which was named Goshen. It is understood that he was mainly influential in inducing those who had charge of laying out our county seat town for the name given it. My father is claimed to have been consulted about the name in 1831 and favored it, not from the standpoint of Crane, to follow a town name to which he was attached from local considerations, but from the fitness of the name as being a country rich and productive, as that of Goshen in Egypt, occupied, by the designation of Joseph, by his kins people during their sojourn in that country." (See Note i, below.) The public records appear to contain nothing either to prove or disprove this opinion. All that has been found concerning the matter is what has already been stated: That the name was recommended by the commissioners who chose the site for the county seat, and was, officially confirmed by the board of justices in whom was vested the authority to transact all county business.

The name of Oliver Crane is prominently identified with the earliest history of the town of Goshen in. another way, even though he is not entitled to the honor of having given the court square to the public. At the session of the board of justices held May 2, 1831, he was appointed agent for the county seat. This was just before the present site was selected. At the session of the board held June 21, after the county seat had been relocated, he was ordered to lay off into lots the tract which had been chosen for this purpose. He was further ordered to advertise half of the lots to be sold on the 2d day of July. In September of the same year he made his first report, showing that he had sold fifty-four lots, receiving therefor $2,607.75. In November, 1831, lie was succeeded by Robert Randall as county agent. It appears from the record, however, that Crane was associated with his successor and with the county surveyor, George Crawford, in surveying and laying out lots in the new town. The public records also show that twelve lots were reserved by the county for a public square and public buildings. These lots are numbers 131 to 136, inclusive, fronting on Main street, and numbers 155 to 160, inclusive, fronting on Third street.

Besides the tract which was acquired from the government by preemption, the county purchased of Oliver Crane another tract lying immediately north of it and including that portion of the present city of Goshen which lies north of Clinton street, east of the Elkhart river and south of the Lake Shore Railroad. Its area is twenty-seven acres, three roods and three rods, the deed for which was made September 2, 1834, signed by Oliver Crane and his wife, Elizabeth Crane, and acknowledged before Peter L. Runyan, a justice of the peace. This tract was a part of the northwest quarter of section 9, township 36 north, range 6 east, and which was entered from the government by Ephraim Seeley August 2, 1831. The two parcels of land which were acquired, the one by pre-emption and the other by purchase, aggregated one hundred and twenty acres, six and two-sevenths rods.

In order to make this sketch as complete as possible from the data which could be found, it is necessary to refer once more to the act which authorized the organization of the county and which also provided for the meeting of the courts up to the time when the public buildings should be erected. The place designated by the act for the first meeting of the. circuit court was the house of Chester Sage, which was a log cabin on the north bank of the St. Joseph river and nearly opposite the mouth of the Elkhart river. The farm upon which he lived is now a part of the city of Elkhart. and the spot where the cabin stood is about sixty rods east of the bridge which crosses the St. Joseph at Main street. So that place was by legal enactment virtually the earliest county seat. The same act of the legislature which designated the place for the first session of the court also contained a provision that the circuit court should have authority to remove the place of meeting from the house of Chester Sage to any other place in the county previous to the erection of the public buildings, after which all of its sessions were to be held in the court house at the county seat.

It appears that the court availed itself of the authority granted it to remove to other places for holding its sessions. But one session of the circuit court was held at the residence of Chester Sage, the place designated by law. That session was begun November 30, 1830. The next session was held in April, 1831, at the residence of Thomas Thomas, the county clerk, about three miles east of Elkhart on what is known as Two-Mile plain. (See Note 2.) The third term of the court was held in October, 1831, at the residence of Thomas Frier, on what was then called Elkhart plain, but is now known as Elkhart prairie. The place referred to is what has been known for many years as the McConaughy farm and is now owned by Leonard McConaughy. The late Dr. E. W. H. Ellis, in an address delivered at the Elkhart county fair in 1852, referred to this session of the court and stated that it was really the first session at which the full bench was represented, the Hon. Charles H. Test, the presiding judge, meeting with the court then for the first time. At the two sessions held after this, at the places above mentioned, only the two associate judges, Peter Diddy and William Latta, were present. The residence of Mr. Frier was then a log cabin and the court held its session under the stately trees which stood in front of it. It might also be added here that James Frier was the first treasurer of Elkhart county and was serving in that capacity at that time.

The fourth term, counting the two terms which were held by the two associate judges, as already mentioned, was held in April, 1832, and the sixth in May, 1833, both being held at the residence of Henry Dusenberry (Note 3), which was located in Goshen at the northeast corner of Main and Washington streets, where the Dewey block now stands. There is nothing in the court records to show where the fifth term was held, which was in October, 1832. The seventh term was held in the court house, which is the first mention of that building in the circuit court records.

The board of justices held all of its sessions from the first one, in June. 1830, already mentioned, to the May meeting in 1831, at the residence of Chester Sage. In June and July, 1831, they met at the residence of Thomas Thomas. Up to that time the board of justices performed the functions which have been performed by the board of county commissioners. In September, 1831, the first board of commissioners met at the residence of Thomas Thomas. (Note 4.) But two members of the board were present: Edward Downing and George McCollum. At the next meeting John Jackson presented his certificate of election as a member of the board and took his seat. This meeting was held at the residence of George McCollum. which was located about half way between Lincoln avenue and the next alley north on the east side of Main street and opposite court park. Another session was held in January, 1832, at the same place. In March, 1832, the board met at the residence of Luke Hulett, on or near the present site of the Baptist church in Goshen. From May, 1832, until August, 1833, the board held its meetings at Aimer Stilson's tavern, located where the Kindig block now stands at the corner of Main street and Lincoln avenue in Goshen. In September, 1833, the board met for the first time in the court house.

The residences of Chester Sage, Thomas Thomas, George McCollum and Abner Stilson were also the meeting places of the probate court from 1830 to 1833, the year when the court house was completed, from which time that court also began to hold its sessions in the court house.

There is one thing quite peculiar that deserves mention, and that is the apparent absence of any record of the contract for the building of the first court house. The records of the board of justices, the commissioners', circuit and probate courts have been searched diligently but no such contract has been found. P. M. Henkel, former county auditor, in a paper read before the Elkhart County Historical Society, April 20, 1905, states that this contract was awarded to Jacob Stridebaker, who modeled the building after the court house at Dayton, Ohio. The late Dr. M. M. Latta, several years before his death and before illness had impaired his mental faculties, made the same statement to the writer of this paper, and added also that the Day ton court house had been copied after the main building of Princeton College as it was nearly a century ago. In the absence of any public records the word of these men, who were known throughout their lives for their accurate knowledge of passing events and for the accuracy of their statements concerning them, is the best authority that can be cited.

As far as can be gathered from the public records, from recorded personal memoirs and from statements of individuals still living who are believed to know concerning these matters, this is an accurate history in detail of the seat of government of Elkhart county from the time of the county's organization until the completion of its first court 'rouse in 1833. Since that time there has been no change in its location, but it has remained continuously in the same place.

(1) Elisha Irwin. brother of John W. Irwin, states that his father, Alexander Irwin, first came here in 1831 and returned to his former home in Pennsylvania in 1832, in which year he removed here with his family to remain permanently. This explains the apparent conflict in the dates of John W. Irwin's memoir.

(2) Dr. W. H. Thomas, the only surviving son of Thomas Thomas, and John W. Ellis, a resident of Elkhart since November, 1831, and now eighty-one years old, both concur in this statement as to the location of Thomas Thomas' residence. Wilber L. Stones, a grandson of Thomas Thomas, thought it was in the next residence of Mr. Thomas, now known as the Bradigum farm and located just northwest of the present city limits of Goshen. Mr. Ellis says that Mr. Thomas removed to this place in the latter part of 1831, which was several months after the court met at his cabin on Two-Mile plain.

(3) The information concerning the location of this place was obtained from an address delivered by Hon. J. H. DeFreese in 1858.

(4) As Mr. Thomas removed to his farm near Goshen some time in 1831 it is impossible to ascertain at which of the two places this first session of the board of commissioners was held.


The history of the seat of justice would not be quite complete without a brief description of the building which for so many years has adorned the public square, and in whose halls have been discussed and acted upon the matters of deepest concern to the welfare of the county and where justice has been afforded to all employing the machinery of law for that purpose. The present court house was opened to the public in 1870. The old building having outlived its usefulness, it was decided by the people that a new building should be erected. This was in the year 1868, and the commissioners who had charge of the work were James Bechtel, J. E. Thompson and Nathaniel Thompson. The work on the building was begun the same year and completed in 1870.

The early county fathers showed their wisdom in planting numerous shade trees on the square, so that, during the summer season, the court house almost disappears among the embowering foliage of maples and elms. Formerly the grounds were enclosed by iron railing, but civic taste has decided against this enclosure. A description of the building as it appeared before the recent remodeling gives the following general features. Of classic model, its four large Corinthian pillars supporting a well proportioned structure on the east and west sides, the building has much of the appearance of those ancient temples where justice was supposed to emanate from the deities whose shrines and marble figures were within its walls. The ground dimensions were, until the reconstruction, 82 by 72 feet, and from base to cornice it is 52 feet.

Until the spring of 1905 the true symmetry and simplicity of this structure were marred and thrown out of balance by the large clock tower on the south end. This height of brick and stone, although for many years forming one of the landmarks of Goshen, came into disfavor when the plans were formulated for the remodeling of the court house, and along about the first of last April the old clock, which for more than a generation had sounded the hours to children and children's children, struck for the last time, and a few days later the work of dismantling the tower was complete.

The remodeled court house gives Elkhart county one of the most up-to-date and thoroughly convenient seats of justice in northern Indiana. Such changes are being made in the general features as well as the details that the next generation will be hardly able to image the old court house from what they see of the reconstructed edifice. As mentioned, the tower has been taken' down. The building has been lengthened at both ends, but in form symmetrical with the old plan, the total ground space added being 87 by 70 feet, or a total additional floor space for the three stories of nearly 20,000 square feet. While the general arrangement of the rooms remains the same, the reconstruction affords such expansion for all the different offices that they are practically to be in new quarters, ample for all their present and future needs for some years to come.

The principal entrances to the basement floor will now be at the north and south ends, although the former entrances will also remain. With much enlarged quarters, the superintendent of county schools and truant officer will retain the southeast corner, the surveyor will occupy the southwest room, and the commissioners will hold their meetings in the northeast corner, while the remainder of the basement will be taken up by the modern fan heating plant, janitor's rooms, etc. Stairs lead from this floor to the main floor.

Going up on the main floor, one finds the most complete contrast between the new and old arrangement. Where as formerly the east entrance had three doors, now a broad double-door affords the principal means of entering the building. From this main hall branch out the two corridors which, as the vertical axis of this floor, extend nearly the full length of the building. From the south corridor doors open into the clerk's enlarged office, the office of the sheriff (who in the old building had very small and inadequate room), and the recorder's office, in which has been built a vault of such proportions as will accommodate the great bulk of valuable records which accumulate there from year to year.

From the north corridor are entered the auditor's, on one hand, and the treasurer's office, on the other. At the north end of the building is a large consultation room, communicating with both the treasurer's and auditor's apartments, while each of these officials also has a private office.

A broad stairway interrupted by one short landing, leads straight to the second floor. Opening into the hallway at the head of the stairs are, on the west side, the rooms of the assessor, the probate court, and the attorney's room, and. on the east, the jury room, the library, and the judge's room. Especially notable and appropriate to the progressive spirit of the people of Elkhart county, is the new jury room. From the restricted, unsanitary, and inadequate quarters formerly provided for the deliberations of the twelve tried and true peers, the bailiff now. when the trial is over, leads his charges into a spacious double apartment—a large room intended for the general sessions of the jury, and also, connected therewith by swinging doors, a smoking room.

Double doors from the second floor hall open into the court room, which, already of ample dimensions, remains practically as it was. The enclosed space reserved for the attorneys and participants in the trials has been increased, and some changes of arrangement made. Desks and chairs for the members of the county bar are provided to the number of forty, and these places are to be assigned to the members in order of seniority of admission to the bar, each seat being .reserved exclusively for the use of its rightful occupant.

Back of the court room are the offices of the court stenographer, the prosecutor's room, and two witness rooms,—the last being a notable improvement, there formerly being but one room for witnesses, and an order to divide the witnesses meant serious inconvenience.

The appropriation up to the time of this writing for this reconstruction is $68,000, but it is thought that nearly one hundred thousand dollars will represent the final sum expended upon the work. From it will result a building which, for efficiency of design and symmetry of architectural outline, will for many years to come be a credit to Elkhart county.


" In the early forties," according to Mr. P. M. Henkel, " there was no asylum for the care of the poor and indigent persons. Such as were dependent upon public charity were farmed out by the county commissioners for their support by the year to the lowest responsible bidder. At this date (1845) the two persons in the county were thus provided for. The first farm purchased by the county to l>e used as an asylum for the poor was located in Jefferson township and consisted of eighty acres. A superintendent was appointed and all indigent persons transferred to his care." This poor farm was two and a half miles northwest of Goshen. and was known as the Adam Harman's farm.

In 1847 Miss Dix, the eminent philanthropist and reformer of prison conditions, visited on her tour of inspection the institutions of Elkhart county, and her strictures relative to the county poor farm were especially severe. The poor house, to quote Miss Dix's report as it appeared in a local paper of that year, "is situated several miles from Goshen, and has a farm of eighty acres, forty of which are cultivated. No dwelling is as yet constructed for the poor of sufficient capacity for their suitable accommodation. The situation of this establishment is remote and difficult of access." Only three individuals were kept there at county expense at that time, so that it is hardly surprising that the home had not yet reached the dignity and efficiency of a public- institution.

Perhaps this criticism led to the action of the county board in 1853 by which a substantial building was planned for the accommodation of the county's almoners. This house was erected on Elkhart prairie, five miles southeast of Goshen, on the old Fort Wayne road. The poor house was burned in February. 1871, but was replaced by another in the summer of that year. In 1882 the county commissioners traded with W. D. Platter for a marsh farm of 453 acres between Bristol and Elkhart on the St. Joseph river. This trade was rescinded by the new board of commissioners elected in 1882, and, Platter refusing to surrender the old farm, a law suit followed. The case was in the courts two years, was tried in the circuit court at Lagrange before Judge Robert Lowry, of Fort Wayne, who decided in favor of the county. Platter took an appeal to the supreme court, where Judge Lowry's decision was affirmed, so that the county continued in the possession of its farm on Elkhart prairie several years longer.

In 1885 the farm on the prairie was sold, and the site of the present institution was bought of David Rupp, for the sum of five thousand dollars. The present Elkhart county farm is located at Dunlaps, in Concord township, half way between Goshen and Elkhart, and is reached by the inter-urban electric line. The farm contains one hundred and twenty acres, and the entire institution is a credit to the county. If Miss Dix were alive to-day and could visit this asylum her adverse criticism would, without doubt, be turned to words of praise and admiration of the efficient way in which the eleemosynary affairs of the county are administered.

The asylum building, which was erected in 1886, the original contract price being $18,800, is a brick building, two stories and basement, containing sixty-five rooms. The east side is for the women inmates, and the west for the men. At the time of the present writing an addition, 31 by 60 feet, is being built, in which will be located the hospital department, the rooms for the insane and the cells for the unmanageable inmates. At the present time there are 58 persons in the institution, this being about the average number. The largest number during the past year was 79 and the lowest 50. The present superintendent is Mr. John L. Warden, and under his direction are three lady employees, two men in the house and one on the farm, besides the fireman and janitor.


In the report of Miss Dix, above referred to, the county jail comes in for its share of criticism. "The Elkhart county jail, at Goshen." says Miss Dix, "is a two-story brick building, containing four dungeons, two debtors' rooms above, and the family residence of the keeper. This jail was about to be repaired, and it was believed that some improvements as to drainage and ventilation might be introduced."

The present county jail, on the west side of the court house square, in its exterior aspect resembles a pretentious private residence. Its reconstruction to the present condition occurred in 1879, costing the county over twenty thousand dollars. It is said that Ira Storr was the first offender to be incarcerated in the old building.