JAY
COUNTY HISTORY
Perhaps the ladies
of Indiana of the
present day will find a valuable lesson of duty in the history of the
early settlement of Jay county. It is not likely they will ever be
called upon to endure similar hardships, but by reading and remembering
the dangers to which the pioneer women of this State were exposed, they
will be able to find peace and comfort in some of their present
imaginary ills. It was only about fifty years ago that the first
settlers came to Jay county, then a wilderness inhabited only by
Indians. Wolves, bears and other wild animals were prowling through the
woods and over the prairies, and the lonely settlers had much of danger
on every hand to contend with. But even in the face of these obstacles
its first settlers were a bride and bridegroom. She was a true heroine,
who, nothing daunted by the thrilling tales of border life then rife in
the Eastern settlements, volunteered to unite her fortune with that
hardy pioneer in his resolve to find a home on the distant Wabash. Nor
was her praiseworthy heroism the only example of true womanhood in
those early days of Indiana. Hundreds of noble, true hearted women,
fired by the indomitable energy and perseverance of their husbands,
voluntarily shared the hardships and exposures of pioneer life. They
came not after the log cabins had been erected, not after homes had
been established, but when the only shelter was the forest and the only
bed the broad bosom of the prairie. Such were some of the pioneer women
of Jay county.
On the fifteenth
of June, 1821, Peter
Studabaker and Miss Mary Simison were joined in the bonds of wedlock at
the home of the bride's father, at Fort Recovery, Ohio, at that time
one of the Western outposts of American civilization. The marriage
ceremony was not celebrated in a large and elegantly finished church,
in the presence of a fashionable audience. Fort Recovery was not
blessed with such marriages in those days. No, the wedding was a matter
of fact occurrence, becoming alike to the customs of pioneer life and
to the circumstances which followed. The newly married couple at once
set out for the West. Gathering their earthly effects together, they
started in company with a few friends on the "Quaker Trace" towards
Fort Wayne. Journeying along through the forest, resting and refreshing
occasionally by the wayside, they at length reached the waters of the
Wabash. Here they halted and the bridegroom, assisted by the parties
who were with him, and in the presence of his bride, commenced to build
a cabin. Night was drawing near and the nuptial bed was yet to be
prepared. Cutting four forked poles he drove one end of each into the
ground, laid poles and branches across the top, covered the whole with
boughs, built a fire, and then, while " Mary " was getting the supper,
he prepared a table. The young bride at once adapted herself to the
situation and in a few moments the weary travelers sat down to a
comfortable meal in the little camp, fifteen miles from any other
settlers and fifty from the settlements of civilization.
Night came on,
and, making beds of
robes and blankets, the pioneers retired to rest. No sooner had sleep
overtaken them than they were awakened by the howling of distant
wolves. They approached nearer and nearer. Their cries were answered by
other packs which hastened to join them. Hour after hour the dismal
barking and howling was continued, until, at length, the foremost were
snapping their teeth at the open door of the camp. It must, indeed,
have been a moment of fear for the young wife when one of the men took
a rifle and discharged its contents among the barking wolves without
leaving his bed. But we have no record of her want of courage. It is
recorded, however, to her honor, that she braved the dangers of camp
life until a log cabin was erected and entered it with a resolution
that never departed from her during her toils and hardships. "Thus
camped and slept the first white family that ever trod the wilderness
which fifteen years afterward became Jay county." This was on the farm
afterwards owned by Samuel Hall, on the south bank of the Wabash, at
New Corydon. Mr. Studabaker cabin was the first built in the territory,
and was rude in every respect a hut twelve by sixteen, of small, round
logs, with a clapboard roof, held on by "weight poles." Unbroken
forests surrounded this cabin for miles in every direction, and there
was no mill or store within thirty miles, and no other dwelling within
fifteen. "Their only companions were Indians, their only foes wolves."
Mr. M. W. Montgomery, who has written a very good history of Jay
county, relates this: " Mr. Studabaker moved to the "Wabash with the
intention of making that his permanent home, but the frequent overflows
of the river at that time discouraged him, and finally led him to move
away. One evening, in the spring of 1822, several travelers stopped to
stay all night. The Wabash was quite high, but not unusually so. Mrs.
S. made a bed on the floor, in which the travelers retired to rest. In
the night one of them thought he felt rather moist and on turning
over found the puncheons were floating. They got up; one went up in the
loft, and the other concluded to nap the rest of the night away on the
logs of wood by the fire. But the family, being more fortunate, were on
a bedstead, and slept there until morning, when they found all the
puncheons except the two on which the bed-posts rested, floating about
the room. Mr. Studabaker waded out and brought his canoe into the
house, and took his family to dry land in the woods, where they camped
till the water went down, which was in four or five days. In this way
the Wabash overflowed the land about his cabin, and he moved back to
Fort Recovery, after living in Jay county about two years." The same
writer pays this tribute to Mrs. Studabaker: "After moving back to Fort
Recovery, Peter Studabaker was engaged chiefly in farming for about
twelve years, when he moved to Adams county, where he died in 1840.
Mary, (Mrs.
Studabaker,) now lives
with her son, Abram, in Adams county, Indiana, in a log house, with one
of those great old fashioned cabin fire-places which so abundantly
dispense warmth and cheerfulness to the inmates. It is about sixty feet
from the river, upon the banks of which she has lived since her
childhood days, nearly half a century. By the side of its quiet waters
she was wooed and won, and has devotedly braved many dangers, reared a
large family, and followed her husband and several children to the
tomb. She is now (1864) seventy four years of age, and though in
feeble, health, her mind still retains its original vigor. Strong
common sense, quick perception, and good judgment are her
characteristics." But we cannot follow all the interesting incidents of
pioneer life in Jay county in detail. The experiences of some of these
first families that located there would fill a volume.
Jay county was
organized in 1836, and
named in honor of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United
States Supreme Court. The county seat was located by a commission
appointed for the purpose, and called Portland. The first election of
county officers took place in August, 1836, when the following persons
were elected: Commissioners, John Pingry, Abraham Lotz, and Benjamin
Goldsmith ; associate judges, James Graves, and Enoch Bowden; clerk,
Christopher Hanna; sheriff, Henderson Graves. James Graves did not
accept the office of judge, and Obadiah Winters was subsequently
chosen. The first term of the circuit court in Jay county was held on
the seventeenth day of April, 1837, at the house of Henry H. Cuppy;
Hon. Charles W. Ewing, of Fort Wayne, presiding.
With the proper
government, and with
all the elements of success, the energetic pioneers of Jay county were
not slow in the battle of general improvements. Their progress has been
steady, and as rapid as could be desired. The surface of the county has
no very distinguishing features. It is, perhaps, as level as any
portion of the State, though in places it is beautifully rolling. No
portion of the county has a poor soil, yet in many places the land had
to be drained before it was productive. Originally the forests of the
county contained an abundance of excellent lumber, including oak, ash,
walnut, hickory and beech, the
two latter
greatly predominating. In most parts of the county the farmers are
prosperous, having already accumulated an independence, consisting of a
well improved farm, a good residence, commodious homes, fine stock, and
general thrift. The rural districts have, for the most part, good
schools. Great advancement has been made in this direction during the
last five years, and still greater progress will be made in the next
five.
Portland, the
county seat, is a
thriving town, having excellent school advantages, an energetic
population, good public improvements, and the elements of future
prosperity. It is surrounded by a rich agricultural district, and
cannot fail to increase in wealth and population.
