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| To jump to the topics, click on the following: Dr. Havila Beardsley | The Village of Elkhart | Elkhart’s Early Settlers | Land and River Travel | The Railroad | Elkhart Street Railway | The Hydraulics | Early Industries in Elkhart | The Press of Elkhart | C.G. Conn | Franklin Miles M.D. | Herbert E. Bucklen | The Elco Theater | |
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| The following excerpt is taken from Elkhart: A Pictorial History, written by George E. Riebs and published by G. Bradley Publishing, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the better accounts of the origin of the village that sprang up at the convergence of three streams in Northern Indiana, the streams now known as the Saint Joseph River, the Elkhart River, and Christiana Creek. G. Bradley Publishing has my special thanks for allowing me to use this excellent article in my website. | ||
What’s in a name? Where did the name of Elkhart come
from? While the most popular story is that the Indians noticed the shape of the island (Island Park)
at the confluence of the Elkhart and St. Joseph Rivers resembled the heart of an elk, evidence
strongly suggest that elk did roam this area a very long time ago it seems more likely (and perhaps
just as romantic) that the Elkhart River and Elkhart Prairie (both of which had those names prior to
the laying out and naming of the village) were given their names because of the Shawnee Indian Chief
Elkhart, who was a cousin of the famous Shawnee Chief Tecumseh. Chief Elkhart and his tribe came into
this area from Ohio about 1800, looking for a land with plenty of game, forests, grassy areas, and
clear water. Conflicts developed as the Shawnee came into contact with the Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes,
who were already here. The ensuing battles were full of intrigue, including the capturing of Chief
Elkhart’s daughter, Princess Mishawaka, and her eventual marriage to a white scout for the Ottawas,
named Dead Shot.The Miami Indians were the earliest inhabitants of this area. They gave us the name Mishiwa-Teki-Sipiwi (meaning Elk-Hart-River), which was later translated by French traders to Coeur-de-Cerf (Heart of a Stag). Thus it is quite possible that the second story is true: that Chief Mishiwa-Teki (Elk-heart) was indeed the father of Princess Mishiwa-ka, and the origin of the name of the city of Elkhart. The first white men to travel through what is now the city of Elkhart were almost certainly French traders, explorers, or missionaries. Precise details as to the earliest data and names are few and frequently contradictory, but Father James Marquette and two other French missionaries visited the St. Joseph valley in 1669. The famous explorer, Robert LaSalle, traveled up the River of the Miamis into southeastern Michigan in 1679. Two years later, the river was renamed the St. Joseph River. At that time, the location that later become Elkhart was part of New France, claimed in the name of the King of France by LaSalle. The whole area was placed under the jurisdiction of Great Britain by the Treaty of 1763 (following the French and Indiana War). It came under the sovereignty of the United States by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which formally ended our Revolutionary War. The Potawatomi Indians moved into this area about 1700, pushing out most of the Miamis. As early as 1779, letters and other records refer to the Potawatomi village of Coeur de Cerf. When Samuel Bibbins visited the present site of Elkhart in 1800, he found only two white men. They were French traders who were trying to barter with the local Indians. William Johnson, traveling through the county in 1809, stated that the place where the Elkhart and St. Joseph Rivers meet was ideally suited by nature to be the location of a city. In 1822 the Rev. Isaac McCoy and his wife, Christiana, encamped on the Elkhart River on their way to the Carey Baptist Mission near Niles, Michigan, and Rev. McCoy named Christiana Creek after his wife. Meanwhile, the United States was pushing its geographical boundaries farther west. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 established the Northwest Territory, which included the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. In 1803 Ohio became the first state formed out of the Northwest Territory. Two years later, the Michigan Territory was officially organized, with its southern boundary being a line from the southern tip of Lake Michigan eastward to Lake Erie. This included the present locations of Michigan City, South Bend, Elkhart, and Toledo, Ohio. When war broke out between the United States and Great Britain in 1812, the British, from their position in Canada, captured Detroit, and claimed all of Michigan Territory to be part of Canada (British North America). A year later, General William Henry Harrison, later to become President of the United States, led an army that recaptured Detroit and reinstated this area as part of Michigan Territory. In 1816 Indiana was admitted as a state and declared its northern boundary to be a line ten miles north of the southern tip of Lake Michigan, in order to provide for the possibility of having a port on Lake Michigan in the future. Congress approved the border shift, and thus Elkhart eventually became a city in Indiana, instead of in Michigan. Five years later, on August 29, 1821, an Indiana Treaty was signed at Chicago that played a significant part in the history of the city of Elkhart. Three thousand Indians from the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi tribes attended. The United States was represented by Commissioners Lewis Cass and Solomon Sibley. One of the witnesses at the sighing of the treaty was Gabriel Godfroy, an Indiana Agent. At this treaty one section of land, Section 5 of Concord Township in Elkhart County, Indiana, was awarded to an Indiana named Pierre Moran. The Boundaries of Section 5 are formed on the north by a line crossing Main Street just north of Main Street bridge (about where Christiana Creek crosses Main Street); on the east by a line connecting Johnson Street and Prairie Street; on the sough by a line crossing Main Street at the railroad tracks; and on the west by a line along Michigan Street. Pierre Moran was the son of a Frenchman, Constant Moran, and a Kickapoo Indiana squaw. He was born about the time of the Revolutionary War and died about 1840. Raised in Warren County, he eventually became a Kickapoo Chief and was involved in the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Apparently he was blamed for the loss of the battle, perhaps because he was only half Indian. At any rate, he was kicked out by the Kickapoo tribe, headed north, and married a Potawatomi woman, joining her tribe and becoming a Potawatomi Chief. In 1827 Richard Godfroy, son of Gabriel Godfroy, approached Pierre Moran with an offer to buy his land. He said he would pay the Indian chief $300 for all of Section 5 (640 acres). However, Godfroy, being a little short of cash, gave Pierre Moran a house and wagon, which he claimed was worth $112, as a down payment, promising to pay the remaining $188 later. During this time, the first white settlers appeared in what is now Elkhart. While various sources differ as to the exacts dates, it seems that Andrew Noffsinger was the first settler, locating on the north bank of the St. Joseph River near the present site of the Sherman Street bridge as early as 1821 and staying till about 1828. Jesse Rush arrived in early 1827, settled near Noffsinger, and then moved south of Elkhart to Pleasant Plain in early 1828, where his wife gave birth to twins on May 16. And so it was that Isaiah Rush became the first settler child born in Elkhart County, followed moments later by his twin sister, Marjorie. In October of 1835, John H. Broderick became the first settler child born in the village of Elkhart. His parents, Nehemiah F. and Margaret L. Broderick, are buried I Grace Lawn Cemetery. George Crawford settled near the mouth of Christiana Creek in 1828, not long before Lewis Davis and Chester Sage. Shortly after their arrival, they built a grist mill close to the mouth of Christiana Creek, This settlement was called Pulaski, in honor of the Polish general who gave his life in the service of George Washington during our Revolutionary War. The post office which was established at Pulaski in 1829 kept its name after moving south of the St. Joseph River to the newer village of Elkhart. The name of the post office was officially changed to Elkhart in 1839. In 1830, having heard how beautiful the St. Joseph valley was, Dr. Havilah Beardsley arrived on horseback, settling temporarily in Pulaski with George Crawford. Realizing the potential of the water power provided by three streams coming together there, he decided that he would like to buy the land, offering Pierre Moran $800. When this offer was submitted to John Tipton, the Indian Agent, Tipton insisted the land was worth $1500. Beardsley agreed that this was a fair price, and on April 21, 1831, a deed was drawn up between Pierre Moran and Havilah Beardsley. During this period in our country’s history, the signature of the President of the United States was required on the deed of any land sold by an Indian to a white man. Historians disagree as to whether Godfroy ever got the President’s signature, but at least one source claimed that President John Quincy Adams had approved and signed Godfroy’s deed on November 28, 1826. Regardless, Tipton said that Godfroy had not offered to pay one fourth of the value of the land, and therefore his claim to ownership of the land was not valid. In fact, there is no evidence to suggest that Godfroy ever paid the remaining $188 of his agreement. A further complication arose because homes and mills had already been built by a number of settlers on the disputed land. Dr. Beardsley agreed to give Godfroy a portion of land equal in value to the $112 which he had paid to Pierre Moran. On January 13, 1832, President Andrew Jackson approved and signed the deed making Dr. Havilah Beardsley the sole owner of the land that became the heart of the city of Elkhart. In 1832, Dr. Beardsley hired George Crawford to plat the first 51 lots for the village of Elkhart, bounded by Pigeon Street (later Lexington Avenue) on the south, by Washington Street on the north, by the Elkhart River on the east, and by the alley between Second Street and what later became Third Street on the west. With this accomplished, the city of Elkhart (as we know it today) had begun to take shape. | ||
 The name Beardsley has been interwoven with the founding and progress of Elkhart from first to last. Dr. Havilah Beardsley was the pioneer and first white owner of the land on which the City of Elkhart is now located. A native of New Fairfield, Connecticut, and of Welsh ancestry, his birth occurred April 1, 1795, he being the fifth son of Elijah and Sally (Hubble) Beardsley. At a very early day he moved with his parents to Ohio, and as a boy was a volunteer in the War of 1812. When twenty-one years of age he began the study of medicine at Urbana, and subsequently entered the medical department of the Transylvania University, from which he graduated in March, 1825. For several years he practiced in Ohio, but as such close professional labors proved no only detrimental to his health, but uncongenial, he determined to abandon it. For these reasons he emigrated westward and drifted into the well-advertised and developing St. Joseph Country. In 1830, as noted, he settled on the north bank of the St. Joseph River, near the head of what is now Main Street, Elkhart. Owing to the fact that no physicians were no physicians were then in that region, it was impossible to turn a deaf ear to those suffering from physical ailments, and, in spite of his reluctance to resume active practice, his professional labors and reputation were soon spread over fifty miles of territory. Recognizing the great advantage of water power at the confluence of the St. Joseph and Elkhart rivers, Doctor Beardsley purchased a large tract of land from the Indian Chief Pierre Moran, his deed of sale running as follows: | ||
| This indenture made this twenty-first day of
April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
between commissioners of the United States and
the Ottawas, Chippewas and hundred and thirty-one
between Pierre Moran, of the first part, and
Havilah Beardsley, of the county of Elkhart and
the state of Indiana, of the second part. Witnesseth,
that whereas by the third article of a treaty made
and concluded Pottawattamies, at Chicago, on the
29th day of August, 1821, one section of land to be
located under the direction of the president of the
United States was granted to the said Pierre Moran
at the mouth of Elkhart river, which land was not
to be sold or conveyed without the consent of the
president, and by the direction of the president
Section No. 5 in township 37 north, of range 5 east
of the second principal meridian of the state of
Indiana, was selected for, and has this day been
sold by Pierre Moran to the above named Havilah
Beardsley, for the sum of fifteen hundred dollars
lawful money of the United States, to him in hand
paid the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. This indenture therefore witnesseth that in consideration of the payment aforesaid, and in conformity with the foregoing stipulation and approbation, the said Pierre Moran has given, granted, bargained and sold, and by these present doth give, grant, bargain and sell unto the said land, to have and to hold the same with all his rights, privileges and immunities thereunto belonging, to the said Havilah Beardsley, his heirs and assigns forever. |
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This is duly signed, and in the course of the following year the presidential
approbation of the transaction, signed with the hand of Andrew Jackson, arrived at Elkhart. Believing that he had a clear title to the land upon which he proposed to lay out a town, Doctor Beardsley employed George Crawford, a Government surveyor and relative by marriage, to do the work for him. The survey and the plat were completed some time in 1832. Very soon after the doctor had obtained the Moran deed he set about improving the land. First he build a mill for grinding corn at the mouth of Christiana Creek, Its burrs were fashioned from native bowlders and the corn was ground without bolting. A sifter was soon added, much to the delight of the Indians and few white settlers. In the following year the father of Elkhart placed a rope ferry across the St. Joseph River just below the mouth of the Christiana, and near the cornmill built a sawmill. These were the first mills of the kind in the country. The next year he dammed the Elkhart, and erected a sawmill near Voicnet’s flouring mill, then one on Yellow Creek and another on the Baugo at Jim Town. At these mills the best grades of ash, poplar and black walnut lumber were sold for $3 to $4 per 1,000 feet. During the years ’33-34 and ’35 most of the public lands were sold to settlers; town lots were in demand, buildings were erected and population rapidly increased; all demanding an increase of manufactured products. So the doctor improved his cornmill by the addition of machinery to grind wheat and, at a point where the highway crossed the Christiana on Cassopolis Street, he built an oilmill, a woolen factory and public carding machines and, at the foot of Main Street, established another rope ferry across the St. Joseph River.(Weaver, History of Elkhart County, 1916) In the May session of 1832, a license was granted Havilla Beardsley to establish a ferry on the St. Joseph river at the mouth of the Elkhart river, in consideration of a payment o $4 per annum, and that the boat used as a very-boat should be 40 feet log by 9 broad. The following charges were also arranged: Each wagon with six horses or oxen………………….75 Each wagon with four horses or oxen………………...62 1/2 Each wagon with three horses or oxen………………..50 Each wagon with two horses or oxen……………...….37 1/2 Each wagon with one horses or oxen………………. ...25 Each horse and rider………………………………......12 1/2 Each footman……………………………………….....06 1/2 Each single loose horse…………………………….….06 1/2 Each head of neat cattle…………………………......…04 Each head of sheep, hog or goat…………………....….01 (Chapman, History of Elkhart County, 1881) But in 1835 all the activities of the town were suddenly paralyzed by Godfrey, a Frenchman of Detroit, who claimed to be the rightful owner of section 5, by right of a deed dated earlier than the doctor’s. Being wards of the Government, Indians could not themselves execute titles, but must apply to the Indian Department a Washington. Godfrey’s deed was issued by the department with Commissioner General Tipton’s approval, but was not approved by the then President Jackson as required by law. Moran had presented the facts of the transaction to the President, begging his non-approval of the sale on the charge of fraud, claiming that Godfrey had induced him to drink excessively and, while drunk, obtain consent to the transfer for the consideration of one old wornout horse and cart valued at $25. Although the doctor had paid a fair price and had a clear title, while Godfrey’s defective one was obtained by fraud and repudiated by Moran as soon as he become sober, yet the case was contested in court by Godfrey for six years so stubbornly that the interest of property holders as well as his own, the doctor effected a compromise by deeding to Godfrey all, or part of all that part of section 5 lying south of the St. Joseph River and east of the Elkhart River. During the time of the litigation the town stood still, no lots were sold, a few demanded the purchase money returned to them, which was done, and all the titles were considered worthless, while many speculated anxiously upon the possibility of recovering damages from the doctor. But the doctor’s zeal never relaxed. He continued building mills and personally attended to the management of his extensive business. He opened up in the heavy timber three miles south of Elkhart, he ministered to the sick, was active in urging the locating and opening of highways and building of needed bridges and in the interest of his suit for title made two trips to Washington and several journeys on horseback to Indianapolis. His principal attorneys were Jesse D. Bright, of central Indiana, and Judge Niles, of Laporte. About the year 1840 Doctor Beardsley canalled the waters of the Christiana across to the bluff of the St. Joseph, obtained a fall of twenty-six feet; here he built a flouring mill which, until 1904, did a large and constant business, and about the year 1846 built a paper mill, using power drawn from the came canal. With the exception of one a Peru, Indiana, this was the first one built in the state. In 1850 he was active in securing the location of the Michigan Southern Railway Company, and, being a director in that company, his influence and liberal donation to the company of land secured for Elkhart the location of the company’s machine shops, which have added largely in the development of the town. From the fact that he prospered in all his various enterprises it will be seen that he was a man of ability, energy and sagacity; his energy was such that during the sickly seasons he rode day and night on horseback, sleeping as he rode, attending upon the sick, covering a distance of fifteen or more miles in each direction. His ability as a physician and surgeon was recognized as the best in the country; and yet with all these duties he served the county one term as associate judge and was talked of as a candidate for governor on the whig ticket. He was broad, liberal and conservative in opinion, benevolent in spirit, whig in politics, and Swedenborgian in religion, and as founder of the City of Elkhart is held in the highest respect by its citizens. At Greenfield, Ohio, in 1823, Doctor Beardsley married Rachel E. Calhoun, first cousin to the statesman, John C. Calhoun, which proved a union of the most perfect harmony of mind and spirit. She sympathized with him in his enterprises and willingly shared in the hardships attending those who are in the van of civilization. Their son, J. R. Beardsley, gave Island Park to Elkhart; two sons, Charles and J. R. Beardsley, and a son-in-law, B. L. Davenport, server two sessions each as state senators, and Richard Beardsley, the youngest son, became distinguished in public life. He served in the United States army as paymaster on the gunboat Owasco during the Rebellion and participated in the capture of New Orleans and the siege of Vicksburg, and for bravely was recommended for promotion by Commodore Porter, was appointed by President Lincoln United States Consul to Jerusalem and subsequently was promoted to consul general for the United States at Cairo, Egypt. Secretary Seward, in his book of travel around the world, says he found Mr. Beardsley one of the brightest diplomats in the service. He ied a Cairo in January, 1876, and by request of the people of that city was buried there and in evidence of their esteem they erected a fine monument to his memory. Doctor Beardsley died in 1856 at Elkhart, his wife surviving him until 1890. (Weaver, History of Elkhart County 1916) |
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| To Pierre Moran: The treaty of Aug. 29, 1821, under which the petitioner,
Pierre Moran or Parish, a Pottawatomie chief, holds the section of land
referred to in the above petition, provided that the tracts of land
stipulated to be granted by said treaty shall never be leased or conveyed
by the grantees or their heirs to any person whatever without the
permission of the President of the United States. It appearing to be
proper in the opinion of Gov. Cass that the permission claimed should be
granted. I, therefore, respectfully recommend that the petition be
submitted to the President of the United States for the purpose of
procuring his sanction to the application. Department of War, office Indian affairs. Approved 27th November, 1826, I. B. |
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| Thomas J. McKenny | ||
| The return documents were received, conference with Godfrey sought, and the
petition at once made and sent to the President. This important document took this form: |
| To John Quincy Adams, President of the United States of America: The petition
of Pierre Moran, or Peerish, a Pottawatomie chief, hereby, sheweth, that
by an article in the treaty of Chicago the 25th day of March, A. D. 1821;
there was granted to your petitioner one section of land and to his
children two sections of land at the mouth of the Elkhart river; that your
petitioner is considerably indebted to several persons and is desirous of
making and also of making some permanent improvements on the lands granted
his children, but has no other means at present of so doing but by sale of
the said section of land belonging to him. Your petitioner therefore prays
that the President will be pleased to grant him permission to sell and
convey his said section of land so granted to him by the said treaty of
Chicago, to enable him to carry into effect his wishes as above stated, as
in duty bound will ever pray. Detroit, May 31, 1826 |
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| Pierre Moran. |
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| Witness, A. G. Whitney |
| The President signified his assent in the following laconic sentence, and Moran
was free to dispose of the Eden which was the home of his band and the cradle of his younger days. |
| The request of the petitioner, Pierre Moran, is granted. 28th November, 1826. J. Q. Adams. |
| The deed of conveyance followed closed upon the receipt of President Adams’ approbation;
so that in February, 1929, Godfrey was the nominal owner of ancient Elkhart. The deed ran as follows: |
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| Know all men by these presents, that I , Pierre Morain, or Perish, a Pottawattamie chief as named in the treaty of Chicago, concluded by Lewis Cass and Solomon Sibley, Commissioners on the part of the United States and the Ottawa, Chippewa and Pottawatomie nations, dated a Chicago in the State of Illinois on the twenty-ninth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, and that by an article of said treaty ratified the 25th day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two, there was granted to me a section of land at the mouth of the Elkhart river, with a stipulation that it should not be sold or leased without the consent of the President of the United States. Therefore, in consequence of his permission annexed to my petition herewith, and in consideration of the sum of three hundred dollars to me in hand paid by Richard Godfrey, of the county of Wayne, in the Territory of Michigan, the receipt of which I acknowledge, have granted, bargained, sold, and released, and by these presents do grant, bargain and release unto the said Richard Godfrey, the section of land as above described, together with all and singular the rights, members, hereditaments, and appurtenances to the said premises belonging or in anywise incident or appertaining, to have and to hold, all and singular, the premises before mentioned unto the said Richard Godfrey, his heirs and assigns for ever. And I do hereby bind myself, my heirs, executors and administrators to warrant and defend for ever, all and singular, the said premises unto the said Richard Godfrey, his heirs and assigns forever. I do hereby bind myself, my heirs and assigns against every person whatsoever, lawfully claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof. Witness my hand and seal this 2d day of February, in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven (1827). | |
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| Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of |
| John Paxton | |||
| Jas. M. McCloskey, | |||
| his | |||
| Pierre X Moran | |||
| Mark |
Whether Godfrey fulfilled his part of the contract has never been satisfactorily proven.
Again, the fact of Dr. Beardsley’s good faith in carrying out to the letter the part allotted
him in the deed of April, 1831, cannot be doubted, nor was the approbation of President Jackson
given without an assurance that reciprocity, in good faith, existed between the aboriginal owner
and the white purchaser. As has been stated, this dual acquisition of Indiana lands created much
trouble in the little settlement of olden times; and the prolongation of the dispute aided, most
effectually, in retarding the development of the village. The courts could scarcely ever settle
the conflicting interests and opinions which existed, so that the only course left for adjusting
the difficulty was arbitration or compromise. Dr. Beardsley suggested the latter, and having
obtained the acquiescence of his opponent bestowed upon him a valuable section of land east of
the Elkhart river. Previously the Doctor was so conscientious as to caution all who desired to
purchase lots or erect buildings against investing; because, as he said, the proprietorship of
certain portions of the property which he claimed rested on the strange antics of the law, and
actually left him in a state of uncertainty. From the moment a comprise was effected the star of
Elkhart’s prosperity began to ascend, and by degrees continued its upward movement, until, in
1870-’71, the village cast off swaddling clothes of its infancy, and rushed onward to commercial
greatness within a few years.| The Original Plat. President Jackson’s letter, approving Dr. Havilah Beardsley’s
purchase from the Indiana chief Moran, arrived early in 1832, and prior to the lapse of a few months,
the new proprietor was in possession of the favored tract. Without delay he employed Surveyor Crawford
to lay out a village, and he, with commendable industry, completed the work entrusted to him and
furnished Dr. Beardsley with his plat and description, which were duly recorded in April, 1832. The
following is a copy of this document taken from the old records of J. W. Violett’s time: |
State of Indiana Elkhart County Town, Elkhart |
| Original plat |
| Beginning at the N. W. corner of lot No. 1, where there
is a cedar post planted two feet in the ground in section No. 5, T. 37 N.,
R. 5 E. 2d principal meridian; first, Main street, 82½ feet wide, bears N.,
20 degrees west. Second street, 66 feet wide and running parallel.
Washington street, 82½ feet wide, bears S., 70 degrees west, and at right
angles with Main and Second streets. |
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| Jefferson, Jackson and Pigeon streets running
parallel to Washington street. Lots numbered in numerical order,
1, 2, 3, 4, etc., throughout the plat. |
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| All regular lots are 82½ feet in front and 165 feet back.
All singular lots have their length given in feet on the lines and also the
bearings. Eight lots in a block, and each block cut at right angles through
the center, with alleys 16½ feet wide running parallel to the streets. H. Beardsley, Proprietor. |
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| Recorded by John W. Violett, April 30, 1832 |
| A copy of the original plat of George Crawford was made in March, 1875, y County Surveyor
Henry Cook, and duly recorded under oath, as a Fac Simile of the old map. It shows an
aggregate of 48 lots, and gives prominence to a very precise description.
(Chapman, History of Elkhart County 1881) |
| First Residents and Buildings. Upon the original plat of the town, Horace Root erected the first
building, a dwelling, and the second one was built by Samuel P. Beebe, at the northwest corner of Main
and Jackson streets. Across the street from the present site of the Hotel Bucklen (southeast corner of
Main and Jackson), Mr. Beebe erected a store building and within the old village limits, although a
store had been opened prior to that time on the north bank of the St. Joseph |
by Renssalaer Harris. Familiar to the present
generation are the names of the early merchants, as their
descendants still live in our midst. Among them were Elijah
Beardsley, N. F. Broderick, John Davenport, J. S. and A.
Defrees and George Crawford. Later on Stephen Downing
conducted a tavern on the Beebe site. The Beebe home was a
very hospitable place and Mrs. Beebe was noted for miles
around for being a great entertainer. It was she that made
the first wedding garments and also the first funeral robe
used in the village. Dr. Havilah Beardsley was the first
physician in the town, he having commenced practice when he
moved out from Ohio in 1830. Dr. Kenyon followed in 1834.
Dr. E. W. H. Ellis, a young physician followed shortly
afterwards. He stated years ago that when he first came to
Elkhart the country was infested with disease and that he
had known eleven persons to be sick in one room fifteen feet
square. (Weaver, History of Elkhart County 1916) |
| First Impressions of the Village. An early pioneer visiting Elkhart in April, 1838, game the following
impression of the village: |
| The only manufactory was a small flouring mill, with perhaps a saw mill
on Christiana creek, near the mouth. The principal citizens were
Doctor Beardsley, his nephew, Elijah Beardsley, George Crawford,
Samuel P. Beebe, N. F. Broderick, Col. Downing, John Davenport,
Hiram Morgan, James Defrees, Dr. P. S. Kenyon, Lorenzo Scoville,
Dr. Wm. R. Ellis and Henry Crampton. The only hotel was kept by Col.
Downing (who died that year), on the present site of the Bucklen (Hotel).
He was a good man; but from the hungry look of the eagle on his sign,
was dubbed by Judge Beebe as ‘Col. Buzzard.’ The Judge resided on the
corner, northwest from the hotel, a very humble frame dwelling embowered
in a shady grove, while a rough pole fence surrounded his lot. Morgan
and Defrees kept the red store, and Davenport and Broderick had a store
farther south. Elijah Beardsley dispensed justice to the people, as did
our venerable friend N. F. Broderick. The constables were Hiram Morgan
and Joseph Dome. Gen. Mitchell was engaged as chief engineer in the
survey of the Northern canal, and completed his labor about that period.
George Crawford was serving his county in the State Senate, and was
interested in one of the mercantile establishments. Real estate was at
a low ebb; lots ranging from $50 to $300. The southern and eastern portions of the town were covered with a thrifty forest, worth probably $15 an acre. The town had been christened “Pulaski,” and its postoffice still bore that name. There was no church in the place; but occasional meetings were held by the Methodists and United Brethren in the school house. Sabbath school was an unknown institution. There was no regular whisky shop in the town; but the merchants dispensed the needful by the quart when required for medicinal or other purposes; but drunkenness had no existence in the community. During this year several new families arrived. Among them were the Shuely and Irwin families, Robert Sanford and the McKelveys. Judge Beebe was the character of the place. He had seen this beautiful spot as early as the year 1827 but did not locate ere until after the town had been started. He was a man of intelligence and at that time had just been elected probate judge by three votes. He was a free thinker in religion and a practical joker. |
| At a little log cabin schoolhouse, situated on the banks of the Elkhart River, N. F. Broderick wielded the
birch and taught the young Elkhartians the three “R.” He was the first schoolmaster
in the village. In 1837 the second school building was erected on Second Street. The
renowned “Tammany Hall” was built in 1836 and for many tears all classes of entertainment
were given, from the temperance lecture to the amateur theatricals and occasionally
some strolling player would excite the wonder of the inhabitants by his performance.
This hall stood at the corner of Main and Jefferson streets. Mrs. Beebe opened a
Sabbath school at her home and also gave instructions in English to the older boys
and girls. Between 1837 and 1840 Doctor Beardsley commended the building of several
mills. He erected a cornmill and a woolen and oil mill on the banks of the Elkhart.
A little later when boats commenced to ascend the St. Joseph, warehouses were built
along the Elkhart and there trading in farm produce and merchandise was conducted. |
 |
| Dam and Hydraulics. Elkhart’s commanding position in the industrial world has been due in large degree
to its situation on the banks of two large streams and the possibilities of immense
water-power development consequent thereto. Nine of the progressive business men of
Elkhart were responsible for the proper development of the immense water power of the
St. Joseph rive that for years had lain dormant. It was this movement that proved a
strong foundation for the upbuilding of the city and added materially to its present
greatness. After the hydraulics were constructed a demand was at once created for the
cheap water power and factories began to seek Elkhart. Two years were required in the
construction of the dam and the various races. The building was done during the years
1867 and 1868 and was under the direct supervision of Silas Decamp. Nearly $100,000
was expended by the company in the harnessing of this great power. |
As early as 1832 a dam was constructed across the Elkhart river. Abner Simonton, a brother of D. S. Simonton,
was the builder of this first damn. A lock was also built at one side for the
accommodation of the boats that then went up as far as Goshen. Several times
within the succeeding years various dams were washed away by the spring floods
and it was not until 1875 that a permanent dam was constructed. Mr. Clark Lane
had lived near water power all of his life and when he gazed upon the Elkhart
winding around the bottoms to the south of Jackson street, he knew that a large
tract of land could be reclaimed and at the same time the water power strengthened.
Accordingly, he purchased the land and cut off 1,800 feet of winding river by
channel only 180 feet in length. A dam of stone and cement was then constructed
near the site of the Indiana Buggy Co.’ plant and all of the bottom land reclaimed
by the building of dykes. |
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From Town to City. Elkhart remained a town for seventeen years. In this period the population, the manufacturing and commercial
interests and the territorial area had expanded rapidly, and the old-fashioned form
of government was felt to be an incubus to the continued prosperity of the town.
Therefore, on April 28, 1875, the issue of city or town government was placed before
the citizens. That the lines between the conservative and liberal element were closely
drawn and that the wisdom of incorporation as a city was by no means universally
acknowledged, may be inferred from the vote, which stood 575 for incorporation and 561
for continuance of the town system. By the small majority of fourteen ballots, therefore,
the first election of municipal officers was ordered. (Deahl, History of Elkhart County 1905) |
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County had been organized a decade before the last of the Pottawattamies were cleared from the valley of the St. Joseph.
Before it received a name and a body politic, for several years, while settlers of
every nationality, and in considerable numbers, had been occupying the lands. A few
of the best known are noted. At the conclusion of the War of 1812 the Carey Mission of Protestants at Niles, Michigan, took a hand in converting the Pottawattamies to Christianity, the labors of its missionaries covering a broad extent of country and especially spreading up the valley of the St. Joseph. There were two main Indian trails which, for years, were used both by red and white men in that region, whether bent on errands of peace or war. The best known in Elkhart County was that from Fort Wayne to St. Joseph, which ran across the bottom lands of the Elkhart River, skirting the eastern edge of the prairie and passing through the present site of Goshen. This was also the pioneer mail route, and it was not many years ago when not a few settlers could remember the Indian con fields which skirted Elkhart Prairie. Notwithstanding some raised their own crops, many preferred to beg corn and squashes from the settlers and give venison in return. The old French trader, Rosseau, was the connecting link between the old and the new dispensations, appearing on Elkhart Prairie to the southeast of what is now Goshen in 1815. The war with England had been concluded, France was no longer a power in the new world, and here was Rosseau, a friend to both whites and reds, a master in the art of barter and trade, the first of his race to make a home within the bounds of the county, and yet who lived therein long enough to see the end of the Pottawattamies in that region and its permanent occupancy by the energetic and forehanded white pioneer of the east. Joseph Noffsinger “Squats” Another early character was Joseph Noffsinger, the hermit squatter, who is said to have made his home at the junction of the Christiana and St. Joseph streams—now in the City of Elkhart—as early as 1821, but as soon as permanent settlement began to be made in that vicinity, about 1828, he withdrew. Very little is known of him, as he seems to have avoided all social commingling either with the red men of the settlers. Isaac McCoy Names Christiana Creek. The Carey Mission, on the banks of the St. Joseph, near the present Niles, Michigan, was a social and religious center during the ‘20s whence emanated various colonizing streams into the various sections of the surrounding country. Isaac McCoy, a minister of the Baptist Church, and one of the founders and principal workers of this mission, came from the East on his way to this mission, and in the spring of 1824 crossed the St. Joseph at its junction with the Elkhart. To the flowing down from the north into the larger river he gave the name of his wife, Christiana, which as the present name of the little creek remains as a memorial of that devoted pioneer missionary and his followers. Matthew Boyd, Pioneer of Elkhart Prairie. Matthew Boyd was one of the first, if not the first settler on Elkhart Prairie, and n 1828 he completed the erection of a log house at Elkhart crossing. In the early days Boyd ran a ferry across the Elkhart River at Benton. He was a red-headed Irishman and very droll, and his characteristics made him a well known personage in the neighborhood. In the summer when the water was low he was in the habit of going a little way down the stream and felling a number of trees across the river, thereby causing a dam and the consequent raising of the water so that toll could be demanded from the unsuspecting traveler for the use of Boyd’s ferry. Simpson and Riggs. Another comer in 1827 was William Simpson, who took up his abode near Boyd, and Elias Riggs made his home on the edge of the Prairie somewhere near these two and in the same year. The Rush Twins, First Natives. In the southwest corner of Pleasant Plain, near the present City of Elkhart, there settled in the fall of 1827 Jesse Rush. On May 16, 1828, Mrs. Rush bore twin children, a son and a daughter, and it is claimed that these were the first white children born in Elkhart County. Isaiah Rush, the son, was for many years a familiar figure on the streets of Elkhart. There is a least one other claimant for the honor of being the first born in this county, and that is John H. Violett, who was born near Goshen, but not until November, 1829. If the dates are correct as given, there can be no question as to the proper priority. Elias Carpenter settled upon Elkhart Prairie in 1829, and the next year moved into a log house located on the hill overlooking Rock Run, and within a hundred yards of the Noble Manufacturing Company’s plant in Goshen. |
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Early Roads from the Wabash Valley. Before the advent of steamboat navigation to Elkhart in the early ‘40’s,
the southern and central portions of the county, represented by Goshen, were being
absorbed into the system of highways which were being extended from Fort Wayne and
Logansport, of the valley of the Wabash. The establishment of county roads was among the first acts of record of the Board of Justices, under date of November 7, 1831, is found a report rendered on a state road running from Logansport, via Turkey Creek and Elkhart prairies, to the northern line of the state in the direction of Pigeon Prairie. Then in the March session of 1832 the “River Road” was reported on, this extending from the western line of the county, mainly following the course of the St. Joseph River on the south side, to Pigeon Prairie. Also and item in the record of the session in May, 1832, ordering that all public roads be laid out in the various districts, shows the progress that communication was making at that early date. The well known Fort Wayne road was the third to be reported on, the report being made under date of May 31, 1832. This extended from Fort Wayne, via Goshen, to South Bend. Road No. 4, ordered opened at the September session of 1832, was from the west line of the county on the north side of the St. Joseph, as far as Christiana Creek, and thence in a northerly direction to the state line. From this time on the commissioners’ records are filled with reports of proposed roads in various parts of the county, and many roads were surveyed and opened up for traffic within a few years. It soon became evident to the county fathers that the highways were not sufficiently wide, and therefore at the November session of 1836 it was ordered that all county roads should be made forty feet wide, whereas they had been thirty or thirty-three in width. The Fort Wayne-Niles Mail Route. With the establishment of these roads between the valleys of the Wabash and the St. Joseph, or really the Ohio Valley and the region of the Great Lakes, the mails and passengers commenced to circulate, and Elkhart County at length felt that she was part and parcel of the great outside world. Joseph H. Defrees tells about the Fort Wayne-Niles mail route, the first to benefit Elkhart County: |
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| “In the spring of 1831, I think it was, a mail route was
established between Fort Wayne and Niles, the mail to be carried over
it once if four weeks. In the fall of the same year the postoffice
increased the speed (?) from once in four weeks to that of once in
two weeks. Many of you, no doubt, well remember how elated you felt
when you heard the sound of the old tin horn, blown by ‘Old Hall,’ as
he came wending his way through the grove east of the village (Goshen)
with his tantrum sorrels, himself astride of one, and the mail bags,
containing news from the ‘settlements,’ on the other, with a ‘string’
fastened to the bits of the leader in order to guide him in the right
path. The old horn with its music discoursed sweeter strains to its
hearers than did ever Hall and Arnold’s in their palmist days.” |
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Think of it! One mail in four weeks,
or in two weeks. Now, radiating in all directions through the country, approaching
within convenient distance of every home in the county, are the rural mail routes,
delivering packages, letters and the metropolitan dailies once a day, and with
greater regularity and punctuality than was the case in the larger towns less than
half a century ago. The postal service in the year 1837 at Goshen is indicated by the following items in the Goshen Express: |
| “Mail arrival and departure: Western mail arrives from
Niles via South Bend every Sunday and Wednesday evening; departs
every Tuesday and Saturday morning. Eastern mail via Fort Wayne
arrives every Monday and Friday evening; depart Monday and Thursday
morning. Southern mail, via Leesburg, arrives every Thursday at
12 o’clock; departs every Thursday at 1 o’clock p. m.” |
|
And the same paper, on September 16, 1837, calls attention to a project for carrying the
mail from Fort Wayne to Niles, Michigan, in four-horse coaches, and praises the
proposition as “a grand undertaking,” whereby this beautiful county would be
opened up to immigrants, who naturally followed the easiest lines of access to
new countries. “The mail from Fort Wayne to Niles,” says the editor, “is now
carried through on a house.” In a fair consideration of the means of communication which the county has employed, the stage coach must be included—the old “twice-a-week” stage coach. It was a slow mode of travel, but the passengers had a good time. The rate of speed in pleasant weather and with favorable roads was perhaps seven of eight miles on hour and the average cost was perhaps 5 cents a mile. Era of Arks and Flat Boats. The era of the arks and the flat boats covered the period from about 1830 to 1844, when their supremacy on the upper reaches of St. Joseph River was disputed by the Steamboats. The important towns along the stream were Three Rivers and Mendon, St. Joseph County, Michigan; Bristol and Elkhart, the county; Mishawaka and South Bend, St. Joseph County, Indiana, and Niles and Berrien Springs, Berrien County, Michigan. From the point of the island at the mouth of the Elkhart River to St. Joseph, Michigan, by way of the tortuous stream, it is ninety-six miles. The trip consumed from several days to a week, depending on whether you were going up or down stream, and whether you were on a keel boat, or the much more cumbersome ark, which resembled a scow or large raft. The Keel Boats. The keel boats averaged 75 feet in length and 12 feet in beam, with gunwales some 26 inches in height. They would carry from 300 to 500 barrels. The boats were rowed down the river with eighteen feet oars, eight to a boat. On the return trip, against the current, it was necessary to pole the boat, a crew of men being used in shifts. Each boat was rigged with a windlass and by fastening a rope to a tree the crew were enabled to get it over the riffles that were found in many places along the St. Joseph. Big Arks coupled. The great arks carried about 600 barrels of flour, or perhaps their equivalent in pork and produce. They were made of two pieces of timber, 50 feet long, hewn to a size 6 by 8 inches, then two sticks 16 feet long were hewn the same way, and the four framed together. Sleepers were put in lengthwise, sixteen foot planks spiked on the crosswise and the cracks carefully calked. Studding was fastened to the gunwales. Two of the arks were fastened together and each section called a crib. Down to the mouth of the St. Joseph the coupled arks were floated, unloaded, taken to pieces and the timber sold to the captains of the lower lake vessels. Then the tired crews would make the return journey on foot through the forest. 
Elkhart as a River Town. In the palmy
days of the river trade, even before the coming of the
steamboats, Elkhart was a busy commercial center, the
space between Washington Street and the confluence of
the two rivers was set apart for warehouses and wharves.
John W. Ellis, D. S. Simonton, and J. R. Beardsley were
all interested in the boat trade, but did not have any
part in the handling of the boats. The last named
gentlemen frequently shipped as supercargoes and attended
to the shipping of the goods upon the lake-going vessels.
Three large warehouses stood near the Chamberlain property
on Washington Street, besides several flour sheds. At the
foot of Pigeon Street (now Lexington Street) stood the old
Simonton warehouse, and in the vicinity of the Franklin
Street Bridge two distilleries had been built. Wheat, pork
and high wines were shipped to Buffalo and Cleveland from
these warehouses, while from the old Beardsley mill, Which
Stood on the north bank of the St. Joe, thousands of barrels
of flour were sent to the cities of the Great Lakes.The Procters as Bridge Builders. While river navigation was active the dams and bridges thrown across the St. Joseph and Elkhart rivers were always fertile sources of contention and trouble. John and William Procter, father and son, who settled on a farm six miles north of Elkhart in 1834 and 1835, respectively, were active builders. William Procter, who died only a few years ago, had many interesting stories to tell of the early period of navigation on the streams. He was authority for the statement that the first dam in the St. Joseph Valley of Northern Indiana, and in the construction of which he assisted as a boy was thrown across the river at Mishawaka about 1830. Every spring a new dam had to be constructed, as the ice would carry the old one out when the spring freshets came. Boats were running on the river during this period, but only arks and keel boats were seen at Elkhart until in the early ‘40’s. Mr. Procter’s father constructed the first wooden bridge across the St. Joe at that point. The bridge was in the same location as the present Main Street Bridge; that is, the southern end stood at the same point, but the northern end extended about seventy-five feet farther east, so that it was at right angles with the current. Ice breakers were constructed on the east side in order to break up ice packs as they came sweeping down the river, and prevented the combined forced from carrying away the structure. It was the intention of the authorities to make this a covered bridge in time, but it was never done, and the course of fifteen years the timber rotted away and one span was carried down with the current. As a boy, Mr. Procter assisted his father to build the first bridge, and he had a hand in the construction of the second one that was built. A factional war was precipitated when it came to deciding on the location of Main Street, believing that their thoroughfare would soon be the leading business street of the future city, insisted that the bridge should cross the river at the foot of their street. At last a compromise was effected and the bridge was built from the alley between the two streets.
Against the ice breakers of the first bridge the old swan,
a well known keel boat, was wrecked and the cargo of flour lost in the swift waters. It
was during the later part of the ‘30’s that the first dam on the Elkhart River was
constructed, but the water power was not used to any extent until later. Mr. Procter
worked on the river in 1842-3 and became familiar with boating. He says that steamboats
ran up as far as Bristol as early as 1842, but that the commerce was irregular until
about 1845.From one of the county papers, it is evident, from the following extract, that the trade by way of the St. Joseph, had reached large proportions by 1842: |
| “We learn that on this day a large number of arks laden with
2,200 barrels of flour and nearly 1,000 barrels of pork and
highwines passed through the locks of Mishawaka destined for
the eastern market. A large proportion of this was from
Elkhart county.” |
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Goshen People Rebel at Obstructions. But conditions along the Elkhart River and at Goshen were not
as favorable as along the St. Joseph and at Elkhart. Illustration taken from a local newspaper of 1842: |
| “The Elkhart river from Hawk’s mill, three miles above Goshen to the mouth, might easily be rendered navigable for arks and keel boats. A large number of arks have already left Waterford and Goshen laden with flour, highwines and pork; but great difficulty and damage have been experienced in passing the dams and bridges on the route, and boats have frequently been sunk in the attempt. On Thursday last several of the merchants of Goshen, interested in the navigation of the river, assembled at Kellogg’s dam and proceeded to tear up the new bridge against which several boats had stuck. They were unmolested in the work and desisted only when they had made a free passage for the boats. We understand it is their determination to remove all obstructions, such as mill dams and bridges, peaceable if they can, forcibly if they must; if the grand jury and Circuit Court cannot effect it for them. The next threat is against DeCamps dam: and if the law is not complied with, by the construction of suitable locks, it is certainly as proper for a boatman to tear down a dam as for a traveler to let down a fence built across the highway.” |
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So we see that dams across the river were even more often objects of resentment in those days
than at present. Advent to Elkhart of the River Steamboats. For four of five years after the advent of the first steamer to the trade of the St. Joseph, Elkhart and the northern portion of the county enjoyed an increased boom in prosperity; but the fate of even that improved form transportation was forestalled by the oncoming railroad. The new followed the old so promptly that one might paraphrase the old-world shout of the populace with “The Steamboat is dead! Long live the Railroad!” The appearance of the first steamboat at the mouth of the Elkhart, with the exit of the river traffic and the introduction of the railroad to the good people of the city, is thus told by the Truth: “It was a beautiful Sunday morning in the spring of 1844 that the first steamboat came puffing up the river. For days this event had been awaited by the inhabitants of the little village and most of them were down to the bridge to witness the advent. A group of boys playing on he commons were startled when the sonorous whistle sounded, the cattle pricked up their ears and scudded away, as the apparition came in view around the bend of the river. I n that crowd of boys was Major James D. Braden and James Smith. Puffing and wheezing the boat came slowly on, but when the low wooden bridge at Main street was eached, a halt had to be made as the smoke stack could not go under the bridge. A consultation of war was held and the next morning the timbers in the middle span were removed and the boat moved through and up to the warehouses. Later the stacks were made with hinges so they could be dropped at the cry of ‘Low Bridge.’ |
| “These river steamers were built somewhat on the plan of the lumber
carriers on the lakes. They were clear amidships and low,
and the engine room was in the stern. Paddle wheels were
built on either side, on some boats they were covered and
on others exposed. A few of the larger boats could not come
this far up the river. The steamers, and keel boats also,
only drew about eighteen inches of water when loaded. The
Matilda Barney was one of the first steamers to push her
nose up the river to this port, although it is probable
that the Indiana was the boat that arrived on that eventful
Sunday morning. Pioneers will remember the Pocahontas, John
Stryker, South Bend, Michigan, Gem, Ruby, Niles and many
others of the river craft. These steamers would tow from
three to four keel boats and the running of the riffles was
accomplished by the means of windlasses with which every
boat was provided. With fair luck the trip down the river
could be made in three days and from four to five days
consumed on the up trip. Mr. Davis says that the most
exciting trip he ever made down the river was early in
April of 1848. A man at Three Rivers had built an ‘Ark’
eighty feet long and was carrying a colony of young men
and women to the supplement at New Buffalo. They had
succeeded in reaching Elkhart and the ‘Ark’ grounded on a
sand bar. Mr. Davis was called to pilot them to St. Joe.
The current was running swift and four days sere consumed
in reaching the mouth of the river. Many narrow escapes from
sand bars and riffles occurred during that voyage. “The advent of the railroad sealed the doom of the river traffic and it passed away, never to return. In 1848-9 the Michigan Central reached Niles, and the road purchased a large number of the keel boats and hauled them up on the banks to rot away. Mr. Davis hauled the first rails to be used in the construction of the present Lake Shore road from St. Joe by boat. They were known as the English ‘T’ rail and were eighteen feet in length. When the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana R. R. came in 1851, the day of the steamboat was ended for Elkhart. Many of the old steamers were sold for the Wisconsin river trade and the old Indiana was taken to Chicago, where it was utilized as a river tug; in fact, it was the first tug to be used on the Chicago river.” |
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First Train Into Elkhart Village. As told by the Elkhart Truth: |
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| About four o’clock on a Friday afternoon early in the month of October,
1851, a wood burning engine, hauling a train of flat cars
and a caboose rolled over the wooden bridge over the Elkhart
river and puffed along to the foot of Main street, which was
then in the forest south of the village proper. For weeks this
event had been the topic or conversation among the inhabitants
of the little hamlet and the night previous to the advent of
the “Iron Horse” had been an anxious one. Many people waited
all night long in order to be on hand to welcome the incoming
train. Captain Chamberlain says that he was one of a party of
boys, who, escaping from the confines of the school room,
presided over by C. G. Conn, had gone in swimming while awaiting
the coming of the train. It had been heralded abroad that the
road would run a free excursion to White Pigeon on the following
Sunday and people came for miles around to participate in the
wonderful event. With an old time passenger coach, a box car
and a number of flat cars arranged with planks for seats and
crowded with passengers, the train started. One accident
occurred to mar the occasion. Calvin Dome, one of the boys of
the village, was seated on top of the box car and by a sudden
stopping of the train, he was thrown under the wheels. The
injured boy was taken on to White Pigeon and brought back to
Elkhart with the excusionists. Dr. Chamberlain of Elkhart and
Dr. Elliott of White Pigeon attended the injured boy, but he
could not survive the shock of his injuries and died the
following day. Silas Baldwin was the first local railroad
agent in the village. (The Elkhart Truth) |
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| Synopsis of Progress in the county (1916). The progressive
spirits of thee county soon realized that if the town advanced
it must secure other means of transportation than the ox team
and the ark, and the village had not passed its first decade
before attempts, that proved futile, were made to connect the
town with its neighbors by the means of strap rails. With this
end in view the Buffalo and Mississippi Railroad Company was
organized to run from Toledo to Chicago, passing through Goshen
and connecting all of the county seat towns between the two
points. The incorporators included William L. Latta, James R.
McCord, James H. Barnes, Joseph H. Defrees, Johnson Latta, and
E. W. Ellis of Goshen. On February 21, 1837, the directors of
this company met at South Bend for the purpose of making an
endeavor to produce funds with which to build the proposed road.
In this they failed but the organization was kept alive for many
years. Among the directors were Judge Osborne of LaPorte, Judge
Stanfield and Schuyler Colfax of South Bend, John Davenport and
Joseph Defrees of Elkhart, James H. Barnes, E. W. H. Ellis,
Milton Mercer and Dr. M. M. Latta, of Goshen. In 1849 a rival company appeared in the field. It was known as the Southern Michigan Railroad Company. It ran through the southern tier of counties in Michigan and proposed to dip into Indiana on the way to Chicago. Steps were at once taken to block the charter and Joseph H. Defrees and Michael Daugherty were elected to the Legislature from Elkhart County for the purpose of preventing legislation on this charter. In 1850 J. H. Defrees was elected senator and Milton Mercer representative to continue the contest. It failed in the end, as the corporation was able to enlist the support of the citizens of Elkhart, South Bend and LaPorte and secured a charter. The citizens of Goshen were, however, rewarded by the new company absorbing the old charter of the Buffalo and Mississippi road and agreeing to run a spur from Elkhart to Goshen. The citizens purchased and donated to the corporation the tract of land now occupied be its successor, the Lake Shore Company, and erected a roundhouse for the use of the railroad. In the fall of 1851 the road reached Elkhart from the east, and during 1852 the spur was built to Goshen. The coming of the first train was a great event in the life of the village, the citizens turned out en Masse, bonfires were lighted and a general celebration occurred. The roundhouse was abandoned in 1870. To show that the village was benefited by the advent of the railroad the increase in population is noted. In 1850 the town had 780 inhabitants and 1870, 2,053. This spur led to the extension of the Air Line through to Toledo. After the war Captain Wells, an old railroad man, and Joseph H. Defrees organized a new company for the purpose of pushing a railroad north and south through Goshen. It was known as the Goshen, Warsaw and Wabash Railroad and was put in operation in 1870. The line, as originally planned, would have run through Middlebury to White Pigeon, skirting the southern part of the county and crossing the Baltimore and Ohio and the Wabash railroads. This line is now part of the Big Four system and runs from Benton Harbor, Michigan, to Indianapolis. It was originally known as the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan and was built through the southern part of the county via Goshen and New Paris in 1870. The Wabash road, running east and west, was completed in the winter of 1892-93. As Part of Internal Improvements System. Extracts from the paper which throw light upon the foregoing statement of bare facts: The question which was of the most vital importance to the early settlers of Indiana was the question of transportation. The slow and expensive modes of travel made the development of the resources of the state almost impossible. How fully this was realized can be seen in reading the messages which from time to time the governors submitted to the Legislatures. |
| From many special references to the subject I select only
a few. In 1815 Govern Posey recommended their careful attention to
the improvement of the state roads and highways. In 1818 Governor
Jennings urged the adoption of measures for the construction of
highways and canals and the improvement of the navigation of the
rivers of the state. In 1826 Governor Ray declared the construction
of roads and canals necessary to place the state of Indiana on an
equal financial footing with the older states. And again, in 1829,
he said: “This subject can never grow irksome, since it must be
the source of the blessings of civilized life. To secure its
benefits is a duty enjoined upon the legislature by the obligations
of the social compact.” |
| Up to this time no other means were considered than roads, canals and navigable rivers.
But in 1834 railroads were being built and Governor Noble, in speaking
of these public improvements undertaken by the state, said: “No work
should be commenced but such as would be of acknowledged public
utility, and when completed would form a branch of some general system.”
And he called favorable attention in the same message to the Lawrenceburg
& Indianapolis Railroad, for which a charter had already been granted.
Along the lines thus proposed the state steadily pushed, and the
construction by it of state roads, river improvements, canals and
railroads was undertaken on a vast scale. This was forced upon the
state by the rivalry of the various parts of the state, each of which
demanded its own recognition and none of which was willing to wait.
The result was that very soon the state became so heavily involved in
debt that its credit failed, and by the year 1839 all work was
practically suspended. But as early as 1836 the state was so heavily burdened with the work already begun that no new lines were projected by it. But the vast system already laid out included all parts of the state and none was neglected. Elkhart County received its proper recognition in the construction of state roads, and a canal was promised it. The latter was to run through the county seat, and was located through Goshen where Rock Run now flows, and would have eceived its water supply from the reservoir at Rome City. But with the advent of railroads the canal projects were promptly abandoned. nd when it became apparent that the state would not be able to construct them the people promptly turned to individual enterprise. |
| At this day we are amazed at the exhibition of courage and confidence which this involved.
In our own time even, with the vast accumulation of wealth in the
hands of individuals which is available for profitable investment,
the construction of a railroad is an undertaking which no community
or individual would seriously consider. What then must have been the
faith and courage of our people of that early day of comparative
poverty that they could undertake that which we would not? But our
wonder is greater when we consider that the cost of such enterprises
was then vastly greater than the same would cost now. The estimated
cost of the Madison & Indianapolis Railroads was not less than
twenty-five thousand dollars a mile. And the state actually expended
$1,493,013 on tat road with the result of only twenty-eight miles
in operation and twenty-seven miles more nearly but not quite graded.
A very much larger sum than would be required now to produce the same
results. |
| Buffalo & Mississippi Railroad Company. With infinite courage, charter after charter
was sought from and granted by the Legislature for at that time
there was no general law for the incorporation of such companies.
One of the best conceived and most feasible of these projected
roads was that which the Buffalo & Mississippi Railroad Company
was organized to build. It was to extend from Toledo to Chicago,
passing through Indiana so as to connect all of the county seats
of the northern tier of counties. This much of its purpose was
covered by its charter, and its possibilities were clearly
indicated in its name. On the 21st of February, 1837, the directors,
William L. Latta and James R. McCord of Goshen; Robert Stewart, of
Michigan City, and John Brown, Aaron Staunton, of LaPorte, met at
South Bend and began active work to secure the construction of the
road. To obtain the necessary funds they ordered that stock
subscription books be opened for popular subscriptions on the second
Tuesday of March, following, at designated places in Michigan City,
LaPorte, South Bend, Elkhart, Goshen, Lima and Steuben. It was
evidently the hope of the patriotic projectors of this road that
stock enough would be taken to provide the money for constructing
the road, or at least for making a good beginning. But the result
was disappointing, and nothing of importance came of the effort.
Nevertheless the fact remained that without such a road the country
it was intended to traverse would never be developed, and its future
prosperity depended upon it. With so large an issue at stake ultimate
success was certain. Impressed with this certainty a few of this
little band determined to keep alive their organization, and as their
ranks were depleted new men took their places, and year after year they
met, elected officers and bided their time. Among these men were Judge
Osborne of Laporte, Judge Stanfield and Schuyler Colfax of South Bend,
John Davenport and Joseph H. Defrees of Elkhart, James H. Barnes, E. W. H.
Ellis, Milton Mercer and Dr. M. M. Latta of Goshen. The counties east of
Elkhart do not seem to have shared in this hope and work. In every possible way the friends of the Buffalo & Mississippi endeavored to get their proposed line under construction. In 1846 they even appealed for aid to the General Government through the State Legislature, advancing the argument, among other considerations, that: |
| The completion of the road would afford the General
Government many facilities in time of war with Great
Britain (which even now seems not improbable) for the
transportation of arms, ammunitions of war, troops and
everything necessary for their comfort and convenience,
together with the speedy and expeditious dispatches so
essential to the safety and effective prosecution of
the object of organized armies in a free and independent
government like ours. |
| Lake Shore & Michigan Southern a Reality. Even this eloquent and patriotic appeal
of the State of Indiana in its behalf failed to procure public aid.
But about this time a rival company with better financial backing
appeared and began the construction of a railroad from Toledo to
Chicago through the southern tier of the counties in Michigan. Here
was a great danger impending, for if this company, the Southern
Michigan Railroad Company, succeeded in the construction of its
parallel line connecting its same terminals it would make it impossible
for the projectors of the Buffalo & Mississippi Company ever to secure,
in the face of such competition, the money required for the construction
of their railroad. Affairs having taken this critical turn, the gallant
little band of patriots determined to compel their rival to build their
road. This was to be brought about by preventing the grant to it of a
charter for the construction of this part of its line which must come
into the state at the southern bend of Lake Michigan except upon that
condition. To secure this the county was induced to elect able men to
the Legislature pledged to labor for this result. In 1849 Joseph H.
Defrees and Michael C. Daugherty were elected from Goshen for that
special purpose, and in 1850 Mr. Defrees was elected senator and Milton
Mercer a representative to continue the contest. But the projectors of
the rival company, by coming into this state at the northern part of
the county and making Elkhart, South Bend and LaPorte points on their
line, were able to secure strong local cooperation, and, in spite of
the opposition to Goshen, secure, under the name of Northern Indiana
Railroad Company, the needed charter. But the new company caused it
to be given out that the charter secured by it was in some respects
unsatisfactory, and negotiations were begun for the transfer to it of
the charter and franchises of the Buffalo & Mississippi Company. The
result was an agreement by which, in consideration of such transfer,
the company agreed to extend a spur from Elkhart to Goshen and run at
least one train a day between the towns. Besides this it was also agreed that if the citizens of Goshen would purchase and donate to it the tract of land now owned by its successor, the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company on the east side of Goshen, it would erect and maintain a round house there. The land was donated and the round house erected. In the fall of 1851 the railroad was built into Elkhart, and the year following saw it extended into Goshen as agreed. We, at this day, can scarcely realize the magnitude of this event and the wild enthusiasm of the people over it. The coming of the first train was celebrated by public meetings and bonfires, and the men to whose perseverance it was due were the heroes of the day. Divided Favors. The securing of the round house at Goshen was considered a very important thing, but when the company located its shops in Elkhart the round house was abandoned. This was in 1870. Because of the careless phraseology of the deed to the company, which failed to make the maintenance of the round house a condition of the title, Goshen lost both the round house and the land. But these were mere incidents. The railroad was the great prize and secured for Goshen all that its projectors hoped for. In 1850 its population was but 780, in 1860 it had increased to 2, 053, and its future was assured. The compulsory construction of the road from Elkhart to Goshen le to its extension east to Toledo, and Goshen thus became a point on the main line, and Elkhart, favorably located at the junction of the two branches, became the natural location for the shops of the company, which have contributed more than anything else to the building up of that city. The Baltimore & Ohio Built. Soon after this, in 1873-4, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, having determined to extend its line into Chicago form the East, began to survey its line. The citizens of Goshen promptly endeavored to secure the location of the road through their city, and money was raised to pay the expensed of a preliminary survey of such a line. Mr. Stonex’ first practical railroad work consisted in circulating a subscription paper for that purpose. While Goshen failed in this, the county secured the road and Nappanee has grown from nothing to be a thriving town as the result. About the same time the Chicago & Canada Southern Railroad was projected, and its route was located through the county by way of Millersburg, Benton, New Paris and Wakarusa. Goshen again endeavored to secure it, but the location of the city is too elevated to enable a line to be built at low cost on a low grade through it, and the Canadian Southern was projected as a freight line to be built with a grade so low that it would be impossible to draw trains of 100 loaded cars along it with a single locomotive. This condition barred Goshen out and the line was located, the right way bought, and a considerable part of the road bed graded when work was stopped. It was understood that this was done in the interest of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company to prevent its formidable competition. It now seemed certain that no more railroad building would be done through Goshen unless brought about by the city itself. The only feasible project seemed to be for the construction of a line running through the county from the northeast to the southwest, and a company was promptly organized to construct such a line. The name of the company was Michigan, Indiana & Southern Railroad Company. Its proposed terminals were: Jackson, Michigan and Danville, Illinois. Milton Mercer was one of the most active of its promoters. After some changes this company became the Canada and St. Louis Railroad Company, of which the first directors included Milton Mercer, E. D. Chipman and W. L. Stonex, of Goshen, and Jonathan S. Mather, of Middlebury. In August 1888, the control of this company passed into the hands of J. J. Burns and associates. Goshen and Middlebury voted aid, and the road was completed from Goshen to Battle Creek, Michigan, and put in operation by January, 1889. The company about that time became embarrassed, soon after failed, and passed to the control of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. Only an unavoidable accident prevented the extension to Goshen of the Indiana, Illinois & Iowa Railroad for Know to connect with it by way of Plymouth and extend it as intended from Battle Creek to Bay City. This having occurred, an attempt was made to sell the road, as built, to the Cincinnati, Wabash and Michigan Railroad Company, and every detail of this had been agreed upon. If one day longer had been allowed to pass this would have occurred, but by unexpected and unforeseen move the road went into other hands and at last became the Goshen & Michigan branch of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company (now the New York Central). But Goshen had secured another road, and was connected with Middlebury by it. After having seen the last enterprise well under way the indefatigable Mercer proceeded to organize a company to construct a road between Toledo and Chicago. It was organized as the Toledo & Chicago Air Line Railway Company, and was a Goshen organization. Mr. Mercer was its first president and Mr. Stonex was its first secretary. This project was favorable considered by the public, and it soon received recognition, with the result that it was taken hold of by a party of eastern capitalists who secured control of it and undertook to construct the line. The Lake Shore Company at once antagonized it for the reason that, if constructed, the road would pass between two branches of the company, and being considerable shorter between the same terminals would very materially injure its line. Without going into detail, it is sufficient to know that the opposition of that road prevented the enterprise form being realized. But before the end came Goshen had voted over $60,000 to aid toward the construction of the road on condition that its shops should be located here, and other towns and townships voted about the same amount. The Wabash Road. Notwithstanding the defeat of this enterprise the exploiting of it gave publicity to the value of such a line and the willingness of the people to aid in construction it. Very soon after this the Wabash Railroad Company put engineers in the field and surveyed a line for its system which would give it a short line for Detroit to Chicago, and they followed substantially the line of survey of the Canada Southern Company. The Wabash Company selected this for the very reason which had induced the former company to adopt it, its remarkable low grade. When the line being surveyed the citizens of Goshen had a public meeting and appointed a committee to try to induce the company to abandon the proposed line and come nearer Goshen. This the company endeavored to do, but finally abandoned the attempt. While this was interesting the citizens of Goshen, H. E. Bucklen was quite engaged in the constriction of a railroad from Elkhart to South Bend. This was done in the name of the Elkhart & Western Railway Company. When completed it was by the Lake Shore Company. The Elkhart & Western Road, while not of great length, became and continues to be a very important line for the City of Elkhart. Elkhart as a Railroad Center. Elkhart is on the main line of the New York Central Railroad, and is the terminus of four of its divisions, and has become cone of the most important railroad centers of the system. Its great switch yards, repair shops and round houses are located about a mile west of the city depot and give permanent employment to over 1,000 men. Besides the round house and locomotive shops, the industrial improvements at that point include foundries, rail shops, carpenter shops and a great coal dock. It is estimated that more than half of the employees reside within the city proper. Elkhart is 100 miles east of Chicago and much of the great business at the Lake Shore yards consists of making into trains the cars which come in from the East consigned to points west of the great lake Metropolis. Thereby much confusion is avoided, which would occur I the trains were made up in Chicago. Elkhart’s standing as a railroad town is further enhanced by the fact that it is one of the most important stations in the Big Four System. (Weaver, History of Elkhart County 1916) Railway Facilities, as a Whole. Broadly speaking, the transportation facilities of Elkhart County are now controlled by the railroad system known as the New York Central, the Big Four and The Wabash, and the Chicago, South Bend & Northern Indiana Railway Company and the Winona Interurban Railway Company, the development of which has already been described. The New York Central accommodates fully one-half of the county, although its trunk line which urns diagonally through that territory from southeast to northwest, or vice versa, is paralleled between Elkhart and Goshen by the Big Four road. Millersburg, in the southeastern part of the county, is also on the main line of the New York Central, which throws out spurs on the northeast to Middlebury, Bristol and Vistula. Directly to the south of Goshen are the stations of Waterford and New Paris, on the Big Four. The Wabash, which cuts across the southern part of the county, runs through or near Millersburg, Benton, New Paris, Foraker and Wakarusa, while the Baltimore & Ohio, which clips off the extreme southwest corner, divides Nappanee and virtually mad it what it is. (Weaver, History of Elkhart County 1916) |
| Roundhouse and Shops West of Elkhart |
|
|
The L. S. & M. S. Roundhouse and Shops West of Elkhart.
These shops were erected in 1870, and occupied in March, 1871, are
built of brick, stone and iron, and once, for all
time, barring calamity; and within their walls are
built the delicate Pony, the massive Mogul, and the
Lake Shore Flyer-all from pilot to cab decoration,
excepting the tire for the drivers and a few rods-a
locomotive that, when standing, steamed and ready
for coupling, will excite the admiration of a man,
no matter if he see one every hour in the day, so
graceful, so harmoniously proportioned, and so
Herculean their make up-but we digress, as will any
writer when his pen runs afoul the beautiful. The Main Shop is 600X200 feet, or lacking only a few square feet of covering three acres of ground, all filled with machinery, while the wings contain the Brass Foundry, Cooper Shop, Tin Shop, Carpenter Shop, Boiler Shop, etc., and other accessories demanded by so great a work, the vastness of which must be seen to be fully appreciated. In the Brass Foundry are made all the brass castings for the Chief Engineer's Department, and the locomotives of the L. S. & M. S. Ry., as also all the castings for the locomotive shops of Cleveland, Norwalk and Buffalo Railway. In connection with this great workhouse are various other departments all handling specialties and each a different branch with its head man and assistants who constitute a regiment, two round houses, coal chute, road carpenters department, paint works, etc., etc., besides lesser and subsidiary works all accessory to what are known as the Lake Shore Shops. The two Round Houses have 49 stalls through one is used for a drop table and these command a large force under the supervision of Mr. Edward Elden as Day Foreman and Engine Dispatcher, who is relieved by Mr. S. H. Dunwell who performs the same duty at night, and thus for 365 days in the year these vigils are kept. The Coal Chute erected the past summer cost $75,000 and is the largest of its kind, containing 80 pockets each of which holds 10 tons of coal so that the capacity of the structure is 800 tons. The ostlers who groom and care for the iron houses back these under a pocket and in less time than we are writing this the tender is coaled, and operation that formerly by the ancient method took much time. Mr. S. E. Hart has the superintendency of the chute. At the Round House John State handles the transfer engine or we might say handles the 238 locomotives belonging to and operated on this Division of the Lake Shore Railway. The number of people employed who live here is 1200, in the Round House 80, Locomotive Fire men 325, Engineers 300, In the Main Shop 335, in the Foundry 45, who are all experts and when to these are added Mr. Gravit's Department the reader can get a pretty god idea of the size and importance of these shops which call for a monthly disbursement of cash between $50,000 and $60,000, or between $1,500 and $2,000 for every day in the month, we therefore conclude that almost any town would take notice of the "pay car" and watch for its advent, for when it comes it unloads the ready cash that goes into all the avenues of trade and we might say keep things moving. When to these shops are added the large force continually employed in and about the Station and Freight Office a pretty clear idea will be had of the Lake Shore's importance to our city, a fact every business man recognizes as by right he should. To do justice to these shops and people operating, would exceed our limits through the accompanying picture is a very accurate representation of these elaborate works and was sketched by our own artist on the grounds. The capacity of these shops, surprising as it may seem, is a locomotive every six days if emergencies demand, that is from the castings, an engine may be put under steam ready for business in six days. (Manual of Elkhart 1889) |
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Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railway—A
very important factor in the growth and
prosperity of Elkhart, has been the
Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railway,
which was extended through the city in
1882. This road gives Elkhart direct
connection with all the East and West
Trunk lines, thus furnishing all the
advantages of competition enjoyed by
cities of greater size, and with a
larger number of roads. For Freight or
Passengers the people of Elkhart have
their choice, via C. W. & M., of any
one of eight or ten different lines
for all Eastern or Western points. The Northern terminus of the road
is a Benton Harbor, on Lake Michigan, from whence an elegant line of
Steamers runs to and from Chicago. At this point the road receives a
large lumber traffic from Michigan points. Its Southern terminus is
practically Indianapolis, for, although it is only built to Anderson,
its coaches run into the former place over the “Bee Line” tracks, under
a contract fully as advantageous as having its own line makes connections
with a net-work of roads extending in every direction. The road extends
through the richest part of the Natural Gas Belt, and is reaping a large
increase of traffic from the rapid development of the towns along its line.
The management of this company has always pursued the policy of fostering
the industries along its line, and its sidings extend to nearly every
important manufacturing in Elkhart. The road bed is at all times kept in
first class condition and its Passenger equipment is equal to that on any
first class road. It runs a line of Woodruff combined sleepers and chair
cars, between Indianapolis and Grand Rapids, and expect this season to
build new sleepers of its own. |
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Pulaski, Predecessor of Elkhart. Although Dr. Havilah Beardsley is
given just credit for founding Elkhart, the portion of the city north
of the St. Joseph River embraces the old town of Pulaski, or rather the
little settlement which centered in the post office by that name, and
which lifted itself modestly above Elkhart Prairie two years before the
doctor platted Elkhart. Reference has been made to Joseph Noffsinger,
who squatted on the north shore of the mouth of the Christiana, as early
as 1821, and to the coming of Rev. Isaac McCoy to that locality a few
years afterward. In 1827 Jesse Rush and family settled there permanently
and there it was, on May 16, 1828, that Mrs. Rush added the first native
to the population of the county by bringing forth twins, one of whom,
Isaiah Rush, lived to be a venerable citizen of Elkhart. Chester Sage
also settled in that locality and opened his house to the first session
of the courts and the board of justices after the county was organized.
George Crawford, the surveyor, was also on the ground of what promised to
be the real town of the county, county seat, industrial and trade center, etc.
But this, it is now needless to say, it never was. In 1829 Mr. Crawford, with
John Huntsman, built the first gristmill in the county where Christiana Creek
empties into the St. Joseph. In the same year, the settlement induced the
General Government to establish the post office of Pulaski within about eighty
rods of the gristmill, Mr. Crawford in charge. Thus matters stood on the north
side of the St. Joe when Doctor Beardsley set up his rival town of Elkhart on
the south side of the stream. But Pulaski never was a platted town, and from
all available accounts consisted only of the post office, the gristmill and a
few houses roundabout. (Weaver, History of Elkhart County 1916)
