VILLAGE OF OSSIAN
THE FOUNDERS OF OSSIAN--JOHN
T. GLASS--THE CRAIGS--THE
HAT-
FIELDS--FIRST
TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS--INDUSTRIAL UPS AND
DOWNS--
OSSIAN SCHOOLS IN THE MAKING--THE
TELEPHONE AND THE LOCAL
PRESS--OTHER
PUBLIC UTILITIES--THE FARMERS STATE BANK--
THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH--METHODISM
IN JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP
--BETHEL UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH--CHURCHES
NEAR OSSIAN
--LOCAL LODGES.
In the northeastern part of Wells County, on the line of the Fort
Wayne, Lake Erie & Western Railroad, is the Village of Ossian, the
second community in that political division of Eastern Indiana, in
commercial and trade importance. It probably has somewhat less than
a thousand people, but is, nevertheless, enterprising and influential
as a substantial body of citizens representing the banking, trade,
social, educational and religious center of quite an area of prosperous
and developing country. One of its typical manifestations of firm
standing in the agricultural community of which it is the nucleus is
the large grain elevator owned and managed by Steifel & Levy. Os-
sian has a well managed bank, a good school, and several growing
churches; so that it possesses all the best elements of a desirable resi-
dence town where old, young, middle-aged, and all in the intermediate
stages, may live comfortably and prosper in body, mind and religious
manifestations.As a really reliable community, Ossian dates from 1869, when
the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad was built through
the county, although it was not in complete operation until the fol-
lowing year. But thirty years before that decisive event was brought
to a head, the country around what is now the village commenced
to be settled. The advance agents of these pioneers were Robert and
William Craig, John Davis, John Snyder, James Ferguson and Levi414
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 415
Young, who came to the locality in 1837-38. William Craig soon had
his family from the East with him. At this time and into the early
'40s, the few who had ventured into the locality went to Fort Wayne
for their supplies. Then Levi Young was the only resident upon
the present site of Ossian, and in 1845 he was joined by John T. Glass,
a Wayne County (Ohio) bachelor of twenty-nine, who married into
the Hatfield family within the following year. He was the first mer-[image]
STREET SCENE
chant of the little settlement, and as such, as well as for what he after-
ward accomplished, is entitled to more than passing notice.
When Mr. Glass first came to the neighborhood, it is said that his
only errand was to assist his brother in settling in the new country.
In 1840 each had purchased half a section of land in the neighborhood.
At that time there were no settlers in the immediate vicinity of the
Glass claims. The wild woods were full of game; the pea vines were
very high, and not a domestic animal could be found in the neighbor-
hood. The Hatfield family lived near the south line of what is now
Jefferson Township, and there the strangers were made welcome,
housed and fed. The uninviting prospect was not such as to inspire
the brothers to remain, and they returned to Pennsylvania. Not until
1845 did John T. Glass return to Wells County. Jonathan Eddy,
Amos Schoonover and Mrs. Mary Wallace with their families, had
416 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
moved in, and altogether they comprised all the families in the neigh-
borhood. Mr. Glass had erected a cabin and a milk house on his land.
The cabin was 22 by 18 feet and two stories in height, and was com-
pleted for occupancy, except the floor, at a cost of $16. It was built
by Abram and John Fulton. At that time it was the best cabin in the
neighborhood, having three windows and a good clapboard roof. Mr.
Glass was the first man to purchase stock in the township, beginning
the business soon after he settled there. In 1845 he paid from one-half
to three-quarters of a cent gross for live stock, and the farmers of
whom he bought at that figure allowed him to guess at the weight of
the hogs and cattle, as there were no scales in the neighborhood. Not-
withstanding that advantage, he and his brother put in the first
stock scales in the northern part of the county in 1856. He had a
good retail trade with Fort Wayne butchers, and furnished the
money that paid for the first car of stock ever shipped over the Pitts-
burg & Fort Wayne line from that city. The prices paid for hogs
and sheep from 1845 to 1855 were as follows: The first year for
dressed pork 11/2 cents, purchased from John Studabaker, the Bluff-
ton packer. The few sheep which were in the country averaged about
a dollar per head. Good steers brought $10. A first-class farm horse
brought from $30 to $40. Wheat was worth from 40 to 50 cents, and
corn 16 or 17 cents per bushel.
After spending one summer in the woods and trading successfully,
Mr. Glass concluded that it would improve his circumstances for him
to have a permanent housekeeper. On December 24, 1846, he there-
fore married Miss Margaret Hatfield, and his was the second marriage
ceremony in the township. The young couple commenced house-
keeping in the $16 cabin. The husband was not strong physically
and the giant oaks on the home place were felled by other hands than
his. But he managed his farm and his stock trade wisely, his wife
made his home cheerful and brought children to him to complete the
fireside life, and happiness, comfort and final prosperity were his.
The old cabin was replaced by a large two-story frame mansion, and
fine cattle and other stock crowded his big barns and grazed over his
broad fields. Mr. Glass engaged in the live stock business almost
half a century, and became one of the most extensive purchasers in
Eastern Indiana, buying of almost every farmer in Wells, Adams,
Jay, Allen and Blackford counties.
The opening of the Glass store in 1845 was the sign of coming
growth. A general store, however modest, is always the nucleus for
a settlement; and it certainly was not always convenient to take a
jaunt to Fort Wayne for sugar, coffee, flour, pork, "et ceteras."
Even in the following year, the promise of a future town seemed so
good that William Craig, John Ogden and 'Squire LeFever laid out
Ossian and advertised a sale of lots. Murray and Bluffton, a few miles
south, were already in the running as ambitious villages; but what
mattered that Ossian finally got the better of Murray, as we all know.
The Craigs were thrifty, persistent Scotch people, and were held
in high esteem. As stated, William was part proprietor of the original
town and obtained substantial standing as a farmer, merchant and
citizen. The Craigs made a permanent location in Jefferson Township
July 12, 1838, where the parents remained until death. Mr. Craig
well remembered the first train of cars that ever passed over a line
of railroad in Michigan. The date was July 4, 1838, he being at that
time in his fifteenth year. The train left Detroit and stopped at
Ypsilanti, that being the terminus of what is now the Michigan
Central. The farm upon which the Craig family settled was after-
ward owned by Warren Mills. The father erected the second log
cabin in Jefferson Township in the autumn of 1837. Robert Craig, a
brother of William, came with his wife the same year, and the brothers
entered adjoining tracts. The cabin of Robert being first completed
for occupancy made his the first actual settlement in the township.
He moved with his family to Illinois a few years later. The father
was the first naturalized citizen of Jefferson Township and was one
of the best known men in the county. His death occurred in 1863
and his wife survived him eight years.
William Craig married Margaret, daughter of Robert and Mary
A. (Stout) McConnell, natives of New Jersey, in which state Mrs.
Craig was born October 4, 1827. Their marriage occurred April 11,
1850, at the home of the bride's parents in Jefferson Township. The
young couple began their domestic life on a farm. During his most
active life Mr. Craig was a merchant of Ossian, but subsequently
retired with sufficient means to make him independent.
The first election held in the township was at the house of William
Craig. Samuel Saul Weston was elected justice of the peace and J.
R. Zepever, township clerk. Robert Burns, the poet, was a near neigh-
bor of Mr. Craig's grandparents, and Mr. Craig was born in the
neighborhood and was familiar with the scenes pictured in some of
his most famous poems.
Ossian and neighborhood felt the stimulus of the Fort Wayne
Plank Road, which was begun in 1850 and afterwards completed, and
418 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
the standing of the town on the county map was further recognized
when the railroad was first surveyed in 1854 and it was made a sta-
tion on the paper line. It waited fifteen years for the realization, but,
as time goes, that was another small matter. It happened, also, that
when the rails were laid to Ossian in 1869 David Craig, a son of Wil-
liam, one of the town proprietors had the honor of driving the third
spike used on the ties in Wells County.
As the Craigs may be said to be specially identified with the
material development of the Ossian neighborhood, the Hatfields are
credited with having accomplished fundamental results connected
with its growth in educational and religious ways. They were of the
famous English family of Hatfields and their inclinations were doubt-
less largely inherited. The stock from which sprung the Wells County
branch was planted in Wayne County, Ohio, and in 1838 Adam
Hatfield, Jr., with his wife, Martha Kirkpatrick, and their family,
settled in Jefferson Township, three miles north of Murray, upon a
tract of three quarter sections of land which he had previously entered.
A rude log cabin was erected and during the winter a plat of ten
acres was cleared for planting in the spring. Adam Hatfield was
one of the early officials of the township and served in several official
capacities. He was a man of great force of character, although his
education was limited. He was a whig and a stalwart abolitionist.
Both himself and wife were members of the Presbyterian Church
before they came to the county, and they may. be termed the parents
of that faith in Wells County. The first Presbyterian services in the
county were held in their house, Rev. Isaac A. Ogden officiating. The
church was organized by a committee of the Presbytery, and Rev.
John H. Russ was the first pastor. The death of Mrs. Martha Hatfield
occurred in 1840, and her remains were interred in the old Henry
Miller Cemetery, the first burying-ground in the northern part of the
county. Later, they were disinterred and deposited in the Murray
Cemetery. Adam Hatfield afterward married Mrs. Elizabeth Steward,
a widow, with whom he passed the remainder of his life. He died in
1848, aged fifty-four years.
The school taught by Miss Margaret Hatfield was the first to be
organized in Jefferson Township, and was superintended by the three
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 419
trustees, Levi Young, J. R. LeFever and John Ogden, who were elected
in 1841. They appointed Miss Hatfield to teach what is known as
the Craig School. She was followed by Isaac Hatfield, Joseph LeFever
and Dr. William Johnston.
The first school opened in the Town of Ossian was taught by Robert
M. Johnston, during 1850, being opened in the kitchen of one of the
settlers and was located near the site of what was afterward the
residence of Walter Craig. In the following year (1851) the first
public school was erected near what is now Doctor Metts' office. Mr.
Johnston was also engaged to teach that school in 1851-52. His
successor was Miss Mary Cartwright, who subsequently married Milo
J. Gorrell.
So first one thing and then another appeared among the essentials
of real growth, and at the commencement of the Civil war Ossian
probably numbered 200 inhabitants and several stores. By
this time the rude village schoolhouse of logs had been replaced by
a frame building which was then listed among the village improve-
ments, but which some years afterward was being used as a shed on
the property of one of the well-to-do townsmen. But the little frame
house was outgrown in the late '60s and a two-story building erected.
Long before the war a Baptist and two Methodist societies had
been organized to meet the natural demands of a moral and intelligent
community, and midway in the Civil war period the Masons had
organized their lodge. Soon afterward (in 1864) the first floor mill
was erected at Ossian by Woodward & Rupright.
Various industries commenced to look toward Ossian after the
completion of the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad espe-
cially those devoted to wood manufactures. In 1872 a mill was erected
near the depot for the manufacture of lumber, shingles lath and
mouldings. The first industry in that line, however, was a stave and
heading factory, which was completed in 1870, burned two years
afterward, and subsequently rebuilt. It was owned at one time by
H. Hatfield. But with the clearing of wooded lands and the consequent
withdrawal of available sources of raw material from the local fac-
tories they were eventually discontinued with hundreds of their
kind in the middle western states, as Indiana was then classified.
Then followed the experiments connected with the manufactures based
on Products of the soil. The Ossian Creamery was a fair success for a
time, although it was founded in the hopes that the farmers of the
420 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
county would turn to dairying and thereby insure the manufacturer
a steady supply of milk; but instead they became more and more
wedded to the idea of raising cattle and hogs upon which they could
realize more readily than on milch cows. The somewhat famous
Climax butter also melted away with the creamery project. But the
grain elevator enterprise endured and developed. In 1890 the Hat-
fields and T. A. Doan built a fair-sized elevator near the switch-track
and Ossian has never since been without good accommodations for
storing and handling grain.
In 1878 a two-story schoolhouse was erected at a cost of $5,000 by
John B. Woods, contractor, and James Gorrell, trustee. Prof. P. A.
Allen, Bluffton's superintendent of schools, was the first principal in
this first brick schoolhouse to be built in Ossian. After being occupied
for twenty years, it was condemned in 1898, and two years later it was
rebuilt and a large northern addition made to the original structure,
making the entire school building a modern schoolhouse of eight
rooms. When the local system was in the formative period Professor
Allen and his successor as principal, David H. Swaim, for years editor
of the Bluffton News and Chronicle, were mainly influential in
grading and organizing the schools. Charles Pepe is the present super-
intendent.
Among the pioneer teachers of Ossian were, besides those already
mentioned, Jacob J. Todd, Miss Maggie Hawkins, A. B. Cartwright,
Mrs. Rena Howard and Mrs. Mary Wilmington. Of a somewhat later
generation of teachers whose labors are specially identified with the old
"two-story frame," were J. B. Donaldson, Serepta (Metts) Worley,
S. N. Vail, Nellie (Rankin) Baker, William Mygrants, R. Houser,
Lizzie J. N. Johnston, Joe (Metts) Walmer, Ida (Johnston) Em-
manuel and May (Gorrell) Swaim.
THE TELEPHONE AND THE LOCAL PRESS
Ossian has had the benefit of a local newspaper for many years.
The first newspaper to be established there was a rank failure. It
(The Ossian Weekly Telephone) lasted only a few months in the
middle of the '80s. Its brief existence was passed at a time when the
telephone was a young invention. It had reached Ossian from the
outside world and through the Bell Telephone. Company, in 1882, but
it was many years before it had been adopted locally and was anything
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 421
more than "long distance." Then James H. Keefer came into the
field both of newspaperdom and the local telephone system. In
December, 1890, he commenced to issue the News, which he con-
ducted successfully until its suspension in 1914. In February, 1896,
he built a private telephone line between his newspaper office and res-
idence; and then the railroad agent, the merchants and others woke up
to the advantages of a local system. In the summer of 1899 Roe
Brothers, representing the Central Union Telephone Company, estab-
lished a local exchange, giving their subscribers also the privilege of
long-distance communication, since which time the telephone has been
one of Ossian's most valued public utilities.
In 1895 the Village Board of Trustees bought a chemical engine as
a means of protection against fire, the water supply being cisterns or
reservoirs placed at strategic points within the corporate limits. Fuel
and light are supplied by the Fort Wayne Gas Company, with which
arrangements were perfected in 1896, by which natural gas could be
drawn from the 12-inch main of the system controlled by that corpora-
tion.
The present representative of the local press is the Ossian Jour-
nal, which was founded in April, 1914, by B. F. Sprunger. Two
years afterward the enterprise was purchased by those who still own
and conduct it, W. E. Hostetler & Company.
Another institution of a semi-public character, young, but neces-
sary to the well-being of the village, is the Farmers State Bank. It
was founded in November, 1912, by the following who are still in
office: E. W. Dyar, President; L. M. Springer vice president; A. A.
Melching, cashier. It has a capital of $25,000; surplus and undivided
profits, $5,000; average deposits, $175,000.
The veteran of all the churches in Ossian is easily the Presbyterian,
now in its seventy-ninth year. As stated, it was originally known as
the Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church, and was organized June 10,
1840, at the house of Adam Hatfield. Its first members numbered
twenty and were all received by letter. The first pastor was Rev.
422 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
John H. Russ, who did not long remain at that time, although the
records seemed to show that he held the pastorate from 1843 to 1845.
In 1846 Joseph Gorrell and Adam Hatfield secured the services of
Rev. Wilson M. Donaldson, who was pastor of the Pleasant Ridge
Church for thirty years and founded the society on the strength of his
character and spiritual faithfulness. In 1847 the first house of wor-
ship was completed in the form of a small log building about two miles
and a half southwest of town. This gave place in 1867 to a plain frame
church accommodating about four hundred people and completed, of
course, in the long and productive ministry of Mr. Donaldson. This
second house of worship was located in Ossian, but, although the old
Pleasant Ridge building was vacated, the society was not known as
the Ossian Presbyterian Church until the spring of 1876, or during
the concluding year of Mr. Donaldson's ministry. In 1877 Rev. John
Mitchell assumed the pastorate, and his successors have been as fol-
lows: Rev. J. P. Lloyd, 1881-83; Rev. M. M. Lawson, 1883-92; Rev.
Edwin Craven, 1892-97; Rev. Edward Campbell, 1897-1900; Rev. E.
P. Gilchrist, 1900-03; Rev. C. E. Combrink, 1903-09; Rev. W. E.
Hunter, 1909-12; Rev. Frank K. Baker, since 1912. During the pas-
torate of Rev. E. P. Gilchrist, in 1902, the handsome brick church
which is now the home of the society was occupied. Its present mem-
bership (fall of 1917) is 300.
METHODISM IN JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP
Methodism took root in Jefferson Township as early as 1848 and
the Ossian Circuit was organized two years later. Its history in the
neighborhood of Ossian for a period of forty years is thus presented
in a well-authenticated sketch: "We find the territory that now em-
braces the Ossian Circuit was included in the Saint Mary's Mission
on October 30, 1848, the earliest date of Methodism in this section
of the country. The Mission included all the territory south of Fort
Wayne and north of the Wabash River (and was) supposed to em-
brace a part of Adams, Huntington and Whitley counties.
"The Ossian Circuit was organized in September, 1850, with
Ossian as its head. The Prospect Society was among the classes that
entered into the formation of the circuit. The boundaries of the cir-
cuit were defined so as to embrace about all St. Mary's Mission outside
of Fort Wayne. The boundaries of the circuit have been changed from
time to time until the present boundary marks its limits, which is prop-
erly the county line between Wells and Allen counties and westward
the southern boundary being the Wabash River near Murray, thence
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES 423
east and west, leaving the boundaries about all in the north part of
the county. The Ossian Society was organized in 1851, and worshiped
in the schoolhouse and dwelling houses until 1853, when the first
church was completed. Rev. J. W. Foughty was the first class leader.
"The Prospect Society was organized September 30, 1848, with
William Cotton, now deceased, as leader. Services were held in the
dwelling houses of John A. Lepper and Simon Krewson and in the
school house (which was, it might be mentioned, for two years the
extra room of the cabin home of Simon Krewson. A log church was
built about 1853, which was the house of worship until 1861, when the
present church house was erected.
"The Emmaus Society was organized in 1876, with Robert W. Hall,
now deceased, as leader. They worshiped in the schoolhouse until the
present church edifice was completed. This society was a part of the
Sheldon Circuit until 1881 when it was attached to Ossian.
"The Uniondale Society was first organized in 1884 and attached
to the Markle Circuit, but in 1885 it was attached to the Ossian Cir-
cuit. The services were held in the Lutheran Church of Uniondale
until September, 1886, when the society was abandoned. This society
was again organized January 13, 1883, and the services were held in
the Lutheran Church until December, when the present church build-
ing was completed.
"The first parsonage house was built in 1852. The second house
was erected in 1866. To this there was built a wing in 1877."
Since the above history of the church was written changes in the
circuit have been made until now the Ossian and Prospect churches are
the only ones in this charge.
The pastors who served St. Mary's Mission were Revs. T. F. Pal-
mer, 1848, and Dennis B. Clary, 1849. Among those called to the
Ossian charge have been Revs. J. W. Miller, Almon Greenman, W. S.
Birsh, James Johnson, W. T. Smith, A. Andrews, A. Douglas, J. M.
Mann, B. F. Armstrong, S. H. Clark, E. S. McNeal, J. T. Nash, T.
Cololazer, J. H. Slade, O. D. Watkins, W. E. Curtis, L. Roberts, J. H.
McMahin, J. M. Wolverton, J. M. Mann, Y. B. Meredith, N. Burwell,
J. L. Ramsey, E. P. Church, J. A. Llewellyn, Henry Bridge, J. B.
Alleman, S. C. Norris, C. M. Hollopeter and William E. Hamilton
(present incumbent).The Bethel United Brethren Church is probably about fifty years
old and until 1901 belonged to what was known as the Auglaize Con-
ference. In the records of that body there is no mention of the Bethel
424 ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
Class at Ossian until 1869. From 1901 to the present the Bethel
United Brethren Church has been in the St. Joseph Conference, as
have all other bodies of that denomination in Adams and Wells coun-
ties north of the Wabash River. The successive pastors of the local
church have been as follows: Revs. George Miller, 1869-71; D. J.
Schenck, 1871-73; T. Coats, 1873-74; Merritt Miller, 1874-77; P. B.
Williams, 1877-79; S. T. Mahan, 1881; D. A. Johnson, 1881-82; R. W.
Wilgus, 1882-85; L. T. Johnson, 1885-86; D. W. Abbott, 1886-87;
W. E. Bay, 1887-88; T. M. Harvey, 1888-89; R. W. Wilgus, 1889-90;
H. C. Smith, 1890-91; J. N. Holmes, 1891-92; H. D. Meads, 1892-93;
J. W. Lake, 1893-96; W. Z. Roberts, 1896-97; S. M. Leidy, 1897-98;
W. H. Shepherd, 1898-99; D. M. Luttrell, 1899-1900; J. A. Kek, 1900-
03; 0. L. Richhart, 1903-04; M. V. Mullikin, 1904-06; I. N. Shilling,
1906-08; J. A. Farmer, 1908-09; J. L. Powers, 1909-11; H. C. Beau-
champ, 1911-15; J. A. Sherrill, 1915-17; D. W. Zartman, since 1917.
The membership of the present church in December, 1917, was about
fifty.
There are also two churches within four miles of Ossian which are
fairly strong, and one of them, at least, is quite well known to county
history. El Hanan Presbyterian Church, three miles east and one
mile north of town, was organized in the early '40s, and in 1845 a log
church was built on a lot donated by Robert Ewell for religious and
cemetery purposes.
The Emmaus (formerly Salem) M. E. Church was established
four and a half miles southeast of Ossian, and a small frame building
was erected for worship in 1876. For many years, also, the Olive
Branch Baptist Church occupied a building three miles northeast of
Ossian, the society having been organized prior to 1840.
The chief lodges with headquarters at Ossian are the Ossian No.
297, Free & Accepted Masons; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows,
No. 719, and the Knights of Pythias, No. 343. The Masons first
organized in September, 1863, John P. Nash being their first worship-
ful master. J. I. Metts, James Gorrell, C. W. Beardsley, William B.
Miller, James P. Swaim and William Stine also served as heads of the
lodge in the early times. The Knights of Pythias organized in 1892,
with thirty-four charter members, with W. A. Woodward as P. C.
H. W. Beaty is now in office, the membership of the lodge late in the
fall of 1917 being nearly 150.