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1882 COUNTIES OF
LaGRANGE and NOBLE INDIANA HISTORICAL and BIOGRAPHICAL
Chicago F.A. Battey and Company Publishers 1882
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP
By: John Paul Jones
Bloomfield Township- Physical Description - Natural Resources
- First Entry of Land -
Names of Early Settlers - Life in the Backwoods - Wild Game - Mills,
Stores, Blacksmith
Shops, Etc.- Villages - Organization of the Township - First Officers
- Educational and
Religious Interests.
At the May term of the Board of Commissioners, in
the year 1835, an order was made creating a new civil township, comprising
Congressional Township 37 north, of Range 10 east, to be called Bloomfield,
and attaching Congressional Township 36, lying on the south, for judicial
purposes. This provisional condition relating to the
latter township continued until 1837, when a seperation was made, by
the erection of Township 36 into a distinct civil organization called Johnson;
this left Bloomfield independent as a township, lying east of and along
the central line of the county, running north and south, and about one
mile north of the center. It is bounded on the north by Lima and Greenfield
Townships, on the east by Springfield, south by Johnson, and west by Clay.
The physical features of Bloomfield present no very striking characteristics;
however, it's surface is somewhat diversified, and, in common with other
portions of the county, it has, along it's water courses and near it's
lakes, considerable marsh. The southern portion, and extending into the
central part, is quite rolling, and in some places hills of some elevation
present themselves. The north part of the township is level, and of a sandy
though productive soil. The most considerable stream that crosses its territory
is Pigeon River, entering the township from the east, near the northeast
corner, with its general course westerly across Sections 1 and 2, then
to the northwest, passing out about one mile east of the center; it has
several, though quite small, tributaries, joining it as it passes across
this township, which serve to drain the surplus waters in the vicinity.
Fly Creek is a tributary of Pigeon River, but is independent so far as
it bears relation to this township. It has several branches that largely
form the natural drainage system of the township, and the two main streams
have been, since the early settlement, of great importance, not only to
this township but to considerable of the surrounding country, by affording
excellent water privileges, which have been improved and utilized for driving
machinery, principally for saw and grist-mills, but in some instances for
other purposes. Fly Creek and it's branches run to the north, forming a
junction into one stream in Section 8, and
passing through Section 5, across the north line of the township, and
emptying into Pigeon River in Lima Township, just northwest of Ontario.
There are three bodies of water, wholly or in part within the township,
of sufficient magnitude to entitle them to be classed as lakes; these are
Fish Lake, Sloan Lake and Cline Lake, the two former
being in the southeastern part. These lakes are the resort, in the
proper season, for those in quest of piscatorial sport, as they have within
their waters a goodly supply of fish. The lands of Bloomfield were surveyed
in July, 1831, by George W. Harrison, Deputy Surveyor, and soon
after thrown open to settlement; they were principally covered with a dense
forest, consisting largely of oak, beech, hickory, ash, elm and walnut;
but the richness of the virgin soil was soon detected by the experienced
eye of the venturesome pioneer, and the advantage of securing a land-holding
within its borders was appreciated, as shown by the rapidity with which
purchases were made, the greater portion being entered in the years 1834-35
and '36. The first tract purchased from the United States was entered at
the Goverment Land Office in Fort Wayne, March 13, 1833 by Hugh R. Hunter,
being the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 1, and
now owned by Pitt Cook and Noah C. Fair. Only two persons
in the township have the distinction of owning and still residing upon
the land originally entered by them; of these Jacob Tidrick is by
far the earliest. November 5, 1835, he purchased of the United States the
southwest quarter of Section 7, where he now lives in the enjoyment of
his possessions, the title to which would not be difficult to trace. Hezekiah
Hoard, though purchasing later, forms one of the twain; in 1851, he
secured from the State the northwest quarter of Section16, it being a part
of the land donated by the General Goverment for school purposes; this
tract he still owns and forms a portion of the well-cultivated farm on
which he lives. John D. and Manley Richards entered the northwest
quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 13, twenty-five acres of which
is still owned by Manley Richards. The first white settler in the
township was, probably David Hanson, who came in 1833, and
settled on the north-east quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 26.
In the beginning of the year 1836, there were but
thirty families resident within the limits of Bloomfield. These were Caleb
Jewett, Hart Hazen, a Mr.Townsend, Peter L. Mason,
Amasa
Durand, Ira Hays, Almon Lawrence, Curtis Harding,
Palmer
Grannis, Jacob D. Groves, Rev.Thomas B.Connolly,
Joseph
Welch, George D., Samuel and Daniel Carl, George
Cooper, William Hern, Sr., William Hern, Jr., Moses
J. Hill, Moses Newell Hill, Washington Adams, Elihu
Champlin, Solomon Scidmore, Alanson N. Dewey, Levi
Green, John Davidson, Joseph Davidson, Joseph Richards,
Selah
P. Benham and Thomas Newell. None of these are now living in
the township; thirteen died here, and the others moved away, some to the
Far West; the widows of three of them, however, are still residents here,
Mrs.Harding, Mrs.Davidson and Mrs.Durand, now
Mrs.McClaskey. This locality received the most of its immigration-
as did the greater portion of the county- from the States of New York and
Ohio, and a few from Virginia and Maryland. Among the earlier settlers,
and those coming in prior to the year 1844, besides those already given,
may be mentioned Zopher L. Scidmore, who was elected Sheriff
of the county in 1854, and performed the duties of the office in a satisfactory
manner; Norman Weir. Elijah W.Weir, Andrew Kilbury,
Moses
Marvin, Aaron Hill, Ivory Crandall, James D. and
John R. Crandall and a Mr. Green, who located in the
eastern part of the township; John Y.Clark, Christian Roop,
and his sons Joseph and Benjamin, the Parkers,
William
and Hiram Jacobs, the Mattoons, in the central and southern
part; Joseph Richards, Jacob Hoagland, Jacob Tidrick,
Francis M. Price and John Preston in the northern part; Daniel
Sargent, Ira Church, Joseph and Jacob Mills and
Reuben Hays in the southern part. George Holmes,
Alexander
Holmes, John M. and William Wigton, in the town of LaGrange.
The coming in of each family meant the erection of
a cabin and another opening in the forest by the felling of the timber
for a clearing, and a preparation for crops. These clearings for the first
year or two were usually limited to an acre or so planted to corn and vegetables
with perhaps a patch of oats and wheat. To be successful in those days
in raising grain and "garden truck" required eternal vigilance to protect
them from the depredations of the wild turkey, deer, raccoon, squirrel
and other pestiferous animals with which this county in the early day was
fairly swarming. However, these, though pests in this respect, served a
valuable purpose in affording almost the entire supply of meat to the settlers.
In common with the experience of all frontiersmen in the settlement of
a new
country, the early settler here was subjected to many hardships and
privations, and ofttimes the most heroic fortitude was required to overcome
the seeming insurmountable obstacles. The products from the little patch
of ground in the clearing, and the game that was brought down by the unerring
rifle, afforded subsistence for the family. The spinning-wheel and loom
supplied the cloth for clothing and household purposes, save, however
where the prepared deerskin and the furs from the fur-bearing animals
were utilized. Luxuries were obtained at great cost, and many times at
no small sacrifice. Groceries and the commonest kinds of merchandise were
in those days catalogued as luxuries, only to be indulged in in the most
sparing manner. Trading posts were miles away through dense woods, without
road or perhaps trail. Danger was upon all sides; wild beasts were prowling
around, maddened by hunger; impassable swamps impeded progress, unbridged
streams were almost insurmountable barriers, and only to be crossed- except
by fording- with the possibility of the faithful horse and its rider being
carried down by the rushing waters. The Indians, though generally friendly
and harmless in this locality, were not always to be trusted, and to be
intercepted by them was attended with an uncertainty as to results. The
traveler without guide, and perhaps compass, was liable to lose his
way and be overtaken by darkness; these and many others were the surroundings
to be taken into consideration when about to start upon a journey. In those
days, the nearest trading-point of any considerable importance was Fort
Wayne, Toledo, Hillsdale or Michigan City. To these points grain was hauled
for marketing under the most trying circumstances, and at prices so insignificant
the farmer to-day would not consider it sufficient remuneration for the
mere transportation to market over the best of roads. Yet, with all of
these impedements to be surmounted, there was real and unalloyed happiness
to be found in the pioneer's cabin. In those primitive days, their wants
were of the simplest kind and in keeping with their surroundings. Society
was upon a common level; the only passport to a membership was good character;
even the want of this was not always taken into consideration. For the
young man or the young woman to go to church barefoot was no disgrace;
for whole families to eat, sleep and live in one room was the rule, and
to be in the enjoyment of more than that was the exception. The influx
of settlers necessitated home industries, and a
demand for milling facilities was among the first and the most important.
In all communities, and upon all occassions, there are those, prompted
partly by gain and partly by an accommodating spirit, who are ready
to supply the wants. Saw-mills in various parts of the township were built
at an early time. The first of these was put up by Daniel Harding
in the year 1835, in Section 17, and though a rude affair was a great convenience
to this advance guard of civilization. The Van Kirk Mill was built quite
early on the farm now owned by Christian Miller, a short distance
south of LaGrange; it was erected by Peter Prough, now a resident
of Clay Township. Among others were Newton's Mill, built by Otis Newton,
of Lima Township; Green's Mill, now owned by Jonathan Dorsey;
and Hill's, all on Fly Creek, on the old Fort Wayne road.
Ira W. Brown built the first steam saw-mill,
on his farm, about three miles east of LaGrange, and Jeremiah Outcalt
the second, a short distance south of Brown's; these are still in operation.
Whilst these mills have been a great convenience to the community, and
a source of profit in most cases to their owners, the effect of their existence
is plainly manifest by the denudation of the land of the best timber afforded
by the magnificent forest trees that once covered the township surface.
Other callings of a lesser nature were prosecuted
to meet the growing wants of the neighborhoods, and here, as elsewhere,
the tastes of the people were not altogether agricultural. Some had learned
trades before coming, others being handy at almost anything to which they
might turn their efforts. They usually gave attention to such
occupation as would offer the best remuneration, and subserve the interests
of those about them. David Hanson, the first settler in the township,
was the first to manufacture brick, not only in the township, but in the
county. Joseph Welch was the first cabinet-maker and undertaker,
thus providing for the convenience and comfort of the living and the recent
burial of the dead. Contemporaneous with the early saw-mills was Levi
Green, the first
carpenter; and before the development of "bog iron" as an industry
in other parts of the county came John Hardy, who operated at the
forge as the first blacksmith. Caleb Jewett was the first shoemaker
to provide for the wants of the barefooted denizens in his time. Moses
J. Hill, as a physician, is said to have been the first administrater
professionally for the sick.
New communities, as well as old require a civil organization
and officers to execute the behests of the sovereign people and conserve
the peace. Bloomfield having been organized into a civil township, an election
was ordered to be held at the house of Moses J. Hill, on the
first Saturday in June, 1835, for the purpose of electing a Justice
of the Peace. Mr.Hill was appointed inspector of said election,
and was also elected as said Justice. A division of the township was made
into two road districts. All the territory west of the middle line of Range
10 comprised the first, and all east of said line comprised the second
district. William Hern was appointed Supervisor. The first general
election for the township was held April 3, 1837, at the house of
Abel
Mattoon, on the southeast quarter of Section 21. Solomon Scidmore,
John Davidson and Horace Bartine constituted the election
board. Jacob D. Grove was elected Justice of the Peace; George
D. Carl, Constable; William Hern, Jr., Inspector of Elections;
E. W. Weir and Daniel Carl, Overseers of the Poor; Joseph
Davidson and Alanson N. Dewey, fence-viewers;
John Davidson,
Hiram Babcock and Marvin J. Hill, Supervisors. The young
people in the primitive years of the township, in
some essential particulars,
were not unlike those of later times. Whilst in those days the young
men and women were not constantly being "mashed" on each other at first
sight, as expressed in the modern vulgar vernacular, yet there were genuine
love affairs; and the courting, though from the very nature of the surroundings
conducted under difficulties, was earnest and with a proper purpose in
view - that of marriage and a prospective home, where each could be a source
of aid and comfort to the other. Among the first legitimate results of
these mutual admiration scenes in the township was the marriage of Moses
N. Hill and Nancy Martin, January 28, 1832, by Luther Newton,
one of the Associate Judges of the county;
Washington Adams to Miss
Laura Hill, who were united by S. Robinson, a Justice of the
Peace, at Lima, August 9, 1832. The license for the marriage was issued
on the 18th of the same month, and was the first issued after the organization
of the county; Elijah W. Weir and Amy Hern, by Rev. T.
B. Connelly, May 16, 1836.
[In May, of the year 1836, William C. Tillman,
proprietor, employed a surveyor, and laid out twenty-four blocks
of Twenty-four lots each, and nine blocks of twelve lots each, on the north
half of Section 1, Bloomfield Township, and named the village thus founded
Burlington. The proprietor was something of a speculator, at least he was
a shrewd man, for, it is said, he had a large, beautifully colored plat
of his village made, showing that it was
located on the bank of the Pigeon River, which was represented on the
plat as being of sufficient size to be navigable by the largest vessels.
Armed with this map, and loaded to the muzzle with glowing metaphors in
praise of his village, Mr.Tillman went East, and there exhibited
the plan of his western town, and succeeded in selling lots (corner ones)
to some six or eight families, and inducing them to move West to the village.When
these families reached what their imaginations and the promises of Mr.Tillman
had pictured as a fine growing village, they found the site to be in a
swampy place, and half of the lots covered with water. The disappointment
and dismay were complete. Not an effort, with one exception, was made to
colonize the place, but all left for some other locality. One man made
arrangements to build a house, obtained some lumber, and perhaps got the
frame up, but soon abandoned the attempt, and the prospective Burlington
was left to the sole habitation of the snakes, birds and batrachians._ED.]
The village of Bloomfield, now more generally known
as "Hill's Corners," is in the eastern part of the township, on the old
Fort Wayne road, and was platted on the southeast quarter of Section 23,
by Moses J. Hill and Ivory Crandall, September 14, 1836.
It bid fair for a time to become a flourishing town, and was a rival for
the location of the county seat; but not succeeding in that, and the railroad
having been located through LaGrange, it failed to meet the expectations
of its projectors, and still remains but a mere hamlet.
The church interests of the township have principally
centered in LaGrange, the several denominations maintaining organizations
there affording more satisfactory opportunity for the people in the country
to worship according to their belief than could be secured in any other
way. In the early days of the settlement of the country, itinerant preachers
of various denominations visited the township and dispensed the gospel
at the cabins of the pioneers in the good old-fashioned way, when people
cared less for the style and more for the benefits derived than at the
present day. Some attempts to maintain church societies have been made
in the township, but with little permanent success. In 1835, the Rev.
Thomas B. Connelly, of the Methodist Church, organized what was called
the Bethel Church in his neighborhood, in the east part of the township,
with seven members- himself and wife, Jacob D. Groves and
wife, Joseph Welch and wife, and Mary Groves. In 1852, this
society built the Bethel Chapel, which was constructed of hewed logs, which
was used by them for a place of worship until it fell into disuse for church
purposes. Mr.Connelly was a native of Maryland, and came to this
county in 1835, settling on a farm about four miles east of LaGrange. He
was described, by one who knew him well, as the embodiment of goodness,
and as having "preached more sermons and visited more sick persons than
all the other ministers combined." The school opportunities of Bloomfield
Township are on a par with those throughout the county, and varying in
no essential particular from the regular district school system. The first
schoolhouse in the township was built of logs in the spring of 1838, on
the southeast corner of Section 23. The school was taught the ensuing summer
by Miss Almira Crandall, now the wife of Ebenezer Hill, and
living in the township near Hill's Corners. Malcolm Burnett taught
the school the winter following. Among the earlier teachers in the township
were Rev. T. B. Connelly, John Rhodes, R. C. Blackman,
Miss
Griffith and Miss Weir. The number of schoolhouses and schools
now in the township, exclusive of the town of LaGrange, is nine; pupils
enrolled, 169 males and 150 females. The school buildings are generally
neat and commodious, and are furnished with school furniture and apparatus
of the modern style, the schools generally being conducted in a satisfactory
manner.
Volunteer transcription by Pati Blowers May. Material for transcription
gathered by Barbara Henderson.
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