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1882 COUNTIES OF
LaGRANGE and NOBLE INDIANA HISTORICAL and BIOGRAPHICAL
Chicago F.A. Battey and Company Publishers 1882
Town of LaGrange
Part 1
By John Paul Jones
Town of LaGrange-(Part 1) First Plat-Early Residents-The County
Seat Question-Appearance Of
The Village Thirty-Eight Years Ago-(Part 2) Former Mercantile
Establishments-Gradual Growth
and Developement-Industrial Enterprises-(Part 3) Secret Societies-Present
Business Occupations-
(Part 4) Outline Sketch of Religious and Educational Interests-Cemetery.
The location of the town of LaGrange, in the geographical center of the
county, would seem to indicate that it's projectors were men of shrewd
forethought, who had in view the possibility of its becoming, at no distant
day, the most eligible point for the location of the county seat, as in
the early days of the county the strife and efforts put forth by the citizens
of different localities to secure that coveted prize and distinction, were
not unlike the
record in that respect of most other counties. The tract of land comprising
the original town site was purchased of
the United States by entry, at the Government Land Office, in Fort
Wayne, in the year 1835, by George F. Whitaker and Theodore Craft.
Joshua
T. Hobbs subsequently purchased an interest, and thus became one of
the proprietors of the town site. It is situated in the south half of Section
19, and was platted on the 18th day of
June, 1836, by Reuben J. Dawson, William F. Beavers,
George
F. Whittaker and James McConnell, none of whom are now living.
Mr.
Dawson resided in DeKalb County, Ind., and represented his county and
that of Steuben in the State Senate in 1850, and was afterward Judge of
the Tenth Judicial Circuit. He took an active and prominent part in politics,
and was a Presidential Elector on the Democratic ticket in 1856.
Mr.
Whittaker was a merchant at Lima. Mr. Beavers resided in the
southern part of the county, and was for several years County Surveyor.
James
McConnell, the last survivor of these original proprietors, died at
Albion in 1881. He was a resident of Eden Township, and was, at an early
day, one of the County Commisioners. The original town was laid off into
lots 66x132 feet, with a public square, 132x2801/2 feet, streets 66 feet
in width, and alleys 16 1/2 feet
wide, crossing each other at right angles; the names of the streets
being Mountain, High Detroit, Poplar, Walnut, Sycamore and Canal, running
north and south; Lake, Steuben, Factory, Michigan, Spring, Lafayette and
Wayne, running east and west. Detroit became the principal business street,
and still retains that prestige. The original proprietors donated several
lots to the county, the present site of the courthouse being a portion
of the gift, which was originally the public square. The terms of the grant
were as follows:
"The public grounds designed for and donated
to the county from the time of the commencement of the use of
the same for the purposes of holding courts and transaction of other
judicial business thereon, and to continue the property of said county
of LaGrange as long as the same shall be occupied as aforesaid, after which
it shall revert
to the original proprietors.
"The proprietors hereby reserve to themselves
the right to divert the stream of water which passes through the town,
to any place not to exceed one-fourth of a mile from its natural channel,
for the use of mills and other machinery."
The town site was covered with heavy forest
trees and a thick undergrowth of prickly ash, interspersed with briers
and shrubbery. The ground was burned over the first year, which was the
means of destroying the undergrowth; the large timber was cut down and
the inhabitants of the new town would generally engage in the
work of clearing and burning the brush, old and young joining in the
work at convenient spells, some in one part
and some in another, and often continuing until midnight. This afforded
amusement and recreation, instead of
croquet and such other fashionable diversions of the present day. Shadrack
Carney, now a resident of Clay Township, claims to have felled the
first tree in preparing to clear off the public square. That work was done
by contract with the commissioners, who unfortunately required all the
trees to be cut down, thereby depriving
the public of the benefit of the fine shade which this primeval forest
would have rendered. A portion of the public square and grounds extending
to the south and east for some considerable distance was wet and swampy.
A stranger, to travel over the solid ground that now exists instead of
the mire, could hardly realize that such could
ever have been the condition. Removing the primitive growth and filling
with other soil has wrought the change.
Isaac P. Grannis and Thomas Clark
built the first two dwelling houses; they were constructed of logs, one
of which was used as a boarding house for the accomodation of Mr. Grannis,
who was one of the sub-contractors and workmen on the court house. The
other was occupied by the Clark family, who were of a migratory
disposition, fond of hunting and fishing, and who, after a few years, removed
to the Far West, where they
expected to find game more plentiful. The first frame building was
a storehouse erected by William Wigton, on
the northeast corner of Detroit and Spring streets, opposite the southeast
corner of the courthouse square. This structure served as a general resort
for nearly two years. It was occupied by C. B. Holmes, who
kept a general store, consisting of dry goods, groceries, hardware and
an assortment of such goods as was in demand in those
early times. Here, also, was the post office, which Mr. Holmes
was instrumental in causing to be established, and who officiated as the
first Postmaster. Some idea of the magnitude of the business transacted
in handling the mails
at this office for the first quarter may be formed through the receipts
for that period, which amounted to the munificent sum of $1.08, quite in
contrast with the receipts for the quarter ending September 30, 1881, which
showed an aggregate of $644.42. Mr. Holmes seems to have been
almost indispensable to the community, for about this time he was elected
to the office of the Justice of the Peace for Bloomfield Township. At the
period of commencement of the growth of the town, the country was but little
else than a vast wilderness, though settlements had been formed to some
extent in various localities in the surrounding country, and additions
were constantly
being made. Yet the farms that had been cleared for cultivation were
but mere openings in the vast sea of forest
trees that covered the surrounding territory, and game of a great variety
was to be found in the immediate vicinity.
So plentiful were deer, that it is related that Ans Clark, who
prided himself upon his expertness with the rifle, killed, in one day,
seven of these animals, and so close to the town that every shot could
have been heard at the public square. But a change was to come over the
place in the new order of things.
Volunteer transcription by Pati Blowers May. Material for transcription
gathered by Barbara Henderson.
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