Vermillion Co, IN - Vol I

Description

(From the Foreword) The Vermillion County Historical Society was organized in 1958, with the purpose-"to seek to collect and preserve articles and facts of historical interest and facts connected with the development of our county, and the State and the Territory of Indiana."

Sujets

• historic preservation
• Histoire
• History of Indiana
• Highland Township
• Vermilion County
• Comté de Vermilion
• History
• Indian

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 15 juin 1990
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781681625331
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 9 Mo

Extrait

Mural in Cayuga

Mural in Newport at VFW

Mural in Dana across from Ernie Pyle State Memorial

Mural in Cayuga at Railroadman s Bar

Vermillion County Court House in Newport
Turner Publishing Company Publishers of America s History
Author: Vermillion County Historical Society
Copyright 1990 by Vermillion County Indiana Historical Society
This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the written consent of the Author and Publisher
The materials were compiled and produced using available information; Turner Publishing Company regrets they cannot assume liability for errors or omissions.
Created by: Mark A. Thompson, Independent Publishing Consultant for Turner Publishing Company
Book Design: Elizabeth Dennis
Library of Congress Catalog Card No.: 88-51841
ISBN: 978-0-938021-34-6
Limited Edition of 600 copies of which this book is number _______.
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Foreward
County History Introduction
Highland Township
Eugene Township
Vermillion Township
Helt Township
Clinton Township
Church History
Family History
Clubs and Memorials
Business History
Index
Martha Helt first president of Vermillion County Historical Society
FOREWORD
In bringing to you, the citizens of Vermillion County, some of the past events over the past one-hundred years, we wish to dedicate this book in its entirety to all who have made this endeavor possible.
Your response has been wonderful and the contributions in Customs, Traditions and Religions are now recorded in print to be read and enjoyed through the years to come!
The Vermillion County Historical Society was organized in 1958, with the purpose- to seek to collect and preserve articles and facts of historical interest and facts connected with the development of our county, and the State and the Territory of Indiana.
VERMILLION COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 1988 OFFICERS
Patti (Patricia) Crum, President
Bill (William) Walthall, Vice-President
Bill Pearman-Secretary
Evelyn Hixon-Treasurer
Board of Directors:
Clinton Twp.-Dot Lindsey Leo Reposh, Jr.
Helt Twp.-Lucille Jones Martha Helt Vermillion Twp.Donna Hollingsworth Jim Johnson
Eugene Twp.-Anna Beth Lallish Bill Heidbreder
Highland Twp.-Norman Skinner Rodney Prather
History Book Representatives:
Clinton Twp.-Jim Graham Helt Twp.-Helena Bishop Highland Twp.-Donna Prather Clinton Twp.-Leo Reposh, Jr. Mrs. Kenneth Foltz Vermillion Twp.-Jim Johnson Eugene Twp.-Anna Beth Lallish PROOF READERS Pauline Guyer Rachel Milligan Margaret Umland

William Volkel and his Franklin Car
Rays of sunlight peak through the trees as the sun slowly rises over this small area of west central Indiana.
But, before this land was known as Indiana, and even before the white man had settled here, this fertile area was home to a race of people who left behind only a hint of their civilization and culture. Formed by the human hand, these strange mounds of earth, one 300 feet long and 86 feet wide at the base, remain clustered along the landscape. A majority of the mounds are twenty to forty feet long and four to six feet high. As many as eighty or as few as ten have been found grouped together.
When the white man moved into the area and brought with him a world of roads and buildings, some of these mounds were leveled. Clues about the life of this ancient race were found beneath the earth. Skeletons, copper beads, axes, pots, crocks, stone implements and other items were removed. One excavation turned up a coin determined to be 2,000 years old.
The area was once home to Indian tribes such as the Miamis, the Kickapoos, the Mosquitans, and the Pottawatomies. When the first permanent settlers came to this land in the 19th century they found one tiny piece of evidence about the history of this place in a scar in an old white oak tree.
When the tree was cut down in the early 19th century, the rings of growth showed a scar made by the axe of a white man no later than 1720. During these years, it is believed that French missionaries traveled through the area and converted a number of the Indians to Christianity.
Stories about the French involvement here have been documented and stories passed down from generation to generation. Perhaps the most interesting of all these stories occurred near the city of Clinton.
A creek in this area that empties into the Wabash was once the site of trading activity between the French and the Indians. Two brothers, Michael and Pierre Brouillet, took part in the trading and became allies to the Indians. During the early 1800s, Michael s occupation was not only that of a trader, but also as a traitor of sorts. He became a spy for Indiana Governor William Henry Harrison and reported frequently on Indian activities. As careful as he was, the Indians learned of his secret activities and captured him.
Before he was to be burned at the stake, an Indian squaw whose son had been killed in battle, asked that he be spared. She wanted to adopt him. Usually a request such as this was granted. This time it was denied.
Perhaps out of anger, or maybe disappointment, the squaw secretly freed Brouillet and helped him to escape in a canoe along the creek and out of reach of the Indian s arrows.
Today, the creek that once carried Brouillet to safety still bears his name.
The land, with its rich history of varied cultures and races, is now bounded on the east by the waters of the historic Wabash River and on the west by the Illinois State line.
This narrow strip of land is called Vermillion County.
The name Vermillion has its own history, dating back to the Miami Indians. These people gave the name pe-auk-e-shaw to the red earth found along the banks of the rivers known today as the Big and Little Vermillion. This red earth, in its native state, is called cinnabar and was used by the Indians as a paint to decorate their bodies.
It is thought that this red earth was accidentally discovered by the Indians when they burned the brush and weeds along the river banks. The fires burned the shale that surfaced the outcrop of coal and produced the red color.
A literal translation of pe-auk-e-shaw by the French is Vermillion, which means a red color, not as bright as scarlet.1 This word, but spelled with two l s, hung on until 1824, when Vermillion County was organized and become Indian s 51st county.
For more than a year after it was organized, Vermillion County extended up to the present city of Chicago. Today, the shoestring county, seven miles wide and 37 miles long, is bordered by Warren, Fountain, Parke and Vigo counties and is approximately 65 miles west of Indianapolis.
Fertile soil, surrounded by numerous springs, originally covered one-fourth of the land between the county s boundaries. Timber land occupied the rest.
A fine grade of clay was abundant in the county and provided a profitable business from as early as 1840 until 1890. Many other businesses flourished at one time or another over the years.
Today, Vermillion County s major businesses and industries include Eli Lilly and Co., Public Service Indiana, Peabody Coal Company, Inland Container Corporation and the Newport Army Ammunition Plant.
Despite the success of this and other industries during the 18th and 19th centuries, Vermillion County remains primarily an agricultural community.
A government report issued in 1910 showed 45,000 acres dedicated to growing corn, producing 1,739,000 bushels. Sixty-eight years later in 1978, with the aide of advanced farming technologies, 42,701 acres of corn produced 4,853,004 bushels by more than 270 farms.
Major money-making products in 1910 included oats, wheat, rye, clover seed, hay and forage, timothy, cattle, horses, mules, swine, sheep, poultry and bees.
Today s principle county crops include corn and soybeans.
The farms and businesses that support Vermillion County call home such towns as Clinton, Newport, Perrysville, Cayuga and Eugene.
The Parke and Vermillion Counties History written in 1913 lists the original village plats. The following condensed version notes the name of each village and the year it was platted.
Cayuga, (formerly Eugene Junction) September 1827
Springfield, October 1828
Clinton, January 1829
Perrysville, May 1832
Highland, September 1835
Solon, April 1836
Sheperdstown, August 1836
Newport, March 1837
Transylvania, May 1837
Jones, February 1862
Alta, May 1871
Summit Grove, November 1871
Gessie, March 1872
Hillsdale, November 1872
Dana, August 1874
Geneva, December 1900
Fairview Park, August 1902
Rhodes, December 1903
Rileysburg, June 1904
Needmore, September 1904
St. Bernice, August 1905
Centenary, October 1910
Chum s Ford, December 1910
Universal, March 1911
West Clinton Junction, May 1911
Rangeville, September 1911
By 1988, several of the original village plots had disappeared from maps and Bono, Sandytown, Easytown, Jonestown, Randall, Quaker, Blanford, Eugene, had been added.
In addition to television, radio, letters and word-of-mouth, local information comes in the form of The Daily Clintonian newspaper and the Herald News (weekly). The latter is published in Cayuga and is a (recent) consolidation of the former Highland Herald, Dana News and the Cayuga Herald newspapers.
The first edition of the Clinton Exponent began in 1873. The paper changed hands and the presses were moved to Perrysville in 1877 as the Perrysville Exponent. Soon the paper was returned to Clinton where it became the Western Indianian.
The first paper in the county was the Newsletter which started in 1837. The Banner, Vermillion Register and the Perrysville Republican were names under The Newsletter.
Numerous other papers have rolled off the presses, been sold, consolidated or called by a different name since the late 1800s, including the Tomahawk and the Scalping Knife (the name was quickly changed to the Democrat ), The Clinton Times, the Dana News , the Vermillion Democrat, the Record, the Vermillion County News, the Olive Branch, The