NEWSLETTER
of the North Manchester Historical Society, Inc.
VOLUME XV, NUMBER 1 (FEBRUARY, 1998)
A very early, if not the first telephone service in North Manchester was known as the Midland Telephone company with general offices in Chicago. A directory was printed in October 1882 by the Journal. This company's exchange was above Dr. F. S. Kitson's office The general manager was S. A. Argerbright. All subscribers had one or two number identification. Here is the total directory:
16 Argerbright, S. A., Residence
15 Arnold, Jesse, Manchester Bank
12 Brookover, W. L., Grocery
14 Barsh & Sala, Drug Store
32 Beauchamp, A. G., Residence
30 C.W. & M. Depot
9 Clemans, B. F., Office
13 Dunbar, Scott, Heading Factory
20 Eichholtz, P. & V. Planing Factory
4 Frame & Son, Hardware
44 Goshorn, D. A., Residence
43 Grimes, R. R., Hotel
3 Good, John, Saloon
41 Hoover, J. C., Hotel
7 Hopkins, S. V., Journal
38 Jennings, J. M., Grocery
22 Johnson, C. D. Livery
25 Kircher, Mrs. N. E. Residence
35 Leonard & Leonard, Grocery
33 Lower, M.O., Dr., Residence
45 Lawrence, G.W., Eel River V. Bank
34 Mills, H. Grocery
6 Martin, J. J., Residence
40 Monfort, J. Residence
8 Milliron, J. C., Residence
21 Noftzger, L. J., Hardware
48 Noftzger, L. J., Residence
49 Noftzger & Baker, Brickyard
28 Russel, L., Barber Shop
17 Schoolcraft, R. A., Residence
39 Sexton, S. Residence
31 Strauss & Shock, Mill
17 Strauss & Shock, Feed Store
26 Summerland & Mishler, Meat Market
36 Slusser, A., Restaurant.
50 Sellers, A. Residence
5 Stayer, W. H.
l Winton, Drs., Office
23 Winton, C. H. Residence
29 Winton, H. Residence
46 Wallace, J. R., Residence
24 W., St. L. & P.R. R. and Telegraph
One of the very early telephone companies to be formed in Indiana was the Rex telephone company of North Manchester owned by a person of that name. A charter was granted October 2, 1894 and the first line was put into operation between Wabash and North Manchester February 14, 1895. A competitor, the Eel River, was organized in 1901. Bertha Staver (later Guinnupp) was an early operator in North Manchester and later became the first operator in the Urbana exchange backed by her father, Emanuel. By 1907 Mr Staver had disposed of the Urbana exchange and bought the Rex of North Manchester company.
In March of 1920 the Eel River telephone company filed a request with the state board of public utilities for an increase in rates in North Manchester and Sidney. The rate for residences had been $l.50.
Here are the new rates on condition that payment is made before the 10th of the month:
Individual line, business$2.50, Party line, business2.25, Individual line, residence1.60, Party line, residence1.50, Individual line, rurall.75, Party line, rurall.50, Business extensions.75, Residence extensions.50.
The statement filed with the request showed a deficit for the previous year of $490. The only salaried officer of the company was the manager who received $1200. The value of the plant is listed as $85,000, and a new switchboard to be installed soon was valued at $25,000.
That new switchboard arrived and was put into the building January 12, 1921.
The JOURNAL said, "The Board is one of the most modern to be had, and will, it is said, correct many of the difficulties that has been encountered with the present board which has been overloaded. This with the underground cables that have been put into use this summer will greatly increase the service of the company."
Five years later the "only salaried officer" Lewis Signs left the company.
The JOURNAL headline said GOING TO QUIT AFTER 60 YEARS. The article said,
"Lewis Signs announced yesterday that he was going to quit work next week. He is not just sure what day it will be, but it is to be some time early in the week, and for once in his life he expects to get up jobless. He has been connected with the Eel River telephone company since 1901, working from that time until 1904 on the outside lines, and since 1904 he has been in charge as manager. Now at only 79 years of age he has concluded he is going to quit work for a few days, and yesterday flatly refused an offer for a new job to start early next week. There are few men who have been in steady service in North Manchester any longer than Mr. Signs. He came into town when but little more than a boy, going to work for George Lawrence, and has constantly been in business since that time, serving four years as postmaster. Now after only a little more than sixty years of active work he turns squarely around and says he is going to be jobless for awhile and see how it goes."
In May of 1926 permission was granted by the Indiana public service commission for the A & M Telephone company to purchase the Eel River Telephone company and the North Manchester Telephone company and to operate them with the Akron exchange. The petition had been filed in January and the A & M company had asked permission to abandon the North Manchester or Rex exchange and combine their business with the Eel River group.
The incorporators of the A & M company are Frank J. Zimmerman, Howard C. John, Valentine Lidecker and Horace Larrew. The total value of the properties this new company is seeking to buy is $236,329. The North Manchester company is valued at $15,000 and the Akron company $50,335, the Disko & Laketon company at $25,040. Then the A. & M. company proposes to sell $115,000 of its preferred stock to buy the Eel River and North Manchester companies.
The total capital stock to be issued is $375.000 - $200,000 in common stock at $100 a share and $115,000 in preferred stock at $100 a share paying 6 1/2 per cent interest. The main office is to be in North Manchester.
Many school children and adults of this area are familiar with the story of Francis Slocum who was stolen from her home near Wilkes Barre Pennsylvania in November of 1778 and was discovered in her Indian home near Peru, Indiana in 1835 by George W. Ewing, an Indian trader. Mr. Ewing concluded that he would write to someone in Middle Pennsylvania in hopes that something would be published. He wrote to Lancaster but the owner of the paper there did not take the matter seriously and merely threw the letter in a stack of old papers.
About two years later when a new owner of the paper discovered the letter he published it and an inhabitant of Wilkes Barre and friend of the Slocum family sent a copy to Joseph Slocum, a brother of Francis. Soon Mr. Ewing received a letter from Jonathan - son of Joseph which said in part:
"We have received, but a few days since, a letter written by you to a gentleman in Lancaster... upon a subject of deep and intense interest to our family. How the matter should have lain so long wrapped in obscurity, we can not conceive. An aunt of mine-sister of my father -was taken away when five years old by the Indians, and since then we have had only vague and indistinct rumors upon the subject. Your letter we deem to have entirely revealed the whole matter, and set everything at rest. The description is so perfect and the incidents ... so correct that we feel confident."
"Steps will be taken immediately to investigate the matter, and we will endeavor to do all in our power to restore a lost relative who has been sixty years in Indian bondage."
Joseph Slocum, Mary Town, a sister, and Isaac Slocum, a brother came to Peru and went to Francis family home. From HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY by John H Stephens 1896 we have this description of the meeting:
"They had been searching for sixty years, had made long journeys, had offered large rewards, had enlisted the services and sympathy of traders and trappers, and now when they were all quite old, they were to meet the object of their long, long search! When they saw the venerable Indian queen, the brothers were overwhlemed with emotion, the sister wept. The long lost sister was perfectly indifferent, iron-hearted, cold as an iceberg. Long years among the Indians had made her thus. She had been taught to be suspicious of the whites. She said her father's name was Slocum, a Quaker, wore a broad brimmed hat, and lived on a great river near a fort; that she had seven brothers and two sisters; that her finger nail had been hammered off by her brother. This settled it. Here was the dear, little Frances, that they had pictured in their mind's eye thousands of times. She would say very little because she did not like the interpreter, Mr. Miller. At another time however, a colored man, who lived on the east end of the reservation, came to the house to interpret for a man who came to buy some stock. Through this colored man, she was induced to tell her whole story."
"...on the next Sunday, she, her two daughters and her son-in-law Brouillette, rode into town in Indian style and met the party... But before any intimacy would be established between the two parties, it was necessary, according to Indian custom, to give and receive a pledge of friendship. The oldest daughter of Frances presented a package wrapped in a clean, white cloth. This act was performed in a very solemn and formal manner, and according to instructions from the interpreter, Mrs. Town received it in the same manner. When the cloth was removed, it was found that the package contained a hind quarter of a deer, which was probably hunted for the occasion...."
The brothers urged Frances to return with them, offering to share with her all they had but she said,
"No, I can not. I have always lived with the Indians; they have always used me kindly; I am used to them. The Great Spirit has always allowed me to live with them, and I wish to live and die with them. Your looking-glass may be larger than mine, but this is my home. I do not wish to live any better, or anywhere else, and I think the Great Spirit has permitted me to live so long because I have always lived with the Indians. I should have died sooner if I had left them. On his dying bed my husband charged me not to leave the Indians. I have a house and large lands, two daughters, a son-inlaw, three grand children, and everything to make me comfortable; why should I go, and be like a fish out of water?"
"They then asked her to make a visit to her early home. She replied: "I can not. I can not. I am an old tree. I was a sapling when they took me away. It is all gone past. I am afraid that I should die and never come back. I am happy here. I should not be happy with my white relatives. I am glad enough to see them, but I can not go."
"Joseph Slocum was not satisfied with his first visit and in September, 1839 he, with his youngest and oldest daughters....made another visit. This time Frances received her relatives with more warmth and talked more freely... they learned the whole story of her life."
The captivity as Frances told it: "Three Delaware Indians came suddenly to our house. They killed and scalped a man by the door. A boy ran into the house and he and I hid under the stair case. The Indians came into the house and up stairs. They took some loaf sugar and some bundles of other things.
They carried us through the bushes. I looked back, but saw no one except my mother. They carried us over the mountains -it seemed to me a long way-to a cave where they had left their blankets and some other things. There was a bed of leaves and there we lay all night. We reached this place while it was yet light. I was very tired, and I lay down on the ground and cried until I fell asleep.
"The next morning we set off early, and we traveled many days in the woods before we came to an Indian village. When we stopped at night, the Indians would make a bed of hemlock boughs, and make up a great fire at their feet which would last all night. They roasted their meat by sticking a stick into it and holding it to the fire. They drank at the brooks and springs, and made me a little cup of birch bark to drink out of. The Indians were very kind to me; when they had anything to eat, I always had the best; when I was tired, they carried me in their arms; and in a short time I began to feel much better and stopped crying. I do not know where the Indian village was at which we first stopped; we only staid there a few days.
"Very early one morning two of the same Indians took a horse, and set the boy and me on it, and set off upon a journey. One Indian went before and the other behind driving the horse. We traveled a long way when we came to the village where these Indians belonged. I now found that one of them was an Indian chief whom they called Tuck-horse. I do not know what that name means. Early one morning, Tuck-horse took me and dressed my hair in the Indian fashion and painted my face. He then dressed me up and put on me beautiful wampum beads and made me look very fine. I was much pleased with the wampum. We then lived on a hill not far from a river, and I remember, he took me by the hand and led me down to the river side to a house where lived an old man and woman. They had once several children but now they were all gone-either killed in battle or died very young. When the Indians thus lose all their children they often adopt some new child as their own and treat it in all respects as their own. This is the reason they often carry away the children of white people. I was brought to these old peoople to have them adopt me if they would. They seemed unwilling at first, but after Tuck-horse talked to them awhile, they agreed to it and this was my home.
"It was now the fall of the year, for chestnuts had come. There were a great many Indians here, and here we remained all winter. The Indians were furnished with ammunition and provisions by the British. We went from Niagara to near Detroit, where we lived three years. My adopted father made chairs, which he sold; he also played on the fiddle, and frequently went into the white settlements and played and received pay for it. My adopted mother made baskets and brooms, which she sold. The British made them presents of ammunition and food, which they had to go after in the night.
"In the spring we went down to a large river-Detroit river-where the Indians built a great many bark canoes. When they were finished we went up Detroit river, where we remained three years.
"There had been war between the British and Americans, and the American army had driven the Indians away from around the fort where I was adopted. In their fights the Indians use to bring home scalps. I don't know how many. When peace was made between the British and Americans, we lived by hunting, fishing and raising corn. The reason why we staid here so long was that we heard the Americans had destroyed all our villages and corn fields.
"After three years, my family and another Delaware family removed to Ft. Wayne, after Wayne's victory. I do not know where the other Indians went. This was now my home and we lived there thirty years I suppose. We lived on Eel river, not far from Ft. Wayne. I was there at the time of Harmer's defeat. At the time of this defeat the women and children were all made to run north. I do not know whether the Indians took any prisoners or brought home any scalps at this time. After the battle they all scattered and returned to their homes. I then returned to Ft. Wayne again. The Indians who returned from this battle were Delawares, Pottawattomies, Shawnees and Miamis.
"I was always treated kindly by the Delawares; and while I lived with them I was married to a Delaware by the name of Little Turtle. He afterwards left me and went west of the Mississippi. I would not go with him. My old mother staid here, and I chose to stay with her. My adopted father could talk English, and so could I while he lived. It has been a long time since I forgot it all.
"The Delawares and Miamis were then living together as one.
Daniel U. Funderburg a well-known resident of Pleasant township, Wasbash county, was born in Huntington county, January 20, 1853. He was the fifth of a family of nine children born to Jacob and Christian (Ulrich) Funderburg. The father was born near New Carlisle, Clark county, Ohio and died at his home near Laketon, Ind., in November, 1896.
In 1867 Jacob Funderburg brought his family to Wabash county, He was a minister of the German Baptist Church. The mother was born on what was known as Nettle creek near Hagerstown, Ind. and died near Laketon in November, 1894.
Daniel U. Funderburg is (was) a gentleman of liberal education who for many years was recognized as one of the most proficient teachers of Wabash county. He took up the profession of teaching at the early age of eighteen years and his work as an educator was always that of a most skillful, painstaking, conscientious teacher. He spent several terms in the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute preparing himself for his chosen vocation.
In the summer of 1878 Mr. Funderburg suffered a great affliction which materially changed his plans for life. From his early boyhood he had been afflicted with weakness of his eyes which was increased by the close application of his studious life. In the summer of 1878 he was overcome by the intense heat, and as a result of this calamity he became totally blind.
He entered the state school for the blind at Indianapolis, where he remained for three years completing a thorough course of instruction in that excellent institution. On returning to his home he again resumed his place in the schoolroom. He was eminently successful, parents, pupils and school officials being untiring in their words of praise for his work. His last position was that of superintendent of the Laketon schools which position he filled to the entire satisfaction of all until he was obliged to resign on account of failing health.
While Mr. Funderburg was teaching in the Laketon schools his reputation far and wide as a successful teacher brought visitors from distant cities to see the work of this blind teacher, who was so proficient in school management as well as instruction, and many a young teacher on the verge of despair and utter failure has been encouraged to strive for higher attainments by the example of the blind teacher of Laketon.
In 1891 Mr Funderburg was elected the first president of the Alumni Association of the State School for the Blind.
Mr. Funderburg was united in marriage August 7, 1884 to Miss Carrie T. Patterson at the residence of Albert E. Ebbinghous in North Manchester. Five children have been born to the union, four of whom are living: Stella C., Lawrence J., Helen, and Truth. Mrs. Funderburg is the daughter of Joseph and Mary or Estella (McFarren} Patterson and was born at Liberty Mills.
After Mr. Funderburg retired from teaching in 1885 he engaged in farming and fruit growing with the help of a hired man. He has been successful and has prospered notwithstanding the disadvantages which he has had to overcome.
Daniel's daughter, Helen once wrote in a letter "My father Daniel....lost his sight when a very young man, as a result of sunstroke after working too long and strenuously in my grandfather's harvest fields.....Even before I started to school he taught me the Braille alphabet so that I could aid him with my eyes when there were indistinct dots which his finger-tips could not discern."
The letters Daniel wrote home when he was attending the school for the blind carried no hint of self pity or defeat. But another letter written to a cousin contains his true feelings. It was in his own handwriting and was hard to read as the words and lines are uneven and sometimes overlapped.
"Levi Ulrich -
My dear cousin: The feelings that come over me as I take up my pencil to try to answer your letter are indescribable. When I think of you I think of you not as a young man just blooming into manhood, but as the rosy checked boy that you were when I last saw you only a few years ago. Only a few years, but what changes those few years have wrought! They have made a man of you, but a wreck of me.
As you are now, I was then; young and vigorous with life and bright prospects before me. My, how different is my condition now. Two years and eight months will soon have passed since I last looked upon the beautiful earth and sky, or beheld a human face. And now, as I try to write to you, I do so without being able to see this sheet or the hand that holds the pencil. The thousands of beautiful things which surround you -perhaps almost unnoticed-live in my memory like the things of some beautiful fairy land. If you never become blind you will never know how beautiful the earth and the sky are, or how great a blessing the sense of sight is. I believe it is impossible to appreciate such a blessing without being first deprived of it.
When I think of all that has happened to me within the past two years it all seems so strange and unnatural-my thoughts become bewildered and I sometimes almost wonder if it is not all a strange dream. May you never be blind! Perhaps it may seem unmanly to you for me to speak of my affliction as I have done. Do not imagine from what I have said that I have given up the struggle of life, for that is not so. Great as my disadvantages are, I hope still to be able to do something in the world-still believing that one's success in life cannot be estimated by what one does, without knowing the advantages one has had....."
Letter from DESCENDANTS OF JACOB AND EVE(BOONE) FUNDERBURGH by Alvin K. Funderburg
These items of construction were accomplished:
Removal of front half of the first layer of flooring boards revealed the original floor boards had been painted which, in turn, outlined the position of the original wall locations and stairway location.
Removed and replaced in the original location, the stairway to the second floor. The railing spindle's original location were discovered by locating the holes in the original floor boards and were replaced accordingly. Both railing and spindles in some locations had to be reproduced to match existing.
New walls have been framed in their original locations in the Entry and Living Room.
The exterior wood siding for the most part has been completed and some of the windows have been restored. New wood siding that was installed last summer was prime painted this fall.
There is low heat in the building and it will be maintained as necessary.
Items still to be done:
In the back half of the house the rest of the newer floor boards must to removed. It is hoped that this will reveal the rest of the original wall locations.
Portions of the second floor must be replaced and/or renewed where the stairway was taken out and framing must be stabilized.
Front door assembly and side lights installed and restored.
All plaster walls and ceilings except for observation areas to be removed.
All floors sanded and refinished, stairway stripped and refinished, and wall paneling, wainscoting and trim stripped and refinished.
Painting inside and outside completed.
We thank Joe Kitchel for his restoration work and Steve Batska for helpful consultation. The Boy Scouts and Robert Pittman deserve special thanks for their scraping and painting and Mr. Taylor for the use of his woodworking shop and tools in recreating and matching existing stairway parts and other wood trim. This has saved the Historical Society hundreds of dollars in millwork costs.
Bittinger: Can you tell us a little bit about your experience in printing books? Where did you do the first one and what kind of costs were involved?
Shultz: In those days printing was reasonable. Now it's gone sky-high. My daughter reprinted these two recently and the cost is up almost 50% over what it was. I used to sell this book at $4.00. Now it's $6.00 I found out that right near to us at Winona is a firm that I could get to in thirty minutes. I made many, many trips to carry copy there to get them started and then to go back to correct it and finally to pay the bill and pick up the books. I've been interested in that all my life. I never thought I'd be a publisher but I have seen 25 books go through the press.
Bittinger: In reprinting books, were you able to make it economically?
Shultz: Some were subsidized. The Camp Mack book was done for the camp. It never paid out and we never expected it to. There's still a few of them around.. I go up and get a package once in a while and there's still about eighty up there. I give them away. I want something to tell the story of Camp Mack. This year my plan has been that I print a little card saying what the book is about, when and where it will be published, how many pages, whether it's illustrated or not, then give them the price and tell them if they want it they can let me know ahead of time. That's the way to do it if you want to be sure. Now these books here -I had them all taken care of before they came off the press.
So I didn't print many more than I had subscribed. But I wish now that I had. Several books are now in demand. I have two of my own autobiography left and the other day I dug up a couple more of the Schwarzenau book.
Bittinger: You've also been a great collector of books. How did that start?
Shultz: I don't know when I started collecting books. The first fiction I read I found in my father's library -as book I would never had expected to find there. In those days you weren't supposed to read fiction. I found in our home library THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS by Cooper. That just thrilled me and I read every book that I could find by Cooper after that -THE SPY, LEATHERSTOCKING tales and many other. Then I began to collect books on my own. I've got some of my old school books here. I wouldn't take anything for them.
Bittinger: How many books do you think you've had?
Shultz: I haven't the least idea. I had a wonderful sale and before the sale I disposed of many books by porch sales and private sale to people who wanted some. One Japanese Mennonite wanted all the books the Brethren had ever printed. He wanted to take them to the Tokyo University Library where he has the Brethren books in one section, the Friends books in another and the Mennonite books in another. And so I sold him about an even $l,000 worth of books.
My father had a library, just a bookcase, about three or four shelves. My daughter has it now in her home. I think I'm going to ask, if she will, to put on one of the shelves some of my old books.. This is my old fifth reader It's one of the greatest inspirations of my life. Here's my HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE by Hallecks and here's Vander Matthews' HISTORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE. These three books did more for me in the field of literature than any other in my experience.
These were my personal books that I used in school - high school or common school These books are beyond anything being taught today in public school. We had some of the very best in the field of poetry and literature and history for children to learn. We were required to memorize a lot of it. Can you quote "The Day is Done" or "Rainy Day"? I could go on and on. When I taught here in the Academy or in the normal school at the College I required my students to learn poetry.
I taught a course in Chief American Poets one time and I announced the first day that I would require them to learn two eight line sections from each of nine poets. That would be about 144 lines. I so stunned the class that some of them went out saying, "We'll never come back!" But some did and now they're saying, "I'm glad we did," They had never committed poetry before.
To be continued in May, 1998 Newsletter.