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Source: NMHS Newsletter Aug 1994
Wabash County History- Chester Township
Materials in this issue are taken from History of
Wabash County Indiana 1884
T. B Helm Author & Editor. Everything in this issue
comes from the section on Chester Township which was
prepared by Mr. L. H. Newton.
Chester Township is situated in the northeast corner of
Wabash County and comprises an area of about sixty-six
square miles. Kosciusko County bounds it on the north.
Whitley and Huntington Counties on the east, Lagro
Township on the South, and Paw Paw and Pleasant
Townships on the west. . . .
In the southeast portion of the township, a large tract
of land was returned by the surveyors as "swamp land"
and for many years was passed by ... by those in search
of homes, under the belief that it was comparatively
worthless; but after the more eligible tracts had been
taken up, this locality was settled by an industrious,
energetic colony, mostly of German birth, who, by a
system of artificial drainage, have transformed the
"Bear Swamp" into a beautiful and fertile region.
Eel River is the principal water-course of the township.
Entering at the
north part, it flows in a southwesterly direction,
passing on its way the
towns of Liberty Mills and North Manchester .... Its
confluent streams inthis township are Simonton Creek in
the northern part, and Pony Creek, which flows from the
southeast part, joining the river near Manchester. Bear
Grass Creek has its source in the southern portion of
the township, and, flowing west, forms a confluence with
the river in Pleasant Township.
Pony Creek perpetuates by its name a legend of the early
days, though in
later years it almost lost its identity in the name "Ogan's
Creek," which was attached to it in memory of the man
who built the first mill upon its banks,and as a kind of
compromise it now bears both names -- "Ogan's Creek"
extending from Manchester for several miles up stream,
and "Pony Creek" being recognized as the correct name
from that point to the source. The legend runs to the
effect that in the very early years, when there were but
few white settlers in this portion of Indiana, and the
lands of Chester Township were still roamed by their
original possessors - the Miamis - a band of white
desperadoes organized under the leadership of one Wicks,
to steal the poniesof the Indians. Their plan was
successful for awhile but in the end the band was
dispersed, and their leader, it is supposed, met the
well-merited reward of his crime.
Knowing of a place to which the ponies were attracted by
luxuriant
vegetation, they constructed a trap,... from which it
was next to impossible for the animals to escape after
once entering, and after securing them the robbers would
seclude them in a pen constructed for that purpose ...
until they could dispose of them. The outlaws, it is
said, had their headquarters in a hut on the farm (later
owned by Lewis Dailey in Section 20). Within a few
years, however, the pioneers, good and law-abiding
citizens, began to make this an unfavorable locality for
such nefarious proceedings, and to add to the
discomfiture of the gang, the Indians finally discovered
their mode of operation, and on several occasions
pursued them very closely, though it is believed they
never came upon them.
By a treaty with the Miami Indians the lands south of
Eel River passed to thepossession of the U.S. Government
and were made subject to entry by settlers in 1828 or
1829. Capitalists, with an eye to the future
appreciation in values, entered large tracts of these
public lands at the nominal price established by the
Government ($l.25 per acre). and held them unimproved
until the demand of later years would enable them to
realize a handsome profit upon their investment. These
men, while their names are coupled with the earliest
dates on the record of entries, were never settlers, and
as a matter of fact retarded the settlement of the
township to some extent.
Persons in search of land would visit this locality,
and, upon finding the
tracts they desired already entered, they would purchase
and locate where
land was still to be obtained at the government price.
Thus, while there
were a few who settled in the township prior to 1836,
the majority of
pioneers came after that date.
Probably the first white settler within the present
limits of the township was a man by the name of Brewer
who came in December, 1833, and located near the present
site of North Manchester. He remained here during that
winter, but in the following spring removed to Wabash,
where, it is said, he kept a boarding house for the
accommodation of the workmen on the Wabash & Erie Canal,
then under construction.
The real settlement of the township began with the
advent of Col. Richard
Helvy, in March, 1834. His was a lonely life,
notwithstanding the fact
that his family was with him in his isolated home. He
had no neighbors but the Indians and wolves, with either
or both of whom he would have parted without regret had
his own inclinations been consulted. And as far as his
eye could reach, a dense growth of timber confronted
him, reaching almost to the very door of his little
cabin.
In September, 1834, he was joined by a neighbor, James
Abbott, whose name is quite as prominently linked with
the settlement and improvement of the township as that
of its first settler. Not a great distance intervened
between their respective locations. Col. Helvy located
on the bank of Eel River about a mile northeast of North
Manchester, and Mr. Abbott located on the same stream
about two miles above the present site of Liberty Mills.
In that period of sparsely settled neighborhoods these
few miles were thought little of, and the Helvys and
Abbotts were intimate friends as well as "near
neighbors". Together they undertook the task of hewing
out farms from the surrounding wilderness, and for years
afterward they were hand-in-hand in the public
improvements of the
township.
Col. Helvy was a native of Virginia, but removed to
Indiana at an early day,
locating near Indianapolis. In 1831 or 1832, he removed
to La Gro in Wabash County and was engaged in
agricultural pursuits at that point until his removal to
Chester Township. Here he cleared and improved a large
farm of more than a hundred acres, and for a number of
years was devoted to its cultivation. In later year,
however, he removed to North Manchester and kept hotel
on the corner of Main and Walnut streets. He died at a
ripe old age, having lived to see the forest transformed
into a thriving farming community, and to witness the
many changes and improvements that followed in the tread
of the pioneer army.
James Abbott was a native of South Carolina, and a man
whose early life
developed within him those qualities of self reliance
and energy which are so essentially a part of the "make
up" of the true pioneer. Left an orphan at a tender age,
he was bound out to a slave-holder, from whom he
afterward escaped, on account of severe treatment, and
made his way to North Carolina.
From that time he knew he must depend upon himself
alone, and through various vicissitudes he fought his
way to manhood. About the year 1800, he removed to Ohio,
and was subsequently a soldier under Gen. Wayne in his
campaigns against the Indians. In August, 1834 he came
to Wabash County, and entered a tract of land on Eel
River, upon which he located. Here he cleared and
improved a large farm to the cultivation ofwhich he gave
his attention for many years. He died in 1867 at the age
of
ninety- one years.
Before the close of 1834 two other settlers, with their
families, joined in
the work of improvement, and both were prominently
identified with the
history of the township. These were John and Peter Ogan.
The former located on the south side of Eel River, not
far from North Manchester and erected a rude corn mill
on the bank of the creek which bears his name. Peter
Ogan settled within the corporate limits of North
Manchester. He erected a flouring and saw mill on the
bank of Eel River and was engaged in various enterprises
during the period of his residence in this community. In
later years, however, he sold his interests here and
removed to another locality.
Early in 1835, John Simonton came to unite his fortunes
with those of the
little colony in the woods. Pushing his way up Eel River
in a boat that
contained himself, his family and his household goods,
he disembarked andproceeded to the place which he had
settled for a home. He cleared and
improved a large farm, and was long identified with the
history of the
township. Henry Strickler came in February, 1836, and
located on the south bank of Eel River about a mile
below North Manchester. He cleared and improved a fine
farm, and lived to a ripe old age.
In September, 1836, Joseph Harter came from Montgomery
County, Ohio, and located within the corporate limits of
North Manchester. He purchased alarge tract of land,
comprising several hundred acres. Upon that portion of
it lying along the river, and within thirty yards of the
later Strauss and
Shock Flouring Mill, he erected a little grist mill in
1839. Mr. Harter was
a prominent citizen, and up to the time of his death was
conspicuously
identified with the material interests of the township.
His sons, Jacob and Joseph B. were later representatives
of the mercantile interests of the town.
Mr. Harter was followed, in the fall of 1836, by his
son, Eli Harter, Daniel Swank and Michael Knoop. Eli
Harter located in North Manchester, and erected the
second house in the town. Daniel Swank located about two
and a half miles north of North Manchester, where he
cleared a farm, and was engaged in its cultivation until
his decease. Mr. Knoop located near the line of
Kosciusko County, in the northeast quarter of Section
20, and cultivated his farm until death. He was a
prominent and highly respected citizen, and was
identified with many of the improvements of his day.
During the years of 1837 and 1838, immigration
progressed rapidly, and many new families joined the
settlement. Among this number were William Willis, Asa
Beauchamp, William Thorn and Mahlon Grame, all of whom
settled in North Manchester and were associated with the
early mercantile interest of the town. William Bickel
and Michael Kircher located southwest of North
Manchester, and Rudolph Krisher about a mile south.
Anthony Clever came about the same time, and cleared a
farm south of town, but in later years returned to his
former home in Pennsylvania.
Allan Halderman came in 1838 and settled on a tract of
land adjoining the
town of North Manchester on the east, and Abram R.
Switzer came in the same year and located in North
Manchester where he established the first cabinet shop
in the town. Gabriel Swihart came in 1839 and located
two miles north of town where he cleared and improved a
farm. He served one term as Representative in the
Legislature of Indiana and was a prominent citizen. He
died in Kosciusko County.
While North Manchester and its immediate vicinity were
being rapidly settle, a similar colonization was taking
place about two miles up the river. The land upon which
the town of Liberty Mills now stands was purchased by
James Abbott, who shortly afterward sold that portion of
his estate to a Mr. McBride, it being stipulated that
Mr. McBride should erect therein a grist mill. In 1836
John Comstock came to the township, and McBride sold the
land to him, transferring with it the obligation which
he had failed to fulfill.
Perhaps none of the early settlers of the township were
more widely known or more prominently identified with
its interests than Mr. Comstock. He was a man of great
enterprise and fine business qualifications and the
history of Liberty Mills and its various interests bear
the impress of his identity. He was at one time the
proprietor of a saw mill, a grist mill, a distillery,
store, carding mill, giving his personal attention to
each, and at the sametime serving as President of the
North Manchester & LaGro Plank Road. The saw mill was
erected in 1837, with the view of sawing and preparing
the timber for the framing of the fouring mill which was
erected the following year. About ten years later, he
erected the woolen or carding mill, five rods south of
the present race bridge and about the year 1839 erected
the distillery. Of these enterprises more will be said
in another part of this chapter.
In 1837 Mr. Comstock laid out the town of Liberty Mills
and upon one of the lots he erected a frame house in
which he placed a stock of general
merchandise and was engaged in mercantile pursuits until
1861. During his life he was identified with nearly all
of the public improvements and was frequently chosen to
fill positions of honor and trust. In 1846 he was
elected Probate Judge and in 1858 was the Representative
from this county in the State Legislature. About the
year 1855 he introduced the first herd of short-horn
cattle into the county and in the years that followed
was activelyengaged in the breeding of fine stock. At
his death $5000 were realized from the sale of his herd
at public vendue, from which an idea of their
superiority may be gained. Mr. Comstock came to the
township when its entire population was perhaps not more
than half a dozen families. But he lived to see it grow
into a populous and wealthy community and died in a good
old age.
Among his neighbors who came shortly after the date of
his own arrival, were John W. Stephens and Lewis J.
Long. Mr. Stephens was the first Justice ofthe Peace
elected in the township and Mr. Long served later in
that capacity holding the office by repeated elections
for well-nigh forty years. Bryant Fannin was also among
the settlers of 1837, and Maurice Place, Isaac Place,
John W. Williams and Clark Williams came in the same
year.
The settlement of the southern and southeastern portions
of the township
began at a later date from the fact that much of the
land in those localities was owned by speculators and it
was not until after the Government land remaining unsold
had all been taken up that these lands began to find
purchasers. Among the first who located in this portion
of the township was Andrew Freshour, who came in 1840 or
41. Shortly afterward Mr. Hoffman settled near him and
Peter Wright located in Section 27 in 1845. In 1847,
Jacob Misener located in Section 27 and during the next
two years came William Ensley, John Shippen, John Hogan,
John Bush, Rankin Hoover, Peter Honius, William Honius,
Samuel Mowrer Jacob Wright and others. Curtis Pauling
located on a farm in1853 but had been a citizen of the
township for ten years engaged in mercantile pursuits in
North Manchester.
Among the early settlers locating in the "Bear Swamp"
and its vicinity prior to 1836 were Caleb Antrim and
George Dillon. In October, 1837 came Jesse Jenks; also
Fleming and James Ayers and their widowed mother; Thomas
Gilmore, too, at the same time settled on Section 18.
Soon thereafter came Michael Burk, who located about one
mile east of the Jenks settlement and in 1838 Payton
Daniels located about two miles south of said
settlement. Jonathon Hamilton and Stephen Jenks came
together in 1840. Following these came Alfred and Enos
Hornady who about 1841 located respectively on Sections
19 and 25.
Samuel Ridgley came about two years later and Cornelius
Wilson came about1849. Nathan Hiland, Henry Howenstein,
Hiram Filson, Enoch Harter and Lewis Harter came during
1850 and 51. Jacob Scheerer came in the fall of 1854,
andlocated in Section 30 and Frederick Rickert came in
the same season and located on the land adjoining
Scheerer on the north. John Burkhart, Frederick Walter,
Mr. Fishley and Xavier Sell came during the late fall of
1854, while Justus Gemmer and others came in 1855.
Thus within a period of but little more than twenty
years the settlement which began along the banks of Eel
River had become diffused over sixty-six square miles of
territory, and in every quarter of the township was
heard the ring of the pioneer's ax mingled with the
sounds of the giant trees as they fell to give place to
the cleared fields that everywhere blossomed in the
heart of the wilderness. Game of all descriptions still
ran wild in the forests and venison was the most popular
meat on the daily bill of fare. So plentiful were the
deer at that time that the problem of meat was not a
serious one to a good marksman. Wolves made night
hideous by their howls, to such an extent that the
settlers were often robbed of their much needed rest. A
war of extermination was decided upon and, at first,
carried on singly. But afterward concerted action was
taken and the settlers from miles around would join in a
wolf hunt and surround a swamp or other known rendezvous
of the marauders, sending in men and hounds to "beat the
bush" and scare the game from its lair. It was pretty
sure to run within range of a trusty rife in the hands
of a deadly foe, and by frequent repetitions of this
sport the settlers were ultimately rid of their
disagreeable neighbors and their sheep and pigs slept
undisturbed. At one of the hunts in 1849, seven wolves
were killed in one afternoon.
To be continued....
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Source: NMHS Newsletter Nov 1994
Wabash County History- Chester Township
Continued from August 94
Materials in this issue are taken from History of Wabash
County Indiana 1884
T. B Helm Author & Editor. Everything in this issue
comes from the section on Chester Township which was
prepared by Mr. L. H. Newton.
During the first twenty years succeeding the period at
which the settlement of this township began, great
changes took place in the general aspect of the country
and important public improvements were instituted and
carried out. The nearest grist mill was forty miles
distant on Turkey Creek, in Elkhart County, and to this
point the first settlers were compelled to carry their
grain to have it ground into flour or meal. It was
probably in the year 1837 that John Ogan erected a
little mill on the bank of Oga n's Creek, but it was a
small affair and in all its appointments it was
primitive in the extreme. He did not attempt to make
flour, and his mill did not rise above the dignity of a
"corn cracker." Still, while it was the only mill in
this region, it served a very useful purpose In 1839,
Joseph Harter erected near the later site of the Strauss
& Shock Mill, the first flouring mill in the
neighborhood. Originally it had but two run of buhrs,
one for wheat and the other for corn, while the corn
buhrs were simply large boulders...taken from the river
and dressed down. In 1843, however, Mr. Harter remodeled
his mill, increasing its capacity, and making it equal
to the best mills of that period. Saw mills were among
the industries early established, and filled an
important place in the community. The first was erected
about the year 1838 by Peter Ogan, very near the later
site of the Clapp & Jacobs Saw Mill, in the south part
of Manchester, and on the bank of Eel River. Some time
subsequently, Mr. Ogan added a ru n of buhrs and
conducted a limited gristmill trade. In later years,
after several changes of ownership, this mill was
purchased by J.B. & J. Harter and soon afterward ceased
to exist. Damages were entailed upon surrounding
property by the dam at this mill k, and it was purchased
by the brothers Harter with the express intention of
abating the nuisance peaceably. Another saw mill was
that built in 1839 by Anthony Clever at the mouth of a
small creek about half a mile west of John Heeter's
residence. At Liberty Mills some time in 1837, John
Comstock erected a saw mill, and at this place sawed and
dressed the lumber for a large flouring mill which he
erected at that point in the following year. A carding
mill and distillery soon followed and the incipient town
of Liberty Mills began to wear a look of industry and
importance. The flouring mill drew its trade from a
Sradius of sixty miles around and enjoyed a lucrative
share of the public patronage. GIn 1850, Mr. Comstock
erected a new mill building, removing the carding
machinery to the former flouring mill building, and
conducting a profitable trade in the carding of wool for
his neighbors within a circuit of forty miles or more.
Latterly, however, the woolen mill was destroyed by fire
and was never rebuilt. The flouri ng mill stands about
twenty rods south of the building originally erected for
that purpose. Until 1866 Mr. Comstock continued to
operate it, but in that year sold it to C. T. Banks and
Co. The distillery was erected in 1839 and, in the
language of one of the sons of the proprietor, "it was a
flourishing and damnable enterprise." He would send his
sons with wagon loads of whisky to surrounding towns as
far as Mishawaka, Warsaw, and other pla ces. As the boys
grew up, however, each begged to be released from all
connection with the distillery and its products, a
request which was promptly granted. Gradually, Mr.
Comstock became impressed with the idea that the traffic
was of questionable prop riety, and said: "I will let
that distillery rot!" He had repeated offers for it, and
could have sold it to splendid advantage; but to all
these propositions his answer was a decided negative. So
the distillery remained inoperative until, in the
natural course of events, it crumbled to decay.
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