Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 34, Number 177, Decatur, Adams County, 27 July 1936 — Page 14

PAGE FOURTEEN

Johnsons Ax Blazes Tree

TELLS STORY OF SELECTING SITE OF COUNTY SEAT Son Os Pioneer Founder Relates Incidents Os One Hundred Years Ago (By FRENCH QUINN) There is no more interesting story in this history of Decatur than that which relates to the se- 1 lection of a site upon which to build the town of Decatur. Jacob W. Johnson, of Decatur, a few years ago related the incidents he [ had heard many times from his father John Johnson which had to j do with the actual choosing of the ■ location. But before we relate that ; remarkably interesting story let us go back in memory 100 years and see whether we can catch something of the spirit of the times of that day. I breathed the “atmosphere” of the early day and can shut my eyes and reconstruct scenes of. town and countryside, wade in memory through the bottomless mud of the highways and see the j smoke curling out of the mud and plaster chimneys built on the outside of the cabins. See the tiny bits of cultivated lands and the overwhelmdng acres of timber lands and the beauty and glory of, its magnificent trees. There is a Whale of a difference ' between the days of long ago in Adams County and Decatur at the present. About as much difference, j I presume, as between Decatur now and the skyline of New York and it was a long hard struggle i for the thousands upon thousands of people who have successfully lived, moved and had their being in this vicinity since that day in 1836 when old Samuel L. Rugg and his two companions accosted < Tommie Johnson as he sat on the j banks of the Kekionga river. That is a story worth telling. The elder Johnson, Thomas, was born in 1801 and moved into Adams county in the year 1833, having heard from travelers who come to his Ohio home that Adams county was a good place in which to locate. Johnson accordingly set out on his journey, following the I;

DECATUR —We Salute You!

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Such a celebration merits our best w ishes for success, and we are confident that the accomplishments of the past century, „ as depicted during Centennial Wall’s“deHdouslv tak! Week ’ wiH Serve aS an inspired breads and pastries, tion to greater deeds in the fuyou are missing some- tiirp • f J thing that is good. Try ’ ‘ ' ** - them once and you will say they’re excellent.... . it is our privilege to serve an increasing number of patrons with fine bread and baked goods. To them and to all our friends we extend a cordial invitation to inspect our modern location during Centennial Week. WALL’S BAKERY N. Second St. ' 1 Phone 346 DECATUR, IND. . ;

I trails and river to Pleasant Mills, ' which at that time was a little settlement, and struck off from there across country. He located what appealed to him as being a good place for a homestead, staked it, trumped to Fort Wayne and 1 J made his entrie and got his certificate und made a clearing und i erected his cabin. The place is still owned by his son, Jacob. At , that time Johnson's isolation was complete; Pleasant Mills was a ! small settlement on the river, Monmouth had a few souls and one store and a little larger settlement at Willshire, All traffic such as there was, was by the river. Supplies were barged by canal to Fort Wayne and salt and coffee were i boated from Fort Wayne up the I river to Monmouth and Pleasant Mills. Salt and coffee was the limit however, to the imports. These j I two necessities of course Johnson had to have and he had to come | I to the river and wait with patience i for the boat which made weekly \ trips very irregularly. Where Decatur is, and all the adjacent ter-1 ritory was a trackless forest, Johnson blazed a few trees to mark the trail from his cabin to the riv!er and his river object was the high bank at the foot of what is ; now Monroe street There was no other tree marking, blazes, as they were called, in the whole territory. The General Wayne trail made

A Long Way To Tipperary j

By J. H. HELLER What would you think, if you I had to go from here to WinchestI er to pay your taxes, attend court or look after other business usual to a county seat? That’s the way it was in 1819 when all this part of the state from Allen county to what is now Randolph was one county. And in those days about the only means of travel was by foot or on horse back. There were no trains, no motor cars, no busses, no airplanes. A few days ago the writer happened to be attending to business in the clerk’s office at Winchester and noticed on the counter, a history of Randolph county, written by E. Tucker and published in 1882, in which the following paragraph appeared: "When Indiana was admitted as a state (1816) Allen county was a part of Knox. The seat of justice

——a hundred years, and still going strong It is indeed a rare privilege to share in the celebration THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF A CENTURY in Adams County. One hundred years is a long time, and the efforts of pioneer citizens as we 11 as those of today are reflected i n the beautiful community in which we now live.

,jlong before by General Wayne and . • his soldiers on their march from . Winchester to Fort Wayne und | known as the Winchester trail, ’ but that had been only of such a nature as to let the army wagons and guns through and was long I since almost obliterated. One day Johnson was sitting on the bank of the Suint Marys river on the ■spot where the Monroe street river bridge now stands, waiting for the supply boat with its tiny cargo of salt and coffee to come, having waited for hours and yet no boat in sight, when four men on horseback rode up and accosted him and introduced themselves as Samuel L. Rugg, Joel Roe and two that I Johnson did not remember and , stated to Johnson that they had ■ been prospecting for a county seat : for Adams county, had been over j the territory in the center of the I county, had found it unsuitable, ; being low and swampy and no imi mediate possibility of drainage and | had investigated the Wabash rlvler section in the south of the I county and were now about through with the Saint Marys river section in the north part of the county. They quizzed Johnson as to his knowledge of the land thereabout and Johnson told them that he had been in the county about three years, had tramped and hunted all around, knew that the ground in this immediate section

for Fort Wayne remained at Vin-' cennes till 1819 when that was attached to Randolph and it so con-, tinued with Winchester for the county seat till about 1823 at which time Allen county was ere- ' ated. Fort Wayne was laid out as ’ 1 a town in 1823 and the plat is so recorded in Winchester. Allen county was created in 1823 and embraced at first with what is now Wells, Adams, Huntington and Whitley. Adams county was organized in 1836. Randolph county was organized in 1817-18 by the legis- . lature in session at Corydon, embracing what is now Delaware Grant, Jay, Adams, Blackford, Wells and Allen counties. In the election held in 1818 for Randolph county, William Edwards and John Wright were elected associate judges, David Wright, sheriff and Charles Conway, clerk and recorder.”

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT MONDAY, JULY 27, 1936.

Blazed The Tree r ■ ■1 s * ft J Thomas Johnson It was Thomas Johnson, who moved into Adams County in 1833, who blazed the oak tree at a point along the St. Marys river near the Monroe street bridge in 1836. On this tree Samuel Rugg wrote the name “DECATUR” and thus .was selected the site for the city whose hundredth birthday we are now celebrating.

laid pretty high, that only two creeks run through it, they being what is known as Borura’s Run and Number’s Creek, and to his I certain knowledge the spot they were now on, and immediate vicin- ■ ity was the highest along the river j and was not subject to overflow and could be easily drained. This bout noon, and Rugg and his assoconversation took place along aciates determined that they would go a little farther north and make a circuit, and verify this information and asked Johnson to accompany them, which Johnson declined, stating that he was out of salt and coffee and could not afford to miss the boat —and at any rate would have to start home before dark because he had to follow his blazes while it yet light. Rugg and the others made arrangements with Johnson to meet them at !' o’clock the next morning which was done and after some consultation Rugg said that in spite of the fact that the location was considerably north of the center of the county, that other features of the location made it imperative that it be selected for the county seat and he asked Johnson to blaze a tree for the location notice. Johnson was an expert axeman and se-

lected a white oak tree of large diameter and blazed a smooth surface thereon—as smooth as if made by a plane, and Rugg formally marked the location. Johnson accompanied Rugg to Fort Wayne, and at Rugg's solicitation entered the northeast quarter of section three and while there they prepared for a survey of the town-site, which was soon done, the original survey and plat being bounded by Monroe street on the north and Adams street on the south and the river on the east and Fifth street on the west. Johnson carried the chain in these surveys. Johnson also carried the chain for the survey made soon afterwards between the village of Vera Cruz, or Newville on the Wabash river in Wells county, following closely the creek now known as Borum’s Run, to the newly located town of Decatur. This old angling road is still remembered by a number of people. Almost immediately after the completion of the town survey Rugg gave orders for the construction of a double log building so that travelers going up and down the river might have accomodations for man and beast and shortly followed other buildings, and settlers came in, in ever-increas-ing numbers. This first double log building was located about where the Ashbaucher tin shop on First street is now. Mr. Johnson is enRecalls Plays • I Mrs. Jennie Fuhrman, of Marlon,' Ohio, and a former resident of this city recalls being in a number of old time “Home Talent Plays." The article appears elsewhere on this | page.

Marking City'sLocatiorL

tltled to the honor of having laid the first axe into the clearing of the ground for the location of the best town in Indiana. Horse’s Odd Death Puzzles Dunnigan, Cal. (U.R) Psychologists are wondering if a horse can die of fright. An 8-year-old girl was riding a horse between whom a real affection existed, when she fell off. The horse took a few more steps and fell dead. O ' “Cherry” Tree A Lilac Toledo (U.R) — For y ears - a " my ‘ stery tree” grew in Dr. George M. Reinhart’s yard. It looked like a cherry tree, but never bore cherries. Now it is blooming—not cherry blossoms, but white lilacs. oRoses Change Color Portage, Wis. (U.R) — A Scotch rose bush, which has borne white blossoms for 30 years, this year budded with deep pink roses. Mrs. George Cuff, its owner, said no naturalist has yet explained the reason for the changing in color.

Long Before H We Came Yes, even before the pioneers who were courageous and determined enough to build our splendid city stood many of the mighty sentinels from which we derive our products. We pay tribute and express our sincere gratitude for their untiring effort, during this, Centennial Week. They have made possible for us the city and community in which we are glad to call home. The LaFontaine Handle Co., is one of the few manufacturing concerns that enjoys an export trade. Handles are manufactured for shovels and agricultural tools and many are shipped to foreign ports. Locating in Decatur in 1910, we have expanded throughout the years and at present work-up approximately 1,000,000 feet of logs annually. Most of the timber is purchased within a radius of 100 miles of Decatur. ■« We are happy to call Decatur our home and trust we may continue to share in the good-will long extended us. LA FONTAINE HANDLE CO I c. E. BELL I

aHLO'TIMEII" RECALLS PLAYS Jennie Furman Writes 01 Home Talent Efforts As “High Spots” (By Jennie Furman, Marion, O.) I have been asked to write t ■ letter commenting upon sonu phase of Decatur’s life that Im i pressed me the most while llvlni ■ in Decatur. One of the “high spots" in ml life, was the giving of the Hom< Talent plays in the old Koker Hal with Thomas Wright the Princi pal of the school, as the “hero' and myself the "star.” In the play: • "The Battle”, “War to the Knife" . and "We was not quitters". All o > them were "thrillers.” They hai ) bed sheets for drop curtains am coal oil lamps fdr lighting the hall

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• w .-f wonderful times in 'which to live, the memory of which will live with me as long as 1 remain on earth. ) Park Cannon Loaded Lima. O. (U.R) - For three years [Lima citizens wondered what had f become of five cannonballs which * stood beside the old cannon in front of the court house. The balls finally were found when someone thought to look inside the cannon. „ California Likes Own Wine Sacramento, Cal. (U.R) — Califor- ' Inia boasts not only of producing 90 per cent of the wine consumed lin the United States but also of ■v consuming more than any other IP I state. It drank some 20,000,000 gallI) ons last year. )" Fish Commits Suicide ys Anaconda, Mont. (U.R) — Appar- ”, ently the ordinary trout simply of!can’t stand the sight of the albino id or light colored trout. When four idiot the latter were placed in a 11. hatchery tank of the Montana

State Fishery, the ordlnanJ began committing suicide J ing against the top O s 'I until 17 out of 35 were four albinos looked on ./.'I ed. '"’l Big Tomato Cluster Gr 0 »J Toledo (U.R) - A cluster J matoes weighing seven usual for indoor growth, J ed in a hot house here.’ ] Play 500 Years Old Napoleon, O. (U.R) _ A pl years old, "Everyman," Wai j Rented by a First P r »,bjJ church cast here. Gold Mine Never raila Downieville, Cal. <u.R> _ is the only thing necessary sure a gold output front th, Depot Hill gold mine near fa It has operated and product ery year there has been « a jy water for mining purposes I 1855.