fall 2011 - ingenweb

A publication of the NEWTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.Indiana’s YOUNGEST County

Volume 17, Issue ThreeFall 2011 $3.00 Kentland Chapter Daughters of

the American Revolution Celebratetheir 100th Anniversary On October 25, 2011

<continued on page two>

In this issue . . .

Kentland Daughters of American RevolutionCelebrate 100 Years

Lake Village Mule Race

Excerpts of Ongoing History Projects History of Mt. Ayr, Jackson and Colfax Townships The Yost Project The History of Goodland

The Civil War Letters of the John T. Harris Family

The Coshaw Family

The First Brook Kindergarten Class

The original charter of the Kentland Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolu-tion has found a permanent home at the Resource Center of the Newton County Histori-cal Society.

By Janet Miller The100thanniversaryoftheKentlandChapterDaughtersoftheAmericanRevolu-tionwascelebratedbyholdinganopenhouseattheNewtonCountyHistoricalSocietyResourceCenteronOctober28,2011.AmongthehonoredguestswastheIndianaStateRegent,Mrs.MarthaBarnhart. TheChapterwasorganizedonOctober25,1911.The Newton County Enterprise, October26,1911reportsthefollowing:“RevolutionaryDaughtersChapterOfPatrioticSocietyOrganizedinKentland “AChapteroftheDaughtersoftheAmericanRevolutionwasorganizedinKentlandyesterdaywith twelvechartermembers.Mrs. J.L.DinwiddieofFowler, retiringStateRegent,organizedthechapterandthefollowingofficerswereelected:Regent:Mrs.JiraSkinner;Vice-Regent:Mrs.OscarPhelps;Secretary:MissAdahE.Bush;Treasurer:MissAnnieMcCray;Registrar:Mrs.TheodoreBush;Historian:Mrs.ElbertR.Kessler.ThisisthefirstchapterofthispatrioticsocietyinNewtonCounty.OnlythosecanjoinwhocantracetheirancestorsbacktoandparticipatingintheRevolutionaryWar.Mrs.DinwiddiewasaccompaniedbyMr.DinwiddieandMrs.J.T.Saunderson.Mrs.Phelpsservedre-freshments.” The twelve charter members at this time were: FlorenceAntoinette Buell, BessieBuilta,AdahElizabethBush,CharlotteArneyBush,DaisyAlbertaHarrison,EdnaVirgin-iaKessler,EmmaH.Kessler,MaryLoveKessler,AnnieElizaMcCray,IsabellePhelps,SallySkinnerandMargaretKesslerSpitler. WhenthecharterwasissuedonNovember18,1912,inadditiontotheabovetwelvemembers,thefollowingfourchartermemberswerelisted:FlorenceGertrudeEllis,Ma-mieIreneEllis,BlancheVioletHarrisandEthelKennedy. MaryO’NeilMcDowell,Patriot,wastheDARancestorofsixoftheoriginalsixteenchartermembers.EightoftheoriginalmemberswerefromMorocco,fivefromKentland,onefromWinamac,onefromGoodlandandonefromWashingtonD.C.Therehavebeen115membersintheKentlandChaptersinceitsinceptionin1911.

The current membership totals eleven.These eleven ladies have accumulated 279years in the work of the Daughters of theAmerican Revolution. Mary Susan BlaneyBlakelyistheonlycurrentmemberrelatedtoachartermember. CurrentmembersareKathrynArbuckle,Mary Susan Blakely, Cynthia Clingaman,RoseFerguson,MaryJeaneGray,FannieSueHenry, Melinda Henry, Margaret Lah, JanetMiller,MarilynWhaleyandSharonYates. KentlandChapterhashonoredthegoalsoftheNationalSocietybypromotinghistoricpreservation, education and patriotism. Thenationalmottois“God,HomeandCountry.” To promote historic preservation thechapter has placed two historic markers inour county. In 1976 to honor our nation’sBicentennial, amarkerwasplaced inWash-ingtonTownshipdesignatingthefirstchurchofNewtonCounty.Manyyearsagoamarkerwasplacedonthecourthouselawninmemory

2 The Newcomer

Fall 2011 - www.ingenweb.org/innewton

ofthesoldiersoftheCivilWar. EducationhasbeenpromotedbytheKentlandChapterinsponsoring8thgradeAmer-icanhistoryessaycontestsandbysendingmoney,clothing,labelsandsuppliestothesixnationallysupportedDARSchools. KentlandChapter’sloveofcountryisevidentinthepatrioticendeavorstheyhavepro-videdtothecommunitybyvolunteeringtimeandfundstoveteransinVAhospitals;spon-soringspecialdisplayspromotingtheConstitutionduringitsofficialcelebrationweekofSeptember17-23;andsponsoringandpresentingpatrioticawards tohighschoolDARGoodCitizens.

1. What state adjacent to Indiana alsohascountygovernmentrelatingtoNewtonandJasper?2. What year, where, and what was thecost of dues of the Newton County FarmBureauwhen itwasorganized inNewtonCounty?3. In 1960 in Lincoln Township NakedCitycameintobeing.WhatwasthenameofthisestablishmentbeforeitbecameNa-ked City? Who was the founder? And,whatyearwasitfounded?4. In1856Morocco’sfirstdoctorarrived.Canyounamehim?5. IntheKentlandCentennialBookthereisanautobiographyofaBrigadierGeneral,Army.Canyounamethisman?

Do You Know Your County of Newton ?

by Janet Miller, Answers on page fifteen

Above, Members of the Kentland DAR Chapter pose for a photo during the 100th An-niversary party. Left to right, Kathryn Arbuckle, Margaret Lah, Marilyn Whaley, Fan-nie Sue Henry, Regent, Kentland Chapter, Martha Barnhart, Indiana State Regent, Mary Jeane Gray, Janet Miller, Melinda Henry; right, historical markers placed by the D.A.R., top, Civil War Monument and bottom, the First Church of Newton County. Photos by Beth Bassett

KentlandD.A.R.Celebrate100Years<continued from page one>

Mule Race in Downtown Lake VillagePublished from the Lake Village Old Picture Page on Facebook.com

The facebook members of the Lake Village Old Photo page are not certain as to a date and time of this photograph, but speculate that it could have been a mule race, and it looks like the chicken in front of them is leading the pack. We do know that on the right hand side in the background is the Southeast corner of what is today the four way stop in Lake Village; next to the electric pole was Henry Stoner’s store, later known as Hogans; the two story bulding was built of cement blocks from the Jennie Conrad block factory, and still stands today, the former Christenson Chevrolet Showroom.

The Newcomer 3

www.ingenweb.org/innewton -Fall 2011

Pages of the Past Submitted by Janet MillerExcerptsweretakenfrom

The Newton County Enteprise,Fall,1911

Kentland New Bakery for Kentland. Kentlandpeoplewillsoonbefeastingon theirownbakerygoods.W.J.Mericaisinstallingthelatestpatternofportableoven,andexpectsto turn out the first batch of homemadebread,cakeandpiestomorroworSaturday.Theoven weighs eighteen tons andhas abakingcapacityofeightysquarefeet.Mr.Mericaisanexperiencedbakerandprom-ises thepeopleofKentlandbakerygoodslikemotherusedtomake. Everton Tremaine resigned last weekasdirectorof theKentlandBand,and leftfor Beardstown, Ill. Prof. Gott of WestLebanon has been engaged as director.Prof.Gotthasthreesonswhowillplayintheband. A new dipping vat has just been in-stalledatOrchardLakeFarm,andwasgiv-enatryoutafeweveningsago.Thevatisbuiltofcement,30feetlong,fourfeetwideandsevenfeetdeep,andistheonlyoneofthe kind in Indiana. Seventy head of cat-tleandaboutonehundredhogs,wererunthrough,andgotabaththatcoveredthemfromnosetofetlock.Theliquidisaprepa-ration tokill lice andcure the skin affec-tions animals are heir to, and thedippingvatsimplifiesthemethodofapplication. ChesterLoughridgehaspurchasedtheMcConnaughaybarbershopandwillcon-tinuethebusinessattheoldstand.Mr.Mc-Connaughay pulled stakes as soon as thedealwasclosedandwillgoinashopwithhisfatheratFowler. Thethreelatestadditionstothreeresi-dences of Kentland are of stucco design.Mr.andMrs.L.W.RosshavemovedintotheirbungalowonLincolnstreet.Thefoun-dationisofcementblocksandabasebandanduppersectionareofstucco,makingacatchycombination.TheexteriorofA.D.Washburn’snewhomeisaboutcompleted.Thisisofsolidwhitestuccoandverypretty,thearchitecturaldesignofthehouseshow-ingoffthestuccoworktogoodadvantage.Dr.VanKirk’snewhomeisbeingsimilarlyfinished,thehandsomepressedbrickporchaddingbeautyincontrast. Twenty-two Automobiles Carry Big Crowd of Horse Fair Advertisers. About11o’clockFridaya stringofautomobilescamerollingintoKentlandfromthenorth,and anchored along Court Park. The ag-gregationwastheRensselaerHorseShow

boosters, and a band and some seventy-fiveoreightyfollowersunloadedandtookpossessionofthetown.Thebandplayedanumberof selections, theboostershuntedup their friends and invited them over tothebestHorseShowinIndiana,andtheen-tire party took dinner here, remaining foracoupleofhours. TheRensselaerHorseShowisthelastfourdaysofthisweek,andpromisestobesufficientlyentertainingforanyfromthiscountywhomayfinditcon-venienttoattend.

Mt. Ayr AbarnontheCharlesBattledayfarm,tenanted by Frank Elijah, was struck bylightningandburnedatanearlyhourTues-daymorning.Twohorses,all theharness,implements and hay burned. Frank had alittleinsuranceonthehorses.Wewereun-abletolearnifthebarnwasinsuredornot. Town Marshal Frank Burns has de-claredthathewillnotpermitanystocktorun at largewithin the corporation limits.Hehasgivenevidenceofhissincerityandtakenupseveralhorsesrecently.

Roselawn GeorgeHurstandWillBoyletook40standsofbeestoRoselawnSaturdaytoaddto Mr. Boyle’s apiary. George is fond ofmusicbuttheenragedprisonerskeptupasongofprotestthatwasnotanytoopleas-ingtohisthoughtsofwhatmighthappenifthosefewmillionbeesshouldescapefromtheirscreenedcage.

Morocco A. D. Peck was among the Moroccovisitors at the Court House Monday. Mr.Peck located at Morocco in 1872, andclaimsthatthereisnotapersontherenowwhowasaresidentofthetownatthetimehe set down his grip and registered. ThepeopleofMoroccoshouldelecthimMay-or. AsonwasbornlastweektoEditorandMrs.BuiltaoftheMoroccoCourier.Maytheyoungheirinheritthescholarlyattain-mentsofitsfatherandcharmingpersonal-ityofitsgiftedmother.

Lake Village JoeWellswasdownfromtheVillageyesterday. While here the Col. made thediscoverythathewaspresidentoftheOldSoldiers Association of Newton County,andthatLakeVillagehadbeendesignatedastheplaceforholdingtheannualreunion.Mr.Wells will get busy at once and have

theprogramready forannouncement inashorttime.

Goodland The Goodland Hotel is closed untilaftertheassemblyatFountainPark.Mrs.Hopkinshaschargeofthehotelatthepark. Al Gravel has the carpenter work onhisnewoperahousealmostcompletedandwill soon commence work on the insidedecorations.

Colfax Township TheLawlerranch,onemileandahalfwestofFairOaks,wasvisitedbyadestruc-tivefireFridayeveningatabout7o’clock,and a loss estimated at $8,500 resulted.The ranch is being managed by a farmernamed GeorgeWilliams. He was milkinginthebarnlotwhenhesawthefireandraninto the barn and tried to save the horsesandmules.Hecutanumberofthehalters,butmostoftheanimalsrefusedtoleavethebarn, and itwas sohot thatMr.Williamswas compelled to give up his attemptedrescue.Of19head thatwere in thebarn,all but three were killed by the fire. Thebarnwasa largeoneandcontained5,000bushelsofoatsandaquantityofhay,allofwhichwaslost,asalsowastheharness.Mr.LawlerwasinRensselaerandwasnotifiedbytelephonesoonafterthefirestarted.HeprocuredMikeKubosketotakehimtothesceneof thefire.When theyarrived therethebarnwasinruins.

Enos and McClellan Township The Embroidery Club will meet Sat-urday at the home of Mrs. Haban for anafternoonsession.Allclubmembersarere-questedtobepresent.Mrs.J.C.Hodgsonwillbeanhonoraryguestof theclubandwillfurnishseveralreadings.

Brook MissWinquestwenttoChicagoMon-daytobuyanewandlargerassortmentofhatsforhermillinerystore. Thesafeforthenewpostofficecamelastweekand theofficewillbe ready forusethefirstofnextmonth.

Visit our Resource Center310E.SeymourStreetKentland,Indiana

219-474-6944-Opentothepublic

NEW HOURS: MondayandFriday11:00-3:00

Second&FourthThursday11:00-3:00Orbyappointment/[email protected]

4 The Newcomer


The History of Mt. Ayr, Jackson and Colfax Township

The committee working together on this project is headed by Donna LaCosse. The group meets the fourth Monday of each month to compare notes and share a bit of neighborhood history. A deadline of May 31st has been set to have the book ready for publishing, so there is still adequate time to get your family history to the group. Con-tact them through the historical society.

Just His LuckMorocco Courier, January 17, 1913

“SidSchanlaub,theSageofClevelandPark,JacksonTownship,wasintownSat-urday. He drove old Dobbin as far as O.A.Brown’splacewhereuponhefoundthehardroadtooicyforanunshodhorseandsetoutonfootfortown,hopingthatsomepasserbywouldhaveroomandinvitehimtoride. “Buthe says itwas justhis luck thatwhile he was driving several rigs headedfortownpassedhimorhepassedthem,asthe case might be, but just as soon as hesetouton foot thewholecourseof travelchanged and every rig was headed eastinstead of west and as a consequence hewalkedtotownandforallweknowhehadtowalkbackwherehelefthishorse. “Sid said he believes that if he weretowalk fromcoast to coasthewouldnotstrikeonechancetorideintheentirejour-ney.”

Mt. Ayr Blind Tiger RaidedPlan Tipped Off to Keeper

Who Escaped - Much Liquor FoundMorocco Courier, September 5, 1913Submitted by Larry “Doc” Schanlaub “Prosecuting attorney Fred LongwellofBrookincompanywithFrankRossandSheriff Dowling of Kentland raided theBlindTigeratMt.AyrAugust23. “Theonslaughton themenace toourneighboring townwas successfully tippedofftothekeeperinduetimesothatwhentheofficersappearedthedoorswerelockedand no “Pat” Miller was to be found incharge as he had been for many months.However, they broke in and found plentyofwetgoodsandevidenceenoughtokeep

theformerproprietoroutofthecountyforsomeyears. “Later-on hearing that “Pat” Millerhad returned to Mt.Ayr, Prosecutor Lon-gwellgotout awarrant forhis arrest andHenryDeardurffwassentoverthereTues-daytomakethearrest.Hecamebackinashorttimewithhismanwhowastakenbe-foreSquireHawkinsandputunderbondsof$1,000toappearattheNewtonCircuitCourtatthebeginningoftheOctoberterm.HisbondwassignedbyJapWrightandHi-ramAshby.”

Mt. Ayr Bootleggers TakenEight Barrels of Bottled Beer

Confiscated by the SheriffMorocco Courier, April 24, 1914

“Sheriff Dowling and assistant pros-ecutorRossdrovetoMt.AyrTuesdayandarrested three men and confiscated eightbarrelsofbottledbeer. “The men are Pat Miller, Geo. Egg-leston andAugust Buck. The former wassaidtohavebeensointoxicatedthathewasdisinclinedtoaccompanythepartyafteragoodwasmadetowardKentlandanditbe-camenecessarytostopatafarmhouseandsecure a rope with which to manacle theobstreperousoffenderofthelaw,theothertwo arrested parties assisting in subduingtheircomrade. “There was said to be a fourth partyimplicatedbutasearchforhimprovedfu-tile. “SixbarrelsofthegoodswerelocatedinthePatMillerroomwhichisundergoingrepairs tofit it up for whatwasnodoubtexpected a future flourishing business.TheotherwetgoodswerefoundatBuck’shouse.A thorough search of every avail-able place about the house from cellar togarretwasmadetofindsomewhiskeythatwasthottobetherebutonlyanemptybar-relrewardedtheefforts. “Dowling humorously said he wassatisfiedwhentheyfoundthebeer,mostlyPabstBlueRibbonandLaFayetteproducts,forhedoesnotlikewhiskey,butthatRosswas very anxious to locate some of thestrongerliquor. “Themenafteranightwiththesheriffgavebailandwerereleased. “PatMillerwasalreadyunderasimilarindictment,achangeofvenuehavingbeentakentoJaspercountywhereitwillcomeupfortrialnextweek. “The liquor was shipped to Kentlandtobekeptpendingtheoutcomeofthetrialandtheorderofthecourt.SheriffDowlingis overwhelmed with offers to assistanceboth from Morocco and Kentland in de-

stroying(?)thegoodsandshouldthejudgemake such an order.The matter of safelykeepingtheliquoruntilsuchatimeinwor-rying theSheriff not a little.Hiswife, hesaid, would not permit its storage in thekitchenandhewasafraidtoleaveitinthebarnandaneighborrefusedwhenbeingof-feredhighrent,tohaveitonthepremises.Mr.Dowlingwasalreadythecustodianoftwobarrelstakeninapreviousraid. “Ithadbeenknown thatanopenandnotoriousplacewasconductedatMt.Ayrforsometime,much to thedisgustof themajority of the people of that town andvicinity. A similar search in other townsof the county would not doubt be an eyeopener.”

The Yost Project For lack of a better title at this time, members of the Family History Division have dubbed the compilation of John J. Yost’s newspaper columns throughout his lifetime, “The Yost Project.” Here is an ex-ample of the variety of news that John in-cluded in his columns, whch spanned from his early school days to his passing in Feb-ruary, 2007.

June 25, 1981, Newton County EnterpriseEarly Century Festival RecalledThe Kentland Horse Show, 1903 “EDITOR’S NOTE: The eighth edi-tionof theannualKentlandCornFestivalwillbeheld thisweekend.Wethoughtonthisfestivalweekendourreaderswoulden-joyaglimpseofaKentlandfestivaloflongago.Wewentbacktothe1903volumeoftheNewton County EnterpriseforalookattheKentlandHorseShowofthatyear.OurthankstoLibrarianKayFordandherstaffattheKentlandPublicLibrary,andNewtonCountyRecorderMelFisherfortheirassis-tanceandtoSteveSchwennwhosuppliedthe photo used in the article. Most of theinformationused in this articlewas takenfromarticleswrittenat the timebyHarryA.Strohm,theneditoroftheEnterprise.By Harry A. Strohm & John Yost “TheywereheldinSeptemberbetween1903and1908.Theybroughtthousandsofpeople together for socializing, entertain-mentandthejudgingofthebesthorsefleshinthearea.TheyweretheKentlandHorseShows. “It was a simpler time. Teddy Roos-evelt was in the White House. Ragtimewasthemusicoftheday.Fewautoswereseenonthetown’sdirtstreets.Gettingintotownwasamuchrareroccasionthanit istodayforruralresidents,andaneventliketheKentlandHorseShowprovidedanex-

Three major historical compilations are underway in our county. Two under the auspice of the Family History Division: the History of Mt. Ayr, Jackson and Colfax Townships and The Yost Project. The other project is the History of Goodland which is being lead by Anne Meyer and Karen Schuette. We present here just a sample from each project.

The Newcomer 5


cellentopportunitytovisitwithfamilyandfriends. “TheideafortheHorseShowwasde-velopedbytheKentlandCommercialClub.A forerunner of the Chamber of Com-merce, the eventwasplannedandcarriedoutbythe40membersoftheclub.Amongthebusinessmenbehindtheorganizationofthe Kentland HorseShowwereWarrenT.McCray,WillK.Mc-Cray, T.B. Cunning-ham,A.J.Thompson,Will H. Ade, Clere-mont Rider, and Dr.BertHess. Those in chargeof the Horse Showmade every effort tosee to it that the en-tertainments offeredduringtheshowwereboth wholesome andon theupandup.Asthe Enterprise notedtheweekprior to theHorseShow: “No gamblingor fake street fair at-tractionsofthesnakeeating variety are tobepermitted.Anofferof$300wasmadethecommittee for gam-bling privileges butwas promptly turneddown. Nothing ofthesortwillbeinevidence.Agood,cleanprogramme from start to finish, with allobjectionablefeaturesofeverydescriptioneliminated,(willbepresented.)” “The Horse Show committee madespecialarrangementswith the railroadforextra train service between Kentland andMonticello“andallintermediatepoints.”Inaddition,aspecialtrainwasaddedleavingat10:00p.m.forMonticelloafterthefinalnightoftheShow. “Concession stands of all sorts weresetupalongThirdStreetontheCourtyard.OneoftheattractionsintheCourtyardwasamerry-go-round.TheEnterprisepub-lishedtheweekofthefestivaltookthefol-lowingnoteofthisattraction; “ThefirstevidenceoftheHorseShowshowedupMondaynightwhenReeseandCallumofWatseka setup theirbig steammerry-go-roundinCourtPark.TheyhadaniceoutfitandthelittlefolkshavefoundtheirElysium.Thisisonesupremepleasurethatshouldnotbedeniedthelittletots;they

can’tresistthatmysticmusicofthemerry-go-round.Shelloutafewnickelsandletthemenjoytheoccasionintheirownsweetway.” “The first Horse Show ran onThurs-dayandFriday,September24thand25th.A full “Programme” was planned. OnThursdaythehorsejudgingranfrom9:00

a.m.untilnoon.Itwasfollowedbya100-yarddashfootrace,the“LiberationoftheGreasedPig”(prize,thepig),akegrace,abaseballgamebetweenBrookandWolcott,aFatBabyShowatWoodruff’sPhotogra-phy Studio, and a slow mule race (prize,200JustinCigars.) “On Friday the Horse Show offeredthe following attractions, horse judging9:00 a.m. until noon again, followed bythe Grand Parade of all premium horses,adeliverycartrace,theFatMen’sBicycleRace,theLadies’FootRace,andBaseballwithAtticaagainstthepreviousdaywinnerforthe$100purse. “On both days a balloon ascent wasmadebyProf.W.M.MortonoftheMortonBalloonCompanyofMarion.Theballoonascensionwentto7,000feet,whichisthelimitofhumandaring,”followedbyadroptoearthinaparachute. “On both evenings a band concertwas presented by the Monticello Band.Thebandofferedadifferentprogrameach

evening, and among the musical numbersoffered by the musicians were the march“Waving Plumes,” “The Goddess of Lib-erty,”“TheCowsintheCotton,”“TheBlueand Grey Patrol,” a medley of “SouthernPlantationSongs,”“AnAmericanFantasia-GemsofStephenFoster,”“TheGayTallyHo March,” “Hail, Columbia,” and “The

Star SpangledBanner.” “Over the twodaysoftheHorseShownearly$500inpremiumswereawardedtohorsesin five classes,French Draft andPercheron Nor-man Class; Eng-lish Draft, Shireand ClydesdaleClass; RoadsterClass; Sweep-stake Class; andMiscellaneous,consisting ofteams, draft, car-riage, deliveryandmule. “A total of270 entries werejudged. Horseswere entered inthe show by WillH. Ade, GeorgeClark, CleremontRider,E.R.Settle,

Budd Weldon, Charles Martin, Jr., W.LRemsberg,A.J.Schuh, JamesCouch, andThomas Mulligan, all of Kentland; andCharlesEastburnofSheldon, Illinois; JoeCrawford of Woodland, Illinois; AlbertHerrimanofBrook;andTrumanKirkpat-rick of Raub, among other. Up to 130 ofthehorseswerehousedatBoatman’sliveryandfeedbarnduringtheexhibition.

A Big Success AlltheeventsattheHorseShowwerefree except the baseball games for which25 cents admission was charged.An esti-mated 700 attended the ball games eachday. Thebaseballgames,playedintheareawhichisnowDixonFieldattheKentlandElementary School, were also successful.Theywereplayedfora$100prizeofferedbytheCommercialClub.AstheEnterprisereported: “The game Thursday between BrookandWolcottwasabigsurprise.Bothteams<continued on page twelve>

A view of the 1903 Horse Show in Kentland. This event was sponsored by the Community Club, and this is the first parade of the gala affair. Reprinted from the Kentland Centennial Book, 1960.

6 The Newcomer


WhenIfirstreceivedscannedcopiesoftheCivilWarcorrespondenceof the JohnT.HarrisfamilyofMt.Ayr,Iwaspositivethat thiswouldbe an excellent article forthe Newcomer, and I was right. My onlyproblembeing,whattoincludeandwhattoleaveout.Deciphering thehandwritingofJohnandLouisaHarris,friendsandfamilyisadauntingtask,butveryrewarding.Theletterscapturelifeasasoldier,hiswifeandfamilyduringtheCivilWar. Ihavebrokensomeof theHarris let-ters into particular groups, explainingalongthewaytheinformationknownaboutthenamedindividuals,aswellastrackingthedaysoftheCivilWarduringthissameperiodoftime,inparticuilarthemovementof Company B., 51st Volunteer Infantry.Transcriptionofsomeofthelettersappearonpageseightandnineofthisedition. The first set of letterscontaingeneralsocial and family correspondence. Farmnews,cropprices,illnessinthefamily,reli-giouscommentsandthenewsofthedeathofthesonofElizabethandHenryKessler,JamesW.,andthepassingofaLandisgirl.This first group helped establish the rela-tionshipof thosewriting the letters to theCoshawandHarrisfamilies. The Civil War correspondence be-gins with a letter dated October 6, 1861.ItisfromThomasJefferson(T.J.)Coshaw,brother toLouisa (Coshaw)Harris, to hisUncle. Unfortunately, we do not knowwhichone.T.J.CoshawenlistedinCompa-nyGofthe9thIndianaVolunteerInfantry.The regiment was reorganized at LaPorteinAug.1861,andwasmusteredinSept.5,forthreeyears.Itleftthestatesoonafter-wardforwesternVirginia,wentintoquar-tersatCheatMountain,andwasengagedatGreenRiverandCampAlleghany.Hislet-terdiscussesthebattleatCheatMountain.(SeeletterA407-1.8.,page8)

September 12-15, 1861The Battle of Cheat Mountain

General Robert E. Lee directed his first offensive of the war against Brigadier General Joseph Reynolds’s entrenchments on the summit of Cheat Mountain and in the Tygart Valley. The Confederate attacks were uncoordinated, however, and the Federal defense was so stubborn that Col. Albert Rust (leading the attacks) was con-vinced that he confronted an overwhelming force. He actually faced only about 300 determined Federals. Lee called off the at-tack and, after maneuvering in the vicinity, withdrew to Valley Head on September 17. It was considered a Union victory. Estimat-

ed Casualties: 170 total (US 80; CS 90). John T. Harris Letters, December 24, 1861-March, 1862; A407-1.9, 1.12, 1.14 JohnenlistedinCompanyB,51stIn-diana Volunteer Infantry. This regimentwasorganizedatIndianapolisinthefallof1861andwasmusteredinDec.14.Compa-nyBconsistedentirelyofNewtonCountyrecruits. It moved at once to Bardstown,Ky.,andwithBuell’sarmy inFeb.,1862,towardsNashville,reachingtheTennesseeRivertoolatetoparticipateinthebattleofShiloh.

April 1862, The Battle of Shiloh On April 6, Confederate forces at-tacked Union forces under General Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh, Tennessee. By the end of the day, the federal troops were almost defeated. Yet, during the night, reinforce-ments arrived, and by the next morning the Union commanded the field. When Confed-erate forces retreated, the exhausted fed-eral forces did not follow. Casualties were heavy, 13,000 out of 63,000 Union soldiers died, and 11,000 of 40,000 Confederate troops were killed. We learn about the death of HenryHowey, who died of measles and Wm.Board,whodiedofquickconsumption;hegives descriptions of camp food, the landandtrees in theareaashepasses throughKentuckyintoTennessee.Hedescribeshisfirst weeks in the regiment, and the Ne-groquartershepasses,“I saw theNegrosdance, and Old Popcorn (the LieutenantColonel’s groom/stableman), played theaccordionforthem.HeisonesmartNegroandthinksagreatdealofthe51stboys.”

Movement of the 51st It took an active part in the siege ofCorinthandmovedfromtherewithWood’sdivisionof theArmyof theOhio throughAlabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. Itmoved for Murfreesboro in Decemberandparticipatedinthethreedays’battleatStone’sRiver,losing5killed,36wounded,and8missing.ItremainednearMurfrees-boro until April, 1863, when it joined aforceunderCol.Streight fora raid in therearofBragg’sarmyatTullahoma.

Stone RiverDecember 31, 1862-January 2, 1863

After General Braxton Bragg’s defeat at Perryville, Kentucky, October 8, 1862, he and his Confederate Army of the Mississippi retreated, reorganized, and were re-desig-nated as the Army of Tennessee. They then advanced to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and prepared to go into winter quarters. Major General William S. Rosecrans’s Union Army

of the Cumberland followed Bragg from Kentucky to Nashville. Rosecrans left Nash-ville on December 26, with about 44,000 men, to defeat Bragg’s army of more than 37,000. He found Bragg’s army on Decem-ber 29 and went into camp that night, within hearing distance of the Rebels. At dawn on the 31st, Bragg’s men at-tacked the Union right flank. The Confed-erates had driven the Union line back to the Nashville Pike by 10:00 am but there it held. Union reinforcements arrived from Rosecrans’s left in the late forenoon to bol-ster the stand, and before fighting stopped that day the Federals had established a new, strong line. On New Year’s Day, both armies marked time. Bragg surmised that Rose-crans would now withdraw, but the next morning he was still in position. In late afternoon, Bragg hurled a division at a Union division that, on January 1, had crossed Stones River and had taken up a strong position on the bluff east of the river. The Confederates drove most of the Feder-als back across McFadden’s Ford, but with the assistance of artillery, the Federals re-pulsed the attack, compelling the Rebels to retire to their original position. Bragg left the field on January 4-5, retreating to Shelbyville and Tullahoma, Tennessee. Rosecrans did not pursue, but as the Confederates retired, he claimed the victory. Stones River boosted Union mo-rale. The Confederates had been thrown back in the east, west, and in the Trans-Mississippi. Union victory Estimated Casu-alties: 23,515 total (US 13,249; CS 10,266 John T. Harris Letters, May, 1862 to March, 1863: A407-1.19, 1.23, 1.32, 1.34 WithaletterdatedJuly8,1862,fromJohn to Louisa, John writes, “I hope youreallydonotwant adivorce,butyoucanhave one unless she wants to marry aDemocrat.”Atthistime,LouisaisstayingwithfamilyinCarrollCounty.Johnwritesofguardduty,andmentionsintheAugust3,1862letterthatCompanyBisseparatedfrom the Regiment, as they are guardingthe Memphis and Charleston Railroad;wishes he could see Oscar, their firstbornsononhis2ndbirthday,andsends$80.00hometoLouisa;therewerenolettersfromNovember,1862untilJanuary,1863,Johnmentionedthattherewasdifficultyinmail-ingaletter,andpredictsthattherewouldbefightingatMurfreesboro. There is a gap again between letters,andtheconsequencesofthewarmayhavecausedthelackofcorrespondence,orper-hapsletterswerenotwritten,orsaved.HereceivesnewsofthedeathofJohnCoshow,greatnephewtoLouisa,sonofJoshua,and

Jackson Township Harris Family Civil War Letters By Beth Bassett

The Newcomer 7


the death of Ephriam Ham, a friend andneighbor,whodied at theBattle atDay’sGap inAlabama. Johnhadsentmoney toLouisa through Coshaw and Ham, postedinaletterMarch17,1863,viaIndianapo-lisandKentStation.Itisnotknownifthemoneywasdelivered.

The Battle of Day’s GapApril 30, 1863

This was the first in a series of skir-mishes in Cullman County, Alabama, that lasted until May 2, known as Streight’s Raid. Commanding the Union forces was Col. Abel Streight; Brig. Gen. Nathan Bed-ford Forrest led the Confederate forces. The goal of Streight’s raid was to cut off the Western and Atlantic Railroad, which supplied General Braxton Bragg’s Confed-erate army in Middle Tennessee. Starting in Nashville, Tennessee, Streight and his men first traveled to Eastport, Mississippi, and then eastward to Tuscumbia, Alabama. On April 26, 1863, Streight left Tus-cumbia and marched southeastward. Streight’s initial movements were screened by Union Brig. Gen. Grenville Dodge’s troops. On April 30 at Day’s Gap on Sand Mountain, Forrest caught up with Streight’s expedition and attacked his rear guard. Streight’s men managed to repulse this attack and as a result they continued their march to avoid any further delays and envelopments caused by the Confed-erate troops. This battle set off a chain of skirmishes and engagements at Crooked Creek (April 30), Hog Mountain (April 30), Blountsville (May 1), Black Creek/Gads-den (May 2), and Blount’s Plantation (May 2). Finally, on May 3, Forrest surrounded Streight’s exhausted men three miles east of Cedar Bluff, Alabama, and forced their surrender. They all were sent to Libby Pris-on in Richmond, Virginia. Only the officers were kept as prisoners. Streight and some of his men escaped on February 9, 1864. JohnT.HarriswasoneofthesoliderstakenatCedarBluff.Itisthoughthetookseveralfurloughsafterhisrelease. John T. Harris Letters, June, 1863 to July, 1864: A407-1.40, 1.42, 1.49, 1.52

Movement of the 51st TheregimentjoinedthearmyatNash-ville in November and was assigned tothe duty of guarding the communicationsbetween Nashville and Chattanooga. ItwassentintoeasternTennesseeandinthewinterof1863aportionoftheregimentre-enlistedandwassenthomeonfurloughinMarch.TheregimentwasondutyatChat-tanoogaduringthesummerof1864goingtoAtlantaafteritsoccupation,andwiththe1st brigade, 3rd division 4th corps, tookpartinthecampaignagainstHoodinTen-nessee.

John talks of the furlough that somemen of the 99th, (paroled from LibbyPrison).HestatesinaJuly21st,1863let-terwrittenfromCampMorton,(Indianapo-lis),thathehasn’tbeensicksincehe’sbeenhome.Heisassignedtoguardboats,rail-roadtrainsandforagewagonsinNashville;hisgroupison2/3rdsrations,butdoprettywell. InFebruary,1864,heisnowwiththe15th Indiana Regiment,Veteran Services;hedescribeshisattemptstore-enlistmen,andwisheshissonOscarwastheretoplaywith him; March 10, 1864, his address isnow the 100th Illinois Regiment, Co. B,andhe states thatwritingpaper is expen-sive,i.e.sixsheetscost20cents. A letter from Pilot Grove, April 2,1864, from his uncle William Bucha-non, says his new baby weighs 9 poundsandthatOscarthinksthebabyisok,whohimself is full ofmischief;William longsforthetimewhenJohnandJefferson(T.J.Coshaw),comehome;hesaystherearenotenoughworkersathometogetalltheland

planted thisspring;Louisawrites inMay,1864, and thinks she will name the babyHarrisonGrant. John’s letters reflect the movement ofthe51st,ashislettersarepostedfromChat-tanooga, Knoxville and Athens TN; a let-ter fromWilliamBuchanondatedApril30,1864,statesthatJefferson(T.J.)wasatBlueSprings,TNonApril 12; later, JohnwritesLouisaonMay29th,fromChattanooga,thatJefferson is at a convalescent camp nearby,andthathemayhaveliverproblems,rumorsof 15,000 prisoners nearby. June 20, 1864,he writes to Louisa that they are retreatingand describes conditions on retreat; LouisawritesofnewsathomeandthatherauntanduncleJoshuaCoshawwanttomovetoBattleGroundorbuyasorghummillandmakemo-lasses. John T. Harris Letters: August, 1864 to January 26, 1865: A407-1.57, 1.59, 1.62, 1.69

Movement of the 51st The regiment was on duty at Chatta-noogaduringthesummerof1864goingtoAtlantaafteritsoccupation,andwiththe1stbrigade, 3rd division 4th corps, they tookpart in thecampaignagainstHood inTen-nessee. The regiment participated in thebattleofNashville,Dec.15,andthenjoinedin the pursuit of Hood to Huntsville,Ala.,remainingthereuntilMarch1865,whenitmoved into east Tennessee. It returned toNashville about May 1, where a numberof recruits, remaining in service after themuster-outofthe78thregiment,weretrans-ferredtothe51st.TheregimentwassenttoTexas in June, andwasmusteredoutDec.13, 1865, the non-veterans having beenmusteredoutDec.14,1864. JohnwritesthathehasseenJefferson,and thinks he will be home by early Sep-tember; then had more rain and were in aslight skirmish, some men were wounded.Louisa writes on September 5, 1864, thatJohn’sbrotherWilliamhassoldhisfarmtoaMr.Applegate:$170fortheprairie,$300for the woodland; October 22, 1864, Johnwrites thathe is still inTennessee,but theregimenthasmovedtoHuntsville,AL;JohnwritesthattheRebsarebetweenwhereheisandNashville,sotheroadswereclosedfor10 days, he doesn’t know where they willlive when he returns, but suggests he canbringhomehispuptent.T.J.writestoJohnandsendsnewsfromhome,andhopesthatSherman will burn everything in GeorgiaandSouthCarolina;WilliamBuchanonhasmoved north of Logansport; John is homeandreceivesaletterfromafrienddescribingnewsofthewar.

Information presented here regarding the movement of the 51st Regiment can be found at www.civilwardata.com.

John T. Harris is buried at Weston Cem-etery, Rensselaer.. The inscriptions upon tombstone reflect his dedication to his country and faith. Along with the inscrip-tion below is “He That Is Faithful In That Which Is Least Is Faithful Also In Much.”

8 The Newcomer


Civil War Correspondence Between John T. Harrisand His Wife Louisa J. Harris, Their Family and Friends By Beth Bassett

From T.J. Coshaw to his Uncle Henry Coshaw, Gandalf County Virginia, Octo-ber 6, 1861 “DearUncle,ItakemypeninhandtoinformyouthatIamwell.Iwrotetoyouabout five days ago when I was at CheatMountain Summit. We have got back tothe old camp Waggoner. We had a fighttheotherday, the thirdof thismonth.Westarted aboutmidnight and traveled about10milesagainstdaylightwhenwestruckthe heights. Then shooting commenced,thenskirmishingcontinued.Forfourmileswedrovetheminsideoftheirbreastworksandthencommencedonthemwithacan-nons which lasted about five hours . Theballswhistlepretty.Therewasalargeforcethereandtheywaswellfortifiedtheirlosswasgreatandourlosswasbutfew.Welostabout30mentherewasabout30killedandwounded. There was but one man in ourcompanyhurtandhehadtwoofhisfingersshotoff.Wewas thefirst in thefightandthelasttoleavethefield.Thenexttimeweattackthemwewilltakepossessionoftheplaceandthatwon’tbelong.Youcouldnottellthefeelingsthatitputsonapersonthatdonotthinkofgettingshot.Wejustwenttoseehowthemwassituated.Wereallyonlyabout500menandtheyhadabout20,000men. The second Virginia Regiment juststartedouttomeettheRebelsthereisaru-morincampthattherebelsisadvancingonoursbutdonotthinkit;butiftheyareletthemcome,wearereadyfor them.WhenyouwritedirectyourletterstoT.J.CoshawCompanyG.NinthRegimentIndianaVol-unteer.“(A407-1.8)

From John T. Harris to Louisa J. Harris, December 29, 1861 “. . . I am well at present and E. G.Hamiscomplainingoftheback,butheisupandabout.JohnCoshawhasjustburnedAbeLyonswhiskey. I likecamp lifeverywell,SamuelYeomanisourcook,thereisplentyofgoodtamepasturehereandsometurnipsinthepatchyet. “ . . . there was one of our soldiersdiedthismorningat9a.m.atBeardstownHospital. He came from Newton County,

Washington Township, Henry Howey, hetook cold after the measles. The most ofour company is from Newton County wearecampedonaCedarHillandhaveplentyofdrycedarwoodtoburn.Wehavebeef,bacon,hominyorricesometimespotatoesorcrackers,plentyofcoffeeandsugarmo-lassesonceaweek. “...Iamwritingonmyknapsackbythe side of J. D. Morgan. There is not adeckofcardsinourbunkthatIknowany-thingabout,thereissomeoftheboysswearinourbunk,Bully forBunk,wehave thebestmessintheB. “...thoughtfullydirectlettertoJohnT.Harris51stRegimentIndianaVolunteerCompanyB.careofCapt.McHollandandon March. E. G. Ham, J. H.Thomas andJasper, J.Yeoman, SamYeoman, GeorgeSmith,W.SWilcox,G.W.Hartman,AbLy-ons,SamLyons,J.D.Morgan,J.Coshaw,JohnLowe,JohnT.Harris.”(A407-1.9)From John T. Harris, Nelson County,

Beardstown, Kentucky, to his brother, January 5, 1862 “...Ilefthome12December.ItoldyouthatIexpectedtogotothebattlefieldbefore you left, and I am as good as mywords so far. Our company was made upinNewtonCounty,Capt.McHollandfromKent Station. There is 83 in Company Band 800 in the Regiment of 51st Indianavolunteer.Therewasoneofourcompanywasburiedthe25th.EphriamandIhelptodoit.HisnamewasHenryHowey. “. . .We marched from Louisville toBeardstowninthreedaysits49miles.Wemarched 22 miles one day, we was tiredboys. Next day 14 miles.We drawed ourtents yesterday. There is 15 regimentswithinonehalfmilecamped.Wehavetheenfield rifle in fourcompanys.The rest isasmoothboremuskets.Wedon’tdrillonSunday. Inspectionat1o’clockanddressparade at four o’clock. Roll Call at 8:00.

I was on guard yesterday.We have somepicketstoguard,abridge.Thecivilianstalkofburningit. “. . . our friend as ever, J. T. HarrisdirecttoJohnTHarris.SignedS.B.Yeo-manS.LyonsA.LyonsJ.B.Lyons,G.W.Smith, G. W. Hartman, Ira Yeoman, W.S.Wilcox,J.T.Harris,E.G.Ham,LeroyKelley,JeryHurst,WilliamMcHolland,J.Thomas,JohnLowe,JohnCoshaw,JohnP.Morgan.”(A407-1.12)From John T. Harris, Camp Near Bowl-

ing Green, Kentucky, March 2, 1862, to his wife Louisa. “...ItakethepresentSabbathmorningtowriteyouafewlinestoletyouknowthatI am still in Kentucky, but can’t tell howlong I shall be.Wehavemarchingordersfor Nashville, Tennessee. Before we getthisfarweleftMunfordsville lastSundayaftersundownandtraveled11/2miles.TheRegimentgotthereat10o’clock,theteamsat12.Mondaywecame6miles,Tuesday4miles,thenwegotonthepike,wecame14miles.Weareclosesttothe15thRegiment.AaronReedhasbeen to seeus twiceandseveraloftheboyshasbeenovertoseeus.Ihaven’tbeenoverthereyet.Wewillleaveassoonaswecancrosstheriver.Thereissomanytroopsaheadofustheyarecross-ingdayandnightwithtwoferryboats.It’srainingtodayasusual.ThepeoplethinkitishardtimesinIndianatheyoughttocometotheKentuckywheretheirstockhasbeendrove in thepondand shotdown to spoilthe water so our troops could not use it.Theytoreupthepikeandtherailroadandburnt up several thousand bushel of cornastheywentfromGreenRivertoBowlingGreen. “...YouneednotsendtheGazettetomethereisonecomeabouteveryweektothebunk.Capt.getsthecurrentChronotypeonceandawhile.Welltherehasbeensixofusofourcompanydied,WalterHawkins,EliJackson,thereisabout18thatisleftbe-hind.“(A407-1.14)From John T. Harris to his Uncle,

July 16, 1862 “Dear Uncle, I take the opportunity

“John Coshaw has just burned Abe Lyons’ whiskey”

“we was the first in the fight and the last to leave”

“the civilians talk of burning it”

“stock has been drove in the pond and shot down to spoil the water”

“3 bullet holes in his clothes and one just grazed his cheekbone”

The Newcomer 9


to write you a few lines to let you knowthat we are all well except sore feet fromscoutingourposition30milesfromhere.IwroteLouisaabitbeforeIleftcampwhileIwasonpicketandtheColonelsentforustocomeinondouble-quick.TheRegimentwasgoingtoDecaturtofighttheguerrillas.Westayedtherethreedaysandthensomeof the union man came from the moun-tains. And if we would go out there wecould get a good many more to volunteerso Col. telegraphed to General Buell andgottheprivilegetogo.Sowestartedwithfourdaysrationsofcrackers,wewentalongnight until noon.Wehalted for twohoursrest.We charged upon a blackberry patchofabout2acresandtookthemostofthemprisoners.Thenwemarcheduntilaboutsixo’clockandtherearguardwasfiredon.Wewheeled in and waited for an attack, theyfiredthreeshotsbuttheyallovershot.ThiswasCompanyA.CompanyB.was in ad-vancewestartedonandwent1/2mileandtheword came that ourCalvarywasfireduponand theywas comingon tous.HalfourcompanywasorderedtodeployoutintoskirmishingbutwewastoolatetheCalvarywas too far ahead of us and stopped andwaseatingsupperwhentheguerrillascameonthem.Therewas16oftheCalvaryandtherewas44guerrillasandthereistwoofourmengone.Onewaswoundedtheothertheycaughtandmurdered.Onewasshotatseveraltimesbutnothurtmuch.Threebul-letsholesinhisclothesandonejustgrazedhis cheekbone.And he swears vengeanceonthemifheevergets toseethemagain.They shothishorse fromunderhim, thenhetooktothetimbersandgotinaswamp.Heburiedhiscarbineand theygotblood-houndsafterhim.Thenheclumatreeandthenextdayourmenfoundhim.Theguer-rillasreport4killedofthem.WestayedatCol.Davises’.HewasaCol.intheMexicanwar.We got there at eight o’clock and hewas hid up in the mountains. He came innextmorningyouneversawagladdersetandthenthey,theyareallunionmanandwewas thefirst seteverwas in theneighbor-hood.”(A407-1.19)From John to Louisa, Bowling Green

Kentucky, September 12, 1862 “Wife,oncemore Iwill tryandsendafewlinestoletyouknowIamwellandhopeyouandOscaristhesame.Wehavemarched from Stevenson in 21 days andwehave rested three.Wegothereyester-dayevening.IgotfourletterslastSunday,

onefromyou,mailedAugust30,onefromWilliam and Ben, and from Uncle Wil-liam,BenandDock.Havegonetothe48thRegiment.IgotthatpaperyousentmelastnightIsawJeffersonyesterdayforthefirsttimesinceIlefthome.Heiswellbutlooksliketherestofus,thatisprettyhard.JohnCoshaw is well but his feet is very sorefromthehardmarch.Myfeetisnotmuchsore.Ican’twritewithinkthistimeforitisinmyknapsackanditisintheirwagonanditistwomilesfromhereontheothersideoftheriver.Weareexpectingmarch-ingorders anyminute, don’t knowwherebut suppose supposedly to Louisville orLexington. We are camped on Buckner’scampgroundalmosttwomilesfromoneofhisforts.”(A407-1.23)From John to Louisa, Loudon, East

Tennessee, February 23, 1864 “Dear companion, Once again I sitmyselfintheparlortopenyouafewlines.I received a letter from you a few daysagowithsomethreadandneedle.WhenIwroteforitIwaswhereIcouldnotgetanysuchthanks,butwecangetthemherenow.There is agovernment storehere in townnow. “. . .Well I must tell you somethingaboutourparloritiswellfurnishedsweptcleanandeverythingisingoodordercleanandtidywithagoodbrickfireplaceinthecupboardorontheshelfratherisourgrubanddishessuchasfreshbeef,bacon,lightbread,sugar,coffee,tea,salt,pepper,otherthingstotedioustomention.Wehaveeatatthebeansandtaters.Iamwellpleasedwithourhomeitis.Fourlogshighandcoveredwithourdogtentsitis11feetlongand61/2wide.Wehaveagoodbedthreegoodblanketsandfourwoolenblanketsandtwooverlets.Wehaveafinetimeandplentytoeat and well satisfied but I often think ifI hadOscar here to playwith topass thelonesomehoursitwouldbefinefun.WellitisgettingalmostdinnertimeandIwillhavetocookit.JohnBridgemanisinpicketandDanielDotyhasgonetotowntogetasomegingerbread. “. . . J.T. Harris detachment of the 51stRegimentIndianaLoudon,EastTennesseeP.S.Iamverymuchobligedtoyouforthatthreadyoujustsentmeandneedle.”(A407–1.40)From Lousia to John, Newton County,

Indiana, July 18, 1864

“he is well, but looks like the rest of us, that is pretty hard”

“much obliged for the thread you just sent and needle”

“oats is ripe enough to cut and is tolerably good”

“Kind Husband, I have not receiveda letter from you for over two weeks but Ithought Iwouldwriteyoua letter thiseve-ninganyhow.WeareallwellandIhopethiswillfindyouthesame.UncleWilliamhasgotallhiswheatcutandishelpingMr.Putmancuthisthisafternoon.Itrainedsolastnightand thismorning that theycouldn’t cutun-til afterdinnermost in theneighborhood iscut.Thosethathavemachinerygotadollarincashforcuttingwheatandthengotoneandahalfdollaradayforworkingintheharvestfield.Iheardtodaythatgoodwheatwassell-ingat$.90abushel.Oatsisripeenoughtocutandistolerablygood.Thecornlooksnice.Ineversawcorngrowfasterinmylifethanithasinthelasttwoweeks,wehavelotsofcornthatisinstill. “. . . I wrote you a letter about twomonthsagoandputasilverthreecentpieceinitforyoutogetJohnBridgemantomakemeablackfingerringwithsilversetsinit.YouneverwrotewhetheryougotitornotMaryBrown has one that he made so I thoughtifyouhad towritehis letters thathemightmakeonemakemearing.”(A407-1.52)From Benjamin Harris to John T. Harris,

September 11, 1864 “BrotherJohn,Iwillpenyouafewlinesinanswertoyouandyoursof1August.Thismay inform you that I am writing on theporch herding sheep and thought I wouldhavetimetowriteyouafewlines.Itisquitewarmandthesheeparelyingintheshadeoftheappletrees.Wehavesoldourcattleandbought1300sheep,eightor900ofthemonland.Theyareworthabout fourdollarsperhead.WhenyoucomehomeIwantyou tobring two or three curly heads to attend tothem.(A407–1.60)From John to Louisa, Sanitary Gardens, October 16, 1864 “Louisa,Iwanttoknowwhereyouare.UnclesandDocandiftheyaregoingtoleaveNewton.YoumusttrytoputtogetherahomeforyourselfandtheboysandIthebestyouevercanuntilIgethome.IfJimWisemanhasrentedthathouseIdon’tknowwhatwewilldoforahouseunlessIbringhomemypuptent.”(A407–1.62) Editor’s note: Most of these letters were written without punctuation or capitalization, these were added from time to time to clarify the meanings of the letters. They are typed as they were written to convey the true character of the individuals. Many thanks to Sue Hurl-but, San Bernardino County Museum of Red-lands, California for emailing digital scans of the letters that I used in this article.

“on the porch herding sheep”

10 The Newcomer


Home Is Where Your Story Begins The Coshaw Family TheCoshawandHarrisfamiliesareattheheartofthiscollectionofletters.WhytheycametoNewtonCountyby1860isnotknown.Theresearchrevealedseveralwaystospell thesurnames,soIamusingwhatwas shown in the research. You can finddetailedHarrisfamilyhistoryintheSpring/Summer, 2011 edition ofThe Newcomer.InLettersofAdministrationrecordedintheCarroll County Court, dated October 23,1851,toJamesH.CoshawfortheEstateofWilliamW.Coshaw,deceased, ofFayetteCounty,Indiana,tohisheirs,Henry,John,ElizabethandLouisaJaneCoshaw.JamesH.beingthebrothertoWilliamW.Thees-tate was settled and recordedAugust 15,1854.Thisrecordvalidatedtherelationshipof the family members to other informa-tion. Afterviewingseveralyearsofcensusrecords (Indiana 1850-1880), that includethe counties of Howard, Carroll, Cass,Jasper and Newton, we have establisheda family tree for the Coshaws. In 1850,thefamiliesofthefirstCoshawwereWil-liam W., Sarah E., Joshua, and James H.Coshaw. Sarah E.,marriedWilliamBuchanon,fromthecensusrecords,Idonotfindanychildren, however, her brother William’ssonsThomasJ.andHenryH.wouldresidewiththemuponthemovetoNewtonCoun-ty in1860.It isbelieved thatLouisaJanealsoresidedwiththeBuchanons,it’squitepossiblywhereshemetJohnT.Harris.Wil-liamandSarahwouldlivealongandpros-perouslife,wefindthematlastinthe1880censusofFultonCounty,Libertytownshipattheagesof75and68respectively,Wil-liamstatingthathehadRheumatism; Joshuaislistedin1850CarrollCoun-ty and in 1860, Newton County, JacksonTownshipCensus.HeandhiswifeEliza-beth had five children, Mary, Sarah A.,Margaret,JohnandCharlotte.HenryHar-risonwas livingwithhisAunt andUnclein1850,JoshuawouldultimatelymovehisfamilytoCassCounty,livingouthisdaysthere.TheirsonJohn,enlistedwithCom-panyB,51stIndianaVolunteerInfantryonDecember 14, 1861, at the age of 17. HewoulddieonApril30,1863atDaysGap,Alabama; James H. is enumerated in the 1850censusofHowardCounty, alongwithhis

wifeSusanna,andchildrenWilliam,Fred-rick, andWinfield, at that time, his nieceElizabeth, 15, was residing with them. In1860, James is not enumerated with Su-sanna and the family. Any reference thatLouisamakesinherlettersto“AuntSusan”wouldbe to James’wife,Susannah (Lan-dis). William W. Coshaw. William wasbornbetween1800-1810anddiedbetweenFebruaryandApril1844.HemarriedCath-erine Buckley, born August 3, 1811, anddied on January 31, 1849.They had fourchildren: Elizabeth Abigail, Henry H.,ThomasJ.andLouisaJane. Elizabeth Abigail, born 1835, died1869. She is listed living with her UncleJamesCoshawinthe1850censusofHow-ardCounty.ShemarriedHenryH.Kessler.Theyhadtwochildren,MarthaandJamesW., both of them passing at early ages.After her death, Henry married ElizabethEdging.Thechildrenfromhissecondmar-riageincludeJoseph,born1870andClara,born1878. Henry Harrison,born1837,diedonSeptember5,1863inCampSherman,MS.Attheageof13,hewaslivingwithhisUn-cleJoshua,andat23,heisresidingwithhisAuntSarah,thesistertoWilliam,andwifeofWilliamBuchanon,asheisenumeratedin that household in the 1860 Census ofJacksonTownship,NewtonCounty,at theageof23.InthesameletterdatedSeptem-ber11,1859,Henrymentionstheboardingfees he is paying while attending school,theletterpostedfromBurnettsville,WhiteCounty,Indiana.HenryenlistedonAugust11,1862 intoCompanyD,of the Indiana12thVolunteer Infantry. On September 5,1863, he died in Camp Sherman, MS, oftyphoidfever.Elizabethreferredtohimas“Harrison”intheletters. Thomas Jefferson Coshaw, born1839,diedFebruary15,1907,andisbur-ied in Jasper, Illinois. He enlisted as amemberofCompanyGofthe9thIndianaVolunteer InfantryonSeptember5,1861,andmusteredoutonSeptember19,1864.HeisreferredinthelettersbyhisauntsasJefferson.In1870,heisenumeratedinthehouseholdofWilliamandSarahBuchanon,and later, in 1900, he is found in JasperCounty, Illinois.Whenhe left Indiana forIllinoisisnotknown,buthisremainswereburied there,andit ispossiblehemarried

andhadafamilythere. Louisa Jane Coshaw,born1841,diedOct22,1884.InaletterdatedFebruary15,1859fromR.J.Lemmon,thepastorofthechurch the Buchanon’s attended in Dale,Spencer County, Indiana, the comment ismade,“wonderifJohn(Harris)andLoui-sa(Coshaw)willsoonbemarried.LouisaJane and John T. Harris are found in the1860censusinJacksonTownship,NewtonCounty, Indiana.Louisawouldhavebeen19yearsofage,wheresheresidedpriortocoming to Newton County is not knownatthistime.OnDecember14,1861,JohnenlistedinservicewithCompanyBofthe51stIndianaVolunteerInfantry,andwouldmusteroutonDecember14,1864.At theageof21,Louisawaslefttocarefortheirfirstbornchild,OscarWilliam,bornOcto-ber14,1860,inNewtonCountywithonlyherAuntSarahBuchanon,AuntElizabeth“Betsy”, wife of her Uncle Joshua, andJohn’s brothers’ family, William F. andRuthHarris.HerbrotherHenrywouldhavebeenofftoschool,andhersisterElizabethwasresidinginCassCounty. This explains the vastness of the let-tersthatweresavedoveraperiodspanning1858-1892. Letters were the only meansof communication, and the fact that let-tersfromthewarfrontactuallyarrivedandwere sent is an amazing feat. “My Com-panion, Dear Husband” often started thelettersbetweenthenewlyweds.Onlyoncedid I sense a bit of doubt in the relation-ship between John and Louisa, but doubtwaserasedquicklywiththesigningoftheletters,“foreveryours” John was taken prisoner during thelastof“Streight’sRaids”,butwasreleased.The paroled soldiers were not allowed toreturntocombatforsixmonths.Theywereassigned guard duty at a northern POWprisonatCampMorton.Theirsecondson,GrantD.wasbornin1864.ThereisagapinthelettersbetweenthetwoofthemfromAugust of 1863 until November 1863,whenheisatCampMortoninIndianapo-lis. GrantdiedonNovember28,1892 inRedlands, San Bernardino, California, atage 28.The cause of his death was Con-sumption; Bruce T., born 1866, died Feb9, 1886 in California, about age 19; Det-merE.Harris,b.1869,diedSeptember16,1870,age1,buriedattheHarrisCemetery,JacksonTownship,NewtonCounty,Indiana.

The Coshaw Family Jackson Township

By Beth Bassett

The Newcomer 11


LouisapassesawayinNewtonCountyonOctober22,1884andisinterredatHar-ris Cemetery, Jackson Township, NewtonCounty,Indiana.JohnwouldremarryNel-

lie Jackson and live a full and interestinglife.HeisinterredatWestonCemeteryinRensselaer,Indiana.

We received a wonderful letter fromLeslie Hall, a member of our society re-garding the Harris family history theSpring/Summer,2011editionof theNew-comer,whichhasaddedabitofmorefam-ilyhistorytotheHarrisfamilystory.Thishasexpandedabranchoftheirtree,findingabrothertoJohn,Benjamin. Leslie also included a photograph oftheBenjaminHarrisfamily,andIamhap-pytoincludeBenjamin’sobituary.ThanksLeslie,forsendingalongyourinfomration.“DearNewtonCountyHistoricalSociety: “I just spent an enjoyable afternoonreadingthelatesteditionof“The Newcom-er” which arrived in the mail today andwaspleasantly surprised to see thearticleontheHarrisFamily.OneofBenjaminT.andElizabethFaulkHarris’sonswasBen-jaminHarriswhomarriedoneofmygreatgrandaunts,EmilyJaneCrisler(asecondmarriageforBen).BenwasmarriedfirsttoCatherineA.Wood, but I have no furtherinformationregardingher. “BenHarris,knowntomygrandfatheras “ol’ Uncle Ben” was a philanthropistwhosewillmadeprovisionsfortheBenja-minHarrisHomeforWidowsandOrphansin Rensselaer when he died in 1916. HeandEmilyJanearebothburiedinWestonCemeteryinRensselaer.Theyhadanonlydaughter, Flora Ellen Harris who marriedatage40theorganistandchoirdirectorofRensselaerMethodistChurch (and later aPresbyterianChurch),CharlesEdwardPri-or,anativeofEngland.Floradiedin1931.SheandCharleshadnochildren. “I am attaching a genealogy reportwhichoutlinestheinformationIhavegath-eredon theBenjaminHarris family. I amalso attaching a photo of Benjamin andEmilyJaneHarriswiththeirdaughterFlo-raEllentakenprobablybetween1890and1900.(Shownaboveright)Regards,LeslieHall,Waynesboro,Virginia.”Death of Well Known Citizen, Rensselaer Republican, December 8, 1916 “Uncle Benjamin Harris Dies at HisHome in Rensselaer Today-Funeral Sun-day.BenjaminHarris,ofthiscity,diedto-dayat11:00a.m.Hehadbeensickforthepastfourmonths.Mr.Harriswasoneoftheeldest residents of Jasper County, havingspentmostofhislifeofseventy-eightyearshere.Hewasborn inTippecanoeCounty,

Branch Added to the John T. Harris Family TreeApril2,1838. When a small lad, he with his wid-owedmothermovedtoahomeaboutamilewestofMt.Ayr.HelatermovedtoBrook,Ind., and owned and operated a mill. HewassurveyorofJasperCountyfrom1876-1878.HemovedtoafarmnearJulianandsometwenty-twoyearsagomovedto thiscity.Hehasmadethiscityhishomesincethat time.Hewas twicemarried.HisfirstwifewasCatherineWood.Hissecondwifeto whom he has been married over fortyyears,wasEmilyCrisler.Sheandheronlychild, Mrs. C. E. Prior, survive him. ThefuneralserviceswillheheldattheChurchofGodSundayafternoonat2p.m.Athisrequesttherewillbenoflowers.Mr.Harriswasaquiet,unassumingmanbutofsplen-did character. He was a careful business-

manandhadaccumulatedalargeestate.Hewasamemberof theChurchofGodandhislifewasthoroughlyconsistentwiththatbelief.Alife,suchasUncleBenhaslivedamongus,willleaveaninfluenceforgoodthatwilllongbefelt.”

Harris Cemetery, 2005

Harris Cemetery, 2011

Blankenbaker Family Funds Harris Cemetery Restoration DescendantsofJoelandSusanna(House)Blankenbaker,whoareburiedintheHarrisCemeterynorthofMt.Ayr,commissionedtheGraveyardGroomersoutofConnersville,INtorestorethiscemetery.TherestorationbeganonMonday,October10,2011andwascompletedWednesday,October12,2011. Duringtherestoration,basesfortwoheadstoneswerefound.Theheadstonesthem-selveswerenotlocated.However, theydiduncoverafootstonewiththeinitialsMCRcarvedonit.ThisfootstonewaslocatedimmediatelytothesouthoftheThomasReedburiallocation.Weassumethistobetheburiallocationofhisdaughter,MahalaC.Reed.HoweveraMahalaReeddoesshowupin1870(differentage)withaStewartfamily,somoreresearchshouldbedonetoverifythisassumption. The Blankenbaker family greatly appreciates RandyAmes giving permission forthemtohaveaccesstothecemetery,whichislocatedonhisfarm.Whenacemeteryislocatedonprivateproperty,itistheowner’sdecisionastotheupkeepandpreservationofthearea.TheothercemeteriesinJacksonTownshipareunderthejurisdictionofthetrustee,SharenClark,whohasdoneanexcellentjobinmaintainingthem.Submitted and photos by Beth Bassett

Benjamin, Emily and Ellen Harris

12 The Newcomer


<continued from page five>seemedtogoupintheairthefirstinning,andwhenthey landedon terrafirmat thecloseascoreof26to11wasmarkeddownin favor of Wolcott. It was a good grandstandgame,however,forthosewhoenjoyseeing hot grounders, sky scrapers, andhomeruns.OurneighboringtownofBrookhasagoodballteam,andaloyallotofsup-porters. A crowd of good looking ladiesfromthattownrootedvociferouslyfortheirclub on the Kentland ground Thursday.Theywereajollygoodcrowdandgavetheboys about the only encouragement theyreceived.WolcottandAtticaplayedFriday,theformerwinningonascoreof8to5.” “TheFirstKentlandHorseShowwasabigsuccess.AccordingtotheEnterprise,“The attendance on Thursday was vari-ously estimated between 2,500 and 3,000people.OnFridayitwasfullydoublethatof the first day and between five and sixthousandwouldnotbefaroutoftheway.” “Judging (on Friday) began at nineo’clock and continued without a breakuntil half after three in the afternoon, atwhichtimethegrandparadewasmade.Noadjournment was taken for dinner. It wasconservativelyestimated thatduring thesesixhoursandahalfnotlessthan2,000peo-ple stoodon the street soabsorbed in thematchless display of fine horses that theymissedthenoondaymeal.Othersgrabbedabunorchickenlegfromalunchcounterandwerebackonthestreetbeforethelastmouthfulcouldbegulpeddown.” “While the show of horses was theprinciple featured of both days-and thisalonewasallanyvisitormightreasonablyhaveaskedfor-therewereotherthingsgo-ingonfortheentertainmentofourguests.Theballoonwentuponscheduleonbothdays,thegreasedpigmadehisdashforlib-erty, the fatmensprinkled thedustof thebicycletrackwiththesweatoftheirbrow,the ladies foot race, the gentlemen’s footrace, thecart race, thekeg raceandotherlightsportswerepulledofftothemanifestdelightofthosewhowerefortunateenoughtoget in line for the events.Thebaseballgames were a big drawing card to a cer-tainclass.TheMonticelloBandworkedinaroundtheedgesandfilledineverysparemomentwithagoodlivelytune,andmadethe nights merry with their open air con-certs.” “Arthur Dick marched five daughtersallundersixteenyearsofage,downtotheMcCraytelephoneofficeandwontheprizeofferedbyMr.McCrayforthelargestfam-ilyofdaughterswithintheagelimit,inat-

tendanceattheHorseShow.Theprizewassixmonth’stelephonerent.AsimilarprizewasgobbledupbyW.A.Smithforthelarg-estloadofchildren.WhenMr.Smithgoesafteraprizehegenerallywins.LeadingtheRaubandFlemmingschoolsonahayrackhecamesailing into townwithfifty threeyoungsters singing the national airs. Mr.SmithandMr.Dickareeachrockribbed,Republicans and have long been perchedontheRooseveltplankfavoringlargefami-lies.” “The business men of Kentland havereasontobeproudof theireffortsatwin-dowdressing.Manyveryfineandpraise-worthydisplaysweremade.Thebusinessstreetneverpresentedabetterappearancein thehistoryof the town,andmanyflat-teringcommentsweremadebyvisitors.AdisplayintheAdeandMcCrayBankwin-dowsofwarrelicsandtrophiescollectedinthePhilippinesandSouthAfricabyJohnT.McCutcheon, attracted a great deal of at-tention, andwere carefully scrutinizedbyhundreds of people. And the Albino andArabiancoltswerealsohere,notwithstand-ingthemanydoubtspreviouslyexpressedastotheirgenuinessy,becamepopularpets.Thedisplayswereallworthyofpraise.” Dramatic Conclusion ThoughthewellplannedHorseShowprovided two days of entertainment forthousandsof people, itwas anunplannedeventintheclosingmomentsofthefestivalwhich gave the Kentland Horse Show of1903itsdramaticconclusion. AstheEnterpriseofOctober1,1903reported: “Last Friday night just as the din ofthebigHorseShowhadreached itshigh-estpitch,wheneverybodywasputtingthefinishingtouchesonadayofsupremeplea-sure,when theblastsofa thousandhornswere echoing the merriment of the jollythrongofpeople,andwhen the townwasready to bid farewell to its thousands ofguests,amostappallingaccidentoccurredthat came near resulting in the death ofLouis Keefer, and which will at the bestprobablyleavehimacrippleforlife. “Young Keefer is in the employ ofWillK.McCray,workingas linemanandgeneral help at the telephone office. Dur-ing the evening the light wires becamecrossedwiththetelephonewiresinfrontofGauthier’srestaurant.Thewholetelephonesystemhadbecomechargedand thebellswereringingallovertown,andonthetolllinesasfarasEffner,SheldonandIroquois.For the safety of the people Mr. McCraylenteveryefforttorightthewrong.Anyone

usingaphoneatthetimewouldhavebeengivenashockandseveraldidnotescape. ThenearestpolestoodinfrontoftheBank of Kentland and Mr. McCray hadhimself twice ascended it in an effort todislodge the conflicting wires. The thirdtime he sent Keefer up but warned himto be careful and touch no wires, at thesametimehandinghimastickwithwhichto knock the cross out. He had scarcelyreachedthetop,whenwithoutwarninghefelltothecementwalkbelow,adistanceofsometwentyfivefeet.Foramomentitwasthought theboyhadbeenkilled instantly.Hewashurriedlycarriedtohishomeandadoctorsummoned.” BurnmarksonKeefer’sneckandfin-gers indicated that he had contacted theelectric wire which caused him to fall.Keeferspentseveralweeks inaLafayettehospital,andlatereditionsofthepaperin-dicatedthathewasontheroadtorecoveryfromthebrokenlegandinjuredkneecapinthelastreportwecouldfind. An unusual event also marked the1904KentlandHorseShow,CharlesEast-burn, who owned a stock farm betweenSheldonandWatsekainIllinois,enteredateamofhorsesinthe1904judging.Oneofthehorsesintheteamwasnervousanddidnotperformwellbeforethejudges,andtheteam tooka secondplace.Later thatyearEastburnenteredthatsameteamattheSt.LouisWorld’s Fair and took a first place.Eastburnexplainedthatthelongtrainrideto St. Louis calmed the horses, enablingthemtomakeanormalshowing. The Kentland Horse Show was heldfor six years ending in 1908. It was aneventwhichprovidedmuchentertainmentfor thepeopleof thearea,but itwasalsoaneventwhosedayswerenumbered.Thearrivaloftractorsandthegrowingpopular-ityofthehorselesscarriagemeantthatthesupplyofgoodshowhorseswasboundtodwindle.

Goodland History Book Local historians Anne Meyer and Karen Schuette, and several of their friends and neighbors are working together to pro-duce a history of the town of Goodland. The articles that follow are just an example of the fine research and development this group has accomplished.The James Family of Goodland The James family came to GoodlandjustpriortotheCivilWar.JosephMcAli-ster,akaJosephMcJames,hadbeentakingsomefamilymembersoutofPulaskiCoun-ty, Kentucky, two new settlement landswhere thegrowing familymight continue

The Newcomer 13


toprosper. PioneeringinAmericaisaJamestra-dition.JohnJames,theoriginalimmigrantarrivedfromCaernarvonshire,Walessome-timepriorto1650.Hesettledswamplandsalong the Rappahannock River in today’sVirginia. The James family traces theirlineagebackthroughthekingsofEnglandand Scotland all the way to Clovis, thefounderofthecityofParis.InAmerica,theJameswereamongthecountry’sfoundingfamilies.Theywere,andare,championsofreligionandindividualliberty. AftertheRevolutionarywar,JohnM.JamesmigratedintoIndianterritoryintheland called Kentucke. Settling on 5000acres, he was one of the founders of theCountyofPulaski, and the townofSom-erset. He served in the State Legislature.Many of his descendants became gover-nors,senators,mayors,sheriffsandpublicservants. Others became educators. Manyin the family were Baptist ministers whofounded churches still in active ministry200yearslater. Goodland was one of several planta-tions owned by Joseph McJames. Otherswere located in Douglas and ChampaigncountiesinIllinois.Thesewereoperatedbyother family members. Mack had alreadyproven himself as an able farmer, hotelbuilder,afinancierbackinDanville,BoyleCounty, Kentucky. The development oftheLogansport-PeoriaRailroadwaslikelythekeyattractioninbringMackJamestoGoodland. Mack built the first hotel in Good-land.TheCentralHotelwasbuiltofwoodand subsequently burned. Mack replacedit with a brick built hotel, like the brickstructureshisfamilybuiltinKentuckyandVirginia. The hotel had a “sample room”onthegroundlevel.Thiswasnotedinthelocal newspaper. One of Mack’s formerslaves, JamesPiddigon,operatedabarbershop there. Piddigon knew everyone intown,andby theendof the19thcentury,wasrecognizedhimselfasoneofthepio-neerfoundersofGoodland. Prior to the Civil War, Mack hadbeen freeingJames familyslavesandset-ting themup in theirownplantationsandfarms.MackbroughtformerfamilyslavesfromKentuckytoGoodlandtooperatethefarmtogetherwithhisson,FrancesMarionJames, who was known in Goodland asMarionJames. Marion James arrived in Goodlandafter serving in the Confederate army intheCivilWar.Jamesfamilymembershadfoughtonbothsides.Marionsettledintoa

log cabin.The cabin still exists in Good-landat102PrairieAvenue.Marionbuiltanewhomecompletelyencasingtheoriginallogcabin.FamilylorehasitthattherehadoncebeenastatueofMarionJameserectedinGoodland, recognizinghimas theonlyConfederateveteranof theCivilWar.HisConfederate war pistols were donated totheGoodlandHistoricalSociety.Theloca-tionofthosepistolsisunknowntoday. Mack and Marion bought land eastof Goodland and annexed it to the town.James Street was named for the family.Theybuilthomesontheeastsideoftown

uptothecreekandsoldthemtomigratingsettlers. Marion’s wife, Nancy Angeline Lo-ganWoodJames,wasoneofthefoundingmembers of the First Baptist Church ofGoodland.NancywasbornontheOregonTrail. Mack also brought a brother DanielMorgantoGoodland.ItisbelievedMorganoperatedalumberbusinessinGoodland,butthishasnotbeenverified. MarionJames,NancyAngeline,three < continued on page fourteen ><continued from page thirteen >

These early photographs of buildings in Goodland were found at the Goodland LIbrary. The top photograph was the Griggs and Weishaar Building and Bringham Brothers. The second photo is of the Jacobs building, which housed a Dry Goods Store owned by Rufus Jacobs called the F. Z. Little Store, who was a partner with Jacobs in the store. It also housed the Masonic Temple and gentleman’s quarters for Jacobs.

14 The Newcomer


of their children, together with MorganJamesareallburiedinGoodlandCemetery.MackmigratedfurtherwesttoCoffeyville,Kansas.Thereheengagedincattleranch-ing. Presumably, Mack had changed hisnamefromJosephMcAlisterJamestoJo-sephMcJamestoavoidtheembarrassmentandnotorietyofhiscousins,outlawsJessieand Frank James. In Coffeyville, Kansas,Mack’sson,D.EphraimJames,wascaughtin the middle of the Dalton gang raid ontheCondonBankinCoffeyville.Ironically,Mack wasburiedwithin 75 feet ofFrankDalton and within 200 feet of the rest ofthegangwhowerekilledintherobberyat-tempt. The sonofMarionandNancyAnge-line LoganWood James, Francis Marion,“Frank”James,Jr.,isalsoburiedinGood-landCemeterywithhisparents.FrankranawayfromhisGoodlandhomeatage14.He tried mining in Choride,Arizona, butsettled in thesmall townofWestmont, Il-linois, outside of Chicago.There he mar-riedAnna Emalia Knaff and raised sevenchildren.AmongthemwasHarryFrances‘Buddy” James, Jr. aka Eric James. BudoftenvisitedGoodlandinhislifetime.Hisfather, Frank, died at the age of 53 fromtuberculosis and alcoholism. Regardless,Frankprovedhimselfakind,generous,andconsideratefatherandhusband.HeisalsoburiedatGoodlandCemetery. Recently, the sole surviving daughterofFrankandAnnJamespassedaway.Eliz-abethBernadineJames,knownasDeanie.Shortly before passing, Deanie James ex-pressed her wish to be buried beside herfather. TodaytheJamesfamilynumbersover4500 known ancestors and descendants.Recently,SamWalton,founderofWalMartandSam’sClub,wasfoundtobeadescen-dantinthisJamesline.TheJamesinhabitthebreadthofAmerica.Manyareactiveintheircommunities.TheJamesfamily,after350yearsinAmerica,remainsafamilyofpreachers, teachers, planters, politicians,writersandrealestateprofessionals.

Jessie James/Goodland Connection Jesse James and his gang were morethan likelynevernearGoodland, Indiana,butrelativesofFrankandJessieleftabigmark in the founding and history of thetown. A cousin of the famous pair, JosephMcAlister James (1818-1905), movedherepriortotheCivilWarandchangedhisnametoJosephMcJamestomaskthefactthathehadsuchwell-knownrelatives. Joseph’s son, Frank Marion James

(1843-1910), arrived after serving in theConfederate army and worked with hisfather in his enterprises. Part of Marion’shomeisstillat102E.PrairieAvenue. In their dealings, the James familyowned a good portion of what is the easthalfofthetown.Theysoldlotsandparcelsoff as the town grew, due to the railroadpassingdirectly through thenewcommu-nityincorporatedin1861. Marion’swife, theformerNancyAn-gelineLogan(1851-1934),wasoneofthefoundersoftheBaptistChurchin1895atthecornerofJamesandUnionStreets.Thechurchisstillactivetodaynowinits116thyear.JamesStreetwasnamedforthefam-ily. Joseph built the St. James Hotel onNewtonStreetnexttotherailroadandre-uilt it after it burned.After it closed, thebuilding was primarily used as a grocerystoreandtavern. TheGoodlandCemeteryisthesiteofthe graves of several James family mem-bers,aswellasaformerslave’swife,Mar-ryPiddigon,(1842-1899). The former slave, James Piddigon,(probablyPettyjohn),(1838-1910?),wasabarber in Goodland and was well known.Heheldapatentforawashboardimprove-ment. SeveralJamesfamilymembersownedbusinesses in the townandwereactive inlocalaffairs.Manywell-knownpeoplearerelated to theJames family.Sources:EricJames,StrayLeaves,1880USCensus,An-

cestry.com,NewtonCountyHistoricalSo-ciety, IllinoisStatewideDeath Index,pre-1916.

Newspaper ArticlesThe First Hotel

From an unidentified newspaper ar-ticle, found in the Goodland, Indiana, Public Library. “Joseph M. James (Joseph McAlisterJames),a residentofKentuckyandfatherofMarionF.James,built theCentralHo-tel,whichwasburned in thefireof1844.Itwasbuiltin1869andwasthefirstbuild-ing of any consequence to be built in thetownofGoodland.Itwasalargetwo-storyframeandoccupiedthesiteofthepresentCommercial hotel building. It was quitemodern for those times andhadabout30rooms with a commodious office and ad-joiningsampleroom.Mr.Jamesalsopur-chased considerable land adjoining thetown and laid out all of the lots on EastJamesStreetfromUniontoBentonStreetsandsouthtothesiteoftheoldtilefactory,andJamesStreetwasnamedforhim.Sev-eralyearsago,Mr.James,whowasafineoldKentuckygentleman,visitedGoodlandandsatwiththewriterathishomebeneaththe shadeof agreatoakandwalnut treesthatdecorateourfrontyard,andremarkedthathehadplantedthosetrees,havingdugthemupwhensmallsaplingsneartheIro-quoisRiver.Hehadbeenaslaveowner,butfreed themall at theoutbreakof thewar.Hesaidtheydidnotwanttoleavehim,sohesentanumberf themhere toworkhisland.AmongthemwasJamesPiddigon,abarber,andwell-knowncharacterhereforyears.” From the Newton County Enterprise, September 5, 1901, by William W. Gilman “Therewas in1867about tenhousesinwhatisnowGoodland.GarryHopkins,Wm. Foster,Andrew J. Ball, ZibaWood,ThomasShively,IsaacAtkins,AmosCrid-er,O.W.Churchandtwoothers;onestoreandwarehousecombined,oneblacksmithshop,oneschoolhouse.Therewasoneoth-erinthetownshipandschoolwasopenforthreemonthsintheyear. “From1868,settlerscamewitharush.AhotelwasbuiltbyJos.McJamesin1869,and had N. I. Dike for the first landlord.From thence, Goodland began to put oncitified airs. Its population came from alldirections,andwereofallkinds.Onefromfurthersouthinthestatewhenaskedofhiscross said he “raised a pile, sold a heap,and had a right smart left.”Another fromoldKentuckwasseenwithanopenknifeinhand,anda“jagon”racingdowntheplace

Motorcycles are now built with “Ful-Floteing” Seats . . . . This small adver-tisement for Harley-Davidson Motorcy-cles appeared in the 1915 edition of the Newton County Enterprise. They were sold by George W. Fondong of Goodland.

The Newcomer 15


I write this littlecolumn the day afterourannualChristmasOpen House, whichwas a great success;we had over sixtyguestsattending.TheResource Center wasdecorated beauti-fully and the holidaytreats were deliciousand inviting. All thisremindsmehowtrulyblessedwearetohavetheresourcesandvol-unteers to keep thehistory of our countyaliveandverywell!Ourguestsenjoyedseeingour displays and information sources as wellasapreviewoftheprogressoftheupcomingdocumentary, “Everglades of the North, TheGrand Kankakee Marsh.” The Izaak WaltonLeague-DianaChapterandNationalBoardarethesponsorsofthisproject.JeffManes,BrianKallies,TomDeschandPattyWisniewskiarewriting,editing,photographing,andproducingthisimportantdocumentationofthemarsh,itshistoryandimportantcontributionstoouren-vironmentandwayoflifeinNewtonCounty.Our society and its members have providedhistoricalbackgroundfortheproject,includingre-enactments and financial assistance. Lake-shorePublicTelevisionofMerrillville,Indiana,willbethehoststationtoairthisdocumentarywhich is anticipated to be released in 2012.Watchthisnewsletterandlocalnewspapersfortimeanddates.Thisproductionpromisestobeawonderfuladditiontothehistoryofourarea. Our annual membership drive is under-wayandrenewalsarecominginbutweneednewmembershipsaswell.Iencourageallwhoseethiscolumntohelp“sell”membershipstofriendsandacquaintancessowecancontinuethegoodworkyourSocietyhasaccomplishedovertheyears.Asalways,weneednewvolunteerstohelpkeepourhistoryaliveandgrow-ing! IwanttowishallaveryMerryChristmasandamostHappyNewYear!

Just a note of thanks . . . Anotheryearisabouttopassintothepagesofhistory,itishardtobelieve2011iscomingtoanend.IhopethatyouhaveenjoyedThe Newcomereditions,andinviteyoutocontributetothecontentofupcomingeditions.Thisyearwasthe200thanniversaryoftheCivilWarandwefeaturedseveralarticlesonthesubject.ThankstoKyleConradforhiscontributionstothiseffort.Also,I’dliketosayaspecialthankstoJanetMillerforhercontributionsofourstandingfeaturesofthepublication.Wecertainlyknowmuchmoreaboutthepages of our pastwitheachedition.AccoladesandthankstoJeffManeswithhisfreshapproachtorecordinghistorythroughhisweeklynewspapercolumn,“Salt.” - Beth Bassett

wherethesidewalkswerenot,callingdownanythingbutblessingsontheheadofafor-mer citizen of Illinois who by “strenuousexertion”managedtokeepoutofthereachof theknife.A fewhoursafter, that sameknife was used by its owner to cut largechunks of “plug tobaker” to put wheretwoulddo themostservice, thebreachofetiquette he had been healed.And later acoloredgentadministeredpunishmentonawild Irishmanwhohad insinuatedhisve-racitywasnotA.1.”

Now You Know Your County of Newtonby Janet Miller, Questions on page 21. The state adjacent to Indiana withcountygovernmentrelatingtoNewtonandJasper is Illinois. Jasper County IL wasformed in 1831 from Clay and CrawfordCounties. It was named after AmericanRevolutionaryWarheroSergeantWilliamJasper. Newton is the largest and oldesttown in Jasper County. It was named thecounty seat in 1835. It was named afterSergeant Newton, also a RevolutionaryWarheroandacomradeofSgt.Jasper.2. TheNewtonCountyFarmBureauwasorganizedinBrook,INonMarch18,1919with about 450 of the county’s leadingfarmersinattendance.Dueswere$5.00.3. The establishment in Lincoln Town-ship known as Naked City was formerlycalled Zoro Nature Park and was formedin1933byAloisKnappwhocametothiscountryfromAustria.4. In1856Morocco’sfirstdoctorarrivedinthevillageuponawhitehorse.Hisnamewas Dr. Charles E. Triplett. Dr. Triplettwas born in Kentucky and was left as anorphanatfivedaysold.HewasrearedonaplantationandlaterwastakenundertheguidinghandofDr.JohnSheltonandwassentthroughLouisvilleMedicalCollege.5. The autobiography of a BrigadierGeneral,Army that is found in the Kent-landCentennialBookisthatofGeorgeAdeDavis. Hewasborn inKentland in1884andgraduatedfromPurduein1906wherehewasoneofthetwofirstmembersoftheSchoolofForestry.Duringthesummerva-cationsheworkedon theNewtonCountyfarms of Bluford Light and Charles Roe.HeretiredfromtheArmyafter34yearsofservicetohiscountry.

President’s Thoughts by Bernie Murphy

Society members and the public gathered again for their 5th an-nual Holiday Open House at the Resource Center in Kentland on December 9th. Photo by Beth Bassett

Lake Village students visited the Resource Center this fall. They were captivated by “Mr. Bones,” and delighted with Larry Ly-ons’ presentation on local history. Photo by Beth Bassett

16 The Newcomer


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PERMITNUMBER 27

BROOK, IN 47922A publication of the NEWTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.

P.O. BOX 303, Kentland, Indiana 47951ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

TheNewcomerisapublicationoftheNewtonCountyHistoricalSociety,Inc.A501(3)capprovedorganization.Sendmembershipdues/inquiresto:POBox303,Kentland,Indiana47951;[email protected];OfficersoftheNewtonCountyHistoricalSocietyPresident,BernieMurphy,Kentland;V.President,MikeWilliamson,Morocco;Secretary,BeckyLyons,Brook;Treasurer,DarleneTruby,Kentland;MemberatLarge,SigBoezeman,DeMotte,CountyHistorian,DianaElijah,Morocco;Ex-Officio,JanetMiller,Kentland.PrintingbyRensselearPRINTCO.

JoinOurMembership!AnnualduesarevalidJan.1-Dec.31.Mustbeamemberofthegeneralsoci-etytojointheFamilyHistoryDivision.

GeneralSociety:$17.00FamilyHistory:$5.00Total for both: $22.00

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Division:$50.00Total for both $175.00

MembershipincludesfreecopiesofThe Newcomer;monthlynotificationofmeetingprograms.

1955 Brook Kindergarten Class Thesebright,eagerfacesbelongtothefirstKindergartenclassoftheBrookschoolsin1955.TheymetinthebasementoftheBrookLibraryalongwiththeirteacher,ChoiceBartlett. First row, l-r, Joel Hershman, Jim Miller, ?, Chuck Danruther, JoyceAckors, B.Weishaar?,RonLyons,GarySanders;secondrow:?,JackThompson,?Hollingsworth,BruceHerriman,LindaKindig,BonnieSpangler, ?,CarlKleinkort, JimBower;back,ChoiceBartlett. Thisphotowasplacedonfacebook.combyBruceHerriman.

SocietymemberGaryClifton,ofCali-fornia, recently purchased this Kentlandcabinetphoto,right,atebay.com.Hesentit to us to post onourweb site, in hopesthat someone can identify the family andthephotowillreturntothefamily.ThanksGaryforsendingthisalongtous!

Are these members of your family?

The winter window display at the Re-source Center in Kentland features “Out-door Winter Activities in Newton County.” A history of the Brook Ice Houses by John Connell, photographs of ice harvesting on the Kankakee River, and many items that were used back in the day for everyday liv-ing and recreation are on display. Stop by and reminisce with us.

fall 2011 - ingenweb

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