Port Commerce, Indiana
The Divine Architect of the Universe
built a town site at the junction of White and Eel rivers. Owing
to its advantageous situation it was named Point Commerce. It
grew steadily and became the best town on White River. Stores
were started, ferries established, shops were opened, saw-mills
were located, boats were built and the pioneer village continued
to thrive.
The first merchant was J. M. H. Allison,
who settled there and opened a general store in 1835. Shortly
afterward he was joined by his brother, J. F. Allison, who
surveyed and named the village. In addition to a large general
store the firm engaged extensively in the pork-packing business
and in the purchase of the products of the farms, which they
shipped to New Orleans. Sometimes the Allison. Brothers shipped
twenty-five or thirty flatboat loads of pork, furs, lumber and
grain to the southern market in one season.
They built a big pork-house on Eel
River, near where it empties into White River. The farmers
slaughtered their hogs and sold them, dressed, to the
pork-packers. They also established a double ferry, where the
rivers met.
Allison & Allison built a large hotel
which was called the Junction House. It became a famous hotel
among river men. There was an old saying: "The Junction House is
good enough for Philadelphia." The old hotel was brought to
Worthington in later years and now forms a part of the
Commercial House.
J. M. H. Allison also erected a fine
two-story brick house, which still stands and is now owned and
occupied by Jasper Hutchinson. Mr. Allison was an adventurous
speculator. It is said he sank a large fortune at Point
Commerce.
In time more merchants came and other
lines of business were established so that Point Commerce gave
promise of becoming a great city. There were blacksmiths, wagon
makers, tailors, tinners, a turning lathe, a cabinet maker, a
tannery, a saloon (then called a "grocery"), a saw-mill, a
grist-mill and finally a distillery and a powder mill.
Goods for the stores were bought in New
York, shipped to Pittsburg, floated down to Louisville on
flatboats and then hauled in wagons to Point Commerce.
Ferries were established. One ferry
across White river was operated by Thomas Smith, about where the
wagon bridge now spans that stream. Another ferry was started
north of Point Commerce by Jonathan Osborn. Later, the village
having become a thriving business center, a double ferry was
started at the junction of the rivers. Another ferry was started
across Eel River, where the wagon bridge now spans that stream.
Some years later a wagon bridge was
built over Eel River, just above where the I. & V. railroad
bridge is now located. The large rocks on the south bank of that
stream formed a natural abutment for that end of the old wooden
bridge. A wagon road ran along the ridge, now known as Hays'
Heights, and descended to the bridge where the orchard of Herman
Kautz is located.
In time a large brick Methodist church
was built. Later it was razed and the brick used to build the
residence now owned and occupied by Marcus Hays.
A two-story frame building was erected,
the lower story being used as school room and the upper story as
a Masonic Hall. Later this building was transferred to
Worthington and used as a carpenter shop by Squire Riggs. It
still stands, near the Water & Light Plant.
A grist-mill and saw-mill combined stood
on the east bank of Eel River at the old "Indian ford." Later, a
carding mill and subsequently a weaving department were added.
Lumber was sawed, cloth was woven, flour, meal and feed were
ground and shipped down the river to the southern market. That
important industry was owned and operated, in later years, by
Samuel Miller, father of F. N. Miller. There were two saw-mills
on Eel River between the first wagon bridge and White River.
Later, another pork house was built on
the east bank of Eel River, just above where the wagon bridge
now spans the stream. It was established by E. H. Sabin who was
a preacher as well as a pork-packer.
W. C. Andrews, father of W. C. Andrews,
the hardware merchant, came in 1839 and opened a general store.
Later, the firm became Andrews & Topping. In addition to
conducting a large general store they did an extensive shipping
business.
Among the pioneer business men and firms
of Old Point Commerce were the following:
J. M. H. and J. F. Allison, general merchants
W. C. Andrews, general merchants
John Barekman, general merchants
Andrews & Toppings, general merchants
Mclntyre & Jaquis, general merchants
Joseph Miller, general merchants
William Bradshaw, cabinet maker
Wilson Helms, carpenter
T. Messick and J. Stanley, tailors
J. Barekeman, squir
John Beach and James Abbott, shoemakers
Sam and Alf Willy, blacksmiths
William Wooden, wagon make
Bob Leach, wood workman
Fount Gooley, harness and saddle-make
Isreal Car-roll, coffins and undertaking
Jesse Brazier, brewer and baker
Jesse Brazier, saloon
Sam Miller, saw-mill
Aaron Craigg, woolen mil
John Sanders, distillery
Jonathan Osborn, powder mill
William Bays, squire. |
Mr. W. G. Sanders, of Point Commerce,
whose grandparents were among the first settlers, recalled the
names of merchants and other pioneers, besides many interesting
events in the old flat-boat days, when Point Commerce was in her
prime. Mr. Sanders remembers when his father had a distillery
and made corn whisky, apple brandy and peach brandy.
Often he would haul a barrel of whisky
to other points, in an ox-cart, and sell it at 12½ cents per
gallon.
Mr. Sanders remembers Rev. Eli Farmer,
pioneer circuit rider, who preached at Point Commerce. He was a
great exhorter.
The first school house, which Mr.
Sanders recalls was a small brick structure, which stood near
where the residence of B. F. Hays is situated.
"In those days," said Mr. Sanders, "the
people made the jeans and woolseys for their clothes which were
all homemade. When I was a boy, drunkenness was much more common
than it is now. The elections were then held in August. Several
rough and tumble fist fights always occurred on every Election
Day, as well as at all horse races or other public gatherings."
Before the first cabins were built by
white men at Point Commerce, the last tepees of the red men had
disappeared. But occasionally a roving band of Indians visited
the place. They were peaceful and some of them could speak
"broken" English. If on foot or on horseback, they traveled
single file, and crossed Eel River at the old Indian ford. But
more often they floated leisurely down the streams in canoes,
stopping here and there to hunt and to barter with the whites.
In September, 1819, a band of redskins
visited this region. They numbered 300, and belonged to a single
tribe, probably the Piankeshaw. They were on horseback and
passed along the old Indian trail and crossed Eel River at the
old Indian ford, a fourth mile north of where the wagon bridge
now spans this stream.
A few days later another band of
Indians, numbering 200, floated down White river in bark canoes
and camped at the mouth of Eel River. That was on Sunday,
September 30, 1819.
The date of this last visit of the
Indians is fixed by the fact that a wedding of a pioneer white
couple occurred on that day. It was probably the first wedding
solemnized in the old Point Commerce settlement. John Fires and
Miss Martha Craig were married at noon that day by Alexander
Craig, who had a grist-mill at the junction of White and Eel
Rivers. The entire settlement had assembled to celebrate the
first wedding.
Directly after the ceremony the wedding
party was greatly surprised and terribly startled by the arrival
of the big band of savages. Some feared a massacre. But the
Indians were friendly.
The bride and groom and others of the
wedding party walked down to the river to see the Indians. The
chief was a young brave who only a few days previously had been
married himself to a pretty Indian maiden of his own tribe. But
on seeing the blushing young paleface bride, the chief was so
pleased with her appearance that he offered to swap wives. The
bride was very indignant at the Indian's presumption. She was
but fifteen years old and quite comely. The audacity of the
savage was further shown by the fact that he demanded a blanket
and a bear skin to boot.
The next
marriages which
occurred in the Point Commerce settlement were the following:
Isaac Jackson and Elizabeth Griffith, by Rev. Hugh Barnes,
August 9, 1821
David Smith and Mary Byson, by Squire Edmond Jean, October 25,
1821
Philip Silver and Sarah Lindley, by Squire John B. Kelshaw,
January 10, 1822
John Fires and Patsy Craig, by Squire Edmond Jean, May 19, 1822
Eli Duncan and Rebecca Stevenson, by Squire William Clark, July,
1822
Peyton Owen and Rachel Griffith
Richard Wall and Mary Dyer
Herbert Sanders and Jessie Jessup
Samuel Dyer and Celia Arney
Aquilla Walker and Elizabeth Dyer
William Foley and Jane Osborn
Ira Danley and Olive Jessup
Joseph Smith and Sallie Jessup
William Huey and Sally Stanley
John Stanley and Mary Ball
Abram Shoemaker and Maria Morris
Obediah Winters and Hanna Duncan
Thomas Huey and Vasta Steward
Joshua Duncan and Maria Shoemaker
William Smith and Mary McKee
Before any churches or "meeting houses"
were built, services were held in the cabins, by the circuit
riders who rode from place to place on horseback. The services
were always well attended and the pioneers were, as a class,
religious. The singing was congregational and the hymns were
lined-off by the preacher and then sung by the people, often
with more force than melody. These services gave the settlers an
opportunity to meet and greet each other, which they did in
cordial manner. Good old fashioned "handshakes"' always followed
the meetings in which the exhorters often stirred their hearers
into shouting. The religion of that day was more demonstrative
than that of the present.
Spelling schools were another meeting
place for the people, and proved both beneficial and enjoyable.
The first saw-mills were very primitive,
slow and laborious. The log had to be elevated. Then two men,
with what is usually called a whip saw, cut it into boards. One
sawyer stood on the log and the other under it. The lower
position was disagreeable, on account of the sawdust falling
into the sawyer's eyes, when he looked up to see his work, which
was, of course, necessary.
For a time the nearest grist-mill was at
Vincennes, and the settlers had to go there to have their corn
and wheat ground. But later horse-mills and water-mills were
built.
Land was cheap in those days and could
be bought for from fifty cents to $2.50 per acre. What was known
as "congress" land was valued at $1.25 per acre. The swamp lands
could not then have been given away. By drainage it has become
the most valuable now.
Wages were low. Farm hands were paid
$5.00 and $6.00 per month. They worked hard and long.
The first settlement, for many years,
was the best and always remained a model of thrift and
enterprise. And when a town was later established there, it led
all others in its progress and its advancement, in commercial
activity, in education, in religion and in cleanliness. The
place was often called "White Town," a name in which the
inhabitants were justly complimented. The houses and other
buildings and fences were kept neatly dressed in white-wash. To
the voyagers, ascending or descending the rivers, to the
"movers," ever passing, the little town of gleaming white on the
hill, surrounded by the forest of green, was like a beckoning
invitation to a haven of rest and comfort.
In this the village patterned after the
town of Vincennes, where the mud houses of the pioneer French
settlers were kept in spotless white, at all seasons, by a
plentiful use of white-wash, made from lime, formed by burning
mussel shells. The French women were models of cleanliness,
neatness and industry, although so much can hardly be claimed
for their husbands, many of whom were prone to idleness and
inebriacy, caring more for fiddles and whisky than they did for
wealth and education.
But this was not true of the men in the
"White Town" community. They worked and developed the country;
established ferries and bridges, mills and stores, schools and
churches, more rapidly than their French "neighbors" had done at
the "Old Post," on the Wabash.
The first grist-mills established in the
Old Point Commerce settlement were operated by hand and were
very primitive. Their product was a coarse "unbolted" meal. Then
horse-power mills were started. Subsequently water mills were
built. To secure power, dams were built across the streams.
It is claimed that Alexander Craig built
and operated the first mill at Point Commerce. Then Thomas Clark
started a "tub" mill on Clark's creek.
Later the Junction water mill was
established by Daniel and Peter Ingersoll, at the Rock Ford, on
Eel River. It became an important enterprise. People came there
with their grists, for many miles around, often remaining two or
three days, waiting their turns, fishing meanwhile in the
mill-race.
Above its junction with Eel River, the
"White River Mills" were established and a dam built, on the
latter stream, and operated by Green Tally, Amos Owen and Ira
Danley, successively, on the Haxton farm. A part of the old dam
remains.
Game was so plentiful that the pioneers
procured their meat with their rifles. Bears and deer were so
often killed that their skins became a staple product of the
land. Fur-bearing animals were so numerous that trapping was a
profitable enterprise in the winter season. There being little
money, skins and furs became a commodity of such regular barter
that they were almost a "legal tender."
Owing to the ever-shifting habits of men
who, even in that day, were moving westward, the travel overland
was wonderful. And, as all merchandise was hauled overland, an
almost constant stream of wagons were coming and going, when the
roads were passable. Four and six-horse teams were the rule. The
ferries as a result were busy all the day. Besides, the taverns
along the "big roads" or principal thoroughfares were located at
intervals and did a profit-able business. Owing to the frequent
attempts at extortions, the rates were finally fixed by law.
Near Point Commerce is located the
famous "Devil's Tea Table," an interesting geological formation,
which has been called the "Plymouth Rock of Point Commerce." It
is nearly one hundred feet high, and by its elevation and its
location near White river, it forms a natural "lookout" and was
so used by the Indians and by the pioneer whites. It is covered
with the names of its visitors, carved upon its surface. Some
were carved there nearly a century ago.
It is believed that this ancient
landmark was used by the Mound Builders as a sacrificial altar.
Just below it, nearer the river, is the
"Devil's Chair," a stone formation resembling an immense seat
with a back, which has also attracted the attention of the
sightseers.
In those earlier days there was no mail
service. Mail routes were not established until about
seventy-five years ago. There was a route from Point Commerce to
Washington, which brought and received mail weekly. The postage
on a letter was twenty-five cents, and was usually paid by the
receiver. This was called "lifting" a letter. No envelopes were
used. The letters were folded and sealed with wax.
From the first the settlers in Old Eel
River Township showed an interest in the cause of education and
maintained the best schools of the county.
The first school in what was Old Eel
River Township was organized in 1821. It was taught by George
Baber in a little log house which stood near the home of Caleb
Jessup.
The pioneer teachers, in the order
named, were: Henry Sargent, Ephraim Owen, Luke Philbert, William
Bray, Joseph Saddle and Amos Roark. Each taught a subscription
school for a short term in winter.
Later a school house was built. It stood
near the home of Mr. Jessup. Then another school house was
erected near the home of Mr. Sanders. In these, successful
schools were taught.
Mr. Fletcher Griffith recalls the names
of the following teachers in that community: Rev. Simpson,
Carlos Kelsey, Fred Spooner, William Leach, Robert Taylor, Sam
Kelshaw, John Curry, William Glover and John Buck.
In 1830 there were five school houses in
Jefferson and Eel River townships. The schools grew in number
and the course of study was improved year by year.
Finally the famous Point Commerce
Academy was founded in 1869 by Prof. E. E. Henry and Rev. John
Laverty, both of whom were able educators. Students came from
the surrounding country and from distant towns. The higher
branches were taught. Its course of study was similar to the
modern high school.
For a few years Point Commerce Academy
flourished. Then Prof. Henry accepted a position elsewhere and
the school finally closed. Mr. Laverty later was a clerk in Dr.
Squire's drug store in Worthington. The history of Point
Commerce would be incomplete without a sketch of James M. H.
Allison. He and his brother, John F. Allison, came from Spencer
to Point Commerce in the fall of 1836, and opened a store. They
bought land and laid off a town and named it Point Commerce.
In the following summer J. M. H. Allison
erected the famous old Junction House, which stood on the corner
on the east side of the street about where the little frame
school house is now situated. His brother-in-law, Dr. David
Shepherd, was the first landlord of the hotel. It was of frame,
two stories and was a substantial building. The lumber was sawed
by Mr. Allison at Spencer and floated down White River. The old
hotel was brought to Worthington in 1880, by Tip Osborn, who
started a hotel here.
A year later, in 1838, Mr. Allison
brought his family to Point Commerce. They first occupied a
frame cottage, which stood just east of the hotel, then moved
into another home. Later, they lived in the hotel, until 1844,
when Mr. Allison erected the two-story brick residence
overlooking the beautiful prospect where the two rivers meet.
The house still stands and is occupied by Jasper Hutchinson.
Jas. M. H. Allison was of British
ancestry. He was born at Elizabethtown, Maryland, September 11,
1802. He was a large, portly man, weighing over 200 pounds, an
ardent Whig, a faithful Methodist and a man of wonderful
enterprise and generosity.
Mr. Allison was married twice. His first
wife was Julia Ann Payne, who died childless, eighteen months
after their marriage. In 1828, Mr. Allison married Julia Ann
Applegate, daughter of a wealthy tobacco dealer of Louisville,
Kentucky. To them were born thirteen children, two of whom
survive, viz.: Squire Geo. F. Allison of this town and Dr. David
E. Allison, dentist, of St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Allison died at
Indianapolis, in 1877.
The firm of Allison & Allison did an
extensive business as general merchants, pork-packers and
dealers in produce, which they shipped down the river to New
Orleans. Frequently they would have $40,000 worth of pork and
produce in their warehouse and pork house, waiting for the river
to reach boating stage. In addition of this the Allisons owned
several hundred acres of land. Their possessions included that
part of what is now Worthington north of Union Street, and
extending northward to Johnstown; also west of what is now
Worthington.
James M. H. Allison, the principal owner
of the business and real estate, possessed large means and had
great wealth at his command; but his generosity helped bring on
a financial crash, which occurred in 1852.
His son, 'Squire George F. Allison, to
whom we are indebted for much of the data in this chapter, says:
"My father
was the principal contributor in building the first school house
and the first Methodist church at Point Commerce. Without his
aid neither would have been built. When any money was needed for
church purposes, school expenses, or for some public enterprise,
J. M. H. Allison always headed the list of subscribers and made
up the balance, after the subscriptions of other citizens had
been received. Usually the largest portion of the whole amount
was left for father to pay. He paid the preachers and the
teachers, the most of what they received. Many times my lather
paid the taxes for his neighbors and then waited until they
brought him their produce. Some of them never paid him. He was
too generous for his own good. He donated to everything and
assisted his friends in the hour of need. Then, when he lay sick
and all thought he was on his death-bed, in the summer of 1852,
some men whom he had befriended sent out false and misleading
reports about him, which damaged his credit and brought on his
financial ruin."
"I remember
when my father chartered the steamboat 'J. B. Porter' at New
Orleans, and loaded it with goods for his store at Point
Commerce.
"In the
spring of 1841 father loaded twenty-one flatboats with pork and
other produce and shipped them to New Orleans. Two of the boats
sank and their cargoes were lost, before reaching their
destination."
'Squire Allison recalls the names of the
old flatboat pilots: Anderson Harvey, James Harvey, Ky Gooden,
Tom Archer, Joseph Osborn and William Kesterson.
Much of the hauling was then done in
wagons, from Vincennes and from Louisville to Point Commerce.
Mr. Allison recalls the names of the old wagoners, who used to
drive four and six horse teams: Robert Fulton, Howard Crantz,
James Buckner, Adam Stroops, Jonathan Peyton, Jerry Buckner,
Samuel Chaney, George Rhinehard and Joseph Huey. He also
remembers the names of some of the men who used to clerk in his
father's store: Robert Howe, John Barekman, John Farmer. 'Squire
Andrews and his uncle, John F. Allison.
The names of the preachers, which
'Squire Allison recalls, are as follows: Revs. Eli P. Farmer,
John Williams, Abediah Winters, James Lathrop, William Mayson,
W. F. Harned, ______ Ravenscoff, Sabin and John Hancock.
He remembers, likewise, when the street
which passed in front of the hotel and his father's store, ran
down to the wharf at the rivers' junction. Hundreds of heavily
loaded wagons, drawn by four and six horse teams, were pulled up
that steep incline every season. When he was a boy Point
Commerce was a good business town. It was a busy place and there
was bustle and action everywhere. Pork houses, grist-mills,
cotton gins, carding mills, saw-mills, tannery, distillery,
ferries, shops, stores, "coffee house," and all other pioneer
enterprises were active. All expected that Point Commerce would
one day become a great city. Its founder, J. M. H. Allison, had
proudly spoken of it as the "Pittsburg of the West."
'Squire Allison remembers the times when
other crowds assembled besides those who met for worship. He
remembers when the voters came from the surrounding country to
vote on election days and on Muster day. The spring, or local
elections, were held in April, and the county elections in
August.
The use of liquor was more general in
early days than it is now. The records show that when public
officials met to transact business that whisky bills were put
into their expense accounts and allowed as necessities.
But whisky, then as now, was a great
curse and finally the better class of people began to oppose its
use and to stop drunkenness, which was alarmingly common. Every
public gathering was annoyed by whisky-crazed men and often the
meeting was broken up and ended in a drunken riot.
Finally a lodge of Washingtonians, a
strong pioneer temperance society, was organized at Old Point
Commerce. The members used to sing:
"The shouts of Washingtonians, are heard
on every gale, they're chanting now their victory O'er whiskey,
beer and ale."'
Yet another member of that family, who
was a man of influence at Point Commerce and surrounding
territory, was John F. Allison, a younger brother of J. M. H.
Allison.
John F. Allison was born in Bourbon
County, Kentucky, July 10, 1814. His father was a man of wealth
and the owner of many slaves, which he had inherited, but he did
not believe that one man had a right to own another.
Consequently he liberated his slaves; yet as Mr. Allison had
been a humane master, some of his Negroes declined their
proffered freedom and remained in the service of their former
owner.
John F. Allison was the youngest of
three brothers. Both of the older brothers were engaged in the
mercantile business, Noah at Spencer and James, with whom the
subject of this sketch was associated, at Point Commerce, where
they had opened the first store on the 17th day of November,
1835.
Being a man of education and an
experienced civil engineer, John F. Allison surveyed and laid
off the town of Point Commerce and took an active part in its
affairs. No other man had a wider acquaintance throughout this
region than the younger member of the firm of Allison & Allison,
of Point Commerce. He had the especial charge of the outdoor
branch of their business, made frequent trips to New Orleans and
occasionally journeyed to Louisville and to Pittsburg, besides
covering, on horseback, by stage and by boat, the surrounding
territory, which broadened his acquaintance until he was the
best-known and most popular man in this region during his day.
Hon. John F. Allison was an ardent Whig.
He served three terms in the State Legislature, two as
Representative and one as Senator. He was first elected to the
House of Representatives from Greene County, in 1839. Two years
later he was offered the nomination to a seat in the State
Senate, but declined and was soon afterward re-nominated and
elected to a second term as Representative.
In 1844, Mr. Allison was elected Senator
from the district composed of Greene and Owen counties.
John F. Allison was an orator and
recognized as the best political speaker in this section of the
State. In 1840 he stumped the State for William Henry Harrison
and participated in the great political debates of his day, and
was the relentless foe of slavery. His oratorical ability and
his strenuous activity made Mr. Allison a leader in both House
and Senate. He fought, with characteristic vigor, for the repeal
of the law which allowed the imprisonment of men for debt. While
in the State Senate he was one of the lead-ing advocates of the
great compromise measure, known as the Butler Bill, which became
a law and saved the State from bankruptcy.
But John F. Allison did not confine
himself to political and commercial affairs alone. He was a
leader in every public enterprise and made tremendous sacrifices
of time and money, for the good of the community, and for
internal improvements. He advocated the first railroad project,
the great "Air Line," to which he gave twelve hundred acres of
land, then valued at $8,000. It would now be worth $80,000.
Mr. Allison was also active in the first
effort to build a railroad from Indianapolis to Vincennes. He
served one year, without pay, as secretary of the board of
directors, besides making a cash donation of $1,000. Later he
assisted in promoting the I. & V. railroad, which was built in
1869 and donated $1,000 to the enterprise.
Johnstown, which was a place of
considerable business in the old canal days, was named after
John F. Allison. He opened the first store there. Mr. Allison
died in 1885, at Indianapolis.
'Squire George F. Allison recalls the
names of the teachers who taught at Point Commerce, in the
little old brick school house, which stood north of the big
brick church. They were: James Freeman, Miss Rowel, Thomas
Rowark, Henry Grim, Mary Taylor, Ann Ritter, Hiram Hanshot and
William Leach.
Index
Source: Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. XII March, 1916 No. 1,
Settlement of Worthington and Old Point Commerce, by Robert
Weems, 1916
Indiana AHGP
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