Indiana State University - Sycamore Yearbook (Terre Haute, IN)

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130%- The sales at Jefferson ville still re- mained about three and one-half times the sales at Vincennes, thus showing that the greater part of the settlers was stopj ing in the eastern part of the territory. Farther east, the sales at the Cincinnati ottice were also great. crnnEXCY and baxkixg. With the rise in the sales of lands arose also the demand for more money. There were no banks in the territory in which the government could di ' iiosit the money collected at the land oilicc-, X) {][ ' ] niniicy was taken east for de- po itiiig. thus (li-aining coin from the west. The ])e()ple of the west bought more goods of the east than the east bought of the west, so the balance must be paid the east in money. These two drains upon the supply of money in the west was so great that the jjeople of the west were badly in need of some form of money. They saw that the easiest way to get money was to cn alc Iiaiil . which could make money as fast as |iiiiiicr- muld print the bills. So. the legislaturi ' which met for the first time at the new capital at Curydon. in the summer of 1S14. chartered two banks, the Vincennes Bank and the Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Madison, the seat of Jefferson County. This last liank was to prove a boon to the farmers in the community, and it aided the merchants in their transactions with New Orleans and the east. There were now three main ways in which money was secured for investments. The cam- paigns in the west had brought a good ileal of money to this region, as the contractors and merchants were paid for furnishing supplies for the army. The ciuuinual -trcam of immi- gration brought in money to invest. The banks could issue paper money almost without limit. Consequently, a period of active speculation in town lots began. During the year 1815. pro- prietoi-s of various towns along White river and the Wabash advertised their towns for sale. Although the Indians still were hostile along Senate Doc. Cong. 30. Sess. 1. Doc. 41, P. 67(t. 22E.sorey, L., State Banking in Indiana, P. 221ft. ' Western Sun, June 20, 1S15. the Wabash, the town of Carlisle on the Bus- seron, north of Vincennes, was advertised for sale as being in the midst of a flourishing set- tlement. ' For the next few years, speculation was so extensive that in 1819 the president ol the Vincennes bank wrote : Our banking capi- tal, here in the west, is all tied up in city im- provements, and there is none to mo ' e our produce. PEACE RESTOKED — EFFECT. In the first part of 1815 it became known in the west that peace had been decided uj on be- tween United States and Great Britain. With the return of peace, great quantities of cheap English goods were put upon the American market. The New England goods, too, found again a ready market in the west. By the mid- dle of the year the Vincennes merchants had laid in a handsome a,ssortment of New Eng- land cotton cloths. ' ® The whole country bought more goods than the needs and demands of the con.sumers warranted. With the retux-n of peace, immigration into Indiana increased. In his message, December 1, 1S15. Governor Posey said: Our emigration which is rapidly populating our fertile lands, in a little time will enable us to be admitted into the political family of the union, as an in- dependent state. Permit me to recommend to the legislature the propriety as well as the jus- tice of imposing as moderate taxes on the emi- grants to this territory, as may be compatible to the 23ublic interest. Most of them have moved from a great distance, at a considerable expense. They have to encounter many diffi- culties in opening their farms for cultivation, before they can derive a support, much more a ]n-ofit from them; and consequently their abil- ity will 1)0 lessened from contributing largely for a short time to the public exigencies. This document expresses the essence of settlers ' troubles — getting on a paying basis after ex- pending so much of their limited capital to get to the new country and to pay for their farms. s ' Amer. State Papers. Finance, III, P. 734. Western Sun. April 8, 1S15. Niles Regster, IX. P. 351.

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HOSTILITIES LESSEN, 1814. Ill the later part of the year Perry won his faiiKius victory on Lake Erie, and a little later Harrison defeated the British at tlie Elver Thames. The war was then transferred farther east, to the Niagara frontier, but In- dian hostilities continued on the Indiana bor- der. On the western border, along the Wa- bash, hostilities continued till the end of 1815. Occasionally murders were reported, and stock was frequently run off. The Western Sun, Au- gust 14 ' . 1814. stated that a number of horses had recently been stolen from Busseron Creek, north of Vincennes. and that near Fort Har- rison thirty-two horses and a large number of cattle had been stolen by the Indians. On tlie eastern border of Indiana, along the upjjcr branches of the AThitewater and East AVhite River, the settlers began to feel secure about the middle of the year 1814. The Brit- ish war had not yet ceased, so this cessation of Indian hostilities on the eastern frontier may ha e lieen due to the treaty of peace and alli- ance which Cass. Harrison, and Shelby nego- tiated with the Wyandot. Delaware, Shawnee, Potawatomi and Kickapoo, July 22, 1814. This treaty Avas made in pursuance of a letter from the War Department, instructing those officeis to ally the Indians to the United States against Great Britain. It was signed by 112 Indians, including the three head chiefs of the Wyandot. Delaware, and Shawnee tribes — all three of whom signed the treaty negotiated by Wayne in ITO.j. It might be added that the United States later granted about all of these signers individual grants of land in Ohio. SI ' KfTLATIOX BEGIXS. As hostilities ceased in the eastern jiart of the territory in 1814. settlers came in in great numbers. On the seaboard, times were dull, the coast was blockaded, taxes were high, and the currency was in disorder. Neither was agriculture flourishing, so there began a flow of State Pioneer Convention, Oct. 2, 1878, P. 382. (In- dianapolis.) McMaster, Hist, of the People of the U. S.. IV, P. 383. Matthews, L. K.. Expressio is of Xew England, P. 201. emigration westward that threatened to de- populate some of the eastern states. The legis- latures of Virginia and North Carolina la- mented this great exodus of their people. Dearborn County received a goodly share of the emigrants, including some New England- ers. The additions of population to this county were such as to warrant the formation of a new county, Switzerland, out of Jefferson and Dearborn Counties, with about the same boundaries as at present. The main settle- ments of Switzerland County were those of the Swiss colonists who had settled there in 1802, to start the culture of grapes. Vevay, which had been laid out in 1813, was made the county seat. It was only a collection of huts, but it began a period of rapid growth. Farther down the Ohio, the town of Evans- ville was laid out. and the lots were put on sale. The site for this future city was cie- scrilied as having ' ' an excellent harbor for boats, and as to situation, it is perhaps sur- passed by none in the western country. The proprietor thought he could see its advantages for inland trade. He predicted that the time was not distant when merchant s and traders will from economy, transport their goods across from Evansville to Princeton and Vin- cennes, in jjreference to the circuitous route of the Ohio and Wabash rivers. However, the town did not grow much during the next two decades. There was another town advertised a few miles from Evansville as being a possi- ble center for the inland trade. The .settle- ments along this part of the Ohio had been so much augmented l)y the middle of 1814, that the legislature which met in August, erected two new counties out of Warrick. Posey was between the Ohio and Wabash rivers, and Perry was just west of the Principal Meridian. Warrick was between these two counties. With the increasing immigration, the land sales increased greatly. At Vincennes the in- crease wa- -4. i ' f. and at Jeffersonville it was 1S14, p. 18.

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It took most of the first year to get a small clearing made. Even on prairie land, it was a great task to get the sod broken and the soil subdued for the planting. Labor was scarce, and there was little money to pay for that which was available. All of these factors, to- gether with many others, made the task of forming a new settlement a difficult one. The capital of the west was thus used up in getting started and in investments, so that there was little left to use in getting crops to a market. It was well that the territory made the taxes as light as possible. In the meantime the ferries across the Ohio, and the roads leadiiig north from them had not been idle. Kentuckians had been crossing the Ohio at Henderson, and settling in Posey and Warrick Counties, and the western part of Gibson County. Another road led toward the interior from the crossing at Rockport. Farther up the Ohio, another road led north from the crossing at Blue river, into Washington and Harrison Counties. By 1815 enough settlers had followed this route and other routes to ju.stify the formation of two new counties. Orange County was to consist of the territory from twelve miles west of the Prinrijial le- ridian to eiglit miles cast, and uorlli i)f Perry and Harrison Counties to tlie Imlian boundary line of 1809. Jackson County was to lie east of Orange, west of range eight east, and north of the Muskatatack. to the Indian country. Both of these counties were in the basin of East Wliite river. ' STATEHOOD. The legislature followed the suggestion of the governor, and petitioned congress to be al- lowed to pass into statehood. This petition stated that the inhabitants were principally composed of emigrants from every part of the union, and as various in their customs and sen- timents as in their persons. However. South- erners still predominated in numbers, especially in the southern and western parts. The petition asked for an enumeration, which was taken. This census showed a total popu- lation of 63,897— more than the 60,000 neces- sary to pass to statehood. This census also re- vealed the fact that the population was push- ing toward the interior, and away from the Ohio. In the Whitewater basin. VA ayne and Franklin Counties (see map) ; Randolph had not yet been erected), neither of which touched the Ohio, contained a larger population than Dearborn. Switzerland and Jefferson, by 30%. The three counties. Posey. Warrick and Perry, all on the Ohio (practically same territory as comprised Warrick in 1S13). did not have a combined population equal to any one of the interior counties. Of all the eight counties on the Ohio, only Clark and Harrison had a popu- lation equal to the interior counties. More than 71% of the population was east of the Second Principal Meridian. The line between ranges five and six east would have divided the population into two almost equal groups. About one-third of the population wa in the three counties. Clark. Harrison and Wasiiiiig- ton. In this i-riisiis the newly erected counties were counted as part of the original counties out of which they were formed. This census showed two regions more densely populated than any others — the upper Whitewater and the region west and northwest of Jeflersonville. about the new capital. Corvdon. The petition asking for statehood also asked that 7% of the moneys received for the sales of public lands be granted the new state to be used as it saw fit. When Ohio became a state it was provided that 2% of the sales should be devoted to the building of the National Eoad within the state, and 3% be given to internal imj rovements and education, but Indiana asked for more. However, she got only the 5%. It was also asked that Section 16 in each township be granted the state for school pur- poses; that in counties where Section 16 had already been disposed of, other lands be given instead: that township 2 S. of R. 11 W. be =»Census of 1S16, in Cockrum, Pioneer Hist., P. 390.