The early settlement of what is now Wells County, before it was
organized as a body political and civil, covers the eight years from
1829 to 1837; the period commencing with the coming of Dr. Joseph
Knox, the good doctor, without patients, who located near the present
postoffice of Murray, and concluding with the assembling of the first
standard of county commissioners before even Bluffton had been
staked out. Two years before the county government was organized it
was given a name and a place on the statute books of the State Legislature.
 

      COUNTIES CARVED FROM INDIAN COUNTRY

      During the winter of 1835 Col. John Vawter, of Jennings County,
chairman of the Legislative Committee on New Counties introduced
a bill in the assembly to "lay out all the unorganized territory to which
the Indian title had been extinguished in the state into a suitable
number of counties." It was approved February 7th of that year,
and under that measure the following counties in Northeastern and

                                             284

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286      ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES

Northern Indiana were laid out—that is, legally created, although not
organized as civil bodies: Wells, Jay, DeKalb, Steuben, Whitley,
Kosciusco, Fulton, Marshall, Stark, Pulaski, Jasper, Newton and
Porter.
 

CAPTAIN WELLS, AFTER WHOM THE COUNTY WAS NAMED

    As will be noticed, the new counties carved out of this raw Indian
country were named mainly in honor of well known statesmen and
Revolutionary heroes. Perhaps of the entire list the average reader
will be less familiar with the personality of the man honored by the
sponsors of Wells County, although there was probably no hero identi-
fied with the War of 1812 whose life was more romantic and whose
fate at the Fort Dearborn massacre was more to the credit of a brave
soul than Capt. William Wells. By reading the following narrative
of the captain’s death at the hands of treacherous savages, with an
account of his previous career, none need be ashamed of the man
chosen to give his name to Wells County.
 

              THE FORT DEARBORN MASSACRE

    On the 18th of June, 1812, the United States declared war against
England, and on the 16th of July, Fort Mackinac surrendered to the
British. On the 9th of August following, an Indian runner from
General Hull, at Detroit, brought news of the war and the fall of
Mackinac, to Captain Heald, with orders to evacuate Fort Dear-
born and proceed with his command to Detroit, by land, leaving it
to the discretion of the commandant to dispose of the public property
as he thought proper. Within the next t.hree days neighboring Indians
came in from all quarters to receive the goods which they under-
stood were to be given them. It might seem as if no other course was
open to Captain Heald but to obey the orders of General Hull. His
force was not as strong as that at Fort Mackinac. It consisted of fifty-
four privates, and two officers, Lieut. L. T. Helm and Ensign George
Ronau. Twelve militia men were also under his orders. Of the regu-
lars, a large number were on the sick list. Altogether there were not
probably forty able-bodied fighting men. With them were about a
dozen women and twenty children. He received his orders on the 9th.
But he trusted to the friendly reputation of the Pottawatomies,
through whose country he must pass, and waited for six days, until
400 or 500 warriors were assembled at the fort, before he moved. He
was then at their mercy.

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ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES    287

                GARRISON PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE

    The Pottawatomie chief who had brought General Hull's orders
was Winnemeg, a friendly Indian, who well knew the feelings of the
Indians. He at first advised that the fort be held, until reinforce-
ments should arrive. To this Captain Heald would not agree. Win-
nemeg’s next advice was instantaneous departure, so that before the
Indians could assemble or agree upon definite action, and while they
would be taking possession of the goods, the force might make its
escape. Mr. John Kinzie, who had long known the Indians, approved
of the same course. The younger officers were in favor of holding
the fort—but Captain Heald resolved to pursue his own way. This
was to assemble the Indians, divide the property among them, and
get from them a friendly escort to Fort Wayne. On the 12th a con-
ference was held with the Indians by Captain Heald, and they agreed
to his proposals. They would take the property, and furnished him
a guard of safety. Whether they really would have done so it is im-
possible to know, but Black Hawk, who was not present at the mas-
sacre, but knew the Indian version of it, subsequently said that the
attack took place because the whites did not keep their agreement.
There were two species of property that the Indians chiefly wanted,
whiskey and ammunition. There were large quantities of both at the
fort, and the Indians were aware of that fact.
 

                 CAPTAIN WELLS’ LIFE OF ROMANCE

    On the 13th, Captain William Wells, Indian agent at Fort Wayne,
arrived at Fort Dearborn with thirty friendly Miamis, for the purpose
of bringing Captain Heald on his way. Captain Wells had lived
among the Indians, and was cognizant of their character. He was the
uncle of Mrs. Heald; born in Kentucky, and belonged to a family
of Indian fighters. When he was a lad of twelve, he was stolen by
the Miamis and adopted by Little Turtle, their great chief. He
served with the Indians at the outbreak of the war in 1790 and was
present at the battle where St. Clair was defeated. But he then began
to realize that he was fighting against his own kindred, and resolved
to take leave of the Indians. He asked Little Turtle to accompany
him to a point on the Maumee, about two miles east of Fort Wayne,
long known as the Big Elm, where he thus spoke: "Father, we have
long been friends. I now leave you to go to my own people. We
will be friends until the sun reaches the midday height. From that
time we will be enemies; and if you want to kill me then, you may.

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288      ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES

And if I want to kill you, I may." He then set out for General
Wayne’s army, and was made captain of a company of scouts. He
fought under General Wayne until the Treaty of Greenville, after
which he removed to Fort Wayne, where he was joined by his wife,
who was a daughter of Little Turtle. He settled upon a farm and
was made Indiana agent and justice of the peace. He rendered ef-
fective service to General Harrison, the governor.
 

                 ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN WELLS TOO LATE

    When Captain Wells heard of the intended evacuation of Fort
Dearborn he volunteered to go there and act as escort to the soldiers.
He arrived at the fort on the 13th of August, too late, however, to
have any influence on the question of evacuation. Captain Heald had
up to this point resisted the advice of Winnemeg, the friendly In-
dians, John Kinzie and his junior officers, as to adopting any other
course. But now after all his firmness came a period of irresolution.
 

     DESTRUCTION OF LIQUOR INFURIATES SAVAGES

    The supply of muskets, ammunition and liquor was large. It was
madness to hand over to the Indians these supplies with which first
to excite and infuriate them, and then to leave them with still more
abundant means of wrecking that fury on the garrison. This fact
was strongly urged by both Captain Wells and John Kinzie. Captain
Heald yielded, and on the night of the 13th destroyed all the am-
munition and muskets he could not carry with him. The liquor was
thrown into the lake. No sooner was this done than the older chiefs
professed that they could no longer restrain their young men.
    Black Partridge, one of the most noted Pottawatomie chiefs, and
always friendly to the whites since the Treaty of Greenville, had re-
ceived a medal from General Wayne at the time of that treaty. On
the evening of the 14th he came to the fort and entered Captain
Heald's quarters. "Father," he said, "I come to deliver up to you
the medal I wear. It was given me by the Americans and I have long
worn it in token of our mutual friendship. But our young men are
resolved to imbrue their hands in the blood of the whites. I can not
restrain them, and I will not wear a token of peace while I am com-
pelled to act as an enemy."
 

       THE DEATH MARCH FROM FORT DEARBORN

     The Indians held a council and resolved on the destruction of the
 garrison. And yet, with the most heroic fortitude and constancy, the

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ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES        289

officers made their final arrangements for the evacuation, sustaining
and encouraging the men by their words and by their example At
9 o’clock on the morning of the 15th of August all being in readi-
ness, the gates of the fort were thrown open for the last time and
the march commenced. In accordance with Indian custom and in
premonition of his fate, Captain Wells had blackened his face. With
fifteen of his Miami braves, whom he supposed to be trusty, he led the
advance. The other fifteen wagons brought up the rear. The women
and children were in wagons or on horseback Brave John Kinzie de-
termined to accompany the troops, hoping that his presence would be
the means of restraining the Indians. Entrusting his family to the
care of some friendly Indians to be taken around the head of the lake
in a boat to a point near St. Joseph, he marched out with the troops.
He was warned by several friendly chiefs not to accompany the sol-
diers, but he was determined to do all in his power to bring some re-
straining influence to bear, if possible on the savages. The strains of
music, as the soldiers passed beyond the gates, were certainly not en-
livening. By some strange wierd choice of the bandmaster, who was
among the killed, the "Dead March" was played as the soldiers filed
out from the protection of the fortifications on the open plain. Scarcely
had the troops departed, when the fort became a scene of plundering
 

               THE AMBUSCADE AND MASSACRE

    Along the lake shore ran a beaten Indian trail, which was the path
pursued. Westward from this, at about 100 yards distance, commenc-
ing perhaps a quarter of a mile from the fort, a sand bank, or range
of hills, separated the lake from the prairie. When the troops started
an escort of 500 Pottawatomies accompanied them, but when the sand
hills were reached the Indians struck out towards the prairie, instead
of keeping along the beach. Concealing their movements behind the
sand hills, they hurried forward and placed an ambuscade in readiness
for the troops. The little band had marched about a mile and a half
when Captain Wells, who had led the advance came riding swiftly
back, saying that the Indians were about to open an attack from be-
hind the sand bank. The company charged up the bank, firing one
round which the Indians returned. The savages, getting in upon the
rear, were soon in Possession of the horses, provisions and baggage,
slaughtering many of the women and children in the attempt. Against
fearful odds, and hand to hand, the officers and men, and even the
women, fought for their lives. But it was soon over. Drawing his
little remnant of survivors off an elevation on the open prairie, out of

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ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES    290

range, Captain Heald himself wounded, proceeded to examine the
situation. The Indians did not follow, but, after some consultation of
the chiefs made signs for Captain Heald to approach them. He
advanced alone and met Black Bird, who promised to spare their
lives if they would surrender. Upon these terms, Captain Heald
complied with the demand.
    Among the killed were Captain Wells, Ensign Ronau and Surgeon
De Isaac Van Voorhis.
    The wounded were Captain and Mrs. Heald and Lieutenant Helm
and wife. Every other wounded prisoner was put to death. Of the whole
number that left the fort but an hour before, there remained only twenty-
five non-commissioned officers and privates and eleven women and
children.
    The number of Indians engaged was between 400 and 500. Their loss
was about fifteen.The Miamis fled at the first attack, and took no part
whatever in the fight.
    Captain Wells, after fighting desperately, was surrounded and stabbed
in the back. His body was horribly mangled, his head cut off, and his heart
taken out and eaten by the savages, who thought, by so doing, some of the
courage of the heroic scout would be conveyed to them.
    The day following the massacre, the fort and agency building were
burned to the ground and the first Fort Dearborn ceased to be. The
prisoners were scattered among the various tribes, and a large number
of warriors hastened to attempt the destruction of Fort Wayne.
 

                DR. JOSEPH KNOX AND THE NORCROSSES

    Dr. Joseph Knox was the first white man to make his home in Wells
County, being also the first to settle at any point between Fort Recovery
and Huntington, and that was in the year 1829, on the southeast quarter
of section 18, Lancaster Township, near Murray postoffice, or the village
of Lancaster.  Shortly after his location there he was joined by his two
sons-in-law, Vantrees and Warner, who "took up" the tracts since known
as the Robert and James Harvey farms. Both came with their families and
remained until 1832, when they were all frightened out of the country by
wild rumors concerning the Black Hawk war.
    Allen and Isaac Norcross came in 1831, settling near the river
below Bluffton, the former locating on the eastern bank.  They also
left during the Indian excitement of 1832, returning to New Jersey,
their native state. After the Black Hawk war, Allen came again to
his chosen location. He was a rather singular character, although in-

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ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES    291

telligent and well-educated and sociable.  Although he resided here
until his death in 1879, except a number of years in Texas, he passed
a sort of hermit life, scarcely ever appearing in town or public except
on circus days, when he was sure to be present, with a smiling, happy
countenance. At these shows he would take his early, rest his hands
and chin on the top of his cane and take in everything with the utmost
eagerness. Indeed it is said that one of his chief objections to removing
further west was the fact that he would in a great measure be deprived
of the privilege of attending circuses. He had a wife and five children,
the latter of whom went to Texas. After the loss of his wife Mr.
Norcross partially "kept bach," and, although affable with visitors, kept
himself singularly dissociated from the outside world. His death was the
result of injuries received in a runaway, and his remains lie buried in the
Murray graveyard.
    After his death there was found in his possession Government bonds
to the amount of $13,000, concealed in a stack of sugar buckets in the
smoke-house. To the different classes of these bonds he hid a unique
system of indexing. He was in the habit of keeping his currency sealed in
fruit-cans, and buried in the ground a hundred yards from the house.  In
his hermit leisure he contracted many peculiar habits. William Norcross
moved to Texas in 1844.
 

                                 NUN McINTYRE

    Among the pioneers who located in Wells County previous to May,
1837, when its civil organization was effected, were Nun McIntyre, who
was a native of Virginia, came to the county in 1836, served as a probate
judge and in other public offices and died in 1881, and Henry McCullock,
who located in Chester Township in 1835, but was not so well known.
 

                          TREE DWELLERS OF THE COUNTY

    Almon Case, a Yankee of good sense and ready wit, arrived about
1836, and celebrated his coming by having a "spell of the ague" of three
weeks duration, during which period he curled up in a hollow sycamore
log lying on the future site of Bluffton, near where McFarren's clothing
store stood many years afterward. Mr. Case became the first hotelkeeper
in Bluffton and was the original contractor of the 1845 court house. He
died at Vera Cruz, Wells County, in 1875.
    William Barton came from Vermont in 1836 and, like Mr. Case, is
said to have first occupied a hollow sycamore tree. His improved

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292      ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES

residence was in Rock Creek Township on land which subsequently
became the McAfee farm. As Mr. Barton was six feet three inches
tall (long), it is said that in order to get the full benefit of the shelter
he kept his body inside the trunk of the tree and inserted his feet,

[image]

BOWEN HALE

which were "left over," in the hollow of a protruding root. He
moved to Allen County in 1839 and died in that part of the state.
 

             BOWEN HALE, PIONEER BENEDICT AND MERCHANT

    Few of the older generation of Wells County pioneers retained the
confidence and affection of all classes as long or as firmly as Bowen

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ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES   293

Hale. He was a Kentuckian, born in Mason County, July 4, 1801.
His grandfather was an Englishman and a slaveholder, who freed his
chattels after they had cleared his Maryland plantation and partially
transformed the tract into, a family homestead. John Hale, his
father, was born in that state, but moved to Ohio while Bowen was an
infant, served in the War of 1912 from that state, and in 1837 located
in Whitley County, Indiana, where he died at the age of seventy-three.
The youth of Bowen Hale was passed on his father’s farm in Greene
County, Ohio, near the old town of Bellbrook. He assisted his father
both in his tannery and on his farm. In that neighborhood, also he
attended school in a backwoods cabin and even taught a few months
himself. His mother having died when he was quite young the boy
remained with his father until he reached his majority, when he left
home and learned the chair-making business, which he followed for
several years, working in Dayton, Xenia and Cincinnati. During this
period he took a trip South, going down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers
in a steamboat. In the state of Mississippi he followed house-painting,
having become skilled in that trade while painting chairs in the shop.
 

            STARTS TRADING POST NEAR MURRAY

    After his return from this trip Mr. Hale engaged in the mercantile
business in Bellbrook, Ohio, until 1834, when he sold his interest in
the store, and came to Wells County in 1835, his physician having
advised him to go West for his health, telling him, that unless he did so
he could not hope to live very long. Consequently, he started into the
woods to seek a home. He came down the Wabash River, and being
charmed with the fertile lands along the Wabash, he stopped near the
Town of Murray and resolved to make this his home. His father three
years later passed by these lands and settled on the higher and more
broken lands in Whitley County. Here Mr. Hale entered forty acres
of land, hired a man to build him a cabin, and started to Cincinnati
for a stock of goods, having resolved to start a post to trade with the
Indians and the few white inhabitants in the county, there being only
about twelve white families within the limits of Wells. On his re-
turn, in the spring of 1836, he found that his cabin had not been
built; but he went to work, and with the assistance of Henry Miller
and others, soon had a comfortable cabin, suitable for store-room and
living-room. His customers were mostly Indians, who were peaceable,
yet like most men, red or white, were dangerous when filled with fire-
water. His stock of goods consisting of brass rings, whiskey and
such articles of clothing as the Indians usually wore, were converted
into pelts there being but little money in the country. These pelts
were conveyed usually on Henry Miller’s wagon to Dayton, Ohio, or
Cincinnati, and there sold. As a matter of course, he left nothing be-
hind in his cabin, as the Indians ransacked that as soon as he was gone.
The trip to Dayton and Cincinnati usually took about three weeks or
longer.

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294                        ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES

                     NOT A MIGHTY HUNTER

    Although Mr. Hale had made his home in this wild country, and in
common with all that hardy race of pioneers, the first settlers of
Wells County, had many narrow escapes from wild animals and wild men,
yet he was strictly a man of peace, and never was a hunter, and tells
with considerable satisfaction that he never killed but one deer in
his life, and that he stood in the door of his cabin and shot. Seeing
the deer quietly grazing in front of his door, an Indian who was
present picked up his gun to shoot it, when Mr. Hale asked him to let
him shoot, and he took his gun and shot, killing the deer. He often
said he had all the hunting he wanted in keeping the turkeys,
squirrels and other animals out of his corn fields.
    Mr. Hale was first married in 1837 to Miss Sarah James, a native of
Virginia, who died in two years and three months after her marriage,
without children. His was the first marriage of a resident of Wells
County. At the time there was no justice of the peace accessible and
therefore took his bride to Fort Wayne to have the knot legally tied.
In the year 1840 he married Miss Mary Ann Deam, of Montgomery County,
Ohio, a daughter of Adam Deam, probably from Virginia, who afterward
removed to Wells County and settled near Murray and built the first
grist mill at that place. Adam Deam had four sons--Abraham, William,
John and James P.--William and James P. each served as treasurer of
Wells County; and four daughters, Rachel, Mary Ann, Harriet and Ann.
Mrs. Hale died in the year 1872, leaving Mr. Hale again a widower.
They had eight children, seven of whom survive--John D., clerk of
Adams County; Hon. Silas W., of Geneva, Adams County; James P., of
Bluffton, deceased; Lewis B., deceased, residing on the old
homestead; Emerillas, wife of A. R. Vanemon; Jane, the wife of Daniel
Markley, and Mary, living at home with her father. At the
organization of Wells County in 1837, Bowen Hale was elected to the
offices of auditor, clerk and recorder, or rather these three offices
were then combined in one. He continued to hold these three offices
until 1841, when an auditor was elected and he was relieved of the
duties of that office. Ten years later Wilson M. Bulger was elected
recorder, leaving Mr. Hale with the office of clerk, which he
continued to hold until 1855, making a total of twenty years in the
clerk's office alone, his time having expired by the limit of the
constitution, and although urged to accept it again he declined to do
so. He also for a short time during this period held the office of
postmaster, he being the first postmaster in the county. In the year
1858 he was elected to the office of magistrate and filled the office
for three years.

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295                   ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES

    Again, in the year 1865, he was elected against his wishes to the
office of county commissioner.  Being indisposed at the time he was
not even aware that he was a candidate until the day of his election.
Thus in his history the history of Wells County; coming into public
life before the organization of the county for twenty-six years he
was a servant of the people of Wells County, and her interest was his
interest, and to say that he did his work well is wholly unnecessary.
The people have said as much by their ballots.  Never were the affairs
of any county better or more honestly administered.  His records are
neat, legible, perfectly formed, accurate and complete and excite the
admiration of the most skilled attorneys

                            A BLUFFTON MERCHANT

    When he removed from his farm near Murray Mr. Bowen brought
his dry goods store with him and continued in that business for a short
time, his store being a log cabin on Market Street, the town being
then in the woods with heavy timber and thick underbrush in all the

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296                         ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES

streets. Hon. John Studabaker became his rival in business, his store
being also on Market Street, and they cleared the brush out of the
street so that they might be able to see from their boarding-house a
square away, to their respective places of business.
 

                   LOST A GOOD LAWYER BUT POOR SPELLER

    Mr. Hale tells, among many instances of his early pioneer life, of
a young limb of the law who landed in Bluffton with the avowed inten-
tion of practicing his chosen profession. He sought Mr. Hale and
asked permission to make the clerk's office his law office for a
short time, which request was granted, and the young lawyer sat down
to work. Concluding it would be well to advertise his business, he
wrote his card on a sheet of paper and posted the same on a tree
standing at the crossing of Main and Market streets. When Mr. Hale
went to supper he walked up and read it; and after the young lawyer's
name, in large letters, were the words "Eterney at Law." Mr. Hale in-
formed the young man of his mistake, who immediately tore down the
advertisement and left town; he located in an adjoining county, and
now bears the honorable title of "Judge." Thus, by a mistake in
spelling, the town lost a lawyer, judge and citizen.
    Mr. Hale was always a democrat, his first vote for president being
cast for Andrew Jackson. He never was, however, much of a politician,
according to the usual application of that term, and never elec-
tioneered for himself; it is said that he once started out for that
purpose, but was so disgusted with the business that after going a
few miles in the country he turned his horse toward home and never
tried it again. When the Civil war broke out, two of Mr. Hale's sons
enlisted, and at the Battle of Missionary Ridge John D. was shot
through the body, and lay in the hospital at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Mr. Hale, even then an old man, went to Chattanooga and brought him
home. In 1858 Mr. Hale retired with his family to his farm, where he
passed his last years at a venerable age. In his earlier life he
became a member of the Universalist Church, and was for many years a
trustee of that church at Bluffton, and was to the end a believer in
the doctrines as taught by Ballou, Chapin and others. He also joined
the Masonic Lodge at Bluffton, was for many years a member of
Bluffton Lodge, No.145, and, to the last, maintained the high
standard of their tenets.
 

                            THE HARVEYS

    Robert and James Harvey were among the real pioneers of the county,
and settled at what became the site of the village of Murray,

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297                ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES

Lancaster Township. The former, who was born near Knoxville,
Tennessee, located in 1832, and died ten years later after he had
made a home for his wife and family.  Mrs. Harvey afterward married
David Aker, and lived for many years on the old Harvey homestead. In
the autumn of 1833 he followed the Indian trails to section 19, Lan-
caster Township, and threw up a rude log cabin without doors or
windows in which he lived the following winter. He brought his family
with him. In the spring they were able to raise a few vegetables, but
life was a fierce struggle for several years.
 

                        HENRY MILLER

    For many years previous to his death in Lancaster June 25, 1882,
Henry Miller held the undisputed title of "oldest settler of Wells
County." On the 10th of November, 1832, He made his home near where
Murray now stands, having been preceded only by Dr. Joseph Knox and
the Norcrosses. There he purchased the land on which he lived almost
fifty years. Mrs. Miller died in 1887, the mother of ten children.
Henry Miller was among the best known of the old settlers. Although
he never became wealthy, he was hospitable and generous, and was a
steadfast patron of churches, schools, roads, bridges, and everything
else which could make the community a better and more comfortable
locality in which to live and bring up families to be good Americans.
 

                         PIONEER EVENTS

    The first white child born in what is now Wells County was
Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Miller. She was born in
1835, married Jacob R. Harvey and, for many years, lived at Murray.
    Before county organization, while Wells was still attached polit-
ically to Allen County, ten or twelve votes were cast by the citizens
of the region (in 1836).
    The first wedding in Wells County was that of Robert Simison to
Miss Rebecca Davis, in February, 1837, at the residence of James
Harvey. It was solemnized by 'Squire Hood, of Fort Wayne, as at that
time there was no minister or justice of the peace any nearer who
could tie the knot.  Mr. and Mrs. Simison celebrated their golden
wedding at Buena Vista.
    The first mill was built at Murray in 1837 by Jesse Gerhart.
Through many alterations and remodelings it continued to be operated

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298                      ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES

for many years. It is said that Michael Miller brought the first
barrel of flour into the county in that year.
    The first school in the county was taught by Jesse B. McGrew in
1837.  It was located on the farm of Adam Miller up the river from
Bluffton.
    Thus in a fashion, has the historical ground been cleared which
covers the eight years of pioneer settlement in Wells County before
its citizens organized a government of their own.
 

                 GREATEST DRAWBACK TO SETTLEMENT

    The first settlers within the present limits of Wells County thus
located along the Wabash River, in Lancaster, Harrison and Rock Creek
townships. Rock Creek, the principal tributary of the Wabash, runs
between the parent stream and the Salamonie River. All their
tributaries had their origin in the many swails, or "slashes," as
they were called in the local dialect of the country, and the water
supply, in the early times, was purely of a surface character. Before
thorough drainage changed the condition of the lowlands along the
Wabash and its tributaries, they were covered with water during the
thaws of winter and the freshets of spring. Later, the surface waters
were heated by the summer suns, evaporation followed and the final
result was a steaming country covered with a putrid mass of vegetable
and animal matter. Then arose the marsh miasma and vitiated air hov-
ered over all the land the impartial sapping of the vitality of its
dweller, whatever his age, or precaution, and the insidious approach
of a dozen forms of disease.
    One of the old-time physicians draws the picture of the country
and its pioneers thus, and his description is an explanation of why
the early doctors of the county chose to cast their lots where they
did:  "However limited our knowledge is in regard to what marsh
miasma is, whether gaseous, meteoric, vegeto-animal, or vegetable
spores, as some claim, the fact remains patent that it requires a
temperature of sixty degrees and upward, a soil rich in organic
elements, and a sufficient amount of moisture to generate a cause
that will always weaken and retard the efforts of the pioneer to pave
the way for a higher civilization in a fertile country. There is no
other cause that will produce so many pathological deviations as this
has done in times past, before the hand of improvement sapped its
strength, and reduced it from a primal cause to an unimportant factor
in the complication of other diseases as we see it to-day. Its
effects were impartially distributed; neither age, sex or condition
were spared its inflictions. The

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springtime of life, the summer of manhood, and the autumn of hoary
age, were equally alike the subject of its visitations. It had no
limit to its pathological range, from the simplest intermittent down
to the deadly algid, and from the harmless remittent to that of a
malignant or pernicious type, that frequently ended in sudden death.
In some instances the stomach and bowels received the shock, and
produced gastro-enteric hemorrhages that threatened the life of the
patient, for the time being. In others the cranial nerves received
the brunt that conveyed the impression of an acute attack of
meningitis. While in others again, a coma so profound was developed
suggesting a fatal case of apoplexy, while yet in others a gentle
soporific condition was wrought simulating a tranced state resembling
death, by the apparent suspension of all functional movements. Such
and many more uncommon deviations might be noticed as falling under
the observations of those physicians who first aided in the
development of this country.
    "The old settler's improvement, or rather clearings, as they were
called, rarely exceeded a few acres in extent, with the primitive log
cabin somewhere near the center and a log stable off to one side. It
was nothing but a mere hole or opening in the forest that permitted
the heat of the summer's sun to reach the earth and warm it, and the

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air inclosed  within.  As the latter became heated it also became
buoyant through rarifaction, ascended upward, leaving a partial
vacuum which was filled by the cooler air of the surrounding forest
in the daytime. While toward the approach of night, with the
declining sun, evaporation was partially stayed, a thin vaporous
cloud was formed which covered the entire improvement like a blanket
suspended a few feet above the earth's surface. In most instances in
which the settler was located the soil was so constantly saturated
with moisture that a shallow excavation lined with a few feet of
Sycamore gum furnished an ample supply of water. During the winter's
cold it answered every purpose, but as warm weather approached there
was an increased demand for its use which was not so satisfactory.
It had lost its refrigerating qualities, and its warmth had developed
a disagreeable brackish taste that no species of filtration could
remove.  In this condition some boiled it, and after it settled, used
it, and considered this made quite an improvement upon the original,
and no doubt but what it was, as it destroyed all the germs and
microbes that an open soil failed to retain.
    "It was from such conditions that malaria gathered strength, and
became the primal cause in the genesis of disease that gave to the
fertile valleys of the Maumee and Wabash the unsavory reputation of
the white man's necropolis."
 

                WELLS COUNTY PIONEER ASSOCIATION

    On September 10, 1879, the Wells County Pioneer Association was
organized at Bluffton. At the same meeting the members arranged to
visit the state fair at Indianapolis, as the managers of the exhibi-
tion had promised passes to all persons over seventy years of age who
had resided in the state forty years or more. N. Kellogg was elected
president; Michael Karns, treasurer, and J. C. Silver, secretary.
Under the stipulated conditions, seventeen residents of Wells County
attended the state fair in 1879. The fifth old settlers' picnic and
celebration had been held during the previous Fourth of July; the
first occasion of the kind had been celebrated July 4, 1859. The
Pioneer Association of 1879 endured only a few years, when it was
allowed to lapse, and there has since been no regular organization of
the kind.

                    GENERAL PIONEER PICTURES

    Before getting into the details of county organization, professional
experiences and personalities, military matters and the histories of

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the corporations and the townships of Wells County, there are several
pictures of pioneer times which naturally arise for presentation.
That done, the preliminaries necessary to a general advance all along
the line may be considered as cleared away. Hunting subjects are
everperennial; hence, they lead this list.
 

                 THE CHASE IN WELLS COUNTY

    Pioneer life naturally develops great hunters. Conspicuous among
such in the early epoch of Well County were Isaac Covert, "Wils"
Bulger and others. Messrs. Covert and Miller indulged in the luxury
of killing she bears and robbing them of their cubs. On one occasion,
in 1886, Messrs. Covert and Isaac Lewallen were trapping near Samuel
Crum's farm in Rock Creek Township, and discovered that an otter had
burrowed itself in the bank of the river. They dug it out, but it
sprang into the stream. They had no gun, and Covert, a large and
plucky man, fearing that he would lose the object for which he had
labored, jumped in after it A combat ensued, in which Covert came out
victorious, though with several wounds.  He killed the otter by
choking and drowning. Lewallen stood off and participated in the
conflict by "hurrahing for our side."
 

                       ISAAC COVERT

    Mr. Covert trapped many wolves through the country, which he
lashed into slavery, tied lin bark in their mouths, strapped them on
his back and brought them to market. But the unaided efforts of all
the hunters were not sufficient to extirpate the howling fraternity,
and the Board of Commissioners, with an eye to wool-growing, offered,
in January, 1839, a premium of $1 for every wolf scalp brought them.
This encouraged the slaughtering business and made the trade lively.
Covert then had plenty of help, yet the board, in March, 1840,
increased the premium to $2. In a short time, however, they rescinded
this order, as they ascertained that an old gentleman southwest of
Bluffton had domesticated a lot of she-wolves and at divers times
sold scalps of their young to the commissioners.
    As late as the spring of 1886 a circular fox hunt was organized
in the county, resulting in the slaughter of several foxes.
 

                      "WILS." BULGER

    "Wils." Bulger, the "Davy Crockett" of Indiana, the "Killbuck of
the Wilderness," is noted as being one of the greatest hunters of

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his day, killing as high as sixty-four deer in one season. Of course,
his anecdotes of the chase are numerous and interesting, and he has
not a reputation for exaggerating. In calling a turkey, and in the
imitation of the tones, etc., of many other animals, he could deceive
the most practiced disciple of Nimrod. Many a laugh has he created at
the expense of rival hunters.  Mr. Bulger (Wilson M.) spent the last
year of his long life in his quiet home near the foot of Main Street,
Bluffton. He was a great reader, though deeply and continuously
careful of what he read, and was, therefore, self-refined and truly
cultured. His old age was sweet and mellow, and, although he was a
firm believer in Universalism when those of his creed were often
bitterly criticized in his arguments with the equally positive Metho-
dists of Bluffton, which were lively and of long duration, good old
"Wils." Bulger never was known to lose his even temper.
 

                         THE WILD WOMAN

    Between 1840 and 1850, in the woods east of Bluffton, there
resided a woman who was held to be "wild." Although occasionally she
would venture to a pioneer's cabin and beg for something to eat or
wear, as a rule she obtained what she needed or wanted by systematic
thievery of neighborhood gardens and fields.  While speculation was
at its height, as to whether the woman was an escaped lunatic from
some asylum, or just "queer," Abram W. Johnson and his wife

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were out walking in the woods one day, when they were assailed by an
overpowering odor of decay. They traced its origin to a hollow log,
in which was the corpse of the Wild Woman of Bluffton.
 

                PAYING POSTAGE SOME JOB

    In the early times of Wells County, when postage on a letter
destined for a point five hundred miles away was twelve and a half
cents, and the wages for a day's work was not much more than that
sum, Benjamin Starr, who had located about nine miles south of
Bluffton, in the edge of Chester Township, came to town one fine
morning and found a letter in the postoffice coming to him when the
postage upon it could be paid. He was in real trouble, for the
communication was from his old home in the East and he was naturally
anxious to read it; but he had no money with which to pay the
postage, and others to whom he might apply with good grace were
equally short. But 'Squire Hale came to the rescue. He had a well
which had to be cleaned out and gave Brother Starr the job; which
occupied the balance of the day, but enabled him to meet his postage
bill.