Bluffton is one of the smaller cities of Indiana, which combines
an unusual variety of advantages, growing from its geographical
position as the natural center of a rich area, which has induced
continuous accessions of population, as well as from the enterprising
and substantial character of those who founded the community. Thus were
established the assurances of comfortable homes, good schools, and a
high grade of social and religious life.  Men and women came, remained,
reared families, and induced capital to flow in from the more settled
and richer sections of the country, until the community was closely
woven into the great systems of railways destined to bind the Valley of
the Ohio and the East with the Lakes Region of the
 

P. 378

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P. 379

West.  Bluffton has thus become a strong link in the industrial,
commercial and civic chain of brisk municipalities, which have made
Eastern Indiana famous.  It lies almost midway between Fort Wayne and
Muncie, with which cities its history has been intimately mingled, and
from which it drew much of its earlier inspiration and stamina.
 
 
 

                       Original Town Surveyed as Bluffton

     Bluffton was not a town until it had been created as the county
seat, and the original survey was made by John Casebeer, the county
surveyor, in March, 1838.  The plat was recorded on the 23d of the
month, and the name of the new town and county seat was suggested by
Robert C. Bennett, Sr., one of the commissioners, who had donated land
for its site, and, with Peter Studabaker, was considered its sturdiest
champion. The name was suggested, not because of the land on the south
side of the Wabash River at that point is particularly high or abrupt,
but merely from the fact that the town site was on the bluff side of
the stream.
 

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p. 380

                                     First Sale of Lots

     James R. Greer, the county agent, laid out the original town of
Bluffton into 191 lots, and put them up for sale on the 16th of June,
following the recording of the plat.  Only the alternate lots were
sold, and three or four were reserved for Almon Case, to pay him for
entertaining visitors at the sale.  It was provided that the purchasers
should have the privilege of cutting all timber that might endanger
themselves or their property.
     The day arriving  (June 16, 1838), the first lot was sold by Mr.
Greer for $92, and others in like proportion.  The sale was said to
have been very "spirit-ed," the records showing that Almon Case was
allowed five dollars for whisky on that occasion, and James Scott
seventy-five cents for a jug of the same.  The liquor was furnished
free to all prospective buyers of town lots, being handed around in
buckets, "straight."  It is reported that all were more or less
intoxicated.  Mr. Case had been granted a yearly tavern license, the
first one in the county, which, in those times, carried with it the
right to make as many of the citizens drunk as he and they saw fit—that
is, the tavern license carried with it the right to retail whisky.  Mr.
Case's tavern was succeeded by the Exchange Hotel, on the southeast
corner of Main and Market streets.  Both were noted stopping places in
the days of the stage coaches.
     Ten per cent of the funds derived from the sale of lots was
reserved for a county library.  On the 16th day of August, following the
first sale of lots, in June, the county agent laid out an addition of
fifty-six lots, which was the first of a long progeny.
 

                         First Merchant and Town Trustees

     The next month John Studabaker obtained from the commissioners a
license to sell merchandise, and has, therefore, always been classed as
the "first regular merchant" of Bluffton.  He erected a log pen, with
clapboard doors, into which he moved his little stock.  This he
bartered, instead of selling it for cash, coon-skins and furs being the
common mediums of exchange.  At about the same tine the office of the
county clerk was built.  These two structures then comprised all the
improvements on Market Street, and the view between them was obstructed
by various patches of timber, so that strangers usually had to be
guided from one to the other.
     In 1840 Bluffton had 225 inhabitants, while the entire County of
Wells had 1,822.

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p. 381

     The first trustees of Bluffton were Nelson Kellogg, Lewis S.
Grove, Joseph A. Williams, Engle Starr and William Strode.  Mr. Kellogg
was elected president and Mr. Grove appointed clerk.
 

                                 Mayors of the City

     Bluffton was incorporated February 12,1851, since which date the
following have acted as mayors: David Angel, 1851;  Samuel Decker,
1852;  J. H. Buckles, 1853;  C. W. Beardsley, 1854;  S. R. Karns, 1855;
C. S. Bergan, 1856;  J. E. Brown, 1857;  J. R. McCleery, 1858;  I. A.
Godard, 1859;  W. R. Ferguson, 1859;  Robert Russell, 1860;  Newton
Burwell, 1861;  John Mc Fadden, 1865;  C .G, Quick, 1866;  N. Kellogg,
1868;  Levi Mock, 1869;  William Blackstone, 1877;  David T. Smith,
1879;  E. C. Vaughn, 1881;  H. L. Martin, 1883; James P. Hale, 1883-89,
Martin W. Walbert, 1889-94;  La Vergne B. Stevens, 1894-97;  James P.
Hale, appointed May 26, 1897, for un-expired term of four years;  James
P. Plessinger, elected for term 1898-1902;  John Mock, 1902-1906;
Walter Hamilton, 1906-10;  Frank Smith, 1910-14;  John Mock, 1914-18;
William B. Little, ex-county assessor, mayor-elect.
 

                         Original Officials and Ordinances

     The first councilmen of Bluffton, who served in 1851-52, were
Thomas L. Wisner, Bowen Hale, John Eby and C. T. Melsheimer.  The
pioneers among the village officials comprised:  John Plessinger,
marshal;  Erastus K. Bascom, treasurer;  George McDowell, street
commissioner.  The original municipal year was from May to May.
     It is of record that the first ordinances passed by the council
after Bluffton was incorporated, in February, 1851, were as follows:

1. Taxing each family for the first dog, 50 cents, and for each
additional dog, $1; also 50 cents on each $100 of real and
personal property, and a poll tax of 50 cents for street
improvements.
2. Imposing fines for driving or riding within the corporation limits
faster than a common trot, except when going for a physician;
shooting for sport, gambling or disorderly conduct, retailing
spirituous liquors in less quantities than a quart without a
license from the corporation; selling or giving liquors to minors
or drunkards.
 

                         "Markers" of Progress

     In the lives of villages and cities, as in those of individuals,
the occurrence of certain events are recognized as "markers," or, in

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p. 382

time-worn phraseology—therefore, in a way, tried, true and valuable—
"mile posts."  The founding of the first schools and churches, the
establishment of distinctive industries, the spanning of the home river
by a permanent bridge, the building of the pioneer railroad, the
opening of good hotels and stores and the coming of the most desirable
community-builders, are some of the happenings which are admitted to be
worthy of special and consecutive note before the continuous
development of such seedlings into laudable institutions and successful
men and women is described in detail.
     Almon Case had scarcely got his tavern under way, and John
Studabaker had been bartering his meager stock of goods for only a very
short time, before those who believed that education and religion
should walk together as handmaidens in all American communities were
active at Bluffton.  In the year of the platting of the town, Rev.
George W. Bowers, a Methodist missionary, preached the first sermon at
the county seat, under an oak tree at the foot of  Johnson Street.  He
lived many years in an adjoining county to enjoy that honor. Sometime
in the following year, 1839-40, the first schoolhouse was built within
the town limits.  It was a log shack, thrown up on the land of William
Studabaker, its more exact location being the northeast corner of the
lot afterward occupied by the residence of Henry Thoma, on Scott
Street.  The first teacher to hold forth in this crude schoolhouse was
a United Brethren minister, Asa Cohoe by name.  It is said that even
his combined duties did not overwork him, but Mr. Cohoe centered in his
person many of the best hopes and ambitions of what was then Bluffton.
     The Baptists, Universalists and Presbyterians entered the
religious field within the succeeding four years, and in 1847 the Bugle
gave notice that from that year on, the local newspaper could not be
ignored as a Bluffton inspiration and stimulus.  Also, in 1840, Robert
C. Bennett, Sr., one of the founders of the town, transformed a large
frame house, across the street and east from the courthouse, into the
Exchange Hotel.  Mr. Case was its landlord, and made it a credit to
Bluffton, in the way of comfort and sociability.  It became one of the
most popular stopping places in Eastern Indiana for travelers passing
through the country, and for the lawyers and out-of-town people who
came to Bluffton on various errands of business and pleasure.  Besides
Mr. Bennett and John Studabaker, Henry Thoma had come into prominence
as a leading merchant and business man, and he later established a
furniture business, which developed into an extensive mercantile house.

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p. 383

                        Pioneer and Early Industries

     The two representative industries of Bluffton, in the early times,
were the grist mill, built in 1849 by Williams & Morgan, at the foot of
Main Street, and the Bluffton Woolen Mills.  The latter proved a most
unprofitable venture, and the enterprise was finally crushed beyond
revival by the fire of 1879, which destroyed the plant. The grist mill
enterprise, however, passed through the usual stages of being operated
by water power and steam.  Regular flour mills afterward came into this
field of industry. The Clayton Mill was built on South Street, east of
Main, in the late '50s, and in 1861 was purchased by  J.T. Clayton.  In
1886 he introduced the roller system to the millers and public of Wells
County.  After the Civil war period, was erected the flour mill near
the railroad bridge, of which C.S. Burgan and D. Brown & Sons were
proprietors at different periods.
 

                              The First Newspaper

     Although there is no hard and fast rule by which to measure the
"pioneer period" of any community, in the case of Bluffton it would
probably be safe to say that the decade or dozen years from the
platting of the town as the county seat would fall well within that
that designation.  In fact, if any rule could be applied to American
communities by which they could be said to have graduated from the raw
state of existence, it was that such condition virtually ceased with
the establishment of the press in their midst.  It will be remembered
that the Republican Bugle first commenced to blow at Bluffton in 1847.
Two years later that newspaper quoted the following as the ruling
prices of the local market:  Wheat, 50 cents; rye, 28 cents; corn,
shelled, 25 cents; oats, 19 cents; flaxseed, 56 cents; butter, per
pound, 8 cents; ginseng, 25 cents; beeswax, 18 cents; feathers, 25
cents; eggs, per dozen, 5 cents.  The foregoing prices are certainly
interesting, by comparison with the war prices of 1918; but many things
can happen in seventy years besides a complete revolution in living
conditions as they simply affect the stomach.
 

                              The First Bank

      Perhaps the next most epochal event from the viewpoint of local
happenings after the establishment of the Bugle was the founding of the
first bank as a local necessity.  Business men demanded it and

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p. 384

the business warranted it.  In 1856 John Studabaker commenced lending
money and selling New York exchange in connection with his produce
trade.  In 1863, in company with George Arnold, Jeffrey Bliss, Amos
Townsend and James Van Emon, he organized the First National Bank of
Bluffton, with a capital of $50,000.  In 1868 it closed business, and
on New Year's Day of 1869, he associated himself with John and Peter
Studabaker and Hugh Dougherty in the formation of the Exchange Bank,
which, still later, became the Studabaker Bank.
     In the '70s, a number of local industries assumed form.  One of
the first was placed on its feet by Dr. T. Horton, who furnished the
capital to the Bluffton Manufacturing Company in 1871, for the primary
purpose of making the corn planter invented by Samuel Jones, a poor
blacksmith of the place.  A washing machine was afterward added to the
output of the factory, as well as a new rotary corn planter, but two of
the original partners withdrew, complications arose with the patentees,
the business went into the hands of a receiver, and, with the passage
of the years, "petered out."

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p. 385

                         Industries of the 70s and 80s

     In 1870 G. W. Breckenridge, of Fort Wayne, built a factory on
Washington Street, near the railroad, for the manufacture of hubs and
spokes and other forms of hard-wood products.  The Norths—Jere and
Brother—afterward assumed the industry.  In 1877, J.E. and C.A.
McKendry, father and son, established a mill at the junction of South
Street with the railroad, for the manufacture of barrel staves and
heading.  A portion of the plant was moved to Muncie by the elder
McKendry in 1884. In the same year Theodore Horton founded the Bluffton
Shovel Handle Works, the products of which were shipped to the famous
firm of Oliver Ames & Sons, of Massachusetts.  In 1886 Frank Adams also
established a mill for the manufacture of barrel parts, at South Street
and the Wabash Railroad.
 

                            The Bliss House Built

     In April, 1884, the Bliss House was thrown open to the public, and
it has since been the leading hotel of Bluffton, having been improved
several times and brought up to date.  The original building was
erected by Jeffrey Bliss, at a cost of about $10,000.
 

                             Bridges Over the Wabash

     As to the various bridges which have been thrown across the
Wabash, to bind the people of Bluffton to the landsmen of the region,
near and far, the first structure of the kind was a stout frame near
the dam; the second, also an uncovered frame, was built on Main Street;
the third, a covered frame, was carried away in the winter of 1887.
The bridge last named was replaced by an iron structure, on Main
Street, completed in March of that year, at a cost, with masonry, of
$12,000.  The contractor and builder was the Indiana Bridge Company of
Muncie.
     In the meantime a number of distinctive public improvements had
been completed.  In 1879 the City Building, a large two-story brick
structure, had been erected for the accommodation of the City Council,
the fire department and other municipal business.  A few years
afterward the fire department had so developed that it possessed two
chemical engines, two hose carts and hook and ladder, which, in
connection with the Holly System of Water Works, constituted an
efficient protection against fire.

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p. 386

                             Telephone Placed in Service

     The telephone was first placed in service at Bluffton in 1882, and
James Sales was the first manager of the local exchange.
 

                                     The Water Works

     The original city water works were built during the summer of
1886, at a cost of $17,755, and commenced operations in September of
that year.  Their daily capacity was 1,000,000 gallons.  The pumping
station was near the river and the eastern corporation line, and the
original distributing system embraced 2 ¼ miles of water mains.
Thirty-three fire hydrants were in commission as a part of the system
of fire protection.
     The original water works were under the management of three
trustees—L. A. Williamson, Charles G. Quick and George F. McFarren.
The well from which the supply was drawn was thirty feet

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P. 387

across and was sunk to a depth of 480 feet.  In 1890 a deep well, eight
inches in diameter, was bored to a depth of 1,200 feet, and in the
following year one was put down more than twice that depth.  A new set
of pumps was installed in 1892, at a cost of $3,000, and four 450-foot
wells were added to the plant the same year.  In 1902 three more were
sunk.
 

                            City Buys Electric Plant

     The City of Bluffton has owned its water works since their
establishment, and in 1896, after its residents had been supplied with
electric lights and power for some time by a private company, the
municipality bought the arc-lighting system for the benefit of its
streets, and in 1903 took over the commercial part of the business.
Since that time the combined plants and systems for the supply of both
water and electricity have been municipal property.  The total number
of water consumers is now 825; number of electric consumers, 1,200;
appraised value of the plant, $140,000.  Within the city limits are 110
arc street lights, 12 arches and 35 ornamental posts.  The present
number of fire hydrants is 110, the annual tax for their maintenance
being  $5,000.  The same amount is raised annually for lighting the
streets.  The last accessible figures as to the finances of the two
departments indicate that the gross earnings, on account of water, are
about $14,000 annually, and the expenses nearly $10,000; the same items
on the electrical account being respectively,  $37,000 and  $23,000.
 

                     Professor Allen Writes of the Schools

     The present system of city schools, which has brought such
thorough advantages to the young people of Bluffton, was born in 1868,
when all the schools and scholars were first brought under the
supervision of one superintendent; but thirty years of struggles and
slow advances were to be recorded before that consummation, so much to
be desired, should be reached.  Albeit the system was born in 1868, it
would never have been recognized as that of the present until 1881,
when the high school was organized by Prof. P. A. Allen.  No one living
is better qualified to write the history of the system than this same
Professor Allen, present superintendent of the Bluffton schools, and
the following facts are condensed from a paper which he contributed to
a local publication several years ago, as well as from several personal
interviews accorded to the writer.

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p. 388

                      Teacher Lost in Bluffton Wilds

     Rev. Asa Cohoe, already mentioned as the first teacher in town,
went hunting one day, and was returning in the dusk of the evening.  In
trying to find his home, which was located at the corner of  Market and
Marion streets, he became hopelessly lost and came to the conclusion
that he was in the depths of the forest, he knew not how far from his
home.  Despairing of being able to find his home that night, he decided
to make the best of the situation and prepared to spend the night in
the woods.  He crawled into a hollow log, and barricaded the entrance
with logs and chunks, to protect himself from the wolves, which were
very plentiful at that time.  He thus spent the night in safety, and in
the morning was awakened by the crowing of the roosters at the home of
Nelson Kellogg, at the corner of Main and Cherry streets, only a block
away.  The log in which he had lain was where the First Baptist Church
now stands, on Cherry Street.
 

                         Early Disciplinarians and Schools

     In 1843 Nelson Kellogg taught a school in a shed-roofed building
at the north end of Johnson Street, on the banks of the Wabash.  J. B.
Plessinger had occasion to remember that year, as he froze his feet
while gathering firewood with which to keep the rest of the school from
freezing to death.  Ann Maria Hubbell, a niece of Adnah Hall, taught
school in the same building later.  The next winter George Brown taught
school in the log schoolhouse, which was the first temple of learning
built in the county. Robinson McKinney taught school the next year in a
double room, which stood on the present site of the Studabaker Bank.
Several men still living in this city, who were boys under the tuition
of George Brown, can tell interesting stories of that gentleman's
unsuccessful attempts to use formidable bundles of willow gads on the
backs of the larger pupils.  James Donaldson and James McQuade taught
school at one time in a building at the east end of Market Street, on
the river bank.  Both of these gentlemen are remembered, not only for
their profound scholastic attainments, but for the severe means of
discipline to which they resorted.
     Another of the early school buildings was a brick structure which
stood on Miller Street, just north of the old Baptist Church.  This is
still standing, and forms part of the Linn residence.  In this
building, R. H. Jackson and wife were among the early teachers.  Mr.
Jackson was a Presbyterian minister and his wife was the first music
teacher in town.

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p. 390

                            The "High" School

     The third brick schoolhouse to be erected in the city was the two-
story building at the corner of Marion and Cherry streets, which was
called the High School, not only because of its imposing appearance,
but for the reason that the larger scholars attended there.  Two
teachers were employed in this building.  This was used for school
purposes until the erection of the old Central Building, after which it
was used as a corn-planter factory, and then as a residence.  It also
served as the home of the free kindergarten for one year.

     Among the early teachers in Bluffton, remembered by our oldest
citizens, were Elizabeth Jane Burwell, who became the wife of Cyrus
Burgan; Mrs. Wilson M. Bulger; Miss Belle Hanna, of Wooster, Ohio; Mrs.
Martha Wilson, John J. Cooper, John Foreman, Jack Drummond, Crawford
Marquis, Charles Cruickshank; Cynthia Parker, of Huntertown; Elizabeth
Blackledge, now Mrs. E M.C. Ninde; Lizzie Cozier, of Pennsylvania; T.A.
R. Eaton, John S. McCleery, Mrs. H.C. Arnold, Newton Burwell and Nelson
Kellogg.  Lewis S. Grove, the first county auditor, taught a school in
a building on the hill where the Henry Oman house once stood.  The
present imposing structure of the First Reformed Church, corner of
Marion and Cherry streets, occupies the site of the original building.
 

           The Central Building and Superintendent Reefy

     In 1868 the first six rooms of the Central Building were erected,
and the other three school properties disposed of.  In the erection of
the new building the School Board came in for very sharp criticism.  It
was pronounced by many a very foolish piece of extravagance, and it was
predicted that the time would never come when it would all be needed
for school purposes.  But time has justified the wisdom of those who
planned and built at that time, for it was not long until the six rooms
were overcrowded, and it became necessary to build more rooms, making
it a ten-room building.
     After the erection of the Central Building, in 1868, all the
pupils were brought together and were placed under the care of
Professor Reefy, the first city superintendent.  He was an excellent
man for the place, and soon had the school system of the city in
satisfactory operation.  The magnificent maples, which adorned the
campus of the High School and Central buildings were monuments to his
memory, as he planted them with his own hands the first year of his
school work in Bluffton.

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p. 391

                   High School Organized by Professor Allen

     The High School was organized by Prof. P.A. Allen in 1881, and in
1883 graduated its first class.  It was commissioned in 1885, and its
courses have been strengthened from year to year by the addition of
studies, and its work has been made more effective by the equipment of
good chemical, physical and biological laboratories.  Its distinctive
departments now comprise Manual Training, Domestic Science, Art and
Music, each under a supervisor.  The High School has nine other
teachers on its faculty.  As an institution, it is a member of the
North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, and its
graduates are admitted to all colleges without re-examination.  The
teaching force of the Central School comprises thirteen; of the
Columbian, four, and the Park, four.  The total number of teachers
within the city system is thirty-four.  The enrollment is 1,125, of
which the average attendance is about 90 per cent.
 

                 Completion of Different School Buildings

     The increase in school accommodations has kept pace with the
growth of the city, and its juvenile population.  As stated, the six
rooms of the Central Building were erected in 1868, and four rooms were
added in 1879.  The old Central Building was razed in 1910, and the
fine sixteen-room structure of the present erected in its place, at a
cost of  $55,000.  Perhaps the most striking feature of the schoolhouse
is its magnificent assembly hall.  It is modern in every way; and that
tells the story to the average American.
    The present High School Building was erected in 1890-91.  Two rooms
of the Washington Park Building were completed in 1883, and the other
two in 1886.  The Columbian Building was completed in 1893.
 

                                Superintendents

     The city superintendents of Bluffton have been, in succession:
F.S. Reefy,  Samuel Lilly, and Mr. Thomas, from 1868 to 1878; E.A.
Buckley, E. C. Vaughn; G.W. Gunder and W. Ernst, 1878-81; P.A. Allen,
1881-91; W.P. Burris, 1891-97; E.D. Walker, 1897-99; W.A. Wirt, 1899-
1907; P.A. Allen (second term), 1907---.
 

                                  The Public Library

     The latest addition to the municipal utilities which have been
applied to the intellectual and moral uplift of the community is the

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p. 392

Bluffton Public Library.  Its nucleus was formed when Prof. P.A. Allen
organized the High School in 1881.  Year by year funds were raised by
means of entertainments and voluntary donations of books and money,
until the collection had reached several thousands of volumes.
     As a distinctive public institution, the library dates from 1902.
In that year its first Board of Trustees was organized, as follows:
Charles C. Deam, president; Mrs. W. H. Eichhorn, vice president; Delia
W. Hale, secretary; Mrs. Abram Simmons, Mrs. Dana Brown, Samuel E.
Hitchcock and W. H. Tribolet.  The meeting at which the organization
was completed, was held at the home of Mrs. Hale, May 15, 1902.  Rooms
in the courthouse were secured for library use, and the library placed
in charge of Miss Bertha Craven.
     Some years later, steps were taken looking toward a permanent
library building.  After some correspondence with Andrew Carnegie, a
donation of $13,000 was secured.  This fund was supplemented by more
than  $5,000, subscribed by citizens of the community.  A lot was
purchased, and the present building erected.  The total amount expended
in building, furnishings and lot was $18,909.20.  The building is an
unusually artistic and well-planned structure, and has served well even
the growing needs of the institution and the public.  It was thrown
open to the public on May 15, 1905, a general reception and an art
exhibit marking the occasion.
     From a small beginning, the collection of books has grown to

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p. 393

9,620 volumes.  For the year 1916, the report showed a circulation of
39,040, a gain of 12,000 during the year.  There are more than three
thousand card holders.
     In 1912, the library was reorganized, and the work of cataloging
the books was undertaken.  This has since been completed, and a card
catalog of the modern type furnishes a complete index to the resources
of the library.  Since 1914, rural extension work has been in
operation.  At the present time, Harrison and Lancaster townships have
service from the Bluffton Library.  Books may be borrowed direct from
the central library, and from twenty deposit stations and branches
throughout the territory served.  In 1916, 15,000 loans were made in
the townships, outside of Bluffton.  Books are delivered to the
stations by automobile, a new supply being sent out every six weeks or
two months, and the books which have been read returned to the library.
These rural stations, with two stations in the ward schools of
Bluffton, make in all twenty-two lending agencies besides the Central
Library.
     The library building has been equipped in a manner to make it
suitable for use as a social center.  Assembly and committee rooms,
comfortably furnished and made free to all community organizations,
greatly increase the usefulness of the building.  About 200 meetings
are held in the building each year, with an attendance of several
thousand persons.  This brings the library into close touch with the
people.  Special work with children, schools, clubs and other
organizations, and co-operation with all movements for community
betterment are considered an essential part of the work of the
librarian and her assistants.
     The members of the board at the present time are W.L. Kiger,
president; Mrs. W. H. Eichhorn, vice president; Mrs. Abram Simmons,
secretary; Mrs. M. W. Walbert, Chas. G. Dailey, C.E. Sturgis, P.A.
Allen, F. M. Buckner, Frank Heckathorn and N.D. Kleinknight.  The
librarian is Miss Nannie W. Jayne, and the assistants are Mrs. Ida
Ashbaucher and Miss Vera Sturgis.
 

                          The Local Press of Bluffton

     For nearly seventy years Bluffton has had an established place as
a newspaper town in the journalistic annals of Indiana.  The Banner
Publishing Company, of which George L. Saunders is editor, issues the
veteran of the local press.  Its weekly reverts to 1850, when Samuel G.
Upton and Lewis S. Grove commenced to publish the Bluffton Banner,
successor to the Republican Bugle, the first newspaper in

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p. 395

Wells County, whose editor, Thomas Smith, had but recently died.  Until
1884 the Banner waved very fitfully, as it changed ownership on an
average every two years.  The transfers occurred in the following
order:  T. J. McDowell, George McDowell, James G. Smith, D. J. Callen,
T.B. Gutelius, J.H. Smith, Theodore Horton & Company, J.F. Smith again,
William J. Craig, Homer L. Martin, E.A.K. Hackett, Martin & Roth,
Samuel S. Roth, Sturgis, Gorrell & Gorrell and E.Y. Sturgis.  The paper
was enlarged and otherwise improved in 1881 and Capt. E.Y. Sturgis did
much to bring it forward.  Mr. Crain, who edited the paper at an
earlier date, served as clerk of the court for eight years, and was
afterward appointed receiver of the Narrow Gauge Railroad, and still
later was placed in editorial control of the Indianapolis Sentinel.
Mr. Hackett, after making an indifferent success of his editorship of
the Banner, raised the Fort Wayne Sentinel to substantial prosperity
and influence.  Not a few other influential, even brilliant democrats,
were identified with the Banner and assisted to establish it as an
influential organ of the party in Eastern Indiana.  By 1899 the affairs
of the paper warranted the establishment of an evening daily edition,
and three years later George L. Saunders, its present editor, added his
inspiring personality to its forces.  He had been trained and educated
as an editor and printer in the Portland (Indiana) Sun, and the
Government Printing Office, Washington.  Mr. Saunders had also had an
interest in that publication, had done much to improve it and was
therefore well qualified to assume the editorial management of the
Banner.  In January, 1902, he purchased an interest in the Bluffton
Daily and Weekly Banner, which he retained after the formation of the
Banner Publishing Company, which has since conducted both editions, as
well as the job printing plant.
     The Evening News, of Bluffton, and its weekly edition, The
Chronicle, are published and edited by David H. Swaim, an old and able
member of the local bar, as well as of the newspaper craft.  He has
been identified with republican journalism, in this connection, for
thirty years, during the earlier portion of that period with his
younger brother, William T.T. Swaim.  The Chronicle and its immediate
predecessors had already spanned thirty-five years of newspaper
uncertainties and trials when the Swaim Brothers ventured to assume the
enterprise.  The story runs in this wise:  In 1853 the People's Press,
a republican organ, was established in Bluffton by John Wilson and
Michael Karnes, who employed as editor a Mr. Knox, a newspaper man of
considerable experience and a fair writer.  Subsequently, James
Branigan and James Gorrell served as editors, and under their

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management the paper continued to make its weekly appearance until
1857, when the plant was purchased by  T. N. Kellogg and a Mr. Bixler,
Nelson Kellogg taking charge of the editorial work.  Messrs. Kellogg
and Bixler conducted the paper with fair success until 1861, when it
passed into the hands of  W. J. Bright.  He changed its name to the
Wells County Union, under which title it was issued until the stringent
financial conditions of the time caused its temporary suspension.
     After a time the enterprise was revived by Cephas Hogg, who, as
editor and proprietor, labored against many obstacles until succeeded
by J. H. Smith, under whose management the name of the paper was
changed, in 1866, to the Wells County Standard, the editorial
department in the meantime being in charge of James Sewell.
Subsequently A. Callon and J. Sewell became owners, and in 1869 the
title was a third time changed, the name of Bluffton Chronicle being
substituted and  S. Davenport becoming editor.  Under the proprietors
named, the Chronicle was issued until 1873, when the publication again
suspended, but after a short time, J.W. Ruckman took charge of the
plant and brought the business to a paying standard.  In 1877 he sold
it to C. A. Arnold; in 1878 George Arnold & Son became proprietors, and
conducted the business for ten years.  This brings the history of the
enterprise up to the time when the Swaim Brothers became connected with
it.
     David H. and William T. T. Swaim were both born near the Town of
Ossian, on a farm.  When the former was five years of age, and the
latter two years old, their father was killed in the Civil war, and the
widowed mother moved into the village, in order to give the boys better
educational advantages than could be enjoyed in the district schools.
About the time of reaching his majority, David H. Swaim became
associated with Prof. P. A. Allen in the management of a select school
at Ossian.  In 1880 the brothers entered Fort Wayne College.  William
graduated and taught in the Bluffton Schools, while David became a
teacher at Ossian.  In 1882 they both entered the law school of the
University of Michigan, and graduated two years later, moving to
Bluffton for practice in September, 1884.
     Swaim & Swaim, the law firm, established a substantial and high-
grade business, but in May, 1888, withdrew from the legal field and, in
partnership with Asbury Duglay, purchased the Bluffton Chronicle, in
May, 1888.  Mr. Duglay died in August, 1891, after which the Swaim
Brothers bought the interest of the deceased from his estate.  William
T.T. Swaim died October 6, 1895, and since his death, David H. has
remained sole proprietor of the business.  In 1893 the Evening

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News had made its appearance as the daily edition of the enterprise, so
that Mr. Swaim has a double title to prominence in the newspaper field.
He had a monopoly in the daily field until 1899, when, as stated, the
Banner became a competitor.
 

                                   The Banks of Bluffton

     The banks of Bluffton, three in number, are well managed and
supported by the merchants, manufacturers and citizens of the place.
The origin of The Studabaker Bank, the oldest and strongest of them
all, has been noted in the modest financial venture of John Studabaker
in 1856.  Founded as a National Bank in 1863, it was afterward
reorganized by its founder as the Exchange Bank.  That was in 1869,
when Peter Studabaker and Hugh Dougherty became identified with it.
The history and substantial career of The Studabaker Bank commences in
1903, when it was organized as a financial institution under the state
laws, although it had assumed that name three years previously.  Its
original directors were Hugh Dougherty, Henry C. Arnold, Samuel Bender,
Fred Ashbaucher, Albert B. Cline, James W. Sale and Herman D. Cook.
Mr. Dougherty was elected president and Mr. Arnold, vice president,
while John S. Gilliland was chosen cashier.  After being at the head of
the bank's affairs for a year, Mr. Dougherty was elected president of
the Marion Trust Company and moved to Indianapolis.  Henry C. Arnold
was elected president of the Studabaker Bank in place of Hugh
Dougherty, in July, 1904, and held the position for five years.  He
resigned the presidency in July, 1909, and R.S. Todd was elected in his
place, John S. Gilliland, the cashier, being advanced to vice
presidency.  W.W. Rogers, the present incumbent of that office, at the
same time succeeded Mr. Gilliland.  The Studabaker Bank is now the
largest state institution of the kind in the state outside of
Indianapolis.  Its total resources amount to  $1,942,753.77.  The
capital of the bank is  $200,000; surplus and undivided profits,
$52,603, and average deposits  ( fall of 1917 ) nearly  $1,700,000.
     The Wells County Bank has been organized for thirty years.  On
June 7, 1888, the following gentlemen met at the law office of Dailey,
Mock & Simmons, at Bluffton, to discuss the project of establishing a
state bank:  Amos Cole, Frederick Engeler, J.W. Goodyear, G.A. Harnish,
J.F. Krehl, G.F. McFarren, Levi  Mock, Eugene Morrow, William Mertz,
John North, Abe Simmons, Thomas Sturgis, J.E. Sturgis, G.T. Williamson
and L.A. Williamson.  On the 23d of the month the directors were
elected and they chose from among their

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p. 398

number L.A. Williamson as president, Eugene Morrow and F.F. Engeler,
vice presidents, and J. W. Goodyear, cashier.  There was no change in
that management until 1905, when Mr. Goodyear resigned the cashiership
and E.B. Williamson was selected to succeed him.  The bank opened its
doors in its own home at the corner of Market and Main streets, and
these quarters were occupied continuously for over twenty years, when
the constantly increasing business rendered them inadequate, and on
October 30, 1909, the banking room was vacated for the purpose of being
thoroughly remodeled.  The Wells County Bank began business with a
capital of  $45,000; in 1902 this was increased to  $100,000, as at
present.  It has a surplus of  $25,000, with demand deposits of over
$303,000 and demand certificates of  $724,000.  Its total resources
( fall of 1917) amounted to $1,254,000.
     The Union Savings & Trust Company was organized in July, 1906,
with L.C. Davenport as president, W.A. Kunkel, vice president, and Fred
J. Tangeman as secretary and treasurer.  Soon after the death of Mr.
Davenport in January, 1917, D.A. Walmer was elected president, and
still holds the position.  Harry Swisher is vice president and Mr.
Tangeman retains his position as secretary and treasurer.  In January,
1918, the financial status of the company was represented by the
following items:  Capital,  $25,000; surplus and undivided profits,
$5,000; average deposits, $175,000.
 

                              Bluffton Industries

     The industries of the city include manufacturers of wood,
furniture, gloves, machinery, cement and flour and, specially, include
the following establishments:  H.C. Baye Piano Company, employing some
300 hands; the Boss Manufacturing Company  (D.A. Wilkins, manager) and
the Great Northern Glove Factory, both makers of gloves and the former
employing about 200 hands; Bluffton Cement Products Company,
manufacturers of blocks and tile, and North, Frazier & Company, whose
output is clay tile alone; Red Cross Manufacturing Company, the
products of which are lawn swings, windmills, pumps and towers, with a
galvanizing department which is one of the largest in the state; George
W. Grimes' Foundry, which turns out power oil machinery and ships it to
Oklahoma and other points in the United States and abroad;  W. B. Brown
Manufacturing Company, the products of which are chandeliers and
novelties; Will H. Ditzler, manufacturer of hard lumber; Bluffton
Milling Company, N.E. Stafford, proprietor, and the large interests
controlled by the

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p. 400

Studabaker Grain and Seed Company.  The last named include elevators,
with capacities named, located as follows:  Bluffton, 45,000 bushels;
Liberty Center, 20,000 bushels;  Tocsin,  18,000 bushels, and Keystone,
18,000 bushels.  For a number of years previous to the sale and junking
of the Bluffton, Geneva & Celina Traction Line in 1917, the Studabaker
Grain and Seed Company also owned and operated elevators at Vera Cruz
and Linn Grove, with capacities respectively of 10,000 and  18,000;
but when the road was closed and these points were left without
adequate shipping facilities, the business of the elevators naturally
came to a standstill.
 

                             Wells County Hospital

     A handsome and substantial two-story red brick building with stone
trimmings at the south end of Main Street, represents the new Wells
County Hospital which is not yet (March, 1918) entirely completed.
During the month of this writing an additional $12,000 was appropriated
and added to the original contract price of about  $28,000 and the
intention now is to have the hospital completed by May.  The project
was placed under way, in the spring of 1916, when a number of Bluffton
citizens, who had long recognized the desirability of establishing such
an institution, met to consider the proposal of Dr. J.E. Allport, of
Cleveland, who undertook to lead the campaign to draw a sufficient sum
of money from the County Board for the erection of a County Hospital
under the state laws providing means for establishing such
institutions.  Previously, there had been considerable sentiment in
favor of a hospital, but Dr. Allport's proposal served to crystallize
it and lead it toward accomplishment.
     The preliminary procedure involved the signing of a petition by a
stated number of freeholders resident in the county, and this was
accomplished without difficulty by a number of physicians and other
interested citizens, working under the direction of Dr. Allport.  After
the petition was completed, the County Council and the county
commissioners took favorable action upon it, and the latter appointed a
Board of Hospital Trustees to take charge of the erection and operation
of the building.  The members of that board were:  Carl Bonham,
president; J.A. McBride, Levi Huffman, A.H. Knight and W. H. Lipkey.
The order appointing the board and thereby establishing the hospital
was entered by the county commissioners March 6, 1917.
     The general contract for the erection of the building was awarded

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to J. Sam Ozee, Jr., of Mattoon, Illinois, on June 7, 1917, for
$28,194; that sum not including the equipment of the building.  Dr.
Allport himself was engaged as the supervising architect.  The two had
but recently completed similar hospitals at Mattoon and Connersville,
Indiana.  The corner stone of the hospital was laid on the afternoon of
Labor Day, September 3, 1917, under the auspices of the Bluffton
Masons.  The music was furnished by the Hartford City Band and local
vocal talent.  After the formal ceremonies had been concluded in
general charge of Elba L. Branigan, most worthy grand master of the
state, short addresses were delivered by William H. Eichhorn and Judge
David E. Smith, with other prominent Masons, the entire program being
interspersed with music and closing with the benediction by Rev.
William T. Arnold.
     The hospital stands in a natural grove in the southern outskirts
of Bluffton, retired, but readily accessible.  The two-story building
has ground dimensions of 103 feet in length and 45 feet in width.  Its
main entrance is in the center of the east front.  According to the
plans the interior arrangement and appliances are as follows:  On the
first floor are the rooms for the janitor, the supplies and fuel,
quarters for emergency and contagious cases, kitchen, laundry and
dining room, X-ray and dark rooms and seven wards.  In the south wing
of the second floor are the operating rooms, the maternity and infant's
wards and quarters devoted to medical and surgical preparation and the
care of instrument, apparatus, etc.  The remainder of the second floor
is taken up by the reception and superintendent's rooms, sun parlor and
beds for about a score of patients.  The hospital is equipped with all
such modern conveniences as laundry chutes, incinerating plant,
sanitary wash basins and a complete call system.  It is so arranged
that a button pressed by a patient turns on a light over his door and
at the superintendent's desk , which can be turned off only from within
the patient's room.  Although the Wells County Hospital is not among
the large institutions of the kind in the state, it is among the most
modern.
 

                               Broad Breathing Spaces

     The pretty stretches of country within easy walking distance of
Bluffton, especially along the Wabash River, make it unnecessary to
provide its residents with large public parks, as is the case with
larger and more congested cities.  Its lungs, as such public resorts
have been called, are not confined to Washington Park, first improved
in the late '80s, and the grounds around Central and High schools

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and the County Hospital, but embrace all "out-of-doors."  Bluffton,
therefore, is far from being stifled.
     Elm Grove and Fairview cemeteries, east of Main Street bridge, are
pretty spots, improvements in the former tract having been progressing
for about forty years.
 

                                  Bluffton's Churches

     The religious bodies of Bluffton began their good work early and
have continued it unceasingly.  During the earlier period they shared
the intense earnestness which marked the general propagation of
doctrinal beliefs, but of late years such discussions have largely
subsided in favor of charitable and benevolent work in which all could
unite; besides which, of course, each church body has had its special
activities.
 

                              The Methodist Churches

     The writer has mentioned the coming to Bluffton of the first
preacher, Rev. George W. Bowers, the Methodist clergyman and

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p. 403

pioneer schoolmaster.  The Methodists held their meetings in various
places at the county seat, including that popular public resort, the
courthouse.  Finally they erected a frame church at the corner of
Cherry and Williams streets, which they occupied until the completion
of their brick house of worship, on the southwest corner of Washington
and Williams.  This was dedicated by Bishop Bowman on October 13, 1872,
during the ministry of Rev. P. Carlan.  The original building was 45 by
80 feet with spire more than 126 feet in height; cost, $12,000.  The
present structure was completed in 1893 at a cost of about $45,000.
The first parsonage was built in 1882.  George W. Bowers, the first
pastor of the society, remained the regulation year, and up to the
building of the first church the following only exceeded that length of
service:  Rev. Joseph Ockerman, 1840-42; Rev. F.A. Sale, 1855-57; Rev.
E.S. Preston, 1859-61; Rev. J. H. Hutchinson, 1861-63; Rev. J.P. Nash,
1865-67; Rev. J. Greer, 1868-70.  Rev. P. Carlan was minister in 1871-
73.  There seems to have been no let-up in the progress of the First
M.E. Church, and by the late '80s it had reached a membership of
between 400 and 500, with a very large Sunday school.  Prof. P. A.
Allen was superintendent of the latter for many years.  The resident
membership of the church is now  (January, 1918) about 970 and the non-
resident, 90.  Rev. W.T. Arnold has served as pastor since March, 1913.
Of late years those in charge have been granted longer terms of service
than formerly, as witness:  Rev. L.A. Beeks, 1901-06; Rev. J.K. Cecil,
1906-09 and M.M. Martin, 1909-11.
     The Epworth M.E. Church is a mission of the First, in the western
part of the city, and the Wesleyan Methodist is in the southeastern
section if Bluffton.
 

                            First Presbyterian Church

    The First Presbyterian Church was organized August 24, 1844, with
twenty-two members, by John H. Russ, who had been appointed by the
Presbytery of Miami for that purpose.  The ruling elders were Andrew J.
Riddle and Robert Marshall.  Religious services were first held in the
log courthouse.  Succeeding Mr. Russ for several months only was Rev.
Andrew C. McClellan, after whom came Rev. Wilson M. Donaldson, who
served from October, 1848, to April, 1860.  That is the longest period
of service in the entire list.  Rev. John W.  Drake, who was pastor
from November, 1873 to April 19, 1875, died suddenly on that day while
apparently at the height of his usefulness.  The first house of worship
for the Presbyterians was built in 1853-54,

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p. 404

and the parsonage in 1875.  A Sunday school was organized in 1860.  In
1883-84 a handsome brick church was erected at a cost, including the
lot, of $13,000.  Since that time the additions to the original
building have virtually equaled the 1883 structure.  The principal of
these include the Akron Plan Sunday School department, pastor's study,
choir loft, balcony and choir room.  A $4,000 manse has also been
purchased.  Within the last six years a new vapor heating plant has
been installed.  The cost of the improvements from 1883 to the fall of
1917 was nearly $17,000.  Rev. Thomas J. Simons haws served the charge
since November, 1911, his immediate predecessors for a decade having
been Rev. Asher H. Brand, Rev. John McMurray and Rev. Charles G.
Miller.   Including resident and non-resident members, the strength of
the society is now about 400; the active resident members number 336
(March, 1918).
 

                              Bluffton Baptist Church

     The Bluffton Baptist Church was organized October 14, 1841, by
Revs. Robert Tisdale and Jesse Corn, with Fleming Johns, Elizabeth
Johns, Rebecca Stahl, Henry B. Elston and Martha Grimes as constituent
members.  Fleming Johns was elected deacon and Rev. Robert Tisdale was
chose Pastor.  He served only a few months, but returned to the society
as its pastor in 1844 and remained three years.  The first meetings
were held at the dwellings of the members, as it was impossible to even
secure schoolhouses for that purpose.  In August, 1844, the church was
received into the Salamonie River Association. The pastors of  the
Bluffton Baptist church who have enjoyed the longest pastorates have
been the following:   Rev. Robert Tisdale, 1841-47; Rev. Abel Johnson,
1852-62; Rev. W. W. Robison, 1863-1874, 1875-76; Rev. J.H. Reider,
1877-85; Rev. W.W. Hicks; 1892-98; Dr. O.R. McKay, since 1913.  The
original house of worship was dedicated in September, 1871.  It was
built of brick, was 36 by 50 feet in dimensions, and cost  $3,000.  The
church now occupied was completed in March, 1895, and has since been
greatly improved.  As late as 1916 its interior was re-frescoed and it
was otherwise beautified.  The present membership of the Baptist church
is 725.
 

                        Other Active Religious Bodies

     The St. Joseph Catholic Church has not a fair local membership,
much of its strength being drawn from the adjacent country districts.
Its house of worship is a modest frame building, at the corner of

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p. 406

Williams and Cherry streets, dedicated by Bishop Dwenger, of Fort
Wayne, in 1875.
     The Nazarene Church is located corner of Cherry and Williams
streets, and is very active in that part of town.
     The First Reformed Church of Bluffton is represented by a strong
society, with a handsome house of worship at the corner of Marion and
Cherry streets.  The society is now under the pastorate of Rev. B.E.
Reemsynder.  The Reformed Church was organized March 1, 1884, in the
Universalist Church on Cherry Street.
 

                   The Old Universalist and Christian Societies

     Mention of the latter recalls the old Universalist society
organized in Bluffton in 1855, although Universalist preachers were
heard there as early as 1843.  In the early times it was this religious
body, with its alert champions, which proved to be a firebrand in the
ranks of such of the Orthodox churches as the Methodists, the
Presbyterians and the Christians.  The public discussions between the
adherents of these various sects served to keep the community wide
awake, if they resulted in no very definite conclusions.  The rule was
that each side finished the discussion still convinced that it had the
best of the argument, and ready at any other time to convince the
opposition.  Among the most prominent Universalists of Bluffton were
Bowen Hale and Dr. C.T. Melsheimer.  In 1880 the society completed a
church on Cherry Street.
     Among the other churches, which were long active and are no more,
were the old Six-Mile Christian Church and the First Christian Church
of Bluffton.  The former, three miles southeast of Bluffton, was
organized September 2, 1838, by Elder Hallet Barber, who lived at
Rockford, Wells County, died of Asiatic cholera about 1850 and was
buried in the Mossburg Cemetery.  Henry Markley was one of the early
superintendents of its Sunday school.  The first log church of the
society was built in 1840; the second, a comparatively large frame
building, was completed in 1859 and would comfortably seat 300 people.
     The First Christian Church of Bluffton was organized in April,
1883, by its first pastor, Rev. W.D. Samuel.  In the following year a
small frame house of worship was erected at the corner of Cherry and
Morgan streets.
 

                            Secret and Benevolent Societies

     Bluffton is represented in all the leading orders of a secret and
a benevolent nature, as well as in some which are not so well known,

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p. 407

but may be when another history of Wells County is written.  The
Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Maccabees, Modern Woodmen of America,
Knights of Pythias, Red Men and the Tribe of Ben Hur have strong
organizations; and "there are others."  Although the Odd Fellows
established themselves several months before the Masons and have
organized all the degrees and bodies of their order at Bluffton, they
are somewhat outnumbered by the latter.  The Knights of Pythias, who
were much later than either to come to the front, have a fine Home
devoted both to official and social purposes.
 

                                      The Masons

     Bluffton Lodge No. 145, F. & A. M., was organized under
dispensation February 3, 1853, with A.W. Sanford as worshipful master;
O.P. Gilham, senior warden; and John Morgan, junior warden. The charter
was granted May 25th following, when O.P. Gilham was installed as
master, James M. McCleery as senior warden, and John Morgan as junior
warden.   Following Mr. Gilham as masters, for a period of sixty years,
were the following:  Amos Townsend, 1858-60; Newton Burwell, 1860-61;
Amos Townsend, 1861-64; Thomas L. Wisner, 1864-66; Amos Townsend, 1866-
67; Thomas L. Wisner, 1867-69; J. Sharle Wisner, 1869-September 18,
1870 (died in office); James W. Spake, A. Townsend and William Bassett,
who filled the chairs as pro tem. masters until December, 1870; Newton
Burwell, 1870-71; Jacob J. Todd, 1871-72; Thomas L. Wisner, 1872-74;
Jere North, 1874-76; Jacob J. Todd. 1876-79; Amos Townsend, 1879-80;
Jere North 1880-81; James R. Bennett, 1881-83; Cyrene Warner, 1883-85;
James W. Spake, 1885-87; James H. Clifton, 1887-89; C.M. Miller, March-
December, 1889; James P. Hale, 1889-91; C.M. Miller, 1891-93; Elmore Y.
Sturgis, January-December, 1894; Horace L. Wisner, 1894-95; William A.
Marsh, 1895-97; Samuel P. Roush, 1897-99; Joseph S. DeLong, 1899-1900;
Samuel P. Roush, 1900-01; Charles E. Sturgis, 1901-02; Harry Lewis,
1902-04; Samuel E. Hitchcock, January-December, 1904; William W.
Weisell, 1904-05; Herman W. Thoma, 1905-07; Charles A. Studabaker and
Frank Ashbaucher (pro tem.), 1907-08; William H. Eichhorn and Samuel E.
Hitchcock, 1907-10; Frank E. Ehle 1910-11; William R. Barr, 1911-12;
John A. Park, 1912-13; Grant Pyle, 1913-14; Harry B. Wiltse, 1914-16;
T.H. Koontz, 1916-17.  Mr. Bennett, who served the lodge as worshipful
master over thirty-six years ago, is still living as well as the
following past masters: Cyrene Warner, James H. Clifton, Charles M.
Miller, Elmore Y. Sturgis, Horace L Wisner, William A. Marsh, Samuel P.

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p.408

Roush, Joseph S. DeLong, Charles E. Sturgis, Harry Lewis, Samuel E.
Hitchcock, William W. Weisell, Herman W. Thoma, Charles A. Studabaker,
William H. Eichhorn, Frank E. Ehle, William R. Barr, Grant Pyle and
Harry B. Wiltse.  The lodge has a present membership of 250, with the
following in office:  Thomas H. Koontz, worshipful master; Ned R.
Conwell, senior warden; Edward E. Sunier, junior warden; Herman W.
Thoma, treasurer; Hoy H. Nartman, secretary; Charles V. McKinney,
senior deacon; Redford A. Cherry, junior deacon; Elmore Y. Sturgis,
senior steward; Theodore Eddington, junior steward; Samuel McCleery,
tyler.
     Bluffton Chapter No. 95, R.A.M., was instituted September 19,
1876, the following officers having been appointed under dispensation
of the preceding day:  T.L. Wisner, high priest; W.B. Miller, king;
W.W. Angel, scribe.  A charter was granted October 19th.  The foregoing
officers were named in it, and they served until December 29, 1876,
when T. L. Wisner was elected high priest;  D.E. Bulger, king; E. M.
Cook, scribe; Jere North, C. H.; J.H. Todd, P.S.; J.W. Zehrung, R.A.C.;
W.J. Craig, M. 3d V.; W.W. Angel, M. 2d. V.; G.T. Kocher, M. 1st. v.; S.
Oppenheim, treasurer;  H.L. Wisner, secretary; M.M. Bassett, guard.
Within the following decade the following served as high priests of the
chapter:  Horace L. Wisner,  J.J. Todd,  J.P. Hale and  James H.
Clifton.  Besides the first and the last mentioned, the living high
priests of the chapter are Cyrene Warner, James R. Bennett, Charles M.
Miller, Albert Oppenheim, Samuel E. Hitchcock, Harry Lewis, Herman W.
Thoma, Frank E. Ehle and E.Y. Sturgis.  The chapter has (fall of 1917)
a membership of 160, with these officers:  Frank E. Ehle, M.E.H.P.;
J. Park Elliott, E.K.;  Samuel E. Hitchcock, treasurer; Henry B.
Wiltse, secretary; Ralph W. Rinear, P.S.; James B. Krill, R.A.C.;
George E. Mosiman, M. 3d. V;  George L. Arnold, M. 2d. V.; George L.
DeHaven, M. 1st. V.;  Fred A. Wiecking, G.

     Bluffton Council No. 63, R. & S.M., was chartered October 20,
1892, has a membership of about 115, and is officered as follows:  J.
Park Elliott, I.M.; Frank E. Ehle, D.I. M.;  C.A. Breece, P.C. of W.;
Herman W. Thoma, T.;  F.K. Sale, R.;  Ed. A. Sunier, C. of G.;  Ralph
Rinear, steward;  S. E. Hictchcock, sentinel.  The past illustrious
masters of the council have been:  Cyrene Warner, Horace L. Wisner,
Alfred F. Bly, James P. Hale, Samuel P. Roush, Charles M. Miller,
Herman W. Thoma, Wilbur W. Oman, Samuel E. Hitchcock, C. M. Miller,
William H. Eichhorn, Harry Lewis, Elmore Y. Sturgis and  J. P. Elliott.
     There are 120 members in Bluffton Commandary No. 38, K.T.,

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the officers of which in 1917 were as follows:  William Weisell, E.C.;
George E. Mosiman, G.; William L. Kiger, C.G.;  Frank E. Ehle, S.W.;
F.K. Sale, J.W.;  George L. Arnold, E.P.; Elmore Y.  Sturgis, Treas.;
Harmon H. Skiles, Rec.  The past eminent commanders were as follows:
Jacob J. Todd (deceased), Edwin C. Vaughn, Cyrene Warner, Ferdinand F.
Boltz, James P. Hale (deceased), Emanuel E. Mosiman, Samuel P. Roush,
William H. Eichhorn, Louis C. Davenport, Thomas F. Hoffer, Samuel E.
Hitchcock, W.L. Kiger, William R. Barr, Allen P. Smith, Charles M.
Miller, Ernest Wiecking, Dell Locke, John G. McCleery and Herman W.
Thoma.
     Crescent Chapter No. 48, O.E.S., was chartered April 14, 1881, and
up to 1917 its past worthy matrons had been Caroline Davenport, Mary E.
Mason, Mary J. Todd, Delia W. Hale, Maggie K. Wisner, Maggie McCleery,
Lavina North, Emma Dailey, Jennie Warner, Martha North, Jennie Miller,
Harriet Hoffer, Stella Deam, Amelia Baumgardner, Lizzie Ashbaucher,
Anna Sturgis, Jessie Stine, Emma Thoma, Nannie Rinear, Lettie Miller
and Anna Sturgis.  The chief officers of the chapter serving in 1917,
until the annual election in December of that year, were:  May Koontz,
W.M.; T.H. Koontz, W.P.; Harriett McKinney, A.M.; Sallie C. Sawyer,
Sec.; Julia Duglay, Treas.; Marguerite Walmer, Cond.;  Archie Conwell,
A. Cond.; Sarah Hiester, C.; Stella Deam, M.  The members in the
chapter number about 170.
 

                            Odd Fellowship in Bluffton

     The history of Odd Fellowship in Wells County dates back to
October 6, 1852 when E.K. Bascom, Adnah Hall, Charles Smith, Lew A.
Price and Dr. Charles T. Melsheimer met to organize, under authority of
the Grand Lodge of the State of Indiana.  That body granted them a
charter under the name of Bluffton Lodge No. 114, I.O.O.F., which was
instituted at the date named in the second story of what became known
as the Wood building on East Market Street.  The first officers elected
were:  A.K. Bascom, N.G.; A. Hall, V. G.;  Charles T. Melsheimer, Sec.;
Lew A. Price, Treas.  The first representative to the Grand Lodge was
Past Grand C.T. Melsheimer who was appointed July 1, 1854.  The local
lodge has flourished, as have the other bodies of the order.
Patriarchal Encampment No. 141 was chartered May 15, 1876, and was
instituted with the following officers;  Samuel L. Dailey, C.P.; James
P. Plessinger, H.P.;  James W. Kenagy, S.; C.I. Kline, G.W.; Charles
Shaffer, J.W.; F.N. Kellogg, Treas.  Patriarchal Militant, Uniform
Degree, Camp No. 12, was

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chartered March 31, 1883, and J.B. Plessinger was elected commander.
There is also a Daughters of Rebekah Lodge (No. 83) which was
instituted at Bluffton March 27, 1872.  Prior to that date the degree
of Rebekah was conferred upon members of the third degree and their
wives by the subordinate lodge.
     The present encampment has a membership of 220, with the following
officers:  Chief Patriarch, Allen Sheldon;  High Priest,  Elza McAffee;
Senior Warden, Perry Addington; Junior Warden, Claude Cole; Scribe,
Uriah Rahrer; Treasurer, Edward Markley.
     The Patriarchs Militant, with a membership of 45, are officered as
follows: Captain, Adolph Witzeman; Lieutenant, Henry Gilliam; Ensign,
Sherman Bell; Clerk, C.A. Brunn; Accountant, Edward Markley.
 

                 Knights of Pythias and Pythian Sisters

     As noted, the Knights of Pythias have a strong organization, which
was instituted February 16, 1881, with C.M. France as its first past
chancellor and W.C. Stockton as chancellor commander.  The Pythian
Sisters have also been organized for a number of  years, and the
combined Home of the order, corner of Washington and Marion streets, is
comfortable, conveniently located and tasteful in outward appearance,
as well as handsomely furnished.  The original building was a large
residence purchased in 1908.  It was remodeled and re-frescoed and a
handsome lodge hall added at a cost of $4,000. The Knights of Pythias
Lodge is 92, and the title of the  Sisters' organization is Royal
Temple No. 24.  The lodge numbers more than 370 members and its present
elective officers are as follows;  Edgar Harrell, M. of W.; Aaron L.
Musselman, C.C.; Theo. V. Harsh, V.C.; Ray O. Snyder, Prel.; W.W.
Rogers, M. of  Ex.; George P. Becker, M. of  F.; Harry Harvey, M. at
A.; R.O. Stiles, I.G.; George Burhner, O.G.
     Royal Temple No. 24 has about 230 members.
 

                           The Elks and Their Clubhouse

     The Elks, a very strong organization, are represented by Bluffton
Lodge No. 786, and they have a large and elegant Club House on Main
Street near the business center.
     The Bluffton Lodge No. 786, B.P.O.E., was instituted on July 9,
1902 under the direction of District Deputy Bayard Gray, of Frankfort,
Indiana, by Hartford City Lodge No. 625 with E.E. Cox, of Hartford City
presiding as Grand Exalted Ruler, pro tem.  On the night of institution
the following Elks were admitted on dimit form other lodges:  M.H.
Ormsby, Frank S. Smith, W.A. Shumaker, E.B. Edmonds, Frank E. Ehle,
Frank Runyan, T. H. Gutelius, James A. McBride, Paul Herman.  The
following were initiated as charter members:  J.S. Dailey, E. C.
Vaughn, Sam Bender, J.H.C. Smith, C.E. Sturgis, Hugh Dougherty, S.C.
Reid, Will Smith, Fred Plessinger, W.D. Mason, J.C. Hatfield, L.C.
Davenport, Dan Lanigan, F.J. Tangeman, Levi Mock, S.P. Roush, Clem
Stair, W.H. Eichhorn, Harry Swisher, J.V. East, E.R. Horton, C.T. Kain,
George L. Saunders, Herman Wiecking, M.A. Stout, M. Long, R.F. Cummins,
Ralph Strow, Hugh Kapp, E.L. Murray, R.A. Brown, J.S. Gilliland, Joseph
Rose, George L. Arnold, W.W. Weisell, Jr., F.C. Dailey, R.W. Stine,
Joseph Burns, Louis Severin, C.H. Plessinger, Thomas Flynn, A.R. Grove,
Harry C. Evans, T.H. Koontz, W.D. Burgan, G.P. Sharp, B.A. Batson,
Frank Ulmer, A.G. King, W.W. Greek, George D. Shigley, N.K. Todd, Earl
Francis, W.L. Jones, A.R. Bair, R.S. Todd, W.I. Allison, C.C. Sixbey,
Albert Oppenheim, J.A. Morris.
     The following officers were the first to serve the lodge:  Exalted
Ruler, M.H. Ormsby;  Esteemed Leading Knight, T.H. Gutelius; Esteemed
Lecturing Knight, F.C. Dailey; Secretary, C.E. Sturgis; Treasurer, F.E.
Ehle; Tyler, J.A. McBride; Trustees, W.H. Eichhorn, Hugh Kapp and J.S.
Gilliland; Esquire, Frank S. Smith; Inner Guard, W. A. Shumaker;
Chaplain, J.H. Smith.
     The lodge was instituted in the Odd Fellows lodge hall and for the
first year or two held its meeting in the K. of P. lodge room in the
McFarren block at Main and Market streets, maintaining club rooms at
the same time in the quarters over the Arnold feed store on Market
Street.  Later the lodge and club rooms were combined with quarters on
the second and third floors of the Grand Theater Building.  Later the
lodge assimilated the membership of the Commercial Club and moved into
the Commercial Club's quarters over the News office on West Market
Street.  The present lodge home on South Main Street was erected in
1912 at a cost of $25,000 and was dedicated in the spring of 1913.
     The following past exalted rulers of Bluffton Lodge are still
identified with that body as its representatives before the Grand Lodge
of the order:  C.E. Sturgis, C.H. Plessinger, N.K. Todd, Clem Kain,
E.B. Edmonds, Del Locke, F. J.T Tangeman, H. R. Swisher, M.K.
Williamson, O.W. Baumgardiner and W. H. Eichhorn.

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     The present officers (April 1, 1918 to April 1, 1919) are as
follows:  Exalted Ruler, George Mock; Esteemed Leading Knight, Paul E.
Painter; Esteemed Lecturing Knight, Lloyd Sleppy; Esteemed Loyal
Knight, D.O. North;  Secretary, Harry B. Starr; Treasurer, F. C. Waugh;
Tyler, F.R. Curtis and Trustees, J.L. Snyder, F.J. Tangeman and H.R.
Swisher.
 

Other Lodges, Tents, Hives, Camps, Etc.

     Other secret, social and benevolent organizations at Bluffton:
the Eagles, Aerie No. 899; the Moose, Lodge No. 242; the Knights of the
Maccabees, Bluffton Tent No. 163 and the Ladies, Asphalt City Hive No.
132; the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 11,367, the Red Men,
Minnetonka Tribe, No. 82, and the Daughters of Pocahontas, No. 20; and
the Tribe of Ben Hur, Court No. 7.  All of these societies have special
fields of activities, more details of which would have been given had
the officers who have them in their keeping been more generous in
responding to requests for information.