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Early Indianapolis lNDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS VoL. 7. No. 5. Early Indianapolis BY ~11~ S. I~:\ l.1 RA FLETCH EI{ I-IODGES. JNDIANAPOLlS C. E. PAULEY A COMPA.HT FOREWORD On Nove111ber 15, 1918, the Indianapolis \,Vo1nen's Club de­ voted its progra111 to Indianapolis, the exercises being grouped under the title: "The Indianapolis Symphony.'' In this har­ monious enterprise, the first paper, entitled "'Allegro/' \Vas the one follovving, ·which is 110\V rechristened, ··Early Indianapolis.'' The appropriateness of both titles, in their diverse connections, \vill be apparent to the reader. Through quotations fron1 the diary of her grand1nother, niirs. Calvin Fletcher, wirs. Hodges presents a peculiarly inti- 1nate vie,v of early life in Indianapolis, \vhich occasioned an appeal for her consent to its publication in this form. J. P. DUNN, Secy. Early Indianapolis .A. rerse f ro111 Riley's ··rfale of the i\irly Days" has pervaded 111y 1nind since this topic ,vas assigned me, and, with an in­ sistence \vhich would not be denied has suggested the man­ ner in \vhich I should treat the opening number of the Indi­ anapolis Symphony. l\1 y ..Allegro is not necessarily a sprightly 1novement, with gay and n1erry touches, although these qualities are not lack­ ing; but it is rather the beginning of the composition as well as a harmony of mingled sounds, a concert of voices-the voices of the past. 1\nd so my heart wanns to\vards Riley and his verse ,vhen he begs for ''plane facts, plane ,vords of the good old fash­ ioned ,vays- Don't tech 'e111 up like the poets does T'el theyr all too fine for use. Tell me a tale of the timber lands Of the old time pioneers. ;:~ * * Tell of the old log house-about The loft and the puncheon flore- The old fi-er-place, ,vith the crane swung out, A.nd the latch string through the door." In thinking of the earliest days one pictures the legislature and Jonathan Jennings, first governor of Indiana, consulting ,vith the Commissioners appointed "to locate and lay out a pern1anent capital for the State." It is a 1natter of history that they decided on the site at the point where Fall Creek flows 2 into White River, June i, 1820. Indianapolis consequently has served as the capital of the co1nmon\vealth nearly one hundred years. Corydon, the pleasant village of story and pageant, had that distinction for a brief time inunediately after the state ,vas ad­ mitted into the ·union, affixing by her admission. the nineteenth star to the flag. Reviewing history ,ve find there were 1nany and far dis­ tant capitals. When France through her explorers possessed a vast domain of which this territory was a part. Paris ,vas the capital. By the treaty of Paris, at the close of the Seven Years War, it shifted to London. Richmond, v-rirginia fol­ lo,ved, after the Revolution, when Clark took possession of the country west of the Ohio river. The capital was nearer ,vhen Virginia's rule ceased in li90 on the formation of the North,vest Territory, for 1\ilarietta, Ohio, was n1acle the seat of government. Ten years later Vincennes had this dis­ tinction when Indiana Territory \Vas established. Vincennes forms, therefore, the last link in the chain of capitals joining Paris in France, ni.any leagues away, to Indiana Territory through the frontier French town on the vVabash. Through these centuries of changing govemn1ent Indiana can claim a past as interesting as it is remote, reaching as it does to the days when Louis the Great, fourteenth of that name, sat on the throne of France. But kings and thrones have little to do ,vith the "Capital in the Wilderness," our present concern, except perhaps to serve as a background, a dim and faded tapestry hung on the ,valls of men1ory bringing out by contrast the virility. the ~tt1rdiness, and the self dependence of the pioneers. Mention has been made of the Commissioners earlier in this paper-let us join them as they sit about the cherry table ( still in existence) in John lvicCormick's cabin considering 3 the business the Governor has entrusted to the1n; ,veighing the merits of the three sites proposed for the capital; the Bluffs, twenty miles to the south kno1.vn as \Vhetzell's Settle­ rnent, the home of the Indian fighter and trace n1aker; Con­ ner's Prairie to the north, a trading post surrounded by In­ dian huts, and the Fall Creek Settlement where 1-1cCormick's cabin stood. The detern1ining factors in the choice were the river, pre­ sumably navigable, its banks at this point making a good boat landing, the level surface of the adjacent land and last but hv_. no means least. the central location of the Fall Creek Settlement. After the Con1missioners had made a favorable report to the Legislature, Congress granted the request for land by a do­ nation of four sections for "the Capital in the Wilderness," as Judge Daniel \Vaite I-I~nve so aptly calls it. The donation ,vas sixty miles f ron1 the nearest settle1nent and within a f e\v n1iles of the boundary which divided the .. Ne\v Purchase" fron1 the land still claimed by the Indians. Speaking of condition!; ,vhich existed then a ,vriter says, ''There was no town. no people except in the lonely cabins n1iles apart; not a road leading anywhere, no f arn1 lands un­ der cultivation, no supplies except those bought by pack horses on the trails n1ade originally by the Indians." Under such circu1n~tances a visit f ron1 the neighbor in the ren1ote clearing or the arrival of the traveller \vith ne\vs of the world wa~ ren1e1nbered with delight. The itinerant preacher of any denomination was ahvays a welcon1e guest : he played no small part in the development of Indiana fron1 the cn1de material of a hundred years ago. He did not hold himself aloof f ron1 the social and economic duties of the period, but helped in log rollings, house raisings and corn huskings while he kept up his preaching. 4 Some of these n1en were unlearned, some even illiterate,. but their congregations ,vere not scholarly and no one no\v can question the wisdom of utilizing even such as they in the moral and religious work of the times. Should the field have been left uncultivated until enough college-bred preach­ ers could be sent to look after it? Our fore£ athers were absorbed in n1aking and protecting their rude homes and gathering their meager crops-in clear­ ing their recently purchased acres-they therefore had little time for intellectual pursuits. In his defense of dialect Riley says with truth, "Many of the heroic ancestry of our best people grew unquestionably dialect of caste-not alone in speech but in every 1nental trait and personal address. It is a grievous fact for us to confront but many of them wore apparel of the con1monest, talked loudly and doubtless said 'this a\vay and that away, What y' doin' of and whur you goin' at' !" But let us return to the settle1nent for which \Ve have attempted by this digression to create atmosphere. The Legislature included in the act ratifying the selection of the site provision for the election of three commissioners to lay out the capital and an agent to have charge of the sale of lots. Judge Jeremiah Sullivan states that on his· motion, sec­ onded by 11r. Samuel Nierrill, the town ,vas named Indian­ apolis, a name which created some amusement ,vhen first pro­ posed. Of the co1n1nissioners elected, Christopher Harrison was the only one to appear at the place on the date fixed upon. Without delay he carried on alone the survey and the sale of lots, a proceeding very properly legalized by an act of the Legislature in November, 1821. Judge Harrison was one of the most interesting characters ,vho ever reached Indiana. He came from Niaryland, ,vas possessed of some wealth, had a fine education and a taste for art. He had loYed Elizabeth Patterson, ,vho married Jeron1e Bonaparte; failing to ,vin her he came to Indiana ,vhere he lived a hern1it on the bluffs of the ()hio river near Hanover. Seeking political honors he ran for governor against Jennings, but was badly defeated: notwithstanding this defeat he ,vas held in high esteem by the successful candidate, as well as by the Legislature. Harrison selected 1\lexander Ralston and Elias Py111 I-."'ord­ ha111 as surveyors of the ne,v capital, and Benjamin I. Blythe as clerk to the con1n1issioners. Ralston was a Scotch111an, a 111an of ability ,vho had been entn1sted by Lord Roslin with i1nportant engineering ·work before coming to this country. He had assisted Major L'Enfant, con1panion of La Fayette.; in surveying \Vashington, the national capital. It is a well known fact that the design e111ployed by L'Enfant influenced Ralston in his survey of Indianapolis, the sche1ne involving as it does a circle in the center with radiating avenues and streets intersecting at right angles. Completing the survey Ralston left the settlement but returned in 1822 for per- 1nanent residence. He built a little brick house on ,vest l\ilaryland street near Capitol avenue, re111arkable at the time for the great number of windo,vs and doors it contained; here he lived until his death in 1827; he was buried at Green Lawn Cemetery. It ,vas said that he was involved in Aaron Burr's conspiracy, but it is probable that he was only em­ ployed to survey the lands Burr had purchased.
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