The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-10-09

clever gentl. man.
While abiding to the general privations Of
the early settler there was one embarrassment
which weighed heavily upon his energies, and
Is measurably unknown &c the present genera
from his old home means sufficient To enter
tract OF government land. AS the law then
stood he could not enter less than a quarter
Sc ton. The prlce OF the public land was 81
per acre, and the purchaser was required to
pay $50 or one fourth down, one-fourth in two
years and the balance in two equal annual In
staiments with interest; altogether $50. A
failure TO pay any one OF the iustaiments
caused forfeiture, not only OF the land, but
the amount paid IL Is safe to say that not
two out of nifty were able to meet the pay
ments as they Tell due. Their lure placed
them at the mercy of the government, aud
made them mere tenants at sufferance. The
government, however did not d. clare the for
feiture, and In March, 1872, congress passed
an act suspending the forfeiture until
March 81 1921. This secured to the -ettler his
home for another year, but that was all. The
instalments were all due and he had no
more money at the ex piration of the wear than
when the act was passed. 1t only postponed
the eva day. In the month of March follow
Ing it looked as If something would b. done
for the relief of the settler. y bill was iutro-
duced in congress which provided that the
holder of any l. gal certificate of purchase
might file a relinq1ishment in writing. on or
before September 30, ISL, in the land office,
and If such person had paid only one fourth of
the original price OF the land, the balance
ments; At he had paid one-nalf of the original
price, the balance could be paid in
price, the balance could be paid in four equal
should be paid by the SopS S of sepember iSia.
a deduction of S712 per cent. should be made;
but such discount should not apply to the pay
ments which had already been made. This
bill passed March II, 1921.
My friends, If this enactment had been faith
fully carried out il would have afforded sub
stantial relief to the settler; but the time for
the application was short. Many lived remote
fro m the land office, and never heard of the
themselves of It's provisions Above All, the
time had nearly expired before the land OH
GERS of tue district received their instructions
rom the proper departm- mt. The conSa-
quence was, very few received any benefit
from the law.
Another bill was introduced in congress, and
after great opposition was finally passed on
the third day of March, 1923, extending the
provisions of the, law of 1921 to the Slth
of September, 1873. General James Noble
and Waller Taylor were our United States
senators at that time and Jonathan Jennings
the sole representative of Indiana. Taylor
never lived an hour in the state after his cleo
ton, but returned to Virginia, his native state,
and remained there until mis- term of Office ex-
pired. Noble and Jennings worked like
beavers 10 procure the passage of the relief
measure to which have just referred. They
saved hundreds OF families from utter ruin.
Mobiles reception at home after the passage of
the last bill was a perfect ovation. Men came
long distances TO thank him Tor his services in
their behalf. Noble died in Washington. hav-
ing served in the senate of the United States
10 years, and Jennings, for many years one of
the most popular men In the state, was buried
near Charlestown without even "a headstone
to designate his resting p ace.
With ali these trials and discouragements /
have seen Indiana rise from population
scarcely equal to that of present county town
to 2OOO,OOu people, embracing within its limits
1000 miles of railroad and about as many miles
towns magnificent churches, well Improved
fam with stately mansions, and school
houses in every neighbour and a common
school fund larger than that OF any other ST te
i'm the ITniOn-al this in lifetime. Our
advance surpasses the imagination.
Il looks more fike magic than reality. Who
are the meu that contributed to this wonder
ful success? would gladly refer you in detail
from my own personal recollection 10 many
of those who participated in the events re-
sultiDg in the extraordinary changes and
adopted the measures necessary TO Derfect
them, but time will only permit, in this adj
ant. You, of this association, should fill up
the vacancies. III you do not Ieel free TO enter
more fully INTO some of these matters, you can
at least give many of the religious, moral
and social events OF your early days. They
gave shape to our present institutions and will
will these Diet tiis be any the less interesting
because they originated from Heterogeneous
papula ion-drifted from many lands, mostly,
il Is true, from the southern states, but a few
from Pennsylvania and some from the noun
tAins OF New England aud each embued with
the peculiar views derived from the customs
In this crowd O, old settlers who is there that
can not give us a description Of an early
being equally divided, the captain and the
men on each side selected, and the
party who first finished their pc ton of the
heap carried their capita In triumph on their
shoulders into the ranks of the opposition, in
rIdicule OF the laiter's hardness. WHAT ven.
cradle mother Is here who can not detail The
particulars of a sewing match or quilting, in
which thew participated in early life, when,
after their days work was finished, their hus,
them at the hou.e, spent the evening, aId
sometimes TO the small hours of the morning,
in playing Sister Phoebe, or, IL violin could
he had, IN dancing an old fashioned reel"
There are but few of this association who
could not tell us something about the old
regiiuenJal musters in Indiana, at which most
of the voters of the county attended and after
passing through the various military evolu-
lions with clubs and cornstalks in place of
distinguished commanders, and often
tue ,,,oa afternoon nes was b occupied wi ni
muster M sais at Which / was present recoliect
the colonel OF the regiment was noted for
squeaking voice. When the corps was ready
to receive him, he rode up In front OF his reg
lment, the only man In the field dressed In
unifo' m, and In his squeaking voice, called
out Attention! oatalllon. boy Some A1
the COMMANDERS vote =, "Children, come out
OF the branch, or you will get snake bit T" or
course II raised "a huge laugh, and never
heard of that regiment being called out again.
Many of you could descr be the early strug-
giles of the church To maintain itself In the
rude state OF society which surround a II.
There were Lewis Dewea e and Judge Hol
man, of the Baptist church, Mr.. Bare aud Mr..
Bush, of the Presbyterian church. jeremiah
Hubbard and Charles Osborn, of the Quaker
society, John Strange, James Ravens, Edwin
Ray, John L. Durbin, James Armstrong and
many others OF the Methodist church. who
deserve to be mentioned. These
were all brave and eloquent preachers.
Wherever vice showed its hideous
head they were sure 10 strike at it. IL Is true
that murders, robberes and burglaries were
unusual, but lighting, cock. mains and gamb-
ling were common vices; the use OF intoxicat-
ing liquors was general In a most every private
house, and small disttlleries were located all
over the inhabited portion of the country.
Under the influence of such men TO whom
have alluded these vices were kept IN check.
We had then our great periods OF revival, IN
which the christian men and women OF the
day seemed TO be inspired by a super
natural power. Under the infiu-
ence of such men the church even
became aggressive, and often triumphed
over powerful opposition I'm passing laws
and enforcing them To maintain the good or
der OF society. These scenes and the heroic
exertlons OF the men Of that day aie almost
| forgotten. The leaders OF these movements
| those who snatched society from the hands Of
| the rowdies, the gambler and the bully-ars
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