Museum Curator Speaks to Historical Society

By Jennifer Archibald
Carroll Co. Comet Staff Writer

Over the last eight months, Historical Museum curator Phyllis Moore has gained a clearer understanding of the early development of Carroll County. This has come from studying a mound of documents from the mid to late 1800s. These original records document the establishment of Carroll County in 1828, the platting of all the towns, and the building of roads, bridges, and schools. They also list the cost and other details of anything the county paid for during that time. Moore and other museum staff and volunteers have been sorting and cataloguing ·these thousands of historical documents since they were rescued from a courthouse dumpster last February. Moore shared highlights of the information gained with fellow Carroll County Historical Society members at the Society's annual fall dinner meeting last Thursday.

Carroll County's first courthouse was completed in 1831 at a cost of $3,500. The second courthouse cost $33,387, and the present courthouse, built in 1916-17, cost $171,000.

An iron fence was built around the second courthouse. Moore said it was removed around 1890 and sold to William H. Bradshaw who took it to his farm north of Delphi. In 1956, the owner of the property sold it for scrap iron.

One document gave a description of the outhouse for the second courthouse. Both this outhouse and the one for the jail were to be cleaned once a month for $35 a year.

While the third courthouse was being built, the county offices were moved to the old Presbyterian Church building, which was across from the Methodist Church. Moore said it took 23 days to move the county records, at a cost of $2.50 per day.

The courthouse bell, now displayed in the building's rotunda, was built for the first courthouse, but there was a delay in getting it there because it was sunk in the Ohio River. It was ordered from the Buckeye Bell Foundry in Cincinnati, Ohio, but went down with the ship when the steamboat carrying it collided with another steamer. County residents petitioned the commissioners to pay the $96 necessary to retrieve the bell and bring it home. Moore said records noted that if the bell couldn't be brought up the river from Lafayette, there would be an additional cost of $2 to bring it over land.

Included in county records from the Civil War are letters from individual soldiers, asking that their wives and families be paid the bounty they have coming for serving in the war. A claim to the county from the Buford House, signed by John Milroy, was for meals and lodging of Civil War soldiers who stayed there. There are also records of the burial costs of soldiers.

Another paper showed that one Carroll County resident was paid $400 by another county resident for taking his place in the Mexican War. Moore said most of the bills to the county from local businesses have been kept because of their decorative letterheads. They also serve as a record of early merchants in the county. The bills have been put in three-ring binders, and if the museum had an old photo of the business, it was put with the bill. These are on display in the museum.

Moore said the amount of the claims also are interesting. As examples, she mentioned horseshoes made by blacksmiths for the County Home, 5 cents each, and a wagon for the Home made by Delphi Wagon Works in 1901, $70. In 1902, Rose Dotson did washing at the jail for two years, nine months, for $16.

Also shown in the almost-lost records are towns that no longer exist, such as Burnett's Creek, and long forgotten schools, such as Mud Sock School in Washington township. One school was on the Bondie Reserve land, one of several Indian reserves in Carroll County.

Moore said both the Civil and Mexican War records and the school numeration records are invaluable to genealogical researchers, because of all the names given. The pre-1850 school records are important because before 1850, census records only have the head of the household.

Moore thanked her faithful workers at the museum - Margaret Burkle, Bob Conner, Cora Dunlap, Peggy Eckhart, Nancy Ringer, Patty van Hoosier, and Teresa Maxwell - and others who helped with the rescue of the documents - Glen Dillman, Ed Gruber. Kenny Shidler, Lenny Shidler, Don Moore and Jack Moore. She said volunteers are always needed at the museum.