Before
any white European explorer had stepped foot upon the
soil of the Old Northwest, the St. Joseph Valley was
occupied by Native Americans.
There have been several tribes and early native
peoples located around the St. Joseph River.
Some of the earliest groups to occupy what would
later become northern Indiana and southern Michigan
were the Miami tribe.
Later, the Potawatomi
would move into the St. Joseph River Valley region,
utilizing the rich food and natural resources found
along the river. The
Potawatomi
would occupy this region of Indiana and Michigan until
the majority were forcibly removed in the 1840s.
The
first white footprint placed in the soil of northern
Indiana was that of Father James Marquette, who
traveled up the Kankakee River and across the portage
to the St. Joseph River in May of 1675.
“It was by way of the Sault de Ste. Marie (The
Falls of St. Mary’s River) and the straits of
Mackinaw that the French reached the Northwest from
Canada. In 1641 the first Canadian envoys met the western Indians at
the Sault. It
was not, however, until 1659 that any of the
adventurous fur traders spent a winter on the shores of
the northern lakes, nor till 1660 that the devotion of
the missionaries led by Father Mesnard, caused the
first station to be established.
In 1668, came Fathers Claude Dablon and James
Marquette and founded the mission at the Sault.”[1]
The
main reason for the popularity of the South Bend area
was that it was closest to the Kankakee River.
To get to the Mississippi River from, let’s
say, eastern Canada, you sailed west through the Great
Lakes until you reached Lake Michigan.
Then you traveled along the eastern or western
shore of Lake Michigan until you reached the mouth of
the River of the Miamis, or the St. Joseph River, and
up that river to the portage at South Bend.
A portage is a trail between two rivers.
The South Bend portage was the shortest overland
route to the Kankakee River.
So, you got out of the St. Joseph River and
walked overland along the portage to the Kankakee.
The Kankakee River flowed into the Illinois
River and then into the Mississippi.
Once you got to the Mississippi, you could
travel north, south, or cross the river to explore the
West. This
was the route used for centuries, first by Native
Americans, then the French explorers and traders to
travel from Detroit to New Orleans.
In
addition to the portage, there were several other
Native American trails that criss-crossed throughout
the Michiana (Michigan and Indiana) area.
One trail was the Fort Wayne Trail that lead
from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Chicago, Illinois.
Another popular trail was the Great Sauk Trail
that started in Detroit, Michigan, went through Chicago
and split into two trails in Missouri, “later
becoming known as the Santa Fe Trail and the Oregon
Trail.”[2]
In
1680, the French established and built Fort Saint
Joseph, first built as a mission, in Michigan about 60
miles from the mouth of the St. Joseph River.
The fort was established to protect the St.
Joseph waterway and the portage trail.
Fort St. Joseph became one of the most popular
posts in the Old Northwest territory.
However, the French lost the fort after the
French and Indian War in 1763.
The British then occupied Fort St. Joseph and
many residents loyal and friendly with the French moved
out of the Michiana area.
The British never had a community established,
and in 1781 French and Spanish soldiers captured and
destroyed the fort.
In the 1830’s Niles, Michigan would be
established near Fort St. Joseph.
Even today, Niles is known as the city of four
flags, because four nations occupied the fort at one
time or another (French, British, Spanish, and
American)
The
first real permanent residents of South Bend were the
fur traders who had settled in the area because of the
rich wildlife that congregated along, and in, the St.
Joseph River. The
first successful trader to occupy the St. Joseph River
Valley was William Burnett.
Mr. Burnett was from a very prominent New Jersey
family, well educated, and had family wealth.
He was attracted to this area because of the
possibility of great wealth participating in the fur
trade. Burnett
built a storage warehouse for storing furs, maple
sugar, grain, and salt near the mouth of the St. Joseph
River (near the present town of St. Joseph, Michigan).
Like most other traders, Mr. Burnett married a Native American wife.
His death date has been lost over the centuries.
Famous Men in South Bend History
The
first white settler to settle in present-day St. Joseph
County was Pierre Navarre.
Mr. Navarre was of French descent, well
educated, and moved to St. Joseph Country from Monroe,
Michigan in 1820.
At the time of this move, Mr. Navarre was an
agent for the American Fur Company.[3]
Prior to Mr. Navarre settling in St. Joseph
County, he had trapped and traded furs among the Native
Americans that lived in the area.
But, in 1820 he decided to permanently reside in
South Bend and open a standing trading post.
Pierre
married a Potawatomi
woman named Angelique and had six children, three sons and three
daughters. Pierre
and his new family built a log home, the first home to
be erected in the county, on the east side of the St.
Joseph River, now in South Bend.[4]
Mr. Navarre located his home on a trail in which
Native Americans traveled and traded every spring and
fall to reach the other posts along the river, down to
Lake Michigan. This
brought Pierre huge amounts of furs, maple
sugar, baskets, and other articles.
He was very loyal to the Potawatomi
tribe and when they were forcibly removed from the
Michiana area, he traveled west with the tribe, but
afterwards returned home.
Pierre Navarre died in the home of his daughter
on December 27, 1864.
His body was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery on
the property of the University of Notre Dame.
Navarre’s cabin is still standing and has been
moved to Leeper Park East in downtown South Bend.
Alexis
Coquillard established the first American home in St.
Joseph County. He
is usually regarded at the founder of the city of South
Bend. Mr.
Coquillard was born in Detroit September 28, 1795.
He served in the American forces during the War
of 1812 under the leadership of William Henry Harrison.
After the war, he returned to the St. Joseph
Valley where he became an employee of John Jacob
Astor’s American Fur Company.
In
1823, Mr. Coquillard built a trading post on the St.
Joseph River. Along
with a partner, Francis Comparet, who ran an associate
trading post in Fort Wayne, the two trading posts
became the centers of the fur trade with the Native
Americans of northwestern Indiana and southwestern
Michigan. In
1824, Alexis Coquillard married Frances Comparet, the
daughter of his partner.
On
Monday afternoon, January 8, 1855, Mr. Coquillard was
examining the ruins of his flouring mill, which had
burned the previous Saturday, and accidentally fell
from a beam on which he was walking 16 or 18 feet
below, striking with his whole weight on the front part
of his skull, crushing it in, so that he lived but
about one hour. He
did not speak after his fall, or give any evidence of
being alive. The
funeral procession which followed his remains to the
chapel of Notre Dame showed how extensively he was
respected when living, and how sincerely all mourned
for him in death.
During the day of his funeral, places of
business in South Bend remained closed.[5]
In
1827 Lathrop Taylor settled in South Bend.
He was a native of Clinton, New York, and was
born July 4, 1805. Just like many of the first residents in South Bend, Mr.
Taylor was a fur trader who relocated to this area.
It wasn’t long until he built his own trading
post, and along with Coquillard, he established a
thriving business here in South Bend.
Mr. Taylor became very important in the
formation of the city of South Bend and St. Joseph
County and held some of the first official offices of
duty in South Bend.
When
Henry Stull came to South Bend there were only two
trading posts in the area, owned by Coquillard and
Taylor. There
were only a few houses, no streets, and only Indian
trails running through the thickly wooded area now
known as South Bend.
Henry built a log cabin for his family and later
built a larger, more modern home on South Michigan
Street. Mr.
Stull passed away some years before his wife, who died
in 1879. Mary
Stull, the daughter of Henry Stull, married John Mohler
(J.M.) Studebaker.
Horatio
Chapin was born in Massachusetts in 1803.
He moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1822, and then
moved to South Bend in 1831.
Mr. Chapin became the superintendent of the
first Sabbath-school in South Bend, which was organized
in 1833. In
1838 he became a cashier at the State Bank of Indiana,
a post he held for twenty years.[6] In 1862 he became involved with a private
banking house that was named Chapin, Wheeler and
Company of Chicago.
After he retired he moved back to South Bend.
He died May 13, 1871.
Norman
Eddy was born in New York, his father being one of the
earliest settlers of the Cayuga county region.
In 1836, after studying medicine, Col. Eddy
moved to Mishawaka to begin his medical practice.
He moved to South Bend in 1847, where he
remained until his death.
In
1847, Col. Eddy decided to change professions and enter
the study of law.
He became a lawyer in April of 1847 when he was
accepted into the Indiana Bar Association.
Studying law for only three years, Col. Eddy was
elected an Indiana State Senator on the Democratic
ticket. He
was elected to Congress in 1852, having Schuyler Colfax
as an opponent. Col.
Norman Eddy received many governmental tasks and served
the United States government in many capacities.
When
the American Civil War broke out, Col. Eddy organized
the 48th Indiana Regiment, of which he was
appointed Colonel (hence the title that he would carry
the rest of his life).
He was severely wounded at Iuka and resigned as
disabled after he fought at Vicksburg.
He returned to South Bend and resumed his law
career. He
remained in South Bend until his death.
Thomas
Stanfield was born in Logan County, Ohio on October 17,
1816. The
Stanfield family moved from Ohio to southern Michigan
in 1830. After
unsuccessful attempts to buy land, Tomas’ father
moved the family to South Bend.
Judge Stanfield wrote this about early South
Bend:
Young
as I was, I was charmed with the natural beauty of this
country. It
was distinguished as oak openings, thick woods and
prairie. At
this time hardly a furrow had been turned upon the
prairie; a few cabins were scattered around in the oak
openings bordering the prairies.[7]
When
he became a young adult he was South Bend’s first
Assistant Postmaster. He studied law in the office of Judge Sample and was later
made a judge of the 9th Judicial Circuit
Court of Indiana.[8]
Judge Stanfield was an early judge of Indiana
and had to travel over eleven counties, holding court.
While working as a circuit judge, he became
instrumental in attracting the railroads to build in
the new territory of northern Indiana.
Judge Thomas Stanfield died September 12, 1885.
Born
in Hyde Park, Vermont on January 3, 1815, Almond Bugbee
became an orphan at the age of ten.
At the age of 16 he learned the trade of a
tanner, currier and shoemaker.
Mr. Bugbee was intending to move to Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, but on his way, he heard about the many
prospects in South Bend and Almond decided to see for
himself. He
arrived in South Bend in 1837 and began work as a
shoemaker. By
December he had opened a shoe store of his own. “In 1842, however, Mr. Bugbee purchased a tannery of G.D.
Edge, which he enlarged, equipped with water power, and
at that time gave employment to more men than any one
employer in South Bend.”[9]
He was also the first person to see shoes that
were manufactured ready-to-wear.
Almond
Bugbee married Adelia Ann Crocker of South Bend and
they had one son, Willis A. Bugbee.
Almond married again after the death of Adelia
in 1861, to Mary P. Moody.
Mr.
Bugbee was against slavery and help African-American
slaves to escape from the South.
His home was a station on the Underground
Railroad. Runaway
slaves would come to Mr. Bugbee’s house in the early
morning, would hide all day, and, at nightfall, he
would direct them to the next ‘station.’
Almond Bugbee served the community well and was
mourned at his death on May 24, 1904.
The
Removal of the Miami and Potawatomi
Tribes From Northern Indiana
The
excitement caused by the Black Hawk War was the
beginning of the downfall of Native American tribes in
Indiana. Although
these Indians were perfectly quiet and peaceful and had
nothing to do with causing the Black Hawk War, the
white settlers of Indiana could not get use to their
presence in the community.
As
early as 1819 Congress had planned to civilize
(Christianize) the Indians. A law of that year gave the President power to use $10,000 to
pay the tuition of Indian children enrolled in mission
schools. Several
mission schools had been established in Indiana and
were said to have done good work. However, there was no backing for this law and nothing of
importance was accomplished.
In
1822 the system of registering traders with the Indiana
government was abolished and a horde of irresponsible
and depraved traders were allowed into the tribal areas
of local Indians.
These traders carried whiskey to the tribe and
traded it for furs.
They are, basically, categorized as petty
thieves.
Various
missionaries and other friends of the Indians soon
began to plead to the government for help.
Most of them agreed that it would be better to
get the tribes moved beyond the frontier.
It was a policy of the Jacksonian Democrats to
get them out of the way of the white settlers. The law of May 28, 1830, permitted any tribe that cared to,
to trade its land for lands beyond the Mississippi
River. The
law of July 9, 1832, which provided for a complete
reorganization of the Indian service, also appropriated
$20,000 to hold councils among the Indiana tribes in
order to induce them to migrate beyond the Mississippi.
During
the summer of 1833, and later, agents were busy along
the upper Wabash and on the Eel River gathering up
parties of Indians and transporting them to the West.
A favorite plan was to give horses to a number
of chiefs and pay their way out to the new country on a
tour of inspection.
If necessary, they were then bribed to give a
glowing report of the country they had seen.
The Indians were then persuaded to emigrate.
The
best illustration of the hatred that the Indiana
settlers bore toward the Indians is their treatment of
the Potawatomies, whom they forcibly expelled form
Indiana in the summer of 1838.
The Potawatomies originally hunted over the
region south of Lake Michigan, north of the Wabash, and
west of the St. Joseph and St. Mary’s rivers.
They
were usually hostile to the Americans when war was on.
They led in the Indian massacre at Fort
Dearborn, and in the attacks on Fort Wayne and Fort
Harrison. Most
of the warriors under the famous Prophet at Tippecanoe,
as well as those who perpetrated the Pigeon Roost
murders and harassed the White river border from
Callonia to the Wabash above Vincennes during the
following years, were thought to be Potawatomies.
On the other hand, they had given the settlers
the land for the Michigan road-a body of land equal to
a strip a mile wide from the Ohio to Lake Michigan.
Few
settlers penetrated their lake-region hunting grounds
before 1830. Beginning
as early as 1817, in a treaty at Fort Meigs, the
government adopted the unfortunate policy of making
special reservations for Indian chiefs who refused to
join the tribe in selling land.
As a result of this policy several bands of
Potawatomies had special reservations in Marshall and
adjoining counties.
The treaty of 1832 took from the tribes its
tribal lands, leaving Chief Menominee a reservation
around Twin Lakes and extending up to the present city
of Plymouth. Down
around Maxinkuckee, Indiana, Chief Aubbeenaubee had a
large reservation in Tippecanoe Township.
In fact, Indians claimed and occupied the whole
county except for the strip of land given for the
Michigan road, stretching across the county north and
south through Plymouth.
In
1834 a commission tried to buy the Indian land and
succeeded in making a contract for most of it at fifty
cents an acre. But on account of some individual reservations made in the
treaty the government refused to ratify the purchase.
Colonel
Abel C. Pepper, of Lawrenceburg, then Indian agent,
succeeded, in 1836, in buying the Indians out at $1 per
acre, giving the Indians the privilege of remaining two
years on the lands.
The Indians asserted that this cession was
obtained by unfair means, but it seemed to have been
accomplished as most others had been.
Anticipating
the land sale that was to take place when the Indian
lease expired, August 5, 1838, squatters began to enter
the country and settle on the Indian land.
They expected to hold their land later by the
right of pre-emption.
The Indians began to show their resentment as
the time for their forced removal approached.
They contended that the chiefs had no right to
sell the lands, and went so far as to murder one of the
chiefs who had ‘touched the quill.’
General Morgan and Colonel Pepper were busy
among them, trying to persuade them that the West was a
much better place for them.
Councils were held at Plymouth and at Dixie
Lake, but the Indians were resolute.
Pioneers
had already squatted on the Indian lands.
On August 5th these squatters
demanded possession of the Indian wigwams and fields.
Many of the Indians had been persuaded to plant
corn. They
were told that the government would not sell their land
until it was surveyed, and that could not be done
before the summer of 1838.
The
Indians refused to give possession and both parties
resorted to violence.
The fur traders in the region sided with the
Indians and advised them to resist the squatters. The Catholic priest located in the Twin Lake Mission also
advised them that the squatters had no right to demand
their land, especially the crop of corn that was now
growing.
A
squatter name Waters, it seems, was especially
persistent in demanding that the Indians give him
possession of a quarter section of land he had laid
claim to. About
the middle of August some Indians battered down his
cabin door with an ax. In return the squatters joined together and burned eight or
ten wigwams.
The
pioneers along the frontier were expecting trouble. It had been only a few years since the scare of the Black
Hawk War. The
Miamis had been sullen all the season.
Stragglers from the transported tribes were
returning from the West and telling how their fellow
tribesmen had suffered from cold and hunger out on the
Plains. So, when word was received that the Indians were committing
acts of violence, the government acted swiftly.
Colonel
Pepper called all the warriors together in council at
Twin Lakes on August 29, 1838.
He could do nothing with them, however.
The old men had lost control of the young
warriors of their tribe.
All flatly refused to leave, saying that both
they and the President had been deceived.
While they were sitting in council, John Tipton
and his militia arrived. The government’s agents had been preparing all summer for
the removal of the tribe, but, perhaps, would not have
been done until the cool weather of the autumn.
As
soon as Colonel Pepper of Logansport had heard of the
first Indian refusal to move-and he heard as soon as a
courier from the squatters could reach him, August 26,
1838-he at once sent a dispatch by mounted courier to
Governor David Wallace asking for a good general and at
least one hundred soldiers.
He reported that the Potawatomies on Yellow
River were in arms and an outbreak was expected at any
moment. This
message reached Governor Wallace on the next day.
The same day he received word the Governor sent
an order by courier to John Tipton of Logansport,
ordering him to muster the Cass and Miami County
militia and proceed quickly to the scene of trouble.
Tipton
lost no time in enrolling the militia.
They left Logansport at 1 p.m. August 29. At 10 p.m., they went into camp at Chippewa.
Breaking camp at 3 a.m., they reached Twin Lakes
and found Colonel Pepper and the Indians in council.
Tipton at once stated his business, scolding the
chiefs for the violence.
The Indians made no excuses for the outbreaks
and again refused to leave their homes.
From the report it seems clear the whites were
the aggressors and had done nearly all the damage.
Tipton wasted no words, but established a camp
on an island in the lake and detained all the Indian
chiefs present, which numbered about 200.
As all the leaders were present it was easy to
control the rest.
All were disarmed as soon as they were found.
Squads
of soldiers patrolled northern Indiana in all
directions looking for the Indians and driving them to
the Twin Lakes area. Many, fearing harm to those chiefs at the council, came in to
see what was wrong.
By September 1st more than 700 were
rounded up. All
the Indian wigwams and cabins were destroyed.
Their horses and their property were brought
into camp.
Early
on the morning of September 4th, Tipton
commenced to load 13 army wagons with the Indians
personal property.
About 400 horses were found and kept on the
island until Tipton was ready to start.
The
procession left the Twin Lakes area on September 4th
and dragged its mournful way south over the Michigan
Road through Chippewa, traveling 21 miles before
establishing camp.
Father Petit, the missionary whom Bishop Brute
had stationed there, had been allowed to gather the
Indians into the little chapel and conduct a farewell
mass before they started.
The first day’s march was excessively tiring.
No water could be found for drinking and the
road was dusty. They
traveled from 9 a.m. to sunset, the mounted militia
prodding on the stragglers.
The next day 41 Indians were unable to move.
Others had to wait on the sick.
Beef, flour and bacon had been ordered from
Logansport, 46 miles away, but only a little had
reached them.
On
September 5th they reached Mud Creek. Twenty guards deserted during the day, stealing Indian horses
on which to get away.
On September 6th the Indians marched
17 miles, reaching Logansport, about 800 strong.
They waited near the town three days for the
government agents to make better arrangements for
traveling. One-half
of the militia was discharged and half were kept to
accompany the Indians to the Indiana state line.
By
this time the Indian children and old people were
completely worn out.
The children, especially, were dying in great
numbers, not being used to such rigorous work. Physicians from Logansport reached the Indians on September 9th
and reported three hundred unfit for travel.
The march from this time was not so rapid. William Polke took a small detachment of troops and revisited
the abandoned villages to see if any Potawatomies had
returned. Several
children died during the stay at Logansport.
On
September 10th they started at 9 a.m. and
skirted the north bank of the Wabash all day, reaching
Winnamac’s old village by 5 p.m.
Food was very scarce.
The priest was given permission to say mass
every evening. They
left Winnamac at 10 a.m., marched seventeen miles on
the 11th, and camped at Pleasant Run at 5
p.m.
The
next day the haggard group forded the Tippecanoe River
at 11 a.m. and passed Tippecanoe Battlefield at noon.
Here, Tipton distributed $5,000 worth of dry
goods, hoping to raise the spirit of the Indians.
Chief
Wewissa’s mother died on the 12th at the
extreme age of 100.
She had asked to be killed and buried with her
fathers at the Mission and the chief had decided to
humor her, but the white authorities would not permit
it.
On
September 13th the group reached Lagrange on
the Wabash, a short distance below Lafayette, marching
eighteen miles. One hundred and sixty were under the care of Dr. Ritchie and
his son, the attending physicians.
They were almost entirely out of medicine.
The children were dying at the rate of from 3 to
5 a day. On
the 14th they reached Williamsport.
On the 16th they reached Danville,
Illinois. The
heat and dust was getting worse.
Large numbers of sick had to be left in the
road. Horses
were worn out and the guards were nearly all sick, and
unable to proceed.
At
Sandusky Point, Illinois, on September 18th,
Tipton turned the command of the group over to Judge
William Polke, who had been appointed by the national
government to oversee the removal.
Judge Polke, Father Petit, and an escort of
fifteen men continued with the broken tribe to their
destination on the Osage River in Kansas.
The journey required about two months and the
cost the lives of one-fifth of the tribe.
A
few Potawatomies remained in Indiana scattered on small
reservations in various parts of the State.
The larger numbers of these were on the lower
Mississinewa, around Maxinkuckee Lake, and around small
lakes in Kosciusko County.
The introduction of settlers, whiskey, and white
culture practically annihilated a native culture.
Northern Indiana has kept the many place names
that have Native American influence, but has found no
room for a modern tribe representation.
The
Trail of Death, as it became known, was not one of the
shining moments in Indiana history.
St.
Joseph County was formally created in 1830, with four
original townships.
Lathrop Taylor and Alexis Coquillard plotted the
town of South Bend in 1831.
Most of the inhabitants of the town were tavern
owners, merchants, or fur traders.
The population of South Bend in 1831 was around
128 men, women, and children.
[10]
This is the original wording of the court
record:
State
of Indiana, St. Joseph County, ss.:
On
this 28th day of March, A.D. 1831, Alexis
Coquillard and Lathrop M. Taylor, the proprietors named
in the foregoing instrument and town plat of the town
of South Bend, personally appeared before me, one of
the associate judges of the St. Joseph circuit court in
and for said county, and severally acknowledged the
signing and sealing of the aforesaid plat, to be their
own free act and deed for the purposes therein
expressed.
Given
under my hand and seal the day and year first above
written.
William Brookfield,
Ass’t J.C.C.[11]
The
first industry in South Bend was developed in the in
the late 1830’s.
Some of the first factories were glass
factories, but their product was so poor in quality,
the companies did not last. However, in the middle of the 1840’s, industry began to
grow around the South Bend area, especially along the
St. Joseph River.
The early industries were located on two races
(or man-made canals), one on each side of the St.
Joseph River in downtown South Bend.
The race on the east side was known as the East
Race and it covered an area bounded by the St. Joseph
River, Niles Avenue, Madison Street, and Corby Street. The race on the west side of the river was known as the West
Race and runs next to the South Bend Century Center. The industries harnessed waterpower for their production
needs. Many
of the major industries started on one of the two races
before relocated to other locations after the
development of electric power.[12]
In
1846 another village was platted and added to St.
Joseph County. The
town of Lowell, Indiana was formed and covered the area
between Washington Street to just north of Cedar
Street; the river to just east of Hill Street.
The founders of Lowell hoped to capture the
success of industry of its namesake, Lowell,
Massachusetts. However,
in 1867 South Bend annexed the town of Lowell and it
ceased to exist.
Electricity:
The first electric producing plant in South Bend
had to be tied to the East and West Race along the St.
Joseph River. The
partnership of Abraham Harper, William Patterson, and
Lathrop Taylor into the South Bend Manufacturing
Company brought the first usable dam to the St. Joseph
River in 1842. The
South Bend Hydraulic Company had ownership of the water
proceeding down the East Race.
A steam-powered generator was used on the East
Race to produce vast quantities of power that lighted
and heated most of the city of Mishawaka and South
Bend. In
1903 the ownership of the West Race was purchased by
the Oliver Chilled Plow Company.
The Oliver Chilled Plow Company constructed a
power plant on the West Race (which a part of the old
plant can still be seen).
The power plant was so efficient and powerful
that it supplied electricity for light, heat, and power
to the Oliver Opera House, Oliver Hotel, factories, and
other Oliver properties.[13]
These power plants remained on the races of the
St. Joseph River until the invention of self-contained
coal/steam driven generators that allowed companies to
move away from the East and West Race.
Transportation:
The first locomotive to reach Mishawaka and
South Bend roared into town the evening of October 4,
1851, when the locomotive, John Stryker, came puffing
into the stations to a grand collection of local
citizens clapping and cheering.[14]
The South Bend Street Railway Company was formed
in 1873 to investigate the feasibility of electric
streetcars being constructed in South Bend.
In 1882 the first overhead or trolley system was
attempted-the first time electrified streetcars were
put into service anywhere in the world.
However, the cars could only travel part of a
city block because of the deterioration of electric
current over a long expanse of wire (before electric
transformers were used).
In the latter part of 1882, after the
electricity problem was solved, another streetcar
company constructed an electric streetcar line from
South Bend to Mishawaka (a distance of four miles) that
was a successful enterprise.[15]
Communication:
The first telegraph line strung through northern
Indiana was completed in 1847.
However, because investors were slow to devote
money to this endeavor, it was 1848 before South Bend
was in communication with the whole country.
The telegraph line was constructed between
Buffalo, New York and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The
telegraph soon gave way to the telephone.
The South Bend Telephone exchange was authorized
to erect poles and wires in March of 1880.[16]
The lines extended to include Mishawaka and
other places outside of St. Joseph County.
The first phones created were hooked into
“party lines.”
Party lines are where everyone’s phone on a
city block is connected into the same line.
Each household had its own ring pattern or sets
of rings to alert the members of the home that they had
a call. In
1899 the first direct dial (private line) phone was
installed to the Oliver Chilled Plow Works factory
office.
Water
Works:
Most early residents of South Bend received
drinking water from wells or the St. Joseph River
itself. However,
in 1871 there was a plan by the Holly Water Works
Company to provide the city of South Bend with water
that could be piped directly into homes (and provide
water for fighting fires).
This was going to be accomplished by the
construction of a standpipe (or water tower).
When the standpipe was pumped full of water the
pressure (or weight) on the water mains throughout the
city would be equal (there would be equal water
pressure). The
leader in support of the standpipe was Leighton Pine
the superintendent of Singer Sewing Machine company
(which had just recently moved to the East Race on Mr.
Pine’s invitation).
A huge debate between Mr. Pine and supporters of
a reservoir-type water system raged for months.
The standpipe finally won majority support in
1872 and Mr. Pine’s plan would be put into action.
The
standpipe was constructed with the following dimensions
and materials:
A
wrought iron pipe 5 feet in diameter and 200 feet high,
The
weight of the iron plates that made up the outside of
the standpipe was 42,000 pounds,
The
castings for the support of the pipe, resting upon
concrete foundations, weighed 12,180 pounds,
The
iron bolts used to put the plates together weighed 250
pounds,
Between
the pipe and the protecting wall (the steel plates) was
a winding stairway of 290 steps to the top,
A
roof was install on the top of the standpipe with a
diameter of 221 feet.[17]
The
standpipe was raised at the crossing of Pearl,
Jefferson, and Carroll Streets in South Bend (which is
now the parking lot of the Century Center).
After the construction of the standpipe it had
to be lifted into place.
“The undertaking of lifting this mass of iron
from the ground to a perpendicular was the greatest
engineering feat ever attempted in this part of the
country. A like attempt at Toledo [Ohio] resulted in the falling and
breaking of the stand pipe when it had been lifted half
way up.”[18]
The raising of the standpipe began on Friday,
November 14, 1873, which raised the pipe 22 feet off
the ground. On
Saturday, November 15 the raising continued until 4
p.m. when the standpipe reached an elevation of 70
degrees and hung in the air that night.
Raising continued throughout the day on Sunday
and finally the standpipe was placed into its footing
at 11 a.m. on Monday, November 17, 1873.
The great standpipe never cracked or bent and
stood 200 feet perpendicular from its rocky base.[19]
The standpipe was torn down in the 1920s.
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