that it is almost impossible to get definite information. The single article of lumber alone would of itself make an item of astonishment, and yet its commerce is but just begun. The immense forests, still standing in the pride of past centuries, embody an amount of wealth beyond the calculations of even the most experienced. Manufactories are not here to consume this vast supply of timber, and therefore it must be shipped in its rude state to find its markets where it may.

The lack of manufactories in this rich agricultural region is, however, not at all strange, for the chief energies of the citizens of the county are directed to that sort of toil necessary to the natural productions of the country. Farming, stock raising, trading and commerce demand the services chiefly of the present citizenship. The mechanic, it is true, is here, but only in limited numbers, and the work which he performs will not, in the general way, much more than meet one-tenth of the present home demands. Save in a few of our cities, this, indeed, is one of the marked characteristics of the whole West; therefore our merchants go East for nearly all their stocks of cloths, calicos and other mercantile products, including ready made clothing, boots, shoes, hats, caps, etc., and even for the very soap which keeps us clean. It is not a matter of wonder, then, with such constant and heavy drainages on the cash capital of the West, that so many of our people are found murmuring at the scarcity of the moneyed circulation. It always has been so, and it always will, as long as the chief currents of our financial streams thus flow to the markets of the East.

With the rich soil that Hamilton county possesses, and with such superior agricultural advantages as the masses of the citi zens have, they should be largely independent of Eastern monopolies. The misfortune has been that too many have failed to realize their own resources and advantages, and consequently they have often fallen short in essential funds on account of

their peculiar penchant for trading, or of their careless wasting of time in looking after some petty office, or perhaps of their waiting, like Macawber, "for something to turn up," instead of going to work with a will and digging gold from the dust of the earth, where, after all, it has to come from.

The present is too much a day of ease among many who might work. The iron nerve and daring spirit of the early pioneers of the West should certainly be remembered and imitated by their posterity, for then would the song of their life success become the best evidence of their personal independence, as well as of their business and agricultural advancement. It is true, if we turn our eyes back upon the past, in view of gathering lessons of practical philosophy from the examples of the early pioneers, we will see that

Yet the simple story of their efforts to live, and the pious contentedness which they have so generally displayed amidst the privations and limited resources of their pioneer life, will give us many practical ideas in regard to what constitutes real life, such as can not but benefit us if we will but remember that

"History is philosophy teaching by example."

Through the kindness of a few of the old pioneers who live at the county seat, and who still linger in "the sere and yellow leaf" of life, who are now honored for their long services as well as for their personal integrity, we have gleaned many interesting facts of the early history of Hamilton county, which we wish here to place in permanent form before the public, and which we doubt not will be read by the coming posterities with the deepest interest.

In the year 1819, four years before the county was organized, John Finch, Solomon Finch and Israel Finch, with Thaddeus Baxter and William Bush, with their families, made the first col

ony in what is now the county of Hamilton. The treaty with the Indians, conveying this portion of the country to the proper government of the State, had only taken place the year before, and they of course found the regions of the White River a universal and unbroken wilderness. They settled a mile or so below the present location of Noblesville on or near what was then called the "Horse Shoe Prairie." The following spring John Finch built a horse mill to grind their corn, making the burrs himself out of what is known as "nigger heads.' This famous mill, built of logs, soon became "the corn meal hope of the whole country down White River for 30 miles, as there was no Indianapolis yet. Indian trails were the only thoroughfares through the wilderness. All parties who came to this mill had to furnish their own running power, and as they paid no toll they could well afford this.

The style of living, as a matter of necessity, was in those days simple and plain, and the social intercourse of the few families of the little colony was wholly of the honest and generous stamp. As young and primitive as this community then was, it had in it the elements of an advancing civilization, for immediate steps were taken to organize among them the institutions of civil government. The county being organized in the spring of 1823, the first court was held in the month of November of that same year.

The meeting of this court constituted an era of great interest among the sparse settlements, which were chiefly along White River; and as no county seat had as yet been located, the court was ordered to convene at William Conner's farm, some five miles below where Noblesville now stands. John D. Stephenson had been commissioned by His Excellency, Governor William Hendricks, clerk of said court, and John Finch and William C. Blackmore had been appointed associate judges. Hon. W. W. Wick was the presiding judge of the district, which was termed the "Fifth Judicial District of the State."

As the burdens of this first court of the county of Hamilton were not supposed to be very onerous, the parties concerned, including the honorable Court, and James M. Ray, a lawyer from Indianapolis, and a number of witnesses, together with a few hangers-on, who desired in some way to be counted in the judicial crowd, started in a frolicsome sort of style to the improvised "court house"-which was only a simple log cabin-by way of the river. Their canoe was a large one, and to all human appearances seemed to be well manned. Besides the men in it, it contained a stock of provisions, a lot of blankets, some cooking utensils, and a keg of whisky. They had not gone very far down the river before they found the boat was getting very unsteady. The fault, however, evidently was not in the roughness of the river, but rather in the extracted contents of that keg of whisky. The "boys," as men often called themselves in those early times, had all got sort of "wabbly," and the consequence was the canoe was upset, and they were all spilled out into the river. The honorable Court, it is said, made good time for the nearest shore. James M. Ray, as he could not swim, stuck to the canoe until he was rescued, while one "J. K. Leming struck out like a runaway steamboat," after the half-sinking and half-floating keg, as he well knew that none of the party I would dare be so uncharitable as to blame their misfortunes upon it. The clerk of the court had his official docket along with him, and we are able to affirm, as we have the book now before us, that its unceremonious immersion in "the classic waters of White River," gives still good and sufficient evidence of its Christian character.

For a while this judicial mishap looked like a serious affair, but by prompt effort everything was brought to shore, the canoe righted up and baled out, and they were ready again to proceed on their journey. A witness along, by the name of Foster, who was very bad off with the rheumatism, when he found him

self head over ears in the water, was terribly frightened lest the exposure should prove his death-of course he had to swim or drown, and Judge Colburn says, "it was rich to see him lash the water into a foam as he paddled ashore, dog-fashion." From that day, however, he discovered that his fright and immersion had scared the rheumatism from his joints, so that in the future he could stand as straight as any other man, as the Judge says, "save when he got tight."

The whole party of course was refreshed with this little episode, and when everything had been reorganized, they started again on down the river, wiser and perhaps more sober than otherwise. Arriving at the court house, viz., the cabin of Mr. William Conner, the court was opened in due and legal form. The minutes of this court, which we have on our table, we see were kept in a style which reflects well on the clerical abilities and experience of the clerk, General John D. Stephenson, and shows that each officer had received his commission from the Governor, and that the court was fully prepared for all legal business.

There were only two or three cases brought before this Court during its session of two days, and these were only of minor importance. One of them was for selling liquor without license. Of course the fellow was properly fined.

We notice that the jurors got seventy-five cents per day, and the associate judges two dollars. The Prosecuting Attorney was allowed $20.00 for the term.

At a subsequent court held at this same log cabin, Governor Jennings visited it on an electioneering tour. He was a candidate for Congress, and finding the Grand Jury out on a log, he sent off and got a two gallon jug full of whisky, which was drank by the crowd. It is scarcely necessary to say that the Governor got all their votes, and was elected.

Among the distinguished citizens of this early period in the