News of January 1880

The year 1880 was to be an eventful one. The census of the United States would be taken, a new President elected, and it was a leap year. Boys had to watch out! There were 175 marriages in 1879 in Lawrence County. Once the women could propose how many more would there be in 1880?

The county officials at the beginning of  January 1880 were William Jones as the Judge; Thomas H Huffman as the State’s Attorney: B L Cunningham as the Circuit Clerk; A Curry as the deputy, James K Dickirson as the County Clerk; H A Clubb as the deputy; Issac Potts as the County Judge; A I Judy as the Master in Chancery; John P Scott as the Sheriff. Edmund Ryan as the Deputy Sheriff; W P Cox as the Supt of Schools; Jas W Whittaker as the County Treasurer; Jesse B Benefiel as the County Surveyor; and Gabriel Graffham as the Coroner.

The Board of Supervisors were Wm Organ, Allison; Wm Miles, Bond; G Abernathy, Bridgeport; T M Stevens, Christy; Jacob Potts, Denison; N Rawlings, Lawrence; Elijah George, Lukin; H M Wagner, Petty; and Thos Cecil, Russell. Clem Bouya was elected village trustee and John H Stilley was elected town constable in the St Francisville election.

The Lawrence County Press was under new management with Mr. E E Jones taking the place of Mr. Clippinger who also retired as co-editor of the Sumner Press.  Special trains filled with cotton passed over the county’s railroads bound for the Boston market. The editor of the Robinson paper was impressed by Lawrenceville’s three railroads, gaslights, and hook and ladder companies according to the Lawrenceville editor.

The newspaper was full of news about a political “scandal” concerning the legality of the petit jury.  The law required that 200 names be placed in the box to be selected but no one knew if the actual count was correct. There was a lot of mudslinging between the political parties about this issue.

Crime continued: “The village of Chauncey was the scene of a serious difficulty between Wm Combs and George D Barnes.  They quarreled and Combs declared his determination to whip Barnes.  Barnes evidently thought he would do it.  Barnes pulled out a pistol from his pocket and before Combs got to him, he shot him, bringing Combs to a standstill.”  The reporter said that the parties were good citizens, but their blood got hot, and the result was a shooting affray.  

Businesses in Lawrenceville at the start of 1880 increased:

Edward Tract-- General merchandise

T C Watts & Co--   Sold hardware

WW Parish & Co--  Opened in 1879 selling agricultural implements

Meadows and Meadows--   purchased rags, scrap iron etc.

A E Barnet Lumber--   Sold 750,000 board feet a year. A new mill was being completed at a cost of $4000 that employed 40 men and a dozen teams.

Dalton and Lampost-- Pine and Poplar lumber yard for house builders

T W Roberts-- Dry Good merchant “Dode knows calicoes”

Barnes & Abernathy-- Successor to S P Barton in Dry Goods

Edward Schmalhausen--   Druggist

Warner Bros sold shawls, wool ones and brocade ones for $3.75 each plus special woven all wool shawls 63 x 63 inches for $2.25.  Skirts sold from 50 cents to one dollar, cloaks $3.50 to $8.50 and stocking yarn at low prices. Other merchants advertised 5 pounds of coffee for $1.00; a dollar would also purchase 11 pounds of white sugar. Men’s Ready-made clothing could be purchased at Barnes and Abernathy.

A boom in construction of new houses and business buildings in the town of Lawrenceville had occurred in 1979:  Dr G Smith $2500, A G Wineman $2000, S P Barton $1000, J K Dickirson $500,Logan Harman $400, John Gornell $300, Irwin Gosnett $200, William Walton $400, Dalton & Lamport warehouse $300 and lumber office $300, W H Lathrop marble shop $150, Joseph White wagon shop $100, Dr C M Carter $150, Mrs. Joseph Musgrave $100, Mrs. Caroline Ryan $200, Newton Benefield $100, Edward Tracy $150, Mrs. Ellen Watts $200, Mrs. Margaret Buchanan $100, Justus Struble $150, Wm J Crews $150, C Cole mill works $150, Dr W Garrard $100, Lawrence County fairgrounds $160, B L Cunningham $150, Rural Republican $300

Poverty still existed: The number of inmates at the poor farm was seventeen at the beginning of 1880.  As with every other year, sealed bids were taken for the management of the poor farm.  Necessary houses, bed and bedding, clothing, table and heating stoves were to be furnished by the county for use by the paupers.  The bidder was to furnish other necessary articles such as food and bury the dead. Bids for medicine, one visit each week and additional visits as needed, were also to be accepted from physicians.

Love still didn’t last: Filed for divorce: Malinda Fuller vs William R Fuller, and Francis S Herin vs Sidney A Herin

The churches continued to offer church suppers to raise funds for worthy projects: The Sunday Schools had a “mush and milk” supper at the Lawrenceville Presbyterian building New Year’s Eve and netted fifty dollars.

“Denison, although in a remote part of the county,” according to the local correspondent, “had their good spells occasionally and Christmas Eve was surely one of the good times at the Pisgah church. Not since the fall of manna to the Israelites has there been so much food and so cheap that even the poorest could come and eat. It was a Christmas supper that would do the subject injustice.  There were not less than 50 cubic feet of pies, 50 feet of the choicest cakes, the same of turkey and chicken, to say nothing of the many thousand yards of oysters, soup and bushels of the mollusks either dead or alive.  The display of cakes reminded the writer of a state fair, where the largest premiums were paid for the finest cakes.  It seemed that each contributor tried to out do all the others. Owing to the inclemency of the weather and roughness of the roads, there was not as great a turnout as had been expected. But by 8 o’clock the aisles were crowded to excess and in one corner Baldwin was calling out “Oysters raw or cooked to suit, only twenty cents.” Admittance tickets were ten cents and net proceeds were $150.

The Trustees of the Presbyterian church of Bridgeport arranged to give a public supper at O’Donnell’s Hall in Bridgeport on Thursday January 22, 1880. Admission for gentlemen was to be 50 cents, ladies 25 cents. The net proceeds were to be applied for fencing a new cemetery. 

General gossip was still published: Mrs. John McClary of Lawrence County won the doll offered by Wm Busse, the Vincennes confectioner in a Christmas drawing. The favorite song of 1879 was “Darling I Am Growing Old.”  Twenty- four children of St Francisville Catholic church took their first communion. Samuel McCleave still lived in California and was doing well. He was one of the first who went across the plains in 1849 during the gold rush. In Bridgeport, Ed Abernathy moved into his new residence south of the railroad.

Warnings were given: Tickets to the lecture Saturday evening were to admit a man and his wife-- his own wife not some other fellow’s.  “Back seats were reserved for special mourners in case said husband got killed by the other fellow.”  The sign on the North bridge in Lawrenceville said there would be a fine of ten dollars to anyone who drove faster than a walk over this bridge.  “The water beyond is anywhere from three to seven feet deep and we don’t want to pull you out.”

Prostitution still offended the general population: “On the train between Vincennes and Lawrenceville was a scene of disgraceful revelry.  Two young men of Lawrenceville boarded the train in Vincennes having in their charge two of the most brazen-faced prostitutes in the city.  The quartet ensconced themselves in the well -filled ladies coach and the offensive language the women indulged in was most disgusting.  Every word spoken was distinctly heard above the roar of the train.  The conductor did not seem to know what was going on, or if he did, he made no effort to put a stop to it.  The girls got off at Lawrenceville and were back in Vincennes walking the street as usual the following day.”

Education was still on the public’s mind. “Mr. Cunningham advocated for a set of encyclopedias for the Lawrenceville school. The following textbooks were introduced in the town’s public school: Lorines’s Algebra, Steels’ Physiologies, Redpath’s Histories and the Appleton series of readers.”

And this is for our good friend Bill Richardson: “A lady had expressed her indignation to another lady that editors never go to Heaven. The 1880 newspaper reporter responded that he thought even country people knew that journalists never went anywhere. They don’t get the chance.  They just sit up nights thinking how to do good until the tops of their heads wear holes through their hair.”  Is that right Bill?