by George A. Nye
Palestine, eight or nine miles southwest of Warsaw, has been a
beloved community in our county for 101 years. It was surveyed
on the banks of Trumble's creek in April, 1837, by George Bumgardner.
The plat of the village was filed May 3, 1837, by Islam Summy,
the proprietor. The plat was notarized by G. W. A. Royse, who
was a justice of the peace at that time. Mr. Royse was the father
of our first citizen Judge L. W. Royse. the creek is now known
as Trimble creek. It flows northwestward from Palestine lake and
enters the Tippecanoe river. The plat of Palestine originally
contained 96 lots but in 1879 some of the lots were vacated. The
north and south streets are Mill street, Miami street, and Columbus
street. The others are 1st, 2nd, etc. The location of Palestine
was, of course, determined by the mill site. There is fall enough
in the creek to maintain a head of water sufficient for running
the grist mill most of the year. It was founded when steam engines
were very scarce in this new country and when there was a necessity
for grist mills to which the early settlers could take their grain
and return home with flour and feed for stock. There were other
such mills in the county at this time at Oswego and Monoquet.
The first grist mill at Palestine was built by Islam Summy father
of the late Mel Summy and grandfather of ex-Surveyor Paul Summy.
The name of Islam Summy appears on the old assessment rolls of
1837 compiled by Henry Felkner, the assessor.
Decline Started in 1882
The heyday of Palestine was before the year 1882 when the Nickel
Plate railroad went through south of the village a mile or so
and the town of Burket came into existence. The early 80's marked
the beginning of the decline of the village as a trading center.
In the early 90's some of the frame store buildings were still
standing on the west side of the main street. They have long since
disappeared and for years only one store has been located there
and it is on the east side of the street. During the 60's and
70's the village was a live place where there were grocery stores,
drug stores, a saloon, a blacksmith shop, a doctor's office and
a postoffice. During these days means of communication and travel
were quite primitive so that a trip into Palestine on horseback
or in the buggy took as much time as a trip would now take if
the part went to the county seat.
Prominent Family Names
Some of the older generation of landowners who owned land around
the village of Paletine in 1866 are shown on a map, possessed
by the writer, dated 1866. Some of them were W. Gochenour, J.
Andrick, L. Andrick, and R. Andrick, M. A. Calkins, A. Philpott,
J. H. Mayers, J. Rupe, J. Everly and J. Hastings, all of whom
lived northeast and east of the village. To the northwest lived
S. Shirey, J. Romine, S. Vandermark, E. Clark, L. L. Latimore,
J. M. Jacobs, J. Borton, B. Borton, And A. Melton. To the south
and west lived C. Sarber, D. Williams, S. Vandermark, J. Hartman,
Porter & Blackmore, W. E. Sarber, H. Milburn, J. Kibler, A.
Messersmith and A. Warren. To the Southeast lived D. Williams,
A. Ault, J. I Best, H. Sewell, W. Magner, M. Hatfield, H. Bowser,
and E. Rupe. These are the names appearing on the map. Some of
them may have been absent landlords and lived elsewhere. The 160
acres on which the town of Burket has since been built was then
owned by E. Burket and S. A. Byers. Just west of the present site
of Burket, J. Weirick owned 160 acres. This map shows a steam
sawmill near the southwest corner of the village of Palestine
where B. Davis and D. Hubler owned a small tract of land. It appears
that the grist mill site at this time was owned by the heirs of
J. H. Mayers. A cemetery was northwest of the mill./ An old road
is shown angling to the south and west leaving the southwest corner
of the village. It came out to the north and south road at school
No. 6 which is now just south of Burket a half mile. Kiblers,
Messersmiths, McSherrys and Millers lived along this road. On
the road east to the Devil's backbone a Baptist church is shown
on the farm of Mr. Gochenour, and a half mile east of it at the
crossroads is shown school No. 15. About two miles west and a
little north of the village is shown school No. 9 on the corner
of Mr. Barton's land. Tabor & Ewing who were Indian traders
owned two sections of land west and north of this school.
N. Henderson, Millright
Thirteen years later in 1879 a very complete atlas of the county
was published. The village of Palestine at that time was surrounded
by some of the most prosperous farmers of the county. The Gochenours,
the Andricks, the Rupes, Shivelys, Ebys and Hendersons were north
and east. N. Hendrson was then running the mill. to the north
and west were the farms of J. Latta, S. Shirey, G. Cook, W. Keller,
T. Holman, W. H. R. Kay, A. & E. Hatfield, J. Galloway and
R. Huffer. To the south and west lived S. Vandermark, S. Lattimore,
H. B. Dunnuck and G. R. Stillwell. To the south and east of the
village lived W. H. Loehr, D. Shutt, T. Davenport, J. Brunner,
J. T. Alt, A. E. Mayer, R. Foreman, and B. D. Kinsey. The present
site of Burket was owned then by E. Burket and S. A. Williamson
owned the 160 acres south of this. A. U. B. church and School
N. 6 were just one-half mile south of the future site of Burket.
Mill Built in 1838
From this atlas (Kingman Bros. Standard Atlas of Kosciusko County
Indiana, 1879) we find that the first mill in Harrison township
was the one at Palestine built by Islam Summy in 1838. It was
a mill for grinding grain and also for sawing wood. Though very
primitive, being a burr mill, it did a great service for this
community. It further says that Daniel Underhill in 1836 had the
first general merchandise store at Palestine in a log cabin. The
first postoffice in the township was at the home of James Wooden
but during the early part of Van Buren's administration (1836-1840)
it was moved to the village of Palestine and Islam Summy was appointed
postmaster. The earliest settlers in and around Palestine were
James Wooden, Andrew Sell, Thomas Romine, Daniel and John Underhill,
Thomas Reed, Joseph Shively, William Blue, Islam Summy, and Christian
Sarber. These all came between 1834 and 1836. The first marriage
in the township was April 29, 1840, when "Billy" Williams,
later a famous politician, married Miss Eliza Jane Douglas. During
the years 1856 and 1857 the Methodist church building was built
at Palestine. It was dedicated in 1859 by Rev. Jacob Colclazer
who at one time was minister at Warsaw. The church trustees then
were A. E. Mayer, William Sarber, Elijah Baker, John Fresh and
William Daugherty. Prior to the building of the church building
the congregation had their services in a blacksmith shop.
Thriving Village in 1870's
It would be interesting to talk to an oldtimer who as a boy played
on the main streets of Palestine during the 70's. At that time
Ezra Uplinger had a general merchandise store there and sold liquors.
The selling of wines and spirituous liquors in general stores
was then common over the county. Adam Horn had a drug and grocery
store. These were the days of real drug stores when a doctor could
find there such medicines as he needed. Henderson and Ward were
running the grist mill at this time. J. W. Heffley and F. M. Pearman
were two local physicians. These were subject to a hard life during
the winter months. Many a person in need of immediate medical
attention was forced to wait until some member of the family could
ride into town for the doctor.
Dr. Pearman, Postmaster
Dr. F. M. Pearman had two daughters, one of whom we know as Mrs.
Ed Meyers and the other as Mrs. Hugh Kingery. He later moved to
Warsaw and lived in the present Dillingham property on North Buffalo
street. He was postmaster at Palestine in 1879 under President
Hayes. Palestine was then on a star route out of Warsaw. A hack
went through to Palestine and Beaver Dam daily from the Weirick
House. In 1879 George M. Weirick was running a boot and shoe store
at Palestine. He was borthered with a burglar who several times
robbed his store. To put a stop t this he laid in wait one night
and when the robber showed up in his store that night Weirick
opened fire on him and the robber was killed. Weirick had a son
at the village who, though rather rough in his early days was
later converted to Christianity and became a successful evangelist.
As an elderly man George Weirick mended shoes in a shop in Warsaw.
His shop in 1898 was in the basement, some doors east of the Haymond
corner on Center street. Later he went to Mishawaka. He was a
very kind old gentleman with whom the writer has had many a chat
while getting his shoes half-soled.
Smaller Peaceful Village
While the history of Palestine since the 90's is a story not filled
with romance of the period just after the Civil War, yet it is
a story of a peaceful village on the shores of Trimble creek and
Palestine lake. People have moved there to live in quietness far
removed from the smoke and noise of the city. It will always be
a very pleant place to live and with our good pavements and automobiles
today a person can live away from the city and yet be home in
a short time after his work is over. For years the village school
children have been hauled to Burket. The schoolhouse used to be
opposite the Methodist church. Some of the teachers were Sam McDaniels,
Charlie Hudson, Mr. McCullough, Tom Loehr and his sisters, and
Henry Bradley. To write a complete story of the village would
be an interesting task necessitating a great deal of communication
with such old-timers as John Wainwright, Elmer Vandermark, Mr.
Sarber, the present "Mayor of Palestine," and members
of the Black family, the Fisher family, and the Henderson families,
all of whom were prominent there in early times.
In 1902 John Sloan ran the grist mill. He and his good family
lived in a large house on the main street. Flour was then hauled
to Warsaw, Burket, Mentone and other towns. The pavement was built
through the village as the Turner Road about 1926 when a great
deal of road building was being done by the county with Stanley
Boggs as surveyor.
On First Paved Road
The Vandermark road beginning at the west edge of the village
and running into Mentone was one of the first hard-surface roads
in the county. It was built when Paul Summy was county surveyor
about 1917. Elmer Vandemark was sponsor of the road. He was the
first man in the county to deliver mail in an automobile. For
several years he directed a fine band at Palestine which was so
accomplished that it was often invited away from home. During
some of Warsaw's street fairs the Palestine band furnished the
music. It was composed of both men and women.
Villages Lack Railroads.
It might be said that Palestine is only one of the several communities
which had its future changed by railroads coming through the county
years ago. Others were Kinsey, Monoquet, Oswego, Clunette, Millwood,
Beaver Dam, Orion, Charlottesville, Wooster, Packerton and Hepton.
In the early days of our settlements the Tippecanoe river was
a factor to be considered for steam power had not come into general
use. When it did in the 50's the mills along the river were no
longer patronized so well. The coming of the Pennsylvania railroad
in 1856 sounded the knell of such villages as Monoquet and Oswego.
The coming of the Nickel Plate railroad in the early 80's made
the towns of Sidney, Claypool, Burket and Mentone and undermined
Kinsey, Palestine, Dodgertown, and Beaver Dam as trade centers.
Larger Centers Get Trade
With continued progress and good roads the smaller villages have
suffered almost a complete loss of trade except those which are
conveniently located near a lake resort. The town of Charlottesville
was actually laid out as a trafficking center on the Tippecanoe
river in Harrison township but never materialized. The consolidation
of schools beginning about 1900 under the leadership of Edison
B. Sarber, detracted from the smaller villages as social centers.
The rural churches have had a difficult time to keep up their
membership. And so taking the situation all in all the so-called
progress of the last fifty years has drained the small villages
of their one-time importance. Nevertheless every village in the
county has an interesting history which if written by some old-timer
who knew the facts first-hand would be very fascinating to this
later generation which knows little or nothing about the perils,
hardships, and trials that confronted the early pioneers. When
this is written the story of Palestine will be one of the most
romantic and picturesque of all those pertaining in this county.
The picturesque Palestine mill is now operated by Edward Shirey
using water power. The narrow Palestine bridge, scene of many
bad auto accidents will some day give way to a wider and less
hazardous structure.
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