was condemned and the seat of government moved to Fowler.
A New England land speculator, Henry L. Ellsworth purchased nearly ninety thousand acres of Benton County. Other New Englanders followed suit, including Noah and Daniel Webster and members of Boston’s Cabot family. Ellsworth bequeathed most of his land to Yale University.
After the land speculators, the cattle barons moved in. Moses Fowler’s twenty-thousand-acre cattle farm was the home to one of the largest herds. His brother-in-law, Adams Earl, established America’s foundation herd of imported, purebred Herefords.
The cattle barons lent their names to many of the communities throughout the county: Fowler, Earl Park, Raub, Atkinson, Boswell, Chase, and Templeton.
The tiny settlement of Wadena produced a record number of baseball players in the early 1900s. Fred (Cy) Williams (1889–1974) twice led the National League in home runs. He was the first player in the majors to ever hit more than two hundred home runs. In 1923 he tied with Babe Ruth for the most home runs hit that season. His all-time batting average stands at .292.
Pitcher Otis Crandall (1887–1951) was christened “Doc” when Damon Runyan joked that he was “the physician of the pitching emergency.” Doc Crandall, considered the best relief pitcher of his era, had a .623 lifetime win percentage in the National and Federal leagues. Crandall’s two brothers played in the American Association and International leagues.
Perhaps the most famous son of Benton County was Dan Patch—a horse (1896–1916). The famed horse was born at Kelly’s Livery Stable in Oxford on Indiana 352, im-mediately south of Indiana 55. The white barn on the left is easily distinguished by the words “Dan Patch 1:55” spelled out on the green shingled roof. His first owner, Dan Mess-ner, was a local merchant. His trainer, John Wattles, was also a local man. During his career Dan Patch had two other owners: M.E. Sturgis of New York (1901–1902) and M.W. Savage of Minneapolis, Minnesota (1902–1916).
At four years old, Dan Patch began his legendary racing career. Until he stopped competitive racing in 1909, he won every race except two, in which he finished second. Because of lack of competition, Dan Patch raced in exhibitions against the clock, and in 1905 he set the world’s record for the mile with the time of one minute, fifty-five seconds—a record that stood for thirty-three years.
Although “Patch,” as he was fondly known, was a classic racing horse in terms of beauty and grace, the trotter seemed to have almost human characteristics. He was gentle, easy to handle, and was said to recognize friends and understand what was said to him. He always seemed willing to please and often played the showman to the crowds. He was as gentle as a Newfoundland dog.
After competing in the 1901 Grand Circuit, Dan Patch returned to Oxford on November 2, 1901, a day designated as Dan Patch Day that is still celebrated more than one hundred years later.
Dan Patch died in 1916, preceding his owner, Savage, in death by only one day.
The Ghost of Justus Cemetery
The clouds scurried across the night sky, at times hiding the pale moonlight. It was a windy, chilly, rainy night, not a good night for man or beast to venture out—a perfect night for ghosts.
It was the era of the steam engine, and a train traveling on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad stopped at the Oxford, Indiana, water tower located within view of the Justus Cemetery. As the crewmembers began taking on water above the whine of the wind, they heard distinctly a mournful moaning. Passengers hearing the sound strained their eyes into the darkness trying to learn from where and what this sound was coming.
Suddenly a figure in white was seen floating from the cemetery through the air toward the idle train. Its moans could be heard above the wind. The crewmembers and passengers watched, frozen with fright. Women began screaming. The crewmembers worked frantically to complete the task of taking on water. Suddenly without warning the specter retreated back to the cemetery, plunging headlong into an open grave.
The crewmembers were understandably frightened. Some even asked for transfers to daylight trains or better still, to any other train that did not have to pass through Oxford—and the Justus Cemetery.
Once again, a few nights later, the train made its customary and needed stop at the Oxford water tower. The crew had completed the task when the ghost appeared. The train began to get up a head of steam but was unable to move for several minutes, its wheels spinning on the track. The crewmembers became nearly hysterical when suddenly with a jerk the train began to roll free from whatever horror had held it tight in its grasp. Fear and panic consumed the crew, and with open defiance, the train’s crew refused to take the train into Oxford on its next run. Railroad officials were at a loss to know what to do and finally hired a detective.
After visiting Oxford and talking to some of the citizens, he was able to persuade a few to accompany him one night as he visited the cemetery. This was scary business he was proposing. As the small group waited and watched, they observed some of the young men of the community creep into the area just before the train arrived to take on water. One of them carried something white—a sheet. The detective left his hiding place, and the others followed as he approached the young men. The youthful pranksters admitted they were responsible for the ghost. They had attached a wire from the top of the water tower to the cemetery and were pulling a sheet, draped over a coat hanger, along this “track.” They also confessed that they had rubbed soap on the railroad tracks to make it difficult for the train to get traction once it had stopped. The pranksters were set free with a stern warning that if this ever happened again they would be arrested.
That ended the life of the ghost of Justus Cemetery—or did it? There were some among the train’s crew—those who had been frightened into near hysterics—who didn’t believe that it was a prank.
ELKHART COUNTY
Oliver Crane began platting Goshen, the county seat, in 1831. According to one local tradition, Crane chose to name the city after his hometown, Goshen, in Orange County, New York. However, another tradition states the land was rich and productive, like the biblical Goshen, and thus the city was named for the biblical land.
Goshen College, a private preparatory school, was founded in 1894 by the Mennonite Church and was originally called the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry, and the Arts. The institution moved to its present campus in 1903, where it became an accredited four-year liberal arts school and changed its name to Goshen College. Still owned by the Mennonite Church, Goshen College continues to expand; one of its newest additions is the John S. Umble Center for the Performing Arts. In 1980 Goshen became the first American undergraduate school to negotiate a fourteen-week educational exchange with a college in China.
Elkhart city, located on the south side of Elkhart River, was platted by Dr. Havilah Beardsley in 1832. Elkhart was incorporated as a town in 1858 and a city in 1875. Beardsley’s wife, Rachael Calhoun Beardsley, was said to have been a cousin to Vice President John Calhoun.
Until the railroad arrived in 1851, the city was an active river port, shipping
