SHELBYVILLE NEWS
Saturday March 13, 1948
Page 5
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YOUR TOWN—SAINT PAUL
By Hortense Montgomery
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We hope Decatur County won’t mind if we include all of St. Paul in our
sketch of Shelby county villages. The largest part we believe is in Decatur
county but we’ll discuss the whole village while acknowledging that Decatur
holds the upper hand.
St. Paul is most strategically situated; in the first place Flat Rock River
at that point has always been a natural source of power for power machinery.
It
was this that attracted the earliest settlers, the first of whom was Jonathan
Paul who came here in 1821 and took out land claims, a deed for which was on
parchment paper and signed by President Monroe, is now in the possession of his
great-granddaughter, Mrs. Nellie Floyd Mueller. Her grandfather
John
P. Paul platted the first division of the village in March of 1854; this
consisted of nine blocks along the tracks of the I.C. and L. railroad.
For a number of years the village was known as Paul Town and the oldest
residents continued to call it that. Often have we heard our grandparents speak
of going to ‘Paul Town,’ of course the name in all its phases was for Mr.
Paul. He built the first mill here and not long after that other pioneers began
to arrive and it was not long until the wheels of a grist mill, a saw mille and
a woolen mill began to turn.
Along with this story should be told the story of
Arthur Major who
came from Ireland in 1820 and in 1823 bought 1600 acres of land about a mile
southwest of St. Paul along Flat Rock and established a settlement known as
Morven Place. While Mr. Wilson was the first to start a store in the county, Mr.
Major was the first to take out a merchant’s license. A post office was
established and mail was delivered here. This place and the St. Paul folks must
have had quite a bit of visiting back and forth and some exchange of business
transactions. St. Paul had the railroad and Morven Place went out of existence;
only a cemetery on the hill marks the pioneer beginnings.
Physicians of the earlier days of the village who left their mark on the town
were Dr. R. J. DePew, who traveled the old way of horse-back and
saddlebags, Dr. F. M. Howard and Dr. D.J. Ballard.
Mrs. DePew memorialized
her husband with the DePew Fountain in University Park, Indianapolis. Mrs.
Nellie Mueller’s sister became Mrs. Harry Ballard and his name occupied
a prominent place in American Art.
St. Paul had had a number of advantages; its timber lands were a wealth to
the pioneers; the surrounding farmlands are among the finest in the county; a
lime kiln has added wealth and industry; for years its stone quarries were
famous all over the country. Stone from these quarries were used in building the
new State House in Indianapolis and the Customs House in Cincinnati. These
quarries have been known as the Upper Quarries and were in charge of a Mr. Lowe,
the others as the Lower Quarries in charge of the J. L. Scanlons.
The
quarries have not been worked for a number of years except intermittently by
different companies, one the Shelby County Construction Co., under the
management of Mr. Clyde Yater.
In 1856 a new addition was added to the town, that part which lies west of
Shelby county. This was platted by John F. Stephens April 4, 1856 and
consisted of 100 lots. As it now stands the railroad runs through the town east
and west, and its main highway, cutting off from Road 29, and running south it’s
the boundary line between the two counties, Shelby and Decatur. Does this duel
situation make any inconviences of ill feeling? We think not for the village is
all one in its aim and welfare. The folks on the east deal with Decatur Courts,
those on the west with the Shelby Courts.
Gas was another source of natural wealth to this community; Mrs. Mueller’s
father, G. L. Floyd, was promoter of several wells and one is now operated
on Mrs. Mueller’s farm. Mr. Floyd was one of the community-minded citizens,
introducing or helping with public improvements. He was at one time a member of
the state legislature.
The village has, or has had from time to time nearly all the business
enterprises found in any town. Some years ago Orlando Hungerford and his
son Walter, started a bank there which operated successfully for several
years. When a second banking firm threatened to move in they sold out to this
firm for the Hungerfords felt sure the community would not support two banks.
This last bank failed soon afterward.
For many years one of the substantial business firms was that of
Edwin
Avery who carried on a combined furniture and undertaking business.
D. E.
Carmony, of Manilla now has a branch undertaking business there. Two new
business enterprises have recently been added to the town; one is a new building
for a locker storage managed by Bill Scott and the other a new restaurant
which has the name of serving fine foods and is known as "Ruth’s
Restaurant." For a number of years there has been a large canning factory
on the west side of the town; here are canned in their seasons, peas, corn and
pumpkin. This plant is under the management of the Stokley Foods Inc.
And while the quarries are not producing so much stone they are producing
something else; in the large excavations fish have been planted and Arthur
Brunner is doing a successful business. This too, is a recreation center for
the young people of St. Paul for it makes a fine swimming pool.
There have been two papers published in St. Paul in its days; the first was
edited and managed by J. W. Haymond and Co., the other known as the St.
Paul Register was published by J. W. Hankins.
St. Paul has a grade and high school and pupils on the Shelby county side may
be transferred to the St. Paul school if they wish and some do but two busses
carry pupils to the Waldron consolidated school and a number go there. Mrs.
Ralph Stewart whose husband teaches in our Shelbyville Junior High teaches
Home Economics and English at the St. Paul High. They have their home in
Shelbyville and Mrs. Stewart commutes to her school. Before her marriage she was
Miss Anna Belle Cuskaden and her native habitat was St. Paul; her father,
George Cuskaden was of the Noble Township Cuskadens of whom we have told
you, and was a classmate of ours at the old English School;.
St. Paul has a new water system, both for residential use and for a fire
department of which the folks are quite proud, which they have reason to be.
The
village is incorporated and has a town board and a town marshal, so watch your
step while driving through the village.
Two women’s clubs, a literary club and the "Friends of Music"
Club add to the cultural life of the town and the township Home Economics Club,
the Hobby Knobby Club draws from St. Paul a number of its members. The men have
a civic organization which promotes progressive and welfare advances for their
town and from what we have told you it must be a good working organization.
There are three churches in the village which look after the spiritual life
of the citizens, all awake to their duties; there are the Christians, the
Methodist and a small Catholic church which is one of the oldest Catholic
churches in the county.
NOTE — In our story about St. Paul we need to make a correction. The fish
pond owned by Mr. Arthur Brunner is not open to the public. But, Mr. and Mrs. Crenshaw
are a firm which has developed what is known as "The Triple Lake
Properties" these include fishing and boating and lodges for those who care to
make a vacation there, and will add greatly to the attractiveness of the town.
Contributed by Barb Huff
The Shelbyville Republican
Saturday Afternoon, February 17, 1912.
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TOWN OF 1,000 HAS NO SMITHS
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TELEGRAM RECEIVED AT COLUMBUS
FOR MRS. GEORGE SMITH,
OF ST. PAUL, THIS COUNTY, IS UNDELIVERABLE.
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A telegram was received at the Columbus telegraph office for Mrs. Geo. Smith, at St. Paul, Shelby county, informing her that Frank Smith had been killed by a traction car near Springfield, Ill.
An effort was made to deliver the wire by telephone from this city, but without success, as the one to whom the wire was addressed
could not be located in the neighborhood of St. Paul, and the strange part of it is that the postmaster and others there informed the telegraph manager that there were no Smiths living in St. Paul or the immediate neighborhood.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The Shelby Democrat
December 31, 1903
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Al Hildreth was in St. Paul on business Tuesday.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The Shelby Democrat
July 18, 1895
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Chas. Stevens, and family, of Connersville, visited relatives here the Fourth.
C. W. Neal, of Indianapolis, spent the Fourth with his mother, Mrs. Birchfield.
Miss Annie Laughery, of Edinburg, is here, the guest of Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Mason.
Jacob Feaster, of Brookfield, spent the Fourth with relatives in town and vicinity.
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Adams and daughter, of Columbus, are here the guests of relatives.
Mr. John Norval, wife and daughters, of near Brandywine, visited Mr. and Mrs. James Ray, Sunday.
L. D. Braden, editor and proprietor of the Greensburg Standard, transacted business here Saturday.
Messrs. H. W. Ballard and Fred Rodkey, of Indianapolis, spent the 4th with the former's parents, Dr. and Mrs. D. J. Ballard.
The following is a list of officers installed by Covenant Lodge No. 163, I.O.O.F., on Thursday evening, July 4th. John W. Jenkins, Noble grand; Fred Meltzer, Vice Grand; W. L. Ford, Recorking[sic] Secretary; Joseph Meltzer, Treasurer.
A pretty home wedding occurred at the residence of George W. Jenkins, on Wednesday evening July 3rd., at 7:30 o'clock, the contracting parties being Mr. Warren C. Phair, only son of Mrs. M. L. Phair, the popular proprietress of the Fair House, and Miss Sadie, second daughter of Mr. Jenkins. The ceremony was performed in the presence of the relatives and a few friends, by Rev. O. E. Evans, of St. Omer. On Thursday evening July 4th, Mrs. M. L. Phair gave a reception in honor of the event in the parlors of the hotel. There was about sixty five guests present. The rooms were artistically decorated with cut-flowers and ferns, and in the hall above stairs hidden by a bank of ferns and palms was an orchestra from which soft strains of music floated through the rooms. At 9:30 o'clock the guests repaired to the dining room, where refreshments were served, consisting of cream, cake, chocolate and other delicacies. At a late hour they all departed for their homes, loud in their praises of Mrs. Phair as an entertainer, and wishing the newly wedded pair many happy returns of their wedding day.
RESCUE.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming
The Shelby Democrat
June 9, 1885
St. Paul, Ind.
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Special Correspondence to the Democrat
Mrs. John Scanlan are visiting in Cincinnati today.
Gracie Debolt, little daughter of
Jeff Debold, is quite sick.
Mrs. James Ray is gaining steadily in
strength and will soon be able to be out.
Contributed by Linda Ellis
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The village of St. Paul, in Noble
township, is but a portion of a town located chiefly within Decatur county. The addition made in Shelby county was platted first by John F. Stephens, April 4, 1856. The platting comprised one hundred lots to the west of the original town plat in Decatur county. It is strictly speaking a Decatur county town and hence needs no treatment, historically, in this connection.
Chadwick's History of Shelby County, Indiana, by Edward H. Chadwick, B.A., assisted by well known local
talent, B.F. Bowen & Co, Publishers: Indianapolis,
IN, 1909, page 274.
Copied by Phyllis Miller Fleming
Please don't be discouraged by Mr. Chadwick's comment. Our library has quite a
bit of information on St Paul.
Other resources:
Centennial Sketches of the St Paul Neighborhood. Clyde J. Haymond, n.p., 1919.
History of St Paul, Indiana, for the Centennial Celebration. Bill Hurst, n.p., n.d.,
1952, with appendix added in 1972.
Brant and Fuller
Pictures of St Paul
Township Map
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