Union City Times-Gazette, Tuesday, May 9, 1939 Family recollections of Randolph County published in this newspaper by Charles F. Hinshaw. I have been requested to write a brief account-- brief because little accurate data can be found -- of the first, so far as I can learn, house in the north half of the county. The house, that of my great-grandparents, Zachary Hiatt and Annie Coffin Hiatt, daughter of William and Elizabeth Duncan Hiatt Coffin, was located one mile east and a half-mile south of what is now our courthouse square. Zachary Hiatt with his wife and their children, Moses, Joseph, Sarah, Millicent, Keziah, Mary and Hepsa, who was my mother's mother, left southern Virginia in 1813, coming to Richmond, Indiana Territory. Two years later the family moved on northward and selected the site and built their home on what is now known as the Vernie Cox farm, occupied by his son, Hubert Cox. [The article shows a picture of the author taken in front of the cabin in 1903 or 1904. It later tumbled down in about 1907.] There was no stairway on the inside but in all probability access was gained to the loft from the outside by means of a ladder reaching to a little window in the west gable. Think of parents and seven living in a little house measuring not more than 20 by 24 feet. We have passed far from that way of living whether for better or worse. All cooking, of course, had to be done on the hearth or over the fire in the big fireplace which also heated the cabin. Not many incidents can now be related and verified of this first settler's family. It is known, however, that one son-in-law, Sylvanus Knight, husband of Keziah Hiatt, was a gunsmith along with other trades such as loom making and the construction of spinning wheels. My mother, daughter of Hepsa Hiatt by her husband, John Cox, son of one of the second settlers in this section, used to tell me of learning to shoot a rifle which Uncle Sylvanus had changed from a flintlock to a caplock. The cap and hammer were on the under side of the barrel. Because the hammer was inconvenient and the caps sometimes dropped off this type of gun was soon discontinued, I am told, and I think rightly, that one of these rifles is now in the museum of the McKinley school, bearing the name of Moses Hiatt, and I know it must have been made or altered by his brother-in-law, Knight, in his shop which stood a few rods south of the present school site. My mother used for many years a loom and a spinning wheel made by her uncle in that shop. The machines were extremely heavy but were exceptionally well made. I still have the spinning wheel but the loom was sold many years ago. Another fact about this family that I have hesitated to put into print until I could find further verification is this: Joseph Hiatt, one of the sons of the first settler, obtained a supply of silk worm eggs, hatched and cared for them in a building made for the purpose and with the help of his sister Mary, reeled, spun, colored and wove the silk thus produced into a bed-sized coverlet and perhaps other things. I know that most persons who read this story about the silk will be skeptical, but wait a minute. I have in my possession a piece of this coverlet, five inches square, given to me nearly 50 years ago by Mary Hiatt herself, my great-aunt, with the story from her own lips as to how it was produced. As I was only a boy at the time I have forgotten the details. I have a letter from the Indiana state librarian giving an account of a shipment of mulberry trees into Indiana about 1830 from New York state, also that a Mrs. Timmons of Union county, Indiana, had produced silk to the value of $300. Doubtless Aunt Mary told me where they obtained the eggs but I have forgotten. However, I have this theory: The wife of Joseph Hiatt was a native of Union county and it is not improbable that Joseph got his first eggs from Mrs. Timmons or someone associated with her. There was wild speculation in silk culture in the United States for a time, our histories tell us, but the bubble soon burst. Mulberry trees which between 1830 and 1840 sold for from two to five dollars apiece dropped to a cent each and millions of dollars were lost by investors. The time is lamentably near when we will have no first-hand facts on the manner of life and customs of our early settlers. Just what freak choice led Zachary Hiatt to drive on north through the unbroken forest 15 miles past the few houses then in the southeast part of Randolph and the north end of Wayne counties can never be known to us. And I presume that until now no one but myself knew anything about the bubble of silkworm culture having reached into this part of the state. My other maternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Cox, settled with his parents, three brothers and one sister two miles northeast of the Hiatt home in 1817 at which time a cabin was standing near the present site of Winchester. A simple desire to place these facts of early history in print for the perusal and information of others interested is my only motive for writing these lines.

I loved reading about your family !!!!! Thanks a bunch ! June ----- Original Message ----- From: "Billy J. Baker" <billybak@erols.com> To: <INRANDOL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 11:00 AM Subject: [INRANDOL] An Early Randolph Co. Memoir > Union City Times-Gazette, Tuesday, May 9, 1939 > > Family recollections of Randolph County published in this newspaper by > Charles F. Hinshaw. > > I have been requested to write a brief account-- brief because little > accurate data can be found -- of the first, so far as I can learn, house > in the north half of the county. > The house, that of my great-grandparents, Zachary Hiatt and Annie > Coffin Hiatt, daughter of William and Elizabeth Duncan Hiatt Coffin, was > located one mile east and a half-mile south of what is now our > courthouse square. > Zachary Hiatt with his wife and their children, Moses, Joseph, Sarah, > Millicent, Keziah, Mary and Hepsa, who was my mother's mother, left > southern Virginia in 1813, coming to Richmond, Indiana Territory. Two > years later the family moved on northward and selected the site and > built their home on what is now known as the Vernie Cox farm, occupied > by his son, Hubert Cox. > [The article shows a picture of the author taken in front of the cabin > in 1903 or 1904. It later tumbled down in about 1907.] There was no > stairway on the inside but in all probability access was gained to the > loft from the outside by means of a ladder reaching to a little window > in the west gable. > Think of parents and seven living in a little house measuring not more > than 20 by 24 feet. We have passed far from that way of living whether > for better or worse. All cooking, of course, had to be done on the > hearth or over the fire in the big fireplace which also heated the cabin. > Not many incidents can now be related and verified of this first > settler's family. It is known, however, that one son-in-law, Sylvanus > Knight, husband of Keziah Hiatt, was a gunsmith along with other trades > such as loom making and the construction of spinning wheels. > My mother, daughter of Hepsa Hiatt by her husband, John Cox, son of > one of the second settlers in this section, used to tell me of learning > to shoot a rifle which Uncle Sylvanus had changed from a flintlock to a > caplock. The cap and hammer were on the under side of the barrel. > Because the hammer was inconvenient and the caps sometimes dropped off > this type of gun was soon discontinued, I am told, and I think rightly, > that one of these rifles is now in the museum of the McKinley school, > bearing the name of Moses Hiatt, and I know it must have been made or > altered by his brother-in-law, Knight, in his shop which stood a few > rods south of the present school site. My mother used for many years a > loom and a spinning wheel made by her uncle in that shop. The machines > were extremely heavy but were exceptionally well made. I still have the > spinning wheel but the loom was sold many years ago. > Another fact about this family that I have hesitated to put into print > until I could find further verification is this: Joseph Hiatt, one of > the sons of the first settler, obtained a supply of silk worm eggs, > hatched and cared for them in a building made for the purpose and with > the help of his sister Mary, reeled, spun, colored and wove the silk > thus produced into a bed-sized coverlet and perhaps other things. I > know that most persons who read this story about the silk will be > skeptical, but wait a minute. I have in my possession a piece of this > coverlet, five inches square, given to me nearly 50 years ago by Mary > Hiatt herself, my great-aunt, with the story from her own lips as to how > it was produced. As I was only a boy at the time I have forgotten the > details. > I have a letter from the Indiana state librarian giving an account of > a shipment of mulberry trees into Indiana about 1830 from New York > state, also that a Mrs. Timmons of Union county, Indiana, had produced > silk to the value of $300. Doubtless Aunt Mary told me where they > obtained the eggs but I have forgotten. However, I have this theory: > The wife of Joseph Hiatt was a native of Union county and it is not > improbable that Joseph got his first eggs from Mrs. Timmons or someone > associated with her. > There was wild speculation in silk culture in the United States for a > time, our histories tell us, but the bubble soon burst. Mulberry trees > which between 1830 and 1840 sold for from two to five dollars apiece > dropped to a cent each and millions of dollars were lost by investors. > The time is lamentably near when we will have no first-hand facts on > the manner of life and customs of our early settlers. Just what freak > choice led Zachary Hiatt to drive on north through the unbroken forest > 15 miles past the few houses then in the southeast part of Randolph and > the north end of Wayne counties can never be known to us. And I presume > that until now no one but myself knew anything about the bubble of > silkworm culture having reached into this part of the state. > My other maternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Cox, settled with his > parents, three brothers and one sister two miles northeast of the Hiatt > home in 1817 at which time a cabin was standing near the present site of > Winchester. > A simple desire to place these facts of early history in print for the > perusal and information of others interested is my only motive for > writing these lines. > > > > ==== INRANDOL Mailing List ==== > Would anyone like to submit a phrase or thought for the day for the tagline, send an Email to Gina Richardson richardson69@comcast.net > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > >