OAKWOOD TOWNSHIP
pg. 834

[pg. 610]

[pg. 611]

[pg. 612]

[pg. 613]

[pg. 614]

[pg. 615]

[pg. 616]

[pg. 617]

[pg. 618]

[pg. 619]

[pg. 620]
of the family as their head, was terrible to endure.  The descent from unmixed joy and hilarity into the grief which surrounds death, was shocking, if not tragic.
     Soon after the railroad was in operation, and Catlin had begun to grow into a place of note, the people concluded to have an "old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration."  It was one of Henry Jones'  favorite desires to show these Yankees how they would celebrate such an occasion in England, if they had ever been so fortunate as to have such an affair there.  He had been brought up under the "lion and the unicorn," and had never been accustomed to see a "Fourth of July," and had held to the traditions of his fathers, had "St. George was a bigger man than ever fourth of July was."  But, on coming to America, he changed his mind, and became a thorough Yankee.  To have the biggest celebration ever seen in the Wabash Valley was what the people of Catlin proposed, and preparations were made accordingly.  Mr. Jones told them to go into his herd and slaughter all the fat steers they wanted.  "If a dozen won't do 'em, take a hun'erd," and the earnest Jonathan; "give 'em enough to eat, or they can't be 'apply."  He was unanimously chosen president of the day.  The preparations went forward on the grandest scale.  Twenty stalwart men were sent out, who spent a week soliciting provisions.  Wagon trains were pressed into service to bring in of the abundance of the land.  No such sight was ever seen until the commissary trains of the grand army of the Union took up the line of march into the sacred soil of Virginia.  The best band of Indiana was engaged, and Daniel Voorhees was sent for, but previous engagements prevented his attendance, and H. *W. Beckwith came in his stead.  The preparations which had been going on for weeks finally ushered in the glorious day.  A whole flock of eagles could not have added to the patriotic enthusiasm of the occasion.  Crowds of people came in from all the surrounding country, and father Jones was "'appy."  Catlin had not as yet been captured by the Good Templars, and the boys did not forget to drink bumpers to the old Englishman who had been converted into a live Yankee.  The fund of provisions was ample, and the baskets full of fragments which they took up were never counted, but there was enough to keep Jones' hogs for weeks, after having given away to all the poor they could find.  Catlin can be depended on when her citizens get aroused.
     Below is a list of the township officers elected in Catlin since it was set off as a separate township in 1858:
[621]

RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS.

[pg. 622]

[pg. 623
 

COAL.

[pg. 624]

CATLIN VILLAGE.

[PICTURE OF ALEXANDER POLLOCK]

[pg. 625]

[pg. 626]

INSTITUTIONS.

[pg. 627]

[pg. 628]

VILLAGE ORGANIZATION.

BIOGRAPHICAL
(See Biographical Index)

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* This was originally written as Dan Beckwith.  It has been corrected to H. W. Beckwith per note of Errata in this book.