The Cattle Industry of Benton County
By S H E ~ M A
N.NGEARY
In northwestern Indiana lies a gently undulating plain,
which, except for a few scattered groves, is almost devoid of
timber. This plain forms the eastern edge of the Grand
Prairie which forms the corn belt of the middle west. Benton
county, Indiana, lies wholly within this belt.
It is not our purpose to attempt a description of this
region in its primeval state, as there are many people living
today who knew it in its early beauty, and knew it better than
we can describe i t from information obtained from others;
but, for a vivid, forceful, and somewhat poetical description
of this interesting region, allow us to refer you to The Land
of the Potawatorni by Elmore Barce. Suffice it to say that,
even at that time, it was capable of supporting a considerable
population ; that then as well as now its products were abundant; but, that its products were of a kind to delight the heart
of primitive man, rather than to furnish the needs and luxuries of more enlightened people. Its vast stretches teemed
with game; its rivers abounded with fish; while its iwamps
and lakes harbored many fur-bearing animals.
It is interesting, and in the light of later events somewhat consoling, to know that the first white men who visited
the early inhabitants of this region, were not actuated wholly
by selfish interests, but sought to bring to this savage race a
knowledge of the uplifting influence of the story of the Christ.
Later came the trader to barter with the red man, and sad
to relate, to introduce some of the demoralizing influences of
so-called civilization which did so much toward his extermination; but finally, there came a class of men with keener
vision, a broader view, and the ability to realize the great
advantages of a development of the vast possibility and resources of the country.
At this present time, when our agricultural advisers are
urging the corn-belt farmer to give more attention to the
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Indiana Magazine of Historg
raising of live stock, it may not be inappropriate to hark back
to the time when live stock, or cattle raising, was the only
extensive industry within the boundary of what is now Benton county.
The first cattle men of Benton county were those who, instead of moving into the country to establish a home, would
collect a herd of cattle, drive them to the prairie for pasture
during the summer, then drive them east to market in the
fall.
It would be folly to attempt a complete history of this
movement, o r to give a full list of the names of men thus
engaged, but to allow a single instance to suffice: As early as
1824 (J. W. Whickcar: May I ask a question here, isn’t 1824
too early? Mr. Geary: That is the date given me, and taken
from the history of the Atkinson family. Mr. Whickcar: I
am certain that Mr. Atkinson was herding cattle in Eeliton
county before 1832, but I am of the opinion that that date
should be 1829. Mr. Burch: I too would favor the date of
1829, thinking 1824 too early. Mr. Geary: I have copied this
from the family history.) Mr. Thomas Atkinson, a !ad of
eighteen, was herding on these plains a drove of cattle belonging to his brother. For his services he received the princeiy
sum of $7.00 per month. In the fall he drove the herd east
to Pennsylvania, receiving for the service the equivalent of
one-half month’s pay, or $3.50. Mr. Atkinson said later: “I
walked that entire five hundred miles for three dollars and
fifty cents.” Mr. Atkinson’s range of territory that summer extended from the present site of Pine Village north t o
Beaver Lake, in what is now Newton county. Bir. Atkinson
being of Quaker descent and belief, easily made friends of the
Indians, and they in turn, to show their appreciation of his
friendship, would exercise great care when near his herd, not
to cause a stampede of his cattle. Mr. Atkinson returned
in 1848 to the scenes of his early experience, settling in the
southern part of Benton county, where, by industry, frugality
and perseverance he acquired a tract of land in Benton and
Warren counties, consisting of about 1300 acres. Here he
again engaged in the cattle industry, buying and selling. He
also took his place as a citi?;en, doing his part in any public
service necessary to the wellare of the community in which
he lived; he was one of the early county commissioners of
Benton county, and a t one time represented Benton and White
counties in the state legislature. His descendants, many of
whom live in the county, are highly respectable, honest, useful
citizens.
Among the many men, who, like Mr. Atkinson, bought,
fed and sold cattle by the hundreds and thousands were: The
Boswells, in the southwest part of the county, including Parish’s Grove; the Templetons and Stenibels in the south, the
Jennings in the southwest, Eastburn and Sheetz in the east
and northeast. This leaves the west and northwest part of
the county to the man, who in his day was probably the cattle
king of that part of Indiana lying west of the Wabash river,
Edward C. Sumner.
It may seem somewhat presumptuous in the writer to attempt a sketch of this man whom he never knew, in this locality where yet live many who knew him well, and where many
of his descendants yet survive.
Mr. Sumner was of mixed Yankee and Irish descent, born
in Vermont in 1811, in manhood he came west with the tide
of emigration, settling in Indiana on the section known as
“The Indian Float”. This he bought from the Indian Chief
Topenebee and to this he added from time to time, until a t his
death he was the owner of some twenty thousand acres of
some of the best land lying in Indiana and also 16,000 acres
in Illinois.
He built his residence in the edge of what came to be
known as Sumner’s Grove, or Sugar Grove; this being on the
Chicago road became virtually an inn where travelers from
either direction were wont to stop and be entertained. His
door was always open and his house usually full.
Mr. Sumner’s herds frequently numbered into the thousands, and the need of grain to feed these cattle through the
winters started the development of agriculture in the county
which in a few years almost supplanted the cattle industry.
Mr. Sumner was a dominant figure in the community in which
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Indiana Magazine o f History
he lived, virtually a king on his own ranch, and became a very
familiar and prominent character around the stock yards at
Chicago and the cattle markets of the east.
To quote from Barce’s Land of the Potawatomi:
It follows naturally, that the building up of this immense business
finally attracted the attention of the outside world. The great cattle
men of that day collected about them a group of small-grain farmers
who furnished the winter’s feed. These farmers in turn developed the
wonderful soil, learned its great value in the production of cereals,
drained it, and finally turned the prairie into the paradise of farms of
the present day.
David S. Heath of Oxford, is, at present, probably the
cattle king of Benton county. His father, Joseph Heath,
came to Benton and Warren counties in 1859; that is, his
house was in Warren county and his stable in Benton. The
elder Heath bought cattle wherever he could get them, feeding
them in the wood-lots and around stacks built for their protection. He usually had about one thousand cattle in his
herd.
At the death of Joseph Heath his mantle fell on his son,
David, who continued the bmiiiess, but not on quite so large
a scale; yet he frequently tops the Chicago market. Only a
few years ago he fed 500 cattle at one time.
Mr. William S. VanNatta, late of Fowler, Indiana, was
like the other cattlemen of the county, a buyer, feeder, and
shipper of cattle during and immediately following the Civil
war. In partnership with the Fowlers he bought and shipped
cattle by the train-load .for the government. Later, conceiving the idea of improving the grade of cattle in the country,
he engaged in the breeding of registered Hereford cattle. He
was led to a selection of this breed by noticing that wherever
he found a white-faced steer in a bunch of cattle, i t was always
in better condition than the others, showing that it was a
better rustler, or that this breed would make better gains on
the same feed than would other breeds.
Securing 8 few imported animals as a foundation for a
herd, he systematically began to build up a business that SOQTI
became beneficial to the country at large and profitable to
Gcary: Cattle Industrv of GerLton
31
himself. Nis herd became famous and carried OR many honors a t the county fairs, difi‘erent state fairs and a t the F a t
Stock show in Chicago. After handling fo r several y e x s
cattle from the plains of the west, even some of the famous
long-horns of Texas, Mr. Vanh’=ilta confei*red a signal favor
on his fel!owman by shipping rnany car-loads of thoroughbred Herefords back to the west for breeding purposes, thus
guaranteeing a better grade of meat supply for the nation.
Being desirous of producing a hardier animal that could
better withstand the rigors of winter on the western plain,
Mr. VanNatta and a friend of his in Texas conceived the idea
of crossing the buffalo with the Hereford. The get w a s R
peculiar animal, having the wh%e face and head of the Wereford, but the shoulders and body of the buEalo. The hair was
long like that of the buffalo, but straight like that of the Hereford, while the color was a shade between the two. There are
many people yet living who have seen severaI of these nnimais,
which they called the Cattleo, running with Mr. VanT<atta’s
herd. Finding the breeding of this animal both iripracticabie
and unprofitable, the scheme was abandoned.
Mr. VanNatta was largely instrumental in organizing t5e
American Eereford Breeders association, was its first paesident, and continued an active and influential member. until
the time of his death. The Breeders Gazette of June 7, Y911,
contains a n article of appreciation of the life and services of
Mr. Van Natla, and I am sure you will pardon me for quoiing
from it, as the writer says the things I want to say in a mt~uch
better way than I can.
Did you ever spend a n afternoon in J u n e with a man like William S.
VanNatta, in a woodland pasture surrounded by the bovine beauties
t h at knew him as their master? Possib!y not; but there a r e thousands
of men now reading t h e Gazette who a r e possessed of the same love for
the useful and t h e beautiful in similar Combination, who are, like him,
a constant source of inspiration to those who have eyes to read t h e
wondrons book of Nature.
They a r e t h e men who find a large measure of their recompense in
breeding and perpetuating high class animals, in watching the operation
f r o m one generation to another of the mysterious forces t h a t render
t h e study of heredity a t once the most fascinating and most baffling of
human pursuits.
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William S. VanNatta was nothing if not practical; and yet in t h e
production of those marvels of symmetry with which he so often marched
triarnphantly through American showyards there was a depth of pleasure, a well of satisfaction, a consciousness of the exercise of genuine
creative power ever present; something above and f a r removed from
mere comfort growing out of the monetary value of the animals themselves.
He who finds joy in t h e production o€ a perfect specimen of the
animal kingdom, is brother to all the other artists since t h e world began.
When Mr. VanNatta selected a n d mated the parents of his great
herd-building bull Fowler, he was exercising mental faculties such as
were demanded of Sir Christopher Wren in designing St. Paul’s
Cathedral.
I n a proper way he had full faith in his own judgments and did not
hesitate to follow them; and yet there was no trace of bigotry in his
make-up.
This is fully shown by the freedom with which in later years he
acknowledged the high merit o€ the g r e a t rival breeds of cattle.
H e was ever acceptable as a judge even where champions from
competing camps were locked in combat.
H e loved good cattle, however bred.