5. Heading West

Why is it that some of our pioneer families decided to move on while others stayed right where they were? Does it take a certain kind of personality, a willingness to take a risk? Were new settlers pouring into the area making it too crowded? Were the farmlands not producing as well as before? Was the government providing an inducement to settle new territory? Were neighbors leaving and sending word back how successful they were? Was a disgruntled, less-favored son deciding to move at all costs? Did it have to do with better means of transportation? No doubt some or all of these factors contributed to the willingness to migrate.

Michael, our 3^rd great-grandfather, the third child and second son of Peter, Sr. was born in 1787, the year the Constitution of the United States was ratified and the Continental Congress created the Northwest Territory. His farm was located near the town of Middleburg, Virginia, which had been since the 1730s a staging point for weary travelers along the Ashby Gap Road. Today, its historic Red Fox Inn and Tavern is billed as the “oldest original inn in America”.

He married Catharina Schumacher in 1813. The name Schumacher, or Shoemaker, is very common but we do know a little about Catharina’s ancestors. Her great grandfather Rudolf and his son Jacob came to America from Kleeburg, Elsass, Germany in 1752. They settled in Frederick County, Maryland and Jacob later moved to Loudoun County, Virginia. His son George married Magdalena Shaffer and they had eight children, the fourth being Catharina born in 1791.

Michael and Catharina eventually had 10 children, but three of their first five born in Virginia died at six years of age or less. Their family:

Family of Michael Heckman

Michael Heckman born 7 Oct 1787 in Lovettsville, died 18 Feb 1860 in Putnam Co., IN, married 18 Nov 1813 in Loudoun Co. to Catharina Schumacher born 15 Apr 1791 in Lovettsville, died after 1862 in Putnam Co., IN

Children:

1. George Heckman born 20 Apr 1814 in Loudoun Co., died 29 Jun 1816 in Loudoun Co.

2. Johannes Heckman born 28 Aug 1815 in Lovettsville, died 3 Nov 1821 in Lovettsville

3. Maria Magdalena Heckman born 18 Nov 1816 in Lovettsville, died 26 Oct 1897 in Putnam Co., IN

married 1835 in Preble Co., OH to Leonard J. Bowman born 18 Apr 1816 in Putnam Co., died 25 Mar 1870

in Putnam Co.

4. Margretha Heckman born 15 Oct 1819 in Lovettsville

5. Elisabetha Heckman born 5 Jul 1821 in Lovettsville, died 1 Dec 1825 in Lovettsville

6. Michael Hickman, Jr. born 2 Dec 1823 in Loudoun Co., died 10 Jul 1910 in Coffeen, IL, married 13 Apr 1843 in Putnam Co. to Delila Thomas born 15 Jul 1818 in Kentucky

married 16 May 1867 in Montgomery Co., IL to Sarah Ann Bateman born 29 May 1841 in Illinois

married 25 Dec 1900 to Martha J. Wilson

7. Solomon Jonas Hickman born 23 Jun 1826 in Lovettsville, died 26 May 1892 in Clay Co, IA, married 11 Sep 1845 in Putnam Co., IN to Louisa Evans born 17 May 1827 in Washington Co., IN, died 4 Feb 1901 in Spencer, Clay Co, IA

8. Susannah Catharina Hickman born 21 Sep 1828 in Lovettsville, married 16 Jul 1848 in Putnam Co., IN to Squire B. Bunten

9. Joseph Henry Hickman born 27 Jan 1831 in Preble Co., OH, died 17 Apr 1853 in Putnam Co., IN, married 19 Jun 1850 in Putnam Co. to Mary Martha Gaither born 17 Jan 1831 in Montgomery Co., IL

10.Simon Peter Hickman born 1833 in Preble Co., OH,

married 28 Oct 1857 in Putnam Co., IN to Catherine J. Brann born 1840 in Indiana

In the fall of 1829 the family decided to move west, with surviving children Maria Magdalena age 13, Margaretha 10, Michael Jr. 6, Solomon 3, and Susanna Catharina 1. Why did they leave after so long? In the settlement of Michael’s father’s estate he was not named as a principal as his older brother John and younger brother Henry were, but that was nine years before so it’s doubtful that was a factor. More likely, it had to do with the boom in Loudoun County beginning to lose its luster as it became more crowded and the land less productive. The federal government had been selling virgin land to settlers in Ohio for some time and Virginians were flocking to that state. Also, Michael at age 43 was at that stage when many people reassess their life and decide to strike out anew.

1829 was the year that the first locomotive was put on a railroad in America. Up until this time there were rails but horses were used to pull the rail cars. The construction of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had commenced in 1828, but it would not be completed until 1852, when it became the longest railroad in the world, going from Baltimore to Wheeling in what is now West Virginia. But it was too early for the journey of Michael’s family. They had to use wagons, perhaps the huge Conestoga type, a vehicle invented by German immigrants in Pennsylvania (the term “stogie” owes its name to the cigar favored by Conestoga wagon drivers, although the word itself is the name of an Indian tribe). These venerable wagons carried most of the freight and people that moved westward over the Allegheny Mountains from the 1770’s until about 1850. Since they were in northern Virginia, Michael’s family probably headed north to hook up with The National Road, which ran from Cumberland, Maryland almost straight west to Ohio. Our present day Route 40 (or Interstate 70) traverses this road. It may not have been fully completed for the full length of their journey, in which case there were well-traveled Indian trails to continue on farther west. Those who lived near the road were no doubt entertained by the constant parade of covered wagons drawn by horses or oxen. They also watched men and women on horseback or foot, herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and the swaying and rocking stagecoaches drawn by four or six horses. By the 1840s it was the busiest road in America.

Michael’s family eventually traveled over 400 miles and reached Preble County, Ohio, near the border with Indiana. There in October Michael bought 160 acres of land from Henry and Mary Whitsel in Jackson Township near the little town of New Hope for $800. It was just two miles south of the Road and six miles northwest of Eaton. The northeast corner of his property was set aside for a school, and just across the road to the east was the Scherer cemetery.

The family settled down and in the winter of 1831, Joseph Henry was born. The following year, Michael’s younger brother Henry back in Virginia, hearing that all was fine in Ohio, decided to join him. Henry had married Anna Maria Sackman, daughter of a Lutheran pastor of the Lovettsville church. He had a religious bent himself, studying the Gospel, occasionally preaching, and naming his youngest son Martin Luther. In spite of this pious background, the 1820 Virginia census shows that he had two slaves, a male and a female who were in their late 30s or early 40s. He bought land in Washington Township, less than a mile from Michael and just north of the Scherer cemetery. His oldest son Cornelius and oldest daughter Sarah Anne both married into the local Scherer family and later moved on to Grandview, Illinois. There is now a Hickman-Scherer Reunion every third Sunday in August in the neighboring town of Kansas, Illinois. Sarah, a younger sister of Michael and Henry, also came out to Preble County at about the same time Henry did. She had married Adam Mink, a neighbor boy in Loudoun County, Virginia. The Minks also later moved to Illinois.

Michael and Catharina’s last child, Simon Peter, was born in 1833. But after little more than 7 years in Preble County, Michael decided to move on. This could have been because of the so-called “Seven Year Itch”, or perhaps the county was getting too crowded and newer land in Indiana beckoned. At any rate, in February of 1837 Michael and Catharine sold their land to Jacob Wolverton for $1,600, twice what they had paid for it originally. Perhaps this was the real impetus for moving. He could sell his land at a handsome profit and move to Indiana where land was cheaper. So they went back to the National Road and headed west again.

The road continued almost due west, passing through Indianapolis, and after 125 miles they stopped near the small town of Fillmore about half way between Terre Haute and Indianapolis. There was a property of 80 acres for sale by David Doaks in Marion Township of Putnam County, and Michael bought it in July of 1837 for $600. Again, he did not stray far from the National Road, for the property was only 3 miles to the north of it. The family settled down here, but what Michael really wanted was 160 acres like he had in Ohio so when an adjoining 80 acres came up for sale by John Willoughby, his neighbor to the south, he snapped it up for another $600 in September of 1838.

In that same year that they arrived, just 6 miles to the west in the larger town of Greencastle, Depauw University was founded by the Methodist Episcopal church. Did this have anything to do with the later-on Hickman affiliation with the Methodist Church instead of their historically Reformed or Lutheran ties?

For the next 22 years Michael’s family grew and prospered. During this time he acquired additional properties as they became available and when sons Michael, Jr. and Solomon, our 2^nd great-grandfather, married, they each received land from their father to start out on their own. The third son, Joseph Henry, married in 1850 but died shortly after. That left the baby of the family, Simon Peter, to be taken care of and therein unfortunately lies a tale of jealousy and greed resulting in a lawsuit and an appeal all the way to the Supreme Court of Indiana.

The ins and outs of the misunderstanding were so convoluted that it is difficult to straighten it out. But basically, in 1859, Michael was approaching his 72^nd birthday and his health began to fail as did that of Catharina. He turned over his remaining property of 80 acres to Simon as well as all their personal property, apparently with the understanding that Simon would take care of them in their remaining years.

Michael and Catharine lived at the home place with Simon’s family until his death in February of 1860. When the other children and grandchildren found out about the arrangement when the estate was settled, they sued Simon for the total value of the farm including the personal property he had received, feeling that it should have been included in Michael’s estate at death to be apportioned to the heirs. Simon said there was an agreement about caring for his parents, which he had carried out, while the other heirs felt that he had taken advantage of the old folks.

The case went to a jury trial and they sympathized with the other heirs, so Simon was ordered to return everything. Apparently they felt that Simon had indeed taken advantage of the old folks, because there was some testimony stating that old Michael may not have been mentally competent to understand the import of what was being done. There was also some evidence that a quarrel occurred between Simon and his father over who owned Michael’s horse, bringing into question the whole arrangement.

Extremely disappointed, Simon appealed the decision to Indiana’s Supreme Court and the decision was reversed. They ruled that there was a valid contract between the parties (a letter of intentions signed by Michael was found in a kitchen cupboard), and that Simon had received real estate from his father to make him equal with what had been done for the other boys. The agreement in the cupboard was valid and proved that a contract existed between the parties for payment of the personal property to Simon for the care of the old folks until they died.

After the dust cleared, Simon seemed to indicate that he was willing to share some of the personal property with his sisters since that had been a tacit understanding between him and his father. Whether he actually carried that out is unknown. Michael was laid to rest in Mount Carmel Cemetery, about a mile from his home down the country road to the west. Catharina was still living when the case was settled in 1862, but most likely died prior to 1870. Her grave is most likely in the same cemetery, but only the headstone of Michael can be found.

And what of our ancestor Solomon, was he a party to this unfortunate incident? No, Solomon Jonas Hickman carried on the pioneer spirit. He was by this time in Iowa.