First state building in Indianapolis
The building on the left is the first state structure, built to house the offices of the state treasurer and auditor. It was located on the corner of Washington and Tennessee (Capitol) streets. Samuel Merrill lived here with his family. The state auditor, William H. Lilley, had an office on the second floor.
Merrill's daughter, Jane Merrill Ketcham, wrote of her father's office: "The office was paved with brick. Full one-third of it was covered with a vault, as we called it. It was of brick built up four feet, plastered and with an iron door on top. Up and down thro' this double locked door went boxes and bags of silver." Ketcham presented her reminiscences to her children, Christmas 1898.
Source: Indiana State Library, Indiana Division, Manuscripts.
Schrader, Indianapolis Remembered, 114.
The following is excerpted from "Two of Indiana's Capitals," a handwritten manuscript by Colonel Samuel Merrill, in the Colonel Samuel Merrill Collection, Indiana State Library, Indiana Division, Manuscripts. The manuscript is not dated, but Merrill writes that he was born seven years after 1824 and was sixty-four at the time of the writing, circa 1895.
The text here is reproduced line for line, with original punctuation and spelling. The lines of dots indicate where text has been omitted.
Colonel Merrill was the son of Treasurer of State Samuel Merrill. Since the move he describes took place seven years before the author was born, he apparently obtained his information from versions told by his family and others. It was, obviously, a momentous event for those who took part in the journey.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .It was a lovely day in thelatter part of October 1824 when the State
Treasurer who had charge of all there was
movable belonging to Indiana, started from
Corydon to the new seat of government.
His little family occupied a large cov-
ered wagon, & with them beside the docu
ments & records, was the strong box con-
taining about twenty five thousand Dollar.
Five powerful horses, four whit
& the one in the lead a magnificent
gray, driven by Mr. Seibert, drew the
wagon through every mudhole through
out the long journey without once
stalling. Behind came another wagon
drawn by two horses, & in this convey
ance was the family of Mr. John Douglass,
the State Printer. Tied behind
this vehicle was a cow, invaluable
for the milk she furnished, to the little
pilgrims. There was a saddle horse
ridden by Mr. Douglass.
Four men, two mothers, one beau-
tiful girl of sixteen, one boy of eleven,
& six little children.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The first days journey was
eleven miles, & the place of entertainment
at night was a small one room frame
house. Frame dwellings were rare
in the country, but the pioneer who
built this, was wealthy enough to own
a little sawmill, & cut the lumber
himself. The men slept in the
wagons, for the money had to be guar-
ded. Under the head of the Treasurer
were two flint lock horse pistols,
carefully loaded for robbers.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The floor of the little house
where the families stayed was cov-
ered with slumberers . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The three little girls who slept on
the floor that night, still honor
Indianapolis by making it their home . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The road, if road you
might call it, was so bad that at
times the men had to take axes, &
cut a way thro. the woods around
the mudholes. Once the State Printers
wagon stuck in the mire & would
not come out, till all hands & all
horses overcame its obstinacy.
After going or trying to go all
day long, the travellers found at night
they were only two miles & a half
from their morning starting place.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Flour was very scarce, but
at one house, the hostess as a great
treat made biscuits for supper.
As she had been dyeing yarn,
the blueing on her hands colored the
dough, & gave the bread a streaked
appearance. The grown folks did
not seem to care for biscuits that
night, but the children enjoyed
them immensely.
At another place, all the cooking
utensils the poor woman had was
a deep skillet with an arched cover.
In the misfortunes that over
take us all in this life, the skillet
had cracked & gone to pieces, so
she turned the lid over, & made a
skillet of it, in which she boiled the
water for the rye coffee, & the sage
tea, then baked the bread, then fried
the meat, & everybody was happy.
Whenever the caravan came to a
small hamlet like Columbus or Frank
lin, Mr. Seibert who was very proud
of his team, would put immense sleigh
bells in arches over the horses shoulders
to give everybody to understand that
something important was coming.
After ten days journey, it being
early in November, as they approached
Indianapolis, coming along the road
now called South Meridian St. the
happy teamster, feeling that this was
the proudest day of his life, refusing
to listen to the pleadings of the ladies
to the contrary, decked the horses
with the loud sounding bells, & sent
forward a country man, who chanced
to be passing, to inform the people
that the seat of government was
coming. At the word, out poured
most of the five hundred inhabitants
boys, girls, men & women to see a
sight that will never again be
seen in Indiana.
When the teams stopped at Blake &
Hendersons tavern . . . every citizen
went home rubbing his hands & saying
the fortune of Indianapolis is made.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Merrill submitted his report on the move to the Indiana Senate on January 11, 1825. The final cost reported for the move was $65.55. Senate Journal, 1825, p. 7.