12
to cease playing ; then turning to the surprised company he said with sterness, “As far as I and my wife are concerned we are able to do our own dancing ; it would look better for every man to follow our example and dance with his own wife; those of you who are so unfortunate as to have none can dance with the gals.”
Col. Russell, the fiddler for the joyous occasion, was the first merchant of the settlement. At his store trade was carried on on a basis of barter making it possible to do business with a small amount of ready money. Here the needs of the town were supplied from a stock consisting of dry goods, queensware, hardware and groceries. Cash was given for hides and furs of every description. The fur trade did not fall off for many years, and it is interesting to note, in this connection, that Indianapolis became the center of it for a large part of the state and for some distance beyond its borders.
Col. Russell arrived from Kentucky in May, 1821, by the first keel boat to reach this point on White River. He was in turn county sheriff, militia officer and post master. Moreover, he was a fiddler of note and consequently in demand for all the early entertainments.
On January 22, 1822, the writer of the diary attended the wedding of Miss Patsy Chinn and Mr. Uriah Gates, probably the second wedding in the place.
As the two rooms of the cabin in which the ceremony was to take place were filled with guests she tells us the bride was compelled to make her toilet in the smoke house; from this improvised dressing room the bridegroom escorted her to the waiting company in the cabin. After the ceremony a wedding dinner was served, the table groaning under a feast the billionaire of today would have difficulty in duplicating. The piece de resistance was a fine saddle of venison placed in the
