Documentary History of American Water-works

Logansport, Indiana

Logansport was incorporated as a city in 1838.

The city built water works that began service in November, 1876 using Cope & Maxwell pumps driven by water and steam.  Due to some difficulties with the machinery the city's water works celebration did not take place until July 4, 1878.

The city was threatened with a patent infringement lawsuit by the Holly Manufacturing Company in 1882, but Cope & Maxwell did not use an automatic pressure feedback mechanism.  Holly did not pursue the matter beyond sending letters.

Water is supplied by the Logansport Municipal Utilities.

References
1875 "The Water Works Question," Logansport Daily Star, August 24, 1875, Page 1.
The committee of Councilmen and citizens appointed to examine the water works question, met yesterday morning, and were addressed by Mr. R. Bickford, general western agent of the Holly Manufacturing Company,of Lockport. N. Y., in regard to the system of the works made by that organization. In the afternoon, Mr. Bickford was driven over the city by a member of the committee, and viewed the topography, the national advantages, etc. He is now engaged in preparing plans and estimates, which will be submitted to the Council.

1875 "Water Works," Logansport Daily Star, September 11, 1875, Page 4.
Those  public  benefactors, the gentlemen who are willing to contract for the  erection of water works or for different parts of the machinery, are here in full force, and every train adds to their numbers. Among them are G. C. Morgan, of Chicago;  Messrs. Holly, Keep and  Bickford, of the Holly Company; Mr. Cope, of Cope & Maxwell, Hamilton, Ohio; Mr. Deane, of Deane Bros., Indianapolis; Capt.    Daniels, of Louisville; Mr. Clough, of Cincinnati, and J. C. Platt, Jr., of Waterford, N. Y.

1875 Logansport Daily Star, October 28, 1875, Page 4.
A shot fired around any of the principal corners, yesterday, would scarcely have  failed to hit a waterworks agent.
The water works committee, last evening, opened and examined forty-two proposals for constructing the works, but at the hour of going to press had arrived at no definite conclusion, owing to the elaborateness of many of the bids. A strong effort was made by the representatives of the competing bidders, to have the proposals read in public, but it was resisted, on the ground that such a procedure would induce a mass of explanations, wrangling, confusion and delay.

1875 Logansport Daily Pharos, October 28, 1875, Page 1.
A great many of the bid presented to the committee on water works, were so ambiguously worded as to mean anything, or nothing.
What will the council do with the water works question, is the all absorbing topic now.  Will they go on and have the works put in, or will they submit it to the people?
Mr. Shroyer holds the bag for the water-works committee, that is the bag containing all the bids.  It is a good sized flour sack and from the appearance of it there s not spare room in it.

1875 "The Water Works," Logansport Daily Pharos, October 29, 1875, Page 1.
The Committee Awards the Contract.  The Committee on Water Works concluded their labors yesterday afternoon by awarding the contract for the pumps, machinery, races, building, etc., etc., to Cope & Maxwell, of Hamilton, Ohio, for $33,625, and the contract for pipes, hydrants, etc., etc., complete in the ground to D. A. Chappell of Chicago, for $91,000.  The committee will recommend the purpose of the Cecil & WIlson water power for $40,000, making in all, $164,625.  Messrs. Cecil & Wilson desire to rent the mill from the city for two years with the privilege of four, at a rental of $3,000 per annum.  The labors of the committee are now at an end, at those of the council begin.  The former has no doubt done its work acceptably and well, and there can be but little doubt that their action will be concurred in by the latter.  There were thirty-six bids in all, but only three were for the entire works.  The labor attending the careful examination of all the proposals was by no means small, and it is not likely that any member of the committee would court another similar appointment.  The matter will now go to the Council for their action, and they will doubtless decide at once whether they will ratify the contract recommending by the committee, or submit the whole thing to the people.  The parties who were successful in bidding have five days in which to submit their bond.
Mr. D. A. Chappell, the gentleman to whom the committee have awarded the contract for furnishing pipe and hydrants valves and laying same, we are informed, has had quite extensive experience in his life.  He was contractor for construction of the water works at East Saginaw, Muskegon, Litchfield, Evanston, Charleston, and other places, most of which were larger than the Logansport work.  He has the reputation among water works men of being a successful and thorough workman.

1875 Logansport Daily Star, October 29, 1875, Page 4.
The disappointed water works men sadly turned their faces homeward, last evening.

1875 The Indianapolis News, October 29, 1875, Page 1.
A committee of the Logansport Council has finally contracted for water works.  The contracts for pumps, machinery, buildings, races, etc., were awarded to Cope & Maxwell, Hamilton, Ohio, at $33,625.  D. A. Chappel, of Chicago, was given the contract for pipes, hydrants and valves, complete, at $91,000, making a total cost of $124,425.  The committee also purchased water power of Cecil & Watson for $40,000, and lease the mill to them at $3,000 per annum.  Construction will be commenced as soon as the action of the committee is ratified by Council.

1875 "The Water Works," Logansport Daily Star, November 16, 1875, Page 1.
Contract for water works

1876 The Indiana State Sentinel (Indianapolis, Indiana), November 6, 1876, Page 4.
The water works at Logansport have been tested.  They work well.

1876 Ordinances, rules and regulations for the control and management of the Logansport Water Works : adopted by the common council of the city of Logansport, Indiana, November 16, 1876.

1876 The Indiana State Sentinel (Indianapolis, Indiana), December 13, 1876, Page 4.
The rest of the water works at Logansport Tuesday afternoon was in the main satisfactory, though the machinery seems defective in some respects.  Six of the streams thrown by steam averaged 103 feet high, and five streams thrown by water power gave an average of 97 feet.

1877 The South Bend Tribune, April 4, 1877, Page 2.
Logansport wants to sell her $185,000 water works for $200,000.

1877 The Indiana State Sentinel, April 11, 1877, Page 2.
A test of the Logansport water works at high pressure is to be had today.

1878 Chicago Daily Tribune, July 2, 1878, Page 3.
A communication was received from the Mayor of Logansport inviting the Council to be present at the exercise attending the opening of Logansport's new water-works on the 4th of July.  The invitation was accepted and placed on file.

1878 "Logansport," The Fort Wayne Sentinel, July 5, 1878, Page 4.
It is Visited by Our City Officers and Councilmen - Water Works Trial.

1882 Logansport, from Engineering News 9:75 (March 4, 1882)

1882 "Water Works Machinery," Logansport Daily Pharos, March 24, 1882, Page 1.
The City to be Sued for Infringement of Patent by the Holly Manufacturing Company.

1882 "A Suit Imminent," Logansport Journal, March 25, 1882, Page 5.
A Threat to Prosecute the City For Infringing on the Holly W. W. Patent.
The members of the Water Works Board of this city are considerably worked up over the receipt of the following  letter:
Cincinnati, O., March 18, 1882.
To the City of Logausport, Ind.: You are employing in the water works of your city a system of works, pumping direttly into the mains which is an infringement upon re-issued letters patent No. 5132 granted to Birdsill Holly, and now owned by the Holly Manufacturing Company of Lockport New York. We are instructed to notify you that unless a settlement is made for past infringment and arrangements made for future use of the invention covered by patent, and now used by you, we are directed to bring suit against you in the United States Court for an injunction and damages
Very respectfully,
STEM & PECK, Attorneys for Holly Mf'g Co.
Even if there is anything in the charge that our system ot water works is an infringement on the Holly patent, which is very doubtful, the city is protected against auy claim for damages, in that she has a written instrument with Cope & Maxwell, Ohio, Hamilton, Ohio, builders of the water works, by which the city is guarantee against loss or damages on account of any patent on the machinery employed. A copy of the letter above has been sent to Cope & Maxwell, and their reply is anxiously awaited.

1882 Logansport Journal, March 26, 1882, Page 5.
Terence McGovern received a letter yesterday from Cope & Maxwell, of Hamilton, Ohio, builders of the Logansport Water Works, in which they stoutly deny  deny that the water works of this city in anyway infringe  on the Holly atent, and ridicule the claim of any company of individual for damages.

1882 "No Infringement," Logansport Daily Pharos, March 27, 1882, Page 3.
A letter from the Cope & Maxwell Manufacturing company, of Hamilton, Ohio, recently received by Terence McGovern, clerk of the Water Works Board, which appears below, explains itself:
HAMILTON, OHIO, March 23,1882.
Terence McGovern, Esq., Clerk Water Works, Logansport, Ind. Dear Sir: The Holly Manufacturing company have chosen to serve like notices on users of water works machinery, repeatedly; just as any other patentee or owner of a patent of this class would have a right to do, or to go further, if inclined to do so, and bring suit in the United States courts; then their trouble would begin in the attempt to prove infringement. In the case of Logansport water works machinery, which we specified to furnish and contracted to erect, no infringement can be made out in its use unless there has been some adjunct or appliance connected or added to it by others than ourselves. The patent (reissued, No. 5132) does not cover pumping direct into the pipes, only when a contrivance not used, that we are aware ot, at Logansport.  The same notices were served on some Iowa town that used our machinery long before i the erection of your machinery. These parties never deigned any response whatever. The City Attorney fortified his cause in not replying, by procuring from the patent office a certified copy of reissued patent No. 5132, to Burdsell Holly, of Lockport, N.Y.  To do anythin more in your case, is certainly not called for at present, Respectfully, John C. Morris, Pres.

1882 "Water Works," Logansport Journal, April 22, 1882, Page 8.
The Water Works Board is in receipt of another letter from Steam & Peck, attorneys for the Holly  Manufacturing Company, which claims that the water works of this   city infringe on the Holly patent. Stem & Peck desires to know forthwith what action the city is going to take with reference to their claim, as they wish to settle or sue immediately.

1882 "Water Works," Logansport Daily Pharos, August 10, 1882, Page 3.
The Holly manufacturing company, of Lockport, New York, have evidently reconsidered their expressed determination to sue the city for alleged infringement of patent in using a device of the company's in our water works machinery. At least they have remained silent on the subject for several months, which is taken here as evidence that their case is weak.

1882 Logansport, from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.

1885 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Logansport, Cass County, Indiana. June, 1885.
Sheet 1:  Water facilities
Sheet 4:  Water works

1886 History of Cass County, Indiana : From the earliest time to the present, edited by Thomas B. Helm
Pages 463-464:  Water Works. — Perhaps no city in the West is better provided
with the means of protection against fire than Logansport, notwithstanding her experience with disastrous fires has not been such as to induce extraordinary efforts to secure a perfect system.
However this may have been, after very extensive agitation of the subject of water works, the city council, in December, 1875, having determined upon a system of water works adapted to the wants of the city, awarded the contract therefor to Messrs. H. E. Smith & Co., of Columbus, Ohio, to furnish the pipes and special castings, placing them in position, testing, etc., and Cope & Maxwell, Hamilton, Ohio, furnishing the pumping house, machinery and fixtures, the entire works to be completed and placed in perfect working order for $175,000, this siim including the purchase of the Forest Mill property. The mains now extend through thirteen miles of streets, passing under the bed of Eel Eiver to the west division, at
Broadway, and under the Wabash at Bridge Street, thus furnishing those parts of the city with an abundant supply of good water as well as ample fire protection. The machinery is operated by waterpower, and the cost to run the same is less, perhaps, than that required by any other water works in the State. The works were
completed and in good working order in September, 1876.

1888 "Logansport," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.

1890 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Logansport, Cass County, Indiana. May, 1890
Sheet 1:  Water facilities
Sheet 4:  City Water works

1890 "Water Works," Logansport Pharos-Tribune, July 9, 1890, Page 13.
Annual Report showing the receipts and disbursements.

1890 "Logansport," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.

1891 "Logansport," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.

1897 "Logansport," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.

1898 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Logansport, Cass County, Indiana. February, 1898
Sheet 1:  Water facilities
Sheet 5:  City Water works

1913 History of Cass County Indiana: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time: with Biographical Sketches and Reference to Biographies Previously Compiled, Volume 1, by Jehu Z. Powell
Pages 369-370:  Waterworks

© 2019 Morris A. Pierce