Streets named for early settlers

Richard Copeland - HISTORY BUFF

May 10, 2008 12:56 am

— Bates Street is located on the west side of Logansport. Miss Elizabeth Bates married John E. Barnes, the father of James I. Barnes. Her father was born in Pennsylvania and came to Cass County in 1844 with his family: Elizabeth and several other children. The family resided in Brownstown, the area where Bates Street is located.
Buchanan Street is on the north side of Logansport and appears to be a continuation of Morgan and Rice Street. James Buchanan was born Oct. 3, 1830. His parents, James and Mary Buchanan, came from Pennsylvania and settled near Metea. James was a Cass County commissioner and was one of the persons to encourage the building of the Civil War Monument in Mount Hope Cemetery.
Burlington Avenue is named for the Burlington Pike that was really Highway 29 to Burlington.
Berkley Street is near downtown. It is named for Moses Berkley who worked for John Tipton, caring for his property, while John was Indian Agent and a U.S. senator. He followed Mr. Tipton’s orders that came in numerous letters. Moses planted mulberry trees for John Tipton, who was interested in raising silk worms to start a silk industry in Logansport. Moses sowed locust seed on the east end of Biddle’s Island in 1838 for fencing and posts. Moses died January 10, 1839. 
Narcross Street is located east of Mount Hope Cemetery. The Narcross family lived at 1530 E. Broadway and owned property in the area. Their daughter, Elizabeth Gordon Norcross, was a very famous woman in the publishing business. She was born Aug. 8, 1906. Elizabeth went to New York after teaching for one year. She wrote advertising for L.S. Ayers. She became internationally known for her work in natural climate control. Elizabeth rose to be editor of House Beautiful and ran the magazine for 20 years. The Finnish government knighted her for her home landscaping ideas. 
Brown Street is west of the Eel River. Col. William L. Brown was born in Ohio on Nov. 19, 1817. He came to Logansport and married Elizabeth Purveyance. They had six children. William enlisted in the 20th Regiment and rose to colonel. After the war, he bought the farm in Fitch’s Glen and revitalized the landscaping. After William died, Mrs. Brown became postmaster of Logansport from 1866 to 1870.
Day Street is on the south side of Logansport. It was named for John Day who was the editor of the Logansport “Deidesheim Zeitung” (a German newspaper). He was born Feb. 18, 1844, and came to Logansport in 1882 after traveling extensively throughout the United States. His newspaper was decidedly Democratic in nature.
John, Quincy and Conrad Streets are located on the north side of Logansport west of Michigan Avenue. They are named for John Quincy Conrad who was a butcher in Logansport. He owned the land when the city annexed that area.
Richard B. Copeland is president of the Cass County Historical Society and can be reached at ptnews@pharostribune.com. The material for this article came from the Cass County Historical Society archives.

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