Deming, Indiana

Deming, Indiana
Unincorporated community
Deming Show map of Indiana Deming Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 40°06′55″N 86°05′55″W / 40.11528°N 86.09861°W / 40.11528; -86.09861
Country	United States
State	Indiana
County	Hamilton
Township	Jackson
Elevation <refname=gnis/>	892 ft (272 m)
ZIP code	46034
FIPS code	18-17650[1]
GNIS feature ID	433464<refname=gnis>U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Deming, Indiana</ref>

Deming is an unincorporated community in Jackson Township, Hamilton County, Indiana, United States.

In 1833, David Anthony, Joseph Hadley, William Pickett, and Jesse Beals became the first recorded American Pioneers to permanently inhabit the region that is near/at the present site of Deming, Indiana. Later that same year, Hansil Bartholomew, Peter Lowrance, Jacob Hadley, William Ramsey, Levi Cook, Elihu Pickett, James Fisher, Jacob Crull, Joseph Moon, John Countryman, Daniel Lane, Samuel Pickerill, Squire Tucker, and John Hatfield also settled in the area. From thereon out, a steady stream of pioneers trickled into the community.^[2] The aforementioned early settlers of this region noted how “the land was naturally well drained, the soil a little sand in it which proclaimed easy cultivation. The forest was thick with sugar, poplar, walnut, and oak, and that fact also denoted good fertility."^[3] The Land Office of Indianapolis, which was managed by the General Land Office,^[4] sold land in the locality for $1.25 an acre.^[5] Surrounding the community to the north and east was Hinkle Creek.^[6] On the western side of the community, the upper part of Lick Creek formed a swamp known as “The Dismal.” Lick Creek was named for a salt spring (likely located within The Dismal) that the deer enjoyed licking. Springs and quagmires made The Dismal a bad place for farming.^[7] The fact that it was infested with wolves and panthers made it even less appealing.^[8] Although these predators were of little threat to the pioneers themselves (excluding small children), they were known to prey on livestock.^[9] During these early days, The Dismal stretched diagonally southwest for the three miles between Deming and Hortonville.^[10]

The community was laid out on August 10, 1837, by Elihu Pickett, Solomon Pheanis, and Lewis Jessup.^[11][12] It was originally called Farmington. When the first post office in the community was established on April 7, 1846, the community was renamed to Penfield as there already was a Farmington post office in Indiana. The name of the community (and thus the post office) was once again changed, this time to Deming, on January 14, 1854. As many of the inhabitants of the community were strong abolitionists, they renamed the community in honor of the Liberty Party's 1843 Indiana gubernatorial election candidate, Dr. Elizur Deming.^[13] The post office ceased operations on October 15, 1902.^[14]

When the town was first laid out, a settler by the name of Levi Cook constructed a "corn cracker" mill known as Cook's mill. For a time, the people of Deming had their corn grounded at this mill. This mill only lasted a few years, and S. & G. mill was later constructed in 1865 near or on the remains of Cook's mill. The mills were located a half mile to the east of the community on Hinkle Creek near where Hinkle Road meets 225th Street.^[15][16]

Many inhabitants in and around present-day Deming were actively involved in assisting runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. In 1837, runaway slaves John and Louann Rhodes, along with their daughter Lydia Rhodes, arrived in present-day Deming via the Underground Railroad. The family recuperated in preparation for continuing their journey to Canada at the home of Joseph Baker, which was located to the west of Deming. Finding the area to their liking, the Rhodes family settled in nearby Bakers Corner. In 1844, they were involved in the Rhodes family incident. After the incident was resolved, the family continued living as before on their homestead.^[17]

Hinkle Lodge No. 310, A.F. & A.M., is a Masonic lodge in the community that was founded on May 26, 1864. It is part of the Grand Lodge of Indiana. By 1869, the lodge had 47 members. Five years later, they were down to 27 members. Their numbers steadily increased, and by 1936 the lodge had close to 125 members.^[18] The Hinkle Creek Friends Church, located near where Hinkle Road and 215th Street intersect, was organized in 1836 by settlers in the Deming and Bakers Corner area who moved here from North Carolina and Virginia because of their opposition to slavery. The church is active to this day.^[19] In 1853, Quakers had a Mr. Porch from nearby Westfield, Indiana construct West Grove Friends Church. A local by the name of Jesse Beals donated the land and part of the timber for the church's construction. A tanning yard that was located in present-day Deming provided the oak bark strips that were used to insulate the walls and ceiling of the building. The structure had a partition through the center to separate the men and women during their business meetings, as well as raised galleries or platforms to hold the heads of the meetings. Two churches and two schools were constructed at West Grove over the years. The church also laid out West Grove Friends Cemetery, which is still in use. An incident occurred at the church on June 26, 1918, during the United States involvement in World War I, when it refused to fly an American flag for an event. Four automobiles loaded with men pulled up to the church and subsequently hoisted three American flags over it. The men warned the church not to remove the flags, and as no further incident was noted in The Noblesville Ledger, it can be assumed that the flags were left untouched.

The church, school, and cemetery were located a little over half a mile outside of Deming. By 1874, the church had a membership of 130. In November of 1946, it was noted that there were 33 attendees at the church's Sunday school class. The congregation continued meeting at West Grove Friends Church until 1963, and the building was razed in 1964.^[20] Where the church and schoolhouse once stood is now a private residence to the southwest of where Anthony Road and 226th Street intersect. The community had schools in two locations during the time that the Quaker church existed: the West Grove school and the Deming school. Both were originally built before 1867, with the fate of the West Grove schoolhouse being lost to history. In 1871, an article in The Noblesville Ledger described how the schoolhouse in Deming filled the place of "seminary, church, town hall, and club room." The last recorded activities at Deming school took place in the spring of 1930. In September of 1931, the all-brick schoolhouse, which had eight rooms and a basement, was sold to a nearby property owner by the name of Mrs. Griffin. Mrs. Griffin planned to "convert the building into a stable and use the basement for hogs and cattle." The schoolhouse was located to the northeast of where Elm Street meets 225th Street. From 1941 to 1958, the former students and teachers of the school held annual meetings in Deming so that they could reminisce together about their days at the Deming school.^[21][22] For several years in the mid-1800's, a congregation of Wesleyan's gathered in the Deming schoolhouse. In 1865, they built a two-story tall Wesleyan church next to the Masonic Lodge. The church was called the Deming Wesleyan Church. The last record of the church is from 1976.^[23] Lick Creek, which was an offshoot of Hinkle Creek, once ran along the northwestern and western side of Deming. Sometime between the years 1909 and 1919,^[24] the creek was rerouted and renamed to Isaac Jones ditch. The ditch was likely named for a local named Isaac Jones Jr. In 1936, the community was put on the electrical grid. Less than a mile upstream from where Issac Jones Ditch and Hinkle Creek split, the Revis-Carson ditch was dug into Hinkle Creek. Based on satellite imagery, it is believed to have been constructed sometime between the years 1956 and 1962.

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