USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > A history of Sullivan County, Indiana, closing of the first century's history of the county, and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth, Volume I > Part 3
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The first public sale of lands in the New Purchase occurred a few months before the organization of Sullivan county. It was through this sale that the better lands of the county were purchased and a most impor- tant step taken toward the permanent settlement of the country. Pre- vious to that time many settlers had located north of the old Indian Bound- ary line, but their rights in the land were those of actual settlement, without legal title to their homes.
The following paragraph from the Thomas diary concerns the land sales : "All the best lands near the Wabash river, which have not been reserved by the government or located by Canadian claimants, were sold at auction in the 9 mo., 1816. Much land of the second and third quality (and no inconsiderable part of these kinds is very fertile ), remained,
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
however, for an entry of two dollars an acre payable within four years, by installments. One Fourth within two years and the remainder in two equal annual payments. This condition is the rule; and eight percent interest is added to all payments after such become due, and eight percent discount is allowed for prompt pay. Thus, lands paid for at the time of entry cost only one dollar and sixty-three cents [$1.83?] an acre. To accommodate persons who may be unprepared to make a payment in full -or who may wish to secure a lot while they make further discoveries -lands are permitted to be entered for a certain number of days. This privilege, however, has been abused. Entries have been made for the sum of sixteen dollars (one-twentieth of the purchase money), which confers the right to remove within forty days every valuable timber tree from the premises; and if no other purchaser appears, the term is even lengthened to 90 days. Last winter (1817-18) from five to ten dollars was the price of prairie lands, and from two to five the price of wood lands."
The following list of land purchasers in Sullivan county during the years 1816 and 1817 preserves the names of some of the pioneer citizens. Some of those whose names are given were no doubt speculative pur- chasers, who invested in the lands without intention of permanent settle- ment. For this and other reasons the names on the land patents of these years do not include all the settlers of the county up to this date. The names are given by congressional townships :
Township 6, range 8 (principally Jefferson township)-Robert Bedwell, Thomas Trimble, John Purcell, S. Shepard.
Township 7, range 8 (north part of Jefferson and portions of Haddon and Cass)-John Purdy.
Township 8, range 8 (Jackson township)-Willoughby Pugh and William Pugh.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
Township 6, range 9 (the central part of Haddon, and most of it south of the Indian Boundary and in the area of the Donations and Surveys )-James Wason, John W. Nash, Stephen Milam, Rich- ard Maxwell.
Township 7, range 9 ( the northeast corner of Haddon, the south half of Hamilton, and a corner of Gill townships)-Thomas Hamil- ton, Thomas Pitts, William Purdy, John South, Jesse Haddon, John Pinkler, Thomas Creager, James Curry, A. N. McClelland, Eli New- lin, John Creager, Charles Hill, Henry South, Samuel Ledgerwood, Jonathan Batsom, Andrew Wilkins, John Haddon, Moses Milam, Samuel McClure, John Sinclair, Andrew Hamilton, John Robbins, Abraham Johnson, Jr., William Hamilton, George Boon, Morgan Eaton, H. S. Eaton, Robert Murphy, Titus Willard, Charles Scott. Friend Lemon, C. & F. Bullett, Patrick Smith, John Hall, Simeon Smith, Matthew McCammon, Brook Howell.
Township 8, range 9 (north half of Hamilton township, includ- ing Sullivan )-Paschal Shelburn, William Pugh, Samuel Smith, Thomas Hamilton, C. Crabtree, Eli Sinclair.
Township 9, range 9 (Curry township)-Thomas Carrithers, James Wier, William S. Watson, John Curry, Shadrack Sherman, William Curry, Calvin Curry, Isaac Hill.
Township 6, range 10 (southwest corner of Haddon and south part of Gill)-John Campbell, John Wallace, John Bond, Epenetus Webb, Jonathan Graham, Benjamin Sherman, Eli Joseph, Joseph Ridgeway, Uriah Joseph, James Duncan.
Township 7, range 10 (north part of Gill township, including Merom and New Lebanon)-John West, Ephraim West, Smith Hansbaugh, Edward Neal, James Jones, William Sherman, John Scott, Elizabeth Shepard, Joseph Warner, Felter & Hedges, William Lester, James Caldwell, John Booth, John B. Daugherty, C. & F. Bullett, Anthony and Richard Bumett, John Widener, Evan Rice, Levi Springer, David Thompson, Samuel Ray, William Hill, Samuel Elliott, Robert McNair, Samuel Smith, Samuel Ledgerwood, Jona- than Graham, Robert Polk, William Nudford, William Burnett, Andrew Wilkins, William Polk, Richard Maxwell, Thomas and John Bennett, John White, Peter Elliott, Abner Vickery, Jesse Had- don, William South, John Hopewell, Aaron Thompson, Abijah and Joseph Thomas, Henry French, Rankin Chandler, John C. Riley,
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
Jacob Mumay, Thomas Edwards, Silas Dean, John Sproat, Elisha Boudmot, Alexander Chamberlain.
Township 8, range 10 (east half of Turman township)-John Flannagan, Jesse Davis, John McKee, Abraham Stagg, William Johnson, James B. McCall, John Miller, William Woods, Thomas N. White, Isaac Brocaw, John Haddon, Abraham McClelland, George Kirby, Seth Cushman, David Wilkins, Josiah Bryant, Henry Little, Benjamin Turman, Richard Posey, William Harper, James Harper, Arnold Potter.
Township 9, range 10 (all of Fairbanks township except the land along the river)-Phillip Frakes, John Gordon, William Mc- Guire, Samuel Chambers, William Bryant, William Kelsoe, Jesse Ropel, Thomas Armstrong, Reuben Moore, Shadrack Ernest, Thomas Robbins, Ludwick Ernest, James Pogue, Joseph Chambers, James D. Piety, James Lee, I. W. Drennan, Alexander Clark, Gideon Long, James Drake, James Patten, Edward H. Ransford, Isaac Hand, Joseph Thompson, William Sherman, Benjamin Harris, Rob- ert Wier, William Patten, Elijah Payne.
Township 7, range II ( fractional along the river)-John White, John C. Riley.
Township 8, range II (fractional, being the west side of Tur- man township)-John Lester, W. Lawrence, Thomas White, Jr., John White, J. C. Haliburt, Arthur Patterson, William White, John Seaton, Jonathan Lindley, William Harlow, James B. McCall, Ben- jamin Turman, Samuel Chambers, George Rogers, Clark Sullivan, Jonah Bryant, Nathaniel Ernest.
Township 9, range II (west fractional sections of Fairbanks ) - Ambrose Whitlock, Philip Smoyer, William Patten.
The act for the organization of Sullivan county, quoted at length in the following paragraphs, was passed in December, 1816, and contained the following essential provisions: The organization was to take place in the following January, and the county seat was to be located in the latter part of February. The area of the new county was much more extensive than that of the present Sullivan county, but was not so large as has been frequently stated. The county jurisdiction did not extend
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
north as far as the north line of the state, but only to the north line of the New Purchase, a few miles above Terre Haute. The western boundary was the Wabash river and the state line, and the county extended east approximately to the White river. The house of James Sproule in the recently platted town of Carlisle (see history of Carlisle) was designated as the first court house, to be used until the permanent location of the seat of justice and the erection of county buildings. The other and detailed provisions of the organic act follow :
An act for the formation of a new county out of the county of Kno.r.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the state of Indiana, That from and after the 15th day of January next, all that part of the county of Knox contained within the following boundaries shall constitute and form a separate county, viz .: Begin- ning on the Wabash river where the line dividing townships 5 and 6 crosses the same, thence running east with said line until it strikes the West Fork of White river, thence up the said fork to the Orange county line, thence with said line to the Indian Boundary line, thence with the said boundary line crossing the Wabash river to the line dividing the state of Indiana and the Territory of Illinois, thence with said line south to the Wabash river, thence down the said river with the meanders thereof to the place of beginning.
Sec. 2. The said new county shall be known and designated by the name and style of the county of Sullivan, and shall enjoy all the rights, privileges and jurisdictions which to separate counties do or may properly belong or appertain: Provided always, that all suits, pleas, plains, actions and proceedings in law or equity which may have been commenced or instituted before the said 15th day of January next and shall be pending in the county of Knox shall be prosecuted and determined in the same manner as if this act had not been passed : Provided also, that all taxes which may on the said 15th of January next remain due and unpaid within the bounds of the said new county of Sullivan shall be collected and paid in the same manner and by the same officers as if the said new county had not been erected.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
Sec. 3. Isaac Montgomery and William Harrington, of Gibson county, John B. Drennen and Andrew Purcell, of Knox county, and James G. Reed, of Daviess county, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners agreeably to an act entitled "An act for fixing the seats of justice in all new counties hereafter laid off," whose duty it shall be on receiving notice of their appointment as hereinafter provided to repair to the house of James Sproule in the said new county of Sullivan on the 20th day of February next and proceed to fix the seat of justice for the said county of Sullivan agreeably to the true intent and meaning of the above recited act, and it shall be the duty of the Sheriff of the county of Knox to notify the said commissioners either in person or by written notification of their said appointments at least five days previous to the time appointed for the meeting of said commissioners, and the said sheriff shall be allowed a reasonable compensation for his services out of the first moneys in the treasury of said county of Sullivan, to be allowed and paid as other county claims usually are.
Sec. 4. The circuit and other courts of the said county of Sulli- van shall be holden at the house of James Sproule until the public buildings are in such state of forwardness that the circuit court of said county shall deem it expedient to adjourn said court to the place established for the seat of justice of said county, after which time the said courts shall be holden at the seat of justice established as aforesaid.
Sec. 5. The said county of Sullivan shall be attached to and form a part of the first circuit, and the circuit courts for said county of Sullivan shall commence and be held at the place aforesaid for holding said courts on the Mondays next succeeding the week in which the circuit courts are directed by law to be held in the county of Daviess ; Provided, that the agent to be appointed for said county of Sullivan shall reserve in his hands ten per centum out of the proceeds of the sale of the town lots at the seat of justice for said county, and shall pay the same over to such person as may here- after be appointed by law to receive the same, for the use of a library for said county ; And provided also, that the said county of Sullivan shall form a part of the representative and senatorial districts for the county of Knox, until altered by law.
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This act shall be in force from and after the 15th day of Jan- tary next.
Approved December 30, 1816.
Jonathan Jennings. Isaac Blackford, Speaker of the house of representatives. Christopher Harrison, President of the senate.
Carlisle was the county seat for about two years. Perhaps some of the court sessions were held, as the law directed, at the house of James Sproule, but there is a well circulated tradition that the judge and lawyers and litigants often held court in the open air under the shelter of a large beech tree that once spread its broad shade in the village.
Of the official acts of the commissioners and courts during this inter- esting period only fragmentary records remain. One of these is an advertisement in the Western Sun, dated November 20, 1817, signed by B. Johnson, Sheriff, announcing that he will expose certain lots in Terre Haute for sale for delinquent taxes. "The sale will commence at 10 o'clock at the court house in the town of Carlisle, Indiana." At that time Terre Haute was within the jurisdiction of Sullivan county, the organiza- tion of Vigo county being effected the following year.
A similar announcement of delinquent tax sale, dated January 17, 1818, refers to the town of Busseron, which, like Monroe, with the col- lapse of its county seat prospects, had failed to grow. There were 47 lots advertised for this sale, the owners' names being unknown. This is evi- dence that these towns, like many other towns laid out in a new country, were founded for speculative purposes, and the lots were largely sold to non-residents.
The principal institution of the town of Busseron was the old Ledger- wood mill. Though the court house went to Carlisle, this old mill seat
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
for many years continued to supply the residents of this vicinity with flour, lumber, whiskey and other commodities of pioneer manufacture. An advertisement in the Western Sun dated "December, 1816, Busseron," and signed by Morgan Eaton, reads as follows: "The subscriber is happy to inform the inhabitants of Knox county and vicinity that his distillery is now in complete operation. Orders for whiskey, gin, etc., will be punc- tually attended to. He will sell corn whiskey at 75 cents a gallon, rye whiskey at one dollar per gallon, until change of market."
There is brief mention of another resident of that time at Busseron in the issue of April 21, 1817. James Dunkin advertises lots for sale in the town, among them three lots with buildings, store and tavern. All traces of these early business activities have long since disappeared from the site.
A pioneer of Carlisle and vicinity, who is elsewhere mentioned, was an advertiser in the Sun in January, 1817,-"Kenewha salt of the first quality for sale by John Duly, in Busseron prairie, one mile from Carlisle, which will be sold for cash, furs and skins, or for produce such as corn and wheat."
The first general election held in Sullivan county after its organiza- tion occurred in August, 1817, at which 155 votes were cast for Posey and 126 for Hendricks, they being the rival candidates for the office of congressman from this state.
After careful comparison of the existing records relating to the founding and early history of Carlisle and Merom, it is reasonable to conclude that Carlisle was never officially selected as the county seat of Sullivan county. The organic act designated the house of James Sproule as the temporary seat of justice until the permanent location and until the new county buildings were ready. For this reason Carlisle held the honor of being the county seat for a year or more. But in the account of
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
Merom (elsewhere given) it appears that the county agent who man- aged the sale of lots for the county seat issued his announcement of this sale at Merom in June, 1817, and it is reasonable to suppose that the commissioners had previous to that time decided upon the location for the court house. However, it is probable that the actual removal of the seat of justice to Merom did not occur until the following year. Tradi- tional accounts fix 1819 as the date when court sessions and other county business began to be transacted in Merom.
CHAPTER IV. THE PIONEER MEN AND WOMEN-GENESIS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS.
The preceding pages have narrated the general course of events up to and including the organization of Sullivan county. Many individuals have been mentioned, some more frequently and prominently than others. Much must always remain unsaid concerning the pioneer citizens of any locality, the data having long since disappeared. The following para- graphs represent an effort to place on record, from such material as could be obtained, the essential facts relating to a large number of individuals and families who may be classed as pioneers. The classification of pio- neers in this instance is an arbitrary one. The word is usually an elastic term, and is here most applied to those persons who came into the county to reside before the year 1840. Some names will not be found in this record which would be expected to occur there, for the reason that some of these characters seem more properly assignable to the chapters on the bench and bar, the medical profession, and other divisions.
The pioneer member of the Akin family, which has been so promi- nent in the county and particularly about Carlisle, was Ransom W. Akin, who was a merchant at Carlisle from 1838 until relieved of active duties
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
by his sons. He died June 18, 1880, aged about seventy-four. As to the family origin, Virginia was the native state of his parents, who had emi- grated to Clark county, Indiana, almost at the beginning of the nineteenth century. For a few years Colonel Akin was in the banking business at Bloomington. He left six sons and three daughters, and had lost three children by death.
The late James L. Allan, who died at Sullivan March 15, 1904, was one of the county's venerable citizens, having spent nearly seventy years here as a resident. He was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, February 14, 1818, came to this county with his parents in 1835, was married at the age of eighteen to Rachel Louise Eaton (who died in 1897), and spent his life as a farmer. He was a member of the Methodist church.
On July 31, 1876, died at Carlisle the head of one of the most promi- nent families of the county. Joshua Alsop had been identified with the business and civic interests of the county many years, but had repeatedly refused to accept public office, until 1870, when he was elected and served a term in the state senate. He was born in Northumberlandshire, Eng- land, September 5, 1807. His parents and the three other children left England May 18, 1818, and after living a year at Walls Corners, New York, set out for the west, York, Illinois, being their destination. Most of the journey was made in a flatboat. It is not known in just what year Joshua Alsop moved to Sullivan county, but he was prominent in the construction of the first railroad through the county. A charter was granted to the Vincennes and Terre Haute Railroad in 1851, and when this line was consolidated with the Vincennes and Evansville he was elected a director of the new road, the Evansville and Crawfordsville. While a resident of Carlisle he showed a liberal hand in supporting the
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
public schools. He subscribed liberally toward the school building that was erected in 1857, and when it was completed he offered a loan to relieve the schoolhouse of the builder's lien. He married, February 14, 1837, Margaret Calvert, who was born in Washington county, Kentucky, May 10, 1811, and died October 10, 1877. They had seven children.
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From Kentucky came the Arnetts, of Gill and Haddon townships. The date of. the removal of Levin Arnett to this county is not given exactly, though his son William was born in Gill township in 1823, and the family have always been spoken of among the early settlers of the county.
One of the fine old Christian gentlemen of Curry township was Elder John Bailey, who died at his home on Palmer's prairie, July 6, 1877. He was past eighty, having been born September 15, 1795, in Jefferson county, Kentucky. The family moved to Orange county, Indiana, about 1805. The father was one of those restless pioneers who prepare the ground for permanent occupation but are satisfied to leave the fruits of their endeavors to others. It was his practice to clear farms, make improvements, then sell, and move further back into the wilderness and begin the process over again. John Bailey assisted him until he was twenty years old when he married Elizabeth Henry, and settled in Law- rence county on Pleasant run. He was a pioneer, and had to travel thirty miles to mill. About 1836 he was converted and immersed by Elder Isaac Martin, an event which changed the whole manner of his life. He was thereafter one of the strong members of the Christian church, and died in that faith. He settled on Curry's prairie in 1845. His first wife died in 1863, and the following year he married Elizabeth Harris.
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
In the issue of the Democrat of January 2, 1878, was announced the death of Henry Barnard. As first president of the national bank organ- ized at Sullivan in 1872, he had for several years been a citizen of marked influence. He was a man of fine culture and attainments, was lavish in the expenditure of his large means, and showed his generosity in support. of every benevolent enterprise. Failing health had caused his resignation from the bank several years before his death, and he spent the remaining years in Bucksport, Maine.
Ferdinand Basler was a citizen whose life and services are still well remembered in the county. A native of Switzerland, he came to this county in November, 1848, was engaged in business in town and also at farming ; in 1855 was elected justice of the peace of Hamilton township, served as county auditor from March, 1864, to March, 1868. In 1872 he became a member of the state board of agriculture, and the following year was appointed by that board a delegate to the Vienna exposition of 1873. He assisted in laying out Center Ridge cemetery and was president of the board of directors at the time of his death, and was president of the county agricultural society two years.
William E. Beard served as a commissioner of the county six years. He lived in Sullivan county from 1826 until his death in Turman town- ship, May 14, 1865. He was born in Nelson county, Kentucky, in 1804, and was a member of the Christian church.
Among the pioneers of southern origin may be mentioned the Bed- wells, Elisha and Susan (Hinkle), who came from Kentucky and North Carolina respectively, the Collinses, Willias S. and Mary (Hoke), who brought their family from Kentucky to Haddon township in 1837; the
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
Corbins, Vincent Corbin having come from his native state of Virginia first to Kentucky, and in 1829 to Sullivan county ; the Davidsons, of whom Daniel was the pioneer who moved to this county not long after the war of 1812-15, one of whose sons was Thomas E., born in Haddon township in 1819 (died February 5, 1895), and long known as a prosperous farmer. The Nash family was transplanted from Kentucky to this county by Marvel W. Nash sometime about the '20s. Another Kentucky family, related by marriage to the Nashes, was the Shakes, the pioneer David Shake having moved from Oldham county, Kentucky, to Haddon town- ship in 1830. Other Kentuckians who belonged to this group of pioneer settlers in Haddon township were Benjamin Ridgway and John Snyder, who, with their descendants, have been well known people in the vicinity of Paxton for the past eighty years. Sometime before 1823 Joseph Trim- ble brought his family from Kentucky to Haddon township. Luke and Samuel Walters each brought families from Kentucky to this county, during the early thirties, and the name has been familiar in Haddon township for many years.
One of the last survivors of the war with Mexico was Willis Bene- field, who died at his home in Sullivan, March 23, 1902. He was a mem- ber of Captain Briggs' company in the war, being then a young man of about twenty-four years. The family have been identified with this county since 1836, when the mother moved here from Illinois. Willis was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, in 1822, and in 1850 married Elizabeth Maxwell, by whom there were three children.
During the pioneer days of this county, it was very rare that a set- tler of foreign birth came to the county. One such was Adam F. Ben- singer, who was born in Germany in 1787, who came to Sullivan county
ยท
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HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY
about 1830, and was the founder of family of honored activities and connections.
Jesse Bicknell, who died in December, 1882, was clerk of the county two terms, and had also served as deputy in the office when Major Griffith was clerk. Mr. Bicknell was born in Kentucky the latter part of 1829, at an early age was thrown on his own responsibilities, and about 1855 began working in the store of John Giles at New Lebanon.
William Blackburn was lieutenant colonel of the Seventh Illinois Cavalry, having entered the service as captain, August 10, 1861. He was wounded in Mississippi, May 5, 1863, and died twelve days later. He was a member of the Presbyterian church at Carlisle, and also Carlisle Lodge No. 50, I. O. O. F.
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