USA > Indiana > Washington County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 18
USA > Indiana > Harrison County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 18
USA > Indiana > Crawford County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 18
USA > Indiana > Clark County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 18
USA > Indiana > Scott County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 18
USA > Indiana > Floyd County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 18
USA > Indiana > Jennings County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 18
USA > Indiana > Jefferson County > Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana > Part 18
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There is a beautiful species of gray and blue marble found in the southern part of this county, which was worked for a number of years, at Marble Hill. But on account of the sul- phuriat of iron, which was contained in it, decomposing and staining the finished work, the owners ceased working it. It took a very fine pol- ish, and was used for mantels, furni- ture, etc. It was full of fossil shells, which gave a beautiful effect when polished. It may be utilized even yet, and made a source of wealth.
Water Courses .- The county has a very good natural water supply in every part of it, in the way of springs and creeks. It might be proudly said to abound in water.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
" A remarkable feature of the streams of this county," says the geologist, "is that they, as a general thing, cut deep gorges, some of which, especially on the eastern border, have attained the depth of two to three hundred feet." "These gorges are the result of flowing over friable mat- ter."
Along the water-courses were the homes of Pre-historic Man.
Among the water-courses in the eastern part of the county are : Indian Kentucky Creek, and its tributaries which drain the entire eastern portion of this county, the south-west corner of Switzerland, and a part of Ripley counties.
The valleys of this creek are richly productive, and afford the best facili- ties for stock-raising; water being plenty all the year round, and the grazing of the best quality, and of sufficient quantity.
The main valleys of this stream (there are two main forks or branches, the east and west and a great many minor tributaries), are lined by bluffs from 150 to 200 feet high. Near the mouth, where it empties into the Ohio river, they are as high as 300 feet.
These valleys were formed in the same manner as that of the Ohio, whether by wear and erosion, or by icebergs cutting out the course of them. Geologists differ in their theories upon the subject.
The west fork of Indian Kentucky rises in Ripley county, the south-east part of range X east, town 6 north,
and runs southeastwardly through Monroe, Madison and Milton town- ships. The eastern branch, which is called the Main Creek and Brushy Fork by the natives, rises in the northern part of town 6, north of range XI east, in Ripley county, and runs south- wardly through Shelby township in Ripley county, and Shelby and Milton townships in Jefferson county, and uniting with the west fork at Manville in Milton township, empties into the Ohio river near the eastern border of the county, traversing a distance of about thirty miles. The west fork is about fifteen miles long to the con- fluence. The average breadth of country drained by each branch is about twenty miles.
The name "Indian Kentucky" is a combination of the two names, Indiana and Kentucky, and was given by the early settlers. The greater portion of these having come from Kentucky, honored their former State, as well as the State to which they had come, in giving this name to the stream. The name, as used by the natives, is " Indian Kentuck," and that, probably, was the original name.
The next stream in point of size is Big Creek, the north fork of which rises near New Marion, in Ripley county, and in a very crooked course traverses about twenty-five miles of territory in this county, running through Monroe, Lan- caster, Smyrna and Graham townships, and empties into the Muscatatuck, a short distance from Paris, Jennings county. The middle fork of Big
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
Creek rises in Monroe township, west of Bryantsburgh, and flows westwardly into Lancaster township, where it empties into the north fork on the main creek. The south fork of Big Creek rises in the south-western part of Madison township and runs through Hanover and Republican townships, and empties into the main creek on the line between Graham and Smyrna townships.
Along all of these different branches of Big Creek are romantic rocky cliffs, especially so on the north fork, where they extend in places for a quarter of a mile in unbroken front, varying in height from ten to sixty feet. In some places the faces of these cliffs are quite hidden by the masses of vines and ferns growing upon them.
The waters from these streams and their tributaries, flow into White river, and through that river into the Wabash. The waters of this county are very evenly divided between the Ohio and the Wabash rivers.
There are numerous smaller streams in the county. Crooked Creek and Clifty, of which mention has been made, Saluda, Eagle Creek and Bee Camp are tributaries of the Ohio river ; Bear Creek, Camp Creek, Harberts, Lewis and Marble are tributaries of Big Creek.
Camp Creek has its name from the fact that the Indians, in passing through this county before the settlement by the whites, were in the habit of making it a regular camping place, and the whites also, in their pursuit of the
Indians, found a very convenient and commodious place for a camp on its banks. It is a noted place among geologists as a locality for finding fine fossils.
Crooked Creek runs from the north into, and to the west through Madi- son, and is about seven miles long. The head waters are about three and one-half miles north of Madison. The valley of the creek is less than one- half mile wide, and the hills bordering it are about 250 feet high. The creek flows out of this valley into the Ohio river valley, and making quite an abrupt turn to the west, then skirts the foot of the bluff for some three miles, when it empties into the Ohio river. Formerly it was a stream of some size, and was used for mill power, but of late years, by reason of changes caused by cutting away the timber, straightening the course of the creek, and cultivation of the adjoining country, it is dry for the greater por- tion of its course, with stagnant pools at intervals, at other times a tor- rent. Sometimes it gets on a ram- page, as it did in 1846, when, being checked at the west side of Madison by the embankment of the railroad, it became a great lake, and many houses were floated away and many persons drowned.
I copy selections from a sketch writ- ten by Lieut. A. J. Grayson - Phelix Adair -- for the Madison Courier some years ago, which will give a better idea of it than any words of mine :
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
"On Thursday, September 3d, 1846, a most sorrowful calamity befehl the ' denizens of Crooked Creek Valley, causing great loss of life and property. "It had been showery all day, but in the afternoon the rain poured down in torrents, flooding our streets, as the gutters were not of sufficient capacity to carry on the water, and many cel- lars and even residences, in the central part of the city, were flooded.
"Crooked Creek rose to an enormous height, overflowing its banks from its headwaters down to the mouth, where it empties into the Ohio River, sweep- ing everything before it -houses, bridges, fences and other property. * *
"Twelve persons were drowned, seven of their bodies being found after the waters assuaged, in a field at the foot of Wilber's hill-now the new addition to Springdale Cemetery.
" Besides the many dwelling-houses, out-houses, fences, etc., swept off, a great deal of valuable property was destroyed. Sheet's oil-mill, which stood near the bank of the creek between Mulberry and West streets, had the gable-end thrown down and all his carding machinery destroyed. Mitchell & McNaughton's pork-house, near where Watts & Barber's paper mill is now located, was much dam- aged. Whitney & Hendricks' prop- erty, near the bridge at West street, was also damaged badly, and every bridge on the creek was carried away. *
"The whole surface of the great body of water was literally covered
with different articles from the farms and residences above - hay and straw- stacks, rails, chickens, hogs, cattle, etc. " The mouth of the railroad culvert was not large enough to allow the immense amount of drift, etc., to pass through, causing it to dam up so that the back water from it rose so rapidly that the creek valley, from Mulberry street down, was submerged so suddenly that residents were unable to escape. # *
"The water rose within forty feet of the railroad track, and it was thought it would find an outlet at the lowest point near Third street. But at last the pressure became too great, and the large embankment, said to be the high- est in the State, melted away like a snow-bank, while the huge stones in the culvert were swept away like sand, and the water poured into the gap thus made, like the Ohio pouring into the Mississippi."
HISTORY OF EARLY SETTLERS.
The first known white man who set foot upon the soil of Jefferson county, was Captain George Logan, who, after the war of 1812, settled in what is now Hanover township. "George Logan was born in Pennsyl- vania, during the revolutionary war. His parents removed to Kentucky in 1784, George being but four years old at the time. He grew up from child- hood to manhood on a farm eight miles from Lexington, but before reaching his majority the evils of slavery so impressed him that he determined to forsake his home and make a new one
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
where all men were free and their own masters. Shortly after this resolution was formed, young Logan, in partner- ship with a friend. bought up a lot of country produce with the intention of floating it down to New Orleans. They accordingly procured two barges, lashed them together, and with a crew of four men started down the Ken- tucky river. This was as early as 1801. A small village marked the present site of Carrollton, but between that point and Clarksville (Jeffersonville), or Louisville, was not to be seen the hut or encampment of a single white man. Mr. Logan says he frequently saw Indians along the shore hunting, and occasionally a camp with a fire where the squaws were cooking. The coun- try was utterly wild. There was nothing but heavy timber upon the flats and hills. No person had settled on the bottom land where Madison now stands, it was all covered with woods. Deer and buffaloes seemed plentiful, and at night wolves kept up a very dismal howling. In this trip an inci- dent occurred which has something of romance in it, and which affected the hero's after life very materially.
Mr. Logan's boat passed Madison on the last day of February, 1801. The wind blew such a gale that navi- gation in low barges was both slow and perilous; so a landing was made on the northern bank, about a half mile below our present Hanover land- ing. The river continued rough with white caps for three days, compelling the voyagers to hug the shore to
escape destruction. Young Logan got tired of sitting around on the boats, so he shouldered his gun and walked up the hill. There he soon fell in with a flock of turkeys and shot two of them. The river from the hill was so beautiful that he inwardly resolved to settle right there whenever he entered land. To mark the spot, after fixing the general features of the place in his memory, he carved his name in full, with the date, March 1st, 1801, upon two large beech trees which stood near the verge of the hill. There is no tradition that the Ohio, when a little rill, flowing to join the brimming river, paused, loitering in this enchanting land one sunny day to add yet another charm to the land- scape by its meanderings-there is no tradition to this effect, but if there were it would almost merit credence, for nowhere throughout its entire course does the river present lovelier features, or its hills rise in more calm and gentle majesty. So Logan must have thought, for fourteen years later, in 1815, he passed along the river bluffs in this vicinity searching for the old landscape and the two beeches which bore his name. Some changes had taken place during that time, and the trees could not be found, though Logan was pretty sure he had discov- ered the proper spot. But here another difficulty presented itself; the land was already entered by one Christopher Harrison. But Logan was not to be balked at the last, so he hunted up Mr. Harrison, who was not
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY
a resident, and purchased the place of him." The above is from an inter- view of Mr. Logan, by Mr. M. C. Gar- ber-now editor of the Madison Daily Courier-published in the Courier Nov. 1st, 1873.
After making the trip to New Orleans, Mr. Logan returned home and fitted out a boat and went up the Missouri river to trade with Indians. He wandered about, living here and there, until the war of 1812-15 broke out, and being in Ohio at that time, he raised there a company for the defense of the settlements, and he was com- missioned as the Captain. His com- pany went with the army of Gen. W. H. Harrison to the relief of Fort Meigs, on the Maumee river. After the war, as stated above, he returned to his first love as a home, and pur- chased the land of the then owner, Mr. Christopher Harrison, who had bought it from the Government.
Mr. Logan looked for the trees bearing his name, time after time, but without success. In the third week of September of the year 1862, one morning after a heavy storm during the night, which blew down a number of trees at some little distance from his house, Mr. Logan sent his farm hands out to saw them up for fire- wood. While engaged at this work one of the men discovered the long sought for mark, on the beech tree, cut there on that March morning, so many years before. Mr. Logan was notified of the find, and came out to the place, and found that he had
made his search too high on the brow of the hill, and had thus failed to find his mark. He had the block, which was of the diameter of twenty-two (22) inches, containing the mark, sawed out of the trunk of the tree, and carried to his house, where he always kept it as a relic of his first visit to this county, and as an object of interest which he showed to all of his visitors, to the time of his death, May 12th, 1875. It may be still at the old farm, and should be preserved as a memento of pioneer days, by the Historical Society of Jefferson county.
Nomads .- There were many men in those days (some having families) who led nomadic lives. They passed through the country, lived and died, and scarcely left a trace of having occupied it. They depended upon hunting wild game for subsistence and for a living, and in following the chase, to some extent took upon them the habits of the animals which they hunted. They became cautious in their movements, and watchful of even the least change in things around them; the breaking of a twig, the rustle or fall of a leaf, were all noticed by them, and were indications perhaps of great moment to them, as they became proficient in their study of the book of nature. They became good and quick reasoners, more from effect to the cause, than the contrary. They soon became well acquainted with the habits and lives of the ani- mals and birds which they were in the custom of hunting. They could
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
tell the species, age, sex and condition of the animal still unseen, by its trail, as unerringly as the scholar the root of a word he may meet in his book.
Their larders and wardrobes were supplied by the meat and skins of the animals which they killed. Their other wants being few, principally confined to lead and powder and whis- key, and sometimes flour or corn meal, were easily supplied at the trad- ing house or village store, in return for meat and pelts or grease. The pelts of animals were then more com- mon as a circulating medium than silver and gold, and constituted the principal source of revenue of the class of people of whom mention has been made. Every storekeeper was ready to take them in exchange for his goods, as he could use them with his creditors as readily as cash. These birds of passage melted away before the advance of the whites in the set- tlements, and there is now no note of name, time or occupancy except of two who roamed in the northwestern corner of the county. One Glascow, a linter by profession, had no regu- lar habitation : his home was wherever he chanced to be. When hungry he stopped and cooked his food ; when night came he camped at the most convenient and sheltered spot near him. Ilis usual hannt was between Big Creek and Middle Fork. The other was a man named Joe Hensley, who lived with the Indians. IIe made a clearing on the creek, which still bears his name, within the pres-
ent confines of Lancaster township. They both disappeared. Hensley going off with the Indians, and Glas- cow going to the new frontier. It was reported some years after that he was killed on Haw Creek, in Decatur or Bartholomew counties.
1804 .- The next name, in point of time, is that of John Ryker; and that is only by an incidental mention of . him in the sketch of Mr. William Robbins (which see) where he speaks of coming from Kentucky to visit Ryker in the year 1804. Mr. Roh- bins says he was living near to or at the mouth of Eagle Creek. But as Mr. Ryker entered the N. W. quarter of section thirty, town four north, range eleven east, April 24th, 1809, we suppose that he probably lived on that tract of land.
1805 .- In the latter part of the spring of 1805, Elder Jesse Vawter, the first Baptist preacher of this county, came to Indiana and made a clearing. Ile was accompanied by John Reece and six or eight others from Scott and Franklin counties, Kentucky. They landed at a point just opposite to Milton, Kentucky. They made their headquarters in the bottom at the upper end of the present city of Madison. Elder Jesse Vaw. ter (deceased March 20th, 1838) selected a location for his residence at the top of what is now called "the Michigan IIill," at the point where the Weyer mansion now stands. A portion of the present Weyer house was built by him later on in life.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
After making their selections for homes and putting up cabins, they went back to Kentucky and brought their families here in
1806 .- He planted his corn late in June of this year. I submit the fol- lowing memorial of Elder Vawter, written by his son, John Wawter, and a sketch of James Vawter, which were printed, and have been pre- served by members of the family. As Elder Jess . Vawter was a notable man in the Baptist Church-the pio- neer of that church we may say-in all of the region of the country for many miles around Jefferson county ; besides being one of the very earliest of the settlers of this county, I deem it as only just to his memory that this sketch of his life be inserted in these pages; together with the addenda by his son, James Vawter. Elder Vawter named his home Mount Glad, because he was delivered from his temporal troubles when he settled there.
ELDER JESSE VAWTER. He was born in Virginia, Dec. 2, 1755. His father's name was David, his mother's that of Mary. His father died while he was yet a youth and left him to obtain a livelihood by the energies of his own mind and individual indus- try. At an early day he was called into the service of his country. While in the tented field he was attacked with military fever, of which his life was despaired of by his many friends ; but God was pleased to prolong his
days and he lived to see the armies of his country crowned with success. In the year 1782, he emigrated to North Carolina (now Sullivan county, Ten- nessee). While here he took an active part as a soldier and officer in the offensive and defensive war meas- ure against the Cherokee Indians, who committed many cruelties on the front- iers of those times. In the year 1787 he visited the country then known by the name of the Levisa country, a name by the writer of this memoir well recollected, afterwards and now known as Kentucky. After his return home he prepared for removing to the new world, and in the year 1789, with his wife and six small children, removed into the State of Kentucky, settled in Woodford county, where he resided until 1795; at which time he purchased a small tract of land on the north side of the North Elkhorn, and removing to it, resided thereon until the year 1806. Having lost his lands by a supe- rior claim in law, he determined to aban- don the State. In the fall of 1806 he removed his family to a residence prepared by him near Madison, known as Mount Glad, now occupied and owned by Messrs. Flint, Wilbur and T. Hite. On this last named place he continued to reside until himself and companion were too old and advanced in age to keep house any longer, and finally broke up house. keeping and sold the farm and man- sion, a spot dear in the recollection of his children and numerous acquaint- ances. A short time afterwards, the
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
partner of his youth, of his joys and of his many labors and conflicts, sunk under disease and old age, and after months of excruciating pain, died within a few hundred yards of the spot where the subject of the present memoir breathed his last. He died March 20th, 1838, in the 83d year of his age.
Memoir written by John Vawter.
Sketch of James Vawter, written by himself. Addenda to a memoir of Elder Jesse Vawter, written by John Vawter.
The underwriter, JAMES VAW. TER, was born in East Tennessee, April 2d, 1783; came with his father to Kentucky in 1790; lived in Ken- tucky eleven years; came to Indiana in 1805. "I built my first cabin in the winter of 1806-7, on the hill where the big engine house stands, and kept bachelor hall until Oct. 1816; and then got married to Judge John Watts' daughter, of Boone county, Ky; have raised a large family of sons and daughters (11 of them). In 1814-15- 16 I was sheriff and collector of county and territorial taxes. I have the duplicate, which no man would take and collect for it. It was Jefferson, Jennings, Switzerland, Ripley and Scott, all in one county."-He died Oct. 25th, 1878, 90 years, 6 months and 21 days old.
Mr. James Underwood came to Jefferson county in company with Elder Jesse Vawter in the spring of
1806, and settled about four miles north of the present city of Madison, on the headwaters of Crooked Creek. The first graveyard in the county was upon his farm, and is still at times now used for the interment of the descend- ants of the old settlers. He was buried there. It still bears the name of the "Underwood Graveyard."
There is the name of one Colby Underwood, among the old settlers; when he came, and whether he was a brother of James or not, we are not able to tell.
1806 .- Mr. Ralph-called Rafe --- Griffin, came to Indiana Territory in 1806, and took a pre-emption claim in the north-west quarter of section 31, town 4, north of range 11 east. He afterward sold his right to Mr. John Thomas, who made the last payments upon the land and received the patent.
The house-still standing, January 3, 1889-was built the same year, and was made with the view of using it as a fort, as the Indians were quite troublesome. There were loop-holes arranged for firing the guns through. On either side of the door, about eighteen inches from the floor, a heavy hickory withe was put through the logs and securely wedged from the outside, forming on the inside of the wall a bow, into which a heavy wooden bar was placed, with which the door could be made fast, and which secured it from any attack from the outside. The logs of the house are still quite solid. It is the oldest house in the county. Mr. James Griffin, still living
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY.
in this county, was born in this house in the year 1808.
An Indian Scare .- At the time of the close of the war of 1812-15, and the establishment of peace between the United States and England, com- munication between the different parts of this country was very uncertain, and at times exceedingly slow. For instance, the battle of New Orleans was fought on the 8th of January, 1815, and peace had been effected on the 24th day of December, 1814, and the treaty signed, though it was not ratified by Congress until February 18, 1815. So it happened that the news was late in arriving at Madison, but the few citizens who were here were happy on account of it, and celebrated in the usual manner of the American citizen, by firing off guns and yelling. The residents of Ryker's Ridge, hearing the noise, sup- posed that it was an Indian attack upon the town, and after placing their families in the block house at Col. John Rykers' farm, and at the house of old Mr. John Thomas-the house just previously spoken of as Griffin's -the men went to town to help their neighbors repel the Indians. When they arrived in town and learned the news, they staid and helped to cele- brate, and as whisky was pretty plenty and entirely free, they became very drunk and delayed their return home till after night. As they came along the ridge whooping and yelling, the women, supposing they were Indians after scalps, closed and barricaded the
door at Thomas' house, and prepared for a fight. When the men came to the house and sought admission, the women, not recognizing them, refused to let them in, but as no immediate attack was made upon the house, did not open fire on them, but continued to parley with them until they were finally recognized and admitted, amid great rejoicing. So rounded up the last Indian scare in the settlements of Jefferson county, in the summer of 1815.
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