USA > Indiana > Pulaski County > Counties of White and Pulaski, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 11
USA > Indiana > White County > Counties of White and Pulaski, Indiana. Historical and biographical > Part 11
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77
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HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY.
taught in the schoolhouse, whereas, in the interest created by Mr. Bow- man there was a strong demand for the higher branches. An excellent school was taught in the Democrat building, among the teachers being Maria Hutton and Mrs. Dr. Haymond, both women of excellent mental and moral endowments.
The return of Mr. Bowman in 1859 revived the interest in the higher branches, and arrangements were made to provide him with suffi- cient and suitable facilities for teaching. The old warehouse built by was re-arranged, fitted up, and divided into rooms, and the teacher and his scholars, after the school had begun, hoisted the bell to the top of the building, where it regularly marked the passage of time. Here Mr. Bowman and two assistants taught until the summer of 1862, when the former enlisted and went out to fight his country's battles. This was known as the Monticello Graded School ; but the citizens of the town deserve no credit for its commencement or continuance, as its management was wholly under the control of the Principal who established the grades, admitted students from wherever they might come, and fixed the tuition and the courses of study. There were three departments : Primary, Middle and Higher. The Primary comprised First and Second Readers, orthography, writing and mental arithmetic; Middle-Third and Fourth Readers, geography, arithmetic to fractions, Primary- Grammar, penmanship and orthography ; Higher-Advanced arithme- tic, algebra, grammar, geography, history of the United States, ge- ometry, Latin and Greek. Students were prepared for college. Mr. Bowman carried a class of young men and women through all these higher studies, and it is safe to say that no school in the town before or since surpassed his in the advance made or the interest manifested. His assistants in 1860 were Miss Mary Bowman in the Primary Department, and H. H. Tedford in the Intermediate. After he enlisted, Mr. Harrit took his place, and continued the school with but little abatement in in- terest or decrease in numbers. He was succeeded by Mr. Bowman, and he in turn by Revs. William Irelan and William Hanawalt, two men well known to the teachers and preachers of White County for their piety, learning and social worth.
High School Building .- On the 29th of January, 1869, H. P. An- derson and Lucius Pierce, School Trustees of Monticello, presented a petition to the Town Board praying that a specified amount of corporate bonds should be issued to defray the expense of constructing a new school building; whereupon, on motion of H. S. Haymond the following ordi- nance was passed and ordered printed in the Constitutionalist.
SECTION 1. Be it Ordained by the. Trustees of the Incorporated Town of Monticello, White County, Indiana, That for the purpose of advancing educational interests in. the
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town and county aforesaid, the Board of Trustees hereby order issued to the School Trustees of Monticello, twenty thousand dollars' worth of coupon bonds of the de- nomination of one hundred dollars each, with interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum from date; and the interest upon said bonds is to be paid by the Treasurer of said corporation, at his office in said town ; and said bonds are made redeemable at the pleasure of said corporation after two years and within ten years after the issue thereof.
SECTION 2. It is declared that an emergency exists for the immediate taking effect of this ordinance ; therefore it shall be in force from and after its passage.
The bonds were issued, sold, and with the proceeds one of the finest brick school structures in the northwestern part of the State was erected. the work being completed in the summer of 1870. The first session in the new building began September 20, 1870, the School Trustees at the time being H. P. Anderson, W. S. Haymond and C. W. Kendall. . I. M. Gross was employed as Principal, and Albert S. Nordyke, James McBeth, Annie Henderson, and Lodie Reed. Assistants, a most excellent corps of teachers. Among the sub- sequent Principals have been J. A. VanLandingham in 1873; J. R. Owens in 1874, and J. G. Royer, the present competent man, in 1876. Other Assistants have been Columbia E. Logan, 1874; Sanford John- sonbaugh and Emma Palmer, 1876; Sallie Dill and Jennie Gardner, in 1880.
The following is the enrollment and average attendance up to the pres- ent time, except for the first two years :
No. en- rolled.
Av. daily at- tendance.
1873-74
157
119
1874-75
234
146
1875-76
232
153
1876-77
293
178
1877-78.
321
181
1878-79
366
196
1879-80
385
227
1880-81
381
234
1881-82.
377
248
1882-83
376*
275
School Bonds .- The School Bonds of 1869 called for interest at the rate of ten per cent-more than the citizens wanted to pay, and in 1878 measures were taken to refund them at seven per cent. New bonds to the amount of $21,000 were issued and placed in the hands of J. C. Wilson for negotiation, but although the bonds were soon sold, the proceeds were not forthcoming. The Herald first took up the matter, and intimated that as Mr. Wilson had been required to give no bond for the faithful performance of his duties as agent, there was abund- ant opportunity for the corporation to be defrauded out of the entire pro- ceeds of the sale of the new bonds. After much controversy, Mr. Wilson
*Partial Report
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HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY.
entered into bond with approved security, which afterward proved to be comparatively worthless. The Herald continued its lampoons, and de- serves great credit for its efforts, though its warnings were mainly un- heeded. The First National Bank, of which Wilson was a prominent member, closed its doors, and Wilson departed for Canada, and Monticello was left with a bonded school debt of about $40,000, of which twenty-one thousand was drawing seven per cent interest, and the remain- der ten per cent interest. The excitement about this time was at fever heat, and Wilson's name was in high odor. The Herald appropriately said, "I told you so." Suit was instituted against Wilson's bondsmen, and also against M. L. Bundy, Receiver of the First National Bank, to recover $10,000, which was alleged to have been deposited by Wilson as agent from the proceeds of the sale of the refunded bonds. About $7,000 was recovered by the latter suit, but so far nothing from the former. It was also decided to resist the payment of the interest and principal of the refunded bonds. This was accordingly done, and suit was brought against the corporation by A. L. Merrill to collect on the new bonds. A recent decision of the court renders the new bonds invalid, upon the ground that "municipal corporations have no power to issue or make commercial paper. That power must come from the Legislature. The town had no authority at the time to refund its debt." It is probable now that the payment of the new bonds will be avoid- ed, though the question is not definitely settled.
School Trustees .- Among the School Trustees since the incorpora- tion of the town have been : Richard Brown, 1862; H. P. Anderson, 1863; J. A. Wood, 1864; A. Hanawalt, 1864; Ira Kingsbury, 1865; W. S. Davis, 1865; Lucius Pierce, 1866; M. A. Kerr, 1867; W. J. Gridley, 1868; William Davis, 1869; C. W. Kendall, 1870; A. W. Reynolds, 1871 ; J. S. Hurtt, 1871; Thomas Bushnell, 1873; A. Hanawalt, 1873; F. M. Mullendore, 1873; Robert J. Clark, 1874; M. M. Sill, 1875 ; A. Hanawalt, 1875; S. B. Bushnell, 1875; J. H. McCollum, 1876; A. Hanawalt, 1877 ; Samuel Heckendorn, 1878 ; J. H. McCollum, 1879; W. S. Bushnell; 1880; Samuel Heckendorn, 1881; J. B. Smith, 1883. Monticello has an excellent school. For a number of years, Teachers' In- stitutes have been held in all the townships and at Monticello, and the re- sult is manifested in a higher system of professional work. The County Superintendent, William Guthrie, a young man of excellent natural qual- ifications, is steadily raising the grade of professional endowments.
Early Religious Organizations .- Ministers of the Presbyterian and the Baptist Churches appeared about the same time in Monticello, and at a very early day. It is stated that Robert Rothrock often said that the first sermon preached in Monticello was about the time the town was laid
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UNION TOWNSHIP.
out, which would be in the autumn of 1834. A circuit rider named Stalker, a very worthy man, and a consistent Christian, who preached day and night nearly all the time, traveling around from cabin to cabin, and collecting at each place what the settlers were disposed to give him, held an open-air meeting about where Mr. Heckendorn's residence stands, his pulpit being a little mound of earth near a small patch of hazel brush, and his congregation being limited to about a half-dozen persons. This man visited the county seat after that about once a month until February, 1836, when a small class was formally organized, a number of members joining by letter and a few by their confession of faith. The following were the first members : Zebulon Sheets and his wife, mother and son ; John Reese and his wife, Elizabeth, and his mother, Margaret, and his sisters Martha and Elizabeth ; Okey S. Johnson and Rebecca, his wife. and Catharine, his sister; Lewis Dawson; Bethsheba Cowan and her three daughters, Rhoda, Bethsheba and Margaret ; Jonathan Harbolt and wife, Asa Allen and his wife, Mary Ann. Perhaps a few others were among the first members. Others who joined immediately afterward were Mrs. Parker, Maria Wilson and John Wilson. This class met after this quite regularly at Wilson's cabin, west of town, though often at the houses of other members. As soon as the old schoolhouse was completed, services were held there the most of the time. M. M. Sill says this house was erected in 1835, but others fix the date a year later. The writer inclines to the latter opinion. In 1837, the membership had become sufficient to warrant some action regarding the erection of a church. The County Commissioners were asked to donate a suitable lot, which they did under the following conditions : The house to be finished and ready for occu- pancy within two years, or the lot to revert to the county. The members and all others interested were asked to subscribe what they felt able to give, and it seemed at first as if the construction of the house was a cer- tainty, but some of the most prominent members refused to assist in erect- ing the building on land which had some chance of reverting to the coun- ty, and finally the whole attempt was abandoned.
Nothing further of note transpired until January, 1843, when Rev. Samuel N. Steele, an eloquent evangelist, came to the town and began holding a series of revival meetings, advocating in a most effective man- ner the doctrines of the New School Presbyterians. It was a time of the most fervent religious zeal, and within two months the class formed num- bered nearly one hundred members, drawing its supply from the Old School Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Methodists and from the ranks of Atheism and other non-professional organizations. Among the first to join the new class were Thomas Downey, Catharine Downey, John Wil- son, Maria Wilson, Okey S. Johnson, Rebecca Johnson, Ellis II. John-
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HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY.
son, Catharine Rothrock, Mary Reynolds, Jane Reynolds, Catharine Johnson, Elizabeth Burns and Sarah Kepperling. This really constitut- ed the first class, though others joined at meetings held the same even- ยท ing and the following day and days. Among these members were J. C. Reynolds, H. R. Wagoner, E. W. K. Beck, Sarah Snyder, Hannah Johnson, Jane Rank, L. Meredith, Caroline Bott, Susan Shuck, Susan Ream, Harriet Ream, Isaac Reynolds, George Snyder, John Turner, William Turner, Mary Turner, Perry Turner, Samuel Burns, Martha Burns, Mary Burns, G. W. Bank, J. W. Johnson, Richard Imes, Will- iam Imes, William Braught, Nancy Price, Nancy Ream, E. C. Ream, J. A. Clark, Angeline Clark, C. W. Kendall, Margaret Logan, Mary Logan and many others. The two classes of Presbyterians-Old School and New School-began building churches about the same time-in 1843; but the latter being much the stronger, completed its house in 1844, while the former did not complete its work until three or four years later. Both were frame houses ; one is now used by the Baptists and the other is used as a barn by Dr. Robinson, near the center of the town. The latter was the New School Church. The lots were donated by the county.
Zebulon Sheets was the first Elder of the Old School class, having been elected in 1836. H. R. Wagoner and Hannah Johnson were the first baptized. At the time the New School class was formed, the Old School class was reduced to thirteen members, and the Baptists and Methodists suffered likewise. Rev. W. M. Cheever succeeded Steele as pastor of the New School class, and was, in turn, succeeded in 1848 by Rev. G. D. Miller. Rev. Lowery, a missionary, visited the Presby- terians as early as 1835. He conducted his meetings at the cabin of Orwig. Among the New School ministers were Neal, McBride, Black, Wilmer, Jones, Seewright and J. B. Smith. The classes continued separate until about twelve years ago, when they were united. The new brick church, which is yet unfinished, though occupied, has already cost $12,000, and will cost an additional $3,000 before completed. It is one of the finest edifices of the kind in Northern Indiana. Among the Old School ministers were Edwards, Williamson, Wampler, Kouts, Irvin. Sunday schools were organized soon after the classes were established. Mr. Heckendorn relates that at one of the early Presbyterian meetings, four or five Indians entered, took seats and remained attentive listeners until the conclusion of the service, when they shouldered their rifles and departed.
In 1835, Father Brousdenberg, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, preached in Orwig's combined store and dwelling, and organized a class, the first members being Richard Worthington, Mary Worthington, Ruth Cowger, Rebecca Cowger and Sarah A. Cowger. Worthington was the
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UNION TOWNSHIP.
first class leader. Jonathan and Margaret Ritchey and Boyd Ritchey soon joined ; Amaranda Botts, Mary A. Botts, Catharine Botts, Ma- tilda Botts, Margaret Harbolt, Martha Reese, Catharine Hartman, Har- riet Hartman, Mrs. Alfred Reed, Thomas Bushnell and wife, the Hana- walts, the Spencers, the Rifenberricks. Among the ministers have been Revs. Bruce, Hargrave, Smith, Ritchey, Reed, Enoch and Joseph Wood, Greene, Kessler, Sheridan, Boyd, Parcels, Clearwater, Hascall, Comstock, Holstock, Burgner, Hayes, Mason, Leach, Johnson. The church was built about the year 1850, and cost $1,500. The same frame structure is yet in use, though it has been remodeled several times. Sunday school was early organized. The class has had many noted revivals. Its pres- ent pastor, Mr. Johnson, is a man of earnest piety and unusual ability, though suffering somewhat from ill health. The class is strong, and is doing much good. The old records could not be found.
The Baptists started up about 1837. Elders Miner, Corbin and Reese, or one of them, organizing the class. Among the early members were Daniel Tilton, Mrs. Elizabeth Sill, Mr. Franklin, Mr. Kerr, G. A. Spencer, John Hughes and others. The meetings were held in the old schoolhouse, and later in the other churches. About fifteen years ago, Daniel Tilton, George D. Washburn, Mrs. Hull and William T. Graves bought the Old School Presbyterian Church for $500. The house was moved, fitted up, and the class, which had formerly had a hard time to live, revived its energy under the ministration of George D. Washburn, an excellent man. Among the Baptist ministers of later years were John Dunham, French, Kerr, Duley and Alford. The class is so reduced that only occasional meetings are now held. Owing to the fact that the old records could not be found, a more extended account cannot be given.
The Catholics, a branch of the church at Reynolds, started up a few years ago, and built a small church, at a cost of about $700. Among the families connected, are those of David Mahony, Steits, Witz, Stayre, Ewalt and others. The class is slowly growing.
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HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY.
CHAPTER IV.
BY ED A. MOSSMAN.
PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP-FIRST SETTLER-CREATION OF TOWNSHIP-FIRST ELECTION-EARLY LAND-HOLDERS-PIONEER SCHOOLS -- FIRST BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH-SPRINGBORO-EARLY MILLS-CHURCHES -BROOKSTON-SURFACE FEATURES-BROOKSTON ACADEMY-THE PRESS.
P RAIRIE TOWNSHIP contains less unoccupied and unimproved lands, perhaps, than almost any of the neighboring townships. Yet it contains so large an amount of such lands that it is difficult to believe, in connection with this fact, that many of the men and women who are residing here, and whose locks are fast becoming silvered o'er with the hoar-frost of time, first beheld the light, and breathed the breath of life within its borders. In view of the rapidity with which the native pop- ulation of our country is increasing, and of the large accessions that it is annually receiving from foreign countries, it is truly amazing that any portion of our country, and especially so fertile and healthful a portion of it as this is, should become populated so tardily. In this, however, Prairie Township has not been behind other townships, in this or other counties. She has always been abreast of the times. How inconceivable vast must our country be, in which so many millions of people can find homes; and yet, such large areas of as good land as the sun shines upon, remain for so many years unoccupied !
Settlement .- The settlement in this township was begun in 1829; and it is to Royal Hazelton that the honor is due of leading the van. He was the first permanent settler of the township, if not, in fact, of the county ; and, it is not positively known that he was preceded by any, even by the two or three transient settlers who came about the same time. John Ault and a man named Willis, neither of whom remained long in the township, came about the same time that Hazelton came ; but whether they preceded him or not is not known. Ault settled in the northern part of the township, where he erected a pole shanty, in which he lived with his family, for a period of about three months, and then moved thence to Big Creek Township. Willis made some slight improvements, and then removed no one knows whither. Mr. Hazelton settled upon the southeast quarter of Section 22, where he erected the first house that was ever erected in Prairie Township. It was sixteen feet in length; by fourteen feet in width, and was made of round logs. The
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PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
roof was of clapboards, and the floor of puncheons. In brief, it was sim- ilar, in all its leading features, to the rude log houses erected by the early settlers in general, and which have been so often described in this history that a more specific description of it is not deemed necessary. Suffice it to say, that they were such rudely constructed affairs that it would be difficult to give a description that would convey anything like an adequate idea of their rudeness. They were so insignificant, in compar- ison with the superb mansions of to-day, that there are scores, no doubt, of young people in the township to-day who would not deign to enter such a house as those in which their parents learned to repeat their "Now I lay me down to sleep," etc.
Creation of Township .- Prairie Township was created by an order of the County Commissioners, made on the 19th day of July, 1834, and em- braced Congressional Township No. 25, "and all territory there- to attached." This township originally contained one hundred and two square miles, or sixty-five thousand two hundred and eighty acres, and was bounded on the north by Big Creek Township ; on the east by Carroll County ; on the south by Tippecanoe County ; and on the west by Benton County. Thus the boundaries remained until 1854 when West Point Township, which was at that time created from a portion of the original township of Big Creek, became a part of the northern bound- ary. No further changes were made in the boundary lines until 1858, at which time Round Grove Township was stricken off from the western portion of Prairie Township, leaving the boundaries as they now are. This township as at present constituted has an area of sixty-six square miles, and is bounded on the north by West Point and Big Creek Town- ships ; on the east by Carroll County ; on the south by Tippecanoe County ; and on the west by Round Grove Township. It was further ordered by the board that all elections held in the township during the first year be held at the house of William Woods, and Solomon Mc- Colloch was appointed Inspector of Elections ; Samuel Smeltzer, Super- visor of Roads ; William Walter, Overseer of the Poor; and Samuel Alkire and William Phillips, Fence Viewers. Among the early settlers of the township were James Wright, Edmund Wright, J. C. Moore, Samuel Smeltzer, Samuel Alkire, John Barr, Robert Barr, Aaron Yar- nell, Adam Best, Mr. Hornbeck, Joseph Price, James Kent, Clark Little, John Beauchamp, Andrew Wilson, Joseph Bostick, Joseph Garrett, John Little, John Hornbeck, James Smith, William Woods, Henry Little, Jackson Alkire, James Hayes, John Gay and James Gay. The exact dates when the above-named men settled in the township cannot be ascer- tained. There were two settlements begun in the township at about the same time, one in the eastern, and the other in the southeastern portion.
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HISTORY OF WHITE COUNTY.
It is more than probable that those portions of the township were settled first, for the reason that timber for building purposes could be procured here, whilst in the more central and western portions it could not, as the land in those portions was principally prairie land. Indians were quite numerous here at the time of the advent of the early settlers, and traces of their burial places were discoverable for many years after the first oc- cupancy of the country by whites. In two instances, skeletons of pap- ooses were discovered in hollow limbs of large trees five years after the founding of the first settlement.
Early Poll Lists .- At an election held at the house of William Woods on the 6th day of April, 1835, under the direction of Solomon McColloch, Inspector, the following men voted : Charles Wright, Thomas C. Smith, Solomon McColloch, John Barr, George Brown, William Gay, Jr., Daniel Brown, Ezekial W. Brown, William Woods, William Watson, William Sill, James Gay, Henry Smeltzer and John Gay. The Judges were Charles Wright and Thomas C. Smith, and the Clerks, John Barr and William Gay. For Justice of the Peace, William Wood received thirteen votes ; for Constable, Daniel Brown received four- teen votes ; for Supervisor of Roads, Solomon McCulloch and John Barr received fourteen votes each ; for Overseers of the Poor, William Gay and William Phillips received fourteen votes each, and for Fence Viewers William Smeltzer and John E. Metcalf received thirteen votes each. William Gay was elected Inspector of Elections.
At an election held at the house of William Woods, on Monday, August 3, 1835, the following men cast their ballots: Royal Hazelton, John Barr, John Young, John Barr, Jr., Simon Hornbeck, Oliver Ham- mond, James Barr, Robert Barr, William Woods, Benjamin Newell, John Blair, Elisha Bowles, Joseph Bostick, Solomon McCulloch, Willis Pherly, James Gay, John Price, William Gay, James Kent, John, Gay, James C. Moore, Simeon Smith, John E. Metcalf, Joseph Sayre, Thomas Sutton and Samuel Smeltzer.
Three years later, or on the first Monday in August, 1838, the fol-" lowing men voted : John Kelley, Solomon McCulloch, Allen Davis, John Barr, Sr., Samuel Alkire, Thomas Harvey, Jacob Dauser, Michael Alkire, John Mason, Alfred Barr, Thomas C. Smith, William Gay, Jr., Aaron Beauchamp, John Davis, Robert Newell, Robert Barr, William Kennedy, Aaron McLaflin, Joseph Sayre, John Young, James Gay, William Woods, Thomas Hazelton, John Barr, Jr., James K. Woods, James Mills, Thomas Emery, Andrew Wilson, Samuel Smeltzer, O. S. Wilson, James McKean, Robert Hott, Thomas Reynolds and John Beau- champ. The first Justice of the Peace elected in Prairie Township was Royal Hazelton, who was elected whilst this portion of White County
FARM RESIDENCE OF HON J. P. GARR, PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
TRE C/W TOLK
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PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
yet constituted a portion of Carroll County. The returns of the election at which he was elected are on file at Delphi, the county seat of Carroll County.
First Land-Holders .- The following are the names of some of those who first purchased or entered land in Prairie Township : Jesse L. Wat- son, 80 acres, in Section 3, November 14, 1829; William Phillips, 80 acres, in Section 26, November 13, 1829; Jesse Johnson, 80 acres, in Section 26, November 13, 1829; William Kennedy, 80 acres, in Section 34, November 13, 1829; Robert Barr, 80 acres, in Section 36, Novem- ber 13, 1829; Bazil Clevenger, 80 acres, in Section 33, February 19, 1830; Charles Wright, 80 acres, in Section 22, April 29, 1830; John E. Metcalf, 84 acres, in Section 17, November 2, 1830; Frederick Smith, 146 acres, in Section 31, November 2, 1830; Robert Harvey, 80 acres, in Section 31, July 1, 1831 ; Christian Church, 80 acres, in Section 32, November 2, 1830; John Graham, 80 acres, in Section 5, November 2, 1830; Robert Graham, 80 acres, in Section 5, November 2, 1830 ; Peter Alkire, 80 acres, in Section 5, November 2, 1830; Solomon McColloch, 78 acres, in Section 29, August 13, 1832; William Gay, 160 acres, in Section 29, August 17, 1832; James Gay, 40 acres, in Section 32, August 17, 1832; William Gay, Jr., 40 acres, in Section 31, August 23, 1832; John Beecher, 40 acres, in Section 31, March 5, 1833; John Young, 80 acres, in Section 17, May 19, 1834; Daniel Brown, 50 acres, in Section 18, October 18, 1834; Jacob W. Brooks, 80 acres, in Section 20, July 3; 1834; Isaac Thomas, 80 acres, in Section 29, January 27, 1834. The first purchases of land in the township were made exclusively in the eastern part. The settlement of the prairie land, in the western part of the township, did not begin until the year 1849. Of those who settled in the township prior to 1835, there are but few survivors. The few that remain have grown so decrepit, so bowed and stiffened with age, that as we gaze upon them, and reflect upon the fact that they were once the stout-hearted and strong-bodied pioneers of this township, who so heroically battled against the hardships of frontier life, and overcame them, we are impelled to exclaim, in the language of the poet,
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