USA > Indiana > Henry County > Hazzard's history of Henry county, Indiana, 1822-1906, Volume II > Part 30
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The population of all this vast region, according to the census of 1800, was but 4,875. Michigan was erected into a separate territory in 1805, and Illinois in 1809. Previous to the separation of Illinois, the territory had been divided into five counties, of which Knox, Dearborn, and Clark were within the present bounds of Indiana, and St. Clair and Randolph constituted Illinois.
In 1807, an enumeration of the "free white males over twenty one years of age" was had, by which it appears that there were 2,524 within the present limits of the State, which would indicate that the whole population was less than 12,000. Of this number, there were 616 white adult males in what was then Dearborn County, which comprised perhaps one third of the present limits of the State.
The territory of Indiana was organized by act of Congress, May 7, 1800. On the 13th of the same month, General William Henry Harrison was appointed ter- ritorial governor and the seat of government was fixed at Vincennes, on the Wabash River, now the county seat of Knox County. The territorial general assembly which convened at Vincennes in February, 1813, changed the territorial capital to Corydon, now the county seat of Harrison County, at which the ter- ritorial business seems to have been first transacted in December, 1813. After the territory became a State, the capital was removed in the Winter of 1824-25, from Corydon to Indianapolis. The first entry in the archives of the State on deposit in the office of the State Librarian shows that business was transacted at the new capital on January 10, 1825.
By a joint resolution of Congress of December 11, 1816, Indiana was form- ally admitted to the sisterhood of States. So rapid had been the influx of popula- tion for the ten years preceding that the State was estimated to contain 65,000, and by this time was divided into eighteen counties, although more than three fourths of the State was still in possession of the Indians. Prior to 1810, the Indian boundary ran east of Centreville, Wayne County, and when an additional "Twelve-mile Purchase" extended the limits of civilization so as to include the present sites of Milton, Cambridge City, and almost to Hagerstown, there was quite a flocking to the new country, even in advance of the surveyor. So early as 18II, Thomas Symons had settled at the mouth of a small creek that emptied into West River, between Cambridge and Milton, and his brother Nathan fixed his residence at the mouth of another creek that unites with West River above the site of the ancient village of Vandalia which adjoined Cambridge City on the north. Their early possession of the mouths of these creeks (both having their
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
source in Liberty township,) served to attach their names to the streams, and Symons creeks were well known to the early settlers of this county. Indeed it is highly probable that of the whole number of persons who entered this county for the first five years, at least nine tenths crossed the county line between these streams.
The war with Great Britain, from 1812 to 1815, and the consequent alarm occasioned by the hostile attitude of the Indians all along the frontier, partially broke up the settlements along West River. With the return of peace, however, the settlers returned to their homes, and a rapid increase of immigration at once set in, extending to the very limits of the Twelve-mile Purchase, though it is probable that no white family intruded itself upon the almost impenetrable wilds within the present limits of Henry County prior to 1819.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.
THE INDIAN TREATY OF ST. MARY'S IN 1818-ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST SETTLERS -EARLY SETTLERS IN THE DIFFERENT TOWNSHIPS-LAND SALES AND FIRST ENTRIES-ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY-FIRST COUNTY OFFICERS- THE ACT FOR THE FORMATION OF. HENRY COUNTY REPRODUCED IN FAC- SIMILE-BOUNDARIES OF THE COUNTY.
The first settlers of whom any reliable information has been obtained, seem to have come to the county in 1819. Prior to this time, many were "waiting and watching over the border," in Wayne County, for the lands between West River and White River to become subject to settlement.
A law of Congress (not very rigidly enforced) forbade the private purchase or occupancy of the "Indian lands". By a treaty negotiated at St. Mary's, near old Fort Wayne, in 1818, by Governor Jonathan Jennings of Indiana, Governor Lewis Chase of Michigan, and Judge Benjamin Parke-former Attorney General of Indiana Territory and afterwards one of Indiana's leading jurists and first United States District Judge for the State of Indiana, for whom Parke County in this State is named-Commissioners on the part of the United States, the Indians relinquished all title to the lands south of the Wabash, except two or three small reservations, and also agreed to vacate the ceded lands within three years. The late David Hoover of Wayne County was secretary to this commis- sion. From this time the whole central portion of the State was looked upon as accessible to the whites, and the settlement of this county began at once, although no titles to land could be obtained for some time.
The earliest titles are under act of Congress of April 24th, 1820, and the work of surveying, etc., consumed another year before they were thrown upon the market. About one hundred and forty persons purchased land in townships sixteen and seventeen north, in the last half of the year 1821. This was in that part of the county embraced in the present townships of Wayne, Spiceland, Frank- lin, Dudley, Liberty, Henry, Greensboro, and a part of Harrison.
The surveys being incomplete, no lands north of Liberty and Henry town- ships were sold until the following year. Many had come in prospecting as early as 1818 and 1819. By this means the fame of this magnificent region spread abroad. Its great fertility, magnificent forests, fine streams, numerous springs, abundant game, and its perpetual dedication to the cause of human liberty, pointed it out to many in North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Ohio, as the Eldorado of the West.
The early settlers seem to have been attracted principally to three neighbor- hoods, for a time, and from these nuclei spread over the county. These neighbor-
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
hoods, after a few years, became known as the "Harvey neighborhood," extend- ing from the site of New Castle northward some four or five miles; the "Leavell neighborhood," which included the southeast part of Liberty and the eastern portion of Dudley townships; while the region from old West Liberty, on either side of Blue River, for two or three miles above the site of Knightstown, was known as the "Heaton neighborhood." These neighborhoods constituted pretty much all there was of Henry County at the time of its organization, in 1821-22.
It is impossible, at this day, to name all the first "settlers," but the following facts, though far from being as full as desired, will serve to show something of the time and order of settlement in the various townships :
HENRY TOWNSHIP.
Early in April, 1819, Asahel Woodward, the maternal grandfather of the author of this History, put up his cabin just north of New Castle; a Mr. Whit- tinger and his son-in-law, David Cray, fixed their residence just about the site ot Joshua Holland's old home; Allen Shepherd settled nearly two miles, north by east of New Castle, on what is known as the Hudelson farm; Andrew Shannon located just north of Shepherd, and near the former site of the Hernly Mills ; George Hobson on the farm now owned by Judge Elliott's heirs adjoining New Castle on the southwest; William Shannon on the Holloway farm, four miles southwest of New Castle; Joseph Hobson came in not far from the same time, and settled on the west side of the Stephen Elliott farm, two miles south of town. At his house the first courts were held, thus making it the county seat pro tempore.
George Hobson, Andrew Shannon, Mr. Whittinger, and David Cray, brought their families with them. Mrs. Asahel Woodward and Mrs. William Shannon arrived on the thirty first of July following, and Mr. Woodward planted about two acres of corn, the first crop, he thought, ever raised by a white man in Henry County. He planted an old Indian field or clearing, and, although he cultivated with the hoe alone, raised an excellent crop. The Whittingers and Cray soon left, not liking the country.
PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
Benjamin Harvey also came early in the Spring of 1819, with his family, and settled about three miles north of Asahel Woodward in the Harvey settlement. Very soon afterward came William Harvey, the farther of Benjamin, with Uriah Bulla, John Harris, Samuel Howard, and Bartley or Barclay Benbow. Some of the last named came out in April or May, 1819, but had been out as early as the February preceding, selected sites, and made some improvements.
WAYNE TOWNSHIP.
Within the limits of this township, a few persons had settled as early as 1820, and probably as early as 1819. Daniel and Asa Heaton were located about the present site of Raysville, and trading with the Indians as early as 1820. Samuel Furgason had a double log cabin near the mouth of Montgomery Creek,
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
1 .. 1821, and had made money enough hauling corn from Whitewater and enter- taining those in search of lands, to be able to purchase his homestead, August II, 1821. Samuel Goble lived just about the site of what was subsequently known as Church's Mill at the time of the land sale, and had a good cabin and some eight or ten acres partially cleared and under good fence. All these improve- ments were bid from under him by David Lauderback, who so well understood the estimate in which he would be held by the early settlers that he "made himself scarce" afterward. Of those who came in before or just about the time of the land sale may be mentioned Waitsel M. Cary, Abraham Heaton, Samuel Cary, Jacob Parkhurst, Joseph Watts, Shaphat McCray, and a few others, the exact date of whose arrival it is difficult to learn.
SPICELAND TOWNSHIP.
Among the first settlers within the present limits of Spiceland township were Daniel Jackson and Solomon Byrket, on Blue River, near what is known as Elm Grove; Thomas Greenstreet, on the Hiatt farm, one half mile southwest of Spiceland; Samuel Carr, on the Henderson Hosier farm, two miles north of Spice- land, now owned by the Hoover boys; and Allen Hunt, on the Amos Bond place, two miles west of Spiceland. These came to their lands immediately after the sale and very soon after came Samuel Griffin and a few others.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
Moses Keens, George and Charles See, and Achilles Morris were among the earliest settlers on Flatrock, within the present limits of Franklin township. This was about the time of or immediately after the land sale, perhaps in the Fall of 1821, though the precise date cannot be ascertained.
DUDLEY TOWNSHIP.
John Huff and a Mr. Carter are the only parties ascertained to have resided within the limits of Dudley, prior to the land sale. Huff lived near the junction of the New Castle and Dublin, and Hopewell and Flatrock turnpikes, and Mr. Carter about one half or three fourths of a mile west from the site of the Hope- well Meeting House.
Josiah Morris, Daniel Paul, Richard Ratliff (father of Cornelius Ratliff), Richard Thompson, William McKimmey, William Modlin, William Owen, Joseph R. Leakey, Benjamin Strattan, Thomas Leonard, Thomas Gilbert, Elisha Short- ridge, and Jonathan Bundy were among the pioneers of Dudley Township, who came in the Winter of 1821 or Spring of 1822.
LIBERTY TOWNSIIIP.
'Of those who first settled Liberty Township comparatively little has been learned. The author of this History is not informed whether any came in before the land sale, but of those who came in about the time of the sale may be men-
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
tioned Elisha Long, Moses Robertson, Thomas R. Stanford, David Brower, John Leavell, Robert Thompson, Jesse Forkner, Isaac Forkner, John Baker, and a number of others. Since the purchases made at the land sale exceeded those of any other township, it is fair to suppose that quite a number had already lo- cated there.
GREENSBORO TOWNSHIP.
Jacob Woods, Samuel Pickering, and perhaps two or three others first settled here in the Summer of 1821. Samuel and Jonas Pickering, Walker Carpenter, and Benjamin Kirk came through, prospecting in 1820, after visiting Winchester, An- derson, Pendleton, and other points. Jacob Elliott built a cabin about where his son, Jacob S. Elliott, formerly lived, in the Fall of 1821, but did not move into it until the Spring of 1822.
At the time Jacob Woods located where he lived so long, one and one fourth miles east of Greensboro, there were no settlers on Blue River between Daniel Jackson's and Joseph Hobson's, except William Shannon, and for some time there were no neighbors on the east nearer than William Bond, who resided on the old Wickersham farm, now owned by Josiah P. Nicholson, about four miles south of New Castle. A number of persons settled about Greensboro in the following year, and as early as 1823 a Friends' meeting was held at Duck Creek, David Bailey, Joseph Ratcliff, Eli Stafford, Samuel Pickering, and Jacob Woods being among the "charter members."
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
Dempsey Reece and Roderick Craig settled on Duck Creek in the eastern edge of Harrison Township. in April, 1822. This was on land now known as the Peter Shaffer farm. Reece had raised a crop of corn on White River, about the present site of Indianapolis, the year before.
Phineas Ratliff, Rice Price, and Joseph and Richard Ratliff all settled in the same year within about one and one half miles of Dempsey Reece.
STONY CREEK TOWNSIIIP.
Within the present limits of Stony Creek Township there were no settlers prior to the land sale which took place in 1822, and perhaps not until 1823, when John Hodgins, Mr. Schofield. Jonathan Bedwell, and Andrew Blount, the pro- prietor of Blountsville, settled there. There were but three or four families on Stony Creek, in the Spring of 1826, at which time John Hawk, a cabinet maker of Blountsville, took up quarters there.
FALL CREEK TOWNSHIP.
The settlement of Fall Creek seems not to have begun as early as many other parts of the county. John, Jacob, George, Peter, and David Keesling located near Mechanicsburg, about 1824 or 1825. forming what was known as the "Keesling neighborhood." William Stewart and Joseph Franklin came in about the same time. John Hart, David Van Matre, Adam E. Conn, and the Painters were early settlers in the eastern part of the township, near Middletown.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.
Within the present limits of Jefferson Township, at an early day, perhaps 1824 or 1825, came Samuel Beavers, Anthony Sanders, James Marsh, and the Flemings, with some others. This township constituted a part of Fall Creek and Prairie for many years.
BLUE RIVER TOWNSHIP.
There was considerable progress made in the settlement of Blue River Town- ship (then a part of Stony Creek), in 1823. Michael Conway, Richard and Reuben Wilson, Joseph Cory, John Koons, John P. Johnson, and several others moved to this part of the county as early as 1823, a few, perhaps, having located the year previous, the precise time, however, being difficult to learn.
LAND SALES AND FIRST ENTRIES.
According to the record, William Owen, of Dudley Township, purchased the first tract of land in Henry County ; this transaction bearing date of February 4, 1821. David Butler next entered land, August 8, 1821, in the same township, and on the IIth of August, Josiah Morris, of Dudley, and Samuel Furgason of Wayne Township, each entered a tract.
Judging from the number of purchases made, the settlers in Wayne Town- ship must have gone in a body to attend the sale, as of the twenty five purchases made during the year, sixteen were made on the 13th of August. The following is a list of purchases during the year, with date of purchase :
Samuel Furgason, August 11. Waitsel M. Cary, August 13. Abraham Heaton, August 13. Daniel Heaton, August 13.
Samuel Cary, August 13.
Stephen Cook, August 20.
David Lauderback, August 13. Edward Pattersou, August 13. Wililam Macy, August 13.
John Daily, August 22. Jacob Whitter. August 23.
Jacob Parkhurst, August 13.
John Freeland, September 18.
Charles Smith, October 13.
Henry Ballenger, August 13. Isaac Pugh, August 13. Shaphat MeCray, August 13.
David Dalrymple, August 14. William Criswell, August 14.
Ebenezer Goble, August 14.
Joseph Watts, August 14.
Samuel Goble, August 20.
Thomas Estell, August 13.
Edmond Lewis, October 31. John Lewis, October 31.
The 13th of August seems to have been a field day for the people of Wayne Township. On the 14th, nothing seems to have been done. Whether it was Sunday, or was taken up with calling for bids on the tracts of land now in Spice- land and Franklin Townships, is not known. On the 15th, the sale commenced for lands in Henry Township, when seven persons responded to the call of their numbers, and subsequently some ten other purchases were made, as will be seen below :
Allen Shepherd, August 15. William C. Drew, August 15.
Asahel Woodward, August 20.
Thomas Woodward, August 20.
55
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
Thomas Symons, August 15.
Joseph Holman, August 27.
Christopher Bundy, August 15.
Aaron Mills, August 31.
Joseph Hobson, August 15.
Ann Ward, September 21.
William Shannon, August 15.
Caleb Commons, September 21.
Joseph Newby, August 15.
Joseph Hiatt, September 24.
George Hobson, August 16.
William Blount, Senior, October 17.
The auctioneer then passed on to Liberty Township, range eleven east, town- ship seventeen, and found bidders more plentiful. The list and dates below will serve to show something of the tone of the market. We will let William Roe, probably a blood relative of the celebrated Richard Roe, whom school boys will remember as having extensive dealings with John Doe, head the list.
William Roe, August 16.
Jacob Rinehart. September 4. Peter Rinehart, September 4.
Andrew Shannon, August 16.
William Yates, August 16.
Jonathan Pierson. September 4.
Thomas Batson, August 16.
John Beaman, September 4.
Jesse Martindale, August 16.
George Koons, September 12.
Moses Robertson, August 16.
Enoch Goff, September 20. Elisha Long, October 20.
Jeremiah Strode, August 16. William Bell, August 16.
John Baker, October 22.
Daniel Wampler, August 16.
Keneker Johnson, November 4.
David Brower, August 16.
Jesse Forkner, November 12.
Joshua Hardman, August 16.
Dilwin Bales, November 30.
John Leavell, August 16.
Jeremiah Hadley, December 5.
George Handley, August 16.
Richard Conway, December 5.
Samuel Southron, August 16.
Robert Thompson, August 16.
Micajah Chamness, August 16.
John Dougherty, August 20.
John Marshall, December 6.
Henry Brower, August 21.
Thomas Hobson, December 6.
Thomas Raleston, August 31.
Thomas Mills, December 6.
Daniel Miller, August 31.
Prosper Mickels, August 31.
John Stapler, December 7. Josiah Clawson, December 20.
In Dudley Township, the purchasers seem to have taken it more liesurely, and strung their purchases out from the time of the land sale to the end of the year, and are as follows :
William Owens, February 4. David Butler, August 8.
John Gilleland, September 1. Susanna Leakey, September 8.
Josiah Morris, August 11.
Joseph R. Leakey, September 8.
Stephen Hall. August 16.
Joseph Cox, October 5.
Jesse Shortridge. August 16.
John Green, October 6. William Riadon, October 17.
Dally Beard, August 16.
Elisha Shortridge, August 17.
William McKimmey, October 20.
John Wilson, August 18.
Josiah Gilbert, October 21.
Jesse Fraizer, August 18.
Exum Elliott, October 23.
Jonathan Bundy, August 24. William Modlin, August 24.
David Thompson, November 26.
Aaron Morris, November 27.
John Pool, December 1.
Hampton Green, August 24. William Seward, August 28. Joseph Charles, August 30. Linus French, August 31.
John Smith, December 3. Daniel Paul, December 12.
Watson Roe, December 5. John Koons, December 5. George Hobson, December 6.
John Beard, August 16.
Jerry Long, October 20.
Robert Hill, August 21.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
The following are all the purchasers of land, in 1821, within the present limits of Franklin Township :
William Felton, August 28. John Charles, December 28.
Charles See, September 16.
Within the present limits of Spiceland Township, there were twelve entries, in that year, as follows :
Daniel Jackson, August 17. William Mustard, September 1.
Solomon Byrkett, August 27.
James Carr, September 14.
William Felton, August 28.
Jacob Elliott, October 3.
Allen Hunt, August 30.
William Elliott, November 6.
Jacob Hall, August 30.
William Berry, December 20.
Nathan Davis, August 31.
Joseph Charles, December 24.
Within the limits of Greensboro Township, there were eight entries, in that year, namely :
Samuel Hill, August 15.
Thomas McCoy, August 15.
Levi Cook, August 20.
Lewis Hosier, August 20.
John Harvey, Senior, August 21. Samuel Pickering, August 28. John Harvey, August 30. Jacob Eliott, October 3.
In 1822, only three entries were made within the limits of Fall Creek Town- ship, as follows :
Benjamin G. Bristol, August 27.
Reuben Bristol, October 4.
James W. Wier, September 26.
There do not seem to have been any purchases made within the limits of Jefferson Township, during the year 1822, but within the limits of Prairie Town- ship, there was more activity, and the following names appear :
Absalom Harvey, October 22. William Harvey, October 25.
Robert Smith, October 25. John Harris, October 25. Barclay Benbow, October 25. Jacob Weston, November 12. Jacob Witter, December 11.
James Harvey, October 25.
Abijah Cox, October 25. Benjamin Harvey, October 25.
Philip Harkrider, December 22.
These were generally, or all, on Blue River, the bottom and second bottom lands of which seemed very attractive to the early settler. There seems to have been but one entry within the limits of Stony Creek, that of Andrew Blount, Jr., November II. Within the present limits of Blue River, however, the following secured themselves homesteads :
Richard Wilson, October 28.
. Michael Conway, October 28. George Hobson, October 28. Joseph Cory, October 31. Abraham Cory, October 31. Betsy Cory, October 31. Reuben Wilson, November 4. George Koons, November 6.
John Koons, November 11. Jacob Huston, November 12. George Hedrick, November 13. Richard Alsbaugh, November 14.
Henry Metzger, November 14. Henry Stumph, November 18. John P. Johnson. November 22.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
Dempsey Reece entered a tract of land in Harrison Township, April 29, 1822, which was the only piece purchased in the township, during the year. Zeno Pearson and Richard Ratliff purchased land in January following, and Levi Pearson and Gabriel Ratliff, in June and July, which completed the transactions for the year 1823.
The land office for this district was at Brookville until 1825, when it was transferred to Indianapolis, then a village of little consequence, there being fewer voters in Marion County at that time than there are in Henry Township today.
The manner of the land sale was to commence in a certain township in a certain range, and offer each tract or eighty acre lot, consecutively, till the whole was gone through with. If no one bid, the tract being called by number was soon passed. When a number was called, the "squatter" who, perhaps, had a few acres cleared, or a little cabin on the same, could become the purchaser at one dollar and twenty five cents per acre, the minimum price, unless some one ran it up on him.
Where two persons had the same number and were desirous of entering the same eighty or one hundred and sixty acre lot, it was no uncommon thing for one to buy the other off, with some trifling sum, say ten to twenty five dollars, and, al- ยท though the law of public opinion was such that neighbors would seldom try to buy each other's improvements from under them, still there were cases in which no little feeling was excited at times, and various little intrigues were resorted to, to bluff or out-wit competitors.
If for any reason a man failed to bid on a piece of land he desired to pur- chase, it sometimes happened that he could prevail on the atictioneer to call it up "just after dinner." or the "first thing next morning." From and after the land sale, all lands were subject to private entry at the minimum price.
ORGANIZATION OF HENRY COUNTY.
The act referred to as "An act for the fixing of the seats of Justice, in all new counties hereafter to be laid off" in section three (3) of the law authorizing the formation of the county of Henry hereinafter set forth, is Chapter I, of the "special acts passed and published at the second session of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, held at Corydon, on the first Monday in December in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and eighteen." Approved January 2, 1819.
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