USA > Indiana > Ohio County > Rising Sun > Historical sketch of Rising Sun, Indiana, and the Presbyterian church : A fortieth anniversary discourse, delivered Sept. 15, 1856 > Part 2
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house to crave a lodging for the night, and found himself welcomed as friend. The morning was even more gloomy, and a fiercer wind mad the traveler shiver as he turned to face it ; my father called to him to stop and pulling off his overcoat would take no denial, and brother M. drov on his way rejoicing in a very comfortable addition to his suit of home spun. My mother soon discovered that my father was without his coaf suspected-questioned-began to expostulate, when my father said, depre eatingly, " It is very cold, and I had no money to give the poor man t buy a coat." " No, nor to buy one for yourself neither," said mother He answered quietly, "We have plenty of wood, and I can sit by th fire."
He was deeply interested in all the great benevolent enterprises of th day, particularly in the cause of Missions, both Foreign and Domestic. H died in Missouri, Saline county, in August, 1850, nearly 87 years of age
What an honorable Christian record of the first Pioneer to Rising Sun !
In 1798, Samuel Fulton, and his father John Fulton, with their fami lies, emigrated from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. They bought thei lands of Benjamin Chambers, near the corporate limits of the town, an which are yet owned by their descendants. During the revolution, in 1780 John Fulton and wife were carried into captivity by the Indians, thei captivity continuing one year, having two of their children murdered by the Indians. In 1799 Benjamin Avey located on this spot, and bought o Benjamin Chambers the land on which is now the Maple-grove farm and beautiful homestead of David G. Rabb. In 1802 Thomas Fulton settle on the margin of Arnold's Creek, on the farm now owned by Thomas Nel son, where the Indians often eneamped and held their councils. The Indians, in the first settlement of this region, were not troublesome They sometimes created alarms, but committed no serious depredations.
Samuel Fulton, in the spring of 1798, built a eabin on the river bank near where the frame Factory now stands. The beautiful scenery of green and lofty hills, opening fields, lofty forest trees, and winding river, pre sented an enchanting picture to his family. He was a Pioneer of many excellent qualities. His daring exploits in hunting, simplicity of man ners and integrity of character, secured the confidence of his neighbors and he was elected Colonel of the militia, and appointed by Gen. William H. Harrison, then Governor of the territory, Justice of the Peace. H was a Presbyterian by faith and profession, and opened his house for preaching Rev. James Kemper, and Rev. David Riske who in 1810 married Charlotte Chambers, the widow of Israel Ludlow, for several years from 1804 to 1808, visited this place, and preached in the cabins of Ben- jamin Chambers and Samuel Fulton. Mr. Riske was an Associate Reformed Presbyterian minister, having charge of three congregations in the vicinity of Cineinnati, and died in 1818. The Fulton family were the ancestor
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of numerous and respectable descendants, who still survive. Samuel Ful- ton died in August, 1849, aged 84 years.
In 1803 the emigration of the Brown families began. Little incidents start the waves of emigration. Ethan Allen Brown, a young man of intelligence and adventure, in company with his cousin, Captain John Brown, who afterwards settled in Kentucky, opposite North Bend, in 1803 set out for the West. At Brownsville, then called Red Stone, Pennsylva- nia, they purchased two flat-boat loads of flour, with which they went to New Orleans, and on their way stopped here and spied out this goodly land. Arriving at New Orleans, and not finding a market, they shipped on the vessel Rebecca, for Liverpool, England, whence they returned home to Baltimore in September. In 1803 Ethan Allen Brown, in accordance with his father's instruction, explored the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and reported favorably of this spot. In the same year, 1803, he purchased of Benjamin Chambers the large tract of land, the homestead estate of the Brown family. His eldest brother, David Brown, emigrated the same year from South Carolina, and they, with the help of one or two of their Kentucky neighbors, cleared from four to six acres, on a part of which the homestead house now stands. Roger Brown, jr., came here in 1810, and the rest of the family in 1814. Under the culture of industrial art and taste, that forest land, still in the proprietorship of a worthy des- cendant, Henry Brown, has been transformed into a beautiful and tasteful " Parterre " farm. These families were intelligent, industrious and hos- pitable. They lived in the honorable respect of their neighbors, and died with the sorrow of the community.
Roger Brown, Sen., the progenitor of the Browns descendants, died in 1816, aged eighty-two years. The inscription on his tombstone declares that he was " beloved by his relatives, respected by his friends, an honest man, and a true republican."
Ethan Allen Brown rose to honorable distinction in the civil service of his country. The marble shaft over his remains bears the record of his life and character, and is as follows : " A man distinguished during a long life by devotion to his country. In the office of Judge of the Supreme Court, Governor of the State of Ohio, Senator of the United States, Com- missioner of the United States Land Office, Envoy to Brazil; and more highly distinguished as one whose unblemished character, whose truthful- ness and purity of heart and life reflected honor on offices which are sup- posed to confer honor on their incumbents; was born in Connecticut, in 1776, died, in Indianapolis, February 24th, 1852."
In the families of Archibald Moore, David Close, Peyton S. Symmes, and their descendants, the Browns have numerous and honorable rep- resentatives.
Pioneer history is one full of romantic and instructive incidents illus- trative of early scenes and habits. The mode of conveyance in social isits, illustrates the fashion of pioneer locomotion. In the winter of
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1805, Colonel Samuel Fulton made a large party for his neighbors. Ben- jamin Chambers, an invited guest, put his oxen to a large pirogue (a water-craft or dug-out), and with all his family, and a few of his neigh- bors in it, gave them a merry sleigh-ride to the party. This was a com- mon conveyance during the season of sleighing. Quite a contrast to the splendid carriages and elegant sleighs now in common use.
The old orchard, above town, still a suggestive symbol of pioneer days and of advancing civilization, has a poetic romance to its history. For more than a half century it has 'stood as a favorite retreat on the bank of the river. Its summer foliage and shade afforded an enchanting spot for lovers to ramble and pour forth, in moonlight evenings, their mutual inspirations and vows. Hither the love-smitten descendants of the pio- neers resorted, as nymphs of old to sylvan groves, and the orchard received the poetic cognomen of the "Lover's Retreat." What those ancient trees heard of the wooing and winning of hearts, are among the unwritten records of Rising Sun !
The historical era, from 1798 to 1814, was characteristic of pioneer society. A female pioneer of 1798, now a venerable lady of this city, Polly Covington, a daughter of Col. Fulton, says : " Those were right happy times ; better than now; good neighbors, and confidence in each other." Another Pioneer, a gentleman of high character and intelligence, a son of the founder of Rising Sun, Dr. Basil James, says : "The manners of the early settlers were plain and simple, and their morals far excelled in excel- lence those of the present day." This view of pioneer society corresponds with what Charlotte Chambers Ludlow says of Cincinnati society in 1797 : " The society consisted," says she, " of a small number of ladies, united by the most perfect good-will and desire of mutual happiness. The gentle- men were social and intelligent."
Those times and scenes of Pioneer life have a beautiful description in the following poem, written by a favorite Western poet, William D. Gal- lagher, and dedicated to the descendants of Israel Ludlow :
A song of the early times out West, and our green old forest homes, Whose pleasant mem'ries, freshly yet across the bosom come ! A song for the free and gladsome life, in those early days we led, With a teeming soil beneath our feet, and a smiling heaven o'erhead ! Oh ! the waves of life danced merrily, and a joyous flow, In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty Years ago.
The hunt, the shot, the glorious chase, the captured elk or deer ! The camp, the big bright fire, and then the rich and wholesome cheer, The sweet sound sleep, at dead of night, by our camp-fires blazing high, Unbroken by the wolf's long howl, and the panther springing by ! Oh ! merrily passed the time, despite our Indian foe, In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty Years ago.
We shunned not labor when 'twas due, we wrought with right good-will, And for the homes we won for them, our children bless us still
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We liv'd not hermit lives, but oft in social converse met ; And fires of love were kindled then, that burn on warmly yet. Oh! pleasantly the stream of life pursued its constant flow In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty Years ago.
We felt that we were fellow men; we felt we were a band Sustain'd here in the wilderness, by. Heaven's upholding hand. And when the solemn Sabbath came, we gather'd in the wood, And lifted up our hearts in prayer to God, the only God. Our temples then were earth and sky; none others did we know In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty Years ago.
Our forest life was rough and rude, and dangers closed us round; But here amid the green old trees, we freedom sought and found. Oft through our dwellings wintry blasts would rush with shriek and moan, We car'd not tho' they were but frail, we felt they were our own ! Oh ! free and manly lives we led 'mid verdure or 'mid snow, In the days when we were Pioneers, Fifty Years ago.
But now our course of life is short; and, as from day to day, We're walking on from halting step, and fainting by the way, Another land more bright than this, to our dim sight appears, And on our way to it, we'll soon again be Pioneers !
Yet while we linger, we may all a backward glance still throw, To the days when were Pioneers, Fifty Years ago.
THE TOWN OF RISING SUN
Dates its existence and location to the enterprise of the second era and class of pioneers. John James, an independent planter, of Frederic county, Maryland, emigrated to the West, in May, 1807, his family being conveyed in a flatboat from Redstone, and landed in Lawrenceburgh in June following. He remained at that point two years, when, for the pur- pose of educating his children, he removed to Cincinnati; where, after a residence of two years he removed to this place, December 25th, 1811, being but a few weeks after the famous battle of Tippecanoe, which occur- red in September, 1811. In consequence of Indian hostilities, prevalent at that time, and the frequent alarms of the settlement, to allay the fears of the family, he removed them to Louisville, in May, 1812, one month previous to the declaration of war against Great Britain, while he and his eldest son, Pinckney, remained upon the ground. In the autumn of 1813, the family were brought back to this point, where nearly all his descend- ants now reside.
In the spring of 1814, on the 30th of May, John James laid out Rising Sun, in a dense forest, so that the age of the town is forty-two years. Mr. James, in order to promote the more rapid settlement of the town, gave all the lots on certain squares, except the corner lots, to emigrants, who would within one year erect a two-story log or frame house, with a brick or stone chimney, worth not less than two hundred dollars. He als
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donated a lot to each religious denomination ; also, the lot where the Graded School building is erected; also, in 1828, the lot on which the Seminary now stands, and the lots where the old cemetery is located. He was a liberal man, in all public enterprises, and was ambitious to found and build up a large and flourishing town. He died on the 27th of March, 1838, aged seventy-six years, and his wife, Martha James, July 21st, 1821, aged fifty-seven years. "God's Acre," which they gave as a burial-place for the dead, holds their mortal remains. They left, in their children and children's children, numerous descendants who occupy useful and honorable stations in society. Colonel Pinckney James, him- self a Pioneer, was a man of talents, enterprise, enlarged views, and devo- ted himself to the prosperity of the place. He built two cotton and
oollen factories, which for years were in successful operation, and gave employment to some seventy-five persons. He did much to advance the interests of the place. He studied law, in early youth, with Judge Bur- net, of Cincinnati, and was a member of the legislature, for a number of years, from Dearborn county. He died on the 25th of December, 1851, universally lamented. Another son of the proprietor of the town, Basil James, M. D., still living, was one of the earlier physicians of the place, having studied medicine, under Dr. Daniel Drake, of Cincinnati. His zeal and success in promoting the cause of education in Rising Sun, are evidences of his intelligent public spirit and moral worth. Another son, Henry James, still living, also labored energetically to promote the inter- ests of the place. He has built twenty-four dwelling-houses and three mills, in and near Rising Sun, opened and improved farms, and co-opera- ted in the public improvements of the place.
In 1814 the first steamboat passed Rising Sun. It formerly had been a large barge, that made several voyages from Cincinnati to New Orleans, consuming eight months in the downward and upward trip. A rudely constructed engine was put into it, and thus furnished and fitted up, the steamer Independence plowed the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Arriving at New Orleans, General Jackson, commander of the American forces, pressed it into service against the British ; and, after the war in 1815, she began her upward trip, and arrived, after a voyage of four months, at Rising Sun, where she stopped for wood, but none could be obtained. John James furnished her with fence-rails for fuel, and agreed to take his pay in a passage to Cincinnati. He embarked, but such was the slow speed of the steamer, that when he got to North Bend he left the boat and walked to Cincinnati, arriving some twelve hours before the steamer.
During several years subsequent to the location of the town, the tide of emigration flowed into the place, and valuable and permanent citizens established themselves in business and professional pursuits. In 1813, Walter Smith and family, whose daughter is Mrs. Joshua Haines; and Jonah Smith. In 1814, Caleb Craft, Henry Weies, James A. Watton,
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and their families. In 1815, Prince Athearn and family, Abel C. Pepper, Shadrach Hathaway, N. Miller and family, Joel Decoursey, M. McHeuston, and James Hayden. Mr. Hayden was the first regular physician ; he studied medicine with Dr. Drake of Cincinnati, and first practiced medicine with Dr. Hagerman of Hamilton, Butler county. He married on the 27th of No- vember, 1818, Harriet James, daughter of the proprietor, and died on the 8th of July, 1823. In 1816, Archibald Moore, and the twin brothers, Joshua and Mathias Haines, the latter of whom was for more than thirty years a popular physician, and is still living, the venerable and beloved patriarch of the profession, whose life and labors have blessed this whole region. Moses, Daniel and Philip Tapley, three brothers, emigrated in 1818. These emigrants, and the others previously noticed, were chiefly instrumental in giving prosperity and character to the town; they took a deep interest in founding and fostering schools, and in laying the foun- dations of steady and solid growth to the place. As venerable Pioneers, some, like aged trees left to tell of a former forest, still remain, to remind us of the times passed away, and their numerous descendants, filling useful stations in society, are honorable certificates of their own good influences and characters.
THE CIVIL HISTORY
Of Rising Sun deserves an historic record. The pioneers and subsequent settlers shared largely in civil honors. At different periods, dating from 1820 on till 1856, Joel Decoursey, Samuel Jelly, A. C. Pepper, Pinckney James, Wm. Lannius, John Tait, jr., Samuel F. Covington, Hazlett Dodd, John W. Spencer, George H. Haryman, and John J. Hayden, were mem- bers of the State Legislature. Col. A. C. Pepper served in the last war, and has been Indian Agent, United States Marshal for Indiana, and, in 1850, was a member of the State Convention to form the new Constitution, in which he bore a conspicuous part. In 1817, he went to Corydon, to obtain an act to organize a new county, so as to make Rising Sun the county seat. After nearly thirty years of effort on the part of the citi- zens, this act was passed on the 4th of January, 1843; and in December, 1844, the first Court was held in Rising Sun. A. C. Downey, a citizen of this place, and native of the county, has, for the last six years, presided as Judge of this Judicial District, with dignity and ability.
THE ERA OF CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
Begins in the year 1816. There is sweetness and comfort in the voice of a transient herald of the Gospel, that "bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation," that saith unto Zion, "thy God reigneth." Their silvery notes, echoing through the valleys and on the hill-tops of our pioneer settlements, inspire and encourage the fainting sheep in the wilderness ; but society, in its fresh and plastic forms, need the permanent
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institutions of Christianity to mold, sanctify, and place on a solid basis, the elements of growth and maturity.
This was early secured to Rising Sun. The Domestic Missionary So- ciety of Connecticut, the oldest in America, commissioned Rev. Nathan B. Derrow as their Missionary to the Western States. He arrived in Rising Sun in the summer of 1816, and on the 15th of September, 1816, forty years ago this day, he organized the Presbyterian Church. The record is as follows :
Monday, Sept. 12th, A. D. 1816. The congregation of Rising Sun, in the State of Indiana, being met, agreeably to previous appointment, Na- than B. Derrow, Missionary, from Connecticut, Moderator, it was
Resolved, That it is expedient that a Church of the Presbyterian order be organized in this place, and that the congregation proceed now to the choice of three brethren for Elders of the Church. Accordingly, Messrs. James Stewart, William McCord, and Hugh Espey, jr., were duly elected, ' and having declared their acceptance, their ordination was assigned to take place next Sabbath.
Sabbath, Sept. 15th, 1816. After sermon, agreeably to the above appointment, Messrs. James Stewart, William McCord, and Hugh Espey, jr., were solemnly consecrated to the office of Elders in the Rising Sun congregation, and the Church is hereby declared to be organized accord- ing to Presbyterian order. All which is testified by mc,
NATHAN B. DERROW, V. D. M., Missionary from Connecticut.
The Church was constituted in a frame school-house, that stood opposite to the Court-house, but which, in 1818, was burned down, a great, calamity to the citizens. A Methodist class was organized in the same house in 1815, by Rev. David Sharpe ; and thus, the two leading denominations of the city had their birth in the same house, and about the same time-a fact suggestive of Christian union in practical cooperation for the advance- ment of a common Christianity.
Those who united in organizing the Presbyterian Church were : James Stewart, William McCord, Hugh Espey, jr., Samuel Fulton, Mary Fulton, Jane Fulton, Isabella McCord, Isabella Jelly, Prince Athearn, and Con- tent Athearn. It was the desire of the congregation to secure the services. of Mr. Derrow as pastor of the Church; and in order to induce his per- manent settlement in the town, John James presented him with the lot on which Prince Athearn and family have resided so long; but Mr. Der- row never made this his home. He labored as a Missionary for a number of years in Indiana, and preached before the Legislature in Corydon in 1823-4. He was a laborious, useful minister, and had the entire con- fidence of all the people as a good man and a faithful preacher.
The ruling Elders were men of a solid cast of character, greatly respected for Christian integrity and their useful lives. As officers in the Church, they were faithful and active; uniformly, when the congregation had no
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preaching, they read a sermon, and conducted the religious services of the Sabbath, and one or the other, always represented the Church in Pres- bytery. The corner-stones that God laid in the foundations of this spir- itual building were solid and sound. All the original members have gone to their reward but Prince Athearn and his wife, who are to-day, as pio- neers, permitted to mingle in this Christian Jubilee. It is the testimony of an intelligent observer, Col. A. C. Pepper, himself prominent in the early scenes of Rising Sun, and still an honored citizen, that "the stan- dard of morality out of the Churches, and of piety in the Churches, was of a higher character then than now."
From the organization of the Church, and through a period of ten suc- cessive years, the congregation and town enjoyed the ministerial services of a number of venerable and able men. Rev. Joshua L. Wilson, D. D., for forty years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Cincinnati, preached in the summer of 1816, and in November, 1817, administered the sacrament and ordained Joseph Warnock as a ruling Elder. From 1817 to 1822, Rev. James Welch, Rev. James Duncan, Rev. William Diekey, Rev. John Lyle, from Kentucky, Rev. Daniel Hayden, Rev. John Campbell, father of the distinguished Alexander Campbell of Virginia, ministered the word and ordinances to the Church and people. They were men mighty in the Seriptures, and abundant in labors. Their ser- mons were solid and full of Biblical doctrines and spiritual nourishment, and, like the old Scotch sermons, were good in length, as well as broad and deep in thought. In those days, when there was a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord, the people, unlike those of the present day, would sit and hear those men of God three solid hours, and not grow weary.
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Rev. James Duncan was employed for a year or two, as stated supply, a fourth part of his time. He labored in the work of the Ministry till his death, in 1828. He died at Hart's Mill, in Dearborn County. and was buried by the private charity of James Wilson, a venerable Christian man and Elder of the other Presbyterian Church, now dead. Thus is it, that often the Minister wears out his life in labors of love, and dies without even a sufficiency of means for the rites of sepulture.
From 1822 to 1828, the congregation were without the stated means of grace. The little flock was occasionally fed by visiting ministers. Rev. Robert B. Dobbins, David Root, Thomas Thomas, Rufus Spaulding, Arte- mas Bullard, Ralph Cushman, James E. Johnson were the Ministers who were here, at different periods, preaching on the Sabbath, administering the communion, and encouraging the Church. They were all men emin- ent in piety, learning, and in efforts to build up the Kingdom of Christ in the Western States.
Rev. Mr. Thomas, and John Thompson, a venerable octogenarian Min- ister, still living in Crawfordsville, organized the Zoar Presbyterian Church, in Switzerland County. Mr. Thomas visited the churches in
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this region by appointment of Presbytery, and was an able and learned biblical scholar, und a most laborious servant of God. He was an Eng- lishman by birth, an American from preference, and a ripe Christian, by the grace of God. He could wield the keen edge of wit and satire most dextrously. In giving his counsels to this Church, he told them, humor- ously, " by no means to get an unmarried young man for their pastor ; for," said he, "if you get such a minister, many of the young ladies will join the Church, and, when he does get married, most of them will fall from grace."
In the year 1828, dates an important and interesting era in the religious and educational history of the Church and town. The true and stately growth of society progresses only under the combined agencies of Chris- tianity and education. They are the chief corner-stones on which the durable and ornate structure of human society must rest and rise. Intel- lectual expansion, moral culture, the elegant refinements of social life, and all the grander issues of true religion flow from the creative power of Christian truth and sanctified education.
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