USA > Indiana > Boone County > History of Boone County, Indiana : With biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Volume I > Part 37
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
MILLEDGEVILLE.
The above village is situated five miles south of Lebanon, rather in the north part of Harrison township. It was laid out by G. O. P. Crawford on section 26. Its first tradesmen were W. H. Campbell, Henry Tomlinson, J. E. Pernell, Henry Ulin, William Higgins, John, Bartlett and Theodore Dickerson. The doctors were Henry Tomlinson, Melvin Leachman, E. W. S. Hilligoss and James Turner, with others located later. The postmaster
404
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
is known as John Bartlett. The office was discontinued but restored in 1886. The blacksmiths were William Edwards, John Troutman and Edwards. The village contains a good brick school house, Protestant Meth- odist church and several good dwelling houses. The postoffice was formerly kept by J. P. Pinnell, who was probably the first one here.
MECHANICSBURG.
This thriving town, so beautifully located on a high piece of ground near the junction of Brown's Wonder and Sugar creek, was laid out in the year 1835 by James Snow. It is near the Clinton county line and also near the line dividing the townships of Clinton and Washington, being, however, in the latter, on the road leading from Lebanon to Frankfort, about nine miles from the former and seven miles from the latter. The town contains many handsome residences, three churches, school house, etc., and is the center of a fine local trade. It has been called "The Burg" longer than the oldest inhabitant can recollect. It has a population of about two hundred. The village is well known throughout the country, as its flouring mill, at one time owned by George Ryan, was patronized by farmers far and near, not only of this, but by those of the adjoining county of Clinton. It is well supplied with fresh groceries, dry goods, ready-made clothing, boots, shoes and notions from its various shops and stores. A good drug store, con- ducted by E. E. Armstrong, deals out drugs, patent medicines, school books, stationary, paints, oils, cigars, tobacco and notions. This is the home of the well-known and valued citizens-Dr. Jesse S. Reagan, Dr. Walker, Nathan Garrett and many others. Dr. C. D. Umberhine, a graduate of Rush Medi- cal College, is still in practice here. Frank Moore and W. H. Brown, who have plenty to do the year round, are its blacksmiths. William Keller is justice of the peace and works at shoemaking during odd spells. J. S. Moore ran the wagon shop and kept postoffice. Frank Mills was familiarly known as "Handle," from his varied duties, mail carrier, goods hauler and generalissimo of all work for everybody. Hart Lodge No. 413, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is the oldest secret society in the town. The mem- bership own their hall and are in a good condition. The religious denom- inations are the United Brethren in Christ, Methodist Episcopal and Christ-
405
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
ian. In the eighties the pastor of the first-named church was Rev. Perry Cooper; of the second, Rev. Jesse Hill, and of the last-named, Rev. Howe, of Irvington. In recent years the Christian church replaced their structure with a fine, substantial brick building. All are in a good condition.
NEW BRUNSWICK.
This town is in the southwest part of Harrison township and about seven miles southwest of Lebanon, in a rich, fertile part of the county, con- taining several good residences. Christian church, brick school house, post- office, store, doctors, etc. Among the first merchants here were Samuel Vest & Son, Doctor Horner, Mr. Sexton, Aaron Frazee, Colonel Lechter, Franklin Walters & Son, D. M. Watts. I. W. Smith was postmaster and merchant in the eighties. The doctors who have practiced here from time to time are Doctors Horner, George and William Kane, W. E. Everts, James Leach and T. N. Bounell. William H. Crose was the old veteran wagon-maker. The blacksmiths, William Dale, O. C. Wilson and Joseph Chitwood. The first postmaster was Nelson Watts. The town was laid out in 1850, on the lands of Joseph and Nathaniel Wainwright.
NORTHFIELD.
Northfield was laid out in the year 1834. Jesse Lane was the pro- prietor. It is situated in Union township, on the Michigan road. Big Eagle crosses the Michigan road just north, and Findly creek on the south. Among the first settlers and business men were as follows: Hiram Mc- Quidy built the first horse mill or corn cracker. A. Sanburn was the first postmaster. First merchants were Mr. Long, Chance Cole, Jacob Tipton. Doctors were Knowlton, McLeod, Presly and Samuel Hardy. First black- smith was Mr. Robinson; first school teacher, Mr. Bray ; first justices of the peace were - Sanburn and Riley B. Hogshier. The first church was built by the Methodists. A church, called Adventists, was built here in 1886 and dedicated in December of that year by Rev. Covert, of Howard county. It is a very good frame building; cost eight hundred dollars. Northfield is the voting place of Union township and for three-quarters of
406
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
a century has had a postoffice. Among the early families of the place were George Shirts, Hiram McQuidy, Mr. Sanburn, Jacob Tipton and Mr. Rob- inson. The first tavern was kept by Hiram McQuidy. The town contains a good brick school house and Methodist Episcopal church. Northfield was once the home of Jonathan H. Rose, also that of Jacob Tipton. The post- master in 1887 was Henry Nichols.
ROSSTON.
Rosston is situated in Union township, on the Michigan road, in the center of section 34, township 29 north, range 2 east. It derives its name from the Ross brothers, whose farms adjoin it. T. M. Ross, with sixty acres on the north ; J. J. and M. Ross, with thirty acres due west; N. Ross, with fifty-six acres south, and with him T. M. Ross, with thirteen acres more. Rosston is a mile north of Northfield, bearing west. It was laid out about the time the Anderson & St. Louis railroad was surveyed. There is quite a little trade here, especially since the railroad was finished from Anderson to Lebanon, January 22, 1887. There are two variety stores and a Masonic Lodge No. 528, chartered May 23, 1875. The first religious meetings held in Union township were at the home of S. Sedwick, whose farm borders Rosston on the east.
ROYALTON.
Royalton nestles among the hills of Fishback and Eagle creek and near the Marion county line on the south, in Eagle township, southwest of Lebanon. Among the first merchants were John Rodman, Doctor Horn, John W. Vaugh. The early doctors were Doctor Horn, Doctor Ross and Doctor Graham. First hotel was kept by John Smock; first blacksmith shop was that of Thomas Smock; first postmasters were Doctor Horn, John McCabe, J. W. Vaugh; first shoe-makers, Jeremiah Washburn and Daniel Thompson. Samuel Jones was the first to sell whiskey in Royalton. Mr. Strowmire was the principal merchant in the eighties. There is a postoffice kept here; also trades of various kinds going on. It was near here the
407
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
famous Forman murder occurred nearly a century ago in Marion county, and no wonder with whiskey which could be bought at Royalton.
TERHUNE.
Terhune is located on the east side of section 22, township 20 north, range 2 east, in Marion township, at the crossing of the Chicago, India- napolis & Louisville railroad and the pike leading from Mechanicsburg and Sheridan to Noblesville. The town was laid out early in the eighties, during the construction of the railroad. Being surrounded by very rich farming lands, it started out with the most lively boom of any prospective town in the county. Located about four miles on the railway from Sheridan, eleven miles east on pike from Mechanicsburg and fourteen miles southeast from Frankfort on the railroad, its founders thought it would become a large, flourishing town. That was the age in which everybody thought a railroad would insure a town. People flocked to the new town and it grew rapidly. In two or three years there were four stores, three blacksmith shops, many houses and other industries in proportion, sawmill, flouring mill, elevator, large livery barns and every indication of a thriving town. Terhune got its growth in less than three years and has settled down into a good trading center for Marion township. Supporting an excellent elevator, stores, black- smith shops, school and churches, it makes, with good residences, a very desirable place for homes and country trade. It keeps in touch socially with other towns by good newspaper correspondents.
THORNTOWN.
The territory now comprising Thorntown and vicinity was known as the "Thorntown Indian Reservation" until the year 1828, when it was pur- chased from the Indians by the government. It was two or three years before the Indians were finally removed, when a man by the name of Cor- nelius Westfall purchased the ground on which the city is now situated. It was laid out in lots in 1831.
The growth of the town at first was very slow and the difficulties of the early settlers were great; log huts were at first a luxury, and the town was
408
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
surrounded with swamps and mosquitoes and forests, and the people were annoyed with the old shaking ague and malarial fever, while the country was infested with wolves, bear, deer, wild cat and numerous smaller species of wild beasts, with no roads save paths through the swampy wilderness, with no bridges across the streams, with few possible means of ingress and egress, with LaFayette and Connersville as the nearest towns, with few domestic animals and almost no markets for the products of the farm, one can gain some idea of the trials and vicissitudes of the early settlers, the men and women who subdued the forests and laid the foundation for the present prosperous and happy homes.
Among the first arrivals and earliest settlers were Cornelius Westfall, Levi Westfall, Oliver Craven, Joshua and James Van Eaton, John S. Pearce (who erected the first grist mill in that part of the county), L. McConnell, Robert Hamill, Zachariah Gapen and Isaac Morgan. Mr. Hamill was the first postmaster and Mr. Morgan opened the first hotel or tavern, a humble log structure, in which the fare was of a primitive character, where corn- pones and venison were the staple diet. Robert Hamill started the first store, and to him is due the honor of inaugurating mercantile enterprises in the town. Soon after another store was opened by Mr. McConnell; here was the first competition in trade in Thorntown, and from these two insignifi- cant little establishments have sprung the quite one hundred business houses of today, while beautiful homes, costly church edifices and substantial school houses abound. The streets are wide and attractive and no stranger ever leaves Thorntown without admitting that it has made an excellent impression upon him.
The public school facilities are unsurpassed; the system in force is equal, if not superior, to most towns. The two large, elegant school build- ings are modern, comfortable and convenient, the sanitary arrangements are perfect and a most efficient corps of teachers is in charge.
The city is well represented in the fraternal affairs, there being lodges of the following orders: Masonic, Odd Fellowship, in three branches; Knights of Pythias, Red Men, Grand Army of the Republic, Modern Woodmen, the Benevolent and Protective Elks and Daughters of Rebekah.
MILLS MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN, THORNTOWN, PRESENTED BY GEN, ANSON P. MILLS. -Argus-Enterprise.
409
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
COMMITTEE REPORTS.
Thorntown, Indiana, October 12, 1908. To the Citizens of Thorntown in Mass Meeting Assembled :
Your committee, appointed to draft suitable resolutions expressing our appreciation of the generous offer submitted to this meeting, beg leave to present the following: Whereas, Gen. Anson Mills, of Washington, D. C., has, through Richard E. Niven, submitted to the people of Thorntown a proposition wherein he proposes to expend not less than ten thousand dol- lars ($10,000) in the purchase of a lot, sinking wells, building pump house, the purchase of a boiler, engine and pump, build stand pipe, put in supply pipe, erect a handsome public drinking fountain (of bronze or brass), a watering place for stock, a sewer to carry all surplus water from the street to Prairie creek, all at his own expense, as a monument to his father and mother. And, whereas, he further proposes that the town of Thorntown shall have the right of attaching water mains and pipes of sufficient size to supply any or all parts of the town with water, for fire, sprinkling or domestic use. Therefore, be it resolved, that the action of General Mills in thus honoring his ancestors is highly commendable and appreciated by the people of Thorntown, and his offer to present to our citizens this tribute of respect as a memorial to his father and mother, who were pioneer citi- zens of this community, is recognized by us as a magnificent and generous act on the part of a dutiful son, which we accept with grateful acknowledge- ments to the donor.
R. E. NIVEN, C. R. ARMSTRONG, T. E. BRADSHAW.
ACCEPTANCE.
Thorntown, Indiana, October 14, 1908.
Whereas, a proposition of Gen. Anson Mills, of Washington, D. C., to install a pump, pumping station, power house, wells, stand pipe, fountain and conduits for water works in the town of Thorntown, Boone county, Indiana, as contained in a letter addressed to Mr. R. E. Niven, under date
410
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
of September 28, 1908, has been presented to the board of trustees of said town and said proposition has been duly considered by said board, and
Whereas, it is the desire of said board of trustees to assist in any way in their power the laudable purpose of General Mills to erect a monument to the memory of his father and mother in the place of his nativity which will prove a source of pleasure and utility to all the inhabitants of said town and community ; be it
Resolved by the board of trustees of said town of Thorntown, Indiana, that the generous offer of General Mills to said town be and the same is hereby accepted.
Resolved, that upon the completion of said water works plant as con- templated by General Mills the said town will, and it hereby obligates itself, to maintain the same in a first-class state of efficiency and that it will keep and maintain over each fountain or public drinking place erected by General Mills an electric arc light sufficient to light the same during the hours of darkness.
Resolved, that the board of trustees will adopt and enact all necessary ordinances to carry into full effect the above resolutions according to its spirit and intent.
Resolved, that the clerk of said town be and he is hereby directed to transmit to General Mills a duly certified copy of these resolutions under seal of said town.
J. A. BALL, President. JOSEPH MAYER, J. E. LEATHERMAN,
J. S. OREAR, Clerk of Thorntown, Indiana.
Mr. John E. Leatherman introduced the above preamble and resolu- tions and moved that the same be adopted. The motion was seconded by Mr. Joseph Mayer. The president of the board of trustees, therefore, put the question : Shall the resolutions be adopted ?
ALL WITH ONE ACCORD.
A large number of the citizens of Thorntown met in the high school hall to consider the proposition of Gen. Anson Mills to build a memorial
4II
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
fountain in Thorntown in memory of his parents. Mr. J. A. Ball, president of the town board, called the house to order and stated the purpose of the meeting. R. E. Niven was called upon to give the purport of the proposi- tion of General Mills. A committee of three, consisting of R. E. Niven, Tom Bradshaw and Dr. C. R. Armstrong, was appointed to draft resolu- tions of acceptance of the proposition and expressive of the gratitude of the citizens for the generous offer. While the committee was preparing its report, Mr. Ball made a statement of the financial condition of the town, which was very gratifying. He stated that duplicate power and generators were being installed in the light plant, and that the town would be out of debt by the first of January, excepting outstanding school bonds not yet due. He stated that the net earnings of the plant last year was two thousand dollars and that the water works could be taken up by the town board after General Mills had completed what he wished, and carried throughout the town in a few years without increase of debt or taxes.
WILLIAM T. BARRY.
Postmaster General of the United States of America. To all who shall see these presents, Greeting :
Know ye, that, confiding in the integrity, ability and punctuality of Robert Hamill, Esq., I do appoint him postmaster and authorize him to execute the duties of that office at Thorntown, in the county of Boone, state of Indiana.
According to the laws of the United States and the regulation of the postoffice department. To hold the said office of postmaster, with all the powers, privileges and emoluments, to the same belonging during the pleasure of the postmaster general of the United States for the time being.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the postoffice department to be affixed, at Washington City, the twenty-second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the fifty-seventh Southern Division.
Registered the 20th day of April, 1833.
CHARLES WILLIAMS.
412
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
It will be observed by the following statement of the postoffice depart- ment, that there was a postoffice for this community, prior to the one estab- lished at Thorntown. It was at New Pennsylvania, which was laid out in the fall of 1831, by Enoch Davis, who built a dwelling and store-house, in which he kept a postoffice. New Pennsylvania was a rival of Thorntown, located on the Indianapolis and State road at the crossing of the road lead- ing from Thorntown to Mechanicsburg, about the center of section 31, township 20, range 1 west, in Washington township, near the W. H. Hutch- inson farm house. Robert Hamill, the father of R. W. Hamill, of Thorn- town, came to Boone in 1832 and moved his family in 1833. He received his commission as postmaster.
The postmaster general informs the Honorable Mr. Tipton, that he has this day established a postoffice at Thorntown, county of Boone and state of Indiana, and appointed Robert Hamill, Esq., to be postmaster. The key for opening the mail is enclosed and the necessary blanks for the office, which are transmitted to the postoffice at New Pennsylvania.
Postoffice Department, 12th February, 1833.
Postoffice Department, Washington, 12 February, 1833.
Sir-I have concluded to establish a postoffice, by the name of Thorn- town, in the county of Boone, and state of Indiana, and to appoint you post- master thereof, in which capacity you will be authorized to act, upon com- plying with the following requirements :
First. To execute the enclosed bond and cause it to be executed by two sufficient sureties, in the presence of suitable witnesses, and the suffi- ciency of the sureties to be certified by a qualified magistrate.
Second. To take and subscribe the oath or affirmation of office en- closed, before a magistrate, who will certify the same.
Third. To exhibit your bond and qualification, duly executed, taken and certified as aforesaid, to the postmaster of New Pennsylvania, and then to deposit them in the mail, addressed to this Department, Office of Ap- pointments.
You are then entitled to enter upon the duties of the office.
A packet, containing a mail key, blanks, laws and regulations of the de- partment, and a table of postoffices, is transmitted to you, addressed to the care of the postmaster of New Pennsylvania.
413
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
After the receipt, at the department, of your bond and qualification, duly executed, taken and certified, and after my approval of the sufficiency of the same, a commission will be sent to you.
This letter will be your authority for calling on the mail-carrier to supply your office with the mail. It will be your duty to continue in the charge of the office, either personally or by assistant, till you are relieved from it by the consent of the department, which will be signified by the dis- continuance of your office, or the appointment of your successor.
The quarters expire on the 3Ist of March, 30th June. 30th September, and 3Ist December. Accounts must be rendered for each quarter.
Postmasters are unauthorized to give credit for postage. Want of funds, therefore, is no excuse for failure of payment.
Payments to the department must be punctually made, if called for by drafts, whenever the draft is presented. If deposits are ordered they should be made within ten days after the termination of the quarter, unless re- quired to be made sooner.
No postmaster must change the name by which his office is designated on the books of the department, without my order therefor previously given.
Be careful in mailing letters, to postmark each one, in all cases, with the name of your office and state; and in all communications to the depart- ment to embrace, in the date, the name of your postoffice, county (or district) and state.
Special attention to the foregoing instructions, and a careful perusal of, and a frequent reference to, the law and general instructions, are ex- pected of you and your assistants.
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,
W. T. BARRY.
To Robert Hamill, Esq., Thorntown, Boone County, Indiana.
COL. ANSON MILLS.
Anson Mills, soldier and inventor, was born at Thorntown, Indiana, August 31, 1834, son of James P. and Sarah (Kenworthy) Mills, grandson of James and Marian Mills, great-grandson of James and Joanna (Neels) Mills, and great-great-grandson of Robert Mills, son of Amos and Mary, the
414
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
first of the family in America, who came from England with William Penn in 1670 and lived in Newberry township, York, Pennsylvania. Both paternal and maternal ancestors were Quakers, and for several generations followed farming as a vocation. Anson Mills received his early education in the Charlotteville (N. Y.) Academy, and was a cadet at the United States Mili- tary Academy during 1855-57. He was appointed first lieutenant of the Eighteenth United States Infantry on May 14, 1861, having received the indorsement of the entire class at West Point in 1861. Appointed captain April 27, 1863; transferred to Third Cavalry April 4, 1871; major, Tenth Cavalry, April 4, 1878; lieutenant-colonel, Fourth Cavalry, March 25, 1890; colonel, Third Cavalry, August 16, 1892, and brigadier-general, June 16, 1897. Retired on his own application June 27, 1897. He was brevetted captain December 31, 1862, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; major, September 1, 1864, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Chickamauga, Georgia, and during the Atlanta campaign; lieutenant-colonel, December 16, 1864, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Nashville, Tennessee, and colonel, Febru- ary 27, 1890, for gallant services in action against the Indians, at Slim Buttes, Dakota, September 9, 1876.
After leaving West Point he went to the frontier of Texas, and engaged in engineering and land surveying, and laid out the first plan of the city of El Paso. In 1859 he was surveyor on the part of Texas on the boundary commission establishing the boundary between New Mexico, Indian Terri- tory and Texas. In March, 1861, he went to Washington and joined the Cassius M. Clay Guards, which were quartered, armed and equipped by the Federal government, and served there, protecting Federal officers and prop- erty until relieved by volunteers. He was with his regiment in the army of the Ohio and department of the Cumberland to October 22, 1864, and was acting inspector-general, district of Etowah, to February 25. 1865. He participated in the siege of Corinth, the battles of Perryville, Kentucky; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Hoover's Gap, Tennessee ; Chickamauga, Georgia ; the siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Missionary Ridge, Tennessee; Tunnel Hill, Georgia; Buzzard's Roost, Georgia; the Atlanta campaign, Resaca, Georgia : Dallas, Georgia; New Hope Church, Georgia; Kenesaw Mountain, New Dow Station, Peach Tree Creek; Utoy Creek, Georgia, where he was wounded, and Jonesboro, Georgia, and while on the staff of General Sted- man, in the battles of Nashville, Tennessee, and Decatur, Alabama.
415
BOONE COUNTY, INDIANA.
During the four years' war he was never absent, either on leave or from sickness, and was present in all the engagements of his regiment. Fox's "Regimental Losses" states that his regiment (Eighteenth Infantry), lost inore in killed and wounded than any other regiment in the regular army, and that his company (H), First Battalion, lost more in killed and wounded than any other company in the regiment.
After the war he served at Fort Aubrey, Kansas; Forts Bridger and Fetterman, Wyoming; Fort Sedgwick, Colorado; Fort McPherson, Georgia, and Columbia, South Carolina. He joined the Third Cavalry April 15, 1871, and served with it at Forts Whipple and McDowell, Arizona; Fort McPher- son, Nebraska; North Platte, Nebraska, and was in the field commanding the Big Horn expedition from August to October, 1874. At Camp Sheridan, Nebraska, and Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming, to May 18, 1876. He com- manded expeditions against the Indians at Tongue River, Montana, June 9; at Rose Bud river, Montana, June 17, and at Slim Buttes, Dakota, September 9, 1876. At Camp Sheridan, Nebraska, to May 21, 1877, where he had charge of Chief Spotted Tail and his tribe of six thousand Ogalala Sioux Indians. He joined the Tenth Cavalry in April, 1879, and served at Forts Concho and Davis, Texas (and commanded battalion of regiment at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, during the Indian outbreak to November, 1881), to April 1, 1885; commanded Fort Thomas, Arizona, to August 26, 1886, and Fort Grant, Arizona, being frequently in the field, to September 24, 1888; on duty at Fort Bliss, Texas, under special orders, assisting officers of the interior department (U. S. geological survey) in surveys near El Paso, Texas, with the object of reclaiming arid lands in the Rio Grande valley, to April 2, 1890, when he was transferred to the 4th cavalry, and served at Presidio, California, to October 31, 1891. Commanded regiment and post of Fort Walla Walla, Washington, to February, 1893. Joined Third Cav- alry as colonel February 28, 1893, and commanded post at Fort McIntosh, Texas, and Fort Reno, Oklahoma, to August, 1893; made brigadier-general and retired.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.