History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 16

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123

USA > Indiana > Dearborn County > History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 16

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).

Digitized by Google

171

DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.

age and size. The small ones are from two to four feet above the surface, and the growth of timber upon them small, not being over one hundred years old, while the other mounds are from ten to thirty feet and frequently contain trees of the largest diameter. There is a large mound in Mr. Allen's field about twenty feet high and sixty feet in diameter at the base, which contains a greater proportion of bones than anyone I ever before examined, as also every shovelful of dirt would contain fragments of a human skeleton. Almost every lot in the village of Harrison contains a mound and some as many as three. On the neighboring hills northeast of the town are a number of remains of stone houses. They were covered with soil, brush and full grown trees. We cleared away the earth, roots and rubbish from one of them and found it to have been occupied anciently as a dwelling. It was about twelve feet square; the walls had fallen nearly to the foundation. They appeared to have been built of rough stones like our stone walls. Not the least trace of any iron tools having been employed to smooth the face of them could be perceived. At one end of the building we came to a regular hearth, containing ashes and coals, before which we found the bones of eight persons of different ages, from a small child to the heads of the family. The positions of their skeletons clearly indicated that their deaths were sudden and simultaneous. They were probably asleep with their feet to the fire, when destroyed by an enemy, an earthquake or a pestilence."

It is said that the first hotel in the village was carried on by John Wykoff in 1816, and that the second was built by Breckinridge & Purcell in 1818. Among the early merchants were Sattertatt & Totten, James Wilson, John D. Moore, Isaac Morgan ( father-in-law of Vice-President Thomas A. Hen- dricks), who it is thought built the first brick house, on the site of West Har- rison, now occupied by Tebbs Brothers. It was built in 1818. About one-third of the town of Harrison is on the west side of the state line.

Digitized by

Google

CHAPTER XIV.

HOGAN TOWNSHIP.

Hogan township was organized in the year 1852. Its territory originally was a part of Laughery township, which was divided up after the loss of territory from setting off Ohio county, Laughery township in Ohio county being what is left of the original township of Laughery. The major part of Hogan township lies between the two Hogan creeks. A small portion of it lies north of North Hogan. When originally organized, in 1852, it comprised less territory than it does at present. It got from Center township, in 1853, about three quarter sections, and in 1856 and 1857, it obtained from Sparta township three sections in the northwest part of the township.

Land was entered from the government in this township at nearly as early a period as that of any in the county. In 1803 Jeremiah Hunt pur- chased a part of section 26, in township 5, range 2 west, and in 1805 Adam Flake bought a part of section 35. In 1809 Amos and D. G. Boardman bought a part of section 25, and in the same year Isaac Allen bought part of section 33. In 1806 James and Amor Bruce bought part of section 23, where some of their descendants yet reside. Most of the government land in the township was disposed of before 1825, but a few of the out-of-the-way lots were not purchased until late in the thirties.

The earliest record of land entered from the government is only two years later than the land office at Cincinnati was opened, and the township was evidently abreast of the earliest part of the county. The two Hogans furnished the bottom land and the creeks for outlets, which in those times was a strong. inducement for settlers. Like other places in the county, how- ever, there were a number of persons reported as settling much earlier than the entering of land, and no doubt that there were some who lived in the township for a time and then moved to other localities for final location ; and perhaps others who, possessed of the wanderlust that was just as strong then as now, never did locate permanently anywhere, but kept up the nomadic life until its close.

FIRST SETTLER IN HOGAN.

Like all other townships that had water privileges Hogan township records the earliest settlement in 1796. It is claimed on good authority that

Digitized by Google

173

DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.

Adam Flake and wife with their two sons and two daughters settled on South Hogan in January, 1796. It will be recalled that in 1805 Adam Flake entered a portion of section 35, in township 5, range 2 west, situated on South Hogan about a mile from the corporation line of Aurora, as it now is laid off. Here also his two sons above mentioned, William and Michael, entered, in 1811, portions of the same section, and here the old pioneer lived and died at a good old age, and in the little graveyard in the same section his remains were laid away. His son, William Flake, served one term in the Legislature, in 1831, and was also at one time a member of the county board of super- visors. Michael Flake, another son, was one of the three parties that platted the town of Wilmington.

It is also claimed that Amor, Henry and James Bruce came from Ken- tucky and settled on North Hogan in 1798. James and Amor entered land on North Hogan in 1806 and the family has been prominent in the annals of the county from that date until the present, filling many places of honor and trust. The Amor Bruce now residing in the township lives on and owns some of the same land his forefathers entered from the government in the year 1806.

Conrad Huffman, who settled in the township in 1803, served in the War of 1812 under General Dill. His son, Hon. Elijah Huffman, was a member of the state Senate from 1867 to 1869. Elijah Huffman was the father of Andrew J. Huffman, a Civil War veteran, now living in the town of Wilmington. Peter Carbaugh, a soldier of the Revolution, settled in the township in 1805, locating near Wilmington.

L. G. Elder. who died in 1876, in Hogan township, was a native of Maryland. His parents came to the county in 1808, and settled on North Hogan. A story is told in the Dearborn county history of 1885 that the family brought with them from Maryland a negro boy who went by the name of Harry Short. Probably on account of his color the Indians. a few of whom were yet prowling around the country, looked on him as a curiosity. George Griffin, an old citizen of Aurora, related the troubles of the negro. "The Indians were always on the lookout for the strange creature and were evidently determined to capture him alive. They made no attempt to take his life, but many a lively foot race they gave him over the hills and along the bottoms of North Hogan." Short lived in the county for many years. and died in Indianapolis at a great age not many years ago.

William Kerr settled in the township in 1816. He was the father of

Digitized by Google

174

DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.

Walter Kerr, who lived to the age of one hundred and one. Walter Kerr's daughter, Mrs. Abram Hill, is yet living, although well on towards ninety years of age.

THE FIRST BOOM.

From 1812 to 1820 the township took on new life, settlers came in fast. The town of Wilmington was laid out and considerable business was done here, Aurora had not yet been laid out, and on account of the bottom lands giving the settlers living there so much sickness of a malarial nature it was thought that settlers would not live there permanently. Wilmington offered a healthful location, as fine a view as anywhere in the county; it was on the public highway leading from Lawrenceburg to Madison, it was situated between the two Hogans, and it was claimed that the place had ideal advan- tages for a permanent place of residence as well as for business.

In 1807 Amos Bardman came from New York and settled in the town- ship about a half mile north of Wilmington. He entered a portion of section 25, in the year 1809. Among the other pioneer families who were early settlers are found the names of Adams, Milburn, Golding, Harwood, Sellers, Moore, Churchill, Kimball, Reed, Cornelius, Chaffin and Hannegan. Among those who were remarkable for living to an extreme old age was James Hubbartt, who died in Marion county, Indiana, in 1886, at the age of one hundred and one. He was born in Sussex county, Maryland, March 27, 1785. His father came to Dearborn county in 1811, settling near Wilmington where he died in 1848, only four weeks less than one hundred years of age. His grandfather, it is said, lived to the age of one hundred and five.

PIONEER FAMILIES.

George WV. Lane is given credit for the following from his Centennial writings : "Noyes Canfield came to the county in 1800, stopped for a time with Doctor Percival in Lawrenceburg, and helped him erect the first house in the place. He afterwards removed to a piece of land he entered on Hogan creek. at the foot of the hill north of Wilmington, where he lived until his death. He was the father of Edwin Canfield, of Wilmington, and Cyrus Can- field, at one time justice of the peace in Hogan township.

"William Record settled on North Hogan in 1807. where he remained for eight or nine years. During the War of 1812, he. with his family, was often compelled to take shelter in the blockhouse close by that was under the

Digitized by Google

DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA. 175

command of Capt. James Bruce. About 1816 he removed to Kings ridge, in Sparta township, where he opened a farm and resided until his death.

"Elias Chaffin came to Lawrenceburg in 1810. When the trouble com- menced with the Indians he was among the first to volunteer for the protection of settlers, and served during the war when duty called. His services were recognized by the government by the issue of a land warrant. For some ten or twelve years Mr. Chaffin published, in an Aurora paper, reminiscences of the war and pioneer life. He was an enterprising man and a worthy and law-abiding citizen.

"Peter Hannegan moved to the county in 1818, and settled on Sparta ridge. He was a soldier during the War of 1812, as was his father during the Revolutionary War. Mr. Hannegan was an active, industrious citizen, who lived to more than four-score years and was respected by all who knew him.

"Our attention is called to four aged ladies, residing in and near Wil- mington, who have experienced pioneer life, seen Indian warriors and lived for weeks in blockhouses. Mrs. Jane Purdy was born in the county in the year 1800. Her father, John Moore, settled on Laughery that year, after- ivards removed to the farm now owned by James Stafford in Washington township. During the War of 1812 the family took shelter in the blockhouse near A. Tufts, where they would remain for weeks at a time. Mrs. Purdy is the oldest native citizen in this part of the county known to the writer.

"Mrs. Elizabeth Carbaugh was born in 1798, and came to the county in 1810. She was a sister of Thomas Baker, of Wilmington. Her husband did service during the War of 1812.

"Mrs. William Bainum is now over eighty years of age and has been in the county some sixty-five years, and new makes her home with her daughter. Mrs. Watkins, in Wilmington, on the land selected by her com- panion when it was an unbroken forest.

"Mrs. Thomas Baker was born in 1797, and came to the county with her father, Nathan Powell, about the year 1804, and can count seventy years of sunshine and shade in the county of Dearborn.

"Mrs. Baker was a sister of Erasmus Powell, who was a member of the first Legislature of the state in 1816, and was associated with Amos Lane. He was re-elected in 1818, with John Watts as a colleague, and again elected in 1820, representing the county with Ezra Ferris."

STORY OF A COUNTRY TOWN.

The village of Wilmington is the only village in Hogan township and its history is of more than ordinary interest. It was originally laid out on May

Digitized by Google

176

DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.

30, 1815. In the original plat there were thirty-two lots. The proprietors were William C. Chamberlain, Michael Flake and Robert Moore. April 3, 1816, lots numbering from 33 to 60 were added by Robert Moore and Will- iam Bainum. Additions were made in 1835 by William Bainum and Arthur St. Clair Vance. Robert Moore, it is claimed, was the first blacksmith in the new village. Thomas Cole and Isaac Hancock were the early storekeepers and Stephen Wood the hotel keeper, being the landlord of the "White Tavern."

In the decade from 1830 to 1840, and as late as 1845, the village was full of life and bustle. The citizens of the lower end of the county continually agitated the question of establishing the county seat in the center of the county, as the county was then with what is now Ohio county as a part of Dear- born. They selected Wilmington as being the nearest place to the center and the matter of changing the county seat encouraged the growth of the village until it was finally consummated. The friends of moving the court house won out, and in 1836 the seat of justice was moved from Lawrenceburg to Wilmington. A court house was erected, a jail, clerk's and recorder's office. Wilmington became a thriving business place, one that was much more pros- perous than Aurora. It began to be a prevalent idea that the river bottoms were unhealthy and unfit for permanent residence. In 1833 the county com- missioners ordered the county seminary built there, and it was expected that the place would become a seat of learning as well as the seat of justice. Both were doomed to disappointment. In 1844 the county seat was changed back to Lawrenceburg, and the seminary plan, not only in Dearborn county but throughout the state. proved a disappointment.

In 1836 there were a number of stores and other industries in Wilming- ton. Among the names of those who were doing business at that time are recorded those of Isaac Hancock. J. C. Cordry, John R. Wood, James Powell, O. H. Reed, Josiah Chambers. Thomas Jennings, Stephen Wood, Ranna Stephens and William Glenn. In the year 1858 the population was 350, in 1866 it was 366. In 1910 the population was 150.

Digitized by Google

CHAPTER XV.

JACKSON TOWNSHIP.

Jackson township lies in the northwest corner of Dearborn county, and the old Indian boundary line divides it on the west from Ripley county. On the north it is bounded by Franklin county. On the east lies Kelso township and on the south is Manchester township. The southern row of sections in Jackson township are bounded on the east by York township, which is one section farther north than the line of Manchester township. The township is about the three and one-half sections wide, from its northernmost limits to Manchester township, and seven sections long. It lies about the headwaters of Tonners creek in its west fork. In some places it is nearly level, while in others it is very rough and broken, especially is this true where the various branches of Tanners creek run through the lands.

The first settlement of Jackson township commenced about 1817. In 1818 Nathan Lambert, Eli Hill, Samuel Y. Allen, Thomas Morgan and Samuel C. Vance all entered lands. There seems to have been an unusual large family by the name of Lawrence for there are recorded during the year 1817-18 twenty-five entries of land from the government, in the name of . Lawrence. The Lawrences entered all the land in section 17, township 7, range 2 west. They entered five tracts in section 7, of the same township, three tracts in section 8, and two tracts in section 18. The lands were entered in the name of Isaac, Daniel, Abraham, James, Philip, George and Johanna Lawrence.

Samuel C. Vance entered three tracts in the township, and Daniel S. Majors entered one. George J. Buell also entered two tracts, and in 1836 there is one tract of land entered in the name of Salmon P. Chase, the famous secretary of the treasury under President Lincoln.

The emigration from Germany commenced about 1831 and continued until most of the lands in the township were owned by them. They, however, have became possessed of the western fever as well as the people who have lived longer in this country, and many of the second and third generations have moved on to other fields that to their eyes looked more inviting.

THE LAWRENCE FAMILIES.

George W. Lane says that it was thought that "The first actual settle- ment was made by the Lawrence families during the year 1818. Isaac (12)

Digitized by Google

178

DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.

Lawrence and family, consisting of eight sons and two daughters. emigrated in the spring of 1818. from the state of Pennsylvania, and settled in the neighborhood of the present site of the village of Lawrenceville. All of the sons and daughters, save two, were persons of families. They came by boat down the Ohio, and from Lawrenceburg up the meanderings of Tanners creek to the place of settlement in wagons. They brought with them $1,500 in gold and among them was purchased from the government ten quarter sections of land. The home place, as it was called, was the northwest quarter of sec- tion 17, the home of Isaac Lawrence. This large body of land was all situated within two miles of the home place. From this beginning the families of Lawrence became very numerous and at one time numbered over three hun- dred persons. Although at this writing there are but two families of the name in the township."

Isaac and Samuel Alden came to Cincinnati from the state of New Hampshire in 1817, and shortly afterward selected lands along the western border of the township where they "batched" for several years. In 1822 Isaac Alden married and moved out on the land. He was the father of A. J. Alden, who represented the county in the Legislature in 1848 and 1855.

William Cairns settled in the township in 1818. coming from New Jersey. Members of the family are yet living in the township.

Among the first Germans to settle in the township was Feldie Gutapfel. and his brother John. They arrived about 1825. and Peter Buchert settled in the township in 1827. In 1831 Claudius Anderson settled in the township, emigrating from Ireland. Members of his family are yet residents of the township. In 1832 John G. Tangman arrived in the township from Germany, and also George Knerr and family.

The Lawrence family were members of the United Brethren church and they were active in erecting a church in the neighborhood. It was erected out of logs, in 1819 or 1820, and was called a Union church, where all denom- inations held services. The character of the neighborhood changed with the incoming of so many Germans and the congregation dwindled until the house and ground were finally sold to Isaac S. Lawrence, who again opened its doors to every sect of religion, excepting Universalists and Mormons. The oldest gravestone in the cemetery adjacent is that of Abraham Lawrence, who was buried there in 1827.

For some time after the Lawrence families settled in the township they made a hand mill for doing the grinding for the neighborhood. The stones used in the old mill were in the possession of Isaac S. Lawrence in 1885, but

Digitized by Google

179

DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.

whether anyone now is keeping them, like Mr. Lawrence, just for a souvenir of "old times" is not known. Later on, a grist-mill was erected on the west fork of Tanners creek, run by water power. A good steam-mill for making flour and other products is now being operated at Weisburg. The town was named for the owner of the mill, Philip Weis.

RIVAL VILI.AGES.

The towns of Lawrenceville and Morgantown were laid out as rivals. They are, in fact, one and the same place, a road separating the towns. Mor- gantown was laid out by Jonathan Lawrence, in November, 1836. Robert Rowe was the engineer. The original plat contained thirty-six lots. It is claimed that the name of Morgantown was given after Daniel R. L. Morgan, a nephew of Gen. John Morgan, the raider. James and Philip Lawrence kept the first store in the town, and the store was run by Mr. Morgan. after whom the town received its name. The place is practically eliminated as a town at present and the whole neighborhood is now known as Lawrenceville. Law- renceville was laid out on October 25, 1836, by John K. Lawrence. It will be observed that he was eleven days ahead of the founders of Morgantown. Isaac Johnson, John Bird and Lewis Snyder were the early storekeepers in the place. The village has a population of 100, while the town that was once a rival seems to have been wiped off the map.

Weisburg was laid out by Jasper Montgomery on January 7, 1858, and platted by Samuel Kennedy, one of Dearborn county's old-time engineers. Besides the flour-mill mentioned it has a store, blacksmith shop and several saloons, and is a place of considerable business, being a good shipping point for all the country near by.

Hubbell's Cross Roads was called after Merritt Hubbell, who located there as a merchant and was made a justice of the peace. A postoffice was established there and flourished for a time, but it was discontinued long before the advent of the rural routes.

A tannery was carried on for a number of years at Morgantown by George S. Williams. He commenced the business in 1838 and discontinued in 1875, on account of old age. The first blacksmith in the township was Jacob V. Lawrence. The coopering business was conducted at Lawrence- ville for a time, but has been discontinued now for a number of years.

George W. Lane says of Jackson township that "In 1818 Job Beach came from New Jersey and settled on the land now owned by Daniel Taylor, near

Digitized by Google

180

DEARBORN COUNTY, INDIANA.

Hubbells Corners. Also came Samuel and Isaac Alden, who settled in the western part of the township on section 23. In the fall of the same year, Thomas Ehler emigrated from Pennsylvania and settled in the south part of the township, as also did Zachariah Conger. In 1819 a church was erected by the United Brethren in the northwest quarter of section 17, and was known as Zion church, which was removed in 1838 to section 8, where it still remains. In 1820 Jacob R. Lawrence built on his land-near the present village of Morgantown-a log cabin in which the first school of the township was taught by John Yeriger during that same year, he being employed and paid by Mr. Lawrence for that purpose. The school was afterwards taught in Zion church by the same teacher. In the absence of a school building in the west part of the township, Mrs. Samuel Alden volunteered her services as a teacher, and taught the children of the neighborhood at her home."

The township now contains nine schools and three churches.

Digitized by Google

CHAPTER XVI.

KELSO TOWNSHIP.

Kelso township was one of the original seven townships that then made what is now Dearborn county, and was organized at the November session of the county board of supervisors in 1826. The township derived its name from John Kelso, a native of Ireland, who came to the county and entered a part of section 2, town 7, range 2 west, in 1814. Mr. Kelso was an active. public-spirited citizen, and on that account the township was named for him. One of his grandsons, after serving his country for three years in the Eighty- third Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil War, removed to Rush county, Indiana, where he has been following in the footsteps of his sires, by being called to the position of county commissioner for several terms.

Following Mr. Kelso in the township the early settlers were Thomas Dart, Joel Dickinson, Lewis and Henry Mckenzie. In 1819 a United Breth- ren church was built on section 7, which was the first church built in the township. It is now within the bounds of Jackson township. Preachers by the names of Holmes and Spencer were the first to preach the gospel in that country. George W. Lane says, in a short history he wrote for a Dearborn county map, published in 1875, "that Spencer was captured by the Indians when a boy near Cincinnati, living with them for a number of years." It is probable that Mr. Lane had the wrong Spencer in his mind; for O. M. Spen- cer, who was captured by the Indians one Fourth of July, about a year after Cincinnati was settled, was an attorney, it is believed.

Kelso township was originally settled by people from the east but in a few years the Germans and Irish began to come in, and in a generation almost the entire township had changed ownership.

There are three villages in the township. The site of Dover was first settled in 1815. by Jonathan Lewis. He erected the first house there at that date. The place was originally known as Mckenzies Cross Roads, and it is claimed that Henry Mckenzie had a store at that point, was the first merchant in the township and postmaster. It now has a store, blacksmith shop and a number of houses with a population of perhaps 100.

New Alsace was laid off by Joseph Smith, February 12. 1838. and a Frenchman by the name of Anthony Walliezer is supposed to have been the

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.

History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 16

Author: Archibald Shaw Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1123

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123