History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 20

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

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JOHN EWBANK.

John Ewbank, the first, of Tanners creek, Dearborn county. Indiana, was born in Yorkshire, England, in the year 1752. the eldest son of an English

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farmer, of French Huguenot descent. At this fauner's deathbed he was left as the head of the family and the presumable holder of the lease, and "bred his younger brothers to the trades." After his father's family were grown and off his hands, in the year 1792, at the age of forty years, he married Ann Chap- man, a young woman of great force of character and a strict follower of Wesley, and with the Wesleyans or Methodists he cast his lot either at the time of his marriage or a few years before.

In the year 1805, he was forced to pay a security debt for a friend, at about the same time the ninety-nine year lease of the farm expired, and on account of his belonging to the non-conformist church, the landlord refused the customary renewal. Thus he found himself at the age of fifty-three, with his ready money and his leasehold gone and with a wife and large family to sup- port. Leaving his wife and children in England, in the year 1805 he sailed for New York, and took service as a farm laborer. He was soon promoted to a manager's position, and soon after became a managing partner in a stock farm. In 1807 he was able to send for his wife and family of ten children, with whom he settled in the state of New Jersey, and there he farmed as a tenant for four years.

In the year 181 I he sold off his stock and tools and with his family drove over the mountains to Pittsburgh, where he built a flatboat and floated down the river to Cincinnati, where he staid some time while prospecting. He finally purchased lands on Tanners creek, acquiring five and one-half quarter sections about one mile north and east of the present town of Guilford, includ- ing parts or all of the farms now owned by W. F. Ward, A. Liddle, Hufman & Miller, A. E. Snell, N. Vogelgesang, J. H. Smith, J. L. Bundy, C. Andrews, G. W. Harper, C. E. Liddle, N. A. Ewbank, H. Woods, A. K. Hansell, A. W. Darling and Joseph McCawley.

His family consisted of six sons, Thomas, John, Lancelot, Benjamin, Martin and David, who was killed by a falling tree at the age of sixteen years, and lies buried at the yard of the old stone church; and four daughters, Ann, who married William Smith; Frances, who married Joseph Hall; Hannah, who married John Hall; and Rhoda, who married George Randall.

John Ewbank was a leader among the English settlers who followed him into the neighborhood where he was the first Englishman to settle. He was class leader of the Tanner's creek class of the Methodist church from its organization until his death in the year 1832. Following the same principles which had made his ancestors exiles from France for conscience' sake, and had led to the persecution which drove him in his old age from England, he took

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an active part in the fight for freedom of the laity in the Methodist church. After his death his family were among the leaders in organizing the Metho- dist Protestant church, on strictly republican principles, where each member should have a vote in the management of the church affairs, especially in the finances, and where the higher ecclesiastics should never get beyond a strict accountability to the laymen.

With most of his children John Ewbank sleeps in the churchyard which he donated to the church he loved and help build, in the community which he helped establish, and any of his descendants that fight as good a fight and keep the faith as well, may well claim to show themselves workmen that needeth not to be ashamed.

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CHAPTER XXI.

SPARTA TOWNSHIP.

The county records contain no reference to any townships previous to 1826, when the court house was burned, but in the entries a short time after that date is found this description of the township of Sparta. Commencing on the old Indian boundary line, on the township line between 6 and 7, range 3 west, thence eastwardly following the meanders of North Hogan creek to where the same strikes the line running north and south between sections 8 and 9, township 5, range 2 west; thence east with said line one mile; thence south to the southeast corner of section 21, township 5, range 2; thence west one mile; thence south to the southeast corner of section 5, township 4, range 2; thence west to the old Indian boundary line; thence northwardly with said line to the place of beginning. As herewith described it included some three and one-half sections that were afterwards set off to Hogan township, and the northwest tier of sections that were added to Clay township when it was ere- ated. The township is practically bounded on the north by Manchester, on the east by Hogan, on the south by Clay and on the west by Ripley county.

The lands of this township as entered from the government, with the year the transaction was done, is herewith appended : Township 5, range 2 west-A portion of section 18, in 1816, to Christian Hershey ; in 1817 to John H. Mus- grove, Jonathan Vail and Riley Truitt. A portion of section 19, in 1816, to Christian Hershey ; in 1817 to S. B. and David Kerr. A portion of section 30, in 1817, to Phineas L. King and Theodore Thompson; in 1839 to Jona- than Parks; in 1832 to Aaron Foulk and Joseph Carpenter: in 1836 to Percy Wheeler, Wilson Wheeler and Thompson Dean; in 1837 to George Cornelius, Wilson L. Wheeler and John Christey. A portion of section 31, in 1817, to William and Thomas Olcott and Claybourn Allen; in 1831 to Michael Flake : in 1833 to Lorenzo Wright. A portion of section 32, in IS17, to James Lind- say and John Jones; in 1831 to John Columbia : in 1832 to James Lindsay; in 1837 to Peter Rough. A portion of section I (part in Manchester), in 1817, to Amor Bruce, Stephen Wood and Benjamin Johnson; in 1829 to Stephen J. Paine; in 1833 to Samuel Mckinstry : in 1836 to Samuel McKin- stry and Thomas Lambertson ; in 1837 to George H. Johnson.

The earliest entries were made about the period following the advent of

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peace in 1815. From that date until 1820 much of the lands of Sparta town- ship were taken up from the government. Squatters may have looked the ground over, as they generally did before the genuine settler with his family located on the soil, but no entries from the government were made previous or during the War of 1812, in Sparta township.

James Duncan emigrated from Maryland and settled in Sparta in 1815. Moses Musgrove emigrated from Virginia in 1816. Mr. Musgrove is said to have killed the last panther that was ever seen in Dearborn county. It was in the year 1817 and the animal is said to have weighed two hundred pounds and measured nine feet from the end of the nose to the tip of his tail. Mr. Musgrove died ir 1819. Samuel and Demoss Moss emigrated from Massa- chusetts in 1816, but removed from the county. Riley Truitt emigrated from Maryland in 1817 and died in 1818.

Benjamin Johnson emigrated from Maryland and located in Sparta township in 1817. He was said to be a man of very positive opinions and a strong character. He was the father of Hon. John D. Johnson, who was elected to the Legislature in 1846, re-elected in 1848, and was also a member of the constitutional convention in 1851. He was also the father of Samuel J. Johnson, who was a doorkeeper in the House of Representatives at Wash- ington. Frank M. Johnson and Pern Johnson, of California, were his grand- sons.

Samuel B. and Winslow Wood emigrated from New York state in 1817. Jonathan Vail emigrated from New York state in 1817, and died in 1847. Stephen Inman came from the state of Maine in 1817. Nathaniel Richman came from the state of New York in 1818, and died in 1859. Gilbert Givan came from Maryland in 1818, and died in 1868. Adam Moore and family came from Maryland in 1818, and settled on the site of the town of Moores Hill. John C. Moore, his son, who was born in Maryland in 1810, died in 1871. Samuel Marshall was born in London, England, and was married in New York City and in 1818 settled in Sparta township.

Abraham Eversole was born in Virginia in 1791, served in the War of 1812-15, married in 1818, and in 1819 located in Sparta township. Among his early friends were Adam Moore, Charles Dashiell, Morton Justis, John Brumblay, Ezekiel Maston, John Dashiell, Ranna C. Stevens and Spencer Davis. The residence first erected by Mr. Eversole was a log one. The above named friends were present to assist in the log rolling and the construction of the cabin .. The clapboards and the roof were made and put on the same day. Noah Davis emigrated from Maryland and settled in the township in 1818. and died in 1880, aged seventy-eight years.

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EARLY MILLS.

In the fall of 1818 a wagon road was cut through the woods from what is now Aurora to Moores Hill and to the Ripley county line. The first natural death is thought to have occurred in the township was that of Riley Truitt. which occurred in the year 1818. Adam Moore erected a grist-mill soon after he settled. It was a tread-wheel worked by animal power. A saw-mill was erected on North Hogan in 1830, by Lyman Smith. In 1828 James Hayes erected a grist-mill on South Hogan, in the wester part of the township, which he operated for about fifteen years, when in an attempt to cut the ice from the water wheel he fell and was crushed to death. The mill was after- wards operated by Joseph Bossong and Jacob Zapp. One of the first steam mills in the county was erected by Phineas King in the year 1839, and was run together with a woolen factory, which had previously been run by a tread wheel. It was situated on King's ridge near Chesterville, After King's death the machinery was removed to Milan. William B, Miller, in the year 1839, erected the mills known as "Miller's Mills," in the southern part of the township on South Hogan. The first tan yard was started in 1817 by Samuel and Winslow Wood.

A half-barrel-a-day distillery was built and operated in 1831. by Steven Payne, in the northeastern part of the township. It is said that this was the first and last enterprise of the kind in the township.

Sparta township was settled largely by people from Maryland. Later on there came quite a number of settlers from the north of Ireland, and in still more recent years there has come into the township a number of German settlers. As it has been all over Dearborn county, so it is with Sparta town- ship; the first settlers have passed away and their children have moved to other fields. Many of the descendants of the pioneers have sought homes in the West and have prospered. Filled with the same spirit that lured their forefathers from their homes in the East and over the ocean, they have sought out places where they could accumulate sufficient for their families and lay something by for the rainy day.

MOORES HILL.

The village of Moores Hill is the seat of the college by that name, and is finely located in the northwestern part of Sparta township and close to the Indian boundary line that separates Dearborn county from Ripley. It is on

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the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern railroad and is an active wide-awake college town, with a population in 1910. of four hundred and twenty-four. It has a successfully operated creamery and several stores and a prosperous bank.

F. C. Holliday in his "Indiana Methodism," tells of the early history of this neat little town. "Methodism was early planted at Moores Hill, Dear- born county. The early settlers in that neighborhood included a number of excellent Methodist families from the state of Delaware and the eastern shore of Maryland, among whom were Adam Moore, a local preacher, after whom the village was named; John Dashiell, who was also for many years a local preacher ; Charles Dashiell, and Ranna Stevens. These men and their families gave a moral impression to the society of that part of the country that is permanent and valuable. No part of our state maintains a higher standard of morals, and no community has been less cursed with intemperance and its kindred vices. John Strange once held a glorious campmeeting on the ground now occupied by the flourishing town of Moores Hill. The blessings of a covenant-keeping God rests upon the descendants of these early Christian fam- ilies. Moores Hill College is a monument to the intelligence and Christian liberality of John C. Moore, one of the sons of Rev. Adam Moore, the original proprietor of the town, and although he has been gathered with his father to his heavenly home, his works remain, and the college that was founded chiefly through his instrumentality, it is hoped, will continue to bless the world through the ages to come. The village of Moores Hill, now noted for the moral and literary tone of its society and for the college of which it is justly proud, owes its name to the following blunder. Mr. Moore had erected a mill that was driven by horse power, as water power could not be commanded in that locality, and as the early settlers from a considerable dis- tance brought their corn to be ground, it occurred to someone that it would be a good idea to have a postoffice established in the vicinity of the mill; and accordingly a petition was sent to Washington praying for the establishment of a postoffice at Moores Mill. The postmaster general mistaking the M for an H located the postoffice at Moores Hill, and that gave the name to the village that subsequently sprang up, and to the college that has been founded chiefly through the exertions and liberality of one of the sons of the original proprietor of Moores Mill."

Nine lots were originally laid out in the vicinity of what is commonly called Moores Hill, which were acknowledged by Spencer Davis, John Dashiell, and a Mr. Ablamoung, trustees of Wesley meeting house at Moores Hill, March 10, 1838. The original plat is said to have been laid out by Adam

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Moore and Andrew Stevens. The record shows that in March, 1839, lots were surveyed on the west half of section 10, town 6, range 3 west, on the land of Adam Moore and Andrew Stevens, by Nathaniel L. Squibb. Additions have been filed since.

About the first merchant in the place was a man by the name of Samuel Hearn or Herron. It is claimed he sold goods here as early as 1828. Another early merchant was Samuel Newton, who kept a store prior to 1838. Obid Bailey, David Brooks, John C. Moore and Moore Brooks were among the merchants during the early history of the village. William McCreary and John C. Moore were among the early postmasters. Charles Dashiell was an early hotel keeper, and a cooperage business was carried on by a Mr. Darby. Morton Justis and his brother carried on a tan yard, and with it a boot and shoe-making business. In those days when fine oak timber was plentiful, coopering was carried on extensively. John C. Moore established a cooperage factory in 1839, and it was a prosperous business for more than fifteen years.

The town is incorporated and is governed by three trustees and has a town marshal, a clerk and treasurer.

SPARTA.

The village of Sparta is situated on the pike leading from Moores Hill to Aurora and contains a store, a blacksmith shop, two well-kept church build- ings and several neatly-kept residence places.

Cold Springs is a station on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad that is a con- venience to the people thereabout as a shipping point. It has several houses and a general store. A mile or so from Cold Springs on the hill to the north is the little village of Chesterville, comprising perhaps a dozen families, a church and a Knights of Pythias hall.

Sparta township is one of the best in the county. Its people are indus- trious and intelligent, law abiding and thrifty. The township has furnished a number of prominent men to the county and to the state.

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CHAPTER XXII.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP

Washington township lies between Laughery creek and South Hogan. It lies on a high ridge of land between the two waterways and is one of the most productive parts of the county. The township was formed in 1852 from territory taken from Laughery township. The following is the de- scription taken from the entry in the minutes of the county commissioners : "Beginning on Laughery creek in section 13, township 4, range 2, where the range line dividing ranges 1 and 2 strikes the creek; thence up said creek to where a line running north and south through the center of section 21, in said township 4, strikes said creek; thence north to the center of said section 21; thence west to the east line of section 20, in said township 4, being the southwest corner of the northwest quarter of said section 21; thence north on the section line dividing sections 20 and 21, in said township 4, range 2 west, to where said line crosses the South fork of Hogan creek; thence down said South Hogan creek to the range line dividing ranges I and 2; thence south on said range line to place of beginning."

Land was entered in Washington township very early in the history of the county. Henry Cloud entered a portion of section 11 in the year 1803, and by 1820 the land in the township was all sold to private parties. Among the earliest entries were those made by John Livingston in 1806, Michael Honich in 1805, Daniel Conaway in 1812, Daniel Lynn in 1813, John Hubbart in 1811, Ralph Smith in 1812, John Walker in 1813, John Buffington in 1813, John Buffington, Stephen Peters and James Walker in 1811, Ira Wright in 1812.

Settlers, however, came into the township as early as 1796. Pretty good authority is given that Benjamin Walker and family made a settle- ment in the southern part of the township on Laughery creek as early as the summer of 1796. Mr. Walker came from Pennsylvania and a few years later moved to the south side of Laughery creek and laid out the village of Hart- ford. He was the father of Henry Walker, a prominent character in Aurora during the decades from 1850 to 1870. Benjamin Walker had quite an ad- venturous career and a sketch of his early life shows what trials were had by some of the early settlers.

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STORY OF BENJAMIN WALKER.

"When Mr. Walker first came to the county he lived alone, but having decided to make this county his home he sent for his wife to join him, which she did with their three children. While living in their forest home they were often visited by an Indian chief called Captain Green. One day this Indian came into the cabin with such an expression of rage on his countenance and his tomahawk in his hand, that Henry Walker, then a little boy, hid behind his mother's chair. The chief, addressing himself to Benjamin Walker, said, 'You kill Indian.' Walker instantly sprang to. his feet at this unexpected ar- raignment and bravely replied, 'Yes, kill Indian-me kill two Indians'; and stopping for a moment as if to weigh the effect, added, 'They killed my father.' The chief threw down his tomahawk and held out his hand. 'Right-right-me kill, too.' This led to an explanation of the affair, and the boy who had quailed before the savage eye of the wild man of the wilder- ness heard the story from his father's lips, and told it to John Cobb, a few years since, while on a visit to James Walker, in Illinois, and Mr. Cobb narrated it to the writer.

"More than eighty years ago (from 1876) two Indians visited a village in Pennsylvania, and among other things got to bragging how many whites they had killed during the Revolutionary War, and showing a stick with notches cut, they pointed to it and said, 'So many.' A bystander noticing a few long marks, as a boy tallying a game, wished to know what they meant, and was told that the long marks were for officers and one of the longest was for Colonel Walker. The mention of this name attracted the attention of three young men who had been left orphans years before. The Indian continued : 'Colonel Walker no brave-he beg-wanted to come home,' and with many taunts and many particulars of his death, these fatherless boys listened in silence, but after the Indians had gotten through and left town these three held a council, and decided that these Indians should never brag again of kill- ing their father, and started in pursuit.

"After they had gone some distance one of the brothers hesitated and advised them not to go any further, but the two elder were determined to go on and drove this one back. They went on and overtook the Indians near a stream. Benjamin had with him a short sword, John had a gun. They had agreed on a plan of attack when they had got near enough. The one with the gun was to shoot the Indian in advance. and Benjamin was to attack the other with his sword. At the signal the gun did its work, but not effectively ;

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the Indian fell but only wounded. Benjamin raised his sword to strike, but as it came down it struck a limb and the Indian started to run, Walker after him. The Indian plunged into a stream, but not alone. They struggled in the water for sometime until the Indian drew a knife, which Walker wrenched from him and killed him. By this time the wounded Indian had found his feet and seeing the contest in the water tried to get there in time to assist his friend, but his speed did not serve him, for when he had got there Walker had killed the first and soon dispatched the second. This over a new trouble met them.

" Some of the citizens of the village, suspecting that something might be on hand of the character related, had also sought the lonely woods and be- fore young Walker had left the stream came in sight and spoke of arresting him. He told them not to undertake it as enough blood had been spilled that day, and they might take his word for it that he would not be taken alive. The two young men avoided the officers by hiding in a cellar for nine days, then they took advantage of a storm to reach the woods, then the mountains, then to the Ohio valley; the younger brother, John Walker, stopping in the western part of Ohio and the hero of our story coming to Dearborn county, where he resided for many years, improved a valuable farm and was blessed with a large, worthy and respectable family."

SOME OF THE PIONEERS.

Daniel Lynn settled in the southern part of the township in 1796, and a son. Joel, was born on Laughery creek in 1799. Rachel Lynn, who married John Conaway, it is claimed, was the third white child born in the county. She was born in Washington township.

Daniel and William Conaway were among the earlier settlers, but after- wards moved farther up the creek. Benjamin Wilson and family came from Pennsylvania and settled in the township in 1805. He was married in 1792 and removed to Kentucky in 1795, then removed to Dearborn county in 1805. Ralph Smith and John Hurlbert and their families came from North Carolina to the township in 1813. They first settled at Lebanon, Ohio, but after living there a few years removed to this township. Mr. Smith was the father of the late Wilkinson Smith, a well-known citizen of the township who died a number of years ago.

One of the earlier pioneers was Major George Nichols. He died in Wil- mington in 1863, in his ninety-third year. He was born in Maryland, immi-

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grated to Kentucky in 1791, and came to the county in 1808. He served his country during the Indian wars on the frontier during the campaign of the period from 1790 to 1795, and was also active during the War of 1812. George W. Lane wrote in 1876 that "Stephen Peters came to the county in 1798 with Ebenezer Foote. They first settled on the river bank just above Aurora. A freshet in the Ohio drove them back to higher ground, where they lived a few years and then settled on South Hogan in Washington township. Stephen Peters was the father of Joseph Peters, who lived and died on the land entered by his father, and the old homestead still belongs to the family."

A CONVENIENT HOUSEBOAT.

Ira Wright came to the county from Cincinnati, where he had been living for seven years. He settled in Washington township in that year, pur- chasing a part of section 1. He lived with his family in a boat that he had floated down from Cincinnati, while he was building his house and clearing up a place to raise a crop. He was the father of Capt. Henry F. Wright, of Company D, Third Indiana Cavalry, who served in the Civil War, losing his life for his country.

Robert Walker, father of the late John P. Walker, came to the county in 1807, stopping at Lawrenceburg, where he married a daughter of William Cook, for years the jailer of the county. He settled on the hills of the town- ship and his son, John P. Walker, lived and died. on the same farm.

James Lindsay moved to the township from Frankfort, Kentucky. coming down the Kentucky river in a pirogue, then up the Ohio to the mouth of Hogan, then up that stream to his farm. Here he established a tan yard and engaged in furnishing leather to the pioneers. He was the father of Enoch Lindsay, who lived on the old farm, and of Mrs. John Spidell.

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History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 20

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

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