History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 26

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 26


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).


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"At this period the census of the United States was taken and Aurora was found to contain only 499 inhabitants. And not until 1844 did the place


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give evidence of ever being anything more than a small village. But the country for many miles around the town, being exceedingly rich and productive, whose trade, if proper inducements were held out, could be secured and the locality of the place being one of the best on the Ohio, possessing the finest harbor and landing on the river for the largest class of boats in the lowest stage of water. were advantages no longer to be overlooked. Strangers commenced coming in, building and locating. Business and dwelling houses were in demand; property increased in value. The old citizens holding property put up substantial houses. Real estate was in constant demand. Men of capital were attracted to the town; and soon Aurora contained a number of valuable houses. From year to year the place continued to prosper. Now, in the year 1852, Aurora numbers over 3,000 inhabitants, supports two newspapers, and contains some of the most elegant and costly houses in the state-sev- eral of them erected at an expense of $9,000, $14,000 and $15,000 each.


"Several hundred flatboats, freighted with produce, every season leave our port for southern markets. A superior steamer plies as a regular daily packet between this place and Cincinnati. A considerable business is also picked up here by the mail and Madison boats. No steamer fails to land at our wharves as she passes. In our midst and around us are signs of active business. Our landings are crowded with freight, our streets filled with wagons from the country, our mechanics busy in the shops, our merchants engaged at their counters-all denoting a flourishing little city and prosper- ous community. What a change in a few years! At this point the great Ohio & Mississippi railroad first strikes the Ohio river; the machine shops for which are to be located near the west part of the city. These shops will occupy twenty acres, including the dwellings of workmen, and will bring to our place, it is estimated, 400 families."


CHANGES IN BUSINESS FIRMS.


Nothing better shows the changes brought about by time in its inexorable flight than the following directory of some of the men of affairs in the city in 1858 and 1859. W. Allen, carpenter; E. B. Allen, blacksmith; A. Andrews, grocer; H. Boettner, barber; W. Beerger, gunsmith; F. M. Bess, hotel; A. Bloom, merchant tailor; R. C. Bond, physician; F. A. Burns, boot and shoe- maker; B. M. Bush, Adams express; Campbell & York, saddlers; J. H. Car- baugh, attorneys; Chambers, Stevens & Company, dry goods; George Cheek, hay dealer; Mrs. A. P. Clark, postmistress; John Cobb, coal; O. P. Cobb &


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Company, pork packers and grocers; C. H. & A. J. Cooper, jewelers; A. G. Crane & Company, coopers; William Cunningham, liquors : J. Devons, woolen factory ; G. Dines, barber; N. Dyke, tinsmith; Ebersole & Haines, druggists; Ebersole, physician; W. J. Edwards & Company, carriage makers; C. Fehling, grocer; Peter Fisher, boot and shoe maker; T. & J. W. Gaff, millers, distill- ers, dry goods, grocers; B. Garmhausen, grocer; J. Giegoldt, butcher; J. L. & M. Giegoldt, livery ; M. Goldsmith, boots and shoes; Ed H. Green, attorney; J. Hamilton, hotel; W. T. Harris, justice of peace; L. Hauck, barber; P. H. Held, merchant tailor; S. Hettenbergh, exchange; S. P. Hill & Company, druggists; Holman & Haynes, attorneys; Holz, physician; R. Hubbartt. grocer; A. B. Hubbartt, carpenter; F. Huckery, justice of peace; L. G. Hurl- bert, lumber and mill; J. Ittner, boot and shoe; P. Kastner, bakery; J. A. Kelsey & Company, wharf boat; M. Kemp, grocer; A. Kreitlein, grocer; H. Lamkin, tailor; A. Johnson, baker; J. G. Lampus, tobacconist; A. B. Lounds- berry, wagon maker; T. Lattimore, carpenter; Abram Lozier, dry goods: R. E. McCreary, dry goods; B. N. McHenry, blacksmith; J. Malony, grocer; H. Marron, furniture; Mayer, Cohn & Co., clothiers; J. N. Milburn, jeweler; L. Miles, attorney; S. Parker, fruit and vegetables; L. Phalin, grocer ; S. R. Pierce, dry goods; J. Pyle, ambrotypist; J. F. Radspinner, grocer; J. Rider, boots and shoes; F. Rothert, grocer; Mrs. C. Sadler, milliner; L. Schultze, hotel; W. Sherrod, barber; Mrs. Mary Sherwood, milliner; B. Shipper, coal dealer; M. Siemental, bakery; Siemental, brewery; M. & C. Siemental, mill- ers; Frederick Slater, grocer; E. Small, hay dealer; W. P. Squibb Company, dealers in liquors and groceries; J. Stafford, grocer ; Mrs. M. Stark, milliner; Stedman & Company, foundry ; J. Stevens, blacksmith; W. F. Stevens, insur- ance; I. Stratton, dry goods; G. W. Taylor, livery ; R. Q. Terrill, attorney ; N. H. Tuck, ambrotypist; S. P. Tumy, mayor, dealer in stoves and tinware; B. W. Twyman, attorney; P. L. Veiht, physician; J. W. Weaver, commission merchant ; A. Wehe, saddler; J. H. Wilke, Grocer; F. D. Worth, hotel; Wy- mond & Gibson, coopers; Young & Miller, boots and shoes.


CITY OFFICIALS.


The city government of Aurora commenced in 1848, with John D. Haynes as its mayor. In 1851 he was succeeded by Solomon P. Tumy, who held the office until 1859, excepting the year 1856, when the position was held by Washington Stark. John Gaff held the position as city mayor from 1859 to 1861, when Frederick Slater was elected and held the place until


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1863; when he recruited a company for the Eleventh Kentucky Cavalry and served until the end of the war, coming out of the service as the lieutenant- colonel of his regiment. He is now living in his extreme old age in the town of Moores Hill.


Following the mayoralty of Colonel Slater came Dr. George Sutton, who gave of his valuable time four years to the service of his adopted city. Doctor Sutton .was succeeded by R. Criswell in 1867, and he by Frederick Huckery in 1869. J. A. Emrie served from 1871 to 1873, and Dr. Frederick Rectanus from 1873 to 1877, being succeeded by Edward H. Green, who also served four years, and gave up the government of the city in 1881 to Louis E. Bienkamp. At present Thomas C. Carmichael is serving his second term as mayor.


The city officials in 1915 are: Thomas C. Carmicheal, mayor; Carl Geigoldt, clerk; Arthur H. Ebel, treasurer; Daniel B. Teaney, Walter Frank, Henry Rullmann, James Rushworth, Fred Beinkampen, Frank Morten, councilmen ; John Dean, city attorney; James Green, chief of police; Charles H. Dewers, chief of fire department; Dr. J. F. Treon, city health officer; Joseph Huston, Thomas Squibb, Philip Horr, school board.


RIVER VIEW CEMETERY ASSOCIATION.


On the west bank of the Ohio river, about two miles below the city of Aurora, lies that beautiful home of the dead-River View Cemetery. Situ- ated on high rolling bottom land, with its southern border touched by the waters of Laughery creek, a stream made historical by the death of Colonel Laughery. While on the north and west it is overtopped by massive hills giving shelter and protection from the wintry blasts. Here it was that Colonel Laughery, that pioneer soldier, and his handful of brave men, were ambushed and massacred by the Indians. Here also was the burying ground of a pre-historic race, and here today may be found abundant evidence of their handiwork.


After wise and judicial consideration, this historical and picturesque spot was selected by the original incorporators as a suitable place for the burial of the dead. And of the twenty-one original incorporators but one is living today : and of those that have passed to the beyond, nearly all have found a resting place in this home that they have selected. It was the desire and the distinct and irrevocable principle of these incorporators, and so specified in their articles of association, that "the entire funds arising from the sale of


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burial lots and the proceeds of any investments of said fund, shall be and they are specially dedicated to the purchase and improvements of the grounds of the cemetery, and keeping them durably and permanently inclosed and in per- petual repair for all future time, and that no part of such funds shall as divi- dends or profits in any manner inure to the corporators."


In 1869 thirty acres of this ground were purchased and laid off in lots, intersected by avenues and driveways, well graded and graveled. Trees and shrubbery give added beauty to the place, and a system of waterworks with hydrant and hose, is at the disposal of the lot owners. The soil is sandy and needs no drainage and the superintendent, whose home is on the grounds, is supplied with all modern conveniences for his work. For the permanent care of the individual lots the board of managers favors the depositing of money with the cemetery association for this purpose and to each person making such deposit a receipt is given acknowledging the obligation and specifying the ground to be cared for.


Actuated by a spirit of patriotism, the board of managers have set apart a circular plot of ground for the burial of soldiers. From its center rises a flagstaff and the whole is guarded by a large cannon, a relic of the Civil War. A natural mound of great beauty and splendidly located, from whose top a fountain plays, is reserved for a historical monument. A handsome brick chapel, resembling somewhat the early Spanish Missions, has been erected. It is conveniently arranged for the holding of services and is open to the pub- lic.


The entrance to the cemetery, through a long. shady avenue of lindens, is charming. Many rare plants, shrubs and magnificent trees adorn the grounds, while in the summer beautiful flowered and artistic landscape gar- dening are in evidence on all sides. A number of handsome monuments and mausoleums have been erected and under the management of the board of managers and competent superintendent it is today the most beautiful ceme- tery in southeastern Indiana.


The original incorporators of the cemetery were George Sutton, Francis Wymond, J. Chambers, J. N. Milburn, Philip Wymond, Thomas Gaff, J. J. Backman, Henry W. Smith, William F. Stevense, George Shockley, John K. Wilcox, E. F. Sibley, Simon Siemental, Jesse Younker, Nathaniel Dyke, Charles D. Bienkamp, Richard Gregg, William F. Bailey, Abe Epsteinm, Charles Bauer and Elijah Christopher. They were all residents of the city of Aurora, and their corporation was made under the name of "River View Cem- etery Association." They formulated a set of rules by which the cemetery is


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governed and which rules have all to do with the great success of the under- taking.


The officers and managers change frequently on account of death- and kindred reasons. Its first officers were George Sutton, president; Thomas Gaff, treasurer; Will F. Stevens, secretary. Executive committee, George Sutton, Francis Wymond and Will F. Stevens. Board of managers, George Sutton, Thomas Gaff, John N. Milburn, Will F. Stevens, H. W. Smith, Simon Siemental, Francis Wymond, J. J. Backman, C. D. Beinkamp, George Shock- ley and William F. Bailey.


The officers in 1908 were H. P. Spaeth, president; H. H. Sutton, vice- president; Philip Hoar, secretary; E. H. Davis, treasurer. Board of man- agers, E. H. Davis, Fred Schmutte, H. P. Spaeth, H. H. Sutton, Hubert J. Louis Stoll and Seth Stedman. Superintendent, George Siemental.


BUSINESS DIRECTORY OF AURORA.


Attorneys-McMullen & McMullen, L. E. Davies, W. M. Dean, prose- cuting attorney, Thomas C. Carmichael.


Agents-Thomas Ewin, Baltimore & Ohio; William Klausing, Big Four. Auto garage and dealers-Nieman & Linkmeyer, H. S. Neal, Citizens' garage, Andrew Burk, manager.


Bakeries-Walter Frank, Samuel Watts.


Barbers-Phillip Cosby, Henry Teaney, Louis Hauck, William Ruble. Albert Knippenberg, Paul Schroer.


Band-Harry Smith, director.


Business college-Lee Richmond.


Blacksmiths-Harry Doctor, William Knollman.


Banks-First National, Aurora State Bank.


Chiropractor-John Good.


Confectionery-George Demas.


Carpenters and contractors-J. C. Wright & Son, Jesse Trester, Truitt & Probst.


Clothing-Edward Schulz, Model Clothing Store, Ira Farmer, manager; Siefferman & Haug, Dennis Burke, J. R. Macker.


Coal Dealers-Pittsburgh Coal Company, Opp Coal Company, M. Duke. Druggists-J. A. Riddell. C. W. Olcott, John Ullrich.


Dry goods-Frank H. Rieman, Chambers & Stevens, John F. Vinup, Frank M. Cox, J. W. Martin, Mrs. Celia Bush.


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Dentists-H. J. Longcamp, J. E. Cole, C. L. VanOsdol.


Factories-Royer Wheel Company, Steadman Foundry and Machine Works, Cochran Chair .Company, Aurora Coffin Company, Aurora Tool Works, Aurora Furniture Company, Wymond Cooperage Company, Indian- apolis Chair and Furniture Company, Acme Milling Company, Star Milling Company, Aurora Brick Works, Aurora Creamery, H. W. Smith Chair Com- pany.


Furniture-J. C. Schuler & Son, Dearborn House Furnishing Company, Theodore Heck & Company.


Groceries-Bailey Grocery Company, D. B. Feaney, Chambers & Stevens, Conaway Grocery Company, R. S. Zeh, Thieman Brothers, Fred Pelgen, John E. Steele, William Harrison, Mrs. C. F. Taylor, J. H. Snyder, Charles Steig- erwald, James Everett, Jacob B. Bebinger, E. H. Niebaum & Son, Harry Wood.


Harness-Sawdon & Schooley.


Hardware-Johnston & Smith, Sawdon & Schooley, H. B. Spaeth & Company, J. H. Kuhlemeier & Son.


Hotels-Cottage Hotel, M. V. Heath, proprietor; Campbell House, Thomas Campbell, proprietor.


Ice cream-Henry Knippenberg.


Jewelers-William Leibe, Phillip Horr, R. W. Clark, W. T. Bascom.


Laundry-Aurora Steam Laundry, W. S. Walker, manager.


Livery-Emery Nocks, G. H. Stier, Joseph Goulding, Edward Holthouse. Lumber dealer and building superintendent-R. C. Mattox.


Meat-Stoll Meat Company, W. F. Scharf & Son.


Mayor-Thomas C. Carmichael.


Milliners-Samuel Somerfield, G. & L. Cochran, Flora Hubbartt.


Newspapers-Dearborn Independent, Aurora Bulletin.


Optometrists-Leslie Horr.


Physicians-H. H. Sutton, E. J. Libbert, J. M. Jackson, James Treon, J. L. McElroy, C. C. Marshall, E. R. Wallace, Ella $. Holmes. Pool room-Ed. Everett.


Postmaster-M. E. Maloney.


Photographer-Mrs. Mary Drake.


Restaurants-E. C. Borgerding, Mary Mason, Heath Brothers, S. C. Watts.


Saloons-John Conoway, George Weaman, Gus Martin.


Shoe Stores-John Neff, Frank Schipper.


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BLUE LICK WELL, WEST SIDE, AURORA


STRATTON PARK, AURORA


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Second-hand stores-Charles Winkley, Fred Ruscher.


Theaters-Grand, Petcher & Kyle; Lyric. Petcher & Kyle; Empire, Ross Macker.


Undertakers-John H. Stier, Ed. HolthausÄ™. Varieties-Harry Vigran, Chas. Scheuerman. Veterinarian-T. J. Martin.


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CHAPTER XXVI. MILITARY HISTORY.


REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS.


The close of the War of the Revolution found many of those who had borne a part in that struggle in straitened circumstances. The struggle had impoverished the states to such an extent that they were unable to reward those who had lost health or been wounded in the service with a pension such as the general government now gives to its defenders. During the long con- test the Continental Congress found it a diffcult task to raise funds to pay the men, often resorting to scrip that proved to be of little or no value when the struggle closed. The cord that bound the states together was for several years only a thing easily broken if one of the states had chosen so to do. The government credit was gone and the veterans who had fought through storm and stress, enduring privations of every character, turned their faces toward where their homes had been, to find in many cases their houses de- stroyed and their lands grown up in weeds. To such as these the lure of the Ohio valley appealed temptingly. True, the Indian was to be fought and conquered; the forest overcome, and the land subdued, but ground was cheap and game was plentiful. The necessaries of life as then viewed were to be found on every hand and many of those who had taken part in the struggle cast about for some way by which they might be able to locate themselves in this valley which had so much to offer for their future comfort. So when Congress, some five years after the treaty with Great Britain, took over all the rights of Virginia and the other colonies to the lands north of the Ohio river and passed the Ordinance of 1787, making it a country in which no slavery could come and creating the possibilities for five new states, those who could do so prepared to emigrate to this new Utopia, and companies were formed to colonize on a large scale. John Cleves Symmes purchased a great tract of land between the two Miamis and brought a colony to North Bend. Benjamin Stites, with some twenty or more brave pioneers, in 1788, pur- chased part of the Symmes land and founded a settlement at the mouth of the Little Miami. A few men, led by Mathias Denman and Robert Patterson,


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landed where Cincinnati now stands and founded the settlement there first called Losantiville, which name, in a few months, was changed to Cincinnati.


INTREPID REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS.


The Indians proved to be so warlike that the infant settlements sickened and almost died; but after General Wayne's treaty with the Indians in 1795, they rallied and grew fast and strong. This treaty gave encouragement to others and soon the Ohio was covered with voyagers seeking this new land of promise. Most of these settlers were men who had taken part in the War of the Revolution, or their children, a brave and independent class of people. They had suffered and fought for what they deemed just and were ready again to suffer and to fight. They brought with them their household goods and the desire to build society on a foundation that would be sound and en- during. They were ready to conquer the forest, the savage beast and the more savage race of red men that opposed their coming and were justly jeal- ous of their occupancy of what to them was a hunting ground where meat and bread could always be obtained easily.


Dearborn county, on account of its geographical situation, received more of these desirable citizens than perhaps any other county in the state. It was in closer proximity to the stronger settlements and the land office where they would have to go to enter their farms was in Cincinnati. The broad valley of the Big Miami and the fertile soils of the pleasant valleys of Laugh- ery creek, the two Hogan creeks, and Tanner's creek offered tempting induce- ments for the weary veteran of the seven long years of war to stop, locate and find a place where he could make a home, with all its comforts and con- veniences.


Nearly all of those who bore a prominent part in the settlement of this county were of this type and the county was indeed fortunate in securing them. The act of securing the roster of these men who took part in the War of the Revolution and who were citizens of Dearborn county has been put off too long for it ever to be obtained accurately. Many lie in what are unknown graves. It was the custom in pioneer days for nearly every landowner to set apart a corner somewhere on his land for a burying place and most of these were unmarked. No record was taken in those days, when men were busy making homes, of those who died. The neighbors rallied to the assistance of those in trouble, and helped them nurse their sick and bury their dead, but had no time for caring for the graves of the departed. They were laid away


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just as reverently as now, but the money for erecting costly monuments or even plain slabs, telling the story of the one buried, was oftentimes not to be had.


DEARBORN'S REVOLUTIONARY HONOR LIST.


In 1828 Congress made arrangements for paying the soldiers of the Revolution a pension, and it was then found that in Indiana Dearborn county led the list. Many, however, had paid the debt of nature long before 1828. and there is no way to determine the number that had resided in the county before that period. In 1835 there were forty-eight Revolutionary soldiers on the pension roll in the county, as follow: John Able, John Baker, Charles Cook, John Cooper, John Campbell, John Dixon, John De Moss, John O. Gullion, David Haney, Thomas Johnston, Moses Lindley, Noah Miller, Will- iam Meserve, Zebulon Pike, David Porter, Samuel Stone, Daniel Shed, Peter Lawrence, John Six, John Shaver, Daniel Welch, Robert Wright, David Hall, Charles Bisbee, Peter Carbell, Michael Euler, John Elliott, Jacob Ellsbury, William Henderson, Moses Hendrickson, Job Judd, Moses Lacy, Daniel Loder, James Leeds, Samuel Marsh, John Mead, George Mason, Daniel Rid- dington, David Reambe, Robert Ricket, Henry Rander, Elijah Rich. Ezra Stanson, William Smithers, Gideon Towers, Timothy Ward, Benjamin Walker, Samuel Whetstone and William White.


Others who were known to have been soldiers of the Revolution and who died before 1835 are Capt. Isaac Cannon, Maj. John Calhoun, Capt. Jo- seph Hayes, Eli Hill, Zebulon Dickinson, Ephraim Morrison, Joseph Barlow, William Kerr, James Skeets, James Dykman, Henry Rayner, John Sacket, Baylis Cloud, Jonas Frazier, John Day, Isaac Way, Capt. Hugh Dunn, Capt. John Crandon, Jabez Percival, James Scott, Jacob Toothman, Enoch Sacket, Winthrop Robinson, Jacob Taylor, Joseph Hannegan and Samuel Richardson.


Major Calhoun was a near relative of John C. Calhoun, and was active in the Revolutionary War and afterwards served against the Cherokees and Creeks. He spent his last days with the family of his kinsman, Abram Rol- and. Zebulon Pike was the father of the discoverer of Pike's Peak. Capt. Hugh Dunn was a forbear of Jacob P. Dunn, of Indianapolis, and of Harry R. and Cassius McMullen, their father, recently deceased, having been named for the pioneer ancestor, Hugh Dunn McMullen. It may occur to some that others on this list have descendants in the county. The Dickinsons are rep- resented in the county by Samuel Griffith and John N. Griffith, whose


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mother was a great-granddaughter. The Hayes family here are descended from Capt. Joseph Hayes, who was one of the first to settle in Dearborn county.


It has been estimated that at one time in the history of the county there were as many as two hundred men who had taken part in the War of the Revolution as soldiers. They kept no records in those days, and they sleep mostly in unknown graves. Here and there the word is handed down and the spot is pointed out where one of these men is buried, but in this fast- moving age of commercialism we are looking forward to the future too in- tently to have much time for sentiment and for the history of times so remote. It.is not yet too late to locate many of the last resting places of these men, and an organized effort should be made to find these ancient graves and see that they are properly marked.


THE WAR OF 1812-15.


The War of 1812 to 1815 found the good people of Dearborn county little prepared to take any other part but that of self-defense. The Indian country was at their door. An unbroken forest extended from the hills a few miles inland from the Ohio river to the prairies of northern Indiana, where the Indian lived. The only forts for protection in the whole state were at Vincennes, Ft. Wayne and at Ft. Harrison, where Terre Haute now lies. Ft. Wayne was an outpost only, and had little to do with protecting settlers in the river counties. Ft. Harrison was attacked by the Indians and they were beaten off after a siege of several days, the commander being Capt. Zachary Taylor, afterwards President of the United States. He proved himself worthy of the title of "Rough and Ready," given him afterwards in the Mex- ican War, in the siege of Ft. Harrison, as he did later in life. The only thing the settlers here could do was to organize companies for home defense, erect block houses at intervals along the front of or at the edge of the settlements, where the people could go at night for protection. Occasionally some of the more restless would enlist in some of the regular regiments that were sent to the Maumee country, but Dearborn county's soldiery during the last war with Great Britain confined themselves to protecting the border from raids against the settlements by roving bands of Indians. The massacre of Pigeon Roost, in Clark county, warned the citizens what could be expected from the savage foe and the vigilance shown had its reward in the fact that during the course of the whole war of three years no white persons lost their lives or were hurt by the Indians.


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LOCAL COMPANY ORGANIZED.


At one time during the War of 1812 a company was organized by James Dill and it expected to join the army at the west end of Lake Erie, having orders to march there. They joined the volunteers from about Cincinnati and marched northward as far as Piqua, Ohio, when the information was re- ceived that the frontier here was threatened and they were ordered back to protect the settlements at home. When General Harrison called for troops for the campaign of 1811 against the Prophet, the campaign which ended with the battle of Tippecanoe, a company was raised under Capt. James McGuire, but it was organized too late to take part in the campaign. It acted, however, as a frontier guard until war was declared, when it re-organized with the same officers and did duty along the border from Brookville to Laughery creek in the vicinity of Farmers' Retreat, where Captain McGuire lived. The com- pany built a block house at Brookville; one at Cambridge, not far from the residence of Capt. Ferris Nowlins, and a third one at McGuire's. Another was also erected at Harmons, near Cross Plains, and one at Vallonia, west of North Vernon. The company under Captain McGuire patrolled the country between Brookville and Laughery and was vigilant in keeping watch of the movements of the Indians that ventured to the frontier. Occasionally a rov- ing band would sweep down on some unprotected farmer's home and steal his horses, but no lives were lost. Isaac Allen, living on South Hogan creek, near the mouth of the branch now known as Allen's branch, one night lost eight horses and some tobacco, and Nicholas Lindsay, who lived where the George Lane residence now stands, a little farther down the creek, lost two horses. Three or four yoke of cattle were ruined by being hamstrung. Some of the people became frightened and fled to Kentucky for safety and a com- pany of homeguards from Boone county, under Captain Seebree was sent over to pursue the robbers. The company chased them out in the state to White river, somewhere in the neighborhood of where Indianapolis now stands, when they found the river so swollen that they gave up the chase and returned home. Among those who were in the pursuit were Major Nichols E. Chaffin and Conrad Huffman, from Dearborn county.




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