USA > Indiana > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Indiana, from its earliest settlement by the "pale face," in 1818, down to 1882 > Part 2
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF COUNTY.
Location, size. boundary, organization, origin of name, population in 1828 and I ... voters, condition of county then and now by comparison and contrast, topography, soil. water, health, exports formerly and at present, productions in bushels, timber, gravel,. sand, streams, map of county in 1828, origin and organization of townships, plat of county from 1850 to 1853, first settlers, plat of county from 1853 to present, early inci- dents, post-offices and villages, cnt of court-house, public buildings, cut of Greenfield school building, taxes for 1832 and other years, railroads. papers, intelligence, home of prominent men, poets and politicians, churches, loyalty, official directory. 25-45.
CHAPTER Il.
BLUE-RIVER TOWNSHIP.
Plat, origin of name, organization, changes in territory, location, boundary, sizc. streams, first mills, first township settled, first log cabin, blacksmith, school-house. orchard, store and fence, early incidents, first settlers, scenery, soil, surface, prosperity. educational and church advantages, mills and factories, roads and railroads, population. value of real and personal property, taxes, heavy tax payers, justices, physicians, carly and modern merchants, ex-trustees, former citizens living elsewhere, ex-county officers. exports, value of school property, politics and population. 49-57.
CHAPTER III.
BLUE-RIVER TOWNSHIP-CONTINUED.
Mount Olivet Church, Luse's tile-factory, Rule's saw-mill, Elijah Tyner. Adam Allen's pioneer life, history of Shiloah Church, James L. Binford, Elihn Coffin. Sen .. personal sketch of Augustus Dennis, sketch of the pioneer life of Harmon Warrum. Western Grove Church. 57-76.
CHAPTER N.
BRANDYWINE TOWNSHIP.
Plat, origin of name, when organized and of what it consisted. changes in territory. location, boundary and size, streams, first and present mills, first settlers, topography. timber, roads and railroads, a few first things, schools, value of school property, popu- lation, polls and politics, valuation and taxation, heavy tax-payers. general items. ex-justices, trustees, ex-county officers, deaths, exports. 77-83.
CHAPTER V.
BRANDYWINE TOWNSHIP-CONTINUED.
Carrollton, Sugar-Creek Church, Eden Chapel, brass band, William H. Porter, Mrs .. Isaac Roberts. $3-S ;.
CHAPTER VI.
BROWN TOWNSHIP'.
Plat, general view, plat of county in 1832, explanations, suggestions and historical facts, location, boundary, size, timber and topography, streams, earliest land entries, first settlers, first election, mills, muley and modern, roads, railroads, synopsis, teachers and schools, population, polls, vote, valuation, taxes and tax-payers, murders, suicides anl remarkable deaths, township trustees, justices of the peace, ex-county officers. exports. 88-90.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
BROWN TOWNSHIP-CONTINUED.
Warrington, Nashville, Willow Branch P. O., Concord Baptist Church, Zion's Chapel, M. E., the United Brethren, Christian Church at Warrington, Free Masons, I. O. O. F. of Warrington, Daughters of Rebecca, sketch and portrait of B. F. Reeves, Stephen Harlan, John Nibarger, Phineas Thomas, Thomas Collins, Dr. William Trees, Jonas Marsh, sketch and portrait of Dr. John L. Marsh. 98-112.
CHAPTER VIII.
BUCK-CREEK TOWNSHIP.
Plat, name, changes in size, location, surface, soil and drainage, streams, first settle- ment and land entry, first settlers, first births, deaths, marriages, burials, suicide, preacher, teacher, doctor and blacksmith, mills, merchandising, cut of Superintendents. ·educational, synopsis, roads, railroad, population, vote, polls, value of real and personal property, taxes and heavy tax-payers, ex-county officers, productions, physicians, justices .of the peace, township trustees, prominent families, murder and suicide. 113-123.
CHAPTER IX.
BUCK-CREEK TOWNSHIP-CONTINUED.
Hopewell M. E. Church, Pleasant Grove M. E. Church, Union Chapel, John D. Ilop- Ikins, Joshua Shelby, George W. Parker, S. HI. Arnett's biography and portrait, Joseph Wright, Barzilla G. Jay, Macedonia Church, Lorenzo Dow. 124-140.
CHAPTER X.
CENTER TOWNSHIP.
Plat of township, origin of name, changes in boundary, size, surface, soil, drainage and productions, streams, first entry and early settlers, first preacher, birth, death, &c., mills and factories, roads, railroads, educational, number and name of houses and teach- ers, portrait of James K. King, value of school-houses and apparatus, scholastic popula- tion, township trustees, churches, population, polls and vote, value of real and personal property, taxes and heavy tax-payers, law and esquires, portrait Andrew T. Hart. first settlers of Harrison township, first business, ex-county officers, murders, suicides and remarkable deaths, portrait of William Trees, M. D., exports, remarks. 141-172.
CHAPTER XI.
CENTER TOWNSHIP-CONTINUED.
Greenfield, laid out in IS28, size and naming of town, report of commissioners appointed by General Assembly, outline of old town, additions 1-23, cemeteries, cut of first cabin in town, early history, post-office, sidewalks, first business bricks, private residences, other buildings, remarks, big fires, incorporation as town and city, streets. synopsis, first doctors, first attorneys, first business men, first taverns, business directory, «city officers. 172-190.
CHAPTER XII.
CENTER TOWNSHIP-CONTINUED.
Masonic Lodge 101, I. O. O. F. 135, Enreka Lodge No. 20, K. of P., Greenfield Lodge No. 184, I. O. G. T., Presbyterian Church, Greenfield Methodism, portrait of Ben- jamin Freeman, Mt. Gilead Church, Curry's Chapel, Sugar-Creek M. E. Church, Mt. Carmel M. E. Church, Greenfield Cornet Band, sketch and portrait of S. T. Dicker- son. 191-207.
CHAPTER XIII.
GREEN TOWNSHIP.
l'lat, name and organization, location, size and boundary, surface, soil, drainage and productions, streams, first land entries and first settlers, first election, historical anec- dote, a few first things, mills, roads, educational, township trustees, churches, popula- tion and poll, value of real and personal property, taxes, law and esquires, first business. physicians, ex-county officers, prominent families, murders and fatal accidents, portraits of Sarah Jane Wilson and Anaretta Cass, recapitulation. 208-222.
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CONTENTS.
Jr., Henry Wright, James A. New, John E. Dye, portrait and sketch of Wmn. Wright. Dr. S. M. Martin, Miss Mary N. Roberts, sketch and portrait. Amos C. Beeson. A. M. E. Church, Hancock Commandery No. 6, a bit of school history, William H. Thomp- son. Joseph Chapman, Robert Smith, cemeteries of the county. 409-429.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
GENERAL TOPICS.
Progress of our schools, portrait of John HI. Pope, growth and early incidents, county fair, papers of Hancock county, table of distances, post-offices, to grantees and mortgagees of real estate, County Bible Society, Greenfield Christian Church, portrait of Jonathan Smith. 430-449.
CHAPTER XXIX.
PERSONAL SKETCHES AND BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES.
Judge D. S. Gooding, James Sample, sketch and portrait of Robert Binford, Jacob Slifer, John II. White, James L. Mason, HI. J. Dunbar, sketch and portrait of C. E. Bar- rett, Matilda Gooding, Ernst II. Faut, Gen. O. P. Gooding, autobiography and portrait of J. HI. Binford, Charles G. Offutt, L. P. Newby, A. M. Patterson, Judge Forkner, J. K. King, safe robbery. 450-475.
CHAPTER XXX.
CHARTS AND MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.
Key to charts following, general cotemporaneous tabulated data, local cotempora- neous tabulated data, list of ex-County Commissioners, surveyors, School Commissioners, School Examiners and County School Superintendents, United States rectangular survey. with diagrams and illustrations, our poets, poetry and portrait of J. W. Riley, Harvest Days of the Olden Time, by Lee O. Harris, portrait of R. A. Smith, Old Settlers' Song, by Samuel Brooks, Christ the Way, by R. P. Hill, An Apostrophe to Death, by J. II. Binford, The Storm and Unforgiven, by Miss Bottsford, The Crucifixion, by R. A. Riley, Dr. J. G. Stewart, portrait of Meredith Walker. 476-506.
CHAPTER XXXI.
PATRIOTISM OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
Introduction, the Mexican soldiers, three months men, portrait of Gen. O. P. Good- ing. list of officers and soldiers of civil war, Morgan raid men, partial list of patrons.
ERRATA.
Page 57. chapter III., should be followed by the subject of the chapter, " Blue-River Township-Continued," similar in style to page 124.
Page $3, chapter V., should be followed by the caption, " Brandywine Township- Continued," of which Carrollton is only a sub-head.
Page 92, third paragraph, " muly " should be " muley."
Page 9S. The manuscript made the subject of this chapter, " Brown Township- Continued, " similar to page 223.
On page 120, second line in last paragragh, total amount of taxes should be $6.463 26 instead of " $646,326. ""
Page 205, fourth line from top, George Roberts should be Rafferty.
Page 238, fourth line from the list of school-houses, " the final vote in 1859 " should be in '. 1$49.""
Page 275, under streams, Buck creek passes out "south " and not "west " of the north-west corner.
Page 312, fifth line from top after " Marion county," should be added "and Ham- ilton."
Page 314. In last line of the second paragraph from bottom the word " Republican " should be " Whig."
On page 319, last paragraph, third line from top, " IS50 " should be " IS3S."
On page 320, middle of first paragraph, the polls were " 243" in ISSo instead of ·· 5$2 .**
Page 344, eighth line, the quotation should be " MMi anie countri," and the quotation in the next line should be " Meine Deutche faterlant."
Page 442. The distance from Eden to Carrollton, instead of "7," should be " 161; ". miles, and from Cleveland to Woodbury, instead of " 212," should be " 2112," and from ('arrollton to Milner's Corner, instead of " 212," should be " 21 " miles.
Page 470, third line from bottom, " Hendricks " should be " Henry."
Page 471, second line, " 1872 " should be " 1865.""
Page 479. In the column of important events for 1835, "Locofoca " should be " Locofoco," and for IS45 the representatives should be "George Henry and R. A. Riley."
Page (So. For IS55 the representative first named should be " J. H. White."
Page IS7, third line, the words " survey, or " should be " surveyor."
INTRODUCTION.
After Christopher Columbus had returned from making his great discoveries which brought another continent into exist- ence, all the enterprising nations of Europe fitted out vessels to make explorations in this land of promise, Spain sending her men to the Southern, France to the Northern and England to the Atlantic Coast of North America. Their claims necessa- rily conflicted, as the grants of Spain extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, France from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, and England passing over both of these from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Indiana was originally claimed as a part of Florida, which became a Spanish colony in 1543. Northern Indiana was included in the territory granted in 1620 to the Plymouth Com- pany by King James, and was therefore claimed by Great Britain, but the French possessed a superior claim, and retained the territory by establishing settlements and fortifications. Vincennes settlement, the first in what is now Indiana, was made in 1702, one hundred and eighty years ago. This terri- tory remained in the possession of the French until 1763, the close of the memorable French and Indian war, when by treaty it passed into the hands of the English.
Indiana was at this time inhabited by the great Miami confederacy of Indians, whose territory embraced Indiana and the greater portion of Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Here the red men of the forests had held supreme control, unmolested in their rights for many years, an independent nation, commanding the respect of all the neighboring tribes. No wonder that when they saw the white man advancing and taking possession of their beloved hunting-grounds that the latent passions which lay slumbering in their breasts burst forth with all the fury of uncivilized manhood.
In 1778 Colonel George Rodgers Clarke, with four compa- nies of Virginians, captured Post Vincennes, but it was retaken
19
INTRODUCTION.
by the British in the same year. In 1779 Colonel Clarke again recaptured it. The Indians now began their depredations on the settlers, and a body of men. under General Harmur, was sent against them, which was totally defeated, in what is now Allen county, by the famous Indian Chief, " Little Turtle." In 1791 General Charles Scott destroyed the Wea villages on the Wabash. After the defeat of Harmur, General St. Clair organ- ized a new force, which was also defeated near the present site of Fort Wayne. In 1794 General Wayne (familiarly known to the Indians as " Mad Anthony, a man who never slept ") appeared against them, and completely humiliated the whole confederacy, moved on to the confluence of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph rivers, and erected Fort Wayne. This for a time ended the Indian troubles.
In 1787 the North-west territory was organized, embracing the present States of Ohio. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wiscon- sin and that part of Minnesota east of the Missisippi. In ISoo Ohio was set apart as a separate territory. leaving the remainder of the North-west territory to constitute Indiana. Of this new Indiana territory William II. Harrison, of Virginia, was the first Governor, and the seat of government was located at Vin- cennes. John Gibson, of Pennsylvania, was appointed Secre- tary : William Clarke, Henry Vanderbourgh and John Griffin Territorial Judges. The whole white population then of what is now the great State of Indiana, with her hundreds of, thou- sands, was only 4.875. but about one-fourth of the population of Hancock county to-day.
Indiana was first organized into three counties, viz: Knox, Randolph and St. Clair. In 18oz Clark was added and a con - vention held at the territorial capital, composed of delegates from the four counties.
The first General Assembly met at Vincennes in ISo5, with delegates from the above counties and Dearborn, which had since been added. New counties have been organized from time to time. till there are now ninety-two in the great "Hoosier" State. Governor Harrison's address to the first legislative assembly in Indiana was full of patriotism and exhor- tation to faithful, honest duty. Indiana territory was divided, and Michigan territory struck off and organized on the north i11 ISO5.
In the territorial code. frame l in iso7, we see a wide differ-
MORGAN CHANDLER.
INTRODUCTION.
ente from our present laws Treason, murder, atson and horse stealing were punishable by death. Manslaughter was punishable according to the common law. The crimes of hungary and robbery were punishable by whipping, line, and in some cases by imprisonment not exceeding forty years. Larceny was punishable by fine and whipping. Forgery by fine, disfranchisement and standing in the pillory Hog steal img by line and whipping.
In 1862 Jeffersonville, the present county seat of ('lik county, was laid out at the falls of the Ohio river according to a plan proposed by President Jefferson.
Between the years tog and Soy Aaron Bur, the man who at one time lacked only one vote of being President of the United States, visited the people of the Ohio Valley to get assistance to carry out his plans, which were undoubtedly resonable to the General Government,
In (So) Illinois territory wassent from the western part of Indiana, comprising the territory west of the Wabash, from line running north from Vincennes to the Dominion of Canada, and this now reduced Indiana to ber present limits.
In 1810 new troubles with the Indians commenced A plan of campaign was formed, which ended in the great Indian battle of Tippeemoc, where General Harison routed the Indians and caused them to sue for peace, but the war of 1812 coming on brought with it new difficulties with the Indians. Many murders occurred, and the frontier settlers were kept in alarm until the close of this second war with Great Britain. The farmers when working in the fields carried in their belts revolvers and knives. The gun was laid on the ground by a driven stake to mink the spot. Men then expected to be attacked at any time, and were ready to act on the " spur of the moment."
In 18to the census tables of Indiana territory showed a population of 21,520; and there were thirty three grist mills, tomteen saw mills, three horse mills, eighteen tanneries, twenty right distilleries, three powder mills, 1,256 looms and 1,350 spinning - wheels.
In 1813 the seat of government was removed from Vin cannes to Corydon, the latter being a more central point.
In 18tq the territory was divided into five districts, Wash ington and Knox constituting one, Gibson and Warrick one,
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INTRODUCTION.
Harrison and Clarke one, Jefferson and Dearborn one, and Franklin and Wayne one, in each of which the voters were empowered to elect a member to the legislative council.
Indiana adopted a constitution and was admitted to the Union in 1816. Jonathan Jennings, under the new constitution, was elected first Governor of the State over Thomas Posey, who had been Governor of the territory, the vote standing 5,211 to 3.934. In IS20 the site of the present seat of govern- ment was selected by commissioners appointed by the General Assembly. In 1825 the capital was removed from Corydon to Indianapolis. In 1834 the State Bank was chartered. In 1842 imprisonment for debt was abolished.
Indiana has had numerous Indian wars, and forty-four treaties have been made with the various tribes from time to time.
Indiana, when the great rebellion threatened this country with destruction, came nobly to the front with her brave "boys in blue," from time to time, to the number of 200,000. Few- States can say as much : and Hancock county was not afraid to marshal her forces and send them to the front to be trodden in the dust by the iron hoof of the war-horse.
The first railroad in Indiana was built in 1846, between Madison and Indianapolis. Five thousand miles of railroad are now in operation, and others in the process of construction.
In IS51 our old constitution was abolished, and a new and much better one adopted. Our vote was as follows : 109,319 for and 26.755 against the same.
Indiana now stands among the leading States of the Union. Her school fund is larger by two millions than any other State in the Union. Her manufacturing resources are unbounded, her coal fields are among the most productive, and furnish a large source of wealth, her water power is excellent, and her railroads numerous, Indianapolis, .our capital, being the greatest railroad center in the State, and not surpassed by any city in the United States in this respect. Jeffersonville, New Albany and South Bend are respectively noted for their exten- sive " car works," " glass works," and " wagon factory."
We have seen Indiana when a forest, dotted here and there by prairies which seemed like oases in a desert. We have seen noble, hardy pioneers with their families entering into the country and, with their glittering axes, leveling the
24
INTRODUCTION.
giant progeny of the forest. We have seen Indiana when the red men owned the soil, and when only a cabin here and there showed where the march of civilization had begun. We have seen her in infancy, with a white populatiou only one-fourth as large as that of Hancock county. We have seen her when the savage red men took the war-path, destroyed her property, murdered her children and rejoiced in the victory. But the noble pioneers who settled this country braved all these dangers. and established their institutions of liberty, religion and truth
ROBERT SMITH.
upon a firm foundation. We see Indiana as she stands to-day in all her grandeur, glorying in her power, rejoicing in her resources, sending great men to the various fields of action, educating her boys and girls without cost, and shedding the glorious rays of truth and enlightenment to all her people.
May her light still continue to shine in the firmament as brilliantly as the noonday sun, and diffuse the blessings of lib- erty to all mankind.
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW.
HANCOCK COUNTY, Indiana, is located a little east of the geographical center of the state. It is in latitude 40° north, and longitude 86° west, of Greenwich, or 9° west from Washington, and is in townships fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen north, and ranges five, six, seven, and eight east. In size it is about an average county of the state, being composed of 307 sections, or square miles, and con- taining about 196,480 acres. It is bounded on the west by Marion and Hamilton, on the north by Madison and Ham- ilton, on the east by Henry and Rush, and on the south by Shelby, Rush and Henry. It is chiefly bordered, however. by Marion on the west, Madison on the north, Henry on the east, and Shelby on the south. Hamilton forms only one mile of the western boundary and four of the northern ; Rush forms six miles of the eastern and two of the south- ern, and Henry forms but one mile of the southern bound- ary. The greatest length of the county is nineteen miles east and west, and its greatest width seventeen miles north and south.
Hancock county was cut off from Madison and organ- ized in the year 1828, and named in honor of John IIan- cock, president of the convention that adopted the immor- tal ·· Declaration of Independence."
3
26
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
At the time of the organization of the county it con- tained but few inhabitants, and they were scattered. At the first presidential election held in the county, which occurred November 3, 1828, the whole number of votes cast were 101, and now the whole number is, according to the census of 1880, 4,170. Then the entire population of the county was about 400 ; now it is 17,123. Then there were, perhaps, 135 children of school age in the county : now there are 5,646. Then there was but one clock in the county ; now there is one in nearly every household. Then there were no broad fields of golden grain, cut with a self- binder and threshed with a steam thresher, but only here and there a small patch cleared in the green, cut with a sickle and threshed with a flail. Then our whole territory was almost one unbroken wilderness. in which were numerous Indians, wild deer, bears, panthers, wild cats, rattlesnakes, wolves, owls, turkies, opossums, raccoons, and porcupines. This condition of affairs has changed. The Indian has bid adieu to his native hunting grounds ; the church bell has taken the place of the warwhoop ; the poisonous fanged serpent, at the sight of civilization, has faded away as if under the benign influence of St. Pat- rick. What changes have taken place! The old land- marks are nearly gone ; but few of the early pioneers,- our grandfathers and their sires,-are left, and they, one by one, are fast passing away. Our progress, from a small beginning to our present status, has cost untold toil. hardships and privations, not fully appreciated by the youug of the present generation. This book is written, in part, that their names, and the trials they underwent. may, to some extent, be perpetuated. We shall show. step by step, the progress made decade after decade. This chapter is only intended as a bird's-eye view of the territory, preparatory to a more detailed account, in which the townships will be considered separately, and elaborated thoroughly, when our minds will be carried back to the brave pioneers, to learn their names and mode of living, and to follow them up amidst the hardships incident to pio-
27
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW.
neer life to balmier days and more pleasant surroundings even to the present time.
Hancock county is quite flat, there being but few hills, except in the immediate vicinity of the water-courses, and several of these have no banks worthy of the name. Blue River and Sugar Creek have considerable banks, and Bran- dywine at places. Blue-river and Sugar-creek townships are rolling, and somewhat undulating, but the county, on the whole, is remarkably level, and was once considered "low and wet;" but since it has been so thoroughly drained by tile ditches, and good roads built, we hear but little complaint in that direction.
It is now considered healthful, and as free from malaria and miasmatic diseases as any of its border counties ; though there was once a great deal of ague and fever, bilious fever, and considerable milk-sickness.
Our soil, generally speaking, is exceedingly fertile ; indeed, almost exhaustless in resources. The black, low grounds, which in the early history of the country were considered almost worthless, and were, therefore, the last entered, are now, since being drained, found to be the richest and most productive. The first settlements in the county were made on the uplands, hills and knolls, if pos- sible. Thirty years ago, about a hundred feet above Blue River, in the midst of a small field, there stood a tiny log cabin, without roof, window, chimney, or floor, unfinished, decaying, which the writer passed hundreds of times when a boy, and then learned that it was begun long years since for a pioneer cottage ; but in the "raising," there being little help, the proprietor was crushed by the falling of a log on nearing the gable.
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