USA > Indiana > Posey County > History of Posey County, Indiana > Part 4
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Geologists have investigated in shafts and borings and classified forty- two different strata of soil and rock under the surface. These have been tabulated as follows: I. Buff, brown, red and mottled shales, ex- tending to a depth of two feet. 2. Merom sandstone, soft, shaly upper division, twenty to twenty-five feet thick. 3. Merom sandstone, massive in quarry beds, ten to thirty feet in thickness. 4. Dark gray or buff shales and flaggy sandstones, with clay iron stones, ten to twenty feet. 5. A poor grade of brown coal, third rash coal about a foot in depth. 6. Flaggy or thick bedded sandstone, ripple marked nine to four feet. 7. Hard, clinky, gray limestone, at bottom irregular and sometimes flinty, passing to the west to a calcareous shale two to six feet. 8. Argillaceous shale and shaly sandstone thirty-four feet in places and absent in other spots. 9. Black slate, with fish spines and fossils, nar- row strata. 10. Second rash coal, very thin strata. II. Fire clay, about one foot where it occurs at all. 12. Gray shale, six feet deep in places.
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HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY
13. Limestone (yellow ferruginous), three to twelve feet deep. 14. Gray shale, ninety-eight feet. 15. First rash coal and black slate, very thin strata. 16. Fire clay, one to two feet. 17. Soft, flaggy, blue, buff and gray sandstone, with much gray shale and beds of clay iron-stone and nodules, sixty to 121 feet. 18. Yellow and gray. sandstone, often giving good quarry beds, fifteen to twenty-nine feet. 19. Gray and buff alluminous, arenaceous or shaly, flaggy sandstone, with iron-stone nod- ules and shaly concretions, twenty-nine to eight feet. 20. Black slate or clod, with fossils one foot deep. 21. Coal, N, choice gassy caking, two feet. 22. Fire clay, at bottom shaly, with iron balls, five feet. 23. Buff or gray limestone, with Choetetes, eight to five feet. 24. Gray or white shale, with nodules of iron-stone and bands of sandstone thirty to forty feet. 25. Siliceous shale, passing into massive sandrock to south and west; anvil rock of Lesquereux and Owen, sixty to seventy-one feet. 26. Black slate and clod, with many animal and vegetable fossils, two to one feet. 27. Ingleside coal M, laminated coal, one foot four inches ; parting, two inches to nothing ; solid cubic coal, two feet eight inches to four feet. 28. Fire clay, four feet. 29. Fire clay with pyrite balls, three feet. 30. Siliceous shale, eleven feet. 31. Argillaceous sandstone, five feet. 32. Gray shale and soapstone, sixty-four feet. 33. Soapstone with plant remains, very thin strata. 34. Coal L, impure cannel coal, one foot six inches. 35. Fire clay, two feet. 36. 37. Siliceous shales and coarse, massive ferruginous sandstone, ninety to 120 feet. 38. Bituminous limestone and black slate, two to eight feet. 39. Coal K, coking pyritous, one foot. 40. Laminated fire clay, two to one foot. 41. Siliceous and black aluminous shales with lands and pockets of nod- ular ore, ten to thirty feet. 42. Conglomerate sandrock, 110 to 180 feet. 43. Coal A, three feet. 44. Dark or black shale with iron ore, thirty to five feet. 45. Chester sandstone and lower carboniferous limestone, depth of strata unknown.
The above general description applies to the whole county, with a few local variations and details. The following section was observed at the Harmony cut-off, which is, as the name indicates, a place cut off from the mainland by an arm of the river. It contains 2,000 acres of rich river bottom land, hence the first strata is described as : I. Alluvium running from thirty to ten feet deep. 2. Loess, twenty to ten feet. 3. Clay, sand, gravel, etc., sorted from glacial drifts, thirty to thirteen feet. 4. Merom sandstone, massive in eastern parts, to the west laminated, fifty to twenty feet. 5. Limestone, four to twelve feet. 6. Black shale. 7. Upper rash coal, ten feet. 8. Shaly sandstone, ten to forty feet. 9. Concretionary iron balls, one foot. 10. Calcareous shale, with fossils, one to two feet. II. Black, sheety shale, with coprolites and fossil remains, one to two feet. 12. Lower rash coal. 13. Gray shales with plant remains to low water in river, two to four feet.
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The lower sandstones of this locality show casts of strong, growing plants representing the Permo-carboniferous age. This section extends to the depth of 1161/2 feet and does not reach the bottom of the upper coal region and indicates that the horizon of workable coals lie from 200 to 500 feet below. A section was taken near the county line on the southwest quarter of section 32, township 6, range II, where the upper limestones were well developed. It ran as follows: Loess, loam, twenty feet; red sand loess, four feet; soft merom sandstone, twenty-six feet ; shaly sandstone, twelve feet; blue limestone, three feet to one foot; calcareous argillite, three feet; gray and buff limestone with fossils, eight feet ; gray shale to brook, two feet.
Formerly the more compact of the merom standstone formed occa- sional "rock houses" which were used for shelter by Indians and wild animals. Very little of the coal found has been either sufficient in quan- tity or good enough in quality to justify mining, although in the early days a thin coal was worked for blacksmith's use on section I, town- ship 6, range 12.
Six miles north of New Harmony the following section appears: Covered tops of hills, seventy feet; limestone with fossils, two feet; shaly sandstone, five feet; soft shales with plants and stems, twenty- one feet; coal, one foot; fire clay, two feet. Coal occurs in two thin seams eight miles north of New Harmony, in a ten-inch bed on Big creek, near the New Harmony and Mt. Vernon road, and on Rush creek in a thin strata ten to eighteen inches thick. These beds are generally covered with soft shales exposing plant and fossil remains. The fol- lowing is the section at Blairsville: (1) alluvial soil and loess, five feet ; (2) shales and shaly sandstone, fifteen feet; rash coal, three inches; fire clay with broken plants, six feet; sandstone, six feet; fire clay and trace coal, three inches; shales and shaly sandstone to creek, one foot. The sandstone of this section has contained many remarkable specimens of fossil remains, which have been taken out and preserved.
The following section was taken at New Harmony: Soil and sub-soil, one to six feet; loess, six to thirty feet; drift, yellow clay with small crystalline boulders, ten to twenty feet; hard, blue clay, about one foot ; merom sandstone, seldom suited for building purposes, ten to fifty feet ; argillaceous and siliceous shales, five to ten feet; coal, six inches to one foot ; fire clay, one to three feet ; limestone, about two feet ; argillaceous, jointed and bluish gray shale, twenty to thirty feet; schistose sand- stone, highly micaceous, three to six feet; banded limestone, several inches; calcareous shale and limestone, full of fossils, two to twenty- five feet ; argillaceous shales with coal plants, two feet ; coal, six inches ; bluish under clay, full of fossil plants.
The most valuable geological feature of Posey county is the lime- stones. That on Big creek is black and very close grained. It admits
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HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY
of a high polish and can be used for table tops and decorative purposes. The limestone opposite Diamond Island is thick and very valuable. That found in Bethel township is earthy and destitute of fossils. At the New. Harmony cut-off the lower part of the Kerom sandstones and the upper part of the shales are shown. About ten feet of the sandstone is coarse grained and reddish brown in color, underneath which lies five or six feet of argillaceous shale containing a seam of poor coal eight inches thick, underlaid with fire clay, beneath which is an earthy limestone. The next strata is shale and the next is a sandstone used for building purposes.
The remarkable feature of the geological deposits of Posey county is the plant and fossil remains, and in the past the soil has been the "happy hunting ground" for numerous eminent scientists. Beautiful fossilized ferns, trunks of upright trees, six inches to a foot in diameter and three feet or more high, remains of extinct animals, all have gone from this locality to enrich the geological and natural history collec- tions of the country. One of the prominent early collectors was Dr. Richard Owen, who was appointed State geologist and who, with his brother, Dr. D. D. Owen, came to New Harmony in 1832 from studying in Europe. In 1837 Dr. D. D. Owen was made United States geologist, with headquarters at New Harmony, these headquarters being continued until 1856. With the two Owens, one in charge of the United States survey, the other in charge of the Indiana survey, both at New Har- mony, also Dr. J. G. Norwood, in charge of Illinois, the town became one of the most prominent geological centers of the country and all the leading scientists in that line frequented the place. Among those con- nected with the Kentucky survey under Dr. D. D. Owen were Major Sidney Lyon, Professor E. T. Cox, Leo Lesquereux, Mr. Nicholson, civil engineer and topographist. In the Arkansas survey were E. T. Cox, Leo Lesquereux, Dr. Elderhorst (author of Elderhorst on the Blow- pipe) and Joseph Lesley. The Illinois survey was handled by J. G. Norwood, chief; Henry Pratten, J. H. Wolfers, Dr. Varner, A. H. Worthen and J. H. McChesney. In the Indiana survey Richard Owen was assisted by Leo Lesquereux.
Dr. D. D. Owen founded one of the best museums of natural history in the country, using as the foundation the vast and valuable collection of William McClure, who crossed the Alleghany mountains in the early days to study their structure, and located finally at New Harmony. He had traveled in many countries and his collection included specimens from Italy, Spain, Portugal, West Indies, Mexico and France. Dr. Owen had instructions from the government to locate the salt springs, mineral-bearing rocks previous to offering the lands for sale, and point them out for preservation. He covered that part of the North- west which is now Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa in the short period
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HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY
of two months and laid his report before Congress. In order to do this he employed several hundred men. They were divided into companies, each with an intelligent head, and each allotted a district in which to gather specimens. At each camping place men were secured to hunt and provide food for the entire company. Dr. Owen himself visited each camp at stated points to give instructions and study the work ac- complished.
After the completion of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington the headquarters of the government surveys were established in that city. A. H. Worthen became State geologist of Illinois with headquar- ters at Springfield, and in 1869 Professor E. T. Cox became State ge- ologist of Indiana and the headquarters for this State were removed from New Harmony to Indianapolis. The valuable collections were removed and many of them taken to the State University at Bloom- ington.
The archaeology of Posey county consists in the relics of the Mound Builders' period. Copper was beaten into thin plates for buttons, gor- gets and tiny bells; hard flint was polished to a high degree; shells of the ocean were worked into ornaments ; beautiful vases and vessels were made into perfect symmetry, and the native pearls of the Wabash were prepared and pierced for beads. At West Franklin several good-sized mounds may be seen 170 feet above the Ohio river. A clump of mounds on the bluff overlooking New Harmony were explored by the early sci- entists.
An analysis of the water shows an excess of magnesia, which, how- ever, disappears to a great extent upon the water being exposed to the air. The river bottom lands are due to causes now in action. The solid rocks by exposure to the elements have become disintegrated and ground into sands and clays, the finer particles of which have combined with rich organic matter. This deposit is always above or against the sides or evacuated edges of older river beds. Evacuations at Evansville, Ind., and Henderson, Ky., show a bed of river shells which indicates an era when the Ohio was much lower than at present, and which tells a story of life and climate in a time far remote. The mollusks found at these points indicate a tropical climate and may be intimately connected with the lasustral age, which was the epoch of warm climate succeeding the glacial period. The deposits indicate great lakes or slow moving la- goons by which this section was largely submerged at that time. Next in order was the ice age and the deposits indicate the youthful vigor of the Wabash. It sorted out the different deposits and they lodged where the current left them, a ripple causing a deposit of gravel or boulders, a slower current leaving banks of sand and eddy currents making banks of clay.
The natural resources of the county may be summed up as being
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HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY
largely in the rich soil, which yields abundant crops of all varieties of grain, vegetables and fruits common to the temperate regions. The wood which at one time covered the whole county has now largely disappeared and such coal as was workable has been mined out. There remain, however, the valuable limestones above mentioned. The Ohio and Wabash rivers furnish power for manufacturing purposes.
CHAPTER III.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
CUSTOMS AND HARDSHIPS OF THE PIONEER-EARLY DAY DEFENSES-INCIDENTS OF PIONEER LIFE.
The settlement of Posey county began in the first decade of the Nine- teenth century, while that section of the country was still claimed by the Indians, the possession of southern Indiana having been finally set- tled at the battle of Tippecanoe, in 1811, when the great Miami Con- federacy was completely crushed. It is not known just when the ear- liest settler came. The first records of land entries were in 1807, but those making the entries doubtless came much earlier. Among the first mentioned in history is the Black family, that located in the town- ship named for them in 1806. This family has grown quite large and is still prominently identified with the interests of the community. The head of the family at the time they located in Posey county was Thomas Black. He had four sons-James, William, Thomas and John. The three latter were killed in the battle of Tippecanoe. In 1810 James Black completed the first mill ever built in Black township. It was a horse power mill and was begun by William Weir. Later Mr. Black built a water mill and moved his old mill to the same place. Another early family was that of Adam Albright, who with his sons, Adam, Wil- liam and John, came from North Carolina, in 1807. They formed what was known as the Albright settlement in Black township. William Weir, Amos Robinson, Samuel Gill, Thomas Givens, Gen. William Henry Harrison and Jabez Jones also came to Black township in 1807. General Harrison entered a portion of the land on which the city of Mt. Vernon now stands. His claim called for 317 acres of section 8. He tried to sell out to James Black, who would not buy because one of the McFaddins was squatting there and refused to give it up. Harrison sold all this land to Aaron Williams, of Big Prairie, Ill., for a horse and some money, borrowed of James Black. The McFaddin family mentioned as having been squatting on the land were also one of the earliest in the township. There were several McFaddin families, all related, and they had some queer nicknames, such as "Slim," who claimed the honor of having fired the first gun at Tippecanoe, and "Pid-
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HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY
dle-de-dum," also "Big" and "Little" Jim. The bluff on the river was named for this family. The Aldridge family came in 1810 from North Carolina. The father was John Aldridge, who was a blacksmith, and the sons were Samuel, Elijah, Reuben, Henry, William and Aaron. The Todd family, also, came from North Carolina, their native town being Charlottesville. The original members of the family in Black township were William and Hugh. Other families who settled in the township before the battle of Tippecanoe were the Rowes, Dunns, Jef- fries and the Andrews, Nestlers, Ashworths, Frenches, Bacons, Ken- nedys, the Burlisons, Joseph Holleman, Thomas Russell and George Harshman, who located in what is known as Prairie Settlement. Most of the foregoing names are familiar in Black township and in Posey county today. Nathan and Moses, who represented the Ashworth fam- ily, brought two slaves with them. Moses was a Methodist preacher. There were four of the Bacons-Aaron, Edmond, Samuel and Joseph. The two latter brought two slaves with them, but as they could not hold them they were taken south and sold. Aaron Bacon was one of the early sheriffs of Posey county and served from 1820 to 1824.
The first settler to enter land in Harmony township was Isaac White, in 1807. John Gray entered in 1809, Isham Fuller in 1811, John Phillips and Thomas Tuggles in the same year. In Robb township Joshua Overton and Joseph Montgomery came with their families in 1808. William Nelson and Robert Allman entered land in 1809, James Allen, Samuel Murphy and Joseph Johnson in 1810, and Jonathan Jaquess, Maxwell Jolly, Thomas Shouse, Thomas Allmon, Daniel Drake, James Rankin and John Cox in 1811. In Smith township the first en- tries were by Elsberry Armstrong, Miles Armstrong and Joseph Garris, in 1810, and by James Rankin in 1811, although it seems highly probable that there were settlements far in advance of any land entries, the land office being difficult of access and there being no necessity in owning a claim until there were people enough living in the community to make protection of one's interests necessary. Lynn township shows no en- tries prior to 1815. John Gray and Thomas Rodgers entered land in Center township in 1809. In Marrs township Thomas E. Casselberry entered land in 1807, and John and Alexander Barton and William Dow- nen in 1811. In Point, originally Daniel township, or "The Daniel Ter- ritory," the first settlement in Posey county was made by Thomas Jones. William Broadhead entered land in 1800. Samuel Kimmel en- tered land here in 1809. John Waller took land in Bethel township in 1807, James Farris in 1808, and John McQuidy and Mathias Mounts in 18II. In Robinson township there are no records of settlements prior to 18II, although there must have been squatters located there before that time.
After the control of this portion of the country was permanently
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HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY
wrested from the Indians at the battle of Tippecanoe, there was an in- flux of settlers. Those coming prior to 1820 will be mentioned as "early settlers," although this did not conclude the pioneer period, the settlers for many years later having to endure many of the hardships and priva- tions that were the lot of those coming in the early years of the century. Those locating in the county in 1812 were Andrew McFaddin, B. W. Moore and Lowery Hay, in Black township; James Murphy, in Robb township ; William Sample in Marrs township ; Thomas Shouse in Bethel township.
In the year 1813 the following took homesteads: Solomon Nelson, Samuel Aldridge and Alexander Willis in Black township; Samuel Jaquess in Harmony township ; John Wilkins and Thomas Robb in Robb township; W. M. Steel and David Benson, in Smith township; Paul Casselberry, Elsberry and Samuel B. Marrs, in Marrs township; Seth Hargrave and James Black, in Point township.
In 1814 land was entered by David Thomas, Samuel Gregg and Thomas Miller in Black township; by Ignatius Leavitt, Robert Allen, Thomas Randolph, John Rodgers, James Ritchey, William Nelson and Thomas Barton in Harmony township; Right Stallings, Peter Jones, William Harrigan, Warner Clark, Simeon Reecles, John Stroud, John Waller, Thomas and William Harrison, Harrison Sartin, John Gwaltney, Wil- liam Stallings, Langston Drew, Leander Defer, Thomas Owens, John Crabtree, William Price, Thomas Rodgers and John Robards in Robb township; Joseph Rosborough, Simon Williams, George and Bennett Williams, William Downey, George Smith and Regina Gale in Smith township; by Samuel Elbin in Lynn township; Adam Young, William Barton, Jacob and James Winemiller, Robert Dery, John Moon and El- kanah Williams in Marrs township; Samuel Aldridge, George Bow, Hugh Todd, Robert Hargrave, Nathaniel Ewing, Samuel Parr and Joseph Kennedy in Point township; Thomas Denney in Robinson town- ship.
In 1815 were Thomas Templeton and John Caldwell, in Black town- ship ; George Rapp and the "Harmonie Association," William Rodgers and Robert Randolph in Harmony township ; John Drew, William Gray, Nathan Britton, John Calvin, Richard Harrison, William McPherson and Ezekiel Kight, and a colony of forty-four persons, among whom were the following names : Jonathan Jaquess, James Rankin, Joseph Endicott, William Casey, Alexander Ferguson, Asburry C. Jaquess, Harry En- dicott, Betsey Cooper, Polly Price and Lucinda Casey in Robb township ; Thomas McClure, John Smith, Thomas Duncan, William Smith, Isaac Kimball, Robert Davis, Thomas Ashley and Simpson Richey in Smith township; George Rapp and his association, David Lynn, Abel Math- ews, Robert Wilson and Thomas Miller in Lynn township ; Sharp Garris, William Dodge, Andrew E. Cross, George Rapp and his association, and
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HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY
William Weir in Center township; William Hutcheson, Benjamin and Needham Blount in Marrs township; Aaron Bacon in Point township; George Rapp and the association, Isaac and Alexander Boyer, Samuel Williams and Joseph Green in Bethel township.
The setters who filed on land in 1816 were James Moore, Absalom Willis, Reason Calvin, Samuel Jones, Thomas Nestler, Joseph Johnson, Samuel Elbin, Francis Miller and Mark Barrett in Black township; Clement Estes, Joseph Endicott, Joshua Overton, Thomas Maclure, Legro Bennett, John Calvin, Jesse Britton, Frederick Rapp, James An- derson and Jesse Cox in Robb township; William Davis, Henry Casey, Stephen Eaton, John Neal, Sallie Sanders, Willis Armstrong and Zach- ariah Harris in Smith township; Alexander Heighman, John Saltz- man, Aquilla Mathews, Michael Saltzman, Abel Mathews and John Wilson in Lynn township; Sharp Garriss, John Crunk, William Nel- son, Thomas Wilson, D. Lynn, John Stallings, Jacob Kern and Wil- liam Alexander in Center township; Lawrence Stull in Marrs township; Rezin Halsell and Samuel Barton in Robinson township; and John Neal in Bethel township.
The land entries of 1817 were made by the following: Thomas Duck- worth, James Duckworth, Daniel Barton, Edward Blount, F. & S. Cully, James Moore, Robert Castles, John Russel, Peter Wilkinson, John Walker in Black township; Lawrence Stull and John Walker in Robb town- ship ; John McConnell, Louis Williams, Jonathan Jaquess, George Eaton, Stubel Garrett, Samuel McReynolds and Joshua Elkins in Smith township; Frederick Rapp in Lynn township; Andrew Cavitt from Pennsylvania, Joshua and Caleb Wade, near Wadesville, Wright Stall- ings, Joseph McReynolds, Jesse Stallings, John Hay, Frederick Rapp, Samuel Scott, Al Wilson, John D. Hay, David A. Willis, Thomas Leavett in Center township; Jeffrey Sanders, John Williams and Charles Smith in Marrs township; Thomas Jones, Christopher Ash- worth and Elisha Boudinott in Point township; William Dodge in Rob- inson township; and George Barnett, John S. Campbell, Carmelia Car- penter, Thomas Jordan and John E. Wilson in Bethel township.
In 1818 there were Sylvester French, Anson S. Andrews, Daniel A. Willis, Elisha Phillips, Samuel Phillips, Joseph P. Coburn, William Moffitt, Aaron Burlison, Christopher Nelson, Edward Trafford, Wil- liam Russell and Jacob Kern in Black township; Benjamin Cater in Harmony township; James Robb in Robb township; Elisha Kimball, Herndon Meadows, George 'Lowe and Harrison Meadows in Smith township; Ajax Campbell, David Ball, Jonathan Robinson, Michael Smith, Thomas Smith, James Owens and James Robb in Center town- ship; Elias McNamee in Marrs township; Martin Shlater, George Hershman, John Hamilton and David Greathouse in Point township; William Rodgers, Ajax Campbell, Charles Kimball, Ezekiel Dukes,
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HISTORY OF POSEY COUNTY
John Crunk, Joel Pruitt and Alexander S. Morrow in Robinson town- ship; and Robert Allen, Jesse Spann, John B. Rachels, Gillison Price and Nicholas Harding in Bethel township.
Those locating claims in 1819 were Joseph Cully, Aaron Moore, John Bradley, John Burlison, Elijah Cully and John Goad in Black town- ship; Absalom Kinson in Lynn township; William F. Daniel in Point township; Stephen Eaton, William Griffin, Jacob Whittaker, Jesse Wil- liams and William Browder in Bethel township.
The majority of these people were here several years before their names were listed as homesteaders. The land office was at Vincennes, and the only means of travel was horseback, and the settler often had to go alone that was a hazardous journey, on account there being no roads and the woods being infested with wild animals and Indians. The first settlements were made along the Ohio river, the early set- tlers coming from the south side of the river. The only means of mar- keting produce was by flatboats, and "flatboating" was the occupation of many of the first comers. It is said by the pioneers who were fa- miliar with the usage of those times that often when a flatboat was hailed on the Ohio or Mississippi river the following conversation took place :
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