USA > Indiana > History of the Indiana democracy, 1816-1916 > Part 102
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Once separated from good political associations, the Republican sentiment and votes began increas- ing at about the same time, and at the end of the first twenty years, in 1864, both presidential and state ticket majorities commenced going the other way. From that time on there was a steady re- cording of Republican successes in Ohio county, the majorities being from small to safe, until the campaign of 1908, when the tide turned to De- mocracy by a very small margin. It has since then been maintained only by most efficient or- ganization.
In the election of 1908 Thomas R. Marshall led his Republican opponent by 14 votes, while the Democratic presidential candidate, William J. Bryan, and his running mate, John Worth Kern, led by only 3 votes.
The records of the state elections since 1856 are sufficiently interesting to bear publication as showing the political complexion of the county:
Dem.
Rep. Prog.
1856-Governor
505
465
...
1858-Secretary
476
425
. .
1860-Governor
503
464
...
1862-Secretary
483
459 ...
1864-Governor
402
605
1866-Secretary
481
628
...
1868-Governor
492
599
1870-Secretary
491
570
1872-Governor
574
638
1874-Secretary
543
554
1876-Governor
558
610
1878-Secretary
582
671
1880-Governor
615
722
1882-Secretary
552
653
1884-Governor
588
683
1886-Secretary
537
682
...
1888-Governor
588
725
...
1890-Secretary
567
649
1860-64-Francis Adkinson.
1892-Governor
598
659
1864-68-Robert N. Lamb.
1894-Secretary
563
711
. .
Dem.
Rep. Prog.
1896-Governor
626
696
...
1898-Secretary
597
705
...
1900-Governor
622
726
...
1902-Secretary
607
640
...
1904-Governor
576
655
...
1908-Governor
623
609
.. .
1910-Secretary
681
628
...
1912-Governor
545
400
118
1914-Senator
560
516 39
1916-Governor
614
588
. .
The presidential elections since 1864, the time when the Republicans began recording their ma- jorities, resulted as follows :
1864.
381
592
1868.
465
586
...
1872.
456
591
..
1876
579
629
...
1880
588
727
...
1888
585
727
...
1892.
606
662
...
1896.
634
705
...
1900
632
730
...
1904.
584
662
...
1908.
622
619
...
1912.
553
406
120
1916.
632
597
...
These Democrats have held office in Ohio county since 1844, when the territory was separated from Dearborn, with Rising Sun as the county seat:
CIRCUIT JUDGES.
1844-Miles C. Eggleston.
1845-50-Courtland Cushing.
1850-58-Alexander C. Downey.
1858-64 Joseph W. Chapman.
1870-73-Henry C. Hanna.
1873-79-Omar F. Robert.
1879-85-Noah S. Givan.
1885-91-W. H. Bainbridge.
1891-97-Alexander C. Downey.
1897-1903-Noah S. Givan.
1903-09-George E. Downey.
1909-13-George E. Downey (resigned to accept
place as comptroller of United States Treasury, and later named on court of claims).
1913-15-Warren N. Hauck.
1915-Warren N. Hauck.
. .
. .
COMMON PLEAS JUDGES.
1852-58-Robert Drummond.
1858-60-John J. Hayden.
...
...
1868-72-Scott Carter.
..
. .
...
..
...
. .
( 713 )
HISTORY INDIANA
DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
ASSOCIATE JUDGES.
1844-47-Samuel Fulton.
1844-47-Thomas H. Gilmore.
1847-51- John Hall.
1847-51-Martin Stewart.
SHERIFFS.
1844-William Lanius (appointed).
1844-46-James B. Smith.
1846-51-William T. Pate.
1851-55-Thomas H. Gilmore.
1859-61-Thomas H. Gilmore.
1877-79-David H. Durbin.
1886-88-Daniel P. Truitt.
1902-07-Harry Rump.
1906-11-David H. Durbin.
1910-15-Oliver B. Mitchell.
RECORDERS.
1844-50-William T. Lambdin.
1850-51-John R. Ross.
1855-63-William Elliott.
1875-79-John W. Facemire.
1902-07-Wyman G. Sink.
1906-15-John T. Dugle.
1914-19-Oliver B. Mitchell.
CLERKS.
1844-James H. Pepper.
1850-John R. Ross.
1904-12-William D. Ricketts.
1910-20-Thomas A. Cooper.
AUDITORS.
1845-Joseph M. Vance.
1879-Joseph P. Hemphill.
1886-91-Ira Powell.
1890-95-Malvin W. Fisk.
1902-08-Jamcs Corson.
1906-16-Joseph P. Hemphill (resigns).
1914-16-James B. Hemphill (appointed). .
1914-20-James R. Elder, Sr.
TREASURERS.
1859-Robert W. Jones.
1883-John W. Facemire.
1892-95-Richard A. Steele.
1896-99-William H. Elliott.
1906-12- Harry Rump.
1910-14-David H. Durbin.
1912-18-William D. Ricketts.
1916-20-H. Earl Williams.
COMMISSIONERS.
1844-William H. Powell, Morris Merrill.
1845-George Pate.
1846-James M. Shepherd.
1847-George Pate (3 years).
1848-Thomas Summers.
1849-Marshall Elliott.
1851-George Pate (died 1852) and John Hall (appointed to vacancy).
1852-Charles E. Hamilton and James W. Gib- bens.
1853-Benjamin Hall.
1854-George Buchanan.
1855-Joseph L. Pate.
1857-Calvin Marble.
1858-Hiram Barricklow.
1859-Hugh Anderson.
1861-William Wooden.
1862-Hugh Anderson.
1867-Ezra Lampkin.
1876-John Hanna, John W. Cofield.
1886-Hugh Anderson.
1891-Henry B. Steele.
1902-George A. Woods.
1904-George A. Woods, William F. Selmeyer.
1906-Lawrence V. Turner, William F. Sel-
meyer.
1908-Lawrence Turner, Robert Hastings.
1910-Robert Hastings, Elijah Turner, Law- rence V. Turner.
1912-Elijah Turner.
1914-Henry Kaiser, Lucien Lotton, Henry Bushman.
CORONERS.
1904-17-William H. Dugle.
1916-19-William Dilts, Jr. (appointed Janu- ary 1, 1917).
SURVEYORS.
1884-86 -- George H. Keeney.
1904-09-Cornelius R. Harris.
1908-11-George H. Keeney.
1910-13-Joseph Beckett.
1912-17-George H. Keeney.
1916-19-William L. Hartford.
MEMBERS LEGISLATURE FROM OHIO AND SWITZERLAND-JOINT SENATORS.
1846-47-48-Martin R. Green.
1849-50-51-John Woods.
1852-53 -- William Powell.
1855-57-Philander S. Page.
1859-61-Benjamin L. Robinson.
1862-65-Alexander C. Downey.
1867-69-Flavius J. Bellaney.
- Ohio and Dearborn Counties-
1871-73-R. Gregg.
-Ohio, Switzerland and Ripley Counties-
1875-77-W. Culbertson.
1879-Lavin J. Woollen.
-Ohio and Dearborn Counties- 1881-Lavin J. Woollen.
( 714 )
HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
-Ohio, Dearborn and Switzerland Counties-
1883-85-Columbus Johnson. 1887-93-F. Marion Griffith. 1895-97-Columbus Johnson.
-Ohio, Dearborn and Franklin Counties-
1899-1901-George H. Keeney. 1903-05-William H. O'Brien. 1907-09-Evan L. Patterson. 1911-13-Warren N. Hauck.
1915-17-Joseph P. Hemphill.
REPRESENTATIVES. -Ohio and Switzerland Counties - 1853-Oliver Dufour, Hazlett E. Dodd. 1855-David Cain.
1875-William T. Pate. 1885-George S. Pleasants.
-Switzerland, Ohio and Dearborn Counties- 1887-George S. Pleasants.
1889-George S. Pleasants.
1891-Thomas M. Kyle.
1893-H. D. McMullen.
1897-A. J. Bowers.
-Switzerland and Ohio Counties-
1899-William M. Green.
1903-William M. Green.
1905-Benjamin S. Potter.
1907-Henry B. Steele. 1909-D. E. Douglass.
1911-George H. Keeney.
1913-Stephen J. Dibble.
( 715 )
HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ORANGE COUNTY
T HE present county of Orange originally comprised portions of Knox and Clark- Knox west of the meridian line and Clark east. March 9, 1813, all of Orange county west of the meridian line and south of the line dividing Sections 20 and 29, township 1 north, became part of Gibson county. December 21, 1813, all of Orange county east of the meridian line except the southern half of township 1 south and the small tract north of Orleans and north of the junction of the Indian boundary lines of 1803 and 1805 became part of Washington county, and Sep- tember 1, 1814, the last mentioned tract was added to Washington county. The southern half of township 1 south, east of the meridian, re- mained part of Harrison county.
Zachariah Lindley was the sheriff appointed by the Governor to organize the new county, which was done early in 1816, the first meeting of the newly elected officers being held at the residence of William Lindley, Jr. The county seat was named Paoli after a town in North Carolina whence the Lindleys, who donated the ground for the town, had come. Jonathan Lindley was ap- pointed county agent and was directed to lay out the county seat into lots, which was done in April, 1816, and lots were sold to the amount of $8,294.40. Many of the descendants of these pioneer Lind- leys reside in and about Orange county and have been very influential in the early history and up- building of the county.
Among the early inhabitants of this county were many tribes of Indians, chief of which were the Piankeshaws, Wyandottes, Shawnees and Delawares. Many Indian forts were scattered throughout the county and blockhouses for pro- fection of the settlers were much in evidence. That prehistoric race, the Mound Builders, has also left abundant and convincing evidence of their habitation here long ago.
The political phase of Orange county has been such that each party has for a time been success- ful and then gone down in defeat. In August, 1816, the county gave Thomas Posey for Governor 419 votes and Jonathan Jennings, his opponent, 64. Many of the subsequent results at guberna- torial elections cannot be given, but records are at hand of about all the presidential elections. The campaign of 1840 was the first of note in Orange county. In May of that year at the Dem- ocratic county convention Joel Vandever presided and many representative Democrats were pres- ent. Dr. W. A. Bowls, then the leading Democrat
of the county, a man of unusual talent, magnet- ism and personality, and a representative of the county, delivered a masterly address on the issues of the day. In August of the same year Mr. Bowls was re-elected representative and served his con- stituents with credit.
In 1844 the Democrats held an enormous bar- becue at Orleans, fully 5,000 people being there. A large hickory pole was raised, and Messrs. Down, Smith, Sherritt and Albertson addressed the assemblage. Late in the 40's Dr. W. F. Sher- rod became prominent in Democratic politics. He was one of the State electors in 1848 and was chosen to take the returns to Washington City. In 1849 he was elected to the State Legislature.
Up to this time the Whigs and Democrats had made up the leading parties of the county, but in 1851 a movement for the exclusion of the negroes arose and at the election in August, 1851, the question of the exclusion or colonization of the negroes or mulattoes was submitted to the county with the following result: For exclusion, 1,347; against exclusion, 24.
In 1856 politics in the county was in such a chaotic condition that almost the entire Whig vote went to Fillmore, the "American" candidate, only 49 votes being polled for Fremont, while Buchanan, the Democratic candidate, received 1,207. In 1860 again all the political parties re- ceived respectable support. In 1865, for the first time in the history of the county, almost the en- tire Republican ticket was elected. In 1868 the Democratic majority was 109 and in 1872 only 76. The result of the presidential elections for the past seventy years are shown in the following table:
Free
Dem. 564
Whig.
Liberty. Soil.
1836.
483
..
1840.
879
707
1844.
1,036
707
4
1848.
961
760
6
1852.
1,022
747
Amer-
1856
1.207
49
595
Ind.
Rep.
Union.
1860.
186
848
1,114
85
1864.
1,020
804
....
1868.
1,370
1,261
...
. .
1872.
1,251
1,175
... .
....
1876.
.1,603
1,269
....
....
1880
1,521
1,421
....
....
1884.
. 1,538
1,575
....
....
1888.
. 1,654
1,779
....
....
Rep.
ican.
( 716 )
HISTORY
INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
Dem.
Prohi. People's.
1892
1,628
Rep. 1,653
30
212
Gold St'dard.
1896.
1,742
2,044
10
55
14
1900
1,851
2,247
45
31
Soc.
1904.
1,888
2,458
80
3
19
1908.
1,934
2,433
70
2
44
1912.
1,830
1,521
55
Prog. 849
53
1916. .
.2,091
2,481
42
16
53
The following Democrats of Orange county have served on the bench as Circuit Court and Common Pleas Judges: Common Pleas Judges, William Moran 1853 and Milton S. Mavity 1870; Circuit Court Judges, Francis Wilson 1879 and Thomas B. Buskirk 1900 to 1912.
The following is a list of the Democrats of the county who have served in the State Senate: Ezekiel Riley, 1838; Isaac Sands, 1841; D. S. Huffstetter, 1848; Quinton Lomax, 1858; William F. Sherrod, 1866, and James M. Andrew, 1886.
The following Orange county Democrats have filled the office of State Representative in the Legislature: William A. Bowles, 1838; Henry Lingle, 1841; W. A. Bowles, 1843; Joel Vande- veer, 1844; David F. Huffstetler, 1846, 1851 and 1854; William F. Sherrod, 1849 and 1856; Theo- dore Stackhouse, 1852 and 1866; David Lewis, 1858; Asa M. Black, 1860; Thomas Hunt, 1864; Luke B. Cogswell, 1870; John L. Meginity, 1874, 1884, 1892 and 1896; James F. Stucker, 1878 to 1882; Thomas B. Buskirk, 1886; Volney Trimble, 1890; Perry McCart, 1896; Henry T. Allen, 1902, and Miles Roland, 1912.
Democrats have been elected and served as county officers of Orange county as follows:
Clerk-Jeremiah Wilson, 1844 to 1852; Asa M. Black, 1852 to 1860 and 1863 to 1864; Hugh C. Wible, 1860 to 1863; John L. Meginity, 1864 to 1864 to 1872 and 1873 to 1874; John R. Simpson, 1874 to 1882; Elijah S. Scott, 1898 to 1903.
County Auditor-John Baker, 1841 to 1845; Henry Comingore, 1852 to 1860; Luke B. Cogs- well, 1860 to 1868; Abraham Noblitt, 1868 to 1876; David F. Stucker, 1876 to 1879; John D. Carter, 1879 to 1880; George A. Buskirk, 1880 to 1884; Henry T. Allen, 1892 to 1896; Ed. A. Pal- mer, 1913 to 1917.
County Treasurer-Josiah Hazlewood, 1822 to 1828; Ephraim Doan, 1828 to 1838; A. J. Simp- son, 1838 to 1840; Alexander Morris, 1841 to 1847; Benjamin Polson, 1847 to 1850; W. H. Rigney, 1850 to 1852; John C. Albert, 1854 to 1858; Thom- as Hunt, 1858 to 1863; James Worrell, 1863 to 1865; H. H. Polson, 1867 to 1872; John Maxedon, 1872 to 1874; Henry Reed, 1874 to 1876; George W. Thomas, 1880 to 1882; John M. Felknor, 1899 to 1901, and J. W. Mccullough, 1913 to 1915.
County Recorder-Josiah Hazlewood, 1836 to 1860; Green Hazlewood, 1860 to 1863; M. S. Mav- ity, 1863 to 1865; T. B. Buskirk, 1865; F. M. Gib- ner, 1869 to 1874; J. F. Purkiser, 1874 to 1876; John B. Buskirk, 1876; Edward Cornwell, 1884 to 1892; W. W. Stout, 1913 to 1917.
County Sheriff-Josiah Hazlewood, 1828 to 1832; Abraham Morris, 1834 to 1838; Jeremiah Wilson, 1838 to 1842; John Hollowell, 1844 to 1846; W. H. Rigney, 1846 to 1850; David F. Porter, 1850 to 1852; S. W. Rigney, 1852 to 1856; Alexander Morris, 1856 to 1858; James Worrell, 1858 to 1862; William Holiday, 1862 to 1863; Davis Jones, 1863 to 1865; J. P. McCart, 1867 to 1869; J. F. Stucker, 1869 to 1870; T. L. Brown, 1870 to 1874; W. P. Shively, 1874 to 1877; Samuel A. Davis, 1877 to 1878; Elisha Braxton, 1884 to 1886; William T. Kimbrel, 1890 to 1892; T. P. Riester, 1911 to 1915.
In the list of Democrats named herein the name of Judge Thomas B. Buskirk is perhaps more familiar to the Democrats of Orange county than any other. As an attorney in the famous Moody- Jones-Lowery murder case he distinguished him- self in the prosecution of the murderers of Thomas Moody and gained popularity with the people which has continuued with increasing strength to the present. He served as judge of the 42d Judicial Circuit for twelve years, 1904 to 1916. Prior to that he was a member of the State Board of Tax Commissioners and a member of the Legislature and has held other responsible posi- tions.
Among prominent Democrats of the county be- fore and immediately following the Civil war were Arthur J. Simpson, a prominent attorney; Wil- liam A. Bowles, for many years owner of French Lick Springs; William F. Sherrod, David S. Huff- stetler, Thomas Hunt and Henry Comingore.
In the seventies M. S. Mavity, Abraham Nob- litt, J. L. Meginity, Luke B. Cogswell, Aaron Speer and Dr. James Sherrod; in later years Judge T. B. Buskirk, Capt. James F. Stucker, John R. Simpson, James Andrew, G. W. Thomas, Dr. U. S. Hon, Dr. L. S. Bowles, Dr. James W. Montgomery, James L. Noblitt, Perry McCart and John J. Lingle.
DEMOCRATIC NEWSPAPERS.
The first Democratic newspaper was issued in the county on May 5, 1832, and was called the Paoli Times. It was edited by William A. Bowles. This paper was published only for a few years.
On May 27, 1839, Henry Comingore started the True American. This paper was continued un- til January, 1846. On the 29th day of September, 1848, Henry Comingore issued the first copy of the American Eagle. It was a six-column folio
( 717 )
HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
weekly paper and was Democratic in politics. Mr. Comingore continued to publish this paper until 1874, when it was abandoned. Its veteran editor had published this paper twenty-six years and the True American for a period of about thirty- five years.
Judge T. B. Buskirk purchased a newspaper out- fit and on July 31, 1872, began publishing the Paoli News, which he continued to publish until 1879. In that year he sold the paper to John L. Meginity, who published it for about ten years. After that the paper was edited for a few years
by David J. Murr and later by James M. Compton. About 1895 Major John R. Simpson purchased the paper and published it until April, 1906, when he sold the plant to the present owners, L. O. Miller and Bayless Harvey, who have since and are at this time publishing it. The Paoli News since its beginning in 1872 has been the Democratic organ of the county. It is at present a seven-col- umn folio and is published weekly.
For the past few years a Democratic paper, the Springs Valley Herald, has been published by W. C. Gruber. It is a six-column weekly paper.
( 718 )
HISTORY OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OWEN COUNTY
O WEN COUNTY is one of the oldest coun- ties in the State, having been organized by an act of the General Assembly, approved December the 21st, 1818, and was in force from the date of its passage.
The county was originally a part of Knox county and in that jurisdiction. The first mar- riage license issued in this county was from Vincennes, and in the division of territory into counties it was so divided that Greene county came between Knox and Owen.
Owen county is bounded on the east by Morgan and Monroe counties, south by Greene, west by Clay and north by Putnam.
That the White river valley had been a favorite place of abode for men in pre-historic times is in evidence by the existence of numerous mounds in the valley and along White river, along the other streams of the county and in close proximity to large springs, and wherever a sufficient supply of water could be reached are found these mounds, with other unmistakable evidences of a large pop- ulation, whose character and kindred is shrouded in impenetrable darkness. Quite a number of large mounds and a great many small ones have been discovered in close proximity to White river. Most of the smaller ones, owing to the cultivation of the land upon which they stood, have been lev- eled with the plowshare and other implements of farm husbandry, so that their existence is no longer in evidence. Many others still exist which bear testimony of a race extinct many centuries ago, but have left evidence of their intelligence in the manufacturing of stone implements, pottery and polished flints found in these rude monu- ments of their toil and handiwork. In many other of these mounds have been found large deposits of human bones and ornaments to adorn and embel- lish the person, indicating clearly that some of these structures were erected for the resting places of their dead. In others the evidence of fire is found, charred and burnt bones having been found in great quantities in some of the larger mounds, indicating that these were religious or sacrificial mounds. In most instances these mounds were scattered over a wide stretch of country, without any reference to proximity to each other. In other instances they were built to- gether, something like the houses in a village, but irregularly located, but having the appearance of human habitations and constructed for defense in case of an attack. In some parts of this county flint arrow and spear points and battle axes of stone, all highly polished, have been found in great
quantities, indicating a bloody conflict between contending races, but of which we know nothing, only as we have learned from the evidence which they left on their fields of strife and carnage. Many burial places of these pre-historic people have been uncovered. The bones differ in shape. Of what apparently appears to be the oldest re- mains the bones of the extremities are somewhat curved, indicating that they were an agricultural people and engaged in the pursuits of labor of some character-a people who worked with heavy tools of some character, who bore heavy burdens, as is shown by the heavy stones transported a considerable distance, of which are constructed vaults and other receptacles for the burial of their dead. This first people seem to have gathered the bones of their dead, most likely on particular occasions to celebrate some past event, carefully cleaned the remains and then securely deposited them in large quantities together in some vaults covered with stone and the stone covered with large quantities of dirt. Some of these stones must have been transported from the hill country, as none of their kind is found in the vicinity where these vaults were constructed. This people seem to have been peaceful and inured to labor. A sec- ond class and different race of people succeeded this first. The bones of the second race are straight, thus indicating a race of hunters and warriors, and most likely this second class con- quered the first, as these subsequent inhabitants occupied these mounds and with different habits in the burial of the dead. The skeletons of this second people are found whole, sometimes two or three buried together, sometimes twenty or thirty, or even a larger number buried together in a cir- cle, with the feet toward the center and their heads outward, and covered with earth.
The Indians, our immediate predecessors, came next as occupants of this country, but they have no knowledge or traditions with reference to the people who preceded them. They knew no more of them than we, who only read their history in the mounds, bones and implements of flint, stone and rude pottery. So perish men and nations from the face of the earth. And who can say that, with all our boasted civilization, we, too, may not pass into oblivion, as the ages progress, as generations come and go on the waves of time and as the in- tellect and the inventive genius and power of man develops, that a thousand years or more hence a race of people may possess these lands who, upon unearthing some of our implements and habita- tions we think so complete and so admirable, will
( 719 )
HISTORY INDIANA DEMOCRACY-1816-1916
wonder how a people so ignorant and barbarous could have lived. As the Mound Builder walked and carried his heavy burdens on his flattened head and on his bended back, as the later Indian enjoyed his pony and paddled his own canoe, as we of the present age have our various kinds of steam machinery, our railroads, our steamships, telegraphs, wire and wireless telephones and many other conveniences and comforts, so the coming generations may surpass us-but in what, and what shall their achievements be, who shall say ?
The inhabitants of Owen county are noted for intelligence, sobriety (not a saloon in the county), hospitality and high intellectual and social attain- ments. Some of the finest church buildings in the State are found in this county. School houses are ample and sufficient in every township, and education is one of special care, and of which the citizens have an eye single. It is a notable fact, that Owen county, in proportion to its population, will compare favorably with any other county in the State for a high class of teachers educated in this county and gone into different parts of the country to practice their profession. The people are home-loving and law-abiding; we have less liti- gation than in any of our neighboring counties, and if it were not for the cases coming here on change of venue from other counties around, our courts would have much more leisure and the legal fraternity would find it much to their inter- est to find some other pursuits in life. Go into any part of Owen county where you will, and you will find an industrious, thriving, generous, hos- pitable people who will open their doors and give you of the best they have with a pleasant wel- come, which cheers the heart and sweetens the homeliest fare. Owen county can show as many handsome, intelligent girls to the square mile as any other county in Indiana, who can get up a "square meal" in first-class style at short notice, and then entertain their company in the parlor with music and intellectual and cultured conver- sation. And the boys are not behind their fair sisters. They can plow 'a straight furrow, plant, cultivate and harvest the crops, make rails and build fences, and then analyze the soil they till, tell you the chemical constituents of the grains and grasses they grow, write you an intelligent article on almost any subject and if asked, solve you a problem in algebra.
The territory of which Owen county is a part originally belonged to the Miami, Potawatomie, Delaware and Eel River tribes of Indians and was ceded to the whites by the chiefs of these tribes by the treaty of Fort Wayne, September 30, 1809. Owen county was settled first by the whites in 1816, and for a number of years subsequent to that
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time large numbers of Indians gained their sub- sistence by hunting and fishing-a veritable para- dise for the hunter. With very little trouble and in a very short time, the early settler could supply the inmates of his cabin with an abundance of the finest bear meat, venison, wild turkey, and his gig or fish spear, as true to his aim as the needle to the pole, as sure in the water as his unerring rifle on land; he could quickly take all the fish he wanted, taking his choice as to size and kind. Philip Hart with his family was the first white settler in Owen county. Came in October, 1816, and built his cabin where Spencer is located. Other families followed in quick succession and settled in and around Spencer, and ere long a very con- siderable settlement located in the neighborhood of Philip Hart. And this was the beginning of civilization in Owen county.
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