USA > Indiana > Perry County > Perry County: A History > Part 3
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
The custom of intermarriage was duly honoured among the other children of Richard and Christina. (Springer) Deen, John H. and Mary C. marrying, re- spectively, Martha and Asbury Walker, (ten children resulting from the former of these unions). Marenda m. Edward McNaughton; William H. m. Tilla Dahl;
Digitized by Google
- - -
--
-
25
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
Richard W. m. Sarah Darlington; while Oil Township connection is immediately indicated by the respective marriages of Emmeline to James Esarey, Minerva to Cyrus Holmes, and Thomas J. (the youngest) to Sarepta Frakes.
James Reily was only two years later than the Deens in coming from Kentucky, entering in 1817 the land which his family owned until 1887. By his wife, Catherine Ewing Jamison, he was the father of ten children, and the inevitable double marriage occurred when the eldest two, Elizabeth and Annie, married respectively, Phillips and Samuel Walker. From the second of these two sprang seven children, two of whom married Deens, and to Asbury and Mary C. (Deen) Walker were born ten children. Robert W. Reily, who married Rebecca Horton, had only one son among seven children, and the two children of William E. and Rachel (Shoemaker) Reily were daughters, Sarepta (Mrs. R. A. Alexander) and Helena (Mrs. Joshua Deen) so the name of Reily is now less fre- quently met with than sundry others.
All the early men were famous hunters, and among them James Falkenborough once had a thrilling adven- ture with wolves in the dead of winter. While out in the forest, nine wolves began following him so closely as to endanger his safety, although they did not offer to attack him. One at a time he shot several of the animals, which the others devoured as fast as they were killed, and by thus holding them in check, he was able to reach a place of security.
Another 'bear story' handed down among the Reily descendants, and told to Helena (Reily) Deen by her grandmother, Catherine Ewing (Jamison) Reily, nar- rates how the family were much annoyed by the dis- appearance of several pigs soon after they were settled in their new home. One night, when her husband was away, a loud squealing among the pigs awakened Mrs. Reily. Going out to investigate, with her eldest two daughters, Elizabeth and Annie, they found a bear try-
Digitized by Google
26
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
ing to carry off a pig. Giving chase, they pursued the bear some distance up the hollow before he made his escape. The pig was saved, but in her haste Mrs. Reily lost a slipper which she was never able to find again.
Since Hurricane Township within so short a time became part of Spencer County, no space will here be given to its early settlement or subsequent history. Union Township, however, was created only a few years later than the others, and among its first entries were several in that small portion of the county lying east of the second principal meridian. In 1810 Joel Suttles settled on Section 17; John Heddon and Joshua Richardson on Sections 20 and 29; Jacob Davis on Sec- tion 30. In 1811, Joseph Springer, on Section 18; Valentine Borer, Daniel and Elias Heddon, on Section 19. Also in 1811 John Davis entered Section 21, Town- ship 5, South, Range, 1, West; Jesse Shacklett, Section 13, Township 5, South, Range 1, West; in 1813, Steph- en Deen, Section 11, and William Shirley, Section 13, in 1817; Anthony Horton, Abraham and Benjamin Murphy, on Section 33, Township 4, South, Range 1, West, in 1817; and William Mitchell, Section 33, (later the site of Derby,) in 1818.
Smith Township was an important locality in the early decades, but will not be considered separately, its noteworthy pioneer settlers having been already mentioned in this chapter under Oil and Clark Town- ships, into which it was absorbed upon the reorgan- ization of the county in May, 1840. At that time Deer Creek Township was created, but existed only until June, 1853, when abolished.
Leopold Township was formed out of Union, Oil, Clark and Anderson in June, 1847, upon the petition of sixty citizens, the petition having been presented in December, 1846, by John Courcier, a veteran of the War of 1812. It was named in honour of Leopold I, King of the Belgians, a large colony from that kingdom having emigrated hither, in conjunction with the mis- sionary work of the Rev. Augustus Bessonies. During
Digitized by Google
27
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
its original and earliest existence entries were made by Aaron Cunningham, 1815; John Schnell, 1816; John Frakes, John Mayo, Priscilla Crist, Daniel Miller, 1817; James Cassidy, 1819.
The earliest available list of taxpayers is that of June-July, 1815, when the county's area was much larger than now, so that among the three hundred and nineteen names enrolled are many who were soon transferred to Spencer County, hence an accurate separate roster would be impracticable, save at labour not justifiable.
The total amount of county tax collected was $300.021/2, and of territorial tax, $70.801/4. Abraham Smythe Fulton was the highest taxpayer, $11.25, own- ing one thousand acres ( !) of 'first-class land.' James McDaniel was the next highest, $10.881/4, on his tavern at Troy, four horses and one negro. Another negro was owned by Grace Barber, there being only two slaves in the county, and one free coloured taxpayer, Richard Partridge. In their order the next highest taxes were paid by John Stephenson, $7.071/4 ; Charles Polke, $6.531/2 ; William Black, $5.88; James Bodine, $5.70; and Francis Posey, $5.361/2.
Digitized by Google
CHAPTER III.
FIRST CIRCUIT COURT AND OFFICERS AT TROY
BY THE Territorial Legislature in September, 1814, a dedimus was issued Ratliff Boon to swear in all officers of the new Perry County, in pursuance whereof the official positions were filled as follows: Associate Judges, the Rev. Charles Polke (Polk) and James McDaniel, Sr .; Sheriff, Samuel. Connor; Clerk, (also at that time Recorder,) Solomon Lamb; Coroner, Francis Posey.
Ratliff Boon, while a true and typical pioneer, was not of the Daniel Boone family but came about 1807-09 from Georgia, through Tennessee and Kentucky into Indiana, locating in Warrick County where his import- ant services were recognized by naming the county seat -Boonville-and Boon Township in his honour. Leav- ing with Solomon Lamb in October, 1814, a dedimus to swear in all further officers, his connection with Perry County ceased, except that in 1818 he was elected Senator for the early 'shoe-string' district then embrac- ing Perry, Spencer, Warrick, Vanderburg and Posey Counties.
Perry County's first Circuit Court was called to meet at the house of James McDaniel, Jr., April 3, 1815, but a majority of the three judges not being present, it was adjourned until the following day when a majority still being absent, it was adjourned "until court in course." Three months later, therefore, or on July 3, 1815, at the same place, (designated by law,) the first session of court convened with full attendance; presi- dent judge, Isaac Blackford; associate judges, Thomas Polk (succeeding the Rev. Charles Polk, who had re- signed October, 1814,) and James McDaniel, Sr.
Digitized by Google
-
29
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
Isaac Blackford was a resident of Salem and the first Clerk-Recorder of Washington County at the time of his elevation to the bench. He did more than any other one man toward establishing the early courts of Indiana upon a correct, sound basis, and the name of Blackford County (organized 1839), is a memorial to his invaluable judiciary service. Judge Blackford was one of the earliest members of the Supreme Court bench, editing the first eight volumes of its decisions, which are regarded as more authoritative than any others of Indiana's Supreme Court and are cited for precedent in pleadings in every English-speaking court room where common law prevails.
The first Prosecuting Attorney, by appointment, was Davis Floyd, a young Virginian, who had served under General George Rogers Clark and had settled in "Clark's Grant" (later Clark County) where he kept a tavern and operated a ferry across the Ohio. He had been appointed Recorder of his county, in 1801, and Sheriff, in 1802, by Governor Harrison, and in 1805 was its Representative in the Territorial Legislature, being chosen Clerk of the House.
A temporary suspension of his political career, occur- ring a little later, was his indictment and conviction for implication in the Aaron Burr treason conspiracy. This episode was the most conspicuous event allying Indiana with Burr's project, and Floyd's sentence was for only three hours' imprisonment, so that he soon regained his original standing. He represented Harri- son County in the Constitutional Convention of 1816 and was afterward Circuit Judge in his district. Descriptions portray Floyd as a tall man, of dark com- plexion, with heavy voice, of rapid speech, an able jury lawyer and especially skilful in the management of a case in court.
As a practising attorney was present, at Troy, Judge William Prince, then of Knox County, in whose honour the county seat of Gibson County was called Princeton,
Digitized by Google
30
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
and who succeeded Judge Blackford in April, 1817, on the bench of Perry County.
Sheriff Samuel Connor called the first grand jury as follows: Peter Barber, Andrew Collins, Jacob Davis, Barnett DeWitt, Jonathan D. Esarey, Edward Eskins, Jesse Green, David Groves, Elias Hedden, Abraham Hiley, James Kellams, Benjamin Lamar, Elijah La- mar, Ezra Lamb, Jesse Morgan, Thomas Morton, Alex- ander Murphy, John Shields, William Stark, William Taylor and Jacob Weatherholt. Twenty-two in all, two less than the number then required by law, but no other names are shown on record. This empanelment, with the appointment of a prosecutor, comprised the first day's proceedings.
On the next day the first case called for trial was an appeal brought up from justice's court: William Gib- son, appellant, vs. Abraham Hiley, appellee. Appellant desired to introduce documentary evidence not pro- duced before justice's court, but was ruled out. De- fendant prayed judgment for want of jurisdiction. Argument was had and case was continued,-a pre- cedent of continuance ever since locally honoured, and not in the breach.
Indictments returned by the grand jury were: Habeas corpus, usurpation, slander, rape, adultery, one each; for unlawfully selling an estray horse, assault and battery, bigamy, divorce, two each; profanity (!), twenty-five.
The first cause tried was Indiana Territory vs. John Cooper for assault and battery on Daniel Weathers. Not guilty was defendant's plea, and the first jury was called. Dade Connor, William Cummings, Richard Deen, John Farris, James Falkenborough, Joseph Hanks, Daniel Hazel, Daniel Mclaughlin, Daniel Taylor and John Weatherholt. David Floyd repre- sented the Territory and John Fletcher, the defendant. The verdict returned was: "We, the jury, do find the defendant Not Guilty." The divorce cases were ordered published and the first court then adjourned.
Digitized by Google
31
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
The straggling hamlet comprising perhaps a score of log cabins was regularly surveyed about this time by Francis Posey, with Samuel Moore as his assistant, and the plat of ninety-six lots and a public square was duly recorded in March, 1815, under the official title "Troy," its street names remaining today as then.
Francis Posey was the son of Thomas Posey, the distinguished Virginian to whose name Posey County became a memorial on the same day of Perry County's christening. Thomas Posey's boyhood home was a plantation adjoining "Mount Vernon," and Washing- ton's influence secured for the young lad at an early age a commission in the British army from Lord Dun- more, then governing the royal province of Virginia. Through the same valuable friendship he was made a general in the American Revolution. At its close he located in the new 'Volunteer State,' Tennessee, which he represented in the United States Senate when President Madison, on February 27, 1813, appointed him the last Governor of Indiana Territory, succeeding General John Gibson, who had been for a year acting- governor in the enforced absence of Governor William Henry Harrison, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Northwest.
Troy's earliest years were prosperous and hopeful. As the seat of an extensive new county it commanded the trade of many miles around, its geographical loca- tion and remoteness from other towns of consequence making it an important shipping-point and giving it a promise of growth which future developments were not destined to fulfill.
Reuben Bates was an early merchant who carried on a trade with New Orleans by flat-boat, shipping pork, corn, beeswax, hay, wood and other farm pro- ducts, bringing back general merchandise from the South in return. For a while he was in partnership with James Worthington, but for much longer traf- ficked alone. Another conspicuous trader was James Taylor, who maintained large beef and pork packing
Digitized by Google
--------
32
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
houses at the mouth of Anderson River. He continued this for many years, until succeeded by his son, Green B. Taylor, who then conducted the business upon a scale even larger.
Other residents during this decade may be grouped among the organizers of the first Methodist class in Troy, some time prior to 1820, although some of the names given in a list published by Goodspeed in 1885 could not have been members so early : John Huffman, Jane Huffman, James Willen and wife, Warren Dun- can, Lawrence and Ann Protzman, William and Cyn- thia Mckinley, Harvey Spillman, Mary Spillman, et al. About the same period the Baptists, headed by Reuben Bates and Betsey Bates, his wife, organized a society, among their co-workers being Bennett Phillips, Thomas Phillips, Rebecca Phillips, James Taylor, Abby Taylor, Green B. Taylor, the Rev. John B. Harpole, America Harpole and others.
Solomon Lamb taught school in Troy at a very early day, and tradition describes the first woman teacher in the county to have been one Annis Crocker, a pictures- que figure of Perry County's 'Iliad,' captured in her in- fancy by the Indians and rescued from them after a romantic childhood spent in the red men's wigwam. George Phillips is said to have been a teacher in the first log school house before 1819, on the site of the present High School building, which was erected in 1872, to succeed a one-story edifice for which Warren Duncan and James Willen had made the brick by hand in 1834-35.
Troy's first and only Court House was also a log structure, which stood on the corner of Main and Franklin Streets, a site now filled by the business block of Theobald T. Gaesser. Court was held from the be- ginning at the house of James McDaniel, Jr., David Raymond following Judge Blackford in April, 1816, and being himself succeeded by William Prince in April, 1817, when the first seal was adopted, a small one bearing the words "Perry Circuit." This term was
Digitized by Google
33
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
the last session in the McDaniel building, as the new court house was finished by its builders, James Taylor and Aquila Huff, in time for Judge Prince to convene the July term within its walls.
Aquila Huff was a pioneer settler in the vicinity of Troy and as such deserves mention here, although the land upon which he located in 1815 remained a part of Perry County for only three years. He was the sixth child of John Huff, (Hough) a private in the Maryland Line during the American Revolution, and Elizabeth Dodderidge, his wife, who about 1784 emigrated West- ward from Maryland expecting to travel down the Ohio River.
Near Pittsburg, while hunting game, John Huff was attacked and killed by Indians, but his widow and chil- dren continued their journey by boat with other emi- grants as far as Breckinridge County, Kentucky, where they erected log block-houses for their residence and protection. In some such rude fortification Aquila Huff was reared from five to twenty-one years of age.
In 1807 he married Mary, daughter of Stephen Rawlins, coming eight years later into Indiana, where he resided until his death in 1857, meanwhile holding many positions of responsibility. Huff Township, Spencer County, was named for him when organized in 1837. Many direct descendants of John and Eliza- beth (Dodderidge) Huff, still under the family name as well as through female lines, reside today in Perry County, besides at other points far more remote.
A very early tavern-keeper was Jacob Protzman, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Troy from Nelson County, Kentucky, where he had married Catherine, daughter of Thomas and Judith (Ferguson) Lewis, a descendant of the extensive Virginia Lewis family through the Fairfax (later Loudoun) County branch. On March 4, 1828, their daughter Louisa was married to a rising young physician of Troy, Doctor Cotton, who lived to become Perry County's leading medical authority, also a man of prominence in political circles.
(3)
Digitized by Google
-
34
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
Robert Greenberry Cotton was born August 8, 1804, near Bloomfield, Nelson County, Kentucky, the son of Edmund and Sallie (Dorsey) Cotton. His mother belonged to one of Maryland's finest families, and the Dorsey (d'Orsay) lineage is widespread from Colonial days to the present, embracing names which adorn many pages of history and romance.
To mention but one among her notable ancestry, it is due to say that Nicholas Greenberry, whose name her son worthily carried, arrived July 9, 1674, at Patuxent, Maryland, with his wife Anne, their children, Charles and Katherine, and three servants, in the stanch little ship 'Constant Friendship.' He soon became a leader in the royal province, holding numerous posts of honour and responsibility, including that of Governor. On page 338 of "Side-Lights on Maryland History," Volume II, (published Baltimore, 1913,) it is stated that the descendants of Nicholas Greenberry "include more men and women of national importance than can be traced to any other one personage in Colonial his- tory."
Doctor Cotton was a member of the Legislature for a number of years, serving as Representative from Perry County, 1837-39, 1841-42, 1848-49; and as joint Senator from Perry, Spencer and Warrick, 1842-45. By a majority of only one vote was he defeated August 5, 1850, by Samuel Frisbie, as delegate to the Constitu- tional Convention, but he did not live to have filled the office even if chosen, his death occurring in the follow- ing month, September 11, 1850, his widow, one son and four daughters surviving him.
Digitized by Google
----
CHAPTER IV.
REMOVAL OF COUNTY SEAT TO ROME.
BY OFFICIAL returns, certified to by the clerks of the existing thirteen counties and forwarded to the Terri- torial House of Representatives at their session be- ginning December 4, 1815, Indiana's population was 63,897, of which Perry County contained 1,720, includ- ing 350 white males over twenty-one. On the 14th of the month a memorial was adopted which Jonathan Jennings, Territorial Delegate, two weeks later laid before Congress praying admission to statehood.
The memorial was referred to a committee with Mr. Jennings as its chairman, by whom on January 5, 1816, a bill was reported to the House of Representatives of the United States enabling the people of Indiana Terri- tory to form a Constitution and State government, and for the admission of such state into the Union upon an equal footing with the original states. After amend- ment in some of its particulars, the bill was passed by Congress, and with the signature of James Madison, President, became law on April 19, 1816.
In conformity with the provisions of such law, on Monday, May 13, 1816, in the several counties of the territory an election was held for forty-three members of a Constitutional Convention, chosen in accordance with an apportionment which had been made by the Territorial Legislature and confirmed by an act of Congress.
Perry County was represented by the Rev. Charles Polk, whose name appears in the recorded proceedings as "Polke of Perry," a cousin of his William Polk, be- ing "Polke of Knok," a resident of Vincennes. Both men were of that prolific family whose American pro-
Digitized by Google
36
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
genitors were Robert Bruce Polk and Magdalene Tasker, his wife, who came from Scotland and settled in Somerset County, Maryland, prior to 1689. The convention met June 10, at Corydon, which had be- come the territorial capital in 1813, winning out in a contest with Madison, Vevay, Lawrenceburg, Charles- town, Clarksville and Jeffersonville. Jonathan Jen- nings was chosen presiding officer, William Hendricks, secretary, and the meetings continued from day to day until June 29, when, having completed the work of forming a State Constitution, the session closed by ad- journment sine die.
Despite the massive blue-limestone walls and the fifteen-foot ceilings of the capitol building, then new, the warmth of June sunshine in Southern Indiana made its pent-up inclosure irksome to these sturdy pioneers, inured to hardships of the outdoors, so many of their deliberations were held under the shade of the huge elm tree which yet stands near the bank of Big Indian Creek, some two hundred yards northwest of the public square. This tree is Corydon's pride and glory, its preservation being the particular charge of Hoosier Elm Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.
A delightful pen-picture of this constitutional as- sembly, drawn by Miss Julia S. Conklin in her History of Indiana, deserves reproduction here, since it may be termed a composite portrait whereof Perry Coun- ty's delegate was a component part.
"They were a grave, serious body of men, these fathers of our Constitution," Miss Conklin writes, "and is assembled in our legislative halls today would be a strange-looking company, so greatly have manners and dress changed since Indiana became a state.
"They were not much given to fashion, save the fashion of the back-woodsmen, and were as rough and rugged in appearance as the country they represented. Many of them wore homespun-handwoven clothing- made by the pioneer wife and mother without the aid of a sewing machine, cut by rules unknown to the
Digitized by Google
37
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
tailors of today, for fit and style were a secondary consideration, warmth and wearing qualities being first.
"Some of them wore the buckskin trousers and coon- skin cap of the pioneer, a garb well suited to the exposures they encountered; heavy high - topped boots covering their feet and lower limbs. But rude as they may have been in appearance, they were men of common sense, firm in integrity and honest purpose, some of whom became truly illustrious in the early history of Indiana."
The same clear-minded, unpretending practical judgment which sent these legislators of unquestion- able patriotism and moral stability into the fresh air for consultation, gave Indiana a Constitution inferior to none that was in existence at the time. Its concise clarity of style, its just and comprehensive pro- visions for maintenance of civil and religious liberty, its mandates designed to provide for public welfare, to protect the rights of the people individually and col- lectively, all bespeak of its framers their familiarity with the theories of the Declaration of Independence, ยท their Territorial experience under provisions of the Ordinance of 1787, and their knowledge of the princi- ples of the national constitution. With such landmarks in view, the result was a document rendering compara- tively easy the labours of similar conventions called later in other states and territories.
No handwriting on the wall, however, needed inter- pretation for the Trojans of 1816, to signify that their kingdom was numbered and finished. Just as changed territorial limits had cost Vincennes her position as capital, so when the western boundary of Perry county was moved from Pigeon Creek eastward to Anderson River, by the act of January 10, 1818, creating Spencer county, Troy's value as a central point vanished, and another act was soon passed by the same Legislature providing for a relocation of the county seat of Perry county.
Digitized by Google
38
HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY
Samuel Snyder, of Warwick county; Samuel Cham- bers, of Orange county; William Harrington, of Gib- son county; Ignatius Abell and Jacob Zenor, of Har- rison county, by this act were appointed commission- ers to meet on the first Monday in March (2d), 1818, at the house of Aaron Cunningham, to re-locate the seat of justice for Perry county.
Further provision of the act authorized Samuel Con- nor, county agent, to annul with every individual who so desired all contracts made for the sale of lots in Troy, each purchaser surrendering his lot and receiv- ing back the money paid thereon, with interest. The donations of the McDaniels, except such portions as had been sold, reverted to them and they were to be paid with interest the price received for lots given. The town plat of Troy should be vacated, should the citizens so desire, and the remaining land owned by the county was to be advertised and sold, ten per cent of the proceeds realized to be used for the establish- ment and maintenance of a county seminary. All these provisions, except vacating the town site, were duly carried into effect.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.