USA > Indiana > The Indiana gazetteer, or topographical dictionary of the State of Indiana, 1849 > Part 15
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CHARLESTOWN, a central township in Clark county, with a population of 4,600.
CHARRLEY'S CREEK, a small stream in Wabash county. CHESTER, a northerm township in Wabash county.
CHESTER, a small town recently laid out in Wayne county.
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CHESTER, a southern township in Wells county.
CHIPWANIC, a branch of Tippecanoe river in Fulton county.
CHRISTIANA CREEK, a mill stream, is the outlet of a considerable lake in Michigan, and runs south into the St. Joseph, near Elkhart.
CICERO, a mill stream rising in the north-west corner of Hamilton county, empties into White river near No- blesville.
CICERO, a southern township in Tipton county.
CICEROTOWN, a small village in Hamilton county, on Cicero Creek, six miles north of Noblesville, with a pop- ulation of 200.
CLARK COUNTY was organized in ISO1, and named after the celebrated George Rogers Clark, at one time a citizen of the county. At that time the boundaries, as defined by the Governor, were, "Beginning on the Ohio river at the mouth of Blue river, thence up that river to the crossing of the Vincennes road, thence in a direct line to the nearest point on White river, thence up that river to its source and to Fort Recovery, thence on the line of the north-west territory to the Ohio at the mouth of the Kentucky, thence to the place of beginning." Clark now contains about 400 square miles, and is bound- ed north by Jefferson and Scott counties, east and south by the Ohio river and the county of Floyd, and west by the county of Washington. Its population in 1830 was 10,719; in 1S40, 14,595, and at this time about 16,600. It is divided, for civil government, into nine townships, viz: Charlestown, Jeffersonville, Utica, Wood, Monroe, Silver Creek, Owen, New Washington and Bethlehem.
The surface of the country along the Ohio river, and from three to five miles in the interior, is rolling; the remainder mostly level, except a chain of "knobs," as they are called, which form a semi-circle along the north- western and western boundary of the county, and strike the Ohio river just below the city of New Albany. Only a small portion of the knobs is cultivated, but they are crowned with fine timber, among which may be
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found large quantities of chestnut, oak, and some pine. With the exception of the "knobs," all the land in the county is susceptible of cultivation. The strip along the river, about thirty-five miles in length and from five to ten in width, has a lime-stone soil, and though mostly rolling, is, when well cultivated, equal in productiveness to any bottom lands. The timber here is composed of beech, sugar tree, walnut, poplar, sycamore, ash and oak. In the northern or back part of the county, the land is more inclined to be wet; oak predominates, and the soil is well adapted to grass.
There are no prairies in the county. The farms are generally well improved, and have good buildings upon them. The surplus products and stock, consisting of wheat, corn, hay, horses, mules, cattle and hogs, are shipped mostly to the south, often by the farmers them- selves, either on flat or steamboats. There are about fifty dry goods, provision and drug stores in the county ; six groceries, twelve lawyers, eighteen physicians, twenty- one preachers, two woollen factories, two printing offices, sixty-two grist and saw mills, of which about one-third are propelled by steam, the others by water, five market houses, ten hotels, six divisions of the Sons of Temper- ance and twenty-two churches, of which one is Episco- palian, and of the others about an equal number are Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians. The schools in the county are generally in a prosperous condition and highly creditable to the citizens. There are 209,170 acres of taxable land in the county, and near 50,000 acres belonging to the United States, of but little value. Iron ore, marble, excellent building rock and hydraulic cement are found in abundance. There is a Chalybeate spring, much visited and with good accommodations, near Jeffersonville, and another spring, called the Buffalo Licks, in which salts and sulphur are the principal ingre- dients, near Charlestown.
In 1804, Mr. John Work, from Pennsylvania, settled on Fourteen Mile creek, three and a-half miles from Charlestown, and finding a situation to answer his pur-
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pose, he dug a tunnel through a solid lime-stone 314 feet, making a mill race six feet deep and five wide, through a ridge ninety-four feet below its summit, by which he gained a fall of twenty-seven feet. This work was per- formed by five men in two years and a half, in which they used 650 pounds of gunpowder. The whole ex- pense to the owner was $3,300. On this seat valuable mills were erected.
Most of the land within the present limits of the county is embraced in what is called the " Illinois Grant." This was made by the Legislature of Virginia in 1786, and conveyed to certain commissioners 149,000 acres of land in trust, to be apportioned according to their rank, to Gen. Clark and the officers and men of the regiment which he commanded in the expedition to Vincennes and Kaskaskia. It was divided into 500 acre tracts and ap- portioned accordingly. One thousand acres more, lying along the Falls of the Ohio, was also granted at the same time for the location of a town to be called Clarksville, which flourished for a time, but has since gone to decay. The first settlements of any consequence were made from 1790 up to 1800, in the towns along the river, so that the inhabitants, on the first notice of the approach of Indians, might escape into Kentucky.
The first court in the county was held April 7, 1801, at Springville, by Marston G. Clark, Abraham Huff, James N. Wood, Thomas Downs, Wm. Goodwin, John Gibson, Charles Tuley and Wm. Harrod, who had been appointed Justices of the Court of General Quarter Sessions by Gov. Harrison.
CLARK, a north-eastern township in Johnson county, population 620.
CLAKK, a southern township in Montgomery county, population 270.
CLARK'S PRAIRIE, named after Wm. Clark, the first settler, is in, Van Buren township, Daviess county, six- teen miles north-east of Washington. It contains about 1,500 acres, has a clay soil, is very productive, and is mostly in cultivation.
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CLARKSBURGH, a pleasant village in Fugit township, Decatur county, ten miles north-east of Greensburgh. It contains about 250 inhabitants.
CLARKSTOWN, a small village in Boone county, plea- santly situated fifteen miles north-west of Indianapolis.
CLARKSVILLE, once an important town opposite the Falls of the Ohio, has been supplanted in business by Jeffersonville just above, and New Albany a short dis- tance below.
CLAY COUNTY, named after the great patriot and statesman, was organized in 1825. It lies south of Parke, west of Putnam and Owen, north of Green and east of Sullivan and Vigo counties. It is thirty miles in length from north to south, in the middle sixteen miles, and at each end only ten miles wide, containing 360 square miles. The county is divided into nine townships, to-wit: Lewis, Harrison, Perry, Washington, Posey, Jackson, Cass, Van Buren and Dick Johnson.
The population in IS30 was 1,616, in 1840 5,567, at present it amounts to about 7,000, and it is now rapidly increasing by German immigration. Eel river and its branches are the only streams of consequence in the county. The face of the country is generally level, the most of it has a good soil, and the usual kinds of timber common in the west predominate in all but the south- western part of the county, where there are many clay prairies, some dry and others wet.
There are in the county seven stores, four lawyers, twelve physicians, twelve preachers, four grist and saw mills, and the usual proportion of the different mechani- cal trades. The surplus articles for exportation are wheat, hogs, cattle and horses. There is a good Court House and County Seminary at Bowlinggreen, and the county is divided into school districts, in each of which a school is kept a portion of the year. There are numer- ous beds of coal, of a good quality and easy of access, in the county, and also much iron ore. The completion of the Cross Cut Canal in the south part of the county, and of the Terre Haute and Indianapolis Railroad in the
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north, both which are now in progress, will add much to the general wealth and prosperity.
CLAY, an eastern township in Bartholomew county, with a population of S00.
CLAY, a township in Carroll county, population 450.
CLAY, a townshipnorth of the Wabash, in Cass county, with a population of 720.
CLAY, a township in Dearborn county, with a popula- tion of 800.
CLAY, a western township in Decatur county, with a population of 2,800.
CLAY, a south-western township in Hamilton county.
CLAY, a western township in Hendricks county, with a population of 850.
CLAY, a township in Howard county, with a popula- tion of 250.
CLAY, a central township in Lagrange county, with a population of 300.
CLAY, a southern township in Miami county, with a population of 270.
CLAY, a central township in Morgan county, with a population of 1,250.
CLAY, an eastern township in Owen county, with a population of 900.
CLAY, a western township in Pike county, with a pop- ulation of 510.
CLAY, a northern township in St. Joseph county.
CLAY, an interior township in Wayne county, with a population of 1,290.
CLEAR CREEK, a small stream in Huntington county, running south into the Wabash, three miles below Hunt- ington.
CLEAR CREEK, a northern township in Huntington county, population 500.
CLEAR CREEK, a beautiful mill stream in Monroe county, rising near Bloomington and running south into Salt creek.
CLEAR CREEK, a southern township in Monroe county, population 980.
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CLEAR CREEK, a small stream in Vigo, emptying into the Wabash from the west.
CLEAR LAKE, a fine sheet of water near Laporte on the north, containing about two sections.
CLEAR SPRING, a small town in Jackson county, twelve miles north-west of Brownstown.
CLEAR SPRING, a southern township in Lagrange county, population 600.
CLEAVELAND, a township in Elkhart county, popula- tion 325.
CLEAVELAND, a south-western township in Whitley county.
CLEAVELAND, a small town in Tippecanoe county, twelve miles south-east of Lafayette.
CLIFTY, a fine mill stream about fifty miles in length, rises in the south-east corner of Rush, runs through De- catur into Bartholomew, and empties into White river three miles below Columbus. The Indian name of this stream was Es-the-nou-o-ne-ho-neque, or Cliff of Rocks River.
CLIFTY, an eastern township in Bartholomew county, with a population of 900.
CLIFTY, a small creek in Green county.
CLIFTY, a small creek in Jefferson county, which falls into the Ohio one mile below Madison. It is remarkable for several cascades, at one of which the water falls over 100 feet within a short distance. The dark, deep gulf and rugged cliffs along this stream, are well worth a visit from the curious, and they present much picturesque scenery which the painter should examine.
CLINTON COUNTY, named after De Wit Clinton, was organized in 1830, and is twenty-four miles in length from east to west, and seventeen in width. It lies south of Carroll, west of Tipton, north of Boone and east of Tippecanoe county. It is divided into twelve civil town- ships, viz: Jackson, Kirklin, Sugar Creek, Johnston, Ho- ney Creek, Warren, Michigan, Owen, Ross, Madison, Washington and Perry. The population in 1830 was 1,423, in 1840, 7,508, and at present is about 11,000.
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The face of the country is level, except on the banks of the Wild Cat, in the south-west corner. There is no barren land in the county. In the south-west part is the Twelve Mile or Kirk's prairie, twelve miles in length by about four broad. The Two Mile prairie lies on the road from Lafayette to Lebanon, and a small wet prairie, called the Stony prairie, lies south-west of Jefferson. All the bal- ance of the county was a heavy forest of timber, of a fine quality and much variety. The soil is mostly allu- vial, with a clay bottom. All the grains and grasses common in the west, can be produced in abundance. There is perhaps no county in the State better adapted to the cultivation of hay and for good pasturage, than Clinton. The surplus articles produced are cattle, horses, hogs and wheat, which are taken either to Logansport or Lafayette on the canal, or to the Cincinnati or Indianap- olis markets, the value of all which is estimated at $200,000, annually.
There are in the county five lawyers, twenty-three physicians, five preachers, the usual proportion of the common mechanical trades, four merchant mills, eleven water and two steam saw mills, two carding machines, and school houses in which schools are kept, a portion of the year, in most of the school districts.
The taxable land in the county amounts to 238,919 acres. About 4,000 acres still belong to the United States, and some 18,000 acres have not yet been entered five years, so as to be taxable.
CLINTON, a northern township in Boone county, with a population of 950.
CLINTON, a southern township in Cass county, with a population of 610.
CLINTON, a northern township in Decatur county, with a population of 1,050.
CLINTON, a township in Elkhart county, with a popu- tion of 420.
CLINTON, a western township in Laporte county, with a population of 710.
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CLINTON, a western township in Putnam county, six miles square.
CLINTON, a southern township in Clinton county, with a population of 1,700.
CLINTON, a well situated town in Vermillion county, fourteen miles north of Terre Haute and sixteen south of Newport, on the west bank of the Wabash. It was laid out in 1824, by Wm. Harris, and is a point from which large quantities of produce are exported. A Hall for the Sons of Temperance is in course of erection at this place.
CLOVERDALE, a western township in Putnam county, twelve miles long by four wide.
CLOVERLAND, a small town in Clay county, on the Na- tional road, eleven miles east of Terre Haute.
COAL CREEK, a fine mill stream, mostly in Fountain county, about forty-five miles in length, empties into the Wabash near the north line of Parke. . This creek in its course waters a large body of as rich land as can be found in the State. Many of its valuable water privi- leges are improved, and a still larger number will be. The best coal bank that has been found in the State is near the mouth of this stream, where the Wabash and Erie Canal crosses it.
COAL CREEK, a small stream in Vigo county, empty- ing into the Wabash on the west side, seven miles above Terre Haute.
COLD CREEK, a small mill stream in Hamilton county, emptying into White river on the west side, two miles above the Marion line.
COLUMBIA, a north-eastern township in Dubois county, population 600.
COLUMBIA, a southern township in Fayette county, population 1,050.
COLUMBIA, an eastern township in Gibson county, pop- ulation 1,000.
COLUMBIA, a small decaved town in Gibson county, four miles north of Princeton, on the Patoka.
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COLUMBIA, a north-eastern township in Jennings coun- ty, population 650.
COLUMBIA, a south-eastern township in Martin county, population 500.
COLUMBIA, a central township in Whitley county, pop- ulation 500.
COLUMBIA, the Seat of Justice of Whitley county, is situated on the north bank of Blue river, twenty miles west of Fort Wayne, twenty east of Warsaw, and 105 north-east of Indianapolis. It contains seventy houses, two of brick, the others frame, and a brick Court House has been commenced that will be equal to any in north Indiana. The population is about 350.
COLUMBUS, the Seat of Justice of Bartholomew county, is situated on the east bank of the east fork of White river, just below the mouth of Flatrock, forty-one miles south south-east of Indianapolis, forty-five north-west of Madison, forty east of Bloomington, and eighty west of Cincinnati. The situation is a very fine one, on high ground which overlooks the valleys of White river, Flat- rock and Haw creek which nearly surround the town, and each of them embraces a large and very fertile body of land. Columbus was first settled in 1819, by Luke Bonesteel and John Lindsey. For several years at first, it was usually visited, each autumn, by bilious and inter- mittent fevers, but a fair portion of health is now enjoyed here, and the opening of the railroad to Madison, which took place in 1844, the active commencement of the railroad from Jeffersonville, and the prospects of com- pleting a railroad to Bloomington, have awakened such industry and enterprise as will make Columbus one of the most important points in the State. It has now a population of over 1,000, and it is rapidly improving. It has an excellent Court House, good churches built by the Catholics, Christians, Presbyterians and Methodists, about twenty good stores, groceries and ware-houses, and 250 other houses.
CONCORD, a township in DeKalb county, with a popu- lation of 750.
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CONCORD, a township in Elkhart county, with a popu- lation of 1,200.
CONNERSVILLE; for description of which see Fayette county.
CONN'S CREEK, a small mill stream rising in the west part of Rush, runs south into Shelby, and empties into Flatrock.
COOL SPRING, a north-western township in Laporte county, with a population of 400.
CORNSTALK CREEK, a branch of Big Raccoon, in Mont- gomery, near to an old Indian village, from which the creek has its name.
CORYDON, the Seat of Justice of Harrison county, and the Seat of the State Government until 1825, is located on a level bottom, near the junction of Big and Little Indian creeks, 120 miles south of Indianapolis, twenty- five miles south-west of Louisville, and twelve from the Ohio river. The situation is healthy and romantic, and the hills, gradually rising around it, show the town to great advantage. The public buildings are a good stone Court House, fire proof offices for the county now in progress, a County Seminary, Methodist and Presbyte- rian Churches. The population is now about 600. The proprietor was Harvey Heth.
COTTON, a northern township in Switzerland county.
COVINGTON, the Seat of Justice of Fountain county, is situated on the east bank of the Wabash, on the Wabash and Erie Canal, where the road from Indianapolis to Springfield, Illinois, crosses it, seventy-five miles from the former and 140 from the latter. It was laid out in 1826, and D. Rawles and J. L. Sloan, Esquires, were the first settlers. There are now in Covington fourteen dry goods stores, two drug stores, four groceries, two iron stores, four ware-houses, ten lawyers, ten physicians, three preachers, about 250 houses, of various descriptions, and 1,000 inhabitants. Since the completion of the Canal in 1847, the town has had a rapid growth, which will be continued.
CRAIG, a south-western township in Switzerland county.
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CRAWFORD COUNTY, a southern county bordering on the Ohio river, lies between Harrison and Perry on the river, and Orange and Dubois in the interior, and con- tains about 320 square miles. It was organized in 1818, and was named after the unfortunate Col. Wm. Craw- ford, the land agent of Gen. Washington in the west, who was taken prisoner by the Indians and burnt at Sandusky, in 1782. Crawford county is divided into eight townships, viz: Jennings, Ohio, Whiskey Run, Ster- ling, Patoka, Union, Liberty and Boone. The popula- tion in 1830 was 3,184; in 1840, 5,282, and at this time, about 6,700. The face of the country is very uneven and broken. Near the river the soil is good; in the inte- rior it is much poorer. The best of oak and poplar tim- ber is found in great abundance. The principal agricul- tural productions are wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, tobacco and grass; and the exports consist chiefly of lumber, pork, beef cattle, flour, &c., which are annually taken to a southern market, to the estimated value of $100,000.
Coal and iron ore abound in the west part of the county, and there is much valuable water power along Blue river, where there are now good mills. Near this stream, four miles from Leavenworth, is a large cave, which attracts the attention of many visiters, and seve- ral of them have, as they say, explored it more than two miles without reaching its termination. The bottom of this cave, as well as several others in the county, were covered with chrystalized salts, several inches in thick- ness, when they were first visited.
The Methodists, United Brethren and Christians are the most numerous religious denominations, and there are usually about fifteen preachers in the county.
About one-third of the land still belongs to the United States, of which a considerable portion would make good farming land.
CRAWFORDSVILLE, the County Seat of Montgomery, was laid out in 1822, by Ambrose Whitlock and Wil- liamson Dunn, then the Register and Receiver for that land district, to which place, in 1824, the land office was re-
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WABASH COLLEGE CRAWFORDSVILLE.
moved. The town was named in honor of the Hon. Wm. H. Crawford, then Secretary of the Treasury.
Crawfordsville is the site of Wabash College, (of which see particular description in first part, under the head of education). It has also a prosperous County Seminary and a Female Institute of a high order. There are in the town about twenty-five stores and groceries, 400 houses and 2,000 inhabitants. The public buildings and many of the private dwellings are built with much taste. The fertility of the soil and the abundant water power of the vicinity, its beautiful and healthy situation, and the en- ergy and enterprise of its citizens, which have done so much for education, and are now prosecuting a railroad to Lafayette with much vigor, give assurance that Craw- fordsville will be one of the best towns in the State. It is about forty-five miles north-west from Indianapolis, on the stage road to Springfield, Illinois, thirty south-east of Covington, twenty-eight miles south of Lafayette, and 14
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the same distance north of Greencastle, in latitude 40 deg. 2 min. north, and 9 deg. 50 min. west longitude.
CROOKED CREEK, a small mill stream in Cass county, emptying into the Wabash from the north, eight miles below Logansport.
CROOKED CREEK, a mill stream rising in the north part of Marion county and emptying into White river, west side, five miles above Indianapolis.
CROOKED CREEK, a mill stream in the east part of Spencer county.
CROOKED CREEK, a branch of Fawn river, rises, in Steuben and runs west through Lagrange into the State of Michigan.
CROSSPLAINS, a small town in Ripley county, on the Vevay State road, ten miles south of Versailles.
CROWN POINT, the County Seat of Lake county, was first settled in 1835, by Solon Robinson, Esq. It now contains three stores, one hotel, Presbyterian and Metho- dist churches, a good High School kept by the Rev. Wm. Townley, and about thirty-five dwelling houses. This town is about. 145 miles north-west of Indianapolis and thirty south-east of Chicago.
CROY'S CREEK, or Cross creek, a small stream in Clay county, running south into Eel river, eight miles north of Bowling Green.
CUMBERLAND, a small village in Marion conty, on the National road, ten miles east of Indianapolis, containing about thirty houses.
CURRY, a northern township in Sullivan county, popu- lation 500.
CYNTHIANA, a small village in the north-east corner of Posey county, twenty-two miles north-east of Mount Vernon.
CYPRESS CREEK, a mill stream in Warrick county, empties into the Ohio two miles above Newburgh.
DALLAS, a western township in Huntington county, population 400.
DALTON, a small town in the north-west corner of Wayne couty.
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
DALTON, a north-western township in Wayne county, with a population of 800.
DANVILLE, the County Seat of Hendricks county, was named after Daniel Bales, one of the proprietors, and was first settled in 1825, by Nathan Kirk, Levi Jessup, James L. Given, James Wood and P. L. Dickens. It is situated on elevated ground, near the centre of the county, twenty miles west of Indianapolis, thirty south- 'east of Crawfordsville, and twenty north-east of Green- castle. It contains a brick Court House and County Seminary with about sixty students, 125 dwelling houses and a population of 500.
DARLINGTON, a pleasant village in Montgomery county, on the south side of Sugar creek, eight miles north-east of Crawfordsville.
DAVIESS COUNTY, organized in 1817, was named after the distinguished lawyer, Joseph Hamilton Daviess, who fell in the battle of Tippecanoe. It is bounded on the north by Greene, on the east by Martin, on the south by the East Fork and on the west by the West Fork of White river, and it contains 420 square miles. It is di- vided into ten townships, viz: Washington, Steel, Veale, Harrison, Reeve, Barr, Van Buren, Madison, Elmore and Bogard. The population in 1830 was 4,512; in 1840, 6,720, and at this time about 10,000.
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