USA > Indiana > The Indiana gazetteer, or topographical dictionary of the State of Indiana, 1849 > Part 18
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FRANKLIN, a northern township in DeKalb county, with a population of 570.
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
FRANKLIN COLLECE. FRANKLIN.
FRANKLIN, the County Seat of Johnson county, is situated on the north side of Young's creek, just above its junction with Hurricane, near the centre of the county, on the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, sixty- six miles north-west of Madison and twenty south-east of Indianapolis. It was laid out in IS22, and the first settlers were Samuel Herriott, Geo. King, John Smiley and W. G. Springer. Franklin is the site of Franklin College, a flourishing institution under the control of the Baptists; it has four good churches, one for each of the denominations of the Old and New School Presbyte- rians, Baptists and Methodists; it has a fine building erected for a County Seminary, and about 250 houses, and a population of 1,750. A plank road is now in pro- gress from Franklin to the bluffs of White river, which will probably be extended to Mooresville.
FRANKLIN, a northern township in Putnam county.
FRANKLIN, an eastern township in Ripley county, pop- ulation 1,200.
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FRANKLIN, a south-west township in Floyd county, with a population of 700.
FRANKLIN, an interior township in Harrison county, population 1,050.
FRANKLIN, a south-west township in Hendricks county, with a population of 900.
FRANKLIN, a southern township in Henry county.
FRANKLIN, a central township in Johnson county.
FRANKLIN, a southern township in Kosciusko county.
FRANKLIN, a south-east township in Marion county, with a population of 1,600.
FRANKLIN, a north-east township in Montgomery county, with a population of 730.
FRANKLIN, a southern township in Owen county, with a population of 950.
FRANKLIN, a township in Washington county. . '
FRANKLIN, a township in Wayne county, with a popu- lation of 1,300.
FREDERICKSBURGH, a small village in the south-east of Washington county, north side of Blue river, twelve miles south east of Salem.
FREDONIA, the former Seat of Justice of Crawford county, on a very high bluff of the Ohio river, at the lower end of the Horse Shoe Bend, and four miles below Leavenworth.
FRENCH LICK, a western township in Orange county, population 1,200. Here is a spring of mineral water, nine miles west of Paoli, which, with the adjacent lands, was donated to the State by Congress, on the supposition that salt might be manufactured to advantage, but that not being found practicable, the lands have been sold and it is now thought that the springs will be valuable for their medical properties. The quarries of sand rock in the vicinity afford excellent material for grind-stones and whet-stones, which at times have been extensively manufactured.
FRENCH, a western township in Adams county, with a population of 450.
FRENCH ISLAND, a small town on the Ohio river, in
.
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
Spencer county, at the head of French Island, eleven miles by land and twenty by water below Rockport. It contains eight houses.
FuGIT, a north-east township in Decatur county, with a population of 2,100.
FULDAH, a small town in Spencer county, on the road from Troy to Jasper, ten miles from the Ohio river, set- tled by Germans.
FULTON COUNTY, named in honor of Robert Fulton, the inventor of the Steamboat, was organized in 1836. It lies both sides of the Michigan road, south of Mar- shall, west of Kosciusko and Miami, north of Cass and east of Pulaski counties, and contains 357 square miles. Itis divided into eight townships, viz: Tippecanoe, Union, Wayne, Richland, Rochester, Liberty, Newcastle and Henry. The population in 1810 was 1,993; at this time it amounts to about 5,200.
A ridge of small, rugged hills, from one to two miles in width, extends along the north bank of the Tippecanoe through the county. With this exception, the face of the country is level or gently undulating. The north-east corner and the east side of the county is covered with a heavy forest of excellent timber; the balance is barrens and prairie, alternately wet and dry, with occasional groves of timber. The soil is black and rich in the tim- ber lands ; in the barrens it is sandy, but well adapted to the growth of wheat and corn.
There is an abundance of water power in the county on the Tippecanoe river, and on Mill, Mud, Owl and Chipwannuc creeks, but only a small part of it is used at this time. There are two merchant mills, a saw mill and a carding machine on Mill creek, and a forge has been erected on the Tippecanoe, at the crossing of the Michigan road, where large quantities of excellent iron ore are found. The quality of the iron ore is very supe- rior; it is delivered at the works at very low rates, and the manufacture of this article is already becoming im- portant to the county.
There are in the county two lawyers, seven physicians 16
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and two preachers of the gospel, and the usual proportion of merchants and mechanics. The improvement of Fulton county has at no time been rapid, but its advan- tages are such that it will steadily continue until it be- comes one of the leading counties in the State.
FULTON, a southern township in Fountain county, with a population of 845.
GALENA, a northern township in Laporte county, with a population of 535.
GALENA, or Gallien, a small stream rising in the north part of Laporte county, runs north into Michigan, and empties into the lake at New Buffalo. .
GARRISON'S CREEK, a mill stream that rises in Fayette county, runs south-east into Franklin, and empties into the west fork of White Water, on the west side.
GENEVA, a north-west township of Jennings county, with a population of 1,100.
GENTRYVILLE, a small town in Spencer county, seven- teen miles north of Rockport, on the road to Bloom- ington.
GEORGETOWN, a small town in Cass county, laid out by George Cicot, on the canal, eight miles west of Lo- gansport.
GEORGETOWN, a township in Floyd county, with a population of 1,050.
GEORGETOWN, a small town in Floyd county, nine miles west of New Albany.
GEORGETOWN, a small town in Randolph county, laid out in 1835.
GERMAN, a northern township in Bartholomew county, with a population of 1,100.
GERMAN, a north-eastern township in Marshall county, with a population of 295.
GERMAN, a northern township in St. Joseph county.
GERMAN, a western township in Vanderburgh county, population 750.
GERMANTOWN, a small village in Wayne county, seven miles west of Centreville.
GIBSON COUNTY was organized in 1813, and was named
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
in honor of Gen. John Gibson, Secretary of the Treasu- ry from 1801 to 1816, and repeatedly acting Governor in the absence of Gov. Harrison. He had been taken prisoner in early life by the Indians, continued among them many years, and was familiar with their language and usages. It was to him that the celebrated speech of Logan was made. Though far advanced in life, he would have been still active, but for blindness which afflicted him during the latter part of his service. Gibson county is bounded west by the Wabash, north by White River, east by Pike, and south by Warrick, Vanderburgh and Posey counties. It contains about 450 square miles. It is divided into eight civil townships, to-wit: Mont- gomery, Patoka, Johnson, Columbia, Washington, White river, Wabash and Barton. The population in 1830 was 5,417; in 1840, 8,977, and at this time about 11,000. The surface of the country is agreeably undulating; a small portion of the county is barrens; about one sixth is river bottoms on the Wabash, Patoka and White rivers; the balance is heavily timbered with walnut, beech, sugar, hickory, ash, oak, &c. The soil is generally loam and sand, and very productive in corn, wheat, and oats, which are taken to a southern market in flat boats. Hogs, horses, and cattle are also raised largely for expor- tation, to the value of $200,000 annually. There are in the county six grist and saw mills propelled by water; four steam grist and 4 do. saw mills; about thirty stores and groceries, two lawyers, physicians and preachers in every neighborhood, and generally good schools. The opening of the canal and other advantages for trade and agriculture presented to Gibson county, though here- tofore too much neglected, must make this an important part of the State.
GILLAM, a township in Jasper county.
GILL, a western township in Sullivan county, popula- tion 1,150
GILL's prairie, in same county.
GOSHEN, the Seat of Justice of Elkhart county, was first settled in 1831. It is beautifully situated on the
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east bank of Elkhart river, a mile and a half south-east of the centre of the county, 132 miles north of Indian- apolis, 60 north-west of Fort Wayne, and 24 south-east of South Bend. Goshen contains commodious public buildings for the county; Methodist and Presbyterian churches; halls for the Masons, Odd Fellows and Sons of Temperance; eleven stores, two groceries, four lawyers, seven physicians, the usual proportion of shops for me- chanics, 125 dwelling houses, and a population of 700, which will no doubt continue to increase rapidly. Ad- joining the town are the flouring and saw mills of J. H. Barnes, which are very little inferior to any in northern Indiana.
GOSPORT, the principal town in Owen county, is situ- ated on the west bank of White river, eight miles above Spencer, and forty-four below Indianapolis, on the direct road from Bloomington to Greencastle, 16 miles from the former and 24 from the latter. The proprietor was Ephraim Goss, and the first settlements in the vicinity were made in ISI8. Gossport has now a population of 450, among whom are six merchants, twenty-three me- chanics, seven physicians, one attorney and two preach- ers. There are three ware houses, two taverns, one mill, a carding machine, and two churches in the town.
GRAHAM CREEK, or Graham's Fork, a mill stream, rises in Ripley county and runs south-west about seventy miles through Jennings, Jefferson, and along the north line of Scott, and empties into the Muscackituck.
GRANT COUNTY was organized in 1831, and was named in honor of Captain Samuel Grant and Moses Grant, who were killed in 1789 in a battle with the Indians near the creek since called by their name in the N. E. part of Switzerland county. Grant county is bounded north by Wabash and Huntington, east by Wells and Blackford, South by Delaware and Madison, and west by Howard and Miami. It is twenty-two miles in length from east to west, and nineteen in breadth, and contains 418 square miles. It is divided into the following townships, viz : Van Buren, Washington, Pleasant, Richland, Centre,
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
Monroe, Jefferson, Union and Liberty. The population in 1840 was 4,875 ; at this time it is about 8,000. Except along the borders of the Mississinnewa, which are beau- tifully rolling, the balance of the county is quite level and nearly all originally covered with heavy timber. The soil without exception is rich and well adapted to the cultivation of all kinds of grain, grass, fruit, &c., suited to the climate. There are in the county eighteen stores and groceries, fourteen mills propelled by water, eight lawyers, eight physicians, six preachers, twelve churches, belonging to the Methodists, Presbyterians and Friends, or Quakers, and the taxable land amounts to 162,268 acres. A considerable part of Grant lay in the bounds of the Miami Reserve, and has been but recently settled; but except in facilities for the transportation of produce, there are few parts of the State that are better calculated to sustain a dense and prosperous population.
GRANT'S CREEK, a small mill stream in Switzerland county, which runs south into the Ohio river, four miles below Rising Sun.
GRANT'S CREEK, a small stream in Wabash county.
GRANVILLE, a small town in Delaware county, on the Mississinnewa, ten miles north of Muncie. It has Metho- dist and New Light churches, two stores,, one grocery, two physicians, and a population of 125.
GRASSY FORK, and Grassy Creek are tributaries of the Muscackituck, in Jackson county.
GREENE COUNTY, named after Gen. Greene, of Revo- lutionary memory, was organized in 1821. It is bound- ed on the north by Clay and Owen, east by Monroe and Lawrence, south by Martin and Daviess, and west by Sullivan, and is thirty miles in length from east to west, and eighteen in width. The civil townships are Richland, Plummer, Jackson, Centre, Buck Creek, Highland, Eel River, Fairplay, Smith, Wright, Stockton and Washing- ton. The population in 1830 was 4,253; in 1840, 8,321, and at this time about 11,500. It is estimated that one sixth of the county is barrens, one-tenth prairie, one- twentieth river bottoms, and the balance upland with
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timber. The soil is sandy near the river and very rich, and portions of the west are sandy; the other parts of the county have a clay soil, which varies very much in quality. The timber is oak, sugar, walnut, beech, cherry, persimmon, &c .; and the surplus products are wheat, corn, pork, and tobacco, which are exported to the amount of $100,000 annually. There are in the county fifteen stores, besides groceries, which are numerous, ten saw and grist mills, five lawyers, ten physicians, eight preachers, and seven Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyteri- an churches. Coal and iron ore are found in great abun- dance, and of good quality. When the canal, which passes through the centre of the county, is completed, as it will be in 1851, this part of the country will improve far beyond what it has ever yet done.
GREENE, a northern township in Hancock county, with a population of 900.
GREENE, a township in Howard county, with a popu- lation of 450.
GREENE, a central township in Jay county, settled in 1831, population 425.
GREENE, a southern township in Marshall county, population 570.
GREENE, an eastern township in Morgan county, with a population of 1,360.
GREENE, an eastern township in Noble county, popula- tion 350.
GREENE, a township in Parke county, with a population of 1,350.
GREENE, a north-west township in Randolph county, with a population of 900.
GREENE, a southwest township in St. Joseph county.
GREENE, a township in Wayne county, with a popula- tion of 1,200.
GREENCASTLE, the Seat of Justice of Putnam county, is beautifully situated near the centre of the county, on high table land, one mile east of the Walnut Fork of Eel river, in latitude thirty-nine degrees forty minutes, and longitude nine degrees forty-six minutes west. It was
TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
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ASBURY UNIVERSITY. GREENCASTLE.
laid out in 1822, by Ephraim Dukes and Wesley Clark. It is the seat of the Asbury University, a flourishing in- stitution under the charge of the Methodists, a county Seminary, a female Academy, and other good schools. The College, Court House, Churches, and many of the private dwellings are built with much taste. There are now 210 dwelling houses in Greencastle, and a population of about 1,600. The healthy and pleasant situation of the town and its vicinity, the fertility of the soil, and valuable improvements continually making, attach to it much importance and interest through the whole State. The Terre Haute and Indianapolis railroad is now under contract to this place, and that from Lafayette to Craw- fordsville will no doubt in time be extended to it. Green- castle is forty miles west south-west of Indianapolis, thirty-four north-east of Terre Haute, and twenty-eight south of Crawfordsville.
GREENFIELD, the County Seat of Hancock, is situated
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INDIANA GAZETTEER.
in the centre of the county, near Brandywine creek, twenty miles east of Indianapolis. It was first settled in 182S, by Meek and Spillman. It contains the Court House, county offices, county Seminary, sixty dwelling houses and 300 inhabitants.
GREENFIELD, a north-east township in Lagrange coun- ty, population 600.
GREENFIELD, a southern township in Orange county, population 700.
GREENSBOROUGHI, a small town in Henry county, six miles south-west of Newcastle, with a population of 250.
GREENSBOROUGH, an interior township in Henry county. GREENTOWN, a small town in Green township, How- ard county.
GREENVILLE CREEK, a branch of Stillwater, rises in Randolph county and runs north and then east into the State of Ohio.
GREENWOOD, a small village near the railroad, in the north part of Johnson county. It contains two stores, Baptist and Presbyterian churches, thirty houses and 180 inhabitants. The situation is pleasant, ten miles from Indianapolis on the north and Franklin on the south, and the condition and morals of the people in the vicinity present many inviting residences.
GREGG, a central township in Morgan county, with a population of 600.
GUILFORD, a south-east township in Hendricks county, with a population of 1,450.
GUINEA RUN, or Philip's creek, a branch of the Mus- cackituck, in Jackson county. -
GUTHRIE'S CREEK, a mill stream rising in Jackson county, runs south and then west into Lawrence, and empties into the east fork of White river, five miles south-east of Bedford.
HADDON, a south-east township in Sullivan county, with a population of 3,750.
HAGERSTOWN, is a village eleven miles north-west of Centreville, in Wayne county, and seven miles north of Cambridge City, at the head of the White Water Canal.
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
It contains a population of 500, and from its situation and the fine country around, is calculated to become an important point.
HALBERT, an eastern township in Martin county, with a population of 425.
HALFMOON SPRING, a noted place in early times in Orange county, on the old French lick road, four miles south-east of Paoli. The spring resembles in shape a half moon. It rises in a plat of level, rich land, which extends some distance from the spring on all sides. It is about 100 feet deep, never freezes, and affords water suf- ficient to turn a mill.
HALL'S BRANCH, a small stream in Pulaski county.
HALL'S CREEK, a stream in the south part of Dubois, running into Patoka.
HALL, a south-east township in Dubois county, with a population of 530.
HAMBLEN, a north-east township in Brown county.
HAMILTON COUNTY, was organized in 1823, and was named in honor of Alexander Hamilton. It is bounded north by Tipton, east by Madison, south by Hancock and Marion, and west by Boone and Clinton counties, and it contains 400 square miles. It is divided into the following townships, viz : Noblesville, Washington, Clay, Delaware, Fall Creek, Wayne, and White River. The population in 1830 was 1,705, in 1840, 9,855, and at
this time about 14,000. The face of the country is either level or gently undulating, the soil without exception good, and every part of the county well adapted to the cultivation of either corn, grain or grass. There are along White River a few dry, rich prairies, and at the heads of Cicero and Stony Creeks, a number of wet ones, but they are mostly small. The balance of the county is timbered land, with a good proportion of oak, poplar, walnut, sugar, hickory, and beech. The resources of Hamilton county have not heretofore been developed in any manner in proportion to their capability, but there is now an appearance of more energy and enter- prise. The Railroad from Indianapolis to Peru will
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INDIANA GAZETTEER.
shortly be completed to Noblesville, twenty-one miles, mainly by the citizens of the county, and there is now reason to believe that their fine soil, water power, and other advantages, will soon be called into requisition. It is estimated that 10,000 hogs, 500 cattle, 200 horses, and 100 mules are annually exported from the county. The value of the exports may soon be five times what they have ever heretofore been: All the lands are taxa- ble.
HAMILTON, a small town in Madison township, Clin- ton county.
HAMILTON, a township in Delaware county.
HAMILTON, a northern township in Jackson county, population 1,100.
HAMILTON, a small town in Steuben county.
HAMILTON, a small town in St. Joseph county, west of South Bend, with a population of 150.
HAMILTON, a central township in Sullivan county, with a population of 1,250.
HAMMOND, a southern township in Spencer county, with a population of 675.
HANCOCK COUNTY, named after John Hancock, was organized in 182S. It is bounded on the north by Ham- ilton and Madison, on the east by Henry and Rush, on the south by Shelby, and on the west by Marion, and it contains 307 square miles. It is divided into the follow- ing townships, viz : Blue River, Brandywine, Brown, Buck Creek, Centre, Green, Harrison, Jackson, Jones, Sugar Creek, Union, and Vernon. The population in 1830 was 1,569, in 1840, 7,535, and at this time it is about 9,500.
The surface of the country is generally level, though it becomes gently undulating in the vicinity of the streams. The timber is of a good quality, such as is usually found in the level parts of the State, and the soil uniformly rich, though some portions of the county re- quire draining before they can be cultivated to advan- tage. The staple products are wheat, corn, and grass, of which a considerable surplus, as well as of hogs, cat-
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
tle, and horses, are raised for exportation. The esti- mated value of the surplus is $75,000 annually. There are in the county twenty stores, eighteen mills, propelled by water, one woollen factory, one printing office, five lawyers, fourteen physicians, thirteen preachers, and the usual proportion of carpenters, smiths, coopers, wheel- wrights, &c., and twelve churches, mostly belonging to the Methodists and Baptists.
The taxable land amounts to 192,146 acres.
HANNAS CREEK, a beautiful mill stream in Union county, running south-west into the East Fork of White Water, three miles below Dunlapsville.
HANOVER COLLEGE.
HANOVER, a beautiful town on the high bluffs of the Ohio in Jefferson county, six miles below Madison. It was first settled in 1810, by the Hon. W. Dunn, who was soon after joined by the Rev. J. F. Crowe, D. D. Under their auspices a flourishing Literary Institution has been built up, and the village for its accommodation now contains about 100 houses, and, including students,
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INDIANA GAZETTEER.
600 inhabitants. Hanover has just suffered severely from a visitation of the cholera, in which the President of the College, Dr. Scoville, and several other valuable citizens, died suddenly; but no place on the Ohio has usually been more healthy, nor is there any one, where more attention has been paid to the cultivation of the morals and intellects of the youth.
HANOVER, a southern township in Jefferson county.
HANOVER, a northern township in Shelby county.
HARBERT'S CREEK, a mill stream in Jefferson county, running west to the waters of the Muscackituck.
HARBISON, a north-western township in Dubois county, with a population of 750.
HARMONY, a township bordering on the Wabash in Posey county, in which is the village of New Harmony.
HARMONY, a south-west township in Union county, with a population of 1,050.
HARRIS, a north-east township in St. Joseph county. HARRIS'S PRAIRIE in the above.
HARRISBURGH, a small town in Fayette county, four miles north-west of Connersville.
HARRISBURGHI, see Brownsburgh.
HARRISON COUNTY, named in honor of William H. Harrison, was organized in ISOS. It is bounded north by Washington, east by Floyd, south-east, south, and south-west by the Ohio river which runs on its borders for near sixty miles, and west by Crawford county, and it contains 478 square miles. It is divided into nine civil townships, viz : Posey, Taylor, Boone, Heth, Washing- ton, Harrison, Franklin, Blue River, and Morgan. The population in 1830 was 10,28S, in 1840, 12,459, and at this time about 14,000. The face of the country, as well as the character of the soil, is much diversified in Harri- son county. The chain of knobs on the east, the river hills and many places along Indian Creek and Blue River, present as fine scenery as can be found in any part of the State. The bottoms, valleys, and a portion of the upland, are fertile and were originally well tim- bered, but some of the barrens have many "sink holes"
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
in which are frequently entrances to immense caverns, and in places the soil is very thin. The surplus products of the county, consisting of corn, wheat, fruit, potatoes, and pork, beef, &c., are usually taken away to the south by the farmers themselves in flat-boats, and are estimat- ed to be worth $250,000 annually. There are in the coun- ty eight large flouring mills, and forty saw mills, thirty- eight stores, six lawyers, fifteen physicians, three Pres- byterian, four Baptist, six United Brethren, two Roman Catholic, and two Universalist Churches, besides Metho- dist Churches in each of the five principal towns, and several others in the country. The County Seminary at Corydon is well managed and flourishing, with one hun- dred students ; the Friendship Seminary, at Elizabeth, is also prosperous, with eighty students ; and the com- mon schools are kept in operation in all the districts at least three months annually.
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