USA > Indiana > The Indiana gazetteer, or topographical dictionary of the State of Indiana, 1849 > Part 19
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Six miles west of Corydon is Wilson's spring, sixty feet in diameter, and though it has been sounded over 400 feet, no bottom has been found. It rises from a solid rock in a level spot of land, and it affords a sufficient amount of water to turn a valuable flour mill. Pitman's cave, in the same neighborhood, has been explored about two and a half miles, and is frequently visited. The descent to this cave is about twenty feet perpendicular, it then ex- tends off horizontally.
HARRISON, a western township in Bartholomew coun- ty, population 600.
HARRISON, a southern township in Boone county, population 710.
HARRISON, a north-east township in Blackford county, population 550.
HARRISON, a south-east township in Clay county, pop- ulation 750.
HARRISON, a township north of Wabash in Cass coun- ty, population 750.
HARRISON, a southern township in Daviess county, population 795.
HARRISON, a township in Dearborn county, population 760.
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HARRISON, a small town partly in Dearborn county and partly in the State of Ohio, twelve miles north of Lawrenceburgh.
HARRISON, a township in Delaware county.
HARRISON, a township in Elkhart county, population 275.
HARRISON, a northern township in Fayette county, population 2,100.
HARRISON, an interior township in Hancock county, population 500.
HARRISON, an interior township in Harrison county, population 3,800.
HARRISON, a township in Howard county, population 550.
HARRISON, a south-east township in Knox county.
HARRISON, a western township in Kosciusko county.
HARRISON, a southern township in Miami county, with a population of 150.
HARRISON, a north-east township in Morgan county, with a population of 550.
HARRISON, a north-east township in Owen county, population 575, containing sixteen and a half square miles, first settled in 1819 by Jesse Evans and Samuel Bigger.
HARRISON, a township in Pulaski county.
HARRISON, a north-east township in Spencer county, population 500.
HARRISON, a north-east township in Union county, population 1,400.
HARRISON, a central township in Vigo county, popula- tion 4,800.
HARRISON, a township in Wayne county, population 950.
HARRISON, an eastern township in Wells county.
HARRISONVILLE, a small town on Indian Creek, Mar- tin county. Near this place are medicinal springs sup- posed to be very efficacious, called Trinity Springs.
HARRISONVILLE, a small town in Tippecanoe county, near the battle ground of the 7th November, ISI1.
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HARRODSBURGH, a small town in Beanblossom town- ship, Monroe county.
HART, a northern township in Warrick county.
HARTFORD, the county seat of Blackford county, was laid out in 1839, and is situated near Lick Creek, a branch of the Mississinnewa, seventy-five miles north-east of Indianapolis. It contains a good brick Court House, and forty other houses, five of which are brick.
HARTFORD, a small town in Ohio county, on Laughery Creek, six miles north-west of Rising Sun. It contains a good brick Methodist Church, about fifty dwelling houses, and three hundred inhabitants. It was first settled in 1814 by Benj. Walker, John Livingston, and others.
HARTSVILLE, a small town in Bartholomew county, with a population of 150, laid out in 1828 by Andrew Calloway.
HAW CREEK, a fine mill stream rising in the south part of Shelby, and running south-west about twenty miles into the east fork of White river, at Columbus. Along this stream is the HAW-PATCH, which is not surpassed in fertility and beauty by any part of the State.
HAW CREEK, a tributary of the east fork of White river in Daviess county.
HAW CREEK, a small stream in Montgomery county.
HAWKINS'S PRAIRIE contains about 800 acres, and is a rich tract of land on the west fork of White river, in Daviess county, all under cultivation.
HAYSVILLE, a small town on Patoka river, in Dubois county, named after the proprietor, containing two stores, a warehouse, a grocery, and a population of ISS.
HELT, a township in Vermillion county.
HELTONSVILLE, a small town in Lawrence county, named after the proprietor.
HENDRICKS COUNTY was organized in IS24, and was named for William Hendricks, who at that time was Governor of the State. It is bounded on the north by Boone, east by Marion, south by Morgan, and west by Putnam and Montgomery counties, and being twenty
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miles square, it contains 400 square miles. Hendricks county is divided into ten civil townships, to-wit : Centre, Washington, Guilford, Liberty, Franklin, Clay, Marion, Eel River, Middle and Brown. The population in 1830 was 3,967 ; in 1840, 11,264, and at this time about 15,000. The south side and north-west corner of the county are undulating, the other parts generally level. More than one half the soil is a rich loam, slightly mixed with sand; the balance is clay, interspersed with tracts too wet for profitable cultivation on first being cleared ; but when drained they become very productive, and there is in reality, scarce an acre in the county which may not, with but little trouble, be made to produce good crops of grain or grass. No better timber is found in any part of the State than here. The surplus articles exported are wheat, hogs, cattle, and horses, which are estimated to be of the value of $200,000 annually. There are in the county twenty dry goods stores, two drug stores, eigh- teen grist mills, twenty-two saw mills, five woollen facto- ries, one printing office, six lawyers, twenty physicians, twenty ministers of the gospel, the usual proportion of mechanics, thirty-six churches, a flourishing county Semi- nary, and school houses in the common school districts. The prevailing religious denominations are Methodists, Baptists, Christians, Friends, Presbyterians and Luther- ans. The land rated for taxation in the county amounts to 242,910 acres.
HENDRICKS, a township in Shelby county.
HENRY COUNTY, named for the patriot and orator, Patrick Henry, was organized in 1821, and is bounded on the north by Delaware, east by Randolph and Wayne, south by Fayette and Rush, and west by Hancock and Madison counties. It contains 385 square miles, and is divided into twelve civil townships, to-wit: Wayne, Spiceland, Franklin, Dudley, Liberty, Henry, Greensboro, Harrison, Stoney Creek, Prairie, Jefferson and Fall Creek. The population in 1830 was 6,498; in 1840, 15,128, and at this time about 18,000. The face of the country is generally undulating, with many large and beautiful level
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tracts on the east side of the county. With the excep- tion of one prairie in the north which gives name to the township there, the land was originally covered with good timber, such as oak, walnut, ash, poplar, beech and sugar, and the soil, with scarce any exception, is of a good quality. The land is in a high state of cultivation, and the farms well improved. About 30,000 hogs, 2,000 fat cattle and 1,000 horses are among the products of the county annually taken to market, besides wheat and flour in large quantities. The water power for manu- facturing is abundant and very valuable. Blue river runs from near the north-east to the south-west corner of the county; Fall creek through the north, and there are several other valuable mill streams. There are in the county thirty grist mills, fifty saw mills, five oil mills, four woollen factories, one printing office, thirty-five stores, ten lawyers, twenty physicians, forty Methodist, ten Friends, five Presbyterian, three Baptist, one United Brethren and two True Wesleyan churches.
The taxable land in the county amounts to 246,000 acres.
HENRY, an interior township in the county of the same name.
HENRY, a township in Fulton county.
HENSLEY, a south-west township in Johnson county, with a population of 1,150.
HIGHBANKS, a small town in Pike county, nine miles east of Petersburgh. It is situated on a bluff of White river about 100 feet high.
HIGHLAND, a south-west township in Franklin county, population 1,900.
HIGHLAND, a north-east township in Greene county, population 900.
HIGHLAND, a northern township in Vermillion county, population 2,400.
HIGHLAND CREEK, a mill stream, a tributary of Blue river, in Washington county.
HILLSBOROUGH, a small town on the east fork of Coal 17
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creek, in Fountain county, fourteen miles east of Cov- ington. It contains about twenty houses.
HILLSBOROUGHI, a small town in Wayne county, near the Ohio line, nine miles north-east of Richmond, popu- lation 150.
HINDOSTAN, formerly the Seat of Justice of Martin county, at the Falls of White river, deserted for its un- healthy location.
HOG CREEK, a mill stream in Delaware county.
HOGAN, a mill stream in Dearborn county, rising in the west part of the county and running east into the Ohio at Aurora.
HOLMES LAKE, a sheet of water in Pulaski county.
HOMER, a small town on Salt creek, Jackson county, eighteen miles west of Brownstown.
HONEY CREEK, a north-east township in Clinton county, population 800.
HONEY CREEK, a small stream in Henry county.
HONEY CREEK, a small stream in Howard county.
HONEY CREEK, a mill stream in Miami county.
HONEY CREEK, a mill stream in Vigo county, that runs south-west into the Wabash, nine miles below Terre Haute.
HONEY CREEK, a central township in Vigo county, with a population of 1,500.
HOPE, a small but well situated town in Bartholomew county, twelve miles north-east of Columbus. It is in the midst of a beautiful and well improved country, and contains a population of 300.
HOWARD COUNTY, organized in 1844, was first named Richardville, after the Chief of the Miamies of that name, but on the death of Gen. T. A. Howard, a distin- guished citizen of this State, and at the time Minister to Texas, the name was changed. Howard county is bounded north by Cass and Miami, east by Grant, south by Tipton and Clinton, and west by Clinton and Carroll. The contents are 279 square miles, divided into nine townships, viz: Centre, Monroe, Irvin, Clay, Harrison,
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Taylor, Howard, Jackson and Greene. The population is at this time about 5,000. The surface of the country is either nearly level or slightly undulating; the soil is uniformly rich, though in places it will require draining. There are a few prairies, inclined to be wet and not of much note, but generally the land is covered with heavy and mostly valuable timber. When cleared it is well adapted to the cultivation of corn, wheat, grass, &c. This county, lying entirely in the Miami Reserve, has only been settled about six years, but it will soon be among the first rate farming counties. It has now twelve stores, six grist mills, five saw mills, three law- yers, eight physicians, ten ministers of the gospel, three Methodist, one Presbyterian. one Baptist, one New Light and one Quaker Meeting House, and about thirty me- chanics whose trades are most in demand.
Only a small portion of the county has been purchased of the United States five years, so as to be subject to taxation. 34,000 acres are canal lands.
HOWARD, a township in same county.
HUDSON, a north-east township in Laporte county, population 410.
HUFF'S CREEK, a tributary of the East Fork of White river, in Jackson county.
HUFF, a south-east township in Spencer county, popu- lation 650.
HUNLEY'S CREEK rises in the southern part of Dubois, and runs north-west into Patoka.
HUNTINGBURGH, a small town in Patoka township, Du- bois county, settled in 1836, by Col. J. Geyer, J. T. Doune and J. C. Bayles. The population amounts to 214.
HUNTERSVILLE, a small town in Ray township, Frank- lin county.
HUNTINGTON COUNTY was organized in 1834, and was named in honor of Samuel Huntington, a delegate in the Continental Congress from Connecticut, and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The name
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was proposed by Capt. Elias Murray, then a member of the Legislature.
This county is twenty-four miles in length from north to south, and sixteen in breadth, and contains 3S4 square miles. It is bounded north by Whitley, east by Allen and Wells, south by Wells and Grant, and west by Wa- bash county. For civil purposes, Huntington county is divided into twelve townships, viz: Jackson, Clear Creek, Warren, Dallas, Huntington, Union, Rock Creek, Lan- caster, Polk, Wayne, Jefferson and Salamonie. The population in 1840 was 1,579; at this time it is about 6,000. A small portion of the county is hilly, but for the most part it is only so far removed from a level or gently undulating, as to drain the water off readily and
leave the ground dry. The soil is clay and sand mixed, deep and very fertile, and well adapted to all such agri- cultural products as are common to the climate. With the exception of a few small prairies, the whole county was originally a dense forest of all the usual varieties of timber. The staple products exported are wheat, corn, beef and pork to the annual value, it is estimated, of $50,000.
There are in the county one merchant mill, seven grist mills, ten saw mills, with much unimproved water power, ten stores, seven groceries, five ware-houses, three lawyers, fourteen physicians, seven clergymen, 105 me- chanics of the various trades most in demand, one print- ing office, three churches, for the Catholics, Baptists and German Reformed, and fifteen schools that will average about thirty scholars each. The taxable land amounts to 212,886 acres; not exceeding a section still belongs to the United States, and about 10,000 acres are contained in the Indian reserves. The fine soil, situation and water power of this county will rapidly advance it in wealth and population as soon as the large amount of non-resi- dent lands is sold out.
HUNTINGTON, the Seat of Justice of the county of the same name, is situated at the mouth of Flint creek, on
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
Little river, two miles above its entrance into the Wa- bash. Gen. Tipton was the proprietor and Capt. Murray among the first settlers. It contains 150 houses, and a population of 700. Huntington is on the Wabash and Erie Canal, 100 miles north-east from Indianapolis and twenty-four south-west from Fort Wayne.
HUNTINGTON, a central township containing the above, population 1,200.
HUNTSVILLE, a small town on Fall creek, Madison county, named after families of that name who first set- tled it. It is seven miles south-west of Andersontown and one mile east of Pendleton.
HUNTSVILLE, a small town in Randolph county, nine miles south-west of Winchester, named for same cause.
INDEPENDENCE, a town in Warren county, on the west bank of the Wabash, nine miles north-east of Williams- port. It was laid out in 1828, by Zachariah Cicott, on his Indian reservation. He and Jacob Haines were the first settlers.
INDIAN CREEK, a fine mill stream rising in Floyd county, runs south-west into Harrison and passing diago- nally through it, empties into the Ohio river at Amster- dam. It is about forty-five miles in length and has much good land along its borders. At Corydon it receives Little Indian creek, fifteen miles in length.
INDIAN CREEK rises in the west part of Monroe, runs south-west through the counties of Greene, Lawrence and Martin, empties into the East Fork of White river, near the Sulphur Springs. Its whole length is about forty miles.
INDIAN CREEK, a western township in Lawrence county, population 1,110.
INDIAN CREEK, a mill stream which has its source in Johnson county, runs west into Morgan and empties into White river three miles below Martinsville.
INDIAN CREEK, a tributary of Fall Creek from the east, in the north-east part of Marion county.
INDIAN CREEK, a small stream running west into White river, near the line of Marion and Johnson.
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INDIAN CREEK, a south-west township in Monroe coun- ty, population 1,300.
INDIAN CREEK, a mill stream in Montgomery county.
INDIAN CREEK, a tributary of White river from the west, in the north part of Owen county.
INDIAN CREEK, a tributary of the Tippecanoe from the east, in the south part of Pulaski, and passing through a part of White county.
INDIAN CREEK, a southern township in Pulaski county.
INDIAN CREEK, a mill stream in Switzerland county, rising in the north part of it, runs south into the Ohio two miles below Vevay.
INDIAN CREEK, a tributary of the Wabash in Tippe- canoe county.
INDIANAPOLIS, the Seat of Government of the State of Indiana, is situated on the east bank of the West Fork of White river, in latitude 39 deg. 46 min. north, and in longitude 9 deg. 3 min. west. The extreme southern points of the State, in Spencer and Posey counties, are 13S miles south, and the line of the State, separating it from Michigan, is 137 miles north of Indianapolis. The Ohio State line is 73 miles east, and that of Illinois 75 west of this place, so that the location is central, as near as may be. It stands on a beautiful, very fertile and extensive plain, just below the mouth of Fall creek, one mile south of the centre of Marion county, of which it is the Seat of Justice. In the ordinance of Congress authoriz- ing the formation of a State Constitution for Indiana, four sections or 2,560 acres of land were donated for the per- manent Seat of Government. Commissioners on the part of the State were appointed in 1820, to make the selec- tion, and in 1821 the town was laid out by Alexander Ralston, an engineer, under the supervision of Christo- pher Harrison, of Salem, acting commissioner, though James W. Jones, of Gibson, and Samuel P. Booker, of Wayne county, had been joined in the commission; yet, from circumstances, they were unable to devote much attention to the business.
The first sale of lots was in October, 1821, when 314
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lots, central in the old plat of the town, north and south, were sold for $35,596 25, $560 were paid for the lot north of Washington street, and directly west of the Court House square, and $500 for the lot similarly situ- ated west of the State House square. The lots now reckoned the most valuable, and which, if not improved, - would be valued at from $6,000 to $8,000, then sold at from $200 to $300 each.
Washington, the principal street in town, is 120 feet wide, Circle street SO feet, the others 90 feet. The alleys from east to west are thirty feet wide, those from north to south 15 feet. The lots in the full and regular blocks are 673 feet by 195, and contain about one-third of an acre. On the diagonal streets and in the central blocks touching Circle street, the lots contain about one- fourth of an acre each.
In the year 1820, when this place was selected for the Seat of Government, the whole country, for forty miles, in every direction, with the exception of a few unimpor- tant prairies, was a dense forest, nor was there any con- siderable settlements nearer than Fayette county on the east, and Jackson on the south, over fifty miles distant. That year, however, many improvements were com- menced on Blue river and Flat rock, and Messrs. Pogue, McCormick, the Hardings, Dunning, Vanblaricum, McIlvaine, and a few others, removed to the vicinity of Indianapolis. The surveys of this and the adjoining counties having been completed by the General Govern- ment in IS21, a sale of the public lands in this district was held in July of that year, at which time there were about fifty families on the DONATION, as the land selected for the Seat of Government was then called. In addi- tion to the families named above, there still remain of the early settlers Messrs. Coe, Henderson, Blake, Ray, Yandes, Bates, Morris, Scudder, Fletcher, and the fami- lies of Messrs. Walpole, Foote, Nowland, Given, and others who have been well known among our busy pop- ulation. Among those who took an active part in the early improvement of the town, but who have since died,
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or with their families have removed elsewhere, the names of Osborn, Basye, Hawkins, McGeorge and Drs. Scud- der and Mitchell, &c., are still kindly remembered. The first settlements were made near the river and in the north part of the town, where there was no underbrush, and a few thinly scattered sugar trees only required to be deadened and the land fenced, in order that it might be cultivated.
The moral and intellectual improvement of the youth of the town engaged the attention of many of its promi- nent citizens at an early period, and up to this time the Sabbath Schools of Indianapolis, and also its public and private schools are not inferior in efficiency and useful- ness to those of any other cities or towns in the Union with no greater advantages as to population and resources. More than two-thirds of the children, of a proper age,' have attended the Sabbath Schools regularly, and there has not been one in ten who has not been occasionally there. This course, pursued now for more than a quar- ter of a century, has had beneficial influences beyond all calculation, though in a city rapidly increasing in popu- lation by emigrants from almost every State in the Union and nation in Europe, there must always be found much that requires correction and improvement.
The Presbyterians commenced building a Church in IS24, but were not able to complete it for more than two years, though the whole cost did not exceed $1,200. The average attendance of that Church, for five years at least, did not exceed 100.
The Methodists, in 1825, purchased a hewed log house, which they afterwards enlarged so that it would hold about 200 persons; but the whole cost of house and lot did not exceed $300. This, as well as that built by the Presbyterians, was used as a school house for several years, and it was not until 1829 that they were able to complete a better building. At this time, the Methodists have two well finished Churches, each capable of seating at least 1,000 persons, and with the appurtenances, the cost of both must have been near $20,000, and they are
CADSJENOR & THOMPSON.
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH , INDIANAPOLIS.
WESLEY CHAPEL INDIANAPOLIS.
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
now building a third Church, west of the canal, of smaller size, but still a good building. They have also a small Church in West Indianapolis.
The preceding engraving is a representation of the Cen- tral Methodist Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, erected during the year 1846. It is a substantial brick edifice, sixty-five feet by eighty, with the basement story above ground, containing a Lecture Room, Study, Library Room, &c. The entrance to the body of the Church is from the Vestibule, in front, by two flights of stairs. The Church has a front Gallery, two central and two side Aisles. The Methodists have four Churches within the corporate limits of the City, exclusive of the African Methodist Church. The first Church erected by the Methodists in Indiana, was a rude log meeting house, built about the year 1804, in what is now Clark county. The same denomination own at present, within the State, about seven hundred Churches.
The Presbyterians have two Churches, one for each branch of that denomination, less spacious than those erected by the Methodists, yet very commodious and well finished buildings.
The Baptists are now completing a large Church; the Episcopalians have a good one: there are two German Churches, one English Lutheran, one Associate Reformed, one Christian, one Roman Catholic, one for the Friends, and two for the Africans, making seventeen in all. The character and style of the preaching, and the contribu- tions for religious and charitable purposes, will compare favorably with most others of the same denominations in any part of the country.
On the first of January, 1825, the public offices of the State were removed from Corydon to this place, and the permanent Seat of Government established here. The Legislature continued to hold their sessions in the Court House, built at an expense of $14,000, until December, 1834, when the State House, a fine building 180 feet by 80, was completed for them at the cost of about $60,000,
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all which, together with the cost of the Governor's house, Treasurer's house and office, was paid for from the money realized by the State from the sales of their lots and lands donated for the Seat of Government.
A good Classical school has usually been kept up at the County Seminary. The Old School Presbyterians have founded a Parochial School, which they intend shall be of a high order, the Indianapolis Female Insti- tute was for many years very successful in the education of young ladies; the St. Mary's Seminary, under the control of the Episcopalians is still so, and the citizens of Indianapolis, having voted to be taxed for the educa- tion of all the children, lots have been purchased by the Corporation and buildings will be erected for that pur- pose. Many private and common district schools are also to be found in most parts of the city.
The other public buildings are two spacious Market houses, six large Hotels, besides the Mansion House, owned by Gen. Drake, now rebuilding, a large and splendid Masonic Hall now in progress, and the Madison and In- dianapolis Railroad Depot, 350 feet by 56. There will soon be buildings of a similar character at the points in this place where the Railroads from Bellefontaine, Peru, Lafayette and Terre Haute are to terminate. Among the manufactories in Indianapolis are a paper mill, two flouring mills, two saw mills, an oil mill, two carding machines, two foundries, with one of which is a machine shop in which steam engines are made, a peg and last establishment, one do. for planing, in both which sash, doors, &c., are made by machinery.
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