USA > Indiana > The Indiana gazetteer : or, topographical dictionary of the state of Indiana, 1850 > Part 12
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The officers of the Institution are L. Dunlap, M. D., J. S. Bobbs, M. D., and James Blake, E. J. Peck, S. Major and John Wilkins, Esquires, Commissioners; R. J. Patterson, M. D., Superintendent and Physician; John Nutt, M. D., Assistant Physician ; James M. Bradshaw, Steward; Mrs. Laura Ann Elliott, Matron.
STATE LIBRARY.
The first appropriation for a State Library was made by the Legislature at the session of 1825, when $50 was appropriated for binding, and $30 annually for the pur- chase of books. Previous to that time, the only books in the Library were Bentham's works, presented by the author, through J. Q. Adams, then Minister to London, the laws and journals of Congress, and of a few of the States, and about twenty volumes of the American State Papers.
There has been a gradual increase of books every year since ; but the additions have not been of much value until within a few years. Besides duplicates, there are now at least 5,000 volumes of books, of which more than half are well selected and very valuable, and the remainder are generally such as should be found in an institution of the kind.
They are kept in excellent order by the Librarian, and every visiter at Indianapolis may spend a portion of his time at the State Library with much pleasure and profit. A large Law Library, purchased during the last thirty years, by the Gentlemen of the Bar, for their own use, is in a separate room; but it is now proposed that this also shall be put under the care of the State Librarian.
There are several other subjects and articles that might have been embraced in this General View of the State, that must now of necessity be described in the Topographical
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and Statistical part, as the information relative to them was not received by the Compiler in time to be inserted as he would have wished. They will, therefore, be found under their proper heads in the second part of the Ga- zetteer, which is alphabetically arranged. The proceed- ings of several of the Railroad Companies recently or- ganized, and also of the Wabash Navigation Company, can now be referred to only in this way.
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PART SECOND.
TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS,
Containing a particular description of all the organized Counties, Cities, Towns, Villages, Townships, Water Courses, Prairies, &c., in the State, Alphabetically arranged.
ABINGTON, a southern township in Wayne county, which gave 202 votes at the last Presidential election.
ABINGTON, a village on the west bank of the east fork of White Water, in Wayne county, six miles south-east of Centreville, and near the south line of the county.
ABOITE, a small river in the west part of Allen county, emptying into Little river; not navigable, but affording good water power.
ABOITE, a township on the west side of Allen county, in T. 30, R. 11, with a population of about 300.
ADAMS COUNTY is bounded on the east by the State of Ohio, on the south by Jay county, on the west by Wells, and on the north by Allen county. It is twenty-four miles in length, from north to south, and fourteen in breadth, and contains 336 square miles. The county was organized in the year 1836, though a large tract of territory lying between Allen and Randolph had been previously called Adams county, after the distinguished statesman who bore that name; yet no organization had taken place. The population of Adams county, in 1840, was 2,284; at this time it is near 5,600. The face of the country is generally level. Near the St. Mary's and Wabash, it is undulating, but not hilly. There are no barrens in the county, and not exceeding ten sections of prairie, all wet, and twenty-five or thirty of river
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bottoms. The residue is upland, heavily timbered. The wet prairies form the sources of the creeks, and from several of them water runs into the St. Lawrence, and also the Mississippi. The most of them show traces of beaver dams. The soil is clay mixed with marl, and ap- parently becomes more fertile the longer it is cultivated. The timber is oak, hickory, buckeye, ash, beech, elm, lynn, walnut, sycamore, poplar and cottonwood. The surplus products consist of wheat, corn and hay, and horses, cattle and hogs, in considerable numbers, are raised for exportation. The county is divided into twelve townships, Preble, Root and Union in the north; next, St. Mary's, Washington and Kirkland ; then French, Monroe and Blue Creek; and in the south, Jefferson, Wabash and Hartford.
There are in Adams county, three Lawyers, five Phy- sicians, six Ministers of the Gospel, five stores, three groceries, six warehouses, one merchant mill, one oil mill, one ashery, one tannery, two saddlers, ten shoe- makers, seven blacksmiths, two tailors, five cabinet makers and twenty carpenters.
The principal streams are the St. Mary's and Wabash rivers, which are about equal in size, and their average width is about 160 feet. The former was frequently navigated with keel and flat boats; but navigation is now obstructed by mill dams. The public buildings in the county consist of a Court house and Jail, both of wood, fire-proof offices for the Clerk, Recorder, Auditor and Treasurer, and one Presbyterian, one Methodist and one Roman Catholic Church. The common school districts are generally organized and support schools from three to ten months in the year. The county of Adams, when properly improved, will be a first rate farming region.
ADAMS, a township in Allen county, in T. 30, R. 13, having a population of about 800.
ADAMS, a township in Carroll county, north-western part, with a population of about 900.
ADAMS, a township in Cass county, north of the Wa- bash.
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ADAMS, a township in the north part of Decatur county, with a population of about 2,450.
ADAMS, a township in the south-east of Madison county.
ADAMS, a township in the north-west part of Morgan county, with a population of about 1,230.
ADAMS, a south-eastern township in Parke county, with a population of 2,000.
ADAMS, a northern township in Ripley county, with a population of 1,050.
ADDISON, an interior township in Shelby county, in which the county seat is situated.
AIKMAN'S CREEK, a mill stream in Daviess county, which runs south-west about twenty miles into the east fork of White river. The current is not sufficiently rapid to afford much facilities for machinery.
ALBANY, a small town on the Mississinewa, in Dela- ware county, ten miles north-east of Muncietown. It has a post office, two stores, a Methodist meeting house, and six or eight other houses.
ALBANY, a township in the county of Floyd, including the county seat, and containing a population of about 8,500.
ALBION, the present county seat of Noble county, laid out in 1847, in the centre of the county, and is now a flourishing village. It is situated twenty-six miles north- west of Fort Wayne, and 125 miles north-east of Indian- apolis.
ALEXANDRIA, a small town containing about thirty houses, in Madison county, eleven miles north of Ander- son, and forty-seven north-east from Indianapolis.
ALISONVILLE, a small village in Marion county, east side of White river, eleven miles north-east of Indian- apolis. It contains a population of about 200.
ALLEN COUNTY is bounded north by DeKalb and No- ble, east by the State of Ohio, south by Adams and Wells, and west by Huntington and Whitley counties. It contains 672 square miles and was organized in 1824. It was named after the late Col. John Allen, a distin- 11
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guished Kentucky lawyer, who fell at the battle of the River Raisin. Allen county is divided into twenty civil townships, commencing on the south line at the south- east corner; Monroe, Madison, Marion, Pleasant and Lafayette, lie in the first tier; Aboite, Wayne, Adams, Jefferson and Van Buren, lie in the second tier; Mau- mee, Milan, St. Joseph, Washington and Lake, lie in the third tier; and on the north line of the county are Eel river, Perry, Cedar creek, Springfield and Scipio. The population of the county in 1830, was 1,000; in 1840, 5,942, and at this time over 13,000. Its principal streams are Little river and Aboite, which rise in the western part of the county, unite near the county line, and run into the Wabash, and the St. Joseph's and St. Mary's, both which rise in Ohio and run, the former south-west and the latter north-west, until they unite at Fort Wayne and form the Maumee, which then runs north-east into Lake Erie. All these streams, except Aboite, were for- merly navigable in high water; but the erection of dams across them, and the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal, has superseded the old mode of navigation. Bee creek, in the south-west, Crooked creek, in the east, and Cedar creek, in the north, are considerable mill streams, and the whole county is well watered.
The soil is generally of an excellent quality, being a sandy loam near the streams, and clay intermixed with marl in the interior, and well adapted to the cultivation of wheat, rye, corn, oats, grass, &c. The land is gene- rally timbered, with occasional wet prairies, easily drained. In the north-western part of the county are many oak openings, or barrens, all very fertile and easily brought into cultivation. The most common timber is oak, beech, walnut, buckeye, maple, ash, hickory, poplar, &c. Within this county were several Indian reserves, on one of which lived the famous Indian Chief Richard- ville, till his death in 1840. His wealth and influence kept other Indians near him, and many of them con- tinued to reside here until their final removal west of the Mississippi, a few years since. This kept up a large
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amount of Indian trade, and until lately the agriculture of the county was not in a good condition. There is now every appearance that Allen will be one of the best, as it among the largest, counties in the State. In aid of the business on the canal, plank roads are in the process of construction in several directions from Fort Wayne, and that town will soon be surpassed by no others in the State, except Madison and Indianapolis.
The manufactures of the county consist of four large tanneries, one large foundry, one distillery, four brewe- ries, eight flouring mills, ten saw mills, one woollen fac- tory, and one oil mill. There are in the county thirty dry goods stores, twenty grocery stores, thirteen ware- houses, three drug stores, and one book store; many of the stores very large. There are also twenty Lawyers, sixteen Physicians, and twelve Preachers of the Gospel. Among the different denominations there are three Pres- byterian Churches, one Catholic, two Methodist, one Dutch Reformed, one Lutheran, one Christian, one Epis- copalian, one African, and one Baptist. The Methodists have a good Female High School or College, and the Catholics have a school under the charge of the Sisters of Providence. The lands in the county returned for taxation amount to 357,952 acres.
ALLEN, a township in Noble county, containing a pop- ulation of 850.
ALLENSVILLE, a small town in Switzerland county, eleven miles north-east of Vevay, surrounded by a good country and very industrious population.
ALQUINA, a small town in Fayette county, five miles south-east of Connersville.
AMERICA, a small town in Wabash county, twelve miles south of Lagros, near the north line of Grant county.
AMERICUS, a small town on the Wabash River, in Tip- pecanoe county, ten miles north-east of Lafayette, con- taining one dry goods and two grocery stores, and about fifty frame dwelling houses.
AMSTERDAM, a village on the Ohio river, in Harrison
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county, near the mouth of Indian creek, sixteen miles south-west from Corydon. It contains about twenty families, and has a fine country back of it, known as the grassy valley.
ANDERSON, a river which rises in the west part of Crawford county, runs into the south-east corner of Du- bois, then into Perry, and then for several miles becomes the dividing line between Spencer and Perry, and emp- ties into the Ohio near Troy. It is navigated in high water by flat-boats for about thirty miles, and it affords many valuable mill privileges.
ANDERSON, a central township in Madison county, em- bracing the county seat.
ANDERSON, a township in Perry county, on the west side of the county, north of Troy township, and con- taining a population of 1,000.
ANDERSON, a township in Rush county, south-east part, with a population of 1,900.
ANDERSON, a south-eastern township in Warrick county.
ANDERSON, the Seat of Justice of Madison county, is situated on a high bluff on the south side of White river, thirty-four miles north-east of Indianapolis. It was an old Indian town, named after Anderson, a Dela- ware chief, who formerly resided there. In 1813, it was burnt by a detachment of troops from Kentucky, then on an exploring tour. It has a Court House, Jail, fire- proof public offices, a good County Seminary, lately erected, and a population of about 300, and is now ra- pidly improving. Its beautiful situation, the fertile coun- try around it, and the construction of the Bellefontaine Railroad through it, will make it an important point. A Newspaper, called "The Weekly Democrat," is published at this place.
ANGOLA, the County Seat of Steuben county, is situated near the centre of the county, twelve miles from the north-east corner of the State, 152 miles north-east of Indianapolis, and 70 miles west of Toledo. It contains eight dry goods stores, and a population of 400, and
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being situated in a fertile and rapidly improving country, will soon be a thriving and prosperous town.
ANNAPOLIS, a flourishing village in Parke county, seven miles north-west of Rockville. It is surrounded by well cultivated farms.
ARMIESBURGH, a small village in the same county, situated on Big Raccoon, near its junction with the Wabash.
ARMSTRONG, a western township in Vanderburgh county, containing a population of about 600.
ARNOLD'S CREEK, a small stream in Ohio county, emp- tying into the Ohio river two miles below Rising Sun. It was named after Col. Arnold, who, soon after the Revolutionary war, was enticed into an ambuscade by the Indians, and killed by them near this stream.
ATTICA, a flourishing village on the south-east bank of the Wabash, in Fountain county, beautifully situated, containing eleven dry goods stores, two groceries, one bakery, five warehouses, about 300 houses, and a popu- lation of about 1,200. It is situated on the Wabash and Erie Canal, fourteen miles north-east of Covington, twenty-five south-west of Lafayette, and seventy-five north-west of Indianapolis. The Shawnee and other prairies, and, in fact, all the lands in the vicinity, are fer- tile and well cultivated, and they furnish an immense amount of surplus produce for exportation. The water power on Shawnee creek, in the vicinity, is very valu- able.
AUBURN, the county seat of De Kalb county, is situ- ated two miles south and three west of the centre of the county, twenty-two miles north of Fort Wayne, and 134 north-east of Indianapolis. It was first settled in 1836, by W. Park, and now contains about fifty houses, all of wood, and 300 inhabitants. The public buildings are a Court House, and offices for the Clerk, Recorder and Auditor.
AUGUSTA, a small village in Marion county, on the Michigan road, nine miles north-west of Indianapolis. It contains about 150 inhabitants.
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AUGUSTA, formerly the Seat of Justice of Noble county. It contains the jail and the public offices for the Recorder, Auditor, &c.
AURORA, a small town in the south-west corner of Clinton county.
AURORA, a beautiful village on the Ohio river, at the mouth of Hogan creek, in Dearborn county, containing about 1,600 inhabitants. It was laid out in IS19, and having a fine country back of it, has for many years ex- ported large quantities of produce. It is twenty-six miles below Cincinnati, and eighty-six south-east of In- dianapolis. It has just suffered very severely from the ravages of the Cholera.
AZALIA, a small village, in a very fertile part of Bar- tholomew county, east of White river, and ten miles south-east of Columbus, on the Brownstown road. Popu- lation 250.
BACK CREEK, a small but valuable mill stream in Grant county, emptying into the Mississinewa north of Ma- rion.
BACK CREEK, a considerable mill stream, rising in Jack- son county, then running into Lawrence, empties into Guthrie's creek.
BAINBRIDGE, a township in the west part of Dubois county, containing 340 voters, and a population of about 1,700.
BAINBRIDGE, a small village in Putnan county, nine miles north of Greencastle.
BAKER, a north-eastern township in Martin county, with a population of 600.
BAKER, a southern township in Morgan county, with a population of 360.
BALTIMORE, a small town on the west side of the Wabash, in Warren county, three miles above Coving- ton.
BARKER, a township in Jasper county.
BARR, an eastern township in Daviess county.
BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY is bounded north by the town- ship line which separates townships ten and eleven, di-
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viding it from Shelby and Johnson counties. East by Decatur and Jennings counties, south by Jennings and Jackson, and west by Brown county. The county con- tains 405 square miles. Its name was derived from Gen. Joseph Bartholomew, long a distinguished citizen of Clark county, and a Senator in the State Legislature from 1821 to 1824. The name was given at the instance of Gen. Tipton. Gen. Bartholomew was a Lt. Colonel, commanding a battalion of infantry at the battle of Tip- pecanoe, where he was severely wounded, for which he received a pension until his death, which took place exactly twenty-nine years afterwards, on the day of the Presidential election, 1840. Gen. Bartholomew was a self-taught, modest, brave and honest man, who rose from obscurity and obtained distinction solely by his merits as a man and a soldier. In all the difficulties with the Indians along the frontier, he was always fore- most in times of danger.
The voters of Bartholomew in 1848, were 2,513, and the population a little over 15,000. In 1840 it was 10,042. The county is divided, for local. government, into fourteen townships, viz: Nineveh, Union, Harrison, Ohio, Wayne, Sand Creek, Rock Creek, Clifty, Clay, Haw Creek, Flatrock, German, Columbus and Jackson. The east and central part of the county is generally level, the west mostly hilly, and particularly so near the Brown county line, where the hills resemble broken mountains or the spurs of the Alleghanies. They are commonly called the "Salt Creek Knobs." At least one-fourth of the county is bottom land, on Driftwood or East Fork of White river, Clifty and Flat Rock. There is not much poor land in the county, though along the extreme mar- gins of the bottoms there are a few bogs which are unfit for cultivation. The soil in the bottoms and level lands is a rich alluvion, mixed with limestone-sand and gravel. That part of the county called the " Haw Patch," twelve miles long and six wide, is not supassed for beauty and fertility by any part of the western country. Between Flatrock and Driftwood, there were originally native
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forests for miles, without any undergrowth, and where the tall and thinly scattered walnut, blue ash, and sugar trees no more interrupted travellers on horseback or in carriages, than would open parks, where the trees had been planted and trimmed for the purpose. The more hilly part of the county has a clay soil, and the timber there is white and black oak, hickory, beech, su- gar tree and poplar. In the balance and larger part of the county, walnut, sugar, ash, buckeye, haw, pawpaw, burr oak and poplar are the most common. Not ex- ceeding one-fourth of the land is yet in cultivation. The surplus of agricultural products has increased rapidly every year since the completion of the Madison and In- dianapolis Railroad, and as there is now a good prospect of making a Railroad also to Jeffersonville, and extend- ing another from Columbus in the direction of Blooming- ton, these improvements, in different parts of the county, will develop still more its agricultural capabilities, which, at no distant time, will yield a surplus of five times the present amount.
There have been exported in a single year from Bar- tholomew county, 25,000 hogs, 200,000 bushels of corn, 6,000 barrels of flour, 20,000 bushels of wheat, and oats, hay, beans, barley, rye, hoop-poles, horses, mules and beef cattle, in all to the value of at least $500,000; and when such articles are in demand, they may and' will be all largely increased.
There are in the county ten tanneries, with a capital ยท of $17,000, which employ 45 hands and yield 4,800 sides of sole, and 6,300 of upper leather, annually. There is one large distillery, recently erected, nine flour- ing mills, moved by water power, six do. saw mills, five steam saw mills, four wool carding machines and three fulling mills. The mill streams in the county, Driftwood, Flatrock and Clifty, admit of a large and very valuable increase of water power, which will be used at no dis- tant day. The taxable land amounts to 218,084 acres, 6,413 have been entered and are not yet taxable, and the Congress land still for sale amounts to 34,503 acres,
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lying almost entirely in the western part of the county.
It is much to be regretted that education has been but little attended to, and that "no certain account can pos- sibly be given of the management of the schools."
BARTON, an eastern township in Gibson county, con- taining a population of 500.
BATH, a northern township in Franklin county, con- taining a population of 800.
BAUBAUGO, a small stream, twenty miles in length, ris- ing in the west part of Elkhart county, and running north-west into the St. Joseph, near the east line of St. Joseph county.
BAUGO, a western township in Elkhart county, con- taining a population of 300.
BEAVER, a township in Jasper county.
BEAVER, a small creek, twenty miles in length, rises in south-west part of Lawrence, and empties in White river in Martin county.
BEAVER, a small creek in Pulaski countv.
BEAVER, a lake abounding in fish, in north-west corner of Jasper county. This lake is the largest sheet of fresh water in the State, except the south end of Lake Michi- gan. It covers about 16,000 acres.
BEAN BLOSSOM, a mill stream, forty-five miles in length, rises in Brown county, and runs westwardly through Monroe, and empties into the West Fork of White river near Gosport. It runs in a deep bed, and is navigable about twenty miles in high water.
BEAN BLOSSOM, a north-western township in Monroe county, containing a population of 1,300.
BEAR CREEK, a small stream near the south side of Fayette county.
BEAR CREEK, a small creek in Perry county, emptying into the Ohio, near Rome.
BEAR CREEK, a small tributary of the Mississinewa, in Randolph county.
BEAR CREEK, a small stream emptying into Blue river, in Washington county.
BEDFORD, the Seat of Justice of Lawrence county, is
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beautifully situated on the high ground between the East Fork of White River and Salt creek three miles from the former and two miles from the latter; seventy-five miles south-west of Indianapolis, twenty-four south from Bloomington, sixty-six north-west from Louisville, and forty-eight north from Leavenworth. It was laid out in 1826, by John Lowry, S. F. Irwin, Jos. Glover and John Owen. Bedford contains thirty brick and 114 frame houses, and a population of 700. It has an excellent Court House, surpassed by very few in the State; Presby- terian, Baptist and Methodist Churches; a good building for a County Seminary, and it has ten stores and two groceries. At Bedford is located one of the branches of the State Bank. The country around is fertile and healthy, and a very prudent and industrious population have secured to this town and its vicinity an almost un- interrupted course of prosperity. There has, however, been less attention paid to education here than in many other towns inferior in size and wealth. A newspaper, the Bedford Herald, is published here, and exertions are now making to continue the Railroad from New Albany to Salem, to this place.
BEE CREEK, a small tributary of the Wabash, on the north side, in Adams county.
BEER CREEK, a mill stream in Jay county, emptying into the Wabash.
BELL CREEK, a mill stream, rising in Henry county, runs north into Delaware and falls into Buck creek.
BELMONT, a small town in Noble township, Laporte county.
BELMONT, a small town in Craig township, Switzerland county.
BELVILLE, a flourishing village in Hendricks county, seven miles south of Danville, on the National road, and nineteen from Indianapolis. It contains about fifty houses and 300 inhabitants.
BENTON, a town at the crossing of the Elkhart, on the Fort Wayne road, seven miles south-east of Goshen. It has a population of 200, a large flouring mill, owned by
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