USA > Indiana > The Indiana gazetteer : or, topographical dictionary of the state of Indiana, 1850 > Part 26
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PIGEON ROOST, a creek tributary to Stucker's fork, in Scott county, and a settlement near it, where a massacre by the Indians took place in 1812. See History in first part.
PIKE COUNTY, organized in 181%, was named in honor
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of Gen. Z. M. Pike, who fell at the capture of York, April 27, 1813. It is bounded north by White river, which separates it from Knox and Daviess, east by Du- bois, south by Warrick and Gibson, and west by Gibson, and it contains 337 square miles. The civil townships are Jefferson, Washington, Madison, Clay, Patoka, Mon- roe and Logan. . The population in 1830 was 2,464, in IS40, 4,769, and at this time about 6,500. The face of the country is either level or gently rolling. In the west- ern part of the county the soil is generally a rich, dark loam, with a mixture of sand, and the large bottoms, which compose about one-sixth of the county, are as fer- tile as any part of the State, and probably no larger crops of corn are raised in any part of the west. Wal- nut, hickory, peccan, poplar, cottonwood, ash and elm are the prevailing timber. In the eastern part of the county there is more sand, the soil is much poorer, and the prevailing timber is oak, hickory, gum, sassafras and dogwood. The surplus products are corn, wheat, oats, pork, beef, horses, the annual value of which is estimated at $150,000.
There are in the county five saw mills, six grist mills, one carding machine, sixteen stores and groceries, three lawyers, ten physicians, eight preachers, two Methodist, one Cumberland Presbyterian and three Baptist Churches, and two others which are used in common by different denominations. The different mechanics are blacksmiths five, carpenters thirteen, masons four, coopers four, wa- gon-makers four, tanners three, saddlers two, millwrights two, carders and tinners one each. There is a great abundance of good coal in the county. Water power for mills is deficient, but both White river and Patoka may at times be navigated, and the Canal, which will soon be completed, ought to encourage great and rapid improvements.
The lands subject to taxation amount to SS,900 acres, and 123,000 acres still belong to the United States.
Two miles south-west from Petersburgh is a mound apparently artificial, which is about 70 feet in height, 20
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or 30 feet across the top, and so steep that wagons can with difficulty ascend it. It is apparently an Indian place of burial, for human bones in great abundance are found here. It is now used by the whites for a burying ground.
PIKE, a north-west township in Marion, population 2,000.
PIKE, a western township in Ohio county, population 550.
PIKE, a central township in Warren.
PIKE CREEK, a mill stream in Delaware county.
PINE, a north east township in Benton, population 300.
PINE LAKE, a beautiful sheet of water one mile north- west of Laporte, two and a-half miles in length, and one and a-half in breadth.
PINE CREEK rises in the north part of Marshall and runs north-west into the Kankakee.
PINE CREEK, an excellent mill stream in Warren coun- ty, rises in Benton and runs south into the Wabash op- posite to Attica. It has high banks covered with pine and cedar, and abounding with coal, and its numerous rapids furnish many good sites for water works.
PINE, a northern township in Warren.
PIPE CREEK, an excellent mill stream, with a rapid current and good banks, rises in Miami and runs north- west into the Wabash seven miles above Logansport, in Cass county.
PIPE CREEK, a mill stream, rises in the north part of Madison and runs south-west into Hamilton, and falls into White river a short distance west of the county line.
PIPE CREEK, a western township in Madison.
PITTSBOROUGII, a small town in Hendricks, eight miles north-east of Danville, and 19 north-west of Indianapo- lis. It was named from the County Seat of Chatham, N. C., from which the proprietor emigrated.
PITTSBURGH, a small town on the west bank of the Wabash, at the feeder dam in Carroll county. It is well
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situated for manufactures, and contains a foundry, a woollen manufactory, and several valuable mills.
PLAIN, an interior township in Kosciusko.
PLAINFIELD, a small town in Hendricks county, on the National road, at the crossing of White Lick.
PLATT'S CREEK, in the south part of Dubois, runs west into the Patoka.
PLEASANT, a southern township in Allen, population 260.
PLEASANT, a northern township in Grant, population 650.
PLEASANT, a northern township in Johnson, population 800.
PLEASANT, an eastern township in Laporte, population 715.
PLEASANT, a southern township in Porter, population 300.
PLEASANT, a north-west township in Switzerland county.
PLEASANT GARDEN, a small town on the National road in Putnam county, nine miles south-west of Greencastle.
PLEASANT HILL, a beautifully situated town with about 40 houses, 13 miles north-west of Crawfordsville, on the road to Attica.
PLEASANT RUN, a north-east township in Lawrence, population 1,320.
PLEASANT RUN rises in the east part of Marion, and runs south-west into White river, three miles below In- dianapolis.
PLEASANTVILLE, a small town in Carr township, Jack- son county, 12 miles west of Brownstown.
PLUM CREEK, a small stream in Switzerland county, that falls into the Ohio two miles above Vevay.
PLUMMER, an eastern township in Greene, population 1,750.
PLYMOUTHI, the Seat of Justice of Marshall county, is pleasantly situated on the north bank of Yellow river, 25 miles from its junction with the Kankakee, and on the Michigan road 42 miles north of Logansport, and 24
24
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south of South Bend. It was first settled in 1834, by Grove Pomroy, M. Coe and U. Metcalf. It now con- tains good county buildings, seven stores and groceries, one Presbyterian Church, 51 houses and 300 inhabitants; and as the county, which has naturally great advantages, improves, Plymouth must become an important town.
POINT, a township in Posey, which includes the tongue of land between the Wabash and the Ohio just above their junction. It is the most southern point in the State.
POINT COMMERCE, a small town in the north part of Greene, at the junction of Eel and White rivers, popu- lation 150.
POISON CREEK, a good mill stream in Perry county, running south into the Ohio four miles above Rome. Its name is derived from the prevalence of the Milk-Sick- ness in its vicinity.
POLK, a south-west township in Huntington, popula- tion 300.
POLK, a north-west township in Marshall, population 225.
PORTAGE, a northern township in Porter, population 200.
PORTAGE, a central township in St. Joseph, also the name of a fine prairie in same county, containing about 7,000 acres.
PORTER COUNTY, organized in 1836, was named in honor of Commodore David Porter, of the United States Navy. It is bounded north by Lake Michigan, east by Laporte, south by the Kankakee, which separates it from Jasper, and west by Lake county. Its average length is 35 miles, and the breadth 15 miles. The names of the several townships are Westchester, Jackson, Liberty and Portage, in the north; Washington, Centre, Union and Porter, in the centre; and Pleasant, Morgan and Boone, in the south. The population in 1840 was 2,162; it is at this time about 5,000. The surface of the country is gently undulating. About one-fourth of the county is timbered with oak, walnut, poplar, pine, maple, butternut
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and beech, one-third barrens, and the remainder prairie and bottom land. Except near Lake Michigan and the marshes of the Kankakee, the general character of the soil is good, and best adapted to wheat, oats, corn and grazing.
There are in the county three grist mills, eight saw mills, one carding and one fulling mill, a printing office, four lawyers, ten physicians, nine preachers, and the usual proportion of carpenters, blacksmiths, wagon- makers, tailors, shoemakers, &c. There are several small lakes in the county, among which are Flint, Spec- tacle and Eliza Lakes. The taxable land amounts to 155,380 acres.
PORTER, a central township in Porter county, popula- tion 650.
PORTLAND, a small town in Fountain county, on the east bank of the Wabash, seven miles north of Cov- ington.
PORTLAND, the County Seat of Jay, is situated on the north side of the Salamonie, near the centre of the county. It was first settled in June, 1837, by H. H. Cuppy, C. Hanna, D. W. McNeil, and others. It con- tains 60 houses and a population of 300. It is 95 miles north-east of Indianapolis, 45 north of Richmond, and 50 south of Fort Wayne.
PORTLAND, a small town in Hancock, on the National road, eight miles east of Greenfield.
PORT ROYAL, a small town at the bluffs of White river, in the north-east corner of Morgan, 14 miles north- east of Martinsville.
PORT MITCHELL, the former Seat of Justice of Noble county, is situated in York township, on the south branch of Elkhart river. It has good mill privileges, and con- tains a population of 200.
POSEY COUNTY, organized in 1814, was named in ho- nor of Gen. Thomas Posey, who was appointed Gover- nor of the Indiana Territory to succeed Gen. Harrison. It is the extreme south-west county in the State, con- taining about 420 square miles, and is bounded on the
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north by Gibson, on the east by Vanderburgh, on the south by the Ohio, and on the west by the Wabash. Posey is divided into the following townships, viz: Point, Black, Marrs, Robinson, Lynn, Harmony, Bethel, Smith and Robb. The population in 1830 was 6,883, in 1840, 9,683, and at this time about 13,000. The surface of the country on the Ohio and Wabash, with the exception of the bluffs commencing at Mount Vernon and extend- ing four miles below, is flat bottom land, subject to yearly overflows, varying from a half to two miles in width. The bottom near New Harmony is about three miles wide. The interior of the country is undulating or roll- ing, and some parts are comparatively hilly, but upon the whole, lies remarkably well, for all agricultural pur- poses. The only prairie in the county is about three miles in length and one in breadth, and there are, pro- perly speaking, no barrens, though the soil is thin in places, and near the junction of the rivers there are so many ponds and so much low ground that it cannot be improved to advantage. The bottom lands comprise about a sixth, and the forest lands three-fifths of the whole. The soil, in the bottoms, is a rich, sandy loam, formed from the deposit of the rivers; that in the inte- rior is mostly a dark, rich loam, resting upon a yellow clay formation. It is best adapted to corn and grass, though fine crops of wheat, oats, &c., are annually raised in various portions of the county. The timber is mostly of a good quality, consisting of the different kinds of oak, walnut, poplar, cherry, ash, pecan, hickory, beech and sugar, and coal is found in abundance. The surplus ar- ticles exported are estimated at $350,000 annually, and they consist of about 2,000,000lbs. of pork, 600,000 bushels of corn, live stock, and such other agricultural products as are common in the west.
There are in the county 28 mills, four distilleries doing a large business, two printing offices, a well managed County Seminary, district schools in most of the districts, nine lawyers, 18 physicians, 10 preachers, and the usual proportion of mechanics. Working Men's Institutes
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have been established awa's first settled late in IS12 or mony. The latterby Gen. Evans, Judge Prince, Bazil library. Lecturelson, Col. Hargrove, Major Robb and at stated times tes, Stockwells and Shannons. It now public generallres, two groceries, good county buildings, have done murr boys and another for girls, five churches, The taxable 'the Covenanters, Presbyterians, Cumberland
Aboterians, Associate Reformed and Methodists. The bluff, ation is about 800. The situation is a very fine one and the country around generally first rate farming whd. Princeton is situated in latitude 38 deg. 31 min. dirth, and in longitude 10 deg. 30 min. west, being 28 its les north of Evansville, the same distance south of hancennes, and 150 south-west of Indianapolis.
of PRINCETON, a western township in White, population TOO. ' 1.
OhPULASKI COUNTY, organized in 1839, was named after feet celebrated Polish soldier, Count Pulaski, who failing whicistain the independence of his own country, came to passed uring the revolutionary war, was appointed a Bri- for a fortificatl, and fell mortally wounded in the attack At any rate, it'n 1779. It is bounded north by Stark, mense labor for south by Cass and White, and west by
There is a largeins 432 square miles, being 24 miles and Wabash, whicmd 18 from north to south. The civil sidered of little valuepe, Beaver, Tippecanoe, Harrison, after be dyked and bece Indian Creek and Salem. The tant day, Posey will be 01561. It is at this time about state. he country is mostly level,
POSEY, a western townshite county there are ridges of
POSEY, a north-west towne-half the county is prairie, 1,250. openings, though portions POSEY, a northern townshigh of the various species of 1,100. toms of the Tippecanoe POSEY, a south-east township inroves of walnut, sugar 1,300.
- to be well adapted
PoSEY, a western township in Rush, pops; but in early POSEY, an eastern township in Switzerland:k and hick- POSEY, a township in Washington. ยท the bar-
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north by Gibson, on the east by Robb township, Posey
south by the Ohio, and on the wegon 100.
Posey is divided into the following towntgomery county. Black, Marrs, Robinson, Lynn, Harmonsouthern part of and Robb. The population in 1830 was Indians which 9,683, and at this time about 13,000. 1 The name the country on the Ohio and Wabash, with the-
of the bluffs commencing at Mount Vernon and etawah, ing four miles below, is flat bottom land, subject to jact of overflows, varying from a half to two miles in w" fire The bottom near New Harmony is about three m.on wide. The interior of the country is undulating or rc ing, and some parts are comparatively hilly, but upne the whole, lies remarkably well, for all agricultural pu poses. The only prairie in the county is about thres miles in length and one in breadth, and there are, prst perly speaking, no barrens, though the soil is thir places, and near the junction of the rivers there a. the many ponds and so much low ground that it can- improved to advantage. The bottom lande, onty. about a sixth, and the forest lands thr
whole. The soil, in the bottoms, is a rie south part of formed from the deposit of the rivers; rior is mostly a dark, rich loam, restip in Vigo, popula- clay formation. It is best adapted'
though fine crops of wheat, oats, &mn White, population in various portions of the county
of a good quality, consisting of in Vigo, pleasantly situ- walnut, poplar, cherry, ash, y Creek prairie, seven miles sugar, and coal is found in aute.
ticles exported are estimate'n in Clinton county, 10 miles they consist of about 2,000,mn the State road from Indian- of corn, live stock, and s
as are common in the v township in Adams, population There are in the cc
a large business. , the name of small prairies in Black- County Semir and Tippecanoe counties.
nine lawy -N, the County Seat of Gibson, named after propor'
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the Hon. Wm. Prince, was first settled late in IS12 or the first of 1813, by Gen. Evans, Judge Prince, Bazil Brown, Gen. Wilson, Col. Hargrove, Major Robb and the Messrs. Jones, Stockwells and Shannons. It now contains 12 stores, two groceries, good county buildings, a Seminary for boys and another for girls, five churches, one each for the Covenanters, Presbyterians, Cumberland Presbyterians, Associate Reformed and Methodists. The population is about 800. The situation is a very fine one, and the country around generally first rate farming land. Princeton is situated in latitude 38 deg. 31 min. north, and in longitude 10 deg. 30 min. west, being 28 miles north of Evansville, the same distance south of Vincennes, and 150 south-west of Indianapolis.
PRINCETON, a western township in White, population 200.
PULASKI COUNTY, organized in 1839, was named after the celebrated Polish soldier, Count Pulaski, who failing to sustain the independence of his own country, came to this, during the revolutionary war, was appointed a Bri- gadier General, and fell mortally wounded in the attack on Savannah in 1779. It is bounded north by Stark, east by Fulton, south by Cass and White, and west by Jasper, and contains 432 square miles, being 24 miles from east to west and 18 from north to south. The civil townships are Monroe, Beaver, Tippecanoe, Harrison, Whitepost, Van Buren, Indian Creek and Salem. The population in 1840 was 561. It is at this time about 2,500. The surface of the country is mostly level, though in several parts of the county there are ridges of low, sandy hills. About one-half the county is prairie, the other half barrens or oak openings, though portions of it have a very heavy growth of the various species of oak timber. A few of the bottoms of the Tippecanoe and other streams have small groves of walnut, sugar and white maple, and the soil is found to be well adapted to the growth of most kinds of fruit trees; but in early times, the traveller saw no forest trees but oak and hick- ory, and these were either thinly scattered over the bar-
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rens, looking like the remnants of old orchards, or col- lected in beautiful groves, in which every tree could be made into rails. An arm of the Grand Prairie extends several miles into the south-west corner of the county. The other principal prairies are Fox Grape, Drye, North Western, Oliver's, and Pearson's. The wet prairies are favorable for grazing, and when drained will produce large crops of grass, the diy prairies and barrens are mostly black loam, mixed with sand, and occasionally a good deal of marl, and are well adapted to wheat, oats, vines and corn. The surplus products at present are wheat and oats, which, with live hogs and fat cattle, are taken either to Chicago or to Logansport to market. The wheat is estimated at 15,000 bushels, hogs 1,000, cattle 1,000, horses 100, worth about $25,000 annually. . There are in the county three grist mills, three saw mills, two dry goods stores, one grocery, one lawyer, three physicians, one Methodist and three Christian preachers. The taxable land in the county amounts to 43,697 acres. Near Winamac, the Seat of Justice, was the residence of the Indian chief of that name. Here still are the fields where the Indians cultivated their corn and the caves where they concealed it, and in this neigh- borhood were the squaws and children under the care of Winamac during the battle of Tippecanoe.
PUTNAM COUNTY, named in honor of Gen. Israel Put- nam of the revolution, was organized in 1822. It is bounded on the north by Montgomery, on the east by Hendricks and Morgan, on the south by Owen and Clay, and on the west by Clay and Parke. It is 27 miles in length from north to south, and 18 miles in breadth, and
contains 486 square miles. The civil townships are Russel, Franklin, Jackson, Clinton, Monroe, Floyd, Madi- son, Greencastle, Marion, Washington, Warren, Jeffer- son and Cloverdale, of which the first nine contain 36 square miles each, Warren and Jefferson 30, Washing- ton 54, and Cloverdale 48. The population in 1830 was 8,195, in 1840. 16,843, and at this time about 21,000.
The surface of the country in the northern and east-
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ern parts of the county is either level or slightly undu- lating, and until it is cleared up and improved inclines to be wet. In the centre and south-west it is more rolling, and in the vicinity of the streams is in places quite hilly ; yet but few of the hills are too steep to be cultivated. The prevailing timber is beech, sugar, walnut, ash, oak and poplar. The soil is in general a black loam, but in some parts clayey and calcareous. It is well adapted to wheat, grass, corn, fruit, hemp, and most articles usually farmed in the west, and perhaps no body of land of equal extent in the State is superior to Putnam county, taking into consideration all its advantages of timber, soil, springs of water, quarries of lime-stone, running streams, and healthy situation. The hogs driven to market in 1848 were ascertained to be 18,698, which, with bacon, flour, wheat, fat cattle, horses, mules, and other articles taken to market would make the value of the exports at least $250,000 a year.
There are in the county 21 saw and grist mills in con- junction, 17 of the former and eight of the latter sepa- rate, seven carding machines, 43 stores, seven groceries, two distilleries, nine lawyers, 34 physicians, 44 preachers, 214 mechanics of the trades most in demand, 29 Metho- dist, 15 Baptist, 12 Christian and five Presbyterian Churches.
As to Education, see Asbury University in the first part of this Book, and Greencastle.
The taxable land in the county amounts to 286,000 acres.
PUTNAMVILLE, a pleasantly situated town on the Na- tional road, in Putnam county, 40 miles from Indianapo- lis, 30 from Terre Haute, and five south of Greencastle. It was laid out in 1831, by James Townsend, and con- tains about 50 houses and 300 inhabitants.
QUERCUS GROVE, a small town in Switzerland county, 12 miles north-east of Vevay, sometimes called the " BARK WORKS." It was first settled in 1816, by Daniel D. Smith, and others, who commenced grinding and pack- ing oak bark in hogsheads to send to England for color-
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ing matter. The experiment proved a failure, and was soon abandoned.
QUIGLEY'S BRANCH, a small stream in Pulaski county.
RACKOON, or Big Rackoon, a fine mill stream which rises in the south-west corner of Boone, and runs through Montgomery, Putnam and Parke into the Wabash. Its whole length is about 70 miles, and the country watered by it is not surpassed in fertility of soil, quality of tim- ber, and beauty of situation, by any part of the State. Fifteen miles from its mouth, it receives Little Rackoon from the north, which is about 30 miles in length, and is also a valuable mill stream. The flouring mills on Big Rackoon, at Armiesburgh, Roseville, the Portland mills, and Crosby's & Mulligan's mills, are among the best in the State.
RACKOON, a township in Parke, population 1,200.
RACKOON CREEK, rises in Monroe, runs west into Owen, and falls into White river near the south line of the county. There are four grist and four saw mills on this stream in Owen county.
RAINESVILLE, named after the proprietor, Isaac Raines, is a small town in Warren county, on Big Pine creek, 12 miles north of west from Williamsport.
RANDOLPHI COUNTY, organized in 1818, is said to have been named, at the request of the settlers, after the county in North Carolina from which they had emigrated, though it is said also that the name was given in honor of Thomas Randolph, Esq., Attorney General of the Territory, who was killed in the battle of Tippecanoe. It is bounded north by Jay, east by the State of Ohio, south by Wayne, and west by Henry and Delaware. It contains about 450 square miles. The civil townships are White River, Jackson, Ward, Green, Monroe, Stony Creek, Nettle Creek, West River, Washington, Green's Fork and Wayne. The population in 1830 was 3,912, in 1840, 10,392, and at this time about 14,000. The surface of the country is nearly level, and portions of it are, at times, wet and marshy, so that it would seem to be low, though in reality it must be about the highest
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
land in the State, for in or near Randolph county, the head waters of the Big Miami, White Water, Blue river, White river, the Mississinewa, the Salamonie, Wabash, and St. Mary's, all running in different directions, take their rise.
There are no barrens and but few prairies, all which are wet, in the county. The timber is of an average quality, the soil well adapted to be farmed in grass and small grain, and parts of the county are suitable for corn.
There are in the county 14 grist mills, 20 saw mills, propelled by water and three by steam, five carding ma- chines, one printing office, the usual proportion of me- chanics and professional men, and two Baptist and eight Methodist churches.
The taxable land amounts to 280,000 acres. There is to be seen on the land of W. M. Way, near Winchester, a regular built earth wall, enclosing about 20 acres of land, with a high mound in the centre, and the appear- ance of a gate at the south-west corner.
RANDOLPH, a south-east township in Ohio county, pop- ulation 4,000.
RANDOLPH, a southern township in Tippecanoe, popu- lation 1,300.
RATTLESNAKE CREEK, a mill stream in Owen county, with two grist and three saw mills on it. It falls into White river from the north, four miles below Spencer.
RATTLESNAKE CREEK, a mill stream in Carroll county, running into the Wabash opposite to Tipton's port.
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