USA > Indiana > The Indiana gazetteer : or, topographical dictionary of the state of Indiana, 1850 > Part 29
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SYCAMORE CREEK, a mill stream in Morgan county, runs south into White river near Martinsville.
TANNERS' CREEK rises in the north part of Dearborn and runs south-east into the Ohio river near Lawrence- burgh. By following the bed of this creek, an easy access for a railroad may be had to the table land in the interior of the State.
TAYLOR, a southern township in Harrison, population 850.
TAYLOR, an eastern township in Howard, population 300.
TAYLOR, a northern township in Owen, first settled in 1818, by B. Truax, A. Cormack, D. Hartsock, and J. Lockridge, population 600, contains 15 square miles.
TEMPLETON'S CREEK, a tributary of the East Fork of White Water, in Franklin county, from the north-east.
TERRE HAUTE, the seat of justice of Vigo county, situated on a high bank of the Wabash, from 50 to 60 feet above the river, and 15 or 20 feet above Fort Harrison Prairie in the rear of the town. The name in French means high land, and the situation is a very pleasant one, presenting fine views of the bottoms across the river, and of the rich and well cultivated prairie on the east, 15 miles long and three wide. The site of Terre Haute was purchased at the sale of lands in 1816, and the town laid out by an association of five individuals, viz: Messrs. C. and T. Bullitt of Louisville, J. Lindley of Paoli, Gen. Lasselle of Vincennes, and Maj. Markle of Ft. Harrison. The population in 1830 was 600, in 1834 it was estima- ted at 900, and it is now about 3,500. Among the public buildings are spacious and convenient churches, for the
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Methodists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Episcopa- lians, Catholics, Baptists, Universalists, and Lutherans, a fine court-house, a town hall, a branch of the State Bank, a large and well finished county seminary, and several spacious and well kept hotels, and the dwelling houses amount to over 600, of which about one-half are brick, and many are built with much taste. The retail stores and groceries are about 60 in number, and at least 30.000 hogs are annually slaughtered and packed at Terre Haute. The Wabash and Erie canal is now completed to the town, and the railroad progressing with much spirit towards Indianapolis and Richmond will add much to its business and importance.
THORNTOWN, a pleasant village in Boone county, nine miles north-west of Lebanon, on the rail-road route from Lafayette to Indianapolis, 26 miles from the former and 36 from the latter. It was an Indian town in the centre of the Thorntown or 10 mile reservation, first settled by the whites in 1830. The population is now about 400. It has four churches, one each for the N. S. Presbyterians, O. S. Presbyterians, Methodists, and Christians. The water power on Sugar and Prairie creeks, and the fine soil in the vicinity must make Thorntown an important point.
THORN CREEK, a northern township in Whitley, popu- lation 300. It contains three lakes, covering near 1,000 acres of land, known as the Thorn Creek lakes.
TIPPECANOE COUNTY, organized in 1826, was named from the river of that name, and is bounded north by White and Carroll, east by Carroll and Clinton, south by Montgomery, and west by Fountain, Warren, and Ben- ton. It is 24 miles long from north to. south, and 21 wide, and contains 504 square miles. The civil town- ships are Washington, Perry, Sheffield, and Laurimie on the east, Tippecanoe, Wabash, Fairfield, and Randolph through the centre, and Shelby, Wayne, and Jackson in the west. The population in 1830 was 7,167, in 1840, 13,724, and at this time about 21,000.
The surface of the county in most parts of it is com-
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INDIANA GAZETTEER.
paratively level. There are however along the Wabash and its tributaries many ranges of hills from 50 to 200 feet in height, that spread out into table lands and present much beautiful scenery. About 150,000 acres, or nearly one-half the county, is prairie. Nearly one-tenth or 28,000 acres is bottom land, and the balance is timbered upland, mostly of a good quality. The soil of the prairie consists of a rich, black loam, from two to four feet in depth, on a substratum of clay. The Wea plains and Pretty prairie are however exceptions, for there the soil is light and sandy, based on a bed of sand and gravel of great depth. Some of the oak barrens have an inferior quality of soil, but generally in the timbered lands it is of an excellent quality. Agriculture is in a flourishing condition. The prairies are mostly dry; many of them are beautifully undulating. They are easily put into cultivation, and adapted to the use of labor saving ma- chines, for planting, mowing, reaping, raking, &c., and large crops are raised with but little comparative trouble, and the opening of the canal and improvement of the navigation of the Wabash have created a regular demand for the staples of the county, such as wheat, corn, oats, pork, beef, &c. The surplus articles exported in a year, of which about four-fifths come from this county, have been estimated at $1,073,000. They consisted of pork, 15,199 bbls; flour, 30,365; whiskey, 3,113; bacon, lard, and bulk pork, 864,486 lbs .; wool, 71,706 lbs .; 810 tons of hemp, hay and miscellaneous freight; 377,900 bushels of wheat, 874,106 of corn, 32,350 of oats, 16,599 of rye, flaxseed, &c., 1,200 head of cattle, 300 sheep, and 325 horses and mules.
There are in the county 13 merchant mills, six grist mills, 20 saw mills, four woolen factories, two paper mills, three printing offices, two foundries, 84 stores, 14 warehouses, two packing houses, two slaughtering houses, '28 lawyers, 53 plysicians, 37 preachers of the gospel, 190 carpenters, 53 masons and plasterers, 25 cabinet makers, 52 coopers, eight boat builders, 20 wagon makers, wheel- wrights, and turners, three millwrights, 13 printers and
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book binders, 64 shoemakers and sadlers, 60 blacksmiths and coppersmiths, 20 tailors, and 55 other mechanics of various trades. See Lafayette.
The taxable land in the county amounts to 305,425 acres. The situation, size, rich soil, abundant water pow- er, and other natural advantages of Tippecanoe county, together with the enterprise of its citizens, will insure its being in most respects the most important county in the State. The canal can now bring coal. The railroads to Indianapolis and Crawfordsville, rapidly progressing, will vastly increase the business and wealth of the county; and other important railroads, both north and west, will doubtless be commenced and completed at not a distant day. This county has been the theatre of many inter- esting events. It seems to have been the favorite resi- dence of many of the Indian tribes, and their largest towns, the Jesuit Missions, the best cultivated fields, and most important improvements were here.
TIPPECANOE LAKE, a sheet of water abounding in fish, at the head of the river, three miles long and two wide, partly in Whitley and partly in Noble.
TIPPECANOE, a western township in Carroll, population 1250.
TIPPECANOE RIVER rises in the lake of that name, and pursues a western direction about 60 milles in a straight line, then south 50 miles, and falls into the Wabash nine miles above Lafayette. As its course is very crooked its whole length must be at least 220 miles. It has its source in numerous lakes, so that the supply of water is constant. For at least 150 miles the width is 60 yards, and the current lively and three feet deep at all seasons. It was early called Keth-tippe-ce-nunk, which, it is said, means "Buffalo Fish."
TIPPECANOE, a north-west township in Fulton.
TIPPECANOE, an eastern township in Kosciusko.
TIPPECANOE, a south-east township in Marshall, popu- lation 275.
TIPPECANOE, a township in Pulaski.
TIPPECANOE, a northern township in county of same name, population 1600.
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TIPTON COUNTY, organized in 1844, was named in honor of Gen. John Tipton, a distinguished citizen of the State, and a Senator in Congress from 1832 until his death in 1839. It is bounded north by Howard, east by Grant and Madison, south by Hamilton, and west by Clinton, and it contains 260 square miles. The civil townships are Madison, Jefferson, Cicero, Prairie, and Wild Cat. The population is at this time about 3,000. The face of the country is level, the soil excellent, and the timber of a superior quality. The water privileges will not be good, as this county is on a plain from which the streams rise and run south into White river, west into the lower Wabash, and north into the upper Wabash and the Mississinewa.
Tipton county constituted a part of the Miami reser- vation, and has only recently come into market and been offered for sale. It is now settling with great rapidity. The taxable land amounts 53,253 acres.
TIPTON, the county seat of Tipton county, first called Canton, was laid out in 1845 by Newton J. Jackson. It is situated on a branch of Cicero creek on the railroad from Peru to Indianapolis. It contains at this time about 35 houses and a population of 200, and is rapidly im- proving.
TIPTON, an interior township in Cass, population 550.
TIPTONSPORT, a small town in Carroll county on the east bank of the Wabash, six miles north of Delphi.
TOBINSPORT, a small town on the Ohio river in Perry county, Il miles below Rome, population 50.
TREATY CREEK, a mill stream in Wabash county.
TROUT CREEK, a mill stream in Elkhart county.
TROY, a north-east township in DeKalb, population 220.
TROY, a western township in Fountain, population 2,500.
TROY, a south-west township in Perry, population 1,300.
TROY, a pleasant village on the Ohio in Perry county,
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at the mouth of Anderson river, first settled in 1811. The population is 250.
TROY, a north-west township in Whitley, population 650.
TRUITT'S GROTTO, a cavern in Monroe county that attracts the attention of visiters.
TURKEY CREEK, a valuable mill stream that rises in . Kosciusko and runs north into the Elkhart at Waterloo.
TURKEY CREEK, a north-east township in Kosciusko.
TURKEY LAKE, the head of Turkey creek, is a body of water near 12 miles in length, and covering about 5,000 acres, in the north-east corner of Koskiusko. There is a very valuable water privilege at the outlet, at which improvements have been commenced, but they may be immensely increased.
TURKEY CREEK PRAIRIES, in the same county, and comprising about 6,000 acres, all in cultivation, are thought to be about the richest tracts of land in the State.
TURMAN'S CREEK, a mill stream in Sullivan county that runs south-west into the Wabash, six miles above Me- rom. Its current is sluggish, and it is navigable in high water.
TURMAN, a western township in Sullivan, population 1200.
TURMAN'S PRAIRIE is in the north-west part of Sullivan county.
TURTLE CREEK runs south into the Wabash four miles below Merom.
TWELVE MILE or Kirk's Prairie is about 12 miles in length and averages four in breadth, in Clinton county, a rich body of land.
TWIN CREEK, in Washington county, runs north-west into White river four miles above Bono.
TWIN LAKES, in Marshall county west of Plymouth, on the outlet of which are iron works.
TWIN LAKES, small sheets of water near the centre of Cass county.
UNION COUNTY, organized in 1821, derived its name
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from the hope that it would harmonize the difficulties that existed in relation to the county seats, in Wayne and Fayette. It is bounded north by Wayne, east by the State of Ohio, south by Franklin, and west by Fayette. Union county is 14 miles from north to south, and 12 miles wide. The civil townships are Centre, Union, The Harmony, Liberty, Brownsville, and Harrison.
population in 1830 was 7,957, in 1840 8,027, and at this time about S,500. The eastern part of the county is level, the western undulating or hilly, about one-eighth is bottom, the other seven-eighths timbered upland, on which beech, sugar-tree, poplar, oak, walnut, ash, and hickory were originally the most common forest trees. The soil is uniformly good and well adapted to corn, wheat, oats, grass, &c .; and hogs, cattle, sheep and horses are raised on almost every farm beyond the demand for home consumption. The annual value of the surplus exported is estimated at $200,000. There are in the county 16 grist mills, 21 saw mills, two oil mills, four woolen factories, 25 stores, two lawyers, 10 physicians, 11 ministers of the gospel, 10 Methodist churches, three for Presbyterians, two for Christians, two for Baptists, two for the Reformers, two for the Friends, one for the Associate Reformed, and one for Universalists. At least 40 common schools are kept up six months in the year, at which from 1,200 to 1,500 scholars attend, and the school houses are mostly comfortable buildings.
The county seminary at Liberty is flourishing, and all the branches preparatory to a college education are taught there. The taxable land amounts to 104,293 acres.
UNION, a north-east township in Adams, population 300.
UNION, a western township in Bartholomew, popula- tion 600.
UNION, an eastern township in Boone, population 1,350.
UNION, a western township in Crawford.
UNION, a northern township in Delaware.
UNION, a central township in DeKalb, population 550.
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UNION, a southern township in Elkhart, population 360.
UNION, a small town in Brookville township, Franklin county.
UNION, a western township in Fulton.
UNION, a southern township in Grant, population 600.
UNION, an interior township in Hancock, population 480.
UNION, an eastern township in Huntington, population 200.
UNION, a western township in Johnson, population 1,200.
UNION, a south-east township in Laporte, population 815.
UNION, an eastern township in Madison.
UNION, a south-west township in Marshall, population 280.
UNION, a northern township in Miami, population S50.
UNION, an interior township in Montgomery, popula- tion 5,800.
UNION, a northern township in Ohio county, popula- tion 1,000.
UNION, an eastern township in Parke, population 1,250.
UNION, an interior township in Perry, population 1,000. UNION, a western township in Porter, population 450. UNION, an eastern township in Rush, population 1,800. UNION, an eastern township in Shelby.
UNION, a southern township in St. Joseph.
UNION, a south-east township in Union, population 1,512.
UNION, a southern township in Vanderburgh, popula- tion 750.
UNION, an eastern township in White, population 900.
UNION MILLS, a small town on Pigeon river, Lagrange county.
UNIONTOWN, a small town in Wells county.
UTICA, a pleasant village on the Ohio river in Clark county, eight miles south of Charlestown and seven miles above the falls, population 300.
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UTICA, a south-east township in Clark, population 1.500.
VALONIA, a small town in Jackson county, four miles south of Brownstown, laid out in 1810 by John McAfee, Thomas Ewing, and J. B. Durham. This was among the most exposed settlements during the late war, and the houses generally were prepared for defence in case of attacks from the Indians. The settlers were frequently called on to serve in the ranging service, and they never failed to be ready at the first summons.
VALPARAISO, the county seat of Porter, was first set- tled in 1836. It contains the court house, jail, three taverns, and Methodist and Presbyterian churches. It is 22 miles west south-west from Laporte, 22 south-west from Michigan City, 162 north-west from Indianapolis, and 50 south-east from Chicago.
VAN BUREN, an unorganized township in Allen.
VAN BUREN, a south-east township in Brown.
VAN BUREN, a north-east township in Clay, population 700.
VAN BUREN, an eastern township in Daviess, popula- tion 650.
VAN BUREN, a central township in Fountain, popula- tion 1,275.
VAN BUREN, a north-east township in Grant, popula- tion 350.
VAN BUREN, a northern township in Kosciusko.
VAN BUREN, a north-west township in Lagrange, pop- ulation 600.
VAN BUREN, a southern township in Laporte, popula- tion 105.
VAN BUREN, a township in Madison.
VAN BUREN, a western township in Monroe, population 1,300.
VAN BUREN, a south-east township in Pulaski.
VANDERBURGH COUNTY, organized in 1818, was named in honor of Henry Vanderburgh, who had been a captain in the Revolution, a member of the Legislative Council of the North West Territory, and a judge of the first
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court ever formed in the Indiana Territory. It is bounded north by Gibson, east by Warrick, south by the Ohio river, and west by Posey, and it contains 240 square miles. The civil townships are Pigeon, Knight, Scott, Armstrong, Perry, Union, Centre, and German. The population in 1830 was 2,610, in 1840 6,250, and at this time it is near 12,000.
About one-fifth part of the county is river bottoms, which have a very rich soil. A small portion of the resi- due is hilly, but it has mostly an undulating or rolling surface, and the soil is not of a rich quality. The bot- toms supply immense quantities of corn for exportation, estimated at 600,000 bushels annually, from Evansville alone; and wheat, oats, hay, various kinds of marketing, and hogs, cattle, and horses are exported from the county to the value of $750,000 annually, though other interior counties contribute largely to this amount. The trade of Evansville is very large, and will be immensely in- creased by the completion of the Wabash and Erie canal, which will take place in about two years, and will then afford an interior navigation of 459 miles. There are in Vanderburgh county 10 grist and saw mills, of which four only are propelled by water, about 100 stores, groceries, and warehouses, three printing offices, at each of which are issued daily papers, 15 lawyers, 16 physi- cians, 13 preachers of the gospel, and a great variety of mechanical and manufacturing laborers, encouraged by the abundance of coal in the vicinity, and the demand of a large region of productive country which comes here for its supply. In attempting to bore for salt water near Evansville a valuable medicinal spring has been dis- covered, which is now much visited by valetudinarians. Vanderbugh county has 31 district and six private schools, at which 2,767 students attend. The taxable land amounts to 137,019 acres.
VEAL'S CREEK runs west into the west fork of White river in the south-west part of Daviess county.
VEALE, a south-west township in Daviess, population 840.
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INDIANA GAZETTEER.
VERMILLION COUNTY, organized in 1824, derives its name from Vermillion river, that flows through it. It is bounded north by Warren, east by the Wabash, which separates it from Fountain and Parke, South by Vigo, and west by the State of Illinois. It is 37 miles in length and averages seven in breadth, and contains about 260 square miles. The civil townships are Highland, Eugene, Vermillion, Helt, and Clinton. The population in 1830 was 5,706, in 1840, 8,274, and at this time about 11,000. One-fourth of the county is prairie, the surface of the country is high and generally level, except near the streams. The soil is generally excellent, and some of the best farms in the State are to be found here. Among the surplus articles exported are 25,000 hogs, 200,000 bushels of corn, 40,000 of wheat 100,000 of oats, and hay, staves, hoop-poles, and various kinds of marketing, which, with cattle and horses, amount in all to about $300,000 annually. There are usually 250 flat boats built, loaded and sent off every year. There are in the county five large flouring mills, three propelled by steam and two by water, besides other smaller ones, 17 dry good stores, one drug store, five liquor stores, five lawyers, 23 physiclans, 14 preachers of the gospel, one printing office, two distilleries, and schools in most of the districts a portion of the year. Coal is abundant in the county, and extensive beds of iron ore are found in the region of the "Indiana Furnace" on Brouillet's Creek. The taxable land amounts to 152,652 acres.
VERMILLION RIVER, or Big Vermillion, rises in Illinois and runs into the Wabash near Eugene. It may be nav- igated in high water to Danville, 30 miles, where the north, middle, and south forks unite, each of which is from 50 to 60 miles in length.
VERMILLION RIVER, or Little Vermillion, also rises in Illinois, and falls into the Wabash near Newport. It is a good mill stream.
VERMILLION, the middlle township in the county of the same name, extends from the Wabash to the State line, population 2,000.
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VERMONT, a small town on Wild Cat, in Howard county.
VERNON, a north-west township in Hancock, popula- tion 650.
VERNON, The Seat of Justice of Jennings county, was laid out in 1815, by Col. John Vawter, and the first set- tlers were himself and Achilles Vawter. It is situated on the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, 22 miles from the former and 66 from the latter, opposite the junction of the north and south Forks of Muscackituck. The former stream nearly encircles the town, leaving only a narrow neck on the north-west. The situation is ro- mantic and beautiful. Vernon has 35 brick, and 65 frame houses, and 520 inhabitants.
VERNON, a central township in Jennings, population 2,250.
VERNON, a south-east township in Jackson, population 700.
VERNON, a western township in Washington.
VERSAILLES, the County Seat of Ripley, is siuated on a high bluff of Laughery, 70 miles south-east of Indian- apolis, 27 north of Vevay, and 26 north-east of Madi- son. It was first settled in 1818 by J. Bentley, C. Good- rich, J. Lindsay, C. Overturf, J. Hunter, W. Skeene, Dr. Fox, M. S. Craig and others. It contains 27 brick and 38 frame houses, and a population of 350.
VEVAY, the Seat of Justice of Switzerland county, is situated on a beautiful bottom on the Ohio river, 70 miles below Cincinnati and the same distance above Louisville, and 96 south-east of Indianapolis. It constitutes a part of the tract of land sold on credit by the United States to the Swiss settlement, in 1802, for the cultivation of the vine. The town was laid out in 1813, by the brothers J. J., J. F. and Daniel Dufour, and received the name of a town in Switzerland from the vicinity of which they had emigrated. Vevay now contains over 200 houses, many of them built with much taste, and 1,200 inhabitants.
VIENNA, a small town in Rush county, eight miles east of Rushville.
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INDIANA GAZETTEER.
VIENNA, a small town in Scott county, eight miles west from Lexington, population 100.
VIENNA, a south-west township in Scott, population 1,350.
VIGO COUNTY, organized in 1818, was named in honor of Col. Francis Vigo, originally a Sardinian, the efficient friend of Gen. Clark in the capture of Vincennes, and afterwards a most worthy and hospitable citizen there. It is bounded north by Vermillion and Parke, east by Clay, south by Sullivan, and west by the State of Illi- nois. It contains about 410 square miles. The civil townships are Harrison, Sugar Creek, Prairie Creek, Otter Creek, Linton, Nevins, Pierson, Fayette, Honey Creek, Lost Creek and Riley. The population in 1830 was 5,737, in 1840, 12,076, and at this time it is about 16,500.
The surface of the country is either level or gently undulating, and consists principally of very fine timbered lands, interspersed with beautiful prairies, mostly small, though three of them, Fort Harrison, Honey Creek and Otter Creek, contain from 10,000 to 20,000 acres each, and are all in a good state of cultivation. With the ex- ception of a few poor barrens, the whole county is rich land, and when properly farmed, produces large crops of corn, wheat, oats, grass, and all such articles as are adapted to the climate.
The hogs slaughtered at Terre Haute the present sea- son, 1849-50, amount to 59,000, the value of which exceeds $300,000, grain $70,000, cattle $20,000, besides a large amount of other articles.
There are in Vigo county 12 grist mills, 18 saw mills, 40 large retail stores, 20 others with limited assortments, three printing offices, a recently erected Seminary for a male and female school of a high order, churches for the Congregationalists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopa- lians, Baptists, Lutherans, Universalists and Roman Catholics, and there are 15 lawyers, 20 physicians, and 25 preachers of the gospel, and the usual proportion of mechanics. Coal is found in abundance, and of a good
HON. A. T. ELLIS' RESIDENCE VINCENNES.
CROSVENORS THEMPSON
ACA & TNOMP.NOM.
MARKET HOUSE, VINCENNES
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TOPOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.
quality. Freestone is found on the banks of the river and of some of the smaller streams, and limestone in the timbered lands, but there are no stone on the prai- ries. The fine soil and situation of the county, the open- ing of the Wabash and Erie Canal, and of the eastern and western railroad through it, both of which are now progressing with much spirit, the enterprise of its citizens and other advantages possessed there, must, at no distant day, make Vigo one of the most important points in the west. 220,200 acres of land are assessed for taxation.
VILLAGE CREEK, a mill stream in Fayette county, runs into the west fork of White Water from the east.
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