USA > Indiana > Grant County > Fairmount > The making of a township, being an account of the early settlement and subsequent development of Fairmount Township, Grant County, Indiana, 1829 to 1917, based upon data secured by personal interviews, from numerous communications > Part 22
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James Terrell, private, Company G, One Hundred and Fortieth Indiana Infantry.
*Hubbard Stanley, Thirty-second Indiana Infantry. Substitute. Killed by accident.
*Jonathan Winslow, private, Company C, Eighty-ninth Indiana In- fantry.
*Lindsey Wilson, private, unassigned, Thirty-third Indiana Infan- trv.
Emanuel Duncan, private, Fifth Indiana Cavalry.
Thomas Milholland, private, Company B, Fifty-second Indiana Infantry.
*James Monahan, private, Company K, Thirty-third New Jersey Infantry.
*Deceased.
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The Making of a Township.
*John Manning, private, Company G. Thirty-fourth Indiana In- fantry.
*David L. Payne, private, Company F. Tenth Kansas Infantry ; Company G. Eighth Regiment Western Volunteer Infantry; captain, Company D, Eighteenth Kansas Cavalry.
*Simeon Rader, private, Company B, Eighty-fourth Indiana In- fantry.
*Daniel Richards, unassigned, Thirty-second Indiana Infantry.
John Roberts, private, Company I, One Hundred and Seventeenth Indiana Infantry.
*Theodore Stansbury, first sergeant, Company K, Second Ohio In- fantry ; first sergeant, Company D, Sixty-sixth Ohio Infantry.
*George W. Vaughn, private, Company C, Seventh Michigan In- fantry.
William M. Duling, private, Thirty-second Indiana Infantry.
*John W. Duling, private, Company D, Thirty-third Indiana In- fantry.
The writer is indebted to Jesse Haisley for the additional names given below of men who served in the Union Army during the Civil War:
William Penn Beals, second lieutenant, Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Indiana Infantry.
*Joseph Rush, sergeant, Company F, One Hundred and Thirty- ninth Indiana Infantry.
*Lindley Hockett, sergeant, Company F, One Hundred and Thirty- ninth Indiana Infantry.
*Thomas Cox, private, Company F. One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Indiana Infantry.
*Hezekiah Miller, private, Company FF, One Hundred and Thirty- ninth Indiana Infantry.
*Ephraim Poole, private, Company F. One Hundred and Thirty- ninth Indiana Infantry.
Henry (Tobe) Winslow, private. Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Indiana Infantry.
*Thomas Mann, private, Company F. One Hundred and Thirty- ninth Indiana Infantry.
*Henry Nichols, private, Company F. One Hundred and Thirty- ninth Indiana Infantry.
:Deceased.
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Fairmount Township Soldiers.
John J. Carey, private, Company C, One Hundred and Eighteenth Indiana Infantry.
Hiram Reel, private, Company F. One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Indiana Infantry.
Charles A. Carey, private, Company C. One Hundred and Eight- eenth Indiana Infantry.
FOUR SOLDIERS.
Please correct the statement about the Smithson boys who were in the army. There were four in the army during the Civil War, namely, Judiah, Jehu, Isaac and Seth. Jonathan was drafted and got exempt on account of a crooked finger. Jehu and Seth died in the army.
LYDIA SMITHISON.
Fairmount, Indiana, March 22, 1917.
(Editor's Note .- Mrs. Smithson is the widow of Jude Smithson, and although eighty-six years old, is enjoying good health for a person of her age. Her father was the late Mahlon Neal. She was born in Miami County, Ohio, and came to Grant County with her parents in 1839, when she was about eight years old. In her father's family there were six children, namely : William, Margaret, James, Eli. Lydia and Caleb. Judiah and Lydia Smithson commenced housekeeping in Fair- mount in 1851, shortly after their marriage.)
Joseph Whybrew, unassigned, was drafted in September, 1864. He reported at Indianapolis, took sick and died in Camp Carrington Hos- pital in October or November, 1864. I went to General Carrington's residence at late bed time and procured an order to take the body home for burial, with a detail for two comrades, Henry Winslow and Thomas Hobbs, to accompany the remains and see that he had a soldier's burial, which instructions were carried out, and he was laid to rest in Back Creek Graveyard.
John Winslow, a brother of Nixon, was drafted, reported at Indi- anapolis, obtained a furolugh to return home, and hired Silas Cook to substitute. When they both reported at headquarters at Indianapolis Cook was examined and accepted and Winslow was released. So we have Silas Cook, Elisha Elliott, Henry ( Tobe) Winslow and David L. Payne.
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The Making of a Township.
Have you Frank Jones's brother ? I believe his name was Clark. A. HENLEY. Melbourne, Florida, May 29, 1917.
ANDREW RHOADS.
(By John L. Rhoads)
In speaking of the early shoemakers of Fairmount will say that my father, Andrew Rhoads, had a shoeshop at the time the Civil War broke out, which he closed up and went to the front.
The building he was in was a low, wooden structure, located where the John Flanagan store now stands. He had the shop in the front and we lived in the rear rooms. Our living room door faced Wash- ington Street.
Just across from us, where the Hahne drug store is now located, lived Uncle Seth and Aunt Mary Winslow, as I always called them. Their south door faced our north door, and Uncle Seth often coaxed me over there with a nice red apple or something tempting, and I will always remember them as jolly good friends of my childhood days.
I have been told that father would take the measure of a man's foot one morning and by the next morning the man would be wearing his boots. My father taught the round notes in early days, also played the violin by note. Sometimes they would bring a violin to the shop and have him play, but, after he was converted and joined the Methodist Church and became a class leader, they did not sanction such things, so he quit playing.
I was a small boy, but remember quite well when the stage brought the letter to mother saying my father had been killed at the Battle of Stone River, on December 31, 1862. Uncle George Mann was staying with us at the time. My sister, now Mrs. Will Thorn, of Gaston, and myself, were the only children in our family.
After father's death mother sold the shop. He belonged at his death to Company G, Fifty-seventh Indiana Volunteers. We have in our home an enlarged picture of him, taken in his uniform.
Fairmount, Indiana, April 17, 1917.
Ephraim Bartholomew, retired farmer, is a native of Devonshire. England, where he was born on July 29, 1842. With his mother he
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Fairmount Township Soldiers.
came to Fayette County, Indiana, in 1854. In 1860, with his par- ents, he located in Liberty Town- ship, on the farm now owned by William Lindsey, about seven miles southwest of Fairmount. He went to school in Devonshire be- fore leaving his native land, and also attended the common schools as a boy in Fayette County. In politics he is a Progressive Re- publican. Mr. Bartholomew is Commander of Beeson Post, No. 386, Grand Army of the Republic, having become a member of this Post in 1903, by transfer from Andrews, Indiana. He is a mem- ber of the Baptist Church. On July 28, 1861, he enlisted in Com- pany A, Nineteenth Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, then organizing at Camp Morton, Indianapolis. Col. Sol. Meredith commanding. EPHRAIM BARTHOLOMEW No regiment, perhaps, saw more hard fighting during the Civil War than the Nineteenth, which was mustered into the service July 29, 1861. On August 9 the command arrived at Washington, D. C. In an engagement with Confederates at Lewinsville, Virginia, September 11, 1861, three men were killed and wounded. The winter was passed at Fort Craig, brigade headquarters being established at Arlington House, formerly the home of Gen. Rob- ert E. Lee, now known as the National Cemetery. On March 10, 1862, moved with the First Army Corps, under General McDowell, to Fred- ericksburg, Virginia, and on August 5 made a raid to Spottsylvania Court House, reaching Cedar Mountain August 10. August 28, 1862, the Iron Brigade, of which the Nineteenth Indiana formed a part, and General Gibbons' brigade, six regiments in all, withstood General Jack- son's corps of twenty-six regiments from 5 p. m. until 9 p. m., the regi- ment losing one hundred and eighty-seven killed and wounded and thirty-three missing, Maj. Isaac M. May being among the killed. On August 30, at Groveton (second Bull Run), they were engaged with slight loss. September 14 the Iron Brigade was engaged to carry the
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The Making of a Township.
pike at South Mountain, center of the position under General Hooker. losing forty killed and wounded and seven missing. On September 17, at Antietam, the regiment went into battle with two hundred officers and men and came out with but thirty-seven officers and men. Colonel Meredith was promoted to brigadier-general and Lieut .- Col. Samuel J. Williams promoted to colonel. Participated in the Battle of Fredericks- burg. December 12 and 13. April 28, 1863, was in the fight at Fitz Hugh Crossing. The Nineteenth was one of the first regiments to launch pontoons and carry the rifle pits, losing four killed and wounded. May 21 went to West Moreland Court House to relieve some cavalry on a raid. June 12. 1863. crossed the Potomac River at Edwards' Ferry. The Iron Brigade was on picket duty June 30 in front of the Army of the Potomac. July i this brigade was the first infantry to engage the Confederates at Gettysburg, capturing Archer's Brigade and General Archer during the forenoon. On this day Bartholomew was promoted to the rank of first sergeant. About 3 p. m. Gen. A. P. Hill's corps in full force attacked the First and Eleventh corps. The Eleventh corps had arrived at about 12:30 p. m. The Nineteenth Indiana went into the engagement with two hundred and eighty-eight men, losing two hundred and ten killed, wounded and missing. July 2 and 3 the regiment was entrenched on Culp's Hill, near Cemetery Ridge. Its loss was but two wounded. Moved to Culpepper. Virginia, then to Mine Run, in November. While in winter quarters at Culpepper the regiment re-enlisted and was granted a furlough to Indiana. Moving with General Grant's army May 4. 1864. was engaged in the battles of the Wilderness, Laurel Hill, North Anna, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor. May 5 Colonel Williams was killed and Lieut .- Col. John M. Lindley was given command of the regiment. Losses from May 4 to July 30: Killed, thirty- six ; severely wounded, ninety-four ; slightly wounded, sixteen : missing, sixteen ; total, two hundred and twenty. In the seige of Petersburg, Virginia, the regiment was constantly under fire. August 19-21 was in the capture of the Weldon railroad below Petersburg. September 23 the Seventh Indiana was consolidated with the Nineteenth Indiana. October 18 they were consolidated with the Twentieth Indiana and Bartholomew was promoted to first lieutenant of Company I, and served as such until the Twentieth Infantry was mtistered out of the service July 12. 1865. Bartholomew was wounded twice, the first time in front of Petersburg, on June 16, 1864, and again on April 6, 1865, while leading his company at Amelia Court House. Virginia a few days before General Lee surrendered at Appomattox, Bartholomew was severely wounded and left on the field to die. Ile
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Fairmount Toremship Soldiers.
regained consciousness, was picked up and moved by his men to the hospital. And this is the story of a man and of a regiment which did their part in the great Civil War to restore the Union. On February 4, 1864, Mr. Bartholomew was married to Miss Sarah E. Gibson, daughter of George Gibson, she a native of Hamilton County, Indiana, born June 26, 1845. They were the parents of six children, namely : Frances Ann, George, William, Mary, Linnea, Albert and Annie Gus- sie, all deceased except William and Albert. Mrs. Bartholomew died in March, 1903. In 1913 Mr. Bartholomew was married to Miss Emma F. Davis, of Tipton, and they now reside on North Buckeye Street, Fairmount.
James C. Thorn is the son of Stephen and Jane ( Lewis) Thorn, who settled in Van Buren Township, Madison County, about 1840. The Thorns came from Boone County, Indiana. Stephen and Jane Thorn were parents of five children, namely, Joseph, George, Charles, Jacob and James, all de- ceased except the latter. On Au- gust 1, 1861, at Fairmount, he enlisted in the Thirty-fourth In- diana Infantry, but on August 16, of the same year, was transferred to the Thirty-sixth Indiana In- fantry, commanded by Col. Wil- liam Grose, of New Castle, and Lieut .- Col. O. H. P. Carey, of Marion. Thorn served with this regiment until April 12, 1864. He was transferred from the Thirty- sixth on April 13, 1864, to the Nineteenth Veteran Reserve Corps, at Washington, D. C., and on November 16, 1865, was mus- tered out at Buffalo, New York, having completed a service of more than four years in the Union JAMES C. THORN army. He was one of the youngest men who volunteered during the Civil War, being but sixteen years old at the time of enlistment. Before
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The Making of a Township.
tendering his services he had taken the precaution to prepare for any objections on account of his youth. He had marked the figures 18 on the soles of his shoes. When the recruiting officer inquired his age he replied that he was "over 18," and no further questions were asked. The Thirty-sixth Infantry took part in several important en- gagements, among them Chickamauga, Stone River, Pittsburg Land- ing and Mumfordsville.
"At Washington, on July 12. 1864," stated Mr. Thorn to the writer. "the Confederates under Gen. Jubal A. Early and General Breckin- ridge, had they known it, could easily have taken the capital. Outside the city about three miles the breastworks were held by a small force of hundred-days' men, unseasoned and without military experience. The Confederates came up Saturday afternoon, but on account of heavy marching stopped to rest over Sunday. By Monday, when the attack was started, Early and Breckinridge found themselves con- fronted by a considerable force of Union troops, who had in the mean- time manned the works with artillery and seasoned infantrymen, Gen. Lew Wallace and his Sixth Army Corps coming up in time to save the day. The Confederate attack, which occurred at a point about three miles north of Washington, was repulsed."
During the four years Thorn was in the service he was injured four different times. He was wounded at Chickamauga, where he lost a finger on his left hand. The Thirty-sixth was under fire one hundred and twenty-eight days in succession on the Atlanta campaign.
On October 7, 1868. Mr. Thorn was married to Miss Elizabeth J. Dame, in Clinton County, Indiana. In 1882 he located in Fairmount, and in 1884 they moved to his farm, situated two miles and a half south- west of Fowlerton. Assisted by John George and Jacob Dame he cir- culated a petition for the building of the Thorn pike, extending from the Interurban line to John W. Himelick's corner, a distance of four miles. When Mr. Thorn first moved to his farm, land in that neighbor- hood was valued at fifty to sixty dollars per acre. He constructed timber ditches and put in about seventy rods of tile to get an outlet to Barren Creek and the Harrison ditch. In a few years his land was worth one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. The farm developed into a splendid oil territory, four good producing wells being put down. Thorn and Capt. David L. Payne were relatives and schoolmates. He speaks of Captain Payne as a boy of considerable native ability, always fond of jokes and pranks. These characteristics were not entirely lacking when Payne became a man. Mr. Thorn relates that upon one of his visits to his old neighbors, while on his way from Washington,
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Fairmount Township Soldiers.
D. C., to his Western home, Captain Payne brought with him a quantity of what he described to be very choice yam sprouts. Two of his old friends were eager to try out this new variety for a change, and pro- ceeded to plant the sprouts. The result was a pestiferous growth of wild morning glories, which are still found in spots in the vicinity of Payne's old home. Captain Payne had simply resorted to this plan of getting even with some of his old school-day friends who had on many occasions in the past played tricks on him in his boyhood. Mr. and Mrs. Thorn are now comfortably situated at their home in Fowlerton, where they are passing their last years in peace and plenty.
Alson MI. Bell, who lived in Fairmount Township for many years, was born June 7. 1842. He was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War, serving in Company H. Thirty-eighth North Carolina In- fantry, in the Army of Northern Virginia, under Gen. Robert E. Lee.
WAR WITH SPAIN.
*J. Frank Deshon. Jolın H. Crow. Burl W. Cox.
*Leroy R. Smith.
Murton Woolen.
*Hollis R. Hayworth.
Louis O. Chasey. Allen D. Parker.
*David Tappan. Charles T. Payne. Edgar M. Baldwin.
All members of Company A, One Hundred and Sixtieth In- diana Volunteer Infantry.
Hal V. Dale, Sixth United States Cavalry ; Ed Stover, J. D. Latham, Dr. C. B. Vigus.
ALSON M. BELL
Cyrus Pemberton, Company F. Twenty-ninth United States Volunteer Infantry.
*Deceased.
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The Making of a Township.
W. Hort Ribble, sergeant, Company H, Thirty-fourth United States Volunteer Infantry.
MODERN FAIRMOUNT HOME Residence of Xen H. Edwards on North Walnut Street
WAR WITHI GERMANY.
Clyde Scott
Edwin Tomlinson
Louis Freital
Lewis Brunker
Burr Stephens
Floyd Payne
J. Dyson Stuckey
Watt Fallis
Ora Alberts
Roy Collins
Quincy Cox
Roscoe George
Alfred Gore
Alva Huston
Marion A. McCorkhill
Frank A. Beasley
Lewis Cline
Paul N. Fred
Charles Creek
Tra Anderson
Troy Eaton
Lieut .- Col. Allen Parker
George Ellison
Russell Dale
Cecil M. Payne
Russell Ricks
Ray Lynch
Raymond Barr
Henry Stradtman
Yen Creek
Mark Leach
Francis Hardesty
William Owens
Roy Frankford
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Fairmount Township Soldiers.
C. V. Hearn
Will Gregg Wayne Sizelove Floyd Woodruff Bert Ward
Harry Foster Ray Odell
Carter Helms
Robert Winslow
Earl Ricks
Ora .\. Eiler
Garl Munsell Cleo Thomas Clyde Monahan
Fred Langsdon
Daniel R. Payne
Ray Myers
Leo Bundy
William Archer
Russell Wright
William C. Powell
George Foster
Harold Griffin
William Benner
Austin Fear
John A. Painter
Archie Curtis
Leslie Winslow
Adam Bates
Dale Nicholson
Raymond Dicks
Jesse Welch
Paul Whitely
Forest Frantz
Emil Mostart
Harry Fitzpatrick
Bloomer McCoy
John Oakley Fred A. Smiley
Basil Underwood
Charles Hill
Charles Heater
W. HORT RIBBLE
WV. Hort Ribble is a native of Delaware County, Indiana, grad- uating from the Muncie High School. In April. 1899, at Pu- eblo, Colorado, he enlisted in Company H. Thirty-fourth United States Volunteer Infantry. In July following he was promoted to corporal, and in 1900, while serving in the Philippines, he was again promoted to sergeant. Ser- geant Ribble took part in seven- teen skirmishes and participated in the engagement at San Quin- tin, in the Island of Luzon, where he saw service for nearly two years.
Frank Allred Ora Cline Kenneth Huston
Richard Bright
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The Making of a Township.
Lieut .- Col. Allen Parker is a native of Fairmount, where he was born April 9, 1877. He was educated in the Fairmount public schools, attended school at Marion during one year while his father, Joseph H. Parker, was serving as County Treasurer, and for over three years a student at Fairmount Academy. In April, 1898, he en- listed as a private in Company A, One Hundred and Sixtieth In- diana Volunteer Infantry, Col. George W. Gunder, commanding. When this regiment returned from Cuba, at the close of the Spanish-American War, Colonel Parker was ordered to Fortress Monroe, where he passed a rigid examination and was commis- sioned, on his twenty-first birth- day, as second lieutenant in the United States Army. He has LIEUT. COL. ALLEN PARKER been promoted several times since that date. In 1917 he was assigned to duty with the new army and brevetted lieutenant-colonel, the only Fairmount Township man to attain to this military honor.
CHAPTER XXIV.
FAIRMOUNT TOWNSHIP AND FAIRMOUNT CORPORATION.
IN SEPTEMBER, 1851, Fairmount Township was organized by au- thority of an order issued by the Board of Commissioners of Grant County. This Board consisted of Robert H. Lenfesty, William C. Miles and Spencer Reeder, the latter being the Commissioner from the Third District.
The territory set aside for this purpose had been included within the boundary lines of Liberty Township since May, 1839. The Town- ship lines were then indicated as follows :
"Commencing at the northeast corner of Section 16, in Township 23 north, Range 8 east ; running thence south on section line to the south- east corner of Section 4, in Township 22. in Range 8; thence west to the southwest corner of Section 6, in Liberty Township and Range; thence north to the northwest corner of Section 18, in Township 23, Range 8; thence east on the section line to the place of beginning."
In describing the topography of Fairmount Township, William Neal, who for many years followed his occupation, that of a Surveyor, and was reputed to be familiar with practically every section of land in the Township, in 1886 wrote as follows :
"This Township presents some variety on the surface, but is gen- erally level except in the neighborhood of the streams, where it is some- what rolling, the greater portion consisting in a state of nature of black, level lands, where the ash, elm and maple grow in great abundance, vet a great deal of the soil produced the walnut, poplar, beech, sugar and lin, all growing together in the fullest perfection, and arriving at great size. Along Back Creek grew the poplar (tulip) in large propor- tion. Along Barren Creek grew the oak in full size and perfection. In the eastern and southeastern portions grew in great plenty all timber mixed in together, so that the lumberman could get whatever he might want without going off the section where he might be located. The surface along Barren Creek and along the prairies is peculiar, and more or less uneven as compared with the other parts, and is almost exclu- sively covered with oak, mostly white oak mixed in with black and red and even some jack oak. Barren Creek enters the Township in Section 4, Township 22, Range 8, and has a general northeasterly course and leaves the Township a little south of the northeast corner of Section 24, Township 23, Range 8; then comes the prairie on the west of the
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The Making of a Township.
creek and extending to the lake, a distance of four and a half miles. and the valley of one is sometimes not more than forty to sixty rods
JOSEPH WARREN RELFE
Who lives on Route 3, southeast of Fairmount, is one of the Township's splendid farmers. He was born Au- gust 25, 1854, near Linwood, in Mad- ison County. His paternal grand- father was Malachi W. Relfe, born in Perquimans County, North Carolina, who died March 5, 1870, aged fifty- nine years, five months and seventeen days. The maternal grandfather was George Smith, who died in 1858. Al- bertson Relfe. the father, was born in Perquimans County, North Carolina, October 1, 1833, and died at his home in Marion County, Oregon, October I, 1899. The mother, Virginia (Smith) Relfe, was born in Madison County, Indiana, May 22, 1834, and died at the family home southeast of Fairmount. February 2, 1879. To Albertson and Virginia Relfe were born three sons. namely: Joseph Warren and Wilson Worth, who now live in Fairmount Township, and Grant, who lives in Jefferson, Oregon. It is a tradition in the Relfe family that through the maternal side of the house they are descendants of Captain John Smith. the founder of Jamestown. Warren Relfe attended school near Linwood, in Madison County; near Amboy, in Miami County, and after his parents moved to Grant County, in October. 1869, he went to the Fairmount Township schools. When he left school he engaged in farming, in which occupation he has been successful. He was one of the original stockholders of the Barren Creek Gas Company. In the spring of 1806 he was elected Township Assessor, serving in this posi- tion until 1900. Again, in 1904, the people turned to Mr. Relfe, and he was for the second time honored by their confidence, the term of Assessor being by act of the State Legislature extended from four to six years, making the total length of time ten years for the two terms for which he was elected. In politics Mr. Relfe is a Progressive Republican. He is a member of Pleasant Grove Methodist Protestant Church. February 22. 1877. Mr. Relfe was married to Miss Mary Ann Buller, born in Liberty Township, January 5. 1857, a daughter of John and Jane (Thomas) Buller. She died January 12, 1912. Four children were born of this marriage, namely: George M .. January 22, 1878: Nellie, June 16, 1880; Frank E., February 16, 1882, and Mary E., March 10, 1887. George died April 1. 1881: Nellie died October 25, 1914; Frank E. and family reside on the Hubert farm, in the northeast corner of the Township. March 20. 1915. Mr. Relfe married for his second wife, Miss Ida Ink, daughter of a well known pioneer family of the Township.
from the other. The space between lies high and is covered with oak. as are also the eastern and western banks of creek and prairie."
In June, 1855, the Board of County Commissioners made a general reorganization of the Township. Union and Fairmount Townships
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