USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II > Part 45
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Trublood's little mill did not last long to grind the corn for the few settlers, as a flood in the creek in 1812 washed away the dam, and it was never repaired. A few of the logs of the old dam may yet be seen sticking out of the bank of the creek, in which they were imbedded over fifty-five years ago.
When Mr. Miller arrived in 1812 the following persons lived on the bottom-that is, on the road been Middle creek and New Albany: John Hickman, George Oatman, Widow Oatman, John Oatman, Beverly Hurst, Joshua Wilson, and Jesse Wilson.
George Oatman lived on what is known as the Stoy farm; John Oatman on the Mrs. South farm; Beverly Hurst on the Collins farm; and the two Wilsons below, not far from Middle creek. Joshua Wilson afterward bought George and John Oat- man's farms, Jesse Wilson bought Beverly Hurd's farm, and the two Wilsons built the brick house on the Stoy farm and the one on the Collins farm, both being commenced in 1817 and completed in 1820. These were the first brick houses built in
Floyd county, and both are now occupied and in excellent re- pair, though over fifty years old.
The news of the Pigeon Roost massacre, which occurred September 3, 1812, was received in this section of what was then Clarke county, some thirty hours after its occurrence, and created much consternation among the settlers. All those who resided between Falling run and Silver creek, those who lived back toward the present sites of Greenville and Galena, and some of the settlers on the river below the mouth of Falling run, fled into Kentucky. There were a number of others, however, who had become accustomed to "Indian scares," as they were called, and refused to run. Among these were the Lafollettes, the Millers, the Hick- mans, the Nances, and the Oatmans. These determined to fight it out with the savages, if such they proved to be, if they visited the settlements in the vicinity. Some of them did not believe they were Indians, but white horse-thieves and rob- bers painted and disguised as Indians. Most of the men be- longing to the families we have named accordingly set off for Jeffersonville, the rendezvous of the Clarke county militia, to join in pursuit of the murderers. The men and women left at home barricaded their houses as securely as possible, gathered in groups, and prepared for defense.
There was, however, one woman in the neighborhood. Mrs. John Hickman, whose husband was away from home some twenty miles to mill. Mrs. Hickman was not willing to leave her house unprotected in case of a raid, and yet feared to stay alone. There was but one room in the cabin, as in most other cabins in those days ; and deeming it there- fore immodest for her to remain alone all night in the cabin with a man in no way related to her, she went to the cabin of Samuel Miller, and asked Nancy Miller to come and stay all night with her and help guard the house.
It was now dark, but the brave woman agreed to go, and setting out they both soon reached Mrs. Hickman's cabin. The door and window were each closed and securely bar- ricaded, and then Mrs. Hickman proceeded to the rifle-rack, that necessary and always provided article of pioneer furni- ture. It was dark in the house, and when she reached up for the rifle she found it gone, which frightened her very much. Her husband had taken it with him to mill. She did not, however, faint or scream, but armed herself with the iron flax-hackle and a butcher-knife. She gave the knife to Nancy Miller, and during all that long night these two brave women sat in the darkened cabin in the woods, not knowing what moment the yells of the savage foe would call them to action. Few men would have shown more courage; for in those days it was not an uncommon thing for wandering bands of savages to sneak into a neighborhood and commit deeds of violence, and even bloodshed. The savages did not make their appearance, however; but the bravery displayed by these pioneer women made them the heroines of the neighborhood.
. HORSE-STEALING AND LYNCHING.
From the same source comes the following, regarding the depredations of horse-thieves in this township and county:
Horse-stealing from about 1810 to 1817 was followed in this part of Indiana by a band of men regularly and well or- ganized. They made an occupation of this species of rob- bery, and came to be a terror to the settlers. In 1810 two of these horse-thieves were caught near the present upper limits of the city of New Albany, by a party of settlers from Clarke county, whom they had robbed. As the courts were
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
seldom held, and the few laws existing were not very opera- tive, a council was held by the captors to determine what should be done with the prisoners. The proof of their guilt was positive, for the stolen horses were found in their posses- sion, and a verdict was soon reached that they should suffer death.
The names of these thieves were Aveline and Morris. They begged piteously for their lives; but so many horses had been stolen and the settlers had become so exasperated at their losses,-for they were all poor,-that no appeal moved them from their purpose. The prisoners were accord- ingly taken to a point on the west side of Silver creek, oppo- site the site of the old Very mill, allowed one hour in which to prepare for death by prayer, then shot and their bodies thrown into the stream, which at that time was very high.
This was the first execution by lynch law in the territory now included in Floyd county. It had a most salutary effect upon the horse-stealing fraternity.
At another time, in 1813, a youth aged about seventeen years stole a horse from the Lafollette settlement, near the Harrison county line. He was pursued and captured near Greenville. His captors stripped him and informed him that in consideration of his youth they would only give him a little whipping. He was tied to a small tree with a bridle-rein, his face toward the tree. His captors then cut a dozen or more stout switches, and with these laid one hundred and ten lashes upon his bare back. The boy's name was Parrish, and he lived at Louisville. After the whipping he was unable lo stand on his feet, and was therefore lifted upon a horse, upon which he was held until the party reached the ferry at New Albany, where he was placed upon the boat and sent over to the Kentucky side. He died before reaching Louis- ville.
A new plan of operations was subsequently adopted by the horse-thieves. They would swing a bridle on their arms, and wrap a rope or two around their bodies, and start out hunting what they claimed to be their own estrayed horses. Whenever they found a horse running at large they would "take him up," and if pursuit were made and they were overtaken, they would declare that they thought the horse their own, as he answered exactly the description of the ani- mal they were seeking. This plan worked well but a short time, however, when the settlers began to wreak vengeance upon these "horse-hunters" to such an extent that it be- came absolutely dangerous for a man to go into a strange neighborhood with a bridle on his arm, even in search of his own horses, unless he could bring some one to identify him as an honest man.
Instances of lynch law by the most summary and speedy processes were not uncommon in the pioneer days of Indiana. Many may form harsh opinions of the character of the early settlers on this account; but when it is remembered that there were but few laws then in force, and but few officers to enforce even these; when not a dozen courts in the entire Indiana Territory, embracing now several States, within the year, and those most frequently at remote points from the settlements; when there were no jails, and but three or four organized counties in the Terri- tory; when it is remembered, too, that the few
officers of the law were frequently in league with the thieves, and that it was consequently almost impossible to capture the latter and compel them to suffer the penalty of the law ;- there is little wonder, indeed, that the thieves were thus sum- marily dealt with. Frequently the thieves were handed together, and so overawed the settlers by their numbers, audacity, and boldness, that they were enabled to carry on their nefarious calling for years with but little disturbance; the law and law officers failed to reach them. But the day of reckoning would finally come, and the out- raged and long-suffering settlers would rise in their wrath, and woe be to the man or clique that stood in their way! The thieves were caught and summarily shot or hung; and any com- munity, however, civilized, would to-day follow the same course under the same conditions.
MORE OF THE IMMIGRANTS.
Those who followed up the old Indian trail and settled first in the northern part of this town- ship, were mostly from Kentucky and the Caro- linas, though a few were from Pennsylvania and further east. Among them were Richard Lewis, John Scott, John K. Graham, Joseph Day (the blacksmith), Jeremiah Jacobs, - Leech, James Hey, a colored inan named Goins, the Turners, Green Neal, and others whose names are not now recollected.
Richard Lewis was from North Carolina, and brought with him a considerable family. His sons were-Jonathan, Richard, Jr., David, John, Crawford, and William; and the daughters were Priscilla, Lovina, Jane, and Lydia. William, who was a great hunter, preceded the remainder of the family several years. He seemed to have followed the business of hunting and trapping, and erected his lodge in the northern part of this township, at the foot of the knobs, to the left of and not far from the Indian trail, on land now owned by his brother David. William was, no doubt, influential in inducing his father to come here and settle, which he did in 1809. William was only a squatter, but cleared a small patch of ground near his hunter's cabin, and raised a crop or perhaps several of them, then "pulled up stakes" and moved to Washington county after white settlers became more plentiful around him than he considered advantageous to his business. David is the only one of the Lewis children now living, and is one of the few surviving pioneers
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
of the township. He has labored as a farmer all his life, and now in his declining years is a large land owner, with his children settled around him.
THE FLOYD OF FLOYD COUNTY.
The spot of ground upon which William set- tled passed into the hands of Davis Floyd, and was by him transferred to Mr. Lewis. Mr Lewis says that this county was named for this man Davis Floyd.
Regarding the naming of the county Mr. C. WV. Cotton says, in his pamphlet regarding the interests of Floyd county, that "the county was named in honor of Colonel John Floyd, of a dis- tinguished Virginia family of that name, who was killed by the Indians on the Kentucky side of the river, nearly opposite the present site of New Albany." Mr. Lewis, Mr. Thomas Collins, and other old pioneers believe the above to be an error, and that the county took its name from the above-mentioned Davis Floyd, who was a noted character in his day. He was a lawyer, and Mr. Lewis says that when they lived in a log hut in the woods Mr. Floyd frequently stopped over night at their cabin, while on his way from Charlestown to Corydon, to attend 'court. He lived at Charlestown, but frequently traveled on horseback through the woods to Corydon, having considerable legal business ın both places. He describes him as a very re- markable man, and one who could have made a considerable mark in the world had he felt dis- posed. He was a bold, daring fellow, consider- ably above the medium height, "very dark for a white man," full of fun, anecdote, and good sense, always ready for anything that promised excitement or adventure, full of fight in his chosen profession, and able to cope with the best intellects of his time or of any time. He was the first judge of the county, and was influ- ential and prominent in the affairs of the county until his death.
OTHER PIONEERS.
John K. Graham, who settled in the northern part of this township at a very early date, will be longer remembered than most of his contempo- raries. He was probably more widely known than any other man in the county, having been a surveyor for many years, when surveying meant continued application and hard work. He sur- veyed most of the lands in this county and a good
deal in Clarke and other counties. He came from Pennsylvania, was a man of education and good sense, and soon wielded a great influence in his neighborhood. He settled first on the east side of Silver creek, in what is now Clarke county; but soon moved across and purchased a farm in the woods on the extensive bottoms, about a mile from the foot of the knobs and four or five miles north of the site of New Albany. Here he lived until his death, rearing a large family. Many of his descendants yet reside in the county. He was a member of the Legisla . ture, and also a member of the convention that framed the first constitution for the State.
Joseph Day was a blacksmith, probably the first one in the township, and settled at the foot of the knobs, three or four miles north of New Albany, where he built a cabin for a dwelling and one for a shop, and carried on his business many years, getting considerable work to do from the travelers on the great highway from the Falls to Vincennes, and from the settlers who gradu- ally gathered around him.
Jonathan Romine was one of the first settlers in the central part of the township. He built a little cabin of round beech logs, with the bark still adhering to them about where the fair- ground gate is located. He was a squatter from North Carolina, and subsequently removed to Washington county.
One of his neighbors, who came about the same time, was Archibald O'Neal, an Irishman, and also a squatter. His family consisted of his wife, three boys, Samuel, Jonathan, and John, and one girl, Nancy. Samuel enlisted for the campaign against the Indians, and was with Har- ison at Tippecanoe. O'Neal subsequently moved further west, and settled on Whiskey run.
David Goss was also in the battle of Tippe- canoe. He came from North Carolina, en- tering land and settling with his family on Elk run, in the northern part of the township. This stream rises in this township, but soon passes into Clarke county. Goss' land was on the line between what are now Floyd and Clarke coun- ties. Below him on the run, at the time of his settlement, were the widow Jenkins, Morris, her son-in-law, and a man named Nugent; but the last three were within the limits of what is now Clarke county.
All the above-mentioned settlers, and prob-
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
ably some others, were in this part of the town- ship in 1809,-how long before this date cannot be ascertained; hence it is impossible to fix ex- actly the date of the first settlement of the town- ship or county. Some of these settlers may have been here even prior to the beginning of this century, though it is not likely, as the In- dians were so hostile that settlers kept pretty close to the fort. There were, however, a few hardy pioneers and hunters that were not afraid of the Indians and managed to live in peace with them, even when they were in a hostile at- titude toward the Government.
THE BLOCK-HOUSE.
When the massacre at Pigeon roost occurred, most of the settlers in this part of the township became greatly alarmed for their safety, and a little block-house was erected on Elk run, in which Mr. Goss and family, the Nugents, and others living in this neighborhood, sought safety. Mr. Lewis had at this time lived some years on the farm where the family yet reside, and al- though urged by his neighbors to go to the block-house, refused to do so; at the same time preparing his cabin for defense by barricading and chaining the doors and windows, and mak- ing loop-holes for guns, etc. His son Richard was then a man grown, and his oldest daughter, Jane, could handle a rifle equal to almost any one. Accordingly they determined that, with the help of the dogs as sentinels, they would fight it out with the savages if they came that way; and without doubt they could have made a vig- orous defense. They had no occasion, how- ever, for a further display of their combative faculties.
Mr. Lewis' cabin was not the only one that was thus transformed into a temporary fort upon that occasion. Dozens of them all along the frontier, in this and Clarke counties, were thus prepared; though many of the settlers gathered into the block-houses, and others fled across the Ohio river, remaining until the scare was over.
GAME
was wonderfully plenty here in those early days. Mr. Lewis says he has stood in his father's cabin door and seen deer, bears, and turkeys all at one time. Hardly a day passed without seeing bears. These animals were in great numbers on the knobs, where there were annually large amounts
of chestnuts, of which they are very fond. They would get very fat on these; but at certain sea- sons of the year, when there were no chestnuts to be found, the animals would descend to the bottom lands in search of pigs and other pro- visions that might be picked up in the vicinity of the settlers' cabins.
One of the most celebrated hunters in the northern part of the township, or in all this part of the country, was one Thomas Hopper, who lived in the edge of what is now Clarke county. He even outrivaled William Lewis, probably be- cause he lived here more years. He was an in- veterate hunter, keeping his dogs, guns, and horses for the sole purpose of securing game, which he found market for at Clarksville, and other places on the river. His favorite hunting- ground was in the knobs, and to get to it he was compelled to cross the northern part of this town- ship. In his journeys back and forth for years he made a clear-cut, deep path which may be seen in places even yet, and has always been known as "Hopper's trace." He had a brush cabin, or temporary abode on the knobs about the' head- waters of Indian creek, where he would remain for days at a time hunting in the vicinity, gener- ally or always alone. He took two horses with him, and when he secured game enough to load them, would return to his cabin in Clarke county. It was not an unusual thing, it is said, for him to kill from thirty to fifty bears during the winter and several hundred deer. Settlements finally ruined his hunting-grounds, and he followed the game further west, as did most of the hunters and squatters of that time.
THE FIRST ELECTION
within the limits of this county was held in Rich- ard Lewis's house. This was in 1816, and there was only one other voting place in this part of the country-at Corydon. To these two places all the voters in the tract occupied by the pres- ent counties of Clarke, Floyd, and Harrison re- paired. Slavery was then the main issue, and the election was an exciting one, as it was well known that the parties were very evenly divided. A majority of the settlers through the country were from the South, and these were largely in favor of slavery; but in New Albany, then three years old, were many New Englanders and other Eastern settlers brought there through the influ-
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
ence of the Scribners. The latter were strong anti-slavery people, and used all their influence, which was not inconsiderable, at this election. They came up to Lewis's to vote, and brought with them all their own party in the neighbor- hood. Few elections were more exciting or more closely contested; but the anti-slavery party were victors by one vote.
PIONEER MILLS.
Few if any mills were erected in the northern part of the township, except here and there a small saw-mill. The streams were not of suffi- cient strength for successful milling. The set- tlers generally went to Trublood's mill, on Fall- ing run, or to Bullitt's mill above the falls, or to a little mill in Clarke county, on Muddy fork, erected at an early day by a Mr. Hoagland.
THE FIRST SCHOOL
in the northern part of the township and, in fact, in this part of the country, was on Elk run, with- in what is now Clarke county, in the Goss neigh- borhood. The school-house was a strange one, even for that day, not many of the same pattern being in existence. It was built of round logs and was eight square, or had eight corners and eight sides. It contained two large fre-places, located at each end in the angles, the end cor- ners being made on purpose to accommodate the fire-places. The pupils in the winter sat on rude benches between two huge log-heap fires, and were thus enabled to keep from freezing, even if they did not succeed in getting ahead in their studies. Very few books were used-the A B C class having paddles upon which the let- ters were pasted, and which were occasionally used advantageously by the teacher for other pur- poses, supposed in those days to be connected with school-teaching.
Jonathan McCoy, an Irishman, was the first teacher here, and it is said spent most of his time during school hours in pacing the floor with a long hickory "gad" across his shoulder as if he was engaged in driving oxen. His whip was so long that he could stand in the middle of the room and reach any pupil under his guardian- ship, and he managed to keep good order ; hence his school is said to have been a success.
The principal qualification of a teacher in those days was physical strength, and the ability to "wollop" the largest scholar in his school.
He was never known as "teacher," but as "master." This school-building had greased- paper windows, and was often used for a church, the first religious meetings in the neighborhood being held here.
Richard Aston, Sr., also taught one of the first schools in the township, a few miles north of the site of New Albany, in a deserted cabin that had been used by lumbermen. It was a "select" school, and said to have been very successful. The school on Elk run, Mr. Aston's school, and that over on the west side of the knobs, in what is now Lafayette township, in the English settle- ment, were the first three schools in this part of the county. Mr. Lewis first attended school at the latter place, the distance being about two miles.
GRAYSVILLE.
No towns or villages of consequence exist in the township, although many villages were started and grew rapidly around the present city of New Albany; but most of them were so near that city that they have become absorbed in it. A small cluster of houses, about a dozen, stands at the junction of the State road from Jeffersonville west, and that from Charlestown to New Albany. The hamlet is locally known as Graysville. A blacksmith named Gray built a shop at this point about 1831, and tried to build up a town, but it never came to anything, though he induced a few people to come and settle there. A Mr. Stiles started a shoe-shop there soon after Gray's advent, and these two shops, with the two dwel- lings, constituted the town for some time. At present the business of the place consists of a wagon and blacksmith shop and a grocery. It may never have had large expectations, but came naturally to be called Graysville, from its leading spirit.
SMITH'S MILL,
or Six Mile Switch, is a station in the northern part of the township, on the New Albany & Salem railroad, being the first stopping place north of New Albany. When the railroad was in course of erection a man named Barney had a contract for leveling the road-bed and laying the ties on this part of the road. He purchased at this point one hundred and twenty-five acres of land-good timber land-for the purpose of getting the ties from it, and to facilitate matters he erected a saw mill at what is now Six Mile
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
Switch for the purpose of sawing the ties. A switch was also constructed here at the same time, for convenience in loading cars at the mill. After completing his contract he sold the land, all but ten acres, to David Lewis, and Messrs. Smith & Searles purchased the mill and ten acres of ground, concluding that it would be a good point to continue the business. It never paid, however, and was taken away after a time.
Peter Worley bought a little ground there, and for a time kept a grocery, but this business did not pay, and was abandoned. The trains, or some of them, stop here for the convenience of passengers, but there is no station house.
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.
Five churches have an existence at present in this township outside of the city, viz: Two Methodist, one United Brethren, one Disciple or Christian, and one Presbyterian. It will be noticed that no New Light or Baptist societies now exist in the township, although these were among the first religious denominations to or- ganize when the country was new. The earliest religious teachers were here, as elsewhere in the county, Clement Nance and the Rev. Mr. Gunn, subsequently of Franklin township, and Rev. Mr. Schrader, the founder of Schrader's Chapel, in Lafayette township. When they first began preaching here Nance was a New Light, Gunn a Baptist, and Schrader a Methodist; and their meetings were, as was usual in those times, held in the cabins of the settlers and in the log school-houses. A religious sentiment was a prominent characteristic of a large portion of the early settlers here, and a preacher of the gospel was always welcome, no matter to what denomina- tion he belonged; and the settlers all turned out to "meeting," whether believers or not. It is not unlikely that the first religious meetings for the people of the northern part of the township was held at the eight-cornered school-house be- fore-mentioned. After the establishment of New Albany, the churches which soon grew up in that city drew to them the greater portion of the peo- ple of the township, so that churches outside of that city have not flourished as they would prob- ably have done, but for this influence.
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