USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II > Part 47
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This section of the State was, at that early day, frequently visited by wandering gangs of Shawnese and Miami Indians. Mr. and Mrs. Lafollette had for their nearest neighbors a small party of Shawnese. They lived on the most amicable terms with these Indians; and whenever the marauding Miamis and Shawnese came from White river and the Wabash into the white settlements along the Ohio, for pur- poses of robbery and murder, Mr. Lafollette was at once in- formed of the danger by his friendly Indian neighbors, and his wife would be sent over the river into Kentucky for safety, while he would join the expeditions of the settlers above and below him to aid in driving back the savage foe.
Mr. Lafollette continued to reside where he first settled until the division lines between the counties of Harrison and Clarke had been definitely run, and Charlestown fixed as the county seat of Clarke county. He resided within the limits of Clarke county, and paid his proportion of the special tax levied to build the first court-house at Charlestown. A few years later he removed to Harrison county, and there paid a special tax levied to build the court-house at Corydon. When Floyd county was organized in 1819, he was thrown into this county, and when the court-house was built at New Albany he paid his proportion of the tax levied to build it. He thus, in the period of fourteen years, paid special taxes to build three court-houses.
Mr. Lafollette continued to reside on the farm to which he removed from the vicinity of Knob creek until his death, which occurred in January, 1867. At the time of his death he was eighty-nine years old, and had resided within the ter- ritory of what is now Floyd county sixty-two years and two months. His wife died about one year earlier, at the age of seventy-nine, and sixty-one years after her settlement here.
In all the relations of life Robert Lafollette was a good man. He was conscientiously religious; his house was for many years a preaching place for the Regular Baptists, and the pioneer ministers of that denomination, as well as of all others, always made his home a stopping-place, and ever found there a cordial welcome. He subscribed for the first newspaper ever published in Floyd county, and continued to take a paper up to the day of his death. He is now with the companion of his youth's pioneer life, enjoying the rewards of a well-spent life in that house not made with hands-eternal in the heavens.
Mr. Lafollette's family was followed into this section by Clement Nance, Sr., and his family, who settled on what is known as the Oatman farm, a few miles below New Albany, on the river road. It was his daughter, afterward married to Patrick Shields, who was the first white woman who ever crossed the Knobs. Mr. Nance lived to a ripe old age, and was always identified with the interests of the
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
county, holding a number of important and responsible offices, all of which he filled with honor.
The Oatman family followed that of Nance, from the best information we can glean, shortly after. An old settler tells us a little love affair between Oalman and one of Mr. Nance's daughters, and what came of it. Oatman fell in love with Miss Nance, but for some reason his suit did not meet the favor of her father, and his visits to the young lady ceased. Now Nance had not taken the precaution to preempt his land when he "squatted " upon it, because he had to go to Vin- cennes through an almost unbroken forest to do so. Set- tlers were coming in slowly, and he did not fear that his claim would be " jumped." Oatman found out that the land was not entered, and so determined, if he could not get the girl, he would have the land. Accordingly, in company with John Paul, he quietly left for Vincennes one fine morning early in 1807, entered the land and received the patent for it. At the same time John Paul entered and received the patent for all the land upon which the present city of New Albany stands, except that lying above the " Grant line."
On returning home Oatman produced his patent for the "Oatman farm," and took possession of it. In consequence of this an ill feeling always existed between Mr. Oatman and Mr. Nance. To say the least of it, Oatman's act was not a very gallant one.
This matter of " jumping " a claim, or dispos- sessing a squatter of his rights, was considered a very serious matter among the pioneers, and often led to the bitterest of feuds which contin- ued many years among neighbors, and was often continued by the children for several generations, breaking out occasionally in bloodshed and mur- der. From this fact and the further fact that land was plenty-there was enough for all-it was seldom resorted to, unless for spite, as ap- pears to have been the case in this instance. Sometimes, however, when a squatter had occu pied and partially cleared a piece of desirable land, the temptation to possess it was too strong, and it was entered by some stranger, regardless of consequences. Such was the case with Mr. Lafollette, probably the first settler of the coun- ty. After toiling upon his farm in the woods for several years, building the cabin, clearing off fif- teen or twenty acres of the heaviest of woodland, and otherwise improving it, he suddenly became aware that some other person had entered it and was owner of it, and all his years of labor were going for naught. The distance to Vincennes being great, and having no way to get there, ex- cept on foot, he had neglected going, not think- ing any one would be mean enough to dispossess him, or hoping that the fact of his not having en- tered it would remain unknown until he could go to Vincennes and perform that duty. He was disappointed, and was accordingly compelled
to start anew on another farm in the wilderness, leaving all his improvements behind.
There is a dispute regarding the first settle- ment of this county, as there may easily be, and generally is about the first settlement of any par- ticular territory. So many circumstances are to be considered; and when it is taken into account that the counties and townships of to-day had no existence at the time of the first settlement, that all surveyors' lines were few and far apart, that no one at that time seems to have been thoughtful enough or public spirited enough to keep a record of events, and that, consequently, such matters as the first settlement must depend entirely upon tradition, the difficulties and doubts in the matter will be understood.
There is little doubt that Robert Lafollette was the first settler on the territory now embraced in Franklin township, and may have been-he probably was-the first settler of Floyd county, though it is believed by some that John Carson, who is said to have settled at the mouth of Sil- ver creek, on the west side of that stream, as early as 1800, was the first settler. The settle- ment of Mr. Carson cannot, however, at this late date be verified, while the settlement of Robert Lafollette comes pretty straight, and there can be no reasonable doubt that the settlement was made in this township at the date stated. As the history of New Albany township contains some additional notes regarding the settlement of John Carson, the subject will not receive fur- ther attention here.
There is another statement in the foregoing extract that may be taken with some grains of allowance, considering all the circumstances- that is, that Mrs. Patrick Shields, the daughter of Clement Nance, was the first white woman to cross the knobs. She may have been, and doubtless was, the first resident white woman to accomplish that journey; but it must be borne in mind that a settlement had existed at Clarksville, within four miles of the foot of the knobs, for more than twenty-five years prior to the advent of the Nance family. There were many families in this settlement; is it possible that none of the females ventured beyond the knobs during all those years. Again, there was a great Indian trail from the falls of the Ohio to Vincennes, passing over the knobs. This trail had been a great thoroughfare for the Indians and white
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
traders about Kaskaskia, Vincennes, and other points in the West, for perhaps a century or more. Is it possible that no white woman, either captive or otherwise, passed over this trail during all those years? It is impossible to say, and therefore impossible to state as a positive fact, that Mrs. Shields was the first white woman to cross the knobs.
The Nance family became residents of this township after being dispossessed of their land, as stated in the foregoing extract, and the Oat- mans took possession of their old place, which is now within the limits of New Albany town- ship.
Clement Nance came from Virginia and set- tled here about 1805 or 1806, with a family of six sons and five daughters. The sons were William, Mathias, Clement, Jr., James, Giles, and John Wesley. The daughters were Dorothy, Nancy, Mary, Elizabeth, and Jane. The place where the family first settled, near Oatman's ferry, was so heavily timbered that the larger part of an ordinary lifetime would be required to clear it, and the family suffered much from fever and ague, as was the case with all the early settlers who settled near the river. After losing this place they removed to the western part of this township, not far from the village of Lanes- ville, where Clement Nance continued to reside until he died, his death occurring at the age of seventy-two years. He was a man of consider- able force of character, and wielded not a little influence among the settlers in his immediate neighborhood. He joined the Methodist church when seventeen years of age, but seems to have changed his belief quite often, as he appears at different times as a Methodist, Campbellite or "Christian," and New-light believer. He be- came a local preacher, and occupied the pulpits of the neighboring churches pretty regularly for many years. He enjoyed a high Christian char- acter, and is spoken of as a "good man, without fault."
Mrs. Welch, a granddaughter of Clement Nance, yet living in the township, says it was about the first of March, 1805, when they reached the south bank of the Ohio, on the way to their new home. The weather was cold, with almost continual storms of rain and snow. When Mr. Nance first came from Virginia he settled on the Kentucky river, where he re-
mained about eighteen months. He then con- structed a flat-boat (having determined to push on to Indiana Territory), upon which he placed a part of his family-all the women and small children-and all his household effects. Upon this boat they floated down the Kentucky and Ohio, landing near that part of the river where the Oatman ferry was afterwards established. A portion of the family came overland with their cattle and horses, they being possessed of quite a 'number of cattle, which, by browsing upon the canebrake and the wild grasses that giew abundantly, kept fat.
Clement Nance had a large family, which he thus landed in the wilderness, without house or even shelter. It is said the mother cried pite- ously when she found herself, surrounded by a helpless family of children, brought to this dreary, desolate region, and landed in a cold March storm of sleet and snow, without shelter of any kind. They soon, with strong arms and brave hearts, erected a three-sided pole shanty, with the open end from the storm, and soon had a log-heap fire in front of it; and in this little eight-by-ten open camp, covered only with bark and brush, the family lived many days, until a permanent cabin could be erected. The cattle were ferried over on the flat-boat, and allowed to roam at large in the woods. Fortunately they did not suffer for provisions, as the cows fur- nished milk and the woods were full of game that could be had almost without hunting for it. One of the boys, Giles, was the great hunter of the Nance family, though all the family, even the girls, were expert with the rifle. Giles Nance probably killed more deer than any other of the early settlers in this part of the county. In later years he kept a tame doe that he was in the habit of using successfully as a decoy, the doe fre quently going into the woods and returning in company with several of the wilder animals of the same species, which thus became victims to Giles' unerring riffe.
The boys nearly all became farmers and hunt- ers. Mr. Nance entered a large tract of land where he finally settled, enough to give his chil- dren each a farm. In after years James and Mathias were engaged in distilling, a very com- mon and respectable business in those days. Giles and William went to Illinois. Clement, Jr., became a prominent and influential citizen,
33
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
was one of the first board of county commis- sioners, became associate judge, and held other offices of trust and profit in the county. He was one of the judges when Dahman was tried and found guilty of murder, an account of which appears elsewhere. Notwithstanding the feud between the families, Nancy Nance seems to have married John Oatman, son of the old ferry- man, a tanner by trade, and a preacher by pro- fession. They moved West.
Dorothy Nance married Joseph Burton, also a Virginian, who with Patrick Shields came here about the time or immediately after Clement Nance. Shields and Burton, however, settled further north in what is now Georgetown town- · ship.
But little is known of the Gwin family, who came to this township soon after Clement Nance. They certainly arrived prior to the es- tablishment of the Oatman ferry; for upon their arrival on the opposite side of the river, they called over to the Nances to come and ferry them over. The river was full of ice at the time, and it was a dangerous and difficult task ; but the solid flat-boat belonging to the Nance family, driven by strong, practiced arms, was probably equal to the emergency. No doubt this flat-boat was the foundation of what shortly afterward became Oatman's ferry, which appears on the earliest records of the county, and con- tinues to be mentioned for some years. Thomas Gwin was the school-teacher, and probably taught the first school in what is now Franklin township. He taught several years at what is known as "Sycamore corners" (so called from a number of large sycamore trees that grew there). It was near the line of Harrison county, in the southern part of this township. A log school-house was built at this place, it being near the center of a thriving neighborhood. Four influential pioneers, Joseph Decker, Thomas Smith, Captain Wright, and another whose name is forgotten, put up this house where their farms cornered, and supplied, for a time, a majority of the children that were taught here. Next after Gwin, the pioneer pedagogue in this part of the county, was Joseph Walden, a Connecticut Yankee, who taught here many years. He was a single man. One of the first school-houses was also erected on the Nance farm, and Gwin taught here also. Both of these log school-
houses have long since disappeared ; schools and teachers have scattered, grown old, reared fami- lies, and mostly passed away, and the world has moved forward nearly three-fourths of a century since they were built.
Thomas Smith was here prior to 1815. He appears as one of the "fence viewers " in 1819, the first in this township, the other two being Jacob Yenawine and Joseph Burton, both settlers in what subsequently became Georgetown town- ship. Mr. Smith was from Pennsylvania and settled in the southern part of the township, where he reared a family of ten or twelve chil- dren, and many of his descendants are yet living in the neighborhood. He was a farmer and a blacksmith, probably building the first shop of that kind in the limits of this township. He did not live long after his arrival here.
David Gunn came from Virginia, entered land in the woods, and settled in the central part of the township, west of the Knob Creek hill, about 1814. His children were Ira W., Mathew, Fin- ley, and Nancy. The two first-named are now living in this vicinity at an advanced age. Gunn was a Methodist preacher, one of the first in this part of the country, and followed preaching and farming until his death. He preached wherever and whenever he could get a few people to- gether, in a school-house, under a tree, or in his own cabin.
Captain William Wright, whose farm joined Mr. Smith's in the southwestern part of the town- ship, was from Kentucky, and came here about 1818 or before. He had eight or ten children, one of whom, Mrs. Cole, is yet living in this vicinity.
Colonel Gilbert Budd settled here prior to 1819, and his name is perpetuated in what is known as the "Budd road," a road crossing the center of the township east and west, and furnishing an outlet to New Albany. Colonel Budd was no doubt mainly instrumental in hav- ing this road pushed through, and must have as- sisted very materially in clearing the way through the woods. He owned a farm on Knob creek, the one now occupied by his son-in-law, John B. Hancock. Colonel Budd came from Kentucky, bringing his title with him, was an influential farmer, and remarkable as having had five wives, at different periods during the years of his resi- dence here.
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
William Sampson came from Kentucky to this township, settling in the western part of it, in what was known as the " Flat woods," and was among the earliest settlers. The land he entered was a beautiful, level tract of woods; and the cabin erected, and in which he lived some years with a numerous family, is yet standing, one of the oldest landmarks in the township. Mr. Samp- son was one of the earliest school teachers, and a justice of the peace for sixteen years. Some of his descendants are yet living in the town- ship. He died of cholera in 1833.
The southern part of the township was settled largely by people from Kentucky, North Caro- lina; and other Southern States. Among them were the two colored men, William and Jerry Clark, who were successful and influential farmers.
SOME FIRST THINGS.
By the commissioners' records it is ascertained that Patrick Leyden was the first constable of this township. He was appointed at the May session of 1819, three months after the forma- tion of the county.
Elijah Cresswell and Gilbert Budd were the first overseers of the poor, and Caleb Newman, of ferry memory, the first inspector of elections. Frederick Mosar, John Flickner, and George Lidikay were the first "fence viewers" of the township, and John Conn the first "lister."
The first election held in the township was on the second Monday in March, 1821. It was held at the house of John Bowman, and was for the purpose of electing a justice of the peace to succeed Allen Kendall, who had been ap- pointed by the commissioners, and who was the first justice in the township.
Jacob Yenawine's house was used for elections as early as 1823. Mr. Yenawine was an early set- ler in what is now Georgetown township. A little later (1826) the elections were held at the house of George Lidikay; and when Georgetown town- ship was created elections for Franklin were held at the house of John B. Hancock, where they continued to be held until James Tabler erected an "election house" on his place and presented it to the township for the purpose of holding elections.
BUCHANAN VILLAGE.
Tabler's land was located near the center of
the township, where the roads cross; one going north and south along Knob creek, and the other east and west from New Albany to Elizabeth- town. Here Mr. Tabler determined to try to build up a village, as nothing of the kind ex- isted in Franklin township. He caused a small piece of his land to be surveyed and platted, and erected the election house as an induce- ment for the people to congregate there, both for elections and other public meetings. This was when Mr. Buchanan occupied the Presi- dential chair; and being a stanch Democrat and an admirer of the President, he named the place Buchanan. His town never came to any-
thing, however. He failed to get anything more there than a blacksmith's shop and a small gro- cery. It is situated at the foot of what is known as "Blunk's knob," so called from the fact that Joseph Blunk settled on the top of a knob or hill there. "Rock House hill" is also not far away. Nature has formed out of the rocks on the top of this hill something resembling a house; hence the name.
THE EARLY MILLS.
Mr. Blunk had a horse-mill on his knob farm, and he and Clement Nance, who had a similar mill, did the grinding for the early settlers for many years. The very first settlers went across the river to Kentucky to mill, or up.to Bullitt's or Tarascon's mill at the Falls; but it was not always possible to get to these mills, especially in winter, and the horse-mills were well patronized. The Nance mill was made to run by horse-power attached to a "sweep," and was in use about twenty years.
Clement Nance, Jr., whose farm adjoined his father's, early erected a carding- and fulling-mill on his place, and for many years made the rolls from which the pioneer mothers of Franklin and the adjoining townships wove the cloth that was used by the settlers for clothing.
Clement Nance, Jr., subsequently erected a steam flouring-mill on his place, and after con- ducting it several years it burnt down, and was not rebuilt. But few mills have been erected in this township, the people doing their milling mostly at Lanesville, Corydon, and other points. A few saw-mills have been built at different times along Knob creek, but have not generally pros- pered.
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
BUSINESS.
Little business is carried on in the. township except farming. There is an occasional black- smith-shop, cooper-shop, and hostelry or small country inn, where a few groceries and liquors are kept and travelers are welcome for the night. Jacob Welch started a store in the northern edge of the township, about a mile south ot ·. Edwardsville, in 1873, and kept it going until he died in March, 1880, since which time it has languished, and is about to be closed up. He was a son of John Welch, who came from Au- gusta county, Virginia, in 1817. Most of the early settlers of this township who came from Virginia were from Augusta county, and were either blood relations or personal acquaintances; so that the trials and hardships of a life in the new country were somewhat alleviated.
CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS MATTERS.
The first religious teachers who came through this part of the county were residents of this and the adjoining townships. They were Clement Nance, David Gunn, George Oatman, and Seth Woodruff. The first two have been mentioned as residents and among the first settlers in this township. Mr. Oatman settled on the bank of the Ohio, in what is now New Albany township, and Mr. Woodruff was a resident of the town of New Albany, and a prominent actor in all the af- fairs of the new town. He was associate judge, justice of the peace, and a man of great activity and good natural ability, though uneducated. He was what was known as a " Hard-shell" Baptist, and established some of the first churches of that denomination in the county. These men preached the doctrines of the Methodists, New-lights, Christians, and Baptists. Oatman was the Campbellite or Christian preacher; the latter name was not, however, attached to the denomination at the date of his ministry in this township. 'All of these men preached in this territory before there were any churches or public buildings of any kind, their meetings being held in the woods when the weather permitted, other- wise in the cabins of the settlers.
William Sypher's name should also appear among the pioneer preachers, as he began preach- ing here about 1814, though a boy at that time. He was a Baptist.
It is impossible at this date to ascertain which
of these pioneer preachers succeeded first in se- tablishing a church organization, but the honor probably lies between the Methodists and Bap- tists. David Gunn succeeded in organizing a Methodist class here about 1818, at his own house. When he settled here in the woods he built one of the largest log cabins in the neighborhood, and being a man of strong relig- ious convictions, soon gathered his few neigh- bors together in his house, conducted religious services, and after a time organized a class which has grown and prospered until the present Mount Zion church is the result. Meetings were held in Mr. Gunn's house probably twenty years or more, until the society grew strong enough to erect a hewed-log church about 1845. One of the sons, Ira W. Gunn, gave the land upon which the building was erected. Among the pioneers who formed this class at Mr. Gunn's were William Bailey and wife, Thomas Smith and wife, Joseph Decker and wife, Wil- liam Carter and wife, Philip Smith and wife, Samuel Smith, and a number of the young peo- ple of the neighborhood. Nearly or quite every- body attended this church, whether members or not, for many miles around. William Penning- ton and Edward McKown came over occasion- ally from Lanesville in an early day, and preached for this class.
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