Clark County, Indiana - Chapter 4: Organization of Clark County, 1909

Chapter 4: Organization of Clark County

William Henry Harrison, the first Territorial Governor of the Territory of Indiana, created Clark county by gubernatorial proclamation February 3, 1801. Emigrants had begun to settle at man}- points along the Ohio river, and for the convenience of these settlers it became necessary to establish a new county by cutting off a portion of Knox county. Clark county was the first to be created out of the territory included within the original limits of Knox, so that she has the proud distinction of belonging to the second generation of Indiana counties. Knox county was organized June 20, 1790, by proclamation of General Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory. This county not only included all of what is now Clark county, but nearly all of what is now Indiana. The new county which was to bear the name of the illustrious George Rogers Clark was a state in itself. The proclamation creating Clark county was dated February 3, 1801, and the description of the tract is as follows : Beginning on the Ohio at the mouth of Blue river, now the boundary line between Harrison and Crawford counties, up the said river to where the trail leading from Vincennes to the Ohio Falls crosses said river: thence by direct route to the nearest point on (the east fork) W'hite river: thence up said river to the branch thereof which runs towards Fort Recoxery. and from the head springs of said branch to Fort Recovery : thence along- the boundary line between Indiana Territory and the Northwest Territory, south to the Ohio river: thence down said river to the place of beginning. It may be difficult to trace these lines at the present day, but the point on Blue river where the line left the stream was about where the town of Fredericksburg is located in the southern part of Washington county. The line runs almostnorth througli the entire leng-th of Washington county until it strikes the east fork of the \\'hite river. This stream is followed in a northeastwardly direction through Jackson, Bartholomew, Shelby, Rush and Henry counties. The line runs from a point at the head springs of this stream in a straight line noi-theastwardly through Randolph and Jay counties to Fort Recovery, which is situated just across the Ohio state line, about opposite the center of Jay county. The line returns to the Ohio river at the mouth of the Kentucky river and thence down the Ohio to the point of beginning. Here indeed was a niag- nificent scope of territtjry. It included either in whole or part the followingcounties : Harrison, Floyd, Clark, Washington, Jackson, Scott, Jefferson, Jennings, Ripley, Decatur, Franklin, Bartholomew, Shelby, Rush, Favette, Lnion, Henry. Randolph. Wayne and possibly part of Ja}- and Switzerland counties.

\o other name could ha\-e been applied to this noble tract of land which included within its bounds n(jt onl}- the town of Clarksx'ille, but also the grant of land given to General Clark, his officers and men by the state of Virginia, January 2, 1781.

At this early day there were l)Ut few families residing in the wilderness which is now embraced in the bounds of Clark count}-. One fan-iily resided at the present site of Charlestown - a few more south and southeast of here, and a few more six miles east at a place called "Armstrong's Station."

Clark county at its creation embraced about one-fifth of the present area of the state of Indiana. It would have been appropriate if Clarksville could have been chosen as the countyseat. but geographical considerations had to be temembered, so the town of Spring\-ille was selected April 7. 1801, as the new seat of justice.

Springville was a rising- and prosperous little town, about four miles from the river, and about one mile southwest of Charlestown. As early as 1799 a Frenchi-nan kept a store at the place where Springville was afterwards located. C'nc of the priiicipal traders was a man named Tulh-, and for this reason the Indians called the place Titllytown. The town of Springville was platted about the year 1800 and in 1802 it was a thri\-ing little village of probablv one hundred bona fide inhabitants. It was on the old Indian trail from the falls of the Ohio to the Indian nations of the north, west and east. Being the first camping station north of the falls, it naturally prospered. It was laid off aln-iost wholly on survey No. 115 of Clark's Grant. (See plat.) The streets running north and south were seventy feet wide and those running east and west were one hundred feet wide. The lots were one hundred feet front and two hundred feet deep. In 1801 the prospects of the little town were brightest. There were twc) taverns, one kept by John Ferguson and the other by Nicholas Harrison, who also had a store. The latter was also a Justice of the Peace. There was a blacksmith shop, a wheelwright shop, a hatter shop, etc. Old Dr. Vale was the physician, E\-en Shelby county surveyor, etc. Near by a still house operated. A short distance west lived Jonathan Jennings, the first Governor of Indiana. Just below the towii on Pleasant run John Bottorff carried on the milling business. The location of the still houses and trading posts made Spring\-ille a great rendezvous for Indians, and this, together with its location on the trail, made it a very prosperous village for those days.

insolence of the Indians, who had traded and bartered at Tuhytown. Here the red men were swindled out of their skins, venison and bear meat by the villainy of the Frenchmen and the small price which they received for their goods was usually invested in whisky, ruinous to themselves and dangerous to the settlers. They would generally get no further from Springville on their way homeward than where Charlestown is now situated, and their drunken revels would make night hideous and usually resulted in bloodshed.

Springville and vicinity was at this time the only purely American settlement in Indiana ofT of the river, although there were Americans scattered all through the French settlements elsewhere.

After the county seat was removed to Jefferscmville, June 9, 1802, the town began to dwindle away until within a few years it had wholly disappeared. Not a vestige of it now i-emains to tell the curious where it stood, and where once was heard the sound of simple industry, where once the leading men of early days met to transact the necessary business of the courts, nothing remains but a rural scene, a winding country road and the song of birds above the growing crops.

On April 7, 1801, the first court in Clark county was held at Springville. It was named the Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, and it was created by the Governor, William Henry Harrison. It was composed of Justices Marston, Green Clark. Abraham Huff, James Noble Wood, Thomas Downs. William Goodwin, John Gibson, Charles Tuley and William Harwood. The men composing this court were the leading citizens of the county at the time, and nearly all have left their mark upon some phase of our early history.

The first and most important work of the court was to divide the county into townships, so that the administration of justice might begin an active operation. The boundaries of the three townships of Clarksville, Springville and Spring Hill, into whicli the county was divided, were given as follows:

The first to begin on the Ohio, opposite the mouth of Blue river ; thence up the Ohio to the mouth of Peter McDaniel's spring branch ; from thence in direct course to Pleasant run, the branch on which Joseph Bartholomew lives, and down that branch to the mouth thereof: thence down Pleasant run to where the same enters into Silver creek : thence a due west course to the western boundary of this county; to be called and kmiwn by the name of Clarksville township.

The second to begin at the mouth of Peter ^McDaniel's spring branch : thence up the Ohio to the mouth of Fourteen ^lile creek: thence up the main branch thereof to the head : and from thence a due west course to the county line, and from thence with the same to Clarksville township, and with the line thereof to the Ohio at the place of beginning: to be called and known by the name of Springville townsliip.

Baird S History Of Clark Co., Ind

the line of Springville township to the county Hne ; thence with the same to the Ohio river ; and thence clown the same, to incUide the remaining part of the county, to the place of beginning; to be called and kn(iwn by the name of Spring Hill township.

From these three original townships the number has grown to twelve. Jeffersonville, Utica, Charlestown, Owen and Bethlehem townships Ijnrder upon the river; Union is in the center: Carr and Silver Creek are on the west; Monroe and Wood are on the north and northw'est ; Washington and Oregon are in the northeast.

The first "constables of the county" were Charles Floyd for Clarksville township, William F. Tulev for Springville and Robert Wardel for Spring Hill.

The court transacted a great amount of business and appointed all the necessary officers for the county. Samuel Gwathmey w'as appointed Prothonotary Clerk of the several courts : Jesse Rowland, Judge of Probate ; Davis Floyd, Recorder: Thomas Douns, Treasurer; Marston G. Clark, Surveyor; Samuel Hay, Sheriff: Peter McDonald, Coroner.

On December 24, 1S03, Davis Floyd and John Owens were appointed and commissioned pilots on the Falls. Augtist 14, 1802, the court ordered the first jail built at Jeffersonville. It was built by William Goodwin, with Davis Floyd on his bond of nine hundred dollars.

This was a most vigorous beginning for the young county, but the removal of the county seat to Jeffersonville sounded taps to Springville's hopes as well as reveille to the ambition of the little villag'e on the banks of the Ohio. However, Spring\'ille remained a village as late as 1810.

Jeffersonville had grown to be a scattering border of houses and stores along the river front, extending up from old Fort Steuben. On June 23, 1802, Isaac Bowman, who owned tract No. i of Clark's Grant, disposed of part of it to Marston Green Clark, William Goodwin, Richard Pile, Davis Floyd and Samuel Gwathmey as trustees to lay off a town and sell lots. The tract contained one hundred and fifty acres and John Gwathmey laid it off according to a design said to have been devised by Thomas Jefferson, for whom the town was named. The original plan resembled a checker-board ; the black squares to be sold in lots, the red squares to be crossed diagonally by streets, leaving four triangular spaces for parks in each square through which the streets passed. This design was not adhered to, and the present plan was adopted in 1817. The boundaries of the original town of Jeffersonville are as follows: Beginning at a point on the north bank of the Ohio river at low-water mark, eighty-eight feet west of the west line of Fort street ; thence parallel with the w^est line of Fort street to a point on Ohio avenue fifty feet south of the south line of Court avenue ; thence with a line parallel to the south line of Court avenue and fifty feet from it to the west line of Watt street ; thence with the west line of ^^'att street to a point on the north hank of the Ohio river a lowwater mark; thence with the meanderings of the north bank at low-water mark to the beginning; containing about one hundred and fiftj' acres.

About this time settlements began to be made in Bethlehem township, and the Flaskets. Rodgers, Giltners. Hamiltons, Kellys, Thislers, Abbotts and Simingtons began to improve their new farms. Jacob Giltner, Sr., came from Kentucky to Clark county about 1808, but was born in Pennsylvania in 1767. His wife, Elizabeth Donagan, was from Lancaster county, of the same date. When the family came to Clark county there were four in the household - two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, and Mr. and Mrs. Giltner.

Jacob Giltner bought three quarter sections of land at the land office in Jeffersonville. For many years after becoming a resident of the township he ran a distillery in connection with farming. By trade he was a linen stamper, when goods were made of that kind by the pioneers. During the War of 1812 he was drafted, but on account of a physical disability was exempted. He was a member of the Lutheran church, and died in 1859. Mrs. Giltner died a few months after her husband, in the same year.

^^'illiam Kell)', Sr., was born in Virginia, but was taken to Kentucky by his parents when a child, and came to Clark county in 1806. He married Margaret Kelly, who bore him thirteen children, four dying in infancy, the remaining nine growing up to maturity. He located one mile and a half northwest of Bethlehem village, before the land was suiweyed. ^^llen the survevs were completed he attended the public sale in Jeffersonville in 1S09, but previously had made no clearing", on account of the uncertainty of g^etting the land desired. He bought two quarter sections, and began the work of improvement. He died June 27, 1837. Mrs. Kelly died September 13. 1854.

W^illiam Kelly. Jr.. was born August 12. 1812. and married Elizabeth Starr, whose maiden name was Hammond. May 4, 1858. There are but few of the Kelly's left in the county.

William, son of Archibald and Sarah Hamilton, was born near Frankfort, Kentucky, October 10, 1790. WHien twenty-two years of age he emigrated with his mother and two sisters to Bethlehem township, landing at the mouth of Knob creek March 25. 1812. The Ohio river at that time made landing easy by the backwater up these small streams. He immediately opened a tanner}' on one of the branches of Knob creek, which he ran till his death in 1845. His son, John T., continued in the business of his father up to 1865, when the old tannery was abandoned for more lucrative employment. \\'illiam Hamilton married Margaret Byers (who was born near McBride's IMill, Woodford county, Kentucky, April 4, 1795, and who came to Jefferson county, Lidiana, in 1816), October 30, 1821. Mrs. Hamilton died May 9, 1875, near Otto.

Robert Simington was a settler and an owner of land in the township in 1805, though his claim was subject to dispute after the public sales in 1809.

Baird S History Of Clark Co., Ind. 5I

He owned seven hundred and fifty acres in fractional sections 2i2 and 33. Simington left in 1817, after selling most of his property, and settled one mile beyond Hanover, in Jefferson county, Indiana, where he died in 1849.

The Abbotts were among the first men of their day. considered in the light of sportsmen. John Abbott was the ancestor of the Abbotts in this county, and from him descended many of the same name.

All these men, with their wives and families, took an active part in preparing the way for future generations; and to their credit it can be truly said, they did their work well. Let us see that posterity shall improve on the past.

The first settler in Monroe township was Robert Biggs, who came here in 1806 from Kentucky. He settled on Biggs's fork of Silver creek. Biggs lived and died in sight of Henryville. He took much pleasure in hunting, and was considered a superior marksman.

Joseph Miller settled in sight of Henryville about 1806. or, what is more probable, a year or two afterwards; for Robert Bigg-s must have married one of his daughters. Miller was from Kentuck\- : his family consisted mostly of daughters, the onlv son dying many 3'ears since, and of course the family name is now extinct. He died about 1830.

Nicholas Crist, a brother-in-law of Abner Biggs, settled about one mile west of Henry\'ille in 1808 or 1810. He was bom in Pennsylvania, but came here from Kentucky. He married a daughter of Robert Biggs. Crist removed to Clay county. Indiana, in 1830 or 1831, and died at"^n extreme old age. '

Zebulon Collins, who was no doubt a brother of the famous scout and hunter, \A'illiam Collins, settled a year or two before the Pigeon Roost massacre one mile and a half east of Henryville. Here he beg'an to operate a still house, and finally a way tavern on the Charlestown and Brownstown road. During a part of his life he was chosen as a justice of the peace. It was at his tavern that the first polls were opened in the township, and from this fact the township derived its first name, that of Collins. The township was abolished afterwards and the territory was taken into other townships. It was here tliat a company of soldiers was stationed in 1813 when Mr. Huffman was killed by the Indians, to protect the frontier. Collins was originally from Pennsylvania.

Among the later settlers who came after Indiana was admitted as a state were James Allen and David McBride, brothers-in-law, from Pennsylvania. Juda Hemming", who emigrated from Kentucky, and Islam McCloud, of South Carolina, were the only early settlers in the township in the extreme south side.

The most prominent family in the extreme west was that of Lawrence Kelly, who came from Pennsylvania, and was here as early as 1810. His sons were Hugh, John, Abram, William and Davis, who lived, in the township till their deaths. Martha Kelly married John Lewis, Sr., of Monroe township. Another daughter married William Blakely, a Virginian, Ijut here from Kentucky. One of the daughters married William Patrick, whose descendants are ciuite numerous in the county at this time.

On the west side of the township, near the Oregon line, AN'illiam Beckett, of Pennsylvania, settled about 1810. His family was very large, and consisted mainly of sons. He died many years ago. There are now but few of the family, with their descendants, in this section.

During the years when the other townships were tilling up with settlers rapidly, Monroe was left uut in the cold. There were no early permanent settlers between Henryville and the Pigeon Roost settlement.

A\^illiam E. Collins, by birth a Pennsylvanian, was one of the first white men in the neighborhood of the northwestern corner of the township. He came secondarily from the interior of Kentucky, whither he had gone from Louisville in quest of game. Learning that game was abundant in this region - the Pigeon Roost ground - he came hither. His son Henry met hf"s' death from the hands of the Indians. Kearns, one of the oldest sons of the family, settled near the old battleground in 1813, where he resided until his death.

Seymour Guernsey was born in Connecticut, and emigrated to Utica township, Clark county, in 18 17. From Olean Point, on the Ohio river, about one hundred and fifty miles above Pittsburg, the family took passage in a boat, on which they made the entire trip to their place of landing. ]\Iehetabel Beardsley. his wife, was born in New Haven. Connecticut, and bore him before arriving here two sons - Burritt and Seymour - and one daughter - ]\Ialinda Ann. After remaining in the vicinity of LTica for one year and raising a crop he removed to Alonroe township, where he and his wife died. The marriage produced four sons and two daughters.

One of the most prominent families in this township is the W'illey family. Barzillai Willey was a soldier of the Revolution, and was born in Xew York, and came to Cincinnati in 1808 from Utica, in that state. All the land below the city at that time belonged to the Harrisons and Sedams. After remaining here for two years, accumnlating a boatload of produce, he started for Xew Orleans. Arriving at the Falls of the Ohio, he found them impassable, and anchored on the west side. After waiting here some time for the river to rise, and having his merchandise damaged considerably by the cold weather, he sold his load to the best advantage possible and made Jeffersonville his home for one year. In 181 1 he moved to Monroe township and settled near Memphis; but at that time there was no such township as Union in the county. After a life of much hardship and ripe experience, he died at the residence of his son, J. F. A\"illey, in the township of Utica, n 1854.

Colonel John Fletcher Willey, the son of Barzillai Willey, was one of the foremost Union men in Southern Indiana during the war of the Rebellion.

In Oregon township the Henthorns, who settled in the vicinity of New Market, came from Virginia. Robert Henthorn, the founder of the village, was a prominent man in the affairs of his time.

The Coverts came from Pennsylvania in 1798 and settled near the old site of mill. The family was composed of Bergen. Daniel. Peter and John Covert.

In 181 7 James A. \\'atson came to Clark county and settled on grant No. 59. He moved to Oregon township in 1850, and settled on the bottoms of Poke run.

One of the early and most prominent families in Oregon was the Henlys. They rose to occupy some of the highest positions in the gift of the people. Thomas J. Henly represented the third district of Indiana in congress for two or three terms. In 1842 he and Joseph L. \Miite fought a hard battle for congressional honors. This district being overwhelmingly Democratic, it was almost impossible for a Whig to secure a prominent office. White lost the election and Henly went to congress.

In the northwest corner of O.regon township the early settlers were made up of John Taflinger and family, John Todd and family, Alexander McClure and James Beckett, with their wives and families. Many of their descendants are now living in this part of the township, well-to-do farmers and artisans.

In Silver Creek township the Poindexter family was quite an early one. C. S. Poindexter. a native of Virginia, was born in 1797. and came to New Albany with his father's family at an early age. After remaining in New Albany for a short time, he removed to the vicinity of Sellersburg. where he had previously bought a tract of land from Absalom Littell. Nancy (Holland) Poindexter, his wife, was bom in Virginia and died in Sellersburg in 1854, at an advanced age. By this marriage were born seven children, five sons and two daughters.

An early statistician says there were five hundred voters in Clark county in 1840 by the name of Bottorff. John Bottorff was the father of twenty-six children. They were long^-lived people, and from them descended a numerous posterity, who now live in nearly every state in the Union.

In 1794 James Noble Wood and his wife settled in Utica township on the present site of Utica. He established the first feny there in 1795. He. was the foremost man in the township in early days, and had a reputation of being a great hunter. Wood made three trips to New Orleans, the first in 1805, when the whole countiy from Louisville to Natchez was an unbroken wilderness. On retvtrning he walked through the countrj' of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. The second trip was made in 1806, and the third in 1807. James Noble W'ood was present when most of the treaties were made with the Indians at Vincennes. He saw Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet (Tuthnipe), and the chief Meshecanongue. In 1805 he met Aaron Burr at Jeffersonville, and with him was much pleased.

Judge W^ood's character is evidenced by the active part he took in the affairs of his time. He died near Utica, March 25, 1826. He was a fine historian, a faithful citizen, a devoted husband, and withal a man of many excellent parts. Margaret Wood was of fine physique and veiy handsome. She had musical talents of no ordinary degree ; she was also a fine swimmer. Her heart seemed to overflow with kindness and generosity, and in the world she had no enemies.

BaaiJLR. Prathej, the father of all the Prathers in the township, came here from North Carolina in 1801. His sons - Thomas, William, Walter, Basil R., Jr., Judge Samuel, Lloyd, John and Simon - were all married when they came here, except the last named. They settled throughout the township, and formed a class of men possessed of many admirable qualities.

Jeremiah Jacobs came here with his family from North Carolina in 1800, and settled near the old fort. His family was large, and its increase steady. A goodly number of his descendants are now living in this vicinity, respected and hospitable citizens.

In the fall of 1802 Matthew Crum, from Virginia, settled within onehalf mile of the Union Methodist Episcopal church. He married his wife. Miss Margaret Spangler, near Louisville in 1800. who bore him one child, William S., born October 28, 1801, before coming to this township. The marriage of Matthew Crum and ^Margaret Spangler resulted in a family of ten sons and two daughters.

Hezekiah Robertson was born in Alaryland, and came with his father's family to this township when fifteen years of age. In the family there were six brothers and two sisters. They immediately began the work of clearing, living here the most of their lives.

In the year 1802 John and Elizabeth Schwartz came from Pennsylvania with a family of four children and settled five and a half miles above Jeftersonville. His vocation was farming. In Indian wars he took an active part, but on account of his age did no fighting. His death was caused by an accident in June, 1824. Mrs. Schwartz lived to be over seventy years of age.

The Bottorfifs settled in Utica township about the year 1S15. In all affairs of the township they took a prominent part, and are now among the substantial people of the- county.

There' is no record of the first permanent settlement in Wood township. Whether George Wood was the first white man who settled in the township we cannot say ; but it is quite certain he was among the first. Wood emigrated north in 1802 and settled near Charlestown, where lie resided till 1807. He then removed to the Muddy Fork valley and settled for life one and a half miles below where New Providence was afterwards located. George \\ ood was a native of South Carolina: he died ten or twelve years after removing to this township.

After Wood came John and Robert Burge, James Smith. Matthew Barnaby. jMoses Harman. Elijah Harnian, James \\'arman and Sjmon Akers. To protect themselves from the savages a block house was erected on George Wood's farm in 1808. After this means of defense became generally known. John Giles, Jonathan Carr and Samuel Harrod came, accompanied by their families. In 18 10 John McKinley, of Shelby county, Kentucky, settled in the same valley: in 181 1 Samuel Packwood came from Shenandoah county, Virginia. The Burges, Harmans. Smith and Barnaby emigrated from North Carolina; Giles and Akers were from Kentucky: likewise W'arman and a man named Frederick Gore and others. Carr and Harrod were from Pennsylvania. Harrod had two sons, W'illiam and Henry. The former was by trade a miller, and for many years owned a notable mill on Silver creek. Henry for several years was Clerk of Clark county.

In 1813 came James McKinley, brother of John, whose name we have already mentioned. William Packwood, brother of Samuel, came in 1819. These were the parents and grandparents of many sons and daughters now in this region, and well known far and near.

brother Jesse, Micaiah Burns, Thompson Littell, \\illiam Kelly. Michael Borders, Christopher Morris. \\'illiam Gibson. James Johnson and brother Lancelot. James Brown (who came from North Carolina in 1824 at six years of age and settled in the Silver creek valley with his father's family). John Bell, George Brock, Isaac Baggerly. Cyras Bradford, George Goss and his brother David, John Goss, Matthew W'est, Thomas Halow, mostly from^ the south. Robertson was from Virginia, and the Bakers from South Carolina: Bums was from Vermont ; Littell and Bradford were from New York state : the remaining ones whose names have been mentioned were from North Carolina.

Among other earlv families in the county can be mentioned the Absalom Little faniilv. near Sellersburg : James. John and Charles Beggs. near Charlestown ; John and David Owens, near Charlestown : the Pettitt family, near Solon ; Nathan Robertson, near Charlestown ; the Hay family and Parson Todd's familv, near Charlestown ; Henry Bottorff, James Garner. David Lutz and Mathias Hester, near Charlestown ; Amos Goodwin, near L'tica. and the Amicks, Cortners and Clapps. in Oregon township. The customs of these earlv people was simplicity and plainness of dress and address. Their lack of wealth prevented the introduction of superfluity, and their dependence upon each other seemed to endear them in their several associations.

During the first decade of Clark county history the settlements along the river at Bethlehem, Utica, Jefifersonville and Clarksville, and those back at Charlestown, Springville and New Providence, were the only ones in the county where more than three or four families had congregated. Charlestown w^as then the second town in the county, a population of probably four hundred people, in and near the place.

The land at this time was covered with an almost unbroken forest and with canebrakes of vast extent. Game was unlimited, and the settlers had only to venture into the forest to obtain an ample supply. The presence of a salt lick attracted the denizens of the forest, and the fox, the panther, the catamount, the wildcat, the bear, the black and gray wolf and the wild hog made the journey through the forest extremely hazardous. Deer of several kinds, the raccoon, the opossum, the otter and the mink were numerous, while the squirrels in some instances became a pest. Migratory fowls, such as the wild goose, wild ducks, brant and sandhill cranes, were found in profusion, and the forests were enlivened by the brilliant-hued plumage of thousands of paroquets. The wild animals were to be feared next to the Indians, and more than one story testifies to their iferocity when brought to bay or attacked.

James Anderson, who lived on Becket's Fork of Silver creek, shot at two panthers while in the forest a short distance from his cabin, killing one. The other attacked him ferociously and in the melee he lost his gun and his knife. He fell on the beast and manag^ed to get its face down, but Udt until it had terribh' lacerated him. After he had strangled the animal he recovered his rille and killed it. but not until he was about hors de combat from loss of blood.

Up to the year 1800 it was unsafe to venture far from the settlements without weapons. Buffalo' were reported by some of the early pioneers, Bull Creek being so named because a buffalo bull was killed near its mouth by one of the early settlers. One ambitious sportsman of this period declared that he had witnessed the last mastodon crossing the river from Iventucky near Fourteen Mile creek.

As earlv as 1794 a mill had lieen built on the Alill Ivun creek. It is mentioned in a deed recorded in Record Xo. 1 1, pages 188 to igo. This is evidently the earliest mill in the county. In 1800 Spencer Collins built a grist mill on ]\Iuddy Fork, near where the village of Petersburg now stands. It came into the hands of Samuel and Peter Bottarff in 1815. Montgomery's mill, one and three-fourths miles above Petersburg on Elk Run, was about the earliest mill in the northern part of the ctninty. Some time between 1802 and 1804 John Schwartz put up a water mill in Utica ti.iwnship, on Six Mile creek. Straw's mill on Silver creek was put up not long after this date by Rezen Redman. In 1808 George ^^'ood built the first mill in ^^'ood township.

William Pervine was next to John Work in the milling business. He established a mill on Fourteen Mile creek about 1808. He did a big business, but sold cut to a Mr. Walker in 181 5. This mill was finally made into both a grist and saw. mill and tlid many years service. These mills were among the earliest necessities of the settlers and their builders not only reaped their reward from the business, but added to the attractiveness of the countv Iw building them.

In 1803 Samuel Gwathmey built the first frame house in Jeffersonville. Before this time log houses sheltered the seven hundred inhabitants of the village. The first licensed ferry at Jeffersonville was established in 1803 by }ilarston G. Clark. In 1808 a J\Ir. Sullivan established and ran a ferry between Bethlehem and ^^'estport, Kentucky, ^^'ith the early settlers of Clark county the matter of schools and churches was not wholly forgotten. In subsequent chapters both the schools and the various churches will be treated fullv. It is worthy of note here that the first Methodist church in Indiana was built near Charlestown in 1807. and the building, "old Bethel meeting house", built of logs, still stands. The vear 1806 is memorable as the date of the visit and scheeming of Aaron Burr, and his use of the canal project to cover his political designs in the ^^'est. On August 24. 1805. the Territorial Legislature of Indiana, passed an act incorporating the Indiana Canal Company for the pvu'pose of digging a canal around the Falls of the Ohio at Jeffersonville and Clarksville. The incorporators were Aaron Burr. John Brown. George Rogers Clark, Jonathan Dayton. Davis Floyd, Benjamin Hovey, Josiah Stevens, William Croghan, John Gwathmey, John Harrison, Marston G. Clark and Samuel

C. Vance. The project was a most important one for Jeffersonville and Clarksville, and was commented upon by several travelers of that period as the beginning of a period of prosperity and growth. The line as sun^eyed seemed more practical than the one marked oS on the Louisville side of the river. The attempt of Burr, Hovey and others to secure the canal for Indiana led the Kentuckians to tiy their chances, and with governmental aid their project was carried to completion. The inability of the Indiana incorporators to finance their scheme no doubt gave their competitors a great advantage, and the arrest of Burr on a charge of treason in 1807 made the success of the undertaking an impossibility. The estimates of the cost of this canal are amusing.

The total cost was estimated at two hundred and fifty-two thousand six hundred and thirt3r-eight dollars. This included the purchase of two hundred negroes at six hundred dollars each, making a total of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. That amount would be increased by their clothing, subsis- \ tence, loss by desertion and mortality to one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. It was calculated that when the canal was finished the company would have on hand one hundred and eighty negroes valued at five hundred and fifty dollars each, or a total value of ninety-nine thousand dollars. This would reduce the cost of labor to eighty-one thousand dollars. If the plan had succeeded it would have made the country around Jeffersonville, New Albany and Clarksville one great city. Victor W. Lyon and other engineers still ably contend that a canal is a practical possibility on the Indiana side. This proposed canal should start near Six Mile island, and by following the course of Lacasagne creek, a natural channel would be found to connect with Mill Run creek. This creek could be followed to Silver creek and thence across low lands southwestwardly to the lower end of New Alliany. The ambitions of Burr's friends were to have him become a citizen of Indiana and to return him to congress. His trip to Vincennes, under the assumed name of Colonel Burnham, was to see Francis Vigo, who had been very prominent in a previous scheme to have Indiana and Kentucky break oft from the Union and unite with the Spanish provinces west of the Mississippi. An agent was appointed to select several five hundred acre estates for Burr to choose from, one of which was on the Ohio river just above Jeffersonville. The idea of returning him to congress fell through with, but Burr continued to visit some of his adherents in Jeffersonville, and caused several boats to be built there. It was never established that any of his Clark county friends knew of his designs against the Spanish authority either in Texas or Mexico, but the probabilities are that they were privy to his whole scheme. Before the scheme was fully ripe the militia at Jeffersonville, acting on information of his treason, seized the boats that had been built there for him, and Davis Floyd, his host, while visiting the village, was arrested and tried as an accomplice in the crime of his friend.

A Mr. Josiah Espy, who was here in 1805. found Clarksville in the san.ie state of decay which affected Spring\'ille later on, but with not such fatal results. He says, "At the lower end of the Falls is the deserted village of Clarksburgh, in which General Clark himself resides. The general has not taken much pains to improve the commanding and beautiful spot, having only raised a small cabin. While the villages and settlements throughout the country were weak the people themselves, in common with the rest of the territory, were strong in the advocacy of their political beliefs. The sixth article in the Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory. In 1807 the pro-slavery- party had grown strong and were petitioning congress to suspend this article. The anti-slaveiy element became aroused to the danger, and in Clark county a mass meeting was called for October loth, at Springville, to take action on the legislative resolution which the pro-slavery people had been strong enough to put through. There was a large attendance and a general harmony of sentiment. John Beggs was elected chairman and Davis Floyd secretary. A committee composed of Absalom Little, John Owens, Charles Beggs, Robert Robertson and James Beggs was appointed to draw up a- memorial against the Legislature's resolution. James Beggs was evidently the author of the memorial, which after briefly reviewing the histor}' of the slavery controversy in Indiana, proceeds : "And although it is contended by some that at this day there is a great majority in favor of slavery, whilst the opposite opinion is held by others, the fact is certainly doubtful. But when we take into consideration the vast emigration into this territory, and of citizens too decidedly opposed to this measure, we feel satisfied that at all e\'ents Congress will suspend any legislative act on this subject until we shall, by the Constitution, be admitted into the L^nion, and have a right to adopt such a constitution, in this respect, as may comport with the wishes of a majority of the citizens. . . The toleration of slavery is either right or wrong, that it is inconsistent with the principles upon which our future constitution is to be formed, your memorialists will rest satisfied, that, at least, this subject will not be by them taken up until the constitutional number of citizens of this territory shall assume that right." This petition was presented to the senate on November 7, 1807, and was referred to Messrs. Franklin, of North Carolina; Kitchell, of New Jersey, and Tiffin, of Ohio. They reported on the 13th that it was inexpedient to suspend the sixth article, and a resolution to that effect was adopted on the 17th. The house received this same communication on the 6th and referred it, but no action was taken after the report in the senate. It was during the strife over the cjuestion of slavery that there appeared a new champion in the field in the person of Jonathan Jennings. In 1806 Jonathan Jennings emigrated to Indiana, and for a short time stopped in Jeffersonville, but soon after pushed on to Vincennes. He soon afterward returned to Charlestown and adopted that place as his home. His slogan was. "Xo slavery in Indiana," and throughiiut his long and lirilliant career he kept the slavery question to the front. Jonathan Jennings was a man of the people, and owed much of his brilliant success in politics to his peculiar knack of keeping close to them. Anecdotes of his doings were treasured up - how he used to take an axe and "carrv up a corner" of a log house ; how he took a scythe in the field and kept ahead of half a dozen mowers: and other deeds which appealed to the hearts of the men aniDng whom he was campaigning. He was the political sage of Southern Indiana, and his home the mecca of many aspiring politicians, who sought his advice on public cjuestions. Clark county has produced no more brilliant character. His incorruptible integrity, his refusal to bow to political expediency, his hospitality, his thorough understanding of the lives and needs of the people, and his firmness of character place him in the front rank among Indiana's great men. Clark county had the honor to furnish both candidates in the first campaign for governor in the new state.

Thomas Posey, the territorial governor, and pro-slavery standard bearer, was a resident of Jeffersonville, as Jennings was a resident of Springville.

In the year 1808 a new town was laid off a short distance north of Springville. The original proprietors were Barzillai Baker and James IMcCampbell. John Hay and Charles Beggs were the surveyors, and the town, like many other places, derived its name, Charlestown, from one of its surveyors. What induced the founders to lay ofif a new town back in the woods, as it was then situated, will never become kno\\n. Charlestown is situated upon grant number 1 17. and in the original plat there were one hundred and fifty-nine lots and about ninety-five acres of land. The lots were eighty by two hundred feet, and the founders of the town donated the proceeds of the sale of thirty lots for ])ul)lic buildings. In the central part of the new town a plat of aliout three acres was reserved for a public square.

The excellent location for a town, and the decadence of Spring\-ille were both a help to Charlestown, and the original town was enlarged from time to time. The first addition lay north of Thompson street and comprised abi ait thirteen acres. James Ross added forty-two acres, and James INIcCampliell twenty-nine acres some time afterwards. John Naylor added twelve acres. Barzilla Baker added twenty-eight acres and James Gamer six acres. Charlestown now contains nearly three hundred acres.

The early milling history of Charlestown township is without a parallel in Tniliana history, and this honor belongs to John W^ork. He settled near Charlestown, on Fourteen Mile creek, in 1804. and found a mill already in operation on the one hundred acres which he purchased from John and James Bate. Mr. \\'ork operated the mill until bis conception of the tunnel project in 1814. He was a man of great mechanical and mathematical talents.

First State Governor From A Mixiatcre Owxed By Mr. Willis Barnes

and the calculations and actual work which he performed stamp him as a genius. His old mill was discontinued and a new one erected. The new mill was begun in 1814 and will be described in a subsequent chapter. Among the early families who settled in Clark county in the first decade of her history besides those mentioned previously were Jonathan Jennings, in Charlestown ; the Yarborough family in Jeffersonville ; the Wood, Burge, Smith, Barnaby, Harman, ^^'arman, Akers, Giles, Carr and Herrod families in Wood township: the Adams and other families in Washington township ; the Slider, Warman and other families in Carr township ; the Hutchings and other families in Owen township; the Crist, Cams, Connel. Becket and other families in ^Monroe township. With the ad\-ent of settlers still-houses began to appear, and from their number it seemed as if they were thought as necessary as mills. In Bethlehem township Joseph Jones, Jacob Giltner and George Sage distilled the juice of the corn. In Carr. Charles Goatman ; in Charlestown, Jonathan Jennings and others: in INIonroe. Zebulon Collins: in Owen, Mr. Levi, a Mr. Needham and Samuel Struseman : in Utica, Samuel Pratlier: in Washington, Jacob Bear, Fitch. Helterbridle. Samuel Montgomery and William Fisher: in fact the distillation of whisky and brandy seemed to be among the first undertakings of the pioneers. Xearly every farmer had something to do with the manufacture of spirits, yet strange to say, there is no record of much drunkenness. Keeley cures were unknown, and the chief executive of the state saw nothing in the widespread manufacture of "John Barleycorn" to excite his wrath. Barrels of whisky with the heads kn(icked in were the usual thing at liberal public gatherings, but, as one writer says. "It was not such whisky as we get now." It is a matter of pride to the people of the county now that there is not a brewery nor distillery within our boundary. Januar}- i, igo6, there were one hundred and sixteen saloons in the county, drawing their heavy supplies of beverages from outside sources. The end of the first decade of Clark county history finds little of the land cultivated and the people still primitive and simple. The dangers which they faced in beast and savage foe remained, and the second decade was to be ushered in with a massacre as brutal as that of the valley of the \\')X)ming in 1778.