Dubois County, Indiana - Chapter 1: The Origin of Dubois County, 1910

When the first year of the nineteenth century rolled around, what is now within the confines of Dubois county was practically one unbroken wilderness. White river quietly carried its clear waters down past the beatitiful sycamores, the white armed daughters of the primeval forest, that grew in grandeur below the site of Portersville and dipped their umbrella shaped leaves far across the water to drink in nourishment. The osprey fished on the

Patoka, still slow and sluggish, was then always bank full, the slowest and sleepiest stream in Indiana. Sycamore, maple, birch, elm, beech, and willow exerted themselves, gracefully bowing their heads across the .stream to shut out the rays of a mid-day sun and protect the flight of the wild heron on its mission up the stream. "Buffalo Pond," "Duck Pond," and other ponds, without name, swelled with original prominence, occupied twice, yes, thrice, their present space, while salamanders, frogs, watersnakes, aquatic insects, and marsh plants held their own with native sati.sfaction and contentment. The jolly, red-headed woodpecker and the noisy blue-jay, from the tree-tops on the hill-sides, vied with each other to break the quietness of the scene.

Bruin slept unmolested in his wallows ii. Vowell cave ; the bald eagle reared its young on Pond Ridge, south of the present site of Birdseye, while the mountain laurel grew in luxury on rocky ridges of the watershed. Nolan spring spent its crystal waters to slake the thirst of the Piankishaw Indian as he wooed his dusky mate, on his return from Saltpeter cave. With a confidence born of past experience, the wald cat slept with her young in the crevices of Wild Cat rock. The ravens built their rude and unsightlv nests in Raven rock and fed upon the wild bunnies ot the Columbian hills. Along Hall creek in Marion township, wild hogs ted upon the masts, and killed and ate rattlesnakes and copperheads. The finest poplar trees that grew in Indiana graced the hillsides, and furnished nesting places for the eagle and store-room for the wild bee.

Turkeys, bob-whites, and pheasants were wild and fancy tree m the stunted black-jacks and barren tracts of the Hurricane's wake in Jefferson townshiD. Immense white oaks, the monarchs of the forest, grew in strength and beauty, where now stands the city of Huntingburg. Elks, deer, "and panthers idled away their time on the site of Jasper, while the otter, wild cat, weasel, and Canadian porcupine felt secure along the banks of the Anderson. MoUusks, mussels, and other crustaceous things lived about Frog island and explored the stony ledges at its base, while squirrels jumped from limb to limb of the over-hanging forest trees, or fed upon the wild mulberry that grew across the valley. Ducks, geese, snipes, and plovers lived, unmolested, about the ponds, swamps, and streams of Madison township, while the beaver, with its natural inclinations and tendencies, built, at its leisure, immense beaver dams near Shiloh. Wolves howled and fought in Harbison township, and bears remained there until the cotton grew in the fields along White river. Buffaloes strayed from their beaten path and fed upon the tall grass that graced the borders of "Buffalo Pond." Marsh wrens, swamp sparrows, redwinged blackbirds, cranes, and aquatic fowls of various descriptions flew, on idle wing, or waded with indifferent care m Pigeon creek The shy gray fox lived in peace and happiness on the site of Ferdinand, while the opossum and raccoon reared their young along the banks of Flat creek. Diana would have been happy here.

There were no white men in the lands. The streams, which made no noise and left no trail, were the only safe way to enter the wilderness of; Dubois county, except the "Buffalo Trace." The county slept in all its original grandeur, a diamond in the wilderness, unowned, unsung, and uninhabited by white men - a picture never to be seen again. But why waste words? Calliope, herself, could not do the picture justice.

With a forest containing a fortune for all, if cared for, this "wild mother of ours," awaited the coming of the McDonalds. In 1801, they came, they saw, they conquered, and to-day Dubois county asks favors of none.

That mysterious "call of the wild" took possession of the McDonalds in Kentucky. It would hear of no answer but gratification ; it acknowledged no result but success. Indiana was "the wild," the "Buffalo Trace"

The "Buffalo Trace," now almo.st obliterated, was such an important factor in the settlement, not only of Dubois county, but of other counties m southern Indiana, that it deserves more than a passing notice

Why the buffalo is seen upon the seal of the state of Indiana is easily understood when one recalls that buffaloes ranged in countless numbers in Indiana. They made several paths through the state. One passed tlirough Dubois county. Of this one we shall write. The old "Buffalo Trace" was so important in pioneer days that William Rector was employed to make a survey of the east end of it, which he did in July, 1805 The old trace from the prairies in Illinois to the blue grass regions of Kentucky crossed White river at Decker's ferry, north-west of Petersburg, entered Dubois county near the Miley school-house, passed Fort McDonald went on south of Haysville, thence east, near I^udlow school-house, to Union valley, and entered Orange county within a hundred yards of the Southern railroad track m Columbia township. It pa.ssed near French Lick and Paoh. In Dubois county the trace practically paralleled what is now called Base Line." Milburn's spring, in Columbia township, and Fort McDonald, in Boone township, were camping grounds along this trace. This old "Buffalo Trace" is also known as the "Mud Holes," "Governor's Trace," "Kentucky Road," "Louisville Trace," and "Vincennes Trace," but the primary cause of the trail was the wild buffalo. Its trail was always near water or->wet places.

The buffalo wallows along this trace caused it to be called, bv some, the "Mud Hole" trace. To-day a small branch of Mill creek bears the name "Mud Hole" creek. Gen. Harrison changed the trace in some places, in 1801, and it is sometimes referred to as the "Governor's Trace." On one of his trips over this trace. Gen. Harrison lost his gold watch, which was found some years later.

David Sandford, the government surveyor, who surveyed town one, south, range five, west, in Dubois county, in 1805, located the "Mud-Holes" at about one hundred rods east of the northwest corner of section three, that is, south of where Fort McDonald stood, and near Sherritt's graveyard'. In iSoi, a traveler along the "Buffalo Trace," through what is now Dubois county, would have noticed here and there big circular patches, where the grass was greener, thicker, and higher than anywhere else around. Those curious circles of superior grass were due to a cause that will never be seen again. They were the existing reminders of the buffalo days. Those rank and verdant patches of grass marked spots where the once common buffalo wallows were familiar and often welcome landmarks in the forest. Where a little stagnant water had collected, the ground being soft under the short grass, it was an easj- matter for the buffalo to make a mud puddle in which to cool himself.

To accomplish this, a male buffalo - always a male that made the wallow - would drop on one knee, plunge his horn, and at last his head into the earth, and make an excavation into which the water slowly filtered. Then, throwing himself on his side as flat as he could, he rolled vigorously around, ripping up the ground with his horns and hump, sinking himself deeper and deeper, and gouging his wallow out larger, until it was of dimensions to suit his purpose. The excavation would graduall}- fill with water until the buffalo was entirel}^ immersed, the water and mud, mixed to the consistency of mortar, covering him from his head to the tip of his tail.

A buffalo wallow was usually about twelve feet in diameter, and from two to three feet deep, and a male buffalo would complete one in half an hour. Sometimes there would be fifty or a hundred waiting for the leader to get through with his bath so they could have a chance at it. He usually took his time wallowing in the mud hole. When it suited him to come out, a frightful looking monster, dripping thick with ooze from his huge body, the male that had won the right to be next in rank entered the wallow for his bath.

Over the "Buffalo Trace," through Dubois county, many thousands of buffaloes passed annually. They crossed the Ohio river at the Falls. From the Ohio river to "Big Bone Lick," and the "Blue Licks," in Kentucky, these animals had beaten a path wide enough for a wagon road. In Dubois county the buffalo's presence was only transient. He was seen going or coming, and then not later than 1808. Toward the close of the eighteenth century a very cold winter, continuing several months, froz^ all vegetable growth, starved the noble animals, and the herds never regained their loss.

Their path made it easier for pioneers to travel in the forests, and accounts for the settlements in this county first appearing in the northern part. Notice that the first white man's path into the county, on foot, was not paralleled by rail until more than one hundred years had passed away. The "Buffalo Trace" was trodden from time almost immemorial. In turn the buffalo, Indians, "le coureur de bois," priests, French salt hunters, pioneers, soldiers, settlers, governors and mail-carriers trod its weary way Over this "Buffalo Trace" the government mails, in Dubois county, were first carried. The first mail over it was carried on foot, by Mathias Mounts. George Teverbough, a noted pioneer hunter, also carried mail on foot over this trace once a week. One week he traveled from Louisville to Vincennes and reversed his steps the next week. Lieutenants of the "Shawnee Prophet" "trod the Buffalo Trace," before 181 1, inciting the Piankishaw Indians against the whites. Pike count}', as well as Dubois county, was I first settled along this trace. Pike county at "White Oak Springs" and Dubois county at Sherritt's graveyard.

Hosea Smith was a prominent pioneer along this trace. He was born in North Carolina, and came to Pike county as a pioneer and laid out a town at "White Oak Springs." Here, in 181 1, he was postmaster. Hosea Smith was count\- survej^or of Pike county for thirty years and has the distinction of having laid out three "county towns," Petersburg, 1817; Portersville, 1818: and Jasper, in 1830. He w^as also a justice of the peace, merchant, and farmer. In those days a surveyor was an important factor in county affairs. Near this trace, in Pike county, Samuel Pride and Hosea Smith built a fort, in 1787, which protected the white settlers from the Indians, who, at times, were troublesome. It is related that once when the garrison at the fort was at the point of abandoning it, Mrs. Hosea Smith saved the life of a child of the Indian chief by preventing the white guards from shooting it. She carried the child into the fort. The next day a treaty of peace was made.

In the organization of Pike county, on the second Monday of Februarv, 1817, the commissioners named in the act convened, as the law required, at the home of Hosea Smith, and proceeded to discharge their duties. The law also provided that all the courts were to be "holden at the house of said Hosea Smith" until the court house of Pike county was constructed.

The hidiana Gazette, the first newspaper published in Indiana, bears date of July 4, 1804. In 1S06, the plant w-as destroyed. It was located at Vincennes. The owmer, Elihu Stout, determined to re-establish his paper and on July 4, 1S07, again issued his paper, which he then called The Western San. The paper thus founded, with few changes, has had a continued existence. It is Democratic in politics. The material for this paper was purchased at Frankfort, Kentucky, and carried over the "Buffalo Trace" on three pack-horses. Mr. Stout rode one of the horses and on the other two were loaded the type, ink and other fixtures and supplies. For years all the material used in the publication of The Western Sun passed through Dubois county over this old trace. The line of travel is the line of intelligence, and this old trace was certainly a line of intelligence in its day. The Western Sun printed the session acts of the territorial legislature, up until 1 8 14. It also printed the first Indiana Code.

General Washington Johnson, one of the commissioners to select a site for the county seat of Dubois county was a native of Culpepper county, Virginia. He located at Vincennes in 1793. and remained there continuously in the active practice of law until his death, which occurred October 26, 1833. He was one of the most prominent members of the bar during his day, was called by his fellow citizens to fill many offices of trust and profit under the territorial government and the borough of Vincennes. He was President Judge of the Vincennes circuit court. He served many terms as a member of the legislature from the county of Knox. He made the first compilation of the laws of Indiana territory. His book was the first law book printed in Indiana, and the paper used in the book was car- ried on pack horses through Dubois county, along the "Buffalo Trace." The IVesteni Sun printed the book, one page at a time. The book contains three hundred pages.

There lived along this trace many early citizens. James Harbison, Sr., of this county, a pensioner of the Revolutionary War, who was born in 1763, and who was nearly eighty years of age at the time of his death, was a "trace resident." Col. Simon Morgan, the Virginian and Whig, the first clerk of Dubois county, and a county official for twenty-three years, came here over this trace and lies buried near it in the Reed cemetery, south of Haysville. Judge Arthur Harbison, who bought land in Dubois county just twenty-five days after Capt. Dubois made the first purchase, and for whom Harbison township was named, lies buried on the trace. He was very influential in the organization of Dubois county, and was its first associate judge, having been an associate judge in Pike county.

There were, until recently, many logs buried in a field in Columbia township, placed there by General Harrison's men, in repairing the old trace. There are numerous other items or incidents that might be mentioned, showing the importance of the old trace, but the most significant is the settlement and organization of Dubois county. That is what makes the "Buffalo Trace" an essential factor in our county history.

The McDonalds came to Dubois county in iSoi, and made a settlement at what is now Sherritt's graveyard. They were soon followed by others and built Fort McDonald, the strongest of all local forts, near the "Mud Holes," as a protection against the Piankishaw Indians, for at that date the Indians were the probable owners of the land. All of Dubois county, except a triangular piece two-and-one-fourth miles wide at the west end and seven miles long on the south side, in Cass township, was bought from the Indians, August 3, 1795, but doubts having arisen as to its correct boundaries, they were specifically defined b}^ the treaty of Fort Wayne, June 7, 1803. The triangle in Cass township was ceded by the Delaware Indians, August 18, 1804, and by the Piankishaws, August 27, 1804, at Vincennes. The hypotenuse of the triangle mentioned above was run by Surveyor Thos. Freeman, July 21, 1S02. Aside from the usual surveyors' blaze on trees, it seems in some places, the limbs of the trees were bent down and forced into the bodies of the trees, which, growing about the limbs, held them in place and formed a peculiar treat}' line mark.

The land in the county was surveyed and divided into sections, thus giving pioneers the numbers and an opportunit}' to purchase their clearing from the government.

Dubois county was once a part of Knox, then a part of Gibson, then a part of Pike, but by 18 18 it became strong enough to want a court of its own. Land about the "Mud Holes" had been entered, and there were settlers along White river, as well as southwest of the site of Ireland. A settlement had also been made near Haysville.

Fort Butler had been built near the settlement, on the Buffalo Trace; and Fort Farris stood southwest of the present town of Portersville. Then it was that Dubois county applied for an organization of its own.

The journal of the Indiana House of Representatives, under date of Wednesday. December 10, 1S17, reads as follows: "Mr. Daniel presented the petition of Thomas Case and Jacob Harbison, and others, praying for the formation of a new county, out of the county of Pike ; which was read and committed to a select committee, with leave to report by bill or otherwise; and thereupon Messrs. Daniel, McClure, Buntin, Campbell, Chambers, Lynn and Holman were appointed that committee."

On Saturday, December 20, 1S17, Jonathan Jennings, governor of Indiana, approved, at Corydon, an act creating Dubois county. The full text reads as follows :

Section i. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, that from and after the first day of February next, all that parcel or tract of country lying in the eastern part of the present county of Pike, shall be formed into a new county, to be called by the name of Dubois, (to wit:) Beginning at a point on the bank of the east fork of White River, at which the center line of range six shall intersect said fork of White River; thence running south with said center line, until said center line intersects the present line dividing Warrick and Pike counties; thence east with said line, to the line dividing Perry and Pike counties; thence with said line to the line dividing Orange and Pike counties; thence with said line until it shall strike Lick Creek; and thence meandering down said creek until it empties itself into the east fork of White River; thence meandering down said river to the beginning.

Sec 2. That General W. Johnson, of Knox county, Thomas Polke, of Perry county, Thomas Montgomery, of Gibson county, Richard Palmer, of Daviess county, and Ephraim Jourdau, of Knox count}-, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to meet at the house of William McDaiiiel [McDonald] near the Mud-Holes, on the second Monday of February, 181S, and proceed to select a site for the seat of Justice for said county, under the directions and provisions of an act passed in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, entitled "An Act providing for the permanent fixing of the seats of justice in all new counties herein to be established."

Sec 3. That all suits, plaints, actions and proceedings which maj-, before the said first day of February next, have been commenced and instituted and pending in the now county of Pike, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and effect in the same manner as if this act never had passed. And whenever the seat of justice within the county of Dubois shall have been established, the person or persons authorized to dispose of and sell the lots at the seat of justice, shall reserve ten percentum on the net proceeds of the whole sale, for the use of a county library in said county; which sum or sums of money shall be paid over to such person as may be authorized to receive the same, in such manner and in such installments as shall be authorized by law. And until suitable accommodations can be had, in the opinion of the circuit court, at the seat of justice of said new county, all the courts of justice shall be holden at the house of William McDaniel [McDonald] near the Mud-Holes, in said county; after which time the circuit courts necessary to be held at the county seat, shall be adjourned to the same. And the county commissioners shall, within twelve months after the site of Slid seat of Justice shall have been selected, proceed to erect the necest^ary buildings thereon.

On January 29, 1S18, an act was approved, by the same governor, at Corydon, detaching eighteen sections from the soittheast corner of Dubois county. The act reads as follows :

Sec. 2. After the fifteenth day of February next, [181S], all that part of the county of Dubois included within the following boundaries, to-wit: Beginning at the southeast corner of township three south, and range three west; thence west with said township line to the line dividing ranges three and four west; thence north with the same three miles; thence east through the center of said township to the line ranges two and three west; thence south with the same to the place of beginning, shall be attached to and form a part of the county of Perry, to all intents and purposes whatever, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.

On January 17, 1820, an act was approved by the same governor, at Corydon, creating the county of Martin out of parts of the counties of Daviess and Dubois. That act took from Dubois county all that part of range three north of the present line between Martin and Dubois counties, and reduced Dubois county to its present size.

Ephraim Jourdan was a private in Capt. Dubois' company of spies and guides of the Indiana Militia, from September 18 to November 12, 1811, covering the battle of Tippecanoe. Gen. W. Johnson was the prominent pioneer attorney heretofore mentioned. He was also in this battle under Col. Joseph H. Daviess, who was killed and after whom Daviess county was named. Johnson was quartermaster, promoted from the ranks, October 30, 181 1. Gen. W. Johnson was auditor of public accounts for Indiana territory, but resigned in 1813, the same year he was so commissioned. On Ma)'- 29, 1813, he was commissioned treasurer of Indiana territory and served until the state was admitted into the Union. In 18:3, he was also adjutant general of Indiana territory. Gen. Johnson was a state representative during the 6th, nth, 13th, and 14th sessions of the General Assembly, serving part of the time as Speaker.

Apparently some of the commissioners appointed by the General Assembly in December, i8i7,to locate a seat of justice for Dubois county were not present when the selection was made and the county organized, for the next legislature passed a "legalizing act" approving what had been done in their absence.

About the time Dubois county was organized, John Niblack, of Fayette county, Kentucky, moved to Dubois county. He was appointed "County Agent" to complete the organization of the county. He secured Hosea Smith, a surveyor of Pike county, and laid out the town of Portersville, conducted the sale of lots and built the first court house and jail - both of hewn logs. This court house was two stories high ; the lower room was the court room, while the upper story was divided into rooms for jury pur- poses. There was a separate building for a clerk's office. The jail was also two stories high, the lower story being built two logs thick, to form a "dungeon" for criminals of the worst class, such as horse thieves - then the most despised of all men. In those days imprisonment for debt was possible, and the upper story was used as a debtors' prison. These buildings have been removed. A piece of the old timber is on exhibit in the archives of the Soldiers' Monument at Jasper.

The survey of Portersville shows a public square, which forced a public square upon Jasper, under a later law creating Jasper a "county-town." All this was a Kentucky idea and came through a Kentuckian being our first county agent.

John Niblack was a progressive man and an active friend of education. He took an active part in building up Dubois county and was one of its associate judges. His son, Hon. Wm. E. Niblack, born at Portersville, in 1822, w^as on the supreme /-^^ y j^ y bench of this state for /'^/^(/r/A^ ^?^^^^y/*5i_^<^^^^^^^J^ several j-ears. John Niblack lies buried in Sherritt's graveyard. His grand-father, Thomas Margrave, was a Virginia soldier in the Revolution.

Land for the county seat of the new county had been entered by Jacob Lemmon, in 1814. It was on White river, which was soon declared a public highway and cleaned out by an act of the legislature, thus permitting boats to come up the river as far as the new county town of Portersville. Jacob Lemmon and Arthur Harbison, influential men in their day, secured the location. The "Irish settlement" was too close to the Pike county line to secure the county town, but it made itself felt, in 1830, when the county seat went to Jasper. A mile west of Portersville on the west side of section twenty is a strip of land often called "the Lemmon donation." This was donated to the county in order to secure the seat of justice at Portersville.

There came to Dubois county, in 1S16, about the time there was talk of the organization of a new county. Dr. Simon Morgan, of Virginia, a graduate of a medical school in Philadelphia. He was following the "Buffalo Trace" to St, Louis, but took sick when he reached the "Mud Holes" and was obliged to remain there for some time. He was prevailed upon to remain and accept the position of county clerk, then the most important position in the county. He did so, and served until his death, which occurred at Jasper, January 12, 184 1. He was also a colonel in the county militia and the leader of the Whig element in Dubois county. Adam Hope was the first sheriff. These were about all the officials then required.

On Wednesday, January 28, 18 18, an act was approved by Governor Jennings incorporating a county library in the county of Dubois. This became a criterion, for several counties, previously organized, had acts passed creating libraries, in which they always referred to the Dubois county library. New counties embodied the library act of this county in their act of organization.

The act stipulated that the qualified voters of the county of Dubois were authorized to assemble at the court house, on September 7, 1818, and every three years thereafter, and when so assembled they were to elect a president and seven trustees of the county library. The law created these eight men and the qualified voters of the county "a corporation and body politic," with a perpetual charter, by "the name and style of the president and trustees of the county library of the county of Dubois." The library was to have a seal. This seal was made of iron, and when hot was pressed upon the books. The board elected a librarian and a treasurer. The treasurer gave bond. The county agent paid over the ten percentum on the sale of the lots at Portersville, and the board was authorized by the act to "lay out the same in the purchase of books, maps, etc., and such other property, real or personal, as it may think the most conducive to advancement, etc." This act took effect July i, 1818, and was the origin of the Dubois county library. With the iron seal "D. C. L." was often burned upon the law books about the court house. The library, which to-day would have been very valuable and interesting, was lost in the court house fire, 1839.

The names of all citizens who lived in this county on the da}^ it was organized may never be ascertained, but here are the names of all men who owned real estate in Dubois county, December 20, 1817, our "Organization Day" - the names occur according to priority in the purchase of real estate :

Gwin, John Armstrong, Andrew Evans, Richard Wood, Reuben Mathias, Nicholas Harris, Henry Miller and Thomas J. Wethers ; in all sixty-four land owners.

All of the land in the names of the real estate owners named above is in the northwest quarter of the county, excepting eighty acres, entered by Thomas Pinchens, at Union \^alley, October 18, 1816; eighty acres entered by Edward Hall, one mile north of Schnellville, August i, 1817, and one hundred sixty acres entered by Henry Miller, one mile northeast of Schnellville, December 6, 18 17. There where no individual real estate owners anywhere else in the county. And, thus, in 1817, Dubois county started on its career.

The most authentic list of the pioneers of Dubois county is the census of 1820, the same being the first census taken after the organization of the county. This census was taken by Wm. Edmonston, and in his report he certifies that it was taken by actual inquiry at ever dwelling house in Dubois county, or by asking the heads of every family in the county. His compensation for taking this census was $29.20. The report shows that there were in the county at that time 241 boys under ten years of age; 88 boys between ten and sixteen; 26 boys between sixteen and eighteen; 118 men between eighteen and twenty-six; 118 men between twenty-six and fortyfive; and 47 men over forty-five years of age.

This report also shows that there were 220 girls under ten years of age, and 82 between ten and sixteen. There were 108 women between sixteen and twenty-six; 98 between twenty-six and forty-five; and 40 over forty-five years of age. At that time there were no foreigners in Dubois county. The report shows that there were 343 persons engaged in farming. The population of the county, in 1820, was 1168; all of whom were white persons, except eight. There were eight free black persons in the count}'. This does not include any Indians who may have been in the county at that time.

In the family of Pioneer Eli Thomas were one negro boy under fourteen years of age, one negro man twenty-six years of age, and one negro woman twenty-six years of age. In the family of Pioneer Silvis McDonald were two negro girls under fourteen, and a negro woman not over twentysix. Pioneer James Richey had in his family a negro woman not over twenty-six. Pioneer Wm. Brittain had in his family one negro man. All these colored people were listed as free, though perhaps not practically so.

William McDonald. Sr., and his wife, Jane B., lie buried in Sherritt's graveyard. Many descendantsof William McDonald, Sr., live in Dubois county.

The children of his son, Alexander, were as follows: W^illiam A., Mary, Marie, Esther, and Jane. Miss Jane McDonald, in 1841, became the wife of Jesse Traylor. She died in 1861. Her children are Senator Wm. A. Traylor, Ex-Sheriff Albert H. Traylor, Joel, Eockhart, Perry G., Louis, Ellis, Edward S., and Basil Traylor.

William McDonald's daughter, Joanna H., became the wife of Col. B B. Edmonston. Allen McDonald, the first white boy born in Dubois count}', is the father of L,ieut. Hiram McDonald, Louis A., Mary A., Sarah, Leander, Alexander, Frances, Fletcher, Eva, and Oscar McDonald - and so the descendants run into many families.

Thomas Sherritt, a British soldier, landed in America during the American Revolutionary War. In the course of time he became an American soldier and remained in \^irginia at the close of the war. His son, /o/i 71, was born in Virginia, March 27, 1785, and came to Dubois county, in 1815. He entered land in 1S17. It is about a half milesouth of the "Mud Holes."

John Sherritt came to Dubois county from Louisville, with one horse loaded with merchandise. At that time William McDonald had a cabin on the "Buffalo Trace." It was about sun down when John Sherritt rode up to the McDonald cabin. There were several Indians in the cabin, and Sherritt looked upon them with some degree of fear. After McDonald assured him that they would not harm him he entered the cabin and remained over night.

The next morning he opened up his pack of goods and traded the entire stock to the Indians for fur. He then returned to Louisville and secured another supply. Two horses were required to transport his new stock. He entered land and upon it built the first store house in Dubois county, in 1817.

On December 31, 1818, John Sherritt married Jane Brown, who was born June 2, 1800. She was the daughter of Pioneer Samuel Brown, who came to Dubois county from Virginia, in 181S, and died here the same year, of "milk sickness." John Sherritt and Jane Brown were the first couple to be married in Dubois county. Their children were, Eliza, William B., Samuel B., James W. , Thomas F., Sarah Jane, Margaret Ann, and John.

Pioneer John Sherritt was commissioned captain in the state militia June 20, 1823. Capt. Sherritt died April i, 1849, and his remains were put to rest in the graveyard that bears his name.

This graveyard is mentioned so often that it may be well to remember that it contains about one acre of ground, and is not under the supervision of any church. In 1909, its trustees were Henry Breidenbaugh, Lieut. Hiram McDonald and Hiram Horton.

Robert Stewart was the first gunsmith in Dubois county. He was the grandfather of the Hon. Samuel H. Stewart, of Ireland, and the great grandfather of Judge John F. Dillon, of Boone township.

Pioneer Robert Stewart settled on the Sherritt farm at an early day and erected a shop not far east of the Sherritt graveyard. Here he made and repaired guns for white men and Indians. The Indians would come a great distance and bring their families to visit Pioneer Stewart, the gun- smith, while he repaired their guns. To him the Indians were quite talkative, but not when other white men were around. To Stewart the Indians brought "virgin silver," from which he made ornaments for them and decorations for their guns. They gave him silver for lead, from which to make bullets for their guns. The Indians informed him that they obtained the silver at no great distance, and volunteered to show him if he would go with them. Mrs. Stewart would not consent to him going. The Indians may have obtained it at "Buck Shoals," the "Silver Well," or in section fourteen north of Jasper. It must not be inferred from this that silver is to be found in Dubois county in commercial quantities.

After Capt. Dubois entered the land upon which Robert Stewart had built his gun shop, Stewart left the "Buffalo Trace," and on May 13, 1S16, entered land in section thirty-one, on Patoka river, in the Irish settlement. On August 18, 1818, Robert Stewart became the first coroner of Dubois county.