Fayette County, Indiana - Chapter 5: Physical Features, 1885

Chapter 5: Physical Features

FAYETTE COUNTY is located in the southeastern portion of the State, and is bounded on the north by Henry and Wayne Counties, on the east by Union, on the south by Franklin, and on the west by Bush. Connersville, its seat of justice, is in latitude 39° 36' north, and longitude 7^ 54' west, being by rail distant 67.2 miles a little south of east from Indianapolis, and 57.1 northwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. Fayette is one of the smaller counties of the State, and contains an area of 211 square miles, as given by the "Indiana Gazetteer."

Topography

The surface of the county is rolling in the east and south, and level or gently undulating in the north and west, with a large proportion of bottoms, and every part of the county is susceptible of profitable cultivation. Dense forests of ash, sugar-tree^ beech, walnut, poplar, oak, sycamore, elm, hackberry, buckeye and Cottonwood originally covered most of the county, which is well watered and drained by permanent streams. The principal water-courses are tributaries to the Whitewater River, and reach that river through the West Fork of the same river, which is the largest stream in the county, and passes from north to south nearly through its center.

Of the several notable tributaries of West Fork, Lick Creek, the most northern, has its source in eastern Posey Township, flows in a southeastern direction out into and through Harrison Township, to a point near its southern boundary, where it makes a turn and flows nearly north for about one mile, then east, and empties into West Fork, which serves as the boundary line between the townships of Harrison and Waterloo.

The next water-course south is' Little Williams Creek, which has its source in Harrison Township, flows southeasterly through Harrison and Conneraville Townships, and joins Williams Creek proper about one mile from the latter's mouth at West Fork

Williams Creek proper rises in the northwestern part of the county, flows south for some miles through Posey, Fairview and Harrison Townships, when it enters Connersville Township in the extreme northwest corner, and takes a southeasterly course and conveys its waters into West Fork, a little south of the dividing line between Connersville and Columbia Townships, at a point about five miles from the Franklin County line.

- South of Williams Creek is Fall Creek, which takes its beginning in the western part of the county, near the line dividing Orange and Connersville Townships, flows east and joins West Fork. At the mouth of Williams Creek, Garrison's Creek, which is understood to have taken its name from Samuel Garrison, who settled at its mouth during the war of J812, being the first settler in that vicinity, rises in Orange Township in the western part of the county, flows in two separate channels about one mile apart in a southeastern direction, and parallel with each other for as much as six miles, when they unite at a point in southeastern Columbia Township, and continue by one stream for about a mile, where its mouth is reached probably one mile above Laurel, in the county of Franklin.

The tributaries to West Fork from the east are Nolan's Fork, which h.is but about one mile's course in the county, flowing from Wayne County, and waters a portion of Waterloo Township; Village Creek, flowing in a southwestern direction from the eastern part of the county, Jennings Township; Wilson's Creek from Jennings, flowing west through Jackson Township, and Bear Creek, nest south, through the same township.

Other than these, in the eastern part of the county, are the sources of Simpson's Creek, Turkey Creek and Ellis Creek, all of which are tributaries to the East Fork of Whitewater, and drain small portions of Waterloo, Jennings and Jackson Townships. The Whitewater River is a very rapid stream, having upon an average, a fall of six feet to the mile from Hagerstown, in Wayne County, to Elizabethtown, in the State of Ohio. The West Fork has not quite so great a fall as this, yet all along its course it affords an ample power to propel almost any amount of machinery. It is said that in former times the stream was bordered by trees, and the water was so transparent in the fall and winter, that the bottom could be seen at a depth of twenty feet. It is still a very clear stream, but by no means equal to what it was formerly. None of the streams furnish upon an average more than one-third of the amount of water they did forty or fifty years ago. This failure is caused by the destruction of the forests, and by draining the flat uplands. Whilst the surface was covered with trees, brush and leaves, the water after rains was prevented from flowing rapidly into the streams, so that the rises were gradual; but since the side hills have been cleared and set in grass, and the level lands drained, the water rushes rapidly into the streams, causing great floods, which wash the banks, overflowing many of the bottoms, and as quickly subside, leaving a deficiency of water as compared with former years. These floods have gi-eatly marred the beauty of the river, by washing away the banks and leaving great accumulations of gravel and sand in its widened bed. The Whitewater was once a navisrable stream for some miles, and some of the early settlers were possibly engaged in trafficking upon its bosom. There is a legend that as early as 1813 the first Territorial Legislatiu'e made an appropriation for improving the navigation of the Whitewater, and that W. H. Eads was the Commissioner for expending the money. Mr. Eads had been a member of the convention from Franklin County which had formed the State constitution, and had acquired quite a reputation for business capacity, and it is possible that he might have wanted such an appropriation. It is within the recollection of the living that several boats were built and launched at Brookville, but as to their size, description, and whether any ever succeeded in gettinw out of the river, the writer has no knowledge.

In support of the statement that the river was navigable, it was recorded and classified as such in a Geography and History of the Western States, published in 1828, wherein the number of miles of navigation was given as forty. The following description of the river was given in that work:

" Whitewater is a branch of the Big Miami, and is a very interesting river. It rises near Fort Greenville, in Ohio. Not far from its source it crosses into Indiana, and in its devious course waters a large extent of fertile country. The West Fork unites with it at Brookville, thirty miles above its entrance into the Miami. This beautiful stream is supposed to water nearly 1,000,000 acres of land. It abounds in fine lish, and exceeds all other rivers of the country in the unusual transparency of its waters. It has its source in copious springs, and its waters are uncommonly cold. The people in its vicinity have an idea that its waters are too much wanting in specific gravity, or from other causes_too little buoyant, for ordinary swimmers to trust themselves to bathe in."

" One of the early acts of the Territorial Legislature was to make the Whitewater a ' navigable stream.' This was done as early as February, 1813. This may provoke a smile, but the West Fork up to the vicinity of Waterloo, and the East Fork to Dunlapsville, were navigable, and sent out many a cargo of produce that floated to New Orleans."

In the earlier history of the country there was a lake or pond of considerable size located in the northern part of the county, in Sections 31 and 6, Town 15, Range 13 east, which, according to a published account in 1833, covered some sixty or seventy acres, and was then fed by a small stream, but from which issued no stream except during the spring freshets. This body of water, by drainage and evaporation, has long since disappeared.

The summit west of Big Williams Creek is the highest point of land on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Indianapolis Railroad, between Hamilton, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Ind. Its elevation above tide-water is 1,126.68 feet.

The following table will exhibit the elevations of land at different points in the county. For the purpose of comparison the elevations of several points in adjoining counties are given. The altitudes as given are above tide-water:

The surface of the ground at Connersville is 393 feet above high-water mark in the Ohio River at the head of the falls, and 259 feet above Lake Erie. At the old Conwell dam below the city the elevations above the same points are 34:8 and 214 feet respectively.

Geology

The dividing ridge in the counties of Switzerland, Dearborn, Franklin, Union and Fayette, between the waters of the W^ abash and those of the Ohio, may be considered the eastern boundary of the magnesian limestone group of Upper SiluriaUj date. On the western borders of Fayette and Franklin Counties these rocks are occasionally to be seen; but the greater part of these two counties, as well as the whole of Switzerland, Dearborn and Union, is occupied by the inferior blue, fossiliferous, shell limestones and alternating marls. These rise to their highest elevation near the eastern limit of Indiana, and decline toward the east as they pass into Ohio.

These counties are remarkably interesting to the geologist on account of the numerous marine fossils found imbedded in the blue limestone formation. Some of them are in a wonderful state of preservation, and so abundant that the rock is almost an agglutinated mass of marine shells and corals, which lived, died and became entombed in the sediments and precipitates forming in the ocean durincr the earliest period to which geologists are able to trace back organic existences.

The county of Fayette is of both the Upper and Lower Silurian formation. A little more than the western half of its territory is of the Upper Silurian while some less than the eastern half is of the Lower Silurian. The soils of the latter formation are most excellent for the growing of what is known as the famous blue-grass of Kentucky. This can be made a most profitable crop in such formation, hence let the farmer of eastern Fayette experiment more largely in its production.

During the years 1859-60 there was made under the direction of the late David Dale Owen, M. D., State Geologist, by Richard Owen, M. D., then Principal Assistant, afterward State Geologist, a Geological Reconnoissance of Indiana, from the report of which the following pertaining to Fayette County is extracted: "Passing from the northern line of the county toward Connersville, the county seat, we traveled through parts of the valley of Whitewater to extensive bottoms rising into gentle and undulating drift elevations, exhibiting fine farms and the prospect of abundant corn crops. Near town the osage hedges betokened high cultivation, and the mill race with extensive buildings indicated where a part, at least, of their staple product, wheat, receives its preparation for the flour market. Pork and beef are also largely produced in this county. Although the soil in places appeared clayey, indicated by the ponds along the roadsides, yet it was susceptible of pulverization by the harrow, and the wheat which on the 19th of September (the day we passed through Connersville) had already been put in on several farms, was much of it drilled, and in excellent order. This system of drilliagwheat appears to be rapidly gaining in the estimation of our farming community, as rendering it less liable to freeze out besides saving, seed and distributing it more rapidly than even a long experience in broad-cast sowing can possibly secure. "The prevailing timber is oak and beech, occasionally thinned out so as to form fine wood pastures, in which the blue-grass (*Poapraten8is) thrives kindly. "Building materials are abundant, rock being extensively quarried in tolerably heavy layers at several places near the county line of Franklin, and across the line at Somerset as well as on Williams Creek, near which locality they also manufacture hydraulic cement from limestone.

"Adjoining Williams Creek two or three miles west of Connersville, we found in about twenty-five feet, vertical thickness, of blue limestone, interspersed with martite, abundant samples of the following fossils: Choetetes petropolitanus, Streptelasma corniculum, Rhynchonella, (Atrypa) increbescens, Sti-ophonsena (Leptpena) Alternata, S. planumvona, Leptoena sericea, Orthistestudinaria, portions of calymenesenaria, and of Asaphus canalis, (Isotelusgigas). " In traveling toward the extreme western limit of Fayette, about four and a half miles from the Rush County line, wo found at a deep, natural cut a tine exposure of the upper members in the Lower Silurian formation, surrounded by a reddish Silico-calcareous rock, apparently of Upper Silurian age, although we failed to find any fossils in it."

[In this natural exposure of 110 feet these gentlemen made an examination of the succession of strata, which is illustrated by plates not here found practicable to give, but an examination made near Connersville revealed the following strata in the descending order: Three feet of soil, twenty-five feet of gravel, ten feet of sand, six feet of blue clay and twenty feet of bowlders intermingled with gravel.]

" vSoon after passing this locality we ascended still higher, over coarse gravel and bowlders, to about the highest land in the State, the barometer at 2 P. M. falling to 28.97 inches, although it stood a few hours before at 29.28 at Connersville. Allowing that it had fallen, as it often does in the afternoon, about two-hundredths, still we had ascended 270 feet after leaving Connersville. We continued some time on this elevated plateau with but little variation in the barometer, passing some very tine farms and a dense growth of large beech, sugar maple and oak timber, with pawpaw undergrowth even beyond Vienna, the western limit of the county, that town being built in Rush up to the Fayette line.

" We readily perceive from observation that a great portion of the surface soil in this county is drift, amounting sometimes to fifty or sixty feet in vertical thickness, which has thus greatly modified the soil from that of pure Upper Silurian detritus.

" On portions of this plateau there is a deficiency of running water for stock, although a supply is obtained on many portions of the elevation by digging ten or fifteen feet through bluish clay, when they reach gravel and usually find water in that or the sand overlying an impervious substratum. It is commonly hard, because during filtration through the superincumbent drift the water encounters fragments of limestone. Notwithstanding some inconvenience, on this score of a scarce supply in dry seasons, there are farmhouses on the plateau in Fayette and the ad joining county of Rush as tine as any we saw in the State. Some of them could have not cost less than $4,000 or $5,000. The style of architecture is elab orate and sometimes highly ornamental.

Along the river bottoms the soil of Fayette is rich and productive, composed largely of vegetable matter or humus, with clay, sand and lime; in fact, all the elements of fertility. These lands have immense crops of corn for years. The constant cropping in corn, however, is perceptibly exhausting them, and points out the necessity of a rotation In crops and the application of fertilizers if they are ; expected to maintain their fertility. The uplands are of clayey soils mixed with sand and gravel, on which, by good culture, rotating crops and subsoiling, fair crops are produced.