Madison County, Indiana - Chapter 6, 1914

Jackson - Lafayette - Monroe - Pipe Creek - Richland - Stony Creek - Union - Van Buren - Settlement and Organization of Each - Early Schools and Churches - Mention of Prominent Pioneers - Primitive Industries and Roads - Extinct Towns and Villages, Etc.

Jackson is the middle township of the western tier. It is bounded on the north by Pipe Creek and Lafayette townships; on the east by Lafayette and Anderson; on the south by Stony Creek township, and on the west by Hamilton county, and contains an area of twenty-eight square miles. The White river flows across the township from east to west in the southern part, the northwestern part is watered by Pipe creek and its tributaries, and Stony creek has its source in the southeast corner. Along the streams the surface is rather hilly, but farther back it is so level that artificial drainage is necessary in order to bring the exceed¬ ingly fertile soil, under cultivation. Jackson is one of the first five townships to be organized in the county and was named after General Andrew Jackson, who was president of the United States from 1829 to 1837.

Sometime in the year 1821 two men named Dewey and Kinser, with their families, came to what is now Jackson township. Mr. Dewey built his cabin on the south side of the White river, opposite the present vil¬ lage of Perkinsville, and Kinser located about a mile and half farther up the river. Neither of these men entered land, nor did they remain long in the county. In the spring of 1822 Daniel Wise came from Ross county, Ohio, and the following October entered four hundred acres of land on the south side of the river, including the cabin that had been occupied by Kinser the preceding year. This was the first entry of land made in the township. Prior to that time, however, Benoni Freel had cleared land and built a cabin opposite Perkinsville, not far from the Dewey cabin, and it is believed that he was the first actual settler.

Others who came during the year 1822 were the Montgomerys - David, William and John - George Cunningham and Robert Blair, all from Ohio. During the next three years a number of pioneers located lands in the township. Among them were Thomas Forkner, James White, the two John Connors (senior and junior), Matthew Connor, James, Alexander and George McClintock, Lemuel Auter, Joseph Lee and William Parkins. The last named, with his wife and seven chil¬ dren, came in the fall of 1825 and pitched his tent on the north bank of the White river, where Perkinsville now stands, and remained there until he leased a tract of land from Daniel Wise and built a cabin, into which he moved his family about Christmas. Mr. Parkins preached the first funeral sermon in the township over the remains of a young man who was killed by the falling of a burning tree in a clearing. He was also a blacksmith, as well as a preacher, and soon after becoming set¬ tled in his cabin on the Wise farm he opened the first blacksmith shop in the township.

In the spring of 1826 John Ashby brought his family from Ross county, Ohio, and settled near the present village of Halford, where he died about two years later. His son, John Ashby, Jr., who was about eighteen years of age when the family settled in Jackson township, assisted in supporting the family and in 1842 opened the first tavern in Hamilton (now Halford). Among others who settled in the vicinity of Halford about this time were Joel White, Robert Cather, Joseph Miller, Joel Epperly, and the Robinett, Harless and Benefiel families.

The first white child born in Jackson township was Sarah, daughter of Lemuel Auter, but the date of her birth is not known. The first marriage was in 1825, when Isaac Shelton and Delilah Crist were made man and wife. The first death was that of William Montgomery. The

One of the great needs of the early settlers was a mill of some de¬ scription. It was fourteen miles by the nearest route from the settlement near Perkinsville to the McCartney mill at Pendleton, which was the nearest place where corn could be converted into meal. No roads had as yet been opened and the task of going to mill was one to be dreaded. In this emergency William Parkins set his ingenuity and industry to work and constructed a small mill, to be operated by hand power. The stones, which he dressed himself, were of native limestone, and the remainder of the "machinery" consisted principally of round poles. By the exercise of sufficient "elbow grease" this mill would grind about a bushel of meal an hour. It did not lack for patronage, as the settlers within a radius of several miles brought their corn and frequently furnished the power to grind their own grists. As the population in¬ creased in numbers, the old hand mill became inadequate to supply the demand. Again Mr. Parkins came to the rescue. With the assistance of his neighbors he constructed a dam across the White river in front of where Perkinsville now stands and built a small mill to be run by water power. The dam w r as made chiefly of logs and brush, weighted down with stones. The mill was a little log building containing one run of buhrs, or stones, which were fashioned by Mr. Parkins and his son James out of glacial bowlders, or "nigger heads." Such a mill would be regarded as insignificant in this day, but at that time it was looked upon as a triumph of mechanical genius. Subsequently a run of buhrs was added for grinding wheat, the flour being bolted upon a machine operated by hand.

Some years later this mill property was purchased by Andrew Jackson, of Anderson, w T ho in 1846 erected a large frame building, in which he installed the best milling machinery that day afforded. A sawmill was added in 1854. Air. Jackson subscribed for stock in the old Indian¬ apolis & Bellefontaine Railroad Company and through this deal the mill passed into the hands of the railroad company, which afterward sold it to James M. and David B. Jackson, sons of the former owner. After operating it for some years, they sold it to Jacob Zeller, who in turn sold it to Alfred Clark. On the night of August 19, 1884, the building, with all its machinery and a large quantity of grain, was totally destroyed by fire and has never been rebuilt.

Kingman's History of Madison County is authority for the state¬ ment that the first school in the township was taught in the year 1825, in the cabin that had been erected by Mr. Dewey some four years before, and that the teacher was a man named Williams. Among the scholars were three or four of the Wise boys, about the same number of the MeClintock boys and Joseph Lee. The second school house was built a year or two later on section 34, on the Wise farm, a third was built a little later on the north side of the White river. Both were small log buildings of the usual frontier type, and the schools taught in them were subscription or "pay" schools. After the introduction of the public school system, better school houses were erected. In 1912 Jack- son had six brick buildings, valued at $10,000. During the school year of 1912-13 nine teachers were employed and received in salaries the sum of $3,636.75.

About 1824 a Methodist class was organized, with Benoni Freel as the first class leader, and the first regular services were held in the Dewey cabin. Sometime in the '40s a United Brethren church was organized at the house of Samuel Gentry, a short distance from Perkinsville. A Christian church was organized at Hamilton about 1857 by Rev. Carey Harrison, but no house of worship was ever erected by the congregation, and in April, 1866, a Methodist Protestant church was organized at Hamilton with eight members.

Perkinsville, on the north side of the White river near the western boundary, and Halford, on the south side of the river, about four miles east of Perkinsville, are the only villages in the township. In what is known as the McClintock neighborhood, near the site of an old Indian village and burying ground, was once a little hamlet called Nancytown, but it is now extinct and the ground where it stood is used for farm¬ ing purposes.

This township is centrally located and is the only civil township in the county whose boundaries coincide with the Congressional township lines, it being six miles square and embracing township No. 20 north of range 7 east. On the north it is bounded by the townships of Monroe and Pipe Creek; on the east by Richland; on the south by Anderson and Jackson, and on the west by Jackson and Pipe Creek. The surface being generally level, the lands were originally too wet to carry on farming successfully, but in 1875 an extensive system of artificial drain¬ age was inaugurated that has made this township one of the most desir¬ able in the county for agricultural purposes.

In 1831 Henry Ry brought his family from North Carolina and settled on section 36, in the extreme southeast corner of the township, where North Anderson now stands. There he built a cabin of round logs, the first civilized habitation in the township. During his ten years' residence here he made many substantial improvements, but about 1841 he sold his farm and removed to Randolph county, Indiana, where he passed the remainder of his life.

In the spring of 1832 John Croan, who had previously settled in Anderson township, in 1828, removed with his family to section 35, in what is now Lafayette township and established a new home, about half a mile north of Henry Ry's cabin. Later in the same year Reuben Junks, George Mustard and John B. Penniston came from Ross county, Ohio, and founded homes in this township. James Baily also came from Ohio in this year, but soon became dissatisfied and returned to the Buckeye State. Reed Wilson, of Wayne county, Indiana, came in the spring of 1834 and settled on what was later known as the Pierce farm, and about the same time Jordan Newton came from Ohio and settled on the Stanley farm. The next year (1835) there was a considerable tide of immigration to the township, Isaac Jones, William Lower, James

Finney, Samuel Fetty, John Maggart, David Gooding and Mrs. Mar¬ garet Shinkle all entering lands and becoming permanent residents. Gooding was a Kentuckian, who had served as an aide-de-camp under Colonel Richard M. Johnson in the War of 1812, and was present at the battle of the Thames, where Colonel Johnson was wounded by the famous Shawnee chief, Tecumseh.

In July, 1836, James Hollingsworth settled upon the farm where he lived for many years, and soon after his arrival he built a carding machine, which he conducted successfully until it was destroyed by a flood in 1838. He had not been in the township very long before he started the movement for its organization. He circulated the petition, which was signed by himself, John B. Penniston, John Croan, Isaac Jones, Reuben Junks, Reed Wilson, Henry Ry, Jordan Newton, George Mustard, George Moore, William Lower, Enos Mustard, John Maggart, George Rains, Samuel Fetty, David Gooding and James Finney - the entire voting population living within the territory it was proposed to incorporate in the new township. The petition was duly presented to the county commissioners, who on November 9, 1836, issued the order for the erection of the township, as shown by the following entry taken from the records of that date:

"Ordered by the board that a new township be stricken off from the townships of Richland, Jackson and Pipe Creek, said new town¬ ship shall include all of Congressional township 20, north of range 7 east, and no more, and that all elections shall be held at the house of John Maggart therein, and the said new township shall be known and designated by the name and style of Lafayette township.''

The name was suggested by James Hollingsworth, in honor of the Marquis de La Fayette, the gallant French general who rendered such timely and efficient aid to the struggling armies of the American colonies in the war for independence. Mr. Hollingsworth was also inspector of the first election, which was held at the house of John Maggart, as directed by the commissioners, on January 17, 1837. On that occasion no ballot-box had been provided and the inspector used his hat as a receptacle for the tickets. At that election John Maggart received a majority of the votes for justice of the peace and Enos Mustard was chosen township clerk.

Almost immediately following the organization of the township there was a decided increase in the population. By 1840 the following persons had founded homes and were developing farms: Daniel Sigler, Allen Simmons, Lewis and George Baily, Thomas G. Clark, Matthew Taylor, Samuel Moore, Henry Purgett, John Ridgeway, Washington Trotter, Zail and George Rains, Caleb Dehority, James Closser, Francis Colburn, Nathaniel G. Lewis, John Clock, James Wier, Joseph Yan Meter, Samuel Westerfield, George Hilligoss, Sr., Robert and Samuel Gooding, John Burk and James Stover.

Annis Croan, daughter of John and Sarah Croan, who was born in 1834, was the first white child born in Lafayette township. The first marriage was celebrated on March 19, 1838, the contracting parties being James Hollingsworth and Miss Elizabeth Shinkle, and the first death was that of Reuben Junks.

George Mustard planted the first orchard in the township soon after settling there, procuring his trees from Dempsy Wilson, of Anderson township. The first mill was built by George Millspaugh and James Stevenson in 1851. It was a small steam sawmill and was first located on the farm of Patrick Ryan, but subsequently was removed else¬ where. In 1870 Roadcap & Van Winkle built a steam sawmill where the village of Florida is now situated. Two months after it went into operation the boiler exploded, completely wrecking the mill, killing Perry Moore and a man named Wolf and severely injuring the engineer, Solomon Muck.

A small log school house was erected in 1840, near the site afterward occupied by public school No. 7, and the first school in the township was taught there in the fall of that year by John Penniston. The first frame school house was built in the same locality in 1857 and was the first to be erected as a public school. In 1912 there were eleven districts, each provided with a modern brick building, the estimated value of the eleven houses being $22,000. Sixteen teachers were employed during the school years of 1912-13, receiving $7,666 in salaries.

A Methodist society was organized at the house of William Lower in the fall of 1836, by Rev. Robert Burns. A Christian church was formed in May, 1869, and the New Lights and United Brethren also established churches in the township. Accounts of these organizations will be found in the chapter on Church History.

Florida, on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis (Pan Handle) Railroad, and Linwood, on the Michigan division of the Big Four, are the only villages of consequence. The town of Frankton is situated near the boundary line between Lafayette and Pipe Creek town¬ ships. Soon after the Pan Handle railroad was built in 1856, a ware¬ house was established on the road a mile and a half northwest of Florida and a general store was also opened there. For a time the trains stopped at Keller's Station, as the place was called, John Keller being the owner of the land upon which the station was situated. Owing to an insuffi¬ cient patronage the store-keeper disposed of his stock of goods and the warehouse was likewise an unprofitable venture. Trains ceased to stop there and Keller's Station is now only a memory.

This township is the largest in Madison county. It is six miles in width from north to south; the northern boundary is nine miles and the southern eight miles in length, and the area of the township is fiftyone square miles, or 32,640 acres. Pipe Creek flows a southwesterly course across the township, entering near the northeast corner and crossing the western boundary a little south of the center. The south¬ eastern portion is drained by Little Pipe and Killbuck creeks and the northwestern part by Mud and Lilly creeks. Along Pipe creek the sur¬ face is somewhat undulating, but the greater part of the township is generally level. The soil is fertile and some of the finest farms in the county are in Monroe township.

were George Marsh and Micajah Chamness, who in the spring of 1831 came from North Carolina and made the first land entries in that part of the county. Chamness entered the west half of the northwest quar¬ ter of section 19 and the east half of the northeast quarter of section 24, all of which now lies within the corporate limits of the city of Alex¬ andria. His cabin, erected on this tract, was the first habitation estab¬ lished by a white man within the present limits of the township. Sometime during the following year, James M. James entered a part of section 25, about a mile down the creek from the Chamness cabin. Morgan James settled on Little Pipe creek, a short distance south of Alexandria, and Annon James entered land near the mouth of Mud creek.

In 1833 William Chamness and James Tomlinson, the former from North Carolina and the latter from Clermont county, Ohio, both set¬ tled in the neighborhood and during the next two years a number of immgrants founded homes in the township. Among them were Jesse Vermillion, from Lawrence county, Ohio, Thornberry Moffit, from Rush county, Indiana, David L. Pickard, from Maine, Stephen and John Marsh, Peter Edwards and Stephen Fenimore. The descendants of some of these pioneers still reside in Madison county.

One agency that materially aided the settlement of this portion of the county was the opening of two public highways in 1830. One of these was the Indianapolis & Fort Wayne road and the other was the road from Fort Wayne to Shelbyville. These two roads, which form a junction near the northern line of the present township of Monroe, were the first opened through that section of the county. Over them were carried the early mails and they served as a stimulus to the white man to move in and occupy a district in which the Indian had, up to that time, been the only inhabitant. Compared with some of the im¬ proved highways, of the present day, they were poor affairs. At the present time the township is well supplied with good country roads, while the Big Four and Lake Erie & Western railroads and the lines of the Indiana Union Traction Company furnish unsurpassed transporta¬ tion facilities to all parts of the township.

By the close of the year 1835 the population was considered suffi¬ ciently large to justify the organization of a new township. A petition was accordingly prepared and circulated, and it was signed by prac¬ tically every voter residing within the territory it was proposed to include. At the January term of the commissioners * court in 1836 the following action was taken by the board:

"On petition filed, it is ordered that the following described terri¬ tory be stricken from Richland township, to wit: Commencing on the country line, where the township line dividing townships 20 and 21 north crosses the same; running thence north with the county line to the northeast corner of Madison county; thence west with the north line of said county to the northeast corner of Pipe Creek township; thence south with the east line of Pipe Creek township to the line dividing townships 20 and 21 north; thence east on said line to the place of beginning, and that said territory so stricken off be organized into a separate township to be known and designated by the name of Monroe

As established by this order, Monroe township included all of the present township of Van Buren and the eastern half of Boone township. The township was named in honor of James Monroe, the sixth presi¬ dent of the United States. The first election was held at the designated place in April, 1836, and David L. Pickard was elected justice of the peace. Mr. Pickard seems to have been one of the most prominent pioneers. Besides being the first justice of the peace in Monroe town¬ ship, he was the first postmaster at Alexandria when the office was established, and was the first hotel keeper in that town. His hotel was built in 1838, though previous to that time he had been accustomed to entertaining travelers at his residence.

About the time the township was organized, or soon afterward, the population was augmented by the arrival of John Banks, Evan Ellis, John Brunt, Elijah Williamson, John Cree, Joseph Hall, Jacob Price, John Chitwood, Lorenzo Carver, Hildria Lee, Baxter Davis and some others.

The first school was taught by John Brunt in 1837. Twelve pupils were enrolled in this school, but the exact location where it was taught is uncertain. David L. Pickard built the first regular school house in 1839. Richard Edwards was one of the pioneer teachers. In 1912 there were sixteen school districts in the township, outside of the city of Alexandria. Ten of these districts were provided with brick buildings and six houses were frame, the value of all being estimated at $33,400. During the school year of 1912-13 there were twenty-six teachers em¬ ployed in the township schools and the payroll for the year amounted to $7,852.

The first brick house in the township was built by Peter Edwards, who came in 1835 and settled on the land afterward known as the Abram Miller farm, where he erected a brick residence soon afterward. The first deaths were two members of the Hyatt family and the third was that of Mieajah Chamness.

There is a rumor, but it is not well founded, that a small corn mill was built on Pipe creek, about a mile northeast of Alexandria, soon after the first settlers located in that vicinity. The first mill of which there is any authentic record was a saw and grist-mill built by James M. James on Pipe creek, about a mile west of Alexandria, in 1834. A few years later Henry Huff established a saw-mill about two miles farther up the creek. In the early days Pipe creek abounded in fish and old settlers have been heard to relate how they would fish at James' mill of nights, with the wolves howling in the woods around them.

Alexandria, located a little west of the center of the township, at the junction of the Big Four and Lake Erie & Western railroads, is the most important town. Orestes, formerly known as Lowry Station, is situated on the Lake Erie & Western, two and a half miles west of Alexandria. On the same line of railway, near the eastern boundary of the county, is the station of Gilman, and the old village of Osceola is situated in the northwest part, on section 4 of range 7. Osceola was laid out in 1855 and was named for the celebrated Seminole chief. At one time it promised to become a place of some importance. E. M. Trowbridge opened a general store there soon after the town was laid out and when the postoffice was established he was appointed the first postmaster. David Perry established the first blacksmith shop and Absalom Webb was the first shoemaker. A large steam saw-mill was built, but after the most valuable timber had been manufactured into lumber the mill was taken away. The loss of the mill, the building of railroads through other parts of the county, and the discontinuance of the postoffice, all had a tendency to check the growth and prosperity of Osceola, and about all that remains is the public school and a few residences.

The first religious organization in the township was the Little Killbuck Old School Baptist church, which was formed on June 18, 1842, at the house of Moses Maynard, with ten members. About the same time a Methodist congregation was organized at Alexandria. The Lilly Creek Christian church was established also in 1842; the Alex¬ andria Christian church in 1852; the Lilly Creek Baptist church in 1868, and in more recent years the Baptist, Presbyterian and Episcopal churches of Alexandria have been organized and neat houses of wor¬ ship have been erected.

By far the greater part of the history of Monroe township centers about the city of Alexandria and many of the important events will be treated in the chapter on cities and towns.

Next to Monroe, Pipe Creek township is the largest in the county, having an area of forty-three square miles, or 27,520 acres. It is bounded on the north by Boone and Duck Creek townships; on the east by Monroe and Lafayette; on the south by Lafayette and Jackson, and on the west by the counties of Tipton and Hamilton. It is the most irregularly shaped township in the county, having seven outside and three inside corners. Pipe creek, the stream that gave name to the township, enters near the northeast corner of section 21 of range 7, flows a southwesterly direction past the city of Elwood, and crosses the southern boundary about two miles east of the Hamilton county line. Its principal tributary in the township is the Big Branch, which flows through the central portion, and the northwestern part is watered by the Big and Little Duck creeks. The surface is quite level and the soil is exceedingly fertile, though the expenditure of a considerable sum of money in the construction of ditches was necessary before agri¬ culture could be carried on successfully. The township is now thor¬ oughly drained and produces excellent crops.

In 1830 Joseph Shell settled on section 11, township 20, range 6, near the southern border of the township and about two and a half miles east of the county line. He had come from Ohio in 1826 and had spent the intervening years in Jackson township. Settlement was slow for about two years after Mr. Shell's arrival, but in 1832 several per¬ sons located near where the town of Frankton now stands. Among them were Walter and William Etchison, from North Carolina, Reuben

Kelly, from Virginia, Samuel Howard, from Wayne county, Indiana, John, Peter and Job Chamness. In 1833 John Beeson, from Wayne county, Indiana, and Jacob Sigler, from Virginia, entered the land upon which Frankton is now situated. Elijah Dwiggins also settled in the township this year.

" Ordered that there be a new township organized and stricken off from Jackson township as follows, to wit: Beginning on the county line at the southwest corner of section 9, in township No. 20, in range 6 east; running thence east on the section line to the southeast corner of section No. 8, township 20, range 7 east; thence north to the county line; thence west to the northwest corner of the county, thence south along the county line to the place of beginning; to be known and desig¬ nated by the name and style of Pipe Creek township. It is also ordered that the sheriff notify citizens of said township, that they, on the last Saturday in June next, proceed to elect one justice of the peace in said township, and that all elections in said township be holden at the house of Walter Etchison until otherwise ordered by the board."

Pursuant to this order, the first election was held on June 29, 1833 (the last Saturday in the month), at the house 6f Walter Etchison and James Beeson was elected the first justice of the peace for the township of Pipe Creek.

As originally established, Pipe Creek township included all its present area except three square miles; four square miles in what is now the northwest corner of Lafayette township; all of Duck Creek, and ten square miles of the western part of what is now the township of Boone. Two years later - at the May term in 1835 - a strip two miles wide and extending the full length of the township, was taken from Richland and added to the east side of Pipe Creek, giving the latter township an area of 104 square miles, or almost the northwest¬ ern one-fourth of the county. At the same time Jesse Harris was appointed constable; James French and Jesse Etchison, supervisors; William Flint and Jacob Sigler, overseers of the poor; Robin Erwin and Jeremiah Derry, fence viewers; and an order was issued for an election to be held on the first Monday in June, for the purpose of electing an additional justice of the peace.

From the organization of the township to 1840, a large number of new settlers came in. Among the best known, or those who afterward became prominently identified with township affairs, were Noah Waymire, John and Daniel Dwiggins, Henry Plummer, James and William Montgomery, James Barrow, Caleb Canaday, Dr. W. H. Ebert, Ben¬ jamin and Hezekiah Denny, Edmund Johnson, James French, Jonathan Reeder, John Benefiel, James M. Dehority, Hezekiah and Sterling Kidwell, Arthur Legg, Joseph and Jonathan Miller, James Tharp, Davis Wilborn, Lindsey Blue, John Hardy, Jacob French, Frank Dennis, Robin Erwin and Jeremiah Derry. Several of these pioneers held posi¬ tions of trust and responsibility and some of their descendants still reside in the township.

near the point where that stream is now crossed by the Pan Handle Railroad. It was not much of a mill and was called a "wet weather corn cracker/' because it could run successfully only when there was a good stage of water in the creek. However, it made a good quality of corn meal and saved the adjacent settlers many a weary journey through the woods and over almost impassable roads to the mills at Perkinsville and Anderson, whither they had gone before the mill on the Big Branch was erected. A saw-mill was established aoout the same time on Pipe creek, three miles above Frankton, by Joseph and Daniel Franklin.

Elijah Dwiggins opened the first store in the township in 1837, a short distance west of Frankton. His stock of goods consisted mainly of such staples as sugar, coffee, salt, calico, etc. Money was rare on the frontier and coonskins and other peltries were made to perform, to a large extent, the functions of currency.

The first school was taught by a Mr. Perry in 1836, in a house erected for the purpose on Jacob Sigler's farm, near the present town of Frankton. Other pioneer teachers were Hezekiah Denny, Tilghman Armfield, John Ring and Joseph Sigler. The last named taught for a number of years. In 1854 he was elected county auditor and held the office for eight years. In 1912 the fifteen brick school houses in the township were valued at $40,000 and the number of teachers employed was thirteen, two houses having no school on account of a consolida¬ tion of districts. The amount paid in teachers' salaries was $5,474. This does not include the schools in the corporations of Elwood and Frankton.

Sometime in the summer of 1836 a Methodist church was organized at the house of Reuben Kelly. This was probably the first religious society in the township. The Frankton Christian church was formed in 1839, a Methodist Protestant congregation was organized at Elwood about the close of the Civil war in 1865, and after the discovery of natural gas several new church organizations sprang into existence.

New Madison was the first village in Pipe Creek township. It was laid out by John Chamness on December 3, 1849, and was situated on Pipe creek, about two miles above Frankton. It was also called Chamnesstown. About two years later James Hilldrup and a man named Sanders laid out a town called Monticello, about two miles northwest of Frankton. Mr. Hilldrup opened a store there, and at one time the town boasted, besides the store, a blacksmith shop, a school house and six or seven residences. Neither of these old towns is any longer on the map.

Elwood, the second largest city in Madison county, is situated in the northwest corner of this township, at the junction of the Pan Han¬ dle and the Lake Erie & Western railroads. Frankton, on the Pan Handle railroad, five miles southeast of Elwood, is an incorporated town of importance. In the chapter relating to Cities and Towns may be found the history of Elwood and Frankton, together with numerous events pertaining to those sections of the township.

Etchison, who opened a store "in the woods'' in the early '50s and like Elijah Dwiggins traded staples for coonskins, ginseng, etc. His store was not on any road, but the settlers found their way through the woods and the proprietor did a thriving business. When the railroad was built past his place in the '70s, the town of Dundee, like Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin, "just growed." At first the place was called "Mudsock," on account of the character of the soil, but on December 6, 1883, Mr. Etchison filed a plat of the village with the county recorder under the name of Dundee, which name had been given to the postoffice established there on December 26, 1876, with A. S. Wood as the first postmaster.

On March 4, 1834, the county commissioners issued the following order, as shown by the records of that date: "It is ordered by this board that there be a new township organized in the county of Madi¬ son, to be known by the name of Richland, to be bounded as follows, to wit: Beginning at the southeast corner of section 33, township 20, range 7 east; running thence east with the line dividing townships 19 and 20 north to the east line of'said county; thence north with the county line to the northeast cornel - of township 21 and said line; thence west to the northeast comer of section 4, township 21 north, range 7 east; thence south to the place of beginning."

As thus established, Richland included all the present township bearing that name, all of Monroe except three square miles in the north¬ western part, the eastern half of Lafayette and a strip half a mile wide across the north end of Union. With the organization of Monroe and Lafayette townships in 1836 and a change in the north line of Union, Richland was reduced to its present area of twenty-eight and one half square miles. It is bounded on the north by Monroe township; on the east by Delaware county; on the south by the townships of Union and Anderson, and on the west by Lafayette. The name Richland was conferred on it because of the fertility of the soil. Killbuck creek enters the township near the northeast comer and flows a southwesterly direc¬ tion, crossing the southern boundary near the southwest corner. Just before leaving the township it received the waters of the Little Killbuck creek, which flows southward through the western part.

When erected in March, 1834, the township was divided into three road districts and it was ordered that all elections be held at the house of Peter Ehrhart until otherwise directed by the board. At the first election Matthew Fenimore was chosen as the first justice of the peace, but soon afterward removed from the township and an election was ordered for the first Saturday in February, 1835, to select his suc¬ cessor.

About four years before the township was organized, or in 1830, William Curtis entered the east half of the southwest quarter of sec¬ tion 31, in the southwest corner, near the Killbuck creek and just west of the road now leading from Anderson to Alexandria. There he built the first log cabin ever erected for a white man's habitation in the township. In the fall of that year David Penisten located on section 30, directly north of Mr. Curtis. About that time the Shelbyville & Fort Wayne state road was laid out and passed through what is now Richland township. This had a tendency to encourage the settlement of territory, in which, up to that time, the Indian had held undisputed sway, and before the close of the year 1831 a number of pioneers had settled within convenient distance of the new road. Among them were John Shinkle, Joseph Brown, Isaac Jones, Adam Pence, Joseph Ben¬ nett, John Beal, William McClosky, Peter Keicher, J. R. Holston, Thomas Thornburg, Samuel Stephens, John Coburn, Jacob and Michael Bronnenberg, Jonathan Dillon, Christian Lower, John Hunt, Jesse Forkner, Randolph Chambers, Jacob Stover and Weems Heagy. John Parker's daughter, born in 1832, was the first white child born in the township.

In 1833 Matthew Fenimore built a saw-mill on the Killbuck creek, near the southwest corner of the township, and a little later William Curtis and James Barnes built a grist-mill near by, getting their water power from the same dam as Mr. Fenimore. After the saw-mill was abandoned Robert Adams, an Englishman, bought out Curtis & Barnes and in 1850 converted the grist-mill into a woolen factory. It was destroyed by fire in 1876.

About three miles farther up the creek, Benjamin Walker built a saw-mill soon after the settlement of that section began, and in 1840 added a carding machine. Near this mill John B. Purcell established a woolen factory, which he operated for a few years, when he sold out to Stephen Broadbent. After his death some years ago the factory was abandoned and the machinery sold piecemeal by the administrator of his estate. The old, dismantled building is still standing, but is rapidly falling to pieces. With the erection of steam mills, equipped with im¬ proved machinery, in various parts of the county, most of the old, water power mills went out of business.

Three churches have been organized in Richland township - two of the Methodist and one of the Christian denomination. The Methodist church known as the Wesley Chapel is situated in the northwestern part, and the Asbury Methodist church is situated on the Killbuck creek in the southern part. A mile and a half east of this church is the Chambers Christian church, so called from some of the leading mem¬ bers of the congregation at the time it was organized in 1854. Near the Wesley Chapel, on the farm once owned by J. R. Holston, were the grounds of the Wesleyan Camp Meeting Association, where for many years camp meetings were held annually and were attended by people from all parts of the country.

The first school house was built in the fall of 1831, on what is known as the Harrison Canaday farm, near the southwest corner of the town¬ ship, and the first school was taught there by an Irishman, whose name appears to have been forgotten. John Treadway was one of the early teachers in this house. In 1912 the seven brick school houses of the township were valued at $20,000, and the seven teachers employed received in salaries the sum of $2,858.

township, but none has ever grown to any considerable proportions and most of them have entirely disappeared. The oldest of these villages was Moonville, which was laid out by Zimri Moon in 1835. It was located on section 15, about a mile and a half west of the county line and on the road later known as the Killbuck pike. During the period from 1838 to 1840, while the old Indiana Central canal was under construc¬ tion, Moonville did a thriving business. Among those engaged in various lines of activity there were Nathan Williams, James Trimble, Abraham Adamson, John Winslow, Samuel and Joseph Pence, James Swaar, Riley Moore, John C. Gustin and Dr. John W. Westerfield. The last named was the only resident physician. With the suspension of work on the canal Moonville began to decline and, as one old settler expresses it, finally died of * 4 dry rot. ' 9 The site it once occupied is now a farm.

About 1838 .the village of Pittsborough was laid out by John Beal and others on the road leading from Anderson to Alexandria, near the western boundary, and about three miles south of the northwest corner of the township. Several lots were sold soon after the town was laid out. Among the purchasers were Nineveh Berry, William Coburn, James Carroll, Lewis Maynard, Isaac Snelson and Mrs. Martha Shinn. The records of the county commissioners' court for the March term in 1839 show that

4 * On petition presented and duly supported by a competent number of freeholders, it is ordered that Jeremiah Judd be allowed a license to vend groceries and liquors by the small in the town of Pittsborough, in said county, for the term of one year from date."

Local option had not been adopted anywhere, and almost every neighborhood had a place where liquors were sold, while small dis¬ tilleries were common. Although "Jerry" Judd's license entitled him to sell groceries, it is quite probable that most of his profits were derived from selling "liquors by the small." Pittsborough was a canal town and old settlers used to tell of the fights that occurred there among the men employed on the canal, especially upon or immediately after pay day, when they could get the inspiration for a fight at Judd's "tavern." Besides Judd's establishment, there were several stores and residences, most of them log structures common to that period. When the canal was abandoned most of the inhabitants "moved on" and Pittsborough ceased to exist.

Another canal town was Mount Pleasant, which was laid out in 1839 on section 32, near the southern border of the township, on land belong¬ ing to Joshua Shinkle. John Thornburg bought a lot and built a dwell¬ ing house, the only one ever erected in the town. Work on the canal was suspended about the time the village was laid out and Mount Pleasant was short-lived. No trace of it remains to tell the story of its existence or the ambitions of its founders.

Prosperity, situated in the southwest corner of section 18, on the Anderson & Alexandria pike, was founded by John Beal and Hiram Louder, who opened the first store there about the time the canal was being built. A postoffice was established soon after and for a time the village flourished, a fact which is probably responsible for the name. When the turnpike was built in 1858, a toll gate was placed at Prosperity. The death of the canal was a severe blow to the village, the discontinuance of the postoffice added to the decline, and with the inauguration of the free gravel road system even the toll gate was abolished. Three or four houses remain to tell of the good times of the bygone days, when Prosperity was a bustling little place.

The first mention of this township to be found in the public records, is in the minutes of the commissioners 9 court for March, 1851, when Thomas McAllister was appointed assistant appraiser of real estate, "under a law of the legislature at the last session/' to appraise the lands in district No. 1, consisting of the townships of Adams, Fall Creek, Green and Stony Creek.

It is one of the western tier and is bounded on the north by Jackson township; on the east by Anderson and Fall Creek; on the south by Fall Creek and Green, and on the west by the county of Hamilton. Its area is twenty-eight square miles and it takes its name from Stony creek, which flows a southwesterly course across the northwest corner. The southern part is watered by Sand creek and its small tributaries. This creek forms an outlet for a number of neighborhood ditches in that portion of the county. Originally the township was covered with a heavy forest growth, but the ax and the saw-mill have done their deadly work and but little valuable timber is left.

A portion of this township was once known as the "Dismal." It was a tract of land, several miles in extent, heavily timbered, with a dense growth of underbrush that gave it a dismal and forbidding appearance. Wild animals found a certain security in this wilderness and for many years the "Dismal" was a favorite hunting ground, not only for the pioneers, but there is also a tradition that the Indian tribes as far north as the Wabash river came here on hunting expeditions before the advent of the white man. Human skeletons and Indian relics found in this part of the county bear out the tradition. But the "Dismal" is no longer a place with which to frighten timid children. The dense forest has been cut away, the land drained, and wdiere once the savage Indian pursued the wild beast are some of the most productive farms in the county.

^he first white settlement in the township was made near the present village of Fishersburg, in 1823, when Thomas Busby, George Reddick, John Anderson, Benjamin Fisher, the Studleys and a few others settled along Stony creek in that locality. Benjamin Fisher was killed by the Indians while felling a tree near where the village of Strawtown, Hamilton county, now stands, and his widow afterward became the wife of Benoni Free!, who is credited with having built the first log cabin in what is now Jackson township.

Among those who settled in the township during the decade begin¬ ning with 1823, were Henry Shetterly and John Fisher, both from Ohio. The former came in 1828 and the latter in 1831. Other early settlers were James and Jesse Gwinn, W. A. Aldred, Peter Ellis, New¬ ton Webb, Isaac Milburn, Noah Huntzinger and Arbuckle Nelson.

The Gwinns came about 1835 and settled on section 23, about two miles northeast of Fishersburg, where members of the family still live. They were from Virginia, where one of their ancestors settled in colonial times and took up a large tract of land. By some means this land passed out of the control of the Gwinn family and later was leased to a coal company. When rich deposits of coal were found, suit was filed to recover the land and after five years of litigation the case was decided in the summer of 1913 in favor of the Gwinn heirs, giving them pos¬ session of 440 acres of coal lands, valued at $50,000. The Gwinns of Stony Creek township shared in this good fortune.

The first death in the township was that of George- Shetterly, about 1830, and the first marriage was between Samuel Shetterly and Jane Freel on July 8, 1834. She was a daughter of Benoni Freel, the pioneer, and the ceremony was performed by Ancil Beach, a deacon in the Methodist church.

The first road opened through the township was the one from Pen¬ dleton to Strawtown, which was laid out in 1832. In 1865 that portion between Pendleton and Fishersburg became a toll road known as the

Pendleton & Fishersburg turnpike and remained thus until purchased by the county and made a free gravel road in 1888. There are now nearly fifty miles of public highway in the township, and one line of railroad (the Central Indiana), which crosses the eastern boundary about a mile south of the northeast corner and runs a southwesterly direction past Lapel, leaving the township about half a mile south of Fishersburg.

About 1835 a log school house, the first in the township, was built near Stony creek, a short distance southeast of Fishersburg. Three years later it passed into the hands of a man named Rogers, who con¬ verted it into a blacksmith shop, w'hich it is claimed w r as the first in the township. With the introduction of the free school system, better buildings were erected for educational purposes, and in 1912 there were nine school houses, all of brick, valued at $12,000. The nine teachers employed in the public schools during the year 1912-13 received $4,324 in salaries.

tion there in 1843, the Forest Chapel Christian church, in the south¬ eastern part, was founded in 1860, and the Methodists, Friends and United Brethren have churches in Lapel.

Fishersburg, near the western boundary, and Lapel, about a mile southeast of Fishersburg, are the only towns of importance. The lat¬ ter is incorporated. Shortly after the completion of the Central Indiana railroad through the township a postoffice called Bruin was established at Graber's Station on March 6, 1878, with Marion Graber as post¬ master. A few days later another postoffice was established at John¬ son^ Crossing, about one mile east of Graber's Station, with John J. Johnson as postmaster. Both these offices have since been discon¬ tinued and the people who once received mail there are now supplied by rural carrier.

Union is the smallest civil township in Madison county, though when created in 1830 it embraced a much larger territory than at present. The order for its erection was issued by the board of county commis¬ sioners on May 3, 1830, apd in the records for that date it appears as follows:

"Ordered by the board that there a new township be laid off from Anderson township, beginning at the corner of section 23, township 19, range 8; thence north to the north corner of the county; thence west three miles to the northwest corner of section 4, township 22; thence south to the southwest corner of section 12, township 19, range 8; thence east to the place of beginning, to be known and designated by the name of Union.* 1

- The commissioners* clerk evidently made two mistakes in entering this order in the records. First, the northwest corner of section 4, township 22, is in Grant county, one mile north of the Madison county line. It is probable that the northwest corner of section 9 or the southwest cor¬ ner of section 4 was intended, as those two comers join on the county line* just three miles west of the northeast corner of the county. Sec¬ ond, to run a line from that point south to the southwest comer of section 12, township 19, range 8, would be a geographical impossibility, for the reason wiat section 12 lies in Delaware county, the sputhwest comer of it being one mile east of Chesterfield and two miles due north of the starting point. Transposing the figures gives section 21, which was doubtless the one meant, the southwest comer of that section being exactly three miles west of the 4 ' place of beginning. * *

As at first organized, with the boundaries as above indicated, Union township was twenty-one miles long from north to south and three miles wide from east to west. The organization of Richland, Monroe and Van Buren absorbed all the northern part - in fact all of the town¬ ship except nine square miles of the southern end. Subsequently six square miles were added on the south, carrying the southern boundary down to the line separating townships 18 and 19, and the northern boundary was fixed at the middle of sections 33, 34 and 35 of township 20, giving Union its present area of nineteen and one-half square miles.

It is bounded on the north by Richland township; on the east by Del¬ aware county; on the south by Adams township, and on the west by the townships of Anderson and Richland.

In the original order for the organization of the township it was specified that the first election should be held on the second Saturday in June, 1830, at the house of Thomas Vananda, in the town of West Union (now Chesterfield), for one justice of the peace. At the August term the commissioners appointed William Bodle constable for the new township.

It is claimed by some that the township was named on account of its being situated opposite the point where the counties of Henry, Delaware and Madison form a " union/' but in view of the great extent of territory included at the beginning, it is more than likely that the name was adopted out of regard for the Federal Union of states.

two miles, when it turns southward and crosses the western boundary a little south of the center. Its principal tributaries in Union are the Turkey creek from the north and Mill creek from the south, both of which empty into the river near Chesterfield. Sly Fork, an affluent of Fall creek, flows southward in the southeastern portion. The sur¬ face is generally level, except along the White river, where there are some bluffs and hills. On the south side of this stream in Union town¬ ship, half a mile east of the western border, are the celebrated mounds described in Chapter II.

When the first white men came to this part of the county they found the ground covered with a dense forest, consisting of black walnut, oak, hickory, ash, poplar, beech, and other varieties of trees, but most of the valuable timber has disappeared. The soil is fertile, much of it being a black, sandy loam with clay subsoil and well adapted to agricultural

William Dilts, who came from Montgomery county, Ohio, in March, 1821, and settled on the east side of Mill creek, is credited with being the first white man to erect a cabin in what is now Union township. Here he dwelt for about three yeare, when, being without sufficient means to enter the land, the place he had selected for a home was en¬ tered from under him by Joshua Baxter. Mr. Dilts then went to Del¬ aware county, but in 1829 he returned and entered 160 acres just east of where he had first located. Upon this tract he built a double log house, which he opened as a hotel, the first in that part of the county. In 1835 he erected a brick house, the first of its kind in the township, near the log house. This building was also conducted as a hotel for many years.

About three months after Mr. Dilts settled on Mill creek in 1821, Frederick Bronnenberg came into the township. He was from Rich¬ land county, Ohio, on his way to Sangamon county, Illinois, with an ox team, when one of his oxen gave out near Mr. Dilts' place, upon whom he called for assistance. Upon being informed that there were no roads to speak of farther west, Mr. Bronnenberg decided to locate in the neighborhood. He first moved his family into an abandoned cabin that had been erected by an Indian trader named McChester, but the following spring built a cabin of his own on section 16. This sec¬ tion was school land, which was afterward purchased by Mr. Bron¬ nenberg, and which is still owned by his descendants.

Prior to the organization of the township in 1830, the following persons settled within its present limits: Isaac K. Errick, from New York; John Suman, from Maryland, an unmarried man who made his home with Mr. Dilts; Daniel Noland and his four sons-in-law - William Woods, John Martin, Jason Hudson and Joseph Carpenter - from North Carolina; Amasa Makepeace, from Massachusetts; David Croan and a Mrs. Shimer, from Ohio; Bazil Neely, from Virginia; John Pugh, and some others.

Michael, son of Frederick Bronnenberg, born on November 21, 1821, was the first white child born in the township, and the second white male child in the county. The first wedding was on December 29, 1825, when Nancy Shimer became the wife of Allen Makepeace, and the sec¬ ond was that of John Pugh and Celia Bracken in September, 1829.

For the first four years after the settlement of the township was begun, the settlers had to take their corn to the mill at the falls of Fall creek to have it ground into meal. In 1825 Amasa Makepeace offered to build a mill on Mill creek, a short distance above the mouth, if the neighbors would construct a race for the water necessary to run it. They cheer¬ fully agreed and before the close of that year the Makepeace mill was a landmark in that section of the county. Soon after the mill was completed, Allen Makepeace, a son of Amasa, opened the first store in a log cabin near by, hauling his goods from Cincinnati in wagons. This was the first mercantile establishment in Union township.

and still later a carding machine. The entire plant was destroyed by fire in 1847. When the Indianapolis & Bellfontaine (now the Big Four) Railroad was completed through the township, Brazleton Noland built a large flour mill at Chesterfield and not long afterward J. B. Anderson established a saw-mill there. Both these mills have passed away.

Samuel Suman started the first distillery in the township, on his farm on the north side of the White river, at an early date, and Fred¬ erick Bronnenberg afterward built a distillery on his farm. Like his mill, this distillery was destroyed by fire.

The first school house was built in 1829, near where the town of Chesterfield now stands, and the first school was taught that winter by Jason Hudson. The six brick school houses in the township in 1912 were valued at $5,000, and the seven teachers employed in the public schools received $3,680 in salaries.

The United Brethren church organized in Chesterfield in 1840 was the first religious society. This church was followed by the Baptists in 1868, and in 1870 a Methodist congregation was organized. In 1890 the Spiritualist camp grounds were established near Chesterfield and meeting have been held annually since that time, usually in the month of August.

Union township has about forty miles of public highway and two lines of railroad. The Big Four runs from southwest to northeast through the central part and the Pan Handle from northwest to south¬ east through the southern part. Chesterfield, on the Big Four, is the only railroad station in the township. When the Pan Handle was com¬ pleted a station called Slyfork was started near the place where the railroad crosses the stream of that name, and a postoffice called Bran¬ son was established by the government. Ballingall & Tucker opened a store, a sawmill was built, and for a time Slyfork gave evidences of having "come to stay." But the machinery of the mill was taken to another location, the postoffice was discontinued, and finally the stock of goods was removed and the building tom down. Nothing is left to mark the place where this promising hamlet once stood.

This township occupies the northeast corner of the county and is five miles square, with an area of twenty-five square miles, or sixteen thousand acres. It was named in honor of Martin Yan Buren, who was inaugurated president of the United States on March 4, 1837, and two days later the township was organized, as shown by the following entry in the records of the commissioners' court for that date:

"On petition filed, and due deliberation thereupon had, it is ordered by the Board that Congressional township No. 22 north, of range 8 east, in Madison county, be organized into a township to be known and designated by the name and style of Van Buren township, and it is also ordered that they hold an election in said township, at the house of Hiram Palmer therein, on the first Monday of April next, for the pur¬ pose of electing one justice of the peace / 9

Hiram Palmer was appointed inspector of the election and it was further ordered that all elections in the township should be held at his house until the board might otherwise direct. From the published accounts of that first election it is clear that Mr. Palmer did not serve as inspector. He and Samuel Fenimore were the opposing candidates for the office of justice of the peace. Early on the morning of the elec¬ tion Mr. Fenimore and three of his friends appeared at the polls and cast four votes for Fenimore for 11 squire.'' No other votes were cast until just before the time for closing the polls, when Palmer and four others came up and cast five votes for Palmer, electing him by a major¬ ity of one vote. The Fenimore crowd no doubt felt somewhat crest¬ fallen, when they realized their defeat, especially as they had made no effort during the day to bring out other voters and then had to witness the victory snatched from them when it was"too late.

The surface of this township is generally level and was once heavily timbered. The soil is principally a black loam in the level portions and clay where the surface is rolling. It is all highly productive and, now that the level lands are thoroughly drained, some of the largest crops in the county are produced in Van Buren, especially of wheat and corn. Pipe creek, which flows across the southeast corner, and Mud creek, which has its source near Summitville are the only water courses.

There is some question as to who the first settlers were, or just when they located in the township. From sources believed to be reliable it is learned that about 1830 Jacob Davis, John and Hiram Palmer and Thomas Gordon, came from Virginia and located a little north of where the town of Summitville now stands. Between that time and the organ¬ ization of the township quite a number of immigrants came in and entered lands. Among them were John and William Kelsey, who set¬ tled on section 8, near the Grant county line; John Cree and Robert Robb, on section 17, immediately south of the Kelseys; Samuel Feni¬ more, on section 20, near those who came in 1830; Thomas Cartwright and James Blades, on section 31, in the southwest corner; John Moore, who came from North Carolina and settled near Samuel Fenimore.

Others who came in during this period and settled in various parts of the township were Ephraim and Madison Broyles (father and son), John Shields, Zachariah Robinson, David Culberson and John M. Zedeker. Some of these remained but a short time. Believing that bet¬ ter opportunities cduld be found in Illinois or Iowa which were just then being settled, they moved on westward to find farms on the prairies, where the arduous labor of "making a clearing ,, could be avoided.

After the organization of the township settlement increased steadily. By 1839 there was considerable travel over the old Indianapolis & Fort Wayne state road and in that year Samuel Fenimore built an addi¬ tion to his cabin and opened a tavern for the accommodation of travel¬ ers who might pass over the "Fort Wayne trace/' as the road was called, and who might need a "square meal" or a night's lodging. This was the first hotel in the township. The first saw-mill was built by Moore, Wellington & Harold in 1854, to which a run of buhrs for grinding corn was afterward added. The first store was opened by Robert Robb in

1838, and the first postoffice was kept by John Kelsey. The first black¬ smith shop was started by Jasper Webb and the first shoemaker was a man named Snelling. In 1868 the first flour mill was built at Summit¬ ville by Columbus Moore.

It is believed that the first school house in Yan Buren township was a small log cabin, about a mile and half north of Summitville, but the date when it was built or when the first school was taught there cannot be definitely ascertained. George Doyle was the first teacher. In 1912 there were eight brick school houses, exclusive of the building in the incorporated town of Summitville, and the value of these eight houses was estimated at $10,000. Ten teachers were employed in the township schools during the school years of 1912-13 and the amount paid to them in salaries was $4,204.

Probably the first religious society to be organized was a German Baptist church, which was established at an early date. A Christian congregation was organized about 1859, the Zion Baptist church in 1874, the Wesleyan Methodist church at Summitville the same year, and the Baptists and Presbyterians also have churches in Summitville.

Van Buren township has transportation facilities above the average. Over forty miles of public highway traverse all sections of the township, and a large proportion of these roads consists of graveled roadways of the most approved type. The Michigan division of the Big Four Rail¬ road runs north and south through the western part, through Summit¬ ville, and is paralleled by a line of the Indiana Union Traction Company, over which electric trains run every hour. Summitville is the only town.