Odon, Indiana

This township lies in the northeast corner of the county, and coincides with Congressional Township 5 north, Range 5 west. It is not easy to arrive at a conviction as to who was the first settler within its limits; but among the first was Baldwin Howard, who lived on the farm now owned by James H. Garten, about three-fourths of a mile south of Odon. The first land entries were made in 1821, by Zebulon Jenkins, May 19, east half of the northwest quarter of Section 4; August 20, by Robert Evans, Sr., west half of the southeast quarter of Section 1, and by Samuel Hughen, the northeast ' quarter of Section 4. William Gilmore made an entry August 26, 1822, the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 20, immediately west of Odon, and the low land in that location is known to this day as " Gilmore's Swamp." Benjamin Coombs, who is still remembered by some of the inhabitants of Madison Township, entered the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 30; on the 20th of August 1823, Joseph B. Van Matre, who is also still remembered, entered the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 9 on the 7th of April, 1829, and on the 21st of October of the same year, Joshua Manning entered the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 7. Some of the other early settlers were Joseph, John and Harvey Hastings ; Reuben and George Rainey, who came about 1830, as also Wilson Webster about the same time. Jacob and Eli Kinneman came to this township in 1838, directly from Stark County, Ohio, with their father and the rest of his family, traveling the entire distance in a four-horse wagon. Jacob declared upon arrival here that he would return to Ohio as soon as he had money enough to pay his way back, he was then so disgusted with Indiana; but he is still living on the old homestead, and has never yet been back, even on a visit. A few names are given of other but later arrivals. Emsley Odell and William Hubbard came about 1840, William Boyd in 1845, Clement Correll and Andrew Sears in 1850, Howard Crook in 1854, and C. R. Burns in 1855.

Passage source: History of Knox and Daviess County, Indiana : from the Earliest Time to the Present; with Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc. ; Together with an Extended History of the Colonial Days of Vincennes, and Its Progress Down to the Formation of the State Government, published 1886.

HOWAED CBOOKE, attorney, of Odon, Ind., was born in Lawrence County, Ind., February 7, 1825, and is one of thirteen children born to Oily and Nancy (Cruse) Crooke. The father was of Irish descent, born in 1798, in Kentucky. He was a tanner by trade, and was married in 1819, and in 1823 moved to Lawrence County, Ind., where he built a tannery and worked at his old trade. In 1863 he came to Daviess County, Ind., where he and his son James purchased a farm of 156 acres. His death occurred October 11, 1884. The mother was born October 7, 1802, in Virginia, and died March 17, 1882. Subject received his education in the district schools, and made his home with his parents until twenty years of age. In early life he learned the tanner's trade of his father, but on attaining his majority abandoned that occupation, and hired out as a traveling salesman to a merchant at Springville, continuing in this business eight years. April 6, 1854, he married Ann Culmer, daughter of Stephen and Sarah Culmer. Mrs. Crooke was born in the parish of Kent, England, July 23, 1833. She came to the United States with her parents when a child, and lived for some years in Pennsylvania, and then came to Lawrence County, Ind. To Mr. and Mrs. Crooke' s union six children were born, five of whom are living: Sarah M. (wife of James Burrell), Fanny O, Margaret A., Harry H, and Lillie B. Mr. Crooke came to Daviess County after his marriage, and purchased 115 acres of land and began his career as a tiller of the soil. He lived there but a short time when he sold out and moved to Odon, and began merchandising. In 1855 he and Oily Owen began doing business together, but in the fall Owen sold his interest, and the next spring Zimri Garten became his partner. Four years later they took our subject's brother James in as partner, but Garten soon sold his interest, and the property then belonged to the brothers. In 1864 they sold out to Carrell & Garten. Since that time our subject has given his attention to farming and serving as notary public. He owns 165 acres of land in Daviess County, and 133 acres in Martin County, besides a dwelling-house, office, and business block in Odon. In politics he is a Eepublican, and cast his first vote for Taylor. Ha is one of the leading men in his party in the county, and in 1855 was elected justice of the peace for Madison Township, and served eight years. In 1864 he was* elected to the State Legislature, and served one regular term and one special term. In 1876 he was appointed notary public, and was twice re-elected. He came to Odon when there were only six families in the place.

Passage source: History of Knox and Daviess County, Indiana : from the Earliest Time to the Present; with Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc. ; Together with an Extended History of the Colonial Days of Vincennes, and Its Progress Down to the Formation of the State Government, published 1886.

July of that year lie was sent home on furlough, but not recovering his former health he remained at home. In 1873 he sold his farm and purchased forty-nine acres of land near Odon, where he has a fine residence. He is 'a Republican, and a member of the I. O. O. F. Since 1854 he has given the most of his attention to the brick-mason's trade. His parents were William and Henrietta (Baker) Hubbard, natives of Kentucky, born in 1791, and died in 1865 and 1840, respectively. They were married in 1812 and came to Indiana in 1833. The father was a farmer and owned 120 acres of land.

Passage source: History of Knox and Daviess County, Indiana : from the Earliest Time to the Present; with Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc. ; Together with an Extended History of the Colonial Days of Vincennes, and Its Progress Down to the Formation of the State Government, published 1886.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Madison Township - it names this place 15 more 15 times.