Springfield, Indiana

John Turney and Elias Altizer were the first overseers of the poor of the township. Altizer was inspector of electioias before the township was separated from Harmony Township. John Curtis and David Love were constables in 1818, and Frederick Rapp was appointed superintendent of school section for Lynn Township, in March, 1817. James Black built a mill on Big Creek, in Lynn Township near the upper New Harmony and Mount Vernon stage route in 1817. A bridge was built across Big Creek, at Black's Mill, in 1818. Black's first mill was a water-mill, but in 1823 he built a horse-mill near the same place, in addition to his water-mill.

Passage source: History of Posey County, Indiana : from the Earliest Times to the Present, with Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc. : Together with an Extended History of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana, published 1886.

In 1823 William Wier built a horse-mill on Mill Creek, in Lynn Township. Abner Coates built a mill on Coates' Creek, in the same township in 1825. George N. Thomas built an ox tread-mill on Big Creek in 1836, and it was burned down in 1841, but was rebuilt again at once and changed to a steam-mill. The second mill was burned in 1848, but Mr. Thomas again erected a new" mill which he used until it was worn out. Grafton marks the site of the mill. In 1822 John Schnee and Joseph Spalding were appointed by the county board to select a lot in Springfield on which to build a schoolhouse. A little later, 1827, a schoolhouse was built on Big Creek. The house was built on the Allison farm and Samuel Annable was the first teacher. In 1818 Thomas Denby and Absalom Henson obtained license to keep tavern and sell liquors in Springfield. The General Baptists buUt a church at Beech Grove in 1870, and called it Bethesda. The trustees of the church were William York, John G. Donaldson and B. S. Aldrich. A church organization had existed here several years previous to the building of the church. The church was quite prosperous for a time under Elder James Eusk, but some difference of opinion as to church polity sprang up and caused a schism in the church. The members are now quite few. The Methodists formerly had a camp ground at Beech Grove. A quarterly meeting was held by them at Beech Grove in 1844. It is related by a reliable citizen of Mount Vernon that at one of these meetings, when it was almost considered a standard of Christianity to shout or to be affected by the "jerks," there was a woman who was considered of rather easy virtue, and who was always very demonstrative in her shouts, to the no little annoyance of other worshipers. Once while in one of her ecstasies, some of the Kennedy and McHenry boys with their companions, managed to throw a well fiUed hornets' nest near her feet, and when the hornets began to express their anger at the treatment they had received the woman shouted, "I already feel the stings of conscience!" This was done to the discomfiture of the worshipers but to the great amusement of the boys.

Passage source: History of Posey County, Indiana : from the Earliest Times to the Present, with Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc. : Together with an Extended History of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana, published 1886.

In the early history of the county musters were regularly held. There were the company, battalion, regimental and brigade muster. Among the officers at various times were Gen. William Twigg, Gen. James P. Drake, Col. Zachariah Wade, Col. Jesse Nash, Col. Clement Whiting, Capt. W. J. Lowry, Lieut. John F. Allison, Adjt. Allen and others.

Passage source: History of Posey County, Indiana : from the Earliest Times to the Present, with Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc. : Together with an Extended History of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana, 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 Lynn Township.