West Liberty, Indiana

Joseph Brown, the oldest inhabitant of the township living at the present time, was a resident of Grant County previous to his settlement here. He first saw this part of the country in 1843, while on a hunt for cattle belonging to his employer, Mr. Tyler, and, liking the appearance of the land, determined to locate here. He selected a spot for his cabin about one-half mile northeast of Jerome on Lily Creek, and soon had a habitation ready for occupancy. His family was soon transferred to their new home, and since that period Mr. Brown has been prominently identified with the growth and development of the township. At the present time, he is operating a mill very successfully at the village of Jerome. Moorman located near West Liberty, and was soon afterward joined by Elliott Mason, who settled in the same vicinity. They both came here from Grant County^ and for many years were residents of Union. John Farrington settled on the south bank of Wild Cat, one mile southeast of Jerome, where he took a claim. He traded this claim two years later to Ephraim Bates, who lived north of the creek, on the old Bailey place. He was a man of considerable energy and rare business qualifications, and became the possessor of a fine tract of real estate, which, at the present time, is in possession of his descendants.

Passage source: Counties of Howard and Tipton, Indiana. Historical and Biographical.., published 1883.

Among other early settlers who came in about the same time, or perhaps a little later, were Elias Brown, brother of Joseph Brown, who located on Lily Creek, one mile north of Jerome, where he entered land in 1847, and Jefferson Horine, who settled about midway between West Liberty and Jerome, on the East Fork of Wild Cat, where his son, Samuel Horine, lives. Horine was a native of Kentucky, and proved a valuable acquisition to the community where he settled. He was the first physi- cian in the township, and early achieved quite a reputation for the successful manner in which he treated the chills and ague, so common in pioneer times.

Passage source: Counties of Howard and Tipton, Indiana. Historical and Biographical.., published 1883.

In the year 1875, William Jessup moved a steam flouring mill from Kokomo to the village of West Liberty, which proved a valuable acquisition to that part of the country, Jessup sold it before its completion to - Carr, who operated it a short time, when it was purchased by William McConnell. It passed through several hands and was finally bought by Mr. Covalt, the present owner, who has remodeled it and added new and improved machinery. A saw has been attached and certain days of each week are devoted to the lumber business.

Passage source: Counties of Howard and Tipton, Indiana. Historical and Biographical.., published 1883.

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 Union Township - it names this place 6 more 6 times.