South Whitley Historic District

September 8, 1849, a postoffke was established. The name asked for was Millersburgh, but as there was already a town and postoffice by the name in Elkhart county, the authorities named it Collamer, in honor of Jacob Collamer, then postmaster-general, and it is now known as Collamer. There were ten lots surveyed. Lot one was three by eight poles, lot ten was ten poles on the north line and bent around river. The other lots were four by eight poles. The first lots were sold on February 6, 1847. On that day Rambo sold four lots or parts : To Christian Harter, lot one and a rod off the south side of lot two for sixteen dollars and ninety-six cents, and to John W. Nottingham, lot seven for fourteen dollars, and lot six for eleven dollars and sixty-six cents. The next sale was November 25, 1847, lots four and five to Ellis Miller for twenty-five dollars and fifty cents. Ellis Miller had built the dam across the river in the summer of 1845 anc' sometime in the winter of 1845 anr' 1846 began to grind corn and shortly after wheat and other small grain. The mill and dam remain, the only waterpower left in the whole county, the South Whitley dam having gone out on the dredging of Eel river a few years ago. Millersburgh, nr Collamer, though having the only water-power mill in the county and having the Vandalia Railroad, and being: in as fine country as the world affords, has made no headway and is no better town than a half century ago. The railroad station has been abandoned and it has been hinted that the postoffice will soon yield up the ghost before the march of rural delivery.

Passage source: History of Whitley County, Indiana, published 1907.

While the first town and postoffice in the county were at South Whitley, and Cleveland township was the first organized, there were two or three, perhaps more, settlers in Smith township prior to the Eel river settlement. It is impossible to ascertain who was the very first settler or to determine the priority of several of the first ones. James Chaplin lived on section 7 in 1835 and blazed a trail or road from his farm to intersect the Squawbuck trail in Richland township. This was the highway to Oswego and Turkey Prairie. It is most likely that the Clevelands, Parretts, Samuel Obenchain and John Collins were all settlers before January 1, 1836. Joseph Creager soon followed. Creager and Joseph Parrett settled on land now covered by South Whitley. The Goshen and Huntington road was the only established road in that part of the county at the time of organization. The only other in the county was the Fort Wayr.e and Goshen road in the northeast part of the county, though there were several applications pending at the time of organization, proceedings began in Huntington county and concluded in Whitley. Soon after the establishment of the countv seat a road was blazed through, practically what is today called the "North, Whitley and Columbia road." It was blazed almost through in 1839 and finished early in 1840. Soon after the river road was opened up to what is now Collamer, Liberty Mills and North Manchester.

Passage source: History of Whitley County, Indiana, published 1907.

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 Cleveland Township - 1,767 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.