Lebanon Courthouse Square Historic District

Center Township occupies a central position in the county and contains about sixty-two square miles. It is a very irregular shape, having in and out corners almost without number. The principal stream draining it is Prairie Creek, flowing from the southeast to the northwest past Lebanon. In former years this little stream had its own way, especially when it got ona high. Of late years, however, at a great expense it has been confined to a channel. Thus improved it affords an outlet for countless ditches, drains, ete. The Indianapolis, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad passes through Center a distance of about ten miles, running in a northwest direction, entering at section ten at the southeast and leaving it at section twenty-one at the northwest. The soil here is on an average with the other townships and has kept pace in improvements. We speak now of the township only. Under the head of "Sketch of Lebanon " will be found a more detailed account. It is difficult to speak of one without referring to the other, especially in regard to the early settlement, so closely are their histories allied. Necessarily this sketch of Center must be short, and under the head referred to above we will speak more in full of what might seem proper here. It would be useless to repeat, as we have decided to put it in the "Sketch of Lebanon," the first settlement having been made there. The history of Center Township is not unlike the histories of the other townships. First, a few hardy pioneers settling in the woods, building their cabins, clearing their patches here and there, log-rollings, house-raisings, etc. Improvements came gradually. The little fields widened out, the cabin gave way to hewed log houses and then to frame and brick dwellings. Thus it has been here and in every township in our now grand county. First the little blazed paths, then the cut out roads, then the gravel roads in their own good time, and . thousands of like improvements and advancements have dawned upon us. A few have lived to see these changes and many have fallen by the way. It has cost toil and labor untold to bring about these improvements. The pioneers underwent privations and hardships that the present generation know nothing about. No citizen, can view these changes without a feeling of pride and satisfaction. The contrasts in many respects are wonderful. Center Township has grown in popu- Jation from a few souls in 1829 to now near four thousand. The population in 1870 was 2,856; in 1880 it was 3,826. Number of voters in 1886 was 1,573 ; number of school houses, 17; number of school children in 1885 was 1,097, not includ- ing Lebanon. The following have served as trustees: A- - Robinson, A. C. Daily, Millroy Lane, J. A. Gardner, Thos. H. Martin, R. W. Matthews, and H. L. Bynum, elected April, 1886.

Passage source: Early Life and Times in Boone County Indiana, published 1861.

The first court house, a hewed-log structure, was built in 1835. Among the early citizens of Lebanon were A. H. Longley, John Patterson, William Smith, David Hoover. James Pricely was the first tailor; A. H. Shepherd the second. Joseph Hocker was the first attorney, associate with Jacob Angle, Stephen Neal and William B. Beard. Lorenzo C. Daugherty was an attorney in Lebanon who attained high standing, was selected as Representative and in the Senate. O. S. Hamilton and T. J. Cason also made their mark. From 1843 to ^52 Hiram Brown, William Ouarles, Hugh O. Neal, A. A. Hammond and Jacob Landis, of Indianapolis, were regular attendants of the circuit courts of this county. From 1852 to 1886, the resident lawyers of Lebanon were T. J. Cason, A. J. Boone, R. W. Harrison, T. H. Lockhart, J. W. Clements, T. J. Terhune, C. M. Zion, O. P. Mahan, B. S. Higgins, C. S. Wesner, J. R. Abbott, I. M. Kelsey, M. C. Wills, C. M. Wynkoop, J. S. Pierce, Stephen Neal, D. M. Burns, J. O. Pedigo, and S. A. Falkner. Stephen Neal practiced in the county for half a century.

Passage source: History of Boone County, Indiana : With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Old Families, published 1914.

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 Center Township - 705 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.