William Gonnerman House

Was named after Hugh. William and Thomas Black, three brothers, who were among the very earliest settlers, and who were highly respected by their acquaintances. On March 24, 1817, when the township was organized its territory included what is now known as Point, which, from August 14, 182 1, until May 13, 1822, was called Daniel township, named in honor of John Daniel, the first permanent settler there. The first election held in this township was at the house of Thomas Givens, in Mt. Vernon. It is the wealthiest township in the County, and, in 1880, had under cultivation 43,007 acres of land, the yield of wheat and corn per acre averaging respectively fifteen and thirty-five bushels. Its surface is gently undulating, its soil is very fertile and its inhabitants, as a class, are frugal, industrious and enterprising. It contained, according to the census report of 1880, 7,000 inhabitants. Its educational facilities are superior, its standard of morality is high and its sanitary condition is excellent. Among the earliest settlers of this township were Win. Curtis, father of Thomas, Joshua and Wm. B. (who is the father of George W., the incumbent of the County Clerk's office), and his cousin, Kel Curtis. They came to the County in 181 1. -'Aunt Becky" McFaddin, who died at Mt. Vernon, February 3, 1873, in the eighty-seventh year of her age, and who was the widow of Andrew McFaddin, was a resident of this

Passage source: History and Directory of Posey County [Indiana] : Containing an Account of the Early Settlement and Organization of the County ... : Also a Complete List of the Tax-payers, Their Post-office Addresses and Places of Residence, Together with a Business Directory of Mt. Vernon and New Harmony ... Also Biographical Sketches of Prominent Citizens of the County, published 1882.

In 1831 Darius North, Virgil Soaper and Andrew McFadden built the first steam mill in the township at Mt. Vernon. It was at first a sawmill, burrs being added later for grinding corn, and finally changed to a grist mill and distillery.

Passage source: History of Posey County, Indiana, published 1913.

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 Black Township - 35,592 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.