Perry Township

Perry Township

had entered the place in 1821. These settlements are all that can be positively located, both as to time and place, who came before the year 1824. During this year and the following there was a very considerable immigration, and the following settlements were made: Samuel Brewer, on the hill, west side of Madison road, north of Buck Creek, who came in 1825 ; Noah Wright, on the east side of Madison road and south of Lick Creek ; Simon Smock, east side of Madison road, just over the line from Centre, his brother-inlaw, Lawrence De Mott, just east of him, the farms adjoining. Immediately west of Smock, on the east side of the Three-Notch line, were John McFall and sons, - John, Benjamin, and David, - and just across the road from him was George Marquis. About a mile or a mile and a half east of Southport was a small colony, Isaac Coonfield, with his sons, John and James, his son-in-law, Archibald Clark, with his brother, Obadiah Clark, and northeast of these, on the present Churchman pike, were John Thompson and William Huey. These are about all the permanent settlers who came this year, 1824, but there were others whose names are not known who stayed but a year or 80. This same thing happened every year, as there was an almost constant moving around. This being caused by the way the land was farmed. A man entering land and then sending some one here to put up a cabin, or leasing it to some one, who put up a cabin and stayed a short time, selling the lea.se to some one else, and thus a large part of the settlers were only transient. The permanent settlers of the years 1825 and 1826 are given as near in the order of their arrival as is known, and are as follows : David Fisher (at whose house the Lick Creek Baptist Church was organized), on the north side of the Churchman pike, east side of the township ; James Turner, and his brother Jacob, west of James, on the Shelbyville pike, northeast of Southport ; Thomas Bryant, just west of Jacob Turner, on the south side of the Shelbyville pike, directly north of Southport ; John Brewer, with his family, about half a mile east of Southport ; Andrew Mann, on Buck Creek, south side, next to Franklin township ; Stephen Hankins, with his family, half a mile east of the Madison road, north side of Lick Creek ; Ephraim Arnold, near the Lick Creek

Church ; Archibald Bruce, immediately east of Henry Aleorn ; Charles and Elijah McBride, with their father, on the Bluff road, west side, three-quarters of a mile north of Glenn's Valley : Samuel Brewer, west side Madison road, north side of Buck Creek ; Purnell Coverdill, two or two and a half miles northeast of Southport ; Jeremiah Featherston and family, threequarters of a mile southeast of Southport ; Benjamin McFarland, the first man who practiced medicine that settled in the township, and his two sons, Samuel and William, and soon after him his son-in-law, John McCollum, near Lick Creek, east side of the township ; Moses Orme, on the Three-Notch line, next to Johnson County ; Lambert Saulter, with his two sons. Garret and Elijah, and Page Rawlings, about one mile and a half southeast of Southport ; Samuel Woodfield, five miles south of town, on the east of the Bluif road ; Charles Neighbors and Scipio Sedgwick, on adjoining land to Woodfield, Neighbors being just west of him, and Sedgwick south of Neighbors ; Thomas Richardson, one-half mile north of Southport, on the east side of the Madison ro»d ; Rev. John Ritchie, east side of the Bins' road, adjoining the Centre township line, ju.st west of George Marquis ; Noah Wright, on the east side of Madison road, south bank of Lick Creek ; William Evans, on the south side of Lick Creek, about three-quarters of a mile east of where the Madison road crosses ; James Hoagland, with his sons, Richard, John, and William, one and a half miles southeast of Southport.

About this time William Tracy, his son-in-law, Peggs, and his brother, John Tracy, settled one mile west of Southport, south side of the present gravel road. Jacob Peggs is still living at Franklin, Ind., about ninety years old. He served as recorder of Johnson County two terms, and as justice of the peace in the same county several terms, and was the first miller at Smock's mill, spoken of elsewhere. On the west side of the township was Silas Rhoads, who settled just across the road from Henry Alcorn, but he remained only a year or so, leaving in 1827, and moving to the Wabash ; and the same year Alexander Clark, after whom Clark township, Johnson County, is named, moved in, and after remaining about two years moved to the northeast corner of

Hi8T0Ky Of Indianapolis And Marion County

Johnson County. This completes the list of what might be called old settlers, those at least who were of any prominence, there being others whose names are not known and who remained, as a rule, but a year or so, and did not generally own the land.

About 1827, Isaac Kelly settled one half-mile north of Lick Creek, on the east side of the Three- Notch line ; William McCIain on the north side of the gravel road, one mile east of Southport ; Jesse Dunn on the north side of Buck Creek, one halfmile west of where the Three-Notch line crosses it; Benjamin Harris (a tenant only), about a mile and a half northwest of Southport; William Jones, who came in 1828, and was the first Welshman, two miles west of Southport, on the south side of the gravel road.

The following is a list of those who were settlers, and who either remained but a short time or whose place of settlement is not known : Jesse Admire, Henry Brewer, near Southport ; William Brenton, east of Southport ; Lewis J. Brown, William H. P. and James, sons of Peyton Bristow, Isaac and Edward Brazelton, near the centre of the township ; Allen Bost, Joel Boling, Richard Berry, Thomas Carle, northeast of Southport about two miles ; Nicholas Cline, James Carson, Henry Coughman, Benjamin Crothers, Frederick Disinger (who was very probably the first German to settle in the township), Abram and Peter Ellis, David Fulson, Moses Frazee, Richard Good (the first Irishman who settled in the township), William Hall, Jacob Hill, John Heist, John W. Johnston, John M. Johnson, William and James Johnson (William living in Waterloo), John Jackson, Thomas Lewis (one mile and a half southwest of Southport, on the county road running east and west, the farm now owned by the widow of Ezra Smith), Jacob and Ezariah Mosely, George McClain, two miles west of Southport on the county road ; William Mentieth, William and James Mc- Laughlin, in the northeast side of the township; Smith McFall, Charles Orme (who was a transient settler only), John Parker, a United Brethren minister, John Reding, Sr., Henry Rammel, John Russell (one half-mile west of Southport, north side of Buck Creek), Joseph Rosenbarg, Ephraim Robinson (who stayed about a year), William Rice, Thomas Richardson, a half-mile north of Southport, east side of the Madison road ; John Seiburn (at whose mother's house the first Sunday-school in the township was organized, one mile and a half north of Southport, half-mile east of the Madison road), Thomas Shelton, northwest of Southport, on the north bank of Buck Creek ; Frederic Shultz, Isaac Senoney, Daniel Stack, James Spillman, in the northeast part of the township ; Francis Sanders (who lived to be over ninety years of age), one mile and a half east of Glenn's Valley ; Robert Tomlinson, southwest of Southport, north side of the road ; Thomas Lewis, Jacob Tumes, John Thompson, Richard Thomas, George Wright, one half-mile east of the present site of Centre Church ; Primrose Yarbrough (northeast side of township), who married the widow of James Spillman.

Rev. Henry Brenton came from Trimble County, Ky., in the early part of 1822. He was a local Methodist preacher on Sundays and a farmer during the week ; there being constant need of his services, as there was a meeting held either in the woods or in the cabin of some pioneer nearly every Sunday. He accomplished much in the field he had adopted, and was a pioneer of the church, as, on account of his solemn and earnest presence, he was called upon by the settlers of Johnson and Morgan Counties, sometimes riding twenty miles to perform the marriage ceremony or to conduct religious services, and few that saw him but were impressed by his brevity and earnestness. He had his own peculiarities, one of which was that he always prayed with his eyes open, and when remonstrated with, replied, " We are commanded to watch as well as pray." He probably preached at more funerals and solemnized more marriages than any other pioneer minister in the county, for which latter service two dollars was almost invariably his largest fee. He died at his home on the Three-Notch line, in June, 1847, nearly seventy years of age, and was buried in his brother Robert's family cemetery, on the Blufl" road where it crosses Pleasant Run.

dead, his wife living to a great age and dying but a few years ago, after having been blind some ten years. He had five children, - James, now living in Iowa, Martha, another daughter, Mary, and Thomas.

Rev. Greenup Kelly was born in Estelle County, Ky., and licensed and ordained as a Methodist minister by the Kentucky Conference. A young man of fine promise and great zeal in his work, but his health failing him, he came out to his father, Isaac Kelly (who had settled here in 1827), and after suffering a couple of years, died of consumption, and was buried on a Sunday in December, 1830, in what is now known as Round Hill Cemetery, then known as the Camp Ground Graveyard, it being the place of the first camp-meeting in the county.

The Rev. John Belzer was the only New Light minister who ever settled in the township. His father, and brother Phoenix, settled with him on the school section, having purchased the lease of the Stallcops in the fall of 1824, having a blacksmith-shop on his farm. He organized a church of his persuasion, but it was a rather weak one. He was a superior man and was able beyond his opportunities, having had but little education. He was, in fact, an excellent man. In the fall of 1828 he removed with all his family to Southern Indiana.

Rev. John Ritchie, a local Methodist minister, was a Kentuckian by birth, but came from Ripley County, this State, in the fall of 1826. He was generally known as " Judge" Ritchie, having been an associate judge. He was a large man, of fine presence, and had a magnificently formed head, was very gifted, and though hindered by lack of education, was extraordinarily eloquent, and most forcible in logic, which made him remarkable and honored, both in the pulpit and on the stump, he taking part in the campaign of 1840. In the pulpit he was most remarkable, his appearance belying his abilities, and when he entered the pulpit, always being dressed in home-made jeans, gave rise to a feeling of disappointment, until he spoke, when the audience became spell-bound, fascinated, by his eloquence and earnestness, and remained so until the last word was uttered. He died Aug. 24, 1841, and was buried in what is called the Lemaster's family burying-ground.

Rev. Abram Smock, a Baptist minister, came from Kentucky in the fall of 1825, his brother John having preceded him some four years, returning to Kentucky for him. He organized the first Baptist Church in the township, at the house of David Fisher, in the spring of 1826. He was pastor of this church for a number of years, and also of the First Baptist Church of Indianapolis from December, 1826, to July, 1830, organizing more Baptist churches than any other man in the county, and was a leading minister for many years. He was both eloquent and impressive, and in his work zealous and fervent, but retired from the ministry long before his day of work should have ceased.

The Rev. Jeremiah Featherston, a pioneer Baptist minister, came from Kentucky. He was a missionary most of his time, never having a church of his own. He was a zealous and upright man. H.e died in 1865.

and came from Pendleton County, Ky., in 1830, with his son William, who settled in a southeasterly direction from Southport about one and a half miles. He lived part of the time with his son and part with his son-in-law, Joseph Wallace. At the time of his death, Nov. 20, 1842, he was eighty-seven years old, and had been in the ministry for more than fifty years, the greater portion having been spent in Kentucky. He was buried in the Southport Cemetery.

Henry Riddle came from Roane County, N. C, and lived in the township but a little while, when he removed to St. Joseph County, Ind., where he died some twenty years ago. He was a true pioneer, never allowing civilization to but just reach him, when he retreated before it. He had but a small family. He was very popular, and universally liked, so much so that if there happened to be a dispute in his neighborhood, he was always able to act as peacemaker. The Harmonsons were old neighbors of Riddle's, and came from North Carolina very probably with him. They stayed but a few years, and then went to the southern part of this State.

Hezekiah Smart was born in Nicholas County, Ky., where his brother John was also born. He was married in 1824 to Margaret Hinkston, of Harrison County, Ky. John was married in 1815 to Sally Earls. Hezekiah came to the township in 1823, to his brother, but went back to get married, after which he returned, and lived here until Dec. 25, 1867. He had four sons and five daughters, who all lived to maturity, - Humphrey, William, Martha, Elizabeth, Margaret, Comfort , Hezekiah, and Caroline. His wife died in March, 1879. John had four sons, - Hezekiah, Samuel, John, and Joseph, and four daughters, - Susan, Mary, Elizabeth, and Sally. He died in 1833. His wife died in 1875. Margaret, Hezekiah 's wife, was a leading member and worker in the Methodist Church, and was very prominent in meetings for the part she took in prayer, an unusual thing for women of that day.

Thomas Carle came from Kentucky in 1825 or 1826, and settled in the angle of the road, two miles north of Southport, on the south side of the Shelbyville road, a half-mile south of Lick Creek. He established a tan-yard (the second in the township) the year he came. He was one of the first justices of the peace, having been elected in 1828, and died in office, in March, 1831. He was buried on his farm. His son, Holman Carle, still owns the old place, but lives in the city.

John Myers was born in Kentucky, and moved to Brown County, Ohio, then to Whitewater Valley, near Brookville; remained there but a short time, and then came here in the spring of 1822 with Andrew Wilson (who lived in Wayne township) and his brother Henry, with one horse for all, on a visit to the site of Indianapolis, before he moved out. Soon after he married. He removed with his wife and a few household goods, and when his goods had been unloaded from the wagon of the teamster who had hauled them out, they were left alone in a dark forest, with his nearest neighbors, Henry Riddle and the Harmonsons, a mile and a half away. It was a heavy, unbroken forest, full of wild beasts, and their first night's rest was much disturbed by the howling of wolves and hooting of owls. His first wife died in 1850, and in 1852 he married the widow Comfort Hinkston, who is still living. He died July 20, 1882, eighty-four years old. He served as justice of the peace longer than any man in the county. He was a successful farmer, and, though starting with but forty acres, left an estate valued at thirty thousand dollars. He had two sons and four daughters. James Madison, his eldest son, born in December, 1822, is now living, the oldest resident of the township. His son, Vincent Myers, and his daughter, Mrs. Ed. Thomas, are also living.

Martin D. Bush came here from Dearborn County, Ind., in the fall of 1822. He had three children- Ann, Mary, and Henry - when he came. His wife was a sister of Col. Eggleston. Both he and his wife were noted for their hospitality and their kindness to the sick and needy. Their daughter Ann married Frank Merrill, a brother of Samuel Merrill ; Mary married Amos Sharpe, brother of Thomas Sharpe ; and Henry married a Miss Dryden. Mary died a short time before they left, and the remaining members of the family moved in the spring of 1853 to Northwestern Missouri. He and his wife died some years since at an advanced age. Henry and Ann are still living.

Henry Alcorn came from the north of Ireland when quite a young man, and settled in Lexington, Ky. He moved to Ohio, then came to Indiana, by Muncie and Strawtown, to Indianapolis, prospecting in 1821, and then entered the land on which Henry Riddle and Peter Harmonson had squatted. He moved to Perry in 1823. His wife died in the winter of 1829-30. He had two sons and three daughters, - Henry, Melinda, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Mary Ellen. He married again in 1836, to Sally McClintock, who had come on a visit to her brother Thomas. Henry Alcorn, Jr., died soon after his mother, who died in September, 1847, in Kentucky, having returned there on a visit. He married again in 1850, and his third wife died in 1863. He died in 1875, at the home of his son-in-law, George List, who married his daughter Mary Ellen. His oldest daughter married Garret List. He was eccentric and stern, and a prodigy in arithmetic and mathematics, having had a very liberal education, and having a remarkable memory. He was also regarded as authority in questions of history.

Zachariah Lemaster came in the fall of 1822 or 1823 from Kentucky. He married a Miss Wright, and died about 1840, and left a widow and five children, - two sons and three daughters. The youngest daughter now lives on the old homestead.

Henry Myers, brother of John Myers, married a Miss Mundy, and came here in 1823. About 1846 - 47 he sold out and moved to near Peru, Ind. He was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and a man of unblemished character. He had a large family.

Mrs. Elizabeth Custard came to this township in the fall of 1828 with her son-in-law, David Hinkston, who had married her daughter Comfort. Her daughters, - Eliza, married soon after Elijah Mc- Bride ; Margaret, married Larkin Myers, a son of Henry Myers ; Mary, married James Tracy, son of John Tracy ; and Amanda, married Saulsbury Jones, son of the Welshman, William Jones. They came from Harrison County, Ky., and purchased land on the sixteenth section from John Belger. Mrs. Custard is still living with her daughter, Mrs. Comfort Myers, the widow of the late John Myers, and she is now the oldest person in the county who was a pioneer, being nearly one hundred years old.

Peyton Bristow was a native of Virginia, born in Loudoun County the 29th of August, 1778, his parents being natives of Wales. His father died when he was but a boy, and soon after his mother started with the family, consisting of herself and ten children, for Kentucky. Though he was fourth in the family, he was the practical head, the older ones having left to work for themselves. In the wild forests of Kentucky he had but little or no chance for educating himself, and very little education did he have. He was married on the 16th of November, 1802, to Miss Mary Price. After his marriage he settled on a "claim" in Greene County, Ky., afterwards Adair County, and remained until the fall of

1809, when he sold out and went to Preble County, Ohio. He was a soldier of the war of 1812, though he was not engaged in any battles. In the fall of 1821 he sold out, and, coming to this township, entered three hundred and twenty acres of land. He returned to Ohio to get the two oldest boys, who were to help him build the cabin, which they nearly completed, when the father and the younger son again returned for the family, leaving the elder son to finish it ; but when they returned they found that he had been seriously injured by a falling tree a day or two after they had left, and the cabin was no nearer done than they had left it. This was about the 1st of February, 1822. Soon after this was the first township election, at which there were himself and four others, - Henry Riddle, Peter Harraonson, William Stallcop, and Elias Stallcop. He served as justice of the peace from Nov. 3, 1829, to July 4, 1834, from which he acquired the title of "Squire." He lived a householder for over sixty-six years, and died Feb. 10, 1869. He was sternly and strictly honest, and liberal in his views. He was politically a Democrat and religiously a Universalist. His own death was the first under his roof His wife survived him some eighteen months, and died in 1870. He had thirteen children, - William, James, Lucy, Margaret, Sally, Evans, Cornelius, Eliza, Mary, Martha, Powell, Henry, and Alfred, of whom four or five are dead.

Thomas Bryan came in 1825 from Kentucky, and was married to Miss Saunders, sister of Dr. Saunders, formerly of Indianapolis. He helped to organize the Lick Creek Baptist Church. He had two sons, John and Samuel, and three daughters. John died in 1840; Samuel is still living in Missouri; Mrs. Samuel Siebern living in the city ; Mrs. Samuel Mc- Farland living near the old homestead ; and Mrs. James McClelland living at Franklin, Ind. Mrs. Bryan died in 1853; Mr. Bryan in 1857. Both are buried at Southport. The children of Thomas and Elizabeth Bryan were Samuel, Julia, Mertila, John, and Isabella.

Luke Bryan was born in Pendleton County, Ky., and came to the neighborhood of Southport in the fall of 1828, bringing with him his father and mother, of whom it is necessary here to speak. Samuel and Mary Bryan were the companions and relatives of Daniel Boone, the famous Kentucky pioneer, Samuel's mother being Daniel Boone's sister. When the pioneer started from North Carolina, in 1779, for the far-off land of Kentucky, Samuel and Mary Bryan accompanied him and his wife in the colony which went with him. Samuel had served in the Continental army, and was married just before starting. They traveled on horseback and with pack-horses. When they came to the Cumberland River their goods were transported on a raft, and Mrs. Bryan, being in advance of the other women, was the first white woman who set foot north of the Cumberland River in Kentucky. This colony built on the Elkhorn what was called Bryant's Station, a place of historic note. There or in the vicinity Thomas and Luke Bryan, ^ sons of Samuel, were born. Luke, after he came to this county, married a Miss Saunders, another sister of Dr. Saunders. Samuel Bryan died in 1837, in the eighty-third year of his age, and his wife died in 1840. They were buried on the farm of their son Luke, but afterwards taken to the Southport Cemetery, where rest two of those pioneers who passed through scenes and adventures which have become historical ; and it is doubtful if persons more noted in pioneer history lie buried in the county.

Luke Bryan lived three-quarters of a mile northeast of Southport, on the farm now owned by Capt. Carson. He died March 5, 1857, and his remains lie in the Southport Cemetery. The children of Luke and Mary Bryan were Alphonso H., Sarah, Ethelbert W., Mary, Dorcas A., John S., Joseph M., James W., and Dr. Thomas N. Bryan, now of Indianapolis. Only one other of the sons is now living. Their mother died in June, 1862, in Clay County, 111., whither the family removed after Luke Bryan's death.

Thomas C. Smock was born Dec. 31, 1808, in Mercer County, Ky., and removed to Indiana in 1825, in the seventeenth year of his age, making his home with his brother, John B. Smock, on the Madison road, two miles south of Southport. After his twenty-first year (1829) he made his home with his mother, Mrs. Ann Smock, two miles north of Southport, on the west side of the Madison road. In September, 1831, he married Rachel Brewer, daughter of John Brewer, who resided one mile east of Southport. She died Sept. 21, 1838. On the 22d of December, 1839, he married Sarah, youngest daughter of John Smock, who settled in 1821 on the Madison road, on the south bank of Pleasant Run, one mile south of Indianapolis.

From his first marriage until the time of his death, June 25, 1877, he resided on the same farm, one and one-half miles north of Southport, on the west side of the gravel road. As a citizen he was honored, having served several terms as justice of the peace for Perry township ; as a husband and father he was a pattern, an example worthy of imitation ; as a neighbor, and in all the qualities that make a good neighbor, he was unexcelled, as all will bear testimony, both rich and poor. Forty-six years of his life he was a church member, earnest and faithful. For more than thirty years he was a Sabbath-school superintendent. At his death he had eight children that survived him, - four sons and four daughters. His second wife died in January, 1872. He left to his family a noble legacy, - a character without spot or blemish. The writer of this knew him well for fifty-two years, and knovra whereof he has written. His remains were deposited in the Southport Cemetery. Peace to his memory !

Simon Smock was born Oct. 8, 1792, in Mercer County, Ky. He was married in Kentucky, and moved to Perry township in 1824. He settled on the east side of the Madison road, adjoining the north line of the township, on the road from Indianapolis to Greenwood. Of the early pioneers there were nine Smocks and three Brewers on or adjoining the road, and it was a common saying, " If you meet a man call him Smock ; if he fails to answer call him Brewer, and he will be sure to answer." There was a colony of Smocks and Brewers moved from Kentucky, settling on or in the vicinity of the Madison road, from within one mile of Indianapolis south to the south line of the county, and extending into Johnson County two miles. As early settlers the Smocks and Brewers were men of a higher order for enterprise and morality than the average emigrants to a new country, and they contributed much to elevate the tone of society in the middle and eastern part of Perry township. . Simon Smock, being one of the eldest, a man of convictions, and not afraid to stand by his convictions, played well his part in church and society. He had a large family, but was out down in the full vigor of his manhood, an irreparable loss to his church and his family. He died in 1854. Samuel Brewer was born in Kentucky ; married to Ellen Smock, al.so a native of Kentucky. Soon after his marriage he emigrated to Indiana and settled in Perry township, on the west side of the Madison road, on the north bank of Buck Creek. In the fall of 1825 he built a cabin, commenced opening a farm, and started a blacksmith -shop. Between farming and blacksmithing he made a comfortable living. He had ten children, - two sons and eight daughters. His eldest son. Dr. Abram Brewer, entered the profession of medicine and made an able and successful physician. His health failed him and he retired from practice, and died at his father's house in the fall of 1869. The youngest son died in 1851, in childhood. Two single daughters died in early life, and afterwards two others (Mrs. Jane Todd and Mrs. Fanny McCalpin). Four daughters are still living. In September, 1876, his wife died, and two years after he married Mrs. Grube, a widow lady of the neighborhood. Mr. Brewer raised a very moral and upright family. He has some peculiarities that make him a marked man in his neighborhood. He was a pioneer in the temperance and anti-slavery causes. He is positive in his character. When he takes a position he adheres to it against all opposition. No one who ever knew him doubted his fidelity to his church and himself. These are the great ruling traits in his character.

The Dabney family was quite numerous in Perry township. They emigrated to the neighborhood from Shelby County, Ky., in 1823 or 182-t, having formerly come from the State of Virginia to Kentucky. The Dabney family was and is to this day a noted family in the Old Dominion. These were a branch of the same family. Samuel Dabney and wife, with three sons and three single daughters and

Notch line, seven or eight miles south of Indianapolis. The father died soon afterwards. John Smith, the son-in-law, was in after-years elected a justice of the peace for Perry township. He was a shrewd and thrifty farmer, and died at Greenwood in 1861.

The sons of the elder Dabney (Samuel, James, and John) were as unlike a^ any three brothers could be. Samuel lived and died a bachelor. He was a great wit, full of anecdotes, and the centre of all the sport at the neighborhood gatherings. James, or Jimmy, as he was familiarly known, was the principal class-leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church in all the country, and in that special department he was successful. For fifteen years he carried the banner, caring nothing about the thi known as the Green River country. In the fall of 1827 he migrated to Perry township with his family, consisting of three sons, - Archibald G., Alexander, and Moses, - and four daughters, Sarah, Nancy, Susan, and Polly. He settled on the west side of the Bluff road, on the south bank of Buck Creek (the farm now owned by Charles Orme), and remained there two years, when the family all moved to the northeast corner of Johnson County.

Moses Orme settled on the Notch line, east side, adjoining the Johnson County line, in 1827. He was married to a Miss Elson, and they came from Lewis County, Ky. He lived there ten years, and then sold his farm to John H. Oliver, of Henry County, Ky. He bought an unimproved tract of land two miles north, on the same road, and opened a second farm. Moses Orme did as much hard work in clearing up land as any of the early settlers. He was a quiet, kind-hearted man, and his wife was of the same type of character. They had five sons, - Charles, Henson, Richard, Eli, and George, - and three daughters, Ruth, Elizabeth, and Nancy, all now living but Henson and Richard. The Ormes were all well-to-do farmers. Mrs. Orme died in 1860, Mr. Orme in 1862, leaving to his children a good estate and a worthy example of honesty and industry.

Samuel WoodfiU came from Jefferson County, Ind., and settled on the Bluff road, east side, five miles south of Indianapolis, in the spring of 1826. He was a pattern farmer, and raised a large family. His wife died, and he then sold his farm and lived with bis children. He died in the city some years since, and was buried with his wife in the Southport cemetery. He was an upright citizen, a kind neighbor, always ready to do a favor to those who asked or needed it, even at inconvenience to himself.

The first mill in the township was built about 1827, by William Arnold, on Lick Creek, threefourths of a mile west of the eastern boundary of the township. It was used a few years, and then abandoned because the water supply failed. A grist-mill was attempted on the McGinnis farm by John Mc- Cormick, who dressed two " nigger-head" bowlders for the millstones, but it was found that the water supply was insufficient to make the mill successful, and the enterprise was abandoned. The stones were afterwards sold to James McLain, who added a gristmill to his saw-mill on Buck Creek, about one hundred yards east of the Perry township line in Franklin township. This enterprise also failed for lack of water, and he sold the stones to Benjamin McFarland, who already had a saw-mill (built in 1827) on Lick Creek, about a half-mile east of where the Shelbyville road crosses. He added the grist-mill in 1829 or 1830, and it was for a time successful, but some years later both the grist-mill and the saw-mill were abandoned for the usual cause, - lack of water to run them a sufficient length of time in the year to make them profitable.

Jacob Smock built a grist-mill about 1828, on the present site of the village of Southport, on Buck Creek. It was kept in operation till about 18-tO, and then abandoned because of the failure of water supply. About one mile below Southport, on Buck Creek, a saw-mill was started about 1836, and was run a number of years by Nathaniel Beasley. The water supply diminished, and in 1866 a steam-engine was added as an auxiliary, but this proved a failure, and the mill was abandoned in 1870. A mill was built in 1846, a quarter of a mile north of Southport, by Bonty, and was run by Bonty & Cotpeter for about six years in sawing timber for the railroad. It was afterwards abandoned.

There was also a saw-mill in existence and in operation from 1839 to 1855 on Pleasant Run, just below Glenn's Valley, on the farm of Archibald Glenn.

A steam grist-mill was erected and put in operation at Southport by Richard Smock about 1855. A few years afterwards he sold it to John S. Webb, who rebuilt and still owns it. There is also a saw-mill at Southport, built about ten years ago, and now owned by Isaac Grube.

There are within the township of Perry two small villages, the larger being Southport and the other Glenn's Valley, which is on the Bluff road, in the southwest part of the township, three-fourths of a mile north of the Johnson County line, and on the north side of Pleasant Run. The village was laid out partly on land of John Smart and partly on land of Robert Burns. The first house on the village site was built by Mr. Burns in the winter of 1830-31. The village was named for Archibald Glenn, one of the earliest settlers in the township. A post-ofiSce was established here in 1838. After a few years it was discontinued, but was re-established in 1856. The village has now a post-office, two general stores, one drug-store, a blacksmith-shop, a wagon-shop, a steam grist-mill, a Masonic lodge, an excellent schoolhouse and graded school, one church (Methodist Episcopal), and about one hundred inhabitants.

The first settler at what is now the village of Southport was Jacob Smock, who came from Mercer County, Ky., in 1823, and bought land immediately north of the present town. In the same year, Samuel Brewer came, and bought eighty acres of his present farm, then returned to Kentucky, married, and came back to Perry in 1824. The first building erected within the limits of the present village was the old water-mill, which stood just back of Mr. Howard's present residence. The old race-way is still to be seen in the woods east of the railroad. The oldest house now standing is the one where Mr. Christian lives. It was built by Jacob Smock, on his farm, and when it became probable that the railroad then in progress of construction would have a station at Southport, the house was moved across the creek to its present location. Until the coming of the railroad, however, there was no village, nor any prospect of one, where Southport now stands. The first town-lots on the west side of the railroad were laid out by William Hooker, and on the east side by Dr. Merritt. The town plat was surveyed in 1852, and recorded April 5th in that year. In 1880 Southport had a population of three hundred and eighty-eight, as shown by the returns of the United States census of that year.

The Southport Baptist Church was organized as the Buck Creek Baptist Church, in or about the year 1838, at the Mud School-house, by persons previously members of the Lick Creek Church. About two years after the organization a meeting-house was erected, on land donated for the purpose by Jacob Smock. In the spring of 1838 a great protracted meeting was held at Lick Creek, and immediately afterwards at Buck Creek, under the leadership of revival, which added a large number of members to both churches. One of the earliest ministers to this church was the Rev. Henry Hunter, who was succeeded by the Revs. Thomas Townsend, Madison Hume, I. N. Clark, A. J. Riley, and others. The congregation grew until the old meeting-house became too small, when a new and much larger church building was erected on land purchased from J. H. Combs, adjoining the Smock donation on the east. The old meeting-house was then removed. Soon after the village of Southport was laid out the name of the Buck Creek Church was changed to Southport. It has always been a flourishing organization, and still has quite a large membership, being the only Baptist Church in the township. In connection with the old (first) meeting-house of this congregation a space was set apart for burial purposes, on the land donated by Jacob Smock. In this ground the first interment was that of John B. Smock, eldest son of Jacob, Aug. 10, 1842. The ground (about one and a half acres in extent) is now nearly full of graves, and arrangements are being made to obtain land for a new cemetery in a better location.

The Southport Presbyterian Church was organized in 1833. In January of that year the Presbytery of Indianapolis, in session at Greensburg, gave its consent to the formation of a Presbyterian Church in this community, and, on the 30th of March following, the Rev. W. W. Woods, then pastor of the Greenfield (now Greenwood) Church, effected the organization in the Mud School-house. It was first called the Providence Presbyterian Church, in honor of the older church at Providence, Ky., from which some of the members had come. The organization I included twenty-four members, viz. : Samuel Brewer, Eleanor Brewer, Thomas C, Rachel, Ann and Abram V. Smock, Simon and Mary French, Benjamin, Mary, and Eliza McFarland, John A. and Lemma Brewer, Phannel Graham, Paulina White, Jane E. McCoUum,

Mary, Phebe, Samuel S., and John S. Siebern, Deborah W. Siebern, Andrew E. and Sarah Mann, and Otis Sprague. All were from Greenwood Church except the last named, who was from the only Presbyterian Church then in Indianapolis. Otis Sprague and John S. Siebern were chosen ruling elders, and Samuel Brewer deacon.

A committee appointed for the purpose selected a site for a house of worship on the northwest corner of Jacob Smock's land, but some disagreement arose, which resulted (though no reason can be given for the change) in the building of the meeting-house on the land of Samuel Brewer, opposite the site of the present school-house. In 1838, when the great division occurred in the Presbyterian Churches, although that at Greenwood remained united, this one was seriously affected. Of the thirty-eight members who composed it at that time, seventeen became adherents of the New School. Both congregations worshiped in the old Mud School-house for about four years, at the end of which time the majority composing the old branch built a frame church building, one and a half miles east, in which they worshiped until 1858, when the church was removed to Acton. In 1842 the New School branch built a church building at what is now Southport, and have worshiped there to the present time. Their first church at this place was a frame building about twenty by thirty-four feet in size. It was used for some time before being entirely finished, and, after about seventeen years' service as their house of worship, it was destroyed by fire, Nov. 18, 1859. In 1860 they erected the present church building, which is of brick, about thirty-two by forty-four feet in size, and cost originally about two thousand one hundred dollars. In the destructive tornado of July 12, 1883, the roof of this church was badly damaged, but the other parts of the building remained comparatively uninjured. In 1868 a parsonage was built at a cost of about one thousand dollars. At the present time (September, 1883) the church has one hundred and sixty-four members.

The ministers serving this church from its beginning have been the following named, viz. : Revs. Hilary Patrick, John Todd, Eliphalet Kent, William M. Campbell, James Brownlee, Benjamin M. Nyce,

The Union Presbyterian Church, which is still standing on the Bluff road, was built in 1854, an organization having been formed in the previous year by Dr. Scott, Henry Alcorn, Garret List, William Boyd, and others. Services were held for many years with more or less regularity, but the number of members having become greatly reduced by deaths and removals, they disbanded in 1880,

The Southport (Methodist Episcopal) Circuit was originally a part of the Greenfield Circuit, Indiana Conference. In 1848-49 it was known as the South Indianapolis Circuit, consisting of the followingnamed appointments, viz. : Hopewell Methodist Chapel (Johnson County), Bowser's, Smock's, Fisher's, Tucker's, Brenton's, Greenwood, Marrs', and Asbury. At the annual Conference of 1849 the name was changed to Southport Circuit, E. R. Ames presiding elder, and H. M. Shafer, preacher in charge. The pastorate of the circuit has been supplied in the following order until the present time, viz. : E. D. Long, George Havens, J, W. T. McMullen, W. B.

Southport Church was organized in 1845 by the Rev. H. M. Shafer, with Richard Smock and wife add five others as members. Their first house of worship was built in 1849, and dedicated by E. R. Ames. It is a frame building, still standing and used as a carpenter-shop. This old building was used by the society as a house of worship until 1868, when they built a large brick church, which was used about fifteen years, and was totally destroyed on the 12th of July, 1883, by a tornado which swept over the southern portion of the county. A new brick church was then erected on the same site, and dedicated on the 18th of November following. It is the largest and in all respects the best church edifice in the town. The present number of members and probationers in the Southport Church is sixty.

The Methodists held meetings for religious worship in this township as early as any other denomination. The first preaching in Perry township was by Henry Brenton, who was a local preacher. The first circuit preacher was James Armstrong, who first came to preach in the fall of 1826 ; about the same time, or perhaps a little later, came John Belzer, a " New Light" preacher, who had a few followers and a temporary organization. He lived on the school section for a time, and moved away in 1828.

The first Methodist Church edifice in Perry was Asbury Chapel, a meeting-house of hewed logs, about twenty-four by thirty-six feet in dimensions, which was erected on the southeast corner of the eighty-acre tract now owned by the Talbot heirs, on the Three- Notch line. The land on which this building was erected (in 1829 or '30) was donated by Henry Brenton. The first church organization at this place was composed of Henry Brenton and family, Robert

Brenton and family, Isaac Kelly and family, Darid Marrs and family, Zachariah Lemaster's family, and several members of the Bouser family. The pioneer ministers of this church were Henry Brenton (local), Revs. Allan Wiley, Edmund Ray, James Hargravc, Thomas Hill, and James Havens, circuit preachers. Rev. Allan Wiley was the presiding elder. Meetings were held in the hewed-log meeting-house for ten or twelve years, and then the place of worship was removed to the Marrs school-house on Three-Notch road. The old meeting-hou.se being abandoned as a preaching-place, was some years later removed to the brick-yard south of Indianapolis, where it is still standing. After worshiping a number of years at Marrs school-house, the organization was joined with that of New Bethel, and formed the present Centre Church, which was organized with forty members. Their church edifice, built in 1848, was dedicated by E. R. Ames. The church has now seventy-four members.

The New Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church was organized as a class about 1826, with Andrew Hoover and wife, John Myers and wife, Henry Myers and family, several persons of the Mundy family, Mrs. Comfort Hinkston, Elizabeth Custard, David Fisher and family, and some others as members. Among the early preachers were Revs.

Long, George Havens, John W. T. McMuUen, and Orlando Havens. The meeting-house was erected in 1831, on the northwest corner of the Andrew Hoover farm, near the present residence of George Harnese. It was the first frame church built by the Methodists in this township. It was never plastered or otherwise finished on the inside, but was kept as a preaching-place for many years. The land on which it was built, although donated by Hoover, was never deeded by him, but was afterwards deeded by Thomas H. Sharpe. After some years the organization, with that which worshiped at the Marrs school-house, was merged into the organization of the Centre Church, for which a house of worship was erected in 1848. Among the ministers who preached to this congregation were Long, John W. T. McMulIen, George

F. Ormes, on the Bluff road, about five and a half miles south of Indianapolis, and about one and a quarter miles south of Lick Creek, on the east side.

The Mount Carmel Church was organized and a church building erected in the fall of 1839, on the north line of Robert Burns' land, on the west side of the Bluff road. The members of this church were William Hall and family, James Orr and family, Nicholas Elson and family, the family of Robert Burns, Hezekiah Smart, Sr., and wife, and a few others. Their ministers were John V. R. Miller and William C. Smith. The old church building was destroyed by fire about the 1st of April, 1842, which accident had the effect to break up the organization, and the members scattered to the Marrs school-house, the New Bethel, and some to Pleasant Hill Church, in Johnson County.

The Madison Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church is the outgrowth of a mission founded and organized by Hiram Wright, a local preacher. Their first preaching was held in the school-house of the neighborhood until they were able to build a house of worship. The church is now embraced in the Southport Circuit. The meeting-house is on land of B. Wright, three miles south of Indianapolis, on the Southport gravel road.

The Methodist Church at Glenn's Valley was organized some twelve or fifteen years ago. Their preaching was held in the school-house and in the Masonic Hall until they purchased the old brick school-house and converted it into a church edifice.

The Lick Creek Baptist Church (the first church in the township) was organized at the house of David Fisher (now the Ritzinger farm), in the spring of 1826, by Abrani Smock. Among its original members were David Fisher and wife, John Chinn and wife, William Gott and wife, Thomas Bryant and wife, James Turner and wife, and James R. Mc- Laughlin and wife. A church edifice was built within one year after the organization, and also established a burial-ground in connection with the church. The first person interred in this ground was David Judd, Oct. 17, 1827. The second interment was that of Richard Ferree, a lad about ten or twelve years old, who was killed by the overturning of a

The first minister of the Lick Creek Church was Abram Smock, who served the congregation for many years. About 1832 a large number left the church to organize the Buck Creek Baptist Church, which afterwards became the Southport Baptist Church. By reason of deaths-' and removals of members, the Lick Creek Church was disbanded in 1866, its building torn down, and the material removed to Indianapolis (in 1867 or 1868), and there rebuilt for the use of a colored Baptist Church.

members, to whom were soon afterwards added Peter Smock and wife, John Monroe, George Oldacre, John Shortridge and wife, and others. The organization continued till about 1863, when, having become greatly reduced in numbers, it was disbanded, and most of the members having removed to the vicinity of Greenwood, went into the church organization at that place.

Schools. - One of the earliest school-houses (and probably the first) in Perry township was built in 1823, on what is now the northeast corner of the land of Joseph Alcorn, a half-mile west of the Union Presbyterian Church. In that old log school-house the first teacher was Emanuel Glimpse, one of the earliest settlers in that region. A log school-house was built in 1826, on land of Archibald Glenn, and in it Michael Groves taught school for two winters. Afler him came as teachers, Samuel Hare and Blihu Hardin, the last named teaching there about 1830. About 1831 a small log building was erected for a school-house at David Marrs' farm, and another of the same kind near the site of Lick Creek Church. In this last mentioned a man named Thaler was one of the first teachers. In the vicinity of Southport I the first school-house (a log building, of course) was erected on Jacob Smock's farm, its location being on the bluff north of Buck Creek. The second in that neighborhood was located where the residence of Mr. J. E. Phillips now stands, and was known as the Mud School-house, from the material which was largely used in its construction. This, as also the house at Marrs', was used not only for school purposes, but as a preaching-place for many years. A frame school-house which was afterwards built on the same site has long since disappeared.

All the pioneer school-houses of Perry, as of the other townships of this and adjoining counties, were of one and the same character, - small and low structures of logs, with puncheon floors, seats, and writingbenches ; with a large fireplace of stones and mud, and with a log cut out from two sides for windows, ' the openings being covered with greased paper in place i of glass. All the appliances of the modern schoolhouse were lacking. The teachers were men who la- ! bored on the farm in spring, summer, and autumn, and in winter taught school for terms of six weeks' to three months' duration. They were required to be able to teach (more or less thoroughly) reading, spelling, writing, and ciphering as far as the single rule of three, and for their services received a remuneration which the lowest class of laborers would now regard as trifling. After many j'ears frame school-houses took the places of the old log buildings, the school terms were lengthened, and teachers of a somewhat higher grade of acquirements were employed. Finally came the formation of the present public school system, and its adoption by Perry as by the other townships of the county.

Perry township has now 14 school districts, and the same number of school-houses (2 frame and 12 brick), in all of which schools are taught, one being a graded school. There is also a colored school in the township. The number of teachers employed in 1883 was 18 (6 male and 12 female). The average daily attendance was 446. The whole number admitted to the schools was 662, including colored children. Five teachers' institutes were held in the township during the year. The valuation of school apparatus is $600; valuation of school-houses and grounds, $12,000. There is one private school taught in the township, with an average attendance of 84 during the year 1883.

S. W. ; James Gentle, J. W. The officers for 1884 are George L. Thompson, W. M. ; Joseph P. Bailey, S. W. ; James A. Norwood, J. W. ; William Worman, Treas. ; Spofibrd E. Tyler, Sec. The present membership of the lodge is thirty- five.

Southport Lodge, No. 394, I. 0. O. F., was instituted with the following-named original members : J. M. McLain, Isaac Grube, S. Graves, W. L. Berryman, Alfred Brewer, S. D. Moody, Aaron Grube, J. L. Fisher, E. S. Riley, W. P. Trout, R. R. Graham, Jackson Snyder. The lodge has now fortyfive active members and the following-named officers, viz. : E. Kelley, N. G. ; John S. Rene, V. G. ; Chris. Grube, Sec. ; Isaac Grube, Treas. ; Charles Grube, Per. Sec. The lodge has twenty-three Past Grands.

Glenn's Valley Lodge, No. 514, F. and A. M., was chartered May 25, 1875, Hezekiah Hinkston, W. M. ; Alexander C. Sedam, S. W. ; Franklin L. Barger, J. W.

Biographical Sketches William H. Wishaed, M.D.

William H. Wishard, M.D., was the eldest son of John and Agnes H. Wishard, born in Nicholas County, Ky., Jan. 17, 1816. The family was Scotch- Irish in their nationality. His father emigrated to Indiana, and settled on the UluS road, nine and onehalf miles south of Indianapolis, where they pitched their camp on the evening of Oct. 26, 1825. His father had purchased the land in 1824, came out in the following spring, cleared some land, and put in a crop of corn, potatoes, and turnips. The first night after their arrival the wolves were heard howling near their camp, which, however, was no unusual thing for years after that time.

William H. Wishard was then in his tenth year, and being the eldest, had to hunt the cows in the woods, do the errands, and go to mill, and many were the exciting scenes he passed through. On one occasion, in the fall of 1826, when returning from mill late at night, alone in the darkness of a dense forest, and one and a quarter miles from any settler's cabin, he suddenly came upon a pack of wolves snarling j over a wounded deer that they had just caught. It was an unpleasant situation for a boy of twelve years to find his only pathway blocked by fifteen or twenty hungry wolves; but he kept his presence of mind, and, passing around through the brushwood on one side as rapidly and silently as possible, escaped from the beasts, and reached his father's house in safety. Many a night in his boyhood he spent at the old Bayou, and Patterson's, and Bacon's mills, waiting for his grist to be ground. His educational advantages were very limited, attending only the winter schools of the pioneer days, taught by teachers of very meagre capacity and attainments. The .spring and summer seasons were spent in attending to the crops and helping to clear land.

Having passed the early years of his life in this manner, he, at the age of twenty-two years, commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Benjamin S. Noble, of Greenwood, Johnson Co., and entered into partnership with him in the spring of 1840, which partnership continued for ten years. He was married to Harriet N. Moreland, daughter of the Rev. John R. i Moreland, the second pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis. They had nine children j born to them, - four sons and five daughters. The first four, one son and three daughters, died in infancy and childhood. The others are living, viz. : Dr. William N., of the City Hospital of Indianapolis; Albert W., an attorney of the city ; Dr. George W., of Indianapolis ; Harriet J. ; and P]lizabeth.

During the war of 1861-65, Dr. Wishard served two years as a volunteer surgeon, after which he commenced the practice of medicine in the neighborhood where his early years were passed, and where from the first he had a large practice. In October, 1876, he was elected coroner of the county and removed from Southport to Indianapolis, where he has remained ever since. After serving four years as coroner he returned to the practice of medicine, which, however, he had not entirely relinquished. He is now in the sixty-ninth year of his age. and in full vigor for one of his years. He has practiced medicine in Morgan, Johnson, and Marion Counties

Morris Howland

Mr. Howland, who is the grandson of Blisha Howland, and the son of Powell Howland, was born on the 30th of January, 1823, in Saratoga County, N. Y., where he resided until sixteen years of age, and received such advantages of education as the neighboring schools afibrded. His father having determined to leave the Empire State for the unsettled West, his son Morris started on the 25th of September, 1839, with a pair of horses and a wagon for Indianapolis, reaching his destination after a journey of fortytwo days. The family on their arrival located in Centre t