Veale Township

Veale Township

\'eale tnwnslii]) was named after James X'eale, who was one of the most prominent nf tlie fu-st settlers. He came to the territory now within the boundaries of tiiis townsliip aljout 1807-08. Oilier settlers who came aiiont the same time were I'armem'us I'almer, Christopher Coleman, a j\[r. Lett and three suns, William and hdijah Chapman, .Muses Morgan. Thomas Wallace ami a Air. Cmodwin.

\eale township was organized on Ma}- 12, 1817. Its location is in the southwotern part of Daviess county, hounded on the west by Knox county and on the >outh by I'ikc comity, the west fork of White river being the bonntlary line on the west, and the east fork of White river the boundary on the south. The jnndion id" these two streams is at the extreme southwest point of X'eale township. The lirst saw-mill eslabhshed in Daviess county was built and operateil by b'.li Chapman, on X'eale creek, in this township. \ eale township was al>o the location of se\cral other pioneer industries in Daviess countv. In its primilixe ^tate the land in W-ale township was heavily timbered with tiie finest (|uality id' o,Hk, poplar and walnut. It rec|uired no small amount of labor to clear the land and bring it into a state of culti- \atiou, the limber being considered ;m incumbrance then. It would be considered of great \alue now. There are some sections of the township in which the land is bill)' and broken, but part of it is fertile and productive. A good deal of the river bi.ittom land is highly i)ri)ductive. In 1910 \^eale tf)wnshi]i had a pt)pulation oi one thousand tilty-nine. Stanton Barljer is the present township trustee.

The first (hstillery in Daviess county was erected by "Obe" FHnt in 1 810. Like most of the other early industries hereabout, this institution was estalilishcil in \'c;ilc low nshiij, two niik-s south of Alaysville. i'rior to this thcTc were \aricjus kinds of stills lirotight into use. 'Jhese were general!}' known as '"teapot" stills and were of simple construction and limited capacity. 1 he capacit)', however, was sullicieiit to supj)!}' home consumption. Liipior in the earl\ da_\s was a slajile article, as much a family necessity as bread and meat, it was a ta\orite remedy for the various ills ihat were prevalent, chief of which were malaria ami snake bite. I'Yir the latter the whisky was taken straight; for the former it was usually administered in the form of bitters.

The blint distillery, with larger cai^acity, was necessary to meet the greater demands on account of the increase of the early settlers. Even with this increase of capacity for the manufacture of whisky, the Mint distillery found a local market for all of its ]>roduct for several years. The home consumption of the early settlers kept pace with the increase of production. It wa^ not l)efore 1836 or 1831s, that more whisky was made than. the early settlers needed for home consum[)tion.

Washington township was established on May u, 1817. ft was organized by the county connnissi(_)ners among the lirst business transacted after the organization ol the county. The township comprised a large part of the territory of the county, as lirst established. The e.xact boundary lines are not \ery detinile, as the description ap|iears on the commissioners' record. The descri]itiou reads: " l!egiiiiiing at range 7 and 8, township 2, sections 7 and 8, nnming thence north wilh section line, including all the inhabitance 1 inh.abiiant> ! north of beginning line." Howev-er, this description was .suriicieiitl)- delinite to ser\e the pur]i. ist.' intended, and it is not probable that ihe "inlKibilaiicc" had am uncerlainl\ a> n> whellier or iiol ihe\ were includeil in W a--liiiiL;ton tow iisliip.

I'lTir to the oi-gaiiizatioii ol \\'a>liington township a Ismail \'illage had been e-tabb^hed within il-- bunndary. This \-illage was called Liverpool and the design, in the orgauizalioii ni the county, was to m;il<e this the comity scat. I'urtbcr details as to bow l.iwrpool lost ils idenlit)', b\' being merged into the town ol Washington, are set 1 nit in another i-hapler. The population of Washington township in hmk. including the city of Washington, was eleven thou^.and tour hnndred and lnur. 'Ihe pre^-eiil trustee is (ames K. (iillev. (18)

Reeve Tdwnsiiii'

Reeve tuwnsliip was anotlier cli\'isi(iii dI the cijiinty establislied at tlie first meeting of tlie county ccjinniissioners. The houndary lines of tliis township, as descriljcd on the records, follow: "Beginning at Aiknian's creek and running up said creek to the head, thence on a direct line to the mouth of Lick creek, thence down White river to the place of beginning."

This township took its name from tiie first settler in that territory, Joshua Reeve. He came from South Carolina to this part of Daviess county in 1808. He is said to have been an active and enterprising pioneer. He built a cabin in the forest, his neighljors being wdld cats, bears, panthers, and other denizens of the wild woods around. \'inceinies was the nearest point from which Mr. Iveeve could (il)tain needed supplies, and where he could get in touch with people of his own race. Having frequent occasions to visit that place, the journey being made through the unbroken forest, Mr. Reeve blazed a track through the woods from his liome to Vincennes. This track was afterward established as a main thoroughf;u-e between these two points, and is now much traveled by tiie automobile.

James and William Alford came into this territory a year or two after Mr. Reeve. Their advent was about 1809 or 1810. Al)out a \ear later James and Robert Gilley, and I'eter Helphenstine joined this i)ioneer colony. "Old Bill" Allen, as he was crdled, came about 1812, and a Mr. Kelso came along soon afterward. The lirst land entr\' in the territor)- comprising the township w'as maile by Joshua l\ee\'e, April 13, i8j_'. and consisted of the north fraction of section 23, township i, range 5. The next eiury was made by Trice Stafford in 1814; two others in 1815, by Jacob Iveeder and William Ballow, respectively. The f(jllowing year entries were made by |(K(.'iih llaNs, Isaac 1 tolling>\vorib, [''.dward .\ilains. ( 'aleb Urock and Henry l''o^lei\ broui ilii> time oil, the sfttU'incnt increased I'apidly ami land entries were UKjre fre(|uent. The township has since kept ])ace with the rest of the county in the general march of progress.

Ree\e township had a poi>ulation of one thousand five hundred and seventy-six in 1910. David S. Jacknian, at Alfordsville. is the pre>ent township trustee.