White River Township (part 1 of 2)

By Judge Franklin Hardin

White River Township originally extended across the north part of Johnson County, but is now restricted to its northwest corner. It includes forty-eight sections of land. Its length, which lies north and south, is eight miles and its breadth six. It is situate in the basin of White River, and about one thousand acres lie on the west bank of that stream. Three or four sections in the southeast corner are included in the valley of Young's Creek. The valley of White River, through and over the gravelly and sandy stratum of the drift, is about twenty miles wide, and has a depth of sixty or seventy feet. There are only two terraces to the river, the nearer being about twelve feet above low water and a mile in width, and overflows to a depth of about three feet. The farther is still fifteen feet higher and of equal breadth. With this terrace the level portions of its valley cease and are succeeded north of the bluffs by sandy and gravelly ridges a mile and more in width, and which extend for long distances parallel with the river having an elevation often equal to the greatest depth of the valley, proving to any observer that they were formed by moving waters confined to the valley of the river, and which were then equally extensive with its whole width and depth. Across this inclined plane, with its great fall throughout the whole township, except half a dozen sections in the southeast corner, situate in the basin of Young's Creek, Pleasant Run, Honey Creek, Bluff Creek, Crooked Creek and other smaller streams rush down to the river, thus giving an unsurpassed drainage to the township. The township has a greater variety of soils than any other in the county, and of unequaled productiveness. When Whetzel, in cutting his trace with the purpose of going still further, looked down into the rich valley of White River, he said " This is good enough for me," and there erected a permanent camp. And those who have resided in White River Township and having left in search of other eligible points, have sought in vain for its equal. Its rich, dry soil attracted emigration at a very early day, which continued to pour in until the township was soon densely populated. The greater part of the emigrants were from the Southern States, three-fourths at least from Virginia, a few from Kentucky, North Carolina and Ohio. The emigrants were men of small means, seldom able to enter more than eighty acres of land, and dependent entirely upon personal efforts for the improvement of their lands and for the subsistence of themselves and families. And this one feature, that is, the slender means of the emigrants - although at first thought it seems paradoxical - accounts for the rapid advancement of Indiana more than any other. There were no idlers. The men worked, the women worked, the children worked.

The first emigrants were a body of select men, who came to a county covered with a heavy forest, to better their condition by conquering its wildness and developing its agricultural resources. Their capital was in their ability to perform hard service, and in a will and purpose to do so. The heavy forest, with its tall trees, and with its dense shrubbery, was sufficient to deter irresolute men from undertaking so arduous a task as its removal, and except a few wandering hunters there were none here. Every man needed assistance, and every man stood ready to render it. If an emigrant but cut a new road through the brushwood, and erected a camp, a half a dozen men would find it out and be there in twenty-four hours, not by invitation, but voluntarily to assist him in building a cabin. Often a cabin was built in a single day, and covered in, and the family housed in safety and comfort at night beneath its roof. If food was needed by the new-comer, that was carried alung, and often half of the meal for those assisting was supplied by the neighbors, and the good old kind-hearted mothers went along to help prepare it. The furniture of the cabin consisted often of a fixed bedstead in each of the four angles. One bed-post only was used, set up four and one-half feet from one wall, and six and one-half from the other, with two large holes bored into it two feet from the floor. Then two holes were bored into the walls, and into these were inserted, smoothed with a drawing-k.nife, two poles, four and a half feet, the width, and six and a half feet the length of the frame work. On the long way, rails were laid, and into the space between the logs of the wall were inserted the usual split boards, and thus this indispensable piece of furniture was completed. A man could make one in an hour. They answered every purpose with the finest bedstead, except they were not sufficiently stable for restless sleepers, who often found themselves descending through misplaced boards to the floor.

But often the emigrant did not wait to build a cabin, but, if he came in the spring, he built a camp, leaving the cabin to be erected during the summer and fall. The first indispensable object was bread, and to reach it required long days of patient labor. But the pioneer came fully advised of what was to be met and overcome. His bread was in the ground beneath the forest trees. He did not sit down and repine, or reload his wagon and return whence he came ; he was a man. The first thing was to remove the small undergrowth. It was the universal practice to cut down everything "eighteen inches and under''. When felled, it was cut up into sections twelve to fifteen feet in length, and the brush piled around larger trees for the purpose of killing them by burning. Ten to fifteen settlers had an understanding that they would act together and assist one another. It mattered little if ten miles apart, that was not too far to travel to assist or to be assisted. Every man had his day, and when that day came, rain or shine, none of the expected assistants were absent. They did not wait till the dews were dissipated; they came as soon as the sun rose and often sooner. I yet see them, and how I regret that we have not a photographic view of the company, our fathers and mothers, just as they were then. True, they were not fashionably dressed, for in nine cases out of ten, each man wore a pair of buckskin pants, partly from necessity and partly from convenience, for a man dressed in leather moves through brush and briers with little inconvenience. Each wore moccasins instead of boots ; and old hats, coonskin or buckskin caps made up the head gear. There was no time lost. Every man was a veteran and hastened on to the work to be done with precision and skillfulness. If the company was large enough it was divided. Eight men made a good strong company, and quite as many as could act together. Every squad had a captain or leader, not by election, but he was such by pre-eminence and skill in the business. And now the work begins. The leader casts his experienced eye over the logs as they were fallen by accident, or, more probably, by design, and at a single glance takes in the situation over an acre. A half-dozen logs are lying a few feet apart, and in a parallel position. They can be readily thrown together and constitute a nice pile for burning. The leader speaks, and they seem to have suddenly acquired locomotion, and are in a pile. And thus on and on for fifteen or twenty days every spring, before each man has had his day. The mothers were there also assisting, in cooking, not in patent metal stoves with a half a dozen apartments to stow away everything nicely, but in Dutch ovens and sugar kettles before a hot burning logpile. If anything was wanting, and the want was made known, it was kindly contributed, and a rich, hearty meal was provided, and then eaten with a zest unknown to the present lazy shadows of manhood. And thus the day was spent in useful necessary labor and friendly chat. But the pioneer, during the busy season, did not go home to rest and to sleep from a log rolling, but to his own clearing, where he continued to heap brush on the burning heaps till the snapping and uproar could be heard in the distance, and the light lit up the heavens for a half a mile away, then retiring to snatch from labor a few hours of rest, he soon found the coming day, bringing with it the busy scenes already described. But there was a good woman, a faithful mother left behind, and so soon as the morning meal was over, she did not while away the day in reading novels or fingering a piano, but she took all the children to the clearing, and securing baby in a safe position, she and the older ones continued to pile on the brush and combustibles, and thus the work went on by day and night. In early spring, when the trees were being felled to be cut up for piling and burning on some elevated place in the midst of a pioneer settlement, my attention has been often arrested by the busy scene around me. In old age the mind wanders back to brighter days, and often finds pleasure even in youthful sports.

" How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood, When fond recollection presents them to view; The orchard, the meadow, the deep tangled wildwood, And all the loved scenes which my infancy knew."

When we travel over the "New Purchase," and see it as it now is, and compare it with its condition fifty years ago. the exclamation forces itself upon us ; How changed ! Everything is altered ! It is another world ! But what wrought the change ? Come, travel back with me to its condition as it was fifty years ago and learn the cause, and see the busy scene around. It is a pleasing one to me, and was then, although repeated over and over for three months during every spring. It is now the 1st of May, and fifty years ago since those good men, the pioneers, stimulated by the recollection of the scanty supplies of the last year, were straining every nerve to clear up more ground to supply the deficiency. Here with their bare, brawny arms, they swung high in the air their sharp glittering blades, that effectively fell in unceasing blows amid the trees and brush of the jungle, click ! click ! just at hand and faintly heard in the distance ; click ! click ! twenty the forest trees. And the ponderous maul forced down with the power of a stalwart pioneer, shakes the forest for a mile away ; and the loud-sounding monotones of twenty bells, at least, on the leaders of cattle and horses, like telephones, tell the owners where to find them, as they roam at large and feed on nature's wide pastures.

And now gaunt want, with his emaciated form and hateful, shrunken visage, who had forced himself into every cabin in spite of the efforts of its inmates, when he heard the crashing, falling trees, and saw at night the lurid glare of burning logs and brush, was alarmed and fled, but afterward often returned and cast a wistful eye within, but seldom entered.

It was thus the improvements in Johnson County were begun. It is thus the work has been carried on and the consummation reached in the grand development of its resources in every department of our industries. Among the pioneers were some immoral, bad men ; there were, however, but few entirely destitute of all good. In this history, it is the gold and not the dross that we would preserve. Not only in laborious duties, but, also, in moral and social qualities, the pioneers generally, were a noble and select class of men and women. Their ears were open to every call of aid and assistance. I would to God that I had the skill to paint in proper colors, and to describe their kindness and sympathy, and their vigils around the couches of their suffering, dying neighbors, but I am powerless to do them justice. And around their firesides, in social evening gatherings, their friendship and kindness knew no limits. And, if it were not for the want and destitution and constant hardships endured by them, and the gloomy, deadly autumnal sickness, I could wish to meet them once again, though in the gloomy forest, to enjoy another social gathering in a humble log cabin where every thought and every word came up fresh and pure pushing from the heart. But they are gone. They have long since gathered by the " side of the beautiful river," in a friendship now changed into perfect love, where God shall wipe away all tears, where there is no more toil, nor want, nor sorrow, nor death, to receive the glorious rewards of well-spent lives. We owe to their memories a vast debt for the beautiful country which their labors and sufferings have left us, and yet still more, for their examples in goodness and virtue, which by night and by day still go with us, and kindly, and softly, and sweetly, in angelic whispers, invite us to walk in their footsteps and practice their virtues. They are gone, but still they are with us and live in our memories as fresh and as green as the beautiful grass that mournfully drooping, in spring-time waves over them. They are gone, but still aifection, though it linger, will follow on and cling to them, and for long years to come will often return with soft, silent footsteps to plant nature's sweet emblems of virtue on their graves, the choicest and richest and rarest of flowers, which will spring with fresh vigor, and bloom in new beauty and glory, and shed richer fragrance, sweeter than incense, because they grow on the graves of the pioneer fathers and mothers, and because they were planted by children and kindred who loved them and nurtured with tears of richest aifection.

In the northwest corner of Johnson and northeast corner of Morgan and over north in Marion County, was once a large farm and a town of Delaware Indians. The acres which had been in cultivation, in the judgment of the first settlers, in 1820, although then overgrown by bushes, must have exceeded two hundred, the greater part of which was in Johnson County. It was delightfully situated on a plateau twenty-five or thirty feet above the overflowage of the river, and was cut on the northeast and southeast by White River. When William Landers, Esq., settled on a tract of land adjoining the town in April, 1820, there still resided on that portion of the farm in White River Township and west of the river, Capt. Big Fire, Little Duck, and Johnny Quack, and on the east side of the river, in White River Township, on the old Morgan or Denny place, Capt. White, another Indian, where also a large field had been in cultivation at a previous date. And on the left bank of the river, three-fourths of a mile below Capt. White's, on the lands of John J. Worsham, was another Indian location and burial-ground, but no cultivation. This encampment was owned by Big Bear. On the Morgan County part of the old Indian field Capt. Tunis had his wigwam, and just adjoining, in Marion, Old Solomon his. The wigwams were situated on the right bank of the river at the southeast corner of the farm, near the middle of Section 31. Here seems to have been once a stone wall, thirty or forty feet long and five or six feet high, built of portable undressed stones and laid parallel with the river and a hundred feet distant. The Indians said this wall was built for defensive purposes against the Kentuckians ; that there had been a bloody battle fought there once between them and the whites, beginning on the east bank of the river, where they were surprised, and that they were forced over the river, assaulted in the town and finally driven out. That there- after the farm had never boon occupied, except by a few returning families. The siae of the brush growing on and about the once cleared land at that date. L820, showed that it had but rev been abandoned. An old Kontuckian of great reliability, Stephen Watkins. on a visit to White River Township, twenty-five years ago, repeated precisely the same history of this town, and the battle and all the circumstances oi the fight, lie went so far as to point to the near battle-field; lie said he had the particulars from one of the actors and knew them to be true. Does ory give any account of this battle': In Dillon's History of Indiana, it is shown that the " Pigeon Roost Massacre " took place in the north part of Scott County, about eighty miles south of this Indian town, on the Bd day of September, 1812. The next evening, 150 mounted riflemen, under command of Col. John Mc- Coy, followed the trail twenty miles. t~>n the 6th, the militia of Clarke County (no number given) was re-enforced by 60 mounted volunteers from Jefferson County, and. on the evening of the 7th 350 volunteers from Kentucky were ready to unite with the Indiana militia of Clarke and Jefferson for the purpose of making an attack on the Delaware Indians, some of whom were suspected of having been engaged in the destruction of the Pigeon Roost settlement. * * -- Rut. it is said, a spirit of rivalry which prevailed among some of the officers defeated the intention of those, who. at the time proposed to destroy the towns of the friendly Delawares who lived on the western branch of White River." Now hear what Maj. John Tipton says about these "friendly Indians" on White River: "In their way out. they (the escaping Indians'1 passed the Saline or Salt Creek, and 1 there took an old trail leading direct to the Delaware towns, and it is my opinion that while the Government is supporting one part : tribe the Delawares\ the other part i< murdering our cttiaens."

-- 1: is much to be desired that those rascals of whatever tribe they may be harbor ii g nit these Delaware) towns, should be '.. which could be done with 100 men in seven days.*' With this sj irit an I se openly declared by the whites, how that the battle at the Delaware towns, if a battle did occur, and the breaking them up on White River was never reported, is that the Government daring the war with the other Indian tr. in 1811, 1812 and 181^ was supporting and protecting the Delawares who had promised to engage in peaceful pursuits. Gen. Harrison had directed the Delawares to remove to the Shawar. Reservation in Ohio, and most of them had done n after battle of Missis-inewa, December 17. 1812. Those who reft to go received but little mercy. But another proof of this battle is in the fact that on the twenty-acre field, in the southeast corner of northwest quarter. Section 32. Township 14 north. Range 3 east, near Capt. White's old camp, large numbers of leaden bullets of every size, battered and bruised, have been found. I have had at least one hundred of them myself, and have picked up at least nine, recently, in a wash of the river and have been told of hundreds being found by others. I have passed a short distance from this field, on other ground more suitable for finding them, but never yet found any except on this locality. An . about three years since, on John Sutton's farm, one mile and a fourth north of the battle-field and only one mile east of the Indian town, four frames of human bodies were washed out of a low, wet piece of bottom land. The skulls were carried off before I had an opportunity of examining them. No Indian ever buried his dead in a low, wet piece of land. They must have been buried there under pressing circumstances and by white men.

I shall now endeavor, so far as I have knowledge, either received from others or from personal observation, extending back to the year 1825, to give the history of the pioneers of White River Township.

In the month of April or May. 1820. one Morgan, whose surname is believed to have been Daniel, a bachelor, from Western Pennsylvania, and soon after the Indian departure of Capt. White for Arkansas, took possession of his camp and cultivated two or three acres of the old Indian field in corn, expecting his brother to come and take possession with him in the following fall. His corn grew finely and promised an abundant crop, but, as it often then happened, the squirrels began their ravages and ate up the whole before maturity. He then left for his home, but the Indian camp did not long remain vacant.

In the fall of 1820, after Morgan left Capt. White's camp. George Beeler, a son of Thomas and Hannah Beeler, with his wife and sister-in-law. then residents of Morgan County, but subsequently of Johnson County, intending to make the camp his home, entered with his family and took possession. But it seems that

Providence intended that he, like Morgan, should not long remain. He took sick and died, and was buried a mile and a half north of the camp, in the graveyard on the Wilson place, the oldest cemetery on White River. There can be no doubt that this is the first death of a white settler in all Johnson County.* On tiie 30th day of July, 1821, soon after the lands of White River Township were subject to entry, one Joseph Morgan entered this same tract. He was no doubt the same person for whom his bachelor brother operated in raising the field of corn in the year before.

The Sells Family

Abraham Sells was a Virginian from Washington County. He left there on the 24th day of December, 1820, in a wagon, with a large family, and reached Washington County, Ind., about the middle of February. Leaving the female members of his family in that county, accompanied by his brother, John Sells, and four of John's sons, and three of his own, Isaac, William and Franklin, he set out for White River, and reached Jacob Whetzel's about the 1st of March. Following the old Indian trace up the left bank of the river, on the 3d day of March, 1821, he entered White River Township, and took possession of the old Indian wigwam of Capt. White, situate forty rods north of Honey Creek, and near the middle of the northwest quarter of Section 32, Township 14 north. Range 3 east, now known as the Denny place. They brought along seventy-five head of hogs, eleven head of cattle, eight head of horses, together with sugar kettles, and a goodly assortment of tools and provisions for the summer, intending to bring their families in the fall. The stock were mostly turned to the woods to find their own fare. They now concluded to operate together, and having seven ablebodied men and a boy, soon brushed out in the old Indian field five or six acres, which they inclosed with a temporary fence to keep out their own stock, no other being near, and planted in it corn. West of the river was an old hackberry deadening, containing fifteen acres, requiring but little labor to bring it into cultivation. In the year 1820, and in some years subsequent, a small green worm stripped the hackberry trees of all their leaves, killing them in a few weeks. This deadening required no fencing, especially against hogs, and was also planted with corn. Sells and his company were driven out of the low valley once or twice by high water. When the corn on the east of the river was in a forward state toward maturity, the hogs broke through the hasty fence and destroyed all. When the labor of raising the crop was over, all, except two of the company, who were left to care for it, returned, intending to bring their families and settle permanently in their location. But John Sells, Abraham's brother, and Isaac, Abraham's son, took sick and died. Abraham, with his two remaining sons and three nephews, John, William and Abraham, returned late in the fall. John Sells crossed the river and settled in Morgan County. William bought a tract along the west line of the county and west of the river, and remained there several years, and then sold out and left the State. Abraham subsequently went back to Washington County, Ind., and took a wife and became a permanent citizen of White River Township, where he reared a family of two sons - Samuel and Jesse, worthy representatives of a worthy sire - and several daughters of equal respectability, all of whom are still among us. He died July 16, 1867, aged sixty-two years. Abraham Sells, Sr., having a large family, built a house near his original camp, and resided there two years, suffering continually from fever and ague. He then moved eastward two miles, and located on a healthy place, and there remained till he died, on the 5th of March, 1846, aged sixty-three years. William Sells, son of Abraham, settled in the southeast quarter of Section 34, Township 14 north, and also reared a family. He died there November 22, 1864, aged sixty-nine years. His wife died subsequently, but a part of the heirs still hold and yet occupy the old homestead.

The Lowe Family

Between the 3d and 10th of March, 1821, Thomas Lowe and Eleanor Lowe, his wife, with four sons and as many daughters, several of the latter being married, entered White River Township, and located on the southeast quarter of Section 8, Township 13 north, Range 3 east. They were well supplied with cash, and entered some of the most beautiful lands in the township. Every member of the original family is dead and gone. Thomas Lowe, Jr., was one of the two Justices of the Peace first elected in the township. His brother Abraham afterward held the same office. The widow of Abraham and one son still occupy a part of the old homestead. The Lowes were an intelligent and respectable people, and natives of North Carolina.

David Scott

who lived near Bloomington, Ind., came into White River Township about the middle of March, 1821. He bought a team, consisting of two horses, and a wagon and provisions for the summer. His purpose was to clear a field, plant and raise corn, and bring his family in the fall. He built a camp just below the mouth of

Pleasant Run, near Abraham Sells, on a tract of low, overflowed land. He cleared a field and planted his corn. Some time late in the summer, his horses escaped, and this so discouraged him that he sold out to Sells and abandoned the country.

John Doty

came from Hamilton County, Ohio, near North Bend, along the Whetzel trace, and built a camp on the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 16, Township 13 north, Range 3 east, in White River Township, on the 8th day of May, 1821. Next morning, he and his sons, Peter and Samuel, began to clear land and make rails, preparatory to raising some corn. Four acres were soon cleared and planted, but their expectations were blasted, for as soon as the ears began to appear, the raccoons entered like a herd of hogs, and never ceased their depredations until the last nubbin was gone. A full history of this family would make a volume. They made several trips to Connersville for breadstuff's. They were for weeks without anything to eat except hastily dried venison. Peter and Samuel deserve to have a monument to perpetuate the recollection of their labors. The number of rails made by them, the number of acres of land cleared up, the miles of new roads cut out, the number of cabins built, would startle the belief of the present population. On one occasion, they took their axes and a few dollars in money and walked forty miles to Strawtown, above on White River. Daniel Etter, hereafter mentioned, with his big Virginia ax and his steelyards, went with them. They all remained, doing any kind of labor, till a good supply of corn was laid in. They then made two large dug-outs from a poplar tree, filled them with corn, and descended White River, and landed at the mouth of Honey Creek, to the great joy and relief of their families. John Doty had four sons, George, Peter, Samuel and William, and still more daughters. He died January 29, 1856, aged seventy-eight years and ten months. They are all gone except Samuel and William. Peter was appointed the first Assessor for the township. They were all honest, industrious people, and had little to start with, except strong arms and unconquerable wills to execute their purposes, and to overcome every opposing obstacle.

Judge Daniel Boaz

In the fall of 1821, in a partnership conveyance, there came from Kentucky Daniel Boaz and James Ritchey with their families. Judge Boaz was a native of Virginia ; but at some period of life, had emigrated to Kentucky, and thence to White River

Township. He had been unfortunate, having had first and last three wives. He purchased and located on a pretty elevation just a mile from the western line of the county, on the northeast quarter of Section 19, and the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 20, Township 13 north, Range 3 east, now owned by Jacob Tresslar. Here he lost his second wife, whose grave is to be seen in the midst of a cultivated farm, on the first tract of land described. He was a man of general knowledge, and possessed of more than an ordinary share of intellectual vigor. He was elected at the first election held in the county, on the 8th day of March, 1823, one of the Associate Judges, which office he continued to hold for fourteen years. He was a fine specimen of the old Virginia gentleman, and of unbending dignity. He was affable, polite and kind, and was highly useful in imparting knowledge to his neighbors of legal matters, and, in their distress, when sick, and no doctor could be procured, in advising and contributing medicine for their relief. His third wife was a daughter of Benjamin Mills. For long years, his health was poor, yet he lived to extreme old age, and died about ten years since. He had a large family of children ; but many of them are dead, and the rest, except one son, are scattered in distant States.

Capt. James Richey

was a Kentucky gentleman of unusual suavity of manners, well informed, a fluent talker, and capable of imparting to his neighbors on almost any subject useful and correct information. He, as well as his companion, Judge Boaz, was often called on for advice in legal matters. He was elected, at the first election, a County Commissioner. He located on the northwest quarter of Section 19, Township 13 north, Range 3 east, where he remained to the day of his death, on May 14, 1858, aged seventy-five years and two months. He had a small family of children, one only of whom now remains in the county.

Archibald Glenn

Sometime in October, 1822. Archibald Glenn and family, from Nicholas County, in the State of Kentucky, arrived, and became permanent residents of the township. He located on the north line of the county, on the northeast quarter of Section 28, Town 14 north, of Range 3 east, where he continued to reside till the day of his death. It cannot be fairly charged as a disparagement to others, when I say that he was pre-eminently the father to the north half of the township. He was in all respects fully qualified to lead in every industry. No man ever wielded a seven-pound ax more effectively or continuously during the time the farms were being made. I can see him yet, with his Kentucky ax, pole and bit equally heavy, severing large branches from the trunk of a fallen tree at a single stroke, with unequaled skill and terrific blows, and, with a broad-ax large enough to tax the powers of a giant, not in delicate, faint, timid touches, but standing erect, and swinging the ax in a radius the full length of his arm, and with unerring precision and overhand blows, and advancing at quick steps from end to end, scattering and strewing the flying chips far away in every direction. He was the leader at house-raisings and log-rollings, and, by his skill and sound judgment in these laborious duties, accomplished great results with incredible celerity. In short, he was skillful in every work to be done in a new country. He was the finest marksman with a rifle in the State, and could shoot "off-hand" twenty squirrels through the head without a miss. But above all this is the fact that he was an honest man. No dishonest or immoral act received any support from him. He was chosen one of the Justices of the Peace at the first election in 1823, and was admired for his unflinching honesty in office. He was chosen one of the Board of Township Trustees in 1852. He was ever ready to render assistance and comfort and consolation to the sick and the dying. He died a Christian, full of blessed hope of a happy immortality beyond the grave. His death was regretted by all. He left three sons and two daughters to heir the homestead. Austin Glenn, the youngest, died not many years after his father. Archibald Glenn, Esq., resided near the line, on the Marion County side. Andrew W. Glenn resides in White River Township. They are good farmers, have a good supply of this world's goods, and tread in the footsteps of their worthy father.

John Murphy

Along with Archibald Glenn came John Murphy, a nephew of Glenn by marriage. He located near his uncle, but all his hopes and those of his family were cut down in his sudden death two years after his arrival.

Nathan And Benjamin Culver

The Culvers were from East Tennessee, and came to this township in October, 1822. They located their homes on the beautiful, rolling, sandy lands in the northern part of the township, on the northwest quarter of Section 34. They were industrious and economical, and soon added greatly to their limited goods, by their fine crops of corn and wheat. The family of Benjamin was small, and, after ten or fifteen years, he left the county. Nathan remained on his location, and, at the death of his wife, was rich in lands, but her death and the marriage of his daughters broke up his family. They were scattered in all directions. He followed several sons and a daughter to Iowa, and there died many years since. They were a short-lived people, and the name is now only borne in the State by a single son, Mr. Elihu Culver, of Spencer, a gentleman of wealth and distinction ; however, two grandchildren of the old gentleman still live in the township.

Nathaniel St. John

In October, 1822, Nathaniel St. John and family, from Western Ohio, settled on a part of Sections 26 and 27, in Township 14 north, of Range 3 east, on the south bank of Pleasant Run. He was a queer man, and was called a Yankee by his neighbors, and was believed to possess a large share of cunning, like other Yankees, yet he always stood fair among them as an honest man, until, in an unexpected moment in 1838, he turned out a trader in fat hogs, which he drove to Lawrenceburg to find a market. Finding no market, he packed them and shipped them to Mississippi, to find a market there, but in vain. He failed, and all his property was sacrificed to pay his debts. In an attempt to save himself from complete ruin, he remained in Mississippi for two years, and there died. He was naturally a machinist, and built a small mill on the creek in the year 1830, which, although it served its day, yet was not instrumental in increasing his wealth.

Mr. Baker, Daniel Etter, Michael Brown And Mr. Neese

came in a group together from the State of Virginia, and settled in the south part of the township, in the fall of 1822. Daniel Etter took a lease first, and lived several years on the school section. Like many another, he was in low circumstances when he came. On one occasion soon after his arrival, when Peter Doty and Samuel, his brother, set out for Strawtown, in Hamilton County to procure corn, he also needing bread-corn, determined to go with them, take his ax along, with its big Virginia pole much heavier than the bit, and seek by his labor to procure needful supplies. He had no money and nothing portable to purchase with except a pair of steelyards having a draft of 300 pounds. With his ax and steelyards, he followed the Dotys, and overtook them four miles on the road. He had fine luck, for he sold his steelyards at a big price, and by his labors gathered up thirty bushels of corn, which he brought down White River in a dug-out. This event with the balances was the balancing point in his life. He was a blacksmith. He worked when he could get anything to do. Every coin was laid away. His wife seconded every movement. By the time his lease expired, he had the money to buy eighty acres of land south of Waverly. He lived to an old age and died in affluent circumstances. Why should any man despair':'

Michael Brown

Brown and Etter were brothers-in-law. He finally located on on Bluff Creek, in Section 29, Township 13 north, of Range 3 east, on a very pleasant piece of land, and improved it well. Thirty years ago, he sold this farm and emigrated to Illinois, to better his circumstances. He was an honest and industrious man.

Mr. Baker

was an old man when he came to the township. He had three sons - Peter, Michael and Joseph. He purchased and located on the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 21, Township 13 north, of Range 3 east, which he afterward sold to Abraham Bishop. He died many years ago, and was said to be one hundred and ten years old. They were from the State of Virginia. Peter emigrated to Iowa ; Joseph was murdered in cold blood, in 1831 or 1832, by one Barger, who then fled and was never heard of afterward; Michael resides in Union Township, with his family.

Mr. Neese Andrew Brown, Sr

It is believed by those best informed, that Andrew Brown emigrated to this township in the year 1822. He was originally a Virginian, but, like many of the first emigrants, came lastly from Whitewater, near Brookville. He was the owner of the southwest quarter of Section 9, in Township 13 north, of Range 3 east, which is unsurpassed by any other quarter in the township in soil and excellent springs. He was industrious, and soon made a fine farm, on which he continued to live to the day of his death, with every essential comfort. He was a good citizen. Full of jokes, full of fun, and always in good humor, his com- panionship was very agreeable. He died May 8, 1862, aged seventy-nine years and four months. He had children, but they are in other States. This closes .the emigration to White River Township in 1822. Hereafter the chronological order of the arrival of emigrants will not be attempted because of the increased numbers.

William And Samuel Blean

were born in ''Ould Ireland," and came down through New Jersey and Pennsylvania to White River Township in 1822 or 1823. They bought a beautiful quarter-section of land, and located on it and made a farm. William Blean was a married man, with several children. Not manv years after their arrival he died, leaving his widow and children in the care and under the control of Uncle Sammy, the bachelor brother. They were as obedient to him as to their own father. No family settling on White River ever shook with the ague more persistently than the Bleans, not in the fall season only, but often the whole year around. Finally the widow could shake no longer, and died. The family then sold out and moved away to Northern Missouri, where some of them yet live. They were strictly honest and truthful, and well respected.

Nicholas Sells

or, as he always spelled his name, Sell, was of German descent and lastly from Western Ohio. He was not related to the other Sells family of the township. He settled in 1823 in White River Township, on a beautiful tract of land, the northeast quarter of Section 5, in Township 13 north, Range 3 east, where he made a farm. He was industrious and strictly economical, always having a few dollars hid away to meet incidental demands. He was a man of strong feelings, and at times irritable and easily excited, loving his friends and hating his enemies. He could never understand a joke, believing everything told him as real, and was therefore often wrongfully imposed upon. He died on the old homestead, leaving David and Michael and other children to bear his name.

David Sells, by some sort of purchase from his father, succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead, where he resided and reared a family. He and his wife died suddenly in 1865, of erysipelas, as also a boy whom they were raising, David, on the 10th day of January, 1865, and Rachel, his wife, on the 6th. He was a good liver, made money, and, when he died, was the owner of considerable property. He was often charged by his neighbors was by birth a Pennsylvanian. He was married to Martha Glenn, of Berkeley County, Va., in 1794, and, in the fall, emigrated to Kentucky, where he resided till 1823. He now purchased a year's provision and forwarded it to Madison, Ind., and himself and family came through in a wagon. He landed at the Bluffs, in Morgan County, on the last day of 1823, and rented a cabin of Bradshaw until he could build one on his own land in White River Township, to which he removed during the winter of 1824. He located on the north half of the northeast quarter of Section 7, and west half of the northwest quarter of Section 8, in Township 13 north, Range 3 east. His location was exceedingly unhealthy for several years. The whole family were sometimes sick and prostrate at one time with fever and ague. On the 29th day of August, 1825, he died, leaving his widow and three sons and two daughters and several grandchildren to fight out the battle of life in the wilderness. The sons were Samuel, John G. and James W. Parks. The mother and her children did not flee the country under these most discouraging circumstances, but went boldly to work to cut out a farm in the green woods, and most nobly accomplished it.

Mrs. Parks was a fine specimen of the pioneer mother. After her husband's death, she taught school in her own house. She was a noble woman, highly esteemed and useful as a female physician. She lived to an old age, and died of consumption on the 22d day of August, 1851, aged seventy-three years and nine months.

John G. Parks died of lung fever, February 9, 1843. Samuel Parks lived till five or six years ago ; he was an old man, and resided in Union Township. He left a large family. James W. Parks, one of the three sons, resides in Pleasant Township. The Parks family were all highly respected for uprightness and good citizenship.

John Cagley

emigrated from Wythe County, Va., to White River Township in the fall of 1823, and bought the farm of Judge Daniel Boaz in Sections 19 and 20, and became a permanent citizen. He was up in years when he first came. He had a large' family and quite a number of boys. Some years after he came, he built a horsemill which did much grinding for the neighborhood. He, like most of the Virginia emigrants, was of German descent. He was as firm as a rock in his purposes and strictly honest in all his dealings. In the fall of 1851, as nearly as can be ascertained, John Cagley, and sooner or later all his sons and daughters, moved to Northern Iowa.

Henry Brown

originally came from Virginia to Franklin County, Ind., and thence to White River Township, Johnson County, Ind. In the fall of 1819, he drove the first wagon whose wheels ever rolled over the county, in the removal of Jacob Whetzel and family from Brookville to the Bluifs of White River, and, in four years after, he returned to become a permanent citizen of its valley. He was a brother of Michael Brown, who came the year before, and a cousin also of Andrew Brown, already described. He purchased the west half of the northeast quarter and east half of the northwest quarter of Section 20, Township 13 north, Range 3 east, a pleasant, high situation, and worked assiduously in its improvement, and soon realized such returns therefrom as enabled him to live with every comfort about him. He had long been, and at his death was, a leading member and officer of the Christian Church at the Bluffs. He died on the 18th day of September, 1865, aged seventy-four years and six months. He left an aged widow, and two sons with their families, to wit, T. J. Brown and Irvin H. Brown, in possession of the old homestead and its pleasant memories.

Nathaniel Bell And His Sons

Nathaniel Bell was from Ohio. He located at the crossing of the Whetzel and Berry traces in 1823. There he built a horsemill, which for four or five years served in some sort to furnish an occasional sack of coarse meal to the settlers. It was a strange piece of machinery, and when in motion produced unearthly sounds in its rattlings and creakings and rumblings. The hoop inclosing the runner was a section of a hollow log, sitting loosely over and around the grinder, to prevent the escape of the meal. When the team made a sudden movement, the revolving momentum often communicated to the inclosing hoop, and it, too, was thrown into a sudden circular motion. The strange drummings so frightened the horses that they increased their gait beyond control, and the increased whirl of the grinder overcame its gravity and caused it to take a tangential leap from above, down among the horses and men. His mill was never profitable. He also attempted to keep a sort of hotel, but no man was caught twice by that bait, and in 1829 the traces for through travel were abandoned and useless because other and better highways were con-

Structed. From this date onward this place, once so public, became one of the most lonely and desolate places in the county, being overgrown by briers and brush, and deserted.

Nathaniel Bell, who called himself wv the little old man," had six sons, large, active and bold as lions. Nearly all came with him and spread themselves abroad over White River Township. In every enterprise they acted together, and grew bolder and bolder, and became aggressive, attempting, in the spring of 1829, to elect one of their number a Justice of the Peace. But this attempt was a failure. Against some of them no positive acts of misconduct could be alleged, but soon the people who were at first disposed to look on the better part of them as good men, now changed, and believed each to be a conspirator, and equally guilty. The emigrants were now pouring into the county. The Bells were soon surrounded, suspected, watched, shunned and threatened. One of the worst among them was killed at a house-raising on Grassy Creek, by a log sliding back and crushing his head. They were shrewd men ; they saw it all - that they stood alone - and they soon wisely left, to the relief of the whole township, leaving the " little old man " with his rattle-trap to shift for himself. The old man had failed in his hotel and distillery, and his mill was superseded by other and better mills, so he determined, contrary to the usual custom, to carry his mill to his customers, for it was now in the wild woods. He dragged it down west to Honey Creek and set it up once more on its stilts, and for several years it resumed its former strains, but it finally went down and v' the little old man " went down also in death and all was silent. The mill stones were removed and brought back by the writer three years ago from Marion County, where they had been converted by a blacksmith into doorsteps. They have been exhibited for several years at the old settlers' meeting in Glenn's Valley, and are still to be seen there. The history of White River Township could never be complete without reference to " the little old man " and his rattle-trap.

The Dresslar, Or Tresslar, Family

The central part of White River Township drew largely on this family. Peter Tresslar (he and his family always use an initial T in spelling the name), came to the southwest part of the township from Botetourt County, Ya., first alone, but soon with his family, and located on the southwest quarter Section 29, Township 1 3 north, Range 3 east, on the 25th day of August, 1824. The old homestead is still owned by his youngest son, Jacob Tresslar. The labor of making a farm no doubt caused his death. There was no physician near, so he had to rely on Judge Boaz for medical assistance. He left a widow, two daughters and five sons - V. M. Tresslar, Henry, Michael, John and Jacob - who by their industry and experience have contributed greatly to the wealth and prosperity of the township.

William Dunn, Esq

married a daughter of Peter Tresslar, and came with the family to White River Township. He was elected a Justice of the Peace a few years after his settlement here He was an honest man, highly esteemed, affable and kind. His aged widow yet lives.

Henry Dresslar

as he always wrote his name, was a full brother of Peter Tresslar, and came to Johnson County, from Botetourt County, Va., and settled in White River Township in 1829. on the southwest quarter of Section 16, Township 13 north, Range 3 east, and died there March 17, 1857, aged sixty-eight years and four months. He was a plain, honest, sober man. He left a widow and a small family of children. His widow lived up to the year 1879. His children still own the old homestead.

William Dresslar

was from Botetourt County, Va. He settled on the southeast quarter of Section 16, Township 13 north, Range 3 east. He was the half brother of William and Peter Tresslar. He was a man of strictly temperate habits, well respected, industrious and economical, and made a good living. He died October 23, 1862, aged fifty-one years and two months. He left a family, a part of whom still reside in the township, and one of whom still owns the old homestead.

The Sutton Family

Elizabeth Sutton was the widow of Benjamin Sutton, of Preble County, Ohio, and mother of Jonathan and James Sutton. They constituted a family and lived on the northwest quarter of Section 33, Township 14 north, Range 3 east, until Jonathan Sutton died, in the year 1826. They had emigrated only two years before. He left a wife and one child. James Sutton died also, a few years after his brother, on the same farm. Also a son-in-law of Elizabeth Sutton, named Miner, and several of his children, died about the year 1826, on the same land. The widow continued to reside in the neighborhood for many years after their death. She was an excellent woman, and full of religious fervor.

Isaac And Jacob Sutton

were brothers, and sons of James Sutton, and cousins of Jonathan and James Sutton. They emigrated from Preble County, Ohio. Isaac came first to Marion County, Ind., with a relative, in the year 1821 or 1822, unmarried, and worked with unceasing efforts to earn money enough to buy a piece of land, earning the greater part of $100 by splitting rails at 25 cents a hundred. So soon as he had obtained the last piece, he started on foot to Brookville, the place of entry, to secure the prize, all the way fearing that, on examination, some piece might be found spurious, for he possessed no reserve to fill the place. His money proved to be good, and he became the owner, on the 4th day of February, 1823, of the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 9, Township 13 north, Range 3 east, situate in White River Township. This tract he ever afterward called the " home place," and, while he would give his children any part of his lands when he was distributing them, yet he always excepted the "home place." In the fall of 1824 or 1825, he returned and married Alice Watts, and settled on the "home place," where she still resides. Isaac Sutton, following up the policy of his early manhood, acquired about six hundred acres of as fine land as is in White River Township. He died February 18, 1869, aged sixty-four years and ten months. He left eight sons and daughters, but, since his death, one-half are already dead.

Jacob Sutton

came to White River Township from Ohio, on foot, with a pack on his back and twenty-five or thirty dollars as the sum total of his wealth. He did not, however, sit down and repine over the smallness of his fortune, but, with a stout heart, went to work, and soon found the means to enter eighty acres of land for his home place, and he, moreover, called in an energetic assistant in the person of Abagail Doty, daughter of John Doty, the old pioneer, by authority of Thomas Lowe, Esq., on the 21st day of November, 1825, and located on the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 18, Township 13 north, Range 3 east, near the Bluffs. By uniting a small tannery with his farm, and practicing strict economy, he secured a competency, and, although the good wife has long since ceased her labors and gone to receive a glorious reward, yet the old pioneer still lives, and still manages, by taking in a widowed kinswoman, to run a house of his own.

He is stout and cheerful, and now seventy-eight years of age. He has two sons and a son-in-law in the township, who, in industry and economy and good citizenship, walk in the footsteps of their worthy, venerable and aged father.

John Sutton

son of Jacob Sutton, is the finest example for a poor young man to emulate that can be found in Johnson County. Like his father, he began with little assistance, and, by patient, persevering industry and economy, has acquired the means to purchase the old Col. Wishard farm, and also another tract adjoining - in all, about five hundred acres, being one among the finest farms in the county. He is also among the best farmers in the county.

Col. John Wishard

emigrated from Nicholas County, Ky., to White River Township, early in the fall of 1825, and located on the northwest quarter of Section 28, Township 14 north. Range 3 east. He soon extended his ownership by the entry of 300 acres of the rich, overflowed adjoining bottom lands. Assisted by the labors of six sons and hired help, he soon opened a large farm, extending nearly to White River. The bottom lands were protected from overflow by the erection of heavy embankments. But, in the midst of his success in business, his wife died, on the 12th day of August, 1849. She was a good woman, of unusual equanimity, prudence and economy. Although her death did not quite dissolve his family, yet this, and the near approach to manhood of his sons, and the death of two of them, with the settled purpose of three of them to withdraw from the farm to qualify for professional life, soon limited his operations. He soon made a disposition of his farm for the benefit of his children, and thus, in great measure, withdrew from his accustomed laborious life. Two of his sons are eminent practitioners of medicine, and a third one eminent as a preacher in the Presbyterian Church, who has chosen a continent as the wide field of his evangelical labors. One only of his sons follows the vocation of a farmer. Two onlv of his daughters yet live - Mrs. Robert Jennings and Mrs. Dr. Noble. Col. Wishard was a man of great physical strength and activity in body, and of equal activity of mind. He was a military man, and was delighted with the pomp and display of military movements. Soon after his arrival, he was elected Colonel of the county militia, the duties of which he continued to exercise with ability so long as these services were required by law. He was one of " the bloody three hundred " that volunteered in the Black

Hawk war. None contributed more to build up and make this new country than Col. Wishard. In log-rollings, house-raisings and other field operations, he was always on hand. He was kindhearted, and was at the bedside of the sick and dying on all occasions. If any were in distress and needed assistance, they had only to make it known to receive it. He often disobliged himself to accommodate others. No man suffered more in his family than he. From the year 1833 to 1851, six members died, and, during the last six years, his wife and two sons and a daughter - the last the youngest, aged fifteen years - died from malarial diseases. He was full of jocularity, but sumetimes carried his jokes too far and gave offense. He was unique in his opinions, believing that he was right, and they who differed with him, wrong, and was often surprised that others would not, or could not, be convinced by his arguments and see as he did. " You know better," was a set phrase with him. He was fond of political discussions, and, when he became much interested in his subject, used strong language, which often estranged those with whom he was associated and who differed from him. This rendered him unpopular. He lived to a ripe old age, and died on the 8th day of September, 1878, aged seventy-eight, years and two months, and sleeps, near'the scenes of his labors and sufferings, in the cemetery at Genn's Valley.

John Smith

son of Samuel Smith, is an emigrant from Lewis County, Ky., to Perry Township, Marion County, Ind., where he arrived on the 23d day of March, 1822. He was married to Nancy Dean at Lawrenceburg, Ind., January 18, 1821. In December, 1823, he bargained, together with William Stallcup, who was married to his sister, for eighty acres of land in White River Township, Smith getting the west, and Stallcup the east half. Here he remained two years, and then sold and entered the east half of the northeast quarter, Section 26, Township 14 north, Range 3 east, and continued there till 1832, when he again changed his location to the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 36, in said town and range, where he has remained ever since. Mr. Smith is a fine specimen of the old pioneer, and was subjected to as many hardships and labors as any man in the township. Several years since, three grown children died within a short time of typhoid fever. He is now eighty years of age and Mrs. Smith eighty-three. They had lived as husband and wife fifty-eight years, on the 23d day o£ March last. They are a good, honest, upright family.

John M'Cool

JOHN M'COOL was a Pennsylvania!!, who emigrated to Mercer County, Ky., and, in December, 1826, to White River Township. He was a good house carpenter, industrious and strictly honest. He died September 25, 1840, aged sixty-three years and four months. He left a widow, but no children. His widow died in July, 1862, seventy-seven years of age.

Robert R. Lyons

was also a Pennsylvanian, but emigrated to Mercer County, Ky. He was out while he lived in that State on an expedition in the war of 1812, along with the Kentucky troops, where he did effective service and was honorably discharged, and. returned home in the beginning of the year 1813. He was married, during that year, to Jane Vanrarsdall. In the fall of 1825, he emigrated to the neighborhood of Greenwood ; here he remained two years and then located on the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 25, Township 14 north, Range 3 east, where he remained till the day of his death, February 22, 1878, aged eighty-five years ten months and twelve days. He was a tanner and farmer, industrious and economical, and no man could excel him in the performance of the arduous duties belonging to pioneer life. Both he and Mrs. Lyons were hospitable and kind to a fault. She still survives him and is now eighty-seven years old, and still active in body and mind. The old homestead is owned and controlled by Mr. Carder and his good lady, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lyons, and is still run in the same hospitable channel. Mr. Lyons left two sons, Harvey S. and John M., who adjoin the old homestead, and a daughter, Mrs. Jennings, of Franklin. Their character is sufficiently high among their neighbors and needs no commendation from the writer.

Capt. Robert C. Wishard

emigrated from Nicholas County, Ky., in the fall of 1823. His mother was a widow, and for several years before, as well as after coming to White River Township, they constituted a family. He settled on a charming tract of land, the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 27, Township 14 north, Range 3 east. He was industrious and lifted his ax with great effectiveness among the green timber. He married Miss Rebecca Smith soon after coming, who seconded every effort of her husband to secure a good living, and made him a most agreeable companion. The Captain was the first Constable, under Archibald Glenn, Esq., who was his brother-in-law, and was, soon after he came to the township, elected Captain of a company of militia composed of his neighbors. I can yet see him and his company drawn up on parade. The Captain was a large man and was well dressed in military costume ; his hat bore a tall red plume in its front, and now, with sword in hand, and in a sonorous voice that sounded afar off, he spoke, " Attention, the Company !" He was a good officer, and few men could excel him in training a company in the elements of the military art. He was a great joker, a loud talker, and could laugh as loud as any man living, and no man did more to cheer the gloom of the desponding settler, and laugh away hypochondria than he ; he was open and free and kind hearted. He yet lives in Pleasant Township much changed by age from what he once was ; he had some faults and many good qualities ; we played and laughed and sported together in youth ; I cannot forget him, with all his faults.

Henry Glenn

was a brother of Archibald Glenn, Esq. He came to Indiana from Nicholas County, Ky., at the same time with his brother, and, although he owned land from the beginning, in the township, was not willing to encounter its wildness. He, therefore, rented a farm in Decatur County and remained there two years. He came to White River Township in 1823, and immediately began to construct a mill to be propelled by the waters of Pleasant Run. The mill was adapted to grinding corn only, and had but a single run of nigger-head buhrs. It did well and supplied the township with meal for five or six years, when it was superseded by still better mills and went down. In 1827, he sold his mill and 240 acres of land to the Turner brothers and left for Illinois to better his condition. He was skillful, industrious and honest, and had an intelligent family. He has been dead many years.

Henry Hardin died in Nicholas County, Ky., in October, 1825, leaving a widow, Catharine Hardin, and ten children - five males and five females. At the time of his death, he was making arrangements to move with all his children to Johnson County, Ind. He owned in White River and Perry Townships, Marion County, Ind., several hundred acres of land, and had also contributed to several of his children the means to purchase a home in Johnson County. Thomas and Benjamin, both married, came to White River Township in the fall of 1824. Thomas located on a part of Section 35 and 36 in Township 14 north, Range 3 east, Benjamin on the southwest quarter of said Section 35, but before they had realized any benefits from their labors in 1830 and 1831, sold out and moved to the State of Illinois. John Waddle and Mahlon Seybold, who married Hardin's daughter settled in White River Township. Waddle, after several years of hard labor, sold and also moved West. Mahlon Seybold lived many years in White River Township, held the offices of Assessor and Justice of the Peace to public acceptance, and died in Indianapolis in June, 1861. John Waddle and Samuel Doty operated a whipsaw for several years and made the first plank in the township cut with a saw. In October, 1827, the widow, with the rest of the family, arrived. In August, 1833, three single full-grown members of the family, Mark, Elihu and Elizabeth died in one week, in one room with congestive fever. Franklin, the youngest of the family alone remains, all but him being dead. In 1825, his mother and himself examined this county and saw many new things already told. He has held several public offices, and has contributed his mite to the welfare of the county.

Other Pioneers

The Surface Family. - George Surface and his sons came from Virginia, and arrived at various dates from 1827 to 1832. Their names were John Surface, of Honey Creek ; John, Michael, William and David.

John Surface, distantly related to the other John, was also a Virginian, and came in the fall of 1828. He died on October 18, 1861, leaving only one son and several daughters. John R., the son, was an eminent preacher of the Christian denomination, and died on October 3, 1867.

James Stewart, son-in-law of the last John Surface, came from the same place and at the same time. He died August 1, 1851, leaving several sons and daughters.

Peter Davis was a brother-in-law of John Surface. He came from the same place and at the same time. He left many years ago, and died in Iowa.

John Shufflebarger and family came from Montgomery County, Va., in the fall of 1829. He died in 1862, leaving four sons and one daughter living.

Samuel Watts came from Wayne County, Ind., perhaps in 1823. He taught the first general school in the township. He only remained four or five years, and left.

John McCord and his son-in-law, Robert Thomas, came early, perhaps in 1824. He is believed to have been from Ohio. He sold to Coonrod Brunnemer, and his sons George and William, in 1829, and left the county.

Coonrod Brunnemer and his sons George and William, together with Abraham Bishop, a son-in-law of Coonrod, were Virginians. Coonrod died many years ago. William died August 16, 1876, and George Brunnemer and Abraham Bishop are still living.

Lewis Cagley was a brother to John Cagley, and died in Virginia. His widow and son. Dr. Cagley (or. as he spelled his name, Kegley) moved to White River Township, perhaps in 1826. He married a daughter of John Doty. He practiced medicine and ran a farm. He is long since dead, and has left a successor in the medical art. Dr. John Kegley.

William L. Woolford was a son-in-law of Lewis Keglev. He came with the family and died July 18, 1865, leaving a large family, who have left the State.

Michael Pruner, was the old fife-major. Who among the present citizens of this county have not heard his loud, shrill fife? I applied for a land-warrant for him. I asked his name. He answered, il George Michael Pruner." Immediately the application returned saying, k' We find no George Michael on the muster-roll." Then I proved by a half-dozen Virginians that he was called George Michael, Michael George and Mike and George, indiiferently. The warrant came right a long. He moved to the township in 1823.

Andrew Brown, Jr., was said to be a relative of Andrew Brown, Sr. He died April 14, 1866, leaving a large family. He was a Virginian, and came in 1823.

John and Jacob Groseclose, brothers, came to the township about 1824, from Virginia. John died here June 24, 1833. Jacob moved to Iowa in 1853, and died there.

Henry Presser came from Kentucky to White River Township in the fall of 1831. His son-in-law, Fox, an eminent school-teacher, came along, and ran a school for many years in the township. Mr. Presser died many years ago. Only one son now remains, John M. Presser. He is the equal of the best farmer in White River Township.

Nicholas Orme came from Lewis County, Ky., and located in the north part of White River Township in 1829. He died in February, 1864, seventy-seven years of age.

The Jennings Family. - Two sisters (both widows). Mary, widow of William Jennings, and Margaret Thompson, came from Kentucky in 1832 or 1833. Mrs. Jennings was the mother of Robert, William H. and Thompson P. Jennings. She died September 12, 1851, sixty-two years and ten months old. Mrs Thompson died June 11, 1873, aged eighty-eight years two months and four days.

Mr. Foglesong was an old Virginian, from Wythe County. He came at an early day to White River Township. He had several sons, only one, Jacob, now remaining in the township. The old man died about 1851.

The Turner Brothers. - In the spring of 1828, an old widowed mother and three bachelor sons and one daughter located on the north part of Section 27, Township 14 north, Range 3 east, 240 acres, as farmers. They were skilled in "all kinds of labor, took great pains with everything they undertook, and seldom failed in success. They could manage the house as well as a skilled housekeeper ; could cook, wash, and, in short, could do any kind of housework. They had been halting along on the way for several years, but the children had been born in Pennsylvania, and the old lady in Ireland. But they have all passed away except John Turner. He alone bears the name of Turner. They were good people.

William Eddy came from Kentucky to White River Township in the month of October, 1827, and located on the southwest quarter of Section 28, Township 14 north, Range 3 east. He had a wife and three children - two boys and one young woman. One of his sons soon died, leaving only two children in the family, Gideon and Miss Julia. The latter was married, first to Mr. Charles McBride, who died five or six years after the marriage, and afterward to Albert G. Prewitt, now of Greenwood, Ind. Prewitt and his wife are intelligent and kind, and long resided in White River Township, and enlivened it by their rich, cheerful conversation and hospitality. Mr. Eddy did not live to enjoy his farm, but was seized with congestive fever in September, 1833, and, after a few days of sickness, died. He was a man possessing unusual vigor of mind, and also extensive information. He was a kind-hearted and good old pioneer.

Isaac B. Vorhies and his family moved to Greenwood from Mercer County, Ky., in 1828, and, after nine or ten years, he moved further west into White River Township, where he continued to live in perfect uprightness until the day of his death, March 29, 1861, aged seventy years. His wife, Rachel B. Vorhies died December 25, 1879, aged seventy-eight years.

Jesse Hughes, Esq., was a Tennesseean, and came to White River Township in 1829 or 1830. He, however, had lived on Whitewater after coming from Tennessee. He followed the business of a farmer and was a man of hard labor, soon clearing out a large farm in the green woods. He was several times licensed as an exhorter in the Methodist Church, and was always a leading member of that denomination. He was once chosen a Justice of the Peace. He had two wives. He died July 29, 1871, aged seventy-four years and eleven months.

Source changes here: from History of Johnson County, Indiana : from the Earliest Time to the Present, with Biographical Sketches, Notes, Etc. Together with a Short History of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana, by Banta, D. D. (David Demaree), published 1888; 13,410 words in this source stream.

White River Township

Adaline R. Baker was born in this county, June 19, 1831, and is the daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Whetzel) Lowe. The father was born in Salem County, N. C, and died in Johnson County, Ind., October 10, 1871, aged seventy-two years. The mother was born in Wheeling, Va., and died in this county, December 12, 1852, aged forty-three years. Their marriage was consummated in Morgan County, Ind., December 23, 1828, andresulted in the birth of the following children: Caroline L. and Adaline R. The parents were very early settlers of Johnson County. The father was the son of Thomas Baker, Sr., a native of North Carolina; and the mother was the daughter of Jacob Whetzel, an early pioneer settler of Morgan County, Ind. Adaline R. Baker was united in marriage with William Madison Knox, October 10, 1852. Unto the union was born a daughter, Sarah E. by name. This daughter became married a second time, and her marriages were blessed by the birth of the following children: Maude, Maggie, Maria, Roukin, Charles, William M., and Blithe. William Madison Knox's death occurred in 1855; and in 1856, his widow,. who is the subject of this sketch, was united in marriage with Charles H. Baker. This marriage has resulted in the birth of live children, namely: Carolina, Louisa, Emily, Henry S., deceased, Thomas William, deceased, and Ida, deceased.

Charles E. Bailey, a citizen of White River Township, was born in Butler County, Ohio, September 19, 1849, an^ 1S tne son of Elias and Mary E. (Pierce) Bailey. The father was born in Burlington, N. J., October 24, 1813, and died in Marion County, Ind., December 25, 1882. He was one of three sons, whose father was Ephraim Bailey- Elias Bailey came to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1839, and nere was married in 1 841, to Mary E. Pierce, the daughter of John S. and Hannah C. (Baker) Pierce. Mary E. Pierce was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 22, 1826 Her marriage with Elias Bailey was blessed with eleven children: Emily, deceased, Sanford P., Richard, deceased, Charles E., Josephine M., Sarah J., Cordelia, deceased, Roswell Wells, Steward W., Oscar, and Augustus, deceased. After their marriage they settled in Butler County, Ohio, where the father followed farming. Their home was here till 1853, when they removed to Decatur County, Ind., and in 1864 they removed to Marion County, Ind., the father continuing farming till his death. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and never aspired to public life, but preferred the life of a farmer. After leading a long and useful life, he died universally respected by all who knew him. His widow still survives, and resides in Marion County, the wife of Stephen A. Tucker. The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, and received a high school education at South Port. In youth, the carpenter's trade was uppermost in his mind, and his father, besides farming, did more or less contracting and building, and while working on contracts for his father, he learned the carpenter's trade. He remained under the parental roof till he reached majority, and then went to Indianapolis, where he engaged in carpentering for three years, and then two years at South Port, and in 1880, he located in Johnson County, where he has followed both carpentering and farming. October 15, 1879, ^e wedded Laura A., the daughter of James A. and Mary E. Fendley, whose sketch appears elsewhere. Mrs. Bailey was born in Marion Count}7, Ind., September 26, 1862. The children that have resulted from the above marriage, are : Mary Edith, Ethel Pearl, Clarence Evertt and Jossie. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Master Mason of South Port Lodge, No. 270, and is a democrat in politics.

John R. Brickert, a native of Morgan County, Ind., was born January 19, 1859, an<^ 1S ^e son °^ Charles J. and Elizabeth J. (Fitzpatrick) Brickert. The father was born in Adams Count}', Penn., in 1827, and is the son of Frederick Brickert, of Pennsylvanian birth, and German lineage. Charles J. Brickert was reared in his native state, and in 1848 came to Indiana, and settled in Morgan County, where he has spent most of his life following farming and carpentering. In 1853, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth J. Fitzpatrick, a native of Lawrence County, Ind., born in 1835. She is the daughter of Henry C. Fitzpatrick, of Irish descent, and an early settler of Lawrence County, Ind. The above marriage was blessed by the birth of the following children: William H., Charles F.,John R., Edwin W., James M., deceased, Minnie V. and Cora A. John R. was reared on a farm in Morgan County. He received his early education in the common schools, and then a normal education at Valparaiso, Ind. In 1880, he began teaching in the public schools of Morgan County, and taught for three years. He took a select course at Bloomington, Ind., and later a law course at the Gjllettle Law University, at Valparaiso, Ind. He was admitted to the bar in Morgan County, Ind.', in April of 1885. In the same year he became. a member of the Johnson County bar. In the fall of the same year he engaged in the breeding of short-horn cattle, and Hambletonian horses, at Bluff Creek, Johnson Co., Ind., and since has continued in the breeding and sale of fine stock. September 8, 1885, he was united in marriage with Annie L., the daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Clark) Tresslar. The father was a native of Virginia, the mother of New Jersey. Anna L. is the only daughter of the parents; she was born in Johnson County, Ind., June 27, 1862. One child has blessed the above union, named Jacob Errett. Mr. and Mrs. Brickert are members of the Christian Church.

John Clore, a farmer of Johnson County, was born in Oldham County, Ky., May 9, 1826, and is the son of James and Sarah (Keller) Clore. Our subject's early life was spent on a farm, remaining with his parents until he attained his twenty-third year. During the winter of 1847-48, Mr. Clore made a visit to his old Virginia homestead, renewing old acquaintances, and reviving recollections of his boyhood days. October 25, 1849, he was united in marriage with Margaret E., daughter of Robert and Mary Welch. To this union were born four children, as follows: William R., James R., John A., and Joel. In 1850, our subject emigrated to Indiana, and settled in White River Township, Union County, where Mrs. Clore died, May 6, 1863. September 15, 1863, Mr. Clore was married to Mrs. Diana Rice, daughter of Joel Carpenter. Mrs. Clore departed this life after a brief married life of eleven months, and January 26, 1865, our subject was wedded to Elizabeth M., daughter of Henry and Mary Utterback. To the latter marriage three children have been born: Leonard B., Annabel and Henry, deceased. William R. is married, and has one child named Lora.; James R. is married, and is the father of three children: Lester, Frank and Edna Belle. Mr. Clore's first land purchase was a tract of eighty acres, to which he later added largely. He has given each married child forty acres, and still retains a farm of 240 acres of fine farming land. In addition to farming he has given considerable attention to stock-raising. Mr. Clore became a member of the Church of Christ at the age of eighteen years, and has been a bishop sixteen years in the church at Bargersville, Johnson County, of which his wife and children are members. Politically, he has always been a democrat, except in one campaign, when he was elected county commissioner by the independents.

James Collins, the subject of this biography, is a native of Johnson County, born March 18, 1826. He is the son of Henry M. and Catharine (Bell) Collins. His father was a native of Virginia, and died when James was but a child. The mother of James was a native of Butler County, Ohio. She made her home in White River Township, soon after James was born ; and here he was raised on a farm. In youth he attended country schools, which were supported by subscription, and in those schools he received a fair education. His home was with his widowed mother; who, in after years, continued to make her home with him. She lived to an advanced age, and died in 1879. On reaching his majority James began teaching in the public schools. He taught for fifteen years; teaching fifteen terms, which averaged about three months each. During these fifteen years he both taught- school and followed farming. The latter vocation he has followed as his life pursuit. As an active politician he began in early life. He became a democrat in 1854, and since has continued to be an ardent advocate of the principles of democracy. At the age of twenty-one years he was elected as constable, thus beginning his civil office career. In 1856 he was elected assessor for his township, and in this capacity he served three terms. In 1864 he was made appraiser of real estate in Johnson County, holding this position for several years. In 1876 he was elected township trustee of his township, in which capacity he served two terms. Later, he served as assessor, and also as real estate appraiser. In 1884 he was elected by his party to the office of county commissioner from the third district, and is the present incumbent. Although Mr. Collins has never connected himself with any church, he has always been a friend to churches, and education as well. He is a Master Mason, to which fraternity he is much attached.

Charles H. Davis, who is the subject of this sketch, is the son of William Kindrick and Ruth Turner (Orme) Davis. The father was born in Lewis County, Ky., May 25, 1816; died in Marion County, Ind., July 6, 1871. He was the son of Walter and Catherine (Putman) Davis, both natives of Virginia, and early settlers of Kentucky. The parent's children were: Mason T., John, Benjamin, William K., Elizabeth, Nancy and Sarah. William K. was reared in Lewis County, Ky., and in 1836, came to Marion County, Ind., and in 1847 became a citizen of Johnson County, in which county he lived till 1868, when he removed Xo Indianapolis, and lived, till his death occurred. He was married January 29, 1846, wedding Ruth T. Orme, the daughter of Moses and Mary T. (Elson) Orme, both natives, of Virginia, where Ruth T. was born February 1, 1818. Herparents came to Marion County, Ind., in 1827. The marriage of William K. and Ruth T. Davis resulted in the birth of the following children: Mary and George, deceased, and Charles H., born in Johnson County. Charles H. was reared in Johnson County up to the age of twelve years, when his parents removea to Indianapolis. His education was received in the Indianapolis schools. He learned the painter's trade, which he followed for several years in Indianapolis. October 15, 1879, he married Belle Yeager, daughter of John and Mary J. (Cunningham) Yeager. The father was born in Maryland, of German ori- gin, and the mother in Ohio. Mrs. Davis was born in Yankton, Ohio, September 14, 1856. Her marriage has been blessed by the birth of these children: William E., who died in infancy; Pearlie May, deceased; Grade H. and Freddie C. In 1886, Mr. Davis removed to his father's old homestead in White River Township, and since has been engaged in farming. He is the only living offspring of his parents. His mother still lives and makes her home with her son. She and husband have been life-long members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject and wife are members of the same church.

Thomas Denny, the subject of this sketch, was born in Preble County, Ohio, November 18, 1835, and is the son of Jesse and Ona (Bowles) Denny. The father was born in North Carolina, January 20, 1804, and died in Johnson County, Ind., February 28, 1865, and was of English descent. He was reared in North Carolina, and married Ona Bowles, who, like himself, was a native of North Carolina, and was born December 15, 1802, and died in Johnson County, August 3, 1865. She was also of English descent, and was the daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth Bowles. Jesse and Ona Denny lived for a short time after their marriage in North Carolina, in which state were born unto them three children: Thurman, Silvira and Lucinda. Then the family removed to the State [of Ohio, abput 1832, and settled in Preble County, where these children were born: Hepsy Ann, Thomas, Mary and Jacob. The family removed to Indiana in 1840, and settled in Johnson County, in which place the parents died. Of their seven children, five are living. Our subject was but five years old when his parents settled in this county. His youth was spent on a farm, and he received only a fair education in reading, writing and " ciphering" in the country schools. February 4, 1864, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Duke, daughter of Washington and Rosa Ann (Etter) Duke. Elizabeth was born in Indiana, October 25, 1843. Unto this union have been born the following children: Margaret Harriet, and a second child named Carrie Bell, and a third child, now deceased, named Jacob. When Mr. Denny began the battle of life he had no capital other than willing hands. He owns a well-improved farm of 225 acres, of which 120 acres are under cultivation. Mr. Denny is a staunch democrat. He is a Master Mason of Glenn's Valley Lodge, No. 514. He was formerly of Mooresville Lodge. He has been a Mason for over twenty-five years.

William C. DeMott, a farmer of White River Township, was born in Union Township, Johnson Co., Ind., July 11, 1857, and is the son of John J. and Sarah A. (Covert) DeMott. (See sketches of Franklin for parental history.) William C. DeMott was reared on a farm, and received a thorough education in the common branches, at Hopewell Academy, where he also received a fair knowledge of book-keeping. He also attended the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where he took a three months' course. May 17, 1881, he married Mary E. Aten, daughter of John H. and Mary E. (Thompson) Aten. Mrs. DeMott was born in Franklin Township, this county, October 6, i860. One child has resulted from the above marriage, named Norval J., born April 30, 1882. Soon after Mr. DeMott's marriage, he settled on his present farm, in White River Township, and since has been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. He is a member of the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, and his wife is a member of the Baptist Church at Franklin.

Levi B. Dolen was born in Clermont County, Ohio, March 4> l835> and is the son of Obadiah Winans and Sarah Curtis (Brunaugh) Dolen. The father was born at Deerfield, Ohio, November 3, 1808. He is the son of Timothy and Elizabeth (Winans) Dolen. Timothy Dolen was born in Dublin, Ireland. Elizabeth Winans was American born, and was the sister of an early minister of the Gospel in Indiana. This minister was William Winans, and was, perhaps, the first to preach a sermon at Vincennes, Ind. This, he preached when Gen. Harrison was territorial governor of Indiana Territory, and Gen. Harrison and one other, constituted the audience. Gen. Harrison held the candle for the minister to read his text. The father of our subject was married in Clermont County, Ohio, February 11, 1831, to Sarah C. Brunaugh, a daughter of John and Sarah Curtis Brunaugh. The father was French. Mr. and Mrs. Dolen went to Jennings County, Ind., and there resided until after the close of the war, and then a removal was made to this county, and they located at Whiteland, where Mrs. Dolen was called away in death, September 26, 1872. Her marriage was blessed by the birth of the following children: Mary E., Levi B., Timothy M., Elizabeth B., Subrina B., deceased, Reliance T., John M. and William H. (twins), and Emily B. Their mother was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their father still survives, the mother, and is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was ordained as deacon, by Bishop Bacon, in Lawrenceburgh, Ind., in 1856, having been licensed as a minister of the Gospel in 1834. His work as a minister has been local work. He is a cooper by trade, and makes his home with his children. The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, and was a small boy when his parents came to Indiana, and he has spent nearly all his life in this state. August 7, 1862, he entered as a private in Company B, Eighty-second Indiana Volunteers, and among the important engagements in which he participated, are the following: Stone River, Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Rocky Face, Resaca, Kenesavv Mount, Atlanta, and was with Sherman on his march to the sea. His last battle was at Bentonville. April 20, 1865, he was commissioned by Gov. Oliver P. Morton as first lieutenant of the Eighty-second Indiana Volunteers, and received his commission at Fayetteville, N. C. He was never mustered as a lieutenant because of his company being reduced to what is termed a " minimum." After the close of the war, Mr. Dolen returned to Indiana, and was married July 20, 1S65, to Mary E. Sutton, daughter of Jacob and Abigail Sutton, early settlers of this county. Mrs. Dolen was born in Johnson County, Ind., April 30, 1836. Unto this marriage have been born three children, William H., Florence N., and Charlie M. Mr. and Mrs. Dolen and two oldest children are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He has, since the war, resided in this county, Jiving for the greater part in White River Township. For seven years he lived at Whiteland, and while living there, served in the capacity of justice of the peace. He is D. G. M. of Waverly Lodge, No. 318, I. O. O. F.

William Dorrell, an early settler of Ohio County, Ind., was a native of Ohio. His son, Jacob Dorrell, was born in Ohio, July 5, 1801, and was reared in Ohio Countv, Ind., where he was married December 10, 1822, wedding Mary Alexander, who was born in Ohio County, Ind., June 4, 1S04. They lived in Ohio County till 1828, when they removed to Johnson County, and settled in White River Township, in which township they lived until their deaths occurred, she dying January 12, 1873, ar|d he, February 1, 1881. To this marriage were born the following children : John, deceased, Elizabeth, James, Cyntha Ann, deceased, William, Daniel, Paschal, Sarah, Joseph, Mary, Samuel, Urzulla, and Margaret. Their father and mother were among the early pioneers of Johnson County. They were industrious and persevering, and noted for their zealous characters. Faithful as friends, they were universally respected. William Dorrell was reared on a farm and remained with his father and mother till he reached the age of twenty-five years. He has followed farming as a vocation, in which he is practical and successful. August 12, 1858, he was united in marriage with Marcella Bristow, daughter of James and Sarah (Dunn) Bristow. He is a native of Kentucky, born February 19, 1805, and died in Indiana, February 25, 1855. His wife was born in Kentucky, July 17, 1816, and died ,in Indiana, February 2, 1873. Mrs. William Dorrell was born in Marion County, Ind., July 22, 1835. Unto her marriage have been bom these children: Jacob G., Joseph, deceased, Daniel D., Sarah M., Mary E., deceased, Paschal E., William A., Thomas, James M., Robert and Cena Jane. Mr. and Mrs. Dorrell are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics, he is a democrat. He is a Master Mason in South Port Lodge, No. 270. Paschal Dorrell was reared and educated on a farm. He was married October 25, 1S60, to Martha E., the daughter of David and Rachel (Gloseclore) Sell, the former a native of Ohio, and the latter of Virginia. Mrs. Dorrell was born in Johnson Count}', Ind., November 3, 1834. Two daughters have blessed the above marriage: Ida Agnes, deceased, and Rosa May. Paschal Dorrell remained under the parental roof till he reached the age of twenty-seven years; then married and settled in life as a farmer, on "the farm he now owns. In politics, he is a staunch democrat, and firmly set in the principles of the party.