d`ONAIIIДN BUNIDY - The Henry County Historical Society and

d'ONAIIIÄN BUNIDY
This account of an unusual pioneer is in the Friends Collection at Earlham College. The compiler is unknown.
Jonathan Bundy, son ofBenjamin and Sarah Bell Bundy, was
born in Perquimans County, N.C. Jan. 13,7797 died March 16,
1877, aged 80 years 2 mo. 3 days.
He purchased land in Henry County Feb. 10, 1823, on which
tract he lived 54 years. His father died when he was about thirteen years old, after he went to Guilford County, Car. to live with
his uncle John Bell, with whom he moved to this state in 1817,
and settled near Milton in this county. When he became twentyone years of age he went to Jacksonburg and worked until the
land sale in 1823, aftær which he entered 80 acres and built thereon a small block house, which has recentìy been destroyed. He
was never married, but was exceedingly fond of children very affectionate and kind and ever willing and ready to assist the poor
and distressed. A man that labored hard the greater portion of
his life, he assisted in clearing the farms and helped frame or
raise most of the old barns in this neighborhood. He was cripa horse falling
pted in one leg by a saw
ss and he was
on him. Withall he was
nd died in the
a consistent member of
triumph of the Christian religion and is now beyond a doubt "before the throne of God in Heaven".
Shubal Julian'
Bundy
About 1910 a story of Jonathan Bundy told Mrs' Margaret
Lamb Bundy by William J. Hiatt of Richmond, Ind' who said he
was present at the meeti.I
****
members
until
death.
It was at the time when Earlham College was being changed
from a boarding school to a college and according to the story,
the making of the change depended on a sufficient subscription
at the Yearly Meebing. It seemed as if the subscription was likely to fail when Jonathan Bundy, who had walked to Richmond,
from his home west of Dublin, arose to speak. He was dressed
as always in a suit of blue jeans with a red flannel shirt, the collar of which showed well above the coat collar.
He said, "Friends, I do not have a child in the world, and never expect to have, but I do not believe in Friends having to send
their children to Methodist and Presbyterian institutions to get
them educated, put Jonathan Bundy down for ten dollars." There
was a spattering ofsubscriptions and another lull, when he arose
and made the same speech entire the second time. Subscriptions
and
began to come in again and
and
made the same speech endi
with
over again this happened, t
another ten for twelve
forever.
times,
been
aroused to put the project over.
As told by Robert E. Pretlow, Summer of 1918'
It was a great hobby ofhis whenever he heard ofa new baby,
in sickness and poverty, his quaint philosophy, and sterling up-
rightness would have made him an ideal character for a novelist
to have woven a storY about.
He was a bachelor and never rode always walked'
He said a woman broke his heart and a horse broke my leg
had his protecting arm over us, which we praised him for it. When
we arrived at thJfarthest (or fortieth) mile we could go no farther and had to send for my Uncle Samuel Cary to come and help
us. He came with his ox team and got us through the mud which
was verry deep. Oxen was our shure engines for heavy loads' They
hardly ever failed.
We was six days on the road, coming about 88 miles. There was
rejoicing when we
strangers. We wa
or two, having in
more like our selves and was ready for work.
We moved in a log cabin in Rush County. In this cabin thair
was a flore about 16 inches above the ground, so that acted as
chairs
to be,
Caryl
in Dudley TownshiP.
MJTRT CARY HEÄßDN WOOIDS
We all
we had plenty of beans. We raised a fine garden, potatoe-s, pu1pkins and such truck as was raised in gardens. We raised a splen-
wrote it.
healthy, wasn't running after a doctor every'few days for amangery sickness.
Mary Cary Heaton
and Rush Countyes.
It rained most all the time. When near Richmond, Ind' lightll all around
lled a Dandy
with us. My
near by had
a umbrella handle broken which she was holding ove¡ her' The
people from the village, now Richmond, came-running to us exp".ilng to hnd us baãty hurt. Maybe some killed, but the Lord
Presbertons.
Fraley,
t-h
at this t"ime, L
Bro
Meeting in
ized frrst Methodes Prayer
Thair was a classes formed
a man of God' We had splen-
End.
HEATON-CAREY GENEALOGY.
12' 1837'
22, l75O
Ebenezer Heaton
- dieddiedJan.
- b. June
Jan. 4, L837.
b. May 2I,1761
Joanah (Sutton) Heaton
Children of above couple M' Cary, Feb' 11'
m.
Mary
1857,
18,
Mar.
Asa
d.
1.
1830, b. Apr. 31, 1904.
Children of Asa and MarY Heaton 1. Abe C. Heaton
- m. Lavina G. Byrkett Aug'
22,1860.
2. J.M. White Heaton, m. Sue B. Anderson on
May 31, 1865.
3. Waitsel M. Heaton - b. 1840, lived to be 95
yrs. old' M. Viola Scott."
Asa Heaton died in Knightstown in 1857. Mary remained a widow almost thirty years, until March 26, 1885, when she married Robert Woods (1806-1892), a prominent Knightstown resident whose first wife, Hannah Heaton, was Asa's sister. Mary died
in Knightstown in 1904. She and both husbands are buried in
the old section of Glen Cove Cemetery in Knightstown.
Waitsel M. Cary
Asa Heaton,
CIIT]RCIIES IN IIDNRY COUNTI BDFOR'E 1A8O
Most of us have the vague impression that our ancestors were
tery now is. The
original
haã come from Deep C
County, North Carolina.
S
not a priority. In the first ten years ofthe county's existence, only
twelvó churches were founded: six by Quakers, tlvo by the Methodists, and four by Baptists. It is likely that traveling ministers,
like Methodist ci¡cuit riders, oÍten held services in private homes,
but it is striking how slowly the formal organization of churches
came in most areas. For example, in 1830 Henry County had a
population of 6,498, meaning that there was about one church
Friends who
now Yadkin
as a Friends
ing. Friends at the present site of
together in 1824. They were offrcialmeeting in 1828. The first meeting-
house was erected
in
1828.
Lower Flat Rock Friends Meeting. This was the frrst religious
is now Franklin Township. There was a
It in 1827 on the west side of Flat Rock
of the current Richsquare Friends Meet-
ioi every 600 residents. Only two of the churches were in the
northern third of the county. What are now Fall Creek, Jeffer-
son, Harrison, and Stony Creek Townships were entirely without any kind ofreligious orgarrization. Greensboro, Spiceland, Liberty, and Franklin Tbwnships had only Friends meetings'
Quakers
Members of the Society of Friends were among the earliest set-
tlers ofHenry County, especially in the southern halfofthe county. Most came from North Carolina, although there were a few
from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and
many had lived in Ohio or in Wayne County, Indiana, before set-
the current one.
Duck Creek Friends Meeting. Friends living around the pres-
1834.
Duck Creek Friends Meeting (Hicksite). In 1827 and
1828
there was a bitter controversy that divided Quakers across the
United States, and Friends in Henry County were not immune.
The Hicksite Separation, as it was known, pitted Friends sympathetic to the Long Island Quaker minister Elias Hicks against
lïicks'critics, who were known as Orthodox Friends. The Orthodox were the majority in Henry County, but Hicks'supporters at Duck Creek in 1828 built a meetinghouse in what is now
the Hicksite Cémetery in Greensboro. There were also a few
Hicksite Friends at Hopewell, one of whom, William McKimmey, published in 1834 a pamphlet on the controversy that was
p.o-lálty the frrst book written by a resident of Henry County.
Baptists
Th"t" *u." at least four Baptist churches formed in Henry
County before 1830. With one exception, we know little of their
ent site of Greensboro also began meeting in 1823, and were
recognized as an organized Friends meeting by the parent body
at Milton in Wayne County that same year. Duck Creek Friends
achieved monthly meeting status, giving them the right to conduct their own business, in 1826. The original meetinghouse
was at the south edge of what is now Greensboro in what is
now Greensboro Cemetery, which was originally the meeting's
graveyard. The Duck Creek records, in the Friends Collection
at Earlham College, are the oldest of any religious group in
Henry County.
Flat Rock Friends Meeting. Quakers in what is now Liberty
and Blue River Tbwnships built a log meetinghouse in 1824 on
the west side of Flat Rock where the Flat Rock Friends Ceme-
ricks, Joseph G. Cooper, and Abijah Hammer were elected' On
and
Feb. 21, 1829, they received a one acre ofland from Jesse
erect
sh-all
that
"they
condition
õlftã"i"" Súortridge, on the
.u.r." io'be erected and built thereon a house or
;l-b;äJ";
for the use of the members of the Christian
;ñ;;i';;;thtp
'Ch;;.h of Simons Creek . . ' according to the rules and regube agreed upon and
ú;b* *t icn f"om time to time may of
¡v the ministers and membeis said church and in
"îåp1ã¿
and confrdence they-shall at all times forever
i""til¡""tt"st
bólonsing to said church to
Ë;ä;fË';;;iñ;"h ;inisters word
therein'" It seems very
holy
God's
expound
;;;;;h;"ã
Lisbon Chrisof
irl"ilìËåitrtË*^. ttt" foundátion thel'[ew
in 1830'
founded
been
have
to
claims
*tti.tt
il"""Cü*.ft,
as earlv as
existed
church
This
slt;n-iï.iÏäpii"t
- i8r6äã |to-¡.¡tv Church'
earlier, on the north edge of what is now
the Pioneer CemeK"Ëffiil; ãi tfi" site of what is called
Julv 15' 1¡?8'
ä;:H;ü-Countv Deed Book B shows that on
John
Parkhurst'
Jacob
to
conveyed
iÏá-". "åa Charity Estel
River Baptisl So;;;;; ;J J;.ãpn w^tt., "trusiees ofallue
por". or iand beside lot previouslv deeded
ilfTÑ;"t"
by Jeremiah Glover.
existence of this
s;;ti"t Church. The sole record of theMav
Lff;;
"'ir "H;".i'-cã.ttv
1, 1828'-wiloLã¿ sook A', q' 30-4-'.o-n
t"
George HedFrazier'
Eìi
t4
gr"ttt"ã
b"^-ta"v
il;;;JÉ."""rt
Congregation..'
''
Liberty
of
ñ-k, ;;ã ò"lvi.t no.t"ll, "tñrstees
ground" at
bury
a
of
purpose
sole
r*'tt
lanat
ioiof
;;;ãi;
"
Cãmetery in the southwestlfr. .lt" of *1rat is now the Messict
Thg late Clemma Hewit
Tbwnstrip'
River
Bto"
of
;;;;;;t
that this was a Bapremembered
ffiii" áiii¡ãrty Township
George and Mary
griat-grandparents'
tt"t
;i*úittt
;itî;h;.h
is known of it'
else
(Eller) Koons, *"r" *"åb"ttlNothittg
religious-organifrrst
the
was
This
Ch;ch.
tàË;;;;ñõitst
--;"ti";
county' and is the oldest sur-
was
viving Baptist church in Henry C-ounty'.Tþ congregation
on
Tbwnship
in
Prairie
Mellett
Jessé
of
house
the
årgã"-i*¿
is
ofwhat
site
the
"t
at
church
a
it
built
liãt io. 1828. In 1831,
titäi"-¡."ott C"tttót"ty. Nearly all of its members were mi""i
gt"rrl. fto- Monongalia Cïunty in what is now West Virginia'
iår"t"¿ ø the Melleit, Hickman,
Veach, Beavers, or Ice families'
Methodists
--n-"1*""ì
f800 and 1850, the Methodist Episcopal Chur-chbeProtestaít denomination in the United States'
tutgest
.uÃãitt"
numBy 1¡50, the-Methodists and F¡iends vied for the largest
more' but since
claimed
Friends
County'
in
Henry
¡Jtãi*É-¡"rs
children born to
il;;;;;i;"d birthrieht membership, counting
of an advantage over
something
them
thisþave
i"*ilies,
ô"fu'*
two
tilã rr,rãtrtãaitts, iho .olunt"d only adult members' There were
.ft"rches formally organized in Henry County before
irilt
1830. "ãi.t
Methodist Church' This church dates its foundÑ"w'Castte
^'i;;
Cas-
f";;
182¿,
*n""
the frrst Methodist residents of New
liËl.gutt to meet together for worship in private homes' They
*ãt" t". tUy organ"ized as a class by the Rev' James Havens'
John R'
VIãttto¿ist circuit-ridei, at the home of
December 1827. Their frrst church was erected in
with-shiniAá1 by Wp Harmon, a carpenter from Knightstown'
.rrá winåow sashes donated by Allen Shepgi"."
who was not a member'
herd,"äif.,gr"..,
church' This church began in the old
Krì;il"¿";
--tãî" ãf W"strvretn"¿i.i
was located on the Rush County
which
Liberty,
ii"" .""ttt of Knightsiown, in 1824' The RPv' Thomas Rice was
il. lt.i*i"i.t...-WnÀ" thä National Road was pr-o¡cte$.1orth
ii¡"rty and Knightstown was fou-nded' West Liberty
"îW".1
;;piúy fadud, and the cÉurch was moved to Knightstown'
à
l"fi-t""*"
CoiU"^ i"
i" th; northern part ofthe
TIID Ii-IIRST PIÌOBdID IRDCOIRDS IN IIDNIHY COUNTÍ
1822- 1830
en from HenrY eouniY Probabe
and Uncle
Anksy
-G;;Ë" B. Adams. Executors: Father Josephllobson Whitinger'
Frances
and
Julian
Rene
H"b.on. Witnesses:
the wills and
;J;;'b;;:bo"ã. t""o"¿ of proóeedings involving
complete informa'
;;å;. "f r;pl" *rt" died in the county' Morecan
be found in the
;; .o*", ¡ot not all of these maiters,
;ir"
;õ;"tpi"t"
transcrip-
P";bate Record," which includes a.verbatim
tio" oi all of the documents involved in settling
P. 1: WiI of Thomas Cox (See s
p.
iió.t. z, re2á, wiu ors
,"*" as executrix, with
an estate'
Charitv Smith
d Jesse Healey
as execuserve
to
refuses
as her securities. Thomas R. Stanford
[o
;;";;ñ D";ah,
5.
Hobson proved' Joseph Hobson
î.âicili.-2, ieái, wilr of Aaron as
execuLors, with James Johnsewe
to
ã"ã C*.gi H. ttob.o.t
son and õharles Jamison as their securities'
on the estate of Ewel
;. t'õ.;. 8, LS}Ztl,etters of Administration
íi*¿ã" gtä"ted to James Johnson, with George H' Hobson and
Jesse H. HeaIeY as his securities.
Toyls-hip, made Sept' 16'
;;:2--t, Will;¡"Tho*". Cox of Henrv wife-Marv'
NameÃ
probate).
for
below
iãzã i.""
9{4"Tt \^.1+ !"
¡;;lamily.'"Little sons William, Daniel, Elijah-' Abijah'
ñ;;lt
equa-lly in es;;J Ñllt" Cox." Däughters (not named) to shareCox'
Witnesses:
William
brother
and
;;i;. Exec"t"ts: wife úarv
M. Brown, Thomas Wiles.
of Henrv-Counlv.13de Slg'. ?8'
ff .7:ã: wiI of Aaron Hobson Land
on E lz 9f SE /¿ of Section
iõZC. tS"" above for probate).
ti, Tù""hþ iz No*it
curity for Anderson.
John Andgson
;. f ,-Ñ"t 19, 1823: Will of Reuben Ball proved bv
ã"4 S"".j"-í.Ball. Mary Ball, widow, eiecutor, with Joseph Watts
Lew'Påîî:i:J#ìiÏ:i
dY and Mesheck
elling their securiti
p.
loi Àpril 7,\824:
sent inventorY and
p.lo, Áp"il 7 , 7824'.
Hobson PretorY and sale
Range 10 East to be sold and the proceeds
àt""'"t his brotherJand sisters' Brother John S' Hobson
/r; the rest equallY divide
son, William Hobson, Evan B.
R. Hobson, Alan Wright Hobson
to have
t"#il':::
Alan Shepherd, and Philip Stanford appraise
the estate on Oct.
ãiriiããå
on, no date
inted; John
given).
i.
fZ' .l"ttu 29,1826: Elisha Shortridge and Susanna Nation prove
as Porter and William T. Templeton as securities.
will of Sampson Nation.
p. 12: July f'S, fAZ¡: Will of Nathaniel Leonard proved by Thomas Leonard.
pp. 12-13: Dec. 5, 1825: Will of Joseph Hobson proved by Samuel
Pickering and Mesheck Lewelling, who, with Jane Hobson, are
executors.
p. 13: April 3, 1826: Court issues a summons to James Johnston
to render an accounting ofthe estate ofEwel Harden. Report not
found in county.
p. 25: April 14, 1829: Will of Isaac Jones proved by Josiah Small.
'Witnesses: Nathan Small and George Evans.
p. 26: Nov. 2, L829: Nelly Dille granted Letters of Administration on Caleb Dille, died in 1829, with Hugh Blake as security.
p. 26: Nov. 2,1829 Joel Long and Ware Long granted Letters of
Administrãtion on Gabriel Long, died in 1829, with Elisha Long
as security.
p. 27: Nov. 2, 1829: Elisha Long appointed guardian of the minor
heirs of Gabriel Long, with Jesse Forkner and Joel Long
as
minor over the age of 14, chooses
lsaac Bedsaul as his guardian, with Thomas R. Stanford as
securities,
p. 27: Nov. 2, 1829: John Roswell appointed guardian of Zadock
security.
p. 14: April 3, 1826: Joseph Rich, Executor of William Cox, decd',
þresenti the accounts of William Cox as executor of Thomas Cox,
securities.
p. 13: April 3, 1826: John Ball,
a
decd.
p. 14:
April 3, 1826: Thomas Leonard presents inventory ofNathaniel Leonard.
orp. 14: April 3, 1826: Elisa Dorrah,
rah, decd., appointed gu.ardian of
rah, infant sons of John Dorrah,
oras
security.
p. 15: April 3, 1826: Elisha Shortridge presents inventory of SampÀon Naiion, including receipts from legatees Seth Nation, Peter
Crum and William Knutt.
p. 15: July 25, 1826 Wilt of Richard Ratliff proved bv 9f-[maiion of William McKimmey and Benjamin Dennis; William
McKimmey and Elizabeth Ratliff, executors.
p. 16: Oct. 2, L826: Summons issued to the Sheriffof Rush County for James Johnston. Report not served.
p. 17: April 2, L827: George H. Hobson and Asahel Woodward,
executors of Caleb Cummins, present accounts.
of Nathaniel Leonp. 17: Oct.
Hardin, Nathaniel
ärd, prese
ZaP}:'ana Leonard,
Leonãrd,
James Leonard.
p. 18: Oct. l,\827:Thomas Huston appointed guardian ofPeggy
Huston, minor heir of Samuel Huston, decd., with James Husten
as security.
p. 18: Oct. l,1827: Joseph Rich presents final settlement ofestate of Thomas Cox.
p. 18: Oct. I, 1827: Joseph Watts appointed guardian of Hiram
and Erven Halding, infant sons of Ewel Harden, decd in piace
of Ede Harding, resigned, with Thomas Powel as security.
p. 19: April 7 , 1827: Mary Cox allowed $41.94 for maintenance
of the minor children of Thomas Cox, decd.; Joseph Rich, executor, ordered to pay. Joseph Rich, as executor, presented the receipt ofEutha Cox, one ofthe daughters ofThomas Cox, now of
full age, for $25.0625 as her full share of her father's estate.
p. 19: Aug. 25, L828: Samuel Howard and Absolem Harvey
granted Letters of Administration on Rene Julian, died Aug' 9,
1828.
p. 20: Aug. 25,1828: Wyley Ballard granted Letters of Administration on Wyatt Ballard, died July 17, 1828.
pp. 20-21: Aug. 11, 1828: Will of James A¡cher proved by Elizabeth Archer, executor. Witnesses: Josiah Pennington and Nathan
Davis.
p. 21: Oct. 6, 1828: Benjamin Harvey, administrator of John Dorrah, presents accounts.
p. 22 Dec.8, 1828: Will of James Templeton proved by Alexander Templeton, John R. Templeton, and William Templeton. Wit:
John Elliott and Andrew Byrket.
p.22:Dec.8, 1828: Ezekiel Leavell and Moses Robertson present
accounts as administrators of Samuel Louthain.
p. 23: April 6, 1829: David Templeton granted Letters of Administration on Misander Templeton, died Jan. 16, 1829'
p. 24: April 6, 1829: Nancy G. Templeton appointed guardian of
Martha Tbmpleton and James Tbmpleton, heirs of Alexander Templeton, with Hugh Blake and Jacob Byrket as her securities.
on
p. 24: April
granted Let
March 2, 18
ed
aò
their securities.
p. 24: April 6, 1829: James C. Templeton granted Letters of Administration on Margaret Templeton, Dec. 28, 1828, with Thom-
Bennett, minor, with Moses Finch, Sr., and John Meek
as
p. 27: Nov. 2,7829: William Brown and William Galyon present
final settlement of estate of Isaiah Lane, decd. Estate insolvent.
p. 28: Nov. 3, 1829: Moses Finch appointed guardian of Walter
Finch, minor, with Jacob Thornburg and John Meek as securities.
Brazilla Webb, Riley Woodworth, and Abel Highby of Franklin
County to appraise land in Franklin County belonging to said
minor.
pp.28-29: Nov. 3, 1829: Accounts by Samuel Howard and Absolem Harvey, administrators of the estate of Rene Julian. Ordered
to sell Lot 8 in Block 3 in New Castle. Show payments to John
Harris, Newton Claypool, Thomas Ginn, Samuel Howard, and
John Powell.
p. 30: Jan. 4, 1830: Thomas Leonard, executor ofNathaniel Leonard, presents receipt of G.A. Waldo for $13 and a receipt of Ephraim Stratton "in full of all the effects willed to Lavina Leona¡d."
p. 30: Jan. 4, 1830: Will of Michael Snider proved by John Barner, Jesse Frame, and Mary Snider, Witnesses: Abraham Cory
and Samuel McMullen. Securities: William Frame and Prosper
Nicholas.
p. 30: Jan. 4, 1830: Hugh Mills appointed guardian of Rebecca,
James, Hiram, and Hester Pickering, minor heirs of Samuel Pickering, decd. Security: Jonas Pickering.
p.31: Jan.4, 1830: Moses Robertson files accounts on the estate
of Samuel Louthain.
p. 31: Jan. 4, 1830: Elihu Jones and Madison Jones granted Letters of Administration on Thomas Jones, died in 1829, with
George See as security.
p. 31: Jan. 4, 1830: Caleb Reece appointed guardian of William
Reece, an infant minor.
pp. 31-32: Jan. 4, 1830: William T. Templeton, executor of James
Templeton, presents accounts, including $500 paid to Andrew Byrket agreeable to the will; also legacies received by the administrator of John E., Peggy, and Alexander Templeton.
p. 32: Jan. 5, 1830: James C. Templeton appointed guardian of
William Jackson, minor under the age of 21.
p. 32: Jan. 5, 1830: George See granted Letters of Administration on Michael See, died 1n 7827.
pp, 32-33: Jan. 5, 1830: Moses Finch asks for extension of time
for sale of land belonging to Walter Finch.
p. 33:March 1, 1830: Will of Michael Snider, made Oct. 2L,1829.
(For probate see above). Wife Mary; son Henry under age; daughter Catherine Snider. Executors: wife Mary, John Barnes, Jesse
Frame. Witnesses: Abraham Whetstone, Abraham Cory, Samuel
(his mark) McMullen.
p. 34: March 1, 1830: Mesheck Lewelling and Jane Hobson, ex-
ecutors of Joseph Hobson, present accounts.
p. 34: March 1, 1830: John Anderson, executor of Daniel Jackson, presents accounts.
p. 34: March 1, 1830: William McKimmey and Benjamin Harvey,
administrators of John Dorrah, present accounts.
p. 35: March 1, 1830: Isaac Tluax appointed guardian of John
TÌuax, minor under 21.
p. 35: March 1, 1830: Settlement of the estate of Aaron Hobson,
Mesheck Lewelling and George H. Hobson, executors. Receipts
from Elizabeth Hobson, Mary Hobson, Evan B. Hobson, William
Hobson, and Allen and Arky Adams.
p. 35: March 1, 1830: William McKimmey, executor of Richard
Ratliff, presents receipts from Richard Ratliff, Nathan Ratliff, and
Elizabeth Ratliff.
p. 36: March 1, 1830: Rice Price, Guardian of Exelina Price, petitions for sale of land. Joseph Ratliff, Nathan Pearson and Dem-
Reece to appraise.
sey
-36:
p.
March 2,^1'830: Charles See appointed Guardian of Charles
änd John See, minor heirs of Michael See, decd., with John See
estate of Caleb Cummrns.
p.
ló' N"u. 2, 1830: Mary
Hobson petitions for division of land
being Jane
i". o"" of the heirs of Córnelius Hobson, the others Mari-a-Hob'
ff"¡*", Margaret Hobson, Jesse Hobson' and Sally Ilobson'
son; Corneliu]s acquired the land as an heir of Joseph
Thómas R. Stanfôrd, Asahel Woodward, and John Blunt appointed to divide land.
p. 38: March 2, 1830: Moses Finch, Guardian of Walter Finch,
petitions to sell land in Franklin County'
p. aO, ni." Price, Guardian of Exelina Price, heir of James Price,
sell land.
de
: Rody Keen proves the will of John Keen by
p.
Clift, one of the surviving witnesses. Letters
itt
to David Morris and John See accordingly
of
revoked.
nted Guardian of Hiram
in place of JosePh Watts'
ton aPPointed Guardian
cents on the dollar on debts.
p. 44: May 6, 1830: Henry Snider chooses Jesse Frame as
Guardian.
p. 45: Aug. 16, 1830: Matthew Rippey and David Rippey granted
Letters oiAd-inistration on estate of Joseph Rippey, died July
10, 1830.
p.45: Sept. 6, 183
administrators of
Caleb, Jr.'s widow.
Monroe Co., Ohio
Beard.
or ofthe estate of
from Abel Nation,
William R. Nutt,
age.
p. 46: Sept. 6, 1830: Boarter Burris appointed Guardian ofDeli-
ia and Cinderella Dille, infant heirs of Caleb Dille, decd', with
Jacob Burris, SecuritY.
p. 47: Sept. 2á, 1830: Elizabeth Archer, Executrix' Plov-es
äf
J"-".
t!¡ will
At.her by the oaths of Josiah Pennington, Nathan Davis,
and Elijah McCray.
p. 47: SËpt. 27 , L8302 Deborah Koontz and Nathan Riley granted
Letters of Ad-i.ti.t."tion on the estate ofJacob Koontz, died Sept'
11, 1830.
p. 48' Nou. 1, 1830: Caleb Dille vs. Boarter and Eleanor Burris;
case dismissed.
p. 48: Nov. 1, 1830: Wity Ballard, administrator of the estate of
Wyatt Ballard, presents accounts.
p. 49' No.r. f , fbâO: Asahel Woodward granted Letters of Administration on the estate of Micajah Webster, died in 1830, with
George H. Hobson as SecuritY'
p. 49fNov. 1, 1830: Elizabeth Archer, executrix ofJames Archer,
presents accounts.
p. aO' No.t 1, 1830: Weare Long, administrator of the estate of
Gabriel Long, presents accounts.
p. 49: Nov. fl'f^AgO: Josiah Small presents accounts on estate of
Isaac Jones.
p. 50: Nov. 2, 1830: George H. Hobson presents accounts on the
Asmentionedabove,theCompleteProbateRecordis'asthe
*gã".ts, much more complete' It includes complete tran"".""
.à"iot. oiät ofîn" documents involved in settling an es_tate. Not
ãii Jr irr" ã.t"tes mentioned above are included in the frrst com;i;;; ;;;".d, but it is a fascinating document' Especiallv in-ter-
ästing are tÍre inventories, which l19t all of the property lound
possession' These old documents srvg u!
and also shed
;;id*;ih;*'p"opl" liied in earlv Henrv Cou¡tv,
tft" uuirr" of goods and property in those days'
fiãúi
""
rs found in pages 1-4 of Complete P-robate
praisal of tùe possessions of Rene Julian'
y Clerk, who died, as noted above' August
it of miik sickness' Julian was a native of
Randolph County, North Carolina, born March 29,1790'-t-h9.son
ãif.ã".'""¿ saráú (long) Julian and a brother ofshubal Julian'
á"ãtft""ã"¡v settler of Éenry County' He was married in Wayne
death' she
C;;;ly, fvf"v fO, 1816, to Chártotte Èeurson' Afterhis The
County'
Marion
to
moved
and
Mill""
þye1;;;;i"å James
20, L828' and Julv
l;õ *Ã taken August26, t828-,!gP!"-b:I
g, ígzg, by Moses Wayman and William Shannon'
1.00
1 rifle gun shot pouch & 1 Bedstead
ii;Ã";;;.;Jperson's
-25
2 Barrels
.I2
4 1 Bench
.18
5.00 1 Rake
vols.
.18
Hering's Virginia Justice 2.62 1 Maul
.76
1.25 Plank
ClarkÈ Assistant
Josephus's Wars of the Jews Corn Cabbage & Potatoes1.76
l.l2 1 Third of Crosscut Saw 2'06
1.56
1 Looking- Glass Wafer box & 1 Axe
6.75
vial
'25 1 Cow
.25 1 Framed Building 25'00
1 Ink Bottle & Ink
1 Ink Stand
'12 Cupboard Ware & Bowl 'I2
'L2
Guthare's Geography .72 A Lot of Pot Metal
1.62 1 Candle stand & 6 chairs.12
Locke's EssayJ
.12
.30 Table legs & Barrel
Tid's Appendix
1q
1 Lot o? News Papers .I2 1 Bed & Bedding
2.LZ 1 Bed & Bedding
'18
1 Stove
1 Table
'77 1 Bedstead 1 chest 1 cupboard
.06
6.75
1 Cow
.37 1 Washing Tub & Wheel 'L2
1 Chair & Bench
1.12 Bucket 1 washing Board &
1 Table
Glass
'06
Plank
'4L Candle
- LookingStick & Hoe
'06
25 2 thousand lot of Bricks
1-18
lHat _
e.eõ-.oàã."
- ---:i8 Salary
40'00
as Clerk
1 Tfough & Sifte¡
powderhorn
$12.00
Blàckstone's Commentaries
Total assets $262.86; Debts $1053.39.
Julian apparently aspired to a career as a lawyer,-although
that he was ever admitted to the bar' Most
there is tro
"rrid".t."
he owned: BÌackstone's Commentaries on the
of the books
Laws of England, Tid's Appendix to the Virginia Code, Heringis Virginla Justice, an¿ ttre Clerk's-Assistant, were law
boãtu. Gií"tt the 50,000 bricks he had on hand, it appears that
he planned to build a dwelling or store or offrce'
Éages 9 and 10 ofthe same book contain the inventory ofthe
eshtã of John Dorrah. Dorrah, an Englishman by birth, died in
New Castle early in January 1825' He was a surveyor wåo helped
survey much of-central Indiana after it was purchased from the
Delaware and Miami Indians in 1818' He apparently was more
prosperous than his neighbor Rene Julian. His surveyor's gear
was his most valuable Possession:
1 red cow
1 white cow
1 Yoke of
Steers
1 Brindle Cow
1 Horse Bell
Narrow Axe &
1
Mattock
8.00 Dramatic Dialogues
7.00 HYmns & Psalms
20'00 English Reader
8.00 Epitome of Geography
.75
3 baskets
&
Table
1.50 Tbunk & Chest
Hatchet 2.50
1
'75
'50
'50
'18
1 bonnet box '50
3'00
2'00
.75 1 Iron Candlestick .12
.I2
.37 Sissors
.75
1.76 1 Stew Kettle & Lid
.37 1 Oven Lid & Hooks 1.12
.37 1 Set of Knives & Forks 1.50
.25 1 Watter Bucket & Pail .50
-62
.50 1 Churn
1 Snapple Bridle
1'50
5.00 4 chairs
1 Shot Gun & Horn
5'00
1 I¡t of Potatoes at.18 a bushel 1 Bed & Bedding
.50 The Best Bed & Bedding10.00
5 ducks
.40 Wearing APParel 15'00
2 Geese
.50
9.00 l\/a Au,ger
1 Man's Saddle
4.00 l box Containing Sundry Irons
1 Silver Watch
-75
1 Surveyor's Compass, Chain,
50.00 SoaP & SoaP Grease .50
& Spike
5'25
1 Box of Plotting Instruments Pork & Barrel
3'00
7.00 Salt & Barrel
.06
Shaving Instruments .62 1 Keg
.37
Blackstone's Commentaries 4 3 barrels
.31
7.00 1 Meal Bag
vols.
.25
1.50 1 LamP
Gibson's Survey
1'50
1.00 2 crocks & Lard
Ohio Justice
1.60
American Orator, and Essay on 1 Lot of Tallow
1 Hoe
1 Grind Stone
1 Eight Gallon Kettle
1 Washing Thb
1 Bucket
1 Bucket
4
vials
.25 1 pr saddle bags
3.00 1 Book
.12 29 apple trees
l-75
'25
1.00
on are interesting in several respects' They
several law books, a book on surofbooks
-
veying, school books like Lindley Murray's English Grammar
and English Reader, Alexander Pope's long poetical Essay on
Man, añd what must have been an early antislavery tract. A1esting that appqrthough Dorrah owned
reminder that the
ently neither he nor J
the wampum belt.
Indians were not long
Dorrah must also have had one ofthe first orchards in the county.
Dorrah's effects were sold at auction on July 17,1826. The purchasers were the following: Eliza Dorrah, Nathan Powel, Charles
Jamison, David Bowers, Matthew Williams, William McKimmey,
Thomas Ginn, Asahel Woodward, John Harris, Absolem Harvey,
John Lank, James Gilmore, Moses Ellis, Joshua Wiìburn, Joseph
,Ratliff, Meshack Lewelling, Ezekiel Leavell, William Shannon,
Benjamin Harvey, and Anthony Boggs.
The frrst complete probate record contains numerous other inventories, most not that much different from those of Julian and
Dorrah, save that they owned more books than their neighbors.
Here follows a list of people who are recorded as dying in 1830
or before, with a list of the buyers at their sales, if the sale is
included.
McMullen, Samuel Ryneheart, Daniel Ulrich, Jacob Heaston,
Richard Wiìson, Daniel Wagner, WiÌliam Frame, Benjamin Hardman, Aaron Mendenhall, Michael Conway, Joseph Corey, Jesse
Frame, Peter Wimmer, Zimri Reynolds, William Shafer, Danielt
McMullin, Ashbury Woods, Abraham Smith, John Barner, Ulrich
Kessler, Samuel Eiler, Benjamin Beeson, George CofIle, Abraham
Whetstone, John Ulrich, Israel Hardman, Jacob Heuston, Joel
Long, Richard Haynes, Isaac Stout, Nathaniel Lewis, Abel Adamson, Joh¡ Lindley, Simeon Kessler, Ezekiah Beeson, Isaac Brown,
Jesse Forkner, Charles Conway, Grant Maine, and Christian
Holler.
pp. 26-30. Alexander Templeton, died January 16, 1829. Temple'
ton was apparently a storekeeper in Knightstown, Raysville, or
West Liberty. His goods included 59 different books, some in multiple copies, as well as a number of "store goods." Purchasers at
his sale included: Ebenezer Goble, David Templeton, Thos. Por-
ter, Samuel Forgison, Samuel Hudleston, Nelson Ball, Isaac
P.
Allee, James C. Templeton, Orr Scovell, Eliza Tbmpleton, William
T. Tbmpleton, William Stansbury RobertThompson, Thomas Hasket, Jno. Elliott, Samuel Grigsby, Nancy J. Templeton, and Jones
Curry.
pp. 31-33. Micajah Webster, died in 1830, Letters of Administration granted November 1, 1830, to Asahel Woodward. Webster
apparently lived in the vicinity of New Castle. Purchasers at his
sale on Nov. 22, 1830, were: Westley Goodwin, Evan B. Hobson,
Edward S. Bray, William Hobson, Richard Cummins, Lucien
Finch, John Hudson, John Cummins, Richard Shelley, Anthony
Boggs, William Silver, Thomas Ginn, John Elliott, Jacob Thorn-
burg, Eli Smithey, and James Boggs.
pp. 36-37. Margaret Templeton, apparently lived in the vicinity
of Knightstown, died December 28, 1828. All of her small property was sold to William L. Templeton, Eliza Templeton, and
James C. Templeton.
pp. 53-54. Joseph Rippey, died July 9, 1830. Rippey apparently
lived in what is now Franklin Township. Letters of Administration on his estate were granted August 16, 1830, to Matthew and
David Rippey. Buyers at the sale on September 17, 1830 included:
John Vickery, John C. Hudleson, Francis Jefferies, A.M. Britton,
Matthew Rippey, Robert J. Hudleson, Elizabeth Rippey, Cordial
Dimmick, John H. Hudleson, David Rippey, Samuel Huddleson,
William White, James Fletcher, Elijah Long, James Jeffries,
Thomas Asher, Joseph Kellum, Robert Fletcher, James Ellison,
James Keeling, William McCon, Nathaniel Leonard, Timothy
Brown, Charles See, Curtis Hall, Benjamin Ball, Gabriel Leonard, John See, Elihu Jones, Gabriel Kisand, William Bundy, Robert Smith, William Gosson, Garnet Hayden, Thomas Powell, Martin Vickery, John Custer, Thomas Asher, Robert Mitchell, George
Eastridge, and George Chorn.
p. 58: John E. Tbmpleton, died March 2,1829. Like the other Templetons, he apparently lived near what is now Knightstown. Letters of Administration were issued April 6, 1830, to David and
James C. Templeton. Purchasers at his sale on May 28, 1829, included: David Templeton, William T. Templeton, Orr Scofreld,
John Pickeron, Brice Dille, William Stansbury, Samuel Goble, Jacob Byrket, Thomas Porter, John Anderson, John Hatton, Stephen
Gregg, James Tbmpleton, Thomas Powell, Jacob Parkhurst, John
Elliott, Montgomery McCall, and Joseph Tlgret.
pp. 62-63. Jacob Koontz, died Sept. 12, 1830. Koontz was the
founder of Middletown. Letters of administration of his estate
were issued September 27 , 1830, to his widow Deborah Koontz
and Nathan Riley. Buyers at his sale on October 29, 1830, included: James M. Vanmeter, Samuel Fleming, John Hill, Joseph
Fleming, John Jones, William Windsor, John Hatflreld, Thomas
Watkins, Abner Vanmeter, John Cummins, Deborah Coonts,
James Windsor, Chauncey Burr, Richard P. Parris, Thomas
McCullock, Joseph Flemming, Michael Thomas, David Painter,
David Vanmeter, Thomas Windsor, Joseph Chapman, David
Shawhan, David Hatñeld, John Roswell, and William Jones. The
following were listed as indebted to Koontz: William Stewart, Long
Hatfreld, Samuel Johnston, Abiram Thomas, Thomas Gardner,
Joseph Robbins, Elial Barker, Thomas McCullock, John Hatfield,
Nathan Riley, Samuel McCullock, John Curry, Stephen March,
Joseph Nickles, and Samuel Layton.
p. ?4: James Hooten, died in 1829. Hooten lived in Blue River
Township and is buried with his wife, Nancy (Downing) Hooten,
in the Bales Cemetery. Letters of Administration were granted
January 4, 1830, to Aaron Marshall and Tence Massey. No sale
bill is included.
p. 79: Joseph Hobson, will proved December 3, 1825. Hobson was
one of the first settlers on the present site of New Castle. His farm
included most ofthe area south ofBroad Street and west ofBundy
Avenue down to Blue River. Buyers at his sale in 1825 included:
Thomas Ginn, Evan Hobson, Jane Hobson, Samuel Pickering,
John Harass, Rice Price, Charles Finch, William L. Buck, John
Hobson, Amos Heston, Jacob Wood, John Blunt, and Demsey
Reece.
p. 82: Caleb Cummins, estate inventory filed January 26, 1824,
but no sale bill included.
IIID
TIR.ST WII.,L IN IIENRY COUNTT:
TIIOMITS COX ÄND IIIS DAIIIII:T
The first will recorded in Henry County was that of Thomas
L822' It was admitted to proCox. He wrote it on Septembet
-septembe17,
L822' It is- recorded on page
r
22,
on
bate ñve days later,
1 of the ¡rst wilt book iñ the Henry County Courthouse:
lThe LastWill and Tbstament of Thomas Cox, decd', was proved
wn and Thomas Wiles and the writdered to be recorded and William Cox
in the said Last Will and Testament
The Old Bull
The Old Black
11.00
4'75
One Crosscut Saw
2'00
One Foot Adds
One Pair of Saddle Bags 2'00
Cow 6.00
Calf 7'00
8.00
Cow
6.00
eer
of the Sales of the Pe
a Vendue Held at th
One Red Cow and
3'50"
mas Cox
d on 4th
sand Dollars Conditioned as the Law Directs and thereupon Letto the said William Cox'
ters Testamentary were gr
-
Reñe
"Know all men by these
f the Probate Court,
of SePtember L822."
, Thomas Cox of the
State of Indiana Henry County, Henry Tbwnshipùeing of sound
mind and disposing memory bul in a weak state of health do make
and ordain tiris my last wlll and testament in order to dispose
of in the following manner: (to it): First, I wish all my debts- to
be paid out ofprõperty; Second, I give and bequeath to my bem"åJ lvif" Mary iox, i'hotte beasi her choice of my stock-and
three cows andcalves and of all and singular of my household
and kitchen furniture during life or as long as she remain my
*iJo* and at the expiration of that time to be sold and equally
divided amongst my-beloved children and if she should marry to
h"u" un eqoaÏ shaie with them. Also I wish land to be bought
with what money there is on hand of mine and farther wish my
wife to have her maintenance on it and to ¡aise my children to
her life and widowhood and no longer, and a reasonable portion
of my farming utensils at the discretion of my executo-r-s'-.
a.i give anä bequeath unto my little sons (namely) William,
lanief Eli¡jah, Abijah, and Dillon all of the land that can be
bought with wúat money there is on hand at the discretion of my
executors.
4th. I give and bequeath unto my daughters their equal part
of the baiance of the proceeds of my property that is shared
with
the boys, that is every one to have an equal-share ofwhat is not
,ttrn"ã and willed away. And I further wish my property to be
disposed ofto the best âdvantage for-the benefrt ofmy children
at thu discretion of my executori. And lastly I do appoint tty b"loved brother William Cox and my beloved wife Mary Cox Executors to this my last will and testament to do and to act for me
and my heirs. In testimony thereof I have hereunto set my hand
and seäl this 17th day of September in the year of Our Lord One
Thousand Eight Hundred and TWenty-TWo.
Signed in the presence of us.
Thomas Cox
M. Brown
Thomas wiles
books nor the complete probate recdes a copy of Thomas's inventory or
o
wever, is a very old volume entitled
s
"A Record of Sales and Inventories" that was found in the attic
of the courthouse in 1942' It contains both items:
"An inventory of the Goods and Chattels of Thomas Cox Deceased
Late of Henry County Taken by us Philip Stanford and George
Coons and John Marshall.
6'00
One Gray Horse
'50 One Red Cow
3'00
Heiffer
Red
One
1.12
Three Aúgers
2'00
10.00 One Yearlen Steer
One Sadle
4'00
45.00 One Blue Heifer
One Colt
1'00
40.00 One Sled
One OId Mare
of
Head
Fourteen
One Grind Stone
'50
19'25
SheeP
One Barrel Three T\rbs
3'37
1.00 One Calf
One Granary
10'00
One Loom
One Waggon and
7'00
35'00 One Rifle Gun
Hand Gears
One Smooth Board Gun 1'50
One Yoke of Steers
32.50 One Halter Chain
'37
and Their Yoke
39'Lz
TheYoungYoke of SteerslS'00 One Lot of Hogs
Thomas R. Stanfo¡d Clerk"'
for the amount of Seven Dollars and TWentyfrve cents'
Civen under my hand this the 22ndDay of February 1823
ried Mary Dollarhide, of whom we know little more than the
name. A biography of her son Elijah that appeared in an 1886
Grant County history says that they had eight children.
By 1811, Thomas and Mary (Dollarhide) Cox had moved to
Wayne County, Indiana. On September 12,1821, Thomas entered
160 acres in what is now Liberty Township. The land was located
on Flat Rock on what is now the south side of the Brown Road.
On May 9,l822,he bought an adjoining 80 acre tract. Both times
he gave his residence as Wayne County, suggesting that he had
not yet settled on the land. At the time that Cox made his will,
what is now Liberty Township was still part of Henry Township.
His burial place is also unknown. The Flat Rock Friends Cemetery was at the north edge of his land, but there is nothing to
indicate that it was in use that early. The frrst marked burial in
Batson Cemetery, a mile south of Cox's farm, dates from 1822,
so it is possible that he is buried there in an unmarked grave.
Cox's will is typical to those of many early settlers. He has con-
fidence in his wife Mary
- he wants her to keep the family together. He worries, however, that if she should remarry that her
new husband would take control ofany property she owned, perhaps to the detriment of his own children, so he stipulates that
if she does marry again, then the children are to receive their
inheritance then. The sons are to receive greater inheritances
than their sisters, obviously assuming the daughters will marry
men with their own land.
it appears that Mary Cox did not long remain in Henry County after Thomas's death. The land in Liberty Township was sold
in 1826. Mary took her family back to Wayne County, where her
three oldest sons married. The late Willard Heiss of IndianapoIis, who did extensive research on the Cox family, once stated that
she died in Hancock County, Indiana; the date is unknown.
Thomas and Mary (Dollarhide) Cox had eight children, seven
of whom have been identified:
1. William Cox, born in Randolph Co., N.C., Jan. 8, 1809, died
Co., Ind., Oct.26,1876. He was married in Wayne Co.,
Ind., Nov. 24, 1831, to Evaline Russell.
2. Eutha Cox, born in Randotph Co., N.C., in 1809, was living
in 1827. Nothing else known.
3. Daniel Cox, born in Wayne Co., Ind., about 1811, was living
in Vernon Township, Hancock County, in 1850. He is not on the
1860 census there. He was married Nov. 2, 1831, in Wayne Co.,
Ind., to Sarah Roberts.
4. Elijah Cox, born in Wayne Co., Ind., May 24, 1812, died in
Grant Co., Ind., in 1900. He was maried June 14, 1832, in Wayne
Co., Ind., to Nancy Chance.
5. Mary Cox, born in Wayne Co., Ind., probably about 1814, was
in Grant
Martha Lawson Ray (1779-1866), the wife of Thomas Ray,
was almost certainly present at the sale of Thomas Cox's
estate
married there June 18, 1829, to Barton Swearingen. In 1850 they
were living in LaPorte County, Indiana.
6. Abijah Cox, born in Wayne Co., Ind., about 1817, was living
in Jackson Tbwnship, Howard Co., Ind., in 1850. He was not there
in 1860. He may have been the Abijah Cox married in Grant Co.,
Ind., July 8, 1841, to Nancy Long. If so, she died without children before he was married in Miami Co., Ind., Dec. 2, 1'847, to
Mary E. Bright, who is with him in the 1850 census. One account
says that he died in Grant County.
7. Dillon Cox, born in Wayne Co., Ind., about 1820 or 1821, was
living in Delaware Township, Hamilton Co., Ind., in 1850. He was
not there in 1860. He was married in rWayne Co., Ind., Jan. 6,
1842, to Rebecca Bakehorn.
There was one other daughter whose name is not known. She
may have married William Anderson
- in August 1837 one William Anderson received a legacy due him as one of the heirs of
Thomas Cox, and there is no explanation other than his being
the husband of one of the daughters.
..RECORD OF IVIARITS ÄND ESTRÄIS, IE88-1E84"
This book, now in the Museum colìection, reflects one of the
facts of life in early Henry County. As was the uniform practice
on the frontier, few settlers kept their livestock, especially cattle
and hogs, penned up. Instead, they allowed them to roam wild
in the woods, fattening on the mast and nuts that were abundant. Every settler was supposed to mark his livestock in some
way, so that it could be distinguished from that ofhis neighbors.
Careful settlers registered these marks at the courthouse, so, that
if any question should ever arise about ownership, it could be
proved. It seems likely that most residents ignored this precaution, since the list of names recorded here constitutes a minority
of settlers before 1834.
This record was originally in the Henry County Courthouse
and was transferrerl to the Museum about 1942. A typical entry
reads like this: "Wayne Township: Jacob EIIiott marks his hogs
cattle etc with a smooth cross off of the right ear." The township
listings were probably added later in the margin, at least for some
of the earlier entries. For example, there are entries for Stony
Creek Township residents dated 1823 and 1825, but Stony Creek
Tbwnship was not created by the county commissioners until 1828,
and Joseph Hobson is noted as "dead," which he certainly was
not when he recorded the mark. In the following list, we have
omitted the description of the marks themselves, but they can
be found in the original book. Included here is the name of the
settler, his residence by township when given, and the date the
mark was entered. This proves that a person was living in Henry
County by that date.
Isaac Wimmer
Dempsey Rees
Jacob Elliott, Wayne, Ja¡. 22, 1823
3, 1823
1823
Jan. 23, 1823
,
1823
Andrew Blunt, Stony Creek, June t2, \826
Thomas Hobson, Liberty, June 30, 1826
23
lalÊ'n
James Johnston, Esqr., Gone, no date
Thomas Ralston, Liberty, April 11' 1823
Reuben Edgington, Wayne, April 11' 1823
Witliam Bell, Franklin, MaY 19' 1823
Jesse H. Healey, Prairie, MaY 19, 1823
Nathan Pearson, Henry, Oct. 1823
Jonas Pickering, HenrY, Dec. 18, 1823
Isaiah Hozer, Franklin, Dec. 18, 1823
Thomas Porter, WaYne, Feb. 18' 1824
Mesheck Lewelling, Henry, April 9' 1824
Absalom Harvey, Prairie, Lpnl 27, L824
Ezekiel Leavell, Liberty, Feb. 1, 1825
Stephen Elliott, HenrY, Jan. 27, 1826
Abram Elliott, HenrY, Jan. 27, L825
Minor Fox, Gone, Jan' 28' L825
Moses Allis, Henry, Feb. 9' 1825
Solomon Brown, Liberty, Feb. 19' 1825
Robert Thompson, Dudley, Feb. 19' 1825
John Odum, LibertY, Feb. 19' 1825
John Smith, LibertY, Jan' 18, 1825
Levi Cropper, Stony Creek, Jan. 28, 1825
Moses Brown, LibertY, March 7, L825
John Koons, Stony Creek, March 8, 1825
David Morris, Franklin, April 13' 1825
William Morris, Franklin, April 13' 1825
Andrew Gallespa, Gone, April 30' 1825
Stephen Batson,
Libert¡ May 19, 18?-5^-
Parnell Bails, Stony Creek, June 6, 1825
James Harvey, Prairie, MaY L7, 1825
John Harris, Prairie, June 17, 1825
Wiltiam Brown, Stony Creek, June 18, 1825
William Cannaday, Stony Creek, July 19, 1825
Thomas Wiles, LibertY, Oct. 6, t824
23, 1824
John Procter, Wayne,
John D. Johnston, Stony Creek, Nov. 27, 1824
Benjamin Harvey, Prairie, Nov. 27, 1824
Abram Wilcox, Gone, Dec. 18, 1824
(Hess?), William, Gone, Dec' L8, 1824
Alexander McDowel, Gone, Dec. 78, L824
William Brown, DudleY, Jan. 3,
Jesse Forkner, Liberty, March 2L, t826
Isaac Wimmer, Liberty, MaY 6' 1826
William Wimmer, Liberty, MaY 6, 1826
George Hobson, Liberty, MaY 9, 1826
James Forkner, Liberty, Jan. 7, 1826
1825
Moses Finch, HenrY, Jan. 15, 1825
Thomas Hueston, Stony Creek, Jar' 22, 1825
William Shannon, HenrY, Ja¡.25, 1825
Joshua Hardman, Liberty, Jan' 25,7825
John Richey, HenrY, SePt. 23, 1825
James Ellison, Franklin, Oct. 3' 1825
Jesse Munden, Gone, Oct. 3, 1825
Achilles Morris, Franklin, Nov. 7, 1825
Michael See, Dead, Nov. 21, 1825
John Hedrick, Franklin, Nov. 25, 1825
John Paxton, DudleY, Nov.29, 1825
Nathan Ratliff, DudleY, Nov. 29, 1825
James Fletcher, Franklin, Dec. 19, 1825
Joseph Fort, Wayne, Dec' 31, 1825
Jamãs Massey, Stony Creek, Dec. 31, 1825
Benjamin Fort, WaYne, Dec. 31, 1826 Gabiiel Cosand, Franklin, Jan. 9' 1826
Charles See, Franklin, Jan. L2, t826
, Jan' L2,1826
26
John Smith, Prairie, Jan' 21, 1826
Matthew Wilson, Stony Creek, Jan. 21, 1826
Samuel McMullin, Liberty, Feb' 3, 1826
Miles Murphey, Stony Creek, Feb. 6, 1826
William Chamness, Liberty, Aug.24, L826
John Chamness, Aug. 24, 1826
John Simons, Henry, Nov. 6, 1826
Anthony Boggs, Henry, Nov. 14, 1826
Edmund Listen, Wayne, no date
Stephen Batson, Liberty, no date
Wiìliam Wyatt, Gone, no date
John G. Wall, Henry, MaY 16, 1827
Moses Wayman, Prairie, MaY 26,7827
William Baker, Liberty, May 26, L827
Jesse Osborn, Henry, June 11, 1827
David rvVarran, Stony Creek, Oct. 6, 1827
James Boggs, Henry, Oct. 19, 1827
William McDowel, Henry, Oct. 30, 1827
William Frame, Stony Creek, Nov' 3, 1827
Jacob Huston, Stony Creek, Nov. 19' 1827
Shubal Julian, Prairie, Dec. 17, 1827
William D. Harden, Dudley Jan.2l, 1828
Bohan Julian, Gone, Jan. 27, L828
Jesse Dollarhide, Gone, Feb. 2, 1828
Philo Russell, Gone, no date
Isaac Needham, Henry, MaY 7, 1828
Abraham Cory, Stony Creek, MaY 8, 1828
John Elliott, Henry, Nov. 20, 1828
Caleb Cope, Dudley, Nov. 20, 1828
Jehu T. Elliott, Henry, Dec. 11, 1828
Abraham Elliott, Jr., Henry, Dec. 11, 1828
Zimri Elliott, Henry, Dec. 11, 1828
John Hopkins, LibertY, Jan. 1, 1828
Barkley Benbow, Prairie, MaY 2O, 1829
Demcy Reese, Henry, MaY 25, 1829
Alexander Stewart, Aug. 10, 1829 (marked out)
Thomas Holaday, Liberty, June 30, 1829
Thomas Hodson, Stony Creek, July 13, 1829
July 13, 1829
Samuel D. Wells, Liberty, July 20' 1829
Alexander Stewart, Henry, Aug. 17, 1829
Wesley Goodwin, HenrY, SePt. 5, 1829
Abijah Hammer, DudleY, Oct. 14, 1829
Nimrod McHone, Franklin, Oct.29, L829
James Wilson, Stony Creek, Feb. 16, 1830
John Mingle, Stony Creek, Feb' 17' 1830
Isaac Allee, Wayne, March 16, 1830
John Powell, Henry, March 29, 1830
James Marsh, Fall Creek, MaY 22, 1830
Enos C. Hunter, Gone, MaY 22, 1830
David Burket, Wayne, Aug. 6, 1830
Christopher Mane, Liberty, May 22, 1830
Jacob Tharp, LibertY, MaY 22, 1830
Solomon Hodson, Stony Creek,
Micajah Forkner, Liberty, Aug. 7, 1830
Andrew Byrket, WaYne, Aug. 7, 1830
Alfred Brittain, WaYne, Aug' 7' 1830
Elijah Summers, HenrY, Oct. 20, 1830
Rodderick Craig, HenrY, Oct' 4, 1830
John Craig, Henry, Nov. 26, 1830
Benjamin I. Cady, Nov. 22, 1830
Burgess Munden, HenrY, Nov' 17, 1830
Joseph Sanders, HenrY, Jan. 1, 1831
John Elliott, Henry, Dec. 2, 1830
John Pressnall, Jan. 11, 1831
Daniel Pressnall (son of John), Henry, Jan. 11, 1831
Jacob Pickering, HenrY, Jan. 15, 1831
Alexander Stewart, Henry, April 6' 1831
Nathan Pearson, HenrY, APril 6' 1831
Elijah Munden, Henry, MaY 2, 1831
John Mullen, HenrY, JulY 15, 1831
Jesse Marshall, HenrY, JulY 30' 1831
John Lewis, Henry, JulY 30, 1831
lhomas Newby, Henry, Aug. 1, 1831
Alexander Gordon, Henry, Aug. 31, 1831
Alexander Stewart, Henry, Nov. 28, 1831
William Modlin, Henry, Dec. 7, 1831
William C. Parker, Henry, March 17, L832
Thomas Modlin, Henry, April 2, 1832
Jacob Burket, Wayne, Dec. 23, 1830
Matthew McKinney, Wayne, July 1, 1831
Cornelius Williamson, Wayne, Oct. 6, 1831
William Reynolds, Wayne, Oct. 6, 1831
Samuel Forgason, Nov. 28, 1831
David Byrket, Wayne, Dec. 2, 1831
Ephraim Green, Wayne, Oct. 3, 1833
Ezekiel T. Hickman, Wayne, April 21, 1834
Josiah Clawson, Wayne, Sept. 29, 1835
John Carmicle, Wayne, Nov. 28, 1835
Brice Dille, Wayne, Nov. 28, 1835
rWilliam Tïail, Wayne, March 23, 1836
William Goble, May 2,
1836
Enoch Dent, Esqr., Prairie, Dec. 25, 1830
Andrew Collins, Prairie, Jan. 1, 1831
Thomas Leonard, Esqr., Prairie (marked out)
Van B. Swearingen, Prairie, Jan. 3, 1831
Hannah Lyons, Prairie, Jan. 19, 1831
Charles Speaks, Prairie, May 5, 1831
Lemuel Evans, Prairie, Jan.21, 1832
Henry B. Wise, Prairie, April 2, 1832
John H. Polsleji Prairie, Nov. 30, 1832
Alexander Bunner, Prairie, April 13, 1833
John Morrical, Prairie, April 17, 1833
John Hill, Prairie, May 11, 1833
Murdoch H. Vance, Prairie, May 11, 1833
Joshua Hickman, Prairie, March 4, 1834
John James, Prairie, Aug. 4, 1834
James Masterson, Prairie, Aug. 4, 1834
Jesse Ice, Prairie, Sept. 13, 1834
Thomas Leonard, Esqr., Dudley, Jan. 1, 1831
Habakkuk Rumbley, Dudley, Feb. 10, 1831
Jacob Swafford, Dudley, April 17, 1833
Samuel Marshall, Stony Creek, Jan. 3, 1831
Samuel Bechtlehymer, Stony Creek, Aug. 16, 1831
Hosea Sisk, Stony Creek, June 24, 1833
Elisha Ogle, Stony Creek, Sept. 28, 1833
William Downing, Stony Creek, Sept. 28, 1833
Jacob Good, Stony Creek, Feb. 28, 1834
Gasper Koontz, Stony Creek, March 6, 1834
Peter Current, Stony Creek, May 3, 1834
Joseph C. Rogers, Stony Creek, May 3, 1834
George Hobson, Stony Creek, Oct. 1, 1835
Isaac Hobson, Stony Creek, Oct. 1, 1835
Abraham Lennington, Stony Creek, March 7, 1835
John Mingle, Stony Creek, May 13, 1836
Samuel May, Greensboro, Oct. 6, 1831
Nelson Burges, Greensboro, June 11, 1833
Evan James, Greensboro, June 28, 1833
Timothy Holstead, Liberty, March 22, L83l
John Barner, Liberty, Nov. 22, 1831
Jesse Frame, Liberty, Nov. 22, 1831
Thomas Runyan, Liberty, Aug. 11, 1832
George Runyan, Liberty, Sept. 11, 1832
Lewis Odom, Liberty, June 29, 1833
John McDowell, Henry, June 20, 1832
Needham Rogers, Henry, Dec. 10, 1832
Taber McKee, Fall Creek, April 6, 1831
Solomon Bills, Fall Creek, Oct.2, 1832
Isaac Hicks, Fall Creek, Jan. 24, 1833
Jesse Clark, Fall Creek, Feb. 11, 1833
Isaac Adamson, Fall Creek, April 17, 1834
Moses Wilhite, Fall Creek, Oct. 27, 1834
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"BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS" I9O2
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"HENRY COUNTY HISTORY 1884' (INTERSTATE) ..............
..........$10.00
COUNTY 1821-187r PAST AND PRESENT" (Pleas)
"HENRY
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"HISTORY OF LIBERTY TO\ryNSHIP'' ............
"ISAAC AND MARY (PRESNALL) RATCLIFF riË¡niv ööüNti ÀND rHErR DE
'THE ANTISI,AVERY MOVEMENT IN HENRY COUIYIY' REVISED EDITION WITH INDEX .......$ O.ZS
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HENRY COLINTY CEMETERIES: AN INVENTORY .............
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$ 4.50
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THE HENRY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (BI.MONTHLY) HISTORICALOG
1990 through CLIRRENT ...........
1973
through
1989
TIID I|iIIRST QUÄITEIR WEDDING IN HDNIRY COUNTY:
BDNaIAIIIN WiínrrS AND WINDFOIID COPDI.AND' lEgA
Many of the first settlers of Henry County were Quak.oriing from North Carolina, Virginia, and Ohio' One
"r",
ãflf," p".rili.titi"s of the Friends was their way of marriage. Éy state law, Quakers were exempt from the requireobtain a civil marriage license' Instead, Quaker
-J"t to married
themselves in their own meetings withcãoples
lege
in Richmond:
him aloveing
inWeeks and
husband) did
Beniamin Weeks
Winefotd Weeks
solemnization of the said marwe whose names are also hereunto subscribed being present at the
øtne"ii" thereto set our hands the day and year above written:
Ãage have
^"
John CoPeland
Phebe Pickering
James Hiatt
Joseph Pickett
Susannah Copeland
Abigail Pickering
William Weeks
Jesse M. Wood
EIi Stufford
Olive EIIiott
Phebe Wood
Jacob Wood
And
ifred is buried.
in "Eleventh Month."
ITUSDI]M RDPORT
r9Ð5 IITEIIORIAIôS
Memorial gifts contribute a major source of revenue that
enables the Henry County Historical Society to purchase
and maintain artifacts as well as continue the process of
refurbishing and restoring the museum. The Society wishes to thank the following donors for their generous contributions that make these projects possible:
Donor:
In Memory Of:
Mildred S. Cox
Mrs. Mildred Smith
Arthur B. Burnett
Josephine Evelyn Burnett
William &
Edith Luellen Hernly Mrs. Estel Hernly
William J. Taylor, Jr.
James & Anna Walker Barnard and
Ralph & Mary Carter Shaw
Carroll H. Copeland Crystal H. Copeland
Mrs. DeWeese T. Wiatt Dwight S, Beckner
Lou & Elinor Briggs Martha Harvey
Bechtelheimer The "Stony Creek" Bechtelheimers
Dr. Patricia Boehne Elisha & Mattie Y. McFarland
Elmer Harvey
Jane Stout Fribley
Stella Colvin Stout (Mrs. S.E,)
Robert W. Starbuck Hobart B. Starbuck
Pauline Catt Starbuck
Charles
James W.
Johnson
Wendell C. Starbuck
Rickey J. Johnson
The member list of the Henry County Historical Society continues to grow and now numbers close to 700. To
avoid the extra expense of postage, membership renewals
are not mailed separately. Instead, your membership renewal date is indicated on your mailing label. Please check
it and send in your dues at the appropriate time (still only
$6.00 per yeaa $12.00 for family). If you have a red star
by the date, you are past due and your prompt payrnent
would be appreciated. In the past, the Society has been lenient and still sent HISTORICALOG to past due members.
Regrettably, this practice cannot continue due to increased
costs so please send your dues on time. Ifthere is a problem with your membership, please let us know so we can
rectify the situation. The Henry County Historical Society
appreciates your support and hopes you enjoy your issues
of the HISTORICALOG as well as the museum programs
throughout the year.
VOLUNIDDRS
Many people contribute their time and resources to enable the Society and museum to function. This past year,
volunteers have helped sew padded hangers to properly display and store the museum's clothing collection. They have
also acted as hosts and hostesses at the lawn social Christmas tea and meetings. While the entire list is too numerous for this space, many thanks are given to everyone who
has helped this past year. A big thanks to Elinor Briggs,
a quilt expert, who has been invaluble in cleaning the museum's quilt collection and a hearty welcome to Cathy
McMasters who will be assisting the staff on some Saturdays. Many volunteer opportunities remain at the museum. They include assisting in the offrce, computer entering, artifact inventory, gardening, painting and tours. If
any of these fields appeal to you, please contact the muse-
um at 529-4028. We are happy to work within your schedule and are grateful for whatever time you have to give.
DONAilONS
The Henry County Historical Society would like to thank
all those who donated items for the museum collection over
the past year. Many interesting artifacts including postcards, photographs, clothing, much WWII memorabilia and
genealogical papers were given that are valuable assets to
our frles and exhibits. The list is too long to print, but all
items are gratefully appreciated. In addition, Charles Modlin recently donated a photograph and some of the medals
he won at the National Senior Games and Margaret Stout
Ellett sent a print from a painting she did of her family
farm near Sulphur Springs. The museum is also anxiously awaiting the arrival of a desk made by Thaddeus Coffrn
consisting of some 56,978 pieces of inlaid woods. He was
the architect of the General Grose home and the desk is
being donated by Alice Coffrn Freel ofSan Antonio, Texas,
his great-granddaughter.
I.()ST AND FOIINI)
The following items were left at the museum following
either the Fall meeting or Christmas tea: 1 beige lady's hat
and a brown Isotoner glove. Please let us know ifthey belong to you.
Ä[ TIID IVIUSEI]IN
The museum staff is pleased to present an exhibit entitled "Women of Henry County", featuring not only individuals, but the roles of women in general since the early
1800s. Beginning in the Paine Pavilion, many areas are
highlighted throughout the museum including pioneer lifestyle, women in the arts, medicine and business, cooking
and washday activities and sewing and needlework. The
life of Mary Elliott Bond is traced in the Bond room through
her clothing from the 1880s to her community accomplishments. Linda Johnson's china painting as well as antique
chocolate cups are exhibited in the small dining room. Artwork from early paintings by women in the 1850s to the
Goodwin sisters and Helen Magner to present day favorites such as Elizabeth Dodd Shaffer, Aileen Jacobs, Cordelia Bogue Wright, Libby Hunter, Phyllis Whitworth and
Jeanine Mathes can be seen. Other women featu¡ed include
Mary Edith Runyan, Minnie Kiser Boyd, Mary Caldwell,
the Harvey sisters, Marie Foster Koons, Ruth Reece, Bettv Howren, Flossie Flannery, Stella Stout and Mary T!ner. The exhibit will run through May 1996; school tours
and group program reservations may be arranged by calling 529-4028.
The business, medical and Hoosier exhibits at the museum have been refurbished with photograhs and pertinent
information. Please take some time and come view them.
The museum staff has also been hard at work organizing the family files and placing photographs and old documents in acid free envelopes for conservation purposes. A
comprehensive list has been made of all the family names
in the files. If you desire a copy, please send a SASE with
55 cents postage. Genealogical searching can also be obtained at the cost of $15.00 per surname and 15 cents per
page for document copies.
TRO![ TTID CTIR^¡TNDR
atthemuseumwag
ike manY historical
tion o
the
1
1991.
States
Protection
the United
Graves
the
Act
ument such
return to N
cemeteries near Peru, Indiana. Ttre c
place this Spring and will be private
leaders-P19se{' - Ã^r
oDYSSI'Y OF A
ññD
SOLDTEB
chmond,
Virginia,
Used by Dr. G.W.
n, and donated to
brief history of
áiãã
"r""sy.Thi"
"Rebel B
to send
attend'
to
Plans
BettY Lou Heinz
Curator
Non Profit Org.
U. S. POSTAGE
THE HENRY COUNTY HISTONICAI,oG
No. I
1006
Vol.24
Published twice a Year bY the Henry
County Historical Society' Inc., 606
South-l4th Street, New Castle, Indiana
47362.
Thomas D. Hamm
Mary Louise Reynolds
Editors
PAID
Permit No. 67
Yol.24 - Nu¡nber
Spring, 1996
THO HMNRY OOUNTY
FOUNI]ED I8E7
HIgTORIOALOO
'.t¿
t
.
t
JACK PBETPS
HENRY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM COMPLEX
"Bringing history to life
. . .and life to history."
înn BnNNIIÀI Puuueatroil 0r Tnn ffnnny 0suwry Hlsnonreau
$00[ETy, I¡r0.
I
THE HENRY COUNTY HISTORICALOG
is the
biannual Publication
of the
SOCIETY, INC.
HISTORICAL
HENRY COUNTY
606 So. 14th St.
New Castle, Indiana
Edito¡s:
Thomas D. Hamm
Mary Louise Reynolds
Founded
Offieere
Køthy (Denney) Rogers
4i362
APril,
-
Telephone:
3L71529-4028
1887
-
(New Castle)
Dorothø (Hoouer) White, Vice-Pres.
(AshIand.)
"v
Joøn Pøul, Secretøry
(New Costle)
Jo Ann Edwørds, CountY Funds
Tleøsurer
(New Cøstle)
John Tøylor, SocietY Funds
Tleasurer
(Moorelønd)
Tlueteee
-
Richard Scott Bouslog
(New Cøstle)
Celia Burns
(New Castle)
Betty (Todd.) Cashner
(New Cøstle)
Michael Dietz
(New Cøstle)
Richard McKníght
(New Cøstle)
"(Jnless you cherish the
memory of your a,ncestots,
you deser
gotten by
"
urke
"I
haue ever hød ø Pleøsure
in obtøining any little
ønecd.otes of rnY øncestors-"
Benjarnin Franklin
"I
know of no
the future but
-
NL]E OFCONTDNTS
ttHenry
County: The First Dgcadett ..,.....,.................0...,......"0""""
ttHenry
County Life in the 1820s" ...,..,,.....,.,.......,..,.......r..""""""
ttS0mg
Pioneers of the 1820stt r..........0.....0........,...,....r.........r.......'r'
ttChurchgs
in Henry County Bgfore 1830",. r..... r...,........,,.. " .. " " "'
"The First Probate Records in Henry County, 1822'1830 ..........
"The First Wiil in Henry County: Thomas Cox and His Family"
t'Rgcords
of Marks and Estrays, 1823'1834" ........,......,.... " " " " "',
ttMuseum
RepOrt" .... r.. r...0........0..... r. r.. r................ r...... r.. r. " " " " .. " '
o
r
r
IIDNRY COUNTT:
This issue is devoted entirely to the flrrst decade or so ofwhite
settlement in Henry County, from the arrival of the hrst white
settlers in 1818 or 1819 to the time of the frrst census in 1830,
which reported 6,498 residents in Henry County. After the Civil
War, when it became popular to write and publish county histories across the nation, in every county and community there
was competition for the title of "first settler." Most accounts give
that honor for Henry County to Asahel Woodward (1791-1875),
a native of Rockingham County, Virginia, and his wife Catherine (Hollett) Woodward, who came to the site of what is now New
Castle in April 1819. This claim was made with special force by
George Hazzard, author of the monumental l906Hazzardts His'
tory of Henry County and the Woodwards'grandson. Not everyone agrees. The 1884 county history by William F. Boor includes
a brief account of Sallie Thompson, a yor¡ng girl who was abducted
by Shawnee Indians from her home in Kentucky in 1777 and
brought to what is now Henry County. She may well have been
the frrst white person to enter its bounds. An account by Ebenezet C. T\,rcker in his 1882 History of Randolph County, Indi-
TID
F.IRST DDCADD
ana, tells ofAndrew Snodgrass (1763-1834), a native ofVirginia
who, according to Tt-rcker, settled in what is now Henry County
in 1813. The 1893 Henry County atlas states that the brothers
Asa and Daniel Heaton were on Blue River near what is now
Knightstown in 1818, and the 1902 Biographical Memoirs of
Henry County, Indiana says that Eli Stafford (1797-1878), a
Quaker from Randolph County, North Carolina, settled on Duck
Creek in what is now Greensboro Township the same year. Stafford's claim is doubtfuÌ, since the census taker in 1820 found him
in Wayne County near Centerville, but he certainly came to Henry
Cqunty not long after that. Since legally the lands in what became Henry County were not opened for settlement until 1821
and these men were all squatters in the eyes of the law, we will
probably have no way of knowing who, if any of them, really was
first.
Following are reminiscences, biographies, and legal documents
from the earliest years of Henry County to illustrate at least some
aspects of the lives of the early settlers.
IIDNRI COUNTT IIFE IN ïIIE lE8Os
In
1871, the
first
of a series of Old Settlers Meetings was held
at the New Castle Fairgrounds. A.lmost always given extensive
coverage in the New Castle newspapers, these meetings consisted
largely ofreminiscences by surviving pioneers. The accounts of
the August 1882 meeting for August 25 and September 1, 1882,
are exceptionally full.
"On Saturday afternoon there was held at the fair grounds, New
Castle, an old settlers'meeting. It may be claimed for this meeting that it was almost of an impromptu character. Taking this
fact into consideration it may be asserted that a great success
attended the calling together of the veterans who have won for
this country, amid toils and dangers almost equal to those of the
battle freld, the glorious trophies ofindustry and peace. Probably
two or three hundred persons were present. It was very pleasant
to see old friends and compare their reminiscences and remind
one another how "frelds were fought and won"
- only the fields
they spoke ofhave fences round them, and wave the golden grain
and mighty corn; not the bloody areas of carnage to which the
poet alluded.
Daniel Stafford presided and Elwood Pleas acted as secretary.
The president desired all present who had been residents of
the county for 60 years to take seats on the platform; whereupon
William Murphy and Mrs. Wright responded. Uncle Stephen Elliott was called on, but he stated that he was not a sixty years'
resident until next October. This point of time was considered too
insignificant, and was accordingly waived.
Ten responded to a call for residents in the county for fifty-five
years.
William Murphey proposed that the first white child born in
Henry county do make speech, to which Hiram Thornburgh responded. He said he was fifty-frve on the 12th of last April; but
declined to make a speech, though he admitted in reply to a ques-
tion, that he liked the country very well when he arrived.
Grandmother Bowers stated that she came here on the 12th
of March, 1824.
William Murphy then stated that he was born in Indiana in
^\.
William Murphey
Aaron Hastings
1814, near Richmond. His people lived close to Richmond until
he was two or three years old. Then they moved out to Green's
Fork and lived there up to the Spring of 1822, when they moved
to Henry county, where the family has remained ever since' New
CastÌe and its neighborhood was then a wilderness everywhere
there was one house in New Castle. When going through the
-woods
in a new country, two or three miles is a long way. On the
His father
way he said
Flat Rock.
replied, "Bil
er has now
He believed
laughter,) deer, turkeys and every thing grew there' I dori't know
now of any man, woman or child, in this county anywhere, who
lived here when we came to this country. My brothers and sisters are all gone. S.T. Mellett came the next year. Mrs. Bowers
came directly afterwards. We made barrels of sugar - and great
cakes, and laid them up on shelves."
Aaron Hastings said, "William said he was born near Richmond
in 1814. I want to beat him. I was born near Richmond in 1808.
We lived near Cent¡eville before I can remember. In the time of
the war we had to move back close to Richmond. In 1813 or 1814
we went back to our farm at Centreville. I moved into Henry counlived here about
lived out here n
w there was woo
turkeys, plenty all round."
Stephen Elliott said: "I have been here 60 years next October.
I was born in Ohio in 1806. My father moved to ncar Richmond,
in Wayne county, in 1807, and I have lived in Wayne county and
Henry county ever since. During the war of 1812 my father's family and two other families lived in a house that was picketed in,
about two miles north of Washington, Wayne county. They dug
.i
Robert Needham
Stephen
Elliott
a trench round the house and sharpened timbers at one end and
enter'
put them down in the trench
since'
ing. In 1823 I came to HenrY
there'
WÉen I came to New Castle
I helped to clear the timber from
Murphy was speaking of how he
brought a hand-mill with him an
ter awhile old Abe Eaton built a
stands, and we used to go there to mill on ho¡seback. It would
take us all day and sometimes the night to make the trip'"
Daniel Stafford said: "I have been a citizen of Henry county
sixty years last March. My father settled at a little place south
of west of where Greensboro stands, and I have heard him say
he didn't think the¡e were twenty white families in the county'
There was an Indian trail from Connersville past New Castle to
Pendleton and Straw Town. They passed down to get their annuity. Father took that trail and passed over Blue River' He went
and ôut the brush out over to his cabin, something like two miles.
'I was not more than two and a half years old, but well I remember some of these things." Mr. Stafford went on to tell how, owing
to the distance and diffrculties between his family and the mill,
they had to make a little meal go a very long way, and he had
heard it remarked that if they would have pie it must be made
of buckskin. Sometimes in winter they had nothing to make bread
at a suitable distance two forked sticks were driven in the ground
they put boards into the forks and into the wall - they placed
-slatboards
across and put their beds on them. A man owned 500
acres on Flat Rock, but his family had but one vessel to cook in;
when they cooked a chicken they cleaned out the pot and made
their tea or coffee. His father tented when snow was on the
ground, while building his house, and when that was frnished he
had for a while to use a bed quilt for a door.
William Murphey said that, in early days, out of a hundred men
gathered at a barn raising, not one man would be wearing other
than home-made clothes. He was sixteen or eighteen years old
before he had a suit of clothes from a store. He had a little wheel
at home on which his wife used to spin.
Stephen Elliott humorously compared the woman of the present day, cooking by steam and gas, with the pioneer's wife who
would cook a good meal with one utensil.
Uncle Billy McDowell said: "I came here on the 14th day of
March, 1821. Friends, the old man is here - he has been here
sixty odd years. On t}re 24th day of March I came to this country
and settled over the river, and have been there ever since. I
Thomas R. Stanford
Rogers; "it brought down my Virginian greatness to come out here
among these partial savages. I thought aÍïer a while I would bring
big
them up
- I was so superior to common men - I was that the
a dunce." It happened that there was court the next week
court house was a little bit of a house. He went to see the judge
and lawyers, and compared them with the Virginia lawyers. Afa criminal case came up; he was astonished at the eloquence of the lawyers. He went home and said to his wife: "I guess
we made a mistake; we thought we had come out here among
a lot of ignoramuses. This country is made up from all the other
ter awhile
Asahel Woodward
worked hard and got money enough to get eighty acres of land,
and I shall stay there till they carry me away. I am happy to see
my old friends here."
Robert Needham said he had been in the county frfty-seven
years; he had moved up here in the woods to Water Farm, and
cleared forty acres. When he frrst came to New Castle there was
a little store in a little shanty
- the owner had been packing his
goods on his back; then he got a frame concern, and had a few
goods in it. There were iust a few cabins scattered about New
Castle this was frfty frve years ago. He said, "It didn't look like
as if it would ever be a town; and it has got to be quite a place,
and I am glad of it."
The president spoke for Mrs. Wright. She never had a store
dress till she was a woman grown; her dresses were of flax; sometimes they were striped with two of white and four of blue; she
made buttons out of thread, or has taken a piece of gourd and
covered it with cloth.
and three little boys
- that was on the last day of March, 1833.
They landed in New Castle; they had a pleasant night. He said
to his wife, "We will take a walk this morning, and if you frnd
a place you would like to live in, say so." They came to a good
lot which belonged to a man named Slaygill; he bought six lots,
a house and corn crib for $150. There were no bed steads in town,
and he made a primitive one. "I regretted it very much," said Mr.
States, and they brought all the nerve, and intellect and ability
that we have in the old States, and I am not going to try to learn
these men how to be a Virginian; I am going to learn how to be
a Hoosier." Mr. Rogers continued, "It was my privilege to help
organize the frrst Sabbath school in this town; and I was the
superintendent. It was my pleasure to organize the frrst temperance society ever organized in this town, and it was my privilege,
after jolting over the old corduroy roads, to help start the first
railroad in this town."
William Griffrn said he had lived in Henry county 46 years;
he was born near Richmond in 1813. He could recollect very well
running from the Indians
- friendly Indians came to his father's
place. One old Indian would slip up and run him to the house,
and come up laughing to think the children were afraid of the
Indians. The young men used to go to church in their linen clothes;
they had generally one pair ofshoes a year; the girls would wear
their old shoes and carry their new ones till they came near the
church, then they would hide the old shoes under a log and put
on their new ones. Perhaps the young man would carry his girl's
shoes home for her. He recollected his father coming up in a great
hurry there were three bears coming through the field. They
collected a few dogs and overhauled them but they didn't get them
out that time; but, one of the neighbors went home and the bears
took north instead of east as they expected, and he discovered
them, and called all the neighbors. They got their dogs together,
and came round on horseback into the held and treed one and
killed it. They then went a mile and treed the other up a big oak;
and stayed with him all night; next morning they got him. Then
they went home and got their breakfast and put out after the other bear. The dogs overhauled and bayed the bear; but he would
not tree, and he frnally boxed the dogs
ing they started him again. He would
box; they fetched him down with the s
Wayne county; but since he had been in this county there was
a bear killed adjoining his place, and he had the pleasure ofeating some bear meat there.
Sammy Roof responded to the call for the oldest man in New
Castle. He said: "My dear friends and neighbors, I would like to
sing you'Lady Washington's Lamentation.' I was a good singer,
but I am eighty-five years and past. I was born in Shenandoah
county, Virginia, on the 3d of March, 1797." And then Sammy sang
his song, and there is little doubt but that he was once a good
singer, as he had stated.
Mrs. Kerr, who expressed herself with much tact and ability,
said she was born near Economy, near the Underwood farm. From
there she was taken to Fall Creek; finally her father moved to
the old John R. Millikan farm, about 1821, the fall before the land
sale. He settled at the old corner of Flatrock, where the Indian
trail went through, right on the bank of the water. They had more
utensils than some others. Her mother was real managing and
thrifty, and she was a favorite with the Indians; she traded with
them. Mrs. Kerr possesses some old relics, and she particularized a seed basket as quite a curiosity. When she was small one
spring the farmers had to stand with their guns to save their small
crops from the squirrels. Her father stood at the ford and killed
between frve hundred and one thousand squirrels by knocking
them with a club. They were so poor that they were killed by a
small knock. Her father bought a squatter's settlement; there was
a little patch there, and there was a place where the Indians had
piled brush around to keep their ponies from straying; and that
made a little clearing. They had no cabbage worms, nor Colorado
bugs, but they had to frght squirrels and coons, and the bear sometimes. Her father went for several years to rüayne county to get
his grinding done, and he went there and worked by the day and
bought his meal and brought it all back. One time he was gone
for meat, and a gang of Indians had gone to Richmond to get their
yearly pay
money they had sold land for. As they came back
- drunk;
they were all
the mother was alone with the two children;
they came into the house and she gathered up the children and
carried them to her husband's brother's place, nearly a mile off.
He went back with a club and just beat them off with it. The
speaker's mother learned medicine, and did nearly all the practicing at Flatrock; there was no doctor nearer than Richmond.
When she was old enough she did both boy work and girl work.
She rode a good deal on horseback to New Castle and back; she
would take all the butter and eggs she could carry. She had four
cents for butter and three for eggs. She had to draw up her feet
to keep them dry pretty near all the way from John R. Millikan's
to New Castle. A boy of those days wasn't thought anything of
ifhe had not a good suit ofjeans and a horse and saddle and bridle, and eighty acres of land that he had bought himself. When
the boys took the girls riding the girls got on behind. Men generally went to farming with one horse, and they would take up their
wife and children and go about and have a good time. There was
hardly a week but the neighbors met all together. Mrs. Kerr concluded by telling an amusing story about their neighbor, Mr. Lone.
mistaking a bear for a mean nigger.
Mrs. Bowers, a very ancient lady, stepped upon the platform
and turned to the president and addressed him, but her remarks
were inaudible to the reporter.
General Grose exhibited an old Bible belonging to the Mann
family, who lived out nearly west of New Castle. The title page
was missing. It belongs to Mary Mann. Mr. Grose then proceeded
as follows: His friend, the Virginian, had said he thought Virginia
was the best place in the world until he came here. He had the
correct notion of a Virginian at the time of the reign of the Georges.
At that time anything the
Georges didn't own the Virginians
claimed. They had all this northwestern territory added to Virginia; and it was finally ceded to the general government. His
experience with Virginians had been large so far as public men
were concerned and while he found thousands of citizens such
as Mr. Rogers indicated, compared with the Smiths, the Parkers
and the Raridans they were far behind. We are blessed here with
North Carolinians, and he was reminded of a littìe incident which
John Eastland, who lived in this county, used to tell of his brother. John came out in a cart from North Carolina to Indiana, and
after some years he concluded he wanted to see his brother. He
had put away his cart, and got two horses and a wagon. This was
before the time ofrailroads. John drove up in front ofhis brother's fence
- there was no gate in it - and his brother came out
and knew him, and uhow-dyed," and walked round the wagon and
said: "John, two horses to your cart, the wheels banded round
with iron, and a pole between the horses to keep them from fightingl" [Laughter.] There was a little fellow by the name of Has-
kett
he was a very thin, spare fellow, but he was as spunky
John used to tell of him this story: Haskett lived
- and
in one of the
lower counties. He (John) said Haskett, was raised
on herring, and never ate anything else till he was grown up; and
Haskett denying this and a bet ensuing that, John could not prove
this, John insisted that he should take his clothes off and be held
up the sun, when you would be able to see the herring bones in
him. Haskett refused to submit to this test and lost the bet. The
General addressed himself to the young people present, and
pointed out to them very forcibly the great advantages ofthe present age in which they have the privilege to live. He said, "fn connection with these stories of pioneer life, the men and women of
this nation
- and of every other nation where the people rule
they have come up through that rugged pathway; and were
-it not for monarchs they would govern the world. 'There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we will." After
this rough hewing of seventy-five and eighty years the divinity
has shaped the end flrnally, and has worked it for the good. Ifyou
had told me when I was a boy in Fayette county that to-day we
would see thirty passenger trains depart from New Castle daily,
I would have said you were a lunatic. IfI had supposed that the
lightnings could be tamed and brought down and made our messenger from continent to continent, from ocean to ocean, from city
to city, so that yesterday I was able to converse with a friend six
hundred miles away, I would have wondered at my outrageous
imagination. We don't know what the next seventy or eighty years
will bring. If they bring us as much progress, art and science as
the last seventy or eightyyears, perhaps we will be almost in paradise, and be able to get along without labor or toil at all. In this
great country every man has to build himself up or stay down.
We are in America, where the people are said to rule; I wish that
was literally so. I wish the adult population of these United States
absolutely had the control." And here the speaker launched out
into the question of women's rights, and paid the ladies some very
pretty compliments, and expressed an opinion that if it were not
for them the churches would disappear, and their value be dissipated in saloons. And in conclusion he declared that the man who
could successfully rear his sons was the greatest citizen of the
country.
Elihu Philips said he came from North Carolina, and was not
ashamed of it. He arrived in Henry county in the fall of 1830.
He came here as poor as anybody ever did, but he was thankful
he did come. The neighbors were very good to him and his family. Jacob Elliott's father gave them two bushels of corn when they
were in need, and that he would never forget it. Jacob Wood owned
a little tan yard down on Blue River, and he and his wife fetched
them a hide of upper leather. The speaker said with much feeling, "As long as he lived I loved him; as long as he lived I never
saw him but, I thought of it, and it lives with me to-day", and with
other expressions ofgratitude and friendship for Henry county
Mr. Phillips most appropriately wound up the day's speaking.
Besides the speakers, we noticed that the following old settlers
were present: J.A. Windsor, Andrew J. Maddy, Henry Harvey, Levi
Bouslog, Jacob S. Elliott, William Griffin, John Jeffries, Aquila
Davis, Robert Polk, Joseph McDougall, S.R. McMeans, Henry
Shroyer, Hiram Thornburgh and Newby Modlin.
After the meeting an old settlers'organization was formed, with
officers as follows: Jacob S. Elliott, president; Mrs. Kern and Mrs.
Henry Shroyer, vice-presidents; executive committee, Stephen Elliott, Daniel Stafford and Oliver Draper.
Our reporter finds that among the press of matter he has
omitted an informal statement that the first mill built in Henry
-
as a wasp
county was built by Elihu Davis, about half a mile south of
Greensboro. The mill-stone was cut out of a gray rock that lay
there on the ground. It was some time before they got a bolting
cloth, and the customers had to turn that bolt with a crank. That
mill ground corn only, and it is used for grinding corn to-day."
One correction is probably in order. Although Hiram Thornburg, whose birth took place in New Castle in 1827, often claimed
to be the first white child born in Henry County, that certainly
was not the case, as Grandmother Bowers made clear. In fact,
the county histories note that the wife of David Cray, who settled in Henry Tbwnship in 1819, gave birth to a child not long
after her family arrived here.
sorm PT()NDERS OF'mrD
Here follow accounts of six early settlers of Henry County: Jesse
H. Healey, Allen Shepherd, Samuel Bechtelheimer, Shubal Julian'
Jonathañ Bundy, anã Mary (Cary) Heaton. Four appeared il the
New Castle Weekly Courier in the 1880s, a time when local
residents were especially interested in preserving local history
.IESSE
II. IIEIIIJOI
Judge Martin L. Bundy (1817-1910), who arrived in New Castle as a child ofsix in 1823, was especially interested in preserving accounts of the early settlers, many of whom he had known'
Hõ contributed this biography of Henry County's frrst sheriff,
Jesse H. Healey, which appeared in the
I.ASOS
and reminiscences. This impulse reached its fruition with the formation of the Henry County Historical Society. Little is known
of the origins of the account of Jonathan Bundy. The last is Mary
Heaton's own account of her journey to what would become
Knightstown in 1826.
having Robert M. Cooper as his colleague. Healey then resumed
his buiiness offarming and teaching school until 1849, when he
Courier August 20, 1880:
week to do mY Part to-
"iååï,i""ïli:îilil
most prominent in the
list of names, but because of my more intimate knowledge of his
dead, whose names I
a picture gallerY, and
ife before joining 'the
the land "from whence
er make a mistake, and this he did. Where trouble arises with
these offrcers, it is because they have made no effort to execute
the writ as commanded, or set up their own judgment against
the law and the order of the Court.
In order to show the great increase in the revenue ofthe county, I will add, that I have heard Healey say, that in 1824, he was
ei-officio tax collector of the county, and having collected the State
no traveler returns."
of a journey.
The offrcã of Sheriff was the last place of public trust which
from reviewing in reminiscences like those I propose to write, q
recollection of what may as well be outlived. I shall leave the dark
side ofthe picture to be
case, but as to Jesse He
side. A more upright, co
a citizen I never knew.
L794,he emigrated to the State of Indiana in 1818, settling near
Richmond, but in the Spring of 1821 he removed to Henry counlife. The State of Indiana
of her Legislature, which
of Henry was organized;
lived a more upright and blameless life.
M.L. BUNDY."
Tb Bundy's account we can add a few facts. Healey was born
in Guilford Co., N.C., Sept. 17, 1795, the son of Hugh and Sophia
(Hargreaves) Hea
Hugh Healey died
ur,d wa. buried in
r
soldier'
70 Years,
on South
Ninth Street. Jesse Healey's family Bible, now in the Henry Coun-
de Associate Judges, Rene
to oPen
offrce¡
people,
invitæd
to settle and improve the rich lands, in which the county
create the other.
er Hugh Healey, the father
Revolutionary war and died
ssed on my memory because
that he died February 25, 1856, and she, July 7,
1871.
ALLDN SIIEPIIERI)
The author ofthe next account is unknown. Its source was alhom
Feb.
who
constituents faithfully until about the close of the session, when,
it is now,
nd mortict, but he
fied and remonstrated at
yielding to a custom then
he got intoxicated. His fri
justifred it
by the Whi
ocrats had
out becoming intoxicated! It was a knowledge of this, however,
that defeateã him the following year, 1839, for the same place.
Col. Ralph Berkshire was, that year, elected over him by one vote
and
who was certainly one of its most influential early citizens.
As the pioneers of Henry county are rapidly passing away,
would it not be interesting to those remaining and to the public
generally for some representative of each pioneer family to interview those who survive and glean from their lips recollections
incident to pioneer life?
Aìlen Shepherd, a native of England, emigrated to the United
States in theearly part ofthe present century and settled in Philadeìphia, where he engaged in the coach-making business, by
which he saved some money. The writer does not know the exact
date of his marriage, but after losing his first wife he became the
husband of a widow lady by the name of Ann Ward, whose maiden name was Powell. She had two daughters, Eliza and Martha
Wald. Having conceived the idea that there was a vast fortune
in the far West for all who had the courage and enterprise to possess it, about the first of September, 1819, Mr. Shepherd and his
family started for the land or promise, bringing with him Allen,
Jr., the oldest son by his frrst wife
and William,
- leaving JohnNathan
the younger sons, with their friends in the East
Powell,
his father-in-law, his wife and her two daughters, Eliza and Martha, and an infant son of the twain, whom they called Samuel.
They were accompanied by a brother-inlaw, Samuel Powell,
whose family consisted of himself, wife and one child.
When this little colony started to the far West they did not charter a car, although the last half mile of their journey was over
the ground where the I. B. & W. now runs, but a two-horse wagon carried all the clothing, furniture and tools which constituted
an outflrt for the pioneer of that day. After the first day's journey
the father, traveling in a gig similar to what is now called a sulky,
started in advance ofhis family to spy out the land and prepare
a receptacle for his weary pilgrims, instructing them to stop at
Lebanon, Ohio, and there await his return. He proceeded as far
as White River, near the present site of Anderson. Not being favorably impressed with the White River country, he returned to
where New Castle now stands, where he found two families; that
ofAsahel Woodward and Charles Jamison, who had settled here
in March of that year. After a brief exploration of the surrÒunding country he chose for his future home a site about one and
three-quarters miles north of the present public square in New
Castle. He employed Charles Jamison to erect a cabin at a designated place, while he returned to meet his family and escort them
to the home of his choice. His family arrived at Lebanon some
ten or fifteen days before his return, and here occurred the frrst
incident in their pioneer life that was calculated to try the nerves
and test the metal of which they were made. Weary days and restless nights passed, but the head of the family returned not. The
problem as to what had become of him could not be solved. Were
it possible that he had died in the wilderness of disease or fallen
a victim to wild beasts or the fierce wrath of the savages that
then roamed the forest? And here occurred a circumstance remarkable in its nature. When the family was about to relinquish
all hope, the father was sharing their grief. On returning to Lebanon, a town at that time of about 500 inhabitants, he hunted
for two days without finding any trace of his family. As he was
about to abandon further search and was starting from the town,
he saw standing in the door ofa cabin in the outskirts his youngest step-daughter, Martha, whom he called "Little Patty." Thus
their grief was turned to joy and their sorrow into gladness, demonstrating the fact that the darkest hours in our mental life is
just before the dawn ofday. After recruiting their little stock of
provisions and purchasing as many articles of domestic household goods necessary to pioneer life as their wagon would carry,
they resumed their journey to their future home, where they arrived in due time. Then came the trying hour; the hearts of the
female portion of the colony quailed, and like the children of Israel, entreated their Moses to return rather than let them die
in the wilderness. But Mr. Shepherd, being a man of courage and
perseverance, prevailed with them to unload and put their little
stock ofgoods into the cabin, as soon as a door could be cut out
and a roofofclapboards put on, the cabin not being quite finished
at their arrival. It then being late in October, little else could be
done than to make their winter quarters as comfortable as possible. They spent the dreary days and long winter nights, not by
hearing the shrill whistle of'the locomotive that now passes over
the spot where their cabin then stood, but their ears were greeted
by the hideous howls of the wolves that then inhabited the dense
forest.
The only visitors at this humble home during the first winter
(in the recollection of the youngest step-daughter of Mr. Shepherd, who was Martha Ward, now Martha Lytle, wife of A.J. Lytle, from whom this information is obtained) were the families
of Asahel Woodward, Charles Jamison and William and Andrew
Shannon, all of whom came the spring previous to Shepherd's arrival. At the opening of spring and the return of the calm sunshine and balmy breeze that floated over the forest, the dormant
frog spoke out and proclaimed the dead alive, meanwhile the little birds chimed in with their warbling notes which sent a thrill
ofjoy through the hearts ofthe weary strangers in a strange land.
Preparations were immediately made for making sugar from the
maple trees which were abundant in the forest, and about one
acre cleared for a truck patch.
In addition to the white families who visited each other, numerous Indians, who occupied an Indian village about eighty rods
from Shepherd's cabin, visited here. No hostile demonstrations
were made by these Indians, though there seemed to be great jealousy to the whites hunting and fishing. One day Grandfather
Powell, who was an old Revolutionary soldier, then near four score
years, and Allen Shepherd, Jr., a lad ofeight or ten years, were
returning from Blue River where they had been fishing and met
an Indian who was called Johnny. He told them that they must
keep away from the river fishing, but raise corn and buy their
frsh from the Indians, for ifthe fish saw the pale-faces they would
leave the streams and there would soon be no frsh for white man
or Indian.
AÍïer traveling a distance ofsix hundred miles to possess a land
flowing with milk and honey, Mr. Shepherd found that the penalty against Adam for disobedience had not been removed, but
here, too, bread had to be earned by the sweat ofthe brow, and
he obtained his honey by felling the trees and extracting it from
the cavities in which the gregarious bee had chosen his home.
The milk was got by going some thirty miles into the settlement
and buying a cow.
In October, 1820, Mr. Shepherd returned to Philadelphia to settle some business and collect some money due him, in order to
be prepared for the land sales the following year. On his way
home, in November, he was taken with inflammatory rheumatism, so that he was unable to get in or out of the gig in which
he was traveling. After spending a dreary winter in suffering, he
partially recovered, and being a man of energy, determined to
make the best he could out of his misfortunes, and as Wm. Shannon had settled on eighty acres ofland adjoining on the east of
the land settled by him, and wishing to buy that and one eighty
east ofShannon, he gave Shannon $50 for his improvements, and
bought the three eighty acre lots at the land sales. He then proceeded to erect a hewed log house on the Shannon eighty, said
house being twenty by twenty feet and twelve feet from the cabin erected by Shannon, which was at that day the best house in
what is now Henry county and is where the first election in the
county was held. The first floor was hauled from Connersville.
Although the flrrst occupants have all passed away except two,
which are Allen Shepherd, who, if living, is probably in Missouri,
and Martha Lytle, living in New Castle. She has lived in Henry
township for sixty-four consecutive years. The old house gives evidence of having weathered many a storm. It is still in a tolerable
state of preservation and affords comfortable quarters for a family. It is the property, but not the residence, of John C. Hudelson,
who is well known in Henry county, having filled the important
offices of treasurer and clerk of Henry county.
Mr. Shepherd spent the remaining days of his life in the above
named house in peace and quietude, entertaining to the best of
his ability, and generally without charge, all those who might favor him with a call. This time was spent in making whatever improvements he could to render home as pleasant, cheerful and
comfo¡table as the adverse circumstances under which he had
to Ìabor would permit. The attack of rheumatism on his way home
from Philadelphia having settled in one leg, rendered him to some
extent a cripple and made it necessary for him to hire most of
the labor to improve his farm.
To record all of the little incidents pertaining to pioneer life
would fill a volume, so we have conhned ourselves to an abridged
synopsis of the prominent points, and will desist for the present
from a detailed account of this little colony, except of those remaining and the death of those who have passed away.
Allen Shepherd, Sr., the head ofthe colony, passed away in February, 1832, and by his request was buried on his own farm within a circle generally known as the Indian fort.
Eliza Ward, step-daughter of Mr. Shepherd, was married in
1821 to John Dorrah, a young man who came to Indiana from
Muskingum county, Ohio, in the employ of Thomas Hendrix, Sr.,
who was then surveyor of the public lands of Indiana, and who
has since been governor of the State. Dorrah was employed as
assistant surveyor. The married life of Dorrah was brief, he dying suddenly of quinsy in December, 1823. TWo sons were the
fruits of this marriage, Joseph and John. Joseph is living one and
one-half miles north of New Castle, on the farm where his father
died; John lives in Iowa. Eliza Dorrah was afterward married to
Wm. Meek, by whom she had four children, and died in May, 1834.
Tb make mention of all who came in this little colony would
make this article too long, so we will close by making a brief men-
tion of Martha Ward, the youngest step-daughter of Shepherd,
who is now Martha Lytle, from whom this information was obtained, which may not be exactly correct with regard to dates,
as it goes as far back as her arrival in the State, when she was
four years old, but most of her statements are corroborated by
statements made to the writer by Asahel Woodward in his lifetirne. She epeaks of having attended the frrst school taught in
Henry county, she is not positive, but thinks it was in 1822 a¡d
was taught by Richard Huff, in a cabin which stood south of what
is now Church and west ofCourt streets, on or near what is known
to many of our citizens as the Berkshire lot. The road or path
she went over to school was about two miles through a dense for-
est inhabited by wolves and other wild beasts. She oft'en had to
break the road through the snow, and on arriving at school would
frnd the skirts of her clothing frozen. Such were the facilities for
education at that day. She knows of no one now living who attended that school, Hon. J.T. Elliott being the only one at his death
except herself. Martha Ward was married to Andrew J. Lytle at
New Castle, May 7th, 1848, by whom she had eight chiìdren, two
ofwhom are living. Thus she has seen the forest cleared away
by the ax man and a thriving town of over three thousand inhabitants tal<e its place. The eye that saw the majestic oak towering
high above the earth sees in its place the church steeple pointing
its spire toward heaven. Mrs. Lytle is now living with her husband on South Main street, in New Castle, not in a hidden corner in poverty, but in good circumstances, and having food and
raiment is content there with. When she takes a retrospect of her
life and reviews the meandering path over which she has passed,
seeing so few ofthe associates ofher childhood and youth remaining, while so many have passed away, she is constrained to feel
that she has passed far over the sea of life, and that her little
bark is nearing its moorings in the haven of ¡est."
There was another side to Allen Shepherd's life, however, that
is preserved in Complete Probate Record B, pp. 32-50, in the
Henry County Courthouse. It provides one important correction;
the probate records clearly show that Shepherd died Februry 23,
1833. The records also preserve records ofa lawsuit over Shepherd's estate frled in the spring of 1838, and they tell a strange
and haunting story.
Allen Shepherd died without a will, leaving, as the lawsuit put
it, "a considerable amount ofpersonal estate consisting ofhousehold goods farming utensils stock on his farm accounts and Books
and divers other goods and effects." Isaac Bedsaul and William
Meek, two prominent New Castle men who often administered
estates and served as guardians for orphans, were appointed ad'
ministrators, and they divided it among all of the children, sending Shepherds three sons living in the east their shares. The tlu'ee
sons of the frrst marriage, John, Allen, and William D. Shepherd,
however, frled suit claiming that they were the only heirs and were
thus entitled to all of their father's property.
The story told by affrdavits swotn bo by several residents of
Philadelphia, including a brother and sister of Shepherd's frrst
wife, was this. Allen Shepherd and Elizabeth Powell, both residents of Philadelphia, were married there by the Rev. Dr. William Staughton, a Presbyterian minister, on June 6, 1811. She
was born about 1788. Their three sons were all born in Philadelphia: Allen, Jr., born in 1812; John, born in December 1814, and
William D. Shepherd, born in 1816. They lived in Castle Street.
In the fall of 1819, Allen and Elizabeth Shepherd separated.
According to a niece of Elizabeth, Allen and his son A-llen went
west with the niece, Sarah Sturdivant and her husband, as far
as Brookville. The Sturdivants and Allen Jr., remained there while
the older Shepherd went on to "Blue River," in what is now Henry
County. Allen, Jr., joined his father there a few weeks later. Sturdivant made no mention of the Powells or Ann Ward and her
daughters accompanying them. The testimony of another neighbor in Philadelphia, a widow named Susan Brannan, makes it
clear that the Shepherds' parting was amicable. As she put it:
"in a year or less after Allen Shepherd lemoved to the west he
visited Philadelphia and remained with his wife a few weeks he returned again to the west and in about two years afterwards
he came to the city of Philadelphia again and remained about
Eighteen months living all the time of his sta.y with his wife Elizabeth." Brannan stated that "she was on the most intimate terms
with them all the time that after this last visit of Allen Shep-
herd he returned to the west." Eìizabeth remained in Philadelphia until 1833, when she moved to Baltimore. There she died
in May 1835, two years after her husband.
The Philadelphia witnesses also remembered Ann Ward. Both
Elizabeth's brother, Malin S. Powell, and her niece Sarah Sturdivant, as well as the neighbor Susan Brannan agreed that Ward
was a widow from New Jersey. Brannan said that she frrst met
Ann Ward in 1815 at the Shepherd house. Shortly afterwards she
moved into the neighborhood, remaining about a year before moving again. All agreed, however, that she was frequently at the
Shepherd house. Sturdivant recalled that "when she visited Allen
Shepherd on Blue River in the state of Indiana Ann Ward was
living with him as his wife . . . that she lived when deponent first
became acquainted with her husband in the State of New Jersey
that her husband died and afterward deponent frequently met
her at the house ofAllen Shepherd in Castle Street in the city
of Philadelphia."
There appears to be only one possible explanation. At a time
when divorce was rare and extremely difficult to obtain, Allen
and Elizabeth Shepherd informally ended their marriage, apparently without great rancor. AIIen then headed west with the widow Ann Ward, certainly a family friend and most likely a relative of Elizabeth, to begin a new life. Probably most of their neighbors in Henry County believed the story that they told - that
Allen's first wife had died back in Philadelphia, and that he and
Ann were legally ma¡ried.
Shepherd's three sons from the east won their lawsuit; the court
ruled that they were the sole legal heirs to their father's estate.
Allen Shepherd may well have anticipated such a situation, since
he put 160 acres of his land in the name of Ann Ward, so it was
not part ofhis estate. She lived on his farm until her dcath, which
took place November 7, 1863, aged 77 years. She was buried iri
the Old North Fourteenth Street Cemetery in New Castle. Inlg22
her grave was moved to South Mound Cemetery, where it can still
be seen.
SÄIITUDL
BECIIÏDLIIDIIIDR
This biography appeared in the Courier, March 13, 1885. The
author, Lina Bechtelheimer, was a granddaughter ofthe subject.
"Samuel Bechtelheimer was born in Franklin county, Va., Janrary 2, 1794. In 1803, in his tenth year, he moved with his parents to Claremont county, O., where his boyhood days were spent.
Ohio was at that time comparatively new, and settlements few
and far between. His home was within eighteen miles of Cincinnati, which at that time, eighty-one years ago, was but a small
village of log cabins. The postrrffrce and wayside tavern were the
only buildings of importance, and they were constructed of logs.
He tells of the people who were constantly coming in, some on
horseback, others dúving badly dilapidated wagons with mixed
teams, perhaps an ox and a horse harnessed together, while others still came on foot, with their clothes and household goods
strapped over their backs having tramped through from their
Eastern homes on the hunt of "the promised land" of the West.
It was several years after moving to Ohio that he found it possible to attend school. Owing to the fact that settlers were so few
they could not get pupils enough together to justify them in enga$ng a teacher. He laughingly tells of their first grand structure for school purposes, which was of logs
- not of early Indiana "puncheon floor" frame, but no floor at all. In one side ofthis
there was a twenty foot aperture covered with greased paper, serving as a window. The "benches" were made of slabs of green elm
logs, the under surface always being left with the bark on. It was
a favorite pastime with both boys and girls to "whittle" in those
days, and the elm bark peeled from their seats answered all the
purposes of our modern chewing gum. The teachers, for years,
were of the straight jacket, ignorant kind, knowing but little more
than most boys oftoday know at ten years. Their favorite amusement seemed to be blacking the faces of their younger charges,
then standing them on the "dunce stool," where, if they did not
perform to the satisfaction of their trainers, they were warmed
up with the hickory club that was the invariable companion of
the teachers of those days. This same ten foot hickory pole answered as a "threshing machine" for the grown up boys. A smalì
portion of the time between his sixteenth and nineteenth years
he spent in school, and that frnished his educational career, sc
far as masters are concerned. Now, at the age of ninety one, he
would pass favorably with some of our college students in the way
of a practical education, making calculations as readily and
promptly as one could wish, while he writes a hand as distinct
and readable as many of our Spencerian graduates.
He saw the first steamboat that was launched on the Ohio River, and says that it was the one sensation of the age, causing more
wonderment and excitement among the people along the Ohio
banks than anything that occurred in the State of Ohio during
his stay there. At the age of nineteen he was drafted in the war
of 1812 for the entire time, covering a period of something more
than three years, and though entitled to a pension, he has never
applied for one, owing to conscientious scruples. At this period
of his life (his nineteenth year) lots now in Cincinnati, and up
on which some of the princely buildings of the city stand, were
selling at $25 apiece. The "market," in those days when Cincinnati was struggìing for existence, was always overstocked. Should
half a dozen of the surrounding farmers happen in town on the
same day with their produce, the probabilities were that three
out of the six would be compelled to take their butter and eggs
back home with them. Ohio was his home for twenty-four years.
He was married to Rachel Kessler in 1817. In 1827 he moved to
Henry county, Ind., and the following year harvested wheat with
the old-time sickle on the ground upon which Hagerstown now
stands. In 1829 he moved to the northern part ofthe county, near
Blountsville, in Stoney Creek township, where he has ever since
lived. While here he, with his father, sister and brother-in-law,
passed through a siege of the "milk sick," all but himself dying
f¡om the effects of it. He thinks it one of the miracles of the age
that he lived through it, but supposes that he was spared for some
wise purpose. He was present at the frrst sale of lots upon which
Blountsville now stânds, in 1833. Smithfreld, Delaware county,
was the first post offrce within eight miles of his Blountsville
home, and when his friends remembered him with a letter he was
obliged to pay twenty-hve cents before he could take it from the
offrce. He marketed his wheat for twenty-frve cents per bushel,
and had to pay nine dollars a barrel for salt. People ofthe present day would find it discouraging business to haul to market a
load ofthirty-six bushels ofwheat, receiving in exchange only one
barrel ofsalt. Later on he wagoned wheat to Cincinnati and other places for forty cents a bushel, and thought he was getting a
big price for his grain. New Castle was then in its infancy, and
old Dr. Reed of that place, was the only physician within reach.
A ride of twelve miles for the doctor when sickness occurred, was
the onìy choice.
He has been a member of the German Baptist church since
1817, a period of sixty-eight years, forty-flrve years of the time
serving as deacon in that church.
His occupation has been, principally, farming, though he is
something of a mechanic and has engaged in the millwright business to some extent. Weaving was a pastime with him, and many
hours, when out-door work was impossible, he put in at the loom,
thus taking upon himself one of the burdens of the housewife.
He tells a story of a couple of families of early days who, being
in destitute circumstances, after gathering up all the worn out
stockings in the neighborhood brought the ravelings to him to
be woven into cloth for their winter clothing. He undertook the
job, and says that we would be surprised to have seen the good
and comfortable suits that were made from the web of cloth.'The
bread oflife" was an object in those days as well as noq and going
to mill meant a long ride of twenty or twenty-five miles, usually
on horseback, to the nearest place where wheat and corn could
be converted into flour and meal.
Abram Elliott of New Castle (father of Judge Elliott), then a
justice of the peace, and Sheriff Healy, were among his early
friends but ofthe many friends and acquaintances ofthose days
who were near the age of himself he can recall now only the name
of Shubal Julian of Cadiz, who still lives. Out of his family of eleven chiÌdren eight lived to have families of their own, and frve still
live. He numbers in his posterity eleven children of his own,
eighty-four grandchildren and sixty-three great-grandchildren,
making a grand total of one hundred and fifty-eight whose existence he has record of but owing to the widely scattered homes
ol hrs grandchildren and great-grandchildren, he does not know
how far that number is exceeded, but thinks there may be a num-
ber more, including great-great-grandchildren.
His life has always been a quiet one, consistent with his religious views. He has never been an "offrce seeker," and never went
to law save in one single instance, when, after waiting four years
on a debtor, he left the note with ajustice ofthe peace for collection, but was so conscientious about the matter that he allowed
no costs to fall upon the delinquent.
He tells us with justifiable pride that he has never had a quarrel with anyone upon earth, and as for fighting, he has left that
desperately alone since he was a child ofbut three years, when
he had a little "twist" with one of his playmates in which he got
the worst of it, but compromised the matter by calling it even and
agreeing to be friends. He says that the little scene ofchildhood
years is as indelibly stamped upon his mind as though it had occurred but yesterday.
In his own words, we wish to add an inte¡esting statement,
a record which perhaps no other man in Indiana can hold up
truthfully before the world. It is this: "I have never attended a
State or county fair, never was at â show or circus ofany description, never was at a celebration, never attended a dance or serenading frolic, never took part in card playing or a shooting match,
never attended a horse race, theater or anything else ofquestionable origin or object, never used tobacco in any form, never used
intoxicants as a stimulant save a few times in my younger days,
and never used my wife in any other way than as my equal.'
He has twice been married, his frrst wife and mother of all his
children living with him something over forty years, and dying
September 30, 1865. He married again, in December, 1866, Elizabeth Losh, a widow lady, who died in 1875 since which time he
has been living alone in the little home which had been his so
long, where he is taken care of by his son, Jacob Bechtelheimer,
who for twenty-six years has answered his every want and cared
for him as only a son can care for a father. Grandfather Bechtelheimer has remarkably good healthy for one of his age, often walk-
ing the distance of two and three miles to visit the homes of
friends. He delights in telling stories of pioneer days, and dwells
at length upon the sociability and hospitality ofthe earlier settlers. He says that the old saying, "Root, pig, or die" was enforced
with a vengeance, but even then people had to be "neighborly''
if they would get along at all. The word "neighbor" in those days
did not mean acquaintances within sound of your dinner bell, but
to be neighborly meant to visit one another over distances offrfteen, twenty or twenty-five miles, assisting in log-rollings, cabin-raisings and everything else where help was needed.
One of his favorite sayings is: "Keep the head cool, the feet
warm, dr¡r and clean, the blood pure, be industrious, do right, and
then bid defiance to the physician, poverty and Satan."
LINA BECHTELHEIMER
Samuel Bechtelheimer was the son of Joseph Bechtelheimer,
who died August 7, 1833. He is believed to be buried in the Bundy
Cemetery in Stony Creek Tbwnship. Samuel lived two years after his life graced the pages of the Courier, dying in Stony Creek
Tbwnship, Nov. 13, 1887. He is buried with both of his wives in
the Buck Creek Cemetery. His frrst wife, Rachel, died September 30, 1865, aged 66 years, 10 months, and 11 days. His second
wife, Elizabeth, died August 30, 1875, aged 71 years and 2 days.
SIrUBAL aIIil.,IAN
This obituary ofan early settler in both Prairie and Harrison
Tbwnships appeared in the Courier, March 19, 1886. Julian was
the son of Isaac and Sarah (Long) Julian. His wife, Biddy (Hoover) Julian, died, as this account says, March 6, 1864, aged 69
years. Shubal and Biddy are buried in Mechanicsburg Cemetery.
Shubal Julian was born in Randolph county, N.C., April 14,
1792, and, departed this life March 18, 1886, aged 93 years, 10
months and29 years. Came to Indiana Territory in the year 1810,
Iocating in Wayne county, but some time afterward removed to
Henry county, where he resided for sixty years or more.
At his death he was the oldest man in Henry county, and one
ofthe oldest inhabitants ofthe State, in the county. He belonged
to a large and well-known family who were descended from the
French, settling flrrst in South Carolina, whether they fled when
expelled from France on account oftheir religious views. Subse-