ELWOOD TOWNSHIP
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     Elwood Township occupies the territory in the southeastern corner of the county, having Georgetown for its northern, Indiana for its eastern, Edgar county for its southern, and Carroll township for its western boundaries.  It comprises of town 17, range 11 west of the 2d principal meridian, a fraction of range 10, and two tiers of sections off the east side of range 12, making a trifle less than a township and a half.  The high ridge which runs along the southern boundary of the county extends partially along the southern boundary of this township also, until it is lost in the valley of the Vermilion River.  The Little Vermilion runs across its northwest corner for two miles, and then runs into Georgetown for about a mile, when it turns southerly again, and runs across the northeast corner.  Originally, nearly one third of it was covered with timber, the timber land being along fraction of the triangular piece of land known as Harrison's Purchase.  It is very difficult to describe this singular appendage, or southern extension.  It would seem as though it really belonged to Edgar county, and had been driven up into Elwood like a wedge which was so blunt that it could not all be forced in with the amount of power applied.  This portion of Harrison's Purchase includes nearly two sections of land.  The land of Elwood township, which was covered with timber, is like all other which is thus covered in its nature, and the prairie very similar to other prairie lands, deep and rich, and sufficiently rolling to make it easy to cultivate and drain.  Indeed, the farmers of Elwood are very fortunate in the general quality of their lands, and few are found who can reasonably complain.  All along its northern and eastern border the early settlers found the necessary conditions for their pioneer homes, and soon spread over all that portion; but it was twenty-five years before the splendid farms along the ridge came into cultivation.  To the resident of the present day, that which has been so often repeated in these pages as to have become commonplace, that people did not believe these prairies would ever e settled up, must ever be incomprehensible; but the truth of it cannot be doubted in the face of so many witnesses.  Abraham Smith thought to be wild when he determined to go out to the Ridge farm to live, and the wisdom of such a decision was so generally condemned that he himself doubted his judgment.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

     The points of early settlement were, Vermilion Grove, Elwood, Yankee Point and Bethel, or Quaker Point.  Pilot Grove was later,
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and Ridge Farm still later.  These points, or settlements, embrace the entire circuit of the township, except perhaps the two places or settlements known as Johnson's neighborhood, in the extreme northwestern corner, and that around Liberty Church, in the northeastern.  The names given to these different points of early settlements were, in the absence of any villages, as matter of convenience or necessity.  Some of them took their names from the first settler; others from the little log churches or meeting-houses, and they from some association connected with them.  Vermilion was natural, and later came to e called Vermilion Grove, from the fact that a station farther south on the railroad was named Vermilion before a station and post-office was established here.  Elwood derived its name from Thomas Elwood, an honored name in the Society of Friends and a distinguished writer in England, whose worthy life was commemorated by admiring friends in the naming of their little log meeting-house.  Yankee Point derived its name from Mr. Squires, who was the only eastern man in "this neck of timber," and who came here very early.  Bethel and Liberty are from favorite names of the churches there.  Pilot Grove, if unrecorded rumor and unwritten history is to be credited, is from its high ground, when compared with the surrounding timber, and acted unconsciously is directing the party here who came to make the survey of Harrison's Purchase, the two lines of which run through it.  At another place in this sketch the writer has given the story of Pilot Grove as understood and related by those living here, without claiming exact historical accuracy, and which may be, as the colored preacher said about another story which had gained credence, "all a false mistake."  Ridge Farm was the name given by Mr. Smith to his farm when he commenced to bring it into cultivation in 1849, from its natural position, and was the name of the locality long before a village was thought of there.
     John Haworth is believed to have been the first permanent settler, although Henry Canaday came about the same time.  There were others in here before either of them.  John Malsby built a cabin near where Vermilion now is, in 1820, but did not remain here, going back to Indiana.  Mr. Haworth left Tennessee with his young family in 1818, to get away from the institutions which he did not admire.  He went first to Union county, Indiana, and came here in 1821, and wintered in the cabin Malsby had built.  He bought the claim of George Bocke, a son-in-law of Achilles Morgan, who, with his family, seems to have made his first settlement here before going to Brooks' Point, although one account credits him with living a season at Butler's Point.  John Haworth was a cousin of James, who settled soon after at Georgetown.  He did not bring stock with him,
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but soon made an effort to utilize his new possessions by raising farm stock.  Among his early "neighbors' were Johnson and Starr, of a few miles northwest; Squires and Thomas Curtis, of Yankee Point, three miles east; John Mills, Dickson, and Simon Cox to the west, and Henry Canaday nearer by.
     Daniel W. Beckwith came to Mr. Hawworth's residence during the time of high water in the spring of 1822, and remained all night.  The rain had fallen in torrents during the night, and when he undertook to resume his journey in the morning he got into the stream, falling in all over.  He was dressed in buckskin pants, or breeches; a round-about, and and wolf-skin cap.  He was not to be deterred from going on his journey by one ducking, however, and went on as if nothing had happened.
     Mr. Haworth entered several hundred acres of land, but did not hold it to speculate on.    Whenever a newcomer arrived whom he thought was a desirable neighbor, he sold land to him cheap, and on time if required.  He exercised the same Christian forbearance in his dealings with men as in his daily walk.  George Haworth, an uncle of John, a strong-minded and robust man, soon joined the neighborhood, and with the Canadays established the first meeting, and soon built a house for that purpose.  John had a family of eight children, of whom Mr. Elvin Haworth, now living on the place, is probably the best known, coming here at a time when, by his age, he was peculiarly susceptible of the impressions which circumstances would make.  He grew up under such influences as his father as able to throw around him, fully appreciating the good effects of the institutions of religion and of learning, which, meagre as they were, were far superior to any in other portions of the county at that time.  He attended the first school taught in the county, and assisted by his counsel, though young in years, by a maturity of judgment beyond his age, to establish the first seminary of learning in this part of the state.  with that clear perception of duty which no cloud shades, and sound judgment which no circumstance wavers, he is accorded justly a high position in council and a strong place in the esteem of his townsmen.  For a long time he represented the township in the board of supervisors; and he was the early friend of the Vermilion Academy, which, under his fostering care, is making steady progress in the work of higher education.
     Henry Canaday came from Tennessee to the Wabash in 1821; his boys, Benjamin, Frederick, William and John coming here in winter and making a cabin three hundred yards west of where William has so long resided.  They brought a few hogs with them, but when spring came they sickened of the enterprise, and Benjamin went back
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to Tennessee and bought a farm there, and all moved back.  In the fall they regretted the move and came back here to live.  Satisfied with their roving, they settled down to business and remained here.  The hogs they brought first had become wild by the time they got back here, and for years, they and their progeny furnished hunting in connection with the other "game" here.  On their return they brought a few cattle with them, and hunted in a few hogs to give them a start.  When they returned here to live, Mr. Morgan, Mr. Bocke and the Hoskins children had come, none of whom remained here, and John Mills was farther west.  The land-office was at Palestine, and when land came into market Mr. Canaday entered about two sections, and made it his practice to sell to new-comers at congress price with interest.
     Eli Henderson came in soon after, in 1824, and settled east of Mr. Canaday's and died there in 1833, leaving three sons and three daughters.  His son, Elam soon after this went to Georgetown, where he still resides, one of the most successful and active and business men of that place.  John Newlin and Richard Golden came to Yankee Point about the same time; the latter going to Iowa.  Mr. Anderson remained here a few years and then moved away.  he was successful and enterprising, though always moving.
     There was at this time, and until Dr. Heywood came, no doctor nearer than the Wabash, and no mill nearer than that.  There was abundance of meat, corn and wheat, and farmers all kept a few sheep, being careful to put them in a close pen at night.  The farming operations were tedious, when all the land had to be marked out with a bar-shear plow, corn dropped by hand by the children and covered with a hoe.
     Benjamin Canaday had a small house near by, and during the winter of the deep snow, the snow so nearly covered it that one could not see the house till he got right to it.  That winter the deer, and pretty much all the game, were destroyed by the snow.  He was a tinner by much all the game, were destroyed by the snow.  He was a tinner by trade, and made up a stock of tinware and traded it at Louisville for goods, which he brought back here and put into a building which he built for a store, on his farm just west of Vermilion on the Hickory Grove road.  This accidental trade made a merchant of him.  He sold goods here several years before going to Georgetown.  He became the largest merchant there, and for many years the most successful one.
     John Canaday, another son of Henry's, lived on the farm on the State road, between Vermilion and Georgetown.  He had a good farm and attended to it thoroughly.  He had five sons and two daughters.  Of these, Henry lives on the old homestead, Calvin went to Kansas,
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Benjamin lives in Champaign, John lives here, and William in the western part of the state.  Mrs. Mahaley lives near Ash Grove, in Iroquois county.
     Frederick and William Canaday still live on the farms which they made when they came to the state, - the former just north and the other west of Vermilion station.  His four sons, William, Henry, Isaac and John, live around him, worthy and honored men, who esteem it an honor to be able to cheer the declining years of him who led them in their youth in the line of an honorable life.  Of his daughters, Mrs. Lawrence resides in Kansas, Mrs. Patterson in Bethel, and Mrs. Aukrum near where her father lives.  William had four sons, three of whom reside in Champaign.  His daughters, Mrs. Herrill and Mrs. Brown, live here, and Mrs. Dr. Morris in Rockville, Indiana.  When young he had learned the saddler's trade.  His father was a tanner and a blacksmith, and as soon as he could after coming here they got these various branches of business going.  William for some years carried on harness-making and saddlery, but as soon as he could he gave it up to give better attention to his farm.  He continues to carry on his large farm, but does not stick so close to the plow as he did when a few years younger.  He keeps a hundred or ore head of cattle.  Looking back over the time which has  elapsed since the first white an settled here, he can see the changes which have taken place, from the wilderness to the present condition of wealth and prosperity.  Few people have it given them to see what William Canaday has seen.  Fifty-seven years upon the same farm!  There is the patent for his land direct from the President of the United States, with no transfers to note, - not even the modern decoration of a mortgage to cover it.  An abstract of that title could be written up in "short meter."  His life here spans the history of the county with "two laps."  Two families, which have been important factors in the history of this county, settled here in this corner of the township at a very early day, - those of Achilles Morgan and Henry Martin.  The name of the former has repeatedly appeared in this history, and as his stay here was short, and record of his life perhaps does not properly belong here.  He belonged to a family which had made a name in Virginia as Indian fighters, - a quality which was not wholly wanting in the branch of it which settled here.  He went from here to Brooks Point, and thence to Danville.  Two sons went to Texas.  One daughter married Mr. Henslee.  One married George Bocke, who took up the claim which was purchased by Mr. Haworth.  After Mr. Bocke's death she became Mrs. Coburn.  Another married Mr. Underwood, whose children still live in the eastern part of Georgetown township.  Another married Henry Martin,
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     John B. Long

     Joseph Allison lived on section 25 in 1830.  The first Methodist meetings were held at his house, and he continued an earnest and active friend of the church.
     Garrett Dillon was one of the first to settle in Pilot Grove, and was interested in the work of religion and education.  He did much to build up society here.  He died while he was on his way home from attending the yearly meeting of the Friends in Iowa.  He was a most excellent man, and his loss by death was deeply felt in the community.  His daughter, Mrs. Fletcher, still lives at Pilot Grove; his son, Will-
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iam, died at Georgetown; John was killed in Missouri by a falling tree; Mrs. Harrold, another daughter, died here, five of her eight children surviving her.  Marion has long been one of the leading business men at Ridge Farm; John is also in business there;  W. P. is on a farm, and Mrs. Dice and Mrs. Fellows reside there.
     Nathaniel Henderson built the first shanty in Harrison's purchase, and Wiley Henderson built a house there. Amos Bogue had a farm there.  This point of land became known as the "lost lands," because of its sections being numbered different from the lands about it.  Settlers squatted on it and were anxious to get titles.  Finally a sale was ordered, and most of those who lived on the lands secured them by purchase.
     The land lying between the timber and Ridge Farm was called the "Texas country," because for a long time it was so wild.  It began to fill up about 1845, and now embraces some of the finest farms in the township.
     Charles Brady walked from Centerville, Indiana, in 1831, and took up a piece of land about three miles south of Yankee Point.  He got forty acres, with Jackson's signature to the title deed, and built a slab house on it.  He died there, and his son Enoch lives at Ridge Farm where he is engaged in running the grist Mill.
     John Fletcher came from Ohio in 1836, and lived near Vermilion Grove.  He came to Pilot Grove in 1839, where he now lives.  He worked around for a while, wherever he could find work - mauling rails and making brick - until he had earned enough to buy a piece of land.  His father had entered eighty acres in Pilot Grove in 1828.  He is, and long has been, a leading man in the township, and in the society of Friends, of which he is a member.  For many years he has been on grand juries in the courts of the county, and is recognized as a man in whom the utmost confidence can be placed.  He has raised seven children, some of whom still live near the old homestead.  John Haworth, who now lives in Watseka, had a farm here when Mr. Fletcher came here to live.  His present wife, who was Mrs. Haworth, had three children, who live in Thorntown, Indiana, one of whom is a preacher.  His farm lies along the west side of Harrison's Purchase, and, from the understanding which is current as unwritten history in regard to that matter, the writer has derived the following:  When General Harrison was down on the Wabash some Indians stole nineteen horses from his camp, and a half-breed offered for a suitable compensation, to pilot a party of soldiers to where the stolen horses were concealed.  This is the highest timber-land anywhere in this vicinity, and can be seen a great distance.  The pilot led this way; but whether
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     Asa Folger

     The earlier settlers at and near Elwood were Mercer Brown, Exum Morris, David Newllin, Nathan Thornton, Elisha Mills, Isaac Smith, Wright Cook and Zimri Lewis.  They organized and maintained the Friends meeting there, and were honored and esteemed citizens.  Elsbery Gennett took up a farm near Pilot Grove early.  He patented a
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glass moth-protector for bee-hives, and made a great success of it financially.  He was a queer old man. His oddities were long the subject of remark.
     There were ...... MORE TO COME

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dren and their mother survive, of whom Amos and Mrs. Martha Henderson reside here.
     Enos Campbell

     John Whitlock

     Eli Patty

     Eli Thornton

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     Zackeus Parhum

    Joseph Ramey

     Samuel Graham

     James Hepburn

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stead, Israel in Ohio, one in Missouri, one in Iowa, and Mrs. Lashleyin this county; one grandson, Thomas, lives in Georgetown.
     Mr. Denio

     Abraham Smith

     Thomas Haworth

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RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS AND CHURCHES.

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SCHOOLS.

     The first school taught in this township, and indeed in the county, was taught by Reuben Black, who came here from Ohio, a lad of eighteen years, in teh witner of 1824-5.  It was in a log house one mile west of Vermilion station.  John Mills sent three sons and one daughter: Ira, Milican, John and Rebecca; Joseph Jackson, an Eng-
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lishman, sent two children:  Nathan and Mary; Ezekiel Hollingsworth sent four children: Jeremiah, Miles, Mahundry and John; Henry Canaday sent one; William, John Haworth sent three; Thomas, David and Elvin; fourteen in all.  The branches taught were spelling, reading and writing, and some of the older ones were in arithmetic.  The second school was taught by Elijah Yager, a Methodist minister from East Tennessee, two years later, in a cabin one mile and declamation.  He was a talented man for the times, and made very

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     Below is the record of annual town meetings and the election of the principal officers from the date of township organization:

SCHOOLS.

     Below is the record of annual town meetings and the election of the principal officers from the date of township organization:

RIDGE FARM.

     The original town of Ridge Farm was platted for record on the 10th of November, 1853, by Abraham Smith, and consisted of thirteen lots, beginning ten feet west of the west side of the state road, and eight feet south of the county road.  The same year, Thomas Haworth laid out and recorded an addition west of the state road and north of the county road.  On the 27th of February, 1856, Thomas Haworth laid out his second addition of seventeen lots.  On the 1st of December, 1854, J. W. Thompson laid out his first addition east of the state road, and south of the county road, eight lots; and in August, 1856, his second addition, thirty-two lots.  On the 11th of April, 1856, A. Smith platted his addition, six lots.  On the 25th of March, 1857, T. Haworth his third and fourth additions.  In November, 1872, A. B. Whinrey laid out an addition of two blocks at the railroad.  On the 5th of April, 1873, R. H. Davis platted his subdivision of section
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thirty.  In April, 1872, J. H. Banta platted his addition of four blocks, east of the railroad; and on the 15th of April, 1873, H. C. Smith platted an addition east of the state road.
     Soon after the town was laid out, Mr. Smith built a store near where the store of Mr. Darnall now stands, and Samuel Weeks put up a blacksmith shop where Marion Harrold's store stands.  Thomas Haworth built a store where Tuttle's tinshop is, and rented it.  John Dicken built a tavern on the corner where Davis & Dice have a store.  It was afterward moved back, and now stands there, being the rear of the store.  James Frazier built the front part to it, and kept hotel a while, and then Josiah Smith kept it a while.  I. M. Davis converted the building into a store.  Ephraim Goodwin, in 1857, built a little store which he occupied as a confectionery, on the east side of the street, and William Canaday continued the business for a while.  Weeks & Price, about the same time, put up the building on the northwest corner for a drug store.

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INCORPORATION.

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VERMILION GROVE.

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BIOGRAPHICAL
(See Biographical Index)
(NOTE:  BIOGRAPHIES for this Township are all finished.)