Pg. 41 - Industrial Review, Biographies and Portraits of Leading Citizens.

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
By Aurela Porter Brewster

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

     William Henry Harrison, whose memory permeates the whole history of this county, was born in Berkeley, Virginia, Feb. 9th, 1773.  He entered the army early, was appointed secretary of the North Western Territory and on the thirteenth of May, 1800, he was appointed Governor of Indiana Territory.  On the tenth of January following he arrived at

Vincennes and took possession of his office.  He remained in control of the executive department of the Territory until September, 1812, when he was appointed a Brigadier General and assigned to the command of the northwestern frontier.
     Secretary John Gibson became acting Governor and on the Twelfth of March, 1813, prorogued the legislature at Vincennes and directed it to reassemble at Corydon on the first Monday of the next December.  All the records and offices of the Territorial government were in the meantime moved to Corydon.
      General Harrison's career as Territorial Governor was an eventful one, yet he found time to perform the duties of a private citizen.  In 1807 he entered the lands known as the Wilson Mills property in Harrison County and built a grist mill for the manufacture of flour and meal.  He had intended making this place his home and had laid the foundation of a house but his father-in-law died leaving him property at North Bend, and

THOMAS POSEY.

     Thomas Posey, the last Governor of Indiana Territory, was born in Virginia on the banks of the Potomac, July 9th 1750.  He succeeded General Harrison as Governor of Indiana Territory on March third, 1813, and delivered his first message to the legislature assembled in Corydon on the sixth of December.  He was sixty-three years old and broken in health.  He did not like to live in Corydon and preferred Jeffersonville.

THIS OLD TREE MARKS THE BIRTHPLACE OF INDIANA

THE CONSTITUTION.

     In May, 1816, delegates were elected to make a State Constitution and met at Corydon on June 10th, 1816, and performed the work during a session of nineteen days.  This constitution was signed on the twenty-

THE FIRST ELECTION

     On the first Monday of August following officers were elected for the new State.  Indiana was admitted into the Union in December, 1816.  The population of Harrison County in 1815 was, white males twenty-one years or over, 1056, and a total of 6,975.  The county was entitled to one Senator and three Representatives.  The first Senator was Dennis Pennington, the first Representatives were David Floyd, Jacob Zenor and John Boone.  Judge Davis Floyd in 1801 was Recorder of Clark County

GOVERNOR'S "MANSION"

before Harrison was formed from it.  He was an admirer of Aaron Burr and came near being led off by that artful traitor.  Floyd was suspected of implication in the Burr conspiracy, was tried and convicted for which he received three hours imprisonment only.  At the first State election in 1816 Governor Posey was a candidate for Governor but was beaten by Jonathan Jennings, President of the convention and late delegate to Congress, by a vote of 5,211 to Posey's 3,936.
     The majority of the early settlers came from slaveholding States.  They had felt the blight of slavery and came seeking freedom in its widest sense, and brought with them their dislike to human bondage.  Jennings had been a leader of the free state party since his entrance into public life while Posey, a Virginian by birth, was considered the pro-slavery candidate.
     The pro-slavery men of the Territory kept up their organization, hoping to repeal that clause in the Ordinance of 1787 which prohibited slavery.
     It is hard to realize that slaves were ever held in Indiana, yet the first fight for Governor was made on this issue.  Slaves were held here as late as 1830.  In 1820 there still remained one hundred ninety slaves in Indiana.  The legal right to hold slaves came to an end in 1830 but the census of 1840 disclosed the fact that there were still three slaves in Indiana.  Many hundreds were brought here and liberated.  Pal Mitchem, a gentleman from Virginia, came to Corydon at a very early day, bringing with him a number of slaves whom he set free.  Their descendants have lived here since - Jonathan Mitchem, the present driver of the mail wagon from Corydon to Elizabeth, being one of them.

EDWARD SMITH

     In 1806 Edward Smith settled on the land now owned by Edward O'Connor and the Harrison County Fair Association, and on the green knoll near the spring he built his cabin.  He was born in England and came to America as a soldier in 1774.  In the spring of 1807 he brought two of his daughters and one of his sons to his home.  He raised a crop

THE BREWSTER HOME

of corn and in the fall he brought his whole family.  Mr. Smith was a member of the first grand jury of the county and his name is often seen in the old records.  He has numerous descendants now living in the county having had three sons, John, James and Samuel, and six daughters.  The daughters all married and their names became as follows:  Jennie Beeman, Polly Highfill, Sallie French, Rachel Black, Isabel Felts and Nancy Highfill.

     He was a deserter from the British army and it is not certainly known that he ever joined the American army, nevertheless the Daughters of the Revolution, represented by one of his descendants, have raised a monument to his memory.  He lies buried on the hill just south of town.  The exact spot could not be found, so it was thought best to place this monument, inscribed with his name and those of his family, in the cemetery at Mt. Zion, near Mauckport, where his wife is buried.  He died at Corydon in 1828.
     Interesting anecdotes are told of this family in connection with General Harrison.  At one time after riding through the mud from Vincennes, General Harrison stopped at night as usual at Mr. Smith's.  His clothes were dirty and his socks were not only dirty but worn at the toes, and he asked one of the girls to wash a pair for him.  She cut off the worn toes and by the light of a lard lamp knitted new toes and had them ready to put on in the morning.  Governor Harrison did not forget this kindness and when next he came through he bought the young lady a five dollar shawl as a token of his thanks.  At this time he was accompanied by a single aid, Lieutenant Randolph, and they both slept in the gallery.  This gallery is elsewhere described.

CAPTAIN SPIER SPENCER

     In 1811 war with England seemed almost inevitable, and the British agent for Indian affairs was doing all in his power to secure the support of the Indians.  A great Indian confederacy was formed under Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, who with a number of his followers settled near the mouth of the Keth-tippe-ce-nunk meaning Buffalo Fish and now called Tippecanoe.  Governor Harrison exhausted every endeavor to maintain peace and at last under instructions of the President resorted to military measures and gathered an army to break up the assembly of hostile Indians.  Spier Spencer lived in Corydon in a large double log house on Oak Street.  He came from Kentucky to Vincennes and from there to Corydon in 1809 and was the first sheriff of the county.  Spencer moved his goods from Vincennes in a pirogue down the Wabash to its mouth and then up the Ohio river to Morvin.  His family had come overland and were stopping at General Harrison's Mills on Blue River.
     He organized a military company called "the Yellow Jacks" for the Indian war.  With Lieutenants Berry and Richard McMahan, Ensign John Tipton and his company he started on the tenth of September, 1811, on the campaign that ended in the battle of Tippecanoe November seventh, 1811.  In this battle Captain Spencer was badly wounded and his men  

THE OLD BOONE CAVE

(among whom was Samuel Pfrimmer, father of Major J. S. Pfrimmer) were carrying him off the field when a second shot entered his shoulder and ended his life.  In his company from Harrison County were Robert Biggs, Jonathan Wright, Daniel Bell, Philip Bell, John Hughes, Elijah Hurst and John or Jack Hurst.
     Captain Spencer left a widow and five daughters.  These were Delilah wife of Dr. James B. Slaughter, Nancy, wife of David Bell, Mathilda, wife of John Tipton, Jane, Mrs. Davis, and Sarah, wife of George P. R. Wilson.  His two sons, Captain George Spencer and Lieutenant James Spencer, were both educated at West Point and afterwards lived military lives.  Lieutenant James Spencer became involved in a duel in which he was wounded and in which he shot off his opponent's cravat.  Captain Spier Spencer had kept hotel and his widow continued it.  She afterwards married William Boone and together they kept the old "Billy Boone Tavern," so famous in its day.

GENERAL JOHN TIPTON.

     John Tipton, afterwards General Tipton, soldier and statesman, came to Harrison County in 1807 and settled near Brinley's Ferry on the Ohio River.  At the first election under the State Constitution Tipton was elected sheriff of the county and the records show that in the July term of court 1817 he and his deputy, Hiram C. Boone, were fined one dollar each for not keeping order in the court room.  His father had been killed by the Indians and he felt it a duty to avenge this death and many an Indian "bit and dust" at command of his rifle.
     Tipton kept a journal of the Tippecanoe campaign and it closes as follows:
     "Sunday a cloudy and rainy morning.  We moved early.  Came to Corydon at half past ten.   I staid two hours and half; took breakfast; moved up to Coonrod's; found my Lt. and sick man.  Staid 2 hours; had my horse fed; got some whiskey; met one of my neighbors.  Moved again and at 2 o'clock got safe home after a campaign of 74 days.  John Tipton."
     He says he was with Spencer's company of forty-seven riflemen besides officers and Captain R. M. Heath with twenty-two men.
     An election for officers was held after the battle when Tipton was elected Captain, Samuel Flanagan First Lieutenant, Jacob Zenor Second

Lieutenant and Philip Bell Ensign.  Tipton rose by regular graduation until he became a Brigadier General in the service of the State.  He donated to the State the beautiful battle ground of Tippecanoe.  He died at Logansport, April seventh, 1839, and was buried with military honors.

COLONEL LEWIS JORDAN

     Colonel Lewis Jordan was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, on the fourteenth of March, 1792.  He was decidedly military in his tastes, and in the war of 1812 served in Captain Richard Proctor's company, Seventh Regiment Virginia Volunteers.  His father was a Hessian soldier in the Revolutionary war who fell in love with a pretty girl in Frederick, Maryland, and married her after the war closed.  Colonel Jordan held

COLONEL LEWIS JORDAN

commissions in the Indiana Militia bearing the signatures of six Indiana governors commencing with Jonathan Jennings in 1822 and ending with O. P. Morton in 1861.
     In 1819 Colonel Jordan and his brother Benjamin settled three miles south of Corydon on land which has ever since remained in possession of members of the Jordan family.
     In 1828 he moved to Corydon where he operated a tannery.  In 1861 he was appointed Colonel of the Sixth Regiment, Indiana Legion, and was in command at the time of the Morgan Raid.  With only four hundred raw men with which to oppose three thousand trained and experienced troops he made such a brave resistance as to retard their progress for several hours thus gaining time until more effective help could be secured.  He was twice Postmaster and once Justice of the Pearce in Corydon.  He died July fifth, 1873.

THE CROSIER FAMILY

     A party of pilgrims composed of Dr. Adam Douglas, Grandfather Crosier, Grandfather Stokoe, Anthony Dodd and wife, Adam Dodd, Robert Crosier and members of their families to the number of twenty-eight left Ontario in New York, then called Manhattan, on the seventh of February, 1816, their destination being the Wabash district, then the farthest limit west.  These emigrants by walking and the help of an ox-cart, made their way to Olean Point, the headwaters of the Allegheny River.  From there they floated down the river in a broadhorn to Tobacco Landing, reaching that place on the third of June.  There the health of Mrs. Crosier failed and, leaving the river, they settled temporarily in Boone Township and finding good land and good water concluded to stay there instead attempting to go farther.
     Uncle Sam was generous with his children who went out to till his fields in the early morning hours of the nation's day and gave them their homes cheap.  Mr. Crosier bought a thousand acres of land, paying therefor from twelve and a half to twenty-five cents an acre.

COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING

     The nearest postoffice was Corydon and Sarah Douglas, afterwards Mrs. Adam Crosier, and an older sister walked there once a month for the mail, wading Buck Creek on the way.  Half way they stopped at the nearest neighbor's to rest.  With the hospitality of the times a lunch of corn bread and milk was given them and while they ate, their host looked over the county paper to see if a letter was advertised for them.  If they were so fortunate as to get one, they paid twenty-five cents postage on it.

PATRICK SHIELDS

     Patrick Shields was one of the first Judges of the Court of Common Pleas and in every way one of the first men of the county.  He was born in Virginia in 1773.  In 1800 he came to Kentucky and in the spring of 1805 he moved to Indiana and settled about two miles below the present site of New Albany in a cane-brake on the banks of the Ohio River.  He, with his wife, three young children and Sam, a negro slave, crossed  the river in a large pirogue.  they had to take the wheels off the wagons in

Old Goshen Church

crossing.  After a time the river began to rise and Mr. Shields determined to change his location.  With much difficulty they made their way through the woods and cane-brakes down Little Indian Creek and settled near where the town of Crandall now stands.
     It was an unbroken forest, infested by bears, deer and other wild animals.  Mrs. Shields father, Mr. Nance, was a Presbyterian clergyman who lived near the crossing place of the river.  At Mr. Shields' invitation he came over on a visit the first Sunday that the family spent in their new home, and preached the first sermon there in the dense woods to an audience of six persons, three of whom only were adults and capable of understanding what the preacher said.
     Wild game was the chief article of food the first year, as the crop of corn and pumpkins was destroyed by frost.
     Daniel Dean came a year afterwards and the Greshams and Penningtons settled about a mile east of where Lanesville now stands.  Dennis Pennington was fond of a joke.  He used to visit Mr. Shields' house and talk politics one part of the night and religion the other.
     Near Buck Creek were other settlers, among whom were the Deckers, Smiths, Gwins and Calhouns, and on Big Indian Creek at the same time were Isom Stroud, Teeson Byrn and Daniel Stout.

THE BOONES

     A glamour of romance hangs over the name of Boone and everything pertaining to their history is full of interest.  Squire Boone, a brother of Daniel and, like him a famous hunter, settled in Harrison County in 1807 where better game was to be found than on the Kentucky side.  His sons, Enoch, Isaiah, Moses and Jonathan grew to be useful men in the community, uniting patriotism with fervid piety.  The Bible names given

Rogers Camp Ground

to his sons show the religious tern of mind of the old hunter and that his heart was given to God while he made glad the wilderness and the solitary place.  His children followed in his footsteps.  Isaiah donated land in Corydon for the first Methodist church and Moses  was one of the builders of Old Goshen where he and his neighbors worshipped eighty years ago.  Moses Boone was one of the three earliest Judges of the Probate court. 
     Squire Boone was an excentric character but a man of sterling worth.  One one of his hunting expeditions he was walking along a bluff of Buck Creek, and discovered a small opening leading to a cave such as might

     Some of these stones were afterwards placed as a foundation for a mill which he built nearby on a stream which rushes in a violent current from a cave higher up in the rocks.
     Squire Boone directed that after his death his body should be placed in a cavern that had sheltered him in extremity.  This was done and for years the body of the giant pioneer lay undisturbed in this rocky tomb.  In time his skull and then his bones were carried away by relic hunters and nothing now remains but the inscriptions made by his own hand.

BRIGADIER-GENERAL PHILIP BARBOUR

     Among the many monuments in Cedar Hill Cemetery that might furnish interesting records of past history we mention but one - a solid piece of brick masonry covered with a heavy slab of sandstone now grey with age.  Brigadier General Philip Barbour rode on horseback through from Virginia to bring some business before the legislature when Corydon was the capital of the State.  He contracted a severe cold on the way resulting in pneumonia and causing his death.
     He was an honored member of the fraternity of Masons who attended him through his sickness and at his death took charge of his remains.  As there were no facilities then for shipping the body home, the lodge buried him here and placed the stone above his grave which they have ever since kept in good repair.  He was at one time a candidate before the National Convention for the office of Vice President of the United States, and was associated with Alexander Hamilton in the publication of "The Federalist.

THE GRESHAM FAMILY

     Mrs. Sarah Rumley, whose maiden name was Davis, was born in Springfield, Kentucky, Sept. 5th, 1807.  She came with her parents to Harrison County when twelve years of age.  In 1825 she was married to William Gresham and came as a bride to live in the house near Lanesville where she died, Mar. 6, 1905.  In January, 1834, Mr. Gresham was killed while performing his duty as Sheriff, an account of which is given.

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MRS. SARAH RUMLEY, Deceased
Photo taken February 10, 1906

elsewhere.  Thus after a married life of ten years she was left a widow with five children.  She was afterward married to Nathan Rumley.  Her eldest son, Colonel Benjamin Gresham, was a soldier of the Mexican and the Civil War.
     Colonel Gresham served through the Civil War.  Two daughters, Mrs. Smith, of St. Louis and Miss Mead Gresham are still living.

PETER N. ZENOR

     Peter N. Zenor, a grandson of Peter McIntosh, one of the earliest Probate judges of the county, was several times a member of the Legislature.  He was chosen a member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1850.  During the war he was elected to the office of county Commissioner to fill the vacancy made by the death of Colonel Jacob Ferree who was killed in the Morgan Raid.  He spent his life on the farm on which he was born June eleventh, 1820.

ALEXANDER HOCKADAY

    Alexander Hockaday was born in Danville, Kentucky, October, 1792, and died in Harrison County January fourth, 1894, thus living to be over one hundred and one years of age.  He and his brother William came to Indiana to live before New Albany was founded, locating on the knobs just below the present site of New Albany.  Alexander was married there and moved to Blue River township in Harrison County where he erected a blacksmith shop.  He reared a large family of children, ten of whom are still living.  His father was a Revolutionary soldier.

T. C. SLAUGHTER

     T. C. Slaughter, son of Dr. James B. Slaughter and his wife, Delilah Spencer, was born Nov. 16, 1820 and died in 1879.  He was the first Auditor of the county.  In 1851 was editor of the Western Argus.  In 1860 was a member of the National Convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln.  In 1862 was assessor of Internal revenue.  In 1872 was Judge of the Circuit Court and filled many other honorable places in the County.

WALTER QUINTON GRESHAM.

     Walter Quinton Gresham was born at Lanesville, Indiana, Mar. 17, 1832; died at Washington, D. C., May 28, 1895.  A politician, jurist, and general.  He was admitted to the bar in 1853, and joined the Union army at the beginning of the Civil War, serving as a division commander in Blair's corps before Atlanta, and being brevetted major-general of volun-

WALTER QUINTON GRESHAM

teers March thirteenth, 1865.  He was United States judge for the district of Indiana 1869-82; was postmaster-general 1882-84; was secretary of treasury in 1884; and became secretary of state in Cleveland's cabinet in 1893.  He is buried in Arlington Cemetery.

COLONEL J. J. LEHMANOSKY

     Colonel J. J. Lehmanosky, of the Ninth Polish Lancers of the Army of France, was in some respects the most remarkable man who ever made Harrison County his home.  He was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1773.  He was a member of an ancient Jewish family, but when a young man became a Christian and a member of the Lutheran Church.  Leaving Poland after its ineffectual fight for freedom, he went to France and drifted into the army.  He was identified with napoleon Bonaparte's fortunes from the first and was a member of the Old Guard, the very flower of the army, until the battle of Waterloo put an end to Napoleon's career.
     With many other officers of note he was thrown into prison, but managed to escape and eventually found his way to America.  He was then only forty years old.  He lived in many eastern cities, among them Washington, D. C., and was well known and honored every where.  Wearied out with his stormy life, he sought retirement from the world and came west in 1833 settling in Harrison County two miles and a half from Corydon.  His wife died and in 1837 he married Miss Lydia Seig, sister of Monroe, Paul  and John Q. A. Seig.  His son, Martin is living and also his daughter Mrs. Nicholas Reising.
     Colonel Lehmanosky kept his Christian faith through all his years of warfare and became a Lutheran preacher of great influence.  He lectured frequently on the incidents of his life.  He bore scores of wounds having participated in two hundred and fourteen battles.  He died in Ohio over eighty years of age.

GEORGE P. R. WILSON

     George P. R. Wilson was a well known and popular citizen who served eleven times in the Legislature.  He was noted for his oratorical powers

and on this account was chosen by his party in 1845 to run against Robert Dale Owen for Congress.  He married Sarah, youngest daughter of Captain Spier Spencer.

DAVID DEATRICK

     David Deatrick came from near Staunton, Virginia in 1816.  He is now living in Elizabeth and passed his ninty-ninth birthday in May last.  He has voted for nineteen Presidents.

HENRY FUNK

     Henry Funk was born in Harrison County, near the Ohio River, November twenty-1809, and is therefore almost ninty-seven years old.  In youth he was left without a father and, with his mother and sisters, settled on the Pitman farm two and a half miles from Corydon.  He sold fruit and vegetables in Corydon when a boy and remembers selling hazel nuts

to the members of the Legislature which convened in the old Court House when Corydon was the capital.  He went to Elizabeth when a young man, was married in 1832, and bought the farm on which he still lives.  He voted twice for W. H. Harrison and at every Presidential election since.

DANIEL McRAE

     Daniel McRae came to Harrison County in 1814 and settled on the land where New Middletown now stands.  His son, Captain John McRae, who died a year ago at the age of eighty-five, was a well known steamboat man.   In 1863 he was captain of a steamer belonging to the Marine Brigade which  paroled the lower river to seize "guerillas" who were devastating the country.  His home was on a farm near Evans' Landing.
     In 1807 Robert Denbo settled a few miles south of Corydon.  His only neighbor was Samuel Boone, three or four miles away, none other nearer than ten miles.  He had to go to the falls to mill.  Richard and Joseph McMahon settled in this neighborhood in 1808.

JAMES TROTTER

     James Trotter was born in Armaugh County, Ireland, January first, 1811.  He emigrated to Baltimore in 1816 and came to Harrison County in November, 1826, and settled near Lopp's Landing on the farm where he now resides.  Besides his work as a farmer he made seventy-five trips on flat boats down the river with products of his farm.  He was brought up a Presbyterian but there being no church of this denomination in his vicini-

JAMES TROTTER

ty he joined the United Brethren church and assisted in building a church which is still in use.  He has been a Sabbath School teacher for fifty years.  His present charge is the infant class which he supplies with candy every Sunday.  He is a public spirited citizen and enjoys to the full the respect and confidence of his neighbors.

WILLIAM M. SAFFER

     Mr. Saffer was born in Virginia and came with his parents to Harrison County when a small boy.  He was elected to the State Legislature in 1853 on the Democratic ticket.   While there he was very active in the temperance cause and helped to make Indiana a prohibition State in 1855.  He was the temperance candidate for Governor before the convention which nominated A. P. Willard as an anti-temperance candidate.  Mr. Saffer was beaten by one vote and Mr. Willard was afterwards elected Governor.
     He was a self made man and took great pleasure in telling how he obtained the little education he possessed.  He was by no means a learned man and occupying as he did, a prominent position, was often the butt of jokers who undertook to make fun of him; he was an Irishman though, with the proverbial ready wit of his race and generally managed to come

SOLOMON WINN

     Solomon Winn was born in Barren County, Kentucky, January twelfth, 1811.  He emigrated to Baltimore in 1816 and came to Harrison County in Blue River Township.  The town of Winnsboro was named after the elder Winn who owned much land and gave the land on which Thompson's

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SOLOMON WINN, Age 100 Years.

Chapel was built.  Mr. Winn remembers very much about the early years of Corydon, as he frequently sold vegetables to the residents.  He will be 100 years old on his next birthday and bears his years well.

JESSE SHIELDS

     Jesse Shields was probably the first person to settle in Ripperdans Valley.

MORE PIONEER HISTORY

     Squire Smith settled on the Charley place in 1808.  After him Jacob Charley had a mill there.  The house had the usual big fireplace where the cooking was done.  People for miles around the country gathered there to have their grinding done.  They brought their own victuals with them as, sometimes, they were obliged to stay for days at a time before they could get their grinding done.
     Distilleries were everywhere, at convenient distances, to work up the quantities of fruit for which the county has always been famous.  The first one on record was built in 1816, but doubtless many were in operation before that time.  There was a distillery on the Harrison farm.  Our forefathers drank unadulterated whiskey and entirely too much

WINTER SCENE OF THE SPRING AND AMPHITHEATRE IN THE BEAUTIFUL FAIR GROUNDS OF THE HARRISON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, AT CORYDON.

     The soil of Harrison County, like all of Indiana, being far distant from the primitive range of mountains is formed from the destruction of a vast variety of rocks and sediment.  This has been blended by air and water and has all the elements of extraordinary fertility.  Especially does this bear on the quantity and quality of the fruit raised in the county.  The flavor of the apples and peaches raised here cannot be excelled.  Elsewhere is an account of some ancient apple trees growing on the Harrison farm; these are not exceptional but such cases are frequent over the county.  There is a pear tree growing on the farm formerly owned by William Sonner near Valley City planted in 1819 and still bearing fruit.
     Harrison County abounds in springs, caves and openings underground.  It is scarcely possible to dig a cellar or foundation to a house in the vicinity of Corydon without reaching water.  So cavernous is the ground that in many places reverberations are heard after ordinary footsteps that seem to indicate a hollowness beneath.  Numerous small caves are found where the air is icy cold as in the case of the cave in the vicinity of the Old Elm.  Small caves and running springs of water are at the bottom of several wells.  A case of this kind is found in the old well in what is now a part of A. W. Brewster's garden.  This well was ever considered dangerous and no one could be found to go down in it to clean it, hence it was abandoned long ago.
     Six miles west of Corydon is Wilson's Spring, sixty feet in diameter.  It has been sounded over forty feet before the bottom was found.  the Blue Spring on the eastern edge of Corydon is a like curiosity, although familiarity has robbed it of its wonder.  It pours out a limitless supply of

GHOST STORY

     Between Lopp's Landing and Mauckport a cabin was built long ago by a boatman who landed, burnt a lime kiln and made ready to go down the river with a load.  Instead of this he was murdered and robbed, his head cut off and his body thrown into the river.  At various times since then this headless man as been seen in Haunted Hollow, as it is called.  It is a dreary, lonely spot and the traveler instinctively hurries through having a feeling that the "gobblins will git him if he don't watch out."

INDIAN STORY

     Elizabeth Polk, daughter of Colonel Polk, an old Indian fighter, and wife of Spier Spencer, was stolen by the Indians when a child.  The father and brothers were away from home after Indians when another party attacked the house carrying away the women and children.  All were recovered except the little girl Elizabeth to whom an old squaw had taken a liking.  They were obliged to get the British to negotiate with the Indians and were able to get her back on payment of sixty dollars.

PIONEER CHURCHES AND MINISTERS.

     Old Goshen Church in Boone township is, without doubt, the oldest church in Harrison County.  It is standing just as it did when Moses Boone and George Bartley cut down the trees and hewed the logs on the spot and put up the building in 1813.  The cemetery adjoining has moss grown tombstones almost a hundred years old, bearing the names of Douglas, Boone and many another well known pioneer and their descendants to the third generation.
     John George Pfrimmer, a United Brethren preacher, organized all the early churches of that denomination in the State.  He built Pfrimmers Chapel in 1818.  The present church stands on the old site.
     James Armstrong, a Methodist preacher, came to this county in 1800 and settled just below Lanesville.  He travelled and preached all over the State in school houses and churches and at camp meetings.
     Roger's Chapel in Posey township is among the oldest in the county.  Mr. Rogers and Mr. Potts, the latter, father-in-law of Henry Funk, gave the land and it was named for Mr. Rogers.  The first log house is gone and the present one stands in the same place.  Mrs. Rogers is buried there.

UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH, CORYDON.

     The land for Thompson's Chapel in Spencer township was deeded July thirty-first, 1824, by John Hughes to be used as a Methodist Church and a schoolhouse.  It was named for William Thompson, a typical pioneer preacher, who accepted just what people chose to give him for his services.  He had a buffalo overcoat that sheltered him in rain or snow, or served as a saddle blanket while riding.  At night it was rolled up for a pillow and its owner slept on the ground wherever night overtook him.
     A Dunkard church stood long ago near Bradford.  The cemetery is filled with tombstones with inscriptions that date back a hundred years.
     Levi Long was a noted Baptist preacher.  He was the son of a Revolutionary soldier and was born about the time the war closed.  While still a young man he came to Indiana and began preaching.  He travelled over Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio and asked no pay for his services.  His wife was a charitable woman who managed to knit and give away four or five dozen pairs of socks every winter.  Her husband seems to have ap-

ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, SCHOOL AND PARSONAGE, BRADFORD

preciated her for he was wont to say "It's a good thing everybody does not see alike or they would all have wanted my Sukie."
     Mr. Long helped to build the old State House and when the corner stone was laid he put in some coins.  His ready assistance was given to help build nearly all the Baptist churches in the county.  He was buried at Oak Grove.
     The famous Republican meeting house was located in Ripperan's Valley.  the house was built by the united efforts of the neighborhood in 1828 and answered the double purpose of church and schoolhouse.  It was free to all denominations.  The first Baptist preachers were Revs. Lone, Armstrong and Levi Long.  Lutheran ministers were Henkle, Reiser and Krack.  Presbyterians were Martin and Dubuar.  Methodists were Revs. Daniels and W. C. Smith.  The Methodists organized here about 1838 and in 1847 had the first Sunday School, Aaron Bean Superintendent.  The first person buried on the church lot was Eli J. Wright, son of Joel Wright.

There are now over two hundred buried there.  The old church was sold about 1873 and moved to New Amsterdam and the high water of 1884 carried it away.
     The Christian Church building in Corydon was originally a United Brethren Church.  The ground was donated by Dr. D. G. Mitchell.  Rev. Lyman Chittenden was the last preacher of that denomination who had charge.  this was in 1852.  Soon afterwards it was bought by a small membership of the Christian Church and at different times has been renovated and improved until 1903 when it took on its present handsome appearance.
     On the seventh day of September, 1826, Isaiah Boone, son of Squire Boone, deeded to Thomas Highfill, John Smith, Jacob Kintner, Jacob Hisey and Benjamin Adams, trustees, the south half of lot number forty-

ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, CORYDON

three in the town of Corydon to build a house for the use of the Methodist church.  This building stood until 1859 when it gave place to a new and larger one.  This in turn was remodeled in 1902 and is now a commodious and beautiful structure.
     It would be useless, in the short space of this history to try to enumerate those who preached the word in this old church.  the Recording Angel can call their names, although to earthly vision they may not appear on any costly stone or monument of marble.
     In 1810 Rev. Dr. Crowe of Hanover came to Corydon and organized a Presbyterian church with Mr. Armstrong and Henry Rice, father of John Rice, as ruling elders.  A small church was built in 1819.  Its earliest pastor was William W. Martin, known as Father Martin.  His sons, D. N., Dr. William A. P. and Dr. Claludius B. H. became ministers, the two former going to China as Missionaries.  When W. A. P. Martin was born his father was absent from home at a meeting of Presbytery.  Word was sent

ST. MARY'S CATHOLLIC CATHEDRAL, LANESVILLE.

him and he announced the fact to the assembly and added "Here is a young missionary."  His words were prophetic.  W. A. P. Martin went to China and is still there an aged missionary.  For many years he has been President of the Imperial College at Pekin and was a trusted advisor during the Boxer uprising.  Five of the seven daughters of Father Martin married Presbyterian ministers.  Three brother-in-laws, Samuel, Thomas and William A. P. Alexander were all ministers, the latter being a missionary in the Sandwich Islands.  The first permanent pastor was Alexan-

der Williamson who came to Corydon in 1824 and married Miss Lydia Rice in 1826.  Mr. Williamson went in 1822 as missionary to Mississippi.  He died in Corydon in 1849 and is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery.  Mrs. Eleanor Slemons, now living at the age of eighty-six, the oldest surviving member, was baptised in the old Court House before the church was built.
     The Catholic Cathedral at Lanesville is one of the finest churches in the State.  The congregation dates back to 1843 when Father Opperman on

ST. BERNARD'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, FRENCHTOWN

his way to Oldenburg stopped to give services to the few Catholic families there.  These services were held in an old dwelling just in front of where the church now stands.  At this time three hundred and twenty-five dollars was paid for land on which to build a church.  The first church was built in 1849 by Father Neyron. In 1854 Rev. Alphonse Munshina took charge and provided a school and a parsonage for the Sisters of Providence.
     The first mission was preached at this place by Father Weningerb in 1855.  The magnificent church which now stands was begun in 1856 and

FIRST METHODIST CHURCH, CORYDON

occupied in 1860.  It was dedicated by Bishop de St. Palais in June, 1864.  Father Munshina was pastor for thirty-nine years and was succeeded by Rev. A. Peckskamp in 1893 and who is still its pastor.  Father Peckskamp was born in Dama Oldenberg, Germany, August twenty-ninth, 1849, and emigrated to America in 1860.  During Father Peckskamp's pastorate he has spent over five thousand dollars on the interior decoration of the church and built a magnificant brick school building that cost about five thousand dollars more.

EARLY MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

     It may not be amiss to recount some of the old time manners and customs and to begin at the foundation: - it was not possible at that early perriod to keep provided with shoes, hence going barefooted was customary everywhere, even in winter.  Dr. G. D. Mitchell, a self made man, went to school barefooted over the snow.  He carried a puncheon slab well heated and frequently stopped to stand awhile on this to get his feet warm and would then proceed on his way.  The pioneers who worshipped at Goshen Church dressed themselves in their clean clothes and went to church bare-footed.  Mr. John Lane, now dead, was heard to say he never had shoes when a boy but ran over the ice and snow as nimbly as if well shod.
     The wild grass, mast and roots were so abundant in the woods that hogs, cattle and horses required little other food.  the farms consisted most of cornfields.  Hogs ran wild and had to be marked or they would house to defend the rights of the owners.  It is amusing to read descriptions of some of these marks.
     Fires were lighted with a tinder box or two hard substances rubbed together until a spark would be engendered which set fire to inflammable

CORYDON BEAUTIFUL

RESIDENCE OF DR. JNO. E. LAWSON

THE TEACHERS OF SPENCER TOWNSHIP.

Top Row:
G. W. Boldt, No. 3, Milltown
Dan Davis, No. 1, Depauw
Katie E. Louden, No. 9, Moberly
Corda Shaffer, No. 7, Corydon
Daniel Swarens, No. 8, Milltown

Next Row (2nd from top)
Kenneth Rothrock, No. 6, Depauw
Sallie Pitman, No. 12, Depauw
J. V. G. Louden, trustee
Dora E. Louden, No. 5, Moberly
Florence Louden, No. 10, Depauw

Next Row (3rd from top)
Ed. L. Watson, No. 4, Moberly
Vada Sieg, No. 11, Depauw
Bayward Bell, No. 2, Depauw

TRUSTEE AND TEACHERS OF TAYLOR TOWNSHIP, 1905-6

Next Row (4th from top)
W. S. Russell, Trustee, Evans Landing
Arminda Noe, No. 1, Evans Landing
Chas. Wilson, No. 6, Elizabeth
Ella McCauley, No. 9, Evans Landing

Next Row (5th from top)
Lawrence Reeves, No. 2, Elizabeth
Kate Ansetz, No. 3, Evans Landing
Walter Applegate, No. 4, Elizabeth
Corena Lamb, No. 5, Evans Landing

MURDER OF WILLIAM GRESHAM

     In January, 1834, a disturbance arose in the Sipes neighborhood, near Blue River township.  Levi Sipes, a young man, became enraged over a whipping given his brother in school and grew so unruly that the local authorities were not able to manage him.  They sent for the County Sheriff, William Gresham, that he might arrest him.  Sipes shot Mr. Gresham and afterwards slashed him with a knife.  The body of Gresham was prepared for burial and brought to Corydon and afterwards taken to his home near Lanesville.  Sipes was tried at the April term of Court, 1835, and was defended by Honorable John Rowan, of Louisville, Kentucky.  Charles Dewey was prosecuting attorney.  The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter and punishment fixed at twenty-one years in penitentiary and one thousand dollars fine.  Sipes was pardoned by the Governor after having served four or five years imprisonment and his fine was remitted.
     During the September term of court in 1850 St. Clair Young was shot and killed at the Jameson boarding house in Corydon by William C. Marsh.  Mr. Young's son had married a daughter of Mr. Marsh and family troubles had followed until the two were bitter enemies.  At the dinner table that

SCENE OF THE CONRAD HOME
Where "White-Capping" ended in Harrison County with the death of five leading citizens.
 

MURDER AT MAUCKPORT

     In the summer of 1854 Reuben Williams killed Benjamin Miller at Mauckport.  Williams had, prior to the killing, been employed by Miller to work in his mill.  They had a difficulty and Williams was discharged.  It was believed that Williams slipped up behind Miller while he was at work and struck him on the head with a hatchet.  Williams was tried and acquitted by a jury and made his escape from Mauckport immediately.
     the following account of the Indiana White Caps is condensed from an article published in a Pennsylvania paper and prepared by George C. Irwin of the Democratic office:  The first case of White Capping was the flagellation of James Keen in 1868.  He was accused of stealing from his neighbors in Scott township.  He returned to Kentucky.

THE "WHITE CAPS"

     In 1873 there came into existence a secret organization known as the "Harrison County Regulators", a society which had signs, grips, passwords and binding obligations. The name "White Caps" was suggested by the white hoods worn by them as a disguise.  Each council had two officers - a captain and a lieutenant, and their place of meeting was in some sequested spot at midnight.  At these meetings they heard reports from committees of investigation and decided on the punishment for alleged misdemeanors.  The members were then provided with strong hickory switches, and, upon command of the captain the company galloped away on its mission of vindicating the offended law.
     Within the next few years over twenty cases of White Capping occurred.  The number of lashes given was usually fifty but sometimes as many as seventy-five were given.  It was useless to appeal to the courts for nothing could ever be proved against the accused Regulators.
     The first sacrifice of life in these hazardous White Cap operations was in Blue River township on the night of April twenty-sixth, 1880.  Henry Long was termed a "jack leg lawyer" and accused of stirring up strife in the neighborhood.  He was a man of well known courage and they resorted to a ruse to avert danger to themselves.  They had him arrested on a trumped up charge and the trial set at night with a long array of witnesses to prolong it until a late hour.
     The trial was proceeding before Squire Archibald Boston when the Regulators appeared.  Long had been disarmed but a friend had managed to slip him a revolver.  He sprang to the door and shot the first masked man who entered.  He lived but a short time and p[roved to be Louis Hen-

     Another story is of a squirrel hunt in 1825l to which a prize added zest.  Captain William Heth and Captain Isaac Sonner headed each a band of twenty-five men and they were to capture as many squirrels as possible, the prize to go to the band having the greatest number.  A difficulty arose over the matter and a fight ensued in which Captain Heth came out second best.

INDIANS

     Until the close of the territorial government three-fourths of the state was in possession of the Indians.  By treaties with them the bounds of the Vincennes tract were laid so that its survey might be made.  The Delawares and Piankeshaws were the last to cede.  the Indian trail running diagonally across the north of Harrison County on Indiana maps shows a portion of this boundary.  The Indians still roamed around when Corydon was a town of three houses but they were generally friendly.  A party of them visited the cabin of Edward Smith and found only the children at home, the parents being on a visit in Lanesville, the nearest neighborhood.  The Indians gave the children some ornaments made of shells and departed peacefully.  At another time Dr. English, whose sisters had married respectively Dennis and William Pennington, was visiting Mr. Smith.  He, with his sisters, in their youth, had been held in captivity by the Delaware Indians.  It happened that a party of Delawares were camping where Mauck's Mill afterwards stood and by some means heard of Dr. English's presence so near.  They threatened his recapture and he became alarmed.  With the guidance of some of Mr. Smith's family he went away and never returned.

DEEDS OF VIOLENCE

     In 1812 Colonel Posey was Pension Agent.  A pensioner named White came to town to draw his pension and stopped at the Spencer House where a stranger named Cooley was staying.  In the evening these men went out together for a good time and White got very drunk.  In the morning he found his money gone and suspician was at once laid on Cooley.  Some of the citizens, Tipton, Mefford, Fred Kintner, Vigus and others, tried to get him to confess but failed, whereupon they took him out and whipped him.  After many strips to no purpose, Tipton remarked "We will be prosecuted anyhow, so let's wear him out."  Some of the crowd started off for more switches and while they were gone the culprit confessed and told where he had secreted the money.  It was found and given to the owner and the culprit allowed to depart.  This is the first affair of this kind on record.

SCENE AT THE WEST BRIDGE, CORYDON
Where Devin and Tennyson were hung

day the quarrel was renewed and Young threw a fork at Marsh when Marsh drew a revolver and shot him dead.
     This case came up for trial April thirteenth, 1852, with W. T. Otto, Judge and G. A. Bicknell, Prosecutor.  Lawyers for prosecution were Ben Hardin of Kentucky, Charles Dewey, James Collins, Jr., and S. K. Wolfe.  For defense were R. Crawford, W. A. Porter, H. P. Thornton, A. P. Willard, S. H. Keene and D. W. Lafollette.  Jurors were William Hancock, Jonathan P. Cole, Isaac Pitman, George Wright, Wm. Evans, W. M. Bruce, James Wright, Oliver W. Littell, William Wright, John R. Horner, William Wright and Craven Lynn.
     The case was around for prosecution by Dewey and Hardin and for defense by Porter and Keen.  Marsh was acquitted.  A few years after, in 1858, during a term of court at Brandenburg, Mr. Marsh was standing on the steps of a hotel in that town when Stanley Young, a son of St. Clair Young, went out on the top of a veranda nearby, shot him dead and made his escape.  He was never captured and it is supposed he entered the Southern army and was killed. 

riott, a leading citizen of the township.  After the first shot the revolver failed to work or he would no doubt have succeeded in selling his life more dearly.  Almost miraculously he escaped from the mob, not, however, before receiving a shot in the head that resulted in his death a few days later.

THE HANGING OF DEVIN AND TENNYSON

     At twelve o'clock at night, June twelfth, 1889, one hundred and fifty horsemen rode into Corydon and a few minutes later James Devin and Charles Tennyson had been taken from the jail and were dangling at the ends of ropes from the girders of the bridge just west of town.  The crime for which they expiated their lives was as follows:  Friday, June seventh, 1889, James Devin and Charles Tennyson went to the home of James Lemay, four miles northeast of Corydon, ostensibly as stockbuyers.  They were given supper and while eating they kept looking about the room in a suspicious manner.  Mr. Lemay noticed this and armed himself with a revolver.
     The men were told their room was ready and they could retire when they wished, one of them drew a revolver and ordered the family, consisting of Mr. Lemay and his wife, his two neices and a hired man, into a room and shut the doors.  When the doors were closed Mr. "Lemay reached for his revolver and the man nearest him commenced shooting.  A continuous firing was kept up between them.
     Mr. Lemay fired three shots and was wounded five times, and Miss Lucy Lemay was wounded in the arm.  After emptying his revolver Devin ran out the door and Tennyson went headforemost out of the window.  Miss Matilda Lemay ran out and rang the farm bell for help, but the men had escaped.  They were captured next day at New Albany and brought to Corydon and placed in jail.  Their punishment followed as above described.

THE "WHITE CAP" DRAMA ENDS.

     The closing scene in this White Cap drama was enacted in "Conrad's Hollow" near the source of Mosquito Creek in Boone township, Saturday night, August fifth, 1893.  In a cabin in this Hollow, Sam and Bill Conrad lived with their mother and sister.  The father, Edward Conrad, had been found in a dying condition a few hundred yards from his door some months prior to the above date and suspicion of murdering him rested on the two sons.  They were tried in Corydon but no proof being found against them they were discharged from custody.