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FLINN TOWNSHIP

     Flinn township is situated on the eastern border of the county near the center, and was called after the Flinn family, whose history is written above.  The early settlers were classed as squatters, or, in other words, men who lived on the land without any title.  Not until the year 1817 was there a land entry made in the township, and then they followed in rapid succession.  Some of these are:  R. Huston, 1820; M. Wooley, 1820; Noah Wright, 1819; Thomas Hodges, 1817; Israel Hind, 1819; John Parr, 1819; H. Nichols, 1820; James Ellison, 1820; Enoch Parr, 1817; T. Carr, 1820; Arthur Parr, 1819; Martin Flinn, 1820; Patrick Welch, 1817; Noah Wright, 1820; William White, 1820; D. Flinn, 1820; James Taggart, 1820; John Guthrie, 1820; Thomas Flinn, 1820; Benjamin Drake; 1818; William Flinn, 1820; J. Allen, !820, Hugh Guthrie, 1820; Robert Flinn, 1819; Benjamin Newkirk, 1820, George Stell, John Speer, Ephraim D. Lux, John Trespey, Abraham Sutherland, David White, Alfred Alexander, Jacob Weaver, Moses Flinn, William Smith, Elijah Curry, Micajah Poole, and Gamaliel Millgar, were early residents around Leesville.
     Perhaps the most important feature of the early settlement of Flinn township was with the grist mills.  A "stump" mill, at the place where Leesville now stands, was owned by John Speer, and was the first mill in the township.  The next was the Forgey mill, on Guthrie creek, a half mile from Leesville.  The first mill built here was constructed by William Flinn about the year 1817.  This structure descended to his son, Robert Flinn, whose successor was Andrew Forgey.  The mill bore the name of the last owner, and was in operation for many years; in the year 1840 it was run by horsepower, the tread-mill method, although in a great many cases a steer was used in place of the horse.  Hiram Guthrie owned the mill for a time, and then it passed into the hands of the Hollands.  The latter owners supplied the mill with steam motive power, and three sets of buhrs, two for wheat and one for corn.  John C. Voyles was the last owner, and after he discarded the plant it remained abandoned.
     A Mr. Phillips owned a horse mill at Pin Hook about 1830, and on Back creek, northwest of Leesville, a water mill known as the McGlemery mill was built about the same time.  Edward Montgomery possessed a water mill on Back creek in 1840, operated by a turbine water wheel.  This mill was the last in the township, failing in 1872 while under the ownership of Matterson Broiles.

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    Distilleries were also operated in this part of the country during the early days.  A great many of the settlers were from Virginia and Kentucky, where "stills" were a common feature, so it is not surprising that they should continue the practice here.  Also it is a well known fact that corn was the principal produce of the pioneer region, and the facilities for conveying the crop to market were very poor.  Consequently, the corn was brewed into whiskey, which commodity was easier handled and yielded a better profit than the grain itself.

LEESVILLE

     Leesville is the namesake for Lee county, Virginia, from whence the first settlers came to this locality.  The town was laid out in June, 1818, and is next to the oldest town recorded in Lawrence county, Bono leading.  John Speer was the first merchant, and he owned a small huckster shop about 1817.  George Still began the same trade in 1819, and was followed by merchants whose names became well known in the entire county.  A few of them were:  Turner J. Holland, William Turpen, William McNealy, William and John Holland, Norman Benton, John Ferguson, W. C. Richards and John Hunter.  In 1831, Leesville decided to incorporate by election, and accordingly did so.  However, the incorporation did not last very long.  The population is now one hundred and twenty-five.

MARION TOWNSHIP.

     The two Carolinas and Virginia supplied the first settlers of Marion township.  The township was named after Gen. Francis Marion, the famous Southern commander in the Revolutionary War.  The township is about sixty six square miles in area, about eight miles square.  The northern boundary is the east branch of White river, the south is Orange county, the east Bono township, and on the west Spice Valley township.
     In the early fall of the year 1815, Lewis Phillips built himself a cabin at John Tolliver's upper spring, near the meridian line, on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 31, town 4 north, range 1 east.  The cabin was made of round poles and was primitive  in every respect.  The last of the family was Mary Ann White, who died near Juliet in 1883;  there are now no descendants of the Phillips family living.
     In November, 1815, when the first drear signs of approaching winter were seen in the seared leaves and gray skies. Samuel G. Hoskins, who had broken through the rough country from South Carolina, pitched his quarters

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on Rock Lick creek, on the southeast quarter of section 19, town 4 north, range 1 east.  At this spot Hoskins built a cabin of hewn logs, and prepared to brave the winter through.  This occurred when Phillips family was the only other family in the township.  The winter passed quietly enough; Indians passed by, and frequently stopped, but not one lived in the township.  Hoskins afterwards became prominent in the affairs of the county.  He was a justice of the peace, and captain of the first military company organized in this county south of White river.  He was a member of the first grand jury, was a surveyor and a teacher.  In the spring of 1816 many new settlers began to come in from North and South Carolina, among them being George Sheeks, William Erwin, John Finger, Joseph Pless, Elijah Murray, Thomas Rowark, John Sutton, James Boswell, and Joseph Boswell.  All of these men followed farming as an occupation, except Rowark, who was a blacksmith.
     In 1817 many families came into the township from the South, and built their cabins along the banks of White river, and in the valleys of Rock Lick and Mill creek.  Robert Hall erected his home on the George Field place.  Squire Hoskins built a hewn-log house on the old Erwin place, and there the first election was held the first Monday in August.  There were thirteen voters, ten Federalists and three Republicans.  The former were Samuel G. Hoskins, William Ervin, Joseph Pless, James Boswell, Joseph Boswell, Elijah Murray, James Mathis, Robert Erwin, Thomas Rowark, and Arthur Dycus.  The Republicans were George Sheeks, John Finger and Joseph Culbertson.  The voting place was afterward changed to Hoskins' new home on the Terre Haute and Louisville road until 1842, then the precinct was moved to Redding, thence to Woodville, and in 1856 to Mitchell.
     A rifle company was organized in Marion township in 1817, and some thirty men enlisted, a few from Bono.  The men armed themselves and were clad in blue hunting shirts, trimmed with red, and cap with a feather.
     Some time previous to 1815, Sam Jackson - not Samuel - had entered the southwest quarter of Section 32; the entry antedates the Lawrence county records.  This Jackson was a Canadian, and had seen service in the war of 1812 along the Canadian border.  For his services he was given a land warrant, which accounts for the taking up of his land.  On the tract is a noted Hamer's cave and the picturesque valley in which the old stone mill stands.  During the period of Jackson's ownership there was a corn mill erected there, close to where the mill stood, built of logs, and the water was carried from the cave by poplar logs hewn into troughs.  William Wright of Orange county, was the miller.  In September, 1816, Jackson sold the land to Thomas Bullett and Cuthbert Buillett, and in the spring of 1817 the stone was quarried
---------------
     SHARON WICK'S NOTE:   Elijah Murray was son of Timothy Murray of Randolph Co., NC.  He is the 1st cousin, 4 times removed of Sharon Wick.

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for the stone mill.  In 1818 the mill was finished and was a model for the day.  The Bulletts sold the mill in 1823 to the two Montgomery brothers, who improved the property and started a distillery.  There had been one distillery previous to this one, owned by William Mallett and Dennis Frost, on Rock Lick, below Tomlinson's lime kiln.  In 1825 Hugh Hamar bought the property of the Montgomery boys, paying seven thousand dollars in seven annual payments.  The new owner re-established the distillery, started a store gathered many laboring men about him, hauled produce to Louisville, built flatboats at the boat yards on White river, and shipped flour, whiskey, pork, etc., to New Orleans by water.  In 1826 the first postoffice was established at Mill Springs, and Hugh Hamar, who in turn sold it to Jonathan Turley.
     Isaac Flight built a mill, with overshot wheel, at Shawnee cave in 1819.  This mill passed into the hands of Shelton and William Smith, and they erected a distillery in connection in 1831.  Fulton had a distillery at the end of Fulton's creek about 1825, and ground his grain on a treadmill.  James Beasley also had a distillery afterwards at Lindsey's Spring.
    The early hand entries of Marion township are as follows:  Cuthbert and Thomas Bullitt.  1820; Tetlow, Hughes and Geiger, 1820; Moses Gray, 1816; R. Hall, 1820; Abraham Hatman, 1818; Sanuel Jackson, 1816; Ambrose Carlton, 1816; Robert Lewis, 1817 and 1816; Samuel Brown, 1820; John Carlton, 1816; Robert Lewis, 1817 and 1816; Samuel Brown, 1820; John Edwards, 1820; John Maxwell, 1819; William Terrill, 1816; William Tolliver, 1818; Robert McLean, 1817; William McLean, 1816; Zachariah Sparling, 1818; John Workman, 1817; William Baldwin, 1817; Theophilus Baldwin, 1819; Jesse Hill, 1817; Martin Hardin, 1817; William Maxwell, 1819; Charles Tolliver, 1817; William Connerly, 1817; William Denny, 1818; Alfred Maden, and John Hays, 1818; John Lowrey, 1817; William Blair, 1817; John McLean, 1817; James Fulton, 1816; Lewis Byram, 1817; Henry Speed, 1816; William Trueblood, 1816; Jonathan Lindley, 1816; G. Eli, 1817; Joshua Taylor, 1817; Robert Fields, 1817; William Connelly, 1818; George Hinton, Jr., Arthur Henrie and Benjamin Drake, 1818; Ezekiel Blackwell, 1818; John Finger, 1817; Joseph Culbertson, 1818; William Erwin, 1818; Isom Maden, 1816; William Carmichael, 1818; Joel Conley, 1817; Josiah Trueblood, 1818; William Connelly, 1817; Aaron Davis, 1819; Lewis Phillips, 1817; Zebedee Wood, 1820; Michael Dunihue, 1817; David Harris, 1817; John Sutton, 1817; Robert Hollowell, 1816; Robert Fields, 1816; Jacob Piles and Jonathan Williams, 1815.
     Hunting was a great diversion and pastime in the early days of Marion township.  There were many interesting incidents which happened in con-

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nection with these sports, the first of which occurred in the fall of 1816.  Thomas Rowark killed a panther near his cabin on Rock Lick creek.  Rowark espied the animal in a three and shot it.  Everyone went to see the beast, and all pronounced it the largest ever seen in the township.  The animal measured three yards in length.  Many bears have been killed in the township.  Neddy Edwards chased to bear into a cave in Allen C. Burton's orchard and, calling assistance, smoked Mr. Bruin out and killed him.  In the same year, 1820, a party of hunters killed a large bear in a cave on John L. Dodson's farm, just west of the Solomon Bass residence.  The last bear killed in the township was shot from a tree by William Edwards, in 1821.  An interesting and amusing incident occurred in 1825, in which the chief actors were John Sutton and a very credulous bear.  Sutton was searching for his hogs in the woods north of Mitchell, when he discovered fresh bear tracks in the snow.  He urged his horse on and took up the trail.  He had not gone far when bruin loomed up before him.  Sutton's horse cavorted and beat a retreat, leaving his rider lying in the snow and within arm's length of the bear.  Sutton was too much frightened to move, so he lay still.  The bear lowered himself and smelled of the prostrate man, then unexpectedly walked away.  Sutton, once sure of his solitude, arose and made off in the direction the horse had gone.  The many caverns and caves of Marion township were ideal homes for packs of timber wolves, and up until 1832 it was next to impossible to raise sheep, for the nightly raids of the packs were common.  The sport of wolf baiting became very popular, among the most skilled being Hugh Harmar and Benjamin Turley, and it was not long until the animals were exterminated.  Deer and Turkey and numerous other small game were plentiful, and constituted the chief meat supply.  The present population of this township is 6,482.

THE CITY OF MITCHELL.

     Mitchell, Marion township, was named in honor of Gen. O. M. Mitchell, an officer in the Federal army, who died at Huntsville, Alabama, in 1862.  The location of the town is on the south half of section 36, town 4 north, range 1 west, and on the north half of section 1, town 3 north, range 1 west, and was platted on September 29, 1853, by G. W. Cochran and John Sheeks.  Good railroad facilities are afforded the people of this town, the Baltimore & Ohio and the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville, or the Monon, passing through the town at present.  West Mitchell, an addition, was laid out Jan. 17, 1859, by Jonas Finger, and on November 26, 1865, there was another addition by D. Kelley & Company.  Since that time other additions

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have been made and now the town covers quite an extent of territory.  Some earlier merchants were Silas Moore & Son, John R. Nugent and Robert Barnard.  J. T. Biggs and G. W. Dodson were early druggists.  Sam Cook was the premier blacksmith, and J. T. Biggs was the hotel keeper.  In 1860 the town contained six hundred and twelve people, and in 1880, one thousand, four hundred and forty-three.

INCORPORATION AS A TOWN.

     On December 23, 1864, Mitchell was incorporated as a town.  Joshua Budd, R. Barnard and Z. L. Warren were named as the first trustees, and A. T. McCoy, the first clerk.  McCoy resigned later in favor of H. S. Manington.  The same officers served in 1865.  In 1866, S. Moore, J. D. McCoy and F. M. Lemon were elected trustees, and H. S. Manington, clerk.  In 1867, the trustees were S. Moore, J. D. McCoy, and William A. Burton.  In 1868, S. Moore, J. D. McCoy and Z. L. Warren.  The following list gives the successive trustees, with the year of their entrance into office, from 1869 until the time of incorporation as a city; 1869, W. V. T. Murphy, A. L. Munson, Samuel Cook; 1870, same officers; 1872, Allen Edwards, J. P. Tapp, William A. Burton; 1873, Isaac B. Faulkner, Isaac H. Crim, James A. Head; 1875, Allen Edwards, Dennis Coleman, Jacob J. Bates; 1876, James D. Moore, A. A. Pearson, David L. Fergurson; 1877, John Mead, I. H. Crim, Milton N. Moore; 1878, John O'Donnell, James Richardson, Jacob Bixler; 1879, John O'Donnell, James Richardson, Jacob Bixler; 1880, George Z. Wood, James D. Moore, George W. Burton; 1881, Thomas Richardson, Wilton N. Moore, William J. Humston; 1882, Milton N. Moore, William H. Edwards, Thomas Richardson; 1883, Milton N. Moore, Charles W. Campbell, William H. Edwards; 1884, John Mead, M. N. Moore, Thomas Welsh; 1885, A. Edwards, F. J. Wolfe, H. H. Crawford; 1886, M. N. Moore, H. A. Trendley; 1887, Abbott C. Robertson; 1888, H. A. Trendley, 1889, Allen Edwards, Gus Levy; 1890, Cam Cook, F. R. Blackwell; 1891, Allen C. Burton; 1892, James D. Moore, F. R. Blackwell; 1893, Milton N. Moore; 1894, William Newby, John Mead; 1895, J. L. Holmes, Sr., Ralph Prosser; 1896, Charles Coleman, Ralph Prosser; 1897, M. N. Moore; 1898, Thomas W. Welsh, Fred R. Blackwell; 1899, same; 1900, David Kelly, M. N. Moore, James F. Mitchell; 1901, David Kelly, Henry Scott, James F. Mitchell; 1902, G. W. Walls, Lewis Barlow; 1903, George W. Walls, Henry S. Scheibe, Lewis Barlow; 1904, M. N. Moore, H. Scheibe, Henry Chapple; 1905, H. S. Scheibe, Harry Chapple, and Noble L. Moore; 1906, Harry Chapple, John L. Murphy, and N. L. Moore; and in 1907, Chapple, N. L. Moore and John T. Murphy.

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INCORPORATION AS A CITY.

     On July 29, 1907, an election was held in Mitchell to determine whether or not the town should be incorporated as a city, under the statutes of Indiana.  The result was a majority of four hundred and nine in favor of incorporating.  The town was divided into three wards, and an election ordered for August 23, 1907, to elect the mayor, clerk, treasurer, and five councilmen, one for each ward, and two at large.  The result was as follows:  Mayor, William L. Brown; treasurer, Harry V. Shepherd; clerk, Clyde A. Burton; councilmen, Thomas W. Welsh, William H. Dings, John L. Holmes, John B. Sims and John A. Dalton.  E. Massman later too the place of Dalton. Frank L. Dale was appointed chief of police, Dr. James D. Byrnes, health officer, and Sam S. Doman, city attorney.  The first regular meeting of the common council was held on September 2, 1907.
     Mayor Brown resigned on January 30, 1909, and Clyde A. Burton took the office, Perry M. McBride succeeding as clerk.  Burton, in turn, which on June 11, 1909, and William H. Dings was appointed mayor pro tem, which office he held two weeks.  William Stipp was elected by the council on June 25, 1909.  At the regular election on November 2, 1909, the following city officers were chosen, and are at present active: Mayor Joseph T. Dilley; clerk, Kenley E. Harn; treasurer, Edward M. Keane; councilmen, Will D. Ewing, Joseph A. Munger, Frank Collier, Albert Morris and Walter C. Sherwood.
     The city of Mitchell has had a wonderful growth during the last ten years.  The population by the census of 1900 was 1,772, and in 1910 the startling increase was made to 3,438.  In 1910 the total assessed valuation, less mortgage exemptions, was $953,505.  In the city clerk's report for 1910, the city bonds outstanding amounted to $15,500, which has since been reduced to $13,700.  The gross debt then was $27,702, but this has been lowered to less than 23,000.  The cash in the City treasury at present amounts to $4,563.  The electric light plant of Mitchell was established in February, 1907, with a one-thousand-light dynamo.  Seven thousand dollars in bonds were authorized by the council when the subject of a light plant was first forwarded, and accordingly the money was borrowed.  The plant in 1910 embraced thirty-six arc lights, and twenty-six hundred incandescents.  The Central Union Telephone Company was granted a twenty-five year franchise on July 16, 1897.

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BUSINESS INTERESTS OF 1913

     The present attorneys of Mitchell are Calvin Ferris, John W. Edwards, W. H. Edwards and Harry Kelley.  There are two banks, the First National and the Bank of Mitchell.  The physicians are J. C. Kelley, J. D. Byrnes, John Gibbons, George Gibbons and W. C. Sherwood.  Clothing stores are operated by W. T. Moore & Company, and Jacob Effron; Van Ray and Reed & Son conduct meat markets; Samuel Gray, Harry Sanders and Hiram Gerkin conduct blacksmith shops; John Shamer has a harness shop; Harry Clemmons and N. P. Martin are jewelers; in the lumber trade are the Randolph Lumber Company and H. H. Crawford; Henry Schiebe is a tailor and clothier; Kate Mischoe and Miller & Alexander have millinery stores; John Clark runs a barber shop; W. M. Shanks and Emmett Brown have furniture stock, the former being also an undertaker; the grocery industry is managed by W. F. Lagle, C. W. Coleman, Ewing & Son, J. T. Dilley & Company, M. Mathers, J. F. Matthews, Holmes Brothers, T. J. Wood, William Sutton and Terrell Brothers; John Shanafelt, Charles Coyle, F. R. Braman & Son, W. G. Oldham and William Mantler have general stores; W. A. Burton, W. R. Richardson, Carr & Jones and M. C. Reed have drug stores; Noah Cassiday and Smith O. Smith have dray lines; H. H. Crawford and Botorf & Simmons own hardware stores; Evans & Gordon have restaurants; Harry Sanders is a veterinary, and R. J. Seigmund and J. B. Gambrel are dentists.  The hotels in Mitchell are the Putnam and the Grand.  There are two newspapers in the city, the Tribune and the Commercial.

BANKING INTERESTS

     In 1884 the Bank of Mitchell (private), with a capital of $50,000, was being successfully conducted, and it was doubtless the pioneer bank of the town.  It was organized in September, 1882, by Milton N. Moore, with a cash capital of $25,000, which it still carries.  It now has deposits amounting to $350,000.  Their building was erected in 1896.  The first officers were: Milton N. Moore, president; W. T. Moore, cashier.  The property was, however, all owned by Milton N. Moore  The officers at this date (1913) are: Edward P. Moore, president; W. T. Moore, cashier.  It was chartered in 1905.
     The First National Bank was organized in 1903 by William A. Holland, president; Henry C. Trueblood, vice-president; Walter W. Burton, cashier.

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Its first capital was $25,000, same as today.  They now have a surplus of $3,500, with deposit amounting to $180,000.  IN 1903 a banking house was erected, at a cost of $5,000.  The present officers are:  W. H. Burton, president; A. B. Hall, vice-president; Walter W. Burton, cashier; Edward M. Keane, assistant cashier.
     These two banks afford ample banking facilities for one of the best of the smaller cities in all southern Indiana.  The officers and directors of these banks are well known and highly respected in their enterprising city and county.  The financial affairs are well cared for and depositors never question the integrity of the banks.  The deposits in both banks, today, show a good business and a well settled financial policy in the community in which they are situated.

LEHIGH PORTLAND CEMENT COMPANY

     At Mitchell, Indiana, are two branch factories of the Lehigh Portland Cement Company, enjoying a thousand men, and under the active management of William H. Weitknecht.  The daily production of these two factories is six thousand five hundred barrels.  The raw products used in the manufacture of the cement are limestone and shale, which, after being pulverized to a finness of ninety-five and ninety-six per cent, on standard of one hundred - mesh silk, is burned into a clinker at two thousand five hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and the resulting clinker is again ground into the pulverized condition.  The cement from these factories is shipped to various states between the Alleghany mountains and the Mississippi river.  Al the exportation is done by the Eastern mills.
     The Lehigh Portland Cement Company is capitalized at twelve million dollars, and the general offices are situated in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  The main sales office is at Chicago.  The officers of the company are: Col. H. C. Trexler, president; E. M. Young, George Ormrod and A. Y. Gowan, vice-presidents.  Gowan resides at Cleveland, Ohio, and the others at Allentown, Pennsylvania.  There are eleven mills in the company, located as follows:  Five at Allentown, two at Newcastle, Pennsylvania, one at Wellston, Ohio, two at Mitchell, Indiana, and one at Mason City, Iowa.
     Mill No. 1, at Mitchell, was built in 1901 and 1902, ad Mill No. 2 was constructed in 1905 and 1906.  The limestone quarry which supplies these two mills is located at Mitchell, but the two shale quarries are in Jackson county.  Twelve hundred acres of land are detached for factory purposes.  The factories manufacture their own steam and electric power.

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GUTHRIE TOWNSHIP

     Guthrie township was the last to be formed in the county, and was named for one of the most prominent families of the early days.  The township was formed in the early sixties, and is bounded on the south by the East fork of White river, on the north by Shawswick and Flinn townships, and on the east by Jackson county.  When the county was organized in 1818, all of the present Guthrie township was included in Shawswick township, but on the formation of the new township land was taken from Shawswick, Flinn and Bono.
     Although some portions of Guthrie township were settled very early, the record of land entries until 1820 is surprisingly small.  As is the case of many others of the Lawrence county townships, Guthrie is too hilly to be valuable as an agricultural region.
     Land entries until 1820 included: Israel Hind, 1819; Ambrose Carlton, 1817; Edward Johnston, 1820; William Barnhill, 1819; John Kerns, 1820; Solomon Bowers, 1817; Robert Millsap, 1820; Conrad Hoopingarner, 1818; Thomas Butler, 1820; Daniel Guthrie. 1816; J. Edwards, 1820; Preston Beck, 1820; Elisha Simpson, 1820; George W. Mullis, 1817; Cuthbert and Thomas Bullitt, 1820.  Others included in this early list were Thomas Dixon, William Shadrach, William Holland, Sr., John Allen, Robert Millsap and his sons, William and James, Abner Walters, Samuel and William Foster, Benjamin and Isaac Newkirk. Jacob Mullis and John Dowland.
     Probably the first settler of Guthrie township was James Connelly, a squatter, and a native of North Carolina, from whence he came to Orange county, Indiana, shortly afterward settling here.  The year was about 1815.  Connelly brought his family with him, and for their home he built a double log cabin.  Ambrose Carlton, with his large family, came after Connelly, and in 1816 also Pleasant and Ambrose Parks came from North Carolina to this township, after a short sojourn in Bono township.  Edward Johnston came in 1816, raised a crop, and the next year brought his family.  One of the first mills of this section was that built by James Connelly in 1817.  James Heron later had a mill on Guthrie's creek, and Robert and Thomas Carlton also constructed mills.  In 1840, the latter mill burned, but was rebuilt by the owners.  Distilleries were scattered over the township, and were of varying ownership.  Wild hogs were abundant along the streams, and every year large quantities of the pork was loaded into flatboats and started for New Orleans and the South.  Wild hog hunting was one of the popular sports of the day, the animal being a dangerous foe, much different from his domesticated brother.

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DIXONVILLE

     William and Thomas Dixon platted this village in the northeast corner of the township on Apr. 8, 1853.  It comprised twenty-four lots.  The first merchant of the village was Thomas Dixon, and he was followed by Elder T. N. Robertson.

TUNNELTON

     On the north part of section 19, township 4, north, range 2 east, on the 28th of April, 1859, the town of Tunnelton was platted.  An addition was added in 1863.  The first merchant of this thriving little village was Alfred Guthrie, who began in 1859 with a stock of merchandise.  The first drug store was owned by J. L. Linder, who was succeeded in this line by L. A. Crim & Bros.  The first physician was Hugh L. Kimberlin.  Henry Kipp operated the first mill, which was of the steam circular saw type.  Alred Guthrie became the first postmaster in 1860.
     The town of Tunnelton at present has an advantageous position on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad.  The country surrounding the village is valuable, part of it being the most productive of Guthrie township.  In the commercial side of the village, Reed & Huddleston and Malott Brothers owned general stores, and carry a large and varied line of merchandise.  H. E. Flinn has a blacksmith shop.  There is one saw mill, operated by the Tunnelton Milling Company.  Dr. H. J. Matlock is the resident physician.
     The Knights of Pythias have a lodge in Tunnelton, and in religious matters the interest is divided between the Methodist and Christian churches.
     The present population of Tunnelton is about two hundred.

FORT RITNER.

     The town of Fort Ritner was named in honor of Michael Ritner, a foreman in the construction of a tunnel on the old Ohio & Mississippi railroad nearby.  Ritner was also the first merchant, having started a store while engaged in the construction work.  Later merchants included the firm of Reed & Waters, Moses Wortham and one Brosika, John and William A. Holland.  Gabriel Brock was the first postmaster, the office having been established in 1858.

BONO TOWNSHIP.

     Bono township is situated on the southeast corner of the county, and is bounded on the north by the East fork of White river, and on the west by

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Marion township.  Due to its location, being near to the older settlements in the southern part of the state, and on the early roads to the north, also its place on the river which was a much traveled highway, the township has always claimed the first white settlement of the county.  William Wright made his first land entry in the county on Sept. 22, 1813.  The entry consisted of one hundred and forty-two acres in the northeast quarter of section 5, township 3 north, range 2 east.
     The other entries up to and including the year 1820 were by the following persons:  Henry, Fulton, September, 1817; Cuthbert and Thomas Bullitt September, 1820; J. Hikes, 1820; Clark Hogatt and Kitchell, 1818; Thomas Blank, 1810; Samuel Brown, 1816; John Brown, 1820; John Hammersly, 1818; Thomas Jolly, 1820; David Green, 1818; Conrad Grass, 1818; Solomon Fitzpatrick, 1819; David Hummel, 1818; Asher Wilson, 1820; Elisha Simpson, 1817; William Hoggatt, 1818.
     Bono township originally included a part of what is now Marion and Guthrie townships, being one of the five original townships of the county.  The first elections were held at the town of Bono, and were under the supervision of Inspector Elisha Simpson.  In 1819 David Green became inspector of elections, but the voting place remained the same.  Moses Lee and Thomas Jolly were the first overseers of the poor and were elected to the office in 1819.  Robert Henderson was the first constable.
     There is no doubt that Bono township was the scene of the second settlement in the county.  Roderik Rawlins and his two nephews, James and Joseph, settled in the spring of 1812, on a farm in section 22, later owns by William Turley, and near the village of Scottville.  These men were very prominent in the early development of the county, and took active part in the ranger war fare along the frontier.
     Beck's mill, on Blue river, in Washington county, was the place the early pioneers did most of their milling.  The building of Hamar's mill in Marion township was an advantage later, and there the Bono settlers took their grain.  However, mills began to spring up in numerous places, and the task of going to the mill was lessened.  John Hamemrsly made a business of building these mills and then selling them to others.  In the river at Bono Hammersly constructed a grist mill out of the ordinary.  He built a cone-shaped dam, permitting the water to go through an opening in the center at a point where a large undershot wheel was placed between the flat-boats.  The buhrs were on these boats and the grinding was done in midstream.  This mill

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worked well until a flood washed the whole construction away.  The buhrs were later used in a mill in Indian Creek township.

BONO.

   Bono has the distinction of begin the oldest town in Lawrence county, having been settled in 1816.  The town was laid out on April 4th and the proprietors were William Hoggatt, Marston G. Clark and Joseph Kitchell.  The first merchant to settle in Bono was William Holland, about 1818.  Other early merchants, mostly "Down-East Yankees" drifted in during the later years, some of the most prominent being John Kelly, Charles Miller, Thomas Lemon, James W. Prow, James Batman, Asher Wilcox, Ephraim Brock, Uriah Dilly, Albert Johnson, John Shade, Thomas W. Stevens and Gabriel Harvey.  Walker Kelso is known to have been the first physician to settle in Bono, and Williamson D. Dunn was another early doctor.  James Oldham built the first grist mill here sometime during the fifties.  Patrick Callan was probably the first postmaster, the office having been established about the year 1820.
     Bono was one of the most flourishing towns in the county in agriculture and commercialism until the building of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago, now the Monon railroad.  At that time, the trade was drawn to the west, and Bono suffered immeasurably by the change.

LAWRENCEPORT.

     The village of Lawrenceport was laid out on May 17, 1837, and consisted at that time of one hundred and seventy-nine lots.  The village is situated at the mouth of Fishing creek on White river.  S. P. Moore has the honor of being the pioneer merchant of this town, who also owned a mill there.  S. B. Barnes and Henry Harmyer were future owners of the mill.  A few of the early merchants and store keepers of Lawrenceport were William Turley, J. T. Andrews and Brice Newkirk.  Dr. Knight was probably the first physician of the town.

MARSHALL TOWNSHIP.

     Of the three townships which form the northern end of the county.  Marshall is the center, and is next to the smallest in the county.  The township was named for John Marshall, the eminent chief justice of the United States.  Land entries were made in this township as early as 1816, and this

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is hard to account for, as the agricultural facilities in the greater part of the county are poor, the land being broken and hilly.  The southern portion, however, contains some excellent soil, and has been the scene of stone quarrying on a large scale, the stone being shipped to all parts of the country.
     Until the year 1820 the land entries were as follows:  Jacob Hattabaugh 1816; William Curl, 1816; Hamilton Reddick, 1817; John Fairley, 1819; John Goodwin, 1818; Robert Anderson, 1819; John Hargis, 1816; Michael Hattabaugh, 1816; Jacob Bruner, 1818; Henry Brown, 1818; John Zumwald, 1818; Henry Leonard, 1818; Patrick Tayler, 1817; Nicholas Bruner, 1816; William Quillen, 1818; John Dryden, 1817; Joshua Gullett, 1816; Adam House, 1816; Thomas Reynolds, 1817; and Absalom Sargeant, 1817.
     The first mill of the county was built at Avoca about the year 1819, by a man named Fitzpatrick.  The next owner of this mill was Absalom Hart, an experienced miller, having owned a mill on Indian creek.  After fifteen eyars of success, Hart sold the mill to the Hamer brothers, who owned the mill for ten years, and then sold out to Levi Mitchell, who in turn disposed of the property of Dr. Bridwell.  The Doctor sold out to George Thornton, of Bedford.  Short & Judah were the next owners, and while in their possession the mill burned down.  Samuel Short rebuilt the structure soon after, and in 1865 Hayden Bridwell obtained a half interest in it, holding the same until 1868, when he became the sole owner.  The mill was operated by a turbine water wheel, and had three sets of buhrs, one each of corn, wheat and chop feed.
     About 1830 the Humpston mill was built.  It was on the farm later owned by Ephraim Decker, and was operated by an undershot wheel and the current of Salt creek.  There was but one set of buhrs.  The plant was abandoned in the late forties.  Kinser & Whisman erected a stream grist and saw mill in 1870 near the present site of Guthrie.  This plant was successful from the first, and in 1880 the necessary machinery for making spokes was added at a large cost.
     The first merchant in Marshal township was Eliphalet Pearson, the father of Judge E. D. Pearson of Bedford.  His former occupation had been as a keeper of the ferry on the Ohio river, at Jeffersonville, but he traded that business for a stock of merchandise valued then at about five thousand dollars.  After this he moved to the McCrea farm, in section 5, in the northwestern part of the township.  This spot was on the old stage line from Leavenworth, on the Ohio river, to Indianapolis, stopping at Springville, Bedford and Orleans and Paoli in Orange county.  Pearson's ideal location made his venture a profitable one, and for three years he conducted a thriving business.

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He also owned an oil mill there, and manufactured quantities of linseed oil, as flax was grown then in this locality in large quantity.  The method of making the oil, of course, would seem primitive in this ay of labor-saving machinery; the seed was ground by a large stone operated by horse-power, and the oil was pressed out by a common bean press.  Later Pearson moved his mercantile business to Springville, in Perry township, where he continued until 1840.  In that year he constructed a wool carding machine, operating the same for eight years.  He also started a tan yard in 1846, but a few years later resumed the merchandise business, and followed the same until his death, in January, 1863.
     In the town of Avoca, while operating the grist mill, Doctor Bridwell opened a general merchandise store.  He also established the first postoffice there, and acted in the capacity of postmaster.  This office was abandoned after a few years, but was taken up again by O. A. Owensin 1866.  Owens began to keep articles of merchandise, and built up a good trade.  The successor to Owens in the merchandise line was John Heaton, an he continued for two years, at the end of which time he removed to Newberry, in Green county, the business at Avoca being conducted by the Blackburn brothers.  Heaton, however, soon returned.

AVOCA

     One mile and a half northwest of Oolitic, in Marshall Township, is the little village of Avoca.  There are about two hundred and fifty people in this village.  There are no officers, not even a constable.  Two churches provide places of worship for the people, the Baptist and the Missionary Baptist.  L. S. Stout conducts a general store, and P. H. Bedwell owns a grocery.  Earl Martindale is the barber, and the physicians are Claude Dollins and O. M. Stout.  T. A. Hudson is the postmaster.

GUTHRIE

     Winepark Judah was responsible for the laying out of Guthrie on Dec. 10, 1865.  The first merchant was undoubtedly W. W. Owens, and he located in Guthrie about 1854, at the time of the building of the Louisville.  New Albany & Chicago railroad, now the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville railway.  Wesley Brown, James Bryant, George Bascomb and James Tincher were later merchants.  W. W. Owens was the first postmaster, the office having been established during the time he was engaged in the merchandise bus-

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ness.  This town has never grown to any considerable extent, but is still a small hamlet.  In 1910 it had a population of one hundred and fifty.

SPICE VALLEY TOWNSHIP

     Another of the five original townships in the southwest portion of the county is Spice Valley township.  The present area of this locality is approximately fifty-two miles square.  Beaver creek flows through the southwestern part, on the west and south it is bounded by Martin and Orange counties, on the north the East fork of White river is situated, and on the east is Marion township.  For the most part, the land in this township is too broken to be of much value for agriculture, but is well suited for grazing.  The ground along the river is an exception, and it is to this that the early settlement of the county is indebted.  To the year 1820 there were thirty-four purchases of land, while in Indian Creek township there were fifty-eight during the same time, thus indicating the relative value of the land.  These entries were Simon Gilbert, William Lindley, C. and T. Bullitt, Ezekiel Blackwell, Jonathan Lindley, Aquilla Gilbert, Henry Speed, Absalom Field, Thomas Lindley, Joseph Hastings, Abraham Holaday, Thomas Coulter, Josiah Trueblood, Joel Connelly, Josiah Connelly in 1816; Josiah Connelly, Joel Connelly, Robert Fields, John Campman, Gideon Coulter, Henry Cosner, John Connelly in 1817; Jesse Beazley, Nichols Koon, John Quinn, David Bruner, William Cochran, John Luttrell, Roger McKnight, and John Swaim in 1818; William Maxwell, Francis Tincher, in 1819; John Sanders, William Hoard, in 1820.
     Absalom Fields was the first inspector of elections in the township, and the elections were held first at his home, but were later changed to the home of Richard Beazley.  Josiah Connelly was the first constable, and Absalom Fields and Joel Connelly the first overseers of the poor.  These latter offices have long since passed out of existence.
     The milling industry of Spice Valley township in the early days was mostly confined to Hamer's mill in Marion township, in the eastern part.  Until 1840 or later the people of this locality patronized this mill, because the mills in this township were small and inadequate.  Josiah Trueblood owned a very primitive horse mill.  Near 1830 a horse mill was in operation near Bryantsville, owned by Henry Weathers, but has since disappeared.  Distilleries were an important feature in the early industrial life, and many things have been attributed to the large practice of making liquor.  The flowing springs and various features of the land, also the early training of the settlers, contributed to the occupation.  Joshua Barnes owned the most important of these distilleries about 1850, and he also did a great deal of fruit distilling.

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     The following interesting items are from the pen of T. M. Brinksworth:
     "William Hoard, at the time of his death, in 1853, owned about six hundred acres of land and out of this farm the town of Huron was platted in 1859 by his heirs and descendants.  No one of the early settlers has left so many direct descendants in this and neighboring townships as William Hoard.  They furnished twelve or fifteen soldiers to the Union army during the Civil war.
     "This township was settled very slowly until about the year 1850, when the land entries became frequent; a large per cent, of these entries in the west end of the township bear dates between 1850 and 1858.
     "Owing to the lateness of her settlement Spice Valley cannot boast of any Revolutionary or 1812 veterans and only two Mexican veterans (known to the writer) sleep within the borders, Joseph Bosler and George Brinkworth.
     "But it was in the Civil war that Spice Valley made a record that is unequaled by any of her sister townships in Lawrence county and doubtless by few in the entire state.  Her quota was always full and the draft was never resorted to.  I feel safe in saying that this was true of no other township in Lawrence or the neighboring counties of Orange and Martin.  I dare say that there are more old soldiers residing in the vicinity of Huron in proportion to the population than any community in the state, barring a soldier's home.
     "This township was heavily timbered with oak, poplar, walnut, hickory, beech and ash, but less maple than the eastern townships.  The working of this timber was the chief industry from the time of the building of the Ohio & Mississippi railroad, which was completed about 1855, until these fine forests were almost entirely exhausted some twenty years ago, since when more attention has been given to the cultivation and fertilization of the soil, and, while the improvement in the methods of farming from year to year is slow, yet it is steady and perceptible.
     "The schools of Spice Valley were few and the teachers indifferent until about the year 1857, when the Legislature created the office of township trustee, giving the system some head, and a marked improvement both in the number of school houses and in the character of teachers is noted.  John McGinness, one of the old teachers, far above the average of that time, was elected as the first trustee at the April election, 1857, reelected in 1858 and 1859 (the last time for a term of two years) and served till 1861, at the April election of  which year Jessie Connerly was elected trustee and served continuously until 1868.  He bears the unique distinction of being the only Democrat elected to that office during the entire history of the township.  He was not of much

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education, but possessed a remarkable personality that drew men to him.  The writer regards it one of the greatest fortunes of his life to have known Jesse Connerly.  He lived at the old Connerly Switch, on the farm his father bought in 1823, and he lived in that same spot until his death in 1891.  His home was, a rendezvous for the neighbors for miles around and the traveler never asked in vain for a rest at his place.  To him and George W. Jones must largely be ascribed the credit for the good showing of the township during the Civil war, they saw to it that the families of the absent soldiers did not want and this assurance induced many a man to go to the front.  Mr. Jones still lives, at the advanced age of eighty-six.  His grandfather, Thomas Jones, settled a mile east of Huron in the early twenties and on this farm he was reared and later owned it and collected together a farm of over one thousand two hundred acres.  He is the last of the early settlers and soon will sleep with the stalwart pioneers, by whose side he struggled so faithfully to build up a community.
     "There were many noble men who cast their lot in Spice Valley, but this sketch must be too brief to mention all.  However, there are some that stand out above the rest and we will mention a few of them.  The township is indebted to two branches of the powerful Burton family which did so much in the development of the sister township of Marion.  Eight of the ten brothers settled in Marion, but two came to Spice Valley, Hardin and Eli.  The first was a Baptist preacher and fanner and a great deal more.  He was a splendid type of man.  He reared an intelligent family.  Drs. John W. Burton and George W. Burton were his sons and did splendid service in their profession.  Two other sons, Isom and Hardin, taught many schools in Spice Valley and were instrumental in bringing the schools to the high plane they have attained.  A grandson, Jackson Burton, also did yeoman service in the uplift of the schools of this section.  For the last twenty years he has been engaged in the mercantile business and is now a leading merchant in this part of the country.
     "Eli Barnes, son of Joshua Barnes, heretofore mentioned, was one of the old teachers and served in the capacity of township assessor for many years.
     "Richard Williams, who owned much fine land near Port William, was among the most substantial and respected of our early citizens.  Dr. A. W. Bare was another leading citizen who lived a pleasant, gentle and useful life in the beautiful valley of Bryantsville.
     "Spice Valley has quite a deposit of kaolin and aluminum clay and at one time this industry employed several men, but of late years the mines have
not been worked.
     "Some of the men of recent years who have been most active in the affairs

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of this township are Leonidas W. Spencer, Daniel W. Sherwood, Thomas J. Daniel and William Trowbridge.  And now, as I close this short story, I wish to mention one of the latterday and present teachers, William McNabb.  Since 1882 he has taught school almost continuously.   He is original in his methods and never fails to inspire his pupils to strive for better things.  There is hardly a district in the township in which he has not taught and always with the highest success.  Were I asked the question, what man in the last thirty years as performed the greatest service in Spice Valley, the answer would be without a moment's hesitation, "Bill" McNabb."

HURON

     On Feb. 12, 1859, John Terrell platted the town of Huron, on a part of the northeast quarter of section 6, township 3 north, range 2 west, and in April, 1868, in addition was made.  In 1857 Anderson Beasley began as the first merchant, later was succeeded by James Coleman, also a blacksmith.  The first mill at Huron was built by L. Prosser in 1857.  In January, 1873, Huron was incorporated.  The United States census for 1910 gives this otwn a population of one hundred and ninety-seven.

BRYANTSVILLE.

     The date of the platting of Bryantsville was May 28, 1835, and Henry Connelly was the first settler.  The town was first named Paris, but was later changed to its present name.  Among the early merchants of the village were  numbered Henry Weathers, Tucker Williams, Frederick R. Nugent, James Taylor and William Weathers.  Alexander Coleman was the first blacksmith, and the first physician was S. A. Raridan.  With the passing years not much growth has attended this town.  Its population in 1910 was only seventy-five souls.

PERRY TOWNSHIP

     Perry township is situated in the northwest corner of Lawrence county, and is composed of the congressional thirty-six sections in township 6 north, range 2 west.  The name Perry was given in honor of the famous sea commander who conquered the British on Lake Erie during the war of 1812.  When Lawrence county was organized in 1818, all of the territory now in the township was a part of Indian Creek township.  It was converted into an independent township on May 14, 1822, and included all of the land west of Salt creek and north of the line between townships 5 and 6 north.

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     The following is a list of some of the early land entries in Perry township, including some of the most prominent men in the county: Eli Powell, 1817; Alexander Clark, 1817; Jesse Davis, 1818; Warner Davis, 1816; Robert Holaday, 1816; Ralph Lowder, 1819; Benjamin Phipps, 1818; Michael and Mathias Sears, 1817; William Newcomb, 1817; William Sackley, 1817; William Kern, 1817; Thomas Hopper, 1817; William Hopper, 1817; Jonathan Osborn, 1816; Azel Bush, 1818; Isaac V. Buskirk, 1818; Joseph Taylor, 1816; Benjamin Dawson, 1818; Archibald Wood, 1816; John Gray, 1817; William Kerr, 1817; William Tincher, 1817; Reuben Davis, 1816; Seymour Cobb, 1816; John Armstrong, 1817; Samuel Steel, 1817; John Duncan, 1817; Coats and Samuel Simon, 1817; John Dishman, 1818; Adam Hostetter, 1817.  Others noteworthy among the early settlers were; Wesley Short, William Whitted, Aden Gainey, Samuel Owens, Caleb Odell, Nathan Melton, Kenneth Dye, John Jarvis, William McDowell, James McDowell, Thomas Cobb, Dixon Cobb, and later, Noah Bridwell, Elza Woodward, Zedekiah Robinson, Melcart Helmer, Samuel Tincher, Franklin Crooke, M. C. Rafferty, Milton Short, John and Thomas Hert, Thomas Armstrong, John Pledrick, John Rainbolt, Andrew McDaniel, James Beaty, Booker Wilson, Martin Plolmes, James Carton, Eliphalet Pearson, John D. Pedigo,  John Vestal and A. H. Gainey.
     Milling was the chief pioneer industry in the township, and the first mill was operated by Benjamin Dawson, beginning probably in the year 1818.  This mill was a very primitive affair, and was abandoned in 1835, when water mills began to be built.  Noah Bridwell conducted a horse mill run by a tramp wheel until 1840. also had a still in connection.  Wesley Short also owned a small mill on his farm about. 1835.  In the early forties Levi Butcher and Eliphalet Pearson had carding mills in the township, and they carded considerable quantities of wool brought in by the farmers.  Pearson sold out to Elza Woodward, who in turn placed the mill in the hands of Zachariah Purdy.  Under the last ownership the mill was abandoned in the fifties.  Cotton was another produce raised in this portion of the county during the early days, and several cotton gins were constructed.  Aden Gainey and Samuel Owens operated a gin for about seven years.  This gin gained notoriety at the time from the fact that Lorenzo Dow preached a sermon there to one of the largest crowds ever assembled in the township.
     Hunting constituted the prime sport of those days, deer and bear being very plentiful.  John G ray, who came up from Kentucky in the fall of 1815, became noted for his skill as a hunter, and he killed enough game to support his family.  He performed the feat of killing four deer with one

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bullet; he shot two, recovered the bullet from the second deer, and later had two others lined up for a shot, using the same slug of lead.

SPRINGVILLE

     Samuel Owens laid out the Village of Springville on July 11, 1832, on section 22, in the central portion of Perry township.  Later additions were made in 1836 and 1846. Samuel Owens himself was the first merchant, and he began about 1825.  Other men followed him, some of whom were A. H. Gainey, John Vestal, Eliphalet Pearson, Giles Gainey, Samuel Reddle, Cornelius Wells, Franklin Crooke, Jabez Owen, Thomas Butler, Winepark Judah, Dr. W. B. Woodward, James Tincher, J. E. Dean.  The postoffice was established in 1825, and Samuel Owens was the first postmaster.  Jabez Owens was the first blacksmith.  Henry Lingle was the first doctor to locate in the village, and he came in about 1835.  Springville today has about three hundred population and the usual number of stores and shops found in towns of its size.  Its people are seemingly contented and happy.

INDIAN CREEK TOWNSHIP.

   Indian Creek township is the center one of the three which form the western border of Lawrence county.  The name is taken from the creek that enters at the northwest corner, leaving near the southwest corner.  Salt creek and the Fast fork of White river form the eastern and southern boundaries.  The township is one of the original live, and now is much smaller than at first, at present comprising about fifty-three square miles.  In the agricultural life of the county this township stands very high, by virtue of the excellence of the soil.  The ground is rich bottom land in most places and is very productive, although not the most valuable in this respect in the county.
     A few of the men who entered land in this township during the days up until 1820 were: Henry Speed, John Towell, Simon Ruebottom, Benjamin Beeson, Silas Dixon, Jonathan Lindley, Ephraim Lee, Isaac Williams, Joseph Richardson, Seymour Cobb, Archibald Wood, Felter Hughes, James Gallon, David Sears, Jesse Towell. and Peyton Wilson, in 1816; David Ribelin, James Duncan, Adam Siler, John Duncan, John Cloud, John Roberts, Reuben Short, Jeremiah Boone, Elijah Boone, John Rochester, Wesley Short, John Crook, Daniel Todd, Abraham Kern, Robert Garton and R. Browning, William Dillard, John and Michael Waggoner, Joseph Sargeant.  Henry

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Waggoner, Elbert Howard, Sullivan and Duncan, John Duncan, in 1817; Robert Wood, William Gartin, Henry Piersoll, Holland Pitman, William Dougherty, James Mulloy, Isaac Waggoner, William Cochran, Robert Mitchell, Peyton Wilson and Martin Ribelin, in 1818; Andrew Howard, Sterling Sims, John Short, Albert Howard. Benjamin Chestnut and William Woodrun, in 1819: John Donaldson, in 1820.
     The first elections of Indian Creek township were held by Joseph Sullivan as inspector at Stepp's, but a little later were held at the house of Samuel Owens, not far from the present site of Springville.  James Cully held the office of constable for the first time, and Patrick and Adam Tyler were overseers
of the township poor in 1819.  In 1822, when Perry township was formed out of part of Indian Creek, the southern border was extended to White river, and the election place changed to the house of Frederick Hamer.
     In the early days of Indian Creek township there were many grist mills situated within her borders.  One of the earliest was situated on Indian creek, and was operated by water power.  Robert Dougherty operated it in the year 1818, and then sold it to a man named Bowers.  Henry Purcell owned it next, and in his hands it was shut down.  John Craig, in 1824, built a horse mill on his farm, and ran it successfully for about ten years.  This mill failing, Mr. Craig erected a new and better one, which descended to his son, Robert Craig.  Elijah Garton had a "corn cracker" near what is now Fayetteville, and the power was furnished by an inclined wheel and a young steer. John Short, Simon Ruebottom, Oliver Cox and Isaac Rector also owned small mills.
     The making of salt was at one time a good industry in the township.  The value of the product was high, due to the poor transportation facilities with the outside world.  In 1824 Joseph Laughlin dug a salt well on the farm owned by Jackson Kern, but the produce was not sufficient to pay for the expense of manufacture.
     Samuel Simons, one of the earlier settlers, kept a tavern where Fayetteville now stands.  The bill of fare was very simple, consisting at times of roasting ears and sweet milk, for which a sum of twenty-five cents was charged.  This tavern was kept for a period of two years, when the owner abandoned it and went to farming.  Among the first merchants was John Vestal, who came to Fayetteville in 1816 or 1817, and there set up a stock of merchandise in a log house.  He replenished his stock from Louisville, the goods being hauled from there in wagons.  Frederick Hamer also undertook the merchandise trade in 1826, and enjoyed a very lucrative trade.

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WILLIAMS.

     On the banks of the East fork of White river, in the southwestern portion of Indian Creek township, is situated the Village of Williams, located on the Chicago, Terre Haute & Southeastern railroad.  The village is one of the most individual in its artistic beauty of any in the county.  The houses are built upon and at the base of a thickly wooded hill, and the winding bank of White river encloses the whole into a spot of natural beauty and unconventional form.
     There are three hundred and fifty people in Williams.  McCarty & Ferguson, C. Wagner, Mundy Brothers, and J. H. Beavers own the general stores and have complete stocks. S. O. McClung, "the prophet of Eden," conducts a hotel and store.  H. Barnes, Z. R. Craig and J. L. Sullivan have blacksmith shops. The physician is J. T. McFarlin.
     One church is located here, the Church of Christ.  The Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias both have lodges in Williams, the former having been established in 1907.

SOUTHERN INDIANA POWER COMPANY.

     One of the strongest, if not the strongest, contributing forces to the importance of Williams is the presence of the main station of the Southern Indiana Power Company on White river, just below the village.  This plant was built during the years 1910 and 1911, and its purpose is to supply the stone industry of Indiana with electrical power.  The plant also lights the villages of the surrounding country and the cities of Bedford and Bloomington.  There is at present a sub-station located at Bedford, one at Bloomington, and one near Saunders.  The officers of the company are: H. C. Stillwell, president; H M. Mansfield, vice-president, and Charles B. Fletcher, secretary-treasurer.  The construction of the plant was in charge of the Mansfield Engineering Company, F. H. Burnette, chief engineer, and the electrical equipment and apparatus was designed by the Easterline Company, and installed by D. G. Angus, who is the present general manager.
     The present generating capacity is 8,000 K.; 4,000 K. water and 4,000 K. of steam being generated.  The plant is equipped with a hollow, reinforced concrete dam, three hundred feet long, spanning the river, and it impounds the water to the water wheels, which are directly connected to umbrella-type generators.  There are four of these units, 1,000 K. each, and with a maximum available head of seventeen feet.  The steam plant consists

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of two 750 K. generators directly connected to steam turbines, and one 2,500 K. generator, directly connected.  A 2,442 horse-power boiler is being installed.  From the main station power is transmitted to the sub-station at Bedford over double transmission lines, supported on steel towers.  A transmission line is being constructed from Bedford to Bloomington.

FAYETTEVILLE

     The village of Fayetteville was laid out on Feb. 6, 1838, by Ezra Kern, and in October, 1874, an addition was made to the original by Noah Kern.  Near the year 1818 John Vestal opened up the first merchandising house, his place being constructed of logs, and his stock very small, but large for the day.  The goods in his store were hauled by wagon from Louisville, Kentucky.  Solomon R. Frazier, Ambrose Kern, Ambrose Parks, Robert Boyd, William C. Pitman, Milton Short, John Lackey, Ezra Kern and George W. Morris were later merchants.  The earlier doctors of the village were E. F. Allen and Harvey Voyles.  In 1910 Fayetteville had a population of about one hundred and twenty-five, being a mere country town trading place.

SILVERVILLE

     Robert C. McAfee platted the village of Silverville in 1855, on the 26th of July, and the whole originally comprised seventy-six lots.  Lewis J. Baker was probably the first merchant, doing business here as early as 1850.  Soon after Wallace Craig joined him.  Dr. S. D. Honnochre was a druggist and doctor, also Dr. J. S. Blackburn.  J. E. Kern owned a valuable grist mille, operated by steam power.  In 1910 the census tables show this town to have a population of two hundred and seventy.

PLEASANT RUN TOWNSHIP

     The northeast corner of Lawrence county is the location of Pleasant Run township, and it was created when the county was organized in 1818.  The township now comprises sixty sections, being all of township 6 north, range 1 east, and the western half of township 6 north, range 2 east.  As in Spice Valley township, the land is much too rough to be of great value for crops, although along the streams may be found some excellent land.  Back, Leatherwood, Little Salt and Pleasant creeks cross the township, and from the latter the name is derived.  In the list of Lawrence county townships

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Pleasant Run had the fewest settlers until 1829, having but twenty-three land entries, as follows: Jesse Gilstrap, 1820: William Clark, 1820; Adam Helton, 1820; William J. Anderson, 1818; Arnold Helton, 1818; E. Terrill, 1820; Heirs of Abraham Martin, 1820; Rene Julin. 1818; R. Brooks, 1820:
Samuel Gwathney. 1820; Joseph Dayton. 1816: Joseph Trimble. 1820; E. Parr, 1820; Edmund Garrison, 1820; James Mundell, 1816; John McClellan, 1820; David McKinney, 1816; Edward Moore, 1820; Cuthbert and Thomas Bullitt, 1820; Vana Wilson. 1817; Jacob Woolery, 1820; Edward Tewell, 1820; and John N. Nichols, 1817.
     Mills and distilleries were the chief vocations during the early days of the county.  Adam Helton and a man named Mitchell owned a few of these mills, but on account of the scarcity of water they were compelled to wait until a storm before they could grind at all.  Among the distilleries probably the most important one was that kept by William Clark, familiarly called Billy, John Hunter also kept a still on his farm.
     The first elections of the township were held at the home of Joseph Dayton, with Thomas Henton as inspector.  William Fish and Drury Mobley were overseers of the poor in the township.

HELTONVILLE

     The town of Heltonville, Pleasant Run township, was platted on Sept. 8. 1845, by Andrew Helton, on the west half of the northeast quarter of section 26, township 6 north, range 1 east.  The town originally comprised twenty-seven lots, but since that time several additions have been made, enlarging the town.  Before 1839 Andrew Helton opened the first merchandise store, first being a partner of William Templeton.  Houston & Ragsdale were also among the first merchants.  J. C. Foster, John R. Browning, George Brock, A. M. Ramsey, J. W. Browning, William Logan, James S. Denniston, William Elston, Jefferson Ragsdale, W. C. Denniston, M. D., Reid and Andrew S. Fountain, Dr. W. T. Ellison were following merchants and business men of the town.  David Carson was one of the first blacksmiths, and John Raney, Ziba Owens, the Hamer brothers.  I.uke, James and John, and John Lane were wagon makers.
     The present population of Heltonville is about four hundred and fifty.  The town has no officers other than the township justices of peace.  William F. Kinser and William Stackleather, G. N. Norman and B L. Store have general stores; J. S. Hanna, the postmaster, conducts a drug store; Don Browning has a saw mill and the grain mill is run by the Williams Milling

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Company; J. M. Butchre, the East Brothers, W. M. and George W., are blacksmiths; J. W. Grubb has a dray line; Otto White is the proprietor of the hotel; R. E. Martin has a drug stock; D. B. Stafford is an undertaker; Ragsdale & Alexander also have a general store, and L. R. Thompson owns a barber shop.  The physicians are Drs. Jasper Cain, W. T. Ellison and Perry Wollery.
     There are three churches in Heltonville, the Methodist, the Baptist, and the Church of Christ.  The Independent Order of Odd Fellows have a lodge in Heltonville, No. 532, which was granted a charter May 18, 1876.  The first noble and vice guards were William Denniston and G. T. Starr, and the original lodge started with ten members.  The Masons also had a charter in Heltonville in the early fifties and until 1822, when the charter was surrendered, and their building sold to the Odd Fellows.  Major Bemen was the first worshipful master.  There are many men in Heltonville, however, who belong to outside bodies of the Masonic order.

SHAWSWICK TOWNSHIP

     In the central part of the county is Shawswick township.  On the south the East fork of White river flows, and on the west Salt creek.  The land adjacent to these streams comprises the best agricultural ground within the borders of the county.  Also Leatherwood creek flows diagonally across the township from northeast to southwest, and teh land through which this stream flows is named the Leatherwood district, and is famous for the richness and fertility of the soil.  Nearly all the land to the east of Bedford is under cultivation and the farms are supplied with the latest and best improvements all indicative of the prosperity of the region.  The bottom land along White river is a strong rival of the land of the Leatherwood district, and it is even claimed by some to be richer.  The number of land entries made prior to and in 1820 proves how inviting the locality was to the settler coming on his way to the northward.  These early land entries were as follows:
James Mandell, Samuel Lindley, Ezekiel Blackwell, Hiram Kilgore, Charles Kilgore, Preston Beck, William Bristoe, Reuben and Simpson Kilgore, Marquis Knight, Joseph Glover, James Gregory, John Hays, William Thornton, William Foot, John Gardner, John Williams and William Fisk in 1816; Dixon Brown, David Johnson, Thomas Thompson, JOhn Horton, Melcher Fehgelman, Robert Whitley, Vinson Williams, Peter Galbert, Martin Ribelin, William Dougherty, John Hawkins, Thomas McManus, Ross and McDonald, James Maxwell, Samuel Dougherty, Robert Dougherty, Alex-

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ander Butler, George Silver, Thomas Elrod, Roger McKnight, Jacob Castleman and Thomas Allen in 1817;  Pleasant Padgett, Lewis Woody, James Blair, Andrew Owen, James Riggins, Mark Tully, William Denson, Stephen Shipman, Absalom Hart, Abraham Mitchell, John Spears, David Wilson, Timothy Ward, Arta Garrison, Ebenezer McDonald, Fetler and Hughes, Peter Harmonson, James Erwin and Henry McGree in 1818;  T. McAfee, Michael Johnson, R. Bowles, James Blair, James Denson, Joseph James, James Owens, in 1819; Jacob Geiger, Bartholomew Thatcher, Fetler and Hughes, Philip Starr, J. Thompson, James Allen, Jonathan Henderson, Isaac Jamison, Samuel Gwathney, Thomas Maffith, James Pace, Thomas Hill and Jacob Clark, in 1820.
     Shawswick is one of the original five townships, and the name came in the following manner:  A judge in the early history of the state born the name of Wick, and he had many admirers in this county who insisted that the township should be named after him.  One of the county commissioners at the same time, by the name of Beazley, had a comrade by the name of Shaw, who was killed in the battle of Tippecanoe.  Beazley advocated the name of Shaw and had many supporters of his desire.  The two parties finally compromised on the name Shawswick.
     It is highly probably that the first elections were held at the town of Palestine.  Pleasant Parks was the inspector at the first voting, but in the following year was succeeded by William Kelsey.  Joshua Taylor and James Mundle were chosen overseers of the poor in the same year.  Instead one constable, Shawswick township maintained that the dignity of the law could be upheld by no less than three, so accordingly Nathaniel Vaughn, William Dale and John Sutton were appointed as constables.
     The many streams in the township gave rise to many water mills of various types, some for grinding grain and others for sawing timber.  Early in the twenties Alexander Butler and Robert Dougherty built a saw mill on Leatherwood creek, about a mile and a half southeast of Bedford.  The mill was run by a flutter wheel, which was faster and easier of operation than the undershot wheel.  Edward Humpston, whose name was prominently identified with the mills over the whole country, built another saw mill above the above mentioned one and on Leatherwood creek.  After a time, and as was his custom, he sold the mill to Richard Evans, who rand the plant for seven years before abandoning it.  Humpston also built a grist mill in 1826, which lasted for several years.  It was operated by a breast water wheel.  Farther up the creek, and near the present site of Erie, a grist and saw mill was

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built in 1832 by Wesley and Michael Johnson.  Also the Rawlins mill was among the best of the day, and was built by Joseph Rawlins about 1835.  It was one of the largest in the county, having three runs of buhrs, and quantities of flour were shipped from here to all parts of the country.  By railroad it was shipped north to Detroit and other northern cities, while the southern transportation was conducted by means of flatboats,, principally down the Mississippi to New Orleans.  There were many other mills, but each in turn suffered an ignominous end, either being abandoned by the owners or being washed out by a sudden rise in the streams.

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     SHARON WICK'S NOTE:  James Love & Elvira Murray were married in Shawswick County, Indiana.  They are Sharon's Great Great Great Grandparents.

OOLITIC

     Three miles and a half northwest of Bedford in Shawswick township, is situated in the town of Oolitic with a present population of about two thousand, a substantial growth since the census of 1910, when it was 1,079.  Under the statutes of Indiana, the village of Oolitic was incorporated as a town in 1900.  The present town officers are:  Trustees, Marshall Miller, S. L. Roberts and Ira M. Carmichael; marshal, Joseph Pace; clerk and treasurer, R. V. Worman.  The town has no water system, but is supplied with electricity by the Oolitic Light, Heat & Power Company, which was established in April, 1913.  The city has a town hall.
     The business interests of 1913 are as follows:  H. L. Paxton and Walter Mosier, attorneys; blacksmiths, M. Anderson, and . L. Clark; barbers, Smallwood & Johnson, and Noah Harney; clothing store, E. H. Riddell; dry goods, R. Dobbins, Berney Mitchell and Isaac Silez; drug stores, L. A. Smallwood, C. V. George and Harvey H. Belton; furniture, Ooolitic Furniture Company, Meadows & Meadows, proprietors, and the Miller Furniture Company; grocery stores, Cook & Cook, D. Watson, W. M. Cuddy, Harry Byers, Deford Brothers; day lines, H. L. Clark, Ira M. Carmichael; shoe stores, J. A. Bush, also a jewelry and general store keeper; grain dealers, William Cuddy, Claude Cook and Delbert Watson; livery, H. L. Clark and Thrasher Brothers; hardware, A. C. Clark; lumber, Ziba Owens, Gilbert Pierce and the Oolitic Lumber Company; grain mill, Arch Anderson; millinery, Mrs. Joseph Pace and Mrs. Clarinda Smallwood; meat markets, Delbert Watson and Deford Brothers.  The physicians of Oolitic are R. B. Short, Oliver McLaughlin, Claude Dollins and Dr. Ray.  Dr. J. B. Blessing is a dentist.  There is one newspaper, the Progressive.
     The town of Oolitic owes its existence mainly to the stone industry.  The town is a center of many quarries and mills bearing a world-wide reputa-

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tion.  Among the principal ones surrounding the town are: The Indiana Stone Company, the Reed Stone Company, the Indiana Quarries Company, the Consolidated Stone Company, the Furst-Kerber Company, and the Ingles Stone Company.  A drive through the country nearby reveals mammoth stacks of cut stone, black smoke from myriad mill chimneys, and stone-heaped cars sidetracked ready to be rushed to different points of the country.  The workers live in the picturesque and beautiful hills of Lawrence county, close to their working ground, little noting the magnificent proportions and impressive detail of the wooded and rocky elevations around them.
     In Oolitic there are three churches, the Baptist, the Methodist and the Church of Christ.  The lodges are the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, including the encampment and the Rebekah.

ABANDONED TOWNS

     Scattered over the county are several towns, or rather, sites of towns, which stand as lonely monuments to villages once flourishing, but abandoned to decay on account of some climatic or commercial reason.
     LIBERTY, four miles and a half southwest of Bedford, is one of these.  This village was platted in 1829, and several small buildings immediately sprang up.  John S. Daughton, Frank Tilly, Alexander H. Dunihue were among the early merchants.  The health conditions finally became so bad that residence there was dangerous, and accordingly the town was abandoned.
     WOODVILLE, laid out Dec. 10, 1849, by Edwin Wood, was located on the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago railroad.  The proprietor of the town manufactured lumber.
     REDDING was laid out by Robert Porter and John R. Nugent, on Aug. 25, 1842, and was situated on the southwest quarter of section 15.  This town has passed into history.
     JULIET, also, has been relegated to the ages.  This village was opened in 1850 on the southwest corner of section 11.  During the first years, the town was the terminus of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago railroad, and consequently became a trade center.  The completion of the road to the north ruined the town, however, and early death was its fate.
     For other defunct places see "Village Plats" in Miscellaneous chapter of this work.