Source:
History of Lawrence and Monroe Counties, Indiana;
their people, industries and institutions. 
Publ. Indianapolis, Ind. - B. F. Bowen & Co.,
1914

CHAPTER III.
First Settlements of Lawrence Co., with Township Histories
Pg. 34
 

     Lawrence county was at first a portion of Knox and Harrison counties.  In the year 1814 it became identified with Washington county, and in 1816 a part of Orange county.  The county of Lawrence itself was created in 1818, and named for Capt. James Lawrence, a United States navy officer, commander of the frigate "Chesapeake."  Captain Lawrence lost his life in the battle with the English frigate "Shannon."
     The first years of the nineteenth century saw very little settlement in this county by white men.  The Indians were hostile and the perils of making a home were great.  The slow immigration of the tribes to the West had not yet begun, and the pioneer hesitated to be the first to combat with their treacherous customs.  The Ohio river was then the avenue of commerce to the Middle West, and consequently the settlement of the state proceeded northward from this rover.  The advance was slow, made so by the necessity for large numbers to keep together in order to repel the Indian attacks.  Not until the year 1811, the year of the battle of Tippecanoe, did Lawrence county receive any number of white families.
     Records show that probably the first settlement of any consequence was made at the spot where Leesville, Flinn township, now stands, on the eastern boundary of the county.  The settlers of this place had left Lee county, Virginia, in 1809, and passed the next winter in Kentucky.  In February, 1810, they came to the above mentioned place and built a fort near the present grist mill in Leesville.  The block-house completed, the men journeyed back to Kentucky after their families.  These families were the Guthries and Flinns, who were attacked by the Potawatomies later, and their names have been perpetuated in the history of the county as the highest types of honor, courage and self-sacrifice, and today their descendants are numbered among the most respected citizens of Lawrence county.  Daniel Guthrie and his sons and Jacob and William Flinn were the men of the group, and each was a frontiersman skilled in all the arts of pioneer life, in hunting, fishing, farming, and in fighting the warlike tribes.  Daniel Guthrie is noted as being one of the Continentals who defeated General Braddock prior to the Revolutionary war.

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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

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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 January 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.

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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.

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

OOLITIC

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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.

[Page 64] - CHAPTER IV. - ORGANIZATION OF LAWRENCE COUNTY.

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