BROWN COUNTY INDIANA
JOHNSON TOWNSHIP
THE
SURFACE AND SOIL
This is the
smallest subdivision of Brown
County. It comprises forty eight sections in the southwestern
part. The entire township, except about two sections in the northeast
corner, lies within the Harrison's Purchase, obtained from the
Indians by the treaty of Fort Wayne in 1809. It is drained wholly by
the Middle Fork of Salt Creek and its branches, Little Blue, Crooked,
Grave and smaller creeks. On the northern boundary is High Ridge. The
creek flows westwardly through the southern part, and its principal
branches rise in High Ridge and flow southwardly. In this township
considerable sandstone is found upon the surface, lying scattered on
the hillsides in great cubic or columnar form, and often presenting red
furruginous or gray alluininous colors. The sandstone below this is
often shaly, and disintegrates easily upon exposure. Much iron pyrites
is found. The bottoms about Elkinsville are rich and productive with
the wealth of the lacustral silt deposited by torrents down the
hillsides.
The geologic
formation in a well
at Elkinsville is as follows :
Alluvial soil 4 feet.
Dark quicksand 7 feet.
Black and blue lacustral clay and silt,
including wood and vegetable remains 9 feet.
Total 20 feet.
On the knob on
Section 10 may be seen a few
scattered fragments of Keokuk limestone which once covered the region,
but which has since been washed away. They contain crushed specimens of
zophrentis archimedes, and other bryozoans and crinoids. Excellent
sandstone of the Knobstone beds is also found here in abundance. The
water in past ages has washed out this stone and dressed it into cubes
three and four feet through, and pillars three by four and twenty feet
long. The soil is yet heavily timbered, though the best has been culled
out for staves and other lumber. For a number of years the ax has been
turned upon the numberless hickory saplings, hundreds of loads of which
are annually sold for barrel hoops. Traces of gold have been
discovered. Sulphuret of iron has animated the hopes of many a resident
and seeker after sudden wealth.
THE
ERA OF SETTLEMENT
It is said that
William Elkins was a resident of
Johnson Township as early as 1819. One thing is certain, he was in the
township to live before the Indians were removed, which was done in 182
L. Some state that his residence in the county dates further back than
that, back to 1816 or 1817. It is told that he came directly from the
block-house, which had been built in Lawrence County as a protection
from the Indians during the war of 1812-15. That statement is currently
made and believed, and if true, would fix the date of his settlement at
about the year 1816, and certainly not later than 1817. Some state that
he was the first white man to live with his family in what is now Brown
County. Others state that old man Schoonover, who located on the creek
which bears his name (corrupted), in the western part of Washington
Township, was the first in the county. The truth cannot be learned. It
is certain that both were in before 1820, and very likely by 1817. Old
David Johnson was another very early resident of the township. The'
date of his settlement cannot be given. It should be remembered that
the territory comprising Johnson Township (except a small portion of
the northeastern corner), was obtained by cession treaty from the
Indians in 1809, and that the old boundary line, which crosses the
northeastern corner, was established at that date. The land was
surveyed south of this line in 1812, and soon afterward was open to
settlement. No settlers appeared except Elkins, and perhaps Johnson,
until after 1820. Then a few families arrived, but no extensive
settlement occurred until the decade of the thirties
.
LAND
ENTRIES
Township 7 north,
Range 1 east,
Section 1—Nelson Roberton, 1843;
James Todd, 1844;
Section 12—Hiram Butcher, 1844; John
Griner, 1844;
Township 7 north,
Range 2 east,
Section 2—David Johnson, 1834;
Adam Fleetwood, 1833; Thomas
Fleetwood, 1833; Henry Combs, 1837 ;
Section 3—J. H. Alexander, 1843 ;
David Sively, 1844 ; Isaac Fleetwood,
1844;
Section 4—Adam Fleetwood, 1834 ; G.
W. Starnes, 1844 ; Isaac Fleetwood,
1844;
Section 5—D. M. Martin, 1839; Charles
Holland, 1844 ;
Section 6—William Burroughs, 1833;
Arnold Helton, 1844; George Butcher,
1843 ;
Section 7—David Sively, 1833 ;
William Mitchell, 1844;
Section 8—Albert L. Gilstrap, 1834;
Andrew Helton, 1839 ; Henry Clark,
1841;
Section 9—Jerry Terrell, 1844; Henry
Clark, 1841;
Section 10—Jacob Fleener, 1843 ;
George Lutes, 1843; Jacob Fleener,
1843 ;
Township 8 north,
Range 2 east,
Section 22 —John Huffman, 1838:
Section 25—William Stogdill, 1837;
Zachariah Pauley, 1844 ;
Section 32—Isaac Hall, 1843;
Section 33—Solomon Fleetwood, 1833;
J. S. Arwine, 1844 ;
Section 35—Jerry Brannon, 1837 ;
Section 36—A. T. Hazzard. 1837 ;
Richard Elkins, 1844; William
Elkins, 1834
.
POLL-TAX
PAYERS OF 1848
James Arwine, John
S. Arwine, George Butcher, "W. M.
Crusenberry, "James Chafin, Hezekiah Deckard, Nathan Davis, Joseph
Elkins, Richard Elkins, Reuben Enes, James Fleetwood, Solomon
Fleetwood, Samuel Fowler, Shadrack Fleetwood, Isaac Fleetwood, John
Grimes, William Helton, Joseph Hedrick, Stephen Harper, John Hatchet,
A. D. Hoag, Isaac Hall, Jacob Lutes, Amos Lawson, Thomas Lucas, William
Mitchell, Nicholas Martin, Jackson Messer, Zachariah Polly, Lincoln
Polly, James Polly, Thomas Polly, Asa Reeves, Alexander Ryans, Alfred
Ramsey, William See, Enoch Sexton, Hiram Shipley, William Sullivan,
Jonathan Sherrel, John Shipley, Ezekial Sullivan, John Scott, Jesse
Shipley, Arthur Sutphin, Jeremiah Terrel, James Wilkenson, Hammond
Wilkenson and Bird Wilson. The heaviest tax payers were Andrew Helton,
$6.49; Lutes et at, $3.30; William Mitchell, $3.18; and Alfred Ramsey,
$3.13.