William Henry Harrison Indian fighter-turned-President
helped settle Corydon, Lanesville
Harrison County
was born in 1808 by an act of the Indiana Territorial Legislature at
Vincennes. In the same statute, Corydon was designated as the county
seat. This was the fourth county formed in the territory the three
older counties are Knox, Clark, and Dearborn. The early records
of the county does not state who selected the name Harrison; however
the name was given to the county in honor of the popular territorial
governor of Indiana, William Henry Harrison, who was residing at
Vincennes. Hostile Indian
bands who roamed the area were a pressing problem to the early
settlers. Harrison had gained his popularity and respect through his
ability to deal effectively with these Indian tribes. During his term
as governor from 1800 to 1811, he was in constant negotiations with the
warring tribes. In November 1811, he gained further popularity when he
defeated the Indians at Tippecanoe. William Henry
Harrison was born Feb. 9, 1773, on the James River in Virginia. His
father, Benjamin Harrison, was a member of the first Continental
Congress, a signer of the Declaration of In-dependence and a governor
of Virginia. At the age of 18,
Harrison came west to Ohio where he embarked on a career of dealing
with the Indians on the frontier. He married Anna Symmes, daughter of
Judge John Cleves Symmes, near Cincinnati. Just before the turn of the
century, he became secretary of the Northwest Territory and was
delegate to congress. he was appointed governor of the Northwest
Territory by pres. John Adams on July 4 1800, but due to traveling
conditions did not arrive at Vincennes until Jan 10, 1801 By the time
Harrison became governor of Indiana Territory, he had been thoroughly
westernized. He had an unusual gift of oratory and conversation, plus
nine years of frontier living among the Indians. All these qualities
appealed to the common people. In the more than a
decade that Gov. Harrison resided at Vincennes, he made numerous trips
through Southern Indiana on his way from Vincennes to the Falls of the
Ohio at Clarksville. He made friends and was well acquainted with the
sparsely located settlers. One of his particular friends was Harvey
Heth, a U.S. Government surveyor, who was running the Congressional
Township lines in present day Harrison County. Heth directed Harrison
to choice locations in the area. Harrison purchased four tracts of land
in the county from the U.S. government. Good water was an
important factor to the settler, and Harrison seemed attracted to
springs. He “entered,” or took possession of the land where Lanesville
now stands this purchase was near a salt spring. He entered a quarter
section of land near there owned by Squire Boone, who resided on Buck
Creek; he purchased the quarter section at the junction of Big and
Little Indian Creeks where Corydon now stands this was in a
luscious valley fed by springs at the base of the surrounding hills.
And Harrison’s fourth and largest purchase was 640 acres which included
the Big Fish Spring on Blue River. At this last
property, he constructed a log house, planted a large orchard,
operated a still house and constructed a grist and sawmill that was run by the
water of the Big Fish Spring. On April 1, 1810, Harrison and John
George Pfrimmer entered into a five-year contract for the operation of
the mill and property; however, two years later in 1812, this
partnership was dissolved. This land on Blue River was sold five years
later on July 26, 1817, by Harrison to Joshua Wilson of Corydon and to
Wilson’s son-in-law, Abijah Bayless of Louisville, Ky. Big Fish Spring
was also called Harrison Spring and, in later years, it was known as
Wilson’s Spring. Harrison’s log cabin at the spring was dismantled and
displayed in Indiana during his 1840 presidential campaign. Parts of it
were later used in his grandson Benjamin Harrison’s campaign. Some of the fruit
trees of the governor’s orchard were still standing as late as
Indiana’s centennial in 1916. About 1865, a German Reform Church at
Fountain was constructed in the vicinity of the mill. The stone from
the Gov. Harrison distillery was used for the foundation of this church. Harrison assigned
his certificate of purchase for his land where Corydon stands to his
surveyor friend, Harvey Heth, who in turn laid out the town. Harrison
named his town Corydon for a song that was popular at that time. The
theme of the song is the lament of a lass for her dead lover, Corydon,
a shepherd boy. The large township in the center of Harrison County
where Corydon is located is also named Harrison. Thus Gov. Harrison has
left his mark in the area. On the first book
of the Court of Common Pleas of Harrison County, dated March 9, 1809,
is the following entry: “Henry (Harvey) Heth & William Henry
Harrison came personally into Court and acknowledged themselves
indebted to the Court of Common pleas of Harrison County in the sum of
Five Hundred Dollars provided the Heth & Harrison do not on or
before June 1812 convey by a good & sufficient deed to the Court
for the use of County for public ground, two lots in the Town of
Corydon in County, containing One acre & four perches each being
heretofore laid off by them for the public ground in Town.” Thus
within the first year of the county’s existence, Heth and Harrison were
selling land in their newly created town for a public square. The following is
copied from The Corydon Republican, Aug. 16, 1883, issue: “The trustees
of the Presbyterian Church purchased the Wilson Hisey property last
week for a parsonage for that church. That house has a history. It is a
log house, weather-boarded. The house as originally constructed,
consisted of another part or addition, shaped like the present one,
with a large roomy hall passing between the two portions. The building
was erected by General Harrison, afterwards President Harrison, during
the territorial days of the state and was occupied by him as the
gubernatorial mansion. Several years ago, one-half of the building and
hall were torn away, and the balance of it weather boarded and is yet
substantial and one of the most comfortable houses in town.” It is questionable
that Harrison used this log house, located on Lot 21 in Corydon, as a
gubernatorial mansion. Corydon did not become the territorial capital
until May 1, 1813, and by that date Thomas Posey was the governor.
Recently a preservation architect examined the portion of this log
house that is still standing and described it as a type of log house
that was constructed by the French. It is quite possible that Harrison
could have built and occupied the house for short periods while he was
checking his business and political interests in the area. Also he
could have sent French workmen from the Vincennes area to construct the
cabin. Harrison sold his
interest in this house to William Branham, one of the first to locate
at Corydon in 1808. Early county records show that Branham was licensed
to keep a tavern at this house in Corydon on. April 4, 1809. Since Heth
and Harrison owned the original site of Corydon, it was six years later
on Nov. 10, 1814, that the said Heth executed a deed for the property
to William henry Branham for five shillings. Following his
victory over the Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in November 1811,
Harrison became Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Northwest. He
waged a vigorous campaign against the Indians and the British during
the War of 1812. Through his leadership and cunning military tactics,
he freed the vast area of the Northwest Territory from British control
and drove the British back into Canada. Harrison became a
very popular military figure. Even though he no longer visited Harrison
County, his popularity grew especially among those who had personally
known him. When he was referred to, both of his names William Henry
were used. The exception was among his old personal friends of Harrison
County who fondly spoke of him as “Bill” Harrison. If his staunch
friends of Harrison County ever disagreed with him, it was over the
question of slavery within the territory. Harrison had been born and
reared in the slave state of Virginia and favored slavery in Indiana.
On the other hand, many of those who had first settled in the territory
insisted on freedom for all of Indiana. The inhabitants of
Harrison County were elated when Harrison was nominated for the
presidency of the United States; there was great celebrating within the
county when he was elected President. And there was much gloom and
despair among the citizens of the county when they learned of his
death, which occurred one month following his inauguration on April 4, 1841. Harrison gave the
longest inaugural address in our history. It was a bitter cold day in
Washington on that March 4, 1841. He rode without hat or coat on his
favorite horse to and from the inauguration. The swearing in
ceremony was also outside the national Capitol. He contracted pneumonia
from which he never recovered and died one month later. His wife, who was unable
to make the trip from Cincinnati to Washington, D.C., never occupied
the White House.
Source:Harrison County's Earliest Years by Frederick P. Griffin
