EARLY SETTLEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
Information taken from the book
"History of Hendricks County Indiana"
by J.V. Hadley published 1914
The history of the early settlement of Hendricks county would be worthy
of treatment in a separate volume were the records and other sources of
information in regard to those days in existence. At that time the
importance of keeping such things was not realized, and consequently
few can be obtained. The settlement of Hendricks county occurred early in 1820, within six years of one
hundred years ago. Many of the people in the county today remember of
bearing their fathers and mothers recount the thrilling tales of
pioneer life in the early period of log rollings,
husking bees, barbecues, cabin raisings, hunts and the thousand and one
other incidents which were a part of the early life. Settlements were miles apart and social intercourse
was difficult, so these entertainment's afforded the only opportunities
f or the people to congregate, and these periods were generally months apart. So the pioneer lived alone
with his family in the silent and mighty forest sallying out before
dawn to shoot the game or to cast a line in the stream nearby for the
days food supply. The meat of the wild game and
the rough cereals raised in the patch of cleared ground provided the
principal sustenance for the family; the clothes were manufactured by the women, who sat for days before
the loom; linsey-woolsey and homespun, adorned with the skins of small
animals, were the popular weaves. The good mother was the teacher of the children also; meager
teaching it was, but thorough.
Relative to the early settlement, it is well to quote a few paragraphs
from the writings of Logan Esarey,
an authority on Indiana history. He writes: “The attempt to better their economic
condition was no doubt the cause that led a great majority of the
immigrants to come to Indiana in the early period of its statehood.
They were encouraged and many of them grossly
deceived by the advertisements in the Indiana papers. The Western Sun and the Sentinel of Vincennes, the Indiana Republican of Madison, the Intelligencer
and the Ledger of
Richmond, from which the following data has been cob leeched, are full
of the most glowing accounts of the prosperity of this western world.
Judged from these papers,
there was bustle and activity everywhere. Cotton gins, ox mills, grist
mills, salt wells, rich mines of silver and gold, steam saw mills, card
mills, breweries were in need
of laborers everywhere. Dozens of towns, each sure to be a metropolis,
were springing up and in which lots could be bought for a trifle and on
credit. A steamer one hundred and
sixty-six feet long was on the ways at Jeffersonville. Another would
soon be launched at Bono to ply on the branches of White river. Indiana
seemed to be a bee-hive of industry, glowing with opportunity for the
poor and
industrious.
“The period from 1816 to 1825, while the capital was at Corydon, was
one of unprecedented immigration into Indiana. The settlers crowded up
the waterways beyond the middle of the state. The number of counties in
the
state rose from thirteen to fifty-two. Almost all of the territory
south of White river was organized and the line of settlement was
pushed well to the north of the National road The
latter had not yet been opened and practically all of the settlers came
by way of or across the Ohio river.”
The long, weary journey in a covered wagon, over rough hills, through
tangled valleys, fording streams. slow, tortuous miles traveled, made
the final stopping point inviting to the settler, even if it consisted
of but a convenient
nook in the forest or a sequestered spot on the banks of a stream, for
it meant home wherever it was. The first nights were spent under the
wagon canopy or in a lean-to hastily
erected of branches and grasses. The pioneer immediately began the
erection of his cabin, hewing the logs and notching them into place. A fireplace was constructed in one
end of the small hut, made of sticks and mud, and the fire therein
afterward served the purpose of light, heat and as a cook stove. The
furniture of the interior was as rough as the
cabin itself; three legged stools, puncheon floor, a bed built against
the wall, and a small table generally comprised the interior of the
shack. The walls, through which numerous
breezes penetrated, were hung on the inside with animal skins, that is,
if such skins were procurable. However crude these homes might have been, the health and sturdiness of
the occupants was mighty, and many of those who live today in luxury
and idleness would swap their all for this strength of body and mind.
A great part of the land in central Indiana in those days was swampy.
Sloughs were scattered through the forests and were far from healthy.
Ague among the settlers was an established illness and the best
remedy was quinine and whiskey, the latter in quantities. Fevers, the
intermittent kind which attend malaria, were frequent too. The people
believed many peculiar things about these
ailments and the fear of miasma and germ laden atmosphere was wholesome.
ORGANIZATION
OF HENDRICKS COUNTY
The act organizing
the county of Hendricks was approved on December
.29, 1823. The county was named in honor of William Hendricks, then
governor of the state of Indiana. The act follows:
"Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of
Indiana, That from and after the first day of April next, all that part
of the county of Wabash included in the following boundary, viz.:
Beginning at the southeast corner of section 20, in township 14 north,
of range 2 east, thence west twenty miles to the east line of Putnam
county, thence north with said line twenty miles, to the northwest
corner of section 18, in township 17, in range 2 west, thence east
twenty miles, to the northwest corner of Marion county, thence south
twenty miles with said county line, to the place of beginning, shall
form and constitute a new county, to be known and designated by the
name and style of the county of Hendricks.
"Sec. 2. The said new county of Hendricks shall, from and after the
first day of April next, enjoy all the rights, privileges and
jurisdiction which to separate and independent counties do, or may
properly belong and appertain.
"Sec. 3. That William Templeton,
of Lawrence county, William McCulloch,
of Monroe county, Calvin Fletcher,
of Marion county, Abel Cole,
of
Shelby county, and John Smiley,
of Johnson county, be, and they are
hereby appointed commissioners, agreeably to an act entitled, 'An act
for fixing the seats of justice in all new counties hereafter to be
laid off.' The commissioners above named shall meet at the house of the
late William Ballard, in said
county of Hendricks, on the second Monday
of July next, and shall immediately proceed to discharge the duties
assigned them by laws. It is hereby made the duty of the sheriff of
Morgan county to notify the said commissioners, either in person or by
written notification, of their appointment, on or before the first
day of June next; and the said sheriff of Morgan county shall receive
from the said county of Hendricks so much for his services as the
county commissioners, who are hereby authorized to allow the same,
shall deem reasonable, to be paid out of any moneys in the treasury of
said county, in the same manner that all other moneys are paid.
"Sec. 4. The circuit courts and all other courts of the county of
Hendricks shall meet an be holden at the house of the late William
Ballard in said county of Hendricks, until suitable
accommodations can
be had at the seat of justice in said county, when they shall adjourn
the circuit courts thereto; after which time all the courts of the
county of Hendricks shall be holden at the county seat of Hendricks
county, established by law. Provided, however, that the circuit
court shall have authority to remove the court from the said house of
the late William Ballard to
any other place in the said county of
Hendricks previous to the completion of the public buildings,
should the said court deem it expedient.
"Sec. 5. The board of commissioners for the said county of Hendricks
shall within twelve months after the seat of justice shall have been
selected, proceed to erect the necessary public buildings thereon. They
shall also hold a special session on the first Monday in May next, for
the purpose of appointing an assessor and transacting such other
business as may be necessary.
"Sec. 6. The said new county of Hendricks shall form a part of the
counties of Montgomery and Putnam, for the purpose of electing senators
and representatives to the General Assembly, until otherwise directed
by law.
"Sec. 7. The same powers, privileges and authorities that are granted
to the qualified voters of the county of Dubois and other counties
named in the act entitled, 'An act incorporating a county library in
the counties therein named approved January 28, 1818, to organize,
conduct and support a county library, are hereby granted to the
qualified voters of the county of Hendricks, and the same power and
authority therein granted to, and the same duties therein required of
the several officers, and the person or persons elected by the
qualified voters of Dubois county, and other counties named in the said
act, for carrying into effect the provisions of the act entitled,
'An act incorporating a county library in the county of Dubois, and
other counties therein named according to the true intent and
meaning
thereof, are hereby extended to and required of the officers and other
persons elected by the qualified voters of the county of Hendricks.
"This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage."
SELECTION
OF
COUNTY SEAT
According to the
provisions of this act, the men selected began to
investigate several claims made for the location of the county
seat. Many localities were at work striving for the
honor, among them the community near George
Mattock's tavern, two miles
east of Belleville, where a town had been laid out named Hillsboro.
This site was discarded in favor of a location as near as possible to
the geographical center of the county, and on the second Monday in
July, 1824, the site of Danville was chosen. Four men, Daniel Beals,
GeorgeMatlock, Robert Wilson and
James Downard, being the owners
of
land in four sections having a common corner, each donated twenty acres
touching the common corner for the benefit of the county seat, all of
which was laid out into public square and town lots. Thomas Hinton was appointed
agent of the county, and on October 20,
1824, he placed on file a plat of the town of Danville. The lots were
immediately put up at a public sale, and this continued for three days.
An order was made by the commissioners for fifteen gallons of whiskey
to assist the purchasers in making their selection. Samuel
Herriman, the coroner, was the distributor on this occasion. The
price paid for the lots ranged from three to -one hundred and fifteen
dollars. The latter price was given by Mr. Hulse for the lot on the
northeast corner of Main and Washington streets. The lot on the
southwest corner brought the next highest price.
The court house was completed and the first term of
court held in
Danville in April of the year 1826. The building was constructed of
peeled "hickory logs and cost one hundred and forty seven dollars. The
jail was of the same material.
The first county commissioners were Thomas
Lockhart, Gideon Wilson and
Littlebury Blakely. They divided the county into nine townships,
of
nearly equal area, and there was sufficient population in but four of
the townships at that time to give them a civil organization. The first
representative of the county in the General Assembly was Lewis
Mastin.
