HENDRICKS COUNTY INDIANA
LIBERTY
TOWNSHIP
TOPOGRAPHY
Liberty township
is the middle division of the three southern townships, being bounded
on the north by Center and Washington townships, on the east by
Guilford, on the south by Morgan county and on the west by Franklin and
Clay. There are nearly forty nine square miles within the area, in
townships 14 and 15 north, range 1 east and 1 west. It is the largest
of the twelve townships in the county.
The ground level
in the north and
east parts is high and rolling, while the southwestern part at one time
was low and swamp, but is now made into valuable land by the judicious
system of drainage established. West fork of White Lick crosses the
northeast corner of the township and Mud creek rises in the north
central part and passes out near the southwestern corner, thus
affording adequate outlots for successful drainage of the township.
EARLY LIFE
About two
miles east of the present town of Belleville, on the West fork of White
Lick, in October, 1822, the first settlement was made in the
township by William and Thomas Hinton, James Thompson and Robert
McCracken. William Pope and his son, James N., who was then sixteen
years old, came in the spring of 1823, which year also brought into the
township George Matlock, James R. Barlow, Samuel Hopkins, William
Brown, William Ballard, David Demoss, John Cook, Moses Crawford,
John Hanna, Thomas Cooper, George Coble and Jonathan Pitts. William
Hinton was the first teacher in the township and county, in the fall of
1823, in a school house which had been built that fall, one half mile
south of Cartersburg. Thomas Hinton was the first justice of the peace
and William Pope, a Baptist minister, did the first preaching. He
organized the first Baptist church in Hen-dricks county, in his own
home, in the late months of the year 1823.
The first brick
dwelling house in the county was built in 1830 for Jesse Cook, just
south of Belleville, by Joseph V. Pope and William Hinton. The act
authorizing the organization of Hendricks county designated the house
of William Ballard, which was on the old Terre Haute trail, south of
Belleville, as the place of holding the courts, but William
Ballard died before the county was formally organized and George
Matlock, who kept tavern on this trail a mile east of Ballard's, laid
off a town which he called Hillsboro, and made a strong effort to get
the county seat located there. He failed in this and met his death in
1825 as the result of a combat with his brother-in-law. Consequently,
the Hillsboro project was a failure.
A PIONEER'S VIEW
Joshua Marshall,
one of the earlier settlers of Liberty township, wrote the following
prior to his death, of his experience in coming to this new country:
"In the autumn of 1826 my father,
William Marshall, of Surrey county, North Carolina, emigrated to
Indiana and settled in the south part of Hendricks county, I being
then in my nineteenth year. Evan Davis, my brother-in-law, with his
family, came at the same time and settled nearby. At that time most of
the land belonged to the government and settlements were scattering. We
frequently went as far as five miles to help each other raise our log
cabins and stables. A few settlers had preceded us, Edward and Joseph
Hobson, William Rushton, John Cook, and sons, Levi, Jesse and Stephen,
with their families, Edmond Cooper, Jefferson Matlock, Rev.
William Pope, Thomas Irons, Judge Little, William Herron, William
Townsend, Joshua Hadley, Bowater Bales and others.
"Not having saw
mills, we felled a tall gray ash and cut it into four by six lengths,
split out puncheons, dressed the ends to a uniform thickness and then
laid them on sleepers. They were jointed with saw and ax and made a
good floor. We split out clapboards for roofing and door shutters. We
had plenty of elbow room and were anxious for our neighbors to help
build our cabins and roll logs so as to get them out of the way, in
order to raise a little corn for our bread and to feed our stock. We
were mostly poor, yet contented, and looked forward to better days
and more conveniences. We were all neighborly and kind to each other.
"Danville had been
laid out into lots and a few cabins were being built. David Matlock and
others had settled nearby and were opening farms. Religious privileges
were scarce, not a church or school house, to my knowledge, being then
in the county. The Friends had formed a society and worshipped in
a log house near Mooresville, in Morgan county. Rev. Pope, a Baptist
minister, then living near where Cartersburg now is, preached
frequently in his own house to attentive, though small, audiences;
and we were glad thus to meet, hear preaching, and form each other's
acquaintance. In the spring of 1829 Joseph Tarkington, a Methodist
minister, established a preaching place at the house of Edmond Cooper,
then residing on Mud creek, at the crossing of the Indianapolis and
Terre Haute road (Terre Haute trail), and there a class was formed of
six members, Evan and Rebecca Davis, Mother Cooper and two daughters
and Hannah Snodgrass. Shortly after this, in June, 1829, at a two days'
meeting held in Putnam county, I joined the church and invited Rev.
John Murser to come to Hendricks county and preach at my house. At the
appointed time he came, and seven joined the church. Three weeks later
he came again, and seven more joined. Thus a society was formed in the
settlement where Salem church now stands. In August of the same year
Evan Davis, Father Crutchfield, Bowater Bales, myself and others
commenced work on a hewed-log church, which was raised in the presence
of an assembled multitude About this time Evan Davis built a saw mill
on White Lick and there we had our lumber sawed out for flooring and
seating. Evan Davis was class leader and I was assistant. By Christmas
there were seventy five members. In the summer of 1884 I visited Salem
church and found the old log church had been removed and in its stead
was a beautiful frame building, nicely painted and finished inside and
out. Nearby stood a handsome brick school house. Surely this wilderness
has 'budded and blossomed like the rose "
Could Mr. Marshall
view the Liberty township of today, thirty years after his visit, he
would learn that this was but the beginning of the prosperity and
beauty of the community.
EARLY ELECTIONS
There were
thirty nine voters in the general election held in Liberty township on
August 2, 1830. The names follow: Evan Davis, Joshua Marshall, Jacob
Harper, Abraham Woodward, Lewis Cooper, Samuel Gwin, Thomas Cooper,
Edmond Cooper, Cornelius Cooper, George Dawes, William Rushton, George
Rushton, John Cook, Jonathan Mills, William Allen, James Hewett,
Michael Kirkum, Jesse Allen, William Marshall, William Korby, Nathan
Snodgrass, Joshua Rushton, Joel Wilson, Silas Gregory, Bowater Bales,
Cornelius Johnson, Jesse Rushton, Joshua B. Hadley, Robert Cooper, John
Mills, Thomas Harper, William Townsend, Nathan Cook, Robert H. Irvin,
Silas Rushton, Martin Cooper, Eli Moon and Jesse Whippo.
The Whig and
Republican tickets have always been predominant in Liberty township.
CLAYTON
On sections 33 and
34, in the northwestern part of Liberty township, the town of Clayton
is located. It was platted in the year 1851 by George W. Wills and
contains about eleven acres, which tract was purchased from Elizabeth
Wills. The first name of the town was Claysville, in honor of Henry
Clay, the Kentucky statesman. However, the name was changed to Clayton
because there was another town in Indiana having the former name.
The first house in
Clayton was constructed by Thomas Potts and the second by Lewis T.
Pounds, both of them being frame structures. The first store was opened
by Parker & Foote, the second by Richard and James Worrel and the
third by Morrison & Thomas, near the year 1852. The first hotel was
built by George W. Wills and operated by Ephraim Hartsuck. The first
justice of the peace was Amos S. Wills, elected in 1852. The first
flouring mill was built in 1852 by John Miles and James Worrel.
THE PRESENT TOWN
The population of
Clayton in 1910 was four hundred and ninety seven, which has grown to
six hundred since. On March 16, 1909, the town was incorporated as a
town. The present town officers are: R. L. Ader, W. A. Coble and S. E.
Edmondson, trustees; Alvin Woodward, clerk; Lorenzo D. Johnson,
treasurer; Lee H. Smiley, marshal.
Electric service
is supplied Clayton by the Danville Light, Heat and Power Company, and
includes street and residence lighting. Lorenzo Mabe has control of the
water system, under contract whereby under certain conditions the
city will get the ownership in a number of years. Fire plugs are placed
at advantageous points in the town.
The Clayton of
today is a prosperous, progressive and beautiful little city. Trade is
excellent among the business houses and the social life of the town is
of high standard. Good communication is available by way of the
railroad or intenirban to the capital city and other towns in the
southern part of the county.
The People's Bank
and Trust Company was organized in June, 1912, by the citizens of
Liberty township. R. A. Edmondson was the first president; C. E.
Kelly, secretary; Amos L. Mitchell, vice president; R. A.
Edmondson, Amos L. Mitchell, Charles B. Worrell, William Peck, W.
F. Martin and Charles West, directors. The present officers are
the same. The capital stock is $25,000. The bank was
chartered on June 11, 1912.
The Clayton State
Bank was organized in 1912 by Albert Johnson & Company. Albert
Johnson was the first president; J. C. Walker, the first
vice president, and L. D. Johnson, the first cashier. The office of
vice-president at present has no incumbent. The bank
was chartered in 1912.
Clayton Lodge No.
463, Free and Accepted Masons, was organized on May 29, 1873, with the
following charter members: John Harrison, James H. Rynearson, William
E. Howland, Thomas F. Dryden, Nelson Sowder, Amos S. Wills, John N.
Wills and W. C. Mitchell. The first officers, appointed by the
grand lodge at Indianapolis, were: Amos S. Wills, worshipful
master; James H. Rynearson, senior warden, and Thomas F. Dryden, junior
warden. The lodge at present is in good condition and has a
membership of over a hundred.
Clayton Lodge No.
205, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized in 1859 at
Belleville and in recent years moved to this town. The lodge is in good
condition and has one hundred and twenty five members.
BELLEVILLE
Next to Danville
and Stilesville, Belleville is the oldest town in the county. It was
laid out by William H. Hinton, Lazarus B. Wilson and Obadiah Harris in
1829. The construction of the national road through the village, which
soon followed, greatly stimulated its growth and it increased rapidly
in population. It soon became the social and educational center of the
county. But, with the completion of the Indianapolis & Terre Haute
railroad, in 1850, passing more than a mile north of the village, the
town of Belleville began to retrograde and now is but a very small
village of one hundred and fifty people.
The first house
was built by William H. Hinton, who also kept the first store.
Belleville Lodge No. 205, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, was organized in April, 1859, by John O.
Gilliland, Dr. L. H. Kennedy, James T. McCurdy, Z. S. Reagan and Dr. R.
C. Moore. This lodge has since been moved to Qayton, a mile north.