HENRY COUNTY, INDIANA
HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE
Henry county was first settled in
1818-19. In the latter year
Asahel Woodard, Andrew Shannon, Allen Shepherd, a Mr. Whittinger, David Cray, George
Hobson, and Wm. Shannon,
settled in what is now Henry township. Mr.
"Woodard erected his log cabin just
north of the site of the
present town of New Castle, within a few yards of his residence.
The Whittingers and Mr. Cray built a
" log residence" not many
yards from the site where Joshua Holland's house was afterwards erected. Allen Shepherd
settled nearly two miles north
by east of New Castle, on what was afterwards known
as the Huddleson farm, and his
"elegant residence," erected
fifty-five years ago is still standing." Andrew Shannon located just north of Shepherd, and near the
present site of the Hernley
mills. George Hobson settled on the farm afterwards
owned by Judge Elliott, about a mile
and a half southwest of New
Castle. William Shannon settled on what was afterwards known as the Holloway farm, four miles
southwest of New Castle.
Following these came Joseph Hobson, who settled
near the Elliott farm, two miles
southwest of New Castle. It
was at his house that the first county courts were held. " George Hobson, Andrew Shannon, Mr.
Whittinger, and D. Cray," says
Mr. Pleas, "brought their families with them, and
made their cages afterwards. Mrs.
Ashel Woodard and Mrs. William
Shannon arrived on the thirty-first of July following, and Mr. Woodard planted about two acres
of corn, the first crop, he
thinks, ever raised by a white man in this county.
He planted an old Indian field or
clearing, and although cultivated with the hoe alone, he thinks he
never saw such corn before or
since." Thus was commenced the settlement of Henry county. The record is a
simple one, yet full of meaning,
and the same plain story can be told of the first settlement of nearly every county in the
State. These were the pioneers of pioneers — those who felled the first
trees of the forest, and
tilled the first patch of ground, and built the first rude log
cabins; and then there were the other
pioneers who followed and
increased the settlement, bringing with them new hopes, new ideas, new energies, new resolutions
that braced up the weary
original settlers. Then there were the long, cold, cheerless winters, with a scarcity of clothing
and provisions; with sick
infant children, that were often laid away, after death, in the snow-covered earth, with only the
little mound to mark their
graves among the tall trees; with absent husbands and fathers, and lonesome nights, when the
beating hearts of foreboding
wives and mothers longed for the return of paternal footsteps, or chilled as the dismal howl
of the hungry wolf floated on
the midnight winds. And then there were toiling
men, brave men, and indeed great men,
the greatest men this State
has ever had—pioneer men — who through the " dark days" of want, privation, hardship and
peril, worked on, and opened
the way for the glorious civilization that followed them so closely. Such was pioneer life
in Indiana, and it is scarcely
necessary to repeat the same story in these short county sketches.
Henry county was organized by an act of the legislature, adopted in February, 1821. Lawrence
Brannon, and John Bell, of
"Wayne county, John Sample* of La Fayette, Richard Biera, of Jackson, and J. W. Scott, of
Union, were appointed
as commissioners, to meet at the
house of Joseph Hobson on the
first Monday in July, 1821, for the purpose of locating the county seat. The first county election
was held in 1822, and resulted
in the election of the following officers: Jesse H. Healy,
sheriff; Reme Julian, clerk and recorder; Thos. R. Stanford, and Elisha Long, associate
judges; Allen Shepherd, Wm.
Shannon, and Samuel Goble, commissioners.
New Castle was chosen the county seat of Henry county, and in February,
1823, the county commissioners ordered that "the agent of Henry county shall offer
for sale, to the lowest
bidder, in the town of New Castle, the building of the court house of Henry county of the following
dimensions, to wit. lifting
logs twenty-two by eighteen feet, each log to face not less than twelve inches at the little
end, being seven inches thick,
twelve rounds high, with a cabin roof to consist of eleven joists, to be four inches by nine,
the joists to be eight feet
nine inches from the floor," etc. In the following May, however, the commissioners ordered that
the plans for the court house
should be changed so as to make the building larger.
New Castle, the county seat of Henry county, is pleasantly located in the center of the county. It
was first laid off in 1822.
After the usual pioneer struggles, the town grew in population and importance, and in 1833 it
contained about three hundred
inhabitants. It has now a population of about two thousand five hundred, and is a
flourishing business center.
It has excellent educational facilities, and contains within it the elements for an extensive
future development.
Knightstown, a thrifty village, is pleasantly situated on Blue river. It was first platted in 1827, and
is now one of the most
enterprising villages in the county. In educational matters it has excelled. The Knightstown academy
building is a commodious
structure, capable of accommodating nearly four hundred pupils. The graded school at this
town is also a flourishing and
efficiently managed institution. The population of Knightstown is over two thousand.
There are several enterprising
and prosperous villages in the county. In the rural districts the scene is fully as
refreshing as in the villages.
The farmers have all put aside their pioneer habits and have taken on the modern regime. They are
nearly all either wealthy or
in comfortable circumstances. The county has good railroad facilities, and with a
productive soil, its future
material progress is guaranteed. The area of the county is about three hundred and ninety square
miles. The surface is the soil
adapted to all kinds of grain indigenous to the State.
