Perhaps the ladies of Indiana of the present day will find a valuable lesson of duty in the history of the early settlement of Jay county. It is not likely they will ever be called upon to endure similar hardships, but by reading and remembering the dangers to which the pioneer women of this State were exposed, they will be able to find peace and comfort in some of their present imaginary ills. It was only about fifty years ago that the first settlers came to Jay county, then a wilderness inhabited only by Indians. Wolves, bears and other wild animals were prowling through the woods and over the prairies, and the lonely settlers had much of danger on every hand to contend with. But even in the face of these obstacles its first settlers were a bride and bridegroom. She was a true heroine, who, nothing daunted by the thrilling tales of border life then rife in the Eastern settlements, volunteered to unite her fortune with that hardy pioneer in his resolve to find a home on the distant Wabash. Nor was her praiseworthy heroism the only example of true womanhood in those early days of Indiana. Hundreds of noble, true hearted women, fired by the indomitable energy and perseverance of their husbands, voluntarily shared the hardships and exposures of pioneer life. They came not after the log cabins had been erected, not after homes had been established, but when the only shelter was the forest and the only bed the broad bosom of the prairie. Such were some of the pioneer women of Jay county.
    On the fifteenth of June, 1821, Peter Studabaker and Miss Mary Simison were joined in the bonds of wedlock at the home of the bride's father, at Fort Recovery, Ohio, at that time one of the Western outposts of American civilization. The marriage ceremony was not celebrated in a large and elegantly finished church, in the presence of a fashionable audience. Fort Recovery was not blessed with such marriages in those days. No, the wedding was a matter of fact occurrence, becoming alike to the customs of pioneer life and to the circumstances which followed. The newly married couple at once set out for the West. Gathering their earthly effects together, they started in company with a few friends on the "Quaker Trace" towards Fort Wayne. Journeying along through the forest, resting and refreshing occasionally by the wayside, they at length reached the waters of the Wabash. Here they halted and the bridegroom, assisted by the parties who were with him, and in the presence of his bride, commenced to build a cabin. Night was drawing near and the nuptial bed was yet to be prepared. Cutting four forked poles he drove one end of each into the ground, laid poles and branches across the top, covered the whole with boughs, built a fire, and then, while " Mary " was getting the supper, he prepared a table. The young bride at once adapted herself to the situation and in a few moments the weary travelers sat down to a comfortable meal in the little camp, fifteen miles from any other settlers and fifty from the settlements of civilization.
    Night came on, and, making beds of robes and blankets, the pioneers retired to rest. No sooner had sleep overtaken them than they were awakened by the howling of distant wolves. They approached nearer and nearer. Their cries were answered by other packs which hastened to join them. Hour after hour the dismal barking and howling was continued, until, at length, the foremost were snapping their teeth at the open door of the camp. It must, indeed, have been a moment of fear for the young wife when one of the men took a rifle and discharged its contents among the barking wolves without leaving his bed. But we have no record of her want of courage. It is recorded, however, to her honor, that she braved the dangers of camp life until a log cabin was erected and entered it with a resolution that never departed from her during her toils and hardships. "Thus camped and slept the first white family that ever trod the wilderness which fifteen years afterward became Jay county." This was on the farm afterwards owned by Samuel Hall, on the south bank of the Wabash, at New Corydon. Mr. Studabaker cabin was the first built in the territory, and was rude in every respect a hut twelve by sixteen, of small, round logs, with a clapboard roof, held on by "weight poles." Unbroken forests surrounded this cabin for miles in every direction, and there was no mill or store within thirty miles, and no other dwelling within fifteen. "Their only companions were Indians, their only foes wolves." Mr. M. W. Montgomery, who has written a very good history of Jay county, relates this: " Mr. Studabaker moved to the "Wabash with the intention of making that his permanent home, but the frequent overflows of the river at that time discouraged him, and finally led him to move away. One evening, in the spring of 1822, several travelers stopped to stay all night. The Wabash was quite high, but not unusually so. Mrs. S. made a bed on the floor, in which the travelers retired to rest. In the night one of them thought he felt rather moist and on turning over found the puncheons were floating. They got up; one went up in the loft, and the other concluded to nap the rest of the night away on the logs of wood by the fire. But the family, being more fortunate, were on a bedstead, and slept there until morning, when they found all the puncheons except the two on which the bed-posts rested, floating about the room. Mr. Studabaker waded out and brought his canoe into the house, and took his family to dry land in the woods, where they camped till the water went down, which was in four or five days. In this way the Wabash overflowed the land about his cabin, and he moved back to Fort Recovery, after living in Jay county about two years." The same writer pays this tribute to Mrs. Studabaker: "After moving back to Fort Recovery, Peter Studabaker was engaged chiefly in farming for about twelve years, when he moved to Adams county, where he died in 1840.
    Mary, (Mrs. Studabaker,) now lives with her son, Abram, in Adams county, Indiana, in a log house, with one of those great old fashioned cabin fire-places which so abundantly dispense warmth and cheerfulness to the inmates. It is about sixty feet from the river, upon the banks of which she has lived since her childhood days, nearly half a century. By the side of its quiet waters she was wooed and won, and has devotedly braved many dangers, reared a large family, and followed her husband and several children to the tomb. She is now (1864) seventy four years of age, and though in feeble, health, her mind still retains its original vigor. Strong common sense, quick perception, and good judgment are her characteristics." But we cannot follow all the interesting incidents of pioneer life in Jay county in detail. The experiences of some of these first families that located there would fill a volume.
    Jay county was organized in 1836, and named in honor of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The county seat was located by a commission appointed for the purpose, and called Portland. The first election of county officers took place in August, 1836, when the following persons were elected: Commissioners, John Pingry, Abraham Lotz, and Benjamin Goldsmith ; associate judges, James Graves, and Enoch Bowden; clerk, Christopher Hanna; sheriff, Henderson Graves. James Graves did not accept the office of judge, and Obadiah Winters was subsequently chosen. The first term of the circuit court in Jay county was held on the seventeenth day of April, 1837, at the house of Henry H. Cuppy; Hon. Charles W. Ewing, of Fort Wayne, presiding.
    With the proper government, and with all the elements of success, the energetic pioneers of Jay county were not slow in the battle of general improvements. Their progress has been steady, and as rapid as could be desired. The surface of the county has no very distinguishing features. It is, perhaps, as level as any portion of the State, though in places it is beautifully rolling. No portion of the county has a poor soil, yet in many places the land had to be drained before it was productive. Originally the forests of the county contained an abundance of excellent lumber, including oak, ash, walnut, hickory and beech, the two latter greatly predominating. In most parts of the county the farmers are prosperous, having already accumulated an independence, consisting of a well improved farm, a good residence, commodious homes, fine stock, and general thrift. The rural districts have, for the most part, good schools. Great advancement has been made in this direction during the last five years, and still greater progress will be made in the next five.
    Portland, the county seat, is a thriving town, having excellent school advantages, an energetic population, good public improvements, and the elements of future prosperity. It is surrounded by a rich agricultural district, and cannot fail to increase in wealth and population.