MORGAN COUNTY INDIANA
BAKER TOWNSHIP
THE EVILSIZER
FAMILY
The
earliest settlement of Baker Township is enshrouded in mystery.
It is certain that white families lived therein as early as 1820,
and possibly in 1819. A family named Evilsizer was living there on the
old Thomas Hodges farm when the first permanent residents arrived, but
how long they had been there cannot be learned, even if it be known by
any one now living in the township or county. It is believed by some
that this family lived there before the cession treaty of 1818, but
this must be regarded with some grains of doubt. The family consisted
of the father, mother, two or three sons and a daughter or two. They
were professional pioneers, and preferred to live in the woods remote
from the settlements. The father and the boys were skillful hunters and
trappers, and several times a year visited the older settlements in
the southern part of the State to sell their furs or exchange them for
ammunition, traps, weapons, tobacco, or some article of clothing for
the women. The men dressed almost wholly in deer or raccoon skins, and
spent their time in hunting and trapping, in which they were very
expert. As a matter of fact, much that is said of them rests largely on
tradition, as they left for remote localities about the time the
permanent settlers began to arrive. They had a garden, consisting of
about half or three quarters of an acre which was cultivated by the
women, as the men were above that sort of degradation. Accounts vary as
to the intelligence of the family. It is quite certain, however, that
their intellectual attainments were not of the highest order. They were
guilty of sufficient acuteness to be able to-hunt and cook, but they
would not have cut a remarkably high figure, either socially or
mentally, in the settled communities of that day. According to
tradition, the men on one occasion had considerable difficulty with a
band of four or five Indians that stopped at their cabin. The trouble
arose over a trade of furs on the part of the Indians for
ammunition and trinkets on the part of the whites. Arms were
drawn, wounds were given, but the difficulty was adjusted before
anything serious resulted. It
is said that this family killed many bears in various portions
of Morgan County. Within two or three years they left the
township, going, no one knows whither, but certainly out into the
wilderness
.
PERMANENT SETTLERS
The first
tract of land was purchased on Section 28, on the 8th of
November, 1820, by Thomas Hodges, who did not reside in the township
until years afterward. William Burton bought land on Section 32 in
1823. The Burtons afterward became prominent citizens. George W. Baker
came in late in the twenties, with a retinue of relatives, that was
afterward considerably enlarged. Perhaps himself and relatives did more
for Baker Township than any other family. The township took its name
from this family. They were among its most prominent and respected
citizens.
The Lafavers came
in soon after 1830, and soon exerted a wide
influence in township affairs. The family of John Hodges was also
very prominent. The township
was mainly settled in the thirties, although a few
families were residents before. Among those who entered land were
James Kerley, William Teag, George W. Baker, John Buckner, Jonathan
Manley, Frederick Buckhart, W. T. Clark, Page Henslow, John Manley,
Richard Long, Jackson Long, Elisha Long, Elijah D. Long, John Hodges,
Jr., Thomas Hodges, Thomas Mitchell, James R. Elston, John Burton,
Isaac Lafaver, Josiah Goodwin, Robert Finchum, Ivison Ellis, David Low,
Josiah Vandeventer, John Muncey, Stephen Collier, William Burton, Jacob
Evans, Presley Johnson, P, Smith, Chris Shultz, J. B. Gibson,
William
Goodwin, Hiram McKinney, John Burnett and others.
THE POLL TAX PAYERS OF
1842
Barnard Arnold, Winard
Buskirk, Jesse Belzer, Daniel Beals, Felix
Belzer, John W. Burton, Benjamin Campbell, Joseph Childers, John
Campbell, Caleb Collier, Jacob Evans, Robert Finiham, William Gregston,
James Goodwin, James Gregston, Thomas L. Hicks, Thompson Harden, John
Hodges, Zachariah Haller, Samuel Harryman, Joseph
Kenley, Jonathan Kegley, Daniel
Lafaver, Jacob Lafaver, Isaac Lafaver,
Andrew H. Low, John McCollister, John E. Myers, Jacob Meyers. James
Martin, John G. Manley, John Martin, Joshua Muncey, David T. Neal,
Dempsey ISTeal, L. M. R. Pumphrey, William W. Paul, Abraham Stutesman,
Phlegman Smith, Daniel Weathers, Amos H. Vandeventer.
The old Pumphrey Grist Mill on White
River was an important feature in
early times. The store which was started there about 1839 was continued
several years.
EDUCATION
Schools
were not started in this township until comparatively late. The
settlement was slow, and the families had something else to think about
than education. Too many parents in those days thought as the Spanish
proverb directs:
" Follow your father,
my son, And do as your father has done."
They
reasoned that their children ought to do as well in life as they
had done, which was to pass from the cradle to the grave with only
dedication " enough to read a little, write a little and cipher a
little. A man who had " larnin' " enough
to attack and attempt to
analyze an English sentence was regarded a prodigy.
" And still the wonder grew That one small
head should carry all he
knew."
The first
school in the township, so far as can be learned, was taught
in about the year 1838, on Section 28. The schoolhouse was of round
logs, a wide fire-place filled the dark room with a ruddy glow, and in
one end was a rude table, a sacred piece of furniture, belonging ,
exclusively to the teacher, from which oracles as wise, no doubt, as
those of Solomon were revealed to the wondering children. The second
school was started about the same time on Section 31 or 32. These were
the only established schools for several years, but along in the
forties, when the good effects of the school law of 1843 began to be
felt, other terms were taught in the northeast corner and in the
southeast corner. The township in 1850 had three established schools,
and a neighborhood or two where terms were taught semi occasionally in
buildings that had been built for dwellings and which were fitted up
specially for the purpose. The school system of Baker Township,
and the excellence of the instruction furnished, are not excelled by
any other country township in the county
.
FACILITIES
FOR WORSHIP
Baker
Township has been well supplied since the earliest settlement
with abundant opportunity for Christian worship. The Mount Zion
Methodist Church, on the line between Sections 31 and 32, was organized
about 1840 at the residence of Jacob Lafaver. The first class did not
exceed ten members. Among the earliest families belonging were those of
Jacob Lafaver, Isaac Lafaver, William D. Payne, Joshua Jones, Alfred
Abel, John Myers. Isom Guy, Andrew Smith and others. Wesley Dorsey
organized the class and was the first preacher in charge. Henry S. Bane
succeeded him. The church was built in the fifties. This class is yet
in existence. The two other churches, a Methodist and a Baptist
were
organized later, and are in flourishing condition for country churches.
The citizens of the township generally are moral and industrious. The
township is next to the smallest in the county. During the early stages
of the last war, it furnished more men in proportion to population than
any other township in the county.