MORGAN COUNTY INDIANA
GREEN TOWNSHIP
THE FIRST
SETTLEMENT
The second
settlement of the county
was in Green Township. In the spring of 1819, James Stotts, William
Offield, Hiram T. Craig, Daniel
Higgins, Nimrod Stone and two others came from Lawrence County, and
located farms on a small stream which was named in honor of James
Stotts. As soon as the farms were staked out, all of the settlers
except Mr.". Stotts started back to Lawrence County to bring out loads
of seed corn and wheat, vegetables, provisions, household implements,
and to drive out hogs, sheep and cattle. Of these seven first settlers
of Green Township. Craig and Stotts were the only two single men of the
party. The following is quoted from Mr. Craig's reminiscences of the
trip back:
High water prevented our return as soon as we
anticipated,
but we finally concluded to try the plan of loading our baggage on a
two horse wagon, considering it easier on our horses than to load them
with such heavy packs, as much of our route lay through a dense
wilderness, it being the same old trace we had first traveled, and the
road' had to be cut so as to admit the passage of a wagon, which made
our progress very slow, so that the noon of the second day found us
still on Little Salt Creek. Here, in attempting to cross an
insignificant little stream, our wagon stuck fast in the mud. Our only
chance was to unload the wagon, pry it up and make our team haul it
out. In doing so, we had to make a short turn and unfortunately broke
an axle tree. Here was a fix, twenty miles at least from any shop where
repairing could be done. The only alternative was to make a new
axle tree from the green timber of the forest. All hands went to work
on
the part assigned them. Mine was to prepare some dinner. I will give
the bill of fare. I took my gun, and in less than an hour, perhaps, had
killed nine fat gray squirrels. I dressed them as nicely as any lady
could desire, and put them to boil with a sufficient slice of fat pork
and some salt to give them the proper seasoning. While hunting for
the squirrels, I had discovered near the creek a bountiful crop of wild
onions growing ten or twelve inches high, and very tender. These I
picked and cleaned, cut them up and put them in the pot when the
squirrels were done, and succeeded in making a first class pot of soup.
This was the dinner, and it was a good one. By the usual time of
starting next morning, our repairing was completed after a
fashion, and we proceeded on our way. But our newly made axle tree
caused our wagon to run so heavily that we had to divide the load. A.
sack containing three bushels of corn seed was committed to my
charge and about the same amount of corn-meal to Mr. Offield, and we
were told to push on and not wait for the wagon. We were on horseback,
and upon reaching Big Salt 'Creek we found a settlement and were
told to take the road for Bloomington. Nothing of note occurred until
we reached Big Indian Creek, where we found that White River and its
tributaries were on a bender.
Offield could not swim, but
finally after a long time I
succeeded in carrying our loads across the stream on my back, crossing
on logs and a heap of driftwood that had formed across the creek. We
took dinner on Mr. Cunningham's land northeast of Martinsville, and in
the evening reached the settlement on Stott's Creek, where we found
everything in good shape.
This extract is
quoted from Mr.
Craig's writings to illustrate the
common experience of the early settlers in coming to the new
country, and in going from place to place after they had become
established in their new homes. After Mr. Craig had been out a short
time, Mr. Ladd, of Port Royal, was charged with the murder of a
stranger whose corpse was found half eaten by wolves and buzzards on
White River near the bluffs. The prosecution was favored by Mr. Stotts,
Mr. Craig and several others who were prosecuting witnesses; but Mr.
Ladd was acquitted, and so slight was the evidence and so bitter had
been the prosecution that Mr. Ladd commenced action, either for libel
or false imprisonment, and seemed so likely to succeed that Mr. Craig
returned hurriedly to Kentucky, his former home, and Mr. Stotts and
others effected a compromise with the injured man, and thus the matter
was forever dropped. The stranger had no doubt been killed by an Indian.
CONTINUED
SETTLEMENT
Immediately after
this first
settlement on Stotts Creek, others began
to appear and locate in the neighborhood and farther up on the same
stream and its branches. Early settlers in those times always sought
the streams, which were the great commercial highways as well as the
sources of water, water-power and fresh springs. Among the earliest
settlers were James Stotts, Robert Stotts, Andrew Stotts, H. T. Craig,
William Offield, two or three families of Laughlins, Zachariah Davee,
James Ennis (who had several large sons), Thomas Stockton, Samuel
Speaks and his sons Thomas and James, William Perry, Andrew Stevens,
John Pierce (the cooper), John Pierce (the blacksmith), Elisha Hamden,
Thomas Irons, Jonathan Williams James Shields, Abe Hammons, Jacob
Hammons, Jacob Case, John Dyer, John Marker, Edward Jones, Peter King,
Aaron Holdman, and a little latter H. W. Brazeale, Henry Harper,
Benjamin Bryan, Washington Duke, James and Bartholomew Carroll, Daniel
Drake, Erastus Robinson, H. M. Collins, J. B. Maxwell, H. W. Williams,
J. S. Wilson, William Lane, Nathan Laughlin, Philip Collins, B.
Robbins, James Williams, Gideon C. Drake, J. M. Frazer, Mahlon Snyder,
Joseph Sanders, Jacob L. Bromwell, H. B. Greenwood, William Duke, John
and Anthony Brunnemer, Jacob Grosclose and many others.
THE POLL TAX PAYERS OF
1842
The following is
the list in full:
Benjamin Bryant, Anthony
Brunnemer, Tilford Bailey, Amos Bailey, Allison Bailey, Joseph
Bailey, Hiram Brock, S. W. Bream, Richard Bream, B. F. Badgley, Clark
Badgley, Francis Badgley, Nehemiah Bailey, William Cumpton, John Clary,
Philip Collins, John Caldwell, William Carroll, W. H. Carroll, Ishmael
Carroll, Isaac Caldwell, John Choat, William Cain, W. Creed, Caleb
Cobb, Samuel Carroll, G. W. Cain, H. M. Collins, H. B. Childs, J. D. Davis, Caleb Day, George Douglass,
George Davis, William Day,
Washington- Duke, William Duke, George Drake, Daniel' Drake, James
Egbert, Josiah Eaton, Archibald Ennis, T. Ennis, Michael Ennis, Joseph
Elkins, Richard Elkins, Walker Ennis, David Elkins, James Ferren, Bart
Ferren, Adam Flake, William Franklin, Jack Galloway, J. A. Grear, James
Grear, David Gregory, Daniel Gardner, Abraham Huff, Levi Hall, William
Harper, William Hughes, Eb Henderson, Jess Henderson, Henry
Harper, Bolin Harper, Joseph Johnson, Peter Kemper, Isaac Knox, William
King, Rev. Peter Klinger, Ransom King, Elijah Koons, William Lewis, J.
T. Laughlin, Thomas Laughlin, J. O. Laugh-lin, Samuel Musser, W H.
Mallow, Edward Moon, B. C. Moon, Abraham McGrew, Thomas Miles, B.
Mulligan, Eli Musgrove, Elisha and John McGrew, John Moffett, J. M.
Oliver, Obediah Perry, William Perry, Leonard and N. B. Palmer, John
and Nathan Perry, John and Henry Price, James Prather, Artemas Pringle,
Charles Robinson, Erastus Robinson, William and James Robe, George
Rule, Charles Richards, Anderson and R. H. Scroggins, John and J. E.
Skaggs, Thomas Shields, Josiah Stewart, Samuel Scott, James Speaks,
James Tracy, James Thompson, James and Jackson Trent, Scipio
Sedgwick, Simon Taylor, James, Lewis, William, Pleasant and John
Williams, Isaac Welch, John Watts, W. L. Warman, Arnold Westfall and
Jacob Yount.
MILLING
INTERESTS
Zachariah Davee
owned a small grist
mill during the twenties. It was
located on Stotts Creek, contained a small set of nigger-head buhrs,
and was propelled by water from a small log dam. In about 1830, the
mill passed to James Ennis, who conducted it for a few years. This was
probably the first mill in the township. The Hammons owned a saw mill
for a short time in early years. The old Hawkins Mill was built
thirty five or forty years ago by an enterprising German, who soon
afterward sold it to Mr. Hawkins. It did good work in its day. After
1838, much of the flour was obtained at Free's mammoth grist mill at
Waverly. Salt was obtained at Jackson's Salt Works in Monroe County, or
at Martinsville, Waverly, or at other towns, at $2 per bushel. The
corn and pork were sold to buyers on the river, who shipped them down
to Southern markets. People dressed in buckskin, or linsey-woolsey
or tow. Clothing, shoes, hats, etc., were manufactured at home by the
good old mothers. They knew how to make the spinning wheels hum.
The township was
quite well settled
by 1840. Almost every section of
land had its log cabin and its small clearing, where wheat, corn and
vegetables could be seen growing.
HUNTING EXPLOITS
Eight or
ten bears were killed in the
township in early years.
Zachariah Davee was a successful bear hunter. He killed twelve or
fifteen, but not all in Green Township. He owned a large, savage dog
that was thoroughly trained to the uses of its master, and was an ally
upon whom the hunter could depend in an emergency. The dog had been
pretty well used up in encounters with bears, while it was yet young
and unsophisticated, in the embraces of those animals or in the
sweeping blows from their
paws, and had resorted to
canine sagacity to serve its master in
subsequent encounters. On a hunt it would chase a bear to some
rough tree selected by the latter animal as one easy to climb, and when
the bear had gone up about four feet, the dog would seize it behind,
and by tugging and bracing itself against the tree would dislodge
bruin, and both would come tumbling to the ground together. The dog
would leap up and scamper off closely pursued by bruin for a few rods,
when the latter would return and again commence to ascend the tree only
to be again pulled down by the dog. Sometimes this procedure was
repeated several times, or until the hunter came up and shot the bear.
On one occasion, when Mr. Davee was out hunting, he came suddenly upon
a bear, but owing to the thickness of the brush, succeeded only in
giving; it a bad wound as it shambled off- The dog followed the wounded
animal a long distance, keeping up a barking that guided the hunter in
the pursuit, but keeping beyond the reach of the bleeding Ursus
Americanus. At last the bear became so weak from loss of blood that it
stopped to rest, but could get none owing to the persistent and
courageous attacks of the dog. Mr. Davee came up and ended the fight by
a ball through the bear's head. On still another occasion, as Mr. Davee
was walking through the woods with his gun on his shoulder, he came
suddenly within four feet of a large bear that was lying behind a log.
The animal instantly reared up with an angry growl, displaying two rows
of gleaming teeth, and reaching out with its powerful arms to clasp the
startled settler in its embrace, but the latter leaped back, cocked his
rifle, and ere the bear could touch him, sent a ball through its
throat. In a few minutes the animal was dead. Had the rifle missed
fire, it would have fared hard with the hunter. On still another
occasion, Mr. Davee shot and instantly killed a bear which was passing
near his cabin. The flesh was divided out among the neighbors. William
Hughes was tardy in his demands and was forced to content himself
with a pair of the legs. Bear meat is much like pork. It is said that
Tilford Bailey killed a bear in early years. He saw it in the woods,
and though much scared and nervous, fired and killed it. Joseph Doty
also killed one under about the same circumstances. Several others
killed bears in the township.
THE WOUNDED
DEER
Mr. Davee
had his dog so trained that
the dumb brute seemed almost
capable of reason. One day the hunter shot and wounded a deer, which
ran off through the woods at full speed. Away went the dog in pursuit,
followed as fast as possible by its master. Drops of blood could be
seen upon the leaves, showing that the deer had been badly hurt. After
some time the dog returned, skulking along to its master, which act was
so unusual that Mr. Davee took his ramrod and gave the animal a sound
thrashing, and again ordered it on in pursuit of the deer. Away it went
again, fiercer than ever, as if to make good the loss of its master's
confidence. The hunter, thinking that the dog would not have come
back unless the deer was so strong as to have gotten entirely away,
concluded to give up the chase and return to his cabin, which he
accordingly did. Hours elapsed and the dog did not return. At last the
hunter took his gun, resumed the trail, and after several hours of
rapid walking came upon a sight that made him sick. The tall
weeds, grass and bushes over
a quarter of an acre were torn to pieces and beaten flat, and
near the center lay the wounded deer, dead, and terribly torn, and near
it was the old dog, covered with blood and bruised, and torn almost in
pieces by the sharp hoofs and antlers of the desperate deer. The noble
animal could scarcely move, yet it wagged its tail at the sound of its
master's voice, and looked up for praise over the successful issue of
the terrible struggle. The faithful creature was taken home where its
wounds were carefully dressed, but the best care could not restore the
mutilated limbs and broken bones. The dog lived a year or more, but
scarcely ever left the yard.
THE DELAWARES
Mr. Davee
had an extended experience
of the Indian character. He was
not afraid of them and liked to be with them for the sport they
afforded him. He could beat any of them shooting at a mark, and won
much of their property in that manner. The Indians, except a few small
roving bands, had been removed a short time before he came to the
township. One day five or six of them, including two or three
squaws, camped on the creek near his cabin, whereupon he went over to
make their acquaintance. They seemed glad to see him, and, after a
short time, all shot at a mark, and of course the white man beat them.
The Indians then proposed to jump, and one of them suggested that they
should see which could jump farthest over a large log-heap fire that
was burning near. One or two including Mr. Davee made the jump
successfully, and finally a very boastful young fellow with many a
flourish started to perform the same feat. He made a short dash, but
just as he was rising on the jump Mr. Davee tripped him, and the
half naked fellow pitched heels over head into the log heap fire. He
howled dreadfully, and made the fire and ashes fly, and no wonder. He
was out in a flash, badly burned, exclaiming! " Heap bad shimokaman ;
heap bad ! " The reader will probably agree with him, but Mr. Davee and
the other Indians laughed heartily at his expense
A
MYSTERIOUS DEATH
A few years ago,
John Radcliff went
out to his barn-yard one morning
with his little girl to do the milking. The last the girl saw of her
father he was standing with his back against the barn. At noon, Mrs.
Radcliff made inquiries for him, and sent a child out to find him at
the barn, but his whereabouts were not discovered. En the evening he
was found near the barn, dead, and very much mangled by the hogs. The
discovery created great excitement in the neighborhood, and led to the
arrest of a young man who was soon acquitted. On the day of the death,
two gentlemen passing by the house saw Mr. Radcliff talking with a
stranger at the barn. Who this man was could not be ascertained.
Whether Mr. Radcliff was murdered or whether he had a fit will probably
remain a mystery to the end of time.
EDUCATIONAL
INTERESTS
The first school in the township was
taught on Stotts Creek in 1820, by
the old settler, Hiram T. Craig. The second and third
were taught in the same
neighborhood, all being
very rude, and being taught in
private cabins. Reading was done mostly out of the Testament;
.writing was done with a goose quill sharpened or "mended " by the
teacher, and a little "ciphering" was done on a rude blackboard.
Mr. Collins succeeded Mr. Craig. Late in the twenties, other
schools were started farther up the creek. The first schoolhouse
was built in the Stotts settlement in about 1827, and was a rough
log structure built in one day by a few men who were anxious to have
their few children educated. In 1830, if reports are reliable, there
were only three log schoolhouses in the township, and one of those
was a deserted dwelling. In 1840, there were five or six, but the
standard of education was yet at a very low ebb. The teachers were paid
by subscription, which was usually $1.50 for each scholar for the term
of three months. The teacher would have from eight to fifteen scholars,
so it is easy to figure what the " master's " compensation would
be. Whoever saw a wealthy school teacher ? Such a creature is an
invisible quantity even to this day. Take, then, the pedagogue of ye
olden time, who was forced by the fiat of events to " board around " at
the log cabins, where fat bacon and corn bread were considered
delicacies fit for the gods, and who can imagine a more desolate
prospect ? This was repeated scores of times in Green Township. In
1852, the common school law came into existence, and the progress of
education since then has been remarkable. Neat frame houses were
erected soon after the passage of the law, and a permanent fund
for the payment of the teacher and the support of the school changed
the intellectual bill of fare into all the higher branches. Now there
are ten fine country schoolhouses where many of the teachers employed
are qualified to instruct in analysis of the English sentence, natural
philosophy, physical geography, botany, elocution, rhetoric,
ornamental penmanship, etc., etc. Green Township has good schools
RELIGIOUS
INTERESTS
Late in the
thirties, a small class
of the Church of Christ was
organized on Section 15, the leading members being Adam Flake,
Benjamin Bryan, Peter Comper, Eli Musgrove and their families and
others. Adam Flake agreed to donate one acre of ground for a church and
cemetery. Whether a building was erected cannot be learned. The class
lived many years, and numbered as high as forty or fifty members. In
about 1840, the Methodists, near the residence of Levi Rinker,
organized a class, among the members being the families of Robert C.
Stotts, Levi Rinker, Simeon Ely, F. A. Harryman, William Stewart,
Daniel Demott, George Rinker, John Holsapple, William Cain, James
Epperson and James Laughlin. The pastor in 1844 was Daniel Demott, and
in 1846 Henry S. Dane. The class belonged to the Mooresville Circuit.
Several early classes were organized in schoolhouses. Now there are
four churches in the township Mount Olive, Methodist, in the
northwestern part; Union Chapel, Methodist, two miles east of
Cope.; Bethel, Methodist, in the eastern part, and Centennial Union
Church, a mile northeast of Cope. The township has excellent
opportunity for Christian worship, and the citizens are sober, moral
and industrious.
CLEVELAND
In the month of April, 1838, Ezekiel
St. John employed a surveyor and
laid out a village of thirty four
lots and eight large outlots on
the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 8, Township
12 north, Range 2 east, the same being on the bank of Stotts Creek, and
within about half a mile of its mouth. A few houses were built, and
some little improvement was made, but the village soon died, without
hope of resurrection.
VILLAGE OF COPE
This was started up on Section 28
many years ago. James Crocker and
Henson Martin opened the first store there in a log cabin. They were
succeeded by Wesley Knight. Isaac B. Wilson was next, and Lemuel
Guthridge next. A post office has been established there in later
years. Few villages can cope with Cope in limitation
and negation
