Wayne County, Indiana
Abington Township
The
township of Abington was formed in February, 1837. Although one of the
later organized townships, the eastern part of it is among the earliest
settled portions of the county.
John Endsley, formerly from South Carolina, and in
1805 from Ohio,-settled in what is now the east part of Abington, on
John's Creek. With him, from Ohio, came his brother Abraham Endsley,
who settled on the Whitewater, a mile from the mouth of Elkhorn, and
two miles from town; and John Templeton, who settled about fifteen
miles south, in now Union county. John Endsley traveled the distance
between South Carolina and Wayne county seven times; five times on
horseback. The farm on which he settled and died was afterward owned
and occupied by his younger son John until his death in 1870. James,
the elder son, resides on the farm adjoining on the west, being that on
which Andrew Endsley had settled, who was the father of Andrew, Jun.,
John, Sen., Abraham, Hugh, Thomas, Samuel, and Peter Endsley.
In 1805, John Cox, from Kentucky, purchased the land
of which the site of the present town of Abington is a part. He died in
March, 1811. His death is said to have been the first in the township.
The land was inherited by his son John, whose sons were Joseph and
John. Joseph and his father laid out the town, the plat of which was
recorded December 5, 1817.
Charles Hunt, from North Carolina, settled in the
south-east part of the present township, in the year 1807. His sons,
George, John, William, Smith, Charles, and Stephen G., preceded him the
same year. Jonathan, James, and Timothy, came two or three years later.
George was the first surveyor in the county, and the first clerk of the
county courts. Timothy settled about a mile east of town, where he and
his wife both died. The farm is owned by his sons Charles and Levi, who
live on it, and Andrew, who lives in town. Smith settled in the
north-east part of the township, and died in 1855;
Stephen G., near James
Endsley's; John Hunt, north-east of town; lands owned by his sons, Levi
and Charles Hunt, and Wilson Hunt.
Henry Fender, from North Carolina, after a sojourn
of a year or two eight miles south of Richmond, with six children,
settled in 1810 or 1811, on the farm where his son Henry L. now
resides, half a mile north-west of town, on the Centerville turnpike.
He also entered the land where others of the family afterward settled.
His sons were Jonathan, who removed from the county; Gabriel, who
settled a half mile west of town, and is dead; Jacob, who settled and
still lives a mile and a half from town, on the Centerville turnpike;
Littleton, who died near Kankakee, Ill., and whose sons, John Milton
and James H., reside in the township; Henry L., on his father's
homestead; and John H.
Gabriel Fender, brother of Henry, Sen., bought of
David Railsback the farm three-fourths of a mile north-east of town,
now owned by Nicholas Smith. He removed to South Bend.
Thomas Moflitt settled three-fourths of a mile south
of town. By a change in county bounds his farm has been taken into
Union county. On it was one of the forts built during the war of 1812,
as a means of protection against the Indians. Another was built on the
farm of Wm, Lewis, about a mile from the former. David Railsback
settled near town in 1807, and died October 17,1856.
William Dye, from Kentucky, settled, in 1810, one
mile south-east of the town.
The following are names of some of the earlier
settlers, but the years in which they respectively settled have not
been ascertained:
Thomas Bradbury first settled four miles south-east
of the town, now Union county, afterward two miles north of town; land
now owned in part by Henry Paddock. James Lamb, from Scotland, settled,
about 1818, near the mouth of Elkhorn, where now Joseph Boon Lamb
resides. He died in 1841, aged 85. John Lamb, son of James, settled
near his father, where his widow now lives. William, another son, on
the farm now owned by C. C. Beeler, in Boston township. Ha died at
Keokuk, Iowa.
Wm. Jarrett settled about two and a half miles
north-west of town; land now owned by J. W. Robbing, James Jarrett, and
Nelson Gable. George and Levi Jarrett settled near their brother
William; and another brother, Eli, where M. Bank now lives.
David Carson settled in the north-east part of the
township, where now his son David resides. He was son-in-law of Richard
Rue, one of the first three settlers in Wayne county. John Plankenhorn
bought of Wm. James the land now owned by his son, John Plankenhorn.
Henry Long settled where Anderson Sweet lives, two miles north-west of
the town. Edmund Jones, a native of Virginia, settled early three miles
north-west of the town, now in his 84th year. John Hendricto early
owned the land where now Isam Stevens and John Madden reside.
John Wright settled near the north line of the
township, and is still living, in his 85th year. John Ellis, where H.
Wright afterward settled, on land now owned by Wright's heirs. Spahr
entered early several sections in the north-west part of the township.
On these lands, at present, are Daniel, John, and Mary Spahr Burris,
Joseph D. Spahr, Samuel Clevenger, Philip Jenkins, and John S. Henwood.
Michael Helms, from Virginia, bought lands in the south-west part of
the township, now principally owned by his son, Isaiah Helms.
Thomas, where now George Rank resides. Daniel Clevenger, on land now
owned by George Rodenberger, south part of the township; also bought
where Samuel Clevenger, Jun., lives.
In the south-west
part of the township are lands now or lately owned by J. Jones,
E. McCashin ; in the south party by D. Lee, S. Dye, A. Dye, the early
settlers on which have not been ascertained.
In the vicinity of the town are lands now or lately
owned by I. M. F. Stevens, P. Slade, L. Manning, M. Manning, D. Weaver,
J. Long, Merriman Brumfield, and others, the names of the first
settlers on which have not been obtained. Nathan, son of David
Railsback, Sen., (not the first settler,) settled on the land now owned
by his heirs, about two miles north of town.
In the north part
of the township the names have not been obtained of the early settlers
on the lands now or lately owned by M. Robbins, J. R. Meek, J. Crow, J.
Frost and J. F. Rob-bins, R. Stevens, J. M. Snider, and others; also,
A. Stinson, J. Stafer, J. Stinson, and S. Stevens in the western part
of the township.
Hugh Endsley, brother of John, Sen., put up the
first gristmill [corn-cracker] on East Fork, a little below the mouth
of Elkhorn, in 1808. Henry Whitinger, a few years after, built there a
hewed log one, with two runs of stones, one for corn and one for wheat.
It was afterward bought by Julius C. Wood, who built a good frame
flouring mill, now owned by his son, Valentine Wood, and standing idle.
The second grist-mill was built about the year 1826, nearly a mile from
the village, by Joseph Cox. He sold it to Rafe Shawmbourie, who put up
a better one, having a run of burr stones, and sold it to Merriman
Brumfield, who built another on or near the same site, with a saw-mill
attached. Another saw-mill was built by Thomas Manning, at Abington,
who, some years after [about 1839] sold it to D. & J. Weaver, who
attached a carding machine and fulling mill, and in 1845 built a large
woolen factory. This proving unprofitable, the building was sold and
removed to the village for a wagon and carriage shop. The same firm
built a large flouring mill a short distance below the old site, also a
saw-mill in 1849, which are now owned by John B. Craft & Co.
The first Carding Machine—a rude establishment—was
put up by Richard Sedgwick and Smith Hunt, at the mouth of Elkhorn.
John Brower next [1824, or about that year,] built a carding and
fulling mill near the north part of the town.
The first Merchant in Abington was Moses Cox, son of
John Cox, Jun., about the year 1818. Some of his earlier
successors—though, perhaps, not in the order mentioned, were Samuel
Hall, Hafer & Glanten, Middlecough & Beeks, Bone-brake &
Manning. Later, the following were here as early, at least, as at the
dates mentioned: Whitinger & Matchett, Thoma3 Ellis, and Michael
Donlau & Co., in 1839; Wm. A. Beeks, Wm. Lipscomb, John Leach, in
1840; Williams & Dunbar,in 1841; James Rubey, Simpson Dye, in 1842;
White & Hunt, in 1843; David M. Dunbar, Whitinger & Dye, E. F.
Donlan, 1845. Present merchants, Joshua Dye, grocer; Ha-man Dobbs, dry
goods.
The first Blacksmith was John Hunt, who was also a
gunsmith. His widow, a daughter of Lazarus Whitehead, is still living,
at the age of about 84.
The first Religious
Society was the Methodist
Episcopal, organized at an early period of the settlement of the
township. Among its early members were Thomas Moffitt and his wife;
John Cox, his wife and son James; Peter Stevens, a preacher and also
the first school teacher, near Moffitt's; Henry Long, also a preacher,
and his wife; Eli and Clark Penwell, and David Railsback, and their
wives; Henry Fender, his son Jacob, and John Fender, Sen. The first
preaching was in dwellings. Their first meeting-house was a log
building on the hill, near the site of their present brick house.
The United
Brethren formed a society about the year 1818. Among their
early members were Isaac Shelby, an exhorter, Thomas Manning, Wm. Dye,
Daniel Clevenger, with their wives, and George Bonebrake, a preacher.
Their first regular preacher is believed to have been John Ross. The
society built a frame house about the year 1828; the present brick
house in 1854-55. This was a well-built house, and its interior was
well and neatly finished. [It has, since the above was written, been
nearly or quite destroyed by fire.]
As in other places along the Whitewater,
rattlesnakes abounded here at an early day. About a mile above where
the town now is, a number of women who were, on a Sunday, sauntering,
for pastime, along the stream, are said to have killed, with clubs and
poles, upward of thirty rattlesnakes.
The Town of Abington was laid out in 1817, by John
and Joseph Cox, proprietors. The certificate of the survey was recorded
November 5,1818.
Biographical and Genealogical.
"WILLIAM DYE, a native of
New Jersey, removed to Kentucky, and thence to "Wayne county in 1810,
settled one mile south-east of where the town now is. He served in the
war of 1812, and died in 1820. His widow died on the farm in her 88th
year. Their children, besides one that died in infancy, were John,
Joshua, and Ellison, who were born in Kentucky; Simpson, Phebe, Eli,
who died at 24, and Nancy. John and Ellison removed to
Hancock county. Joshua married Mary Nicholas, and had nine children;
six are living. He has been for many years, and is still a merchant in
town.
CHARLES HUNT, from North
Carolina, settled in the southeast part of the present township in the
year 1807, about eight miles south-westerly from Richmond, and built,
the same year, a grist-mill [corn cracker] on the Elkhorn, the first in
the county. He had been preceded by his sons George, John, Smith, and
William, who had been sent on earlier in the season to build the mill,
accompanied by their sister Sally, who came to cook for them. Charles
Hunt had nine sons and four daughters. The sons were: 1. Jonathan; 2.
James; 3. Timothy, who came with their wives some two years after the
others. Timothy settled a mile east of town, where he and his wife both
died. The farm is owned by his sons Charles and Levi, who live on it,
and Andrew, who resides in town. 4. George, who married Patsey,
daughter of Lazarus Whitehead; was a surveyor, and the first clerk of
the county courts. 5. John, who married Polly "Whitehead, also a
daughter of L. Whitehead, and had nine children, all of whom but one
were married, as follows: Caroline was married to Samuel Osborn;
William, to Harriet Smelser; Patsey, to Horton Ferguson, and resides at
Milton; Lazarus, to a daughter of Dr. Matchett, of Abington;
Wilson, to
Beeson, and lives in Abington township; Lovinia, deceased,
unmarried; was married to David Hale, in Abington
township. [Names of Mrs. Hale and the two other sisters not furnished.]
John Hunt was probably the first blacksmith in Wayne county, and was
also a gunsmith. He died October 30, 1851, in his 75th year. His widow,
Mary Hunt, more familiarly and widely known as Polly Hunt, whose
portrait is here inserted, is still living, in her 84th year. 6. Smith,
sixth son of Charles Hunt, married Betsey, a daughter of James Lamb;
settled in the township, and died October 6, 1855, in his 73d year. 7.
William married Elizabeth, a daughter of Isaac Esteb. 8. Charles
married Boon, of Kentucky. 9. Stephen G. married a daughter of James
Lamb, and died November 18, 1837, aged 42 years. The daughters of
Charles Hunt, Sen., were Polly, who married Andrews; Rebecca, who
married Bryan, of Kentucky; Sally, Richard Sedgwick; Nancy, David T.
Wyatt; Catharine, Thomas Bradbury.
DAVID RAILSBACK was born
in Loudon county, Va., December 12,1769, and was married to Sarah
Stevens. He removed to North Carolina; thence, in 1806, to Whitewater,
and settled a half mile east of where Abington now is, in March, 1807.
He afterward removed to a farm now owned by Merriman Brumfield. He died
October 17, 1856. He had twelve children, five of whom were born in
this county. All lived to be married, and to raise large families; none
having less than six, and one as many as seventeen. His children were:
1. Mary, wife of Wm, Lewis; they live in Iowa. 2. Enoch, who married
Nancy Fouts. 3. Judith, wife of Thomas Cobb; re¬moved to Lawrence
county, Ind. 4. Edward, who married Frances, daughter of James Hunt,
and died in Iowa, in 1859. 5. William, who married Mary Rhodes; resides
at Kankakee, Ill. 6, 7. Caleb and Matthew, twins, who married Nancy and
Sarah Barnhill. Matthew died in 1844; Caleb lives in Warren county. 8.
Joel, who married Elizabeth Fouts, and lives in Wayne township. 9.
David, who married Mary Smith, in Wayne township. 10. Nathan, who
married Sina, daughter of Smith Hunt, and died in 1863. 11. John, who
married Pamelia, daughter of Jesse Davenport, and died in 1860. 12.
Sarah, wife of Larkin Garr, died in 1857.
PETER SMITH, a native of
Maryland, came from Kentucky as early, it is said, as 1805, and entered
several quarter sections of land, though he did not settle on it until
1820. His children were: 1. Nicholas, who married Rebecca, a daughter
of George Hunt, and lives near town. 2. Mary, who married David
Railsback. 3. Barbara, who married Christopher C. Beeler, now of
Richmond. 4. John P., who married Mary Sedgwick, deceased, a few years
ago. He now resides one and a half miles west of Richmond.. 5. George
if., who married Clarissa, daughter of Joseph Lewis, of Green township.
6. James, who married Mary H. Hunt. 7. Irvin, who lives in Alexandria,
Madison county. 8. Joseph W., unmarried. 9. Margaret, wife of Nelson
Crow, who lives on the homestead of her father, adjoining the farm of
George Smith, but lying on the east side of the township line, in
Boston township.