WHITE COUNTY, INDIANA
BIG CREEK TOWNSHIP
Big Creek Was One Of The Four
Original Townships Created By The County
Board Of Commissioners At Its First Meeting July 19, 1834. It Was
Designated As Congressional Township No. 26, "With All The Territory
Attached Thereto," Contained Ninety-Seven And A Half Square Miles, Or
62,200 Acres, And Comprised Substantially A Strip Of Territory Six
Sections From North To South, Extending Through The County North Of
Prairie Township. In 1845 Fifty-Four Square Miles Of Its Original Area
Was Carved Away To Form West Point Township, And At Still Later Dates
Both Honey Creek And Union Townships Abstracted Enough Sections From
Its Remaining Body To Reduce It To Thirty-Two And Seven-Eighths Square
Miles.
Physical And Agricultural Features
The Township Derives Its Name From
The Stream Which Rises In The
Southwestern Part Of West Point Township, About Two Miles From The
Western County Line, Thence Flows Northeasterly To A Point Just South
Of Smithson, Or Wheeler, And Thence, After A Course Due East For About
A Mile, Turns Abruptly To The South And Southeast. Big Creek Crosses
The Line Into Prairie Township, Cuts Off The Northeast Corner Of That
Township And Discharges Into The Tippecanoe River A Mile South Of
Oakdale Mills, In Carroll County.
The Surface Of The Township Is Varied
- in The Northern Part, Broad And
Level Stretches Of Prairie Bordered By Timber, In The Western Sections
More Generally Prairie, And In The Eastern Portions, The Heaviest
Wooded Lands. The Best Timbered Tracts Are Confined To Big Creek And
Its Branches.
Although Both The Timber And Prairie
Portions Are Somewhat Broken And
Rolling, This Natural Condition Has Never Interfered With The
Cultivation Of The Rich, Deep Loamy Soil Which Predominates Throughout
The Township. The Subsoil Is Chiefly Sand And Gravel, Though Clay Is
Found In The Lowiands Of The Northern Sections. Grain, Grass,
Vegetables And Fruits Flourish, Especially Since The Swampy Lands Have
Been Ditched And Drained. It Has Always Been Considered One Of The Best
Live Stock Regions In The County, And Not A Few Of The Early Settlers
Gave Much Attention To The Breeding, Purchase And Sale Of Cattle,
Horses And Hogs. Prominent Among These May Be Mentioned George A.
Spencer, Benjamin Reynolds, John Burns, Thomas Bunnell, Thomas Spencer,
John Roberts, Jeremiah Bisher And Philip Wolverton, names That Stand
For
Much That Was Best In The Early Progress Of The Township.
First Settler, Joseph H. Thompson
Big Creek Township Was The First
Portion Of The County To Be
Permanently Settled, And The Agreement Is Quite General That Joseph H.
Thompson Led Them All. He Followed Close On The Heels Of The Government
Surveyors, Who Had Been Running Their Section Lines For Several Months
In The Northwestern Part Of The State. Although He Came Early In 1829
And Brought His Family With Him To Occupy The Rough Cabin He Had
Erected In Section 25, Thompson Did Not Enter His Land Until December
19th.
George A. Spencer And Benjamin
Reynolds
In The Meantime George A. Spencer And
Benjamin Reynolds, Two Young Men
From Perry County, Ohio, Had Arrived On Foot And Pitched Their Camp,
Consisting Of A Carpet-Bag And A Blanket, At A Spot Which Might Now Be
Described As The Borderland Between Big Creek And Union Townships. The
Time Was In The Autumn Of 1829. Selecting A Site On A Hillside In What
Was Then Section 13, Big Creek Township, They Decided To Build A
Round-Log Cabin Twelve Feet Square, So As To Secure Their Claim. They
Commenced At Once To Cut Logs, But After A Few Had Been Laid, It Was
Agreed That Spencer Should Return To Ohio For The Families About To
Migrate West, While Reynolds Was To Have The Cabin Ready When Needed.
Winter Was Already Well Advanced Before Spencer Started For Perry
County, And It Was The Middle Of The Season Before He Reached Home.
Spencer-Reynolds Colony
On The First Of The Following June,
George A. Spencer And James
Spencer, With Their Families And Supplies, As Well As The Reynolds
Household, Were Loaded Into Three Two-Horse Wagons And Commenced To
Move Toward The Farther West. After A Journey Of Twenty Days They
Arrived In Sight Of The Hoosier Home, Which Had Been Prepared By Mr.
Reynolds, And Resided Therein Until Late In November. By That Time Mr.
Reynolds Had Erected A Cabin In Section 13 And The Two Spencers Had
Completed Their Houses In Section 12. The First Shack Was Then
Discarded By The Fifteen Spencer And Reynolds Colonists, Being Easily
Thrown To The Ground, And The Three Families Divided Into Separate
Households.
The Historic Spencer House
George A. Spencer's House Was The
First Of The Three To Be Completed.
It Was Built Of Hewn Logs, 16 By 20 Feet In Size, And In The Middle
'80s Is Thus Described, With All The Old-Time Associations Clinging To
It: "This House Is Still Standing And Most Of The Logs, Though Placed
In Position Fifty-Three Years Ago, Are As Sound As If It Were But
Yesterday That They Were Taken From The Forest. In 1831 There Were Two
Additions Attached To The Original Building, And A Few Years Later The
Same Part Was Weather-Boarded, And This Is The Reason, No Doubt, That
It Is In Such A Good State Of Preservation. Mr. Spencer Set Out The
First Orchard In Big Creek Township. The First Lot Of Trees Was Planted
In The Spring Of 1834, Two Of The Trees Remaining, Either Of Which Is
Thirty Inches In Diameter. A Ten Minutes' Ride On Horseback From The
Present Residence Of Calvin C. Spencer (Son Of George A.) Will Bring
You To The Site Of The Old Historic Spencer House.
"This Structure Of The Long-Ago Was,
In Early Times, A Welcome Mansion
To Many A Lone And Weary Tippecanoe Indian, A Home To All New-Comers,
And A Place Of Rest And Refreshment To All Those Of Whatever Color Or
Tongue That Needed Rest. Though This House Was The Second In The
Township, Though It Was One Of Freedom And Much Welcome To Whomsoever
Could Ask Admittance To Its Threshold, It Has A More Extended History,
For Here It Was That The First Circuit Court In White County Was Held.
In This Cabin The White Circuit Court Was Held For Two Years. The First
Term Of Court Was Commenced On The 13th Day Of October, 1834. At This
Bar A Number Of The Most Prominent Lawyers Of Those Times Practiced,
And On This Bench Some Of The Best Jurists Of That Day Sat. Among Those
Who Dealt Out Justice At This Bar May He Mentioned The Names Of Rufus
Lockwood, John U. Pettit, Albert S. White, Samuel Huff, Ira Ingraham
And James Lane. The Lawyers All Boarded In The Cabin Court House, And
Mrs. Spencer Did The Cooking For The 'Loose-Tongued' Gentlemen, While
Mr. S. Cared For The Lawyers' Horses And Spent The Remainder Of His
Time In Keeping The 'Boys' Straight.
"Mr. Spencer Was A Strict Temperance
Man, And Always Clung To The
Fittest Of Things Of Life; As A Natural Consequence, He Would Not Allow
Swearing In His House. A Large Oak Tree Stood About Ten Rods Distant
From The House, And It Is Said That Mr. S. Would Not Allow Any Swearing
Between That Tree And The Cabin. Some Time Elapsed Before The Lawyers
Could Prevail Upon Mr. Spencer To Get Them Their Kind Of Liquid
Refreshments, But Finally The Old Gentleman Brought Home A Keg Of The
Most Approved Brand Of Kentucky Whiskey, And That Night The Cabin Of
Justice Lost All Its Dignity. Conviviality Reigned Until Far Into The
Night And Did Not End There, As After The Lawyers Went To Bed They
Indulged In Hilarious Pillow-Fights, Kicked And Pulled Each Other
Around, And In Various Other Ways Spoiled Their Case With The Sober
Landlord, Who Never Again Allowed Them To 'Whiskey-Up' In His House.
But Mrs. Spencer, Or Aunt Sally, Held Them To The Spencer House,
Notwithstanding This Check, And What Time The Lawyers Were Not Engaged
In The Court Room, Or Playing Ball, They Were Bragging About Aunt Sally
And Her Cooking."
In The General History Of The County
We Have Given The Main Facts Of
Mr. Spencer's Life, Including Its Official, Agricultural And Social
Identification With This Section For Nearly Forty Years. He Was The
Father Of Eight Children, Several Of Whom, Like Calvin C., Were Also
Leading Citizens. A Number Of His Sons Served In The Union Army.
Benjamin Reynolds' After-Career
When Mr. Reynolds Came To Big Creek
Township He Had Suffered Reverses
Which Made Him Almost Penniless; He Was, However, Pluckily "Starting
Over Again." He Had Enjoyed Little Education In Schools, But Was
Practical, Honest And Hard-Working. He Had Operated A Stage Line From
Vincennes To Toledo For A Number Of Years Previous To 1828, When A
Distemper Carried Away So Many Of His Horses As To Ruin Him
Financially. Mr. Reynolds Had Made Little Headway Toward Recovery When
He Ventured Beyond The Tippecanoe With His Friend, George A. Spencer.
His Stage Line Had Followed The Valleys Of The Wabash And Maumee Rivers
And He Had Become Well Acquainted With Northwestern Indiana Before He
Located In Big Creek Township. Being A Man Of More Active Temperament,
Both Of Mind And Body, Than His Good Friend Spencer, He Soon Became The
Agent For Various Eastern Parties In The Location Of Lands On
Commission, Which Enabled Him To Become The Owner Of Some 15,000 Acres
In Indiana And Illinois. At A Later Day He Obtained The Contract For
Excavating Many Miles Of The State Ditch, Portions Of Which He Sublet.
He Was Largely Influential In Building The Louisville, New Albany &
Chicago Railroad, As Well As The Pan Handle Line, In Both Of Which He
Became A Large Stockholder. He Was Also Interested In The Junction
Railroad And Had The Misfortune, About 1855, Of Losing $100,000 Through
His Investments Therein. The Year Before, He Had Founded The Town Of
Reynolds. During The Civil War Mr. Reynolds Met With His Third Serious
Financial Reverse, As He Was Obliged To Pay Fully $40,000 In Bail
Debts. But He Was Vigorous And Elastic And Had Nearly Recovered His
Former Standing Before His Death In His Home Township, On June 6, 1869.
His Son, Isaac Reynolds, Born In 1831, Was The First Native White Child
Of The Township. Two Of His Sons (Levi Reynolds And A Younger Brother)
Cultivated The Home Farm After The Father's Death Until The Estate Was
Sold Under Administrator's Sale, When It Was Bought By The Widow And
Divided. Levi Reynolds Moved To Monticello In 1878, But After Three
Years' Residence There Returned To The Old Homestead And Became Quite
Well Known In Local Affairs, Both Official And Agricultural. Large
Tracts Of Land In Sections 6, 7 And 13, Of What Is Now Union Township,
Are Still Held By The Spencer Family.
John Burns
On November 2, 1830, John Burns
Entered Land In Section 30,
Southeastern Part Of The Township, And In The Following Year Settled
Upon His "Eighty," With His Young Wife. Although Then Only In His
Twenty-Third Year, He Had Been Married Since 1826. The Young People
Commenced Their Married Life In White County In A Rude Log Cabin With A
Dirt Floor, But They Prospered In Amassing Both Property And A Large
Family. Before Mr. Burns' Death He Had Become The Owner Of 1,200 Acres
Of Land And Was Probably The Largest Land Owner In The Township. He Was
Widely Known As A Breeder Of Cattle, Hogs And Horses.
Mr. And Mrs. William Burns
William Burns, The Eldest Of The Six
Children Of John Burns, Was Born
In Big Creek Township April 23, 1831, Soon After The Family Came From
Ohio, And Is Claimed To Have Been Either The First Or Second White
Child Born In The County. Until He Was Twenty-Three Years Of Age He Was
Employed On His Father's Farm, By Which Time He Had Saved $700, With
Which He Bought A Partially Improved Farm Of 120 Acres Near The Family
Homestead. In October, 1860, He Married Miss Etna Mcintyre, An Ohio
Lady, Who For Ten Years Had Been Housekeeper For Her Twin Brother On
The Old Burns Farm. As Man And Wife They Lived A Peaceful And Useful
Life For More Than Fifty-Two Years, Not Far From Where They Commenced
Housekeeping. Like His Father, William Burns Became Well Known As A
Live Stock Farmer. His Wife Died March 19, 1913, And He Followed Her
Three Days Later. They Were Buried Side By Side In Riverview Cemetery,
Monticello, And Left A Son And A Daughter - Samuel M. Burns, Of
Chalmers, And Mary Etta Brown, Of Urbana, Ohio.
Land Owners And Settlers Of 1830-33
On The Same Day That John Burns
Entered His Land, November 2, 1830,
James Kerr Bought 80 Acres In Section 24; John Miller, In Section 19;
Mahlon Frazer, In Section 9; On The Following Day Daniel Baum Entered
80 Acres In Section 8 And Robert Newell 80 Acres In Section 18; John
Bostick, 80 Acres In Section 12, On The 12th Of October, Same Year;
Joseph H. Graham, 80 Acres In Section 8, November 15, 1830; John
Stockton, 80 Acres In Section 7, On November 20th, And Jeremiah Bisher
Filed His Claim On December 20th, Also Of The Year 1830.
About The Time That John Burns
Located, In 1831, Samuel Gray And John
Roberts Became Residents Of The Township, The Latter Having Entered
Land Late In The Preceding Fall. Samuel Alkire Entered A Tract Within
The Township August 18, 1832, And The Following Became Land Owners In
1833: Stephen Bunnell, John Wesley Bunnell, Nathaniel Bunnell, Sr., And
Nathaniel Bunnell, Jr., December 10th; Benjamin Reynolds, Christmas
Day; John C. Kilgore, June 4th; John Barr, Jr., June 10th; William M.
Kenton, November 26th.
The Beazy Family Also Arrived In 1833
- Isaac Beazy, Wife And Six
Children - but Evidently Were In No Condition To Invest In Land. They
Came All The Way From Perry County, Ohio, And The Different Members Of
The Family Rode Two Horses, In Shifts. They Were Old Friends Of George
A. Spencer, Who Made Room For Them In His Own House Until He And Mr.
Beazy Could Erect A Separate Cabin For The Newcomers. Mr. Beazy Was
Employed By Mr. Spencer, And His Family Lived On The Spencer Farm For A
Number Of Years.
Chills And Fever
Big Creek Township, In Common With
Other Sections Of The County Which
Had Any Considerable Portion Of Lowlands, Was Scourged With Ague, Or
Chills And Fever. The Trouble Would Generally Commence In July And
Continue Until Midwinter; And The Shakes Of 1833 Were Long Remembered
As The Most Severe And Prevalent Of Any Recorded In The History Of The
Township. It Is Said That Only Two Residents Escaped Their
Onslaught, Calvin C. Spencer And A Small, Tough Negro Boy. Although
Boneset And Other Tried Remedies Were Freely Used, Chills And Fever
Continued To Grip The Township For At Least A Decade, Or Until The
Settlers Became Convinced That Stagnant Water And Their Drinking Supply
Were Largely The Cause Of The Scourge, And Acted Accordingiy.
First Township Officers
At The First Meeting Of The Board Of
County Commissioners, In July,
1834, When Big Creek Township Was Created, The House Of George A.
Spencer Was Designated As The Place For Holding Elections The First
Year, And James Kerr Was Appointed Inspector. Benjamin N. Spencer Was
Also Named As Supervisor Of Roads, George A. Spencer And Armstrong
Buchanan, Overseers Of The Poor, And Benjamin Reynolds And Henry
Barcus, Fence Viewers. As The Spencer Home Was The Headquarters Of The
County Government For Several Years While The Official Quarters Were
Being Prepared At Monticello, Big Creek Township Was, If Anything,
Overburdened With Circumspection; It Had More Government Than It Could
Well Bear.
First School In The County
The Creation Of The County Was The
Signal For The Inauguration Of Its
Educational Forces. In 1834 Its First School Was Taught By Clinton
Munson In A Cabin Which Stood On George A. Spencer's Land, a Round-Log
Affair, 12 By 15 Feet; As Several Log Houses Had Been Built On His
Land, It Is Impossible To Say What One Was Thus Honored. It Is Stated
That The Expense Of Its Erection Was Borne By The Resident Families Of
George A. Spencer, Benjamin Reynolds, John Burns, Robert Newell,
William M. Kenton, Zebulon Dyer, James Shafer, John Phillips And
Perhaps A Few Others. It Was The First Schoolhouse Built Within The
Limits Of White County. A Log Had Been Omitted From The South Wall To
Admit The Light; Two Puncheons, Fastened Together With Wooden Pins And
Hung On Wooden Hinges, Formed The Door, Which Was Securely Closed With
A Wooden Latch In A Wooden Catch; A String Passed Through The Door
Above The Latch And Served To Raise It From The Outside On Ordinary
Occasions, the Exceptions Being When The Bad Boys Arrived Before The
Schoolmaster, When It Would Be Drawn In, The Window Barricaded With
Benches And Otherwise Placed In A State To Withstand A Siege. The First
Teacher Of This Particular School Was Matthias Davis.
Land Entries In 1835-36
The Following Entered Lands During
1835: Barzilla W. Bunnell, January
9th; James Barnes, December 10th; John Lewis, September 9th; Benjamin
Reynolds, December 8th; John Brady, November 23d; William Cornell,
October 20th; John Beaver, December 19th; Levi Johnson. November 16th.
In 1836: Thomas Spencer, January 1st;
Mahlon Fraser, May 9th; Isaac N.
Parker, January 4th; David Fisher, May 9th; William Warden, May 24th;
Nimrod Warden, May 24th; Noah Dixon, November 28th; James Barnes,
January 2lst; Joshua Rinker, January 13th; Mary Thompson, June 15th;
Nathan Goff, December 13th; John Brady, Same Date; And Eliza N.
Bunnell, February 23d.
Election Of 1836
At The Fall Election Of 1836, Held At
The House Of George A. Spencer,
On The First Monday In November, The Following Voted, Most Of The Names
Being Already Familiar: Nathaniel Bunnell, Sr., Joseph H. Thompson,
Thomas Donavan, John Luce, Jesse Grooms, William Carr, Benjamin
Reynolds, Thomas Bunnell, James Shafer, Joseph Phillips, George A.
Spencer, Isaac Davis, Ellis H. Johnson, John W. Bunnell, Daniel Lane,
Nathaniel Bunnell, Jr., B. Bunnell And Armstrong Buchanan. Nathaniel
Bunnell, Isaac Davis And John Bunnell Acted As Judges.
The Great Hunt Of 1840
But Although The Township Was
Organized And Its Citizens Were
Exercising Their Full American Rights, It Was Still A Frontier Country,
And Continued To Be So Considered For Years. A Good Illustration Of
That Fact Is The Great Hunt Of 1840. The District In Which The Chase
Occurred Was Bounded North By Monon Creek, East By The Tippecanoe
River, South By The Wabash River And West By The Line Between White And
Benton Counties. Men And Boys Were Stationed Along These Boundaries A
Quarter Of A Mile Apart, And At 8 O'clock On The Morning Of The "Drive"
Commenced To "Close In" At A Rate Of Advance Which Would Bring Them To
What Is Now Known As Reynolds' Grove At 2 O'clock P. M. In That Grove
Three Scaffolds Had Been Erected On Which The Marksmen Of The Day Were
Stationed. No Other Members Of The Party Were Allowed To Carry Guns. It
Is Said That Men Attended This Chase From A Territory Twenty-Five Miles
Distant, And The Spoils Of The Chase Comprised Fifty Deer And Many More
Wolves. The Reward Of The Marksmen Was, As Usual, A Specially Large
Portion Of The Whiskey And Provisions Which Had Been Hauled To
Headquarters For The Consumption Of All The Participants In The Hunt.
Those Who Bought Land In 1837-51
The Entries Of Land In Big Creek
Township Continued Until The Early
'50s, Although They Were Quite Rare During The Hard Times Of The Late
'30s And The Early '40s. This Period, 1837-51, Records The Following As
New Land Owners, With Dates Of Entry: Jonathan Johnson, February 1,
1837, And Henry Linda, October 20th, Of The Same Year; Joshua H. Scarf
And Jacob Hanaway, October 5 And January 25, 1839, Respectively; Okey
S. Johnson And Catherine E. Davis, Both On June 2, 1842; Moses Karr And
Joseph Karr, January 24 And May 23, 1848; John Holliday And John R.
Jefferson, January 31 And May 28, 1844; Robert Bartholomew, September
20, 1845; Ellis H. Johnson, May 28th Of That Year; John Burget, July
29th, Also 1845; In 1846 Abel T. Smith, May 26th; David W. Parker,
August 19th; John W. Johnson, June 29th; John Matthews, April 25th;
John Bunnell, July 18th; And Silas Adams, April 13th; In 1847 bushrod
W. Cain, December 18th; John Friend, September 11th, Abraham Lukens,
June 21st; Ambrose Mudge, December 14th; John Alkire, March 5th;
Ezekiel Matthews, June 26th; Thomas Chenoweth, August 17th; In 1848
William Vanscoy, January 26th; John R. Jefferson, October 5th; Ellis H.
Johnson, January 26th; And Abel T. Smith, Same Date; Joseph D. Moore,
June 19, 1849; Ira M. Chenoweth. August 20, 1850; And David Parker,
July 28, 1851.
Increase Of Real Settlers
All Of The Foregoing Entries (And The
Statement Applies To Those Which
Have Preceded The Immediate List) Were Made By White County Settlers,
But Not All Of Them Were By Residents Of Big Creek Township. A Few Of
Them Relinquished Their Interests And Migrated To Other Parts, But The
Majority Improved Their Properties, Founded Homesteads And Added To
Their Holdings, Either By The Purchase Of Adjoining Government Lands Or
Of Tracts Which Had Been Thrown Upon The Market By Non-Residents.
Especially Was This The Case With Those Who Had Early Begun The Raising
Of Live Stock. Others Became The Owners Of Larger Farms Than They Could
Profitably Cultivate, And Were Forced To Lease Portions Of Their Land
To Tenants, Who Would Pay Them In Rental Or In A Stipulated Proportion
Of The Crops.
B. Wilson Smith's Picture Of 1846
Although Abel T. Smith Entered His
First Lands, A Short Distance
Southwest Of Smithson, Or Wheeler, In The Spring Of 1846, He Did Not
Start With His Family From Their Old Virginia Home Until The Fall Of
The Year. More Than Sixty Years Afterward, One Of His Sons, B. Wilson
Smith (Then Four-Score Years Of Age), Was Writing As Follows:
"We Left Our Home Near Bridgeport,
Harrison County, Virginia (Now West
Virginia), October 17, 1846. There My Father, Mother And Six
Children, the Oldest (Mrs. Haymond) Nearly 18 Years, And Youngest A
Babe
Less Than Two Months. I Write This On The 64th Anniversary Of Our
Departure. We Came Overland All The Way, saw But One Railroad Track In
All The Way, at Springfield, Ohio. We Had A Three-Horse Wagon And
Carriage. I Was Past 16 Years Of Age. I Drove The Wagon All The Way.
"We Reached The County Of White In
The Morning Of November 24th. Had
Stayed At Battle Ground The Night Before, Then Called Harrisonville. We
Passed From Tippecanoe County Into White County At A Point A Little
North Of Forgy Kious' Home And Went North, Crossing Moots' Creek A
Little West Of The Home Of Mr. Smelser, Then County Commissioner. Then
On North, Along The County Road, Past John Kious', Over Hickory Ridge,
And Northwest To Kent's Point. Mr. Kent Lived There Then. My Father Had
Known Him And Bought Cattle Of Him When He Lived On Darby Plains, West
Of Columbus, Ohio. He Lived In A Cabin Near The Old Grave Yard. John
Price, His Son-In-Law, Lived A Little Northeast Of Him. Our Course Was
Then Straight On North To The Home Of John Brady On Big Creek,
One/Fourth Mile West Of Tucker Schoolhouse, Built In 1861. There Was No
House Then Where Chalmers Is Now, Nor Until We Reached Brady's, Except
The Home Of Joseph H. Thompson Away To The Right On The Hill, And The
Jack Burgett Cabin, One-Fourth Mile To The West. We Passed Close By
Their Cabin On The East Side. We Reached Mr. Brady's At Nightfall. He
And His Wife Were Virginians, he From The South Branch Of The Potomac,
And She From Clarksburgh. She Was A Britton, A Very Prominent Family.
She And My Mother Had Been Schoolmates. Her Sister Had Married Nathan
Goff, A Man Of Money And Influence, the Goff Whose Name So Often Occurs
As Former Owner Of Lands In Big Creek And West Point Townships.
"We Brought In Our Wagon A Large Box
Of Clothing And Valuables From
Mrs. Goff To Her Sister, Mrs. Brady, And The Family. At That Time The
Mexican War Was On, And Mrs. Brady's Brother, Major Forbes Britton, Was
A Very Prominent Officer In General Taylor's Family.
"Mr. Brady's House Was Built Of Hewed
Logs And Was About 16x18 Feet
Square. His Family Was Seven Or Eight, Ours Eight, And The Man Who Came
With Us From Lafayette, Hauling A Load Of Furniture And Provisions; And
Yet We All Stayed In That Not Large House Of One Room And Ate And Slept
There. I Mention This As A Graphic Picture Of Pioneer Times In White
County. This County Had Been Organized But Twelve Years At That Time.
"The 24th Of November Had Been A
Pleasant Day, A Little Cool And Raw,
But Gave No Indication Of A Marked Change Of Weather. But Before The
Morning Dawned A Fierce Northwester Was In Full Swing, And Snow Was
Falling And Ice Freezing Fast. We Had To Go Two Miles West To Our
Cabin, Which Stood About Ninety Rods Southwest Of Smithson Station. We
Had To Cut The Ice To Get Across Little Creek And Unload Our Furniture
And Provisions In The Storm, And Leave It Till The Occupant Of The
Cabin Could Get His Family And Household Effects Out, Which He Kindly
Did. Father Had Bought The Cabin And Squatter Right Of Him The Spring
Previous. The Cabin Was 14x16 Feet, Outside Measurement, Of Split Logs,
Making The Inside Measurement 13x15, One Window, One Door, No Loft To
Speak Of, And Yet A Family Of Eight Stored Themselves, Furniture And
Provisions, In This Small Cabin For The Entire Winter And Spring, Till
A New Addition And Hall And Porch Could Be Added. Yea, More, They Lived
Happily, toiled Hard, Never Complained, And Saw The Fruits Of Their
Toil
In 120 Acres Fenced, A Good Corn And Oats Crop, And 70 Acres Of Prairie
Broken And Sowed In Wheat.
"At The Time Of Our Coming To White
County There Was Not A Town On The
Line Of The Monon Railroad From The Battle Ground To Michigan City.
West Bedford, Three Miles East Of Monon, Was A Small Town With A
Postoffice, And New Durham Was 2 1/2 Miles East Of The Present Town Of
Westville. Of Course There Was No Railroad, Nor Till Seven Years Later.
Monticello Was A Small Town With No Mills Or Water Power. The Two
Princely Houses Were Those Of Chas. Kendall And William Sill, Who Died
About That Time, Monticello Had A Postoffice, So Also Burnett's Creek
And West Bedford. These Were All, And They Only Had Weekly Mail,
Carried On Horseback From Logansport To White Post. The Only Mills Of
Any Special Import Were Those At Norway. They Had French Burr Stones
And Made Good Flour. They Also Carded Wool. The Van Rensselaer Had Been
Destroyed, I. E., The Dam, By The Great Floods Of 1844. The Only Church
Building Of Any Pretension Was The New School Presbyterian At
Monticello, Of Which The Afterward Celebrated Mr. Cheever Had Charge. I
Knew Him Twenty Years Later When In The Full Prime Of His Great Career.
The Methodists Had No Church In The County. The Charges Were Not Even A
Circuit, But Monon Mission. The Only Schoolhouse In Monticello Then Was
The Frame Building That Stood On The Lot Where Mrs. Israel Nordyke
Lately Lived. No Schoolhouse In Big Creek Township Except An Old
Abandoned One Near Old Father Nathaniel Bunnell's, Built Of Round Logs,
With Mortar And Stick Chimney, But In The Last Mouth Of The Year The
Neighbors Joined Together And Built A Hewed Log Schoolhouse About
One/Fourth Of A Mile East Of The Present Tucker Schoolhouse, Which Was
Built 15 Years Later. In This Log Schoolhouse The First Methodist
Quarterly Meeting That I Ever Attended Was Held In March, 1847. Rev. S.
C. Cooper, Greeneastle, Was Presiding Elder, And Rev. Burns Preacher In
Charge.
"My Sister Margaret, Afterward Mrs.
Dr. Raymond, Taught The First
School. Living As We Did 90 Rods Southwest Of Smithson Station, Our
Nearest Neighbors Were Mrs. Abigail Johnson And Her Family, Nearly
One/Fourth Mile East, Henry Lindsey One/Fourth Mile West, Then David
Parker A Fourth Mile Further On, And Then, A Half Mile Further West,
The Widow Biddle, And One/Fourth Mile Further, John R. Jefferson. There
Were No Neighbors South Nor North Nor East Nearer Than Two Miles, And
West (Isaac Beesy) Three Miles. The Country Was New, And The People Did
Not Crowd Each Other Much. There Was No Newspaper Then Or Before
Published In White County. Not Much Of Politics Or Political
Exeitement. I Remember The Presidential Election Of 1848. My Father And
I Left Home At The Same Time, Going In Opposite Directions, he East, I
West. When We Met Again He Had Voted For Taylor And Filmore At The
Voting Plate Of The Township, The Old Seat Of County Government, Geo.
A. Spencer's, And I Had Secured A School In Princeton Township, the
Nordyke Neighborhood. It Was My First School, And The First Taught In
The Township. The 18th Day Of November Just Passed Was The Sixty-Second
Anniversary Of Its Opening. May I Say That All Of Our Family (Children)
Were School Teachers, And All Taught In White County Except The
Youngest, Henry Clay.
"Do You Wonder That I Have A Great
Love For White County? I Never Had
Any Enemies There. I Have Touched Shoulders With Many Of Your Early
Citizens In The Life Struggle. Your Noble Building, The Schoolhouse At
Monticello - I Laid The Cornerstone And Delivered The Oration In 1869.
Every Foot Of Your 504 Square Miles Is Destined To Be Valuable. Your
Noble River, The Classic Tippecanoe, Is Destined To Continue The Most
Beautiful Stream In The State, And Every Hamlet, Village And Town To
Grow In Wealth And Importance Through The Coming Years. The Fondest
Dreams Of The Early Days Will More Than Come True, And The Civilized
And Cultured Anglo-Saxon Continue To Hold And Cultivate Lands Where
Once The Proud Hostile Miami Held Savage Sway."
First Frame Schoolhouse
As The Population Increased,
Especially In The Northeastern Part Of The
Township Toward Monticello, The Settlers Prepared To Give Their
Children Better Educational Conveniences. The County Was Divided Into
School Districts, No. 1 Being Embraced In That Territory. In 1850 The
First Frame Schoolhouse In The Township Was Erected In Section 12, Not
Far From The Original Log Cabin, Used For That Purpose, On The Spencer
Farm.
Mudge's Station And Chalmers
The Settlers Felt Greatly Encouraged
When The Louisville, New Albany
& Chicago Railroad Was Completed Through The Township In 1853, And
Gardner Mudge Contributed Land In Section 34 To Be Used As The Site Of
A Station. The Locality Was Known For Years As Mudge's Station, But It
Did Not Bud Into The Town Of Chalmers Until 1873, When It Was First
Platted.
First Iron Bridge
In The Early '70s Several Important
Improvements Were Made In The
Township, Among Others Being The Building Of Its First Iron Bridge
Across Big Creek, Just North Of The Residence Of John Burns. It Was
Completed In 1872 And Was 100 Feet Long; Quite A Structure For Those
Days And That Locality. It Has Since Been Replaced By A More
Substantial Structure.
Swamp Lands Reclaimed
In The '80s The Settlers Commenced To
Take Up The Work Of Draining The
Northern Swamp Lands In Earnest, And The Result Was To Reclaim Large
Tracts Which Had Been Held Unimproved, Some Of The Owners Being
Non-Residents. As These Lands Came Into The Market As Fertile And
Valuable Farm Properties, They Were Purchased By Actual Settlers And
Divided Into Smaller Tracts. Thus The Northern Part Of The Township
Received A Noticeable Accession Of Population.
Smithson Or Wheeler
One Of The Results Of This Movement
Was The Platting Of The Town Of
Wheeler In Section 9. It Was Laid Out On The Farm Of Hiram M. Wheeler,
On The Main Line Of The Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railroad.
The Postoffice At That Point Was Named Smithson, In Honor Of Lieut.
Bernard G. Smith, A Veteran Of The Civil War And A Son Of Abel T.
Smith, Who Came To The Neighborhood In 1846 And Was For Years Prominent
In Township Affairs. He Died In 1875. Although The Town Was Platted As
Wheeler, The Railroad Station Is Usually Known By The Name Of The
Postoffice, Smithson.
Leader In Good Roads Movement
Besides Being Early In The Movement
Of Artificial Drainage, The Farmers
Of Big Creek Township, With The Solid Support Of The Townsmen Of
Chalmers, Took The Initiative In The Improvement Of The Highways Of The
County, And, In Proportion To Their Population And Wealth, Are Still In
The Front Ranks Of The Good Roads Reform. In That Regard The Bonded
Indebtedness Of The Township Is The Fifth Largest Among The Eleven
Townships Of The County. Its Total Of $46,977 Is Divided Among The
Several Roads As Follows: Dobbins, $800; Bedding, $470; Anderson,
$4,500; Younger, $4,500; J. H. Moore, $9,334; Friday, $4,800; Mills,
$1,733; Morrison, $8,000; Lane, $12,840.
Source: Counties of White and
Pulaski, Indiana: Historical and Biographical By F.A. Battey & Co,
Weston Arthur Goodspeed Published by F.A. Battey & Co., 1883