WHITE COUNTY, INDIANA
Liberty
Township
History
The Form Taken By The Thirty-Four And
A Half Sections Of Land
Comprising Liberty Township, In The Northeastern Part Of White County,
Is Largely Determined By The Meanderings Of The Tippecanoe River, Which
Shapes About Two-Thirds Of Its Western Boundary, The Continuation Of
That Line Northward Being From A Point Where The Southern Line Of
Section 16 Crosses The Stream; The Northern, Southern And Eastern
Boundaries Were Purely Land Lines. The Tippecanoe Passes Diagonally
Through The Three Upper Tiers Of Sections, The River, As A Whole,
Forming The Highway Along Which Were Scattered The First Settlements Of
Both Red Men And White.
Timber Lands And Lowlands
Along The River Valley, And For Some
Distance Inland, In The Western
And Southwestern Portions Of The Township, Were Forests Of White Oak,
Sugar Maple, Poplar, Ash, Hickory And Walnut, With A Thick Undergrowth
Of Hazel, Plum, Haw, Mulberry And Sassafras, But The Eastern Sections
Were Largely Marsh Land, Interspersed With Low Ridges Of Sand. The
Latter Tracts Were Sprinkled With Undergrowths, But Showed Nothing In
The Way Of Large Timber. The Lowlands Were Naturally Last To Come Into
The Market, And Were Not Taken Up To Any Extent Until After The Passage
Of The State Law, In The Early '70s, By Which Ditching Companies Were
Formed And The Benefited Lands Assessed For The Drainage Improvements.
Then The Speculators Commenced To Sell And Subdivide Their Large Idle
Tracts.
The Indian Village
When The First Settlers Came Into The
County In 1829-30 They Found Two
Indian Villages Within Its Present Limits; The Smaller One Was About
Half A Mile North Of The Locality Now Occupied By Monticello, And The
Larger Pottawattamie Village Was On The Eastern Banks Of The Tippecanoe
Five Miles Above, Near What Was Afterward Known As Holmes' Ford, Some
Three Miles West Of The Present Hamlet Of Sitka. The Village Embraced
Nearly 100 Wigwams And About 400 Indians, And Adjoining It Were Three
Or Four Acres Of Communal Land Cultivated To Corn, Pumpkins, Squashes
And Irish And Sweet Potatoes. As The River Furnished Fish, And The
Woods Opossum, Deer And Other Game, Their Diet Did Not Lack In Variety,
Although Their Cooking And Seasoning Were Not To The White Man's Taste.
The Pottawattamies Were Dirty, Hospitable Beggars And Thieves, And The
Few Settlers Of Liberty Township Who Located In The Valley While These
Red Men Infested It Were Pleased Indeed When They Finally Abandoned
Their Village, In 1838, And Started For Their Kansas Reservation.
Crystal D. W. Scott
Crystal D. W. Scott Is Claimed To
Have Been The First White Settler In
What Is Now Liberty Township. The Date Of His Coming Is Placed As Early
As 1835, Although He Does Not Appear To Have Entered Lands In Sections
1 And 11 (Township 28, Range 8) Until August 13, 1836. On The 24th Of
That Month Greenup Scott Purchased A Tract In Section 11. All These
Lots Were Along The River In The Northeast Corner Of The Township.
The Following Entered Lands At Even
Earlier Dates Than The Scotts:
Thomas Macklin, In Section 3, Township 27, Range 3, April 15, 1834;
Amos Wiley, In Same Section, December 28th Of That Year; James Crose,
December 16, 1835, In Section 33, Township 28, Range 3; James Sampson,
In Section 9, November 16, 1835; John Parker, In Section 21, Township
28, Range 3, July 21, 1836; John Cobler, In Section 28, February 1st Of
That Year; James W. Hall And Jacob Meyer, In Same Section, July 21st
And July 25th, Respectively; Thomas T. Benbridge, In Section 33, April
12th Of That Year; John Bell, In Section 34, July 14th, And The
Following In Township 27, Range 3, In The Year 1836: Nimrod Warden,
William Warden And Jacob Slater, In Section 4; William Flemming, In
Section 5; Samuel Benson And Jacob Cornell, In Section 9.
The Following Entered Land In
Township 28, Range 3, After Crystal D. W.
Scott, In 1836; William Fisher, Samuel Simmons, Joseph Smith, Andrew
Beauchamp, William Ross And James W. Mcintyre, In Section 1; Elihu
Harlan, In Section 11; Nathaniel Bell, In Section 12; William Wilson,
In Section 13; John W. Berry, In Section 14; George I. Baum, Jabez B.
Berry, Mercer Brown And John B. Niles, In Section 15, And William
Greathouse, In Section 23, And George Snyder, In Section 34.
Jonathan W. Sluyter And Moses Karr
In 1836 Jonathan W. Sluyter Left The
State Of New York And, With His
Wife And Hiram And Abraham Sluyter, His Sons, Began Settlement On A
Tract Of Land Which Embraced The Present Site Of Buffalo. The Account
Of Their Trip Has Come Down To Us Through His Living Descendants.
Obviously Of Dutch Ancestry, His Immediate Ancestors Settled In The
Empire State While It Was Yet A Portion Of England's Colonial
Possessions. His Branch Of The Family Took Root In Sullivan County,
Where Mr. Sluyter Himself Married Elizabeth J. Hall, Of English
Parentage. In The Spring Of 1836 He Started With His Family Overland
For The Western Prairies Of Illinois. They Went By Way Of Philadelphia,
And As Night Overtook Them In The City They Camped Around Their Wagon
In One Of Its Streets. The Trip Lasted All Summer, Through Roadless
Forests And Swamps, Under Chilling Rains And Hot Suns, Until The Weary
Pilgrims Finally Reached Logansport, And, Several Weeks Later, The
Tippecanoe River.
On Account Of The High Water, The
Travelers Were Unable To Cross The
Stream, And, As The Season Was Already Well Advanced, Mr. Sluyter
Decided To Camp Temporarily On The Spot. The Family Moved Into A
Deserted Log Cabin, And, After Spending The Winter Therein, Concluded
To Locate Permanently. The Deciding Factor In The Situation Had Grown
Out Of The Fact That Mr. Sluyter Had Built A Forge And Worked Up Quite
A Trade With The Pottawattamies Of The Village Below, His Specialty
Being The Fabrication Of Steel Arrowheads At One Cent Each. He Had
Learned To Talk Their Language And Established A Nice Business With His
Red Friends Both In Barter And Cash.
Mr. Sluyter Sold His Original Place
To A Mr. Bowen, And Then Entered
240 Acres Of Unimproved Land In And About Section 28. In That Locality
He Continued To Work At Blacksmithing; Also Cleared And Cultivated His
Land. Later He Purchased Land In Section 15, And When A Postoffice Was
Established On His Farm In 1857 He Had It Named Buffalo And Was
Appointed Its Postmaster. It Was At That Locality That He Passed His
Last Years. His Three Sons Were All Born In New York State Before He
Came West; One Of Them Died When He Was Fourteen Years Of Age, But The
Other Two Passed The Remainder Of Their Lives In White County, And
Their Descendants Are Yet Living In The Localities Where Jonathan W.
Sluyter First Invested In Lands.
The Year 1836 Also Brought Into
Liberty Township Such Men As 'Squire
James W. Hall, William Fisher And George J. Baum, Whose Land Entries
Have Been Noted. Mr. Baum Cleared Ten Acres Of His Land In Section 15
And Built A Cabin, But Soon Left The Township.
Among Those Who Settled In The
Township Shortly Before Or About The
Time Of Its Organization Were Lewis Elston, In 1836, And Rev. Abram
Sneathen, James Hughes, John Parker And Moses Karr, In 1837. Mr. Karr
Returned To His Home In Butler County, Ohio, After Entering His Land,
But Brought His Family With Him In 1839 And Became A Permanent Resident.
The Township Created
At The September Term Of The Board Of
County Commissioners It Was
Ordered That All That Portion Of White County Lying East Of The
Tippecanoe River And North Of The North Line Of Section 16, Township 28
North, Range 3 West, Constitute A New Civil Township To Be Designated
Liberty; And It Was Further Ordered That All That Portion Of Pulaski
County Lying Immediately North Of The New Township Be Attached Thereto.
Until 1848, What Is Now Known As Cass Township Was Within The
Jurisdiction Of Liberty Township; Consequently Christopher Vandeventer
And Other Pioneers Who Are Claimed By Cass Township, Appear Among The
Lists Of Voters Applicable To The Period, 1838-48.
First Election And Officials
The First Election Held In Liberty
Township, At The House Of Crystal D.
W. Scott, On The First Monday Of April, 1838, Brought Out The Following
Voters: Christopher Vandeventer, Joseph Smith, John Mcdowell, Greenup
Scott, Benjamin Grant, Andrew Beechum, Jonathan W. Sluyter, Crystal D.
W. Scott, James W. Hall, Thomas Hamilton, John Parker And James Baum.
These Gentlemen Unanimously Cast Their Ballots For Mr. Hall For Justice
Of The Peace; Crystal D. W. Scott, Inspector Of Elections; Mr. Sluyter,
Constable; Messrs. Smith And Hamilton, Overseers Of The Poor; Mr.
Parker, Supervisor, And Mr. Beechum And Greenup Scott, Fence Viewers.
Change Of Boundaries
At The May Term Of The Commissioners'
Court, In 1838, A Petition Was
Presented Signed By Jonathan Sluyter And Other Citizens Of Liberty And
Monon Townships, Asking For A Change Of Boundaries, In Accordance With
Which The Board Ordered That The East Side Of Monon Township, With The
Following Bounds, Be Attached To Liberty: Leaving The Tippecanoe River
At The Point Where The South Line Of Section 16 Crosses The River,
Thence West Parallel With The Section Line To The Southwest Corner Of
Section 16, Township 28, Range 8, And Thence North Parallel With The
Section Line To The North Boundary Of White County.
In The Following August (1838) The
Following Voted: Abram Sneathen,
Andrew Beechum, Evan Thomas, Christopher Vandeventer, John Parker,
Crystal D. W. Scott, William Davison, James W. Hall, Thomas Hamilton,
Elijah Sneathen, Benjamin Grant, V. Sluyter, James G. Brown, Joseph
Smith, William Cary And W. W. Curtis.
Divided Into Road Districts
In The Early Part Of 1889 The
Township Was Divided Into Two Road
Districts; All Of The Territory Lying North Of Section 16 Constituted
District No. 1, And All South, District No. 2. At The April Election
For That Year John Mcnary Was Chosen Constable; Crystal D. W. Scott,
Inspector Of Elections; John Mcdonald, Supervisor For The First
District, And Andrew Beechum, For The Second District; John Morris And
Greenup Scott, Fence Viewers; And Daniel Baum And Elijah Sneathen,
Overseers Of The Poor. C. D. W. Scott, Thomas Lansing And John Mcnary
Were Judges, And S. W. Hall And Christopher Vandeventer, Clerks.
Settlers Previous To 1840
The Following Is A List Of Actual
Settlers Who Located In Liberty
Township Previous To 1840, Many Of The Names Having Already Appeared:
Crystal D. W. Scott, Greenup Scott, Jonathan Sluyter, Thomas Mackin,
Lewis Elston, Abraham Lowthcr, Abram Sneathen, James Hughes, John
Parker, Moses Karr, William Conwell, Christopher Vandeventer, Joseph
Smith, John Mcdowell, Benjamin Grant, Andrew Beauchamp, James W. Hall,
Thomas Hamilton, James Baum, Evan Thomas, William Davison, Elijah
Sneathen, James G. Brown, William Carey, John Mcnary, John Mcdonald,
John Morris, Thomas Lansing, William Fisher, Jacob Funk, Joseph James,
George Baum, Robison Grewell, Henry Hanawalt, David Cress, Robert
Scott, William Greathouse, John S. Hughes, Thomas Wiley, John Cobler,
Samuel Simmons, William Ross, James W. Mcentyre, Daniel Baum, Perry A.
Bayard, William Fleming, James B. Cahill, Jhmes Sampson, Samuel Benson,
Jacob Cornell, Jonathan Baker, James Crose, Samuel Funk, John Mikesell,
David Bolinger, John Bell, George Snyder, Rodney M. Miller, Jabez B.
Berry, Charles Wright, Matthew Hopper, David And Ransom Mcconnahay And
William And James Hickman.
Unusual Progress In 1840-50
With The Pottawattamies Fairly Out Of
The Country And The Lifting Of
The Financial Clouds Which For A Number Of Years Had Obscured The Fair
Prospects Of The Middle West, Immigration To Liberty Township Took A
Decided Forward Move, In Common With Most Of The Other Sections Of The
County. In 1840 The Population Of The County Was 1,832; In 1850,
4,771—a Larger Percentage Of Increase Than Has Ever Occurred During One
Decade.
Pioneers Sell Improved Lands
Many Of Those Who Arrived During That
Progressive Period Purchased Land
Which Had Been Partially Improved By The Pioneers, And As A Rule They
Bought To Advantage. With Much Government Land Still Accessible At
$1.25 An Acre, It Was Difficult For The Pioneer Farmers To Refuse $6 Or
$8 Per Acre. True, It Had Cost Them Several Years Of Labor In Fencing,
Clearing And Building, But With The Money Received From The Later
Comers They Figured That They Could Still Purchase Government Lands And
Have A Neat Sum In Bank. On The Other Hand, The Second Generation, Or
Incursion Of Farmers, Were Generally Family Men, With Boys And Girls Of
Mature And Helpful Ages, Some Of Them Ready To Assume Their Posts In
The Community As Founders Of Households. In Such Cases It Seemed The
Wiser Part To Obtain Holdings Which Were Already More Or Less
Productive.
Non-Resident Purchasers
When Those Who Sold Their Farms At
The Advanced Price Attempted To
Purchase At The Government Figures They Often Found That Most Of The
Choicest Pieces Remaining Were Owned By Non-Residents, Who Were Holding
Them For A Rise. Thus It Was That Not A Few Of The Earlier Settlers
Suffered Eventually Because They Chose The Immediate Profits. But
Althongh A Considerable Body Of The Government Land Passed Into The
Hands Of Foreigners, As A Rule Liberty Township Suffered Less From The
Manipulations Of Speculators Than Some Of The Other Districts Of The
County. As Much Of The Land Held By Non-Residents Was Unfenced, Also,
The Home Farmers Used It As Pasturage For Their Live Stock, And, In
View Of That Fact, An Advantage Accrued To The Actual Settlers.
In The '70s, When The Drainage Of The
Swamp Lands Commenced In Earnest,
The Situation Was Reversed And The Stockmen, And Even Owners Of Timber
Farms, Often Objected That The Construction Of Certain Ditches, For
Which They Were Assessed, Was More To The Benefit Of The Speculators
Than The Resident Farmers. The Contentions Over The Building Of The
Kean's Creek Ditch, In The Southern Part Of The Township, Were Of The
Most Acrimonious Nature, And Caused Much Fruitless Litigation And Hard
Feeling. It Happened, Too, That Nearly All The Members Of The Drainage
Company Had Lands Along The Line Of The Proposed Ditch, Which Were
Assessed Accordingly.
Kean's Creek Swamp Lands
The Headwaters Of Kean's Creek Were
In A Pond Half A Mile In Width And
From Four To Six Feet Deep Just Beyond The East Line Of The Township
And Within Cass. Thence The Stream Flowed Westward, In An Irregular
Course, And Emptied Into The Tippecanoe River In Section 9. The Work Of
The Kean's Creek Draining Company, Organized Under The State Act,
Consisted In Widening, Deepening And Straightening The Channel Of The
Creek For A Distance Of Two Miles, And Thereby A Large Tract Of Land
Was Reclaimed. Thus, In The Face Of Much Opposition, Was Inaugurated A
Movement Which Has Brought Into The Market For The Benefit Of Resident
Farmers Many Valuable Tracts Of Land.
The Building Of Good Roads
Liberty Township Is Not Among The
Wealthiest Districts In The County,
But In Consideration Of Its Means It Has Accomplished Much Both In The
Matters Of Draining Its Swamp Lands And Constructing Gravel Roads
Within Its Limits. In The Prosecution Of The Latter Work It Has
Incurred A Bonded Indebtedness Of Nearly $16,000, Divided As Follows:
Bible Road, $3,300; Hoch, $3,600; J. T. Moore, $2,400; Holmes, $2,210;
Cranmer, $4,440. Total, $15,950.
The Sluyter Schoolhouse
In The Old Rough Days, When Liberty
Township Included So Much Of
Northeastern White County, The People Were Just As Busy In Proportion
To Their Numbers As They Are Today, In The Very Human Occupations Of
Teaching And Learning, Preaching And Listening, Marrying And Giving In
Marriage, Being Born And Dying. In The Summer Of 1837 Jonathan W.
Sluyter, One Of The Expert Axmen Of The Township, Got Out The Logs For
The First Schoolhouse Built In The Township. It Stood In The East Half
Of Section 15, On His Land About Three-Quarters Of A Mile South Of The
Tippecanoe. He Did Not Stop To Hew The Timber, As Half A Dozen Children
Were Impatiently(!) Awaiting Its Opening. The Cabin Was 15 Feet Square,
And David Mcconnahay Is Said To Have Thrown It Open To The
Neighborhood, And In Came The Funks, Conwells, Halls, Sluyters,
Louders, And Perhaps Some Other Children Whose Names Have Not Come Down
In History.
When George Hall Succeeded
Mcconnahay, A Little Later, The Attendance
Had Reached Fifteen Pupils. In 1838 John C. V. Shields Taught A Term In
The Log Schoolhouse, And Lester Smith Succeeded Him.
In 1840 Mr. Sluyter Built A Second
Schoolhouse Near The First, Hewing
The Logs And Otherwise Improving Upon His Former Work, And About Five
Years Afterward A Still Better Building Was Erected Further South In
Section 22.
Religion At The Scott Settlement
The Means For Religious Instruction
Came Hand-In-Hand With Those
Provided For The Training Of The Mind. The First Denomination To
Organize A Class In The Township Was The New Light, Which Commenced Its
Meetings In The Cabin Of Crystal D. W. Scott In 1837. Rev. John Scott,
A Circuit Rider, Held Services There And Elsewhere For Two Years. In
1839 A Church Was Built In The New Scott Settlement, Northeastern Part
Of The Township; It Was Constructed Of Round Black Oak Logs And Was 25
Feet Square. Rev. Abram Sneathen, Founder Of The Church, Ministered To
It Spiritually, And The Following Were Among Its First Members; Crystal
D. W. Scott And Wife, Greenup Scott And Wife, Jonathan W. Sluyter And
Wife, And Mrs. Gruell And Daughter, Sarah. The Church Was Maintained,
For A Time With Increasing Attendance, During A Period Of About Ten
Years.
First Marriage And First Death
Marriageable Girls And Women Did Not
Have Long To Wait In Those Days,
The Demand Far Exceeding The Supply. The Marriage Of Mrs. Gruell's
Daughter, Sarah, To Elijah Sneathen, In The Spring Of 1839, Caused
Therefore No Surprise In The Scott Aettlement. This Was The First
Wedding In The Township. It Is Not Known Who Performed The Ceremony, As
James W. Hall, Who Had Been Elected Justice Of The Peace The Year
Before, Died Shortly Before The Wedding. He Would Have Been The Logical
Candidate For The Honor And The Fee. Instead, 'Squire Hall's Death Was
The First In The Township, And His Remains Were Buried In What Was
Afterward Known As Hughes' Burying Ground.
Buffalo Post Office Established
In 1857 The First Post Office In The
Township Was Established At The
Farmhouse Of Jonathan Sluyter, With That Gentleman As Postmaster. As
Postmaster Sluyter Had A Great Admiration For Buffalo, In His Native
State, He Had Induced The Government Authorities To Name The Post
Office In Honor Of The New York City. After Several Years The Post
Office Was Discontinued At That Point, And In 1867 One Was Established
Across The River, Called Flowerville, The First Postmaster Was Also One
Of The First Women To Hold The Position, Rachel Karr, Wife Of John C.
Karr. The Latter Was Maintained Until The Town Of Buffalo Was Platted
By Karr In In 1886, When The Post Office By That Name Was Reestablished.
John C. Karr And The Town
Buffalo, As A Town, Was Laid Out On
July 24, 1886, By John C. Karr, An
Ohio Man, Who Had Come With His Father (Moses Karr) And Settled With
Other Members Of The Family About Two Miles West Of The Present Site.
In 1849 He Had Married And Located To His Farm Lying Along The East
Shores Of The River, A Portion Of Which He Platted As The Town Of
Buffalo. He Died In August, 1899, The Father Of Eleven Children. Both
The Karr And The Sluyter Families Still Hold Valuable Farming Lands
South Of Buffalo, In Sections 15 And 22.
Thomas B. Moore
Across The River From Buffalo Are
Also Large Holdings Of Land
Representing The Wisely-Directed Industry And Ability Of Another Early
Settler In This Part Of The Township, Thomas B. Moore. He Was A Native
Of The Buckeye State And At The Age Of Twenty-Eight, In 1852, Commenced
To Buy Property In Section 10 And Elsewhere Adjacent To The Western
Borders Of The Tippecanoe. What Was Long Known As Moore's Ford, On His
Farm, Was One Of The Best Crossings In The Township, But Has Long Ago
Given Place To A Fine Iron Bridge At That Locality. Mr. Moore Became
The Heaviest Land Owner Resident In The Township, Dealt Largely In Live
Stock, Served For Many Years As Justice Of The Peace, Was A Leader In
Methodism, And Altogether One Of The Leading Citizens Of Northern White
County. His Successors Do Him And The Family Honor.
Karr's Addition To Buffalo
Although Buffalo Obtained No Railroad
Connections, It Was Backed By A
Good Country And In 1896 Mr. Karr Made An Addition To The Original Plat
Of Thirty-Four Lots, By Which He Nearly Doubled Its Site. Until His
Death He Took A Deep Interest In The Locality And Passed The Last Years
Of His Life There. His Wife Also Died At Buffalo In 1896, Her Husband
Joining Her Three Years Later.
The Iron Bridge
Soon After The Bridge At Moore's Ford
Was Completed, A County
Publication Had The Following Description Of It: "The New Iron Bridge
Across The Tippecanoe River At What Is Widely Known As Moore's Ford Is
One Of The Best In The County. The Bridge Is In Two Parts—one 165 Feet
Long, And The Other, 135 Feet. It Has Stone Abutments And Was Erected
In 1882 At A Cost Of About $14,000. The Columbia Bridge Company At
Dayton, Ohio, Has The Honor Of Putting Up This Creditable Structure."
Sitka
The Hamlet Of Sitka, In The Southern
Part Of The Township And Northeast
Corner Of Section 3, Originated In The Early Settlement Of The Hughes,
Vanvoorst And Other Families In That Part Of The Township, With The
Usual Demand For Postal Accommodations. In April, 1880, A Postoffice
Was Finally Established At The Point Named, With M. Allison Hughes As
Postmaster. In Connection With The Office He Conducted A Small General
Store.
The Hughes And Vanvoorst Families
John C. Hughes Owned The Land On The
East Side Of The Highway And
Donated Ground For A Baptist Church And The Congregation Known As The
Church Of God. Both Of These Societies Erected Large Frame Church
Buildings; A House Built Nearby For The Postoffice, And Stores And
Residences Were Put Up On The West Side Of The Road, On The Land Of
Mrs. Mary Vanvoorst, Widow Of Sylvanus. William Stitt, An Old Resident
Of The Township, Started A Blacksmith Shop, And J. A. Read Purchased
The Hughes Business. The Residences Of Mrs. Vanvoorst And Rowland
Hughes, Son Of John C. Hughes And Father Of M. Allison Hughes, The
Postmaster, Were Situated South Of The Village.
Sitka Is Six Miles Northeast Of
Monticello, And Four South Of Buffalo.
It Has No Railroad Connections, Is Considerably Off The Line Of Travel
And Is Only Of Sectional Importance As Being A Convenient Trading
Center For A Limited Territory. Since The Expansion Of The Rural Free
Delivery System Even The Postoffice At Sitka Has Been Abolished.