WHITE COUNTY, INDIANA
Princeton
Township
Princeton Township Is One Of The Few
Portions Of White County In Which
Pioneer Settlement And Civil Organization Were Almost Coincidents. As
Created In 1855 By The Board Of County Commissioners, It Comprised
Seventy-Eight Square Miles— Not Only Its Present Area, But The Fifteen
Westernmost Sections Of Monon Township. Legally And Specifically, Its
Bounds Were Thus Described: Commencing At The Northeast Corner Of
Section 1, Township 28 North, Range 5 West, And Running South On Said
Section Line To The North Line Of Big Creek Township; Thence West Along
Said Line To The West Line Of White County; Thence North Along This
Line To The Corner Of White County; Thence East Along Said County Line
Six Miles; Thence North On Said County Line Five Miles; Thence East
Three Miles To The Place Of Beginning. Monon Township Afterward
Regained Its Three Western Tiers Of Five Sections Each, Thus Reducing
Princeton To Its Present Area Of Sixty-Three Square Miles—nine Miles
From East To West, And Seven From North To South.
Joseph Stewart, Mighty Hunter
Joseph Stewart, A Young Hunter And
Trapper Without Family, Was The
First White Man To Settle Within The Limits Of Princeton Township. He
Entered Forty Acres In Section 2, In The Northwest Corner Of The
Township, On The 10th Of December, 1841, But Probably In The Early
Spring Of That Year Had Built His Shack On A Sand Ridge Which Ran
Through His Tract. Unincumbered [Sic] As He Was, The Young Sportsman
Had Little Use For A Dwelling Except As A Storehouse For His Guns,
Traps And Skins. At That Time There Was No Habitation Within Ten Miles
Of His Hut. A Winding Path Through The Brush Led To The Front From The
West, And Shortly After His Arrival Stewart Fenced And Cultivated A Few
Acres Of Land In His Back Yard. For Several Years His Cabin Was A
Favorite Resort Of Hunters And Travelers In That Region. Stewart Could
Narrate Marvelous Tales Of His Narrow Escape From The Horns Of Wounded
Bucks, From Packs Of Wolves And Individual Catamounts, Panthers And
Lynx. The Sides Of His Cabin, Well Covered With The Skins Of Deer And
Wolf, Bore Some Evidence As To A Portion Of These Blood-Curdling Tales,
But Signs-Manual As To His Prowess Against The Wild Cats Of The Forest
Were Lacking.
The Palestine Settlement
After Stewart, The Mighty Hunter,
Came Such Modest Tillers Of The Soil
As Henry Pugh, Nathaniel Rogers And John Gain, All Of Whom Located In
1842 On Sections 5 And 8 And Commenced What Was Long Known As The
Palestine Settlement. Of This Colony The Family Of Henry Pugh Is Said
To Have Been The First To Arrive, Moving From Union Township In
January, 1843, And Installing Themselves In The Hewn-Log Cabin Erected
By The Father And Husband During The Previous Fall In Section 8. Pugh
Was One Of The Most Noted Woodsmen In The Township And Cut The Logs For
Not Only His Own House But For The Cabins Erected By His Two Neighbors,
And His Services In That Line Were Often Called Into Requisition As
Other Settlers Came Into The Northern Part Of The Township. He Was What
You Might Call A Handy Man To Have 'Round In Those Days.
In The Spring Of 1843 Messrs Rogers
And Cain Became Residents Of The
Palestine Settlement, Building Their Cabins In Section 5, To The North
Of Pugh's House. The Cabins Erected By Pugh And Cain Were 16 By 20 Feet
Each, While The One Built By Nathaniel Rogers Was 16 By 22 Feet.
The Tract Book Shows That John Cain
Entered Land In Section 32, North
Of Section 5, In January, 1842, And That Nathaniel S. Rogers Purchased
A Tract In The Same Section During The Following Month.
In June, 1842, Daniel And John Nyce
Entered Lands In Section 2 And
Settled On Their Tracts Soon After Rogers And Cain Had Completed Their
Cabins.
The Godfather Of The Township
In 1843 Cornelius Vandervolgen Came
Over From England In The Good Ship
"Princeton" And Located In Section 1, Thus Becoming A Resident Of
Palestine. As Will Be Seen, The Township Received Its Name At His
Suggestion. Anson Jewett, In Section 7, Cornelius Stryker In Section
10, And Others, Also Settled In That Part Of The Township, Investing
Quite Largely In Canal Lands.
Thomas Gilllpatrick
In February, 1844, Thomas Gillpatrick
Entered Lands In Section 22,
Southeast Of The Central Part Of The Township, In What Afterward Became
The Nordyke Settlement. He Probably Located In The Following Spring, As
He Was On Hand To Vote At The Fall Election Of 1845.
Black Oak Settlement
About This Time A Settlement To The
Northwest Of Palestine Was Formed
In Princeton Township. James Brown, An Ohio Man, Was The First To
Arrive In That Locality. His Cabin Was Even Smaller Than Those First
Erected By The Founders Of Palestine, Being Only 14 By 18 Feet. He Was
Soon Followed By Jacob Myrtle And Messrs. Gooddale And Hemphill, Who
Called Their Little Cluster Of Cabins Black Oak Settlement.
Township Created And Named
By The Spring Of 1844 There Were
Enough Settlers In The Western Part Of
Union Township To Warrant A Separate Government, And In March They
Presented To The Court Of County Commissioners A Petition Looking To
That End. At The Same Time Mr. Vandervolgen Suggested That It Be Called
Princeton, In Honor Of The Grand Old Vessel In Which He "Came Over." As
Now Known, That Body Accepted The Name And Announced The Boundaries Of
The New Township.
State And Township Elections
The First Election Held In Princeton
Township Was For State Officers,
The Following Voters Discharging Their Duties At The House Of Daniel
Nyce, In Section 2, On The 4th Of August, 1845: Nathaniel Rogers,
Cornelius Vandervolgen, William Bunnell, John C. Lielfor, Nathaniel B.
Volger, Daniel Nyce, John Cain, Mortimer Dyer, Henry Pugh, R. C.
Johnson, Joseph Stewart, Isaac Chase, Elias Esra, Adin Nordyke, John C.
Morman, Israel Nordyke, Thomas Gillpatrick And Anson Jewett.
At The First Election For Township
Officers, Held On The First Monday
Of April (6th), 1846, The Following Cast Their Votes: Elias Morman,
Israel Nordyke, John Cain, John Birch, John Moran, John Lear, Thomas
Gill, Joseph Lear, Anson Wood, Henry Pugh, Daniel Nyce, J. H. Benham,
Andrew Morman, Mortimer Dyer, James Street, Adin Nordyke, Benjamin
Gillpatrick, Elias Esra, Cornelius Stryker, Anson Jewett, Nathaniel
Rogers And Leander H. Jewett. Elias Esra Was Chosen Supervisor Of
Roads, Twenty Votes Being Cast For Him; Robert Nordyke, Inspector Of
Elections, By The Same Vote; Elias Morman And Anson Wood Were Tied For
The Office Of Fence Viewer, Two Votes Being Cast For Each; James
Street, Constable, With Twenty Votes To His Credit.
The Nordyke Settlement
Although The First Recorded Entry Of
Lands By Adin And Israel Nordyke
Is Given As October 13, 1846, In Section 21, It Is Evident From The
Foregoing List Of Voters That Various Members Of The Family Had Already
Effected A Lodgement In The Central Portion Of The Township. Within The
Succeeding Few Years The Well Known Nordyke Settlement Sprung Up In
That Neighborhood, And Vied For Superiority With The Palestine People,
Several Miles To The Northwest.
The Schoolhouse Competition
Perhaps The Most Earnest Contest Was
Over The Matter Of Schoolhouses.
The Nordyke Institution Was Opened About 1848, With B. Wilson Smith In
Charge; Was Built Of Hewn Logs, And Was 16 By 18 Feet On The Ground.
But It Had Only One Window!
The Palestine Schoolhouse That Stood
On Mortimer Dyer's Land Was Of The
Same Dimensions As Those Of Its Rival, But Had Two Windows—one On Each
Side— Extending The Entire Length Of The Building. To Modify This
Advantage Over The Nordyke Schoolhouse It Was Only A Round-Log
Structure; So That The Most Unprejudiced Judges Said That Honors Were
Even.
This State Of Affairs Existed Until
1854, When The Nordyke Settlement
Erected The First Frame Schoolhouse In The Township, About Half A Mile
North Of The First Log Building, Which Lost The Day To The Palestine
Settlement.
Land Entries, 1842-1847
Among Those Who Entered Lands In
Princeton Township Previous To 1848,
Not Already Mentioned, Were John Porter, In Section 36, Northwestern
Part Of The Township, August 26, 1842; Comfort Olds, January 11, And
William Coon, May 29, 1843, Both In Section 2, Just Southeast Of The
Porter Claim; Elizabeth Pugh, In Section 8, September 5, 1845; Mortimer
Dyer, In Section 9, August 10, And In Section 36 (Range 6), August 18,
1845; Robert C. Johnson, In Section 15 (Range 5), And Hiram F. Lear, In
Section 33 (Township 28, Range 5).
In 1846 Settlements In The Township
Became More Numerous. The Following
Entered Lands In Township 27, Range 5: Peter Penham, In Section 1;
Jonathan White, Section 15; Adin And Israel Nordyke, In Section 21, And
Alfred Harrison And Benjamin Harrison, In Section 28.
In 1847 Hiram F. Lear Purchased Land
In Section 4; Richard J. Tilton In
Section 7; Anson Jewett In Section 8; James Mckillip And James Holliday
In Section 10; John Burch In Section 15; Richard J. Tilton And Rebecca
J. Tilton In Section 17; William W. Wynkoop In Section 25; Christopher
Burch In Section 32; James E. Adams And John Stewart In Section 33;
David Wright In Section 34, And Isaac Beasey In Section 26. In Section
35, Township 28, Range 6, Newton Stewart Entered Lands On October 25,
1847.
There Was A Period Of Several Years
After 1847 When Few Settlers Came
Into The Township, But The Influx Commenced Again In The Early '50s. By
The Latter Portion Of That Decade Was Quite Brisk, And Between 1856 And
1860 The Population Nearly Doubled.
Saddled With Land Speculators
Princeton Township Shared The Fate Of
Honey Creek And Most Of The Other
Northern Townships, In The Matter Of Having Its Lands Monopolized By
Non-Resident Speculators In The Early Period Of Its Development. First
They Bought Up Large Tracts Of Swamp Land And Canal Lands, And Later
Added To Their Holdings By Purchasing All The Land Warrants They Could
Lay Their Hands On, And Paying Ex-Mexican Soldiers A Song In Cash For
Good Government Titles. These Large Areas They Held At Prices Far In
Excess Of The Regular Government Price, And As Settlers Were Able To
Avail Themselves Of The Cheaper Rates In Neighboring Townships Or
Counties, Princeton And All The Other Speculator-Ridden Sections Were
Carefully Avoided By Those Who Really Sought Land Upon Which To Found
Homes. It Was Not, In Fact, Until The Government Lands, At $1.25 Per
Acre, Had Been Exhausted In Adjacent Territory, And There Had Arisen A
General Economic And Sanitary Demand For The Drainage Of The Swamp
Lands, With A Consequent Increase Of Taxes Upon The Properties, That
The Speculators Were Routed In Favor Of The Homeseekers.
When The Non-Resident Landlords Found
That They Could Not Hold These
Tracts For A Rise Without Paying Something In Return For Their Increase
In Value, They Attempted To Unload Them On Residents. Even As Late As
1855 The Land Held Under The Military Land Warrants Was Offered At Less
Than The Government Price. But No Purchasers Were Found As Residents
Had All The Land They Wanted, And Many Of Them Were Deeply In Debt For
The Tracts They Had Purchased From The Trustees Of The Wabash &
Erie Canal. Much Of This Land Had Been Sold On Time, With A Small
Advance Payment, The Certificate Of Purchase Stipulating That In Case
Of Non-Payment Of The Balance, When Due, The First Payment Would Be
Forfeited And The Land Resold. Thousands Of Acres Of Canal Lands Were
Thus Sold In Princeton And Other Townships Of The County At $2 Per
Acre, The First Payment Being Sometimes Forfeited Two Or Three Times On
The Same Tract Of Land.
Fever And Ague, Or Chills And Fever
But Perhaps The Chief Drawback To The
Settlement Of Families In
Princeton Township—and Until He Had A Family With Him No Man Was
Considered A Fixed Asset Of The Community—was The Unhealthfulness Of
The Region, So Much Of Which Was Covered By Water A Large Portion Of
The Year. Had It Been Flowing Water, The Situation Would Not Have Been
So Bad; But Most Of It Was Stagnant, A Breeder Of Disease In The
Specialty Of Fever And Ague, Or Chills And Fever; It Matters Little
Which Is Named First Or Last—the Combination Is Equally Hideous.
For Thirty-Five Or Forty Years
Princeton Township Was Known As One Of
The Bad Ague Districts Of The County, And For A Number Of Years After
Its Organization The Plague Regularly Appeared With The Cessation Of
The Rainy Season And The Commencement Of Summer Heat. The Worst Season
Of All Was That Of 1844-45, As It Continued To Rage For Eight Or Nine
Months. Copious Rains Lasted From May 10 To July 4,1844, And All But
The Highest Ground In The Township Was Virtually Under Water. One Of
The Pioneers Says That It Rained So Hard And Long That For Two Days And
A Night The Water Stood Six Inches Deep On His Cabin Floor, And He Was
Obliged To Get Under The Dining Table To Protect Himself From The
Downpour. All The Ground Under Cultivation Had Been Prepared For Corn,
But Planting Was Impossible. The Rain Slackened A Little About The 1st
Of July, And By The 4th The Hot Season Commenced. The Entire Country
Then Commenced To Be Wrapped In Heavy, Oppressive Vapor, And The
People, Soaked And Weakened For The Preceding Two Months, Now Began To
Be Racked With Alternate Waves Of Chills And Fever. July And August Saw
The Epidemic At Its Height, And There Were Not Enough Well Persons In
The Township To Care For Those Who Were Seized With It. The Trouble Was
Not Considered Under Control Until The Midwinter Of 1844-45. During
This Period Of Suffering And Discouragement, As Well As During The
Successive Ague Seasons, The House Of John H. Lear, In Section 4,
Northern Part Of The Township, Was Known As The Quinine Depot For The
Northwestern Part Of The County. Mr. Lear Would Purchase The Drug In
Wholesale Quantities, And Haul It By Ox-Team To Any Stricken Settlement
Or Locality, And Then The Neighbors Would Come And Get Enough To Meet
Their Cases, Subject To The Approval Of The Purchaser. He Was Not A
Regular Practitioner, But Was Known For Miles Around As The "Ague
Comforter;" And There Is Nothing In The Records To Show That He Ever
Collected For His Specific Unless The Recipient Was Well Able To Pay.
Is It Any Wonder?
It Is Asserted By Those Who Came To
The Township At An Early Day That
For Ten Years After Its First Settlement There Was Absolutely No Pure
Water Within Its Limits; And In That Regard It Was No Exception To
Other Swamp Districts In The Northern Part Of White County. The Wells
Of The Pioneer Settlers Were Holes In The Ground At The Foot Of The
Ridge On Which Their Residences And Outhouses Were Usually Built. These
Sources Of The Family Drinking Supply Were Sometimes Walled With Oak
Plank And Covered, But More Often Unwalled And Uncovered. A Downpour Of
Rain Would Fill These Holes With Surface Water And Filthy Washings To
The Very Top, Which Abomination Was Drawn Upon For Drinking, Cooking
And All Other Domestic Purposes. Is It Any Wonder That Ague, Malarial
Fevers And All Other Forms Of Filth Diseases Victimized These
Unfortunates, And That Most Of Them For Years Were Completely Unfitted
For Labor During Six Months Of The Twelve?
Reclaimed Lands And Good Roads
Better Conditions Commenced To
Prevail With The Drainage Of The Swamp
Lands, And, With The Gradual Extension Of That Work And The Building Of
Good Roads So As To Minimize The Dangers To Health From Exposure In The
Open, The Settlers Of Princeton Township Enjoy All The Benefits Of
Modern Sanitary Precautions. Within The Past Twenty-Five Or Thirty
Years Princeton Township Has Been Among The Foremost Sections Of The
County In The Reclamation Of Its Lowlands And Their Improvement In
Respect Both To Agriculture And Residence Uses.
In This Connection High Credit Should
Be Given Her Citizens For Their
Faithful Work In The Construction Of Good Roads Throughout Their
Territory. In This Movement, Which Has Come To Be Regarded As A Test Of
Public Spirit In All Country Districts, Princeton Stands Second Among
The Townships Of The County, Being Only Surpassed By Prairie. The
Bonded Indebtedness Incurred By The Different Roads (Macadam Or Gravel)
Is As Follows: Princeton Township, $14,680.25; Lear, $5,250; Diemer,
$5,200; Swygman, $4,100; Dawson, $12,800; M. G. Dobbins, $9,900; Pugh,
$5,400; Chenoweth, $4,400; Mooy, $3,800. Total, $65,530.25.
Pioneer Settlement Determined By
Natural Conditions
The First Settlements In The Township
Were Made Chiefly In The Northern
And Eastern Sections, Or The Timber Regions. The Western And Southern
Portions Were Generally Prairie Lands, Almost Treeless And Decidedly
Monotonous. The Pioneer Settlement, Or Palestine, Was Made On The
Border Between The Timber And Prairie Country, And Nearly All Of Those
Who Located In That Part Of The Township Bought And Improved The
Prairie Land Immediately Adjoining Their Wooded Farms.
A Branch Of The Little Monon Creek Is
The Only Running Stream Of Water
In The Township And Was A Large Determining Factor In Early Settlement.
It Rises In Benton County, Flows Northeasternly Across The Northwest
Corner Of West Point Township, Enters Princeton Near The Center Of Its
Southern Line, And Continues In The Same General Direction Diagonally
Through Its Southern, Central And Northeastern Sections, Into Monon
Township, And Forms A Part Of What Is Now The Hoagland Ditch Which
Drains Most Of This Section Of The County.
This Stream Was The Only Natural
Outlet For The Vast Body Of Water
Which Accumulated On The Lowlands Of The Southern, Central And
Northeastern Portions Of The Township, But As Much Of This Low Land
Area Was Below The Bed Of The Creek The Natural Drainage Was A Very
Slow Process And Was To A Large Extent Replaced By Evaporation. A Few
Who Resided Close To The Stream Resorted To Artificial Drainage, But
Most Land Owners Preferred To Cultivate Their Sand Ridge Land, Which
Although Less Productive, Required Less Care. They Even Favored The
Dreary Prairie Stretches Of The Southwest And West. In A Word This
Branch Of The Little Monon Was A Determining Factor In The Early
Settlement Of Princeton Township, In That Most Of The Newcomers Avoided
It And Its Overflowing Borders.
Cattle Raising And Herding
But The Prairie Lands, Especially
Those Which Were High And Undulating,
Increased In Favor. They Afforded Fine Pasturage For Cattle, Of Which
Fact The Settlers Of The '50s And '60s Were Not Slow To Take Practical
Advantage. In The Palmy Days Of The Business, When The Farmers Were Not
Only Raising Cattle Of Their Own, Hut Herding Large Numbers For Eastern
Dealers, The Country Was Not Unlike The Far West Of A Later Day, Albeit
On A Minor Scale.
This Interesting And Important
Feature Of The Early Times In Princeton
Township, When All Its Progress Seemed To Depend On The Development Of
Its Agricultural Wealth, Is Thus Drawn By One Who Witnessed Most Of It
Himself: "The Business Of Herding Cattle On The Prairie Became Quite An
Industry To The Settlers, And There Were Few Of Them Who Failed To
Prepare Pounds By Fencing From One To Ten Acres Of Their Land With
Rails, And Stake And Double-Rider The Lot, Preparatory To Receiving A
Herd In The Pasturing Season. The Number Of Cattle Takcn By The Settler
Depended Upon His Ability To Care For A Greater Or A Less Number,
Ranging From 250 To 500 Head; But It Was Found That Not More Than 300
Head Could Be Advantageously Kept In One Herd To Obtain The Best
Results.
"The Price Paid By The Owners For
Herding Was Twelve And A Half Cents
Per Month For Each Animal Cared For, Until Competition Among The
Settlers To Secure A Herd Reduced It To Ten Cents Per Head. For This
Sum The Settler Must Furnish The Herder, And Salt For The Cattle At
Stated Periods, And At The End Of The Season Account For Every Animal
Short Of The Number Counted In To Him In The Spring. If One Died, The
Production Of The Hide And Horns, With The Owner's Brand Thereon, Was
Satisfactory; Otherwise, The Value Of The Animal Was Deducted From The
Amount Paid For The Herding.
"The Furnishing A Herder Was A Matter
Of Small Moment To The Settler,
As All Members Of The Family, Boys And Girls Alike, Were Trained From
Infancy To Be Expert Riders, And It Was Not Unusual To See A Whole
Family Out On The Herding Ground, Rounding Up And Guarding Three Or
Four Hundred Head Of Cattle, Until They Should Become Accustomed To
Their Surroundings And Learn The Route From The Pound To The Herding
Ground In The Morning And The Return Route In The Evening; After Which
The Herd Caused Little Trouble During The Remainder Of The Season,
Unless A Hailstorm Or Something Unusual Should Frighten Them And Cause
A Stampede, In Which Case It Required Good Generalship And Plenty Of
Nerve On The Part Of The Herder To Save The Animals From Partial, If
Not Total Loss.
"A Herd Of Cattle Properly Cared For
During The Season Would Take On
From Two Hundred To Two Hundred And Fifty Pounds Of Flesh Per Head, And
As Much As Three Hundred Pounds Have Been Added To The Weight Of Thirty
Three-Year-Old Cattle In The Six Months Of Pasturage. This Latter,
However, Was In Exceptional Cases And Under Most Favorable Conditions,
Largely Dependent On The Care And Attention Of The Herder.
"Another Fruitful Source Of Revenue
To The Settlers Was The Feeding Of
The Herd During The Winter, If The Owner Desired It. In Those Early
Days A Steer Was Not Considered Marketable Until After He Had Passed
The Fourth Year, And As Food Was Plentiful, And Practically No Market
Available For It, The Owners Would Often Contract With The Settlers To
Keep The Herd During The Winter At Varying Prices Per Month Per Head,
Dependent Upon The Manner And Material To Be Used In The Wintering. If
The Diet Was Prairie Hay And Corn Fodder, With An Occasional Change To
Wheat Or Oats Straw, A Very Moderate Price Would Be Charged, But If The
Cattle Were To Be Fed Grain, In Addition To The Hay And Fodder,
Additional Compensation Was Received. The Feed Lot Was Located On The
Highest Ground Obtainable, Usually A Sand Ridge Covered With Brush And
Young Timber, Through Which Narrow Roadways Would Be Made For The
Passage Of Wagons Containing The Feed For The Cattle; And The Feed,
Whether Hay, Fodder Or Shock Corn, Would Be Unloaded Along The Roadways
So As To Give Every Animal In The Lot A Chance To Get A Portion Of It.
For Water, A Pond Would Be Enclosed In The Lot, And It Was No Difficult
Matter To Find One Sufficient To Supply A Large Herd During The Winter
Months; The Only Difficulty Was To Keep It Open In Freezing Weather."
Light Ahead
Until The Completion Of The
Pittsburgh, Chicago & St. Louis
Railroad Through The Township On The Last Day Of November, 1859, The
Farmers Were Unable To Market Either Their Live Stock Or Their Produce
In Any Way Which Could Encourage Them To Expand Their Operations. In
That Event And Year They Saw Light Ahead.
Wolcott And Its Founder
The Comfort, Prosperity And Health Of
All The Residents Of The Township
Were Advanced By The Advent Of What Is Now The Pennsylvania Road And By
The Platting Of Wolcott, A Conveniently Situated Center For The
Purchase Of Supplies And General Trading, In May, 1861. It Was Laid Out
In The Eastern Part Of Section 25 And The Western Portion Of Section
30, By E. G. Wolcott And Anson Wolcott, His Brother And Attorney In
Fact, An Able New York Lawyer, Then In His Fortieth Year, Who Had Been
A Resident Of The Township For Three Years. In 1847 He Had Been
Admitted To Practice In The Supreme Court At Buffalo, New York, And In
1852 In The Supreme Court Of The United States. After The Platting Of
This Town, Mr. Wolcott Devoted Himself To Its Improvement, Practiced
His Profession And Became Interested In Questions Of State And
Politics. In 1868 He Had So Far Attained Leadership In The Republican
Party As To Be Elected To The State Senate, And Served In The Sessions
Of 1869 And 1871. For Many Years He Was Adjudged One Of The Most Able
And Thoroughly Educated Men In The County, And Was Mentioned Several
Times As A Candidate For Congress. He Died At His Home In Wolcott On
January 11, 1907. A More Detailed Biography Will Be Found In Connection
With The History Of The Town Of Wolcott.
The Town Of Wolcott, Notwithstanding
Its Setback Occasioned By The
Fires Of Recent Years, Is One Of The Progressive Centers Of Trade And
Civic Activities In The County.
Seafield
Three Miles East, On The Pennsylvania
Railroad, Is The Town Of
Seafield, Platted By M. C. Hamlin, In June, 1863. It Is The Center Of A
Productive Farming District, But As Wolcott Is Only Three Miles To The
West, And Reynolds Six Miles To The East, There Is Little Chance For
Its Expansion As A Village.
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