WHITE COUNTY, INDIANA
Round Grove Township
History
Round Grove Township Comprises The
Thirty-Six Square Miles In The
Southwest Corner Of White County, And Is Described By The Surveyors As
The West Half Of Congressional Township 25 North, Range 5 West, And The
East Half Of Congressional Township 25 North, Range 6 West.
Slim Timber And Round Grove
Round Grove Was The Western Part Of
The Original Prairie Township,
Created In 1834, And Remained Attached To It Until It Assumed A
Separate Political Body In 1858. It Is In The Eastern Borders Of The
Great Prairie And Has Only Two Pronounced Tracts Of Timber Within Its
Limits; The Narrow Strip Near The North Line Is Appropriately Called
Slim Timber, And The Considerable Wooded Area Known As Round Grove
(From Which The Township Is Named) Lies In The Southeastern Portion,
Mostly In Section 29.
The First Settlements Were Made In
The Northwestern And The
Southeastern Sections Of The Township, And Most Of The Logs For The
Pioneer Cabins In Those Localities Came From Round Grove, Which Covered
An Area Of Some Fifty Acres. Although It Is A Matter Of Record That
Charles L. Stockton Entered The Land In Section 29, Which Virtually
Embraces The Famous Grove, In 1836, He Did Not Take Up His Residence In
The Township Until Years Afterward.
First Settler, Truman Rollins
Truman Rollins, Pronounced To Be The
First Who Came To Reside
Permanently, Was A Farmer Of Tippecanoe County And Did Not Arrive On
The Wild Prairie Of Section 11, In What Is Now The Northwestern Portion
Of The Township, Until The Spring Of 1850. It Did Not Take Rollins Long
To Cut Enough Logs From Round Grove For His Cabin Of 16 By 18 Feet. As
It Stood In The Open Prairie, It Was The Only Building In What Is Now
Round Grove Township, And There Was None Other For Miles Around.
Besides The Tract Upon Which He Built, Mr. Rollins Had Entered Lands In
Section 10, During 1846, And In Section 15, 1848, And He Subsequently
Bought Various Pieces Of Swamp Land In Section 14. He Was, Therefore,
The Leading Land Owner In The Northwestern Sections.
Jeremiah Stanly, A Son-In-Law Of
Rollins, Also Ventured Into The
Township, In The Spring Of 1850, And For A Short Time Shared The
Solitary Cabin. A Little Later He Erected A House Of His Own, Within
Calling Distance Of His Father-In-Law. Before The End Of The Year
Thomas Rollins Also Appeared On The Scene And Shared The Pioneer Cabin
With Its Builder.
Early Land Entries
The First Entry Recorded For What Is
The Present Round Grove Township
Is That Of John White, Who Filed His Claim On Certain Lands In Section
22, Township 25, Range 6, Near The Western County Line, In February,
1835. The Second Is That Already Briefly Noted, Of Charles L. Stockton,
In Section 29, Township 25, Range 5. Then, In April, 1846, Comes The
Rollins Entry In Section 10. In 1847 The Following Entered Lands In
Township 25, Range 5: John Rowland, In Section 19; Newberry Stockton,
In Section 20; James S. Chilton, In Section 29.
The Following Purchases Of Government
Land Were Made In Township 25,
Range 6: In 1848—patrick H. Weaver, In Sections 10 And 11; Truman
Rollins, In Section 15, And E. C. Buskirk, In Section 22; In 1849—james
Carson, In Section 10, And Martin Bishop, In Sections 10 And 11. These
Tracts Were In The Western And Northwestern Sections Of The Township.
The Stockton Purchases
In 1850, About The Time That Truman
Rollins Was Actually Making
Settlement And Taking Up Lands In The Northwestern Portion Of The
Township, Both Charles L. And Newberry Stockton Were About To Enter
Extensive Tracts Of Land In Sections 30, 31 And 32, South And West Of
Round Grove. In Section 30 Alone They Purchased 160 Acres Of Canal
Lands. Their Descendants Still Own Large Farming Tracts In That Portion
Of The Township.
Became Land Owners In 1850-53
Other Entries In 1850 Were By
Cornelius Morris, In Section 19, Township
25, Range 5, And Patrick H. Weaver, In Section 14; Jacob Weaver, In
Section 15, And Daniel Brawley, In Section 22, Township 25, Range 6.
The Following Entered Lands In 1851,
In Township 25, Range 5: John
Carroll, In Section 7; Charles White, In Section 8, And Jasper Vidito,
In Section 19. In Township 25, Range 6, These Entries Were Made: Truman
Rollins, In Section 11; John Carroll, In Section 12, And Austin Ward,
In Section 13.
In 1852 The Following Entered Lands
In Township 25, Range 5: All Of
Section 4 Purchased By Phineas M. Kent, And Certain Lots By Newberry
Stockton In Section 19. Martin Bishop Purchased Lands In Section 14,
And Michael Carroll, In Section 12, Township 25, Range 6—also In 1852.
In 1858 Stewart Rariden And Samuel H.
Buskirk Became Owners Of Land In
Section 18, Township 25, Range 5, And Austin Ward In Section 13,
Township 25, Range 6.
Carved Out Of Old Prairie Township
The Board Of County Commissioners
Received A Petition From A Majority
Of The Voters In The Territory Of White County West Of The Middle Of
Range 5, Congressional Township 25, Praying That They Erect A New
Political Township Therefrom, And The Prayer Was Granted Soon Alter It
Was Offered, In December, 1858. Austin Ward Suggested That It Be Called
Round Grove Township, And It Was Thus Carved Out Of Old Prairie
Township; Thereafter The Voters In That Part Of The County Were Not
Obliged To Go To Brookston When They Wished To Exercise Their Rights.
Elections And Voters
The Final Touches To The New Township
Were Made On The 31st Of
December, When The Board Ordered That An Election Should Be Held At The
Round Grove, Or Stanly Schoolhouse, Which Had Been Built Near The
Center Of The Township During The Previous Year. It Was A Frame
Building, 16 By 18 Feet, And Well Worthy Of Such An Honor. Austin Ward,
The Godfather Of The Township, Was Appointed Inspector Of Elections,
And He Was On Hand At The Schoolhouse To See Fair Play At The Appointed
Time—the First Monday In April, 1859.
At This First Election In Round Grove
Township, Stewart Rariden And
John Rollins Acted As Judges Of Election And Samuel Ballintyne As
Clerk, And The Following Fifteen Cast Their Ballots: John Larrabee,
Robert Mcqueen, Roger Baker, John Apes, Stephen E. Baker, James Carrol,
Thomas Rountene, Michael T. Buskirk, Granville Ward, Jeremiah Stanly,
Stewart Rariden, John Rollins, Austin Ward, Samuel Ballintyne And
Milton W. Weaver. The Township Officers Elected Were: Samuel
Ballintyne, Justice Of The Peace; Stewart Rariden, Constable; Milton
Weaver, Trustee, And Joseph Harris, Supervisor.
At The State Election, Held At The
Round Grove Schoolhouse On The
Second Tuesday In October, 1860, The Number Of Voters Was Increased By
Ten, As Will Be Proven By The List: William Beck, Thomas Rolllns,
Granville Ward, Isaiah Bice, Samuel Ballintyne, Stephen E. Baker, James
Carrol, John Apes, Edward Steely, Robert N. Brink, James Martin, L. B.
Stockton, William H. Martin, Patrick Conner, Stewart Rariden, Jeremiah
Stanly, John Demso, Nimrod Leister, M. W. Weaver, Robert Mcqueen,
Austin Ward, Michael Buskirk, Samuel D. Barnes And L. W. Wolgamuth.
Various Pioneer Matters
The First White Child Born In The
Township Is Supposed To Have Been
Samuel Rariden, Son Of Stewart And Mary Jane Rariden; Nancy Buskirk Was
Born At About The Same Time.
The First Person Who Died In Round
Grove Township Was Truman Rollins,
Whose Remains Were Interred In A Private Burial Ground In Tippecanoe
County. It Will Be Remembered That He Was Also The First Settler.
The First Persons Married Were
Francis M. Mullendore And Jane Ward, Who
Afterward Became Residents Of Monticello.
Elizabeth Ballintyne Was The First
Teacher, And She Taught In The
Stanly Schoolhouse, Or District School No. 1.
A Methodist Class Was Organized About
1870, And Among Its Members Were
Isaac Smith, Robert Smith, John Russell, George Mitchner And Thomas
Guntrip, With Their Wives.
Former Postoffices
There Has [Sic] Been Two Postoffices
In Round Grove Township—one At
Round Grove, Established In 1879, And The Other At Dern, Established In
1881. The First Postmaster At The Latter Was Dr. A. Jackson Dern, The
Only Physician Of The Township For Some Time.
Progress In The Township
These Postoffices Have Been Absorbed
For Some Years By The Rural Free
Delivery, Which Is Such A Convenience, Not To Call It A Blessing To
Such Farming Communities As Compose The Population And Assure The
Prosperity Of Round Grove Township. It Has Now Little Undrained Land,
And As The Soil Is Rich And Well Cultivated The District Stands Well As
A Constant Producer Of Good Crops Of Corn, Oats And Hay. Its Citizens
Have Also Been Faithful, To The Extent Of Their Means, In The
Construction Of Substantial Gravel Roads. In The Prosecution Of That
Work The Various Highways Have Incurred The Following Debts: Hewitt,
$2,380; Parks, $7,200; Demerle, $5,920; Eller, $6,560; Krapff, $5,400.
Total, $27,460.
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