Fountain County IN Archives History - Books .....History Of Shawnee Township 1881
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Book Title: History Of Fountain County

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP.
BY J. M. CARNAHAN.

   Shawnee township, with the prairie which lies partially within it, and the
two streams whose waters joining find an outlet through it to the Wabash river,
perpetuates the name of a once powerful and warlike Indian nation called
Shawnees. It comprises six sections in T. 20, R. 7, eight sections in T. 20, R.
8, eleven sections in T. 21, R. 7, seven whole and five fractional sections in
T. 21, R. 8, being thirty-two full and five fractional sections west of the 2d
P.M. It covers an extent of 22,092 acres, well watered throughout by the two
Shawnees, Coal creek, Bear creek, and numerous small tributaries of these
tributaries of the Wabash river. It contains a population of over 1,100, 285 of
whom are voters.

NATURAL SCENERY.

   Prominent among its physical features is its natural scenery. Hills and
valleys, woodland and prairie are married, like husband and wife, and the union
is pleasurable and fruitful. Its narrow extent embraces a variety of surface.
Dells, ravines, flowing streams and tiny rivulets, rounded knolls, acclivities
covered from base to summit with forest trees and level prairie in due
intermixture, are features of the diversified landscape. The arch of rock near
the mouth of Bear creek is a remarkable natural curiosity much resorted to by
pleasure seekers. The hills along the Shawnee from Rob Roy to the river are
magnificent beyond description.

GEOLOGY.

   The township is rich in variety of alluvial deposits. The prairie, with its
dark, rich soil and gravel subsoil, unsurpassed in the production of corn and
other cereals, lies in the northeast. West, in woodland, we find a greater
admixture of sand and clay, giving the famed wheat region. South and west the
soil is lighter, with a clay substratum. This is evidently a part of the great
coal field basin, which terminates in an outcrop of slaty formation near Rob
Roy, at the junction of the Shawnees. Here also are mural precipices of
yellowish white sandstone, extensively quarried for building purposes. In the
heavy forest of the extreme southwest, the soil is largely composed of yellow
clay and gravel, underlying which is a coarse, stratified sandstone. On Bear
creek we find a fine outcrop of this, with a dip to the southeast, and
terminating in a bold escarpment near Portland.

SETTLEMENTS.

   The township was the recipient of migration from the year 1822. In the fall
of that year John Lopp entered the E. 1/2 of Sec. 2, where Benjamin Brown lives,
and George Johnson a part of Sec. 12. The next year Abel Claypool, Daniel Peck,
George Stewart and John Galloway were added to the settlement. In 1823 John
Miller entered a part of Sec. 4, and he with five brothers were the founders of
a settlement on Coal creek known as the "Miller settlement," to which belonged
soon after Edmond Parrott, Robert Gregg and George Wilson. In 1824 two other
settlements were started. Four brothers named Cox (Peter, Thomas, Joseph and
Gideon) settled a large tract of land reaching from Big Shawnee to Little
Shawnee, now owned by William Briney and the Meekers; while eastward, farther up
and on both sides of the larger stream, Wilson Claypool and Thomas Clawson, a
stalwart sire of several stalwart sons, were the nucleus of the other. To this
settlement were soon added Joseph Collier, John Buckles, George Ives, Magin, and
westward were Cleveland, Geo. Minor, Daniel McMillen, William Graham, James Orr,
and on the south side of the stream, on Sec. 28, James Goodwine, Abraham Clawson
and James Foster. These infant settlements were rapidly filled out and filled up
by the coming of other families and numerous accessions, from time to time, of
friends and relatives. The lands in T. 21, R. 8, were brought into market later,
and settled less rapidly. James Brier entered a part of Sec. 25 in the year
1827, and in 1828 William McCrery entered the W. 1/2 of N. W. 1/4 of the same
section. To the south were Patrick Conner, William and John Ross, and James Adams.

ORGANIZATION.

   The township was constituted July 24, 1826, by an order of the board of
justices of the peace of Fountain county, convened at the house of Joseph
Collier. The limits assigned to it were all the part of Fountain county lying
north of the north line of T. 20. The court ordered that the future election be
held at the house of Joseph Collier, and appointed him inspector of the
election. Josiah Clawson was appointed lister for Shawnee township, and
territory above Pine creek under the jurisdiction of Fountain county. Josiah
Bryant and Elijah Funk were appointed overseers of the poor, and Thomas Ogle and
James Brady fence viewers. The election which followed soon after resulted in
the choice of Thomas Clawson and Joseph Collier, justices of the peace. The
whole area covered by the township was divided into two preposterous road
districts, by a line running west to the Wabash river from the southeast corner
of Sec. 16, T. 21, R. 6, and Daniel Clark was appointed supervisor of the south
and Frederick C. Paine of the north district. The time of the township's
greatest extent was from its organization until the session of the board of
justices of the peace, January, 1829, when it was split into halves by an order
in the following words: "On petition of sundry citizens of Shawnee township, it
is ordered by the board that Shawnee township be bounded as follows, to-wit,
beginning on the Wabash river, where the line dividing T. 20 and T. 21 strikes
said river; thence northeastwardly with the channel of said river to where the
center of R. 7 strikes the same; thence with the said center line of said range
south to the south line of T. 21; thence with the south line of said township to
the place of beginning." The next change was made by the board at its May
session 1833, when the part lying north of a line running east with the section
line, from the point on the river where the line dividing Sees. 14 and 23, T.
21, R. 8, strikes it, was set off to constitute a part of Logan township; and
Shawnee was left but a small fraction of its original self. About this time
there arose a contest between Rob Roy and Portland, then smart and ambitious
villages. Rob Roy had become the polling place and Portland planned to be. In
furtherance of the plan, two miles in width were sliced from the townships on
the south and attached to Shawnee. Citizens of Rob Roy, and round about, to
restore in partial degree the lost equilibrium, petitioned for an addition to
the area on the northeast, and the commissioners' court at the March session,
1839, ordered that Secs. 22 and 27, T. 21, R. 7, be taken from Davis and
attached to Shawnee township. The contest was. ended by an order making Portland
voting precinct No. 2. No internal dissension has since disturbed the peace of
the township.

ROB ROY.

   Rob Roy was laid off about the year 1826. The plat is situated on the E. 1/2
of N.W. 1/4 Sec. 30. It was laid off into forty-eight lots, thirty-six of which
were 120 feet in length by 54 feet in width, and the remaining were 108 feet in
length by 41 1/2 in width. John I. Foster, the proprietor, an omnivorous reader
and enthusiastic admirer of Scott's novels, named his town for the Scottish
outlaw whose exploits his author had immortalized. Hiram Jones' addition was
laid out in the year 1829, and lies to the east of the original plat; Chester
Chadwick surveyed the plats. A writer in 1833 describes it as a small interior
village, with but few inhabitants, but increasing in improvement and population.
In 1836 it had five dry-goods and four grocery stores, a hotel, three
physicians, with a corresponding population; and it was the center of a very
active business of various kinds. The Chicago and Block Coal railway, which
crosses the township north and south, accords it a station.

PORTLAND.

 . Portland was laid out in April 1828. Maj. Whitlocke, William Miller and
Barnard Preble were the proprietors. William Miller was surveyor of the plat. It
is situated on the Wabash river, about seven miles north of Covington. The site
is part of the fractional Sec. 33. Sandford C. Cox, in his "Personal
Recollections of Early Settlements," includes it in a list of river towns that
were ambitious to become the great emporium of trade on the upper Wabash. It was
some years before it was ruled off. Keep's store, the author says, was one of
two that "furnished the most of the goods used by the people for 100 miles up
and down the river. Powder, lead, salt, iron, whisky and leather were the
staples of the trade in those days, and were exchanged for the productions of
the country, such as beeswax, tallow, feathers, ginseng, furs, fleer-skins, wild
hops, etc." This monopoly was not allowed to continue long. In the progress of
time Portland had eleven stores, a hotel, six physicians, craftsmen of various
kinds, and a considerable population. It was a post town from the beginning. The
projected Attica, Covington and Southern railroad passes by it.

ROADS.

   The road that crosses the northern part of Sec. 21 has no ascertained origin.
The first settler found it there. The one that meets it at right angle — a part
of the Attica and Newtown road, now graveled — exists by no other authority than
use confers, and is also prehistoric. The part of the state road laid out from
Crawfordsviile to Williamsport, lying within the township, did not meet with
favor, and never had anything to indicate its course but the blaze of the
surveyor on the trees, and this one was traveled in its stead. The earliest
recorded road was marked out by F. C. Paine and Robert Hetfield, November, 1826,
"from the bluffs of Bear creek up the bluffs of the Wabash to Shawnee creek;
thence on a straight course to Paine's Run; thence across said run to a white
oak on the bluff; thence on a straight line to Perry street, in Attica." In
January, 1827, S. R. Hicks, Aaron Hetfield, and John Miller, laid out a road
described as follows: "Beginning on a line between Robert Hetfield and James
Stewart's thence to Coal creek; thence to a red oak on the ridge; thence to the
crossing of Little Shawnee; thence to the section line dividing Secs. 31 and 32,
T. 21, R. 7; thence on said line to Keep's store; thence to Graham's mill-dam;
thence to a section line again on the top of the hill; thence on the said line
to the northwest corner of Joseph Stump's field; thence to Crnmpton's store in
Attica." In May, 1827, S. R. Hicks, Samuel Wilson and John Miller laid out a
road "from the mouth of Bear creek thence to William Harris'; thence to John
Lopp's; thence east by blazed trees to the northeast corner of Sec. 12, T. 20,
R. 8; thence by blazed trees to Robert Miller's house." James Hatton, Robert
Wilkinson, and Garrett Clawson, in September, 1827, viewed a road "beginning at
Graham's mill, thence north 59° 30', east 99° to the half-mile stake between
Secs. 20 and 21, T. 21, R. 7; thence north with the section line 13° 50'; thence
north 83° 30', east 26; thence north 75° 15', east 66° 58' to the west line of
John G. Buckles' land; thence north 33°, east 72° to the southeast corner of
Evan Hinton's field." September, 1828, Thomas Clawson, Thomas Hinton, and George
Hollingsworth laid out a road "commencing at Myer'smill, on Big Shawnee, thence
east 70 rods; thence 68 rods south; thence 220 rods 18° south of east to
Foster's line; thence 240 rods 15° south of east to Abraham Clawson's line;
thence south with his line to the section line 100 rods; thence east on the
section line two and three quarter miles to intersect the road leading from
Attica to Crawfordsville." The same month and year one was laid out "from
Portland along the line half a mile north of the line dividing T. 20 and T. 21
to the road leading from John Miller's to Attica; thence to the Attica and
Crawfordsville road." Such were the earlier roads. They continued to be made by
the authority of the county wherever wanted for public or private convenience.

CEMETERIES.

   The pioneer settlers, before grounds were set apart for burial places, buried
their dead on their own premises. These changing owners, as they often did, the
graves were given over to spoliation. A child born to Wilson and Sarah Claypool
was buried October 20, 1826. The spot chosen was one which was little likely in
any event ever to be disturbed by the plow. It is a ridge of hill, precipitous
on one side but beautifully swelling on the other, which seems to have been
fashioned by the hand of the Creator to be a last resting-place of the dead.
Others sought the privilege of burying here, and it came to be known as the
Claypool cemetery. In October, 1874, a number of citizens constituted themselves
the Shawnee Cemetery Association, "to acquire the title to the grounds belonging
to the Claypool cemetery, to enlarge them, to create a perpetual fund to keep
them in order, and lay them out into lots, walks, and carriage-ways." The United
Brethren cemetery dates as early as 1827. In 1838 the title was acquired and the
grounds put in order under the authority of the United Brethren Conference. The
Associated Citizens' cemetery, which is surrounded by the same fence, was
established August 16, 1857. The Hopkins cemetery dates from about 1827. The
cemetery at Portland was laid off with the town plat in 1828, and the one at Rob
Roy probably a year or two later.

MILLS.

   Mills were erected soon after the first settlements were formed. The first
were small ones, called "corn-crackers." Thomas Cox built one at the falls of
Little Shawnee in 1824. One, owned by Elisha Range, was near the Rob Roy bridge,
one where the Rob Roy and Portland road crosses Little Shawnee, and there were
others, but not too many, for they were patronized by people from a great
distance, and the grinding was very slow. William Graham erected a fulling-mill
and carding machine at the Rob Roy bridge in 1826, and soon after Daniel Myers a
saw-mill seventy rods further down the stream. Other saw-mills were built as4
they were needed, on the Shawnees and Bear creek. John Hagerman, in 1827, and
Daniel McMillen, in 1828, built merchant flouring-mills, the former on the seat
of the Greenwood and Macoughtry mill, and the latter on that of the Shepherd
mill, on Big Shawnee. In the latter year Ezra Crane and Daniel Burntriger built
one on Bear creek. In a few years more three others (now wholly historic) were
erected. The first of these was built by John Lopp, the pioneer settler, at the
confluence of the Shawnees, the second by John Keep and Ebenezer Franklin, about
three-fourths of a mile further down the stream, and the third near the mouth of
Shawnee, called "The Yankee mill," by Smith & Gibbs. This, which would have been
rendered useless to the owners by the construction of the feeder-dam, was
destroyed by fire in 1844. Burbridge's mill, the highest on the stream, was
built by John Kingore in 1840. The mill-race was constructed in 1830, and a
carding machine built and operated during two years, and then gave place to a
brick distillery, which, in its turn, gave place to a flouring mill. The mill at
Rob Roy was built by William Bookwalter and A. L. Claypool, in 1870.

SCHOOL-HOUSES AND TEACHERS.

   The first school-house was built in 1824, near Coal creek, on land that
George Stewart entered. The next year one was built near the southern line of
the township, on Sec. 11. One was built at Rob Roy about 1828, and later, one on
the north side of Big Shawnee on the Attica and Newtown road. They were built of
logs which the settlers made common cause in drawing together and lifting to
their places in the building. There was no help of skilled workmen from
beginning to completion. They were not commodious, but they served to tide over
the requirements of the times. The current notion that the teachers were
distinguished for brawn rather than brain, that while austere and tyrannical
they were incompetent to teach their pupils, is not justified by any
recollections of them. Rather they are remembered for their accuracy of
understanding, uprightness of character, and outward semblance of mental
culture. They loved learning for it& own sake, and pursued it in calm repose and
patient leisure. They read, studied, pondered, discoursed, and from the fullness
of their information taught, "not more to gain a little needed money than to
confer favor on the families of the communities around them."* And
notwithstanding confessed and serious drawbacks, they educated a generation to
be practical men and women of affairs, well qualified to enact an honorable part
on the theater of the world. Let us seek the explanation, assuming the mental
fiber of the pupils then no better or stronger than that of the pupils now.
There were not frequent changes of school-books. There was not so much talk
about education that the thing itself was forgotten in agitations respecting it;
nor over-abundance of good counsel and suggestions of best methods of teaching
that teachers were led to forget that the best way to teach is to teach; or that
comprehending the subjects to be taught in all their significance and relations
they could hardly fail to teach well.

         * Jno. M. Bishop.


   They knew of no easy road to learning, and so while not enervating their own
intellects by efforts to bring themselves level to the comprehension of the
pupils, they did not destroy the pupils' manliness, sense of power and
self-reliance by over-much simplifying and explaining. They believed, with
]SToah Webster, that learning is to be acquired by severe effort, the memory
exercised with much that the pupil may not then understand, and in this way the
mind stored as it cannot be later, and that the revelations of time, aroused
curiosity, and increase of intellectual dimensions may be trusted for the rest.
James H. Martin, who is still an honored citizen of the township, taught first
in the Stewart school-house, and then three successive winter terms in the Brown
school-house. At Rob Roy were John Bodley, David Brier, and Rnfns A. Lockwood.
David Brier stood for many years in the front rank of lawyers in Indiana, and
was his party's nominee for congress in 1852. He now carries on a lucrative
practice of his profession in the capital of Kansas. Rufus A. Lockwood, while
teaching at Rob Roy, was an unaided student at law. He rose to eminence and
wealth by the practice of it first in the courts of Indiana. Removing to
California he was employed by Gen. John C. Fremont to defend his title to the
Mariposa purchase, which was brought into question first by private parties and
then by the government. His fame was national. Having gained this most famous
suit he embarked on the ill-fated Central America, for New York city, where he
intended to open a law office. The steamer was wrecked on the ocean, and he,
with more than three hundred other passengers, found a watery grave between
Panama and his destination. William Miller, a well educated man, and conspicuous
figure in the early history of Fountain county, taught in the southeastern part
of the township; and Mrs. Mary C. Hovey, wife of Rev. E. O. Hovey, afterward
Prof. Hovey of Wabash College, opened a school for girls in a room of her house.
In the Claypool settlement the succession of teachers for a series of years was
Mrs. Sumner, George Wells, James and Celestia Maxwell, Robert Finch, and Stephen
Fagg. The township is now laid off into nine school-districts, furnished with
well built school-houses and teachers of good grade. Its distributive share in
the apportionment of school revenue for tuition is $1,826.43. There are 368
pupils enrolled for tuition.

CHURCHES.

   The Coal Creek Presbyterian church was organized December 3, 1827. A company
of devout persons, members of the Presbyterian church who had removed from the
bounds of the synod of Ohio, had, in the fall of 1S26, constituted themselves a
society to meet on Sabbaths for the purpose of reading the scriptures, and
uniting in the services of praise and prayer. The record of it is in this
touching strain: "For two or three long years we sighed and prayed, for we still
remembered Zion, and exclaimed, 'When shall we go up and appear before God to
worship in his holy temple.' " They did not pray in vain. In the fall of 1827
Rev. James Thomson, from the Cincinnati presbytery of Ohio, then settled at
Crawfordsville, visited the formative church, and agreed to supply it statedly
once a month until further arrangements should be made. On December 3,
following, agreeably to previous notice, twenty persons met at the house of
William Miller, bringing certificates of membership from other churches, and
proceeded to give direction and validity to their purpose: to organize a church
in accordance with the faith and practice of the Presbyterian church. They were
William McClure and Esther his wife, William Miller, Edmond Parrott and Mary his
wife, Alexander Logan and Anna his wife, Jane Brandenburg, David Parrott and
Nancy his wife, James Miller and Mary his wife, Isabella Miller, James Brier and
Mary his wife, Mrs. Jane Miller, Miss Jane Miller, Dorcas Brier, Samuel
Fullenwider and Jane his wife. William McClure, William Miller, and David
Parrott were chosen elders, and March 29, 1828, the organization was perfected
at the house of Edmond Parrott by the election of James Brier, Alexander Logan,
and James Miller, trustees, and Samuel Fullenwider, treasurer. The reports to
the presbytery of Wabash show a membership, October 1828, of forty-nine; October
1829, of fifty-six; March 1830, of seventy-six; October 1830, having just
dismissed eighteen to constitute a church at Portland, and suffering the
ordinary losses from death and removals, of sixty-three. Such were the
beginnings of this mother of churches; such its growth. James Thomson was its
pastor from its organization to May 1, 1829; John S. Thomson, from May 1, 1829,
to March 25, 1831, when he resigned the pastorate in consequence of feeble
health; Edmund O. Hovey, from the beginning of 1S32, resigning the charge to
become a member of the faculty of Wabash College, April 1834; John Crawford,
from 1835 until removed by death, June 22, 1839. The church records, written by
William Miller, are an interesting stndy. The church took advanced grounds on
the subject of temperance by the following action: In view of the wide-spreading
evil and desolating influence of intemperance in our land, the elders of this
church will abstain entirely-from the use of ardent spirits except when
recommended as a medicine, and recommend this action for adoption by all the
members of the church and community. A temperance society was thereupon
organized with twenty-nine members. The influence of the church extended to the
regions round about, and it had distinct divisions east, west and south.
Camp-meetings were held in all these regions. Mrs. Mary C. Hovey, widow of Prof.
E. O. Hovey, writes to Rev. John M. Bishop as follows: "There is one scene I
love to think of: it was a camp-meeting somewhere near Rob Roy, which I attended
in 1832. There were many Indians there in their tents, much interested in the
praying and singing. They had paddles hung around their necks, and certain
characters on the paddles which they seemed to worship." March 13, 1832, a
meeting of the west part of the church and congregation was held at the house of
James Miller to select a site for a meeting-house, and James Miller made a
donation of one acre of ground for this good use. The building was completed
toward the close of the year. This was the first church edifice within the
present limits of the township. Nine years after, March 1, 1841, it was voted to
change the name and location to Newtown, and the presbytery of Crawfordsville
sanctioned the change. The reasons are well stated by Rev. J. M. Bishop: "The
old location was not satisfactory to the members of the church living in the
eastern: part of Richland township, and old-school and new-school lines of
division were showing themselves everywhere throughout the denomination; so that
while there was still a Coal Creek church (old school) for several years after
1841, the larger part became new school." The succession of pastors after the
division is as follows: Jacob Cozad, W. F. Ferguson, N. P. Sharlott, James C.
Eastman, Nathaniel Conklin, C. K. Thompson, D. Y. Smock, David B. Reed, Henry M.
Bacon. How long each one served cannot be determined from the records. The last
entry bears date June 20, 1854. The building and grounds have passed from under
the supervision and control of the church, but are still regarded with interest
as the historic heart of the church of the denomination in the county. The
church of Portland referred to maintained a brief existence of two years, most
of the members returning to the Coal Creek church.

   The history of Methodism in the township opens in the year 1828. The
Crawfordsville circuit of the Illinois conference was organized this year. The
first quarterly meeting was held at Crawfordsville, Indiana, November 1, 1828.
John Strange was presiding elder, Stephen R. Beggs and Spencer Hunter circuit
preachers. John I. Foster represented a class at Rob Roy. No class-book is
found, nor other record. Tradition furnishes the names of the following members:
John I. Foster and wife, John Hagerman and wife, Chester Chadwick and wife, John
McCune and wife, and Mrs. Sarah Foster. The writer has sought for definitions to
know what constitutes a church. The one that best commends itself is this: a
company of baptized believers, who have agreed to walk together in Christian
fellowship and love, and maintain such ordinances and worship as the scriptures
enjoin. The power to organize belongs to those who desire to form the
organization. As the pilgrims of Plymouth rock are said to have organized "a
state without a king," so here we have "a church without a bishop," or even a
pastor, organized at some unknown time prior to November 1, 1828. John I.
Foster's memory deserves a paragraph. He is described as a man of versatile
talent, a skillful worker in iron, and an inventor. He came to Rob Roy in 1826;
founded a church, and in the spring of 1829 founded and superintended a
Sabbath-school, which has been maintained with a few interruptions ever since.
His time at Rob Roy was not long, probably six or seven years; but during it he
stood in the fore front of the church, and raised it a monument to his memory,
enduring like marble or bronze. The long line of pastors who have ministered to
the church in the fifty-two years is as follows; Stephen R. Beggs and Spencer
Hunter, 1828 and 1829; James Armstrong, 1829 and 1830; Samuel Brinton and Samuel
Cooper, 1830 and 1831; Boyd Phelps, 1831 and 1832; Richard Hargrave and N. B.
Griffith, 1832 and 1833; N. B. Griffith and Hackaliah Vredenburg, 1833 and 1834;
William Clark and William Campbell, 1834 and 1835; Charles Holliday and Benj. T.
Griffith, 1835 and 1836; Cornelius Swank and Elijah Sewell, 1836 and 1837;
Cornelius Swank and _____ Dillon, 1837 and 1838; J. L. Thompson and Hawley B.
Beers, 1838 and 1839; J. L. Thompson and Walter Huffman, 1839 and 1840; Enoch
Wood and Jacob Mershon, 1840 and 1841; J. B. Mershon and R. C. Rowley, 1841 and
1842; Josiah J. Cooper and Daniel Demotte, 1842 and 1843; Amasa Johnson and Wade
Posey, 1843 and 1844; Horatio K. Barnes and Martin Morrison, 1844 and 1845; H.
N. Barnes, 1845 and 1846; J. B. Mershon, 1846 and 1847; Enoch Holdstock and
Milton Honn, 1847 and 1848; Thomas S. Webb and Dennis B. Clary, 1848 and 1849;
H. B. Beers and Franklin Hardin, 1849 and 1850; J. S. Donaldson and Allen A.
Gee, 1850 and 1851; Jacob Cozad and James Armstrong, 1851 and 1852; Jacob Cozad,
1852 and 1853; H. Smith, 1853 and 1854; R. Hargrave, 1854 and 1856; Jacob M.
Stallard, 1856 and 1857; Lucas Nebeker, 1857 and 1859; Hezekiah Smith, 1859 and
1860; Franklin Taylor, 1860 and 1862; J. H. Mahan, 1863 and 1864; Thomas
Hackney, 1864 and 1865; Francis Cox, 1865 and 1867; Jacob M. Stallard, 1867 and
1869; S. P. Colvin, 1869 and 1871; J. H. Claypool, 1871 and 1874; W. A. Smith,
1874 and 1876; N. A. Chamberlain, 1876 and 1879. David Handley, beginning his
ministrations with the conference year, 1879 and 1880, is still in the field.
The church has chosen five class-leaders, namely, John I. Foster, George
Fleming, David B. Jones, Jacob G. McLean and Ransom Miller. The last named is
still in office. The trustees chosen: Hiram Jones, George Fleming, William Hall,
Charles Todd and Henry B. Jones. Neither record nor tradition furnishes
information touching the inner or outer growth of the church during the first
years of its existence; but passing over a space of fifteen years, we find it
grown to a commanding position, and embracing in its fellowship members who took
a significant part in its affairs, and contributed freely by their counsel and
means to its success. Prominent among them were George Fleming, Hiram Jones,
James Foster and Andrew Thompson. In 1844 the church erected a house of worship
of spacious proportions, and dedicated it the same year; the pastor, Amasa
Johnson, preaching the dedicatory discourse. It still stands to honor the
builders, well kept, and looking new after a lapse of thirty-six years. With a
clear field, it is hoped that greater prosperity is in store. Glorious things
are spoken of Zion.

   The United Brethren church was organized in the year 1827 by Rev. ____
McMahan, under the authority of the United Brethren conference. It is not known
what number composed the original church. Its beginning is known to have been
very weak. The constituent members whose names can be recalled, were Simon Brown
and wife Nancy, Elizabeth Brown, and Catharine Brown. The second pastor was John
Dunham. In the first year of his pastorate the church was greatly strengthened
by additions to its roll of membership. How long this prosperity continued is
not known. It soon suffered heavy losses from removals. Its vicissitudes have
been very great. Three times it has been accounted strong numerically, and as
often it has been so weak that meetings were discontinued. At present it enjoys
an encouraging degree of prosperity. Thomas Beatty is pastor, Francis Wilson
class-leader, Cyrus Rusk class-steward. A Sabbath-school is maintained with a
good degree of interest. The church never erected a house for worship, but has
held its meetings in one belonging to the Moral Associated Citizens, commonly
called Brown's chapel.

   Rob Roy Presbyterian church. This church was organized by Rev. John Crawford
March 25, 1839, with seventeen members. They were William Carnahan and Margaret
his wife, Benjamin L. Brier and Martha Ann his wife, Isabella Thompson, Mary
Bodley, Mary Duncan, Rebecca Griffith, Mary Brier, Harriet Duncan, Mary
Thompson, Elizabeth Brier, Jane Scott, Samuel Brier, Columbus Brier, Benjamin T.
Clark and wife. The thirteen first named brought letters of dismission and
recommendation from the Coal Creek church. William Carnahan and Columbus Brier
were elected elders, and Samuel Brier, William Carnahan, and Harley Greenwood,
were trustees. Mr. Crawford died June 22 following, and the church was vacant
until the beginning of the year 1841. The second pastor, John Fairchild, began
his labors with the year 1841, was installed December 30, 1843, and left the
field April 1851. Unfortunately the records of this early time are extinct.
About the year 1843 a plain but suitable house of worship was erected, the
outcome of great personal self-denial at a time of financial depression. In the
winter or early spring of 1847 the church was greatly strengthened by the
simultaneous admission of thirty-five or more persons to its membership. The
third pastor was William Bacon, from September, 1851, till March, 1852—a half
year. Alexander Lemon became the fourth pastor, from May, 1852, until the fall
of 1857. Samuel B. King came in May, 1858, and served the church until the
spring of 1873. This is the longest pastorate the church has had, covering more
than one-third of its history. The sixth pastor, W. J. Essick, labored with the
church two years from December 1873. John Creath, the seventh pastor, served a
half year. Mark L. Milford became the eighth pastor, serving two years from the
spring of 1876. The ninth and present pastor, Joseph W. Mann, began his
ministrations August 1878. In October, 1879, the church and congregation
determined to build a new house of worship and change the location to Shawnee
cemetery, two miles eastward, where is a wider, clearer field, inviting diligent
cultivation. A committee on church building was appointed, consisting of the
following: J. L. Foster, William Hughes, and G. W. Cole; and also one to solicit
subscriptions in favor of the proposed new enterprise. Plans were soon drawn,
the work of building begun, and pushed to an early completion. The new church is
neat in form. The interior appointments, the fitness of the arrangements to meet
the wants of an active congregation, the planning of the vestibule, ante-rooms,
and auditorium, show the wise liberality of the designers and builders. On
February 21, 1880, it was declared ready for occupancy. The sum required to meet
the indebtedness incurred was reported paid on subscriptions. The next day
witnessed its dedication to the worship of Jehovah. The discourse on this
occasion was preached by James Omelvena, of Dayton, Indiana, from the fourth
verse of the twenty-seventh Psalm. The pastor, J. W. Mann, and William Wilmer
assisted, in the solemn services. The officers of the church are James Griffith,
Stephen Fagg, Samuel A. Brier, John L. Foster, W. C. Cole, and Charles Ullrick,
elders; George M. Foster and William G. Cole, deacons; S. A. Brier, J. L.
Foster, M. B. Briney, and G. M. Foster, trustees. A Sabbath-school is maintained
in connection with it. Pastor and people "thank God and take courage." The
church is now known as the Beulah Presbyterian church.

   Rob Roy Baptist church was organized in the Rob Roy school-house in the
winter of 1844, by Rev. Garrett Riley, with thirteen members: Jonathan Dove and
Mary his wife, Joel Jones and Ruth his wife, Daniel Myers and wife, Nancy Myers,
Margaret Cook, Mrs. F. C. Paine, Ellen Paine, Maria Paine, and ____. William
French was the pastor from its organization. It maintained an existence of about
four years, when, having suffered heavy losses from deaths and removals, the
remnant went to the Baptist church at Attica.

   The Christian church, commonly called New Light, was organized March 12,1854,
in a school-house in the northeastern part of the township. Rev. Samuel Gregory,
who organized it, had beforehand bestowed much faithful labor on the field. The
constituent members were William  Hatton, Nancy Hatton, Charles Rhoads, Sarah
Jane Young, Samuel J. Young, James Wilson, Eliza Wilson, Thomas McPherren, Mary
Nixon, Nancy Nixon, Sarah J. Waggoner, Abraham Potter, Ruhama Potter, Henry
Umsted, Mary E. Marlatt, Thirza Potter, Thomas Hatton, Julia A. Hatton,
Elizabeth J. Chritton, Sarah Marlatt, Nancy J. Potter, William Overbay, Thomas
Matthews, John Hale, Charlotte Wilkey, Ruth Umsted, William Potter, John Groves,
Hannah Groves, Elizabeth Umsted, John Potter, Mary Ann Roberts, Jane Marlatt,
Amanda McPherren. Samuel Gregory was the pastor until September 1860, greatly
beloved by church and congregation, when William Petro became the second pastor,
and served the church until death removed him February 17, 1863. Elders Bannon,
Hardesty, and Osborn, each served one year successively. Elder Culbertson took
charge of the church September 1, 1866. The meetings continued to be held at the
school-house where it was organized. During this pastorate, somewhere in the
year 1867 or 1868, the house was destroyed by a falling tree, and the meetings
were thereafter held in an adjacent township. It may be remarked that it was the
church of the people of a very large scope of country. Crowds attended the
meetings. It steadily added to its membership, and as steadily suffered losses
from removals.

   Mount Pleasant Methodist Episcopal church. In the winter of 1873 Rev. Thomas
Burch conducted a series of meetings in Brown's chapel. To his labors in
connection with them, humanly speaking, this church owes its origin. A class was
organized composed of the following names: Smith Coffing, J. M. Coffing, William
B. Coffing, M. O. Coffing, Leoni Coffing, John A. Coffing, Matilda Coffing, Mary
Orlena Coffing, James Graham, Elizabeth Ferguson, Charles Ferguson, Alvin Clark.
It is not possible to enter into a detailed examination of the labors of the
several pastors. The winter of 1876-7 was marked by unwonted and powerful
religious influences, during the pastorate of Rev. John J. Claypool. The church
was greatly strengthened by large additions to its numbers, so that it was
determined, in April 1877, to build a church edifice. Subscriptions were
solicited, and the work of building, begun in April, was completed by the close
of the summer. The building, which is neat and tasteful in appearance, and ample
for the wants of the congregation, was dedicated September 1, 1877; I. W. Joyce
preached the dedicatory discourse, W. H. Hickman, Thomas Burch, and J. J.
Claypool assisting in the services. The church has had the following pastors:
Thomas Burch, Colbraith Hall, John J. Claypool, John Tyler, ____ Heath, Cyrus O.
Stallard; class-leaders, Francis Wilson, Smith Coffing; trustees, Ransom Miller,
Smith Coffing, John Coffing, Charles Todd, Cyrus Rusk. 

MORAL ASSOCIATED CITIZENS.

   Twenty-nine persons formed this organization in August 1851. They were Simon
Brown, Addison Newburn, John Brown, Jeremiah Brown, John Houts, John
Dunklebarger, Abel Claypool, Joel Crane, Isaac Romine, David S. Romine, John M.
Galloway, Andrew Coffing, William Brown, Jacob Brown, George H. Galloway, Robert
T. Galloway, Joseph Crane, B. B. Labaw, James Marquess, Burkley Tumbling, John
P. Brown, Jacob Houts, Daniel Peck, Amos Gilbert, Frederick Zeigler, William
Ireland, William Hoobler, David Pugh, Elias Pugh. William Brown was elected
president, B. B. Labaw secretary, and John Houts treasurer. The objects avowed
were "to build a meeting-house for the worship of God, and establish a
graveyard." The plan is as follows: "The house is to be open to all men of all
societies of good moral character who preach the gospel, and men in no church
who have good moral characters." The capital was raised by a subscription of
shares, valued at $10 each, the holder being entitled to vote in the control of
the house and graveyard. Sixty-two shares were subscribed, and the enterprise
aided by donations. The house agreed upon is thus described: "A frame
meeting-house, length thirty-six feet, width thirty feet, a ten-foot story, a
wall under the house two and one-half feet high, one foot thick, one foot in the
ground, and a stringer under the center." The contract was let to William Brown,
who built the house and turned it over to the trustees, May 29, 1852. It is
known as Brown's chapel.

SHAWNEE DETECTIVES.

   This association was organized February 4, 1876. The ends sought are declared
to be "Our better protection from depredations of thieves, robbers,
counterfeiters, incendiaries, and all other criminals, and to afford mutual aid
in reclaiming stolen property, and apprehending criminals. The constituent
members were David Pugh, J. C. Marr, J. W. Orr, Granville Pugh, A. V. Hall, T.
M. Keefer, Jonathan Dunklebarger, J. M. Carnahan, A. B. Dunklebarger, Ed. J.
Fields, Henry B. Jones, George M. Foster, George Snyder, John G. Keefer, John
Jones, Benj. Marlatt, Benj. Dunklebarger, J. G. McLean, William Knowles, Joseph
Lusk, C. W. Todd. The officers chosen were J. M. Carnahan, president; William
Hall, vice-president; J. G. Keefer, secretary; A. P. Hall, treasurer. Present
officers: J. C. Marr, president; Elias Pugh, vice-president; Granville Pugh,
secretary and treasurer.

TEMPERANCE WORK.

   The day that Shawnee was constituted a township the court granted Leonard
Keep license to vend foreign merchandise and spirituous liquors. Joseph Collier
was taken as one of his sureties. Collier was soon after, with Thomas Clawson,
elected justice of the peace, and took oath of office March 1827. In the court
records, not long after, there was placed among the entries of fines collected
this curious item: "Collected by Thomas Clawson, as fines, from Joseph Collier
and Thomas McKibben, for an affray, $100 each — $200." Comment is needless.
Keep's store was at this time near Rob Roy, or on the north side of Little
Shawnee, on the Chambersburg and Attica road. It furnished the whisky and other
goods used by the people for a great many miles up and down the country. Indians
from Kickapoo frequently brought pelts, furs, and such like, to exchange for
whisky and calico. One evening they came, a party 200 strong, with their chief,
John Pasque, at the head, and made their encampment northward from the store.
Keep demurred to their call for whisky, and the chief interposed. "Who will be
sober Indians?" cautiously inquired Keep. "Me and papoose, John," was the
chief's ready answer. The whisky was sold them, and then followed a night of mad
carouse. These were the unpropitious beginnings. Alas for Keep! He did not keep
long, but fell a ready victim to Asiatic cholera while on a business venture
down the river to New Orleans. Space forbids a detailed account of the numerous
— not too numerous — temperance organizations. One is mentioned in connection
with the Coal Creek church. A strong lodge of the Sons of Temperance was
organized in Rob Roy in 1852. A temperance camp-meeting, lasting several days,
was held in a grove near by. Choice speakers were there, and good work was done
for the good cause. Another was organized in 1865, and in 1878 blue-ribbon clubs
were formed at various points in the township. And so, a little too
spasmodically it must be confessed, the work has gone on. It marks an advance in
temperance sentiment that there is now no whisky store in the township, nor
building nor works where distilling is carried on.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF FOUNTAIN COUNTY,

TOGETHER WITH
HISTORIC NOTES ON THE WABASH VALLEY,

GLEANED FROM EARLY AUTHORS, OLD MAPS AND MANUSCRIPTS
PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC, THOUGH, FOR THE MOST
PART, OUT-OF-THE-WAY SOURCES.

BY H. W. BECKWITH,
OF THE DANVILLE BAR; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF
WISCONSIN AND CHICAGO.

WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHICAGO: H. H. HILL AND N. IDDINGS, PUBLISHERS.
1881.


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