Greene County IN Archives History - Books .....Chapter XX Highland Township 1884
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Book Title: History Of Greene And Sullivan Counties, Indiana

CHAPTER XX.
BY CHARLES L. GOODSPEED.

HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP—THE SURFACE AND SOIL—FIRST ELECTIONS AND OFFICERS—LIST OF
PIONEERS—FIRST ORCHARD AND FIRST CHILD BORN-OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST—THE FIRST
SCHOOL—OTHER TERMS TAUGHT—MILLING ENTERPRISES—PREACHERS, CHURCHES, ETC.—PETITION
OF MRS. SMITH—PIONEER CUSTOMS—A MILITIA COMPANY—FIRST MARRIAGE—CHURCHES—AN
APPALLING ACCIDENT.

PREVIOUS to the year 1817, there had been no settlement made by the whites
within the present boundaries of what constitutes Highland Township. It had not
yet felt the civilizing influence of the plowshare of progress, but instead was
peopled by strolling bands of savages in search of wild game, which at that time
existed in abundance and was to be had with but little trouble.

   At the time of the organization of the county in 1821, Highland Township was
formed and comprised what is now Highland, Jefferson, Smith (with the exception
of the part that extends over six miles south of the northern boundary) and
Wright Townships. Another change was made in May, 1828, and this left Highland
Township as it now is lying wholly in Township 8, Ranges 4 and 5.

   The land along the river is exceedingly fertile and is well adapted for
farming purposes, but the country grows more broken as it extends toward the
interior, and from its many hills and high bluffs the township derived its name.

ELECTION AND OFFICERS.

   The first election for old Highland Township was held in May. 1S21, at the
house of Alexander Craig, and was so ordered by the County Commissioners, with
John Sanders as Inspector. For some reason unknown, only three Justices of the
Peace were elected, while the remainder of the ticket was appointed by the
Commissioners, as follows: For Overseers of the Poor, Thomas Smith and Evan
Owen: Superintendent of the Sixteenth Section, J. L. Buskirk; Fence Viewers,
Caleb Jessup, Jonathan Lindley and A. Mounts; Constable, John Jessup. John
Sanders, as Inspector, held another election in 1822, for Highland Township and
although it is not stated anything concerning the wire pulling, political
log-rolling and hard-cider drinking, the election was peaceable and resulted as
follows: Jonathan Lindley, Superintendent of Roads east of the river; Ephraim
Owen, Assessor; Hugh Prebbie, Constable; Thomas Kelshaw, Superintendent of
Section 16; Evan Owen, Thomas Stalcup and Alexander Watson, Fence Viewers. After
Highland Township had assumed its present boundaries, elections for various
years were held at the house of Jonathan Lindley.

CATALOGUE OF PIONEERS.

   Prominent among the early pioneers of the township were Isaac Stalcup, John
H. Owen, Evan Owen, Ephraim Owen. John L. Buskirk, Col. Jack Stokely, James
Jackson, Timothy Jessup, Robert Baber, John Kelley, William J., Jacob and Moore
McIntosh, Samuel Kelshaw, Thomas Osborn, Edward and Richard Buckner, David Deem,
Rev. Samuel Meddley, Dr. Simon Snyder, Jonathan Quackenbush, William Bland,
Bailey McCutcheon, John Hunter, John Cloud, Jesse Martin, Charts Beasley and old
Mr. Baber. Perhaps no family became so well known as were the Stalcups, not only
because they were among the first settlers, but because they became interested
in the township's development, and live generations of the family have resided
within its borders.

   Isaac Stalcup was, perhaps, the first settler in the township, his location
being on Section 26, near where his grandson, William B. H., now resides. He was
a North Carolinian by birth, was married to Catharine Osborn, shortly after
which he moved to Tennessee, and from there removed to what is now Highland
Township, Greene County, Ind., in 1817. He was a man of powerful physique, and
was well adapted to endure the hardships and inconveniences of pioneer life. He
and wife evidently believed in following the teachings of the Bible so far as
multiplying and replenishing the earth were concerned, for they both lived to
ripe old ages and became the parents of twenty-one children, many of the
descendants of whom yet reside in the county. The same year of Mr. Stalcup's
settlement, John H Owen and Evan Owen located in the township, the former on
what is known as the old Armstead Owen place, and the latter not a great ways
distant. Both were natives of North Carolina, but emigrated to Lost River in
Indiana Territory in 1814, and three years later removed to Highland Township.
Evan Owen brought with him from his native State apple and peach seeds, and,
planting these, grew the first orchard in the township, some of the trees
outliving their propagator many years. He and wife—formerly Priscilla
Sanders—were parents of twelve children, Mrs. Charlotte Jessup, who lives near
Worthington, being one of the survivors. John H. Owen and wife (Susanna Elrod)
were the parents of four sons and one daughter, the second son being John G.
Owen, born August 8, 1818, the first white child in Greene County. John G.
became a prominent man in the public affairs of the township, and at one time
served as County Commissioner. He died April 19, 1876, leaving a widow and
family. His oldest son, Thomas C., lives near the birthplace of his father, and
owns one of the best river bottom farms in the township. James Stalcup, son of
Isaac, the first settler, located first in Greene County within the present site
of Worthington in 1818, but three years later moved across the river and located
where Henry Booze now lives. He erected a cabin, and being on the main traveled
road from Terre Haute, his home was the stopping place for travelers, and his
undoubtedly was the first tavern in the neighborhood. He was a blacksmith by
trade, and used to make axes, plows, grubbing hoes, etc., for the surrounding
community.

OTHER INTERESTING EVENTS.

   Alex Plummer burned brick for Mr. Stalcup on this place in 1830, and the same
year erected the first brick house in the township. Years ago, the old house was
torn down, and a few of the bricks of which it was composed were used in the
fine brick dwelling of Henry Booze. Mr. Stalcup built another brick house near
his father's old place, and after some time John H. Dixson erected his, which is
yet standing. As we look around us now and see the many advantages we have in
the way of schools, churches, dwellings, mills, etc., we can scarcely imagine
how it was that our forefathers lived and progressed.

THE FIRST SCHOOL.

   Samuel Dority held school in the first schoolhouse built in Highland
Township. This was on the old John Cloud place, near where Peter Resner now
lives, and the wages paid was on the old subscription plan, amounting to $13 per
month, while the teacher boarded around with the scholars. The building was made
of round logs, without floor, clapboard roof, stick-and-mud chimney for the
old-fashioned fire-place, and lighted by one window, with a greased paper for a
window pane. The seats were made of split logs very roughly hewn, having enough
splinters to stick those who were unruly enough to slide along the bench to
gossip with their neighbors; and their desks were of puncheon, placed on two
pegs in the wall for their support. Among the pupils of this institution were
Bice and Anderson Cloud, John and Andy Hunter, Wash and Jack Baber, Riley and
Bluford Graves, Darrel Long, Edinond and Celia Martin, Lucinda and Mary Hunter,
and Mourning and Kissie Bland. Other early pedagogues in the township were John
S. Owen, George R. H. Moore (who afterward became prominent in the political
affairs of the county), and S. R. Tincher. The second named taught on the farm
now owned by Simon Bland, in the old Bethlehem Log Church, and Samuel Tincher
kept school in a log house on Israel Wilkie's farm.

MILLING ENTERPRISES.

   Among the early mills, or "corn-crackers," were those of Dr. Snyder and
Samuel Jewell. The one owned by the former was an old-fashioned tub mill,
located on Musquito Branch. It had a capacity of about three bushels per day,
one-eighth being taken for toll, and from Dr. Snyder's hands it passed into the
possession of George Walker, and finally into decay. Mr. Jewell's mill was
operated by horse-power, and those coming to mill had to hitch a horse to the
sweep and grind their own grist. Charles Beasley had the first and second
distilleries, and it was almost as universal at an early day for a settler to go
there for whisky as to mill for meal. For the cures and ailments of the physical
body, Dr. Simon Snyder was perhaps the first physician, but it might also be
said that the ministrations of a few old women of the neighborhood were far more
beneficial than the labors of Dr. Snyder, who, it is said, was a "faith doctor,"
and believed that he could cure at a distance as well as in the sick room—which,
perhaps, was true—or, like the Australian boomerang, could accomplish its object
as well where it wasn't as well as where it was.

EARLY MINISTERS, CHURCHES, ETC.

   Among the pioneer preachers were Jerry Doty, Samuel Meddley, Abraham Kearns,
James Burch, Thomas Oliphant, Abraham May and Richard Wright. They first held
services in the houses of different settlers, but later in schoolhouses and log
churches. Jacob Smith had a ferry across White River, a short distance below the
mouth of Eel River, as early as 1829, and for many years this served the
settlers on the east side of the river as a means of communication with Point
Commerce, which was quite a widely-known trading point during the early history
of the county. After the death of Mr. Smith, his widow presented a petition to
the Board of Commissioners to continue the ferry, but owing to her sex the
petition was strongly contested. After a short struggle, Mrs. Smith's petition
was granted, and thus was the first victory gained by women in Greene County
toward equality of woman with man. There have been two and perhaps three post
offices in Highland Township, one where Henry Booze now resides, kept by John
White, and one on Section 24, by Evan Owen. It was a common occurrence for a
family at that time to work hard the entire year, and the money derived from
their labors only be sufficient to pay their taxes, defray postage, and purchase
a very few of the necessaries of life. This was not because their taxes were
high, or that they carried on a large correspondence, but it was because money
was scarce and very hard to get. Produce of all kinds brought a very low price,
and usually had to be exchanged for goods. The postage on a letter then was 25
cents, and if the recipient did not have the necessary amount to liquidate this
claim, he could not have the letter. Of course the young unmarried men, under
such aggravating circumstances, did not write as often to their sweethearts as
do those of to-day, neither did the young ladies write so many effusions to
their "fellows" as they do now.

PIONEER CUSTOMS.

   While the men worked hard early and late in the fields, clearing, planting
and harvesting, the women, when not aiding their fathers, husbands and brothers,
worked equally as hard at the house, weaving, mending, cooking and cleaning.
They made their own wearing apparel, raised their own food, and in this way they
found no particular need for money. To visit they would walk to their nearest
neighbor, perhaps lour or five miles distant, and return the same way, thinking
no more concerning the distance they had to travel than the women of to-day who
walk only a mile or less. Where is there a young man or young woman in the
township now who would go barefoot to church as did their parents fifty years
ago? Hunting was a favorite pastime for the early settlers, and it was no
trouble whatever for a man to start out, and after being gone an hour or so
return with a fine deer, six or eight turkeys, or some other equally as
palatable game. Although bear and lynx were occasionally seen, the writer of
this chapter has been unable to learn that any were killed in Highland Township.

COMPANY OF TOWNSHIP MILITIA.

   In 1825, Josiah Buskirk, as a Captain in the Forty-seventh Indiana Militia,
made the following report of the condition of his company from this locality,
and it will be noticed by the reader that the amount of firearms and munitions
of war in possession of this company would, on sight, have stricken terror to an
enemy's heart: 8 rifles, 6 pouches, 22 cartridges, 20 flints, and 1 3/4 pounds
of powder. The members composing this company were: Josiah Buskirk, Captain;
Peyton Owen, Ensign; Sandford Gowan, Allan Kelley, Bailey McCutcheon and John
Stalcup, First, Second, Third and Fourth Sergeants respectively, and David Deem,
John H. Owen, Evan Owen, Joseph McIntosh, William Bryant, Benjamin Stalcup,
Francis Bland, William Bland, William Wilkie, Hiram Martin, Reuben Martin,
George Martin, Eli Martin, Richard Pope, Joshua Hunter, Alexander Hunter,
Richard Buckner, John Dodd, Robert Dodd and Amos Owen, privates. It is not
recorded how many battles were fought, or how much blood was shed, but it is
related by old settlers that on muster day a fisticuff was no uncommon
occurence. Blood, on such occasions, would flow freely from sundry noses, and
eyes that in the morning had been a heavenly blue, a sparkling brown or a
determined gray, assumed the hue of the raven's wing before the day had passed.

EARLY MARRIAGES.

   Courtships and weddings have, at all ages of the world, received considerable
attention, and from the early marriages recorded from Highland Township one
would infer that the fair sex was not by any means deficient in the art of
captivating the hearts of the opposite sex. Among the first to undertake the
responsibility of wedded felicity were Bailey McCutcheon and Anna Baber, Aaron
Bland and Lavina Bryant, Isaac Stalcup and Mourning Martin, and Reuben Martin
and Jennie Beasley. George Baber, aged forty, and Margaret Hunter, aged fifteen,
was another couple that took upon themselves the matrimonial yoke, and
notwithstanding the disparity in their ages, they lived happily together many
years, and reared a large family. The citizens of Highland Township, as a rule,
are comfortably fixed, although it is to be regretted that they have not taken a
more active interest in the development of its resources and its general
improvement. Portions of the township are underlaid with rich coal and ore
deposits, and especially is this noticeable of the former mineral, by its
outcroppings on the farm of Reuben Smith and others. An excellent quality of
sandstone also abounds, and is to be had in almost any portion of the township.
Stock-raising seems to be the most profitable business in which the citizens are
engaged, and among those who make it a success, as they also do farming, are
John J. Ballard, Simon Bland, Henry Booze, Jacob Bucher and John H. Dixson.
Under many years' service as Township Trustee, Simon Bland has advanced the
educational interests of his township until it ranks among the best in the county.

SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.

   Up to 1840, only five small log and badly used schoolhouses were within its
borders, but at present they have nine frame houses which, in 1882, averaged
about five months' teaching to each district, and these nine districts paid
their teachers, in 1882, about $1,400. There are, at present, three churches in
the township, two Baptist and one Methodist Episcopal. The latter is located on
Section 30, and the two former on Sections 16 and 19. James H. Oliphant,
grandson of the old pioneer preacher, is pastor for the one on Section 16,
Martin Faulk for the one on Section 19, and Rev. Mr. Rogers for the Methodist
Episcopal Church.

THE BIG TREE.

   One of the noted features of Greene County is the giant sycamore tree on the
farm of Uncle John Dixson. This monster of the forest is perhaps a thousand
years old, nearly a hundred feet high, and measures about sixteen feet in
diameter. We repeat from Baber's brief history, with a postscript of our own,
that the tall sycamore of the White River Valley rather beats the tall sycamore
of the Wabash Valley by at least ninety-four feet in height, twelve feet in
circumference, and nine hundred and forty years in experience.

AN APPALLING ACCIDENT.

   In March, 1876, an appalling accident occurred on Section 21, which, from its
number of deaths, is unparalleled in the history of Greene County. This was the
explosion of the boiler of the steam saw mill owned by Hunter Brothers. The
boiler had run dry and was red hot when cold water was pumped into it. No sooner
had this occurred, than with a report that was heard miles away, the boiler
burst, causing death and destruction on every hand. Nineteen persons were
present at the time of the explosion, and of these twelve were killed outright,
one was mortally wounded, and six were more or less seriously injured. The
following is a list of the killed: James Hunter, John Hunter, John Spelts,
Absalom Vandeventer, John Wilkie, two little sons of David Hunter, a son of John
Hamilton, son of George Rea, son of Henry Sarver, son of George Bender and a son
of Jacob Brubaker. James Hunter, the first named, had a son present who received
injuries that resulted in his death shortly thereafter. It was not long until
hundreds of people were on the scene, drawn thither by the report that the
boiler of Hunter's saw mill had burst. Mothers, daughters and sisters were
there, bewailing the loss of loved ones with tears and lamentations, while the
horrified glances and pale faces of men who were busily at work in search of the
remains of the dead added to the sorrow of the scene. May Highland Township
never be visited with another such disaster, but, on the contrary, may it thrive
and nourish, its citizens prosper, its abundant resources be developed, and then
Highland Township will be second to none in Greene County.



Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF GREENE AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES,
STATE OF INDIANA,
FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TO THE PRESENT; TOGETHER WITH INTERESTING BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES, REMINISCENCES, NOTES, ETC.

ILLUSTRATED.

CHICAGO: GOODSPEED BROS. & CO., PUBLISHERS.
1884.

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