Genealogy

Townships

Gibson County,

Indiana

     Barton township is located in the southeast corner of Gibson county. It is bounded on the north by Center and Columbia townships, east by Pike and Warrick counties, south by Warrick county, west by  Johnson and Patoka townships. This township was organized in August, 1843, but afterward the boundary lines then fixed were changed. The township was formed by request of many of its later citizens who drew up a petition.

The land surface of this township is typical of the county, undulating and hilly in places and in others, low and rich. Smith's fork, Pigeon creek and their tributaries drain and water the soil. McCullough's pond is also located in the southwestern part.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

John Miller is accredited with being the first settler in Barton township.He came in the autumn of 1814 and located on section 8, township 3, range 9, builded himself a rude cabin of logs and housed his family there during the
following winter. He was a native of Kentucky, and traveled here on foot and with a pack horse. Elisha Strickland came in the summer of 1815, and also Jacob Skelton. In 1818 came William McCleary. The first settler in
the southeastern part of the township was John Kilpatrick, who came in 1821. William Barrett, Andrew McGregor, James BreedloveEli J.

Perhaps the first marriage of the township was that of John Skelton, Sr.Bouty Kell were the earliest
ministers here. Providence church, a log house, was the first house of worship. The first water-mill for grinding corn was erected by Jacob Bouty, on Smith's fork of Pigeon creek. Dr. George Austin was the first physician of
the township. Coal digging began in this township about 1833, on section 5, townshipe township, demolishing homes and killing animals.

first election was held at the house of Blueford H. Griswell, September 30, 1843, Jacob Skelton was appointed first overseer of the poor. The history of the early-day schools will be found in the chapter on Education. The churches are also mentioned in the Church chapter.

Seth Adkinson in 1817.

    CENTER TOWNSHIP.

Center township is bounded on the north by Washington township, eas1by Pike county and Columbia township, south by Barton and Patoka town-ships and west by Patoka township. The Patoka river and its tributaries,Lost, Keg and Mud creeks, drain the land. The heavy timber which orig-inally covered the ground and furnished such excellent hunting grounds, isall cleared, and farms dot the country in places.

Perhaps the earliest settler of the township was one William Reavis, a North Carolinian by birth and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Isam and Danie]Reavis came in 1818; David Johnson, Thomas Birchfield, Samuel Beasley andThomas H. McKedy were other early settlers. The early history of thistownship coincides with the other and more important townships, in whichits earlier history is included.

EARLY SETTLERS.

In 1817 William Reavis married Catherine Hensley and soon after thisevent they made the long and tedious trip to this county on pack-horses, ar-riving in the summer of the same year. They settled near the present town Francisco, about a mile southwest, in the timber, where they cleared atract, erected the usual log cabin, and by industry made them a fine farmhome. One of their children was Alexander, who became a soldier in theUnion army in the Civil war, and died in Andersonville prison. Mr. Reavis died at the old homestead in 1855. His widow survived him about two years. They were both of the Regular Baptist faith.

From the History of Gibson County by   Gil R. Stormont =  1914 =B.F. Bowen & Co.    

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

The early settlers of Columbia township subsisted largely on the game which was then plentiful in the surrounding forest. Bears were very numer-ous and many of them were killed. John Farmer, a native of the Old Dominion, was one of the earliest settlers of the township. He was a farmer and had the distinction of introducing the first Durham cattle and Berkshire hogs into this locality.Philemon Dill, a Scotch-Irishman from Tennessee, came to this township in 1814, and his famity is still prominent in Oakland City and vicinity. William Hopkins and family, John Wallace, James Steel, William J. Summers, William Nossett, James  W. Cockrum, Samuel Baldwin, Jacob Skelton were others among the pioneers of this section.

From the History of Gibson County by   Gil R. Stormont =  1914 =B.F. Bowen & Co.    

JOHNSON TOWNSHIP.

This is one of the southern sub-divisions of Gibson county. Originally it took in much more territory than at present, for in 1899 the county commissioners created a new township from the southern part of Patoka and the northern portion of Johnson township, known as Union. As now constituted, Johnson township is four by twelve miles in extent, running the longest way from east to west. The southwestern portion of this township
is drained by Big creek. McGarry's Flat is a strip of rich black land, superior for its agricultural value. The early forests are nearly all gone and where the great trees stood a century ago now may be seen well-tilled farms. At
an early day its forests were known for their wild, yet charming scenes, that changed with the passing of the four seasons. Here was found the oak, poplar, maple, beech, ash, gum, walnut, sycamore, cottonwood, elm, honey locust, cyprus, catalpa and other trees. The pioneer well remembers the .pawpaw bushes, some of which were almost a foot in diameter. In the springtime the knolls and hill-tops are plumed with bouquets, brilliant with
red, white and purple promises of fruitage. In the autumn the valleys are odorous with the fragrance of ripening fruits. The only rocky outputs in Johnson township are those at or near Haubstadt where the rash coals and
their companion strata lay. These are of no economic importance, as the great depth at which anything valuable can be found precludes mining.

From the History of Gibson County by   Gil R. Stormont =  1914 =B.F. Bowen & Co.    

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP.

This township was named for the Montgomery family, who were pioneers of the locality and one of the most prominent families of the early days. The real history of the township begins before the organization of
the county, when the settlers were just beginning to lead their wagon trains through the trackless wilderness and to find homes. Montgomery township was settled early by these heroic travelers. This township is the largest in the county and one of the largest and best in the state of Indiana. It lies in the southwestern part of the county, bounded on the north by White river township and the Wabash river, east by Patoka township, south by Johnson and Posey counties, and west by Posey county and Wabash township.The soil of Montgomery township is about two-thirds up-land and one- third low-land, the richer soil being made of calcaro-alluviallloam, of high productive power. There are four or five small lakes located in the north-
western part of the township, emptying into the Wabash river. The principal streams besides the Wabash, are Indian creek, Black river, Martin's branch, Obion creek and Maumee creek.

The identity of the first white settler in this township is not known for certain. Thomas Montgomery, however, was one of the earliest arrivals here, coming from Kentucky, building a cabin near Black river, and lodging
his family therein. In the same year, 1805, Jesse Kimball also came up from Kentucky in search of new fields for his merchandising trade. He later owned a water mill in this township. In 1806 Thomas Sharp, William and Luke Wiley came to within a short distance of Owensville. Mathias and Smith Mounts came about this time, then Jacob Warrick, John Benson, Thomas Waters, George and Thomas Sharp, Robert McGary, John Roberts,
John Armstrong of North Carolina, Jesse Emerson, Andrew Gudgel, James Knowles, Elisha Marvel, Samuel Barr, Thomas Sharp, Joshua Nichols, William Leach and Thomas Stone.

From the History of Gibson County by   Gil R. Stormont =  1914 =B.F. Bowen & Co.    

PATOKA TOWNSHIP.

       Patoka township was organized at the first session of the common pleascourt, held at the house of Judge William Harrington, on May 10, 1813, the house being located in the southwest quarter of section n, township 2, range ll, a mile and a half southwest of the present court house. Since that time, however, the boundaries of the township have been repeatedly changed. It is now bounded on the north by White river and Washington townships, east by Center and Barton, south by Union, and west by Montgomery. The land is drained by the Patoka river and its tributaries in the north, Snake run and Pigeon creek in the southeast, and Central and Muddy creek in the south. Originally the surface of Patoka township was thickly covered with timber, but this has been nearly all cleared off and the land made into rich and productive farms. The surface is for the most part undulating, but in the north and east portions, and approaching the stream, the ground becomes very rugged and knobby. Two miles north of Princeton is Bald hill, which rises to an elevation of one hundred and thirty feet above the town and two hundred and twenty feet above the Wabash . Mound Builders are probably responsible for the rounded top, as there are other evidences of this prehistoric race in this part of the state. Considerable bottom land ranges through the western part

From the History of Gibson County by   Gil R. Stormont =  1914 =B.F. Bowen & Co.    

UNION TOWNSHIP.

     Union is the last civil township to be formed in Gibson county. Until 1890 it was a part of Johnson and Patoka townships, but at the commissioners' meeting in May, 1890, the separation took place, and since then it has been a separate sub-division of the county. For a detailed description of the act forming this township, with its boundaries, the reader is referred to the chapter on County Government, in this volume. Its history from the pioneer settlement to the year 1890 has been treated and fully covered in the township history of Johnson township, hence will not here be gone over, at any length. Suffice to say that It contains about fifty-one sections, with the town of Fort Branch about in its geographical center. It is surrounded by the townships of Johnson, Montgomery, Patoka, Center and Barton.

     In 1900 Union township had a population of two thousand one hundred and forty-nine and in the census taken in 1910 it showed a population of two thousand five hundred and seven. Its surface is somewhat broken, but contains the average number of excellent farms and prosperous agriculturists. The valleys are rich and very
productive and the native timber is still found sufficient for all present needs.

From the History of Gibson County by   Gil R. Stormont =  1914 =B.F. Bowen & Co.  

Wabash Township

Wabash township was formed by the wishes of the inhabitants as set forth in a petition and presented .to the county commissioners at their November term, 1838. Prior to that date it formed a part of Montgomery town-
ship. The first election of the new township was held at the house of Joshua Jordon, on the first Monday of April, 1839. The election was for the purpose of electing two justices of the peace. The first settler here was Daniel   Williams and family, consisting of wife and nine children. He located here in the summer of 1813 on a portion of the farm which afterwards was owned by Moses Lamar. Williams was from North Carolina originally, but moved to Tennessee, and from there to Gibson county. After arriving here he cleared a small tract of land and built him a small pole shanty. The locality being infested with Buffalo , which were troublesome, as well as dangerous to what little live stock he owned, he therefore, after remaining here a few months, decided to pull up and leave for unknown parts.

The second settlers to arrive were James Barnett and family, who came in the autumn of 1815. They were Kentuckians. He built the second log house. It was an improvement over the first cabin, as it possessed a clap board door and clay-and-stick chimney. The next settlers were John Thompson and A. J. Cooper and their families. John Thompson was possessed of more than ordinary enterprise and of some intelligence. He was a justice of the peace while Wabash formd a part of Montgomery township, and was the first justice in the territory now embraced in what is Wabash township. Among other early pioneers were Jacob Carabaugh, R. Jordon, James Crowley, J. Tweedle and Thomas Barnett. The first farm to be really well improved was made by Jordon. Young Lamar was one of the prominent early settlers and near his residence was erected a very small log school house, generally styled as the Lamar school house. It was there William Cash taught the first school in Wabash township to about twenty of the children of the settlement. The first preacher to visit this section was Rev. Peter Salsman, who preached at the house of Mr. Lamar in 1820, and occasionally after that in the school house.

From the History of Gibson County by   Gil R. Stormont =  1914 =B.F. Bowen & Co.  

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.

This township was named after the first president of the United States and is located in the northeastern part of the county. Originally covered with dense timber, the land today is very rough and broken. However, the soil is productive, especially in the bottom lands. White and Patoka rivers, Yellow, Engine, Pond, Goose, Sand branch and other tributaries afford ex-
cellent drainage. The township is bounded on the north by Pike county and White river, east by Pike county, south by Center and Patoka, and west by White river and township. Another descriptive location is by portions of township ii-i

The Decker brothers, Joseph, Jacob and Luke, first came to this town ship in 1800 and built a ferry across White river at a point where

One of the next settlers was Nathaniel West, also in 1800. Then came Abraham Decker from Kentucky, Robert Falls, VV. G. Collins, Mrs. Betsey Milburn, Thomas Gardn r of South Carolina, Thomas Sullivan of Ireland, John Stookey and John I. Neely. The first sermons in the township were preached by Joseph Milburn, a Baptist minister, and the first church was built on military donation No. 77, the buily floor. The first resident physician of Washington township was Dr. Joseph Davidson; Richard Garner was the first blacksmith, and the first justices, in order, were William Phillips. Jonathan Gulick, Robert Kirk and John Gulick. The first death was of a man named McCoy, who died on a keel-boat. The first postoffice in the township was established at Buena Vista and was called "West Buena Vista." John Cunningham was postmaster. Other offices were located at Kirksville, later Wheeling, and one between Hazelton and Petersburg in Pike county, but all have been abandoned. John Claypool opened a store at Decker's ferry in 1816, and this was the first in the town- ship.

WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP.

This township is in the northern portion of the county, and when firstorganized contained all that part of the county north of the Patoka river.The present boundaries of the township are:Wabash and White rivers. The land,
although broken in places, is very suitable for agriculture, all varieties ofgrain being raised in full quantities. The Wabash, White and Patoka riversboth drain and water the land throughout. Heavy timber originally coveredthe township, but agriculture has compelled the clearing of nearly all of it.

The advantage of river operation caused several grist-mills and saw-mills to be built here in early times. The logs were floated to these millsfrom other parts of the14 there was a pestilence known as the "blackplague," which resulted disastrously for the people of this portion of the ounty. It was equal to the cholera in its fatality. Wild game was plentiful in this portion and bears, panthers, wolves, wild cats, elk, deer and wild turkey were all hunted by the frontiersmen. Fish in the streams was a source of much of the meat supply. Potter's clay was found and was a source of
great profit in early times.

The first grist-mill constructed in White River township was of round logs and was built by Keen Fields. It was run by horse power and was pro vided with one set of buhrs. Each customer furnished his own power during those days and provided his own bolt. The first style of bolt was a box-shaped invention, with straight handle and wire bottom, and was termed a "sarch." The ground grist was placed in this sarch and was pushed by hand back and forth across the top of an open trough, a hollowed log, which held the flour after being sifted out.