Sand Creek Township Pioneers
Unknown Authors
This was copied by someone from newspapers,and is written as they had done it. My comments are in
this color purple.
There were several of the earlier settlers of Sand Creek Township whose names have not yet appeared in any
of the writeups. FRANK CHEEVERS, who lived about two miles south west of Brewersville, his son W. A. CHEEVER lives on a farm on Sand
Creek on the north border of Jennings County, once owned by MR. CORNSTOCK. FRANK CHEEVER'S father ABNER CHEEVER'S second wife was AMY
WILSON, a sister of SARAH WILSON RIGGS and SAMUEL WILSON, one of whose daughters, LUCINDA, was the wife of DR. STONEMEZ, who was one
of the first Brewersville doctors, another one was DR. BRAND, under whom DR. W. F. Reiley took lessons in medicine another of SAMUEL
WILSON's daughters married EZRA WHITMORE and lived in North Vernon for many years. JACOB BREWER, the man who laid off BREWERSVILLE,
married another of of SAMUEL WILSON'S daughters, ANNA WILSON. AMY one of their daughters was the wife of DANIEL BACON who was an
officer in the 52nd Ind. Regiment during the Civil War and was afterwards the clerk of Jennings County. His son ORLANDO BACON, is
still living in North Vernon (Orlando Bacon died in 1939 according to his headstone in the Vernon Cemetery so
that tells us it was written prior to 1939). DAVID MARSH was postmaster during the Civil War and afterward owned a store.
SAM MIX was the merchant there during the Civil War. GIDEON UNDERWOOD'S father was one of the first settlers living on the farm,
afterward owned by CARVELL MATTHEWS. JESSE BURROUHS' father DR. BURROUGHS came to Indiana from Garrard County Kentucky in 1816,
and entered a 1-2 section of land including the site of the famous tunnel, this part of his farm he afterward sold to JOHN KELLAR,
who had the tunnel excavated under the roadbed by blasting, which was done by his brother-in-law HENRY RIGGS. This tunnel was made
to furnish water for the woolen mills which were built by JOHN KELLAR in 1859. He had the machinery hauled from Madison by ox teams.
The mills did a great amount of work before they were destroyed by fire in 1867. The bend in the creek here was called CRAIG'S Bend
for one of the first settlers. A Scotchman by the name of TWADELL lived on a farm near what was afterwards known as the HICKS and HOLMES
stone quarry near where W. A. CHEEVER lives. SAMUEL JACKSON and the HUNTER brothers, JOSEPH and LEWIS came from Dearborn County and
lived on upper Bear Creek. L. O. STWINING a grandson of LEWIS HUNTER has been a Baptist preacher in Indianapolis for many years. DAVID
and ALPHEUS HOWELL, brothers, also lived on Bear Creek. HERMAN GEHL ownes the farm formerly owned by ALPHEUS HOWELL. The GEHL family
lived on Bear Creek joining the HENRY RIGGS farm, they were a German family. Then there was JOHN STORY, who lived on Sand Creek and
became insane on the subject of religion, and wandered all over the country preaching. You could hear him for a long distance, and
there was only one man that could control him and that was GIDEON UNDERWOOD, while many were afraid of him yet he was never known to
harm anyone. Although he would sometimes threaten to fight, yet he never did as far as I ever heard. There was Uncle BILLY DAVIS, who
lived just west of Brewersville, and was famous as a violinist, his son CHARLES and perhaps others also played on the violin. Someone
of the family made a violin out of a long handled gourd and could make pretty good music out of it. His son JAMES taught vocal music,
and his grandson DON DAVIS, of North Vernon was one of main pillars in the Holiness Church in North Vernon and had a great influence
for good, as many will testify. Then there were a great many by the name of JONES who lived in various parts of the township. One
BREWER JONES was a famous musician and taught music. ANDERSON JONES was a Methodist preacher. Grandfather EDDLEMAN, who had been a
prisoner with the Indians for many years, talked their language like a native and wore gold ear rings, was the father of SAMUEL EDDLEMAN
who lived 1 1/2 miles north of Brewersville--he had two other sons DANIEL and WILLIAM and one daughter, the wife of MARTIN RIGGS, who
left three sons who moved to Illinois before the Civil War, they were all in the service and one died from wounds received at Pittsburg
Landing. JOHN KELLAR raised the oldest one WILLIAM and SAMUEL EDDLEMAN raised another SILAS. And we must not forget JUSTUS RICH, who
lived west of Brewersville who came from New York, a college graduate, also graduated in-law and medicine, although he never practiced
either but followed farming. He had more than one law student who came to him to recite, or FOX DRAPER afterward owned a store in Scipio,
another W.M. SPRIGGS moved to Kansas and finally became governor of that state (Close but not quite, William Spriggs
became Treasurer of Kansas twice "William Spriggs; 1865-1866, William Spriggs; 1867-1868").
Mr. RICH'S son DEWITT CLINTON RICH was also a lawyer. He was a member of the Indiana Legislature, elected before
he was 21 years old, he lacked five days of being 21 years old when he took his seat. He was an officer in one of the Indiana regiments
during the Mexican War, and died while in service. (I have not found any records to substantiate the previous claims about DeWitt Clinton
Rich, if anyone can please contact me so I can add it). Justus Rich used to say that although he was a graduate of Law and Medicine,
that he was to honest to be a lawyer and too lazy to be a doctor. W. D. DAILY was a foreign missionary from the Methodist Church for
several years and is now living in Greensburg, the old man named THICKSTON, father of THOMAS, WILLIAM, MOSES, ISAAC, ELIJAH and WILLIS
THICKSTON lived a short distance northwest of the Indian mound in a log cabin. He was an old Indian fighter, and recieved a wound which
caused him much trouble. He was in part an Indian. STALEY, another old settler lived on Bear Creek. One of his daughters married L. C.
STOTT, of this place, and their son W. T. STOTT, was a Captain in the Civil War. JOHN KELLAR leased the land north of Sand Creek on Craig's
bend to JACOB BARR, and as it wan an unusually fine sugar maple orchard, he BARR, tapped the trees and made a large amount of maple sugar.
He made a new canoe out of a large tree and filled it with sugar and thus took it to his home in the canoe. He had twelve daughters all
under 12 years of age.
CORRESPONDENT LISTS MORE NAMES OF SANDCREEK TOWNSHIP PIONEERS
By a Westport Correspondent
I thought I had covered the early doing of Sand Creek Township in the former notes, but find there have been several
names not yet mentioned. W. S. TWADDELL a grandson of the Scotchman TWADDELL mentioned last week was in the 6th Regiment Indiana Volunteers
during the Civil War and died at his home in Brewersville during the summer of 1921. There are quite a good many of the TWADDELL descendents
scattered in various sections of the United States.
WARNER BREWER a son of JACOB BREWER, served during the Mexican War and was shot clear through the body but recovered
and lived to serve in the Civil War. He used to tell of the surgeons drawing a silk handkerchief through his wound to cleanse it. Two brothers
AUSTIN and ELI Mitchell lived on Bear Creek. AUSTIN on the south side of the creek near where W. L. Richardson had a saw mill and ELI lived on
the north side of the creek just where the Bear Chreek brick school house was afterwards built. His wife was a daughter of GEORGE WASHINGTON,
an Englishman, who lived in Westport, After Mr. MITCHELL died she married GEORGE BOICOURT, who owned a flouring mill in Westport in connection
with his brother DAVID BOICOURT. A Mr. MATTHEWS lived a short distance north of the ALPHENS POWELL farm. One of his sons HARRISON MATTHEWS died
in service during the Civil War. There are numerous descendents of the MATTHEWS family. Mention has been made of NELSON and RICHARD SMITH who
taught school in the original Bear Creek school house. Their father JAMES SMITH was a Revolutionary Soldier (Revolutionary Soldiers buried in
Jennings County has his name as Samuel Smith?) and is buried in the KELLAR CEMETERY. VALENTINE BROUGHER whose wife was RACHEL RIGGS, was one
of the early settlers. One son JACOB BROUGHER served in the Civil War, and while convalescing from an attack of typhoid fever, he was sent
home on furlough, his family and friends, of course made a great feast in his honor, and equally, of course, he ate to much of the good things
provided and in two days he was dead. He lies buried in the Bear Creek Cemetery. His picture was placed in his tombstone by his name and is still there at last report. There was also a family by the name of DICKINSON, who lived just west
of the JUSTUS RICH home. One of the grandsons, son of WM BOYDS - HARRINGTON BOYD was secretary treasurer of the Union Trust Company in Greensburg
until his health failed. He is now living in California. JOHN DICKENSON'S wife was the eldest daughter of HENRY RIGGS. The family are all dead.
JACOB BREWER had another son JUSTUS BREWER who served in the Civil War. His wife was a granddaughter of Mrs. CHLOE CAMPBELL, who was a sister of
HIRAM PRATHER, an officer in the 6th Indiana Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. MRS. BREWER'S name before her marriage was ADRAEN MCDONALD.
FRED BROUGHER, who was at one time treasurer of Jennings County and has a son JAMES WHITCOMB BROUGHER, a famous Baptist preacher and lecturer
lives in Los Angeles, California. Several STEARNS brothers were located in various parts of the township and their descendants are quite numerous.
LEWIS GRINSTEAD lived on Sand Creek, northeast of Brewersville. He had two sons MARSHALL AND WIRT who served in the 6th Indiana. All three were
in the same company B. After the close of the war, MARSHALL GRINSTEAD married METTA, a daughter of REV. JOHN HAZELTON and subsequently became
a minister in the Christian Church. HENRY RIGGS had four sons in the Civil War. JOHN BASIL in the 6th Indiana, he moved to Kansas in 1883 and
died there in 1917. GEORGE ? in the 26th Indiana, he has been living in Texas since 1913. EZRA in the 62nd Indiana who died at Trinne Tennessee,
April 1865. CALVIN, who was in the telegraph department, died near Memphis, Tennessee in 1873. There was a splended spring that issued from
under a big stone bluff on the HENRY RIGGS Bear Creek farm, just across the road in front of the (his) house. He blasted out enough of the bluff
to make a good sized room, with a smooth stone floor, which was always covered with 2 or 3 inches of cold water. The front of the room was boarded
up and a door was made, and the whole room was used for a milk house, where milk was kept during the warm weather. A wooden spout brought the water
outside and there it dripped, quite a large round place was worn away by the continuel dropping of the water. After MR DENNEY bought the farm in
1862, his son PETER built a room in front of the spring house and used it all for a creamery for several years, until he moved to Montana, where
he still lives. A. L. ROOF, who was a Methodist preacher and lived in Brewerswille, was a captian in the 82nd Indiana Regiment. His home was the
meeting place of the citizens during the Morgan Raid scare in 1863. His son JOHN was also a volunteer in the Civil War service.
Westport Correspondent
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