village of
Glenn's Valley, and now occupied by his
son, Hezekiah Smart.
About a mile north of this settlement, on the six-
teenth or school section, there settled a colony, com-
ing
from Dearborn County, Ind., consisting of three
or four
families, — James Martin and family, his
brother-in-law, Samuel
Smith, and family, Smith's
son-in-law, William Stallcop, and
Stallcop's brother.
Martin did not settle permanently on tihis
section,
but soon after entered eighty acres of land half a
mile north of his temporary location.
At about the same
time that the above settlers
came in John Myers located on the
west half of the
southwest quarter of section 9, which he and
his
brother Henry, mentioned below, had entered, it
being
the section just north of the school section,
and Peyton
Bristow, who had been here in the sum-
mer and put up a cabin,
now returned (it being in
the first part of December), and
settled permanently
on what was called Bristow's Hill, six miles
south
of the city, on the east of the Bluff road, which had
then just been laid out. John and Israel Watts,
with Benson
Miner, from Whitewater, settled east of
Myers, in the same
section, David Fisher being the
present owner of one of the
farms, and Isaac Sutton
of the other. This last-named settlement
was made
most probably in the spring of 1823, as were also a
number of others, all so near the same time that it is
difficult to tell their order. Among these settlers
was
Zachariah Lem.xster, who settled on the hill,
known among the
pioneers as Lemaster's Hill, on
the north side of Lick Creek,
and east of the Bluff
road, his cabin making the fourth between
the city
and Johnson County line, on this road, the first
cabin built being Henry Riddle's, the second, Har-
monson's,
then Bristow's and Lemaster's, this being
also the order in
which they would be passed coming
towards the city of
Indianapolis.
Another settler was Martin Bush, who located
on
the south side of Buck Creek, near its mouth, he
being
the first settler on White River in this town-
ship. Joseph and
Benjamin Snow located respec-
tively on the southeast quarter of
section 34 and the
southwest quarter of section 27, in township
15,
578
HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND
MARION COUNTY.
range 3. Larkin. John, and Henry
Mundy, and
their father, with their brother-in-law, Henry Myers,
and Emanuel Glimpse, and others, — among whom
were the
Stevens family, — located north of the
school section, between
the Bluff road and the river,
Watts and Glimpse being in the
second bottom-
land, and the others were in the first. From the
north side of section 9 to Lake Creek was a section
which
was afterwards known as Waterloo, and had
an unenviable
reputation, a number of the.se settlers
being squatters on
government lands.
Thomas Wilson was the next to settle on
the Bluff
road, his cabin being first on the east side, and
after-
wards on the west, the road having been so changed
as
to accomplish this, his being the next cabin built
between
Harmonson's and Bristow's.
Going back to the year 1822, when
a settlement
was made on the north side of the township, on the
line of the present Three-Notch road, gives the
time of the
arrival of Rev. Henry Brenton, with his
ward, George Tomlinson,
his brother, Robert Brenton,
and Adam Pense, who, though he did
not come with
the Brentons, settled there at about the same
time.
Robert Brenton settled in Centre township, on land
immediately south of Pleasant Run, and extending
from the
Three-Notch line to the Bluff road. Henry
Brenton first settled
on land a half-mile south of the
township line and on the east
side of the Three-Notch
line, but about two years afterwards he
moved south
to land on the south side of Lick Creek and same
side of the road. Pense settled on the ijorth side of
the
creek, just across from where Henry Brenton
afterwards located;
and just across the road from
Pense. late in the fall or in the
next spring (that of
1823), Samuel True settled with his son
Isaac.
\ About 1825 or 1826 he put up a frame house, the
first in the township, and which is yet standing.
One half-mile south of Lick Creek, and on the
west side
of the Three-Notch line, as it was called
then, was the
place of location of Bowser ;
and on the same road, on the
south side of Buck
Creek, was the land of David Marrs, whose
cabin,
however, was on the west side of the road.
It may
be interesting to give an explanation of
how this road came to
be so named. In laying out
the road there were three
notches cut in the trees
which marked the line of the survey, to
distinguish
it from the Bluff road, on the west, and the Madison
road, on the east ; and it was also on the section line,
hence the name Three-Notch line.
Going south on this
road and coming down a little
later in time, there was the
settlement of the Dab-
neys, Samuel, James, and John, with their
brother-
in-law, John Smith, on the west side of the road,
and the land commencing a half-mile south of the
road
running from Southport to White River. Just
south of this road
and on the east side of the Three-
Notch line were the cabins of
Samuel True, Jr.,
and Glidden True, who were just married, and
had
come out with their father, Samuel True.
We have now
to go back to the spring of the year
1821, when some squatter,
name unknown, located
on land on the north side of Lick Creek,
and through
which the Shelbyville road now runs, being in the
northeast corner of the township. This person had
succeeded
in clearing a small space and raising a small
crop of corn by
September, at which time the land
and crop were purchased by
John Graham. This
place and that of Henry Riddle were the two
first
improvements in the township. Just across the creek
on
the south side was the place of the Widow White,
who, with her
two sons, Milton and Woodford, set-
tled there the following
year (1822). On the oppo-
site side of the Shelbyville road from
the Whites
was the farm of Jacob Coughman, who arrived the
following fall or the next spring, and just west of
them was
David Small, who came thi.s year or the fall
of 1822, and
southwest of him was Henry D. Bell,
who had the northeast
quarter of section 143, and
who came about the same time. There
was a tran-
sient squatter or two between Bell's and Abraham ^
Lemaster's, who settled about the same time, three-
fourths
of a mile south of the present town of South-
port. Jacob Smock
was next to settle, occupying the
farm immediately north of
Southport and east of the
railroad, he and Lemaster coming
probably in the
spring of 1823. This same year Peter Canine
located on the line of the present railroad and north
of
Lick Creek, on the Bluff. Henry Alcorn settled
on the farm where
Henry Riddle had squatted, and
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
579
had entered the place in 1821.
These settlements
are all that can be positively located, both
as to time
and place, who came before the year 1824. During
this year and the following there was a very consider-
able
immigration, and the following settlements were
made: Samuel
Brewer, on the hill, west side of Madi-
son road, north of Buck
Creek, who came in 1825 ;
Noah Wright, on the east side of
Madison road and
south of Lick Creek ; Simon Smock, east side of
Madi-
son road, just over the line from Centre, his brother-in-
law, Lawrence De Mott, just east of him, the farms
adjoining. Immediately west of Smock, on the east
side of
the Three-Notch line, were John McFall and
sons, — John,
Benjamin, and David, — and just across
the road from him was
George Marquis. About a
mile or a mile and a half east of
Southport was a small
colony, Isaac Coonfield, with his sons,
John and James,
his son-in-law, Archibald Clark, with his
brother,
Obadiah Clark, and northeast of these, on the present
Churchman pike, were John Thompson and William
Huey. These
are about all the permanent settlers
who came this year, 1824,
but there were others
whose names are not known who stayed but a
year or
so. This same thing happened every year, as there
was an almost constant moving around. This being
caused by
the way the land was farmed. A man
entering land and then
sending some one here to put
up a cabin, or leasing it to some
one, who put up a
cabin and stayed a short time, selling the
lease to some
one else, and thus a large part of the settlers
were
only transient. The permanent settlers of the years
1825 and 1826 are given as near in the order of their
arrival as is known, and are as follows: David Fisher
(at
whose house the Lick Creek Baptist Church was
organized), on the
north side of the Churchman pike,
east side of the township ;
James Turner, and his
brother Jacob, west of James, on the
Shelbyville pike,
northeast of Southport; Thomas Bryant, just
west
of Jacob Turner, on the south side of the Shelby-
ville
pike, directly north of Southport ; John Brewer,
with his
family, about half a mile east of Southport ;
Andrew Mann, on
Buck Creek, south side, next to
Franklin township ; Stephen
Hankins, with his family,
half a mile east of the Madison road,
north side of
Lick Creek ; Bphraim Arnold, near tne Lick Creek
Church ; Archibald Bruce, immediately east of Henry
Alcorn ; Charles and Elijah McBride, with their
father, on
the Bluff road, west side, three-quarters of
a mile north of
Glenn's Valley : Samuel Brewer, west
side Madison road, north
side of Buck Creek ; Purnell
Coverdill, two or two and a half
miles northeast of
Southport ; Jeremiah Featherston and family,
three-
quarters of a mile southeast of Southport ; Benjamin
McFarland, the first man who practiced medicine
that settled
in the township, and his two sons, Samuel
and William, and soon
after him his son-in-law,
John McCollum, near Lick Creek, east
side of the
township ; Jloses Orme, on the Three-Notch line,
next to Johnson County ; Lambert Saulter, with his
two sons.
Garret and Elijah, and Page Rawlings,
about one mile and a half
southeast of Southport ;
Samuel Woodfield, five miles south of
town, on the
east of the Bluff road ; Charles Neighbors and
Scipio
Sedgwick, on adjoining land to Woodfield, Neighbors
being just west of him, and Sedgwick south of Neigh-
bors ;
Thomas Richardson, one-half mile north of
Southport, on the east
side of the Madison road ;
Rev. John Ritchie, east side of the
Bluff road, ad-
joining the Centre township line, just west of
George
Marquis ; Noah Wright, on the east side of Madison
road, south bank of Lick Creek ; William Evans, on
the south
side of Lick Creek, about three-quarters of
a mile east of where
the Madison road crosses ; James
Hoagland, with his sons,
Richard, John, and Wil-
liam, one and a half miles southeast of
Southport.
About this time William Tracy, his son-in-law,
Peggs, and his brother, John Tracy, settled one mile
west of
Southport, south side of the present gravel
road. Jacob Peggs is
still living at Franklin, Ind.,
about ninety years old. He
served as recorder of
Johnson County two terms, and as justice
of the
peace in the same county several terms, and was the
first miller at Smock's mill, spoken of elsewhere. On
the
west side of the township was Silas Rhoads, who
settled just
across the road from Henry Alcorn, but
he remained only a year
or so, leaving in 1827, and
moving to the Wabash ; and the same
year Alex-
ander Clark, after whom Clark township, Johnson
County, is named, moved in, and after remaining
about two
years' moved to the northeast corner of
580
HISTORY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND MAEION COUNTY.
Johnson County. This completes the list of what
might be called old settlers, those at least who were
of any
prominence, there being others whose names
are not known and who
remained, as a rule, but a year
or so, and did not generally own
the land.
About 1827, Isaac Kelly settled one half-mile
north of Lick Creek, on the east side of the Three-
Notch
line ; William McClain on the north side of
the gravel road, one
mile east of Southport ; Jesse
Dunn on the north side of Buck
Creek, one half-
mile west of where the Three-Notch line crosses
it;
Benjamin Harris (a tenant only), about a mile and a
half
northwest of Southport; William Jones, who
came in 1828, and was
the first Welshman, two miles
west of Southport, on the south
side of the gravel
road.
The following is a list of
those who were settlers,
and who either remained but a short
time or whose
place of settlement is not known : Jesse Admire,
Henry Brewer, near Southport ; William Brenton,
east of
Southport ; Lewis J. Brown, William H. P.
and James, sons of
Peyton Bristow, Isaac and
Edward Brazelton, near the centre of
the township ;
Allen Bost, Joel Boling, Richard Berry, Thomas
Carle, northeast of Southport about two miles ;
Nicholas
Cline, James Carson, Henry Coughman,
Benjamin Crothers,
Frederick Disinger (who was
very probably the first German to
settle in the town-
ship), Abram and Peter Ellis, David Fulson,
Moses
Frazee, Richard Good (the first Irishman who settled
in the township), William Hall, Jacob Hill, John
Heist, John
W. Johnston, John M. Johnson, Wil-
liam and James Johnson
(William living in Water-
loo), John Jackson, Thomas Lewis (one
mile and a
half southwest of Southport, on the county road run-
ning east and west, the farm now owned by the widow
of Ezra
Smith), Jacob and Ezariah Mosely, George
McClain, two miles west
of Southport on the county
road ; William Mentieth, William and
James Mc-
Laughlin, in the northeast side of the township ;
Smith McFall, Charles Orme (who was a transient
settler
only), John Parker, a United Brethren minis-
ter, John Reding,
Sr., Henry Rammel, John Russell
(one half-mile west of
Southport, north side of Buck
Creek), Joseph Rosenbarg, Ephraim
Robinson (who
stayed about a year), William Rice,
Thomas Richard-
son, a half-mile north of Southport, east side
of the
Madison road ; John Seiburn (at whose mother's
house
the first Sunday-school in the township was
organized, one mile
and a half north of Southport,
half-mile east of the Madison
road), Thomas Shelton,
northwest of Southport, on the north bank
of Buck
Creek ; Frederic Shultz, Isaac Senoney, Daniel Stack,
James Spillman, in the northeast part of the town-
ship ;
Francis Sanders (who lived to be over ninety
years of age), one
mile and a half east of Glenn's
Valley ; Robert Tomlinson,
southwest of Southport,
north side of the road ; Thomas Lewis,
Jacob Tumes,
John Thompson, Richard Thomas, George Wright,
one half-mile east of the present site of Centre
Church ;
Primrose Yarbrough (northeast side of
township), who married the
widow of James Spill-
man.
Rev. Henry Brenton came from
Trimble County,
Ky., in the early part of 1822. He was a local
Methodist preacher on Sundays and a farmer during
the week ;
there being constant need of his services,
as there was a
meeting held either in the woods or in
the cabin of some pioneer
nearly every Sunday. He
accomplished much in the field he had
adopted, and
was a pioneer of the church, as, on account of his
solemn and earnest presence, he was called upon by
the
settlers of Johnson and Morgan Counties, some-
times riding
twenty miles to perform the marriage
ceremony or to conduct
religious services, and few
that saw him but were impressed by
his brevity and
earnestness. He had his own peculiarities, one
of
which was that he always prayed with his eyes open,
and
when remonstrated with, replied, "We are com-
manded to watch as
well as pray." He probably
preached at more funerals and
solemnized more mar-
riages than any other pioneer minister in
the county,
for which latter service two dollars was almost
invari-
ably his largest fee. He died at his home on the
Three-Notch line, in June, 1847, nearly seventy
years of
age, and was buried in his brother Robert's
family cemetery, on
the Bluff road where it crosses
Pleasant Run.
After his
death his wife, known as Aunt Esther,
and family moVed to Iowa.
Most of them are now
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
581
dead, his wife living to a great
age and dying but a
few years ago, after having been blind some
ten years.
He had five children, — James, now living in Iowa,
Martha, another daughter, Mary, and Thomas.
Rev. Greenup
Kelly was born in Estelle County,
Ky., and licensed and ordained
as a Methodist min-
ister by the Kentucky Conference. A young
man of
fine promise and great zeal in his work, but his health
failing him, he came out to his father, Isaac Kelly
(who had
settled here in 1827), and after suffering a
couple of years,
died of consumption, and was buried
on a Sunday in December,
1830, in what is now
known as Round Hill Cemetery, then known as
the
Camp Ground Graveyard, it being the place of the
first
camp-meeting in the county.
The Rev. John Belzer was the
only New Light
minister who ever settled in the township. His
father,
and brother Phoenix, settled with him on the school
section, having purchased the lease of the Stallcops
in the
fall of 1824, having a blacksmith-shop on his
farm. He organized
a church of his persuasion, but
it was a rather weak one. He was
a superior man
and was able beyond his opportunities, having had
but little education. He was, in fact, an excellent
man. In
the fall of 1828 he removed with all his
family to Southern
Indiana.
Rev. John Ritchie, a local Methodist minister,
was a Kentuckian by birth, but came from Ripley
County, this
State, in the fall of 1826. He was
generally known as " Judge"
Ritchie, having been
an associate judge. He was a large man, of
fine
presence, and had a magnificently formed head, was
very
gifted, and though hindered by lack of educa-
tion, was
extraordinarily eloquent, and most forcible
in logic, which made
him remarkable and honored,
both in the pulpit and on the stump,
he taking part in
the campaign of 1840. In the pulpit he was
most
remarkable, his appearance belying his abilities, and
when he entered the pulpit, always being dressed in
home-made jeans, gave rise to a feeling of disappoint-
ment,
until he spoke, when the audience became
spell-bound,
fascinated, by his eloquence and earnest-
ness, and remained so
until the last word was ut-
tered. He died Aug. 24, 1841, and
was buried in
what '? called the Lemaster's family
burying-ground.
His children were Sally, Drusilla,
Ann, Jane, James,
Samuel, Arnold, Mary, Eunice, Adaline,
Lucinda,
and Lavina.
Rev. Abram Smock, a Baptist
minister, came from
Kentucky in the fall of 1825, his brother
John having
preceded him some four years, returning to Kentucky
for him. He organized the first Baptist Church in
the
township, at the house of David Fisher, in the
spring of 1826.
He was pastor of this church for a
number of years, and also of
the First Baptist Church
of Indianapolis from December, 1826, to
July, 1830,
organizing more Baptist churches than any other man
in the county, and was a leading minister for many
years. He
was both eloquent and impressive, and
in his work zealous and
fervent, but retired from the
ministry long before his day of
work should have
ceased.
The Rev. Jeremiah Featherston,
a pioneer Baptist
minister, came from Kentucky. He was a
mission-
ary most of his time, never having a church of his
own. He was a zealous and upright man. He died
in 1865.
Rev. Monroe was a Revolutionary soldier,
and came
from Pendleton County, Ky., in 1830,
with his son William, who
settled in a southeasterly
direction from Southport about one
and a half miles.
He lived part of the time with his son and
part with
his son-in-law, Joseph Wallace. At the time of his
death, Nov. 20, 1842, he was eighty-seven years old,
and had
been in the ministry for more than fifty
years, the greater
portion having been spent in Ken-
tucky. He was buried in the
Southport Cemetery.
Henry Riddle came from Roane County, N.
C.,
and lived in the township but a little while, when he
removed to St. Joseph County, Ind., where he died
some
twenty years ago. He was a true pioneer,
never allowing
civilization to but just reach him,
when he retreated before it.
He had but a small
family. He was very popular, and universally
liked,
so much so that if there happened to be a dispute in
his neighborhood, he was always able to act as peace-
maker.
The Harmonsons were old neighbors of Rid-
dle's, and came from
North Carolina very probably
with him. They stayed but a few
years, and then
went to the southern part of this State.
582
HISTOKY OF INDIANAPOLIS AND
MARION COUNTY.
Hezekiah Smart was born in Nicholas
County,
Ky., where his brother John was also born. He
was
married in 1824 to Margaret Hinkston, of Har-
rison County, Ky.
John was married in 1815 to
Sally Earls. Hezekiah came to the
township in
1823, to his brother, but went back to get married,
after which he returned, and lived here until Dec.
25, 1867.
He had four sons and five daughters,
who all lived to maturity,
— Humphrey, William,
Martha, Elizabeth, Margaret, Comfort ,
Heze-
kiah, and Caroline. His wife died in March, 1879.
John
had four sons, — Hezekiah, Samuel, John, and
Joseph, and four
daughters, — -Susan, Mary, Eliza-
beth, and Sally. He died in
1833. His wife died
in 1875. Margaret, Hezekiah's wife, was a
leading
member and worker in the Methodist Church, and
was
very prominent in meetings for the part she took
in prayer, an
unusual thing for women of that day.
Thomas Carle came from
Kentucky in 1825 or
1826, and settled in the angle of the road,
two miles
north of Southport, on the south side of the Shelby-
villa road, a half-mile south of Lick Creek. He
established
a tan-yard (the second in the township)
the year he came. He was
one of the first justices
of the peace, having been elected in
1828, and died
in office, in March, 1831. He was buried on his
farm. His son, Holman Carle, still owns the old
place, but
lives in the city.
James Martin, an early settler, died in
1843,
leaving one son and one daughter.
Samuel Smith
lived near Glenn's Valley till 1839,
when he moved to Johnson
County, near Greenwood,
and died there in 1834.
John
Myers was born in Kentucky, and moved
to Brown County, Ohio,
then to Whitewater Valley,
near Brookville ; remained there but
a short time,
and then came here in the spring of 1822 with An-
drew Wilson (who lived in Wayne township) and
his brother
Henry, with one horse for all, on a visit
to the site of
Indianapolis, before he moved out.
Soon after he married. He
removed with his wife
and a few household goods, and when his
goods had
been unloaded from the wagon of the teamster who
had hauled them out, they were left alone in a dark
forest,
with his nearest neighbors, Henry Riddle and
the
Harmonsons, a mile and a half away. It was a
heavy, unbroken
forest, full of wild beasts, and their
first night's rest was
much disturbed by the howling
of wolves and hooting of owls. His
first wife died in
1850, and in 1852 he married the widow
Comfort
Hinkston, who is still living. He died July 20,
1882, eighty-four years old. He served as justice of
the
peace longer than any man in the county. He
was a successful
farmer, and, though starting with
but forty acres, left an
estate valued at thirty thou-
sand dollars. He had two sons and
four daughters.
James Madison, his eldest son, born in December,
1822, is now living, the oldest resident of the town-
ship.
His son, Vincent Myers, and his daughter,
Mrs. Ed. Thomas, are
also living.
Martin D. Bush came here from Dearborn County,
Ind., in the fall of 1822. He had three children-
Ann, Mary,
and Henry — when he came. His wife
was a sister of Col.
Eggleston. Both he and his
wife were noted for their hospitality
and their kind-
ness to the sick and needy. Their daughter Ann
married Frank Merrill, a brother of Samuel Merrill ;
Mary
married Amos Sharpe, brother of Thomas
Sharpe ; and Henry
married a Miss Dryden. Mary
died a short time before they left,
and the remaining
members of the family moved in the spring of
1853
to Northwestern Missouri. He and his wife died
some
years since at an advanced age. Henry and
Ann are still living.
Henry Alcorn came from the north of Ireland
when quite a
young man, and settled in Lexington,
Ky. He moved to Ohio, then
came to Indiana, by
Muncie and Strawtown, to Indianapolis,
prospecting
in 1821, and then entered the land on which Henry
Riddle and Peter Harmonson had squatted. He
moved to Perry
in 1823. His' wife died in the
winter of 1829-30. He had two
sons and three
daughters, — Henry, Melinda, Joseph, Elizabeth,
and
Mary Ellen. He married again in 1836, to Sally
McClintock, wlio had come on a visit to her brother
Thomas.
Henry Alcorn, Jr., died soon after his
mother, who died in
September, 1847, in Kentucky,
