MAY 21, 1814

200 years ago today, John and Nancy Perlier(Purlee) Wright were making note of the 1^st birthday of their daughter Elvira Levina Wright who was born on May 21, 1813. She was born in the Fort Hill block house built on one of the land patents of her grandfather Amos Wright, Sr. during the Indian uprising led by Tecumseh and his brother Tenskatawa (The Prophet).  During the years of 1811 and 1812, Governor William Henry Harrison ordered settlers throughout the Indiana Territory to build stockaded forts at strategic points for common protection.

Amos Wright and his extended family of sons, brothers and brothers in law erected their fort near the trail between Beck’s Mill and Royse’s Lick near a steep bluff overlooking a sharp bend the Royse’s Fork of Blue River.  This fort was located near Wright’s south property line near a steep ravine that led to a good supply of water gushing forth from a cave spring.  Amos Wright, Sr. had obtained his deed for this quarter section from the United States on August 27, 1812.

During these years, the Indiana Militia would issue alerts of threatened depredation and the families would gather in the fort.  During these episodic times of communal life, the men would go off to work in the fields or clear their new settlements during the day while the women and children would remain in or near the fort attending to household matters.  The families that were sheltered at Fort Hill during this time included: William and Martha Morgan Wright; Amos and Margaret Davis Wright; Philburt and Mary Sears Wright; John and Nancy Purlee Wright; Philip and Anna Patsy Wright Copple; Peter and Racheal Woods Wright;  and Josiah and Sarah Wright Johnson.