MAY 6, 1814

200 years ago Henry Wyman, Leonard Karnes and John Bush were well established on their homesteads on a tributary of the Mutton Fork of Blue River in Blue River Township, Washington County, Indiana Territory. These 3 settlers were from Hesse in what would become Germany and had come to America as mercenary soldiers during the Revolutionary War. They had come to the Indiana Territory from Rowan County, North Carolina. These men must have been of influence as the creek along which they had settled was soon called Dutch Creek. This name was taken from “Deustch” which is the word for German self-description. These men of Teutonic heritage had noticed how many of their neighbors who were the children and grandchildren of fellow German immigrants were losing their accents and abandoning their connection to Lutheran and Brethren [Dunkard].