AUGUST 27, 1814
200 years ago today in
Washington County, Indiana Territory, there were ten families marking the
anniversary of their receiving land titles from the United States. Five of
these families received their deeds on August 27, 1812 and the other five
families received their deeds on August 27, 1813. These ten families are representative of the
earliest settlers of our county.
Amos and Margaret Davis
Wright took title to the southeast quarter of Section 25, T2N, R3E, on this day
in 1812. Geologically, this land was on
the border between the Norman Upland and the Mitchell Plain. A sharp bend in Royse’s Fork of Blue River with
a cave spring was located on the east side of the land. This claim of the Wrights became the location of the Fort Hill
stockade that was discussed in my post of May 21, 2014. It was on the trail
between Beck’s Mill and Royse’s Lick.
This is where the Fort Hill Church of Christ is located today.
Arthur and Mary Morgan Parr
become the owners of the southwest quarter of Section 12, T2N, R4E, on this day
in 1812. This tract was located near to
and east of Royse’s Lick where Canton is found today. Like
many of the first settlers they came from Rowan County, North Carolina by means
of the Cumberland Gap and Wilderness Road.
Arthur Parr was about 51 at the time he came to the Indiana Territory
which was an advance age for someone relocating to the Northwest from the
Carolina Piedmont. The Parrs were
Baptists and were part of the Sharon church congregation which was the subject
of my post of July 4, 2014.
Thomas and Elizabeth Parr
Hodges received title to their land claim on this day in 1812. They settled on the northwest quarter of
Section 19, T2N, R5E, on a high elevation between the Canton and Harristown
Branches of Royse’s Fork of Blue River. This
location is found today southeast of the intersection of Howell Road and
Canton-South Boston Road. They too had come from Rowan County, North
Carolina. Thomas Hodges was a son in law
of Arthur Parr and was part of the extended family of the Parrs who helped each
other clear their claims of forest, put in crops, and provided mutual
protection during the years of 1811 and 1812 when Tecumseh’s uprising
threatened the area.
Joshua Thompson also obtained
title to his homestead on this day in 1812.
His land was located in the northeast quarter of Section 3, T2N, R4E,
along the upper reach of Brock Creek. This farm can be seen today at the
northeast corner of the intersection of North Trueblood Road and Bowsman
Road. Roger Thompson was among the
earliest of the settlers of what became Washington County when claimed land
along the trail that followed the crest of the Knobs from Old Trace Gap to
Evans Lick. However, I can’t place the
family connection of Joshua Thompson at present.
Joseph and Mary Cain Scott
were conveyed title to their claim on this date in 1812. They were residents of Jefferson County,
Kentucky when they registered their claim which was sited in the southwest
quarter of Section 10, T1N, R2E, in present day Madison Township on Wilson Road
about a mile south of Livonia.
David and Martha Parr Fouts
were issued their title on this day in 1813.
Their land was in the southwest quarter of Section 6, T2N, R5E, in
Franklin Township. The west edge of this
homestead was where SR 56 and Old SR 56 cross at Morgan’s Market. David Fouts
was another son in law of Arthur Parr who came from Rowan County, North
Carolina. The Fouts family was of German
heritage from the Danube Valley in Bavaria.
David and Catherine Crum
Sears also gained legal title to their claim on this date in 1813. The David Sears claim was in the northeast
quarter of Section 19, T2N, R4E, on Royse’s Fork of Blue River immediately west
of the William Lindley claim part of which became the lower part of John DePauw’s
plat of Salem. The south part of Crown
Hill Cemetery came from what was the David Sears land.
David Sears was a son of
Christian Sears who was discussed in my post of July 24, 2014. He was also a
brother in law of Philbert Wright who had settled in the uplands in the middle
Blue River basin. David and Catherin Sears followed the frontier most of their
lives and died in Jefferson County, Iowa.
Jacob and Mary Huffstutter
Sears obtained title to their 160 acres on the same day as David and Catherine
Sears. David and Jacob were brothers
having been born in Rowan County, North Carolina. They came to the Indiana Territory from their
father’s plantation near Pee Wee Valley, Kentucky. The Jacob Sears tract was located in the
southwest quarter of Section 19, T2N, R4E, and shared a corner with the David
Sears claim. This land is today immediately
south of the Hanson Quarry. The problem
that Jacob Sears had in acquiring a small tract on Blue River next to this land
is described in my post of June 4, 2014.
John and Mary Phillips Bush
were issued a deed on this date in 1813 to the southwest quarter of Section 2,
T1S, R4E, which was along the upper reach of Dutch Creek. John Bush was part of
the neighborhood of German descended families that gave Dutch Creek its
name. Their farm was located just
northeast of where Martinsburg is now.
Benjamin and Ruth Munson Van
Cleave received their land title on this date in 1813. Their land was in the northwest quarter of
Section 5, T1N, R2E. In 1814 this land
was in Washington County but became part of Orange County in 1815.
It was located on the trail
that had been blazed between the Half Moon Springs stockade and Royse’s
Lick. The land today is on SR 56 on the
west line of Washington County near Livonia.
Benjamin Van Cleave lived in Shelby County, Kentucky at the time he
registered his claim and died there in 1819.
Benjamin Van Cleave was born of Dutch descent in New Jersey. He and Ruth Munson were married in Rowan
County, North Carolina before their settlement in Shelby County, Kentucky. Although they may never have lived on their
Indiana property several members of the Van Cleave family did settle around the
Livonia area.
ROWAN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA
CUMBERLAND GAP
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