| History
of Lawrence County, Indiana
Transcribed passages are from the following
book
History of Lawrence and Monroe Counties Indiana
1914 B. F. Bowen & Co. Inc. Indianapolis, Indiana
GUTHRIE TOWNSHIP
Guthrie township was the last to be formed in the county, and was named
for one of the most prominent families of the early days. The township
was formed in the early sixties....When the county was organized in
1818 all of the present Guthrie township was included in Shawswick township,
but on the formation of the new township land was taken from Shawswick,
Flinn and Bono.
Although some portions of Guthrie township were settled very early,
the record of land entries until 1820 is surprisingly small......Land
entries until 1820 included: Isreal Hind 1819; Ambrose Carlton 1817;
Edward Johnston 1820; William Barnhill 1819; John Kerns 1820; Solomon
Bowers 1817; Robert Millsap 1820; Conrad Hoopingarner 1818; Thomas Butler
1820; Daniel Guthrie 1816; J Edwards 1820; Preston Beck 1820; Elisha
Simpson 1820; George W Mullis 1817; Cuthbert and Thomas Bullitt 1820
Others included in this early list were Thomas Dixon, William Shadrach,
William Holland Sr, John Allen, Robert Millsap and his sons, William
and James, Abner Walters, Samuel and William Foster, Benjamin and Isaac
Newkirk, Jacob Mullis and John Dowland.
Probably the first settler of Guthrie township was James Connelly, a
squatter, and a native of North Carolina, from whence he came to Orange
County, Indiana shortly afterward settling here. The year was about
1815, Connelly brought his family with him and for their home he built
a double log cabin. Ambrose Carlton with his large family came after
Connelly, and in 1816 also Pleasant and Ambrose Parks came from North
Carolina to this township after a short sojourn in Bono Township.
DIXONVILLE
William and Thomas Dixon platted this village in the northeast corner
of the township on April 8, 1853.
TUNNELTON
....on the 28th of April 1859 the town of Tunnelton was platted. An
addition was added in 1863
FORT RITNER
The town of Fort Ritner was named in honor of Michael Ritner a foreman
in the construction of a tunnel on the old Ohio & Mississippi railroad
nearby. Gabriel Brock was the first postmaster, the office havinf been
established in 1858
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