| 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
SPICE VALLEY TOWNSHIP
.
Indianapolis News
written by Hon. James H Willard
....."The story of Palestine, the first county seat of Lawrence
county, is romantic and mournful. Since the days when Oliver Goldsmith
wrote "The Deserted Village" a tinge of melancholy reminiscence
has surrounded those abodes where men had experienced the hope
and disappointments and vicissitudes of life, had made their homes
for years and then relinquised them for silence and decay. The
story of Palestine is indeed a strange one, for it is of a town
that at one time promised to be a metropolitan city, but was abandoned
by man and reclaimed by nature. Green meadows and forest trees
now occupy its former site and not even a foundation stone tells
of a vanished town.
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Another of the five original townships in the southwest
portion of the county is Spice Valley township... To the year 1820 there
were thirty four purchases of land, while in Indian Creek township there
were fifty-eight during the same time, thus indicating the relative
value of land. These entries were Simon Gilbert, William Lindley, C.
an T. Bullitt, Ezekiel Blackwell, Jonathan Lindley, Aquilla Gilbert,
Henry Speed, Absalom Field, Thomas Lindley, Joseph Hastings, Abraham
Holaday, Thomas Coulter, Josiah Trueblood, Joel Connelly, Josiah Connelly
in 1816; Josiah Connely, Joel Connelly, Robert Fields, John Chapman,
Gideon Coulter, Henry Cosner, John Connelly in 1817; Jesse Beazley,
Nicholds Koon, John Quinn, David Bruner, William Cochran, John Luttrell,
ROger McKnight, and John Swaim in 1818; William Maxwell, Francis Tincher,
in 1819; John Sanders, William Hoard in 1820. Josiah Connelly was the
first constable.
"William Hoard, at the time of his death, in 1853, owned about
six hundred acres of land and out of this farm the town of Huron was
platted in 1859 by his heirs and descendants. No one of the earlier
settlers had left so many direct descendants in this and neighboring
townships as William Hoard. The furnished twelve or fifteen soliders
to the Union army during the Civil War."
" Owing to the lateness of her settlement Spice Valley cannot
boast of any Revolutionary or 1812 veterans and only two Mexican veterans
(known to the write) sleep within her borders, Jospeh Bosler and George
Brinkworth But it was in the Civil war that Spice Valley made a record
that is unequaled by any other of her sister townships in Lawrence County
and doubtless by few in the entire state. Her quota was always full
and the draft was never resorted to. I feel safe in saying that this
was true of no other township in Lawrence or the neighboring counties
of Orange and Martin. I dare say there are more old soliders residing
in the vicinity of Huron in proportion to the population than any community
in the state barring a soliders home."
" George W. Jones....his grandfather Thomas Jones settled a
mile east of Huron in the early twenties and on this farm he was reared
and later owned it and collected together a farm of over one thousand
two hundred acres. He is the last of the early settlers and soon will
sleep with the stalwart pioneers by whose side he struggled so faithfully
to build up a community."
"The townhip is indebted to two branches of the powerful Burton
family which did so much in the development of the sister township of
Marion, but two came to Spice Valley, Harden and Eli. The first was
a Baptist preacher and farmer and a great deal more. He was a splendid
type of man. He reared an intelligent family. Drs. John W. Burton and
George W. Burton were his sons and did splendid service in their profession.
Tow other sons Isom and Hardin taught many schools in Spice Valley and
were instrumental in bringing the schools to the high plane they have
attained......"
Written by T. M. Brinkworth
HURON
On February 12, 1859, John Terrell platted the town of Huron, on a part
of the northeast quarter of section 6 township 3 north, range 2 west,
and in April 1868 an addition was made. In January 1873 Huron was incorporated.
BRYANTSVILLE
The date of the platting of Bryantsville was May 28, 1835 and Henry
Connelly was the first settler. The town was first named Paris but was
later changed to its present name.
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