Franklin township was formed from New Garden, May 1834. Its shape is
oblong, being 7 miles in length, north and south, and 4 miles in
breadth, east and west, containing 28 square miles of territory.
The
Richmond and Hillsboro' turnpike enters the township one mile west
of
the Ohio line; and the road runs along the lines of lots straight
through the township to its north line. Its principal stream is
the
Middle Fork of Whitewater, which enters the township from Ohio,
about 2
1/2 miles south of the north-east corner, and runs almost directly
south, about half a mile from the Ohio line, to the south line of
the
township.
The first settler within the township is believed to have been Isaac
Commons, from North Carolina, in 1808 or 1809, one mile north of
Middleboro', on land now owned by William, son of John M. Addleman.
He
was soon followed by Robert Morrison on the lot adjoining, north,
which
he sold to Henry Palen, and Palen to Joseph Ashton. John
Nicholson
settled on land now owned by J. M. Cox and Joseph Nicholson.
Barnabas
Boswell, on the south line, land now owned by E. Townsend and John
Cox.
Isaac Hiatt, on the quarter now owned by J. Butters and Robert
Cox.
All of these, it is believed, were Friends from North Carolina,
except
Nicholson and Ashton, who came from Delaware.
A little later, the following named persons settled in this, the
south-east part of the township: Dr. John Thomas, on the south
line,
where his grandson, Henry W. Thomas resides; the land first
settled by
Isaac Hiatt, as above stated. Edward Barton, on land now owned by
Wm.
Barton. John Nicholson also owned, and sold to Wm. Webster, the
land
now owned by Wm. E. Barton. Charles Teas, from Delaware, settled
on
the land now owned by John Townsend. John Zimmerman, from Pa., on
state line, now owned by Edward Starbuck, Jun., and William
Strawbridge. Benjamin Elliott, N. C., where Abraham W., his son,
resides; lived there until his death. James Wickersham, on the
quarter
now owned by W. Newbern, S. Williams, and J. Duffee; John White, on
part of section 2, now owned by John R. Smith and Joseph P.
Addleman.
In the south-west part of the township John P. Thomas settled, where
his sons, John, George, and Henry now own, on the south line.
Jonathan
Grave, from Delaware, on land now owned by H. G. Nickle; Wm.
Starbuck,
N. C., where Joshua Jeffries lives; Benj. Harris, N. C., where
Daniel
C. Rich lives; Paul Swain, N. C., where D. Taylor owns; Meshech
Llewellyn, afterward Wm. Starbuck, where Joshua Elliott lives;
Elijah
Mundin, the quarter now owned by John M. Brown and James V.
Marshall;
Edward B. Hunt, N. C., on the quarter since owned by N. S., William
and
Jesse Hunt; John Venard, where S. Smith lives; Joseph Brown, Pa.,
where
he still resides; John Simmons and Thomas Fisher, N. C., east half
of
the two east quarters of section 33, and Daniel Fisher the west
half of
said quarters, the latter now owned by James Perry, of Richmond;
Micajah Jones, N. C., the south-west quarter of sectoin 33, now
owned
by Elihu Hunt.
The progress of settlement northward was materially retarded by
apprehensions of danger from the Indians, until after the close of
the
war of 1812. Job Elliott, N. C., in 1815 settled a half a mile
south
of the present town of Whitewater, where F. Fouts lately lived, now
Josiah White. Stephen Elliott on quarter adjoining town. Wm.
Hunt, N.
C., on the east side of town; land afterward sold to John Unthank,
and
next to John White; now owned pricipally by Handy D. Bowen. Henry
Newton, from England, where John Pyle lives on state line.
Jonathan
Commons on state line, where David Stidham lives. Thomas Mason,
from
N. C., in 1816, near town, on the quarter now owned by Wm. Addleman
and
Joseph S. Wood. In 1818 Samuel Williams, from N. C.,near town, on
land
now owned by James K. Dugdale and Peter T. Parris. Henry Garrett,
N.
C., land now owned by James Garrett, Hiram Supplee, and Barnabas
Barton. Benj. parker, from N. C., and Joseph Skinner, on the
quarter
now owned by John Powell and Joseph Draher. Elihu Hunt, N. C., a
mile
north-east of town, where Jonathan Williams lives. Richard Bunch
on
land now owned by Stephen Bunnell. Thomas Mason, Jun.,
three-fourths
of a mile north of town, on the quarter owned by Jesse Hunt, Wm.
Worden, and Wm. D. Kemp. Nathan Jones, from N. C., entered the
land
now owned by Calvin C. Hunt and Peter Blose. Gabriel Harrell, from
N.
C., half a mile south-west of town, on the quarter now owned by
Henry
Albright and others.
In the west part of the township, Wm. Hunt (not the Wm. Hunt who
settled near town,) settled where Elijah Roberts lives. George
Blose,
of Ohio, where Wm. Hunt now lives. Andrew Starbuck, from N. c., on
the
land now owned by John T. Voorhees, on New Garden line; first
settler
probably Daniel Pucket, a Friend preacher. Joshua Brown, from Pa.,
on
land now owned by Joseph C. Graves. Isaac Pyle, on the north-west
quarter of section 27, now owned by Elias Chenewith and Hugh
Stevenson.
Isaac Pyle resides on a part of secton 22, formerly owned by
Andrew
Starbuck. Edward Fisher, from N. c., near west line, where he yet
lives. Charles Thomas, from N. C., son of Stephen Thomas, where
Jonathan Marine resides. James White, on west line, where he still
resides. Lemuel Chance, from N. C., where Isaac Thomas lives, on
section 16. Wm. Fulghum, from N. C., settled and owned land where
he
and his son, Levi G., reside.
Wm. Addleman, from Penn., in February, 1819, settled a mile and a half
north-west from town. The second tree cut on his farm measured 7
feet
and 7 inches across the stump, and its length to the lowest limb
was 77
feet 7 inches. The body of the fallen tree formed one side of the
camp
built against it, in which he lived with six children for several
months before his cabin was built, his wife having died before his
removal. John M. Addleman settled where S. D. Wallingford lives, 1
1/2
miles north of town. Wm. B. Kemp, from Md., where Henderson kemp
lives, near town. Joseph P. Addleman, where Wm. Hill lives.
Nathan
White, 1 1/2 miles north of town. James White, from S. C., after a
few
years' residence near Middleboro, settled on the south half of
section
13, 1 1/2 miles north from town, where he still resides. (See
Sketch.)
Nathan Elliott, N. C., settled on land now owned by Nathan White.
Robert Starbuck from N. C. Where Whitmell Hill resides. Cornelius
Vaunuys, where he now lives. He was an early blacksmith.
In 1817, James Harlin, from Kentucky, with a large family of children,
whose names were Valentine, Elihu, Joshua, John, (who never lived
here,) Jacob, Nathan, James, Edith, Polly, Anna. The father, with
Jacob, Nathan and James, settled near the township, in Darke
county,
Ohio. The other brothers in 1817, commenced a settlement, known as
the
"Harlin settlement," now Bethel. John, Nathan, and James reside
in
Iowa. Nathan Elliott, who settled in 1816, where James White now
resides, also removed to this settlement in 1817. John Thompson
and
five sons of Nathan Anderson, John, Joseph, David, Nathan, and Wm.
H.,
settled in the vicinity about the same time. The friends of these
settlers constitute a large proportion of the inhabitants of the
north-east part of the township; the Anderson families numbering
some
ten or twelve.
In the north-west part of the township, Jesse Overman settled where
Josiah Haisley resides, on land adjoining the north line. Wm.
Nixon,
where Peter H. Wright resides. Samuel Henderson, where Nathan
Edgerton
lives. Thomas Simons on land now owned by Jesse Outland.
Paul Swain, Wm. Simmons, Thomas Roberts, Daniel Fisher, Nathan and
Henry Hunt, who settled in the south-west part of the township,
assisted in opening the road called the "Quaker trace," from
Richmond
to Fort Wayne. Edward Fisher and Ann, wife of Henry Blose, are the
only children of these families now living in the township. Also,
Abraham Ashley and Enos Grave, both of Wayne township, belonged to
the
party. Grave was surveyor of the trace.
A saw-mill is said to have been built in the south-west corner of the
township, by Wm. Starbuck, about 1817, and was owned at different
times
by several persons. A saw-mill was built on Middle Fork by Henry
Newton and John Unthank, about the year 1825; another afterward by
John
White, three-fourths of a mile north of Newton's and another by
James
White, three-fourths of a mile still further north, which run about
35
years, having been once rebuilt. John Nicholson and isaac Commons
built a saw-mill in the south-east corner of the township which is
now
owned by Abraham B. Elliott. A steam saw-mill, built in the
north-west
corner of the township, owned by Peter H. Wright, was destroyed by
fire
a few years ago.
In 1829, Valentine Harlan built a Grist-mill above James White's
saw-mill. In 1837, William Addleman, Jun., and Stephen Elliott
built,
three-fourths of a mile north of White-water, a grist-mill which
run
about twenty years.
The first Merchant in Whitewater is said to have been John Price.
After two or three years he sold the goods to Stephen Elliott, who
was
on the south-west corner, and by whom the house had been built.
Thomas
Morton, of Miami, Ohio, had a store in the north-east corner about
two
years, and built on the corner where Joseph A. Bowen now trades.
Eliott sold his goods to John H. Bruce and Jonathan D. Gray. Wm.
B.
Schenck was here at least as early as 1839, and as late as 1844.
T. J.
Ferguson & Co., in 1844. At Bethel, Wm. McFarland appears to have
been
the first merchant in 1845, on the north-east corner, where are
now a
grocery and a tavern, kept by Nathan Harlan, and traded several
years.
Edward Osborn, of Newport, soon after established a store, kept
by
Joseph Unthank. There were afterward, at different times, John A.
Unthank, Walker Yeatman, Jesse Richards, Jacob & Howard Harlan,
Morgan
& Henderson. Present merchants----- Martin Wiley, dry goods;
Nathan
Harlan, grocer. Present merchants at Whitewater--- Joseph A. Bowen,
north-west corner; Benj. W. Addleman, south-east corner. Grocer---
Wm.
B. Robinson, south-west corner.
The first Physician was John Thomas, in the south part of the township,
where his grandson, Henry W. Thomas, now resides. he had an
extensive
practice, there being no other physician near. He carried his
medicine
in a bladder, instead of the ordinary saddle-bag. At Whitewater,
afterward, were John H. Bruce, Azel Owens, Richard G. Brandon,
Robert
Hamilton, Wm. Williams, Wm. Commons, Robert Fisher, Harlan
Harrison,
now residing in Union. Dr. Thomas T. Courtney, after an absence of
several years, returned to Whitewater, and died early in 1871.
Present
physicians----J. E. Beverly, J. B. Stevenson, W. P. Griffis.
The earliest Religious Society in the township was that of the Friends,
who built a log meeting-house two miles south of Whitewater, near
the
site of the present brick house on the turnpike. Isaac Commons,
Job
Elliott, Wm. Hunt, Joseph Ashton, John Nicholson, Jeremiah Cox,
jun.,
and Luther Tillson, were early members.
The Christian Church at Bethel was formed in August, 1821, under the
ministration of John M. Foster. Meetings were first held in the
dwelling of Valentine Harlan, afterward in a school-house; next, in
a
large log meeting-house half a mile east of Bethel, where the
grave-yard is, until the present house in Bethel was built. Since
the
pastorate of Mr. Foster this church has enjoyed the ministerial
services of Valentine Harlan, 2d., Eli Harlan, Hosea C. Tillson,
Joseph
G. Harlan, Hardin Hardin Harrison, and Henry Polly, now residing
at union.
The Episcopal Methodists organized a church near Jesse Hunt's, in the
south-west part of the township, about the year 1830. Edward
Starbuck,
Hugh Stevenson, Joseph Henderson, and Joseph Whitacre were early
members. The organization was given up about six years ago.
A Methodist Episcopal Church was formed at Whitewater about 1831 or
1832. Among its early members were William Boswell, Thomas K.
Peeples,
Wm. Brown, and their families, and Margaret Addleman. It was in
the
Centerville and Williamsburg Circuits. The congregation at first
met
in a log house near where the present house was built in 1854.
The Wesleyan Methodists organized a church about 1854, and built their
present house of worship near the site of the old house of the
Episcopal Methodists. Early members were Edward Starbuck, and
Edward,
his son, Jacob and M_________ Brown, Elijah Roberts, Elias
Cheneweth,
Ambrose Roberts, with the families of most of them. Edward
Starbuck,
Jun., was a local preacher. Among their preachers have been John
W.
Johnson and Daniel Worth.
A Christian Church at Whitewater was formed in 1867. Early members
were James M. Gist, Jesse T. Hunt, Wm. R. Winsor, Henry W. Thomas,
Wm.
L Robinson, and their wives, Sally White, Aleda Harney, Milesia
Addleman. Their permanent place of worship is the lower story of
the
Academy building. Their preachers have been Mr. Buff, who had
preached
before the organization, Wm D. Moore, and their present preachers,
Joseph G. Harlan and Edward Fenton.
The Academy was built by a stock company, styled Franklin Township
Academical Association, in or about the year 1859. The school is
still
continued. A select school was kept a year or longer by Milton
Hollingsworth before the Academy was built.
The Town of Hillsborough was laid off by Stephen Elliott and John
White, proprietors. The description and survey of the plat was
acknowledged and received for record November 14, 1828. An
addition
made by Stephen Elliott is dated September 8, 1832. The name of
the
town was, a few years ago, changed to Whitewater.
The Town of Bethel was laid out April 6, 1850; Elihu Harlan and Joseph
Anderson, proprietors.
History of Wayne County, Indiana
Andrew W. young
Pages pg 211-217
