page 15 Washington

History of Delaware County - Washington Township
(Excerpts from pages 181, and 184 through 194)
Washington is the northwest township of Delaware county. A portion of Grant county bounds it on the north, Union township on the east, Harrison township on the south and a portion of Madison county on the west. The township is seven miles long east and west, by five miles wide north and south. Washington lies wholly in Congressional township 22 north. The west tier of sections are in range 8 east, and the balance of the township in range 9.

To avoid confusing the reader in the study of the history of Washington township, we will first take up the west tier of sections, that tier bordering on Madison county. This we more especially do because each of these sections has its duplicate in other parts of the township. This is caused from the fact that Washington like each township in the west tier or district No. 1, lies in two different ranges east, that is, the west tier of sections are in range 8, while the balance of the township is in range 9.

With this explanation we commence with section 12, which is the northwest section of both the township and county. The public lands of this section were all purchased in the years 1836 and '37. The first of these purchases were made by Frederick Ice and Robert Burke on August 12, 1836. Mr. Ice taking the east half and Mr. Burke the west half of the southwest quarter of the section. During the same year in October, Christopher Hudson entered the east half and Robert Hudson the west half of the northwest quarter. Joseph Farley purchased the northeast quarter in February and November, 1837, and Christopher Scott and John Ellison the southeast quarter on February 6, the same year (1837). The parties now owning land in section 12 are Daniel Richards, H. W. Foster, K. T. Grave, J. V. McCune, D. Richards, C. H. Conkle, J. W. Foster, R. E. Glass and H. S. Rominger. The section has 4� miles of public road and Hoosier creek crosses the southeast part of the section in a northeast course.

Section 13, just south of 12, and therefore adjoining Madison county also, was entered as early as 1836, and as late as 1850 as follows: George Lewis, Ephriam Lewis and Isaac Foster in 1836, Patrick O'Brien, Hiram Lee and Madison Broyles in 1837. James Paine and Francis Ice in 1838. Madison Broyles again in 1849 and Lewis Hull on January 18, 1850, entered the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter now owned by E. Musick et. at. This section (13) was originally entered in eleven separate lots and is still held in small parcels as follows: J. Janney, Benjamin Ice, E. Musick et. al., M. Powers, H. Dunlap, E. Benbow, E. Caplinger, R. C. Howard, S. and M. Evans, S. Evans, O. C. Atkinson, G. R Thurston, C. A. Broyles and J. E. Broyles. This section has 4 miles of public road, 1� miles of which is free gravel pike. A cemetery, M. E. church and school No. 5 are located in the southeast part of the section. Going south we pass into section 24. This section was purchased of the government in six original parcels or lots as follows: By William and Henry Walker in 1835, Jediah Adams and Anderson H. Broyles in 1836. Thomas Broyles in 1837 and John Farley, Jr., in 1838. Twenty-four is now owned by O. and C. Webster, J. Quinn, O. A. Todd, S. Janney, M. Andrews (trustee), M. Harris, W. H. Broyles, H. Broyles' heirs, A. E. Broyles and J. W. Hamilton. The section has 3� miles of public road, and is well drained by Little Pipe creek crossing it diagonally through the center.

Section 25 was secured of the government in nine parcels as early as August 29, 1836 and as late as September 8, 1838. The purchasers of this section were Amos Ratcliff, Eli Hockett, and Solomon Fussell in 1836, Jesse Munden, Nathan Macy and Thomas Broyles and Wilson Burass in 1838, Eli Hockett having made two entries. The land owners of section 25 are now A. E. Broyles, J. A. Broyles, L. and S. Davis, James Thomas Broyles, J. W. Hamilton, J. Barrett, D. Spitzmesser, M. Millhollin and S. M. Roseboom.

Section 36 in range 8, is the southwest section of Washington township. The first entry of land in this section was made on October 29, 1836, At which time Samuel Brown entered an 80 acre tract in the northwest quarter and Isaac Marshall on the same day entered a 40 acre tract in the southwest quarter. In 1837 entries were made in this section by Jesse Munden, William Burass, Phineas Hall, John Hall and William Laurk. Then on November 12, 1838 Asa Davis purchased the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter (40 acres) it being the last of the public lands in section 36. This 40 acre tract is now owned by James B. Barwick and M. B. Gill. The other owners of land in this section are James T. Broyles, William H. Broyles, J. W. Broyles, George Perdue, H. Brown, William Long, J. Barrett, E. Brady, M. Styers and R. Livingston, 36 has 4� miles of public roads and School No. 12 is located in the northeast corner of the section.

Section 7 is in the north tier of sections of both the township and county. The section is ten acres short of true 640 acres, said shortage being taken out of the westside of the section. The first entry of public land in this section was made by John Beauy on January 9, 1834, and comprised two 40 acre tracts in the east center of the section. Other entries were made during the same year by James Hinton and William Knight. One entry was made in 1835 by David Hinton. In 1836 James Hinton and William Knight made each another purchase, during 1837 purchases were made by Elles Jones, William Knight and David McCormick; leaving the west half of the southwest quarter 76 52-100 acres which was taken up by John Hanway and George Kramer on January 5, 1838. We find the section now owned by W. Millspaugh, J. A. J. Brunt, R. C. Howard, Isiah Howard, Daniel Richards, James Knight, M. F. Carpenter, J. McShay and P. Creamer. The section has 4 miles of public road, one half mile of which is free gravel pike, while Hoosier Creek drains the north, half and School No. 4 is situated in the center of the section.

On October 29, 1834, Sampson Brewer entered 40 acres of public land in the northwest quarter of section 8 and the public land in this section was in the market for sixteen years thereafter, the purchases occurring as follows: Samuel Beouy in 1835. Gabriel Ginn, Sampson Brewer, Thomas Beouy, John Beouy and Richard Dickerson in 1836, Richard Dickerson and William Beouy in 1837 and Joshua Dickerson in 1850. These lands are now in the names of John W. Richards, W. W. Hoover, J. A. J. Brunt, B. and J. Newberger, R. C Howard, J. N. Reynolds and J. S. Richards. The section has a public road on the north, which is also the county line, and a free gravel pike on the south line. The northwest corner of the section is crossed by Hoosier Creek.

The public lands in section 9 except one 80 acre tract was taken up in the year of 1836 by Willard Swain, John Wesley McCormick, John Hawkins, Gabriel Ginn, Amos Janney and Samuel Knight, leaving an 80 acre tract as before mentioned, which was purchased by Ira Swain on January 5, 1837, and was the east half of the southwest quarter of the seetron. Section 9 is now owned by R. C. Nottingham, R. Beouy, M. Cory, L. Nottingham, B. W. Lewis, S. Lewis, and William I. Janney. The section has public roads on the north and east, with a free gravel pike on the south line.

In section 10 we find the first entry of public land made by William McCormick on May 16, 1831. This is the east half of the southeast quarter, and still remains in the McCormick family. After this purchases were made in section 10 by Samuel Moore and Thomas Beouy in 1832; by John Dunn in 1833; William Wharton in 1834; Thomas Dunn in 1835; William McCormick again in 1836, and the last by John Wesley McCormick in 1837. The land owners in 10 are now John Dunn, Jr., R. Beouy, William McCormick, A. H. Benbow, E. Beouy, and Benoni Beouy. Section 10 has four and one-half miles of public road, two and one-half of which is free pike.

The first public land in section 11 was purchased by William Heal on September 12, 1829, and the next by Thomas Littler, on November 17 in the same year. In 1830 purchases were made by Eli Lansing and Thomas Wharton; in 1831 by William McCormick; in 1832 by Thomas Wharton, and in 1834 the second purchase of Thomas Littler was the last of the public domain in section 11. The present owners of the section are G. E. Heal, D. Heal, Ed Beouy, W. R. Moore, S. A. Milhollin, B. and J. Newberger, J. Newberger, Samuel M. Gregory and William McCormick. Section 11 has more miles of river than any section in the township. It has about three miles of public road, some of which is rather crooked in its efforts to follow the windings of the Mississinewa river along its northern banks.

Section 12 is the northeast corner of Washington township. The southwest quarter of this section was entered by John Dillie on March 3, 1829, and all the remaining public land of the section was purchased the following year (1830) by Robert Wharton, Joseph Wilson, James Watson, and John Ginn. We find the present owners of realty in section 12 to be L. Watson, M. Butcher, G. E. Heal, E. Beouy, Liberty Ginn, A. Shafer, and Sarah F. Ginn. It was in this section that the old town of Elizabethtown was laid out, on the north side of the Mississinewa. The section has something more than three miles of public road, but much of it is so angling and ill-shaped that we will not undertake to give its exact length.

Section 13, Washington township, lies one mile south of the Grant county line, and joins Union township on the east. The Albany and Jonesboro pike passes through the north half of the section, which is the only highway the section can lay claim to except a fourth of a mile on east line at the southeast corner. The first entry of land ever recorded for this section was that made by Joseph Wilson, May 27, 1830. The second entry was made November 13 of the same year by Thomas Reynolds, after which there were no further entries made until 1833, when John Ginn entered 80 acres. In 1834 William Richeson entered 160 acres. In 1835 entries were made by John Sanders and Margaret Watson. In 1836 one entry was made, by Jacob Holland Bowers, and the last 40 acre tract was entered by Jesse W. Thompson on January 5, 1837. The owners of section 13 at this time are Liberty Ginn, O. and S. Baldwin, R. Trout, M. M. Henley, Sarah Ginn, James S. Rigdon, S J. Ginn, Caleb Johnson, H. and S. Brown and N. and C. Mahonev. Pipe creek crosses the west half of the section and the east part of the village of Wheeling, with School No. 2 in the northwest corner.

In section 14, the first entry of government land, was made by Robt. Sanders, before mentioned. The time of this entry was November 23, 1830, and the tract was the west half of the northwest quarter. After Mr. Sanders' purchase there were no others until November 4, 1833, when William McCormick purchased the east half of the northeast quarter, containing 79 88-100 acres. John Wharton made three purchases in this section in 1835, and John Crow the last 80 acres, September 28, 1836. The land owners in section 14 are now James S. Rigdon, Samuel S. Gregory, William McCormick, N. and C. Mahoney, Nathan Millhollin and Michael Crow. The Albany and Jonesboro pike crosses the north, and the Muncie and Wheeling pike the east part of the section. There is also a public road on the west line, except some fifty rods of the north end of this line. The greater part of the village of Wheeling is in the northeast quarter of this section.

As heretofore stated, the first land ever purchased of the government in Washington township was that purchased by David Conner, being the east half of the northeast quarter of section 15, on December 23, 1823, after which time there were no other entries in this section for almost eight years. After Mr. Conner was William McCormick, in 1831; then David Beouy and John Dunn, in 1832; William McCormick, two tracts in 1833; William McCormick, another 40-acre tract in 1835; Thomas Beouy, in 1836, and David Beouy, the last 40 acres, in 1837. Section 15 is now in the names of William McCormick, A. Beouy, N. Beouy, G. W. Beouy, Benoni Beouy, Michael Crow, John Dunn, Jr., J. Dorton and R. Dorton. This section has some three miles of public highway, two miles of which is free pike.

School section No. 16 was sold on April 14, 1855, in lots as follows: Lot 1, northeast quarter of the northeast quarter (40 acres), to Levi Adison at $7.03 per acre; lot 2, northwest quarter of the northeast quarter (40 acres), to John Dickeson at $7.50 per acre; lot 3, northeast quarter of the northwest quarter (40 acres) to Thompson Gherton at $7.00 per acre; lot 4, northwest quarter of the northwest quarter (40 acres) to Thompson Gherton at $7.00 per acre; lot 5, southwest quarter of the northwest quarter (40 acres) to William McCormick at $7.10 per acre; lot 6, southeast quarter of the northwest quarter (40 acres) to David Beouy at $7.00 per acre; lot 7, southwest quarter of the northeast quarter (40 acres) to David Beouy at $7.12 per acre; lot 8, southeast quarter of the northeast quarter (40 acres) to Streeter & Ginn at $7.00 per acre; lot 9, southeast quarter (160 acres) to Streeter & Ginn at $4.01 per acre, and lot 10, southwest quarter (160 acres) to Robert Winton at $4.00 per acre. Thus the section (640 acres) brought the total sum of $3,552.40. The present owners, as near as possible to ascertain, are Benoni Beouy, B. W. Lewis, Nathan Millhollin, H. Dorton (heirs), M. Dorton, B. and J. Newburger, I. B. Miller and John Dorton. Section 16, has three miles of public road, two miles of which is free gravel pike, and school No. 3 is situated in the northeast corner of this section.

Amos Janney entered tile east half of section 17 (320 acres), on October 27, 1836. On February 2, 1837, Isaac Whiteley entered the northwest quarter (160 acres) and on the same day Wright Anderson entered the west half of the southwest quarter (80 acres) and then on the 6th day of December of the same year (1837) William Miller obtained the remaining 80 acre tract, the east half of the northeast quarter. Section 17 is now owned by D. Miller, S. Hayden, A. F. Janney, H. Hyer, C. B. Hyer, J. S. Richards, W. T. Janney, Harriett Janney, M. A. Brown and M. S. Thorn. Section 17 has one mile of free pike and two miles of other public road.

The entries of the public domain in Section 18 were as follows: Isaac Farmer, in 1836: Joseph Jones in 1838, and Jacob Miller and Robert Dunlap, in 1839. Section 18 is now owned by J. J. Corn, W. Foster, H. B. Dawson, Amanda Carter, S. Hinton, M. Ice, Hinton & Hyer, M. & M. Sitze, M. & G. Hayden, M. M. Gwinnup and D. L. Richards. Section 18 has two miles of public highway, three-fourths of which is pike.

The first land owners in Section 19 were Samuel Sweaney, Robert Dickey, Nathan Henderson, Griffin Tira and William Drennen, 1837; John C. Gustin, in 1838, and Michael Messenger, in 1839. After a lapse of some sixty years and numerous transfers we find the present owners of land in Section 19 to be H. Sweaney, M. M. Gwinnup, J. W. Sweaney, J.M. Harris, M. E. Hazelbaker, J. M. Robertson, W. W. Orr, A. L. Broyles, J. T. Broyles, L. H. Broyles and W. H. Broyles. Section 19 has four miles of public roads, and the south half of the section is crossed by Big Pipe creek.

Section 20 was in the market for seventeen years, it being that length of time between the first and last entries of its lands. The first entries were in 1836 and were made by Amos Janney and John Johnson. In 1837 Hugh Hazelbaker,William Carmin and Simeon Dickenson: in 1838, Nathan Maynard, and on July, 16, 1853, Dr. Robert Winton entered the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of the section, it being marked "swamp land". This is one of the latest entries of the county there being some four or five entries made on the same day. The present owners of section 20 are Harriett Janney, Jeff Janney, W. T. Janney, W. R. Janney, A. G. Kennard, H. Munk, D. Miller, G. A. Schlenker and J. B. Vannater. Section 20 has four miles of public roads, and School No. 6 is situated in the east center of the section.

Government land sales commenced in section 21 in 1835. The purchaser in that year was Jonathan McCarty. In 1836, John Dunn and John Johnson; in 1837, Joseph Grimes, and in 1839 Samuel P. Anthony and William Vanhater. The present landlords of section 21 are H. Barrett, James A. J. Brunt, M. P. Dunn, T. W. Petty, S. A. Dunn, and B. F. Beouy. Section 21 has a public road on the south and free gravel pike on the east line.

Section 22 was entered in the years of 1832 to 1853, by Samuel Carmin, in 1832, 1833 and 1835; John Knight in 1834 and 1836; Peter Thorn in 1837, and Robert Winton in 1853, which last entry was also recorded , "swamp land". The present land owners in section 22 are William McCormick, C. Carmin, O. L. Hall, N. Millhollin, M. A. Skillman, J. Brock, S. L. Miller, S. Vannater, N. Lawson and W. C. Huffman. The section has three miles of highway, one mile of which is pike, and School No. 7 is in the west center.

Section 23 was entered in five tracts by John Kain, Samuel Knotts and John Johnson in 1834; Mowerry H. Thompson in 1835, and John S. Thompson in 1836. The present owners of these lands are Nathan Millhollin, G. Powers, M. C. Braddock, I. Parkison, A. Parkison, W. Crow, I. Keller, M. Powers and J. Y. Rowzie This section has four miles of public road, nearly one-half of which is free gravel pike.

Section 24 was purchased originally in five tracts, by four persons, as follows: William Carman (1), Mowerry H. Thompson (2), and Stephen Swain (1) in 1835, and Moses Hinton (1) in 1837. After many changes and transfers, section 24 is now owned by A. M. Shafer, Nathan Millhollin, Joseph Hinton, John R.Cox, J. Swain and W. A. Swain. Section 24 has about three and one-half miles of public highway, and the section is drained by Pike creek.

South of section 24, in Washington township, and also joining Union township, is section 25. The first purchase of land of the government in this section was made by James Ashcraft on October 14, 1833, when he entered two tracts, they being the west half of both the northwest and southwest quarters of the section, making him a strip of land 80 rods wide by 1 mile long, north and south. At present the Muncie and Wheeling pike runs through this strip of land, very near the center. We are crossing this first entry (in traveling north on this pike) for the distance of one mile immediately after passing the post office of Stockport. After Mr. Ashcraft the next to secure public land in section 25 was Mowery H. Thompson, in 1835, and the remainder of the public domain was purchased in 1837 by Absolam Williams, John Kain, David Williams and James Hamilton. At present the section is owned by Joseph Hinton, John W. Mills, H. H. Williams, D. M. Williams, and Jesse Nixon. The section has public roads on the north and east lines; also free pikes on the south line and across the west half as before mentioned. School No. 8 and a Baptist church are situated in the southwest corner of the section, one on either side of the Muncie and Wheeling pike.

The public lands in section 26 were purchased of the government as follows: By John S. Thompson, James Aschcraft, Jonathan Barton, and William Conner in 1836; by Henry Smith, Amos Grubb, and George Tippin in 1837, and the last tract by Margaret Taylor December 15, 1838. At the present time we find the land in section 26 in the names of J. A. Bryan, G. K. Lewis, A. Campbell, William McCormick, Jesse Nixon, N. Shinn, R. Strohre, A. Sailors, J. Pittenger, M. E. Templin, M. Beouy, J. F Bryan, S. Gruver, and E. M. Carter. The section has three miles of highway, three-fourths of a mile being free pike.

In section 27 the first entry of land was made by John Johnson, on September 28, 1836, it being the northeast quarter, and now held as trustee by John Swisher. After this entries were made by Philip Woodring and Isaac Coe in 1837; by James Burgess, John Burgess, and Christopher Grimes in 1838, and the last tract by Jacob Miller in 1839. The section is now owned by John Swisher (trustee), R Woodring, William F. Burgess, George N. Shaw, M. Beouy, J. Kirklin, M. E. Hedgland and John Burgess. The section has public roads on the east, west and north, and that on the west line is free gravel pike.

Section 28 was originally purchased and owned in six tracts by that many persons, the purchases being made as follows: By John Johnson, in 1836; Thomas Beouy, in 1837; Elizabeth Umphreys and Ann Umphreys, in 1838, and Michael Messenger and John Black, in 1839. Section 28 is now owned by numerous small farmers as follows: B. F. Beouy, Emily Grimes, E. E. Grimes, William B. Carmin, J. Brock, W. Minton, Jr., I. H. Gray, George Boyles and A. H. Miller. Section 28 has four miles of public highway, one mile (that on the east line) being free gravel pike.

In section 29 the original purchases were all made in small tracts, there being but two 80 acre tracts entered, all the balance having been taken up in 40 acre lots, making fourteen entries in all, although several parties made two entries. The original owners were John Johnson, in 1836; James Porter and David Hatfield, in 1837; Orin Chapin, John Summers and Levi Miller, in 1838; John Summers, Levi Miller, Hiram Hendricks, Hugh Sharp and Thomas Morley, in 1839. Then on July 16, 1853, Jeremiah Wilson and John McCulloch each entered a 40 acre tract of registered swamp land. Section 29 is now owned by William H. Carmin, B. F. Beouy, J. W. Gilmore, I. Gilmore, A. G. Gilmore, W. H. Gilmore, C. C. Boyle, F. Huber, A. H. Miller, C. and F. Guinnup, Wash Maynard and W. M. Grimes. This section has three miles of public road. School No. 11 is located on the south line of the section, one-fourth mile west of the southeast corner.

In section 30, the first land owner was Michael Messenger, who entered two 80 acre and one 40 acre tract on May 4, 1831, after which time entries were made in the section by Samuel Richardson, Felix E. Oliphant and John Rains, in 1837; John Farley, Jr., in 1838, and Thomas Morely, in 1839. We find the lands of section 30 now owned by E. H. Stradling, G. Newberger, J. H. Schlenker, J. Johnson, Joseph A. Broyles, A. F. Patterson, C. L. Pence, W. H. Howe and James T. Broyles. The section has 3� miles of public road, and is drained by Pipe creek and its tributaries.

Section 31 is one mile east of the Madison county line and joins Harrison township. The land in this section was somewhat late in coming into the market, as there were no purchases made within its boundary until March 1, 1837, when Purnell F. Peters purchased the east half of the southeast quarter, a portion of which is now owned by R. S. Gregory. Following the purchase of Mr. Peters were the entries of John Barkaloo and Stephen Thorn during the same year (1837), John Hanway and George Kramer in 1838, and John Goarle in 1839. Since this time, through many transfers, we now find the lands in section 31 in the names of J. F. Nickey's heirs, James T. Broyes, S. Culbertson, M. Conk, O. Spears, William H. Broyles, R. S. Gregory, P. Mast & Co. and J. Thompson, W. A. Meeks, I. N. Miller and J. W. Broyles. This section has three miles of public road.

Section 32 was also late in being settled up, as there were no lands purchased of the government until 1838, when entries were made by Woodson Cummins, Levi Miller and Purnell F. Peters. The remaining public land in the section was all secured during the following year (1838) by John R. Williams, Samuel Clevenger, Levi Miller and John Hanway and George Kramer. The section is now owned in small tracts by H. W. Larue, J. O. Needher, J. A. McLaughlin, Wash Maynard, V. Nickey, J. F. Nickey's estate, V. and J. Nickey et al., M. V. Rhoads and P. P. Mast & Co. and J. Thompson. The section has 3� miles of public road.

Section 33 was all entered in 1837 and 1839. Those purchasing in 1837 were William O. Bryant, Thomas Bartlett, and Benjamin Bartlett. In 1839, January 18, William Vannata entered the two remaining 80 acre tracts. The present land owners of section 33 are John Burgess, W. Minton, J., D. Rowlet, L. Miller, George Boyle, Thompson Sharp, N. S. Sharp and J. Ferguson. The section has four miles of public highway, one mile (that on the east line) being free gravel pike. The village of Gaston lies on the east side and about one-half of the town within this section.

The first entry of land in Section 34 was the northeast quarter, 160 acres, by Thomas Veach, December 9, 1836. The next entry in the section was made by Sarah Wharton, Jr., in February, 1838, then by Jefferson N. Horine in the same year, after which the remainder of the section was taken up by John G. Collins, Thomas Covalt, John Burgess, Thomas Dillon and James Hamilton, in 1838. Section 34 is now owned by G. W. Bryan, S. L. Bryan, W. R. Bryan, S. Bryan, M. E. Hedgland, John Burgess, M. Clemons, A. Boyle, J. Kirklin, G. R. Hedgland, J. Munsey, H. A. Jones and L. H. Larue. This section has three miles of public road, two of which are free pike. The east half of Gaston is in this section, and School No. 10 is situated in the section, being in the northeast part of the village.

Section 35 was also all purchased of the government during the years of 1836 and 1838. The purchases in 1836 were those of Lewis and William H. Veach. In 1837 the entries were made by Joseph Tippin, John Tippin and Samuel Nickson. This section is now owned by L. J. Hooke, S. Moomaw, R. J. Bryan, S. Needler, C. Needler et al., E. M. Carter et al., D. O. Munsey, Lewis Bond, M. Driscoll and Sol Mier. The section has a public road on the west line and "Two Mile" pike east and west through the center. School No. 9 is located in the east center of this section.

Section 36 is the southeast corner of the township. Its lands were purchased of the government by James Ashcraft in 1833; Mathew Xorner ( sic - Corner? ) in 1834; William Daily in 1835; Hannah Corner in 1837, and James Ashcraft in 1841. We find the present land owners of 36 to be C. Lecington, John Clark, P. Hayden, A. Campbell, L. A. Moomaw, Joseph Hinton, S. Markle, and W. A. Allison. The Muncie and Wheeling pike crosses the west half of the section and a free pike runs along the greater part of the north line. The post office of Stockport is situated in this section in the northwest part.

THE END.

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