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DECATUR TOWNSHIP

THIS township, named in honor of Commodore Stephen Decatur, is the extreme southwestern township of Marion County.  It is bounded on the north by Wayne and, for a very short distance, by Centre township; on the east by White River, which marks the boundary against Perry township; on the south by Morgan County; and on the west by Hendricks County.  The population of Decatur, as shown by the returns of the United States census of 1880, was then sixteen hundred and forty-seven.

    Originally the territory of the township was very heavily timbered with black walnut, poplar, the different varieties of oak, blue and gray ash, beech, sugar-tree, red and white elm, and hackberry, and on the bottom-lands sycamore, buttonwood, soft maple, buckeye, paw-paw, and in early times spicewood and prickly ash.  The heavy timber was a great drawback in the early settlement, requiring a great amount of very hard labor to clear the land sufficiently to furnish the settlers with bread and feed for their stock, though the stock usually required (or at least received) but little feed, subsisting largely on the “range,” while hogs lived and were fattened on the mast,—acorns, beechnuts, hickory-nuts, etc.  The land was at first cleared of the grubs, logs, and smaller trees, and the large ones “deadened,” as it was termed, by girdling, and thus the clearing was sometimes many years in being completed.  As years passed on and the clearings extended, the custom of deadening all timber, where the land was intended to be cleared, was introduce.

    The streams of the township are the White River, which forms its entire eastern boundary; Eagle Creek, a tributary which enters the river at the extreme northeast corner of the township; and a number of smaller and unimportant creeks and runs, which flow through Decatur southeastwardly to their junction with the White River.  The surface of the township is sufficiently rolling to admit of good and easy drainage of the lands.  There are in the township two considerable elevations of ground, one known as Marr’s Hill, near the residence of Patrick Harman, the other as Spring Valley Hill, owned jointly by Mr. Elijah Wilson and Isaac B. Dewees, Esq.  It is an isolated point or knob, rising one hundred and forty feet or more above the general level of the surrounding country, and two hundred feet or more above the level of the river, which is nearly a quarter of a mile east.  From this point, when the air is clear an extended view may be had of the surrounding country, including the buildings of the insane asylum, the spires and many of the highest buildings in the city of Indianapolis, and even Crown Hill, north of the city, and fully twelve miles from the point of observation. 

    The lands of the township consist of a variety of soils; alluvial or bottom, along the valley of White River; second bottom underlaid with gravel; and upland, of which the soil is underlaid with clay.  All the soil of the township, with proper cultivation, produces largely of cereals, vegetables, clover, timothy, and blue grass, for all of which crops it equals the best in the county or State. 

    In the first settlement of the township the large yellow and spotted rattlesnakes were numerous, and the cause of much terror among the settlers.  Cattle and other animals were frequently bitten, and died from the effects of the poison, though there is no account of any person having died from that cause.  During the fall of 1824 some of the settlers became convinced that the reptiles had a den in the vicinity of what is now the village of Valley Mills, and in the following spring a close watch was kept for their appearance in that locality.  On one of the earliest of the warm days their den was discovered by John Kenworthy, and the inhabitants of the neighboring settlements were notified of the fact.  The able-bodied men of the region for several miles around gathered at the place, and with mattocks, shovels, spades, and hoes proceeded to dislodge and slay the serpents.  Their den was in the side of a ravine on the land of Isaac Hawkins, now owned and occupied by William Sanders, about a half-mile eat of Valley Mills Station of the Indianapolis and Vincennes Railway.  One hundred and seven rattlesnakes were killed (most of them of large size), besides a number of other and less venomous snakes.  This general slaughter of the reptiles seemed to almost entirely rid the township of them, as but few were seen afterwards, most of them, however, in the vicinity of Valley Mills and near the high bluffs along White River.  A few of the black variety, known a the prairie rattlesnake, were found around the bog prairie, situated partly in Decatur and partly in Wayne townships, until quite recently but now they appear to have been exterminated.  Many years ago Ira Plummer was bitten (while gathering hazel-nuts) by a snake of this kind, but survived and recovered wholly through the efficacy (as was said) of whiskey and a tea made of blue-ash bark.

    Decatur, like the other townships of the county, as set off and erected into a separate township by the board of county commissioners, April 16, 1822, and on the same date it was, by the same authority, joined with Perry and Franklin townships for organization and the election of justices of the peace, for the reason that none of the three contained a sufficient number of inhabitants for such organization.  This arrangement continued until Aug. 12, 1823, when the commissioners ordered “that Decatur township be stricken off from Perry and Franklin townships, and form from this date a separate and independent township of this county, in every respect as if it had never been attached to the aid townships of Perry and Franklin; and the board assigned one justice of the peace to be elected for the township of Decatur, at an election ordered to be held at the house of John Thompson, on Saturday, Aug. 30, 1823, John Thompson to be inspector of the said election.

    The following is a list of justices and township officers of Decatur from its erection to the present time, viz:

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

Peter Harmonson, June 28, 1822, to Aug. 30, 1823 (for townships of Decatur, Perry, and Franklin, until their separation).

Joseph Beeler, Nov. 3, 1823, to Oct 8, 1828.

Joseph Beeler, Jan. 5, 182_, to Jan 5, 1834.

James Epperson, May 7, 1832, to Aug. 1, 1835; died.

Zimri Brown, Feb. 25, 1834, to Sept. 1, 1836; resigned.

Joseph Beeler, Sept. 21, 1835, to Sept. 21, 1840.

Noah Reagan, Nov 1, 1836, to Nov. 23, 1836; resigned.

Jesse Grace, Jan. 14, 1837, to Jan. 14, 1842.

Young Em. R. Wilson, Feb. 23, 1839, to Feb. 23, 1844.

Zadock Jackson, Dec. 25, 1840, to Dec. 22, 1845.

John S. Hall, Feb. 19, 1842, to Feb. 19, 1847.

Young Em. R. Wilson, May 11, 1844, to July, 8, 1845; resigned.

Noah McCreery, Aug. 27, 1845, to Aug. 27, 1850.

William Mendenhall, Dec. 22, 1845, to Dec. 22, 1850.

Joseph Beeler, Feb. 19, 1847, to Feb. 19, 1852.

John Burris, Dec. 26, 1850, to May 3, 1859.

Jesse Price, Nov.  8, 1851, to Oct. 9, 1852; resigned.

Lewis George, April 24, 1858, to May 24, 1859; resigned.

Gurdon C. Johnson, July 19, 1859, to July 19, 1867.

Thomas Mendenhall, April 19, 1864, to April 13, 1866; resigned.

John S. Walker, April 17, 1866, to Sept. 12, 1866; resigned.

Thomas R. Cook, Nov. 9, 1866, to Nov. 9, 1870.

John M. Ritter, April 26, 1869, to April 16, 1873.

David W. Compton, Nov. 9, 1870, to Oct. 18, 1872; resigned.

James S. Wall, Oct. 24, 1874, to April 17, 1882; removed.

Isaac B. Dewees, Oct. 21, 1878, to Oct. 24, 1882.

John D. Haworth, June 12, 180, to April 15, 1886.

Charles F. Allen, April 17, 1882, to Oct. 24, 1886.

TRUSTEES.

Marin Searly, April 9, 1859, to April 9, 1860.

Josiah Russell, April 9, 1860, to April 19, 1862.

Jackson L. Jessup, April 19, 1862, to Oct. 10, 1867.

John W. Billingsley, Oct. 10, 1867, to Oct. 23, 1872.

Jacob Horner, Oct. 23, 1872, to Oct. 26, 1874.

Noah McCreery, Oct. 26, 1874, to April 14, 1882.

Thomas N. Janeway, April 14, 1882, for two years.

ASSESSORS.

Demas L. McFarland, Jan. 1, 1827, to Jan. 7, 1828.

Cader Carter, Jan. 7, 1828, to Jan. 4, 1830.

Jesse Wright, Jan. 4, 1830, to Jan 2, 1832.

John P. Clark, Jan. 2, 1832, to Jan 7, 1833.

Adam Wright, Jan. 7, 1833, to Jan. 6, 1834.

James M. Bailey, May 5, 1834, to May 5, 1835.

Zimri Brown, May 5, 1835, to Jan. 4, 1836.

Demas L. McFarland, Jan 4, 1836, to Jan. 2, 1837.

Abram H. Dawson, Jan. 2, 1837, to Jan. 1, 1838.

Jesse Grace, Jan. 1, 1838, to Jan. 7, 1839.

Grimes Dryden, Jan. 7, 1839, to Jan. 4, 1841.

Aaron Wright, Jan. 4, 1841, to Dec. 6, 1841.

Joseph Cook, Dec. 21, 1852, to Dec. 8, 1854.

Isaac Hawkins, Dec. 8, 1851, to Feb. 5, 1855.

Eli Sanders, Feb. 9, 1855, to Dec. 12, 1856.

John S. Rabb, Dec. 13, 1856, to March 12, 1857.

Jesse Price, March 12, 1857, to Dec. 12, 1858.

Abner Mills, Dec. 12, 1858, to Nov. 22, 1872.

John Ellis, Nov. 22, 1872, to Aug. 1, 1873.

Jesse W. Reagan, March 22, 1875, to Dec. 26 1876.

John W. Ellis, Dec. 26, 1876, to April 13, 1880.

Edward C. Forest, April 13, 1880, to April 13, 1884.

    This township, as originally set off and erected by the commissioners in 1822, contained forty-two sections of land, being in size six miles from north to south, and seven miles east and west, its eastern line being a continuation of the line between the townships of Centre and Wayne, thus bringing into Decatur a strip of land lying east of the White River, and between that stream and the township of Perry, the strip having an average width of about two miles, and embracing about twelve sections of land.  This continued to be included in Decatur township until the 7th of January, 1833, when, upon petition by citizens of Decatur township, it was ordered by the board of justices “that all the part of Decatur township lying on the east side of White River be attached to and hereafter form a part of Perry township.”  By this section the White River was established as the line between Decatur and Perry, and has remained as such to the present time.

    The earliest settlements in Decatur were generally made in the vicinity of the White River, and near springs, with which the township abounds, especially along the higher lands near the river.  In the government sales of lands this consideration had much to do in deciding the location and purchase of different tracts.  The first settlements were made in 1821,—possibly two or three came as early as the fall of 1820,—but who was the first settler who came to make his permanent home within the territory that soon afterwards became Decatur township cannot now be satisfactorily ascertained.  Among the first, however, were the Dollarhides, David Kime, Charles and Joseph Beeler, Demas L. McFarland, John Thompson, Jesse Wright, and John, James, Edward, Eli, and Jacob Sulgrove on the west side of the river, and Martin D. Bush, Emanuel Glimpse, and the Myers and Monday families on the east side of the stream in that part of the township which was transferred to the jurisdiction of Perry in 1833, as before mentioned. 

    Joseph Beeler was one of the earliest settlers in Decatur, as he was also for a period of almost thirty years (from his settlement here to his death) one of the most prominent and respected men of the township.  He was born in April, 1797, in a block-house which was built for defense against Indians in what is now Ohio County, W. Va.  The block-house was surrounded by a stockade work which was called “Beeler’s Fort,” or “Beeler’s Station,” his father being in command of the defense, and also of a company of frontiersmen called “rangers,” whose headquarters were at the stockade.  The name “Beeler’s Station is retained to the present day in the post-office at that place. 

    His father dying when he was but six weeks old, he was left with but the care and protection of his mother, and he grew to years of manhood, living part of the time in Virginia and part in Washington County, Pa.  In the summer of 1819 he, with his mother and brother George [Beeler], descended the Ohio River in a pirogue (a very large dug-out canoe), and stopped at a place on the lower river (the locality of which, in the fall of the same year, he, with his two brothers and two acquaintances, made an exploring trip to the then wilderness region which is now Marion County.  Striking the White River at the place where the village of Waverly now is, they traveled thence northward and halted at a camp which they made on the river bank nearly on the site of the present water-works of Indianapolis.  There was not at that time a white man’s cabin or habitation of any kind in the vicinity.  He made a thorough examination of this region, and being pleased with it, he returned in the spring of 1820 with his mother, his brother, G. H. Beeler (afterwards the first clerk of Morgan County), and several others for permanent settlement, and located on the west side of the river near the bluffs.  At the land sales they bought the tract on which they had settled, but afterwards sold it to James Burns at an advance of one hundred dollars, which would pay for an additional eighty acres of land in some new location.  Burns, the purchaser, afterwards built upon the tract a small frame house the first of the kind in that part of the country) and painted it red.  The house is still standing, and the place has been and is at this day known as the “Red House.”

    Soon after his sale to Burns, Joseph Beeler bought the northeast quarter of section 6, township 14, range 3, and commenced a clearing.  In May, 1822, he was married to Hannah Matthews, and late in the fall of the same year they removed to their new home on his land in Decatur township. 

    Mr. Beeler was a fine specimen of pioneer manhood, being six feet in height and finely proportioned.  He was ever a leader in matters of public enterprise, and untiring in perseverance and industry.  He regarded his vocation of famer as one of the highest respectability, and he had great ambition to excel in his calling.  He was one of the first farmers of the country to import improved breeds of stock, which gained the reputation of being the best in the country,—as the records of the agricultural societies show,—from  the number of premiums awarded him in the different classes.  He also took a deep interest in horticulture, and his orchards were noted for their production of the best quality of fruit.

    He was for many years a justice of the peace.  In those times there was much more litigation in the county than now, and though in his office he might have profited by it pecuniarily, he always used his influence to prevent instead of promoting law-suits.  In Mr. Nowland’s “Sketches of Prominent Citizens,” he says, “Were I writing for the ye only of those who knew Mr. Beeler, it would be unnecessary to say that he was a man of the strictest integrity, whose word was as good a his bond, and was never questioned.”  At the time of his death, and for many previous years, he was a member of the Christian Church.  He died July 12, 1851, in the full strength and vigor of manhood.  He had endured years of toil and privation, but lived to see the forest give place to cultivated fields and fruitful orchards, the small clearing extended to a large and valuable farm, and the log cabin to the comfortable mansion; but though he had much to live for, he entered the dark valley with the resignation and faith of the Christian who feels that his work has been well done, and that there is peace and happiness on the other side of the river.  He left surviving him his wife and five children.  His oldest son, Fielding Beeler (born March 30, 1823), is now a resident of Wayne township, and one of the best known and most successful farmers of Marion County.  George M., then but a small boy (and who died at the early age of twenty-four years), inherited his father’s taste for horticulture, and was particularly distinguished in that profession for one of his years.  Emily, the oldest daughter, married Calvin Fletcher, of the well-known Fletcher family of Indianapolis, and now resides with her husband at Spencer, Ind.  Melissa, the second daughter, married the Hon. John C. New, of Indianapolis.  She died, leaving an only son, Harry S. New, who is one of the proprietors and editors of the Indianapolis Journal.  The third daughter, Hattie, married T. W. Hall, who died several years ago, and she now lives with her three children in Indianapolis.  The widow of Joseph Beeler survived him thirty years, and died in Indianapolis in 1881, in the eightieth year of her age.  She was remarkable for the activity of her mind, on which account, and because of her excellent memory of the incidents of early times, she was often appealed to as authority concerning occurrences with which she had been acquainted in her youth.  The minister who officiated at her funeral spoke of her life, and experience as a forcible illustration of the progress of the country; mentioning the fact that when a young lady of twenty years she passed over the ground (then dotted by only a few log cabins) that because the site of the city in which she died, containing at the time of her death nearly one hundred thousand inhabitants.

    Martin D. Bush came from the State of New York in 1821, and settled on the east side of White River, on the southeast quarter of section 8, township 15, range 3, now in Perry township.  His land was all river bottom and so much subject to overflow that he became discouraged, and in 1845 or 1846 sold out and removed to Atchison County, Mo., where he died.  During the years of his residence in the White River Valley Mr. Bush was ever known as an honorable, upright, and public-spirited man.  His house was the headquarters of traveling ministers of the several denominations when they came to the new country, and preaching was frequently held there.  His wife was noted for her benevolence, and kindness to the sick and afflicted among the early pioneers.  They were both original members of the Liberty Church.  They had three children, a son and two daughters.  The oldest daughter, Anna, was married to Mr. Merrill, brother of the late Samuel Merrill.  The other daughter Mary, married Amos Sharp, brother of the well-known banker of Indianapolis.  The son, Henry Bush, married Susan, daughter of Grimes Dryden.  All of them with their families removed to Missouri with their parents. 

    Charles Beeler, born in Ohio County, Va. (now West Virginia), came to Morgan County, Ind., in 1820, and to Decatur township in 1822, and settled on the southeast quarter of section 7, township 14, range 2, it being land which he bought at the government land sales at Brookville, and which is now owned and occupied by ex-County Commissioner A. C. Remy.  He sold his property in Decatur and removed in 1831 to Shelby County, Ill.  Afterwards he moved to the State of Missouri, thence to California, and from there back to Missouri, and died near St. Joseph, in that State, about the year 1867, at the age of eighty-four years.

    Samuel K. Barlow, an early settler in the township, and who laid out the original town plat of Bridgeport on land of John Furnas, located a short distance south of that village, in the northwest part of Decatur.  He was always regarded as well behaved and peaceable, yet he had the misfortune to become the slayer of a man named Matlack, who was his brother-in-law.  It appeared that upon the fatal occasion he visited Matlack’s house (in Hendricks County), and upon seeing Matlack attempt to whip his wife with a cowhide, Barlow interfered for the protection of the woman, and in the fight which ensued Matlack was killed.  For the homicide Barlow was confined a long time in the Hendricks County jail, and finally brought to trial, which resulted in his acquittal, but the cost of his defense was so heavy that he was compelled to sell his property to pay it.  He then removed from Decatur to Iowa, and afterwards to Oregon, where he died about 1878, at the age of eighty-four years.

    Jesse Wright, a native of North Carolina, came to Decatur from the Whitewater country, and settled on the northwest quarter of section 29, township 15, range 3, the same property now owned by the family of the late Jacob Hanch.  He was a positive and an energetic man, but a very contentious one, and this latter characteristic made him an Ishmael among the people of the community in which he lived, as was shown by the course he took at the death of his first wife (he was twice married), who was a most estimable woman.  Although there was a public burial-ground within half a mile of his home, he buried her in the woods on the bluff overlooking the swampy lands southwest of his residence.  He was a man in good circumstances, yet after selling his farm to Jacob Hanch, about the year 1838, he left the country and removed to Iowa without erecting even the rudest or simplest stone to mark her resting place; and there are few, if any, now living who can identify the spot here he made her lonely grave.

    Aaron Wright, brother of Jesse, was also a North Carolinian by birth.  He came from Union County to Decatur township, and settled on the lands now owned and occupied by John Hurd.  He was an honest, upright man, who attended strictly to his own business, and never engaged in controversy or contention with his neighbors.  He died in 1877, upwards of seventy years of age, leaving a son, Jesse Wright, who has been for two terms trustee of Wayne township, and is one of its most prominent farmers; also a daughter, who is Mrs. John Doty, and another living near Council Bluffs, Iowa.

    Cader Carter came from Ohio in the early days of the settlement and bought an eighty-acre tract in Decatur township, the same now owned by John Chamberlain.  Carter was a single man, and for several years made his home with Jesse Wright, with whom he had a disagreement which grew into a lawsuit, which resulted adversely to Carter and compelled him to sell his land to pay the expenses of litigation.  He always complained bitterly of the wrong which had been done him by Wright and by the decision in the latter’s favor.  After the loss of his property he lost his energy, and never made another purchase of land in the township.  He served as constable for several years, and for about five years drove a stage between Indianapolis and Cincinnati.  He was an active and earnest politician of the Democratic party, and it was alleged that he was of one-eighth negro blood.  In consequence of his active partisanship at the State election of 1836, his vote was challenged and refused.  He sued for damages, but, unfortunately for him, it was proved to the satisfaction of the jury trying the case that the allegation was true, and he was never again allowed to vote.  All who knew him gave him the character of a strictly honest and upright man, and one of very fair intelligence and general information.  He died in 1851.

    John Thompson, one of the earliest of the settlers in this township, located upon (and afterwards bought) the southwest quarter of section 30, township 15, range 3, now owned and occupied by Patrick Harmon.  He was also the owner of the west half of the southwest quarter of section 29 in the same township, which latter tract alone was assessed to him in 1829.  John Thompson was esteemed by all who knew him as an honorable, upright man, who in his daily walk and in all his dealings was entitled to the appellation of Christian.  His cabin was the place of the earliest gatherings for religious worship in the township, and the place where Liberty Church was organized and its meetings held until the erection of the meeting-house.  In the absence of regular ministers, Mr. Thompson, often preached himself at his dwelling.  In 1837 he sold his land to John Marrs and removed to Iowa.  His first wife died about 1832, and he afterwards married Mrs. Matlack, widow of the Matlack who was killed by S. K. Barlow, as noticed in the earlier sketch of the latter.  Mr. Thompson raised a large family of children, all of whom moved West with him, except Naomah (wife of Eli Sulgrove) and Sarah (wife of Calvin Matthew).

    Demas L. McFarland came from Washington County, Pa., to Marion County in February, 1822, and located in Decatur township.  In 1829 he was assessed on the northeast quarter of section 30, township 15, range 3, but afterwards was the owner of other lands.  He was an earnest, energetic, and public-spirited man; always “kept up his end of the handspike at the neighborhood log-rollings and house-raisings, and did his full share in contributing to all enterprises for the public good.  He was a colonel in the militia as long as that system and organization was kept up.  He died in 1869, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, leaving one son, Abel, who has been for many years a resident of California, and three daughters,—Charlotte and Laura, of Indianapolis, and Anne, who is the wife of Dr. Duzon, and who with her husband and family occupied the old homestead of her father in Decatur.  Near the dwelling is a noted and excellent spring, which doubtless influenced Mr. McFarland in the location of his home.

    Reason Reagan, who was one of the early settlers in Decatur, located on the northwest quarter of section 9township 15, range 2, where he cleared up a good farm, but sold it many years ago, and spent the later years of his life in Mooresville, Morgan Co.  He was the father of Dr. Amos Reagan, of Mooresville, Dr. Lott Reagan (deceased), of Bridgeport, and Noah Reagan, a well-known stock-raiser and auctioneer, now dead. 

    Jason Mendenhall, a native of North Carolina, came from Ohio to Decatur in 1822, and settled near where West Newton now is.  In 1829 he was assessed on lands, the southwest quarter of section 23, township 14, range 2.  He died in 1868, at the age of eighty-two years.  Two of his sons (Eli and Atha) and four daughters live in the township, also one daughter in Kansas.

    Richard Mendenhall, brother of Joseph, came to Decatur in 1823.  His lands are described in the assessment-roll of 1829 as the northeast quarter of section 22, township 14, range 2.  He moved in about 1852 to Iowa, where he died in 1868, in his eighty-fourth year.  His widow is (or was very recently) living at near one hundred years of age.  One son, William, lives near West Newton village; the rest of the family made their homes in Iowa.

    John McCreery came to this township from Ohio in 1826 or 1827, and located on the west half of the northeast quarter of section 25, township 15, range 2, as shown by the township assessment-roll of 1829.

    He was a pioneer member of the Bethel Methodist Church (better known as the McCreery Church), and an earnest, upright, Christian man.  His house was the usual headquarters for preachers and strangers visiting or exploring this region, and all were hospitably entertained.  He died in 1879, in his eighty-seventh year, leaving a son, Noah, who has been several times elected township trustee, though differing in politics from a majority of the electors, a fact which plainly shows the confidence which his fellow-townsmen repose in his integrity, judgment, and impartiality.  A daughter (Amanda) of John McCreery is the wife of John Hoffman, and lives at the old homestead. 

    Asahel Dollarhide came from North Carolina to Marion County, Ind., and settled in Decatur township in 1821 or 1822.  He was an upright, honest man, and an early member of Liberty Church.  He died about 1840, at the age of eighty-three years.

    Edmund Dollarhide was the youngest son of Asahel Dollarhide, and lived with his father, near where the Spring Valley gravel road crosses Dollarhide Creek, the homestead now occupied by his granddaugher, Mrs. Dewees.  Edmund Dollarhide was rather a peculiar character, a little too fond of whiskey to pass for a strict temperance man.  For a long time his business was that of a teamster, hauling produce to and goods from the principal points on the Ohio River for Indianapolis merchants.  He usually drove six horses attached to an old-fashioned Conestoga wagon; almost always returning home from Indianapolis late in the evening with his horses in a fast trot (sometimes on the gallop, he sitting in the saddle on the nigh wheel-horse, and clinging with one hand to his mane, the chains of the wagon making a clatter that could be heard for miles in the stillness of the night.  He seemed at such times to entirely abandon all attempt to guide his team by the lines, and to surrender all responsibility to the lead-horse, which he named “Farmer,” a noble chestnut sorrel, who seemed endowed with something higher than mere brute instinct, and always brought team, wagon, and man home in safety.  Edmund Dollarhide died in February, 1862.  He had two sons, one of whom died several years before his father; the other migrated West.  His only daughter married Ira N. Holmes, and now lives with her husband at Winfield, Kansas.

    David Kime, one of the very early settlers in Decatur, located on the east half of section 24, township 14, range 2.  He was a quiet and unobtrusive, but honest and honorable man, one of the original members of Liberty Church.  He died in 1873, nearly eighty years of age.  He had two sons, Michael and Alfred, who removed to the Platte Purchase about 1840.  His daughter is the wife of Isaac B. Dewees, Esq.

    The following-named persons, early settlers in Decatur, were resident tax-payers in the township in 1829.  The description of their lands, given after the name of each, respectively, is taken from the township assessment-roll of that year, viz.:

    Joseph Allen, the west half of the northeast quarter of section 9, township 14, range 2.  Mr. Allen was a native of North Carolina, and came to this county in 1826.  He was the father of ex-County Commissioner Moses Allen, a prominent farmer and stock-raiser; of Dr. W. Allen, the well-known and popular physician of West Newton; of Preston Allen, deceased; and of Joseph Allen, a leading farmer and dealer in stock, who owns and occupies the homestead farm of his father in Decatur.

    Christopher Ault and Henry Ault, no real estate assessment in 1829.  They came from Ohio.  Henry (son of Christopher) removed to Hancock County, and was killed on a railway track in the winter of 1880.

    William Boles, the east half of the southeast quarter of section 25, township 15, range 2.  He came from Ohio to Decatur, and removed thence to Huntingdon County about 1835. 

    Thomas Barnet, no real estate assessment in 1829.  He was a native of North Carolina; came to Decatur in 1827, and died in 1839.  He was the father of Jesse, William, and James Barnet.  All were members of the Society of Friends.  Jesse is now living in Iowa.  Thomas also emigrated to Iowa.  James died in 1868.  Athanasius Barnet died in Iowa.

    William Bierman, no real estate assessment in 1829.  He was a brother-in-law of John Thomson.  He had mush sickness in his family, and did not remain long in Decatur.

    Benjamin Cuddington, the southwest quarter of section 29, township 15, range 3.  He came from New York State in 1824, and died in 1830.  Most of his family left the county soon afterwards, and all are now dead. 

    John Cook, no assessment on lands in 1829.  He was from North Carolina, a member of the Society of Friends, and emigrated to Iowa about 1842. 

    Seth Curtis, tract of one hundred and forty acres on section 18, township 14, range 3.  He came from Kentucky, and moved from Decatur to Boone County.

    Aaron Coppock, no real estate assessment in 1829.  He died in 1840. 

    James Curtis, tract of one hundred and forty-seven acres on section 18, township 14, range 3.  He was a Kentuckian.  Moved from Decatur in 1845 to Holt County, Mo.  Died at the age of eighty-four years.

    Uriah Carson, no real estate assessed to him in 1829.  He was a Quaker from North Carolina.  Died in 1860. 

    Dennis Cox, assessed on no property in 1829, except one horse and a silver watch.  He was from North Carolina, and married the youngest daughter of Asahel Dollarhide.  He is now living near Augusta. 

    Joshua Compton, assessed in 1829 on one horse, two oxen, and one silver watch.  He was a Quaker from Ohio.  Died in 1841.

    John Cowgill, part of the northwest quarter of section 23, township 14, range 2.  He was a tanner, and had a tan-yard on his farm. 

    Grimes Dryden, part of the northwest quarter of section 18, township 14, range 3.  He came from Kentucky, and moved from Decatur to Atchison, Mo., about 1843.

    James Dryden, the east half of the southeast quarter section 12, township 14, range 3.  He came from Kentucky, and aftewards returned to that State.

    James Epperson, the northeast quarter of section 33, township 15, range 2.  He was a justice of the peace.  Died in 1833.

    Abel Gibson, no real estate assessment in 1829.  He was a blacksmith and axe-maker.  He removed to Hamilton County, and died in 1880, at the age of eighty-seven years.  While in Decatur he was interested in a wagon-shop with Abidan Bailey, who was a wagon-maker by trade.  Joseph Gibson was a son of Abel.

    Emanuel Glimpse, the west half of the southwest quarter of section 33, township 15, range 3.  Lands located in what is now a part of Perry-township.

    Andrew Hoover, Jr., the southeast quarter of section 9 township 14, range 3.  Lands east of White River, now Perry township.

    David Hinkston, the southwest quarter of section 36, township 15, range 2.  East of river in what is now Perry township.

    Isaac Hawkins, the southwest quarter of section 36, township 15, range 2.  He was from North Carolina, and a member of the Society of Friends.  He left the township about 1833. 

    George Hayworth, no real estate in 1829.  He was a Quaker from North Carolina.  Came to the township in 1825.  Died about 1875.

    James Horton, no real estate in 1829.  He came to the township in 1824.  Died about 1850.  His son James removed recently to Arkansas. 

    Henry Hobbs, the west half of the northwest quarter of section 23, township 14, range 2.  He removed to Tipton County.

    Frederick Hartzell, no lands in 1829.  He came from Ohio.  Removed from Decatur ot Iowa.  Died about 1850. 

    Peter Hoffman, no lands in 1829.  He came from Ohio, and settled in the Bethel neighborhood in 1826.  Died in 1840, at ninety years of age.

    Jesse Hawkins, the east half of the southeast quarter of section 28, township 15, range 2.  He came from Carolina in 1825 or 1826.  Died about 1858. 

    Mark Harris (colored), the west half of the southeast quarter of section 21, township 14, range 3.

    Parker Keeler, the east half of the northeast quarter of section 36, township 15, range 2.  He was a Virginian by birth, moved thence to Ohio thence to Decatur township.  He was one of the pioneer members of the Bethel Methodist Church. 

    Noah Kellum, the west half of the northwest quarter of section 33, township 15, range 2.  He was a Quaker from North Carolina, came to Decatur in 1824, but was only a temporary resident. 

    John Kenworthy, the west half of the northwest quarter of section 36, township 15, range 2.  He was from North Carolina, a member of the Society of Friends, and father of William and John, Jr.  The latter moved to Iowa and thence to Texas. 

    John, Henry, and Larkin Munday, John and Henry Myers, and James Martin were emigrants from Kentucky, who came here before 1829 and settled east of White River in that part of Decatur which was afterwards joined to Perry township.

    Alexander Mendenhall, no lands in 1829.  He removed to Hamilton County, where he died in 1882.

    Charles Merritt, no real estate in 1829.  He removed to Iowa many years ago. 

    Frederick Price, no real estate in 1829.  He came from Butler County, Ohio, and removed from Decatur to Arkansas.

    John Rozier, the east half of the northwest quarter of section 29, township 15, range 2; land now owned by Martin Seerly.  Rozier came from Ohio to Decatur in 1826.  George Rozier, son of Adam Rozier, is now living in Morgan County. 

    John Sulgrove, the northwest quarter of section 28, township 15, range 3.  His brother James had the south part of the southwest quarter and their brother Edward the remainder of the section, two hundred and twenty-three acres.  Eli Sulgrove, another brother, had the east half of the northwest quarter of section 32 of the same township.  The family came from Ohio.  Edward, the eldest, never married.  Eli moved to Iowa about 1856.  Jacob Sulgrove, son of James, is named in the assessment of 1829, but paid a poll-tax only.

    Jacob Sutherland, part of the southwest quarter of section 33, township 15, range 3.  His wife was a daughter of one of the Sulgroves.

    Anthony Sells, no real estate in 1829, but afterwards owned lands now embraced in the farm of A. C. Remy.  Sells was unmarried, and moved West about 1836.

    James Vorice (Voorhes?) owned no land, but lived in a cabin on the farm of Jesse Wright.

    John Wilson, the northeast quarter of section 22, township 14, range 2.  He was afterwards the owner of part of section 23.  His lands south of the village of West Newton are now owned by J. R. George.  He was a member of the Society of Friends, and removed to Iowa about 1846.  He died about 1879 at a very advanced age.

    Edward Wright, no lands in 1829.  He came from Ohio to Decatur, and moved thence to Missouri about 1835.  He as the father of Henry Wright and of Peter N. Wright, who has been for several years superintendent of the Marion County poor farm.

    John Dollarhide, the south half of the southeast quarter of section 24, township 14, range 2.  He also owned part or all of the southwest quarter of section 19, township 14, range 3.  His homestead is now owned and occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Sawyer, and her husband.  John Dollarhide died in the winter of 1832.

    Absalom Dollarhide, a tract of eighty acres not clearly described in assessment-roll of 1829.  The land on which he settled is now owned by William Boatright.  Mr. Dollarhide moved to Illinois about 1834. 

    Zimri Brown, no real estate assessed to him in 1829.  He came from North Carolina, and married a daughter of Asahel Dollarhide.  He removed from Decatur township to Hamilton County.

Villages.—The most important village in the township is that of West Newton, which was laid out by Christopher Furnas in April, 1851.  Its location is in the south part of the township and south of the Vincennes Railroad.  It has two churches (Friends and Methodist), a fine two-story school-house, a graded school, two physicians, a post-office, two general stores, two blacksmith- and one wagon-maker’s shop, one undertaker’s shop, one saw-mill, and the railway station of the Vincennes line.

    West Newton Lodge, No. 452, F. and A. M., was chartered May 27, 1873.  Philip McNabb, W. M.; Jeremiah R. George, S. W.; Jesse A. Reynolds, J. W.  The names of the present officers have not been obtained, though asked for.  The lodge is in a flourishing condition.

    Valley Mills village, previously called Fremont, and also Northport, was laid out as Fremont by Joe Sanders in 1856, and laid out and platted under the name of Northport, March 21, 1839; is located a little north of the center of the township, on the Vincennes Railroad.  It has a Friends’ meeting-house, and another of the Hicksite branch of the same society, one commodious school-house of four rooms, a graded school, post-office, one physician, one general store, one grocery, a blacksmith- and wagon-maker’s shop, a saw-mill, and railroad station.  On the northeast, adjoining the village, is the fine nursery and fruit farm of the Hon. John Furnas.

    The village or town of Spring Valley was laid out on the northwest quarter of section 10, township 15, range 3, by Stephen Ward, in 1848 (plat recorded January 4th of that year).  Quite an extensive store was opened, with a full stock of goods, a building was erected for a hotel, a blacksmith-shop and a wagon-shop were started, and several dwellings were built and occupied by families, a physician located there, and a post-office was established.  The town flourished well for a time, but the rivalry of Fremont and West Newton caused it to decline.  The original projector sold out his landed interest, and the merchant became discouraged and left the place, as did also the physician, when it became apparent that the village and vicinity could not support him.  Finally the place was abandoned by all ho felt any interest in its prosperity or existence.   The buildings were dismantled, and the material removed to other places, and Spring Valley was left with its name but with not enough of the marks of a town to lead a stranger to suspect that one had ever existed there.  A public school-house is still there, but there has been no post-office or postmaster for Spring Valley for several years.

Mills and Distilleries.—The first and only grist-mill in Decatur was built by James A Marrs and Ira N. Holmes in 1854, at the southwest corner of the southwest quarter of section 36, township 15, range 2.  It was a steam mill, with two boilers, two engines, and three run of burrs,--two for wheat and one for corn, with a capacity for making one hundred barrels of flour in twenty-four hours.  It did both custom and merchant work.  Holmes sold out his interest in Marrs before the mill was finished.  Marrs completed it, and ran t until his death, which occurred in October, 1857.  His administrator kept it in operation for some years afterwards, but it was found unprofitable, because the distance from market or a shipping-place rendered the expense of hauling too great.  The mill was then sold to Fielding Beeler and Calvin Fletcher, and removed by them to what is now Maywood.  There it was rebuilt , a saw-mill and new machinery added, and all was operated vigorously till the spring of 1873 (Mr. Beeler being the superintending partner), when it was sold to other parties, but was not successfully conducted, and finally the business as abandoned.  The machinery has since been sold and the building dismantled. 

    The first saw-mill in Decatur was built about 1834 by Reuben Jessup, on Dollarhide Creek, on land now owned by Isaiah George.  The creek afforded water enough to run the mill only during the wet season of the year, but by gathering a head of water in the pond it was able to do the necessary sawing of lumber for the neighborhood.  The mill was sold by Jessup to Joseph Beeler, who ran it some three years, then sold the machinery to Noah Sinks, who erected a dam, race, and building lower down the creek (near where it enters White River), on land now owned by ex-County Commissioner A. C. Remy, and moved the machinery of the mill to the new site.  Mr. Sinks was a good millwright, and his new mill was well constructed and put in excellent order, but in consequences of the leakage of an aqueduct, which was necessary to carry the water at some height over the bed of the creek, the mill was unable to run with even as much success as it did on the old site.

    The only distillery in the township of which any information has been gained was started by Stephen Ward in 1857, on the old Eli Sulgrove farm, now owned by the heirs of the late Jeremiah Mansur.  Its capacity was about twenty barrels of whiskey per day, but it was not successful, and was soon abandoned.

Schools.—The first school in Decatur township was taught in the winter of 1824-25, by Samuel Wick, brother of Judge W. W. Wick, in one of the cabins of Col. D. L. McFarland.  In the fall of 1825 a cabin was built for school purposes on the land of Jesse Wright, near its north line, and near the present crossing of the Martin Seerly gravel road and the Vincennes Railroad.  In that cabin a school was taught by Joseph Fassett, the earliest Baptist minister of this section of country.  It has not been ascertained that any other person than he ever taught in the cabin referred to. 

    In 1826 or 1827 a house was built on the land of John Thompson for school and church purposes, and was called Liberty school-house and Liberty Church.  It was quite a pretentious structure for those days, being of hewed logs with a loft of clapboards.  The west end was furnished with logs, hewed flat on the upper side, and extending across the building, intended for seating the men at meeting.  When school was taught in the room those same logs furnished seats for the children, the feet of the smaller ones hanging several inches above the floor.  The east end of the building had a fireplace, with jambs built up of clay, which after two or three years gave place to brick.  The fireplace communicated with a “stick” chimney on the outside of the building.  The seats in the east end were benches made of puncheons, with legs fastened in auger-holes on the under side.  It was soon found that the fireplace was insufficient to keep the room warm enough for even tolerable comfort, and an old-fashioned box, or “six-plate” stove was put in, it being the first of the kind ever seen in this part of the country.  It was hauled from Cincinnati by Daniel Closser, one of the Vanderbilts of those times, whose transportation line ran over a road of mud and corduroy, and whose car was a wagon having a bed crooked up at each end like sled-runners, boxes in the sides, feed-box at the back end, all heavily ironed from end to end, with two heavy lock-chains, one on each side, rattling in concert with the bells on the harness of the four or six horses which furnished the motive power. 

    A house for school purpose was built on land of Absalom Dollarhide, occupying almost the exact spot on which now stands the residence of William Boatright.  This house was of round logs, two of which were halved out at the sides and one end for windows.  In these openings split pieces of wood were placed perpendicularly at the proper distances for sashes, and greased paper stretched over them instead of glass.  The floor and seats were made of puncheons (split logs), with the roughest splinters dressed off with an axe.  It had no chimney but a hole left at the comb of the roof for the smoke to pass out.  There was no fireplace but a few stones built against the logs and plastered with clay, and no hearth but the bare ground.   Stick of wood nearly as long as the width of the house was laid on the fire, and when it burned in two the ends were chunked together again.  Another house, of the same description as this, was built south of the present village of West Newton, and near the south line of the township.  The first teacher in this was Benjamin Pucket.  Another house was built a year or two later at the southwest corner of Parker Keeler’s land, about a quarter of a mile west of the first site of Bethel meeting-house (where the cemetery is located).  Another school-house was built and maintained for many years by citizens of the Society of Friends, near the site of their Beech Grove meeting-house.  This was independent of the public school organization or school funds, and was for many years a very prosperous school, attended by several pupils who have since attained prominence in the educational institutions of the county.  Among these was Mr. Mills, who was for many years assistant superintendent of the public schools if the city of Indianapolis.  A fine and commodious school-house is now located about a quarter of a mile east of the site of this old house, and in it a very well conducted and successful graded school is maintained under the general school system, the old organization having been abandoned.  The house stands in a pretty grove, a few rods southeast of Valley Mills railroad station.  There was also a school-house built, and a school maintained, by the Friends near the Beech Grove meeting-house.  This has given place to a spacious two-story frame school-house, in which a prosperous school is maintained under the present public school system.

    Decatur township has now six school districts, and the same number of school-houses (four frame, and two of brick).  Schools are taught in all the houses, and there are graded schools in two of the districts.  In 1883, ten teachers were employed (three male and seven female).  Six teachers’ institutes were held in the township during the year.  The average total daily attendance was 244; whole number of children admitted to the schools, 400; average length of school terms in the township in 1883, 166 days; valuation of school-houses and grounds, $16,000.

Churches.—The earliest church organization in Decatur township was that of the Baptist denomination, called Liberty Church, which was organized at a meeting convened for that purpose at the house of John Thompson, on the 8th of July, 1826, Joseph Fassett, moderator, and Samuel McCormick, clerk of the meeting.  The members of this first organization were John Thompson and Nancy his wife, John Dollarhide, Elisha Smith, George Stevens, Jane Beeler (grandmother of Fielding Beeler, Esq., now of Wayne township), Nancy McFarland (wife of Col. Demas L. McFarland), Martha Sutherland, Mary Spickelmoir, Rachel Dollarhide, Phebe Spickelmoir, Rebecca Smith, and Rosanna Shoemaker.  Meetings for religious worship had previously been held by these people at the house of John Thompson; and after the organization they were hl at the same place regularly every month, the preachers being Joseph Fassett, William Irwin, and John Butterfield.  On the second Saturday in October, 1827, a meeting was held for the first time in the house which ha been erected for both church and school purposes (as has been mentioned in the account of the schools of the township).  The record mentions the presence on this occasion of ministers Irwin, Fassett, Butterfield, and Cotton; also, that a sister from Masschusetts (name not given) preached to the congregation present.  When no regular minister was present the services were often conducted by John Thompson as long as he remained a resident of the neighborhood, up to about 1837.  When the split in the Baptist Church occurred, as caused by the teachings of Alexander Campbell, Liberty Church enrolled itself under his leadership.  John Thompson and other leading members having removed from the county (and from other causes), Liberty Church ceased to exist as an organization; no regular services were held after the year 1841, and the church building was allowed to fall into disuse and decay.

    The next religious organization after Liberty Church was that of the Friends worshiping at the Easton meeting-house at West Newton.  It dates from the year 1827, and was from the start, and still is, a well-maintained religious organization.  The first minister or preacher was Benjamin Pucket, who died in 1829 or 1830, and was the second person interred in the burial-ground connected with the meeting-house.

    The third church of the township was Bethel (Methodist Episcopal), known to the worldly-minded of those early days as “Brimstone Church,” from the preaching of one of its early ministers named Beck, whose principal them was “fire and brimstone.”  The Rev. James Havens, noted in the early annals of Methodism in this State, was also one of the earliest preachers at Bethel.  This organization is still in active and prosperous life.  Its old log church has given place to a neat frame building, and though the McCreerys and others of its original pillars have passed away, their descendants and the new-comers have taken up and continued its work.

    Lick Branch Meeting of the Friends was organized and a log meeting-house erected about 1830.  The old log structure was superseded by a frame house which is still standing, but the organization ceased to exist many years ago.

    Beech Grove (Friends) Church was also organized and a meeting-house erected about 1830.  The organization still exists and is prosperous.  A new building has been erected near the site of the old one, which is a few rods west of Valley Mills Station of the Indianapolis and Vincennes Railroad.

    The Centre, or “Starbuck” Church of the Friends was organized about the year 1850.  Its location is on the west line of Decatur, against Hendricks County, where many of its principal members reside.

    The Mount Pleasant Baptist Church building—a frame structure, erected about 1860—is located a short distance west of the residence of ex-County Commissioner A. C. Remy.  Before the building of the church, services were held in the vicinity, the first minister who served the small congregation being the Rev. Mr. McCray.  From the erection of the church to the present time, preaching has been held (generally monthly) with considerable regularity, though there is now no church organization, and the people who gather for worship at Mount Pleasant, having no regular pastor, depend on services by ministers from other places, among the principal of whom is the Rev. Mr. Maybee, of Indianapolis..

Burial-Grounds.—Near Liberty Church, at the northeast corner of the east half of the southwest quarter of section 29, township 15, range 3, is a free public burial-place, the land for which was donated by John Thompson.  The first person buried in it was Elizabeth Thompson, in 1828 or 1829.

    The Bethel graveyard is adjoining the first site of Bethel Church, near the northeast corner of the west half of section 26, range 2.

    Adjoining the site of the old Easton Friends’ meetinghouse at West Newton is a free burial-ground, in which the first interment was that of a child of Thomas Barnet, in 1828.  The second burial in it was that of Benjamin Pucket, who died in 1829 or 1830.  He was the first school-teacher and first preacher at the Easton Friends’ meeting.

    On the river bluff, on land of Elijah Wilson, near the east end of the south half of section 18, township 15, range 3, is an old burial-ground in which lie the remains of several of the early settlers of the neighborhood an some of later date, with a considerable number of children.  Burials have been free, but the ground has never been deeded for formally dedicated to its sacred use, and it is now nearly abandoned as a place of interment.

    There is a small burial-ground on the land formerly owned by Joseph Beeler, on the Spring Valley gravel road.  The first burial in it was that of a child of Joseph Beeler, in October, 1826.  It also contains the graves of Mr. Beeler, his mother, his brother Thomas, and several other members of his family and those of several of his neighbors and friends.  Burials have always been free in this ground, though it was never formally consecrated.

    There is a graveyard attached to the Centre, or “Starbuck” Friends’ meeting-house grounds, on the west line of the township; another at Lick Branch (Friend) Church, and another at the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church.  There are also several places in the township where from one to four or five graves have been made together on private lands, but which are not regarded as public burial-grounds, and in some cases all traces of the graves are obliterated.

Sulgrove, B. R., History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana; Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co., 1884, 785 pgs., pp. 506-519.