History of Ripley County Indiana
Ripley County: named for hero of the War of 1812 Rich in history that saw the Miami, Delaware, Potawatomi, and Shawnee Indians hunting the area, Ripley County became a part of the State of Indiana after a proposal in 1816 that a new county be formed. This county was named for General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, a hero of the War of 1812. On January 7, 1818, by an act of the General Assembly, John DePauw from Washington County, Charles Beggs of Franklin County, and W.H. Eades of Jennings County, were appointed to select a site for the new county seat. Earning three dollars a day for this task, the first three Commissioners settled on a hundred acre tract donated by John Paul of Madison (Jefferson County). The county seat was named Versailles in honor of DePauw's native city in France and was laid out as a town of 186 lots by John Ritchie. Ripley County, located in the southeastern part of Indiana, has 450 square miles or 288,000 acres. It is 27 miles north to south and 19 miles east to west with an elevation ranging from 600 feet to 100 feet above sea level. Laughery Creek, named for Colonel Archibold Lochry who fought in the Revolutionary War, flows through the county. In 1826, there were only, Millersburg, Napoleon and Versailles. Indiana Towns-1826Millersburg
Napoleon
Versailles