vated with the hoe alone, he thinks he never saw such corn before or since." Thus was commenced the settlement of Henry county. The record is a simple one, yet full of meaning, and the same plain story can be told of the first settlement of nearly every county in the State. These were the pioneers of pioneers those who felled the first trees of the forest, and tilled the first patch of ground, and built the first rude log cabins; and then there were the other pioneers who followed and increased the settlement, bringing with them new hopes, new ideas, new energies, new resolutions that braced up the weary original settlers. Then there were the long, cold, cheerless winters, with a scarcity of clothing and provisions; with sick infant children, that were often laid away, after death, in the snow-covered earth, with only the little mound to mark their graves among the tall trees; with absent husbands and fathers, and lonesome nights, when the beating hearts of foreboding wives and mothers longed for the return of paternal footsteps, or chilled as the dismal howl of the hungry wolf floated on the midnight winds. And then there were toiling men, brave men, and indeed great men, the greatest men this State has ever had-pioneer men who through the "dark days" of want, privation, hardship and peril, worked on, and opened the way for the glorious civilization that followed them so closely. Such was pioneer life in Indiana, and it is scarcely necessary to repeat the same story in these short county sketches.

Henry county was organized by an act of the legislature, adopted in February, 1821. Lawrence Brannon, and John Bell, of Wayne county, John Sample, of La Fayette, Richard Biem, of Jackson, and J. W. Scott, of Union, were appointed as commissioners, to meet at the house of Joseph Hobson on the first Monday in July, 1821, for the purpose of locating the county seat. The first county election was held in 1822, and resulted in the election of the following officers: Jesse H. Healy, sheriff; Reme Julian, clerk and recorder; Thos. R. Stanford, and Elisha Long, associate judges; Allen Shepherd, Wm. Shannon, and Samuel Goble, commissioners.

New Castle was chosen the county seat of Henry county,

and in February, 1823, the county commissioners ordered that "the agent of Henry county shall offer for sale, to the lowest bidder, in the town of New Castle, the building of the court house of Henry county of the following dimensions, to wit: being logs twenty-two by eighteen feet, each log to face not less than twelve inches at the little end, being seven inches thick, twelve rounds high, with a cabin roof to consist of eleven joists, to be four inches by nine, the joists to be eight feet nine inches from the floor," etc. In the following May, however, the commissioners ordered that the plans for the court house should be changed so as to make the building larger.

New Castle, the county seat of Henry county, is pleasantly located in the center of the county. It was first laid off in 1822. After the usual pioneer struggles, the town grew in population and importance, and in 1833 it contained about three hundred inhabitants. It has now a population of about two thousand five hundred, and is a flourishing business center. It has excellent educational facilities, and contains within it the elements for an extensive future development.

Knightstown, a thrifty village, is pleasantly situated on Blue river. It was first platted in 1827, and is now one of the most enterprising villages in the county. In educational matters it has excelled. The Knightstown academy building is a commodeous structure, capable of accommodating nearly four hundred pupils. The graded school at this town is also a flourishing and efficiently managed institution. The population of Knightstown is over two thousand. There are several enterprising and prosperous villages in the county. In the rural districts the scene is fully as refreshing as in the villages. The farmers have all put aside their pioneer habits and have taken on the modern regime. They are nearly all either wealthy or in comfortable circumstances. The county has good railroad facilities, and with a productive soil, its future material progress is guaranteed. The area of the county is about three hundred and ninety square miles. The surface is well watered, and the soil adapted to all kinds of grain indigenous to the State.

CHAPTER LXIII.

H1

CARROLL COUNTY

HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.

ENRY ROBINSON and his son, Abner Robinson, were the first settlers of Carroll county. Others followed close in their footsteps. The Robinsons built their cabins in the winter of 1824-5, and, in the fall of 1825-6, the settlement had reached quite a neighborhood. There is a long train of interesting pioneer reminiscences connected with the early experiences of the Robinsons, and those who settled in the county about the same time. These would afford a narrative full of romance and interest, and full of evidences of the great energy and perseverance of those early settlers. But we have no space for this narrative. Carroll county was organized by an act of the general assembly, in 1828. The commissioners appointed for the purpose selected the site of the present city of Delphi for the county seat. It was first given the name of Carrollton, but was soon after changed to Delphi. The sale of lots took place on the eleventh day of August, 1828, but land was not very valuable then, and the lots went off at a low price. So little enthusiasm was manifested at the sale, that it was decided to dispose of only part of the town lots, and await a more profitable season for the sale of the others. Not long after the sale a Presbyterian church was organized at Delphi, and the residence of Henry Robinson was used as a place of worship. In the fall of 1828, a large number of new settlers arrived, and the little town began to show evidences of growth and prosperity.

The fall and winter of 1828-9, were unusually dry. "The merchants shipped their goods from Cincinnati for the Wabash on steamboats, which could proceed no further than the rapids

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below Vincennes, at Mount Carmel." From that point they were conveyed to Delphi on wagons, " very much to the injury of the merchants, and the disappointment of the people.” Early in the year 1830, Mr. Henry Robinson's mill was put in operation. During that year the summer was exceedingly dry and sickly.* The county improved rapidly, but, unfortu nately for Delphi, as it first came into notice that season, the unusual amount of sickness gave it a bad name, from which it did not recover for many years. This idea, however, has long since been lost in the general and well-founded reputation of the present Delphi for healthfulness.

At the first meeting of the Old Settlers' Society of Carroll county, held in 1855, the following list of the names of the early settlers of the county was obtained. It gives their names, their native States, age at that time, and the date of their settlement in the county: