Ohio County – 1849 Indiana Gazetteer

Ohio County, Indiana entries from:
The Indiana Gazetteer or Topographical Dictionary. Indianapolis : E. Chamberlain, 1849.
Digitized copy online at Internet Archive

ARNOLD’S CREEK, a small stream in Ohio county, emptying into the Ohio river two miles below Rising Sun. It was named after Col. Arnold, who, soon after the Revolutionary war, was enticed into an ambuscade by the Indians, and killed by them near this stream.

CASS, a southern township in Ohio county, with a population of 1,000.

HARTFORD, a small town in Ohio county, on Laughery Creek, six miles north-west of Rising Sun. It contains a good brick Methodist Church, about fifty dwelling houses, and three hundred inhabitants. It was first settled in 1814 by Benj. Walker, John Livingston, and others.

MILTON, a small town in Ohio county, on Laughery creek.

OHIO COUNTY, named after the river on whose borders it is situated, was organized in 1844. It is bounded on the north by Dearborn, on the east by the Ohio, on the south by Switzerland, and west by Ripley. It is the smallest county in the State, and contains only ninety square miles. The civil townships are four in number, viz: Randolph, Union, Cass and Pike. The population is, at this time, about 6,000. The face of the country, with the exception of some large and fine bottoms on the Ohio and Laughery, is very hilly, yet in general not so uneven that it cannot be cultivated. The soil is uniformly good; on the bottoms, hill sides and tops, well adapted to corn, wheat, oats, &c., and in the interior especially so, to grass. Beech, walnut, ash and sugar predominate near the streams; oak and hickory in other places. About half the county has been cleared and is in cultivation, and the most of it is well farmed. The surplus articles exported are taken to a southern market mostly, and consist of hogs, cattle, horses, sheep, mules, flour, hay, and all kinds of marketing, and their value is estimated to amount to $250,000 annually.

There are in the county six grist mills, propelled by water, two do. by steam, eleven saw mills, one cotton manufactory employing about 100 hands, one woolen do., one iron foundry and finishing shop, two large distilleries, one printing office, twenty-five stores, twelve groceries, ten ware-houses, six lawyers, ten physicians, fifteen preachers, and about 275 mechanics, principally carpenters, coopers, shoemakers, and other trades most in demand. The products of the manufactories are estimated at $110,000 a year. The Methodists have good churches in Rising Sun and Hartford, and others in the country. The New and Old School Presbyterians also have churches in Rising Sun, and the former, one in Cass township. The Universalists have one in town, and the Reformed Baptists also one, with another in Union township. The taxable land in the county amounts to 50,000 acres.

The county, after a long contest, was formed, no doubt, in violation of the constitution; but the convenience of the public, from local situation, appearing to require it, it has been submitted to.

PIKE, a western township in Ohio county, population 550.

RANDOLPH, a south-east township in Ohio county, population 4,000.

RISING SUN, the Seat of Justice of Ohio county, is beautifully situated on a high bank of the Ohio, 14 miles by water below Lawrenceburgh, 50 miles above Madison, and 96 south-east of Indianapolis. It was first settled in 1814, by C. A. Craft, John James, A. C. Pepper, Henry Wiest, J. A. Walton, N. Clark, P. Athearn, S. Hathaway, Samuel Jelley, Hugh Espey, &c. Rising Sun contains about 400 dwelling houses, of which one half are brick, the others frame, and 2,500 inhabitants. The public buildings are spacious and convenient churches, one each for the Methodists, New and Old School Presbyterians, Reformed Baptists and Universalists, good county buildings, market house, and an incorporated Academy in which 100 students usually attend. The manufactures of Rising Sun are carried on to an extent highly creditable to the enterprise of its citizens. They consist of a large cotton factory, usually employing 100 hands, one woolen factory, one iron foundry and finishing shop, and one large distillery. The value of the manufactured articles is estimated at $90,000 annually.

UNION, a northern township in Ohio county, population 1,000.