W

W Delaware County, Indiana KITH AND KIN CONNECTION

On Washington Township - Excerpts from Our County, Its History and Early Settlement by Townships, John S. Ellis, 1898

-------------------Start-------------------- The first public land in the township purchased of the government was by David Conner, on December 23, 1823. This was the east half of the northeast quarter of section 15. The north half of this 80-acre tract is a portion of the Mc Cormick farm, lying one mile west of the village of Wheeling. The traveler will know this oldest of Washington township settlements when we inform him that in passing west from Wheeling along the old state road, that where the road makes its first divergence or angle to the north, is the east line of the Conner purchase, and where the gravel pike running west leaves the state road, just north of the McCormick residence, is the north line of this purchase. So, while passing between these two points (some fourth of a mile), we are not only on the first land entered in the township, but we pass in that short distance a place of much historical interest. It was here that a Mr. Broderick, early in 1824, established a trading station and tavern, the first for the traffic with the tribes of Miami, Delawate and Pottawatomy Indians still remaining in the vicinity, and the second for the patronage of emigrants moving further west, as well as the trade he had with the wandering white hunters and trappers who chanced to come his way. It is said his stock consisted chiefly of a few articles of merchandise, ammunition, and an unlimited supply of whiskey, and for some three years he was the only white resident of the township, one of his nearest neighbors being John Boyles (or Jacky Boyles) in Delaware township--Black's Mills--some twelve miles up the Mississinewa. At the expiration of Mr. Broderick's lease he was superseded by Robert Sanders, who carried on the business of "tavern keeping" and general trader or merchant for a number of years, but finally changed his business, and gave his attention more exclusively to that of farming, having cleared a tract of land and made various improvements..(Pages 182-183) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early settlers in Washington were the families of John Graham in section 11, 1830; John Cephus and Silas Dille, in section 12, 1830; Joseph Wilson, Robert Wharton, John Ginn and James Watson, in section 12, and Eli Lansing, in section 11, were also settlers of the year 1830. The interior of the township did not settle up so early as that portion along the Mississinewa by a few years, for we find but little, if any, lands entered in tile interior until the choice lands were all taken in the vicinity of the river.------ The first white male child born in Washington township was John W. Heal, February 12, 1831, and the first white girl baby was Mary Graham. This happened about the same time.------ The first marriage was solemnized at the residence of Robert Sanders, in 1834, the high contracting parties being Nancy Sanders and Nathaniel McGuire.------The first cemetery in the township was Olive Branch cemetery, at the north center of section 11, and near the Grant county line It consisted of one acre of land, and was donated by William Heal, in 1836, to the township. The first person buried in this cemetery was the remains of John Watson, who died in 1837.------The first school in the township was taught in the winter of 1833 and 1834, by Mrs. Olive Heal, wife of William Heal, in a room of their home, at $1.25 per scholar. However, the first school house was built in 1839, and Ezra Maynard engaged as teacher. Mr. Maynard afterward became a minister in the M. E. church, and still later a successful merchant in the village of Albany. (Page 184) See also William Heal on Kith and Kin page "H". ----------------------------------------End of Washington Township----------------------------------------

Watson, James - see William Heal
Watson, John - see William Heal

West Muncie, Indiana - West Muncie is another of these industrial dreams that did not come true. Though no lakes are revealed on the topographical map of Delaware county, the plat book reveals "Delaware Lake." And thereby hangs a tale. During the gas "boom" back in the early '90s some local promoters and the Big Four railroad people fostered suburb just across the creek east of Yorktown, which was given the name of West Muncie and which its projectors designed should eclipse Muncie in industrial and commercial importance. Some of the old factory buildings still standing there are interesting relics of this boom that died of inertia. The plat of West Muncie, according to the plat book, was worked out by Augustus S. Cooley on December 31, 1891, and was received for record on January 4, 1892. The striking feature of this plat is "Delaware Lake," which apparently was to be formed by the damming of Buck Creek at a point about where the Big Four railroad crosses that stream. The plat shows this "lake" skirted by a wide boulevard. The north and south streets of the town of West Muncie were Grieve, Parkison, Benger and New York avenues, named from the east, and Forest, Woods, Sprankle, ClemenL, Church, Andrews, Hemingway, Hall, Hollenbeck, Cooley and Sutherland, from the south, the whole embracing thirty-eight blocks. Considerable initial work was done in the way of development in West Muncie, but it was not long until its projectors found that their calculations had not been well based. One of these calculations was based upon the creation there of a summer resort alongside the "lake," and a hotel was erected to accommodate the expected resorters. For a time the town even had a newspaper, financed by its promoters. The early demise of this town and the disappearance of Delaware lake was the subject of an article in the Muncie News of March 24, 1898, six years after the town was platted, this review of the town's day of departed greatness concluding with the statement that "the large dam has broken away and the lake has long since disappeared. The big dancing pavilion and boat houses are almost ready to fall down."
(Source: History of Delaware County, Indiana, Frank D. Haimbaugh, 1924, Vol 1, pages 408/9)

Wharton, Robert - see William Heal

Wheeling, Indiana - Wheeling, two or three miles down the river from the site of the vanished Pitts Burg, was laid out but a few months following the platting of the latter, and for reasons which now could only be conjectural overshadowed its neighbor, made a place for itself and has kept its place on the map. Wheeling was laid out by William McCormick in September, 1837, there at the horseshoe bend of the Mississinewa, along the left bank of the stream, in the northeast quarter of section 14, township 22, range 9 (Washington). Its original plat shows Walnut, Muncie, Main and Elm streets to have been the original east and west streets in this town, with Broadway and Vine the intersecting north and south streets, all laid out sixty feet in width, alleys sixteen and one-half feet and lots sixty feet frontage.
(Source: History of Delaware County, Indiana, Frank D. Haimbaugh, 1924, Vol 1, page 404)

Wilson, Joseph - see William Heal
Wilson, W. W. - see Lee Shaw
Wolverton, Abner - see Thornburgh
Wood, Eva Marie Hart - see Hart
Woodlawn, Indiana - see Desoto

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