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Shelby County |
Home 1915 History Index |
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Shelby County |
Home 1915 History Index |
CHAPTER VI -- PIONEERS (CONT'D)OTHER SETTLEMENTS IN THE GROVES.Elsewhere in this work reference is made to the building by Abel Galland and his son, William, of a log cabin in 1848 at Galland’s Grove. Within a few years following came many families, a majority of them belonging to the Latter-Day Saints church. Among the settlers who followed the Gallands might be mentioned the following families: William Jordan, a son-in-law of Abel Galland, who, with his family, it is said, lived in the Galland log cabin during the winter of 1848-49, the first white family to spend a winter in Shelby county; William Felshaw, Solomon Hancock, Joseph Hancock, Franklin Rudd, Joseph Roberts, Medad Thompson, Eli Fouts, Samuel G. Thornton, Sidney Rudd, Alexander McCord, Noel Fouts, William Vanausdall, L. G. Tubbs, Uriah Roundy, Albert Crandall, Ethel P. Brown, Benjamin Homer, O. E. Holcomb, David Baughman, John E. West, Lewis Jackson, Wilson Keairnes, B. K. Homer, Washington Roundy, William W. Reed, Chauncey Williamson, James M. Butler, John A. McIntosh, Ralph Jenkins, John Hawley, Milton Lynch, Benjamin Crandall, Robert Ford, Eli Clothier, Thomas Black, Alexander Black, Joshua Butler and others. Possibly the oldest man born in the county and at present residing in the county is Bradley McCord, a son of the above named Alexander McCord. Mr. Bradley McCord was born in Galland’s Grove on December 27, 1852. Probably the next settlement in Shelby county was that at “Hacktown,” in section 16 of Fairview township, about two miles south of Corley and on the east side of the Nishnabotna river. This was a group of settlers who were natives of Fountain county, Indiana. Perhaps the first to settle were Abraham Watson, Constantine Watson, Jonathan V. Watson and William Hack and his two sons, Leander and Perry, all of whom, it would seem, came in 1852, probably before the settlement at Cuppy’s Grove. In the spring of 1853 came Henry Custer, Sr., and his family, including his sons, Rudy, Henry, Jr., and Benton C., the last two named being residents of Harlan. In 1854 came Albert Hack and his son, H. P. Hack, who later was treasurer of the county, and is now residing on the old home farm. In 1855 came Wesley McKeig, father of J. W. McKeig, of Harlan, and others. Across the river on the west, in section 17 of Fairview township, in a small tract of timber known to this day as Waterbury’s Grove, Stephen Waterbury and his son, Lewis, settled in 1853. They were natives of New York. There were probably others who came and went in the early history of this settlement. Probably the next settlement in the groves was that at Cuppy’s Grove. Dr. W. J. Johnston, a Pennsylvanian (father of Mrs. L. N. Rogers, now Mrs. Jesse Scott) and family, and Adam Cuppy and family, came to Cuppy’s Grove in 1852. Within a few years following three Pennsylvanians, of “Pennsylvania Dutch” ancestry, settled in the same grove, slightly to the southwest. They were Abraham Rubendall, Jacob Shaffer and Benjamin Pieffer. Messrs. Shaffer and Rubendall subsequently served as members of the board of supervisors. Bowman’s Grove was first settled about 1853, apparently by Alanson Sweat and Dwight Terrill, Ohioans, the latter the father of D. Terrill, of Center township. The grove was named apparently in honor of either Leonard Bowman or his son, Daniel, both of whom came to the grove about 1853, or possibly 1854. Leonard Bowman was a Pennsylvanian, born in 1792. Other very early settlers at Bowman’s Grove were Thomas Casteel, a son-in-law of Mr. Bowman; two Kentuckians, J. H. Dalton and H. F. Dalton, the former now residing in Center township; James B. McConnell, John McConnell, his son, and Jacob B. Stutzman, all natives of Indiana; P. H. Longcor; J. H. Adams, father of Mrs. W. L. Baughn; Lysander Sweat, Jacob J. Miller, father of County Trasurer Miller, and others; Martin Obrecht, father of W. M. Obrecht, and others. The author is informed by Jacob B. Stutzman that James McConnell lived on the south side of the grove, a little west of where J. H. Philson once resided; Leonard Bowman, on the old George Swinehart premises; Daniel Bowman, on the place afterwards known as the David Barkman place; Dwight Terrill, about where John Grabill now lives; Casteel, where J. H. Philson afterwards lived; J. H. Adams, on what was later known as the E. Myers farm, now owned by George Walters; Lysander Sweat, across the road and slightly west from Adams, on what was later known as the Black farm, or Littleton farm; Alanson Sweat, where Will Barkman now lives, etc. In 1855, a little to the west of Bowman’s Grove, in section 36 of what is now Douglas township, Jonathan Wyland settled, and near him his son, William Wyland, afterwards county judge of Shelby county. Jonathan Wyland was undoubtedly one of the first men of the county to push away from the timber and boldly start his home on the prairie, although he did afterwards own and operate a sawmill in Bowman’s Grove.
Below left, Capitol of Wisconsin Territory, near Platteville, Wis., Built 1836. Right, Dalton Log Cabin, Bowman's Grove, erected in 1861 by H. F. and J. B. Dalton..  Click on image to enlarge Above left, Hack Log Cabin, Fairview Township, Built in 1853, covered with native siding about 1867. Right, Typical Early Frame House of the Prairie. First Home of Nicholas H. Hess, Jackson Township.
Leland’s Grove was first settled by Benjamin L. Leland, a member of the Latter-Day Saints church, in 1854. Following him came in that vicinity George Shearer, 1855; Buck Hewitt, 1855; Samuel H. Lytle, 1856; David Tutty, 1856; John Gollop, 1858, or 1859; V. H. Butler, 1862; B. V. Springer, 1862; Henry Halliday, 1864; Richard Leytham, 1865; Thomas Bell, 1865; David Hall, 1868; Jonathan Bullard, 1868; B. S. Shackelton, 1869; William Handy, 1869. William Howlett, an Englishman, who gave his name to Howlett’s Grove, in Fairview township, came there in 1859. Near him settled, about this time, Byron Bunnell, a member of the Latter-Day Saints church. A man named Barlow also settled there very early. James B. McConnell passed the winter of 1855 there. Merrill’s Grove, in Polk township, was settled during the fifties by George Merrill, for whom the grove was named. Northeast of Kirkman, about a mile, is a grove which has been known by various names, such as Wood’s Grove, Slates’ Grove, Clark’s Grove, Kibby’s Grove and sometimes called Kimball’s Grove. Apparently, the first settler here was Nelson Ward, in 1853 or 1854, followed by Lytle Woods, C. J. Kimball, Samuel Slates, F. G. Clark and others. Kidd’s Grove, in Douglas township, northwest of Kirkman, was settled by Charles Kidd, an Ohioan, about 1856. This is now known as Fountain’s Grove. The earliest settlers at Wick’s Grove, now sometimes called “Rabbit Hollow,” or in that vicinity, were L. D. Sunderland, a native of Ohio, who came in 1853, Mansel Wicks, M. H. Stanton, Milton Heath, William McGinness, Mr. Hutchinson and perhaps others.
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