Baber's Early History of Greene County Indiana Chapter XX Wright Township Township

This township was named for Rev. RICHARD WRIGHT, the noted old pioneer preacher, among the people of the Christian Church, in that neighborhood. Rev. RICHARD WRIGHT was one of the leading preachers in the Christian denomination for a great many years, and the first time we saw him was at the meeting on the old Sand Hill, at old Uncle SAMMY WILKS; , on the day Rev. Mr. WRIGHT baptized old Aunt SALLY COMBS and GEORGE SHRAYKES, SEN., about fifty years ago. He afterwards moved on the old DICK LAMBERT farm, in Smith township, and sold out there and moved over in Wright Township, and bought the farm where JOSEPH BARNES now lives, half a mile north of Jasonville. Between his farming and blacksmith shop, he made his living by the honest sweat of his brow. He was not a member of the crusaders, but he was an honest man, and preached the gospel from the Bible, just as he read and understood it.

Old Uncle RICHARD WRIGHT was a Justice of the Peace and a good citizen in his neighborhood, and passed from this world to the next by a very strange accidental gun shot through his head, while he was well and hearty, and was at work in his blacksmith shop. HARDEN WALKER, his step-son, had been out hunting, and had shot a squirrel, and in reloading his gun the gun got choked, and the boy came to the shop to get his old step-father to fix the gun, or to get the bullet down. After trying many ways to move the bullet down, the old man just took the gun barrel, and laid the barrel across the fire, and while it was heating, so as to make the water fry, old Uncle Richard put down his ear to the gun, where he had taken out the britch pin, the gun went off, the bullet entering the old man's ear, and killing him instantly, in the presence of several persons. We will give our opinion of that sad accident: When the boy shot at the squirrel, the gun flashed, or did not fire, and left the bullet in the gun barrel, up a foot or two from the breech, and when the boy poured down the powder, it lodged on the first bullet, and then he put down the other bullet on top of the powder, thus leaving two bullets in the gun, and a charge of powder between the bullets.

Old JOHN LEWIS, and his son-in-law, ISAAC TAYLOR, built the first log cabin in the township, on the creek, about half a mile south of where JAMES GIBSON now lives, one mile from Jasonville.

ROBERT BIRTCH built the next cabin, on the farm where Uncle JAMES WHITE now lives.

DAVID INGRAM built a little log cabin, at the spring of water, where JOSEPH BARNES now lives. Afterwards many new comers came in the neighborhood, and among the number were BENJAMIN FRY, JAMES HEIMS, JAMES FRAIZER, SAMUEL WILKS, Rev. RICHARD WRIGHT, Uncle PETER WRIGHT, and a bachelor, old BILLY WRIGHT, ALEXANDER POE, Mr. Cantrell, JOAB WITCHER, ISOM FARRIS, JAMES MALOY, EDWARD COMBS and a few others.

Rev. ALEXANDER POE was an elder and preacher in the Christian Church for many years in that old neighborhood. Besides it was said of him that he was the best bee hunter, and could catch more fish, and kill more deer than any other man. At one time when the Big Lake had been frozen over with very thick ice for several weeks, in the winter of 1834, Mr. POE and his boys went over on the ice at the lake, east of the old Lone Tree, and within two days they caught at least a hundred wagon loads of big fish, and every person in that county had fish for the next three months.

A clever old Virginia nigger man, named CAINEN GOEN, went out hunting with Mr. POE and they came across [end of pg. 61]a very large old bear and her three young cub bears among the bushes, over on Lick Creek and the old negro shot at the old bear, which frightened her away from the young ones, whilst the three young bears ran up a small tree, and Mr. POE stood guard at the root of the tree while the old darkey negro went up the tree and shook off the three cub bears, killing one of them in its fall, and capturing the other two. Those two young bears were made pets by Mr. POE's family, and were afterwards taken to Louisville, Kentucky, and sold for a good price.

The old red-oak thicket of brush at the school house just east of HUMPHREY SHEPHERD'S, was named and called Red Ruff by old Uncle TOM PUCKETT, the man that drove the wild bear from the neighborhood across the country to Terre Haute, a distance of thirty miles, and that red-oak thicket has been a wonderful place for wolves, bears, deer, wild turkeys, pigeon-roosts, and all kinds of game for the past sixty years or more.

The old White Oak Lick on the creek west of Howesville, has always been marked as one of the best places in that locality to kill deer; besides it was the downfall of WILLIAM STEWART, a young hunter. Mr. STEWART and some of JAMES MALOY'S boys had gone there to watch the lick for deer one night, and a storm was coming up and the boys were climbing down he white oak tree from the scaffold, and by a mishap or miss step BILL STEWART tumbled out of the tree and fell about twenty feet. Fortunately he was not much hurt and got home all right.

Slate Lick, near the headwaters of Latta's Creek, was named by old ALLEN MCBRIDE, the oldest settler and the most prominent man in the eastern part of Sullivan County. He built his house and set out the old orchard, and made bells at his blacksmith ship for forty years, at the Bateham Post Office place.

Mr. MC BRIDE was also a very good gun-smith, and made the best guns that were taken to all of our early shooting matches. Mr. MC BRIDE and wife raised a large family of boys and girls. Some of them yet live in Greene County.

ENOCH SEXTON and Mr. WYATT JOHNSON are now the oldest pioneer settlers in Wright Township, and these gentlemen are both common farmers and live just west of Jasonville, in the extreme north-west corner of Greene County.

ROBERT BIRTCH was a drinking man and a widower, and by a mistake, he afterwards married a very high tempered young girl, only seventeen years old. When Mr. BIRTCH was under the influence of whisky, he would often abuse his young wife, and she would get angry and say to him: "Why, Robert, what made you marry me?" etc. He would reply by saying , "I just married you to get shed of you and your folks."