Baber's Early History of Greene County Indiana Chapter XXXI Washington Township Township

The first old settlers in Washington Township were JOHN HADDON, HENRY and MADISON COLLINS, old JAMES HARRISON, BENJAMIN STAFFORD, JR., WILLIAM POMROY and JOHN CROOKS. Afterwards came JOHN SEEMAN, our first Greene County Sheriff. Old BAILEY JOHNSON, the sheriff of Sullivan County, done the business for Greene County before Mr. SEEMAN's time. Next came PETER HARRINGTON, JOHN and EDWARD GOLDSBERRY and JACOB PITZER, the one-legged man.

Creeks and Branches:

Black creek heads up in the Goose pond and marsh, and was named for the dark color of its clear water, being the color of dark glass. Buck creek was the place for all the old hunters to kill deer, but is not the Buck creek of Stockton Township. Black marsh, Buck creek, Goose pond and Dog island are common household words among old settlers. Morgan prairie was first called the Hockett prairie, and was owned by the DIXONs. The old settlers raised good cotton crops for many years at the GEORGE MORGAN big farm, west of Paw-paw bend on White river. Rolling prairie and Half-moon or Four-mile prairie are prairies in and about Switz and Lyons station. Where Marco now stands was the old Indian camp ground, sixty years ago.

Mr. JOHN HADDON first settled on the Morgan prairie and afterwards he killed his mother near Carlisle while he was drunk, and then ran off to Texas. HENRY COLLINS was the father of ELISHA COLLINS, and died several years ago in Illinois. JOHN SEEMAN first settled in the bottom close to Buck creek. The first elections were held at old BENJAMIN STAFFORD'S on the old Stafford farm.

The first distill house and little raw hide tub mill was built by JOHN STAFFORD and JOSEPH DIXON at the place near Wash. Hendricks.

Our old time physicians were JOHN W. DAVIS, Dr. O'HAVER, Dr. DEAN and Grandmother DIXON.

JOHN CROOK was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, and married SUSAN WINER, and they had three children when Mrs. CROOK died. Afterwards he married Miss MARY STAFFORD, a sister to BENJAMIN STAFFORD, and they had nine children, five boys and four girls. AARON HAGUMAN was born in the Indiana Territory, in what is now Floyd county, in 1814. He came to Greene county in 1825, and married Miss NANCY CROOK, daughter of JOHN CROOK, our old Sheriff. Mr. HAGUMAN and wife raised eight children, five boys and three girls. The old man died in 1864, and was buried at the old Stafford cemetery, just east of Marco.

SAMUEL PLUMMER was born in Flemming county, Kentucky, and married REBECCA EVANS. They had three children, two girls and one boy. Mr. Plummer died about thirty years ago on Licking river. The son, Mr. ALEXANDER PLUMMER, was born in Flemming county, Kentucky, and came from there to Owen county, Indiana, about 1825, and then Greene county in 1830, where he married [end of pg. 81] Miss NANCY PLUMMER of another family of that name. ALEXANDER PLUMMER first settled in Fairplay Township. Mrs. Plummer had ten children and raised seven of them to be grown. Mrs. Plummer died and the husband married Mrs. MARY ROLLISON some years since. They live on the Marco and Bloomfield road five miles from Bloomfield. Mr. ALEXANDER PLUMMER has been our County Surveyor for near twenty years past, and he has made more farms and rolled more big log heaps than any other man of his age. He has also killed more deer than anybody except old EMANUEL HATFIELD. He has a bear's tooth and a pen-knife fifty years old.

AMBROSE ROLLISON, a farmer fifty years old, was born in Morgan county, Ohio, and married Sarah Spencer. They had

ten children, seven boys and three girls, and they on the Marco and Bloomfield road.

DAVID ALKIRE is a farmer and dealer in fine sheep and hogs.

There are two sulfur springs in this township, about a mile apart, near to WILLIAM PLUMMER, on the lands of Carpenter & Freeland.

Silver creek was named by ALEXANDER PLUMMER and a Mr. Hogue finding a silver half dollar in the creek at the ford below Fairplay.

Dog Island, the Big Bur Oak tree and a Big Sycamore tree are all noted places down in Paw-paw bend. [part of pg. 82]