Pioneers of Sheridan Township
Sheridan township was first settled in the year 1833, and the first settler was James McCreary, who drove his preemption stake in the southeast quarter of section thirteen. E. Mann was the next arrival and he came the same year, and soon after a few more whose names are forgotten. In 183'11 quite a number came in, among whom were Isaac Splawn, Benjamin Rowell, E. Kelso, Charles McGee, Nathan Marsh, Anthony Mullins, E. Hulett, and A. McMurtry. These old pioneers were the first that settled in the township, and they blazed the way for those who followed.
It was these pioneers and their families who had
their full share of the suffering and privation incident to the
settlement of a new country. They had neither mills to grind their
corn or stores within a reasonable distance to do their trading. A
burnt hole in a log with a deerskin stretched over it and a stick
cut for a pestle comprised their milling facilities. One or two
hand-mills were in the township. Richmond, in Ray county, and
Liberty in Clay, were the principal trading points. The former for
store goods, the latter for milling purposes. Game was plenty and
that carried them through in many close .places. Deerskin pants and
moccasins and coonskin caps were the rule and not the exception.
Mrs. Anthony McMullins, Mrs.. Anna Kelso, and Mrs. Nancy McCreary
were the first to weave and spin. They did the first work of this
kind in the township in 1835, and the shirts for the men and dresses
for themselves were all made out of the same line of goods. It was
warm, comfortable, and durable and that was the great object in
those days. The cabins were of the most primitive order, and the
chinks were stopped up with mud, which was the principal ingredient
that went into the chimneys, along with a few sticks. The women of
those days had their full share of pioneer life, and to get at the
truth of the matter, very many of the pioneer men of those days
would have come up missing if their wives had not been along.
Settlers began to arrive and settle all over the township, not
rapidly, but they kept dropping in, one or two families at a time.
The principal settlement was the McCreary-Kelso, on the east side,
and in the north was the Hulett-McMurtry. James B. McCreary came
from North Carolina, and his was among the first deaths, if not the
first, in the county, occurring in 1835.
The next death reported was that of Sarah E. Lisle, a child born in
the township in January, 1841. Her parents came to the township in
1839. Her clothing accidentally caught fire and she was burned to
death, in 1845, and was buried in what is known as Hopkin's
cemetery. Her father's name was George Lisle, and her mother's,
Rebecca Lisle, nee Lenbart.
In 1840 came the McMurtrys (a brother having preceded them several
years before). They were John, Joseph, George and Samuel, from
Tennessee. Then came the Noah's the same year, from Ohio; their
names were George and Reuben. Richard Woodres's came at the same
time. They all settled in the central and north portions of the
township. Thomas Keis and Dr. Samuel Venable also came in 1840. This
last gentleman resided in Gallatin, practiced in the township, and
was also the only physician in Gallatin for some time. He came from
Virginia, and has since died, but after he had removed from Daviess
county. The first physician to practice in the township was Dr. W.
P. Thompson, who visited the houses of the first settlers in 1833,
and Dr. Venable was the next.
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