DUBOIS COUNTY DIRECTORIES
The Indiana Gazetteer, or Topographical Dictionary of the State of Indiana (1849)
Dubois County,
named in honor of Toussaint Dubois,
who had charge of the guides and spies in the Tippecanoe campaign, and who for many years was a hospitable,
patriotic and enterprising citizen and merchant of Vincennes, was organized in 18 IS. It is bounded on the
north by the East Fork of White river, east by Orange
and Crawford, south by Perry and Spencer, and west by
Pike, and contains 420 square miles. It is divided into
six civil townships, viz: Columbia, Harbison, Bainbridge,
Hall, Patoka and Ferdinand. The population in 1830
was 1,774, in 1840, 3,632, and at this time about 5,600.
The north-eastern part of the county is rolling, the other
portions level, and about one-fifth of the whole is in the
bottoms of White river, Patoka and other streams. A
large portion of the county has a very good soil, though
considerable tracts are of a different description, and it
is estimated that one-eighth of the county is occasionally
inundated. There are no prairies in the county, and the
most common timber is white and black oak, poplar,
walnut, sugar, beech, hickory, &c., with much undergrowth of dogwood and spice bush. The principal articles exported from the county are hogs, cattle, horses,
corn, &c. There are in the county fourteen stores and
groceries, four ware-houses, one brewery, one distillery,
three lawyers, seven physicians, three preachers, three
Catholic, five Methodist and two Cumberland Presbyterian Churches, eight grist and saw mills and two carding
machines, and there are fifteen blacksmiths, twenty-nine
cabinet-makers, seventeen house carpenters, five mill-wrights and nineteen tailors,
Coal mines are abundant. White river and Patoka
both admit of being navigated three or four months in
the year, and there is no reason but want of enterprise
and industry, why Dubois should not be among the rich
counties of the State.
Bainbridge,
a township in the west part of Dubois
county, containing 340 voters, and a population of about
1,700.
Celestine,
a small town in Dubois county, named
after the second Bishop of Vincennes. It contains twenty-five houses, and its inhabitants are principally Catholics.
Columbia,
a north-eastern township in Dubois county,
population 600.
Ferdinand,
a southern township in Dubois county,
population 450.
Ferdinand,
a small town in Dubois county, with
thirty-one houses; population 150.
Flat Creek
rises near the centre of Pike county and
runs south-east into Dubois, and empties into Patoka.
Hall's Creek,
a stream in the south part of Dubois,
running into Patoka.
Hall,
a south-east township in Dubois county, with a
population of 530
Harbison,
a north-western township in Dubois county,
with a population of 750.
Haysville,
a small town on Patoka river, in Dubois
county, named after the proprietor, containing two stores,
a warehouse, a grocery, and a population of 188.
Hunley's Creek
rises in the southern part of Dubois,
and runs north-west into Patoka.
Jasper,
the Seat of Justice of Dubois county, was
first settled in 1830, by Dr. McCrillas, Col. Morgan,
B. B. Edmonson, Z. Dillon and J. McDonald. It has
live stores, three groceries, two ware-houses, one brewery,
one distillery, and a population of 532. Jasper is situated on the Patoka 120 miles south-west of Indianapolis,
fifty north-east of Evansville, and forty-four south-east
of Vincennes.
Little Pigeon,
a mill stream which rises in the south-west corner of Dubois, runs south-west about fifty miles
into the Ohio, two miles above Newburgh. It forms the
dividing line between Spencer and Warrick for a long
distance.
Patoka River
rises in the southern part of Orange,
and runs west through Crawford, Dubois, Pike and Gibson, and falls into the Wabash just below the mouth of
White river. It is about 100 miles in length, is 50 yards
wide, and is navigable in high water over 60 miles.
Patoka,
a south-west township in Dubois, population
1,400.
Platt's Creek,
in the south part of Dubois, runs west
into the Patoka.
Strait Creek,
a tributary of Patoka from the south-east, in Dubois county.
This website created February 20, 2014 by Sheryl McClure.
� Indiana American History and Genealogy Project
|
|