Owen County, Indiana
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

See Also Indiana Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

NOTE: The date listed for each category of record is the earliest record known to exist in that county. It does not indicate that there are numerous records for that year and certainly does not indicate that all such events that year were actually registered. See also the Owen County Courthouse History

Owen County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1819 , Probate Records from 1819 and Court Records from 1819 and is located at 60 South Main Street, PO BOX 146 (mailing address), Spencer, IN 47460; Pho: (812) 829-5015, Fax: (812) 829-5147

The Clerk of the Circuit Court is a ministerial officer who is the custodian of the Clerk's record and seal, issues process, accepts filings of commencement of actions in litigation, enters judgments and orders of the court, receives money in his official capacity, makes certified copies of record, issues many miscellaneous licenses, and keeps a record of all wills and matters of trust in probate proceedings.

Owen County Recorder has Land Records from 1819 and is located at 60 South Main Street Spencer, IN 47460 (812)829-5013.

The county recorder's function is to maintain permanent public records involving a wide variety of instruments. These documents detail transactions involving real estate, mining, personal property, mortgages, liens, leases, subdivision plats, military discharges, personal bonds, etc. Generally, all of these instruments are recorded either for giving legal public notice of their existence or for safekeeping and future reference. The recorder maintains and preserves all legal documents affecting title to real property.

Records of county taxes were kept as early at 1842, although most were discarded. Remaining ones would be at the county courthouse. National Archives-Great Lakes Region has records of the Internal Revenue Service for Indiana for 1867 to 1873. These are tax assessment records, arranged by district and then chronologically.

Owen County Health Department has Birth / Death Records from 1882 and is located at 60 South Main Street, Spencer, IN 47460; (812) 829-5017

Below is a list of online resources for Owen County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Owen County Court Records by clicking the link below:

• Order County Court, Civil or Criminal Records Online
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
• Indianapolis Newspaper Index, 1848-1991: Select articles from 1848-1888 Indianapolis daily newspapers; heavily focused on deaths and marriages. Select articles from 1898-1991 about people, places, events, and topics in Indianapolis and the state of Indiana. Extremely limited for deaths; no coverage of marriages.  Card file also available in the Microforms Area, second floor.
• Reference & Government Services CD Collection: Database to allow searching of the hundreds of CDs from the federal government and other sources, part of the collections of the Reference & Government Services Division.
• Owen County, Indiana Court Books at Amazon.com
• Court, Land, Wills & Financial - Court records are an often overlooked, yet very valuable tool for finding information to assist you in your research. Land records, such as deeds, allow you to tie an ancestor to a specific place at a point in time. Other court records like those dealing with finances and estates often list related family members or give interesting details like the total value of property owned by your ancestors to add interest to your family history.
• Immigration & Emigration - As our ancestors moved from one country to another, details about their lives were recorded on passenger lists and government documents. Immigration and emigration records can help you learn where your ancestors originally came from, where they went, when they left, who they traveled with, and more.
• Search Land Patents at Gov-Records.com
• Search Property Records at Gov-Records.com

See Also Vital Records in Indiana

Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information.

Indiana State Department of Health Vital Records office is located at 6 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. The office is open for walk-in requests from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., E.S.T., Monday through Friday (excluding official State Holidays). They have the following records:

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• Birth Certificates: The Division of Vital Records and Statistics maintains birth records that occur in Indiana since Oct 1907 to the present. Prior to October 1907, records of birth are filed only with the local health department in the county where the birth actually occurred.
  • Cost: Initial search and one certified copy or certification of the record or No Record Statement is $10.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy. Make your check or money order payable to "Indiana State Department of Health". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
  • Processing Time: 5 weeks when ordered by MAIL. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE.
• Death Certificates: The Division of Vital Records and Statistics maintains death records that occur in Indiana since 1900 to the present. Prior to 1900, records of death are filed only with the local health department in the county where the death actually occurred. For deaths occurring from 1900 to 1917, the city and/or county of death is required in order to locate the record.
  • Cost: Initial search and one certified copy or certification of the record or No Record Statement is $8.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy. Make your check or money order payable to "Indiana State Department of Health". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
  • Processing Time: 5 weeks when ordered by MAIL. You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates much quicker by ordering HERE.
• Marriage Certificates: Certified copies of marriage certificates are not available from the State Health Department. They are available from the Clerks of the Circuit Court in the county where the marriage was granted. Fees vary.
• Divorce Certificates: Certified copies of divorce certificates are not available from the State Health Department. They are available from the County Clerk in the county where the divorce was granted. Fees vary.
• Ordering Vital Records Online- You can also order Order Electronically Online to obtain a certified copy of a birth, marriage, death or divorce record with a credit or debit card and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering from VitalChek Express Certificate Service

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Below is a list of online resources for Owen County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Owen County Vital Records by clicking the link below:

• Vital Records from Archives.com: Birth Records, Marriage Records, Divorce Records and Death Records
• VitalChek Express Certificate Service. - Some documents are just too important to wait six weeks for. With VitalChek Express Certificate Service you won’t have to. VitalChek is the fast and convenient way to order certified government-issued vital records online. They make it easy for you to purchase the documents to which you are legally entitled. Beware of other online services that do not have relationships directly with the agencies that store your vital records. VitalChek's order process usually takes less than 10 minutes --And you can select express courier service for even faster delivery when time is running out.
• Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
• Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Indiana newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
• Indiana Marriages Database: Database for Indiana marriages through 1850
• Indiana Marriages Database: Database for Indiana marriages 1993 through 2002
• Indiana Births, 1880-1920: This database indexes births for thirty-one of the counties indexed by the WPA.
• Indiana Deaths, 1882-1920: This data set contains the WPA's indexes to the death records of most of the counties that they completed.
• Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941: This database is a collection of Indiana marriage indexes covering various years and counties.
• Indiana Marriages to 1850: This database of Indiana marriages to 1850 contains nearly 200,000 names.
• Indiana Marriages, 1802-1892: This database is an index to individuals who were married in Indiana between 1802 and 1892.
• Owen County, Indiana Birth, Marriage & Death Books at Amazon.com
• Birth, Marriage & Death - Vital records (births, deaths, marriages, and divorces) mark the milestones of our lives and are the foundation of family history research. Vital records, usually kept by a civic authority, can give you a more complete picture of your ancestor, help you distinguish between two people with the same name, and help you find links to a new generation.
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See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for Indiana

Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable

Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Owen County, Indiana are 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Owen County, Indiana are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms.

Below is a list of online resources for Owen County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Owen County Census Records by clicking the link below:

• Census Records at Archives.com
• Indiana Census, 1790-1890: This collection contains the following indexes: 1790 (Northwest Territory) Federal Census Index; 1807 State Census Index; 1810 Wayne County Census Index; 1812 Census Index; 1820 Federal Census Index; 1830 Federal Census Index; 1840 Federal Census Index; 1840 Pensioners List; 1850 Federal Census Index; 1860 Federal Census Index; 1870 Federal Census Index; 1890 Veterans Schedule.
• Owen County, Indiana Census Books at Amazon.com
• Census & Voter Lists - A census is an official list of the people in a particular area at a given time, while voter lists show those who were registered to vote in a certain area. The valuable information found on census records helps you to understand your family in their time and place. Voter Lists serve as a confirmation of residence in between the years that the census was taken.

See Also Research In State Map Collections

Maps are an invaluable part of family history research, especially if you live far from where your ancestor lived. Because political boundaries often changed, historic maps are critical in helping you discover the precise location of your ancestor's hometown, what land they owned, who their neighbors were, and more.

Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Ohio and other states.

You can view rotating animated maps for Indiana showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps

You can view rotating animated maps for Indiana showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at County Maps

Below is a list of online resources for Owen County Maps. Email us with websites containing Owen County Maps by clicking the link below:

• The USGenWeb Archives Digital Map Library
• Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection: Indiana Maps
• Owen County, Indiana Map Books at Amazon.com
• Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers - Maps are an invaluable part of family history research, especially if you live far from where your ancestor lived. Because political boundaries often changed, historic maps are critical in helping you discover the precise location of your ancestor's hometown, what land they owned, who their neighbors were, and more.

See Also Military Records in Indiana

Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.

The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.

Below is a list of online resources for Owen County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Owen County Military Records by clicking the link below:

• Indiana Society of Daughters of the American Revolution
• National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution,
• Indiana Society of Sons of the American Revolution,
• National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776
• Southern Claims Commission from the State of Indiana (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
• Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of Indiana (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
• Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
• Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M881. Compiled service records of soldiers who served in the American Army during the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783.
• Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, from NARA publication M804.
• Indiana World War II Servicemen: Database to locate information about Indiana men and women who served in World War II who were mentioned in one of the Indianapolis daily newspapers during the war.
• Owen County, Indiana Military Books at Amazon.com
• Military - The men and women called to serve their country in military duty are a source of pride to their families and to their nation. Now, with databases containing more than 16 million names and thousands of government records available to search, researching your veteran ancestors has become easier than ever before.

See Also Other Indiana Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Owen County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Owen County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

• Search for Local Indiana Researchers or Earn Money by becoming a Local Indiana Researcher!
• Owen County Historical & Genealogical Society, 110 East Market Street, Spencer, IN 47460; (812) 829-3392
• Indiana Libraries: Database to allow searching for Indiana's public libraries.
• National Archives - Great Lakes Region (Chicago), 7358 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, Illinois 60629-5898; 773-948-9001; E-mail: chicago.archives@nara.gov (Maintains retired records from Federal agencies and courts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.) General Information Leaflet
• Indiana State Archives, 6440 E. 30th St., Indianapolis, IN 46219; (317) 591-5222, [EMAIL]
• Indiana State Library, Attn: (Division or Staff Name), 140 North Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2296; Loan Desk and General Inquiries: 317-232-3675, ind@statelib.lib.in.us; Genealogy Division: 317-232-3689, genealogy@statelib.lib.in.us
• Indiana Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 10507, Fort Wayne IN 46852
• Indiana Historical Society, 450 W. Ohio St, Indianapolis,IN 46202; 1-800-447-1830 or 317-232-1882
• Newspapers & Periodicals - The Newspapers & Periodicals Collection lets you discover a wealth of information about your ancestors from many historical newspapers, magazines, and other periodicals. These types of sources can often supplement public records and provide information that is not recorded anywhere else. Here, you can learn more about your ancestor's possible daily activities by placing them in the context of their time.
• Directories & Member Lists - Directories and member lists are typically compilations of information about people who belonged to various associations and groups or lived within city boundaries. They can be thought of as the predecessors to the modern-day phone book and usually list names, addresses, and sometimes the occupations of your ancestors.
• Indiana Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Indiana

Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Owen County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Owen County Tombstone Transcription Project.

Baptist records are found at Franklin College (in Franklin); Methodist at DePauw University (in Greencastle); Mennonite at Goshen College (in Goshen); Presbyterian at Hanover College (in Hanover); Disciples of Christ at their historical society in Nashville, Tennessee; and French Catholic at Vincennes University in the Byron R. Lewis Collection. There are also Catholic church histories and records at the Catholic Archives, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. Quaker records are at Earlham College (at Richmond).

The commissioner's office of each Indiana county may have burial records for soldiers, sailors, and marines. If available, the records should include name, age, date of enlistment, discharge date, and death date. Records begin about 1862.

The Indiana State Library holds records of inscriptions from some Indiana cemeteries. The "Indiana Cemetery Locator File," compiled by the Genealogy Division, is an alphabetical listing of cemeteries, indicating the location in the state and the designation in the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library where inscriptions may be found.

Below is a list of online resources for Owen County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Owen County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

• Cemetery Records at Archives.com
• Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Indiana obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Indiana newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Indiana.
• Obituary Records at Archives.com
• America's Obituaries (1977 to current) at Genealogybank.com - Obituaries contain helpful information such as names, dates, places of birth, death, marriage and family information. Over 28 million obituaries make this the most complete collection from the 20th and 21st centuries - includes over 1,100 U.S. newspapers. New content added daily!
• Indiana Pioneer Cemeteries Restoration Project
• Owen County, Indiana Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
• Owen County, Indiana Church Books at Amazon.com

 

The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Owen County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Owen County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

• Search 60 Years Of Everton Data : For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
• Sweet Owen and Surrounding Area
• Sites on USGenweb: [ Owen County ] [ Indiana ] [ Main Page ]
• Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
• The Indiana Family Group Sheet Project
• Owen County INGenWeb Archives
• [GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
• Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
• Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
• Family Trees - Ancestry has thousands of family trees shared by other members. They can help you identify how ancestors are related and give you clues about birth, marriage, and death information. Family trees are an excellent resource for filling in gaps in your research or even to simply know where to begin.
• Pictures - One of the more exciting discoveries in doing family history research is finding a photograph of your ancestors or their residence. Finding historic postcard photos and drawings of towns and important events throughout history can also give you a visual look into your ancestors lives.
• Reference Materials & Finding Aids - Reference materials, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other how-to books, can be tremendously helpful in finding and interpreting historical documents. Many of these books can help you learn where to look for more information and how to use what you've already found to uncover more clues.
• Owen County, Indiana Family Books at Amazon.com

 

Owen County was established by an act of the Indiana Legislature, 1818-1819, but was being settled as early as 1816. Indiana became a state in 1816, and was settled from the bottom up by land-hungry, adamantly independent Scotch-Irish, German and English folk with Appalachian frontier roots, including veterans of the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Comrades of Kentuckian Abraham Owen, who dies in the Battle of Tippecanoe, named the county in his honor.

There remain today many parcels of land which have been in the same families since the original homesteaders’ purchases from the U.S. Government. “Congress lands,” they were called, bought at $2 an acre or less.

Owen County’s first residents were prehistoric Indians evidenced by mounds, campsites and ‘workshops’ for making stone implements, the relics of which exist in nearly every township.

At some time or another in their lives, the county was the home of Hoosier poet William Herschell (Ain’t God Good to Indiana?”); playwright William Vaughn Moody; Nellie Belles, mother of former British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan; T.C. Steele, founder of Herron Art School and Brown County’s art colony; Horace Hickam for whom Hickam Field, Hawaii was named; Byron “Ban” Johnson, baseball’s American League founder; James “Babe” Pierce, son-in-law of Edgar Rice Burroughs and an actor in silent films…and a host of other people who have made names for themselves in various fields. Several artists, photographers, and writers (including James Alexander Thom) live and work in the county.

McCormick’s Creek State Park near Spencer was the first in Indiana’s State Park system (1916). Owen County was noted for many years for its extensive printing and quarrying industries.

For more detailed reading, the following are recommended: Blanchard’s History of Owen County, 1884; The New Purchase, Baynard Hall, published in the 1840’s; Glen Black’s survey of Archeology of Owen County in the 1930’s. As I Remember It, by Carl Anderson in the 1940’s; Fact & Folklore of Owen County, 1976 and 1982, and Owen County History, 1994 by former Owen County Historian, Dixie Kline. Owen County Historic and Genealogical Society have many public services and publications available. These are available at the Spencer-Owen Public Library where there is a growing collection of local history and genealogical materials, and works by Owen County authors.

Several exhibits are available in the county including those at the public library in Spencer, Gosport Museum ( a new facility), and on the second floor of the courthouse.

“Sweet Owen”…A True Community

Pioneers first found their way to Owen County around 1816, the year of statehood. Most were of Scotch-Irish, German and English decent, migrating north from Virginia and the Carolinas. Many were veterans of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The county was named in honor of a Kentuckian, Abraham Owen, who died in the Battle of Tippecanoe, by fellow soldiers who settled in Owen County.

Owen County's ancestors left a legacy rich in both the arts and business, a heritage of creativity and hard work that is still prevalent today. Ban Johnson, founder of American League Baseball, and E. M. Visquesney, sculptor of the bronze "Spirit of the American Doughboy", were residents of Owen County. Hickam Field in Hawaii is named after Owen County native Horace Hickam, a pioneer in aviation. Samuel Ralston practiced law in Spencer before becoming governor of Indiana. Owen County has been the springboard for governors and prime-ministers, authors and actors, aviators and entrepreneurs.

Two pioneers companies in Owen county were H. B. Laymon's World's Products and Spencer Wood Products. Laymon's was once the largest distributor of counter display cards in the country and employed over one hundred and twenty-five local people during the depression, as well as hundreds of salesmen. Spencer Wood Products was one of the leading manufactures of wooden clothes pins in the country.

The county was also once a major supplier of coal and limestone. Long abandoned, the pits where coal and stone were pulled from the earth now offer some of the best fishing in the southern Indiana.

1849 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Gazetteer," published by E. Chamberlain

Owen County, organized in 1819, was named in honor of Colonel Abraham Owen, of Kentucky, who was killed in the Battle of Tippecanoe, while serving as a volunteer aid to General Harrison. It is bounded north by Putnam, east by Morgan and Monroe, south by Greene, and west by Clay, and contains 396 square miles. The civil divisions into townships are Harrison, Wayne and Clay in the east, Franklin and Jefferson on the south, Marion and Morgan on the west, Jackson, Jennings and Taylor on the north, and Montgomery, Washington and Lafayette in the interior. The population in 1830 was 4,060, in 1840, 8,359, and at this time [1849] about 12,000. With the exception of the bottoms of White River, which in general are large and fertile, and a few tracts of level, wet land, when drained, well adapted to grass, the balance of the county is undulating or rolling, a medium between the hilly region farther east and the level country on the north, west and south. The upland portion is generally a rich, clay soil, and well adapted to corn, wheat, oats, grass, and other articles common to the climate. The timber is mostly a good quality. Iron ore and coal are found in abundance in the southern and western part of the county. The former is known to the manufacturer by the name of "liver ore," is destitute of manganese, and contains 44 ½ percent of pure metal. This ore is very easy of access.

The surplus articles exported in 1848, were, 24,534 hogs, 57,760 bushels of wheat, 18,000 do. Of corn, which, with tobacco and other articles of marketing, make the whole amount about the value of $200,000.

There are in Owen County about twenty gristmills, twenty-one sawmills, four carding, machines, one printing office, fifteen stores, two groceries, five lawyers, four-teen physicians, thirteen preachers, nine Christian, seven Baptist, six Methodist and two Presbyterian churches, and eighty-four mechanics of the trades most in demand.

The falls of Eel River furnish the best water power, and are among the most remarkable curiosities in the State. They are three-fourths of a mile apart, the upper fall is 45 feet within a short distance, the lower fall is 35 feet perpendicular. The proprietors of these falls, though they have often talked of making large improvements there, have as yet done but little. Iron ore is abundant in the vicinity. It is much to be regretted that such facilities for valuable and important improvements should not attract the attention to which they have such claims.

The taxable land in the county amounts to 165,768 acres; 19,000 acres have been selected for Canal lands.

John Dunn, Philip Hart, David Thomas and Samuel Bigger made the first settlement in Owen County about the beginning of 1817. The first church organized and the first meeting house and mill built was in 1819. Previous to that time, grain was sent about sixty miles to be ground. As a memorial of the old customs, it appears that at the sale of lots for the County Seat in 1821, the county board allowed $9.87 ½ for whiskey to treat the bidders. Now there is no one authorized to retail spirits, a majority of the citizens having decided not to allow licenses.

1938 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Review," published by the State Legislature

Long before the coming of the white man, Owen County was a favorite rendezvous for a number of Indian tribes, due to the beauty and healthful climate found in its picturesque hills and valleys. Today there are yet to be seen through the magnificent forests frequent signs that show where "Sweet Owen" now is, which was then a favorite camping place for the Indians. There is also much in evidence that prehistoric peoples, as their mounds and burial places testify, formerly inhabited this locality. It is certain that in latter times the Delaware, Eel River, Miami and Pottawatomie Indians swarmed the hills and valleys. The land of Owen County is a fine balance of hill country and rich, fertile river and creek bottomland. Particularly outstanding is the Eel River, with its beautiful falls and cataracts. White River traverses the entire southeastern section.

One of the northern group of southern Indiana counties, Owen is the most noted for its production of stone, coal, and tobacco. The famous Oolitic Limestone, used extensively in government structures, is quarried at Ramona. The bituminous coal found here is of the finest quality. The county is also ideal for the production of fruit.

Owen County covers 393 square miles, divided into thirteen townships. The incorporated towns are Spencer, 2,179, and Gosport, 722. Owen County total population for 1890 was 15,040; 1900, 15,149; 1910, 14,053; 1920, 12,760; 1930, 11,357. In 1920, the center of the United States population was in this county, at a point of 1.9 miles west of Whitehall.

Spencer is fifty-three miles southwest of Indianapolis and is served by one railroad. Among its manufactures are flour, lumber, brick, tile, staves, and bottles. The coalmines and limestone quarries in the region are important industrial factors. The largest clothespin factory in the world is here.

The early settlers referred to this county as "Sweet Owen," and today it includes many of the state's foremost natural beauty spots. Chief among them is McCormick's Creek Canyon State Park. Another is Cataract Falls, on Eel River. Other points of interest are Green's Bluffs, Boone's Cave, Owen Park, and Lake Hollybrook. There is a marker north of Gosport, on the site of the boundary line of the Harrison Purchase, commonly known as the "Ten O'clock Line."

The county was the birthplace of T. C. Steele, the noted artist. Spencer was the birthplace of William Vaughn Moody, poet and dramatist, and of the writer and poet, William Herschell. The most famous resident was Samuel Ralston, who settled near Jordan Village.

Owen County had seven manufacturing establishments, according to the 1935 federal census. A total of 179 wage earners were employed on payrolls totaling $129,518. The value of the product was $509,637.

The county had 1,719 farms with an average acreage of 112.8 acres each. Their value was $4,030,440. A total of 34,446 head of livestock was reported. The total county tax valuation for 1936 was $7,539,937.

Courthouse History

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• Map of Indiana Historical Markers