Wayne County, Indiana
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

Wayne County was created on November 27, 1810, made effective February 1, 1811 and was formed from Clark, Dearborn and Knox Counties. The County was named for Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne, victor of the 1794 Battle of the Fallen Timbers. An old Wayne County of the Northwest Territory was created in 1796 which included portions of the present states of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. This Wayne county was abolished in 1800, however, another "old" Wayne County, Indiana Territory was created in 1803, and included portions of the present states of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The County Seat is Richmond. Richmond wasn't always the County Seat. The first County Seat was located at Salisbury. By a Legislative act Centerville became the County Seat December 21, 1816. The removal of the County Seat from Centerville to Richmond occurred August 15, 1873, terminating the longest (more than 50 years) and bitterest County Seat war in Indiana. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Wayne County are Randolph County (north), Darke County, Ohio (northeast), Preble County, Ohio (east), Union County (south), Fayette County (southwest), Henry County (west).

Wayne County is divided into 15 Civil Townships as follows: Abington, Boston, Center, Clay, Dalton, Franklin, Green, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, New Garden, Perry, Washington, Wayne and Webster.

Cities, Towns and Communities include Beeson, Bethel, Cambridge City, Centerville, Dalton, Dublin, Earlham, East Germantown, Economy, Fountain City, Franklin, Germantown, Greens Fork, Hagerstown, Hoover Mill, Milton, Mount Auburn, Pennville, Pershing, Richmond, Spring Grove, Webster, West Grove, Whitewater, and Williamsburg.

The Wayne County Official Government Website
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Wayne County Township Map
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Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

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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including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other how-to books, can be tremendously helpful in finding and interpreting historical documents.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.
Wayne County, Indiana Family Books at Amazon.com

Extended History

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

Wayne County, organized in 1810, was named in honor of General Anthony Wayne. It contains 400 square miles and is bounded north by Randolph, east by the State of Ohio, south by Union and Fayette, and west by Fayette and Henry. It is divided into 14 civil townships, viz: Wayne, Center, Jackson, Boston, Washington, New Garden, Franklin, Jefferson, Clay, Abington, Dalton, Green, Harrison and Perry. The population in 1830 was 23,344, in 1840, 23,290, and at this time [1849] exceeds 30,000. The southeast part of the county is somewhat hilly, but the most of the land is pleasantly rolling. The two forks of Whitewater River, fed by numerous branches, pass through the whole county from north to south, and supply abundant water power to every part of it. Between these streams, usually from one to four miles apart, the land swells gradually, so that from the summits in each direction the most delightful prospects are everywhere presented. The forests have disappeared except such as have been reserved for timber, and at least three-fifths of the county is in cultivation. The soil is generally a rich loam, bedded on clay, with a light mixture of sand and limestone commonly beneath, and is well adapted to wheat, corn and grass, and in fact, the abundance and variety of its productions are such that it can challenge competition with any part of the west. The natural advantages have been so well improved by skill and industry, that Wayne County is generally regarded as a model for imitation to the farmers in other parts of Indiana. On many of the best farms it is customary to have one-fifth of wheat, an equal amount in oats, one-fourth in corn, and the balance in grass, principally clover. The surplus articles exported are flour, pork, beef, and marketing of various kinds sent to Cincinnati mostly, and horses, mules and cattle driven off and their value has been estimated to amount to $400,000 annually. There are on the east fork of the Whitewater and its tributaries, 19 flouring mills, 21 sawmills, four woolen factories, two cotton factories, four oil mills, one paper mill, one peg factory, one foundry and several turning and carding machines, all driven by water, and there is about an equal amount of machinery on the other streams in the county. The manufacturing of carriages, wagons, and a great variety of machinery and farming utensils is carried on extensively in Richmond and other places, so as to supply the neighboring counties; but it is not easy to form any correct estimate of their value. Among the establishments for education are the Friends Boarding School, near Richmond, the "Whitewater School," organized by the Friends in the suburbs of Richmond, which has about 60 students, the Whitewater Female College and Whitewater Academy, at Centerville, under the care of the Methodist Conference, which now has funds to place it on a permanent basis and there are about 100 school districts in the county, in each of which there are school houses. There are five printing offices in the county, each issuing weekly papers.

The taxable land amounts to 253,483 acres. In excavating the cut for the National Road through the bluffs on the west side of Whitewater, near Richmond, an excavation was found in the limestone rock across the road at nearly right angles, which had all the appearance of being a work of art. In depth and width it resembled a canal of the present day; its sides had the same shape, and appeared to have been washed by water for a long period. The tax paid by Wayne County annually exceeds that paid by 14 of the smaller counties.

Richmond, the principal town in Wayne County, is situated on the east bank of the East Fork of White Water, on the National Road, four miles from the Ohio line, 64 northwest of Cincinnati, six east of Centerville, and 68 east of Indianapolis. It was first settled in 1816, and the proprietors were John Smith and Jeremiah Cox. In May 1833, Richmond contained 236 families and a population of 17,40. In 1840, the population amounted to 2,070; at this time [1849] it is about 3,000. In Wayne Township, which includes Richmond, and mostly in or near the town are 12 flouring mills, 11 sawmills, three oil mills, three cotton factories, four do. For the manufacture of woolen goods, one paper mill doing a large business, six carding machines, all propelled by water, also two extensive foundries, and the manufacture of threshing machines, carriages of all descriptions, and various kinds of farming utensils is carried on extensively at Richmond, so as to supply all the wants of a large and well improved tract of country. No town in the State employs more mechanical and manufacturing labor. There are in the town two printing offices, tow fire companies and engines, a branch of the State Bank, about 500 dwelling houses, tow large meeting houses for the Friends, where they hold their annual meetings, two churches for the Presbyterians, one for Episcopalians, one Methodist, one Catholic, one Lutheran, and one for colored people.

The Friends Boarding School in the vicinity, under the control of the Orthodox Friends, is a flourishing institution, where all the branches of a collegiate education are taught. The late Dr. Ithamar Warner donated for public use a brick building 70 feet long, 21 wide, and three stories high, which is occupied by the moral and literary societies of the place, and John Smith, one of the proprietors, gave also, for public use, an acre of ground and a brick building.

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

Wayne County is located in the central part of the eastern tier of counties and is bounded on the north by Randolph, on the east by the State of Ohio, on the south by Union and Fayette and on the west by Henry and Fayette counties. The Cumberland or National Road, runs through it and in the early days was the gateway to the state, and the great Northwest beyond, over which the tide of emigration moved from the East. The soil is rich and varied, from the alluvial to the heavy clays of the elevated portions, and all susceptible to a high state of cultivation. Every section is well watered, and few localities are better adapted to dairying. Wayne County is famous for its production of wheat, corn, hogs, cattle and horses. The soil and climate are well adapted to the production of fruit, and an eminent authority has said: "Wayne County lies in the coming apple belt of the Central States." Agriculture has received much encouragement in the public schools, in associations and in institutes, conducted from year to year among the farmers, and it was among the first in the state to add agriculture to its common school course of study.

This is a border county and its eastern boundary is part of the Ohio line. Located directly east of Indianapolis, Wayne County comprises fifteen townships with a total area of 411 square miles. Before formal organization it was part of Dearborn County.

The incorporated city is Richmond, 32,493; towns: Fountain City; 480; Boston, 184; Cambridge City, 2,113; Hagerstown, 1,262; Milton, 612; Mt. Auburn, 50; Spring Grove, 191; Whitewater, 121; Greensfork, 333, economy, 212. Total county population in 1890 was 37,628; 1900, 38,970; 1910, 43,757; 1920, 48,136; 1930, 54,809. The county rates high in the production of wheat, corn, fruit, hogs, cattle, and horses.

The City of Richmond is one of the most thriving industrial cities in Indiana. It is located on the east bank of the east fork of White Water on the National Road, four miles from the Ohio Line. It was first settled in 1816, and it was here that the "Friends' Boarding School" was established June 7, 1847, and from which has developed Earlham College. Richmond is located sixty-eight miles east of Indianapolis and is served by two railroads. It is chiefly a manufacturing city. Among its products are phonographs, overalls, crackers, cakes, fiber products, farming implements, kitchen cabinets, caskets, lawnmowers, automotive gears, and insulated wire. Notable among its products are lawnmowers, of which it manufactures more than any other city in the United States. According to figures of the 1935 federal census, Richmond had sixty-seven manufacturing establishments employing 3,434 wage earners on pay rolls $3,351,199. The value of the products was $16,139,964.

Earlham College took its name from "Earlham Hall, " the name of the Gurney home, at Norfolk, England, the source of the far-reaching humanitarian work of John Gurney, the prominent English Quaker banker, and his better-known sister, Elizabeth Fry. As to location, no isolated spot was chosen. A large tract of land was purchased on either side of "The Great Road," as the Friends referred to the now historic "National Road," which led straight into the unbounded west. Here, on the now beautiful campus they built "their house by the side of the road," a token of the service for which the college was to stand. Nine years after Louis Agassiz came to Harvard, a young Earlham instructor, Joseph Moore, who was later to be Earlham's President, went east to work with him, and the young Indiana College was thus early linked with the movement to add natural science to its curriculum. In 1847 the college was the Beneficiary of a contribution of £300 sterling from English Friends, two-thirds of which was set apart to the college authorities to purchase scientific apparatus and start a library. In 1853, the foundation of the Joseph Moore Museum was laid, in the beginning of a permanent collection of materials in the field of natural science as a subject for instruction. On the Earlham campus was established the first astronomical observatory in the state, where is located the transit mounted at Fort Sumter at the outbreak of the Civil War. It was the first college in Indiana to establish a laboratory equipped for the use of students, and is one of the very first institutions committed to the modern policy of coeducation. In a list, prepared at the request of the German universities, by the Association of American Universities, Earlham was listed as one whose work ranks with their own. It was one of the colleges among the six mentioned by Doctor K. C. Babcock, educational expert of the United States Bureau of Education, as representing the most progressive and efficient work now being done among American colleges.

The Eastern Hospital for the Insane, "Easthaven," located a short distance west of Richmond, was the second of the additional hospitals to be opened. Its site was purchased August 9, 1883, and it was constructed on the cottage plan. The arrangement is in the form of a modified quadrangle, with the powerhouse in the center and the cottages on two sides and a part of the front. As previously mentioned, some of the buildings were completed in 1887 and were occupied by the School for Feeble-Minded Youth. The school was moved to its new location July 8, 1890, and on August 4, following the Eastern hospital received its first patient.

There are several points of interests, including the Levi Coffin house, an underground railway stationed of pre-Civil War days, the East Side Friends Church, where yearly meetings are held by the Quakers, and the Henry Clay marker, at which point the "Abolition Address" was delivered. There is the D. A. R. Pioneer Mothers' statue in the first Wayne County schoolhouse, of log cabin construction. The Reid Memorial Hospital and the Hill Greenhouse, one of the largest in the world, are here. The city has ample recreational facilities, including two bathing beaches and three golf courses, in addition to the eight parks of about 250 acres. Some of the government projects have been the baseball park; the sewage disposal plant; rehabilitation of Glen Miller park; improvements of the municipal golf course; the installation of police radio station; senior high school auditorium, and the incomplete art galleries.

The Hagerstown is located sixteen miles northwest of Richmond and is also served by two railroads. It is known for its manufacture of piston rings, flour, fertilizer, and cement blocks.

Wayne County notes as one of its natives, a man who not only dominated the history of the county, but also became outstanding in the state and nation as Indiana's Civil War Governor. He is Oliver Hazard Perry Throckmorton, but much better known as Oliver Perry Morton. (Originally the English name was Throckmorton.) Others include Robert Underwood Johnson, William Dudley Foulke, E. Gurney Hill, Elwood Bundy, and Timothy Nicholson. The former State Highway Commissioner, Earl Crawford, is a native of Richmond.

Wayne County had eighty-eight manufacturing establishments, according to 1935 federal census figures. A total of 4,616 wage earners were employed on pay rolls of $4,457,345. The value of the products was $22,067, 273. The county had 2,403 farms averaging 99.9 acres each. The value was $17,377,725. A total of 91,571 head of livestock was reported.

Courthouse History

Map of Indiana Historical Markers

Wayne County, Indiana
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

County Court, Probate and Tax Records

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County Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Death Records

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County Census Records

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County Maps & Atlases

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County Military Records

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County Genealogical Addresses

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County Church & Cemeteries

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Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Extended History

Wayne County, Indiana History, Records, Facts and Genealogy

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

See Also Vital Records in Indiana

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for Indiana

See Also Research In State Map Collections

See Also Military Records in Indiana

See Also Other Indiana Genealogical Addresses

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Indiana

Wayne County, Indiana
History, Records, Facts and Genealogy