Early Settlers - Early Events

Cedar Creek Township

              The following is a list of the first and early settlers of Cedar Creek Township, with dates as far as attainable; In 1835, Samuel Halstead, Peter Surprise and family; Thomas Childers, Mr. Nolen, Mr. Funk, John Dilley, Samuel Bryant, Elias Bryant, Wayne Bryant, Jesse Cross and family, John Keller, Joseph Childers and John Driscoll; in 1836, Jonathan Mendenhall, where Mr. Tuttle now lives, Abraham Nichols, William A. Purdy, John Smith and family, who settled in West Creek Township in 1835, and moved to Cedar Creek in 1836; John Distal, Mrs. Jane Childers and her son, Harvey, and daughter Jane, now Mrs. Jane Sanger, and the oldest living resident, settler three miles south of where Lowell now stands; John Kile and family, Reason Kile and family, John M. Martin, John Kitchel and Nelson Smith; in 1837, Jabez Clark and family in the fall settled half a mile north of the site of Lowell; Mr. Tenet and Abraham Laffey, in June, 1837, settled on the bank of a little lake that has since been known as Laffey Lake; Ira Babcock, Ephraim Cleveland, Hosea Catlin, Philo Eno, Mr. Wagner and family, James H. Sanger, Buel Dilley (who was first Constable of the township), Hiram Dilley, Addison Clarke and family, George I. Zebriske, Joseph A. Clarke, Mr. Davis, William Philbrick and Alexander Hamilton; in 1838, John Ebbins, John C. Kenyon and family, Robert Hyde, with ;his family, he being the first settled minister, H.C. Sanger, Leander Sanger, Adin Sanger, John N. Sanger and Alexander Mc Donald and family; in 1839, John Warley, Isaiah Peterson and a number of others came. The following came early, but the exact dates have not been obtained: Jack Watkins, Shep Stephens, John Nephis, Cornelius Nephis and Thomas Wells. In 1837, there were only four log houses in the vicinity where Lowell now stands. Of course, at that time, there was no other kind of house in all the region roundabout.        

            EARLY EVENTS. –So far as can be learned, the first birth was a child to Mrs. Sarah Childers, wife of Thomas Childers in 1835. The first death was probably a daughter of Thomas Childers in 1835. She was buried on Cedar Creek, one mile south of the site of Lowell. The second, was a child of Mr. Wells, that died in the same year and was buried at the same place. In 1838, a son of John Smith died, and was buried where the Lowell Cemetery is. In the same year, a little girl of Henry Sanger’s was buried at the same place. She was perhaps the first one buried in this cemetery. It cannot be ascertained who were the first married in the township. July 27, 1841, Jane Childers and Ira Babcock were married. The ceremony was performed by John N. Sanger, who was then Justice of the Peace. Mr. Sanger failed to have the certificate, which is still in existence, duly recorded. After many years of married life, Mr. Babcock died, and Mr. Sanger, to make amends for his neglect in not having the record completed, proposed to the widow that they go together to complete the record. They have gone together ever since, and the record is completed evidently in a very satisfactory way. In the spring of 1839, Sibyl Smith and Burnes Peas were married, as were also Anna Lafler and Daniel M. Smith. April 20, 1841, a double wedding –William Purdy to Elizabeth Sanger, and Harvey Sanger to Sarah A. Bryant –took place.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana. Historical and Biographical. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor. Charles Blanchard, Biographical Editor. F.A. Battey & Co., Publishers, 1882