North Township

           The Township of North is peculiar in many respects. Lying as it does at the south end of Lake Michigan and indented as it is by this great saltless sea, one would naturally suppose that it would have been thickly settled before the central and southern parts of the county were settled at all. In ancient times civilization sought the sea. Settlements were always made on the coast before people thought of moving inland; but, since the iron horse began to speed his chariot over the land, man’s dominion has not stopped at the shore but has stretched inland to the heart of the continent. With about twenty-five miles of a coast line and about fifty miles of a navigable stream with nine railroads and three navigable lakes, why should North Township be to-day, to a great extent, an unimproved and sparsely populated region? The answer comes from its numerous marshes, sand hills and sterile soil.

            BOUNDARIES, ETC. –On September 5, 1849, the boundaries of North Township were fixed as follows: Commencing at the point where the Calumet River crossed the line dividing the counties of Lake and Porter; thence down the center of said river to the point where it crosses the line dividing Ranges 8 and 9 west; thence south on the said range line to the southeast corner of section 36, Township 36, Range 9 west; thence west on the north line of the township of St. Johns to the Illinois state line; thence north along said line to Lake Michigan; thence eastwardly along said lake shore to the line dividing the counties of Lake and Porter; thence south on said line to the place of beginning. The elections were ordered held at the house of Albert Spear, he being appointed Inspector. On September 7, 1860, George Earle presented a petition signed by himself and others to have the following territory set off to Porter County: Commencing at the southeast corner of Section 4, Township 35, Range 7; thence running west to the southeast corner of Section 3, Township 36, Range 8; thence west to the line between ranges 8 and 9; thence north on said line to Lake Michigan; thence east along said lake to the line dividing Lake and Porter Counties; thence south to the place of beginning. The consideration of the petition was postponed to a future meeting. The question came up in December, but was again postponed. After due consideration in March, 1861, the petition was denied and dismissed.

            TAVERNS AND OTHER LICENSES. –In 1833, a family named Bennett kept tavern at the mouth of the Calumet. In 1834, a family named Berry kept tavern on the lake beach, and the widow, Hannah Berry, kept tavern there for a year or two after the county was organized. In September, 1837, an election of North Township was ordered to be held at the house of Bucklin and Murdock, and in January, 1838, the place was changed to Abner Stilson’s. About this time Vincent Mathews was granted a license to run a ferry across Deep River. In 1838, Oscar L. Robinson was granted a license to keep a tavern on Sand Ridge at $15 a year. In May, 1838, it was ordered by the County Commissioners, That the account and report of Francis Barney, Supervisor of Road District No. 1 of North Township, by which it appears that of 100 days’ work due in the district he has caused sixty-eight days to be worked, and for which he charges twenty-six days extra service be not allowed. In November, 1838, George Earle was licensed to keep tavern; $15 a year was the price paid for the privilege.

            Owing to the facts that a number of changes were early made in the boundaries of the township, that it was originally very much larger than at present, and that most of the few who settled first in what in now North, have died or moved away, no satisfactory list of old settlers can be given. The settlers in this region have been largely transients; at least ,to a much greater extent than in other townships of the county. Instead of a list of early settlers, we append a list of the taxpayers of North, as shown on the Lake County Tax Roll of 1839 –a book that is now crumbling to dust.

            The non-residents are marked N.R. as on the book: Amzi Ainsworth, A.P. Andrews, N.R.; Ay-be-naub-be, Ash-kund, James Burnes, Don C. Berry, Epaphrous P. Butler, John Ball, Russel Butler, Beniah Barney, Francis Barney, Blake and Turner, N.R.; Preston Blake, John Benson, Be-si-ah, Ben-ack, Ebenezer Dustin, Ebenezer Dustin, Jr., John C. Davis, N.R.; Richard Earle, N.R.; George Earle, David Fowler, John Foster, Henry Frederickson, David Gibson, E. Haskins, Charles Haywood, Nathan P. Hopkins, Hurst, Stephen Jones, Theodore D. Jones, Levi D. Jones, Levi Jones, J.V. Johns, Daniel Jackson, N.R.; Abraham Muzzell, Allen Mulkins, James Mundell, Henry Magee, William Merrill, Dudley Merrill, Elijah Martin, John Markins, Charles D. Mathews, N.R.; John Mandeville, S. Miller, Joseph Oakman, Seth Owens, E.D. Owens, O-ca-chee, Charles S. Reeves, Jonas Rhodes, Peyton Russell, Re-re-Now-Saw, ___ Switzer, N.R.; ____Switzer, N.R.; Robert Williams, Charles Walton, Samuel Walton, Charles Woods, James C. Wilcox, Alman Wider, John Woods, Benijah Wilkinson, Ull-saw, We-saw-et-Lueson, James Wilson, N.R.; Wood and Sanders, George Whitmore.

            TOTAL ASSESSMENT.

270 Polls, the tax upon which was State, $135.00 ½; County, $135.00

$33,322.92 Land………………….State, $100.17 ½, County, $333.67

$13,355.00 Liverpool lots………..State, $40.16, County, $133.72 ½

$39,910.50 personal property…….State, $119.971/2, County $1,002.02 ¾

            It will be remembered that the above list includes a number of names of persons who never lived in the region now known as North Township. The reader will notice a number of Indian names in the list which are readily distinguished by their peculiar spelling and queer combinations of letters and sounds.

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