Campbell Township

    Campbell Township lies in the western part of the county, and is bounded on the north by Greer and Hart Township, on the east by Hart, Boon and Ohio Townships, on the south by Ohio Township and Vanderburg County, and on the west by Vanderburg County. Agriculturally it is one of the best townships in the county and contains about thirty-nine square miles. It is watered by Big Pigeon Creek, flowing across from north to south and along most of the southern boundary. Squaw Creek runs along the eastern boundary, and together these two streams drain nearly the whole township, flowing through belts of arable land. The date of the organization of this township is probably as early as any, except the original townships of the county. It was named for Thomas Campbell, an early settler of the county. "He was a native of North Carolina (born in 1785) and removed from Kentucky to Warrick County in Indiana in 1813, and settled in Boon Township, where he resided one year, then removing to what is now Campbell Township, locating on the farm now owned by Thomas Davis. He had a family of four children, and was one of the County Commissioners at an early day and a prominent member of the Methodist Church, his house being used as a place of worship for a number of years. He had the reputation of being a great hunter in his day. He died August 29, 1840. When Campbell came to this neighborhood, John Luce was living on the land now owned by John Grant. The first mill of any kind in this part of the county was a horse-mill erected by Luce on this land. In the year 1817, while the Circuit Court was in session at Darlington, then the county seat, James Anthony received permission to erect a dam on Pigeon Creek at the present site of Millersburg. Not long after that a mill was erected there, and has been maintained ever since. Phillip Miller was its owner in 1824, and a man named Cox bought it not long after. For many years it was one of the best in the county and did a large amount of custom grinding.

    The land in this township was nearly all covered with heavy timber and required the hard labor of the pioneers to get under cultivation. Their first effort was directed toward clearing off a small patch upon which a few of the necessities of life were raised. Corn was prominent among these early products of the soil and bore an important part in the settler's daily bill of fare.

    The county records show a total of only two entries in this township prior to the year 1820. These were by David Lawrence in 1817, and Zabina Lovejoy in 1818. There is evidently a mistake in this, for James Anthony was required to be the owner of the land upon which he requested permission to erect a dam in 1817. Since he was granted that right it is fair to presume he owned the land. There is an old maxim of the law that says, "False in one, false in all," but it would hardly be fair to thus impeach the whole of the county tract book on this slight evidence. However, it might not be unfair to suppose that other mistakes of a like nature existed. It seems a little strange that the good land in Campbell Township should lay so long without an owner when it was being taken so rapidly in Boon Township adjoining. Perhaps the location of the county-seat had something to do with it.

    Among the early settlers in this township were John Luce, Isham West, Joseph McDonald, Phillip Miller, Thomas Smith, Elisha House, James Ward, Isaac and Daniel Hudson, Martin Lowe, William Davis, Samuel Bogan, Harper Davis, Levi Iglehart, Moses Condit, H. M. Schrode, Mark Feighly, Robert Brown, A. Holder, John Rowe, W. H. Trevault, Henry Hunt, Fielding Miller, Jesse Keith, Daniel Hunt and Foster Ketcham, besides many others whose names were then familiar throughout the county.

    Wild game was then prevalent through all the forest wilderness, and in this Warrick County was abundant. One kind that in early times was not uncommon, were the wild hogs that roved through the woods in quest of forest fruits. There were more of them in Campbell Township than most any other part of the county. This was most likely on account of the Big Pigeon that would deposit many of the nuts along its overflowed banks and leave them to be easily obtained by animals in search. These hogs were originally of the domestic breed that by long and continued roaming at large had become wild and almost ferocious. When the earlier settlers came their meat was often derived largely from this source.

    Welte is situated in the western part, on the line between Section 17 and 18. The first merchant here was Fred Lether, who began about the year 1870. He was succeeded at different times by others, none remaining long. The Postmaster was B. F. Morris, about 1880. Joseph Welte is the present merchant and Postmaster and does a moderate trade. A physician is located here, and it is the residence of Rev. C. J. Conrad, the rector of Saint John Evangelist's Church at the same place.