Beardsley, William and Jesse Morgan, Peter Tuley, Peter Diddy and I. Middleton. Washington Township-In 1829, James Nickolson and his sons, Samuel V., David T. and George; Peter Marmen, Aaron Brown, Reuben Bronson and James Cathcart. Although most of the Pottawattamies had left Elkhart County for their western reservations by 1836, a few clung to their old haunts and quite a number refused to leave their reservation in St. Joseph County, Michigan. All the remnants of the tribe, however, were gathered in 1840, and conducted by government agents from the beautiful Valley of the St. Joe to their Kansas reservation beyond the Mississippi. Several years after the removal of the Pottawattamies, the Miamis, having ceded their lands to the United States, were also escorted by United States troops and government agents to their homes beyond the Valley of the Mississippi. Vol. I-5 CHAPTER V GENERAL COUNTY MATTERS FIRST COUNTY SEAT-CONCORD AND ELKHART TOWNSHIPS CREATED DIS COUNTY Under the act of the Legislature organizing the County of Elkhart an election was held in the spring of 1830, at which were chosen the following officials to administer its affairs: Thomas Thomas, clerk; Eli Penwell, sheriff; William Latta and Peter Diddy, associate judges of the Circuit Court; J. W. Violett, recorder; and James Mather, John Jackson and Arminius Penwell, justices. 66 68 of the peace. The first three sessions of the board of justices were held at the house of Chester Sage, a log cabin on the north bank of the St. Joseph River nearly opposite the mouth of the Elkhart; these meetings covered the period from June, 1830, to May, 1831. FIRST COUNTY SEAT In an old record book in the office of the county auditor appears the following item under date of June 28, 1830: "The Board of Justices for the County of Elkhart met at the house of Chester Sage in said county, the place appointed by law for doing county business." This first county seat was located in the present City of Elkhart on the bank of the St. Joseph River at the point where the Main Street bridge crosses the stream. CONCORD AND ELKHART TOWNSHIPS CREATED One of the first acts of the board of justices was the division of the county into two townships, and the following record will show how that was done: "Concord Township shall include all that part of the county northwest of a line beginning at the western boundary of the county between townships 26 and 37 and running thence east to the line between 6 and 7, thence north to the state line, and all that part of the county southeast shall be included in Elkhart Township." From this it would appear that Concord Township included what are now Cleveland, Baugo, Osolo, Concord, Washington and Jefferson townships. Thus instead of drawing the dividing line straight across the county between townships 36 and 37, a block of almost two townships, now called Middlebury and York, was set upon Elkhart Township, which made the area of the latter division much larger than Concord Township. Did we not have the actual records of the board before us, as above quoted, this division would seem almost inexplicable when taken in connection with subsequent township divisions. At the time this boundary line explains the word "southeast" employed in the above record, and without doubt marks the two original townships as the justices intended they should be. However, on the organization of Middlebury Township, noted below, the phraseology used is, "Ordered that all that part of Concord Township in ranges 6 and 7 be set apart and known by the name of Middlebury Township." But range 7 was never constituted, so far as we have record, a part of Concord Township, so that a discrepancy at once arises between the records and the resultant facts. The explanation which suggests itself most readily is that the clerk omitted the phrase, "and of Elkhart Township" directly after "Concord Township" in the above sentence; or that, in a day when the written word was only a poor symbol for pioneer logic and deed, "in ranges 6 and 7" was meant to be construed as including all that part of the county lying. north of the line between townships 36 and 37 and in Elkhart County. At the best, it is an interesting bit of ancient history of this county. In Elkhart Township was included not only all the rest of the county as at present constituted but, for voting and other purposes, LaGrange, Noble and Steuben counties on the east, and Kosciusko County on the south. OLD MONG-GO-QUA-NONG TOWNSHIP The first important change was made at the session of the board of justices on July 13, 1830, when all the territory east of Elkhart County proper was formed into a separate township and given the unwieldly Indian name Mong-go-qua-nong, and so remained until the counties of Noble, LaGrange and Steuben were erected therefrom. JACKSON TOWNSHIP OF TODAY Jackson Township was the first township to be erected with limits as they are today. This is a full congressional township and as such is designated township 35 north, range 6 east. This organization for civil purposes was effected in November, 1833, and Col. John Jackson was chosen the first justice of the peace. TURKEY CREEK TOWNSHIP, KOSCIUSKO COUNTY In May, 1833, the commissioners made the following order: "That all the territory lying south of Elkhart County and attached thereto be designated and set apart and known by the name of Turkey Creek Township." Thus the old Elkhart Township was |