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 Randolph
County was organized in 1818, is said to have been named at the request of
the settlers, after the county in North Carolina from which they had emigrated,
though it is said also that the name was given in honor of Thomas Randolph,
Esq., Attorney General of the Territory, who was killed in the Battle of
Tippecanoe. It is bounded north by Jay, east by the State of Ohio, south
by Wayne, and west by Henry and Delaware. It contains about 450 square miles.
The civil townships are White River, Jackson, Ward, Green, Monroe, Stoney
Creek, Nettle Creek, West River, Washington, Green's Fork and Wayne. The
population in 1830 was 3,912, in 1840, 10,392, and at this time [1849] about
14,000. The surface of the country is nearly level, and portions of it are,
at times, wet and marshy, so that it would seem to be low, though in reality
it must be about the highest land in the State, for in or near Randolph County,
the head waters of the Big Miami, White Water, Blue River, White River, the
Mississinewa, the Salamonie, Wabash and St. Mary's, all running in different
directions, take their rise.
There are no barrens and but few prairies, all which are wet, in the county. The timber is of an average quality, the soil well adapted to be farmed in grass and small grain, and parts of the county are suitable for corn. There are in the county 14 gristmills, 20 sawmills, propelled by water and three by steam, five carding machines, one printing office, the usual proportion of mechanics and professional men, and two Baptist and eight Methodist churches. The taxable land amounts to 280,000 acres. There is to be seen on the land of W. M. Way, near Winchester, a regular built earth wall, enclosing about 20 acres of land, with a high mound in the center, and the appearance of a gate at the southwest corner. |
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