Greene County, Indiana History and Genealogy Research Guide and Links

GREENE COUNTY, Indiana
History <-> Genealogy

*First created in 1821.
*County seat: Bloomfield.
Located in southwestern Indiana.
*Cities, Towns & Communities include: Beehunter, Bloomfield, Bushrod, Calvertville, Cincinnati, Dixon, Doans, Dresden, Ellis, Fawcetts, Gilmour, Hashtown, Hendricksville, Hobbieville, Hoosier, Island City, Ilene, Jasonville, Johnstown, Koleen, Latta, Linton, Lone Tree, Lyons, Marco, McVille, Midland, Midland Junction, Mineral City, Newark, Newberry, Owensburg, Park, Plummer, Point Commerce, Redcuff Corner, Ridgeport, Rincon, Scotland, Solsberry, Sponsler, Summit, Switz City, Tanner, Tulip, Vicksburg, Vicksburg, Victoria, White Rose and Worthington.

Select this LINK to see GENERAL Greene County information and links.
Select from the TOWN list above to learn which township the community is located in, and view information and links specific to that area.
Select from the TOWNSHIPs Table below to view information and links specific to the township.
Please note: Though the information on this web page is believed to be correct, the possibility of error remains. Please notify the webmaster should an error be found.

Townships in Greene County
(North = Top)

Wright Township	Smith Township	Jefferson Township	Highland Township	Beech Creek Township
Stockton Township	Grant Township	Fairplay Township	Richland Township	Center Township
Stafford Township	Washington Township	Cass Township	Taylor Township	Jackson Township

Surrounding Counties:
                NW = Clay County, IN    NE = Owen County, IN
W = Sullivan County, IN     GREENE COUNTY   E = Monroe County, IN
      SW = Knox County, IN   S = Daviess County, IN   SE = Martin County, IN

GREENE COUNTY, INDIANA
Established in 1821, from unorganized land and Sullivan County; County seat is Bloomfield.

+ MAPS + TOWNS + TOWNSHIPS + NEIGHBORING COUNTIES +
+ CHURCHES + CEMETERIES + MUSEUMS and HISTORIC SITES +
+ NEWS & NEWSPAPERS +
+ COMMERCE, TOURISM & ONLINE COMMUNITY +
+ HISTORY & GENEALOGY: Articles & Online Databases + BIOGRAPHIES +
+ NATIVE AMERICAN: THE PEOPLE + NATURE +
+ ARCHIVES & LIBRARIES for Further Research +
+ COUNTY GOVERNMENT & Vital Records +
+ PROFESSIONAL HISTORICAL GENEALOGY RESEARCH +

MAPS
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· Interactive Census Bureau Map of Greene County, Indiana

· 1875 Map of Greene County, Indiana, from Higgins Belden & Co. (see citation)

· 1895 Map of Greene County, Indiana, by Pam Rietsch at: prietsch@ismi.net

· Use the query form, at USGS, to map features including cemeteries, churches, populated places, and more. Please note that the map town listed with a feature may be used as a map reference for the site, and may not be the town where the feature is actually located...Select a map to see the location of the actual feature. This database may not be complete, and, as with any database, there may be errors.

NATIVE AMERICAN
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The following information concerning the Native Americans in Greene County, is primarily quoted from: History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana, From The Earliest Time to the Present; Together With Interesting Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc. Chicago : Goodspeed Bros. & Co., Publishers, 1884.

     "...Prior to the year 1767, the land embraced in Greene County, with a large portion of the State of Indiana, belonged to a tribe of Indians called the Piankeshews. This people was one of the Algonquin tribes, and was one of the Miami confederacy. The Miami confederacy was formed early in the seventeenth century by the various tribes of Indians occupying Ohio, Indiana, a part of Illinois and a part of Michigan. The object of the confederacy was for the purpose of repelling the invasions of the Iroquois or Five Nations. Originally, so far as history or tradition gives any account, the whole of Indiana was occupied by the Twigtwees or Miamis, the Weas and the Piankeshaws. At a later date, there were other tribes, called permitted tribes, viz.: Delawares, or Leno Lenape, as they were originally called, Pottawatomies, Shawnees, Kickapoos, with a few Wyandots and Senecas. The Wyandots and Senecas seem to have had so little claim upon the land that they were never required to sign any treaty. The Pottawatomies seem to have acquired their interest by conquest, or rather by pushing the Miamis back from the Northwest toward the interior of the Stae, but they never claimed any interest in Greene County.
     The Delawares made a treaty with the Piankeshaws in 1767, by which they came into possession of a large part of Central Indiana, including the White River country as far south as the Lower Fork of White River, but to made the title perfect it was considered necessary to make a separate treaty with the Miamis. The Delaware Indians called White River Ope-co-me-cah. The Miamis at that time claimed the northern part of the territory embraced in the treaty, and the Piankeshaws the southern part. Greene County was in the part claimed by the Piankeshaws at that time. In the treaty between the Piankeshaw and Delaware, it was only a permissive possession that was given to the Delaware. These two tribes, together with the Weas, were, and continued to be, on friendly terms with each other, and all of them occupied the territory embraced in Greene County, from the date of the treaty among themselves until they were removed from the State. From some cause unknown to the writer, the Piankeshaws never ceded to the United States any land north of a line beginning at the mouth of Turtle Creek in Sullivan County, and running in a direct line to Orleans, now in Orange County...
     There were three treaties with the Indians, embracing the land in Greene County. The first two were made on the 30th day of September, 1809, at Fort Wayne with the Delaware and Miami, and the last was made on the 26th day of October, 1809, at Vincennes with the Wea.
     Gen. William H. Harrison, who was afterward President of the United States, was the Commissioner who made these treaties, and it seems that he regarded it as necessary to make it with these three tribes, but not necessary to make a treaty with the Piankeshaws. Of interest, however, the Piankeshaws were reportedly the first of the Western tribes of Indians to take sides with the patriot cause against the English, and were soon followed by the other tribes of the Miami confederacy.
     After the settlement at Vincennes by the whites, the Piankeshaws seem to have drifted toward that point, and near that place were their principal villages and headquarters.
     Nothwithstanding the treaties that were made with the Indians for the purchase of the territory embraced in Greene County, and other portions of the State, yet great dissatisfaction existed among them about these treaties, and especially among the tribes or parts of tribes who were not represented in the treaties. Prominent among the disaffected and dissatisfied Indians were the celebrated Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet. Tecumseh was a Shawnee, and his tribe did not originally own any part of Indiana, and was only permitted to occupy a part of the territory. In fact, no considerable part of that tribe ever occupied Indiana, except while on the war path. He was a cunning and brave warrior, and an eloquent orator, and was very popular with the various tribes in the Northwestern Territory. He visited the various tribes and made speeches to them. In his speeches, he proclaimed that the treaties for lands northwest of the Ohio River were not made with fairness, and all of them should be considered void. That no single tribe was invested with the power or authority to sell lands without the consent of the other tribes; and that he and his brother, the Prophet, would resist all further attempts of the whites to extend their settlements into this territory. These two famous Indians, by their persistent efforts and wonderful influence, finally brought about a powerful confederation of Indians, and the treaties were not made effectual until after the battle of Tippecanoe which occurred on the 7th day of November, 1811. The Delaware, who at that time occupied the White River and White Water Country, which included the territory embraced in Greene County, refused to join Tecumseh's confederacy, and remained at peace with the whites. Soon after the battle of Tippecanoe, the Indians commenced their removal to the West, and the last band left Greene County in 1819. A few years after that, a band of Indians on their way to the West camped for a few days just above the mouth of Latta's Creek, on the west bank of White River.
     The Piankeshaws were sent to Missouri and Kansas, and finally all to Kansas. In 1854, they were confederated with the Weas, Peorias and Kaskaskias, and they all numbered 259. In 1868, they numbered only 179. There has since been attached to this confederation the Miami, who went west of Indiana, and at this writing (1883), they were in the Indian Territory, and numbered, all told, 208. At that time, they owned 52,000 acres of land and had 3,000 acres in cultivation. Eight of their boys had come back to the land of their ancestors, and were attending college in Indiana.
     The Delaware, who were the last Indians who occupied Greene County. In 1866, 1,000 Delaware and Shawnee were incorporated with the Cherokees in the Indian Territory, and in 1883, some were still in Kansas. Their language is one of the best known of the Algonquin dialects.
     Tammany, whose name figures extensively with New York politics, was a Delaware chief of the mythical period. There was an early tradition among the Delaware that they were originally Western Indians, and at a very early day emigrated to the East. At the first settlement in the United States, they occupied the territory along the Delaware River, from which they take their name, and it was with them that William Penn made his celebrated treaty by which he acquired Pennsylvania.
     During the war of the rebellion, the Delaware furnished 170 soldiers for the federal army, who proved brave and efficient soldiers and scouts.⁴

· Native American Links

· History of the Miami and History of the Delaware, by Lee Sultzman

· Piankeshaw Trails Education Park: Greene County

MUSEUMS & HISTORIC SITES
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· http://greenecountyindiana.com/

o Greene County Genealogical Society: P.O. Box 164 - Bloomfield, Indiana 47424

o Greene County Historical Society: P.O. Box 301 - Bloomfield, IN 47424-0301

o Scotland Historical Society

CHURCHES
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· Greene County, Indiana Online Network.

o Churches in Greene County

· Local Catholic Church History & Genealogy Research Guide & Worldwide Directory + Indiana* Page.

CEMETERIES
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· Indiana State Library. 140 North Senate Avenue - Indianapolis, IN 46204-2296

o Indiana Cemetery Locator Database

· Greene County, Indiana Gravestones online at findagrave.com

· The Political Graveyard, for Greene County, Indiana, created and maintained by Lawrence Kestenbaum, a web site about U.S. political history, politicians and cemeteries.

COMMERCE, TOURISM & ONLINE COMMUNITY
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· Greene County Indiana Visitors and Community Information Center, by Kegan Inman.

· Greene County, Indiana Online Network.

NATURE
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NEWS & NEWSPAPERS
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o Indiana State Library. 140 North Senate Avenue - Indianapolis, IN 46204-2296

o Newspaper Holdings: Holdings by county (in Indianapolis)

BIOGRAPHIES
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· Biography of "Wyatt Johnson and Andrew Jackson", by Dixie Kline Richardson, historian, which tells a tale of her Greene County, Indiana ancestor and the "secret ballot" electing Andrew Jackson!

· Biography of "Jack Baber: His Story", by Dixie Kline Richardson, historian

· countyhistory.com: for Greene County, by Ronald Branson!

· Indiana Biographies for Greene County, hosted by Deb Murray.

· Old Settlers’ Fourth of July Celebration, 1875 (archived)

· Stalcup Family Greene County, Indiana (archived)

· The Political Graveyard: for Grreene County, Indiana created and maintained by Lawrence Kestenbaum - a web site about U.S. political history, politicians and cemeteries.

HISTORY <-> GENEALOGY: Articles and Online Databases
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· Worthington - Jefferson Township Public Library 26 North Commercial Street - Worthington, IN 47471 Phone/Fax: (812) 875-3815.

o Genealogy Project

o Greene County Birth Records

o Greene County Marriage Records

o Greene County Death Records

o Greene County Census Records

· Extract From : The Early History of Greene County, Indiana (1875), By Jack Baber (Chapter XVI - Highland Township)

· Read "Meeting the New President: Abraham Lincoln", by Dixie Kline Richardson, historian: "...Jacob Humble was a Civil War veteran who had been a prisoner at Andersonville. But before this experience in Mr. Humble's otherwise quiet life in Patricksburg, Indiana [Owen County]...In the Fall of l860, Jacob and Mr. McNamer took a memorable trip to the Lincoln home...

· Read "Wyatt Johnson and Andrew Jackson", by Dixie Kline Richardson, historian, which tells a tale of her Greene County, Indiana ancestor and the "secret ballot" electing Andrew Jackson!

· 1884 History of Greene County, Indiana, online by James A. Miller.

· Greene County, Indiana Genealogy!, by Katy Hestand - contains genealogy and history information for Greene County, and is a very helpful addition for those researching GREENE COUNTY ancestors.

· Greene County Historical Coalition

· http://greenecountyindiana.com/

o Greene County Genealogical Society: P.O. Box 164 - Bloomfield, Indiana 47424

o Greene County Historical Society: P.O. Box 301 - Bloomfield, IN 47424-0301

o Scotland Historical Society

· Greene County, Indiana Photos and Information

· Greene County, Indiana Online Network.

· 1820 Indiana Census Index, by Lori!

· The Doughboy Center - presented by The Great War Society.

· Indiana State Library. 140 North Senate Avenue - Indianapolis, IN 46204-2296

o Online Databases

o Indiana Cemetery Locator Database

o Indiana Biography Index (published before 1990)

o Indiana Biography Index (published since 1990)

o Index of Indiana Marriages Through 1850.

o Index of Indiana Marriages, 1993 through 2002

o Newspaper Holdings: Holdings by county (in Indianapolis)

o Images of Indiana: 92 Counties // from Adams to Whitley

o Indiana Public Libraries

o WWII Servicemen Database

o Indiana Plat Books

o Vital Information Exchange (VINE)

ARCHIVES & LIBRARIES for Further Research
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· Margaret Cooper Public Library 110 E. Vincennes Street, Linton, IN Phone: (812) 847-7802.

· Worthington - Jefferson Township Public Library 26 North Commercial Street - Worthington, IN 47471 Phone/Fax: (812) 875-3815.

· Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Library 125 S. Franklin Street - Bloomfield, IN 47424; Phone: (812) 384-4125 or (812) 825-2677.

o Genealogy Project

o Greene County Birth Records

o Greene County Marriage Records

o Greene County Death Records

o Greene County Census Records

· Greene County Genealogical Society: P.O. Box 164 - Bloomfield, Indiana 47424

· Greene County Historical Society: P.O. Box 301 - Bloomfield, IN 47424-0301

· Scotland Historical Society

· Library of Congress: American Memory All Collections Search - enter topic or Indiana town and/or county location to find available online photos, maps, and more!

COUNTY GOVERNMENT & Vital Records
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· Greene County Government information

· Greene County Health Department (For Birth & Death Records from ca. 1882)

o 217 E. Spring Street, Suite 1, "Old Jail" Courthouse Annex - Bloomfield, Indiana 47424; Phone: (812) 384-4496.

· Green Circuit Court Clerk (For Marriage, Divorce and Probate Records) Courthouse - Bloomfield, IN 47424; Phone: (812) 384-8532.

Greene County Communities

Beech Creek Township communities include: Hendricksville, McVille, Newark and Solsberry. Solsberry is located at the Beech Creek and Center townships line.

· 1884 History of Greene County, Indiana, online by James A. Miller.

· Chapter XVI – includes a history of Beech Creek Township

· Interments at Newark Cemetery, Beech Creek Township, Greene County

Cass Township communities include: Newberry.

Center Township communities include: Cincinnati, Hobbieville, Ridgeport and Tanner. Solsberry is located at the Beech Creek and Center townships line.

Fairplay Township communities include: Dixon and Elliston. The town of Switz City is located in Grant township, with a portion extending into Fairplay township.

Grant Township communities include: The town of Switz City is located in Grant township, with a portion extending into Fairplay township.

Highland Township communities include: Calvertville. The community of Tulip is located at the Highland and Richland townships line.

o Extract From : The Early History of Greene County, Indiana (1875), By Jack Baber (Chapter XVI - Highland Township)

Jackson Township communities include: Dresden, Koleen and Owensburg.

· Hatfield Museum Library P.O. Box 7 - Owensburg, IN 47453; Phone: (812) 863-2899.

Jefferson Township communities include: Johnstown, Point Commerce, Rincon and Worthington.

Richland Township communities include: Bloomfield, Fawcetts, Hashtown and Park. The community of Mineral City is located at the Richland and Taylor townships line. The community of Tulip is located at the Highland and Richland townships line.

· Bloomfield-Eastern Greene County Library 125 S. Franklin Street - Bloomfield, IN 47424; Phone: (812) 384-4125 or (812) 825-2677.

o Genealogy Project

o Greene County Birth Records

o Greene County Marriage Records

o Greene County Death Records

o Greene County Census Records

· Greene County Genealogical Society: P.O. Box 164 - Bloomfield, Indiana 47424

· Greene County Historical Society: P.O. Box 301 - Bloomfield, IN 47424-0301

Smith Township communities include: The community of Lone Tree is located at the Wright and Smith townships line.

Stafford Township communities include: Marco.

Stockton Township communities include: Ellis, Hoosier, Island City, Linton, Sponsler, Summit, Victoria and White Rose.

· City of Linton, Indiana

· Linton Chamber of Commerce

· Linton Daily Citizen - online news

· Margaret Cooper Public Library 110 E. Vincennes Street, Linton, IN Phone: (812) 847-7802.

Taylor Township communities include: Doans and Scotland. The community of Mineral City is located at the Richland and Taylor townships line.

· Scotland Historical Society

Washington Township communities include: Beehunter, Bushrod, Ilene and Lyons.

Wright Township communities include: Gilmour, Jasonville, Latta, Midland, Midland Junction and Redcuff Corner. The community of Lone Tree is located at the Wright and Smith townships line.

· Go Jasonville, Indiana

o Local History

· Jasonville Public Library
380 E. Main Street - Jasonville, IN 47438 Phone: (812) 665-2025.

[ Additional Research Resources for All Indiana Counties ]
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PROFESSIONAL HISTORICAL GENEALOGY RESEARCH
Ann McRoden Mensch, Professional Historical Genealogist

Researching on-site, and with the vast resources of The Allen County Public Library, holding one of the largest genealogical collections in North America. Search the Library's online catalogue to see some of the printed resources available for a location or topic.

Printed resources for this page include:

· Indiana Atlas & Gazetteer. First Edition, Second Printing. Yarmouth, Maine: Delorme. 1998.

· School and Library Atlas of the World. Fred W. Foster, Ph.D. (Editor). Sycamore, Illinois: School and Library Publishing Company. 1982.

· New Sectional Township Map of Indiana. Chicago, Illinois : Higgins Belden & Co., 1875.

· ⁴History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana, From The Earliest Time to the Present; Together With Interesting Biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc. Chicago : Goodspeed Bros. & Co., Publishers, 1884.

[ Return to Indiana Local History ]