Early Geography of Dearborn County Indiana

Dearborn County is the most southeastern county in the state of Indiana. It is bounded on the north by the county of Franklin, from which it is separated by the north line of congressional township 7, ranges 1 and 2, and congressional township 8, range 3, west of the principal meridian. It is bounded on the east by Hamilton County, Ohio, from which it is separated by the first principal meridian, which was run from the mouth of the Big Miami by Israel Ludlow in 1798. It is bounded on the southeast by Boone County, Kentucky, from which it is separated by a low water mark on the northerly side of the Ohio River. On the south it is bounded by Ohio County, Indiana, from which it is set apart by the center line of Laughery Creek. On the west, it fronts on Ripley County, Indiana, from which it is separated by the old Indian boundary line, which was run from a point on the Ohio River opposite the mouth of the Kentucky River northeast, through Ft. Recovery on the Maumee River, to the south line of Canada, in accordance with Gen. Anthony Wayne’s treaty with the Indians.

Three centuries ago the above, which is the present geographical description of Dearborn County, would not have been in any way accurate. In the year 1609, King James I of England granted a charter to the colony of Virginia and granted territory for “four hundred miles along the sea and extending up into the land throughout, from sea to sea.” Thus it will be seen that what is now Dearborn County was included in this territory and that it was a part of Virginia. During a period of one hundred and sixty years no attempt was made by Virginia to exercise the authority she possessed over the western frontier. But in 1769 the House of Burgesses passed an act establishing the county of Botetourt, with the Mississippi River as its western boundary. Fincastle, Virginia, was designated as the seat of justice of this extensive domain. Nine years later an act was passed providing that “all the citizens of the commonwealth of Virginia, who are already settled, or shall hereafter settle on the western side of the Ohio, shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called Illinois County.” Col. John Todd was appointed by the governor of Virginia to serve as civil commandant and lieutenant of Illinois. He served as such until his death, at the battle of Blue Lick, in 1782.

FRENCH CLAIMS

Largely because of the explorations and settlements established by La Salle in 1679, the French claimed the territory east of the Mississippi. La Salle had come down from Canada, crossed the Great Lakes and descended the Illinois River. The Indians living in that country did not oppose his invasion and he pushed forward rapidly, sending exploring parties in all directions. Their only mode of travel was by canoes and these were carried over portages, one from the St. Joseph River to the Kankakee, the other was from the Maumee, near Ft. Wayne, to the Wabash. Missions were established along the route of travel to the mouth of the Mississippi. The French claim to this land opened by La Salle was continually disputed by the British and was finally settled in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris, in which the French relinquished their claim to land east of the Mississippi. This removal of dispute and contest for the title to the land proved a great boon to adventurers and frontiersmen. Dating from that time, the great Middle West began to be populated. In this year Daniel Boone, the renowned pioneer and woodsman, made his first trip into Kentucky in quest of adventure and bent on discovery. So great did the spirit of adventure take root, that enterprises were set afoot that would seem foolhardy in their daring and recklessness. A General Lyman, with about four hundred families, passed down the Ohio and founded a settlement at Natchez, Mississippi. And the post established by these adventurers had something to do with the United States finally gaining possession of the Louisiana Territory in 1803.

Retrograding a few years, the great extent of Botetourt County, reaching, as it did, to include what is now West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, made it necessary for the passage of many curious acts for its government. Among them is the following provision:

“And whereas, the people situated on the Mississippi, in the said county of Botetourt, will be very remote from the court house, and must necessarily become a separate county as soon as their numbers are sufficient — which probably will happen in a short time: Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid (House of Burgesses) that the inhabitants of that part of said county of Botetourt, which lies on said waters, shall be exempted from the payment of any levies to be laid by the said county court, for the purpose of building a court house and prison for said county.”

ORDINANCE OF 1787

The county of Illinois remained intact from October, 1778, until July 31, 1790, when Knox County was formed by a proclamation from Gen. Arthur St. Clair, then governor of the Northwest Territory. This great territory was formed by act of Congress in the summer of 1787 and comprised what are now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and a part of Minnesota. The act itself is best known as the Ordinance of 1787. General St. Clair entered upon his duties as governor of the territory at Marietta in 1788. There was no fixed capital and whatever laws were found to be necessary were passed by the governor and judges when they happened to meet. Some of these laws were enacted at Marietta, some at Cincinnati, and some at Vincennes.

Three years following Gen. Anthony Wayne’s treaty with the Indians at Greenville, Ohio, in 1795, which treaty established the line already referred to from the Kentucky River through Ft. Recovery to Canada, General St. Clair, in a proclamation, extended Hamilton County west to this line. Thus did Knox lose what is now Dearborn County and it became a part of Hamilton County, so remaining until April 30, 1802. A special provision had, however, been made by General St. Clair to the effect that when the territory of Ohio should be admitted into the Union its westerly boundary should begin at the confluence of the Big Miami and Ohio Rivers and follow the tracery of the Miami northward. This ruling saved Dearborn County from being a part of the state of Ohio.

DEARBORN BOUNDARY LINES

From April 30, 1802, to January 24, 1803, there was no organization of any character in Dearborn County. In order to clear up this situation, it was attached to Clark County and remained so until March 7, 1803. On the latter date, by a proclamation of Gen. William Henry Harrison, governor of Indiana Territory, the county of Dearborn was formed and named in honor of Maj.-Gen. Henry Dearborn, at that time Secretary of War under President Jefferson. Thus what is now Dearborn County passed successively through history, first as part of Virginia, then Botetourt County, then Illinois, Knox, Hamilton, nine months of no authoritative government, then part of Clark County, and finally Dearborn.

The bounding line between Jefferson and Dearborn counties, established by act of November 23, 1810, commenced on the Ohio River at the mouth of Log Lick, now in Switzerland County; thence to the old Indian boundary; thence with said boundary to the northeast corner of the Grousland Purchase. A portion of this territory was taken from Jefferson and attached to Dearborn by act of 1814, and later, December 27, 1816, a portion of this addition was taken away to form a part of Ripley County. Franklin County was detached from Dearborn in 1811, when the present northern boundary line of the county was established.

In 1814 the line between sections 19 and 30, township 4, range 3 west, was extended east to the Ohio River and now forms the north boundary of Switzerland County. By act of January 7, 1845, all that part of Dearborn County south of Laughery Creek was detached from Dearborn and added to Ohio County, thus leaving Dearborn County with its present boundary lines.