Franklin County, Indiana 1858 Landowners Map - Introduction
Return to Franklin County 1858 Landowners Map
by John J. Newman
PART ONE
How to Use the Index
An index provides two features: first, it indicates if a person appears in the record, and second, if so, where that person is found within. An index is an interpretation of data. The challenge is to determine if the index actually indicates if a person appears on the map. First, the handwritten names to be placed on the map by the draftsmen were interpreted by those who set them in type. Second, each indexer interprets the spelling of each name. Although the four indexers are familiar with many of the names indexed, none are familiar with all of the nearly 3,000 names listed. Thus, the indexers have tried to be as true to the names as spelled and presented on the map, including abbreviations and punctuation. Final interpretation of the names is left to the researcher.
Because of a large population of Germans, especially in Butler, Highland and Ray townships, one should spell a name sought phonetically. In addition, the typeface used, with fine serifs, makes it hard to distinguish among "B", "H," "P," and "R." Confusion can result in names ending in "g" or "y." Given both the nature of typeface and yellowing of the varnish, it is difficult to distinguish between an "o" and a "u." In Highland township, the name currently spelled "Bossart," appears as Buzzart, Bozzart, and Bossart. Also search both under the letter "K" with "C" as Clotz and Klotz.
Some names are not readable, due to damage existing on both maps or that the names are in shaded areas. There are a few cases where land owned was so small that the names virtually are not readable on the scanned images. The indexers have examined both photo stats and the historical society map, under magnification, to ascertain a questioned name. While names might not be readable on the scanned township map, they have been verified to the best of the ability of the indexer and will provide proof that an individual lived at a certain place in 1858.
If one does not find a name in the index, even after attempting variations of spelling, consult the 1860 census for the family name and note the names of neighbors in the township and use those names to locate the appropriate section in the township, to pinpoint, possibly the individual sought.
Each numbered section is the basic unit for indexing. All names shown in that section are indexed. A landowner may appear under his or her full name, just a letter for the first name, or a variety of abbreviations, as Thos. Ths. etc. Also note that a landowner's name may appear on different parcels of land in that section. If one owner has land in an adjourning section, that name appears in both sections.
Franklin County consists of approximately 394 square miles divided into thirteen townships:
| Bath | sections 19-36 | T10N R1W |
| Blooming Grove | sections 1-24 | T12N R13E |
| Brookville | sections 1-12 sections 1-36 sections 24-25; 36 sections 13, 24, 25, 36 sections 2-4; 9-11;14-15 sections 26-28; 33-35 |
T8N R2W T9N R2W T9N R3W T10N R3W T11N R13E T12N R13E |
| Butler | sections 19-21; 28-23 sections 23-25; 35-36 sections 4-9; 12-16 sections 1-2; 11-14 |
T11N R13E T11N R12E T10N R13E T10N R12E |
| Fairfield | sections 20-36 | T10N R2W |
| Highland | sections 13-36 sections 13; 23-26; 35-36 sections 3, 10, 15 | T8N R2W T9N R3W T10N R13E |
| Laurel | sections 1-24; 27-34 | T12N R12E |
| Metamora | sections 5-8; 17-18 sections 29-32 sections 25-26; 35-36 sections 1-2; 11-14 | T11N R13E T12N R13E T12N R12E T11N R12E |
| Posey | sections 1-3; 10-12; 13-15; 22-27; 34-36 | T12N R11E |
| Ray | sections 27-34 sections 25-27; 34-36 sections 3-10; 15-19 sections 1-3; 10-15; 22-27; 34 | T11N R12E T11N R11E T10N R12E T10N R11E |
| Salt Creek | sections 1-3; 10-15; 22-24 3-10; 11-22 | T11N R11E T11N R12E |
| Springfield | sections 1-36 | T9N R1W |
| Whitewater | sections 1-36 | T8N R1W |
If no township and range is listed, the township consists of one township and range, or part thereof.
Special Features
The 1858 map, as scanned, consists of these thirteen maps, scanned individually, along with street maps of Brookville and Laurel/Somerset/Mt. Auburn. In addition, the county map from the 1925 Franklin County Atlas also has been scanned with congressional townships and ranges marked.
Special attention is called to fractional section 18, township 9 north, range 3 west, Brookville Township. On June 12, 1817, a John Harris, plated almost all this section into 96 outlots to the town of Brookville, 80 being approximately five acres in size and 18 about ten acres. Only the names Moses Forcum, J. Scoll, John H. Hill, M. Hutchison and Thomas A. Goodwin appear on the Noble map while deed records show many more owners in 1858.
Street maps of Laurel and Brookville also are shown. The Laurel plat consists of plats for Laurel, "Sommerset," and Mt. Auburn. The only feature shown is that of a tan yard, south of the Whitewater Canal. For "Plat of Brookville County Seat," public buildings, lodges, and mills are shown as follows: A. Methodist Church; B. Lutheran Church; C. Presbyterian Church; D. Catholic Church; E. Masonic Hall [Elliott Lodge]; F. Masonic Lodge [Harmony Lodge]; G. Odd Fellows Lodge; I. Seminary; K. Brookville Hotel; O. Holland & Co. Mill; P. Speer's Mill; Q. Robert's Mill. Named but without a letter are: Fair Grounds; Indiana High School, Whitewater Canal lot and not named but shown are the courthouse and jail. There are two individual names appear on out lots in the northwest corner of the town, which are in the index.
Two railroads are shown. The first crosses through Bath and Springfield Townships and never was built. It was the Cincinnati, Cambridge and Chicago Short Line Railroad, and was part of a line to be built connecting Cincinnati with Cambridge City, Indiana. Other railroads through Kokomo and Logansport were to connect with this line to Chicago. A map of this route is found in The Indiana American, Brookville, Indiana, March 21, 1854, front page. The route was surveyed July 30, 1853 and was 6 44/100 miles long from the northwest corner of section 21, in Bath Township to the southeast corner of section 12, in Springfield Township. Mr. Donald Dunaway, in Bath Township: A History, 2012, p. 30, notes that there was an agreement written by Oliver Borne, agent for the railroad, dated March 31, 1856. He agreed to give the landowner two hundred dollars in railroad stock in consideration for the purchase of a right of way. No deed was recorded.
The second railroad was the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Railroad, which ran from Cincinnati through Lawrenceburg to Greensburg, Shelbyville and Indianapolis. About three miles of track cut through a corner of Ray Township from Huntersville westerly into Decatur County. It was opened to Greensburg May 28, 1853. President-elect Abraham Lincoln passed over this line on his way to his inauguration in 1861.
Natural and man-made feature also are listed: "It will show at one view the names of every person in the county owning land, the public roads, Canal, Churches, School Houses, Mills. &c." The Whitewater Canal ran through Laurel, Metamora, Brookville, Highland and Whitewater townships. Named roads are listed in Bath and Fairfield Townships (Fairfield Road) and for the former, Riley and Connersville Road. Brookville and Springfield Townships show the Brookville and Oxford Pike and the Hamilton Pike (although not listed by name for Springfield Township). Brookville also lists the Brookville Road to Blooming Grove and the County Poor Farm (NW 1/2 sec 31 T9N R2W). Whitewater Township shows the Harrison turnpike.
Two post offices are named, evidently for the postmaster, one in Salt Creek Township (Ward's Post Office), and one in Highland Township (Geis Post Office).
One anomaly exists. Virtually all evidence suggests that only one map was published; however, the town of Enochburg, section 10 T10N R13E, Ray Township, appears on the historical society map but not on the Indiana State Library (photo stat) map. In determining the most accurate and complete listing of landowners, the indexers compared names from both maps with no inconsistencies. There is no explanation of this variation. External evidence from newspaper accounts and examination of deed records do not suggest that two separate maps were published.
PART TWO
Background History of Noble's Map
Landowner wall maps became popular in the Middle West in the 1850s. The first one published in Indiana was for Marion County, 1855, by the firm of Condit, Wright & Hayden. The next year they published one for Rush County. This company advertised its services and either contacted James Noble, of Brookville, or he, they, for a map of Franklin County. In April 1856 Noble advertised that he would publish "a complete Map of the County, on the plan of that of Marion County, Ind., got up by Condit, Wright & Hayden, and now in the Auditor's office in the Courthouse at Brookville. It will show at one view the names of every person in the county owning land, the public roads, Canal, Churches, School Houses, Mills. &c." The map was to cost $5.00. It was followed by one published in 1867 and atlases in 1882, 1921 (Butler, Ray and Salt Creek Townships, as part of a Ripley County atlas), and 1925. Noble's map was lithographed by Klauprech & Menzel, Cincinnati, Ohio. It measures 65" X 43" and each section (one square mile) measures 2" square. The photo stats for each township have reduced the original size to a fraction above 1 1/2" square.
James Noble, (1806-1866?), was a son of United States Senator James Noble. He received a commission in the U. S. Navy in 1824 and served as a minor officer until his retirement in 1852. About 1854, he returned to Brookville, and among business pursuits, probably worked in the auditor's office. Landowner maps were drawn by skilled craftsmen, but their publishers contacted a local, usually prominent person, to advertise the project and to obtain subscribers and whose name appears on the map, thus the "Noble" map.
The Franklin County map received much publicity from April 1856 through September, when it supposedly was six weeks from publication. Nothing appeared in the two Brookville newspapers, until late October, 1858, when it was ready for delivery to subscribers. In 1857 Condit, Wright & Hayden ceased its operations, and a depression, the "Panic of 1857," probably stopped further production.
From a random review of deeds recorded, it appears that the last entries placed on the map date from about April 1858. Drafting the map, preparing it for the lithographer, printing and finishing it, and shipping it probably took the following six months. To design the map, an experienced draftsman, F. Hess (whose name appears on the map), along with his assistant, a "Mr. Zawabill," examined records in the county auditor's office. Under existing Indiana tax law, the auditor was required yearly to create a plat of each township to be given to the appropriate township assessor, whose duty was to make corrections, additions, and subtractions and return his result to the auditor. Annually, the auditor created a tax duplicate and kept a transfer book showing the transfer of land from one owner to another, and the date. Deed records, in the Recorder's office, also were consulted. Finally, these draftsmen visited each township to note natural features, as well as location of roads, canals, streams, post offices, churches, mills and so on. The editor of the Indiana American, Brookville, noted in September 1856: "The land of every man is accurately marked out, and the owner's name put on it... The roads have been taken from actual and patient measurement, and the creeks and branches are noted down..."
Two copies of the Noble map are known; one is in the Indiana State Library, from which photo static copies of each township were made in the early 1970s, and the other is the property of the Franklin County Historical Society, Brookville. Both maps were varnished, as a preservative, but which has yellowed, causing the underlying paper to become dark, brittle, cracked and flaked. Both maps also show green tinting as well as green shading of the margins of some townships. These features have made it difficult to read every name accurately. Four local indexers have used the photo stats as the primary source of indexing, with consultation with the historical society map. The latter is in poorer condition than the one in the Indiana State Library, with more parts of the map having lost data, especially for Blooming Grove, Fairfield and Highland townships. Even after comparison of both maps for a name, such may be gone or illegible.
The green shading, especially at the borders of some townships, vary from the Indiana State Library map to the one owned by the Franklin County Historical Society. Apparently the ink used was subject to fading, and since these maps were placed on walls, with different levels of exposure to the sun, the level of shading has varied between the two maps.