NICHOLAS MANVILLE© 1998 Nicholas Manville, a mill operator whose family gave its name to a community in Milton Township, Jefferson Co., probably came to Indiana directly from Pennsylvania. Nicholas Manville lived 25 Nov. 1777-4 Nov. 1858 and is buried in the cemetery of the Manville Christian Church. The family lived in Pennsylvania until at least 1801/02 when Nicholas' son Butler Manville was born. There are no records of the family in the 1810 census for Kentucky. The earliest Jefferson Co. reference to Nicholas comes on Jan. 1, 1816, when his name was on the list of letters at Madison while the earliest direct connection to the Manville community came in a petition for a mill on the Indian-Kentuck Creek in June 1816. Nicholas abandoned his first petition, but was soon in the mill business anyway as an election for Milton Township was held May 12, 1817 at Manville's Mill. This site was just downstream from modern Manville in the SE1/4 Section 22 Twp. 4N Range 11E. He either operated or was a co-owner of two mills that operated simultaneously on the Indian-Kentuck Creek. One was called Manville's mill and was operated by his son-in-law Isaac Howard. The other, called Brooks' mill, was operated by his other son-in-law Benjamin Brooks. Manville's 1816 petition involved the mill operated by Howard. The land was patented by Isaac's father, Joseph Howard, on Aug. 1, 1816. Howard intended to sell the land to Nicholas Manville when he posted a title bond on 13 Aug. 1816. But because of Joseph's death, the sale was not completed until 22 June 1818. In the interim, Manville had actually sold the land to Isaac Howard on 27 Sept. 1817. Perhaps Joseph Howard's death caused Manville to withdraw his initial petition. On Feb. 17, 1820, Isaac Howard advertised the sale of a grist and saw mill on Indian-Kentuck, known as Manville's Mill. The property included one pair stones, saw, 60 acres, and two springs. The ad described the site as "good situation for a distillery." Howard sold the land to John Sheets for $100 on 11 March 1820. The other mill, operated by Brooks, was also quickly purchased and sold. Brooks and Manville jointly acquired land in the NW1/4 and SW1/4 Section 24 Twp. 4N Range 11E in Milton Twp., where Indian-Kentuck Creek joins Dry Fork. They bought this land from Daniel Demaree, whose family reportedly operated the earliest mill in the area. On July 24, 1820, Benjamin Brooks advertised his farm for sale as being located on the Indian-Kentuck two miles from the Ohio. The site had a saw mill with two saws, a and was described as an "excellent seat for a merchant mill." Brooks does not appear as a grantor in any deeds, but this is almost certainly the land that Manville sold back to the Demarees on Jan. 19, 1821. The two sales paved the way for three men to move to Vermillion Co., Ill., in 1821. Brooks moved back to Indiana where he drowned in December 1825 at Dana where he was building a mill. Howard died in Illinois. Nicholas Manville Sr., his son, and Howard's widow all moved back to Indiana. They probably joined Nicholas' son, Butler, who apparently remained in Jefferson Co. Nicholas was in Jefferson Co. on Nov. 28, 1828 when he sold land for John Miner, who had also moved to Illinois. Manville also owned property in Vevay, which he sold in 1823 while still living in Illinois. Nicholas Manville Sr. and his wife, Mary, who lived 25 Dec. 1776-18 Feb. 1870 are both buried in the cemetery of the Manville Christian Church. However, no one born with the name Manville appears on the church membership rolls, which commence in the 1830s. Also, Manville himself did not give his name to the post office which gave the community its name. The post office was opened in 1847 as Buena Vista and the name was changed to Manville in 1858. The name probably was adopted from the first postmaster, Nicholas Manville, Butler's son. The church was called the Christian Church of Milton Township into the 1850s and probably took its name from the post office. Children of Nicholas and Mary Manville
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