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Transcriber’s comments: Certain parts of the history are dated 1906, but the history appears to have been written years later. Some information here is attributed to E.B. Bishop, probably Edgar B. Bishop 1838-1915. The author was probably William E. Ryker. In 1910, Ryker wrote an article, published in the Madison Courier, which was based on an interview with George W. Buchanan. This article appears to be referenced below in mentioning statements made by George W. Buchanan to the writer (of this history) and also refers to Buchanan as having been living at Buchanan station "years ago." This article was written for the Jefferson County Historical Society and bears a similar style and method of organization to the history of Milton Township also prepared for the society and written after 1908. RWS Shelby township which, next to Madison, has the largest dimension of the county. Has 48 square miles. It was formed in 1823 out of old Pittsburgh Township. It lies in the north east corner of the county and is well watered by the Indian Kentuck Church and its tributaries, which by their erosion have produced a beautiful rolling country not excelled in attractiveness by any section of the county. It is also a fine agricultural region. Among the earlier settlers of this region we find the names of Buchanan, Gullion, Kindle, Lame, Lewis, Lott, Benefiel, Hillis, McLaughlin, Warfield, Custer, Rogers, Buck, Cloud, Hayes, David, and Mason watts, who have also resided temporarily in Hanover and Monroe townships. Jesse Lott, another active, anti-slavery and "underground" man lived a mile and a half south of Canaan, his home being a noted "station" for escaping slaves before the war. Near the north line of the township about where Barboursville stands, was the fort or blockhouse known as "Buchanan's Station." George W. Buchanan, who, at an advanced age, was living there some years ago, stated to the writer that his father came about 1813, and that there were four Buchanan brothers, John, Wilson, David and William, who were Pennsylvanians. The fort was built on the land of Wilson. W.P. Hendricks describes it as a stronghold where the families of the surrounding territory came together and lived when there was immediate fear of the Indians; and he further says that it was garrisoned by the Rangers of Captain Dunn and Captain Hillis. One writer, C. David, says that the occupants were classed as rangers, hunters, farmers, and a fourth group made up of boys and old men. It was the business of the latter to guard the fort while the rangers, hunters and farmers were out at their various duties. David's father, then but 12 years old, was one of the guards. The Chief "White Eyes" who haunted the county generally, appears in the history of this township, where at one time a small creek bore his name because his hut stood their. Another Indian, called Wilson, had his wigwam on one of the branches of Indian Kentuck, about 2 miles northeast of Canaan, where as tradition says, he was foully murdered by three white men, whose names are lost to history. Other families in this neighborhood were the Weatherfords, VanOsdol, Ralston, Culbertson, Danner, Tait, Stewart, Scott, and others. Two colonies, one of Dutch and the other Scotch, were identified with this township, though both belonged in part to Switzerland County, neighborhoods lying at the dividing line. In the former were the Vannice, Vanosdol, Vandeveer, VanVories, Demaree, and Carnine families and some of these names remain in the locality. This Holland colony Founded the Pleasant Presbyterian Church, at the village of Pleasant in Switzerland County. The other settlement was by emigrants from Scotland, who came about 1819 and in it were the Culbertsons, Glenns, Woods, Weirs, Irwins, Andersons, Mortons, Ralstons, Taits, Wilkeys, and Welchs, and others, not forgetting the now classical name of one Walter Scott. Many descendants of this old Scotch stock are now to be found scattered over the east side of the township.
Shelby twonship (sic) has two villages, Canaan and Barbersville, the former with a population of 180 by the census of 1810. [Editor’s note, 1910?] Old residents differ as to just when Canaan was platted and by whom, by what seems to be the best authority, it was laid out in the thirties by John Cain, who first kept a country store on the site. The name Cain suggested Canaan to one William Gordon, who facetiously dubbed the place accordingly. Amos Simpers owned the land and donated ground for a church cemetery. James Lewis, a subsequent owner, laid out an addition in the later thirties. Prior to that the hamlet was a narrow strip of houses along the public road. There are contradictions, also, as to the origin of the hamlet of Barbersville. By the most reliable statements, it was laid out by Enoch & Thomas Bray, December 18, 1848 and derived its name from Timothy Barber who kept the first postoffice. In Shelby township, as elsewhere in the county, the first church in the field was the Baptist. In 1818 the Brushy Fork Baptist Church was organized. Two church buildings, first a log and then a frame, were erected just west of the county line, but the third, a substantial brick structure, was east of the line in Switzerland County. Among those who were identified with this congregation were David Henry, Vincent Firth, John Christie, Steven Ellis and Thomas Charlton. Indian Kentuck Baptist Church. Statements as to the date of origin of this church differ. One puts it about 1818, but another says it was 1814; that in 1815 it united with the Silver Creek Association where it continued to be represented until 1827 and that the charter members were Nicholas Yount, John minor, Jacob Short, Abraham Lewis, and their wives. The organization was effected at the house of Nicholas Yount, 3 miles southwest of Canaan. The meetings were held in the homes of members until 1818, when a log house 22 by 28 feet was commenced on Toddy's Branch, a tributary of the Indian Kentuck. This building was never completed on this site, however, but in 1820 the material was removed to a new spot, a mile and a half further north, which was donated by John McCoy. Here the congregation worshipped for 24 years, under the leadership of Elders Jesse Vawter, James Alexander, James Glover, Jacob Ryker, William Blankenship, Jesse Miles, and Asher Smith. In 1826, eleven members went over to the West Fork Baptist Church, then formed in Ripley County, and in 1828 eleven more withdrew to join the Hebron Church. In 1844, the location of the church was changed one mile east and built of stone 40 by 50 feet at a cost of $1,200; twenty one years later, 1865, later a new building was erected on the same site ($2,600). Elders of a later period, previous to 1870 were Asher Ward, Joshua Griffith, Robert Stevenson, James Stevenson. The earliest records of this church having been lost or destroyed, a consecutive history of the organization is necessarily impossible. The earliest minutes in existence date from 1818, Jan. 2d. Membership of 436 in all. Miss Daisy Storms says that Stephen Moore was 1st Pastor; 1st Deacons, James Cline, Joseph Lame, Clerk, James Christie. Macedonia Baptist Church, though not now in Shelby township, was organized here, at the home of David Danner in 1842, by the Rev. Arthur (sic, probably Archer) Smith. Rev. Arthur Smith, who came to Jefferson County in 1839, settled near Canaan, where as a minister, he labored zealously, preaching in six different churches. Five churches were organized by him in Indiana. He removed to Kentucky in 1847 and died in 1873. Meetings of the Macedonia church were first held at private homes, then at a schoolhouse a mile and a half east of the site of the present church. In 1846 a log house was built by the members, Samuel Danner, James Hankins and others donating their services. This building was in use till 1871 when the present building was started. It was finished 1877. The first names on the list of original members were David Danner and Catherine, his wife, Tunman [sic Tubman] Malcolm & Mary Malcolm, Joshua Culver and Nancy Culver, Elizabeth Avery, Joseph and Nellie Craig. These are all of the 14 original members whose names we have been able to procure. Later members were Thomas Little, William Kiney, Benjamin Martin, William Eades, John Taylor, Elizabeth Kern, Nellie Martin, William Read, Elisha Brown. The pastors were; Elders John Graham, John Pavy, Phillip Harmon, George Markland, Joseph Hankins, Robert Stevenson, Absolem Pavy, Jeptha Lewis, W.H.H. Gleason, William Dolby, Thomas George and Joshua Griffith, the latter serving 15 years. The Sabbath school was established 1860 with Christopher Whitten as Supt. Assistant William Danner, who served as Clerk for 18 yrs. when he moved from this locality. The continued prosperity of the church was largely due to Bro. Danner's faithful efforts. The Hicks Church, organized by the Separatist Baptists in 1858 existed for a few years only and we have but little knowledge of it. Caledonia Presbyterian Church(United Presbyterian). This church was founded by the colony of Scotch immigrants, before referred to, who settled a neighborhood that lies partly in Shelby township and partly in Pleasant Township, Switzerland County. For a brief history of "Caledonia" we are indebted to the Rev. Nathan B. McClung, at one time the pastor, and on his data we draw. Says Mr. McClung; "The community known as the Scotch settlement which lies in Shelby Township of Jefferson Co. and Pleasant Township of Jefferson Co. came into existence about 90 years ago and was as the name indicates, founded by emigrants from Scotland. The land settled by these people was taken up by government grants secured at the Land Office at Jeffersonville, Ind. These grants bear the names of J.Q. Adams, Andrew Jackson & Martin VanBuren and many of the original copies are still held by the descendants of the first holders. It is true of every Scotch community that the interests center about the Kirk and this community was no exception. Having no church organization for some time some of the people attended divine services at Pleasant Presbyterian Church, at the village of Pleasant, Switz. Co. and in response to a desire to have services nearer the center of the community, Presbyterian ministers from Pleasant, Vevay, and Madison preached in private houses, one home being that on the land entered by Samuel Culbertson Sr. The house being too small to accommodate the worshippers, a Kirk was built of logs on the Switzerland County side of the line of a field belonging to a Mr. Woods, opposite the home now occupied by the congregation known as the Caledonia United Presbyterian Church, built in 1873.The log house was only a temporary structure and is remembered as the place where occurred the marriage of Walter Scott to Janet Glen. Glens lived in Jefferson County. The squire lived in Switzerland Co. and as the squire's jurisdiction was limited to his own county, the wedding was performed in the log church in Switz. Co. after the wedding dinner had been eaten at the Glen home. Soon a move was made for a more commodious house of worship and one was completed of stone near the site of the present structure in Jefferson County. This house had a high pulpit with a niche for the precentor and seats with doors to them and was completed about 1828. Three Culbertson brothers, Samuel, James and William, came from Scotland about 1818 or 1819. They and a man named Woods entered land that cornered and each gave an acre at the four corners to be used for church purposes. The acres given by the Culbertsons were transferred to the church but the acre given by Mr. Woods was never transferred. When Woods sold to a man named Reed he had an exception clause in the deed but Reed refused to accept it, so a line was drawn through the exception clause. In the last week of February, 1834, Rev. James North, who was pastor of the Associate Reformed Church at Milroy, Indiana, came to preach & while here organized the church under the name of "Caledonia". The membership was not large, the roads were few and very rough, being hardly more than bridle paths and the mode of travel was to walk or go horseback. The mothers would come to church on a horse with a child in front and one behind, possibly a babe held in one arm while she held the rein in the other, and the father rode with a couple of children, keeping careful watch over his little family. In the fall of 1834, (m struck over by the comma) Rev. Wm. Horne of Selkirk, Scotland, and who had long been a pastor in his native land, came and preached at Caledonia, and on the first Monday of May, 1835, the Rev. James North moderated in a call for Wm. Horne. The installation occurred in July and he gave faithful service for 12 years. He resided in Moorefield and for a time preached part of the name for a small church named Bethel below Hanover. This pastorate was the longest of any in the history of the congregation. Mr. Horne died soon after its end in Delaware County. He was a man of magnificent presence and piety and was well known for his high scholarship--he came to America when past 50 years of age and bravely faced the hardships of a rough pioneer life that the hungry might have the bread of life. Unfortunately the earliest records of the church have been lost or destroyed, so much valuable history of the church has been lost. The elders of the church prior to 1854 were Andrew Morton, Peter VanNice, Mr. Blunk, Andrew Anderson, Robert Irvin, William Culbertson, and Walter Weir. During Mr. Horne's pastorate the first Sabbath School was started in connection with the church-each Sabbath morning the parents and children would gather for the study of some Bible chapter and shorter Catechism. The people stood during the prayers which were quite long, but sat during the explanation of the psalms and the sermon sometimes an hour or more in length. After the sermon a short intermission was had, and then the people took their places for another preaching service, so it was sometimes quite late in the afternoon before the people would get the (sic) their homes. After Mr. Horne's pastorate, the congregation was without a minister until April 1st, 1854, when Rev. N.R. Kirkpatrick was ordained and installed, serving until 1856 during which pastorate George Morton, John Culbertson and Alexander Brown were elected and ordained elders. After a period of 2 years, the Rev. Thomas Dickson (a Scotch Canadian) was pastor. The last known of him he was in New Zealand. On June 1st, 1861, William Scott, Matthew Ralston, Walter Weir Jr., and Peter Culbertson were ordained as ruling elders. For a term of 12 years, 1861-1872, Caledonia was without a settled pastor. The Scotch, true to their love of individual liberty, did not sit idly by in our country's time of war, but gave liberally of her young men to fight the nation's battles. The McKeands, Whittens, Gunnions, Andersons, Taits, Cranstons, Scotts, and Dows, were among those who helped defend the nation's honor, and at an early day one of the Welch's, (Samuel) was with Mad Anthony Wayne is his campaign against the Indians xxxxx to retrieve the ground lost by St. Clair's awful defeat. In the later history of Caledonia, the Revs. Andrew McBride, N.R. Walker, James E. Black, J.M.McConnell, Nathan B. McClung, and Howard M. Jamieson were pastors. Out of the Scotch settlement and the Caledonia congregation have come a goodly proportion of men who have entered into the broader fields of work; Rev. John C. Scott, Ph.D. is pastor of a large church in Eastern New York; Harvey Culbertson was long Professor in the University of Nebraska, and is now prominently identified with the Government Irrigation Work in reclaiming the nations and lands. Scott Culbertson, a brother, is a prominent and successful physician and surgeon at Vevay, Indiana; Glen Culbertson, a third brother, after a term as teacher in a Siam Mission College is professor in Hanover College. Edmund Glenn, Ph.D. late professor in Drury College, but now in the University of Pennsylvania, may properly be said to belong to this congregation, as his parents and other ancestors had their church home there. Lately, Mr. Knox Jamison, a graduate of Hanover College, has become a professor in the Academic Department of the State College of Kentucky. Others are teachers in common schools of Indiana. Any account of Caledonia would be incomplete without any mention of the Sabbath School conducted through the year with an enrollment and aver- [I accidentally cut off the next line, about six words.] though suffering with other country churches from removes of her members, Caledonia is a growing church, where are sung the songs of Zion and word of God, precious and honored to the fathers. (Written 1906.) Jefferson Presbyterian Church. An account of the organization of this church is thus given by the Rev. Orin Fowler, an itinerant missionary who in 1818 preached at Madison, Hanover and elsewhere in the country. An excerpt from his diary reads.
Sabbath; preached in Madison to a crowded and solemn audience. Monday, rode to the skirt of the town and preached; received one dollar from Judge Dunn and Elder Simington. This organization, according to Rev. Hanford A. Edson, citing Rev. John M. Dickey, was the Jefferson Presbyterian church, which still exists in the northwest part of Shelby township. Of its further history we are not informed. In the old graveyard we find the names of Rykers, Vanosdols, Campbells, Gordon, Benefiel, McLaughlin, Barber, Warfiled (sic) and Buchanan. Providence Presbyterian church. Very little is known of this church. By the statement of old residents of Canaan it stood about 3 and 1/2 miles northwest of that village, but all recollections of it were hazy when a few years since, we made inquires in the Canaan locality. Mr. E.B. Bishop thought it was built by Robert Irvin in the latter thirties. Mrs. M.A.Hillis thought that it was Methodist and not a Presbyterian and that it stood on the Woodfill farm and that Robert Irvin did not found it. Mr. John Warfield said the church was the outcome of a camp meeting held in 1841 by Hayden Hays; that a log church was built about 1842 and at first called, "Concord", and that a frame building succeeded the log one in the sixties. It was also a question as to whether the location was not over the line in Ripley County. [RWS note. Concord Wesleyan Church is in Ripley Co. There is no evidence it was connected to Providence.] The Canaan M.E. Church was organized about 1830 with John Cain, William C. Sullivan, John Warfield and Macia Cook and their wives. Land for the cemetery was donated by Amos Simpers. There have been three buildings. The first one of logs was about a quarter of a mile northeast of the present site; the 2nd one, built in the forties, stood where the present one does, and the latter was built in the sixties--probably about 1868. Information from E.B.Bishop.
BIOGRAPHICAL One of these Thomas Wise, came to the township at the close of the War of 1812. During the war he served as a ranger to guard the frontier against the Indians and for this service, he said he received $1.00 per day for himself, gun and horse, out of which wage he "Found" himself. Mr. Hendricks says he entered land in 1814 and lived there till he died; that he was a member of the Board of County Commissioners for 21 years; twice represented the county in the Legislature and was widely known. He died at his home near Canaan, Jan. 7, 1881, at the age of 88 years. Thomas Wise entered land at or near Canaan from Govt. in 1814. Was oldest resident of Shelby twp when he died. Had served the public in many positions of honor--several terms in Legislature and was Coroner of County. Charles R. Spencer and 2 brothers of Virginia came to Shelby twp. from Kentucky in 1815 and settled near Hicks postoffice. Charles states that when he came there was no grist mill near and that he went to Mt. Byrd, across the Ohio, to get his corn ground. The Spencers were of Irish descent, and three brothers of the name were officers under Cromwell and narrowly escaped death on the ascension of Charles II.
Ephraim Kennedy, a Virginian, [RWS note. Censuses show Kennedy was from Vermont] came to Madison in 1819, and for some years was a cigar-maker there, but was driven out by the cholera panic in 1832 and moved to the Indian Kentuck region. At a later date he became an ardent anti-slavery man and an active worker in the underground railroad. He was a member of Captain Fry's company that assisted in guarding the border during the Rebellion, and at different periods creditably filed various minor civil offices. He was twice married and had a family of 13 children.
Jefferson County INGenWeb
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