William Henry Harrison Indian fighter-turned-President helped settle Corydon, Lanesville
Harrison County was born in 1808 by an act of the Indiana Territorial Legislature at Vincennes. In the same statute, Corydon was designated as the county seat. This was the fourth county formed in the territory the three older counties are Knox, Clark, and Dearborn. The early records of the county does not state who selected the name Harrison; however the name was given to the county in honor of the popular territorial governor of Indiana, William Henry Harrison, who was residing at Vincennes. Hostile Indian bands who roamed the area were a pressing problem to the early settlers. Harrison had gained his popularity and respect through his ability to deal effectively with these Indian tribes. During his term as governor from 1800 to 1811, he was in constant negotiations with the warring tribes. In November 1811, he gained further popularity when he defeated the Indians at Tippecanoe. William Henry Harrison was born Feb. 9, 1773, on the James River in Virginia. His father, Benjamin Harrison, was a member of the first Continental Congress, a signer of the Declaration of In-dependence and a governor of Virginia. At the age of 18, Harrison came west to Ohio where he embarked on a career of dealing with the Indians on the frontier. He married Anna Symmes, daughter of Judge John Cleves Symmes, near Cincinnati. Just before the turn of the century, he became secretary of the Northwest Territory and was delegate to congress. he was appointed governor of the Northwest Territory by pres. John Adams on July 4 1800, but due to traveling conditions did not arrive at Vincennes until Jan 10, 1801 By the time Harrison became governor of Indiana Territory, he had been thoroughly westernized. He had an unusual gift of oratory and conversation, plus nine years of frontier living among the Indians. All these qualities appealed to the common people. In the more than a decade that Gov. Harrison resided at Vincennes, he made numerous trips through Southern Indiana on his way from Vincennes to the Falls of the Ohio at Clarksville. He made friends and was well acquainted with the sparsely located settlers. One of his particular friends was Harvey Heth, a U.S. Government surveyor, who was running the Congressional Township lines in present day Harrison County. Heth directed Harrison to choice locations in the area. Harrison purchased four tracts of land in the county from the U.S. government. Good water was an important factor to the settler, and Harrison seemed attracted to springs. He “entered,” or took possession of the land where Lanesville now stands this purchase was near a salt spring. He entered a quarter section of land near there owned by Squire Boone, who resided on Buck Creek; he purchased the quarter section at the junction of Big and Little Indian Creeks where Corydon now stands this was in a luscious valley fed by springs at the base of the surrounding hills. And Harrison’s fourth and largest purchase was 640 acres which included the Big Fish Spring on Blue River. At this last property, he constructed a log house, planted a large orchard, operated a still house and constructed a grist and sawmill that was run by the water of the Big Fish Spring. On April 1, 1810, Harrison and John George Pfrimmer entered into a five-year contract for the operation of the mill and property; however, two years later in 1812, this partnership was dissolved. This land on Blue River was sold five years later on July 26, 1817, by Harrison to Joshua Wilson of Corydon and to Wilson’s son-in-law, Abijah Bayless of Louisville, Ky. Big Fish Spring was also called Harrison Spring and, in later years, it was known as Wilson’s Spring. Harrison’s log cabin at the spring was dismantled and displayed in Indiana during his 1840 presidential campaign. Parts of it were later used in his grandson Benjamin Harrison’s campaign. Some of the fruit trees of the governor’s orchard were still standing as late as Indiana’s centennial in 1916. About 1865, a German Reform Church at Fountain was constructed in the vicinity of the mill. The stone from the Gov. Harrison distillery was used for the foundation of this church. Harrison assigned his certificate of purchase for his land where Corydon stands to his surveyor friend, Harvey Heth, who in turn laid out the town. Harrison named his town Corydon for a song that was popular at that time. The theme of the song is the lament of a lass for her dead lover, Corydon, a shepherd boy. The large township in the center of Harrison County where Corydon is located is also named Harrison. Thus Gov. Harrison has left his mark in the area. On the first book of the Court of Common Pleas of Harrison County, dated March 9, 1809, is the following entry: “Henry (Harvey) Heth & William Henry Harrison came personally into Court and acknowledged themselves indebted to the Court of Common pleas of Harrison County in the sum of Five Hundred Dollars provided the Heth & Harrison do not on or before June 1812 convey by a good & sufficient deed to the Court for the use of County for public ground, two lots in the Town of Corydon in County, containing One acre & four perches each being heretofore laid off by them for the public ground in Town.” Thus within the first year of the county’s existence, Heth and Harrison were selling land in their newly created town for a public square. The following is copied from The Corydon Republican, Aug. 16, 1883, issue: “The trustees of the Presbyterian Church purchased the Wilson Hisey property last week for a parsonage for that church. That house has a history. It is a log house, weather-boarded. The house as originally constructed, consisted of another part or addition, shaped like the present one, with a large roomy hall passing between the two portions. The building was erected by General Harrison, afterwards President Harrison, during the territorial days of the state and was occupied by him as the gubernatorial mansion. Several years ago, one-half of the building and hall were torn away, and the balance of it weather boarded and is yet substantial and one of the most comfortable houses in town.” It is questionable that Harrison used this log house, located on Lot 21 in Corydon, as a gubernatorial mansion. Corydon did not become the territorial capital until May 1, 1813, and by that date Thomas Posey was the governor. Recently a preservation architect examined the portion of this log house that is still standing and described it as a type of log house that was constructed by the French. It is quite possible that Harrison could have built and occupied the house for short periods while he was checking his business and political interests in the area. Also he could have sent French workmen from the Vincennes area to construct the cabin. Harrison sold his interest in this house to William Branham, one of the first to locate at Corydon in 1808. Early county records show that Branham was licensed to keep a tavern at this house in Corydon on. April 4, 1809. Since Heth and Harrison owned the original site of Corydon, it was six years later on Nov. 10, 1814, that the said Heth executed a deed for the property to William henry Branham for five shillings. Following his victory over the Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in November 1811, Harrison became Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the Northwest. He waged a vigorous campaign against the Indians and the British during the War of 1812. Through his leadership and cunning military tactics, he freed the vast area of the Northwest Territory from British control and drove the British back into Canada. Harrison became a very popular military figure. Even though he no longer visited Harrison County, his popularity grew especially among those who had personally known him. When he was referred to, both of his names William Henry were used. The exception was among his old personal friends of Harrison County who fondly spoke of him as “Bill” Harrison. If his staunch friends of Harrison County ever disagreed with him, it was over the question of slavery within the territory. Harrison had been born and reared in the slave state of Virginia and favored slavery in Indiana. On the other hand, many of those who had first settled in the territory insisted on freedom for all of Indiana. The inhabitants of Harrison County were elated when Harrison was nominated for the presidency of the United States; there was great celebrating within the county when he was elected President. And there was much gloom and despair among the citizens of the county when they learned of his death, which occurred one month following his inauguration on April 4, 1841. Harrison gave the longest inaugural address in our history. It was a bitter cold day in Washington on that March 4, 1841. He rode without hat or coat on his favorite horse to and from the inauguration. The swearing in ceremony was also outside the national Capitol. He contracted pneumonia from which he never recovered and died one month later. His wife, who was unable to make the trip from Cincinnati to Washington, D.C., never occupied the White House. Source:Harrison County's Earliest Years by Frederick P. Griffin
