Corydon

Corydon. . , Plaque A , At the dawn of the 1800’s, Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison rode horseback through this valley and grew to admire the serenity of its hills and streams, and the intrepid determination of its pioneer settlers. A frequent overnight visitor at the cabin of Edward Smith, along a cool spring at the present day fairgrounds. Tradition holds that the future President of the United States took particular delight in a vocal rendition of Virgil’s “Pastoral Elegy” sung by Smith’s young daughter, Jennie., Plaque B , And when the still night has unfurl’d her robes o’er the hamlet around, gray twilight retires from the world, And darkness encumbers the ground, I’ll leave my own gloomy abode, to Corydon’s urn will I fly, There kneeling will bless the just God who dwells in bright mansions on high…, this mournful lament for the mythical shepherd boy, Corydon, suggested to Governor Harrison a suitable name for the fledgling settlement plotted by Harvey Heth in 1808, “Corydon it was called henceforth” setting it on course with destiny, as a place where Indiana was born.