A fort built in May 1813, by the George Buchanan family, as a defense against the Indians. The miniature replica of the blockhouse, was erected on the same site and was dedicated on August 26, 1927. — — Map (db m200327) HM
Extending from Michigan City to the Ohio River at Madison. Begun by the state in 1832 with funds obtained from sale of land granted by the Potawatomi Indians. Opened northern part of state to settlers. — — Map (db m74032) HM
The southwest corner of what is now US 50 and Michigan Road was once occupied by a log tavern later converted to a home with clap board siding. The home was part of the Underground Railroad prior to the Civil War. William O’Brien purchased this . . . — — Map (db m74034) HM
Hoosier Hysteria reached its pinnacle in
1954, when the Milan High School boys
basketball team defeated then four-time
state champion Muncie Central, a school
ten times its size, for the state title.
Building off a successful season . . . — — Map (db m206657) HM
In 1912 Drs. Bine and Alcedo Whitlatch opened their practice above the Milan State bank and later moved to the corner of Catherine and Carr Street. Dr. Bine had came to to Pierceville in 1906. family members Drs. Arthur Whitlatch and William Warn . . . — — Map (db m100064) HM
(Side One)
August 12, 1843 Union Church organized as Freewill Baptist church at home of Harvey Marshall. Church covenant states: “We cannot receive slaveholders into the church nor those who believe that slavery is right.” . . . — — Map (db m73987) HM
John W. Love 1850-1880 was born in Napoleon, the son of William and Mary Love. After moving to Indianapolis, he studied in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and became a prominent portrait and landscape artist. Upon returning to Indianapolis, John . . . — — Map (db m242123) HM
Miss Barbara Fox came to Napoleon in 1852 as a child and lived next door to the Railroad House Hotel. She received United States patents in 1892 and 1895 for a fire escape. On October 12, 1895 she invited people to test it and they were lowered . . . — — Map (db m229269) HM
This trail was cut about 1808, by John Berry (1777-1835). It began at Napoleon, ran west to Flat Rock and Blue Rivers, and thence northward into central Indiana. The Trace branched off the Brownstown-Brookville Road. — — Map (db m45838) HM
A network of anti-slavery leaders involved families of Isaac Levi, a Revolutionary War veteran. He came to Claytown (Osgood) in 1832 from Vevay where he apparently was part of the Underground Railroad; his brother-in-law, John Ewing of Ohio joined . . . — — Map (db m45940) HM
In 1926, an inventive surveyor named Jasper S. Bilby, chief signalman of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, designed the nation’s first galvanized steel surveying towers. Bilby Towers bolted together easily and could be quickly dismantled for use . . . — — Map (db m207639) HM
Jasper Sherman Bilby, internationally known surveyor, moved to Ripley County by 1893. Joined U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1884. He performed geodetic surveys, accounting for the curvature of the earth, for commercial and infrastructure . . . — — Map (db m238558) HM
Crusher Lane received
its name from the
old rock crusher that
made the stone that
the quarry produced.
The rock crusher sat
at the bottom of the
quarry on the right
side of the north end
of the trail. — — Map (db m207641) HM
Born 1802 in Virginia; admitted to the bar 1823. Moved to Jefferson County, Indiana 1829. Established law office in Versailles, Ripley County 1833. Served four terms in Indiana General Assembly. Elected as Whig to U.S. Congress 1841. Lost as Free . . . — — Map (db m45841) HM
John Andrews, architect and craftsman, came to Claytown (Osgood) in 1854 with William McMurphy - stone and brick mason, John Lindsay - a sawyer, and Bluford Peyton - Laborer. Andrews built these three large homes and a mill as well as many of the . . . — — Map (db m45942) HM
Side one:
Chartered in Indiana 1848 by the General Assembly. The people of Ripley County voted March 1849 to provide local financial support for building the railroad. Surveys of the Eastern Division (Cincinnati to Vincennes) began 1852. . . . — — Map (db m45871) HM
United States Coast & Geodetic Survey (USC&GS)
A geodetic survey is a survey of a large area of land that compensates for the curvature of the earth. Geodetic surveying began in the United States on February 10, 1807 with the creation of . . . — — Map (db m185062) HM
One of the main Underground Railroad routes came from Madison to the Ohio River north to Holton, Otter Village, and east to Osgood. It then followed the rail line east to Laughery switch, then turned north to Napoleon. So many fugitive slaves . . . — — Map (db m45938) HM
William Forsyth’s parents brought their Osgood home in 1961. His artistic talent was evident while in grade school here. In 1877, Forsyth enrolled in the Indiana School of Art, then studied in Germany with T.C. Steele. They returned to Indianapolis . . . — — Map (db m207374) HM
William D. Willson (1840-1917) came to Osgood in 1856, served as Indiana state legislator 1868 and joint representative 1872. The Willson Dairy, located south edge of Osgood, had the distinction of being the largest in the United States owned by . . . — — Map (db m187673) HM
As General Morgan neared Pierceville, an urgent message was sent to Governor Oliver P. Morton reporting the threatening situation. At the time, what is now State Road 350 was a railroad bed. West of this location, detachments of the Raiders burned . . . — — Map (db m100061) HM
Located on the southeast corner of State Road 101 and County Road 900N stands the Ferris Schoolhouse. The structure still stands and has been converted to a private residence. General Morgan spent the evening of July 12, 1863, inside the school . . . — — Map (db m100075) HM
Possibly the second oldest worshipping Lutheran congregation in Indiana. Known as "Hubbles Church", it was mother church to many churches in this area. Original log church stood here, 1833-1855. Brick church stood west of this site, 1855-1905. Frame . . . — — Map (db m100076) HM
When Ripley County was formed in 1818, its name was inspired by the popular War of 1812 hero Eleazer Wheelock Ripley.
He was born April 15, 1782, in Hanover, New Hampshire. Ripley graduated from Dartmouth College (founded by his namesake . . . — — Map (db m100055) HM
In 1846 three medical students - John B. Glass, Jonathan W. Gordon, and Bernard Mullen attempted to exhume and autopsy a recently deceased man that was buried here. Townsmen were alerted, Glass plummeted nearly 100 feet into a deep ravine just north . . . — — Map (db m100059) HM
The Morgan Raiders arrived in Versailles at 1 p.m., Sunday, July 12, 1863, and proceeded to rob the county treasury and to obtain fresh horses. The Raiders also captured and paroled 300 local men, who had assembled in hopes of defending Versailles. . . . — — Map (db m100052) HM
A native of Kentucky, was a charter member of the Versailles Masonic Lodge and served as Grand Master of Masons in Indiana in 1846, the only Ripley County Mason to do so. Served in both houses of the Indiana General Assembly and Constitutional . . . — — Map (db m100054) HM
General John Hunt Morgan, Confederate cavalry commander, occupied Versailles on Sunday afternoon, July 12. Having seized county treasury he moved North at 4:00 P.M. as Union forces began to close in upon him. — — Map (db m45874) HM
( Memorial - Front )
( Across Base )
God - - - Duty - - - Honor - - - Country
( Two Up-rights )
- -“Seals”- - Army • Marine Corps. • Air Force
- -“Seals”- - Navy • Coast Guard • . . . — — Map (db m46029) WM
Versailles Lodge No. 7 contracted with county, added to a brick building, occupied the second floor. Confederate raiders July 12, 1863 took officers’ jewels made from silver franc pieces. General Morgan, a Freemason, ordered property returned. — — Map (db m45928) HM
Side One
Born 1808 Ontario County, New York. Moved with family to Ripley County, 1820. Prominent abolitionist and orator, delivering powerful anti-slavery speeches throughout the area, often against public sentiment. Was active in . . . — — Map (db m45873) HM
On September 14, 1897, a vigilante committee stormed the Ripley County Jail, shot and hung five men on the branches of an elm tree just north of here at the edge of the cemetery. These desperadoes were members of a gang that had robbed and . . . — — Map (db m100057) HM
