FOUNTAIN CO. IN
HISTORIES before 1923
 

"History of Fountain County [Indiana] : together with historic notes on the Wabash Valley, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources" by H.W. Beckwith; pub. Chicago: H.H. Hill and N. Iddings, 1881, 1001 pgs. (FHL book 977.247 H2b and CA State Library, Sutro Branch; extract pg.454 also from Iris Grimmett 2/1992; LH6312, HeritageQuest images 4/2007)
      (MAD: did not copy minor references)
      Pg.219, Richland Township: Early Settlers ... ca or before 1827 ... old Mr. Duncan, his sons John and David, ...
      Pg.351, Shawnee Township: Rob Roy Presbyterian Church, organized by Rev. John Crawford March 25, 1839, with 17 members, including ... Mary Duncan, Harriet Duncan ... (who) brought letters of dismission and recommendation from the Coal Creek church.
      Pg.439, Davis Township: The first settlement was begun, perhaps, as early as 1824 or 1825, ... March, 1829 ... Martin Sparr had improved the farm where F.M. Helterbran resides, ... had made his beginning here in the spring of 1827. His son-in-law, James Morrison, was living on a part of his property. Sparr and his wife died in a little while, and Joshua Dunkin, a brother-in-law, who was here in 1830, bought out the heirs. ... Prior to 1829, Dr. Yandes was located where Harrison Van Meter owns, ... Yandes was the first physician in the township ... he and a young man studying with him, named Young, were drowned while crossing the river in a canoe from Independence.
      Pg.440, Davis Township: Early settlers ... Lewis W. Wattles came as early as 1829, and made a home where Jasper Dunkin lives. ... Parker was living north of Mr. Brown's, and Hartless Dunkin was here, located on the west side of the road from Allen L. Dunkin. Subsequently he swapped farms with his brother Joshua. ... On the river were some families; the date is 1829. Below the mouth of Flint creek lived Henry Krice, and Young's widow was at the mouth of the run which bears his name. This stream is now often called Possum Hollow creek, probably to break down or level an invidious distinction, and distribute the honor. ... Andrew Hemphill was located on Young's Run, where he erected a saw-mill, and a few years later an overshot grist-mill just below it. The first he changed to a carding-mill. At the mouth of the run was a saw-mill, owned by Samuel Dunkin. Gilfillan subsequently had possession, and ran it some years.
      Pg.451: Mrs. Ann Watson, widow of Samuel Watson, Attica, was the daughter of William and Luan (Malatt) Van Meter, who were born in VA, married there, and emigrated to OH. In Butler Co., of that state, where they lived, Mrs. Watson was born August 27, 1824. About 1832 or 1833 the family came to Davis Township, and settled in the neighborhood of Uncle Joe Brown's. Here she was reared, and obtained a common education at a pioneer log school-house. April 3, 1844, she was united in marriage with John I. Dunkin, who was born Feb. 10, 1817. He had previously been wedded to Margaret Dunkin, a cousin, who died within a year. He began on the place where Mrs. Watson lives, his father first buying him a piece of land, to which he added till his home embraced 240 acres, mostly arable. He died June 30, 1861, and she and her son, John, have bought the rights of the other heirs. Bating her third (sic), John will own this desirable property. Mr. Dunkin was a man of quiet disposition, inclined to charity, and respected by all his neighbors. His children were Marion Dunkin, b. Feb. 19, 1845; Van Meter, June 23, 1847; Mary Elizabeth, Dec. 21, 1849 (wife of Cyrus Houts); Reason, April 15, 1853 (died Feb. 19, 1854), and John W., Feb. 25, 1856. Van Meter lives in Vermilion Co. IL, where he owns 250a of prairie land, and is a thriving farmer. Mrs. Watson was married a second time, to Samuel Watson, who was born near Cincinnati in 1825, and died April 6, 1874, aged 48 years and six months. He was twice drafted for the army, but "paid out" each time at a total cost of $2,200. Mrs. Watson is not connected with any church, but has always liberally contributed to the support of the churches, and any other worthy objects appealing for aid. Her mother is still living on the old homestead near West Point.
      Pg.454-5, Davis Township: Allen L. Dunkin, farmer, Attica. His father, Joshua Dunkin, born in PA, came from OH in the early settlement of this township. The exact year cannot be ascertained but it is certain that he was here in 1830. He was twice married. His second wife, Mercy Keeler before marriage, a Connecticut woman, came here from Huron Co. OH in 1833, the consort of Daniel Perkins. The latter dying, she married Mr. Dunkin, and the subject of this biography [Allen L. Dunkin] was the eldest issue of that union and was born Dec. 21, 1842. His father died in 1849. His mother had two sons and one daughter by her first marriage. Only the sons, Albert K. and Frederick A., are living. Mr. Dunkin obtained a fair English education. He was 14 months at the State Normal School of PA, located at Millersville, Lancaster Co., in 1861 and 1862. ... He was married June 19, 1878, to Martha Ann, daughter of Dr. William and Mary Jane (Wright) Wade, of West Point. Their two children are Thomas Raymond, born June 19, 1879, and Mary Mercy, Oct. 24, 1880. Mrs. Dunkin was born Sept. 3, 1861. She is a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Dunkin belongs to the Baptist church, and is a democrat. ... (IG: Joshua married 2nd Mercy (Keeler) Perkins)
      Vol.2, pg.455: Francis Marion Helterbran, farmer, Attica, born in Tippecanoe Co. Sept. 25, 1841, seventh child in family of eight by David and Ann Helterbran; his mother died when he age 4, and at age 8, his father went to Peoria Co. IL and died there in 1864. On his father's departure he was taken by James Grady and kept until he was 14, then he lived with William Pyle; at the end of 3 years this man died and our subject shifted for himself. He ... farmed, accumulated some property before his marriage. He acquired more by his wife, who inherited from her father, Joshua Dunkin. He mar. Emeline Dunkin Sept. 25, 1862; her five children are all living, and were born in the following order: William V., June 19, 1863; Joshua D., Oct. 15, 1867; Flora E., Aug. 24, 1871; James F., Sept. 11, 1873; Lee M., Nov. 13, 1876. Mrs. Helterbran's mother's given name was Barbara. Her father died in 1874. He was from Adams Co. OH. Their home, consisting of 162 acres, is the place her grandfather Dunkin bought about 1830. It is picturesquely located and well improved. The residence stands on a commanding elevation, facing the south. Mr. Helterbran was elected assessor of Davis township in 1871 and 1872; democrat.
      Montgomery County, pg.b49: Tenth Regiment, Infantry, Three Years, Company B, Corporals: Duncan, William S., must. in Sept. 18, '61; vet'n, died June 25, '64; w'nds rec'd Kenesaw.
 

1893 "Portrait and biographical record of Montgomery, Parke and Fountain counties, Indiana : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens" pub. by Chapman Bros. (FHL film 934,915 item 6)
      Pg.168: Joseph R. Duncan MD, of Scotch-Irish descent, his grandparents emigrated from Ireland when the father of our subject was age eleven; the father's name was Alexander, married three times, the second wife, mother of our subject, being Susan Robb, native of KY who became the mother of eleven children but died when our subject was nineteen. He was born in Highland Co. OH on March 27, 1827; six months after his mother died, he set out to seek his fortune; to KY to work on tobacco plantation, then to IA, then to Montgomery Co. IN, started a school, moved to Waynetown to study medicine; first office at Hillsboro in Fountain Co., in a year to Jacksonville; fall of 1854 to Knoxville, IA, which he reached Oct. 16, 1854, with a wife and two small children. A member of Home Guards in the late war, care for wounded, made Assistant Surgeon of 11th IA Regiment. (moved to IN, etc.) Married June 29, 1848, to a daughter (unnamed) of William A. Krug of Montgomery Co., a native of PA but later a resident of Crawfordsville who died April 26, 1893 in his 103rd year. The family of Dr. Duncan consists of but two living children, Alice F. and Ernest A.
 

"History of Montgomery County, Indiana : with personal sketches of representative citizens." by James Whitcomb Riley; pub. Indianapolis Ind.: A.W. Bowen & Co., 1913?, 1398 pgs. (LH6275, HeritageQuest images 5/2007; FHL film 934,916 items 1-2)
      Pg.321: Dr. Joseph R. Duncan, who died in Crawfordsville, in July, 1905 was born in Highland county, Ohio; studied at Pleasant Hill (Wingate) under Dr. R.M. Earl and then opened an office at Hillsboro, Fountain county; was assistant surgeon in the Eleventh Iowa regiment in Civil war times, at Vicksburg, and was transferred to the Forty-sixth Iowa regiment. From every view point he was a great man. He had a fine intellect, keen sense of honor and was intensely devoted to his interesting family.
 

1913 "Past and Present of Fountain and Warren Counties, Indiana" ed. by Thomas A. Clifton, pub. by Bowen (SUTRO microfilm 277 reel 18 book 69, CA State Library, Sutro Branch)
      Pg.684-5: John W. Dunkin, ... of Fountain Co., Davis Twp. Mr. Dunkin was born in Fountain Co., Davis Twp, Feb. 25, 1855, and is the son of John and Annie (Van Meeter) Dunkin. His father was born in IN and lived in Davis Twp all of his life, he was a tiller of the soil ... he died in 1860; they had five children, all but one of whom are alive. John W. Dunkin was raised on the farm, educated in the district school of Davis Twp. In 1882 he mar. Lucy Hall, dau. of Cornelius and Elizabeth (Cale) Hall; her father from Spaldin, Lincolnshire, England, where he had engaged in the shoe business. John and Lucy Dunkin have had five children: Clarence, Grover and Peari are at home on the farm. The other two children, Ernest and Lulu, are deceased. Mr. Dunkin's home is about six miles east of Attica, IN; he has about 210 acres, Democrat, member of Knights of Pythias ...
 

"A history of the city of Vincennes, Indiana : from 1702 to 1901" (Knox Co.) by Henry S. Cauthorn; pub. Vincennes, Ind.?: M.C. Cauthorn, c1902, 221 pgs. (LH8196, HeritageQuest images 4/2007; FHL book 977.239/V1 H2c and film 934,909 item 5)
      Pg.191: EDWARD A. HANNEGAN. He was born in the State of Ohio. In early life he removed to Lexington, Kentucky. He studied law and came here and commenced his brilliant career. He was married here by Rev. Samuel R. Alexander, on April 4th, 1829, to Miss Margaret C. Duncan. After practicing his profession here for several years he removed to Covington, Indiana. He was elected to the 23d and 24th Congresses from his district. In 1843 he was elected to the Senate ... After the close of his senatorial career he left the state and located at St. Louis to practice his profession. But soon after he died of a broken heart occasioned by the homicide of his friend and brother-in-law, under an insane impulse. (MAD: Covington, Fountain Co. IN; married Knox Co. IN)
 

"History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc., together with an extended history of the colonial days of Vincennes, and its progress down to the formation of the state government." by G Washington, Winthrop Sargent, F Bosseron, et al; pub. Chicago: Goodspeed Pub. Co., 1886, 914 pgs. (LH6260, HeritageQuest images 4/2007; FHL book 977.23 H2g and film 874,116 item 1)
      Knox Co. Pg.196-197: EDWARD A. HANNEGAN first located at Vincennes, and was married here by Samuel R. Alexander, April 4, 1829, to Miss Margaret C. Duncan. He practiced at our bar for several years. He removed from here to Covington, Ind., and was elected from the Seventh District to the Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Congresses. In 1843 he was elected United States senator, and served in that body until 1849. ... After the expiration of his senatorial term he left the State and located at St. Louis to practice law, but soon after died broken-hearted, occasioned by the homicide of his brother-in-law under an insane impulse. (MAD: see also Fountain Co. IN)
 

"History of St. Joseph County, Indiana : together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens : history of Indiana, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races, aborigines, French, English and American conquests, and a general review of its civil, political and military history." by Thomas S. Stanfield; pub. Chicago: C.C. Chapman & Co., 1880, 965 pgs. (LH10207, HeritageQuest images 4/2007; FHL film 908,132 item 1 and 934,919 item 1)
      Pg.315-306: EDWARD A. HANNEGAN was born in Ohio, received a good education, studied law, admitted to the Bar in his 23d year, settling in Indiana. He was several times a member of the Legislature, and was a member of Congress 1833-'7, U.S. Senator 1843-'9, Minister to Prussia, 1849-'53. While partially drunk, in 1852, he killed his brother-in-law, Capt. Duncan. (MAD: Covington, Fountain Co. IN; married 4/4/1829 Knox Co. IN)
 

"Biographical and historical sketches of early Indiana" by William Wesley Woollen; pub. Indianapolis: Hammond & Co., 1883, 581 pgs. (LH6322, HeritageQuest images 4/2007; FHL film 1,000,527 item 3)
      Pg.214-215: EDWARD A. HANNEGAN ... and his brother-in-law, Captain Duncan, had been drinking deeply and angry words passed between them. ... Mr. Hannegan stabbed Captain Duncan, who died the next day, and was buried in the cemetery at Covington. In the "Madison Banner," of May 13, 1852, a paper conducted by the author of this sketch, is the following notice of Captain Duncan's death: "Captain Duncan, whose unfortunate altercation with ex-Senator Hannegan we mentioned yesterday, died on Saturday, 26 hours after receiving the fatal blow. Captain D. was a brother of Mrs. Hannegan, and a member of her family. He was formerly a citizen of Newark, Ohio, and commanded a company of mounted riflemen during the Mexican war. .... He was about forty years of age and had never been married." .... Mr. Hannegan was not indicted and tried for the killing of Captain Duncan ... he sought surcease of sorrow by leaving the State ... he removed to St.Louis in 1857, and on the 25th of January, 1859, he died in that city. His remains were brought to Terre Haute and deposited in the earth ... on the banks of his own beloved Wabash. ... (MAD: did not copy pg.213 or earlier) (MAD: Knox and Fountain Co. IN; Newark, Licking Co. OH; Terre Haute, Vigo Co. IN)
 

1879 "History of Vermilion Co. IL, together with historic notes on the northwest, gleaned from early authors, ..." by Hiram William Beckwith, pub. by H.H. Hill (Los Angeles Public Library book R977.31 V52Be)
      Pg.833, Middle Fork Township: Charles P. Duncan, post office Potomac, groceries, was born Fountain City [Wayne or Fountain Co.], Indiana, July 22, 1852. Married Mary A. Copeland, Aug. 16, 1876. She was born in Vermilion City, Ill. One child, Ernest C., born Aug. 1, 1878. His parents are natives of Penn.
 

1912 "History of Kentucky and Kentuckians" by E. Polk Johnson, 3 vols. (SUTRO book F451 J7 v.III and microfilm 75 reel 1, CA State Library, Sutro Branch; and from John A. Duncan 4/1985)
      Vol.2 pg.1094: THOMAS B. DUNCAN, born Attica [Fountain Co.], IN, in 1838, son of Thomas H. Duncan. His wife was born in Cedar Creek, KY, the dau. of Charles Scott, a Kentuckian. When he was a boy his parents moved to Pass Christian [Harrison Co.], MS, where young Thomas B. was reared; in 1857 he returned north and located in Louisville [Jefferson Co.], became a clerk for Hegan Brothers ... Civil War, 9th KY Cavalry, Federal; served 3 years, promoted to sergeant of his company, wounded in chest at battle of Perrysville while aiding his Colonel (Jacobs) ... the wound eventually caused his death ... in 1894 his health began to fail. In 1890 the firm of T.B. Duncan & Sons was founded by taking in as partners his sons Scott M. and Thomas B. Jr., who continues the business. Mr. Duncan was member G.A.R. and deacon in Baptist Church. (MAD: married Hamilton Co. OH per CFI)
 

1881 "Combined History of Shelby & Moultrie Counties, Illinois : and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers" pub. by Brink, McDonough & Co. (from Carol T. York to Iris Grimmett to MAD 11/1994; FHL film 1,000,516 item 1)
      Pg.315: REZIN WHITLATCH is a native of Shelby Co. IL. Robert Whitlatch, his paternal grandfather, removed from OH to Fountain Co. IN. Samuel, his son, and father of Rezin, was born in OH in 1813. He came with his father to IN and in the spring of 1838 removed to Shelby Co. IL and settled in Richland Township, and farmed here until 1847, when he moved back to Fountain Co., and died there in 1852. He married Margaret Dunkin, daughter of Joshua Dunkin. She was born in PA in 1813, and moved to OH, afterward to IN, where she married. In 1852, after her husband's death, she came back to Shelby Co. and is yet a resident of Richland township. There were six sons. Rezin is the third in the family. He was born on section 29, Richland township, Shelby Co. IL, January 9th, 1842. He received in his youth a fair education in the common schools of Shelby Co. IL and Fountain Co. IN. He remained at home until he married, which was 30 Dec. 1866. He married Miss Mary Gilfilan. She was born in Fountain Co. IN Feb. 4, 1844. Her parents, John and Mary Gilfilan, were both natives of OH. There have been born to Rezin and Mary Whitlatch six children, four of whom are living. The names of those living, in the order of their birth, are as follows: Robert Manford, Jesse Wilber, William Henry and Rezin Walter Whitlatch. Both Mr. and Mrs. Whitlatch are members of the Missionary Baptist Church. Politically he is a democrat, and an advocate of temperance. After Mr. W's marriage, he went to farming on land that he purchased in 1865; he remained on it for seven years and improved it, and then sold and bought where he now lives. ...
 

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