I've collected bits and pieces of history in my 20 year search for Anson
CLARK and his son William David CLARKE, b. 1859 (that's a blatant
advertisement). I have a historical atlas that indicates that Indiana
was settled from the south up. The arrival of the Dutch in Elkhart Co.,
next door, for example, wasn't until 1853.
The county itself was created in 1832, from parts of Elkhart and Allen
Counties. Before that, the whole northeastern part of the state was
Wayne Co. The Indiana GenWeb site has an excellent county history,
written by our moderator, I believe. It says the first settlement was
in 1828 just west of Lima at Big Squaw Village. 1829 brought a trading
post to Lima. Jesse Huntsman was among the first settlers of Van Buren
Township shortly thereafter.
Founding dates, of course, are put as far back as possible by later
proud citizens. Bloomfield was "founded" in 1833, but its first church
(1835) had only 5 members! The county clerk told me their records for
any township only date back to 1882.
I've crawled through the 1850, 1860, and 1870 censuses for Lagrange Co.
The older settlers seem to be primarily from NY. My ancestor Olmstead
LEWIS came from Erie Co., NY between 1838 and 1840, settling first in
Greenfield (1840) then Bloomfield (1850) before moving south into Noble
Co. (1860). The Erie Co. people suggest a boat trip to Toledo and
overland from there.
Olmstead had one daughter I haven't been able to name or trace; so I've
looked into the background of all the wives from NY in the 1850 census
where possible. I get a variety of NY counties. The majority married
their husbands, if not in NY, in OH. Someone else suggested a
combination of the Erie Canal and a railroad through OH. All those OH
marriages support the idea of at least a brief stop in that state.
One interesting note. At least 30% of the people in the 1850 census
aren't there in 1860. These are young families. A few I've traced
either to KS, NE, or WI. I believe my Anson CLARK married Emily (LEWIS)
LADD (another plug) and moved to WI. Lagrange Co., like Geauga Co., OH,
appears to be a pit stop on the westward migration trail.
Hope this keeps the HUNTSMAN hopefuls at bay.
Aloha, Kathleen
PS: Do check the GenWeb site for the full history, much clearer than my
writing.