Some Facts On Hendricks County, Indiana

The act of the state legislature which organized Hendricks County was approved on December 20, 1823, and the county took up official business on April 1, 1824. The name is in honor of William Hendricks, Governor of Indiana (1822 -25) when the county was established.

The first settlers emigrated from North Carolina to this county about five years prior to the county's organization. They came to the area now called Liberty and Guilford Townships.

The first settlement was made in the spring of 1820 on White Lick Creek, a few miles south of the present Plainfield. The immigrants were Bartholomew Ramsey, Samuel Herriman, Harris Bray, John W. Bryant, James Dunn, George Dunn and Ezekiel Moore. A historical marker commemorating the settlement is located on South Center Street a short distance north of the Hendricks-Morgan County line.

In the spring months of 1821, Thomas Lockhart, Noah Kellum and Felix Belzer made a settlement in the southeast corner of what is now Guilford Township, on the east fork of White Lick Creek.

William and Thomas Hinton, James Thompson and Robert McCrackin settled on the west fork of White Lick Creek in what is now Liberty Township in the autumn of 1821.

The early townships in the county were Brown, Center, Eel River, Franklin, Guilford, Liberty, Marion, Middle and Washington. Later, Clay (1845), Union (1852) and Lincoln (1863) were added.

A commission appointed by the state legislature selected Danville as the county seat because its location was near the geographical center of the county. It was chosen on July 12, 1824. The court-house was completed and the first term of court was held in Danville in April of 1826. The building was constructed of peeled hickory logs at a cost of $147.00.

The county covers 420 square miles or 268,000 acres. In 1868, a strip of land two miles wide, containing 20 square miles, was added to Hendricks from Morgan County.