William Garrison (about 1810-1858) with his brothers, helped to establish a small Euro-American town in Wabash County, Indiana in the 1830s.
A series of treaties in the early 1810s and 1820s displaced the Miami and Delaware peoples, allowing Euro-Americans to settle Indiana, migrating from the southeast border of Ohio farther north and west to the Wabash River. The treaties reduced the amount of reserved lands for the Indigenous people over the three decades: the Miami were confined to a small reserve in the north and the Delaware were removed to west of the Mississippi. The Garrison family was at the front of the encroachment, moving from Ohio, to Franklin County, to Rush County before establishing their town in Wabash County.
Childhood Migration
William Garrison was a middle son of Samuel Garrison, who had six sons. Samuel Garrison, born in New Jersey, had migrated with his family to Hamilton County, Ohio in the 1790s. Originally settling on lands purchased by a NJ land speculator called the Symmes Purchase, Samuel grew up between the Miami Rivers near what would become Cincinnati , Ohio, and near the southeast border of Indiana and Ohio.
In 1804, while still living in Hamilton County, Samuel married Hannah Goff, the daughter of another immigrant from New Jersey. Their oldest son, Elihu Garrison, was born the next year and in 1810, William was born shortly before the family moved from Ohio to Indiana.
In 1811, Samuel purchased, on credit, land located in Franklin County, Indiana, receiving his credit volume patent in 1817 from the US Government. Franklin County was directly across the border in Indiana. The Indigenous people, the Wyandot and Delaware had been displaced by the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which included the sliver of land in what became Indiana along it’s eastern border. (History of Franklin County, glorecords.blm.gov)
The 1820 Census shows that Samuel Garrison lived near his brother-in-law, John Goff, in Franklin County. ( ancestry.com) They lived in the northwest corner near Laurel in Posey Township. There is a creek called Garrison Creek along which runs the Garrison Creek Road. The History of Franklin County describes how the early settlers established block-houses for “protection”, as they settled the lands of the Indigenous People.
At this time, the land beyond Franklin had yet to be surveyed by Euro-Americans and was where the Delaware were living. In the 1700s, with the arrival of the Euro-Americans in what became New Jersey, the Delaware had been pushed west and had settled in this part of Indiana, only to have Euro-Americans emigrate from New Jersey into Indiana, and further reduce their lands. John Goff is said to have traveled into these land to sell whiskey to the “Indians who still lived there”. In 1818, the Treaty of St. Mary’s displaced the Delaware again, and the land was taken for Euro-American settlers. The land office opened in 1821, and Samuel Garrison was an early purchaser.
In 1821, Samuel purchased two plots of land in Rush County, Indiana. Samuel was still living in Rush County in the 1830 Census, presumably William was still living with his father, as he married Sarah Barkuloo in 1831. (glorecords.blm.gov; ancestry.com)
America, Liberty Township, Wabash County, IN
By the 1830s, the Rush County was no longer the edge of Euro-American established counties. In 1835, Samuel Garrison, and one of William’s brothers, Elihu, purchased land in Liberty Township, Wabash County from the government. His other brother, Jeremiah, also purchased land in 1836.
The land they purchased was about halfway between La Gro and Marion, two trading towns in Indiana. In the 1830s, one of the only state roads was between Marion and La Gro, which was located on the Wabash and Erie Canal. As a result, the land the Garrison’s purchased was ideal to become a waystation for the traders, and in 1835, Elihu Garrison platted the town, America, in Liberty Township. It is reported that as many of 100 teams carrying grain would come through America as they traveled north to the Canal.
Elihu Garrison owned one of the first stores in America, called Garrison Bros. and William Garrison was the first hotel owner and tavern keeper, while also being the Justice of the Peace.
The death knell came however, when the railroad chose a different route, bypassing America for Ashland, and with that the trading teams no longer traveled through America. William Garrison died in 1858.
Finding the Yellow Bricks 