Anderson Township

Pioneer Cemeteries and Their Stories,

Madison County, Indiana

Anderson Township--John Berry 1820

This Indiana Historic Marker sits in front of the Madison County Court House at the southwest corner. The marker reminds Andersonians: "This Public Square was part of Chief Anderson's Delaware Indian Village. In 1827, thirty acres were donated to Madison County by John and Salley Berry to relocate the county seat from Pendleton to Anderson... Three of Madison County's Court Houses have been erected on this site."

Anderson Township was one of the first five townships created in the county. It and the county seat of Anderson derive their names from Captain William Anderson, the English name for Chief Kikthawenund. Kikthawenund was one of the most important leaders of the Delaware tribe. These Native Americans had been living along the East Coast in the area of what would eventually become the state of Delaware when the New World was first being settled, thus the English name. The Native American name for the tribe is the Lenni Lenape, meaning "real men" or "ancient ones." The Lenni Lenape were revered by other tribes of Native Americans. As their original homelands filled with colonial settlers, the Delaware moved west eventually settling in the late 18th century along the banks of White River, which they called the Wapihanne. (For a map and more information, go to the Madison County history page.)

According to the Madison County Historical Society, the Delaware/Lenni Lenape established around fourteen villages along the Wapihanne's banks. The villages extended through what is now Delaware, Madison and Hamilton counties. Chief Anderson/Kikthawenund's village, which would later become Anderson, was formed around 1794-5 and was called Wapiminskink meaning "chestnut tree place." Chief Anderson's individual camp was located at the 900 block of Fletcher Street.

Looking up from the bank of White River along what is now the River Walk, a pedestrian parkway, what was once part of Chief Anderson's Delaware village is now the location of several businesses. The steeple in the background is St. Mary's Catholic Church. The Lenape village would have covered this and the surrounding blocks.

As stipulated by the 1818 Treaty of St. Mary's, the Delaware/Lenni Lenape were required to vacate their lands in Indiana's New Purchase around 1821. It was in March of that year that pioneer John Berry, 1777/9-1835, sometimes referred to as Captain Berry, purchased from Chief Anderson's son-in-law William Conner (of Conner Prairie fame) the chief's village referred to by white settlers as Andersontown/Anderson's Town. Berry, in the summer of 1823, laid out the original plat for Andersontown. The plat followed the same design as Chief Anderson's original Delaware/Lenni Lenape village and trails. In November of 1827, Berry donated the land for the public buildings with the condition that the county seat be moved from Pendleton to Anderson.

This early map shows what Anderson looked like in 1850. It is still a small town, not much bigger than the Lenni Lenape village on which it sits. While the city had two railroads, it did not have a foot/passenger bridge across White River. Horses and wagons, people on horseback or on foot had to cross using one of the ferries.

The shaded block is the town square where the court house and other early public buildings were located. On the west side was the very first structure, John Berry's two-story log cabin and inn.

The map does show the location of three cemeteries. The cemetery on the left is the Tharp, the one between the river and the railroad is the Bolivar or City Cemetery (see picture below), and the one marked at the top would later be called West Maplewood. (For more on these three, go to the West Maplewood page.)

John Berry started Andersontown's "firsts." After designing the town square area, Berry proceeded to erect a two-story log cabin in the center of the west side of the square. The cabin faced east on what is now Meridian Street. The log structure was used as his dwelling and an inn where travelers could spend the night and procure food and drink. This pioneer's version of a hotel was "known far and wide at that time," as historian Harden describes it. The first post office was in this building, and one of the first postmasters was Berry's son Col. Nineveh Berry. The first Madison County court sessions, which involved the massacre of innocent Native Americans, were held in this structure in 1824. Berry, in fact, was one of the first justices of the peace in the county. In 1832, Berry was to deed over land for the first city cemetery which was located on what was then called Bolivar Street. (See map above and picture below.) (For more on the first post office, Nineveh Berry, and first cemeteries, see the West Maplewood Cemetery page.)

The first cemetery for Anderson was an area donated by founder John Berry. Before that, though, the land was part of Chief Anderson's village. The ground now is used as a parking lot for nearby offices. The Eisenhower Bridge is in the background. ("They've paved paradise and put up a parking lot," as the classic rock song says.)

Anderson's founder was a large man for his time, weighing almost 200 pounds, and he is said to have had a commanding, military bearing. He is not buried in Madison County. John Berry became ill while driving a herd of hogs to market and died in Huntington, Indiana; he is buried there.

Andersontown pioneers were not without their churches. In 1827, the first Methodist Episcopal Church was organized. Until that year, members had been meeting in each others' homes. Collins Tharp/Thorpe and wife Esther donated land for the church and the congregation's cemetery. The primitive log church was located on the southwest corner of 11th and what is now Brown-Delaware as the Indiana Historic Marker pictured here indicates. The Tharp Cemetery was next to the church and is shown on the map above. Anderson's Methodist Church is now located at the intersection of 12th and Jackson. (For more on the Tharp Cemetery and Collins Tharp, go to the West Maplewood page.)

The first business developers to Andersontown were the brothers Allen and Alfred Makepeace. As merchants, they arrived as early as 1820--before Berry--to the Delaware village on the Wapihanne/White River and began selling goods and supplies from their wagons to the Native Americans and later to the early settlers. The rest of the Makepeace family, including father Amasa, entered the county around 1821. The family began a commercial legacy. While Amasa and Allen centered their financial activities in Chesterfield in Union Township, Alfred focused on the new settlement of Andersontown. Alfred's business enterprises over the years helped change the little town into a city. During his life he amassed a great deal of property and eventually built the U.S. Hotel in 1852, a showcase for its time. Additionally, Alfred also platted and helped organize the town of Frankton in Pipe Creek Township. Alfred died in 1873 and is buried at West Maplewood.

Alfred's brother Allen added to his own business developments and became associated with the early banking in Anderson. This increased Allen Makepeace's already considerable wealth, and at the time of his death in 1871, Allen was worth over a quarter of a million dollars. Actually, the Makepeaces--father Amasa, sons Allen and Alfred, and their descendents--economically improved the entire county in those early years. (More information on the Makepeaces can be found at the Union Township page, the Pipe Creek Township page, and the Otterbein Cemetery page.)

Another important establishment in Anderson Township for pioneers was the "One Mile House." This was a hotel positioned on South Bank Road (8th Street) where the road crosses Green's Branch, a mile or so from the town square. This travelers' inn was also unique because it was built by a woman. Although her first name has been lost, Mrs. David Harris settled in the township with her husband in 1826. He died the following year, and his independent, intrepid widow commissioned the construction of this hotel in 1839. It was a popular place for social gatherings for many years and became a landmark for the many settlers traversing the New Purchase.

As in interesting cemetery footnote, the husband's body was reportedly interred in an old Indian burial ground located at the time on east 9th Street. This would be what is labeled now as "City Cemetery," the first graveyard for local residents. This sacred ground was destroyed years later when the Pan Handle Railroad Company needed gravel for construction and so excavated the site. Mr. Harris, as well as an unknown number of others--both Native Americans and settlers--were essentially used for fill dirt. The location of the first city cemetery is shown in the map towards the top of the page and pictured above.

This drawing of the "One Mile House" was taken from John Forkner's 1914 History of Madison County, Indiana.

The first doctor Dr. Burt Dickinson arrived in 1826/7. The first log school was built in 1833. It was on Central Avenue between 10th and 11th streets where the Anderson Public Library is now located (how symbolic). The first newspaper the Federal Union started in 1834. Andersontown was finally incorporated in 1839, and in 1844 its name was shortened to just "Anderson."

The Old and the New in Autumn

As the map above shows, across Grand Avenue from West Maplewood Cemetery was one of the old fords by which early residents crossed White River. This picture shows that general area of the river. The foundation stones in the foreground are from a later bridge now improved upon by the Eisenhower Bridge in the background. The historic sections of river bank, which once held the Delaware village and later settlement of Andersontown, are now overseen by the parks department and include walking paths.

As the map above shows, growth was slow for Anderson, the former Delaware village. In 1838, Anderson's population was 350. Twenty years later, in 1850, there were just thirty-two more people living in the county's government center.

Other settlers into this area were the families of Eli Harrison, John and Christopher Davis, Daniel Harpold--the contractor who built the first court house--William and Isaac Young, William Allen, William Curtis, and Samuel Kinnamon.

The 1876 plat map for Anderson Township shows the city of Anderson taking up only parts of sections 12, 13, and 19. The cemeteries recorded on modern lists for early settlers in the township are the Abbott, Bucco/Bocco/Booco, City Cemetery (removed; see West Maplewood), Harmeson, Hartley (destroyed), Moss/Moss Island, Pleasant Walk/Waggy/Wilson, St. Mary's, Summit View/Gospel Trumpet, Tharp/Thorpe (removed; see West Maplewood), Vandevender (destroyed), City/Anderson/West Maplewood, and Whetstone.

Click here for modern map of township pioneer cemeteries.