The former Scott Township lays in western Harrison County; it is bordered on the north and
west by Big Blue River. Indian Creek cuts across the southeast corner and through the middle
it is cut by the Potato Run and the Cold Friday Run. In the southwest it is bordered by the Ohio
River. The almost mountainous terrain of this township, cut by the deep valleys of these streams makes a most
beautiful country.
The first settlers of this area were Benjamin Grable and John Pitman in 1809. In 1810 and 1811, William Daggs and Walter Craig entered land and in 1814 and 1818, Henry Briles and John Snider settled here. John Brown settled near Potato Run at an early date; he died before he could go back east for his family; the family later came and took his claim and his descendants still inhabit this area.
The Rothrock family has
long been associated with this area along Blue River- the first Rothrock Mill
at Wyandotte has long since disappeared and all that is left is part of the
old dam and the cemetery where this pioneer family lies buried. A second Rothrock
Mill (see photo at left) was built at White Cloud and was operated by the Rothrock
family until recently. The worst flood in Blue River's history occurred in January
1959 and it caused much damage to this abandoned mill.
The old Ridge Road from Corydon to Leavenworth follows a high ridge across this township from east to west. In early times this was a much better route than the one that followed along Blue River. The present day lines of the Bell Telephone Company follows this route today.
Only two churches remain in operation today. They are the Potato Run and the
Blue River Chapel;
Cold
Friday has been torn down. All three of these churches were United Brethren.
Two Lutheran Churches once served this area: They were Mt. Solomon (pictured
at right) which was torn down about 1938 and Luther's Chapel which was establish
in 1837; later became a Methodist church in 1897 and was torn down about 1912.
Ray's Chapel on the Ridge Road has been torn down but the cemetery is located
where the church once stood. A Campbellite church organized as Union Church
in Kendal's Hollow but it had no meeting house.
This area once supported nine one-room schools; many of them had peculiar names- Walnut Valley, Barks, Dutch Valley, Cold Friday, Potato Run, Precinct, Fox Hollow, Rosenbargers or Dixie and White Cloud. Today all these are closed and the children are transported in modern buses to Corydon.
Idlewild, Worth, White Cloud, and Dixie were the four post offices serving this area before the days of the rural free delivery. White Cloud was located on Blue River in the north of the township; this post office was run by the Rothrock family who also operated a mill and a store here for years. Idlewild is near Precinct school and the postmistress here was Mrs. Anna Bruner Brown. Dixie post office and store was in the east; Lee Smith and later Ed Starriett were postmasters. Another trading center in Scott was at Kellertown near Luther's Chapel. The Leonard Keller Sr. family operated a store, blacksmith shop and distillery here. Members of this same Keller family later operated the Keller Dept. Store and the Keller Manufacturing Company in Corydon. Ollie Wolfe Conducted a store on Heishman's Ridge; he later sold to Zeb heishman who then sold to Marion Cunningham.
Two early mills located in southeast Scott Township; Purcell Mill was run by the water furnished by a large spring while the Mauck family ran a mill on Indian Creek.
Dr. Isaac Neely resided in Walnut Valley and rode horseback throughout Scott Township in his medical practice; he later moved to Corydon.
Large quantities of timber were cut out of this township-much of it was sold for hoop poles and tan bark. There are good farming areas in the Dutch Valley and the Walnut Valley and in the valleys along the streams.
About 1929 the State of Indiana began buying the rugged, hilly, and eroded land in this township and today they have acquired over 20,000 acres which has become the Harrison State Forest. The first deer was turned loose in 1934 and the first open season on deer was held in November 1951 when about 500 deer were killed. The State of Indiana has done a splendid job turning these hills into a state forest and recreation area with shelter houses and picnic areas.
Families who have long been associated with this township are Kintner, Cline, Crecelius, Breeden Bottles, Pate, Brown, Bruner, Conrad, Shrigley, Curts, Feller, Schwartz, Goode, Hottell, Heishman, Hannel, Lowe, McCullum, Green Mauck, Bussabarger, Blume, Trout, Engleman, Pfrimmer, Winn, Trobaugh, Vandaventer and Flock.
Many of these pioneer families lie buried in the cemeteries at Hottel's, Potato Run, Cold Friday, Luther's Chapel, Greenbriar on the hill above Cold Friday, and at Ray's Chapel on the State Forest Road.
Like all stories there must be an ending. With the shift in population after the State had bought so much land in the township, citizens
decided to unite with Harrison Township. It had become financially impossible to finance the schools and other township requirement so on January 1, 1939, Scott Township cease to operate as a political unit and
became a part of Harrison Township.
The1918 township population was 200 compared to 934 on 1900;976 in 1890 and 1034 in 1880. Interestingly, an article in the Dec. 15, 1895 Corydon Republican read; "There are 167 public schools in Harrison County! What county has more?"