Early days in Jasper County, IN -- which today encompasses Collegeville, De Motte, Demotte, Fair Oaks, Remington, Rensselaer, Tefft, Wheatfield, and the townships of Barkley, Carpenter, Gillam, Hanging Grove, Jordan, Kankakee, Keener, Marion, Milroy, Newton, Union and Walker -- are recalled through a mixture of colorful tales and factual data in this booklet, a reprint of a Jasper County history written by J. H. Battle. The 8 1/2 x 11" spiral-bound booklet is printed on 60# paper. The 3-color front cover is protected with a vinyl sheet.
The original book, printed in 1883, was called Counties of Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton, Indiana, Historical and Biographical.
Topics covered in the first part of the booklet are: Formation of a county, Physical Features and Geology, Material Resources, Changes in Topography, Prairie Fires, Agriculture, Live stock, "Middling good" Horses, County Agricultural Society, Swamp Lands and the defrauding of the Swamp Land Fund; Mound builders, Pottawatomie Indians, Shabona -- 'white man's friend', The First White Settlements (names), Hunter's Paradise, Life on the Prairie, Political Organization, including the names of the first voters, a Combination courtroom and boarding house, Escapades of the First Prisoner, the Poor Farm, County Officials (names), Jasper's early "unsavory reputation" for harboring counterfeiters and horse thieves, The Jasper Rangers, a quasi-vigilante group, Social Development of the County, Primitive Society, Early Roads and Railroads, Newspapers and Political Differences, Churches, Schools, and Secret Societies with officers names.
A separate section called "MILITARY HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY " is primarily concerned with the Civil War. This reviews the sentiments of the county residents, secret societies of Southern supporters and the story of "Dodds' Raiders", brief histories of the Ninth Infantry, the 15th Infantry, the 17th Infantry, the 48th Infantry, the 87th Infantry, the 12th Cavalry and the Fourth Battery, Light Artillery.
The final section of the booklet deals with GROWTH OF VILLAGES. The villages of Rensselaer, the Forks Settlement, Saltillo, Davidsonville, Blue Grass Settlement, Sparling, and Remington,
