Section 3
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Early History
of Bristow, Indiana
THE
BEGINNING
Slabtown U.SA.
- Bristow, Indiana - The early history of Clark Twp., we find the town
called Slabtown. Bristow, Indiana, formerly Slabtown, was low and the
area was very muddy. The slabs from the local saw mill were used to make
roads and streets. Thus, the area was called Slabtown. Later the town
was named Bristow in honor of John James Bristow.
 Bristow, located on the banks of Anderson Creek (early in the
history of Perry County was the principal Town of Clark Township. The
Bristow Milling Company is the life-blood of the small town. Farmers
from Perry and Spencer Counties market their grain and have their, feed
ground at the mill.
The original plat of Bristow, recorded March 16, 1875 - fifteen
lots and one school. The main street was 66 feet wide running north and
south. Oak Street 49 feet wide running parallel. Water and First Street
running east and west with a 16 1/2 foot alley crossing at right angles,
Alexander and Phoebe Miller VanWinkle, William and Emeline VanWinkle,
Elisha and Lettia Jarboe. Weedman were the principal land holders and
the town was surveyed by Daniel R. McKim.
The first store was opened by Elisha S. Weedman. Thomas Miles
Hotel was the home for main travelers. The menu, a boarding house type
of service, listed such meats as deer, pheasant and other wild game,
vegetables and fruits in season, or from the spring house located on the
hill.
The town grew and more lots were laid out. A street, second
street northeast of Bristow to Adyeville from the Baptist Church.
Trustees of the church were William T. and Emline VanWinkle, William and
Hettie Lomax, Jacob and Nancy Aders, Samuel Lasher and John Lanman. The
early settlers are buried in the Lasher Cemetery , later a cemetery on
the hill above Bristow.
At one time Bristow had Baptist and Christian churches. The
German families moved out and the Lutheran church was sold to the
Christian church that had moved the old Mosby school to Bristow and
remodeled it.
The first medical doctor of Bristow was Dr. William Lomax who
settled in Bristow in 1881, a graduate of Indiana Medical College. Dr.
William Lomax married Hettie Dugan, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Jeffers
Dugan. Dr. P. T. Coultas practiced in Bristow until he moved to Tell
City.
Dr. Mayfield had a special building constructed for Perry County
Clinic and Hospital. The untimely death of Dr. Mayfield closed the
hospital. The fire that destroyed the Flamion garage and Beard home and
set other houses on fire.
The high school is closed and torn down. The town has one service
station, two general stores and a tavern. Highway 145 goes through the
town, population 98. The town was 100 years old in 1975. Bristow is the
home of James H. Mosby, author of Our Noble Heritage, Heritage of
Faith and the Living History of Perry County.
From: A Living History of Perry County, author, James H. Mosby
-1977. |
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Natives of Clark Twp.
taken in 1917 during a war bond drive. Francis Lanman, Judd Collins,
Aaron A. Mills, Joe Nix, Johnny Beard, Zephaniah Miles, Sid Cummings,
Lawrence Cassidy
ZEPHANIAH
MILES was born
January 28, 1835, and died June 05, 1927 in Perry Co. IN. 92 y, 4 m, 8
d. He married ISABELLA HAYS March 14, 1858 in Perry Co. IN., daughter of
DANIEL HAYS and AGNES CASHMAN. She was born October 03, 1840, and died
January 09, 1910 in Perry Co. IN. 69 y, 3 m, 6 d.
Notes for ZEFANIAH MILES:
Zephaniah Miles
was born January 28, 1835, and is the second in a family of two, Joseph
and Zephaniah, born to Isom and Elizabeth (Archibald) Miles who were
married in Perry County, where the father died when our subject was but
ten years old. He was reared from this age by his grandfather, Zephaniah
Miles, until near twenty-one. He only acquired a limited education, but
after his majority he secured the rudiments of a common education. He
was united in marriage to Miss Isabel, daughter of Daniel and Agnes (Cashman)
Hays, residents of Clark Township, March 14, 1858, and to this union
have been born five children, viz.: John W. (deceased), Mary A. (now
Mrs. Dorsey T. Taylor), Lucinda A. (who married Louis T. Hills),
Elizabeth A. and Pauline J. Mrs. Isabel Miles was born October 3, 1840.
Mr and Mrs Miles are members of the Christian Church. He makes farming
and stock raising a business, and owns 120 acres of fertile land, well
improved, with good buildings. His political views are Republican. He
enlisted in the service of his country September 27, 1864, in Company F,
Fifty-third Regiment Indiana Volunteers Infantry, and was discharged at
Washington, May 31, 1865.
Zephaniah Miles:
Obit is in the 10 Jun 1927 editions of Cannelton Telephone and TC News.
Notes show that he was 92yrs, 4mo, 7 days old; died at Lamar in Spencer
Co., buried Kessner Cem. (Since this puts his birth year about 1835,
this is probably the one who was the son of Isom Miles & Elisabeth
Archibald in your file.)
JESSE JOHN
MILES (ZEFANIAH OR ZEPHINA2, ZEPHANIAH1) was born 1835, and died 1930 in
Perry co, In. He married (1) HELSEY ALECY CLARK June 24, 1859 in Perry,
Co., In. She was born 1835. He married (2) PATIENCE BEARD February 28,
1878 in Perry County, In., daughter of JONAS BEARD and ANNA ARCHIBALD.
She was born 1852, and died February 21, 1913.
Notes for JESSE JOHN
MILES:
In "Perry County History" by Delahunt he writes: "Miles, Jesse (John)
Miles son of Zephaniah and Sophia b. 1835 mar. 1st Alecy Clark 6/24/1859
b. 1837. Mar. 2nd Patience (Beard) Vandergriff." Jesse Miles obit in 5
Apr 1902 TC News with a note that says "colored; Rockport". |
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