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Indiana Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 10507, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46852-0507

Earliest Landowners in Monroe County, Indiana

Compiled by Randi Richardson - July 2012

Monroe County was established in 1818, two years after Indiana’s statehood in 1816. It was initially part of Knox County and later part of Orange County. By 1836, however, the boundary lines were fixed as we know them today.

Because Monroe County was once part of other counties, some of the earliest landowners in what is now Monroe County are noted only in deeds recorded in either Knox County or Orange County. Additionally, other deeds of record for Monroe County’s earliest landowners are available only through government land offices such as those in Vincennes or Crawfordsville where the property was purchased.

The only known, comprehensive list of Monroe County’s earliest landowners, independent of place of purchase, is the Monroe County Abstract of Titles, Book A, compiled by the Monroe County Recorder’s office and archived at the Monroe County History Center.

Information about the original owners in the Abstract of Titles book is compiled by township, range and section numbers. The sections are not sequentially numbered and the townships are not noted by name; however, the date the property was purchased is noted, along with the name of the purchaser for each piece of property.

This database was compiled using the Abstract of Titles book. It includes: the owner's name; the township number, range and section; the civil township and the page number in Book A on which the information appears. Information about the date of purchase was omitted. An index that is only available at the Monroe County History Center includes this same information but is formatted by civil township name, township number, range, section and the owner's surname - it was intended to show those individuals who were living in close proximity to one another.

This database may be searched in the following ways:

• Fuzzy – will search for that string of characters. Searching for Berry would yield Berry, Berryman, Millberry, etc.
• Exact – will search for that exact text only. Searching for Berry would yield only Berry.
• Soundex – will search for Soundex equivalents. Searching for Berry would yield Berry, Beery, Biery, etc.

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