Early History & How Frankfort Became the County Seat of Clinton County
Although Indiana became a state in 1816, all of Clinton County was part of the tribal lands of the Miami Indians. In 1818, in the Treaty of St. Mary’s, the Miami Indians ceded all of its land west of the Wabash, except for certain areas, including two in what would become Clinton County. One was the Thorntown Reserve, which extended two miles into Perry and Jackson townships. The northeastern Big Reserve, encompassed all of Johnson Township, then south diagonally to take in parts of Warren, Michigan, Kirklin, & Sugar Creek townships.
In 1828, all of the lands of this county were called Washington Township, commonly known as “Washington Territory,” and added to Tippecanoe County for judicial purposes. A year later, the Board of Justices of Tippecanoe County, who acted as the Clinton County Commissioners of today, decreed that elections were to take place and John Ross was appointed as supervisor of those elections. Elijah Furgerson was appointed as assessor.
By November of 1829, the Justices held their first session, with the only business enacted being to appoint three men as “road viewers” to locate two “cart-ways” for Nathan Kirk and Samuel Allen. At the March 1830 session, the road viewers reported the roads were done. The board continued in the same way for the next few years, but a change took place in 1830, as the residents increased to a grand total of 1,423. Citizens felt they should be represented in the State Legislature, so a petition was presented; on January 25, 1830, it was accepted. At this time, Indiana was so consumed with the idea of canals as the principal form of transportation, that the new county was named Clinton County after DeWitt Clinton, the “canal-building governor of New York.”
While every citizen was adamant about self-government, where the county seat was to be located caused some controversy. There were two contending factions - one backed Abner Baker, who proposed Jefferson as the county seat, and the other backed John Pence, and wanted a more eastern site. The Pence faction, though, was not as united as Baker’s faction. While Pence’s faction didn’t know exactly where the county seat should be, they knew, however, that it should be further east.
Several things, though, worked against Jefferson, which was the only thriving town at the time. Jefferson was only 6 miles east of the western county line, but 18 miles from the eastern county line, thus making it inconvenient for the “easterners”. Baker even went so far as to offer a petition to shave off land from Tippecanoe County and add that to the western border of Clinton County, so Jefferson would be closer to the center of the county, but this scheme didn’t work. Also, most of the population then was actually about 2 miles southeast of Jefferson. In addition, Indiana sentiment seemed to be to place governmental seats in areas of future population.
Thus, when Clinton County was created, a commission of five men, all from other counties, was appointed to do business, which included naming a county seat. This meeting took place at the public place, or tavern, of Charles J. Hand, in Jefferson. While Jefferson was still in the running, John Pence stepped up and offered to donate 60 acres of land and $100 dollars to locate the county seat on his farm. One hundred dollars was a very liberal offer and the Commissioners accepted it.
In June 1830, John and Judith Pence made out a warranty deed to Joseph Hill, John Douglas, and Mordecai McKinsey, the first county commissioners of Clinton County, and their successors in office. The sixty acres of land was to be grouped around the “public square” and the $100 was to be used to begin the construction of a court house with other monies added from the sale of lots. Thus, Clinton County had its county seat.