William Offield - Balhinch, Montgomery County, IN
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In 1821, William Offield built a cabin on a creek, (later known as Offield's Creek), four miles southwest of the future site of Crawfordsville, Indiana in an area now known as Balhinch.
Waymark Code: WMM9A5
Location: Indiana, United States
Date Posted: 08/16/2014
Views: 3
In 1821, William Offield built a cabin on a creek, (later known as Offield's Creek), four miles southwest of the future site of Crawfordsville, Indiana in an area now known as Balhinch.
There is a boulder monument, on Offield Monument Road, to commemorate William Offield.
Memorial Text:-
Wm. Offield
Settled Here
Feb. 1821
--
1881
In 1821, William Offield built a cabin on a creek, (later known as Offield's Creek), four miles southwest of the future site of Crawfordsville, Indiana in an area now known as Balhinch. He and William Miller were the first two settlers in the area. William Offield was born 24 Mar 1793 in Sullivan County, Tennessee and died about 1881 in Oregon, USA. He was County Commissioner of Montgomery County from 1823 to 1824.
"In Feb. of that year [1821], according to well-authenticated tradition, William Offield with his wife and one child came from a settlement on White river, not far from the present town of Martinsville, in Morgan co., and settled a few rods from the mouth of the little stream which flows into Sugar creek, some 5 or 6 miles southwest of Crawfordsville, and which now bears the name Offield's creek. His cabin, which was only 12 X 15 feet, was on the south side of Sec. 16, T. 18 N., R. 5W." Read more - (
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Balhinch is two-mile-square Unincorporated community in Union Township, Montgomery County, Indiana, United States. Balhinch includes Rattlesnake Canyon and Weir Cemetery. The Balhinch area was originally settled by William Offield in February 1821, five miles southwest of Crawfordsville in Section 21 in an area with two streams — Sugar Creek and Offield's Creek. A monument to William Offield stands near Offield's Creek. It was formally platted in the 1920s and the boundaries legally defined. (
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Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 38,124. The county seat is Crawfordsville. The county is divided into 11 townships which provide local services. The first white settler in the area that would become Montgomery County was William Offield, earlier of Tennessee, who arrived in 1821 with his wife Jennie (née Laughlin) and one child and settled near the confluence of Offield Creek and Sugar Creek, about five miles (8 km) southwest of Crawfordsville. Montgomery County was established by an act of the Indiana state legislature passed on December 21, 1822, which defined the county's boundaries and provided for the organization of its government. It was formed from parts of Wabash New Purchase attached to Parke and Putnam Counties. The county was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed on December 31, 1775, while attempting to capture Quebec City in the Battle of Quebec. The first county election was held on March 1, 1823, with 61 voters participating to elect the first three county commissioners — William Offield, James Blevins and John McCollough — who then ordered that the first jail and courthouse be built. (
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