Allen County Early Settlers

In the area of Fort Amanda pioneers appeared on the scene (1817) and there, within the blockhouses of the fort, made the beginning of what has distinguished this part of the state. These first settlers were Andrew Russell, who died five years later and is buried in the military cemetery; Peter Diltz, who returned to Montgomery County in 1818; and William Van Ausdall, who died in 1824 and whose remains are next to the grave of Andrew Russell. Settlers who came to the township immediately following were Henry Harter (1820); Dye Sunderland and family (1821); William Stewart, George Kephart, Jacob Harter, Peter Sunderland, (a Revolutionary soldier who died here in 1827), William Sunderland, Benjamin Russell, Samuel Stewart, Joseph Sutton, Thomas Adams, Ferd Miller, Solomon Carr, Samuel Washburn, William Berryman and brothers, Daniel Hoak (1824-25); James and John Crosier, Daniel Garde, Jacob and Silas Miller,(1825 or 18Z6), William Cochran, Samuel Moore, William Adams, William Durham, and Isaac Knoop (1827-28); Archelaus Martin, John Ireland, William Winans, Fred, Tom and Josiah Clawson, Henry Harris, Saul and John Patton, Samuel and James Baxter, William Knuttle (1828-29).