My Ancestor Story: The Kent Family’s Journey West

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Our Kent family from England came to America in the mid-1600s, likely as part of the Puritan Great Migration that sent roughly 40,000 people to America’s northeastern shores. The family settled first in Bristol County, MA, and then in Stafford, Tolland, CT for many years. However, after the Revolutionary War ended and the west became open to settlement, many families chose to leave the crowded cities of the northeast and try for greener pastures in the wide-open west. All but one of the Kent family siblings (Almeda, who seems to have died shortly after her marriage in 1829), became a part of this movement when they set out for the Northwest Territory in the early-mid 1830s. Based on census records, the parents do not seem to have joined them on this journey, although there are conflicting records to this fact.

Historical Background

Up until the early 1800s, the vast majority of people living in Indiana were Native American, with the Potawatomi and Miami indigenous peoples its most predominant residents. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris released claim of the Northwestern Territory from the French to the British Colonists. While the French had been mainly interested in trade with the Native Americans and thus had had mostly peaceful relations, the colonists wanted land, which the Native Americans were not interested in ceding. Many bloody battles ensued, and for a time, white settlement of this area was hindered by these dangers.

Finally, in 1830, President Andrew Jackson passed the Indian Removal Act, and on Aug 5, 1836, he used its power to issue a two-year ultimatum directing the Indians to "willingly" leave their land for west of the Mississippi river, or be forcefully removed. While many did finally give up and leave, on Sept 4, 1838, the remaining 850 Potawatomi who had not left were forcibly marched under armed guard to Kansas. This march proved deadly for many, particularly the children. But while disastrous for the Native Americans, white settlers from the east were now free to move westward without hindrance. It was during this period that the Kent siblings left CT for LaGrange Co., Indiana.

Map depicting the traditional range of Native American homelands before the 1834

Depiction of The Trail of Tears by Max D. Standley

Two advances in US transportation made this journey possible. The first was the National Road, which started in MD and reached Indiana in1829. Unlike the 5 wagon routes that were the only previous way through the Appalachian Mountains, the National Road was constructed with stone, which did not quickly deteriorate to the impassable conditions of the previous dirt routes.

Second was the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825, and connected eastern Troy, NY with Lake Erie in western Niagara Co., NY. This route created a much cheaper and faster travel option to the Northwestern Territory than by road and led more directly to the northern portion of the state. In also opened up The West to more much profitable trade and commerce.

It is not known for certain which route the Kent siblings took on their journey west, but given its advantages, the Erie canal seems likely. Rivers were still the major mode of long-distance transportation at that time. Their father, Elijah, was said to have been a merchant as well as a farmer, so he likely would have dealt with shipping goods by this route. Additionally, Kensell Kent is said to have lived in NY for a time before his journey west, and may have been familiar with the new canal's workings.

Another factor encouraging westward movement was the Land Act of 1820, which modified the Land Ordinance of 1785 to lower the price of land from $2.00 per acre to $1.25 per acre. It also reduced the minimum allowed plot size from 160 to 80 acres. The price had to be paid in full at the time of purchase, but the overall payment was less than a third as expensive, making it more financially possible for the average settler to pursue. Nearly all settlers came because they had heard that Indiana had abundant, cheap, and fertile land. Like many early settlers though, the Kent siblings seem to have squatted on their new land for a few years before outright purchasing, because the date of their settlements in records differs from the date of their land purchases in most cases by 2-3 years.

Kent Family Line

The Kent siblings seem to have come to the Northwest Territory in separate groups, and upon their arrival spread out in a few different directions. The oldest son, Merril, arrived by 1830, which was before LaGrange Co. was organized in 1832. He purchased land a bit southeast of where the other siblings would be, first in Rush Co. and later Randolph Co.. Kensell and Orvin are said to have arrived by 1833, and Elijah may have come at this time as well. All 3 established claims in Eden Township, LaGrange Co.. According to the obituary of Achsah Kent (Frink), she set out for Indiana in 1836, and was likely accompanied by her youngest brother Enoch. Achsah settled in neighboring Noble County. Enoch, the youngest son, also eventually settled in Noble Co., but initially tried his luck in St. Joseph Co., MI, which was just over the state border from LaGrange.

Although Orvin, (our direct ancestor, b.1808), did lay claim in Eden over part of 1833, he only visited this residence off and on for the first decade. By 1834, Orvin had continued on to Ohio where he taught school in Monroe Co, OH. In addition to farming, Orvin had been teaching since he was 16 years old, and had attended one term of college at the Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, MA before coming west.

The Tweedy family, newly immigrated from Ireland in 1819, was also living in OH during this time (in Butler Co.), so this must have been where Orvin and his wife Grizella Tweedy met. They were a family of farmers as well. Grizella and Orvin married in 1840, and in 1847 Orvin retired from teaching and took his growing family back to Eden, LaGrange, IN to permanently settle. Their property was on the east township line, and both he and his son Robert bought adjoining property in neighboring Clearspring Co. as well.

Eden & Clearspring Twps, 1874

The SE portion of Eden Twp. where Kensell, Achsah, Elijah, and Orvin settled was named Haw Patch (now Topeka), due to the abundant number of Hawthorn trees in the area, a sign of excellent soil for farming. The land at this time was almost entirely forested, and it took many hard years to clear with the simple hand axes available to the early settlers. As it was cleared, accounts say it initially became choked with weeds, and birds ate much of the grain before it was harvested. But slowly the land was tamed, and soon the settlers were reaping profitable harvests.

Corn grew well in Indiana and initially became the most important crop and staple of their diets. Women used it to make everything from corn pone flatbread to corn mush porridge and even corn whiskey. They worked in the kitchen area of the rough log cabin homes settlers constructed during this early period. These were simple structures latched together without nails and closed tight from the wind with clay and mud. The floors were dirt, with a chimney and hearth at one end of the room, and a door and perhaps window along another wall. Over time, as development of the new community continued, homes and public buildings were upgraded to more modern clapboard and brick constructions.

The initial settlers of LaGrange County were mostly Yankee immigrants from New England like the Kent’s. In 1832, one year before the Kent’s arrived, the Robert Latta family became the first white settlement of Eden Township. Shortly after, William McConnell, with his wife and children built a log cabin south of the Lattas. Robert Latta was a Whig and a Methodist, while McConnell was a Democrat and a Presbyterian. This seems to have set up some early rivalry in land interests, religion, and politics that were a part of town life ever after.

The first church organized was a Methodist Episcopal church, meeting in the home of Robert Latta. In 1842, its congregation built a small frame church with an accompanying cemetery on Latta land and named it Eden Chapel. Orvin and Grizella, along with many of their children were buried in this cemetery, so it is likely they attended Methodist services as well (although in later years Orvin described himself as part of the little-known Swedenborgian Church). The first Amish Mennonite church was organized in 1854, and the Amish community continues to be a strong presence in the area today.

The original roads of Eden Twp. were nothing more than old Native American trails and animal paths through the wilderness. These narrow paths primarily ran NE to SW to avoid the swamps, and were “so snugly lined by sunflowers and stinging nettle, as high as a man’s head, that travel was not at all pleasant.” In most cases at this time, townships were expected to fund and build road infrastructure for themselves. And according to town records, Orvin Kent was called upon to help in this effort. The township section line north of his home became the starting location for one of the first roads in Eden Twp, Sycamore Road, and its intersection with Haw Patch Rd became known as Sycamore corners due to a large Sycamore tree once growing there.

House & Farm of Orvin Kent at Sycamore Corners, 1893

The 1840 census found that less than one-quarter of Indiana children between the ages of five and fifteen attended school. Additionally, about one in seven adults could not read or write. Until the 1850s, schools were locally created and funded by the townships, not the state. The Kent siblings appear to have played important roles in assisting Eden township with developing its education system. Within Eden township, Kensell Kent organized the first school in 1834. It was in a log cabin a half mile west of what was then known as Denny’s Corner’s. Achsah Kent (Frink) was one of the earliest teachers at this school. Additionally, Orvin Kent donated land at Sycamore Corners to both the Sycamore Literary Society, which was founded in 1879, and the Sycamore Schoolhouse. The society’s original secretary was Emanuel Stutzman, the father of Magdalena Stutzman, who Orvin’s son Robert married in 1870.

As settlement in the west further expanded, many residents of LaGrange began to move on to new areas full of promise yet again. Between 1850-1870, Kensell, Merrill, Achsah, and Elijah all left Indiana to resettle in IA and IL. Only Enoch, in nearby Noble Co., and Orvin, in LaGrange Co., stayed for the long haul. Orvin and his wife Grizella had 7 children, 3 of whom stayed in the Hawpatch area, including his son Robert, who is our direct ancestor. Orvin’s original land purchase was divided between these 3 children, with him keeping a small 20 acre plot for he and his wife to continue farming.