Lawrence County Six and a half Feet
Lawrence County was formed in 1818 from land given by Orange County. It was named for Capt. James Lawrence, who uttered the famous words “Don’t give up the ship.” after being mortally wounded during the War of 1812. Until the Battle of Tippecanoe, there was a lack in population of white men, due to the fact that Native Americans still lived in the area. The first trace of settlement in Lawrence County was near Leesville, however, Bono was the first settlement in the county.
Indianapolis Indiana., – The complete skeletons of one of Indiana’s oldest inhabitants said by Dr. W. N. Logan, state geologist, to be that of a mound builder, has been placed in the state museum. The skeletons more than six feet in height, was found by t.c. Heistant of Bloomington and Dick Guernsey of Bedford, in excavating a prehistoric mound, near the east fork of the White River, in Lawerance county. Dr. Logan says the time when the mound builders inhabited Indiana can not be determined as to years, but it was a long period before the Indians is certain.
The mound from which the body was taken was in the form of a square with a vault system constructed of slabs of limestone. The skeleton was lying as buried with all of the parts intact, and in position, with the exception of some of the more fragile parts.
- Indiana Progress, November 9, 1921, Huge Skeleton Unearthed, “Indiana produces bones of Man Believed to have been Mound Builders. . . the skeleton more than six and a half feet.”
- Fifth Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Indiana, 1873. Geology of Lawrence County Indiana. “skeletons of persons of not less than 6 1/2 Feet.”