Saint Thomas was a hamlet in Johnson Township, Knox County, Indiana, in the United States.[1] It had an eponymous Catholic church, and a Benedictine convent which also provided a school.[1]

The Purcell family and melon farming

In farms surrounding the hamlet the major crop in the 19th century was melons, which were shipped out via the nearby Purcell's Station (38°35′44″N 87°31′09″W / 38.59556°N 87.51917°W / 38.59556; -87.51917 (Purcell's Station)), located 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Vincennes on the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad .[2][3] There were also once grain elevators at the station.[1] Purcell's was also the post-office serving St Thomas and local merchant Lease Werker was its postmaster back at the turn of the 20th century.[1]

The Purcells were an early family of European farming settlers starting with Isaac Purcell who came to Knox county from Virginia somewhere around 1790, and Jonathan Purcell.[4] Jonathan was the father of John Purcell who was the father of Noah Purcell, whose farm was next to Isaac's farm.[4] Andrew Purcell's farm was the location of the Purcell's Station railroad stop and post-office and it is Andrew for whom the station was named.[4] Andrew had a water mill and a still house,[5] as had Noah.[6]

Dicksburg

Andrew Purcell originally owned the land that was sold to Thomas Dick on 1836-12-01, that would be the site of the failed town of Dicksburg to the south of St Thomas, in adjoining Decker Township in Donations 6 and 7 (roughly 38°30′29″N 87°33′00″W / 38.508°N 87.55°W / 38.508; -87.55 (approximate location of Dicksburg)).[7] Thomas Dick was a relative of James A. Dick, after whom the Dick's Hills also in Decker Township (38°30′22″N 87°33′58″W / 38.506°N 87.566°W / 38.506; -87.566 (Dick's Hills)) were named.[8] The town was located downstream of Deckertown (nowadays Decker) on the north bank of West Fork White River, 14 miles (23 km) south of Vincennes.[9][7]

Amongst the owners of lots there was Isaac Purcell.[7] But only half of the 93 lots of the planned town were ever sold, and the entire town was washed away when the White River flooded.[8] By 1875 there was a graveyard at the site of the former town, which itself also ended up being washed away in another flood.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Greene 1911a, p. 380.
  2. ^ Greene 1911a, pp. 370, 380.
  3. ^ Lippincott 1880, p. 1816, Purcell's.
  4. ^ a b c Baker, Emerson & Cauthorn 1886, p. 81.
  5. ^ Baker, Emerson & Cauthorn 1886, p. 91.
  6. ^ Baker, Emerson & Cauthorn 1886, p. 92.
  7. ^ a b c Baker, Emerson & Cauthorn 1886, p. 271.
  8. ^ a b c Greene 1911a, p. 377.
  9. ^ Baldwin & Thomas 1854, p. 324, Dicksburg.

Bibliography

Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Thomas,_Indiana
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