INTRODUCTION 7 



account for his meeting with the lady who became his 

 wife. 



Robinson left Cincinnati early in the year 1830 and 

 took up his residence in Indiana, where within little 

 more than a decade he was destined to achieve fame and, 

 if not fortune, at least a respectable livelihood for his 

 family. Selecting Madison as his base of operations for 

 the next few years, he soon became imbued with the 

 craze for land so common in the West of that period. 

 On February 20, 1830, he purchased at the United States 

 Land Office at Jeffersonville, Indiana, eighty acres in 

 Jennings County, lying about thirteen miles northwest 

 of Vernon on the Columbus Post Road between Madison 

 and Indianapolis. 1 Lease of an adjoining tract at Rock 

 Creek Ford was added on May 3, by private purchase 

 from one John Bradford. This second tract contained 

 dwellings and stables, of which Bradford promised to 

 give possession by June 10. 2 A post office was established 

 at Rock Creek Ford on June 14, 1830, with Robinson as 

 postmaster. 3 On March 11 of the following year, as 

 road commissioner, Robinson advertised for bids to clear 

 timber, bushes, and stumps for a ten-and-a-half-mile 

 section of the Madison and Indianapolis State Road be- 

 tween Sand Creek and Clifty. 4 



As early as April 15, 1831, Robinson had the Rock 

 Creek Ford tract surveyed, divided into lots, streets laid 

 out, and the whole recorded in the Jennings County re- 

 corder's office as the town of Solon. 5 The first sale of 

 lots, which was to take place on June 4, was widely ad- 

 vertised by posters, handbills, and a prominent notice 



1 William Lewis, register, to Solon Robinson, February 20, 1830, 

 Certificate No. 1898; and United States to Solon Robinson, March 

 9, 1831, letters patent. General Land Office Records, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. 



1 John Bradford to Robinson, May 3, 1830, agreement to transfer 

 land, Strait Collection. 



' List of Indiana Post Offices, Indiana State Library. 



4 Post, 45. 



6 Deed Record Book B, p. 222. 



8—60109 



