8 
Indiana University Studies 
The county has been almost wholly populated by people 
from Virginia and the Carolinas. Many of these came direct 
to Indiana, and some of them lived for a time in Tennessee 
and Kentucky. In two communities it was found that the 
majority of the people did not come from the South, but from 
Ohio. 
Many of the best families in the county today, and also 
most of the degenerate groups, were among the first settlers. 
Even at that early date the two groups of citizens seem to 
have become more or less distinct from each other, one being 
inferior to the other. In the county histories and family tra- 
ditions we can read and hear of how Mr. A. gave land for the 
first schoolhouse ; in another place we read that Mr. B. called 
all his neighbors together and started the first church house; 
we learn how the families of C. and D. founded a business 
which is still flourishing, and how certain members of these 
families went away from home in order to obtain a better 
education. The descendants of this group are still among the 
best families of the county. From the same source we learn 
that ‘‘Old Sam Moore and some of his relatives were mighty 
hunters’’. They were not afraid of anything and often went 
into the wilderness of what is now Township 12 to hunt. 
They preferred to make their living this way rather than by 
farming or by any other settled method. It is also said that 
they were not only brave, but that they were reckless and wild. 
They liked their whiskey, and sometimes the community was 
scandalized by their conduct. It was whispered that they were 
too friendly with a few outlaws who even at this early date 
had sought refuge among the hills. At any rate, they always 
brought back plenty of whiskey from illicit stills among the 
hills to their home settlements. They were always great 
fighters ; so it would seem from the first settling of the county, 
the Allen, Storen, Darton, Cooper, and Bell families were in- 
ferior to groups A., B., C., and D. They did not take the 
lead in the progress of the county, but allowed the others to 
do so. It is interesting to note that members of the 2 groups 
did not intermarry except within their own group. The 
members of the inferior group intermarried to form the 
greater part of the Ripple Creek group as it stands today. 
When the living conditions became more complex, and the 
inferior group could no longer make a living in the haphazard 
