Week 35 2026 - A Spot on the Map - Porter

In 1820 Jefferson County, Indiana had a population of only 8,038. The town of Madison had been settled about 1810 and was located on the Ohio river. When my 3x great grandparents Aaron and Lavina (Chapman) Porter arrived from the Lake George, New York area with their four children the surrounding countryside would have been heavily wooded.  Early descriptions of the region emphasized the tree-covered hills and the beauty of the Ohio River valley. One early settler even marked the location of what would become Madison by carving his name into two large beech trees. The Ohio River marked the southern border. 

New settlers were slowly arriving from Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and other eastern states. The pull of western migration, the offer of free and/or cheap land were a great incentive to make the hazardous trek.

They would have built a one or two room log cabin, a small garden and planted a patch of corn. Maybe an outbuilding for oxen and a cow. The forest would have come right up to the edge of the clearing. The area was quickly settled and by 1836 the railroad had arrived.

After enduring the westward trek and the sweat and labor of helping to make a settlement in southern Indiana, the Porter family made a conscientious decision to continue to go even further west. Pulling up roots, they moved on with newly made friend, Nathan Howe and his family. The families would intermarry and help mark momentous occasions; births, deaths and marriages over the next few decades.

The Black Hawk War had resulted in the United States acquiring a large tract of land along the Mississippi River—the area known as the Black Hawk Purchase. By June 1833, the government had opened much of the eastern Iowa area to white settlement. The two families set their sights on heading west, although at that time the area was actually a part of the Wisconsin territory and became the Iowa territory in 1838.  

Route (in red) from 
Madison, IN to Cedar County, IA in 1836

Traveling by wagon it would have taken 4-6 weeks through harsh conditions and averaging 7-10 miles a day to complete the move. In 1830 I find both the Porter family and the How family in Edgar County, Illinois (just northwest of Terre Houte, Illinois).  In 1841 I find Aaron Porter has arrived in Cedar County, Iowa located on the Southwest quarter of Section 8 comprising 160 acres.  Also, in 1841 Nathan How of Edgar Co, IL purchased land in Section 8 in Cedar co, Iowa near Aaron Porter. 

A research trip in 2016 to Iowa allowed me to match up Aaron Porter's homestead to a plat map. Two miles east of Rochester, Iowa and just north of Lime City on Crooked Creek in Section 8, I was able to stand on Aaron Porter’s first land purchase where he and his wife Lavina (Chapman) and their 6 children settled in 1836. It was here that he built the ‘Little Savior Mill’ that would help the settlers make it through their first couple of years by grinding wheat and corn crops.

It's amazing to me how a tiny spot on the map holds so much of my family's history. 

Barbie



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