[the CAPS and abbreviations are mine] [pg 144-145] 1830-1831 .......The first man to raise his cabin within Daviess Co. was John SPLAWN & with him was his son, Mayberry SPLAWN. The cabin was erected near the Rock Island depot, but ws soon after removed to what was known as Splawn's Ridge, about 3 mi east of Gallatin, and near what afterward became the town of Millport, and just south of the site of that old but now plowed up town. They came in January, 1830. Who built the 2nd cabin has not been determined, but it probably was raised soon after the above date. The 3rd cabin in Daviess Co. was put up by John TARWATER. John, and Nancy, his wife, and Nancy, his dau. (afterward Mrs. Nancy NATION], lived in the cabin. They settled on sec. 34, in township #59, of range #27, just above the mouth of Honey Creek. Stephen ROBERTS settled the same month. These men were the first settlers in the county and came in Jan and Feb, followed by Danield DEVAUL and others in April of the same year. FACTS: ....The 1st deaths in Daviess Co were the 2 chldren of Stephen ROBERTS. They both died on the same day and were buried in the same grave. This was in March 1830. Very few neighbors, for there were but few, attended the mournful ceremony. The SPLAWNS and TARWATERS came over and a rough box was made with an ax, the best they ould do, and the little ones were laid away in their lonely bed, there to lie until the great trump shall sound that time has ceased and eternity begun. The grief of the parents was great; the sad loss of their little ones made their home intolerable, and they moved back whence they had come. The 1st birth in Daviess county was that of Elizabeth TARWATER, who was b. Jan 8, 1832. She was the dau of John and Ruth TARWATER, the former being the son of John and Nancy TARWATER. The Word of the Lord was first expounded... under an oak tree, very near where Robert PENISTON built his first mill a couple of years after. The sermon was preached under that tree Aug 25, 1830, by the Rev. James McMAHON, and therefore also may be added that Mr. McMAHON was the 1st preacher in the county.. The 2nd preacher in this section of the country was the Rev. Wm. MICHAELS. He was a Baptist divine and preached at the house of Mr. ATKINSON, and at the houses of several others. He removed to the south part of the State. The 1st physician was D.r Wm. P. THOMPSON, who came originally from SC, but when he came to this part of the country was from Richmond, Ray Co. He was the 1st physician in all the country reaching from the MO to the Iowa State line. He did not settle in Daviess...but on the west or main branch of the Grand River....and settled in Madison township, in Grundy Co., just above the confluence of the THOMPSON and WELDON forks, and was accompanied by John SCOTT and Harvey MEEK. He built his cabin the last week of Oct 1833, and it was occupied the 1st week in Nov. .... .....1st marriages .... Jun 1834, the happy couple were Mr. Jacob ROGERS, JR., and Miss Martha WILSON, and they were joined in holy wedlock by Rev. Thomas AUBERRY, of the Meth. Epis. Ch. ...As there were no brown stone fronts, patent cooking stoves and costly furniture to invest in at that time, Jacob and Martha went to housekeeping at once. Their house had all the latest improvements... Puncheon floor was laid on the parlor end of the mansion, and a fireplace, with mud and stick chimney, graced the other end, joined to a floor of mother earth; a few pegs in the wall, a pot or two, a few chairs made after the most approved fashion of 3 legged stools, and Jacob and Martha started out as happy as any young couple dared to be and live and grow up with the country. They were too practical to take the cars and rush off to St. Louis on a foolish wedding tour, but remained at home and made their wedding tour around their cabin and over the farm. This was the style in those early days, and Jacob and Martha lived right up to it. ......1st mill....Robert P. PENISTON was the owner, and Milford DONAHO was the architect, assisted by 'Uncle Jake' PENISTON, a slave owned by Mr. Robert PENISTON. This was a 'horse-mill' a triumphant piece of mechanical ingenuity and splendid success... ....those settled near the fork of Honey Creek...spring of 1830, Daniel DEVAUL, John STOKES, Christopher STONE and his sons, James, Hardin, Robert and wm. STONE. Daniel DEVAUL had a son, James R...at that time some 14 or 15 yrs old came with him...... other......8-10 miles from DEVAL and STOKES... these were Benedict and James WELDON, Humphrey BEST, Benedict WELDON's fath in law, and a few others.. Humphrey BEST moved in 1835.....Madison township, Grundy Co.... Daniel DEVAU w/his fam, followed same year and settled ....Trenton, Grundy Co.... James WELDON also moved to Grundy..in 1837 & settled on the east fork of the east fork of the Grand River, which was named the WELDON Fork by Dr. Wm. P. THOMPSON..where Benedict WELDON settled in harrison township, is still known as the old WELDON farm; he was quite a prominent man in the early days of Daviess co. history. He was the 2nd man elected to the legislature from Daviess Co., was the commissioner to settle the "dam question" on McCrosky dam across Grand River in Livingston Co., was the backer of J. L. NELSON in the contract for building the courthouse, and in many other ways took a prominent part in Daviess Co. affairs.