ATTICA'S FIRST PLAT

The death of widow Mary Reed Stump in 1820 in Wayne Co., IN in a remote way influenced the settlement of Fountain and Warren counties.  At least three of her five sons bought land with their inheritances of $750 each at the Land Office in Crawfordsville after it opened Dec. 24, 1824.  Land was going for $1.25 per acre.  It was a good deal and apparently Mary's sons knew the value of a dollar.

Daniel Stump, a well traveled fur trader, his Potawatomi partner along with George Hollingsworth and perhaps some of Daniel's other brothers had traveled down the Wabash earlier in the year and viewed the area that is now Attica.  Already living up the hill where the Pizza Hut now stands was Casey Emmons and his part Cherokee wife.  (Casey is buried in Bethel Cemetery right behind the church and to the left.)

Daniel and George each purchased land at the Crawfordsville Land Office, a combined total of 80 acres along a half-mile stretch of the Wabash River.  This land became the City of Attica.  Joseph Stump bought land in Liberty Twp., in Warren Co.  He later married Mary Elizabeth Van Reed and spent the remainder of his life in Warren Co.  Another brother, Henry, bought near what is now Greenhill.  He later went west.

The first plat of Attica was filed by Daniel Stump on March 1,1825.  Many history books will tell you it was David Stump or Hollingsworth, but they are incorrect.  George Hollingsworth filed the second plat a short time later and remained in Attica operating a ferry across the Wabash while Daniel Stump headed for Oregon and was never heard from again.  This is probably why there is confusion.

If you look closely at the plat you will see that Daniel made his "mark."  Education wasn't a given in the wilderness of the 1800's.  Lots 35 and 36 on Perry St. were given as public land to the citizens of Attica by Daniel and called Washington Park or Washington Square. He marked these off on a map later and showed the public where the square was.  These lots first housed a small log schoolhouse and now house the Attica Public Library.

The alleys all have names and those that can be read are Cherry, Peach, Straight, East, West and South.  It appears that Ohio St. turned into Pike St. and Stump St. is now Union St.

CLICK HERE to see a copy of the first plat of Attica, Indiana filed in Montgomery Co. then transferred and recorded in Fountain Co. on July 10,1843
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Article by Dale and Betty Clawson