Six signers of the Declaration of Independence were honored in the naming of counties—Huntington, Carroll, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, and Jay. De Witt Clinton is honored in the naming of Clinton County. The eight other counties named for men of more than local prominence are Benton, after Thomas H. Benton; Boone, after the frontiersman; Clay, after Henry Clay; Fulton, after the inventor of the steamboat; Marshall, after the great Chief Justice; Henry, after Patrick Henry; Jennings, after Jonathan Jennings, Indiana’s first governor, and Posey, another governor, appointed to succeed Harrison.
Howard County is the only Indiana county that has changed its name. Its first name was Francisville, the name of a famous Indian chief, but on account of the universal esteem in which Colonel T. A. Howard, a prominent citizen of the community, was held, the name was changed.
Grant County was named for two Grant brothers, Samuel and Moses, early settlers in this region. Parke, for Benjamin Parke, one of the earliest of the educators in the State. He founded the State Law Library, was the first president of the Indiana Historical Society, and coöperated in the founding of the Vincennes Library and University.
Vigo County was named for Colonel Francis Vigo, a Sardinian, whose services were invaluable to General Clark in the capture of Vincennes. The bell now hanging in the court house at Terre Haute was bought with the $500 set apart in his will to show his appreciation of the people giving his name to the county.
Four counties—Delaware, Miami, Tippecanoe, and Wabash—received Indian names. St. Joseph County was named after the river running through it, named by the early French settlers. Switzerland was so named because most of the early settlers were Swiss, coming to grow grapes on the plan followed in the old country. The scheme failed. Ohio County was named for the river; Lake, for Lake Michigan; Elkhart, for a small island in the river that flows through the county. Laporte was named by the French. Three counties—Orange, Vermilion, and Randolph—were named after counties in other States—Vermilion for an Illinois county directly over the line, Orange and Randolph for North Carolina counties.
Of the remaining counties three were named after men of only local prominence: Allen, for Colonel John Allen, a Kentuckian who fell at the battle of River Raisin; Bartholomew, for General Joseph Bartholomew, State Senator, and identified with the early Indian wars; Blackford, for a judge of that name; Brown, for General Jacob Brown, one of the heroes of the War of 1812; Cass, for General Lewis Cass.
Crawford County was named for Colonel William Crawford, Washington’s land agent in the West, who was finally taken prisoner by the Indians and burned at the stake; Daviess, for Joseph H. Daviess, distinguished lawyer; Dearborn, for General Henry Dearborn, once secretary of war.
Toussaint Dubois, a Frenchman who had charge of the spies under General William Henry Harrison, has the name of Dubois County as a memorial. Floyd County was named after Colonel John Floyd, an old Indian fighter; Fountain, for Major Fountaine of Boone County, Kentucky, who was killed in the battle of Maumee, October 22, 1790.
General John Gibson, after whom the county of that name was called, was secretary of war, who repeatedly acted as territorial governor of the State in the absence of General Harrison. He was taken captive by the Indians, made himself one of them for a long time, finally going blind. Hendricks County was named after William Hendricks, the State’s first representative in Congress, and governor from 1822 to 1824.
Jasper County was named after Sergeant Jasper, the Revolutionary hero; Johnson, for John Johnson, one of the early judges of the Supreme Court; Lawrence, for Captain James Lawrence, an esteemed citizen of the community; Martin, after Major Martin, a citizen of Newport, Ky.; Montgomery, for General Richard Montgomery.