Joseph Latshaw ¹

  General Notes:

Sketch of Joseph Latshow of Sullivan, by Alex Latshaw
He removed from Shippensburg, Pa. to Ohio and settled where the city of Columbus
is now. Here he erected a cabin and cleared up
a small piece of land according to the conditions of a contract he had made with
the owner, who, upon his performing this work
and payment of a certain sum, was to make him a deed. When he, Joseph Latshaw,
wrote to the owner that he ahad one the worka
nd was ready to pay him the money, he was informed the man was dead and that he
had minor heirs and that here would be great
delay in making a good title to the land he determined to a hand on the place.
He then locate near a place called Franklinton near the river Scioto. Here he
lived until thesprint of 1814. Hebuilt a boat and
putting his family, now consisting of his wife and eight children, toghether
with all of his other posessions aboard andin company
with John Lowrie and David Porter, his brother inlaw, started on a voyage for
Fort Harrison Prairie, now in Vigo County. They
arrived at Vincennes safely and without accident in August 1814. He had grown
tired of propelling his boat against the current of
the mighty Wabash so he sold and bought a waggon and team.
He then started from Vincennes by land, Lowrie and Porter still with him, when
on the evening of the first day after leaving
Vincennes, he was met by a man riding post haste to let the peo;le know that the
country north of Busseron Creek was full of
Indians and that htey had killed one man and wounded another and had carried
away tow boys from Gills Prairie. They were then
about there miles southwest of the present village of Carlisle. fortunately they
were near a new log house which was covered with
clapboards held in place by weight poles. They had spades in the waggon and they
immediately went to work and covered the roof
with earth which rendered the building almost fireproof. there was a lareg hole
under the puncheon floor where the wife and
children were put for safety. There was also near by a log stable without any
roof. Into this they put the horses, securing the door
with a lock and chain. They made a quanty of cartridges so as to expedite
reloading. Each of the three men had a good gun and
dpening portholes between the logs. the thought they would be able to hold the
fort. The timber was cleared away for some
distance around the hous and stable and, although the Indians came near as they
could tell by the fright of the hourses, the Indians
did not venture into the clearing. When morning came the coast seemed to be
clear. But still it was not though prudent to
continue the journey at that time.
While thus waiting, he heard of a tract of land of one hundred acres in the
upper end of Shaker Prairie in Sullivan County. He was
so well pleased with it that he bought it. He erected a cabin onthis land and
sometime in the spring moved onto it.
He was appointed a Justice of the Peace by Governor Jennings and was one of the
Associate Judges of Sullivan County for a
number of years. H always took an active part in politics. His first vote for
President was for Thomas Jefferson (1800) and he
continued a democrat all his life.
Having bought some land in Knox County, he determined in 1834 to build on it and
make it his future home. When the people of
Sullivan County understood that he was going to move out of the county they
resolved, as a mark of their respect and esteem,
tochoose him to represent them in the House of representatives in the State
Legislature. In the spring of 1835, he moved into his
house in the upper end of Knox County.
In 1842 his health began to decline from an attack of the Gravel in the Bladder.
the disease continued to grow worse and after
suffering greatly, he died September 11, 1845.

Joseph married Sarah Porter in 1798 in Shippensburg, Franklin Co., Pennsylvania. (Sarah Porter was born on 11 Nov 1781 and died on 1 Dec 1863 in Shaker Prairie, Oaktown, Knox Co., Indianna.)