Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
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Biographical Sketch
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Cataloguing Information
Processed by
Chris Harter
4 September 1997
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 1 item
COLLECTION DATES: February 2, 1802
PROVENANCE: Norma Peters, Vancouver, WA, 27 May 1997
RESTRICTIONS: Item is very fragile.
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society.
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
OTHER FINDING AIDS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: M 283, Samuel C. Vance Papers; F 366-368, Samuel C. Vance Papers; F 516, Samuel C. Vance Papers; M 211, A.G. Mitten Collection; SC 45, J. David Baker Letters
ACCESSION NUMBERS: 1997.0528
NOTES:
Samuel Colwell Vance (1770-1830), the son of David Vance, was born in Pennsylvania. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, at an undetermined date and worked as a surveyor. In 1802, he married Mary Morris Lawrence (1783-1823) (See also: SC 1235, Catherine Lawrence Randolph Letters), the granddaughter of Gen. Arthur St. Clair (1734-1818) (See also: M 211, A.G. Mitten Collection; M 98, W.H. English Collection). In April of that year, he began laying out the city of Lawrenceburg, Indiana (Dearborn Co.), which he named after his wife.
A year later, he was appointed Clerk of the Courts for Dearborn County by Gov. William Henry Harrison. According to Indiana and Indianans (Vol. I, p. 262-263), Vance was the brother-in-law of Harrison, but the relationship could not be verified in any other sources.
He was one of the directors of the Indiana Canal Company when it was chartered in 1805. Vance served as a soldier under Anthony Wayne (1745-1796) (See also: card catalog under the heading: Wayne, Anthony) and also fought in the War of 1812. He made Lawrenceburg his permanent home in 1818.
(Some sources confuse Samuel Colwell Vance with Samuel Corville Vance (1762-1843) of Fayette County, Indiana.)
No information located in available resources for C. Swan.
Sources: Dunn, Jacob Piatt. Indiana and Indianans. Vol. I, p. 262-263; Vol. II, p. 1047.
History of Dearborn, Ohio and Switzerland Counites, Indiana (1885) p. 113, 201, 232, 241-242.
Lake, D.J. and Griffin, B.N. (compilers). Atlas of Dearborn County, Indiana. p. 18.
Shaw, Archibald (ed.). History of Dearborn County, Indiana (1915) p. 241, 467.
Waters, Margaret. Revolutionary Soldiers Buried in Indiana: A Supplement (1954) p. 101.
This collection consists of a letter, dated February 2, 1802, from C. Swan (?) to Capt. Samuel Vance. The letter was written from "Washington," which was probably Washington D.C. In it, Swan discusses a measure to divide "the Western Country into three states," which was defeated by Congress. He mentions a person named Worthington, who opposed the measure. Swan states that the gentleman was "inimical to [Vance's] present governor," Arthur St. Clair, who was also related to Vance.
MAIN ENTRY: Vance, Samuel C., d. 1830
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Vance, Samuel C., d. 1830
Northwest, Old--History--Sources
END