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1834 – 1844 · Howard's "Towns That Were"
The rivals: Osceola was not the only paper town laid out on this ground in the 1830s, and Howard's chapter on the towns that died gives the other three, each with its proprietor. Williamsport — surveyed by Thomas P. Bulla for proprietor John Newell, plat acknowledged 13 December 1834, at the junction of the St. Joseph River and Babaugo Creek in section 9; it "has left no record but its plat." Canton — surveyed by Bulla on Babaugo Creek in section 16, acknowledged 14 December 1835 by proprietor William Ireland, vacated 3 June 1844 on J. E. Hollister's petition. Greensburg — surveyed 4 December 1835 for Jacob Eutzler, in section 25, township 37 north, range three east — west of Penn — and vacated 6 March 1843. Howard's verdict: "None of the towns in this part of the county, except Osceola, have had more than an ephemeral existence." The proprietors are people of this section: William Ireland stands in the Irelands article below (and in the mills conflict), Jacob Eutzler in the Eutzler article, John Newell at this size only. That two of the four plats on this creek-and-river ground were one man's rivals for the same mill seat is the settlement era's own comment on what the ground was for.
Sources:
- Howard, vol. 1, Ch. IX, "Towns That Were" — the three plats and the verdict.