Editing Spencer County, Indiana (section)

==History==
Spencer County was formed in 1818 from parts of [[Warrick County, Indiana|Warrick County]] and [[Perry County, Indiana|Perry County]]. It was named for Captain [[Spier Spencer]], killed at the [[Battle of Tippecanoe]] in 1811. He was also the namesake for [[Spencer, Indiana]], the county seat of [[Owen County, Indiana|Owen County]].<ref>{{cite book|author=De Witt Clinton Goodrich & Charles Richard Tuttle|publisher=R. S. Peale & co.|year=1875|location=Indiana|title=An Illustrated History of the State of Indiana|url=https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog| pages=[https://archive.org/details/anillustratedhi02tuttgoog/page/n584 572]}}</ref>

[[Abraham Lincoln]] lived in Spencer County from 1816 to 1830, between the ages of seven and twenty-one. Originally, the area his family settled in was in Perry County with Spencer County being formed almost two years later. His family moved to Illinois in 1830. The [[Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial]] is located at the site of the Lincoln family farm. In addition, the graves of his mother [[Nancy Lincoln]] and sister [[Sarah Lincoln Grigsby]] are located in Spencer County.

On December 16, 1900, two African-American men, Bud Rowlands and Jim Henderson, were [[Lynching in the United States|lynched]] by the county courthouse in Rockport after being arrested as suspects in the brutal robbery and killing of a white barber at 2 am the night before. A mob estimated at 1,500 broke open the jail and took them out, hanging them from a tree by the courthouse, and shooting their bodies numerous times.<ref name="lynch1900">[http://genealogytrails.com/ind/spencer/news.html ''Butte Weekly Miner'', 20 December 1900; accessed 31 May 2018]</ref> John Rolla was accused by Rowlands as a suspect and also lynched.<ref name="marion">[https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2018/04/26/last-known-lynching-indiana-included-national-memorial-peace-and-justice/553199002/ Dawn Mitchell and Maureen C. Gilmer, "Last-known lynching in Indiana included in National Memorial for Peace and Justice"], ''Indy Star'', April 30, 2018; accessed May 31, 2018</ref> This was the second-highest number of lynchings in the state, though it pales in comparison to lynchings in Southern states.<ref name="lynching">{{Cite web |url=https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf |title=''Lynching in America''; Supplement: Lynching by County, 3rd edition, 2017, Montgomery, Alabama: Equal Justice Initiative, p. 5 |access-date=May 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023063004/https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf |archive-date=October 23, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The current Spencer County courthouse was built in 1921. It is the fifth courthouse to serve the county.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXQgqekmP2AC&q=rising+sun+indiana&pg=PA24 | title=Indiana | publisher=Globe Pequot | date=March 1, 2001 | access-date=October 16, 2013 | author=Wissing, Douglas | pages=24| isbn=9781560449065 }}</ref>

County attractions include the town of [[Santa Claus, Indiana|Santa Claus]], [[Holiday World & Splashin' Safari]], and [[Santa's Candy Castle]].

[[Saint Meinrad Archabbey]] is located at the northeastern corner of Spencer County.