Editing Montgomery County, Indiana (section)

===Early history and settlement===
The earliest known inhabitants of the area that would become Montgomery County were the [[Mound builder (people)|Mound Builders]], Native Americans who built large earthen mounds, two of which were assumed to have been constructed in southeastern [[Franklin Township, Montgomery County, Indiana|Franklin Township]]. However, research in the 1990s determined that those mounds were probably natural rather than human-made formations.<ref>Brill, Bridgie. ''Indians of Montgomery County'' (MC Historical Society, 1985)</ref> Subsequent Native American tribes occupied the area until as late as 1832.<ref name=hmc4>{{cite book|last=Bowen|first=A. W.|title=History of Montgomery County, Indiana|publisher=A. W. Bowen & Co.|year=1913|location=Indianapolis IN|chapter=EarlySettlement of the County|pages=38–39}}</ref>

The first white settler in the area was [[William Offield]], earlier of Tennessee, who arrived in 1821 with his wife Jennie (née Laughlin) and one child and settled near the confluence of Offield Creek and Sugar Creek, about {{convert|5|mi|km|spell=in}} southwest of present [[Crawfordsville, Indiana|Crawfordsville]]. The first land in the county to be purchased from the government was a tract in [[Scott Township, Montgomery County, Indiana|Scott Township]] sold to John Loop on July 23, 1822; many more tracts were entered in subsequent months, most in [[Union Township, Montgomery County, Indiana|Union Township]]. The area's settlers mostly came from Kentucky and Ohio, with others arriving from Tennessee, Virginia and the Carolinas.<ref name=hmc4/>

Montgomery County was established by an act of the Indiana state legislature passed on December 21, 1822, which defined the county's boundaries and provided for the organization of its government. It was formed from parts of Wabash [[New Purchase (1818)|New Purchase]] attached to [[Parke County, Indiana|Parke]] and [[Putnam County, Indiana|Putnam]] Counties.<ref>Peggy Tuck Sinko: ''Indiana Atlas of Historical County Boundaries'', John H. Long, Ed., Charles Scribner's Sons, Simon & Schuster Macmillan, New York, N.Y., 1996, p. 210.</ref> The county was named for [[Richard Montgomery]], an [[American Revolutionary War]] general killed on December 31, 1775, while attempting to capture [[Quebec City]] in the [[Battle of Quebec (1775)|Battle of Quebec]]. The first county election was held on March 1, 1823, with 61 voters participating to elect the first three county commissioners — William Offield, James Blevins and John McCollough — who then ordered that the first jail and courthouse be built.<ref>Gronert, Theodore G., ''Sugar Creek Saga: A History and Development of Montgomery County'', Wabash College, 1958. p. 11</ref>

Beginning on December 24, 1824, a large land sale was held for several days at the United States Land Office on Crawfordville's North Water Street, during which a large number of the area's tracts were sold at auction. The money raised from the sale, mostly in the form of gold and silver, was packed into kegs, hauled by wagon to Louisville, carried by boat up the Ohio River, and eventually to Washington, D.C. Settlement increased substantially during the subsequent year.<ref name="hmc4"/>