Editing Corydon, Indiana (section)

===Territorial capital (1813–1816)===
{{See also| History of Indiana|Corydon Historic District}}
[[File:Corydon old capital.jpg|thumb|[[Corydon Historic District#Old Capitol|Old Capitol Building]] in downtown Corydon|alt=]]

Corydon became the second capital of the Indiana Territory on May 1, 1813, when it was relocated from [[Vincennes, Indiana|Vincennes]] in [[Knox County, Indiana|Knox County]]. Opponents of [[William Henry Harrison]], the former territorial governor, wanted to move the capital away from his political stronghold in Knox County. Supporters of the move felt that relocation of the territorial capital to the east would provide a more centralized location for its citizens, especially after its western portion was reorganized to form the [[Illinois Territory]] in 1809.<ref name="Taylor-169"/><ref name = fwp181/><ref>{{cite book |editor=John D. Barnhart and Dorothy L. Riker |title=Indiana to 1816: The Colonial Period |publisher=Indiana Historical Bureau and the Indiana Historical Society |series=The History of Indiana |volume=I |year=1971 |location=Indianapolis |page=355}}</ref>

Corydon competed with [[Charlestown, Indiana|Charlestown]], [[Clarksville, Indiana|Clarksville]], [[Lawrenceburg, Indiana|Lawrenceburg]], [[Madison, Indiana|Madison]], and [[Jeffersonville, Indiana|Jeffersonville]] to become the new territorial capital.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ray E. Boomhower |title=Destination Indiana: Travels Through Hoosier History |publisher=Indiana Historical Society |year=2000 |location=Indianapolis |page=15 |isbn=0871951479}}</ref> [[Dennis Pennington]], a Harrison County representative and the speaker of the territorial legislature's lower house, helped secure the town's selection during the 1813 session of the Indiana Territory's general assembly. Pennington pointed out that Corydon would be an ideal location. The Harrison County court had approved a design for a new county courthouse on Corydon's public square in 1811 and it could be used as an assembly building for the territorial legislature. Pennington supervised construction of the limestone courthouse, which was nearly completed when Indiana's first state legislature convened at Corydon in 1816.<ref name="Taylor-169"/><ref>Boomhower, p. 17.</ref><ref>The limestone for the courthouse came from a nearby quarry. See {{cite book |author=D. F. Lemmon |title=The Ancient Capital of the State of Indiana, Corydon, Harrison County |publisher=Ledger Company |location=New Albany, IN |year=1891 |page=7 |url=https://archive.org/stream/ancientcapitalof00lemm#page/n3/mode/2up}}</ref> Prior to 1816, the territorial legislature met in the original county courthouse on High Street.<ref name="Griffin, p. 18">Griffin, p. 18</ref>

[[Paul and Susannah Mitchem]] became Quakers and immigrated to Harrison County from [[North Carolina]] in 1814, bringing with them 107&nbsp;slaves whom they freed after arriving.<ref name="Dick" /> Most of the former slaves then settled around the town of Corydon.<ref name="Wonning">{{Cite book |last=Wonning |first=Paul R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1rhTCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145 |title=Guide to Indiana's Historic Sites - South Central Edition: Road Trips in South Central Indiana |publisher=Mossy Feet Books |isbn=978-1-310-39072-2 |pages=145}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Early Black Settlements by County: Harrison County |url=https://indianahistory.org/research/research-materials/early-black-settlements/early-black-settlements-by-county/ |access-date=February 14, 2022 |website=Indiana Historical Society |language=en-US}}</ref> Although some of the former slaves left, the group became one of the largest communities of free blacks in the state.<ref name="Dick">{{cite book |author=Dick, Otis Amanda |title=Corydon:Images of America |year=2000 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=0-7385-6050-2 |page=34}}</ref>