Editing Hanover, Indiana (section)

===Dunn's Settlement===
[[Image:Williamson Dunn.jpg|thumb|alt=Portrait of Williamson Dunn.|left|upright|Williamson Dunn, founder of Dunn's Settlement, later known as Hanover]]
Judge [[Williamson Dunn]], from [[Mercer County, Kentucky]], purchased the land area of modern Hanover from the federal government on November 28, 1808.<ref>"Timeline of Hanover College History," ''Joseph Wood Evans Memorial Special Collections and Archives Center''. https://libguides.hanover.edu/archives/history.</ref>  The following year, Dunn resettled his family to the area, which became known as a town as "Dunn's Settlement." This was later renamed as Hanover. A steady flow of settlers then followed, most of them [[Scotch-Irish American|Scots-Irish]] [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]]. They were immigrants and their children, mostly from northern [[Ireland]], who had come to Virginia, then to Kentucky, and finally to the area of Hanover.<ref>Moore, A.Y. ''History of Hanover College''. Indianapolis: The Hollenbeck Press (1900) 10.</ref>

Among them was [[Christopher Harrison]]. He later was elected as Indiana's first [[Lieutenant Governor of Indiana|lieutenant governor]] and played a key role in planning the state capital of [[Indianapolis]]. Harrison built a homestead at Logan's Point. When in 1815 Logan returned to the site, the two men met. Logan bought the land and settled permanently in Hanover, while Harrison moved to [[Salem, Indiana]]. The next year he was elected lieutenant governor.<ref>Baker, Frank S. ''Glimpses of Hanover's Past''. Seymour, IN: Graessle-Mercer Co. (1978) 17.</ref>

[[Image:Williamson Dunn House.jpg|thumb|alt=Williamson Dunn's residence in Hanover.|Williamson Dunn's residence, Hanover's first building.]]

Although many of the first residents were Presbyterian, for a time the only church in their area was in [[Charlestown, Indiana|Charlestown]], 25 miles to the west. In 1819, Presbyterian minister Thomas C. Searle (January 15, 1787 – October 15, 1821) moved to nearby [[Madison, Indiana|Madison]]. He was a circuit preacher, serving the needs of the minority of Presbyterians in a wide area in southern Indiana, but he quickly realized that a community of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians was concentrated in Dunn's Settlement.<ref name="Moore, 17">Moore, 17.</ref> On March 4, 1820, Searle founded the Hanover Presbyterian Church. His wife, a native of [[Hanover, New Hampshire]], was greatly admired by the church's congregants; therefore, the church adopted the name in her honor. Before long, the town also adopted the name "Hanover." Officially it was named "South Hanover" as there was already a post office of Hanover in [[Shelby County, Indiana|Shelby County]]. When the other town of Hanover no longer had a post office, South Hanover's name was shortened to Hanover.<ref name="Moore, 17"/>

Following the founding of the congregation, they organized to construct a church. Williamson Dunn donated land and funding for the cause. In October 1821, Searle died, and the minister's post at the church was not filled until 1823.<ref>Moore, 17</ref>