Hanover

Marty Lenzini Murray

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780738583358
• eBook ISBN: 9781439625606
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Hanovers history is deeply intertwined with Hanover Colleges beginnings. Both grew from a tiny band of determined pioneers under the leadership of Williamson Dunn, who set out from Catnip Hill Road near Lexington, Kentucky, in 1809 with his wife, two children, and three slaves. Upon crossing the Ohio River, Dunn freed the slaves and founded Hanover, which was first called Dunns Settlement. Presbyterians and Methodists played prominent roles in the fledgling community, and local historians recall a log cabin that served as an Indian trading post. At least two houses are reported to be haunted, and three others have secret hiding places, which used to lead to caves. The reader is invited to Hanoverwhere home seems just around the corner, and where Midwestern values of unhurried thoughtfulness set each days pace.

Two

AROUND TOWN

ADAMS CHILDREN GREW UP FARMING. From left to right, Thomas Harvey Adams, Mary Elizabeth Adams Lenzini Doyle, and Martha Dunn Adams Yeh pose for a photograph around 1929. The children lived and worked on their parents’ farm at the corner of LaGrange and Riverview Roads. All three served as officers in the military: Tom as a U.S. Navy pilot and Mary and Martha as U.S. Army nurses. (Courtesy Janet C. Cowen.)

TALL TREES LINE MAIN STREET. Main Street in Hanover was lined with towering trees around 1915 when this picture was taken. To the right of the trees was one of two cisterns where residents got clean water. This picture was taken at the corner of Main and Locust Streets looking west uphill toward Main Cross. (Courtesy HC.)

LOOK EAST. This picture postcard from the Hanover College archives shows what was called “the old footbridge” and “the Little Red Schoolhouse,” which was later a community center. The bridge was taken down and a large culvert was put in. Where the water is in the foreground there is now a garden. (Courtesy HC.)

WATER FALLS PLENTIFULLY. Waterfalls in the Hanover area vary in height, from a few feet to almost 200 feet. They have historically provided a place to get clean water, bathe, wash clothing, take and paint pictures, study rock forms and nature, throw parties, and run machinery. One falls famous for running machinery was the Old Chain Mill Falls pictured in the historic postcard above. Two brothers named Gordon rigged up a continuous chain studded with cow horns in 1815 to power a system to grind grain. Over the years, the cow horns were replaced by square wooden buckets. According to local historians, the following are the names of Hanover’s falls: Deadman, Horseshoe, Crowe, Butler, Chain Mill, Fremont, and Hart’s (sometimes spelled Heart’s). (Courtesy JC.)

FARMHOUSE FILLED WITH HISTORY. The Mouser-Oldaker-Green Home stands just outside of Hanover on State Road 56 on the way to Madison. It was built about 1840 by William Edwards. The current owners of the property are Gene and Sarah Green. They have carefully restored the home, which is designated as a Hoosier Homestead Farm. The property has been in Sarah’s family since 1899. (Courtesy Gene and Sarah Green.)

YOUNG WOMEN VISIT HAPPY VALLEY. People hiked into Happy Valley, east of Hanover College, to enjoy the outdoors as well as study rocks, waterfalls, plants, and animals. Camp Fire Girls pose in the valley in this 1913 photograph. None of the campers in this archival photograph are named but their leader’s name is given as Mrs. Phelps. (Courtesy HC.)

MARY SITS WITH JEANETTE. Hanover native Mary Cook Cosby was one-quarter Native American through her maternal grandmother. Mary holds her daughter Jeanette Cook Cosby. Mary is the grandmother of Hanover resident Wanda Jean Cosby Lacy. Lacy reports her mother, Freda, saw Native Americans near Hanover on Highway 256 when she was a child. Freda turned 100 in 2010. (Courtesy John D. and Freda Cosby Johnson family.)

BOY SCOUTS LOOK OVER OHIO RIVER. In this image from about 1927, two unidentified Boy Scouts have planted an American flag into the bluff overlooking the Ohio River. One scout points to Kentucky across the river and the other holds a bugle. (Courtesy LC.)

HOUSE LOCATED ON MAIN STREET. Family members gathered outside their house for this photograph taken in the late 1800s. At one time, the residence was called the A. Y. Moore House. A notation of the back of the image reads, “Home of Miss Ella Moore—next door to Presbyterian Church.” In the 1920s, the house was owned by the Ramsey family. (Courtesy HC.)

MEN HANG OUT. Men presumably from Hanover College gather at the “J. D. Clemmons & Bro.” building at the corner of Main Street and Madison Avenue. The building was reported by...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - BEGINNINGS
• Two - AROUND TOWN
• Three - FARMING AND INDUSTRY
• Four - LANDMARK EVENTS
• Five - ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
• Six - HANOVER COLLEGE
• Seven - CHURCHES
• Eight - HANOVER’S NEIGHBORS
• Nine - PAST TO THE FUTURE
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX