Saint Thomas, Indiana
Former hamlet in Knox County, Indiana, US
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saint Thomas was a hamlet in Johnson Township, Knox County, Indiana, in the United States.[1] It had an eponymous Catholic church, and a Benedictine convent which also provided a school.[1]
St Thomas | |
|---|---|
former hamlet | |
 Interactive map of St Thomas | |
| Coordinates: 38°35′10″N 87°33′44″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Indiana |
| County | Knox |
The Purcell family and melon farming
On farms surrounding the hamlet, the major crop in the 19th century was melons, which were shipped out via the nearby Purcell's Station (38°35′44″N 87°31′09″W), located 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Vincennes on the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad .[2][3] There were also once grain elevators at the station.[1] Purcell's was also the post-office serving St. Thomas, and local merchant Lease Werker was its postmaster back at the turn of the 20th century.[1]
The Purcells were an early family of European farming settlers starting with Isaac Purcell who came to Knox county from Virginia somewhere around 1790, and Jonathan Purcell.[4] Jonathan was the father of John Purcell who was the father of Noah Purcell, whose farm was next to Isaac's farm.[4] Andrew Purcell's farm was the location of the Purcell's Station railroad stop and post-office, and it is Andrew for whom the station was named.[4] Andrew had a water mill and a still house,[5] as had Noah.[6]
Dicksburg
Andrew Purcell originally owned the land that was sold to Thomas Dick on 1836-12-01, that would be the site of the failed town of Dicksburg to the south of St Thomas, in adjoining Decker Township in Donations 6 and 7 (roughly 38°30′29″N 87°33′00″W).[7] Thomas Dick was a relative of James A. Dick, after whom the Dick's Hills also in Decker Township (38°30′22″N 87°33′58″W) were named.[8] The town was located downstream of Deckertown (nowadays Decker) on the north bank of West Fork White River, 14 miles (23 km) south of Vincennes.[9][7]
Amongst the owners of lots there was Isaac Purcell.[7] But only half of the 93 lots of the planned town were ever sold, and the entire town was washed away when the White River flooded.[8] By 1875 there was a graveyard at the site of the former town, which itself also ended up being washed away in another flood.[8]
