West Township Trustee Hiram Lyon
I get regular calls from concerned individuals asking "what are you going to do about so-andso building" fill in the blank with about any historic building. That occurred early in 2016 concerning a log cabin that I had my eye on ever since it was partially uncovered by the owner on State Road 17’s curve at West School. I went with another preservation professional to take a look at the cabin that the owner wanted removed.
While it could date earlier based on property transfer records, from preliminary research, it looks like the cabin dates to 1846 and was built by Hiram Lyon, who with two other gentlemen petitioned to have West Township cut off from Center Township. Lyon, himself, became the first trustee. A saw mill was operating in the area beginning in 1840, which could have provided the floors, doors, and framing for the gables and roof. This was noted in a brief characterization of the mill that it provided such mill work used in "crude cabins of the pioneers" as stated by our original county historian Daniel Mcdonald. The Lyon Cabin is one-and-a-half stories with two rooms over two rooms, though this division may have been made about 1880, as and addition, trim work and doors in the cabin would suggest. The cabin features corner stairs and a full second floor, something that seemed to occur in later cabins not associated with the quickly-built temporary structures of our earliest pioneers.
Hiram Lyon was born in 1818 in New York and came to Indiana by the early 1840s. His first wife, Rebecca Seely, died in 1856 and is buried at Stringer Cemetery on the west edge of Plymouth. He then remarried Suzanna Ingle in 1856. Hiram had four children, all living in the cabin with the couple in the 1860 census. Two children, Adeline and Cassius, died in 1863 and 1864 and are also buried at Stringer Cemetery. By 1880, Hiram Lyon moved his family on to the opening prairie lands of Nebraska where he died in 1899.
It wasn’t uncommon for county residents to petition new township boundaries be drawn. County commissioners undertook this task and no doubt wanted to stay in good graces with their constituents. The county’s original townships created in 1836 were North (all of North, German, and Polk), Center (all of Center, West, and Bourbon), and Green (all of Walnut, Green, Tippecanoe, and Union). Union Township was carved off on May 1, 1838. German Township was established on May 11, 1838. Bourbon Township was created on January 6, 1840. Tippecanoe Township was organized on March 9, 1842. Polk Township was established on March 4, 1845. West Township was created on March 8, 1854. Walnut Township was the last to be sectioned off on June 9, 1859. Divisions of townships can prove challenging when doing research in the county prior to 1860, by which time all the township boundaries were firmly and forever established.
Discussions about moving the Lyon Cabin occurred in 2016, 2018, and then under the new Marshall County Parks and Recreation Board, in 2020. The park board took bids to move the building and considered two sites for a new home. Originally, there was interest in purchasing the old West School property which would have made relocation a short move. With improvements made to the parking area at Marshall County Memorial Forest, it was decided to relocate the cabin to that site, remaining in West Township. The park board’s goal is that the cabin can be an example of pioneer culture for generations to come. Proposed uses include an exhibit of articles and tools from the pioneer era and as a meeting place for those interested in forestry, bird watching, and wild life enthusiasts visiting Memorial Forest. The cabin has been disassembled and is waiting for reconstruction.