(Sep 28 2009, cont.) Arba, founded in 1815, was an important town in Randolph County during the settlement era, probably due to its location right next to Wayne County on the road leading north from Richmond. A lot of the settlers had made their homes in Wayne County for at least a short time before moving to Randolph County. Arba was on the route into the county.

The 1882 county history tells about Arba’s early role in the slavery abolition movement:

About the time that William Lloyd Garrison was imprisoned at Baltimore for publishing a condemnation of the cruelty of the slave trade, Dr. Henry H. Way, of Newport, Wayne Co., Ind., arranged a discussion between Rev. Mr. Randolph and himself upon the subject of abolition.
This discussion was the first of its kind west of the Alleghany Mountains, being held about 1830, at Arba, Randolph Co., Ind. Dr. Way, being unable to attend, engaged Moorman Way, at that time a mere youth, but active and enterprising, to take his place. The discussion lasted an entire day, and was largely attended.

This is a portrait of Moorman Way that was made many years later. It’s taken from the same county history.

A lot of the abolitionists were Quakers. Moorman Way was not a Quaker himself, but it seems that he had much in common with them.

The same county history tells about a large number of conscientious objectors who refused to take part when the militia was called up in 1832. Many of them were Quakers, but Moorman Way was also among them.

I suspect that this was a call-up due to the Black Hawk war, but don’t know that for sure. I’m hoping to find more information about it.

The Friends Church in Arba still exists, but unfortunately I didn’t take a photo. It’s just to the left of the road in this photo, in front of the town cemetery that was my final destination for the day. Myra was on her way to meet me there.

It wasn’t until the next day’s ride that I started to realize just how prominent a role the Quakers played in this part of Indiana. Not understanding it cost me an extra dozen miles of riding and kept us from getting back home to Battle Creek as early as we had planned. I’ll explain later.

(Sep 28, cont.) From the Thomas W. Parker place I rode a mile east along the Randolph-Wayne county line to Arba Road. This was one of the main destinations for the day. It's a place where the modern road still follows the old "Quaker Trace." In Indiana ...

(Sep. 28, cont.) At the southwest corner of Thomas W. Parker's old property, i.e. at the intersection of the Greenville Treaty Line and the Randolph-Wayne county line, I stopped to look for places that the first settler might have picked for his home site. ...

(Sep 28, cont.) The 1882 history of Randolph County page 359) tells of the first settler in Greensfork Township, who was also the first settler in the entire county. The first settler was Thomas W. Parker, April, 1814, on Fractional Section 32, Town 1, Range 1, just east of the ...

This front yard is in the extreme northwest corner of Colon Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan. In May 1832 settlers started building a fort here to protect themselves from Indians. There were fears that Black Hawk's people would invade Michigan, and some people were also afraid ...