The Early history of Austin, Indiana
The story of Austin Indiana began in 1839, when a white settler named Isaiah Jones settled into the area and began clearing off the land where he built a log cabin home for his family. As Jones settled into his land, he became friends with local Indians, most likely Delawares that lived nearby. Jones faced many challenges as he cleared away the forests, along with the rigorous life of the daily hard labor he constantly had to deal with the threat of panther and bear attacks to his livestock.
As Jones continued to farm the area, and other settlers moved into the community, the small village remained a farming community until 1848, when the Pennsylvania Railroad began constructing a road through the village. Over the next couple of years there was significant change in the community, and soon people began to live nearby the tracks being graded in the town. By the late 1840s the Texas natives were already calling the community Austin, and by the early 1850s the community was filled by residents with diverse backgrounds. There were the early settlers still living in the area, along with the Texas natives, and the Irish immigrants that came to Austin to work on the railroad. The Irish immigrants were known to be hard workers, hard fighting and hard drinking.
On May 3rd, 1851, and with the railroad grading nearly complete, a gentleman named Morris Sarver purchased ten acres of land from Isaiah Jones. The land Sarver purchased was situated on both sides of the newly laid tracks, and to him should go the credit of having the first idea of a town on the railroad, even though he did nothing to develop the plan. In March of 1853, the land was sold to George A. and Katherine Rankin of New Frankfort, Indiana. George Rankin then formed a business venture with two men from New Frankfort, named Caleb H. Skeel and John Elsey. The three men now in control of the land and vision that once belonged to Sarver pursued the establishment of Austin as an official town.