Mount Liberty was a busy little community in the late 1800s and early 1900s in the eastern portion of Washington Township, Brown County, Indiana.
There was a post office, and Charles M. Patterson was the postmaster. There also were several businesses.
Enos Clark, Lawrence Clark, C.P. Hannah, Jesse Marshall and Charles M. Marshall all had general stores, Enos Clark was also a blacksmith. Lawrence Clark was a justice.
Thomas Evans was the plasterer, and William Frazier made brooms. C.P. Hannah also made wagons.
The meat market belonged to Enoch E. Joslin. Frank King was a blacksmith, and Wesley Kirts had a grist mill.
John Moore was the shoe maker. Along with a general store, Charles M. Marshall had grain and livestock.
Benjamin P. Smith was a lawyer, Phillip Talkington was a carpenter, and Benjamin Wilson owned a sawmill.
There was also a Catholic church that was active for about 16 years.
A couple of very early settlers to this area were the Burkhart and Siela families.
Today, we want to focus on the Burkhart and the Siela families because they were very much affiliated with the Catholic church in the Mount Liberty area and very closely connected to the Burkhart Cemetery. We know the Burkhart family and the Siela family were German immigrants.
George Burkhart (1796-1868) and his wife, Elizabeth, lived in the Mount Liberty area from 1859 until their death. Both are buried in the Burkhart Cemetery.
Anton Siela was born in 1830 in Wattenberg, Germany. He migrated to the United States, then to Ohio County, West Virginia, where he married Barbara Burkhart, who was born in Bavaria.
Anthony Saile (Anton Siela) applied for naturalization in 1856. By 1870, this family (with eight children) was living in eastern Washington Township in Brown County. Anton and Barbara are also buried in the Burkhart Cemetery.
On March 4, 1873, the Rev. Right Maurice D. St. Palinas bought three acres of land from Adam and Barbara Zwick, according to Deed Book B (Page 305).
It is not clear if Adam and Barbara Zwick had any connection to the area. These three acres were taken from a 40-acre parcel owned by Elizabeth Satterthwaite. We would very much like to find the connection these families have to each other. Adam and Barbara Zwick lived here for a short time, but for the most part were residents of northern Bartholomew County.
On Oct. 4, 1889, Bishop Francis Silas Chatard, successor to the Rev. Right Maurice D. St. Palinas, sold the three acres to Charles M. Peterson, according to Deed Book 14 (Page 1). We believe the church was a short distance east from the cemetery along Mount Liberty Road.
If anyone has any information about this church, exactly where it stood, why it folded or the family connections, we would like to hear from you. You may call 812-988-2899 or email us at rhonda@brown countyhistorycenter.org or mail us at P.O. Box 668, Nashville, Indiana, 47448
— Pauline Hoover, Brown County Historical Society
