Submitter’s note: This story is from “Brown County Remembers,” author not known.
There is an old road in Jackson Township which had extremely interesting history. It ran west out of Bean Blossom across hill and dale, ending up many miles away on Carmel Ridge, and was known as Whitecap Road.
It was so called because at the beginning of the road lived a man who was so quarrelsome, none of the neighbors could tolerate him. A bundle of switches was left at his door by the “Whitecappers.” He knew the meaning of this.
Whitecaps were a group of physically strong men who, when some man in the township needed reprehending, but the law could get no “legal” proof, would take over. Old folks called them Whitecappers.
Usually, but not always, they laid a bundle of switches at the door as a warning.
On the Carmel Ridge end of the road, a man was accused of chicken stealing. He was taken out of his home one night, and in no uncertain terms was told what would happen to him if any more chickens were missing. This too, was the work of the Whitecappers.
Both ends of this road are now closed to traffic. First out of Bean Blossom, this road crossed the John Turner hill. On top of this hill just west of the road had been an old Indian camping ground. A few years ago, arrowheads and all kinds of Indian working tools broken up by the years were plowed up there.
At the foot of this hill was a never-failing spring of clear, cool water. Tradition has it that Daniel Boone in his wanderings made camp at this spring.
Just beyond this spring, the creek bends and has cut a huge bluff. This bluff is known as Hunicutt Bluff because during the Civil War, a deserter being chased by federal officers jumped off the bluff into the creek below and got away.
Whitecap Road crosses Bean Blossom Creek angling northwest. Here it is joined by what is known as Railroad Road. Not far up this road lived an elderly couple who hid out all night in their big old barn from the Indians. A death in the family occurred here. At that time, bodies were not embalmed and were laid out in the homes. Neighbors and friends would come to spend the night with the family. This night, the men had to build a big bonfire in the yard and keep it going all night to keep the wolves and other wild animals from prowling around the house.
During the Civil War, a band of Knights of the Golden Circle, along with deserters and draft dodgers, holed up near Railroad Road and Whitecap Road. They tramped the ground in the daytime unafraid and foraged at night for food. The Knights of the Golden Circle were southern sympathizers.
Living in this neighborhood was an elderly man, too old for the Army. He was determined to get this notorious gang out of the neighborhood and he rode horseback to Fort Benjamin Harrison to ask for help.
A company of soldiers with horse-drawn cannon started for Brown County. They were about halfway there when the Hilltop Gang, being notified of the cannon and its purpose, dispersed.
One night during the war, several neighborhood women were sitting by the fireplace in their cabin, smoking their pipes, when the door burst open and a Union soldier entered. He was looking for deserters.
When all of this was occurring, William W. Snider (known as “Tobacco Bill”) was in the 126th Infantry Indiana Volunteers with General Sherman, in Georgia. William Snider was an early settler in Jackson Township.
Whitecap Road continues on over the hill to Oak Ridge Chapel and Cemetery. Before reaching the cemetery, there is a valley cradling Dunaway Creek. This valley was known as Witch Hollow.
Farther up this valley, where it narrows to a creek between two wooded hills, lore has it there lived a family who sent their 10-year-old son on an errand and he never returned.
— Submitted by Pauline Hoover, Brown County Historical Society
