It is not an easy matter to write the history of such a county as Harrison. Many events had an influence in shaping its destiny. Less than a century ago, the territory comprising this county was a wild, unbroken waste, inhabited by the howling wolf, the fleet-footed deer, the roaming buffalo and the untutored Indian. Then came the white man, and all was changed, and the hum of peaceful industry is heard on every side. Where once the council fire blazed and the wigwams of the Indian stood, commercial, industrial and social institutions have developed.
Harrison, organized February 14, 1845. Called for Albert G. Harrison, of Fulton, Missouri, member of Congress from 1835 to 1839. Died September 7, 1839.
This county, as was usually the case in all new countries, was settled by people who set out to establish, on new and cheap land, homes and communities for themselves and their families. They were people without much means, generally, who had courage and energy, determination and endurance, and who were capable of economy and patience. They were self-reliant and coming as they did with the purposes they did, were a people of farmers and honesty. Among them there was no place for a lazy man, a dude or a thief.
Of course before the first settlements were made the country had been explored and traversed by hunters and trappers. These had given names to many of the creeks and groves. For instance it is said that a camp of hunters on a creek a few miles southeast of Bethany from the number of skunks they found there, named the creek Pole-Cat, a name it bears to this day. Big- Creek was named by settlers near its mouth where it flows into Grand River. Shane Creek was named after Thomas Shane, one of the first settlers upon its banks. And Sugar Creek was named from the unusual fact that along its course were found many hard maples from which sugar is made and to this day there are land-owners in that region who have preserved their sugar groves.