Person:Samuel Gamble (9)

SAMUEL was one of the first settlers in Paw Paw Township. His farm was near the village of Roann, Indiana. It was about one mile south of Roann. It was Once known as the "GAMBLE SETTLEMENT", but the 1884 book does not say why it was so named. The first school in the area, which was one of the first in the whole township, was constructed in 1839.

This area was the center of the "English" settlers (as the Amish would say). These people were the first settlers in the area, following the forced migration of various native people from the area. Unlike their future German speaking neighbors, the newcomers had lived in the US many generations. They inter-married with similar "English" people, and generally belonged to the Presbyterian and Christian Churches; although there were a couple of other denominations which tried to make a go of it.

The "Gamble Settlement" people had surnames such as: Amber, Dunfee, Gamble, Graves, Hiner, Jack, Joy, Long, Meek, Richards, Squires, Stewart, Vanduyne, and Way, which can be found in these WeRelate.org pages.

Later, the "Gamble Settlement" people would begin to mix to a limited extent, with the large influx of recent German speaking immigrants, who began to arrive about 10 years later, and who would settle to the east of them. These later pioneers came mostly from the German speaking Palatinate; via Tuscarawas County, Ohio. They constructed their German Reformed Church, just south of the future village of Urbana, in 1851. This later group is the focus of "White Creek's" research, and the reason for the posting of most of his 5,000 people (so far) to this WeRelate.org site.

--White Creek 02:48, 14 June 2017 (UTC)

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Helm, Thomas B. History of Wabash County, Indiana: containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, military records portraits of early settlers and prominent men, personal reminiscences, etc. (Chicago: J. Morris, 1884).