Because of frequent land claim conflicts and the presence of Indians roaming the Miami Valley in the years preceding the War of 1812, however, there were less than 50 families living in the area now known as Shelby County.

While pioneers were a special breed of people who could build, hunt, plant crops and gather food, not all early settlers were prepared to handle what greeted them when they arrived on the frontier. The first pioneers had to make do with what was available at the site where they chose to live. To remove the forests, kill the wild animals and transform this wilderness, was the task set before them.