I am of the opinion that the La Rue House was built and occupied in 1856, by James and Kid La Rue. It was a log house, one and one-half or two stories high, and stood on the northwest quarter of section 4, near the north line.
William McGuire was living in December, 1854, on the west half of the northwest quarter of section 19— so I believe, as I was there in December, 1854. Harvey Dye, about this time, lived on the east half of the southeast quarter of section 12, and John Brouhard on the west half of the northwest quarter of section 18. W. .H. Richardson and George H. Richardson were also among the first settlers of New Albany Township. The town was laid out in 1855, and several families settled in and around it in 1855 and '56. The west part of the township seemed to be the attraction. The town, however, got its growth by 1857 or '58. It is now one of the things of the past. As early- settlers add John McBarnes and Joshua COOPER.
Ten years after New Albany was laid out, Colo came up. Its history is given elsewhere in New Albany Township.
The first passenger train reached Colo late in 1863 or early in '64. It was the first railroad post-office in the county, and the first point to ship from. Stock and grain were shipped from Colo in the latter part of 1863. The station is meant, for Colo was not yet laid off; but in June, 1864, the post-office was called Colo.
This C. R. & M. R., as it then was called, enters the county in the northeast quarter of section 12. The road now is the Chicago & Northwestern Railway and runs parallel to the section line, cutting off just one hundred feet of the south side of the north tier of the forties of sections 7, 8, 9, 10. 11 and 12, through which the road runs. Mr. W. W. Walker, the Chief Engineer of the road, said he done so, so as to have only half as many to settle with for the right-of-way and damages, as if the center of the road were placed on the line between the forties.
We now find Colo a brisk, live town. For its business and business men, see "Directories" in Index. Population in 1880 of Colo was two hundred and ninety-six. The township nine hundred. At this date, 1886, the population will be greater.
It has one of the best railroads (Chicago & Northwestern,) in the western states, and shipped stock from this point in 1863; and there being then no hotel at Colo, people went to Mr. Joshua COOPER's to stay over night and get something to eat.
There is but little native timber in this township—a little in the west quarter of section 18, and a few trees near and around the the west quarter section corner of section 19.
There are two or three small streams running through the township. The Harvey Dye branch runs through sections 5 and 7—