"It is well-known that what is now Etna Township, Whitley County, was once a part of Washington Township, Noble County but for certain reasons detached from Noble upon petition of the inhabitants. It is said that many of the residents of that territory are sorry that the transfer was ever made and would be glad to return to the mother county of Noble. The following recently taken from the Columbia City Post explains who the men were who asked to be transferred and how it was accomplished:

Etna Township, June 25, 1885.

Editor Post. - Will you please give your readers in these parts a little bit of history by answering the following questions. When was Etna Township struck off from Noble County? Who signed the petition for the change? When and how did it get the name of Etna? X.Y.Z.

The petition for the striking off from Noble County, that part of Washington Township that is now Etna Township, Whitley County, comprising a strip two miles wide and six miles long, was presented to the board of commissioners at the September term 1869* and was acted on at the December term 1869*. The final order was made December 8, 1869*, and reads as follows: It is therefore hereby ordered by the board that the boundary line of said counties be so changed as to conform to the lines mentioned in said petition so that the several sections mentioned in said petition be included in the county of Whitley.

The petition was signed by the following voters of the territory. Thomas Hartup, L. Lamson, A. Straight, J. Trumbull, S. Trumbull Jr., A. M. Blain, William Graves, A. Bennett, Henry Myers, D. K. Chandlier, William A. Blaine, Isaac Sheafer, Silas Scott, Alanson Tucker, Eli R. Jones, D. J. Bowman, S. Benton, William Crow, R. Blain, W. Jones, John A. Miller, T. Blain, Benjamin Boyer, J. McKendry, John Blain, Alex McKendry, James Blain, T. Gaff, J. Fashbaugh, L. Kile, Jacob Kile, Franklin Hunt, John W. Long, John Long, W. B. Cunningham, J. F. Cunningham, Joseph Welker, Lyman Robinson, D. S. Scott, S. Bennett, J. Bennett, A. Straight Sen., Thomas Scott, M. C. Scott, Robert Scott Sen., Fielding Scott, Frederick Sheets, A. B. Gandy, F. M. King, Samuel Garrison, Simon Trumbull, J. C. Matthew, F. Kind, John Kisler, J. D. Goble, Jacob P. Pricket and T. B. Long.

The new territory received the name of Etna Township Sept. 11, 1860* by an order of the board of commissioners at a special session on that day. It was named after the village in its limits and that village was designated as the voting place.

On the 13th day of September 1860* A. M. Myers was appointed by the board to take a duplicate of all the lands and lots in said territory from the records in Noble County and also to procure the congressional trust fund that belonged to the new township. The first trust was executed but the congressional trust was never delivered over to Whitley County until less than two years ago. However this county had the use of the interest as though the money had been here."

Albion New Era July 16, 1885

* Dates copied as printed.