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Dewey Township was originally part of Van Buren
Township in Starke County. When a section of Starke County was ceded
to LaPorte County in 1842 what was to become Dewey Township was
included within the Cass Township boundaries. In 1860, Dewey was
organized as a separate township and was named for the Dewey family
who were early settlers.
The Kankakee River, which forms the township's
southern boundary, contributed to large expanses of marshland. Almost
one-half of the township's area flooded every spring. Because of
these conditions and because much of the township was owned by land
speculators, settlement was slow.
The first settler was George Schimmel who came to
the area in 1854. Four years later the township's first school was
built on Hog Island. Most of the early settlers were Germans who
produced hay and kept stock farms, two of the township's leading
industries.
New construction in 1852 of the Louisville, New
Albany and Chicago Railroad through the township was followed by four
other rail lines within the next few decades. Four of those lines
joined at a small town known as LaCrosse, the township's only
surviving town.
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