Dearborn County, Indiana suffered a courthouse fire on 6 March 1826. All records were destroyed. The following articles from Lawrenceburg newspapers detail the fire and its destruction.
See Dearborn County Reconstructed Records for more details.
(Lawrenceburg) Indiana Palladium – 18 Mar 1826 – Page 3, Column 1
Fire!–About 2 o’clock on the morning of the 6th inst. a very destructive fire occurred in this place, which destroyed the court house, together with the papers and records of the clerk and recorder’s offices. The fire when first discovered, was making rapid progress up the stairway from the first floor, but before a sufficient number had collected to effect any thing, it bust forth from the roof, which rendered it impossible to save the house with the means within the power of the citizens. There cannot be a doubt that the destruction was the work of an incendiary, as the fire originated in that part of the house most remove from any fire place, and unfrequented by those who occupied the offices. No correct estimate can be formed of the damage sustained; all the papers and documents burnt were generally valuable to some person. The clerk and sheriff are losers to a considerable amount.
The perpetrator of this base deed, has not yet been detected, and, we are sorry to add, probably, will not.
(Lawrenceburg) Indiana Palladium – 1 Apr 1826 – Page 2, Column 1
DEAR SIR—My address to you needs no apology, it is only intended to state facts, and apprize you of consequences that must grow out of them, whether you know them or not. It is a fact, that on the morning of the 6th inst. taking advantage of the darkness, you bid defiance to the Laws of your country, broke in upon the peace of society, and dared Omnipotence to his face, by setting fire to and consuming the Court House of this County, with all the records, papers, &c. By this act you have stamped your character with the name of the midnight incendiary; (a name detested by every honest man in the world,) and made it not only the interest, but also the duty, of all civilized men to pursue you wherever you go, until you are brought to the bar of your country to answer for your crimes, and receive the sentence your demerit; to drag out the remainder of your days in a state of seclusion from human society, that you may only live for a witness of the necessity of the Jail, the Penitentiary, or the Gallows.
You have destroyed the Court House of the County, the records, and many valuable papers that were there on file. You have aroused the fears of the industrious, you have added another foul blot upon the character of man, which to us outweighs every other consideration; by industry, by contribution, and by investigations all other losses possible, may be repaired; but who can wipe away the foul stain, while there lives among us a wretch like you (under the influence of the devil), who can wantonly trample under foot all the authority that gives security to persons of property. What man can lay down at night, and repose in safety, while there runs at large among them, such a foul fiend as you, Lucipher like, having ruined yourself past recovery, roaming about in the dark, to destroy the peace of others. For your offence you never can atone to your country nor appease your own conscience; what compensation can the temporary triumph you felt (when like Nero you were sporting in view of the conflagration) make for the stings of a guilty conscience, that will forment you day and night, and pursue you wherever you go. To whom will you look for protection when overtaken? You accomplices dare not take your part, and being like yourself, traitors, they would rather betray you than expose themselves to share your fate.—When you imagine the messengers of justice are at your heels, where can you take shelter in expectation of security? You have taught the use of that destructive element, that consumes without mercy.. Had you any plan in view that you thought might be affected by that wicked deed, to whom you can now look back for the reward of your labor; reflect for a moment that no honest man dare so far countenance the acts of an incendiary, as to make that a pretext for carrying into effect your favorite scheme. Your character now stands exposed to the world in all its deformity, doomed to bear the scorn and contempt of all good men. You cannot plead, as the assassin sometimes may, that being provoked and overcome with anger, he in an unguarded manner struck the fatal blow; no sir, after the subject was presented to your mind, you had time for reflection, you deliberated, you paused, yet without an excuse you perpetrated the horrid crime, for which you can obtain no forgiveness, unless with penitential sorrow you apply to God through the meditation of his son, in which should you fail, you will without gain, have lost the world, and lost your own soul.
DETECTOR.