Pre-note:  Benville, Indiana was one of the early communities within the area that would become the Jefferson Proving Ground.

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Benville was located in Bigger Township along the Jennings-Ripley County Line.

According to a clipping in the Indiana State Gazetteer (probably sometime 1860 to

1880) published in "Memories of Bigger Township," the population was 40.

According to "Memories," the Benville post office operated from 1858 to

1906, when Rural Free Delivery went into effect. Post offices were located in the

general store or other places of business. Postmasters were Joseph Passmore, James

Hole, Joel Hidder, Robert Ransdell, Jonathan Cope, John F. Hayden and Francis Dolan.

At one time, the post office was a small building (the Hayden general store) located

on a farm later owned by Carey Fry. The store was later converted into a residence

that stood on the Jennings-Ripley County Line; half of the house was in Jennings,

the other half in Ripley.

The Gazetteer lists J. F. Hayden (born in 1841 in Jennings County) as the postmaster,

operating the general store and as a justice.  James Graham and T. G. Stout operated

sawmills; J. A. Hines and H. Hughes were livestock traders; J. H. Hoole, carpenter;

J. G. Mayer, wagonmaker; John H. Perkins, undertaker; Robert Ransdell, constable;

and Edmund Seamon, blacksmith.

In 1900, a history of Bigger Township published in The North Vernon Republican states

"Benville is surrounded by good farms and comfortable homes. E. H. Burton dispenses

general merchandise and buys country produce; Ed Semon does general blacksmithing;

Joseph Ralstin & Son are sawmillers and also operated a threshing machine, a corn shredder

and a clover huller; U. E. Smith is a building contractor and also raises barns for other

carpenters throughout the county.

Smith was the contractor on the Benville Bridge, which is on the National Register

of Historic Places. "Memories" also includes two photographs of the bridge.

Workers included Frank Perkins and Bill Stark.

There were also several black families living in the Benville area. One of these

was the Frank Downing family. The 1884 Jennings County Atlas indicates there was

a "colored" school there.  However, in a photograph published in "Memories"

the only black student is Frank Downing.

"Historic Black American Sites and Structures," a publication by the Jennings

County Preservation Association (PO Box 412, Vernon, IN 47265), states two sources

indicate the Emancipation Day was celebrated at Benville by large gatherings, including

people from Cincinnati.

The JCPA article also states, "Two burial sites have been documented. Hillett Cemetery contained three marked and 49 unmarked graves.  The cemetery on the former Boswell Farm

had one marked grave and 11 unmarked sites.  Efforts to locate the sites were unsuccessful. Records of the grave relocation cannot be found."

Brilliant daffodils and iris blossoms in the springtime, and a few partial foundations

are the only reminders today of where Benville once flourished.