The Indiana Humanities Council and the Indiana Supreme Court have awarded The Johnson County Historical Society a grant to support the project  “The Historic Johnson County Courthouse and Courts”.

The project will document the places, important people, and significant events that have shaped the legal system in this county. It will include major case decisions that have impacted Indiana law, as well as the general history of the courthouse and courts.

Researchers will utilize court documents, oral and written histories of the courts and courthouse, and brief family histories of those prominent in Johnson County law.

Some of the results of this grant will include:

• The Historic Johnson County Courthouse and Courts School Program Guide, suitable for classroom use for grade 2
• The legal history program "Historic Johnson County Courthouse" at the Johnson County Museum on Saturday, October 15th at 4pm
• A comprehensive list of legal resources available in Johnson County.

Updates to the project as of October 2011:

Now on display at the museum: an exhibit highlighting the history of the legal system in Johnson County.

     Grant components nearing completion include “The Historic Johnson County Courthouse and Courts School Program Guide” for second graders, a museum legal history display, a sample guide of historic legal resources, and a summary of discovery suitable for publication.  This grant presents the county with the impetus and challenge to further document and preserve the histories of the courthouses and legal system.

   Local authors Jim Hillman and John Murphy have written an article for the Johnson County Historical Society's quarterly newsletter, Nostalgia News.  In it, they explore the history of the establishment of Johnson County. The article tells how a petition to establish Johnson County was brought to the Indiana General Assembly in 1822 under the principal leadership of George King, a local landowner. The bill  was signed into law by Governor Hendricks on December 31, 1822, and Johnson County was established on May 5, 1823.  John Smiley, the proprietor of Smiley’s Mill, was appointed the first sheriff of the new county. The Board of Commissioners accepted a donation of 56 acres of land from Mr. King for the establishment of a town to be named Franklin, and determined that the new town would be the county seat.

The Johnson County Museum of History also presented a program by Jim Hillman and John Murphy that was a concluding discussion of findings related to this important project on Saturday, October 15th at 4:00pm. About 15 people attended the program, which also discussed how to foster the county’s continuing efforts to preserve and record Johnson County’s legal history -- past, present, and future.





  The Johnson County Historical Society would like to thank the Indiana Humanities Council and the Indiana Supreme Court for their support of this project.