” Every farm had a catfish pond, beehives, apple orchards. It was a‘ Charlotte’ s Web’-type atmosphere.”
— Bill Root
photo courtesy of Alice Lorenz photo by Bob Gustin ~ by Bob Gustin
The house that Bill Root was born in, and lived in until he was married in 1967, is on display for all to see at the Brown County History Center in Nashville. But this is a scale model where one inch represents one foot, and the accoutrements take you back a century or so.
For nearly 200 years, the big white farmhouse near Frichton, Indiana, has been owned by the Root family. Now, one member of the family, Brown County artist Bill Root, has made a painstakingly accurate model of the historic house which is on semi-permanent display at the History Center.
The story of the Knox County home, which still stands, goes back to a time before Indiana was a state. It was a time, in fact, when Knox County encompassed not only what is now known as Brown County, but the whole of what is now Indiana, as well as parts of Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio.
Bill Root knows the history well. The story begins with Revolutionary War hero George Rogers Clark, who defeated the British in Vincennes and captured Fort Sackville. One of Clark’ s allies was Francis Vigo, who received a large land grant after the war. Part of that tract was bought by a pioneer named David Snyder, who sold it to Simeon Root, great-great-grandfather of Bill Root, in 1825. The family has owned the house since, and Bill’ s oldest brother lives there now.
Simeon was a peddler selling buttons, cloth, and other items. He was living in Farmington, Connecticut, when he decided to go west and wound up in the little
20 Our Brown County Nov./ Dec. 2016