Walking Tour 1202 18th Street ♦ Bedford, Indiana Walking Tour of Green Hill Cemetery Stop #7 - Joseph Rawlins (1796-1885) Joseph Rawlins ran a mercantile business in Bedford and was the first assessor. He also operated a grist mill, saw mills, and packing houses on Salt Creek. Rawlins often related to his children the details of March 24, 1825, when the Board of Justices summoned him to their meeting. They were having a problem coming up with a name for the new town, and Rawlins suggested calling it "Bedford," after Bedford County, TN. The name was immediately approved: "Ordered that Bedford be, and is, the name of the new seat of Justice of Lawrence County." The Rawlins Mansion was located on the south side of 15th Street just west of J Street and was the stopping place for all Methodist ministers who came to the community. Rawlins youngest daughter, Antoinette Ellen, married Colonel Archibald C. Voris. GO BACK to homepage. |
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