Built in 1834 by William Polke, first white settler in Fulton County, this is the oldest and first frame house in the county and the first frame house built north of Wabash River. It was called the White House and was a stagecoach inn on the Michigan Road. Born in 1775, Polke was captured when 7 years old and held prisoner by Indians for over a year. He was wounded in Battle of Tippecanoe 1811, served in Indiana Territorial House of Representatives and in first State Senate, member of convention that wrote first Indiana constitution 1816, and with brother-in-law Isaac McCoy was missionary to Indians 1824-25. In 1829 Polke was appointed commissioner for sale of Michigan Road lands, coming to Fulton County in 1830 to survey. In 1831 on south bank of Tippecanoe, Polke built a log cabin and trading post, in which was Chippeway post office, making him first postmaster in county. In 1834 Polke helped lay out the town of Plymouth. In 1838 Gen. John Tipton had charge of removing Potawatomi Indians from northern Indiana to Kansas, the infamous Trail of Death. At the Indiana state line, Tipton left Polke in charge of the march. Polke befriended the Indians in every way he could. Polke moved to Fort Wayne in 1841 to be registrar of land office there, where he died in 1843.
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