[1] The first land acquired by settlers was in 1809 on the northern border with Ripley County.

Many early settlers were Scotch-Irish and were prominent in forming the Jefferson Presbyterian Church in 1818.

Another early group was what was known as "Low Dutch", families primarily of Dutch origin who had lived in the New Amsterdam settlements in New York and New Jersey and who moved to Kentucky in the early 1780s.

Many were from towns such as Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and the Edinburgh area.

The township contains these cemeteries: Canaan, Copeland, Etherton, Fry, Indian Kentuck, Jefferson Presbyterian, Lee, Lemen, Mathis, Means, Mermoud, Mount Pleasant Baptist, Pullum (or Pulliam), Riker, Risk, Rogers, Short (Blackhawk), Skeen, Spencer, Thornton, Vestal (Evans Farm) and Welch.