Four months after the Indiana General Assembly established Clinton County, longtime resident John Pence donated 60 acres of centrally located farmland where the county seat would be built. Thanks to Pence's generosity, the city of Frankfort, named in honor of his ancestral German home, was born on May 9, 1830. Dense forests, poor roads, and harsh winters were among the many challenges facing Frankfort's earliest inhabitants. Yet, that tiny, close-knit...