Page "Clay County, Indiana" Paragraph 5

By the 1860s the towns of Harmony, Knightsville, and Brazil were growing rapidly, due in part to their location along the National Road, and also because of the many coal companies in that section of the county.

An effort to move the county seat of government to a more central location, which had begun in the 1850s, grew stronger creating controversy among citizens.

In the 1860s citizens in the northern section of Clay County became more organized in their efforts.