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Lyles or Lyles Station is an unincorporated community in Patoka Township, Gibson County, Indiana. Founded by freed Tennessee slave Joshua Lyles in 1849,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=History of Lyles Station )〕 the community was Indiana's first black settlement and the only one remaining today.〔 〕 The community's schoolhouse was also the target of a major restoration and renovation effort around the turn of the 21st century, and currently serves as a museum to the history of the community. ==History== Joshua Lyles, an African American, who is attributed with founding one of the earliest of Indiana’s black settlements, was born around 1800, in Henry County, Virginia, according to the Negro Registry of Gibson County, Indiana.〔The Registry of Negroes in Gibson County, Indiana (Patoka township), ca. 1852.〕 Numerous articles written about Joshua Lyles assert, without any evidentiary verification, that he was born a slave and freed when he reached 28 years of age.〔Carl C. Lyles, Sr., Lyles Station, Indiana: Yesterday and Today. Evansville, Indiana: University of Southern Indiana (1984). Bill Shaw, A Beacon of History. The Indianapolis Star, February 2, 1997, p. 3. Rebecca C. Zorich and Cornelius O’Brien, Our Historical Perspective., The African-American Landmarks Committee of historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana (1995), vol. 1, issue 1, p. 3. Princeton Indiana Genealogy, Slaves Sought Freedom. Lyles Station Historical Preservation Corp. (2000), p. 1. Lyles Station Historical Preservation corp., The Story of Joshua and Sanford Lyles. Black History News and Notes. The Indiana Historical Society Library, Indianapolis, Ind., August 2002, vol. 1, issue 89. Randy K. Mills, They Defended Themselves Nobly: A Story of African American Empowerment in Evansville, Indiana, 1857. Black History News and Notes. The Indiana Historical Society Library, Indianapolis, Ind., August 2005, vol. 1, issue 101, p. 3.〕 Tennessee archival records reveal that Joshua and Sanford Lyles and their family were born free persons and were never enslaved, according to the attestation of Col. Joseph Hopson, recorded in the Montgomery County, Tennessee Court Minutes, Vol. 2, 1823-1824. After wandering for several years, in 1849 they bought land near the confluence of the White, Patoka, and Wabash rivers with the assistance of the Religious Society of Friends. They farmed for several years, over time expanding their holdings to well over . The Agricultural Schedule for the 1850 census indicates that merely a decade following his family’s arrival in Indiana, Joshua Lyles owned 60 acres of improved land, 260 acres of unimproved land, a farm valued at $500, and farm implements valued at $10. The value of his livestock was estimated at $247, while the value of the animals slaughtered was assessed at $99. The Schedule indicates that the previous year, in 1849, Joshua Lyles had 4 horses, 10 cows, and 50 swine. The Lyles farm produced 150 lbs of butter, 10 lbs of maple sugar, 60 lbs of honey, and 500 bushels of Indian corn.〔U.S. Census of 1850, Patoka township, Gibson County, Indiana, roll M432_147, page 6, image 12, Joshua Lyles household.〕〔Agricultural Schedule to U.S. Census of 1850, Gibson County, Indiana〕 Shortly after the Civil War, Joshua Lyles returned to Tennessee to encourage newly-emancipated slaves to settle in Indiana. As the settlement grew, Lyles donated of land to the Airline Railroad; in exchange, the railroad built a train station, providing passenger and mail service to the settlement. The introduction of rail service speeded up growth, so that by 1913 in addition to 55 homes the settlement, with a population of over 800, was home to a school, two churches, and two general stores. In 1913 unusually heavy rains caused the White, Wabash, and Patoka rivers to overflow their banks. Lyles Station's proximity to all three meant that it was exceptionally susceptible to this disaster. The floodwaters not only destroyed homes, but also drowned cattle—essential for Lyles Station's agrarian population—and rendered the railroad useless; Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church was spared, however. The community never fully recovered from this disaster, as most of the residents sought a less risky existence in the larger cities to the north and south, such as Evansville and Terre Haute. However, a school was built in 1919, and educated the remaining children of the community until it was closed in 1958 as part of a trend towards school consolidation. As of mid-2007, only about six families remain in Lyles Station, nearly all descended from the original settlers. Wayman Chapel A.M.E. Church still holds regular Sunday services. The schoolhouse, Lyles Consolidated School, has been fully restored from its decrepit state and now serves as a living history museum. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lyles Station, Indiana」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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