A couple of years back, I was scrolling through old plat maps of land near my neighborhood when I stumbled on a landowner with one of the funniest names I’d ever seen: Squire Fimple. I did a little digging into who he was, then tucked the name away in the back of my mind until this past weekend. I was poking around Collins Cemetery in suburban Muncie when a tall pink granite stone caught my eye. To my surprise, I was standing at the grave of none other than Squire Fimple himself!
Squire T.H. Fimple was born in Letart Falls, Ohio, near Pomeroy in the southeastern part of the state. The son of a German father and a Virginian mother, Fimple’s unique surname may be a version of the Middle High German word fimpel, which meant a simpleton or a fool1. Regardless, his family moved to Monongahala County, Virginia, in 18322 then came to Wayne County, Indiana, two years later3 The Fimples settled in the Delaware County wilderness in 1835 and Squire eventually farmed the surrounds. He married Betsy Bevens on March 21, 1850, and the couple had three children. Unfortunately, two died at young ages.
Squire Fimple was not known as an intelligent man, but was nonetheless considered of “good natural ability4.” By 1887, his forty acre farm had grown to 136 acres5! The Fimples made their home on Nebo Road, just south of what’s now the site of the University Christian Church6.
In 1881, Fimple and his son J.R. installed about six hundred rods -nearly 1,000 feet- of tile ditching on their farm which enabled them to plow their land a month earlier than their neighbors7 . Fimple’s ditch was recognized as a tributary of York Prairie Creek in 18988, and still existed as late as 19959! It may still today. I’ll have to look next time I’m on my way to Panda Express.
Unfortunately, that’s about all I know about Squire Fimple. He died suddenly in 1890 at sixty-five from septic fever said to have been caused by cutting himself as he butchered a diseased hog. The death of Mr. Fimple “came as a blow to his many friends…,” said the Muncie Daily Times. “He was quite wealthy and at times eccentric, but always law-abiding10.”
Aside from the ditch that took his name, Squire Fimple’s lasting legacy may well be the granite monument near the middle of Collins Cemetery. Standing before it, I couldn’t help but smile at how a funny name on a plat map had turned into a tangible encounter with local history.
Sources Cited
1 Fimple (n.d.) My Heritage. Web. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
2 Squire T.H. Fimple. (1890, November 26). The Muncie Daily [Muncie]. Web. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
3 (See footnote 2).
4 (See footnote 2).
5 Kingman Brothers. (1874). Map of Delaware County, Indiana. Chicago, IL.
6 Griffing, B. N. (1887). Mt. Pleasant Township. An atlas of Delaware County, Indiana. map, Philadelphia, PA; Griffing, Gordon, & Company.
7 City News (1881, April 25). The Muncie Morning News. p. 1.
8 Three Ditches Sold (1898, July 19). The Muncie Daily Times. p. 2.
9 Legal Notices (1995, August 14). The Muncie Star Press. p. 11.
10 Poisoned (1890, November 12). The Muncie Daily Times. p. 1.
The name sounds like a country gentleman in a Dickens novel. 🙂
It’s a good one!
Daniel Boone’s brother was named Squire Boone.
I’d forgotten that!