The story
Welcome to Noble Township
Noble Township, a fractional township in the southwest corner of Branch County, was set off from Bronson in 1845, nine years after its first settlers arrived. A ‘Dutch settlement’ begun by Daniel Himebaugh in 1836, with its Mennonite church, and the crossroads of Hickory Corners mark its history.
Noble is fractional Township 8 South, Range 8 West, on the Indiana line. It was named and allowed its own government apart from Bronson on March 19, 1845, and the first township meeting was held in April 1845 at the house of John Grove on section 9. Ambrose Hale was the first supervisor. Collin says James Anderson, a native of Scotland who settled in the southeast corner in 1842, where the little lake still bears his name, was responsible for the name given to the township.
The first settlers came in 1836. That year Daniel Himebaugh settled on section 6 and began what was always known as the ‘Dutch settlement’ in the northwest corner; Collin calls the Mennonite church on section 2 the visible sign of the faith that bound that community together. Thomas Henderson and William Robinson settled in 1836, David Foster in 1837, and Peter Mallow on section 5 in 1840.
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Hickory Corners, named for a group of hickory trees that once stood there, was never a business centre beyond being, at one time, the home of the postmaster and the site of the schoolhouse. Noble had a post office in its eastern part until rural free delivery, and Collin wrote that it had been noted from the first for its farms.
The 2020 census counted 458 people in Noble Township.