William Conner Farm Architectural Drawings Collection

William Conner (1777-1855) was a fur-trader, farmer, and businessman who came to Indiana with his brother, John, in the winter of 1801-1802 and settled along the White River in the area north of Indianapolis and south of Muncie, what would later be known as Hamilton County. William lived and traded with members of the Delaware tribe, and eventually married Mekinges, a Delaware woman, with whom he had six children.

Despite this relationship, Conner began to work in governmental affairs which would lead to the removal of the Delaware out of Indiana. His wife and children left their log cabin home in 1820 and Conner married Elizabeth Chapman, a white woman, later that same year. They would have ten children together.

Conner began construction on their Federal-style brick home in 1823, locating it on a terrace edge overlooking the White River less than half a mile south of his log cabin. By this time Conner's large farm was well established and he was reaping crops of corn, rye, and oats. In his later years, Conner moved his large family in 1837 into Noblesville, the town he co-founded, and it is unclear who lived in the home at that time. It is presumed that Conner’s children lived there, or possibly tenant farmers. Conner’s Delaware children tried unsuccessfully to claim title to the land and house in the 1860s.

In 1915, the house was purchased by Indianapolis businessman Eugene Darrach, who added the kitchen onto the house. Despite efforts of maintaining the home, it began to fall into disrepair until pharmaceutical executive and philanthropist Eli Lilly (1885-1977) purchased the home in 1934. Combining his interests in farming and history, Lilly immediately sought to restore the existing structures and preserve the estate as a working farm, where he grew crops and raised livestock.

Now known as Conner Prairie, the site is a living history museum where visitors can tour the Conner house as well as other structures on the property.