An old report gives Jacob Dopler credit for being the first settler at Enterprise, anti the first man to carry on any sort of commercial business in the neighborhood. That was shipping goods and produce on the Little Wabash river to Grayville, which was quite a thriving market in that day.

The exact date of this first settlement and business is not known. It is also report ed that this man's wife was the first person buried  in the community.  As nothing more concerning this family and the activity of Mr. Dopler is known, and there are soon more definite reports of other settlers, we may conclude with considerable plausibility, that he did not remain or carry on business long after his wife's death.   Our lack ot knowledge of where he came from and where he vent, and the transept period he was in the community, are all too meager to give much value to the historic incident.

Granting the complete truth and accuracy of the report, it also implies quite clearly that there must have been other settlers not far from the place of his settlement, for how could a man with
a wife who died soon after their settlement carry on any business venture without people in reasonable reach of him who were able to buy and sell?  Had there not been some people near who knew the facts such a report could hardly have been handed down to a later generation.

Jesse Fly and his five sons, John, James, Jackson, Perry and Columbus and his three daughters, Eliza, Sarah and Martha, and Thomas Mayes, grandfather of T. J. Mayes, arrived December 27, 1828.  Jesse Fly put up a horse mill which he ran for several years

John McCracken, a brother of Sam, came to the township later, and his child, Mary, was the first white child born in the township.  William McCormick, William Fitch, Daniel Kelly and Aaron Flat followed a little later. About 1850 many German families arrived. Among these were the Kasts, Steins, Barths, Millers, Fishers, Obrechts and others.

Enterprise lies in the section eighteen of Elm River township, first owned by Jacob Bartlett, who sold it to Benjamin Cobourn, who sold it to ,Jacob H. Biddle, who had the town platted and named it Enterprise, and put up time first store in it. The word Enterprise means the undertaking of an important business by a person determined to succeed, which Mr, Biddle likely had in mind when he chose it as the name of the town.  A post office was established at this point in 1852.  Enterprise was a stage stop between Mayesville (Clay City) and Fairfield perhaps as early as the date of the first post office in 1852.

John Rinard,  F. A. Kutz, B. Cooper, T. J. Mayes, ,J. W.  Ingram and O. S. Brown were all successful merchants at Enterprise in the earlier days, for the town commands  the trade of a large scope of country. In 1884 Louis D. Barth (father of Sam and Herb Barth of Fairfield) was the leading merchant and carried on a thriving business for more than twenty years. About the end of that time Luther Yohe had a store there a while.  J. W. Barth built a store on the west side of the street, opposite the building of his brother Louis, where he and his sons carried on a successful store for about, half a century when it was taken over by the present owner, Clifford Hubble.

Mrs. Phoebe Barcus has also had a successful store there for many years.

The Physician of the early days was Dr. G. W. Rucker, who was the only doctor in the neighborhood for many years. Dr. W. A. Hancock was the physician at Enterprise many years also,  he later practiced in Cisne, and still later in Fairfield.

The first schoolhouse in Elm River township. was a log building with puncheon floor and slab

seats. It was taught by Russel Curry.  In June 1883 the school buildings in the township were:
frame --- five, brick -- one, and log -- one.  The number of teachers employed were ten, whose average pay was thirty dollars month; females twenty- two.  Estimated value of school property was $30,000.00.

No churches were erected in the township for many years after its settlement,  Religious meetings of the early days were held often at homes and in schoolhouses. Rev. Bennett and Spillman, both of the old Presbyterian school were the first ministers in the township. A baptist preacher named Griffy was the earliest of that church, known, who taught t school there.  A brick church was erected in 1873 by all denominations in section 24.  It was understood to be available for the use of all kinds of religious meetings and was superseded by a larger structure in 1883.

In the early years all the services were conducted in the German language, because most of the members of the church had come from Germany.  By the time the present Evangelical church was built a new generation had gone to the American school and learned the English. For a while part of the service was in German and part in English. Soon the English language was used in all services.

The church has always been popular and well enough supported to have a full time pastor and parsonage. The Baptist church was built in Enterprise in 1890.