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And, why is Main Street laid out northeast to southwest?

Where is the earliest settled section of Bluffton?

The map accompanying this story answers that question.

Bluffton was incorporated as a village in 1861, but it was 23 years prior to that, in 1838, when the first lots for the village were platted.

Joseph DeFord platted these lots. And, five years before that, in 1833, DeFord built the first home in what is now Bluffton – it was a log cabin. The mural in the Bluffton post office depicts a scene of the cabin under construction.

This saying also goes for the information that we consume

By Amelia Alexander
We live in an age of information, but unfortunately, we also live in an era of misinformation. 

 Fake news spreads like wildfire. Fake news is information that is false or completely misleading that is presented as news. Fake news travels about 6 times faster than regular news on social media. This is extremely concerning.

Our Swiss connection - part 20

This is the 20th  installment in this series. Click here for the previous installment.

An index to all columns in this series is attached at the bottom of this story. 

Peter Hilty (note spelling change from parent’s Hilti) was the son of Michael and Elisabeth Thüler (Americanized to Diller) Hilti.

The top 5 church hymns that should be retired today

Reviewed/written by Craig Hoffman 
In another century we won’t be singing many of the hymns we’re screeching out on Sundays. While some will have lasted a week, perhaps, others even for a few years, there are several that should be retired from regular use right now! 

Do you agree with the following candidates for overdue retirement? Let the Icon know in the comments!

“Onward Christian Soldiers” (1865)  - Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould

Our Swiss connection - part 19

This is the 19th installment in this series. Click here for the previous installment.

John F. Steiner married Barbara Habegger on March 15, 1832, in France. John was also known as “Buchwald Hans” because of the area where he was born.

Click here for a column on John's brother and sister-in-law, Peter and Barbara Schumacher Steiner.

A spine-tingling plot that keeps you turning pages to the very end of the story

Reviewed by Robert McCool
Dean Koontz devotes his latest to a remarkable boy/dog combination.

I never cared much for Dean Koontz as a horror book writer. I have found him to be tepidly spiritual, a weak Stephen King wannabe. But this latest, Devoted (ISBN 13: 978-1-4328-7662-3), grabbed me when I was looking for a quick read.

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