In 1830 the family packed up and moved to Morgan County, Indiana. Peter didn't bring money to pay for land for fear he would be robbed along the way; so after the family was somewhat settled, he rode a horse back to North Carolina to get money to pay for 80 acres. He probably worried about leaving his family alone, but he needn't have. One dark night while he was gone Catherine heard the hog squealing in the log pen out back. Grabbing a lantern and an ax, she ran out to find a bear trying to pull the hog out between the logs. That hog was vital to the family's survival, so their was nothing to do but swing the ax at the bear's head and kill it. Waste not, want not. Catherine dragged the bear into the house, skinned it, butchered it, and had bear meat for weeks.
Peter returned but died the following spring. Now, the hills around Monrovia, Indiana, were not an easy place to eke out a living in 1831, with everything going for you. Try to imagine what it was like for her, a widow with five children. What she did was what she had to do. She worked like a man all day and did her housework after dark, often until midnight. She accepted some help from her neighbors, but, proud and strong, pretty well fended for herself.
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The 1830 Morgan County, Indiana census has Peter listed as a household with 1 male (30-40), 1 male under 5, 1 female (30-40), 2 females (5-10) and 1 female under 5. One daughter is not counted. Land sales from the U.S. Government to settlers in Morgan County lists land sales to Peter Coble on Nov. 15, 1830. The land was located in Twp. 13, Range (1W), Sect. 1 & 2, Description: Sect. 1, W half of NW Qtr., Sect. 2, E half of NE Qtr.
Peter Coble 
