Methodism and some had become Baptists before coming to what is now Marshall County. As a result of this heritage, some place names in Marshall County are named after places in New England, such as Plymouth, which is named after Plymouth, Massachusetts, the site where the Mayflower landed in 1620. When these settlers arrived, there was nothing but a dense virgin forest and wild marshland, which would need to be cleared and drained before it could be farmed. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 authorized forcible removal if necessary. The United States government purchased this area under the Treaty of Tippecanoe in 1832. Plymouth was incorporated as a town in 1851. Potawatomi Relocation Although many Potawatomi had relocated to Indian Territory in present-day Kansas, Chief Menominee and his band of the Yellow River refused to go. Militia under the authority of United States Army officers rounded them up and in September 1838, the band of 859 headed west, in what became known as the Potawatomi Trail of Death. They traveled more than 660 miles to Osawatomie, Kansas, with many of the Potawatomi walking. More than 40 of the tribal members died on the march. American Civil War During the Civil War, Union Army soldiers arrested Daniel E. VanValkenburgh, editor of the Plymouth Weekly Democrat, who criticized what he viewed as Lincoln's abuses of power. VanValkenburgh also criticized Department of Ohio commander Ambrose Burnside's lieutenant, General Milo S. Hascall. Hascall was in charge of the District of Indiana. VanValkenburgh called Hascall a donkey in the pages of the Democrat. Hascall promptly dispatched soldiers to arrest VanValkenburgh and brought him before Burnside to answer charges of violating Burnside's General Order No. 38. Burnside let VanValkenburgh off with a warning. The Democrat became the first of eleven Democratic newspapers suppressed or threatened with suppression in May 1863. History as a Sundown Town Like many towns and counties in Indiana following the Reconstruction Era, Plymouth was once considered a Sundown town. There are many accounts by locals claiming the existence of signs at the northern city limits stating, "Blacks out of town by sundown" or "All non-residents are required to leave the city by 9 pm", with a city ordinance listed at the bottom. There were no such signs at the southern border of town on US 31, nor on the east and west entrances on US 30. North of Plymouth, on US 31,