 Dennis Pennington , who lived near Lanesville , became one of the county 's early leading citizens and speaker of the territory 's legislature . Corydon began competing with other southern Indiana settlements to become the new capital of the territory after its reorganization in 1809 . Hostilities broke out in 1811 with the Native American tribes on the frontier , and the territorial capital was moved to Corydon on May 1 , 1813 , after Pennington suggested it would be safer than Vincennes . For the next twelve years , Corydon was the political center of the territory and subsequent state . A state constitution was drafted in Corydon during June 1816 and after statehood the town served as the state capital until 1825 . 
