USA > Indiana > Miami County > History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 17
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As early as 1836 a saw-mill was built by Frank Godfroy on Pipe creek, near where the Wallick mill was afterward erected. When John Duck- wall came to the township he repaired the double log house in which Chief Squirrelly had formerly lived, and resided there a number of years. In 1850 Mr. Duckwall built a saw-mill and five years later erected a grist mill. Both these mills were burned in 1857, but the saw-mill was rebuilt the same year and the grist mill in 1876. Other early mills were those of Henry Knell, R. T. Jones and Thomas Kenworthy, all of which were located on Pipe creek. The Wallick grist mill was built in 1856 and the lime kiln near the mill was opened about ten years later. Another early industry was the distillery of Charles Lewy, in the north- ern part of the township, which he conducted with success for about a year, when he sold to some persons who soon afterward discontinued the business.
The first religious services were held at the house of Isaac Vandorn in 1843, by a Methodist minister named Matthew Curry. Rev. Mr. Pugsley, a minister of the United Brethren church, also held services there at an early date, but the first church society organized was that of the Baptists, which was organized by Rev. Samuel Dewese, at his residence near Bunker Hill. Since then churches have been established by the German Baptists, Christians and some other denominations. There was once a Catholic church at Bunker Hill, but it was abandoned some years ago.
From the best authority available, it is learned that the first school
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house in the township was built in the year 1843, on the farm of Joel Júlian, and the first school was taught there the following winter. The name of the first teacher has been forgotten, but among the pioneer instructors of this township were Jacob Barnett and Eiza Barnett, both of whom taught in the Julian school house. Not long after the first school house was built another was erected on the farm of Rev. Samuel Dewese, who was the first teacher in that district. Another pioneer school house stood on the farm of Jacob Brandt. In 1913 there were six brick school houses in the township-not including the graded school building in the town of Bunker Hill-the estimated value of which was $10,000. The nine teachers employed in these houses during the school year of 1912-13 received in salaries the sum of $3,949.50.
Bunker Hill, an incorporated town, is the only town in Pipe Creek township. It is situated in the southeastern part, at the crossing of the Lake Erie & Western and the Pan Handle railroads, the former of which runs north and south along the entire eastern border of the township, and the latter crosses the southern portion. These two roads and the electric line of the Indiana Union Traction Company, which also runs through Bunker Hill, afford ample transportation facilities to the people of Pipe Creek township. A short distance north of Bunker Hill, on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, was once the little village of Leonda, but the advantages of the two railroads at Bunker Hill were too great to be overcome and Leonda disappeared from the map.
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP
After Perry, this is the largest township in Miami county. It is situ- ated northeast of the center of the county; is bounded on the north by Perry township; on the east by Wabash county; on the south by the townships of Erie and Peru, and on the west by Jefferson and Union. On the northern boundary its extent is seven miles from east to west, on the southern it is six miles, and it is six miles from north to south. The * total area of the township is about thirty-nine square miles. The Eel river enters near the northeast corner and flows in a southwesterly direc- tion across the township, crossing the western border about two miles north of the southwest corner. Its principal tributaries in Richland are Flowers and Bachelor creeks. This stream, with its tributaries, fur- nishes a good drainage system for the township. The soil is of unusual fertility and some of the finest farms in the state are located in the Eel river valley.
In the year 1836, David Williams built the first log cabin in what is now Richland township, and to him belongs the honor of being the
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
first actual settler in that part of Miami county. Soon after him came John and James Long and William Jones, and so far as can be learned they were the only white' inhabitants at the close of the year. Early in 1837 Robert Miller, John Ellison, Allen Lockridge and James Conner located claims and began clearing farms in the township. Later in the year there were a number of pioneers selected lands in the Eel river valley. Among them were John Conner, Martin Scruggs, Moses and Jesse Martindale, Richard Miller, Daniel Ward, Alvin Riddle, Edmund I. Kidd, Thomas Smith and William Bish.
"Although the population was rather scanty, Richland township was erected by the county commissioners on November 7, 1837, but the first township officers were not elected until in August, 1838. Then an elec- tion was held at the house of David Williams. Edmund I. Kidd and Martin Scruggs were chosen justices of the peace; Moses Martindale, Thomas Smith and David Williams, township trustees.
During the years 1838 and 1839 there was a tide of immigration to Richland township, which was so named by the commissioners when it was erected in 1837, on account of the fertility of the soil. Henry Norris settled a short distance of Paw Paw village; Amos Murphy, John Miller, R. C. Harrison and Robert Watson, in the eastern part; Samuel Rank, near the northeast corner; near him located a man named Finley, on Eel river ; Samuel Fisher, east of Chili; Caleb Petty, in the southern part; Enos Baldwin and John Sellers, on section 23, about a mile and a half east of Denver; and David Graham and Benjamin Baltimore, on section 13. Others who came in these years and settled in different parts of the township were: Joseph Clark, Michael Taylor, Thomas Black, Josiah and William Petty, Peter Woolpert, Reuben Overman, Samuel Hart, Reuben K. Charles, Jacob Peer, Samuel Jameson, Jesse Murphy, Willis Hill, Charles, James and Amos Wooley, Jonathan Fisher, James Holinshade, Benjamin Griffith, David Marquiss, Samuel Heilman, Andrew Hann, Jacob Lander, Alanson Dowd, Andrew Wolfe, Samuel Davis and James Tracy.
When the first settlers came to Richland the nearest grist mill was that of Burrell Daniels, in Jefferson township, and to this mill the pio- neers went through the woods with a "turn of corn," or, after their farms were cleared, with a sack of wheat. About 1841 George Goudy built a mill on the Eel river, on what was afterward known as the John Davis farm, and it was not long until he had a good patronage. The building was a frame and the mill was supplied with good machinery for that day. Under various owners it continued in operation until about 1883. John Long built a saw-mill on Flowers creek, near Chili, about 1846. Later he sold out to William McColley, who converted it into a
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grist-mill and ran it as such for several years. William Miller then built a saw-mill on the Eel river, opposite the village of Chili. Sometime in the early forties Mr. Martindale built a carding machine on Flowers creek, not far from Chili, and about the same time Robert Miller estab- lished a saw-mill on Paw Paw creek. He was one of the prominent cit- izens, served a term in the state senate, and his son, Rev. S. C. Miller, still resides in the township. The carding machine was subsequently con- verted into a flour mill. For many years the saw-mills did a good busi-
THE OLD MEXICO MILL
ness, but after the most valuable timber was manufactured into lumber the mills were removed to other localities or allowed to fall into decay.
In 1837 a few Methodists and their friends met at the house of Rob- ert Miller for worship. About a year later a society was organized and in 1842 a church was built on the farm of Richard Miller, the first in Richland township. The Chili Methodist church was organized about 1839 and since then the Baptists and some other denominations have organized congregations in the township, an account of which will be found in the chapter on Church History.
The first school house was built on the farm of Robert Watson in
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1838, and Mr. Watson taught the first term of school in it after it was completed. A year or so later another school house was built on the farm of Moses Martindale, whose son was the first teacher in that district. In 1913 there were four brick and five frame school houses in Richland, valued at $9,235, and the eleven teachers employed received $3,949.20 in salaries.
Probably the first white child born in the township was Robert, son of Robert and Rebecca Miller, who was born in 1838. One of the earliest marriages was that of Willis Buck to a Miss Watson, daughter of Rob- ert Watson, in 1839. Later in the same year Edmund Blackman was united in marriage with a daughter of David Williams. Margaret Miller, a daughter of Richard Miller, died in 1840, which was the first death in the township.
Chili, a station on the Vandalia Railroad a little southwest of the center, is the principal town of Richland township. East of Chili, on the same line of railroad, is the village of Pettysville. It has a postoffice and some shipping is done from that point. Anson, Paw Paw and Wooleytown, once thriving settlements in Richland, are among the deserted villages of Miami county. A history of these places may be found in the chapter on Towns and Villages.
The Vandalia Railroad enters the township from the west near the center of the boundary line and follows the north side of the Eel river into Wabash county. At Chili this road is crossed by the Winona Inter- urban, an electric line that runs from Peru to Warsaw. These two roads provide fairly good transportation facilities to the township.
UNION TOWNSHIP
The territory comprising this township was originally a part of Jefferson, and the first settlers located before the township was cut off as a separate political division on November 7, 1837. Union township is one of the western tier. It is bounded on the north by Allen township, on the east by Perry and Richland, on the south by Jefferson, and on the west by Cass county. It is four and a half miles from north to south and five miles from east to west. In the extreme southeast corner about one-fourth of a square mile has been cut off from Union and added to Jefferson, so that the area of Union is a fraction less than twenty-two and a half square miles. When the township was first created it con- tained all of the present township of Allen and a small portion of the western part of Richland. Along Weesau creek and the smaller streams of the township the land is somewhat broken, but back from the creeks the surface is generally level. In the northwestern part are "the bar- Vol. 1-10
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rens," where the only timber is the small jackoak. Several low, sandy marshes, once unfit for cultivation, have been drained and now yield abundant crops. The southern part was originally well timbered with black walnut, hickory, oak, ash and some other varieties of native forest trees.
In the spring of 1835 Joseph Thornburg, William Cannon and John Plaster selected lands in what is now Union township and built their cabins on the frontier of civilization. Joseph Cox, who came about the same time, made a few improvements and then went elsewhere. In the fall of that year came Abraham Leedy, John Fall and John Zook, who settled in the same neighborhood with those who came the spring before. The next year a number of persons brought their families into the town- ship. Among them were Martin Hoover, who settled in the northern part; John R. Wright, near the present village of Deedsville; Christian Krider, near the western boundary; John F. Sanders and Hugh A. B. People, in the southern part.
Among those who came in 1837 were Matthew Fenimore, who settled on the site of Perrysburg; Stephen Davidson, William Williams and Daniel Cox, in the same locality; John A. Taylor, in the central part; John Shephers, near the western border; William Bane and Samuel Robbins, in the northern part; John Scott, near the center of the town- ship, and a few others, who located their claims in different sections.
At the house raisings in pioneer days it was customary to provide a supply of whisky for the men invited to assist in raising the cabin. It is related of William Cool, who came to the township in the spring of 1839, that he decided to raise his house without the aid of liquor. He invited his friends to the "raising," and announced his intention to give them a dinner they would not soon forget. Various articles of food were brought from a distance to prepare that dinner, but Mr. Cool kept his word and those who partook of that meal remembered for many days afterward. No whisky was provided and after that a dinner "like Mr. Cool's" was preferred to intoxicating drinks. His cabin was a story and a half in height, probably the first of that character in that part of the county. It stood near the old road that ran from Miamisport to the Tippecanoe river and the passing Indians used to stop and admire the house with such expressions as "Humph ! white man heap big wigwam !"
Other pioneers who located in Union between the years 1837 and 1840 were: J. A. Howland, Daniel and Joseph Kessler, Jonathan Carlisle, Christopher Cool and his sons-William, Leonard, Powell, John and Philip, Orson Warner, Daniel Crouch, Chauncey Warner, Perry Tharp, Joseph Holman, Solomon Lee, Isaac Benedict, Lewis Conner, William and Charles Strowd, David Leedy, Robert James, James Personett,
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
John Emsley, William R. McFarland, Thomas Wyatt, Caleb Fitzgerald, H. B. Jett, Zephaniah Wade, William Duck, John Dabney, Aaron Rush, Michael Bolingbaugh and Robert Clendening.
A trading post was established at Perrysburg in 1837 and about a year later John A. Taylor built the first saw-mill on Weesau creek. Later Mr. Taylor built a grist mill near the same site, with two run of buhrs, equipped to grind both corn and wheat. This mill proved a great bless- ing to the settlers, who had been compelled to go long distances to secure a supply of breadstuffs, and the proprietor did a good business for a number of years. Under different owners this mill was run until about 1872.
About 1839 Joseph Holman built a saw-mill, with a set of corn buhrs attached, in another part of the township, and a year or two later John Zook built a small saw-mill on the east branch of Weesau creek. It was subsequently purchased by a man named Matthias, who ran it a short time and then permitted it to fall into decay. The first steam mill was built by William Conner, a short distance south of Perrysburg. The Joseph Holman above mentioned, was the man who laid out the town of Miamisport, but soon afterward removed to Union township, where he built the first frame house, in the southeast corner of the township, and there started a tanyard at an early day. During the few years he conducted it he made much of the leather used by the pioneers in that part of the county.
Probably the first white child born in the township was Mary, daugh- ter of Martin and Sarah Hoover, who was born in January, 1837. Later in that year occurred the death of Susan Baltimore, which was the first death. Her funeral was held at the residence of Martin Hoover and the sermon delivered on that occasion is said to have been the first ever preached in Union township. In the spring of 1838 the marriage of Jacob Bartlett to a daughter of Hugh A. B. People was solemnized by A. II. Leedy, justice of the peace, which some authorities claim was the first marriage in the township.
The first election for township officers in Union was held at Matthew Fenimore's store, in Perrysburg, in the fall of 1837, soon after the town- ship was erected by order of the county commissioners. Abraham H. Leedy acted as inspector of the election and was chosen the first justice of the peace. Powell Cool was elected township clerk. If any other officers were elected at that time their names have been lost. It is some- thing unusual for any candidate for office to serve as a member of an election board, but in that day it appears that nothing was thought of such an occurrence, and everybody was satisfied with the election of "Squire" Leedy.
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
The Weesau Creek Baptist church was organized in 1839; the Presby- terian church at Perrysburg ten years later, and the Christian and Methodist churches were organized at a comparatively early date.
Almost immediately after the organization of the township, the settlers began to consider some means of educating their children. In 1838 the first school house was built on the farm of John Plaster and the first school was taught there in that year by Miss Mahala Scott. She is said to have been a young woman of somewhat limited literary attain- ments, but of good common sense, and taught a school that was satis- factory to the patrons. . Two more school houses were erected in the year 1839. In 1913 Union township had one brick and four frame school houses, the estimated value of which was $16,350. During the school year of 1912-13 nine teachers were employed in the public schools and received in salaries the sum of $3,854.20.
The Lake Erie & Western Railroad enters the township near the southeast corner and runs in a northerly direction, crossing the northern boundary about two miles west of the northeast corner. Deedsville is a station on this road. In the western part of the township is the old vil- lage of Perrysburg, and old maps of the county show a station on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad called Busaco, about two miles south of Deedsville.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP
This township lies directly across the Wabash river from the city of Peru and extends southward to the line dividing townships 25 and 26 north. Its greatest length is nearly eight miles and it is four miles in width from east to west, having an area of a little less than thirty square miles. The northern boundary is the center of the Wabash river to the mouth of the Mississinewa, thence up that stream to the range line divid- ing ranges 4 and 5 east, which forms the eastern boundary. North of it is Peru township, on the east it is bounded by Butler, on the south by Clay, and on the west by the township of Pipe Creek.
Little Pipe creek flows in a northwesterly direction through the central part of Washington and enters the Wabash river near the north- west corner. Big Pipe creek flows across the southwest corner and these streams, with the Wabash and Mississinewa rivers, afford good drain- age to all portions of the township. Most of the surface is high land and along the streams are rugged and romantic bluffs, showing some of the finest landscape scenery in the county. A little of the land is low, but it has been reclaimed by artificial drainage. This land lies in the southern part of the township and it is related that the people who settled
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on the higher lands in the northern part were wont, in the early days, to refer to farmers along Big Pipe creek as "swamp angels."
But the patience and industry of these "swamp angels" in draining their lands have been handsomely rewarded. Their farms are among the most productive in the county, while the soil of the uplands has "run out,"' to some extent, and has to be replenished by the use of fertilizers. When the first white men came the soil of these uplands was quite fertile. The leaves that fell from the trees of the heavy forest acted as a natural fertilizer, but that source of repair has practically vanished. Large quantities of lumber and thousands of staves have been shipped from Washington township in the years gone by, and the constant cultivation of the land after the timber was cleared off has had its effect, though there are still many fine farms in the township.
The first white man to locate within the present limits of Washington township was Thomas Henton, who came in the summer of 1838 and built a cabin on a hill overlooking the old Strawtown and Miamisport state road. Mr. Henton was unmarried and for a few years after settling in Miami county kept bachelor's hall in his cabin and spent much of his. time in hunting. He then married a Miss Dabney, daughter of one of the pioneers, and turned his attention more to the development of his farm. After his death his widow married William Demuth and the place entered by Mr. Henton became known as the Demuth farm.
During the year 1839 a number of settlers located claims in the town- ship. Among them were Patrick O'Brien, who had come from Ireland in his boyhood twenty years before; John Bargerhoof, Thomas O'Meara, Daniel Taggett, Bradley Witham, George Beck, John Gindling, Michael Duffy, John Cleiker, Guinton Key and Patrick Colgan. Daniel Taggett located where the town of South Peru now stands and for some time operated a ferry across the Wabash river.
After 1839 the increase in population was gradual, but constant, a few new immigrants arriving every year until the township was fully settled. Jacob Struble and George Clickard came in 1840. Mr. Struble was one of the early road supervisors and opened some of the public highways, one of which is still known as the "Struble road." He was at one time the owner of considerable land. About the time of the arrival of Struble and Clickard, or shortly afterward, came Malachi Kuhn, Alex- ander Wilson, Emanuel Charpie, William Weakler and a few others. Others who settled in the township in the early '40s were: James Dab- ney, whose daughter became the wife of Thomas Henton, William Lycee, John Miller, Isaac Miller, Jacob Keller, Michael Case, John Allen, James Sharp, David Myers, Abel Hennen, James Downey, John Hunt, William King, John Davidson, Frederick Harter, John Scott, Amos Ranks,
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Thomas Goudy, Arthur Bland, Otis Fish, B. F. York, Jerry Shafer, Philip and William Mort, Samuel Jameson, Frederick Coleman, Caleb Corey, Ephraim Bearss, John York, Martin Flagg, David Dunn, John and Conrad Hawes, Robert Mckinney and W. H. Misener, the last named settling on the Richardsville reserve, near the junction of the Wabash and Mississinewa rivers.
On June 6, 1843, the board of county commissioners issued the order erecting Washington township, which was named for General George Washington, "the father of his country" and the first president of the United States. As originally established, Washington township extended south to the county line, but in 1846 six miles was cut off of the south end to form the township of Clay. A few weeks after the township was organized the first election was held at the cabin of Thomas Henton, when Isaac Miller was elected justice of the peace and Patrick O'Brien, constable.
The first marriage was that of Patrick Colgan to Bridget Kennedy, in 1841, and their son, Lawrence, born the following year, is believed to have been the first white child born in the township. Probably the first death was that of John Hunt, which occurred in February, 1842.
As early as 1843 a minister by the name of Johnson visited the township and held services at the house of John Allen, but it cannot be learned what denomination he represented. About a year later two United Brethren preachers-Hoover and Simons-came into the town- ship and laid the foundation for the congregation that was organized in 1846. The Presbyterians and Dunkards subsequently organized so- cieties. (See Chapter XVII.)
In the matter of education, the people of Washington township have not been behind their neighbors in other parts of the county. In 1842, nearly a year before the township was organized, the settlers employed a teacher to open a school in a little cabin that had been built for a dwelling on the farm owned by John Allen. The succeeding year a regular school house was built on the farm of Patrick Colgan, in which the first school was taught by Lucy O'Brien. Other pioneer teachers were Abel Hurt, Alford Sparks and a man named Hobaugh. At the present time Washington has the only concrete school house in the county. In addition to this building there are in the township seven brick and one frame school houses, the estimated value of the whole being $18,500. During the school year of 1912-13 thirteen teachers were employed in the public schools and the amount paid for teachers' salaries by the township was $5,453.50.
About a mile south of Peru, in Washington township, is located the county asylum, or poor farm. It is on the old Strawtown road and a
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line of the Indiana Union Traction Company passes near the buildings. Farther east the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad runs from southeast to northwest across the township, but there is no station on that line within the borders of Washington. South Peru, in the extreme northern part, just across the Wabash from the city of Peru, is the only town in the township, hence it is hardly necessary to state that agriculture and stock raising are the principal occupations of the people, though some manufacturing is carried on in South Peru.
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