USA > Ohio > Hardin County > A twentieth century history of Hardin County, Ohio : a narrative account of its historical progress its people and principal interests, Vol. I > Part 44
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GOSHEN TOWNSHIP. Although Goshen township has no town nor railroad, it is one of the most progressive in the county, and its citizens are alive to the best interests of education, religion and progress. It has eight schoolhouses, all first class brick buildings and located as follows : No. 1, Millar School, on the Millar pike in the southwestern part of the township; MeGuiggin, or Upper Dublin, two miles east of Pfeiffer Sta- tion, on Millar pike; Hottentot, northwestern part of the township ; No. 4, Hopewell, on Kenton and Marseilles pike near the center part of the township; No. 5, Georgetown, on Georgetown pike two miles east of Hopewell ; No. 6, Flower, northeast of Hottentot ; No. 8, Pumphrey, or Lower Dublin, one and one-half miles northeast of Upper Dublin ;
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No. 9, Pfeiffer School, on Millar pike eight miles east of Kenton. Distriet No. 7, the Ridgeway School, on the county line road, was sold in 1908 to Grand and Montgomery townships in Marion county, but Goshen township pupils still go to school there.
Goshen township has many ehurehes, seven being located within its borders.
St. John's Lutheran church was organized about 1848, with about twenty families. For a time they had no house of worship, but in 1850 built the present frame church on the Kenton and Marion pike about seven miles from Kenton. The church has grown, as Goshen has a large German population, and it has always been attached to the Kenton church of this denominatiin. Serviees are held every Sunday afternoon and a flourishing Sunday school is kept up. The present minister is Rev. Henry Katterjohn of Kenton, pastor of the St. John's Evangelical church of that plaee. The present membership is about one hundred. with about the same number in the Sunday school. Mrs. Lewis Ramge is the superintendent of the Sunday school.
Salem German Reformed church was organized in September, 1860, by Rev. Ruhl, with fifteen eharter members. The first pastor was Rev. William Peuter. Services were held in the Lutheran church building un- til 1875. when the present church was erected. This society was always connected with the Kenton church of that denomination, and the same pastors have labored in both places. The list given for the Kenton church is the same that might be given here. A Sunday school has been kept up for many years, and at present has about 125 members. II. L. Sherman is the superintendent. The congregation at present numbers about one hundred and forty, and is in charge of Rev. Morgan A. Peters of Kenton, pastor of the Reformed church there.
Hopewell United Brethren church was organized in 1870 by Rev. Thomas MeKinney, with seven charter members. Previous to building the present church, which was erected in 1872, they met in the school- house near by, and held church services and Sunday school. The church cost about $750, and was dedicated September 8, 1872, by Rev. Shuey of Dayton. This church has done good work in the community, and is still in a flourishing condition. At present Rev. Myers of Hepburn, has charge of it, and the congregation numbers about seventy-seven. A good Sunday sehool in charge of Miss Etta Burnside. as superintendent, is kept up, and has a membership of sixty-five.
About fifteen years ago the eongregation of the United Brethren divided, one part holding to the present church, and the other building for themselves a new edifice and calling it Oak Grove. This faction of the church is known as the radical braneh. For some years services were held in this church, but for two or three years it has been closed. The congregation was not large enough to hold together. so it gradually fell into deeay and the building is elosed.
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McKendre Chapel is a church of the Methodist Episcopal faith, located in the Pumphrey neighborhood. It was organized in 1859, with thirty-one members. The first church was erected in 1860 at a cost of about $900, and was dedicated in February, 1860, by Rev. M. P. Gaddis. In time the congregation outgrew this building, and in 1902 the present beautiful structure was ereeted at a cost of $4.300. It was dedicated May 10, 19(2, by Rev. J. H. Fitzwater. The main room of the church is thirty-two by fifty and the Sunday school room twenty by twenty- four. A flourishing Sunday school is kept up in charge of LeRoy Hensel as superintendent, and the average attendance is one hundred. There are about one hundred members in the congregation who belong to the church. Rev. H. Hodge is the present pastor.
Asbury church, which was the first religious organization in Goshen township, is located on the northwest corner of Section 30, on the Kenton and Marseilles pike, about six miles east of Kenton. This society was organized in 1840, with seventeen members, and a church was built in 1859 at a cost of $13,000. The church was dedicated June 5, 1859, by Elder E. C. Gavitt. In 1883 the church was remodeled and re- dedicated at a cost of $600, under the pastorate of Rev. Jason Young. In 1900 the church was again remodeled slightly, the interior papered and the whole painted at a cost of $300, under the leadership of Rev. W. H. Powell; and in 1907 the vestibule and tower were added, a cement foundation placed under the building, a new bell and new seats pur- chased, and the church repaired inside and outside at a cost of $1,500. Rev. G. F. Kinnear had charge of the church when the last repairs were made, and it was dedicated by Rev. F. HI. Essert. A Sunday school is kept up with Mr. Addison Keekler as superintendent. The present membership is twenty-seven.
Baptist church, situated on the County Line road between Marion and Hardin counties, has a small membership. It was established in 1904 and is of the Old School Baptist denomination. No Sunday school is connected with it, and at present it has no pastor. It has nine members.
Goshen township has two Grange Halls-the Millar Grange, located in the southwestern, and the Maple Grange, in the northeastern part of the township.
The Goshen township hall stands near the central part of the town- ship and is used for voting and other purposes. It was built in 1883 and is located on the Kenton and Marseilles pike.
The McKendre cemetery, near the church of the same name, is the only public burying ground in the township, but there are several pri- vate graveyards. Many of the Goshen township people own lots in Grove cemetery and bury their dead there. The MeKendre cemetery is located about seven and one-half miles east of Kenton, and contains
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about one acre. It is a very beautiful country cemetery, containing many handsome monuments, and it is well kept up by the lot owners and trustees of the township.
HALE TOWNSHIP. The schools of Hale township, not including those of Mt. Victory and Ridgeway, are located as follows: Shiloh (No. 4), one and one-fourth miles northwest of Ridgeway; Beach Grove (No. 8), one and one-half miles west of Mt. Victory; Rush Creek (No. 7), two miles south of Mt. Victory ; Lynn Wood (No. 1), a joint district between Union and Hardin counties; Grassy Point (No. 2), three miles north of Ridgeway on the Kenton pike; Pleasant Grove (No. 0), two miles north of Mt. Victory ; McDonald Creek (No. 5), three miles east of Mt. Victory, and Schertzer (No. 9), four miles east of Mt. Victory.
Hale township has two rural churches. The Pleasant Grove Chris- tian church was organized April 3, 1872, at the Pleasant Grove school house with twelve charter members. Meetings were held in the school house until September 1878, when the present neat frame church was erected at a cost of about $1,000. It was dedicated in October, 1878, by Rev. N. Summerbelle. The congregation is not as large at present as in the early history of the church, but services are still held regularly, and a 'Sunday school is kept up. This church is located on the Kenton and Mt. Victory pike, about three miles north of Mt. Victory.
At one time a flourishing congregation of the Methodist Protestant denomination worshiped in a frame church near Grassy Point, but some years ago the church disbanded and the building was moved away.
Rev. Philip Bauer of Kenton, of the First Baptist church, holds services occasionally in the Grassy Point schoolhouse, and a Sunday school is kept up there. It was organized several years ago by Rev. Bauer and R. E. Boals and does good work in the community.
In pioneer times Hale township had a number of private cemeteries, most of which are now abandoned. One of these on the Eddy homestead contains the bodies of many pioneers who fell victims to the dread "milk sickness" in the 30s. No one buries there now, and it has not been very well kept up, owing to the fact that it is back off the road, and inaccessible. It is a small, private burying ground, and it is not likely the bodies will ever be moved.
The Baldwin cemetery was another private graveyard located on the farm of Rev. Henry Baldwin at Grassy Point. About the time the Wolf Creek cemetery on the Kenton and Mt. Victory pike was laid out and opened to the public, all the bodies resting in the Baldwin cemetery were removed and taken to the new cemetery. Since that time no bodies have been buried on this farm.
The old Mt. Victory cemetery within the limits of the town was given to the public as a burying place by Cyrus Dille, about 1840, and was used for a long time, but is now abandoned. It contains many
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bodies of the pioneers, and will probably be always kept up, though not now used for its former purpose.
The Hale township cemetery is located on the pike leading from Mt. Victory to Ridgeway, and is a beautiful plot of ground containing about two acres. This cemetery was laid out in 1881, but since then many bodies have been moved there from other cemeteries, and people from all over the township, including Mt. Victory and Ridgeway, have purchased lots and helped in the work of beautifying the place. It stands on a high knoll overlooking Panther creek, where it is easily drained, and contains many beautiful and substantial monuments. On account of its location it seems appropriately named, as it can be reached from all parts of the township, and doubtless in time will be the only large cemetery of that section.
The Schertzer cemetery is located on lands now owned by Chas. Harter, two miles south and three miles east of Mt. Victory. This cemetery was donated to the Church of God by Hannah Schertzer about thirty-five or forty years ago, and has since been enlarged. It is the chief burying ground of that part of the county, and is kept in good condition by the people who own lots there.
The Church of God stands near this cemetery, and services are held there regularly. About eight years ago the church was remodeled and is now a very pretty little rural edifice for the worship of God.
In a little log cabin near the Indian gathering place, Grassy Point, Nehemiah Green was born, though the family lived there only a few years before removing to Pleasant township. Nehemiah Green was afterwards governor of Kansas.
The ladies of ITale township have a flourishing Riding Club, which has furnished social diversion for its members for several years.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP has seven rural schools outside Patterson and Forest. No. 1, Center school is located one mile west of Forest; No. 2, Elm Grove, two miles west of Forest; No. 3, Shady Grove, two miles west of Patterson ; No. 4. ITazel Brush, two miles southwest of Patterson ; No. 5. Eureka, near Eureka church; No. 6, McElree, on MeElree pike, and No. 7, near Herzog's lime kiln, called Lime Kiln school.
Jackson township has two cemeteries aside from the one near Forest, the Hueston Burying Place, two miles west of Forest, and the Patterson cemetery close to Patterson. The Hueston cemetery is the last resting place of many of the Jackson township pioneers, as it was laid out in 1831, more as a private burying place than a public one. though later many of the pioneers were laid to rest there. The Patter- son cemetery was purchased somewhere during the years between 1850 and 1860. Both are well kept little country cemeteries and the tomb- stones show the names of the men and women who helped develop this township.
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The churches of this township are the Mount Olivet Methodist Protestant church, on county line between Hancock and Hardin counties, and the Eureka church, which is a Methodist Episcopal congregation on McKinley pike one and one-half miles south of Patterson. Eureka church was built about 1885 and is a substantial frame structure. At present there is a membership of forty, with a flourishing Sunday school of eighty members. John Cooper is the efficient superintendent of the Sunday school.
Jackson township has no Grange nor township halls.
LYNN TOWNSHIP has seven rural schools, not including the one in the village of Foraker. The Garwood school is located on the Wagner farm on the Irons road; the Norman school near the Norman cemetery ; Independent on Roundhead pike five miles west of Kenton; Gunn school- house, at the junction of Gunn and Roundhead pikes ; Lynn Valley, near the Lynn Valley church ; Elmwood, on Ewing and Sells pike, and Flynn, at junction of Cutts road and Wallace pike. These are all neat, sub- stantial buildings in which school is held eight months each year.
There is a township hall used for voting purposes and public meet- ings near the Lynn Valley church, which was erected a few years ago. It is a good frame building well suited to all township needs.
For nearly seventy years the Norman cemetery has received the dead of this section, and it is one of the beautiful little burying grounds for which the county is noted. It lies on the Richland pike, one mile south of the Roundhead pike, and is well situated as regards drainage. The tombstones show pioneer names and early dates, as well as the records of those who have died in recent years. It is well kept up and contains many fine monuments, including a cannon set up as a memorial to the soldiers buried there.
The only church in the township, aside from the one at Foraker, is the Lynn Valley Methodist Episcopal church at the junction of the Ewing and Sells pike and the Piper and Wilkin pike, about four and one half miles west of Kenton. This society was organized in 1876 by Rev. J. S. G. Reeder, with only five members in the Piper schoolhouse. These charter members were: Mary Miller, Sarah Dulen, Mary Hill. Anna Bradley and J. H. Carder. In 1881 they built a frame church at a cost of $1,600 which was dedicated January 1, 1882, by Rev. D. Rutledge. In time this growing congregation found the old brick church inadequate to its needs, and under the leadership of Rev. W. T. Stockstill, then pastor of the charge, steps were taken to erect a larger one. In August, 1902, the initial meeting was held, and it was decided to tear down the old building and use the material for a new one com- bined with much new material. The result was one of the most beauti- ful rural churches of Ohio, and one of the most complete in its furnish- ings. It was dedicated in June, 1903, by Rev. L. A. Belt, of Kenton.
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It cost, with furnishings, $5,000, and is the pride of the whole commun- ity. The art glass windows, the style of architecture, the location and all, combine to make it what the congregation elaim for it-one of the neatest and most beautiful country churches anywhere. It contains a large auditorium, and a good sized room for the Sunday school, with six class rooms separate from the main room. These, together with the Sunday school room, may be opened to connect with the church proper, giving additional room when necessary. It is heated by a hot air furnace and is modern in every respect. The basement, except the fur- nace and coal rooms, is unfinished, but it is designed, when complete, to provide a good place for soeials and other meetings. A flourishing Sunday school in charge of Will Kinnear as superintendent has sixty members. An Epworth League for the young people is also one of the attractive features of the church work with thirty members. There are services every other Sunday morning and oceasionally at night. Rev. J. C. Crider is the present pastor.
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP has eight good rural schools, not counting the public schools of Ada. They are as follows: Me Elroy, situated two miles east and two north of Ada; Rinehart, two miles north of Ada; Woods, two miles west and two north of Ada; Scott's Crossing, two miles east of Ada ; Hosler, two miles west of Ada; Hoon, two miles south of Ada ; Klingler, two miles south and two west of Ada, and the Mnstard school, two miles east and two miles south of the eity.
There is one Grange hall in Liberty township-Jefferson Grange, located two miles west of Ada.
The Liberty township hall is located in Ada for convenience.
The German Lutheran church is located four miles southwest of Ada, the Sugar Grove Methodist Episcopal church two miles east of the city, and Ames Chapel, another Methodist Episcopal church, is four miles northwest of Ada. These are the only country churches of the township, Ada being so advantageously situated that many of the country people can attend services there.
Liberty township has several rural cemeteries, among which are the Candler, St. Paul's and McElroy.
MCDONALD TOWNSHIP, which its residents elaim has a larger area than any other sub-division of the county, at least has more schoolhouses than any other township. The large number of Marsh workers, as well as the number of small farms, accounts for the numerous sehoolhouses, as well as the large area covered by McDonald. The schoolhouses are as follows: North McDonald, Stoddard, Wallace (two rooms), Possum Trot, Rice, Island Grove, Red, South MeDonald, White, Harmony, Luger Head, Lawrence, Miller, Harrod and Lowrie.
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At one time there were postoffices at Jumbo and Jump, but both have been discontinued.
Mt. Zion M. E. church is located one-fourth mile north of Jumbo. It is a substantial frame structure. At present it has about thirty members.
McDonald Christian church is located about one-half mile north of Jumbo, and was organized in 1842 by Elder Tingle. At first the little congregation met in the Lynn schoolhouse, but about 1866 they built a frame church, which lasted until 1881, when the present building was erected on the same site. The membership at present is eighty-two.
Harmony United Brethren church is located five miles north of Belle Center.
Flat Branch Church of Christ was organized, in 1906, by Rev. M. P. Gallier of Martel, Ohio, with thirteen charter members. A pretty frame church costing $2,000 was built in 1906. A Sunday school has been kept up from the first and is in charge of Superintendent J. F. Kissling. It has about twenty members. The church membership at present is about sixty. There is a Ladies' Aid Society in connection with the church.
There are two cemeteries in McDonald-Harvey and Fairview. Both of these are public burying grounds.
MARION TOWNSHIP. Alger and McGuffey have their own village schools, which are given elsewhere, and there are seven other school- houses in Marion township-No. 1, Rising Sun school, situated on section 11 (this was the old Huntersville school) ; No. 2, Kingsley school, on section 4; No. 3, Thompson, on section 5; No. 4, Brush College, on section 19; No. 5, Eureka, on section 31; No. 6, Wolverine, on section 20, and Lone Oak, No. 7, on section 21.
There are two cemeteries in Marion township, the Preston cemetery. located one mile east of Alger, and the Carman cemetery, one mile east of the old village of Maysville.
Aside from the Huntersville church, a description of which appears elsewhere, there are two rural churches in the township and both are United Brethren churches. Of course Alger and McGuffey have their houses of worship, but they are given with the descriptions of those towns.
Pleasant Chapel is located two miles south of the village of Alger and is regularly used by a fair sized congregation.
Pleasant Valley church was established about 1870, and is situated three and one-half miles southwest of Alger.
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP has ten rural schools, including the one in the village of Grant which is really two rooms. They are located as fol- lows: Infirmary, one mile west of Kenton near County Infirmary; Liberty, three and one-half miles northwest of Kenton on the Schoonover
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road; Bethel, five miles north of Kenton on a mud road; Antioch, in the Winebrenner neighborhood, about seven miles from Kenton; Beech Grove, one-half mile west of Walnut Grove church; Grant, at the village of Grant (two rooms) ; Gray Eagle, three miles east of Kenton, between Millar and Marseilles pikes (Old Tymochtee school) ; Green Leaf, two miles north of town on the Forest pike; Greenwood, three and one-half miles northeast of Kenton, in Gerhach neighborhood; and Henpeck, two and one-half miles east of Kenton on the Hepburn pike.
Pleasant township has no township hall, being located so that Kenton can be reached by all citizens, and the offices of the township are there in convenient places. It is very easy for every citizen of the township to reach the county seat, so most publie business is transaeted there.
Grove cemetery, a description of which is given elsewhere, is located in this township, and there are several nearly abandoned private burying places.
Outside of Kenton there were four country churches in Pleasant township, but during the past year the Providence Baptist church near Bethel schoolhouse has been abandoned and the building sold. The members have moved away or gone into other churches, and the congre- gation gave up all attempt to have services some years ago. It had its beginning January 8, 1874, at the Bethel school, and for a time flourished, but at last it was impossible to carry on the work and the house was abandoned. The Providence Baptist church was erected in 1876 at a cost of $1,400, and it was sold and the society disbanded in 1908.
Walnut Grove United Brethren church is located on the Dunkirk pike about seven miles north of Kenton. The society was organized in 1863 at the Beeeh Grove schoolhouse by Rev. J. C. McBride with eight members, and for a time they used this schoolhouse as a meeting place. In 1874 the present building was erected at a cost of $1,000. It was dedicated November 12, 1874, by Bishop Weaver of the United Brethren church. Services are held every two weeks, and there is a flourishing Sunday school, with an enrollment of 125 members. There are 62
members in the society at present. A well attended Ladies' Aid and a C. E. Society are also connected with this organization. The following ministers have served this congregation. Some of the men whose names appear below were here four or five years, and some served at two different times : Revs. J. C. McBride. Lewis Johnson, D. R. Miller, A. W. Holden, W. McGinnis, J. W. Wagner, R. W. Wilgus, J. H. Kiracofe, W. S. Fields, W. H. Ogle, M. Miller, D. A. Johnston, J. P. Stewart, J W. Lower, B. A. Sutton, A. W. Ballenger, L. C. Reed, J. L. Luttrell. I. Imler, J. N. Helms, W. L. Waldo, C. N. Crabbs, J. O. Rhodes, D. C. DeFoe, C. A. Alexander and A. M. Smith.
The Grant M. E. church is given with the description of that sta- tion. About 1865 or 1870 a small frame church stood opposite the present Beech Grove schoolhouse and was used by a German Reformed
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congregation, but in time the Kenton church of that denomination ab- sorbed the congregation and the building fell into decay.
Liberty M. E. church was organized in 1842, with the following persons as charter members: Anna Cessna, Henry Kile and wife, Isaac Kinnear and wife, Henry Charlton and wife, Samuel Badley and wife and Henry Garrett and wife. The first meeting was held in a round log house situated on the Ballasty farm, which afterward burned down. After that it was held in a schoolhouse where Liberty school now stands.
Liberty chapel was joined to east Kenton circuit, under the pastor- ate of Daniel Carter, with William S. Paul, presiding elder, when completed. It was commenced in 1877 and finished the next year, cost- ing about $1,400. It was dedicated Januray 8, 1878, by William S. Paul. The ground on which the church stands was donated by Fayette Schoonover and wife to the society. John Power was the first presid- ing elder when services were held in the schoolhouse.
The present membership is about twenty-seven. Rev. J. C. Crider is the pastor and Roy Holmes is superintendent of the Sunday school, which has an attendance of forty. There is a flourishing Ladies' Aid Society of about forty members in charge of the president, Mrs. Rosa Schoonover.
ROUNDHEAD TOWNSHIP: Outside of the village of Roundhead there are seven rural schools in this township. Shady Vale is located on the west side of the marsh; the Henkle and Hill schoolhouses on the Ada Pike ; Ford school, on the Ford pike; Oak Grove, on the Huntsville pike ; Prairie school, on the west county line, and Streets school on the Hill pike. These are all substantial buildings in which school is in session eight months each year.
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