USA > Ohio > Miami County > Troy > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 11
USA > Ohio > Miami County > Piqua > Centennial history. Troy, Piqua and Miami county, Ohio > Part 11
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South Carolina has the distinction of leading the way into Newberry. In 1806 one MeDonald settled on Harrison's Creek near Covington, and in the following year Michael Ingle erected a cabin at the mouth
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
of Trotter's Creek. Ingle was a tanner, but a farmer as well, and he resided on his farm till 1838. He is regarded as New- berry's first white settler. Following the Ingles came the Coates, William and John, and soon Daniel Wright put up his little cabin. These men were true sons of the soil and labored hard to establish them- selves in their chosen quarters. In 1810 Jacob Ullery purchased land in Newberry Township and his selection has proven the most valuable within its limits.
Newberry Township's prosperity was hampered by the same misfortune that was felt in other parts of the county-the War of 1812. Some of her citizens were the first in the field. They saw the danger and responded nobly. Captain George Buchanan commanded a company in which many of Newberry's citizens served, and his seope was the Stillwater Valley, which was several times threatened by the In- dians. A bloek-house, which stood near the site of the old Pan Handle Depot in Covington, afforded protection for the in- habitants. It was near the spot where stood "Fort Rowdy," which marked Gen- eral Wayne's encampment in 1794.
At the breaking out of our second war with England there were nine families in Newberry Township. These people lived in constant dread during the greater part of the struggle, and though Indian depre- dations were committed in other parts of the county, Newberry did not experience any of the actual horrors of war.
The town of Covington, which is the principal municipality in Newberry Town- ship, was laid out by David Wright and Jacob Ullery in 1816. Benjamin Cox sur- veyed the land for the town, but his work was never acknowledged by Ullery and
Wright. There is a tradition that when the town came to be named, "Friendship" and "Newberry" were suggested, and even the name of "Rowdy" was thought of; but the first postoffice was called Still- water, certainly an euphonious name. Aft- erward the name of Covington was given to the beautiful town.
When it came to house building, Elijah Reagan distaneed all his competitors and erected the first one, Michael Ingle put up a double log cabin and Noah Hanks built a frame store. This is the genesis of Cov- ington. After the house building came various industries until now Covington, for a town of its size, keeps pace with its neighbors. It has now a population of 1,800. It has furnished some prominent legislators in the Ohio Assembly and nu- merous county officers. The first election for town officers was held in 1835, at which the following were chosen: Mayor-Gil- bert Adams ; recorder-William Robinson ; trustees-Charles Orwan, Joshua Orr. Thomas MeKenzie. Samuel Patterson was elected mayor in 1837. From this date the mayor's record seems to have been lost, but the following persons have filled the office since 1850: B. Neff, Joseph Marlin. C. H. Gross, William Couffer, T. A. Wor- ley, W. G. Bryant, Isaac Sherzer, David Diltz, J. L. Smart, John V. Griffin, Adam Minnich, D. C. Shellenbarger, J. H. Mar- lin, S. C. Sisson, D. J. Martin, S. D. Palm- er, R. F. Alberry, M. H. Nill. The present roster of Covington is as follows: Mayor -M. H. Nill; clerk-Glen F. Shawver; treasurer-John S. Dollinger; marshal- H. J. Hake; couneil-W. H. Minton, B. Swisher, R. W. Himes, Charles MeMakin, William Vandergrift, A. S. Rosenberger. Covington is a well situated and well gov-
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erned town. It has two banks (see " Banks and Banking"), two newspapers, the Ga- zette and Tribune, many churches, a fine system of waterworks, an electric light plant, a well-graded public school, three railways, two steam and one electric, and numerous shops and stores. There is no more progressive town in the county.
Newberry Township also contains a part of the town of Bradford, which has the Pan Handle yards, a bank and numerous industries. Several small clusters of houses which can scarcely be designated as towns dot the township and these show signs of healthy growth.
I have given briefly in the present chap- ter the history of the six western town-
ships of the county. An unabridged his- tory of the same would fill a whole volume. Some of the industries, etc., of these town- ships and their towns will be treated under proper heads later on. Suffice it to say that the western townships will compare favorably with similar divisions through- out the state. They have made wonderful strides since their formation, keeping pace with the march of progress, and abreast with everything that builds up a commu- nity. Having treated them less briefly than they deserve, owing to our limited space, we will now turn to the six town- ships that lie east of the Miami, for they have a history which will rival in interest that of their neighbors on the west.
CHAPTER VII.
THE TOWNSHIPS (EASTERN)
Brown, Springcreek, Staunton, Lostcreek, Elizabeth, Bethel.
That part of the county lying east of the Miami and embracing six townships can justly lay claim to the earliest settlement. The whole area was first called Elizabeth Township, but as the county increased in population and a demand was made for smaller divisions, it was cut up into the six townships which form the caption of the present chapter. The early history of these six townships is most interesting. While they contain no large municipali- ties, no commercial centers, and are known as the "rural townships," they are no less an integral part of the county. I shall not describe them in their priority of set- tlement and formation, but shall take them up from north to south in their geograph- ical location.
BROWN TOWNSHIP.
The first settlement in Brown Township was made in 1806 by John Kiser, who was a Virginian. At first he located in the vicinity of Dayton, but leaving his first habitation after a brief sojourn, he moved northward till he entered the forests of Brown Township, where he concluded to build his cabin. His industry enabled him to clear some ground, upon which he put
his first crops, and in course of time be- came one of the foremost farmers of the county. Isaac Kiser, son of this first set- tler, was the first white child born in Brown Township, and he first saw the light where the village of Fletcher now stands. The Kisers were well calculated to become the first settlers of a county. They came of a hardy stock of people and were men whom no trials could balk and to them Brown Township to-day owes much of its prosperity.
In 1807 John Simmons arrived from Pennsylvania and joined the little colony. He came with ten children to swell the scanty population. He built the first double-roomed cabin in the township and for a long time the structure was an ob- jeet of curiosity among the neighbors. What was more, a porch extended the length of this wonderful house and dur- ing the summer the Simmons family dined thereon. Simmons had real glass win- dows, and this excited the envy of the less fortunate neighbors. His squeaking doors had wooden hinges and wooden catches. These catches were raised from the out- side by means of a string and when the family were ready to retire at night they
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
pulled the string inside and considered themselves secure. Of course there was no patent on the Simmons "safety lock."
William Concannon is credited with be- ing the third man who settled in Brown Township. He, too, was an emigrant from the land of Penn. Concannon came in 1907, as did John Adney. Alexander Oliver was added to the township's population in 1808, but he soon grew tired of the loca- tion and, being of a roving disposition, he sold out and moved farther west. Every- thing went well within the limits of the township till the killing of Gerard and the Dilbones not far off, by the Indians, threw the inhabitants into a state of fear. A block-honse was built on the Kiser farm in 1812 and became a retreat in time of dan- ger. But the township was not invaded by the enemy and the block-house finally was put to other nses.
In the year 1818 the Munsells were add- ed to the population of Brown Township, then the Malloys came three years later. About the same time John Wolcott and Giles Johnson put up their cabins and Michael Sills exchanged his home in Champaign County for one in Brown Township. It was impossible at this late day to enumerate all those who entered this township at the dawn of its history. Many records of the first settlers have been lost and that, I regret to say, through utter carelessness. Among the first fam- ilies to inhabit Brown Township were those of William Cox, Edmund Yates. Joseph Jackson, Frederick Gray, Major Manning, Jolin D. Cory, Joseph Shanks, William Manson, John Wilson, William Walkup, David Newcomb, Thomas McCInre, Benja- min Sims, and Joseph Rollins, all good men and worthy citizens. Nearly all these
families came from the East. They crossed the Alleghanies, taking that well- defined trail which led to the valley of the Miami and, pushing on, at length found a resting place in the county. Not one of them, it is said, ever repented his choice of a home.
In 1819 the township was formally or- ganized. At that time it did not contain many inhabitants, but it was thought best to be "somebody in the world," as one of the organizers expressed it, so the town- ship proceeded to elect officers as follows: Trustees-Alexander Oliver, William Walkup and William Manson; clerk- Joseph Rollins; treasurer-Levi Munsell; justice of the peace-John Wilson; super- visors-John Oliver and Daniel Newcomb; lister-Jacob Simmons; fence viewer- Benjamin Sims; house appraiser-Thomas MeClure; overseers of the poor-John Simmons and Peter Kiser. This was quite an array of officials for a township, but doubtless the exigencies of the occasion demanded it, though in later years some of the officers were lopped off and the busi- ness of the township delegated to fewer officials.
Brown Township soon became one of the most progressive of the six east of the Miami. Isolated somewhat from the early markets, it had a slow growth for a few years, but it at last overcame these diffi- eulties, until now it is accessible to the best markets in the state. It has for years been favored with shipping facilities by the Pennsylvania lines, which now cross the township from east to west, tapping its two towns. Fletcher and Conover, and affording to the farmer a splendid outlet for his products.
Fletcher is the only incorporated town
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
in Brown Township. John L. Malloy laid it out in 1830. The first store in the vil- lage was kept by Samuel Dougherty and a queer store it was. His shelves were laden with every species of merchandise required by his customers. It was a miscellaneous stock, from shoe pegs to liquors, and what Dougherty didn't sell could not be found in any store in the county. Samuel Crane soon appeared as a rival of Dougherty's, probably to prevent him from getting all the money there was in the neighborhood, and later an Isaac Dukemineer put up a brick store and Fletcher put on the airs of a metropolis. The village was named Fletcher in 1814. To-day this pretty little village has a population of about 400 and is officered as follows: Mayor-R. E. Ber- ryhill; clerk-W. O. Shreve; treasurer -- I. C. Kiser; marshal-W. D. Kiser; coun- cil-Joel Carter, Bent Erhart, Daniel Kiser, Barna Ralston, James Gayhart, John Moore; board of education-W. L. Mumford, Joseph Coppock, W. R. Doub, James T. Hartley, Charles Morton.
Fletcher is the home of a progressive public school, several good church edi- fices, a town hall, and several fraternal so- cieties. It also contains a grain elevator and its shipping facilities are of the best.
Conover is a small town lying four miles east of Fletcher on the Pittsburg, Cincin- nati & St. Louis Railway. It was laid out in 1856 and was named for A. G. Con- over, one of the surveyors of the county. It contains several stores, shops and a church, the latter of the Universalist order. Its entire population is perhaps 100 souls.
Lena, also in Brown Township, is situ- ated a short distance north of Conover. It was founded in 1830 by Levi Robbins. The town was first called Elizabeth, but
the name was afterward substituted for that of Lena, but the postoffice was called Allen's. It is not on the railroad. While it remains but a village, after the rather lengthy period of its existence, it is a busy little place, containing several stores, good houses and a prosperous lodge of Free Masons. Brown Township is the banner Democratic township of the county and can always be relied upon to roll up a large majority for that party.
SPRING CREEK TOWNSHIP.
Spring Creek Township, lying west of Brown, is bounded northward by Shelby County, westward by Washington Town- ship and south by Staunton. It contains no incorporated towns, though a large col- lection of shops and lionses within its bor- ders; across the Miami River opposite Pi- qua has been called East Piqua. There was no more inviting prospect to the early settlers than Spring Creek Township. Well watered and well wooded, it seemed an ideal place for a home, and thither the discriminating emigrants flocked. It was chosen as the permanent abode of the first white settler of the county, John Hilliard, who came from New Jersey in 1792. Hil- liard first located somewhere in West Vir- ginia, but, not liking the locality, turned his face towards Ohio and after a brief residence in Hamilton County, not far from where Cincinnati now stands, he finally took up land in Spring Creek Town- ship. The latter move he made in 1797.
At that time the whole region embraced by this township was an unbroken forest. Game of every kind roamed wild through the sylvan solitudes and roving bands of Indians sought the region as a hunting ground. About the time of Hilliard's com-
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ing, a busy little Frenchman, named La- tour, put up a trading store and dickered with the Indians for furs, etc. The trader, who was a sort of human will-o'-the-wisp, did not make his residence permanent, so it was left for Hilliard to become the first permanent white settler in the township. He put up his cabin and cleared the land, bringing up his family in the new home.
John Hilliard's first house was a bark affair, rude and not altogether comfort- able. This called for a more substantial home, and one was built from round poles. It was an improvement on the first at- tempt at house building. "The roof of this house was of rude clap-boards and the chimney a most inartistic pile of mud and sticks ; the floor was partially covered with puncheon plank, while, in lieu of a door, a large old quilt hung, curtain-like, over the , aperture, which answered the purposes of ingress and egress." In this primitive house, if house the structure may be called, the Hilliards made themselves as comfortable as possible. The family was almost entirely shut off from the real com- forts of life. The nearest mill for some time was at Dayton, then but a collection of cabins, and the grinding of the grist necessitated a long and toilsome journey through the wilderness. It is believed that the unremitting toil of this pioneer short- ened his life, for after a few years of la- bor he was carried to his grave by his few neighbors who had followed him into the Spring Creek wilderness.
It was one of the most pathetic and strangest funerals in the forests of the Miami. The white mourners were aecom- panied to the grave by a number of friend- ly Indians, who gazed with awe upon the burial rites, something entirely new to
them. After the burial the Indians col- lected in little groups and for a while dis- enssed the affair, then stole silently into the forest and disappeared. Not until sev- eral years had passed did the Hilliards possess any white neighbors. At last, in 1804, the Dilbones came. This family met with a tragic ending so far as its heads are concerned, Mr. Dilbone and wife be- ing killed by the Indians during the War of 1812, an event narrated in another part of this work. The Dilbones were Pennsyl- vaniaus and were an industrious elass of people. Mrs. Dilbone was one of the first flax spinners in the county, and she was famous for her dexterity in this direction. It will be remembered that the couple were attacked while laboring in a flax field near their humble home.
William Frost left North Carolina in 1805 and settled in Spring Creek Town- ship. He brought with him some of the habits peculiar to the region from which he emigrated. He was fond of hunting and was celebrated for his skill with the rifle. His son Ebenezer is said to be the second white child born in Spring Creek Town- ship. In the same year that witnessed the coming of the Frosts, John R. MeKin- ney entered the township. Mckinney was a bachelor, who after a while became tired of living alone and, without much effort on the young lady's part, he was captured by Miss Jane Scott, This was probably one of the first matches made in Spring Creek Township and doubtless one of the happiest, for MeKinney's log cabin was soon exchanged for a more pretentious house, and the love and skill of his wife made life pleasant for him.
From Maryland in 1808 eame John Mill- house, and the same year Gardner Bobo
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
cleared some ground for a farm. These settlers were followed by Mathias Send- der, Uriah Blue, James L. Mckinney, Den- nis Lindley and Henry Millhouse. These people settled, not in one locality, but scat- tered out and established themselves in different parts of the township. The bet- ter homes of the settlers were to be seen in every direction. They took pride in the building of their homes ; they patterned after one another and soon had dwelling places supplied with not a few conve- nienees for the times. A writer speaking of this period of the settlement of Spring Creek Township says :
At this period domesticated animals were quite nu- merous, especially hogs were raised by the farmers in considerable abundance. The markets being distant and no railroads in the country, the hogs were driven through to Baltimore, Pittsburg and Philadelphia, and much of the way being through miry woods, many weeks were required to make the journey and return. Owing to the fact that fences were not kept up by the early settlers, their stock roamed the woods at large and hogs, especially not being easily distinguished from others of their own kind, became at times mixed with those belonging to a different herd, and in attempting to separate them it was necessary to put an end to numerous disputes which arose over the ownership of the stock.
A system of marking was agreed upon, so that every man had his own mark by which he could distinguish his stock from that of his neighbor, which always bore a different mark from his own. These marks were de- posited with the township clerk, so that afterwards all disputes were settled by referring to his book, which contained such declarations as the following: "This is to certify that the marks used by Uriah Blue for the year 1815 will be two slits on the upper side of the right ear." Another reads: "The mark used by Gard- ner Bobo for the year 1815 will be a noteh ent in the tip of the left ear." This usually settled the matter and from that time no trouble was experienced from this source.
This same system was in vogue in other parts of the county, as the old Clarke's books will show, especially in those divi- sions which lie east of the river.
During the Indian troubles which grew out of our second war with England one or more block-houses were erected in the township. One was built on the Hilliard
farm and in after years was used by the farmer as a barn. The close of the war was followed by added immigration into this locality, which had been checked by hostilities. Samuel Wiley came from Mary- land with one of the largest families that emigrated to the county. It consisted of sixteen children, an emphatic declaration that the Wileys were not partial to "race suicide." Following the Wiley's came the Kearns, Furrows, Hendershots, Gateses, Webbs, Jacksons, Floyds, Deweeses and many others whose family names are household words in the township at the present day.
The township was formally instituted in 1814, with the following duly elected offi- cers : Trustees-Henry Orbison, James L. McKinney, Uriah Blue; clerk-Lewis Deweese; treasurer-David Floyd; con- stables-John Wilson and Jacob Gates; lister (assessor)-John Webb. Business was light for the township officials for some years and they had little or nothing to do. However, as the population and general business increased, the needs of the township augmented until now it is regarded as one of the busiest and most important rural divisions of the county.
Spring Creek Township, owing to its natural water supply, became the site of many of the first mills, grist and other- wise, of the county. These mills were much needed by the people, as the nearest even were miles away and necessitated long journeys, which broke into the daily farm work. James MeKinney put up a corn-eracker mill on Spring Creek and Silas Manning operated another. A Mr. Ross combined a grist-mill with a carding- mill about 1830 and operated it success- fully. Samuel Wiley erected the first saw-
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ST. PATRICK'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, TROY
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, TROY
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ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PIQUA
BRETHREN CHURCH, PLEASANT HILL
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CHRISTIAN CHURCH, PIQUA
Y. M. C. A., PIQUA
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mill on Spring Creek in 1815 and sawed lumber for the first frame houses in the township. His example was followed by Elias Manning and Dr. Jackson. Several small distilleries also were erected and their output was either shipped out of the county or consumed within its limits.
Shawneetown, opposite the northern limits of Piqua, and Rossville, to the east of the same city, both separated from it by the Great Miami, are the only towns in Spring Creek Township. Neither is in- corporated. Rossville dates back to 1840, and Shawneetown was laid out about the same time. Both towns have been over- shadowed by the growth of Piqua, of which city they are now suburbs.
Spring Creek Township has long been noted for its excellent and well cultivated farms, its graded turnpikes, good country schools, a good class of citizens, intelligent and progressive, and in fact for a thou- sand and one other things that go toward keeping it in the front rank of township governments.
STAUNTON TOWNSHIP.
Staunton Township, the longest of the twelve divisions of the county, extending from the southern line of Spring Creek to the northern boundary of Monroe, has a history peculiarly its own. Its elongated appearance on the county map has brought forth numerous comments, being wide at the top and running wedge-like southward till it seems about to dart arrow-like into the domain of Monroe. Its western bound- ary is very uneven, owing to the wind- ings of the Miami, which separates it from the western part of the county. It has not a cluster of houses which can be called by the name of town, though, if history
can be relied upon, it had a narrow escape from becoming the county-seat township. The few houses which form what is known as the hamlet of Staunton became the first official habitation of the county, for here the first court was held, in the house of Peter Felix, the trader, and here primitive justice was first dispensed to the evildoers.
Staunton much desired the county seat, but lost out in the deal, and when the seat of justice and otherwise crossed the Miami and was established at Troy, much to the chagrin of Piqua, Staunton henceforth lost much of its importance. To-day it has not so much as a recognition on the map. But when one looks back upon the genesis of the county and notes the early struggles that preceded the establishment of the county seat he is prone to give Staunton her just dues.
It has been narrated in a previous chap- ter how the Knoops and other hardy pio- neers established themselves at "Dutch Station," which occupied the site of the present hamlet of Staunton. It is not necessary to refer to them here. Besides the initial settlers at Dutch Station there were others who came across the rugged barriers of the mountains and found homes among the forests that stretched eastward from the banks of the Miami. Perhaps the names of some of these men have been lost, but all were worthy members of that advance guard of civilization which made the woods of the Miami blossom like the rose. It is a fairly established fact that the early explorers of this region reached the lands of Staunton. Peter Felix- shrewd little Frenchman that he was- was one of the first white men to settle in Staunton Township and the hard bar- gains he drove with the Indians over his
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
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