USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th > Part 73
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Radnor Township was created at the time the county was organized, but remained as then constituted only until the meeting of the first Commissioners Court, when on June 15. 1808. the township of Marlborough was created out of Radnor territory. Thompson and Troy were later segregated from Radnor and established as separate townships, leaving the latter. in its dimensions, about ten miles north and south and from three to five miles in width.
During the War of 1812, the settlers were kept in turmoil, being in constant fear of at- tack from the Indians. A block house was erected on the farm of Benjamin Kepler as a retreat for the people, but when an attack be- came most threatening, many fled to the fort near Franklinton. However, the expected at- tack never materialized. After the war had closed and peace and safety assured, there was a great influx of new settlers, among them being Mrs. Wasson and her sons; Joseph Dunlap: Samuel Cooper : Robert and John McKinney : Obed Taylor ; James and Matthew Fleming : John Jones ; Walter Perry, Sr., with his sons. Walter, William, Edward, and Roger: then Thomas Jones and sons-John A. and Thomas; Ellis Jones, David E. Jones. Edward Evans, John Owen. Roger Watkins, Watkin Watkins, William Watkins, John and Humphrey Humphreys, Benjamin Herbert. Morgan D. Morgans, the pioneer blacksmith of the settlement : J. R. Jones, a weaver by trade: J. Jones, a mason: John Cadwalader, Rev. David Calwalader, David Lloyd, John
Davies, a cooper ; Mrs. Mary Chidlaw, with her family ; and Robert and Stephen Thomas. Most of these were of Welsh birth. By the time the early thirties were reached, practically all of the lands of the township was owned by actual settlers, and it is a notable fact that few farms of the township have ever been sub- jected to tax sales.
The first white child born in the county was David Perry, Jr., followed closely by Mary Jones, afterward Mrs. Warner, in 1807. The first death was that of the mother of Hugh Kyle, but there is no record of the date; she was buried in the old cemetery at Radnor. The first marked grave in that cemetery was that of David Davids, who died September 10. ISIO. Elijah Adams was the first justice of the peace in Radnor, and Thomas Warren conducted the first tavern, starting in 1811 in a two story log building.
The village of Delhi, which has been known as Radnor since the advent of the Co- lumbus & Toledo ( Hocking Valley ) Railroad. was laid out in August. 1833. for Edward Evans on his farm, near what has been the town site of New Baltimore, before Thomas Warren converted it into a farm. The first house on the town site of Radnor was built in 1805 where the Welsh Methodist Church now stands, and was occupied by Morgan Morgan. the blacksmith. The first store was kept by Obed Taylor. Thomas Taylor was the first postmaster as well as the first tavern keeper. Delhi Lodge No. 250, I. O. O. F., was installed there May 17, 1854. with five charter mem- bers, and grew rapidly.
The time the first school was started or by whom it was taught is not known, but it was during the early days of the settlement. In 1821 there were three log school houses in the township, one on the farm of John Philips in the southern part, another on the farm of John Dildine. centrally located, and the third near the old block house. There are at present eight school districts, with substantial school buildings, and a competent corps of instruc- tors employed.
The first organized religious society in Radnor Township, was the Baptist, which had its beginning May 4, 1816, in a log school-
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house. Elder Drake was the first regular pas- tor, preaching in both Welsh and English. They erected first a log church near the bury- ing ground, and regardless of denomination or religious belief, the settlers assisted in the building, each bringing a hewed log and as- sisting in the raising. In 1833. near the site of the log church, a stone building was built, and in 1867 a fine edifice was constructed of brick, representing an outlay of $4.500.
The Methodist Episcopal Church had rep- resentation there from the first, and in 1808 an itinerant minister preached the first sermon in the township, in the house of Henry Perry. Several years later a few of the families met regularly at the house of Elijah Adams and services were held. It was not until 1838 that a frame house of worship was built and the congregation supplied with regular preaching. In 1855 a brick meeting house was erected.
The Radnor Welsh Congregational Church had its beginning about 1818, when meetings were held in the cabins of the settlers, the language spoken being invariably Welsh. In 1820, Rev. James Davies organized a church in the home of John Jones, and thereafter was not without a pastor for more than a brief period. In 1841 a frame church building was erected and in 1842 was dedicated. In the middle sixties a brick meeting house was erec- ted at a cost of $3,000.
The Radnor Presbyterian Church dates its organization back to 1819, when the Rev. Jo- seph Hughes of Delaware accepted it as one of his charges. A hewed log meeting-house was built in a sugar grove on the farm of Jo- seph Dunlap. The erection of a stone church building was begun in 1840 but not completed until 1849. In the interim, the log church was abandoned and there was no pastor for several years. Through the efforts of Rev. S. R. Hughes, the church resumed its proper place in the world.
The Protestant Episcopal Church was or- ganized in 1836 by Rev. Abram Edwards, and a house of worship was erected but its exist- ence was limited to a very few years.
The Presbyterian Church was organized in 1848, largely through the untiring efforts of Rev. Henry Shedd and in 1854 a brick
church building was constructed. It thrived and prospered from its inception.
The Welsh Presbyterian Church was or- ganized in 1850 by the Welsh settlers who were of the Calvinistic Methodist faith before leaving their native land. Their church creed being almost identical with the Presbyterian in America, the church was given the latter name. The first pastor was Rev. Hugh Rob- erts, and the Welsh language has always been used in preaching in that church. A church edifice was erected in 1877.
The Radnor Sunday School Union, the first Sunday school in Radnor Township, was established April 18, 1829, and continued most actively for many years, but finally was dis- banded because Sunday Schools had been es- tablished in the respective Churches. Primers, spellers and the Bible were the text books used and the good accomplished by this organiza- tion in improving the minds of the young, morally and educationally, can scarcely be es- timated or imagined. Of the members of this union, six became ministers of the Gospel.
The Radnor Township officials in 1908 were: James P. Osborne, justice of the peace ; Charles S. Gallant and Edgar Jones, trustees; Charles E. Davis, clerk: Perry J. Griffith, treasurer ; Charles R. Watkins, as- sessor : Ml. Mays, constable.
The following are the business houses of Radnor: E. I. Jones, general store: 1. W. Holmes, general store; Benjamin Pritchard, blacksmith; G. T. Wolfley, pastinaster; Rad- nor Elevator Company, dealers in grain, hay, seed, hardware, farm implements and coal; Perry J. Griffith, livery; W. T. Roberts, hotel and livery ; T. K. Jones, M. D. : H. Edwards, M. D .: T. W. Disbennett, tile-mill and saw- mill.
SCIOTO TOWNSHIP.
This township was included in the Old Virginia Military Land, and originally in- cluded territory only west of the Scioto River. On December 7. 1814. the county commission- ers granted a petition to establish this town- ship. At that time the new township included all the land west of the Scioto that had been in
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Radnor, and extended south to the mouth of Mill Creek. Concord Township was estab- lished in 1819. and two years later, the boun- daries of Scioto Township were definitely fixed, as follows: Beginning on the west bank of the Scioto River at Dilsaver's Ford, the line ran west to Union County: thence south with said line to the middle of Mill Creek; thence eastwardly with the north line of Con- cord Township to the Scioto River; thence up the said river, with the meander thereof to the place of beginning. In 1852, land embracing two school districts in the northern part of Concord Township, on the east side of the Scioto was annexed to Scioto Township. A few years after that. a part of Concord Town- ship situated directly west of the Mill Creek settlement, occupying the bend of Mill Creek south of it. was attached to Scioto Township, so that the people living on it might have the benefit of the Ostrander schools and the near- by voting place. Scioto Township is now bounded on the north by Thompson and Rad- nor Townships : on the east by Radnor, Dela- ware and Concord Townships; on the south by Concord Township and Union County. and on the west by Union County. The township takes its name from the Scioto River. This is a corruption of the Indian name Scionto, which was applied to the river by the Wyandots. Ar- thur's Run and Boke's Creek are the tribu- taries of the river in the northern half of the township. The latter, which is a good-sized stream, was named for a Wyandot chief. It is fed by Smith's Run. Mill Creek, the principal tributary of the Scioto River in Delaware County, runs through the southern part of the township.
Near the river the land is rolling, and in some places the banks of the river are quite steep. The land along the river is rich. Far- ther back it is more level, and is well adapted for grains and grazing. Here and there through the townships clay knobs are to be found containing excellent material for the manufacture of brick and tile. In the western part of the township, about where the farms of John W. Eddleblute and Acel Larcum and others in that neighborhood are located. there
was at one time a pond of considerable size and much swamp land. This was drained, and in order to get rid of the vegetation with which the land was covered, it was set on fire. It burned for a long time before the fire could be put out. From this fact the road which runs north and south through this sec- tion became known as the Burned Pond Pike. The lands proved to be some of the richest in the township.
The Indians, which the first settlers found here were friendly. and imparted to them much valuable information regarding the salt licks. the fords in the river and the haunts of wild game.
It is now generally conceded that the first settler in the township was Richard Hoskins. who came from Wales bringing a family of four sons and three daughters. They reached Franklinton in December, 1805. and in May of the following year started north on the old Sandusky Military Road. He settled at the mouth of Boke's Creek. About the same time, probably in June of that year, Zachariah Ste- phens settled near Hoskins, and as he was the first to complete his cabin, he has the honor of building the first white man's cabin in the township. In the latter part of November. 1807. an Irish family, of which James Mc- Cime was the head cast in their lot with the little settlement. In August of the next year, another Irishman, Stewart Smith, settled liere. In 1809. Jacob North came from the East and settled near the creek ; Zachariah Williams and his family settled near by: and Joseph Shoub, a Pennsylvanian, settled near the mouth of Smith's Run. The same year Philip Horshaw came and built a grist mill where the mill at Warrensburg now stands. In 1811 Richard and Evans Carr arrived in the township. The latter settled near the present site of the town of Ostrander. In 1814, John Sherman came from Kentucky. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. His son. Vincent Sherman, settled near the Union County line. John Lawrence settled on a farm in 1814, where the village of Edinburg was later located. The same year. John Cratty came through the woods and set- tled on a farm near the present site of Os-
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trander. Andrew Dodds and his family came here March 15, 1815, from the Derby Plain. They were natives of Pennsylvania. They settled in the Edinburg neighborhood. Polly Dodds, the wife of Andrew, died soon after they reached here. She was the second one to be interred in the graveyard at Edinburg. Her husband died in 1820.
James Liggett came from Virginia in 1817. and settled in the woods, on land which is now included in the village of Ostrander. He was energetic. intelligent and a public- spirited citizen, who did all in his power to de- velop the town. In 1815. Asa Robinson set- tled near the mouth of Big Mill Creek, and the following year a Kentuckian named Wil- liam Ramsey settled on Mill Creek. That year. H. G. Smith, a native of Massachusetts. also settled in the township, and Solomon Carr came from Virginia and settled on land that is now a part of the village of Ostrander. George Bean came from Hardy County, Vir- ginia. four years later and joined this little settlement. He was one of the first justices of the peace in the township. The Deans came from Pennsylvania into Ohio before it became a State, and in 1829. they came to the neighborhood of Ostrander, and in the late '60's moved into the village. Other set- tlers who came into the township at a later dlate were William Loveless, in 1828 from Maryland, and in 1837. W. G. McFarlin. both of whom settled near White Sulphur Station. In 1834 a Welshman by the name of J. P. Owen, settled in the township.
Robert Perry and Sarah Hoskins were the first couple married in the township. This important event occurred in 1808. Later in that year Isaac Smart married Margaret Smith. Hugh Stephens, a son of Zachariah Stephens, was the first white child born in Scioto, and James McCune was the second. The first death was that of Zachariah Wile liams, who died in 1809, and was the first one buried in the old cemetery on Boke's Creek. The first postmaster was llarry Riggers, who kept a tavern at what was then known as Riggers Ford, where the covered bridge now crosses the Scioto on the Marysville Pike.
This was a famous tavern and the second one opened in the township. The first tavern was opened by James Flannigan. John Cratty and David Shoup were the first justices of the peace.
The first village in the township was Fair- view, later called Edinburg, and now recog- nized only by a few houses in the neighbor- hood where the Gabriels live, north of Ostran- der. It is supposed that this village was laid out and platted soon after Cratty and the Dodds and John Lawrence came into the township. but the record does not show who made the plat or the date when it was recorded. There were twenty-seven lots shown on the plat. Harrison Street, running east and west was to be the principal street : others running in the same direction were Columbus, Frank- lin and East Streets. Its beautiful location suggested the first name of the settlement. It was expected that the place would develop into one of importance, and for a time it had a slow but steady growth. When. however. the railroad was put through the present vil- lage of Ostrander, the hopes of the citizens of Edinburg were blasted. The village of Os- trander owes its existence to the building of the railroad through that part of the township. and what was once a bare clay knob now sup- parts one of the flourishing villages of the county. It is named for the engineer who surveyed the line for the railroad. The town was laid out in 1852 by I. C. Buck, and as originally platted contained 104 lots. The town was incorporated May 18. 1875: The first Council meeting was held April 5, 1876. at which were present. D. G. Cratty, mayor : W. C. Winget, treasurer: Dr. D. C. Fay. clerk. The members of the Council were T .. Maugans, J. Il. Fields, Samuel Stricklin. G. S. Carr. F. W. Brown and J. B. Roberts. M. C. Bean was the first postmaster. . W. C. Win- get was the first merchant. Dr. Erastus Field was the first physician. He came here in 1849. William Fry was the first blacksmith, and Samuel Stricklin was the first tavern-keeper.
Ostrander's present-day business men are enterprising and up-to-date. They are com- prised substantially in the following list :
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Physicians-D. C. Fay, G. E. Cowles, V. B. Weller.
Ostrander Business Houses-R. B. Shaw, restaurant and meat market : H. T. Kyle, drug- gist : C. Hannawalt, dry goods and groceries : E. B. Bean, dry goods and groceries : Robin- son Bros., furniture, carpets and undertaking ; A. M. Jacobs, monuments : Shoaf & Anderson, dry goods and groceries ; The Ostrander Bank- ing Company: W. C. Bovey, blacksmith and carriage manufacturer ; Fegley Bros., black- smiths and repair shop; Albert Huntley, ce- ment blocks and fence posts : Palace Hotel. W. E. Honneter, proprietor : J. C. Mangans, ele- vator and lumber yard : Manville & Winston, hardware; C. L. V. Liggett, hardware; also two livery barns.
Ostrander officials for 1908-E. B. Bean, mayor: M. M. McBride, clerk; W. A. Ander- son, treasurer.
Councilmen-Charles Ekelberry, president ; R. T. Gates, John Fegley, Eli Mangans, D. W. Felkner. Charles Shoaf. George P. Lig- gett, marshal.
School Board-S. T. Carr, president ; William Harris, C. V. Liggett, Dr. G. E. Cowles. S. M. Schoppert.
M. M. Mcbride, health officer.
M. L. Kalb, postmaster.
The history of the lodges. schools, churches and manufacturing plants will be found in the chapters devoted to those special subjects.
Warrensburg is a small village located on the Sandusky Military Road over which Hos- kins and the other pioneer settlers on Boke's Creek passed when they came up the river. It is located two miles north of White Sul- phur Station, and was originally and for many years called Millville. It received its present name of Warrensburg when a postoffice was established there, August 26, 1885. Owing to the establishment of the rural free delivery. the postoffice was discontinued a few years ago. At one time Millville was the largest village in the township, but the building of the rail- road so far to the south blighted its pros- pects of any large development in the fu- ture.
The public officials of Scioto Township for the year 1908 are: S. B. Myers, justice of the peace : Charles Cryder and George Culp. trustees ; G. E. Cowles, treasurer ; Stanley Mc- Kittrick, clerk; John Stover and Fred Faucett. assessors. and William Harter. constable.
TRENTON TOWNSHIP.
The name of this township was originally Sunbury. The present township is but a small portion of the original township of Sunbury. which was the third township to be created after the organization of Delaware County. It dates back to June 16. 1808, and was origin- ally bounded as follows: Beginning at the northeast corner of Section 2, Township 5 and Range 17, of the United States Military Sur- vey, thence south with said line to the south line of the county, thence east with said county line to the east line of said county, thence north with said county line to the Indian boundary line, thence west by said bundary line, to the east line of Marlborough Township, thence south with said line to the southeast corner of said township, thence west to the place of be- ginning. This immense township inchided the present townships of Harlem, Trenton. Porter, and half of Berkshire and Genoa in3 Delaware County, and the following town- ships in Morrow County: Peru, Bennington, Lincoln and Harmony. On September 11. ISIO, Harlem was set off from Sunbury, and Kingston followed on June 8. 1813. Three years later Genoa was set off from Harlem. and one half of the new township was taken from the original Sunbury. One slice after another was cut off this territory until the present dimensions of Trenton Township were reached. its present name having been given to it sometime in the early '30's. We quote the following account of the way in which the change of name was brought about : "Messrs. Van Dorn, Leak and Condit, all early settlers and prominent men of the town- ship, were sitting on a log one day talking over general business matters. Finally, the conversation turned upon the question of the
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village of Sunbury being in Berkshire Town- ship, while their own township bore the name of Sunbury. It was suggested that the name of the latter be changed in order to avoid con- fusion, a suggestion that was unanimously agreed to. Mr. Leak proposed the name of Chester-his native town; Mr. Condit wanted it called Orange, but there was an Orange Township in the county already: so Mr. Van Dorn suggested Trenton, for the capitol of his native State-New Jersey. The name was agreed to among themselves and sent to the county commissioners, by whom it was adopted. Thus Sunbury Township became a thing of the past. while its place was filled on the map of Delaware County by Trenton." This town- ship is now bounded on the north by Porter Township; on the east by Licking County; on the south by Harlem and on the west by Berk- shire. It is five miles square and contains 16,000 acres of land. The surface of this township, while it is not wholly level, can scarcely be called hilly or broken. Along the water-courses it is a little rough and uneven, while back from the streams it is somewhat rolling. until striking the table-land, when it becomes rather level. Van's Valley, as it is called, is somewhat low, as well as the west central part, while the western and northern portions rise to quite an elevation, and incline to an almost rolling surface. The township is well drained by natural streams. Big Wal- nut Creek, which is the principal stream, en- ters the township near the northwest corner, and runs a little west of south to the township line. where it passes out southeast of Sun- bury. Rattlesnake Run is the next largest stream. The large number of rattlesnakes that were found in the cliffs and rocks bordering this stream led the early settlers to give it its name. The North Fork enters the town- ship near the center of the east line, and unites with the South Fork in the south central part of the township, thence it flows in a westerly direction and empties into the Big Walnut near the center of the west line of the town- ship. Other streams of minor importance are Culver's Run and Perfect's Creek, named for early settlers in the township. These streams
empty into the Big Walnut. Dry Run empties into Perfect's Creek and Mink Run flows into Rattlesnake near its mouth. There are many quarries of fine building stone in this township, some of which were opened at an early day. The township was well timbered with the various hardwoods indigenous to this region.
William Perfect and Mordecai Thomas were the first settlers in Trenton Township of whom we have any record. They with their families came here in the spring of 1807 from Kentucky. Each purchased a hundred acres of military land from Pearson Spinning, who had a tract of 1,000 acres. At this late date comparatively little that is new can be learned concerning the earliest pioneers of the county, and we have to depend largely upon the re- searches of earlier historians; for this reason, we will make use of some of the material con- tributed by Middleton Perfect to the County Atlas published in 1875. Perfect and Thomas settled near the mouth of the creek that later was named for Mr. Perfect. His death in 1812 was the first in the township. In 1810 another Kentuckian, Bartholomew Anderson, settled on a tract of land east of Perfect's. "Trenton is justly proud of its pioneers. New Jersey furnished skilled tavern-keepers; the northern part of the township was settled by industrious people from the little Blue State. A colony from Ithaca, New York, settled in the south part, and another from Pennsyl- vania in the west part. One of the early settlers kept two 'asheries,' and supplied Dela- ware with salt and window-glass for twelve years." The two latter articles of merchan- dise were wagoned from Zanesville. Michael Ely and John Culver settled north of what is now Culver's Creek in 1809, and soon after them a single man named John Williamson came into the settlement and purchased land from Ely, whose daughter Rosanna he mar- ried in 1810. It is claimed that their son, Madison Williamson, was the first white child born in the township. A man named Pressing, John Ginn and William Ridgway came to the township in 1811 from the State of Delaware. Other early settlers were James and Owen Ilough from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
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When Gilbert Van Dorn came here from New Jersey in 1817, there were only two families living on the road between the Licking County line and the village of Sunbury. He pur- chased 1,000 acres of land in a beautiful val- ley, which has ever since been known as "Van's Valley." It is claimed that the tavern which he opened here the next year was the first in the township. He had a gilt sun painted on his sign and underneath it the words, "Center Inn." AAt first this pioneer tavern was a rude log structure, but as travel increased and his reputation as a Boniface grew, a second cabin was added to the first, and then another and another, until he had tour log cabins con- nected together for the accommodation of the traveling public. At the end of eleven years he put up a brick "hotel," in front of which he hung the same old sign that had cheered the weary traveled with the prospect of entertain- ment for so many years. This structure, built in 1829, was the first brick building erected in the township. It would appear that Van Dorn was a man of some business ability, for we find that he also kept a kind of grocery store at his tavern, and continued it until 1854. John Leak, who also came from New Jersey, bought land from Van Dorn and set- tled east of the Inn. In 1820 Silas Ogden settled on what was known as the State Road and opened the first tannery in the town- ship.
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