History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I, Part 17

Author: Middleton, Evan P., editor
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1196

USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 17

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The history of the township has been prepared with the idea of including only such facts and incidents as are concerned with the settlers of the Salem township as it is defined today. Such parts of the township as were later detached to form all or parts of other townships will be treated in the townships thus created. For instance, the townships of Wayne, Rush, Union and Goshen were all at one time parts of Salem, but all inci- dents, etc., connected with them while a part of Salem will be treated under the head of those respective townships.

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MILITARY LAND.

The Ludlow Line cuts off the northeastern corner of Salem township which contains approximately four thousand acres. An examination of the records shows that twenty-four surveys in whole or in part are within Salem township. A list of these surveys, their numbers, acreage and proprietors are given in the appended table. In only a few instances is the date of the original patent given. The list follows :

Survey Original

Number

No. Proprietor.

of Acres.

4284-R. Armstrong 742

4331 and 4332-A. Dunlap 460

4335-A. Dunlap 100

4492-Jesse Davis

2,000

4520-R. Osborn

675

4524-Jesse Davis

400

4534-Gabriel Peterson 1,200

4543-John Kean

4544-John Campbell

1,200

4636-William Tidball

150

4925-Jesse David 380

5042-James Denny

270

5044-D. Prevett

125

5169-H. Morton

393

5469-Denny, Morton, Parker

180

7223-Christopher Bartlett

100

8668-James Galloway

8762-Dunn & Haines

6.40

8964-Walter Dunn

I20

11064-M. Bonner

225

11065-M. Bonner

166

11066-M. Bonner

12795-John Evans

175

It is not known that any of the original holders of the patents to these several tracts located on their surveys. In only a few instances is the land recorded in the name of the person to whom the patent for it was granted.

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Some interesting data was observed in the compilation of the above list of original proprietors of military land. For instance it was noted that there were churches on surveys 4331 and 7223; mills on surveys 4925, 4520, 12795 and 4284. On survey No. 4284 there was also a distillery. The patent for survey No. 5169 was issued to John Watts, January 20, 1817, and on the following day Watts sold the entire survey to Enos Baldwin and the following week, January 25, 1817, Baldwin sold fifty acres of the tract to E. L. Morgan, one of the best-known of the early settlers of Champaign county.

There was some of the military land in Salem township which was not patented until in the twenties. A patent was issued to Joseph Downs on December 6, 1823, for survey 4335; Bethnel Sample received a patent on March 26, 1823, for survey 11065; Aaron L. Hunt on March 24, 1828, for survey No. 11066, and on March 1, 1831, for No. 12795.

A PROLIFIC SOURCE OF TROUBLE.

The reader in looking at the list of original proprietors of military lands in this township must recall that the acreage given for the several surveys does not indicate the amount in this township. The surveys were selected many years before township boundaries were made and when the townships were defined no attempt was made to follow the lines of the military surveys. All of the surveys overlap which touched the boundary of Logan county to the north or Wayne township to the east. The Ludlow Line is followed practically the whole distance through the township with a public highway, the only part of the line not followed by a road being about half a mile north of where the Erie railroad crosses the line.

The military land in this township, as in other townships of the county, has always been a prolific source of trouble for the surveyor. Some surveys of tracts run over and others are deficient, in the number of acres they are supposed to contain, the result being an endless amount of litigation. For- tunately, most of these difficulties over boundary lines have been settled, but in the twenties there was so much trouble about getting definite boundaries established that a number of settlers were in danger of being dispossessed of their land. Survey No. 4520, Richard Osborn original proprietor, was one which gave considerable trouble in 1824, and it was not until after an act of Congress and expensive court proceedings that the matter was finally adjudicated. The landowners of this tract in 1824 were John Thomas, James Thomas, Silas Williams, Asa Williams, Richard Williams, Phineas

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Hunt, Benjamin Johnson, John Robinson and Jacob Stratton. In this year (1824) it was discovered that there were two hundred and twenty-five acres which had been thought, up to that time, to have been a part of the Osborn survey, No. 4520, but it was shown conclusively that the two hun- dred and twenty-five-acre tract was not a part of that survey. It was held by Jacob Stratton, John Robinson and Garland Wade. The defect in the title of the Osborn survey was finally adjusted by Col. John Thomas, who went to Lancaster, Virginia, to see Major Hugh Boyle, who represented the Osborn family. The matter was finally settled and the interesting feature of the transaction was the compensation which was asked for the quieting of the title. When Mrs. Boyle signed the final papers Colonel Thomas asked what settlement she expected in return for her and her husband sign- ing the quitclaim deed. Being a member of the Friends church, and several of the occupants of the land being members of the same church, Mrs. Boyle replied that all she asked was that the women living on the land make and send to her a plain cap such as worn by the women members of the church. This request was complied with and Mrs. Esther Down took charge of the making of the cap for their good sister, Mrs. Boyle, in far-away Vir- ginia.

AN HONEST SURVEYOR'S GRATEFUL ACT.

While a white cap costing a few cents settled the claim concerning the Osborn survey, the two hundred and twenty-five- acre tract has a far different history. It was proved that it really belonged to no one in the county, or in Virginia, but to the United States government. Accordingly the county surveyor, Aaron L. Hunt, promptly laid claim to it, and, legally, when he secured a patent for it, the land was his. As before stated he secured a patent for survey No. 11066 on March 24, 1828, (fifty acres), and for survey No. 12795 on March 1, 1831, (one hundred and seventy-five acres). The former survey adjoins the village of Kennard, while the latter is about two miles north of the village and mostly in Wayne township.

Hunt did not make any effort to take advantage of those who thought they had a perfect title to this land, but gave to each owner the land he then occupied for the nominal consideration of two dollars an acre. This barely covered the cost of getting the land surveyed and securing the title, but Hunt had no desire to profit by the mistake of some earlier surveyor. The land was easily worth eight dollars an acre and he, having the title to it, could

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have sold it for any amount he chose. Hunt was a good, honest Quaker and many stories are told of his sterling honesty in connection with his surveying.

DRAINAGE OF THE TOWNSHIP.

The present limits of Salem include all of townships 5 and 6 in ranges 12 and 13 in Champaign county and a triangular tract between the Ludlow Line and Wayne township. The township is eight miles long and six miles wide and contains the equivalent of forty-eight sections or thirty thousand seven hundred and twenty acres -- making it therefore the largest township in the county by six sections. The triangular section of Virginia Military Land contains approximately four thousand acres.

Mad river enters the township from Logan county in section 26 and meanders through sections 26. 25, 31, 33 and 32, along the western side of the township. The main streams tributary to it are the Mackachack ( Maco- chee) Kings creek and Dugan run. The first two drain most of the town- ship, the latter draining only a portion of the extreme southeastern corner. All of the township falls within the Mad river basin. An extended notice has been given in another chapter to the effect on the township of the dredg- ing of Mad river since 1914. This improvement was the means of reclaim- ing hundreds of acres which had formerly been of little use other than for pasturing. The southeastern corner of the township drains through Dugan run as above stated, and with the lowering of the channel of Mad river it has been found that all of the streams tributary to the river furnish much more effective drainage for their respective basins than heretofore. Not only has Mad river been dredged, but a portion of Kings creek has been similarly treated, thus making it a more effective drainage agent.

The surface of the township is just rolling enough to furnish easy natural drainage with the exception of a portion in the southern part, par- ticularly that portion commonly known as Dugan prairie, which, until a few years ago, was a swamp of more than a thousand acres covered with water nearly the year round. Nearly all of section I was under water all the time. The highest point in the township is in the northeastern corner where the government survey has a mark of one thousand three hundred feet. The lowest mark recorded is at the confluence of Mad river and Kings creek where a mark of one thousand and twenty-five feet is recorded.

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FIRST SETTLER IN THE COUNTY.

As previously stated the present discussion of Salem township is con- fined to the township with its present limits. There has been a difference of opinion as to who has the honor of being the first settler in the county. The honor belongs to either William Owens or Pierre Dugan and as long as there is no way of determining which man really was the first settler, both may be credited with the honor. Dugan settled along the creek which now bears his name and on the prairie which is similarly honored. While the date of his actual appearance in the county can not be definitely stated, yet it is known that he was here prior to 1800. This Dugan was a French-Canadian with an Indian wife and apparently lived solely by hunting, since it is not known that he tried to till the soil. According to the best evidence Dugan's cabin stood near where the Pennsylvania railroad crosses the highway, about two miles northeast of Urbana. Much of the territory surrounding him was very swampy and a considerable portion of it was covered with water most of the year. The southern part of Salem township until the thirties was extremely swampy and in the spring much of it had the appearance of a lake. This was drained through Kings creek and Buck creek and through a ditch which bears the name of the old pioneer who fished and hunted over the swamp more than a hundred years ago.

THE STORY OF DUGAN RUN.

There is no one now living in the county who can remember when the artificial ditch authorized by the Legislature in 1827. more than ninety years ago, was constructed through this swamp in the southeastern corner of Salem township and down through the city of Urbana. As long as the county shall exist the name of Dugan will be applied to this artificial water- way, although there are very few people in the county who know that what is known as the Dugan ditch is an artificial waterway. As stated above, the Legislature in 1827 authorized Judge John Reynolds, a prominent citizen of Urbana, to take charge of the construction of what is now known as Dugan run and he pushed the work on it to a rapid completion. This ditch, known for many years as the Reynolds ditch because of Judge Reynold's connection with it. started in the southeastern corner of Salem township on land then owned by Reynolds, now owned by Edwin Hagenbuck, and making a curve to the north, entered Urbana township north of the city, passed through the

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city along the railroad track, and on southwest to Mad river. The ditch drained a large tract of land and not only reclaimed thousands of acres, but also removed a very prolific cause of miasma, fevers, agues, etc., which had been so prevalent up to that time in Urbana.

But the draining of the swamp had one unforseen result. The old set- tler Dugan looked upon the improvement with disapproval, because it meant the destruction of his fishing. trapping and hunting ground. Then again the county was rapidly settling up and game of all kinds was getting so scarce in the county that the old hunter had difficulty in making a living. One day the old hunter packed his few belongings. gathered his squaw wife and their papooses and a motley collection of dogs, and walked across the country to the headwaters of the Scioto. There he pitched his rude cabin- it was probably little more than a lean-to-and lived the remainder of his days. He returned to Urbana once a year to trade his furs and skins for his simple necessities, and at the same time he called on Judge Reynolds, who owned his former home, for what he called the rent of his "home." Rey- nolds always humored the old man in his belief that he really was renting the old settler's home, which, in fact, never had belonged to him, and gave him a pound of tobacco (known as "pig-tail"), or a few yards of calico.

INTERESTING TALES CONCERNING PIERRE DUGAN.

Many stories have been handed down concerning this quaint old pioneer. Dugan finds himself the central figure of many stories which probably never had their origin until after he left the county, but some of the tales told about him are well substantiated. Here is one. E. L. Morgan is responsible for the truth of the story, and it is given in the language of Morgan himself : "Having purchased a bag of corn meal of John Taylor at his mill on Kings creek, and having no horse of his own to carry the meal home, Mr. Taylor kindly offered to loan him a pony he called "Gopher." Pierre thankfully accepted the loan, but after looking at the bag of corn meal, then at Gopher, and finally at himself, concluded that the load was too heavy for the horse, but as the bag was too heavy for himself to carry, he compromised the diffi- culty by shouldering the bag. then led the pony to a stump and mounted its bare back with the bag of meal on his own shoulders, saying as he did so, 'that he could carry. the bag and Gopher could carry him,' and in this way rode home."

In 1872 Ed I .. Morgan. one of the early settlers of the township, pub-

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lished an article in the Urbana Citizen and Gasette which sought to set forth all the facts the author had learned concerning Dugan. The article is inter- esting not only for the facts touching the life of the first settler, but also for the light it throws upon the early conditions in the county. The article follows :

It is not known who was the first white settler In Salem township; nor at what time or place the first cabin was built. It is thought by many that Pierre Dugan, a Frenchman who had an Indian squaw for a wife, was the first. In 1803 he was living In a small log cabin a short distance from the present residence of Mr. Mark Higbee; and the Pan Handle railroad passes over, or near, the spot where it stood. Dugan Prairie took Its name from Pierre Dugan, who was the first white settler upon its borders, where his name is Immortalized. He spent his time in killing the beaver, the wolf, the bear and the prairle rattlesnake, thus preparing the wilderness for the secure settlement of the civilized white man.

At that time, and for many years after, the prairie (with the exception of a few small Islands, and here and there an elevated spot) was covered with water, in some parts to a considerable depth; for there was no outlet for the water which flowed in from the surrounding country. In spring and summer it had the appearance of a small lake and contained a vast numbre of fish ,frogs and turtles. It was also a resort for a countless number of water fowls, such as wild geese, ducks, cranes and storks. In every dry summer great numbers of beavers, otters, minks and musk- rats had their houses on the margin of the lake, and numerous black rattlesnakes lived in the elevated spots throughout its whole extent. At such a time the water on the prairie would get so low that some parts would become entirely dry and large quantities of fish would be left on the dry bed of the lake to be devoured by the hogs, wild beasts and fowls, or to rot in the hot sun, causing an intolerable stench. It was thought that this caused the sickness for many miles around. We "young folks" once constructed a rude sail boat and launched it upon the "raging waters" of Dugan. In this boat, accompanied by "our darlings," we spent much time which might have been employed In a more profitable, though not in a more agreeable and pleasant manner. Occasionally, either by accident or design, the boat would tip over. Since this seldom happened in deep water, all could wade ashore without being required to hoist the undergarments above the knee. Of the hundreds who enjoyed the happiness of a rapid and merry ride in that boat but few remain on earth. I know of none save four of Jonathan Long's family, four of the family of Matthew Stewarts, one of the family of John Taylor and myself. This was probably the first bont ever launched in this township, and I know of but one other since that time, which was built some years after by John McAdams. The history of this boat and the adventures of its owners I expect to give in a short time.

In 1827 the legislature passed an act authorizing Judge John Reynolds, of Urbana, to drain Dugan Prairie, which he accomplished in a short time at great expense. By this means he became the benefactor of the inhabitants for many miles around, since these in that neighborhood have suffered but little with fever and ague since that time, though it occurred every summer previous to the draining of the lake. When immigrants from the old states began to settle and make Improvements around Pierre, and he could see the light of other fires in the "clearing" at night and hear the sound of the woodman's axe and maul by day, the worthy hunter concluded It was time for him to bunt a new home, as game was getting somewhat scarce. He

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accordingly packed up his traps and. accompanied by his wife, children and dogs, wended his way northward and located near the head of the Scioto river, where he ended bis days. It was bis custom after he left here to visit U'rbana at least once a year to sell his furs and skins. As Judge Reynolds had become the owner of his old home, he always expected him to pay some rent which was cheerfully done, and a pound of "pig-tail" tobacco or a calleo dress pattern for bis youngest papoose was usually given by the Judge, and thankfully received by Pierre as ample satisfaction. Many amusing anecdotes of Dugan were related by the early settlers who knew him.

FARLY APPEARANCE OF "SQUATTERS."

Before the county was organized in 1805 several venturesome settlers had wandered up the Mad river valley and squatted on the most eligible sites. Their cabins dotted the highlands on either side of Mad river and were even found here and there along many of the smaller streams. The Mad river township of April 20, 1805. must have contained several hundred settlers, but there is no way of determining how many, nor the exact location of their settlement. Many of them were not permanent settlers and were merely "squatters." A large part of the military land was settled by others than those who received the patent for the land from the government, and for this reason it is difficult to trace the records of the early settlers of the military land.

The first settler has already been mentioned. In 1802 or the year fol- lowing William Powell came to the township and located on Kings creek. A Baptist preacher by the name of William Wood was undoubtedly the first settler in Kingston and he was located near the present mill in the village as early as 1803. Reverend Wood was the father of Christopher Wood, a dis- tinguished soldier of the War of 1812. The first grist-mill in the township. and no doubt the first one in the county, was built at the confluence of Kings creek and Mad river by Arthur Thomas sometime prior to 1805. Thomas was later murdered by the Indians. Another grist-mill was opened about 1805 by Joseph Petty who located near where the Erie railroad crosses Kings creek. In 1804 Mathew Stewart, of Pennsylvania, and his two sons, Samuel and William, located on Kings creek.

In addition to the settlers above mentioned it is known that the follow- ing located within the present limits of the township about 1805 and it is probable that they were all here on the day the township was organized in April, 1805. They were David Parkinson, George and Jacob Leonard, Abner Barrett, John Guthridge, William Johnson, James Turner and John McAdams.

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Most of these were from Kentucky and Virginia. John Taylor located within the limits of the present village of Kingston in 1806, purchasing a quarter of a section from Isaac Zane.

HOME OF A GOVERNOR OF OHIO.

It was in Salem township that a future governor of Ohio located in 1805. Joseph Vance was nineteen years old when his father came to the township from Washington county, Pennsylvania, and he called the farm two miles and a half north of Urbana his home as long as he lived. Whether he was serving in the halls of Congress or in the governor's chair, he still claimed his home on the old Vance homestead in Salem township, and it was there he died on July 24. 1852. An extended sketch of Governor Vance is given elsewhere in the volume. It should be mentioned, however, that after Governor Vance's father, Joseph C. Vance, died in the spring of 1809 that the son, then twenty-five years of age, assumed control of the old home farm. He built a large mill on Kings creek in 1818 about a mile above its junction with Mad river. This was one of the largest mills in the county and had a run of four pairs of buhrs. Governor Vance later added a saw- mill in connection with the grist-mill and they were in his possession until 1848. At some subsequent date they became known as the Saratoga mills. The Saratoga mills burned on Saturday night, February 1, 1879. They were operated and owned by George Diebert, of Springfield, and were located about three miles north of Urbana. The building was an old one having been erected by Governor Vance about half a century before. It had been remodeled and was doing a big business. The loss on building and machinery was estimated at seven thousand dollars, with one thousand dollars on the grain.

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.

The township began its formal career with the meeting of the associate judges on April 20, 1805. The township organization is coincident with that of the county, but its early civil history, like that of the county, is very obscure owing to the absence of official records. The first complete poll record which has been found gives the voters of 1811, but there is no way of determining how many of these voters participated in the election of 1805. The first trustees were Christopher Wood and Daniel Mckinney, with William Davis as the first constable and George Johnson as the first house appraiser and

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lister. William Johnson was the first treasurer and Abner Barrett officiated as the first clerk.

These officials of 1805 were not burdened with their official duties. They were evidently not enamoured of their positions, since in 1806 not one of them appears in the same capacity. The names of the following officers of the township for 1806 have been preserved: Trustees, Joseph Petty, Thomas Pearce and William Parkison; clerk, David Parkinson. A minute record in 1806 shows that the trustees allowed William Powell a small amount for keeping a poor woman and her child. No other elective officers are known prior to 1811. when the first poll-book of the township appears.

The election of October 8, 1811, discloses forty-six voters present on election day. By this time the township was reduced to nearly its present size, but it is undoubtedly true that there were more voters in the township than found in their way into the poll-book. The complete record is given verbatim :

POLL BOOK OF SALEM TOWNSHIP, OCTOBER 8, 1811.

Poll Book of the election held in the township of Salem, In the county of Cham- paigu, on the eighth day of October, A. D., one thousand eight hundred and eleven. Joseph Petty, John McAdams and Mathew Stewart, Judges, and David Parkison and Joseph Vance, Clerks, of this election were severally sworn as the law directs previous to their entering on the duties of their respective offices.

NAMES OF ELECTORS.

Allen Galent, Jobu Galent, Francis Thomas, Joseph Petty, John McAdams, Mathew Stewart, John Vance, Michael Whisman. Joseph Vance, David Parkison, John Taylor, James Porter, Arthur Thomas, John Symmes, Willlam Waukob, James Brown, Archibald Stewart, Ezekiel Petty, Bernard Coon, William Riddle, John Davis, Job Martin, Heury Davis, Jesse Johnston, Samuel Gibbs, William Powell, Christopher Wood, James Will- iams, John Thomas, Jacob Leonard, Abraham Powell, Joseph Duncan, David Brown. Randle Largent, John Williams, Jeremiah Bowen, George Leonard, John Reed, Jonathan Long. Joseph Reynolds, Philip Huffman, Joseph Wilkinson, Thomas Wilkinson, Michael Instine. James Turner, Robert MeFarland.

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History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I, Part 17

Author: Middleton, Evan P., editor Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1196

Author: Middleton, Evan P., editor
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Indianapolis, B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1196