USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, Volume I > Part 20
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Tom Wilkinson was likewise endowed with a goodly set of muscles, but unlike the Foleys, was of a peaceful disposition. He had heard of the boast of the Foleys that they were able to manhandle any human being in the county, and that collectively they were willing to fight their weight in wildcats. Wilkinson decided that he was the match of any one of these said belligerent Foleys and expressed himself to his friends to this effect. And another chapter opens.
The Foleys had heard of Wilkinson and that he felt that he could cope with them on the battlefield. They resolved to give him the opportunity. In July, 1819, the Foleys went to the farm of Felix Rock to assist in the harvest field-so they said-but they were really on the warpath. Wilkinson
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must be attended to, and at once. After dinner one of the Foleys announced to the assembled crowd of harvesters that they had heard that Tom Wilkin- son had said that he could whip any one of the Foleys. If he wanted to make his word good, now was the opportunity. Wilkinson was on his feet in an instant and replied to the taunt by saying that he was ready to take on the best one of the four Foleys-and that he was ready to enter the arena at once.
Out stepped the brawniest of the quartet. The couple repaired to the shade of a large maple tree; the farmers surrounded the fighters. They par- ried, they feinted, they thrust and they countered; but it was the work of only a few minutes. Foley had met his match. The fight waxed warm and warmer ; suddenly the good right arm of Wilkinson reached the jaw of Foley and Foley as suddenly assumed a recumbent position across the roots at the foot of the maple tree. He had been knocked down. Not only was Foley laid down, but he was actually laid out; he was carried out-and nine days later he was buried in the country churchyard. It does not seem that Wilkin- son was ever indicted for the death of Foley.
In the fall of the same year William Foley, another of the brothers. enticed Wilkinson into a fight at a corn-husking at Joseph Longfellow's. The second Foley did not lose his life, but he lost all the reputation he had as a fistic artist. Wilkinson proved master of the second brother no less decisively than he had of the first. In 1822 the Foley brothers were at a militia muster in Mad River township at the home of George Kite. On this occasion they engaged in a fistic encounter with Reuben Loudenback and Isaac Moody and were soundly thrashed. Their reputation as fighters was gone and soon after this last encounter they left the country never to return.
CONCORD TOWNSHIP IN 1879.
In the Citizen and Gazette of January 2, 1879. there is an interesting sketch of Concord township under the pen of "Specs .. Jr." (T. S. McFar- land). Among other items which appear in his article of nearly a column in length the following miscellaneous points are noted (the reader must remember that this article was written in 1879, nearly forty years ago) :
"The last census (1870) showed a population of 1,035, but as a decade of years have almost passed since then we think our population now will reach 500 more. We have scarcely what we might call a town, but there are several localities that exist only in name that were intended origi- nally for towns, but all were spoiled in the making. Northville has only
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three families, who are ordinarily peaceful and quiet citizens. It also has three public buildings, two of which have outlived their days of usefulness and are no longer fitted for the purpose for which they were designed originally. Heathtown has three families, but its day of usefulness as a town has passed away, there being no longer any public business houses in the place. The old shoe shop alone remains to tell of its used-up glory. In the days of Know-nothingism it was the headquarters of 'Muddy Run Council No. 317,' with one hundred fifty members, embracing at that time almost all the voters of the township. Pekin is the most lively place of the township, having four families, a good country store and a blacksmith shop. Gourdville is virtually out in the cold, yet it contains as usual two houses with some of its inhabitants known far and wide for their public virtues. Then we have Stringtown and Fleatown but from neither of these come any items from Concord. We have one family in our midst in this township who adhere strictly to the old style of cooking in the absence of a cookstove. Politically, we are decidedly Democratic and not much pros- pect of any change in that direction. The older class of people with two exceptions have passed away."
FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE IN COUNTY.
The Concord school house, which was one of the first to be built in the county, has a history that is quite worthy of record. The building was erected by James Taylor. This ancient structure was a hewed-log house, the first of the kind in the township, the material being taken from the south end of the farm adjacent to the school ground. The first teacher in the new house was William Mouser, who had commenced the term in the old house a quarter of a mile south and would have finished the term, but from the fact that two boys, aged respectively twelve and thirteen, threw down the old mud-and-stick chimney during school hours while the teacher's back was turned, thereby causing a panic. The pupils ran out of the house and the children were never compelled to return to this building. School was at once adjourned to meet in the new house two weeks later. Mouser com- pleted his term in the new house. Then came William Vanansdel, followed by Charles Dagger, John E. Waller, R. W. McFarland, Moses B. Hebard, Lewis M. Steward, Austin Heath, D. H. Neer, James Putman, James Tay- lor, B. L. Haller, William Remsburg, John Russell, Sarah V. Russell, Wil- liam F. Gardner and Jesse Neer. Of these teachers mentioned six of them became ministers of the Methodist church, two lawyers, one a state senator,
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and two of them became prominent as teachers. Jennie Russell, the only woman who taught in the house, was a native of Virginia, coming to Ohio in 1838 at the age of eight years. She was noted not only for her beauty but for her intelligence. She became the wife of Dr. T. W. Goddard, a well- known physician of Urbana.
NOTED CITIZENS OF CONCORD TOWNSHIP.
An account has been given of various kinds of citizens, some of whom did not bring any special honor to the township. But Concord has pro- duced a number of men who have become known outside the limits of their township and county. A few of these are mentioned in the succeeding para- graphs.
Probably the most noted man the township has produced was John Russell, who was born in the township on September 22, 1827, and who died on December 16, 1869. He was graduated from Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity in 1851; was elected county clerk in 1854 and served until 1863; served as chief clerk to W. H. Smith, secretary of state from 1863 to 1868; was appointed secretary of state in January, 1868, and served one year. He was elected to the state Senate in the fall of 1869, but died before the Legis- lature convened.
THE RECORD OF RICHARD STANHOPE.
One of the most interesting characters in the county, or in the state, lived for several generations in Concord township. Few men in the United States have lived longer than Richard Stanhope. Stanhope, a colored servant of George Washington, was born at Fredericksburg, Virginia, March 1, 1748, and died in Concord township on September 20, 1862, aged one hundred and fourteen years, six months and twenty days. There is no question con- cerning his age; neither is there any doubt that he was one of Washington's servants. He had in his possession a certificate in Washington's handwriting to show that he was in the general's service. He was at the bedside of his master when he died in 1799. During the Revolutionary War Stanhope was with Washington in many of the battles and to his dying day showed the scars he had received on the battlefield. He was also in the War of 1812 as a teamster, being present at Detroit when General Hull surrendered. The British ordered him to drive his team to a certain place, but the loyal darkey, watching his opportunity, unhitched the best horse of his team and rode night
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and day until he was safely back at his old home in Concord township. He served his country well and faithfully in every respect. He reared a family of twenty-eight children and nearly all of them were living at the time of his death.
Stanhope became a member of the Baptist church in 1773 and continued a faithful member until his death, ninety years later. He retained his phys- ical and mental faculties to a remarkable degree until his death, and was able to recount in a vivid manner all the events of more than a hundred years in which he had been a participant. Stanhope lived most of his life on a farm of Levi Johnson near Heathtown, in the northwestern part of the township. He is buried in the old Johnson burying ground.
MADE REPUTATION AS A MATHEMATICIAN.
The most noted educator to come from the township was R. W. McFar- land. He was born on the old McFarland homestead in 1825; showed unusual precocity from his earliest school days; was teaching in the sub- scription schools of the county at the age of fourteen and for the next eight years divided his attention between teaching and attending college. He was in school at Augusta, Kentucky, for one year; spent a few months at Westerville, Franklin county, Ohio; and was graduated from Ohio Wes- leyan University in 1847 at the age of twenty-two. At the age of eight he was capable of solving any problem to be found in any of the arithmetics then in use, and it was in the field of mathematics that he made his reputa- tion later in life. For seventeen years he was professor of mathematics in Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, and after the suspension of that insti- tution he became professor of mathematics at Ohio State University at Columbus.
TWO EMINENT MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL.
Mention has been made of a successful politician and public official, of a worthy colored man, and of an educator. The township has produced at least one minister of the gospel who has attained more than a local repu- tation. Rev. Samuel Neer, a native of the township, was a Methodist minister who had some of the best charges in the Cincinnati conference. He continued in the pulpit until his death in 1857. A brother, Rev. Jesse Neer, was a member of the Central Ohio Conference and was a successful minis- ter until his death in Logan county in 1854. These two eminent ministers of the township are buried side by side in the old Concord cemetery.
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ACHIEVED PROMINENCE IN RAILROAD SERVICE.
A citizen of Concord township who attained distinction in a totally differ- ent line than any of those previously mentioned was Joseph Hill, whose father is credited with being one of the first settlers in the county. Colonel Hill-whether this military title is earned or assumed or applied by friends the historian does not attempt to state-became interested in railroad affairs and eventually became a prominent factor in the old Pan Handle railroad. Starting out as a civil engineer, he displayed such organizing talent, such pronounced ability in handling men as well as tracks and bridges, that he eventually became superintendent of the Chicago division of the Pennsylvania Lines, with headquarters at Logansport, Indiana.
These few men stand out more prominently than some others, but undoubtedly there are others of a past generation who are worthy of being classed in any group of public-spirited citizens. Such men as Philip Comer, F. N. Barger, James D. Powell, Ebenezer Wilson, Oliver Taylor and scores of others lived worthy lives and contributed of their respective abilities to the end that the township of Concord might be classed with the best in the county.
CHURCHES AND CEMETERIES.
The religious life of the township is treated in full in the chapter deal- ing with the churches of the county. From the earliest history of the town- ship there have been active churches, but many that were once active have long since disappeared; others are holding only occasional services; while a few churches in the township may still be seen along the rural roads- unused except for an occasional funeral. The story is not altogether a pleas- ant one, but it is the same with all the other townships of the county, and the county but repeats the history in this respect of every other county in the state. The township seems to have an unusual number of cemeteries, the records showing no less than ten scattered over the township.
NORTHVILLE.
Concord township has never had an incorporated village within its limits. The nearest approach to a village the township has ever had is Northville. This embryonic hamlet was laid out by John Arrowsmith, the
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surveyor of the county, in the fall of 1832 for James D. Stevens and Jacob Davis and the plat was recorded on October 18, 1832. For some reason it never attracted many permanent residents. In 1872 it was credited with three dwelling houses, a store, a Methodist church, school house and a black- smith shop. The store had disappeared by 1880 and a Grange hall, which had been built in the seventies, was deserted by the end of that decade. The historian of 1880 pathetically remarked that "Mr. William Downs, a prominent citizen, and Mr. Howard Smith, the village blacksmith, are the sole occupants of the town at this writing." While it had so few residents within its precincts at the time, it had a number of excellent citizens in the immediate vicinity, among whom were Wallace Downs, Thomas Stevens, George Kennedy, S. J. McCollough, Daniel Bruner, N. D. McReynolds and a number of others. At the present time there is no sign of a village; even the faithful old church has closed its doors forever.
HEATHTOWN.
Heathtown was a flourishing little trading center before the Civil War and at one time was the seat of a postoffice bearing the name of Muddy Creek. The village stood on the line between sections 23 and 29 in the northern part of the township, less than half a mile from Muddy creek. Its name and its very existence are due to the efforts of one John Heath, a native of New Jersey, who came to the township about 1838 and established himself at this place. He opened a shoe shop at first and later branched out as a grocer and still later added a full assortment of such goods as were found in country stores at that time. Within a short time he convinced the postoffice department that the government ought to establish a postoffice in his store and for a number of years a postoffice was maintained at this place. John Detrick opened up a blacksmith shop and J. R. McFarland added a shoe shop to the growing industrial life of the village. Heath eventually left the child of his dreams to wither by the crossroads and it pined away after he left for Iowa in 1854. Its death was lingering, but painless.
An interesting bit of political history is concerned with Heathtown in the days of its glory. In 1854 there was a political party known as the Know-Nothing party and a number of the farmers around Heathtown were members. They even organized themselves into what was known as Muddy Run Council No. 343 and held regular meetings in the village.
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CRAYON OR PEKIN.
A third village of the township is credited with two names, but it seems that it prefers its chirographic title of Crayon to its Chinese designation of Pekin. It stands just one mile due west of ancient Heathtown, in the center of section 35, the northwestern section of the township. It never boasted of more than one store at a time, and this one changed hands with such fre- quency that it seems not to have been a good investment. A postoffice was established at this point in 1879 under the name of Crayon and was maintained for several years. James W. Heath was the first postmaster. A blacksmith shop was operated by Ira Poffenbarger for several years.
"Specs, Jr." (T. S. McFarland) walked into the village of Crayon (Pekin) in June, 1878, and wrote the following brief sketch of his visit to the editor of the Citizen and Gasette: "A first-class blacksmith shop by Feaster & Valentine and a wagon shop by one Bazelle. We see a new dwell- ing on the northwest corner nearly completed, the property of John Clark. On entering the dry goods store of J. M. Bargar we find it full of cus- tomers. Mrs. B., his better half, assists him behind the counters. Jo may well be proud of his clerk. Here we met for the first time for years our old friend, J. F. Bargar, whose form a few years ago was lank and lean but now tips the beam at 200. Fred attributes all this to his letting bad whiskey alone."
PAPER TOWNS.
Two other villages which never got beyond the paper stage made their appearance before the war. Orsamus Scott had a metropolitan dream and attempted to realize on it. He went so far as to plat a number of lots in section 20, but the only reason why his town is perpetuated is because the plat is safely recorded in the court house at Urbana. He never succeeded in getting it any farther than the pen-and-ink stage.
Another village of former days which actually had two families living in it at one time-and not in a double house either-was a product of the imagination of some pioneer whose name is lost. He must have been a Bible student and well acquainted with the story of Jonah and the gourd, since his town bore the suggestive name of Gourdville. He probably thought it would grow up over night, even as did the gourd of Biblical times. Evi- dently his gourd was planted in poor ground-it refused to grow. It was planted about three-fourths of a mile south of Concord chapel, but it never
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contained more than a couple of dwelling houses and no industries of any kind. It is remembered by some old citizens that the families of James Blue and Tubal Woodward occupied the two houses at one time in the seventies.
ERIS.
Within the past few years another village has come into existence in the township, the largest the township has ever had, and it bids fair to con- tinue a busy little trading center for many years to come. It is located a half mile west of Concord chapel on the line between sections 14 and 20 and is known as Eris. The village has never been platted, but is as flourish- ing a trading center as some that have this distinction. Noah Fisher has a general store at the present time, while C. R. Pence has a grocery store. The village is on a rural route out of Urbana.
CHAPTER X.
WAYNE TOWNSHIP.
Wayne township was a part of the original Salem township which was organized by the associate judges on April 20, 1805. It is not known when the commissioners set off Wayne township, but it is certain that it was before 1811. At that time the township included all of the present town- ship of Rush and it was not until 1817 that any change was made in its limits. Logan county was set off by an act of the Legislature in December, 1817, and when the act became effective on the first of the following March a strip of about a mile wide was added to the northern part of Wayne town- ship. What is now Rush was still a part of Wayne and so remained until it was set off in 1828.
The discussion of Wayne township and its early settlers in this chapter is restricted to the township as it now stands; that is, to its present terri- torial limits. The township as now constituted lies wholly within the Vir- ginia Military Survey with the exception of various small portions in the extreme southwestern part of the township. Consequently, the lands are surveyed in the hit-and-miss fashion characteristic of all the military surveys in Ohio. In referring to settlers it is difficult to locate them definitely and it is only by giving the survey number that they may be located. Most of the maps in atlases, as well as single township maps, fail to indicate the surveys by numbers and this renders it difficult to write an exact descrip- tion of the township.
AREA AND TOPOGRAPHY.
The township extends four and five-eighths miles from east to west and seven and one-fourth miles from north to south. This gives it an area of thirty-three and one-half square miles, or about twenty-one thousand four hundred and forty acres. Much of the township is decidedly hilly and is not susceptible of a high degree of cultivation, although it is not so broken as to render it unfit for grazing purposes. Roughly speaking the township may be grouped into four topographical sections: The valley
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of the Mingo in the north; the central portion, which is high and very broken; the southeast, locally known as "the ridge," but in fact that portion of the township is nearly level; the western portion which falls into the prairie section which is drained into Dugan and Kings creeks. The north- eastern corner of the township is drained by Spain creek into Big Darby creek, while part of the central portion along the eastern side is drained into Brush lake and thence to Darby creek.
"THE LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE."
The hilly character of the township has made the construction of roads an expensive proposition, although the presence of an abundance of gravel offsets to a degree the disadvantage of the broken character of the land. The first roads were laid out in a haphazard manner and evidently with the sole idea of missing the swamps and heavily-wooded tracts and estab- lishing the shortest route between two given points. In other words, the first settlers "followed the line of least resistance," and most of the roads of today follow the bridle paths of a hundred years ago. In the absence of township, range and section lines the boundaries of farms frequently follow the beds of rivers or the middle of roads, without any regard to the points of the compass. The various farms take every conceivable shape, one farm having the general shape of an old-fashioned horse pistol.
The roads of this township in its early days presented a never-ending source of trouble to the early settlers. They would be repaired one month only to be washed out by a flood the succeeding month. Gravel was abundant, however, and this made it comparatively easy and inexpensive to keep the roads in a fair condition. One of the first roads in the township which merits the name of a "pike", was known as the Urbana and Woodstock pike, traversing the township from east to west through Cable. This road was completed in 1868. The North Lewisburg road, starting at the cross- ing of the Urbana road and the Pennsylvania railroad and passing through Middletown, was completed in 1869. The Mingo pike running from Mingo to Woodstock was completed in 1871. The Mingo-West Liberty road was opened in 1876 and the road from Mingo to Kingston, by way of Kennard, was completed in 1877, while the Clinton-Stafford road, extending from Clinton Corners to the western border of the township, was constructed in 1880. All of these were graveled and most of them have been macadamized within recent years. The township has spent thou-
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sands of dollars on roads-more than a hundred thousand-but it has been money well spent.
OLD MILITARY SURVEYS.
The records show that there are fifty-three different military surveys represented in Wayne township, not all of which are entirely within the lim- its of the township, but must be listed in order to show all of the property owners within its limits. Very few, if any, of the old Virginia Revolution- ary soldiers who were granted tracts of land in Wayne township, ever saw the land which the generous-hearted state gave them. The largest tract represented in Wayne township contained one thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight acres, survey No. 7311, and was the original entry of James Gal- loway. There are only seven surveys in the township of more than one thousand acres, while there are three of less than one hundred, one survey, No. 8608, containing only twenty-two acres. The deed records do not show that any of the original patent holders represented in this township ever lived on their land. Most of it was transferred by a warranty or quit- claim deeds to actual settlers, and most of this was in the hands of resi- dent owners by the latter part of the thirties. The complete list of origi- nal patent holders of Wayne township, together with the number of their surveys and the acres of each, is set forth in the following table :
Survey No.
Acres.
Original Proprietor.
4859
550
L. Hollingsworth
3230
640
Augustine Smith
3229
640
Augustine Smith
4697
666 2/3 Peter Pelham
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