History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2, Part 15

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 836

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2 > Part 15

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cessor is Rev. Mr. Evans, now entering upon his laborious preaching in Welsh and English, with prospects of building up the church in numbers, and efficient efforts for the extension of religion in the community.

Radnor Presbyterian Church dates its organi- zation back to 1819. The Rev. Joseph Hughes. the first Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Delaware, extended his labors into Liberty and Radnor Townships. The church in Radnor. as we have said, was organized about 1819, and a hewed-log meeting-house, built in a beautiful grove of sugar trees, on the farm of Joseph Dun- lap. The first Elders were James Fleming. Joseph Dunlap and William Cratty. In 1825, Rev. Henry Van Deman was called to the pastorate of the united churches of Delaware, Liberty and Radnor. June 3, 1826, a sacramental meeting was commenced; the attendance was very large and during its progress quite a number were add- ed to the church. In 1829, the Welsh Con- gregational Church being without a Pastor, thirty of its members united with the Presbyterian Church, and John Penlan Jones was chosen an Elder. During the year, the additions to the church were sixty-five. In 1836, the pastoral re- lation with Rev. Mr. Van Deman was dissolved. The stone meeting-house on the bank of the Scioto River was built about 1840, but not finished until 1849. The old log church was abandoned, and. for several years. there was no Pastor. The only remaining Elder was James Fleming, who died in 1846, aged eighty-six years; a good man and a faith- ful officer in the church. In 1837, the Welsh mem- bers, for the sake of enjoying church privileges in their own language, amicably withdrew from the church. For several years, the want of a Pastor and the administration of the ordinances, the church languished; many of the old and faithful members had died, and the interests of religion in its bounds had sadly declined. In 1849. Rev. S. R. Hughes entered this neglected feld and labored successfully in restoring the waste places of Zion. and the church was inspired with new life and vigor. David Davids was chosen an Elder, and. for some time, the only acting officer in the church. In 1857, Rev. C. H. Perkins was called to min- ister in the church, and Robert Mckinney elected Elder. The ministry of Mr. Perkins was greatly blessed. the church increased in numbers and ac- tivity in Christian work. In 1871, the following constituted the eldership of the church: Robert MeKimey, J. Mellvain, J. D. Newhouse and T.

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H. Howison. In 1874, the sudden death of the Pastor, so beloved and useful, left the church vacant. Since his death it has had no settled Pastor, but is supplied with preaching and sus- tains a good Sunday school.

The Protestant Episcopal was another of the early church organizations of this section of the county. In 1836, Rev. Abraham Edwards, a native of Wales, educated at Kenyon College, and a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church, labored in Radnor, preaching in the Welsh lan- guage. A church was established and a house of worship erected. David E. Jones, Richard Savage, William Watkins and Joseph Cox were the Vestry- men. In a few years, Mr. Edwards left the field, and after his departure, having no regular services, the church disbanded.

The Presbyterian Church was organized about 1848, and was composed of American families and the descendants of the old Welsh settlers. Rev. Henry Shedd, a faithful pioneer missionary of the Presbyterian Church and an able preacher, labored successfully in organizing this congregation and building up the interests of this church. In 1854, the brick meeting-house was built, evincing the earnest religious life of the people and their zeal in regard to the prosperity of Zion. The follow- ing are the ministers who have labored in this church : Revs. H. Shedd, M. Jones, John Thomp- son, H. McVey, E. Evans, D. Wilson and J. Crowe. The following have served the church as Ruling Elders: Messrs. Stoughton, Dr. Mann, Robert Danis, Robert Evans, J. Wise and R. Wallace. A Sunday school was organized soon after the church was formed, and has continued an important feature of church work, accomplishing much good.

The Welsh Presbyterian is of more modern or- ganization than any other of the Radnor churches. "Many of the Welsh settlers were members of the Calvinistic Methodist Church in Wales, but for many years they had no distinctive church relations, but united cheerfully with the American Presby- terians or the Welsh Congregationalists. About the year 1850, it was determined to build a church. In faith and church government, the Welsh Cal- vinist Methodists are almost identical with the Presbyterian Church in this country, and there- fore they have adopted the name. and they main- tain a correspondence with the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. by sending and receiving fraternal delegates. and their young men are educated for the ministry iu

Presbyterian theological seminaries. The Pastors of this church have been Welsh-speaking ministers. good and faithful shepherds of the flock of Christ. Among them may be named Rev. Hugh Roberts, Rev. William Parry, and the present Pastor, Rev. Daniel Thomas. In 1877. the congregation built a house of worship, a neat and beautiful temple consecrated to the service of God and the promo- tion of religion in the community. Their Sun- day school is conducted in the Welsh language and is attended by the parents as well as the chil- dren, a feature which everywhere characterizes Welsh Sunday schools, in Wales and in the Welsh settlements in this country.

The first Sunday school in Radnor was estab- lished April 18, 1829, in the log meeting-house. A constitution was adopted and signed by forty- two members, constituting the "Radnor Sunday School Union," John N. Cox and Morgan Williams were chosen Superintendents, and B. W. Chidlaw, Secretary and Treasurer. The payment of 25 cents constituted any person a member. The original records, still extant, show that the school was eminently successful. The following were the teachers: John Lodwig. John Cadwalader. B. W. Chidlaw, David Kyle, Miss M. A. Adams, Julia A. Adams, Mary Foos and Nancy Wolfley. Primers, spellers and the Bible were the text-books. The records show an attendance of from seventy to ninety scholars. One Sunday, 609 verses of Scripture were recited from memory, and in five months a total of 6.990 verses. In May, 1829, the Treas- urer went on horseback with a large leather saddle- bag to Gambier, Knox Co., Ohio, and invested 86.75 in books published by the American Sunday School Union, and sold by Prof. Wing, of Kenyon College, an early and faithful friend of Sunday schools in Central Ohio. The books were of good service to the youth of Radnor, when they greatly needed such valuable helps in acquiring a taste for mental and moral improvement. and storing their minds with religious knowledge.

In after years, as churches were organized. other Sunday schools were established and exerted a wide and blessed influence on the rising generation. These schools have been conducted in the Welsh and English languages; popular sentiment has always been in their favor. At present, six Sun- day schools are sustained in the township, and are accomplishing much good.

Memorial services were held last April (1879) in celebration of the semi-centennial of the organ- ization of the first Sunday school in Radnor. The

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

pastors of the churches, and the citizens generally, Christ : Rev. B. W. Chidlaw, graduated at the entered heartily into the arrangement, resulting , Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1833; was in an occasion of great interest. The services were Pastor of the Congregational Church of Paddy's Run in Butler County, Ohio, for five years, and in the missionary work of the American Sunday School Union in Ohio and Indiana for over forty years ; Revs. Cadwalader anck Owen, of Delaware ; Revs. Lemuel and Benjamin Herbert, faithful itinerants in the Methodist Episcopal ministry in Ohio, and Rev. C. D. Morris, graduated at the Theological Seminary, Rochester, N. Y., and for more than ten years the esteemed Pastor of the . First Baptist Church of Toledo, Ohio. This Union Sunday School, representing the unity of faith among the different denominations in Radnor, continued its healthful and elevating existence for many years, a factor of great evangelistic power and efficiency in educating the intellect and heart of the juvenile population, giving tone and char- acter to society, and strengthening religious faith and life. In after years, church schools were organized, but the memory of the old mother school is a common inheritance to all her children, and together we rejoice that the Sunday school banner, with its divine text-book -- sanctified liter- ature-and oral instruction, was ever planted in Radnor, and now waves over six church Sunday- schools, doing a blessed work for truth and right- eousness, helping to make our country Emmanuel's land, and us a people whose God is the Lord. held on Saturday and Sunday, April 19 and 20, 1879, in the Baptist meeting-house, while great numbers who could not gain admission were enter- tained with services at the Welsh Congrega- tional Church. Hon. T. C. Jones, of Delaware, presided, and made the opening address in full accord with the spirit and object of the anniver- sary. The following ministers were present and participated in the exercises : Rev. C. D. Morris, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Toledo, once a scholar in the school; Profs. Merrick and Camp- bell, Revs. Hawn, Icenbarger, Owens, Squiers, of Delaware ; Rev. B. W. Chidlaw, of Cincinnati ; Rev. D. Allen, of Dayton, and the local Pastors and Secretaries, Thomas and Powell. The orig- inal roll of the members of the Radnor Sunday School Union was called : John N. Cox, Morgan Williams, John Cadwalader, J. Jones (Mason), John Davies (Cooper), John Jones (Penlan), John R. Jones, Edward Evans, David Lloyd, Margaret Jones, Walter Penry, David Penry, William Gallant, David Laurence, Benjamin Kep- ler, George Wolfley, David Kyle, B. W. Chidlaw, Henry Perry, David Griffiths. John Foos, Chris- topher Moore, Ralph Dildine, D. Campbell, David E. Jones, W. M. Warren, Elijah Adams, Robert Perry, Watkin Watkins, Hugh Kyle, Eben Will- iams, David Williams, Mercy A. Adams, Julia A. Adams, B. Adams, Jane Lloyd Nancy Wolf- ley, Crosier Fleming, John Lodwig, Ab. Adams, Martha Fleming. To this roll-call only one response was made. The only survivor present was Mr. Chidlaw. George Wolfley, W. M. War- ren, B. Adams and Jane Lloyd are still living, but were not present, owing to distance and infirmities of old age. Mr. Chidlaw exhibited the old records -- one of the books (" The Dairyman's Daughter ") bought at Gambier in 1829, and a piece of a log of the old chapel. These relics attracted great attention, and the eyes of the numerous descend- ants of the early pioneer Sunday-school workers and scholars, sparkled with deep interest as they gazed upon the memorials of fifty years ago. These relics will be carefully preserved ; and at the centennial commemorative services will be produced, when a few of the hundreds present to- day will survive the ravages of death, and partici- pate in the services then held. Out of this ori. ginal Sunday school, the following ministers of the Gospel have gone forth in the services of

As the legitimate fruit of the religious character and pious lives of the early settlers, and the faith- fulness of their descendants. no saloon for drinking and gambling has ever been sustained in Radnor; no convict has ever represented the township in the penitentiary; seven of her sons are ministers of the Gospel, and the voice of one has been heard in the halls of State legislation. And, as an ev- idence of thrift, enterprise and prosperity, farms in Radnor are never sold for taxes.

* Delhi was a small village, situated not far from where Mr. Pugh originally laid out his town of New Baltimore. Delhi was surveyed and laid out in August, 1833, for Edward Evans, who owned the land, and (to give its exact location) is on Sec- tion 2, of Township 6, and in Range 20, of the United States Military Survey. The first house in the place was built in 1805, on the site of the Welsh Methodist Church, but by whom we could not learn. It was occupied, however, in an early

* Mr. Chidlaw, in his history of the township, has overlooked Delhi altogether. So far as we have been able to learn any facts of Its history, we will add them.

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 511

day by a man named Morgan Morgans, He was the first Blacksmith in the village. The first store was kept by one Obed Taylor. He sold out to W. M. & James Warren, and went to Hardin County, and started a store near the present site of Kenton in that county. Thomas Warren came to Delhi in 1809. ' He kept the first tavern, was the first Postmaster, and eventually died in that village.

Since the building of the Columbus & Toledo Railroad, which swerved a little out of its course for the purpose of scooping in a handsome sub- scription offered by the Delhi people-the name of the place has been changed from Delhi to Radnor, after that of the township. Of the early history of Delhi, we know but little beyond what is given above. Modern Delhi, or Radnor, as it is now called, contains three general stores. One of these is kept by John Powell, who has been doing business on the same corner for twenty years, and is a wealthy Welshman. Another of these stores is kept by E. R. Shork, but owned by a Mr. Cum- mins, and was established two or three years ago. The other store is owned and operated by Thomas & Jones, young men who have just started in busi- ness and are full of enterprise. The post office is kept in Powell's store by W. P. Harmon, who is Postmaster. The village has two blacksmith-shops, one kept by "Hoard and the other by Jones, a Welshman. There are also two shoe-shops. Jones Brothers have a tile factory and saw-mill near the railroad station. They are young and enterprising business men, and doing well.

In addition to the above exhibit of its business, Radnor has quite a flourishing Odd Fellows' Lodge. It was instituted May 17, 1854, as Delhi Lodge, No. 250, I. O. O. F., with the following charter members : Thomas Morton, Benjamin

Williams, John Baker, D. J. Cox and Thomas Silverthorn. At the organization, the following persons were admitted to membership: Joseph Turney, Valentine Dildine, W. C. Mills. Morris D. Morton, Thomas W. Rowland, Thomas Perry, Thomas W. Cox, A. G. Fleming, David Lawrence. G. S. Spicer, Robert Davis, William Evans, Evan T. Jones, Thomas P. Jones, Thomas R. Roberts. Ralph Minter, David L. Jones, G. Morrison. John T. Rowland and Thomas D. Griffiths. The elective officers were Thomas Morton, N. G .; Ben- jamin Williams, V. G .; D. J. Cox, R. Sec .; John Baker, P. Sec., and Thomas Silverthorn, Treas- urer. The present membership of the lodge num- bers about fifty, and the elective officers are J. P. Jones, N. G .; C. C. Miller, V. G .; M. Jones, R. Sec .; S. Lewis, P. Sec., and Thomas C. Evans. Treasurer. The lodge owns its hall and fixtures. and, besides, has a fund invested of some $2,000. Their hall is in a two-story brick building 22x50 feet in dimension.

As a matter of interest to its members, we make the following extract from an address delivered be- fore the lodge, by Past Grand H. C. Olds. April 26, 1870, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniver- sary of the Order in the United States :

"During our existence, we have admitted to membership by initiation, eighty-one, and by card, ten, making a total number of ninety-one ; of this number, eight have passed from the earthily lodge to the grand lodge above. Quite a number of others have withdrawn, and are now members of other lodges. Three other lodges owe their parentage to this."

Since 1870, we are informed, there have been forty-four initiations, making the total number ad- mitted 135, since the original organization of the [ lodge.

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CHAPTER XXI .*

MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP-DESCRIPTION AND SETTLEMENT-HISTORICAL SCRAPS-CEMETERIES, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS-VILLAGE-OF NORTON.

" Once o'er all this favored land, Savage wilds and darkness spread,

Shelter'd now by Thy kind hand, Cheerful dwellings rear their head. Where once frown'd the tangled wood. Fertile fields and meadows smile : Where the stake of torture stood, Rises now Thy churches' pile."

A BOUT Marlborough Township there clusters much that is historical- and interesting. It takes its name from the fact that all the earliest set- tlers came from Marlborough Township, Ulster County, N. Y. It was erected into a separate town- ship soon after the county was formed, as the follow- ing entry in the records of the Commissioners' Court will show : " A petition was this day, June 15, 1808. presented to the Commissioners of Delaware County, by Nathaniel Wyatt and others, praying for a new township, by the name and style of Marl- borough, of the following boundaries : From the east of Range 18, of the United States military surveys, to the west side of Range 19, and from the south line of Township 6 to the Indian bound- ary line. Resolved by the Board of Commission- ers, that the said petition be granted. The same is therefore erected into a separate and distinct town- ship, by the name and style of Marlborough, and bounded as follows : Beginning at the southeast corner of Township 6 and Range 18, of United States military surveys, then north on the east line of Range 18 to the Indian boundary line, thence westerly, with said Indian boundary line. to the west line of Range 19, thence south with the said west line of Range 19 to the south line of Town- ship 6, thence east with the south line of Township 6, till it intersects the east line of Range 18 to the place of beginning." Although the proposed township was to cover a large area, it was some time before the requisite number of names could be obtained as required by law. A man by the name of Morgan, who had been working around and whose home was nowhere because it was every- where, was the one called upon to save the town-

ship, as his name would legalize the petition. Like a true patriot, he allowed his name to be enrolled among the petitioners. After some delay, it was granted, and the ambition of the good citizens of Marlborough fully satisfied. The township tonched the Greenville treaty line on the north, and was therefore on the frontier. On the east, it was bounded by Marion County and the townships of Lincoln and Peru, now a part of Morrow County ; on the south by what are now the townships of Brown and Delaware, in Delaware County, and on the west by what is now Radnor Township. It originally embraced within its limits a part of Waldo Township, in Marion County. Westfield Township, in Morrow County, and the town- ship of Oxford and the northern half of Troy, in Delaware County. On March 6. 1815, on perition of John Shaw and others, the township of Oxford was organized from Marlborough. On the 23d of December, in the following year, the north half of what is now Troy Township was taken off. but. notwithstanding this, it remained a large township until 1848. On the 24th of February of that year, an act, erecting Merrow County, took from the northeastern portion of Marlborough a part of what is now Westfield of that county. and to com- pensate Marion County for the large amount of territory it had lost, the northern part of Marl- borough, now known as Waldo Township, in that county, was given to it. To-day Marlborough is but half a township, a mere shadow of its former magnitude. It is situated in the extreme northern part of Delaware County, Range 19, Township 6. and is bounded on the north by Marion County ; on the east by Morrow County and Oxford Town- ship, in Delaware County ; on the south. by Trov, and on the west by Radaor Township. The Olen- tangy, called in some localities the Ble Whetstone. rises in the southern part of Crawford County, and flowing in a sontherly direction through Marion County enters Marlborough Township just east of Norton, and flows through from north to south. receiving near the southern limits of the township the waters of the eastern and largest tributary called

* Contributed by H. L. S. Vaile.

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James W money THOMPSON TP.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. 515

also the Whetstone, which branch has its source in the extreme northern part of Morrow County and flows in a southwesterly direction. The Delaware Indians were very much attached to this river and were greatly affected when compelled to leave it. Along the banks they had many. camps. and from there the hunting parties would go forth in every direction, sometimes for many "moons." but always returning to their much-loved river. Upon a small stream, called Sharp's Run, which flows into the Olentangy, near the line of Troy and Marlborough, they had a sugar camp, and for a nuniber of years after the body of the Indians had been removed to other localities. small bands would come to this run and make sugar. The geological formations of this township, which are objects of interest, are the great beds of shale and the concretions, a descrip- tion of which appears in another part of this work. Near the river, the country is badly broken by the many small streams that flow into the Olentangy, and the banks of the river slope back some distance from the river bed, which is wide and the water shallow. These are the results of the peculiar geological formations, the action of the water to- gether with the frost and ice gradually wearing away the shale and slate cliffs ; and, as this wear and tear has been steadily going on for cen- turies, the banks have receded until they are much farther apart than those of the Scioto, although the volume of water of the Olentangy is not as great as that of the former. Back from the river, both east and west, the land becomes more level, while here and there it is rolling. The rising ground is, in many localities. well wooded, as are also the valleys. The tillable land is well under cultivation, rich and bears abundant harvests. The soil is what is commonly designated as limestone land, while in some localities are met clay knobs, with here and there stratified beds of sand and gravel. . As far as crops are concerned. there seem to be no specialties, the land being well adapted to the raising of a variety of grains, sueli as corn, wheat. oats, etc. Stock-growing receives promin- ent attention, and. in the cultivation of the farms fine orchards have become conspicuous, giving in return for their care an abundance of excellent fruit.

Nathaniel Wyatt and Nathaniel Brundige, to whom belong the honor of being the first settlers in Marlborough Township, came origin- ally from Marlborongh Township, Ulster Co .. N. Y. Wyatt, being possessed of a roving disposition, emigrated to Virginia at an early date, and, settling down near William Brundige (father of Nathan-

iel), who had entered Virginia as early as 1796, married his daughter. When Wyatt first settled in Virginia, Nathaniel Brundige had not, as yet, left his home in New York, and it was not until 1798-99 that, through the influence of his father, who had returned to his old home on a visit, he determined to go to Virginia. It being impossible for him to accompany his father, the latter, with pen and ink, wrote out full instructions as to the route to be followed by his son, and started on his journey home. This paper, which served its purpose, was preserved by Nathaniel, and is now the property of his son John. Upon reaching the Old Dominion, Nathaniel settled down near Wyatt, where he remained until 1803. In that year, the tide of emigration had set in toward Ohio, bearing upon its bosom the families of Nathaniel Wyatt and Nathaniel Brundige, who, having reached the site of the old Indian town of Piqua, Clark County, where the great Indian chieftain, Tecumseh, was born, settled there. They remained in this locality for about two years, when Wyatt, having traded his cabin home and land. near Piqua, for a tract of wild land a short dis- tance south of the old Greenville Indian treaty line, leaving their families within cabins near Piqua, they set out for the purpose of locating it. At that time. a dense forest lined both banks of the Olentangy, and covered the hills and valleys for miles in every direction, and it was only after the greatest labor that they succeeded in cutting their way through the tangled underbrush. which seemed to rise up to meet and obstruct their prog- ress. At last, tired and footsore, they reached the bank of the Olentangy. at what is now David Dix's Ford, and camped over night. The next morning they forded the river. and soon sneceeded in reaching the spot where Wyatt's land was sup- posed to be located, which was about one mile north of what is now the town of Norton. This was in the spring of 1806. Immediately upon their arrival, and as soon as the land was located, they put up a small log cabin, and, finding great numbers of sugar maples, began in a rude way the manufacture of sugar, using a small, iron camp kettle which they had brought with them. They remained here for a short time, when they both returned to Piqna, for the purpose of bringing their families up to the new home. Again there was the hurry and bustle, the necessary prepara- tions for a sudden emigration, of which there had been, for both families, no less than three hereto- fore. After some delay, both families started, with

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History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 2, Part 15

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 836

Author: O.L. Baskin & Co. cn
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : O. L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 836