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 26
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Politically, this township has always been one- sided, so far as party was concerned. The old Whig party was greatly in the ascendency, num- bering at the polls on election day five to one of the opposite party. And more recently, since the re-organization of parties, the Republicans pre dominate to about the same extent. Out of the 150 voters in the township, the Republicans would have on a full poll about 120 votes and the Dem- ocrats 30 votes. It is usually a straight vote between the two leading parties. There are no factions in parties, nor schisms in church. Political opinions, however much they may differ in this township, are nevertheless honestly entertained, and each party is alike patriotic. In the late war for the suppression of the rebellion, Democrats and Republicans, here as elsewhere, exhibited the same degree of patriotism and bravery, and to preserve the Union made the same sacrifices of blood and treasure. We will mention so far as we are able to ascertain, the names of those who gave their lives to save their country, and to-day fill a soldier's grave, viz., James Ferguson, Allen Potter. Patrick Elliott, of the Fourth Regiment of the Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, William Brown, Thomas Carney, Sid. Stark, Henry Stark, L. Foulk, Ben Kemp- ton, Charles Kempton, S. Stockwell, Robert McClintic, William White and Mr. Bear, all of whom, as near as can be ascertained, belonged to the One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment.
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CHAPTER XXVII .*
PORTER TOWNSHIP-PIONEER TIMES-EARLY FAMILIES-GROWTH OF SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES -ROADS AND EARLY INDUSTRIES.
" Ye pioneers, it is to you The debt of gratitude is due ; Ye builded wiser than ye knew, The broad foundation On which our superstructure stands ; Your strong right arms and willing hands, Your earnest efforts still command Our veneration."
-Pearre.
"THE precise date of the organization of this township is not known. It was some time between the 1st of March, 1826, and the 1st of March, 1827. The journal of the County Commissioners, from 1821 to 1831, which con- tain the order creating Porter Township, was mislaid, but it is quite certain the order was made at the June session of the Commissioners in 1826. It was named after the Hon. Robert Porter, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, who received. from John Adams, the second President of the United States, a patent for 4,000 acres of land in this township, it being Section 3, in the fifth township of Range 16, in the lands appropriated and set apart by Congress to satisfy warrants issued by the Govern- ment for military service. It is believed this was the first patent issued by the Government for lands in this township.
The principal stream in the township is Big Walnut Creek. This stream has its source in the northern part of Harmony Township. in Morrow County, which, in an early day, was known by the expressive name of "Big Belly Swamp." The swamp contained several hundred acres of land, and was covered with water the year round. A large beaver dam surrounded a large portion of swamp, which must have been constructed, judg- ing from the size of the timber growing upon it, by these ingenious amphibious animals before the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. The banks adjacent to this stream are not high, and, in time of a food, when the country was new and the channel obstructed by flood-wood, it fre- quently overflowed its banks, and the stream, too,
especially the upper part and near its source, was called " Big Belly," which was thought to be an appropriate name to give it when on a " boom." Big Walnut Creek runs, in a southerly direction, through Morrow County, and crosses the line into Porter Township about one mile and a half east of the west line, and crosses the south . line of the township about one-half mile from the west line. It is a branch of the Scioto River, and intersects the Scioto near the line between the county of Franklin and Pickaway. Big Walnut Creek is one of the largest of the tributaries of the Scioto River. There is much rich bottom land along this stream, and, before the forest was felled by the axe of the woodman, there was an abundance of valuable timber, such as black walnut, hickory, butternut, ash, oak and the sugar maple. Wild grapes, wild plums and black haws were in abundance. This stream has a great number of tributaries in Porter Township, among which are Long Run, which has its source in Morrow County, and runs west and southwest until it intersects Big Walnut, a distance of about three miles from the northeast corner of the township. Long Run is very meandering, and has a great number of small tributaries fed by springs and spring runs.
Further to the south is Sugar Creek, which runs diagonally from the northeast corner to the southwest, through the township, to its intersec- tion, about one mile from the south line, and is well supplied with springs and spring runs ; and, still further south, running in the same direction, from the east part of the township, is Sugar Creek, with large tributaries, among which is the Wilcox Run. Sugar Creek is quite a large stream, and has its source among the springs at the foot of Rich Hill, in the edge of Knox County, and in- tersects the Big Walnut in Trenton Township, on the south of Porter. It will be seen, by reference to a map, that these streams have their sources in the dividing ridge which separates the waters flowing in a southeasterly direction to the Mus- kingum River, and the waters flowing in a south- westerly direction to the Scioto. This dividing
* Contributed by Hon. J. R. Hubbell.
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ridge is near the line between Knox County and Delaware. It will be seen, too, that this township is well supplied with a great abundance of pure, healthy water, both for family use and stock. In this respect its advantages are not equaled by any township in the county. This township, too, is blessed with pure air and clear water, and has been noted for its health and freedom from epi- demics and malignant fevers. Porter possessed almost every variety of timber, before the first set- tlement was made by the white people, to be found in the State of Ohio. Along all these streams we have named, walnut, ash, hickory, sycamore, sugar maple, spice-bush underbrush and papaw, were found in great abundance. Upon the higher and more rolling lands, there were white oak, ash, beech, hickory, sugar maple, and in the swails and on the fiat lands there was elm, red oak and black ash. The hickory, white oak and beech covered the ground with mast or shack for the squirrel, ground- hog, the wild turkey and the deer, upon which these animals fed and grew fat, and furnished meat for the pioneer and his family. Soon after do- mestic animals were introduced, swine fattened upon mast, and the woods were soon filled with wild hogs. There is no waste land in this town- ship. Along the streams, there is considerable bottom land, which possesses a rich and fertile soil. Back and off the streams, the lands are gently undulating and rolling. There is some flat land that requires drainage, but not a large por- tion of the township. The network of creeks, brooks, and spring runs, that nature spread over these lands, superseded the necessity, to a great extent, of artificial drainage. The soil in this township is well adapted to the growing of wheat, corn, oats, barley, flax, and all the productions raised in this climate, but the great supply of pure water for stock, and the luxuriant pastures, make the lands more profitable for grazing than for farming purposes. There are no mineral lands in this township, and the occupations of farming and graz- ing furnish most of the inhabitants with employ- ment. All kinds of grasses grown in this latitude do well in this township-timothy, red-top and clover. The blue grass, which springs up without the grounds being seeded, does well on the newly cleared land. Along the Big Walnut Creek, the Waverly sandstone crops out. and furnishes the country valuable quarries. This stone is of nearly the same composition as that found at Berea, but of a much finer grit and quality, and the vein contains a less quantity. On the farm of 'Zenas
Harrison, situated on the west side of the Big Walnut Creek, is a quarry of this stone. An in- vestigation of the depth and extent of this quarry has not been made, but it is known to be a stone of superior quality for building purposes, and probably extends down into the earth to a great depth, and belongs to the Waverly vein, reach- ing from the Scioto River, in Pike County, to Berea, in Cuyahoga.
Porter Township is bounded on the north by Bennington Township, in Morrow County ; on the east by Hilliard Township, in Knox County ; on the south, by Trenton, and on the west by Kings- ton, and is designated in the United States Mil- itary District as Township 5, in Range 15. In chronological order, it is the youngest township in the county. It was the last township organized by the County Commissioners within the present limits of Delaware County. There have been no changes in the original boundary since its first organization, and no survey of the township has been made since the original Government Survey. The first village or town in this township was Olive Green, and was laid out in 1835. The pro- prietors were Christopher Lindenberger and Festus . Sprague. The surveying and platting was done by Joel Z. Mendenhall, Esq. The village was laid out in eight regular squares, and has eight streets and several alleys. It is located upon the State road that runs from Mount Vernon to Co- lumbus in a southwesterly direction, and at its crossing of the north and south road, running from Sunbury to Mount Gilead, in Morrow County, and is about one-half mile from the Big Walnut Creek, on the west. The main street is on the Mount Vernon and Columbus road, on which all the business is done and the inhabitants reside. The original site of this village was seemly and suitable for a town, and at one time it had the prospect of becoming a flourishing village, but, like " some flower born to blush unseen," was doomed to suffer disappointment. In the year 1851, the Springfield, Mount Vernon & Pittsburgh Railroad Company was organized under a former charter, and projected a railroad from Springfield, Ohio, to a point that would intersect the Pittsburgh & Fort Wayne Railroad in Wayne County, and passing through Mount Vernon and Olive Green. The right of way was purchased, and the earth - work on the road was prosecuted until its comple- tion nearly the entire length of the road. but upon the completion of the western part of the road to Delaware, the Company was compelled for the
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
want of means to abandon the enterprise. Olive Green contains now two stores-Mr. D. Morehouse has one, and Mr. Conard occupies the old store- room of Mr. James N. Stark. It has two churches; one blacksmith-shop, worked by John Roberts ; one physician, Dr. Foster; one shoe-shop ; one millinery establishment, kept by Miss Mary M. Connard, and one carpenter and joiner shop. It has about forty dwelling-houses, and contains about one hundred inhabitants. The Kingston Center Post Office is located here. The Postmaster is D. Morehouse. The first Postmaster in Olive Green was Mr. James N. Stark, who was appointed in 1860. The first store in the town and town- ship was kept by Mr. Christopher Lindenberger, one of the proprietors of the town. Mr. Baird built the first frame house. East Liberty was the second and the only other town in Porter. It was laid out in 1840, by William Page, Jr., on his farm, situated on the east bank of Big Walnut Creek, and the Mount Vernon and Columbus State road, about one-half mile east of Olive Green. It was laid off into four regular squares, and the lots were readily sold. The purchasers built houses, and it for awhile flourished as a business point of some importance, but the fail- ure of the railroad discouraged the parties most interested from further efforts in the way of making improvements. There is one saw-mill, owned by Mr. W. Page, and the Presbyterians have a church edifice, and there still remains in this village a schoolhouse and some thirty or forty inhabitants. It formerly contained nearly one hundred inhabitants. The first physician whe settled in this village was Dr. H. Bessee, who lo- cated here in 1847, and remained in East Liberty until the commencement of the war in 1861. He now lives in Delaware. The physicians practicing in this vicinity, prior to Dr. Bessee, were Dr. Elijah Carney, of Berkshire, and Dr. Samuel Page, of Pagetown, in Morrow County. The first hotel was kept by Mr. George Blainey, and he was the first Postmaster of the place. The infidel writer, Volney, meditating upon the ruins of Palmyra, said : "Here once flourished an opulent city, but to the tumultuous throng that once visited these temples has succeeded the solitude of death." It is not likely the wail of lamentation by a distant traveler will ever be heard over the ruins of this deserted village.
In the absence of an authenticated record, after three generations have come and gone, it is diffi- cult to give an early history in detail of the first
settlers. More than seventy years have elapsed since the first pioneer settled in Porter; and it is only those to whom an unusual length of days has been allotted by Providence, that are now living of those who were then born. In sketching the early settlers, though not one of them, the name of Robert Porter must not be overlooked. It was to him the first patent for 4,000 acres in the United States military land in this township was issued. He belonged to one of the most prominent families in the State of Pennsyl- vania, and was a lawyer by profession, and, for many years, a Circuit Judge in his native State. He frequently came to Porter to look after his lands ; at a very early day and about forty years ago, his son, Robert W. Porter, lived for a short time in this township. As we have seen, Judge Porter's patent was issued by President John Adams, on the 21st day of March in the year 1800, nearly three years before Ohio was received into the Union as a State, and when there was not a white man living within the present boundaries of Delaware County. The family name of the principal proprietor of this township is historical. The Hon. James M. Porter, of Easton, in the State of Pennsylvania, was a lawyer by profession and eminent at the bar. He was a Cabinet Min- ister under the Administration of John Tyler, and held the portfolio of the War Department. He was a younger brother of Judge Porter. Another brother, David R. Porter, was a great party leader in the politics of his time, and, in the year 1837, succeeded Joseph Ritner as Governor of the State of Pennsylvania; he was re-elected, serving two terms, each of three years, and proved an able and popular Governor. The first settlement in this township was made by squatters in the Porter sec- tion, and perhaps as early as the year 1807. A number of families settled on this section before the war of 1812 as squatters, and followed the occupations of fishing, hunting and trapping. Not being the owners of the lands on which they settled, they had no motive to improve them. They were a rude people, and much given to frolic and pleasurable indulgence. They subsisted on wild game and wild hogs, and raised but little grain. They were known in an early day as " Taways," although they were white people, and not of blood kin to the Indian tribe of that name. Like all the early settlers of Delaware County, they were from different States and of different nationalities-English, Dutch and Irish-and their descendants were among these backwoodsmen. ~ It
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has been supposed by some, from the fact that Section 4 in this township was popularly called the " Irish Section," that these people were Irish Paddies or their descendants ; but such was not the case. Many of these families were from the Wyoming Valley in the State of Pennsylvania. The name of the " Irish Section " was applied to Section 4, for the reason that the legal repre- sentatives of Hugh Holmes and Robert Rainey, who located this section, were residents of Ireland, and the patent for these lands was issued by Pres- ident James Monroe on the 28th day of Novem- ber in the year 1817, to the heirs at law of Hugh Holmes and Robert Rainey, who at that time lived in Ireland. These parties, by their attorney in fact, on the 10th day of April, 1837, conveyed this section to George C. Bumford, of the city of Washington, and, in 1837, Col. Bumford con- veyed by deed this section to John W. Worden, and soon afterward Worden conveyed one-half of this section to Benjamin S. Brown, of Mount Ver- non, Knox Co., Ohio. Mr. Brown died late in the autumn of 1838, and it was not until about this date that this section was brought into market. There were squatters on this section of the "Ta- way tribe " much earlier than this, perhaps soon after the war. These peculiar families were not enterprising ; their wants were few, and however many were their sins, the sin of covetousness was not one of them, nor was the sin of ambition, which caused the angels to fall, their sin. They took no interest in schoolhouses or churches, and but few of them were ever known to darken the door of the house of prayer. They obeyed at least one Scripture injunction-they took no thought for the morrow-and, like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, ".they toiled not, neither did they spin."
This tract of land was set apart in the first place by act of Congress, to satisfy warrants issued by the Government for military service, but this section, by a subsequent act of Congress, was granted to the United Brethren society for the purpose of propagating the Gospel among the heathen. These "Taways," perhaps, were not especially benefited by this grant, but it is certain no heathen in pagan lands ever stood in greater need of the Gospel than they did. One of the earliest among the pioneers was Daniel. Pint, who lived and died in Porter; then came Timothy Meeker and Timothy Murphy, all of whom raised large families, but few, if any, of their descendants are now living in that part of the county. The
first generation are all dead, and their children and grandchildren retreated further West, as the civil- ization - of the country advanced. Two brothers, by the name of Peter and Isaac Plan, with their families, settled in the south part of the township in 1810. They raised large families, who inter- married with other families in the surrounding townships. They died many years ago, but at this remote period but little is known about them. The second generation, who knew them personally, are nearly all, either by death or removal, gone, and they live only in tradition. In 1817, Ebenezer Lindenberger and his brother Christopher and their families settled in Porter, in that part of the township where the village of Olive Green is now located. They came from the State of Rhode Island. The family owned several hundred acres of land. About the same time, two other parties from the same State came, and settled on adjoin- ing lands. They were Festus Sprague, Esq., and Edward Mason, Esq .; they were married to sisters of Ebenezer and Christopher Lindenberger. Being settled on adjacent farms they formed the nucleus of a new colony. The Lindenberger family were well educated, and in good circumstances finan- cially. The elder brother, Ebenezer, was a grad- uate of an Eastern college, and Christopher had an education that well qualified him for all the busi- ness transactions of life. Edmund Mason was weil educated, wrote a good hand, and was by his intelli- gence and capacity well qualified to discharge the duties of almost any office in the township, county or State. In early life, he was employed as clerk and book-keeper for Mr. De Wolf, the great West India slave-trader. Dr. Wolf, whose successful trade on the high seas made him a millionaire, and secured him a seat in the Senate of the United States as Senator from Rhode Island. Had Mr. Mason possessed the enterprise and ambition equal to his education and natural endowments, he might have acquired fame in political or commer- cial life. From the time he emigrated to Porter until his death, which occurred about the com- mencement of the war, he held the office of Justice of the Peace, and other township offices. He always discharged his official duties in a manner highly satisfactory to all parties in interest. The principle of inertia was strongly developed in his composition ; he moved like other large bodies, slowly, and. for the want of exercise, he acquired great obesity, which gave him an aristocratic air, and he was known as well by the name of "Pompey " Mason, as he was by the legitimate
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title of Esquire Mason. He was kind and indul- gent to his family, kindred, neighbors and friends, and made a model magistrate. His court was one of conciliation. His policy was to use every means before a trial, to effect by compromise a settlement between the parties ; and, by so doing, he often saved the parties costs, and, as a peacemaker, he made them friends. Having thus passed to an- other world, it is to be hoped that he enjoys the peacemaker's reward. He was never a church member, and never made an open profession of religion, and, were he to be judged by a sectarian standard, he would not be pronounced a Christian, but his heart was filled with that charity that rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth, and is not puffed up. He died as he had lived, without enemies.
Festus Sprague married a sister of Mr. Mason. In early life, he encountered many hardships and privations. He possessed a native intellect of great strength and activity. Those who know him best, thought that he was never conscious of its power, or that it was kept in restraint by a timid nature. His family brought him to a new country when young, and he had not the early opportunities of his brothers-in-law, the two Lin- denbergers and Squire Mason; but, nevertheless, he was well educated for one educated as he was -- he was self-taught. His education was such as to enable him to teach a common school, when a young man, and to hold various official positions with complete acceptance. He was a Justice of the Peace for many years, and, although not bred to the profession of the law, he was regarded by those in the legal profession who knew him well, as a lawyer by nature, and his counsel was sought and greatly respected in important cases. He was a near kinsman of Gov. Sprague, of Rhode Island, and related to that highly intellectual and influential family of Spragues of New England, which, for three generations, have been so distin- guished in literary and political circles. Judge Esick Cowen, a celebrated lawyer and jurist of his time, was a near relative. This early pioneer of good sense, some time about the year 1857, sold his property and, with his family, moved to Utah. Some years previously, he became infatu- ated with the strange delusions of the " Latter- Day Saints," and his good sense deserted him. What made his conversion to the doctrine of this polygamous seet the more mysterious, was that he had reached the " sere and yellow leaf" of life, and was never libidinous for given to licentious
indulgences. But little is known of his life after he left Delaware County. He died soon after he went to Utah. What became of the family, is not known to the author. He will long be re- membered by those who knew him while he lived in Porter. Ebenezer Lindenberger and family moved West nearly forty years ago, and Christo- pher Lindenberger and a part of his family be- came, like Mr. Sprague, converts to the doctrines of the polygamous saints, and emigrated to Utah. John Lindenberger, son of Christopher, died in Porter a few years ago. He was a good business man, was a Justice of the Peace and held several township offices, and was a faithful and competent officer. The accession of these Rhode Island families to the Porter " Taways" proved to be of great value as a means of civilization. It gave impetus to new enterprises for the development of the resources of this township. They improved the character of the cabins and barns, and the settlement they formed proved to be the beginning of various educational and business enterprises. About the year 1818 or 1819-the precise date cannot be ascertained-another early settler immi- grated from the State of Delaware and settled in Porter. Joel 'Z. Mendenhall was the son of Thomas Mendenhall, who was a merchant by oc- cupation, and resided, in the first part of the present century, in Wilmington, in the State of Delaware. On the 19th day of May, in the year 1800, Judge Robert Porter, of Philadelphia, who was the patentee of Section 3 in this township, conveyed, by deed of that date, 300 acres of land in said section to Thomas Mendenhall. This land was situated on the Big Walnut Creek. about three-quarters of a mile south of the village of Olive Green. This land the father, who was an enterprising merchant and prosperous in business, gave, as a part of his patrimonial estate, to his son Joel. Upon it Joel erected his cabin and settled his family in the year 1819. He had married his wife in Philadelphia, before his immi- gration to Ohio, and, in the year 1816, he came to Mount Pleasant, Jefferson Co., Ohio, where he lived some two or three years. He was a practical farmer and surveyor, and he pursued for many years both occupations.
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