USA > Ohio > Franklin County > History of Franklin County [Ohio]: > Part 13
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There was no village nor post office in the township until Grove City was laid out in the summer of 1852,
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HISTORY OF
by W. F. Breck, Esq., and a post office was then estab- lished at that place. Mr. Breck was the first post- master, and held the office until 1857, when he was succeeded by Randolph Iliggy, Esq., the present incumbent.
Grove City now contains about thirty families, two stores, one tavern, one physician, a large school and three churches-a Lutheran, a German Reformed and a Presbyterian. The Methodists also hold their meetings in the same house as the Presbyterians. Beside these churches there are in the township three others of the Methodist denomination -the "Hopewell," on the Jack- son turnpike, a wooden building, erected in 1839, the " Concord," a wooden building, erected some years before, near the Shadesville pike, and "Hickory Seminary," erected since both the above, for the double purpose of church and school house.
Some thirty years ago, Rev. Benjamin Britton of Norwich Township used to occasionally preach for the New-Lights in Jackson, and Rev. Chandler Rogers of Perry for the Universalists. Mr. Rogers has been dead some years ; Mr. Britton still survives.
There is no grist mill in this township, but several saw mills.
The population of the township in 1840, was 784. In 1850, it was 1550 -almost doubled in ten years.
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In 1853, the township constituted twelve school districts and an aggregate of 676 youth between the ages of five and twenty-one years. In 1857, the aggregate of such youth was 736.
SUCCESSIVE JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1815. Wm. Brown and Wm. Badger, elected.
1818. Brown and Badger, both reelected.
1821. Woolry Conrod and William C. Duff, to succeed Brown and Badger.
1824. Conrod and Duff, both reelected.
1827. Woolry Conrod, reelected, and William Brown, again, in place of Duff, deceased.
1830. Woolry Conrod, reelected, and William Seeds, in place of Brown, deceased.
1833. Jacob B. Deimer, in place of Conrod, declined, and Wm. Seeds reelected.
1836. Woolry Conrod and John Gantz, in place of Deimer and Seeds.
1839. John Gantz and Joshua Glanville.
1840. Robert Seeds, in place of Glanville, removed.
1842. John Dunn, in place of Gantz.
1843. Robert Seeds, reelected.
1845. John Dunn,
1846. Robert Seeds, . 66
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HISTORY, ETC.
1848. John Dunn, reelected. 1849. Robert Seeds,
1851. John Dunn, 66
66 Isaac Miller, in place of Seeds. 1854. H. S. Mitchel and Isaac White.
1857. E. C. Brett, in place of White, and Mitchel re- elected.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
THIS township was set off and organized by its present name in 1819, though its bounds then extended farther north, including a considerable part of what is now Brown. It had originally been part of Franklin. Amongst the early settlers in this township, were Sam- uel Higgins and family, Shadrick Postle and family, and William Mannon and family.
In 1813, the Clover family, originally from Virginia, but then from Ross County, Ohio, removed into Prairie Township, and formed a settlement that it is still known as the " Clover Settlement." The family, beside the two old people, consisted of ten brothers - Peter, Joshua, Jacob, Solomon, Henry, Samuel, Philip, John, William and Aaron-and two sisters. Solomon and Samuel were the brag hunters of the neighborhood. Solomon was fond of hunting; and, it was said, killed more wolves, bear and deer, than any of his competitors in that line.
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Wolf scalps then bore a premium. Ile still lives in the neighborhood, and is fond of his gun and the chase. HIe occasionally takes a hunting excursion, in the fall of the year, up in Wood County.
There are three Methodist Churches in this township: one at Alton, one in Clovers' Settlement, and one in the south part of the township, known as the Henderson . Church - all frame buildings, and each one has a bury- ing ground contiguous to it. And there is a German Lutheran Church about two miles north of Rome -a hewed log building, erected some fifteen or eighteen years since, and answering for both church and school house, and in which a respectable German school is taught. They also have a burying ground contiguous to the church.
After the construction of the National Road, in the spring of 1836, the town of Alton was laid out by Thomas Graham, and a post office was established there. The successive postmasters have been : John Graham, first ; Mervin Stearwalt, second ; David P. Cole, third ; Solomon Putman, fourth; Goodhue McGill, fifth; and A. W. Shearer, sixth and present.
About the same time that Alton was laid out, James Bryden and Adam Brotherlin laid out lots for a town on the pike, two or three miles east of Alton, which they named "Rome." The two villages, so near together,
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
could not both thrive. Alton took the lead, and Rome never contained more than about a dozen families.
Previous to this, in 1832, Job Postle laid out some lots for a town, and had his plat recorded, etc., which he named " Lafayetteville." It however never was any thing more than a town upon paper.
In 1840, the population of this township was 606. In 1850, it was 1,043. In 1853, the township consti- tuted seven school districts, and contained an aggregate of 411 youth between the ages of five and twenty-one years. In 1857, the aggregate of such youth was 451.
SUCCESSIVE JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1820. Peter Clover and Francis Downing, elected. 1823. Peter Clover, reelected, and James Boyd, in place of Downing.
1826. Israel P. Brown and Wm. Stiarwalt, in place of Clover and Boyd.
1829. Peter Clover, again, in place of Brown, and Wm. Stiarwalt, reelected.
1832. George Richey, in place of Clover, and Stiarwalt, reelected-and same year, John G. Neff, in place of Richey resigned.
1835. Wm. Stiarwalt, reelected, and Russell N. Grin- nold, in place of Neff.
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HISTORY, ETC.
1837. Reuben Golliday, in place of Grinnold, deceased.
1839. Thomas O'Harra, in place of Stiarwalt.
David Howard, in place of Golliday, removed from the township.
1842. Thos. O'Harra and David Howard, both reelected.
1845. Howard, reelected, and Thomas J. Moorman in place of O'Harra.
1848. Thos. O'Harra and John Gantz, in place of How- ard and Moorman.
1851. David P. Cole, in place of Gantz, and Samuel Kell, in place of O'Harra.
1854. Thos. O'Harra, again, and Samuel Kell, reelected. 1857. Samuel Kell, reelected, and Andrew W. Shearer.
Smith Postle, elected a third or additional Justice.
CHAPTER XXIX.
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
PERRY TOWNSHIP is composed of two fractional orig- inal surveyed townships, bounding on the Scioto, range nineteen. It is ten miles in length, north and south, and from one to three miles in width, varying with the meanders of the river. It was originally a part of Lib- erty Township ; afterward a part of Washington; then a part of it was attached to Norwich; and in 1820, it was set off and organized by its present name and boun- daries. There is no village nor post office in this town- ship. Part of the township receive their mail matter at the Dublin post office ; part at Worthington, and part at Columbus. Some years since, Mr. Simon Shattuck, who lives near the middle of the township, having disposed of part of his farm in small lots, it brought some half dozen families in close proximity, and the place has since generally been known as " Shattucksburg," though it was never laid out nor intended for a town.
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About the years 1813 and '14, Thomas Backus (father of the late Elijah Backus) erected mills on the Scioto, which for some years bore his name ; then for many years known as McCoy's mills, and more latterly as Matere's mills, and Marble Cliff mills. Between forty and fifty years, these mills have been a constant benefit to the neighborhood, and reasonably productive to the proprietors. Not far below the mills, in a cliff of rocks, were the noted rattlesnake dens, which were a terror to the neighborhood, and particularly to the mill boys ; and about which many large " snake stories " have been related. These dens were openings in the rocky cliff; one was large enough to admit a person to walk into the cavern, which has never been fully explored. The snakes have of late years entirely disappeared.
In the north part of this township are the Kosciusko lands. In 1800, a patent was issued by the United States Government to Thaddeus Kosciusko for 500 acres of land in this township, on account of his services in the Revolutionary War. He attempted to transfer these lands by an assignment on the back of the patent, like the assignment of a note or bond. They were after- ward claimed by a distant heir. After the conclusion of peace in America, Kosciusko returned to Poland, his native country, which, not long after, became involved in war with Russia. Kosciusko was appointed com-
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mander in chief of the Polish army, which was defeated, and he was severely wounded, and carried captive to St. Petersburg; but was finally released, and he returned to France, where he lived in retirement until he died, in October, 1817. General Harrison, in delivering his eulogy in Congress, on the arrival of the news of his death, when speaking of his defeat and fall, uses the following beautiful and highly complimental couplet :
" Hope, for a season, bade the world farewell, And freedom shrieked when Kosciusko fell."
There are in this township four churches : The Union Church, owned by the German Reform and the Episco- palians, near the farm of Mr. John Legg, a painted frame, erected about the year 1852; a Methodist stone church, on the Medary farm, erected about the year 1847; a Methodist brick church, on the farm of Mr. Jacob Wright, crected about the year 1844; and a neat white painted frame Methodist Church, near 'Squire Brown's, erected in 1849-ground donated by Mr. Den- nis Fares. They also have a town or township house, on the farm of Mr. Joseph Henderson, near the center of the township, erected about the year 1854, in which to hold elections and transact township business.
In 1840, the population of this township was 1,037. In 1850, it was 1,159. In 1853, the township contained
17
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HISTORY OF
twelve school districts, and an aggregate of 520 youth between the ages of five and twenty-one years. In 1857, it contained, according to the returns, an aggre- gate of 496 such youth.
SUCCESSIVE JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1820. Asaph Allen, elected.
1821. Chandler Rogers and Uriah Clark, elected.
1822. Robert Boyd, elected.
1824. Chandler Rogers, reelected.
1825. Amaziah Hutchison and Sam'l S. Davis, in place of Clark and Boyd.
1827. Chandler Rogers, reelected.
1828. Amaziah Hutchison, reelected, and Daniel Beard, in place of Davis.
1830. Jacob Leaf, in place of Rogers.
1831. Amaziah Hutchsion, reelected, and Samuel S. Davis, in place of Beard.
1832. Richard Gale, jr., in place of Hutchison, who neg- lected to qualify.
1833. John Hutchison, in place of Leaf.
1834. Samuel S. Davis reelected.
1835. Chandler Rogers, in place of Gale.
1836. Amaziah Hutchison, elected.
1837. Daniel Beard, in place of Davis.
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
1838. Wm. Mitchel, elected.
C. Rogers, reëlected.
1839. Allen Bowers, elected.
1841. C. Rogers and John Swisher, elected.
1842. William Mitchel and Allen Bowers, reelected.
1844. C. Rogers and John Swisher, both reelected. 1845. William Mitchel reëlected.
1846. Jacob Poppaw, in place of Mitchel, removed.
1847. John Swisher and David Rogers, elected.
1849. Jacob Poppaw, reelected.
1850. John Swisher and David Rogers, reelected. 1852. Jacob Poppaw, reelected.
1853. John Swisher and David Rogers, reelected.
1855. Barzillia Billingsly in place of Poppaw.
1856. John Swisher and David Rogers, reelected.
1858. Isaac Davidson, elected in place of Billingsly.
CHAPTER XXX.
BROWN TOWNSHIP.
THIS eighteenth and last township of the county was set off and organized in the spring of 1830, by its present boundaries. It was taken from Norwich, Prai- rie and Washington, and had originally been part of Franklin Township. A few improvements were made along Darby Creek about 1808 or '10.
Amongst the first settlers were James Boyd, John Hayden, John Patterson and Mr. Rinier. Though there were but few settlers back from the creek until from 1825 to 1830, when the Welch commenced settling in this township, and it has of late years been filling up fast, and bids fair to make a rich and flourishing town- ship.
There is as yet, however, no grist mill in the town- ship. There have been two saw mills, one erected on Darby Creek by Isaac Hayden in 1837; the other a
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
steam power mill, erected when the Urbana Railroad was being made. But they have both gone down.
There is no town or village in this township, but there was a post office established in it in July, 1848, and named " Darby post office." Joseph O'Harra, Esq., the present incumbent, was appointed the first post- master.
About the year 1847 or '48, an association of colored people having purchased a tract of land in this town- ship, with a view of establishing a seminary for the education of colored children, erected their building for that purpose, and opened their school, which has gen- erally been kept in operation since. There are some four or five families of blacks residing there, and they generally have a few pupils from a distance.
There is but one church building in the township, and it belongs to the Methodist denomination. Re- ligious meetings, however, are held occasionally by the Presbyterians and Baptists, and also by the Methodists, in the school houses.
In 1840, the population of this township was 425. In 1850, it was 681. In 1853, it comprised six school districts, and an aggregate of 310 youth between the ages of five and twenty-one years. In 1857, the aggregate of such youth was 334.
.
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HISTORY, ETC.
SUCCESSIVE JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
1831. Jacob S. Rogers and James Langton, elected. 1834. Rogers, reelected, and John D. Acton in place of Langton.
1837. Rogers, reelected, and Paul Alder, in place of Acton.
1839. Joseph O'HIarra, in place of Alder, removed.
1840. Jacob S. Rogers, reelected.
1842. John D. Acton, in place of O'Harra.
1843. Rogers, reelected.
1845. Wm. Walker, in place of Acton.
1846. Rogers, reelected.
1848. Henry Francis, in place of Walker.
1849. James Hugget, in place of Rogers, removed to the west.
1851. Chauncy Beach, in place of Francis.
1852. N. E. Fares, in place of Hugget.
1854. John Kilgore, in place of Beach.
1855. N. E. Fares, reelected.
1856. George M. Clover, in place of Fares, resigned.
1857. John Kilgore, reelected.
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CHAPTER XXXI.
COLUMBUS.
From the laying out of the Town in 1812, till the close of the Pro- prietors' Settlement in 1817 - Embracing their Proposals - The Law Establishing the Seat of Government -The sale of Lots - First Settlers - 'Squire Shields - First Lawyers - First Taverns, etc., etc.
FROM the first organization of the State government in 1803, until 1816, there was no permanent seat of State government. The sessions of the Legislature were held at Chillicothe until 1810, and the sessions of 1810-11, and 1811-12, were held at Zanesville, and from thence they were removed back to Chillicothe, and there remained until December, 1816, when the first session commenced in Columbus.
In February, 1810, the Legislature, desirous to estab- lish a more central and permanent seat of government for the State, by joint resolution appointed five commission- ers, namely James Findlay, W. Silliman, Joseph Darlin- ton, Reisin Beall and Wm. McFarland, to meet in Frank- linton on the first day of September, then following, to examine and select the most eligible site for the estab-
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HISTORY OF
lishment of the permanent seat of government for the State. On December 11th, 1810, the commissioners made their report and say, " That they have diligently examined a number of different places within the circle prescribed, and the majority of said commissioners are of opinion that a tract of land, owned by John and Peter Sells, situated on the west bank of the Scioto River, four miles and three quarters west of the town of Worthington, in the county of Franklin, and on which said Sells now resides, appears to them the most eligible."* Dated at Newark, the 12th of September, 1810, and signed by all the commissioners.
No further definite action, however, was had on the subject until February, 1812, when the law was passed establishing it at Columbus. Various proposals were received, offering inducements for its establishment at different points, and amongst the rest were the pro- posals of Lyne Starling, James Johnston, Alexander MeLaughlin and John Kerr, for establishing it on the " high bank of the Scioto River, opposite Franklinton," which site was principally a native forest. Franklinton was then at its apex, and a town of considerably more consequence than it now is, and was one of the sites proposed ; but the plan upon which it was laid out, and
*On this site the town of Dublin was afterward laid out.
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more particularly its low situation, were considered suf- ficient objections to its adoption. Worthington and Delaware were also among the sites proposed.
The following is a copy of the original proposals of the proprietors of Columbus :
" To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of Ohio : We, the subscribers, do offer the following as our proposals, provided the Legislature at their present session shall fix and establish the permanent seat of government on the bank of the Scioto River nearly opposite Franklinton, on half sections number twenty- five and twenty-six, and part of half sections number ten and eleven, all in township five, range twenty-two of the Refugee Lands, and commence their sessions there on the first Monday of December, 1817:
" Ist. To lay out a town on the lands aforesaid, on or before the first of July next, agreeably to the plan presented by us to the Legislature.
" 2d. To convey to the State by general warranty deed, in fee simple, such square of said town of the contents of ten acres or near it, for the public buildings, and such lot of ten acres, for the Penitentiary and dependencies, as a Director or such person or persons as the Legislature shall appoint, may direct.
" 3d. To erect and complete a State House, offices
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HISTORY OF
and Penitentiary, and such other buildings as shall be directed by the Legislature to be built, of stone and brick, or of either - the work to be done in a work- manlike manner, and of such size and dimensions as the Legislature shall think fit; the Penitentiary and de- pendencies to be completed on or before first of January, 1815, and the State House and offices on or before the first Monday of December, 1817.
" When the buildings shall be completed the Legisla- ture and us, reciprocally, shall appoint workmen to examine and value the whole buildings, which valuation shall be binding; and if it does not amount to fifty thousand dollars, we shall make up such deficiency in such further buildings as shall be directed by law ; but if it exceeds the sum of fifty thousand dollars, the Legislature will by law remunerate us in such way as they may think just and equitable.
" The Legislature may, by themselves or agent, alter the width of the streets and alleys of said town, pre- vious to its being laid out by us, if they may think proper to do so.
" LYNE STARLING, [SEAL.] " JOHN KERR, [SEAL.]
" ALEX. MCLAUGHLIN, [SEAL. ]
" JAMES JOHNSTON. SEAL.] " Attest,
" WILSON ELLIOT,
" ISAAC HAZLETT."
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
The above was accompanied by their bond for the faithful performance of their undertaking.
Although it was the avowed object of the Legislature to establish a permanent seat of government, yet when the time came to act conclusively on the subject, there was a misgiving amongst them, and it became pretty manifest that the bill for the acceptance of the fore- going proposals, would not pass without a limitation clause in it, and it being now just at the close of the session, rather than to have it defeated, or to lie over, the proprietors made their second proposition, of which the following is a copy :
" To the Honorable the Legislature of Ohio : We, the subscribers, do agree to comply with the terms of our bond now in possession of the Senate of the State aforesaid, in case they will fix the seat of goverment of this State on the lands designated in our proposals, on the east bank of the Scioto River, nearly opposite to Franklinton, and commence their sessions there at or before the first Monday of December, 1817, and con- tinue the same in the town to be laid off by us until the year 1840. These conditional proposals are offered for the acceptance of the Legislature of Ohio, provided
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they may be considered more eligible than those pre- viously put in.
" JOHN KERR, [SEAL. ]
" JAMES JOHNSTON, [SEAL. ]
" A. MCLAUGHLIN, [SEAL.]
"LYNE STARLING, [SEAL. ]
" Attest,
" WILLIAM ELLIOT.
" February 11th, 1812."
This proposition seemed to satisfy the opposition, and the bill was amended by adding the latter clause to the end of the second section, and then passed.
This last proposition was at some time lost from the file of papers in the State Treasurer's office, and that fact was possibly the means of saving the seat of government at Columbus. From the time of the repeal of the law for the erection of a new State House, in 1840, the subject of the removal of the seat of govern- ment from Columbus became agitated, and at the session of 1842-43, a committee of the Legislature was appointed on that subject, who being divided in opinion or feeling, made a majority and a minority re- port. The majority assumed as a first ground that it had been permanently established at Columbus by the act of February 14th, 1812, accepting the proposals of the proprietors of the town; and then referring to the con- ditions of the first proposals, insisted that it could not
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FRANKLIN COUNTY.
be removed without a violation of the faith of the State. The arguments of the two reports are principally con- fined to that proposition - the second proposal not being known of, apparently, by either party. And the compiler of the " Brief History of Columbus," prefixed to Mr. J. R. Armstrong's Columbus Directory, published in 1843, while the subject of removal was still in agita- tion, was, as a citizen of Columbus, perhaps excusable in giving the proprietors' first proposals, whilst he sup- pressed the second, which would have upset all the fine arguments in favor the permanent location.
The law referred to, accepting the proposals of the proprietors, and establishing the seat of government, was passed the 14th of February, 1812, and reads as follows :
"SEC. 1. That the proposals made to this Legislature by Alexander McLaughlin, John Kerr, Lyne Starling and James Johnston, to lay out a town on their lands, situate on the east bank of the Scioto River, opposite Franklinton, in the County of Franklin, on parts of half sections numbers nine, ten, eleven, twenty-five and twenty-six, for the purpose of having the permanent seat of government thereon established ; also to convey to the State a square of ten acres and a lot of ten acres, to erect a State House and offices, and a Penitentiary,
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as shall be directed by the Legislature, are hereby ac- cepted, and the same, and their penal bond annexed thereto, dated the 10th of February, 1812, conditioned for the faithful performance of said proposals, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, and shall remain in the office of the Treasurer of State, there to be kept for the use of the State.
" SEC. 2. That the seat of government of this State, be and the same is hereby fixed and permanently estab- lished on the lands aforesaid ; and the Legislature shall commence their sessions thereat on the first Monday of December, 1817, and there continue until the first day of May, 1840, and from thence until otherwise provided for by law.
" SEC. 3. That there shall be appointed by joint res- olution of this General Assembly, a Director, who shall, within thirty days after his appointment, take and sub- scribe an oath faithfully and impartially to discharge the duties enjoined on him by law, and shall hold his office to the end of the session of the next Legislature : Provided, that in case the office of the Director afore- said, shall, by death, resignation or in any wisc, become vacant during the recess of the Legislature, the Gov- ernor shall fill such vacancy.
" SEC. 4. That the aforesaid Director shall view and examine the lands above mentioned, and superintend
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the surveying and laying out of the town aforesaid, and direct the width of the streets and alleys therein ; also to select the square for public buildings, and the lot for the Penitentiary and dependencies, according to the proposals aforesaid ; and he shall make a report thereof to the next Legislature ; he shall, moreover, perform such other duties as will be required of him by law. .
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