USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83
It was ordered by the Board of Commissioners that the fractional part of Vance Town- ship occasioned by the organizing of Clark County be and the same is hereby attached to Ross Township. DANIEL CONNELLY.
CHAPTER XI.
BEAVERCREEK TOWNSHIP.
Beavercreek township was the cradle of Greene county, for it was in the little log house occupied by Peter Borders on the banks of Beaver creek, a short distance from what is now known as the old Harbine homestead at Alpha, that the first meeting of the associate judges of this county took place on May 10, 1803. It was at this first meeting of the judges when the county was laid off into townships that the township of Beavercreek began its official existence. After Sugarcreek, Cæsarscreek and Mad River town- ships were laid out by the order of the court and their boundaries designated, Beavercreek township was erected by the following order of the court:
And the residue of said County shall Compose a fourth Township, called and known by the name of Beaver Creek Township. Elections in said Township shall be held at the House of Peter Borders on Beaver Creek.
Thus the original boundaries of Beavercreek township were arrived at by the process of elimination and any uncertainty in the delineaments of the townships .which had already been erected were reflected in those of Beaver- creek township. In order then to determine the original boundaries of Beavercreek township it is necessary to examine the boundaries of the other townships which effected these of the township in question. The northern boundary of Sugarcreek township began at the northwest corner of section IO, township 2, range 6, on the west boundary of the county and extended eastward to a point a short distance southwest of Xenia. The western boundary of Cæsarscreek township began at this point southwest of Xenia and extended northward to the Little Miami, striking the river at the mouth of Massies creek in Xenia township. At this point the northern line of Cæsarscreek township extended eastward to the county line. The southern boundary of Mad River township lay along the section line between the eighth and ninth ranges of townships. Beavercreek township then originally embraced all the territory of which it is now comprised: Bath township, a part of Miami township, a part of Xenia township, a part of Cedarville township and Ross townships and a part of Clark county. Originally its northern line extended east and west two miles north of Osborn, four miles north of Yellow Springs, about four and three-fourths miles north of the bank of the Little Miami at Clifton and five and one-half miles north of the present southeast corner of Clark county. It was bordered on the south by Sugarcreek township, on the east by Caesarscreek township, on the north
205
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
by Mad River township and on the west by Montgomery county. But these boundaries were vague and with the establishment of new townships and the running of surveys in the following years, the present boundaries of the township were finally determined.
CHANGES IN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE TOWNSHIP.
The first instance of Beavercreek township being shorn of its terri- tory was at the erection of Xenia township in 1805. All that part of Beav- ercreek township east of the Little Miami and north of the. mouth of Massies creek and from thence southward to the northeast corner of Sugar- creek township was added to the new township of Xenia.
On March 3, 1807, the county commissioners divided Beavercreek town- ship into two parts, one of which, the south part, retained the name of Beavercreek and the northern part received the name of Bath township. As at the erection of the county, the election in the new township of Beaver- creek was held in the house of Peter Borders. The line of division between the two townships extended east and west with the north boundary of the fifth tier of sections in the seventh range of townships between the Miami rivers. This boundary between Beavercreek and Bath townships is retained to this day.
In June, 1808, the commissioners "Ordered that the following tract or part of Beaver Creek Township, East of the line hereafter mentioned be struck off and attached to Xenia Township: viz., beginning at the East cor- ner of Section No. 5, Township 3, Range 7, thence East to the Little Miami." This territory now comprises the northwest part of Xenia township.
On May 1, 1816, the commissioners ordered "Moses Collier to survey the south part of Beaver Creek Township, east of the Little Miami, begin- ning opposite to a sugar tree west of the Little Miami River, at the South West corner of Fractional Section No. 29, in the 3rd Township & 6th Range, thence East by Compass to the west line of Xenia Township, to a stake." Thus the boundary between Beavercreek and Xenia townships was deter- mined. Other minor changes have been .made in the boundary of Beaver- creek township, but the record of the surveys made thereof has not been found. At this time the eastern boundary of the township begins at the northwest corner of section 5, township 2, range 7, and extends southward to the northwest corner of section 4, same township and range; thence east- ward to the middle of the north boundary of section 4; thence south to the middle of the southern boundary line of that section; thence east to the northeast corner of section 3, same township and section; thence southward to the Little Miami; thence west to the southwest corner of that section where the line turns southward, following the section line to where it inter- sects with the northeast corner of Sugarcreek township.
206
GREENE COUNTY, OIIIO
CONGRESSIONAL LANDS.
Beavercreek township, which is now the largest township in the county, having an area of 31,360 acres, is in the main composed of Congressional lands. It contains all of sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 and II, township 2, range 7; all of sections 5, II and 12, township 2, range 6; all of sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34 and 35, township 2, range 7; all of sections 35, 36, and 18, township 3, range 6. It also contains fractional parts of sections 2, 3 and 4, township 2, range 7, and of sections 24, 29 and 30, township 3, range 6.
MILITARY LANDS.
Only the southeastern corner of the township is on the east side of the Little Miami river, hence it is included in the Virginia Military Reservation, the lands of which the state of Virginia reserved for its soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War. The fact that so little of the territory of the township is included in the Military Reservation should be a source of grati- fication to the residents of the township, because the system, or lack of sys- tem, by which these lands were laid out has been a source of confusion to the holders of these lands almost since they were laid out. There follows the names of the holders of these military surveys, the number of each survey and the number of acres in each :
Name of Holder.
No. of Survey. No. of Acres.
Wilson Pemberton
579
1,000
Maj. Alexander Parker I
577
1,300
James Knox
701
700
William Fowler
760
1,000
John Stokes
390
1,000
Robert Beal
975
1,000
Alexander Armstrong
4,087
I
1
1
I
1
I
1
I
1
1
1
1
1
I
I
1
I
1 1 1 1
1
It is known that many of these original holders of surveys of military land were not soldiers of the Revolution. The warrants which were given the veterans called for a certain lot of land, but the location of the tract was not determined, the holder of the warrant being allowed to locate his tract anywhere between the Little Miami and the Scioto. In many cases the old soldiers kept these warrants in their possession without having their land surveyed, and then the warrant came into the possession of their assignees. Again, it was often the case that the veterans sold their warrants to land speculators. It can thus be seen that the ultimate holders of these warrants were not always Revolutionary soldiers. Of these holders of military land given above, the names of William Pemberton, James Knox,
207
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
John Stokes and Alexander Armstrong are not mentioned in the list of Virginia soldiers who were given land in the reservation. It is possible that they were either assignees or speculators who bought the warrants from the old soldiers. Alexander Armstrong was a district surveyor who found that the one acre on the Little Miami would not be claimed by a warrant, hence he took a patent out on the little tract. Furthermore these original holders of surveys were absentee owners, because their names do not appear on the enumeration books of the township at any time. Of the four soldiers who owned surveys here, Alexander Parker was a major, William Fowler a captain and Robert Beal a captain. To each of these men a large tract had been given; Major Parker, 6,888 acres; Captain Fowler, 4,000, and Captain Beal, 4,666 acres. These men were not constrained to locate their warrants all in one tract, but they could have surveys made of differ- ent tracts in the reservation, the aggregate of which would be the total amount of land to which they were entitled. Not all of these military surveys are wholly within the township.
TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE.
Beavercreek township is one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the county. The surface of the land is gently rolling and many prairie val- leys stretch away in fertile fields between the sloping ridges. The soil in the uplands is generally of a rich clay while in the valleys the darker and more alluvial soil is to be found. The chief grains produced in the township are corn and wheat, with a marked predominance of the former. Thus there is much live stock raised within the borders of the township. In the southern part of the township some tobacco is raised, but the production is nothing considerable. The agricultural interests of the township are re- served for discussion in a special section of this chapter. When the town- ship was first settled in the last years of the eighteenth century, it was thickly forested, but that has all changed now. The woodman and his ax has made conclusive inroads upon the stately forests of oak, walnut, beech, ash, hickory, elm and sugar trees which formerly stood thickly over the entire surface of the township except a few prairie-like areas. At this time (1918) there is little use for the saw-mill in this section. Although there is still considerable timber scattered here and there, the farmers are in the main conserving the surviving trees.
THE VALLEY OF BEAVER CREEK.
The chief topographical feature of the township is the valley of Beaver creek, which is entirely out of proportion, on account of its striking width, with the small stream which meanders through it. This valley is a large scope of meadow land of extraordinary productiveness and the extent
208
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
of the valley leads one to the conclusion that formerly through it flowed a river of large proportions. This, however, is discussed at length in the general chapter of topography and geology. This valley extends north from the village of Alpha for approximately five miles and it is drained by Big Beaver creek. On the ridges which extend along the sides of this fruitful valley, the prosperous farmers have built their large and comfort- able homes and have established their complete farm plants, and rarely is there found a more pleasing rural prospect than can be gained from one of these elevations which command a view over this beautiful valley.
DRAINAGE.
Beavercreek township is a section cut out of the basin of the Little Miami river, which enters the township on the southeast and flows directly across the southeast corner. The river enters Sugarcreek township in the middle of the boundary line which separates the two townships. The chief tributaries of the Little Miami which drain the township are the Little and Big Beaver creeks. Big Beaver creek, which is a stream of some size, rises in the southern part of Bath township and flows southward through the eastern part of Beavercreek township. It empties into the Little Miami a short distance south of Alpha. Little Beaver creek rises just across the county line in Montgomery county. It flows directly eastward, being joined by Bull Skin run from the northwest and other minor branches from the southwest, and empties into Big Beaver creek just west of Alpha. It is from these streams and from their wide fruitful valley that the township takes its name. Ludlow run, another small stream, rises in the extreme northwest corner of Xenia township, enters Beavercreek township at its northeastern corner, then flows directly south through the eastern side of the township, and empties into the Little Miami northwest of Trebeins, formerly called Beaver Station.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWNSHIP.
Almost one hundred and nineteen years have passed since the first set- tlement in Beavercreek township. It was in the spring of 1799 that Owen Davis and his son-in-law, Benjamin Whiteman, the first settlers of the town- ship, struck out northward along what is now known as the Pinkney road, which was then a mere blazed path northward through the forest from Cin- cinnati, with their families and located near the present site of the village of Alpha, in the vicinity of what now is known as the Harbine farm. The place they had decided to settle was advantageous in those days, for it prom- ised to be a trading point for the surrounding country. Facilities for water- power were excellent from Beaver creek which flowed nearby, and their holdings were located where the Pinkney road turns eastward toward Old-
209
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
town and the vicinity of Xenia. During the summer the settlement which they had established was increased by newcomers. John Paul, who became a person of prominence after the organization of the county, located about three miles northwest of the Little Miami river not far from Trebeins Sta- tion and William Maxwell, the editor of the first newspaper in the North- west Territory, moved northward from Cincinnati and settled on the Max- well farm in the township, and the indications were that many more settlers would come pushing northward on the Pinkney road into this new county. This fact convinced Davis and Whiteman that they had chosen their place of settlement well and they set to work to establish a regular trading post for the surrounding settlers.
The first need of the new community was a mill where the settlers could come to grind their coarse meal, and Owen Davis accordingly set to work establishing a mill not far from the site of the present Harbine mill, a short distance from the village of Alpha. During the winter of 1799 he finished the mill, the motive power of which was furnished by the farmer who had the grist to grind, and it was opened up for the use of the public in the winter of 1799. Settlers from the whole surrounding country came here to grind their meal, many from twenty to thirty miles distant.
A short distance south of the mill, about one hundred yards from the south line of the Harbine farm, and about two hundred yards east of Beaver creek, Benjamin Whiteman erected for his father-in-law a substan- tial log house which later was used as a place of meeting for the first court held in Greene county. The chief reason why it was designated for this purpose was that it was located on the Pinkney road, the chief thorough- fare of the county at that time. A little to the northeast of this building was the little ten-by-twelve log smoke house, which was used as the jury room after the county was organized. Two blockhouses were built a little east of the mill, so that if the occasion arose they could be connected with a line of pickets so that the mill could be protected in case the settlement was attacked by Indians. Later the dwelling erected by Whiteman was occu- pied by Peter Borders and it was during his occupancy that the house was used as the place for the meeting of the court.
These four men, the earliest citizens of Beavercreek township, became important personages in the early history of the county and are treated of in a more extended manner elsewhere in this volume.
EARLY SETTLERS IN BEAVERCREEK TOWNSHIP.
Not long after Benjamin Whiteman and Owen Davis had established themselves on Beaver creek, the sound of the ax could be heard above the mill belonging to Davis, where John Thomas, John Webb and John Kizer
(14)
210
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
were felling trees and hewing the logs into shape for the erection of their cabin homes. Kizer enlisted as a volunteer in the War of 1812 after Hull's surrender at Detroit. He was also aided in the establishment of his home here in Beavercreek township by his three stalwart sons, Peter, John, Jr., and Daniel. John Kizer, Sr., a brother of Benjamin Kizer, who settled in the township in 1804, was known as the champion pugilist of the county until he met Aaron Beall at Oldtown in 1806.
In 1800 Jacob Coy, Sr., came from Maryland and settled on the Shaker- town pike, in the southwest quarter of section 31, township 2, range 7. Coy and his wife, Susanna, were natives of Germany, who came to America when they were quite young. During the voyage the parents of the former died and were buried in midocean. Since their belongings were confiscated by the ship's crew, the seven children were thrown upon the shores of the New World penniless. Jacob, who was eighteen years of age when his brothers and sisters landed, sold his service to a Pennsylvania planter for six years in order to clear himself and his brothers and sisters from debt. Later he married and removed to Maryland where he lived a number of years and accumulated three hundred and fifty acres of land. In 1800 he emigrated with his family to Ohio, coming down the river to Cincinnati where the family remained two months. At that time there were only sixteen log cabins in the village. There he purchased necessary tools and other articles a settler would have need of when entering a new country, and then the family pushed out up the Pinkney road for the northern part of Hamilton county. Here they settled on a tract of three thousand acres of land which Coy had previously purchased in Beavercreek township. He soon began the construction of the cabin, for which he needed nails. Accordingly he sent his son, Jacob, Jr., on horseback to Cincinnati to purchase two kegs of nails for which twelve and one-half cents a pound was paid. The hardest kind of labor on the part of the entire family was necessary to improve the holding, oftentimes the father and sons burning brush until midnight. The prices paid for the products raised by the family were very small. They sold flour in Cincinnati at two dollars and a half a barrel after they had delivered it there by hauling it overland. Wheat sold for twenty-five cents and corn for ten cents a bushel. They paid seventy-five cents a pound for coffee, but three or four pounds lasted the family for a year.
OTHER EARLY SETTLERS.
One by one up from Cincinnati, where they gave their last farewell to civilization, the covered wagons and lagging horses came struggling up over the Pinkney road, guided by the sturdy pioneers who were bringing their families here to establish their homes by great toil in the forest of the town-
2II
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
ship. Others who came in 1800 were Andrew Hawker and his wife Sus- anna and their family, settling on the farm which adjoined the Adam Hawker farm; and Jacob Judy, who built his cabin on the land which com- prised the central part of section 30, township 2, range 6, about one mile south of the site of the village of Alpha. He, too, was a soldier of the War of 1812, and his death occurred in 1823. In this same year, George Shoup, a native of the Keystone state, settled in the southwest quarter of section 36, township 2, range 6, and built his cabin near Mt. Zion cemetery. Possibly a little later John Morningstar lighted the way of his brothers George and Philip into the township. Joseph Palmer, who became a soldier of the War of 1812, came to the township in 1805, and settled on the farm which joins Trebeins on the north. In 1806 David Herring, a native of Frederick county, Maryland, came to the township and purchased the farm belonging to Benjamin Whiteman, who removed to the vicinity of Clifton. Herring erected his cabin in the southwest quarter of section 20, township 3, range 7. In the same year George Frost built a cabin in the northeast quarter of section 16, township 3, range 7. In 1807 Silas Kent settled in the southeast quarter of section 22, township 3, range 7, which land is now known as the David Garlough farm. He built his cabin a short distance east of the present Garlough farm house. In this same year, George Morn- ingstar followed his brother John into the township and settled on land in the southwest quarter of section 9, township 3, range 7, which farm is now known as the John B. Stine farm. He built his cabin on the site of the present Stine farm house. At the same time came his brother, Philip Morn- ingstar, who built his cabin in the northeast quarter of section 9, township 3, range 7.
Some of the later comers were Matthias Gray who came in 1813 and settled in the southeast quarter of section 8, township 3, range 7, on what is now known as the Samuel Andrews farm. Two years later came John Kenney and settled in the southwest quarter of section 10, township 3, range 7.
ADAM SWADNER, THE HANDY MAN OF THE SETTLEMENT.
It was in 1807 that Adam Swadner, a native of Maryland, entered one hundred and fifty acres of land in section 16, township 3, range 7. He became the holder of this land with the stipulation that he should improve it, and he built a log house which was occupied for many years. During his early life he learned the trade of shoemaker, to which' he later added some proficiency in the more simple mechanical lines. This made him a very valuable man in the settlement.
212
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
RESIDENTS OF BEAVERCREEK TOWNSHIP IN 1803.
The poll book of the first election which was ordered by the associate judges to be held at the house of Peter Borders on Beaver creek in 1803, is extant, but the names of the judges of the election and the officers elected are not given. Neither is the exact date given, save that the election took place in October, 1803. The richest fund of names of the residents of Beavercreek township in that year comes from the report of the enumera- tion taken by James Popenoe, the lister. The names included in this docu- ment, to which are added names of settlers from the poll book, names which are not included in the enumeration report, are appended. It must be borne in mind that Beavercreek township then comprised the larger part of what is now Greene county and some of the names mentioned belong · to the early settlers of townships later erected; nevertheless they voted and paid their taxes as residents of this township. The names follow: George Alexander, George Allen, Nathan Allen, William Allen, John Aken, William Aken, Gabriel Bilderbach, Peter Borders, William Bull, Sr., James Bull, Richard Bull, John Bosher, Gardner Bobo, James Benefield, Jesse Bracken," James Buchanan, John Buchanan, Robert Bogges, Elias Bromegen, Jacob Coy, Adam Coy, Levi Connelly, Abel Crawford, James Carroll, John Cott- rell, William Chenoweth, Benjamin Devere, John Driscoll, William Dow- ney, Owen Davis, Lewis Davis, Robert Frakes, Jonathan Flood, Edward Flood, John Fogey, John Freeman, William Freeman, Samuel Freeman, Elijah Ferguson, William Ferguson, Zachariah Ferguson, Benjamin Ginn, James Galloway, Sr., James Galloway, Jr., George Galloway, Thomas God- frey, John Harner, Jacob Harner, George Harner, Michael Hendricks, Andrew Hawker, Abraham Hanley, Alexander Haughey, David Huston, William King, Adam Koogler, Jacob Koogler, Richard Kiser, Peter Kiser, John Kiser, John Kenney, Joseph Kyle, Mathew Kavender, Isaac Kruzan, George Kirkendale, Jacob Kent, Samuel D. Kirkpatrick, George Kirkpatrick, William Kirkpatrick, William Law, Justice Luce, Arthur Layton, Arnett Longstreth, Cornelius Morgan, John Morgan, Sr., John Morgan, Jr., Isaac Morgan, Evan Morgan, Christie Miller, John Miller, James Miller, Isaac Miller, Frederick Morelander, William Maxwell, William Minnier, Abraham Minnier, Edward Mercer, Jonathan Mercer, Henry Martin, William McCloud, Charles McGuire, William McClure, John McKaig, Daniel McMillan, Alex- ander McCollough, William McFarland, Alexander McCoy, Sr., Alex- ander McCoy, Jr., James McCoy, Daniel McCoy, John Nelson, William O'Neal, William Orr, John Paul, James Popenoe, Peter Popenoe, Sr., Philip Petro, Nicholas Petro, Paul Petro, William Price, William Pasel, Nicholas Quinn, Sr., Nicholas Quinn, Jr., Matthew Quinn, James Riddle, John Rittenhouse, Garrett Rittenhouse, William Robbins, . Isaac Rubart,
213
GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
Alexander Rough, John Rue, Abraham Rue, Andrew Read, William Stock- well, Andrew Stewart, Jacob Shingledecker, James Stevenson, William Stevenson, John Stevenson, Peter Sewell, John Shigley, Frederick Shigley, Thomas Simpson, Michael Spencer, William Smith, Jacob Smith, John Smith, Joseph Smith, James Scott, Christopher Truby, Jacob Truby, John Tingley, Silas Taylor, William Taylor. George Taylor, Thomas Townsley, John Townsley, Joseph Tatman, James Tatman, Remembrance Williams, Charles Williams, Christian Willand, Benjamin Whiteman, Andrew Westfall, James Westfall, George Wolf, John Webb, Henry Whittinger, Henry Ward and Henry Young.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.