USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, Ohio: its people, industries and institutions, Volume I > Part 22
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RAILROADS OF THE TOWNSHIP. .
There is no other township in the county, excepting Xenia township, that has better railroad facilities than Beavercreek township, which has at present (1918) two steam roads and one traction line. One difficulty with these lines is that they extend parallel a short distance from each other from the eastern to the western side of the township. The first rail- road extended through the township was the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre road, which was completed in 1853 and was consolidated with the Little Miami railroad in the same year. In 1869 this line was leased for ninety-nine years by the Pennsylvania, under which it is now operated. Another line parallel to the one before mentioned, called at the time of its construction the Day- ton, Xenia & Southwestern, was being constructed through the township at the same time, but before it was completed it was bought out by the Penn- sylvania. It lay dormant until 1876-77, when the right-of-way was taken over by the Baltimore & Ohio, and the road was completed in 1878.
The township formerly had two parallel traction lines, the Dayton & Xenia and the Rapid Transit, both of which were completed in 1898-99. Since that time the latter has ceased to operate. A more complete history of these railroads can be found in the chapter on transportation.
MURDERS IN THE TOWNSHIP.
The autumn of 1872 was a season for murders in Beavercreek town- ship, for during the months of September and October, of that year two murders occurred.
Late on the night of September 7, 1872, as Jack Davidson and Jesse Curry, two young men, were returning from a dance near Zimmermanville, the former shot and killed the latter with a revolver, the murder occurring on the road northwest of Alpha. At the trial Davidson was convicted and sentenced to a life term in the Ohio penitentiary. Later, however, he was pardoned by Gov. R. M. Bishop.
About eight o'clock on the evening of October 22, 1872, John William
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Fogwell, or more properly Faulkwell, was murdered by William Richison on the road about one mile north of Trebeins. The former was returning home from Dayton when he was fired upon by the latter who had secreted himself in a fence corner with a shotgun loaded with balls. The flash of the gun revealed the face of the assassin and he was recognized by Faulk- well, who lived long enough to tell the name of his murderer. On this evidence Richison was arrested, charged with the crime. During the trial additional evidence was found which fastened the guilt upon him without a doubt. The paper used for the wadding of the shot gun was found to cor- respond with pieces of torn paper found at the murderer's own house. He was found guilty on his first trial, but for some reason he was granted a second trial. He was again found guilty and was sentenced to death by hanging. Before the appointed day for the execution he committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell in the county jail at Xenia. He was buried in his own dooryard in a lone unmarked grave, near the scene of the tragedy.
THE PINKNEY POND.
Before the widespread use of drain tile on the farms of the township there was a large body of standing water on the Steele farm, just south- west of Trebeins Station, known as Pinkney pond. The pioneer road over which the early settlers came into the township and Greene county took its name from this body of water and was known as the Pinkney road. In the early days before the forests were cleared away and this district was the haunt of deer and other wild animals, it was the custom of the early settlers to go to this pond at night on hunting expeditions, for the deer and other game came here for water at that time.
The story is told how John and Samuel Morningstar, two pioneer boys of that section, launched their canoe on the pond one night and paddled around its brink cautiously in search of game. For such a hunting they had a large torch and their rifles. As they proceeded slowly along the banks, they suddenly came upon a large buck, which became so stricken with astonishment and curiosity at the sudden appearance of the light that it did not seek safety in flight. Moreover, the boys were almost as thor- oughly nonplussed as the buck, and they had an immediate attack of the bane of all hunters, "buck ague." Soon, however, the boys recovered their senses to such an extent that they sought to use their rifles. At the report of the rifle, the buck bounded into the water, capsized the frail boat and precipitated the young nimrods into the water, for they had evidently been somewhat nervous when they fired upon their prey. The ducking in the cold water brought the boys around to full consciousness, and a long struggle
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
took place on the brink of the pond, which ended with dispatching the buck.
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS OF THE TOWNSHIP.
In the main, Beavercreek township is in the beautiful valley of Beaver creek, which is one of the best agricultural regions in the county if not in the state. Generally its entire extent is fertile, well timbered, rolling and picturesque, and it is noted for its fine farms. Hundreds of cattle, and sheep graze on the fine pastures on the ridges above the magnificent valley, and over three thousand hogs, according to the agricultural report of the county for last year (1917), are fed out for the market annually. More- over, much milk, butter, wool, and poultry and many eggs are sent to market from this district each year. The automobile and the tractor have not en- tirely eliminated the horse from being the necessary animal that he is in carrying on the agricultural operations of the township. The rich bottoms of the Little Miami and the fertile valley of Beaver creek and the fertile upland farms afford ample space for raising grain. hay, potatoes and other vegetables. In potato culture Beavercreek township leads all the other townships in the county, and there is also considerable tobacco raised in the southern part of the township.
In general the farmers of the township are skilled agriculturists, for they seem to use the proper methods in caring for their soil by a carefully worked-out system of crop rotation, in the use of fertilizer, and in the growing of humus crops. In 1917 almost three hundred tons of commer- ยท cial fertilizer and several tons of lime were used and hundreds of acres of clover sod were turned under.
Great changes have been made in agriculture in the last half century ; some crops are no longer grown and many others are doubled in their yield. It is a source of interest to compare the agricultural statistics of sixty-seven years ago with those of the present. From the returns of the census of 1850 data has been obtained concerning the production in the township during the year 1849. Access also has been had to the agricultural statistics of Greene county for 1917. Generally these two sources are fairly reliable ; however, the items of the former seem more nearly correct than those of the latter. Through an oversight or carelessness on the part of the assessor, or the failure of the assessed to make a full return, the report of 1917 seems incomplete in many instances. The fact that from the 422 sheep of the township in that year only 216 pounds of wool were clipped, makes the report seem somewhat incomplete. Nevertheless, from these reports some very interesting comparisons can be drawn. For this purpose the fol- lowing table has been arranged :
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
LIVE STOCK.
1849
1917
Horses, number
807
1,065
Cattle, number
1,796
2,050
Sheep, number
3,606
422
Hogs, number
4,402
3,155
Butter, pounds
74,062
8,396
Cheese, pounds
320
Wool, pounds
10,335
216
A striking feature of the 1917 report is the number of hogs which died in the township from cholera during the year. In this township 712 hogs died from this disease. In the report for 1850 cattle were divided into three groups : Cows, evidently for dairy and breeding purposes, 852; work oxen, 22; other cattle, presumably beef cattle, 922. The value of animals slaugh- tered in that year (1849) was $14,865.
GRAIN, SEED, VEGETABLES, ETC.
The table which follows compares the grain, seed, vegetable and mis- cellaneous production in the township in the years 1849 and 1917:
1849
1917
Wheat, bushels
48, 102
77,192
Rye, bushels
1,050
4,31I
Corn, bushels
134,485
(shelled ) 269,163
Oats, bushels
18,870
29,146
Buckwheat, bushels
143
62
Flax seed, bushels
2,903
Clover seed, bushels
19I
II4
Timothy, seed, bushels
26
Irish potatoes, bushels
8,295
17,140
Sweet potatoes, bushels
905
Tobacco, pounds
2,710
Honey, pounds
I,II3
26
Hives, number
6
Hay-
Timothy, tons
1,486
Clover, tons
914
Total, tons
1,651
2,400
Alfalfa, tons
2,119
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A glance at the first part of the above table reveals that grain farming in the township has almost doubled its production since 1849, and the culture
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
of the lowly tuber as shown by the respective production of these two years compared is surely gaining in extent. It can be seen that flax is no longer grown in the township, for the day of linsey-woolsey has passed. This is a striking contrast to what it was a half century ago, for then Alpha was an important center in the county in the production of linseed oil, and almost every farmer in the township had his acreage of flax. It is obvious that the township no longer takes the interest in bee culture that it did formerly when there were more than a thousand pounds of honey produced; yet the fact that six hives of bees yielded only twenty-six pounds of honey in 1917 shows that the return was not at all complete or the residents of the township took very little interest in honey production.
MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION.
The fact that there are items in the one report which do not occur in the other makes it necessary to deal with them miscellaneously. In 1850 there were 16,043 acres of improved land in the township, while there were 14,396 acres which were unimproved. In all then here were 30,439 acres of land in the township which were owned at that time. In 1917 there were in the township 22,655 acres under cultivation, 2,240 acres in pasture; 2,488 acres in timber; 216 acres in orchard and 1,240 acres of waste land. There were then 28,829 acres owned in the township. The estimated value of all the farming implements in the township in 1850 was $29,893, but this total will not at all compare with that invested in the same at present. This is the age of machinery and the progressive farmers of Beavercreek township avail themselves of the use of all improvements to make farm work more pleasant, more profitable and more efficient.
ALFALFA AND SILOS.
Many marks of progress which are now to be seen in the township were unknown in 1850. The use of alfalfa was then as nearly within the ken of a farmer as orchid culture, hence it does not appear in the report for that year. In 1917 the farmers of the township had thirteen silos, but it is quite possible that the farmers of 1850 would have considered such corn-canning sheer foolishness. During the season of 1916 these silos were filled with 685 tons of ensilage cut from 137 acres.
LAND IMPROVEMENT.
The farmers of 1917 believe in using proper methods in improving the fertility of their soil by the use of commercial fertilizers and the like. Dur- ing 1917 the farmers of the township sowed with their wheat and planted with their corn 546,260 pounds of commercial fertilizer and eleven tons of lime to neutralize the surplus of acid in some tracts. The growing of legu-
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
minous crops, such as clover and alfalfa, has come in for its share of im- portance. In 1916 Beavercreek township had the largest acreage of alfalfa in the county, 712; and in the same year 312 acres of clover sod were turned under as a humus crop. The digging of ditches has caused the passage of such bodies of water as Pinkney pond and the reclamation of large tracts of land. This work is kept up, for in 1916. seven hundred and ten rods of drain tile ditches were laid.
MILK, BUTTER AND EGGS.
The day for the farmer making his own cheese has passed and it seems that the day of the old-fashioned, home-made brand of butter is going the same way. The extended use of the cream separator in the township has tended to bring this about, for it is more profitable to the farmer to market his cream, selling during the last year 48,190 gallons. During this same time there were sold from the township 215,050 gallons of milk. The hen must come in for her share in enhancing the prosperity of the township, for in 1916 she laid 187,210 dozens of eggs. The uplands of the township are admirably suited for fruit growing and during the last year the apple trees yielded 10,160 bushels. There are also many peaches grown in this same orchard section when the season is suitable for this fruit. It may be men- tioned here that the onion and tomato patches of the township yielded 129 bushels of the former and 210 bushels of the latter.
LAND HOLDING AND TENANTS.
Lastly, it is of interest to note that during 1917, according to the report for that year, there were eighteen renters of farms in Beavercreek township who worked for wages and the number of farms rented to tenants was twen- ty-one. One of the gravest problems that confront agricultural production today is the removal of farmers and agricultural operatives to urban cen- ters. It should be a source of gratification to the residents of the township that during the year 1917 there was not a single farmer within its borders who removed to the city or town.
THE VILLAGE OF ALPHA.
Alpha, which is the largest village within the bounds of Beavercreek township, is located in section 19, township 2, range 6, in the southeast part of the township, about a mile and a half northwest from the Little Miami river. It has excellent transportation and communication facilities for a town of its size, there being two railroads and a traction line passing through or near it. At present its population is approximately one hundred. The village takes its name from the fact that it is located near where the first
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
settlement in the township was made. The name arises from alpha, the first letter in the Greek alphabet.
THE GENESIS OF ALPHA.
It undoubtedly was the intention of Owen Davis and Benjamin White- man to establish a trading post here when they became the first settlers of the township, on the old Pinkney road, but the establishment of the county seat at Xenia and the shifting of the center of government from the neigh- borhood of Alpha to the county seat, evidently caused these two pioneers to sell their possessions here and go to the vicinity of Clifton. It seems then that Alpha received its beginning when Owen Davis built his mill and Benjamin Whiteman the house, which later was used as the place of meeting of the first court in the county on Beaver creek. Alpha did not become a reality until fifty years after the erection of the county.
The old log house which was the first "court house" of the county and the surrounding acreage were purchased by John Harbine in 1827 and since he had learned milling in his native state he began utilizing the waterpower of Beaver creek to the southwest of the site of Alpha. For many years there was only a semblance of a settlement in the neighborhood of where the vil- lage stands today, but the coming of the railroad in 1853 began making the residents of the section buzz with enterprise. This railroad was first called the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre railroad, but it is now the fine trunk line of the Pennsylvania called the "Panhandle." When the railroad was projected, Harbine gave the road the right-of-way through his farm, and the station established there was called Harbine. It was not until that year that the first house was erected upon the actual site of the village. The story goes that Enoch Needles and Bain Dice each began to erect his house at this time and there arose a contest between the two as to who would be the first to finish his dwelling. Needles' house was to be located across the railroad from the present dry-goods store and Dice at the same time began his house just opposite. Although Needles succeeded in raising the frame of his house first, it fell during the same night, such was the hurry in the construction. This then gave Dice the right of declaring that his house was the first to be erected upon the site of the town of Alpha. Needles finally completed his house after he had learned that "haste makes waste," and in that structure soon opened up the first dry-goods store in the village.
LAYING OUT THE VILLAGE.
In the following year, 1854, it was decided by the owners of the land whereon the village now stands, to plat a townsite along what was then known as the Xenia, Dayton & Belpre railroad. The spot seemed to promise
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
well for the establishment of a shipping point here, hence the owners of the land, John Harbine and William J. Needles, engaged the services of the county surveyor, Samuel T. Owens, to lay off the town. The work was carried on in the spring of 1854 and the plat was certified as follows :
I hereby certify that at the request of William J. Needles and John Harbine, the owners and proprietors, I surveyed and laid off the Village of Alpha as shown on the annexed Map or Plat thereof. The sizes of the lots, width of the streets and alleys and several courses they bear, all marked on said Map accurately. Survey made on the 28th day of February and the Ist day of March, 1854.
SAMUEL T. OWENS, Surveyor of Greene County.
In a note that follows, Owens makes an explanatory statement of the plat, stating the location of the site, the size of the lots and from the land of which proprietor the lots were taken :
Of the above lots numbered from I to 5 are laid off by W. J. Needles and contain 1.95 acres, and the ballance from 6 to 20 are laid off by John Harbine and contain 5.95 acres, all in section 19, township 3, range 7, and which quantities should be deducted from the lands of Needles and Harbine. SAMUEL T. OWENS.
The plat was certified at Xenia on March 1, 1854, by Samuel T. Owens, in the capacity of a notary public. The plat was received for record in the recorder's office at the court house in Xenia on March 10, 1854, and it was recorded by M. W. Trader, the recorder, on the following day. Thus the village of Alpha received legal recognition.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PLAT OF THE VILLAGE.
As was said before, Alpha owes its location to the railroad, which ex- tends through it east and west. A short distance to the northeast the Day- ton pike curves to the west, and Main street of the village is extended out to the pike, thus giving the town access to this thoroughfare. Main street extends in a northeast and southwest direction and is cut at about the mid point by the Panhandle railroad. On the east side of this street are lots of the original plat numbering from the northeast from one to ten, inclu- sive. This street is sixty feet in width. Extending along the railroad are the remainder of the lots numbering from eleven to twenty, inclusive. These lots front Beaver street, a street which is sixty feet wide and leads off from Main street in a westerly direction.
THE HUBBELL ADDITION.
No additions were made to the village until 1914, when Frank C. Hub- bell made an addition of seven and forty-two hundredths acres in an irreg- ularly shaped tract to the north and west side of the village, on the north side of the railroad. This addition was laid out by S. Milton Mckay, surveyor and engineer of Greene county, on February 2 and 3, 1914, and the land
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
from which it was taken was formerly a part of the John Harbine farm. The addition was certified as follows :
State of Ohio,
Greene County
Be it remembered that on the 6th day of March, 1914, A. D., personally appeared before me, H. S. LeSourd, a Notary Public in and for said County, Frank C. Hubbell and Hetty F. Hubbell, and acknowledged the within plat.
H. S. LESOURD, Notary Public.
The plat was presented for record on March 6, 1914, and it was re- corded by B. F. Thomas, the county recorder, on March 9, 1914.
This tract lies in the northwest quarter of section 19, township 3, range 7, and it contains twenty-two lots. It is reached by Maple street, which leads off of Main. Maple street is crossed at right angles by another, Linden street, which extends north and south ..
RAILROADS.
There are few towns of Alpha's size which enjoy better relative railroad facilities. Passing directly through it is the Panhandle and to the south of it the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton, which only recently became a part of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. To the south of it runs the Dayton & Xenia traction line. Thus it is put in communication with both Xenia and Dayton, both of which places can be reached by residents of Alpha each hour of the day.
THE POSTOFFICE.
Some years before Alpha was regularly laid out, the people who were residents of the vicinity secured the establishment of a postoffice there. The first delivery of mail at that station took place on Thursday, May 2, 1850, four years before the village was laid out by Needles and Harbine. Joseph Siddall was the first postmaster. Fred Barnard is the present postmaster and also has the only store in the village. Leonard Barth, who has been there since 1874, runs a meat market. His son, Fred Barth, now has active charge of the business. Frank C. Hubbell has an elevator and mill and operates under the name of the. Alpha Seed & Grain Company.
BUSINESS INTERESTS IN ALPHA.
In its early years Alpha was a lively manufacturing center. Many a gallon of whisky was distilled at its distillery, which was owned by John Harbine. It was only by turning their corn into whisky that the farmers could find a market for this grain. There were also flour, woolen, grist, saw and oil mills, and in addition to these enterprises, a large tobacco, grain and shipping business was carried on.
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
THE VILLAGE OF ZIMMERMANVILLE.
Zimmermanville is a closely settled neighborhood at the crossing of the Xenia and Dayton and the Fairfield and Bellbrook pikes, located about two miles northwest of Alpha, in the northwest quarter of section 32, town- ship 2, range 7. The first house built here was erected on the southeast corner of the cross roads by Jacob Zimmerman, for whom the village is named. It was in this house that Zimmerman kept the first store and it also served as a tavern in the earlier days. This old house is still standing. The next house was built by Samuel Tobias just across the Dayton pike, and this building was used as one of the first voting places in the neighborhood. In 1881 the village was comprised of one school house, a German Baptist church, a grocery store and about forty houses. The population in 1910 was about one hundred. Burley Coy is the only merchant of the place in 1918.
SHOUPS STATION.
In the southwest quarter of the same section and about a quarter of a mile south of Zimmermanville is a railroad station, called Shoups Station, located on the Panhandle. Here there is one store and about fifteen people.
TREBEINS STATION.
Trebeins Station is a small village two miles east of Alpha on the east bank of the Little Miami river in Beavercreek township. It lies in the Mili- tary Survey, on the Dayton and Xenia pike. The village had its beginning in. 1800 when John Paul erected near there. on the banks of the Little Miami river, the first mill in the neighborhood, or the first mill in the county, which used water for its motive power. This was a saw- and grist-mill and it was known in the neighborhood as Paul's Mill. It is possible that this mill was located on the western side of the river. Evidently when Paul left the town- ship, his mill fell into decay. Not long afterward Adam Emory built a mill on the site of the village and the milling enterprise has continued to be a part of the village since that time.
This village has been known by different names since its establishment in the early part of the nineteenth century. Possibly not exactly on the site of the present village there was at the time of the erection of the county a village by the name of Pinkneyville. When the county was organized and the matter of the location of the county seat was an important question before the residents, Pinkneyville was one of the sites under consideration. At a later date, possibly after the Panhandle railroad, or the Dayton, Xenia & Belpre, as it was then known, was projected through the site of the pres- ent village, the little town became known for some unknown reason as Frost Station. During the eighties the village was called Beaver Station. It took
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GREENE COUNTY, OHIO
the name which it bears at present from F. C. Trebein, who operated a flour- mill and distillery there for many years.
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