USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County : together with historic notes on the Northwest, and the state of Ohio, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and all other authentic sources > Part 52
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Captain Herrod, from Kentucky, settled in the eastern part of this township, about five miles from where Cedarville is now, shortly after the Townsley brothers settled in another part of the township. He probably came here in the fall of 1801. He had a family of sons and daughters, and purchased a large tract of land, which he continued to improve and cultivate till his death, many years ago.
William Moreland immigrated to this township from Kentucky, in the spring of 1805, and located on something more than two hundred acres of land, about three miles east of Cedarville, being the second person who located in this part of the township. He
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built a house, dug a well, and cleared a small spot of ground, the first year of his residence here. He was a man noted for his hon- esty and uprightness, and was a prominent person in the communi- ty during his lifetime.
James Small, emigrating from Kentucky, came to this township, and purchased one hundred and fifty acres of land just north of Cedarville, upon. which he located permanently in 1805. He also bought a quarter section of land in Miami Township, but did not reside there. He had a family of ten children, two of whom yet live in the township, a son and daughter. The former, born in 1810, is probably the oldest native of the township who resides in its lim- its at present, and his sister, who was about twelve years old when the family came here, is the oldest resident in the township. Neither of these persons was ever married, and prove a living ex- ception to the general belief that unmarried persons are short lived. There was about ten acres cleared land upon Mr. Small's place when he came here, and upon this he raised his first crop of corn in the summer of 1805. The country at that date presented a very wild appearance, and Mr. Small never became fully reconciled to his surroundings. This, however, did not deter him from exerting himself to the utmost to better his condition, and he was ever fore- most among those who were interested in the advancement and well-being of the neighborhood in which he lived. He remained upon this farm till he died, at a good old age, regretted by all who knew him.
Samuel Kyle, a brother-in-law to James Small, immigrated to this township from Kentucky in 1805. He was the father of twenty- one children (?). Upon arriving here he entered a large tract of land on Massie's Creek, west of Cedarville, and built a log cabin, which would to-day be considered a limited concern to hold com- fortably his numerous progeny. However, in those days a little crowding was not objectionable, and served to keep out the cold in winter, and this family thrived well in their narrow quarters, and the boys grew to be powerful men in physical strength, and prom- inent men in the community. Samuel Kyle was among the first associate judges in the county, which position he accepted in 1810, and creditably filled till 1845. He was a man of ability, and his descendants in the township are influential and highly respectable people.
William McFarland, Esq., emigrated from Kentucky, and came
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with his family to this township about 1804, and purchased one hundred and fifty acres of land on Massie's Creek, a short distance from where Cedarville now stands. There was no trading point then nearer than Xenia, and that was a small affair. Salt was hauled from Chillicothe, and could not be had nearer. Mr. McFar- land soon became a prominent man in the sparsely settled neigh- borhood, and served as foreman on the first grand jury in the county, in 1804.
Joseph McFarland came here from Kentucky in 1814, with a family of thirteen grown children, and settled on land now owned by Mr. Stewart. The Indians had nearly all left the county at that date, but wild animals were plenty, and many families fed on veni- son during the entire year. Priscilla, a daughter of Joseph McFar- land, instituted the first Sunday-school in this township, in the old log Baptist Church, in 1835. She was one among the earliest school-teachers in the township. She is now the wife of James Currie, who resides in Cedarville, and is the oldest shoemaker in the township.
Thomas Paris, a native of Virginia, immigrated to Cedarville Township about 1809, and bought about five hundred acres of land on Massie's Creek, where he put up his cabin and set out an orchard the same year. The first orchard in the township had been planted by the Townsley brothers, in 1803. Quite a number of orchards had been put up prior to 1810.
The Rev. Armstrong came from Kentucky, with his people, in the capacity of pastor, in 1803 or 1804, and entered the land now owned by the Widow Corey, upon which he built a house and lived till his death.
James Bull, a native of Virginia, came to this township, with his family, in 1803, and located upon the farm now owned by his son, where he resided during the remainder of his life. The cabin into which he moved at first, was without doors or windows, and the floor was of the roughest plank. He only resided here, however, a short time, when he put up a hewed log house, which, next to Townsley's, was the best in the township at that date.
James Reid, a native of Ireland, immigrated to this township from Kentucky in 1805. He became the owner of a good farm in this township, which he improved, and upon which he resided till his death, in 1822. He was the father of a large family of chil- dren, one of whom, Robert Charlton Reid, married Marion White-
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law Ronald in 1826, and to them was born a son, Whitelaw Reid, who can justly claim to be the most illustrious man ever produced by Cedarville Township. Mrs. Reid still continues to reside upon the old farm, where her young days were spent, happy in the con- sciousness of being the mother of one of America's most distin- guished and successful journalists.
Robert C. Reid was, by trade, a carpenter, and in 1817 he built the first frame house in this township for James McCoy, who re- sided in it till his death. This building is still standing, and is- occupied as a residence by John Gibson. The first brick house in the township was owned by Colonel Duncan, who had it built in 1818. This structure is still in a good state of preservation, and is occupied by a colored family.
Jacob Miller is the second oldest resident of Cedarville Township. He came here from Pennsylvania, with his mother, who was a widow with seven children, in 1806. In journeying hither, this family boated down the Ohio River as far as a place called "boats run," where they were driven ashore by a severe storm ; all nar- rowly escaped being drowned. From there they journeyed to this township, along an Indian trail through the woods, carrying all their household goods. They could not have been encumbered much, however, as a camp-kettle and skillet, with a few pans and a little provisions, constituted all their worldly possessions at that time. After a journey of several weeks through the woods, they finally reached their destination in this township, and moved in a cabin with John Stephens, a brother of Mrs. Miller, who had come here from Pennsylvania, a short time before, and built a cabin on land entered by his father, Benjamin Stephens, but now owned by Jacob Miller. The woods at that time were thronged with Indians, bears, wolves, and deer; and it seems almost impossible to the timid women of to-day, that so few years since one of their own sex should have braved the perils of the wilderness, and traveled alone with her infant family for weeks through a trackless forest. Yet such instances of heroic endurance are by no means rare; nor are they confined to any one locality in our country; but in almost any township in our state can be heard the story, telling how some woman came into the country when the foot-prints of civilization were very few indeed, and by her bravery and indomitable will succeeded with her husband in procuring homes for themselves and children. The pages of history never grow weary repeating
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the heroic deeds of the Grecian women who lived when old Athens and Sparta were struggling for supremacy; but the work accom- , lished by them, as compared with that done by our American mothers, was small indeed. It is a fact, then, worth remembering, that among the American women who did so much toward estab- lishing the foundation of our present greatness, are to be found some who located in Cedarville Township, and whose descendants remain there to this day, the most prosperous and influential citi- zens in the township.
Elah Bromigen, a native of Prussia, moved with his large fam- ily of sons and daughters, into this township about 1805, and located on land about one mile from where Cedarville now stands, and which is at present owned by Jacob Miller. Mr. Bromigen reached this township in the spring of the year, when the ground was beginning to thaw out; and the country round about at that season of the year looked more like a forest in the midst of the sea than a place where man might build a comfortable home. Mr. Bromigen, however, went earnestly to work, and in a few weeks the camp in which they had lived while the cabin was building, was vacated, and the family moved into their new home, which seemed almost luxurious after so long a time passed in camp- ing out, and undergoing all the hardships and privations conse- quent upon such a mode of living. He also succeeded in clearing a small patch of ground, which, became dry enough to plant in corn about the middle of June, and by a good deal of care was able in the fall to harvest his first crop in the United States, which provided his family with bread till the following year. Farmers in this neighborhood went to mill at Clifton, where a mill had been established a short time before; but for salt they were all obliged to go to Chillicothe, from which place they would carry the salt in bags on the backs of pack-horses. No person in the township at that time owned a wagon; neither could this mode of conveyance have been used if they had been numerous, as there were no roads in the township, and all transportation from place to place was done by pack-horses, which wound in single file through the woods . along the Indian paths. Mr. Bromigen frequently made these trips for the purpose of purchasing this important condiment. In a few years he had his farm in a good state of cultivation, and continued to improve it till his death, which occurred many years ago.
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James White, from Kentucky, was another pioneer settler in this part of the township. He was the father of two sons and three daughters, and upon arriving here in 1806 purchased one hundred ยท and sixty acres of land adjoining Bromigen's, upon which he built the first house of round logs the same year. He was a man of great industry, and with the assistance of his sons soon caused the aspect of things to change in his immediate neighborhood. His wife was a noted spinner, and her success in coloring was the won- der of the neighborhood. With calico at seventy-five cents per . yard, it was among the impossibilities to possess a dress of that material in those days, when real money was almost a curiosity among the settlers. Hence the ladies taxed their ingenuity to dis- cover the most tasty and most effective mode of striping their dress goods; and young ladies would often walk miles to obtain Mrs. White's recipe for coloring, which being willingly given with full instructions, in a few weeks the country belles made their debut in a dress of linsey-woolsey, the brilliancy of which probably far exceeded Joseph's many-colored coat.
Major James Galloway, jr., an unmarried man, emigrated from Kentucky, and came to this township with his father, James Gallo- way, sr., in 1803. The latter served as treasurer of Greene County from 1803 till 1816; while James, jr., was the first county surveyor, holding the office from 1809 to 1812. In 1805, he married Miss Martha Townsley, a daughter of Thomas Townsley. The ceremony was performed in the log cabin of the Townsley's, by Rev. Robert Armstrong, who was the only minister in the township who had a license empowering him to officiate in this capacity. Quite a num- ber of friends were present to witness the first marriage in the township, and the affair was one calculated to be long remembered. James Townsley, a cousin of Martha Townsley, and son of John Townsley, was the first boy born in the township, in 1802. While Sallie McCoy, afterwards Mrs. Innis Townsley, was the first white girl born in Cedarville Township, in 1803.
Among others who may be mentioned with the earlier settlers, and most prominent men in the township, are James Gowdy, who was county treasurer from 1825 to 1828. Samuel Newcomb, who filled the same office for the twelve years, immediately succeeding Mr. Gowdy's term of office, and George Townsley, who was elected auditor of the county in 1821, and filled the position creditably to himself, and satisfactorily to all concerned, till 1828, when he de-
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
clined being re-elected. Besides the persons to whom reference has already been made, there might be added many others who in- terested themselves in the general welfare of the county, and es- pecially of this township, but such an account would contain a . majority of all the citizens in the township, as well as those who are dead, and those who now live, and are in the mid-day of their strength and influence.
CEDARVILLE VILLAGE.
Cedarville village was laid off by Jesse Newport in 1816. The old plat consists of twenty-four lots each, 823x150 feet; of these nine are north, and fifteen south of Chillicothe Street. To this, the following additions have been made, namely: Alexander's, Jacob Miller's, Mitchell and Dille's, Hinsley's, Kyle's, Mitchell, Dunlap and others, Nisbet and others, O. W. and N., and four other additions by John Orr, making twelve in all. The town was first called Milford by the proprietor, owing to the fact of his having a mill in close proximity to the town, but there being another town of that name in Ohio, it was found necessary to change this in order to prevent all derangement in postal matters, and ac- cordingly in 1834, the village was named Cedarville, from the fact that the banks of Massie's Creek which flows through here, were lined with that species of tree, and at about that date the people in this township got their first post-office. The first postmaster was John Paris, a great temperance man, and one of the most prom- inent persons in the village. Besides performing the duties of post- master, he was also the first shoemaker in the village, and kept the post-office, shoe shop, dry goods store, and worked at watch and clock repairing, all in the same room. This room is still standing, and is now used as a kitchen by a family in the village. Mr. Paris kept the post-office till about 1844, receiving for his services a few dollars only, each year. The mail during his time was brought once a week from Xenia. H. D. Cline, the present postmaster, has kept the position since April, 1869. They had a daily mail after the stage route was established between Cincinnati, and Columbus in 1845, till the railroad was completed through here in 1850, after which they had two mails daily for some years. There are six mails received here, now every day, and the office pays about $550.00 per year, exclusive of money orders. The persons who have kept
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CEDARVILLE TOWNSHIP.
the office during the time intervening between the first and present postmaster, are as follows: A. W. Osborn, till 1848; James Small, six months ; Colonel Torrence succeeded him, and kept it about two years, and was followed by Josiah Mitchell; and after him Wm. S. Bratton had the office a short time during Taylor's administration. A. W. Osborn then kept the office during President Pierce's term, and was followed by John Gibney, jr., who kept the position till the beginning of the war, when Osborn again officiated. He was fol- lowed by John G. Winter, who resigned in six months, and H. M. Boyd, predecessor of the present postmaster, took the office, and filled the position two years.
The first frame house in the village was one story high, 40x40 feet, and was built by John Orr, in 1834, who intended it for a cab- inet shop. Subsequently another story was added. This house still stands in the same place. The second frame was built by Robert Mitchell, in 1835, and Joseph Alexander soon put up the third.
The first merchant in the township was E. Mitchell, who started his store in Cedarville in about 1830, and kept up the business there till his death, in 1855, when B. McClennan bought the goods on hand, and after selling goods here three years, removed his stock to Kansas, where he is engaged in the same business. John Orr began selling goods in Cedarville in the spring of 1834, and has been successfully engaged in the same business ever since. Mr. Orr is an old citizen in the place, and has ever been foremost in all improvements of a public character that were projected. He was one of the incorporators of the Xenia and Jefferson Turnpike, the first in the township, which received its charter from the state in 1836. After the company had expended some $80,000, the state failed to comply with her part of the agreement, and the corpora- tion became insolvent. Mr. Orr exerted himself to the utmost to prevent this, but failed. He was also instrumental in having the railroad brought to the village, as the original surveys were all made on a different route, till convinced by Mr. Orr that this was the cheapest and best way they could run.
The first tavern in the village, and in the township, was a double log house, built by a Mr. Miller, about 1825. The amount of travel at that time was by no means as extensive as at present, and at that day the arrival of a stranger in the village was an important event. Miller kept this tavern stand many years, and was considered a very
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
hospitable landlord in his day. Since that early day the business interests of the town have been constantly and rapidly increasing. The commercial wants of the place are supplied by four dry-goods stores, eight grocery stores, two hotels, two drug stores, one hard- ware store, one grain store, one butcher shop, three shoe shops, three blacksmith shops, one wagon shop, four physicians, one den- tist, one undertaker, one furniture store, two milliners, one tin shop, one bakery, one merchant tailor, and two barber shops. The place is remarkable in that it has no regular saloon within its limits, and as a consequence a more quiet or orderly community is not to be found in Greene County.
NEWSPAPER.
In 1876, George Strause and Herbert M. Northup conceived and executed the plan of publishing a newspaper in Cedarville, and ac- cordingly the requisite outfit was purchased, and the new sheet soon made its appearance among the citizens of the place. It was called "The Enterprise," and at first had a fair show of success ; but the novelty of having a home paper soon wore away, and the circulation dwindled to such an extent that the proprietors found the " Enterprise " anything but a money-making enterprise, and accordingly, in 1877, they sold the establishment to John Orr, jr., who put the management of the paper into the hands of J. M. Miller, formerly of the Cincinnati Enquirer, who run it, with vary- ing success, for two years, when Lee Stewart purchased the prop- erty of Mr. Orr. Miller was retained as editor of the paper till the spring of 1880, when several citizens of the place constituted themselves a company, purchased the concern, and put the paper into the hands of the present editor.
PHYSICIANS.
The first physician in the township was Dr. McTume, who came here about 1833. He remained several years, and since the date of his leaving, the physicians, with a single exception, have been resi- dents here a comparatively short time. Of the four now in the place, Dr. Stewart came in 1846, and is the oldest resident practi- tioner in the township. Dr. Winters came about 1855, and is here now. Dr. Madden, an eclectic physician, came about four years
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CEDARVILLE OOWNSHIP.
since. Dr. Rood has also been here but a comparatively short time. Previous to the coming of Dr. McTume, people went to Xenia for physicians.
MANUFACTORIES.
The first saw-mill in the township was built by Jesse Newport, in 1811, on the banks, of Massie's Creek, a short distance from where Cedarville now is. It was one of the old flutter-wheel mills, and the first boards used in building in this township were sawed by it. Mr. Newport run this mill several years, and then sold it to John Townsley, who operated it till 1835, when he disposed of it to Fred Beamer, who in turn sold it to a Mr: Barber, the latter run- ning it till about 1868, when the mill was washed out, and was never rebuilt.
The second saw-mill in the township was built, in conjunction with a carding and fulling factory, by Issac and Jacob McFarland, about 1818, and for many years they carried on an extensive busi- ness. Finally they discontinued carding and fulling, devoting their whole attention to the saw-mill, which they run successfully till about 1845. The property is now owned by Samuel N. Tarbox, who continues to run the saw-mill, which he has operated for about twenty years. This is the only water-power saw-mill in the town- ship, and is also the oldest mill of any kind in the limits of Cedar- ville Township now being worked.
The first grist-mill in the township was built by Peter Mondy, about 1836, who also run a distillery in connection with it. This mill is now owned by Samuel Charlton, who has operated it some twenty years, and has the reputation of making an excellent quality of flour.
The third saw-mill in the township, was built by Charles, and James Small, in 1833, just west of Cedarville, on Massie's Creek. They operated this mill till 1842, when the property passed into other hands. A distillery was connected with it for a short time, but both have long ago perished, and now nothing marks the spot on which they stood.
The steam saw-mill now owned by Samuel Mitchell, is the only one of the kind in the township, and is, perhaps, as old as any in the county. It was built by Samuel Townsley, John Orr, and Al- fred Booth, in 1840. At first, they could only saw 1,000 feet of
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HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY.
lumber per day ; now they can easily do five times that amount. Mr. Mitchell became sole proprietor of the mill, about 1868, since which time he has managed it very successfully. They do an im- mense amount of sawing here.
The first steam grist-mill in the township was built in about 1855, by Messrs. Hamilton Clemens, and George Shiegley, who operated it about three years, when the mill was sold, and removed to Char- leston, in Clarke County.
D. S. Ervine, and Robert Ervine, began milling in 1878, when they purchased the mill of W. M. Harbison. They are carrying on an extensive business. In 1879, they shipped 30,000 bushels of wheat. They are at present building an elevator, which is to be three stories high, and which, when completed, will afford storage for 25,000 bushels of grain. They deal more extensively in grain than any firm in the township.
The only tile factory in the township, was established by J. W. Strouse, and B. W. Northup, in 1871, when they put up a dry room, 92x40 feet. Part of their buildings were destroyed by fire in 1873, but were immediately rebuilt. They give employment to four men during the working season. They manufacture all sizes, front two to six inches, and average about fifteen kilns per year, which con- tains four hundred and fifty rods of tiling each. Being the only establishment of the kind within a radius of several miles, they dispose of most of their work in their own neighborhood, where there is a good demand for the article.
The fruit evaporator of Tarbox Brothers was established by them in this township, and operated first in the fall of 1879, when they had completed the frame building, 20x30 feet, at a cost of about $1,600, including all the necessary apparatus. In evaporating ap- ples, they employ fourteen hands during the season, and run through about two hundred and fifty pounds of apples per day. This is the only establishment of the kind in the county, and will supply a much-needed want, by furnishing an excellent quality of fruit for the home market. Tarbox Brothers also operate the prin- cipal cider press in the township, which they have worked since 1876. During a season when apples are plenty, they manufacture from seven hundred to one thousand barrels of cider, all of which is necessary to meet the demands of the home market.
Uriah Jeffries established the only furniture factory in the town- ship, and the only one of any importance in the county, in Cedar-
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