USA > Ohio > Greene County > History of Greene County, together with historic notes on the northwest and the state of Ohio > Part 71
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Edward F. Searl, physician, Osborn, was born in Candagua County, New York, September 27, 1841. Is a son of Harman and Sophia (Skieff) Searl, natives of Massachusetts, where the greater portion of the family still live. In 1841, Harman Searl removed to Portage County, Ohio, where he still resides. Dr. Searl was reared at the village of Windom, Portage County, where he received the
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rudiments of an education under Professor Pickett, which he after- ward developed at Hiram, under Professor James A. Garfield. At the age of eighteen he went to Cleveland to prosecute his medical studies, having studied under Drs. Reed and Bentley, of Ravenna, Portage County. Here he remained two years and a half, and graduated in 1861. He then practiced in Huron two years, and in May, 1863, removed to Osborn, where he still remains, and enjoys a fair practice. He has made his practice and friends by attention to business, and a quiet, unobtrusive manner. In 1866, be married Margaret, danghter of James Campbell. They are parents of five children, James C., Harry O., Charles W., Lee Corbin, and Edward D., all living but Harry O. Dr. Searl started in life with little but a desire to do and be something, and by indomitable will, perse- verance, and courage, he has attained a position worthy the efforts of other young men.
Isaac Strohm, farmer, Dayton, is a native of Pennsylvania; born December 11, 1810; son of Henry and Mary (LeFevre) Strohm, the former a native of Germany, who came to this country in 1769, his father dying on the voyage. After reaching maturity he fol- lowed farming chiefly as his life's vocation. Mary LeFevre was a descendant of the Huguenots, who fled from persecution in their native country, and came to the land of free speech, freedom of the press, and religious liberty .. Isaac Strohm was reared on the farm, and educated in the common subscription schools of that day. Came to this state in 1835, locating in Butler County, where he taught school about eight months, and clerked at Rossville, now Hamilton, ten months, then removed to this county, and began clerking for John Kneisley, at Kneisley's mill, where he remained eight years, at the expiration of which time he built the house where he has since resided, spending, however, the greater part of his time away from home, clerking at a mill in Cincinnati, also at the Lafayette Bank for two years. In 1850, he went to the Treas- ury Department, where he remained till 1855, at which time he was allowed to withdraw on political grounds. He was, however, the confidential clerk of Secretary Corwin, during his last three months in the Treasury Department, and is his only biographer, so far as is known. After leaving this position, he was appointed en- grossing clerk of the Thirty-Fourth Congress, which he held till the thirty-fifth came in and informed him that his politics were not of the right color; was restored at the coming in of the Thirty-
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Sixth Congress, and held the position of chief enrolling and en- grossing clerk to the end of the first session of the Forty-Fourth Congress, sixteen consecutive years, when he was again asked to retire on political grounds, since which time he has been attending to his private affairs. In 1841, he married Margaret Guthrie. They are parents of five children. Gertrude, Elizabeth, Mary E., and Harry L. are living, and Edwin deceased.
William Wilson, retired, Fairfield, was born in this township, October 14, 1812. Is a son of William and Catharine (Heffley) Wilson. The former was a native of Kentucky, and came to this county about the year 1800; his wife about 1805, she being a na- tive of Maryland. Soon after his arrival he entered land in the eastern part of this township, which he began to improve, but was called into the service in the war of 1812, where he contracted a disease which carried him off about three months before the birth of his son William. After his death his wife left the farm, and made her home with his father, Michael Wilson, where she died six months after the birth of William. Our subject continued liv- ing with his grandfather on the farm till he was seventeen years old, and then went to learn the blacksmith trade with Jacob Griner, at Byron; here he spent three years as an apprentice, and after one year's work as a journeyman, bought the shop and tools, and carried on business for himself, remaining there eighteen years; after which he sold the shop, and bought a small farm near there, which he held till 1855, and then traded for a larger farm, about a mile and a half northeast of Byron, where lfe remained till April, 1872, at which time he removed to Fairfield. In May, 1834, he married Elizabeth Watts. They had ten children, two of whom survive. ITis wife departed this life March 13, 1877. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Reformed Church, with which he has been con- nected forty-four years, and is one of the oldest resident children of this township, having spent his entire life here, nearly sixty- eight years, and has witnessed the change from a wilderness filled with deer, turkeys, and other game, to fertile fields and fruitful or- chards, with attendant changes in society, and the condition of schools, churches, etc. Mr. Wilson held the office of justice of the peace while at Byron, nearly two terms, resigning, the last term, on account of the amount of his private business.
Samuel F. Woodward, retired, Osborn, is a native of Spring Town- ship, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. He spent his boyhood on a
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farm, and received the rudiments of an education in the country schools, which he afterwards developed in the academy at Kings- ville, Ashtabula County, Ohio, where he graduated in the academ- ical course in 1853. Began teaching during the winter and attend- ing school in the summer in 1850, while yet in his twentieth year, teaching in his native township during the winters of 1850-2; the following year near Girard, Erie County, Pennsylvania, and during the winter of 1853-4 he taught mathematics at Kingsville, filling a vacancy caused by the absence of a teacher. In 1854 he came to Ohio, intending to finish his education at Antioch College, at that time just starting, under the presidency of Horace Mann. But Antioch not yet teaching the branches he wished to pursue, he went to teaching in the public schools of Montgomery County, and continued teaching.in Montgomery and Greene Counties till the spring of 1862, during which time, in 1856, he married Mary C., daughter of the late Alexander Sloan, of Montgomery County, to which fact may be attributed his not finishing his intended course. In 1854, having saved a portion of his salary, he indulged in a trip to Iowa, where he invested his surplus in Government land, and again in 1856, he made a similar investment, both purchases amounting to four hundred and twenty-four acres. After he quit teaching, in 1862, he became a fruit-tree merchant, in which busi- ness he continued till the fall of 1874, twelve years. During most of the time his yearly business ran from twenty to forty thousand dollars, and at the close of each year he found that he had uni- formly made a little advance on his capital in trade. In 1875, feel- ing the strain upon his nervous system occasioned by the pressure of business, he ceased active operations. Since that time he has been attending to his investments, and making improvements on his property, having built the finest residence in Osborn, as well as fit- ting up his farms.
Daniel Wolfe, retired, Byron, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, December 6, 1798, and is a brother to Simon Wolfe. (See sketch.) Daniel came to this state with his father, when only a child. After growing to manhood, he followed farming, in con- nection with distilling, as was customary at that time. For many years past, however, he has farmed exclusively. March 30, 1824, he married Rosanna Kershner. They are parents of ten children, four living, William, Christina, Barbara Ellen, and Rosa; Simon, Margaret, Anna E., John M., Sarah M., and Thomas, deceased.
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Mr. Wolfe has lived where he now resides since he first came to the state, and he and his wife have been together nearly fifty-seven years. Mr. Wolfe enjoys fair general health, though not able to move around with ease and freedom. Mrs. Wolfe is active, and enjoys excellent health for a lady of her years-nearly seventy-five. Two of their children live in this state, and two in Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe are members of the German Reformed Church, to which they have been connected for three score years.
Simon Wolfe, retired, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania, March 14, 1805, and is a son of John and Christina (Idenire) Wolfe. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of Germany. They immigrated to this state, in 1807, locating in Bath Township, part of the land on which they settled, being now in the village of Byron. The land at that time was nearly all covered with timber. He was a tailor by trade, and followed the business all his life. Soon after coming to this state, one of those episodes, then so frequent, but now so rare, was enacted, in which they were the victims, in common with several of their neighbors. A party of masked men entered the house of several of the citizens, rob- bing them of all the valuables within their reach. They came into the house of John Wolfe, and holding a pistol at his head, de- manded the key to the chest in which he kept his money. They then ransacked the trundle-bed, in which Simon and his sister were sleeping, thinking that part of the treasure was hidden there, and of course, throwing the children around promiscuously in the meantime. It happened that the eldest son, and a Mr. Sidenstick were sleeping in an adjoining room, and Mr. Sidenstick climbed to the top of the house, and parting the clapboards, which were laid on with cross poles to hold them in their places, made his escape. The watch on the outside saw him, after he had started away and gave the alarm. They then broke the chest open with a fiat-iron, and hurredly took all the money-some four hundred dollars- together with other articles of value, and made their escape. They robbed Dr. Folck and several others the same night. One of the gang was afterwards identified by a young lady, and he only, Jacob Kent by name, was arrested and placed in jail at Xenia. On the day set for trial, however, one of the bailiff's accidentally dis- charged a pistol, the ball taking effect in Kent's shoulder, preven- ting the trial. He afterwards escaped from jail and fled to Canada, where he was seen some years later. John Wolfe was the father of ten
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children, Mary, John, Jacob, George, Daniel, Henry, Sarah, Simon, Elizabeth, and Louis. Three only are now living, Sarah, Mrs. Durst of Dayton, aged ninety-three; Daniel, now eighty-two, and Simon seventy-five. Our subject has followed farming all his life in con- nection with distilling, which he carried on in earlier years. He was married, in 1828, to Anna Kershner. They are parents of four children : three survive. One daughter died at the age of nineteen. Mrs. Wolfe died July 9, 1875. Mr. Wolfe is still active and hearty, and has just returned (September, 1880,) from a trip to the west, visiting relatives in Kansas. He describes the first school he ever attended, as being a log structure with dirt floor: large cracks were left between the logs, and these covered with greased paper served as windows.
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The advance guards of civilization and progress, in all new coun- tries, have forces to contend with which are antagonistic to the peace of the settlers, as well as to the rapid development of the community in which they have located; and, in this respect, the pioneer settlers in this township are no exception. Owing, how- ever, to the fact that this portion of Greene County was not settled, to any great extent, till after the conclusion of the war of 1812, the residents here suffered nothing from the depredations of the Indians, as the greater portion of that people had been driven on toward the father of waters, sometime before the advent of the white settlers in this locality, save in one or two instances. A few friendly Indians remained in the community, probably as late as 1815, but they were harmless individuals, and seemed only to care to remain upon the spot where their childhood days had been spent, in peace, till the Great Spirit should cause them to forget the devastation made among their people, and call them to the happy hunting grounds, which had received their fathers long ago. Hence, of this township can be said, what can not be affirmed of many in our state, that not a descendant of an early settler in her limits ever had occasion to mourn the death of one of their ante- cedants in this locality, through the treachery and revengeful spirit which are said to be the principal attributes of the copper-colored race.
Ross Township embraced at one time a considerable portion of the land in the northeastern part of Greene County, but subse- quently a large portion of it was taken in the formation of Cedar- ville Township, which was made from these northern townships, and organized in 1850. . This township received its name from an early settler, who died long years ago, leaving no descendants. The only knowledge we have of his having ever lived in the limits of the place, is from the traditions that have been handed down from the earlier days, that he really was here, substantiated by the
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fact that the township bears the name. This one, however, seems to be the only person of that name who ever settled here.
The present limits of the township, are as follows:
It is bounded on the north by Madison Township, the south- eastern township of Clarke County; on the east by Stores Town- ship in Madison County, and Jefferson Township in Fayette County; Silver Creek Township, of Greene County, bounds it on the south, while New Jasper and Cedarville Townships bound it on the west.
The topography of the township is remarkable for nothing save its monotonous flatness, as the surface of the country for miles around is not diversified by a single eminence which can be digni- fied by the name of hill, or even hillock. In general outline, Ross is not so extremely irregular as many other townships formed from the same old military surveys, but the line defining its circumfer- ence is sufficiently winding in its appearance as not to weary the eye by the monotony of its straightness. The soil is an alluvial deposit of great depth, formed by the drift of centuries, and what is somewhat remarkable, considering its contiguity to the lime-stone regions of Cedarville Township, there is no limestone to be found here; a more lasting or productive soil than this, however, is not within the boundaries of Greene County. The average yield of wheat for this year (1880) is estimated at twenty bushels per acre in this township, while it is claimed by the leading agriculturists here, that better corn and more of it, according to the acreage planted, is raised in Ross than any other township in this part of the county. It cannot, however, be boasted by the farmers of these lands that this state of affairs was brought about by their liberality in regard to the amount and excellent qualities of manures usually used for such purposes, for such is by no means the case; as there are many farmers there to-day who raise very good crops, and yet burn their straw as soon as threshed, and thus, by their mis-man- agement, deprive their soil of one of its best fertilizers. It is proper to mention, however, that the number of farmers who resort to these means to rid their farms of a superfluous amount of straw is growing less, and probably the persons who burned their straw in this township this fall might be numbered on the fingers of one hand. It shows, nevertheless, that much still remains to be learned before the science of farming will have reached a very great degree of excellence in this locality.
This township is watered by three magnificent streams, to which
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no matter of any historical importance is attached. The north branch of Massie's Creek flows through the northwestern part of the township, in a semi-circular direction, before it enters Cedar- ville Township. The south fork of the same stream also flows in a somewhat devious course through a portion of Ross Township, as does also Cæsar's Creek, which has its source here near the cen- ter of the township, from which it flows in a southwesterly direc- tion till it passes into the neighboring township.
Ross contains within its limits nearly 21,500 acres of land, the cleared portions of which are extremely fertile, and, save the parts occupied by the growing timber and the beds of the small streams, to which reference has already been made, is all tillable; and in the production of fruit, it ranks among the first in the county,-not only as to the excellence of its quality, but also as to the number- less varieties and quantities.
In 1870, the population of the township was 1,076 souls. The census just taken gives it a population 1,335, showing an increase in ten years of 259, which, considering the want of variety in man- ufactures and other industrial pursuits, may be regarded as a gain by no means inconsiderable. Owing to the fact that the first set- tlers in the county located in Xenia Township, and the neighbor- hood round about it, the first manufactories were of course estab- lished in these places; and owing to their nearness to the pioneers of this township, were patronized by them for many years before any steps were taken to operate mills of any description by the set- tlers in Ross; and even after they were established, they only se- cured the patronage of a limited number of persons in their midst, the majority of the people preferring to adhere to the old places, notwithstanding such a course could but prove derogatory to the business interest of the township; and at last the attempt to estab- lish mills of different kinds here had to be abandoned, and with the single exception of the tile factory, to which we shall refer here- after, not a manufacturing establishment of any sort is to be found in the limits of the township.
Public highways thread the township in every direction, forming an intricate interlacing, resembling an irregularly constructed spider's web, and during the summer months these roads are good, but woe to the teamster who is so unfortunate as to find himself in the sea of mud which prevails here during a "thaw out" in the winter or spring months. The appearance of the country at such times can
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be compared to nothing better than the Slough of Despond, so graphically described by John Bunyan; and to guard against the equilibrium of a man's better nature being suddenly overthrown, it would be a good plan not to venture into those unknown seas dur- ing the season when the thawing out process is at its height, which is generally in February and March. The Federal pike is the only one in the township. This was the first regularly laid out road through this part of the country, and was not made a pike till about the year 1870, when it was completed through here, after the expenditure of an incalculable amount of physical labor, as well as of a great sum of money. Some parts were built at a cost of about $1,500 per mile, while other portions cost as much as $2,000 per mile. It is as good a pike as any in the county, and, indeed, is not excelled by many in the state. Several other roads have been piked for short distances, where at times they became impassable, and again others are being " talked up." The citizens of the town- ship try to content themselves, and forget the past, which has been so fruitless in this respect, by the buoyant hope that a better state of affairs is to prevail in the near future.
A projected railroad-the Cincinnati and Columbus-has been graded through here, crossing the central part of the township, from north to south. This, when completed, will be of the great- est advantage to farmers, who now have to haul all grain, and other superfluous farm products, in some instances, many miles to a shipping point.
GRAPE GROVE,
The only place in the township dignified with the name of village, is the point at which the contemplated depot will be built, and is situated about equi-distant from three shipping places, namely, Jamestown in this, and Solon and Salem in Clarke County, the three places being respectively about five miles distant. In about the year 1830_ Andrew Fogg and William Lewis purchased the ground and planted a vineyard of some eight acres, expecting to make the cultivation of the vine a specialty, desiring, of course, to be remunerated pecuniarily for their trouble and expense. One or two small houses were erected near the spot, and the place soon be- came known as Grape Grove, which name it continues to bear, al- though the vineyard has long since passed away, and would have
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been forgotten years ago had not a post-office been established here with the old name, which it continues to perpetuate, and probably will retain centuries in the future. No lots were regularly laid off, but several parties bought little patches of ground here, and erect- ed upon them a few small houses, which to-day constitute all there is of the village. John Burtch purchased a lot, and erected a small store-room thereon, some eight years ago, since which time he has kept a stock of general merchandise, which is exchanged to his patrons for cash or farm products, as they please, and, for a coun- try store, this may be considered as one of the prosperous kind, as indicated by the fact that Mr. Burtch purposes erecting a new build- ing, on a more commodious and extensive plan, to meet the de- mands of his increasing trade. This store, however, is remarkable for nothing, save that it is the only establishment of the kind in the limits of the township. The only other building of a business character is a blacksmith shop, which has stood upon the spot many years. The present proprietor, a Mr. Snapp, is, however, a new citizen of the place, having only become possessor of the shop a few weeks since. This being the only smithy within a radius of several miles, usually is well patronized, and does a fair business for such an isolated place. Besides the two industries, to which refer- ence has already been made, the place boasts a carpenter, in the person of Mr. Kidwell, who is also the present clerk of the town- ship. A small frame office, now in a fair way for completion, is destined to be used as a "doctor's shop," and the population of the place will, in a few weeks, be increased by the advent of a dispenser of pills, who proposes to battle with ills to which weak humanity is at all times subject, and who will be remembered in years yet unborn as the first disciple of the zEsculapian art who established himself permanently in Ross Township.
A post-office was established here some thirty years ago, and Andrew Fogg was the first postmaster in the township. He filled the position in a manner satisfactory to the government for a num- ber of years, and was succeeded by Maria Ritenour, who, after serving faithfully in this capacity a good many years, resigned the cares of the United States postal matters in this locality to the present incumbent, Mr. John Burteh, who unites the labors in this capacity with those of the mercantile business, both of which he manages to the satisfaction of all concerned. The mail is brought from Jamestown semi-weekly, by a carrier, the sight of whom re-
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minds the observer that the "good old days" (as some are wont to term them), before railroads had been established in almost every township in the state, when the modes of conveyance were slow and difficult, and the manner of communication by no means rapid, have not entirely passed from among us.
EARLY SETTLERS.
Who was really the first settler in this township, is a question that cannot be determined with any degree of accuracy, as the old inhabitants are all dead, and tradition fails to inform us who was actually the first white man who established himself permanently in this township.
Probably, as early as any in the north part of the township, came John Harper, a native of Harper's Ferry, Maryland, from whose antecedents that place derived its name, who is supposed to have located here with his family, as early as 1804. He purchased one thousand two hundred acres of land, upon which he erected the first round log cabin in that neighborhood. Mr. Harper was the head of a family of seven children, four of them being boys; so that in the work of the clearing, he was not single handed. There being considerable prairie land upon his farm, he was enabled with- out the labor of first clearing, to farm on what was then considered a large scale. George Harper, a son of John, and a resident of Cedarville Township, is the second largest land holder in Ross Township, being the possessor of more than seven hundred acres of first-class land.
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