History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 22

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207

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EARLY SETTLERS.

The above mentioned may be truly called the pioneers of Stokes township, but there remain a few sturdy sons and daughters who deserved an honorable mention, as they, too, bore a part of the brunt of developing the township: Jessie Pancake was born in Virginia in 1801. He emigrated to Ohio and settled in Ross county in 1812; thence. about, 1820, or soon after, he located in this township, where he married Martha Cooper. who was born in this county in 1814, of a true pioneer family. Mr. Pancake spent . his life in this community and became one of the honored and well-known citizens of. this township, held many of its offices and was in every respect a. most worthy citizen. His wife died in 1839, just in the bloom of womanhood. He died in 1877. He made farming his business throughout life and became the owner of a beautiful farm of twelve hundred good acres in the township. He was the father of John Pancake, who also became an honored and .respected . citizen of the township. Thomas Cooper, a native of North Carolina, came to this township, perhaps as early as 1810 or 1812, and died about 1840. He possessed a very limited education, but had a sprightly, active mind and good business faculties. He. died early in life, yet owned about a thousand acres of land, and doubt- less, had he lived, would have become wealthy.

Peter Slaughter, who was born in Virginia, moved to Highland county, Ohio, in an early day and, in about 1820-25, removed to Madison county, settling in Stokes township, on. Paint creek, where he resided until his death, in the fall of 1864. He married Elizabeth Cooper, by whom he was the father of eleven children, of whom ten grew to maturity. Mr. Slaughter married, for his second wife, Anna E. Lynch, who was the mother of three children. He commenced life in very limited circumstances, but was possessed of great business tact, energy and resourcefulness. He. entered largely into the stock business and became one of the biggest stock dealers of the county, being well known all over the state. He was possessed of an extensive acquaintance and an unlimited credit, which he maintained throughout life, and died wealthy, owning three thousand acres of land.

Moses. Thomas, a native of North Carolina, married Catharine Williams, a native of Virginia, where they were married; they emigrated, to Fayette, county, Ohio, in 1825. and soon afterward came to Madison county, settling in Stokes township; where they remained until their death. Two of their sons, Benjamin and William, remained real- dents of the township and became among its most trusted and respected citizens. Will-

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iam Cooper, a native of North Carolina, emigrated to Fayette county, Ohio, when a young man; in 1828 he married Elizabeth Merriman and settled in Stokes township, Madison county, where he spent his life. His wife died in 1865. Jacob Smith was the eldest of dx children of Mathias and Margaret Smith, who emigrated to Cincinnati in 1806, and in 1807 removed to Greene county, settling on Beaver creek, where they died. Jacob was born in Maryland in 1803; was reared in Greene county, Ohio; married Amanda Herrod; settled in Stokes township, this county, in 1836. Here he opened out in the woods and made considerable material progress. The west and north parts of the village of South Solon are bullt on his land. Joel Ervin, born in Ohio in 1811, settled in Stokes township in 1830-35.

SURFACE, SOIL AND STREAMS.

Like the remainder of the county, the surface of Stokes township. is slightly undu- lating. The land has a gentle, gradual slope from the northern to the southern boundary, such that all the creeks flow from north to south. There are no large streams within the township. , The soil is rich and very, productive,, and all the flat and more level portions of the township are composed of a rich, black loam, while the undulations and higher portions are a loam and clay, the whole being underlaid with a stratum of clay, and this, in turn, with a limestone gravel .: The township is well watered and, with her clay subsoil, seldom suffers from drought. In her primitive condition, as the settlers found her, there were many acres of low, level portions in prairie, destitute of trees and covered with sedge, often six to eight feet high. Other portions were sparsely. covered with trees, with a thick undergrowth of hazel brush. The timbered portions consisted. prin- cipally of the various species of oak-white, black, red and burr -. with some .elm, wainut, hickory and maple, white and burr oak predominating.

Paint creek, the largest .of the streams, enters the township from the north, flows through surveys 5,781 and 3,863, and flows in a zigzag southern course entirely through the township, leaving it in the middle of the old Bailey lands, at a point almost due south of the point at which it enters the township .. This stream is fed by a number of fine springs along its way, which makes the stream an extraordinary good one for watering stock. Sugar creek, the second stream in size, enters the township from the north and flows directly south through the center of the township into Fayette county. There are two small streams that drain the western portion of the township. The first flows southward through the township, a little west, of South Solon, and on through Fayette county and. empties into Rattlesnake creek, of which it is a branch. The other flows through the extreme western portion in a southwesterly direction, enters Greene county, and finally empties into the Little Miami river. These streams, located and distributed as they are, give excellent opportunity for the ditching and draining of the land, and. with the general richness and productiveness of the soil, constitutes them among the best lands, of Madison county.

EARLY SCHOOLS.

Undoubtedly one of the first public schools in this township was a log house on the land later owned by James Crawford. Mr. Burley was the first teacher. This was about 1830. The next school house was built on land later owned by John Murray. There was also a log house for school purposes on Samuel Harrod's land about 1831. The first teacher here was Mr. Sears, who was a rigid disciplinarian and created some difficulties in the neighborhood because of his severity with some of the boys. This, however, was no exception in that day, as good physical powers and the ability to chastise the pupils was almost as great a qualification to teach in those days as were intellectual attain- ments.

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CHAPTER XVII. UNION TOWNSHIP.

Union township is situated in the west central portion of Madison county and is bounded on the north by Somerford and Deer Creek townships; on the east by Fairfield and Oak Run townships, on the south by Oak Run and Paint townships, while on the west the border is the Clark county line.

The surface of the township is generally level, and considerable portions of it were originally oak openings and prairies. The surface is rolling along the streams and creeks, and inclined to be somewhat hilly in a few localities. The principal streams are Glade run, Deer creek, Oak run and Walnut run. Glade run and Deer creek cross the eastern portion of the township, flowing from north to south. Oak run rises in the northwest part of the township, flows southeastward through London and the central part of the township, and on through Oak Run township and is a branch of Walnut run, which rises a little south of the headwaters of Oak run and flows in a southeast direction into. Paint township. It. enters the township again to cross the southern neck from west to east, a distance of about two and one-half miles. In the southwest and western portions of the township the surface is quite level. On the tributary of Walnut run and the headwaters of Oak run, the surface is rolling. Between said tributary and Oak run is a large extent of very level and beautiful country, and also the same condi- tion exists between Oak run and Deer creek. The most uneven and hilly locality, and in fact about the only portion which can with propriety be called hilly, is the southern portion, along Oak run and Walnut. The entire township possesses a rich, strong and productive soil. The more level portions generally consist of a black loam, with here and there a small admixture of clay. Almost the entire township is especially well adapted for grazing and the raising of stock, which has ever been one of the foremost occupations of the farmers of the township. The western portions of the township have the highest elevations. The township is well watered, and good wells, with lasting water, are obtained from fifteen to forty feet below the surface. In some parts of the western portion of the township there are flowing wells, the water being impregnated very. strongly with iron, and perhaps with other minerals. Therefore, there must be extensive subterranean courses, which are supplied with water from some distant source of very high elevation, and this source, or somewhere along the subterranean course, before it reaches the surface, must be abundantly supplied with iron.

The variety of timber is about the same as in other portions of the county. On the more level portions, and in the oak openings, burr oak predominates, with some hickory and elm; in some wet portions, elm rather predominates. In some places, and along the creek bottoms, was formerly found considerable walnut timber. On the more elevated lands, with clay soil, were white, black and red oak, hickory and ash, as the prevailing species. The prairies, as first occupied by the pioneers, were found with an exuberant growth of grass, which formed excellent pasture range for their stock, the grass often growing seven and eight feet high. But late in the season, when it became very dry, it became as dangerous an element as it was beneficial to the settler in the early part of the season, for often the grass would be set on fire, and burn and destroy everything of a destructible nature which lay in its course. When once started, with a brisk wind, it would travel at railroad speed, and many a farmer had his buildings, grain and every-

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thing swept away in a few minutes of time. Sometimes, by a combination of neighbors making a hard and continued fight with the fire before it got too near their homes, they would succeed in saving their property. But in the fall of the year it required con- tinued watchfulness on the part of the settlers to guard against these destructive fires.

PIONEERS.

Union township was not settled as early as the eastern portion of the county. Aa the settlements were formed from the Ohio river up the Scioto and its tributaries branching off westward up Deer creek, the Darbys and their tributaries, and thus pene- trating the eastern townships first, before reaching the central and western portions of the county, it would be a natural consequence that the eastern townships would receive the first permanent settlers. And this was natural also from the fact that Chillicothe became the seat of supplies for the first settlers of this county, they at first obtaining their groceries and farming implements, all the equipment of agriculture and the necessities for their homes and families from that place. And as settlements were made up these streams, northward and westward, and as roads were opened and means of communica- tion established, these settlers pushed on in advance. After settlements were made in the eastern townships, it took but a few years for them to penetrate into the territory now found within the boundaries of Union township.

William Blair and James LaBarr are probably the persons to whom should be accorded the honors of having been the first to locate within the present confines of Union township. These men probably located on Glade run about the same time, and that very soon after the year 1800, perhaps 1802-04. Blair was a preacher in the New-Light Christian church. He located on land that was afterward known as the Josiah Melvin farm. LaBarr was a miller by trade and remained in this neighborhood but a short time, moving on to the Darbys, to follow his trade in a mill that was early erected there. John Deeds, of German descent, was probably the next to locate in the township. He, with his family, settled on the Marshall lands, about 1803-5; he was a blacksmith by trade, probably the first in the township and, perhaps, in the county Of his children, were George, Philip, John G. and one daughter. They remained here a few years, sold out to William Smith, and removed to Pickaway county, Ohio. John McDonald, a native of Virginia, married a Miss Schuyler, and at an early date emigrated to Tennessee. In April, 1807, he, with his family, came to Madison county and settled on the Glade, where he died in 1811. His children were as follow : Maudlin, who died in Tennessee; Thomas, who died at Woodstock, Champaign county, Ohio; James and John, who died on the Glade; Samuel, who died in St. Clair county, Illinois; Betsy, who died in Alabama; George, who also died in St. Clair county, Illinois, and Schuyler, who died on the Glade. Of the above, James, the third child, married, in Tennessee, Nancy Cook, a native of New Jersey, and, with his family, came to this county with his father, and with him settled on the. Glade run. Their children were: Mary, who married a Mr. Ferguson; George, who married Malinda Ferguson, by whom he had one daughter, Mary Ann, who married Judge Fulton, of Columbus; Phebe, who married a Mr. Luft- burrough, of Iowa ; Elizabeth, who married John Davis; Charity, who married Walker Graham; John, who died unmarried; and Maley.

In about the years 1808 or 1809 the Melvin family settled on the Glade. They were, perhaps, natives of Virginia and came to this state by way of Tennessee. The first family of this name to locate in this township was that of Thomas Melvin, who came here in the spring of 1808. He was born on January 21, 1782, and died in the fall of 1808, a few months after arriving here. He was the eldest son of John Melvin, Sr., who married Jane Barnes and, with his family, came to the Glade in 1809, and there resided until his death. Besides the eldest son mentioned above, they had the

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following children : Charles, Polly, Abby, Bartholomew, Joseph, Samuel and Jefferson. Joseph Melvin, a cousin of John Melvin, Sr., settled on the Glade about the same time with his family. He married Phebe Van Vacter and was the father of the following children : Benjamin, John, Silas, Joseph, Sallie, Thomas and Jane. About 1808-10, Lewis Coon, a native of Virginia, and several of his nephews located on Deer creek, on or near the Minshall lands, and it is probable that he died here. Of the nephews, there is record of the following names: Jacob, Henry, Adam, Lewis and Abraham, who all married and had large families; each family had a "Jake," and to distinguish one from the other they were known in the community as "Old Jake," "Fatty Jake," "Yankee Jake," "Fiddler Jake, "Little Jake" and "Cutty Jake." They were a family well known for their honesty and uprightness, being good neighbors and respected citizens; but most of them moved West after several years' residence. Probably the last to go was Jacob Coon, Sr., who resided here until 1848, when he removed to Missouri, and subsequently to Illinois, where he died, at the age of ninety-five years.

In 1808-9 Williams Starns, from Tennessee, settled on the Glade, where he resided until his death, about 1890; his wife, Nancy, died a little earlier. Their children were: James, Betsy, Nancy, Polly, Margaret, William, Abby, Rebecca and John. Mr. Starns was a farmer and a man of sterling worth and integrity. William Smith, a native of Pennsylvania, came to the Glade as a young, unmarried man, about 1812-13. He made his home with James McDonald at first and afterward purchased the old Deeds farm. He returned to his native state, married, and returned with his wife to his new home on Deer creek about 1814, when he erected a saw-mill. He lived but a few years, had no children and was buried on the place. William Aikin settled near the Melvins, on the Glade, about 1810-12. He resided there for six or seven years and sold out to the Melvins, and moved back to his native state.

The foregoing were early settlers of the eastern portion of the township and the reader's attention is now called to those of the other parts of the township. Philip Cryder was born in Pennsylvania, but, while young, removed with his father to New- town, Virginia, where he grew to manhood, and married Nancy .McClintick. In 1806, in company with David Watson, Jonathan Minshall and others, thirty-nine persons in all. he emigrated to Ohio, first stopping at Chillicothe, where he purchased a tract of land embracing eight hundred acres, for which he paid two dollars an acre. Others of this company purchased large tracts. They then organized a surveying party, under Col. Elias Langham, and left Chillicothe to survey and locate their lands. Mr. Cryder, David Watson and a few others composed this party. They had, as may well be imagined, a very rough tour, camping out at night and coursing through the wilderness, but they accomplished their purpose .. . In 1807-8, Mr. Cryder located with his family on his. land, erecting a cabin, in which he was assisted by two neighbors, Mr. Fry and Major Withrow, and two Indians. One of the latter was the well-known hunter, Captain John, who visited the early settlers throughout this section very frequently, and who, it is said, was killed in combat with a deer, both he and the deer being found dead, lying side by side, as they had fallen. Mr. Cryder was a recruiting officer in the War of 1812, and a major of a company of horse, yet he saw no field service. Once during the war it was reported that the enemy were coming to massacre them all, and it produced a severe scare; Major Cryder started with a company of men for Ft. Wayne, but while on his way he ascertained that there was no danger and returned home. In the meantime his wife, with two little children, mounted on horseback and started for Chillicothe. On the place where he first settled, Mr. Cryder remained the rest of his life. In the early years of their settlement here they were in great danger from prairie fires, and at two different times came very near losing all their property which was destructible by fire, but, by a combined effort of the people of the surrounding country, aided by help from the citizens

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of London, they succeeded in staying the flames, and thus saving their property. How- ever, in the severe 'struggle, Mr. Cryder became overheated and cooled off too suddenly, thus laying the foundation for consumption, with which he died, at the age of sixty- eight years, in 1838. His' wife survived until August, 1856, aged "seventy-six. They were interred in the Watson cemetery.' Of their nine children, three died young and six grew to maturity : "Mary married Jonathan Markle; Arabella married John Palmer; William; Eliza married Williani Jones; Samuel marrie! Isabel' Watson, and Nancy married Samuel Watson. Mr. Cryder was a wagonmaker by trade and was probably the first in Unfon township. He followed his'trade in connection with farming through- out his life.He was one of the township's best citizens, and 'of his devoted wife it is worthy of note that, though she was reared in a home that owned many slaves, who performed all of the household work, she was a noble helpmate and'a brave pioneer, and endured many hardships with fortitude and a willing heart. In the' early days"of the settlement they had no wells, and if they located where there was no permanent and lasting spring, they often had to carry water a great distance. Of Mrs. 'Cryder, it is said that at times she carried water for drinking and culinary purposes a distance of halt a mile. .. About '1808-9' James Criswell became a resident on the Harford lands He was a very peculiar and eccentric old'man, yet honest and honorable in all his dealings, always endeavoring to meet his obligations promptly. The story is told of him that one evening he was out in the clearing quite a distance from his cabin.' It became quite dark and at some distance from him he observed; as he thought, a remarkably thick cluster of stumps, when suddenly the dark objects, supposed to be stumps, gave evidence of life and began to approach him. He ran for the house with all possible speed, pursued by a pack of wolves and barely reached hi's cabin In time to escape them. He was a blacksmith by trade, moving from place to place, and after a few years all' trace of him was lost.

"One of the best known of the pioneer families of Madison county and of Union town- ship was the Warner family. Joseph Warner, Sr., was a native of Maryland, but, while a young man, removed to Virginia, where he married a young lady whose given name was 'Ruth and who 'became the mother of the following children: Henry, Robert, Joseph. John, William, Amelia, Sarah, Margaret and Ann. "About 1804 Mr. Warner, with some of his family, removed to Ohio and stopped first near St. Clairsville; in about 1808-10, some of his sons, among whom were Joseph and William, came to this county. Joseph Warner, Sr., lived to the remarkable age of one hundred and four years. When one hun- dred 'years"old, he rode to Washington, D. C., on horseback and back again, and when one hundred and three years of age he rode the same horse to Indiana, to visit one of his children, then residing there, and where he died a year afterward. Joseph Warner, Jr.,' was a carpenter by trade, which business he followed for many years, in connection with farming. "He built one among the first houses erected in London, after the laying out of the town, and for several years did a great amount of carpentering in London ; subsequently he moved with his family to town, but, after a few years' residence there. he moved back to the farm. He subsequently purchased more land, until he owned three hundred acres. He married Sarah Atchison, by whom he had the following children : John, who married Phebe Jefferson (twice married afterwards) and lived in Colorado: Eli, Smith, who married Elizabeth Pancake; Charles, who married Isabell Chenoweth: Rebecca, unmarried; Samuel, who married Susan Maria Sheperd; Rachel, who married James Scarf. Mr. Warner was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, an energetic pioneer, and became a prosperous farmer. He sustained an unblemished character and was a much esteemed and respected citizen. He died on August 30. 1865. in his eighty- first year. His wife died on April 7, 1850.

Levi H. Post settled two and a half miles west of London, on the Springfield pike.

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at a very early day, but of him little can be learned, as it appears that he moved away after a few years' residence in this township. The county records show that he served as county treasurer from 1811 to 1815. Daniel Brown, a native of Virginia, settled south- west of London, near Philip Cryder, about 1808-10. He erected a wind-mill for grinding corn, but it failed to work satisfactorily and he ran the mill by horse-power. He had few equals as a man of character, honesty and conscientiousness in all his business relations. This is well shown by the following story that is told of him: James Withrow owned laud on the south of Mr. Brown, and they concluded that it would be mutually beneficial to each of them to exchange ownership in these two tracts of land; consequently, the trude was made, the deeds duly executed and thus the business consummated. Finally, one day Mr. Brown called to see Mr. Withrow and informed him that he had reason to believe that the title to the land he had deeded to him was defective, and, as neither of them had recorded their deeds, he proposed that the trade be made null and void by destruction of the deeds, which was accordingly done; subsequently, it was proved that his fears were not without foundation, and in a short time he lost the land. Thus, by the honesty and unselfishness of Mr. Brown, Mr. Withrow was saved from loss or trouble. Mr. Brown by his wife Rachel, had several children, of whom Betsey married Samuel Watson; Rachael married Walter Watson; Daniel and Ruth. Some of the children moved west, and married there, but their names are not remembered.

William Wingate.was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, eight miles from Washington city. In 1800 he was married to Margaret Warner; in 1805 removed to Belmont county, Ohio; and in 1809, to Madison county, but did not remove his family here until 1811. He located near David Watson on Walnut run. He died in this township on November 19, 1863, at the age of nearly eighty-four; his wife died in 1834. Their children were: Ruth, who married Thomas Rea; Nancy, who married David Dye; Amelia, who married Joseph Ward; William, unmarried; John ; Elizabeth; Sarah Ann, who married Richard Hern, and Margaret. Mr. Wingate served in the War of 1812. He was an industrious man, of undoubted integrity, and all his life a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

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History of Madison County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, Part 22

Author: Chester E. Bryan Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1207

Author: Chester E. Bryan
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1207