History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families, Part 10

Author: Bryan, Chester Edwin
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Bowen
Number of Pages: 1150

USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 10

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COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.

The first acts of the state of Ohio that made provisions for county commissioners were adopted from the statutes of Pennsylvania. By an act published June 19, 1795, three commissioners were ordered to be appointed in each county for one year, and each succeeding year one was to be appointed to take the place of the commissioner first named. These appointments were made by the justices of the court of general quarter sessions of the peace on the first day of their January term. In 1799, the length of the official term was designated as follows: The first commissioner named on the list, one year; the second, two years, and the third, three years; one being appointed every year, as before, to supply the place of the retiring member. Their powers and duties were fully defined, and they were to meet annually on the first Monday in July to attend to all the county business coming under their jurisdiction. This law of appoint- ment lasted until February 13, 1804, when a law was enacted requiring three com- missioners to be elected in each county, said election to be held on the first Monday in April, 1804. The commissioners-elect were determined by lot the length of time each should remain in office, as follows: One to serve until the following October; one until the October election in 1805; and the third until the same election in 1806. Thus the office became rotary and has remained so every since. Vacancies were filled by

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

the associate judges, said appointee to remain in office until the succeeding October election. The board was to meet annually in June to perform such duties as the law required. On February 22, 1805, an act was passed by which, upon the erection of a new county, the commissioners elected at the first election only held office until the next annual election ; and on January 15, 1810, all former acts were amended or repealed, but no changes were made in the manner or time of holding office or elections, the duties of the commissioners simply being enlarged and more fully described. A great many acts have since been passed defining and regulating the powers and duties of the county commissioners but these laws have not affected the office to a great extent.

COUNTY AUDITORS.

The office of county auditor was not created until 1820, when an act was passed, February 8, of that year, by which said officials were appointed by a joint resolution of the General Assembly, to hold office one year, but, in case of a vacancy occurring, the court of common pleas was authorized to fill the same. The duties of the office were defined by the same act, and, on February 2, 1821, a law was enacted, providing for the election of auditors in the following October, to hold office for one year from March 1, 1822. The power to fill vacancies had previously, by the act of 1821, been transferred to the county commissioners. Another law was passed, February 23, 1824, making the official term two years; it remained thus until in 1878, when an act was passed by the General Assembly fixing the tenure of office at three years. Prior to the creation of this office, the duties which have since been taken over by the auditor were performed by the county commissioners and their clerk. The following is a list of those who have served in this office up to the present time: 1830-44, Patrick McLene; 1845-50, John Melvin; 1851-54, John Rouse, who resigned in the fall of the latter year; November, 1854, to March, 1857, P. R. Chrisman; March, 1857, to March, 1863, Oliver P. Crabb; March, 1863, to March, 1865, J. Peetery ; March, 1865, to March, 1875, Noah Thomas; March, 1875, to November, 1880, M. M. Thomas; November, 1880, to November, 1883, Samuel M. Prugh, 1883, until November, 1SS6, and on November 8, 1886, was appointed to fill an interim of ten months due to the change in length of term of this office, and served until 1889; W. C. Ward, 1887-93; W. D. Wilson, 1893-99; B. A. Taylor, 1899-1905; J. J. Shaffer, 1905-11; H. M. Chaney, 1911-1915; A. M. Blacker, since October 18, 1915.

COUNTY TREASURERS.

The office of county treasurer was created in the Northwest Territory on August 1. 1792, but in 1799 the law was amended. On April 16, 1803, the Legislature of Ohio passed. an act conferring the power of appointing the county treasurer on the associate judges. The following year, February 13, 1804, this power was transferred to the county com- missioners. It remained an appointive position until March 12, 1831, when the office was made biennially elective. The following citizens have held this office in Madison county : 1810-11, Thomas Gwynn ; 1811-15, Levi H. Post, who resigned in December of the latter year ; 1815-16, John Simpkins: 1817-25, Amos G. Thompson; 1826-38, Robert Hume; 1838-50, Henry Warner; 1850-56, William A. Athey; 1856-60, William T. David- son ; 1860-64, William H. Chandler; 1864-66, Abraham Simpson; 1866-68, Alva L. Mess- more; 1868-69, Horace Putnam, who began his duties in September and died in May, of the latter year, Biggs D. Thomas being appointed to fill out the unexpired term; 1870-74, Benjamin T. Custer; 1874-78, Henry T. Strawbridge: 1878-82, E. R. Florence; 1882-86, Abraham Tanner; 1886-90, W. M. Jones; 1890-94, J. T. Vent; 1894-98, Benjamin Emery ; 1898-1902, J. Scott Chenoweth; 1902-06, R. L. Farrar; 1906-10, E. S. Gordin; 1910-14, Charles A. Wilson; since September 6, 1915, M. E. Hummel.

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

COUNTY RECORDER.

The office of county recorded and the duties thereof were adopted from the statutes of Pennsylvania, in 1795. After Ohio had entered the Union, in 1803, an act was passed giving the power of appointing the recorder to the court of common pleas, the term of service being fixed at seven years. The duties of the office were changed and redefined by subsequent acts of the Legislature, until February 25, 1831. when a law was enacted. making the office elective every three years, all vacancies to be filled by the county. commissioners. It will be seen that the same men filled the offices of clerk and recorder at the same time for the first twenty-nine years of the county's career, as, doubtless, the labor did not justify an official for each office during those early years. The follow- ing is a list of meu who have served the county in this capacity from the time of its organization up to the present time: 1810-15, Robert Hume (resigned in July) ; July 18. 1815, to June 27, 1839, Jolm Moore (died) ; July 6, 1839, to May 9, 1854, Robert Hume (died) ; Oliver P. Crabb served out the uuexpired term from May 10, 1854, until the following October; October, 1854, to May, 1857, William Love (died in office) : 1857, June, W. A. Athey filled the unexpired term until January 1; 1858-63, George Bowen ;. 1864-66, G. W. Darety; 1867-69, Sylvester W. Durflinger; 1870-June, 1SS0, Leouard Eastman ; in June, 1SS0, E. W. McCormack was appointed to fill out the unexpired term ; 1SS1-93, Samuel P. Trumper; 1893-99, H. H. Johnston; 1899-1905, Charles T. LeBeau ;. 1905-11, R. W. Woodhouse; 1911-1915, J. W. Millholland; since September 6, 1915, Leroy Cornwall.

COUNTY SURVEYORS.

The office of county surveyor was created and his duties defined by an act passed on April 15, 1803. Later acts which dealt with this office were passed in 1816, 1817, 1819, 1820 and 1828, in which the duties of the office were chauged and more fully defined. At first the term of office was fixed at five years or during good behavior, and the incumbent was appointed by the court of common pleas. On the 3rd of March, 1831, an act was passed providing for the election of the county surveyor triennially by the legal voters of the county. Up to this time there had been only one county surveyor appointed, Patrick McLene serving for a period of twenty-one years. The following is a list of those who have filled the 'office, but the early records are incomplete aud vague, causing many irregularities in dates which cannot be explained. In some of these cases there were resignations and the successor was appointed to serve the unexpired term : 1810-31, Patrick McLene; 1832-37, Heury Warner; 1838-40, Elias Warner; 1841-50, Henry Alder; 1851, J. M. Chastaiu; 1852-53, Henry Alder; 1854, James S. Burnham ; 1855, William G. Allen ; 1856-58, Henry Alder ; 1859-64, Levin Willoughby ; 1865-67, Henry Alder; 1868-70. James S. Burnham; 1871-73, Henry Alder; 1874-76, Jonathan Arnett : 1877. Lewis Creamer: 1878-80, Jonathan Arnett ; 1881-87, Clinton Morse; 1887-90, William Reeder; 1890-93, Clint Morse; 1893-99, H. L. McCafferty; 1899-1905, J. H. Asher; 1905-1915, H. L. McCafferty ; since September 6, 1915, J. H. Asher.

CORONERS.

The office of county coroner was established under the territorial goverument in 17SS, and on April 15, 1803, an act was passed making it elective and describing the duties thereof. By subsequent acts the duties were changed and more fully defined. The coroner, in case of the resignation or death of the sheriff, becomes the occupant of that office during the unexpired term, and the sheriff holds the same official relations toward the coroner's office. It has fallen to the lot of the coroner of Madison county to fill the office of sheriff no less than four times in the history of the county. Since the organization of the county this office has been filled by the following men : 1810-13, John Timmons; 1814-16, John Blair; 1817, J. K. DeLashmutt; 1818-19, Amos G. Thomp-

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

son ; 1820, M. H. Alkire; 1821-24, Henry Warner; 1825-27, Josiah James; 1828, John Graham; 1829-34, E. T. Hazell; 1835-48, David Dunkin; 1849-50, George W. Lohr; 1851-52, Samuel P. Davidson; 1853, Toland Jones; 1854-55, David Dunkin; 1856-59, Calvin Newcomb; 1860-61, Andrew L. Brown; 1862-63, Francis M. Chapman; 1864-65, Abraham Zombro; 1866-67, George Harding; 1868-69, Francis M. Chapman; 1870, Owen Thomas; 1871-72, A. V. Chrisman; 1873, Andrew L. Brown; 1874-75, Francis M. Chap- man ; 1876-83, A. V. Chrisman : Timothy Haley, appointed November 5, 1883, (resigned) ; L. H. Miller, appointed May 20, 1885, to fill unexpired term, but resigned August 23, 1887 : D. L. Fox, appointed August 23, 1887, and served until 1890; J. M. Bunch (colored), January, 1890, until he resigned, October 6, 1890; Daniel L. Fox, appointed October 7, 1890, and served by appointment and subsequent election until January, 1896; Edward H. Parks, 1896-99; W. H. Carl, 1899-1909; H. V. Christopher, 1909-13; W. E. Lukens. 1913-15. (Lukens was elected in the fall of 1914, but failed to qualify for the second term, and consequently the county was without a coroner from the first Monday in January, 1915. until James Baber was appointed by the county commissioners to the office, on July 12, 1915.)

TAX COLLECTORS.

There have been many changes in the manner of collecting taxes in the counties of Ohio. During the early history of the state, the chattel tax was collected by township collectors and a county collector gathered the land tax. From 1806 to 1820, the state was divided into four districts, and a collector of non-resident land tax was appointed by the Legislature for each district, while at the same time the county collector gathered the chattel tax and the tax upon resident lands. The county collector gathered all taxes for state and county purposes, from 1820 until 1827, but in the latter year the office was abolished. Since that time it has been the duty of the county treasurer to receive or collect all taxes. The men who served this county as collectors were as follow: 1810-11. John Moore; 1812, William McCormack; 1813, James Ballard; 1814-15, Philip Lewis; 1816, James Ballard; 1817, John Simpkins; 1818, William Ware: 1819-24, Nathan Bond ; 1825-26, Stephen Moore.

LIQUOR OFFICIALS.

The granting of liquor licenses in Ohio has been in the hands of three different boards within the past three years. Prior to 1912 they were granted by the county commissioners in each county. In 1912 the General Assembly passed an act creating a board of two liquor commissioners in each county. They were to be appointed by the liquor-licensing commission of the state, by and with the consent of the governor. The statute further provided that the appointees were to be of opposite political faith and to have a salary fixed by the county commissioners. Horace G. Jones (Republican) and William D. Morrisey (Democrat) have filled the office in Madison county since the law went into effect. They receive ten dollars a month for their services. The county now has nine saloons, seven at London and two at West Jefferson.

However, this statute had but fairly got into operation before it was replaced by the McDermott law. (Laws of Ohio, 105-106, pp. 560 seq.) This law went into effect on September 5, 1915. This new act divided the state into thirty-four districts, Hamilton and Cuyahoga counties constituting separate districts, the remaining districts being composed of two or more counties. Madison county is in the seventh district, with Clark and Greene counties. The law provides that an appointive board in each district, con- sisting of the presidents of the boards of county commissioners, the clerks of the courts and the recorders of the several counties composing each district, shall select two liquor traffic supervisors of opposite political faith for the said district. This appointive board in the seventh district will, therefore, consist of nine men. The two men the board selects will choose a third man as secretary. The salary of the liquor traffic supervisors

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

is to be fixed by the appointing board, subject to the approval of the state budget com- missioners. The appointive board met for the first time five days after the law went into effect and will meet biennially thereafter to select the supervisors. Just how this law will operate, the future alone can tell; if Ohio votes this fall (1915) to prohibit the sale of liquor in the state, the law, of course, automatically ceases to operate. If prohi- bition is voted down, it is safe to say that new liquor legislation will soon be on the statute books of the state. Past history shows that no question is subject to such frequent statutory changes as the liquor question.

ROSTER OF MADISON COUNTY OFFICIALS.

State senator, Dr. Charles T. Gallagher; state representative, L. R. Kious; common. pleas judge, Roscoe G. Hornbeck; probate judge, Frank Murray; prosecuting attorney, Charles C. Crabb ; clerk of courts, Wilbur D. Hume; court bailiff, Gideon T. Clark (appointed by common pleas judge) ; sheriff, Charles Weimer; jury commissioners, R. V. Coons, J. W. Hume; auditor, A. M. Blacker ; recorder, Leroy Cornwall; treasurer, M. E. Hummel ; surveyor, J. H. Asher; coronor, James Baber; county commissioners, George Fitzgerald, Pierce Gregg, Berthier Lohr; sealer of weights and measures, L. J. Leonard (appointed by auditor) ; district assessor, J. Scott Chenoweth (office ceases January 1, 1916) ; liquor commissioners, Horace G. Jones, W. A. Morrisey (abolished September 3, 1915) ; county superintendent of schools, J. A. Runyan (appointed by president of boards of education) ; humane officer, Daniel McGuire (appointed by Humane Society) ; clerk of election board. John Gorry (appointed by board of elections) ; election board, Edward Armstrong (president), Dr. F. A. Noland, M. A. Horen, J. R. Atchison; superintendent Children's Home, Benjamin F. Linson (appointed by board of Children's Home) ; board of Children's Home, M. L. Rea, Lester Bidwell, Xerxes Farrar, S. W. Beal; board of complaints, M. L. Rea, Stanley Carpenter, A. F. Burnham; superintendent of poor farm, Ralph Thomas (appointed by county commissioners) ; secretary of Agricultural Society, Le Mar Wilson.

CHAPTER IV.

CANAAN TOWNSHIP.

Canaan township is located in the northwestern corner of Madison county and is bounded on the north by Darby township, on the east by Franklin county, on the south by Jefferson township, and on the west by Monroe township. Canaan was not one of the original townships and the following, taken from the commissioners' records, shows it to have been organized in 1819:

"June 7, 1819 .- At a meeting of the commissioners, present, Burton Blizzard, Ira Finch and Patrick McLene, on petition being presented, ordered that the following bounds compose a new township, to be known and designated by the name of Phelps:

"Beginning at the northeast corner of Madison county, running south on the line between Franklin and Madison counties five miles for a corner of Darby township; and thence continue south five miles further and corner for said new township; thence west to the east line of the townships west. and corner; thence north five miles and corner for Darby and the new township; thence east between Darby and said new township to the place of beginning."

A short time afterward the name of Phelps was changed to Canaan. Since the above erection of the township, the formation of Pike township and Union county have taken place and changes in the boundary of Darby and of the line between Madison and Franklin counties have brought Canaan township to its present boundaries.

THE PIONEERS.

As has been pointed out elsewhere in this work, in the settlement of this portion of Ohio, the tide of emigration seems to have followed up the various streams and creeks, and the Darby and Deer creeks, appear from their position, together with the richness of the lands that bordered them, the abundance of deer, turkeys and other ganie, to have held out superior attractions to those seeking a favorite location to settle and make a home for themselves and their posterity. And also it appears. probably for the self-same reason, to have been a favorite spot for the Indians prior to the coming to the white man. The history of Canaan township may be said to have begun at the same time as we accredited the beginning of the history of Darby township, in 1796, when Jonathan Alder was discovered by Benjamin Springer living with his Indian wife on the west banks of the Darby. These were the first white settlers known to have settled on the Darbys or within the present limits of Madison county. Of Jonathan Alder and Benjamin Springer we shall say nothing further here, but refer the reader to the history of Darby township.

Luther Cary, who was born in New Jersey and in that state had married Rhoda Leonard, in an early day had emigrated to the Redstone country in Pennsylvania, from there down the Ohio river, settling first at or near Marietta, Ohio; thence, in 1800, with his family, he moved to Madison county and located on the Big Darby on land just north of Amity, in Canaan township, where he lived until his death, October 8, 1834, at the ripe old age of seventy-four years. His wife died on May 15, 1846, at the still more advanced age of ninety-one years. Their children were: Benjamin, who married and settled near Wooster, Ohio, where he died; Luther, who settled in Miami county ; Calvin, who married and settled at Cary, Ohio, giving that place its name; Stephen, who married Catherine

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

Johnson, and settled in this township, residing here until his death; Ephraim, who married Mathilda Gandy, settled in this township, but later moved to Union county, where he died ; Jemima, who married Jacob Johnson, and settled in Jefferson township, where she died, and, subsequently, Phebe, who had married John Davis, and was left a widow by his death, married Mr. Johnson; Lydia, who married John Johnson, and settled just below Amity, where they resided until about 1855, when they removed West; Rachel, who married Alexander McCullongh, and settled near Amity, but afterward removed to Putnam county, Ohio, where she died; Abijah, who married Catharine Johnson, and settled in this township, remaining here until his death, February 21. 1854, aged seventy- three years; his wife died February 4, 1851. in the sixty-fifth year of her age. They had the following children : Mary, Solomon, Absalom, Sarah, Rhoda, Abram, Rachel, Eliza and Lucinda ; all grew to maturity, married and raised families, and all were prosperous and good citizens of Madison county, most of them becoming members of the Presbyterian church and honored and respected citizens of the community. Abijah Cary was born on March 6, 1781, and, when a lad of nineteen years, came to this county with his parents. He was a man of remarkable industry and passed through all the ardnons and dangerous trials of the pioneer days.

Two brothers, Jonathan and Joel Harris, natives of New Jersey. emigrated to Ohio in about 1805 and settled within the present confines of Canaan township. Jonathan Harris married a Miss Casto, by whom he was the father of the following children : George, Amos, William, Joel. Rebecca and Pattie. Joel married and soon afterward settled in Franklin county.

Nalmm King, a native of Vermont, married Sarrepta Norton, and settled on the land later known as the Moore farm, wheence he removed and settled below Amity. About 1837-38 he went to Missouri and in 1844 to Oregon, where he died. He was one of the prominent men of this township during his residence here: very intelligent and well informed. and filled to the satisfaction of all several offices of the township.

John Kilgore. a native of Westmoreland conty. Pennsylvania. emigrated, with his wife Jane and family. to Ohio and settled. as was the nsnal custom of emigrants to this portion of the state of Ohio. in Ross county in 1797; thence. abont 1809, they removed to Madison county and settled on Three-Mile run, abont one and a half miles west of Big Darby, where he died soon afterwards. His wife subsequently moved to Union county, where she remained until her death, at an advanced age. Thomas Kilgore, their eldest son, was about eighteen years old when the family settled on Three-Mile run. In 1812 he married Jane Patterson, who was born in Botetourt county. Virginia, October S. 1792; they settled in Canaan township. on the Kilgore farm, and here remained nntil their deaths. He died at the advanced age of eighty-one. February 11. 1872; his wife died on Inne 3. 1862. They were the parents of eleven children : William. Eliza. Rebecca, Sarah, Imeinda : John, who married Maloney Beach ; William. who married Mary Boyd ; Harvey, who married Judith Sherwood: Simeon, who married Elizabeth Cary: Elizabeth, who married Chauncey Beach, and Rebecca, who married Jacob Taylor. Thomas Kilgore lived a long and useful life in Canaan township. having been. at the time of his death. a resident of that township for over three score years and on the same farm on which he first settled. Ile was one of the true pioneers and did his share nobly in the development of the county. He was a man of great moral worth and character and exerted a great intluence in molding the general character of the community, both politically and relig- ionsly. as during his lifetime he held most of the important offices of trust within the gift of the people of the township, and, religionsly, had been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church from his manhood. His example before his family and com- mumity was one worthy of admiration and imitation.

MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.

James Moore, who became a settler on Mammoth run as early, probably, as 1808-10, is believed to have been a native of the state of Pennsylvania. He married Betsey Pat- terson, by whom he was the father of the following children: Stephen, who married Caroline Beebe and settled near his father, later moved to Illinois, where he died; Moses, who married Serretta King, also settled near his father and. also, later moved to Illinois, where he died : the one daughter married William Frakes and settled in the West. Mr. Moore was a man of great influence in the township and held many of the township offices. He died in the prime of life, being cut down during one of the sickly seasons of 1822 and 1823, and was buried on the farm on which he had settled. Ira Finch was a native of Vermont, who emigrated to Ohio and settled in Canaan township, about one mile and a half south of Amity. on Mammoth run, in about 1808 or 1810. He married Nancy Bull and remained in the township until his death. in about 1856. Their children were: Armenus, who died young; Pattie married Thomas Kilbury; Sarah married Thomas Harris; Madison married Nacy Clark and settled here, where he resided until his death ; Minerva married Sanford Frazell; Commodore married Emiley Robey ; John married Emily Kilbury, and settled in and remained a resident of this township until his death; Joshua' married Catharine Crego, and lived at Amity ; Thompson married Nancy Taylor, and Ruhamha married Silas Scribner and moved to Missouri.

William Taylor, a native of northern Virginia, emigrated to Ohio in 1803 and settled in Darby township, where he married. He later moved to Canaan township. He was the father of fourteen children : Sarah married Philip Harris: Hannah married Henry Fuller; Samuel ; Polly ; Jacob married Rebecca Kilgore; Rhoda married Richard Edgar ; Margaret married Isaac Arthur ; William married Martha Arthur; Nancy married Thomp- son Finch; Mary married James Talpniny ; Moses, and three who died in infancy. Mr. Taylor was a man of reserved habits and a great lover of home and family; a man of firm principles and noble character, a good farmer. a kind neighbor, and a much esteemed and respected citizen.

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History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families, Part 10

Author: Bryan, Chester Edwin Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Bowen Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Bryan, Chester Edwin
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : Bowen
Number of Pages: 1150