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 22

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 22

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Paint creek, the largest of the streams, enters the township from the north, flows through surveys 5,781 and 3,983, 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.

CHAPTER XVII.

UNION TOWNSHIP.

Uniou township is situated in the west ceutral portion of Madison county and is bouuded on the north by Somerford and Deer Creek townships; ou the east by Fairfield and Oak Run townships, ou 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 iu a few localities. The principal streams are Glade ruu, Deer creek, Oak run aud 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 brauch 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 impreguated 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 iu 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. As 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. Luff- 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 1830; 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, aud 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 'William Jones; Samuel married Isabel Watson," and Nancy married Sajnuel Watson. ' Mr. Cryder was a wagonmaker by trade and was probably the first' in Union 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 half a mile. 12.

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 dut 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 his 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- 1 2

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, ahout 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 land on the south of Mr. Brown, and they concluded that it would he mutually beneficial to each of them to exchange ownership in these two tracts of land; consequently, the trade 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.

About 1809 Benjamin Kirkpatrick, of Irish descent, with his wife, Mary, settled one and a half miles west of London. where, a few years afterward, he died. He located there about 1809, was a good, honest farmer and a member of the Presbyterian church. The Kirkwood cemetery was named after him. He died on December 5, 1821. Of his children, were the following: John and James, who died in 1822; Joseph, who married Ellen Conly, and soon afterwards died ; William, who married Harcy Hammond ; Harriet, who died from a rattlesnake bite, and Samuel. Hezekiah Bayless, who, it is understood, was a native of Virginia, settled, with his wife, Sarah, on land in this township about 1810. as he was known to be here during the War of 1812. He resided here for several years and then removed to Champaign county, Ohio, where he died. They were the par- ents of several children, but the names of but two, Sarah and John, have been preserved.

The above are given as true pioneers. In addition there were a number of early settlers, who, on account of the hardships endured, lahors performed, and prominent spheres in which they acted, were. some of them, more fully identified with the improve- ment, growth and progress of the township and county, than many who settled earlier.

David Gorves, who was a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, married Elizabeth Stipp, of the same county, and emigrated to Pickaway county, Ohio, in about 1805; in about 1811 he came to Madison county and settled in Union township. Soon after settling. here he erected a tannery, which was said to be the first in the county. Here he remained and carried on business one or two years, when his wife died, and soon afterward he sold his property in town and moved hack to the farm. In 1846 he sold his farm and again moved to town to live. and here he resided until his death in his eighty-fourth year, in

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1855. He was a man of undoubted integrity, firm in character, and a devoted member of the Methodist church for years. He served as a soldier in the War of 1812 under General Harrison and was near Detroit at the time of Hull's surrender. He was the father of eight children: Keturah, who married Charles Soward; Sarah, who married Wilson Dungan ; George, unmarried; Letitia, who married Squire Knight; Rachel, who married A. A. Humes, and Mary, married Absalom Neff. John Moore, a native of the state of Virginia, married a Miss Smith, and, in 1811, emigrated to Ohio, remaining, one year in Ross county ; in 1812 he settled in Madison county, locating in the northern part of Union township. Mrs. Moore died and he subsequently married Sarah Littler. By his first wife he had two children and by the last wife, nine. Mr. Moore was a reserved, unpretentious man, yet full of fun and quick with repartee, and enjoyed life well. He followed farming throughout his life; a man of kind heart and a substantial and worthy citizen.

In 1813 John F. Armstrong came to Madison county and settled on what was later known as the Hiram Richmon farm. Armstrong was born in Kentucky, March 13, 1772, served a short time in the War of 1812; and married Elizabeth Warren, a native of Pennsylvania. He was successful at stock farming and breeding, which he made a specialty the remainder of his life. He owned about three hundred acres in this.county, besides quite an amount of western land. He was the father of twelve children. James Porter, a native of Maryland, emigrated to Ross county, Ohio, about 1800, and there mar- ried Elizabeth Kibourn. He served during the War of 1812, and about 1815 settled ill this township, on land known as the Porter farm. Here he built his cabin and soon afterward set out an apple orchard with trees that he raised by planting the seeds from some old rotten apples which he had carried to this county. This was the first orchard in the neighborhood and some of the trees are still standing, old and gnarled. His wife died in October, 1829, with the "trembles," or "milk-sickness." He was left with six small children on his hands, whom he took to his brother in Ross county ; there he subse- quently married Mary Bradley, and, in 1835, brought his children back, and then resided the remainder of his days on the farm where he had first located. The children by his first wife were: John, who married Mary Timmons; Peter, who married Mary Jane Ayers, moved to Illinois and later to Kansas; Amelia; Ann, who married John Troud ; James G., Samuel and Lucretia. The children by his second wife were, Nancy, Joshua, Malinda, Harriet (who married A. J. Coover), and William H. Mr. Porter was a large, robust man, six feet four inches in height, and his average weight was two hundred and fifty pounds. His wife died in 1849. and he died in 1852. at the age of sixty-three years. George Boocher, believed to have been a native of. Maryland, married Gatty Truitt, and settled near where the infirmary is now located, about 1814-15, where he resided until his death. He had one child, Mahala, who married Charles Warrington. Robert Sinith, a son of James Smith and a native of Virginia, came to this county about 1815 and settled on what is known as the Phifer place. He was married in Virginia to Anna Littler, in the year 1800. Mr. Smith died in 1816. In 1817 his widow married William Noteman. an early settler of Deer Creek township. Mrs. Noteman died in 1826.

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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 22

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