History of Pickaway County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, Part 16

Author: Aaron R. Van Cleaf
Publication date: 1906
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 923

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THE FARMERS' BANK

At Williamsport, was established in 1891, its founders being George P. Hunsicker, Dr. T. C. Tipton and Col. George Betts. The capital stock of this institution is $25,000, with individual stockholders' liabilities of $250,- 000. For the accommodation of this business, a fine bank building was erected, which in point of elegance is seldom seen in a village many times larger than Williamsport. It is two stories in height, the second story having been built by the Masonic fraternity for lodge purposes. The first floor consists of the bank- ing room proper, the directors' room and a massive fire and burglar proof vault. The bank fixtures are of quarter-sawed oak and the floor is in a beautiful pattern of mosaic tile. A furnace furnishes heat and light is supplied by an acetylene plant. Beauty and solidity are combined in this handsome structure and its fittings, while every modern comfort and convenience has received consideration. At the time of organization, Col. George Betts was chosen first president, and upon his death Dr. T. C. Tipton succeeded him. F. D. Alkire is vice-president. George P. Hunsicker has been cashier from the beginning.

WILLIAMSPORT

Was platted on February 27, 1818, and the plat recorded on the 9th of the following March. The village was incorporated about

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the year 1842. After a time the annual elec- tions ceased to be held and the act of incorpora- tion became virtually extinct. The village was reorganized in 1858, when an election was held for village officers. No election was held during the Civil War. A third reorgani- zation took place on July 2, 1866, when the following village officers were elected : Mayor, James Marshall; recorder, J. D. Andrews; treasurer, D. L. Knowles; trustees-Dr. George W. Hurst, Dr. J. W. Hunsicker, Will- iam B. Davis, A. D. Baughman and A. D. Rad- cliff. The officers for 1906 are as follows : Mayor, A. L. Timmons; marshal, William Betts; clerk, William Heiskell; treasurer, William T. Ulm; Council-C. L. Bishop, Will Sands, L. A. Lewis, W. N. McCoy, Ben Bate- man and C. E. Garrison. The population of Williamsport in 1900 was 547. The town has no saloons, having been under local option for the past 18 years. A natural feature of the place is the Sulphur Spring, whose waters have been widely used in the past and whose medicinal qualities are well known. . The pio- neer store was opened by a man named Fores- man, in 1815, but it did not long continue. The pioneer hotel was kept by John Wilson.

The shipping of Williamsport is done through the station at Woodlyn on the C. & M. V. R. R. Since Williamsport is not on the railroad, being about a mile distant, it has no grain elevators. S. M. Ulm operates a sawmill; there is also a grist and sawmill, owned by L. O. Morgan, which is not now in operation. Andrew Schwarz conducts a black- smith shop and carriage painting establish- ment, Wesley McAllister also has a blacksmith shop. There are two livery stables, which are run by Josie F. Allen and Nelson Trego, the latter also being proprietor of a hotel. W. N. McCoy has an extensive under- taking business. Harry R. Johnson is a tinner and slater. The mercantile interests of the town are as follows: General stores, John Heiskell & Son, John West and William See; drugs, Dr. T. C. Tipton, who is president of the County Board of Pension Examiners; gro- ceries, B. M. Radcliff, Charles Clinch, Amos Duvall and A. L. Timmons; hardware, W. B. Davis; furniture, Haynes Furniture Com-

pany ; meat market, Bishop & Company. A postoffice was established at Williamsport in 1816. The first postmaster, John Williams, resigned soon after he was commissioned and was succeeded by. Ebenezer Davis, who in turn gave way to Ebenezer S. Davis, who held the office for a period of about 50 years. He was in business at Williamsport for about 60 years. His death took place August 22, 1894. The present postmaster is R. E. Harmount. Three rural routes run from Williamsport. The only newspaper published in Williamsport is the Williamsport News, which is conducted by Tom H. Tipton, who also has a well-appointed job printing establishment. Both the Bell and Citizens' telephone companies have connections here.

WOODLYN

Is a small station on the C. & M. V. R. R. about 10 miles west of Circleville. It is the shipping point for Williamsport. The town has about a dozen families and a total popula- tion of about 50. The postoffice here has been discontinued and the residents now get their mail by rural free delivery from Williamsport. The Woodlyn Grain Company, controlled by Ballard B. Yates and Charles S. Hunsicker, has an elevator here and also conducts an imple- ment store, selling agricultural implements, buggies, cement, fertilizer, etc. The Heffner Grain Company, of Circleville, operates the S. W. Dunlap elevator. W. A. Chenault con- ducts a tile factory, whose annual output is valued at about $2,500. The demand for tile- from this factory far exceeds the capacity of the plant. Charles Stebelton is agent for the. C. & M. V. R. R. Company here.

KINDERHOOK

Is located almost on the line of Deer Creek and Wayne townships and is a station on the. C. & M. V. R. R., about seven miles west from Circleville. The town claims a popula- tion of about 50. Here are found general stores, owned by C. F. Puffinbarger and C. G. Campbell. The latter also has an elevator at this point. Mount Pleasant M. E. Church and Mount Pleasant school, District No. 6, are located here.

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CHAPTER VII

HARRISON TOWNSHIP

The erection of this township took place June 15, 1810, by. order of the Board of County Commissioners of Pickaway County. Its territory was previously included in the townships of Madison and Walnut. It is bounded on the north by Franklin County and a portion of Madison township and on the east by Madison and Walnut townships. The Scioto River and Walnut Creek form its south- and and western boundaries. The latter stream divides it from Walnut township.

At the time when the first white settlers came here, these streams contained untold quantities of fish, which were captured in al- most incredible numbers by means of primitive seines, made of grape-vines and brush. Ex- tensive levees or breakwaters along these streams, especially along the Scioto River, have been built so as to protect the rich bottom lands from inundation by flood and the wearing ef- fects of the current. A number of extensive and disastrous floods are on record, the earliest of which we have any account being those of 1805 and 1814. In the former year the entire section between the Scioto River and Walnut Creek, south of South Bloomfield, was under water.

At the period of its settlement, the greater portion of the township was covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting of oak, ash, elm, hickory and honey locust, with many black walnut and maple trees along the banks of the streams. North and south of South Bloomfield there was a section without forest growth known as plain land. As this was ready

for immediate cultivation, it was the land first settled. Where it was necessary to remove the timber, the trees were cut down and split into rails or the logs were rolled into great heaps and burned. When the first sawmills were put into operation, a portion of the tim- ber removed was utilized in manufacturing lumber for local purposes. The township as a whole is quite level, with sufficient incline to carry off the surplus water. The soil in the bottoms along the streams is a loam, with a mixture of sand and gravel in places, while that back from the river is chiefly clay. There are a few hills along the river and creeks, but none of great elevation.

Upon the erection of the township, an elec- tion was ordered to be held on the 23rd of June, 1810, at the house of Hugh Creighton, who became one of the first justices of the peace. James Denny was also an early justice of the peace, probably .the first one elected. All the early records of the township are either lost or destroyed. In 1861 the trustees bought a frame building on Main street in South Bloom- field for use as a town house. About nine years later this was sold and a room in the hotel used until 1878, when a small storeroom on the opposite side of the street from the hotel was purchased for use as a town house. The population of the township in 1900 was 1,826. The township officers for 1906 are as follows: Trustees-S. C. Allison, T. P. Pierce and Fred Palm; clerk, Ward B. Powell; treasurer. D. H. Ebert; assessor, Conrad Wiegand; justices of the peace-George G. . Brintlinger and

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George C. Eversole; constables-Sylvanus Smith and William F. Wilson.

EARLY SETTLERS.

The first tracts of land settled in Harrison township were located on the Walnut Plains, in the vicinity of South Bloomfield, where no clearing operations were necessary to prepare the land for cultivation. While the township, as a part of the Congress lands, was not open ·for settlement until 1801, there were a few squatters, attracted by the favorable features of the plains, who settled here as early as 1798 or 1799 and made improvements, which entitled them to first choice at the government sales.

The first arrivals were James Short and his son, Stephen, who came from Delaware in 1798 and squatted on the Walnut Plains, a short distance below the present town of South Bloomfield, where they planted the first crops raised in the township. James Short, in 1799, sowed the first field of wheat in the township on land owned by Adam Millar. When it was ready to be harvested, neighbor- ing settlers, who had in the meanwhile located here, assisted in cutting it. Most of the wheat was saved as seed. When the land was of- fered for sale by the government, in 1801, Mr. Short bought section 15 and fractional section 16, the most of which was plain land. To him was given the credit of setting out the first orchard, in 1799 or 1800, and of building the first frame dwelling in the township, in 1812. John Robinson came at the same time as the Shorts and married a daughter of James Short.

William Millar, who came here from Vir- ginia in 1798, was the next settler after James Short but he did not make a permanent settle- ment until 1799, when he located with his family in the southern part of the present town- ship of Harrison, near the junction of the Scioto River and Walnut Creek. In 1801 he purchased section 23, lying partly in Walnut and partly in Harrison, and fractional section 22, in Harrison. In 1816 he built the first brick building in Harrison township.

Benjamin Duvall came to Harrison town- ship from Bedford County, Pennsylvania, about 1798, when 19 years of age. After working for James and Stephen Short several years, he settled .near South Bloomfield. He was in the War of 1812 for a time and on his return settled in section 30, Madison township, where he lived some 30 years, afterward re- turning to Harrison township, ,where he lived five years, removing then to Shadeville, Ohio, where his death occurred.

Jonathan Holmes came to Ohio as early as 1798 and located in Harrison township as one of the first settlers. When the opportunity to purchase land arrived, he bought a farm in section 22. The first tavern in the township, located about three miles north of South Bloomfield and known as the Half Way House, was kept by Mr. Holmes in 1803 or 1804. He married a daughter of James Short and died soon after 1804; his widow married Samuel Denny.

David Denny, a Virginian, came here in 1800 and bought section 10 and fractional section 9. His brother, James, located here in 1806 and another brother came about the same time. Daniel Van Sickle, a miller by occu- pation, came here as early as 1800 and worked in Stephen Short's mill near Ashville, after- wards working in Foresman's mill on the Big Walnut. The same year James Neville, an Irishman, came to Ohio and at the first sale of land purchased the north half of section 27 and fractional 28. Joseph Mackey came into Harrison township about the same time as Neville and bought the south half of section 27; it is thought that he also purchased, from Neville, fractional section 28, as the ford across the Scioto from this land became known as Mackey's ford. Joseph Bogert came to Har- rison township about 1800 and lived a num- ber of years in South Bloomfield. John Martin came here from Virginia in 1801 and pur- chased the north half of section 22, where he settled.

The Renicks, from Virginia, established themselves in this township in 1803. George Renick became a resident of Chillicothe as early as 1798. In 1801 he entered land in Harrison

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township, in partnership with his brothers, William and Thomas. The land he entered for himself and Thomas included section 15, fractional sections 16 and 21 and a part of sec- tion 22 ; when the property was divided, he took the southern portion. With 'his brother Wil- liam he entered Sec. 3, fractional Sec. 4 and parts of Secs. 9 and 10, and upon the subise . quent division of the property he took the southern part. He never took up his residence here, continuing to live in Ross County. His brothers, with their families, came to Harrison township in 1803 and settled on the land that had been entered by George. Thomas Renick and his wife died on the same day about a year from the date of their settlement. Will- iam Renick cleared 10 acres of land in the river bottom in 1804, and the following year planted it in corn. The great flood of 1805 ut- terly ruined his crop, every hill of corn and the soil in which it grew being washed out. In the fall, though much discouraged with the prospect, he put 20 acres of plain land in wheat, which turned out well and convinced him that the plains were good land.

Joshua Burget and his sons, Joshua, Jo- seph and George, settled here before 1804. William Bennett, an early justice of the peace, came into the township about the same time. William Ront and Joshua Hedges, from Vir- ginia, and Philip Cherry and his brother James became residents of the township in 1804, while Isaac Snyder settled here about the same time. Philip Cherry had a blacksmith shop a mile and a half north of South Bloomfield as early as 1806. Mrs. Lucinda Pratt, with four chil- dren, and John Champ came here in 1809; Jacob Hott and Aaron Dean, about 1810; John Byerly and George Hoover, about 1811; and Philip Gatewood, William Evans and a man named Van Gundy, a miller by occupation, about 1812.

John Cochran, then an ensign in the 19th Regiment of infantry, came to Pickaway Coun- ty, in 1812, as a recruiting officer for the army, having his recruiting office at Frank- linton (Columbus). At the close of the war, in 1815, when he held a commission as 2nd lieutenant in the 17th Regiment, he came to

Harrison township, purchased land and mar- ried Mary O'Harra. Colonel Cochran was com- mander of a regiment of militia for a number of years. He was a Whig in politics and served in the State Legislature. in 1818, 1831. 1832, 1835, 1836 and 1850. He died in 1878 at the age of 88 years.

Joseph O'Harra, whose daughter Mary be- came the wife of Col. John Cochran, settled, in 1812, at Franklinton, where he kept J tavern. After the War of 1812 he moved to Harrison township and settled in section 27.

Thomas Vause emigrated from Virginia about 1814 and first settled in Champaign County, Ohio. About 1823 he bought land in Franklin and Pickaway Counties and settled at Lockbourne, where he died in 1852. David Adkins and Benjamin Whitehead came to Har- rison township about 1826; Stephen Simmons, in 1834; Dr. J. C. Thompson, in 1837; and B. G. Pontious, about 1840. Philip Swisher, Charles McDaniel, Elijah Wright, Dr. Bur- rell, Enos Cutler, Simon Hadley, Jacob Stage, Abner Briggs and Jonathan Blue were also early settlers in Harrison township, some of them coming here in the early days of the settlement.

SOME EARLY EVENTS.

The first marriage in the township that can be recalled was that of John Lewin and Salome Clutter, both of whom came from Virginia with William Renick. They were married in 1810 by Squire James Denny. Sometime dur- ing the year 1807, Michael Miller, of Harrison township, and John Davis, from near Colum- bus, took a boatload of pork from below Chilli- cothe to New Orleans by river, returning on horseback. The first shoemaker in the town- ship was William Barr, who moved into the house left vacant by William Millar, when the. latter first occupied his brick house in 1816. The first tan-yard in the eastern part of the township was established by James Bradon, an Irishman. The first mail route through South Bloomfield was established prior to 1812; at first the mail was carried by post-boys, who made the trip from Chillicothe to Franklin-

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ton on horseback, and later by the stage- coaches. The Ohio Canal, from Cleveland to the Ohio River, was built through Harrison township in the years between 1825 and 1830, in the prosecution of which work employment was given to many of the people then living there. Colonel Cochran had a contract for work on the canal during these years.

EARLY MILLS AND DISTILLERIES.

Simon Headley built a grist-mill near the site of the South Bloomfield bridge about 1803. He sold it a few years later to Mr. Van Gundy, who continued it some years. It after- wards went to decay. At the time the mill was running, a ferry was established above the mill dam, by which people on the west bank of the river could cross to the mill with their corn or wheat, and return with the flour it produced. About 1809 James Short owned a saw and grist-mill on Walnut Creek, near Ashville, and about the same period Mr. Shafer built a horse- mill in the eastern part of the township for grinding corn-he also operated a tan-yard on his property. James Short, in 1804, built a still-house a short distance below South Bloom- field on the east side of the turnpike. In 1812 a distillery was built by William Stage, near Ashville, and in the same locality, about the same period, Richard Stage also had one.

CHURCHES.

The first church in Harrison township was organized in 1814 by Rev. William Jones, a Presbyterian minister, who conducted the first services about 1812. Mr. Jones left a few years later and the organization dwindled and finally died out.

South Bloomfield M. E. Church .- Soon after 1833 Methodist meetings were held at the house of Daniel Millar at South Bloom- field by traveling preachers. At the time of the organization of the church, about 1835, there were some to members living here. The first circuit preachers were Revs. Hamilton and Poe, who were followed by Revs. White and Stephenson. The circuit, which was known as

the Pickaway Circuit, was later styled as the Franklinton Circuit. The church is now in the South Bloomfield Circuit. The first church edifice, one of brick, was built in 1837, at a cost of $1.500, on lots given for the pur- pose by William Renick. As this structure finally proved too small and inconvenient, it was replaced with a brick building, erected in 1877, the funds for which were raised by sub- scription. This building is valued at $2,500. A parsonage was built in 1905 at a cost of $1,500. The present membership of the church is about 100. Rev. W. A. Whitman is pastor. Mrs. C. M. Gusman is superintendent of the Sunday-school, which has a membership of about 100.

Asbury Chapel, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was organized in a log schoolhouse, located about a mile north of the present loca- tion of the chapel. in the eastern part of Har- rison township. about 1835. Class meetings prior to this date had been held at private houses. Stephen Simmons, who was the first class leader, was mainly instrumental in the organization of the society. Revs. Jacob Young and John Lewis were the first preachers. Meetings were held in the schoolhouse until 1851, when a frame structure was. erected, which was dedicated to Asbury Chapel in 1852. The land was given by Enos Cutler. A com- modious and neat brick church was built on the same lot in the south part of section 25, in 1875, at a cost of about $3,000, and was dedicated in the spring of 1876. When built, the church was under the ministration of Rev. H. B. Westervelt. Asbury Chapel is in the South Bloomfield Circuit; the present pastor is Rev. W. A. Whitman, of South Bloomfield. The membership is about 50. The Sunday- school, of which Timothy Pierce is superin- tendent, also has a membership of about 50.

The Ashville M. E. Church was organized some 15 or 20 years ago. The present frame church structure was erected in 1890 at a cost of about $4,000. The parsonage, a two-story frame structure, is valued at $2,500. The church has a membership of about 200. The first pastor was Rev. A. F. Hixson, who was

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followed by Revs. L. H. Binkley, Frank Gilli- lan, B. F. Jackson, C. M. Prior, F. M. Evans, F. R. Crooks, and C. E. Hill, the present in- cumbent, who succeeded Mr. Crooks in Sep- tember, 1906. . The Sunday-school, of which Prof. Stanley Lawrence is superintendent, has a membership of about 100. The Ashville Circuit, of which the Ashville church is an appointment, has two other appointments, both in Walnut township, namely : Hedges Chapel and East Union M. E. Church.

Ashville U. B. Church .- A church of the United Brethren in Christ was organized in the eastern part of Harrison township about 1840. Meetings were at first held in a school- house until a church edifice was erected on section 6, soon after 1850. . One of the first preachers was Rev. William Davis, as was Bishop Edwards also. Upon its organization, the church was named Rehoboth U. B. Church, which name it bore until the church was re- moved to Ashville soon after the formation of the town, when the name was changed to Ash- ville U. B. Church. The church edifice of the society now standing in Ashville was originally built on the old site in section 6; upon being re- moved to its present site, it was rebuilt. It cost about $2,000. A neat parsonage adjoins the church. The pastors since 1875 have been the following: Revs. Joseph Hoffhines, Will- iam Fisher, Daniel Bonebrake, Joseph W. Da- vis (during whose pastorate the change in the location of the church was made), A. L. Moore, F. Reibel, William Brown, Emanuel Hoffman, Perry L. Hinton, Andrew J. Wagner, Kurtz, Davis, R. A. Hitt, Juspan and W. E. Rowe, the present incumbent. The Ashville Circuit includes. in addition to the Ashville church, two other classes-Scioto Chapel, in Scioto township, and Mount Hermon U. B. Church in Walnut township. The Ashville church has a present membership of 125. The Sunday- school. which is under the superintendence of IV. W. Kraft, has an average attendance of about 90.

The Ashville Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized by Rev. D. E. Snapp in 1887, in which year the church edifice on Long street was erected at a cost of $2,500. Besides the

audience room, there is a lecture room on the south and a pastor's study in the rear, added about 1895. For a year or two before the church was built, the Lutherans of Ashville and vicinity had held meetings in a hall, which re- sulted in the formation of the church society. The pastors of the church since Rev. D. E. Snapp have been : Revs. Kuhns, McCreery and J. J. S. Rumbarger. Since the last named, who is now located near Zanesville, completed his pastorate, the church has been without a settled pastor. Rev. J. M. Wenrich, of Stouts- ville, has supplied the pulpit for the past three years; A. J. Holl, a student in the seminary at Chicago, filled the pulpit in the summer of 1906. The church has 65 confirmed mem- bers. The Sunday-school, of which G. A. Hook is superintendent, has an enrollment of 90 and an average attendance of 45. The parsonage property is worth about $1,800. The church belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran District Synod of Ohio.

HARRISON TOWNSHIP CEMETERY.

James Short furnished the first ground for burial purposes, south of South Bloom- field: to this tract William Millar added two acres in 1850. In later years the cemetery was still further increased in size. It is now un- der the control of the township trustees and gives every indication of being well cared for. Many very old gravestones are to be found here some of which are so badly defaced by the action of the elements that the inscriptions are scarcely legible. Probably the oldest stone is that placed to mark the grave of Sarah Holmes, daughter of Jonathan and Rachel Holmes, who died in October, 1801, aged two years and five months.

SCHOOLS.

The first schoolhouse, a log structure, was built in the eastern part of the town of South Bloomfield, in 1808. It conformed, in its gen- eral features. to the general type of primitive. log schoolhouses that were built elsewhere in the county in the period of its settlement. In

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History of Pickaway County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, Part 16

Author: Aaron R. Van Cleaf Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Number of Pages: 923

Author: Aaron R. Van Cleaf
Publication date: 1906
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 923