USA > Ohio > Union County > History of Union County, Ohio; its people, industries and institutions > Part 37
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Of the topography, soil, etc .. it may be stated that former records and surveys show that the township is exceptionally level, only a small portion near the Big Darby of which is in any way rolling or hilly, while the central and southern portions are famous for what is known as "Darby Plains." This is a deep, rich soil with a very level surface. When the first settlers came here they found this land covered with small oak openings and prairie lands, where grew the wild grass in great luxuriance. So tall did this grass grow from this wonderfully rich soil, that a person riding on horseback could easily grasp the heads of the grass on either side of his horse as he rode through and tie the two ends together above the rider's head. Not until about 1876-80 did the owners of these fertile lands ( some of which were al- most too flat and damp for profit ) begin to ditch by tiling. Here, as in all new countries, the pioneer thought the prairie lands unfit for cultivation, hence did not care for it only as grazing land, preferring the rougher, more sandy lands along the river and creek banks.
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However, there was one class-those from New England-who saw in these flat lands a mine of agricultural wealth and they took up large tracts of it. For a few years they endured hardships and encountered the dread fever and ague, until they had partly subdued the damp soil and rank growth of vegetation. But to repay them for this, they and their children and chil- dren's children have been the owners of the most valuable land in Ohio. When first entered these lands were sold at about one-half the price of the rolling lands. Tens of thousands of acres were purchased at from fifty to seventy-five cents per acre. Today these lands are worth fully three times as much as the clay hill lands of the township. The township has for its streams the Big and Little Darby, with their many tributaries.
THE EARLY PIONEER.
George Reed, who settled on the Big Darby, near Milford, in 1799, was beyond any question the first white man to invade this part of Union county for the purpose of making himself a home. He was a native of Pennsyl- vania and became a very useful and energetic citizen of the part now known as Union township, but which then was little other than a dreary wilderness. As settlers came in it was necessary to have milling privileges, and Reed erected a grist mill between 1810-12 and later a saw mill where Milford now stands. He was in fact the founder of Milford Center. He died in 1836, at the age of sixty-seven.
In the autumn of 1800 Robert Snodgrass, who married a sister of Pio- neer Reed, came from Pennsylvania. They settled on the Big Darby, in survey No. 3,311. There they lived, labored and finally died. He died on September 30, 1834, aged seventy-six and his wife died on January 13, 1833. aged seventy years. Herbert Reed, one of this pioneer's children, was the first child born in the township and the third in Union county. The date of his birth was December 2, 1800. His birthplace was in a cabin where later stood the railroad water tank, on the opposite side of the river from Milford Center. In his childhood he was a playmate of the Indian children in that vicinity. He and his estimable wife celebrated their golden wedding anni- versary in 1878, and he died in February of that year. His wife died in 1879. They had seven children.
Paul Houston, who married Miss Reed, sister of George Reed, settled here in 1800, about the same date of Mr. Snodgrass. These were perhaps the only three families within the township in 1800. In 1801 and 1802 came Samuel Reed, brother of George Reed, and later Samuel Reed, no kin
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of the other Reed; Vandever Reed. David Reed and possibly a few other persons came in early in the century.
Among the next settlers were three brothers, Richard, William and John Gabriel, all of whom located along the Darby. There has for many years been a dispute as to when these families settled, but it is certain that it was between 1800 and 1809, probably not later than 1805. It is known of record that they took an active part in the organization of the township and general growth and prosperity of the community. William Gabriel became an asso- ciate judge of Union county. His son, John, rose to be a man of more than ordinary note and at one date represented his county in the Ohio state Senate. He died in January, 1872, aged seventy-one years. William, who never married, was a man of great ability, but full of oddities and whims; he died in 1875, aged sixty-five years. He lies buried in the Milford cemetery and his ashes are marked by a monument which was erected to his memory. Another son of the old pioneer, William Gabriel, Sr., was engaged in mer- cantile pursuits at Bellefontaine. There was a very large family of the Gabriels and most of them stood high in the community and helped to lay well the foundation stones of Union township and county.
Rev. Samuel Woods, father of Judge W. W. Woods and Samuel, his brother, settled on the Big Darby in 1806. He was from Pennsylvania and was a noted preacher at an early day, becoming the first minister of the Presbyterian church at Milford Center in 1808. It was then styled "Upper Liberty." He was ordained minister in 1808 and died in 1815, at the age of thirty-six years.
Alexander Reed, brother of Samuel Reed, the second, from Pennsyl- vania, located here about 1810.
David Comer, a Pennsylvanian, settled on the Plains on survey No. 7.406, about ISII, and was one of the first county commissioners in Union county ; he was a major in the militia and a leading man of his day.
Another emigrant from Pennsylvania was John Irwin who came here in 1806, locating in the southwest part of the township. He lost his life by being injured by falling from his horse. He was a ruling elder in the old "Upper Liberty" Presbyterian church (now Milford Center). He was the leader of the singing at this church; was a teacher of music and had in his large library a collection of tunes of his own composition, made with pen and ink. He organized the first Sabbath school in Union township, the sessions being held at his own home for some years. He was an excellent farmer and had mechanical genius. Politically, he was a Jacksonian Demo-
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crat. He was justice of the peace several terms. He married Anna Steel, who, when seven years of age, was housed in a Revolutionary block-house at Harper's Ferry. Virginia. Her father was a member of the famous Minute Men in that great struggle for independence and kept his knapsack on his gun near the door ready to start at a minute's warning. Her mother was a Harper, for whom Harper's Ferry was named.
John Steel Irwin. oldest son of John and Anna Irwin, was born in Ohio county. Virginia, about 1793. He married in 1816 and lived three miles below Milford Center on the north bank of Big Darby, where he died in 1844 of consumption. Mr. Irwin served in the War of IS12 as a teamster; he was a teamster and farmed by occupation before the days of railroads. He was a justice of peace in Darby township, and a ruling elder in the Presby- terian church at Milford Center.
William Brisband Irwin, second son of John and Anna Irwin, a native of Virginia, died in 1878. aged eighty-three years. He entered the militia as the lowest commissioned officer and became a brigadier-general, resigning his commission in 1840, having served as a commissioned officer for twenty- six years. He served as a justice of the peace twenty-eight years when he moved to Lebanon, Ohio. A remarkable feature of his official capacity was the fact that in no case ever tried before him was there an appeal taken to a higher court. He was county commissioner several years and held such office when the old courthouse was erected. He also held the office of county surveyor for twenty years: he, too, was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church at Milford Center many years. He possessed great mechanical and inventive genius and would frequently, while his father and brothers were taking their rest at the noon hour. steal away and devote his noon hour to the work of constructing a saw mill. This was all to the displeasure of his father, who had to call aloud many times in order to get him to go to the farm duties in the field. But one day. while walking along the creek. he heard a peculiar noise and upon investigation, to his utter surprise, he saw a toy saw-mill. perfect in construction and running in good order. From this time, he never dictated to his son William how he should employ his noon hours. This was the first and only saw mill ever erected on Treacle creek. In 1820 he erected a saw mill on Little Darby creek, about two miles below the mouth of Treacle creek. He had to go fourteen miles to procure help enough to raise the mill frame. On this errand he started the evening before and it was raining and the creek rising rapidly. He anticipated no damage and went on his trip. But after he was gone his thoughtful wife, becoming alarmed about the safety of the timbers at the mill-site, went to
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the creek and found the timbers beginning to float about in the stream. With her own hands, she secured the smaller timbers and went back to the house, tied her babe in its cradle, took a bed-cord out of her bed, ran to the creek and made the timbers fast to the bushes on shore and secured the frame. Thus by the thoughtfulness and energy as well as bravery of this noble wife, the entire timbers for the mill were saved. Mrs. Irwin was Anna Bigelow and was married in 1818. Six daughters and three sons were born to this union. The two youngest were sons who took part in the Civil War, one being William Lee, who was discharged as unfit for service because of im- paired health. The youngest son was killed at Cedar Mountain, August, 1862, aged twenty-one years.
William B. Irwin lived over fifty years in Union county and forty-three years of that time on his father's farm. He erected the first frame house in Marysville, which was for Stephen McLain.
Joseph Stewart, a native of Maryland, came to the county in 1807, locat- ing in this township. John Stokes settled in 1800, and died in 1817. Thomas McDonald, of Tennessee, settled in Darby Creek, in survey No. 6,602.
J. R. McDowell, from Pennsylvania, settled here about 1808-10, and James Cochran, from the same state, located in this township in 1811. The same year came John Crawford. His daughter, Hannah H., married Will- iam M. Robinson, later of Marysville, and lived to celebrate her golden wed- ding. She died aged seventy-six years. She had ten children. They set- tled in Marysville in 1844 and her husband was president of the Union County Pioneers' Association many years.
Charles Colver. a native of New York, settled in this township in 1812, on Treacle creek. His son. Standish Colver, was a millwright and built numerous mills in his lifetime. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-five years, dying in 1882. He was in religious faith a Universalist, a good citizen and esteemed by all his neighbors.
John Parthemore, by birth a Pennsylvanian, located in this township in 1812. Levi Phelps, who came about 1811, was an early teacher and sur- veyor. Hugh and John Porter, natives of Pennsylvania, became settlers about 1813 and 1817, the latter coming later than the former. He became associate judge of Union county.
Judge Robert Nelson, another Pennsylvanian, came to Union township in 1813, locating a large tract of land in survey No. 6.602. He was one of the county's first commissioners. He amassed a handsome fortune; was an associate judge several years : in religion, he was a Seceder, or as one would now say. a United Presbyterian. He died in Darby township.
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William C. Piper, a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, accompanied his father's family when eight years of age, in 1814 down the Ohio river. From Portsmouth he traveled overland through an unbroken wilderness, finally reaching the southern boundary of what is now Union county, claiming land near the east line of present Union township, on Big Darby creek. The father got the family partly settled and returned to Portsmouth for the goods needed, and was taken suddenly ill and died. It was a hard blow to the family, but being among good, Christian people, they were cared for and finally became a happy and prosperous family.
THE "POST ROAD SETTLEMENT."
This settlement was made in 1813-14 between Irwin station and Pleasant Valley. In a general way this settlement will be best understood by quoting from an article by John F. Sabine, published in the Marysville Tribune in April, 1882, which runs thus :
"In giving a history of the settlement of the southern part of Union county, I will go back to the beginning of this century. At this time great inducements were held out to the people of the state to form settlements in eastern Canada. Consequently many persons from the neighboring state of Vermont went over the line and very soon built up a flourishing settlement. They remained there, prosperous and happy, until the year 1812, when the difficulties between the United States and Great Britain terminated in a war. These people being Revolutionary soldiers, or their descendants, had too much of the spirit of '76 in them to take up arms against their countrymen, or even to remain quiet spectators of the conflict; so they resolved to leave the dominion of His Majesty George III. Accordingly on September 20, of that year, the first installment took up their line of march for the far West. They were composed of the following families: Russell Bigelow, Moses Patrick, Asa Plummer, Joab Hoyt, Amos Hawley, Dr. Gideon Hawley, Peris and Joseph Walton and Nehemiah Sabine. After a tedious journey of more than six weeks, they arrived at Worthington, Ohio. The next sum- mer, 1813, in looking for a permanent residence, they made choice of the Darby plains, until then a barren waste, purchased land and built their cabins, which most of them were able to occupy late in that year or early the next. One Joseph Green, from the state of New York, was the first man to occupy his cabin ; and for a long time it was known as the 'Green Settlement.'
"The following year, 1814, another installment from the same place fol- lowed in the wake of their predecessors, and settled with us, to-wit: Israel
Cone Howard's boyhood home and the birthplace of his children. The first corn planted in Union County by the Indians was on this farm, which was formerly known as the "Indian Field Farm."
LOG CABIN IN WHICH CONE HOWARD WAS BORN.
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Lockwood, James Dockum and Stephen Jackson: also Ephraim Keys, Oba- diah Janes, from Vermont ; Uriah Wood and Col. Jacob Fairfield from New York state. These families then constituted what was known as the Green Settlement, on the Post Road in what is now known as Union township. Another east of this, on the same road, in Darby township, was formed at the same time, and was styled the 'McCloud Settlement,' the two extending from Irwin Station to Plain City, a distance of eleven miles. This Post Road was established during the War of 1812 for the purpose of conveying the mail from Worthington to Urbana, then very important towns in Ohio. There were but two intermediate postoffices, Darby Creek and Dublin. The former was kept by James Ewing, one of the first settlers, and was for a long time the only postoffice in what is now Union county. Most of the families composing the Green settlement were very large, many of them numbering from ten to twelve souls. By this it will be seen that we were not destitute of material to receive the benefits of free schools, which were soon put in opera- tion, my father being the first teacher. But sickness soon made its appear- ance among us to an alarming extent, in a short time decimating the inhab- itants by death. This state of affairs continued until the country became rid of its poisonous malaria. It is now one of the healthiest portions of central Ohio. About 1817, another colony from the state of Connecticut settled in our immediate neighborhood, known as the 'Burnham and Howard settlement.' They, together with the first settlers, helped very materially in forming the future character of the people of this portion of the county.
"The habits and customs of our earliest settlers differed very much from the latter. Intercourse and associations had a powerful tendency to smooth down the rough places and points of both, and produce a similarity of char- acter, so that at this day it is impossible to distinguish any difference from their language and address."
This ends the description of Mr. Sabin's account of the first settlement in the township now under discussion. Suffice it to say that the sons and daughters of the above named colonists from Canada and New England and York state have always been the prime factors in the carrying on of the town- ship government and in building up her most progressive and excellent sys- tems of schools and roads. It is true that Pennsylvania, Virginia and Mary- land have all had much to do in such improvements, but the solid foundation stones were laid as above noted. Then, the War of 1812 was a good thing for Union county as well as for the United States in general.
The reader will be interested in something further concerning a few
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of these early pioneers in Union township, as contained in the following paragraphs :
Samuel Galloway, born in Massachusetts, removed to York state when a young man. He there married and moved to Ohio in 1814, settling in this township. Soon after locating and erecting his cabin, he went out hunting, shot a deer and thinking the animal dead he walked up to it with his hunting knife to cut its throat. The deer suddenly sprang up and pushed its horn into his chest, tearing out a part of his lungs ; and there he and the deer were found in the evening, the latter dead. Mr. Galloway was so weak he could not get home. He was carried home and finally recovered sufficiently to preach-he was a minister in the Christian church. However, he never be- came strong enough to do manual labor. While on a return trip from New York state, he was taken ill as a result of the wound in his lungs and died in 1820 or 1821. He left eight children, four of whom were born in this township, Sabrah, Elijah, Joshua and Joseph. The others were natives of York state. The widow became interested in Shakerism and removed in 1822 to Warren county, Ohio, and there, with the daughter Sabrah, lived and died.
Joel Frankelberger settled in Milford in about 1813 and started the first tannery in Union township. He was clerk of the first board of county com- missioners.
George Fullington, born in Vermont in 1775, married ; settled in Union township in 1813 : lived eight years and then moved over into Madison county and resided until his death in 1835. His wife survived him many years. By trade he was a carpenter but never followed it in this county.
Ray G. Morse, a native of Providence, Rhode Island, born in 1808, set- tled in Ohio in 1813, being forty-nine days on the road. They first located at Milford. which place then had a log cabin and a mill in operation. The cabin was in the thick underbrush. There was not a clearing on the route between here and Delaware. Mr. Morse stated at the first pioneer meeting that the first slate he ever had he purchased with rabbit skins. He served a five-year apprenticeship at blacksmithing. At one time he sold enough musk- rat skins to realize the sum of seventy-five cents which he took and paid for the treats to twenty-eight persons to "apple jack." In those days everybody drank "apple-jack." He also told of seeing an Indian medicine man cure a snake bite from an immense rattler.
The following is from the pen of that excellent and reliable old pioneer, Eliphas Burnham, who described customs and conditions thereabouts in the long-ago times :
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"When I came to Union township, there were a set of religious fanatics in Rice City who were called 'Farnhamites,' Douglas Farnham being their leader. They generally had preaching on Sunday unless Farnham was away. They held night and sometime day meetings through the week ; some of them were quiet sociable prayer meetings ; some for confessing their sins and some for hugging and kissing each other. The majority of their confessions would look decidedly bad in print. 1 attended their meetings occasionally, not expecting to be benefited, but out of curiosity. I will relate an incident that took place at one of their meetings which I attended at the log school house where the brick meetinghouse later stood on the pike from Milford to Irwin, as I became interested in the proceedings. There was no preaching ; they occupied their time in singing, prayer and exhorting till finally one of the sisters had a revelation from the Lord ( so she said ) to deliver a short exhortation and to hug and kiss each individual in the house; and she pro- ceeded forthwith to obey the command. She began at the end of one of the slab benches, gave the exhortation, the hug and the kiss, then took the next in rotation. She had to perform on fifteen or twenty before my turn would come, so that I had ample time to decide how to act and the decision was that I would resist : not because I was averse to embracing a female or to kiss one either ; on the contrary, I rather liked it-indeed was fond of it on all proper occasions as young men always are, but there was nothing especially charming or fascinating in this one. When my time came she delivered the exhortation and then raised her hands to come around for the hug. I took her by the wrists-my arms were then pretty strong and I had a powerful grip in my hands-and gave the wrists the full benefit of all the strength there was in me. Her countenance changed instantly, and she said, "What? Don't you want to go to heaven?' I replied that I was in hopes to get there sometime, but did not believe I should get there any sooner for letting her hug and kiss me. The grip was kept on the wrist till I was satisfied she would not make a second effort : then I let her go and she took her seat with- out a word. I was teased by the boys and girls a good many times on ac- count of the adventure, but it passed away in time, and so did the fanatics."
Continuing, pioneer Burnham writes: "We had no fruit except the native plum ; they were generally abundant, but did not last long. But in a few years we began to have peaches, and in a few more years apples, and we enjoyed them all the better for having been deprived of them for a while. For about fifteen years peaches were a very sure crop-more so than apples are now. As I have said, we handled but very little money, and sometimes it was pretty hard scratching to get enough to pay our taxes, though they
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were not much compared to what they are now. I recollect one fall I had failed to pay my taxes in time and it made a lasting impression on my mind. It was the only time I ever failed to pay my taxes in season. I had but few hogs that fall and sold them at one dollar and twenty-five cents per hundred net weight, just equal to one dollar on foot and I had a sale note out which was due and it took all the money to pay the note. I had nothing left to make the money out of to pay my taxes, except three yearling steers and there were no buyers; so it went on till about the tenth of January, when I heard that Elisha Reynolds (ex-treasurer E. L. Reynolds' father) was buying steers. I went to see him immediately ; he said he would come over the next morning and look at them and buy them if I would take what they were worth. When he saw them he said that he would give me three dollars and fifty cents a head for them, I to drive them over; he said he had not paid but three dollars for any, but they were better than any he had bought. I drove them over, got the money, ten dollars and fifty cents, paid the taxes, eight dollars and had two dollars and fifty cents left and I don't think I have ever felt richer since. I did not owe any person a dime, and had two dollars and fifty cents in my pocket ; and as the Irishman said, "What more did I want'? I have never failed to pay my taxes in good time since.
"I have assessed the chattel property of Union township thirty-two years and I never failed once to return the assessment to the auditor's office in good time. The commissioners never had to adjourn the board of equalization because I had not made my return. There were one or two years that I had to hurry things a little more than I liked in consequence of the delay in getting blanks."
The history of the schools and churches of Union county will be found in chapters on these topics.
CEMETERIES.
The cemeteries of this township include, among the older ones, Wood cemetery. Hathaway cemetery, Teeter's cemetery and Milford cemetery. Probably the first of these burying grounds was the first named, which was situated a mile and a half east of Milford on the north bank of Big Darby creek. Some of the tombstones show burials to have been made there as early as 1813, and no doubt several were made prior to that time. Here lie many of the Woods, Reeds, Gabriels, Gills, Erwins and others. For many decades these sacred grounds were taken the best of care of by the friends of the departed dead.
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