USA > Ohio > Union County > History of Union County, Ohio; its people, industries and institutions > Part 9
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UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
running five and one-half miles east; thence north six miles; thence west to the northeast corner of Union, to be Darby township. Third township: Beginning at the northeast corner of Darby; thence east to the east line of Union county all south to be known by the name of Gerome (Jerome). Fourth township: Beginning at the northeast corner of Darby, running west three and one-half miles; thence north to the north boundary of said county, all west to the line of Union township to be known by the name of Paris. Fifth township: All east of Paris to the east boundary of said county to be known by the name of Mill Creek. Ordered by the board, That notice shall be given by advertisements to the electors of Paris township to meet on the first Monday of April at the house of Abraham Amrine, for the purpose of electing township officers. Likewise, that notice shall be given to the electors of the township of Jerome to meet on the first Monday of April at the house of Aaron Tossey, for the purpose of electing township officers."
On the first Monday in June, 1822, the Union county commissioners organized the township of Liberty, with the following boundaries : Beginning at the southwest corner of Paris township, thence west to the county line; thence north to the north boundary of said county; thence east to the west boundary of Paris township; thence with said line to the beginning.
Leesburg township was next organized in 1825, but a careful search of the commissioners' records reveals nothing to show the amount of territory it originally included.
June 5, 1827, Allen township was set off from the south end of Liberty, and an order for the election of officers was granted the following day by the commissioners, said election to be held June 23, 1827, at William Mill- igan's.
Jackson township was formed March 3. 1829, from the north end of Leesburg.
March 4. 1833. an order was issued for the formation of Claibourne township from the south part of Jackson; but for some reason the organiza- tion was not completed under the first order, and a new one was issued March 5, 1834, at which date the civil history of the township begins.
York township was set off December 3. 1833, from the north end of Liberty, before the organization of Claibourne was fully effected.
June 9, 1836, a new township called Washington was formed from that part of York township lying north of the Greenville treaty line.
An order was issued by the county commissioners on the 5th day of March, 1839, for the organization of Dover township, and the election of
IOf
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
officers therein, but no boundaries are shown on the record, probably from their not having been transcribed from the petition asking for the formation of said township.
December 3, 1849, a petition was presented to the commissioners for the formation of a new township from portions of Leesburg, Liberty and York. A remonstrance against any further division of York township was received at the same time, and both were laid over for further action. On the morning of December 5, 1849, the board agreed unanimously to erect the new township and gave it the name of Taylor. This was the last one organ- ized in the county, making the total number fourteen, as at present. There have been various slight changes in the boundaries of the several townships, but none that have materially increased or reduced their area.
LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT.
Agreeably to the act erecting the county of Union, the following joint resolution was passed by the Legislature on the 25th of February, 1820. It is found on page one hundred and forty of Volume XVIII, Laws of Ohio: "Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That Stephen Bell, of the county of Greene, Reuben Wallace, of the county of Clark, and John Huston, of Newark, of the county of Licking, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to fix the seat of justice in the county of Union."
These commissioners were required to make their report to the "next court of common pleas" for Union county, and doubtless did so, but there is nothing upon the records to show such was the case. Mention of Marys- ville as the county seat, on the pages of the court record, is found under date of May 15. 1821, when it was "ordered that David Comer be paid one dollar and fifty cents per day as director of the town of Marysville. the seat of justice of this county." Mr. Comer had been appointed to the position of director on the 10th of July, 1820. Matters concerning the sale of lots, etc., will be found in the historical sketch of Marysville in this volume.
VILLAGE PLATS.
The first town plat laid in the county was North Liberty, by Lucas Sullivant, in 1797, as mentioned elsewhere. The others, in their regular order, are as follows, as shown by the record in the office of the county recorder :
Milford-George Reed laid it out and the plat was acknowledged before
102
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
Thomas McDonald, justice of the peace, April 8, 1816. It is now the oldest town existing in the county and is thus described on the original plat: "A town by the name of Milford, laid off and surveyed for George Reed on a certain tract or parcel of land lying and being in the county of Delaware, Union township, and state of Ohio, on the south side of the Big Darby, near George Reed's Mill-No. 3,016-originally entered in the name of Levin Jones, sold to Alexander Carr, and patented in the name of George Reed and Robert Grant under a decree of a court of chancery held in Franklin county and state aforesaid. The above town is composed of streets, alleys and forty lots named and numbered as follows," etc:
Marysville, the county seat, fully described elsewhere, was laid out August 10, 1819, by Samuel Culbertson.
Richwood, in Claibourne township, was laid out August 8, 9 and 10, 1832, by Philip Plumber, the survey being made by Levi Phelps. The town is on the Pelham survey, No. 6.307, which was long known as the "rich woods." In the description of the plat, the following varieties of timber are named as abounding in the immediate vicinity : beech, blue, black and gray ash, hackberry, or hoop ash, mulberry, wild cherry, black walnut, white wal- nut, white oak, red oak, buckeye or horse chestnut, honey locust, linden tree, coffee tree (a species of mahogany), hickory, red and white elm, hard and soft maple, box elder and dogwood, with a "copse wood" of spice brush, prickly ash, burning bush, grape vine, bladder bush, bramble; the herbage was mostly maiden hair, pea vine, yellow root, ginseng, Indian madder, etc.
Kingsville, in Liberty township, was surveyed for Samuel King, pro- prietor, September 26, 1834, by Levi Phelps; it contained thirteen lots on the state road leading from Carter's settlement to Garwood's Mills.
Somerville, York township, was surveyed for John Johnson and others by Levi Phelps; the original plat contained forty-eight lots and was recorded August 1I, 1835.
Watkins, Mill Creek township, was laid out by William Conklin and Thomas P. Watkins (the latter represented by his attorney, Joseph S. Wat- kins), on Dandridge's survey, No. 1,307, on "road to Scioto river," July 12, 1838; the lots numbered from one to twenty-eight.
Arbelia. Washington township, laid out July 25, 1838, contained forty -. five lots and a public square, and was owned by Marquis L. Osborne; this town is not now in existence.
Newton, Liberty township, surveyed for the proprietor, David Paul, by Levi Phelps, August 25, 1838, and contained twenty-five lots; the plat re-
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UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
surveyed for Nathaniel and Melissa Raymond, and twenty-three lots were added February 1, 1839.
Hainesville, Washington township, had twenty-one lots and a public square, near present site of Byhalia; it was laid out by Jonathan Haines, September 4, 1838.
York Center, York township, had nineteen lots; it was surveyed by Levi Phelps, June 14. 1841; the name of the proprietor is not given in description of plat ; a new survey was made for Gregory Stormes, October 31, 1860.
Frankfort. Jerome township: the original town, consisting of forty lots, was laid out by George Hensel, Amos Beach, Henry Beach and William H. Case : it was surveyed by William B. Irwin. April 1, 1846; the place was formerly known as "Beach Town" and "Pleasant Hill."
Unionville, Darby township, had fifteen lots and a total area of seven and five-eighths acres: it was laid out by John Frederick and David Sager, and surveyed by William B. Irwin, February 8, 1847. It is now known as Unionville Center.
Pharisburg, Leesburg township; Allen Pharis, proprietor, as adminis- trator of estate of Robert Pharis, deceased; the plat included forty-five lots, covering a little over ten acres, at the junction of the Bellefontaine and Marion roads-locality formerly known as "Scott's Cross Roads"; it was surveyed by William B. Irwin, July 21, 1847.
New California, Jerome township, contained twenty-seven lots; the name of the proprietor, S. B. Woodburn, is given on plat ; it was surveyed August 27, 1853, by William B. Irwin.
Dover, Dover township. was surveyed by William B. Irwin, for William . Richey, Adam Richey, Thomas Alpin and B. F. Benton, proprietors, May IT, 1854.
Additions to Plain City, Jerome township, were made by Edward W. Barlow, April 23, 1859, and Charles Amann, July 26, 1875; the main town is in Madison county.
Union Center, Taylor township, was laid out November 9 and Decem- ber 17 and 18, 1863, on a part of survey 829, by H. P. Goff, Hiram Dan- forth, Ira A. Robbins and Charles J. Sayer ; it included nineteen and ninety- six one hundred and ninety-sixths acres a short distance east of present site of Broadway ; now out of existence.
Broadway, Taylor township, was laid out August 15 and 16, 1865. by
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UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
Z. C. Pooler and Leonard Richey, and surveyed by A. S. Mowry, who gave the town its name.
Pottersburg, Allen township, had twenty-four lots when laid out May 18, 1869, by David A. Williams and George E. Bennett.
Peoria, Liberty township, had twenty-eight lots when platted by Joseph K. Richey, June 20, 1870.
Magnetic Springs, Leesburg township, containing fifty in-lots and blocks A, B, C, D and E, was laid out November 24 and 25, 1879, on survey 3,696, by Duncan McLean and J. E. Newhouse; the locality was formerly known as Green Bend.
Claibourne, Claibourne township, had thirty-nine lots on survey 6,107; it was laid out by William Joliff, Jr., March 14, 1881.
Homer, in Homer township, and Essex, in Jackson township, are two villages whose dates of platting are missing. Essex was laid out on Rush creek, on part of survey No. 9,922, on the state road from Columbus to Kenton. It consisted of forty lots, and was surveyed by William C. Law- rence, deputy county surveyor. Homer was laid out at an early date by Elisha Reynolds, on parts of surveys 7,789 and 4,946, on Little Darby creek, on the county road running on the line between the two surveys. It had thirty-five lots, and was for some time a village of considerable importance. but it is among the places now on the list of those that have seen better days.
MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS.
The following table shows the date of organization of each township in Union county, together with the number of votes cast at the first election in each, and; for the sake of comparison, the vote cast at the fall election in 1914:
Township.
When Organized.
First Vote.
Vote in 1914.
Allen
1827
13
230
Claibourne
1834
19
368
Darby
1820
49
232
Dover
1839
62
205
Jackson
1829
21
254
Jerome
1
1821
15
280
Leesburg
1825
IO
260
Liberty
1822
IO
369
I
1
1
1
I
I
I
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
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UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
Township.
When Organized.
First Vote.
Vote in 1914.
Mill Creek
1820
24
160
Paris
1821
I3
250
Taylor
1849
271
Union
1820
91
480
Washington
1836
14
256
York
1834
358
1
1
1 1 I
1
1
1
1
1
1
I
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
The poll books for the first elections in the townships of Taylor and York having been lost, it is impossible to give the first votes in those town- ships, but they probably compared favorably with the others.
CHAPTER IV.
EARLY SETTLEMENT.
The facts concerning the settlement of any given county are usually read with no little interest by each succeeding generation, for somewhere in such a chapter will be found here and there the names of relatives and friends of the reader. Generations come and go, but the line of ancestry keeps on sending forth words of historic interest to posterity. In this chapter it will not be the aim to go far into the detail of early settlement from the fact that . it has been deemed best to treat the early settlement by townships. Hence here will only be found a general showing of the first comers to Union county with other interesting references to customs, manners and incidents connected with pioneer life.
. The first settlement in the county was made in Jerome township in 1798 by Joshua and James Ewing, two brothers. They erected their rude log cabin on the west bank of Darby creek about one mile north of Plain City. It should be stated, however, that a year prior to these men coming Lucas Sulli- vant had laid out a town called North Liberty, but no improvements had been made there. Sullivant was a young Kentuckian, a land surveyor, who be- lieved this a good point at which to speculate in the products of a "paper town." At that date the Indians were numerous hereabouts. James Ewing opened the first store and was the first postmaster in Union county as now constituted.
The most important settlement made in Paris township was made in 1817 by Abraham Armine and his sons two miles northwest of Marysville. A few squatters may have been in ahead of these men, but not as permanent settlers. The Armine family were from Pennsylvania. The father was born in that state in 1761 of Swiss ancestry.
Union township was among the first sections of what is now Union county to be settled by the white race. George Reed, who settled on Big Darby creek, near Milford in 1799, was the first settler. He also was from Pennsylvania. He erected a saw and grist mill in 1810-11 and also laid out the village of Milford. He died in 1836, aged sixty-seven years.
In Darby township the first immigrants were largely from Pennsylvania,
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UNION COUNTY, OIIIO.
Maryland and Virginia. They settled along Big Darby creek between 1798 and 1812. Here we find that the two Ewings first stopped at the platted village of Lucas Sullivant for less than a year before going to Jerome town- ship. They first located in what is now Darby township in 1798. The next to locate in Darby were the Mitchells ( 1799) and their settlement has been treated in the township history.
In Mill Creek township the pioneer settler was Ephraim Burroughs, of New Jersey, who settled here in 1814 or 1815 at a point a little to the east of the village of Watkins.
Dover township had for its first settler Jonathan Burroughs, a son of the pioneer settler in Mill Creek. He married Mary Bell, a daughter of a pioneer of Mill Creek township, and settled in Dover township in the winter of 1815-16 on a leased tract of land consisting of four hundred acres.
In Liberty township the first settlers were drawn hither by the stream known as Mill creek and the excellent land and dense forests, which at that date seemed to be the coveted place in which to make a home. Probably the first man to arrive as a settler was Levi Carter, a Virginian by birth. The date of his settlement was 1813-14.
In Leesburg township the first to become permanent settlers are not now known. It is known that the first settlement was on Blue's creek in the southwestern part of the township. There was a small colony came in from Clark county before 1820 and in this colony one man who it would seem was a leader. Simon Gates, who, with the family of his father, located in survey No. 5,506.
In Allen township quite a goodly number came in early and among them was Henry Vangordon, a native of Pennsylvania, who located on Buck run about 1820.
In Jackson township the first settler was Benjamin Carter, born in Ten- nessee. 1787; emigrated to Ohio in 1805, arriving in Jackson township on Christmas day, 1826. He bought one hundred acres in survey No. 9,899.
In York township one of the early settlers was Joseph Miller, of New York state, who located here in 1828, after having lost the title to his farm in Franklin county. where he had located in 1817.
In Claibourne township Cyprian Lee has always held the undisputed honor of having been first to settle in the domain now known by that name. He claimed part of the Buller-Claibourne survey No. 4.267. His settlement was between 1820 and 1824. He was from Delaware, to which state he soon returned and married, bringing his bride to the wilderness on their honeymoon trip.
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UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
Washington township had for its first settler Edward, or "Ned," South- worth, who came about 1830 from Logan county, Ohio. His brother, Will- iam, arrived a few years later and soon died.
In Taylor township it is generally conceded that Adam Shirk was the very first person to locate. He was a native of Virginia, born in Hardy county in 1791 ; was a soldier in the War of 1812; settled in Taylor town- ship in 1829.
For a more extended account of the various settlements made in the county, the reader is referred to the separate township histories found else- where in this volume.
THE LOG CABIN AND THE OLD FIREPLACE.
Sixty years ago there were but few houses either of brick or frame in this section of the country. At first most of the dwellings were built of round logs not even hewn; later the better class of houses were made of hewed logs nicely matched and the opening between the logs daubed with mud mixed with lime, whitewashed, and presenting a very neat appearance. When a settler had his logs cut. hewed and hauled to the location where he wanted his dwelling erected the neighbors were invited to the "raising," and they came with axes and all necessary tools on the appointed day. There was great strife among the ax-men to see who could "take up a corner" the neatest and at the same time the most rapid and it was quite dangerous work for an inexperienced boy, but they were all anxious to try a hand at it, usu- ally under the eye of their fathers. There was also much rivalry in running up the logs to the workmen on skids by using long forked poles. Frequently one end of the log would be rushed so fast that the other end would fall and the workmen sometimes injured by the falling timber. The house was usu- ally raised in one day and the ridge-pole put on ready to receive the roof. The roof, of clapboards, split usually from oak timber, was kept in place by weight-poles instead of by nails.
The only way the cabins were heated was by means of the old fireplace, now only known in poetry and history. These were about six feet wide. Many of the chimneys were made of split sticks plastered with clay mortar on the inside. Cooking outfits were not very elaborate and usually consisted of an oven or two for baking corn pone, a skillet, an iron tea kettle and a few large iron kettles for boiling hominy, making soft soap and washing clothes. The dishes were of the old blue pattern, decorated with birds, ani- mals and flowers, which are now considered the proper style and quite rare.
UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
Before the fireplaces and on the iron eranes that swung the kettles the dear old mothers of pioneer days would prepare chicken and squirrel pot-pies with accompanying side-dishes fit for a king .. The first improvement in cooking before the days of stoves was the tin reflector. It was about two and a half feet wide and open in front and one foot deep with a shed-shaped top run- ning out toward the fire at an angle of forty-five degrees, which reflected the heat from the fire-place to bread or cakes arranged on a tin or sheet-iron shelf, raised six inches from the hearth on small iron legs, so that coals were placed under to heat below while the reflector heated above. The ad- vent of the reflector was considered a great advance in cooking and baking and was used in a majority of families until cook stoves were introduced in the vicinity about sixty years ago.
Nearly every cabin had a loom with spinning wheels for both wool and flax, and the linsey, jeans and linen cloth was woven by the women in each household. They cut out and made all the clothing for the family. The loose wamus for men and boys was usually worn, while the women and girls had flannel dresses dyed with the oak and walnut bark.
The furniture of the pioneer houses was both plain and scarce. Solid wood chairs or benches, with a split bottom rocker for mother, a plain table used for all purposes, and a "dough-chest" for meal flour and cooking uten- sils. The beds with thick and wide feather ticks of sufficient height to require a step-ladder. A trundle-bed for the children, a book-case and a clock with wooden wheels completed the usual outfit for the average family. Of course, the trusty rifle, bullet pouch and powder horn always hung over the door.
HUNTING AND TRAPPING.
All kinds of game was plentiful in this vicinity until the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861. It was a common amusement to go out in the nearby woods on almost any farin and kill a "mess" of squirrels before breakfast or after supper in the summer season. When corn was planted the squirrels and chipmunks would commence digging it up near the side of the fields next to the woods and it was then the duty of the boys to "go the rounds" of the fields two or three times each day hammering on the fences with clubs and shouting to scare the game away. Some of the older men of today have devoted many an hour to this duty, skipping over the clods in bare feet and stubbing their toes on stones or stumps. When roasting ears were in season the raccoons were very destructive and when the corn ripened wild turkeys visited the fields in great droves to get their share of the farm-
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UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
er's corn before it was husked. Every farmer had at least one deer or squir- rel rifle and hunting was not only great sport but was profitable as well. At least two hunting dogs were kept by each family and usually one was a "coon dog" and they were always anxious for the chase. In the late autumn monthis was the busy time for "coon" hunting with dogs as soon as the fur was good. Early in the evening the boys would start out with their torches of hickory bark and their dogs whining, skipping and playing, in anticipa- tion of the night's sport. A hound was not considered the best "coon dog," for he barked on the track, warning the game, thereby giving the raccoon time to find a large tree. A cur dog would follow the trail so quietly that he would be on the game, unawares, thereby compelling it to seek and climb the first tree. Both guns and axes were carried and when the coon was "treed," if he could not find a hole in which to hide and it was moonlight. he could often be shot, otherwise the tree must be felled. The coon is pretty shrewd and if not pushed too hard usually found a large tree. If the tree was large and the game could not be seen, coats were doffed in a jiffy and the chips were soon flying, the hunters taking turns at chopping. No tree was too large to tackle and sometimes they were the largest white oak, which at this time, if sawed into finishing lumber, would be valued at a hundred dollars and more. The hunters seldom requested permission of the land owner to cut a tree, for if it was a good rail tree he would split it into rails, and if not he did not care for it anyhow. When the tree was about ready to fall the boys with clubs, and the dogs anxious for the fight, would form a circle in the woods out of danger, ready for the chase. The raccoon would usually jump as the tree commenced falling, and when he was spied a grand rush would be made and the dog's would soon have him. A raccoon is a hard fighter and when tackled by dogs he turns his back and fights with both teeth and claws. A dog not accustomed to such fighting is knocked out in the first round, but the old hunting dog gets him by the throat and never releases his hold until his game is dead. As raccoon skins were only worth from fifty to seventy-five cents each, hunting was not very profitable where the investment was divided between three or four boys, but the fun and excitement compensated fully for the financial shortage. In the northwest part of Jerome township there was a great forest called the "Galloway Woods," owned by non-residents, uninhabited and uncultivated before the Civil War. This forest was full of wild game. deer, wild turkey, raccoons. foxes, minks and squirrels. At times hunters from a distance would come with a pack of hounds and start the deer, while the hunters would follow on
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UNION COUNTY, OHIO.
horseback. Old pioneers can recall the baying of the hounds, and if com- ing in our direction, how they watched for the deer as they bounded through the woods with the pack close in pursuit, taking up the cry of the leader of the pack as they followed in a straight row eagerly chasing the timid, fright- ened animals. It was very exciting ; and then came the hunters, guns over their shoulders and horses on the gallop. Such a scene, with the sweet mu- sic of the hounds. impressed a boy intensely, hence it is just as vivid today as if it occurred but yesterday, although three score years have passed. As late as fifty years ago wild turkeys might have been seen in flocks of from twenty-five to fifty. Hunters would follow them carefully in day time. get- ting a shot now and then. About sun down the turkey would begin to go to roost by flying into the branches of tall trees. The good hunter who under- stood the game would then, after marking carefully the location, leave the flock. If it was moonlight he would return at midnight or later when the moon was high, and bring down a few turkeys by shots from his trusty rifle by getting the range so that the turkeys would be seen against the moon. Every rifle was a muzzle loader and the ram-rod would extend to the end of the rifle's barrel. To the end of the ram-rod the hunter would attach a glove or mitten so that it hung down three or four inches below the gun barrel when the gun was sighted. The aim must be so the mitten or glove would drop just below the form of the turkey looking upwards toward the moon. John Curry, who was the most noted and successful hunter in this vicinity. seldom missed a shot. An old pioneer says, "As I go back in memory now. I can see him mounted on his chestnut sorrel hunting horse, 'Alex.' as he dashed through my father's sugar camp in front of our home at full speed, leaning forward with rifle over his shoulder, on his way to the Galloway Woods on many a winter afternoon. About dusk he would return slowly with one or two large turkeys hanging from the punmell of his saddle." He had a great coon dog, "Okd Ben," who was sure of his game and never failed "treeing" a few raccoons and opossums every night he had the opportunity to "take the trail." Ben was the envy of every hunting dog in the neighbor- hood. Among the other noted hunters may be named Sardius Ward. David McCune, the Hensils and in fact the boys in almost any family. Before Civil War times all the shooting was done with the rifle and a man or boy with a shot-gun was ridiculed. A boy of fourteen or sixteen years was a good shot and could bring down a squirrel from the tallest tree with a rifle. There was much trapping of raccoon, minks and other small game. Quails were caught in traps, a whole covey at once, and wild turkey would fly down
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