History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II, Part 69

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 680

USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II > Part 69

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cellent preachers have frequently addressed themselves to congregations in New Market. David Lewis was among this class. Joseph Hostetler, a graduate of Lane seminary, near Cincinnati, was a powerful speaker, and carried everything as if by storm. He is now dead. John Ribble was also a man who aided much in lifting humanity to a higher plane of living.

The present condition of the Christian church in New Market is disorganization. The house stands south of Main street, on a rather pretty building spot; it is of frame and perhaps twenty- five by forty feet. There are about forty names enrolled on the register, but no regular services are held. A traveling minister frequently comes along and holds meetings for a day or two, and then goes on to more energetic and determined localities.

However, there is a Sunday-school held regu- larly, which does much to redeem the old, inac- tive members and inspire the young people with a pure Christian faith.

To the church is attached a burying-ground of venerable antiquity. Before New Market hardly became a place for marketers, the fences looked old, and the limestones which marked the rest- ing place of some early settler, were covered with moss and lichens. Now, the marble grave- stones and the several monuments need sand- paper and some of the modern appliances to make them conform to later notions of ceme- teries.

Presbyterianism in Oregon township has an age which always brings respectability. Rev. Enoch Martin preached to the pioneers in this locality more than fifty years ago. Soon after the village was laid out, a handsome frame build- ing, capable of seating five hundred, was built on the site of the present church. It was organized under the Louisville Presbytery. Peter Amick, Peter Covert, Abram and John Courtner, and Valentine Clapp, were the first preachers. It is owing to the labors of these men that the unity of the Presbyterian church was preserved, and the code of morals which she so untiringly main- tains, kept to a respectable grade.

The present church was built five or six years ago. It stands on the old church site. It will seat three hundred and is well furnished.

During the summer months a Sunday-school is kept up. Since July, 1881, there has been no

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regular service. In all there are thirty-odd members. Taking the history of the Presby- terian church in Oregon township, it is in keep- ing with the principles of right and those ques- tions of law and order which all good people de- sire to see respected.

MARYSVILLE.

This little village of perhaps one hundred in- habitants is situated on the Ohio & Mississippi railroad, three miles from Otisco. It was laid off for Patrick H. Jewett by W. W. Trevis, civil engineer, in 1871. It is on both sides of the railroad and has forty lots. The village is lo- cated on the south side of tract number two hundred and forty-eight, about midway from the north and south line. Marysville was named after Miss Mary Kimberlain, now the wife of A. Q. Abbott, of Oregon township. During the ten years which have elapsed since the village was regularly platted, very little has been done in the way of improvement. There is nothing to make the place very enterprising; nothing to stimulate trade, except the produce which is sold and received and the shipping point it furnishes for stock. A cooper-shop employs a half-dozen hands, who turn out cement barrels and kegs in large numbers. The railroad company has never erected a station. A platform answers the pur- pose of telegraph office, ticket office, and freight and passenger depot.

The post-office is kept in a little room ten by twelve. It answers all the purposes of a more commodious building. Extensive offices are not always an indication of business prosperity.

Marysville has no churches or Sunday-schools. But it has one other thing which is next to it, a good public school. The first school-house which afforded a place to learn the rudiments of an education for the boys and girls of Marys- ville, was built on John Park's place in 1848, one mile due west of the village. Ambrose Fitzpatrick was the teacher. Many years ago the old house was torn down ; a new log build- ing was erected in 1852, one and one-fourth miles west of the old site. In 1863 it burned. The country school is now three-fourths of a mile west of Marysville and is known as Parks district. It was built in 1872.

The Marysville public school has as many as one hundred scholars, and is taught by two teachers.

The village stores supply the people with to- bacco, sugar, coffee, and groceries and dry goods generally. In this section are many opossums. They are caught in large numbers and sold to the storekeepers, who in turn ship them to the towns around the Falls. Such sights remind one unaccustomed to such scenes - skinned opossums hanging in bunches of half a dozen at the side of a store-very forcibly of the South, where the negro ate Johnny cake, danced with a slice of opossum meat in one hand and one of corn bread in the other, around the Southern plantation camp fire. Marysville will never amount to greatness. A village, to rise into prominence, must be surrounded by a soil of considerable fertility, and at least have some wealth in timber or other natural resources.

AN OLD GRAVEYARD.

At the confluence of Dry Branch and Four- teen-mile creek is the oldest burying ground in Oregon township. No reliable information as to who were buried here first can be obtained. Trees, one foot in diameter, have grown on the graves; the bushes are thick and vigorous, and the briars in a healthy condition. There are no fences or tombstones. Every thing is in a di- lapidated condition, and it seems as if Nature was left to take her course. The pioneers who rest here, certainly deserve some attention from those who are now enjoying the fruits of their labors.

EARLY SETTLERS.

The Henthorns, who settled in the vicinity of New Market, came from Virginia. Robert Henthorn, the founder of the village, was a prominent man in the affairs of his time. He carried on the huckstering business for a number of years at New Market, keeping a produce ex- change in connection with his wagon, which scoured the country in all directions.

Valentine Clapp, who now resides north of the village, is among the oldest men in the township. He came from North Carolina. His brothers were John, Lewis, and Henry, and from them have descended a long line of respectable citizens.

The Coverts came from Pennsylvania in 1798, and settled near the old site of Work's mill. The family was composed of Bergen, Daniel, Peter, and John Covert. These brothers are all dead. The remainder of the family was born in Kentucky and in Clark county. After settling on

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Fourteen-mile creek, the Indians became so troublesome that the family moved to Limestone (now Maysville), Kentucky. After residing here for two years the family returned to the Grant again. The family, of which Dr. John Covert was a part, was composed of two sons and eight daughters, six sisters and one brother be- ing dead. Dr. Covert was born April 23, 1816. His first wife was Miss Rachael Turrell; his second Mary J. Clapp. Most of his life has been spent in teaching school and practicing medicine. He is a well-educated gentleman, and possessed of an abundant store of pioneer reminiscences.

James A. Watson was born May 3, 1811, in Maryland, and came to Kentucky in 1813 ; four years later to Clark county on tract number fifty- nine. He moved to Oregon township in 1850, and settled on the bottoms of Poke run, where he has resided ever since. Mr. Watson is among the distinguished old residents of this township.

One of the early and most prominent families in Oregon was the Henlys. They rose to oc- cupy some of the highest positions in the gift of the people. Thomas J. Henly represented the Third district of Indiana in Congress for two or three terms. In 1842 he and Joseph L. White fought a hard battle for Congressional honors. This district being overwhelmingly Democratic, it was almost impossible for a Whig to secure a prominent office. White lost the election and Henly went to Congress.

In the northwest corner of Oregon township, the early settlers were made up of John Taflinger and family, John Todd and family, Alexander McClure, and James Beckett, with their wives and families. Many of their descendants are now living in this part of the township well-to-do farmers and artisans.

CHAPTER XXIII. OWEN TOWNSHIP.

ORGANIZATION.

The commissioners of Clark county in 1824 were John Owens, John M. Lemmon, and Robert Robertson. From the surname of the first

of these men the township derived its name. As nearly as can be ascertained Owen township was organized a year or two after Owens vacated his office, which makes it about 1830. The minutes of the commissioners of the Grant are obscure up to 1816. The old-fashioned paper has lost nearly all its retaining power, and dates and min- utes of regular meetings are very difficult to de- cipher. Nothing is indexed. Town plats are stowed away carelessly, and nearly all original documents and legal papers are torn or dis- figured. From these circumstances the exact year the township was placed under a separate organization cannot be positively fixed. Old settlers place the time within a year or two of 1830-it may be either way.

TOPOGRAPHY.

This township is located in the northeastern part of the county. It is bounded on the north by Oregon, Washington, and Bethlehem town- ships; on the north of the Ohio river and Charlestown township; on the east by the run, and on the west by Oregon and Charlestown townships. There are in the township sixteen tracts of the Grant. Eigh- teen-mile island is entirely south of Owen. Here, as stated in the history of Charlestown township, the hase line was established, begin- nin at the head of the island and running due west, or that was the intention. It seldom hap- pened that the original lines were properly fixed, there were so many things which prevented ex- actness. Undergrowth, fallen timber, the pecu- liar sicknesses which are always lurking in the lowlands, and the fogs along the river, made ague and fever very common, and a long stay in the new country sure to end in ill-health. Then besides, the Indians and wild animals made great caution necessary. When the sur- veying party went into camp pickets were put out. It was only after 1812, when the final treaty had been made after General Harrison's victory at Tippecanoe, that the settlers were left undisturbed in this region.

The base line, as it was established, formed the basis for the survey of the upper portion of Indiana, extending to the surveys which belonged to the Cincinnati district on the east. Townships were laid off into squares, by run- ning lines from the base line north and south

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and east and west, every six miles. They made the townships six miles square; section lines further divided the townships into thirty-six sec- tions of six hundred and forty acres each. Base lines were frequently established. This was nec- essary to allow for the rotundity of the earth's surface. As the Grant line began at the upper end of Eighteen-mile island, as well as the base line, there was necessarily a little tract between the two, shaped like a triangle. In this body of land there are seventy-one acres. It is owned by three persons.

Owen township has sixteen of the five-hun- dred-acre tracts. The Grant line cuts the town- ship into halves, but throws the larger one on the south side. All that portion of the township north of the Grant line is divided into sections. Within the limits of Owen, as it is now bounded, there are twenty-two and seventeen hundredths square miles. The total valuation of property is placed at $298,000. There are about eight hundred people in the township.

SOIL.

Early settlers lived economically. Corn, wheat, some rye, potatoes, and pumpkins were the com- mon products. The soil produced tolerably well. Its wetness generally prevented extraordinary crops. It required the most careful treatment to make it yield, even when the timber was first cleared off. Along the creek bottoms it was non productive. Now, after many years of continued working, it seldom furnishes a paying dividend for the labor expended.

SURFACE.

The eastern half of the township is mostly level. No streams of any size lead off to the river or toward the larger creeks of Fourteen-mile and those in Jefferson county. Poke run heads in the western part of Owen, and flows slowly through Oregon township into Fourteen-mile. Yankee run begins in the southwest corner of the township, and enters the same stream with Poke run, but fur- ther down toward the river. The timber in this part of Owen is composed mostly of beech, ash, an *oak now and then, and thousands of hoop-poles. Some farms are under good fences, well supplied with dwellings and out-houses generally. But the improvements are far behind the times. People now there seem to have few of those qualities which go toward making up a prosper- ous farming community.

The southern side of Owen township is drained by Bull and Owen creeks. Bull creek is a noisy little stream which rises altogether within the township, and flows in a southerly course to the Ohio. Like many other natural features of Clark county, it derived its name from early asso- ciations. Nearly one hundred years ago a large buffalo bull was killed at its mouth, after a hard- fought battle. This fact, combined with its rapid current over falls, down cascades and rocky bot- toms, induced the pioneer people to call it Bull creek-a name which is certainly very appropri- ate. Bull creek flows between hills from fifty to two hundred feet in height. This water-course seems to have been cut through the rocks many years before the white man made his appearance in this neighborhood, by an agency unknown at this period of the world's history. Above the creek on the west side, the surface is gently un- dulating. Owing to the long and continuous ser- vice to which the soil has been subjected, it is rather unproductive.

Owen creek, which is about two-thirds the size of Bull creek, runs through the southwest- ern part of the township and empties into the Ohio in the very extreme corner of Charlestown township. It has a current of average rapidity, drains a tract of country generally level, and is mainly supplied with water from springs. In some places the water enters openings in the rocks which form its bed, and runs under them for quite a distance. Then it escapes to the main channel, again to go through a similar per- formance. As early as 1800 Major Owens dwelt on or near its banks in the wilderness. He, by hard work and economy, grew to considerable prominence in the affairs of his county. This was especially true in the township where he lived. It was from Major Owens and his de- scendants that the township and the creek of Owen derived their names. Mr. Owens died many years ago. His legacy was an unspotted character, full of Christian virtues.

The tract of land lying between Bull creek and the Ohio, and which has the form of a pe- ninsula, is laughingly and somewhat scientifically prominent. The area includes about one thou- sand acres. It is an elevated plateau, from one to two hundred and fifty feet high. In the early history of the township the land was especially productive, rendered so on account of the lime-

HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

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stone, which is very prominent in this locality. Formerly this land was sprinkled with log shan- ties, old stone fences, turnip patches, and black- berry bushes. From the time when Pettitt and Armstrong kept their ferries on the Ohio, the little opossum made it a rendezvous. The crevices in the bluffs of Bull run supplied them with comfortable homes, where disturbance was never expected. It was on this body of land where the little, cowardly creature frisked inno- cently, climbed pawpaw bushes in sweet com- placency, and ate fruit in safety. He gave to his haunts a name which will ever be spoken with a smile-"Possum Trot." On this same tract of land is a district school, where the chil- dren meet to learn of the world. But few, per- haps, know how the little, old school-house de- rived its peculiar name, and the fun the 'possum had here before education took possession of his favorite resort.

TIMBER.

Along the Ohio river on the bluffs, the first growth of timber was made up of walnut, blue ash, sugar-tree, oak, and hackberry. But this class of trees extended only for a few miles from the river. As soon as the level upland was reached, the soil and timber changed. Beech took the place of most other trees. In fact this was so universally true that even four-fifths of all the timber was beech. Its growth was firm and the bodies made excellent fire-wood when split into sticks of four or five feet. The character of the soil was necessarily changed on account of the timber of one hundred years ago being cut away and a new growth allowed to take its place. Soil is generally determined by the kinds of forest trees which grow upon it. So it is in this case. The timber and soil in the eastern part of Owen township are medium.

Below the mouth of Bull creek about one-half mile is a remarkable union of two sugar-trees. They are eighteen inches in diameter and are situated on the farm formerly known as the old Crawford place. Twenty feet from the ground they unite and form an arch. The union is per- fect and resembles a forked stick turned upside down. After uniting, the single trunk runs up to the height of seventy-five feet.

CAVES.

The counties of Floyd and Clark, and those which follow up the river but circle north of

Cincinnati, says an old geologist, are noted cave systems. Clark county is peculiarly interesting from the caves which are found in nearly all the townships. Hutchinson's cave, on that neck of land between Bull creek and the Ohio which is known as "Possum Trot," is surrounded by rocky scenery, romantic and interesting. The entrance way is on the river side, a little above where Bull creek discharges its water into the Ohio. From the starting point it curves north- ward in the direction of Bethlehem, passes under the "Possum Trot" school district, and, if tradi- tion be true, emerges again on the opposite side of the hill more than a mile from the river. The cavern varies from forty feet high and twenty wide to a narrow passage-way. In wet weather traveling is difficult on account of the dampness of the atmosphere and the water which flows through it. On the dividing ridge between the river and Bull creek sinks are quite common. They serve to carry off much of the water, and, perhaps more than any other factor, aid in pro- ducing good crops.

FERRIES.

Three miles above the mouth of Bull creek, on the Kentucky side of the Ohio, in Jefferson county, is a little village called Westport. Seventy-five years ago this settlement made con- nections with Clark county by means of a ferry. Levi Boyer had charge of transportation for many years. The boat was propelled by horse- power, when traveling was indulged in by every- body. People came from the interior counties of Kentucky and the Blue Grass region, crossed at Westport, penetrated the Indiana counties, bought stock, and returned to their farms. It was this trade that brought Westport landing into such prominence during the successful period of steamboat navigation. For a number of years Westport was almost as noted a landing as Charlestown. After railroads began to take the place of steamboats the old treadwheel ferry-boat was abandoned. Instead of horses standing on an inclined platform which ran from under them as they walked, men were substituted. . But the ferry and landing are now among those things which belong to early history.

Bull Creek ferry held considerable prominence during pioneer civilization. Ever since the first white settler began to cross the Ohio to scour the Grant for missing claims, a ferry was kept at

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the mouth of Bull creek. At first the starting point was from the Kentucky shore. After several years the settlers asked for a change, and a transfer was made to the opposite side. This ferry originated with the Pettitt family, and there it has remained ever since. John Pettitt was the first regular ferryman. From him it has de- scended to John Pettitt, a grandson of the old gentleman. Like the Westport ferry it has little to do now in the way of a crossing business.

A good bear story is told, with which the elder Pettitt had to do, and which is vouched for as true. On a certain occasion one of the old mothers of the township was hurriedly called across the river. Mr. Pettitt was not at that time, it seems, very anxious to make the trip. It was during the days of the hand-ferry. 'After some motherly persuasion the boat pushed off, and the landing was reached in safety. On the return trip, when half-way across, a bear, two- thirds grown, climbed over the side of the boat and took a seat in the hind end. Mr. Pettitt left bruin and bruin left Mr. Pettett undisturbed. As the ferry struck the landing on the Indiana side, he jumped out, cantered up the bank, and disappeared.

FORTS.

In 1812, the year of the Pigeon Roost mas- sacre, many families crossed the run and awaited the cessation of hostilities. Others combined and built block-houses or forts. The people in the neighborhood where school district number three now is, built a block-house at the cross- roads. It was picketed. The building was ar- ranged so that when Indians approached to set fire to the house the men above could shoot down through the joists, which projected over the sides three or four feet and on which the ends of the rafters rested. This old fortification was never found necessary for protection. The Indians left the country immediately after their first assault, pursued by a band of minute-men.

On the road leading from New Market to the Ohio, four miles, air measure, from Grassy flats, * on Mr. William Bullock's old farm, a fort was erected in 1812. It was soon abandoned. The disappearance of the savages left little fear of further trouble. But it frequently happened, during those uncertain times, that a report would pass over the country like wildfire, saying Indians were coming, and that everybody able to bear

arms must prepare to fight. Bullock came from the East and settled one mile from the Tunnel mill. He changed his residence after a few years and located in Owen township.

ROADS.

There were no regularly established highways when the Indians made their attack at Pigeon roost. People traveled promiscuously. They often walked to the county seat and hunted on their way. Horsemen went through the woods regardless of anything but distance, and, if pos- sible, shot a buck or bear, to carry him home on their return. It was in this way that the best route for a road was found out. After several years of going and coming, and when the loca- tion became pretty generally fixed, a petition was presented to the county commissioners and the desired result obtained. The roads all con- verged at Charlestown. And here, too, the peo- ple went from the country every Saturday, to listen to trials and hear the news of the day. It was a kind of an epidemic among the settlers. The courts were always attractive, and drew many of the people from the townships to hear lawyers parley and argue fine points of law.

MILLS.

Owen township was settled without any at- tempt to form a little neighborhood. Where the land and the price suited, there the emigrant made his home. This gave rise to serious dis- advantages. Mills were only small affairs from their situation. When Leonard Troutman erect- ed the first water mill in the township, on Bull creek, there was not enough custom work to keep him grinding all the time. From 1820, the year of its erection, until 1825, it ground most of the grains for the farmers in this region. After that date Jacob Bear put up a horse mill in the "Possum Trot" district. Here he carried on his trade for ten or more years. Previous to the abandonment of the horse-mill Mr. Bear had erected an overshot grist-mill on its mouth, one mile above Bull creek. This was about 1826 or 1827. He engaged in milling on this site for a number of years. As time went by and the Tunnel mill rose to be considered the best on the northern side of the county, mills in Owen township were left to struggle with a small income. Trade was uncertain. Business was unprofitable, and this branch of industry soon

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went into non-existence. It was useless to com- pete with John Works, the founder of the famous Tunnel mill.

DISTILLERIES.

It seems that the early settlers regarded still- houses about as we, of the present age, regard woolen factories. Every farmer had something to do with the manufacture of whiskey or brandy. Levi's still, near the Westport landing, was prob- ably the first in Owen township. Its exact date cannot be positively fixed, but is placed near the year 1810. A Mr. Needham carried on the same business very early in the extreme west corner of Owen. Mr. Samuel Struseman was in the business, in the central part of the township, about the same time. Says an old citizen : "All the neighbors had little stills and made their own whiskey and apple brandy. It was not such whiskey as we get nowadays. There were no adulterations ; and even the preachers drank it with a relish. After the Government began to tax its manufacture, people could not still profitably, and hence whiskey-making is now unknown in this township." We might add, there is not a distillery or brewery in Clark county.

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History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. II, Part 69

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co. Number of Pages: 680

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 680