The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 37

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1880
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051

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The third settler in Brown Township was William Concannon, who emigrated from Pennsylvania in 1807 and entered a farm in the western part of Section 36. He had, upon his arrival here, a large family of sons and daughters, so that, in the work of clearing, he was not single-handed, as his children were, some of them, old enough to lend a helping hand in the arduous struggle for a living, which was to be obtained from the farm, which contained plenty of nothing but wood, water and wild animals. However, by the united exertions of himself and family, Mr. C. soon caused his immediate surroundings to assume a more agreeable aspect. While himself and boys did the chopping, the girls piled and burned the brush, so that, the spring of their arrival here, not only did they build their cabin, but also succeeded in redeeming two or three acres of the surrounding forest from its . original worthless condition, which they converted into a cornfield, from which they obtained grain enough to provide them with bread during the following win- ter. Mr. C. resided upon this place until his death, many years afterward. This family, with the two preceding ones, constituted, for some time, the whole popula-

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tion of the township. Mr. C. was a prominent man in the little colony, and, after the township was organized, figured conspicuously in its affairs till his death.

John Adney immigrated here from Pennsylvania, of which State he was a native, in 1807. Upon arriving in this township, he entered the southwest quarter of Section 31 and erected his cabin and put up a rude barn, as preliminaries to the more extensive operations which he expected to carry on afterward. He was accompanied to this township by his family, consisting, at that time, of several . sons and daughters. Mr. A. worked upon this place seven years, and succeeded in clearing quite a large portion of his farm, when he disposed of his property here to Nicholas Platter, in 1815, and Mr. A., with his family, swelled the mighty stream of emigration pouring westward, and sought a home where such an abun- dance of wood and water was not to be contended against. Mr. Platter moved upon the place immediately after the removal of Mr. A., where he remained for fifteen years, when he disposed of his property to a Mr. Hamilton, in 1830. As will be seen hereafter, Platter was among the first of those who took the initiatory steps in establishing what was, at that time, one of the most important branches of the manufacturing pursuits then being carried on in the township.

Alexander Oliver emigrated from Pennsylvania, with his family of three boys and two girls, in about 1808. He entered the northwest quarter of Section 30, upon which he built the first cabin and felled the first tree in that part of the sec- tion. Mr. Oliver remained upon this place till 1823, when, growing tired of the immense quantities of wood and water, the only redundant articles that might be made subservient to the use of man in this vicinity, he sold his farm and moved farther west, and procured a home among the prairies. At about this time in the history of this township, rumors became rife in the neighborhood concerning the fearful depredations of the Indians, not only in the State at large, but in the neigh- boring townships in particular. The terrible tragedy that has made the names of Dillbone and Gerard household words throughout Miami County, plunged the inhabitants of their respective neighborhoods into such a state of feverish excite- ment as was not to be allayed for the space of several years. Blockhouses were built, firearms procured, constant watch was kept, and all signs of danger rapidly reported from settlement to settlement. Brown Township, like the others, became submerged in a sea of feverish excitement, and preparations were made here to protect themselves and families from the fiendish cruelty of the red man. The few families in the neighborhood met at the house of Mr. Kiser in January, 1812, and decided to build a house where the inhabitants might meet and spend the nights free from danger. Accordingly, the blockhouse was built on Kiser's place early in the summer of 1812, and this was. the common rendezvous in all times of apprehended danger. Nothing occurred, however, to mar the peace of the little colony, and, their fears gradually subsiding, the old fort was finally abandoned as a place of refuge, and, instead, was used by Mr. Kiser as a stable and general storehouse for many years ; but a quarter of a century has passed away since the old house has fallen a prey to Time's destroying finger, and to-day not a vestige of the building remains to remind the dweller in this peaceful community of the tur- bulent scenes that were hourly expected to be enacted in the days when the old blockhouse was built. After the war was declared ended and comparative peace again restored, the stream of immigration, which had ceased during the war, again began to pour westward, and quite a large portion of its surplus waters reached Miami County. Owing, however, to the fact that Brown Township is situated in a remote part of the county from the principal business centers, it was several years before the tributaries of the before-mentioned stream reached this vicinity. Among the first families to come to Brown Township after the war was that of the Mun- sells. Asa Munsell accompanied by his family, emigrated from Massachusetts, their native State, in 1818. They settled near Marietta upon their arrival in Ohio, but, two years later, came to this township and located themselves permanently. Lean- der Munsell, a son of Asa, entered a quarter-section of land, which was situated some distance east from the present site of Fletcher. Mr. M. was a man of energy,.

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and noted for the uprightness of his character and unflinching integrity, and was always deeply interested in all improvements necessary for the comfort and wel- fare of the neighborhood in which he lived. He built the first frame house in the township in 1820. He is also noted as having been the only inhabitant of Brown who ever occupied a seat in the Legislature of the State, to which he was elected, and filled to the satisfaction of all his constituents. He also took a prominent part in affairs pertaining to his county, for the good of which he was an indefati- gable worker till his death.

John L. Malloy settled on Section 25, near the present site of Fletcher, in 1821. He purchased his farm of eighty acres of John Simmons, and built his log- cabin, the floor of which was of sawed boards, instead of the puncheons usually used for that purpose. Mr. Malloy, in conjunction with John P. Davis, engaged in the lumbering business, and they were the only two men in this township who took advantage of the transporting facilities offered by the river, in carrying their lum- ber to the south. They made many successful trips to New Orleans, and some of them are reported as having been exceedingly hazardous. On one occasion, they had waited several weeks for the river to rise, that they might push off with an unusually large cargo of fine cherry lumber. They had grown somewhat weary and careless with the long delay, and, consequently, were not prepared for the emergency which came upon them, by the water rising unexpectedly, and without previous indications of so doing, in the middle of the night, and it carried the boat, with all on board, rapidly down the stream as far as Troy, where, becoming entangled among the " Ninety-nine islands," it was found impossible to extricate themselves. Toward morning, the boat grounded, and shortly went to pieces, the lumber being carried off by the swift current, while the proprietors, with diffi- culty reached the shore. Such were some of the difficulties experienced by those who attempted to carry on commercial relations with the South by navigation, in the early days of our history. Mr. Malloy was engaged in this work many years, and was, for the most part, eminently successful in all his operations. He subse- quently, however, removed from Brown Township, with his family, to California, where he became a bonanza king, and died years ago, possessed of a large estate.

John H. Wolcott, a native of New Jersey, emigrated with his family to Butler County, Ohio, in 1807, where he remained till 1820, when he came to Miami County, and located, first, in Lost Creek Township, where he remained one year, removing to Brown Township, in the spring of 1821, when he entered the north half of Section 5. Mr. Wolcott's family besides himself and wife, consisted of six boys and one girl, and, with the assistance of his boys, he soon caused the wilderness to disappear, in a great measure, from the spot he had chosen for his home. The first residence of this family did not differ materially from the dwell- ings of a majority of the first settlers in the township. The cabin consisted of a single room, with floor of puncheon-plank ; the greater part of one side of the house was taken up by the huge fireplace, which answered the triple purpose of furnace, grate and range. The sun sent its gladdening, cheerful rays into this humble home, through a window made of real glass, instead of the greased paper then commonly used, the size of which did not exceed 10x12 inches. Mr. Wol- cott was, by profession, a surveyor, and was the first regular operator in that profession who became a permanent resident of Brown Township, and most of the land in the township was first surveyed by him. As a citizen, he was one among the most prominent in the township, and always took great interest in all affairs of a public character, pertaining to the well-being of his neighborhood. His sons, some of them, now live near the old homestead, and are among the most prosperous and influential men in that part of the township.

Giles Johnson, from Virginia, immigrated to Brown Township in 1820 and entered the southeast quarter of Section 6, and built the first cabin on that sec- tion. This family consisted of five boys and two girls, who all took part in clear- ing the farm, as well as bearing their share of all other duties necessary to be per- formed in the early days of our settlement. Upon their arrival here, there was no

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cleared land in this part of the township, neither was there any regularly laid out wagon road, but all produce, beyond that necessary to meet the demands of home consumption, was conveyed to Troy on the back of the old family horse, which picked its way through the brush and briers, which skirted the pathway between the farm and town, with difficulty ; and when, at last, a market-town was reached, the greater part of the work was yet to do, for, instead of driving the horse with its load of grain to a grain warehouse, and at once disposing of the load for a good , price, it was necessary to go from house to house, and from store to store, selling a little here and a little there, and even then the producer considered himself fortunate if he was so lucky as to dispose of his products by evening, when he returned home with a few cents in his pocket, satisfied with having sold his corn even for the pitiable sum of 74 cents per bushel.

Michael Sills emigrated from Pennsylvania in an early day, and coming to Ohio, settled first in Champaign County, where he remained till 1820, when he moved with his large family of boys and girls to Brown Township, Miami County. He took a lease for the southwest quarter of Section 6, and, with the assistance of his boys, cleared the farm on which he located, for one-half. The second log-cabin on this section was built by Mr. Sills, which, as to size and comfort, was as unpreten- tous as any in that neighborhood. After living in this humble home for about fourteen years, this family decided to remove to a country where such a super- abundance of forest was not to be found, and consequently, in the spring of 1834, Mr. Sills started, with his family and all his household goods, in search of a more desirable location farther West. They finally settled permanently in Indiana, where members of the family still reside, having become the possessors of fine farms in the most productive part of the State.

John Oliver, who settled in the northern part of Section 6, was a native of Pennsylvania, from which State he emigrated in an early day, coming immediately to Brown Township, where he entered land of which he had cleared a considerable portion, when he disposed of it to Azel Griffith, who, with his family of three boys and one girl, moved upon this place in the spring of 1820, where he remained for four years, when he sold the property to George W. Dobbins, who moved here in 1824, and was the first keeper of a public-house in this part of the township. His tavern-stand was by no means an immense structure, or, at least, would not be considered such at the present day, but at that time it was considered a rather pretentious building, and certainly was as large as the limited amount of travel- ing at that time and in this part of the country would justify in building. In height it boasted a single story, in the loft of which beds were sometimes hastily set up, or rather laid down, for they boasted no bedstead in cases of emergency. There were only two regular rooms in the house, and these answered the purposes of kitchen, bedrooms, parlor, drawing-room and bar.

The northwest quarter of Section 6 was entered by William Graham, who was a native of Maryland, from which State he emigrated in 1818 and came immedi- ately to this county, settling on the farm before mentioned. He erected the third cabin on this section, and was one of the most industrious, energetic men in the community in which he resided. Upon locating here, Mr. G. applied himself assiduously to the labor of clearing his farm, of which he had cleared considerable when he disposed of his property here and moved to Illinois.

William Cox, a native of Pennsylvania, immigrated to Brown Township in 1815, and entered the southwest quarter of Section 1, Range 12. He had a large family of sons and daughters, who all assisted in the clearing of the farm. Some years subsequent to his settling here, he disposed of his property in this township to Sylvanus Allen, who moved here from Montgomery County, and still lives on the farm he purchased from Mr. Cox.

The northwest quarter of Section 1, Range 12, was entered in 1817, by Ed- mund Yates, who erected a second log-cabin on this section.

Joseph Jackson emigrated from New Jersey in 1826, and entered the north half of Section 11, Range 11, in this township, where he built his cabin of one

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room the same year. He had a family of sons and daughters, all of whom died of consumption, save one, who lost his life in the army.

Fred Gray, from New Jersey, settled on the southeast quarter of Section 5, in Brown Township, in 1828. His family consisted of four boys and three girls; one of the former lost his life in the service of his country. Mr. Gray sold his farm in this township, after living upon it many years, and purchased another in Lost Creek Township, this county. At the present time, he resides in Lena, this township, being among the oldest residents of the place.

Maj. Manning emigrated from New Jersey, in 1818, and, coming to this township, entered his farm on Section 3. He built a house of round logs, the size of which was 18x20 feet. The hands who assisted in the raising of this house came a distance of six miles. So thinly was the township settled at that date, that men could not be procured for such purposes without calling upon all the inhabitants of the community for several miles around. In 1824, Mr. Manning built a hewed-log house, which, at that time, was considered the second best dwelling in the township, being judged of sufficient importance to justify the authorities in imposing a tax upon it.

John D. Corry, a brother-in-law of Maj. Manning, with whom he came to this township, was a native of New Jersey, from which place he emigrated in 1818, and, reaching Ohio, stopped in Dayton the 4th day of July of the same year. Mr. Corry was the first merchant in this part of the township, having purchased & small stock of goods, which he sold at his house as early as 1825. After having been engaged in this business for three or four years, he sold his property here and removed to Shelby County, subsequently moving on to Illinois, where he located permanently.

Joseph Shanks emigrated with his family of five boys and four girls, from Pennsylvania, in 1794. He reached Ohio the same year and located near Cincin- nati. His son Peter, hearing of the wonderful fertility of the Miami Valley, came to this county and settled on Section 29 in Brown Township, in 1821. The roof of his cabin was made of good shingles instead of clapboards, and the floor of smooth puncheon, so that this house was considered among the most elegant in the township at that time. He occupied this house till 1837, when he built his present residence. Mr. Shanks arrived here in the fall, and consequently was not overstocked with provisions. He spent the winter in working wherever he could find employment, and by his industry, managed to keep the wolf from the door till the spring of 1822, when he had cleared about four acres of his farm, on which he raised that summer a good crop of corn. He also, the same year, put out quite a number of fruit trees, from which, in a few years, he obtained a plentiful supply of good fruit.

William Manson, a native of Pennsylvania, immigrated to this township with his family of three girls and one boy, in 1819. He entered a quarter-section of land, on which he built the first cabin. There had been a log schoolhouse built on this section the year previous to the arrival of Mr. Manson in the township. It was made of. round logs, the benches of split logs, and the outlet to the fire- place was by a "cat and clay " chimney, an inartistic structure of mud, straw and sticks.

Besides the pioneer settlers already mentioned, the names of John Wilson, Will- iam Walkup, David Newcomb, Thomas McClure, Benjamin Sims, Joseph Rollins, etc., are known as having been among those who sought to subdue the wilderness, and who, by their industry, became important factors in all things pertaining to the well-being of the new country.

The township was organized and the first officers, of which any record can be found, were elected in 1819, and were as follows, viz .: Trustees, Alexander Oliver, William Walkup and William Manson ; Clerk, Joseph Rollins ; Treasurer, Levi Munsell ; Justice of the Peace, John Wilson ; Supervisors, John Oliver and Daniel Newcomb ; Lister, Jacob Simmons ; Fence Viewer, Benjamin Sims ; House Ap- praiser, Thomas McClure ; Overseers of Poor, John Simmons and Peter Kiser.

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The present officers are : Trustees, David Manson, Charles Simmons and D. S. Car- mony ; Clerk, A. Mcclintock : Treasurer, W. I. Kiser ; Constables, C. H. Lane and C. M. Williams ; Assessors, J. M. Frazier and John Duncan ; Supervisors, Frank Sayers, Benjamin Wolcott, James Coddington, S. Worthington and W. E. Myers. The only railroad in the township is the Cincinnati, Columbus & Indiana Central, now leased and operated by the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Rail- road, passing east and west through the center of Sections 6, 12, 18, 24, 30 and 36, and on which line are located the stations of Conover and Fletcher.

TOWNS.

Conover, one of the three in the township, is a small station on the Pitts- burgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway, containing scarcely a dozen houses. The land on which the village is situated was first entered by a Mr. Jones, from whom Solomon G. Brecount, the founder of the place, purchased it and laid out nineteen lots, in April, 1856. It was named in honor of A. G. Conover, of Piqua. The original plat has been increased by a single addition, which was annexed in June, 1863. The lots are 150x50 feet in size, and the streets are sixty feet wide. The first house in the place was built by Brecount & White, and was used as a miscel- laneous store-room. The grain store of the Brecount Bros. has been in operation in this place many years, and is doing a thriving business. This store, and the steam saw-mill near it, are the more important enterprises in the place. Besides these there are a blacksmith-shop, dry-goods store and shoe-shop in the place, as also one church, of which an account will be given in its proper place.

Lena was laid out by Levi N. Robbins, in 1830, and was first called Elizabeth- town, in honor of his wife, but, there being another town of that name in the State, in order to prevent all irregularities in postal matters, it was deemed proper to change the name of the village, which was accordingly called Lena. But, after the place had been named some time, there was found to be another place of the same name in Ohio, making the new name no better than the old. However, despairing of find- ing any name not already appropriated by some Ohio village, they concluded not to make another attempt in that direction, but the post office was called, as it is to this day, Allen's Post Office, in honor of Sylvanus Allen, who was the first Post- master in the township, having had the office as early as 1830, at which time the Postmaster, for his labor, received and sent his own mail free, and got $2 per year in cash. Mr. Allen, also, was instrumental in establishing the second post office in Brown Township, in Fletcher, in 1832, which was first kept by old Squire Mal- loy. At the time Lena was laid out, there was nothing on the spot but woods, so that the only recommendation the place had was its abundance of shade. The first store was built by Joseph Beck, who cleared off a spot of ground large enough for his cabin, which he erected in 1830, and used as a store-room, the first in the place. He occupied this room several years, when he put up a small frame, in which he carried on his business, till he was burned out a few years later. Before the vil- lage was laid out Elah Hayhurst had built a little log shop, as early as 1824, in which he did all the black smithing for the neighborhood; but after Lena was laid out the first blacksmith was William Graham, who had emigrated from Pennsyl- vania and located here shortly after the first settlements were made in this place. The wants of the community are now attended to, and the business of the place carried on in Lena, by two dry-goods stores, one grocery store, three blacksmiths, one wagon-shop, three physicians, one millinery-shop, one agricultural implement store, one tailor and three carpenters, while the spiritual development of the citi- zens is attended to by one resident minister.

Fletcher, a station on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad, is the largest and most important village in the township, and was laid out in 1830, by John L. Malloy. The original plat consisted of forty-six full, and four fractional, lots, the size of the former being 66x99 feet. In the old plat, twenty-eight full lots lie north of Main street, and eighteen full, and four fractional,

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lots south of the same street, which is sixty feet wide, as is also Railroad street, the cross streets being only forty feet wide. Since the date of its foundation, the place has been enlarged by five additions, viz. : Parrot's Addition, Moses' Addi- tion, Clark's Addition. Eichelbarger's Addition, and Council's Addition. The first place of business in the village was in a little log-cabin, built by Samuel Dough- erty, in 1830. He kept a miscellaneous stock of goods, embracing almost every- thing necessary to meet the demands of his customers, from the stimulating liquid down to a paper of pins. The cabin in which he carried on his business, has been weather-boarded, and is, to-day, in a good state of preservation. Samuel Crane, who was about the second merchant in Fletcher, sold goods as early as 1835; after carrying on the business for some time, he was burned out. The third mer- chant here, was Isaac Dukemineer, who erected a brick, and began business about 1850. After doing a good business for many years, he disposed of his property to Alonzo Montgomery. Isaac Kiser, Michael Duncan, and Solomon Brecount were also among the earliest merchants in this place.

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The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 37

Author: W. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1051

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1880
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1051