The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 40

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

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The first saw-mill in the township was built by Samuel Wiley, who, after put- ting a dam across the creek, erected his mill upon its banks in 1815. The demand for lumber for building purposes being great, Mr. Wiley did an extensive busi- ness while running this mill, furnishing boards and planks for all the buildings in the township for several years. This mill has long since gone down, and not a timber remains to mark the spot upon which it stood.

About this date, Lewis Boyer, who had located in the township in 1810, started a distillery, not on a very extensive scale, it is true, but did a little work in that line for his neighbors, and is said to have manufactured an excellent arti- cle. Mr. B. had been a life-guard in the service of George Washington, and con- sequently was looked upon by his admiring friends as a great hero. His exterior was very uncouth, but he was one of those few men who are described as being diamonds in the rough, and is said to have been an unexceptional neighbor and valuable man in the community. He died in 1840, and was buried with all the honors of war. He was the second man in this township who fought side by side with the father of his country.

Elias Manning built a saw-mill on Spring Creek in 1815; after running it for awhile, he connected with it a grist-mill, with which he ground wheat as well as corn.

Dr. Jackson, the first resident M. D. in the township, put up the next saw-mill in 1826, near Spring Creek. The power was produced by water which was pro- cured by conducting it to the mill in a large trough made for that purpose. The Doctor is said to have been quite successful in his profession, but his work in the saw-mill proved almost fruitless. He was a very eccentric individual, and invited men to help him raise his mill on Sunday, for which occasion he provided a large quantity of stimulating fluid. The crowd came, the mill was raised, and the occasion passed off satisfactorily to all concerned. Five or six logs were sawed after the completion of the mill, and then it was abandoned as an investment, which, in a financial point of view, was a failure. The Doctor subsequently moved farther west, where he died. Mr. Ross also had a saw-mill on the present site of Ross- ville, about 1825. David and James Caven also operated a mill of the same kind in an early day. These old mills, however, have long since been leveled by the destroyer, Time, so that now nearly all manufactured articles needed in the town- ship are procured at Piqua. The only works in this line of any importance is the furniture factory in Shawaneetown, which was first built by the present proprie- tors some ten or twelve years ago. The Cron brothers have, up to this year, em- ployed in the business regularly about one hundred hands. The original buildings becoming too limited for their steadily increasing business, the enterprising firm made arrangements last year to erect a more commodious building, and last spring began the construction of the immense brick structure now in a fair way for com- pletion. The increasing demand for their work speaks better than words of the quality of the articles they manufacture. After the completion of the building now being built, they intend increasing their already large force of workmen by fifty men, making in all one hundred and fifty men, the largest corps of men em- ployed in this business in Miami County.

Although many changes have taken place, and great improvements been made, for which the citizens of Spring Creek Township cannot be too highly commended, for the efficiency and high standard of her public schools, they deserve to be spoken of more laudably than for anything else, for, while her mills, and even churches, have nearly all perished, her schools, since their establishment, have been constantly improving, and to-day are in a better condition than ever before. The first school- house in the township was built on Section 25, in 1815. It was a subscription school, taught by James Laird, who received for his services about $5 per month

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in the winter and " boarded round." This first instructor of the youth in this township was a native of the Emerald Isle, and is remembered as a peculiar indi- vidual. During a severe sickness, he had been salivated by the excessive use of calomel, which caused a deformity in all his joints, making it impossible for him to perform manual labor, yet, in the school-room, he is described as having been a host in himself, his only failing being a great fondness for whisky, of which he would partake freely every opportunity. Upon such occasions, woe be unto the tyro who failed to devote his attention to his books, or to recite his lesson in tones calculated to strike favorably the then critical ear of the teacher. On such occa- sions nothing seemed to appease the anger of the teacher, till, with his big stick, he had brought the blood from the back of the offending child. The second school- house was built on ground now owned by Stephen Alexander, in 1816; another was built on Section 21, in 1820. The first frame schoolhouse was built in the township in 1830. Among the teachers who taught between 1815-25, may he mentioned James Sims, George Lemons, James Cregan, "Aunt Sallie " Tucker, Thomas J. Larsh and " Pat" Murphy. The report of the Township Clerk for the year ending September 1, 1879, is as follows : Balance on hand September 1, 1878, $2,096.80 ; State tax, $708 ; irreducible funds, $138.97 ; township tax for school purposes, $1,770.34 ; fines, licenses, etc., $3.50 ; total receipts, $4,717.61. Expenditures-Amount paid teachers, $2,374.50 ; amount paid for building sites, $85 ; amount paid for fuel, etc., $253.32 ; total, $2,712.82 ; balance on hand September 1, 1879, $2,004.79. There are eight schoolhouses in the township, requiring the services of eight teachers, the average wages of male teachers being $39 per month, and female $26. The average number of weeks the schools were in session was thirty-three. Three hundred and eighteen pupils were enrolled, and of these forty-six were between sixteen and twenty-one years of age.

At the present time, there is only one church in the township. The colored Baptists built their neat brick structure in Rossville, about sixteen years ago. At an earlier day, however, there were several denominations here. The Methodists held meetings in the township as early as 1815 ; Rev. Henry T. Bascom was their first minister. The Baptists built a log church in 1818, and the New Lights another, on Spring Creek, in 1819. The United Brethren also preached here in 1820 ; Jacob Antram was one of the first ministers here. Services were held in the different churches, until Piqua had attained a good size, and, church privileges there excelling those in the country, the inhabitants of this township mostly removed their membership to that place.

The first frame house in the township, was built by Henry Orbison, in 1817; it was torn down years ago. The first brick dwelling was erected by Charles Hilliard, in 1818, while the first stone residence was built by Joseph Hilliard, in 1816. This last is still standing, apparently in as good condition as ever. It has been remodeled since its erection, the second story, which was added, being of brick. The walls of this house are two feet thick, and in as good condition as when first built. Charles and Joseph Hilliard also put out the two first orchards in the township, in 1809. The largest orchard in the township, is the property of Thomas J. Statler. It contains 1,500 apple trees, one-half of which were planted in 1860, and the remainder in 1865, the whole covering fifty acres of ground.

The first blacksmith in the township was Caleb Jones, who set up his forge, and began work in the fall of 1814.

The first burial-ground in the township, was on Section 25, where John Hill- iard was interred. This was used for such purposes, previous to 1810. Mr. and Mrs. Dillbone were buried in a field lying on the Piqua & Urbana road. No stone marks the spot where they lie. Another graveyard, on the same road, was opened about 1820. Many of the old headstones have crumbled away, and the grounds, which have a gloomy appearance, have not been used for years.

The graveyard where the old Baptist Church formerly stood, is nearly as ancient as any in the township, and when the church was abandoned this ceased to be used. Cedar Grove Cemetery. near Piqua, is the property of the Jews. It is H

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inclosed by a neat board fence, and contains but few graves. Thus closes the history of Spring Creek Township, which contains such facts as could be gleaned from tradition and from the remembrance of the few pioneers yet living. Judg- ing the future by the past, and noting the changes and improvements rapidly being made in the works of man, it is safe to infer, that, by the time the cycle of her hundredth anniversary is completed, there will be events to chronicle, the magnitude and importance of which have not yet entered into the minds of the most sanguine of her citizens ; and the appliances now used in the production of her mechanical and agricultural products, will, by that time, be comparatively rude and unmanageable.

UNION TOWNSHIP.

Nearly eighty years ago the sturdy pioneer might have been seen standing upon the picturesque banks of the Stillwater; nothing disturbs the sublime and oppressive silence of the primeval forest that surrounds him, save the gentle plash- ing of the murmuring stream below, and the occasional song of the wild-bird, as it flits from branch to branch. Yet how sweet and beguiling soever may have been the siren voice of nature, his purpose here is not to yield to her seductive influence, but, turning his back upon all her fascinations, he boldly advances still deeper into the profound recesses, and anon the death-like stillness of these umbrageous soli- tudes is broken by the music of his ax, resounding throughout their illimitable depths, which had hitherto re-echoed but to the howl of the wolf, the scream of the stealthy panther, or the savage whoop of the blood-thirsty red man.

The giants of the forest soon yield to the steady strokes of his ax, and ere- long the smoke from his cabin chimney may be seen curling through the tree-tops; the rays of the sun, piercing the gloom, generate new life ; the germ of civilization is planted, which, through the vivifying influence of advantageous surroundings, has developed into the present thrifty and vigorous community, now known as Union Township.

It will be observed that the local history of the above township is so closely interwoven with the general history of the county that, in many instances, it will be almost impossible to confine ourselves to its specific narration. Notwithstanding we shall use every precaution to avoid repetition of facts, and tautology of language, yet, in our endeavor to disentangle the one from the other, this may, at times, unavoidably occur.

The exact time at which the tract of land, embraced within the present limits of what is now known as Union Township, became an organized body seems rather indefinite.

Diligent research, however, reveals the fact, that prior to July, 1807, when the first election for county officers was held, the entire county constituted but two townships, viz., Elizabeth, comprising all the territory east of the Miami River, and Randolph, embracing that portion west of the same river.

At the October election following, it seems Randolph had disappeared, and the territory formerly known by that name, was subdivided into five townships, of which Union, lying in the extreme southwestern corner of the county, is one. It embraces a rectangle eight miles long and six miles wide, containing an area of forty-eight miles, being the largest township in the county. Traversed by the Still- water River on the east, the two branches of Ludlow Creek on the north and west, and numerous other fine streams, a great portion of the township is, therefore, rendered gently undulating, thus forming a complete system of natural drainage which very materially enhances the productiveness of the soil.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

The most attractive elements of a new country in the eyes of a pioneer are its topography, productiveness of soil, water facilities, etc. Nature, therefore, offers to the observer the only lucid solution why the country in the immediate vicinity

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of the almost classical Stillwater and its tributaries should have been chosen by our forefathers as a resting-place and nucleus, around which should cluster the forest homes of succeeding generations ; for here she has lavishly displayed her power in blending the grand with the beautiful, the sublime with the picturesque. The precipitous banks of Stillwater are gradually mellowed into irregular elevations, these into gentle undulations, until, as they recede, they are finally blended into the level plains that stretch far away in the distance.

The many perennial springs that escape from the placid lakelets that give them birth, flow gently along the descending plain, increasing in velocity as they near their end, till at last they leap from rock to rock, many feet to the river below. We need not, therefore, wonder that Union Township is invested with a history that ante-dates the admission of the State into the Union.

There appears to be some diversity of opinion in regard to the first of those resolute men who invaded the wild domain of nature in this township and wrested from her giant grasp the gifts with which she so reluctantly parts.

The weight of authority seems to be in favor of Henry Fouts, who, in company with Leonard and Adam Eller, in the year 1801, erected the first cabin nestled in " this forest primeval." The Ellers located in the southern part of the township, east of Stillwater, while Fouts settled on the west side. Part of the land owned by Fouts seventy-nine years ago, is still in possession of his posterity, he having been dead about fifty-seven years. The next year, Caleb Mendenhall, with a family of six, increased the same night of his arrival by the birth of a daughter to seven. The next year, 1803, John Mast and son-in-law, Frederick Yount, came, and located a mill-site higher up. They were followed in 1804, by David Mote, Sr., with his sons Jonathan, Jeremiah, William, John and Jesse, all except William, with fam- ilies, settling further westward and northward. About this time the portion lying east of the river, was settled by Leonard Fincher, William Fincher, William Neal, Benjamin Pike, Jacob Byrket, and many others whose exact time of settlement is not known.

David Mote was born in 1733, and was doubtless the oldest man who emi- grated to this township. At the time of his arrival he was seventy-one years old. He and his wife both died in 1817, at the residence of his son John. They had been married over sixty years. Their eldest son Jonathan purchased Section 20, and settled by a splendid spring not far from its center. He was so proud of his home that he called it " the garden spot of the world."

He came here at the age of forty-six, accompanied by five sons and five daugh- ters. His wife dying on the way, he buried her by the wayside, in a very rude coffin, the best that could be provided.

His children grew up, married, and many of them settled, for a time, around him. It is not known that any of them are living, and few of his grandchildren are in this township. Jonathan married again in 1806 or 1807, having kept his family nearly, if not all, together. In 1810, he built the first brick house in this township, and the first on Stillwater. Like the other immigrants, he cleared a farm and taught his children to labor ..

Having lost his second wife a few years after marriage, he remained single until 1819, when he married the third wife. She died in a few months, and he never married again. The Motes were all Quakers, or Friends. Jonathan had been disowned by them about the close of the last war with England, and never regained his membership. After the death of his last wife, he lived for some years like a hermit. His youngest son, Jeremiah, marrying, he transferred his farm to him, reserving his house and a life maintenance on the farm. This was 'not very large, as he had previously bequeathed and sold the greater part of his land. It contained, however, more than 100 acres. The son soon traded off his interest in the farm, which was again transferred to a third party. In the spring of 1839, the old man, ill and unhappy, went to the house of his nephew, who lived adjoining, and shortly after died there.

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Jeremiah Mote removed from this State at the time of his father's death, and died soon after. He left a numerous family, a part of them being yet in their minority. Three of his grandchildren are living here at an advanced age.

William Mote married about 1814, and lived here until 1830, when he died, leaving three children. He was a very quiet little man, and is said to have killed more deer than any man in the country.

John Mote, the Doctor, requires particular mention, being the first and longest- practicing physician in the township. He was born in 1767, the birth-year, also, of John Q. Adams and Andrew Jackson. He possessed all their firmness, and, though but slightly educated, much of their ability. He appears to have been the first on the west of the river to settle away from a spring, the first to have a well and sweep, upon which was suspended what Wordsworth calls

"The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, The moss-covered bucket that hung in the well."

Such were his temperance proclivities that he might have said further, with the same poet,

" How sweet from the green mossy brim to receive it. As poised on the curb, it inclined to my lips. Not a full, blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it, Though filled with the neotar that Jupiter sips."

The Doctor was an industrious and prosperous man, carrying on farming with his medical practice. Vomiting, blistering and blood-letting were his favorite rem- odies. Very tenacious of preconceived opinions, he could hardly be convinced that there was such a disease as sick stomach or vegetable poison. When called to a patient suffering with that disease, he treated him for bilious fever, and the patient died. It was not until after he had been afflicted with it himself, and was told by a visiting neighbor that he had the poison, because he (the neighbor) could smell it, that he concluded there might be such a disease, and took remedies for it. He practiced forty years, and died in the harness, for, having returned from visit- ing a patient, he fell between his house and barn, receiving a severe injury in the hip; he was helped into the house, but never walked afterward, having received, it was thought, a light paralytic stroke. After a few weeks of patient suffering, he died, having survived his wife but a few years. This occurred in 1845. His chil- dren were four sons and five daughters, namely, Elizabeth, John, two Daniels, David, Rachel, Anna, Rebecca and Mary, not one of whom is now living. But two of his grandchildren are living in this township. Dr. Mote was a warm-hearted and conscientious man, opposed to secret societies, and an Abolitionist of the highest type. If the world had more such as he, it would be better. Jesse Mote, the other brother, died so long ago that little is known concerning him worth pub- lishing.

Of the immigrants of 1805, the family of Samuel Jones, from Georgia, of whom mention has already been made, appears to have been the most prominent. Abiathar Davis, from the same State, came here about the same time, accompanied by his four sons, Samuel, Amos, John and Benjamin, and three daughters, viz., Mary, Lydia and Sarah. He established all his sons on Section 17, except Amos, who resided but a short time in the county. Davis evidently knew the value of good water, for he chose a place well supplied with never-dying springs ; he improved his farm, and by industry and economy, secured a competency. The greater part of the township's earliest settlers seem to have been actuated by these sentiments :

"Get what you can, and what you get hold, 'Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold."

It is not to be wondered at, then, that they succeeded in leaving large quanti- ties of both land and money to their children. Mr. Davis and family belonged to the denomination of Friends ; he died in 1838. In 1805, a large number of immi- grants came from Newberry, S. C., the greater number of whom were Friends. Of

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: death und Fet in the ge.

these, Isaac, James and George Hollingsworth brought families, while their brother Nathan, who accompanied them, had no family. Isaac occupied a portion of Sec- tion 20, and James a part of Section 32. The Hollingsworths were a stalwart and powerful race of men. "Big Isaac," as he was called in the South, though a Quaker, knew no such thing as fear; he was born in 1748, and married in 1773; consequently, was the father of a family during the Revolutionary war. In those ter- rible times, when law was unregarded, and the country overrun by British and Tories, he was bold in speaking his mind to either. On one occasion, he remonstrated with an English officer, who was in the act of approaching his corn-crib for grain ; the officer unsheathed his sword, and threatened his life, but Mr. Hollingsworth advanced boldly, and, taking the sword from the Englishman's hand, said, "Thus far shalt thou go, but no farther," causing the officer to give up the attempt as useless. After coming to this country, the young Quakers began wearing sus- penders, a practice which Mr. Hollingsworth considered as savoring of pride, and often at log-rollings, if the young men were not on the alert, he would slip his fore-finger under their suspenders, and then the button had nothing to do but to fly. Notwithstanding his rough exterior, he had an excellent heart. Once an Irishman applied to him for work, when he put him to work at removing a pile of rocks, which task completed, he had him carry them back, after which, he paid him for his labor. His wife frequently attended missions, and he used to say that his corn never grew better than when she was out on a preaching tour. He died in 1809, and was buried in the West Branch burying-ground.

Elisha Jones, a son-in-law of the preceding, settled on the same section in 1807. He was a chair-maker, and general mechanic, by trade, as well as farmer, and was more successful in his business transactions than any of his neighbors. He cleared and worked a large farm with his own hands, and saved some money besides his expenses each year ; this he judiciously invested in improvements, and in purchasing more land for his children. He owned 550 acres of land in this township, which. added to what he owned elsewhere, made a total of 1,600 acres. At his death he left this land, together with considerable money at interest, to his wife and ten surviving children. A circumstance, most remarkable in its character, happened to this family. On the morning of May 22, 1817, Mrs. Jones, stepping to the door to attend to some household duties, was struck dead by a flash of lightning from a passing cloud. The cloud from which the electric fluid proceeded was of exceedingly small dimensions, but the peal was heard miles away. Although every means were taken to restore the unfortunate woman, she was never seen to breathe or stir again. Her niece was not far from the spot, and was rendered unconscious by the stroke, but finally recovered, and is now a resi- dent of Iowa. On the day succeeding the catastrophe, the remains of Mrs Jones were followed to the grave by the largest concourse of people that had ever convened at that place. One year from this time, Mr. Jones married Rebecca, the daughter of Enoch Pearson, of Monroe Township, with whom he lived twenty- two years, and died at the age of fifty-five years. In many respects, Mr. Jones was a remarkable man ; though possessing but a limited education himself, he was the ardent patron of learning, was a great reader, and especially delighted in reading the grand epic of Milton. He was a man industrious, energetic and skill- ful in business, conscientious in the observance of all religious duties, and honor- able in all transactions with his fellow-man.

Joel Hollingsworth, born in 1778 ; he came here with a small family in 1806, and settled in Section 11, on the North Branch of Ludlow's Creek. Strong and fearless as his father, he encountered and overcame every difficulty that presented itself, and in the course of years had a large farm under cultivation ; being also of an adventurous spirit, he repeatedly built flat-bottomed boats upon the Stillwater, which he loaded not only with his own pork and flour, but with that of his neigh- bors, and transported to New Orleans. These were enterprises both difficult and dangerous, yet Joel delighted in them. At such times, he left the management and work on his farm to his sons. From one of these trips, he brought home the first

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The History of Miami County, Ohio, Part 40

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